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your-local-e-gorl · 1 year

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Where The Dragons Cry

A story where a young girl falls from the sky. Following a terrible event, she meets Link and helps him along his journey.

Link x Reader from the sky

Just a drabble while off my meds. Warnings, will eventually contain smut, my mental illness will show! This may get dark! I am also altering the timeline because fuck it! I’m a god!

Chapter 1

…

"Lady Viana, what's on your mind?" I turn, the ocean fading from my view. My beloved guard, Feodore, smiles encouragingly. "Nothing," I respond.

"I can tell from that look. You can be honest with me.” I fiddle with my hands as I debate my words. “Feodore, you know much about the world. I want to know too." Feodore's smile slowly fades into a stern look. He knows where this is going and is quick to shut me down.

"Princess, we've discussed this. We all have a role to play. Yours is-" "To offer prayer and follow in my mother's steps. But don't you think there's something more out there?" I ask. "The world is full of things that can and will hurt you. I won't humor this any longer. It's time to go to the reflecting pool. We’re falling behind schedule.”

I cross my arms sorrowfully. This is why I never talk about what I want. It always gets ignored. My wants are insignificant to this chain of life. “Fine. You can make me go, but you can’t make me focus,” I mutter under my breath.

…

"Viana, why the long face?" I sigh resolutely. "Grandmother..." The lady sits beside me, bow on her back and sword on her side. Even at 103 she’s still feisty. “Why must I be confined to this lagoon? Everyone else can leave. Mother and father even said I could venture out when I turn of age. I've been of age for at least a year!" I protest.

Grandma chortles, the opals on her cheeks glistening in the moonlight. "Patience. You've got much to learn, such as reading the sky and how to protect yourself." I huff in frustration. "Then teach me! Feodore refuses to! What good is a guard if I don't leave anyway? Who’s going to target me here?”

I release my breath heavily. "Come. You see that star?" I follow her slowly. What is she on about? "There?" "Yes. The star is always north. Now here- this is how we measure the stars." I smile as she walks me through the steps. Someone is willing to teach me.

"Grandma, do you think I'll ever use this?" She smiles wide. "Via, my dear. We come from warriors, voyagers and many more. What do you think your place is in this?" I shrug weakly. "Mother says I should be a high priestess just as she is. Someone must take over."

"Do you want it to be you?" I shake my head. "Not one bit. But everyone says that it must be me." Grandma approaches me and tenderly grasps my shoulders. "Here. For you." I gasp at the necklace decorated in opals and pearls and the brightest aquamarine jewels.

"It doesn’t sound like you’re the one to follow an unwanted life. When you decide the outcome of your path, should you ever leave. Remember that each of these will give you something. Each jewel is worth it to someone out there." I smile gratefully. "Thank you.

…

"Oh, my goddess, I feel so stuck. I know I must follow the path set for me, yet I feel as there's more to my life than this!" I cry out to the statue. "Mother says I should offer my prayer diligently. Father and Feodore say I should focus on devoting myself, but it feels wrong! Grandmother says I need to explore, and tells me stories of miraculous places. I just... Feel so stuck."

I take a stabilizing breath. "Please, guide me." As I finish my prayer, a noise like roaring startles me. The ground shakes violently. My head turns quickly as the water ripples around my waist.

"Viana!" "Feo?" My eyes widen as I see the red running down my guard's face in thin streams "What happened!" "These things- they're like spiders! They brought fire and it's not safe! Please, you have to hide!" My hands tremble. "Mother and father- grandma! We have to-"

"They're gone! Your grandma tried to fight back but she... She vanished. Your parents are helping the others to run." My chest throbs as I collapse. "No. No, this can't be?" I pulled to my feet.

"Viana. Take this canoe and flee. You must ensure the clan survives," Feodore urges. I'm pushed forward as a beeping noise starts. My head swims rapidly, like I’m a child unable to comprehend. “What? No- I can’t make it alone!” I shriek while reaching for him. He continues to push me frantically. I’m shoved into the pole in a last desperate attempt to keep me at bay.

"Go! They'll destroy us all!" he shouts. My boat is launched as a blast echoes. Heat licks at my skin as I cling to the rope. Shock shits my legs down causing me to lose movement.

"Feodore!" My shrieks are futile as the metallic beast focuses it's eye on me and my canoe. Please... Goddess no. A white light captures my view as the impact rocks the water. This is it-

…

My eyes widen as my body is shaken. Water forces itself from my mouth as I cough violently. This is awful. It's painful. I feel like I haven’t breathed in years.

"Where- am I?" Warmth startles me as I look up. A strangely beautiful man stares in concern as I cough once more. "Who are you?” My vision blurs as I blink. It hurts so bad. I whimper as I curl tightly. No tears will be shed in front of this strange man.

"Ah!" I let out a groan as I'm set against sand. Why am I alive? How am I alive? The others? "My people," I groan. "I have to get back... I must help them." I can't be too far from the lagoon. As I attempt to stand, a terrible scream leaves my lips. My vision fades slowly as I go careening headfirst towards the sand.

I wake up sore and sweaty. My limbs barely stretch. Something unfamiliar causes me to look around. This isn't my dwelling. There's no water. The sleeping object is warm and dry. Heavy as well. It isn’t the lily that I sleep on.

A moan of agony escapes my lips as I sit up too quickly. Luckily, I manage to breathe through the pain. What... Happened?

I was in the lagoon. I was praying to Hylia. The ground shook. There was red. Everything was... Red. Feo loaded me on a canoe when the monster came. That monster- that monster was attacking us.

I struggle to my feet, stumbling occasionally. My left leg is almost excruciating to stand on but I have to get back. Maybe there are survivors? They'd think I abandoned them. What if-

"Ah!" I hiss sharply as heat licks at my wounds. I fall from some indoor landscaping. A light illuminates the room and a figure quickly rushes to me.

"W-who are you?" I gasp weakly. A cough wrenches itself from my body. It's a boy. The very one who helped me off the crashed canoe.

"I- thank you for your aid but I must get home, can you show me to my canoe?" I ask through ragged breaths. I’ve never felt pain like this. The boy stares with uncertainty. "Please, I beg of you. If not- it might be too late! My people will all die!" I plead.

His expression turns to one of worry. It's not every day this happens. He slightly shakes his head. "Why not!" I almost demand. I didn't ask to be brought here.

"Dangerous." I glare. "I do not care! The lives of my people- my home! It's all at stake. I need to get there.” Why should he care! My anger is misplaced. “You need… you should rest,” he says softly. The tone says that he doesn’t believe they’re still alive. “I insist you let me leave,” I return firmly. I will not fall victim to wasted time. Not when every second could be a second towards saving my family.

I manage to stagger from the strange dwelling and drag myself down a hill with this silent man behind me. He doesn’t say a word, only carries a worried expression that really manages to get under my skin.

"If you're not going to help, then go away!" I say. My bare feet meet the sand, still cool to the touch.

About five minutes down I see the canoe. I hobble quickly, pain spreading throughout my bones. My face falls at the tattered sail, the broken steer and the frayed ropes. There’s no hope of fixing it as I am. Maybe I could pay someone to fix it?

I open the hatch and check for more ropes, startled by blood on the wood. Food, a water pouch, a bag and- "N-no. Grandma," I gasp. Her signature bow and quiver is covered in blood. Smears paint the arrows as if she was trying to fight.

All at once, my legs lose strength when I think of Feo running with this, the image of him frantically looking for me. "No!" I sob. Mother's diamond and opal head dress lays around the bag, frazzled and smelling of death. If he had left these- if we could have made it a fraction earlier, I could have forced him onto the boat. "No! No, no, no- please!" I beg to the sky. Nothing is given as a response. Just silence.

How do I lose everything in one day? Why did I not fight with my people? I'm a coward! A good for nothing write off. Why am I so powerless!

Hands touch my shoulders gently. I look up through blurry eyes. "What?" I sniffle. The man kneels and offers a cloth. I freeze for a moment at his act of kindness before coming to my senses a little. "Thank...thank you. And I'm sorry. This is an unbecoming sight of someone like me. Forgive me."

My face is gently cleaned as I drop my hands weakly. I don't know what to do. The life I knew is suddenly over. I'm lost in this feeling of grief. What comes next? Why would Feodore leave me alone?

More tears slip free as I curl, protecting the jeweled crown. "I'm sorry," I cry. I repeat the phrase rapidly as if begging for forgiveness of the goddess.

"Don't apologize." His voice is light and quiet. Very soothing. A hand drops in front of me. "Come on. You've got to continue." I accept his hand- a light in the dark- despite my tears that continuously flow.

I gasp in pain as I put pressure on my leg. The man steadies me as I stagger. I inhale to catch my breath slowly. I've got to keep going with my head held high. As of today, I’m the new leader of the Talakaa clan.

My thoughts are interrupted by my feet leaving the ground. "W-what are you doing? I'm heavy, put me down!" I choke. He looks at me as if I'm crazy. This is embarrassing! Being treated like some child!

"Please, you'll hurt your self," I warn. The man snorts in disregard. I squirm to attempt to get to my feet. He stares at me but continues to walk regardless. I sigh nervously. I'm not used to being carried friendly like. I've never been 'the stranger'. I've always been the princess. I wonder who he is. He has to be a guard, seeing at how he man handles me. It’s much like Feodore would, however it’s much more gentle.

…

We sit in silence, which is odd. Even more so, he keeps staring at me. Discomfort causes me to stare back. It is now a staring contest that neither of us is backing down from.

"Yes?" "Why are you staring?" He shrugs his shoulders. "Better yet, why are you helping me?" Silence follows. "Well?" "Because you seem like a fighter."

I freeze. Me? A fighter? I turn away. "I see. I think we’re both going to be surprised. Im not a very good fighter. And you have odd reasons for saving people. Most do it for a reward, nowadays. But thank you for your hospitality... If I'm ever able to repay you, please do not hesitate to let me know. I will be out of your hair by tomorrow," I inform him.

His face is slightly stern as a hand touches my face. "Where will you go? You've got a broken leg and a fever." I shrug lightly. Hes very friendly despite his peculiar attitude.

"I'm not sure. But I cannot impose any longer." He shakes his head firmly. "Stay until you're better." I frown sheepishly. "Are you certain? I would hate to be a bother. You've already saved my life," I object.

He nods quietly causing me to frown further. "At least let me repay you somehow. For intruding on your quietness. I'm sure your family would be upset." He chuckles at my words. "There is nobody. It's just me."

I look at him softly. Just him must be lonely. "Really? Then I shall do my best to not interrupt your lifestyle." I remove my diamond earring and offer it to him. "For you. It's not much but-" "I don't want your possessions. You don't have to feel bad. I'm glad someone can be here to keep the house while I'm gone."

"Gone? Do you travel a lot?" I gasp. He nods. "How amazing! What is it like? I've heard there are mountains that stretch all the way to the heavens! And areas that snow!" I inquire intensely.

"I've heard the ocean goes on forever." The man smiles fondly. "It's rough. But enjoyable. You meet a lot of people."

…

A hand touches my forehead gently. I tighten my eyes in protest. "Hmmm. Cold."

My breathing is ragged as I fight to look up. "Mr. Hero. Good morning," I rasp. He hums and walks up the stairs. My eyes close again and opens just in time to see him leaving. "Take care," I croak.

Time passes and soon it's evening again. I have to pray or else. I force myself out of bed, lightening the load on my wounded leg. If I shuffle slightly I can step on it without sobbing.

By the time I make it to the beach, the sun is high in the sky. It was much faster being carried. Gratitude fills my chest as I sink into the water. Most manifests from my orb, reflecting an image in the water as I try to call out to anyone. Anyone at all.

To my delight, it’s my gramma. "Grandma! I'm sorry that I couldn't protect you," I pray. Her spirit smiles softly from the water, the orb on my head slowly allowing me to form a better connection to her. “My girl, don't cry. I fought along with my people for almost 100 years. I'd gladly do it again."

My tears mingle with the water. "But why? I don't understand why I'm the only one to survive. Did I disappoint the goddess? Was this a punishment for my reluctance to be the next priestess?"

My breath comes out shakily. "Punishment? The goddess does not punish." "Then why-" Grandma smiles kindly. "You're the missing piece. This is your destiny. Avenge the Talakaa tribe and stop the disasters." “Stop the disasters? I couldn't even prevent my people from dying! I'm a failure!"

"This is mere fate. You were destined for this path just as I was destined to become a spirit." I hit the water. "I don't want this- this destiny is wrong!" I shout. Rage fills my chest at the turn of events. I don’t want to hear this at all! I want my family back!

"Viana-" "I don't want to do this! I can't do this!" I panic. My lips tremble. "You can. I'll be with you. In here and wherever you are." I inhale. "How do I?" I exhale. "Don't worry about how, just answer the call. You'll know when it's time."

Water drips to my cheeks. I cannot tell if it’s a tear or mist from my grandma. “Our time is running short. Keep your head up, my girl.” "Thank you. I'll be strong. I promise. And. If you see the others, tell them I'm sorry. I couldn't say goodbye."

More water falls before dispersing the spirit. Somehow I feel stronger. Yet weaker. I have to do my clan right.

The dizziness in my body is consuming me. But I must continue to be diligent in prayer. I have to strengthen my will. I can't stop anything if my heart is weak.

Footsteps sound in the water rapidly before I'm face to face with the hylian. "What are you doing?" he mutters. "Praying. I-" "You are sick." I wave him off. "This is my duty. I'm fine."

I'm picked up quickly. "You don't have to watch over me. I'm not here to burden you." I protest and attempt to get out of his arms. "Anyways, I thought you were leaving?" "For supplies."

I huff as I'm brought into the house and set on the couch, my breath shallow. The man goes to the kitchen before returning with a cup of something strange smelling and odd clothing.

"For you." I tilt my head. "Clothing? What is this beverage?" "Tea to help your fever." It must have cost him a fortune to have this brought here. "I'm sorry. I promise I'll pay you back!" I swear.

He waves dismissively before turning. "Feel free to change. I'll be in the kitchen." I clear my throat. "Thank you." How do you dress?

The man suddenly apologizes. "It must be hard, with a broken leg. If you need help-" I smile gratefully. "I think I can do it. Mostly. My guard usually did this for me," I laugh awkwardly. "Your guard?" I nod.

"I had a guard named Feodore. He was responsible for everything including my protection down to my meals. So I'm a bit useless. But I'll learn!" I promise. He must be regretting his decision to save such a useless waif. The man turns thoughtfully as I manage to get my garb off. I slip an arm through and somehow end up in a horrible tie.

"Um-" His eyes dart from my chest to my face before he goes red. "I'm sorry!" I bow apologetically. "No, I-I-“ he freezes up before finally closing his eyes. “I forgot that I told you to change.” The situation is so absurd, I don’t know what to do. “Can you help me?” I finally ask. He takes a deep breath before nodding. “I’ll close my eyes. I promise!”

A week passes by before I work up the courage to ask for my caretaker’s title. "Um, I just realized, I don't know your name," I mumble, slightly sighing at the male. He watches too closely. I feel a bit shy. "I should at least know who I'm going to repay." "Link. And you don't have to repay me."

I turn to him from the sea. "Well Link, as the former princess of the Talakaa clan, I'm going to." He clears his throat. "I think I should know your name as well. Since I'm guarding you-" I turn. "Guarding? You don't have to. I'm sure you'd much prefer traveling again. Please don't worry of me. Oh! There I go avoiding the first part,” I laugh. “I’m Viana.”

Link watches as I approach him, the water parting slowly. "As I said, as soon as I'm healed I'll be out of your hair." His hand goes to his hip. "Of course.” I nod. "Shall we head back?"

During dinner, he breaks some unsavory news to me. “You're leaving?" I ask. "Yeah. I prepared some meals. If you run out, Prima at the inn can help you." I nod with uncertainty. I'm all alone again.

"Don't look so sad. I'll be back in about a week." I shrug coolly in retaliation. "Me? Sad? As if. Take care out there, Mr. Knight." I'm surprised with a small grin.

#botw au #botw #botw link #botw totk #legend of zelda #tears of the kingdom #linked universe #link au

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asmodeus-fallen-principality · 9 months

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Why Don't You Give Me A Call

Pick up, pick up, Asmodeus pleaded silently. It' was just like Samael to run off impulsively, given half a chance. Asmodeus had practically hyperventilated when he realised Samael was no longer in the flat. His panic had turned very quickly to exasperation when he'd found Samael's note. Somebody forbid Samael ever understand the concept of actions having consequences.

Asmodeus loved Samael more than anything. That didn't stop him from wanting to grab the angel and shake some sense into him half the time.

Samael finally picked up, and answered as if with no care in the world.

"Hi, Mo-"

"Where exactly are you?"

The words exploded out of Asmodeus a little angrier than he'd meant them to sound. Anywhere you are, I'll come to you, is what he'd meant, but as he said it he was aware that he sounded more like a chastising parent.

"On our bench," Samael protested. ""Well, it's not our bench, more like their bench, but it's in the same spot. I didn't go far."

"That's not the point!" Asmodeus pleaded. "The point is, you shouldn't go anywhere unaccompanied- none of us should! What do you think you're doing?! It's dangerous-"

"No, it isn't," Samael said, obstinate as ever. "The M to E fix worked, we solved that problem-"

"You didn't-"

"Yeah, we did," Samael cut Asmodeus off dismissively. "I did it myself. He should be just some guy now, right?"

"Oh, do you mean Enoch? Yes, Enoch is "just some guy" now," Asmodeus said, panic rising in his chest again. "But the Metatron isn't!"

There was a pause. Then, "How d'you mean?"

"What do you mean, how do I mean? There's two of them now."

Another pause.

"No," Samael said, as if in disbelief.

"Oh, yes," Asmodeus snapped back. "And you- you who had attempted to foil the Metatron yourself- are now out there, alone, with two bloody Metatrons and a squad of bloody Archangels hunting for the culprit! So, I ask you again, what do you think you're doing?!"

"I'm-" There was a sigh into the phone. "I just wanted a walk, Mo."

"Get back to the flat!" Asmodeus wailed.

The call ended, and Asmodeus' stomach dropped to the floor. For a moment, he was overcome with fear that he had called too late to warm Samael, that something terrible had happened, that he would never see his beloved angel again-

But it was only for a moment, as Samael miraculously appeared next to Asmodeus. With a handful of Tesco bags, for some reason.

Thank Someone, thank Christ, thank God.

Samael, having had his adventure cut short, looked like a kicked puppy. Asmodeus could almost count the number of times he had been so relieved to see the angel.

"Are you alright? Are you hurt?" he fussed. Samael refused to look at him, and Asmodeus' heart broke when he realised that Samael's eyes were wet.

Oh, but Asmodeus had been cruel to him! As if he himself hadn't made the same error of judgement for an hour or two; teasing Aziraphale and Crowley about "being distracted", as if the other angel and demon would, having probably figured it out right away. How could Asmodeus shout at Samael for merely wanting a bit of peace and quiet? How could Asmodeus do anything to make dear Samael so upset?!

"Oh, darling, you scared me half to death!" Asmodeus said, nearly crying himself, and flung his arms around Samael. "I'm so sorry-"

He turned his head and kissed Samael's cheek, ear, hair; any part that he could reach. Rocking Samael in his arms, Asmodeus could only repeat: "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm just glad you're alright."

#ooc #asmodeus' perspective #((part one of two... or part two of two))#((the order does not matter))#((was this unnecessary? yes. but i did it anyway just cause))

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icerosecrystal · 3 years

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Daminette - How to Fail Being a Parent 101

(3rd Person POV)

Marinette Dupain-Cheng. The girl that went from having everything to nothing. At least, that’s what it felt like right now. She still had Jagged and Penny, supporting her. But her parents threw her out of the house after the believed Lila’s lies. The shiny new thing over their daughter! Her friends also thought of her as a bully. At the age of 17, Marinette had no friends and no family. But little did she know that everything was soon going to change for her.

(Edna Mode’s POV)

Enda Mode was a great designer. But, she wanted, no needed an apprentice to carry her legacy. When Jagged Stone, along with his assistant Penny and Clara, told her of their designer MDC, she was ecstatic. And her designs were beautiful. Yes, MDC had the right amount of talent to be Edna’s apprentice. All she had to was find her.

She was walking to the bakery in Paris, where Jagged said his niece would most likely be. She arrived at the bakery and opened the door walking inside. There were two people inside. She asked them, “Hello, darlings. Do you, by any chance, know where Marinette is?”

She watched as both of the people stiffened, and then the female replied, “No, we used to be her parents, but we no longer consider her a daughter!”

Edna was confused by that. As far as Jagged said, Marinette’s parents had a good relationship with her. So what changed? She then once more asked, “Do you where I might be able to find her, darlings?”

Marinette’s supposed mother grew angry, “Who cares where she is! And if you’re trying to find her. You must be one of the bad influences that Lila was talking about, so get out of our bakery!”

Edna huffed and turned on her heel, walking out of the bakery door. Once she was outside, she pulled out her phone and called Jagged. “Jagged, I tried to go to the bakery, but her parents said that they kicked her out. Or at least they implied it by saying that she was no longer their daughter.”

“What?! That’s so not rock-and-roll! Hmm, well, Marinette did buy a safe house. If I remember correctly, the address is nineteen dauphin bleu. Good luck, and let me know when you find her.”

“Sure sure, darling,” Edna replied before ending the phone call. She quickly went to the address in hopes of finding her.

(Marinette’s POV)

Marinette was not sulking! She swears she isn’t! She’s just sad that her parents didn’t believe her. And hadn’t been doing anything for the past two days other than eating and watching shitty rom-coms… Okay, maybe she was sulking. But could you blame her! Her parents believed a liar over her, plus she had shitty coping skills with Hawkmoth still around. Before Hawkmoth, she would have cried for hours on end while eating strawberry ice cream. Now, she couldn’t do that at risk of an akumatization, and she was Ladybug. Fuck Hawkmoth, fuck Lila, fuck her stupid hormones.

The doorbell then rang. Marinette dragged herself to the door, not stopping to look through the peek hole. She regretted that because once she opened the door, on the other side, she found THE EDNA MODE. Marinette jumped in surprise and started to try and fix her appearance while rambling, “Oh my god, you’re Edna Mode. I’m so sorry! I didn’t know it was going to be you at the door! Otherwise, I would have made myself more presentable! Oh my god, it’s you!!! Most consider you better than Audrey Bourgeois, Style Queen herself. It is such an honor.”

Edna cut off Marinette’s rambling with a hand to her shoulder, “Please, darling, the pleasure all mine. I’m so happy to meet the famous MDC that Jagged, Clara, and Penny have been telling me so much about.” At hearing those words, Marinette looked seconds from passing out.

Edna followed Marinette to the couch and told her, “Now, I went to your parent’s bakery, but they said that they were no longer your parents. So, I want you to tell Auntie Edna everything! Okay?”

Marinette nodded, still in shock. She quickly shook her head to clear her head and then went on to explain about Lila. “There was this girl that came to my school three years ago. She claimed that she had an amazing life. And it would have been believable if all the things that she mentioned weren’t false. For example, she said that Jagged Stone wrote a song for her when she saved his cat from an airport runway. Jagged never had a cat. Civilians aren’t allowed on airport runways. And she’s making Jagged look like a pedophile, she’s underage, and he’s an adult. If she continues claiming this, Jagged could go to jail. There are a lot more unbelievable claims that she makes. Anyways, I knew she was lying, so I tried to disprove her lies. But, she covered it up. I went to the bathroom to cool down. Lila then came inside and confronted me, saying that she would take all my friends away. I didn’t think she would do it, I mean, I had faith in my friends.” Marinette’s voice cracked, and she started sobbing.

Edna waited for Marinette to continue talking. Marinette inhaled sharply and then continued, “My friends believed her over me. They knew me so much longer. But they picked the shinier thing. They bullied me every day, and Lila told them that I was bullying her. She made them beat me up, steal, and destroy my stuff. I thought that my parents would at least support me, but no, the wish of them supporting me was too much to ask. My parents also believed Lila over their daughter. THEIR DAUGHTER!!! They raised me, loved me, and then they believe someone else over me. At first, they started neglecting me, but then Lila came over one day and told them that I had given her death threat. After that, they kicked me out. I didn’t tell anyone not to feel weak. Now, here I am.”

Marinette finished talking and cried, letting loose all of the tears she had been holding in, but she then stopped. Enda looked at Marinette and told her something that shocked the daylights out of her, “Just because your Ladybug, that doesn’t mean you can’t let loose your emotions. If you bag all of it up, you will be at a larger risk of an akumitization. But, if you let your emotions out little by little, you won’t be as subjected to an akumitization.”

Marinette started stammering out excuses, shocked that Edna had figured it out, “O-oh I’m not Ladybug, I-i’m too clumsy to be her. L-ladybug has to be someone a-amazing to do what she d-does.”

Before she could continue, Edna held up her hand, effectively shutting Marinette up. “Marinette, darling, you don’t have to lie to me. Only an idiot would not be able to figure out your Ladybug. You look so much like her. (I did watch the NY special. And they did say that the magic of the miraculous is interfering with finding the identity of the heroes. But let’s pretend that the magic isn’t interfering, and everyone is just clueless. Well, they are clueless, but more clueless if possible.) Anyways, the reason that I was seeking you out in the first place was that I wanted you to be my apprentice. Would you like that?”

Marinette nodded, unable to speak. It was like a dream come true to her. When she rejected Audrey’s offer for an internship, she still had a reason to stay in Paris. Now that she had nothing left, this was the perfect way for her to get a new start, to leave her old life behind. Plus, who in their right mind would turn down being the apprentice of Edna Mode. Not an intern, an apprentice.

Edna clapped her hands together after Marinette gave her consent for being an apprentice. “That’s great, darling. Go pack everything you need. We’re leaving tomorrow at 6:00 AM.”

Marinette nodded, “Where will we be living?”

“Gotham City, New Jersey.”

(Time skip of a year)

(Edna’s POV)

It had been a year since Edna had gone to France to seek out Marinette or MDC. Since then, they moved to Gotham City, and Marinette made a name for herself there. She was an incredibly talented and a hard worker. She worked well under pressure and took criticism well. A lot of times, Marinette’s designs would bypass even her own. It would surprise Edna, but she was proud of her little coccinelle. She wanted to adopt Marinette, but she first wanted Marinette’s approval. For all Edna knew, Marinette wouldn’t want to have a parent figure again after what happened with her parents. Even if Edna didn’t adopt Marinette, she wanted Marinette to be the heir to Mode companies.

Today, Edna was meeting up with Bruce Wayne. He wanted him and his sons to get some suits, so today was the fitting. Marinette was with another client today so, she wouldn’t be meeting them. She heard the doorbell rang. That must be them, she thought. She opened the gates for them to enter the premises. A minute later, they were knocking on the front door. She let them in. When Edna saw them, she huffed at the height of all of the Wayne boys.

She went up to Bruce and beckoned him to bend down. Once he did saw, she greeted him with a kiss to each cheek and exclaimed “, Darling, I’m so glad that could make it. It’s so nice to see you and the rest of your boys.”

Bruce cleared his throat, “It’s nice to see you too, Edna. So, are we just doing measurements today, or are you also going to give us a design for the suits?”

“Ah, Bruce dear,” Edna started, “Art takes time. Plus, my amazing new apprentice will be designing your suits.”

Dick and Jason started laughing. “Look Bruce,” Dick guffawed, “She’s pulling a Bruce.” Tim laughed along with the other two, while Damian looked to be seconds away from smiling.

Bruce sighed, rubbing his forehead, “I’m sorry about them, Edna. You would think that a grown 30-year-old man would have some respect. I swear he has the maturity of a five-year-old.”

Edna waved him off, “Ah, it’s no harm done, Bruce. Dick is also right. I fully plan to adopt my apprentice. I only need her approval before I do so. I mean, she did turn eighteen only recently.”

Bruce looked shocked at this revelation, as did his sons, who were joking, not thinking in the slightest that it could be true. The great Edna Mode had never taken in an apprentice in her life, nor would she ever think of adopting someone. It was so out of character for her. “What happened to the girl that you feel this way,” Bruce asked.

Edna sighed, “Other than being a brilliant designer, who designs could rival my own, my little coccinelle has had a hard life. There was a girl who lied about her. This girl made all of her friends bully and isolate her. The worst part was when my coccinelle’s parents believed the liar over their daughter. They threw her out. When I heard about her designing from Jagged Stone and Clara Nightingale, I went to Paris to seek her out. When I went to her bakery, her parents were rude. I called and asked Jagged where she could be. He gave me her address. When I went there, she was a mess. I offered her the apprenticeship, she accepted. And a year later, here we are.”

The Wayne’s looked shocked at this. They then snapped out of it and, Edna then took their measurement and took note of any extra preferences they might have. She also asked what color they wanted for the suit jacket, shirt, and pants. Edna then asked whether they preferred a bow tie or a necktie. Finally, she asked what color they wanted the lining of their suits to be.

On their way out, Bruce asked Edna, “Would you and your apprentice like to come to the Wayne gala in return for making the suits in such short notice. Oh, and it is in two weeks.” Edna agreed and saw them out. Once they left, she sighed deeply. She then smiled to herself, thinking about Marinette’s reaction to the gala and having to design Wayne’s suits.

(Marinette’s POV)

Marinette was having a mental breakdown. WHY? Because Edna decided that having Marinette design Wayne’s suits was a good idea, as was going to Wayne Gala. So right now, Marinette was having a meltdown. And what was Edna doing? She was watching Marinette become a stuttering mess and trying to figure out how she was going to do something like this.

“Marinette, calm down! Just do your best and, you’ll figure the rest out,” Edna told her.

Marinette nodded and went to her room to start planning the designs and creating them. For almost two weeks, she worked tirelessly on end to complete the designs, and make a dress for herself. And by the day before the gala, Marinette had completed the suits. Alfred came to Edna’s manor to get them for the Waynes.

Once Alfred picked them up, Edna went to Marinette’s room and knocked. Once Marinette said to come in, Edna opened the door and walked in. Marinette looked at Edna, wondering why she was here. But, she then asked a question that Marinette so happy, “My little coccinelle, would you like it if I adopted you?”

Marinette couldn’t answer from happiness. Instead, she jumped on Edna with tears in her eyes and kept on chanting, “Yes, yes, yes!” They both sat like that until Marinette fell asleep, happy that they were now legally going to be family.

On the day of the Wayne gala, Marinette wore a burgundy dress with silver details on the upper part of the dress. She wore silver shoes that had a glass flower on the toes and a silver handbag. Marinette, also matching silver earrings and a necklace. She decided to let her hair loose into beautiful waves.

Edna wore a simple black dress with some white pearl details along with a black handbag with silver and black shoes.

They then left for the Wayne gala. Once they arrived at the Wayne gala, they spotted the Wayne’s wearing Marinette’s amazing designs.

Once the Waynes spotted Edna, they walked over in hopes of meeting her apprentice. Edna saw them coming and Marinette to them. “Boys, this is my apprentice Marinette Mode. Marinette, this is Bruce, Dick, Jason, Tim, and Damian.”

“Wait, so you legally adopted her?” Tim asked.

“Yes, I did, yesterday,” Edna replied.

Marinette smiled brightly at the Waynes and said, “It’s nice to meet you all. I hope that you like the suits that I made.” The Wayne’s gave their gratitude for the suits. They then all dispersed, except for Damian. He was still staring at Marinette, as Marinette was staring at him. They both started talking at the same time,

“Hi, it’s nice-”

“Hey, I rea-”

They both laughed, and Marinette said, “You go first.”

“I was going to tell you how fond I am of this suit. You did an acceptable job.”

“Thank you,” Marinette muttered, “I was going to say that it’s nice to meet you. So tell me about yourself.”

And the pair went on to talking about anything and everything together. Marinette couldn’t keep her eyes off of him. How his beautiful tan skin glistened in the light. How soft his dark, silky hair looked, and his eyes. Oh, his eyes were the best part, a perfect balance between jade and emerald green, giving it a shine, but not making it look toxic. He was so handsome. As she continues talking with him, she realized, she liked him, she wanted him to kiss her, hold her. But they had just met. Little did she know that Damian had similar thoughts running through his head.

(3rd person POV)

Damian thought that Marinette was absolutely beautiful with her silky raven hair. Her pink pouty lips along with her glistening bluebell eyes. Her fair skin was showered with little freckles that made her even prettier. Words could not describe how beautiful she was.

From an outside view, Marinette and Damian were looking like lovesick fools. Laughing, talking, never leaving each other’s side. By the end of the night, they separated with each other’s phone number, and a promise to meet again for a date.

(Time Skip of three months)

(Marinette POV)

It had been three months since the gala. The day after the gala, Damian took her to Gotham park for a nice picnic. On their second date, they went to the rooftop of one of Bruce’s buildings and watched the sunset from there. Their third date was the date where Damian asked Marinette if she would like to be his girlfriend. He took her to an expensive restaurant and after they walked on the pier. There he took out a necklace with a silver chain and “I love you for always and forever” written on it. The pendant was in the shape of a heart. He gave it to her as he asked her to be his girlfriend. She jumped on him kissing him with so much force and passion and then pulled away, breathing out a, “Yes!”

Since then, they had been inseparable. Damian and Marinette told each other everything. Well, almost everything, she still hadn’t told Damian about being Ladybug. And Marinette knew he was also hiding something the way he would get bruises for no reason. She didn’t know what he was hiding until she stumbled across something when she was at the Manor one day.

She had gotten lost again. The Wayne Manor was huge. Marinette knew she was going to get lost, but she always had someone to help her. Marinette then heard some noises. She stumbled towards the noise. The sight that she was met with made her head throb. There in front of her were the occupants of the house. But not as the Wayes. No, they were there as the Bat-Family. The Waynes were the BAT FAMILY! Of course, she would end up falling in love with a vigilante.

Once they caught sight of her, all noises ceased. They didn’t do anything until Damian let out a feeble, “Beloved?”

Marinette turned her attention to Damian, “When were you going to tell me about this? And no, I am not mad. But you should have TOLD me. I shouldn’t have had to find out by myself.”

Damian sighed and told her, “I didn’t want to endanger your life.”

She snorted, “Yeah, like I don’t do that daily.”

“What?!” Everyone screamed at the implications that she was giving.

“Yup, I’m a hero from Paris. Tikki, Spots on!” She then transformed into Ladybug. Once Marinette transformed, she looked at the opened mouth vigilantes. “In Paris, my old partner and I protect the citizens from a guy named Hawkmoth, who preys off of people’s emotions to turn them into his minions, I’ve been fighting him for about four years now. I did send a message to the Justice League, but Green Lantern told me to stop prank calling. I’ve been fighting him by myself for two years because my old partner was harassing me.” She then went on to explain different akumitizations and went more in-depth about her powers.

“Spot off”, she said. She held her hand out and let Tikki sit in it, “This is my kwami Tikki, she is the one who lets me turn into Ladybug.” Everyone, surprisingly, took her reservations well.

By the end, Batman told her, “We would like to help you defeat Hawkmoth. We can start by uncovering who he is. We can do that by taking his voice and running it through some voice scanners until we find a match.” Marinette nodded, happy that they were getting somewhere.

She pulled up a video of Hawkmoth speaking while telling Batman, “By the way, Mom’s going to be here in ten minutes.”

They looked at her, bewildered, “What do you mean?”

She rolled her eyes and handed them her phone with the recording, “What I mean is that she knows that you are the Bat-Family. She figured it out like she figured out my identity.” They all nodded, dumbfounded that someone knew their identity.

Tim or Red Robin ran the voice through the scanners before they found a match. “Gabriel Agreste”, Marinette breathed, “I suspected him before, but he got akumatized. He must have akumatized himself to throw off suspicion.”

That’s when Edna arrived, “Did you figure out Hawkmoth’s identity”, Edna asked. Marinette nodded and pointed to the screen. Edna looked at it and scoffed, “Of course it’s Gabriel. I always knew he was a psychopath!” Marinette started laughing at Edna’s reaction and hugged her. Edna’s face softened, and she stroked Marinette’s hair lightly.

The bat family watched the scene with growing bewilderment. Damian cleared his throat, bringing the attention to him. “As much as I love to see how much my angel’s and Mode’s relationship is growing, we have more pressing matters. How are we going to catch Hawkmoth.”

Marinette thought about it before saying, “A distraction.” She turned to Edna, “Mom, you are going to set up a meeting with Gabriel and distract him. While you’re doing that, we’ll break into the house and go to his hideout. Actually”, she turned to Tim,“ Tim, could you look into the security cameras and see if there is any footage of him disappearing in some way. Or could you get a layout of the house?”

“Done and done,” Tim answered. They watched Gabriel push three specific buttons on Emile’s portrait, which Marinette took note of. They then saw him disappear underneath the ground. Tim pulled the layout of the house up. “This is the layout, based on it, we can conclude that he was going to the room beneath the house.”

Marinette nodded her head, “Okay, this is perfect. Once we sneak in there, we’ll look around, gather some evidence, and then sneak up on Gabriel and take the brooch from him.”

Everyone cheered and then left to do their own thing. Damian stopped Marinette from leaving. He pulled her to him and said in a sexy, gruff voice, “I’m glad that I know every part of you now.” He then dove for her lips, prompting a squeak from Marinette. After a few seconds, she relaxed in the kiss, pulling Damian closer by wrapping her arms around his neck. He put one hand around her waist, and the other one was in her sweet-smelling raven hair. The kiss felt amazing. His warm, soft lips against her luscious, sweet ones. Her lips tasted sweet like sugar, making Damian want to kiss her longer and harder. But, humans need to breathe. They pulled away panting heavily, faces flushed in passion. They stared into each other’s eyes for a little bit before kissing each other once more, this one being chaste rather than hot and heavy. They then let each other go and went to prepare for the demise of Hawkmoth.

The next day, they followed through with the plan. Edna first entered the house and talked loudly to Gabriel, demanding that he bring his son and Natalie to the meeting so that they can all catch up. Once the occupants of the Agreste household were out of the way, Ladybug and the Bats made their way to the picture of Emile. There they pressed the exact buttons and went underneath the house. There they found hundreds of white butterflies along with a horrifying sight. Emilie Agreste being preserved in a coffin and in what looked like to be a coma. Marinette was convinced that she could heal Emilie, went up to the coffin, and set to work. She closed her eyes and put her hands to the outside of the coffin. She then let her power flow through her body until they were at her hands. She then kept her glowing hands to the coffin until she heard a cough. She opened her eyes to find Emilie sitting up, looking around in shock, “Where’s my husband?” she asked, “Where’s Adrien?”

Marinette put her hand to Emile’s shoulder, “We’ll explain everything to you after ma'am. But, we first need to do something.” She walked over to the platform and rose herself to the upper floor, along with everyone else. She then saw Edna, Gabriel, Adrien, and Natalie already there. Everyone positioned themselves and got ready to attack. At the count of three, everyone moved. Marinette grabbed the brooch from Gabriel, Bruce grabbed the peacock brooch from Natalie, and Damian grabbed the ring from Adrien. The Agreste’s and Natalie turned to the heroes in anger, but then froze when they caught sight of Emilie.

Emilie, now understanding that her family must have done something bad, for these people to take away their miraculous, started sobbing. Marinette went up to her and comforted her while telling her everything that she missed. Edna called the police, while the Bat-Family made sure that not of the Agreste’s nor Natalie escaped.

(3rd person POV)

When the police arrived, they were surprised to find that designer Gabriel Agreste, his son, and his assistant were guilty of the terrorism in Paris. They were going to jail. Then, reporters arrived, broadcasting the defeat of Hawkmoth to the world, but then Gabriel said something that made some happy, while it froze the blood in many others, “Lila Rossi was also part of this! She was an accomplice to my schemes! Lila was trying to push Marinette Dupain-Cheng to an akumitization because I realized how powerful of an Akuma Marinette would become. So Lila went to great length to make her suffer, but then she left Paris, and I wasn’t able to akumatize her. If you should be arresting anyone else, it should be Lila Rossi!”

In her house, a liar was growing pale as the authorities banged on her door. When she didn’t open up, they kicked down the door and arrested her. Lila then let out a scream that the whole world would have heard.

When the government saw that two accomplices for Hawkmoth were in the same class from Francios Dupont Highschool, they had to school investigated. They investigated both the principal and Madame Bustier. They found out that both would take bribes and were enablers. They then investigated the students in Madame Bustier’s class. They found that the students were being sued which wasn’t that bad. But, they were being sued for slander, defamation, and more, by not only Edna Mode but also Bruce Wayne. The government looked at security cameras and found many forms of breaking and entering, abuse, bullying, and found many forms of slander online. All of the students along with the teacher and principal were going to have to serve jail time. But, it would be nowhere as long as Lila’s, Adrien’s, Natalie’s, or Gabriel’s jail time.

(Marinette POV)

Marinette was staying in the Grand Hotel when her ex-parents came knocking at her door. They were all smiles, “Marinette, now that we know that we actually raised you right, you can come home with us!”

Marinette just scowled back at them, “As much as I appreciate the offer, you aren’t my guardians anymore. Edna Mode adopted me and I am legally Marinette Mode. Have a good day!” She then slammed the door shut in their faces. She leaned her head against the door and sighed deeply.

She felt a pair of arms wrap around her and kiss her neck gently, “You going to be okay?”

Marinette turned around and smiled at him, “Yeah, I am.”

Five hours later, when Marinette turned on the news, it showed Tom Dupain and Sabine Cheng going to jail. They were charged for child neglecting and abuse. Marinette shook her head, chuckling, knowing that it was Damian who did this. She inhaled deeply, oh well, all’s well that ends well.

(Time Skip of 15 years)

A thirty-three-year-old Marinette put the baby in her hands down in the crib. After everything that happened in Paris, Damian and Marinette had continued dating. Damian proposed on their one-year anniversary and the got married a year later. They now had an 11-year-old daughter named Amira Beth Wayne, a 6-year-old boy Grayson Abbas Wayne, and 1-year-old Sadiya Cathy Wayne. Marinette was now the CEO of Mode Companies, while Damian ran Wayne Enterprises along with Tim as Co-CEOs. As Marinette looked at her children she couldn’t believe that she managed to have such a good life. She felt Damian behind her so she leaned back into him. He kissed the back her head and whispered huskily in her ear, “I love you and I promise that I and the kids will be by your side. Forever and always.”

Marinette snuggled into Damian and squeezed his hand whispering, “Forever and always.”

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laurie-stark · 3 years

Text

Get up and get out

Summary: Sort of part two to Unwanted. A year after fighting in Germany, y/n has to deal with the insufferable Peter Parker being around the house all the time.

Pairings: Peter Parker x stark!reader, tony stark x daughter!reader, Natasha Romanoff x daughter!reader.

Warnings: swearing, angst? i guess? mentions of blood. mentions of panic nightmares

A/N: Again, I want to make it very clear so there isn’t any confusion: Y/n is Tony’s biological child, however, being raised also by Natasha, Steve and Pepper, she calls them Muma, Pops and Mom. Hopefully that makes sense LOL oh and also i’ve never written like...kiss scenes before so just go with it okay?

He was here again. Third time this week that he has come barging into my home and taken over my training center. Okay, to be fair, it was not my training center but still. Peter Parker will never stop being a pain in my ass. Ever since that stupid trip to Germany, he has been coming over and training for hours, or working with Dad. Three times just this week I’ve had to endure listening to Peter talk with his stupid little voice and walk around my house like he owns the place. Who does he think he is? And every time I have to sit through another dinner of Dad blabbing on and on about what a miraculous boy he is.

“Really y/n, I think you two would be great friends,” I rolled my eyes as I picked at my dinner. The rest of the family ate in silence around the table. The last thing I wanted to do is spend more time with stupid Spider-boy. On the afternoons when he was here, I tried my best to stay out of his way. I would stay on my floor and he stays on his. Simple. I don’t need a new friend.

“…And he’s coming by again tomorrow, so I was thinking of showing him A.P.R.I.L. if you wanted to join us-” Dad continued.

What the hell? I thought. “No!” I snapped. “No way. A.P.R.I.L. is mine, I don’t want him messing with her.” Dad frowned at me. The rest of the table looked up in my direction. My shoulders tensed up as I faced my father. A.P.R.I.L. is my baby and I was ready to go toe to toe with him if I needed too.

“What do you mean no? I thought you’d be excited to share that with him,” he started.

“Well I’m not, so back off,” I sneered. The shift in his expression made me want to bite my own tongue. “Please.”

“I seriously do not understand what your problem is. You’ve been complaining for years how there’s only adults but the second a kid your age comes by you’re all “oooh no don’t talk to me Peter!””

I scoffed. “Sorry, I guess I just don’t want to bother you and your new best friend.”

“There it is. Why are you so jealous of him? He’s not that cool. He hasn’t made a fully functioning A.I at the age of 15. He just spits sticky stuff out of his fingers. Honestly y/n, you’re making zero sense right now.”

“Whatever, I’m over this,” I said, pushing my chair back from the table. I grabbed my untouched dinner plate and headed towards the kitchen. “I’m not hungry. And don’t show him A.P.R.I.L., I mean it!” I dumped my plate in the sink and marched right down the hall towards the elevators. My dad was right. I wasn’t making any sense. Ever since I made A.P.R.I.L I’ve used every excuse I could find to shove her down people’s throats. Anyone who would listen to me, I would tell them. Tell them all about how I programmed her to have realistic personality. How she’s running through the walls of this place, through my room, even inside the bracelet I never take off. All I knew is that I didn’t want Peter Parker anywhere near her.

I shut the door to my hard, and flopped onto my bed. A.P.R.I.L. reminded me that slamming the doors usually results in a punishment. I acknowledged her with a half-hearted grunt. I started programming A.P.R.I.L. when I was thirteen. Or rather, reprogrammed. A.P.R.I.L. was made from an older prototype version of F.R.I.D.A.Y. The base stuff was already there, I just moved some things here, recoded there until she was perfect. I don’t know why I got so defensive about Peter meeting her. Or why I had to pick another fight with my dad.

It was easier these days. To fight him, I mean. I suppose I never got over the whole “Peter is better, I choose him over you, blah, blah” thing as much as I thought I did. So, I would pick fights. Fighting over Peter was the simplest way to go, considering he was the reason I was so angry in the first place. Sometimes we would fight over him, other times we would fight over silly things. Like how I keep forgetting not to put my coffee grounds in the garbage disposal. Most of the time it was all just bickering that would blow over in thirty minutes, give or take. Sometimes it was explosive, like today. I took in a shaky breath and sprawled out across my sheets. Sometimes this family is a fucking nightmare.

Dad didn’t come by this time. It threw me off for a second because he always comes by. Even if it’s six hours later and neither of us should be awake, he still comes by with a box of milk duds that we share in silence before one of us apologizes first. That’s how we work. When it finally sunk in that he was not planning on coming, I put A.P.R.I.L. on the job. I figured perhaps he left the compound, maybe took Mom for a nighttime stroll.

“Your father is on floor B, Miss Stark,” A.P.R.I.L. informed me.

“Jesus A.P.R.I.L., how many times have I said to cut the formalities,” I muttered.

“My apologies, y/n.”

Floor B. What the hell is he doing on floor B at…12:00 in the morning? Floor B is strictly for members of household and other Avengers. There are a billion different training rooms down there. Weight rooms, boxing, a huge pool, stuff like that. Not to taint his image, but I can safely say the last time my father willingly worked out for fun was probably before I was even born. Why was he down there? Unless…

“A.P.R.I.L. who else is on floor B right now?” I asked. “Throw it on the hologram, would you dear?

The sounds of the hologram starting filled the room. A.P.R.I.L. pulled up the security map of floor B, like I’d asked. There was my dad, floor B in the boxing room of all places. Pops and Sam looked to be going at it in another one of the combat training rooms. My confusion only rose when another nametag popped up on the screen. My brows furrowed.

Peter Parker

What was he doing here? Why was he boxing? Why was he not in his own home at midnight on a Thursday? My mind was spinning with questions. A knock at my door startled me.

“Come in…”

Natasha popped her head through the doorway. “Hey there…whatcha doing kid?”

I swiftly swiped away the hologram screen and sat up straight. “Nothing. What’s up?”

“Well, we’re getting a little worried about you,” she said. We being everyone else at the table who had to witness my brawl with Dad. She sat down beside me. “You haven’t fought back like that in a long time and I’ve noticed you’re fighting with him a lot recently. You want to tell me what that’s all about?”

I wanted too. God, I wanted too. I hadn’t told anyone what my father said to me that day after the airport, not even my mom. But it didn’t matter. I’d get over it sooner or later, so there was no point troubling anyone else with my problems…right? My eyes started to well up but I blinked away the tears. “No. Everything’s fine,” I put on a smile.

Natasha tucked me in under her arm. “Okay then. Maybe tomorrow.” That was Muma for you. She never pushed me to talk but knew I would come around at some point. In the meantime, she just held me. I cried into her embrace. She let me cry into her shoulder for a long while, until I was empty. After a time, I let go and she got up, giving me a kiss on the head before wishing me a good night.

I rubbed my hands over my face, brushing off any remaining tears. “A.P.R.I.L. bring the hologram back up please.”

“Are you sure y/n?”

…

“Yeah.”

Peter was still in the boxing room but my father was not. Upon further digging, I found the nametag reading Tony Stark on my floor. He’d gone to bed. I pondered to myself as to whether or not I should venture downstairs. What is the worst thing that could happen? Peter is secretly a Hydra spy and kills me? No, I shook my head. Don’t be ridiculous. Another minute passed and I’d made up my mind.

“A.P.R.I.L. engage “I am definitely here”,” I commanded.

“”I am definitely here” protocol engaged. Volume minimized to 5% and your tracking tag will be pinned to this room,” A.P.R.I.L. responded. “Good luck on your mission small agent.”

“Oh shut up,” I chided. I closed the door to my room as softly as I could. It was nearly one in the morning, most of the hall would be asleep. Or at least they should be. The hallway was silent, except for the soft noise of my socks padding along the floor. I cursed myself for looking so ridiculous. If anyone caught me, I could easily say that I was just getting a midnight snack. Not sneaking down to spy on Spider-bitch. Boy. Whatever. Sneaking added to the excitement.

I made it downstairs all in one piece. Steve and Sam nearly passed me in one of the halls, but I had ducked into a briefing room. I could totally be a spy. Maybe I’m a Hydra spy. I thought. And they sent me here as a baby to take down the Avengers from the inside. What was I going on about? This was why I should really be in bed, I was clearly delirious. Once again, distracting myself in my thoughts led to me getting startled. I hadn’t even realized I was outside the boxing room. I would have walked right in if not for the handy wall that I smacked into.

Peter was in the ring, practicing his punches. He’d lowered down one of the punching bags from the ceiling and it was close to ripping at the seams. He was really going ham on it. The questions piled on. So, he came over to my house at midnight to…train? Something he had all afternoon today to do? God, he was weird. I suppose I didn’t quite know what I was going to get myself into when I finally walked in to confront him.

“What are you doing?” I asked, arms folded tightly across my chest.

Peter started and looked down at me. Sweat was dripping down his face. He looked exhausted. “Training,” he said bluntly. He returned to treating the punching bag like it had run over his dog.

“At one in the morning? And after you spent like six hours today doing just that?” I was not letting him off that easy. Peter ignored me and continued punching. “Your form is shit.” I mocked.

That made him stop. “Funny coming from the girl who never leaves her room. When have you ever trained? Like ever?”

“I still beat your ass.”

“Yeah like, a year ago when I was barely an avenger.”

I rolled my eyes. “You still aren’t.”

“What do you want?” Peter spat.

I shrugged. “Dunno.” I stared him down with a smug look on my face.

“You are always such a bitch, you know that?”

I faked a pout. “Aw…bite me.”

Peter was chewing the inside of his cheek in anger. “If you’re going to stay here and pester me, you might as well get a few punches in.”

“And why would I do that?”

“Consider it a rematch.”

I studied his physique for a moment. He’d grown a lot since Germany. He’d also trained a lot since then as well. I had done little of either. I knew that entering that ring would probably end up with me losing my dignity and maybe even a tooth. But I was not going to let him stand there with his stupid, sweaty face and get away with it. This is not a good idea, I thought as I took off my socks. I moved the ropes and stepped into the ring, standing a foot in front of the boy.

“I’ll still win.”

“No powers either.”

“Deal.” Not like I’ve touched my powers since…since the incident.

Peter took his stance and I did my best to mirror him. I realized in that moment that I had no idea what I was doing. I didn’t know the first thing about boxing. Or sparring. I didn’t know how to fight without my powers. Oh, sweet Jesus.

We kept our distance at first, fists up. He threw a few punches and missed. I followed in suit. I finally got the first hit, a nice throw to his chest. He took it like a champ and didn’t flinch. Or rather, I couldn’t hit for shit and it didn’t hurt. He threw a punch to my left, only to miss on purpose and punched me square across my jaw. Ow. I chuckled lowly. The taste of blood filled my mouth from the fresh cut on my lip. I wiped the back of my hand across my mouth. All I could see was white rage.

Forget form, forget rules, forget everything. I lunged at him with everything I had. Lunged at him for all the bullshit he had brought into my life. For all the bitter things I had to hear my father say that weren’t even Peter’s fault. He was clearly not expecting my attack because we both fell to the ground. We fought tirelessly on the mat. He was physically stronger than me, so by default he was winning. He wrestled me until I was pinned under him. One hand was pinning my hand above my head, the other arm pinning down my body. In any other circumstances I would be amused to find myself in such a scandal. I looked in his eyes briefly and I could already tell he thought that he was winning. If there’s one thing I learned from Nat, it’s to always step on their moment. I hooked my leg around his knee and used all my force to flip us over. I had him pinned down now, my hair falling around my face. We were both breathing heavily.

“Told you,” I taunted. I was mentally preparing him to punch back but he didn’t. He snapped his arms out from under me and shoved me off him, hard. I fell back against the mat. He rose to his feet, brushing his hands off on his pants. “What the hell?” I exclaimed. I jumped to my feet while his back was turned to me and gave him a taste of his own medicine. He stumbled a few steps after I pushed him. Slowly, he stretched back up to reach his full height.

“You’re right,” he turned to face me and extended a hand. “Shake on the truce?” I took his hand, accepting his surrender. Only, he was not really surrendering. The moment my hand touched his, he yanked me towards him. I tripped over my feet and fell into him. My chest crashed onto his. The world was a blur as he grabbed me with force and spun us around, so he could push me up against the ropes of the ring.

“Stop, Peter get off me you bitch!” I fought back. I flailed my whole body around, trying to break loose. One hand reached up to grab the back of my head, pulling my hair and forcing my head back. I froze. His face was dangerously close to my exposed neck. His shift let my opposite arm break free. I took a breathe and reeled it back, ready to smack him in the across the face. He caught my wrist in time without taking his eyes off mine.

He lowered his head to whisper in my ear, “I win.” His breathe trickled down my neck. He had won, but he wasn’t moving. One hand was still in my hair, the other was pinning me against the ropes. His chest breathed heavily against my own. His grip on my head loosened slightly and I was able to look him straight on. He had that same smug look pasted across his face. His eyes moved from mine, trailing down my face, my neck, my body, before they settled on my lips. I momentarily lost the ability to breathe.

He kissed me hard. I tensed up slightly before giving into him completely. It tasted like blood and sweat and I felt like I was losing my mind. He pulled me closer, if that was even possible and claimed my mouth with his until my knees gave out. A newfound wave of warm washed through me. The hand in my hair gave a slight tug and my lips parted while that same hand moved to cup my jaw. For all I knew, the entire compound was wide awake and watching but I did not care. I brought my fingers to his hair, tugging at the ends. I smiled cunningly when he groaned into my mouth. He kissed me greedily and fully. Like he hated me. And I hated him.

We broke apart, limbs numb and chests heaving. The moment had passed, and our actions sunk in. What. The. Fuck. He lifted the ropes for me, and I climbed out of the ring. My head was still spinning from that kiss and my lip stung. Consequences I suppose, for kissing someone with a busted lip. I silently pulled my socks back on and Peter handed me a towel. Neither of us said another word. I left the room and didn’t look back. I could hear him behind me, but I was in no rush to have to look him in the eye ever again. What just happened?

I woke the next morning to A.P.R.I.L. alerting me that “Father Dearest” was outside my door. He came in and sat on the edge of the bed. We both stayed quiet for a while.

I spoke first. “Where were you last night? You didn’t come by after…” I let my words trail off.

“I was going to, I swear. But then something came up with Peter and I had to go take care of that,” Dad answered.

I frowned. “Typical. Peter over your own flesh and blood, right?”

Dad inhaled sharply like he was going to bite back, but changed his mind. “That’s not true and you know it. Peter is…he’s going through something and I knew how to help him. Not everything is about you, you narcissist,” He said, joking at the end.

I had to push down my own smile. “Yeah well where do you think I got it from?” I sat up and leaned into my father. He brushed a hand down my back. “So, what’s wrong with Peter then?”

“I really shouldn’t tell you, it’s personal.” I looked up at him with my doe eyes. He rolled his eyes and sighed, nodding a silent defeat. I felt like I was nine again and he was gossiping with me about the latest secretary. Like every fight had been forgotten in this moment. “He’s been having some nightmares ever since DC. You remember the ones we used to get after Loki?” I nodded. “Now you, you always amazed me at how you handled those. But for me and Peter, we needed a different outlet. So, I let him come over in the middle of the night. I didn’t think anyone would notice.” I hummed in response, not sure what to make of that information. I mean, I kind of felt bad for the guy. He was still a bitch, but those dreams suck. No one should have to deal with them. “He really isn’t as bad as you think, you know.”

“Yeah,” I hummed. “I think you’re right.”

tag list:

@runawayolives @ creation-magician @ eridanuswave @ markhyucksmells @ beep-beep-losersclub

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moral-turpitudes · 3 years

Text

For The Family:

Masterlist | Rules | Peaky Prompts

Trigger Warnings: Swearing, Angst, Fighting/Arguing, Pregnancy, Fluff.

Word Count: 2,572

Characters: Thomas Shelby x Female!Reader

Requested: Yes

Requested by: Anon, it can be found here.

Summary: One argument and a million frazzled nerves sends Y/N running out the doors of Shelby Company Limited, causing Thomas to re-evaluate his plans and think about more than himself for once.

One minute.

One minute was all it took for her to walk out, heels stomping through the shop halls of Shelby Company Limited and to the car. Not caring that she and Thomas rode in together that morning. He was resourceful, so he could surely find another way home, if he could make it home that is.

The morning had started out as usual, her husband calling a family meeting to discuss the days events and the legitimate business. Giving them all a rundown of the numbers and telling her and Lizzie about what papers needed filing. But not long after everyone had been given their tasks, he made one final remark. “I have a plan to discuss though, before you all go.” He said, putting his cigarette out.

“God what is it now?” Polly asked rolling her eyes in Y/N’s direction. She smirked slightly, avoiding her husbands gaze as she clasped her hands in front of her, preparing for whatever it is he’d say next.

“I’m going to go after the men who trashed our pub.” He said, looking at the paper on the table that talked about the recent bombing of the place.

“They’ll just come after us again though. What if they plant bombs here aye Tom? We’ll be fookin’ blown to bits.” Arthur said looking out the window. Paranoia already setting in.

“We’ll be fine. They’re getting what’s coming to them.” Thomas said, noticing his wife tensing up as he looked over towards her, her usual relaxed demeanor long gone. The ring on her finger that she was looking at, disappearing as the tears welled up in her eyes.

Polly sighed and clicked her manicured nails against her teacup, hoping that whatever strategy he had planned was good, knowing he’d go through with it no matter who tried to stop him.

“How do you know?” Y/N asked, wiping away her tears as the thought of bombs surrounding the shop ran through her mind.

“What?” Thomas asked, his voice even and unbothered by his family’s concerns.

“How do you know we’ll be fine huh? You said that three months ago and there I was trying to keep you from bleeding out on our driveway.” She said, cringing at the thought of when he’d come home miraculously after being shot in the abdomen, mere inches away from anything vital.

“That was different. This is a another gang with different ways of doing things.” He said, dismissing her concern as the family grew antsy.

“No it’s not. They all have the same fucking goals in mind, Thomas.” She said quietly, going straight to the bathroom. Not bothering to lock the door as she’d made quite the scene.

“When do we go?” John asked, breaking the awkward silence as Thomas tore his gaze from his wife’s empty seat.

Thomas didn’t answer him as he stormed out after her, not bothering to knock as he waltzed right in. “What were you trying to do back there aye? What the hell is wrong with you?” He asked, an anger to his voice that was usually only reserved for his brothers.

“Why are you in here yelling at me? I was trying to get you to think about your fucking family. You say everything is fine, you say everything will work out but how do you know?...” She asked as he stood there without an answer.

“That’s right. You don’t. But you go along with everything anyways not bothering to think about anyone else other than yourself and your little agenda! I’m tired of it.” She spat, looking at him angrily as she realized that was one of the only times she truly yelled at the man.

“I’m doing this to protect the family!” He said, running a hand over his tired face. Y/N looked at him for a few moments, her warm eyes meeting his ice cold ones.

“You signed up for this Y/N.” He said, inching closer to her.

“The only thing I signed up for was to love you. I didn’t sign up to watch us get blown up or to be pawns in your little games. I’m done.” She said, holding her palm to her stomach, the familiar nauseous feeling returning for the third time that week.

“I won’t let them hurt us.” He said, trying to take her hand in his but feeling her turn away.

“Tommy...you don’t realize how many nights I’ve stayed up for you. How many nights I’ve seen you in your office half alive. How many times I’ve dragged myself in here not wondering if I’d ever see you again. You don’t realize who all needs you, and I’m afraid you may never realize it because we’ll all be dead because of you one day.” She said turning to face him, her face pale and her hands shaking as she wiped her tears away once more.

“Why are you so worried about everything now aye? You know I have to do this or it’ll get worse.” He said, more quietly than before.

“Because....I can’t stand the thought of losing you. I know I can’t do anything to stop that but I can’t sit around here or at the house worrying all day. I have more to think about now...more to protect.” She said, leaning against the counter as he walked over to her, putting his arms around her in a tight hug.

“What are you not telling me aye?” He asked, his voice quiet like before, a hint of genuine concern in his voice.

“I’m pregnant, Tom...Just found out last week while you were gone. I was going to tell you later today but...I couldn’t after that meeting. It made me sick thinking about all the possibilities.” She said, looking down at the tiled floor. Her heart hurt at knowing he’d leave her again when she’d only recently gotten him back from one of his “missions.”

Thomas stood there and sighed, the gears shifting in his mind as he thought about what he could and couldn’t do. All the decisions he could make put them at risk, or more so himself, but this forced him to look at things slightly differently. She needed him there, now more than ever, and blowing himself up or getting himself shot wouldn’t do the family any good. But deep down he knew he had to do something.

“You’re thinking of another plan...I can’t believe you.” She spat, walking out of the shop and towards the car, knowing the safest place to be was probably their house.

Thomas punched the counter, frustrated at the woman he loved, the impact stinging his hand as he went back into his office.

“Get your things ready gentlemen. We’re going this evening. Pol I need you to tell me when you knew.” He said quickly, John quirking an eyebrow as he loaded his shotgun.

“She told me she felt off last week, so I read her tea leaves. She didn’t want to tell you until you came back, and it wasn’t my place to tell her business.” She said.

“What’s our dear sister in law hiding aye? She left here in a hurry after all that.” Arthur said.

“She’s pregnant.” Thomas said lighting a cigarette, an expression on his face that was hard to pin down. Frustration, happiness, fear, sorrow, all of them danced around his head as he thought through his plan.

“Well let’s get this over with then brother. You have some making up to do since she left like she did.” Arthur said.

“My wife is my concern Arthur. Just get the guns, get the grenades, and get in the car.” He said sternly.

“....right.” Arthur said, giving Polly a quick hug and patting John on the back before heading out to his car.

“She’s worried about everyone, about me, about the bombs. Hell she’s the safest of all of us if she’s at home though.” Thomas said, mumbling as Polly watched him.

“Of course she’s worried Tom. You plan this stuff out on a whim and expect everyone to go along. What she needs is support and to know you’ll be okay. You’re her husband and the father of her child for Christ’s sake, at least try to not get yourself killed so you can see the poor thing. God...Planning all these things and throwing bombs whenever ya please will only get ya that much closer to your grave.” She said walking out of the room.

Thomas stood there with a blank stare, his cigarette dangling from his lips as he went over the last hour in his head. For as many things he planned, Y/N always knew how to keep him on his toes, and this by far was the best, yet most frustrating one. He wanted to be there for her, and he never doubted that for a second. But he couldn’t guarantee his safety and he knew she was right about that. So with all his will, he sauntered out to the car, telling the boys the new plan, and hauling off to finish the job, praying to nothing in particular that they’d all make it home.

As the hours passed by, the sunlight soon faded as a grenade was thrown, taking out the last three men that they couldn’t shoot down. It wasn’t his plan to start out, since he wanted to bomb their whole operation, but for Y/N’s sake, he told his brothers to use one bomb to avoid hurting themselves, and innocent people nearby. They had enough ammo to take down the rest, even if they had to take cover behind the rickety barstools and old tables.

“You sure you didn’t want to use those other grenades Tom? Just take down the whole building?” Arthur asked breathlessly as they loaded up the car.

“No. Wasn’t worth it. We can use the others some other time.” He said shortly, not wanting to discuss how he’d stopped himself from throwing the others out of love for her. Thinking it would make him seem weak.

“Alright, well let’s get back. You have some explaining to do at home.” Arthur said driving as fast as he could to Thomas’ manor to drop him off. With a small salute, they drove off, John smoking a cigar out the back as they disappeared into the night.

The house was quiet as Thomas arrived, the only light coming from his study as the door was cracked open. Music was playing lightly as he opened the door, Y/N lying on one of the lounge chairs with a book lazily in her hand. Her eyes closed and a soft snore escaping her lips as she slept by the fire.

Thomas plucked the book from her hand gently, putting it back on the bookshelf. Noticing how she shuffled around in her sleep, her brow furrowing almost in worry like a bad dream. Quietly, he walked over to his desk, taking off his coat and everything else work related until he was in his pants and dress shirt, the gun that was nestled in its holster gently placed on the desk as well.

With a swift movement, he gently picked her up, carrying her to their room. The lavish king bed greeting them both as he laid her down, Y/N almost instinctively reaching for him despite their earlier argument.

“Goodnight love. We’ll talk in the morning.” He said as he ran his hand down her back, settling in beside her.

“I love you...” She mumbled before drifting off once again.

“Love you too.” He said quietly knowing she was out. With a small kiss to her head he laid his head back against his pillow, dreams of Y/N and their child filling his mind for once instead of horrid nightmares.

The next morning he awoke to Y/N retching in the bathroom, the morning sickness finally living up to its name as the week went on.

Thomas got up in concern, lightly tapping on the door.

“You alright love? Can I get you anything?” He asked.

“No. I’m fine.” She said shortly, her brain fog from the nights sleep clearing from her mind as she remembered their fight. Her heart aching at his reaction and at his decision he’d made to continue with his plan last night.

After washing up, she finally left the restroom, haphazardly putting her clothes on as she looked at the clock. The time reading dangerously close to when they’d usually leave for work.

“We’re going to be late. Why aren’t you getting ready?” She asked.

“We’re taking the day off.” He said sitting back into the lavish pillows and lighting a cigarette.

Y/N scoffed, and sat next to him, her mind racing to how he’d be up and begging to go to work in less than an hour.

“Tommy Shelby taking a day off? That’s fucking unheard of.” She said, reaching for his hand that was now draped over her leg.

“We need it. Even if it’s only for today.” He said.

“Why?” She asked, messing with the few rings he had on his fingers.

“We need to talk about yesterday. And....I didn’t have the best reaction....so I wanted to apologize. You have me to yourself for the rest of the day.” He said, a slight smirk on his face.

Y/N sighed as she remembered, their heated argument filling the walls of the shop restroom as she tried to get him to see reason, knowing not even she could get him to change his mind, or so she thought.

“I changed my plan last night. I was going to bomb the whole place...but uh...when I looked at them....I saw you. I only used one and we shot the rest.” He said, hating he had to tell her the details but that unfortunately came with the territory of marrying a gang leader.

“Really? Only one?” She asked, her eyes flicking up to his as they laid their on the bed.

“Mhmm. Didn’t want to hurt other people ‘round there. I saw women and their children near the place...and it got me thinking of what you’d said earlier...I couldn’t use more after that.” He said, finally coming to peace with the fact he didn’t have to completely obliterate the place to get his message across, saving innocent lives in the long run.

Y/N smiled as she gazed into his eyes, trying not to drown in the ocean blue orbs as he took her hand in his and brought it up to his lips.

“I know I didn’t have the best reaction yesterday to the news...but I am happy. I can’t wait to see them. And I know you’ll be a wonderful mother. I couldn’t be happier, love.” He said softly, gently resting his hand atop her stomach and kissing her temple.

Y/N nodded, a sense of relief flowing off her as she finally knew he wasn’t upset. Even if she’d had Polly find out before him.

“Thank you...” She said quietly, the sunlight streaming in through windows as she pulled him closer to her, not wanting to let him go anytime soon.

“Are we going to lie in bed all day?” He asked.

“You said I had ya all to myself, I can think of a few other things we could do.” She said, smirking at him as she pulled him in for a kiss. Both of them looking forward to spending the day with each other, even though it was a rare occurrence.

Thomas Shelby Tag List:

@msbzowy, @nofckingfighting, @aranoburns, @sighonahurricane, @ugly-crying-over-bucky-barnes, @gaytommyshelby, @wowjeena, @fifty-shadesof-tommyshelby, @inglourious-imagines, @thebloodyshelbys, @tsolomons, @blinder-secrets, @reveparade, @shelby-fanatic, @ta-ka-shi-ma, @psychkunox, @peakyxtommy, @captivatedbycillianmurphy,@dreamwastakenx,

@lovemissyhoneybee @thomashelbyswhore, @xxbeckybeexx-blog

If you’d like to be added/removed, just send me an ask/message! :)

#peaky blinders #peaky blinders fanfic #peaky blinders imagines #peaky blinders headcanons #thomas shelby #thomas shelby x reader #thomas shelby x female!reader #thomas shelby x y/n

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thr-333 · 4 years

Text

Just Another Class Trip :) Part 3

You know getting dragged through a multi billion dollar corporations building to try and avoid your illegitimate father, a normal monday for most I’m sure.

First< Previous >Next

------------

It’s official, I hate Adrien

Marinette groans, having been practically dragged out of bed for breakfast. Adrien was wisely backed up as far as he could in the elevator. She yawns, making it loud as possible and looking Adrien right in the eye.

“Maybe you shouldn’t have stayed out so late,” Tikki giggles, hidden in her scarf.

Yeah it turns out that ‘just need to help out one person’ turned into a it is now 3am and I am halfway across the city beating up a gang.

“At least the box was safe,” Marinette whispers back, she had crashed in Adrien's room, no matter how mad Lila would be, or because of it who knows.

And indeed Lila was mad. The second they step foot into the hotel restaurant the entire class turns to stare at them. Crowded around a smug looking Lila with tears rolling down her cheeks. Marinette just turns a sharp left to the coffee. It isn’t until she has downed half a cup and refilled it that she tries to look for her friends.

Chloe looks just as dead as her, so she sits next to her. Let the morning people talk, they were ready to pass out together.

“Kagami?”

“Yep, Adrien?”

“Yep,”

“Morning people,” They both sneer.

“Were you planning on sleeping all morning?” Kagami asks, eating breakfast like a normal person, what a jerk.

“Were you planning on watching me all morning?” Chloe half heartedly retorts.

“You are adorable when you’re sleeping,”

“Fuck you, I’m adorable all the time,”

“Chlo, language, please,” Marinette implores, nursing her giant cup.

“Shut up Dupain-Cheng,” Chloe snaps, face planting back into the table.

“She’s not that cute actually,” Kagami whispers to Adrien, “Wore a face mask she got green all over the bed,”

“I’ll get green all over you,” Chloe mumbles absentmindedly.

"Marinette,"

"Ah the storm is coming,took them long enough" She takes a gulp of burning coffee, "Yes Alya?"

"You cant just say that to a person," Alya tries to explain, as if talking down to a child, "Lila was up all night crying,"

"She probably just put on a recording and went soundly to sleep," Chloe scoffs, sleepily looking up from the table.

"I was with her all night!" Alya turns to Chloe, seething rage coming to the surface.

"Thats some impressive endurance," Marinette mutters, downing more coffee.

"You think she's been practicing?" Chloe smirks.

"This isn't-"

"Make sure she get's plenty of water," Marinette turns away, hoping the conversation would be over.

"Marinette!" Alya looks down at her the way Marinette often looks at her, the look at a dear friend who changed, "Can't you see you're hurting Lila?"

"Can't you see she's hurting me?" She covers that honestly by gulping down more coffee, she has not had enough for this conversation.

"You used to be so nice Marinette," Alya dodges the question, pointing to Chloe and Kagami instead, "Then you started spending time with these two, and, and you changed!"

"Believe what you want Alya," Marinette motions for her friends to stay calm, "But they stand by me when no one else will, especially you,"

"Thats because!- Marinette if you had just gotten to know Lila instead of being jealous this would have never happened," Alya looks down at her sadly, Marinette was sure Paris would have been up in flames somehow if she had ever trusted Lila, "If you just didn't spend time around these bullies everything could be the same, you wouldn't have become a bully too,"

"So what?" She spits bitterly, looking over at the table watching them, Lila looking disgruntled it wasn't an all out fight, "If I got up and joined that table right now, would everything go back to the way it was?"

"... No,"

Marinette’s pocket buzzes in a familiar sequence. Akuma alert.

"Ok then, not much point in arguing about it, I'm going to stay with my friends, the ones I can actually trust," Marinette quickly shuts down Alya's protest, "Now go get Lila some water,"

Alya walks off back to the table, everyone crowding around her. Marinette waits for the door to be clear, she has to leave before Alya finishes or the whole class will be breathing down her neck.

“Forgot something in my room,” Marinette slings on her back pack, “Be back soon,”

She was not back soon, she was not back soon at all. Luckily she should only be three minutes late for the bus-and nope they left, great. She’ll just have to catch up with the tour later.

Well, I had stuff to do anyways

She talks with the receptionist; her assistant should have sent her a prepared motorcycle to the hotel the day before. It’s a quick drive to the location she had selected specifically to be close to the hotel.

She puts on a simple domino mask before entering the building, she didn’t want anyone to leak her identity after all. Walking in she’s glad to see everything is not in disarray.

“MDC,” Her assistant, Liam walks up to her.

Liam was someone she met through Penny. He’s older than her and also acted as her guardian on most of her trips as MDC. He does know her civilian identity, which she trusted him completely to keep. She likes him because-

“Is that mine?” She snatches the cup of coffee as he passes it to her.

“Figured you needed it,” Liam smiles, wincing as she downs the burning liquid, it's fine she has a strong healing factor, “You said your bag was stolen? This should replace it, it’s most of what you had plus more,”

He rolls forward a pre packed suitcase.

“I would die without,” Marinette says in all seriousness, “So what's the damage?”

“No major problems so far, the security we hired is enough to scare away the smaller thugs,” Liam nods to some security personnel guarding each door, “They won't be enough if any super villains try to attack the actual show,”

“Mm, give them instructions on the night of the show they are only allowed to intercept small time, anything bigger they are not allowed to engage,” Marinette studies the room, there's great places to hide, friend or foe, “If they see anything they are simply to report it directly to me,”

“They can’t engage?” Liam looks around, trying to see what she is.

“They won't be able to stop them anyway, and there is no reason for them to die,”

“If you say so,” Liam leads her through the room where lights are being set up and walls are being painted, “So what's the plan if we do get attacked?”

“I’m sure Batman is going to have his eye on any big events,” Marinette approves of the color of the back wall, it looking even better in person, “Besides I’m planning on trying to intercept before any violence,”

“In other words you're going to make my job a lot more stressful,” Liam sighs, making a note or rather on his tablet.

“Not if I can help it,”

“You can’t,” Liam sighs again at her grin, “Didn’t you have a tour with your class today?”

“They left me,” Liam seems equally unsurprised, “But I should probably head for Wayne tower anyway,”

“Don’t get into trouble,”

“I never get into trouble,” Marinette smirks from the door, “Trouble drags me into it kicking and screaming,”

“More like keen and skipping,” Liam closes the door in her face.

Marinette strolls into the Wayne tower an hour late with Starbucks, she sees is her class, being a nuisance arguing with a tour guide.

“You cannot just leave a student alone in Gotham,” The tour guide all but yells at Madame Bustier.

“Marinette is very responsible, she can handle herself,” Madame Bustier more defends herself than Marinette.

“I don’t care how responsible your student is, that won't stop them from getting shot!” This time he does yell, “You need to go back and pray to god she’s alright and hasn't gotten lost for some murder to find!”

Alright time to break the tension

“Hey, what did I miss?” Marinette asks casually, Already sipping at her straw when all eyes turn to her.

“Marinette! How did you get here?” Madame bustier demands.

“I-”

“I think you mean ‘are you alright, I’m so sorry for leaving you behind,” The tour guide glowers, apparently threatening enough that Madame Bustier actually repeats him.

“I’m fine, I borrowed a bike from my friend in Gotham,”

“You don’t have a licence in Gotham,” Lila sneers triumphantly.

Oh look who actually did some research, how much digging did you do when I learnt how to ride a motorcycle

“I didn’t say it was a motorcycle,” That shut’s Lila up, “But yeah it is a motorcycle,

Worth it for that face

“Also I got my licence approved in America before I came,”

So worth that face

Lila opens her mouth, better than the flood gates, when the tour guide interrupts.

“Now that everyone is here,” He sends a smile to Marinette and a glare to Madame Bustier somehow at the same time, she gets the tinglily feeling of miraculous holder, or maybe its just the caffeine, “We can start, my name is Dick I will be your tour guide today.

They follow Dick through the tour Marinette's group right behind Dick. She scribbled designs and took notes as he talked, asking her own questions. This got her dubbed Dicks favourite, and easy title to gain as the rest of the class lagged behind. Most were listening to Lila, only Max and Alix were straining to hear Dick over the chatter. Marinette would occasionally pick up a mention of the Wayne's and knew it wasn't related to the tour. She'd have to guess Lila was lying about either dating someone or saving their life, or because it's Lila probably both. A gutsy move in the Wayne tower she had to admit. Marinette could tell Dick was listening and would probably have that rumour make it back to the Wayne's themselves. Would the wrath of some of the richest and most powerful people be enough to stop her? not likely.

They split up for lunch at the cafeteria in the building. She saw the coffee machine and was about to make a bee line to it when Kagami pulled her back to eat some 'real food' whatever that is. She makes a break for it after eating the so called 'real food', right before the tour was about to restart. She reaches it as a familiar figure is also waiting.

"Hi Tim," She greets, getting him to actually jump, "You work here?"

"Hi! um-yeah," He looks over to her, "How did you do that?"

"Do what?" She takes the biggest travel cup they have available.

"Sn-nothing," Tim still looks uneasy, then his eyes lock onto the cup, "tired?"

"Was up till three am last night, plus jet lag?" She yawns, "Yeah I'm tired,"

"Then you'll want to put that cup back,"

"Hm why?"

he gets her answer when Tim ducks down, opening a hidden cupboard full of travel cups at least twice the size of her current one,

"Tim I love you," She fills up the giant cup, "You're my favourite person in Gotham as of right now,"

"Not Dick?"

"Eh, his puns are lacklustre," She shrugs, Tim spits out his drink, "You know Dick?"

"Yep, give him a hard time for me!" Tim calls over his shoulder, walking away.

"You got it!" She hurries in the opposite direction, late for the tour once again.

“Did you get another coffee?” Dick asks as they enter the PR department.

“They were serving them at lunch,” Marinette could almost laugh at how quickly he had begun to fret over her during the tour.

“I know, that was my brothers idea, or rather demand,” Dick sighs, someone else approaching the group to direct the tour.

“Your brother works here?”

“Sure does,”

“But you don’t”

This makes Dick pause, looking down at her as she sips at the coffee.

“What?”

“I mean you don’t work this job at least,” She shrugs, it wasn't hard to figure out.

“Why's that?”

“You seem uncomfortable, your charismatic but still lack the smoothness of a rehearsed tour, plus you seem offended that they are in the back chatting,” Marinette nods towards Lila and her posse, “Regular tour guides would be used to that,”

“You found me out,” Dick chuckles, “I’m just taking over for today,”

“Well I think you picked a bad class to do that for,” She looks over at most her class ignoring the speaker trying to get their attention.

“I think I picked the right one,” Dick says cryptically, then walks off to help herd the class.

“Alright you have to give me the recipe,” Marinette overhears from a nearby desk.

Someone is sitting on it eating a cookie, while the other taps away at her computer.

“Sorry no can do,” She shrugs, “I don’t know it,”

“How can you not know it, you baked them right?” He asks, trying to steal another one and getting his hand slapped away.

“Nope, new vigilante came in, beat up someone robbing my house and baked me cookies,”

“This is Gotham so I believe the first two,” He looks between her and the container, “But cookies?”

“They also gave me free therapy,” She shrugs, before tapping on the container,“And do you really believe I could make these?”

“Touche,” He smirks leaning back on the desk, “So who’s the new guy? With the Batclan?”

“No they said they were just passing through,” She doesn't look up from her computer, focusing intently on the screen, “Names Starling,”

“Never heard of them,”

“Neither, and I tried looking them up,” She sighs, pushing back from the computer in defeat, “Found someone, but it’s not them, actually couldn't find anything on them,”

“Weird,” He gets up from the desk, “Can’t imagine Batman is going to take kindly to a new vigilante running around,”

“Unless he adopts them,”

“That… yeah he probably will,”

"Oh no-CLAIRE" The speaker trying to wrangle her class stops, "We have a problem!"

"Sorry to cut this short," Claire doesn't look sorry at all, "Seems we have important matters to tend to,"

She follows Dick out of the department, ushering her class as she goes. Claire looks over at her like she has two heads, a mixture of impressed and pity, and perhaps a bit of jealously.

They get to go further up the building, to the higher floors. They reach a space that is mostly meeting rooms. He class decide to take advantage of Dick declaring they are completely sound proof, or maybe they took it as a challenge. Marinette is walking past a hall when someone leaning against the wall catches her eye.

“Auntie Selina?!”

They look around, only spotting Marinette seconds before they collide into a hug, she feels the tingling buzz of a true holder.

“Mari!” Selina picks her up and spins her around, no different from when she was five, “Oh, my love it’s so good to see you, when did you arrive in Gotham?”

Marinette watches as her smile morphs into horror.

“Wait, what are you doing in Gotham!?”

“It’s a class trip and- hey where are we going?” Her Auntie grabs her arm pulling her down the hall.

“Marinette!” Dick calls, walking around the corner, Selina makes a sharp turn down another corridor, “Wait!”

Selina is two steps away from running as she pulls Marinette through the maze of hallways.

“Auntie where are we going?”

“Down here,” She opens the door leading to a staircase, too narrow to be a fire exit.

“That’s not really what I was asking,”

Selina inputs a key code, the door swinging open as she is pulled into the room.

“Wait!” She gets pulled through another door just as quick “Was that wall full of weapons?”

“Just a picture sweetie,” She says sweetly, “Down these stairs,”

“Aunt Selina what are we running from?” They are running now, floor after floor.

“We’re not running from anything sweetie,” Selina speeds up, “I just wanted to show you a cool spot in Gotham,”

“Right,” Marinette raises an eyebrow, “I was actually with the class so maybe we could go later?”

“It closes in five minutes,”

“Like you wouldn’t just break in if we were going somewhere,”

“I promise I will take you somewhere nice,” She smiles back at Marinette, they reach the end of the stairs, coming to a garage of sorts, “If you promise to hurry up,”

“Sure-” She does a double take, of the room, “Hold up are those costumes?”

“Collectors stuff, you know,” They are surrounded by bat themed... everything, “Rich people,”

“Right and how do you know this?”

“I-” She hesitates, eyes drifting, “Hey look, the exit!”

They all out sprint towards the exit. Selina reaches out to open the door a second after it swings open.

“Selina,” The man smiles at Selina as she runs into him.

“Hey Bruce,” Selina jumps back, trying to hide Marinette behind her.

“Where are you going?” Bruce looks behind her at Marinette, who gives a little wave.

“Out! Got to hurry!” She grabs Marinette's arm again, trying to pull her around Bruce.

“Is something wrong?” Bruce grabs Selina's shoulders to keep her still and looking at him.

“Nope nothings wrong,” She wriggles out of his grasp, trying again to pull Marinette away.

“Ok then,” Bruce still looks worried but turns to Marinette instead, “Hello I’m Bruce Wayne, Selina finance,”

“YOU’RE HER WHAT!?”

“Snitch,” He Auntie spits out venomously.

“Why didn’t you tell me!?” Marinette asks her with the biggest grin.

“Surprise,” Selina gives half heated jazz hands.

“Wait! Whens the wedding? Do You have a dress? I’ll make one!” She deicides, brining out her sketchbook, drawing different designs, “What's the theme? Never mind tell me on the way to the fabric store, I’ll sketch up some designs,”

“Darling, please-” Selina is now getting pulled along.

“Oh! I’ll call Papa! I’m sure he’ll want to make your cake! We have to hurry, come on lets go!” They're already out the door, Marinette waves turning back to Bruce, “Nice meeting you!”

“What just happened?” Bruce asks Dick as he runs up next to him.

“She kidnapped one of the students on tour,”

“Who is now making her wedding dress,” Bruce nods, not understanding anything

“Did I miss something?”

I think we all did

--------------------

Taglist:

@smolplantmum @flufflepuffle296 @dawnwave16 @caffeinetheory @g-arya @Maribat-2k20 @ladybug-182 @Actual-disaster-human @fusser90 @messrs-weasley @soap-lady @paintedhope7 @zeneralla @mochegato @random-nerd-3 @clumsy-owl-4178 @throneoffirebreathingbitchqueen @too0bsessedformyowngood @certifiedbidisaster @Purplegeekypanda @awkward0ghostfan @theymakeupfairies @tikki-marinette @insane-fangirl-of-everything @elmokingkong @inarachi02 @slytherinhquinn @moongoddesskiana @dast218 @buginetye @redscarlet95

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stopbeingrude · 3 years

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Hi guys , how are you doing ? I hope you had at least a decent day. I was really surprised by how many people were interested in my story. (blush) Im so glad As promised, here's chapter 2 ,, I like the rain, it always seemed like the only thing that was like me…" Chapter 2. ,,Thank you for being here" Juvia looked at the object in her hands that she found while packing for their trip to Tempeville. A tiny umbrella , white with smiling suns printed on it .She remembered vividly the exact moment Jerry had handed it to her. - "Here, this is for you, I couldn't bear to hear you whining anymore,"- said the golden-haired man, handing the little girl his gift. -'' I've told you many times, that in time you would be able to control the rain around you. It's normal for water to behave strangely around water mages, and I had a problem with it too….- said Jerry. The man thought for a moment, then added. -..I'm pretty sure I told you how I nearly drowned my ex girlfriend….I told you, right?.. "- little girl nodded-"...Of course I did…haha..If only you could see that bitc...yh...lady's face….Where was I at again?............Oh right!... If only you were just a bit more patient, little froggy.." -"I told you not to call me that, you dummy! "- shouted the seemingly angry Juvia. It was obvious that she wasn't angry, but if those were supposed to be birthday wishes , then that this old slacker could have tried a little harder. -''Oi! Brat....I'm trying my best to wish you a happy birthday and you act like this? -" What kind of birthday wishes are these supposed to be!?- the girl exclaimed. -..Unbelievable! Young people these days are so ungrateful….Ugh .."- he complained, but eventually gave up. -" Heh... Alright….Im sorry... Happy Birthday Juju…- he said with a grin. He couldn't stay angry with his baby for too long. - "...I wish you happiness, health,...I hope you'll grow up to be a decent and intelligent woman ... because remember this..., it's not how you look that counts, it's what's in your head…. - the man poked her forehead lightly, causing the girl to giggle. Despite the tough character of her ..guardian ...? I guess you could call him that… despite his difficult sense of humour and his biting remarks, she knew that she was important to him, just as he was important to her. He just had a strange way of showing affection... Juvia laughed lightly despite a few tears that flowed from her sapphire eyes. It was for moments like this , she's been able to endure the bullying of other children , she knew that every sad experience ended with a visit from Jerry. Every visit ended with one of his strange ideas that always put a smile back on her face, like that one time he took her out for hot dogs at 10pm. Juvia was never able to forget the look on the orphanage ladies' faces when Jerry walked her back at 1 am. Lost in her thoughts, she didn't notice when her fiancé appeared in their bedroom. -" I've never seen this one…"- he pointed at the umbrella- ''.. I'm guessing it's a special one then" -he stated, handing her tea. - "Thank you... "- she took a sip-"...Yes you're right... actually it was a present for my birthday. HE gave it to me…" After packing the last things, they both sat down on the bed. Neither of them was quite sure how to start a conversation. Gray didn't like the strange atmosphere that had prevailed in their apartment since yesterday. But most of all he did not like how distant Juvia seemed to be. That wasn't his Juvia. Devil Slayer rested his head on her shoulder. When Blue-haired woman began to gently stroke his hair, he immediately relaxed . He missed that... After what for him felt like ages , she decided to speak. -"Juvia is sorry that she didn't tell you anything...Juv….. I was just trying to forget about it... it's not like I don't trust you....Please don't be angry…"-she said in an uncertain voice. -"I'm not angry at you….I'm just a little disappointed...I thought you felt comfortable enough with me to tell me everything…"- he admitted. It was silly to admit , but he didn't

like the fact that Juvia wouldn't tell him something. He knew that everyone had the right to have their own secrets, but his desire to find out what was in her head was much stronger. After a while he decided to ask her more - "Is there anything else you haven't told me about yourself?" He needed to know. -" No. Everything else is true…About my childhood, about Phantom Lord...and mostly about my parents..." …………………………. -".........What happened to your parents...?"- he asked quietly. He contemplated for a moment whether he should ask her this question. After all, he didn't know what kind of reaction this would cause.. -" My mother died when I was about 2 years old.... I don't know who my father was... Jerry said he never met him…about my mother.."- Juvia looked as if she was thinking very hard about something, and after a moment she added-"..Jerry once told me that even she couldn't remember who he exactly was….not that she cared about it or about being pregnant …"- said Juvia weirdly. Wait , what? -"..L-let me get this straight…...you're trying to tell me….that she didn't really care that she got pregnant...and that she wasn't even trying to look for your father? ' Wait, what !?' -….ymm... that's....." - the man persistently tried to choose the right words. He did not want to offend his fiancée's mother by any means (If not for her , Juvia wouldn't be there in the first place, so she obviously deserved to be at least respected)....But everything Juvia had mentioned sounded...How to put it?...Concerning? -" It's not normal... I know... you don't have to hold back Darling- she said with a slight smile- "Her name was Eliana and apparently she was always like...that..., she was...well DIFFERENT.."- that's how Jerry would always describe her-"....She didn't really care about anything, she didn't talk too much, she rarely showed any kind of emotion....She was one big secret, even for him. Juvia never fully got it. Why would she be like that with the person she supposedly was…… ..ymm…..Close.?"- he didn't miss the way she said the last word, but he kept quiet about it. After all ,the relationship between two strangers wasn't his business. Gray decided to change the subject a bit. -"You know..., I think it's really great of him to take care of both of you.…"-despite the fact that the night before Gray had felt a lot of anger towards the aforementioned man, right now he was grateful that he had taken both ladies under his care.- "He must have been an amazing person. It really sounds like you are telling me about some hero or saint"- ice mage smiled - "He was "- said blunette with a smile - "I will always be grateful to him...But Saint ? No, no ,no...That's probably too much of an exaggeration." - she added with a giggle. Gray was glad that she was laughing again, he couldn't help but laugh a little too. They are slowly returning to normalcy... - "He was the laziest, most stubborn man you could find on this planet….He was untactful , brutally honest and worst of all, sometimes he could be so awfully mean and grumpy , especially when it was Tuesday...Juvia never got that...why Tuesday?….Dear God , he could be so unbearable...."- Juvia stopped for a moment, then smiled playfully.- "Honestly you two are pretty similar in that case" - "Ekhem....So.. you're suggesting that I'm mean and grumpy ? Oh ..Alright... I'll remember that when you want something from me..."- Gray said, pretending to be offended and trying hard not to smile. Juvia laughed loudly, then wrapped her arms around his neck and placed a sweet kiss on his lips. After Jerry disappeared, she was sure she would never get attached to anyone again. She didn't want to suffer more. But as we all know, life likes to surprise us, and "never" is not eternal. First she met Gajeel , with whom, by some strange coincidence, she found a connection. Funny, considering how different they were. Even then a quiet voice in her head, similar to Jerry's, whispered to her to not get too attached….that it didn't make sense. On that day, for the first time in her

life, she decided to ignore it, and thanks to that, she gained a wonderful friend. The same situation happened again after she met Gray and Fairy tail. The insistent voice kept reminding her of the past. 'Just because you've miraculously found a friend who hasn't left you, doesn't mean that it will happen again...' 'So what if he stopped your rain, one day you'd be able to deal with it by yourself…..Besides, don't you remember what happened the last time you felt something for a guy? It's just stupid, meaningless crush, just get over it....' But as time passed and she became more and more attached to the guild mates, more and more in love with Gray..... The voice in her head gradually faded and after a while the only sound she heard was the laughter of her loved ones. Despite the suffering of the past, Juvia no longer regretted anything. She would go through it even 100 more times, just to be happy with her new family. -"Oi ! - she felt Gray lightly tap her nose- Juvs don't fall asleep, we have a train in about two hours….. Remember? "- he asked amused - "You're right! Juvia's sorry, she got lost in her thoughts…" ****************************************** - "Are you going on a mission ?" asked Mira Jane cheerfully, as the couple informed her of their departure. Gray didn't necessarily want to share with her the reason for their trip. After all, it was a rather sensitive topic. - "Yyyy it's more like..... a..vacation...?...Right Juvia?"- he turned to his fiancée - "Oh!....Yes, yes..."- nodded the woman. The barmaid looked at them with a huge smile. She still couldn't quite believe that these two were finally together.… - "In that case I wish you a wonderful time, lovebirds" - she giggled as she saw them both turning red. - "Ooh vacation? That's awesome, wish you a great time guys." -they heard Lucy's voice behind them. - "They are such a beautiful couple."- added Erza proudly-" I can't believe that our Gray has grown so much..I hope you'll have an amazing vacation." - '"I also wish you an amazing time'' -said Wendy happily. -Ohhh..young love…- sang Happy, flying over their heads. - " And where are you two going anyway?"- asked Natsu curiously while finishing his lunch. - "We decided to visit my hometown,"- said Juvia. Her friends didn't need to know more... - "Oh cool..Where is it?" -continued Natsu. He never really thought much about where his guild-mate came from.. -" I don't think that's your business Flame-brain. Besides you probably wouldn't know where it is anyway." -said Gray, slightly annoyed. He was slowly starting to get on his nerves. Why does Natsu always have to meddle in things that are not his own? - "I asked Juvia ,not you Icy-pants" said Natsu teasingly. Jeez what's wrong with Droopy eyes today , he just asked a simple question. - "Calm down both of you "- said Lucy. She didn't like where this conversation was going. -'' Lucy is right, there is no point in arguing....Natsu if you really want to know, Juvia was born in the town of Tempeville, in the south - said Juvia, trying to calm down quickly. - "Oh, I've never heard of that place," Natsu said, surprised. Looks like there's a lot of towns he didn't know about. - "See, I told you so,"- said Gray. "Now if you'll excuse us, we have a train to catch. So let's get going… - "Hey Lucy, Happy, let's go with them...I'd like to see what that place is like "- said Natsu suddenly, dragging the blonde with him. His girlfriend looked at him in horror. 'Natsu, what are you thinking? Are you trying to ruin their trip?' - "The hell?! "- shouted Gray. And then he thought that everything was going well…'Please no….' - "Natsu, that's their private vacation! "- exclaimed Lucy, knowing very well that they should leave the couple alone- "Besides, they said they have a train coming soon!" -"Then let's go , we have to get ready quickly…...!" "LEAVE US ALONE !!' - desperate Gray shouted as loud as he could, unintentionally focusing the attention of practically the entire guild. They all looked at him, disapproval clearly written on

their faces. - "Gee..Buddy..you don't have to be so rude," - said Max. - "My God… what's with you?- whispered Lisanna - "Exactly Gray, what kind of behavior is that? "- Erza asked in a stern tone- "If you don't want Natsu to come with you, just tell him politely. The Devil Slayer wanted to disappear... It wasn't supposed to be like this. He turned his gaze towards his fiancée, silently asking for any kind of rescue. However, he was met with the same horrified gaze. After a moment, the girl bowed her head slightly and said to the rest of the guild. -"Everyone , please forgive us, especially Gray. I don't know what's going on with him lately...." - ' Huh ?'- Gray must have heard that wrong….There is no way... -"....He's been very tired and stressed lately, probably because of work, that's why we decided to go on vacation…..Juvia didn't know what to do...." said Juvia, brilliantly pretending to be distraught. 'Stop making me out to be some kind of aggressive freak,' Gray shouted in his mind 'Juvia is sorry but this is kinda your fault'- thought blunette , while taking a look at her lover. - "Relax Juvia, you don't have to apologize to us... To be honest Natsu tried to force his way into your trip" - said Lucy, looking at her partner with an annoyance. - Sorry Juvia….-said the pink haired boy meekly-"...but the ice princess can kiss my ass. I won't apologize to him.." -he added quietly. - "It honestly sounds like an excuse to leave you alone so you can shag in peace" -said Cana under her breath. She wanted to add something else but then she felt a murderous gaze of the black-haired man and decided to shut up. -"True!"- added Gajeel, receiving a look full of indignation from his best friend. -"That's so MANLY" - "How could you blame them though….." -laughed Macao. -"GOODBYE !" - shouted Fullbuster blushing furiously ,as he headed straight to the door, dragging his equally embarrassed lover with him. As they walked towards the train station, dragging their suitcases behind them, blunette suddenly asked… - "Did you really do this...to be all alone with me....?" asked Juvia innocently. Oh how she loved teasing him like that... -"JUVIA ?! "- At this point Gray was close to having a heart attack. A very amused girl could not stop laughing for a while , until they got on the train and they sat down in one of the wagons. Their journey has just begun. ****************************************** Very random/ unnecessary bonus . Remember this, Lovelies! Never doodle under the influence of alcohol, you will get wierd ideas lol. ,, Do you see this sh*t Juvia? People are fighting over fictional characters… Humanity really is getting dumber and dumber...."

#gruvia #fanfic #gray x juvia #oc #guild members #attempt at humor #chapter 2 #juvia lockser #gray fullbuster #pro gruvia

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walkswithmyfather · 3 years

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[This is a long article, but it is well worth reading. 🙂]

“Miracle Prayer - How to Ask God for a Miracle” by Whitney Hopler (Crosswalk)

“Since everything is possible for God, you can experience miracles in your life when you invite God to intervene – even in situations that seem impossible. But too often, people neglect to ask God for miracles in their lives, and end up settling for far less than God’s best for them. Use these prayers for miracles when you're ready to ask God to take over.

You can always approach God with confidence if you trust in His Son, Jesus Christ. So don’t hesitate to pray about anything, including miracles!

1. A Miracle Prayer for the Impossible

Father, I come to you today with faith so small I cannot see a way. I want to believe you are able to do more than I ever imagine. I want to walk by faith and not by sight. God, please bring a miracle into my life. I know that you can do the impossible in my life and I am trusting in your promises. Thank you for being a God who sees and hears my every need. In Jesus' name, amen.

2. A Thankful Miracle Prayer

Heavenly Father, Thank You for answering my prayers and performing miracles in my life every day. Just the fact that I woke up this morning and can take a breath is a gift from You. Help me to never take my health and loved ones for granted. Help me to always stand in faith and keep my focus on You when unexpected circumstances arise. In Jesus’ Name, Amen. ~ Leah DiPascal, Proverbs 31 Ministries

3. A Prayer to Trust When You Need a Miracle

“Dear God, thank you that you love me and want to keep me from depending on other things instead of you. Forgive me for when I’ve depended on my job and other people instead of you. Thank you that you haven’t forgotten me. Lord, the days ahead may be a little scary at times, but I understand now that the path to a miracle is through uncomfortable territory. I understand now that the source of a miracle will be unexpected, so I shouldn’t try to figure it out. I should just trust you. When you tell me what to do, and it doesn’t always make sense, I will still do what you want me to do. Help me to remember that you’re all I need and that where you guide, you’ll provide. I want to learn to trust you one day at a time. I want to go your way, not my way. I want to follow you, and I ask you to save me and come into my life. I claim your promise that if I trust you, you’ll meet my needs. I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.” ~ Rick Warren

How to Pray and Ask God for a Miracle: Forget formulas and simply seek God’s presence. There are no magical formulas to use to conjure up miracles. Instead, miracles happen whenever you welcome God’s powerful presence into the situations you face. So don’t worry about trying to pray perfect prayers to convince God to do something miraculous in your life. Simply invite God to work in every situation in which you’re seeking miracles, and trust Him to do what’s best after you ask Him to intervene.

Consider what may be blocking miracles from happening in your life. Sometimes the particular miracle you’re seeking isn’t God’s will, sometimes spiritual warfare is occurring in your life and evil is blocking a miracle from happening, sometimes you have sin in your life (such as bitterness) that is preventing a miracle from taking place, and sometimes you don’t have enough faith to believe that God can really perform the miracle you’re hoping for. Pray about each of these potential blockages, and then relax, trusting that God has the situation covered and will answer your prayers with what’s best.

View miracles as expressions of how much God loves you. Recognize that every time God does choose to perform a miracle in your life, He is showing you His love for you in a tangible way. Be sure to thank God for His love whenever you experience a miracle.

Ask God to guide you to the truth about His will. If you’re not sure whether or not it’s God’s will to perform a particular miracle in your life, ask Him to make His will clear to you and tell Him that you want His will – not your own will – to be done.

Ask God to help your unbelief. Confess your doubts and lack of faith to God and ask Him to meet you where you are spiritually to help you believe that He is able to do what He says He will do in your life.

Obey God’s command to forgive so your prayers won’t be hindered. If you’re unwilling to forgive someone who has hurt or offended you, that refusal to forgive can hinder your prayers from being answered, because God sometimes waits until you obey His commands before answering prayers. Remember how much God has forgiven you for, and let that motivate you to obey His call to forgive others. Ask God to help you forgive; you can choose to forgive even when you don’t feel like it and rely on the strength God will give you during the forgiveness process.

Fight evil through spiritual warfare. If evil in the spiritual realm is hindering miracles from happening in your life, pray breakthrough prayers against evil to clear the way for more miracles to occur in your life. Start by confessing your sins that come to mind, and then repent of each one specifically. Next, ask (in Jesus’ name and through the power of His blood) for the Holy Spirit to help you and the people you’re praying for be victorious over all evil attacks. Ask God to protect you and those you’re praying for from future attacks by evil. Pray for any bondages that you (or the people you’re praying for) are under to be broken so you and they can experience the freedom God intends. As you’re praying, mention each issue specifically – from unhealthy addictions (such as to alcohol or pornography) and personal struggles (with jealousy, greed, gossip, lying, anger, anxiety, or any other issues) to negative words that others may have spoken over you and any involvement you may have had with ungodly spiritual forces (such as through the occult). Then ask God to bless you and those you’re praying for in the name of Jesus.

Praise God more through worship. You can experience more miracles when you spend more time praising God in worship, because worship ushers God’s power into your life in fresh ways and helps you discern His voice more clearly as He leads you toward miracles. Make a habit of praising God for who He is, during both good and bad times in your life.

Live a life that’s completely devoted to God. When you devote yourself to God completely – in every area of your life – you’ll notice more miracles happening in your life. Seek God’s guidance before making any major decision, and ask the Holy Spirit to change your own desires to reflect God’s desires for you. Live for God (rather than for yourself), and be willing to say “yes” whenever God calls you to help people in need.

Take the steps that God shows you. As you seek God’s will for your life, sometimes God will give you clear signs to follow, and sometimes He will simply give you a sense of peace. Humbly pray for wisdom every day and step out in faith whenever God shows you a way in which he wants you to put your faith into action. In the process, miracles can happen.

Don’t give up until God answers your prayers. Since God’s timing (which is perfect) often takes longer than the immediate results that human beings like to see, many people give up praying for miracles when they don’t see answers to their prayers right away. But God will always answer your prayers with either a “yes” or a “no” that’s clear; you just need to patiently wait until the right time for the answer to come. In the meantime, never give up praying and trusting God to do what’s best.”

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yannowhatigiveup · 3 years

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My One And Only - Chapter 13

Previous | Next | Master List

So this chapter is probably as long as the first, maybe just a word or two longer idk idk. This story here has nearly caught up where I am right now so the updates will be less frequen, I’m also starting school again so yeah. The one-shot that I’m writing is nearly at 10k words and it’s not even that good-

"God, you really are an Angel". The blush on her face was very noticeable. She smiled at him before using her yo-yo to bring her to the akumatized victim. He watched as her silhouette jumped from rooftop to rooftop. Once she was out of sight, Damian looked back at the sunset. He chuckled to himself. "I guess when you bumped into me the other day, you gave me some of your Lady Luck".

———————————————————

"Wait wait wait, take two steps back." Chloe put both her hands up in confusion. "So you went to Andre's and what were the flavors that she got?"

"She got dark honey, lime and rose" Kagami answered.

"But he never explained the meaning behind them, which he always does" Alya added. Alya, Chloe and Kagami were in the blonde's room talking about the ice cream 'date' they went on with Marinette the other day.

"That reminds me, Alya?" Kagami asked. "Do you still think the ice cream represents Chat Noir?"

Chloe just blinked in surprise. "No, I met the guy recently" Alya replied. "He's perfect for her. Actually I should text him to see how Mari's doing" Alya took her phone out as Kagami nodded slowly. Chloe still looked like she was trying to wrap her head around the whole situation.

"So Mare-Bare has a crush on this 'foreign exchange student' and Alya met him the other day?" Kagami nodded, slightly amused at the blonde's confusion. "Do you think he likes her back?" Her question was both directed at Kagami and Alya who was still on her phone.

"Yeah I'm sure he does- wait he sent something" Alya let out a squeal of fangirlism as Chloe and Kagami went over to see what Alya was gushing over. Once the two girls came over, The reporter showed them a photo that got sent to her. It was Marinette, sound asleep on what Kagami and Chloe thought was the boy's chest. She was smiling and looked at peace.

"They look adorable~" Chloe cooed, having the same bright smile as Alya.

"He better not hurt Mari-hime" Kagami muttered, a soft smile appearing on her face as she looked at the photo.

~~~

"Pound it!"

Ladybug and Chat Noir managed to defeat the villain, it was Sandboy again. He was at a sleepover and some of his friends told a scary story, and the rest was common knowledge. Ladybug was about to yo-yo out of there but Chat Noir stopped her before she could do so.

"Ladybug, wait"

'This can't be good, he barely ever sounds this serious' She wrapped the yo-yo back around her waist before answer. "Kitty, is something wrong?"

"Well-" he was cut-off by the sound of his miraculous beeping.

"We can talk about this next time, ok?". After he hesitantly nodded, Ladybug got her yo-yo. "Bug out!"

She landed in an alley near Le Grand Paris and de-transformed. Marinette then took the opportunity to process what happened. 'Lila said something bad, I got upset, I went to Damian's, He took me on a walk, We kissed, He asked me to be his girlfriend, I showed him I was Ladybug, I-' her train of thoughts stoppped. "Oh my god, I told him I was Ladybug" she breathed. Her kwami then flew in front of her face. "OhmygodohmygodiamsososososorryTikkiididn'tmean-"

"It's perfectly fine Marinette!" The bluenette was was cut off by Tikki's giggling. "There's something about that lover of yours, I can't quite place it but I know we can trust him"

Marinette blushed at Tikki's words but nodded. "Y-yeah, thanks Tikki".

The bluenette soon reached the hotel door that was all too familiar to her now, her face reddened slightly at the thought. She still let herself in though, making sure to lock the door behind her. When she had closed the door, she noticed her demon reading on the sofa, he put his book down as he noticed Marinette walk in. She walked over and stood behind the sofa, looking down on Damian as because she was standing, she was taller. He looked up and smirked at her.

"You know," her boyfriend began. "I had high suspicions of you being Ladybug, though, I couldn't be certain."

"How come your suspicions were so high?" Marinette asked, still smiling.

"Well when you're a vigilante yourself, I suppose it can be easier to pin point others' secret identities"

She smiled while rolling her eyes and kissed his forehead. She seemed tired and Damian made a mental note to tell her again later when she was more energized. Marinette then went to sit in the sofa and snuggle into Damian's muscular chest.

"Don't you have questions?" She murmured, she was too comfortable to move her head up.

"I do but they can wait" Damian stroked his fingers through his angel's hair. 'My Angel...' "You're tired"

"I'm not-" her yawn contradicted the words that were about to leave her lips and she grumbled in annoyance while Damian chuckled. "If I do sleep wake me up before 9, Maman and Papa are going to the airport and I want to say goodbye"

Damian remembered that Marinette's parents would be going to Marseille for around a week, they were going to open up a second location there as they had become well known in that part of the country. "Alright" he softly answered, he assumed that Marinette had fallen asleep already and his assumption was correct when he felt her slow and steady breathing. At that moment he got a message on his phone, a message from Alya. She was asking about Marinette's current predicament and Damian sent a picture of Marinette sleeping soundly, a smile on her face. He wasn't purposely trying to stay out of the frame but he wasn't in it either way.

Me: She's doing much better than earlier today, it would be best if Marinette would be the one to address what was wrong

Césaire: Oh ok, I'm glad she's feeling better

Césaire: u 2 look adorable af tho

If he blushed at that comment, no one would know. Damian put his phone down to look at his sleeping Angel. He smiled to himself and picked the bluenette up bridal style. He brought her to his bed and tucked her in to let her sleep, not before planting a kiss on her forehead, though. Damian focused his vision on the digital clock on the nightstand. '7:47 I'll let Marinette sleep until 9' His thoughts were interrupted by a small, squeaky voice.

"Damian"

His head quickly turned in the direction of the voice. 'I swear I didn't hear anyone else enter-' Damian had to blink twice. In front of him was a small, red, bug-like creature. 'What the fu-'

"Damian my name is Tikki, I am Marinette's kwami" she held her tiny arm out and Damian hastily lifted on of his finger's for the kwami to shake, he didn't know what else to do if he was being honest. "I understand that you have questions so you may ask some now, though, I understand if there are some you would like to ask her personally"

He nodded. "What....what is a kwami?" He asked hesitantly, not wanting to offend the kwami and still trying to get a hold of this new information.

"A kwami is, I guess, a miniature god that lives inside of a miraculous. The kwami is what gives the user's miraculous their powers as well as their hero costume. A miraculous is a piece of jewelry that grants the user powers. Marinette's miraculous is the Miraculous of the Laadybug, the earrings. They give her the power of Creation and Good luck" Damian nodded slowly, now back sitting on the couch. "Marinette in trusted you with her secret identity, I sense that I can trust you as well but I want to you to promise to keep her identity a secret, unless she says otherwise"

"Don't worry I will, I of all people should know the importance of keeping a secret identity a secret"

"You're a superhero?" Tikki questioned, not hearing what Damian told Marinette earlier

"Vigilante" he corrected.

"I guess that's why you have a trusting aura" Tikki pondered. "Thank you Damian, for making Marinette so happy"

"Anything to make her smile"

~~~

"Habibti, it's time to wake up" Damian gently shook Marinette's shoulder.

".......nnwhy" Marinette buried her face further into the pillow.

"You said you wanted to see your parents go to the airport, correct?"

"Oh right!" She jumped out of bed, any signs of tiredness was now gone. Damian chuckled slightly and moved towards her, he brought the ribbon he had taken earlier and put her hair back up in a ponytail. "Thanks!" She exclaimed after looking in the mirror. "I know I said I would explain everything but can I do that after we say goodbye to my parents?"

"Of course Angel"

She smiled brightly and the two walked out of the hotel to her parents' bakery, their arms linked together. As they arrived, they noticed two figures with bags and a taxi with it's boot open.

"Maman, Papa we came to say goodbye" Marinette walked over to her parents with Damian by her side, tilting her head slightly in confusion as they both smiled smugly at the couple.

"You came earlier than we thought you would Marinette and hello again...Damian is it?" Marinette's mother asked.

"Yes it is, it's a pleasure to meet you Mr Dupain, Mrs Cheng"

"No need for formalities son, Tom and Sabine" Tom said, giving Damian a bone-crushing hug.

"Papa!"

"Tom, dear, we don't want to suffocate the poor boy"

"Oh right!" Tom then put Damian down. "Is it safe to say that I assume you are Marinette's boyfriend?" The man asked, looking very joyfully at the blushing couple.

"Y-yeah" Damian murmured while Marinette nodded and both parents shot them big smiles.

"We were debating when that was going to happen" Sabine admitted with a shrug.

"Maman!"

"Oh would you look at the time, we better get going" Sabine smiled smugly, ignoring her daughter's protest. Both her and Tom engulfed Marinette in a hug and beckoned Damian to join in.

"Bye Maman, Bye Papa!"

"Goodbye Sabine, Goodbye Tom"

The couple watched the taxi leave for the airport, they stood in comfortable silence.

"So should I explain everything now? I can sleep over at your place if you want all the details" Marinette asked, blushing slightly at what she just said.

Damian realised that she was referring to sleeping over in his hotel room, honestly, he didn't mind. "If you want to"

"Great! Wait here I'll get my things"

~~~

"...and you're Multimouse too?" Damian continued after Marinette nodded. "Wow, that is...a considerable amount of information. And you called Tikki a 'bug-mouse'?" He chuckled amused at the flushed face his girlfriend now had.

"It was one time! The first time I saw her! Do you think I would have acted any differently?" She pouted and Damian took the opportunity to kiss her. He then got up to look at the time, smirking as he noticed the flushed bluenette in his peripheral vision. "Also, how did you work out that I was Ladybug?"

"For starters, I researched her- well, you and I couldn't help but notice how similar you two were, in build and personality. From there I just connected the dots"

"Huh, usually there's magic that prevents others from noticing things like that but it didn't work on you for some odd reason. That's- wait" she paused and blinked and then looked straight in Damian's eyes. Before he could voice out his confusion, she spoke again. "Did- did you just...make a pun?"

His forest green eyes widened "...no"

She laughed for a good while, especially when seeing the look on Damian's face. After she composed herself, she changed the subject. "Now it's your turn to explain, Shaytan"

"Hm alright, are you familiar with the vigilantes in Gotham?" He asked.

"The Bat-family? Are you one of Batman's comrades?" Marinette looked up at her boyfriend, wide-eyed with fascination like a child's. Damian couldn't help but melt at her expression.

"Yes and yes, my vigilante persona is known as-" he was about to tell her that he was Robin before she cut him off.

"Wait can I take a guess" Damian gestured her to do so. "Hmmmm considering your age, my options are narrowed down to one of the Batboys. Looking at your build I'd say that you are..Robin!" She said his name with great certainty.

He clapped while smiling. "You are correct, yet again"

"I'm surprised though, you don't seem like the type to be a traffic light" she teased.

"Tt, stop rubbing more salt in the wound" he groaned.

Marinette giggled. "So your brothers are the other Robins and your father is Batman, I presume?" Damian nodded. "Wow...who knew that two heroes from different places would fall in love?"

"I suppose I did" He looked at the clock again, it was 11:58. "It's getting late"

Marinette followed his vision to the clock. "Huh, I didn't even realise that the time flew by so quickly" she then got up to rearrange some of the pillows on the couch.

"What are you doing?" He asked, confused.

The bluenette looked at him, also confused. "I'm sleeping on the couch, right?"

"You can sleep on the bed, you are the guest after all. I can sleep on the couch"

"No, couldn't possibly! It's your room!"

The bickering went back and forth between the two while Tikki watched in amusement. 'If Plagg were here, he'd only add more fuel to the fire'. Most could argue that the relationship between the couple was moving too quickly but Tikki knew otherwise. The magic of the miraculous was at work. Only the true holders of the Ladybug miraculous and the miraculous of the Black Cat would be affected. That isn't always the case though, they would only be attracted to one another if the feelings they had were romantic and mutual. To most, it would appear that they were moving too quickly. But for the kwami, it was just a sign that the two true holders were found, and they were found together. 'I do have to tell Plagg, though'. Then the small kwami got an idea. "Why don't you both just sleep on the bed?"

The two then turned to Tikki, both faces were red but Marinette's shone through the most. The small kwami merely had an innocent smile on her face.

"...I-I guess that's manageable" Damian murmured.

"O-ok" Marinette mumbled, clearly too flushed for her own good.

~~~

"Alright Mari-bear, spill the beans"

Marinette had breakfast at Damian's before going home to change, she had to meet Jagged and Penny again to record and to discuss the name of the song because, for whatever reason, they hadn't done that yet. After, she promised that she would hang out with Alya, Chloe and Kagami in the blonde's room but she didn't expect to be interrogated. She briefly sugar-coated what Lie-la did and said, luckily her friends took the hint that she didn't want to talk about it. She also gained a new nickname, or a variant of one. Marinette noticed how Chloe interchangeably used 'Mare-Bare' and 'Mari-Bear' but they were more or less the same thing.

"Wha-" They all gave made a knowing face, the 'you know what I mean' face. She let out a defeated sigh. "S-so um...yesterday he asked me to be his girlfriend". The bluenette prepared herself for whatever was going to happen next, what followed was an ungodly amount of fangirl squeals. Even Kagami seemed to let one out.

"You said yes, right?" Kagami asked with a joyful tone. Marinette nodded. "So what's his full name?"

Marinette took a deep breath. "Queenie, do you keep track of who is staying in the hotel?"

"I guess" The blonde replied, glancing at her nails. "Why'd you ask?"

"Well, he's staying in room 301"

"Hm...that's one of the expensive rooms so that means-" Chloe let out a gasp of realisation. "No fucking way! How-" she then bursted out laughing, Marinette giggled as well.

"You lost me" Kagami looked between the two while Alya just shrugged her shoulders.

"Mari, Damian Wayne is your boyfriend? How you managed to thaw the Ice prince of Gotham's heart I will never know, only you Dupain-Cheng" Chloe, now recovering from laughing, was now looking at Marinette with admiration and interest.

"Wait, THE Damian Wayne?!" Alya gaped at Marinette.

"Y-yeah" The bluenette stammered and tried to hide her blush with her hands

"What's he like?"

"Is he as cold as they all say?"

"Does he treat you right?"

Marinette was bombarded with many questions regarding Damian. She struggled to keep up with each and every one of them. 'Is this what it feels like to be inundated by paparazzi?' She thought teasingly.

~~~

It was around noon. A spotted heroine jumped from roof top to roof top. She had just finished her patrol and was headed towards the Eiffel Tower, Chat Noir wanted to talk to her about something. He seemed serious too. Ladybug was slightly concerned for her friend, seeing Chat Noir act serious was a very rare sight. She voiced her concerns to Damian before she went out on patrol.

"You said he values your friendship, correct? In that case he probably wants to shelter you from whatever information he stumbled upon"

Marinette jokingly scoffed. "I'm not a damsel in need of protection thank you very much"

Damian smiled and hugged Marinette from behind while resting his chin on her head. "I know Angel, I know. That won't stop me from protecting you though"

Ladybug used her yo-yo as a grappling hook and landed gracefully on the top floor of the Eiffel Tower. Not surprisingly, Chat Noir was already there, waiting for her.

"Kitty?" The spotted heroine asked after a short moment of silence. "Is everything okay?"

The cat-themed hero sat on the floor, Ladybug sat in front of him and after a big breath, he spoke. "Ladybug, I- I don't think I'm the true holder of the Black Cat miraculous"

———

Taglist: @little-bluestar, @miracleofadisaster, @frieddonutsweets, @jjmjjktth, @genderfluidmoma, @starlit-dreaming, @icerosecrystal, @lolieg, @kashlyn, @mochegato, @eggadoodle, @walkingthroughonautopilot, @toodaloo-kangaroo

#daminette #maridami #maribat #damian x marinette #marinette x damian #damianette #mlb x dc #ml x dc

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barkkletshunt · 3 years

Text

Those Worth Fighting For Part eight

I feel like I’m really pushing out these parts right now lol It’s been so long since I’ve had a few days off to work on this. I hope you like it!

Part one Part two

Part three Part four

Part five Part six

Part seven Bonus scene 1

Part eight (You’re here)

Taglist:

@ladybug-182 @fruit-snacc-ace @miraculous-simmer7 @lavenderjunes @use-flamethrower @fan-written @all-mights-asscheeks @birdie-posts

Marinette looked over her pajamas, wondering why she thought having a pajama date as one of their first dates was a good idea. It was her idea and she wasn’t going to go back on it, but oh God why didn’t she own any cute pajamas?

“Marinette, I thought you wanted to have a laid back date? Why are you stressing out about your outfit?” Tikki knew Marinette better than anyone else, but even she had a hard time understanding her current holders mind sometimes. “Why not wear your comfiest pajamas?”

The blue haired girl looked over to the pajamas she had worn the night before, the comfiest pajamas she owned, and sized up the hot chocolate stains and the tear on the left leg from when she got it caught on the balcony bar. She meant to fix it, but with school and her other projects as MDC the PJ’s were put on the backburner. “Yeah, no, that’s not happening. I’m still trying to impress him.”

“Then what about the set your Grandfather bought you for christmas?” Tikki asked, floating above Marinette’s shoulder to look at the silk pin striped PJ’s. “Those are impressive!”

“But they’re too impressive. It won’t look natural and it will come across as I’m trying too hard.” The woman began biting at her lip, looking over the other pairs of pajamas she owned. “What if I wore the pair Chat Noir bought me? They are comfortable, kinda cute, and they come with slippers to match.”

“The Ladybug ones?” Tikki thought it over for a moment. “They are nice without being too nice, and comfortable without being overworn. I think they’re a good bet!”

Marinette changed into the pajamas her former hero partner had given her, and tucked her feet into the boot slippers that matched. Although they were too big for her as a teen they now fit her perfectly now that her body looked more like her body as a heroine. She was taller now, and from constant training with her mother and Kagami her muscles had grown strong and resilient. She still couldn’t leap from building to building as a civilian, but she could certainly hold her own when it came to freerunning and parkour.

“I wonder what he’s going to wear,” she said absentmindedly to her kwami as she changed, stripping off her school clothes and hopping into the pajama pants successfully without falling over. “Something flashy, I’m sure.”

“Maybe he has normal pajamas and is worried you’ll think he isn’t as fancy?

“Ha, I wish. He’s fancy through and through.” Marinette laughed, pulling the shirt over her head. “Maybe I can convince him to dress like a normal person like the rest of us mere mortals. He’d look really good in a turtleneck.”

She looked herself over in the mirror and sighed. She looked too much like Ladybug for her own comfort. While they were the perfect level of baggy, and the colour was slightly off from her actual suit, having red pants with black polka dots made her take a second look at herself.

The shirt was white, with a pun on it, with red sleeves that matched the pants, and even the booties matched the ladybug pattern to tie everything together. She either looked like someone who absolutely loved Ladybug, or Ladybug herself trying to throw off someone's scent by pretending to be a die hard fan. Either way, she needed to change.

Knock, knock, knock.

Or she would change if Felix wasn’t so damned punctual.

Marinette grabbed her coat and the baked goods she got from her parents earlier and headed towards the door. On the other side was Felix, looking as handsome as ever. She could see baggy track pants underneath his black trench coat, but none of that mattered the second he leaned forward and placed a delicate kiss on the top of her head.

“I brought you coffee.” His voice was soft, as if worried saying anything would stop the butterflies that began to flutter in her stomach. “Are you alright with pizza tonight? I was running errands all day and I didn’t have a chance to pick anything up to cook.”

Marinette wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tight, feeling him stiffen for just a moment before returning the affectionate gesture. It wasn’t the first time she had hugged him since reuniting with the blond, but it was the first hug she had given him that she allowed herself to savour.

She could feel his back muscles through his thin coat, and wondered briefly what he did to make them so defined. In his suits it was hard to tell how muscular he was, but from the hold he had on her she figured he was a lot stronger than he looked.

It was just a simple hug, but he held her like he was afraid to let her go. Maybe it was just her mind going haywire from how good the man before her smelt, like fresh soap and coffee. It was warm and clean and she loved it.

The hug was over too soon and both parties let go with mild embarrassment at how much they enjoyed it. They looked at the walls and the floors, anything not to meet each other's gaze until they finally did. Neither could help the laughter that bubbled from their lips at seeing how the other felt the same way. It was easy and light being with him, and she wondered if that was how the starting of love was supposed to be.

“So, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, are you ready to go back to my temporary Parisian home with my cousin and his fiancee and look over the seating placements?” Felix asked, trying to regain his air of formality but failing as his smile kept returning. He offered his arm to her, finally giving up on hiding his giddiness at their first official date. “And start preparing the invitations to what I assume is half of France itself?”

“Why, Felix!” She giggled, taking his arm and walking down the hallway of her apartment building with him. “I thought you’d never ask!”

Felix was a gentleman. This was an irrefutable fact. He took the bag of baked goods from her to carry it himself, he opened the car door for her and waited until she was in and buckled before closing the door and getting in on his side. He made sure to get out of the car first to hold her door open for her again, and did the same at the front door of the house. It didn’t even seem like he was trying to impress her, it was just his natural habits.

“Fel! Mari! Good timing!” Adrien’s voice called to them the second they were in the house, before Felix had a chance to take her coat and hang it up. “We’re in the living room.”

The two looked at each other, their confusion etched upon their faces.

“Well, better get this over with.” Felix sighed, slowly unbuttoning his coat and taking it off. Revealing the black t-shirt underneath with the design of a suit printed on the chest. She wanted to laugh. Of course, how did she not think of it? This way he could still wear a suit to bed! “Oh, it gets better. I have a matching pair of slippers to yours.”

As Felix reached into the closet to put his coat away, he pulled out a pair of familiar looking slippers. She hadn’t seen them before, but she had seen up close where the design came from. The slippers Felix put on resembled Chat Noir’s boots. Without planning it out ahead of time the two of them matched. No wonder they liked each other so much.

When they made their way to the living room, with a slight detour to the kitchen to set down the pizza and the baked goods, they saw Kagami and Adrien sitting on one of the sofa’s dressed like they came right out of a 90’s parent teacher conference. Kagami wore a blouse Marinette was sure she had never seen on her friend before, and Adrien wore a dress shirt with a sweater vest over it. They both had glasses on, and she knew for a fact neither of them needed glasses.

Adrien looked at Marinette and seemed to freeze for a moment before returning to his disappointed face.

“What’s going on?” She began to ask, but the two crossed their arms and nodded towards the couch across from them.

Marinette and Felix sat down, looking confused as ever.

“Marinette, darling, we need to talk.” Kagami started, her monotone voice not matching her words. “We were informed today about something that shocked us to our core.”

“We’re not mad that you didn’t tell us,” Adrien continued, nodding along. Marinette noticed the model was wearing a fake mustache. “Just disappointed.”

“And what, prey tell, was I supposed to tell you?” She wanted to laugh. She knew their game, she knew exactly what they were playing at. It didn’t make it any less hilarious to her.

“And Felix, I expected better from you than withholding secrets from me.” Adrien fake cried onto Kagami’s shoulder, who only patted his back in an attempt to soothe him.

“It’s okay dear, as her father I will handle this.” Kagami whispered.

“I thought I was the father, that’s why I’m wearing the mustache.” Adrien lifted his head.

“You’re the emotional mother who doesn’t know how to handle her daughter's secret life, and I’m the father who will be stern but also loves his wife despite the facial hair because you have a beautiful spirit.” Kagami stated.

“You’d be a great dad.”

“I already am.” Kagami adjusted herself. “Marinette, how could you not tell us you were dating Felix?”

Felix stared at his cousin and his fiancee. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Had Adrien always been this goofy? Had Kagami?

“Mom, Dad, I’m sorry, it’s still new. This is our first date.” Marinette leaned forward and grabbed Kagami’s hand. Felix groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. If he wasn’t already smitten with the blue haired woman, he was sure he’d fall for her again right then and there. His cousin and his soon to be wife, correction, his family loved Marinette so much that they had these silly little jokes and the woman had no problem playing along. She was every bit of the family already and if they were that protective of her then he knew he was falling for the right girl.

“First date so far, but thankfully you two have given us enough excuses to spend time together that we’re bound to have more dates in the future.” Felix nudged Marinette lightly with his elbow. “Maybe we’ll even, gasp, become a serious relationship and rival your fame.”

“You will if Alya has anything to say about it.” Kagami mumbled.

“What?” Marinette squinted at her friend, but Kagami shook her head and refused to answer.

“Well, do I need to grab my sword and threaten you not to hurt my daughter?” Kagami asked Felix, all joking leaving her.

“No worries, Ma’am, er, sir? I will treat Marinette with the utmost respect.” Felix gave a salute to the Japanese woman. “Now can we go and finish our mission of preparing the invitations to your wedding? While we may be dressed for night time, we aren’t planning on working all night.”

“Speaking of how you’re dressed,” Adrien’s voice wavered for a second. “Marinette, where did you get those pajamas?”

She looked down at herself. How was she supposed to say that the former black cat of Paris gave them to her alter ego self for Christmas? She wasn’t. “A friend got them for me, I’m not sure where he bought them from. Why? Are you jealous?”

Adrien laughed, but it almost sounded forced. “You got me. I wanted them, but oh well.”

Kagami looked at her fiance who just waved her off.

“Well, those pajamas look good on you, M’lady.” Adrien stood up and offered his hand to Kagami who took it and followed his lead. “We’re going to go spar for a bit. Let me know if you two want to join us!”

M’Lady? When had Adrien ever called her that?

“Well Miss. Bug, shall we be off?” Felix’s voice snapped her out of her train of thought, and then immediately threw her down another hole of questioning. Did he just call her Miss. Bug? The same way that Alley Cat did? Was it just her pajamas making the two blonds act this way, or was there more to the story? God, she was beginning to sound like Alya.

“Pizza first, invitations second, and third movie time! Sounds good?”

“Anything sounds good if you say it.”

Marinette’s cheeks burned. With all thoughts of Chat Noir and Alley Cat forgotten, the two of them left to the kitchen.

#Those worth fighting for #twff #felix x marinette #felinette #fanon felix #felix graham de vanily #marinette dupain cheng #Marinette #marinette dupen chang #miraculous ladybug #miraculous fanfic #Kagami Tsurugi #adrigami #adrien agreste

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saltymiraculer · 4 years

Text

Ceremonial Kisses (Part 1 of 3)

Part 2

So I decided to try my hand at the “Marinette, the princess of China” trope and see how I did! Tell me what you think?

Also, the first chapter is going to be fluffy, the second chapter’ll have a sprinkling of salt, and the third chapter will be a mix of piles and piles of salt and some fluff. Be warned!

“I’ve got a big, big, big announcement for you today, class!“ Bustier chirped, clapping her hands to get their attention. “China’s princess will be coronated in a week and a half, the day she turns 18, as many of you know, and one class from the school will be selected to travel to China and watch the ceremony. Guess which class it was?“

“Uhhh…Mme. Mendeleiev’s!“

“Ooh, M. D’Argencourt’s? They’ve wanted that trip for weeks!“

“No, class, it’s ours! In three days, we’ll board the plane to Asia and have a few days to sightsee and explore, then attend the coronation on the second-to-last day!“

“Wow! Why our class?“ Kim asked.

Marinette knew exactly why. Marc had told her that the entire school was sick of Lila’s lies and wanted to enjoy the coronation without her butting in in the middle of the assembly to tell a ‘story’ about herself.

But she couldn’t just say that.

“You know, I actually know the princess,“ Lila said, immediately drawing the attention of everyone in the room. “But her identity is being kept a secret for now. That’s how we landed the trip!“

“Wow, Lila!“

“That’s amazing!“

“So cool of you.“

“They know that’s stupid, right?“ Alya stage-whispered, earning a glare from Lila’s new puppy–more commonly known as Kim. She shrugged. “I’m just tellin’ the truth!“

Alya, who was now her only other supporter next to Nino (and technically Adrien, but she’d discuss that later–it was very complicated), had decided to Google Lila’s name during a sleepover and found…some rather incriminating Facebook posts.

After that, she was 100% team Marinette and an amazing friend, along with Nino, who had decided that he needed a theme song. No one knew why.

But they loved him anyways!

So while Bustier was rattling off facts about Chinese emperors and kings and queens, Nino was showing them his latest idea to expose Lila.

“Okay,“ he started. “First, we go to China. Then we do our sightseeing and shit, and then. I did some research, and we can ask the princess questions if we’re with a national news channel. Alya’s blog counts. For real, we can talk to the princess of China. And we ask her if she knows Lila.“

“Brilliant plan, Nino. I wonder how the princess will react to a few teenagers in the middle of a crowd of famous people.“

Nino frowned. “The princess is only, like, 17. She’ll probably notice us, Als.”

“Oh, that reminds me, your birthday’s on the same day as the coronation, Marinette! Weird, isn’t it? That you and the princess have the same birthday?“ Alya asked, pulling out her phone and swiping through something.

“Huh, yeah. You’re right. Maybe we can invite her to my birthday party?“

“Ooh, the wiki page says she likes custard buns, and I’m not sure how they know that,“ Nino chuckled. “but make sure to stock up on those.“

“Noted,“ Marinette said drily as Bustier turned to them with a condemning look on her face. “Alya! I hope what you’re doing on that phone relates to the lesson!“

“China’s princess’s identity is being kept a secret because the last two were sent death threats, dangerous items, highly innapropriate items, and several other things that prompted them to not reveal the princess until it was necessary.“

“C-correct, Alya. Good job.“

“Nice!“ Marinette mouthed, high-fiving Alya, who flipped her phone around to reveal a website about the princess.

-🌸-

The final bell rang as several of the students cheered. One school day until the trip over, three more to go. Alya swung her bag over her shoulder and bumped Marinette’s elbow. “We goin’ to your place to hang out?”

“Yeah, my dad’s out anyways and mom closed the bakery for the afternoon. let’s go!“ Alya took Nino’s hand and walked the short distance to Marinette’s house. They entered and immediately felt something off.

Ah, there it was.

Sabine was leaning over the counter with a cup of very strong-smelling peppermint tea beside her. She was rubbing her temples and muttering to herself in rapid Mandarin.

“Maman? Are you alright?“ Marinette asked worriedly. Alya and Nino stood by the door–they had only seen her like this once before, when her cousin had been run over and killed.

“Yes, dear, everything’s okay, it’s just–there’s something I need to tell you.“

“Oh, no, did something happen to someone?“

“No, no, everyone’s just fine. I can’t not tell you without there being serious problems.“

“So what is it? What’s so important you had to close the bakery?“

“You’re the princess. China’s princess. The one nobody knows about.“

“I’m what?!“ Marinette screeched, grabbing at her hair. “I’m the heir to the throne of the most populated country in the world, and you waited until a week before the coronation to tell me?!“

“Holy shit.“ Alya and Nino said simultaneously. Sabine stared at them, likely just realizing they were there.

“Oh. They know now, too. Perfect, that’s just what we need, a reporter knowing who–“

“Maman! Alya wouldn’t tell a soul, I know she wouldn’t.“

Sabine turned to Alya. “I’m sorry, dear, I’m just stressed. With that trip to China in a few days and all that, we’ll have to close down the bakery for about a week.”

“And we never close down the bakery.“ Marinette finished, putting a steady hand on her mom’s shoulder. “But I know just the person to run it while we’re gone.“

As she was about to say who exactly would run the bakery, Nino backed into the door, wide-eyed.

“Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit. My best friend…holy shit.“

“Nino, I know this is a lot, but we’ll have to stay calm,“ Alya said, grabbing his hand. “So we don’t spill her secret. That’s top priority, all right? Don’t–tell–anyone.“

Nino sighed. “Sorry, babe. This…“ he turned to Marinette. “Do you have any cookies?“

Marinette grinned and led them into the kitchen. “Of course! Chocolate chunk or raspberry frosted?“

“Raspberry, all the way!“

“There’s the Nino I know!“

After a quick cookie interval, Marinette pushed her plate away and sighed. “Anyone up for an impromptu sleepover? You all left a bunch of your clothes here the last few times.”

“Marinette. If you know us, you will know our answers.“ Alya said solemnly.

“Hell yeah. Wanna go choose which terrible rom-com to watch this time?“

They ended up settling on The Kissing Booth, one of Marinette’s personal favorites (”To lighten the tension, you know?” Alya had said. “Although the tension in here probably weighs the same as an obese hippopotamus at this point.”) and made a bowl of caramel popcorn, with a tiny bag of sea-salt Skinny Pop for Nino.

“Sugar on popcorn is a crime, man. I ain’t touching that.“

“You’ve tried it once, Nino.“

“Yes, and I hated it. Is there anything else to be said?“

So they spent the next two hours in a blanket fort that was made almost entirely of throw pillows laughing over Elle and Noah and Lee being idiots, with a few highlights such as the iconic “Ninth grade skirt, eleventh grade body” scene, where Alya snorted and said “You know, Lila’s skipped so much school, might as well be ninth grade brain, eleventh grade work.”

“Too true,“ Nino agreed. “The other day, she called Chloe’s mom Aurora Bourgeois. That was a pretty major mess-up.”

“Shhh! Let’s just watch the movie!“ Marinette said, effectively quieting them down.

They watched the rest in silence with the usual laughs., ending up falling asleep halfway through the second movie, snuggled up on their respective couches. Marinette mother shook them awake the next morning, telling them to take showers and eat breakfast and get dressed and for god’s sake, Marinette, finish your homework.

“Crap, crap, crapcrapcrap! Nino, we’re going to be late if we don’t get ready fast!“ Alya shouted as Marinette ran up the stairs to change. “Can I use your shower, M?“

“Sure!“ was the muffled reply.

After about 10 minutes of running around and shoving waffles in their mouths, they grabbed their bags and ran off to school.

They burst through the door in the nick of time, the bell ringing just as they plunked down their things.

Bustier wasn’t there five minutes into the class, so they started talking.

“Marinette, you have to listen to Nino’s latest track, it’s–“ Just as she was about to describe Nino’s latest track, a bouncy-ball the size of a walrus snashed through the wall, nearly taking off Kim’s head.

There was a cackle from outside. “I am Gradack! You will all feel the same sorrow that I did!“

-🌸-

The fight was over relatively fast, and everything was calmed down and restored before their next class. Turns out Chat Noir didn’t show, so Marinette had to ask Alya for assistance.

In hindsight, she probably should have picked a better place to transform.

“Tikki, spots on!“ After she transformed, she was about to go to Fu to get one of the Miraculous, when she heard a strangled gasp.

“…shit.“

“My best friend is the princess of goddamn China and Ladybug? What the fuck?! Who are you? How did I not know? When did–“

“Alya, I know the feeling, but you can’t tell anyone. Got it?“

“Nino?“

“Well,“ Marinette paused to think. “Yeah, I guess. I trust him enough. Now, take this and transform!“ she tossed Alya the hexagonal box, and after a quick transformation, they ran off to defeat the saddened graduate of an akuma.

As she said, it was an easy fight.

They comforted the victim with four minutes (each) to spare, then ran back to the locker rooms to transform back.

Time Skip!

It was the morning of the flight to China, and she was ecstatic. Of course, she had to get up at 3:45 in the morning, but it was worth it–the flight took off at six in the morning, of course.

She could see the logic of wanting to arrive at 12:00, but she would’ve much preferred a red-eye.

Then she wouldn’t have had to stay up all night reading, because no way in hell would she just wake up at 3:45 in the morning.

The alarm would’ve had to go off for hours.

But back to the morning, she poured herself a sasquatch-sized mug of coffee, with about a gallon of cream and enough sugar to put an entire city of diabetics into shock, she started getting dressed.

Trudging around and haphazardly pulling out shirts, she finally decided on a simple red-and-orange flannel, a white t-shirt, and a pair of cropped jeans.

The she downed the rest of her coffee with an apathetic “Bottoms up!” and slapped her cheeks.

She grapped her suitcase and walked outside to where her mother was typing away on a laptop in the pitch-black night.

“Mom, why are you up?“

“Because I have to drive you to the airport, that’s why. And no alarm would be able to wake me up at 3 in the morning.“

“Preach. I’m ready to go, so can we get in the car now?“

After driving to the airport and saying goodbye to her mom, she walked into the airport and immediately saw the group of sleepy teens (and a certain disheveled teacher) leaning on their suitcases, trying not to fall asleep.

Nino and Marinette were already there, their eyelids drooping. The only person who looked properly awake was Sabrina, who was–inevitably–holding a saucer out to Chloé, who was sipping from a teacup.

Alya rolled her eyes and walked over to Marinette and Nino. “Who’re we missing?”

“Kim and Rose. They’re carpooling, so they should be here any minute.“

Just as Marinette had said, a few seconds later, Rose and Kim walked into the airport. Kim was still wearing pajama pants.

Another Time Skip!

“Marinette.“ Alya groaned, shaking Marinette’s shoulders. “Marinette, wake up, we’re here.“

Marinette’s eyes fluttered open. “No. Five more minutes.”

“Everyone else is already off the plane!“

“Shit. Let’s go!“ Marinette said, jumping up, grabbing her purse (which she had recently learned concealed a kwami) and scrambling out the door.

Alya picked up the mini-backpack she now carried (which held Trixx, cookies, and some grape jelly) and followed her out the door.

Almost as soon as they stepped off the plane, they heard a loud wail.

“Great. She’s back on her bullshit.“

“I just can’t believe she would steal that, Lila! It’s so unlike her!“

“M-maybe, but there’s p-proof! Look!“

“Oh, great, what did we do this time?“ Alya asked exasperatedly. They watched as Lila held out the remains of–from what they could see from a meter away–a sketch of an orange mermaid gown with a black lace collar, ripped into quarters and laid out on the ground.

Marinette gasped beside her.

“That’s your dress, isn’t it?“

A small tear made its way down Marinette’s face. “It was going to be for you,” she said softly.

Alya threw her arms around Marinette and rubbed her shoulders. “It’s okay, sweetie. Once you’re princess, we’ll sue her for all she’s worth.”

Marinette detached herself from Alya and wiped her eyes. “Yeah. Yeah, thanks, Alya.”

-🌸-

Nino stormed up to where Alya and Marinette were standing with a furious expression on his face.

“That fox,“ he seethed. “that bitchy little fox of a liar stole your drawing.“

Marinette chuckled wetly. “Yeah, we know.“

“Are you okay? I know how important they are to you.“

“I’m fine, Nino, and o–who the hell are you?“ A man in an oddly formal suit was standing next to her, holding out a small red envelope.

Marinette plucked the envelope from his fingers, opened it, and read the contents. She looked up and nodded at the suit-wearing guy.

“Good. In that case, Miss Dupain-Cheng, I’m going to need you to come with me.“ Alya and Nino immediately stepped in front of her in a protective shield.

“She’s not in trouble, is she?“

The strange man looked surprisingly amused. “Not at all–but you might want to come with us, too. You as well, headphone-boy.”

Nino put a hand on his chest and gasped in offense.

“Nino. He’s going to drive us to the palace. You’re coming, too, ya doof!“ Nino made a noise of realization and followed them out to where a black limousine was waiting.

They climbed in and drove off.

About five minutes into the drive, he moved his foot to the side, accidentally kicking a black box.

Just as he was preparing his final goodbyes, it sprung open, and inside was a junk food lover’s heaven.

“Dude.“

#ml #ml salt #ml salt fic #marinette dupain cheng #marinette deserves better #alya cesaire #nino lahiffe #alya sugar #nino sugar #lila rossi #lila salt #lila bashing #adrien agreste #adrien salt #adrien bashing #marinette the princess of china #WHY ARE YOU READING THE TAGS

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teshamerkel · 3 years

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Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Seekers of Soul

Chapter 13 (23 Pages)

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Nia and Tobias travel to Afon’s Cap in search of the former human, Hazel.

For the first time in two weeks, Nia wakes up before Tobias does.

She’s confused when she realizes it, blinking bleary eyes at Tobias’ tail flame, his curled form fast asleep. She assumes that it must be the middle of the night, but when she rolls over and tries to go back to sleep, she finds that she can’t. She’s meeting Hazel today, after all! Excited nerves thrum under her skin like first-day-of-school jitters. How can she go back to sleep when she’s meeting another human who was turned into a Pokemon? Someone who understands exactly what she’s going through, who can tell her about how she adapted to the strangeness of the Pokemon world.

Giving up on sleep, Nia sits up. She considers reading one of the books she has checked out, but is stopped by a quiet rustling coming from the main room where Maggie sleeps. Nia frowns and pokes her head out of their little alcove, surprised to see Maggie’s out of her nest, stretching. The meganium stops as soon as she sees Nia.

“Oh! Sorry dear, I assumed you two would be gone by now.”

Nia’s heart drops as she glances at one of the small openings in the wall, noting the pale gray light of early morning. It’s past dawn? But Tobias is still asleep! Since the day Nia arrived in the Pokémon world, the charmander had woken up at the crack of dawn almost without fail. Maybe it had something to do with him being a fire type, but his internal clock seemed stubbornly tuned in to go off when the sun rose. And yet today of all days, when she’s planning to go to Afon’s Cap, he’s miraculously asleep later than usual?

Funny how that works.

An unfamiliar wave of anger rises up in the riolu’s chest, hot and choking, and she turns to glare at the still-sleeping Pokemon. He could just be exhausted, sure, but after how many times he’s made it clear he doesn’t care about finding Hazel? She doesn’t trust it. But Nia needs him to lead her to Afon’s Cap, so she kneels at Tobias’ side and roughly shakes his arm. He grumbles and bats her hand away.

“If you don’t get up, I’m leaving for Afon’s Cap without you,” she says, only half-bluffing. She still doesn’t know exactly why he’d decided to come along in the first place, but hopes that whatever reasoning he has is strong enough to get him moving. She doesn’t think she’ll be able to follow a map well enough on her own—and honestly, she just doesn’t wants to make the journey alone. Tobias is poor company, but at least he is company.

Seeing no response from the charmander, Nia shakes her head, grabs their satchel, and moves into the main area to make sure everything is packed. Maggie is busy removing the leaf shades from the crystals to brighten the room, but shoots her a questioning look.

Nia doesn’t think she has the willpower to avoid snapping her explanation (which is the last thing she’d want to do to poor Maggie), so she just huffs and continues organizing their supplies. They aren’t going into a dungeon or anything, but Xander and Andyn had said to be well-stocked for long trips, just in case. So she counts their seeds and berries and apples, carefully tucks away their badges, and looks into the little sack of coins she earned from missions. It’s not a lot according to Tobias, but it’s something. She carefully folds up the map of the area loaned to her by Xander’s team (more specifically Felix, who’d offered it up with an easy smile and another wink).

Nia reaches a soft piece of cloth last: her scarlet attack scarf. For a moment, she considers finally putting it on. Then she thinks of Tobias, sleeping away the one time she really asks something of him, and she’s overcome by anger all over again. Growling under her breath, Nia stuffs it back into the bag.

“Guess I’m going on my own, Maggie,” Nia sighs, standing and slinging the pack over her shoulder. She turns around to see Maggie’s back to her, long neck ducking into the alcove.

Tobias’ voice speaks up, sleepy and muffled. “Maggie? What’re you—hey!”

Maggie backs up, Tobias held in one of her vines like a flailing kitten. She drops him to the ground.

“You said you would take Nia to Afon’s Cap,” Maggie reminds him, hard tone stopping Tobias’ ranting. The charmander, still blinking sleep from his eyes, frowns up at her, then looks over at Nia.

For a moment, Nia wonders if maybe he really did just oversleep, but there’s no dawning recognition on his face. He just snorts and looks away. “I know that. You didn’t have to wake me up so early for it.”

“You’re always up early! Why should today be any different?” Nia snaps.

Tobias actually jumps, head swinging around to stare at her as if she’s grown a second head. Nia immediately feels guilty for her outburst and softens her tone. “You said it was a long walk, right? We need to leave early then.”

Tobias still seems thrown off—whether from being literally picked up out of his bed or from being snapped at by Nia—because he just looks away and mumbles, “Yeah, I guess.”

“Well, I’m ready to go, so...”

Tobias shrugs. “So ‘m I.”

“Right.” Nia nods, trying to sound confident and failing miserably. Her gaze flicks to Maggie.

The meganium simply smiles, all encouragement and warmth, and nudges Tobias forward with a vine. “Go on, then. You two have a long trip ahead of you. You have snacks packed, right?”

Nia nods, smiling gratefully. She meets Tobias’ grumpy gaze before turning and marching out of the room. It feels...weird. Usually Tobias leads them on all of their missions, but he clearly wants no part of this trip, so instead Nia sets a brisk pace through the medical ward, ears picking up the dragging footsteps of the half-asleep charmander behind her. She only hesitates once on directions, and they make it down to the bottom floor without taking a wrong turn, thank God.

If only it wasn’t so uncomfortably silent between them.

Nia hesitates at the many tunnel openings, and Tobias grunts before setting off down one. Hopefully the one that leads them most quickly to Afon’s Cap. In the muted quiet of the tunnels, their footsteps seem unnaturally loud. Nia fidgets with the satchel strap, eyeing Tobias’ back.

She has long since given up on friendly conversation with him, reaching the end of her patience after days of being snubbed and snapped at every time she opened her mouth. Instead of making Tobias happier, though, her silence almost seemed to put the charmander more on edge than ever. If that was even possible. Their last few missions have been filled with suffocating silence, only interrupted by the occasional tense comment.

Maybe the two of them just aren’t meant to work out as a Seeker team. He’s just so...bitter. And she doesn’t know how to fix that.

“You brought my money, right?” Tobias asks. Nia jumps.

“Y-Yeah.”

And back to silence. They reach the end of the tunnel and find an unfamiliar Pokémon waiting there to take them to the surface. Nia was kind of hoping it would be the hippo they’d met on her first trip into the guild.

Instead, the Pokémon that nods at them seems to be some type of...mole? He’s twice as big as her and Tobias, dark brown with red stripes and what look like sharp, drill-like bits as his claws, as well as one “drill” sitting on his head like a helmet. Nia will never get used to Pokemon biology.

“Going up?” The Pokemon rasps, voice deep. Tobias nods, and the mole gestures for them to step closer to his side. When they do, he slams his claws down into the dirt, and the slab of ground beneath them shoots up. Nia tries to keep her eyes squinted open this time, curious even as her stomach flips. It’s dark, but she thinks the earth seems to cave and mold around their group as if they were surrounded by a bubble, moving up to the surface. It’s incredible.

They emerge into chilly dawn air, and Nia immediately relaxes, taking a deep breath. Looks like they’re under the same overhang they’d met the hippo in. Tobias hops out into the forest, and Nia gives the mole a smile and a quiet word of thanks before following. Tobias doesn’t wait for her, immediately setting a course through ferns and dewy undergrowth. Nia follows, pushing aside leaves and shivering as the drops soak into her fur. Tobias’ skin is steaming ever so slightly.

The forest is relatively calm this early in the morning, but the world slowly wakes up around them. As the sun starts to climb into the sky, Pokémon around them begin their days. The riolu catches sight of a particularly beautiful butterfly Pokémon that she notes to find the name of later.

The sounds of Pokémon talking and moving about the forest becomes a comforting background noise. The blatant silence between Nia and Tobias suddenly doesn’t seem as noticeable, and the riolu finds herself relaxing as they continue their walk. Maybe today won’t be so bad after all.

__________________________________________________

The two of them walk for hours through dense forest, occasionally crossing open fields and rocky gullies. At one point they have to cross a low stream, and Tobias cautiously jumps from rock to rock to avoid touching the water. Nia stifles a laugh and, after a moment of consideration, decides to wade through the cool water. Tobias carefully keeps his distance from her, making Nia roll her eyes. She’d read about how dangerous water could be to fire types, especially those with open flames on their bodies. Of course she wasn’t going to try and get him wet.

When she emerges on the other side, fur heavy with water, her body seems to react before her mind. She manages to check that Tobias is out of the splash zone, and then she shakes like a dog, water flying everywhere. It makes her a bit dizzy, and she blinks, surprised by her own action.

Tobias doesn’t seem to think anything of it, just visibly relaxing when his feet touch the grass again. Nia supposes she shouldn’t be too surprised—her body has its own instincts now. Her ears and tail broadcast her emotions, and she periodically finds herself smoothing the fur on her arms or legs absentmindedly. That should probably bother her more than it does.

They stop shortly after that to eat lunch. The sun is high overhead and it’s incredibly warm, so it’s probably around noon. They pick a small clearing in the woods with some boulders to settle down on, pulling out the snacks she’d packed the night before. A few berries, something baked that tastes a lot like a veggie pizza, and a mash of oats and nuts. Pretty tasty spread from the cafeteria.

“So how long until we reach Afon’s Cap?” Nia asks through a mouthful of oran berry. She’s busy spreading out the map of the area, tracing her claw from the center mark of the guild to the east, where Afon’s Cap is visible on the map. The title is written above what looks to be a large lake with a river running east, towards an ocean. She definitely wants to see that someday. She doesn’t thinks she’s ever been to the sea.

Tobias leans over and frowns at the map, finishing his mash. He points at an area just west of Afon’s Cap. “We should be here. Maybe an hour’s walk yet.”

Nia grins. “We’re so close!”

Tobias doesn’t answer, going back to his food, clearly not sharing her enthusiasm.

“So Maggie said there are shops and stuff there, right? That it’s primarily a merchant area and travelers’ crossroads?”

“Mhm.”

“What’s it like?” Nia asks. He seems too familiar with the area to have not been there before. “Pretty busy, I’m guessing?”

“You’ll see it yourself soon,” Tobias growls.

“Well...Yeah, I know, but...”

Tobias doesn’t answer, so Nia just sighs, going back to her meal and their usual silence with a heavy heart. It’d been such a nice day in the woods that she’d almost forgotten who she was traveling with.

Tobias finishes his meal first, and stretches out on the sunbaked stone to enjoy its warmth while Nia eats her berries. She’s excited to meet Hadley’s old friend, for sure, but anxiety blooms in her belly as they get closer. What should she even ask the other human-turned-Pokemon? How does she even bring up that she’s in the same boat? The riolu wishes she could talk with Tobias about it, but she knows better by now.

When Nia’s finished, they head off again without a word between them.

__________________________________________________

It’s maybe another hour of walking when Nia registers the landscape changing around them. It’s not too drastic, but the dry, yellowed forest becomes slightly more...lush. Even a bit swampy, in spots. They are closer to the sea, and they’ve passed more tiny creeks than Nia’s seen in the forest closer to the guild....so they must be getting close to the port. The nervous butterflies in her stomach act up again at the thought.

Sure enough, only a short bit later Nia can see open sky through the thinning trees, can hear something...roaring. A steady rumble of noise. And under that, the distant chatter of voices and movement. The two of them emerge from the treeline, and Nia’s breath catches at the sight of Afon’s Cap below them.

The ground at their feet drops off steeply into the valley before them, and there’s a lake so wide Nia can barely see the edges of it. It’s large enough for it to have waves, clear water rippling and flashing in the sun between a dappling coat of lush green lily pads. It trails off into the horizon, where it likely drains into the river and onward into the sea. To their left, the source of the roaring becomes clear. From the rocky cliffside of the valley walls, a giant, powerful waterfall flows from an underground channel.

But even the beauty of the waterways, framed by expansive woodland and open blue sky, is nothing compared to the life brought to the area by the little town itself. It’s clearly a port, with docking areas and small boats bobbing peacefully where they’re anchored. A scaffolding-like structure of wooden walkways, stairs and tall, stilt-like supports create a boardwalk of small, bright buildings flush against the rocky sides of the valley itself.

And there are Pokémon everywhere! Sure, the guild has a huge number of Pokémon moving throughout it every day, but something about this area is noticeably different, even from a distance. Unlike the organized groupings at the guild, centered around business and exploration, these Pokémon seem like, well...normal people. A crowd.

Merchants travel by one another, pausing to exchange goods from their giant packs, travelers and civilians alike buy and sell, and children chase each other through the walkways, laughing and playing games. Nia catches sight of two bright yellow mouse Pokémon shrieking happily as they weave through the crowd with practiced ease.

Linens hang on clotheslines to dry, small herb and flower baskets sit outside of the tiny wooden huts, shops are labeled by wooden signs detailing their wares, and the scent of heavenly baked goods reaches Nia’s nose. And is that the distant lilt of...music she hears somewhere?

“This is incredible!” Nia breathes, sure that she’s slack-jawed right now and that Tobias is judging her. She doesn’t even care.

Tobias grunts and moves to take the wooden stairs down the side of the valley wall so they can reach one of the bridges leading to the town. Nia hurries to follow him, almost slipping when she’s unable to take her eyes off the lively port. They make it to the bottom after a minute or two, stepping onto the wooden bridgework. It’s warm and sturdy under Nia’s feet.

“So are there like...Pokémon carpenters? Construction workers who build places like these?” She asks. A gorgeous white and red goldfish Pokémon is swimming under the surface of the water nearby, flickering into view between patches of huge lily pads, and it glides under their bridge to follow a blue Pokemon moving too fast for Nia to properly see. Makes sense that lots of water types would flock to this town.

“Duh,” Tobias mumbles, eyeing the water Pokémon as well with a cagey look. “How else would we build things?”

Well, true. The Lexym Guild’s tree is a bit of a different matter, but she’s seen Hadley’s hut and a few other locals homes, all built with a sturdy wooden construction. Still, Nia can’t even find it in herself to be irritated by Tobias’ condescending tone. This place is just so beautiful! It’s breezy and the air smells so nice. She watches as a water type Pokemon slips into the lake from one of the docks, swimming towards the cliffside where a shallow cave is carved into the surface before diving deeper and out of sight. For the first time, Nia notices a couple of small wooden signs jutting up from the water.

Nia gasps and darts to the edge of the bridge, tip-toeing at the railing to stare at the sign. She tries to peer between the lily pads, but can’t really see much from her perspective. “Oh my gosh, no! Are there underwater shops?! That’s so cool! Look at this!”

“I’m good back here,” Tobias grumbles. Nia glances at him over her shoulder but gets distracted by the fact that her own tail is, uh...wagging? Whoa. It slows to a stop with her confusion, but before she can think about it too deeply Tobias speaks up.

“C’mon already. The sooner we get this over with the sooner we can get some food and find a place to stay.”

Nia perks up despite the charmander’s lack of enthusiasm, bouncing back over to him. As they move along the bridge, Nia trails her paw along the wooden railing, happily peering down into the waves and watching the lily pads rock like flat green boats. Something flickers in the water—or in the reflection of it? It’s just a quick flash, huge and dark and almost snake-like, but when Nia blinks it’s gone again. She peers up into the open sky, squinting when she only sees bird Pokémon flying around. Huh.

They continue to the nearest stairway leading up to the open upper level, passing a few groups of Pokémon on the way. Nia’s quick, excited steps pass by Tobias, and she takes the lead as they climb.

“So how’re you gonna find this Pokemon anyways?”

Nia hums, looking around excitedly. “I was thinking we could probably just ask around, right? If she lives here, then surely some of the other residents know her! Being a former human seems to garner a lot of attention.”

“August told you to be careful about broadcasting that you’re a human,” Tobias objects.

Nia falters. “O-Oh. Right. Well...he did say that the area around the Haven is usually pretty safe, right? And I don’t have to tell anyone that I’m a human. Just that I’m looking for one named Hazel.”

Tobias grumbles, but doesn’t argue her plan anymore. “That could still take forever.”

Okay, that comment finally gets under her skin. Can’t he just let her enjoy this?

“Won’t take long if we stop talking and start looking,” She chirps, sickly sweet. The charmander huffs in response.

Then they’re on the main level of the wooden boardwalk. The crowd around them is almost daunting, with so many Pokémon laughing and talking and haggling with one another. Plus, so many of them are huge compared to her and Tobias! A giant fuschia centipede Pokemon walks by them and she swears she can feel their short footsteps shaking the wood under her feet.

Nia frowns, perking her ears and looking one way and then the other. Where to even start?

“We’ll cover more ground if we split up,” Tobias points out.

“Oh.” Nia blinks at him. He’s technically right, and she knows he didn’t really want to come along in the first place, but...it’d still be nice to have a familiar face around in such a new area.

Relenting, Nia nods. “Wanna take left or right?”

Tobias glances both ways before choosing to go left, towards the distant sound of music. “I’ll start on this side. Toss me my money.”

Nia does, but then stops him as he starts to walk off. “Wait! How’re we gonna find each other later?”

Tobias shrugs. “I’m sure we’ll run into each other if we just look.”

Nia doesn’t really have a better solution, so she hesitantly nods. Tobias turns and vanishes into the crowd. Well. Looks like she’s going this alone. Something in her chest sinks, but she tells herself she should really be used to this by now.

Nia takes a deep breath, looking around. It’s hard to see anything with the crowd of Pokémon towering over her, so her best bet would probably be to just skirt the inside of the walkway curving around the valley, near the shops and houses. That’s where she needs to be asking around, anyways. Even if a very large part of her wants to go over to the nearby crowd and watch what looks like a small roadside magic show.

Nia steels her resolve and lets the lively atmosphere of the town wash over her as she weaves between Pokémon and over to the shops and houses lining the cliff face. They’re impressively built, if a bit rustic. Colorful and wooden, with impressively stable architecture. Carved signs hang from hooks in doorways, and most of the front doors sit wide open to invite visitors and customers inside.

Nia spots a shop bursting at the seams with flowers, and peeks into the open front door to find what looks to be, unsurprisingly, a flower shop. Some are live and arranged in beautiful bouquets, some are dried and coated in a sort of plaster to preserve them, and some are pressed between books or decorating other trinkets. Nia resists the urge to run a gentle finger over the petals and wanders through the shop, wide-eyed.

“Can I help you, Riolu?”

Nia jumps, turning to find a round yellow duck Pokemon approaching her with a polite demeanor. She’s small, not too much taller than Nia herself, with a wide beak and a small tuft of hair atop her head.

“U-Um, yes. I actually had a question about this town. I’m trying to find a Pokémon named Hazel? Former human? She lives here.”

Nia is relieved when the duck Pokémon doesn’t react negatively, just humming a thoughtful noise as her gaze trails up to the ceiling. “I don’t know of any Hazels living in Afon’s Cap. And certainly none who claim to be a former human.”

The shopkeeper must see the way Nia slumps at the news, because she offers a sympathetic smile and adds, “Why don’t you ask around the other shops? Maybe it’s just slipping my mind.”

Nia nods, trying to look grateful and not massively disappointed, and thanks the duck before heading out the door. A flash of yellow slips under her feet, and Nia trips forward with a yelp.

“Oh! Sorry!” A high, childish voice says.

“You okay?” A second chimes.

Nia rolls over, surprised to see the two tiny yellow rodent Pokémon that had caught her eye earlier. They both look more curious than concerned, peering at her with wide blue eyes and twitching angular ears tipped in black. They have rosy pink circles on their cheeks, like blush marks. They’re so cute Nia thinks she might explode on the spot. They kind of remind her of the shinx kids, except younger.

The children exchange a look, and Nia hurries to sit up. “Y-Yeah, I’m fine! Sorry for tripping over you. Are you two okay?”

The kids nod enthusiastically, suddenly all smiles again.

“We were playing chase, but we forgot to stay away from the doorways.”

“Nana always tells us to stay outta Pokemons’ way so we don’t get stepped on.”

Nia nods understandingly. “Having a little too much fun, huh?”

One of them giggles, cheeks sparking. “Yeah!”

“You’re nice,” the other one notes, staring up at her. “Sometimes the grown-ups don’t want to talk to us or, or they get mad when we play near them.”

Nia smiles, feeling her chest ache with longing and fill with warmth all at once. She really likes kids. Was she close to some in her human life? “Nah, I get it. You two seem pretty cool to me.”

At that, they both grin. One of them spins, taps the other, and then takes off into the crowd. “Tag! You’re it, Theo!”

“Hey!” Theo bolts after his friend (brother, maybe?), and Nia watches them go, wincing with concern as they scamper under more gigantic, heavy Pokémon. She wishes they’d be more careful.

Shaking her head and noting her uplifted mood, Nia straightens her satchel. Right! She can’t give up after checking just one shop. This place is huge! Surely someone knows who Hazel is, right? There can’t be that many former humans floating around!

__________________________________________________

There isn’t a single Pokémon named Hazel living in Afon’s Cap. The sun is wheeling much lower in the sky than when Nia had first started searching, and she’s just about ready to give up. Sitting under a tented area for customers, she picks at the chesto pie she’d ordered from a cute little local shop, sniffling back tears.

She’d searched for hours through the small port town, wandering through the crowds, investigating shops, and even politely knocking at a few homes’ open doorways to ask about Hazel. If Nia were here just to sightsee, she’s sure she would be having the time of her life. There are stores and merchants for everything—books, food, toys, accessories and cloaks, items that supposedly help with battling, dungeon items—literally anything she could ask for! She’d thought with so many Pokemon around, surely finding someone who knows Hazel couldn’t be that difficult.

And yet, nothing. She really wishes she’d thought to ask Hadley what species Hazel was, but she’d assumed it would be easy enough to ask about a former human. Maybe Tobias was right. Hadley’s nice enough, but he said himself that his memory is going nowadays. Maybe he was wrong about Hazel living here. Maybe she doesn’t even exist at all.

Speaking of Tobias—the charmander is also nowhere to be found. Nia had kept an eye out for his distinct orange coloring and bright red scarf, and hadn’t caught a single glimpse of him. She wants to think that means he’s just hard at work trying to help her, but Nia’s an optimist, not an idiot. She has a feeling that Tobias is likely avoiding her, probably just whiling away his time until they can leave again.

Nia wants to think better of him, but she can’t keep pushing away the truth. Tears finally fall from her eyes, rolling down her cheeks as she swallows back a whimper. There are still Pokémon around. She doesn’t want to have a complete meltdown here. But bottling up her sadness and her disappointment, with both Tobias and Hazel...it’s gotta come out somehow.

She wipes at her eyes and her nose, sniffing wetly and taking deep, shaky breaths. She’s a mess, but she’d had such high hopes about Hazel. She just...she just wants someone who understands what she’s going through. Who can relate to the aching, tearing pain in her chest and the gaping hole in her memory.

“Mama! That’s the nice lady we told you about!”

“Why’s she cryin’? Is she okay?”

Nia lifts her head, blinking away her tears. She knows those voices.

It’s the two yellow mouse children from earlier in the day, tugging at a larger yellow rodent’s paws. The riolu just stares at them, uncomprehending as the children drag the older Pokémon over with them. She’s very pretty, cheeks a darker shade of red and eyes a honey-brown, ears longer and slimmer, and tail in a distinct lightning bolt shape. She looks familiar, actually.

One of the kids hops up on the bench beside Nia, leaning in close and frowning up at her face. “Why’re you crying?”

“Yeah! You seemed happy earlier!” The other chirps, appearing on Nia’s other side.

“W-Well, I, uh—“ Nia stops, casting a nervous glance at the kids’ mother. She looks uncomfortable. Good first impression, Nia. “I was sort of looking for someone, but I couldn’t find them. I-It’s fine, I’ll be okay.”

The little Pokémon perk up.

“Well, we know everyone here! We can help! Who are you looking for?”

“And if we don’t know, Mama does!”

Nia looks back and forth between the two, knowing what answer she’ll get to her question but having a feeling that they won’t let her wallow alone until she satisfies their curiosity.

“I’m, uh...looking for someone named Hazel. But she must not live here anymore.”

The kids slump, ears flattening into a pitiful look.

“Oh.”

“We don’t know any Hazels.”

“Hey, it’s okay. I appreciate you asking. You did your best,” Nia soothes, offering a watery smile.

“Excuse me, but did you say Hazel?”

Nia jumps, suddenly remembering the other adult in the situation. Shoot. She turns back to the kids’ mother, but instead of discomfort, now her soft features are...intense. Focused.

The riolu blinks at the change in demeanor. “U-Um. Yes?”

The rodent stares her down, and Nia swallows, shrinking away ever-so-slightly.

“Theo, Tommy, go back to Nana Alice’s house.”

“What?” One of the kids chirps, sounding indignant. “Why? We wanna stay here!”

“Yeah!”

Their mom turns a familiar look on the two, face stern and eyebrows lifting ever so slightly, as if to ask, Do you really want to test me?

Immediately, the kids quiet down. “Yes, Mama,” they both mumble, hopping back to the ground. They exchange a look, give Nia a tiny wave, then scamper away.

The riolu turns back to the kids’ mom, eyes wide and stomach churning. Did she do something wrong?

“Why are you looking for a Hazel?” The Pokémon asks, voice hard.

Nia flinches, looking down at her paws. “I-I’m, um—“

“Look at me.”

Nia slowly obeys, making eye contact with the rodent and feeling incredibly small despite their similar sizes. “I...I wanted to talk to h-her.”

“About?”

“I...heard that there was a Pokémon who lived here named Hazel, who used to be a, um...” She lowers her voice to a whisper. “A human.”

The rodent continues to stare Nia down, and the riolu’s mind races as she tries to figure out why this Pokémon would have such a reaction to the name when no one else did, even before she mentioned Hazel being human.

Wait.

Nia straightens in her seat. “D-Do you know her? Please, you have to help me find her!”

The rodent’s expression edges towards something defensive. Angry? “Tell me why you want to speak to her.”

So she does know something! Nia stands, desperately clasping her hands in front of her. “Please! I need to talk with her. I’m a human too and—I mean, I was a human—and she’s the only one I know of around here who’s the same!”

Immediately, the Pokémon’s aggressive demeanor falls away, her expression smoothing out to something surprised. There’s a beat of silence, and then, almost suspiciously, she asks, “What’s your favorite movie?”

Nia blinks. “Uh...”

“Favorite movie,” the rodent prompts again.

Nia swallows hard. “I-I’m not sure? Um, I think I liked Disney movies? It’s hard to remember, so—wait, do you even know what a movie is?”

To Nia’s surprise, the rodent’s hard expression breaks as she laughs. When she’s done she meets Nia’s baffled gaze with a warm smile, the expression lighting up her already pretty features. “No, not really. But I do recognize that name. Follow me, I’ll take you to Hazel.”

The Pokémon turns and walks away, and Nia hurriedly gathers her things, stuffing them into her satchel and running to catch up to the rodent.

“W-What—how do you—who—?”

The rodent quirks a smile Nia’s way. “Sorry for the cold welcome. I’m Margot. You are?”

“N-Nia.”

“Mm. Was that your human name?”

Nia casts a quick glance around to make sure no one is listening in before answering. “N-No. Um. Actually, maybe? I-I’m not sure. I lost my memory when I came here. Woke up here?”

The rodent gives her a sympathetic look. “I’m sorry. That must be hard.”

Nia isn’t sure whether to laugh or be embarrassed, suddenly recalling that Margot’s first impression of her was while she was in the middle of an emotional meltdown. “Kind of, yeah. Don’t get me wrong, this world is beautiful, and most people are really nice! But it’s, um...”

“Different.”

Nia nods, eyeing Margot. She has such an easy understanding of Nia’s experience. Like she’s heard all of this before.

“So, um...how do you know Hazel? I tried asking around town but no one else seems to recognize the name.”

Margot hums a contemplative noise. “Hazel...lays low. She doesn’t like to be bothered about where she came from or have to deal with accusations that she’s lying, so the town doesn’t know she used to be human. Where did you hear about her?”

“F-From a, uh, Pokémon named Hadley. Lives near the guild. Giant bug?”

Margot sighs. “Somehow I knew that’s what you’d say. Hadley doesn’t know how to keep his mouth shut.”

The two of them come upon a homey-looking hut that Nia had passed earlier in the day. It’s a shop, but Nia had assumed it to be closed, since its door had been shut tight. But now it’s cracked open and warm golden light spills out to touch the dusk. Margot swings opens the door and motions for Nia to go inside. She does, stopping and looking around in awe.

It’s a...woodwork shop? There are wooden sculptures and figures littered about the room, lining shelves and tables, larger pieces sitting in corners and wherever space allows. There’s a particularly impressive sculpture in the corner that’s twice as tall as Nia herself, with a beautifully carved scene of flowing water and whiskered, crowned fish Pokémon jumping upstream. Many of the smaller pieces look to be elegant carvings and sculptures of Pokémon, too. They’re amazing. Did Margot make these?

The entire front of the shop is crowded, packed to the brim with artwork and warmth, the smell of wood and lacquer filling the air. Nia only takes a few steps inside, trailing behind Margot, before an older, feminine voice calls out from the back room.

“Mar? Why did you send the boys back on their own?”

A moment later, a new Pokémon enters the doorway leading to the back of the hut. She’s clearly related to Margot and her sons, with yellow cheeks and ocean-blue eyes. Her fur is a rich, dark gold hue, her ears a soft fluffy yellow, paws tipped in cream. She’s beautiful, but her fur is streaked with white, her short pelt beginning to hang off her frame with age. Most incredibly, she’s levitating. She’s sat comfortably on the flat of her own wide yellow tail, floating into the room. Is this Nana Alice?

Nia stops, and the older Pokémon does as well, clearly surprised. Margot moves forward to place a gentle hand on the new Pokemon’s arm.

“Mama, this is Nia,” she explains, voice soft. “Former human. Hadley told her to look for Hazel.”

Nia isn’t sure how to read the flash of emotions that pass over the older Pokémon’s face at that news. After a moment, they settle into something solemn and soft, almost sad.

“So you’re a human? My name is Alice. Why don’t you come on back and have a cup of tea with me?”

Nia nods shyly, following the two rodents into the back area and murmuring a quiet, “Thank you.”

Nia’s mind is racing, trying to figure out how these women know Hazel, if maybe she lives nearby. But she doesn’t want to be rude, so she bites her tongue and looks around instead. There’s a tiny cooking setup on one side of the room, with a table and an area to light a fire beneath a makeshift tea kettle. Other pots and bowls sit neatly stacked nearby. On the other side of the room, a simple but startlingly human-like bedframe sits, with woven blankets and a bed of hay laid on top.

“Mama!”

“You brought the crying lady home?”

Nia looks up, startled. Theo and Tommy are peering over the edge of a loft-like structure overhead. They wave at Nia, and she cracks a smile, waving back.

“It’s past your bedtime, boys!” Margot calls up, somewhere between amused and authoritative. She turns a wry smile towards Nia and her mother. “Let me know if you two need anything.” With that, Margot scampers up the ladder to the loft, and the boys shriek with laughter, ducking out of sight.

The older rodent Pokémon, Alice, smiles fondly, turning to the makeshift stove. “Please, have a seat, Nia. Do you like tea? I have Sitrus and Pecha leaf.”

“O-Oh. Um. I think I like tea, but I’ve never had those kinds before.”

Alice hums. “I bet you’d like Pecha. Give me a few minutes.”

Nia takes a seat on one of the cushions, peering curiously at the decorative wooden figures sitting in a group at the center of the table. One of them looks exactly like Margot, a small bundle with distinct angular ears cradled in her arms. One of the others has an impressive likeness to the older Pokemon currently making her tea. The other two Pokémon, however, are unfamiliar to Nia. One of them is a taller weasel-like Pokemon, with two tails at its back and fins on its arms. Elegant age lines are lightly carved into its face. The second is a round rabbit-like Pokemon with a ball-like tail and a bubble pattern on its belly. Another identical bundle with pointed ears is gathered in its arms. They’re all incredibly lifelike, and Nia leans in, turning this way and that to try and see them better without disturbing the arrangement.

“Do you like them?”

Nia jumps back, but Alice is smiling, gaze fond. “Y-Yes! Did Margot make them?”

The older Pokémon laughs, softly. “No, those are my carvings. The shop products are made by the both of us.”

“Wow,” Nia breathes. “They’re beautiful!”

Alice hums again, eyeing the figurines. “I created those when my grandsons were born. The floatzel is my husband. The azumarill is my daughter’s wife.”

Maybe she sees the lost look on Nia’s face, because she adds, “Oh, I apologize. Sometimes I forget what it was like to be here so suddenly. The floatzel is the weasel. The azumarill is the rabbit.”

Wait—weasel? Rabbit? No regular Pokemon would know those terms. Nia’s head snaps up, the puzzle pieces in her mind clicking together. Of course. This is why no one knew who ‘Hazel’ was. This explains Margot’s odd behavior and her knowledge of Nia’s situation, and ‘Alice’s’ reaction to her identity as a human.

Nia stares at the old woman, hardly able to breathe. “You’re Hazel.”

#pokemon mystery dungeon #pmd #pokemon #riolu #pmd seekers of soul #tesha draws #tesha writes

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caxsthetic · 4 years

Text

With Bond

Miya Atsumu x F!Reader

Summary: The benefit of knowing him since high school, was how you knew every little thing that he needed. You could solve all of his problems, watching his back on every single move. But this one particular issue? You need someone else to back you up.

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *. STUCK WITH YOU MASTERLIST .* :☆ﾟ. ───

"I don't want to live anymore..!"

It had been the most torturous forty minutes of your life.

"I didn't get the number that I wanted, they messed it up!"

He whined, and whined, and whined.

"What did I do in my past life to be treated like this?"

And there you were anyway, listening to every word that spilled from his lips as you sat across from him. By breathing in the steam from the cup of coffee in your hand, at least the circumstance became a little bit—bearable, to say the least.

"Atsumu, dear, I love you. But my ears are going to bleed if you whined just one more time." To the world he was that one person who never once looked like a clown. Perfect hair, pretty face, megawatt smile, picturesque man that every woman wanted to have and every male population wanted to be, "Have you talked to the club about this?"

"Ngh, no?" How in the world did I agree to be his girlfriend in the first place. You let out a sigh and put down the cup of coffee on the kitchen counter, "There's nothing I could do once I got the jersey number, (Y/n). It's not Jackals anymore, it's a goddamn national!"

He had been so giddy ever since he became one of the setters to the Japan National team. It was great with how he didn't feel butthurt for becoming the benchwarmer (Though he would grumble under his breath every time Kageyama popped on the television screen).

Ever since he confirmed his jersey number with the association, he always spent his time sitting on the terrace. Hoping that his jersey would appear miraculously in a matter of second.

Today, he finally got it. And when you heard him scream (Wailing to be exact) on the outside, you knew for sure that something wasn't right.

"It's not his number, (Y/n)..." His nosy whining was now died down, replaced with a sad baby phase, "How can I face Samu, now? I don't want him to think that I forget about him!"

It was incredible actually—how he always thought about his brother. As much as he told the whole world how he wished he was born without a carbon copy of himself, deep down, he loved his brother with all of his heart.

"Isn't it supposed to be a surprise?" You stood up and walked towards your boyfriend, "He didn't know, right? That you were going to use his High School number?"

"He didn't know..." He huffed and grabbed your hand when you were finally near, "I am sad..." You could only chuckle at this, "The match is next week. It's sad enough that he couldn't watch it in the stadium, and now this..."

You knew how important the game would be for him. He had been running in the same direction since childhood. And even though he lost someone in the middle of his journey, he still continued the dream.

"Hey, now." You pulled him towards you, resting his head on your chest while your fingers roamed in the strands of his hair, "How about we take a break? Maybe a date? Let's just get your mind off—things."

He looked up at you, golden brown orbs gazing at your face with admiration as if you just declared him as the best setter in the world (He was indeed the best setter for you, but you were not in the mood to meet his cocky self).

"Ooohh, where will we go?" You chuckled softly from how excited he sounded just now. Your fingers stroking on his now better coloured hair—unlike his high school one—setting the fringe up.

"That's for me to know and for you to find out, Atsumu."

He was so so eager, looking so innocent as he buried his face on your chest once again. Not knowing what laid for him in the future.

»»————-　♔　————-««

"I regret shit."

"Uhuh, of course you do, Atsumu."

"How could you do this to me?!"

"Don't be such a wimp and shut yer trap!"

He swallowed a huge lump, a thin layer of sweats already glazed his forehead due to the nervousness. When you said you were going to take his mind off things, he didn't expect you to lead him here.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please wear your seatbelts right away." The announcement from the speaker made him more agitated than before.

"(Y/n), I don't want to die. Please, please, I don't want to do this." You snorted from his exclaim, he was always—dramatic. "Can we go back to the merry-go-round, please?"

"You are a twenty-six years old man, Atsumu. Man up!" Your statement only answered with a groan, "Come on, let me check your seatbelts." Both of you were now in the front row—of a rollercoaster.

"Baby, if I die, I want you to know that I love you so much but at the same time I want to throw you on a gutter." He said it with the sulky tone, "Why do you always bully me, (Y/n)? Samu is enough."

"That’s how Osamu and I showed our love for you, you big baby." You booped his nose with your index finger before positioning yourself once again, "Come on, Atsumu, don't pout like that."

Since both of you came to the amusement park, you noticed how people glanced towards your direction. Well, if you had a famous setter wearing a casual sweatshirt as your boyfriend, you have to prepare for all the stares—and sometimes the glare, "Atsumu, look!"

You grabbed his chin and directed it to the horde of the crowd who had their phones up, camera rolling to record every movement and expression of the national's setter, "Smile for the camera, dear!"

"I am going to wreck you tonight for doing this to me." He spitted the words under his breath,

"That’s if you survive."

"I fucking will."

»»————-　♔　————-««

Well, he was not, at least not completely.

"There, there, baby." You have been patting his back for five minutes now, "Do you need water again? I am sorry, I will treat you to any place that you want after this..."

Concerned lingering in every word that you spilt. His face was incredibly pale once he got down from the rollercoasters, and when he suddenly ran behind a tenant, you knew something wasn't right.

He grabbed the water bottle from your hand, gulping it down to erase the taste of a nightmare from his throat.

"Please don't ask me to ride it again." The setter asked you with a genuine plea, "I swear if you are not there to grab my hand, I would see my soul fly away."

You frowned at this and engulfed him in a big hug. Yes, it was fun at first, with how loud he could be when he complained about almost anything (Just like a baby). But never once you would want to see him like this,

"I am sorry, Atsumu..." You muttered softly, and within seconds, he immediately wrapped his arms around you, enjoying the comfort that you radiate, "Let me make up for it, okay? How about lunch? I know a place that you would really love."

He didn't answer you, nodding softly and just pulled your body closer with him. You couldn't blame your boyfriend from becoming like a lifeless corpse since you were practically the cause of it, "Then let's go."

You eyed the area around you, trying to sneak out from the prying eyes of his fans. With hands interlaced with him, you strolled the amusement park as subtle as ever. When you walked, you could feel how sweaty his hands were—and goddamn it broke your heart because you were the cause of it.

"Oh my god, that's Miya Atsumu!"

"W-What? The setter?!"

"Take a picture, take a picture! OMG who is that ugly woman?"

You tried to ignore all of the murmur around you, and for that you decided to walk faster. Still, that last line you heard stung your heart (Even if you have heard it all the time), you just wanted to get away from this place and get your boyfriend to safety.

But Atsumu noticed something amiss from your expression,

"Shut it, you pigs!" You got pulled by him when he suddenly turned his head towards the woman, "Look at yourself first if you're ever going to insult someone!" He scoffed one last time before dragging you away, "Come on, I hate it here more than anything now."

Your eyes widened as you saw the annoyed facade that plastered on his face. It was rare for him to actually snap—he grew so much since high school after all. But one thing, one thing that he wouldn't let it slide was when you or people that he held dear in his life, insulted.

"Atsumu..."

You called out to him, wanting to catch his attention, "Atsumu, dear..."

When the two of you finally arrived at the parking lot, that was when he faced you. You could see the pained and rage in his orbs, swirling there as his mind replayed the words that he heard before.

"Hey, baby." Your voice sounded so delicate, angelic even in his ear, "Thank you for standing up for me." Your thumb grazed the back of his hand. And from the little gesture, his orbs gradually filled with a warmth gaze, "You are the best boyfriend that I could ever ask."

He snorted and rolled his eyes from the praise, a contrast to how his lips shaped into a sweet smile,

"You know I always hate it when people hate you for no reason." It was not the first time you received such words. But even though you started to get used to it, he never once would be, "No one. I swear no one. Could insult you right in front of me and didn't get a taste of spite."

He was rarely being sweet—if you had to be honest. Your relationship with him filled with banter and jokes (And some innuendo here and there). So when he acted like this, you always savoured the moment, imprinted every movement, every word, every flutter of his lashes—deep inside your heart.

"Alright, alright." You answered him, and he leaned his head closer to yours. Knowing what he was going to do, you shut your eyes, and when his lips met with the soft skin of your forehead, a wide smile emerged on your complexion, "I love you, Atsumu."

"I love you too, my pretty bully."

»»————-　♔　————-««

You flickered your gaze between the road in front of you to your boyfriend who was incredibly quiet for the whole ride. You thought going out and having one hell of a day could distract him. But when all of the crazy events were done, it was back to square one.

He knew how he acted right now made the woman that he loves worried. Yet, he could not help but think about the match with Argentina next week. He planned everything for that day. From how he would show his brother that he was there with him, to a plan that he had for you at the end of the game.

"Oh, shit. Sorry, 'Tsumu, but I couldn't be there." A frown slipped on his facade in an instant. The setter thought that he would have his brother by his side when he was at one of the biggest milestones of his volleyball career, "Hello? ‘Tsumu, you there?"

"Yeah, yeah." You leaned your body on the door frame, listening in to the conversation that you knew—didn't turn up good for your boyfriend, "Yeah, I get it. That's alright. That's fine, Samu."

After he hung up, you could see how the giddy smile that once spread on his face, now replaced with a solemn expression. His eyes never leave the screen which darkened gradually, scrutinizing the picture that was taken on one of his games with Schweiden Adlers. A picture of him with the owner of Onigiri Miya.

"He couldn't come." He said with a low tone as the screen blacked out completely, "Things about meeting and such with some business partner from overseas. Expanding Onigiri Miya to another country."

But even though he was hurt by the fact that his twin wouldn't be there physically with him on his first game as national's setter, his words coated with something else. Because through his eyes—he could see that the two of them were basically at one of the biggest milestones. Even when they were on a different path,

They were winning in life today.

The gloomy look from before was gone as a smirk appeared on his face. His eyes twinkled with excitement with pride burned on his orbs. Then he turned to look at you, lips shaped into a broad grin,

"He's awesome isn't it?"

He chuckled under his breath, staring outside the window car as he replayed the information that he got a few days ago. But then he sighed once again when his mind went back to the jersey's number that he got, making him grumble.

"Atsumu, we are home."

"I know."

He didn't. He was actually too lost in his own thought he didn't realise that you already parked the car on the driveway. You unclasped his seat belts after doing yours, resulting in him to turn his face on you, a genuine smile on his face.

There was no need for you to do that, but it was just a habit of yours to spoil him here and there. A little gesture that was so simple it was unnecessary but gave so much impact in his heart, "Thank you."

"You are welcome," You leaned in and kissed his cheek shortly, bringing a flutter of butterflies to storm inside his stomach. His cheek tinted with pinkish hue after that as he shook his head, still abashed once in a while when he received an affectionate gesture from you.

You got down from the car first, leaving him to settle down his feelings that still branched out all over the place. His gaze trailed on your figure that was now gone behind the front door. You were an angel in his eyes, someone that always stayed for him, no matter how antics he was.

To found you and actually have a chance with you was a blessing for him, and you were one of the things that he never wanted to trade with anything. I should stop being a burden, he thought, realising how childish he acted since yesterday he received the cursed jersey.

With a new mindset, he got down from the car and ran inside, wanting to just engulf you in a hug. He wanted to embrace you, pampering your face with lots of kisses for staying, and for god sake he couldn't wait for the match because by then—hopefully—you would agree to be his forever.

"You stupid, I told you that I put the key on the second pot!" But he didn't expect to hear you having a conversation with someone,

Atsumu tiptoed as he made sure to close the front door carefully, wondering who could make you laugh as beautiful as that. And when he popped his head to the kitchen, his pupil dilated as his gaze fell to the exact copy of him.

There was a different spark in his eyes the second he laid his eyes on the black haired man. His mouth agape, too starstruck as he just stood there with a stupid look on his face,

"W-What the fuck are you doing here?!" Something that couldn't be mistaken from his shout was excitement, and you were there sharing a look with his twin and chuckled from his outburst. Realising how he acted just now, the setter immediately cleared his throat and calmed himself down; at least he tried to, "I mean, what are you doing here?"

Osamu raised one of his eyebrows playfully, a hand rested on his hips as he stared at the national's volleyball player,

"A little bird told me that you were sulking and she needed my assistance to make sure you were back to your usual self." His words dripped with smugness as he looking down at the groaning man in front of him,

"Duh, both of you would only bully me at the end."

"That's exactly our job."

"Grr..."

But despite the complaints that rolled from your boyfriend's lips, there was a grateful gaze on his eyes as he looked at you. He was too shy—no, not shy. He was too prideful to ask for his brother's presence. Even if he needed it so badly, he would just sulking and whining, literally do nothing.

"Okay, boys. Go out to play some volleyball, I am taking care of the kitchen for today." So as someone who knew him for a long time, you were ready to do things for him as long as he was happy. You were ready, to be there pushing him forward and got his back.

"Thank you so much," He ran up to you, pushing his brother aside and engulfing you in a big hug. Lips close to your ear as he whispered, "Thank you for everything."

And he would be forever grateful, to have you in his life.

»»————-　♔　————-««

Today was the day, the big day for him and the entire monster generation—ah, the nickname which he got from his ex-captain that he respected so much. Thrill and excitement surrounded the entire stadium as cheers and shout never once died down. Filling his lungs with remarkable energy.

"Hoi, Atsumu." The athletic trainer of the national team called him as the entire team prepared themselves in the changing room, "Catch this."

"What-"

He was not ready to retrieve anything as a plastic bag being thrown towards him, greeting his face at the process, "-The fuck!" He whined, making the entire team to snicker; and for Sakusa to cringe hard.

Atsumu rolled his eyes and fetched the bag from the floor, eyeing it with confusion written in his eyes, "Huh? Why did you give me this jersey? I already had one." He opened up the seal,

And he couldn't help but let out a small gasp.

"Oh, your wife called and told me that we printed you the wrong number."

Wife. How the words rolled down from someone else's tongue sounded so beautiful as he heard it.

In his hand, there was a brand new jersey that was still fresh from the production house. It was the same with what he wore right now. Red coloured fabric and soft texture. The only difference? The number that printed large in the chest.

It was eleven.

"You better wife her now, Atsumu." He flinched a little when he heard Ojiro's voice beside him, "The two of you had been together since high school anyway. Don't tell me you still worried that someday she would leave?"

Ah, him in the past was incredibly stupid—and it actually got worse by time. He used to talk to either Kita or Ojiro about his feelings for you. About how he didn't deserve to be with someone who literally could have anyone with how caring and thoughtful you were from the start.

But you chose him. You chose him before, you chose him now, and you swore you would choose him over and over again.

"Aran-kun," He called out to his senpai with a determined look on his face, "How long did we have before the match started?" He took off his jersey,

"Hm?" The wing spikers looked at the clock, "We have fifteen minutes, why?"

"That's enough." The platinum blonde setter was now wearing the new jersey, and somehow, he felt powerful. As if he was not alone as he grabbed a little box from his locker, "You were right, Aran-kun."

"What was right?" Everyone was now eyeing the interaction between the two. Curiosity playing in each of their orbs, wondering the reason behind the setter's sudden change of behaviour.

Atsumu stared at the box in his hand as a genuine smile emerged on his face. It was lightweight, but he felt like he had the entire universe in his hand at the moment. Because it was exactly how it is. Because the box held his possible future. A future that he wanted to have only if you were there with him.

He turned towards Ojiro before resting one of his hands on the shoulder of his teammates, patting it softly.

"I better wife her up now."

And in just a split second, Miya Atsumu dashed away from the locker room, ignoring all the shouts and cheers from his teammates. He sped up, running without a care in this world as his mind only filled with a thought of you.

He ignored all the confused glance that was being thrown towards him, ignoring all the squeal and scream from people that he walked past to. He didn't feel nervous, not even a slightest as he finally set his foot on the VIP bleachers where you sat.

But he was starstruck. He saw you there with his old jersey that was tucked under a simple pair of jeans, looking as magnificent as ever. His focus was all for you, he didn't care how the commentator called out to him, he didn't care when the camera zoomed on his face and followed his every move.

He walked up to you with confidence radiated from him. And you, you could always sense when he was in the same room with you. You whipped your head towards his direction, eyes widened as you didn't expect to see him right now.

"Atsumu, what are you doing?"

You asked, and just like any other day it filled with love and adoration. He didn't feel nervous before, but now as he stood right in front of you, that was when all of the realisation dropped upon him.

What if you say no?

What if you wouldn't look at him?

What if you didn't like all of the attention?

But all of a sudden, the worry that he had in his mind vanished into a thin air. You could do this, It was as if someone whispered in his ear, Come on, dumbass, she's waiting, It was as if he could feel one comforting hand patted his back at this very moment, Go get your girl.

And now he was ready,

"Be mine forever, (Y/n)."

From how tears glossed your eyes, how you clamped your mouth with your hand, how you let out a sob. And from the nod of your head that you gave to him,

He was sure that he was winning in life today, and any other day as long as he had you.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ༶• ┈┈ ⛧ ┈ ♛ ♛ ┈ ⛧ ┈┈ •༶ *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

I dedicated this fic to @gulfwanq who I always ship with this baby Miya Atsumu even though she dick hop to a lot of guys.

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