#but i think id better just completely leave him alone for now to avoid making things worse

[heartoftheancientsea]

I’ve been journaling about the same thing for so many days in a row. I haven’t done this since I was anxious about being in college. It’s really weighing on my heart and writing is the only way I can seem to get it out of me. Idk why, whenever sad things happen I just bury myself in so much shame until I convince myself again and again and again that it wasn’t my fault.

[starkeyisthelastname]

It’s Always Been You Chapter One

Okay.. so here is the first chapter of my first series. Things will get more exciting! Hope you loves enjoy! 🥰 Things are a little different in this universe and don’t necessarily follow the exact OBX plot line. Here is the back plot for anyone who missed! https://www.tumblr.com/starkeyisthelastname/753335857604329472/hear-me-out-ive-been-thinking-about-this-idea

Rafe is a total dick to other girls, you’ve been warned. 😅

Chapter One:

The girl below him, whose name he couldn’t remember, let out a loud moan as he shoved himself inside her entirely. He pressed her head down into the mattress, telling her to shut the fuck up. He closed his eyes, relishing in the feeling of her cunt as he tried to get a quick nut in that night. It had been a long work week, and tonight he needed a distraction from wanting to go out and get wasted. It was when he was mid stroke that his phone rang on the bedside table. He went to ignore it, but eyes glanced over the caller ID to see it read your name.

“Hey slut, listen to me. Don’t make a fuckin sound when I answer this..” Rafe spat, smacking the girl’s ass hard before sliding his thumb across the screen to answer.

You had plans to go out that night with some friends, but now we’re laying in bed with your makeup done, pajamas on as they had changed their minds, leaving you alone on a Saturday night. As you held your phone up to your ear, you heard the voice of your best friend answer after a few rings.

“What’s up?” He asked, hips not slowing down as he continued to thrust into the girl. “Club doesn’t sound too busy?” He laughed, hearing the sound of a tv in the background.

You were completely oblivious to Rafe having company, and if you did know then you would have probably shut yourself down tonight not wanting to think about all the girls he constantly was fucking that weren’t you. It was your own fault really, but he had been your best friend since before you two knew what that even meant. You couldn’t ruin your lifelong friendship by telling him you’d been in love with him since you both were teenagers.

“The girls changed their minds, don’t ask me why either because I don’t even know.” You laughed, as you were sure it had to do with one of them wanting to see their boyfriend instead. “But… can you come over? I’m bored… and can you bring food?” You asked with a soft giggle. It was when you heard a faint moan in the back, that your heart sank. That wasn’t his tv, and you knew it by the name Rafe being followed. “I-I’m sorry.. I didn’t know you were busy. Um.. just text me later.” You said, clearing your throat as the last thing you wanted was for him to hear the sad tone in your voice. It was best you hang up the call and quickly.

Rafe barely had time to respond, before the call ended. His thrusts completely came to a stop, no longer caring about his nut as he tossed his phone on the bedside table and pulled out. “Get your shit and get the fuck out of my house.” He said, voice cold as he grabbed his sweatpants from the floor. He hated himself for doing this. Meaningless hook ups to avoid how he felt about his best friend, and his anger only grew as he would have completely dropped this whiny bitch to go over to your place in a heart beat.

The girl sat on the bed, frown on her face as she watched Rafe pull the grey sweatpants over his toned hips and grabbed his vape off the dresser to take a hit of. “B- but, I didn’t cum.” She said with a pout, only to earn a mean laugh from the man that had been inside her the only moments before.

“I told you to the shut the fuck up when I was on the phone, think I care that you didn’t get to cum? Better be out of here by the time I get out of the bathroom.” Rafe said causally, walking towards his connected bathroom, not carrying that she mumbled asshole under her breath.

He was an asshole, always had been. That stemmed from some deeper issues that he didn’t talk about often. The only ones who knew about his mental health problems were his family and you, something no random girl would ever understand. He sighed, running a hand through his hair before slamming his fist on the marble counter of the sink. Why was he continuing this torture on himself? Why was he such a pussy about telling you how he felt?

You heard the beep of the alarm, signaling someone had unlocked the front door. There was only a few people who knew the code, your parents, Sarah, Wheezie and Rafe. Walking down the stairs of your townhome, you saw his tall figure stepping in quietly, a bag of food in his hand. You took a sigh, stepping onto the hardwood floor as you looked at him. You wanted to be mad at him, but you couldn’t. There was no reason to be. Right? He was just doing what Rafe Cameron did.

“What are you doing here? I thought you had your little girlfriend over.” You asked, trying to hide the obvious jealousy in your voice. Your fuzzy slippers glided over to where he stood, taking the food sack from him and turning around to head into the living room. You heard him chuckle behind you, but didn’t look back as you plopped yourself onto the couch.

“Not my fucking girlfriend.” Rafe snorted, throwing his keys on the coffee table. “You know I don’t do serious shit.” He said, collapsing down next to you as you pulled the food out from the bag. He didn’t do committed relationships as he was far too busy working at his father’s company, trying his best to become the man he needed to be. In an out of jail, high off blow and after nearly killing someone, he was trying to do right for the people he loved and more importantly himself. The only committed relationship he was willing to be in was with you, that was if he ever manned up enough to tell you.

As you unwrapped your food, you couldn’t help but feel your heart clench at that statement. For as long as you’d known Rafe he’d never dated anyone longer than a month. He was too selfish to be tied down and after everything he had went through during his coke fiend, you knew his focus was work and trying to stay clean. You just wondered if he would ever want anything serious when it came to you.

“And you really thought that bitch was important enough for me to skip coming to hang out with my best friend?” He asked, stealing a fry as he leaned back against the cushion.

Best friend.. and that’s all you would probably would ever be to him. You brushed the thought away, slapping his hand away as he started to reach for another fry. “Why didn’t you just get something if you planned on stealing my food?” You asked with a laugh as he pretended to look hurt that you slapped his hand.

Rafe always seemed to have a stick up his ass for the most part, a brooding look constantly on his handsome face. You knew it was hard for Rafe to let down the wall of being vulnerable, or even his funnier side. You felt lucky that you got to see the side of him that not a lot of people got to experience.

“I just wanted a couple, damn. It’s the least I can get for waiting in that long ass line for some damn chicken strips.” He scoffed, muttering about how the worker was an asshole anyway.

You rolled your eyes, taking a bite of one as he pulled his vape from the pocket of his hoodie to take a hit off. “Please tell me you aren’t gonna complain this much on family vacation.” You said, jokingly, meeting his blue eyes you loved so much as you looked up at him.

Blowing out the cloud of flavorful smoke, he rolled his own eyes before leaning his head back against the couch. “Don’t fucking remind me, that my dad picked fucking Disney World of all places.” He said with a grumble, shuddering at the idea of all the kids he was going to have to be around for 7 days.

It had been a tradition every summer for as long as you could remember that both of your families took a trip together. The first one of this year being Disney World, which you were excited for. Rafe on the other hand would rather go anywhere else than the happiest place on earth.

“Wheezie’s been begging to go for years and we’ve always gone elsewhere. Let your sister be happy.” You said, knowing the thirteen year old hardly got to choose anything that she wanted to do as she was the youngest out of everyone.

“She’s 13. Don’t you think she’s a little old for Mickey Mouse or some bullshit.” Rafe said, eyes traveling back to you. The way you looked so effortlessly beautiful, having washed your face free of makeup. Your hair on top of your head in a messy bun, and cute little set pink pajama set on that hugged those gorgeous curves. He wanted to groan, not only from the thought of leaving for Orlando in a few days but also that he wanted you more than anything he ever wanted in his life. Rafe pretty much got whatever his heart desired, except having you as his girl.

“You are never too old for Disney.” You told him, matter of factly as you continued to eat, completely clueless to the fact his cerulean eyes were bored into you as he watched you.

Rafe let out a small chuckle, shaking his head at the fact you and everyone else seemed to be thrilled about visiting a place he didn’t find so magical. “Are you that excited princess?” He asked, the nickname one you were used to but still felt butterflies when he said it.

Swallowing a bite, you looked up at him to meet his gaze with a nod to your head. Disney was the place where dreams came true and maybe there you would finally have the courage to tell your best friend that you were in love with him.

tag list: @alinavalentine

let me know if you’d like to be tagged! 🌺

[i-cant-sing]

Thinking about reincarnated todoroki reader really fits in the other Dabi daughter fics/drabbles

Like how Dad dabi does more to make daughter reader happy instead of kinda asshole brother Dabi. Like id imagine he can see his yandere tendencies reminding him of Rei which makes him fear himself, sprinkle some more family trauma, and probably has to go parenting classes to see how other parents work shit out

See? Somebody gets it!

He feels so guilty, so so so guilty for how horribly he behaved with sister reader. So when life gives him a second chance with daughter reader aka reincarnated sister reader, he's gonna make damn sure that he doesn't repeat his past mistakes.

He turns overprotective, naturally. But the type of overprotective now is way different than before. Because before, he was partially protective of reader, mostly scared that you'd leave him and the family for someone better and he and the family will once again be in shambles.

Now, he is protective because he is afraid of losing you. He is afraid that if you die again, you might be reincarnated but he doesn't know for sure you'll end up in his hands again. You could end with someone worst, someone who will make your life miserable from day 1, someone who'll abuse your quirk and use you like a lab rat, and yet they wont let you die. Which means you're in for a life of torture.

The mere thought of you ending up in some vile monster's hands makes his skin crawl and keeps him up at night. And its these nights when he's sitting by your crib, your tiny hand wrapped around his finger and he swears he'll do everything in his might to keep you safe.

Your mortality and your quirk sets off his paranoia real quick. Things like getting a small scratch to stubbing your toe, it makes panic internally. Over time, he's able to mask his fear and paranoia, just so that you're not traumatised. I mean, you still remember how he flew off the handle when you jumped the last couple of steps of the stairs when you were 8. He yelled at you to never do something like this again, and his admonishing only stopped when you burst into tears. Dabi realised that you don't know why he's like this, you don't remember the abuse from your past life. Something which he is grateful for, and something you should not be punished for. So he learns to give you some normalcy, his freak outs are for him to take care of internally.

However, you also learn to adapt. You know that there are certain things that you should avoid doing, even if everyone else is doing. Like always keeping your phone charged and ALWAYS picking up his calls/calling him when you're gonna be home later than 5 minutes. While other kids had the privilege of sleepovers, you're not allowed to stay at anyone's house past 5 pm. To always call him when you get the slightest doubt that you're in danger or its not a safe area to be alone.

Perhaps reader has seen Dabi having a full on panic attack one of these times when he couldn't find where you were, and the immense guilt always made your heart heavy. You cant ever get the way he struggled to breathe, to get back on his feet, the way he became completely disoriented, not until you came into his vision again.

His panic attacks are something that occured quite frequently when he was a kid. It was your dear uncle Natsuo who had him go to a therapist for help that finally made them stop. Now, Dabi is much more calm and ready to save you from any danger you're in.

If you're out late, he has a tracker on your phone and he's already out of the house an hour before your curfew ends, searching for you.

If you get injured or burnt from the stove or something, he's taking a deep breath and sitting you down, carefully wrapping bandages while calming you down with jokes and maybe a small lecture if you're in pain. With ice cream, though. Lectures with ice cream, always.

Dad Dabi worries a lot, but-

Parents are supposed to worry, no?

[outism-odyssey]

Outis Base EGO Sin Analysis

Right, I made this blog specifically to analyze her sins... and promptly forgot to do that!

For the meanings of each sin, I’ll be largely referring to this post from @lu-is-not-ok​ (its a very good post, do check it out!)

I originally meant to do her base ID and EGO in the same post, but, the EGO alone goes on for a while. (I’ll probably write up the base ID tomorrow)

Sin Costs

To Páthos Máthos costs 2 pride and 2 sloth, and translates to "Suffering Becomes Experience". Pride generally represents ignoring consequences. Act now, deal with the problems later. And almost always, pride-related actions ate taken out of the belief the benefits will outweigh the consequences. Sloth, on the other hand, represents apathy and resignation. It has many uses, but a particular use I think resonates with this ego is to do things without ever complaining or acting out.

Together, these sins would suggest that Outis believes what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. That she should press on, stoic and ignoring the pain, believing in the end she'll come out better for it. But, I don't think she actually believes that. Rather, it's what she *wants* to believe.

Early in canto 4, Outis tells the other sinners that "experiencing a certain pain will make you learn to fear and avoid it." And she says this in a very different tone of voice to the rest of her speech. It certainly doesn't sound like the words or tone of someone who thinks pain makes them stronger.

Her EGO's line is "the odyssey has a purpose." And in the context of her speech in canto 4? It sounds to me like she's trying to convince herself. She's trying to tell herself that there's meaning to her suffering, and that she hasn't just gone through all this for no reason. Telling herself that her odyssey did have a purpose.

Sin Resistances

There’s a few theories around about what exactly sin resistances on a sinner’s EGO means (like this one from analytical-machine!), but for this analysis I’ll be sticking to my own interpretation of it.

In the abnormality EGOs, I don’t believe resistances mean much of anything.it’s just the abnormality’s resistances, and it’s always identical across all sinners with the same EGO. But, the base EGOs are more interesting.

For a sinner’s base EGO, I believe the sins they’re fatal to are in some way connected to the origins of their traumas, while the sin they endure is how they’re trying to escape it - either literally or metaphorically.

For instance, Gregor has fatal for gloom and envy damage - respectively representing his PTSD and feelings towards G corp, and Hermann using him as a test subject and poster boy. On the other hand, he endures sloth. Gregor escaped the room he was locked into when, out of resignation, he cut the apple and was allowed to leave - resignation being heavily associated with sloth.

The resistances for To Páthos Máthos are: Fatal: lust, envy Endured: gloom

The combination of lust and envy was odd. Lust is associated with self-indulgence, following your own whims and goals. But Envy is associated with taking action because of someone else. They seem like complete opposites. I kind of didn’t know what to do about them. But, @speedynamo​ had some great insight in some comments, and I’ll paraphrase those below.

For Outis’ envy weakness: In The Odyssey, Odysseus ended up in the trojan war because he was bound by a truce to support the Greeks if Helen were ever to be kidnapped. When Paris of Troy asked Aphrodite for the most beautiful woman on earth for marriage, Aphrodite gave him Helen - thus kicking off the war and dragging in Odysseus.

And for the lust: War's often promoted as something that will make you complete. And because of that, many people think the best way to achieve your desires is to go out, fight in war, and come back as a war hero.

Speedynamo mentioned that their analysis hinged on there being a very close equivalent to the Trojan war. And there certainly is: the smoke war! While the specifics probably aren’t identical, there is a good chance that Outis’ experience was similar. Something was stolen (likely Old L Corp’s singularity?), and a deal/truce involving it dragged Outis into the war, where she believed she could complete herself by becoming a war hero.

It probably didn’t work out that way, though. So, how does Outis deal with it? With her resisting gloom... it seems like she doesn’t handle it. Gloom as a sin is all about stewing in your negative emotions, buckling under pressure, letting those emotions control you. And while we never see her express this directly, there are a few rare moments where she seems to show this side of herself - like when she tells Dongrang the calf will remember him, or in her sunshower EGO’s corrosion line (which is a topic for another time)

But, with her mask(s) on constantly, it’s not often that you see this side to her.

[godlyaffection]

Hi Is it alright if I could request Saiki having a date with reader and in ‘classic disastrous life of saiki k’ he tries to make everything go smoothly despite complications in the way?

With Some Problems In The Way

Pairing: Saiki x Male Reader

Warnings: None

Summary: Saiki just wanted one day to go as planned. He wanted to take Y/n out on a date. Why couldn’t he have one day?

A/n: This isn’t very romantic, but I think it fits the Saiki K style. I don’t like this that much, it’s poor writing and is all over the place, I’m sorry.

Why would today be any different? His life was always chaotic and disastrous. He knew this, but there was no way he wasn’t going to try his best to make today run as smoothly as possible. Arguably he always tried his best to make his days go by smoothly, but today was special, so even if it meant a lot of work he wasn’t going to try even harder to make this work.

Earlier this week Saiki asked Y/n out on a date. He had known Y/n liked him for a while, even without Saiki’s powers, it was pretty obvious. Y/n was one of the most normal things about Saiki’s life. That’s not to say Y/n wasn’t special, Y/n was definitely special, but in comparison to everyone else Saiki had to put up with, he was as close to normal as someone could get. At least in Saiki’s mind. Maybe that was because Kusuo really liked Y/n, so anything that Y/n would do was normal to Kusuo.

Maybe it was because Y/n and Kusuo grew up together, maybe it was simply that Kusuo had a soft spot for the h/c haired man, whatever the reason it was Saiki was never seriously annoyed with Y/n. It worked out the best way possible for them in the end, Y/n liked Kusuo and Kusuo like Y/n, and those feelings lead them to where they are today.

Kusuo and Y/n were going to Cafe Mami, an obvious choice for Kusuo. But there were currently some problems in the way, 2 problems to be exacts. Kaidou and Nendou. This was going to cause some problems. Saiki wasn’t prepared to dodge these two while trying to get to get to his date with Y/n. He could have teleported away, but Nendou and Kaidou had already spotted him and begun to walk over.

“Saiki!” Kaidou yells over to his friend, “Do you want to—“

‘No, I’m busy.’

With no more explanation than necessary Saiki dashes off, leaving his to friends to do whatever they had planned alone. Saiki barley gave his friends a second thought, it wasn’t unusual for Saiki to avoid doing things with his friends, so why should he start worrying about it now, besides he had much to important of plans to be stopped by those two.

Ditching Nendou and Kaidou was easy, but the next challenge standing in his way would be a bit more difficult to deal with.

Teruhashi was the least forgiving when it came to bothering Saiki. She would never take no for an answer, and ignoring her only worked half of the time.

‘Oh look its Saiki! I better go brighten his day with my perfect pretty face. I’m sure he’d be honored to see me today!’

Saiki doubted any of that was true, not preparing to humor her he stared ahead, ignoring her even when she shouted out to him.

“Saiki! Good Afternoon!” She was chipper as always.

Continuing on his path Kusuo said nothing and walked past the girl. She stood there for a moment processing being completely ignored, but she was known to rebound quickly. Spinning around Teruhashi followed after Saiki. Occasionally she would reach out to touch Saiki, which he would dodge, but she seemed determined to get something out of the pink haired male.

Kusuo ignored her, barley even comprehending whatever she was talking about. Saiki had almost made it to Cafe Mami, but Teruhashi was still trailing behind him. So much for loosing her.

Y/n stood outside of the cafe, waiting for Kusuo to show up. Kusuo wasn’t late, but Y/n may have been a bit antsy so he arrived at the cafe much earlier than he needed. He looked up to see Saiki and Teruhashi approving. Easing a questioning eyebrow at Kusuo as they made eye contact. Silently asking why the blue haired girl was with him. He was answered with a sigh from Kusuo.

Taking that as a sign to step it Y/n smiled and greeted Teruhashi. “Hello Teruhashi.”

“Oh Y/n!” She smiled her signature smile at seeing the boy.

“It’s good to see you, but me and Kusuo are going on a date, so you’ll have to excuse us.” Y/n waved to the girl as Saiki moved over to his side. Without another word to the stunned girl, Y/n and Kusuo entered the Cafe.

‘Did you really have to tell her we were on a date?’

“You should be thanking me for getting her off your back.”

Saiki ignored Y/n as they sat. An order was placed, and sat for a few moments comfortably waiting for their food. Y/n knew his companion wasn’t much for talk, unless there was something that really needed to be said, and he was happy to sit quietly until something happened.

Their moment of peace was interrupted with the feeling of eyes on them. With a quick glance around Y/n’s eyes landed on two girls stood around a table behind them. Teruhashi was sitting at the table, she leaned against it as if she was trying to hide. While Chisato stood next to her. She didn’t appear to be invested in whatever Teruhashi had just told her, just idely curious. Y/n hadn’t noticed the two girls before now, but the feeling of them staring at him was uncomfortable.

“You know it’s a little weird just sitting here while they stare at us.” He said to Kusuo turning back to look at his companion.

‘Yeah, they’re pretty annoying.’

It seemed Kusuo couldn’t catch a break today. Before anything else could be said, two very loud, and very familiar voices rang out as they were entering the cafe. They quickly spotted their friends and came over to their table.

“Saiki! Your here with Y/n?” Kaidou said as he and Nendou took a seat.

‘Didn’t you have something to do?’

“We were to go get ramen, but the shop was closed.” Nendou said glancing at Saiki.

“Yeah, so we were going to come here to get something to eat.” Kaidou continued

Saiki stole a glance at Y/n, wondering how he wanted to proceed from this hiccup. By the time Saiki looked over at the man he was supposed to be on a date with, he was already roped into a conversation with Kaidou. A grin on his face, evidently showing that he was enjoying whatever they were talking about. With a sigh and a small smile Kusuo gave in to his fate. As long as Y/n was having fun Saiki supposed that he could deal with everyone else. He only cared that Y/n was happy, and who knows maybe they could continue this date another day.

[ptergwen]

through the lens

w/c: 2.3k

warnings: swearing and mentions of blood (all fluff tho!)

summary: yours and peter’s date night doesn’t go as planned, thanks to his “little” accident and mj’s photography project

a/n: it’s been a minute but i’m back! for now lol i promise i’ll be way more active when exam season is over <3 this was based off the lovely pic above taken by the even lovelier zendaya and i hope you enjoy these… let’s call it random workings of my mind

-

“hang on, can you come closer?” mj instructs you, you promptly stepping towards her. “is this good?” “great,” she affirms and squints behind the camera. “smile really big on the count of three, okay? one, two, three!” doing as she says, you give mj your cheesiest grin with your eyes squeezed shut and all. she snickers while snapping the moment on her polaroid.

mj asked you to be her subject for a photography project. you’re happy to do it, although it’s super last minute. like, barging-into-your-room-and-begging-you-for-help last minute. she was supposed to turn this in days ago. lucky for mj, her teacher was feeling generous and gave her an extension.

you have to work fast because of mj’s deadline and your plans with peter. he’s coming over for a movie marathon and cuddles right about now. well, he’s actually running a tad bit late. that’s typical peter for you.

“just a couple more, and then you’re free,” mj informs you while shaking out the polaroid. “this is honestly pretty fun, you know.” you glance at the photo she’s holding with an eyebrow quirked in surprise. she captures you well. “what made you choose me?” “no one else was free on a saturday,” she snorts and tosses the picture in a pile with the rest.

your mouth falls agape. “i’m not free! peter’s gonna be here in…” you check the time on your phone, much to your dismay. “he’s a few minutes late, but still. i have things to do, too.” a smirk sets on mj’s face as she gets ready for the next photograph. “relax, y/n/n. i was kidding. i’m sure spider-dweeb will be here sooner than you know it.” sighing lightheartedly, you take a seat on your bed.

“don’t call him that,” you shake your head. mj throws her own head back to the ceiling. “ugh, but that was a good one,” she insists, you only humming. “it’s better than penis parker, at least.” “nah, i like the alliteration,” you laugh out and earn a giggle from mj. “you’re lucky parker doesn’t have super hearing, or does he?” winking, you hit a pose for mj. you’re looking at her over your shoulder with smolder eyes.

“ask him yourself, after you get this shot.”

the two of you continue messing around with her polaroid until the film is almost gone, and peter has yet to arrive. you’re starting to worry. you aren’t sure where he could be.

he doesn’t patrol on weekends unless it’s an emergency, and he would’ve told you if there was one already. he’s never this late without sending a text, either. it’s almost an hour past when date night should’ve started. on the other occasions peter has gone off the grid, they didn’t end well.

“i’m freaking out, em. do you think he’s in some kind of trouble?” you ask mj, pacing around your bedroom. she offers a sympathetic shrug. “maybe he just ate some bad yogurt. remember last time?” being the dummy he is, peter once scarfed down an entire tub of vanilla yogurt before he realized it was expired. no one heard from him for days. he didn’t show up to school or answer any calls.

may ended up inviting you over and explaining he’d gotten a stomach bug, which you then tended to him for the rest of. the story was so amusing, and so peter.

“may doesn’t buy him dairy anymore. why do you think he always raids your freezer?” you bring your fingers up to rub your temples. “the kid can empty ice cream cartons in one bite,” she agrees, silently cringing. her curiosity piques at the fact. “is that also a power?” “who cares?” you nearly shout, your fingers curling into fists. “what i wanna know is if peter is fucking okay.”

on cue, there’s a knock at your apartment door. you and mj exchange looks of urgency, both rushing out of your room to answer.

mj follows you through the hall and stands by your side while you fumble with the lock. when your door pulls open, ned has his hand raised to knock again. “ned? what are you doing here?” you don’t give him the chance to speak. “have you heard from peter? he was supposed to be here a while ago, but he never showed.” rather than answering in words, ned takes a step aside.

the sight you’re met with makes you gasp. peter peeks out from behind him, cuts and bruises littering his flushed face. he gives you a lopsided smile.

“you have your answer,” mj murmurs to you and eyes ned curiously. he lets out a nervous chuckle. “here he is.” you push past ned and practically jump into peter’s arms, your hug bone-crushing. “peter, oh my god! are you okay?” wincing, peter hugs you back by your waist. his chin rests carefully on your head.

“hey… i’m alright, baby. still pretty sore, though,” he sucks his lower lip between his teeth. you take the hint to loosen your grip on him. “i was worried something bad might’ve happened to you. i… i guess i was right.” your tone softens, you threading a hand in his curls. they’re completely disheveled from whatever went down with him.

ned heads inside to catch up with mj, the two of them letting you have a moment alone.

“someone’s got a spidey sense of their own, huh?” peter tries to lighten the mood by joking. it doesn’t work, a frown still evident on your face as you try to untangle his once soft locks. “baby, everything’s fine. i just… had a little accident is all. no big deal,” he reassures you and moves in to peck your lips. you’re so shocked that you dodge the kiss.

“little? your whole face is black and blue, pete!” you tug on the white collar of his button up, peter letting out a shaky breath. your other hand comes to rest on his cheek, touch gentle. “how’d you get like this?” he licks across his lips shyly and sets his hands on your hips. “see, on the way over there were these bad guys who-“

“no there weren’t,” ned cuts in, scoffing at the beginning of his friend’s story. peter shoots him a warning look over your head. “yes there were, ned. you weren’t even there!” he catches mj glaring at him before he continues. “don’t listen to him. anyway, i had to fight them because…” when he trails off, you stroke your thumb across his cheek, avoiding any wounds in the way. raising both eyebrows, mj speaks up.

“because why? go on, parker. i’m intrigued,” she encourages him. everyone can tell peter is lying except you. the question really is, what’s he lying about? he gulps down his spit, pulling your body against his for comfort. “take your time, peter. we can wait,” you say only for him to hear. his love filled eyes meet yours, and he nods. ned huffs at the dramatics unfolding before him.

“dude, you’re making this way worse than it actually is. just tell her!” he demands, mj cocking her head to the side. peter’s gaze flits between the two of them. “tell me what?” you wonder softly and tilt his chin, willing him to look at you again. “i… i…” peter’s shoulders slump, his voice lowering in defeat. “there weren’t any bad guys.”

“of course there weren’t,” ned confirms. “no shit,” mj adds. exhaling, you wait for your boyfriend to further elaborate. “what really happened, then? be honest, pete.” peter lets go of you so he can come into your apartment properly, you shutting the door behind him. he scratches the back of his neck as he fills you in. “ok. um, me and ned were hanging out.”

ned is attempting to stifle a laugh for some reason, which mj elbows him for. you take one of peter’s hands. “yeah?” “we were at my place, and… you know those really slippery steps on the sixth floor?” peter pauses for someone to answer, playing with your fingers. “the ones flash almost wiped out on once?” mj questions in amusement. he lets a quiet chuckle out. “good times. yeah, those.”

his gaze averts to the ground, you listening on. “so, i was walking ned out on my way over. we were talking about spidey stuff-“ “as per usual,” mj mumbles to herself. ned raises his hands in defense. “—and i told ned i could always stick my landings. he didn’t believe me.” you playfully roll your eyes, seeing where this is going. “so… i, uh, decided to show him,” peter finishes off.

“i did a, um, backflip. tripped and fell down the flight of stairs,” he finally admits to you, putting his other hand on top of your intertwined ones. “clearly, i was wrong.” his bloody face is now red from humiliation. “you didn’t trip, dude. you freaking summersaulted!” ned corrects him and bursts into laughter he’s been holding back. “idiots, both of you,” mj simply remarks.

“that’s it? why didn’t you just say that?” you almost laugh yourself. groaning, peter rests his forehead against yours. “because it’s embarrassing! i wanted you to think i’m a tough guy or whatever.” placing both hands on his cheeks this time, you nuzzle your nose against his. “you don’t have to be a tough guy to impress me, babes. you’re kind, smart, funny. makes up for you being such a klutz.”

peter cracks a grin, easily capturing your lips in the kiss he didn’t get to before. it doesn’t last long because mj gags and ned whistles at you. you’re both giggling when you pull apart, peter kissing the tip of your nose for good measure.

“you really mean that?” he checks, tucking back a strand of hair from your face. “of course. i have a thing for himbos,” you tease and poke at his bare chest. his eyes widen. “how about i get you some ice and you find our first movie?” you’re already off to the kitchen, beaming at peter. “date night’s still on?” he happily plops down on your couch, mj showing ned her pictures from earlier.

“as soon as those two get out of here,” you call loudly enough so ned and mj hear you. “yeah, yeah. we’re leaving,” mj deadpans, shoving the photos back into her portfolio. peter glances over at it curiously. “what’s that for?” “photography project,” she says and gets an idea. “i have some film left. y/n took up most of it… you losers want the rest?”

while mj coerces her way to a higher grade, you put some popcorn in the microwave for your movie marathon.

“well, i could use a new lockscreen. i’m in!” ned quickly concedes. him and mj both give peter hopeful looks. “i’m not!” he protests, squishing one of your pillows against his chest. “with my face looking like… this? forget about it.” mj walks over to him and places her portfolio on the coffee table. “what? those gashes are gnarly… in a good way, i mean,” she promises.

“painful, too,” peter murmurs. “y/n, hurry up with that ice!” mj demands, grabbing the polaroid camera from its string around her neck. you wave her off. “what i’m saying is, they’ll look sick in my portfolio.” mj forces a smile, ned looking at her weirdly. “uh, what’s the theme of your project again?” “freestyle, baby,” mj casually replies.

peter comes up with a condition that could persuade him. “if you say please, i might consider it,” he concludes, mj perking up. “please be in my project. pretty please?” she instantly requests, ned pursing his lips from behind her. peter rubs his chin. “y/n, what do you think? should i?” you pipe in from the kitchen. “yeah, so she’ll leave my house.”

“you heard the lady. i’ll do it,” peter gives in. all but squealing, mj gestures for ned to sit. “this’ll only take a few minutes. you guys are really saving my ass.” ned gets comfortable next to peter on the couch, who wants to see how far mj will really go. “aw, we are? i believe that calls for a…” ned catches on. “it comes after please…” mj picks up her camera with gritted teeth. “thank you, morons. say cheese!”

that’s the only warning peter and ned get before they’re blinded with the flash. ned does a toothy grin as he leans into peter’s side. peter musters up the best smile he can, hair a mess and cuts burning pink on his face. satisfied, mj snatches the photograph as it pops out.

“pleasure doing business with you two,” she states, you joining the three of them in the living room. you set the popcorn on the table and give peter his ice pack. he presses it to his cheek, kissing the back of your hand. “send me that!” ned reminds mj, helping himself to your bowl of popcorn. she salutes him.

“there’s my star. what do you say, y/n? wanna take one more really quick?” mj suggests, already holding up her polaroid. you take the other cushion next to peter, your head on his shoulder. “can peter be in it with me? since he’s in the modeling mood tonight.” he wraps an arm tightly around you. “let’s do it, sweetness.”

eagerly jumping in front of you two, mj crouches down to get a better angle. “on the count of three. one, two, three!” the camera clicks, and you surprise peter by laying a smooch on one of his cheeks. he’s holding the ice against his other, genuinely smiling for this picture. ned coos at you, mj showing off her work when it dries.

“how adorable,” she says sarcastically but means it. peter nods at her in appreciation, his lips brushing the side of your head. “what can i say, you’re a pro,” you compliment mj. “come on, em!” ned cheers through a mouthful of popcorn.

tonight was an unexpected and exciting mess, even if your date night did get crashed.

[skzsauce01]

For You

Anniversary Request Special

Description: You and Minho are a little more than just an heiress and her bodyguard, but you know your parents would never approve of a relationship like this unless...

Warning: anxiety, injury

Word Count: 2.1k

Pairing: fem!reader x bodyguard!Minho

He is buttoning up his shirt after a warm shower when his phone buzzes. He smirks at your caller ID on the screen before picking it up. “What, miss me alr—”

“Hi. Sorry to bother you.”

Minho drops his smile and grips his phone tighter at the tone of your voice. Panic bubbles in his chest. “Is something wrong?”

“No, it’s not like that. I’m just… out right now, and it got dark a little quicker than I thought. I know you’re off the clock on Sundays, but—”

“It’s okay. I'm coming to get you. Where are you?”

“I’m near the 7-11 near your house. The one with the blue umbrellas in front.”

“Okay. Go inside for now. I’m coming.”

“Alright. Thank you, Minho. And sorry.”

“Don’t be; it’s my job. Call again if something happens before I get there.”

“Okay.”

“Alright, I’ll be there shortly.”

Minho doesn’t even bother drying his hair and dashes out the door. He runs and runs, unease crawling up his skin, but when he sees you through the window of the convenience store, his stomach completely drops. There you stand with your shoulders hunched, arms wrapped around yourself, and knees bowed in, a stark contrast to the proud heiress he is used to seeing. 

The worker who is leaning over the counter seems to be saying something as Minho bursts in. “If you aren’t buyin’, pay for your loitering with cha number, sugar.”

Minho slaps a bill on the counter and takes a bag of chocolates. “There. She’s a customer,” he hisses. Turning to you who looks shocked by his sudden appearance, he asks, “Are you okay?”

You nod dumbly. 

“Okay. Let’s get out of here.” He puts a hand on the small of your back and guides you to the door, using himself to shield you from the eyes of the worker.

He thought you’d relax a little after getting away from the creep, but your posture remains closed off. He wants to ask why but does not know if you’re ready for that yet. Instead, you break the silence first.

“Thank you for coming, and sorry for ruining your Sunday.”

“Y/N, you know I’m always ready to be by your side.” 

He looks for clues. You have on a deep blue dress, minimal jewelry, and light makeup. In other words, effortlessly enchanting, but that’s not important; you went to something fancy but not overly formal. A first date? Minho’s heart starts racing at the thought. He needs to know. “What were you doing out here by yourself?”

You bite your lip. Instead of answering, you tug on the cuff of his shirt gingerly with the tips of your fingers. “I-is it alright if I don’t talk about it?”

His chest breaks at how fragile your voice is. He stops in his tracks and looks at you.

“I-is it not?” you squeak.

“Of course it is.”

“Then why are you—”

“You look like you need this.”

He steps up to you under the streetlight and wraps you into a hug, gently stroking your back.

“Minho!” you gasp. “What if someone sees?”

You’re an heiress. Your choices of men are Chan from JY Group, Changbin from Seo Enterprise, or even Jisung from Han Motors. Lee Minho the bodyguard is definitely not on that list even if your heart is taking flight from this small gesture of endearment.

“Why does that matter?” he hushes you.

“If Father finds out, you’d lose your job.”

“I’d rather that than not be able to be here for you when you need it,” he says plainly and holds you tighter when you try to push him away.

Gradually, he feels you give up and give in to his embrace. Finally, he feels you begin to shake as tears escape your eyes.

“It was so scary,” you whimper. “I was so scared.”

Your words are like hammers battering his chest,making it impossible to breathe. He holds you tighter and speaks quietly, letting the vibration of his voice calm you.

“It’s okay. You’re okay now. I’m right here. Nothing can hurt you.”

You arrive at the gates of your house, an empty bag of convenience store chocolates between your fingers.

“Minho?”

“Yes?”

“Father can’t know what happened. Are my eyes swollen?”

He turns you by the shoulder so he is directly looking into them. “Not at all. They’re—”

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees your father approaching, and cuts his sentence short. “Good evening, Mister L/N,” he greets.

“Ah, Minho. What are you doing here on a Sunday?”

“I found Miss Y/N around my neighborhood and thought it best to escort her home.”

“You found her around your neighborhood?” 

“Yes, I was just taking an evening stroll.”

“Evening stroll?” he echoes yet again. The old man looks at the younger one’s wet, unbrushed hair.

Minho can’t do a thing but cough nervously, knowing how weak his lie is.

Thankfully, your father does not comment further. He looks between the two of you and smiles to himself. “Alright. Since you’re here, you should escort her all the way to the house.”

“Yes, sir,” Minho bows. When he straightens up again, he grins at you. “Shall we go?”

You nod with a smile of your own. “Thank you, Minho. Really.”

“Like I said, I’m always here for you.”

He cheekily takes your hand in his and hides it behind his back in case your father turns around.

“Oh, and Y/N?” he whispers.

“Hm?” 

He swipes an eyelash that fell with your tears from your cheek. “They’re not swollen; they’re beautiful.”

Your father coughs loudly in front of you.

The following week, you accompany your parents to a showing of the latest models of Han Motors. Of course, this means Minho is to lurk around in the shadows and follow you all night. At least, that’s what he’s supposed to do instead of being dragged out to the main floor by you to discuss which refreshment tastes the best.

“You know, if you wanted to spend time with me, you could have just said so,” Minho teasingly whispers into your ear.

“Shush and try this.” You roll your eyes and stuff a truffle-topped cracker between his lips. 

Minho chews for a moment before commenting, “Not great. Better than the cherry thing earlier, but the truffles your uncle gave you last time was better.”

You take one and mull over it yourself. “You’re right. This one’s too sweet.”

“Like someone I know,” he sighs off-handedly.

You snort. “I can’t tell if you’re talking about me or yourself.”

He raises a brow. “Oh, so you think I’m worthy of being called ‘sweet?’”

“Good gracious,” you roll your eyes.

The two of you have tried less and less to suppress your flirting. Thankfully, most of your comments are made in indecipherable whispers or behind closed doors, so most people haven’t noticed, but those who did definitely have a thing or two to say about it.

“Y/N!” Your mother’s voice breaks your conversation. 

You walk quickly past displays of shiny luxury cars to where she is. “Yes, Mother?”

She looks past you at Minho. “This does not involve you.”

Without missing a beat, he bows. Before he leaves though, you flash him a hand signal. Stay nearby. 

“You should meet the Hans’ son tonight,” your mother tells you after Minho is gone from her sight.

“Mother, I’ve already met him at my birthday party last year.”

“Yes, but this time, meet him as a man like you’re supposed to, you understand?”

“Mother, Jisung already has his eyes on—”

“Madam Han!” your mother calls before you can even finish your sentence. You close your eyes to roll them and let your shoulders slouch, knowing exactly what is going to happen.

The said woman walks over, her son in tow to help his mother introduce new cars. “Madam L/N! It is good to see you.”

First the sweet talk.

“Your face is smaller every time I see it. How do you do it?”

“Oh, you flatter me!”

Then an indirect indication of true intentions.

“It’s the truth! You simply must tell me your secrets. In the meantime, let’s have our children play amongst themselves.”

Madam Han quickly understands her implication. “Of course! They must be bored being around us old ladies. Jisung dear, take care of Miss Y/N, won’t you?”

“Yes, Mother,” he promises obediently.

You watch as the two women walk away in a fit of faux compliments. Despite leaving the two of you alone, you know they have hawk eyes on you to make sure you do as they intend.

“So,” you decide to play along, “we, uh, meet again, Jisung.”

“Yep.” He clasps his hands in front of him and looks around nervously. Not much of a conversationalist, you note.

“Tell me about this car.” You motion towards a blue SUV nearby.

“Ah, yes!” You can see the boy light up from having something he can actually talk about. “This is the Model YG. It is a family car, but it certainly does not leave out the power and class of a…”

You soon tune him out. You both know you have no interest in cars anyway, and he’s just glad to have something to fill the silence with. Your eyes begin to wander, and you catch sight of something darting around. You first pass it off as your imagination, but when you see it again, alarms go off in your head.

You grab the arm next to you. “Minho.”

Jisung looks at you inquisitively. “I’m Jisung.”

“Sorry,” you apologize. “I need to find my bodyguard. I think there’s something—”

Just then, a low whistle cuts through the air. You look up and see the giant chandelier above you beginning to tilt.

“Run!”

Unfortunately, you are right at the center of the whole structure. You bolt away right behind Jisung, but there is just no way your stupid heels can keep up with his powerful strides. There isn’t much time. You aren’t going to make it. You can hear the lower hanging parts of the light structure crashing and shattering when someone tackles you to the floor, shielding you with his own body.

“Minho!”

He lets out a hallowed gasp as a metal rod strikes him in the back. He struggles to regain his breath but keeps his eyes trained on you.

“I’m okay. I’m okay,” you repeat, knowing that’s what he wants to hear most. 

It’s your turn to worry about him now as he continues struggling to breathe. You help him sit upright, trying to avoid touching the million shards of glass impaling his skin. 

“Miss L/N!” You turn and see Jisung calling you from the perimeter of the mess. Thankfully, he does not look too scathed. “Are you alright?”

“Yes, I’m—”

“Get away from my daughter!”

Amidst the panic and army of security running about, everyone looks up at your mother fuming on the second floor. It is only then you realize how intimate your position with Minho is. You’re seated between his legs, turned towards him, and he has his arms around you, using your body to press on his spazzing diaphragm.

A new voice directs everyone’s attention. “Are you crazy?” It is your father this time, pulling his wife away from the railings. “He just saved her! What are you doing?”

“Jisung was supposed to save her!”

“Jisung saved himself! Can’t you see? Minho’s the one who’s willing to risk himself for our daughter. What more do you have against that?”

You blush under the eyes your parents’ conversation has put on you, but Minho does not back down. He keeps you covered as you shrink in embarrassment. 

“Jisung just needs more time with her!” your mother continues. “He’ll learn to love her!”

“Like you ever learned to love me? How many years have we been married? How many years have we tried to learn to love? Do you really wish the same thing for our daughter?”

A wave of gasps ripple through the building. Security has caught the criminals who sabotaged the convention, but no one cares. You can feel your stock prices dropping. You and your family are going to be on the front cover of every gossip magazine tomorrow. You struggle to find something— anything— to distract the crowd from what was just said. You need something big— something even bigger than your father’s confession.

In the midst of your dilemma, it is Minho who speaks first. “Let’s date.”

Another gasp echoes across the crowd. At least that did the trick.

“What are you doing?” you whisper-scream at him.

“What?” he says not-so-quietly. “Your father’s giving me permission. We might as well make it official. I promise to protect you and cherish you for the rest of our lives. What do you say, Y/N?”

Jisung is the first to start chanting, “Say yes! Say yes!” and is soon joined by the rest of the party-goers. Your mother nearly faints and your father beams proudly.

“Okay,” you finally agree.

“Then kiss me,” he prompts, and you do. 

[avaritia-apotheosis]

Phantom Children Ch. 8

What's this? An update! Massive thanks to my betas for helping me get through this chapter <3

In Which: A few answers are given to the family and Danny is rudely awoken

[Side note: If you wanna know the general ages of the batfam, its listed in the AO3 version. I also talk about katanas in the end notes ^-^]

AO3 | Prologue | 7 | [ 8 ] | 9 DAMIAN INFORMED TODD—and Drake when he arrived on his bike sometime later on—that the boy whose face is plastered across the monitor was neither a picture of himself nor of Father.

Drake took one glance at the monitor and sighed, pressing his fingers against the bridge of his nose. “Just when I thought this day was getting better.”

“What, did that café on 5th finally let customers supersize their drink?”

“God that would be the dream, wouldn’t it?” Drake sighed wistfully. “Nah, but I did get a lead on where some of that stolen Cadmus tech might’ve ended up. I was gonna spend the night following up on it, but I guess we have to deal with,” he gestured to the monitor, “whatever this is.”

Todd leaned against the edge of the computer, arms crossed over the red bat insignia on his chest. “What are we dealing with this time, brat? A clone? An alternate universe counterpart? Magic shenanigans?”

Maybe. Perhaps. All of those were perfectly valid conclusions for the enigma that was Daniel James Fenton. (Why Fenton and not al Ghul? Or even Wayne?)

Damian, too, was a genetic experiment; a ‘test tube baby’ as Drake put it at times. Damian was born for greatness, created to be perfect. The perfect soldier. The perfect assassin. The perfect heir. Was this boy—Daniel—like him as well?

A failed one, then. Perhaps the precursor to Damian’s own existence. But that would not explain why the boy was allowed to exist for so long. His grandfather demanded perfection, especially from those of his own blood. If the boy was a failure, he would have been eliminated immediately, not sent to live with some eccentric scientists in the Midwest.

Damian was not naïve enough to think that his mother and grandfather did not keep secrets from him. On the contrary, he expected it. The League of Shadows dealt in secrets as often as it did in death. Certain information was worth its weight in gold, whether it was given or buried away.

But he could not help the sharp pang in his chest. A lightning strike, quick and electrifying at the notion that they kept secrets about their family from him.

His father’s face flashed in his mind. The shock turned into a slow, dawning horror. That flicker of light, of recognition, as he scrutinized the contents of the flash drive and cross-referenced it with a public database.

And grief.

Damian recognized the grief.

Alfred, too, nearly dropped his tray of fresh-baked cookies when he stepped in front of the monitor. His usual unflappable demeanor was momentarily broken at his father’s whispered “Sixteen years. Alfred— he’s sixteen years old.”

His father knew of the boy. He was allowed to know of Daniel when he was not allowed to know about Damian.

------

Grayson returned to the cave with a distinct lack of energy in his step. His mask dangled off the tips of his fingers, chin angled downwards and covered largely by his hand. For a split second, their eyes met. Grayson shifted his gaze away, scratching the back of his neck. Father told him, then. Damian wondered how much Father revealed to his favorite son.

Damian clucked his tongue and buried himself deeper into the chair, arms crossed and pointedly looking away. If it was not for his accursed ankle, he’d have headed out to the training ring to take his frustrations out on the dummies.

“Oh, thank god you’re here, Dickface. Damian’s completely out of it.”

Damian shot him a look. “Shut up, Todd.”

“Leave him alone, Jay. Is Tim back yet?”

Drake emerged from the changing room in a dark green shirt, a fresh cup of coffee in hand. He took one long sip before exhaling. “Yeah, I’m here.”

“O-kay…” He pressed his hands together, mouth thinned into a grim line. “Uh, hey Tim, glad to see you back safe. Bruce is coming down soon to explain some things.” He let out a deep sigh, carding a hand through his hair. “This kind of thing would probably be better with the girls around, but I—god, I don’t know.”

Todd raised an eyebrow. “Don’t know whether to call Steph and Cass in Hong Kong, or don’t know what’s going on?”

“Yes.”

------

When Father arrived, Pennyworth following dutifully behind him, it was with an aching slowness in his gait. His steps measured and precise, preternaturally quiet as he made his way to stand by Damian’s chair. Damian sat up straighter, shoulders squared and back an inch away from the backrest. The rest, even Todd, stood at attention; an ingrained habit among Robins and an amusing instinct even among the senior heroes of the Justice League when it came to facing the Batman.

His father kept a steady hand on Damian’s shoulder, and Damian, shamefully, leaned into the touch; his head inclined towards his father’s hand so much so that he could feel the ends of his hair being pushed up slightly as he brushed against his father’s forearm.

He spoke with his usual monotone, as if he was heading a Justice League meeting as opposed to unveiling the secrets surrounding that boy. He brought forward the few photos they obtained from the flash drive. “A few weeks ago, we were alerted of suspicious movement from the League of Shadows in Amity Park, Illinois. Their objectives are, as of now, unclear, though it appears to be tied to the death of Amity Park resident, Daniel Fenton.”

One photo was a standard ID picture people get for their driver’s license, the lighting deliberately horrible so that any attempt to look decent would always end in failure. Another photo was a little better; a candid scene of him chatting with two others his age, a Caucasian girl in gothic-style clothes and an African-American holding a sleek, but still very outdated PDA. His blue eyes crinkled at the corners, hand reaching up to his face to stifle a laugh. There were other photos like this, some candid, others posed. At the forefront of each, a boy that looked too much like his father, too much like Damian.

His father glanced at the photos. He shut his eyes and when he opened them again, he fixed them on some distant stalactite in the Cave. “Around six months ago, Daniel was pronounced dead in a vehicular accident. A body was present, but according to police reports, he was identified via his driver’s license as opposed to any kind of DNA profiling.” He leaned over Damian’s chair to pull up a profile of Masters. “Our source—Vladimir Masters, mayor of Amity and a friend of the Fenton family—indicated his belief that Daniel is actually alive. I am inclined to agree.”

“He’s your son, isn’t he,” Drake said, more of a statement than a question.

Father gave a curt nod. “I cannot say for certain until I can perform a DNA test, but I highly suspect that to be the case.”

“First the demon spawn, now this. Great.” Todd made a hand motion towards the screen. “You know, Bruce, not knowing you have a kid once might be a coincidence, but twice? How do you do that?”

“As of three hours ago, I was still under the impression that my son never made it to term.”

“What?”

“Over sixteen years ago I was involved in a mission that put Ra’s and I on the same side. During that time, Talia and I entered a relationship that resulted in a pregnancy. Though initially ecstatic, she eventually led me to believe she miscarried the child and pushed me away. For what ends, I do not know, but trust me Jason, if I knew—” He paused, the hand that was not on Damian’s shoulder curled into a tight fist.

Father pinched the bridge of his nose. “Why she hid it from me then doesn’t matter. Why Talia wants him back now is important. Judging from Daniel’s records, he was adopted into the Fenton family as an infant and has since lived a seemingly normal life as a civilian. His adoptive parents, Jack and Maddie Fenton, are brilliant scientists and engineers focused on the field of paranormal studies. Eccentricities aside, they have zero connections to the League of Assassins or any other concerning parties.”

“So why now?” Dick asked, shifting his concerned gaze from Bruce to the static picture of Danny’s tired smile. “Why, after all this time, decide that now would be the best time to recover him?”

------

Danny’s experienced plenty of rude awakenings before, but waking up at the ass-crack of dawn to avoid his kidnapper-slash-assassin-slash-biological-mom launching a surprise attack takes the fucking cake. He can’t believe he’s saying this, but thank god for all those late night ghost attacks that conditioned him to be a light sleeper. And, of course, the League’s insistence that everyone be in optimal condition regardless of how little sleep you actually got.

Danny kicked Talia off of him, ripping his blanket away before scrambling to his feet. Seriously, if the universe decided to spontaneously give him powers again, he’d really like an upgrade to his ghost senses, please and thank you. Something that works on humans and not just ghosts. Like spidey-senses. He’d really, really like some spidey-senses.

“Your reaction times have improved considerably,” Talia said.

He eyed the katana sheathed beside his bedroll. “Thanks. Who could have guessed that constantly challenging someone to a spar in the unholy hours of morning would make them paranoid to sleep too much? Really, how am I supposed to grow taller at this rate? ” If he could just get it--

She smiled, taking a step forward. “Prepare yourself.”

“Heh.” Danny stepped further away from Talia, keeping his back to the mouth of the cave. One hand stretched in front of him and the other, coated in a green light, was kept hidden behind his back. “Am I actually gonna get some answers today?”

“Let us make it interesting. Last 10 minutes against me and I shall tell you more about your brother.” Talia twirled her blade. “If you happen to draw blood, you may ask any one thing of me.”

“Anything?”

“Within reason.”

His face caught between a grimace and a smile. He’d rather be sleeping right now, but if he had to be awake, then he’d better make the most of it. “Deal.”

Talia’s smile dropped. She veered her body to the right, barely dodging the streak of bright green that whizzed from behind her. The ectoplasmic energy that surrounded the katana bled away as the handle connected with Danny’s outstretched hand.

She quickly glanced back at Danny’s bedding. Beside it lay an empty sheath. “You have telekinesis?”

He shrugged. “It comes and goes.” Yeah, no way was Danny gonna admit that seven-out-of-ten-times he forgot that he had telekinesis. Besides, that shit was hard to do when he wasn’t Phantom.

“A surprise attack from behind is a sound strategy, Daniel. Though it’ll take a lot more than that to harm me.”

Danny pointed to the side of his cheek. “Are you sure about that?”

Talia frowned. She reached up to her face. Her fingers brushed against her cheek and came away with a thin streak of blood.

Danny grinned, pointing his blade at his opponent. “First blood goes to me.”

------

Fact: most fights don’t last long. An average street fight could last anywhere between 25 to 40 seconds, and sword fights rarely last over a minute. Like Talia said, the goal of a fight was to end it with as few injuries to oneself as possible. Humans, even the most skilled ones, can rarely last long in a fight. Prolonged combat is suicide; it makes you tired, makes your muscles heavy. It’s nothing like what Hollywood would have you believe.

Even with Danny’s own enhanced stamina and Talia holding back, he couldn’t last a full ten-minute spar. If Talia didn’t finish him within twenty-five seconds, then he’d fall by his own human limitations.

But the goal wasn’t to spar continuously for ten minutes.

He only had to last that long.

Danny sprinted out of the cave. The sun barely peeked out of the horizon, a thin line of deep orange breaking apart the wide expanse of blue-black sky above. He couldn’t see shit; great news since that meant there’s a good chance Talia couldn’t either, but that doesn’t fix the fact that he can’t see.

Nearly stumbling on the ice, Danny veered to the left. The edges of the lake stopped at towering rocks twice Danny’s height, leaving little room for cover. Though if he remembered correctly, there should be a few crevices here and there to hide in.

“You’ll have to be faster than that, Daniel.”

Shit—

Danny stopped. He brought his sword up to parry Talia’s strike and twisted away, putting distance between them.

Well, so much for just avoiding her for 10 minutes.

He adjusted his grip, keeping his sword steady and eyes trained on Talia as they circled each other. Danny lunged with an overhead strike. Talia used one hand to block the downswing by gripping his wrists. She thrust her sword forward, the tip harshly poking Danny’s abdomen.

“Less than three minutes.” Talia let his wrist go, Danny’s arms slumping to his sides.

He sighed as he sheathed his sword. “Damn, I thought I’d last longer than that.”

“You made a good effort,” Talia assured him. “Putting as much distance between us at the beginning was a good strategy. You recognized the win conditions immediately and attempted a battle of attrition.” She placed a hand on his shoulder. “I am very proud of you habibi, especially as you managed to draw first blood.”

A warmth grew in Danny’s stomach at the words, heating his cheeks. Sheepishly, he scratched the back of his head. “I wasn’t entirely sure that would work, honestly.”

“It was clever; half a second later and you might have even killed me. You are an al Ghul through and through” She brushed his hair out of his face. “What would you like as your prize, then?”

Danny’s heart clenched. He frowned, dropping his arm to his side. If I was such an al Ghul, then why didn’t you keep me? The question lodged itself in his throat, stifling his thoughts. It was something he’d been wondering for a while, actually, in the moments of solitude he had at the compound. Talia, during their training, would always remark at his potential. How talented he was, how adaptable he was, how much greater he would have been if he had been trained at a younger age.

Well then, why wasn’t he? Why did she give him up?

But each time he tried to ask, his tongue would turn to lead and the moment would pass, the question still left unsaid and simmering at the back of his mind. A Pandora’s Box that held none of the world’s evil but all of Danny’s possible shortcomings.

He could ask the question now.

He could.

He didn’t.

“Why did you take me?”

Talia tilted her head. “It is because you’re my son.”

“No. Not that. It has to be something more than that. You had sixteen years to come back for me—or, hell, you could have just never left me.” His breath hitched, fingers mussing his hair and hiding his eyes. “Why else did you take me?”

“It is true that there was more than one reason why we decided to retrieve you from Amity Park. One of which is because you are my son and an heir of the Demon’s Head.” Talia stilled. The dark skies of dawn made it impossible for him to read her. “The second reason was to protect you.”

“You kidnapped me…to protect me?”

“Knowledge of the ghosts of Amity have spread through the more insidious parts of the world. There are many out there who would pay exorbitant fees to study one of you or to use you.”

Use him? What did she mean by—

Oh.

Ghosts—Amity Park’s brand of ghosts—were a new element that the world had to contend with. Amity Park might have a crime rate of zero but that wasn’t the case everywhere else. Theft, assault, murder; the world was rampant with crimes and criminals clawing their way to the very top. Having ghosts, even ones with the most basic powerset, would be a huge advantage.

“There’s no way that would work,” Danny insisted. “Most ghosts just want to be left alone, and the ones that want to wreak havoc would never work with humans. The only reason they even work with halfas like me at times is because they still consider us as ghosts.”

“If my sources are to be believed, ghosts might not even get a choice.”

Danny’s blood curdled in his veins.

No.

Someone’s found a way to control ghosts.

[normal-thoughts-official]

I LOVE LOVE LOVE YOUR BEAUTY AND THE BEAST IDEA. But may I also propose: Magnus cursed from a young age (probably bc of Asmodeus) that anyone who touches him is hurt by a blast of magic he can't control. (This may result in his mother's death). He locks himself away of his own will. Alec teaches then that it's fear that makes him lash out. Featuring: touch starved Magnus.

this idea is GENIUS actually and i love it. tbh me and my friend have a similar idea that we talk to each other about (lol) but it isn't a B&B thing, its more of an adventure AU. anyway, lets go!

so in this universe i guess magnus banished asmodeus like in the original sh verse but asmodeus cursed him with the "everyone you touch will be in indescribable pain" thing. maybe just as revenge, maybe to try and use it as bargaining chip because okay magnus, is it freedom that u want? u want to be able to have ur own friends and ur own life? fine. get me back, and ill leave u alone, and ull be free to have friends again. if not, ull be still isolated just like before. so is it gonna be win-win, or lose-lose?

but magnus doesn't budge because he knows that if he lets asmodeus free things will only get worse not only for him, but for the whole world. he is too dangerous to be out there. so, magnus resigns to his fate

and i guess in this version he wouldnt have a lot of close friends because he had been with asmodeus his whole life before he was cursed, so he was just. alone in his self-imposed isolation with no one to talk to. maybe he enchants the furniture so they gain sentience but they can't really feel pain, so at least he has someone to talk to. god im so fucking sad already

so is the furniture his friends in canon? im not entirely sure how i feel about that but also the idea of ragnor as that clock from the original movie is great. thats my most important thought on the subject ngl

btw its 4 degrees Celsius in here so im typing with gloves on so ull have to excuse my typos i am a mere brazilian and i want death

anyway okay so i guess his friends are like pieces of furniture that he spelled into sentience and they aren't his servants or anything cuz that's gross but they just like, hang out. wow im actually managing to type pretty well all things considered

so at least magnus has people to talk to but he's still touch starved because you know... a clock can't hug you and that'd just be weird. maybe them becoming sentient was an accident? lmao like magnus just wanted to automate some functions like having the clock talk to tell him the time or something and it turned out that they became sentient. possibly his magic is a little fucky because of the curse so that's why that happened? or maybe he just is way more powerful than he realizes and we all know he invented the spells he used to try and automate the things anyway. but if he gets people to talk to, well, he's not complaining

im focusing too much on this. anyway. id also like to note that im making rapha the cook/stove thing because i mean, come on. it's right there

and ok i guess alec comes into this because he uhhhhhh no u know i might go with that izzy thing. so izzy ran away from home because of maryse's bullshit and alec was sent to bring her back. so he was going after her but in the middle of the path there was the whole wolf attack thing that scared off his horse and LUCKILY magnus' house/tower/whatever was right next!!! so of course they take alec and his horse in but also WHOOPS there's a huge snowstorm that lasts for days (par the course for where magnus lives, actually. he DID want somewhere people would avoid. but also i think maybe his magic being fucky has something to do with it) so i guess alec is stuck at magnus' for the foreseeable future

which is HELL for magnus because he is terrified out of his mind that they will accidentally touch and alec will be hurt. and like.... his Constant Crave For Touch is already bad on a regular day, but having someone who could actually hug him in theory just makes it worse, you know? he hasn't interacted with other human beings in so long, just having one there is enough to make his need for touch almost unbearable and just... completely constant. it's hell

so magnus is scared, which means that he keeps to himself. so he tells alec not to go into his room, he tries not to eat at the same time, and other stuff like that, bUT his friends keep sabotaging his plans because they want him to have another friend, jesus christ!! (rapha being like "come on now magnus, you don't want my soup to get cold, do you? i'll be deeply offended. i guess you have no choice but to eat with alec". so magnus goes but the first thing he does is magic his regular table into a gigantic rectangular table with 41908410 seats and seat on on the side opposite to alec. alec just sighs

so like he's constantly coming across as rude because he is trying to avoid alec, alec just doesn't know why

but alec is also a stubborn bitch who goes stir crazy and refuses to just sit around isolated doing nothing while they wait for the stupid storm to finally be over so he can go get his sister. and magnus saved his life, so it's the least he can do to repay him in some way. besides, this is what, the first time that he's been completely away from his mom? for such a long time too? and he's finding that he feels... weirdly free and just relieved and he doesn't want to waste that opportunity with standing idly around alone all day. he had enough of that at home, thank you very much

besides yeah magnus is being rude but alec is used to straight up assholes and abusers (jace. i'm talking about jace. also maryse ofc but mostly jace) and magnus is not that. in fact he makes very polite conversation and is actually pretty fun during dinner, all things considered. he's just.... super private, i guess

AND magnus' friends are all being a nightmare with the making them interact so you know. they end up interacting. and alec makes it a point to help him take care of his house because it is a certified Depression Lair™. magnus can take care of it magically but it's like... so dark and almost suffocating at times and there is stuff like bad painting and piping problems that he never bothered to fix because it isn't affecting the functionality too much but it DOES makes life harder and alec "everything must be at 100% always" lightwood is not here for it so for a few days they are working on fixing the house and... magnus actually feels a lot better when the place has actual sunlight and looks inviting and like a home, he has to admit. when he says that to alec it might be the first time he's given him a real smile and man, is alec smitten

sidenote i guess this means that magnus doesn't exactly... dress well in this au lmaoo i mean it makes sense too because canonically magnus uses dressing up as a way to convey an image of power and untouchability and he doesn't really need that in this AU since he is completely isolated. so i guess he is a bit more like twi magnus - bare-faced and wearing comfortable clothes and the like. this isn't a twi au i'm just saying that it makes more sense for him to dress like that in that context

anyway. after the whole house fixing thing, they officially become friends. it turns out that alec also knows a bit about what it's like to feel isolated and touch-starved (altho he's always had izzy to help in that department, but still) and also what crappy parents are like. magnus shows alec his little mirror that he's enchanted to be able to show him anything he wants and how he uses it to be able to see all the places in the world he'd like to visit - he loves people, he loves culture, and sometimes it's all he can do to watch what's going on in Mumbai and it makes him feel a little better, so, he does that. he also admits that sometimes he catches on some drama happening and uses the mirror to see the people involved and make sure they are okay. kinda like a soap opera of his own but he has the means to interfere and help because of magic, so he will have someone who's struggling with money suddenly find hidden cash or have an "unknown dead relative" give them a lot of money in their will, or something like that. and if he also watches some of their personal drama that unfolds, well. he is lonely and it's not hurting anyone

but magnus doesn't tell him about the curse, and he still makes sure to keep his distance. it stings a little to alec, but it hurts magnus the most because fuck, maybe he just desperately needs someone who will give him the time of day, but he likes this guy and that only makes it harder to keep his distance. he makes it a point to always be at at least two arms length from alec, which alec thankfully respects and doesn't try to get him to breach, but. shit. it's still so hard to not want to just rest his head on his shoulder or get a hug or even fucking touch pinkies like stupid children and he can't. alec even once jokingly suggests that they have a ball since magnus doesn't know how to dance and magnus is actually excited for a second before he remembers that he can't, it would have to mean that alec touches him, and he can't

someone - maybe ragnor - even suggests that maybe he could try gloves and heavy clothing so alec isn't really touching him but magnus refuses to try because he doesn't want to risk it not working and alec getting hurt, because he'd never forgive himself. besides, getting a taste would only make it hurt more. he can't. he can't

but it's alright because at least he has some human company - he loves his friends, he does, fiercely, but it's different when they kind of have no choice but to be with him and also are enchanted creatures. he doesn't even know if they aren't nice to him just because he enchanted them into life, even tho to be fair if he had a choice ragnor wouldn't be that grouchy - and alec makes him laugh and gets him and helped make his place feel more like home, a little bit. and he can pretend that he feels the warmth from alec's body when they are sitting by the fire and feed these crumbs to his desperate need for touch and company

and then the snowstorm ends and it's time for alec to go

honestly, alec himself is kind of heartbroken, but- he loves his sister, and he can't just leave her alone in god knows where, even if he dreads the thought of coming back home now that he's been away from his family for so long. but magnus doesn't want to keep him, and doesn't want alec to feel pity for him, so he's all but pushing alec out of the door (not literally, of course. he can't do that, it would mean touching him) all "go, go, you never know when another storm might start. go see your sister. take my mirror, you can find her more easy". and alec's all "but it's been the only thing-" and magnus waves him off, of course, all "i can always make myself another one. besides, you'll have something to remember me by. now go"

so.... alec goes

and hooo boy magnus is heartbroken and a mess because even tho he knew how much having someone else there helped he had almost forgotten what it was like to be the only human in the house. he just feels extra lonely and even kind of bad about it because hey, his friends are there - not that they begrudge him for it, of course. it's not like they don't also hope for the chance to get out of the house and do other things, but well. they can't. so they understand him. and they know how awful he's feeling right then, but what can they do?

meanwhile alec finds izzy pretty quickly - she's living with this one insufferable villager named clary that alec absolutely can't stand, but- she's happy. and she doesn't want to come back, which alec expected, but he finds that he can't actually insist for her to come back. how could he, when he himself doesn't want to go?

and izzy insists that he stays with her - there's no reason for him to come back. they can stay in the village, and work, and build a life for themselves. alec is the only thing she's been missing ever since she left, and in here the both of them can actually be happy. and do it together, like they're meant to

and when he first gets into the village is the first time since izzy ran away that he was hugged and fuck, it's hard to say no to her

but also... he misses magnus already

and he doesn't know if he can just stay and leave him behind

and of course izzy is like "who is magnus?" so alec tells her the story, how he was attacked by wolves and rescued by this house that miraculously was in the middle of the single most inhospitable placealec had ever seen in his life. and the kind but wary stranger who always keeps his distance but seems so eager for connection, who made alec feel welcome and laugh and feel like he built a life for himself there

and clary tells him that she's heard of the story, but she never knew it was more than a legend - no one really remembers what happened. some say that magnus made a sacrifice to rid the village of a demon, and it turned him into a beast, forever locked in his castle. some say that he himself is the demon, and it's the tower that's containing him and keeping the village safe. some even say that he died battling the demon, and it's his ghost that keeps watch on the tower

she wants alec to explain which one is true, but it's all alec can say that none of these are right and he knows nothing because magnus never told him. all alec knows is that he doesn't want to leave magnus behind

and clary is like... well, if he's not a demon or a ghost, maybe we could bring him to the village too. he has magic, right? he could bring the tower closer. and maybe the other villagers could, you know, visit him and hang out. and he wouldn't be as lonely, and then alec and izzy could both stay

driven by this failproof plan, they decide to go back to magnus and tell him their great idea

except they are IDIOTS and forget about. you know. the damn wolves

and like holy shit is this pack big or what? like no seriously why are there infinite wolves in that one singular pack in beauty and the beast. like holy shit dude there's more wolves near the beast's house than in the whole yellowstone park

anyway there are Many Wolves and while alec is a good archer, izzy is a fantastic fighter, and clary is Fucking Crazy if you give her something stabby, there's only so many wolves they can take on at the same time

good thing magnus is a pining idiot who did in fact make himself another magic mirror and was watching alec with it. so he knows that the dumbass is in trouble and for the first time in years, he uses the portal (his own invention, and he had never gotten to use it before!) to get to them and fight off the wolves

so magnus saves all their lives, at the cost of getting severely injured and passing the fuck out. izzy, who's the one closest, runs to get to him and help put him on one of their horses... and is immediately hit by a blast of magic that almost makes HER pass tf out too

which is when they finally learn that, oh. that is the curse

izzy is fine, of course - the pain ended as soon as she was away from magnus

but it does pose the problem of How The Fuck Are They Getting Him Back To Safety, because they can't exactly wait for magnus to wake up (it's freezing, for starters) but with this amount of pain it won't be physically possible for them to hoist him up and get him on the horse. shit, will the curse work on the horse?

they bring alec's horse (by far the strongest of them because alec is huge buff mcgee) and try to get him to touch magnus and the spell does NOT work on the horse because in order to be dramatic asmodeus was like "you shall never feel human touch again" when he cast the spell, which accidentally gave a LOOPHOLE for non-human animals. so magnus could have had cats the whole time, which he had always dreamed of, but he didnt want to risk testing. besides, his house would be a poor environment for a cat and [self torture noises]

anyway thats one less problem to deal with, 99 to go, so they use some ropes to hoist magnus on top of the horse and bring him back to the tower (it's closer than the village) so they can tend to his wounds. thankfully, as the assigned Big Brother of a very irresponsible izzy, alec has experience with first aid, altho he never really dealt with anything quite this bad. and magnus' friends help, too, as much as they can. inevitably this means that alec ends up touching him even if by accident sometimes, but he knows what to expect so he Powers Through It because he won't let magnus die, damn. and as horrible as that is alec has experience with powering through pain, so. he's gonna bandage him up god damn it

izzy can't stand to see him dealing with that himself tho, so she helps, and clary ends up helping as well because they figure sharing the pain makes it easier and alec doesn't have to be too hurt. minimal touching accidents for alec! good

*narrator voice* And Then Magnus Wakes Up And Alec Hugs Him

full on launches on top of him and brings him into his arms and Magnus screams like NONONO OH MY GOD WHAT ARE YOU DOING ALEC NO GET OFF ME YOU'LL BE HURT and his shock and distress at the whole thing sends another whole blast of magic that explodes that whole mf before it can touch alec and alec feels no pain and magnus is like.............. did i just COUNTER the spell? and everyone's like well! it looks like u did!

which earns him ANOTHER hug (oh my god alec stop he's so stressed out by this) (who knew alec was so touchy?) and this time he's paying attention to that gut reaction and because magnus is a Certified Magic Genius he realizes what it is that he's doing to counter the spell and immediately starts working on a way to turn this into unhexxing himself for good

which he DOES after some time idk how long but alec stays with him meanwhile and maybe izzy and clary do too, because magnus needs all the company he can get and besides, izzy has always wanted adventure and clary has never left the village before, so this is interesting to them at least. and magnus gets to meet new ppl which is nice

eventually the Begone Spell spell is performed and it works and turns out that when it does that it also unfucks magnus' magic and perfects his sentience spell turning all of his friends into humans WOW WHOD HAVE THOUGHT. so all of them are free to leave the tower as ppl at the same time and GROUP HUG!! and magnus cries like a baby in the group hug because holy shit hes been needing something like this so bad for so long and he never expected to have that with his friends but here he is :)

and then yeah they all move to the village to live a simple but fulfilling life and Magnus and Alec start living together in a little cottage and become husbands the end <3 this is so long too rip me

[johnsamericano]

“Corruption pt. 5” w.y.h

Pairing: college teacher!Lucas x student!reader.

Genre: fluff, angst, smut.

Summary: Lucas never thought of falling for a student, but from the first day you walked into de classroom you had him wrapped around your finger.

Warnings: none

a/n: This is the last chapter BUT I’m gonna write an epilogue. Hope you like it.

Taglist: @ncteaxhoe @junglewoos

corruption m.list.

“Dude, you need to get out of bed.” Chenle slightly pushed your body. “You’re starting to smell.”

“What’s the point, Chenle?” You whined against your pillow, still a little wet from your mental breakdown an hour ago.

“You still need to go to classes.” He tried pulling your arm, but you didn’t budge.

“I don’t want to see him.”

“You don’t even have classes with him, for god’s sake.” He sighed, desperate to get you out of bed.

“Just leave me alone.” Your phone started buzzing, announcing Lucas’ fifth call of the day. It was barely 9:00 a.m.

“Okay, I’m done with this little attitude of yours.” He grabbed the device and handed it to you. “You’re gonna answer the phone and solve your problems like the goddamn adult you are, or else I might call your parents and tell them you’ve been sleeping with our professor.” You sat straight, eyes wide open.

“You wouldn’t.”

“Try me.”

You groaned and snatched the phone from his hands, pressing the green button with shaky hands.

“Hello?” Your voice came out weaker than expected.

“Y/n? Thank god. Are you alright? You haven’t been answering any of my calls or messages so I was worried something might have happened.” You hummed. “Can we meet?”

“Okay.”

“I can pick you up and then we can go to my apartment-”

“Don’t worry, I’ll ask Chenle to drive me.”

“Alright. See you then.” A soft murmur stopped you from hanging up. “I love you.” You couldn’t bring yourself to reply, instead ending the call.

“You were such a brave girl.” Your friend cooed while wrapping his arms around you.

“Shut up.”

Chenle helped you pick an outfit to ‘show him what he lost’ and drove you all the way to his apartment complex.

“Do you want me to come in with you?” You released your body from the seatbelt.

“It’s okay, lele. Thank you for driving me.” He nodded before you went out.

You took a deep breath, rehearsing the things you wanted to say to Lucas. But as soon as you saw him, your mind went blank. He looked bad, maybe even worse than you.

“Y/n.” He wanted so bad to hug you, to beg you not to leave him. But that would be selfish.

“Lucas.” He let you in, there were two cups of tea right above the coffee table in his living room.

You sat at a safe distance from him.

“I am deeply sorry, y/n. I should’ve told you earlier what was going on, but I was a coward. I knew this would be over the moment you found out.”

“So what is going on Lucas?” Your voice was calm as you picked up the teacup and brought it to your lips. Those soft, sweet lips.

“There are some things you don’t know about me.” He licked his lips nervously. “For instance, my parents come from wealthy families, and I’m their only child, therefore I’m...”

“The heir.” You completed, feeling a knot forming in your stomach.

“Yes.” He feared so much that you’d see him with different eyes. “My parents wanted me to have someone to guide me and support me for when I take over the family company. The woman you saw last Friday was one of their friends’ daughter.”

He waited for a reply that never came. How could you even answer to that?

“Say something, please.” He finally scooted closer to you, taking your hand between his. His heart broke at the sight of your teary eyes. “Anything, I’m begging you.”

“I understand your decision.” He expected anything but that. “They’re your parents after all, you want to make them proud. I just wish you’d told me earlier, it would’ve been easier to end things between us.”

“I’ll leave them.”

“What?”

“Just ask me to stay with you and I’ll abandon everything.” By the look in his eyes, you knew he meant it. “Ask me to stay with you.” It sounded more like a plead.

“No.” It took all of your inner strength to get that single word out.

“Y/n, I-”

“Lucas, don’t ask me to decide on your life when I barely know what to do with my own.” Yes, your words were hurtful, but you weren’t wrong. “I don’t want to be the girl who made you drift away from your family.”

At some point, you both had started crying, knowing that there was no way you could fix your relationship.

“I’m so sorry, y/n.” He apologized for the millionth time. “I never meant to hurt you.”

“I know you didn’t.” You held no grudge against him, after all, you would’ve probably done the same if you were in his situation. “Just promise me one thing. You’ll do what’s best for yourself, not for me or for your parents.” He nodded, eyes watering. “I should probably leave now.”

“Wait.” He held onto your wrist, his lost puppy eyes looking directly into your own. “If it isn’t too much to ask, can I have one last kiss?”

It was indeed to much to ask, but you didn’t care. You wanted to feel the warmth of his lips against yours one last time, so you went for it.

Straddling his lap, you grabbed the back of his head to pull him even closer. It was a kiss filled with passion and love, it was your own way of saying goodbye. It took a while for you to pull away.

“Thank you.” He murmured, hands caressing your hips. “I love you so much, y/n. I promise I’ll be back, okay?”

“I love you too, Lucas.” With that being said, you stood up. Avoiding to look back, you made your way out.

Chenle was still outside when you came down, leaning against his car with his arms wide open for you.

You didn’t hesitate to crash your body against his, crying your eyes out as he combed your hair with his fingers.

“I’m here for you. Always.”

(...)

3 years later...

“Where are you?”

“I’m picking up my luggage, see you at the parking lot?”

“Okay.”

A few minutes later, the tall, dark haired man walked out of the airport. A sports bag hanging from his left shoulder while the opposite hand dragged the suitcase.

“Kun!”

“Hey, man.” They greeted each other with a big hug. “I missed you.”

“Sorry, I wanted to visit earlier but work has been a bitch.” Specially when he didn’t even like what he was doing.

“Same here, it seems like the students get more unbearable with every semester.” He helped Lucas load his belongings into the truck. “So how’s Mrs. Wong been? Are you getting along well?”

“Shut up.” He rolled his eyes while getting inside the car. “Last week, my mom asked us about our sex life. She was like ‘I expect to have grandkids by the end of next year’, the last time we kissed was in our wedding.”

“So you’re gonna be a dad?” He mocked, starting the engine.

“Not from her kids at least.” Kun knew exactly what that meant.

“Lucas, you should really get over her. You’re a married man.”

“Not for much longer.”

“What do you mean?”

“We’ve been seeing a lawyer, none of us is happy with our relationship and we’ve already wasted three years of our life in it. It’s time to end it.”

“And what do your parents think about this?”

“They don’t have a say in this matter. I’m and adult and it’s my future we’re talking about.”

“And why couldn’t you come to this conclusion three years ago? You would’ve saved me all the suffering from listening to you ranting about how much you missed y/n.” Lucas hit his arm playfully, a big smile on his face as the thought of you crossed his mind.

He unlocked his phone, your picture was still his wallpaper.

“Has she graduated yet?”

“She’s actually doing her master’s degree. She’s an exceptional student, a lot of important labs already have their eyes on her.”

“Of course they do, they’d be stupid if they didn’t.” His finger traced your figure, smiling proudly at the image.

“Oh look at you, you haven’t stopped loving her one bit.”

“Stop it.”

“Oh, by the way, we need to stop by the campus. I have to pick up exams to check them at home.” Lucas’ eyes lit up at the possibility of meeting you.

“Do you think she’ll be there?”

“Probably, she’s usually devouring a book at the library or at the lab. Sometimes she stops by at my office for tutoring or my opinion on something.”

“You better not have tried something with her.”

“Actually...”

“What?”

“Just kidding, she’s my student, nothing more.”

“She better be.”

The campus was thankfully near the airport. Lucas almost fell as he exited the vehicle, eager to see you once again after all those years.

“Careful, give me a call when you’re done looking for her.”

“Sure.” He replied, already running away from the car towards the library.

He met a lot of his old students on the way, briefly greeting them before resuming his search. You weren’t there, so he decided to try at the labs.

You weren’t there either, but your ID and belongings were. You looked different in your picture, you looked so mature now, but your innocent aura was still intact.

“Are you looking for y/n?” One of the students asked as soon as he saw Lucas eyeing her ID. “She just left.”

“Oh, thank you.” He replied, still not taking his eyes off your mesmerizing face.

His phone vibrated.

‘She’s in my office.’ His heart sped up and his legs automatically started moving.

On his way to Kun’s office he tried to think of ways to greet you. Would a simple ‘hello’ be okay? Or would it be appropriate to tell you how much he missed you?

His mind was so busy he didn’t realized he was already in front of the office. He took a deep breath before opening the door. Your back was facing him while you passionately explained Kun the results of your experiment, not even realizing who just made an appearance.

“Y/n.” Lucas called from the door frame, causing you to interrupt your explanation.

“Yes?” You finally turned around. “Lucas?”

Your hair was tied up in a messy hair bun, a pair of safety glasses covering your eyes and a stained lab coat around your body. You looked like a mad scientist, a cute mad scientist.

“Hi.” Was the only thing he could pronounce. ‘How pathetic’ he thought.

“Long time no see.” You smiled so warmly, as if he hadn’t abandoned you to marry another woman. “Have you been well?”

“Y-yes, I mean, as well as I can be.” Your eyes wandered to his hand, taking notice of the golden ring around his finger.

“I’m glad.” You dedicated him another smile before turning back to face your professor. “I’ll send you the draft of my report as soon as I finish it. Excuse me.” You grabbed your laptop from the desk and went out, murmuring a small ‘bye’ to Lucas on your way out. The scent of your perfume striking him with a wave of nostalgia.

“Well, I don’t know what I was expecting but this was definitely not it.”

“I don’t know why I thought we would both burst into tears and say how much we missed each other.” He awkwardly scratched the back of his neck.

“She’s probably going back to the lab, in case you want to talk to her again.” He nodded. “I’ll wait for you so we can head to my house.”

“Alright, I’ll try to be quick.” He went out again, this time at a slower pace.

He went back to the labs, your voice receiving him as soon as he crossed the entrance. Most of the students had already left, it was already getting dark.

“Zhong Chenle, get out of here, you’re distracting me.”

“But, y/n, I’m hungry and I don’t want to go alone to the cafeteria.”

“Not my problem.” You were focused on writing your report, the safety glasses still on your face.

“Uhm, are you busy?” Lucas knocked on the door, catching yours and Chenle’s attention.

“You’re back.” His eyes were wide open. “You know what? I’ll go get our food, see you.”

“Coward.” You muttered. “Come in, Lucas.” Even though there was no hint of anger in your voice, the fact that you were calling him Lucas and not Xuxi meant something bad.

“What are you working on, huh?” He says on the stool beside yours, taking a look at your screen.

“Just trying to find a cure for AIDS, nothing special.” You typed a few more words before saving the file. “What did you want to talk about Mr. Wong?”

“I think you know what.”

“I think so.” You removed the glasses, red marks over the area where they used to be.

“Cute.” He though out loud, causing you to touch your face, the color of your cheeks becoming pinker with every second. It was amazing how much of an effect his words still had on you.

“S-sorry, I wore these for more than five hours.”

“Don’t worry, I know what it’s like.” He tapped his fingers against the table. “Three years huh?”

“Yeah, seems like it was yesterday when we...” You chose not to finish the sentence, knowing that it would probably make you cry.

“I missed you.” His hand reached out for yours, the golden band around his finger burning your skin. “There hasn’t been a single day where I haven’t thought about you. You managed to take over my mind in a way that no one else could ever do.”

“We can’t do this.” With your free hand, you gently removed his hand from yours. “You’re married.”

“I’m getting divorced soon.” Your heart thumped so loudly against your chest that you were afraid he’d hear it. “We just need to fix some things and this whole thing will be over.”

You pulled out your notebook from your bag, tearing a piece of paper to write in it. You handed it to him with a genuine smile.

“Here’s my new number. Give me a call when you finish fixing those things, I’ve already waited for three years, so what’s a few more months?”

[silverynight]

Change my mind

As Newt sits in front of the counter, he wonders if he should just go find a hotel room where he can spend the night instead; he's tired, but definitely glad he's finally in Brazil.

The pub is quiet and yet the bartender seems to be busy at the moment. Newt looks around and is about to rise from his seat again, when a man sits right next to him.

"Can I get you something to drink?" His voice is deep, it seems a little bit familiar, although he hasn't tried to look at him in the eye yet. It's difficult for him, especially after meeting new people.

What makes him curious about that man is that he decides to speak to him in english; he sounds like an american.

"Perhaps I'm coming on too strong, but you're really..."

Unfortunately, Newt doesn't pay too much attention to what he's saying at that moment because he finally turns around and realizes he's sitting right next to Percival Graves.

His hair is a little bit longer and he's using black jeans and a black shirt, which makes him look more relaxed and it's a little bit weird at first (or perhaps it's because Newt didn't actually meet him but Grindelwald instead).

Newt smiles at him, thinking that Graves has probably read about him and recognized him or maybe he's in a mission for MACUSA. However, Tina hasn't mentioned anything about him in her letters.

"I'd like a firewhiskey, please," he mumbles shyly and watches as Graves's grin turns into a hopeful smile. He speaks with the bartender in an excellent portuguese.

"What are you doing in Brazil?" Graves asks, leaning closer to him. "And most importantly, how long are you gonna stay?"

Newt tells him all about the fire slugs he wants to study and Graves listens to him like everything he says is absolutely fascinating.

"Aren't those illegal?" Graves asks, prompting the magizoologist to worry for a moment, but then he notices the amused grin and the kind glimmer in his eyes.

"I'm not keeping them, well... unless they're hurt or in danger... But I just keep them until they're ready to go back into the wild, like I do with all my creatures."

When Graves puts a hand on his knee to move even closer to him, Newt finally notices the golden earring and suddenly finds him really attractive.

He blushes, but pushes those thoughts aside to tell him everything about his other babies.

"A nundu?" Graves looks like he's not sure if he wants to laugh or narrow his eyes at him. "Isn't that dangerous?"

"No creature is dangerous!" At Newt's outraged tone, Graves finally chuckles and tries to calm him down putting a hand on his cheek. He asks for another couple of drinks.

"I'm sorry... I'm not used to this... I don't know much about them; I used to think of magical creatures only in terms of the law and those rules are not usually too kind with them," Graves admits. "But I'm willing to learn more, perhaps you can stay with me so we can get to know each other as well..."

"You're very kind," Newt beams, as soon as he realizes Graves means well. He also enjoys all the advice he gives him about the habitats he has created for his babies.

"I'm sorry... I haven't even asked your name–"

"I'm Newt Scamander, I thought Tina had talked you about me, Mr. Graves."

Newt is sure he did something wrong as soon as he sees Graves freezing on the spot.

"Have we... met? I'm sorry, I–He must've messed with my mind too..."

"No, it's alright," Newt puts a hand on his shoulder immediately, realizing he's remembering the time Grindelwald imprisoned him. "We don't know each other. I thought Tina or Queenie had said something about me. I actually met–"

"Him," Graves's face twists with anger and pain; Newt takes his hand and intertwines their fingers together, watching with relief as the man slowly calms down. "No one knows I'm here. Don't tell them, please."

"Oh. Alright," Newt mumbles, suddenly puzzled. If Graves didn't know who he was, then why he approached him in the first place? Perhaps he mistook him for someone else? "Well, I need to get going–"

"Wait. You can still stay at my place," Graves rises from his seat as well, following Newt.

***

It's a small house, but cozy. Newt likes it. Graves looks nervous though, he rubs the back of his neck, eyes glued to Newt.

His face turns bright red.

"You can sleep in my bedroom. I mean, I thought we could... You know I was trying to–"

"Nonsense! I can take the couch," Newt insists; he doesn't want to be a bother.

Graves suddenly looks sad, just for a moment, before he clears his throat and looks away from him.

"It's fine. I'm not offended, I understand. I'm not–We can be friends. I have a spare room."

Newt really doesn't want to cause him any trouble, but the wizard insists on leaving him a room all to himself.

"Thank you, Mr. Graves."

"Please, call me Percival."

He stays a couple of weeks with Percival and he learns a lot about him; he enjoys helping Newt to make his case better and more secure for his creatures and although he is an excellent and talented wizard, he could be a little bit clumsy sometimes.

"Good morning, Newt. Would you like–" he stops as soon as he turns around, staring at him as his cheeks turn completely red. He starts pouring coffee all over the counter instead of his cup. "Your shoulder has f-freckles as well."

"Your coffee!" Newt says at the same time and Percival curses and blushes even more before he cleans the mess with wandless magic.

Newt fixes his oversized sweater to cover his shoulder and Percival spends the rest of the morning looking anywhere but at him.

"Your legs are long," he comments another day and curses himself before mumbling. "I meant to say: morning."

Newt looks at the long shirt that covers very little of his thighs and thinks that maybe Percival doesn't like to see Newt being such a mess in the morning. He changes his clothes immediately.

They talk about MACUSA and what happened sometimes, Newt knows Percival misses his life in New York, but he's still hurt and bitter because no one seemed to notice it wasn't him.

He escaped from Grindelwald and traveled for a while until he decided to live in Brazil; he thought no one would find him there.

"But you came," Percival smiles fondly at him. "And found me, even though that wasn't your intention."

Newt has the feeling he wants to say something else, but doesn't push him, instead they feed the mooncalves and sit for a while with them. Newt falls asleep quickly and wakes up in his bedroom.

Percival doesn't make any comment on it in the morning.

The magizoologist doesn't realize how much he enjoys Percival's company until it's time to say goodbye.

"I'll miss you, Percy."

"You can go back anytime," the wizard says, with a desperate tone in his voice.

"I can't... Not soon at least. I just accepted a job as a consultant in MACUSA," Newt mumbles, truly lamenting it.

"Oh... right. Well, goodbye."

"I'll write to you," Newt promises, although he notices that Percival doesn't look too happy about that.

***

Newt keeps his promise, however, he can't stop Queenie Goldstein from finding out; he's not very good at occlumency and his friend has gotten used to his accent.

"Please, don't tell anyone. He doesn't want it," he whispers to her after following her to the kitchen.

"Don't worry, sweetie, I won't. Although I think he'll be coming here pretty soon," she assures him, winking at him.

Newt is not sure about that, he's sent a couple of letters now and even though Percival seemed really enthusiastic about writing back it's been a couple of weeks since Newt received the last letter.

Part of him is worried and the other part of him is hurt. Perhaps he just wants to be left alone after all.

Tina is having a horrible time with the new Director, Collins, Picquery told him his position was only temporary but he's acting like he's going to stay forever and is MACUSA's king now.

Newt thinks he doesn't like him (he's constantly following him everywhere whenever he sets foot in MACUSA) but Queenie thinks it's quite the opposite.

"Although I wouldn't go near him if I were you," she tells him. "I think it's an obsession."

It's difficult to avoid someone when he's in charge of the department one's working for.

But Newt tries anyway.

"Oh, you're here doll, I've been looking for you the whole day," Collins grins, taking Newt by the arm. "Turns out there's something wrong with one of the permits Madam President gave you. You have to come back to my office."

For some reason, Queenie looks angry (it's weird to see her like that) and quickly storms into her sister's office.

"Don't worry, doll, I'll make you a new one," he grins and Newt's about to thank him when he adds: "If you have a date with me."

"But... I don't think it's a good ide–"

"It's that or you'll have to give me your Nundu."

Instinctively, Newt pulls the case closer to him. He rescued Nancy a couple of months ago, which means the only human she trusts at the moment is him (and Percival, actually). If she sees someone else she could have a panic attack and hurt someone and if she does not even Picquery will be willing to forgive her.

"Well... Then I'll acce–"

There's a noise outside the office; it's like people are running... For a frightening moment, Newt thinks one of his babies escaped, but he realizes his case is still firmly closed (besides, Percival taught him a thing or two about magic locks).

"What's that?" Collins growls, irritated before storming out. Newt follows him with caution and then sees Weis running down the hallway with a huge grin upon her face.

There are a couple of people gathering around someone in the cafeteria, they all are talking excitedly at the same time, someone is sobbing.

"Let him go, he wants to see Newt," Queenie chuckles happily before the people around move out of the way.

That's when Newt sees Percival Graves again, smiling at him nervously.

"I missed you so much," he says, out of breath, before rushing towards the magizoologist.

He takes his face in his hands and presses their foreheads together; Newt didn't know how much his heart had ached for him until now.

"You didn't write back, I thought you didn't want to be my friend anymore."

"I apologise for that. I was nervous because I was getting ready to come back here, Newt. I..."

"Mr. Graves, in case anyone hasn't informed you, I'm the new Director of Magical Security and he's my consultant magizoologist, so I'll ask you this once–"

Without even looking back, Percival makes Collins fall to the ground using wandless magic, no one around offers to help the new Director.

Then Madam President gets out of her office and requests Percival's presence.

Collins starts yelling at everyone to help him when Percival comes out again with a smirk on his face; he moves his hand to change his clothes for a suit, but he keeps the earring and his long hair.

Newt finds himself really attracted to him in that moment, but tries to push those thoughts aside.

"I'm back. I'll be your Director again," he informs everyone around as Collins finally gets up and everyone in the hallway cheers.

Collins rushes into Picquery's office with a furious expression on his face and gets fired a few minutes later.

***

Percival asks Newt to stay in his house after the magizoologist helps him with the magic locks and the decoration.

It'll take a while for the Director to feel like he's at home again, but he's quickly getting there.

"I need to tell you something first, Newt," he says, taking his hand as they both sit on the couch, exhausted.

"What is it, Percy? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine... I'm just–I need you to know I'm in love with you. I didn't mean for this to happen, but it did and I couldn't stop it. I was very attracted to you since we met and I know you didn't want to (you probably still don't) be with me like that, but you have to know..."

"Wait." Newt turns around to look directly into Percival's dark eyes. "I had no idea you were attracted to me when–"

"I invited you a drink, Newt."

"I thought it was because you recognized me."

Percival doesn't seem upset, though he rolls his eyes. He's smiling with hope.

"I asked you to sleep in my bedroom."

"I thought it was just you being nice and that you were going to sleep on the couch." Newt mumbles, blushing as he realizes how obvious it was that Percival wanted to have sex with him then.

The Director chuckles and kisses Newt's hand.

"And now? What if I asked you to sleep with me?"

"I'd say yes." Newt says, still in a nervous whisper.

Percival takes him by the chin and kisses him until they're both gasping for air.

"What if I asked you to give us a chance? To start a relationship?"

"I wouldn't say no to that because I think I'm in love with you, Percy."

"Come here, love," the Director grins as he pulls Newt closer for another kiss.

***

Patreon

[taliaquinn]

Hamilton AU Part 1

Hiya guys!!! Guess what I decided to write this One shot series that is loosely based in Hamilton!! Basically this is what I think would happened if you mixed Adrinette and Hamilton, with sprinklings of Batfam. I’ve noticed a Lot of similarities between Adrien and Alexander Hamilton (Bad fathers, Dead mothers, growing up alone, insecurities) and decided to seize the opportunity. Hope you guys enjoy :)

Marinette stomped around his home. Ripping portraits off the wall. Throwing them discarding them to the side. Of course, she avoided ones that didn't include him. How COULD he? How could Adrien have done it? Betrayed her, her family,Their children? And for what reason? For a secretary, Not even his secretary, the secretary of a business partner?

At the thought of the identity of the secretary, Marinette let loose a scream and tore off another portrait. Letting the glass shatter when it crashed on the floor.  She was someone that had always done her best to make her life miserable. Marinette thought that she had washed her hands off her when she graduated Lycee. Guess she was wrong.

Adrien never hesitated, stepping into that hotel room. Marinette watched the footage through tears, there wasn't a millisecond of hesitation... He didn’t pause at all. Pause to think of her, his wife. Pause to think of his children. Pause to think of how it would break them all apart. Marinette was watching her picture-perfect family burn.

Did Adrien care? No. He just followed Lila right into the hotel room. It wasn't even once he’d go to her house so often you might as well call it a past time. He even had the nerve to bring that girl into their home. Into their bed. Well, Adrien has forfeited his right to her bed, and her heart. He can sleep in his office instead. She didn't care.

Marinette couldn’t help but let out a breathless chuckle. After 12 years Lila won after all. She got what she wanted the most. Adrien.

You know what? Marinette was fine with that. Adrien can be Lilas completely.

Marinette already sent the paperwork needed to file for divorce. Already got the paperwork to change her name back to Marinette Dupain Cheng Wayne. She’s going to make sure that her children’s last names are changed as well. She was going to cleanse herself of Adrien Agreste completely.

On second thought She’s going to pack their bags and head to Gotham. Adrien wouldn’t dare follow them there or try to see her.

Right now Marinette only wanted was to never see him again. She needed to see her siblings and father.

Marinette quickly got to work. Moving around her home she stopped packing their bags. She needed to get rid of the filth. She changed course and started to gather pictures, magazines, and letters.  Once she made sure to grab everything Adrien related she plunked herself right next to the fireplace and started to sort through everything letting her mind wander to the events of the week

Oh, she was late so late. quickly hopping out of bed she made sure to put on a suit and get her bags and purse ready for her trip. Taking a peek into Emma’s room she was slightly worried when found the bed empty. She made sure to stop at Louis and Hugo’s room. She was surprised to find the bed and cribs empty as well. Did they wake themselves up? She walked towards the living room and heard voices.

“Sweetheart you're playing the wrong scale see, look at me une deuce Trois quart cinq six sept…..” 

Marinette stopped to smile at herself. Adrien was home. That was rare these days. He was teaching Emma piano. That also rarely happened these days. He was always so busy. She knew from the lack of response from Emma that her daughter was soaking up all the attention as much as possible and focusing on getting the scale right. She started to hear the beginning of a simple melody. Quickly stopping to check over her suit and makeup she made her way towards the living room.

Once entering she couldn’t help but smile. Adrien was in the corner sitting next to Emma at the piano. Hugo was in his high chair eating cereal, rather messily too. Louis was sitting on the couch watching his morning cartoons. Everything was perfect. Her family was perfect.

Marinette jumped. Her phone was ringing... Checking the caller Id to make sure it wasn’t another reporter or worst  Adrien before answering. she let out a sigh of relief once she saw who was calling. She quickly picked up.

“Hey Damian hows it going” she responded softly, she hadn’t expected him to call. He was currently off-world with the Titans.

“Skip the pleasantries, beloved sister, I am here to help you and my nieces and Nephews and also handle that scoundrel of a cat,” Damian Said in a brisk tone.

All business and ready to return to Earth and terminate a certain blond-haired green-eyed model. Oh, Damian swore that when he got his hands on him he was going to unleash the Fury of an al-Ghul Wayne. Maybe sending a few assassins would be necessary-

“No assassins Damian” uh oh was he talking out loud??

“yes you were and no assassins Damian, he’s still the father of my kids, I don’t want to have to explain to them why uncle Damian is in prison”

“tt as if I would get caught, If anything it will probably be the fools Todd sent who would get caught” Damian knew how to keep his hands clean. The fact that his sister thinks otherwise is insulting.

“Wait. Who did Jason send!?  Call them off Da-” Oof Marinette was going to have to Call Jason and get him to call off any potential hitmen. Oh, who was she kidding she’s going to have a long list of friends and family to call and make stop any plans of hurting Adrien.

She grabbed a postcard that Adrien sent her. From Germany. It was from a couple of months ago. Marinette counted back. Ah if her math was correct then Adrien was “meeting up” with Lila at the time. Ignoring the ache in her heart she flicked the postcard into the fireplace. Watching the fire overtake it,

“Marinette I insist that you and your children come back to America at once and leave that awful city, Pennyworth has already prepared your old room along with the kid's room,” Damian said, yanking Marinette's attention from the glowing embers.

For all Damian cared he would let Todd's fools get caught, as long as they completed their task.

“I have to get the kid's Bags ready and I can’t leave without telling my parents but that's difficult enough since there off on their anniversary trip across Europe”

"Humph I'm sure they will understand the need for you to get away from the city, from him, I swear Agreste knows no bounds he had the nerve to cheat on you with some secretary,”

“It wasn't just some secretary, it was Lila Rossi” She spat out with heat evident in her voice. “She got what she wanted after all these years” she chuckled. She kept on flicking magazines, posters, and pictures that had Adrien's face in them into the fireplace. She hoped that Adrien's reputation would burn. After all, isn't that the reason why he revealed his affair to save it?

Anyways that’s it for part one. It was intended to be longer but I split it into two parts in order to not spoil you guys. I might connect this AU to another, as in a Law and Order:SVU one. Comment if you want to be added in the taglist!!!

A Why Me!? Chapter is coming out soon so be on the lookout for that :) 

Btw if you noticed that the paragraphs are much better written, I owe it to @unmaskedagain who I took inspiration from for writing cues :) 

Stay Safe and Healthy!!!

Taglist: 

@damianthebratboy @purplesundaze @silvergold-swirl @k-poplunardreams @pepelachanel @laurcad123 @maribat-is-lifeblood @kass-is-weird @another-fan-of-anotherplan @damianette-is-life @amayakans @parallelparabox @miukiiu @valeks-princess @toodaloo-kangaroo @vixen-uchiha @thezestywalru @dreamykitty25 @pirats-pizzacanninibles @mochinek0 @shamefullove @mochegato @souleateralicestein @thestressmademedoit @throneoffirebreathingbitchqueen @aestheticnpoetic @mysupporthyperfixations @itsmeevie01

[myfearless-love]

The Wildest Place You Run (5/?) - Not Far Now

I'm sorry for the delay: traveling and vacation made it impossible to post, but in turn, you'll get two chapters this week (including this). This one is a bit shorter, but you'll see why in the next chapter (spoiler alert: too many action).

As always, a huge thank you to my beta and artist @thejollyroger-writer for correcting my mistakes and making kick-ass art for chapters 5 and 6! Check it out above!

Summary:

Vampires, Werewolves, Mages, and Elves. For centuries, they kept their existence a secret, but the constant rebellions against the strict laws of the Guild had led to a terrible tragedy. In an open clash, it became apparent to humans just what kind of monsters lived among them. Emma Swan loses the love of her life in the first battle of the war. A few months later, while still trying to process what happened, a mysterious and terrifying figure worms his way into her life. But the man is hiding far more terrible secrets than he reveals to her, pulling them both into a horrible situation...

Chapter: 5/? - Not Far Now

Fandom: Once Upon a Time

Rating: M

Relationships: Killian Jones/Emma Swan

Read on: FF.net or AO3

Words: ~2k

Previous parts:

Ch 1 II Ch 2 II Ch 3 II Ch 4

.

The next morning she woke up on the couch, curled up, leaning her head on the armrest. Someone, probably August, had covered her with a blanket and left her there. She was used to it, he often disappeared without a word, and he was the only one she couldn't hold it against.

She sat up slowly, and it took her half a minute to discover she was alone.

Again.

She scrambled out from under the quilt and slipped out into the kitchen. Her neck was throbbing, she was cold, and she still felt exhausted despite the few hours of sleep she'd gotten. Her day had started out shitty.

Again.

(There were many recurring things in her life that she would've preferred to avoid.)

As she glanced at the clock to see it was ten in the morning, her eyes caught a yellow note on the fridge, adorned with David's almost illegible scrawl.

I'll be home late. Take care of yourself!

Sighing, she crumpled the paper in her palm and tossed it straight into the bin beside the kitchen counter. She opened the refrigerator and was disappointed to find it contained only a few cans of beer and a slice of moldy cheese.

Furious, she slammed the door and marched up the stairs to change and grab some money. She had to go shopping.

She was already shuddering in apprehension.

Going back outside and among strangers… Great.

She tugged on her black jeans and pulled on a thick, hooded black sweater. Before Neal, she'd never worn flashy or bright colors and after his death, she'd relegated almost all of her more colorful clothes to the back of her closet.

She didn't have much money, being unemployed at the moment. David was supporting her now, which she simply hated. She had been looking for vacancies for a long time, but with her limited experience and lack of a college degree, not to mention the impending apocalypse looming over their heads, her chances of finding something were pretty low. And David was against it anyway; she had no idea why, though, and he never told her the reason. So she had to make do with her limited savings, which was becoming increasingly annoying as David had completely forgotten about the household in the last two months.

She put a small amount of money in her back pocket and her keys in the pockets of her sweater, along with her phone. She put her hair in a ponytail, her curls bouncing with each step she took. She fixed her eyelashes with a swipe of mascara.

She tucked her gun into the waistband of her jeans; after all, one could never know what might happen. She concealed it with her sweater, making it invisible to anyone.

Fog was spreading through the gray streets, the sky covered in black clouds, an ideal time for a short walk through the city center. There were hardly any people on the streets. On weekday mornings, everyone was either at school or at work, with only a few retirees strolling the cobblestone sidewalk.

Emma stuck her hands in the front pockets of her jeans and sketched out her tasks for the day in her head, but the list was pretty short. Shopping was her only agenda today, so she began to think feverishly about what to do with the long hours ahead of her.

She arrived at the tiny little corner store without any plans. She could get everything she needed here. She hated supermarkets.

When she was done shopping, she didn't head home, but to the nearby library. Inspiration came to her somewhere between choosing which can of food to buy. She needed some good books and a quiet place among normal people. Among relatively normal people.

It wasn't five minutes before she was wandering among the bookshelves in the pleasantly heated room, browsing the selection.

No one disturbed her, and at that moment, it felt very good. She continued to hunt for books peacefully, and after a while, she returned to the cashier with a small stack. The young woman behind the counter treated her kindly like she did anyone else, and that was a really strange feeling. Strange, but heartwarming. Maybe she should go out more often and fill out some more job applications. Then she could even live a relatively normal life.

She was already halfway home when her phone started ringing. She rolled her eyes in annoyance and dropped her packed bags on one of the nearby benches. She dug out her phone and looked at the caller ID.

David.

"I'm almost home, I just went shop-"

"Where are you exactly?" he gasped into the phone.

"Near the park on the avenue. Why?" she asked suspiciously. "What is it again?"

Before answering, he repeated her location to someone, then she heard the sound of a door slamming shut. "Elves," came the curt reply. "Dark Elves."

"David, stop talking in riddles!" The icy fingers of fear zigzagged through her spine. She had already had the opportunity to meet with one Dark Elf and she had no desire to repeat the encounter.

"Over the past few months, the Vampires and Werewolves have been plotting against us. They have realized that they cannot defeat us with brute force alone. They've been lurking in the shadows for the last few months, looking for a few allies, and they've found the Dark Elves. Some are already in the city and…" he took a deep breath. "The point is, don't move from where you are now, Emma. Killian will pick you up shortly."

Before she could ask anything, David ended the call. She stared furiously at her phone for a while, then pocketed the device just as it started beeping incessantly. She groaned and fished it out of her pocket again. It seemed she would have to replace it soon, the battery was almost dead, despite it being half full mere moments ago.

But that wasn't the only problem with the device. The signal dropped dangerously, then the thing just shut off altogether. Sultry magic swept through the city. Emma looked up in confusion. Around her, several elderly people pointed to the sky and shook their heads in incomprehension.

Emma looked up as well.

There were almost entirely black clouds floating in the sky, shrouding the entire city in shadows.

So the Elves were really here.

She picked up her bags, slipped her right hand under her sweater, and reached for the handle of her gun. She wouldn't be able to do much against Elves with it, but at least it made her feel a little better. Nervously, she scanned the deserted street. She had never longed this hard for Killian's arrival. Correction, she had never longed for him, period… Until now.

When she thought about it more carefully, she'd never talked to him for more than five minutes. Truth to be told, she hadn't even had the chance. Killian just came and went. He showed up in the most unexpected places, at the most stressful times, and disappeared just as quickly.

Barely a minute later, a black Porsche Panamera stopped in front of her, leaving dark skid marks on the asphalt. She jerked back, startled, and managed to land on her ass in a not very graceful way.

The car door swung open and Killian stared at her, impatiently at first, then noticed her sprawled figure on the ground. A strange smile slid across his face, but she couldn't place why it felt so different. "It's more comfortable in here, lass," he said, patting the seat beside him.

Emma staggered to her feet with an annoyed huff. She considered staining the seat cover with her muddy jeans in retaliation, but she didn't want to be childish. She was about to dust off her clothes as best she could with a tissue when something grabbed her waist and yanked her into the car. The door slammed shut on its own, and Killian stepped on the gas.

"Was that you?" she growled when she finally managed to get herself into a more decent position. At that moment, the seatbelt flew through the air in front of her and snapped into place on the edge of her seat.

"And that too," Killian nodded grimly, focusing on the road.

"Don't you dare do that again! Or at least, warn me next time!"

She really wasn't used to someone practicing magic on her. It wasn't exactly painful or uncomfortable; in fact, the touch of Killian's magic was lukewarm and pleasantly eerie, but it still scared the shit out of her.

"Apologies…"

Finally, she raised her eyes to him, and only now realizing why his previous smile seemed so strange. His face looked completely different. There was not a drop of eyeliner on him, and his stubble was completely gone. He looked so young that way, but she had to admit, she liked his bad boy look better.

Either way, he was a pretty good-looking guy.

And she really needed to stop thinking now.

"What the hell happened?"

"To my face?" he smiled compulsively. "I had to shave because they couldn't stitch up the wound," he replied lightly, as if it was just a usual Thursday for him.

"Wound? Stitch up? But shouldn't you be supposed to heal…?"

Before she could finish her question, Killian turned his face fully toward her. There was a fresh, red scar starting at his temple and extending to the line of his lips.

"Jesus…" she gasped.

The sight of his handsome face disfigured by the scar shocked her greatly.

"Wounds inflicted by Elves don't heal on their own or fast like any other," he shrugged and looked at the road again, but she could see the bitterness in his eyes that she just couldn't place.

She sank as low as she could into the seat, peering at him timidly, then glanced out the window. The city was dark as if it was already night, and she knew for a fact that this was the work of Elves. This way, the vampires could walk around the city without fearing the sunlight.

It was comfortably warm in the car, yet she huddled as a shiver ran through her. She watched the city pass by silently and then she realized…

"Killian, we left the—" she began in alarm, but he seemed perfectly calm.

"We're not going to your house," he replied nonchalantly, not taking his eyes off the road, for which she was very grateful because they were going much faster than allowed.

"Then where?" her eyes widened in shock.

"To the Guild. It's safer there."

"And David? What about him? Where is he now?"

"Calm down, Swan, he'll be there too," he assured her, then gave her an uneasy sideways glance. "It's going to be alright."

Calm down.

It was easy to say but much harder to do. Especially for her, who could get upset over any little thing, no matter how ridiculous.

Despite the low roar of the engine, she could hear the wind outside blowing louder and louder, tearing cruelly at the scrawny branches of the weak trees on the side of the road. Lightning zigzagged through the sky, and the car shook in another gust of wind.

She shuddered in her seat and made herself as small as she could. Only now did she realize what the presence of the Elves meant, and she was scared to death, if she was honest. There had been no example of them interfering in battles on this earth for hundreds of years.

"It's not far now, love, we'll be there soon," Killian encouraged, and she looked up at him again, expressionless, feeling unspeakably miserable.

His face was practically split in two, and he was the one comforting her? She scoffed at herself.

"Okay." She couldn't say anything else, just slumped in her seat and crossed her arms in front of her chest. A shiver ran down her spine, causing goosebumps on her skin, and she felt like her head was being held in a vice. She knew what that meant. She had just enough time to cling to the edge of the seat, and the vision came unstoppable…

[alternateafterthought]

Arcane - Part 11

Ø  Meaning: Secret, Mysterious, Understood only by few. MAGIC

Ø  Pairing: Panther Hybrid Min Yoongi x Reader

Ø  Summary: Some secrets are kept for the good of people. Some secrets are kept for abuse or power. Yoongi had been a victim of abuse and power, and he wasn’t going to let anyone else use secrets for that purpose. So, when Y/N comes into his life with secrets, he doesn’t want to fall into that rabbit hole again. He doesn’t want to give all his trust to someone who will abuse their power over him. But maybe Y/N’s secrets are a good thing.

Ø  Genre: Hybrid!au, fluff, angst, eventual smut

Ø  Warnings: I know in the last part I warned that it was more intense this part but I somehow left that out and wrote it in a way that it isn’t bad, Of course dealing with this subject there is a small trigger warning... What the character did is not right, and no one should ever have to be put through something like this!! Stay safe out there!

Ø  Word Count: 1625

Ø  A/N: Hey guys… here is the next part of my Min Yoongi fic!! I am back with another part of Arcane!! It has been so long since I posted anything or written anything so I really hope you all like this part and understand that sometimes I just don’t have inspiration to keep writing!! So, I really hope you guys love and support this fic like you did with GOLDEN TIME!! If you want to be added to a tag list, message me or leave a comment or ask!! I would love and appreciate your feedback!! Thank you so much

PREV / NEXT

Y/N couldn’t concentrate.

She wouldn’t lie to anyone and say that she was interested in the paperwork in front of her. In actuality, she couldn’t tell anyone who asked what it was she was supposed to be concentrating on. Her mind was completely preoccupied with the events of her tragic and questionable weekend.

Monday mornings were always hard, coming off a good weekend. Try a Monday morning coming off a horrible weekend. It was currently 11:02 on Thursday after the horrible weekend and no amount of coffee, even the 8 cups Y/N had been through since 5am when she woke up, or distractions would take her mind off of her Hybrid at home.

Said hybrid had been hiding, completely avoiding the outside world, more importantly avoiding Y/N, for days now. Saturday, Sunday, Monday, all the way until today being Thursday and Yoongi still hadn’t come out of hiding.

Every morning Y/N would knock three times on Yoongi’s door, letting him know she was there. She’d leave him a tray of food outside his door before leaving for work, texting him routinely through the day at 11am, 1pm, 4pm just before she would return home to what was pretty much an empty house. It was always so cold, all the lights were always off, no heat, no Yoongi at the door to greet her home.

Every afternoon Y/N would hang her coat and bag, walk to the hall, and see that the tray off food she’d left in the morning had been completely untouched. It was concerning, Y/N didn’t know if Yoongi was eating or not, and from the looks of the cold, untouched food, it didn’t look like he was.

After taking the food back to the kitchen and throwing it out, Y/N would start to fix dinner for the both of them. Leaving a tray at Yoongi’s door before going back and sitting by herself at the table, hoping that maybe Yoongi would join her.

He never did.

And she could blame no one except herself.

Y/N was supposed to help him, protect him. She had promised that no harm would ever come to him. And yet, she was the reason that he completely hid from her, from the world.

She could see it as if it were happening in the moment. Pushing open the door, seeing Yoongi laying on the bed, arms up, eyes wide, begging for help. She could see Hye-Jin looking annoyed as Y/N stood in the door, straddling Yoongi’s waist.

Y/N would never forget the panic that flashed through Yoongi’s eyes, even as Y/N acted. Y/N didn’t waste any time in pulling Hye-Jin off of Yoongi, not saying anything as she threw the girl out of her house, slamming the door in her surprised face as she raced back to Yoongi’s room. She wanted to check on him, make sure he was okay, reach out to him.

But when she finally got back to his door, it was shut, closed off from the world.

Y/N was pulled out of her constant worrying by the ringing of her phone. Shaking her head, she looked at the caller ID, not recognizing the number.

“Hello?” Y/N spoke into her phone, thanking the fact that her office door was closed.

“Hello? Miss Y/N?” A familiar voice asked, though Y/N couldn’t place it.

“This is her? May I ask who this is?”

“Miss Y/N, it’s Jung Hoseok, from HOPE Sanctuary.” The voice cheerfully answered.

“Oh, J-Hope, right?” Y/N smiled widely at the memory of the man who helped her to adopt the hybrid currently hiding from her

“Yes. How are you? How’s Yoongi?”

The question was a dangerous one. How could Y/N explain to the man that had entrusted one of his friends to her, that she had completely and totally fucked up? She didn’t like the thought of lying to him, didn’t like the position she was already in, but how could she tell him what had happened? How could she tell him she was probably the worst thing that could happen to Yoongi?

“Y/N? Are you still there?” J-Hope asked.

“Oh yes, I’m still here.” Y/N forced a laughed. “Sorry just a lot on my mind with work. But I’m good, Yoongi is good.”

“Well that’s good to hear.”

Y/N could hear movement in the back of the phone call, J-hope wasn’t alone, and she could guess just how many were there. 5 hybrids missing their panther and a human who was so much better equip to this job then she was.

“Hyung, ask her…” Y/N heard a small, muffled voice.

“It would seem I have some impatient hybrids with me.” J-Hope’s cheerful voice came through with a laugh. “But they were wondering if that offer still stood? If they were able to come and visit their Yoongi Hyung?”

“Hey, I’m his Hyung!” Y/N heard a protest coming from behind J-Hope.

“Of course, you can.” Y/N heard herself saying without missing a beat. “I’m sure Yoongi would love a visit from you all.”

“Really?” Someone else spoke, seeming to have taken the phone off J-Hope. “We can come visit?”

“Of course, you can visit.” Y/N really just couldn’t stop herself, anything that will ease Yoongi would be welcomed. “I know Yoongi has been thinking about you guys. I was actually going to offer Yoongi if he would like a trip back to the city to see you all.”

“Oh perfect. It seems I have good timing.” J-Hope’s voice was a little distant from the phone, meaning the phone was on speaker now. “When would be the best time for us to come down?”

“You can come down any time you’re ready to.” Y/N moved around some paperwork, looking for her journal.

“We could fly in tomorrow afternoon?” J-Hope proposed, she could feel the nerves of them all.

“Perfect.” Y/N wrote a little note into her journal, noting they would be here. “I’ll clear out the other rooms for you all tonight. Will you be coming with them J-hope?”

“If it’s not too much trouble? I would like to be with them?”

“Of course.” Y/N hoped she could talk to Yoongi tonight. “I’ll make sure to have lots of food ready for you all. I know Yoongi will be happy.”

A cheer rang through the phone, letting Y/N know they were excited for the chance of a trip. She would just hope that Yoongi would be excited to see his brothers after nearly 2 months.

“We should let you get back to work now Y/N.” J-Hope seemed to have finally taken the phone back, placing it to his ear. “I’ll text you the details of a flight, so you know when to expect us.”

“Sounds good.” Y/N smiled, nodding. “I’ll see you all soon.”

“See you tomorrow, Y/N.”

Finally hanging up, Y/N let out a deep sigh, her head in her hands on the desk in front of her. She didn’t know what to do, she had a problem to solve at home with Yoongi and now his brothers were coming to see him. Finally sitting back up she pushed her hair out of her face, picking up her phone and ringing the familiar number, only for it to ring out.

Said hybrid sat in his room, staring at his phone as Y/N’s name lit up the screen in his pitch-black darkness. It’s not like the darkness actually affected him anyway, but still it was dark. Dark enough that he knew if Y/N was home and had walked through his door, like the many times he’s hoped she would in the past week, she’d have tripped.  

Yoongi would never straight up admit it, but he seriously missed Y/N. He knew it was his own doing, hiding himself away from her after what someone else did. But he couldn’t help but feel betrayed that she had let someone like that into his territory.

She had to know. Yoongi couldn’t help but think that Y/N had to know that he wanted to do nothing but protect his territory, and that meant her as well. He just wanted to protect the woman who gave him a change, but she was the one bringing dangers into his territory.

He couldn’t exactly forget it, what that girl felt like pressed against him. Yoongi could never really forget the pure look of lust in her eyes as he tried to get away from her. She had stalk him as if he were the prey and she were the predator, she had used his past against him, and it had won.

He would truly never be able to forgive himself for falling, failing to stop himself from feeling sorry for himself. He already knew that hiding and curling in on himself was wrong, and yet here he was, lying in the dark, staring at a black screen, hoping, praying for Y/N to reach out to him.

They were truly words that would haunt him, words that were whispered into his ear. Words that he had buried deep within his mind and now…

“Your just a pet… this is what your made for.”

“She’ll never please you the way I will.”

“Come on, this is what we got you for.”

“She’ll never love you.”

Again, and again. It was like a broken record playing for his downfall.

Hye-Jin’s words weren’t the first to tell him that, they were a constant in the last few homes he had been in. He just never thought they’d be words he heard while here with Y/N.

Now he just stared at the screen as it lit up again with Y/N’s name. He couldn’t bring himself to answer it, couldn’t bring himself to hear the broken words leave her mouth as he tried to call for him.

PREV / NEXT

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[sokkabeifong]

Can you write some tokka angst 🙏

ofc I can anon and IM SORRY THIS IS SO LATE but better late than never I guess. this is set in modern times because modern times are fun to write for tokka okay? a bit longer than usual but the more angst the better am I right

Toph had promised Sokka that she’d go to the hospital when it happened, so that’s exactly what she’d done. She hadn’t promised that she’d actually get anyone’s attention. Or check in. Or ask for help.

Although… the contractions were getting more insistent, and she doubted the medical staff would leave her alone if she stripped off the stupid maternity pants and just squatted down right there on the lobby floor.

With a heavy sigh, she waddled her way over to the nearest front desk. Spirits, she hadn’t been in a hospital in years. She wasn’t even sure what the different branches and buildings and desks were all for. But there was no way that she was giving birth at home. Katara was in medical school, sure, but she wasn’t done. And Toph wasn’t about to risk her life and her child’s life for a “practice trial.”

Still, there was something unnerving about the hospital, with its stuffy feeling and too-squeaky floor. It feels clean, clean in a way that you can just sense. She didn’t need sight to tell her just how antibacterial this place was.

A pinging, traitorous part of her wishes that someone was here with her, that she didn’t have to do this alone. But it was her own stupid pride that had taken a cab all alone in a Wednesday night, and the only person she truly wanted present was somewhere she could never get him back from. She’d promised him before he died that she would go to the hospital if she felt even the slightest change. He wanted her to be safe, he said.

And now, of course, Sokka was dead and gone while she was here, swollen belly stretching out her sweater and maternity pants. As much of an annoyance as labor would be, getting the thing out of her was going to be a blessing. She’d spent too long unbalanced and vulnerable to attack.

“Can I help you?”

Toph was broken out of her musings by the question from someone sitting at the closest desk. She turned her head to where she hoped the person, a woman by the sound of it, would be.

“I hope so,” she smiled, falling back into a generic cover ID face. “I should probably see a doctor.”

“All right,” said the woman. She heard the clicking of nails on a keyboard, then something sliding across the desk. “Why don’t you take one of these forms, fill it out, and bring it back here?”

“Can’t ,” she said shortly. “I’m blind.”

“No worries.” The woman clicked her pen open like she had blind pregnant ladies come into the ER every day. Who knew - maybe she did. “I’ll ask you the questions and you answer, okay?”

“Okay.” Toph winced as another contraction hit her. At least the protruding baby bump gave her something to lean against. She made sure to breathe in through her nose and out through her mouth as the woman began questioning her, just as Katara had instructed her to do. I’m a few hours, the whole thing would be over and then - she bit her lip and redirected her thoughts.

She wished Sokka was -

She redirected that thought, too.

“Reason for your visit?” the woman asked, yapping the pen against the clipboard.

Toph waited a moment before she turned around yet again, because she was in the middle of another contraction and couldn’t decide whether she’d rather scream or just go ahead and kill the lady.

“My contractions are about eight minutes apart,” she said.

The lady blinked once and then repeated, “They’re eight minutes apart from each other? So you’re in labor. Are you in active labor?”

Toph smiled sweetly. “Are you asking me to stick my fingers down and see whether or not I’m dilated to seven centimeters?”

To the woman's credit, the crudity didn't seem to faze her, and she plowed ahead with, “Ma’am, this is the ER. We’re not equipped for a birth. I’ll call you a wheelchair immediately, and we’ll get you up to Labor and Delivery. Trust me, it’ll be faster than checking in here and waiting for a transfer.”

“Where’s Labor and Delivery?”

“Fourth floor, and I -”

“I’ll just walk over there. It’s fine.”

“Ma’am, I really must insist. You’ve technically checked in—” she waved the yellow paper “—and you’re our responsibility now.”

Toph leaned heavily against the counter and deftly snatched the page out of the woman’s hand. At least her coordination was still functional.

“There. Now I didn’t check in, and I’m my own problem.”

“Ma’am, please. You’re in no condition to go wandering the hospital, whether you take that against your pregnancy or your eyesight. Let me just call someone to wheel you over.”

Luckily for the woman, another contraction rendered her unable to give a snappy retort. She waited for it to pass, quietly, quickly, then faced the lady once more.

“Fine,” she said tightly. “Fine. Fine.”

“Thank you,” the lady said, obviously relieved. Apparently she did not deal with stubborn blind pregnant women on the daily.

By the time she had been put in a wheelchair and taken through the long halls and winding corridors to Labor and Delivery, Toph had managed to calm herself down. Not because the situation was in any way calming, but because she’d stressed her body and mind out enough that she’d fallen into full-blown mission mode.

Which was fine. It’d probably be easier to give birth with that attitude.

“Well, you seem pretty together, Toph,” the nurse gushed as she checked in yet again at the front desk. “We’ll get you back as soon as possible. For now, if you can just take a seat in one of those chairs, and listen for your name.”

Toph let her real self fade into the background, giving over control to the five other women sitting in the waiting room, and promptly closed her eyes. If she was going to be in pain, she might as well rest while she could.

-

The calm blind girl out in the lobby was already a topic of discussion.

It wasn’t completely unheard of for someone to come in alone. Life was weird and sometimes people gave birth without anyone they knew to help them through the experience. But this girl? The calm young girl with ebony in her hair and in her eyes wasn’t any of the typical stories. She was clean and put together. She was calm and young and looked like the kind of person who would have a dozen friends by her side, even if the father of the child was no longer in the picture.

And yet, there she sat. First in the waiting room and then in her hospital room.

Alone.

Moreover, Miss Toph Beifong had claimed on her paperwork that her contractions were now five minutes apart. However, she was sitting too calmly for that. In fact, the nurse had sat with phone in hand and timed out more than ten minutes, and the girl hadn’t moved once. She’d sat there calmly. No wincing, no cursing, no crying.

It wasn’t until the nurse pulled the woman back and got down to take a look that anyone believe the claim at all.

"Shit,” the nurse murmured.

The doctor startled and glanced up to see if Toph had been offended by the curse. Fortunately, the girl seemed more concerned with how many fingers she had, and didn’t seem to have heard.

“What?” the doctormurmured, more quietly.

“Her cervix is nine centimeters,” the nurse answered.

“Shit,” the doctor echoed.

-

By the end of it all, Toph had decided she did not like labor. She’d made that decision before she began crowning, and nothing that followed did anything to change that. While she had experienced worse pain in her life, she had never experienced that kind of pain.

She had once spent four straight hours being absolutely crushed by a girl at the gym and, at the peak of labor, she was pretty sure she’d trade out that experience for her current one.

Nevertheless, she didn’t scream. She screwed up her eyes and doubled her body up and flexed her fingers. Tears leaked from her eyes from the sheer stress of it all. But her lips remained tightly closed. The skin around them grew white from where she bit them between her teeth, and the nurses were afraid she’d draw blood.

One well-intentioned nurse had advised that she just give in and cry out.

Toph had rolled her eyes, widened her legs, and pushed again.

In the end, nature was inevitable. Toph had always had someone to remind her to take good care of her body, so the whole experience was over in a few hours. She collapsed back against the wet bedding. There was sweat and blood and who-knew-what all over her, and she’d probably never feel clean again.

There was screaming in the background, and her eyes finally focused on the small infant being washed by the hospital staff.

Then her view was cut off by the ring of congratulating nurses.

“It’s a beautiful girl. Do you have the name ready for her?”

“Call it Toph, for all I fucking care,” Toph murmured, too quietly for anyone to make out. She turned over on her side, away from the child, and shut her eyes tight.

-

Later that night, after hours of tossing and turning in her sleep, Toph was awoken by the small mewing sound coming from her bedside. She sighed. She’d tried to have the baby whisked away to some far-off nursery where she wouldn’t have to ignore its presence, but apparently the hospital didn’t “do that anymore.”

Spirits, she felt so empty. Tired and empty and drained.

Deciding she could avoid it no further, Toph feels her way to the other side of the bed. The hospital is quiet, and she can’t even guess what time it is. Probably late at night. She waddled over to the bassinet, and the mewing became a full-fledged scream.

She jumped. The baby continued screaming, but less so, as if it hadn’t realized anyone was there. She found herself reaching down, feeling the child, the blankets, so afraid she would drop it or break it or… worse. For a moment she hesitated.

This is your baby, she thinks. You’re allowed to pick it up. It’s yours. And his. You can pick it up.

Her. She could almost hear Sokka’s voice echo through the room, reminding her that their child wasn’t an it. The thought made her smile.

Slowly, carefully, as though her life depended on it, Toph lowered her arms around the tiny, tiny baby and lifted her up. The baby stopped bawling and snuggled against her mother’s chest.

“Hello,” she said stupidly, like the kid could respond. But her mouth kept moving. “Um. Uh, my name’s Toph. I’m your - Spirits, I guess I’m your mom now, huh?”

The baby gurgled, her lips curled like she might cry again. Toph hurried to keep talking.

“Oh, God, um. What else, what else… uh, you have a bunch of aunts and uncles,” she said. “They’re all gonna help raise you. They’re annoying sometimes, but they mean well. You’re our first baby, you know.”

Our. The word made Toph close her eyes for a second. Try as she might, there would be no more “our.” There was only “she.” The “our” in her partnership was long gone. How was she supposed to tell her child that?

She decided to start with the basics.

“Your daddy was so brave,” she whispered. It hurt to talk about Sokka in the past tense, but she kept going. “He was so, so strong and brave and I just know he would have loved to meet you. He already loved you, you know. He wanted to meet you so bad, kid. He just never got the chance.”

The baby blinked, her eyelids heavy like hearing about the father she would never meet was too much for one night. Toph wholeheartedly agreed and set her down in the bassinet once more, making sure she was secure before plodding back to her own bed and face-planting on the blankets.

The nurse had told her the baby’s eyes were blue. She let that thought sink into her heart before drifting off to sleep.

[lilspidermonkey]

Obey me brothers x MC shorts

My first time writting about the demon boi’s, and hopefully not my last! I hope whoever is curious enough to read enjoys these short stories!

A/n: Obey Me shorts with the bros.

Basically, the bois are up late or wake up and have the urge for water (Stay hydrated my dudes!) but are distracted by MC who is awake and not feeling too great!

Hope thy enjoy!

 Warnings!: Ahhh not really any? There’s maybe some implied things and a bit of groping, kissing and possibly hickies.

We have the fluff gloves on with this one!

  Lucifer: Clearing his throat, Luci got up from his desk where he finally completed a mountain of paperwork, stretching his arms and feeling the urge for some water.

Leaving his room, he headed down the hall to see you sitting on the staircase, back up against the wall, knees to your chest and a sad expression.

Blinking in slight confusion, Lucifer walked over to you, gently clearing his throat to get your attention.

Slightly startled you blinked and looked up at the towering oldest brother, his expression soft and curious.

You smiled, “Lucifer.” You acknowledge him.

He hummed with a smile, “MC, what’re you doing on the staircase at this time at night?” he asked.

Giving a teasing grin you chuckled, “I could ask you the same thing.” You said.

Lucifer raised his eyebrow, making it known that he was not going to fall for your teasing antics.

Heaving a sigh, you clutched your knees more into your chest, “Sorry, I was just having trouble sleeping, and I didn’t want to annoy anyone, but also didn’t want to be in my room.” Your cheeks flushed slightly. “And I wanted to kinda be as close to you as possible without disturbing you.”

Lucifer smiled, stepping down to the step you were on, “May I?” he asked.

You looked up at him and gave a smile with a smile.

The tall man took a seat on the step you were also on, smiling at you, “If you are ever having any troubles, whatsoever, you are more than welcome to come to me. No matter the time or day.” He reached out to grab your hand warmly. “In fact, next time you are having any troubles, I expect you to come to me, and I’ll help you however I can.”

You felt yourself blush more as you nodded.

Lucifer gave a charming smile, standing up and holding his hand out to you.

Returning the smile, you gently slid you hand into his, and he effortlessly pulled you to your feet.

Gently pulling you along with him, he took you back into his room, pressing you up against his desk, he caged you in between his arms and smirking down at you.

You blushed but reached up to cup his face, giving gentle touches to his face.

Approving of the affection, he pushed into the touches.

You chuckled, and he smiled gently at you, as he leaned more to you, connecting his lips with yours, his hands moving to clutch onto your waist, pressing himself more against you, as you moved your hands from his face to neck and into his hair.

“I’ll make sure to be there for you, whenever you need.”

  Mammon: Yawning, the greedy demon stretched his arms into the air as he mumbled complaints to himself about needing water so late at night.

Hearing a small sniffle, his ears perked up and, in his curiosity, he followed the sounds.

Turning the corner of the lounge, he saw the fire going as a small figure curled up into the corner of the couch.

Raising an eyebrow, he moved behind the couch, slouching over the couch, “What’re you doing?”

In completely shock a high-pitched squeak of surprised left you as you turn to meet Mammon’s blue eyes.

Seeing that your eyes were teary and red, his own eyes widened in shock, “W-what’s wrong with you!? What happened, huh!?” he asked in genuine worry.

Blinking and wiping your tears away, you cleared your throat, “Ah, sorry, I didn’t think anyone else was awake.” You said, sniffling and covering up your face.

Mammon growled and came around the couch, taking your hands away from your face and staring into your eyes, “What happened? Why are you sitting here alone and crying, huh?” he asked.

You looked down, “It’s silly.” You mumbled under your breath.

Mammon growled again, “Spit it out already! I can’t help you if I don’t know what’s wrong.” He said.

You kept your eyes avoided, “I just had a nightmare, it’s fine, so you don’t have to worry or anything.” You said.

Mammon huffed, “Who said I was worried? Huh? I-I wasn’t worried!” he released your hands and scratched his cheek sheepishly. “But you should know by now that you should come to me whenever and whatever, especially when you’re upset like this!”

Chuckling, you gave a small smile, “Thank you Mammon.” You said.

Mammon chocked on a response but settled on clicking his tongue and grabbing your hand again, “Come with me, dumbass.” He said, pulling you along with him.

Eventually pulling you into his room, but not having much time to say anything, Mammon instantly brought you into his chest, wrapping his arms around you.

Surprised, you froze at first, but you soon gave into the warmth and returned the hug, snuggling into him.

Mammon cleared his throat, “So, ah, do you want to talk about it? Or maybe you need a distraction or something?”

You could tell from his speech that he was trying his hardest to hide that he was not exactly sure on how to help, and he was failing.

Appreciating the gesture, you shook your head against him, “That’s okay, being with you has already made me instantly so much better, thank you Mammon.” You said.

Mammon turned red, his hold on you tightening as he picked you up, walked over to his pool table, and sitting you down on it.

His beautiful blue eyes glared into yours, “You’re lucky you have The Great Mammon to help you out.” His eyes softened a bit. “But you know, I’ll always be here, so you better come straight to me for anything, you hear me?”

Your heart squeezed as you cupped his face, smiling down at him as you brought your foreheads together, “Thank you, Mammon.” You whispered. “You’re the best.”

Pressing together, you both brought your lips together, sharing a sweet kiss, your hands warming his cheeks and his stroking your thighs.

“You’re my human, I’ll always be here for you.”

  Leviathan: Gaming late into the night and forgetting normal bodily needs, Levi remembered how thirsty he was.

Reaching for his fourth water bottle, the bottle emptied out three drops, resulting in a scowl from the sleep gaming otaku.

Pausing his game, he got up and went to set off onto a mission to get more water.

Opening his door, the boy almost shrieked at the top of his lungs at seeing you sitting beside his bedroom door.

Noticing the demon, you flushed in embarrassment, “Ah, I’m sorry! I didn’t think you would come out!” you said shyly.

The boy cleared his throat as he looked up and down the hallway and back at you, “What’re you doing sitting there this late at night?” he asked, confusion clear on his facial features.

You pushed some hair behind your ear, “I, ah, haha, I kinda was having some troubles sleeping, and I didn’t want to interrupt you, but I really enjoy listening to you play your games, so I was just going to stay here until I got sleepy and head back to bed…or something.” You explained embarrassedly.

The demon of Envy flushed red, “W-well, you really wanted to, you could’ve come inside, I wouldn’t ever mind if you came to see me, for any reason…you still can if you want?” he asked awkwardly, his face red.

You smiled up at him, “Are you sure?” you asked.

Levi groaned and held his hand out to you, “C-common, lets go.” He said.

You held his hand and he pulled you up and into his room, sitting on the ground up against his bathtub bed, he gestured for you to join him.

Smiling and blushing, you made yourself comfortable by sitting into his lap, curling up against him.

Levi turned a bright shade of red as he seemed to be struggling to be functioning.

You chuckled, “Are you uncomfortable?” you asked him.

The boys’ eyes darted to you, “N-no, that’s not i-it.” He relaxed a little. “Sorry.”

You chuckled and cuddled into him as he continued to play his games.

Watching the boy play you glanced up to see his face concentrating but still with slightly flushed cheeks.

You smiled and reached up to cup his cheek and bring yourself up to land a kiss on the corner of his mouth.

Levi froze and shot to you with widened eyes, but you just smiled at him, “Thank you, Levi, you made me feel better.” You said.

Levi’s seemed to calm down as he leaned into you, catching your lips with his.

“Come to me for anything forever.”

  Satan: Reading the ending of a book he had read for the twenty fourths time, Satan realized he was lost in his reading and had not noticed the time.

Deciding to return the book to the library, have some water and finally turn in, the blonde set off.

Turning into the library, Satan walked in to see you curled up in one of the chairs, book in your lap as you read silently.

Satan smiled and walked in, catching your attention, his smile growing at your own.

He looked you up and down, “Caught up in a book to realize the time?” he asked, ready to admit that he had also made the same mistake.

You hummed, “Actually, I was struggling to sleep, and I got a little frustrated. So, I thought that I would come here and just lose myself in a good book.” You showed the cover to him. “Almost finished your recommendation.”

The Demon of Wrath came towards you, “I’m sorry you were struggling to sleep.” He said.

You shrugged with a smile, “It’s okay, happens every now and then to everyone. Plus,” you beamed up at him, “I got to see you, so it’s not all bad.”

Satan brought his hand to his face in an attempt to cover his blush, how could you be so cute?

Snapping out of id embarrassment, he leaned down and rest on the arm of the chair, “Is there any particular reason why you were struggling to sleep so badly?” he asked.

You gave a weak smile as a response, “Can’t get anything passed you, huh?” you asked him.

He tilted his head, “I just know you. Want to talk about it?” he offered.

Heaving a sigh, you lowered your head, “I was just feeling…kinda low. Like,” you heaved another sigh. “It’s kinda hard to bring up.”

Satan reached for you hands, clasping them in his, “You don’t need to force yourself, take your time.” He comforted you.

You gave another smile, “Thank you.” You shrugged, “I just kinda felt…not enough? I’ve been getting along with everyone, but I just feel…unworthy.” You said, eyes glued to Satan’s hands holing yours.

Satan reached up and cupped your face, making you look into his eyes, “You are honestly such an amazing person. I highly doubt anyone is brave enough to put up or put yourself into the situations you do, just to be able to protect the people you care about, or even just met.” He gave your hand a kiss. “If you ever feel like this ever again, I want you to know, that you are so amazing, in my eyes.”

You smiled at him, leaning into his warm touch on your cheek, “Thank you Satan.” You said, blushing in his hold.

Satan grinned, taking the book out of your lap, putting it to the side, Satan pulled you up and into his arms.

The two of you embraced as he walked you back into the bookshelf, smiling down at you as he put his hand back onto your cheek, leaning down, meeting you halfway as you reached up on your toes, lips locking together.

“The best thing to happen to me is you.”

  Asmodeus: Annoyed at having his beauty sleep interrupted by needing to have a drink of water, Asmo went downstairs, the kitchen and grabbed a glass of water, and went into the dining room. And that is where he spotted you, sitting in one of the chairs at the dining table, your head resting on the table with your arms stretched out next to your head. With a slight delight going through his body at seeing your form, he walked ever to you, but soon saw the heavy sobs that silently left you that stopped him in his tracks. His delight turning into concern, Asmodeus walked over to you slowly as to not alarm you.

gently placing a hand on your back, you still slightly jolted with surprise, but soon looked up at his concerned loving eyes with sad ones.

The man tilted his head, “My dear, MC, what happened, are you alright?” he asked with concern.

You gave a little sniffle, “I'm fine, I'm sorry did I disturb you?” you asked quietly.

Asmo Gave a little smile, “My dear, if you need to talk about anything, I am here for you. You don't have to put on an act.” he said as he began to rub your back with the hand that was already there.

You gave another sniffle as your face slowly began to break, but you still didn't want to show or talk about anything related to why you will like this.

Sing miss the boy didn't try to press you anymore, but instead, grabbed your hand and ushered out of your chair, enter follow him.

Following along with him, you were soon dragged into his bedroom, where he sat you down on his bed and reached over for his skin treatment basket, that he had away in his closet.

Coming back to join you on the bed he pulled out some playing time and looked at you with a smile, “understand if you don't want to talk about it, but I still want to help in some way, so I'm going to distract you by pampering you!” He cheerfully exclaims.

As you smiled and went along with him and his distractions, you began to calm down and Siri open up just the caring demon.

You curled your legs to your chest, “I ended up staying awake all night because started having really bad thoughts, and I was trying to run away from them by getting out of my room, but they just followed, and I ended up getting really sad. So, I'm sorry and keeping you up so late to be with me.” You admitted.

Asmo reached his hand out to cup your face bringing you forward to kiss him.

Pulled back, the beautiful man only smiled at you, “As important as my beauty sleep is, you should always know that I’ll always be willing to help you, my dear.” He giggled while giving a mischievous smile, as he slowly pushed you down onto the bed and lean over you. “I’ll be more than willing to give you all the distractions you need.”

You blushed, put kept your eyes contact with him, “I wish I was as perfect as you are.” You said.

Asmo blushed also, but his smile grew as he planted kisses along your collarbone and up your neck to you ear.

“You’re my definition of perfect.”

 Beelzebub: Waking up and going on his second midnight snack run, Beel walked into the kitchen, seeing you sitting on top of the countertop, back against the wall and knees tucked up to your chest as you hid your face away in them.

Blinking in confusion and concern, the boy walked over to you with worry, “MC?” he called.

You noticeably jolted in surprise and looked up to meet Beel’s concerned face.

You blinked, “Beel, I thought you already came by for your snack run?” you asked, voice cracking a little.

Beel rubbed the back of his neck, “I sometimes come back for a second one, most of the time I can settle with just one, but sometimes I can’t resist going for a second one.” He explained.

You gave a chuckle, “That makes sense.” You said.

Noticing that your laugh didn’t match the look in your eyes, he tried to catch your attention, “What’s wrong?” he asked, turning it back onto you.

You met his eyes and gave a small smile, “Don’t worry about it, I’m okay.” You said, not wanting to worry him.

Though that didn’t really work.

Beel lowered his head, “I understand if you don’t want to talk about it.” He said, his demeanour turning into the sad puppy Beel.

Having this look clutch at your heartstrings, you gave a sigh.

You lowered your legs from the bench, “I’m sorry, it’s just, I kinda went to sleep having bad thoughts, and in turn had a bad dream, so I came here to kinda escape.” You explained.

Beel perked up and walked over to you, “You could always come to me, especially since you helped me with my nightmares.” He said.

You chuckled, “Thank you, Beel, but I didn’t want to disturb you after you had already had your midnight snack.” You said.

Beel blinked, “Did you look for me and find out I already had it?” he asked with curiosity.

You blushed and fiddled with some of your hair, “Well, not exactly, I sometimes come here because…” you bit your lip, hoping down from the countertop and blushing harder. “Because sometimes when I’m in the kitchen, I somehow feel closer to you. Which sounds beyond weird, but it’s like a comfort to come here, since I can kinda sense that you come here so often.”

Beel walked over to you, looking down at you with a blush hiding away in his cheeks, “I get what you mean, the senses are like memories, since me and you do actually come here a lot together too.” He said.

You nodded up at him with a giggle, “You’re right.” You agreed.

Reaching his hands down, he grabbed your smaller ones, entangling your fingers together, “Do you want to talk about your bad thoughts and nightmare?” he asked.

You relaxed into his touch, leaning against his chest as you watched your fingers play together, “I guess I was kinda scared, somehow coming up with scenarios in my head about not being able to come back to the devildom, not being able to be in contact with everyone…with you…and I got scared.” You shook your head against him. “I don’t want to stop making more and more memories with you.”

Beel nodded, reaching his hand free to cup your face and look up at him, “If we ever get separated, I’ll always find a way to get back to you.” He said.

You blushed again, “Me too.” You said.

Beel smiled and leaned down to catch your lips with his.

Reaching your arms up to wrap around his neck, he reached his own down to wrap around your waist, lifting you up with ease and putting you back on the countertop.

He pulled back to give your collarbone and neck some love bites and kissing you more.

“Making memories with you is my favourite thing to do.”

 Belphegor: Since Belphie sleeps most of the time during the day, he’s a little more active at night. Even though he could sleep more, he finds it easier to just not sometimes.

Going into the living room to sit by the fire, he saw that it was already lit and there was another body by it.

He blinked in confusion and walked over to you, “Why aren’t you asleep?” he asked.

You jumped, “Ah! Jeez! Don’t scare me like that!” you exclaimed.

The sloth demon gave a shrug, “It’s crazy late, how are you still awake, you’re usually dead asleep by now.” He said.

You sighed, “Guess tonight just isn’t my night. I tried to sleep, but even though I’m crazy tired, I just couldn’t manage to get to sleep.” You explained.

Belphie thought for a moment, but soon smiled as he grabbed your hand, pulling you up from the ground and ushering you to follow him, “Come with me.” He said.

You followed after him, and once you got dragged to a particular staircase, you knew exactly where he was taking you.

Once arriving at the attic, the boy closed the door behind you, took a seat on the floor that was cushioned by pillows and blankets, and smiled up at you, “Common, let’s sleep here.” He said.

You smiled and joined him, “I should’ve known to come to you about sleep, since you’re the master and all that.” You joked.

Belphie chuckled, throwing a blanked over the both of you as you cuddled close together, “I always know what’s most comfortable for a sleep.” He said.

You blushed, “I don’t always sleep well, but I somehow always manage to sleep well while with you.” You said.

the boy smiled and ushered your chin with his fingers, landing a kiss to your lips, I always have the best dreams when I’m with you.” He grinned. “Because you always seem to make your way into my dreams every time.”

You blushed and smiled, “I hope that doesn’t get too bothersome.” You said.

“Nah.” He gave you another kiss.

“You’re my favourite dream.”

   A/n: Wow! Okay this lowkey took me a little longer than I would’ve hoped, I apologise for any spelling and/or any grammar mistakes!

I hope you liked it!