#and then just before we stopped talking her dad caught a kitten at his shop (hes a carpenter) and brought her home

[two-calicos-in-a-trenchcoat]

Got a blazed cat picture that looks exactly like an ex friends cat and now im missing her cats lol

Not her. I havent missed her at all since that friendship ended. But her cats were fuckin cute.

[doctorstethoscope]

The Right Chapter 4 || Aaron Hotchner x Fem!Reader

Hi besties we’re back besties :)))

Read previous chapters of this fic here!

 contains: brief mentions of a gun and domestic abuse, the beginning of ~feelings~ between hotch and reader

wc: 3.1k

The first thing you noticed when you woke up was the smell, which Reid would tell you was interesting, because smell is the sense that we lose the most in sleep. Hence, smoke alarms. Shaking the thought away with a fond smile, you padded into the kitchen slowly, finding Aaron with his jacket and tie long discarded, his shirt unbuttoned at the top and his sleeves rolled up to his elbows. 

“It smells so good!” You announced. 

“It’s olive oil and garlic.” Hotch chuckled as he turned away from the stove to face you. “And you’re supposed to be sleeping.” 

You craned your neck to look at the stovetop clock behind him. “I slept for three hours, Hotch. And I’m sure you’re going to enforce my full eight hours later tonight.” 

“Well, this isn’t ready yet.” He said. 

“Really? You aren’t just feeding me oil and garlic?” You quipped. 

“Don’t be a smartass,” he smirked at you. 

“I want to help,” you told him earnestly, looking up at him from where you’d perched yourself in one of the barstools at his counter. “What can I do?” 

“Here, chop this onion,” he said, sliding everything you’d need across the counter so you could stay seated. 

He moved around the kitchen gracefully, combining ingredients and stirring a sauce and boiling water for pasta with the ease of a practiced chef. He refused to tell you what he was making, and you leaned forward in your chair, trying to see if the spices by the stove would give you any clues. They didn’t, but before you knew it, Aaron was plating pasta with chicken and mushrooms and broccoli in a sauce that smelled heavenly.

 “Will you tell me now?” You whined as you both sat down at the table to eat. 

“It’s nothing special, really.” he laughed at your antics. “It’s pasta in a lemon-dill cream sauce.” 

“You’ve been holding out on us,” you accused as you took your first bite. “Aaron, this is delicious.” 

He smiled back at you, trying to ignore how much he loved hearing his first name come rolling from your lips. “Well, you helped.” 

“Please. I chopped vegetables and used the can opener. I certainly did not, and could not, whip up a lemon-dill cream sauce on a moment’s notice.” 

You continued to banter over dinner, laughing and smiling in a way it felt like you hadn’t in weeks. Aaron, ever-efficient as he was, had handled most of the cleanup as he was cooking, so all that was left was packing up the leftovers and putting your dishes in the dishwasher. When you closed the fridge, Aaron spoke up again. 

“So, Jess is supposed to drop off Jack tomorrow.” Aaron mentions, with a certain forced casualness. 

“Oh, I can be out of your hair.” You said with a smile that didn’t quite reach your eyes.  “I’m sure I can stay with Emily--”

“Woah, woah, slow down.” Aaron stopped you. “I’m not kicking you out. I was just going to say, I can ask Jess to keep him for a little while longer.” 

“Hotch, no way. He’s your son. I’m not kicking him out of his own house or keeping him away from his father.”

“Of course you aren’t. I can go visit him at Jess’s place and when you’re comfortable with him, he can come here.” 

“I’m plenty comfortable with Jack.” You assured him.  “I just meant, won’t it be weird for him, if I’m here? And I don’t want to intrude on your time with him.” 

“You’re not an intruder. Jack loves you. And I--” he started to say something, but caught himself. You decided not to think too hard about it. “I would be happy to have you here, with him.” 

You still felt uneasy-- you knew his time with Jack was precious. You took a deep breath, preparing to strike a compromise. “How about this-- I go stay with Emily-- listen--” you stopped him before he could cut you off. “I go stay with Emily tomorrow night. It’s Saturday. I need some girl time, and Jack needs some dad time. You and Jack can spend the day together, and then I can come back on Sunday and you can talk to him about me being here before I’m actually in his kitchen eating his cinnamon toast crunch. I know he loves me, and I love him too, but I don’t want to overwhelm him.”

You could tell that he wasn’t entirely sold on the idea of you being out of his sight for a whole day, but he wasn’t Josh-- he wasn’t going to try to use his emotions to control your behavior. He didn’t say anything, but you could see the discomfort on his face. You know that sooner or later, you’d have to have a conversation about where you’re actually going to live-- but you decide not to push him any further tonight. 

“I’ll be with Emily the whole time. After today, I’m pretty sure she’d shoot him on sight if given the opportunity. You don’t need to worry.” You told him, reaching over to squeeze his hand. Your touch grounded him, brought him back to reality.

He took a deep breath, resigning himself to give you what you wanted, just as he always would. “And you’re going to take your meds, and take it easy, and not--”

“Yes, dad.” You scoffed. “See, this is why I need you and Jack to take some time. You should get all of this out with him.” you laughed at him, and he grinned back at you. 

“You’re just as stubborn. That’s not my fault.” 

“Some people call that being strong-willed, Aaron.” you teased back, sticking your tongue out at him for good measure. 

Aaron panics slightly when he doesn’t find you in the guest room the next morning, but his anxiety evaporates when he sees you perched on the couch in the living room, your hair thrown up into a bun, sitting criss-cross with your feet tucked underneath you and your laptop on your lap. You’ve brewed a pot of coffee, and Aaron takes a minute to look at you fondly before that nagging voice at the back of his head reminds him that you’re his subordinate, that you were hurting, and that even if you weren’t, you could never love a bitter, old, broken man like him. 

“Working on something?” He asked, interrupting his own spiral. 

Your eyes shot up instantly, not having noticed his entrance. “Nothing important. The coffee’s still hot, I hope you don’t mind.” 

“Of course I don’t mind.” He reminds you, rolling his eyes goodnaturedly. “You’re not an intruder here. Especially not when you make a strong pot of coffee.” 

“Doing anything fun with Jack today?” You asked, shutting your laptop as he sat down at the other end of the couch. 

“It’s supposed to be nice, I think we’ll go to the park. He’s just about ready to take the training wheels off of his bike.” He smiled fondly. 

“Aw, my little man! I’m so excited for him.” You cooed, only brightening Aaron’s smile.

“What about you?” 

“I’m not sure. Emily said I should be ready for brunch and that she, JJ, and Garcia would handle the rest. She mentioned that someone gave her explicit instructions for me to take it easy, so I imagine we’ll probably be skydiving and binge drinking.”

“You think you’re real funny, don’t you?” Aaron asked dryly. 

“Yeah, actually, I do.” You smiled over at him, and the corners of his mouth quirked up before he could force them into their usual stoic line. 

There’s a knock at the door, and you shoot up. “That’s Em.” 

Aaron places a hand on your forearm as you trot past. “Hey.” His gentle voice stops you in your tracks. “Be safe, please? Be vigilant, and call me if anything happens?” He looks up at you, and you can see the lines of concern etched around his dark brown eyes.  

“Nothing’s going to happen, Aaron.” You placed your hand on top of his. “Enjoy your day with Jack. I’ll see you tomorrow.” 

There’s a moment that passes between you, and you almost think you’re going to lean and give him a peck on the cheek to say goodbye, but Emily knocks again and you’re both distracted. You roll your eyes at yourself as soon as your back is to Aaron. Clearly these painkillers were taking their toll on you.

When you and Emily arrived at the restaurant, JJ and Garcia were already at an outdoor table waiting for you. The four of you chatted and laughed over pancakes and coffee and fruit before walking around the downtown area shopping. Then JJ started leading you down a less-familiar street. 

“Where are we going?” you asked, picking up your pace a little to walk next to JJ, who was at the front of your four-person group on the sidewalk. 

“That is for us to know, and you to find out.” She winked at you with a smile before taking off ahead. You let her, falling into step with Penelope. 

“You know, too?” 

“Of course I do, kitten. But I’m not spoiling the surprise! Just be patient.” 

You know better than to even try with Emily. You just rolled your eyes, chuckling a little at your friends’ antics. Eventually, JJ is leading you up the steps of a brownstone, set back a little way from downtown. 

“What are we doing?” You asked breathlessly. 

“We’re just taking a peek.” JJ said, opening the door and leading you up to a second-floor unit. 

“This feels illegal.” You remark as Emily produces a pair of keys. 

“I know the owner,” she tells you, swinging the door open and letting you walk inside first.

Natural sunlight pours into the empty apartment. You look to the left and see a granite kitchen island, and crisp white cabinets situated between stainless steel appliances. The space that you assume to be the living area is open, and the room is of course void of furniture, but it’s not hard to imagine a loveseat in the center of the room, a chaise along the far wall, a coffee table in the middle, an open bottle of wine and all of your friends filling the empty space. 

“What are we doing here?” You ask with a little chuckle. 

“Well, we know that Josh’s name is on the lease at your current place.” Penelope starts. “And you just have a lot going on right now, and we wanted to help, so we were looking at some places for you. If you don’t like this one that’s fine, I have a whole catalogue of others sorted by distance from work and walkability and--” 

“You guys didn’t have to do that. Thank you.” You smiled. 

“We wanted to.” JJ tells you. 

“Well, what do you think? Go, look at the bedroom.” Emily prods, and you smile, swinging open the door across the room, revealing a large open bedroom and an en-suite bathroom with a truly gorgeous tile shower. 

“The place looks great, Em, it really does. I’m just going to have to think about it. There’s been a lot going on.” You understate. 

“Of course.” She responds. 

“Not to mention the fact that Hotch barely wanted to release me into your care for the night, so I’m not sure he’ll take well to me moving further than his guest room.” You laughed. 

“He’s got it, bad.” JJ comments offhandedly, and your jaw hits the floor. 

“Jennifer!” You chastise her.

“What? You can’t possibly play dumb here.” She asks. 

“I literally couldn’t have less of a clue what you’re talking about. Hotch has only ever been platonic and professional with me.” You denied.

“Well, of course, but he’s different with you.” Emily defends JJ. 

“Different how?”

“He’s--- he’s just different, sweet cheeks. He lets his walls down, and only by 10% or so, but for Hotch, that’s major.” Garcia supplies.

“He’s protective of you in the field.” JJ notes. 

“He’s protective of all of us in the field. We just get partnered up a lot.” You defend him, although you don’t know why. You’d want nothing more than to let them convince you that you meant something to Hotch the same way he meant something to you, but you couldn’t let yourself believe that. It would only mean more heartbreak later. 

“And who makes that decision?” Garcia reminds you.

“And it’s not just the field. He doesn’t even like it when the local cops look at you the wrong way or give you a hard time.”  Emily adds.

“You all need to get away from work more. You’re profiling when there’s nothing there.” You argue weakly. 

“You’ll see,” JJ smiles, rolling her eyes at you. “We’ll let you off the hook for now. But you might want to put a little thought into why your first worry about getting a new place is what Hotch would think.” 

The rest of the day found you back at Emily’s place, lounging around in comfy clothes and binging shitty rom-coms. You ordered a couple of pizzas for dinner, and passed around twizzlers and coca cola like you were at a middle school sleepover. It was nice. Great, even. Josh wasn’t the biggest fan of your coworkers, and you had grown more distant from them over your time with Josh. The conversation was breezy and light, the evening full of laughter. It wasn’t until later, when everyone was cleaning up and preparing to head out, that your tone became a little more serious. 

“Thank you guys, seriously.”

“You know you don’t have to thank us for eating takeout and watching movies in our sweats.” JJ tells you with a smile as she tosses some candy wrappers.

“And you know that’s not what I’m thanking you for. I know I wasn’t the best friend when Josh and I were together.” 

“Clearly that wasn’t your fault.” Emily reminds you. 

“Maybe not, but I still appreciate everything you all did for me today. I missed you.”

“We missed you too, bug.” Garcia said, wrapping you up in a hug. “Just don’t tell boss man that we stayed past your bedtime.”

You let out a laugh. “He’s so ridiculous.” 

“Ridiculously in loveeee,” JJ sings out teasingly. 

“Watch it, or I’ll tell him you kept me out late drinking!” You joked with her as you and Emily walked JJ and Garcia out the door. You and Emily bid your goodnights to each other as you slipped into her spare room, stretching out across the bed lazily. You feel your phone start to vibrate, but you can’t for the love of god remember which zippered pocket of your go-bag you’d left it in. When it stops vibrating, you let out a frustrated groan. Finally, you find it, in the pocket of the jeans you’d worn to brunch this morning. You have a missed call from Aaron, which you return immediately, flipping back over to lie against the mattress. He picks up on the first ring. 

“Hey, I didn’t wake you, did I?” 

You check the time briefly, rolling your eyes a little. It’s not even midnight. “No, I was awake.” You tell him. 

“Did the girls just leave?” He asks casually, but you know Garcia probably wasn’t joking about Hotch enforcing a bedtime. 

“A while ago. I was in the shower when you called.” 

“You’re an awful liar, you know.” He chuckles at you. 

“I thought we agreed that you were going to let all this parental energy out on Jack.” You responded, hoping he could hear the smirk in your voice. 

“I just don’t want you to push it.” Hotch confesses with a sigh. 

“Hotch, I’m okay. Really. You got me out of there and got me patched up. I’m good now.” you tell him, sitting up against the pillows. 

“I also let you go home with him that night after I saw him hit you.” He reminds you, and although you can’t actually see him, your mental picture of him, head hung and thumb running anxiously against his fingers, is startlingly real.

“I made that choice, Hotch. You gave me an out and I chose not to take it.” You reminded him. “That’s on me.” 

“No, it’s not. This wasn’t your fault.” He’s quick to correct you 

“Not yours, either.” You add.

“He pulled a gun on you that night.” He says, more to himself than to you. 

“Yeah, he did.” You said quietly.

“If I had let you go home with him, and he had--” He starts to spiral, but you pull him out of it. 

“Aaron. I’m right here on the phone with you. You came and got me out of there. I’m okay.” 

“I don’t know what I would have done. I can’t-- I can’t imagine a world without you in it.” He confesses, sounding breathless even though you were sure he was just sitting on the sofa at home. 

“You don’t need to. I’m right here.” You tell him. “Is that why you called?”

“It’s good to hear your voice.” He answers, in his own roundabout way. “Did you have a good day?” 

“Yeah, I did. What about you and Jack?” 

“Yeah, we did. We didn’t quite get the training wheels off yet, but we’re getting there. He’s so excited to see you tomorrow.” 

“He is?” You asked. 

“He is. Are you surprised? He’s not exactly shy about how much he likes you.” 

“No, I guess not,” you laugh, remembering a time he had nearly knocked you over in Aaron’s doorway with the force of his hug. “What did you tell him?’

“I just told him that you’d been feeling a little sick, and that you were going to be staying here until you were feeling better.”

“And he was okay?” 

“His exact words were ‘is she too sick to build legos with me,’ so yeah, I think he’s okay.” He laughed, and you tried to push down the sense of warmth that the sound of his laughter spread throughout your chest. It didn’t work. He interrupted your internal dilemma without realizing it. “I should let you get to sleep.” 

“Try to catch a few hours yourself, Hotchner.” You tell him. 

“I’ll see you in the morning. Goodnight.” 

“Hotch?” You say before he can hang up the phone. 

“Yeah?” He asks. 

“I can’t imagine a world without you in it, either.” You tell him in a whisper that’s almost self-conscious.

“You don’t need to. I’m right here.”

tagging:  @the-modernmary @greeneyedblondie44 @angelic-kisses13 @wanniiieeee @hotforhotchner11  @baumarvel @ssamorganhotchner

[sashi-ya]

Vampire!Law or werewolf!Law?

Hi, hi! I used to be obsessed with vampires back then. Never seen/read Twilight, though. But still. I didn't know if you wanted something NSFW, so I included some, not that explicit just in case. I hope you like it ♥. I loved the prompt so I'd probably be extending this story, perhaps with more OS someday!.

Vampire! Law x Reader.

Countryside town AU. No gender description. Everybody is 18+. No spoilers. TW: Blood. Slightly hurted animals. Kind of blood play. Soft NSFW. WC: 4.4K AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/31552169

Drawing done using a base from: deviantart.com/shadow-bases

It’s a cold night, puffs of steamy air coming out from your mouth as you quickly walk to your parents’ house. The moon shines in between foggy clouds that cover a dark sky. You regret the moment when you accepted going out, plus everything around seems a little threatening. You are used to the city you were living in until now, and somehow forgot the feeling of living in your hometown. But, your old friends wanted to see you, and you couldn’t just say no.

The old town you were born in seemed to have never evolved. Since the day you left your parents’ house and moved to campus in the big city, the town has preserved its own style, the same houses, the same old shops.

Reddish dried leaves crunches under your feet, and some crickets sing in the dark. You grab your phone just to check the hour. 00:00. You are a little bit tired; you’ve been driving the whole day to get there, but even though you were exhausted your old friends insisted on celebrating your comeback to the nest.

You are about to get to your house, when a sudden noise creeps the hell out of you, but you realize it’s just a cute white cat. “Hello kitty, you scared me!”, you say as the little cat comes purring. You crouch and pet it, after all it was too cute to not play with it.

“Bepo… Bepo… where the hell are you?”, you hear a man’s voice that comes closer. “Are you Bepo?”, you ask the little kitten and try to see what his collar says. “Bepo!!, there you are!”, a young man says with a gravelly voice.

“Oh, excuse me!”, you tell him as he comes closer to grab the white ball of fur. “Oh no, it's ok! I was about to go to sleep and I was looking for him. Did you scare her/him/they, Bepo?”, he says, approaching you, bending down and petting the kitten’s head.

The clouds move allowing the moonshine to bathe his face, revealing refined face features. A straight but snub nose, white pale skin, black spiky hair that ends up with sideburns, a goatee, and intense grey eyes with very dark circles were his main features. He was the most handsome man you’ve ever seen in your life so you stay caught on his face for a little while.

A cold breeze blows your hair and somehow a chill runs through your spine, as you hear the sound of wind chimes dancing along on the front porch of a wooden house. “Do you live in this town? I haven’t seen you before… I mean, I’m kind of new into town though…” he says to you with a smile while lifting the cat on his slender, pale and tattooed hands.

You stand up and say “Oh, uhm...I’ve recently graduated so I came back to my parents’ house to work with them, I used to live here, though”. “Oh, I see! Nice to meet you! My name is Law”, he says while extending his hand to you. You hesitate for a second, but then you say “Nice to meet you Law, I’m Y/n”. You shake hands, and realize how cold his skin is, almost as if he was somehow… dead?.

The encounter is disrupted by your dad, who got worried of you not arriving at home and opened the door to see if you were coming. “Y/n! there you are!. Oh, hello young man!, How are you?”, your father says from the front porch. “Goodnight Mr. Y/sn, everything alright! What about you and your wife?” Law says waving at your dad. “She’s inside a little worried for her pancake, that I see you’ve already met!”, your dad tells him while laughing. “Dad… I’m ok, go inside, I’ll be there in a minute”, you say to him, embarrassed.

“Nice to meet you, Law. Have a good night”, you say petting the little cat. “Have a goodnight too, Y/n-ya. I hope I could see you again”, Law says, giving you a side smirk. You nod and walk away.

You flop onto your bed, tired, exhausted. You close your eyes, total darkness until… his eyes… Those crystal grey eyes are the only thing you can see, and then they turn to yellow. And you wake up with a big gasp to the smell of blood.

“What the fuck was that?”, you say, agitated. An orangey sun ray filters from the windows of your teenage years room and hits directly your face. You block the sun with your arm realizing soon it was already morning and today you start working on your old family farm as a vet.

“Good morning little pancakes!!”, your dad greets you, as well as your little brother. Your mum is cooking those delicious breakfasts you used to have when you were younger and you sit on the table, pleased and filled with your family’s love.

The day passes with you meeting all the animals on the farm, you even have to take care of a wounded horse. “Don’t worry Violet, it’s just a little blood, but your leg will be fine”, you say to a black spotted mare that has been jumping on the field and somehow hurt his leg.

At noon, your childhood best friend sends a text telling you that tonight you two should go to “Shambles Bar'' - the one and only bar that has ever been there since you were born - to have fun since it’s Friday. You agree, not because you were a fan of partying but because you missed those old days before you left for uni.

“Leeeeet’s go party like the old timeeees, babeee” your best friend shouts at you while jumping on your bed. “hahaha stop it, you are going to break the bed!!”. You both laugh, get ready and head out.

You pass next to Law’s house and try to see if he is at home, but it seems as if no one is there. “Oi, do you know Law?” you say pointing with your thumb to his house. “Law?”, your best friend asks confused, and continues, “You mean the vampire guy who lives there?, yeah. Why?”. “Vampire guy? what do you mean?” you ask, half confused, half curious. “Haha, the guys call him like this. I mean, have you seen how pale he is? and those dark circles? He looks like he is dead. Plus no one has seen him during the daytime. Ever. But how do you know him?”, she tells you. “Oh, yesterday, his cat, Bepo, came to me. He was looking for the kitty and we happened to talk”, you tell her with a tone that tries to downplay the topic. “Oh, I see. To be honest I don’t even know what he does for a living so I don’t have any more info. Maybe Luffy or Zoro know him, you can ask them tonight”, she says. “Yeah, maybe”, you say and change the topic.

A few drinks after and you and your friends are already dancing to the sound of country music and the humble light system of the old bar, when the same image of those eyes of your dreams flashes before your eyes and a sudden smell of blood hits your nose. You stand still for a moment, scared. “Babe, what is it?”, asks Nami, one of your friends there. “Uh.. n- nothing”, you say confused and keep dancing.

A few seconds later, someone is touching your shoulder from behind. Your friends stand still for a moment with a subtle scared expression, but the touch of that hand felt warm for you, even as if some type of power was running through all of your body.

“Y/n-ya?”, a well-known voice calls you, and you turn around. There he was, Law, “the vampire guy” as your friends call him. “L-Law?”, you say slowly smiling when you see his pale face. “What a coincidence, huh?. I mean the town is not that big…”, he says, and you finish his sentence with a “yeah, and this is the only bar…”. You both laugh and for some seconds your eyes are fixed onto each other’s.

“Oi, Torao! you wanna drink with us?” says Zoro, inviting Law to our table. “Yeah, thanks, Zoro-ya”, he tells him. You all sit and ask waiter Beca to bring you another round of drinks. Law sits next to you.

Sanji, another friend of yours, asks you “You two already know each other?”. “Kind of”, you say laughing a little blushed. “Y/n-ya met Bepo, first!” Law tells your blond friend, laughing.

An old song you and your friends used to dance as “your song” starts playing on the jukebox and you run to the dance floor. You can’t help but gaze at where Law is just to see if he is watching you dance. And he does, he is looking at you, with a smile on his pretty face. Your cheeks turn to red, but you are way grown up to act like a teenager, and decide to invite him to dance. You are driven somehow to him, you don’t really know why, but you are.

“Law, do you wanna dance?”, you tell him, extending your arm as you were calling him to the dancefloor. “You too guys, come here!!” Nami shouts to your friends.

Law stands up and walks to you. Smiling, he incorporates to the circle and starts dancing. He doesn’t dance well, but you just don’t care, you either after all.

A slow song starts to play, romantic also. Robin, another of your friends, tells you that the song is called “I Hear a Symphony”, and that Law should dance with you. You look at her, widening your eyes trying to tell her to stop, but Law grabs one of your hands and tells you “May I have this dance?”. You giggle a little, I mean why is he talking like a prince?, but then you just let yourself go and accept his offer.

The pale guy puts his other hand over your waist and you two start dancing to that pretty melody. For a moment you feel as if you were dancing into a castle, like in another century.

Interlocking your eyes, you start to think that coming back to your hometown wasn’t that bad and somehow you feel as if everything around you disappears. For an instant you believe to see his eyes change colors, from that crystalline grey to an intense brilliant yellowish color, but this time you don’t get scared. You feel attracted more and more to him, as if something invisible was pulling you towards him.

The touch of his hands feels cold, really cold, just like the first time… “is it because it’s almost winter?”, you think. Law is looking at your lips, neck, and something on his expression shows as if he was willing to devour you. And frankly, you too… you lost yourself looking at his mouth, he has it barely open. He has prominent canines that show through the little space in between his lips, and you remember your friend's words “the vampire guy” ...

The slow music is over, and now pop blasts on the bar. The couples part and you all come back to your table. It’s already 2 am, and you all feel exhausted from working all day - except Law, who seems to be really energetic -.

“Well, my dear friends, I’m not a teenager anymore, I think I’m coming back home now”, you inform your friends, to which some of them reply protesting and the others supporting the motion.

“If you want to, I can walk you home. I mean, we are neighbors”, tells you Law. Something inside you says “oh no darling, you are going fast”, but your mouth simply slips a “Oh, thank you, that’d be fine”.

You grab your coat, and head to the door followed by your deadly crush. None of you two say a word the first few steps. Tonight, is even colder than yesterday, but your cheeks are so red, full of blood that you don’t seem to notice the freezing breeze. “He is going to think I’m desperate, like he is the hottest guy I’ve ever met, but still… calm down Y/N”, you say to yourself, while walking thinking about what to say to break the ice.

“The moon looks pretty tonight, doesn’t it?”, he says to you, timidly. You look up to the sky and contemplate a big full moon with reddish tints on its hue. “Oh, I think it is the eclipse they were talking about on tv last night… the “red moon” ...”, you say, but got interrupted by Law, “Yeah, a “blood moon””. The way he said that, felt almost as threatening, but you look at him, and there he is, smiling at you with a friendly face.

You remember you still don’t know shit about him, so you ask him, “Oi, Nami told me you moved into town a few months ago, what did it bring you here?”. He stops for a moment, looking at the ground, but then sketching out a fake smile he tells you, “I got bored from the city, so I moved into the countryside… but to be honest I came mainly because I heard that pumpkin pies here are delicious”. You look at him, because that sounded like a terrible lie but you chose to believe it and when you were about to ask him about what he does for a living, he interrupts you, “Well, it looks like we are already home”. “Oh, yeah, I haven’t noticed, ha-ha”, you say, a little bit annoyed because you wanted to ask him more questions, but mainly sad because the walk was over.

“So… goodnight”, you say to him while fidgeting back and forth with your feet. “Goodnight…” he says. You are both facing each other, and you nor Law are moving. He got his eyes fixed on your lips, and you wish he would just kiss you.

Slowly, little by little, Law approaches his face to yours, closer, closer, until... he stops himself violently. You get scared, but you don’t move a single muscle. “Why… why you… why do you smell like blood?”, he says gasping.

“W-What?”, you ask him confusedly backing up. “You, you smell like blood… have you… your arm…”, he says, snatching your forearm. Suddenly, you remember this morning, you cured Violet, and some blood got spilled on your forearm but you washed the area and took a bath right before going out. “How did you know?”, you ask him.

He remains silent, trying to calm down. “I’m… I’m sorry I have a really sensitive nose”, he says and continues, “Why don’t you go to sleep, we can talk tomorrow, it’s pretty late now. Goodnight”. He says and runs to his house.

You are left there, and for a moment you just can’t process what just happened. “What the fuck, Law?”, you think. A cold shiver on your back announces to you, you should go back home and go to bed. There was no point in staying there.

You snuggle on your bed, still trying to understand but the exhaustion your body felt wins and you fall asleep. Again, those eyes, the smell of blood, the cold touch, you can see, smell, feel it all… “Y/n! pancake!!! wake up!!!”, you hear your dad shouting at you. You open your eyes violently, “What??? What happened dad??”. “The cattle, some… something attacked them…”, he says horrified. “What?” ...

You get dressed and run to the cowshed. A poor steer lays there, he has been attacked by some kind of animal… with fangs, and the poor thing looks like he has lost some blood. Luckily he was still alive, so you helped him instantly.

“Pancakes, what are those wounds on the neck the animal has?”, your dad asks. “To be honest, dad, I don’t know. It looks like some kind of animal has bitten the steer, but didn’t eat it… it looks like… has drunk some of his blood…”, you say to your dad astonished even more than him. “But, what kind of animal could do such a thing?”, he inquiries. “The only ones that could do it are the Desmodontinae, or vampire bats… but they are not typical in this hemisphere…

The incident quickly spread and everyone in town was talking about it. Luckily the animal recovered in a few hours, as the wounds weren’t that bad.

You can’t stop thinking about Law, and quickly you forget about the animal incident. He has been on your mind all morning, “why did he run away?” ... That afternoon you decide to go see if Law is at home, you really need to ask him about last night… Plus, deep inside you are a little bit annoyed, you wanted him to kiss you…

You ring the bell of the wooden house, but there is no answer. Since the blinds were all shut down, you think that he must be at work.

Suddenly little Bepo appears meowing from the backyard. “Hi Bepo!! Is your daddy at home?”, you ask the little cat while ruffling his head fur. The cat rubs on your leg and then walks back to the backyard, so you decide to follow him.

If Law isn’t at home you could perhaps take a look at his patio. You are curious and he represented a mystery you wanted to decode, really bad.

At first you think you’ve seen someone looking at you from one of the windows of the house, but you thought it was just your imagination. You trespass private property.

The patio showed nothing but a bucket on one of the corners, next to an old mossy bench. You follow Bepo, and as you are approaching the metal pail that has something red inside, your phone rings. “God damn!!”, you jump scared. The phone screen shows an unknown number calling, “That’s weird”, you say and pick up. “Hello?”, “Hi!, Y/n-ya, it’s me, Law. I’m sorry to bother you but I wanted to apologize about last night”. Law… LAW! You realize you are still in his yard so you quickly leave the place and start walking home. “Don’t worry, I guess it must be a little intimidating to be with someone that smells like… blood”, you say. A silence takes the call but then Law simply laughs -again, a fake laugh- and tells you that he will call you later to compensate you for last night. You agree and say goodbye.

You close the door behind you leaning over it, gasping. Your heart races. What if he knows you’ve been stalking his house…? “I’m such a creep”, you say to yourself, and go to your room.

You spend the afternoon in your backyard with your mum, October is about to end so the fall season is at its peak. Maple leaves fall from a big tree next to your porch and garnish the patio with its coppery colors.

That night, your parents and brother were invited to a party in the next town, so they won’t come back until the next day. After a hot meal you go to sleep. You haven’t received any messages from Law yet and you wonder if you should text him or just let him do it first. You finally decide that he should be texting you first, so you snuggle in bed and close your eyes. For the third night in a row, you dream with those eyes, with the smell of blood. But, this time it's so intense that you awake instantly in the middle of the night. “Again?”, you say while brushing your hand over your eyes.

Suddenly you hear something knocking on your window… “Law?!”, you say, gasping. He mimics something similar to an “open please”. Your bed is next to the window so you are still sitting there in your pjs, so you stretch to open the window.

“What are you doing here?”, you ask him while helping him to enter. Law sits on the bed and tells you, whispering “I’m sorry, I was missing you, I really, really needed to see you… plus I told you I wanted to compensate for yesterday”.

A subtle light from the moon illuminates half of your faces, and you are speechless. “So, this is how he plans to compensate for running away last night? He is on my bed… he looks so sexy… damn”, you think. But Law starts acting innocently, and begins to ask you about the trophies on your shelves.

You tell him about how good you were at volleyball when you were in high school, and he tells you that he was too. “Where did you take that picture?”, he asks, pointing to an old photo you had pinned on the cork board. “This one?” you say, and when you grab it the side of the paper cuts your finger softly but enough to make some blood sprout. “Ouch!”, you say and you are about to take your finger to your mouth when Law grabs your wrist violently. “L-Law?!! What are you doing?”, you tell him, scared trying to unfasten from his hand. Law doesn’t speak, he starts to tremble, he is breathing fast, he is squeezing your wrist.

“Let me go, Law!” you say, but he doesn’t hear. He is somehow focused on perhaps staying still, trying to avoid something. He suddenly looks at you, his expression resembles a beast, beads of sweat run through his temples. His eyes change from grey to a bright yellow, his pupils dilate. His prominent canines are now true fangs.

Law is salivating, his veins are now visible on his forehead, you can see how his blood pumps faster. You can’t understand what the hell is going on, but for some reason you don’t scream. You concentrate on his eyes, you are able to see a remaining humanity in them, so you are far from scared.

He lets go of your hand, and kneels on the floor. Law is panting soundly; he is fighting against himself. “Calm down”, you say to him. He looks up to you, with tears in his eyes, still emitting guttural sounds. He is surprised to see how your face doesn’t show terror, nor contempt. You don’t know why, but you are even more attracted to him, dangerously attracted. You were willing to let him drink your blood if he wanted to…

With a smirk on your face, you say to him, “Blood is what you want, huh?”. He opens his mouth, and a pair of sharp fangs are shown. He shakes his head, he doesn’t want to hurt you, but he needs you. “I trust you; I know you won’t hurt me. You can drink from me”, you offer him. You know he is able to stop, and somehow everything makes sense. The poor animal this morning, he has just drunk a little blood but didn’t inflict mortal wounds to it. If he was that considerate to an animal, he will probably be with you too. -Or that is what you wanted to believe-.

He swallows, and still trembles and without any warning he pounces on you. Your back hits your bed and he's over you. He fixes his eyes on yours and asks you, "are you sure about this?". "Uhum", you nod. You are so desperate for him, that you probably consider yourself a beast more than him.

Law buries his fingers on your cheeks, and violently moves your head to the side, exposing your neck. You feel a few drops of saliva that falls into your skin from his mouth, and see how he approaches your neck.

He bites you, but even if it hurts, he is drinking your blood from your carotid so subtly, so carefully. A few seconds later, he stops. Some of your warm blood runs from the wound onto your bed.

"T-Thank you…" he says, planting a soft kiss over the little holes on your skin, caressing your hair. "You are welcome", you say, almost naturally as if being bitten by some kind of beast was something you always do.

But suddenly, you start to experience some kind of pressure on your chest, and breathing becomes difficult. Your eyes roll back, and you feel different. You look at him, trying to understand what is going on, and he simply brushes his tattooed hands over your face. "Don't worry, it's normal. You are not going to turn into… me. But, a little bit of me runs through your veins now…". He says, brushing his hand over his mouth trying to clean the mess your vital fluid has left on his lips.

You are not worried about becoming into a vampire or whatever the hell he is, but because you are experiencing a strong need to touch him, to kiss him, to fuck him. "Kiss me", you command him.

He looks at you, still settled over your body and your lips meet. His tongue invades your mouth, and you can taste the metallic rests of your blood on his mouth.

Without separating your mouths helps you take off your white -blood stained- shirt and then you do the same with him. His torso shows a big design inked on his skin, and a few wounds.

His fangs subtly scrape your skin, from your neck, to your chest, lower through your stomach. He spreads your legs with his strong arms, and softly but enough to leave some marks, bites the skin of your inner thighs. The feeling of those fangs softly ripping the first layers of your skin made yourself squirm in pleasure.

His yellow eyes fix on yours, and now he is devouring your sex. You throw your head back and surrender to his skilled tongue movements. What follows next is an extremely hard pounding session, that leaves you trembling, exhausted, sore… but satisfied.

Since then, every night you let him slowly drink you up, drop by drop, giving to him a bit of your life every time. Your eyes slowly changed colors, first a little patch of yellow, then half of your right iris…

A deadly, dangerous attraction, that won’t last forever… or maybe, if you decide to let everything aside and turn into a full vampire like him… who knows? maybe your obsessive love for him would end up changing your life… forever. ♥

[fandom-imagines]

New Start

Fandom: Stardew Valley

Pairing: Shane X Reader; slight Sebastian X Reader

Words: 5.1k (I love him)

Warnings: None other than non-proofread writing I don't think, let me know if there are any that need tagging ^^

Note: There could be a part two if anyone would like x)

“Pelican Town,” the name fell involuntarily from Y/N’s lips as she hopped from the bus that had dropped her at her new home. “Guess we’re here, Luna.”

The midnight black cat rubbed itself against her owners’ leg, hopping onto the ground beside the suitcase that had landed mere moments before. A purr escaped the felines’ lips at the feeling off Y/N’s fingers gently caressing her fur, back arching in pleasure.

The cold air blew through the girl’s body as she stepped from the bus with once final ‘thank you’ aimed towards the driver. A shiver ran through her, arms wrapping around themselves to keep a grip on the little warmth she had left. Luna, who was now pressed tightly against Y/N’s leg, seemed to feel the same as her.

“Come here,” she smiled, kneeling with an open arm to allow the cat to hop into, soon surrounded with the warmth of the jacket Y/N had luckily worn for her journey. “Good girl.”

The sound of a young girl’s laughter sounded throughout the street, blending into her eyes along with the roaring engine of the, now departing, bus. A small grin crawled onto the Y/H/C-haired womans lips as she spotted a young, dark-haired girl holding hands with a man who seemed just as happy as she sounded.

“Shane, who’s that?” The young girls’ eyes were now fixated on the newest arrival to Pelican Town, legs shuffling themselves to move behind Shane’s body.

“Not sure, Jas.” The man’s own attention was now on Y/N, unsure as to what to say to her, if anything.

“She has a kitty!” Jas, or at least who Y/N assumed to be Jas, pointed towards Luna whose head had popped out from the jacket once the chatter had begun.

“She’s called Luna,” Y/N smiled brightly as she, once again, pet Luna. “You can pet her if you’d like!”

Jas seemed to ponder this for a moment, small fingers playing with the strands of her hair, “can I, Shane?”

“Sure, Jas. Just stay close, okay?”

The kitty owner smiled at their interaction, kneeling down to the ground so that the girl could have easier access to the kitten when she came over.

“Wow, she’s soft. Shane, feel!” Whilst her words were mostly directed towards the taller man, Y/N still felt slightly flattered at the compliment.

Shane, who was sporting his usual blue jacket, kneeled beside Jas, cautiously petting the cat with such care that it seemed like he feared he would break her.

The three of them remained on the ground for a few moments, Jas still as excited as before at the kitten, until an elderly man’s voice caught their attention.

“You must be Y/N,” he grinned. “I’m Lewis, mayor of this town. I see you’ve met Shane and Jas already.”

“I have, it’s a pleasure to meet you all,” Y/N returned his friendly smile, shaking his outstretched hand with pleasure.

“Likewise. I suppose I should get you to your new house, hey?” Lewis chuckled, brown cap falling down his head slightly as he did so.

“I’d appreciate that,”

“Come on, Jas. We should let Lewis show this girl to her new house.” Shane gave Jas a small, almost unnoticeable, smile as they climbed back onto their feet. “Thank you,”

“They were nice,” Y/N commented as the two people from before left.

“They are. That’s Jas and Shane,” Lewis began speaking whilst leading Y/N towards her new home. “Jas is his goddaughter, very shy but talks a lot once she’s out of her shell. And Shane, well there’s more to him than meets the eye, but I’m sure you’ll figure that one out.”

The two of them walked in a comfortable chatter, occasionally being stopped by the townsfolk to either greet the new villager, or to say hi to Lewis who then introduced Y/N to them anyway. Everyone she had spoken to had seemed extremely kind, not having a single rude thing to say to either of them, some aweing at Luna who was now hidden inside the jacket, fast asleep from the long journey.

“Here we are!”

The house in front of her was small, but it was cute and big enough for herself and Luna. She knew that it only had a single bedroom, something that was to be expected considering her situation. The place seemed as though it had been deep cleaned recently, which was likely.

“It’s pretty, I like it.”

Lewis let out a soft hum, handing her the keys to her new place, “I’m glad! I’ll leave you to get settled in! You should try and meet some people tomorrow, everyone here is friendly; I’m sure you’ll get along well with them all.”

“Thank you, Lewis,”

“Anytime!”

*

The house was cosier than she had expected.

The fireplace was already lit, filling the entire place with warmth during the cold weather. In front of the fireplace stood a couch, placed just on top of a blush rug which Luna gladly hopped onto, curling up into a ball, enjoying the fires heat.

“Get some sleep, Luna.”

The kitchen was neatly laid out. Everything was pressed together whilst still maintaining the comfortable feeling of the house. It was clear that this place was cheap. She couldn’t complain, it was perfect for her; away from her old life, tiny yet comfortable, everything about this place screamed ‘perfect’.

The bedroom was larger than expected, a double bed seated in the middle of the room with a cabinet placed at the end of the frame. Other than that, the place was ready for her to make it her own.

Ditching her suitcase on top of the duvet, Y/N grabbed her shower supplies along with some night clothes and headed towards her new bathroom.

“Here’s to a new life,”

*

Early the following morning Y/N rose to the sounds of birds chirping.

Luna was laid asleep beside her, snuggling into the duvet alongside her owner who was doing the exact same. The unexpected noise didn’t startle her, it simply confused her. Having forgot where she was, Y/N was incredibly confused as to why birds were singing in a dull city.

“Wait,” her voice croaked. “We’re in Pelican Town.”

The sound of her owners’ voice seemed to wake Luna from her own slumber, tongue sticking out to lick the human before cuddling into her warmth, the duvet seemingly not as comfortable as her favourite person.

A silent giggle left Y/N’s lips at the kitten’s actions, hands raising from the cover to stroke the dark fur which Luna seemed to enjoy judging by the soft exhale that she let out, something that simply made Y/N continue her actions.

“Morning you little rascal,”

The two lay in bed for a few more moments, the clock soon hitting 7:00 which was when Y/N decided she should, most likely, get ready for the day having planned to go around town and meet some of the others that live here.

As though she sensed the sudden idea to get out of bed, Luna snuggled further into Y/N as silent plea not to leave just yet; to stay and enjoy the warmth and comfort of the creaky oak bed.

“I know you want me to stay, but I need to meet people,” a soft sigh escaped her lips as she spoke. “I promise I’ll bring back some treats, okay?”

The mention of treats alongside a promise seemed to be all the motivation that Luna needed to get up. Her small frame raised itself up from the warm sheets, dropping herself onto the floor with a soft thud, something that earned a giggle from the human.

“Come on, let me get ready then you can have some treats.”

*

“Be good for me, okay Luna?” Were her final words as Y/N left her new home, locking the door behind her.

The ground was layered with autumn-coloured leaves, the sound of them crunching beneath people’s feet being oddly satisfying to those hearing it. The wind blew threw Y/N’s Y/H/C locks, tossing them into her face which caused an annoyed from to coat her lips as she tugged the strands away, back to their original place.

In the distance, a large building could be seen with a sign that simply read ‘Pierres’ above it. Deciding to head there first in search of treats, Y/N took off with a newfound spring in her step. It wasn’t everyday you get to have a new start in a new town now, is it? A chance to be who she wants to be, without anyone saying otherwise; it was perfect.

“Welcome, you must be new here!” A polite man with glasses greeted from behind the counter. “I’m Pierre, owner of the shop. This is my daughter, Abigail,”

“Hey,”

“Please feel free to have a look for anything you need.” Pierre finished once Abigail had also greeted the newcomer, pointing around at various displays and their signs.

“Thank you,” Y/N gave them both a polite smile, immediately heading towards the pet aisle.

“What’re you looking for?” A soft voice startled her, pulling her away from her search for treats. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. I’m Abigail,” The purple-haired girl, now known as Abigail, introduced herself.

“I’m Y/N. I’m just looking for treats for my cat, Luna, I promised I’d bring her some back.” A blush crawled onto her cheeks, embarrassed at admitting how she talks to her cat as though she was a human, despite knowing many do it.

“I’m sure she’s sweet. The treats are just down here!” Abigail said with a smile, the two of them walking down towards the end of the aisle, determined to find Luna some treats. “I always wanted a cat, my dad would never let us though. Shame really.”

“Cats are great, they can be a pain sometimes though,”

“I’m sure they can.”

It wasn’t long until they finally found what they were searching for, Y/N quickly choosing a pack of treats she was sure Luna would like judging by the flavour; all the items in the store being homemade meant she couldn’t get anything that she would usually buy, not that she was complaining,

“If you ever want to come hang out, I’m usually around here somewhere,” with one final smile, Abigail was heading back to her previous place when Y/N had first entered the store.

After paying for her items, Y/N left with one final waves to Abigail.

*

One long walk later, Y/N somehow found herself seated inside the local saloon with her new friend Abigail who had looked for her, inviting her for a drink with herself and a few other of her friends which they were currently waiting for.

“So, Y/N/N,” the use of the nickname made the named blush. “What made you move to a town like this?”

The question made her freeze, drink still raised slightly to her lips; she was certain that the shock was evident on her face.

Having not had time to come up with a perfectly constructed lie, Y/N simply said the first thing to come to mind, “new start I guess.”

“Makes sense. A nice quiet place where nobody knows you, I wish I were able to do that,”

An internal sigh of relief formed inside Y/N’s mind, relieved to have gotten away with such a short and simple answer; it was something she wasn’t used to. In fact, being able to get away with anything was a miracle in itself.

“I’m sure you’ll be able to someday,”

“I have some good friend, but sometimes I want something new, you know?”

Y/N gave a simple nod, completely understanding what she meant.

The saloons comforting warmth floated throughout the room, the background noise being ignored as the two continued to chatter about anything and everything, Y/N blissfully unaware of the gaze of another drinker fixated on her and her friends.

*

A banging head was what Y/N awoke to the following morning, only made worse by the ringing of her alarm clock which she switched off, a disgruntled groan leaving her lips and she did so. The noise simply made the pain in her head worse, a sigh sounding from her once she realised this. The sun shining through the open window also added to the pain.

Luna meowed from beside her, placing her paw on her owner’s face in an attempt of waking her.

“Sorry,” she apologised to the cat. “Want feeding?”

Feet padding across the cold wooden floor, Y/N headed towards the kitchen, both to take some painkillers and to feed Luna.

A smile crawled across her face as Luna sat at her feet, desperate for her food. Chuckling once Luna darted for the food, Y/N decided to finally get some painkillers to ease the banging pain in her head.

The wooden cabinet stood high in the air, too high for the girl to reach.

“Are you kidding me?” She sighed, attempting to jump to the height of the shelf. “I just want some painkillers,”

It took a few minutes for her to finally give up, a sound of defeat echoing throughout the room. Unfortunately, there was only one chair currently and it was plastic, no way anybody could stand on it without it breaking in two. So there was only one option: give up and suffer, at least until she was able to get some.

“Maybe Pierre’s sells some,”

It was a simple decision, her only idea as a matter of fact, and so she decided to head to Pierre’s and hopefully she’d bump into Abigail.

*

The autumn air was chilly yet still retained some type of warmth within. The leaves were, once again, coating the ground with their coloured patterns, blowing away on an adventure throughout the town. Despite the temperature being colder than she would have perhaps liked, Y/N pressed on, desperately praying that the fresh air would provide, at least some, relief to her head.

“Morning, Y/N,” Abigail smiled upon seeing her enter, evidently not as hung over as she was or maybe she just had painkillers, who knows?

“Hi,”

“You look hung over,”

“I am,”

The two continued to talk whilst searching for something to ease the pain.

“I hate to say this, but I think you’ll have to try Joja Mart,” Abigail sighed. “It’s up the road, just past the blacksmiths, you can’t miss it.”

“Oh, thank you.” Y/N gave one last smile as she left, ready to continue her search for what she needed.

*

Joja Mart was just what she was expecting, bold and flashy; everything she hated. Perhaps the hate stemmed from working for companies similar to this, or maybe she had always hated bold and flashy things, perhaps a mixture of the two. Either way, she had no choice but to go inside and find her painkillers.

The inside of the building was just as bad. Spotless and bright with posters plastered all over the walls advertising their own business, despite the customers having been inside their shop already. It was strange to say the least.

Y/N wandered the aisles of the store, searching high and low for any sign of painkillers; sadly, there were none. At least, not until she reached a shelf in the middle of the store that seemed to hold painkillers. Unfortunately for her, somebody was blocking the shelf.

“Excuse me,” her voice was meek. “Could I get some painkillers please?” Despite her pain, Y/N still mustered up a smile for the man, hoping to ease the clear annoyance on his face.

Wordlessly, the worker grabbed a box for her and gave her it before turning his attention back to stacking the shelves.

“Thank you,”

*

Swallowing the pills with a sip of water, Y/N was looking forward to feeling better again.

It was always fun drinking with friends, but the aftermath was not so fun. Despite all this, it was still worth it, at least in her opinion. Spending time with Abigail, Sebastian and the others of their crew was enjoyable, and it was fun to finally be able to let go and be who she wanted to be, who she is, with other people around her. She had thoroughly enjoyed doing so.

It was nearing late afternoon, the sky darkening and the moon replacing the sun that once sat high in the sky. The masses of people around Pelican Town had faded, leaving only a few lone wanderers to explore the territory; quiet and beautiful.

Deciding to remain outside instead of heading home, Y/N wandered to a place she had found yesterday with her friends.

The bridge was long, holding itself above the water with various wooden pillars below the surface. The water itself was a calming blue, moving steadily down the river, moonlight reflecting from the waves.

A content smile crawled onto Y/N’s lips as she took a seat at the end of the bridge, placing her shoes that she had removed whilst walking here on the ground beside her whilst dipping her, now bare, feet into the warmth of the water.

Time passed, the only reason she knew this was having watched sky darken further until it was a deep shade of blue, bordering on black.

“Hey!” A woman’s voice sounded behind her. “You look like you could use a drink, I’m Pam, and this is Shane.”

Looking behind her revealed both a man and a woman.

The woman was shorter than the man, whom she recognised from when she arrived at the bus stop, with short curly hair and a slightly distorted facial expression which Y/N assumed was caused by alcohol.

Shane looked the same as he was her first day there, blue jacket and green t-shirt keeping him warm and the tiniest bit of stubble covering his chin. He seemed slightly unhappy to be here, even more so when Pam flopped down beside Y/N, dragging Shane with her as she offered them both a drink.

“No thank you,” she politely declined the drink that was held out to her.

“More for me then, kid,” Pam’s voice was slurred, the stench of alcohol leaving her open mouth as she spoke. “What brings you here anyway? I know you’re new around here,”

The same question Abigail asked yesterday, why did everyone seem so intrigued by her sudden appearance? Then again, it’s not like you get many new faces in this town from what she had both seen and heard.

Shane’s attention seemed to be caught by this question, ears wide open to hear her answer but gaze fixated on the bottle of beer in his hand.

“Uhm- “hesitation was evident in her tone, something that only piqued the man’s interest. “I needed a new start.” It wasn’t entirely a lie; a new start was desperately needed for her. “Personal stuff I suppose,” she giggled nervously, running her hand through the warm water.

“Sounds about right, hey Shane?”

Shane wordlessly nodded, raising his beer to his lips to take a sip.

The three of them sat in a comfortable silence, the occasional sound if wind blowing through and the clanking of beer hitting wood being the only sounds that could be heard between them. None of them knew how much time had passed, only that it was nearing midnight.

“I should probably get home; my cat will be hungry.” Y/N sighed, lifting her feet from the water and putting her shoes back on.

“Be a darling Shane and walk her home,” Pam smiled at him, chuckling as Shane rolled his eyes in annoyance yet no remarks left his lips, simply standing up alongside Y/N.

“Come on,” Shane muttered, walking down the bridge with Y/N following quickly behind.

The short walk back home was quiet, Shane ignoring her attempts at making conversation, disregarding them along with a rude comment. It’s not that he wanted to be rude to her, she seemed lovely, but he had to.

His behaviour was confusing to say the least, leaving Y/N worried that she had done something wrong. This thought was clearly written on her face, almost making Shane apologise to her, feeling bad for making her doubt herself but alas he didn’t.

“Uhm- thanks Shane,” despite his rude behaviour towards her, she still offered him a smile. “I appreciate it.” And with that, she headed inside her house.

“Yeah, no problem,” Shane whispered once the door had shut behind her.

*

A few weeks had passed, and Y/N was getting along with most of Pelican Towns residents, especially Abigail and Sebastian who she would definitely say are her best friends with Penny being a close second.

Much to her disappointment, Shane was still quite rude towards her which sucked considering that she found him pretty cute.

“He’s like that with everyone he doesn’t know,” Abigail told her. “Don’t take it personally.”

“I guess,”

Despite all this, she was starting to feel safe and at home here in this small town. It was a small step towards her desired future, but it was one that she was proud of. Baby steps.

It was a quiet Saturday morning, Y/N on a usual morning walk to pick up some food for both herself and Luna. This was a routine for her, one she was used to by now. Less than a month ago she had found herself stuck doing everything for her mother, and now everything she did was for herself and her cat, just the way she liked it.

“Morning, Shane,” Y/N gave the dark-haired man a soft smile, watching as he directed his gaze towards the ground.

“Will you just leave me alone,” he snapped, not enjoying the way her smile dropped slightly before swiftly changing back into a bigger one.

“Sure,”

Shane watched with slight guilt as the girl walked away from him, desperately trying not to let his words get to her.

He knew she was nice. She had helped Jas and Marnie quite a bit in her first few weeks here, but he couldn’t let her get close to him. He didn’t want to ruin her innocence and kindness with his harsh and troubled personality, no matter how much he wanted to talk to her.

He couldn’t apologise.

*

More time passed and Shane found himself missing his, albeit small, interactions with Y/N. Instead of wishing him a good morning, she simply ignored him, staying true to her agreement of leaving him alone.

He would watch out for her of course, silently praying that she would say something, anything, to him so that he could politely reply to her. Nothing was said, not to him at least.

The small smiles and touches she shared with Sebastian at the Saloon irked him for some unknown reason. Shane hated the way Sebastian’s hand brushed hers as he handed her the drink that he had just bought her. The mere sight of Y/N and Sebastian together was enough to ruin Shane’s mood for the rest of the day, especially when they were alone together. It was clear Sebastian liked her as more than a friend, but the question was, why did Shane care so much?

*

The dark nights sky hung high above Y/N, the moon shining brightly alongside it to provide at least some light to anyone who may be out this late. It was a relatively clear night, not many stars littering the sky.

She had skipped meeting up with Abigail and Sebastian to instead sit alone, dipping her feet into the water much like she had done a few weeks before.

She was too deep in her thoughts, that she missed the sound of somebody walking down to sit beside her. It wasn’t until they were sat next to her, that she realised.

“Y/N,” they said.

“I thought you didn’t want me to talk to you, Shane.”

Her words made Shane wince. Despite the words seeming harsh, there was no harshness in her voice.

He hesitated for a moment, before doing what needs to be done.

“I’m sorry,” he sighed. “I shouldn’t have said that to you, you were only being kind. There was no reason for me to be so rude, so I apologise.” His own words made him feel uncomfortable, not used to apologising like this.

“It’s okay, I get it. You’re scared of getting close to people, so you push them away,”

Shanes eyes widened at how accurate her deduction on him was; he didn’t know what to say in response.

“I-“

“You don’t have to say anything, Shane. It’s fine, I forgive you.”

Sincerity laced her tone, words being completely truthful. He didn’t know what to do, so instead he watched her. Her gaze was fixated on the night sky, feet gliding through the clear blue water. She looked truly beautiful.

That’s when it clicked inside his head: he likes her.

“I should get going, it’s late.”

Shane watched as she lifted herself up onto her feet, picking up her shoes soon after.

“Wait,” he called when she began to leave. “Let me walk you home?”

*

And that was how their friendship began.

The pair would greet each other each morning, meeting up in the morning to walk together, Shane going to work and Y/N going for her daily walk. In fact, that’s where they were now.

“It’s a bit chilly, isn’t it?” Y/N giggled, wrapping her arms around her bare arms in a vain attempt to avoid the cold winter air.

Shane glanced at her cold frame, shaking his head slightly. “Should’ve worn some clothes then, shouldn’t you?” His words were clearly a joke whilst he laughed, slipping off the blue jacket covering his own arms, gently placing it around her.

The jacket itself was too big for her. The sleeves fell below her hands and the body buried her body; it was comfy.

“T-thanks,” Y/N smiled, praying that the cold weather had made her cheeks red, hiding the blush that had just formed.

“Don’t mention it,” Shane was praying the exact same thing. “Why aren’t you wearing a jacket anyway?”

“I uhm-“unsure as to what to say, Y/N glanced down at the ground, silence filling the air whilst she fiddled with the sleeves on Shane’s jacket.

“Hey, what’s up?” Shane halted his movement, noticing that Y/N had done the exact same.

Nervously, he walked towards her until he was stood in front of her. She remained still. Shaking his head slightly, Shane raised his hand to her chin, tilting her head to face him. “What is it?”

“I’m not supposed to wear them in winter,” her words were rushed as she immediately tried to turn away from his concerned gaze, but to no avail.

“Why?”

“M-my mum told me not to,”

Shane’s eyes widened at her words, finger unconsciously running across her red cheeks. He had no idea what to say to her, no idea how to comfort her; it was clear that she was getting upset. So he did the only thing he could think of and enveloped her in a tight hug, resting his chin on top of her head, enjoying the way her arms wrapped around his body whilst her head rested against his chest. His hand moved from her back to her hair, wordlessly stroking to hopefully provide some comfort.

Neither of them knew how long they stayed there, both just enjoying the others touch.

“You should get to work,” Y/N said, pulling away from his embrace. “You’re probably already late.”

“Being late is worth it as long as you’re okay,”

*

“Hey, Y/N/N!” Sebastian yelled as he saw Y/N outside Pierre’s, looking at the calendar.

“Hey, Seb,” she smiled sweetly towards the man who gladly returned it. “How’s it going?”

“It’s going,” he chuckled. “Hey I’ve been meaning to ask you something!” Despite his attempts at seemingly calm, it was clear that he was nervous.

“Oh? What’s up?”

“Well, I was just wondering if you wanted to go on a date? … With me…”

Surprise covered Y/N’s face, unsure as to how to react.

Sure, he was nice, but she didn’t like him, not like that.

“I, uh-“her sentence was cut short by another man behind her, someone who had clearly heard the question.

“Let’s go, Y/N,”

“Shane?”

Y/N felt Shane’s hand grasp her arm, the gentleness of the grip contrasting the dark look on his face.

“I-okay?”

And with that, the pair left a confused Sebastian behind.

“Shane, are you okay?” Y/N asked once the two were alone. “You’re kind of scaring me,” her hand reached out to Shane, resting itself on his arm.

“Do you like him?” His voice was merely a whisper, gazing at the ground as though he was too afraid to look at her.

“Well yeah, he’s my friend so of course I like him,”

“No, do you like him?”

“Shane? No, I don’t. I like y-“ Y/N’s eyes widened at her words, realising that she had almost confessed to her crush without thinking. “No, I don’t like Sebastian.”

Shane’s eyes glanced towards her, noticing her blushing cheeks.

She was still wearing his jacket; he could feel the sleeve on his bare arm as he melted into her touch. She looked adorable.

“Good,” Shane sighed, stepping closer to Y/N who was simply confused. “Because then we might have a problem,” his hand rested itself on her blushing cheek which darkened further at the contact.

“What do you mean?” It was her time to avoid looking at him, hoping that the blush wouldn’t get any worse. “I mean, it’s not like we’re anything, so why would we have a problem?”

“Because I like you,”

Y/N’s eyes widened at his confession, gaze darting up to the taller man. “You what?”

“I like you, okay? I have for a while now. If you don’t feel the same, just say and I won’t bother you again.”

Y/N stared wordlessly, unsure of what to say to him.

“Got it, I’ll leave you alone,” Shane’s hand dropped from her cheek to his side, slowly walking away.

“Shane,” she called out to him, only to be ignored. “Shane!” This time she ran towards him, taking hold of his hand to spin him around, lifting herself up to his height to connect their lips.

Her spare hand reached up to his neck, pulling him down to her. The faint taste of beer could be tasted on his chapped lips. Shane’s own hand moved to her cheek, melting into the kiss.

“I like you too,” she whispered against his lips once they pulled away.

Shane simply kissed her again.

[flippin-fins]

Forbidden

LadyNoir July 2021 Day 15: Forbidden

Read on AO3

A/N: Was I expecting to write an enemies to lovers AU? No. Did I panic and not get to the lovers part? Possibly. Stay tuned for either a future fic or a future day this month (Hello secrets!) for a continuation because who doesn’t love enemies to lovers?

When she’d first gotten her miraculous, Tikki had told her that Ladybug was supposed to be part of a pair, that she had a partner out there.

She still remembered coming home after that first fight, seeing the look on Tikki’s face and knowing the black cat she’d gone up against was supposed to be on her side

Every time she faced him a voice whispered in the back of her mind, ‘does he know?’

Ladybug knew it didn’t matter, but she still found herself wondering. What if it was different? What if we fought by her side, joining her in stopping akumas, working together against Hawkmoth?

She was relaxing in the shadow of a beam on the Eiffel Tower one evening when he found her. Ladybug had thought there would be no harm in taking a break during patrol, but her luck seemed to be saved for akuma battes.

Jumping to her feet, one hand on her yo-yo, Ladybug prepared herself for a fight, bracing for him to throw the first punch. She’d found it hard to fight him, to start their fights, knowing he was supposed to be her teammate.

“Relax, Bug,” Chat Noir laughed at her. “I’m not here to fight you, at least not tonight.”

She frowned at him, untrusting of his words.

“I usually come up here at night. Something about the lights, it calls me.” Ladybug wasn’t sure what the joke was, but he laughed quietly at something he’d said.

She crossed her arms, finally annoyed at his appearance. “So, what? I’m supposed to leave, even though I was here first, so you can what? Howl at the moon?”

Mimicking her stance, Chat Noir raised an eyebrow. “Really, howl at the moon? My other half can’t even come up with a proper cat joke?”

Her blood ran cold. So he did know. Not that it changed anything, apparently.

She stiffened as he moved, raising his hands in surrender.

“But I get it, I’ll let you have your space. Maybe in the future we can make a schedule. On Tuesdays you can have the tower, and on Thursdays I can. Something simple for you to follow.”

“And what if I want Thursdays too?” She didn’t know why she was responding, going along with his teasing.

“Why, Mlady,” he grinned at her as she bristled at the pet name. “I guess that’s what making a schedule is for.”

With that, he saluted and jumped off, his baton already extending underneath him.

She tried not to think about the fact that it was the longest conversation she’d ever had with him.

~~~

The small bell at the entrance to her shop jingled, and Marinette looked up in time to see Adrien holding up two cups of coffee. She smiled and waved him over behind the counter as she cleaned up her clutter.

“Why hello there. I thought you were doing a photoshoot for the next,” she checked her phone, “hour.”

“Well, Vincent said I was too much of a ‘deflated lasagna’ and sent me on my way. So I figured, what better way to spend my new free time than with my favorite person and her favorite coffee?”

Marinette snorted imagining Vincent’s remarks as she took a sip. Her boyfriend didn’t always have a lot of free time in her schedule, so she appreciated any opportunity she got to see him during the day.

Of course, it never felt long enough.

The couple jumped as their phones went off, and she sighed at the alert.

“Oh, I need to get home, you know my dad-” Adrien started heading out the door.

“Yeah, I should close the store and try to pull in some people to get them off the streets,” Marinette nodded, headed towards the back door of the store.

She turned as he slipped outside, Tikki floating infront of her. Calling her transformation, Ladybug raced outside.

She knew it wasn’t fair to be frustrated at people who were akumatized, but did Hawkmoth really need to target people during the only time she got with Adrien today?

“Why, Mlady! Long time no see!”

Ladybug groaned. Of course he’d be enthusiastic about this. He probably sat around planning how to get in her way, how to ruin her day.

She twirled her yo-yo, searching for the Akuma. Maybe today would be quick, maybe she could avoid going toe-to-toe with the cat for once.

~~~

Marinette grumbled as she slipped into bed. Adrien had gotten up early for that photoshoot and would probably be exhausted from his day, and the akuma battle had lasted far longer than it should have. Instead of a nice evening cuddled on the couch with a movie, she’d have to have an early night.

At least they had a moment before the akuma this morning.

Rolling on to her side, Marinette hoped that maybe tomorrow would be better.

~~~

As her feet touched down, she realized her favorite vantage point was occupied.

“Why, Bugaboo, if you wanted to see me so badly, you could have told me yesterday!”

She groaned, rubbing her face. “Chat, why are you here?”

“I told you,” he tapped the beam next to him. “A schedule.”

Sure enough, taped with probably an impressive amount of tape, was a piece of paper with days of the week written on it. If she squinted, there was a small black cat drawn under ‘Thursday’ and a red circle under ‘Tuesday’.

She turned to leave, but his voice stopped her.

“Does it ever feel overwhelming? The double life?” His voice was quiet, and Ladybug couldn’t figure out if he actually expected an answer.

She didn’t realize she just had to wait.

“I get you don’t want to answer me, identities and all, but you haven’t pushed me off this ledge yet. I just -” Chat paused, and Ladybug saw his shoulders fall. “I’m not going to talk about it to him, and I feel like you’d get it.”

She stayed silent, not knowing how to respond.

“I’m sure you know we could have been partners, should have been a team. I think in another life, that would be nice. Freeing.” He whispered the last word, as though it wasn’t meant for her.

He sighed. “It would be nice to not feel so alone.”

Finally overwhelmed, Ladybug stepped back. Since she’d arrived, Ladybug had felt like she’d been intruding on a private moment, and this was too far.

“It’s never too late, Chat,” Ladybug whispered, stopping herself from reaching out. She didn’t know if he was too far in his own thoughts to hear her. Throwing out her yo-yo, she turned to him. “For now, I’ll just try to keep to the schedule.”

Something about what he said stuck with her, but she let herself get caught up in the swinging of her yo-yo to let it simmer.

~~~

Marinette didn’t remember when it had gotten so hard. She knew Adrien was frustrated with how his father pushed him, all of these early morning photoshoots and late night events starting to run together, but he’d never taken it out on her like this.

She was exhausted, but it wasn’t like Marinette could tell her boyfriend it was because Hawkmoth had increased his akumazations recently.

She missed when their time together was with giggled stories and warm cups of coffee, instead of fights and empty apologies for missed dates.

It felt like Marinette blinked and suddenly he was gone, his voice asking for some time apart echoing around her apartment, inescapable.

Tikki’s soothing voice sounded miles away, and all Marinette hoped for was a reprieve from those poisonous butterflies.

~~~

He bared his teeth as he pushed the baton against her, pinning her down. He wasn’t usually so physical, preferring to let the akuma do most of the work, but today something was off.

There was a feral look in his eyes, and a ghosting of purple and black near the bottom of his mask.

Taken aback, Ladybug thought through their recent interactions. No, she couldn’t have caused that.

“Minou?”

He froze, tilting his head to the side. Had she said that out loud?

She didn’t let the thought fester, already pushing off of him.

Slipping out from under him, Ladybug stood up, already planning her next step to get past him, to purify the akuma.

~~~

This time, when he joined her at the Eiffel tower, she offered him a croissant. Her parents had insisted on giving her a box of pastries, and with no Adrien to share them with, she didn’t know what else to do with them.

Chat quietly took her peace offering, sitting against the beams, watching her.

Brushing crumbs off her, Ladybug tried to bite back a sigh.

“Sometimes I wish it was different.” She couldn’t bear to look at him, to watch the surprise cross his face. “We could’ve been partners, but instead this city expeccts me to protect it. Sometimes I just want to stay home, hide out in my room.”

She finally looked over at him, but he wouldn’t meet her eye.

“Sometimes I wish we were partners, but most of the time I just wish things were normal. I mean,” she rubbed her face, willing herself not to cry. “I couldn’t even take a couple of days to be sad about my relationship ending.”

“I didn’t know you were in a relationship.”

“Well, I’m not. Not anymore.”

“Oh.”

They sat in silence for a minute, and she worried she’d said too much. Paired miraculous or not, he was still her enemy. Although up here, with the iron structure and the stars to keep them company, she wasn’t sure that was true. Like she’d somehow entered a truce with him, without even realizing it.

“Ladybug.”

She turned to him, surprised at the use of her name.

“Why did you call me that?”

She frowned, trying to figure out what he meant.

“During the last akuma, you called me Minou. Why?”

“Is that not what you are? A cat?”

“But you called me a kitten.”

She tried to hide her grin. “Yes, a big scary kitten.” She saw him frown and continued. I saw your face. I know I didn’t give you that bruise, and I know the akumas usually leave you alone. I guess,” she sighed, deciding if it was worth admitting. “I guess I just realized you’re probably my age, that we’re too young to be doing this. Too young to have to grow up this fast”

She looked over Paris, wondering if she’d gone too far.

“It was from my dad,” Chat whispered, and Ladybug ripped her eyes off the city to look at him. “He was, ahem, less than pleased with my appearance, and wanted to make sure his frustration was noted.”

She frowned, trying to understand. “Is your appearance important?” He chuckled, and Ladybug’s eyes bulged as she realized what she’d said. “No, I mean, um, like, is your appearance part of your job or something? Why does he care?”

Chat’s eyes sparkled, like he was hiding another laugh in them. “Something like that.” She watched as his hand reached up to rub the back of his neck. “Can’t have less than perfect for the face of the company, even if my relationship had just ended. Can’t have just one day to myself.”

“I’m sure he’d be thrilled to know you’re spending your night high on the Eiffel Tower with me, instead of sleeping.” Ladybug pushed away the sensation at the back of her mind, like there was something she should note, something important.

“I mean me? With Paris’s sweetheart? I’m sure he couldn’t be too upset.”

“I’m pretty sure Paris’s sweetheart is Adrien Agreste.” Ladybug motioned to a billboard in the distance.

“Sure, Ladybug, if you think he’s a sweetheart,” he chuckled again, and Ladybug squinted, trying to figure out what was so funny.

She pulled out her yo-yo and startled at the time.

“Oh, I didn’t realize how late it’s gotten. I gotta go.” She stood, but turned to Chat. “Thanks for tonight. I think I needed it.”

“Me too, Bugaboo. Me too.” Chat stretched out, making no move to follow her. “Get home safe bug.”

In another circumstance, it would be a threat. But tonight, high above the city, it was just a goodbye.

“You too, Chat Noir.” She smiled at him one last time before swinging away, leaving her forbidden friendship behind her. At least for tonight.

[leia-imogen]

aaron & the family he's found all by himself; vol. 2 // vol. 1

( ft. short jokes, a belated birthday shopping trip, & an ultra-chaotic winter break )

( for @criswisstuff & anyone who enjoyed the first one <3 )

savannah, who is 5'9, is constantly teasing aaron and cleo for being short. katelyn's good at 5'6, and also a bit impossible to tease bcs she's the actual best, so she gets to escape this

cleo ( 5'2 ) is perfectly delighted to have someone shorter than her for once in her life, even by only 2 inches

aaron: guys, just try and see this from my point of view

sav: [ collapses ]

katelyn: [ crouches down ]

cleo: [ sits cross-legged on floor ]

aaron: dude you're literally 2 inches taller than me

cleo: 2 and a quarter

sav is so smug about this but in a good-natured way, in that she and cleo call aaron "kid" or "kiddo" or "pipsqueak" and he doesn't mind bcs they always say it w such a huge smile and he likes to respond to sav with "how's the weather up there, tall-ass?"

and katelyn thinks it's ridiculously adorable how tiny aaron is and obviously she uses him as an armrest all the time

katelyn, petting aaron's hair: guys guys omg he's like an angsty mini blond kitten and i would kill for him <3

sav, popping up between them: mini-yard :))

before i get super distracted, i just wanna mention that aaron met sav and cleo towards the end of november, so they missed the twin's birthday

but sav still insists that she must take him shopping bcs sure his fashion sense is fine but there's always room for improvement, isn't there, aaron??

he relents, so long as she and cleo and katelyn ( who already gave him a birthday present?? why's she doing this??? ) don't spend too much money

sav drags him all around south carolina to the best thrift stores she can find and cleo and katelyn are amazed that she can get such fantastic deals on the supermodel clothes she wears

fr she's literally a fashion design major ( + minoring in business management ) and she shows up to class in skilfully done drugstore makeup and an absolutely killer outfit for like 15 bucks

she grew up poor, and she's still poor now, even if she ( thankfully ) managed to scrape a cheerleading scholarship

sav, flicking through a rack of dresses labelled $4 apiece: RIP to little miss rich bitch reynolds but i'm different ;)

no hate to allison she's awesome but she grew up in the lap of luxury surrounded by designer brands so she knows NOTHING about thrifting and rationing money in general

oh and sav and allison have kind of a frenemies thing going on bcs they're both fighting for the top spot of their fashion design course

they spend the whole day shopping and aaron ends up with a highly upgraded wardrobe that contains a lot of cute pastel stuff and sav's promise to do his makeup

aaron insists on paying for dinner at the really nice pizza place a short drive from campus even tho they all protest

and andrew knows he's found new friends, but has no idea that it's the vixens and he's dating one of them. nicky does tho, but he's sworn to secrecy

nicky thinks his new clothes are adorable and is stunned when aaron tells him the total cost

"oh my GOD that girl sounds like a genius."

"yeah, her name's sav. you guys,, would get along, i think."

okay now for the winter break part!!

i think that you can get permission to stay at dorms if you're an international student or something??

anyways since sav's super upset bcs her father straight-up told her not to come home bcs he has a new girlfriend ( god i hate sav's father )

katelyn would stay with her, but her dad can finally have her home in new york for christmas and she really doesn't want to miss it

cleo, the only one with a properly functional family, is going back to her big family house and loving parents and grandma and aunt and siblings and cousins. love that for her.

so aaron and sav are stuck at psu for 2 weeks and aaron's surprisingly cool with this. and sav's excited bcs for the first time since her mom died, she can spend her christmas with someone she actually wants around instead of her shitty-ass father and his constant stream of bitchy girlfriends

they spend a lot of time together, stealing food from the athlete's dining hall to make their own weird combos, which usually ends with aaron making something Cool and Interesting and sav gagging and spitting out whatever strange concoction she had previously insisted would taste good

i literally can't bring myself to give a shit about the twinyards' deal bcs andrew literally became best friends with renee?? and hooks up with guys at eden’s??? idk what's going on there but it's like andrew is trying to control aaron's life while he can do whatever he wants??? and honestly wtf????

also let me just make it clear that i ADORE andrew so so much he's one of my favourite comfort characters ever but i'm not gonna make excuses for his shitty behaviour. i fully believe he heals and puts away his pride to apologise to aaron, nicky, and kevin for his treatment of them

that's definitely not to say that aaron's internalised homophobia isn't eww, but with so many important people in his life gay, he makes a huge effort to get over it

so andrew just thinks that aaron is spending a lot of time in the library or out with nicky or something

and when aaron tells sav about this deal, she's kinda horrified, but it's pretty clear to her that aaron so desperately wants to fix his relationship with his brother, and she's not in any place to discourage him, is she?

the only thing she can do is hope that he won't come out all the worse for it

and stare at the boy curled up on the other end of the pale pink sofa cleo's parents had gotten, wonder just how much shit he'd been put through, and decide she was going to be his best friend

aaron's face has gone entirely impassive. sav nudges his fluffy-socked foot with her own, then reaches out to smooth the crease between his eyebrows. "careful, you'll wrinkle your pretty little face."

aaron is very caught off guard by this, and very promptly flushes bright red, which contrasts with the pale teal hoodie he stole from katelyn

"okay, enough talk about depressing crap. wanna go make christmas cookies now?"

"yeah."

so they make christmas cookies. well, it was supposed to be christmas cookies, but it turns into double chocolate fudge cookies somewhere along the line. neither of them knows how

them baking together is the definition of chaos. they're still blasting songs, and sav is singing along terribly

"yOu'Re A mEaN oNe, Mr. GrInCh," while poking aaron's cheek as he tries to mix something. he throws a handful of flour at her. "yOu ReAlLy ArE A hEel."

anyways obviously sav retaliates and that ends in a flour fight. it only stops when aaron deadass cracks an egg on sav's head and she smears chocolate into his hair

she also tries to make him sing along to baby, it's cold outside

"i'Ve GoT tO Go `wAAyyy~" she holds a spatula up to his face

"go away."

they video call katelyn, who takes one look at the mess in the cramped dorm kitchen and sighs so loudly and dramatically that her dad pops in and asks if everything's okay

aaron freezes up at the sight of him and sav quickly turns off the camera, bcs they both want to make good impressions on him, and being covered in various cookie ingredients just won't cut it, ya know?

the cookies turn out delicious and sav sends all their group chat various photos of the process, most of which consist of selfies with her making goofy faces while aaron is simultaneously baking and flipping off the camera

plus a several videos of sav enthusiastically dancing and mouthing the lyrics of, as follows, all i want for christmas is you, let it snow, and santa claus is coming to town and aggressively pointing a spatula at aaron

"c'mon aari, just sing! please??? please???? please you can do it i believe in you!!"

finally he just. gives up. "okay, you know what? fine, i'll sing to ONE and then you will STOP bothering me you insolent dumbass."

sav beams. santa baby starts playing. aaron is very clearly going through five stages of grief in 0.5 seconds

"go on," sav says sweetly as she slides in next to a pouting aaron, "i'll sing with you."

sav slings an arm around his shoulder and sways with him, so it's just her doing that and him grumpily mumbling the lyrics

and when the cookies are cooling down, they start cleaning the kitchen up. aaron rubs some spilled egg yolk into sav's hair but it goes pretty okay otherwise, since they're just listening to more christmas songs and chatting about light stuff, like aaron's biochem course, sav's fashion course, and their dumb classmates

aaron mostly listens tho, and learns that sav kind of hates allison reynolds for giving up her inheritance when she would do ANYTHING for even the tiniest fraction of that money

but she still thinks allison's gorgeous bcs c'mon

and that sav's dream is to one day open her own boutique!!

aaron spends most of the actual christmas day with the monsters at eden's bcs nicky and andrew wanted to

he spent a lot of the time texting on their group chat

doessavvyisgay: so u just go to a nightclub every week??

unaliveme: i mean yeah, i literally worked here for a while. we needed money and nicky was already working 2 jobs night and day

actualblessing: babe ur backstory is so tragic

unaliveme: i'm a fox for a reason ig

cleo.magda: Yes but-

doessavvyisgay renamed this conversation "aaron miniyard support group"

unaliveme: oh ffs

unaliveme: sav subject change go

doessavvyisgay: i'm at the clothes store what should i get?

actualblessing: something pretty :)

doessavvyisgay: sorry, i can't buy the cashier

cleo.magda: Wow.

doessavvyisgay: I DID GET HER NUMBER THO

unaliveme: lmaooo what's her name?

doessavvyisgay: uh

unaliveme: savannah istg u don't even know her name??

actualblessing: s a v

actualblessing: damn u really do be turning on the Charm tho

actualblessing: respect i didn't even talk to aaron till i asked him for notes bcs he has rly pretty notes and also a rly pretty face

actualblessing: and even then i was like :0

unaliveme: IT WAS CUTE I PROMISE

doessavvyisgay: u 2 = the only valid heterosexual couple

actualblessing: rt

unaliveme: oh shit i'm getting super drunk

cleo.magda: Aaron, you drink? That's not legal, get out of there right now. Kids these days-

unaliveme: cleo u have literally seen me get drunk af,, the first time we met,,, and anyways this is how my family bonds ✌🏻

doessavvyisgay: that's. so damn weird kiddo but go off ig

actualblessing: no go find better things to bond about other than alcohol and weird sweaty dancing

cleo.magda: Yeah, go watch some Christmas movies!

unaliveme: nicky makes us watch die hard every year

doessavvyisgay: see u in hell, kiddo ;)

cleo.magda: I meant things like The Polar Express and Home Alone.

actualblessing: merry christmas ya filthy animals!!

doessavvyisgay: merry xmas y'all i'm gonna go to that christmas party bcs i'm super bored

unaliveme: merry christmas mothers and fuckers

cleo.magda: Merry Christmas, you guys!

[modern-vellichor]

In Her Blood; Three

Summary: Steve's birthday gives plenty opportunity to play your little game. Bridges are being rebuilt between you and Steve when Sarah doesnt come home.

Pairing: DadsBestFriend!Bucky x Reader, Sam x Steve

Warnings: smoking, angst, drinking, alcohol use (not abuse), uncomfortable family dynamic, age gap relationship.

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Sam, Sarah and Bucky are all standing around the kitchen counter, Steve is blowing out candles on a birthday cake.

You shoulder through the front door, carrying a large cardboard box on your hip. You place it on the counter in front of Steve, and you smile.

"happy birthday, Steve-o"

He looks a little confused at first, he's wary opening the box. He's faced with oil paints and synthetic brushes, canvases and a mole skin sketchbook.

"were these spare from school?", he asks her, trailing his finger down the spine of his notebook.

"nope, bought them in my supply shop before I flew back, been hiding it in my trunk", she smiles, sitting herself in the stool beside Bucky.

"well", he says, surprised. "Thank you"

You shoot him a kind smile and turn to Sarah as she explains the plans for the night; "we're going to a new place, it should be nice and quiet considering it is the fourth of July"

The next time you're all together, Sam and Steve are clad in suits and you and Sarah are tugging dresses along behind you. You climb into your car and shout to Sarah through an open window.

"I'll pick up Barnes and follow yall there, wait for us outside!"

She throws you a thumbs up and you pull up outside of Bucky's house, honking your horn.

When he opens his door you have to hurriedly pick your jaw from the floor before he slides in next to you, his suit hugging every muscle perfectly.

You throw a pack of Marlboro Golds at him and he knows what to do. Lighting one between his teeth, he passes it to your lips. You nod in thanks, and then he drops his hand to your thigh, giving it a light squeeze. Your breath catches in your throat.

It isn't long before you're parking on the curb next to your family and throwing your butt out the window. Bucky is opening your door and offering his hand before you even have your belt unplugged. You take his hand and graciously step into the humid summer night.

The bar is quaint, dimly lit. Your dress shimmers in the flickering candle light, warm and homely. Bucky's hand stays on the small of your back, rubbing hot circles on exposed skin.

You and Bucky are the last to slot into the curved bench around a large table, you only have to step over Bucky to escape, but he's got you trapped, right where he wants you.

You all drink the night away slowly, whiskeys and Manhattan's, a cranberry vodka soda for you, a dangerous drink.

Bucky's hand stays on your thigh the whole night, hidden under the table, the slit in your dress the perfect place to slip his hand to bare flesh.

It's just gone midnight when Sam and Steve are sauntering onto the dancefloor and swaying in eachothers arms.

Bucky turns to you with a mischievous grin and an outstretched hand, "would you like to dance, doll?", his tone mocks innocence and sincerity, enough so Sarah isn't suspicious of your secret rendezvous.

Your smile is equally as devilish, you take his hand, "Actually, I would"

He smirks as he leads you to the floor by the hand, its terribly intimate and the risk of being caught looms dangerously close, neither of your care. He spins and dips you, holding you close to him. You catch Sam's eye and he winks at you with a joking smile, you throw a thumbs up behind Bucky's back and smile.

"they're so clueless", you whisper into his ear, breath tickling his neck as you nibble at his earlobe.

"kitten", he growls, "stop that"

"you're so scary", you mock, but you stop nonetheless, parting from him and dragging him to the bar and then outside.

You hold your cigarette between your fingers and your glass is hanging lazy from your other grip. Bucky stands behind you, chin on your shoulder and arms iron-tight around your waist.

When you bring the smoke to your lips he allows you a long pull before taking it from you, placing it loosely between his oh-so-kissable lips.

He takes a drag for himself and then presses his lips to yours, sticky smoke fills your lungs and you smile, he pulls away and you blow a cloud in his face with a giggle.

Bucky and Steve are driving everyone home, their tolerance higher than everyone else's, and Sarah too tired to drive.

You rest your hand on Bucky's thigh as he pulls into your driveway, you're leaning on him as he walks you to your room. He's tucking you into bed and you're pulling him in next to you. He lays in your arms for a moment before he's making for the door. You let out a disappointed whine, but you stop at the click of a lock. You smile as he slips under the covers next to you. You press sweet kisses to his lips, tangled in each others arms.

He slips into the guest bedroom while you're still asleep. You and Sarah are the only two awake early the next morning, Steve already out for his run.

"god is real", you giggle into your coffee mug.

Sarah smiles back at you, she sees your stupid grin and blushing cheeks, "really?", she presses.

"he was sleeping in my bed night. God in jeans", you grin, sipping your strong coffee.

Steve comes in then, pouring himself a cup, you and Sarah stop talking.

"morning girls", you both mumble back a 'mornin'.

That afternoon, the five of you all gathered in the living room, Sarah excuses herself.

"I'm going out with Nate"

You all smile at her and wish get goodbye. Then you turn to your parents confused. Your head is resting on the armrest while your legs are thrown over Bucky's lap.

"who the fuck is Nate?", you question.

"language", Steve mumbles, not looking up from his fresh sketchbook.

"Nate is her boyfriend", Sam explains, you smile knowingly, shooting Bucky a discreet wink.

The day passes lazily, and soon you and Steve are the only ones awake. You stroll into the living room where he is sat, reading some old book.

"Sarah not home yet?", you ask as you make yourself comfortable in the armchair.

"no, not yet?"

It's already late, and so you turn to him. "why dont you go to bed, I'll wait up for Sarah"

"no it's okay, I'll stay up, why dont you get some sleep"

"I'll keep you company"

Its oddly comfortable, the two of you cozy in armchairs and warm lighting. You're curled up in a blanket, typing away on your laptop, Steve sprawled out across the room with his book.

The night rolls on and you both grow more worried.

"should we call the police?", he says, his back is straight, he's anxious.

"no", you say softly.

"arent the first 24 hours the most crucial in missing persons cases?", he stresses.

"that's missing children, Dad. She's almost nineteen", you both pause, that's the first time you've called him Dad since you turned 16. "if she's not hone by morning we'll call the police, and then we'll round up a gang and go looking"

You shut your laptop and settle next to him, you throw you arm over his broad shoulders and comfort him. Eventually the two of you fall asleep.

You're startled awake he next morning by the sound of the door opening, you both scramble up, expecting Sarah. Instead you find Sam and Bucky.

"is Sarah home?", you question, still groggy. Bucky smiles at your sleepy form.

But Sam looks worried, "I dont know, why?"

You shoot Steve an anxious look and bolt up the stairs, you find her bedroom empty, and jump back down the stairs. "she didnt come home last night"

At that moment, Sarah bustles in. Her makeup is smudged and her clothes wrinkled, dark circles prominent under her eyes. You and Steve's demeanors immediately change to angry and defensive.

"where we're you?", you say simultaneously.

"out with Nate, I told you"

You and Steve glance at each other before he's ordering Sarah into the kitchen. You follow after Steve, Sam leads Bucky away into the living room, distracting him.

You have always been able to tell you were Steve's daughter. You both tower over Sarah as she rubs her temple. You hold yourselves with the same power, the same dominance. Bucky and Sam watch discreetly from the hall, and Bucky cant deny the similarities.

When you talk you use the same rough tone, "where the fuck were you?", "what were you thinking?", "we were gonna call the cops, do you know how worried we were?". Its biting and cold, you're both furious.

"you would never do this if Y/N disappeared for a night", she snaps. You both freeze, Steve straightens up, you're shocked into silence.

"Y/N knows how to hold her own. Y/N is an adult, I trust Y/N to ge safe, and to keep herself safe incase anything were to happen", he states, tone unnervingly even and monotone.

"I'm an adult too", she whines.

"You're not even nineteen, Sarah", you snap. "We still have to order you coke and chips whenever we go out, you may be a legal adult but you sure as hell don't act like one"

At that Sarah storms up the stairs and slams her door. You and Steve sigh as Bucky and Sam amble into the kitchen. Steve pours everyone a cup of coffee, you all sit in comfortable silence.

"Hey, what if we all go up to the lake, its perfect this time round, I'm sure we can all fit in the cabin", Steve says after a while. You all nod in agreement, Sam starts up the stairs to tell Sarah.

"wha'd'ya think, Y/N?", Steve smiles, all of a sudden shy. He's not used to being so soft with you, the two of you hadn't properly gotten along since you were 14, and here you were, together, close.

"I'll start packing", you smile.

@vicmc624 @adriannajackson @zizzlekwum @chipilerendi @madaroni37

[happygirl2oo2]

Fence: Striking Distance fanart I'd love see made

Please, I can't draw but I need those in my life so badly, and no this list has no order really so do whatever

Harvard and Aiden's fair date (bonus points if you include Aiden's years of dreaming of it as well)

Seiji and The Bros (any scene of your pick)

Harvard on his motorcycle (bonus points if it includes his leather jacket that he literally bought for "practicality", god I love him)

Harvard and Aiden's first time meeting as kids back in kindergarden (bonus points if that includes the full scene with Harvard being Best Boy even as a 5 year old)

The (failed) trust falls scene

Harvard and his mom (I'd take anything, really, but bonus points maybe if it's their talk after he realized he's been in love with Aiden all this time 'cause he told Aiden when he came back that that's what he did)

The scene of Seiji in the lines "He walked off, a stern, remote presence among the joyful crowd. A guy hopping on one foot almost crashed into him. On reception of a chilling glance from Seiji, he decided to throw himself upon the floor instead."

That scene of Harvard and Aiden in the hospital as kids when Harvard's dad was sick and Aiden came back after he was forced to leave 'cause he "want[ed] to be with Harvard"

Aiden and Rosita (possible ideas for it- her singing to him as a kid, the scene of them in the parking lot...)

The 'steaks run in the woods' scene

Aiden picking out his outfit for his fair date with Harvard (he canonly told Harvard that he just bought that for their date, but boy's been dreaming about this date, in detail, for years ok, so you better believe that either he had this outfit tucked away and saved for that occasion only in the hopes that it might happen and he couldn't tell Harvard that OR that he was so excited he really went shopping to get the perfect outfit for his dream date with Harvard, and I'd take a drawing of either version you want 'cause I love them both)

'Nicholas giving Seiji his fixed watch' scene

Harvard and Aiden's first time to Kings Row

"What are you doing tonight?" "Being heterosexual? Or.. maybe not?" scene

Harvard and Aiden in the rain under one coat (Harvard mentioned that it's been happening constantly since they were 10, so bonus points if if it's them, like this, over the years, eventually ending with the scene of it in the fair date)

Harvard taking care of sick Aiden

Dante being Done® with the fence team (scene to your choosing, there's a bunch)

The scene where Harvard and Aiden are being romantic while the others ignore them to focus on crime

Nickholas and Aiden's talk at the campfire

Harvard cooing over the picture Coach's baby nephew she showed him on her phone (happened in the first chapter, bonus points if you include "Aiden sneaked a glance at Harvard's glowing face and then smiled to himself" in the background)

In the same scene as the one the idea above is from, it was also mentioned that Harvard secretly collected videos of kittens and puppies being friends, so a drawing of that maybe..?

Harvard and Aiden's "Because it means nothing" scene (because apparently I'm not dead enough inside yet)

Seiji's first time at breakfast scene (Bonus points Nicholas lowkey stealing Dante's food, and extra bonus points if it includes the scene with "-the best looking guy in school, everyone agrees-"×"Wait, why are we suddenly talking about Seiji?")

Harvard and Aiden's first kiss

Harvard waking up Aiden in the morning (it's canonly said to happen a lot, so you can make it as you wish, but I have the scene if you want it for reference, and bonus points if it's them doing it over the years, starting with younger them doing it by phone like Harvard recalled and ending with it now with their room and shared bed in Kings Row. Additional bonus points if you also make the scene of him telling Aiden boring stories to help him fall asleep)

Follow up on the one above- if you end up just drawing that 'telling him boring stories to help him fall asleep' scene instead, then bonus points if Harvard starts the story with them both as kids, as he's canonly been doing it for years ever since their first sleepover, and ends it with them as they are now at their room in Kings Row

The scene with Seiji, Jesse and Aiden in the woods but the part where "“I knew it, I knew horrible things were happening at Kings Row,” Jesse muttered. He stopped tugging persuasively and pulled at Seiji’s wrist hard enough to hurt, so Seiji’s sleeve was disarranged and the dying light caught his watch. “And what ghastly object are you wearing on your wrist?!” “That’s my favorite watch,” Seiji snapped, and twisted his arm free."

Harvard and Aiden's first sleepover

The campfire scene, specifically the part in the lines "Nicholas made a grab for the big bag of marshmallows, despite Seiji’s attempts to foil him. He fought for possession of the bag while Harvard brought Aiden a drink from the cooler and Eugene protested loudly: “Watch the fire! Bros, I’m concerned you’re gonna actually fall into the huge roaring fire.”"

Aiden and Seiji little talk in the woods after they walked away from Jesse

Harvard and his mom's magazines

The night cook-in meet thing at Dante and Bobby's room (all parts of that scene are on the table but possible bonus points for the part where Harvard's smiling at a text from Neal and Aiden accidently knocks over the burner which sets the curtain on fire)

The campfire scene, the lines "Eugene reached out with hope for a fist bump. Seiji waved him away irritably. “You saw what happened with the weight lifters earlier. Do you think I am in the mood for more physical contact today?” “Understood, bro,” said Eugene, lowering his fist. “Catch you tomorrow, on another righteous teammate day! I think you’re all the best, bros!” Instantly his fist shot back up in position. Seiji gave Eugene a betrayed look. “It’s a reflex, bro,” Eugene assured Seiji. “I didn’t mean anything by it.” Seiji made a grouchy sound and moved closer to Nicholas for protection from fist bumps."

Harvard and Aiden's double date

The Nicholas and Seiji scene in the lines "Seiji clung to the curtain as if it was a security blanket and he was a big baby. "I need the curtain." "You need me," said Nicholas. Seiji Blinked. "What?" "You require my present?" Nicholas reminded him."

The two Harvard and Aiden Araté scenes, next to each other- the one in the Salle where they're fencing, kinda early in the book, and the one in their room with the last kiss, around the end of the book

Seiji seeing Dante trying to sit next to Nicholas and Nicholas telling him "hey, dude, no, I'm saving this seat for Seiji" before he come to the table and sat there

Harvard playing video games with his little cousin (he mentioned to coach, quite early in the book, that he did it occassionally)

Nicholas and the Bros at the fair

Seiji's chat with his dad (bonus points if you also drew the memory of Seiji as a kid that his dad brought up here)

The scene in the woods with Seiji, Jesse and Aiden, especially the lines "Aiden rolled his eyes. “Oh my God, there are three of them.” “There’s only one of me,” Jesse snapped. “I’m Jesse Coste.” He tossed his head up high. Seiji had seen other people quail when faced with half the fury currently gleaming in Jesse’s blue eyes or contained in the arrogant lift of his chin. “Don’t flip your hair at me, freshman,” Aiden sneered back. “I’m Aiden Kane.” Aiden shook back his own light, bright, curling hair from his face and looked down his nose at Jesse. “Who?” Jesse asked. “Ask some of the Exton boys,” Aiden drawled. “I don’t remember their names, but I guarantee you they’ll know mine.”"

Nicholas and Seiji moving the curtain scene

Eugene telling Nicholas about the prank (poor dude about to pass out while Nicholas is touched by it)

Harvard and Neal (mostly for Haiden angst in edits purposes to be honest 😬 But also 'cause Harvard is Best Boyfriend no matter who he's with and I kinda want to see it)

Seiji & Nicholas being Oblivious Freshmen

Aiden's coming out to Harvard when they were.. 15 I think it was(?) scene (it's been mentioned in Aiden's thoughts in the scene where Harvard comes out to him after his date with that girl), maybe? Idk

[sassyduckqueen]

Miraculous: Rise of Anatis 47

So I may have fallen in love with the whole Luka playing violin thing so I'm working it into this. I've always had the intention of him playing more then just guitar so it was kind of a natural progression in this story. Also I got to work in some dad!jagged into this :D And this chapter officially marks the beginning of Alya's Redemption. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter. The next two chapters will be linked chapters so that should be fun to do :D

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Chapter Forty-Seven: Reflekdoll

"Miraculous Ladybugs!" Anatis shouted as he threw the shoe up into the air. It burst into the cure and swept across the city, fixing all the problems that this akuma had caused including restoring the Eiffel Tower. Anatis let out a small sigh as he watched it. It seemed like a lot of the akumas had it in for the tower. He frowned and shook the thought from his head before jumping up and landing on one of the rooftops with Lady Noir following him.

 "Hey, you ok?" She asked, making him look at her before he gave her a smile.

 "I'm ok," He replied, making her raise an eyebrow. "I was just on my way to something really important when the akuma attacked but I'm fine so sorry for worrying you,"

 "Hmm... if you say so," She grinned before giving him a serious look. "But you know you can talk to me if you need to right?"

 "Hmm, it's not like you to be so serious, Kitten," He teased, making her pout a little. He chuckled at her expression before giving her a soft smile. "Don't worry about me,"

 "Hey, I'm allowed to worry about you," She gasped, making him smile before she glanced to the side. "Been Anatis isn't the same as been Lady Noir. You're the one who has to capture the akuma and restore things while I get to be the cunning, ultra charming Lady Noir. I have it easy,"

 She glanced down as she spoke, causing Anatis to frown a little before he placed his hand on her hair and gently ruffled her hair again, making her look up. He smiled down at her with a gentle look in his eye.

 "I like the cunning, ultra charming Lady Noir," He smiled, making her blush a little. "She keeps me going and helps me have fun. Without her, Anatis wouldn't be here,"

 "Annie," She gasped before hugging him. He chuckled and hugged back. "I like Anatis too. He might have to be the responsible one but I think he has quite the sense of humor,"

 "Thank you," He muttered as she rests her head against his chest, purring a little. He smiled and gently rested his head on top of hers but then both of their miraculous beeped, causing them to jump back from each other. "Ah, I gotta get going! See you next time, Kitten,"

 "Y-Yeah! Right! Bye!" She gasped, blushing before using her baton to launch herself off the rooftop as Anatis waved to her and then threw his yoyo and jumped swung down to the alley where he left his bike. He landed on the ground, just as his transformation dropped. He caught Tikki in his hands as she let out a little sigh before placing her in the basket of the bike where a bag of cookies were. She dived into them and began to eat one as he put on his helmet and got back on his bike. He pushed off the wall and began to cycle. He rode out of the alleyway and headed to the Grand Paris hotel as fast as he could. He pulled up at the bike area outside the hotel and locked up his bike before taking off his helmet and placing it in the basket. He took a breathe before opening his hoodie, allowing Tikki to fly into his pocket. 

 "You ok?" She asked in a quiet voice.

 "Just nervous," He mumbled, smoothing his hoodie a little. "Well, it's time to face the music... literally. Wish me luck,"

 "You can do this," Tikki grinned, giving him a thumbs up. He smiled and gently stroked her head with his finger before taking a breathe and heading into the hotel. He walked up to the desk, causing the woman to look up with a bored expression. "Um hi... I'm here to see Jagged Stone..."

 "Right," She mumbled, looking back at her computer. Luka sighed a little.

 "Uh he's expecting me and told me that his agent Penny would inform the desk that I'd becoming by," He continued, making her look at him with his belief. "Um if you don't believe me, just phone his room and ask him. Tell him Luka is here to see him,"

 "Fine," She replied, rolling her eyes and picking up a phone, dialing a number. Luka tapped his fingers as she spoke on the phone before going bright red and stammering out an apology. She hung up and looked up at him. "Uh sorry about that. Gotta be careful right? Anyway, Ms Rolling has confirmed that you are telling the truth. They're in Suite 36 on the 4th Floor,"

 "Thank you," He smiled before walking over to the lift and press the recall button. The doors opened and he stepped in before pressing the floor he needed. He leaned against the wall as he rode it up before it came to a stop. It pinged and he stepped out before heading to the suite. He stopped outside, frowning a little as he heard some shouting before he took a deep breathe and knocked. A few seconds later, Penny opened the door, allowing the shouting to become louder. She also was talking to someone on the phone and holding a clipboard. He really hoped she wasn't too stressed out. "Um,"

 "Ah, Luka, there you are," She smiled, ushering him and closing the door before walking towards where the shouting was coming from. "Uh huh, that would be great,"

 "Is this a bad time?" Luka asked as he followed her into deeper into the room. He stopped and rose an eyebrow as he saw Jagged on the bed, throwing footballs at a man he recognized as Bob Roth, owner of Roth Records. 

 "Listen, Jagged-" Bob started but Jagged threw another ball at him as Fang hissed.

"No, you listen! I will not sell out and change my look!" Jagged gasped. "I'm a genuine rocker and- Luka!"

 He jumped down from the bed and pushed by Bob, making the man frown as he looked at Luka with a raised eyebrow. Jagged ignored him and lead Luka away from him, asking him how Anarka was doing and what he had been up to. Luka explained that he was working on a new song with Rose. 

 "Jagged, we ar- ah!" Bob gasped as Fang growled at him.

 "Penny, show Mr Roth out will ya?" Jagged ordered, getting a nod of Penny who gestured to the door. Bob glared at her but moved when Fang growled at him. Luka frowned a little and looked back at Jagged. "Oh, don't worry about him. He's just grumpy that I won't work with that rapper, XY,"

 "Oh," Luka nodded, frowning a little. He had heard XY's music and wasn't impressed. There was no feeling or soul to it. "I'm not too keen on XY,"

 "Me neither," Jagged grinned, grabbing his guitar and flopping on the sofa, strumming at it a little. "How's Marinette doing?"

 "She's good," Luka smiled, playing with his hands. He looked down and gestured to the jacket he was wearing. It was the one she had given him on the music festival. "She made this jacket for me,"

 "I thought so," Jagged grinned, making Luka smile a little before he gestured to his guitar. "Want to jam?"

 "S-Sure," Luka nodded, a little nervous. Jagged put his guitar down and jumped up, walking over to a door and opening it. He gestured to Luka to join him, causing him to move over.

 "One of the reasons why I go for this room is because it has a walk in wardrobe," He explained, turning on the light and revealing the wardrobe but it was like an extra room. It was roughly the size of a medium bathroom and had a number of Jagged's stage outfits but it also had a huge amount of guitars and other stringed instruments. "Perfect place for my collection if you ask me,"

 "Whoa," Luka muttered as he walked in. He had only ever seen this many instruments in a shop. "You owe all of these?"

 "Yup. Got a few special additions too," He replied, gesturing to a Fender Stratocaster. "This belonged to Jimi Hendrix,"

 "Seriously?" Luka gasped, glancing at it. He could practically feel the soul of the guitarist in it. Jagged grinned and nodded. "So cool,"

 "Right?" Jagged grinned, grabbing another guitar and plugging it into an amp. "I figured we could jam together if you want,"

 "Ye-yeah, I'd like that..." Luka asked as Jagged began to play and nodded. "Thanks,"

 "No need to thank me, Kid. If anything I should be thanking you for giving me a chance," He grinned, moving his fingers against the board before he stopped. "I know I wasn't around for most of your life and I know it hasn't been easy for you but I want to make up for that and get to know you,"

 "That... means a lot," Luka muttered, glancing to the side a little. He felt Tikki press her paw against his chest to remind him that he wasn't alone before he took a deep breathe. "I want to get to know you as well,"

 "I'm glad," Jagged smiled as Luka glanced over before he noticed a violin. He walked over to it and picked it up. "The violin huh? Can you play?"

 "It's been a while..." Luka admitted, looking down a little. It was one of the few things he didn't like to share about himself but he didn't just learn to play guitar when he was younger. He actually took up violin as well but it was one of the reasons why a number of kids disliked him. He remembered feeling happy when he played it because the lessons were after school so it meant he didn't have to go home straight away and he was good at it. Sure, he hated school but at that point, he hated Issac more so it made sense to stay at school more. The school he attended didn't offer guitar lessons but that's why he took up violin. He would play guitar at home, mostly when Issac wasn't in but would play violin at school twice a week. However, a lot of kids laughed at him for it and called him a geek and other mean words. He didn't think it was geeky but it was just another reason for a number of the kids to bully him. After a while, he stopped mentioning that he played it but still attended the lessons. Of course, things changed when Issac left. For one thing, they moved and Luka didn't want to go back to school, especially since he hated it and Issac was gone. He also stopped attending the violin lessons after that and never mentioned it to anyone but he played for a good number of years. He traced his fingers over the strings, wondering if he could still play. He always found that playing an instrument was like riding a bike. He never truly forgot how to play. He picked it up and tucked it under his chin before grabbing the bow. He took a deep breathe and began to play. It didn't sound great at first and his movements were stiff but soon he began to feel more relax as he remembered how to play and the music followed suit. It smoothed out and the notes turned from weak and distorted to crisp and clear as he moved his fingers against the board. He came to a stop and smiled a little before jumping as Jagged clapped. He forgot he was there.

 "Not bad, kid," He grinned, walking over. "You can keep that one if you like,"

 "Really?" Luka asked, looking at him with surprise. Jagged grinned and ruffled his hair as he nodded. "Thanks!"

 "No problem, Kid," Jagged grinned. "Hey, why do you play that while I play the guitar?"

 "Sure,"

 ~Later that Night~

 "So how did it go with Jagged?" Marinette asked as Luka sat in front of his computer. He promised that he would tell her all about it. He glanced up and smiled a little. "Ooh, you look happy,"

 "I am," He admitted, smiling. "We played some songs together and caught up. He even gave me a violin,"

 "A violin?" She questioned before her eyes went wide. "Wait, you play?"

 "O-oh yeah..." He mumbled, going a little pink as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I do,"

 "And you never told me?!" She gasped, pretending to feel betrayed as she threw her hand against her forehead but it made him smile a little. "But seriously? That is amazing! You'll have to play for me at some point... I mean if you want to that is..."

 "Y-Yeah, if you want to listen," He mumbled, blushing as much as she was. "Um... Oh, Jagged told me to tell you to get a website..."

 "Urg... again?" She groaned, making him raise an eyebrow. "Oh, Jagged's been trying to get me to set up a website so he can commission more work and share it with his friends,"

 "But that's great," Luka gasped, making her smile before she sighed. "Isn't it?"

 "It would be... if I had models! If I set up a website, I need to show case my work and I can't just take photos of it without a model. My work is meant to be wore, Luka but I can't afford a model! I could ask Adrien but then his father will hunt me down! He'll blacklist me and I'll never get to be a fashion designer!" She groaned, throwing her head in her arms as he chuckled a little. She looked up a little and gave him a playful glare. "Don't giggle at me, Mister,"

 "I'm sorry," He smirked a little before making a thoughtful look. "Why don't you get some of your other friends to model? Like Alya or Rose... Or you could go for Juleka? She's always wanted to be a model,"

 "You think she would do it?" She asked, making him nod. "Really?"

 "Sure, I'll encourage her to," He smiled, making her grin. "If you want, I can about it to her soon,"

 "Yes!" She gasped, making him smile. "Juleka is so pretty. She'd be perfect,"

 "I'm glad you think so," He replied before yawning. Marinette giggled a little. "Sorry, I'm just tired,"

 "Well, you spend a whole half a day with Jagged," She grinned. "I'm honestly surprised you're still awake given how energetic he is and how much attention he likes,"

 "Yeah, he's very energetic," He admitted before yawning again. "Sorry, Melody, I think I'm gonna go to bed,"

 "No worries," She smiled before blowing him a kiss, causing him to blush. "Sleep well, Lu,"

 "N-night, Melody," He mumbled, still blushing. Even as she sighed off. He got up and changed into his PJs before crawling into his bed as Tikki settled on his pillow. "She blew a kiss at me..."

 "Yeah," Tikki smiled, yawning. "Night, Luka,"

 "Oh... night, Tikki,"

 ~A Few Days Later~

 Luka hummed as he played his guitar. Juleka had asked him to sit in with her so he could tell her what he thought about her hairstyle. She wanted to change it up but she wasn't sure how or if she had the confidence to pull it off. He glanced up and noticed her, lifting her fringe up and down. Without realizing, he began to play, matching the tempo to her action. When she lifted her fringe and smiled, he played a high note and when she let go of it and frowned, he played a low note. Finally, she frowned and look down, causing him to stop playing and look up at her.

 "Don't you want to be a model anymore?" He asked, glancing at her. 

 "Y-Yeah..." She mumbled, looking down at her hands. "But no one's ever gonna pick me,"

 He strummed his guitar as his mind flicked back to the talk he had with Marinette about Juleka modelling for her website. He knew Juleka wanted to suggest it to Marinette and Marinette wanted to ask Juleka but neither of them had done so yet. He smiled a little as it appeared to the perfect chance to bring them together. 

 "Have you tried to talking to Marinette about your idea?" He asked, making her frown a look down a little. "She wants you to model for her website you know,"

 "I don't want to bother her with that..." She mumbled, glancing down. "Besides, why would she want me?"

 "You're really pretty, Jewel," He replied, using his nickname for her before he got up and walked over to her. "I know Marinette would love to have you as her model,"

 He smiled as he pulled back her fringe, revealing her eyes.

 "You've gotta follow your dreams in life. Don't let them pass you by," He explained as he picked up her hairclip and fixed it into her fringe, causing her to look up as he did. "You were made for this,"

 He gently pressed a kiss onto her hair, causing her to smile before pulling away and putting his guitar away. He grabbed his bag and put it on before opening his hoodie for Tikki to fly into. Once she was settled, he left his room and poked his head into Juleka's. She was just grabbing her back as well.

 "Ready?" He asked, making her look at him.

 "Yeah," She mumbled, holding onto her bag's strap. Luka gather her a soft smile before the two of them left the boat and headed to school. They didn't talk on the walk there but it wasn't uncomfortable either. As soon as they came to the school, Juleka took a deep breathe and the two of them walked in with the other students that were returning from lunch. They still had a bit of time before lessons officially started again but as soon as they walked in, Aurora rushed over to Luka. 

 "Hey," She smiled, making him smile back before looking at Juleka. "Oh wow, Juleka. You look so pretty with your hair like that,"

 "T-Thanks,"

 "No worries," She smiled before turning back to Luka. "Anyway, I thought I should let you know that Mrs Mendeleiev called in sick so we have a free afternoon,"

 "Wicked. Thanks for letting em know," He smiled before turning to Juleka. "That means your last lesson will be free right?"

 "Y-Yeah," She nodded, glancing over at Marinette and the rest of them. She took another deep breathe, causing Luka to give her a grin and a thumbs up before the two of them walked over to Marinette and the rest of their friends.

 "Since Mrs Mendeleiev isn't in today, what should we do? We'll be out an hour early," Marinette asked with the other girls nodding and think. Alya pushed her glasses up and grinned.

 "We should use the extra time to make those videos and photos for Marinette's so to be website!" Alya suggested, getting the girls to agree with her. "Remember I ask you guys to think about modelling some of Marinette's designs?"

 Juleka took a deep breathe and glanced back at Luka, who gave her an encouraging smile and a thumbs up. She smiled back at him before walking forwards, getting the rest of the girls' attentions.

 "Um... I-I'd like to do it..." She mumbled, making the girls gasp. She blushed as they stared at her before agreeing that she should be the model and looked very pretty with her hair clipped back. She glanced back at Luka, who gave her another thumbs up and smiled before he headed to the art room.

 "Ok! Let's get that lesson done then we can head back to mine," Marinette grinned before pulling a thinking face. Alya rose an eyebrow as Rose continued to shower Juleka with compliments. "We're gonna need a technical direction who has experience with modeling,"

 "Oh?" Alya asked as Marinette walked over to Adrien and asked him. He explained that he would probably have to go home straight away until Marinette pointed out that he would in fact be ok to do so as his father wouldn't actually know any different since that's not when school is actually suppose to finish. With that in mind, he agreed before heading to the lesson. Marinette walked over to Alya, who rose an eyebrow. "Girl, since when were you able to talk to Adrien normally?"

 "Since I decided to move on," She replied, shocking her friend. "Adrien is great but he's just my friend and he's with Kagami,"

 "And you're ok with that?" She asked as they walked to the art room for their lesson. Marinette smiled and nodded as they walked inside. She smiled as soon as she saw Luka sat in the back, doing his own thing. Of course, he would be in here since he had a free afternoon since Mrs Mendeleiev was his main teacher. He knew the art teacher wouldn't mind him just working in the back as long as he didn't disturb any of the other students. He was sat with his headphones on, reading something. Marinette smiled softly as she noticed it was a book on playing violin. Alya, however, noticed her line of sight. "Hey, why don't we have both of the Couffaines in on the shoot? Luka could help with the music or something,"

 "Huh?" She asked before glancing at Luka and back at Alya. Her eyes widen at her friend's expression, which was the one she always got when she was about to make a plan. "Don't even think about it! It's one thing hanging out with him but if he's in my room, I won't be able to concentrate and-"

 "No, you won't. You'll be in your element," She grinned, placing her hand on her shoulder. "It's the perfect chance for you to get closer to him,"

 Before Marinette could even argue, Alya turned on her heel and began to walk towards Luka, who was humming a little as he read.

 "Alya! No!" Marinette gasped, getting up to follow her but she could, Rose grabbed her and pulled her out to discuss what they should do as Lila send a glare in her direction. Not that anyone else noticed. Marinette bit her lip and looked back as Alya reached him and tapped his arm. Luka jumped a little and took out his earphones. 

 "Oh, hey Alya," He smiled, surprised that she was talking to him. "Am I disturbing you with my humming?"

 "Oh, no," Alya grinned, resting her hand on her hip. "I was wondering if you could help us with Marinette's fashion shoot,"

 "Me? Um I don't actually know anything about photo shoots" He mumbled, going a bit pink. "B-Besides, I don't want to overstep anyone-"

 "Well, I was thinking you could provide a little music to set an atmosphere and help Juleka relax," She pointed out, making him think a little. She had a point. If Juleka had a panic attack, he would be able to calm her down and make sure she was ok. "And Marinette would love it if you were there too,"

 "Well... I don't have anything else going on..." He mumbled, getting a grin of Alya but before he could say anything, she rushed back over to Marinette and the other girls, telling them that he would help them with the music side of it. Juleka glanced over at him and gave him a small but grateful smile before returning back to the rest of the girls.

 (***)

 Marinette let out a deep breathe as she opened her jewel box and took out a couple of rings out as Adrien directed Alix to get some more light on Juleka. Luka was sat by her computer and was in charge of the music. Of course, he felt as awkward as Marinette did but naturally, Alya didn't seem to pick up on that. Instead, she began filming and moved over to Marinette.

 "Psss," She hissed, getting her attention. Marinette looked over at her. "This is totally your chance to ask him to the movies,"

 "Alya, I want to focus on the shoot," She hissed back, causing Alya to roll her eyes and focus on filming the rest of the group. Juleka was dressed in a stripped top that was navy blue and white with a red beret and blue jeans. She had a green orb necklace on with matching bracelets. Alya smiled as she looked at her before moving around the room to Luka. He waved at the camera a little, causing Marinette to laugh a little when she saw him do that. He grinned back at her. Alya smiled at the two of them. She really hoped an opportunity turned up to allow her to get the two of them alone. They would make such a cute couple after all, especially since she decided to move on from Adrien. Speaking of him, he was talking to Marinette about the jewelry. It was weird to see Marinette not freak out and stumble over her words. "So these are the rings I've got?"

 "This one," Adrien replied, plucking one of them out of her hand. "It will compliment the outfit really well,"

 "That's what I was thinking," She smiled as Alya filmed them before she turned back to film Juleka.

 "How about a little smile for the camera, Juleka?" She asked, making the girl jump like a deer caught in headlights. She looked down and began to mumble to herself, causing Marinette to frown and Alya to pause the camera. Luka instantly jumped up and moved over to her, getting her to sit down and take a few deep breathes. Marinette carefully walked over.

 "Is something wrong?" She asked, wanting to help her. "You know it's really cool for you to agree to be my model but you don't have to if you're not comfortable with it,"

 "Decide fast," Alya snapped, looking at her phone and ignoring the glare that both Luka and Adrien sent her. "We have less then an hour before Adrien has to leave,"

 "That's ok, Alya," Adrien smiled, trying to defuse the situation. "Um... Luka could take over as technical director when I have to go and we can also arrange another shoot when I'm next free. Right, Luka?"

 "I don't mind doing that," He replied, gently rubbing Juleka's back to try and help her calm down. She was still panicking and breathing heavily. Luka frowned a little as he knew she wouldn't calm down any time soon. "We might have to do it another day though,"

 "That's ok," Marinette smiled. "I can stand in for her for now and when she feels better, we can try again. Does that sound ok, Juleka?"

 "I w-want to-" She mumbled, trying not to cry. She felt so bad that she was feeling panicked. Luka gently rubbed her arm again, giving her a smile. Marinette gently knelt down in front of her.

 "It's ok, Juleka," She smiled, gently taking the girl's hand. "We'll do a couple of photos with me in the outfit and then we can switch back to you. That gives you a chance to relax ok? Besides, I should model them myself for a couple of photos with them been my designs,"

 Juleka nodded, feeling a bit reassured as having a second model would take a lot of pressure on her plus Marinette was right. They were her designs so she should definitely get a chance to model them. Alya smiled in agreement before eyeing up Marinette and Luka as an idea came into her mind. This was too good of an opportunity to pass by.

 "Of course!" Alya suddenly shouted, surprising everyone before she jumped over and held up her hands like a frame, focusing on both Marinette and Luka. "The coolest thing about your designs is that they work with both guys and girls,"

 "Alya," Marinette gasped in a warning voice. 

 "A guy," She declared, moving her hands over to Luka a little bit before moving them back to Marinette. "A girl... same suit! What do you think, Luka? You in?"

 "Um... I'm not much of a model, Alya and this is meant to be Juleka's thing, not mine," He pointed out but naturally, Alya completely ignored him.

 "It will be fine! We'll do a duel shoot and then do a single suit with Juleka!" She grinned before grabbing the hat off Juleka's head and shoving it in Marinette's hand, ignoring her as she went to protest. "Juleka, give Marinette your suit,"

 Juleka let out a sigh but got up and moved behind the changing curtain. She got changed back into her normal outfit and handed the suit to Marinette as the rest of the girls set up another changing curtain. Alya shoved another outfit and accessories into Luka's arms and pushed him behind the curtain before he could argue as Marinette took the suit.

 "Are you ok with this?" She asked, frowning as Juleka nodded. "Really?"

 "It's fine, Marinette," She mumbled, playing her hands. "It will only be for a couple of photos right? Besides, it's better this way,"

 "Well... ok but we'll switch back as soon as you feel ready ok?" Marinette smiled, making Juleka give her a soft smile before she sat down with Rose. Marinette glanced back at her, still feeling a bit uneasy with the whole thing but before she could say anything again, Alya rushed over to her and began to push her towards the changing curtain.

 "Just brought you some extra time to ask him out," She gasped quietly, causing Marinette to go bright red as Alya pushed her behind it. Marinette went to say something again but Alya smirked. "You're welcome. Now get changed,"

 She moved away, causing Marinette to gasp before she sighed and took off her bag. It was only for a few photos and until Juleka felt better. It would be fine. Or at least she hoped it would be. She began to get changed into the outfit and put on the accessories. She put on the earrings before picking up the rings. She slipped them on her fingers until she came to the last one. It was meant for her ring finger on her right hand but her miraculous was on there. She bit her lip and glanced at the ring, moving to take it off.

 "I hope you're kidding," Plagg suddenly gasped, poking out of her purse. She silently hushed him as she took her miraculous off and slid the other ring on.

 "It won't be for long, Plagg," She whispered, passing him the miraculous. "Besides, you'll be near by,"

 Plagg gave her a look of disbelief before sighing and going back into the bag. Meanwhile behind the other changing curtain, Luka was facing a similar situation. He had changed fully into the outfit and put on the rest of the jewelry but then he noticed the earrings. He picked them up and frowned as he touched his miraculous with his other hand. Tikki poked her head as he took out his earrings.

 "Don't do that, Luka," She whispered, causing him to look over at her.

 "It won't be for long, Tikki. Just for a couple of photos," He replied quietly, putting them in and gently passing the earrings to Tikki. "Besides, you can keep them safe for me,"

 She frowned but took them anyway. Luka gave her a soft smile before gently petting her head as Alya called for them to come out. He took a deep breathe and stepped out, smiling awkwardly as he did. Marinette stepped out at the same time and gasped a little as she saw him. He looked great but a little shy, making her want to fangirl over how adorable he was. He pushed his hair to the side and looked around nervously. 

 "D-Do I look alright?" He asked, making most of the girls coo as Adrien walked over and smiled.

 "It looks great, Luka but let me just..." He muttered, adjust his beret a little before stepping back and looking at him before he grinned. "Perfect. He looks great, doesn't he Marinette?"

 "Yeah..." She muttered, dreamily before shaking her head. "Ok! Let's do a couple of photos then we can change back and it can be Juleka's go. Sounds good?"

 "Y-Yeah," Luka muttered, nodding but neither of them noticed Alya's scheming expression. If the two them only did a couple of shoots then Marinette won't get a chance to ask Luka to the movies and she couldn't let that happen. As Marinette's self proclaimed best friend, it was her duty to get Marinette with the boy of her dreams. Sure, she thought it would be Adrien but he clearly thought she wasn't good enough for him and settled for Kagami but Luka is still in the picture and while she didn't like the idea of pushing Juleka out of the way, she considered it a necessary evil. She also believed that Juleka would understand when she saw how happy her brother was when he landed a date with Marinette. She grinned as Adrien ordered more light around the two of them. Luka was looking a little bit redder then usual.

 "Hey, Luka, are you ok?" She asked, making him blink and look over at her.

 "Oh yeah," He nodded, gulping a little. "Uh... just a bit warm I guess..."

 "I have a fan somewhere," Marinette suggested but Alya interrupted again.

 "Ok!" She declared, hitting her palm with her hand before turning to the other girls. "Change of plan! We're gonna take the shoot outside!"

 "What?!" Both Marinette and Luka gasped as the other girls cheered but before they could argue, Mylene and Alix grabbed Luka and dragged him downstairs as Adrien followed. Marinette frowned deeply.

 "Alya, what the hell?" She gasped, crossing her arms as Alya grinned at her. "I said we would only do a couple of photos and then switch with Juleka. How are we suppose to do that now?"

 "Girl, it's just so Luka can cool down," She grinned, moving over to her. "Besides, you haven't asked him yet and Juleka will be fine with it. We'll find a place for her to change and do her shoot outside too! Besides, we've only got 30 minutes let before Adrien has to go!!"

 "Alya, you ca- whoa!" Marinette gasped as Alya grabbed her hand and dragged her downstairs, pulling her outside. She rushed over to the Gorilla's car and pushed Marinette inside before telling her that she was gonna grab some things for the shoot. The other girls helped put the equipment in the boot, including Luka's hoodie and Marinette's purse, that they would be using in the car as well then pilled in, unintentionally stopping both Luka and Marinette from getting out. Alya got in last and closed the door, making both of them frown. "Alya, where's Juleka?"

 "She decided to stay back," She replied, making both Luka and Marinette frown. Rose glanced over at them with a confused look.

 "I should check on her," Luka mumbled, trying to move but Alya shook her head.

 "She'll be fine," She replied, making him frown. "We do these shoots and come right back! Now to the Eiffel Tower!"

 "What?! Alya, that's too far!" Marinette gasped but once again, Alya ignored her and leaned in.

 "The Eiffel Tower is super romantic as are the Tuileries Gardens," She whispered, ignoring how uncomfortable they both looked. "You can ask him on a break,"

 "But Juleka-" Marinette gasped as the car began to drive but Alya grinned.

 "She'll be fine and will totally understand when she sees how happy Luka will be," She grinned before giving her a thumbs up. Marinette frowned, feeling very uneasy about the whole thing but right now, she couldn't get out of the car. She glanced over at Luka and saw he looked just as unhappy, making her frown even more. This was not how she wanted this to go at all. Sure, she would love to spend time with Luka but not at the expensive of his sister and not in such a pressured environment. She decided as soon as the car stopped, she would go and get the metro back to the bakery. Luka glanced over at her and she tilted her head to the window, hoping he would get what she meant. He rose an eyebrow before nodding as the car came to a stop. As soon as it did, everyone piled out and began to head to the gardens, apart from Luka and Marinette. The two of them both walked towards the boot of the car, to grab his hoodie and her purse but before they could, Alya suddenly appeared and grabbed Marinette around the arm as Mylene grabbed Luka.

 "No escaping you two!" She grinned, pulling them away from it. "I get that you're nervous but you'll be fine!"

 "I'm not nervous," Marinette gasped, trying to pull away from Alya but the girl had a surprising amount of strength. As did Mylene, causing Luka frowned as he tried to pull away from her.

 "We just want to check on Juleka," He protested, making Mylene frown and loosen her grip a little but Alya shook her head.

 "She'll be fine!" She grinned, making him frown. "Besides, she was freaking out and she'll understand! Now stand there! Adrien, pose them! I'll take the photo!"

 "Alya!" Marinette gasped as Adrien walked over. He frowned a little.

 "Is everything alright?" He asked, frowning.

 "We want to go check on Juleka but Alya won't- What is that?" Marinette asked as they felt the ground shake. Luka glanced up before gasping. He instantly moved his arm in front of Marinette in and protective manner as they saw a giant doll like creature that resembled Reflekta. Alya and the other girls gasped and ran off, causing the doll to look in the direction. 

 "Don't leave, my friends!" The unmistakable voice of Juleka echoed, making Luka gasp but it sounded harsh and angry. "You're the very people I've been looking for! I have something very special for your video!"

 A beam of light suddenly shot out of the doll's mouth, causing Luka, Marinette and Adrien to dive out of the way. Luka rushed to hide behind a wall before swiping his ears.

 "Tikki! Spots on!" He declared, expecting to change but gasped when nothing happened. He had taken off the miraculous. "Damn it,"

 He glanced over to the car from behind the wall and frowned a little. He would have get past Reflekta and her Reflekdoll but it did seem to be more focused on finding Alya. He frowned as he saw Rose step out.

 "Juleka! I'm sorry!" She gasped, getting the doll's attention on her. "I should have stayed with you!!"

 "Juleka is no more! I am Reflekta!" She declared, making him frown. "Everyone forgets about Juleka anyway!"

 She went to fire a beam at Rose but Luka ran off his spot and pushed out of the way before picking her up and running to another wall. He placed Rose behind it and ducked down himself.

 "Stay down, Rose," He gasped as he looked over the wall. Once again, Reflekta had gone back to attacking people, turning anyone she saw into clones of herself. Seeing his chance, he jumped up and ran as fast as he could towards the car as Reflekdoll attacked everyone. He slid behind it, gasping as he saw Marinette behind it. "Marinette, hide in the car,"

 "What about you?" She asked before glancing as a shadow formed over them. She gulped as Reflekdoll stared down at them.

 "Marinette," She growled, making the girl gulp. "You stole my limelight! I was suppose to the star of the film!"

 "Juleka, I'm sorry! I didn't realize Alya would do that and me and Luka were trying to head back to the bakery to check on you!" She gasped as the doll stilled. "I really only intended to do a couple of photos while you calmed down! I swear!"

 "It doesn't change that you didn't let me explain!" She growled before firing a beam at Marinette as Luka tried to get into the boot. "Perhaps you'll understand me better now that you're in my shoes!"

 The doll turned to Luka and grabbed the car.

 "And my rockstar brother! I thought you understood and cared about me!" She growled, throwing the car. "You're suppose to be my older brother but you stole my limelight too!"

 "Juleka, I'm sorry," He gasped, backing away from her. "I should have been more firm and said no to Alya,"

 "Oh, don't worry, Brother of mine. I have something very special for Alya but first, I think you need to know what it's like to be me!" She growled, firing a beam at him. He covered his arms over his face as it hit him but it did no good. Reflekta laughed a little. "That should teach you too but now to deal with the real villain of the day! Alya!! Where are you?!"

 She turned and jumped away to look for Alya. Luka let out a sigh and got up but almost fell as he lost balance. Marinette jumped and helped him.

 "Are you ok?" She asked, making him nod.

 "I should have know this would happen," He sighed, shaking his head.

 "At least, we only got transformed," She mumbled, making him frown. "I'm concerned about the special thing she has for Alya,"

 "Me too but my phone is in the car. If I can get it, I can contact Anatis," He replied, making her nod as other people ran off, scared out of their minds. He went to take a step forward but wobbled, making Marinette frown but she saw a chance.

 "You wait here," She gasped, making him frown. "I'll go grab your phone and get it to you,"

 "Alright," He nodded, figuring he could keep an eye out for Tikki if she did. Marinette nodded and rushed off, making him raise an eyebrow. "How do girls walk in heels?"

 ~Meanwhile~

 Tikki and Plagg screamed as they felt the car spin around before feeling it bounce, causing the boot to break open and everything to spill out. They let out a little sigh before flying up to see what was going on. Tikki gasped as she saw the sentimonster attacking people.

 "Oh no! This is terrible, Plagg!" She gasped, glancing at him as he looked the carnage. "How are we gonna be able to find our owners? Everyone looks the exactly same,"

 "We have to find the miraculouses first!" He declared, making her look at him before he dived down to the rest of the stuff. Tikki followed and began to look for the earrings as he looked for the ring. He flew under a yellow scarf and glanced around as Tikki gasped.

 "Paris is doomed without Anatis and Lady Noir!" She gasped, clearly panicked as he noticed the ring. 

 "Got it!" He gasped, grabbing it before holding it up and glancing at her. He floated over to her. "Stay focused, Sugarcube. Everything will be alright!"

 He gave her a quick smile before flying off to find Lady Noir. He flew towards the Eiffel Tower as Reflekdoll waddled farther into the gardens. He frowned as he saw and came to a stop at a statue of a horse. Plenty of people were running away from here so he hoped that Lady Noir would be among them.

 "Lady Noir! Lady Noir!" He called out, frowning. "Lady Noir!"

 A clone sat on a nearby bench frowned and got up, looking up at him. Plagg smiled a little and floated over, hoping that it was Marinette as they looked at him in confusion.

 "Plagg?" Luka asked, causing Plagg to gasp. 

 "You're not-" He burped green bubbles, making Luka frown. It wasn't who he was looking for but he guessed Luka must be waiting for Tikki. "Why didn't you go to the car?"

 "I can't walk in these heels," Luka admitted, frowning before he looked at him. "Anyway, what are you doing here? Has Lady Noir lost her miraculous? Is Tikki near by?"

 "It's a long story, Luka," He gasped, making Luka frown as he glanced to where the car was and then over to Reflekdoll. He frowned before grabbing the ring of him. "What are you doing?"

 "Using your miraculous," He replied, putting it on. It turned into silver and a little larger then Marinette's version. "We haven't got time to find Tikki or Lady Noir. We need to deal with them now,"

 "Are you sure?" Plagg asked, making Luka nod before he held out his fist.

 "Plagg! Claws out!" He declared, causing Plagg to get sucked into the ring. He put his hand in the air as it charged up with energy before crossing his hands together, creating his mask as they passed each other. He then swiped his hands over his hair, creating cat ears before throwing out his arm as the green energy created his new suit. He spun round as a fake tail manifested. He gripped the energy as he spun back round and did a shake movement with his hands, creating a cropped leather jacket out of it and completing his new transformation. He glanced over his hands, taking in the claws that were on them before looking up and blowing his fringe a little. It had grown longer then his usual length and he could see green on it instead of his usual blue or red. He glanced down, looking at his suit as well. It was a simple suit and black in color but like Lady Noir, he had green detail on it. Most around the edge of his gloves, boots and jacket. Unlike her, he had a simple black belt around his hips that also doubled up as a tail. He also had a little paw print zipper on his collar. Satisfied with his new form, he took out of his baton and pressed the button, opening it up before reading over the user manual. He had a rough idea on how to use it but he wanted to be certain. Happy that he knew what he was doing, he glanced over to where Reflekdoll was. Narrowing his eyes, he ran towards it, taking out the baton and extending it before he slammed it into the sentimonster, making it stumble into the Eiffel tower before he jumped down and ran towards Rose and Alya. Alya naturally looked excited and was filming but Rose looked upset as if she was about to cry. Knowing Rose, she probably was. "You two need to get to safety,"

 "Are you a new hero?" Alya asked, trying to shove the camera in his face. "Has Lady Noir been retired? Does Anatis know?"

 "No, she hasn't been retired, Alya," He growled before spinning around and using his baton to block Reflekdoll's beam. "Get out of here! Reflekta's target is you!"

 "Me?!" Alya gasped, surprised. "What did I do?!"

 "Oh, I don't know!" He growled, annoyed. "How about push her out of the film you were doing and ignoring her when she was clearly upset?! Kwami, it's one thing to ignore your friends' clear un-comfortableness but you completely blanked Juleka but why am I surprised?! You always tend to ignore things when they don't work the way you want them to!"

 "Hey! What's that suppose to mean, new boy?!" Alya gasped, making him growl as he blocked another attack.

 "I'm not new! I just usually wear spots and you know exactly what I'm talking about, Miss Cesaire!" He growled before charging at Reflekdoll, causing the beam to follow him as Rose and Alya blinked in surprise before they clicked to what he meant.

 "He's Anatis!" Rose gasped, making Alya blink and look at him. "But why is he the cat today?"

 "No idea but is Juleka really after me?" Alya asked, frowning. She was so sure Juleka wouldn't mind but if she didn't, why did she turn back to Reflekta? And now she thought about it, Marinette and Luka did look uncomfortable and wanted to check on her but she didn't let them. She frowned deeply as she thought. She was just trying to get them together. What was wrong with that?

 ~Back at the Car~

 "Yes!" Tikki gasped as she found the earrings. She picked them up, smiling as they recharged but she hid as one of the Reflekta clones came over. They knelt down, looking around as Tikki hid behind the wheel.

 "Plagg!" The clone gasped, looking around. "Plagg!"

 Tikki realized that it was Marinette, clearly looking for her kwami but she decided to go looking for Luka instead. They would definitely need a lucky charm and hopefully she'll bump back into Plagg on her way there. She could then tell him where Marinette was. She floated over the Eiffel tower but stopped when she saw Reflekdoll attacking something. She stopped and looked over before noticing a new hero or at least she thought it was a new hero for a second but then she realized it was a black cat hero but male. Her eyes widen in surprise as she watched him block Reflekdoll's attack with the baton.

 "Luka!" She gasped before turning back around. He would need help and she knew exactly who to go to. She flew back over to the car and saw Marinette was still there.

 "Plagg!" She called out, now standing up and looking around. Tikki took a deep breathe and flew over."Plagg!!"

 "You are Lady Noir, correct?" She asked, causing Marinette to look to before she nodded.

 "Y-Yeah," She nodded, looking worried. "I've lost Plagg! What if he's hurt?! Oh god! I'm a terrible hero! Wait... why aren't you with Annie?! Is he ok?!"

 "Anatis is fine, Lady Noir," She reassured, making Marinette let out a little sigh. "But there's been a little mix up with the miraculous,"

 "Mix up?" Marinette asked as Tikki turned around and nodded towards the Eiffel Tower. Though Marinette couldn't see exactly what was going on, it was clear there was a battle, meaning Anatis must already be on the scene but if Tikki was here then... Her eyes widen as it clicked. "Plagg is with Anatis?!"

 "Yes, I think he must have come across him first," Tikki admitted, noticing Marinette let out another sigh of relief.

 "He's safe... they're both safe..." She gasped, holding her hand over her heart before she looked over at the cute little bug. "You must be Tikki then,"

 "Yep. Pleased to meet you," She smiled, making Marinette coo a little at how adorable she was before she gently took the earrings from her and fixed them into her own ears. They turned in simple black stuns. "Do you know the transformation words?"

 "Of course and your special ability is the lucky charm which is used to defeat the villain and cast the cure. Ready?" She asked, making Tikki nod before she swiped the earrings. "Tikki! Spots on!! Ah!!"

 Tikki got sucked into the earrings, charging them up as Marinette threw up her head. She brought her hands up and swiped them over her eyes, creating her mask and removing the Reflekta look before throwing out her left arm as the magical energy traveled across her arm, creating her new suit. She span around as it spreaded across her body, creating the rest of her suit. The yoyo manifested next before the pink energy spreaded across her hips, creating a belt and finishing off the transformation. She glanced at her hands and moved them to her hair. She was use to having a super long plait but it didn't appear in this form. She gasped a little as she touched her hair. It seemed that she had a longer version of her pigtails. She glanced down at her suit, taking it in. It was kind of similar to Anatis' own outfit but yet different. She had black thigh high boots with a red strip on the top of them and a red spot on the top of her foot. Her rib cage and part of her legs were covered in black as were most of her arms but she had gloves that hooked onto her middle finger on her lower arms. Like the rest of her suit, they were red with black spots. On her shoulders were two shoulder guards. Like her boots, they were black with a red dot and a red strip. Her belt was very different from Anatis. Where his was plain black, hers had the ladybug print that framed with black. She also had a belt buckle that was the ladybug symbol. The yoyo was hooked onto the belt. She took it off the belt and opened it up, going straight to the user manual. She read through it before nodding to herself. 

 "Alright, time to help Annie," She mumbled to herself before throwing the yoyo and pulling herself up. She let out a scream as she did. It was one thing to be in Anatis' arms while he did this but she was not use to actually using the yoyo herself. She landed on the ground and let out a sigh before noticing Anatis running and dodging Reflekdoll's beam. She ran and jumped into the battle, landing next to Anatis. Reflekdoll fired a beam at her but she used the yoyo as a shield and blocked.

 "I see you found Tikki," He stated as they jumped back.

 "And I see you found Plagg," She replied, throwing the yoyo and using it to make Reflekdoll stumble. "So you get to play the easy part today,"

 "Hmm, I'm not so sure it will be easy," He replied, slamming his baton in the doll before jumping out of the way again. "We're taking two opponents with each other's powers. Stay focus, Ladybug. This isn't going to be easy,"

 "Don't worry, Mr Whiskers, I got this," She grinned as the two of them jumped onto a wall. Reflekta suddenly said yes to Hawkmoth before firing a beam at them. Anatis blocked it with his baton as Ladybug glanced at it. "Hmm two opponents... well, we know one is a normal akuma but that doll has gotta be an amok. Right, kitty?"

 "Good eye, bug girl," He replied as they jumped back down. "Feel free to call me Chat Malice by the way,"

 "Chat Malice? I like it," She asked as they ran towards the doll and ran up her. Chat took out the baton and slammed it into the side as Ladybug kicked it into the head at the same time, causing the doll to stumble back. They landed back on the ground as Reflekdoll got back up. "So we need to find where the amok and the akuma is hiding and break it,"

 "Can you manage or do you want to turn back?" Chat asked as he deflected a beam from the doll. 

 "I can manage," Ladybug confirmed before frowning a little. "But we need a plan,"

 "Head to the tower," He ordered, getting a nod of her before they both ran towards it. "Her akuma might be in the same place as the last time we fought her but we'll have to check it to be sure,"

 "But we can't get near her as long as she's got that doll," Ladybug replied, jumping up and climbing to the top of the tower. Chat followed her, easily scaling the building. They both jumped and flipped, landing on the tower. Reflekta tried to aim Reflekdoll's beam at them but they were shielded from it. Chat walked over to her and frowned as he leaned down glancing down. She leaned down next to him. "So we need a plan..."

 "We need to get rid of the doll," He muttered, frowning. "As long as she's inside it, she has the advantage,"

 "But if we take the advantage away from her, we can defeat her," Ladybug replied, getting a nod of him. "Ok so last time we used a camera..."

 "True but she's a lot more powerful this time and a flash won't blind her," He muttered, making Ladybug frown before he glanced over to her. "I think now would be a good time for a charm,"

 "Huh?" She asked before realizing what he meant. He smirked at her reaction as she took out the yoyo and threw up in the air. "Lucky charm!"

 A round mirror appeared out of thin air and fell down, causing her to catch it. 

 "Huh? What am I meant to do with this?" She asked, confused as he held back a laugh.

 "Welcome to my world," He smirked as she looked around. "Anything?"

 "I'm not seeing anything," She gasped as the tower shook. The two of them looked over and saw Reflekdoll climbing up the tower. Reflekta looked out of it's eyes and tried to fire her own beam at them. Ladybug used the mirror to send a beam back, annoying Reflekta and causing her to fire at them with Reflekdoll. The two of them jumped back as Chat frowned. "Ok, we need a better plan then this,"

 "Agreed," He replied as Reflekdoll climbed up. He blocked the beam as he turned to Ladybug. "Get to safety then try and look around for a solution while I distract them,"

 "Alright," She nodded, jumping away as he ran to the other side, calling for Reflekta to follow him. Ladybug frowned as she glanced around. Nothing was lighting up but at least, Reflekdoll was focused on Chat.

 "Missed me!" He shouted, diving out of the way of a beam. Reflekdoll fired another beam at him but he blocked it with his baton before grinning at the doll. "Missed me again!"

 "Stay still, you mangy cat!" Reflekta growled, firing another beam at him. He blocked it again with his baton while making a witty remark. Ladybug smirked at it but Reflekta didn't find it very funny. "Shut up! You're not funny!"

 "Oh but I am!" He grinned, jumping down and holding out his baton in a battle pose. "I'm the cunning and ultra funny Chat Malice! Watch and learn!"

 He threw up his hand.

 "Cataclysm!" He shouted, summoning the dark energy before running at Reflekdoll, dodging her beam as he did. He jumped up and slammed his hand on her, causing a number of cracks to go through it as it fell from the tower. Ladybug jumped down and landed next to him but it started to shake and it's eyes began to rapidly open and close.

 "What's happening?" Reflekta gasped from inside as Ladybug frowned.

 "Is that normal?" She asked, looking at him. "I've never cataclysmed a sentimonster before,"

 "I don't think it is," Chat replied. "But Reflekta no longer has her advantage- whoa!"

 He jumped with Ladybug as the sentimonster jumped up and began to fire it's beam everywhere and anywhere.

 "It's like a bee string on a bull," Ladybug gasped, glancing at him as he frowned. "It riled it up without actually wounding it,"

 The two of them jumped out of the way and landed on top of a wall again as Reflekdoll moved around. Chat frowned as he glanced over.

 "We need to clear this up quickly,"

 "And we still don't know where the amok is," Ladybug pointed out, making him nod.

 "No, Reflekdoll! Stop!" Reflekta cried out, making him frown deeply and reminding him that his sister was trapped inside. "She-bug! Cat boy! Help me!!"

 He took a deep breathe, knowing that loosing his cool would not help anyone and took out his baton, turning to Ladybug.

 "Let's focus on getting Reflekta out of there first then we'll deal with Reflekdoll," He suggested, getting a nod of her. He shot her a smile before the two of them jumped and towards the Sentimonster. He threw his baton, trapping in one of it's eyes and keeping it open. The two of them landed on the edge and grabbed onto his baton. Ladybug threw her yoyo and wrapped it around Reflekta's wrist, pulling her over to them. Ladybug grabbed her and jumped on top of Reflekdoll's head as Chat grabbed his baton and joined them. He picked up Reflekta and jumped down, causing her to hold onto his shoulders as Ladybug followed, using her yoyo. The three of them hid behind a wall as Reflekdoll went on a rampage. Reflekta slipped out of Chat's arms and stepped back.

 "These costumes look ridiculous on you," She gasped, smirking at them before pointing her hand at them. "I'm gonna redo your wardrobe!"

 "You could be at least a little bit grateful!" Ladybug gasped, throwing her yoyo. It smashed into the bracelet, breaking it and causing Reflekta to fall down as the akuma escaped. "Besides, I think we look pretty good,"

 "Don't forget the akuma," Chat grinned, pointing to it. 

 "I've always wanted to do this," Ladybug gasped as she took out the yoyo. She slid her finger down the middle of her yoyo, causing it to open. "No more evil doing for you, little akuma,"

 She span the yoyo around and threw it towards the butterfly. 

 "Time to de-evilize!" She declared, catching the butterfly in the yoyo and pulling it back to herself, catching it. "Got ya!"

 She grinned before pressing down on the yoyo and opening it, allowing a pure white butterfly to escape.

 "Bye, bye, little butterfly," She smiled, watching the butterfly flying off as Reflekta turned back into Juleka but Chat suddenly pulled her out of the way, causing a beam to go pass them and turn Juleka back into her akuma self. "Um... we'll be able to fix that right?"

 "Yeah but let's defeat Reflekdoll first," Chat replied as Reflekdoll randomly fired her beam. He took out his baton and charged at her as Ladybug looked around. Still, nothing was lighting up like it should. She glanced at the mirror and let out a sigh.

 " It's not easy been a super ladybug," She muttered as Chat dodged Reflekdoll's beam. "How do you do it, Kitty? This is a lot tougher then it looks!"

 "I just do what I've always done and work with what I have!" He yelled back, dodging Reflekdoll's hand as she tried to squash him. He landed on her arm and ran up it before going across her torso and over her shoulder. "But I have to admit! I like wearing your suit! It's a lot lighter on the shoulders!"

 He jumped off and extended his baton, whacking it into the back of Reflekdoll's head, causing her to clench her fists and getting angrier before firing her beam, even more. Chat jumped out of the way and grabbed Ladybug before diving behind a chimney as Reflekdoll fired a beam at everything and anything. Ladybug sighed as she glanced at the mirror.

 "I... I can't do this..." She gasped, making him look at her. "I have no idea what to do,"

 "Hey, you've got this, bug girl," He reassured, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Let's review what we know,"

 "Reflekdoll is on a rampage," She pointed out, making him nod.

 "But Reflekta was able to control her before," He muttered, thinking before Ladybug clicked her fingers.

 "You're right! She was controlling her from inside her eye! We need to get inside there to find the object containing the amok," She gasped, causing him to smile before she looked over the chimney. Chat glanced over as well as Ladybug glanced at Reflekdoll in her luck vision. Reflekdoll was firing her beam at everything, causing her to turn around. Ladybug gasped as her luck vision highlighted a panel on the back of her head. She glanced down at the mirror in her hand and was surprised when it lit up, followed by Chat as well. "I have a plan,"

 "Let's hear it," He replied, making her nod.

 "See that panel on the back of her head?" She asked as he nodded. "That's how we get in. I'm gonna use the mirror as a coin to open it. Think you can trip her up?"

 "Leave it to me, mi'lady," He grinned, jumping up and heading down to the street level. He extended his baton and placed it in Reflekdoll's path, causing her to trip up. Ladybug wrapped her yoyo around her, keeping her trapped before the two of them jumped over and landed on her head. Ladybug placed the coin into the slot on the panel and turned it around, unscrewing it. Chat grabbed it and pulled it aside before the two of them looked inside. "Look! The stick shift is a hairclip!"

 "I bet that's where the amok is!" Ladybug gasped as he extended his baton and used it to break it, freeing the feather. Ladybug took out her yoyo and caught the feather in it before releasing the now white feather. They jumped down as the sentimonster disappeared before Chat handed her the mirror, making her smile as she took it and tossed it up in the air. "Miraculous Ladybug!"

 It burst into the magic swamp, fixing all the damage that had been done. Ladybug gasped as she looked up in the air, watching it go. She jumped a little as Chat walked over to her and gently nudged her arm as he grinned at her. She grinned back, enjoying the moment but the day wasn't over yet. A now restored Juleka moved over to them, looking down which alarmed the two heroes.

 "Juleka," Chat muttered in a soft voice as he walked over to her. She looked up at him but gave him a confused look as she glanced over at Ladybug. "Oh... there was a mix up..."

 "Anatis?" She asked, making him chuckle as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm so sorry... I just... oh god! What if I hurt Luka and Marinette?!"

 "I'm sure your friends and brother are fine," Ladybug replied, walking over to her. Juleka nodded, looking reassured but then Alya jumped out of her hiding place, along with Rose. Rose rushed over to Juleka and fused over, repeatedly saying sorry but Alya didn't even look at her. Instead, she rushed over to the heroes with her phone. "Why am I not surprised to see you here, Miss Cesaire?"

 "Hmm, well she was Reflekta's main target," Chat hissed, glaring at her and making Ladybug frown. "Isn't that right, Alya?"

 "Well, um... I mean she was after Marinette and Luka as well! Besides, they stole her limelight!" Alya gasped, making both heroes frown. Ladybug went to say something but to both of their surprises, Juleka spoke up.

 "Because you didn't listen to them or me," She growled, causing Alya to look at her in surprise. "I may be quiet but I'm not dumb. Luka didn't originally even want to pose and Marinette was only going to do a couple of photos while I calmed down but you... you just had to butt your nose in again! It was your idea to pressure my brother to pose with Marinette, knowing that he wouldn't say no because he wanted to help her! It was your idea to go outside! You even told me that Marinette didn't want me to pose!"

 "I was-"

 "You say what?!" Chat growled, surprising Alya as Ladybug glared at her. He pinched his nose and shook his head as Juleka frowned.

 "That's what caused me to be akumatized..." She mumbled, looking down. "She told me that Marinette only invited me so Luka would come by and model for her. She said that Marinette didn't think I should be a model but... that wasn't true, was it Alya?"

 "I.. well... Ok so she did want you to model but it would have gone against my plan ok?!" She gasped, crossing her arms. "I thought you'd understand but clearly you don't care about your brother or Marinette's happiness,"

 "I do!" Juleka growled, stepping forward but Chat placed his hand on her shoulder, getting a look of her before she nodded and stepped back as he stepped forward.

 "Miss Cesaire, you don't get to decide that or push people out of the picture just because they don't work with your ideas," He stated, shaking his head. "Your actions-"

 "I was just trying to-"

 "I am not done talking!" He shouted suddenly, making her jump. She forgot how scary he could be but he looked much more scarier in the black cat suit then as Anatis. In fact, his eyes were glowing and she could see fangs in his mouth. "And I don't care what you were trying to do! I don't care if you claim to be a good friend and were trying to make your friends happy!"

 "I am a good friend!" Alya argued, crossing her arms.

 "No! You're not!" He shouted, shocking her. "In fact, you're an awful friend and quite frankly an awful person! What kind of 'friend' pushes someone out and tells them a bunch of lies?! What kind of person posts something that they know the subjects don't want posted?! You pressure your friend to confess her feelings, not caring if she actually wants to and then call her a coward for freaking out and not been able to! You are nothing more then a two faced gossip who has a warped sense of justice and is willing to do anything for the 'views' even if that means posting lies or making up stories! Not to mention you're a hypocrite! Yes, I know full well that you bitch about certain people behind their backs! You don't respect anyone including me or Lady Noir! I had to shout at you, just to get you to back off my identity! And this isn't the first akuma you've caused or did you hope that I would forget about Reverser and Puppeteer?!"

 "They weren't my fault..."

 "Weren't your fault?!" He gasped, sliding his hand through his hair. "For Kwami's sake, Alya, what is wrong with you?! You tore up Mr Anciel's story and called him a liar and a fake! And you refused to listen to your friend then abandoned the girl she was looking after! Anything could have happened so how do you not see what you've done?!"

 "All I've done is try and help people! The world deserves to know who you are and-"

 "You don't get to decide that!" He growled, making her gulp. "But I can see I won't get through to you so you know what? I give up! I am done trying to show you the error of your ways! You won't listen to me because you're too bullheaded to even realize that you are a problem! I mean what kind of person on purpose makes someone think that their friend doesn't care about them in a city that has a super-villain who feeds of negative emotion and turns people in villains?! And it's not like this is something that is new! Oh, no, I know you didn't believe your friend when she was framed, I know you didn't bother sticking up for your friends when they were been bullied and on top of all of this, you still think that a liar is a good person! A liar who has possibly willing taken an akuma and who has made people's life a living hell but hey, she can't be that bad because she claims to know me and Lady Noir. Well, here's a scope for you, Miss Tabloid! I don't know her and never have! Oh and while I'm here, I love cats, I don't go round meeting random civilians, I came up with the name Anatis, I'm not dating Lady Noir, if I'm gonna tell anyone my identity, it certainly won't be to you and my best friend is Lady Noir, not Miss Rossi or Miss Bourgeois! Speaking of her, you helped her almost become an akuma!"

 "Chloe isn't a nice person!"

 "Well, she's doing a lot better then you are!" He growled back, making her blink as tears filled up her eyes. He pinched his nose as he let out a sigh before looking up at her. "Do you think I want to talk to you like this? Cause I don't! I don't want to have to shout anyone like this but you won't listen otherwise so I'm doing the same thing I did with Chloe. You need to take a good look at yourself and do something about your bad habits because you are creating akumas and hurting people who you should care about! You need to work on what’s right from what’s wrong and have a real good look at your life! Because if you don't, your future is going to be a dark and lonely one! Your friends will walk away from you and leave you! Do you understand what is at risk here?! Your blog, your friendships and your reputation! Everything! All of it is at risk because you keep making the wrong choices and people aren't always gonna give you a second chance! They won't even think you're worthy of one!"

 For the first time, Alya didn't argue but look down as tears filled up her eyes. Chat sighed and touched his ears when his ring beeped. Ladybug looked at him and nodded before he turned back to Alya.

 "You need to change before it's too late," He replied before turning on his heel and running off with Ladybug, leaving Alya with a lot of food for thought. The two of them jumped onto the rooftops and ran as fast as they could across them. Ladybug turned to Chat as they did.

 "You really ripped into her," She mumbled, making him frown.

 "I'm sorry," He replied as they jumped to another roof. "I just couldn't hold it back anymore,"

 "It's ok," She nodded, making him nod. "I think she needed to hear it,"

 "So I wasn't too much?" He asked, looking at her. Ladybug smiled and shook his head before the two of them went their separate ways. He jumped down and ran into a nearby alleyway as the ring beeped rapidly. He stopped and leaned against the wall. "Claws in,"

 His transformation dropped and he caught Plagg before he took out a cookie and allowed him to bite into it. Plagg floated up as Luka took off the ring and handed it to him.

 "Bye, Plagg," He smiled as the kwami took the ring. He was still reeling from the whole thing but it's not like it was Plagg's fault. "That was really awesome,"

 "You made a great cat, Luka," Plagg grinned, making him smile shyly. "See ya,"

 With that, he flew off. Meanwhile, Ladybug was doing the same thing. She found an alleyway and leaned against the wall.

 "Spots off," She whispered, turning into Marinette. She caught her and took out a chuck of cheese. Tikki took a bite and floated up as Marinette took off the earrings and handed them to her. "It was really nice to finally meet you, Tikki,"

 "You too, Marinette," She grinned, taking the earrings. "You did a wonderful job as Ladybug,"

 "Thank you," She smiled shyly. "See you soon, Tikki,"

 "Goodbye, Marinette," She smiled, flying off. Marinette smiled a little before she noticed something small and black flying towards her. She gasped as she realized it was Plagg and opened her arms for him. He flew towards her and smiled as she hugged him before she took the ring and put it back on her finger, restoring to it's usual look. She hugged him again and gave him a chuck of cheese.

 "I promise I've never take off my miraculous again," She smiled as he swallowed it whole. "I may have made a good ladybug but I never realized just how tough Anatis has it,"

 "Kid has it real tough but he does good," Plagg grinned. "Let's head back to the others,"

 "Right," She nodded, running off to find her friends.

 ~Back to Luka~

 After Plagg flew away, Luka let out a sigh before noticing something flying towards him. As it got closer, he saw it was Tikki. He opened his arms hugged her when she flew close enough before he cupped her in his hands.

 "I thought I had lost you, Tikki," He gasped as she hugged his cheek, making him laugh before he took the earrings and put them back in. "I'm so glad to have you back. I've never take my miraculous off again, I swear,"

 "I'm glad to be back, Luka," She grinned as he took out a cookie and gave it to her. "Lady Noir made a good ladybug though,"

 "She did, didn't she?" He smiled before frowning a little. She nodded and hid in his pocket before he ran off and headed to where everyone should be. He got there and walked over to the group of girls and Adrien. Juleka was refusing to look at Alya.

 "Look, I'm sorry ok!" She gasped as Juleka frowned deeply and shook her head. "I really thought you'd understand..."

 "You just don't get it, do you?" Juleka asked, looking at her with a sad expression. "You lied to me and made me think my friends and brother didn't care about me!"

 "I was just trying to help Marinette!" Alya gasped, making Luka frown but before he could stay anything, Marinette ran over.

 "Girls!" She gasped, waving at them before turning to Juleka. "I'm so sorry, Juleka. I should have realized how important this shoot was to you. Do you want to give it another try?"

 "Sure but Marinette... I owe you an apology too," She mumbled, playing with her hands. "I thought you didn't want me to model because... Alya... she told me you only invited me so Luka could come and that you wanted him to model... not me... and I stupidly believed her..."

 "Oh, Juleka," Marinette gasped, hugging her. "That's not true at all. I want you to model and if Luka wants to model, I don't mind working something in for him but I would never push you out of the way. You're beautiful and amazing and I honestly can't think of anyone else who would be able to pull off my designs the way you do,"

 "Thank you, Marinette," Juleka mumbled, seeing Luka. She gave him a smile as Marinette look behind her and smiled shyly. "You know I'd love to model with my brother... if you want to, Luka..."

 "I'm good with that if you are, Juleka," He smiled softly before walking over to her. Marinette let out a sigh and turned to Alya, who looked sour. 

 "Alya... I don't understand why you would tell that to Juleka..." She mumbled, frowning.

 "Because that way she wouldn't infer with the plan!" She gasped, pointing towards the siblings before moving closer to Marinette. "Since you decided to move on from Adrien, I thought you'd decided to go with Luka and well, I figured you could get closer to him and ask him to the movies. I did it for you,"

 "Well, I never asked you too," She gasped, surprising Alya. "In fact, I told you not to interfere but once again, you didn't listen to me,"

 "You would never con-"

 "So what?!" Marinette gasped, surprising Alya before she walked up to her and poked her in the chest. "I'll do it in my own time when I'm ready! Not when you are or when someone else tells me too but when I am ready!"

 "But-"

 "No buts, Alya!" She gasped, pinching her nose before shaking her head. Alya had a certain look on her face. She was going to make another excuse and Marinette just couldn't do it anymore. "I can't do this,"

 "Can't do what?" Alya asked, confused.

 "This!" She gasped, gesturing between them. "I'm done, Alya! I can't be friends with someone who doesn't realize what they have done is wrong. I've given you chance after chance to change and be a better person but you aren't even trying and I'm sorry, Alya but I won't be friends with someone who thinks it ok to hurt others. I'll be willing to give you a second chance but you have to show me that you want to be better and want to change but if you don't then our friendship is over,"

 "Marinette, aren't you been a little bit dramatic?" Alya asked, frowning before glancing around. "Girls, you see-"

 "Marinette is right," Adrien stated, surprising her. "Hurting people isn't cool, Alya and I won't be friends with someone like that either,"

 "Same here," Juleka piped as the other girls nodded. Alya blinked, tears filling her eyes as she looked them. All of them had disappointed expressions and looked hurt or betrayed. She stepped back and blinked at them as Chat Malice's words echoed in her mind.

 Change before it's too late...

 Could she? Or was it already too late?

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

Next Chapter: Here

[otomeramblings]

And then the Sun Shone so Bright

Pairing: None; Tenma-centric A/N: hhhh I’m sorry this took me so long! I was having a hard time finding motivation to write during these past 2 weeks. But! inspiration finally struck. I originally was gonna make this romantic but then parts of the song gave me natsugumi feels and well, here we are lol But also! I’m sorry I didn’t include Kumon but I haven’t read episode 6 yet;;; Thank you so much, @chewie-santatoast​​!! You’re very kind and I’m glad you like what I put out there!! I hope you like this one too and thank you for requesting~~ 

🎵 Song: Best of Me by BTS 🎵

As Igawa finished sending a message, he pocketed his phone and lifted his gaze to see Tenma still eyeing the rack of keychains in the back corner of the store. The bags with sweet treats they had picked up still hung from Tenma’s wrist as he stood there, one hand on his hip and one on his chin, clearly trying to find something.

After shooting wrapped up, they went to one of the local bakeries to buy some souvenirs for Tenma’s theatre troupe. It was something he had taken the habit of doing and while he was surprised by it at first, Igawa was fast to encourage this new development; after the first time, he always made sure that whenever the boy had a shoot out of town or overseas, they would always be able to find a moment in their schedule so that he could buy something he could bring back.

They had been doing some window shopping after successfully purchasing the treats when Tenma stopped in front of one of the stores and insisted on going inside.

If he had to venture a guess, Igawa would say that the object that had originally caught Tenma’s attention was the small bonsai keychain that now dangled from in between his fingers. He couldn’t help the small smile that bloomed in his face at that; Tenma’s love for bonsai, while strange in the eyes of his peers for a boy his age, was actually something Igawa himself had grown incredibly fond of since it was one of the topics (besides acting) that actually made Tenma ramble with excitement. Since he had already had his hands on it, though, Igawa had an inkling as to what he was now searching for.

After a few minutes, and having four more keychains in his hands, Tenma strode towards the register. As he placed the items on the counter, Igawa could see that his hunch had been spot-on. Tenma threw a quick glance his way and he must have seen the way in which his manager was fighting back a smile because he quickly spoke up:

“They would just bug me later if I only got one for myself.”

“Of course, Tenma,” he replied with a small nod. It was an excuse but Igawa knew better than to try to get Tenma to admit it, so he didn’t press for more.

As his eyes inspected each of the designs as the cashier rang them up, he understood what had taken the boy so long when he was picking them. He could tell exactly which one would go to each person just by looking at them. Igawa admittedly didn’t know the members of the Summer Troupe very well, but he had gathered quite a bit of information from his conversations with Tenma.

Next to the small bonsai tree, there was a little white kitten wearing a pink bonnet;

“Dammit,” Tenma clicked his tongue seeing the traffic-jam they were stuck in. “I know it’s frustrating but can’t you let them know that you’ll be late for rehearsals?” Igawa spared a glance his way and saw that Tenma was already typing something on his phone. “Yeah, but that’s not the problem,” he grumbled. “We are trying on the new costumes today and Yuki’s already difficult enough normally. I don’t need to give him another excuse to call me- a hack, oh for the love of-.” Judging from the exasperated tone in his voice and the quick typing that followed, Igawa could guess what response Tenma had received and he tried his best to squash down his amusement before commenting again. “Yuki? That’s….Rurikawa, right? You mentioned he’s in charge of making all of the company’s costumes? He did a really good job for your debut performance.” After seeing the state in which the theatre was, a part of him had honestly been worried about the production quality, but he had been blown away by it and the costumes were one of the things that had impressed him the most. “Yeah,” Tenma sighed before putting his phone down. “I hate to admit it, but the kid’s got some real talent in that department and he has potential in acting as well. Now if only he could do something about that snarky attitude of his,” Tenma complained but Igawa could hear the tint of fondness that hid in his tone behind his initial annoyance.

next to it, there was a pink crown with white and gold accents;

“Is that a new script?” Igawa asked when he saw the manilla envelope resting on Tenma’s lap once he entered the car. He knew Tenma wasn’t scheduled to shoot anything soon but it wouldn’t be long until the Summer Troupe started their rehearsals for their new play. “No, this is one of dad’s old scripts.” Seeing the surprise on his face, Tenma added: “I asked him if I could lend it to one of my troupe mates and he agreed.” “Oh?” “Yeah, remember when dad had to play that prince character in a drama?” He did remember; that performance had earned Mr Sumeragi a couple of awards when he was just starting his career. At Igawa’s hum of affirmation, Tenma continued: “Well, one of my troupe members wants to act in a similar role in the future, so I thought giving this a look would help him have a more concrete idea of what it’s like.” Igawa nodded with a smile. “His acting and his presence on stage still need some work, but I think reading this can not only motivate him but also give him some inspiration since it has all the annotations dad made on it when he used it.” Tenma was using that determined and straightforward tone that often laced his voice whenever he spoke about anything related to acting; it reminded him that despite his young age, he was a professional through and through. One thing that had always been true about Tenma was that he was a perfectionist and someone incredibly proud of his work; because of that, he expected that everyone met the same standards he had for himself. That hadn’t changed after he started performing with Mankai, but the way he went about it when talking to his colleagues was definitely different and he was now seeing exactly where it rooted from.

next to that one, there was probably the most unique keychain of the bunch: a small almost translucent triangle protractor,

“Is that homework?” Igawa asked as he closed the door of the trailer. Tenma paused his furious scribbling when he heard his manager’s question and the guilty darting of his eyes told the answer before he even opened his mouth. “......no…...I’ll do it after I finish this!” he scrambled to answer. Igawa sighed a bit in response; Tenma hated doing his school work and usually he would push him to work on it but since he knew that there was a professional tutor in the dorms that could help him, he decided to let him off the hook this time.

“So, what were you writing then?”

“Oh!” Tenma’s eyes lit up at the question. “I just thought up a few ideas I want to try out the next time we have to do street acts. Some of them are a bit advanced but I think Misumi and I could pull them off.” “Really?” he inquired, sitting across from the boy and taking a sip from his coffee. “Yeah.” he shook his head as he closed the notebook. “Misumi’s talent is kinda terrifying; if we could do something to help him focus more, he could probably be as good as me.” Igawa’s eyebrows shot up at that since Tenma was not one to give out praise freely to anyone. If he recalled correctly, Ikuraga’s performance had probably been the second best on their show next to Tenma’s, so while he was shocked by the admission, he could definitely see where the actor was coming from. “I didn’t know you started putting stickers on your things.” Igawa pointed out when his gaze fell on the notebook. “What? No, I don’t-” Tenma exclaimed but stopped himself when his eyes landed on the stickers that adorned the back of his notebook. An ice-cream cone, a slice of watermelon and onigiri surrounded a bigger yellow triangle that had a few words scribbled on with a marker. Twisting his neck, he was able to make out the words: “Good luck, Tenma~~!! (*^▽^*)”

and, finally, there was a paint pallet with a small brush dipped in green paint.

“Yes, yes, I’ll ask him about it. Yes, mom, I won’t forget. Okay, bye.”

“Everything okay?” Igawa asked once Tenma hung up, his eyes focused on the road. “Huh?” the boy asked absentmindedly as he opened another app on his phone. “Yeah, it’s nothing serious. She told me she wants a copy of the poster of Water Me! since it was our first performance. I told her that they already had the flyer with the picture but she says it’s too small, so I told her that I could probably ask Kazunari to make another copy since he’s the one that designed the final version.” He was trying to act nonchalant about it, but Igawa could hear the pride in his voice, happy that his parents were openly acknowledging and accepting his theatre career.

“It is an important milestone,” the manager nodded and then added. ”And it was a beautiful poster.” Tenma hummed in agreement. “Yeah, Kazunari can be obnoxious as hell but he’s got a real eye for design. All of the company’s posters and our website are a testament to that,” he admitted as he scrolled on his phone. “He’s probably gonna be over the moon once I ask him for a copy.” They had arrived at the dorms so Igawa could see Tenma rolling his eyes in what could be mistaken for exasperation were it not for the slight smile on his face. He had seen Kazunari Miyoshi once after their first (eventful) meeting and in that occasion the older boy had Tenma in a side hug while they took a selfie together and what had caught Igawa’s attention was that despite the fact that Tenma didn’t really like taking selfies with people (besides the occasional fan), the protests that came from his mouth were half-hearted at best and it didn’t take long for him to settle and smile for the picture. After it was taken, he could hear Miyoshi saying he would caption it with “Nothing better than some Ice-cream after rehearsals with TenTen!!”

Each of the keychains had gold chains and gold borders and detailing, making it obvious that they were part of the same set despite the wide variety of designs.

As the employee put them all in separate bags after Tenma told her they were gifts, Igawa couldn’t stop the smile that tugged at the corners of his mouth nor the fondness that seeped through his voice when he said: “I’m sure they’ll love them.”

The actor just shrugged in response. “Of course they will,” he replied with confidence but his manager could see the redness in the tips of his ears.

Tenma had always been a good kid. Arrogant and too blunt at times, yes, but never with the intention of hurting others. However, being in the spotlight from such a young age had isolated him from his peers and his parents' constant travelling only served to make him build even more walls around himself; be confident and keep your head up, your work is what matters, that was the motto by which Tenma lived his life and that was a big detriment in any interpersonal relationships he could have formed. But now, seeing him fuss over which souvenirs to bring to his friends, the deep mark the Mankai Company left on him was glaringly obvious. 

He remembered the genuine concern he showed when his parents wanted him to quit. It was one of the few times he saw Tenma’s eyes tainted with fear; and at first, Igawa had thought he had been afraid of the possibility that this project he had worked so hard towards would be crushed, but later on he learned that it was more than that, it was the fear of having to let go of the people who had managed to bring down his walls and had put their all in supporting him so he could turn his past regrets into victories.

Tenma had never looked happier than he did now and that translated to his acting as well; he still carried himself with confidence but now there was also a lightness to his steps that wasn’t there before. Igawa knew that Mankai and the Summer Troupe probably didn’t really understand how much they had truly helped Tenma become a better version of himself in every sense but he would forever be thankful for it.

🎵 Part of the song-based requests [closed] 🎵

[starrynighttime]

Chat Blanc: Scarlet Lady AU Part 1

AU by @zoe-oneesama

Big thanks to @minimalist-dreamer for helping me write this!

Part 2

Marinette was having a pretty good day, and she was sure it was only going to get better. First, she had finished all her homework early, then she completed some sketches that she was quite proud of, and now she had a meeting with Adrien at the café with patrol right after! She pushed open the door with a pep in her step. Not even Scarlet Lady could ruin today!

Adrien squirmed in his seat. Plagg had told him over and over that there was nothing to worry about, and he was probably right, but Adrien was still nervous. What if he said the wrong thing? What if he spilled coffee all over himself? What if- Adrien stopped himself before he could assume the worst. It was just going to be him and Marinette, two friends at a coffee shop talking about fashion and other things.

Before long, he heard the bells by the door chime and Marinette walked in. She smiled when she saw him.

“Hey, Adrien! Were you waiting for very long?” she asked, sitting across from him. Adrien shook his head.

“Not at all!” he said, pulling himself out of a trance. They ordered their coffees and caught up a little bit until they arrived. Then Marinette pulled out her sketchbook.

“So, what do you think of these for the upcoming fashion contest?” she asked, sliding it towards him. Adrien flipped through the book curiously and quickly got blown away.

“Wow” was all he could bring himself to say. “T-these are amazing, Marinette.” Marinette smiled shyly.

“Thanks, Adrien. I’m just a bit nervous. I mean, it’s not every day your dad announces a design contest like this. I’m jittery just thinking about it.” she murmured, sipping her coffee. Adrien smiled.

“Well, with designs like these-”

“Well, well, well!” a familiar, haughty voice called from behind them. Marinette and Adrien grimaced in unison as Chloe walked over to their table. “Adrikins, what are you doing here with Dupain-Cheng? You do realize that hanging around with low-lives will turn you into one, right?”

“Is that why he stopped hanging out with you?” Marinette grumbled under her breath. Chloe shot her a dirty look.

“Well, Maritrash-”

“Her name is Marinette.” Adrien interrupted. “And we’re here together because she wanted me to give her some advice on her designs, not that she needed it, though. Her designs are impeccable.” Chloe’s eyes narrowed. Then, she grinned evilly.

“Are they really? I’ll just take a look and--Oopsy!” Chloe poured her coffee onto Marinette’s open sketchbook. “Looks like your designs are ruined.” Adrien’s face contorted with rage.

“Chloe! What the f-”

“Adrien, it’s okay.” Marinette murmured, her voice impossibly calm.

“It’s okay?! But-”

“This is my laminated sketchbook.”

“What?”

“WHAT?!”

Marinette smiled and wiped the coffee off of her designs with her napkin. Sure enough, the laminated pages protected the designs effectively. Marinette smiled innocently at Chloe, who had an expression of pure rage on her face. With a mighty hmph, the Mayor’s daughter stormed out of the café.

Marinette took a sip of coffee and checked her watch. 5:15. “I should probably get going. I have to get up early tomorrow.” Adrien nodded, still frazzled from what had just happened.

“I-yeah, me too. It was great hanging out with you, Marinette.” the baker’s daughter blushed slightly and smiled.

“We should do this again sometime, just us two.” Now it was Adrien’s turn to blush.

“I’d like that.”

———————

Marinette ducked into an alleyway and Pollen flew out of her purse, smiling knowingly.

“Has my queen found her prince?” the kwami teased. Marinette blushed.

“H-he’s just a friend.”

“A very handsome friend.”

“I-I just... Buzz on!” Marinette transformed and threw out her spinning top. She had a patrol to get to.

Adrien stared in shock as Marigold flew out of the alleyway that Marinette was just in.

“What?” He murmured.

Marigold hopped across the rooftops, slightly red in the face. She was so caught up in her thoughts that she nearly ran into Bunnix, who was walking out of her burrow.

“Woah, there, Mini-gold! Slow down before you break an ankle!” Marigold blinked.

“Bunnix? What are you-” 

“-Listen carefully.” Bunnix interrupted, placing her hands on Marigold’s shoulders. “Something happened today that caused a major disaster in the future, but I’m not sure what it was or when it happened exactly. Anything unusual to report on your side?”

Surprised, Marigold shook her head. Bunnix chewed on her lip.

“Okay, in my Burrow, now!” Before Marigold could protest, Bunnix grabbed her arm and pulled her through the time portal.

Bunnix put a bowl on Marigold’s head as soon as she was inside.

“Wait, what? Why is-”

“Wanna know what you’re getting for your next birthday?”

“Of course not.”

“Exactly!”

A little while later, Bunnix pushed Marigold through a different portal and removed the bowl from her head. Marigold’s eyes widened.

“What happened here?”

“The less you know about the future, the better. Just capture the Akuma in your weapon and bring it back to me. Then the train will be back on track.”

“You’re not staying?”

“I gotta stand ready to jump back into time and try something else, in case you fail. Mwah!”

Bunnix blew a kiss and walked back into her Burrow. She placed a hand on a nearby portal to watch the events that led up to this moment.

———————

Marigold plopped down next to Cat Noir, who smiled.

“Heya, Goldie. What’s up?”

“Everything, Cat Noir. Today was the perfect day. Not even Scarlet Lady can ruin today!”

“Wow. That good, huh?”

Marigold nodded and looked out at the sunset. Cat Noir snuck a glance at her. How did he not figure it out sooner? Their kindness, their determination, their laugh, even their smiles were the same.

After the patrol, Adrien detransformed in an alleyway.

“I can’t believe it, Plagg,” he said as the kwami appeared in front of him. “The two most amazing girls I know are the same girl!” Plagg gulped.

“Are you entirely sure that Marigold and Marinette are the same people?” Adrien grinned.

“Well, you just confirmed it! I never said either of their names before you did!”

“Son of a fish.”

“But this is so amazing! I mean, I was holding back because I didn’t want to endanger Marinette and I was quickly falling for my superhero partner. Not to mention being Scarlet Lady’s ‘partner’ is exhausting and time-consuming so I wouldn’t be able to devote my time properly to either of them anyway. But now, I know they’re the same girl AND Marinette can protect herself just fine AND she’s freed me from the burden of having to work with Scarlet. That’s... the biggest three-way win I can think of.”

Plagg couldn’t help but let a little smile slip through. His kitten was just so happy. And he had to admit, he really couldn’t do much better than Marinette/Marigold. Even before she got the bee miraculous, she was a hero. Plagg shook off the warm and fuzzy feelings.

“Alright kid. I get it. Love and happiness and whatnot. Can we go home now? I need some cheese.” Adrien smiled.

“Plagg, never change.”

“Never will.”

Adrien walked out of the alleyway, not noticing his yellow-clad superheroine partner, frozen on the roof with shock. She didn’t hear what he was saying to his kwami, but she had just seen him detransform.

“What?” Marigold murmured, her eyes wide.

———————

Later, Marinette flopped onto her bed and screamed into a pillow. Pollen buzzed worriedly above her. “Marinette, are you alright?”

“No! I’m not alright! Everything is just so frickin perfect!” Marinette exclaimed. Pollen frowned, confused.

“Wait, is everything not alright or is everything perfect? Humans can be so confusing.” Pollen muttered. Marinette took a deep breath.

“It’s just... Adrien is Cat Noir. The two kindest and most amazing guys I know are the same guy! I mean, I was holding myself back because I was torn between them and they were both equally stressed and overworked. Now, I know they’re the same guy AND I know WHY he was stressed AND I can lessen his burden. It’s like... the biggest three way win I can think of.”

Pollen smiled at her holder, then frowned at her sad expression.

“But then... why are you so upset?” Marinette sat up and hugged a pillow to her chest.

“Well, because I’ve been denying my feeling for both of these guys for who knows how long. Just because I’ve found out my feelings for him doesn’t mean that he has them for me. And I don’t want to ruin the amazing friendship I already have because of my feelings.” Pollen smiled and buzzed next to her.

“I think you should tell him. If he does reject your feelings, that’s okay. Just keep on being friends with him. It sounds like you two have an amazing relationship, anyway. Just because he doesn’t share the same romantic feelings back doesn’t mean you should stop being friends.” Marinette smiled.

“Thanks, Pollen. That makes me feel better.”

“Anytime, Marinette.”

(A/n: monologues come from this post)

———————

Adrien blushed.

“W-what?”

“I-I’m in love with you, Adrien. And I’ve been denying it for years and I literally just found out last week and now I have no idea what to do and now I’m rambling and-”

“-I’m in love with you too.” Adrien interrupted. Marinette’s eyes widened.

“Really?” Adrien nodded and took her hand.

“Yeah.”

They smiled at each other and leaned in slightly...

“And then what happened?!” Alya exclaimed. Marinette grinned.

“You want to go get some lunch? I’m starving.” she said, walking ahead in the direction of the bakery. Alya gasped.

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng, don’t you dare walk away from me! I must know what happened!” she shrieked, chasing her grinning friend. Eventually, she grabbed Marinette’s hand.

“C’mon, Marinette! What happened?!” Marinette smiled and looked up at the sky longingly.

“Well, then he kissed me.” she murmured, her cheeks coloring slightly as she remembered. Alya couldn’t help herself. She let out a squeal of excitement and hugged her best friend. “Alya...”

“I’m so happy! My two best friends are together and they’re in love and they’re going to be together forever!”

———————

“Dude! That’s amazing!” Nino exclaimed, clapping his best friend on the back.

“Yeah, I almost can’t believe it actually happened.” Adrien said, grinning shyly. Nino spun around and grabbed onto Adrien’s shoulders.

“Dude. Is it really that unbelievable? You two have had feelings for each other for a very long time and you are going to be together forever.” Adrien blushed.

“Do you really think so?”

“I know so. Trust me.”

———————

Marigold swung across Paris in the direction of the Eiffel Tower to meet Cat Noir. Three million thoughts ran through her head. Should I tell him I know who he is? Should I tell him who I am? Should I tell him we’re together in our civilian forms? What if he thinks I’m only with him because he’s Cat Noir? What if he doesn’t want to be with me when he finds out who I am? What if-

Marigold slammed into the side of the tower, interrupting her train of thought.

“Woah there, Goldie!” a familiar voice called. She turned to see Cat Noir with a concerned expression on his face. “Are you okay? That was a pretty hard hit.” Marigold nodded.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I just have a lot on my mind.” She answered, landing on the cool metal beam next to her partner. “Is Scar going to show up?” Cat Noir shrugged.

“Probably not, but I don’t care.” Marigold chuckled.

“So, anyway, what’s been going on with you?” she asked noncholantly. Cat Noir hesitated, then blushed.

“Well, I have a girlfriend now.” he admitted, finally. “Honestly, I feel lucky she even likes me. She’s talented, kind, and determined... I fell in love instantly.” Marigold blinked in surprise.

“Did you really?” Cat Noir nodded. 

“Of course. I would have been insane not to.” Marigold fought to hide her blush. This was Adrien, her boyfriend, talking about her. “Anyway, what about you?” Cat Noir asked, interrupting her thoughts. “Anything going on in your life?” Marigold hesitated. How much should she reveal? 

“Well...” she began “I actually have a boyfriend now. I can’t belive how long it took for me to realize my feelings for him. He is handsome, kind, and helpful. Oh, and he’s also a huge dork. You should see how excited he gets whenever we watch Tangled together. He just...” Marigold sighed. “I love that dork so much, it’s not even funny.” Her partner sniffled beside her. “Cat Noir... are you crying?”

“What? No! I just... have something in my eye.” He coughed into his elbow. Marigold raised an eyebrow, but decided to let it go. 

“Hey.” She raised a fist for him to bump. “No matter what, we’ll always have each other, right?” Cat Noir hesitated, then bumped her fist with a smile. 

“Of course.” He said. “Always and forever.”

———————

“It’s heartbreak for all the girls in Paris as supermodel Adrien Agreste has a girlfriend, classmate Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

Marinette learned how to evade paparazzi pretty quickly. After all, her boyfriend was an expert.

———————

“Miss Dupain-Cheng, your relationship with my son is detrimental to the Gabriel Agreste brand. I demand that you stop seeing him at once.” 

“What? But... I didn’t do anything.”

“If you refuse, I will remove Adrien from school and he will never see his friends again.”

Marinette gasped and dropped the tray of macarons she was holding.

“A-Adrien doesn’t deserve this!” she cried.

“Then make the right choice.”

Tears slid down Marinette’s face. Without warning, she turned on her heel and ran upstairs and into her room, locking the trapdoor behind her. She threw herself onto her bed and sobbed. The clouds darkened overhead, reflecting her mood. Pollen tried to comfort her, but there was nothing she could do.

A little while later, Marinette walked downstairs. Her hair was a mess, her face was blotchy, and her eyes were bloodshot. She didn’t say anything. She just grabbed an umbrella and walked out the door, ignoring her parents’ looks of concern.

———————

She promised herself that she wouldn’t cry, but she knew deep down that it was impossible. She hated doing it. She hated that she was making herself do this. She hated seeing his heart break in half as she forced the words out of her mouth. She hated that there was no other way. 

The rain poured around her as she sat on the steps of the Metro and sobbed, hiding under her umbrella. She was sure he hated her now. What kind of girlfriend breaks up with her partner with no explanation? What kind of person just ends it like that?

A familiar voice jarred her from her thoughts.

“Marinette! Move!”

“A-Adrien?” 

She turned to see Adrien running towards her, an unnaturally determined look on his face. 

“Plagg, claws out!” 

Marinette watched in shock as Cat Noir summoned his cataclysm and closed his hand over the purple butterfly that was inches from her face. 

“Adrien!” She gasped. He smiled sadly at her.

“You were about to be akumatized, I didn’t have a choice, My Flower.”

Marinette stood there in shock. Then, with tears in her eyes, she dropped her umbrella and hugged her partner.

“Everything will be okay. I promise.” He whispered, sadness in his voice as he wrapped his arms around her. 

They sat there for a long time. Cat Noir’s transformation faded out, but they kept holding onto each other as the rain poured around them. 

“So... you knew?” she murmured. Adrien nodded.

“So did you.” he replied. Marinette bit her lip and hugged him tighter.

“I’m so sorry, I should have told you...” she sniffled, her tears leaking onto his shirt.

“Shhh... it’s okay. Everything will be fine, Marinette.” 

“No, no... don’t say that, it’s only going to get worse from here...” she whispered.

“How?”

“W-what?”

“How is it going to get worse?” Marinette chewed her lip and and disentangled herself from his embrace. He let her, but still held onto her hand. “Marinette, please...”

“I-I can’t.” she said, finally, her voice shakey. Marinette let her hand slip out from his and she walked down the steps and into the Metro as Adrien watched, tears streaming down his face.

She didn’t even pick up her umbrella.

———————

(A/n okay, wow! I actually wrote this... okay. I have a second part in the works, but I don’t know if it’ll be finished anytime soon. So... thanks for reading and let me know if you have feedback!)

———————

(Edit: Part 2 is done! Read it here)

[celestialflamesme]

| KARMA AND CRAZY MIDGETS | A Venai One-shot Modern AU | Fairy Tail Next Generation |

Ships: Raidyn Dreyar x Venetia Redfox

Dedicated to @primaverafrog @luna-chan00 @biorckstudios18 @animaration-fts @cxndy-stxrs (Lol, I can't believe that no-paragraph breaks worked😂 I fooled Tumblr, y'all!😎😆)

You'd think having a town overtaken by the mafia would make people more apprehensive, if anything. But if Magnolians were anything, they were huge (and he simply could not stress this enough) idiots.

Raidyn prided himself in not partaking in anything Fairy-esque which was more than what he could say about some of his colleagues (Yes, they named themselves Fairy 'Tail' of all things! How no one in this town even got the spelling right was beyond him....)

"Did you hear about Fullbuster and that Fernandez chick? They're together now!" Some red head he'd forgotten the name of (What! It was too late to ask her now!) stage-whispered.

"Who? Storm?"

The entire cafe burst into laughter. "Like Storm would even look at a girl that's not Nashi."

Point proven. They!! were!! on!! first!! name!! basis!! (He bet no one in this room even knew his last name, let alone first. Not that it mattered. He liked slinking in the shadows, although it was practically impossible with his snow-white hair)

Geez, did these people have no lives? They were talking about delinquents for Pete's sake! And ones that sure loved messing up the town in their infamous brawls. But did the people care? Nooooo.

Ugh, one more year and he'd be out of this whacked up place. Wiping a tabletop, he forced a smile on his face and pretended to be interested in the topic.

"Cass, I'll have a black and a burger with fries," a voice interrupted. A voice he was very familiar with.

Did he happen to mention that the most annoying one of them all had made this her hangout spot?

At 5'1, you'd think Venetia Redfox would be the least intimidating person ever. But with crimson red eyes and a Devil-may-care attitude that made up for it, no one dared mess with her. She also caused 75% of the fights in town and had a smirk straight out of a Wattpad Bad-boy fanfic.

Boy, did he hate her.

"You're gonna chip it off with that grip, Blondie."

Oh my god, she did not just-

Raidyn shot her a glare and strode to the back of the register, faintly registering a chuckle (Who the hell did she think she was?) before picking up another order.

Little Miss Redfox however sat at a corner table and continued doing whatever the hell she usually did every Tuesday and Friday for 3 hours in a row (he should know, he was there glaring at her at closing time).

But the kicker this time was, at that moment, her phone rang. You have never really seen your world end right before your eyes if you haven't seen a 5 foot psychotic looking delinquent decked in leather that drove in a motorcycle there by the way (How does one willingly ride on a metallic death-trap like that?!) mumble the words 'Cha cha real smooth' and pick up a call with the most deadpan look ever.

Raidyn almost cried. Almost.

"Are you kidding me? Do it yourself! I swear to God, you always do this shit, Dragneel!" She got up from her seat and walked out, just like she looooved doing smack dab in the middle of her classes back at Magnolia High.

Good riddance.

........

He jinxed it. Karma was such a bitch.

Though no sort of karmic revenge could explain the shit he had to go through that week.

First off, he had 4 assignments due in by the end of the week. And turns out that was the exact week his dear red-head colleague decided would the perfect time for a vacation (It's the middle of September, where in hell's name was she planning to go to?)

Guess who had double shifts now?

This clown.

Ugh. Talk about chivalry and all that loyalty shit.

And yes, of course his car had to break down, and the local bus had to change it's schedule, which left him with his last resort: walking 4 and a quarter miles to school (Oh, he found that out the hard way all right) to college. Nashi and the Fullbuster kid (He sure loved walking around shirtless a little too much) decided to brawl (again) and bam, his locker got caught in the crossfire.

In fact things were so overly shitty that he became skeptical come Thursday when the day seemed relatively normal.

"You've been scowling all week, Dreyar. Anything the matter?"

Raidyn snapped out of his reverie and groaned. "Dad, why not just call me by my name like any normal person would?"

"Because that doesn't build-"

"CHARACTER!! WE GET IT!" His mom, Mirajane mimicked with a scowl. "Well, we're just going to get two Happy meals and then we're off, honey!"

He faintly registered Hunter snickering in the background (How immature. Raidyn wasn't one to get embarrassed by his parents. Plus, none of it would ever compare to the Disco Fiasco of 2001. How else do you think he got his car? Sweet, sweet guilt-tripping....)

The day buzzed past but his suspicions only intensified tenfold. (Call him a pessimist, he didn't care) And like a bull in a China shop, a tiny midget Redfox (the one and only) strut in.

Now, he was behind the counter at that moment handling the red-head (he really ought to learn her name someday) so he didn't notice 5 feet of brute strength that climbed up behind him and dragged him (poor, unsuspecting him) into the supply closet.

Oh no, he was not kidding. The supply closet. Of all the places the perpetrator could've-

The lights flickered on and he screeched (What? Any human would!) at the red irises staring determinedly into his own non-red eyes. (Seriously, were those even real?) Raidyn wasn't scared of no judgement, what did scare him (maybe not that much, now that he knew who those belonged to) was Satan's minion and her RED AS FUCK EYES! LIKE SERIOUSLY-

Clearing his throat and trying to salvage some faux dignity after that dramatic display, he grunted, "Touch me one more time and you're-"

"Yeah, yeah I get it, big guy. Look, I need a favour."

Venetia Redfox crossed her arms and stood threateningly in front of the entrance.

Who was she kidding? "Nope," he muttered and swerved right around her and made his way to the counter. (Pipsqueak. She really should've seen that coming.)

And right as he turned right towards the display case, he found her leaning against it with her shoulder, looking bored. "Yes. And now."

How the- PPHIGXUTDUTZUT- HOW DID SHE JUST-

"Parkour." She deadpanned.

Raidyn gave Venetia a long, long look and sighed, striding towards her. Her smirk widened in anticipation as-

He picked her up like a sack of potatoes and tossed her over his shoulder.

"WHAT THE- THIS IS HARASSMENT!!"

"Technically, you cornered me first," he stated matter-of-factly and dropped her on her feet (she looked like a hissy kitten, hmm.) Then proceeding to close the doors at her, he picked up a poster of her (he kept posters of all of them for a day like this. Ah, foreboding luck. He could feel it.) and pinned it onto the front door.

BANNED: VENETIA REDFOX

(Was he even allowed to do that, you might ask, but bah, who cares? Rabid girls are a nationwide threat.)

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

As he wrapped up and prepared to leave, Raidyn had a niggling feeling he forgot something very, very crucial. Uh-

A body collided onto his own and climbed (I kid you not) him (THE FUCK KIND OF ANIMALS DID MAGNOLIA OWN?) before a tiny, rough hand muffled him. Oh no.

"Yoph kiphing mmph!" Raidyn groaned.

"I need you to teach me how to solve a Rubix Cube."

What. Excuse Raidyn for not knowing, but was Rubix cube some mafia codeword for mafia stuff? Stealing a car, fighting goons, skipping classes or drug dealing? Raidyn Dreyar had a long jail-free life ahead of him, mind you.

BUT SERIOUSLY, SOLVE A RUBIX CUBE?! HOW FRICKING RANDOM WAS THAT?! WHO EVEN TOLD HER HE KNEW HOW TO SOLVE ONE? WHAT WAS WRONG WITH THIS GODFORSAKEN TOWN?!!!

(Some might say he really had to stop reading those novels his mom bought. Some might be right. Whatever.)

Back to the topic on hand, he mumbled inaudibly. Her cropped hair tickled the sides of his face as she squinted at him, "What?"

Was she kidding right now? He pointed at her hand covering his mouth and her eyes widened as she let out a nervous laugh. (Geez, talk about stupid.)

He took in a deep breath and shook her off him. She stood there patiently (As patiently as a Redfox could, anyway.) as he straightened his shirt.

"First things first, NO!" And he stalked away.

He registered a groan from behind him and quickened his pace. However, the midget in question managed to propel herself at break-neck speeds and no joke, TACKLED him.

"PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE-"

"GET OFF ME, YOU PSYCHOTIC-"

Karma was such a bitch.

Macao, the guard standing by the parking lot, huffed, "They don't pay me enough for this."

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

The only reason he was doing this was because she offered to fix up his car. (How did she even know it wasn't starting?) Also because it had been a while since he brushed up on his Rubix skills. Also because he wanted to get rid of the midget before she followed him home. (He figured his mom and dad would ENJOY her presence and replace him with her. He had crazy parents.)

Everyday she'd make sure to meet him (mostly by cornering him in the hallways) and in exchange for these classes, she'd work on his car at the weekend.

The first time she came over to his house (to work on his car, but he didn't know that) was rather embarrassing because he kinda sorta thought she was a burglar and locked his garage, yelling at the top of his lungs. His dad, Laxus came out with a taser (Dad sure loved his tasers.) Of course, when he finally opened the garage doors, he was met with an unimpressed look from the Redfox in question. (God, he was such a drama queen.)

The midget had a lot of trouble twisting her hands at the beginning of her sessions and he loved teasing her about her 'butter fingers' every time she accidentally flung the cube across the room or out the window in one rare occasion.

You know, she was kind of fun to have around.

"And that's the algorithm! You're all done!" He cheered, glad to have this behind him.

"Geez, you don't have to sound that excited to get rid of me." Venetia teased.

"What? No....." He feigned innocence.

"D'aww, admit it, you enjoyed my company."

"Please, more like I was scared for my life." He mumbled. She snorted.

"Catch you later, alligator."

Did she just- "NO WAY, JOŚE!" (That was lame even for him. Gosh dang it, she was laughing at him....)

Fricking Redfox.

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

That weekend, Raidyn thought he deserved a good ol' evening out with his friends/colleagues (technically it was the manager that suggested it and he tagged along for the heck of it. He wasn't much of a social person, per se.)

He guessed Karma was still on a streak when Venetia Redfox entered the very same place they'd chosen for karaoke night and sat herself on one of the tables in front of them. And proceeded to order nothing.

The raven-head didn't even have her notebook (that always made her look disarmingly tiny) or her phone. Oh well, she must've been waiting for someone.

As the hours passed, he found himself exceedingly irritated for no reason.

"Who in their right mind would stand up The Venetia Redfox?" His colleagues whispered (rather loudly, according to him) and she just tapped her fingers away, oblivious to it all.

Fine, whatever.

"Sup." He towered over her and greeted, moving to take a seat next to her.

She blinked at him.

Okay, you couldn't exactly judge him. She was a regular and tipped good and people were being annoying about her and oh, her tapping was distracting and he had a massive headache coming. That's all. Simple as that.

"Don't you have better shit to do?" Red irises stared at him impassively.

"What are you doing here by yourself?" He asked coolly.

"Well, Nashi was supposed to-"

"I'M HERE! I'M HERE! I'M-" Both tilted their heads just in time to see Nashi ram into the glass doors. The now groaning pinkette was sprawled on her butt in front of the entrance. "Fricking doors."

"That's her." Venetia deadpanned. Raidyn shook his head sympathetically.

"Heyo Ven! Heh, kinda lost track of time beating Frostbite at Mario Kart," her doe eyes scanned him. "Raidyn! I didn't know you guys were friends!" She grinned.

Raidyn gave her a two-finger salute in greeting.

Nashi's eyes suddenly widened in realisation. "YOU'RE TEACHING HER THE RUBIX?!"

"Uh..."

"Yup." Venetia smirked. "He's a great teach. His parents have taken me in as their own."

"WAIT! WHEN DID THAT HAPPEN?! HOW WAS I NOT AWARE OF THIS?!"

"Just like that, Blondie. What can I say? It's the charm," She grinned at his bewildered face.

"You guys are all ready for the challenge then?" Nashi wiggled, now nervous, "Ven, I didn't mean to drag you into this, but Clint was-"

"It's cool, dumbass." Venetia shrugged. "Ain't your fault that they're dipshits."

At his confused look, Nashi clarified, "People like picking on us just because we're Fairies and held to the same standards as our parents. This frat dude decided he had to prove he was smarter than the Fairies and decided to pick a Rubix cube challenge of all things." She rolled her eyes. "Bet he taught he was real original thinking that one up."

"Bet he did." Storm scoffed. (Wait, what?)

"WHERE DID YOU COME FROM?"

"From- the front door?" Storm scratched his head in genuine confusion. (As if Raidyn was the weird one that sneaked up behind people like a stalker!)

Nashi facepalmed. "Why the heck are you here, Frostbite?"

"Just like that."

"Gosh, you're so annoying."

"Wanna say that to my face, Flamebrains?!" Storm yelled. (Oh, not again....)

"Guys, please don't...." Raidyn said, but both didn't seem to be paying attention to him.

"I SAID YOU'RE ANNOYING! FIGHT ME!" She threw a punch at him and before he knew it both were throwing napkin holders and vases at each other.

Venetia seemed to be enjoying the show, and pulled him to the back of the room, "This might take a while," she stated. "Wanna grab a milkshake?"

Well, he was kind of craving one. "Why not?"

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

Today was the day of Venetia's challenge and Raidyn found himself nervous.

"You sure they won't wreck the place?" He grumbled for the umpteenth time.

Venetia groaned. "Do you have no faith in my abilities, Dreyar?"

"Nope. None whatsoever."

She raised an eyebrow, "Shame on you, then. I wouldn't let a good friend lose his job on my behalf. Dally ho, now!" She cheered.

He blinked at her, giving her a small reluctant smile. "Kick ass, Ven."

She tilted her head toward him and gave him a grin that knocked the breath out of him. "Thanks, Raidyn."

Shit. When did- when did she get so pretty?

"Look who we have here. You sure you're in the right place, Redfox?" A voice condescended. The owner of the voice was a grimy looking kid that looked like one of those middle-school spelling-bee losers that bragged about it whenever they met someone new.

"Clint." Venetia deadpanned.

Raidyn broke out into a fit of laughter, making 'Clint' (What kind of sad name was that?) glare at him. (Oh please, Little Clint was totally quaking in his boots! Why'd he even bother coming?)

"Let's begin then! Pick a shuffler." Clint drawled.

Venetia picked Nashi while Clint, after a moment of deliberation, picked one of his gang-mates (What did they call it? The Math club?)

"You may begin."

Both Nashi and the grimy dude shuffled for the better of 15 seconds. Clint just scoffed and clicked like a pretentious know-it-all, making comments like, "You're making it easier by shuffling harder, you know. Make it tougher for me, Nashi dear."

Raidyn had to give it to the pinkette, he would've smacked the teen by now.

"Okay," the referee, Storm cheered, (even though he looked like he was ready to kill Clint) "Timer starts, NOW!"

Both twisted and turned the cube furiously, Venetia sticking her tongue out in concentration while the teen twisted his arms like a man possessed.

"I'M DONE!" Venetia dropped the cube with a thud onto the table. "How's that for a Redfox?"

"E-excuse me? That's insane! It's only been," Clint checked the timer like the sore loser he was, "31 seconds!"

"Too bad," she smirked. (Well shit, that was hot...)

"I demand a rematch!"

Nashi moved to protest, but Venetia silenced her with a hand, "Whatever you say, kid..."

"This time, we swap cubes!" He whined like the little weasel he was.

3 minutes later, the rematch began and Venetia plopped her cube on the table with a glare.

"You think you're smart giving me a faulty cube, don't you?"

"And I'm done!" The weasel had the nerve to say. "I don't know what you're talking about Venetia, I used the same cube and it worked just fine. Maybe it was a stroke of luck on your part the first tim-"

He couldn't finish his tirade because Raidyn took that opportunity to check the cube (He didn't have to though, he believed Venetia enough to know she wouldn't make up excuses.) and yeeted it at his face like he'd been itching to do from the moment he saw the turd.

"YOU IDIOT! I'LL HAVE YOUR HEAD FOR THIS-"

"GET HIM!"

"OH NO, YOU DON'T!" Nashi growled, "I'M ALL FIRED UP NOW!"

Oh dear.

Okay, maybe the fight wouldn't get too big, these were scrawny kids after a-

Yeah, Nashi Dragneel just flipped a table on them.

There goes his job.

"GO, NASHI!" His manager cheered. (Okay, thank God this town was crazy.) "Raidyn! You can take the day off, kid. Have fun!"

Storm chose that moment to enter after his momentary toilet-break. "I WAS GONE FOR 3 MINUTES, WOMAN! WHAT THE HELL?!"

"JOIN US, STRIPPER!"

"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?!"

"YOU HEARD ME!"

Venetia, unbothered by the chaos behind her, pulled him by the arm, her eyebrows furrowed at him, "Well, I tried. But hey, looks like you still have your job. That's a win, right?" She scratched her neck, laughing.

He sighed, putting caution to the wind. This was Ven after all. "Ice-cream date? My treat for today's win."

A smile erupted on her face, "Only if we take my bike there."

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

Bonus (That no one asked for):

"Okay, so you have to grip it right. Not too tight. Just enough to nudge it in the right direction." Venetia explained, from where she was seated in front of him on the death tra- bike.

Raidyn nervously laughed, "I've got this in the bag, I don't know what you're worried about." The tilt in his voice gave away his panic, however. She raised an eyebrow.

"Humor me then."

Okay.

Five.

Four.

Three.

Two.

One.

GO!!

"DON'T CLOSE YOUR EYES, YOU IDIOT!!" Venetia screeched. She reached over and took over the handlebars just in time as they nearly crashed into a tree Raidyn was headed for.

He got off the bike and tripped, falling face-first on the ground. Fricking Jelly-legs. "I am never riding that death trap again." Raidyn groaned.

"What the heck?!" Venetia questioned, bewildered. "How'd you even get your driver's ed with such sucky basics?"

"IT'S A DEATH TRAP, THAT'S WHY!!"

"OF COURSE IT'S A DEATH TRAP IF YOU'RE NOT LOOKING WHERE YOU'RE GOING!!!!"

"Fight me Ven, I'm never getting on that thing again!"

"Too bad, I have to drop you back home too." The sneaky devil dared smirk at his plight.

Fricking Karma.

He wouldn't have it any other way, though.

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

[gustafsnightangel]

Shattered Lives Ch 39 Pt 1

The noise that filled the apartment woke her up, the sheets cold on Gustaf’s side of the bed telling her he’d let her sleep in. In the few days since the visit from Uncle Elias the kids had hardly been home. Gustaf taking them out for lunch and the movies, Stellan and the boys going bowling, and the pajama party with Valter and Gustaf’s two youngest brothers last night. She could hear Gustaf chatting to Stellan through the ajar door, the boys settling back in after the overnight with grandpa. The happiness in their voices made her smile, far less grief than this time last year, not a hint of anger or sorrow. She heard Gustaf get them situated before he came in, smile wide, damn she loved that smile, the look of him.

“Hey there lovely lady.” He murmured sitting on the edge of the bed and leaning down to claim her mouth. God the man knew how to kiss.

“Hi.” She breathed out, wrapping her arms around him securing him to her. “Sounds like the monsters are back.”

“They are, and they’re excited that we leave for the cabin tomorrow.” His kiss lingered. “Time to get up, lots to do.”

“Yeah, I need to take them shopping later for snacks, I promised them one treat each for the trip.” She kissed him sweetly. “I’m starting to regret my decision as it means I have to take them out in public.”

He chuckled, those laugh lines crinkling at the corners of his eyes. “What were you thinking?” He said, the sarcasm thick.

“I wasn’t, that’s the problem.” She snorted, thumb brushing his crows feet. They both laughed at the squeak of dad dad as Lily padded her way into the room all excited, Gustaf picking her up and kissing her until she giggled. “Someone had a good time away.”

“Dad said she was running the house as soon as she woke up this morning, keeping the boys in line.”

“Why doesn’t that surprise me.” She muttered. Just looking at him with her in that instance made her belly flip, the whole kids of their own thought sailing through her head like a bright neon sign. He placed Lily on the bed and she crawled over to Sildie for cuddles while Gustaf took a shower.

“He’s much happier today huh little lady.” She murmured as Lily snuggled in. She’d been worried, the days since Elias had been brutal on him. She’d phoned Elsa and dealt with more paperwork while Gustaf was shut up in his office laying down the law with his lawyers and security team. She’d never heard him so angry, the shreds he’d stripped off the building security, the anger and fury that had unleashed again as he made arrangements to have Dana’s entire family under surveillance. Especially when they were informed he’d made bail and the trial wouldn’t be until April 5th. Sometimes the system just sucked and so did the timeframe. She also knew that being away for filming over the next few months was making this whole situation far worse, she sensed his anxiety already poised to drag him under. It was a clusterfuck and added pressure he didn’t need.

“I’m going over to mums for lunch today, she wanted to chat about the whole Ana thing.” He said as he came out wrapped in nothing but a towel, setting all her wild fantasies aflame. “She’s... concerned.”

“That’s one way to put it.” She said softly. “Do you need us to be there?” Her voice was quiet, apprehension he thought.

“Not if you don’t want to be.”

“I do, I just don’t want the kids around when we’re talking about all that, about her.” She would protect them from it as much as possible. “They don’t need that in their lives.”

“I already told mum it would just be me.” He toyed with her wisps of hair at her face and kissed her tenderly. “For exactly those reasons, and I also know that Eija and Alex are there today too, family meeting about it really. I’ll get them up to speed. It’ll be fine.”

“You know the spiel as well as I do now anyway.” She trailed a finger along his jaw. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” His thumb brushed the dark shadows marring her cheek, it still made his anger flare. He tossed a shirt and jeans on and collected Lily from the bed. “Up you get love, I’ll make some tea.” He kissed her quickly and went to see why the boys were suddenly so quiet.

She could hear them play fighting as she dressed, and smiled. The beginnings of their family, fun times, happy memories, they’d build more tomorrow and over the coming weeks. The ruckus she came out to made her chuckle, three boys tackling the fourth freakishly tall one. He was a big kid at heart, that gorgeous smile plastered across his face, not a hint of anxiety or stress in him. They were both eager to be in the mountains away from everything for a while.

Leaning against the counter she watched, videoing what she could. She laughed as Lily came to the rescue of her dad dad, the boys laughing, so carefree and happy, just as it should be. Gustaf could never fully understand the precious gift he’d given them, stability, love, a family. He’d brought them together as a family unit. “I hope you’re seeing this brother.” She muttered under her breath. “He loves them as if they were his own.” Her smile went wide as Lily tackled Gustaf to the floor, the boys cheering. She fisted a hand and tapped it on the counter thinking. “He’d make a great father.” She whispered, her breath catching. Breathing out a steadying breath she saw Gustaf calm them down and leave them to play some Mario cart.

“They’re ready to go when you are, they’ve had breakfast.” He chuckled, that gorgeous smile lighting up his face as he stopped in front of her, fingers reaching to toy with the soft waves of her hair she’d left down.

“I love seeing you this happy.” She said, hands cupping his face and kissing him sweetly.

“You make me this happy love, so do they.” He kissed her, sensing something had knocked her off kilter a little. “I love you Sildie, the five of you are my world.”

“You’re ours sweet man.” She smiled, her kiss lingering. “Go have a good lunch with your mum, we’ll get some snacks and shopping for the trip. I need to get Lily another jacket, she’s grown out of her other one and the twins need new boots.”

“Fun times.” He grinned.

“Joyous.” She said sarcastically at his chuckle. “Go on. Get going.” She swatted his ass and took a sip of her tea. His arched eyebrow at her butt slap had that mischievous smirk tug her lips.

“A very dangerous game to play kitten.” He growled and devoured her mouth thoroughly.

“Text me your dinner order, I’ll pick something up.” She said changing the subject as her body melted at his touch.

“Mmmm hmmm. Will do lovely lady.” He purred. “I love you.”

“Love you too.”

He could tell something was bothering her, more than her usual grief and the shitstorm that Ana had created, the way it had dragged Elias and Dana’s side of the family into the mix. So much going on in that wicked smart brain of hers. He knew she was piecing something together but there was something else she was chewing on. Walking across the street to his mothers he thought about the conversation they were all about to have, the steps he would take, had taken, to protect them all, those measures Sildie had already put in place. They would rally around him, protect him, protect Sildie, the kids, like a family should. It still irritated him that he had to resort to such drastic measures of security and legal restraints but he was out of time, options, and patience.

Sildie and the kids hit the mall, John, their shadow as she like to call him, following their car and staying a respectable distance from them as they shopped, eyes ever watchful. She felt bad for dragging the guy out on a chilly afternoon for them to go shopping, but if this was going to set Gustaf’s mind at ease while he wasn’t here with them she wasn’t going to argue. He was already under enough stress and pressure, he didn’t need anymore. She didn’t think Ana would blatantly harm her or the kids, but there was always the what if, the maybe. Those thoughts that raced through her head a mile a minute. Just look at Elias, she thought bitterly. Not in a million years did she see the connection between him and Ana coming.

Her lawyer brain kicked in as she helped the twins find shoes. How did he fit into it? How did he know her? Was he just a junkie? Was Ana just his supplier? Something more? Had there been a relationship between them? Was Elias part of the syndicate? Was the rest of Dana’s family involved? How far did Ana’s claws dig in? Questions she hoped would be answered when the law finally caught up with her. After that, it wouldn’t take long for Elias to sing, to rat on her to save his own ass.

With a new coat for Lily and new boots for the boys, Brendan included because his toes were already touching leather from the pair she’d bought a few months ago, they stopped in for ice cream. It was their weekly thing, an after shopping treat that had carried over from Dana that she didn’t have the heart to stop, especially when mint chocolate chip was involved and it kept a part of their mother with them.

With groceries in hand they headed back to the car, John helping with the heavier stuff, boys laughing, and a chattering Lily in her arms playing with the zipper on her new coat. As they neared the car the happiness of the afternoon turned to ash and vinegar in her mouth as she looked closer.

“John take the kids to your SUV please.” She said quietly and handed her bags to him. “Brendan, take Lily please and get everyone in the car with John, stay with him ok?” She saw the shock on the teens face, the questions of, who and why echoed there. “I’ll explain later.” Was all she heard herself say as she approached her vehicle slowly.

The windows had been smashed in, seats ripped, red paint covered every surface inside as if a paint can had exploded. The vulgar messages on the doors, the paint splattered and shattered windshield. She felt the panic attack surge up, the nausea and lightheadedness threatening to consume her. “Breathe.” She whispered and sucked in a breath. “Just breathe, the kids are ok, it’s just a car.” A car Gustaf had bought for her, for the kids. He’d bought it to take care of her. Pulling out her phone she took photos of it all and texted them straight to Detective Holmberg, her phone rang a moment later.

“Sildie it’s Leon. I’m on my way. Are the kids somewhere safe?” He said hurriedly. She could hear him moving as he spoke. “Are you safe?”

“Yes they’re with John our security detail, in his car.” She didn’t like how pathetic and shaky her voice sounded. “I’m fine.”

“Don’t touch anything.”

“I haven’t, I just took pictures.” As she was speaking to him she noticed a blonde woman watching her a few cars over. It took her a second to recognize her through the haze of adrenaline and anxiety coursing through her system. “Ana’s here, a few cars down from me.” She snarled, an overwhelming urge to cut a bitch slammed into her so violently the anxiety flipped a one eighty into full on lethal rage.

“Don’t approach her, pretend she’s not there. We maybe able to box her in, I’ll have the parking lot cordoned off.” Which she could hear him relaying that order as he drove. “I’ll be there in two minutes.”

“Ok.” She would not crumble and give Ana the satisfaction, and she would not retaliate. She wanted to though, oh how she wanted some divine retribution right here, right now at her own hand. Everything she’d done to get at Gustaf, to cause him more pain, more grief. Yes, she thought, I’d like to have a knock down drag out with you, you vindictive bitch, she thought as her gaze flicked to Ana and then back at the car.

Calming the rage her thumb hesitated over Gustaf’s number. She knew she had to make the call or he’d be more furious at her for handling it on her own, especially after what went down with Elias. But part of her wanted to spare that sweet soul of his any further pain. She choked back a sob as she knew this would hurt him, cut into him so deeply. Her rage gave way to anxiety once more as she stared at his number. All that peace he’d found these past few weeks was ebbing away. “Together.” She breathed and hit dial, the sick feeling in her stomach growing with every ring.

“Hey lovely lady.” She could hear the joy in his voice and she was about to shatter it.

“Hey handsome.” She breathed, anxiety rising.

“You ok?” He went on full alert, he knew that tone, something had happened.

“I’m fine, so are the kids, the car not so much. Not an accident.” She blurted out quickly and held back the sob.

“Ok, good to know.” His gut threatened to abruptly launch his meal out via his teeth. “Talk to me love.” He said gently at her sudden silence.

“Ana’s here, she vandalized the car and is sitting a few cars from me. I’ve called Leon, and he’s just pulling in.” The lawyer had surfaced to take care of the situation, he could hear it in her voice, but it shook.

“God fucking damn it!” He roared, his temper snapping out. She could hear the chair he was sitting in get pushed back explosively, crashing to the floor. It was the last straw for him, she knew it would be and felt sick for it.

“Gustaf, take a breath, please.” She stayed calm, her voice quavering with the tears that threatened to fall. She was only just holding it together. “Were fine, the kids are in the SUV with John at my request. I’m not in any danger and Leon is here.” She willed her voice to not shake. “He just pulled up.”

“I’m on my way to you.” He seethed, he would fucking murder the bitch.

“You won’t get in they blocked the car park so she has no where to go.” She tried for calm, her voice betrayed her as the anxiety surged forward again.

“The hell I won’t.” He spat and she heard the unmistakable slam of a car door. “I’m on my way.” The line went dead.

She’d never heard him this angry, never had him be so short with her. New Year’s Eve was one thing, confronting Elias another, but this? This was an entirely different level of anger, explosive, reckless, and violent.

“I take it that was Gustaf?” Leon asked coming to stand beside her.

“Yes. He’s on his way and rather angry.” That was the understatement of the century.

“Quite rightly.” Holmberg muttered. “Where is she?” He asked, paying particularly close attention to a spot on the drivers side door as he spoke.

“Your eleven o’clock, four cars down, blue...” She said softly, only flicking her eyes to make sure she had the details correct.

“I see her.” He texted the location to his team and let them handle it. Before Ana could tear her eyes away from Sildie and the mayhem she was gloating over, her car was boxed in and police were hauling her out.

Sildie wasn’t interested in the takedown, or the profanity spewing from Ana’s mouth as they cuffed her. She turned her back on Ana, not giving the woman another moment of recognition. It was difficult not to retaliate, because she wanted to, she wanted to March right over there and lay her out cold for what she’d done to Gustaf. Rarely did Sildie want to get into a physical altercation but she was certainly ready to make an exception in this case.

She peered into the car once more, her focus drawn to the rear view mirror and what was no longer hanging there. “She took it.” Her choked tone had Leon turning sharply.

“Took what?” He asked, but she couldn’t answer him, her voice had ceased working as the grief swallowed her whole. Silent tears tracked down her cheeks and she felt her world bottom out. As they placed Ana in the back seat of the police cruiser she felt familiar arms around her, turning her slowly until she was breathing in that familiar scent.

“Sildie.” Gustaf sighed, the relief that she was ok flooding into him. Eyes searched for John’s car and landed on him a moment later, the respectful nod saying the kids were fine setting his mind at ease.

“Sildie, what did she take?” Leon asked again softly as she buried her face in Gustaf’s chest and wept.

“Something missing?” Gustaf asked flatly looking at Leon with ice cold eyes.

“All she said was she took it.” Leon shrugged.

Gustaf leaned down to peer into the car and his temper went nuclear. “I will fucking murder her.” He snarled, holding Sildie tighter to him. “The charm from her rear view mirror is missing, the one her brother gave her.” He said evenly, barely able to contain the contempt in his voice.

“I’ll need you to check the rest of the vehicle to see if anything else is missing.” Leon’s voice had turned flinty.

“Give us a minute ok?” Gustaf asked, he had to talk Sildie off the ledge of a panic attack and stuff his violent fury back into its box.

“Take your time, it’ll take us a while to process this mess.” Leon said and moved away.

Gustaf stood there, soothing her as best he could when he knew all she’d be able to feel would be the waves of anger rolling off him. “You’re ok love, I’m here.” He murmured. “I’m here.”

“I’m sorry.” She sobbed. “I’m sorry... the car.”

“No, no, you’ve done nothing wrong, look at me.” He said tenderly trying to get his anger under control. “Look at me love.” When she did it crushed him. “I’m the one that should be sorry for dragging her into your life.”

“But the car.” She hiccuped.

“Is just a car. It’s insured. I’m more livid about what she took from it.” His rage banked as he wiped the tears from her cheeks with his thumbs, she needed him to be calm. They were both stressed and him letting the anger gain the upper hand wasn’t the answer. He’d have time to unleash later.

“It’s gone.” She sobbed.

“It is love, I’m so sorry.” This was tearing her apart and cleaving his soul into pieces. That charm wasn’t something he could replace. He couldn’t fix it.

“Oh shit, the kids, they’re still with John...” she said hurriedly swiping the tears from her face, realizing she didn’t have the luxury to fall apart. “And I just left...”

“They’re perfectly fine, look.” He pointed to the SUV and the kids waved back.

“We have to get them home.” She sniffed pulling it together, it was a stupid charm, it wasn’t like someone had died, she berated herself.

“How about you hang here for a little bit and help Leon out while I go and grab a new car seat for Lily? Because we can’t take anything from the car and her seat is trashed.” He said softly.

She let her gaze drift over to the items already being bagged, spare shoes, sweaters, and Brendan’s hockey gear. “Leon? Can you open that bag real quick.” She asked pointing to Brendan’s gear.

“Paint in the bag too.” Leon said sharply.

“And his mask.” Sildie sighed, before another sob broke free.

“I’ll have another made love.” Gustaf said softly.

“It’s not the same.” She sniffed. “You had that made for him, your first gift to him. You have no idea what it means to him.”

“I know it’s not the same love.” He pulled her into a hug while Leon was trying his damnedest to wipe the paint off the teens hockey mask. “I might be able to take it back and get it cleaned and refinished. I’ll figure it out, I’ll fix it. Somehow I’ll fix it.” He kissed her temple and lingered, willing his system to calm down so in turn he could soothe hers. “Are we able to get this stuff back at some point?” He snapped at Holmberg and immediately regretted his tone. It wasn’t Leon’s fault, Gustaf was just on a razor thin edge.

“I’ll get them back to you as soon as I can.” The detective looked at Gustaf, yes, he thought, Leon was pissed too, good.

“Appreciate it.” He kissed Sildie softly. “Go sit with the kids a moment ok? I’ll get Lily a new seat and we can go from there ok?” She just nodded and walked to John’s car. The slump of her shoulders told him this had kicked her hard.

“I knew her brother.” Leon said quietly. “My wife was close friends with Dana. I’m doing everything I can Gustaf, but I have to stay within the confines of the law, so do you. Don’t go doing anything crazy, get a good attorney and take the spiteful bitch down.”

“Do me a favor.” Gustaf said bluntly. “Search Ana’a car real quick for that charm, or her pockets. The rest of this I can replace, that I can’t, and it will destroy Sildie if it stays missing.”

Leon nodded. “Go get Lily a car seat, I’ll look myself right now and call it in for when they process her at the station.”

“Thanks.” He huffed and scrubbed a hand over his face. As he started to walk away he turned. “I’m sorry, for snapping earlier.”

“Not necessary, I’d be a little snappy too considering the circumstances.” Leon said, a tight smile gracing his lips.

“Well regardless, I’m sorry. There was no need for it, you’re only trying to help.” He wasn’t that person anymore, to rage without reason, without sucking it up and apologizing like the man he was trying to be.

“All good.” Leon said, clasping a hand of Gustaf’s shoulder and squeezing it in support.

He knew he could be an insufferable prick when he put his mind to it or the rage swamped him, that wasn’t him anymore. “And that’s what you’re hoping for isn’t it you fucking bitch.” He muttered as he walked to the baby store across the street. “You’re hoping to get me so riled up I’ll snap. Well I’m way past that. Coming after me was one thing, going after Sildie was the biggest mistake you ever made. By the end of this you’re going to wish you’d never fucking met me.” He said with conviction.

She explained it as much as she dared to the boys, the plea in her eyes to Brendan to just go with it so she could explain more when they were away from the twins. His tight nod all she needed to have some measure of relief. She watched Gustaf walk back to his car and fit the new seat. This will destroy him, she thought, all that peace he’d found obliterated in the instant she’d phoned him. Destroying another life, just like she’d destroyed the boys. It was a spiral, she knew it was happening yet she was powerless to stop her thoughts diving so deeply out of control. It was all too much and she’d reached her tolerance level of bullshit.

She hopped out of the car as he approached and went to him.

“Load the kids up and head home, love. Take care of them and let me worry about all this ok?” He said gently, he would be her calm now as he knew she was far from done today. “You ok to drive?” A nod was all she could give him. “You sure?”

“Yeah. I need to get them home before Lily implodes.” She said trying her damndest to pull it together, she had shit to take care of not wallow in self pitty.

“I’ll stay here with Leon until the car’s towed and then go hire one for our vacation. I’ll send John back with you to help with the groceries ok?” He watched her carefully and was concerned.

She nodded and leaned her forehead against his chest, breathed him in, his scent soothing her jagged emotions.

“That’s it love. Breathe a minute. It’ll all be ok, you and me, we’ll fix it.” He murmured and stroked the nape of her neck tenderly.

She let herself just exist for a moment, collect the shred of composure she was clinging to and pulled it together. Drying her eyes she kissed him softly, the grief he felt already echoing in his eyes.

“There’s my girl.” He said softly, a hint of a smile tugging at his lips. “I’ll be home a little later. Do you need me to send mum over, or dad? A sibling? I have plenty to spare.” His attempt at humor got the chuckle from her he was hoping for.

“No, I’ll be ok.” You won’t be, he thought, but nice try.

“I love you Sildie. Together love.” He kissed her tenderly.

“Love you too, not letting her win, it just knocked me a bit.” She sniffed.

“I know, me too, but we’ll knock back harder.” He kissed her brow and looked at her. “Come on, I’ll get Lily bear settled, because I can hear her starting to ramp up for a full on I’m tired and hungry meltdown.”

Gustaf helped her get the kids settled in the car, fielding questions from the twins as vaguely as possible. “Text me when you get home.” He said softly.

“I will.” Her voice was that eerie quiet he didn’t like. It only got like that when she retreated into herself and it killed him to see her like that.

She seemed to be on auto pilot as she drove home, aware enough to drive, but not really caring about what was happening around her. John helped her get the kids inside, the groceries for their trip piled on the counter. With the kids occupied she sat in her office, the process of writing notes about the incident clearing it out of her mind as the words appeared on paper. Gustaf’s text tone interrupted her asking if she’d got home and she swore, she’d forgotten to text him.

We’re home. I’m so sorry I zoned and totally forgot.

It’s ok love. You’re all home safe that’s what matters. I’m headed to hire a car, be home soon. Is John still there?

He left a little while ago but he said they have someone watching the building. He stayed until we were settled.

Ok, that’s good.

I love you.

Love you too lovely lady. I’ll be home soon.

He came home an hour or so later and could hear Sildie reaming someone on the other end of the phone in her office, door shut tightly.

“She’s been in there for nearly an hour.” Brendan said quietly.

“You know who she’s flaying?” He asked carefully and the kid shook his head.

“I haven’t seen her this mad since she yelled at grandma after mum and dad...” He stopped suddenly and shook his head not wanting to voice the rest of the sentence.

“Well she’s super upset about the car so I’m not surprised.” Gustaf said carefully, he wasn’t sure how much he should divulge.

“Why would someone do that?” Brendan asked as he walked with Gustaf to the kitchen out of the twins hearing.

“I don’t know B.” Gustaf sighed, he was beat to hell and he knew he’d have to talk Sildie down before she imploded. “The short version ok, because I’m beat to hell.” He scrubbed a hand over his face and tried to collect his thoughts. “It’s an ex girlfriend, the ex girlfriend, the one that screwed me up. They arrested her and things could get a little messy. Your mum has had to bust ass on making sure you guys are safe and it’s all just a little too much for her today.”

“Is that why we have John and Andrew come with us everywhere?” The kid was a quick study.

“Yes. I promised Sildie I’d keep you all safe too.”

“Oh.” The teen looked a little shocked.

“I love you guys, you’re my family Brendan and there’s absolutely nothing I won’t do to protect you, to make sure you’re safe, that Sildie’s safe.” He said softly as the teen hugged him tight. “Absolutely nothing.” His head came up at the sharp shout from Sildie’s office and he decided he needed to get in there and deal with it. “It’s getting late, you guys eaten yet?”

“Yeah we got something on the way home, there’s some here for you too. We weren’t sure when you’d get home.”

“Thanks. Can you get the twins in a bath or shower, I need to go see if she’s ok. Did the cold groceries get out away?”

“Yeah they’re away.” He said and started to unpack the rest.

@hausofobsession @ill-skillsgard @grandpa-sweaters @authentic90skidd @tuckersgirl @fairlyfallacy @flowers-in-your-hayr @raewritesfiction @stinkerbelle007 @kamie-b @mrsaugustwalker @skrsgardspam @loliwrites @trippedmetaldetector @lihikainanea @fay-walden @nandadb

[queenofthefallenangels]

Think Twice Part 2

"I am going to make sure you never even think of touching my girl ever again. I am going to make sure you wish you never even met her."

Seth Rollins X OC X Jon Moxley 

Rated: M 

Warning: Some violence 

Tag Team: @sithstatlander​ @xladyxfatex​ @awkward-teenaged-girl​ @steadysuitcasepurseranch @themansbliss​ @katelynirwinhemmingsclifordhood​ @strwbrryshrtckexo​ @bluedragonfly678​ @luleelurah @mohawkmama​ @foreverthenerdprincess​ @aujenaeblaze​ @missnena2194​ @suicidepanda07​ @kelseyann2002​ @princessminjikwon​ @nerdgirlsblog​ @multi-stan-kpop​ @redz0mbie​ @thebornalpha @acon1120​ @jonsmoxley​ @chonisberonica​ @goddessofhardrock​ @1dluver13xx​ 

@marismar @vampirepixi​ @dietwrestling​ @asktvhead​ @moxslilangel2020​

Aria’s POV

I sat back at the bar next to Jon. He smiled at me as he handed me a drink. I raised an eyebrow at him. He held his hands up. “It’s clean. I swear.” 

I giggled. “I hope I can trust you. I am a lightweight regardless.” I took a sip of the drink. I spit it back up. He chuckled at my reaction to the drink. It was so fruity. I couldn’t even taste the alcohol in it. “What is this? It’s horrible.” 

“Sex on the beach. I was checking if you weren’t trying to just impress someone with your drink choices.” 

“If I was,” I asked. “What were you going to do if I drank this whole thing down?” 

“Buy you another.” He shrugged laughing. I shook my head. 

The night carried on. It almost felt like I had known him before with how comfortable I felt around him. I didn’t even need the alcohol. I had made him order me a beer to replace the sex on the beach. He obliged and got me the same as his. It was stronger than the Bud Lights I was used to, but I liked it. I felt happier than I had in a long time as the night rolled on. We stayed at the bar till the bartender called for the last call. That was when Jon turned to me with a smile. “Shall I get you home?” I smiled and nodded, taking his hand. I couldn’t deny the knots that turned in my stomach as I took his hand. He wasn’t going to want...well, of course, he was, a man like this had to...He could have had any of those girls at the bar. 

We walked together out the door. I was expecting him to pull out his keys, but he never did. We just kept walking. “Um, don’t you have a car here?” I asked him. 

“No, I live nearby. I walked here to avoid DUIs. We aren’t exactly sober enough to be driving. You can spend the night if you need to or wait for an Uber at my house. I think it’s a bit safer. You never know who is lurking around.” 

“What if you are the creep I need to be hiding from?” I teased. 

“Well, if I am such a creep why are you still walking with me?” He winked as we kept walking. I felt the heat rise on my cheeks. We walked a bit before I spoke again. 

“I don’t live that far from here either. I could probably walk from your house.” 

“Where do you live?” He asked. 

I pointed towards Alexa’s apartment. “Well, it isn’t my place. I am looking for a place of my own. I just kind of got out of a relationship.” I said awkwardly as I rubbed the back of my neck. “My friend is letting me stay with her until I can find a place of my own. It’s just passed the gas station.”

He nodded, “I live near there. Maybe a couple of blocks south near the auto shop where I work. I will walk you home. I can’t let a pretty girl walk home alone. Can I?” His tone was really flirty even after what I had just let loose.

“You aren’t scared away by the fact that I just got out of a relationship?” He shrugged, “It takes a lot to scare me away. Besides, wouldn’t that mean I was trying to be in one with you. Someone is jumping really far ahead.” I blushed again brightly. “I am so sorry.” I looked down feeling embarrassed. Maybe I read him all wrong. He is just being a nice guy. The whole idea of meeting a guy at a bar was a foreign idea.

He stopped us, “You are fine. Really. I am just teasing. Trust me, you seem like a great girl. I don’t want to screw anything up by rushing into things you aren’t ready for.” He kissed my hands. “I just want to get to know you. I wasn’t even going to try any moves on you.” 

I felt like I was in another universe with his words. Sure, Seth said romantic things...normally after I caught him doing something he wasn’t supposed to do or after a huge fight. The way Jon said, it didn’t sound like his way of getting me in the bed.  He sounded so sincere. I didn’t want to question it. I just for once want to believe that a guy wanted me for who I really was on the inside. Not just because of my looks or of any other part of me. 

“So, you work as a mechanic?” I asked him, changing the subject. 

He nodded, “It is still somewhat of a new auto shop in town. We still get a bunch of customers. What do you do?” 

“I am nothing special really. Just a secretary, currently. I sometimes miss working at the gym. It was more fun, but I couldn’t work there anymore after my dad passed.” Sure, Aria, just drop that huge bomb on him. I was really going to test him on what he could take. 

“What happened to your dad?” He asked. 

“He had a heart attack. He was really sick for a while. He couldn’t stop fighting. He used to be one of the biggest fighters in the underground world. Not sure if you know about it. It is like wrestling, but fewer rules.”

“More blood.” Jon chimed in. “I know of it. I am one too. Your father must have been Ricky Lee Meyers.” 

“How do you-”

“He’s a legend. Every fighter in this town knows who he was. A lot of people miss him even his enemies.” 

“Yeah,” I looked up to the stars, a single tear stuck in my eye. He stopped looking at me. He whipped the tear from my eye. “I miss him the most. He was the only family I ever had. After he passed, all I thought I at least had was my ex but it turns out, I didn’t even have him. I honestly have never felt so alone when I found out I didn’t even have him. It’s like being in a room full of people, but none of those people can see or hear you.”  

“I am so sorry, kitten.” He said, pulling me close. He kissed my head as he held me for a moment longer. 

“What did you call me?” “I am sorry, do you not like to be called that?” 

“No...just been a while since I heard anyone call me that. It’s nice.” I smiled at him. I put my head into his chest. It was nice to feel like I could let my feelings out with someone. Even if it was someone I just met. 

He grabbed my phone and took my finger to unlock it. He typed something into the phone before handing it back. “You can call or text if you ever need to talk...or you at least want to talk. I don’t sleep much so I can probably answer whenever. Unless I am in a fight which is just mostly weekends. I will respond when I can.” 

I smiled up at him as I called the number so he could get my number. “Thank you. For everything tonight even the nasty ass drink. It means a lot to me. I really needed this.”

He smiled back at me, “It’s nothing, kitten.” He leaned in a bit. His eyes were moved from mine down to my lips. I could feel my heart racing as time moved slowly as his head leaned in. His lips captured mine. The sparks flew from my lips. He deepened the kiss pulling me closer to him, his hands resting on my hips. I wrapped my arms around his neck. 

Suddenly a light came on, pulling us apart when I jumped in alarm. It was the light outside the apartment building. Alexa must have seen me and turned it on because it flickered after a bit. I looked back at Jon. “I think my roommate is trying to call me back in.” 

He nodded. “Always has to be someone to ruin the kiss. Have a goodnight kitten.” He kissed my head before I walked back into the building. 

Jon’s POV

 I sat outside the steps for a moment longer after she had gone in. I couldn’t believe anything of what had happened tonight. From meeting into the bar to the walk home. I could have never imagined this would have gone so well. 

 I knew all of it. Everything she had just told me and more. I couldn’t let her know that. I know building a relationship on lies was never a good thing, but I had no choice. If she knew who I was before… She would never want to be with me. I know she doesn’t fully remember that night I turned against everything I thought I stood for. I knew lies had been put in place of the memory. Whatever Seth and the others had cooked up to hide their own guilt.  It was something I had to do. I had to change my name. Change my look, and start a new life. I couldn’t get Aria out of my head. I wanted to give her up. I knew Seth would never ever release his hold on her. He sure did have a tight one, but I could tell it was loosening. He only had himself to blame for that one. 

I heard a ‘snap’ of a twig from behind me.  I whirled around as I faced the noise. Whatever made the noise quickly went back into the shadows. I didn’t have to see the noise to have a pretty good idea what or rather should I say who caused it. Seth had minions running around for him everywhere. It shouldn’t surprise me he had one right outside the girl’s house Aria was staying at. I knew it wouldn’t be long before Seth would find out that I was back around and going after Aria. I could almost picture his face when he got the news. I love Aria, but getting back at Seth was a nice part of this.    

---The Next Week---

Seth’s POV

My blood had boiled all weekend long that once Monday rolled around I knew what I had to do. I had the perfect plan. Well, most of the way. I was going to confront him about Aria. Tell him, he better backs the fuck off. He should know who he is messing with. 

I walked start into the American Nightmare Autoshop. I walked up to the woman at the front desk. She smiled sweetly at me. “May I help you?” Her nametag read Kris on it. II shook my head. “ Jon Moxley, I need to speak to him?” “He’s at lunch. Can I take a message for you?” She asked sweetly. 

I shook my head. “I will just go in and see him now. Thanks.” I said as I walked on by. She tried to stop me, but I was too fast. I was already at the table where Jon was eating his meal. He looked up at me as I walked in. A small smirk played on his lips. I should have known he knew I was coming. This boy was always in line with my thinking or three steps ahead. Lately, he has been three steps ahead by showing up at that date the other night after not being around for a year. As far as I knew, he had fallen off the grid. I couldn't be happier that he was gone. Now, he just suddenly appears. Something was up and I really wanted to know how he knew she was going to be there. 

“Don’t worry, Kris, he’s an old friend of mine.” He said shooing the girl away. I could hear the other mechanics working in the shop as I sat down across from him. He didn’t offer me the seat, but I wasn’t going to wait for it. 

“What do you think you are doing?” I ask him. 

“Eating a sandwich.” He smiled innocently. “But I guess you are meaning with Aria. Last I checked she was doing this out of her own free will.” 

“Why? Why now? You sat and waited for years to make you move on her. Why? Also, how did you know that we had broken up?”

Jon sucked the mayo off his thumb. “I am pretty sure you know why, Seth. As for how...Let’s just say that I have my sources and leave it at that.”

I put both my hands on the table glaring at him. His eyes met mine. We held eye contact for a moment before I spoke again. “Stay the fuck away from her.” 

“I’ll stay away from her if she asks me to. She asked me to go on a date with her and I am going to go. You aren’t her father or her boss, so stop acting like it. You just can’t stand the fact that she might actually want me. You could have maybe been able to get rid of any other guy that she tried to date as you have in the past. You know though, I won’t be as easily beaten. I waited all those years for a chance and I will be taking it.”

I growled softly as I knocked the sandwich out of his hand. I stuck my finger in his face. “I am warning you. Stay. Away. Don’t make me do something I will regret.”

Jon raised an eyebrow in pure amusement. He stood up a bit to meet my face. “What are you going to do to me? Get those goons you had the other night beat me up as they did to Kevin. Beat me with a steel bat. I am not scared of you. I know what you are made of.”

“She’s mine,” I said slowly, my eyes not leaving his. 

“You have a funny way of showing it. Do you even love her for the person she is or do you just like having her as property?”

 “Shut up, I wouldn’t expect someone like you to understand. You can’t even tell her who you really are. I bet you told her all about how you are Jon Moxley like Dean Ambrose never existed. Like you didn’t know her before.” 

“Just the same as you never told her how you played a part in her father’s death. Funny, how you can be loyal to everyone, but the girl you call the love of your life. You are a true piece of shit, Seth.”

“I figured you of all people would understand the things I had to do.” “Oh, I understand perfectly. “ Jon said, shaking his head as his focus went back to his lunch. I growled softly. I could feel the anger burning inside me. I couldn’t take it. It was just like him to bring up the past as a way to justify what he was doing. He was the one that ran off. He abandoned not only me but Aria and now he was going to play as if he was somehow superior to me. I took the table and flipped it over. “You know what Dean, Jon whoever the fuck you are. How do you think your date will go if I tell her who you really are?! That you lied to her.” 

He finished the last few bites of his sandwich. His eyes glaring at me. He moved forward, “I could easily tell her the whole truth about her father’s death. She wouldn’t even be able to look at you ever again.” 

“She would never believe you.” 

“What makes you so sure she will believe you in who I really am? You spent most of the relationship lying and cheating. How would she know this is the truth? Don’t you think you hurt enough anyway? Let her go already.” 

“To you? You want me to let her go to a lunatic like you! That is fucking rich. Did you get brain damage or something?”

“At least my lunatic self knows how to treat her properly unlike you.” Our foreheads were touching at this point. I took this moment to push him back. He stumbled back a bit. “Is that all you got, princess?” He asked challenging me before he launched forward towards me pushing back causing me to fall back on the table behind me. “You should know by now, I am not scared to fight you. It’s pretty dumb to come to my place of work and try to pick a fight though. Even if you get the upper hand, I got others in the back waiting to kick your ass.” I just noticed that his coworkers had started to crowd around as soon as we had started yelling. I was sure they heard everything and none of them were on my side. I worked for the rival that they wanted nothing better than to destroy. I hadn’t come with any back up in the building, so it was me against all of them. Any idiot could see the problem here. 

My eyes moved back to him. “This isn’t over,” I said before letting myself out of the building. I pulled out my phone as soon as I got out. He was right about one thing. She would never believe me of who he truly was. I also risked him telling her a secret that would kill her. As much as I wanted to believe he wouldn’t be so cruel, I didn’t want to risk putting it past him. 

Seth to Aria: You need to stay away from this Jon guy. He will do nothing, but hurt you. 

Aria to Seth: Like you? 

Seth to Aria: Just listen to me, please. Be careful with him. 

[dreaminpeaches]

Humble Pie Concept: Give the boy a cat

Anyways, I got this idea from an interview video featuring Darce (the dude who plays Billy in Stranger Things) and he was talking about how one time he and the actress who plays Max were walking somewhere and came across a cat, Darce started to gush about how cute the cat looked and I just imagine him being a total dork over this cat and like following it or whatever while still being dressed as BILLY ( I would freaking pay to see that OOC moment)

(TW: injuried animal, mention of eating habits)

So that got me this me thinking to give Beau a cat, I was going to have him have a dog at the start was like "nah". Beau's dad was the type of dad that thought his son was too dumb to take care of anything, that and his dad didn't want another mouth to feed.

Anyways how he gets this cat starts when his step dad notices that Beau seems to be struggling with something because Beau's around the house alot and not hanging out with his friends like he used to. His step dad advise Beau maybe he should take up another hobby (beside reading, and fixing cars), and suggests fishing. Fishing was an activity Beau wanted to try but his "friends" would always say something like "dude, that's old people s@#$", and they always made it seem lame.

But now having nothing else better to do, he might as well give it a try. His step dad tells Beau about a fishing spot that one of his buddies set up a tackle shop nearby.

The fishing spot is nestled in an area on the outskirts of town, it's kind of hidden. There's a bunch of greenery, so much so that the Tackle shop is kind of engulfed by it, but the owner is not bother by it he welcomes it, so the shop as kind of mystic ghibli vibe to it (if you know what I mean)

The fishing area has a handful of cats roaming about, they mostly hang around the tackle shop since the owner takes pretty good care of them. Also the owner sells grilled fish and other seafood dishes on the side.

When Beau visits the fishing spot for the first time, The owner (who's an old man) tells Beau that his step dad told him he was coming, The owner refers to Beau as "Mr. James Dean" as a nickname because his good looks

Beau has a hard time fishing at first since the owner explains why he likes fishing is because it gives you time to slow down and think, until the moment you catch something it's just you and your thoughts. Fishing doesn't only teaches patience but how you can quiet your mind and how to focus on what's really important.

After Beau understands that fishing gets much easier for him and its actual relaxing. (This is after a few visits)

During his fishing trips the owner teaches Beau a few life lessons and also how to cook fish. A skill that Beau didn't really find important because he didnt really like fish as a food. The owner tells Beau fish tastes 100x better when you fish it and cook it yourself, during this visit the owner teaches Beau how to clean fish, and de bone fish, and Beau ends up really liking fish, and even starts taking fish home for his mom to cook.

Okay here's where the cat comes in, At first Beau just try to ignored the cats around the pond and the shack, not because he didn't like cats, he was just trying to focus (and part of him felt like the cats were judging him), once he becomes more comfortable with fishing, he start to be comfortable with the cats as well. When he would make grilled fish at tackle shop, he would give some to the cats that would hang around. One cat in particular took a liking to Beau, it was a cat the owner rescued after finding it nearby in the more woodsy area of lake, the cat looked like it was attacked by a bigger animal leaving the kitten with a few scars on its back and face. Despite this, the little kitten seem to be the most feisty of the bunch being the first one to grab for grilled fish and always was pawing at the bucket of fish Beau would catch.

Other fishing, Beau would spend time with this cat, playing with it and petting it when he thought no one was looking.

Also just wanted to add that Beau becomes so comfortable with being at tackle shop that he kind of starts working there as a secondary job (other that working at the gas station), he's a bit more comfortable working at the tackle shop because there more outsiders than locals since it's so far out. The owner does pay Beau for his time there, he even Beau feels like he doesn't need to be, but the owner insists...

Anyways back to the cat there's comes a point where Carrie wants to go with Beau to the fishing spot despite Beau telling her it will be super boring, Carrie says she really wants to go because likes looking at the fishies in the aquarium at preschool and the dentist office.

Giving into Carrie's cute nativity, Beau let's her join, like Beau predicts Carrie gets bored pretty quick, she asks Beau when the fish is gonna show up, Beau says he doesn't know, you just gotta wait. Carrie tries to lean lower on the deck towards the pond to get a better look at the fish but Beau tell her to stop because its making him nervous and worried that she'll fall into the deep pond water.

Just when Carrie is reaching maximum boredom, the feisty kitty shows up and manages to entertain Carrie for the whole time Beau is fishing and he able to catch a few.

Beau returns the tackle shop and gives some of the fish he caught to the owner. Carrie ask the owner what he's gonna do with the fish, the owner response with that he's gonna cook the fish for him and some of the cat to eat. Carrie thinks it's weird that owner likes to eat fish, Carrie doesn't really like fish. Just at that moment, Carrie notices a stray tray of what looks like "chicken" and fries, Carrie ask whose food is that, the owner says it was a customer's order but they left suddenly before they could eat it, since the person has come back, Carrie was free to have it.

Carrie: "Mr. Fisher man who's chicken is that?"

Beau: " Um, Carrie that's not--"

Owner:" Oh, it's a customer's order but they left in a hurry before I could give it to them. Don't think they're coming back for it, you can have it, if you like "

Carrie: " Really? Thank you"

Carrie's more than happy to have something to eat since she was pretty hungry. Carrie seemed to really like the "chicken" since she didn't even do her usual eating habit of giving every other bit to Beau, kind of leaving his mouth opened both in waiting for food and being surprised that his little sister finish a whole meal by herself.

Owner: "Why is your mouth opened like that?"

Beau: " I-It's just this thing we do, w-where we like--um--nevermind"

The owner tells Carrie that wasn't chicken, it was fish and chips, Carrie is shocked by this fact (in the most adorable way possible), but quickly ask for seconds, which the owner gladly makes.

Carrie and Beau walk back to the car with a bag of fish and chips and a half a buck of fish, unbeknownst to them they're being followed by the kitten from earlier.

Beau buckles Carrie into the backseat, but he suddenly realizes he forgot something at the shop, while Beau goes back to get whatever he forgot leaving the car door open, the kitten hops in the backseat with Carrie, who's more than happy to see them.

Beau returns quickly closes the back door (without looking) and Beau apologizes for leaving the door open and turns back to make sure Carrie is okay, Carrie nods as she tries to hide the small kitten behind the large bucket of fish.

Beau relieved heads home, the kitten stays quiet for the whole ride, Carrie pets the kitten most of the way home, the kitten's purring being muffled by the car's noises.

It wasn't until they got back home, Beau was aware of the little stowaway. Carrie begs that they keep the kitty, not wanting to be the one to tells his little sister "no" he just still her to ask mom and Dav-- I mean dad.

Their parents actually accepts the new kitten into their home, and Beau's mother said that she always wanted her kids to have a pet, but Beau's bio dad always shot down the idea.

The kitty ends up sleeping in Carrie's room, in the kitty own bed and the kitten if not out and about around the neighborhood would play with Carrie the most. When Beau was home alone the kitty would sometimes chill in his room, and snuggle with him when he was reading or having one of his episodes, the kitty seem to always know when Beau was in a bad mood and would try to distract him by doing something cute.

The kitty would also seem to know when Beau was going to the fishing spot and would follow him to the car and hopped in the backseat, and basically being Beau's fishing buddy.

Bonnie likes to play with the kitten too when she comes over and gushes every time she sees Beau interacting with the kitten.

She may or may not have photos of him sleeping with the kitten snuggled up next to him

TL;DR: Beau's new favorite hobby is fishing and he has an yet-to be named kitten as a pet now because cute, thank you for coming to my ted talk...

[bexterbex]

A Soul to Mend His Own | Ch. 41

Warning, if it hasn’t been obvious in the movies there is Nazi symbolism within the First Order. 

ALSO, Kylo Ren isn’t really a nice guy. He smashes consoles, chokes people with the Force and kills people. So there are times he is very angry towards Reader. Some of it is verbal, some of it is physical. If you are expecting a super cute full of fluff story this isn’t it. Here is your warning to turn back now. 

A Kylo Ren x Modern! Reader in a soulmate au with major canon divergence. —————————————SLOWBURN————————————–

He is already the Supreme leader, searching the universe to find you, his Empress. Your name on his wrist has been the only constant in his life, while you have doubts about his existence and his acceptance of you. He isn’t in the database and why did the name Kylo Ren cover Ben Solo?

MASTERLIST

Chapter 41: Going Home

Your hand meets his lips stopping him from kissing you, he was not happy about this.

“Before you get any more kisses you will answer my questions.”

He fully backed away from you, he went to retrieve his helmet and left the room. He left you all alone versus actually trying to talk to you.

You were done. You picked up your data pad and messaged General Hux, ‘I would like a ship to escort me down to the planet’s surface or I need you to send the Supreme Leader back to our chambers.’

You received a ping moments later, ‘I will have an escort ready for you in 20 minutes.’

The door opened to reveal Lieutenant Mitaka, “The allegiant general said you may wish to see me.”

“Yes, send a message that female officer to come down here, I need help packing. I am going away for a few days.”

“Right away ma’am,” he sent a message. “Does the Supreme Leader know you are leaving?”

“He will soon enough, you will not inform him of this. If he would like to know anything about me for the next couple of days he will have to ask me himself.”

“Yes, ma’am.” You could tell he was infinitely worried about the outcome of keeping this from the Supreme Leader. You knew it was part of his job to report your condition to him, to essentially spy on you for him, but that didn’t matter at the moment. You were going to break out of your cage for a few days until Kylo decided that you were his empress and not just a songbird. You were a kitten showing your claws.

The female officer arrived and assisted you in packing. You estimated that you should pack for two weeks, as that would give you enough clothes to wash just in case he decided to be more of a jerk than he already was. But you knew you might not even be gone for more than a few hours.

“Lieutenant, is Phasma still on the OK list to guard me?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Good, tell her I would like her to accompany me on this trip. I shall have no use for the knights anyway.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Make sure she knows that I have packed for at least a two-week stay. Do you need to pack lieutenant?”

“Yes ma’am but it will only take a few moments. Will I need to pack anything special?”

“Not unless you want to.”

You were all packed. You told the lieutenant to meet you back here when he was finished and to have his and your bags sent to the hangar. The lieutenant was gone all of five minutes before returning. You wondered if his quarters were close because they needed to be or if he just ran frantically down the halls, but he didn’t seem out of breath.

You both made your way to the hangar where you were greeted by the sterling-plated captain and the illustrious allegiant general.

“Where might you be heading off to m’lady, in case the Supreme Leader inquires,” asked Hux.

You looked directly at him before boarding the command shuttle, Kylo’s command shuttle, “to my parents.”

You sat and waited for the captain and lieutenant to board. “Will you require more guard than myself m’lady,” asked the captain.

“No,” you said simply. While you might not have the greatest relationship with them you would be safe with them. You knew you probably won’t be there long, once he caught wind that you had left, but you were prepared none the less.

The shuttle took off and you three sat in silence. One look at the lieutenant and you saw that he was ready for some sort of beast to tear into the sides of the shuttle. You were worried yes, but you were mostly angry. Deep down you knew he wouldn’t kill you, but he may try to scare you.

It didn’t take long for the shuttle to land, you all departed. There were two other stormtroopers with you, carrying the bags. You approached your house and knocked on the door. Phasma and the others were patiently waiting behind you.

“Y/N? What is all this,” asked your mother answering the door.

“I thought I would come home for a few days.”

“Unannounced,” asked your father standing right behind her.

“I am not really allowed to notify people of my movements at the moment. Are we able to come in?”

Your parents stepped aside and allowed you all to enter. The two stormtroopers set your bags inside and abruptly left to guard the front door. You then heard the command shuttle take off.

“Mom. Dad. This is Captain Phasma and Lieutenant Mitaka. They will be staying with us.”

“And the others outside,” asked your mother.

“They won’t be disturbing us m’lady,” said Phasma.

Your parents were taken aback at her female voice. You supposed that the only stormtroopers that they came in contact with were all male. In fact, she was the only female ‘trooper you had seen.

“How long will you be staying,” asked your mother.

“I don’t know, hopefully no longer than two weeks but we will have to see.”

“Why are you here,” asked your father.

“Well do you remember why I called the other day, the news I had to tell you?”

“You called a day after your normal check-in date. We talked about your brother getting a new position, your sister’s work, your other brother having doubts,” said your mother.

“Yes, but what did I have to tell you? Or did you not listen past that in favor of my siblings?”

“Don’t be like that Y/N, you called to tell us about meeting your match. Is that what this is about,” at least your father remembered.

“Yes, I am here because I might be going away for a long time and this may be my last chance to see you,” you lied, rather you didn’t know if you were telling the truth or not. Kylo would probably fail to tell you when or if you would be going away for a long time so you thought it best to try and be prepared.

“And the guards,” asked your mother rather annoyed.

“I told you that he was a high ranking officer. They are here for my protection, I can’t go anywhere now alone.”

“Yes, but isn’t this one special,” asked your mother pointing to Phasma. “How high ranking is he?”

“Yes, the captain is special. She commands all ‘troopers. And I can’t tell you, all I can tell you is that he is high ranking.”

Your mother narrowed her eyes at you. “So you aren’t even allowed to tell your own family?”

“Not until the Supreme Leader allows it.” That wasn’t a lie at least.

“I see, are we ever going to meet him,” asked your mother.

“Who?”

“Your match,” said your father.

“Hopefully, he should be the one coming to pick me up at the end of this visit.” You turned to look at the lieutenant who was trying his best to mask the fear he was feeling but he was really struggling.

“Would you like something to eat,” your mother asked the captain and the lieutenant. You could see her start to target the lieutenant, she could sense his fear. She would probably try to corner him at some point to try and get answers from him.

Both said no, but your mother started dinner anyways. You made your way into the kitchen and the captain and lieutenant followed but stayed in the dining room.

“That’s a new look,” said your mother.

You looked down at your dress. “Yes, it was his idea.”

“I like it, you look more like a lady. I always liked you in dresses,” commented your mother.

Of course, she did. You had made the choice of a simple wardrobe for ease and financial reasons, but she had always tried to buy you dresses and more frilly girly things. Things that did not match your style and things that you had nowhere to wear.

“Did he buy you more or is that the only dress?” You could tell that she was eye up the dress to possibly steal it.

“Yes, he took me on a shopping trip, or rather he had the captain take me on one. He bought me a whole new wardrobe filled with dresses and all of the things you like. But I don’t think he will let me share. He really isn’t really the sharing type.”

“And he could afford all of this. He’s that high up?”

“Mother, I told you I can’t tell you. But yes he can. He gets paid really well.”

“He gets paid well enough to buy you a new wardrobe of designer clothes?” She was on to you.

“Yes, but they gave us a rather large discount. They want to be in good favor with the First Order higher-ups,” you lied. But actually, you never got to see the total amount of what you spent. For all, you knew you could be telling the truth.

“So he’s high up, high up. Is he a general? An admiral?”

“I can’t tell you, you should stop asking questions mother. You don’t want to get in trouble.”

She let out a hmph, and turned back to making dinner. You grabbed the dishes to set the table. You entered the dining room and the lieutenant jumped up.

“Let me help you m’lady,” said the lieutenant.

“Lieutenant I am fine. You are guests in my parents’ house. And setting the table isn’t really a big deal.” You urged him to sit back down.

“I don’t think the suprem---” you cut him off with a look before he could finish.

“It doesn’t matter what he thinks right now. Until he gets here you are fine.” You tried calming him down. “I won’t let him do anything to you, or the captain for that matter. He likes to blame other’s  incompetence  for things that are his own problems.”

“I appreciate the sentiment m’lady,” said the captain.

“If he wants me to come back he will have to apologize and come get me himself. I won’t have him hurt either of you. I ordered you both to come with me and for the general to arrange this. He will have to deal with this rationally if he wants me to come back,” you said in a hushed voice knowing your mother may try to eavesdrop.

“Rationality is not exactly what he is known for m’lady,” said the captain.  

“Yes, but this time he doesn’t have a choice,” you responded before heading back into the kitchen to finish grabbing what you need to set the table.

Dinner was an interesting affair. Phasma took off her helmet and your parents seemed surprised again to see that she was a woman and a rather beautiful one too. Your mother still seemed to be targeting the lieutenant. You thought the First Order could use her in an interrogation room as she seemed pretty skilled but you and the captain came to his aid any time she asked a question that seemed to be out of line.

After dinner, your father retreated back down to the television your mother was at the other one. This was their nightly routine, your mother made dinner, they ate and then they went their separate ways to watch their different shows until they went to bed. They were matches but you never really saw them agree on much. They had their occasional fights and arguments like most couples but they weren’t the fairytale happily ever after. You wondered if they weren’t matches would they have ever gotten married? Probably not.

Your mother was a complainer, but your father was a sweet man. Even though they both tended to ignore you for your siblings you were thankful that they didn’t kick you out when you arrived. You never seemed to meet their expectations, but that didn’t matter right now. You got two of the other rooms ready for the captain and the lieutenant. You would be in your childhood bedroom. You put the captain in the room closest to you, your sister’s, and the lieutenant in one of your brother’s rooms.

The lieutenant followed you around like a lost puppy trying to let you let him help you. You kept telling him you were fine and that he was a guest. The captain took this time to roam through the house and to check things out. She checked on the ‘troopers outside and she checked the perimeter.

You had a feeling that Kylo would come to get you tomorrow. You had a feeling that he was probably wreaking havoc on the ship, but you didn’t care right now. Well, you did care about officers and their safety, you didn’t want them hurt, but he needed to learn a lesson. One that might cost him and the First Order a bit, but it was one that he needed to learn.

You got ready for bed, your mother came into the bathroom and seemed to inspect your new luxury skincare products and she seemed to follow you into your room and inspect your bags too. She seemed to be very interested in all of your new clothes. You knew if you weren’t careful something might just walk off with her. Not that you really cared about your new things, but you weren’t going to have her think that it was ok to do so.

Once ready for bed you said goodnight to your parents and the lieutenant and captain. Surprisingly you had an easy time falling asleep without the aid of any pills. You did not dream much, but what you did was pleasant and when you woke in the morning you felt rested.

You walked downstairs after getting dressed in another floral dress, but this one was a swing dress that had a nice pouf in the skirt. You greeted everyone good morning and went about finishing getting ready. Your father was making breakfast. Your mother once again came in to inspect your new things.

“You know, I had one of the officers make a list of everything I brought with me. They will inspect my bags once I return,” you lied. That seemed to catch her attention though as she put what she was holding down and walked away. It made you giggle internally.

You joined everyone for breakfast which seemed to be as pleasant as last night’s dinner. Once breakfast was finished you helped your father with the dishes.

“Is he treating you right? Is that why you are here,” you had always had a better relationship with him, he could read you a bit better than your mother could.

“He messed up a bit and I needed a break. I don’t have my apartment anymore. I also needed to send him a message.”

“Does he know you are here?”

“Yes. I left a message. If he wants me to come back he will have to apologize the right way. I obviously can’t tell you much, but he needs to learn what is ok and what is not. How often do girls run away to their parents’?”

“I suppose I can’t really threaten him like back in the old days can I? Well if he is smart he should be here soon. Your mother has been eyeing your bags.”

“I know she has been. But you are right you can’t threaten him it would be treason. I am hoping he will be here soon as it would prove my point that he can’t just treat me any way he wants to.”

Your father and you just went about finishing the dishes in silence. Once done you went to check on the lieutenant and captain. Who were in your room for some reason.

“M’lady your mother keeps checking your bags,” said the lieutenant.

“I know. She wants something, I don’t know what but usually if I have something nice she tries to take it. It doesn’t bother me really but if you want to threaten her captain in regards to my safety go right ahead.”

You heard a chuckle come from her, “will do ma’am.”

With that, you heard the roar of shuttle engines outside. So he was finally coming to get you. You knew you needed to stand your ground, or what little ground you had. You went down to be the one to open the front door.

There was a knock, you opened the door. There stood Kylo in a three-piece all-black suit with a grey tie with First Order symbols all over it. You slammed the door in his face and marched right back to your room and sat on your bed.

There was another knock, this time your father answered the door. You could hear him and Kylo talking. Your mother called up to you, “Y/N your match is here to see you.”

“Tell him to go away,” you yelled down.

The lieutenant and captain just stared at you. You really needed to help the lieutenant work on his poker face.

You heard footsteps climb the stairs. At your door, you saw him. He ordered the lieutenant and captain to give you both privacy. He stood awkwardly for a few moments before saying, “you look nice.”

“I look like a housewife from the 1950s.”

“I said you could buy anything you wanted.”

“You told me, wait, no you told the captain to tell me that I needed to look like an empress. I didn’t have much to go off of other than corsets and huge fucking dresses. So I picked the next best thing I could think of, princesses.”

“I can get you all of the best gowns in the galaxy. Long things that will trail behind you.”

“I don’t want gowns Kylo.”

“What do you want?”

“I want someone who will fucking talk to me. I want someone who will listen to me. Someone who won’t put thoughts into my head. I want a match who will be there for me, one who won’t make me into his trophy wife or puppet. One who won’t lie to me or keep secrets from me. I want a partner. How did it feel for me to treat you the same way you treat me?”

Kylo stayed silent for a while before extending his hand to you, an offering. “I want to take you home.”

“This is home Kylo.”

“No, I want to take you back to my home.  Our  home.” He grabbed your waist and hauled you up into a kiss. It felt much like your first one, all of the sparks and memories came crashing back.

When the kiss finally broke you said, “You said you wanted me to be an empress, you wanted me to be the one to tell you when to strike. I can’t do that if you treat me like a songbird in a cage. I need to be treated better.”

His lips were on your neck, “You will be, but first I need to take you back.”

“What if I don’t want to go back?”

“You have to as we will be leaving Earth soon. The finalizer will take its place as running things and you and I will return to the Supremacy where we will roam and rule the galaxy as we please.”

“And if I don’t want to go?”

“Then I will leave you on this Earth to rot and I will make General Pryde in charge of the planet. I’m sure that’s what you want isn’t it?”

You were afraid. He was about to make the general who he knew you didn’t like in charge of your home, in charge of your people. You were going to have to sacrifice a bit of yourself to keep them safe.

“I will go, but I want to choose who gets left in charge of Earth, and I would like to be able to say goodbye to my friends. And I would like to be honest with all of them about who you are. I should be safe because we won’t be here long.”

He looked at you for a moment, before crashing his lips harshly down on yours. Once the kiss was broken, “As you wish Kitten.” With that, he waited for you to finish packing before escorting you downstairs to the living room where your parents, the captain, the lieutenant and General Hux were sitting.

His grip around your waist was tight. There would be no running away.

“Sir and Madam I am aware that your daughter has told you that I am a high ranking officer in the First Order. This isn’t true. I am the Supreme Leader of the First Order. It would do you both well to keep this a secret if you wish to continue living.” He then swept you out the door while barking to the others to grab your bags.

The look of horrification on your parents’ faces was something that was burned into your mind forever. You tried to look back at the house but you were yanked forward by the man next to you. He practically dumped you into your seat before he buckled you in. You could feel the Force holding you down keeping you from going anywhere.

“If you run from me again, I will have no mercy on your planet or your people. You are mine. You are not the empress yet. Not until you finish your training. For now, you are mine to do with as I wish. I will respect your wish to wait, but just know that I am not a patient man.”

You saw the others carrying the bags. You may have just made things worse for all of you. The man sitting next to you was not the same man you had first met. He was changed. He was darker. He was scarier. He was a beast. And you needed to figure out how to tame him without getting caught in his claws. You were a kitten, he was a lion. You had to think quickly otherwise you didn’t stand a chance.