#anyway hi everyone! it's been a while and apparently I feel like a parent trying to use modern slang when talking to anyone now

[lexosaurus]

Ghost Boy? In my college class? It's More Likely Than You Think

[ao3 link]

Warnings: None Words: 6,031

****

College was crazy. 

Okay?

There was absolutely no reason why college had to be as insane as it was.

Alright, maybe there was a reason. A reason called, "We have four years to make these students professionals in their chosen field, and some even less time than that."

Danny understood. He really, truly did. He knew that to work in his dream job at NASA, he needed to learn not just how to locate the constellations in the night sky, but also about subjects like chemistry, biology, calculus, physics—a lot of physics.

But seriously, when the hell was a guy supposed to sleep?

Last night's problem set only had five questions, theoretically. But it was run by a completely sadistic site that Vlad himself must have designed—that bastard—because while submitting a correct answer seemed to mark one of the five outlined stars in gold, the site also seemed to be more than happy to remove the gold star if he got a problem incorrect. 

Which meant that the theoretical five-questioned assignment ended up taking Danny many, many more questions than that. 

Just when he had thought the hell was over, he realized he still hadn't begun his paper for his mandatory freshman writing class. So then, he got the absolute pleasure of writing an essay about a stupid, Victorian-era play he didn't read regarding the symbolism of a hat as it related to...foreshadowing, or something. 

He didn't read it. He only signed up for this dumb writing seminar because the timing worked better on his schedule. He'd much rather be taking the writing class about horror novels. But unfortunately, that one happened during his mandatory physics course.

When it was all over and he finally caught sight of his pillow, he was pretty sure he’d shed a single tear. Did he remember sinking into the mattress? Closing his eyes, and drifting off?

No. He didn't. 

He was fucking tired.

But apparently, the universe did actually hate him because instead of being roused by his alarm the next morning, he was shaken by his ghost sense.

Oh yeah, apparently Skulker found his dorm.

Joy!

No seriously, fuck that guy. 

What the hell kind of sick weirdo wants to make a rug out of someone else's skin, anyway? Not to mention that Skulker had no conception of what a good time to hunt was, considering he seriously was trying to start chaos at five in the fucking morning.

Again, fuck that guy.

He only just barely had enough time to fly home, shower, hastily read over and submit his essay (he'd long since learned from high school that he couldn't trust himself that late at night to be coherent), and make a mad dash to his favorite bagel spot on the way to class.

However, the bagel guy—he had a name, Danny was almost sure—must have been under the weather today because, for some reason, he could not stop staring at Danny.

The instinct to run his hand over his face to check for post-fight ectoplasm splatters was a learned reaction at this point. But this time, he couldn't feel anything off. His skin was dry. Cold, like usual, but dry.

"Uh..." The bagel guy continued staring at him slack-jawed.

"Do I have something on my face?" 

That seemed to shake the bagel guy out of his stupor. He blinked, his eyes darting around to catch the eye of a few other customers who, for some reason, were giving Danny a really wide berth.

Did he smell or something? Had he forgotten to put his deodorant on?

Oh god, did his parents do something to make national news again? Did the news use a family photo when reporting the story or something? Why was everyone looking at him? Seriously, what the hell was going on today?

The bagel guy locked eyes with Danny once more, briefly, before darting back down to the register and handing Danny his change. "One everything bagel with cream cheese for the, uh—for—coming right up."

"Thanks," Danny said, trying to be as friendly as possible. Jazz always said that he shouldn't judge people for acting strange. That they could be going through something personal.

So, Danny shook it off. Maybe he missed a chunk of ectoplasm on his hair when he was showering. Skulker had nailed his shoulder pretty well. The green, ecto-infused smoothie he'd sipped that morning was working its magic to mend his skin, but who knew? Maybe a little bit of blood was leaking through his shirt. It wouldn't be the first time that happened, anyway.

Or the last.

Amazingly, he did get his bagel. But when the man handed it to Danny, his eyes were almost popping out of his skull. His heavily accented, "Ah, here is one—ah, your—your bagel," sounded especially halted today. 

But no. The big, gruff bagel guy wouldn't have stuttered. He wouldn't have been nervous to pass a bagel to a tired-looking college student either.

Danny must have misheard. 

He darted down the sidewalk. He was going to be late for class. And it was because of his internal panic that he didn't notice the girl with her nose buried in her cell phone at first. Not until she almost crashed into him, looked up, and nearly jumped out of her skin.

"HOLY SHIT!" she yelled, her hands flailing beside her. Her phone flew out from her fingers and clattered on the pavement.

"Sorry!" Danny scooped up her phone from the ground and handed it to her.

She stared at him as if he were completely insane, making no move to take the phone until Danny leaned forward a little closer and pointedly said, "Here."

Whether or not this girl was hungover or still drunk from whatever party she'd been at the night before, Danny did not have time to work around her brain. He was going to be late for class!

"Fuck," she said, eyes still glued on Danny. She did, however, finally reach out and gently take the offered cell phone.

Which was all he needed.

Mission accomplished, he whirled back around intending on continuing his fast-walk-nearly-run pace to the science building, but caught the eye of a biker who seemed to go into a similar trance as the bagel guy and ended up crashing straight into a parked car.

"Oh my god!" Danny darted over to the strewn biker. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine! Stay back!" the man yelled, struggling up and holding his hand out to block Danny from seeing his face.

Was this guy...cowering at him? Like he was some sort of ghost?

No, no. This was silly. Now Danny was just being paranoid.

"Just stay back!"

An oddly phrased demand, and a little biting at that, but the biker did just crash into a parked car because of Danny and that other girl—who was currently holding her phone up at Danny—so he guessed he could forgive this random dude for being a little snappish.

Danny didn't have time to dwell on this stranger anyway, because holy shit his class was starting in ten minutes and if Danny didn't get his ass to the room right now he was going to be screwed.

So with one more apology to the biker, and one more glance to the strange phone-obsessed girl, Danny adjusted the strap of his bag back over his shoulder and took off down the road.

Not literally took off. Though, he really wanted to jet through the air today. He'd had these urges to duck out of sight and fly to class before, but it never felt so compelling as right now. 

Unfortunately, the street was crowded as shit, and in between classes as it was, the building would likely be crowded too. Finding a discreet place to transform would probably take just as long as running to the classroom like his half-life depended on it. And so, the latter option it was.

Somehow, he managed to make it to class with five minutes to spare. Okay, maybe not somehow. Maybe he did risk using his flight to propel him forward a little bit. Could anyone blame him? 

College was crazy. And anyone who thought they saw a guy not quite touching the ground when he walked could have just as easily been sleep-deprived and were almost certainly hallucinating. Humans couldn't fly! Only ghosts could fly, and Danny Fenton was clearly a human college student just running to class.

Gaslight, gatekeep, ghostboss—or whatever the saying was.

Energy was buzzing in Danny’s veins, and he found it a little difficult to stay in his seat. An aftereffect of only barely using his flight powers, he was sure. His body got a taste of being airborne, and now it didn't want to return to the laws of gravity.

Danny could forgive his ghost core for that. Gravity could be very exhausting sometimes. Especially when he was in the middle of a ghost fight and his enemy was hurling him to the ground.

But he was in a lecture, and it would look weird if this random college student was hovering over his seat, so Danny forced his butt onto the chair as he dropped his bag beside him.

Whispers fluttered around him, which wasn't too unusual. People often talked in pleading freak-out whispers to their friends after an especially grueling night of homework.

Danny was about to turn to his chemistry lecture buddy and do the same—because seriously, he was going to have nightmares over that damn assignment for weeks—when he realized that his chemistry buddy was not in his usual seat.

And then, a whisper caught the attention of his enhanced eardrum.

"...ghost..."

"...Phantom..."

Ah, that explained it. 

Oh yeah, it was all coming together now.

They must have been talking about the ghost fight from this morning, the one with Skulker. This city wasn't Amity Park, so the students here weren't exactly used to ghost attacks. Of course, the initial fight was probably very exciting for them.

And, well, his parents probably were on the news that morning, but likely only to be interviewed about the attack. Maybe they ended up rambling about ghostly habits and migration patterns or whatever other bullshit theories they’d been churning with recently.

So then, the bagel guy must have recognized Danny as a Fenton, a child of Jack and Maddie, the infamous, kooky ghost experts.

The effects of that realization were delayed, but when they finally hit, he felt like his brain was hit by a semi-truck. Because, shit. He didn't know if he could deal with his bagel guy knowing who he was. He was going to have to find a new bagel spot, wasn't he? 

Danny craned his neck over to the door. The lecture was supposed to be starting, but his chemistry buddy was nowhere to be found.

But then, to his immense relief that he wouldn't have to suffer through this lecture by himself, the door opened to reveal the tall, lanky form of Cameron, his chemistry buddy.

Danny eagerly moved his bag out of the way of Cam's seat, his woes of that fucking assignment hot on his lips, but before he could begin his trauma-dumping session, something strange happened.

Really, really strange.

As Cam began habitually walking over to his seat, he looked up, caught Danny's eye, and froze.

His mouth parted into a perfect 'o,' his eyes widened, and his eyebrows disappeared under his hairline. Then, he backed up, caught the bewildered expression of another student near him, and moved to another aisle.

Danny sat there too stunned to call out to Cam, though the intent was at the precipice of his being. Hurt stabbed his gut, and the social anxiety the A-List had trained his brain for in high school started creeping up his spine.

Did Danny do something wrong? 

Why had Cam moved away?

What did that look to the other kid mean?

He tried to think of a reason why Cam might have suddenly decided that Danny was a weirdo freak that should be avoided, but the only thing he remembered doing between yesterday and today was the two texts he'd sent at eleven last night complaining about the assignment. But surely, everyone had complained, right?

Or was the assignment genuinely effortless for everyone? And Danny was just an idiot who didn't understand some really simple concept, and now Cam had suddenly realized that he'd picked the wrong chemistry buddy to sit next to in class?

That must have been it.

Why else had he moved away?

Danny turned around, looking to the back of the lecture hall. But all he could see was a sea of faces all looking at him.

Okay, honestly, what the fuck was wrong with everyone today?

He whipped out his phone, paranoia striking through his gut like a spear. Maybe he'd accidentally revealed himself during the fight? But he checked Google, searching for Phantom's human identity, but all he got at the top of the search were old Reddit threads theorizing about which historical figure he could have been, and celebrity news sites spouting completely absurd clickbait-type theories about his past.

Is Danny Phantom Napoleon's son?

Could Danny Phantom be Related to George Washington?

New Theory Suggests Danny Phantom is Alexander the Great!

Yeah, like Danny was leading legions of ghosts around Europe anytime soon.

As Danny wracked his brain for what the hell he'd done to deserve the wrath of having his classmates stare at him like he was some sort of weird alien species and everyone was plotting on how to initiate first contact, the side door opened and the professor came darting in the hall with a stack of folders all but falling out of his hands and a muttering of breathy, "sorry, sorry," light on his lips.

The muttering broke out into jilted, uncomfortable laughter, and Danny still couldn't help the feeling that they were laughing at him. 

He tried to brush that off as just the remnants of his high school on him and keep his attention focused on his short, salt-and-pepper-haired professor who looked like he couldn't remember if he was going to a beach party or Burning Man today, and decided to dress for both. 

Yang put the manila folders down on the front table, miraculously without spilling any of the contents inside, set his bag down on the rolling chair beside him, and picked up a piece of chalk to face the board.

He held a hand up and began writing Chemistry 101 — Stoichiometry on the board.

Behind Danny, the snickers grew louder. 

Was there some inside joke that he just wasn't getting? Had his classmates prepared some sort of prank for the teacher today and Danny hadn't read the email? Was it April Fool's Day, even though logic and reasoning told Danny that it was only October?

"Sorry I was late, everyone," Yang began. "Now if you don't mind, I want to begin by going over a few problems from last night's assignment. I noticed a pattern in the problems everyone was getting wrong..."

Someone coughed rather obnoxiously behind him.

Danny felt ice begin to build in his stomach. 

"...so as you can see here, I noticed a lot of people forgot to calculate the used excess of iron to find the amount of excess reactants. Remember, guys, you can't just subtract the bigger and smaller masses in the problem..."

Another obnoxious cough. 

Yang didn't break stride. "...you have to actually convert it to moles and set up your mole ratio, and then convert back to grams. I mentioned this in class but it seemed like too many of you—"

"Professor Yang?" the impatient voice of Brittany, one of his classmates, said from behind.

The class broke out in a fit of whispers and giggles, this time not even trying to hide their restlessness.

"What is it?" Yang turned around, his chalk still hovering on the board.

And then he looked at Danny. His eyes bugged out like a cartoon, sticking out beyond the rims of his glasses. His jaw opened and closed like a fish, and he dropped the chalk on the floor.

Now, the class was roaring with noise.

Danny stared eye-to-eye with the professor for ten seconds or ten minutes. He didn't know which, and it didn't matter anyway, because then Yang's thin lips opened to exclaim a word that may as well have electrocuted him all over again:

"Phantom?" 

Confusion and panic hit Danny like a sledgehammer.

How did Yang know he was Phantom? Had he been revealed? Did everyone know he was Phantom?

And then he heard the whispers. 

"It's really him! It's Phantom!"

"Why is he here?"

"It's Phantom!"

No!

No!

How did everyone know his secret?

Danny had to stop this.

He had over four years of hiding his ghost half from his parents, the world, and most impressively, his parents. Over the years, he'd honed his ability at lying and using his silver tongue to smooth over situations with such practiced ease, he was expecting his Oscar in the mail any day now.

Which is why, like an utter pro, he jumped up from his seat and shouted, "It's a lie, I'm not a ghost!"

The room went silent, and then was launched into a frenzy.

"Phantom!"

"Is he delusional?"

"It's really him! It's Phantom!"

His panic was bordering on hysteria as it stampeded over him, beating his core so furiously that Danny thought it was going to jump through his ribcage.

He stood, his gloved hands held out in front of him as he began his best at pleading with the masses, but before he could grovel too much, Professor Yang's voice sliced through him like a knife, calling out, "Phantom! What are you doing in my class?"

Wait...

Gloved hand?

Danny looked at his hands again. They were gloved.

And glowing.

The relief was so heavy on his shoulders, his back, and every inch of his skin. It was also mortifying.

Because here he was, in his Chemistry 101 class not as Fenton, but as Phantom. 

"Holy shit," Danny muttered. 

What. The. Hell.

No, really.

What the hell?

How was this happening?

Had he really been so tired that he'd forgotten to change out of his Phantom form after Skulker's fight?

No, hang on—had he been walking around in his Phantom form all morning?

How had he not noticed?

Then all the memories came flying back to him at once. The bagel guy acting weird, staring at him like he wasn't sure if he should seriously give a ghost a bagel because "Do ghosts need to eat? Is human food poison?"

And then the girl. She hadn't screamed because she nearly crashed into a stranger, she screamed and threw her phone in the air because she'd nearly crashed into Phantom. And that's why she was recording him after, too. She was recording Phantom, a ghost that wasn't native to this college town.

Danny thought he'd die of cringe-fail right there because that meant she also recorded the biker crashing into a parked car and was probably uploading it to TikTok later. He was sure it would be trending in minutes.

That was, if she hadn't already uploaded it to Tiktok, and it wasn't already trending. His phone suddenly felt heavy in his pocket. 

He looked around at the faces of intrigue and excitement, feebly attempting to squash the anxiety that was currently tap dancing over his skin.  Okay, so his initial attempt at acting hadn't gone so well. That was okay; nobody could be perfect all the time. If he just channeled the inner cool and suave hero that he was, he could totally save the situation.

For sure.

He floated a few feet in the air. His legs felt awkward sprawled out, and he tried to form a ghost-tail, but somehow his sense of self was too strong for that today. No matter, to balance it out, he splayed his arms out wide and began doing jazz hands, saying, "It's me! Danny Phantom! Just here checking your classroom for ghosts!" 

There was a moment of collective pause before his brain caught up with what his mouth said, and then he scrambled, making a big show of ducking around the room to search for...ghosts, or something. He lowered to the floor to check under the auditorium chairs, flew to the front of the room to peek around the tables, and finally went up to the ceiling to glance around the four corners of the room.

Once he felt embarrassed enough, he stopped in the center of the room, puffed out his chest, and said, "Good news, citizens! There are no ghosts in this room!"

Whispers and mutters once again broke out from his classmates, along with a few giggles. In the front of the classroom, Yang's head was craned up to look at him, his expression showing pure bafflement. 

Okay, Danny was bombing this set. He was catching onto the vibe of the room, and had come to this very astute conclusion: there was no saving this. 

Time to abort the mission.

"Well, that will be all! Have a fun class learning about chemistry!" 

And then, without another word, he jetted through the wall and into the hallway of the building, turning invisible immediately. Fortunately, with classes having started several minutes ago, the corridors were mostly empty. Only a few stragglers remained, booking it down the halls and trying to duck inconspicuously into their classrooms. 

Danny cut around a corner of the hall where, thankfully, no one was standing. That didn't stop him from triple-checking over his shoulder (it was just the water fountain, Danny) before he let his ring wash over him.

Then, when he was sure he was human again this time, he ran down the hall and pushed open the auditorium door to his class which, by the looks of things, hadn't calmed down from their encounter yet.

The door hit the wall with a bang—oops, he thought he hadn't pushed so hard—and then every head was turned to him.

"Sorry!" Danny rubbed the back of his neck and gestured vaguely to the clock on the wall. "I lost track of time."

The room was...silent. Incredibly, confoundingly silent. 

That wasn't good.

On instinct, Danny glanced down again to make sure that he was wearing his red hoodie and blue jeans and not his Phantom black and white jumpsuit. He was, in fact, wearing the right clothes. And out of the corners of his eyes, he saw the glint of his black bangs.

So then, what the fuck?

Alright, there was no need to panic. He was human, his classmates were human, they'd just met Phantom, and now Danny was busting in the classroom late. It wouldn't be the first time he was late to class, anyway. Lots of students were late for chemistry! 

With his brain sufficiently pep-talked, he pointed as inconspicuously to his seat as he could and said, "I'll just...take my seat." 

No one responded, so he took that as his cue to begin his walk of shame up the steps of the auditorium aisles to his usual seat near the front, which was still amazingly void of students anywhere near it.

"Phantom?" a voice rang out from the spattering of students around the room.

Danny missed the next step and ate shit on the floor. His bag hit his back heavily, and he could have sworn his shoe nearly flew off his feet. He scrambled to stand, his hand missing the railing only once, before he managed to stand back proud and tall. Sort of. His backpack had slid off one shoulder, and his body was hunched forward and he tried to regain his breath because holy shit, it actually really hurt for his torso to land on the corner of the step.

He rubbed his sternum, sure it was going to bruise, and coughed out, "Uh—what?"

"Phantom!" the voice, now too familiar, repeated. "You're him. Phantom."

Danny glanced up, and dread not only slammed into him with the force of a semi, but also backed up and floored it into his soul again. And again.

Because that voice was none other than his Chem 101 buddy, Cam.

No, Danny was a magnificent actor. He surely could save this one.

What did people always say? Something about the third try being a charm?

He could really use a charm right now. Unfortunately, Murphy seemed keen on watching him suffer instead.

"No—no way! I'm not a ghost! I'm totally human, guys! See?" Danny said with quite a lot of conviction, waving his hands beside his body like some sort of circus display.

It was so conclusive of a performance, that Cam simply laughed. 

Shit. This was not how he wanted today to go at all.

"I can't believe I never put it together before! Did people really buy that in your hometown?" 

"What act? I'm not acting!" Danny insisted.

But his classmates, it seemed, were even less convinced. 

"Seriously, it's so obvious."

"How did no one notice?"

"They're literally the same person it's crazy."

"What? No! No we're not the same person!" Danny insisted, trying not to sound desperate and hopelessly failing. "He's my—uh—twin? Yeah, that. He's my twin."

"He's obviously not," a classmate said.

"He is. He died in the womb," Danny refuted.

"Okay, now you're just being ridiculous."

"Does it sound better or worse if I say that my mother drank ectoplasmic smoothies while she was pregnant and that's why he turned into a ghost?"

"Fenton!" Professor Yang called out.

Danny felt his blood turn so cold they started forming frost in his veins. 

And then, he refused to look down because he was pretty sure ice crystals were glueing his feet to the floor.

In his panic, he'd totally forgotten that this was, in fact, a classroom. With a professor. And not just any professor, his chemistry professor. As in, the guy that had the sole power of crushing all of Danny's dreams of working for NASA via the power of the curve.

Yang took a step back, colliding with the chalkboard behind him and smearing white dust all over his brightly-colored shirt. But he ignored this, instead finding it more pertinent to fold his arms and regard Danny with a look of pure incredulation. "Are you really Phantom?"

"What? No!" Danny said. However, as luck would have it, that gasping answer caused him to inhale the wrong way, and coughs shot up his throat to overtake his body.

And then like the valiant superhero he was, he began having a coughing fit. In front of his classmates.

He knew Sam and Tucker always called him a dork, but this was really unfair.

"You okay, Phantom?" one student asked.

Danny tried to argue, "I'm not Phantom," but unfortunately for him, he hadn't stopped coughing yet.

Taking his silence for a confirmation that he was in fact the elusive ghost known as Phantom, another classmate commented, "I didn't know Phantom breathed."

Not-so-quiet whispers and mutters broke out around the class at once discussing theories of his cardiovascular system.

All while Danny was doubled over, trying desperately to reclaim what little of his dignity was still left. As well as reclaim some of the oxygen that his body seemed more than willing to push away for some reason.

Seriously, was he out of karma yet? 

Okay, Universe, if this is your way getting back at me for reading the Cliffnotes of that book for the essay last night, I get it. Cheating is bad, blah blah blah. I'm very sorry in a deeply remorseful way, so can we please stop ruining my life now?

"...so he wouldn't need to breathe!" A classmate's voice had stepped above the rest.

"That's what I said!"

"Dude, he's literally fallen asleep on my floor once. I'm telling you he needs to breathe."

That voice must have been Cam's.

Danny took a deep breath, regaining control of his lungs. "Wait, guys!"

But it was too late. And, oh god, why were people now giggling over their phones? Had someone taken a video of him earlier? Was he trending online right now?

If this got back to Sam and Tucker, he was never going to live this down. 

"Okay, okay!" Yang's voice rose in volume. "Class, settle down!"

The class went silent.

"Alright, I know we are all curious to know about Fenton's secret double life—"

"I don't have a secret double life!"

"Sure you don't, Phantom," Cam said.

"—But please, we do actually have quite a bit of material to cover today, judging by the very impressive homework scores from last night. And, by the way, class, might I remind you all that my office hours are on Mondays and Wednesdays from two to four. I won't name names, but I'll just say that if you need to make it a point to come for some review, you know who you are."

Was Yang looking at him?

"Regardless, if Fenton is done screwing around with his ghost powers, we do need to get through the material sometime this year."

"But I'm not a ghost!" Danny protested.

"Dude, you're standing in a block of ice," a classmate argued. 

"Holy shit, he froze his legs to the floor!"

Danny felt frost on his cheeks. "The A/C system is broken! Everyone knows that!"

"The ice is glowing." 

"So? A lot of ice glows."

"Fenton, please." Yang had never sounded so disappointed in his life. "I'd expect anyone in this class to know that ice is made of which elements?"

Danny hated where this was going. "Hydrogen and oxygen."

"And please describe the bonds to me."

"The hydrogens have a double bond with the oxygen, and then there's two pairs of electrons leftover."

"What shape?" Yang pressed, pushing his wiry glasses up his nose.

"Bent."

"Good, thank you. So we have two hydrogen and one oxygen in an H20 molecule, yes? And so tell me, would that configuration with those two elements cause anything to glow?"

"Um, no." Danny had the sudden urge to die. "Water does not glow." 

"But, interestingly, ectoplasmic water does glow, correct? Because....?"

They'd touched over ecton science earlier in the semester. "Because ectons are larger and can sit closer to the nucleus which results in atoms fusing and due to the greater amounts of energy they emit, some this excess energy can be seen in our visible spectrum."

Yang smiled and then gestured to the seat devoid of any humans near it that Danny, previously Phantom, had been sitting in at the start of class. "Thank you, Mr. Phantom. Now, if we're all done dillydallying, we have some stoichiometry to go over."

It took Danny more than a second of the awkward silence that followed to realize that oh yeah, his feet were literally frozen in place.

"So..." He glanced around the room, meeting the expectant gazes of his classmates. "Just to be clear, none of you care that I might potentially be..."

A ghost?

Phantom?

Some sort of weird mutant hybrid thing?

"Danny, you're the only one making a big deal out of this," a classmate answered.

Danny guffawed.

"Yeah, it's whatever. You're dead, so what? We're all dead in college. You're not special."

"I have a biology lecture later right after this for my weed-out course and going to that is basically the same thing as dying, I'm pretty sure," Cam joined in.

Danny resisted the urge to smack his forehead with his open palm.

He turned back to Yang. "And if I were maybe the—uh—being that kind of has saved humanity from being invaded by ghosts give or take one or two times, would that maybe get me extra credit on the next test?"

"No."

Well, that was a brutally quick response.

Danny shrugged. "It was worth a shot." He reigned in on his core's fluttering, and the ice began to melt around his feet. 

He tried to ignore the obvious phone flipped his way as he did.

Shit, this was going to be all over social media later. How embarrassing. He could only hope that Tucker wouldn't find it. But who was he kidding? If he checked his phone, he bet he already had about sixteen messages from Tucker laughing at his misfortune.

Once he finished freeing himself from his ecto-ice like some ghost toddler, he began a very graceful and humiliating trek to his seat, complete with multiple instances of him bumping into chairs as he trudged down the row. When he finally reached his seat, it was just his luck that the rusty hinges let out an obnoxious creaking wail as he lowered himself down. He winced, hissing out apologies, but in the silent hall, the sounds of the withered metal were almost too much to bear.

It was for that reason that his entire body refused to unclench until the professor was well underway with his lecture about excess reactants and whatever else they were going to be quizzed on next week.

He tried his best to pay attention and not check his phone for the no doubt endless notifications. He'd already made his presence too obvious in this hall, anyway. Professor Yang would have been thoroughly annoyed if, after everything, Danny decided to spend the remainder of the class on his phone.

Miraculous as it was, he did manage to survive the lecture.  

After class when he finally was able to check his phone, he saw that the world was too focused on the viral posts about Phantom being spotted outside of Amity Park to give any attention to the little itty bitty post of Danny, in human form, frozen to his lecture hall floor.

As it turned out, that post only had two likes—one of them was Tucker—and one comment from a random user reading, "lol why phantom freeze that dweeby kid to the ground???"

Danny didn't resist the urge to facepalm this time, and in fact did it so hard he was surprised he didn't give himself a concussion.

Well.

At least his secret was safe.

****

"You really don't care that I'm Phantom, do you?" Danny asked, looking up from the barely clean dorm room floor that his back was currently stretched out against.

"No?" Cam glanced from his notebook. "Why?"

"Uh, I figured the whole part where I'm a part ghost would have been a little weird?"

Cam's thin brows shot up to his hairline. "You're only a part ghost?"

"Yeah? Why, what did you think?"

"Oh, I just figured you were legit dead or something."

Cam uttered those words with such nonchalance that Danny reacted immediately, shooting up from the floor so hard he accidentally switched into his Phantom form.

"You thought I was dead?" His voice echoed when he spoke, and his ghostly tail wiggled underneath him. 

Cam's pointed look and handwave were explanation enough.

"Okay, you know what? That's fair." Danny swiped his notebook off the floor and forced his adrenaline-spiked body back into human form. "That's actually super fair."

"Yeah I mean, being a ghost is sort of Phantom's whole shtick, anyway."

"Right but like...wait, you didn't even care that you thought I was a fully dead and deceased ghost taking college classes? And you still wanted to do homework with me tonight?"

Cam, once again, only gave a very lazy shrug. "Well, yeah. I just want to pass this class, dude, and we've already established that we should tag-team team this class instead of trying to rawdog it by ourselves."

"I mean...I guess?" Danny blinked at his friend, his mind reeling with astonishment. "You're weird, you know that?"

"Says the ghost-human person or whatever. Now, are we gonna finish this prelab assignment, or are you gonna keep having an existential crisis about your place in the Universe?" 

Danny slid back on the floor, propping his knees up to lay his notebook against. "No, you're right. We need to finish this prelab."

"Thank fucking god."

****

[read more of my stuff here]

[midsummer-semantics]

if the world was ending

Okay, I told myself I wasn't going to write anything for @steddieangstyaugust but apparently I lied (I'm sorry)

Here's for day 1: Second Chance

CW: Slight agoraphobia

[not posted to AO3 but you can find other things there.]

When the earthquake hits, he’d like to say he thinks about his parents first. That he wonders where they are and if they're safe or if they’d hear about it from wherever they are in the world. If they’d call to check on him, even though they never did before.

He'd like to say he thinks about Robin, who's two states away studying for a graduate degree in International relations and communication, and likely doesn't feel the ground moving beneath her feet like he does.

Hell, he'd like to say he thinks about the kids, but most of them are scattered themselves, starting college programs (Will, Mike, Dustin) or sports training camps (Lucas) or exploring the West Coast (Max and El).

No, Steve is alone in his big, empty house when it hits, and the only thing on his mind is that they were wrong. Indiana doesn't get earthquakes, so something else has to be afoot. Six years since they defeated Vecna, since everyone tried to move on with their lives while Steve stayed because that's what he does, he stays.

A touchstone Dustin had called him once. Something to do with foundation and a connecting center. Steve still thinks it might have just been him and the rest of the group trying to make him feel better about still being stuck in the same house, in the same town, doing nothing and going nowhere.

He's alone and he thinks 'This is it. What I've been waiting for.'

He has a 6-year-old emergency pack stored that should have more dust on it if it wasn't for the way he chronically checks it. His trusty bat and a duplicate he made just in case, plus the ax he used the last time, are all near enough to the door. He's not sure what the protocol is for earthquakes, having grown up in the Midwest, but he's pretty sure he's not supposed to be indoors, right?

It doesn't last very long, but it doesn't matter. A few seconds of the ground shaking and rolling beneath his feet are enough to jumpstart him into action.

He's gathering supplies, cursing himself for taking too long, when the phone in the kitchen rings.

He should ignore it, knows that whatever or whoever it is can wait until he's secured the area and alerted the cavalry that something is happening. It'll take days for people to get here and Steve thinks he might he able to hold off whatever's coming out of whatever rift has sprung up until then, but he doesn't have time to think about it too hard.

The phone rings off the hook as Steve takes too damn long to double-check that nothing is in the house before he even attempts to go outside, and Steve knows he can't just leave it. Not in case it's someone who's still in town who knows he's here: Mrs. Wheeler, Claudia, Jim or Joyce.

He nearly rips the cord out of the wall when he answers.

"Stevie?!" comes the frantic voice of the person he least expects to be on the other side.

"Eddie?"

"Steve, oh my god." He can hear Eddie panting. "Are you okay?"

It's the first time Steve's heard Eddie's voice in five years. Since Eddie made good on his promise to run like hell out of here, something he'd repeated to anyone who would listen until he finally did. Five years since Steve had realized he was halfway in love with him after saving the world and never got to say anything because he was a coward and Eddie was leaving anyway so what was the point?

He'd gotten one phone call when Eddie arrived in Denver and it's been radio silence since then. Truthfully, he couldn't blame the guy, but Steve had had... thoughts... feelings... probably brought on by end-of-the-world shit but nonetheless. And then Eddie just—

Vanished.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Are you?" he asks.

"We're good," Eddie replies, and only then does he hear the rough grumble of Eddie's uncle in the background, asking why Eddie's on the phone at nearly 3 in the morning.

"Earthquake, old man," Eddie shouts, still too close to the receiver for Steve's already damaged hearing.

Oh.

So, Eddie's in town. Cool. Steve had no idea. Doesn't know when Eddie got in or if he ever intended to tell Steve he was here at all. That's fine.

"Sorry, Stevie. Woke Wayne up. Shit— did I wake you up too?"

Steve swallows harshly, shaking his head even though Eddie can't see it. "No, I was already awake."

"Me too," Eddie replies. "Jet lag. Just got in a few hours ago. What a welcome home, huh?"

"Sure," Steve says, wondering what the point of this call is. "Look, I'm glad to hear from you, but I really need to—"

"Wait!" Steve shuts his mouth, his teeth clacking harshly. "It's fine. Everything is fine."

"Dude, there was an earthquake just now—"

"And it wasn't You-Know-What related," Eddie states, a bit of his franticness back in his voice. "They're leveling part of the plant for safety issues. Wanted to do it at night so no one would freak out." Steve cringes. Hawkins wasn't exactly magnanimous about the rebuilding efforts last time, but he doesn't go to city council meetings to hear about what the efforts might have been since then. "That's part of why I'm home. Wayne's got an extended leave until they sort out what else to do."

Steve sighs, dropping the emergency pack on the floor and leaning the ax he'd managed to grab against the wall. "Oh. Great. Wish they'd have told everyone else just in case."

"I know, sweetheart. But everything is okay."

Sweetheart.

Steve's actual heart skips a beat hearing that again.

"I'll be back, sweetheart. I promise."

"So... you're here then? In Hawkins?"

There's a beat of silence, some shuffling on the other end. "Well, yeah. I told you I'd come back."

"For your uncle."

"He's part of it."

Steve hesitates, hating himself for even considering getting his hopes up.

"And the other part?"

"My guy is here."

When the earthquake hit, he’d like to say he thought about his parents first.

No, he'd thought it was the end of the world. And above that, all he could think about was Eddie.

[buckysgrace]

2. Two Can Keep A Secret

Closer to My Heart Masterlist

Single dad!Billy Hargrove x Fem!Reader (if you wanna be added to a taglist for this let me know!! I will try to keep up with it <3)

You run into a familiar face at your second job

You’d taken up working two jobs. Seemingly a good thing since you wouldn’t be able to fix your car until the end of the week. Apparently it had been a blessing in disguise, even though you hated it majority of the time. 

It had been like that for a while. The daycare paid enough to cover your little apartment, but not much for the groceries or the things that you liked to supply to your students. And now, you’d be using the extra money to fix your car up. Lovely. 

You loved working in the daycare, being around sweet kids and watching them develop into their own little personalities. Despite issues with the parents, it was rewarding. It was nice. Even if you did face the occasional asshole, such as Billy. 

Your second job was the complete opposite of your first. It was filled with all types of Billy’s, men that were far worse than him. But you had to stand there and take it, smile so you didn’t miss out on any tips. 

You wore tight clothes, far too revealing and had to grin so brightly that you swore your face was stuck into a permanent grin by the end of the night. You reminded yourself that it was just until you got caught up, until you finished off those hospital bills. 

You supposed your coworkers made up for it in some sense. They weren’t as judgy and seemed to be a lot nicer despite all things. They were all about your age and complained about the same thing, everyone just needing to make a living. At least you could suffer together.

You collected up the tips from your last table, swiping away the paper that held a list of numbers on it before you walked away. You breathed in and out, calming yourself as you headed towards your next table. Another group of men. 

“Welcome to Bombshells,” You greeted with a smile, not quite fully facing the table yet as a sound from behind them distracted you, “How can I-,” You trailed off, your smile plastering to your face in a stiff manner as you took in the table in front of you.

On one side there was a handsome man with floppy brown hair and big brown eyes. Next to him sat a man with shorter brown hair, his face covered in brown freckles. Across from them sat someone you knew too well. And it would just be your luck for him to be here tonight.

He was still mid laugh about something, the corner of his eyes crinkled and eyes twinkling with amusement. So far out of the element you were used to. He wore a blue buttoned up shirt, something that you were sure brought out his eyes but you refused to look at him that closely. Just how you refused to note that nearly all of the buttons on his shirt were undone, revealing his tone chest. You were not looking. 

“What can I get for you?” You asked as you directed your attention towards the two brunettes, praying and hoping that Billy didn’t take notice of you. You were dressed much differently, your hair even styled in a new way, along with your makeup. There was no way, but you didn’t look at him anyways.

“Hey, hi, uh,” The brunet with thicker hair spoke up first, tossing down his menu as he turned towards you, “I think we’re doing wings. But nothing too spicy, what do you suggest?” He asked, warm eyes sinking into you as you began to list off your suggestions.

You could feel Billy’s intense stare, could feel him piercing into your skin even though you refused to look at him. You could write down his order and deliver it without saying a word to him in a nice manner. You were sure he’d mock you relentlessly if he knew.

You left as quickly as you could once their orders were taken, doing your best to keep from being rude. But you did not want to be there. You could feel the anger simmering in your veins just by feeling his gaze, by hearing his laughter. He knew. He knew and he was probably parading it around to his dumb friends. You were sure you’d go into work tomorrow and hear all about it from your supervisor.

“You alright?” Sabrina questioned you, meeting you at the bar as you gathered up the bottles of beer for your trio. You stared down at the brand Billy ordered, wondering if you could get away with spitting in it. Probably not.

“Yeah,” You nodded your head stiffly, reaching for the shot that Nick had set out for you. You took it quickly, discreetly as you tried to keep your heart from beating too roughly. You would be fine. They just wanted their discounted wings and then they would be long, “Just another night.” You added cheerily, shrugging your shoulders as sweetly as possible before you gathered your tray and walked away.

Each step felt torture, like pure agony until you reached them. You began to unload the drinks, begging your hand to stay steady as you did so. The last thing you needed was to spill it on him and have him scold you for that too.

“There you go,” You spoke directly to the other two men, keeping your smile light and breezy, “Have you gentlemen decided?” You asked, just barely grazing your eyes in Billy’s direction so you could at least pretend that you were acknowledging him.

“Any specials?” Billy spoke up, making you exhale deeply and silently as you glanced towards him. You kept your pen against the paper, staring at it instead of him. 

“Not tonight.”

“Huh,” He said as he pressed his lips together, like he was thinking thoughtfully, “Usually there’s always specials.” He drew out, like he was in deep thought. He sounded like he was saddened, but you knew the truth. He was just toying with you, trying to irritate you. 

“Usually that’s on a weekend.” You informed him as softly and casually as you could. He would not make you lose your cool today. You needed your car fixed. Your car was far more important than the smug asshole with wickedly good hair. 

“Is it now?” He asked as he continued to look at the menu slowly, “I swear it was different.” He hummed as he tapped his fingers against the back of the menu, showing off his rings that he bore on his thick fingers. No wedding ring. 

“If you need another minute, I can come ba-,” You began to tell them, gesturing towards the table around the corner that was trying to wave you down. They clearly wanted a refill. You could do that, preferably before they started whistling. 

“No need,” He hummed as he looked up at you mischievously, “I’ll just be a minute.” He told you as he shook his head, like your suggestion was unnecessary. He skimmed for another second. 

“Take your time, sir,” You drew out slowly, “Not like anyone else is waiting for service either.” You said with a laugh, ignoring how his two friends awkwardly chuckled around. Billy clearly didn’t care. Not even when he restated the order of wings that his friend had suggested earlier. You were going to scream.

You dropped the menus off at the bar, hiding them behind the counter as you tapped your fingers across the wood. Why, why did Billy have to come here out of all places? There were so many other similar bars he could visit. He should be home with Theo, not here. 

“Look at you,” The familiar warm, thick voice came from behind you as you sat down your tray on the bar table. You felt your eye twitch as you dug your fingertips into the plastic tray. Shit, “You look good in your little get up. The daycare not cutting it anymore?”

“Did you need me to add something to your order, sir?” You kept your tone sweet, sickeningly sweet. You hoped he drowned in it. 

“I like you saying that.” He leaned against the counter, elbow on his table as a smug smirk on his lips. You felt your eye twitch, stunned at his flirtatious tone as you turned to face him fully. God, did you hate his tanned skin and cool blue eyes. It should be illegal for men to have eyelashes that thick and long. 

“You’re an ass,” You seethed at last, unable to help the anger that was brewing inside of your chest, “I need both jobs and you’re not going to tell anyone about this.” You told him sternly, warning him. You didn’t want to lose out on your day job. You loved working with your students. 

“I’m not?” He replied in a mocking way, lifting his dark eyebrows before he laughed playfully, “Don’t get your panties in a twist. I’m just fucking with you. I didn’t think you of all people would dare be in a place like this.” He laughed as he reached around, pulling an olive free from behind the bar and plopping it into his mouth. You stared. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” You asked him seriously as you straightened your shoulders, trying to get at what he was suggesting. He didn’t even know you, but he sure did like to pick on you. You felt like you were in high school half the time. 

“It has to do with the stick that’s always up your ass.” He said as he glanced towards you, dark eyebrows raised on his forehead as he gave you a pointed look. Your lips parted in surprise. You were the one with the stick up your ass? 

“I do not have a stick-,” You stopped yourself, sighing deeply as you touched your face gently before you freaked out on him, “Again. Was there something you needed?” You asked him again, tone clipped this time as you stared him down. He shook his head, chuckling before he walked back to his table. 

You stared at him in anger, observing how broad his shoulders were and how his hips moved. He had a certain swagger to him, his jeans just a little too tight. Not that you were really complaining, because he did have a nice body. But you quickly shook that away. He was still an ass. 

“Who was that?” Sabrina asked as she bumped against your hip, wiggling her eyebrows before she refilled the drinks onto her tray. You supposed you should do the same, but what you really wanted right now was a cigarette. Even though you hadn’t had one in a long time. 

“The world's biggest asshole,” You mumbled, “I watch his son during the day.” You explained as you stared down at the refill list for your next table, gathering up the drinks that had been left for you. 

“You guys have something going on?” She asked as she popped her bubble gum, raising her perfectly styled brows high onto her forehead. You nearly toppled your tray over, staring at her in disbelief. 

“Ew no,” You spit out quickly, “Never. Never ever. Not even if he was the last person on Earth.” You scoffed, pretending to gag at the thought. She laughed at your childish behavior. 

“Really? Because it seemed like you had some sort of tension,” She smirked, “Sexual.” You rolled your eyes, you pretended to dry heave this time. Truly feeling like her suggestion was leaving you sick. 

When you returned to the table next, Billy was gone. You secretly hoped that he had had enough and actually left, but his friends insisted that he would be back soon. Much to your displeasure.

You caught his eye on the way back to the bar, noticing that he was sitting with some pretty girl who had been nursing drink after drink since you had arrived. You cocked an eyebrow but said nothing, wondering if this was really where he went to pick up girls.

He didn’t seem to get the hint as he approached a second later, feigning interest in the desserts as you dryly passed the menu back to him. 

“Was that your girlfriend?” The question slipped from your tongue before you could stop yourself, taking you by surprise as he drifted his eyes away from the menu and towards you. 

“No,” He responded, furrowing his eyebrows together at the way you snorted, “Are you suggesting something?” He asked, his tone laced with attitude as his icy eyes met yours. 

No, as much as you liked to think he was a manwhore you knew that he wasn’t. He was always polite to your coworkers, respectful. He was a flirt for sure, but it seemed more playful than anything. And you were no stranger to why Theo always missed his birthdays. They had somewhere else to be on those days.

“I don’t care why you’re here.” You said at last, shrugging your shoulders as he waited for you to tell you what he wanted for dessert. He shook his head as he snorted this time, like he didn’t believe you. 

“My friends think I need to get laid.” He said at last, shrugging as he leaned lazily against the counter. You watched the way his blonde hair curled against his shoulders. You drifted your eyes across his soft nose, then over the light freckles on his cheeks. 

“Well it’s not going to be me.” You said in surprise, unsure if he was trying to hint at something or not. You would never. Not with a customer and certainly not with a parent of one of your students. Especially him. 

“I would never ask you,” He said as he looked at you with disdain, “Even if you did try to impress me with the outfit.” He replied smugly, making you simmer all over again. Fuck him and his dessert. You didn’t need some lousy tip from him. 

“I didn’t-, I would never-,” You sputtered out all at once, your body erupting into flames at his suggestion, “You’re the one who showed up to my work place.” You reminded him, your voice only becoming more shrill and higher pitched as you defended yourself. 

“Right,” He dragged his tongue along his teeth as he grinned cockily at you, obviously enjoying the reactions he got from you, “I guess I’ll see you bright and early tomorrow.” He said as he passed the menu back to you, leaving you gripping it so tightly that you thought it might snap from underneath your grip. 

“Yeah,” You muttered hotly under your breath, “I guess you will.”

You woke up late the next morning. Your alarm clock laughing in your face as you stumbled out of bed late, tossing on the closest outfit you could reach and neglecting breakfast and your morning drink of choice before you were out the door.

“Late night?” Billy asked with a smirk on his lips. He was the opposite in the mornings, always the first parent to arrive rather than the last.

“No,” You mumbled underneath your breath, fearful that someone would hear him as you unlocked your door and pushed it open. You hit the lights next, sighing as he followed you inside, “You can pull his cot out if you want.” You added a second later, noticing how Theo was still curled up against Billy.

“Mhm,” He hummed as he slowly removed Theo’s backpack from his shoulders. The little boy curled right back up against him, clinging to him like a Koala, “You work there every night?”

“No,” You said as you dropped your bag, “Just Monday through Thursday. It gives me the weekends off.” You missed out on the best days to actually work, but at least you got your weekends to yourself.

“That’s a lot,” He responded, making you narrow your eyes for whatever snarky reply would come next. You were sure he would insinuate that you were a whore, the same way your previous dates had, “Doesn’t it get tiring?” 

“Nobody cares how tired I am, I still have to get my bills paid,” You reminded him, watching the way Theo nuzzled his little nose against Billy’s neck. He looked content as he laced his fingers through Billy’s shirt, “And it doesn’t affect my performance here at all.”

“Never said it would,” He replied shortly, “Can you take him?” He asked as he shifted Theo once again, making the toddler squeak in his sleep.

“You don’t want to say goodbye?” You asked him curiously, feeling like Theo would be upset when he woke up and noticed that his father was missing. He always got upset when Billy had to leave.

“If he’s sleeping it’ll keep him from crying,” He mumbled as he passed Theo off to you, “Thanks.” He bent low, close enough that you could smell the cologne off of him as he pressed his lips against Theo’s forehead repeatedly. 

You couldn’t say anything, couldn’t move other than to adjust Theo in your arms as the overwhelming scent of Billy filled your nostrils. He smelt good. Far too good. 

Theo rested his head against your shoulder, sighing deeply through his nose as Billy ruffled his hair one last time before he left. He said nothing to you, not that you minded. This was the most you had spoken to him in months. Years.

Still, an odd sensation filled you as you watched Billy leave. You were curious, doubtful about what his true intentions were. He was the last person you wanted to trust, especially with a secret that would ruin your job here. You knew how your boss was, they wouldn’t like what you did on the side.

“Oh and-,” He paused in the doorway, glancing back at you as a smug smirk formed on his lips, “I think you’re doing a damn good job trying to impress me in this outfit too.” He said smugly, sending you a wink before he was out the door. You swallowed the lump in the back of your throat, swearing it was anger as you felt every muscle in your body twist and curl into a big ball. Warmth raced through your veins as you sighed angrily, hating how easily he crawled underneath your skin. 

What an ass.

[mika-no-sekai-blog]

Word count: 2300+

Warnings: mentions of puking, emotional and mental stress, mixed feelings

Honestly, this part was a pure struggle💦 Except of Rhysand's offer that I wanted in this chapter I had nothing..

Also I've got a little carried away🤷

Part X | Part XII

Two weeks had passed since Rhysand, your brother, brought you to his court. You calmed down a bit, partly accepting the situation and giving him the chance he asked you for. Maybe the powder he mixed every morning into your tea, could have something to do with it. Not even honey could beat over the bitterness that remained on the tongue.

Of course, you could refuse the tea, but you were afraid someone would force it down your throat anyway. You felt Rhysand watching you carefully until the teacup was empty and only then the tension in the room eased. And so dutifully pretending you didn't notice anything, you drank it.

Whatever was that powder for, your desire to return home hadn't changed at all. At this point you felt really homesick, trying to hide it in front of others. It was useless to show your weaknesses, your vulnerability. Nobody would help you get out of here anyway.

You were gradually introduced to Rhysand's friends and family. Some of them claimed to know you since you were a newborn, some seemed to be new additions like Feyre, your brother's mate, and her sisters. Everyone was nothing but nice and friendly to you, but you were still uncomfortable around them.

Every time Rhysand had some free time, he spent it with you, showing you the city or taking you for walk in the large garden around the house while telling you stories of past. Morrigan, your cousin, did the same. They tried really hard to make you remember something.

Even now you were sitting with Mor on terrace of some cafe in the city, river running under it, attracting your attention like a magnet.

She told you that before you had been basically best friends, always spending time together and breaking all the rules parents set. However it didn't help to change your feelings or to be more relaxed with her. It was apparent she had a certain expectations and it made you even more uneasy. Just like with Rhysand.

Today she took you out to drink an ice tea, the drink she claimed to be your absolute favourite one. Before.

After the first few sips you swore never touch it again. It was everything except of delicious or tea.

You tried to keep up with her, listening to all the memories that supposed to be yours, but it felt rather as memories of someone else, someone so different it couldn't be you. None of the things you'd been told so far, felt familiar. It just made you tired and your head threatened to explode with pain.

You were trapped in this strange city, with these strangers. You couldn't sleep, eat nor drink, hardly dragging yourself through the days. Large garden around Rhysand's house took some of the stress away, but it wasn't enough. You needed the forest, your cottage, walks in nature, fresh air. You needed even him, although it hurt to even think about him. The first few days you still hoped he would appear and take you back home, but your hope died like plucked flowers in a vase leaving only a bleeding hole in your heart.

Mor finally gave up and took you back to your brother's house. She had that strange expression that reminded you of a mask holding all her emotions back, only her eyes revealed some sort of sadness. You were sure she would go to Rhysand and tell him about your afternoon, about your lack of response or interest. She always did. You couldn't care less. You weren't here by choice, you didn't want this. None of this.

Letting a sigh of relieve out, you went up the stairs and shut the door of your room behind. You needed to be alone, another thing that was very rare to have here. There was always someone with you and even when they left, you still felt eyes hidden in the dark corners following you around. Were you becoming paranoid? Most likely yes. But the unpleasant ticklish feeling on the back of your neck was always present.

You wanted to curl up in a ball and cry your eyes out, but first you had to go to toilet. This city, this house, all of them reeked of magic so strong that you were nonstop on the edge, hardly managing to hide the nausea from them. Another weakness you didn't want them to know about. A few gulps of ice tea you forced in, left your body, but it didn't help. Real relief never came.

Panting you moved to the sink to rinse your mouth. You rather avoided the mirror knowing what you would see. Dark circles under the eyes caused by bloody nightmares that wouldn't let you sleep, sunken cheeks because you couldn't eat and anything you managed to force down, ended up in toilet as soon as you were in your room. You didn't know how long your body could keep going like this, but you knew it wouldn't be long.

You returned to your room and winced in surprise. Rhysand stood in front of the bathroom door with tortured expression, his brows furrowed, jaw tightened, fingers clenched into fists on his sides. His violet-blue eyes searched yours. He seemed to want to say something, but his lips were firmly pressed together.

Great. Now he knew. You tried to avoid his gaze and get to the armchair near the window. But he stopped you. His arms embraced you, pulling you to his chest. You just stood there, unsure what to do. Even if you tried you couldn't fight him off.

"Tell me what should I do," he whispered to your hair. There was so much pain in his voice. Funny.

As far as you knew, he sincerely cared about you. Problem was you couldn't return the sentiment. No smile or amount of shared memories could change it. You weren't the person he remembered anymore. Asking him to let you go back to your cottage was a waste of time, too. You already tried it and he refused.

After a few heartbeats Rhysand recovered, his hands stopped trembling. Instead he moved them to your cheeks, thumbs caressing them gently.

"I talked with Madja, the healer who visited you this morning," he led you to bed and sat down. You did so, too. "She said you are exhausted and need a good night sleep. She left this tonic to help you sleep soundly." He put small bottle on the nightstand. "Two drops before going to bed would do," he smirked, but his eyes stayed sad.

You looked at vial. Another medicine to control you and your feelings. Even though you knew he meant this well, it only added on your anger. You rather stayed silent, decided to never take the mixture.

He seemed to choose next words carefully. "However she couldn't find a cause for your.." His voice died out and eyes wandered back to bathroom door. So he had noticed it even before. Of course. It wasn't surprising at all. He also knew about the nightmares after all. "Until now I didn't want to pressure you. I hoped you could meet our family, get to know them again and the memories would begin to appear on it's own. But it doesn't work, does it."

You shook head. He gave you another sad smile and looking down Rhys started to play with your fingers. Silence filled the room.

"Aury-"

"Don't call me that," you snapped. You were allergic to that name. Whoever that Auriela person was, she was dead. You weren't her.

"I'm sorry, Y/N. I didn't mean to offend you.. It's just.. habit.. kind of comfort. I didn't hope that I would ever see you again or talk to you. But I wished every day you were here with me. I wished you were alive. You and our mother." Tears filled his eyes and he blinked to get rid of them. You didn't react.

High Lord cleared his throat. "I.. Let's talk openly. About everything." He swallowed hard. "I'm trying to understand how you feel, what's going on with you, how you lived all this time.. and I'm terribly failing. Please. I want to understand. Whoever you are now, I'm accepting it. I don't want to change you. I just want my sister back. The closeness we had." He watched you with desperate expression.

You frowned, confused. No matter how many times he reminded you that he was your family, for you they were only words. It'd never occurred to you to try to see it from his point of view. Apparently you weren't the only one to suffer in this situation. Thinking that maybe he deserved to get a chance, that you should give him a chance to get closer, you nodded.

His eyes widened for a moment, then he blinked rapidly and ran fingers through his dark hair. "Okay." He cleared his throat again.

"To be honest I thought you wouldn't accept my offer," he muttered, visibly taken aback by your willingness to discuss things with him openly. "I haven't thought the things over-.. Where to start?"

"How about you tell me what's that powder you add to my drink?" You frowned at him, expecting him to deny it.

"Oh, that," he gave you a small smile, squeezing your hands. "We noticed you are still in pain. Azriel said you seem to have headache constantly. He also suffers from it, so no wonder he noticed the subtle signs. And I quite often saw you wincing while moving around," he explained, noting the disbelief on your face. Then he added quietly. "I'm really sorry for what happened when we arrived. It's all my fault."

You were speechless. It was hard to believe it, but all about the headache and the muscle pain was true. It also made you realise how much they paid you attention even if they weren't looking directly at you. "Thank you," you murmured.

Silence stretched.

Rhysand watched you, pondering. "Would you tell me why.. what causes.." his head tilted in the bathroom door's direction.

Did he have to take out that topic again? You inhaled deeply, preparing for the worst kind of conversation. You wished for Tamlin to be with you. He'd never asked these things. He was very observant and intuitive. He noticed your fear of magic and never asked you why or what caused it. Not that you could explain any of that. He silently accepted that part of you and avoided using powers around you. With him, it was so easy. Everything was easy and full of happiness. You blinked quickly to get rid of such thoughts.

"It's because of magic.." you said, taking your hands from Rhysand's and instead you wrapped them around your chest protectively. "I don't like it. It makes me feel sick. Always did. This city, this house, you all stink with magic.."

Rhysand froze on the spot, he seemingly forgot to even breathe. "I had no idea," he whispered. His scent shifted, the air in your room changed, too. The smell of power disappeared, only the subtle citrus scent remained. After weeks you could finally breathe freely and relax a bit. It felt so good that closing your eyes you smiled. Rhysand's eyes tracked that movement. "Is it better now?"

"Much better. Thank you."

"What happened? You used to have no problems with magic before, even used it yourself."

"I don't know," you answered honestly. Walls around your heart cracked a bit, letting him in. "I don't remember what or who I was before. I don't remember any of you."

This time he only nodded, probably expecting it.

He asked you to be honest, so you were. You almost regretted what you were about to tell him. "All this time it feels as if you were telling me about a life of someone else. I couldn't be more different from the person you knew."

Lowering his gaze Rhysand stood up and strolled to the window. Leaning against its frame he looked out to the garden, his back turned to you. You didn't know what he felt at that moment, but you were torn. He was still stranger to you, yet you didn't want to hurt him. After all you weren't a cruel being and maybe, just maybe, you began to feel a certain kind of affection for him that you didn't want to admit.

"So you really don't remember what happened that night," he asked, snapping you out of thoughts.

"That night?"

"The night our mother died. The night you supposedly died, too."

"I-.." Images of streams of blood staining the ground, running down your arms that you saw in your nightmares, popped out. Pressing fingers to your temple you shook your head to push them away. Rhysand watched you out of the corner of his eyes over the shoulder. "I'm not sure."

"Dear sister," he sighed, his voice suddenly cold and distanced. "Do you know what my powers are? What daemati can do?"

You'd never heard about daemati, but the feeling that you should know that, remained and was strong. It sounded like something you should be afraid of. "No, I don't."

"I can look into your pretty head, see any memory I want, change them if I wish so. I can also crush the minds, but that's not what I'm offering you here. I could try to revive your memories. I could take away the fear that some of them make you feel." He slowly turned to you, watching you with wariness. "Would you like me to try that? Do you want to remember your past life?"

You stiffened, cold shiver running down your spine, breath catching in your throat. Could he do that? And more importantly did you want him to do it? You needed time to consider his offer. It wasn't an easy decision.

"It's up to you. You have as much time as you need." And with these words he left, leaving you alone with your confused mind.

Taglist:

@impossibelle @sevikas-whore @b0xerdancer @ladylizzieofdarbyshire @tele86 @mybestfriendmademe @nocasdatsgay

[dracowars]

Hii! If you’re comfortable with it, Can I request a draco malfoy x fem!reader where they are in a secret relationship and in the Battle Of Hogwarts and he lets it slip that they’re in a relationship and one of the death eaters (Lucius maybe?) overhear draco and the reader talking and sees them kiss and the death eater tells Voldemort and reader ends up getting tortured by Voldemort in front of Draco and he ends up killing her. Lots and lots of angst if that’s okay aha :)

gone | draco malfoy

pairing: draco x reader

word count: 1,6k

summary: where draco betrays the dark lord and y/n pays for it

a/n: this is sooo sad :(( ugh, it broke my heart to write but i hope you enjoy it! <3

warnings: angst, major character death, torture, use of unforgivable curse(s)

universe: harry potter

"Draco! Draco, over here!", you whisper-yell at him as you spot him running past the hallway you are currently in, hiding as Hogwarts is slowly falling apart around you. You step outside of your small hiding spot to make him even more aware of you as he comes sprinting towards you now, like a man with a mission, white hair disheveled and blood sticking to his face that you can only hope is not his own.

"What are you doing?! You need to stay hidden", he reproaches you the second he arrives, leaving you no time to answer as he already pushes you back into the small niche of the corridor where you have been waiting for him.

Draco's face hovers over yours now, his arms trapping you against the wall, and you can't help but ignore that the war is raging outside for a second when you look into his eyes. The long and desperate kiss he gives you comes to no surprise and you let him take away your breath. Breaking the kiss, he then places his forehead against yours, tips of your noses touching as he twirls a strand of your hair around his finger.

"His army lays siege to Hogwarts as long as he doesn't capture and kill Harry", Draco reveals, sighing as he places a soft kiss against your forehead, grabbing one of your hands. "Harry must surrender or he will kill everyone, including you."

"We need to stop him, Draco", you whisper sadly, squeezing his hand. "We can't win without Harry. He is the key."

"Babe, don't you understand? We can't stop him, not alone anyway", Draco shakes his head with a sad and defeated smile, kissing the knuckles of your hand. "If we leave now-"

"I won't leave. I will be here when we win and I will be here when we lose. I don't care, Draco. This has to stop today", you say confidently, trying to hide the pain your own words inflict on yourself. "Isn't there anything else you found out that can give us advantage?"

"I- I don't know. It's not easy spying on them. I was too close to getting caught too many times, Y/N. I can't risk it another time", he answers and you know how much of a burden this has been to him over the past couple of months. You can't imagine spying on your own parents to be easy, even if it is for a good cause. You can't blame him, so you try to think of something else.

"Listen", you say, gaining back his attention as he was playing with the family ring on your finger absentmindedly. "If Harry has to surrender, where does he want him to go? Do you know that?"

"Y-Yes, actually. In the forest next to the castle. All the Death Eaters will be there, my parents will be there too", Draco reveals, dragging his last sentence as he apparently comes to the same conclusion as you do. "I will be there too."

"You will be there too", you repeat, a feeling of hope running through your veins. You may actually have a chance.

"I don't know if it will work", he worries, pinching the bridge of his nose while sighing.

"It will", you persuade him, and yourself, flinching shortly as you hear a loud crack near you, as if someone was sneaking up on you, but Draco makes sure that no one is around to see the both of you. "We just have to believe in it. What other chance do we got?"

"You are right. We will manage", Draco agrees, trying to sound hopeful but the sorrow in his voice makes it really difficult to believe.

"Meet you in the Great Hall?", he asks, this time actually smiling as it reminds both of you of your first dates, when you would meet at the big tables, talking for hours with no worries in the world. Some things may have changed since then, but your love definitely didn't. At last, it only got stronger.

"Yes, meet you in the Great Hall. Be careful", you smile back, placing a kiss on his cheek like you always do. "I love you."

"I love you, too", Draco whispers against your lips as he gives you one last kiss, putting all his emotions into it before he reluctantly pulls away. Waving each other goodbye, you seperate into different directions, each of you having your own mission to attend to.

But you can't help shake the feeling that you are being watched.

════════════

"Let go of me, you filthy-", you scream at the Death Eater who violently throws you onto the mossy ground, into a circle of other Death Eaters.

You honestly don't know what happened. The one second you were trying to help defend Hogwarts, the next one you were captured and now you are in the forest, namely the forest where the Dark Lord wants Harry to be. Harry, not you.

"Ah! Look who was kind enough to join us today", a laughing voice echoes throughout the trees and you immediately turn around, scrambling to get on your feet again. "Ms. Y/N. Welcome."

"What the hell do you want from me?!", you scream at him, trying to seem as intimidating as possible as you try to hide your fear. His creepy smile screams victory and it sends shivers down your body. Having all the control over you, knowing why you are here for - he thrives in it, loves to see his victims suffer.

"Well, well, you don't know? I have been told about a very, very bad and horrific betrayal. A betrayal which you are involved in, unfortunately. You and... your boyfriend, I assume?"

Voldemort's word let your blood freeze in your veins and your heart stands still the next second when he gives a signal with his bony hand, causing his devoted followers to roughly throw Draco into the circle as well. A scream of pain leaves your throat as he hits the ground, almost unconscious as you reach him.

His right eye is swollen, the soft skin around it turning purple, and his nose looks like it is broken, traces of blood all over his entire face. Your fingers tremble when you carefully touch his cheek, but you sigh in relief when he opens his eyes again, looking at you.

Immediately, Draco gets up with your help, pushing you behind him which is to no use considering you are trapped in a circle full of Death Eaters.

"Your father is extremely disappointed in you, my dear Draco. Seeing you with this girl, who is clearly not on our side.. You betrayed me", Voldemort grins a psychotic smile in your direction, playing with the wand in his hand as suddenly, his whole demeanour changes in the matter of seconds. "No one betrays the Dark Lord."

You do not even have time to react as he points his wand at the both of you, sending Draco through the air since he blocked the spell from you. Once again, you let out a scream as he violently lands on the ground, sharp stones piercing his body. This time, however, you are not allowed to help him as two Death Eaters grab your arms, pulling you back harshly.

"No! No! Let me go!", you fight back, trying to escape their filthy hands but they are too strong. You can only watch how two other Death Eaters pull Draco up, securing him in their grasp.

"A punishment is due for your truly outrageous treason, my dear boy", the Dark Lord says like it is the most normal thing in the world. "I can't believe you thought I would let you get through with this. Do you think so little of me?"

"Don't hurt her, she has nothing to do with it! Take me instead", Draco begs, trying his best to fight back, to free himself in order to rescue you. But he is already so weak that he can't do anything. And he just gave him more fuel to fully ignite the inferno.

"Young love, how dramatic.. No", Voldemort replies with that devilish smile that reminds you of a snake and when he looks at you now, you know there is no escape. You know that he will have his revenge. And you will be the target.

You are right because you feel excruciating pain the moment he casts one of the unforgivable curses on you. Screaming in pain, you writhe in agony, your body feeling like it is burning. Your sight gets blurry, your heart beats in your ears and you can't hear anything else than your own painful screams. Screams for help, screams to make it stop, screams to release you from this unbearable pain.

In Draco's eyes, his worst nightmare just came true. You are being tortured right in front of him and he can't do anything against it. No matter how much he begs, no matter how much he fights against the strong grip on him, he is helpless. He even tries to convince other Death Eaters, those who seem familiar to him, to make it stop, but not a single one of them even budges. They just watch it happen and his parents are nowhere in sight, either.

Draco's world ends the second he hears the worst of the three unforgivable curses and all that is left is your limp, lifeless body.

Only then do they let him go. Only then he can finally embrace you, however, this time you are not hugging him back. In fact, you are not moving at all as all the life has left your body completely, not even giving him the chance to say one final goodbye. Draco keeps talking to you, clasping you in his arms as he keeps rocking the both of you back and forth, whispering to your face to wake up, even though, deep inside, he knows you won't.

Because it is too late. You are already gone.

And when the realization finally dawns on him, there is no going back. He is going to kill every single one of these Death Eaters.

But only after he killed the Dark Lord first.

[movedtone0mile]

spin the bottle

college AU

mark x popular!f!reader

warnings: smut (titfucking, oral m!receiving, unprotected sex DON’T DO THIS) minors dni!!!, brief jock johnny x reader, chenle is a reader hater, Mark is shy and awkward, reader is not very considerate of his feelings? like not at all, bad english from a french person, first time writing smut Im not confident in this OK, also this is my first fic so Im a complete amateur.

word count: 4.5k

summary: Mark has a crush on the campus it girl, but he’s a romantic and shy guy and she’s a player. At Ten’s party, to which he went only to see you, someone suggests a “spin the bottle” and Haechan thinks it might be Mark’s chance. 

    

 « So, are you going to talk to her or just spend the night sitting here with me? » Chenle raised his eyes from the game he had been playing on his phone since he had arrived one hour and a half ago, to stare at his friend sitting beside him on the couch. 

« What? What are you talking about man? » Mark answered, puzzled. He seriously thought he had been discreet in his staring and fidgeting. 

« Oh so now you think I’m a dumbass. » His friend rolled his eyes, before resuming his game of whatever he was playing. « Do you really think she’s going to notice you if you just stay here, staring into her soul? »

Mark’s eyebrows furrowed as he mumbled: « She doesn’t need to notice me she already knows who I am… » and his cheeks reddened when Chenle shot him a glance that made him realize he had just admitted that he was, indeed, staring at you.

Mark had arrived at the party about fifteen minutes before Chenle did, and you were already there: a red cup in hand as you were chatting with some friends of yours. Starstruck by your smile, and bewitched by the outfit you decided to wear tonight, Mark had not been able to engage in any discussion or activities, other than admiring you from afar. 

Mark had the biggest crush on you for a few months now. You weren’t exactly friends but you have been paired for a few class projects before and when you saw each other on campus you always shot him your brightest smile, and even sometimes, when you felt like it, he was lucky enough to get a kiss on his cheek. This, had Mark’s friends tell him that you certainly had a thing for him as well. But he, on the other hand, wasn’t so sure. 

Being one of the most popular girls on campus, he could not imagine you being interested in a guy like him, when you could easily get any of the hot jocks he always saw you hanging out with. Plus, you somehow behaved like this with everyone: he was not the first boy you have kissed, or hugged in the hallways, and was certainly not the last one. 

So no, Mark was not as convinced as some of his friends that his crush on you was mutual. But, he wouldn’t miss a chance to interact with you though, or well, at least to see you…

Tonight Ten Lee was throwing a party, and the whole campus was invited since the huge manor of his parents was located not far away from campus. And of course, you would attend (Ten must have even invited you and your friends personally), and so would Mark. 

But as you were now dancing between Johnny and Jaehyun, he couldn’t get himself to stand up and try anything. He watched you throw your arms around Jaehyun’s neck, and Johnny’s hands grip your hips while you swayed them to the beat. Hell, how was he supposed to make a move? 

« I told you not to believe Haechan ». Apparently, Chenle had caught up on the situation too and felt the need to let Mark know that he was probably right to never support his crush on you. In Chenle’s eyes, you were just some bimbo, who probably spent more time hooking up with jocks rather than studying, which was what uni was supposed to be for. You were not a girl for Mark, and he was certainly not your type anyway. 

« I know dude just- just don’t say it like that ok? » Mark groaned. 

« Don’t want you to get your hopes up. » 

꧁ ♡ ꧂

When Kim Jungwoo came in the room and shouted that they were playing spin the bottle in the other living room, Chenle decided he had enough and was going home, offering Mark a ride back, which he almost accepted. But that was before he saw you and Haechan giggling together and walking up to the living room the game was taking place in. He couldn’t believe his eyes, what the fuck was he up to?? Mark got up and followed the two of you to the room where a group was gradually gathering. 

When he spotted Heachan again, he was sitting not so far from you and was beckoning him to come and sit next to him. He did so and immediately started questioning him: 

“ what the fuck bro? What are we doing here? And why were you laughing with Y/N?? ” he shouted-whispered his last question for you not to hear it. 

« Mark, try to think and be thankful for once in your life! » Seeing that his friend still looked puzzled, Haechan went on with his explanation. « Since you couldn’t have the balls to make a move on Y/N, I got you maybe your only chance to kiss her! »

Mark’s eyes went from Jungwoo, putting an empty glass bottle in the middle of the circle the group had formed, to you, four persons afar, as the dots finally started to connect in his mind.

« Thank you Donghyuck! » Haechan mimicked with an intentionally ridiculous voice. 

« B-but what if the bottle lands on you?? »

Haechan waved « don’t worry it always stops in between two people, I’ll just say that it is closest to you. » 

Mark shrugged, Haechan always was so confident in what he said. So, he believed him, as if Mark and Haechan were the only two people you could land on to spin the bottle.

꧁ ♡ ꧂

Well, a good twenty minutes have now passed and it has not once stopped in between two people, so Mark was growing nervous, forgetting that Haechan was certainly not the only thing he should be worried about right now. But the bottle now landing on you would probably be a good reminder. 

« Finally! I was starting to get bored! » You let out, unaware of the anticipation growing inside of Mark. You eagerly spinned the bottle, impatient to get some action, and Mark could feel blood invade his mouth as he bit into his cheek. 

Shouts of excitement and whistles raised in the living, but Mark could only hear a long wheezing, as he silently prayed for the floor to swallow him whole. How did he not consider this very obvious possibility?? Was he that stupid?? No, it was all Haechan’s fault, it always was. How could he lead him into this trap, when a good friend should have preferred to protect him from the atrocious vision he was about to witness?

« Come here doll. » Johnny grinned as you got up to stand right in front of him. He stood up too and immediately gripped your waist to get you closer to him, as your hands rested on his broad shoulders. Johnny didn’t waste any time attaching his lips to yours in a greedy kiss, almost too heated for the game. 

Mark couldn’t do anything other than shoot a dreadful glance at Haechan who also looked mortified, (he would never admit that he had made a bad decision though). People continued to whistle and make comments Mark decided not to concentrate on, as Johnny continued to kiss you like he meant it. Did he? Only the thought of it was enough for Mark’s blood to turn cold. 

Watching you « jokingly? »  make out with your hot, tall, strong friends was one thing. But if you actually became the girlfriend of Johnny Suh, out of all people on campus, you would be even more unapproachable than you already were, and Mark did not stand a chance against him, he knew that perfectly well. 

A final smooch sound took Mark out of his depressing daze: you and Johnny were finally done, and so were Mark’s hopes as he watched you untangle from the tall guy, all smiley and giggly. 

Zoning out again, Mark did not notice when Johnny spun the bottle and it landed on you.

« Again?! » you exclaimed. « Well, guess it is my compensation for not playing earlier. » 

Your manicured hand landed on the bottle again and pursued to spin it. Mark didn’t want to see you kiss another person again, the first time had already crushed his poor heart, and you didn’t seem to care less about it. (Not that you knew how he felt though.)

People all laughed and talked, building up anticipation as they waited for the bottle to stop spinning. Mark then felt his heart beating even faster than before as the bottle slowly came to a stop, pointing in between him and Haechan. He couldn’t believe his eyes. Both men looked at each other, alert. They were ready to argue, already collecting arguments in their minds when you clapped your hands.

« Mark! » he turned his head back in the direction of your pretty voice wording his name, confused as hell. 

Things had happened according to Donghuck’s plan (well except for the Johnny part, but) the bottle did stop between him and Mark. However, it was clearly closer to Haechan.

But you were now approaching one of them on all fours, a teasing smile on your face and it was not him. 

Mark looked up at you, questioningly, and he felt his body freeze as you only smiled at him and got closer. With a mischievous glimpse in your eyes, you took his face in your hands and got even closer, your only touch sending shivers down his spine. You leaned in, pressing your lips lightly against his, as whistles were heard in the room.  Mark was melting into you, and your lips moved passionately against each other.

He was in heaven. It was everything he ever dreamt of, hell, even better than he imagined it. He would have given everything he had for this moment to last forever. 

The room around you had already faded away when you slightly pulled apart, just to whisper in his ear: “I’ve been waiting for an excuse to do this.” 

He suddenly felt an overwhelming warmth radiating through his chest, along with pure shock as well as confusion. What could you mean by that? Did you feel the same about him? Before he had the chance to think about it more, you took him by his shoulders and crashed your lips onto his once again. But this time, the kiss was much more feverish and eager, and Mark, drunk with lust, found within himself the courage to wrap his arms around you, deepening the kiss. 

After what had felt like an eternity (at least for Mark), you parted from him and shoved him playfully. As you got back to sit in your corner of the circle, he smiled like an idiot, unable to contain his joy or the blush that was coursing through his cheeks. Mark was currently on cloud nine. Haechan had to elbow him several times before getting him out of his trance. 

“Thank you Donghuck, you’re my best friend in the world! You’re so smart, so caring, so funny and smart! What would I do without you?!” He was back at it again. 

Mark couldn’t answer his friend, nor was he able to follow the course of the events that took place as the game went on. What had just happened? He had been dreaming about the day you would return his feelings, and you just kissed him all of a sudden? Well, ok it was part of the game, but you could’ve kissed Haechan! And what you said to him… Have you really been waiting for a chance to kiss him? 

Without Mark realizing it, the game came to an end as everyone had grown tired of it somehow. Haechan nudged him to stand up when they were the last ones sitting on the floor. “Come on dude, you have to take action now!”

“What? What do you want me to do?” Mark retorted, oblivious. 

Haechan pinched his friend’s arm, unhappy with his inaction. “What do you mean what do you want me to do? Hit on her! She has just kissed you and you plan on not doing anything?!”

Mark was not stupid, he understood that he had to make a move, that now was his chance, but he just couldn’t get himself to approach you. Whenever you interacted, you were the one who had come to him in the first place. 

“She made the first move, now’s your turn!” Haechan was right (not that he often was). Mark had to do something, otherwise, Johnny, or even Jaehyun was going to take you home, and he had seen enough of it.

꧁ ♡ ꧂

Mark had been standing awkwardly in the corner of the living for what? hours? Haechan had given up on his case and went dancing all by himself, and Chenle had gone home a long time ago. He was starting to think that it would probably be better for him to do the same. Yes, he wanted to approach you, more than anything, but he had been thinking about what to say for months now, and nothing sounded alright. He thought about all the catchphrases he could think of, things he have heard in movies or that Renjun said to his girlfriend, but nothing good enough for you came out of it. 

Eventually, he resigned himself, setting his drink down. He took his phone out of his back pocket and typed a text to Haechan, telling him he was going home. But when he looked up, you were standing right in front of him.

He took a step back, you had caught him off guard. 

“I hoped you would come and talk to me.” You said, a sultry smile on your face that had Mark melting on his spot. 

“I hoped so too…” He thought, out loud. 

Your grin widened and his cheeks reddened, realizing what he had just said. 

He sucked in a breath as you got closer, the taste of your lips still lingering on his, and the scent of your perfume poisoning his mind. “You’re not very good at this, are you?”

“No… No, I’m not…” He was not even sure about what you were talking about, but he would’ve agreed with anything you said. 

“Well, lucky for you, I am.” Your body now inches away from his own, you took his hand. “Why don’t you let me show you how to have a good time?”

Mark had let you lead him upstairs, filled with a mixture of both fear and hope. Now in the hallway, you stuck your ear to several doors, hoping to find one quiet. 

It took four tries but Ten’s manor was big enough for you to find what you were looking for. 

You ushered Mark inside and closed the door behind you. You were finally alone. Not that the crowd bothered you anyway, but you had observed Mark enough to understand that he was not this kind of guy. 

You two stood there in silence for a moment, catching your breath and taking in the peace of the quiet room, contrasting with the full-swing party downstairs. Eventually, you took a step in his direction and he reflexively took one back.

“Are you afraid of me Mark?” You frowned, a bit offended by his gesture. 

“No! I-I’m just.. a bit intimidated…” Oh now he was stuttering, great.

“Do you think I’m intimidating?” A smirk appeared on your face as you continued to make your way to him. When you were close enough to feel the warmth of his body, you lifted a hand to his face and ran your fingers through his hair. At your gesture, Mark closed his eyes and held his breath, before whispering that yes, he found you intimidating. 

Both of you could feel the tension growing, and you took your chance to crash your lips onto his once again. Drown in the heat of the kiss and the sound of sighs of contentment and whimpers, you felt him up with an increasing fever. Without breaking your embrace, you got to the bed, on which Mark stumbled and you took advantage of the situation to straddle his lap. 

With newfound confidence, Mark grope your hips as you started to grind on him and tug lightly on his locks. Your skirt had rolled up and you were able to feel that he was already hard. He let out a moan when you leaned down to attach your lips to his neck, where you left wet kisses. 

He called your name, but that wasn’t enough to interrupt you, as you kept sucking and licking his neck. “Y/N… I…” He paused for a second when your hand went down to feel him. “Y/N I have something to tell you…” 

“Tell me…” You whispered. 

He took a deep breath and breathed: “I like you.”

You paused, slightly moving away from him. Mark met your eyes, unable to tell what they were reflecting. However, he was sure his were only expressing anxiety and apprehension.  The light sound of your giggle broke the awkward silence and you went to resume kissing him. 

“Oh Mark, you’re so cute..” Deciding not to address his declaration yet, you got down on your knees, in order to both distract him from his feelings and pursue what you were here to do in the first place, which was definitely not to have some feelings declared. 

His head was boiling with desire and his crimson face was good evidence of it. Excitation had him shaking on his seat and he almost jumped when your hands went to his fly. You rushed to take off his pants, drunk with arousal. Mark was not sure he was entirely processing what had and was about to take place. He was probably in some kind of fever dream, except that it felt much better than all the dreams he ever had about you. He watched you pull his pants and briefs down, closing his eyes in anticipation of your reaction. That made him miss your pleased expression as you bit your lip. 

“Don’t close your eyes, baby.” You whispered and made him shiver at the contact of your hot breath on his skin. “Watch me.”

He tentatively glanced at you, and the view of the girl of his dreams, kneeling between his legs, sent a shiver down his spine. You wrapped your hand around his shaft and gave it a few pumps, tightening your grip every once in a while. 

Mark threw his head back, breaking eye contact, to which you responded by stopping your ministrations. Alert, he looked back at you in haste, his breath jerking. You let your hand make its way under his shirt to feel his torso, before returning your attention to his cock. You tried laying a kiss on the tip, satisfied when you heard him hiss, chuckling through the entire process. 

Deciding to accelerate things, you began to lick his shaft, up from the base to the tip, smiling at him when you had the chance. Mark, on his side, strived to keep looking at you, just like you told him to, as difficult as it was. He thought that his face was certainly all scrunched right now, as he struggled not to just shout out his euphoria, for the whole house to hear. You alternated between expertly circling your tongue around him and licking, watching his fists clench (of course he would never grip your hair instead). 

You sucked on his tip for a moment, before slowly taking him into your mouth. Mark gasped and gave a little start as you took in more and more of his length. When you reached your limit, he released a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. 

Breathing through your nose, you began to bob your head up and down, chasing his release. Mark stayed like this, not knowing what to do with his hands and biting hard on his lips to try and muffle his noises. 

The view and the feeling of your lips wrapped around him was too much. The constant eye contact made the experience even more exhilarating. You were oh so right to order him to watch you, even though it was torture. 

Picking up your speed, you clawed at his thighs, leaving red marks on his skin. It slightly burnt, but he didn’t mind, too far gone to care. 

His grunts grew louder and raspier and he began to mindlessly thrust into you. Eventually, he froze, and you felt a hot liquid invade your mouth. 

Without realizing it, he had cum down your throat and he shivered at the sensation of you humming around him. You released him with a pop and grinned when a string of saliva connected you both. Mark felt dizzy when he caught on to the fact that you had swallowed down his seed. You observed him for a moment, catching your breath. He was even cuter in this position, and you would be lying if you said you hadn’t been waiting for this to happen. Of course, you were aware of Mark’s crush on you, it was obvious and everyone on campus would’ve been able to tell. However, you weren’t looking for a relationship and he didn’t seem like the type of guy to fool around, so you had to have him in a situation like this one, in order to get what you wanted from him. 

You waited for him to come down from his high, before deciding to torture him more. 

« You see Mark, all those times I caught you staring at my chest… I’ve never said anything, because deep down, I’ve always loved being the centre of your attention… » His attention was back on you now, and holding eye contact with him, you slowly lifted your top, all with the same smug smile you had when you went to kiss him earlier in the living. « And lucky for you, I’m feeling extra generous tonight… Might make all your dreams come true. »

With your chest finally free from your tight camisole, you captured him between your breasts, earning a whimper of both pleasure and surprise from him. You chuckled and started to jerk him off with your tits, pressing them together with your hands. Whimpers wouldn’t stop flowing out of Mark’s mouth and he just couldn’t hold eye contact anymore, which this time, you decided to overlook. His thighs tensed once again, way too early for your liking. 

You got up on your feet and the desperate cry he let out sprayed a smile on your face. You considered not having mercy on him, but you judged him as unable to handle it yet. Maybe for another time.

Pushing him to lay back on his elbows, you straddled his lap, your miniskirt rolling up even more than it already had. “Don’t worry baby, I’ll make you feel good.” 

Even though his vision was blurred ever since you blew him, Mark caught a glimpse of you pushing your panties to the side as you lowered yourself on his still-hard length. You hissed as it stretched you out slowly until your hips connected. 

You stayed still for a moment, and you both tried your best to breathe heavily, but you grew impatient. Looking into his eyes, you waited for his approval, and when you got it, you began to move up and down. Mark moaned with every move you made, thrill coursing through his body. He would’ve sworn on his life, that he never felt so much pleasure. 

To steady yourself, you placed your hands on his chest, your nails beginning to scratch his skin when your speed increased. Eventually, you found a steady rhythm that had him panting and you humming and moaning, as he stroked all the right places within your heat. 

Mark was lost in the feeling of your warmth and the view of your tits bouncing with each of your movements. “You wanna touch ‘em?” you asked tauntingly, fully aware of his staring. It was like his head nodded on its own since he was in some kind of bliss, that prevented him to form any words or sounds, other than moans and sighs. With his agreement, you took his hands that were gripping your thighs for dear life and attached them to your chest. He wasted no time and began to fumble them. You continued to bounce on his lap for god knows how long, the room heating up to a suffocating heat. 

As you expected, and to his horror, he was not going to last long. Mark started to shake as he reached his high for the second time tonight, his body tensing.

“Y/N… I… I’m about to… Y-you need…” The groan coming from his throat stopped him from finishing his sentence, but you got what he was worried about. 

“Don’t worry baby.” You wouldn’t admit it later but the pauses you took in between your sentences were necessary for you to catch your breath. “I’m on the pill.” 

Mark’s eyes widened at your words, and he asked if you were sure about what he thought you were asking him to do. 

“I would really like you to…”

Your seductive voice was enough for Mark to let go and release inside of you, as he clasped your hips and gave one final thrust. He gritted his teeth in the process, in order not to scream out loud, and closed his eyes because if he saw any more of you, he felt like he could have died on the spot. 

You did the same and helped him ride his orgasm. You could tell he was overwhelmed by pleasure, and you sweated like never before as warmth flooded through you. 

Without giving him a minute to rest, you kept on riding him, and your movements grew sloppy and unsteady when you felt your climax approach. Leaning down, you caught his jaw: he looked completely fucked. You slightly shook his head to bring him back to Earth and leaned in to kiss him. Your lips met softly, softer than they ever had tonight and you were confused to feel your heart race with what you thought was excitement. Taken aback by the feeling, you straightened and pushed him even further on the mattress.

Before you knew it, something snapped inside, and euphoria took over you, your moaning becoming loud enough for the other rooms to hear. A comforting heat washed through you and you shut your eyes in order to feel it thoroughly. Your mouth hung open, as you rode this wave of pleasure with your breath held and your eyes tightly shut. 

Mark watched you with pure admiration in his eyes. He always thought of you as the prettiest girl he had ever seen, but getting to watch you in this position was something else. He must be the luckiest man on the planet. His heart throbbed, and he knew that if he hadn’t before, he was now close to being in love with you. 

Out of breath, you leaned down and gave him a final kiss, before dropping all of your weight onto him and rolling down on his side. Mark stared dreamily at the ceiling, which looked more like clouds to him right now, gasping for air and zoning out. It was definitely the best night of his life. 

You, on the other hand, had a great time and made a boy’s dreams come true… what a good person you were. Well, guess you had done your good deed of the day. 

[sincerelystesichorus]

me becoming a gortash apologist apparently

i never thought i'd say this. i am thinking about Enver Gortash. i'm usually not one of his apologists but... i've had brain rot for my Durge lately, and i think a big moment of developing your Durge is how you react to meeting Gortash again, yeah? you may or may not be close with Karlach but the party and Durge especially have all faced similar trauma of betrayal and exploitation nonetheless (and so has Gortash), he's already been introduced vaguely at the end of Act 2 as a threat/main villain, he worships Bane, he has general edge lord vibes (remember that bit where I'm usually not a Gortash apologist djdjdjd); what i'm trying to spit out, is there's a lot to sway you against Gortash in that first meeting. and I'd argue even a little further, as someone that followed Orin's plans of betrayal against him in my first Tav run, (just because her audacity is so damn funny.)

But anyway. Meeting Gortash. Finding out you used to be close. Perhaps homoerotically, perhaps in a strange platonic manner, or some other third thing, but nonetheless, Durge is assumably the only person Gortash has ever truly liked. He just really goes out of his way with praise at meeting again, the use of the word favorite is notable, and if Gortash had anyone worth elevating, he would, right? That was how Ketheric got here, Orin wants more credibility for herself and the Bhaalists, and Gortash... just enslaves his parents in their old home/business. But he liked you. He's really so similar to Astarion (it's nothing, you're just the only person I've ever truly cared for); he's just already a touch too far gone in his power hungry search for security. He's already repeated the cycle, years and years ago with Karlach as the main example and just the inevitability of being Bane's Chosen. And yet - Durge comes marching through the door again with this band of misfits and his old lackey he wronged, and he's willing to make a true bargain.

And I know it's just in Gortash's character to scheme, but l think playing as reformed Durge makes Gortash's potential deal all the more devastating, since he will truly follow through on his word (or, at least he would.)

It's so funny to show up dating Astarion or Shadowheart, and imagine them teasing you later that night, saying they thought you'd have better taste. Or the bitterness of being with Karlach, knowing that you seemed to be in such deep kahoots. And so on. The point is not valuing that past relationship with Gortash. Focusing on the shiny and new.

And like whatever. Gortash isn't ever going to publicly present that his feelings are hurt but like... wouldn't they? Your past lover or at the very least, only close friend struts in, now thinking they're some big shot, so beyond everything you two had ever done... when you always lived in their shadow beforehand, frankly. Gortash adores how this flawless plan was majorly Durge's, critiques Orin's sloppy manner of filling your place, how Ketheric was just a means to an end. But he liked you. The person who helped him raid Mephistopheles' vault, in turn helping him spit not only in the arch devil's face, but his past captor, Raphael's too (since Raph lives chronically in the shadow of his father, imo.) The person who thought they could formulate and enact this whole plot, and the only one he was willing to follow, to be an equal with, now coming to tell him what everyone always does, inevitably.

A final fuck you, or some form of betrayal, the same thing that caused his mess all those years ago when sold off to that warlock.

It would have to hurt, and while it's funny to imagine my little gnome Durge dying inside and cackling to the party about sleeping with an enemy and technically being the enemy... a little obssessed at the angst you could perceive of Gortash somehow falling for any crazy Bhaalspawn, nonetheless Durge, who was never one for morals, coming back renewed and not to come get him or work things out... but to slay him or turn against him. I'd send the Steelwatchers after our asses too.

In conclusion, Gortash, probably:

sigh. my bias against greasy little guys could never truly make me hate you, enver gortash. look at you, the man that you are.

[lowkeyrobin]

......you already know what....anyway dancer!reader and fuckshit established relationship. Reader has a full ride scholarship to a really popular and well know dance academy but doesn't tell fuckshit because they planned a party to reveal it. Also fuckshit is very supportive of readers dream but he's going through that phase where he feels that he has nothing going for himself....and then you know the crash happens and reader becomes paralyzed from his waist down (i was gonna do from their back down so he grateful lmao <33) and that's when reader and their parents tell the gang about his scholarship and fuckshit just feels horrible.....reader also doesn't want to see him....ilyy

-♣️

♣️ I hate you. you know I know who you are.

FUCKSHIT ; selfish

summary ; you have a full ride scholarship to a dance academy, as gay as it may sound, you wanted to reveal it to your friends after the skate competition, but it didn't go so well

warnings ; language, car accident, mentions of alcohol, & drugs

genre ; angst

word count ; 1.4k

masterlist

Your mood had been ruined today. You wanted to tell your boyfriend and friends that you'd finally got a scholarship to Juilliard, a dance college, a full ride, but you couldn't bring yourself to speak about it. Stevie and Ruben got in a little fight, Ray wasn't talking to Fuckshit since he was wasted all day and embarrassed him. And you didn't want to talk to anyone now, you didn't want to make the situation any worse.

Fourthgrade sits behind Fuckshit, Ruben next to him, and Ray on the opposite end. Stevie sits in the middle console seat on your left, and Fuckshit in the driver's seat. You sit in the front passenger seat, staring out the window, hoping to God your depressed, drunk boyfriend wouldn't kill you all.

Fuckshit was going through a little phase where he felt like he had nothing going for him, feeling as if he were worthless. All he was living for was partying and drugs, apparently.

You'd been sober for a couple months now, learning that throwing your dreams away because you were mentally unstable wasn't a good idea. You cared about your future while Fuckshit didn't, which started some arguments and fights here and there. You were just worried about him in all honesty, and he'd get jealous that you talked to Ray about the future instead of with him. You needed someone to bounce back on and agree with you, not someone to just nod and half ass listen to you. He was supportive of you and your attempt to make dance your career, but sometimes he didn't know how to properly show it.

You'd been trying to help him find a place in the world, to give him a head start like what you had. You didn't even know what you were doing but you were making an attempt at least.

You imagine you were off at your new school, come two years' time, the new environment, the new people, being able to do the one thing you loved more than skating. It sounded like a dream. It still did, really. All that hard work finally amounted to something, something that you could make yourself out of. You fantasize about your career, yet you're snapped out of it, realizing that leaving everything and everyone you knew was going to be difficult and hurt, a lot.

But now, you listen to Ray, trying to convince Fuckshit to drop you all off at home. You roll your eyes, hearing him mumble something about how you guys weren't gonna ruin his mood.

You turn to the curly haired blonde, tiredness pulling your eyes down. "Dude, stop. Just take us home"

"No! Now you're ganging up on me too?"

"I'm not! Do whatever the fuck you want, dickhead. Just let me out" You speak, unbuckling your seatbelt.

"No!"

"Let me out, right now!" You exclaim, pulling at the handle beside you, seeing the sidewalk right outside.

You hate this, you feel like your parents arguing, your friends acting as you, hiding in silence in the back.

"Pull over, please-"

Your eyes reflect bright headlights, blinding you as you swing your arm over to protect Stevie beside you. Your ears are defeaned by car horns and breaking glass.

You awaken slowly, nurses standing over you, one rushing in food to place in front of you. You notice your face is all tingly, and your arms and hands are covered in bruises and scratches.

You talk to the ladies before they disperse and grant your friends entrance to the room, which smelt like clorox wipes, the lighting an eerie cool. The others had some cuts and bruises here and there, but Stevie's arm is covered by a cast, signed by the other four.

You almost gasp as you see him, "Holy shit, are you okay?"

He nods with a little smile, "Yeah, I'm good"

You blink a bit, looking up to Fuckshit who's unable to look back at you. You scan the others, their expressions somber.

"What? Did someone die or something?" You question them.

Ray looks at Fuckshit, slapping his shoulder to deem him responsible.

The blonde sighs before sitting down next you on the hospital bed, fitted with light blue sheets with a little white pattern. He fidgets with his fingers before looking back up at Ray, who raises a hand towards you and mouths something to him.

Fuckshit finally looks at you, biting the inside of his cheek. "Y'know that scholarship to Juilliard?"

"How do you know about that?" You quickly question, running a hand through your hair.

His gaze shifts down, "Your mom came in earlier and yelled at me"

"What's it have to do with my scholarship?"

"...You can't go anymore"

"Why not?" You ask, the inflection in your voice becoming more stern.

Fuckshit looks back up at the other boys, then back to you. "Uhm, you're paralyzed from the waist down. Doctors said you probably won't walk again"

Your eyes widen as you stare at him in silence, thinking this was some sort of prank to make you not as mad at him for the accident, you're unable to believe him. He watches as you try to move your legs to a criss-cross position, but they remain straight underneath the blue blanket covering you. You look back up at him, feeling an overwhelming sense of anger building in your chest.

"What the fuck?"

He's silent, staring down at his shoes. "I'm sorry"

"You're sorry? You're sorry? You're fucking kidding me! You are a fucking asshole! You selfish piece of shit, I fucking hate you!" You yell, your voice becoming louder and louder as you shout at him. "You fucking selfish asshole! You stole my dream from me, and you think 'I'm sorry' is gonna help you? You can't fix a broken body with a shit, half-assed apology. It's about time you learned that"

Ray holds Stevie a little close, seeing his uneasiness in the hospital and while you were screaming at Fuckshit.

After a moment, the blonde begins to fight back, and once he gets a sentence or two out of just degrading you and blaming you, Ray pulls him back. Fourthgrade hugs you, letting you cry into his shoulder while the two teens talk in the hallway. Ruben and Stevie sit on the other side of you, doing their best to try and comfort you.

"What the fuck? What the hell?" You quickly sputter, digging your fingers into Fourthgrade's arms to try and sense some sort of reality to make sure this wasn't some sick dream.

Eventually, you calmed down a bit, and the scrawny boy decides to cheer you up a bit, as you'd ask, with the little movie he'd been making the past couple of months. He inserted the VHS into the player under the TV, and watched your expression go from teary-eyed to a light smile.

Ray and Fuckshit walk back in, looking like the typical mother and child who just got scolded duo. Fuckshit stands awkwardly at your side, halfway hiding behind Fourthgrade in case you regain motion in your legs and tried to pounce on him.

Ray begins, watching Ruben replay the VHS on the TV for you. "Fuckshit has something to tell you" He glares over at the blonde, taking notice of Stevie turning the volume down some so you could converse.

You look up at him, unable to really hold eye contact for long.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I got wasted and didn't want to listen to you, and I crossed a major line not letting you out the car and shit... I don't have an excuse for saying all that shit to you a minute ago, but it's not how I really feel, I was... I was just trying to win, I guess" He shrugs, pulling at the ends of his curls a bit. "I know you're never gonna forgive me for fuckin', I don't wanna say mutilate..., like, ruining your life, and that's fine. I just wanna see you happy and succeed and overcome this, and I'm so sorry for taking your dream away, and I am selfish for that-"

"Just get out" You mumble, quickly shutting him up. "Please" You look back down at your fidgeting fingers, resting in your lap. "I need to process shit, okay,? Fuck, I don't wanna worry about this right now"

He nods, stuffing his hands in his pockets before leaving with his head hung low.

[the-ninja-legacy-whip]

So I just found out that arin apparently switches sides (I'm not that far into dr yet)???

Do you think he and harumi would have gotten along if teen harumi and arin met?

WELL

Listen, fellas, as much as I find the idea of ~evil Arin~ as interesting as anyone else...THAT'S...not really what's happening??? (So far, anyway)

Arin's morals haven't suddenly changed, nor have his goals—his main priority has always been finding his parents, and at first, becoming a ninja seemed like the best way to do that—not only traveling around with Lloyd, meeting new people, getting the chance to investigate different people/places for leads...but also getting to live out a dream of his.

The issue is, he's hasn't been getting any closer to achieving that fantasy of a dream...nor was he getting any closer to achieving his main goal of finding his parents. And that's where his frustrations with Lloyd began to fester, and why he now sees so much appeal in Ras right now– his techniques have yielded results in Arin being a 'better' Ninja, and Ras (potentially) has the information Arin's been desperately looking for.

...but I sincerely doubt Arin is ever going to fully defect, even if as temporarily as we all know it would be were it to happen.

(This could obviously change if Ras lets slip to Arin what his ACTUAL GOALS/PLANS ARE, and Arin is like 'oh wait maybe he does have a point here', but again, right now Arin's just with Ras for the information/furthering his own personal interests, not in the name of conquest for something inherently 'bad')

(...and I mean, everyone was raving for 'Evil!Jay before we even got the 'how that even happens'...and look what happened)

ANYWAY, all that being said, I do see the parallels between Arin and Harumi- both feel like they're losing/lost their parents because of the actions of the ninja, felt betrayed by heroes they once looked up to, see the sympathies within the people the Ninja are supposed to be opposing, and actively move to support that opposing side instead as it better suits their interests.

...But I don't think Arin actually hates any of the Ninja (yet?), nor is going to align with Ras' plight given all the bad actions he KNOWS Ras has done in past, and to him specifically; he's just mostly frustrated and disappointed with their priorities. And unlike Harumi, I doubt he's going to murder anyone over it :V

Harumi would definitely be sympathetic to him, but if Arin knew the full extent of her thoughts he'd be like O-O;

Harumi: Aren't you tired of being nice??? Don't you wanna go apeshit??

Arin: N-No? ;w;

(also also I totally forgot to address if/when he does Shatterspin; should that occur then yeah he might be an evil!goner for a little while, but that's moreso a side effect than a wholly conscious choice, especially if the theory that he's already sort of started doing it holds any weight—he's knows its not good and he's not actively trying to do it, but he's sliding down that slope anyway and what happens when it's too late to turn back???)

Anyway wow sorry guess I had more thoughts that I...thought. hahah

[ryuichirou]

Replies

A bunch of replies todayyy! Sorry for the wait!

Anonymous asked:

Wha…what is with all the gaslighting discourse?

A waste of our precious time, Anon.

It started with some Anon being frustrated with me talking about Jade being a gaslighter in a hc post about twst boys being horrible to their lovers, and then them calling Rook a gaslighter instead. I was confused about this ask and replied half-jokingly, but the Anon came back trying to explain themselves once more. So I wrote another reply where I stated my position loudly and clearly: I do not agree with that Anon, I will continue drawing and writing Rook and Jade as I please, and I do not like how the Anon approached this topic by basically telling me that because it upsets them personally, I should reconsider how I view the characters. I find this type of rhetoric manipulative and unfair not only to us, but to the rest of people here: I can’t prioritise one person’s trauma over others’. I also really don’t like it when someone tries to assess my personal views on things by the type of fiction that I like and the way I see and portray certain characters. This is literally why we shoo away everyone who acts disgusted because of some of our ships, and this situation is no different to me. “I really don’t like it = this is dangerous” is manipulative, no matter how you cut it.

Anyways, then there was that Anon to whom I replied yesterday! And it was a nice ask, I had fun thinking about what to write. They actually sent their ask a month ago, just as this whole thing was happening, but I took my time because I was busy, but wanted to reply properly. Just like I said before, I love talking about characters a lot, and even if I disagree with someone, as long as they aren’t trying to force their point of view on me or imply that I don’t get it or I am stupid, I like hearing different interpretations of characters. Even if it feels completely off to how I view it, I can appreciate or at least respect it if they respect the way I do things. And don’t imply that I don’t get it or I am stupid.

So yeah, this is everything I have to say about this lol But you can read more on this topic; I believe there are plenty of other posts on this site, apparently this discussion has been going on for years. I really have no idea what there is to even discuss though.

Anonymous asked:

I know you haven’t talked about twst cast being parents for awhile, but I couldn’t help but come up with an azuide kid scenario. Imagine the kid is constantly feeling so much pressure from Azul’s expectations that when they fail a test after enrolling into NRC, the kid just SNAPS, overbloting and having a complete breakdown. And Ortho gives Azul and Idia a look that screams “See? I TOLD you so!”

It really has been a while! We don’t really think about family topics all that often though, so I guess it’s not very surprising lol

Thank god AzuIde kid has Ortho around because these two aren’t at all helpful with Idia hiding in his room for the majority of time and Azul almost being the second Riddle’s mom lol If it takes less time for them to overblot than it did for poor Riddle, it’s going to be very impressive. ESPECIALLY if the kid has Shroud blood, which means that they shouldn’t be able to overblot easily, if at all…

This is some great parenting right here.

Anonymous asked:

How do you think diasomnia would celebrate silver's birthday :)? I feel like Lilia would end up doing the least most birthdays,,, where he just ends up having sex, doing what he wanted anyway while barely being nicer to him than usual. Silver would be so grateful still lol

Anon, I am so sorry because I didn’t reply in time I completely missed the time when it would be perfect…. Sweet Silver, my precious fellow Taurus, I have failed you. 😔 But it’s better late than never!

I feel like Silver mentioned that they celebrate it together every year and take a picture together, and to be honest, I think Lilia actually cares a lot about making Silver’s birthday feel special. Even thinking back on how he made sure Silver would experience trick-or-treating on Halloween despite not having any neighbours, Lilia seems like someone who likes doing this type of thing. Silver himself doesn’t really care much though.

This doesn’t mean that Silver wouldn’t be very grateful even for a bare minimum of course, I think he gets this feeling of “there’s more?” every year after only receiving this “doing the least” level of attention from Lilia at first. Maybe Lilia would try to prank him as if he forgot about his birthday, but… Silver himself wouldn’t remember, so this isn’t much of a prank :(

Also ALSO! When it comes to sex, you are right; Lilia would present it as something special for Silver only, but he would ABSOLUTELY end up just going whatever he himself wanted to do lol

Anonymous asked:

Have you heard how horny Rollo is for the bell tho? Now that's a paraphilia if I've ever seen one. No clue how it would even work but mark my words, that boy will either fuck the bell or get fucked by the bell one way or another

+

Anonymous asked:

Rollo anon here, Malleus sneaks into the belltower to get railed by the gargoyles and comes face to face with Rollo getting off to the bell

Anon THIS PIECE OF ROLLO LORE IS SUCH A TREASURE (in the most unhinged horny unholy way possible). Just as with Gargoyles (both with Rollo and with Malleus), this is something that’s been on the back of my mind since we’ve heard this information lol There has to be a way… The bell is magical for a reason…

God Rollo would absolutely hate being interrupted and SEEN by Malleus of all people. Wait until he hears about the reasons why Malleus is even there, heheh.

eh-nonnie-mouse asked:

True, Sebek is too hard on (pun intended) for Malleus to slip up unless he's REALLY distracted. Also can you two imagine...Lilia physically shows Sebek how to move using Silver as the example and then letting Sebek try right after, guiding Sebek's hips every once in a while to correct his rhythm and or movements he gets to stick it in.

(this is related to this post)

I’ll be honest, this is so stupidly easy to imagine that I don’t know if we should judge ourselves or Lilia for this LOL

He just wants to ensure that he has taught these boys everything that they need to know… This is a very important part of their training. Sebek is becoming a man. 🥹

Anonymous asked:

Yes yes, Jack has a knot, does that mean Leona and Che'nya have barbs? Is Ruggie's grandma packing? Twins in merform with no balls? Followup question: Who would be most into all the different kind of dicks?

Yes yes yes and yes. Someone also mentioned a possibility of Malleus having two dicks lol I always forget about all that stuff when it matters (i.e. when I actually draw it), and it sucks; we need more beastboy dicks! And Ruggie’s grandma too I guess… powerful woman :(

Now that I think about it, I really don’t draw balls when I draw Twins in their merform. But with merman in general, in our case it’s usually something that makes no sense biologically lol but at least it’s fun! And very hot.

As for the follow-up question, damn it I feel like the only correct answer here is Rook fucking Hunt, but since we don’t really see him on the receiving end of things, he is just here to appreciate.

Also you know, wild card? Riddle. He just isn’t aware of it yet. Also Idia because he has no choice and he’s seen too much weird porn.

[plzu]

crushed croissant - (Adrian Chase x Reader)

part seven← ☕️ series masterlist ☕️ ao3

a/n: getting to explore the difference in headspace of both adrian and reader in one chapter is soooo much fun summary: Vigilante is too busy with the Task Force to visit you at work. But when he finally does, he tells you everything he's been up to. You're not sure you like his stories very much. warnings: mentions of canon-accurate violence, the word "rapey" is used once, cheating in a broad/general sense (as in it might not be considered cheating to some, but would be to others), no y/n wordcount: 5.2k

Something in the air at home has definitely shifted. You've been waiting for your mother to snap. To blow up. Surely the fuse of her anger is due to erupt, explode in a fury where she hurls insults at you. It's long overdue, anyway.

But when you see your father sitting in the living room, or at the kitchen table, head hung in despair over a glass of whiskey, you get the sense your mother hasn't been home much.

Your dad has barely spared you a second glance since the day he yelled at you. Like all the fight has left his body, like he can't bring himself to care after your mother's own blasé comments that morning.

Maybe this -- plus your mother's seemingly sudden absence from home -- should be concerning. But there's this tentative fluttering hope in your chest over the tiniest taste of this newfound freedom that you haven't had since moving back to Evergreen. Like you can finally roam around your parent's house without trying to avoid them.

You still err on the side of caution, of course. But still. Being able to venture into the kitchen for a cup of coffee in the mornings without the heart rate of someone being hunted for sport has been a nice, welcome change of pace.

Maybe actual licensed therapists would disagree, but Adrian found blowing shit up in the woods with his BFF pretty therapeutic. Especially after said BFF has been in prison for several years with zero means of communication from the outside world.

Something about the morass underfoot, wet dead leaves sticking to the soles of his boots. That same soft earth cushioning his fall as he flung himself away from exploding dynamites (chucked by Peacemaker, aimed directly at him! Classic). Shooting various holes into appliances and shattering the glass of old blenders and coffee carafes, a riot and a comfort, the raucous laughter of two grown men being drowned out by explosions and swallowed up by the canopy of the tall trees.

It gave Adrian an adrenaline rush, the kind he can only feel as Vigilante. It reassured him that his place in Peacemaker's life was not being threatened. There's still space for him, this easy camaraderie. They still make a badass team.  

A badass team that still brings chicks back to Chris’ trailer that they can share, apparently. 

Adrian has never taken issue with bedding babes with Chris. 

He's always careful to keep the Vigilante mask on, makes sure everyone involved knows not to even think about trying to touch his face. Getting his dick touched now and then offered a sweet relief, even if the main reason he was even hard to begin with was because Christopher Smith was involved.

Mostly, though, Adrian just appreciated whatever bonding time he could get in with Peacemaker. It was one of those things that, in the beginning, was something he agreed to in order to grow closer with the man he’s looked up to since he was a kid, and show him that  Vigilante is a real bro’s bro deserving of his respect. Earn his spot as the cool, kickass partner Peacemaker deserved. Well, besides Eagly, of course.  

(And getting to show off how far he's come since his 'Thimble' days, even if Chris doesn't know it's Adrian under the mask, was a nice bonus, too.)

And so while Vigilante should have no qualms with sharing some brunette that Chris invited back to his trailer (which, like, totally understandable after being locked up for so long), it is Adrian that hesitates.

“I don't know if I can do this, man.”

Chris snorts as the uncertainty in his voice. “What, did you get a girlfriend or something while I was gone?” He smirks as if such a suggestion could only be a joke. 

Vigilante looks at him. Hasn’t Chris read his texts since being back? Or listened during their special bonding time blowing shit up in the woods? “Dude, I told you! There’s the barista I've been seeing.”

“What? So? Did you guys have the talk?”

“Dude,” he giggles. “We both know where babies come from.”

Chris rolls his eyes. “Not that talk, dipshit. Did you two establish a relationship? A monogamous one?”

Adrian thinks about the quiet way you called him your best friend. He also thinks about the way you've only ever touched each other with clothes on.

The way none of this establishes any sort of relationship beyond friends with benefits. Even if those benefits just leave him stiff in his jeans.

“I... guess not,” he answers Chris, a little unsure.

“Then you can still bone whoever you want, dude,” says Chris, the near-constant impatience clear in his tone. 

“I'm not gonna force you, obviously, because that would be fucked up and rapey,” he continues, straight-faced, throwing his hands up defensively. “But there is a hot, underappreciated woman waiting for us to show her the best railing she's probably had in months. Honestly, maybe even years. That Evan guy doesn’t seem to realize how good he has it. So I'm heading inside to deliver multiple, mind-blowing orgasms, and you're free to join. Or not!”

Chris disappears inside his trailer, and Adrian is left outside with Eagly, who just stares up at him with its round, yellow eyes.

“What do you think I should do, Eagly?”

The large bird says nothing. Just cocks its white feathered head before tottering off the porch and flying away.

Adrian sighs. 

There was this slightly turbulent, uncomfortable feeling at the idea that sleeping with someone would somehow be a betrayal to you. But Chris' words eases some of that worry, once again enlightening Adrian in only the way Christopher Smith can. You and Adrian have not  established any sort of relationship beyond the PG-13 makeout sessions and hanging out at bars and fast food joints. And Adrian is no stranger to hooking up with people in a no-strings attached kind of way. Moreso as Vigilante with Peacemaker, sure, but Adrian has had his fair share of one-night stands purely for the occasional sexual relief.

As special as spending time with you is, way more special than any past random hook-ups Adrian’s had, he has to remember that you two are just friends.

And so, with a clear conscience, he steps into Chris’ trailer.

Going days without seeing Adrian's bare, open face is making you feel... withdrawal symptoms. Dramatic? Maybe. But the firecracker pops of color he usually brings with him has been scant, making the dreary monochrome of Evergreen bleed back into the cafe. It turns you slump-shouldered and sullen.

“Hey.”

Emerging from the bitter clouds of your thoughts and into the mundane early evening of the cafe, you blink back to reality and watch Ashe's concerned face come into focus.

“Is everything okay?” Their tone carries the worried weight of someone approaching a wild, wounded animal.

Are you wounded?

Well.

It feels like there hasn’t been anytime for you anymore, now that this Peacemaker guy is back. And it hurts, admittedly. Which is stupid, and you feel bad about it because of course Adrian is going to want to catch up with an old friend that he hasn’t seen in years. So the pain of your guilt over your selfish feelings hurts, too. 

But you haven't had the chance to feel the warmth of his touch since the night that changed everything, and it’s startling to realize how much you’ve come to rely on it for your sanity. The longer you go without the feel of his heat pressed against you, the colder the days seem to leave you.

Realizing you haven't responded to Ashe yet, you force out a non-commital grunt and continue stocking and reorganizing the pastries for tomorrow.

This, for whatever reason, does not convince Ashe that everything is, in fact, okay. Their voice lowers into that of delicate understanding.

“Did you and Adrian... break up?” They grimace, seemingly afraid of the answer. “He hasn't stopped by lately.”

True. Adrian hasn’t been by to visit during the day. No more quick hellos before his shift at Fennel Fields starts. Just late night visits from Vigilante instead, before he runs off to his other best friend.

Your head snaps to face Ashe again. “We're not-” you start, but then clamp your jaw shut. An insecure clack of your teeth. You look away, avoiding their gaze. “It’s not like that with Adrian.”

“Sure,” they say, but in a tone that very clearly implies they're just entertaining you.

“Why do you even ask?” There’s more bite to the question than you intended, but Adrian as a topic right now is extracting some venom you didn't think Ashe would ever be on the receiving end of.

But Ashe doesn't seem perturbed in the slightest. Probably because they were the most patient and understanding person you've ever met, something you constantly marvel at considering their young age.

“Well,” they delicately--but persistently--tug at the corner of the packaged pastry currently suffocating in your fist. Your fingers unfurl to reveal crinkled plastic encasing a crushed croissant. “It just seems like you're back to the way you were before Adrian started coming around.”

You frown as Ashe tears open the plastic. The baked, buttery scent of bread infiltrates your nostrils. “How was I?” you mumble, voice notably softer. “Before Adrian, I mean.”

“Mm,” Ashe tears off a piece of the flaky croissant and pops it into their mouth. “Miserable. Grumpy.”

“You’re not supposed to eat that.”

“Not like we can sell it to a customer after your death grip.” They pull another piece into their mouth. Their dark eyes shine with kindness and curiosity, unphased by your halfhearted attempt at playing the stern manager.

Ashe is right, though. You were miserable and grumpy. Honestly, it's hard to remember anything about who you were as a person before Adrian reappeared in your life. When you try to seriously think back, it's nothing but bleak, mundane memories.

Truthfully, you had just been a shell of a person.

The excitement of successfully landing a manager position at the cafe had worn off fairly quickly once the stress of customers wore you down. Sure, it wasn't as bad here as it was when you'd worked at a drive-thru Starbucks location back in college. But the cafe was still fairly new enough to garner the attention of coffee aficionados and people that were just bored with all the things in town that they already knew about.

And there was nothing to alleviate the stress of customer service, not when the home you'd go back to every night was another huge source of anxiety.

You tried to numb yourself to it all, you realize. A defense mechanism. It can't hurt if you didn't let it, so you hollowed yourself out.

But then Adrian recognized you. He could have just come in that one day, gotten that large iced Americano and left forever (no way he would have come back to the less-than-stellar customer service you were doling out). But he said your name and remembered who you were and as terrifying as that should have been, you entertained his recognition.

Because it was him. Adrian Chase. No one of consequence, at the time. Who could the weirdo from high school possibly blab to about your being back in town? And, also, he was kind of silly in a weird, delightful way that you couldn’t help but want to play around with.

Besides, there was a certain way he looked at you that was intriguing, and would very quickly become chest-achingly addicting.

After handling a few customers, Ashe pipes up again. “Y'know, if Matty hears you aren't together, he's gonna try shooting his shot with Adrian.”

This only makes you snort. “Please. Matty wouldn't stand a chance.”

You catch the raised eyebrows on Ashe's face and immediately clarify, “he wouldn't stand a chance against Adrian's best friend that's back in town.”

Ashe pauses before their expression alights in understanding. “So that's why you've been so moody.”

“What?”

“You're jealous!”

“What? No. Me? Jealous of who?”

“The best friend you just mentioned,” they laugh. “C'mon, admit it.”

Admit to being jealous of the guy Adrian all but gushed to you about? Enthusiasm punctuating each giddy sentence. The way he practically bounced on the balls of his feet the other night, excited to meet up with him.

Pfft. Naw.

“You're worried he's replacing you.”

Oh. Right. Maybe you are jealous.

Because Ashe's words made you realize that Peacemaker isn't replacing you. You were the one replacing Peacemaker. You've just been a stand-in this entire time, keeping Adrian distracted and entertained while his buddy was locked up or whatever. You see that now.

That hollow feeling returns in the pit of your gut.

Adrian gets half his fucking pinky toe sawed off and his testicles electrocuted in one spectacularly fucked up night. And as if that wasn't bad enough, his secret identity gets revealed to both Peacemaker, and the ENEMY. Which turns out to be some kind of weird, fucked up space pigeon? Whatever.

At this point, he's pissed off at Chris for allowing him to get tortured in the first place. He could have at least tried to stall Adrian getting his balls burnt to a crisp by giving just a little info, maybe? Just a tidbit of information to potentially delay Adrian getting his most important toe being severed, probably?

Whatever valuable lesson was meant to be taught by this doesn't really go appreciated, not when the pain is still fresh in his junk and right foot. Not when his ego is bruised both from getting his butt fully kicked by the tiny green karate man, AND his identity revealed.

TWICE.

In a single month.

He's irritated. Cranky. No one is taking his concerns over his pinky toe seriously, which is frustrating.

To distract himself from the pain and anger, he thinks about you.

It's not even really intentional. Your smile just kind of emerges amidst the muddled annoyance of his thoughts, and it suddenly dulls all the aches. He remembers the sound of your laughter and something warm glows in his chest.

Adrian would very much like to see you. It's been days since the both of you have properly talked, let alone spend real solid time with each other.

But he cannot. He has a duty to Peacemaker that he has to prioritize, and it seems like this new team Chris is with needs him. And, well, it feels nice to be needed.

He cannot see you. So he spends half the car ride to Chris’ dad’s house telling him everything about you instead.

He can almost forget that half his pinky toe is falling off.

Adrian hasn’t responded to any of your texts. You just want to talk to someone about how weird it’s been at home. Well, not someone. Adrian. Just Adrian.

You hope he’s safe.

He could at least call you.

Why hasn’t he called you?

Adrian sits in a prison cell accompanied by nothing but the ugly feeling of shame. He thinks he may have messed up. Potentially made things worse for Chris by failing in killing his terrible, racist father.

And to top it all off, he's agitated his injured foot doing a (pretty sick) spin kick. Instinct had beat self-preservation in that moment.

Once again, the only thing that eases some of the pain are thoughts of you. Out of habit, he glances to the right, looking for the plastic cup filled on his nightstand with all the physical proof that he'd spent time with you. But all that's there are the bleak and dirty yellow walls of his cell.

The frown that's been sitting on his face since being brought back to his cell deepens.

Whatever, it's fine. He doesn't need it to remember what your kisses feel like. The warm press of your mouth against his is definitely embedded into the grooves and ridges of his brain. The taste of you -- bitter coffee, sweetened at the edges. The little sounds you make when he squeezes your waist, or buries his face into the warm space of your neck.

Time in the cell passes by quickly after that. He's rocking a semi by the time they let him out.

You stop by Fennel Fields one day during your lunch break, hoping to surprise Adrian. But he isn’t there. You ask the young hostess at the front if he’s working at all today. She just kind of shrugs impassively, boredly twirling a strand of hair on her finger as she tells you that he was a ‘no call, no show,’ which means he was definitely supposed to work tonight.

Her indifference pisses you off. Doesn’t she know that Adrian could be dead in a ditch somewhere? Doesn’t she care? 

You leave before you can blow up at this Chloe chick (per the name on her apron). Adrian is, of course, just some guy to her. Only you have the pleasure (and the burden) of knowing that he’s so much more. 

Vigilante gets bodily thrown around by a gorilla. And while it's cool that he gets to add 'fought a gorilla and lived' to his list of badassery, it would have been even cooler if he was the one that got to land the finishing blow with a chainsaw.

The chainsaw was his idea, too! So it just kind of feels like Economos stole his thunder, which wasn't very fair.

Venting to Chris doesn't provide as much comfort as he'd like. And while this new team seemed cool, there's no way any of them were capable of making him feel better. Not the way you can.

Thinking about you wasn't going to cut it after this one. Texting wasn't an  option if it meant he couldn't hear your voice, and a phone call wouldn't give him the satisfaction of your smile. So Adrian will go and physically see you.

The burst of excitement in his rib cage is nearly suffocating. But, like, in a good way.

Really good.

Your thumbnail endures the worried gnawing of your teeth as you stare at Adrian’s contact information in your phone, wondering if you should call him. You want to see him. You had made the very resolute decision to keep him around, and now you’re realizing you may have to work a little harder in order to do so. 

You’re alone in the cafe, after hours. Ashe has been spending the rest of their shifts trying to cheer you up, but to no avail. They felt a little guilty, thinking that they had some part in bringing you down after they made the whole ‘jealousy’ comment. There was an extra layer of glumness in your distant expression for the rest of that night and several nights to come that they felt responsible for. So they would insist on staying even after the shop closed, stick around as you finish up your managerial duties.

As nice as the company would have been, Ashe's presence would potentially stop Adrian-slash-Vigilante from popping in, so you did your best every night to reassure the barista that you're fine. It was only the slightly desperate tone in your voice that would convince them to leave each time. 

So, like every other night, Ashe leaves. You lock the doors. You mechanically carry out your closing tasks until all that is left to do is turn off the lights and go. But Adrian, like every other night, still hasn’t shown. 

Before the Vigilante reveal, you two would just text each other when you were planning on stopping by the other's place of work. But now, not only has he been unable to confirm whether or not he’ll be able to stop by, knowing that he spends his nights doing dangerous things makes you think twice about contacting him. What if he’s trying to be stealthy and you call him out of the blue, the ringtone alerting armed gunmen to his presence? And then he gets hurt, or caught, or worse, because of you?

“Ugh, this is ridiculous!” you bemoan into the empty cafe. “How much crime could there even be in Evergreen-”

You cut yourself off, remembering the night after the club and shudder, the hands that make your skin crawl when you think about them, the ugly scab on your knee. 

A sudden, very specific knock from the front of the store has you yelping, phone flying out of your hand. It clatters somewhere behind you, but you’re not paying any attention to that when Vigilante is standing outside. 

Before you know it, you're unlocking the door to the cafe. Vigilante walks in, careful to close and lock the glass door behind him, muttering something about the cold and you getting sick. You don't really pay the comments much mind —  once he turns back around, you use both hands to tug him towards you by the straps (harness?) on his chest.

The action nearly unsteadies you both, him lurching from the unexpected suddenness of the movement, a soft 'whoa-'as his gloved hands instinctively land on your waist to brace himself.

“What was that for?”

The slight whine in his voice makes you grin. It's comforting. It's Adrian. Feeling him pressed up against you subdues some of the worry of losing him, of not seeing him the past several days, even with the hard discomfort of his chest piece against your breast. Even though it's rough, even though it smells like gunmetal and recklessness, the closeness is a momentary salve for your insecurities.

Instead of telling him this, or even something as simple and true as 'I miss you,' you search his eyes behind the red visor (incredibly glad you can see them at all). “Can you see me okay?”

“Huh? Of course I can.”

“But you're not wearing your glasses.”

“Oh! The visor is prescription.” You can tell that he's smiling, can hear the pride in his voice.

“Really? That's pretty cool.”

“Right? I think so, too.” His eyes squint, smile growing wider, and it makes a flurry of butterflies erupt in your gut.

“I want to kiss you,” you murmur, and you’re impressed that you manage to keep the desperation from your voice despite the way your heart hammers in your chest. You don’t want Adrian to know how bad you want him, you don’t want to scare him away. 

He stiffens at your admission, however, and starts stammering. “I- we can’t- cameras, remember? My mask-”

“No cameras in the restroom.” You nod your head in the general direction of the cafe’s restroom, somewhere behind you and to the left. 

Adrian glances towards where you gesture, not just with his eyes - his whole helmet tilts with the action, and you’re realizing there's something kind of endearing about the mask. It’s not as intimidating as the first time, or your nightmares. It accentuates his movements in a way you’re coming to find kind of… well, cute. 

But he starts to extricate himself from your grasp, shaking his head. “I really- we shouldn’t.”

Before the rejection could register as painful, you press on, body following his as he pulls away from you. “Well, I’m done for the night. Slow day today.” (You say this like you didn’t take your sweet time counting the tills). “We can just go, get in one of our cars-”

Adrian groans. He gathers your wrists in his hands, the texture of his gloves rough and scratchy as he pulls your hands off of his chest. 

“Dude,” you giggle, “am I bothering you, or something?”

“Yes!”

You blink, startled, at his outburst. The way his head swivels back to look you in the face, enunciating his exclamation. The smile slips from your face as the rejection finally sets in, and you yank your hands away from Adrian like his touch suddenly scalds.

This is it. He's finally sick of you. Or bored of you. The way you've latched onto him is finally wearing him down, and maybe he had some kind of guy talk with Peacemaker that's making him dump your ass, made him realize how pathetic you actually are-

“Are those tears? Why are you crying!?”

“Because you just called me annoying!” You hadn't even realized that tears had welled up.

“What!? No, I didn't!”

“Yes you did! You said I'm bothering you! That means I'm annoying!” You angrily wipe at your eyes. Your hurt morphed into anger due to embarrassment over your own stupid tears.

You're sick of crying in front of Adrian, he shouldn't get to see how weak and broken you really are.

“You're not annoying!” Adrian says, body taking on an exasperated, pleading stance as his arms stretch slightly out to his sides, palms facing out, as if to make up for the fact that you can't see his face. “I just meant that in the moment, you were a little overwhelming.”

You pout. It doesn't exactly make you feel any better.

“I don't know why,” he continues, “but you're really hard to say no to. And I just, I don't know, was looking forward to talking with you tonight. And if you kiss me, I’ll kiss you back and won’t have time to catch you up on everything.”

Your eyes widen and your heart skips a few funny beats. You're hard to say no to? Oh, that flusters you, makes you feel more special than you deserve and you smile, slow and shy and delicate as your cheeks warm, and Adrian's shoulders noticeably relax at the change in expression.

“Why can't we do both?” you ask, coyness laced in your voice.

“I don't think you realize how big of a distraction you are.”

This makes you full on grin. “Is that why you've been avoiding me?”

“Avoiding you?” he repeats, like it hasn't even crossed his mind. “I haven't been avoiding you, I've just been really busy with this new team-”

“New team?” you interrupt, eyebrows furrowing. He only ever mentioned Peacemaker.

“Yeah! See, Peacemaker didn't actually complete his full prison sentence- oh, yeah,” he chuckles, “by the way, I was actually locked up the other day, too. But not because I got caught! It was a deliberate choice. Anyway-”

Your mouth hangs open as Adrian continues to regale you of how his past week has been, and the group of people he's been helping out that call themselves 'Task Force X' or something. You barely notice the way he gently ushers you to a nearby table, carefully pulling out a chair for you to sit as he recounts the details of each mission (and a side quest? If you can call getting yourself purposefully arrested a side quest.)

He fought a gorilla. But it wasn't a normal gorilla, it was a super gorilla. You thought the 'super' part was a bit excessive. A regular gorilla could have easily wrecked everyone's shit, given that this group is all human.

(“Everyone on this team is human, right? No superpowers?”)

(“I think so, yeah.”)

He whines to you a bit about how some guy named Economos took down the gorilla with a chainsaw.

(“It was cool, but it just would have been cooler had I been the one to do it.”)

(You nod, very serious. “Oh, for sure.”)

He tells you about how he tried to kill Auggie Smith, the racist, retired villain that just so happens to be Peacemaker's father. This information gives you whiplash, but Adrian hardly gives you any time to process it as he moves onto the next thing.

The next thing being the torture he went through in a US Senetor's secret dungeon (what the fuck), where he endured getting his junk electrocuted and a pinky toe severed almost entirely off by said senator.

The senator also happened to be an alien? And he's dead now?

The senator. Not the alien. Peacemaker kept the alien (but don't tell anyone).

By the time he's done, you understand why there was no time for making out. This was a lot to unpack.

“So... how've you been?”

You stare at him. “What do you mean how have I been? Who even cares? Whatever I've been going through pales in comparison to the shit you've been through.”

Adrian tries to interrupt, but you don't let him. “No! Nuh-uh, my life is peachy. I still have all my toes. I haven't had any part of my body electrocuted. I didn't tussle with a fucking. Gorilla.”

There's a second where you just stare at each other before Adrian breaks eye contact first, helmeted head falling forward. “Yeah, true.”

“Adr- Vigilante,” you catch yourself. “Are you sure you should be doing this? It kind of sounds like Peacemaker came with baggage.” You think about your own baggage, grimace, then correct yourself. “Dangerous baggage, I mean. I don't like that you're getting hurt because of him.”

Adrian's head whips up at your words, eyes wide. “No no no, it's fine, it's cool! They need me!”

He says this all too chipper.

“Besides, it's not all bad! There's fun stuff, too! We blew some stuff up in the woods-”

You roll your eyes. “That's still dangerous.”

“And there was the threesome-”

Threesome? He's still talking, probably, you can't really tell. It just gets muted out by the wretched feeling that's suddenly tearing apart your heart and making it difficult to breathe.

“Wh- what threesome..?” The question rattles out of you, shaken and quiet.

“Huh?”

You look at him, unblinking, and ask again. “What threesome? When did- when did you have...?”

“Oh, with Chris and this 'underappreciated' chick he brought back to his trailer. It was just like old times,“ he cheerily proceeds, completely unaware of the mood shift.

How could you have been so stupid? Of course no grown man with an active libido was going to remain perfectly content with just making out in his car. Adrian probably got sick of you stringing him along (which, you weren't, not really but where else were you gonna have sex? Your parent's house was out of the question, and he wouldn't offer his place.)

Wait, why didn't he bring you back to his place? He lied about having a roommate, you know this now though he still hasn't admitted it.

You abruptly stand up. The chair scrapes harshly against the tiles before keeling over.

Adrian flinches at the sound, and immediately stands up with you. “Whoa, hey, are you-”

“Get out.”

“Are you mad? Is it- is it the threesome? Because we aren't even together, technically, so you shouldn't-”

This fractures your heart even further.

“I said get out,” you sob, no longer able to look at him.

“W-wait,” he falters, very visibly out of his element. “You aren't supposed to be mad. Chris said-”

“Please,” you whisper, and it is such a small, pathetic sound, full of hurt despite its quietness. You hide your face behind shaky hands, feeling untethered and lost and indescribable pain.

A long moment of silence expands the distance between you both, until, finally (because you are very hard to say no to) you hear Adrian's footsteps walk away, and out the front door of the cafe.

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[idontplaytrack]

Flaws

Janis ‘Imi’ike x fem! reader

Warnings: fluff, angst. coarse language, quarrelling. Implied/slightly described messy home life

In which, Janis has always been reader’s source of love and comfort. Through the pretty and the ugly.

“

I’m on the incredi-coaster. Some days I am on the highest of highs, huffing chocolate-chip cookies, and, other days, I liiiterally want to jump right off

”

— Auli'i Cravalho, 2023

I like making myself emotional apparently 😁

“Are you okay?” Gretchen asks in a quiet voice, studying your face closely.

No.

“Yeah.” You shrugged, focusing your eyes on the whiteboard and teacher at the front of the room.

“You alright?” Regina shot you a look, “What’s going on with you? You’re not yapping about like you usually do.”

“No, nothing.” You replied dismissively. Why’d she notice anyway?

“y/n, what…what are you doing? You’ve got the answer wrong.” Cady mentions.

“What?” You snapped out of your trance, shaking your head slightly as though to get rid of the unwanted thoughts. “Oh, shit. I’m sorry- I just-”

Just felt like crying, honestly.

“Maybe you should sit this one out.” Aaron says, “You look a little pale, are you sure—”

“Yeah, why the heck not?” You cut him off, grabbing the dodgeball and then threw it back to him.

Your day was going…alright— arguably.

“y/n, what is going on with you? I literally called for you twice and you just stared at your food.”

“I’m fine. Just tired, Damian.” You plopped the fork back onto the tray.

You spent half your school day without Janis since you both had, essentially- the same classes but at different times. After lunch was art class, where you’d see Janis for the first time since she picked you up from your house. “Hi, baby.” She presses a kiss to your cheek before taking her usual seat in class. You sat down beside her, your mind drifts back to last night’s useless quarrel with your Mom and Dad.

Janis was watching, you could feel it. But you continued looking straight ahead at the front of the room. You couldn’t lose it now, not after you’ve tried so hard to keep it together and you weren’t about to just…give up.

"Okay." Janis' voice pulled you back, "We're ditching, let's go."

"No." "Yes, come on. Before Mr. Riley gets here." She insisted. Next thing you knew, you were being led out of the school by Janis and into her Mom's car. She'd texted her Mom to come and pick the two of you up, and she did. But quickly left the house after you two'd been dropped off to go run errands.

"It happened again, didn't it?" Janis asked knowingly while shutting her door.

You scoffed, avoiding eye contact with her. Janis sat down beside you and carried on speaking, "I told you- you don't have to pretend with me. You do enough of that every fucking day, trying to care for your sisters, your Mom, yourself."

Damn, she really was always listening whenever you'd vented to her.

"I'm sick of it, you know? Have to re-parent myself, gentle parent myself- it's ridiculous. They made me this way and yet I'm the one doing all the work? While whatever's made me like this is still happening?" Your voice quivered, you sniffled, got up and walked to a corner of her room to avoid having her see you like this. Upset, teary, weak.

Janis saw a side of you that everyone else failed to see: the little girl inside you pleading to be loved and cared for instead of being picked on or dismissed. Or having every little flaw of yours scrutinised. Every time after you'd poured your heart out to her, you brushed it off as 'being in a mood'. But she doesn't. Janis knows it means something and has been helping you all this time. To undo the damage that's been done to little you. Janis allowed you to express your emotions: happiness, sadness, anger, excitement, anxiety, disgust...all of it. She's never once held you back but instead stayed along side you while you did what you needed in the moment, felt what you needed to feel in the moment. Janis knew every little quirk of yours like the back of own hand, she knew what made you happy, and what made you not so happy. She knew exactly what to do in any given moment which has made you feel like her burden. Which...you'd expressed in passing but she didn't agree. Janis immediately shut you down. But you insisted, saying it wasn't her job to fix you.

"y/n- listen to me. You are right, it's not my job to fix you- to fix any of this. But as your partner and someone who loves you, it is my responsibility to help you grow into a better person- a better version of yourself. You don't realise that so I'm telling you my point of view, okay? You've helped me too, you know that? You've made me less blunt, more patient...things that I weren't before I met you, y/n. It's not just me putting in the effort, you are too. I see how hard you're trying...to break the cycle and that's so important to remember in moments where it doesn't feel like it."

Now was one of those times...but you couldn't fight what you were feeling. Those emotions you've tried so hard to work through were all boiling back up. But still, you bit back those tears. And it physically hurt.

————

The more eager you seemed in avoiding looking at her, the more eager she was in walking up to you to make you took at her in the eye. "Why do you even love me?"

'What the fuck.' Janis thought to herself. That was honestly her first thought and what she wanted to say but she stopped herself, taking a deep breath instead, "You cannot choose who you fall in love with. And I don't have just one reason why. It just feels right, like it's meant to be." Janis slowly walked up to you from behind, "You don't see yourself the way I see you and it hurts me that you hate yourself this much. You're doing the best you can, baby. I see that, but please listen to me now, okay? Let it go, you need to let those tears go. Stop holding it in, it's okay. It's okay to cry."

Oh, what the hell.

You really just let go of the tears you've been swallowing all day long, falling limp in her arms as you choked on a sob. Whatever happened last night was anything but new, but it always upset you and brought you to a shitty place. Eventually, her back hit the wall and you two slid to the floor with you still safely in her embrace. She's witnessed worse, but this doesn't cause her invalidate your emotions. Janis would never do that to you- she never has. Janis loved you - every part of you. It's been clear since day one, nothing fazed her but what you had to go through all your life only angered her, wanting nothing but the best for you.

Janis had days like this too, and you were there for her without a second thought. Nothing mattered more than making sure she knew you were there for her. When you were in her shoes, you do it without even thinking. But whenever you were on the receiving end, you never could take your own advice or words that you so earnestly gave to your girlfriend.

Right now, was one of those days where you felt like jumping right off. Nothing felt worth it, everything you fought and worked for seemed futile. You, felt like shit. But Janis, no- she was a fucking saint, so damn patient and loving and it scared the shit out of you to have seen and experience the stark difference in her personality in public and in the safe walls of home...that side of her was as real as it was a show for self-defence. You never did experience love like this till Janis came into your life. All your life, you learnt that love had to be earned. That love was smashed glasses, broken walls and slamming doors. Absolutely nothing like what you could've imagined it to actually be and it terrified you.

Hurt in private, shine in public. Right?

You stop eventually, feeling nothing left inside of you anymore. It's not like you were a loud crier by any means, but it just went on for several minutes and the more sober you felt, the more you kept thinking that you should just...stop. Even with her whispering words of assurance into your ears over and over, her telling you she loved you.

"Do you wanna stand?" She asks, both her hands cupping your cheeks. You just did, not giving her a verbal response. Sighing, you went into her bathroom to freshen up then changed into a set of clothes that were hers. Wordless. Not another word came out either one of your mouths as all of this was carried out. Because she knew you- that's how you worked. You climbed into her bed, and she does the same, spooning you as you felt yourself relax further under her touch. Your arms rested on hers as you gave her hands a squeeze, hoping she got what you meant. She did, of course she did. She knew what every little gesture meant. Janis could read you like a book.

You two dozed off for a little while, and when you woke up again you were expecting a bitching headache- which did start. But eh, you'd be fine. You felt better after letting yourself feel what you needed to feel. Both of you acknowledge whatever's happened prior to the nap, but moved on with your day focusing on anything but that. That was done. While you were curled up on the couch, Janis threw a frozen pizza into the oven along with the last bit of chicken tenders, she said. Again, you did not say a thing but she knew you were listening. You were the one who requested the pizza after all.

You two've gotten the routine done and that's what mattered on days like these. You knew she loved you and why, but when emotions were running high, a lot of crap tended to be said. A little bit of love, patience and peace went a long way in these times. "Janis." You looked at her, she looked back at you, "Thank you. I love you." "Anytime, baby. I know you do. I love you, too." Janis said back, running a hand through your hair while you had your head in her lap now, "We're doing just fine."

[burningvelvet]

More Jane Eyre analysis, this time concerning the Varens family backstory and my theories and opinions on the characters of Adèle and Rochester, as well as their depictions in the 1996 and 2006 adaptations--

In a post I made, I mentioned that Céline Varens (mother of Adèle Varens) was dead, and someone (@thoumpingground, thank you!) replied with how they thought Céline had just ran away with a musician and never actually been pronounced dead. This led me to wonder, because a lot of the criticism and essays I've read repeat the idea that Adèle is an orphan and/or that her mother died, and I myself could have sworn her mother died of consumption or typhus. But no! I went on the Internet Archive and re-read passages about Rochester and the Varens, did a deep reading, and came to other conclusions which totally changed my understanding of these characters. Below I try to untangle and assess this apparently common confusion.

Here are the details I've gathered: 1) Adèle tells Jane only that her mother died, 2) Rochester tells Jane only that Adèle's mother abandoned her. I originally believed that she died after the abandonment, but it seems more likely that 3) Rochester must have told Adèle that her mother died because it was easier than explaining the abandonment. 4) Neither Rochester nor Jane believe that Adèle is his biological child, and no biological father ever claimed her, making Adèle paternally as well as maternally abandoned. 5) After Rochester tells her the story of Adèle, Jane calls Adèle an orphan like herself, not because she believes Adèle's parents are dead, but because she's likening abandonment to orphaning.

I believe that Rochester's probable lie to Adèle is fully in line with his character because the entire plot of the novel largely hinges on his repetitive deceptiveness. His love for toying with the truth, combined with his flair for the dramatic and his passionate feelings of betrayal at the hands of Céline, render it easy to believe that he would've seen Céline's abandonment and infidelity as her being metaphorically "dead" to him. As Rochester often conflates feelings and facts, and continuously blurs the lines between fiction and reality (every other line he's mentioning elves and mermaids), he wouldn't have seen him calling Céline dead as being a complete lie, and this is what makes it more believable to me.

Rochester usually believes his own lies to some extent or is able to justify them. His talent at deception a major attribute (and flaw) of his, as well as something we readers are constantly left to debate the morality of; this is made more complex by most of his lies being understandable or sympathizable, even if sometimes ridiculous. This is what makes him an appealing character.

He imitates a fortune teller on the basis of fortune telling being inherently deceptive anyway (as Jane states). He dons this disguise to break-up with Blanche while uncovering her true motives and protecting her feelings in the process, as well as to try to covertly assess the truth of Jane's feelings and to reveal his own.

He claims to be a bachelor and tries to get remarried because he felt like Bertha had already been metaphorically and spiritually divorced from him a long time ago, if not in actuality. He deceptively hides in Céline's room in order to ascertain what he already knows to be the truth and to convenienly confront her. Céline's larger deception allows him to feel that his own one is justifiable. He also deceives Jane when they first meet by failing to inform her of his identity, but he doesn't assume a false identity, either, complicating this lie as well.

He leads everyone (but most importantly, Jane) to believe he's planning to marry Blanche even after we can tell that he's really planning to marry Jane. This again is a sort of half-lie in his eyes, because he truly did plan on getting remarried to someone.

I also have a theory that Rochester really did plan on marrying Blanche before deciding to propose to Jane, considering that: 1) we're told by Mrs. Fairfax that Rochester and Blanche had flirted before Jane was in the picture; 2) Rochester says that Blanche resembles Bertha, who he said he married because he was attracted to her; 3) it wouldn't make sense that Rochester would go through so much trouble to lead Blanche on solely to make Jane jealous, especially not when we know he had set his sights on Blanche before he knew Jane and prizes constancy in affection above all else; 4) Blanche's character specifically matches that of all his other past lovers (in short, more beautiful on the outside than the inside) which supports the idea that his attraction to her and intention to marry her was actually genuine at first.

In short, all Rochester's lies are omissions or half-truths, always justifiable in his eyes because they're performed to protect himself, or others, or as a method of assessing the truth. He follows an odd set of rules regarding deception, and this is in line with the strong fae/folklore/trickster themes of the novel which many academics have noted. I don't believe he ever deceives carelessly, on a whim, or in order to be purely cruel.

Adèle informs Jane that her mother has gone to heaven, so evidently she has been told so by someone. I also believe his probable lie to Adèle is important because it is more proof that he truly does care about her beneath his reluctance to love her due to her similarity to her mother.

I can imagine Rochester sitting her on his knee and explaining this to her much like he later explains to her in the carrage of his and Jane's elvish, honey-"moon" adventure tale. Despite openly criticizing her and her mother, Rochester still doesn't want Adèle to have abandonment issues, to feel lonely, or to break her heart by ruining the good memories of her mother which she so clearly covets, as seen by her proud presentations of the song, poetry, and dance she says her mother taught her.

I don't know why adaptations haven't banked on these points, since Rochester's relationship with Adèle is one of his most redeeming qualities, even despite his occasional coldness to her. The 1996 version is great because out of all the adaptations I've seen or read about (not all of them because there are a million), it has the most emphasis on Adèle and her relationships.

1996 also keeps the line about her mother going to the Holy Virgin, and we get the impression that she was raised by her mother, whereas in the 2006 BBC adaptation for example, we're shown that Adèle was left to Rochester in her crib, yet Rochester still says Adèle inherited her mother's bad "French" attributes, which from his perspective must be genetic.

All the Rochester's question Adèle's nature v nurture attributes to some extent, but choosing to give Adèle no memories of her mother as the 2006 does kind of changes the Adèle/Céline discourse to being more genetic in basis. In other words, the 2006 focus is more on questioning nature rather than nurture, whereas other versions focus on both, or focus on nurture.

All the Rochester's speculations on Adèle's genetics keeps in line with 19-century anti-French British sentiment, and the increasing Victorian "nature vs nurture" discourse. For 2006 Rochester specifically, this all fits with his interest in biology & nature -- his specimen collection, him helping with Adèle's lessons, his scientist friend, the twin/twin flame theories; all 2006 inventions which clearly have a lot of historical and textual basis. However, in all the versions, it seems Adèle's vanity and "French defects" (as Jane dubs them in the book) whether genetically or socially imbued, exist to emphasize how nurture is just as important as nature.

Bertha Mason and John Reed exist as examples of ill nature overpowering weak nurturing, whereas Jane Eyre and Adèle Varens are examples of undecided nature strengthening in resolve after an upgrade of nurturing. For Jane this was through Bessie, Miss Temple, Helen Burns, and Mrs. Fairfax. For Adèle it was Mrs. Fairfax, Jane, and then Jane sending her to a good school which she says at the end of the book was responsible for turning Adèle into a great person.

But there is also an emphasis on the willpower of Jane and Adèle, as there is for Edward Rochester, who we learn from his account probably had poor nurturing, as he says his father and brother tricked him into marrying Bertha. As an aside: the 1996 version really emphasizes the implication that Rochester's dad and brother sucked, which I agree with, but I think it's also part of the problem of this film making Rochester a little too sympathetic (lol).

It makes sense that in the book Adèle had apparently been old enough to actually remember being socialized by her mother and therefore had been more capable of absorbing her mother's character. Perhaps 2006's approach is more intelligent, as it leaves the theory of nature v nurture more up for debate just like Adèle's parentage is (though Jane and Rochester are decided against his paternity, we have no way of ascertaining it).

I wish we had been able to see or hear more about Céline interacting with Adèle, as it would have explained how Adèle came to love the performing arts and to worship fashionable ladies. In the book, this is essentially her clinging to memories of her mother, which are later replaced by Jane's influence.

Adèle's status as an orphan (if not a literal one, a metaphorical one) is worthy of analysis because it also links her to the (literally) orphaned Jane and Rochester. Their mutual orphanage leads them to bond and form into a found family. Jane blatantly declares this kindredness to Rochester as highlighted above, and I believe Rochester must also feel this connection as shown by his devotion to Adèle, as he explains he took her on because she had no one else in the world (except Sophie maybe, but she couldn't support Adèle alone).

[dragon-creates]

Royally Screwed!

Read on AO3

1/2/3/4/5

Hey guys! Just in case, I might not be able to update as frequently as I usually do since college is starting back up but I'll try and get a chapter up at least every two Wednesdays! I hope that's okay with you guys! Anyways, without further delay, here is chapter 3! Let me know in the replies if you catch any of the references I put in!!!

3. Soldier, Poet, King

“He’s not at his lessons! He’s not in his room! No one has seen him Kinger!” Queenie cried, clutching her robe worriedly.

“Don’t worry my dear,” Kinger pressed both his hands to his wife’s shoulders, “He couldn’t have gone far.”

He had said that to his wife a few moments ago. Apparently Jax was playing around with the children of the other lords and ladies that had visited the castle, only to disappear after giving one of them a nasty scratch across their face. The child had wailed, saying that Jax had attacked them out of nowhere, but Kinger had a feeling that there was a bit more to the story than what was already told. He was familiar with how some nobles raised their children, and this child in particular came from a family that was full of nothing but spoiled snobs.

And so he was out in the garden, coming across a giant oak tree with a small wooden fort built atop of it. Jax’s treehouse.

Kinger took a hold of the ladder that was attached to the trunk, making his way up and through the hole in the middle of the floor. He found who he was looking for, a small six-year-old rabbit with frustrated tears staining the fur his cheeks as he clutched something in his hands.

“There you are,” Kinger spoke gently, alerting his son of his presence, his little ears shooting up as he glared at the intruder. “Everyone has been wondering where you went, your mother was worried sick.”

Jax’s ears drooped, he didn’t mean to make his mother so upset. He rubbed his cheek on his sleeve, ridding any tears that were still marked upon his face.

Kinger climbed out of the hole, making his way over to the boy and sitting down next to him. “I was told that you scratched one of the noble’s children,” Kinger said, watching as the boy paled with fear. “While I’m not pleased with an outburst like that, I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt and ask why you did it. I know you wouldn’t have done that unprovoked,” he patted the top of his son’s head comfortingly, Jax leaning into the touch. “What happened Jax?”

The boy turned to his father, his face growing anxious before opening his hand, revealing the head of a little chipmunk fast asleep in his purple palms. “They tried to squish it with a stick,” Jax mumbled, “They said that it was like me, a nobody trespassing onto royal grounds. It was just trying to get some food.”

Kinger felt his heart sink. Of course it was a comment about Jax being an orphan. It wasn’t the first time that he had been bullied for not being blood related to him and Queenie, even those who weren’t children had picked on him for his humble beginnings. Yes while both he and his wife were able to have children, the two had heard of Jax’s birth parents passing away from an uncontrollable illness, leaving the poor baby to fend for himself. He and Queenie immediately took him in as their own, raising and teaching him everything he needed to know about the kingdom. Unfortunately it seemed that the nobles weren’t so happy about their choice and had resorted on taking it out on the poor boy instead.

“Well then, they are forbidden to step one foot into this castle,” Kinger declared, his mind already made up on the matter, “They have no right to treat you or the poor critter so horribly.”

“But they’re right,” Jax whimpered, looking away. “I don’t belong here. No matter what I do, everybody knows that I’m not a true royal.”

“That’s not true!” Kinger interrupted, taking both of his son’s cheeks in his hands. “You might not share our blood, but you are still our son. Your mother and I love you so much, you are part of our family and that makes you a truer royal than any of the nobles could ever dream to be. You have the heart of a king Jax, never forget that.”

Jax gave his father a watery smile, the latter wiping away his tears. The little chipmunk squeaked in the child’s hands, the king and prince looking down at it. “I think he’s feeling better now,” Kinger gestured to the rodent, “It’s time for him to go.”

“But…but he’s my friend!” Jax exclaimed, clutching it tighter, “He has to stay with me.”

“He has a life and a family out there Jax,” Kinger told his son, “I know you care about him, after what he went through, but its because of that care you have for this critter that you must let him go. He might be gone, but the bond that you’ve formed will be a part of you for years to come.”

Jax let out a small whimper, stroking the back of the small creature. His father was right, the chipmunk probably had its own ‘Queenie’ and ‘Kinger’ to go back to as well. Jax stood, walking over to the window of the treehouse and opening his hands, releasing the rodent. The chipmunk looked back at Jax one last time, nuzzling his finger. The child laughed at the sensation, before waving to the chipmunk as it ran back into the gardens.

Kinger got up and went over to Jax, ruffling his son’s ears, the child laughing louder. “Glad to see you’re feeling better,” he said to child, Jax wrapped his arms around his father, squeezing him tight. The king chuckled, returning the hug with the same pressure his son was giving him. “And who knows, maybe you’ll get a pet of your own one day. Perhaps a dog or a hamster or a cat-”

“What?! Ew! No way!” Jax stuck out his tongue at that, “Cats are the worst animals in the world!”

“I don’t know,” Kinger shrugged teasingly, “When you’re older you end up with your own feline companion?”

“Never!” Jax blew a raspberry, The king guffawed, deciding to put an end to his teasing, much to his son’s mercy.

“Alright, alright. Let’s head back inside, your mother is still looking for you,” Kinger was a bout to turn and head to the exit, only for Jax to grab his father’s hand with a desperate look upon the child’s face. “What’s wrong?”

“I…I’m not ready to go back inside yet,” Jax admitted, his ears drooping onto his back. “Can we play a game? Please! Just one game and then we’ll go inside.”

Kinger’s heart sank. Jax was so scared to go inside in case any of those horrible people were there. How could any of the nobles say such vile things? Not just about his son, but about a child! If they had a problem, then the cowards should take it up with Kinger himself instead of a boy still navigating the ways of the world. He would deal with them later – along with some colourful language he had planned for them – as for now, his son was more important.

“Alright,” Kinger nodded, “One game and then we’ll find your mother. The last thing we want is face her worried anger.”

Jax shuddered, he knew all too well what his mother was like when she was overcome with so much panic to the point of frustration. He nodded quickly as he and his father sat down.

“Now then, what would you like to play?” Kinger asked.

Jax hummed in thought, putting a finger to his chin as the ideas ran through his mind, “How about…three rounds of rock, paper, scissors!”

“That sounds like a great idea!” Kinger exclaimed happily.

The two put their fists out, slapping it against the palms of their other hand, with Kinger pulling his hand out in a scissor motion while Jax made a rock shape with his. “Yes!” the child cheered happily, “I won the first round!”

“You’re starting to get better than me,” Kinger told him, “Ready for the next round?”

“Yeah!” Jax grinned.

Kinger prepared himself “Okay, one, two-”   

“What are you two doing?!” Queenie cried out, poking her head through the hole of the floor, making both father and son squeak in terror. “Do you two know how long you have been gone for?! I was worried sick!”

“Apologies darling,” Kinger chuckled nervously, “We just wanted to play a quick game.”

“I’m sorry mama,” Jax brought his knees to his chest, “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Queenie sighed, shaking her head as she opened up her arms for her son, with Jax immediately running to his mother and hugging her. He had always been a ‘mama’s boy’ ever since he was a baby. “Just keep track of time, okay dear?” she whispered soothing, rubbing Jax’s back.

“Yes mama,” Jax nodded against her shoulder.

Queenie gave her a husband a glare, “That goes for you too Kinger.”

“Y-yes darling,” Kinger rubbed the back of his head at his wife’s icy gaze, “Again, my apologies.”

The queen was unable to hide a smile at her husband’s awkwardness, eventually giving in and climbing up into the treehouse as well. And so, that was how the family spent their afternoon that day, with them talking with one another about anything and everything, to Kinger and Queenie telling Jax stories of adventurers and swashbuckling pirates, to the parents even indulging with their son’s games of pretend as he recreated those stories with nothing but a stick for a sword and a wooden board as a shield.

The rest of the nobles would probably scoff at them acting like this, but they didn’t care. This was their family, even if they were royalty, and nobody could take that away from them.

.

.

.

Sixteen Years Later

Jax paced up and down the hall, wringing his hands to help calm his nerves. Never in his life had he been so nervous about anything. Why may you ask? Pomni was finally deemed well enough to get out of bed, and today he was going to give her a tour of the castle. He needed this to be perfect, the poor girl had already been through enough, he just wanted the day to be about her. To make sure she was happy. Her smile left a handprint on his heart, and he couldn’t get it off. He would do anything to see it again.

Motley was perched upon his shoulder, with the prince subconsciously reaching up to run his hand over the kitten’s head as he purred into Jax’s cheek. He would never admit it, but Motley was a really good comfort to him these days. Apparently, the little kitten knew exactly what to do to calm him, it was annoying how easily attached Jax had become with him.

He took a deep breath, he could do this. He walked down the hall until he stopped in front of the room Pomni was staying in, he wrung his hands one more time before gently knocking on the door three times.

“I’ll be one second!” he heard her voice ring out.

“Take your time!” Jax answered back, using the extra seconds to relax himself more. A few moments passed until the click of the doorknob made him jump. He brushed back the fur atop of his head, breathe Jax, remember, be suave.

That all went down the drain the moment Pomni stepped out. Jax was sure his heart had just skipped a beat. Pomni wore a teal-coloured dress, small flowers embroidered onto the fabric. The dress hung slightly off her shoulders with ruffles around her collarbones, the sleeves were long and ended at her wrists but had puffs at the elbows. Around her waist was a matching corset of the same colour, and the layered skirt ended by her ankles. She’s so…so… Jax’s face softened.

Pomni blushed as his eyes focused on her, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. Her hair might be short but she had managed to take two sections and braid it into a crown around her head. “W-why are you staring?” she stuttered slightly.

“Because you’re beautiful,” he answered honestly. He felt a twinge of pride as her face reddened more, contrasting against her dress. Easy Jax, remember, you don’t want to scare her off. When his father had informed him of Kaufmo and the circus’ story, the urge to protect the jester only grew stronger. The last thing he wanted to do was overwhelm her.

“Thank you,” she smiled, “I don’t think I’ve worn anything this nice in my life.”

“Trust me, you look radiant in that dress,” Jax told her.

Pomni had to physically fight back the blush she felt rising to her cheeks. If someone were to tell her a few months ago that she would be flustered at the compliments Prince Jax of Laphria would give her, she would have laughed in their face, repulsed by the notion that the reckless prince would give her any sort of attention. But now, after he saved her life and seeing this new side of him, it made her all the more curious to see what else she could find out about him. Dare she say it, she was excited to have his company for today.

“So, tell me, what’s up first for our tour?” she asked, going over to him and picking up Motley from his shoulders and cradling him in her arms.

Jax smirked, only holding out his hand, “You’ll just have to wait and see little lady.”

Pomni raised a brow, her lips matching his expression as she took his hand, “Then hurry up and show me.”

He let out a laugh, giving her hand a gentle squeeze as he started taking her down the hall. Maybe it was the excitement of the whole thing, but their feet started to quicken, and soon they were jogging and jogging turned to running, poor Motley’s eyes going wide at the sudden increase of speed. They couldn’t stop laughing, not knowing why. In fact, now that they thought about it, this was possibly the first time each of them laughed truly and freely – with no malice or fear attached. It was…nice.

Soon, Jax was leading her into the gardens, past the bushes filled with berries and the colourful shrubbery of flowers. Their steps slowed as they halted near a large oak tree, Pomni looked up to see a wooden house, shaded among the emerald leaves atop of it. Jax let go of her hand, taking a hold of the ladder against the trunk as he began to climb up. Pomni placed Motley on her shoulders, taking the initiative to follow him.

Once Jax made it into the building, he sat next to the hole in the floor and helped pull Pomni up once she neared the top. Pomni sat next to him, letting her eyes roam the place, the subtle breeze of the wind brushing her cheeks as the sun shone upon her. “Welcome to my humble abode,” Jax grinned, “AKA, my childhood treehouse.”

Pomni marvelled at her surroundings, letting Motley down so he could explore the area as well, “This is adorable!”

“Yeah,” Jax suddenly became anxious, rubbing the back of his neck. “I knew that when I gave you all those gems and coins it made you a little uncomfortable, so I wanted to start with something small with our tour so you wouldn’t get overwhelmed.”

Pomni’s mouth gaped a bit. He could have taken her to the most grand, lavish places in the whole palace, yet he chose the most earnest part of his childhood to show her to make sure she was comfortable. She didn’t know whether to awe at the innocence of the act, or gratitude that he was putting her first. Either way, she never felt happier towards the prince than she did now. “Thank you Jax,” she replied honestly. She secretly ate up the way that she managed to make him blush this time.

“Y-yes, well,” he stuttered, “I do happen to be pretty smart.”

“On certain occasions,” she snickered.

“Hey!” he gawked at her, though the smile on his face proved that he was anything but mad. He shook his head fondly, a warmth spread through him at the fact that she didn’t feel anything negative to him while speaking with him. He was getting to know her without his reputation getting in the way of that. “I always loved coming up here as a kid. It was a safe space for me when I wanted to get away from everybody.”

Pomni tilted her head, inching closer to him. Jax was really hoping she wouldn’t see his tail wagging at the close proximity. “Safe space?” she asked, though after hearing that awful group of low lives from the last show, she had a faint idea of what he was talking about.

“Yeah,” he sighed, his ears dropping slightly. “Not everyone was happy about the fact that my parents decided to adopt me when they were able to have children. I was born in a poorer part of the kingdom, so everyone kinda knew what my rank was before I was royalty. There was just so many people who literally hated me for even breathing, it wasn’t like I asked to be born into poverty or for my parents to adopt me. So whenever I needed a break from it all, I would come up here with my parents. We’d always come up with new games in here and turn the treehouse into whatever adventure we chose. Whether it be a pirate ship and I was the captain, or my own castle where I was helping save the princess, it was the best memories I had ever made.”

“That sounds remarkable,” Pomni said, unable to tear her gaze away from the prince’s face. He looked so…happy. Not the cruel smirks that she had come to expect, but genuine happiness that came from reflecting on those memories.

“It really was,” he agreed, his heart fluttering as flashes of him as a boy going to save his mother from his ‘castle’ treehouse with his father as a dragon. That little boy had changed so much, and he would admit it, it wasn’t for the better. “When I started to get older, the comments just started to get worse. My parents started to ban people from the castle who didn’t relent, but they knew that they held importance since most of them owned some of the lands in the kingdom, so they had to be invited to events sometimes to help discuss shit that’s happening. No matter what I did, I was never good enough. It didn’t matter how much I smiled or bowed or trained myself to prove that I wanna gonna be the best heir for this kingdom, as long as I didn’t share royal blood, they already made up their minds about me. So, I decided to become what they wanted me to be. A reckless troublemaker who liked to prank others and throw the most destructive parties. For a while, I started to like it, I liked that for once I was the once who held the cards. But I knew that whoever I invited just used me to get into these parties, to indulge in luxury while talking behind my back. And seeing how disappointed my parents were…all I did was ruin things for everyone.”

He stopped, looking up at Pomni to see tears running down her cheeks as Motley tried to purr to comfort her. “I’m so sorry!” he exclaimed, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a handkerchief, “I shouldn’t have gone as long as I did, I didn’t mean to upset you.”  

“No, no, its not your fault,” she sniffed, wiping her eyes, “It was never your fault. You know that right?” She wasn’t talking about the crying, she was talking about his childhood. Jax gave her a half-hearted shrug. “I’m serious. I’ve had my fair share of people in my life who would rather project their insecurities onto those who are vulnerable than decide to be a decent human being. No, you shouldn’t have done the things you do now that you’re grown, but don’t blame your child self simply for existing.”

Jax didn’t know whether to laugh, cry or do both. For years he kept everything in, too afraid to touch the fear and guilt that crept up his spine every day. But the way Pomni spoke about it, with such ease and clarity. It was almost like she had walked similarly in his steps before. He was about to ask her how she knew all this when her hand reached forward to his face. He held his breath, fighting the urge to hammer his foot against the wooden floor with excitement. Her fingers brushed the fur on his cheeks, when she pulled back his heartbeat slowed when he realised the tips of her fingers were wet. Had he really been crying? “Wow,” he wiped any leftover wetness away, “Sorry, kinda pathetic.”

“No,” Pomni shook her head softly, a smile gracing her features, “No it’s not.” This girl. She never ceased to amaze him. “So, tell me. What other games did you and your parents get up to in here?”

Jax laughed wetly before going onto to tell her how he and his father would hide up here from his mother whenever they would steal cookies from the kitchen. Pomni chortled at the image of a small rabbit and the king hiding up in this very treehouse from the disgruntled queen while huddling with a jar of cookies.

It wasn’t until it was near noon that the two realised they had been outside for so long, just talking and enjoying one another’s company. They went inside eventually when Motley started meowing his head off for some food. Jax was confident in saying that he had more fun with Pomni in those couple of hours than all of his parties he had ever thrown. Truly, that girl had bewitched him.

.

.

.

“This is incredible!” Pomni beamed.

The next day, Jax had decided to take Pomni to visit the library in the castle. She had seemed particularly excited about that, he remembered that it was rare for her to see a proper library in her lifetime, and he hoped to change that.

“Just imagine! So many genres from all over the world in one place!” she gasped as she ran her hands along the spines of the books, Motley upon her shoulders once again. The kitten had become quite fond of Pomni during the jester’s stay at the castle. “Can you believe how amazing that is?!”

Jax chuckled as he kept up with her, “I guess I’ve never seen it that way”. But it made sense, his family could afford every single book known to man. Whether it was the most groundbreaking adventure novel in existence, or a simple cookbook, there was without a doubt that the royal library had something for everyone. Even the largest book shop in all the lands wouldn’t be able to do that.  

“It makes me want to cry with joy,” she admitted, picking up a paperback and examining it. “I know it seems silly, but you have no idea how much this means to me.”

“Oh?” Jax’s face became serious, moving towards her. What did this girl go through to make her say that? “Why is that?”

Pomni shifted in her place, worry spreading across her features.

“Please, don’t tell me if it makes you uncomfortable,” Jax reassured her, “You have no obligation to tell me.”

“No, it’s alright,” she smiled slightly. “I’ve never been able to see many libraries in my lifetime, but I will always remember the first time Kaufmo took me to see one. We were allowed to roam one of the villages we were performing in, so he let me see my first ever library. We spent all day in there reading anything we could find. I remember him telling me the importance of books. Each one of them holds a lesson and history for anyone who needs to learn it. No matter how small it is, one book can hold great meaning for a person. It’s why we must cherish them and the morals that they hold.”

She hugged the book tighter in her hold, Motley rubbing his head against her neck as he purred. Pomni giggled and placed a little kiss on the tip of his nose.

Jax inhaled deeply. So many overwhelming feelings were coming afloat after Pomni’s words, he stepped away for a moment to collect himself.

Pomni’s face fell, fearing that she crossed the line, “Your highness, I didn’t mean to offend you-”

“You didn’t!” Jax whipped round quickly, making sure that Pomni knew she wasn’t at fault. “Its just…never in all my lessons and teachings did I feel like I have learned more than what you have told me at this moment. You hold so much passion and joy within your knowledge than any of my tutors have given me. You have more conviction in one memory that I have had within my entire being. You’re remarkable Pomni, and I hope that I can see the world through your eyes.”

Pomni bit her lip as his words repeated through her head like a mantra. No one had ever said something so earnest as he had, and she had least expected it to come from the ‘reckless Prince Jax’ of Laphria. “Well, it isn’t so hard,” Pomni teased, “After all, you wouldn’t have saved my life if you didn’t.”

Did he?

Did someone like him, who spent most of his life building up this reputation to be arrogant and self-centred, deserve a second chance to see the world as she did? Then again, he didn’t know what she went through, but he could see that behind her smile, sass and glam that there was a girl who was deeply hurting yet still chose kindness every single time. He would let her tell him, of course, but one way another he knew he had to find out. “I appreciate your faith in me little lady,” he smirked, deciding to press an arm against the bookshelf as he peered down at her. Was it a risk? Yes. But the way her breath hitched and eyes widened made it oh so incredibly worth it. “You sure it’s not mistake?”

Pomni gulped, ridding any type of flustering she felt flutter in her heart as she pushed him back with a smirk, “I happen to be very good at reading people. So no, I don’t think it’s a mistake.”

He nearly choked on his own spit at the sudden turn in dynamic. With a hum, she walked away, feeling his eyes on her as she did so while opening the book in her hands.

Jax gave his cheeks a tap, snapping himself out of it while a lovesick grin stretched on his lips as he chased after her. This girl had his heart in the palm of her hand and she didn’t even realise it. In all honesty, as long as Pomni had it, Jax didn’t want it back.

.

.

.

Pomni stretched her arms above her head after she finished warming herself up, wearing a simple cotton shirt with spaghetti straps and dark pink leotard shorts. A few guards had escorted her trapeze equipment as per her request, she wanted to continue practising even if there weren’t any upcoming shows. It gave her peace of mind after the chaos of her attempted kidnapping. Plus, she liked doing her tricks. Apart from her music, she was proud of this being one of her talents.

Her aerial silks, trapeze bars and hoops had been moved into a spare ballroom within the castle along with everyone else’s equipment. She had waited until the rest of the circus cast had finished with their own rehearsals, feeling more at ease when she practised alone.

She wrapped a practise rope around her wrist, preparing to start when she heard a voice echoing around the room.

“Is this what you do on a daily basis?” Jax asked, curiosity and amazement lacing his tone.

Pomni smiled, she was actually really happy whenever he found the time to visit her. Sometimes his duties caught up to him, which left days that they were unable to spend time together. Wait, did she really admit that she liked spending time with Jax? “Not on a daily basis,” she said, turning to face him as he walked over to meet her, “Just whenever I feel the need to practice.”

“Looks simple enough, bet I could do it easily,” Jax knew he was bragging, but he made sure that there wasn’t any mocking in his voice. It seemed Pomni knew that as well with the way she cheekily raised her eyebrow.

“Oh, it looks that simple huh?” she grinned.

“Yeah,” he said, “I’d be able to nail it in ten seconds.”

Pomni hummed as though she were in thought, raising her hand and curling her finger in a ‘come hither’ motion. Jax knew he struck something there as his pulse began to hammer hard throughout his veins. Nevertheless, he did as he was told. She took his hand, he nearly flushed at her sudden boldness. She was bringing him closer to her…until she pulled on the rope, ripping her hand away and sending her soaring up to the darkened roof.

Jax blinked for a second, trying to regain his bearings after the trick she just pulled that sneaky little minx!

He heard a throat clear, making him look up as he saw Pomni descending down from the ceiling, her arms gripping onto the bottom of a trapeze ring as she slowly lowered back onto the ground. “Word of advice,” she spoke as her feet touched the ground, “Don’t immediately throw yourself into the deep end if you barely know how to keep your head above water.”

Jax was unable to tear his eyes away. It was just one simple act from her and yet he was attached to her like a dog on a leash. He had fallen and fallen hard. He ran a hand over the top of his fur on his head, smoothing it back as he grinned at her, “Why don’t you show me how it’s done then little lady?”

He watched as she froze in place while he restrained himself to laugh at her adorable yet slightly angry reaction. That nickname always struck a nerve with her. Pomni’s lips twisted as though she were in thought, “Hmm, okay. If you can handle it.”

“Oh I can handle it little lady,” he chuckled, “Come on, show me what you got.”

“Okay, put your hands on my waist,” she said simply.

Jax had never been more thankful for his fur covering his cheeks, hiding the redness rising to his skin, “I-uh-um-what?!”

“I said, put your hands on my waist,” she stated as if she weren’t suggesting that he touched her with her wearing what was basically close to undergarments. “Unless you’re not able to do this?”

“Well I didn’t say that,” he told her, “I just…don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

“Hey,” Pomni let go of the hoop for a moment, taking both of his hands in her. “I wouldn’t be asking you this if I wasn’t okay with you putting your hands on me. If you’re not comfortable with it though then that’s absolutely fine. But don’t worry, I trust you.”

She trusts me. When was the last time someone trusted him? It sent a rush through him and gave him a determination that he never had in his life before. A determination to earn and keep that trust that had been provided for him.

“So, as long as you’re okay with it,” she continued, guiding his hands to both sides of her hips, “Put your hands on my waist.”

Jax nodded, pressing his hands firmly to her sides. Taking a hold of the metal hoop again, she swung it in a circle around the two of them before it went back behind her again. “Lift me up,” she instructed him. Without missing a beat, Jax did as he was told, lifting her onto the hoop while Pomni held on with one arm, using her spare hand to stretch out her body into a line while her legs gripped the other end of the hoop.

She brought her free arm back in, grabbing the top of the hoop and pulled herself into a sitting position. “Hold onto the bar,” she said next, with Jax firmly holding the hoop in place as her legs reached up and wrapped themselves around the top of the hoop, pulling her upside down. “Now here’s where you need to pay attention. This thing is gonna start to pull itself up once you sit down. All you gotta do is hold on and I’ll tell you what to do. Understand?”

“Yes ma’am,” Jax could only stare in awe at how her body twisted and moulded itself into whatever way Pomni wanted. It was simply miraculous to experience.

“Good,” she smiled. Jax carefully lowered himself onto the hoop next to the upside-down jester, gripping it tighter once he started to feel it rise. “Easy, just hold on until I say otherwise. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Jax gave her a nervous laugh, “Should I be saying that to you?”

“Let’s just call this getting even then,” she smiled, “Now hang on there for a second.”

Before he could ask what she meant by that, she swung herself upright and pulled herself to sit on top of the hoop. He gasped when she jumped, about to go after her before she grabbed on a nearby rope. His breath hitched as he watched her swing round the ballroom, her eyes closed in a content bliss as if this whole practice brought her to a peaceful state of mind.

She swung back towards Jax again, letting go off the rope and grabbing the bottom of the hoop, pulling them back onto the ground again. Jax slid off the hoop, going closer to Pomni. “Not bad for your first try,” she mused, “Wanna go again?”

Jax wrapping one arm around her waist and using the other hand to grab the bottom of the hoop. The two shared a grin as the hoop ascended upwards, Jax holding tight to both of them to make sure that they wouldn’t fall. Pomni gulped at the strength he displayed, it certainly wasn’t anything to sneeze at. Wrapping her arm around his waist and joining his other hand on the hoop with hers this time, she started to pick up momentum, making the duo spin faster and faster.

Grinning, Jax jumped down, letting Pomni spin round the ballroom again. “Not bad for a first timer huh?!” he called out to her.

“I have to agree, you’re a little rusty but you’ve got potential,” she giggled back.

An idea popped into his head. Jax ran to the walls of the ballroom while Pomni raised a brow as he started to scale them. As she swung round to him, he jumped off and grabbed the hoop, circling his arm around her waist again. The two laughed freely, without a single care as they flew around the room.

Eventually, they had slowed to a stop, gently pressing their feet against the marbled floor as they panted from the thrill and exhilaration. “That was…wow,” Jax gasped.

“Yeah,” Pomni breathed, “Not bad for a beginner.”

Jax brushed a stray hair away from her face, Pomni watching his finger trailing her cheek as he did so. “Um, I should get back to my duties soon,” he said, “But thank you for the lesson…I had fun.”

“Y-you’re welcome,” Pomni stuttered as he drew his hand back.

They paused, a silent tension growing between them. Pomni was praying that he didn’t hear her heart thunder in her chest, not knowing that Jax was doing the same - practically begging to whatever entity was out there that she couldn’t hear his wagging tail rustling under his clothes. “Good day Pomni,” Jax bowed, before leaving the ballroom.

Pomni lifted her hand to where his was on her cheek. Perhaps it was the rush of the whole practice, but part of her wished that he kept his hand there just a little bit longer.

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.

If there was one thing that Pomni was grateful for during her and her family’s stay in the castle, it had to be the opportunity to sleep in. While being a performer, there was always a strict schedule that she had to follow. From when she had to wake up, to the endless hours of training, to when she had to eat and eventually find the time to get a full eight hours of sleep without her busy schedule being interrupted. So it was a small blessing that she got to enjoy the longer hours tangled in the soft sheets of her temporary bed.

When she eventually got out of bed and pulled on her teal dress did she hear the commotion going on outside. She walked over to her window and pulled open the curtains, immediately beaming when she saw what was going on.

In the castle courtyard, everyone from the village was setting up stalls and games. From stands with every type of fruit and dessert, to activities such as ring tossing and painting, there seemed to be something for everybody to enjoy. With an excited squeal, she slipped on a pair of sandals and ran out of her room. She wanted to find out what was going on!

She tore down the hallway, her smile splitting across her face. She didn’t notice the figure in front of her until she collided with it. “Oh my god! I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to-”

“Woah little lady! It’s okay, no harm done!” Jax’s calm voice made her sigh with relief, a sentence she never believed would come to mind.

“Jax,” she brushed herself off before realising the feline companion resting on his shoulders. “Motley!” she picked up the kitten and cradled him in her arms, rubbing her face against his.

Jax huffed I am not jealous of a kitten, I am not jealous of a kitten, I am not jealous of a kitten, I am not jealous of a-

“-So! Do you have any idea of what’s going on outside?” Pomni’s question pulled him out of his internal ramblings as she blinked up at him.

“Oh, that?” he said, “You’re gonna love this.” He gestured his head to the nearby window, encouraging her to follow him towards the glass. “Every year, after our annual harvest, we throw a festival for the village within the castle courtyard. Since it was an event created by my father, royals can attend if they want to, but all of the other nobles are banned from going. I mean, after the shit they’ve said about me, the last thing the villagers need is the upper crust sneering down at them after all their work.”

“And you? Do you go?” Pomni asked as she peered down at the setup from down below.

“Ah…I don’t think it would be a good idea for me to go down there,” Jax admitted, “Like I said, the last thing they need is for the upper crust to mess everything up. And this is coming from the guy who set off fireworks in the village.”

Pomni’s face fell slightly. While she still wasn’t pleased with that stunt he pulled, she still recognised that he was making an effort to not be that person anymore. Even is she didn’t know the catalyst for that change, it was still change. “Well, don’t mess things up then,” she stated, taking his hand, “Just come down and stick with me, I’ll make sure we have lots of fun.”

“Ya sure?” he gave her a nervous tight-lipped smile, “The village ain’t a big fan of me, for good reason.”

“Like I said, stick with me and they’ll see that you’re not so bad,” she said, “I mean, you might still be incredibly annoying but I’m sure it will be fine.”

“Wow! Thanks for that Pomni!” he drawled sarcastically, though he was unable to hide the grin he wore as she laughed at his disgruntled face.

“You’re welcome,” she chortled, Motley mewling along with her as if he was laughing at Jax in his way cat-like way. “Now come on! I don’t want to waste the day!”

She grabbed his hand, this time she was the one dragging him along, running down the hallways. Jax laughed at her excitement, feeling his own arise as well.

But he had to admit, when he went out into the sun rays beaming down on his and hearing the thrilled chatter of the villagers, he was actually glad that he agreed to come out.

There were a few stares, and a few anxious whispers from the villagers who worried that he had a trick up his sleeve. Part of him was tempted to run back inside, to hide from the wondering eyes staring at him. But Pomni’s hand on his helped him feel a bit braver, it made him want to seize the day and lower his walls a little bit. Yeah, he could do this.

“Ragatha!” Pomni squealed, lifting Motley to rest on her shoulder the moment she saw her friend. Jax watched her as she ran up to the ragdoll, hugging her ash their cheeks pressed together tightly. “Look at all this!”

“Its incredible isn’t it!” Ragatha pressed a chaste kiss to the jester’s head, she let her go once the ragdoll saw Pomni’s rabbit companion. “What is he doing here?”

“Well nice to see you too,” Jax rolled his eyes.

“Easy you two,” Pomni glared at them before turning back to Ragatha, “I wanted him to join me today, so please be nice.”

“Him? Isn’t he the same guy that made you say that ‘men are the worst thing in this realm’ to us?” Ragatha crossed her arms.

“Oh? Is that so?” Jax raised a teasing brow.

“W-well, I’m not wrong about that!” Pomni interjected, “But Jax is…not as bad as I thought. I still think men are awful though!”

“I don’t trust him,” Ragatha scowled at the prince, half tempted to pull out the hidden butcher knife she had attached to her thigh holster.

“Ragatha!” Pomni groaned, “He saved my life! And I’ve been spending time with him for the past few days to get to know him better! It’s okay!”

“I promise,” Jax spoke, turning both ladies’ attention to him. “I have nothing but good intentions. I know that it’s a little hard for you to warm up to me, but I swear that I want to keep Pomni safe as much as you do.”

That seemed to convince the ragdoll a tiny bit, judging by how her eyes softened slightly. Though they still held a coldness to them, “Okay…just remember, Moon and I are right here if you need us Pomni, so don’t hesitate to come to us if you need anything.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine,” Pomni assured her, whirling round to grab Jax’s hand again. “Now come on you! They’re making crepes at that stall over there and I wanna try one!”

And so, Jax was dragged away once again, leaving the ragdoll to watch them as they drifted away. Moon and Sun walked up to her, the former placing a hand on her shoulder, “Still unsure about the prince?”

“Pomni says that he’s nice,” Ragatha told her, “I just don’t know what to think.”

“I think we should trust Pomni,” Sun happily suggested, holding an ice cream in his hand. “If she can go from despising his guts to being his friend then there must be something good about him. Almost as good as this ice cream!” He took another bite, savouring the sweet chocolaty taste.

Ragatha and Moon chuckled at this antics. “Maybe you’re right,” Ragatha nodded, “Maybe he is changing.”

“At least he wants to make an effort to do so,” Moon mused, “Unlike…”

Ragatha and Sun brought the woman in for a hug, Moon didn’t need to say his name for them to know who she was referring to.

“It’s okay sis,” Sun whispered, “You didn’t know.”

“Exactly,” Ragatha agreed, “Besides, you were too good for him anyway.”

Moon let out a shaky breath as she melted into their embrace. She might not have the romance she always dreamed off, but to be honest, she found something even better.

.

.

.

Pomni kept dragging Jax around each stall and game she could find once they had finished their crepes. She had bought a few strawberries, cherishing each one she bit into and shared with Jax. She cheered when she won the ring toss and had even beat Jax in a few rounds. And she even reunited with the girls who gave her the flower crown and sat down for them to put flowers in her hair.

Jax watched on fondly as they weaved each one into her hair while holding onto Motley, until one of the little girls stood up and walked over to him, shyly clasping her hands together. “Um, Prince Jax?” she meekly said, “I have a few flowers for you too. You don’t have to wear them if you don’t want to! I just thought you would like some.”

She held up a few simple purple roses wound together into a crown. Pomni’s favourite flower he recalled. He looked at the little girl, he remembered how crestfallen she and her friend were when he insulted their flower crown for Pomni a while back. He was so wrapped up in his own plans with trying to woo her than he put down the hard work of literal children! Children of his kingdom. He kneeled down gently took the rose crown in his hand and inspected it, even if it was a small gesture he had to attempt to right his wrong – the first of many but it still counted. “I think it’s perfect,” he grinned, placing it on his head, “Its better than my real crown!”

The little girl beamed, “You’re welcome your highness!” She gave him a quick curtsy before running back over to her friend and Pomni. Jax laughed as he stood back up, he had to admit, the crown was pretty good.

But it was in no comparison to how Pomni looked. Tied within her braid and short hair were small daises, white carnations, specks of baby’s breath, lavender and a few small pink roses. She gave the girls a twirl, the skirt of her dress fluttering like the petals in her hair. “Thank you!” she cooed, her smile wide.

Jax’s eyes widened, her beauty striking him in his poor heart. Never before had he seen a being as beautiful as Pomni. Motley gave him a teasing mewl, he swore that the little shit was mocking him, “Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up fish breath.”

Pomni skipped over to him, “So, what do you think?”

“I’m dead,” he dramatically placed a hand to his chest, “You killed me with how pretty you are little lady.”

Pomni rolled her eyes at his antics, “Sure princey. Now come on! I wanna go try some cheese!”

This time, Jax was fully prepared to be dragged away again, not minding a single bit.

For the next few hours, that was how their day was spent. They made sure to try every single piece of food from the stalls, bought a few souvenirs from sellers and played every single game that was available (with Jax losing to Pomni every single time of course). One by one, each villager could see a difference within the prince, and the elders of the kingdom felt a sense of déjà vu with the way he looked at Pomni. It was similar to how a young Kinger acted when he saw Queenie for the first time.

Soon enough, the sun began to set and the stars began to rise. Tables were pulled out, hot food and drink were served, and a small space was left for anyone who wanted to dance to the band playing on stage. Pomni and Jax had finished their meals a while ago – a simple dish of beef, bread and mashed potatoes – before ordering two pints of beer and playing a game of rock, paper, scissors while Motley licked at the empty plates. Jax had just lost another round, making him groan in defeat.

“Yes! I have won once again!” Pomni cheered, “That means that you have to give me another confession.”

“What else do I have to confess, I’ve already told you how much of a gem you are to the mind’s eye,” Jax smirked, winking at her.

“Seriously?” Pomni deadpanned, taking another sip of her beer, “Come on. Tell me something, anything! No matter how ridiculous it is.”

Jax sighed, there was one thing that came to mind. He wasn’t sure if it was him or the alcohol, but the next thing that came out of his mouth was, “I don’t want to be king.”

Pomni placed down her mug, her face serious and concerned.

“All my life,” Jax started, “I had everyone tell me who or what I would be. I’ve been confined to my position without having a chance to choose who I want to be. Even my parents, bless their hearts, already have my future planned in their heads. I just…I don’t want to be tied to this role. And even when I tried to make it my own, I had everyone else hate me for it.”

“But you wouldn’t be tied to it. Your parents are rulers, but I’m sure that didn’t stop them exploring who they want to be, and I’m sure that won’t stop you to,” Pomni told him. “And you’ll be in a position where you can change things for the better, to make things better for other people who have less. Just think of the wonderful things you could accomplish!”

Jax nodded slowly, processing what she said. He would be able to do that, he could lead his kingdom with the kindness and greatness the way Pomni viewed the world. “But what if its too late for me?” he asked, “What if I messed things up too much for people to see me that way?”

“Trust me, from my experience, its never too late to try and change how people view you,” Pomni said. “For better or worse, for what role you play, its always up to you with how you want to be viewed.”

Jax titled his head, Motley doing the same once he finished licking the plates, “What do you mean by that?”

Pomni paled, she said too much “My apologies your highness, I didn’t mean to overshare!”   

“Hey, hey,” he gently took her hands into his. “You have no reason to apologize, and besides, I thought I told you to call me Jax.” He wiggled his eyebrows cheekily. Pomni shook her head as a faint smile graced her features, “There we go, better?” Pomni nodded. “Good. You don’t need to tell me anything if you’re not ready to do so, okay?”

Pomni tapped her nails on her mug. Apart from her family in the circus, she hadn’t shared her story to anyone. But with Jax, there was a security to him. He made her feel warm, content…safe. She never got that from any other stranger she met, even if they were the kindest folks she would ever come across, it paled in comparison to what Jax gave her in the past few days. It was peculiar, yet nice. Pomni took a breath, gripping Jax’s hand tighter and looked him in the eyes. She could do this.

“I don’t have many memories before I joined the circus,” Pomni said, “But I remember my Ma’s voice. I remember how gentle her voice was when she sang to me, and how she stroked my hair while I fell asleep. I would sing with her every time until I was too tired, and I remember how she would kiss my forehead the moment I shut my eyes. It was so peaceful…but one day, all of that ended.

I woke up to rubble falling on me while I was still in bed. I kept screaming out for my Ma, but I didn’t know that she was already gone at the time. I don’t know if it was a miracle, but because I was stuck for so long, nobody was able to find me. I was under there for hours, and all that was left of my village was destroyed. Including my family.

The reason why we were raided? It’s because of this,” she pulled her hands away for a moment, cupping them as the same blue mist from her performance hovered above them. “It’s not all a trick of the mind like cards and such. Everyone in my village was able to do this, to master the ability of manipulation, teleportation and telekinesis.”

She picked a daisy from her hair, “From disguising one thing to look a certain way.” She waved her hand, the mist making the daisy change to an orchid then back to its original form. “To making it go one place to another.” The mist formed again, with the daisy disappearing from her hand and reappearing in her other one. “To making it float,” once again, with the flick of the wrist, the daisy hovered a few inches off her hand by its own accord and floated back down again. “Everyone in my village was able to do it. That’s why they wanted us gone.”

Her face fell, but she continued her story nonetheless, “I remember screaming for my Ma once I got out, but deep down I knew that her soul was already within the heavens. So, with no home or no family, I left. I wandered for days, sore and hungry, until someone grabbed me and dragged me away. The next thing I knew I was in a circus tent, with Caine standing in front of me. He overheard that a survivor from my village managed to get out and wanted to use them…use me for his show. And since no five-year-old had the strength to escape, I was trapped there ever since.”

She wiped a few stray tears, she was stronger than this. She shouldn’t be getting emotional over this, it happened years ago! I won’t cry, I won’t cry, I won’t cry-

Jax’s warm hands encasing hers broke her out of her internal mantra, his eyes kind and focused. “I’m here,” he whispered, “It’s okay, you’re okay.”

Pomni sniffed, letting the tears trail down her cheeks as she continued. “Every moment of my life spent there was hell. If I wasn’t sleeping, I was either training or performing with little to no breaks. But what made it worse was what Caine did. He didn’t just want to use my powers for the circus, but for himself too. Ever since he heard of the last survivor, he was given an amulet to absorb my powers and give them to him, so that he was able to do the things that I could do. It hurt, every single time. I didn’t even feel like a person anymore, just his sparkly little possession. And don’t get me wrong, I love my abilities! Its one of the last things I have from my people, but the fact that Caine kept using it for his own benefit made me feel dirty. It’s not his, its mine! He’s stealing my powers! He’s stealing me!” She choked on a cry at the last part, Jax gripped her hands tighter as Motley rubbed his head against her arm, both of them silently comforting her.

Pomni bit back a few tears, calming slightly when the thought of Kaufmo entered her mind. “If it wasn’t for Kaufmo, I don’t think I would have stayed sane,” she admitted. “He made sure that I was who I wanted to be, not Caine’s doll, not the circus jester. My Pa made sure that I and everyone else knew that I was Pomni. When he taught me to play guitar and helped me with my singing, because of that I felt closer to my Ma. I didn’t feel lost or scared, I felt like me. My music is important to me, it’s who I am! It’s the part of me that I can show people so they know what I’m like on the inside, so they can hear my story, my hopes, my dreams.”

“So when I told you that I wanted to know you because of your song…” Jax trailed off.

“Yeah,” Pomni nodded, “That was how I knew you were genuine. You didn’t see the performance, you heard my voice and wanted to know my story. No one ever gave me that. My family in the circus did, obviously. But outside of that, you are the only person who knew my music showed who I really was…thank you Jax.”

Before he could even process anything else, she leaned over across the table and placed a gentle kiss on his cheek. Even Motley seemed surprised, his little eyes widening. “Y-you’re w-welcome P-Pomni,” he stammered, “W-wow! I-is it-t w-warm out h-here or i-i-is it just-t m-me?”

Pomni hide a snicker behind her hand, it might be mean but she wanted to get a little bit of revenge for all of his teasing. Her eyes drifted over to the band on stage, they were taking a break and sipping some water to sooth their throats. But what really caught her attention was the lone guitar on stage. “I really want to play that right now,” she said aloud, many ideas of what to sing coming to mind right now.

Jax followed her gaze to the guitar and looked back to her, “Then go for it.”

“Huh?” Pomni whipped her head back round to it.

“I’m serious,” Jax said, “Show them the version of you that you showed me. Let them see how amazing you are.”

Pomni looked back to the guitar again, “You think?”

“I do,” Jax smiled, “And if it goes wrong you can blame me.”

Her lips quirked up into a grin, “I think I’m gonna do it.”

She placed down her mug and went over to the stage, she anxiously cleared her throat as the band leader turned to her, “Hi, um, is it okay if I play something?”

“By all means,” the band leader welcomed her warmly onto the stage.

Pomni picked up the guitar, wrapping the strap over her shoulder and held the instrument in the correct position. Dread finally settled in. So many eyes on her, so many people. Yes she always sang in her performances, but that was when she was doing her tricks and trapeze. That was what the crowds enjoyed, could she really do this? Would they want to see this part of her? Would it be enough?

Her breath quickened and her hands trembled, until her eyes met Jax’s. The way he was looking at her, with so much faith and excitement for what she had to say. Her nerves slowed and she sighed deeply. She could do this.

Her fingers started strumming the strings, a merry little tune filling the air as she began to sing.   

There will come a soldier

Who carries a mighty sword

He will tear your city down

The band started to play along behind her, a few voices joining her.

Oh lei, oh lai, oh, Lord

Oh lei, oh lai, oh lei, oh, Lord

He will tear your city down

Oh lei, oh lai, oh lei, oh, Lord

The nerves were fading, her confidence building as she continued, her voice ringing throughout the crowd as they awed at her beautiful voice.

There will come a poet

Whose weapon is His word

He will slay you with His tongue

Oh lei, oh lai, oh, Lord

Oh lei, oh lai, oh lei, oh, Lord

He will slay you with His tongue

Oh lei, oh lai, oh, Lord

The audience whooped and cheered. From within the sea of faces, she could see Kaufmo with the rest of the circus crew, clapping along and showing his support. Pomni laughed, nodding back at him.

Gangle took Zooble’s hand, leading her to the dance floor along with the other villagers and the two began to dance along to Pomni’s song. Sun and Moon got up as well, Ragatha and Kaufmo following behind. One by one, more people from the crowds collected a partner and started to dance. Even the two girls from earlier took both of Jax’s hands in their own, respectively, leaving Motley behind on the table as he watched his master get dragged onto the dance floor with glee.

Pomni giggled as the prince began to dance along, but she was able to tell that he was having fun.

There will come a ruler

Whose brow is laid in thorn

Smeared with oil like David's boy

Oh lei, oh lai, oh, Lord

Oh lei, oh lai, oh lei, oh, Lord

Smeared with oil like David's boy

Oh lei, oh lai, oh, Lord

Oh lei, oh lai, oh lei, oh, Lord

He will tear your city down, oh lei, oh lai

Ohh

Pomni gave the guitar back to the original player, thanking them quickly before running onto the dance floor as they continued the song. She took the hands of another person, skipping and prancing along with the song.

Jax looked ahead and saw Pomni dancing. While the tear stains were still there on her cheeks, gone was the pain that she held from telling her story. Instead, he saw the smart, kind, witty girl who lived freely and for herself. The girl he fell in love with.

Oh lei, oh lai, oh lei, oh lai, oh

Oh lei, oh lai, oh lei, oh lai, oh

The song began to pick up the pace, the dancing becoming faster and faster. No one could hold back their laughter and cheer, even Jax was unable to hold back the excited whoops from his throat the more he changed from partner to partner.

Pomni had her eyes closed, the bliss and liberty from the music letting her lead her steps. This was her. This was who she was. She never felt happier.

Oh lei, oh lai, oh lei, oh lai

Oh lei, oh lai, oh lei, oh lai, oh

The music stopped abruptly, Pomni opened her eyes to see who her last partner was that she collided with.

Jax.

The two panted for air, their hearts pounding from the dance and from…something else. Their smiles were starting to hurt their cheeks, but they didn’t care.

Everyone started to clap and cheer, it was another perfect festival that ended with another perfect dance. This time, it was led by a song that was performed by a wonderful singer.

Pomni rested her head on Jax’s chest, exhaustion catching up to her, “Thank you Jax…for everything.”

Jax’s tail was wagging, on full display for the rest of the kingdom to see. But he didn’t care. Seeing Pomni this happy and content was more than he could ever ask for. He rested his chin on her head, “You’re welcome Pomni.”

.

.

.

A mysterious man in red paced in his office, nursing a glass of whiskey in the shadows as one of his right-hand men looked on with worry and a little bit of fear. “They should have been back with news by now,” the red man growled.

“I’m sure they won’t take long sir,” the right-hand man assured him, trying to save himself from his boss’s wrath.

He nearly sighed with relief when a raider burst through the door, gasping for air and desperate to tell his story, “Sir! I’m sorry it took me so long, but Laphria guards were stronger than they looked-”

“I don’t want excuses,” The man in red murmured, “I want your report.”

“Right,” the raider straightened up, “We managed to get our hands on Pomni but…”

“But what!” the man in red snapped, making the raider gulped.

“B-but she regained some of her powers and tried to escape,” the raider explained, “One of our men hit her head and was then attacked by Prince Jax, who took her back to the castle.”

“So what I’m hearing is that you didn’t capture my jester?” the man in red mused.

“N-no sir,” the raider trembled.

The man in red hummed, before stepping out of the shadows wielding a dagger, stabbing the raider in the chest. He choked and spluttered as a terrifying pair of eyes stared down at him through a pair of teeth. Eventually the knife was pulled out of his chest, leaving him to bleed out on the floor.

The right-hand man could only look on in horror as the raider bled out to death, praying that he wasn’t next.

“No matter,” Caine murmured, sitting back down at his desk. “I can be patient. Soon their guard will be lowered enough and my possession will be back in my clutches soon. It’s only a matter of time before Pomni comes home.”

Song Credit: Solider, Poet, King by The Oh Hellos

[tiredbonbon]

…Affairs

Pairing: William Afton x gn! Reader

Summary: You lived in your small, shitty town all your life, with nothing very interesting happening to you, until at least, you catch the eye of one of your dad‘s friends.

Warnings!: age gap (reader is an adult), flirty William bc thats how it is, inappropriate relationships(?)

A.note: soo this is the firt time i write anything on this blog, if the writing in here isn’t the best please excuse me I am trying this kind of stuff for the first time and have to see if I feel comfy with it and what the response is, feel free to offer criticism in my dm‘s or leave requests in my inbox, reader is gender neutral btw.

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Picture creds: Noisx

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You had been living in the small town you were born in for all your life, and that meant all your life, you never spent a year abroad, never went to schools outside and even vacations or visits out of town were never longer than a week. You basically knew this place like your right pocket, and everyone there knew you and you and your family as well.

It wasn’t that you particularly hated it, it was more that you were so goddamn bored of it, this place felt like a desert at times, and really, the only thing that even attracted people from outside was the diner down the streets, ‚Freddy Fazbears Pizza‘ a pizzeria ran by two of your fathers friends he met in college. The place was actually a huge hit all around the state, gradually extending its popularity all around the country, which was because of, you guessed, the children’s entertainment animatronics that had always been the face of the franchise.

Despite it easily being the hottest place in town for both children and adults, it wasn’t a place you particularly liked to spend your time at, first of, the animatronics always creeped you out a little bit, secondly, since Henry was particularly close to your dad, should you have run into him at the restaurant, you‘d always have to awkwardly try and chitchat, which was nearly unavoidable with him being at the place like every day anyway. The only time you ever really went down there was when your parents asked you to go and pick up some pizza to eat for lunch or dinner and despite him sometimes being a bit too friendly for your own taste, Henry was a nice man, often times telling you to keep the money your dad gave you and to take the food on the house, that was always a welcomed boost for your wallet.

Right now, you sat on the sidelines of your family’s garden in the shade trying to block out the soldering heat that was a summer in Utah, your family was hosting a barbecue at your house, inviting Henry with his wife and kid, as well as the Aftons from down the block, you never knew them as well as the Emilys, but you were always well aware of their existence.

In the garden, three kids ran around the active sprinklers, Charlotte, Elizabeth and Evan. Out of the bunch, Charlie was the one that you were most comfortable with, she was a nice and respectful kid and most of all knew her boundaries, while on the other hand Elizabeth was just too extroverted and energetic for your taste, and while he was a good kid at heart, Evan always felt like a bit of a time bomb. You never wanted to handle the awkwardness of accidentally making a small child cry that you always felt came with interacting with him.

Both Liz and Evan belonged to the Aftons, they did have another brother called Michael, but just like you, he was long an adult and instead of jumping around the cold sprinklers rather sat in the shade, far away from anyone else.

You looked up to the parents mostly standing out in the middle of the porch, your mum and dad were both next to the active grills, chatting with Henry and his wife, while off on the side a bit away from them, there he was, William.

Honestly, you never spend a lot of time around him, for one, when you were down at the pizzeria, he was apparently working in the back and when you were home, if Michael was telling the truth he was usually in the downstairs basement working on new ‚creations‘. All enough to tell you that he wasn’t very sociable which felt a bit ironic knowing he managed a restaurant chain targeted at kids.

The only times you saw him was when he occasionally chatted with your dad in front of the house, peeking out his office at the pizzeria or that one time he helped your mom fix her car, but really you didn’t remember the last time you saw him like this, in a populated area with his family, standing around in the open.

Visually, you didn’t find him particularly …unappealing, he was a tall, slender guy, with short and messy brown hair and most times in mediocrely formal attire, his eyes were quite cool and most times sunken in with a typical, wide, british grin, which was also mirrored in his accent.

Who were you really kidding here? You didn’t think of your dad‘s friend as unattractive, he was the typical, dilfy, older guy for you, and finding him so appealing was also one of the factors why you didn’t really come around to the pizzeria the last few years. You questioned your tastes a little bit, after all, a lot of the neighborhood kids and even some teens were straight up terrified of William for one reason or another and avoided his mere sight at all costs.

You sighed, trying to brush the thoughts out of your head, you wished you could have just watched this all from your room, but your parents insisted that you stayed outside with them now that you were ‚one of the adults‘.

„Y/n!“ you flinched suddenly realizing your dad was calling out to you, you shifted from the stones you were sitting on as quick as possible as you hurried over to know what he wanted.

„Gosh darling is your hearing okay?“ he shook his head as you tried recovering from your total daze earlier, he sighed, „ugh… would you be so kind and fetch some plates from inside, oh, and some ice pops for the kids?“ he asked.

„Oh uh, yeah sure.“ you replied swiftly, you didn’t mind getting away from the others outside for a little. You quickly walked inside and into the kitchen, leaning over the counter to pull around a recent newspaper, your eyes scanning around the articles for a bit as you slacked down into one of the kitchen island‘s stools and reading trough the texts, losing grasp of what you were even supposed to do.

„Still in here, eh?“ you perked up at the sudden voice in the room, mortified to see William of all standing at the opposite side of the kitchen island, crossing his arms.

Your scrambled up, nearly knocking over the stool you were on with you on it and barely preventing a fall, „Oh uh- Mr. Afton, do you need anything?“ His lips twitched up at your sudden nervousness and loss of composure, „Your fatha‘ told me to go in here to check on you, said‘ he didn’t want you sneaking off to your room.“

You hissed a little, knowing thats the exact type of thing your dad would say, not taking into account if it‘d embarrass you or not. You folded the newspaper back up and quickly pushed past him to go to the kitchen cabinets in which the plates were, almost feeling nervous as his arms barely crossed yours. „Don’t rush, I‘m not gonna blame ya‘ „

You turned back to him raising an eyebrow in confusion, „I‘m not an ‚extrovert‘ myself yknow‘ , Henry‘s usually the one handling the kids down at the diner.“ he leaned against the counter behind him as you pulled out a few plates from the cabinets and set them down, chuckling awkwardly.

You undoubtedly felt embarrassed being completely alone with him, not that it had even happened before anyway. You had no idea what to say, or talk about, but then, one small thing still came to your mind. „So uh, are you building any more of those …robots?“

He chuckled, „oh yeah, plenty, are you interested in that sorta stuff y/n?“ fuck, that was the first time you think you had even heard him say your name at all. „Heh- A little maybe, I was kinda curious I guess.“

„hmhm, well I‘m flattered, you can come down to the diner sometime, I‘d be happy to show you some the endos we use.“ he offered, it did seem sorta interesting… you always kinda wondered how those animatronics looked like without the faux fur covers, although, you weren’t sure if it wouldn’t be equally terrifying.

You turned back to the plates, you weren’t sure how many would be used, so you just got a good stack. You bent down to the cooler, cramming around for any ice pops to keep the children at bay for a while. „So, you got yourself a fit bloke round‘ here?“ you felt yourself a bit startled at the sudden questioning, trying to keep your eyes fixed on the cooler and not up to meet his.

„Eh- no Sir, I‘ve uh.. I‘ve never had a boyfriend before I don’t really like the guys around here.“ you replied, that was actually the truth, most the people your age around here were far from your type, your mom had asked you plenty of times what you thought about Michael, and while he definitely aged better than most around there, you couldn’t see anything like that with him.

„Well, what about the men?“ you nearly choked for a moment, awkwardly laughing as if what he said was just some generic joke, yet you had no real idea what he actually meant by it. You finally scrambled out the ice pops from the freezer, putting them on top of the stacks of plates, „Are ya sure you can carry all that by yourself?“ he asked, you paused, looking at the stack for a moment, but before you could reply he had already pushed himself beside you and picked up half the stack himself.

You smiled awkwardly, „Thank you Mr. Afton…“

You quickly picked up your stack, following him outside as you didn’t want to bother your parents anymore with your reluctance, “there you are y/n, what in the world you took so long?” Your father asked seeing you finally leave the building, you were already prepared for a long lecture and being damned to stand next to him by the grill but to your surprise, before you had to say anything, William answered for you, “Bloody hell Bill give them a rest would you? We were just inside having a chat.”

Your father looked over to William, then to you, before seemingly calming down, “Whatever you say Will…” before you could turn to thank him however, Elizabeth and Charlie were already scrambling to steal the ice pops you had from you. Precious kids.

Quickly after you were done handing out ice pops to the kids, you were urged by your mom to help deck out the table for everyone to eat, while doing so, unwillingly your gaze often wandere back to William, who had taken back the spot at the side of the porch, simply leaning against the wall, on occasion meeting your eyes only to have you scrambling back to deck our plates with napkins to which you swore you could hear him chuckle in the distance, his mere presence was seriously starting to kill you.

After everyone sat down to eat, of course he had to be sat right next to you, and sure maybe the bench you sat on was a little cramped since elizabeth wanted to sit right next to her father, but surely not so cramped that his shoulder had to be constantly pressing against yours right..?

“So y/n, are you still on the lookout for a job? Like I said I’d always offer you a place down at the diner.” Henry mentioned, “Ah no worries, I’m still trying to manage my work from home since its the easiest at the moment.” You replied, your form stiffening even more when William turned his head to you.

It probably didn’t look weird to the others, but for you he was starting to be so close you felt his breath on your neck, his eyes always threatening to meet yours should you just risk the tiniest glance over at him.

“Thats a shame, I’m sure you’d look fantastic in one of our work uniforms.” The comment made most adults at the table chuckle, even Henry, but for you, it split your mind, you felt your emotions make you dizzy

Before he could say anything else, as if your hand moved on its own, you ‘accidentally’ knocked over your glass of lemonade, spilling it all over your top and shorts.

“Oh- Y/n are you okay??” Charlotte peeked up from her side of the table, you quickly stood up, “Oh yeah- please excuse me I’ll go change in my room!” And before your parents or anyone else could say something you rushed back inside and upstairs, sliding down your door as soon as you slammed it shut.

Fuck

You had absolutely no idea what had just happened to your mind, it was like the pinnacle of tension in your body, not even neccecarily awkwardness but something else. You slowly got back up and took a deep breath before taking off your now very sticky shirt and shorts, ‘ am I letting myself get so tense just because of that man? What is wrong with me??’

You crammed out a new pair of shorts and a tshirt, god previously you didn’t even talk to William and now after so little interaction you were letting him get to you so much? For gods sake he was your dads friend and probably old enough to be your father too, this… this wasn’t becoming more than a silly crush right?

You grabbed a pillow from your bed and hit it atop your own head, trying to quite literally bonk yourself, by now, the sun had gone down, and surely it was time for everyone to leave anyways, you could surely go downstairs now right? Sure your dad would be pissed for you not saying goodbye to your guests, but you’d just have to deal with that.

You slowly made your way back down, it was awfully quiet, ‘huh… maybe they left already?’ It would have been much to your gratitude.

‘Huh… seems like it’ the front porch was empty, only the grills coal slowly burning out, you breathed a sigh of relief slowly backing away to lean against your kitchen island in victory, but ran into something else halfway, immediately flinching back.

Great. Just your fucking luck.

“AH- Mr- Mr. Afton, Im so sorry I thought you and your family were already gone-“ you stuttered, trying to hold composure even though you had just blatantly walked right into his chest, but he once again, merely chuckled.

“Its all right luv, I just wanted to say goodbye to ya, its not even me and you see each other aight?” You felt your face heat up, now it wasn’t just tension, it was straight up making you blush, was he meaning to do this????

“Oh of course- have a good night Mr. Afton, I- I’ll say hello next time in down at the diner!”

“Just visit me in my office, I’d be happy to have you around.” He grinned, one last time, before turning away from you, “Liz, Evan, Michael! Get over here we are going home.

You stood in the kitchen for another few moments, dumbfounded, red and confused.

This was, definitely becoming more than a silly crush.

[excelsi-or]

summoned (epilogue: pt. 16)

pairing: woozi x fem!reader/fem!OC

w.c. 1.8k (just a little fluff to end of this series)

part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5 | part 6 | part 7 | part 8 | part 9 | part 10 | part 11 | part 12 | part 13 | part 14 | part 15 | part 16

EPILOGUE

The evening of the end of the world, the angels and demons drop the humans off at Hansol’s apartment.

As soon as Seungkwan sees them, he says, “That’s it. We’re having a dinner party.”

She doesn’t have the energy to argue. She even takes the beer that Hansol offers.

That sets Seungkwan off even more, and the storm turns into a whirlwind.

“Seokmin and Jihoon can’t come.”

“They can’t? Why not? You and Jihoon have been tied at the hip since we met him.”

“Uh…” She meets Hansol’s eye as he returns from his bedroom with a change of clothes. “How much do we share?”

Seungkwan cuts Hansol off before he can even open his mouth. “You smell like smoke, your dress is burnt, Hansol is ravenous and not eating leftovers. Something’s happened. Do I need to add that the sky was bright red? I was about to try to get home to my family because I thought that the world was ending. But now, all of a sudden, it’s fine.”

Hansol takes her by the shoulders and guides her towards the bathroom. “You go shower. I’ll deal with Seungkwan until everyone comes over. Gives you time to decide if you want to share.” 

“You’re honestly the best. The best best friend ever.”

Hansol clucks his tongue. “You’re welcome, Antichrist. Go shower.”

As she’s about to close the door, she tells him she isn’t the Antichrist anymore.

“How can you suddenly just not be it anymore?”

She shrugs. “My mom explained it, like, since the world didn’t end with me as it was supposed to, there’ll be another Antichrist.”

“So, now you’re just… you’re just human?”

She nods.

“And your parents?”

“Well, for foiling the Great Plan or whatever they call it, no go. Dad doesn’t get his soul back. Mom didn’t really have hope anyway.” There’s a quiver in her voice that Hansol hasn’t heard in a while.

“Oh.” Hansol pushes his way into the bathroom to wrap his arms around her. “I didn’t know. I’m sorry it didn’t work out.” He pretends as if he can’t feel the tears against his neck. He isn’t quite sure what it means that they don’t get their souls back. He’s still baffled that his best friend was, but is no longer, the Antichrist.

When she pulls away, he can’t tell that she’d been crying. “They have human lives to live, and I get to keep my soul. Apparently, that’s worth it to them.”

“Have you told them about your demon boyfriend?”

“Jihoon said he’s going home,” she says. “Nothing here to entertain him anymore.”

“Hansol-ah! I need you to peel the vegetables!” Seungkwan calls.

A few days after the end of the world, with Jeonghan and Seungcheol’s wedding to now plan for (they heard it could’ve been the end of the world and decided they were getting married ASAP), she isn’t expecting to walk up to her apartment door and not have a door to open.

Annoyed, she pats the wall in the general area where her doorknob should be.

“If this demon also fucking locked my door, he’s being kicked out,” she mutters as her hand finds the knob.

Luckily for the demon, it’s unlocked.

From her doorway, she can see him stretched out on her couch in sweatpants and his favourite red hoodie, a book hovering over his head.

“You said you were going home.”

The book lowers slightly so he can see her, unfazed by her lack of greeting. “I did.”

“So, what are you doing here?”

“Hanging out.”

“Okay, but where’s the human who summoned you?”

“There isn’t one.” Jihoon sets the book down: The Alchemist. Definitely not hers. “I just came to see you.”

This causes her to pause. “Me.”

Jihoon shrugs. “Earth’s a little more interesting right now. Seokmin’s right. More fun when there’s less plague and more technology. The food’s a little weird, and art seems to have gone to shit, but—”

She chuckles as she drops her things by the door and sits on the couch next to him. “You can just say you missed me. How long are you staying?”

“Your whole life, actually.”

“What?”

“Yeah.” Jihoon stretches his legs out for the coffee table. “Seokmin and I may have played some tricks. And I may be the coolest demon in existence this millennium.”

“What do you mean?”

“I had a holy water bath and didn’t die. Freaked the other demons out. Satan’s not punishing me for messing with the Antichrist. I’m yours for now.”

“You’re telling me that you’re going to stay with me for the rest of my life. How am I going to get married and have a family?”

“I thought me saying I was staying for the rest of your life was essentially me asking you to marry me.”

It feels as if those words smack her right in the face. The anxious person in her starts panicking at M-A-R-R-I-A-G-E. A few minutes of reeling her brain back from panic helps her see that Jihoon’s just offering what demons think is human commitment. 

“It sounds like you’re intending to be a nuisance,” she finally says.

“I also forgot to mention I’m not really a demon anymore.”

“I didn’t know that was something you could just give back.” The anxiety is fighting with excitement. Because Jihoon is saying all the right words. 

So, she gets up to make tea just to keep her hands busy. And so she doesn’t have to sit so close to Jihoon.

She’s been so used to knowing everything and being one step ahead. Now, that she really is just a human, she’s realizing that the unexpected is extremely uncomfortable.

Jihoon trails after her. “So, maybe I made some deals with the Devil to be here. But nothing that you need to be concerned about.”

She squints at him. “What exactly are you proposing?”

Jihoon rolls his eyes. “That I stay here. With you. Live your life with you.”

“I want children one day.”

Jihoon shrugs. “That can be arranged.”

“With a partner.”

He motions down his body. “I’ve arranged that already.”

“By assuming that I’d agree to this.”

Jihoon tips his head, his eyes flicking from cat-like and back again. “Do you not want this?”

She rests her hip against the counter, processing her feelings. “You’re telling me that you want to be my life partner. Are willing to have children. But have you considered that I’ll get old and age? You’re not going to leave me for naught?”

“If you gave me your soul in exchange for not getting old, that could be arranged.”

“Absolutely not. I’m human. And I intend to stay that way.”

This makes Jihoon smile. “And that’s why I’m staying. Because you’re human.”

“You hate humans.”

“I like you. And maybe Hansol. Your other friends are tolerable.”

She holds her hand up in the air between them.

“What?”

She nods her head at her hand.

Frowning, he lifts his hand to mirror her.

“Oh, you stupid—” She crosses the kitchen to press her palm against his, notices that he’s warm but not burning. “I can touch you.” Her fingers settle between the spaces between his. “Why can I touch you?”

“Are you not listening to me?” he chuckles. That would normally be annoying, but he now finds her incredibly endearing. It helps that she’s definitely not the Antichrist. “I told you I made deals with the devil.” Jihoon’s eyes don’t leave hers as he kisses the back of her hand. “So, what are you thinking, human?”

“That you still haven’t answered the question about what happens when I age.” She notices his confused expression. “Jihoon.” The use of his chosen human name causes him to warm even more; she can feel it in his hand. “As good-hearted as your intentions might be, and having grown up with a demon for a mother, I can’t grow attached to you knowing you’ll disappear when you realize I’m not what you want anymore.”

“I’ve been human before,” he whispers. Her eyes widen slightly at the admission. She doesn’t personally know any demons that were once human. Her mother says they exist, but most of the ones she’s met have been fallen angels.

Her mind is whirring at what that’s meant for the life he’s lived. And makes her want to analyze every decision he’s made in her presence.

But Jihoon doesn’t give her much time to process it. They have a lifetime together for her to learn that. “I know what the stakes are by offering you this.”

“And you still want to stay? I thought we were only in agreement that we please each other well.”

“And I enjoy your company. More than anyone else—human, demon, or angel—that I’ve met.”

“Even when I can’t please you physically anymore,” she states.

Jihoon studies her face, can picture the way it’ll age, has deliberated heavily about whether he can watch her die. “I have a feeling that you’ll find other ways to be entertaining.”

She scoffs in disbelief, charmed and also scared.

“I may also be aware of the fact that Seokmin is intending to stick around for your lifetime. Your friends’ as well. I won’t be lonely.”

“He knows you’re staying.”

“He knew I was considering it. He told me that I’m the only one who can make the decision. And that you’d have to accept me anyway for it to be real.”

“Couples fight.”

“We’ve butt heads quite a lot in the time we’ve known each other.”

“I’m pretty physically intimate.”

“Good. I like that.” 

She wonders what else she could say that would make Jihoon re-evaluate. “I’m really insecure.”

Jihoon’s eyes flicker. “I can deal with that.”

“You’ll be expected to come to Seungcheol and Jeonghan’s wedding then.”

The corners of his mouth downturn slightly, but he agrees to that too.

Before leaning into him, as he seems to desperately want her to do, she says, “As soon as you even think about double crossing me, or mess with my mind even slightly, you’re gone, okay?” She elaborates further. “I need to trust that you’re with me, because you like me. Not because I can be manipulated because I’m human and touch you well.”

Jihoon chuckles and nods. “Got it, human.” He doesn’t tell her that as soon as she tells him to leave, his contract is over, and he’s gone. Maybe one day, but not right now.

“Now, will you please kiss me and stop worrying about a future that’s still so far away?”

“In your lifetime, it’s nothing,” she reminds him.

Jihoon shrugs. “Sure, but for you, it’s long.”

She rolls her eyes. He’s the one who closes the distance between them, one hand slipping under her shirt to rest on the skin of her hip. It’s a pleasant warmth.

“I’m happy for you to stay,” she says as his lips brush hers. “Even if I didn’t summon you this time.”

Jihoon laughs, pecking her lips again and again. “It would actually be a more difficult existence for both of us if you had.”

There’re fluttering nerves in her stomach that some of his words have calmed but not all. And he’s unlikely able to soothe every fear she has about this, but she asks anyway. “Is it okay if we go slow?”

“What do you mean?”

His thumb rubbing back and forth on her hip is distracting. She rests a hand over his to stop him. “Slow. To get used to this. I brought you here with different intentions. I fell for you by accident. Everything that’s happened afterwards is not something I’ve had time to process.” Her gaze glances at him and then away. “Is that okay?”

Jihoon hums, not used to her bashfulness. “Hey.”

She meets his gaze.

“I get to be human for a little while because of you. Whatever you want.”

“Really?”

Jihoon nods. “I’m a reasonable demon, as you know.”

“You were a pain in my ass when I summoned you.”

“I can be a reasonable pain in the ass.”

She sighs. “Okay.” She pulls him closer. “I’m in.”

hello!!! another story down.

this story is very conflicting for me. i was so excited about it when i was writing it and editing it. and then while i was posting it, something about it wasn't speaking to me anymore.

don't get me wrong. i love how this story turned out. but i wrote the first draft of this, i think, almost two years ago now. i'm a different person, a different writer, and a different reader too.

so, i think my unattachment to it is because it doesn't fully represent me as a writer anymore.

but for everyone who's read this/will read this, i hope you enjoyed it! i hope you're around when i return, because i will be going on a proper hiatus probably until the summer next year. need to write more stories (some original projects & some fanfic). i'll pop back in and out when i feel like it, but for now, this is farewell!!

if you wanna follow my creative journey (not just my woozi fanfics), i'm an-artthief on Tumblr too. posting some updates on a few original works i'm working on and reblogging some art and things that i enjoy. :)

happy holidays everyone! and if i don't post again before the end of the year, happy 2024 too! xx