#dany: don’t be suspicious

[iguessthisisanewobsession]

Danny didn’t mean to be so shady.

He had been working hard on his duplicates and had recently gained the ability to morph his appearance.

So he decided to challenge himself to see how long he could run a small business only using him and his clones.

The plan was to, at most, seem to have a group of quirky employees.

Unfortunately, it seems he has accidentally left more of an impression of being a shell company for less than legal reasons.

Good news is that he had did all the legal legwork properly and was not breaking the law.

Bad news was that the bats were getting suspicious and were trying to catch him in some sort of act.

Oh well, this just means that the difficulty has ramped up!

[oceanxveiined]

Honestly, even when I add a new verse for the oc(s) and work them into a still-expanding canon, I like to think their presence in the area/time of the narrative is best justified as essentially them running a B-plot in a sitcom to the main quests/protagonists' journeys. Or like. Half the shit Team Rocket gets up to in the movies-

[caffeinatedvigilantewriter]

So I’m seeing tons of posts about Danny being Steph’s kid (in comics Steph has a daughter, so trans Danny) but I’m not seeing any of these posts mentioning Dani.

So what if Danny ends up having to leave earth and takes shelter in the ghost zone after a really bad reveal with his parents.

So Dani goes to Gotham to hide from the GIW and meets a bat, who gets suspicious and takes her DNA and immediately contacts Steph because Dani’s DNA matches Steph’s.

Now Steph is freaking out because her daughter is right in the city but she won’t do anything about it because she gave up her daughter to protected her from this life.

She is a bit confused as two why the ages don’t match up, so she ends up buying the apartment next to her to keep an eye on her.

Dani ends up showing strange behavior and a weird connection with the pits, which is concerning on its own.

Dani finds her neighbor Steph unsettling. She looks a lot like Danny, and a lot like her by extension. But whatever, she’s seen stranger while traveling.

One day, Dan ends up knocking at her door.

She lets him in, and waves to Steph as she closes the door behind them. Steph is now concerned.

Dan ends up telling her that Jack and Maddie ended up tamper with Danny’s core and committed a war crime, so now they have to go war (ghost king Danny, and ghost royalty Dan and Dani)

They leave and inform the US movements be JLA that ‘hey! We’re going to war and you have no chance of winning! Surrender!’

Dani ends up being an ambassador between the living and the dead bc Danny is too injured and Dan looks scary.

Steph is freaking out again because her daughter is apparently not human and on the opposite side of the war.

Meanwhile, in the ghost zone, it gets out that Danny was adopted at birth, and the do a DNA test on him and Dani finds out that her neighbor is their mom

Okay, this idea is not the most thought out, but any media is welcome as long as you comment and tag me :)))

[help-itrappedmyself]

Danny Punches a Clown Part 6

Masterpost

Danny, after many promises and assurances, lets Red Robin take him to the batcave. They travel by car, and as fancy as it was, Danny was almost scared to touch anything inside it. Red was a much better driver than his father though, so he just closed his eyes and focused on trying to keep his healing up.

The Batcave turned out to be an actual cave, underground, with actual bats in it. He was whisked to a medical area too quickly to see much of anything else besides some other vehicles and a giant computer set up. 

Someone was waiting in the medical space with a tray of tools and bandages ready next to the bed, Red introduced him as Agent A. They were quick to lie him down on a cot and set him up to a heart monitor and that had Red and the A frowning immediately.

“It’s a medical condition.” Danny blurted, and both pairs of eyes shot to him. “My heartrate is naturally very slow, temperature runs cold, pale skin, slow circulation so I can't have a lot of different medications." Not that any medications would really work, but better safe than sorry. Them not working would be suspicious, and Danny does not have the energy or focus for trying to keep straight any real explanations right now.  "It’s fine, I promise.”

Agent A nodded slowly. “Is there anything else we should know before we start treatment?”

“Just can't give me any medicines, I think that's the only relevant bit.”

“Alright, I will keep that in mind. Please lift your shirt so I can see the wound.”

Danny does, and they manage their expressions quite well on seeing it. Agent A goes immediately for creams and bandages.

“What burned you like that?” Red asked.

“Gun.” Danny was starting to slur. He did not want to sleep right now, with these people here.

“A gun? What kind of gun causes burns?”

“New blaster, parents made it special.”

“Your parents make guns?”

Danny shrugs, turning his head to look at Red instead of the far off ceiling of the cave. “My parents make lots of things. They're scientists, inventors." Danny waves his arm around vaguely. "The gun was new though, hadn’t been shot with that one before. The earlier versions were much less powerful.”

“Are you saying that your parents are the ones that shot you?” Red asked gently, taking a seat in the chair next to the bed. “It wasn’t just their gun that was used?”

Danny frowns. “Well yeah.”

Tim is very concerned at the tone he just used, like getting shot at by your parents was normal. “Do they shoot at you a lot?”

“Fair amount I suppose.” Red could see Danny thinking really hard about something. Dany’s head was really starting to hurt. His brain was fuzzy and he knew he should be concerned about something, but couldn’t figure out what. His parents shooting at him was nothing new, considering. “Like, they did it more than Vlad but I don’t see him as often, and they’ve done it longer than the GIW, but since the GIW has started they’ve been about equal I guess. I mean, sometimes all the defense systems in the house target me but that wasn’t technically intentional. Took forever for us to figure out how to get them to stop that.”

“Danny, when was the last time you slept?” Red asked gently.

Danny wasn’t sure if his blip earlier this morning counted. He didn’t think it lasted more than an hour, but the last time he slept before that was before his fight in Amity, escaping through the ghost zone and running around in this dimension.

“It’s been awhile.” Danny landed on. True enough for medical history he supposed.

“Right.” A finished the last of the bandages and tugged Danny’s shirt back down. “Well, why don’t you do that now, while we go and find you something to eat.”

“I’m too tired to fight food right now.”

Tim shared a look with Alfred before turning back to Danny. “Okay then. Maybe sleep first and then eat?”

“I will go start making something now that you’re all set up here Mister Danny.” Agent A states, walking past the medical curtains and shutting them behind him. Red pulled out a tablet and started tapping on it. He noticed Danny’s eyes on him after a moment.

“You going to sleep?”

“Strange place, strange people. Not sure that’s the best decision here.”

Red looked up from his tablet.

“You trusted me enough to come here. Trust me enough to sleep. I will make sure no one but me or A comes in before you’re ready.”

[writtenbymoonflower]

Hello!! I literally finished Ted Lasso and am IN LOVE with Jamie Tartt (this may or may not have to do with the amount of fics I’ve read recently). Would you be up for writing a Jamie x reader where they’ve been secretly dating for a while and the team finds out, perhaps with a reader that works for AFC Richmond as like they’re photographer or something?

Omg babe I need more Jamie fics in my life. Jamie Tartt x fem!reader

cw: swearing, hickey, jamie tartt being a smug asshole

776 words

You can't stop subconsciously rubbing your neck, likely from the anxiety of wondering if your makeup is doing an adequate job covering the smattering of love-bites on your neck. When your fingers came away with a chalky coating of powder, you kept your hand frozen by your side, your free hand jotting down notes as your boss kept rambling, careful to filter the necessary information from the side tangents. 

“You get all that, babe?” Keely looked up from her computer, half apologetic. “I’m so sorry my brain has been all over the place lately.” 

“You’re okay Miss.” You looked up, eyes catching on the man winking at you from across the room. He was looking nearly sinful with a towel slung over his bulky shoulder, skin gleaming with sweat. You stiffened, handing the clipboard to your boss. “Does this all look right?” 

She mumbled as her eyes scanned the page. “Perfect! Thank you so much, Y/N. I'm serious when I say I would be a complete shitstorm without you.” She glanced at the clock. “Oh, bugger! It’s gone 1. Why don’t you take your lunch, I’ll figure the rest of this mess out.” Her perfectly manicured hand shooed you from the office. 

“Thank you Miss.” You contained your smile, glancing at Jamie. He was still looking at you, brown eyes burning into your form. You scampered off, closing the door to Keely’s office on the way out. 

The hallway was oddly barren of players and staff, excepting the boy leant casually against the doorframe of the gym bearing lazy smile on his face. You walked up to him timidly, looking around the room to make sure there were no suspicious eyes. 

“Hey cutie.” He said, running a hand through his blonde hair. Your legs felt like jelly, only made worse from the pinching heels on your feet.

“Hey Jamie. Are you okay? Why aren’t you in practice??” You looked over him for injuries, expecting to find some blooming bruise or irritated scratches. He smiled at you. You could tell he wanted to reach for you but didn’t want to risk the exposure. 

You were the main reason the relationship between you two was a secret. Jamie would shout it from the rooftop if he could, but you were still unsure. You weren’t ashamed by any means, but you couldn’t help but feel pressure. You were dating one of the most well-known Richmond players. (one who was also on a dating show made entirely up of very attractive people). Nevertheless, Jamie treated you like a rare diamond. 

“You can stop checking me out, babe. I’m alright. Coach is just havin’ us run laps. I finished first.” He was sickly sweet, if not a little boastful, looking you up and down, smirking like a cat who got the cream. “How long do you have on your break?” 

“Just under an hour.” You subconsciously glanced at a watch that wasn’t there. His grin grew as he pulled you towards the locker room. “Jamie, what if someone walks in?” Even as you protested you couldn’t help your own smile from spreading over your face. 

“Trust me, love. The lads are slackin' today. The only one who is going to finish in the next hour is Dani, and that chipper prick will stay and chat the Coaches to death.” 

You sighed, letting James tug you into his arms. He smelled like grass, rain, sweat, and himself. It was intoxicating. “I missed you.” You mumbled into his chest. 

“Missed you too, lovely girl.” He chucked, pulling you up for a kiss. No sooner did he deepen it than you heard a crash behind you. You tried to jump away from Jamie but he held onto you. You turned around to find a sheepish-looking Sam slowly backing away from the door. 

“I- I am so sorry.” Sam looked like he was trying to shrink down to bug-size. “I’ll just, I don’t want to interrupt.” 

“You’re ok-” 

“God, Sam, mind your fuckin' business.” Jamie faux-scolded. Sam slightly smiled. 

“I am.” He put his hands up in a ‘don’t shoot’ gesture. “And don’t worry, your secret is safe with-” 

Right when he said that, a crowd of about ten players scrambled into the locker room, all pausing when they took in the spectacle in front of them. You could see them looking between Sam, you, and Jamie who still had his arm wrapped around your waist. The room was dead silent, until someone spoke up from the back of the group.

“Well now we know why Y/N comes to practice so much.” 

“Shut the fuck up Jan Maas!” Upwards of five people shouted.

[long-live-astronerd-ghost-king]

DP x PC prompt where Batclan ship “Pitch Pearl” or as they say, “We’ve connected the two dots”. 

Batclan has been watching the Phantom and the Fentons, especially their son. They were able to find some information but for some environmental reason the tracking devices are working in Amity Park with such terrible sound interference...it is difficult for them to understand a word.

~~~~

Fenton kid's Audiotape: I hate..Phantom..threat..destroy.

Original: I hate that my parents think that Phantom is a threat and want to destroy me.

~~~~

Audiotape of the Phantom: cause me trouble..Danny Fenton’s..guns..pointed at my back.

Original : Why everyone wants to cause me trouble? I don’t have time for Danny Fenton’s homework with all those guns pointed at my back.

~~~~

Batclan arrives personally and is going to offer to rescue the ghost from the Fenton child. But. There is a problem.

They see the Phantom calling a Ghost Girl, very much like him, a daughter. The next day the girl flies to the son of the Ghosthunters without fear, calls him father and turns into a human girl. And the teenager hugs her.

Batman thinks their situation is similar to Lex and Superman but unlike them they both really love their "Conner".

~~~~

Tucker hears this reasoning from the tracking device he planted on the Batman’s cloak.

Danny: Good news. They want to help Phantom and don’t think he’s a bad guy. They also fail to understand that Danny Fenton and Danny Phantom are the same person. Bad news.They think I, Fenton, am the villain. How can I dissuade them without revealing my identity?

Tucker: Well, you have a lair with weapons and instruments for diss and vivi in the basement.

Dani*feral half-ghost teen*: Say no more. I have an idea.

~~~~

The same evening, Batclan sees Tik Tok video from the Fenton lab.

*Miike Snow's Genghis Khan plays in the background*:

The Phantom is tied to the autopsy table and Bruce wants to ask the children to look away, but Dick stops him and says he knows the song, so they should see it.

The video has a happy ending. The heroes like it and they go home with a calm soul.

~~~~

An hour after there’s a comment from DashHereForSlash: Cool cosplay, guys! I’m happy that someone knows about this ship! The equipment looks so real! Where to send a donat for a kiss in the next video?

GhoticPlant: Glad you liked it! Here’s a link.

~~~~

Three hours later, the Red Huntress shoots a duet:

~I get a little bit Genghis Khan

Don't want you to get it on

With nobody else but me.~

Yes, they used Fenton Ghost Catcher and Tucker, Sam and Jazz played henchmen.

~~~~

Tucker sits at the table with Fenton and Phantom.

Tucker: So, Danny, what’s more important..self-esteem or easy money?

Double Dannouble: Money

Tucker: All right, here’s your $50. It’s all fair. But next time you need to use a little more touch. And we change the platform to post the videos.

Danny: Suspicious..And I want $100. Double job means double salary.

Jazz: Danny, no more videos! You’re 15!

Tucker*with printed photos of the kiss the next day*: Remember, don't let people manipulate you to do things you don’t want to do. But we’re doing it to better cover up a little dirty deadly secret, money’s just a bonus. And Danny is narcissistic enough to be happy that now Paulina has his pictures in frames.

Part 2

[mejcinta]

HOTD S3 PLOTLINE IDEAS INCLUDING SOME BTS HINTS BY WRITERS, ACTORS AND MY OWN SPECULATION. PS: FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DON’T CUT MAELOR OR NETTLES!!!!

Aemond struggles with paranoia following the prophecy Helaena revealed to him, initially denying it and continuing in his quest for glory. Ewan also stated in an interview (to Hey U Guys, YouTube) that Aemond could oversee the breaking of the blockade. Will he be duped by the dragonseeds and Jace moving on 2 fronts i.e the Gullet AND King’s Landing, capturing it in his absence as he’s occupied at the Gullet?

Helaena is in more danger with Aemond than ever before (Sara Hess’ words).

Orwyle alone knows of Alicent’s treason. Aemond might confront him about Aegon’s disappearance.

Aegon’s escape might trigger Alicent to admit her treason.

Helaena disapproves of Alicent’s betrayal/compromise with Rhaenyra (Phia said that news would be a 'tough pill to swallow' for Helaena) while Aemond (IF POINT NUMBER 1 DOESN’T HAPPEN) is heartbroken and angry because Alicent chose Rhaenyra over him and his siblings. There’s no time left to hold Alicent accountable for her crime and he loves her too much to harm her. Thus his departure from KL will be one of urgency.

Aegon and Larys on a turbulent ‘road trip’ while on the run to Essos.

Alicent and Rhaenyra feud because of Aegon’s escape. When Otto is finally captured by the Blacks, a bitter Rhaenyra executes him in public before Alicent in retribution for Jace and baby Viserys. This widens the divide between the two women and severs their old bond. It’s all out war from here on out.

BEST OPTION: Helaena learns she is with child (Maelor) just when Alicent thinks her sons are free from Rhaenyra’s wrath. Having a male babe would mean Helaena would have to live in fear losing another son. S2 happens in the span of 6 weeks, so Maelor’s conception can fall between the dinner in s1 episode 8 and her encounter with Aegon after Jaehaerys’ funeral. Alicent has some few sympathizers left at court (maids and/spies connected to Larys). It is these people that help facilitate the escape of baby Maelor with Rickard in disguise.

Helaena and Alicent arrange for Jaehaera to be snuck out to safety to Storm’s End.

Daemon misinterprets the vision Alys showed him, becomes obsessed with it benefitting him directly e.g he believes Dany could be his future daughter with Rhaenyra (Ryan Condal said this).

Daemon fears Helaena because he saw her in his vision. This could be Helaena’s only saving grace, especially after Jace is killed by the Greens’ forces.

Mysaria forces Rhaenyra to contend with the fact that for as long as Helaena lives as a symbol of true Queenship to the smallfolk she stands little chance of being accepted and must get rid of her.

Mysaria disapproves of Alicent’s influence on Rhaenyra and will throw a wrench in their dynamic.

(ASSUMING MAELOR IS FOOLISHLY CUT FROM THE STORY, SMH) Ser Rickard’s demise leads many to believe that Jaehaera is dead too and this might throw Helaena into severe depression.

Aegon and Larys might get intercepted on their journey to Essos and be forced to change course to their nearest least suspicious location: Dragonstone. Tom Glynn Carney stated in an interview to the Nerdist that he’s not so sure whether Aegon and Larys will end up in Essos.

Ser Alfred Broome looks to Aegon for favor because now that Daemon knows he would readily betray Rhaenyra, his safety under the Blacks is at risk. He will be the one to welcome Aegon and Larys to Dragonstone and hide them.

Baela, who by now has lost both Rhaenys and Jace, stews in rage ad vengeance. As she divides her time between Dragonstone and Driftmark in the books, I expect that she’d be left in charge of Dragonstone (with Driftmark now sacked). She grows more suspicious of Ser Alfred and his activities.

Alys’ past is delved into (one of th writers promised this, can’t tell which one) as she struggles with 100 years of loneliness following Daemon’s departure (actress said Alys desires human connection). Turns out she has much in common with Aemond, who also feels alone and abandoned by his family.

Daeron rescues Otto from his jailors (this means the old man will be captured by the Blacks later on and be executed publically later on as well.)

Daeron might learn of Aegon’s whereabouts and communicate with him.

Aemond goes to Harrenhal and clashes with Alys at first. Their relationship will take time to develop #slowburn.

Rhaena saves little Aegon from the Triarchy/Tyland preserves Aegon and when the seeds capture them, he is arrested????

OR Jace is the one who tries to save his brothers but fails. Ultimately, Vermax, wounded in battle, flies to Dragonstone and dies on the beach with little Aegon still clinging to him. This way Jace dies having saved a brother heroically.

Addam’s identity is revealed and Rhaenyra starts to doubt Corlys’ intentions. This is the beginning of her paranoia arc.

Alyn and Corlys draw closer as father and son.

Aegon questions Larys’ intentions.

Larys uses his spy network to siphon intelligence from King’s Landing and Harrenhal.

Aegon secures Jaehaera either by himself or with the help of Storm’s End to whom he gives promise of a marriage alliance in exchange.

Sunfyre escapes a hunting party sent by Rhaenyra, confirming he is alive and able to fly. He begins his journey to Dragonstone.

OPINION: Swapping Nettles for Rhaena would be DIABOLICAL because that means Rhaena would have to suffer pure hatred from the woman she calls mother. And this being what separates Daemon from Rhaenyra doesn’t hit as hard as Daemon slowly losing faith in Rhaenyra as she descends into madness and paranoia, and at the same time Daemon starts to falsely see the vision of Dany manifest through Nettles, who he brings under his wing of protection.

It would be much better for Rhaena to FAIL in her attempt at claiming Sheepstealer. Have Jeyne take her back in and try to connect her to her little brothers again, who have probably left ahead of her by this time. Develop a mother-daughter dynamic between these two with Jeyne imparting some counsel. With the guilt of putting her little brothers in danger, Rhaena tries to gain the support of the Vale for Rhaenyra by reaching a deal with the Royces, who by now are still bitter about Daemon. And Daemon, who saw visions of Laena urging him to take care of their daughters, will defend Rhaena from Rhaenyra’s anger after the Battle of the Gullet. He will try to help Rhaenyra see sense, that the tragedy would have happened anyways, whether Rhaena was present with the children or not.

[clockwayswrites]

This is why Moku and I are dangerous to each other:

clockways — Today at 2:01 AM

OKAY Danny/Tim where Danny is either ghost king or working for Clockwork or playing Reaper or something showing up to talk to Tim like "MY DUDE, you have got to stop killing so many people, even if it's in the name of good, esp when they're surrounded by rancid ectoplasm"

And this is now the Bats learn about Tim's LOA kill count

Mokulule — Today at 2:12 AM

Heheheh oh yesss

Does Danny show up in the middle of like a supposedly secure location in the middle of a mission?

Like “dude please, I do not need the assassin influx, you have any idea of the trouble you caused killing so many at once?”

Mokulule — Today at 2:19 AM

I’m kinda imagining these new ghosts still following Ra’s Al Ghul fanatically unless Danny can somehow get them rehabilitated and imagine if they found their way to the living world?! Do you want that madman to have a ghost army?

clockways — Today at 2:19 AM

I think a mission or right in the middle of the cave, yeah

and totally, like the pit waters have a Not Good effect on the ghosts so they're even more off than normal I think

Mokulule — Today at 2:22 AM

Okay but I am liking the implication here that Tim has been having this ongoing crusade against Ra’s in the background of everything where he keeps blowing up LOA bases and somehow managing to keep it secret

Here B thought Ra’s was his nemesis, turns out attention had shifted to Tim years ago

clockways — Today at 2:25 AM

Yes, Tim is 100% the Detective now and Ra's keeps being a creepy obsessed mo-fo and Tim just keeps finding ways to blow shit up. if it started at 17 could say Tim is 20, 21 now so they've been at it three years or so

Mokulule — Today at 2:26 AM

And like Danny has had enough, there’s so many of them they have their own realm in the realms and are stirring up trouble trying to find ways back into the living world

clockways — Today at 2:27 AM

Yeeeees They're basically segregated into a specific area of the realms and are still causing shit

Mokulule — Today at 2:28 AM

Maybe they even have their own pseudo pit from gathering rancid ectoplasm and it’s messing up the ecosystem and they’re hurting the blobs that would otherwise be cleaning that shit up

And the pseudo pit is definitely not helping their mental stability

Just trash assassin baby ghosts

clockways — Today at 2:29 AM

LOL Blob ghost sucker fish! yes xD

Mokulule — Today at 2:29 AM

They need rehabilitation and a bath and like it’s really not helping that Tim keeps sending more

clockways — Today at 2:30 AM

Every time Danny starts to get a handle on it BAM more assassins and more bad juice

And then Danny has to ramp up the blob ghost breeding again

Mokulule — Today at 2:31 AM

Yeah and he can only handle a couple at a time and he also has to make sure they don’t go back once he’s gotten them out and it’s just a mess

clockways — Today at 2:31 AM

OKAY OKAY WAIT. Danny makes an appointment with Tim as Wayne CEO

Shows up in his human guise with Tim as just Tim which sets up all sorts of alarms

Mokulule — Today at 2:32 AM

Ahahahaha yesss this is like a corporate problem 😂

clockways — Today at 2:32 AM

How is this normal seeming dude associated with the LOA?? What does he know about Tim??? Who is he???

Dany is just :) Look at me, using the proper channels!

Mokulule — Today at 2:32 AM

Danny is trying to go about this the right way official like

🤝

clockways — Today at 2:32 AM

🤝

Mokulule — Today at 2:33 AM

😂 everyone is very suspicious of Danny Fenton

clockways — Today at 2:34 AM

It doesn't help that he has officially been missing in the living realm since he graduated high sch9ool

(someone ((lancer)) finally noticed and reported him)

Mokulule — Today at 2:34 AM

Oh yeah even more suspicious for potential LOA connection

The fact that it was an old teacher and not his parents reporting him missing despite having graduated high school is also concerning

clockways — Today at 2:37 AM

mmmmy hum just all these red flags and it's very frustrating for the whole batfam.

Mokulule — Today at 2:38 AM

And like the guy looks like Danny Fenton, but is he really? He’s somehow very careful about not leaving prints and DNA where he goes, they’ve not been able to get any surefire confirmation this is indeed Danny Fenton

clockways — Today at 2:38 AM

AND THEN there is a gala that Ra's also shows up to... as does Danny. Just... to keep an eye on things. (He's worried about ghost assassins.)

But Tim sees Danny out of the corner of his eye and !!!

(Danny just went intangible through the wall, he's totally not on the guest list)

Mokulule — Today at 2:40 AM

Oh yes, he’s dressed up well enough, he’s had to learn that as a king and fits in just fine

clockways — Today at 2:42 AM

Tim can't help but recognize that Danny is handsome.

Mokulule — Today at 2:43 AM

Tim thinking he’s got two enemies at the gala now - has Tim told the other bats about Danny or is he hiding that? Cause then Tim might think the others have Ra’s handled so he has to handle Danny- and yeah okay he is very handsome, now that he’s not busy internally freaking out over what he knows (which he was at the first meeting)

clockways — Today at 2:45 AM

Depends how much the Bats know about Ra's interest in Tim. If they're aware at all, he's told them I think since Danny know is a threat to them all. 🤔

But I do still see him handling Danny either way since Danny hasn't met the family- keep things separate until there is no doubt.

Mokulule — Today at 2:46 AM

Okay but Clock, has Danny in his attempt at going through proper channels and requesting a meeting completely forgotten to mention the word ghost since he thought that was implied when he said the dead assassins were a problem for him?

clockways — Today at 2:47 AM

100%

He is still a disaster at explaining things

And look Tim is damn cute, Danny was a little flustered.

Mokulule — Today at 2:48 AM

So when Tim asks him what he’s doing there at the gala and he tells him that he’s keeping an eye out for assassins - Tim maybe takes that as a threat - like Tim thinks they’re playing 5D mental chess here, but Danny is a disaster and is not even playing chess

clockways — Today at 2:49 AM

!! OH Added bonus, Danny's etiquette training is all be like Dorathea and Pandora and etc, so he has a rather unusual speach pattern in King Mode which makes him seem that maybe common english isn't his first language but if he is Danny Fenton that doesn't track....

Mokulule — Today at 2:50 AM

Oh yesss good

clockways — Today at 2:50 AM

They have to end up on the dance floor, of course.

Mokulule — Today at 2:50 AM

Of course

Obligatory

clockways — Today at 2:51 AM

Danny is just all :) I'm putting my training to use! This is going so well!

Tim >:| What is this man playing at...

Mokulule — Today at 2:51 AM

Yes XD

clockways — Today at 2:52 AM

Ra's takes an instant hatred to Danny because he is Taking Tim's Attention!

Mokulule — Today at 2:52 AM

Eventual reveal is going to be hilarious

clockways — Today at 2:52 AM

Which makes Tim think that Ra's and Danny are old enemies

Mokulule — Today at 2:52 AM

Oh yess hahaha Ra’s now trying to have Danny killed

Now Danny is having to deal with both living and dead assassins he is not amused, but if he gets them away from Ra’s in the living world that will help some problems down the line. Just every assassin Ra’s sends disappears and no bodies turn up

clockways — Today at 2:55 AM

It's driving both Tim and Ra's mad

Things maybe come to a head when some of the ghost assassins try to go after Tim and Phantom shows up?

Mokulule — Today at 2:57 AM

XD Does Tim realize this is Danny or does he now think there’s another player?

Are they aware of Phantom as a ghost hero?

clockways — Today at 2:59 AM

HUM so I kinda want to say Tim does put 2 + 2 together- at least at some point. Maybe just because Phantom's new outfit mirrors what his formal clothing had. Not like perfectly but there's a lot of parallels in color and things

Maybe not till he's safe and- if they know of Phantom- they're back somewhere secure

Tim just holding an ice pack to his head jolting up and pointing a finger at Phantom "You're Danny!!!"

Phantom: Uh, yeah??? Of course I am?

-

And then @mokulule got distracted by fic and I went to sleep cause it was 3am. But my can we go from 'random statement' to 60% of a fic outline in no time. (Not it.)

[hailsatanacab]

@the-ghost-trader - ooooh, i love this! it has the potential to be so incredibly sad, too, like poor Damian just trying to carve out something normal for himself only for it blow up in his face

BUT, shockingly, i'm not about the angst today! not yet anyway 😇

---

“So, how was your day?”

Despite his answering groan, Damian likes this. This. This whole… thing he has with Danielle. With Ellie. 

And, yeah, he’s not exactly told any of the others yet, but can you blame him? For wanting to keep something, anything, to himself. Wanting to keep this small little slice of goodness he’s managed to carve out, untouched and unmarred by his family, by their other lives, by the rogues, the vigilantes, the assassins, everyone.

“That bad, huh?”

Being with Ellie is freeing. That’s the best way to describe it.

She knows. Damian surprised even himself when he told her—not about the others, mind, but he supposes it’s not hard to put two and two together and Dani has always been smarter than most—but it’s the best decision he’s ever made, and no matter what the niggling little voice in the back of his head says (the one that sounds suspiciously like Father), he can’t bring himself to regret it.

He won’t. Because having Ellie know gives him freedom.

She’s a safe place, a hand to hold, a warm, welcoming presence when things inevitably turn ugly. It’s the freedom to just be normal when everything else in his life spirals into stranger and more stressful missions.

“Richard is being insufferable again. I do not understand his incessant need to know everything about my life.”

“Oh? What’s he done now?” 

“I was subjected to an hour long interrogation about my love life, like it’s any of his business. It’s infuriating!”

“Ugh, tell me about it. I get the same thing from Jazz, constantly. It can be suffocating.” Ellie says as she curls herself tighter into his side. “But it’s just how they show they care.”

“Yes, well, sometimes I wish he wouldn’t—”

“Hey!” Ellie pushes herself up to glare at him, punctuating her shout with a soft whack to his arm for good measure. “What have I said about using that word?”

“Yes, yes,” he placates with a roll of his eyes, “‘Be careful what you wish for.’ I apologise, it won't happen again.”

“Damn straight it won't.”

She maintains eye contact with him for a second longer before tucking herself back into his side, squirming around with a long, contented hum that Damian can feel rumble through him. He smiles and doesn’t complain even when he has to shift to give her more room after a particularly strong elbow jabs him in the ribs. It means leaving the warm patch on the couch, but he’s rewarded with another long, happy moan as she settles and Damian can’t bring himself to mind.

Ellie constantly makes noises. Little mews and hums and laughs and songs known only to her. It reminds him of a cat, sometimes. He likes it. It calms him down; it means she’s happy, so he's happy.

They settle back into the cushions and Damian lets the subject drop, not wanting to spoil the moment. Outside, the wind changes direction and from where he’s laying he can watch as the snow starts to come down thick and heavy. Hopefully it’ll mean a quiet night's patrol.

“Is that why you haven’t introduced me yet?”

“What?” He can't help it, he stiffens at the thought of losing his secret, of the scrutiny he'll be inviting if he lets anyone know.

“Are you worried I’ll embarrass you?”

Damian’s eyes snap down quick to reassure her, only to see her light, teasing grin. He lets out a breath of relief. It figures she wouldn't worry about that.

“Of course not, don’t be absurd. You could never embarrass me.”

“I don’t know,” she muses, her voice taking on a dangerous lilt, “that sounds like a challenge.”

“Believe me, having been subjected to Father’s Brucie persona at every gala I’ve been to, it would take a lot to embarrass me.”

“Alright, bet. I’ll get you, just you wait.”

“You’ve already got me.”

She flicks him on the nose. “You’re such a sap.”

He hums his agreement, enjoying the tinkling sound of her laughter. And then, before he can think otherwise, he asks, “Is that why you haven’t introduced me?”

“That’s different,” she scowls. “You know how hard it is to get there, there’s no signal, and Danny only gets a break like—oh, Ancients!”

Damian gets another elbow to the ribs as she bolts upright, a manic grin on her face that has him laughing.

“What is it?”

“It’s the holidays! It’s nearly Truce Day! You know I said I had a family thing around Christmas?”

“Yes?” 

“Well, do you want to come to it? I can introduce you then! I mean, it’s going to be a bit formal and you’ll have to meet everyone, not just family. There’s going to be some banquets, you’ll have to sit through some long speeches and you have to be on your best behaviour at all times, okay? Absolutely no fighting, it’s called Truce Day for a reason!”

“What?”

“Yeah, it’ll be perfect! I think Jazz is going in a couple days earlier to help with the preparations, so I’ll get her to let Danny know—and fair warning, he will try to give you the shovel talk, but this is great! It’s Truce Day, so he can’t actually do anything about it!”

“I’m sorry, but you're going to have to explain a bit.”

“Yeah, I know, it’s a bit much—but that’s family, right? Danny can get pretty protective over me, which is why going on Truce Day is the best time to do it! He can’t even command the Fright Knight to stab you! It’s genius!”

“Ellie, what?”

“Like, yeah, sure, he’s the king, but even he has to obey the rules of Truce Day—and then once you’ve spent all day with him, he’ll see that you’re a fantastic, wonderful, kind, brilliant, smart, strong, capable person and he’ll get over himself and everything will be good!"

Damian collapses down onto the couch, the wind knocked out of him. This is… He had not expected anything like this at all. For all that Ellie talked about her family, she had never mentioned this.

“Did you… did you say your brother is a king?”

“Yeah! High King Phantom, have I…” The manic grin slips off her face as she turns round and notices Damian. “Have I not mentioned that before?”

“No. No, you have not.”

“Ah. Sorry. Probably should clarify that I’m also a princess.”

“Right. Yes, that follows.”

“And I’m not really his sister, I’m his clone.”

“What?”

Damian blinks and tries to say more, but he has no idea what he’s meant to do with… any of this information. 

Normal. He thought she was meant to be his normal. Nothing could have prepared him for this.

Not that it changed anything, of course, of that he was certain. It’s just… a lot to take in. Overwhelming. But it's okay! He takes a deep breath, and another, and a sense of calm washes over him. Ellie makes one of her little hums as she cocks her head to the side to consider him and he can't help but relax at the normalcy of the sound. It'll be okay, he's dealt with stranger and he can deal with this.

“I’ve, uh… I’ve told you that we’re half ghosts, though, right?”

“What?”

[badfictropes]

Savior Complex in Teen Mom Danny Dp x Dc

(Warning: I enjoy these type of fics and prompts just expressing some of my frustrations about certain things. No hate towards anyone.)

So I want to start by saying I love mom Danny who is the mom of Dani and Dan if they are deaged or not and Vlad as Dani and Dan’s father but I find when people mix in dc they tend to make Danny into some poor abused thing that needs the big bad bats to save him and his children. Which in itself wouldn’t be such a bad thing but add in the Batfam stalking and manipulating Danny and it just irritates me.

In these stories Danny and his kids are on the run from Vlad usually or his parents and they end up in Gotham, good so far. Then they somehow catch the attention of the bats which is where I stop, to be fair at least half the time Danny or the kids get mixed up with a rouge or are revealed to be metas(or at least dc characters think so) which is its own prejudice I’ll come back to. So catching the bats attention; now I don’t mean to be insensitive but I would bet cash money that a mom(young in Danny’s case) on the run and hiding out with his kids from an abusive baby daddy is a dime a dozen in Gotham, I just can’t believe that teen pregnancy or young parents let along someone on the run from an abuser is all that unusual in a city like Gotham that the bats would have their attention and pity so utterly caught by Danny.

This is usually where Danny, Dani and Dan being mistaken for metas come in and like making the bats so suspicious and curious of Danny and his kids because the bats think they’re metas and might be dangerous just gives me prejudice. Like I refuse to believe there isn’t a population of metas in Gotham, so the bats intense interest in the Dannie’s is just annoying. So what comes after that is the Batfam stalking Danny both researching him CIA extensively and inserting themselves in his life and trying to manipulate answers out of him. Now we all know in the real world researching and investigating an abuse survivor and escapee like people write Danny being in this way would be a sure fire way of his abuser finding him and his kids but we’re not taking about the real world so we’ll ignore this, we’ll focus on the fact that it’s just creepy and invasive especially since Danny usually doesn’t even do anything criminal which is what the bats should be focused on, you know crime.

Inserting their way into Danny and his kids life is the real thing that bothers me. The bats just come off to me as being invasive and manipulative by forcing their presence and help on someone who didn’t ask for it and doesn’t want it when it’s offered. The bats are purposeful in inserting themselves in his life and not even just in costume but as civilians to, poor Danny who just wants to be left alone and raise his kids can’t escape them. The Bats seemingly unstoppable desire to know Danny secrets and past as if he’s not entitled to have things he wants to forget or doesn’t want anyone to know. Like I said Danny story in this trope is sadly not exactly unique especially when you take the ghost stuff out it, Danny being a young mom who got caught up with an older rich man who took advantage of him and left him running with two children is not something I see being an unsual story in a crime infested corrupted city like Gotham. So the Bats intense interest in Danny and his kids should freak him the fuck out especially when you add him trying to hide his ghostly secrets into it.

What I’m trying to say is we need Danny being freaked out and scared of the Bats who for some reason will not leave him and his kids alone. Like Danny just wants to live an ordinary life with his kids and the Bats keep inserting themselves into it trying to help someone that doesn’t want their help like they’re intitled to do it. Now I love the Batfam but we all know that getting involved with them and heroes in general is just asking for trouble to invaded your life and I feel like this Danny has had enough trouble for a life time. Write a Danny going past fear into annoyance and anger at more people ignoring his no and not staying out of his and his kids lives when Danny tells them too. And instead of Danny putting up with the Bats shit he just uses his ability to create portals to leave to another dimension or world or into the ghost zone or just move into another city quickly and unnoticed.

And I know things with Danny and the kids and Vlad aren’t the misunderstandings(which I love) the Bats think it is but even if it was that doesn’t excuse their behavior. If I was Danny who just escaped a bad situation with my kids I wouldn’t want any of the drama and potential trauma being involved with the Bats and other heroes could bring. And the way that people write no hero in DC seemingly knows the meaning of no I don’t need your help and no you don’t have to save me, doesn’t help my annoyance. The last thing an abuse survivor raising two kids needs is a group of wealthy powerful men trying to play captain save a ho. After all drawing the attention of the Bats will draw the attention of their rouges and that’s the last thing Danny and his kids need.

All in all I just don’t like the stalking, breaking and ignoring of boundaries, lies and manipulation the Bats employ all under the guise of trying to save Danny, Dani and Dan. And this isn’t me dissing any stories just me ranting about some of my problems with this aspect of my favorite DP AU(mom Danny, dad Vlad and kids Dani and Dan).

[bet-on-me-13]

Silent Chaos prompt

I don’t know if that is the actual ship name, but Dani Phantom usually has Chaos in her ship name and Cass is really sneaky so Silent? idk, anyways-

I have an idea for an angst story involving this ship

Dani and Cass have been friends for a while now, and recently started dating, but the rest of her family doesn’t really trust Dani. She doesn’t have any sort of backstory, she seems to be (badly) hiding Meta Abilities for unknown reasons, she constantly references a Brother somewhere in Illinois who doesn’t seem to exist, and she is nowhere to be seen some nights. So overall she seems very suspicious.

Cass feels slightly betrayed that her Family doesn’t trust her Girlfriend, even when she vouches for her. There’s too many red flags for them to ignore, so she can’t really argue with them, but she still feels like they should trust her judgement.

Dani meanwhile has a passive aggressive relationship with them at best. She kind of dislikes them because they have made their opinions on their relationship apparent, but she tries to be passive for Cass.

This all comes to a head one night when Dani is at her night job. She is a low level henchmen working for Penguin, cause she needs to pay the bills some way and she can’t exactly set up citizenship while being hunted by the GIW. Dani also hates the idea of mooching off of her girlfriend. She gets involved in a fight with the Bat Family, and she is managing to barely hold her own, even while still hiding her powers.

She is wearing a classic Goon mask, so they can’t recognize her as she fights them.

Orphan joins the fight, and during their scuffle they rip each others masks off. They are both shocked, and Cass freezes long enough to get shot in the back by a stray bullet.

Dani just falls to her knees as the battle ends, the other Goons retreating as she stays with Cass on the ground. The rest of the Bat Family rush up to her and push her away, trying to tend to Cass. Maybe Damian even says something along the lines of “I knew we couldn’t trust you!”

But Dani knows she needs to hurry. Cass was shot in the Spine, which is going to kill her soon, not even mentioning the blood loss. So she rushes in, phasing past the Bat Family members that try to stop her, and jumps into Cass’s Body to Overshadow her. While being overshadowed, Cass has all of her powers including her Regeneration, but it’s going to take a while to heal damage this intense.

She manages to at least stabilize her, and then uses her floating to get cass upright.

The Bat Family immediately try to restrain her, try to do anything to force her out of Cass’s body, anything to save their sister. But Dani refuses, and can’t get a word in to explain. They are being very aggressive, verbally not physically obviously, accusing her of a bunch of stuff while yelling at her to get out of their sister. 

Eventually, Dani can’t take it anymore and has to run away. Flying away at top speed, she manages to get away and hide in an abandoned apartment while she focuses on healing Cass’s body. She also leaves a letter in her pocket, explaining what happened and that she needed to leave after this, because the GIW would hear about this and try to capture her.

Meanwhile, the Bat Family is assuming the worst as per usual. They think Dani only became friends with Cass in the first place to get the chance to steal her body, or to blackmail them by using Cass as a hostage, or something equally horrible.

They eventually find a lead. Dani had the same powers as an Ectoplasmic Entity, meaning she is an imprint of a Human Consciousness which has absolutely no empathetic or emotional feelings whatsoever. This further solidifies their theory that Dani was just using Cass this entire time.

(If they had been in a more right state of mind, they would have found that the Dr’s who published that study later retracted it for misinformation)

They also find out that there is a Government Agency called the GIW who works to hunt these sort of creatures. Out of options (JLD is off world), they contact the GIW under their Civilian identities, claiming that a Ghost kidnapped Cass in the night and escaped.

The GIW appears, manages to trap Dani as she is getting for supplies to patch Cass’s body up, and delivers her to the Waynes so they can perform an “exorcism” (basically they just boot Dani out of Cass’s body using Blood Blossoms)

Cass is released from the Overshadowing, still very much injured but stable and healing thanks to Dani. The GIW capture Dani as she tries to escape, and take her away.

Cass is put in the Medical Wing, and when she wakes up, she asks where Dani is. Bruce tells her that Dani was arrested for kidnapping her, and she wouldn’t hurt her anymore. Cass is angry, she had some memory of being overshadowed, and she could hear Dani’s panicked thoughts the entire time.

She was desperate to save her, even risking using up all of her energy to heal her. She used up all of her emergency funds to buy medical supplies, even knowing she would need them soon because her Power Usage would attract “them”

She tells them to leave her alone. And when they try to stay, she nearly screams at them, before her muteness kicks in and she just signs ‘Leave’, throwing a piece of paper at them. They pick it up and leave as she starts crying to herself

 It is the letter from Dani, apologizing for having to Overshadow her and apologizing for not telling her about the Night Job. She explains that once she is healed, Dani is going to have to leave and never come back, because the GIW will find her if she stays. And she can’t risk being captured, because the might do what they did her brother to her.

They are confused, finally second guessing themselves, and leave her in peace as they go to do a more thorough investigation. Now that they are in their right minds, and have seen Dani’s Ghost Form, Tim feels like it’s kind of Familiar.

He looks it up, and lo and behold, he finds an Article about “Phantom and Phantasm”, the Ghost Fighting Heroes of Amity Park who mysteriously disappeared about 7 months ago.

Right after the “Anti-Ecto Acts” were passed in Congress.

Which, now that he’s looking them up and reading more thoroughly, seem extremely unethical. They gave the GIW permission to do anything they want with Ghosts, declaring them non-sentient and completely malicious.

The Anti-Ecto Acts, combined with the letter mentioning her brother, makes Tim realize what’s going on.

The GIW killed the Hero Phantom, and they just gave them the Hero Phantasm. 

And that is the perfect explanation for all of their suspicions about Dani. She has no backstory because she died years ago (presumably), she was hiding her powers because the GIW would find her is she used them, her brother doesn’t seem to exist because he’s dead, and she disappeared some nights because she can’t get a Legal job and unfortunately Goon Work is one of the better paying jobs in the city.

And she ran away because they were screaming at her in a rage, not because she wanted to kidnap their sister. She was terrified of them.

Looking back to the studies on Ectoplasmic Entities, They had been retracted years ago after the Dr’s who published it discovered that Ghosts were sentient after all, and not all of them were malicious. Since then they had been speaking out against the Anti-Ecto Acts, saying that the GIW had killed their son, which, looking at their collateral damage records, was not hard to believe.

They had fucked up. And both Cass and Dani were suffering for it.

[onceuponaoneshotfanfic]

Something There (Chapter 3)

7.1k words

Roy Kent x Reader

Warnings: Language, some angst, putting the "enemies" in "enemies-to-lovers", some sexual references, more childish arguments between adults who clearly want each other

Series Masterlist

“Oi! Coach Buck! Need a hand?”

“Thanks Jamie.” I smiled as I handed my duffel bag to a smiling Jamie Tartt. Just as I was about to ask where he got his adorable headband a gruff voice barked out-

“Whistle!”

With a groan, I turned my attention to the middle of the parking lot, which was full of Whippets and Greyhounds, who, up until a moment ago, were mingling and chattering as they loaded their luggage onto the two team buses. In the center of it all stood Rebecca, still managing to look like an absolute goddess in her ponytail and activewear that probably cost more than I could ever afford, and Roy, standing like a drill sergeant in a black tracksuit, scowling at everyone. If I didn’t know him, I’d think he was just angry to be in a parking lot at six in the morning with two professional soccer teams who were acting more like teens going on an overnight trip. But, knowing Roy Kent, that was just his stupid, rugged face.

Rebecca plastered on a smile as everyone turned in their direction. “Thank you, Roy,” she hummed. She turned to the two teams. “Good morning, all!” Everyone called back either mumbled or enthusiastic greetings- nothing in between, although I did notice that most people seemed excited. “Right, so thank you all for being on time. We are just about ready to head on out. But we thought, in the spirit of this weekend, that we shouldn’t all be on our separate buses. Instead, you will be seated with someone from the other team, Greyhounds and Whippets.” There was a pleased buzz among the players. “Just a way to start getting to know each other and becoming that united Richmond community I know we can be.” With those last words, her eyes pointed meaningfully at Roy and then me.

It was all a bit embarrassing. There was no secret at Nelson Road that the reason for the “First Annual Pre-Season Retreat” was because of us. It had become something of a joke. Someone even tried to start calling us “lovebirds” after Rebecca’d screamed at us in the hallway, but Roy had very quickly put a stop to that with just a growl. Of course, no one could stop Lucas from making those same jokes to me in private as we watched Lust Conquers All at my place.

“So, Whippets, you’ll report to your dear Coach Lucas-” Rebecca pointed at Lucas, who stood between the buses holding a drawstring bag. “-and you’ll pull out the name of one of the Greyhounds. Once you have your seat partner, you can start climbing aboard.” She offered me that same tight smile she’d had that day in her office after she screamed at Roy and me. “Coach Buck, why don’t you lead by example?”

Praying my blush wasn’t as bright as it felt, I made my way to Lucas, who looked suspiciously chipper as I dipped my hand into the bag. I felt around the papers before grabbing one, praying I’d get Jamie, or Dani, or Sam, or Nate, literally anyone but-

“Roy Kent,” I read flatly, narrowing my eyes at the still-grinning Lucas. “This thing’s fucking rigged,” I grumbled.

“Of course it’s rigged,” confirmed Rebecca, who I hadn’t realized had moved towards the buses. “You two are the whole reason we’re here in the first place. Now on you go.” She gestured towards the Whippets’ bus. “Any two seats as long as they’re together.” She turned to Lucas. “Go ahead and put the real papers in, please.”

I watched with utmost betrayal (and a little admiration) as Lucas emptied out the bag- which I now realized was full of papers just bearing Roy’s name- and filled it with fresh pages, which held the names of people I’d actually want to sit with.

Roy, whose pained expression probably matched my own, scowled down at me as we headed towards the bus doors. “You don’t get fucking carsick, do you?”

“Nope.” What the fuck?

He nodded. “Good. We’re sitting in the back. Dunno about your team, but mine’s annoying as fuck on road trips, and I want to be as far away from them as possible.” He stomped up the steps, not bothering to glance back to see if I was following him. I let out a deep breath and adjusted my backpack on my shoulder.

When I stepped onto the bus, Roy was already sitting in the very back, arms crossed and eyes focused on the window. Because, obviously, he took the window seat. With a huff, I plopped down next to him, stuffing my backpack between my feet.

“Coach! Can we sit with you?” Jamie had stepped onto the bus, followed by Kira, the Whippets’ newly dubbed captain.

“No!” Roy barked, rolling his eyes.

Despite Roy’s answer, Jamie and Kira sat down in front of us, with Jamie assuring Kira that Coach Kent was just joking. He turned and sat up on his knees to look over the seats at us while the rest of the bus filled up.

“Coach, can we roast marshmallows tonight?”

Roy looked comically disgusted, either by Jamie’s suggestion or the simple fact that the striker was talking to him. “Fuck no.” He turned back to the window.

Jamie pouted and turned his attention to me. “Coach Buck would let us roast marshmallows, wouldn’t ya, Coach?”

“That’s more Rebecca’s call, she’s the one planning this thing,” I reminded him. “Besides, did you even bring marshmallows?”

“Oh, no.”

With a grunt, Roy looked back at us. “Then this is a fucking pointless conversation, isn’t it?”

Jamie lit up again. “Sam brought the marshmallows, actually. I was in charge of chocolate.”

Roy’s eyes narrowed at his player before he looked back at me. “’m taking a fucking nap. If I wake up with a dick Sharpied on my face, I will make sure to find a lake to throw all of your clothes into.”

“I’d be doing you a favor,” I muttered like a child, folding my arms and slouching. “A dick on your face would distract from what a dick you are.”

He opened his mouth to retort, but the sound of someone clearing their throat interrupted us. In unison, we looked up to see Rebecca, eyebrow arched as she gazed down at us. Fuck, that was the exact face my mom would make when she had to pick me up in the principal’s office.

“Jamie, could you keep an eye on the gaffers here? Make sure there’s no fighting?”

The striker nodded earnestly, clearly intent taking his job seriously. “You got it, boss.”

Next to me, Roy snorted. “What, you don’t want to do babysit us yourself?”

“Oh, no,” Rebecca scoffed. “I’ll be on the other bus. I am not subjecting myself to the two of you for the next two hours.” With that, she whipped around and strutted off the bus, offering us a teasing wave before climbing down the stairs.

I slumped further down in my seat, determined not to look at Roy for what I knew would be the longest two hours of my life.

~

Roy wasn’t sure how long he’d been napping. He just knew that when he opened his eyes, there were trees everywhere, the sky was overcast, the players had finally stopped singing Taylor Swift songs, and someone’s head was on his shoulder.

He looked down out of the corner of his eyes. Her eyes were closed, and her eyebrows were scrunched, and the way her lips twitched made Roy wonder what she could be dreaming about. Him? She’d probably say that was a fucking nightmare.

A small, idiotic part of Roy wanted her to stay there, close to him. Wrapping an arm around her was almost fucking tempting, especially when she shifted closer and he caught a whiff of- was that lavender? Fuck, why did she always smell nice? Another part of him- the logical part, he assured himself- wanted to wake her up by shoving her off of himself and chastising her for drooling on him.

But the part of him that didn’t want Jamie fucking Tartt to narc on him decided just to pretend he was still napping and sit up a little, gently, so that she would slowly wake up, realize how fucking close she was to him, and get the fuck off of him. So, that was what Roy did.

Sure enough, as soon as he shifted, her eyes fluttered open. Quickly, she pulled herself away from Roy, checking that he was still asleep- or at least appeared so. Relieved to see his eyes closed, she turned her face towards the aisle, hoping none of the players had seen her admittedly embarrassing moment.

That stupid part of Roy missed her warmth.

After a bit, figuring she wouldn’t suspect a thing, Roy pretended to wake up, wondering why he fucking cared so much going through all this trouble to save her the embarrassment of being caught using his shoulder as a pillow.He glanced over at her; as if she could feel his gaze, she turned in his direction, her cheeks growing in color the moment their eyes met.

“Don’t worry,” she hummed, cool as ever. “Didn’t draw a dick on you. Couldn’t find my Sharpie.”

Instead of the small chuckle that grew in his chest, Roy gave a little grunt of acknowledgement before pressing his forehead to the cool window, not sure what he’d do if he kept looking at her, in those leggings and that cozy-looking fleece jacket with the little Whippets logo embroidered right over her heart. He spent the rest of the bus ride sitting like that, watching the trees whizz by, listening as Jamie turned around and engaged her in an animated conversation about the places she’d visited in England so far, with both of them giggling when Jamie mentioned that club. Roy’s ears grew white-hot as he remembered that night when all three of them were there. Fucking idiot.

What if he’d been in a good mood that night? If he’d smiled and helped a pretty stranger order her drink? If he’d asked where she was from and discovered she was American? If he inquired about what brought her to England and discovered who she was? Hell, what if he’d done his homework and read the damn report Keeley had written? He’d have recognized her immediately and probably put in the effort to introduce himself. Maybe even bought her that drink, welcome her to Richmond. And they’d smile at each other at work and have pleasant conversations and chat as they ran on the treadmills at the end of the day and share the Dog Track like mature adults and maybe one day, down the road, Roy would ask what she was up to some weekend and if she would maybe be interested in-

Nope. Nope. Shut the fuck up, Roy. Just keep staring at the fucking trees.

When the bus finally arrived at the campground, Roy did some quick math, and realized they’d napped together for about forty minutes. Forty minutes of her sleeping with her head on his shoulder, their faces just centimeters away from each other without anyone shouting or arguing.

Not that it fucking mattered.

Everyone loaded off the buses, chattering excitedly. Finding a good opportunity to put some space between them after the too-close bus ride, Roy helped unload the luggage from the Whippets’ bus, relishing the chance to throw Jamie’s bright pink leather duffel bag in his face.

Once everyone had their belongings, Rebecca waved to get everyone’s attention, projecting her voice in a way that impressed even the gaffers. “Right then. So, we have just a short trek to the cabins. Ladies will be one way, gentlemen the other, and coaches-” The coaching staff perked up. “We’ll be in the middle.”

Roy threw his head back as Rebecca warned the players against turning the weekend into the Olympic Village, which caused more than a few Greyhounds to pout. All of the coaches would be sharing a cabin? More of this co-ed shit? Sharing with anyone would be bad enough, Roy would rather sleep on the fucking bus than have to listen to Coach Beard’s snoring, but having to spend his weekend sleeping in the same room as-

“You know you’re in the way.”

“Fucking seriously?” He turned around and glared at the coach as she adjusted her duffel bag on her shoulder, ponytail bouncing like she was in a fucking shampoo commercial. “There’s an entire fucking forest. Just fucking go around me.”

Jamie Tartt clicked his tongue as he walked by. “Careful, you two, or I’ll have to tell Rebecca you’re bickerin’ again.”

“Fuck off, Tartt,” Roy grumbled, just as Coach Buck muttered, “Can it, Jamie.” The two coaches blinked at one another before following the group along the path, neither of them saying anything more as they walked side by side.

~

“Bunk beds. Of course it’s fucking bunk beds.” Roy Kent scowled and dropped his bag on the cabin floor, right in front of the doorway.

“Seriously, Kent?” I groaned, glaring down at his stupid duffel bag. “Move your fucking bag.”

He rolled his eyes, but nevertheless Roy picked his bag back up and moved further into the cabin. I followed him in, tossing my own bag onto the closest bunk I could find. Slowly the other coaches and Rebecca filed in, all carrying their luggage.

Sitting on one of the bottom bunks, Roy scowled. “Any chance I’m allowed to sleep outside and hope a fucking badger mauls me?”

Before I could second that idea, Rebecca raised an eyebrow. “Roy, I will assign you and your shit knee to a top bunk if you don’t watch it. Besides,” she continued, “just think of this as one big sleepover. We’ll stay up late, tell ghost stories, share our deepest secrets, and drink the booze I know Coach Beard has in his backpack.”

“Moonshine always makes me feel better when I’m feeling a little homesick,” Beard explained, winking in my direction. I grinned back.

“Right,” Rebecca hummed. “Well, we are all meeting in that big open space once we’re settled in.” She checked her watch. “Doctor Sharon should be arriving soon.”

Nate lit up as he unzipped his suitcase. “Doctor Sharon’s coming?”

Rebecca nodded. “She’ll be running this weekend basically. She’s kind enough to drive back and forth to be with us.”

“We could’ve just driven back and forth?” Roy groaned, throwing his head back. “Fuck!”

I scoffed as Lucas tossed his own bag on the bunk above mine. “You really think Rebecca’d give us that option?”

“No one fucking asked you,” he mumbled, loud enough that only we could hear.

Lucas gripped my shoulders and steered me towards the doors. “Why don’t we head on out before Rebecca schedules you two some couple’s counseling, hmm?”

About thirty minutes later, both teams were assembled in the amphitheater behind the coaches’ cabin, listening as Doctor Sharon explained what the weekend would consist of.

“… and I did make sure to schedule time for team-building games,” she was saying, which was rewarded with a giant whoop from Isaac McAdoo. “Now, there will be a block of time in the afternoons where you’re able to train with your coaches-” She gestured towards us. “-and I will be set up to meet with anyone who just needs to talk one-on-one during that time.”

My eyes wandered as Doctor Sharon continued to talk about the small groups we’d all been assigned to. It was almost impressive to see the Greyhounds pay such attention; they could be absolute toddlers sometimes with all that energy, but apparently something about Doctor Sharon commanded their respect and attention. She and I had only said hello a couple of times, but already I liked her no-nonsense attitude.

As I continued looking around, a pair of brown eyes locked with mine across the amphitheater. Fucking Roy Kent, making me spend my weekend here, I thought with an instinctive scowl, which was quickly returned by the bearded man.

“Hey,” Lucas hissed as he elbowed me. “Stop undressing that man with your eyes. I don’t care about how much you want to run your hands through his chest hair and let him have his way with you. You are in public, Bucky.”

I broke the staring contest to gape at Lucas. “Quit saying shit like that! Someone’s going to fucking hear you one of these days.”

He rolled his eyes. “It’s not exactly a huge secret. Everyone knows you two want to shag.” He loved using British slang now, especially when he was being obnoxious. “Well, except maybe you two.”

“Luke, I swear to-”

“So, go ahead and get into your groups,” Doctor Sharon was saying. “And we’ll start our ice breaker.”

Lucas stood and pulled me up with him. “Gee, I wonder who’s in your group.”

“Bite me,” I grumbled as I left him to walk over to Dani, who I knew was in my small group based on the lists Rebecca had given everyone.

“Hola, Coach Bucky!” he greeted with that dazzling smile. “I am so excited that we are in the same group for this weekend!”

I couldn’t help but return his infectious grin. “It’ll be fun,” I agreed. Of course, I immediately regretted my words when Roy strode over to us, already frowning.

“Can’t believe we’re in the same fucking group,” he muttered, crossing his arms.

“Really?” I scoffed as Kira, Olivia, one of my defenders, and a couple more Greyhounds- Colin Hughes and Richard Montlaur- strolled over. “You think Rebecca wouldn’t use this as an opportunity to punish us even more?”

He only growled in response, which I’d realized was his way of admitting that I was right about something without actually telling me I was right. Fucking idiot. Against my will, Lucas had given me the lowdown on Roy Kent’s romantic history; how the hell did he get models and actresses to sleep with him? He was so damn weird.

Okay, well he had been a successful soccer player and was a pretty solid coach now. Which meant he was famous. And probably pretty wealthy. And obviously in shape. And I could see how some people would think he was attractive in a rugged, lumberjack kind of way way. And even I had to admit that there was something kind of sexy about that growling way he spoke-

Realizing I was staring at Roy still, I turned my attention to the players who’d joined us. “Hey Colin, how ya doing?”

He nodded. “Good, good. Just kind of cold.” He rubbed his bare arms.

Before I could point out his lack of jacket, Doctor Sharon called for everyone’s attention. “Right. Just to start things off simply, we are going to play Human Knot. It’s a great way to practice cooperation and communication. So, please, circle up, grab hands, and, well, you know the rest.”

Our group did as we were told, quickly thrusting our hands into the center and grabbing whoever we could. The next few minutes were full of tugging and climbing over arms and ducking under arms. Despite Roy’s growling, I found myself having fun, laughing with the players as we tried to solve our self-made puzzle, determined to be the first group finished. It wasn’t until we were nearly done that I realized whose hand was holding in my left.

“Whoo! Bucky!” Lucas called across the field as my group spread out into a perfect circle, finished with our game.

Roy’s eyes were fixed on our joined hands, a scowl on his bearded face. I wondered if my hand was warm in his, like his felt in mine. Not that it mattered; the moment Doctor Sharon declared our team the winners of the game, he yanked his hand out of mine, nearly ripping my arm off in the process.

“Dick,” I hissed, rubbing my now sore shoulder.

“Priss,” he shot back, rolling his eyes.

“How are we doing here, coaches?” Rebecca, who’d appeared with the stealth of a ninja, clapped her hands on our shoulders, beaming at us with scrutiny behind her eyes, daring either of us to complain.

In unison, we both plastered on fake smiles and chirped, “Great!”

When everyone was dismissed for lunch, Roy watched as she waved goodbye to everyone except him, then went on her merry way to Lucas so they could walk to the dining hall together, hating the feeling he got in his stomach as he watched her figure stroll away.

~

It was the longest fucking morning of Roy Kent’s life. He’d had to play childish icebreaker games, do a fucking relay race that killed his knee, and sit in some fucking hippie circle talking about what it means to be a good listener or some shit. Worst of all, he had to do all of it while trying not to stare at the only other coach in his group.

“How’s it going?”

Because this was shaping up to also be the worst day of Roy Kent’s life, Jamie had appeared at Roy’s side; Roy wondered if the striker had caught him staring at the Whippets’ manager.

When Roy only grunted in response, Jamie continued talking as the two men began walking. “Boy, you really got it bad for Coach Buck, don’t ya?”

Roy stopped in his tracks, fists clenched at his side. “The fuck did you just say?”

Jamie cocked his head. “Coach Buck. You like her, right?” Receiving no answer, Jamie shrugged and kept walking; Roy reluctantly followed suit. “I mean, I don’t blame ya. She’s mad fit and smart and obviously likes football and she’s the only person I’ve ever seen get under your skin more than I do.”

“I don’t fucking like her,” Roy spat, glancing around to make sure no one was close enough to hear Jamie’s lunacy. “Can’t fucking stand her, actually. And the feeling’s mutual so don’t worry about me hurting her fucking feelings.”

A small O formed on Jamie’s lips. “Oh fuck, you’re in complete denial then? Shit, I thought you were just trying to keep it a secret until you figured out how she feels.” He patted his coach’s back. “Let me know when you realize you fancy her so we can have a proper chat, yeah?”

Not bothering to wait for Roy’s inevitably expletive-filled answer, Jamie jogged ahead, slowing down so he could walk backwards while chatting with a trio of Whippets.

Finally alone, Roy sighed and stuffed his hands in his pockets. You’re in complete denial then? Fucking Jamie Tartt, he really was stupider than he looked. Roy didn’t like her; on the contrary, he thought she was the most infuriating person he’d ever met. So fucking argumentative. He’d yet to have an actual conversation with her; how was he supposed to tolerate her, let alone like her?

Roy didn’t like her. Roy didn’t like her. Roy didn’t like her. Roy didn’t fucking like-

“Coach Kent.” Doctor Sharon offered a small smile as she approached him. “Mind if I walk with you?”

Roy cleared his throat and his mind. “That’s fine.” He bobbled his head from side to side. “Can’t believe they got you to drive up here for this shit.”

Doctor Sharon’s smile became a smirk. “Can’t believe you’re the reason for ‘this shit’, as you call it.”

“Oh no, not you too,” Roy groaned, throwing his head back. “Listen, I’m fucking sorry everyone has to give up their weekend, but come on, we all know Rebecca was the one who came up with this idea, fucking blame her.” He shrugged. “She could’ve just sent us to go do some fucking mediation with you and be done with it.”

The doctor shook her head. “Roy, this is about more than the two of you. This is about two teams becoming a community. It’s something Ms. Welton feels quite strongly about. She wants the Whippets to be successful, and she thinks having the Greyhounds in their corner is a key part of that. You can understand that, right?”

Roy shrugged. “Fucking guess so,” he mumbled as they approached the dining hall.

“And it doesn’t help things when her two managers are at each other’s throats all the time, does it?” Doctor Sharon asked pointedly.

“No,” Roy admitted with a defeated sigh as they joined the line for food.

Once they’d loaded their trays with whatever food Roy couldn’t be bothered to try to identify, Roy heard someone call his name. When he turned, he saw Coach Lucas waving at him from a table with all the coaches and Rebecca; only one of them looked annoyed at the sight of him.

“Come on, then,” Doctor Sharon said as she nudged Roy. “Good opportunity for you two to practice being civil.”

Roy reluctantly followed Doctor Sharon to the coaches’ table, grunting as they were greeted. Internally, he groaned when he realized he was sitting directly across from the Americans.

While everyone ate, Roy did his best to focus on Beard sitting to his right, he really did. But he kept feeling his gaze shift across the table, where he’d catch glimpses of her smiling, laughing, joking. He especially hated the way his eyes lingered on her mouth when she sipped her water through the straw of her water bottle; even without her red lipstick, he couldn’t help the way his eyes continually settled there, wondering if those lips were as soft as they looked.

“Roy? Did you hear what I said?”

Blinking and praying to whatever deity was listening that no one had caught him ogling, Roy turned to look at Nate on Beard’s other side. “What?”

Nate leaned forward. “Rebecca was telling us about a nearby field we can use for training. D’you want me to go ahead and set up cones to make the pitch?”

 Roy nodded. “Yeah, yeah that’s fine.”

The lips he really wished were out of his eyeline started moving. “You want some help Nate?” Her eyes flickered to Roy for a brief moment. “We’ll be using it too, after all.”

“That would be lovely, thanks Coach!” Nate beamed and picked up his plate. “Ready to go?”

“Absolutely.” Her eyes returned to Roy as she grabbed her plate. She stood up and stared at him for a moment, head slightly tilted. It was an unreadable stare, one that didn’t hold her usual fiery anger. It was a look that made Roy’s stupid heart flutter for a brief moment.

Of course, she couldn’t know the effect she had on him. Fuck no. So, he let his eyes narrow at her suspiciously, much to the chagrin of an observant Doctor Sharon and the amusement of a perceptive Coach Beard, and was rewarded with an exasperated eyeroll.

“You’ve got fucking spaghetti sauce on your shirt, Kent,” she huffed.

Roy didn’t check his shirt until she had turned on her heel, put her plate in a stack of dirty dishes by the kitchen, and strutted out of the dining hall with Nate right behind her. It was only once she was out of sight that Roy looked down at his chest, where a small splatter of red stained the bright blue of his Richmond jacket, right above his stupid, stupid heart.

Fuck.

~

As much as Rebecca wanted to torture us that weekend, she still wanted winning teams. So, after Doctor Sharon’s presentation on “healthy communication methods” (during which Roy Kent communicated his annoyance by healthily glaring at me pretty much the whole time), the teams were dismissed to go to the pitch Nate and I had set up.

“Oi.”

I turned away from Lucas, who’d been asking about our warm up. Roy towered over me, his fingers twitching slightly as he stared at me. He looked like the slightest movement would spook him, so I simply raised my eyebrows to let him know I was listening.

He cleared his throat. “If you want, we can work on the north half of the pitch. You can have the shade.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Lucas’s jaw drop slightly. It was hard to blame him; Roy Kent was speaking to me civilly. Even worse, he was offering to do something nice. Nate had to have put him up to it. Or Beard. Hell, knowing Rebecca, she’d probably threatened him into it.

Not that I was going to turn it down.

“Sounds like a plan,” I replied. Lucas nudged me sharply. “Thanks,” I quietly added.

“Hmmph.” With a curt nod, Roy headed to the north side of the field, where, with an earsplitting “Whistle!”, he gathered his team.

Lucas blew his actual, physical whistle and had Kira lead the Whippets in warming up. With the team occupied, he turned to me. “Well, wasn’t that sweet,” he hummed, waggling his eyebrows.

Eyes glued to my players, I scoffed. “It was the least he could do, considering how we landed here in the first place. Besides, everyone’s chomping at the bit to rat on us if we start fighting. He’s probably just trying to make it look like he’s the bigger person.”

“You’re a fucking idiot,” Lucas laughed, turning his attention back to the team. “But hey, stay in denial, that’s fine. Just don’t come crying to me when you wake up in that man’s bed someday.”

The punch that landed on his arm would end up leaving a bruise that lasted for several days.

On the bright side, at least my assistant coach shut up and focused on practice. Sharing the field proved a bit difficult, but I found solace in the fact that Roy Kent was suffering just as much, having to pause when one of our balls ended up on their side or realizing he didn’t have enough space for a certain drill. As the afternoon came to a close, I blew my whistle and called my team over.

“Great job, all,” I declared. “I know it wasn’t our normal practice, so I really appreciate your patience.” I glanced at my watch. “You’ve got about forty minutes til dinner, so you’ve got some free time. Shower, rest. Don’t forget Doctor Sharon’s available, too.”

Kira Malone spoke up. “Actually, Coach, we’re staying out here for a bit. You’re welcome to watch if you want.”

Lucas and I exchanged looks. “Okay,” I said slowly, trying not to show my confusion.

The Whippets stayed on the field, kicking around a couple of balls. It took a moment, but I realized they were watching the Greyhounds; no, they were waiting for the Greyhounds. The moment Roy dismissed the men, they jogged over to the women, and everyone began chattering excitedly.

“What the hell are they doing?” Lucas whispered as we planted ourselves on the grass.

I shrugged. “No clue.”

Each team lined up at one end of the field, everyone looking exhilarated, bouncing on their heels and smiling. Nate strolled over to us, holding a ball in his hands.

“You two staying to watch?”

Lucas tilted his head. “What exactly are we staying to watch, Nathan?”

A knowing grin spread across the assistant coach’s face. “Oh. You’ll see. Isaac and Kira had the idea during lunch.” He turned and walked to the center circle, where he placed the ball as if a game were about to begin. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Roy and Beard standing by the goal post, watching with just as much interest and muttering to one another.

When Nate, who’d moved off the field, blew his whistle, Isaac and Kira, who were first in line, sprinted forward, racing towards the ball. Kira reached it first and began making her way towards the men’s goal; Isaac managed to steal and ball and take it the other direction. After a bit of back and forth, Isaac scored, eliciting thunderous cheers from both sides. Lucas and I exchanged glances. What the heck?

Colin Hughes and Cheri Willis competed next. Then Sam Obisanya and Sandra Finley. On and on. Eventually, every player had ran up to the ball and had a little one-on-one with a member of the other team. When Kira and Isaac ended up at the front of the line again, both lines rushed forward and, keeping their lines, exchanged giggly high-fives- as if they were children after an AYSO game instead of professional athletes.

As the players mingled and laughed, Beard and Nate made their way over to us; Roy followed, keeping his usual distance.

“Did you guys know about that?” Beard asked, eyebrows raised over his sunglasses.

We shook our heads. “You?”

Nate perked up. “Isaac told me about it during training. I guess during lunch one of the Whippets mentioned how much she liked doing playing that after practices as a kid, everyone thought it sounded like fun.” His smile turned thoughtful. “That looked like a blast for them. I had fun just watching them,” he added.

“Me too.” We all turned; there was Rebecca, watching us with an amused grin. “That is what this weekend is about.” She pointed to the players, who were beginning to make their way to cabins and showers, laughter on their lips and springs in their steps. “Respect. Collaboration. Community.” She eyed me and Roy, who’d slowly made his way over once he’d caught sight of Rebecca. “Something we could all learn, hmm?”

Roy and I turned our gazes to one another; I could tell he was trying just as hard as I was not to narrow or roll his eyes, or let out an annoyed huff, or make a snarky comment. We both knew Rebecca was waiting for us to surrender and call a truce. Maybe even pay a compliment about each other’s coaching. Hell, just a mutual nod of agreement would be enough. Just offer her some glimmer of hope that the entire season wouldn’t be all bickering and screaming.

But neither of us was willing to yield first.

“Gonna go take a fucking shower,” Roy mumbled, turning and following the players back up towards the cabin, his head ducked downward, as if he felt the same embarrassment I felt. I wondered if he was also asking himself, Why is this so fucking hard?

~

Roy banged the back of his head repeatedly against the cabin wall. This was stupid. Childish. A fucking waste of time. And he wasn’t positive, but he thought it might be a human rights violation.

Despite the players’ little game and Rebecca’s “one happy family” moment after training, they’d found a new opportunity to argue: Roy had left his towel hanging from the wrong bunk. And of course, that was a fucking problem. Because everything was a fucking problem, apparently.

“Alright, I’m done!” Coach Beard scolded, reminding Roy more of an exasperated father than an assistant coach. “You two, with me.”

The still seething managers reluctantly followed Beard along the dirt path to a small cabin, more of a shed really, filled with tools and gardening equipment. Beard opened the door and gestured for them to go inside.

“Excuse me?” she had squeaked as Roy grumbled, “What the fuck, Beard?”

With an eerie calmness that made Roy’s blood go cold, Beard nodded towards the shed. “Go inside. Do not come out until you figure out how to get along. Or you’ve banged this thing out of your systems. Or one of you is dead. At this point I don’t care.”

“I doubt Rebecca’d be okay with this,” Coach Buck tried, clearly as desperate as Roy not to go inside the shed. “Or Doctor Sharon.”

Coach Beard laughed in their faces. “Do you two really want Rebecca to know you’re fighting again?”

Fucking Beard. He had a point.

So now Roy sat on the floor of a fucking storage shed, with no light but a bare bulb above them, trying to stay in his little personal space bubble as best he could, trying not to flinch every time their knees bumped, each tiny touch sending Roy’s heart into overdrive.

“Can’t believe I’m missing the fucking s’mores to sit in a shed with you,” she sighed, closing her eyes as she leaned her head against the same wall Roy was trying to kill himself on.

Roy snorted. “Really? You’re upset over marshmallows? That’s the most American shit I’ve ever heard. And I played for fucking Lasso.”

She tilted her head towards him, the soft light on her face making his chest tighten almost painfully. “Yeah, Kent. I’m upset over fucking marshmallows.” She rolled her eyes. “I’m missing a bonding experience with my team, idiot. You’ve coached the Greyhounds for what, three years now? And you played with most of those guys, right?” She wiped some dirt off her knee, brushing his knee as she did. “I’m still getting to know my players. Earning their trust. And I’m missing an opportunity to spend time with them off the field because I have to sit in this shed with you.”

There was a heavy silence as Roy took in her words. She was always pointing out the differences between their experiences; he was experienced, she was new, he was home, she was an outsider, he was a man, she was a woman.

Of course, when she was feeling particularly feisty, she’d also remind him that she was an Olympic champion. Which he was not.

To his surprise, she broke the silence. “Tell me about Lasso.”

Roy furrowed his brow and stared at her. “What?”

“Ted Lasso.” She shrugged. “You all keep talking about the guy. This American manager who got Roy Kent to actually tolerate him.” She narrowed her eyes, a hint of playfulness behind them this time. “Kind of curious how he managed that.”

The snort that came out of Roy’s nose surprised them both. “Dunno. He fucking wore me down with how fucking kind he is. Made me fucking soft. Wanker.”

She nodded. “So, if I’m aggressively nice, you’ll stop rolling your eyes every time I walk into the room?”

“Maybe.” Roy didn’t bother to stop the corner of his mouth from tugging upwards. “You’ve got to be real fucking annoying about it, though.”

“Shouldn’t be too hard. Everyone knows you think I’m annoying as fuck already.”

Both coaches let out breathy chuckles, each thinking about how silly, and ridiculous, and stupid this whole thing was. They were fucking adults, after all. Professionals. They both wanted to lead their teams to victory; and, if they were being honest, both wanted the same for the other coach’s team.

So why the fuck were they in a fucking shed in the middle of the woods?

Roy took a shaky breath, not sure where he was going with this. “It’s impressive, you know,” he murmured. “The whole moving to a new country to start a new team shit. Don’t know how you did it.”

Even in the dim glow of the lone bulb, he could see her face tint pink. “It’s kind of fucking scary,” she admitted softly. “But it’s also kind of the coolest shit I’ve ever done.”

“Yeah,” Roy agreed, shouldering her playfully, amazed by his own actions. “Even I have to admit, it’s pretty fucking impressive.” He bobbled his head and rolled his eyes. “Almost as impressive as an Olympic gold medal.”

He liked the sheepish grin she shot him. It looked good on her. “Alright, I might bring that up a lot. But no one gets mad at Michael Phelps for talking about his.”

“That bastard has, like a million of them,” Roy laughed, feeling his shoulders relax for the first time since he’d walked into the changing room on her first day. “But I guess you have a fucking point. It’s impressive,” he repeated.

“You know what’ll be really impressive?”

Instinctively, Roy leaned closer, not caring if she noticed the way his eyes flickered down to her mouth, still gorgeous even without that red lipstick. “Hmm?”

Her raised eyebrows told him that if she noticed, she didn’t mind. “When both of our teams win the whole fucking thing at the end of this year.”

“I hate to break it to you, but Chelsea did that a few years ago,” Roy informed her.

“So? Fuck Chelsea.” She was completely grinning now, a sight Roy couldn’t believe was all his to witness, rather than stealing a glimpse of a smile meant for someone else. “We’re fucking Richmond. You guys are, like, perennial underdogs, and we’re a brand-new team led by an American. That’s some fairy tale shit.”

Roy nodded softly. “Fairy tale shit,” he repeated. “I like it.”

Before Roy could do something about the warm feeling in his chest that he hoped she was also having, there was a buzzing noise coming from her pocket. With a frown, she pulled out her mobile, clearing her throat as she glanced at it. Unable to help himself, his eyes flickered to the screen, where he saw fucking George Willows’s name above a text message.

“Guess I finally got a fucking signal out here,” she joked, locking her phone and darkening the screen. She looked back at Roy. “So, fairy tale shit?”

Roy leaned back, putting distance between them again- physical and metaphorical. “It’ll be a good season,” he said bluntly, ending whatever moment he decided was one-sided. “I’m sure your team’ll do fucking fine.” He paused, finger tapping on his bad knee. “D’you need to text fucking Willows back? Set up an interview or some shit?”

This time, the color on her cheeks wasn’t for Roy. “Oh, yeah. He wants to do some profiles on the Whippets, so we’re setting that up.”

Roy let his head fall back against the wall, wondering how hard he’d have to hit it to give himself a concussion. “Shouldn’t you let Keeley deal with the devil? It’s part of her job.”

She sighed. “He’s not the devil. He’s a nice guy. And I don’t mind helping out.” Smile now completely gone, she frowned at Roy. “And I don’t have to justify myself to you, Kent.”

“No,” he agreed. “Guess you fucking don’t.” He stood as suddenly as his knees would allow, nodding towards the door. “Come on. Let’s just fucking tell Beard we apologized to each other and agreed that ignoring each other is the best course of action.”

“Fine.” She hoisted herself up, slower and more carefully than Roy expected. “Thanks coming up with that idea right now instead of, oh I dunno, an hour ago.”

Not quite looking at Roy, she brushed past him, giving his shoulder a little shove with her own, and threw the door open. Roy stood in the doorway and watched as she walked, not to the campfire, where the sounds of laughter and joking and even singing could be heard, but instead to the coaches’ cabin, her shoulders slumped and head down.

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[britcision]

Alright I’m on a Dead On Main kick but I’m also permanently in house “Danny Should Adopt Connor For Proper Clone Parenting”

So let’s combine those for crack purposes!

Timelines are fake and so are trees

Jason and Danny are both technically younger than Connor’s supposed to be, and both actually older than Connor is

There’s some fight in Gotham big enough to justify both Superman and Superboy showing up, Red Hood’s willingly working with the bats, mass hysteria

Jason Todd knows more than enough about forcing a working relationship with shitty parents enough to have Suspicions about how Man and Boy are interacting

He knew them before he died and knew it was a bad relationship then, it’s clearly no better

But it’s shooty shooty guns time so we’ll get to that later

Eventually he has to call in the bf because the JL are getting their asses kicked and Danny shows up and joins the fight

Even he can spot the tension and he and Jason exchange Big Gay Looks

But as the fight goes on, Connor’s pinned

In Big Danger, going down, Superman’s closest and doesn’t even glance twice

Just turns away

In comes Danny with the steel chair and if some flying fragments of goon nearly hit Supes, well, pure coincidence

Danny helps Connor to his feet and they get back into it, Connor gets to be in on the big plan which is Get Danny To The Middle

One ghostly wail later, that’s it that’s the fight

Everyone’s wondering what happened, how all the baddies disappeared, Danny gives Connor a pat on the shoulder

“I’m retired kid, and couldn’t have done it without you, so do me a favour and you take this win”

Danny’s gone, Connor’s confused, Jason INSTANTLY backs him up

If Bats is wondering who the unknown fighting alongside them was, well, Superman’s making his biggest constipated faces about congratulating his clone

Jason promises to explain everything if Connor comes by for coffee, Connor has no social life so post debrief they go and pick up enough for 3

Connor’s a little surprised cuz yeah, Jason’s different from when he was Robin, but way less angry and violent than Dick’s led him to believe

Jason explains it’s because of his new bf Danny, the explainer in this case

They get back to Danny in his human form, he’s all gushy and happy to meet Connor cuz whether he went to space or not Connor is technically an alien

Connor gets very quiet about his dna donors

Danny gets Instantly Suspicious and remembers that moment in the fight

Jason rats out the incidents he knows about where Superman’s been a shit

Connor insists we are Not Talking About This It’s Fine

Danny stares him in the face

“Hey wanna meet my clone? Her name’s Danielle, her creator made her try to murder me to replace me. She’s my sister and best friend and I love her dearly and You’re My Clone Now Too.”

Connor, befuddled, is instantly adopted by Dani as well because Clone Sibling, who cares about genetics

Jason tells Connor they’re always like this, but yeah, if he doesn’t wanna put up with Supes’ shit he can go his own way

He doesn’t even have to go full Red Hood style, but they’ll take care of him if he wants to break off on his own

Connor doesn’t believe Supes would ever allow this and would kill Connor the second he showed any hesitance

Danny goes Full Eldritch Horror

Jason:

“Oh hey I don’t think I formally introduced you, Connor this is my boyfriend Danny, the King of the Infinite Realms, you just watched him melt a guy who was kicking Clark’s ass. What were your concerns again?”

And that’s how Connor ends up adopted by his friend’s baby brother and his eldritch boyfriend, complete with happy family jokes

Jason and Danny both call him their baby incessantly and Connor will never admit he kinda loves it, not least for the faces Dick makes

Superman does predictably kick up a stink about Connor not living on base, Batman can’t control Jason but Jason isn’t a world ending threat

Jason smiles extremely sweetly and demonstrates exactly what a world ending threat looks like by texting Danny, who shows up again in full Eldritch Horror

And then Danny texts JAZZ and the Justice League learn the true meaning of fear from a 6’9 redhead therapist who went to the Harley Quinn school of “Sit Down And Shut Up While I Read You For Filth”

Danny pinky swears not to end the world if the JL leave Jason and Connor alone, they can even still be on call for the league and MAYBE so will Danny

If they’re extremely lucky

Constantine assures them this is The Only Way Fucking Hell Superman What Did You Do

The only hiccup in the happily ever after is Dick deciding this makes him Connor’s uncle and being insufferable about it

Danny agrees and it only makes it worse

[caffeinatedvigilantewriter]

This is a mashup of various tropes. Don’t like don’t read. May include

- deaged danny

- Damian x Dani (serious chaos)

- dead Jazz

- dead Sam

- dead Tucker

- not-shit parent Vlad (kinda)

- the Waynes have a strength kink

So when Danny is 18 and have safely moved out, has financial security and can go no contact with his parents he decides to tell him that he’s Phantom.

It doesn’t go well.

By the time Jazz Sam and Tucker find him he is deaged to around 6. The fentonworks lab explodes.

Dani, who is 16 and was on her way to visit, came just in time to sift through the rubble and find Danny, who has only had enough memory to recognize her as his sister. She also finds three dead bodies. Jack and Maddie survived.

Scared and mourning, she takes Danny and runs to Vlad, who realizes how terrible and obsessed Jack and Maddie were and gives Dani lots of money to hide somewhere where the Jack and Maddie wouldn’t dare to look- at least not for a little while.

Gotham.

So she takes Danny and changes their names.

Elliot ‘Elle’ Jasmine Nightingale and Daniel James Nightingale, brothers and sister duo.

Dani- now Elle- still holds a grudge on Vlad, coupled with the Fenton stubbornness, she insists that she can pay rent/bills/groceries/etc. she gets an apartment in crime alley.

Because Elle doesn’t want to leave a paper trail, she does a less-than-legal job.

She joins a fight rink under the name of Phantasm.

And she’s great at it.

Shes spend the money on education for Danny, ignoring her education for the moment until Danny is old enough to join school.

Damian and Bruce were having major arguments, mostly about his violence and Damian quits being Robin and becomes Nocturne. (Bc I love that name)

He undercover a fight rink and thinks if he busts the rink Bruce will trust him enough.

He does recon and quickly realizes that one of the fighters was incredible, winning fight after fight without causing major injures to her opponents. Her name was Phantasm.

He decides that in order to find out more about her, he has to join undercover. It was only to take down the fight rink and learn more about the beautiful fighter that could bend him in half and nothing more.

Damian joins under the name of Ghoul and swipes some DNA from Elle, learns her (fake) name her (fake) backstory (family died in an heated lab explosion) but doesn’t understand why a chunk of her DNA was unreadable (ghost part of her DNA)

After a bit of digging, realized she didn’t attend school and the next morning Elle waked up to a letter starting that her full-ride scholarship to Gotham Academy has be approved (GA offers a afterschool care for students with younger siblings)

Elle never applied and is confused but accepts after Vlad, Ember, and Kitty convinced her.

She coincidentally is put in the most of the same classes as Damian, who she eventually crushes on befriends because he’s hot she’s suspicious of his faint and funky ecto signature.

So shenanigans include (not in this order and are optional)

- GALA where Vald announces her as Vlad Co heiress and the are invited to the gala and get a bit sus of Elle bc Vlad is sus

- JASON AS ELLE’S NEIGHBOR is actively trying to set up/prevent Damian and Elle getting together (either one works, as long as the plans fail comically)

- PRINCESS ELLE OF YHE INFINITE RELAMS + SUMMONING

- TALIA ATTEMPTING TO KIDNAP DANNY because he looked like Bruce/she wants another son and Elle absolutely beating her 7 different ways to Sunday and Talia telling Damian that she approves of her

- ELLE DESTABILIZING/GETTING REALLY SICK and Danny calls Damian in a panic because he knows Elle trusts him even if she won’t admit it

- ELLE GETS SAVED BY NOCTURNE and Elle instantly clocks him as Damian bc of his ecto signature and rips him a new one because look how vigilantism turned out for Danny

- THE BATFAM THINKING DANNY IS THE CLONE OF ELLE and investigating Cadmus, who could have ties to the GIW somehow

- ELLE BECOMING A SORT OF SERIAL KILLER to protect Danny (check the comments @emerald-fox-93 linked it :)))

- DASH BECOMING A GCPD COP AND HAVING TO ARREST ELLE because she killed someone who tried to kidnap Danny. Damian picks her up from the station after she calls him.

- PAULINA BECAME A LAYWER FOR WE bc I saw a post like that and it was fire. She eventually fights for the removal of the AEA (anti ecto acts)

- THE OTHER BATS GENUINELY BECOMING CONCERNED and began to think that Elle is mind-controlling Damian because he keeps brushing them off to hang out with her

- DAN JOINING THE JLA and calling up Elle when he needs her help and Damian being there and being like ‘wtf??’

Jack and Maddie eventually find Danny and Elle and Elle vanishes. Danny- who Elle hid when the Fentons stormed the apartment- calls Damian sobbing and pleading for him to find Elle because the bad people are going to hurt her.

Damian, knowing little to nothing about her situation, basically goes ballistic trying to find her. The family, titans, and the League gets involved because one 15 year old doesn’t realize he has a massive crush on his classmate. He calls up that every favors he is owed (and some that is not) so now basically almost the entire LOA is after a 15 year old girl who was kidnapped by the two mad scientists who are committing around 16 wars crimes.

They find her after the ghosts she’s Still in contact with realize she hasn’t texted in a while and they’ll help Damian on his manhunt

And because Elle is the high princess, the entire ghost zone is ready to help Damian get their princess/queen/regent back

Jack and Maddie never stood a chance.

Any more ideas?? Please tag me and comment 🙏 :))

Edit: I’m updating the post as I think of new ideas, so it’s changing pretty often, you’re not crazy, I just have no writing ability and too many ideas 🤪

[darling-i-read-it]

Requested: by anon, Hello hello hello 👋 I just read your new Pelle fic and.. thank you for reviving my Midsommar obsession ❤️ It gave me an idea for a request, too. Something on the creepy vibe (if you're okay with it) with Pelle and a shy reader, like super shy. She can be friends or a sibling of the group (to justify why she's there). He is completely smitten, and she doesn't understand why.

I hope you enjoy love! I hope you don't mind I made it with headcanons, I thought it would flow better. I love doing a subtle creep, the horror fan in my goes wild lol.

You had known grown up as a childhood friend to Mark, which turned into you both going to the same college, which turned into you being friends with his friends

You quickly grown close to Dani, as the only other girl who frequented the boring testosterone filled dinners 

But you had otherwise been friends with all of them, comfortable with being around overnight if you needed to be, to go out drinking and trust them to watch over you if you had a little too much 

Other than that you remained shy and quiet. You had your friends with no real reason as to branch out further than that. You had never been sure if it was a mix of social anxiety or just sheer uninterest but when you were out, you tended to be silent 

The group brought you out of your shell but you had known some of them for years, they had broken down past your walls and been granted access to your personality 

When Pelle came you were unsure how to feel about him

He brought a warm composure with him, as well as a natural need to pry about everyone's lives

You lived in the middle of being unsure with him, never positive if he was too be trusted, never sure if you could believe he was part of the group or not

Pelle on the other hand, was enthralled 

He had never seen someone he so easily wanted to get along with. Was it the challenge of having to get past your natural boundaries? Was it the way your silence indicated a deeper understanding of everything around him? Was it the fact that you were the only person who was suspicious of him, able to see past the expert front he was putting out? 

“She’ll warm up to you,” Mark promised. “She’s just shy. We’ve all known her for like…forever.” Pelle nodded, watching you interact with Dani. You were sitting at the table in the other room. He could only see a sliver of you, a gentle smile and a soft laughter. He ached to make you laugh like that, to make you understand him in the way he wanted to understand you. 

“Yes, yes. I understand being naturally unsure,” Pelle said, though he didn’t mean it. He wished, not for the first time, that he had brought things from home. Things that would loosen you up, things that would get you to talk. 

He truly didn’t think this was wrong. This sinister streak was all he had known. 

“Just don’t take it too personally alright?” Mark asked. He was distracted, on his phone. Pelle looked towards him, watching him. A fool. A natural fool who could never read between the lines. 

“Of course not.” 

Pelle watched you with a natural eagerness, a desire to understand, a desire to completely hold 

He started to do subtle things. Things that you should be able to chalk up to coincidence. Going to the same library as you so that you didn’t have to talk to him but knew he was there. Getting the same coffee order. Always being around when you planned to stop by. 

You wondered if you should consider him a nuisance, stalker or a soulmate. The lines blurred as you saw him more

Finally you started to open up. It was slow. You talked to him, to be polite, but never more than you had to. And then you would answer his questions with longer answers. Then you wouldn’t mind being around him for a longer period of time. 

You couldn’t figure out why he was seemingly so enthralled

“He’s smitten,” Dani explained. She was sitting on the couch beside you, legs up beneath her. You shook your head. 

“He doesn’t even know me,” you argued. She shrugged. 

“I think he knows more than you think. He’s been nice to you right?” You feared that. You feared that he knew more than he was letting on. Something about him said he would observe and absorb. You understood that and you understood how that could be used for less than good reasons. “Just give him a chance. We all like him.” 

“I know, I know. I guess it’s just this gut feeling.” 

It was the pressure from the others that generally sent you into being closer to him. He was so happy to see you more likely to talk to him. You asked him questions about home and he gave you cagey answers. You pressed some of the answers. He never seemed to give you the full picture

He loved that about you

You were smart and you were observant

He was extremely hopeful you would come back home with him. You would see how he lived and you would understand everything. It would all fall into place

Pelle knew how to bide his time and he knew that there was no use in pressuring you. It would undo all of his progress! 

Instead he just let you instinctively become more used to his answers. You would chalk it up to cultural differences. You didn’t want to be rude right? 

He wanted you to be May Queen. He wanted you to stay forever, to be by his side. You would make such a beautiful May Queen, covered in flowers. You would no longer have to hide within yourself. 

“Everyone’s going to Sweden?” you asked. Your voice was always quiet, like you were contemplating staying silent. Pelle nodded. 

“Even Dani, I believe. It’ll be her birthday and she wants to celebrate.” You hardly believed that. Dani surely wanted a distraction from the horrors of her current life. You couldn’t blame her. “You should come. I think you would enjoy my home, as I’ve enjoyed yours.” 

You nodded slowly. You didn’t like long trips, filled with all those new people. It was draining. 

“I’ll have to ask Mark if he thinks I can tag along.” Pelle nodded. 

“I hope you will. It’s beautiful and extremely educational. You might not want to leave.”

[d4yd4iry]

Thirty To Regain

Parings: Kim Minji x fem!reader

Sypnosis: 10 months of loss, thirty to regain.

Genre: Slight angst

Memories came flooding in of the bitter yet sweet memory of your first love as you reenter your apartment for the first time in 10 months.

Kim Minji was everywhere you looked, in the kitchen, living room, bedroom, everywhere. There wasn’t a single place that stood without her memories.

You felt as if you were going crazy as you heard a ghostly echoes of her laughter.

The place you once called “Home” haven’t been the same since she left. Because she was your home but now that she’s gone, home doesn’t exist.

You turned to your right, facing a bulletin board filled with polaroid pictures of you and Minji.

You took one of the pictures out, it was taken right when she stole your first kiss. You haven’t smiled like that in ages, or even smiled at all.

As you were looking through all of the photos, a sudden phone call rung, startling you in the process. “Hi mom” you immediately relaxed after hearing her voice.

“Hi honey, when are you flying back home?”

“Maybe next week? And how are you mom? Is dad giving you a hard time?”

“I’m managing, but honey, your dad is getting suspicious, but I can hold him on for a little longer. Just make sure to be back before your engagement party.”

You frowned after hearing the two last words, you hated getting reminded of that, after all it’s the reason why things are the way it is.

“Right. Don’t worry, I won’t disappoint you.”

“Oh honey, you could never disappoint me. Your happiness is my happiness, I’ll support whatever you decide to do in the end. Just know that mom will always be on your side, I love you.”

“I love you too mom, good bye.” You felt better after the call, your mom have always been your biggest supporter since day one. Can’t say the same for your dad though.

You held your breath as you went into your bedroom, it was still the same as how you left it 10 months ago except for the fact that her stuff was gone.

All was left was a teddy bear, one that she won for you at the carnival that you guys went to, on your first date.

You lifted the toy and traced its fuzzy fur. A teddy bear filled with memories of the times Minji would jokingly call him your son. She gave it a purpose, but now that she’s gone, it’s just an object.

Before you even knew it, tears were threatening to fall as you were clutching the teddy bear to your chest. Fresh air, you needed fresh air.

With a heavy heart, you placed the bear back to its rightful position before you ran out of your apartment.

You went anywhere your feet would take you to, you just wanted to stop reliving your memories.

But walking through the streets of Seoul wasn’t any better, she was everywhere being a member of NewJeans after all.

They were getting bigger and bigger everyday, you have always been their biggest supporter then and even now. Even before you got together with her, you were also extremely close with the girls.

So when Minji went back to the dorms with a broken heart after you had broken up with her, they were all understandingly upset at you.

Especially Hyein who’s your little cousin, she wouldn’t talk to you for days but then found out about your dad’s plan of marrying you off.

You had to beg her not to tell her members but it was too late since she already told Hanni, Dani, Haerin, and luckily not Minji.

That night, your phone was blowing up with concerned messages from the girls. You were always grateful to have them in your life, they treated you like family.

It felt like time was slowing down as your feet carried you through a familiar street which you missed dearly. Soon, you find yourself heading inside of a cafe you once visited regularly.

The smell of roasted beans and baked goods hit your nose immediately after stepping foot inside of the cafe.

You decided that it was a good time for a hot drink. After putting in your regular order, you waited a bit for the worker to finish with it before finding a place to sit.

You sipped your hot chocolate and was about to pull out your phone when you were interrupted by a gasp from behind .

“Yn unnie?” A familiar voice called out. You turned around and was shocked to face Hyein and Haerin who were both as equally shocked.

“Unnie we missed you!” Your cousin immediately went to hug you with Haerin doing the same after the younger girl stepped aside.

“Why didn’t you tell me that you’re coming back?” Hyein pouted and slapped your arm playfully, causing you to let out a chuckle.

“Sorry, I don’t plan on staying long anyways. Just for a few days since…well, uh, I’m getting engaged next week.” You explained regretfully, your voice dropping when you spoke about the engagement.

“What? That’s so soon…what about Minji unnie? You still love her don’t you?” Haerin questioned with her curious cat like eyes, you couldn’t help but soften up.

“Of course I do, Rin. I still love her a lot, but it’s complicated.” Truth to be said, all you wanted to do was run back to Minji and beg her to take you back.

“Still, I think Minji unnie deserves to know about it, it’s only fair.” The younger girl insisted gently, earning an agreeing nod from Hyein.

“Haerin unnie is right! Yn unnie, you should tell her, she doesn’t deserve to stay in the dark.”

Both of the girls looked at you pleadingly, they were sick of having to hide such a big secret from Minji, it didn’t feel right.

But you didn’t feel any better, it was eating you alive.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, she’ll only hate me more. Plus, I’ve already broken her heart and to find out that I’m getting married too? I can’t do that to her.” During the time when you were still dating Minji, the biggest thing that you guys had after love was trust.

You both trusted each other so much, never hiding anything from one another. So hiding this from her even if you guys aren’t together, was killing you inside.

The girls stayed quiet for a moment, trying to find the right words to comfort you.

“You’re wrong, she doesn’t hate you. Unnie still have your pictures hung on her wall and stuff and sometimes I would find her just looking at it for 10 minutes straight.” Hyein admitted after seeing the sad expression that laid on her cousin’s face.

“Really?” Your eyes widened up at the information before looking at Haerin to confirm.

She nodded. “Yeah I witnessed it too, more than once actually.”

Hyein placed a hand on your shoulder, looking at you pleading. “I feel like a child of divorced parents. Unnie I really don’t like your future fiancé, she’s so mean.”

You sighed knowing full well that she was right. You’ve known your future wife since you were kids but never liked her. She was snobby, mean, and an entitled brat.

She used to always follow you around and would hit anyone who tried to talk to you, Hyein was one of them. She was only 6 when she got pushed to the ground while trying to play with her older cousin.

It was when the younger girl’s resentment started to grow.

“I know Hye, but I don’t have a choice.”

“Still, you should talk to her. You both really need it.”

You nodded in defeat, you could never reject your baby cousin. “I’ll think abo-“ you didn’t get to finished your sentence as you got interrupted by the notifications from your phone.

A sigh escaped your lips as you read one of the many messages that your dad spammed you with. Totally ruining your once happy mood.

Turning to Haerin and Hyein with a sad smile, you said. “It was wonderful meeting you girls, but I have to take this, sadly.”

You hugged them both for the last time before disappearing out of their sight.

“Who were you two talking to” Minji popped out of nowhere, startling the two girls in the process.

“Uh, we were talking to Y-“ Hyein was stopped by Haerin who stomped on her toes. “No one, we were taking to no one”

“Are you sure?” They nodded in sync, it was suspicious but Minji decided to not dig deeper as it was already late at night.

“Okay then, let’s go back to the car, our manager is waiting.”

The question from your mom left you dazed. Is she worth fighting for? Of course she is.

Kim Minji will always be worth it.

You couldn’t believe that you were actually proceeding with the plan that you and your cousin made.

But there you were, your heart pounding as you were standing alone backstage, waiting for Minji to arrive.

The last time you were this nervous was when you were asking her to be your girlfriend.

Seeing her again after so long would be hard, but you had to fix things or at least try.

Being too clouded with your thoughts, you hadn’t realized that she had already arrived in the room, her eyes opened wide as if she had just saw a ghost.

“Minji, can we talk? Please.” You looked at her pleadingly, facing her was nerve wreaking, she was still the same Kim Minji whom you love more than anything in the world combined.

“What are you doing here?” She spoke in a harsh tone, one that she never used with you.

But then again, you should’ve prepared yourself for this reaction, you were the one broke her heart after all.

You took a deep breath, trying to seem calm but in reality, you were anything but calm. “There’s a lot to explain. I made mistakes and left you in the dark but I can’t hold it in any longer. I know I have no rights to want this from you but I need you to listen.”

Minji’s stare softened a little. You knew deep down she still cares. “What is it?” You could hear the hurt inside her words. “What could you possibly say to fix this?”

“Well, for starters I’m getting engaged next week.“ You started off with the main root of the problem, it was a bad idea but you weren’t thinking at the time.

Minji looked at you and scoffed. “What? Seriously? First, you broke up with me without telling me why, then you disappeared for like 10 months and now you’re back just to say that you found a new lover who you’ll be getting married to?” She glared at you with arms crossed. “You’re ridiculous Yn, actually.”

Your heart was aching but you chose to continue gently, looking at her with sincerity. “I know I am and I’m so sorry, no amount of apologies can fix this. I still love you Minji.”

Minji frozed at your words. “No you don’t” she denied. “Not anymore at least.”

Your heart dropped. “I understand that you don’t believe me and you’re mad, b-“

“You’re right, I am.”

“But please listen to what I have to say.” You looked at her pleadingly. You would go as far as to beg on your knees, anything to get her to listen to you.

“What is there to say? You’ve found yourself a new girl, that’s it.”

Your heart dropped at every words that were coming out of her mouth. Especially since it couldn’t be further from the truth, you just needed to explain yourself before you go crazy.

You reached for her hands, meeting her gaze with open sincerity. “Please just listen, I love you so much, it feels like I’m going insane!”

“You can’t just leave and shut me out of your life just to come back and say that, it’s not fair.”

“Well, I had no choice! My dad never approved of us, he wanted me to marry a woman I do not love, if not he’ll do anything in his power to make you disappear from my life completely. So I complied, I did not want to lose you Min, but I had no choice.” You felt like you were being suffocated on spot, the walls around you were spinning around. You wanted to disappear.

Minji’s once cold face turned into a concerned one before turning into a slight frown. “You idiot! You should’ve told me the truth from the start!” She exclaimed as she slapped you gently on the shoulder.

“You’re right to call me an idiot, I should’ve told you from the start. But I was afraid that if I let you know then I’ll have no choice but to go against my dad’s wishes.”

“What changed?”

From the moment you arrived on earth, you’ve never went against your dad. You’re your dad’s daughter after all, but you were always miserable with him around.

But not being around Kim Minji was even worse than any punishment combined.

Squeezing her hands gently with regrets staining your confession. “Everyday without you have been hell. I should’ve realized it sooner but now I know that my love for you is stronger than any threats, even if it means that there will be trouble.”

She stayed quiet but you knew that she was listening. That was your thing, understanding each other without needing words to say it.

Gazing into her eyes, your heart spilled open. “You are my home, Min. My heart belongs to you. Always has, always will.”

A heavy silence fell. She knew you better than any, even yourself, every emotion held in you have been made obvious to her. Her eyes held an answer yet, and rightfully so trust should be re-earned.

“Thirty days.” Minji said gently yet firm. But you felt confused. “Thirty days?

“I’ll give you thirty days to regain my trust.” She took a steady breath. “Show me your sincerity, make me believe that we can work.”

Your eyes sparkled as you nodded in determination. “Thirty days, I promise to be better, no secrets, I’ll tell you everything.”

Squeezing your hand, Minji replied. “I want to believe in us again.”

“I’ll make you believe.”