#got tacky but you could never do that nowadays well no you couldn’t. you ask the neighbours to come over to see a screenshot of a reel of a

[steelycunt]

sent a screenshot of a reel of a kitten only one baby bottle tall to the discord gc at 00:07 and no one even replied it’s like no one even wants to see a screenshot of a reel of a kitten only one baby bottle tall anymore. it’s like no one’ll make the time

[mandoalorian]

Sugar and Spice [Maxwell Lord x Reader] - Chapter 2

Summary: When you are evicted from your apartment by your toxic ex boyfriend and have no place to go, who do you turn to? Alone in the city as the countdown to Christmas begins, you find yourself applying for a job as the assistant of the world’s biggest entrepreneur; Maxwell Lord. Little do you know, he has other intentions for you. No doubt about it, this Christmas will truly be like no other.

Word count: 3.2k

Warnings: Eventual smut, mentions of a previous verbally abusive relationship, typical 80s misogyny (but very little of it), mentions of food and drink, alcohol consumption. This is a sugardaddy x sugarbaby fic soooo… a daddy k!nk too oops.

But in this chapter - allusions to sex and MAJOR sexual tension hehe :)

Author’s note: Chapter 2 let’s go!! I hope everyone is enjoying so far! Remember if you wanted to be added to my taglist feel free to let me know!

MASTERLIST | SUBMIT REQUESTS

PREVIOUS - CHAPTER TWO - NEXT 

You had been mesmerised just from entering Black Gold Cooperative— but actually stepping foot in Maxwell Lord's office was a whole different story. The entire building was decked out in Christmas decorations, pine trees and tinsel on every corner, but as you stepped foot in his larger-than-life office, there was not a single thing that highlighted festive spirit in sight. Nevertheless, you were in awe, immediately taking in the paintings, the pottery, the statues… it was like every little thing was embellished in gold. You hadn't even laid your eyes on Maxwell yet, but he was certainly looking at you.

You weren't exactly sure what you took a man like Maxwell Lord for. You considered him to be the tacky kind— but every piece of furniture in his office looked antique— like it came straight out of a museum. You admired the paintings on the walls. One thing's for sure, you didn't expect him to be a man who appreciated art culture. They were magnificent, and of all different shapes and sizes.

Maxwell Lord slouched back into his chair and watched you intently, his dark eyes following your every move. You were like no other girl who had come in for an interview, that's for sure. You were dressed in a thick, cream coloured winter coat and he noted the hat and gloves that were stuffed messily into your pocket. Your wet boots left a puddle of water where you had entered his office and he noted the little snowflakes balancing in your windswept, knotted hair.

He was surprised, to say the least. The past week he had been conducting interviews in-attempt to find someone suitable for the job role at hand. Dozens of young girls would confidently strut into his office— their high heels clicking against the expensive marble floor. They would try wooing him with a bat of eyelashes, which of course, Maxwell did not shame their attempts. Despite their unsuccess at acquiring the job, Maxwell did make sure they got a little something from him in return.

The businessman's eyes darted to the trash can under his desk as he looked at the discarded silk handkerchiefs he had just used to clean himself up after his last interview. Then, he re-acquainted his gaze to you, and picked up on the fact that you had yet to acknowledge his presence. You were too caught up in the furnishings of his office. You really were different.

"Ms Minerva?" Maxwell called you eventually, clearing his throat. Not recognising your newly claimed fake name, you didn't budge, but instead let your fingers trace the countries of a world map that hung on the wall. Pins had been stabbed into the capitals of most countries and you wondered what it meant. Perhaps it was all the countries he had visited— or more likely, all the companies that had shares in his black gold business. "Ms Minerva." Maxwell repeated, his voice more solid this time.

You felt your body freeze up, wondering how long he had been calling you for. Shit, you thought. You really believe you had messed up— just stumbling into his office and paying no attention to him whatsoever.

"Oh!" you gasped, spinning around on the heel of your foot, almost slipping on the water you had trailed in with you. Maxwell couldn't help but let the small smirk creep upon his lips at your clumsy but innocent nature. "Your office is… it's so…" 

"What you expected?" Maxwell prompted, leaning over the desk slightly trying to get a closer look at you.

Something about your demeanor drew him to you and he couldn't place his finger on what exactly it was. He wondered what your deal was. He wondered why you had decided to attend possibly the most prestigious interview of your life dressed the way you had. You hoped he didn't think you were deliberately ignoring him.

"No- I mean. I'm not sure what I expected, really," You admitted with a small shrug before approaching an oil painting. "This is magnificent," you said. "I've never seen such intricate work before."

The painting was huge— quite possibly the biggest one in the room. It was posed, of course, and you wondered how long the poor models had to stand there to be painted. They were positioned on a grand staircase with a purple carpet rolling up it. They looked stern- mean- not an emotion in sight.

"That's a family portrait," Maxwell informed you from his chair. "My family." 

Oh.

You digested the image of the couple with their young son. The child was no older than ten, you guessed, with dark blonde-browning hair and he was dressed in a shirt, shorts and bow tie. The couple stood behind him, and the pair consisted of a beautiful woman with red hair and pearl earrings wearing a fur coat and sleek silk dress.  "Your wife is gorgeous." You said, quietly, entranced by the family portrait.

Maxwell paused, his eyes not moving from you for a second. "That's my mother." he deadpanned.

You curled your fingers into a fist at your own shameless and idiotic comment. You could not forget how much you needed this job— you had to do better.

"Oh," you replied, feeling a flush of embarrassment wash over you. "So that little boy is you, hm? Your hair is lighter nowadays," you smiled light-heartedly but Maxwell didn't share the warm sentiment. "You look just like your father." You admitted, eyes flicking between the suited man in the painting, and the suited man who was sitting at his desk behind you.

Both men were of an average height, with broad shoulders and the same, identical cunning smirk. Big brown eyes and swept but styled hair. You very little about the Lord family — to the general public, they were always an enigma. Tabloids would spread rumours and no one ever really knew the truth. You hoped you hadn't hit a nerve with the comparison, but as seconds went on, you cursed yourself for your inability to just keep your mouth shut.

Maxwell didn't reply to your comment, and the silence was deafening. For the first time, he looked away from you and into the light oak wood of his desk which he had inherited from his late father. He let a few sad thoughts ponder his mind as you continued to scower his office looking at all the high end decor, before taking a big huff of breath. It wasn't her fault, she couldn't know any better. Maxwell told himself, but it didn't hurt any less. 

Her words stung but he pushed them back as far as he could. Blocking out his emotions was something Maxwell had done his whole life and had become quite accustomed to. This was ridiculous. Maxwell wouldn't let himself get worked up over a brief comment about his father, by a girl wearing a last season winter coat who he had never met before. He stiffened up and cleared his throat.

"Ms Minerva, if you are going to just scope my office I'd be in my right mind to call security and have you thrown out." Maxwell sighed, tapping his fingers impatiently against the desk. Your head bolted towards him.

"Oh! I'm so so sorry." you pressed your hands in a pleading manner.

As Maxwell took in your form, his mind began to race. He could get used to looking at you like that. Pleading for him— on your knees— begging for just a taste of what he had to offer. The dirty thoughts consumed his mind and he shifted in his chair feeling a familiar fire in his lower stomach. Brushing past your pretty, doe-like eyes, he reached for a gold fountain pen and an expensive looking journal, opening it up.

"Why are you here?" Maxwell asked, dropping the pen, slouching back into his leather chair and kicking his feet up on his desk. You swallowed the hard lump that had appeared in your throat as you took in his posture.

"Uhm, well I- uh-" you struggled to find words. My god he was attractive. You hadn't paid much attention before, but now that he was sitting there right before your eyes, you felt a small warmth creep up between your legs.

He was just lounging right before you— his body spread out. He wasn't wearing the smart suit jacket as you had pictured, but instead, a crisp white button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. You could see the light hair on his arms glisten under the setting sun, and the yellow gold of his Rolex wristwatch sparkle as he played with the rings on his fingers.

Maxwell caught you staring at his hands. How could you not? Teasingly, he began rolling his jewelled rings up and down his long thick fingers. You found yourself biting your lower lip, pulling all your energy into suppressing a moan as you watched the way his fingers moved. You took in every detail, wanting to remember it forever— the light bronzed shade of his skin and the wrinkles over his knuckles. His nails were short but definitely well manicured. You let out the smallest gasp as you imagined how they would feel inside of you. You wondered how many of his fingers you could take and how they would stretch you open. You imagined his thumb rubbing circles into your clit as he finger fucked you and suddenly you felt your panties dampen. Your knees went weak.

He moved his large ring clad hands and folded them against his broad chest, a devilish smirk playing on his lips. You always wondered to what extent his magazine covers had been edited but he was just as handsome as he was on television, in real life. One thing you noticed was that his usual styled dark blonde hair was only slightly out of place, and the top two buttons of his shirt were undone. It was a change from his ordinary pristine appearance. Seeing that you were struggling to answer his question, Maxwell pointed his finger and gestured you closer to him. You walked towards him and stood still in front of him, only his desk between you both.

"Take it off." he mumbled, his gaze strong and steady on your body. You swore your mind was playing games on you as you engulfed his dark choice for words. You were absolutely ready to submit to him but deep down you knew that you were over-thinking.

"I- I'm sorry?" You croaked out.

His smirk grew and a small dimple appeared in his left cheek. "Your coat. Take it off." He commanded and you mouthed a small 'oh' before following his instructions and dropping your wet winter coat to the floor.  You cursed yourself. You were ready to completely undress yourself for this man you had never met before. Did he have this effect on everyone? "Turn around." he prompted you, twirling his finger in gesture. You slowly spun around a few times and Maxwell was struggling to contain himself.

You were delightful— wearing just a pair of washed out flared jeans and a geometric print t shirt. The jeans were very 70s, flaring out at the bottom, and Maxwell wondered how out of date your wardrobe was. He wondered if you'd let him take you out clothes shopping. Maxwell felt flushed as he took in how perfectly the denim sculpted your thighs and the round of your ass. He found your body exquisite. The t-shirt was thin, and he was surprised you had opted for such a fashion choice in the depth of winter. Despite the central heating being turned on, he couldn't help but notice the way your nipples poked through your shirt, hardened from the cold weather— or so he assumed they were hard from the cold weather. You felt his eyes bore into your chest and you crossed your arms over yourself, hoping he hadn't spotted your arousal. Maxwell felt his cock twitch at the sight of you and he fought the urge to bend you over and fuck you right then and there on his desk. You had an air of innocence to you, and he didn't want to ruin that. At least, not yet.

"Is everything okay sir?" Your voice was soft like honey and a small grunt escaped Maxwell's throat. He had just gotten off with his previous interviewee but you were simply something else.

"Perfect," he hummed wistfully. "Please, take a seat." You obeyed his order and slid down into the chair opposite to him. "Tell me, Ms Minerva. What urged you to lie about your identity?"

You felt your heart stop and your fingers gripped the arms of your chair. Shit, you thought to yourself. He had caught on. You gulped and tried to find a quick witted yet believable response to him but it you couldn't. Normally you were great at answering back but sitting before Maxwell Lord had you feeling some kind of way and you couldn't shake it.

"Tell me, who are you really?" He urged. You contemplated his words and decided there was no pointing in continuing your long winded lie. You were surprised you had made it this far without getting caught in the first place. He was still smirking, however, and it seemed like he didn't really care at all. Giving in, you told him your real name.

"Mr Lord, if I may ask, how did you know I wasn't Barbara Minerva?" you asked Maxwell.

"I can read minds." Maxwell said darkly, staring deep into your eyes.

Oh, his eyes. They had darkened significantly— once a chocolate brown but now they could easily be confused for black. Suddenly the extravagant decor around his office had become a mere back thought and you had been absolutely captured by his handsome looks. His skin was golden under the setting sun behind him and it accentuated the blonde highlights in his hair. His eyelashes were long and dark and his lips were the perfect shape. His nose was rather prominent and curved slightly and you imagined what it would be like pressed against your face as he kissed you. 

You wanted him to take you in his arms and glide his large hands all over your body, caressing you and touching you everywhere he could. Sliding his hand up your shirt and cupping your breast as he settled lazy sloppy kisses into your neck and collarbones. Realising you had been silent for perhaps a moment too long, you let out a loud laugh.

"Right," you chortled in disbelief. "Read minds. Very funny." you grinned and you even caught him stifle down a dry chuckle.

"I like you," Maxwell admitted and you felt your heart stop. "I think you'd be well suited working for me. Of course… we might have to sort out your wardrobe. I'd like to offer you a job."

He had barely asked you any questions and he already made his mind up. You couldn't believe your luck.

"Wait, really?" you asked, your eyes widening with delight.

Maxwell nodded slowly. "Did one of my secretaries have you sign an NDA on your way in here?" 

"Yes sir," you bit your lip anxiously. You had wondered what the non-disclosure agreement was for.

"So you know that if you repeat any of this to anyone else after our interview is over, I can and will sue you."

Not that you had any money anyway, his cold words still made you nervous. He was one of the most powerful men in the world. Friends with the president of the USA, he had relations with practically every country who bought his oil, and now, he was offering you a job.

"Yes sir." you repeated obediently, fluttering your eyelashes at him. The way that word rolled off your tongue— He felt his cock harden in his pants. You were just so damn pretty.

"I have to tell you then," Maxwell leaned forward on his desk, interlocking his fingers together. He was inches away from you, gazing into your eyes. "I'm not looking for an assistant." His voice was dark and menacing and a lustful glint appeared in his eyes.

"You- you're not?" You stammered, feeling your cheeks flush with heat. You wondered what job you had actually gone for.

"How familiar are you with sugar dating?" Maxwell raised an eyebrow, his eyes now glaring dark and sinister.

"Su-sugar dating?"

You weren't overly familiar, but sure, you had read your fair share of erotic novels that illustrated such prospect.

Maxwell stood up from his chair and walked around his desk before perching on top of it and looking down at you. "I'm looking for a certain kind of arrangement, per-se," Maxwell explained. "You give me what I want, and I give you what you want. Money, clothes, diamonds, jewellery, cars… whatever your heart desires. It's yours. Think about finally having everything you always wanted."

Your gaze met the floor as you contemplated his words. No, he couldn't be serious. He had the wrong girl. "Sir," your voice was a timid whisper. "I don't think I possess anything you could want." you told him sadly, insecurity bubbling inside you. He was the Maxwell Lord. Esteemed, knowledgeable, reputable, and he worked amongst the most beautiful and well dressed women you had ever seen. Yet, here you were, sitting before him, and he had chosen you.

Maxwell shook his head. "No." he said simply, extending his arm and curling his fingers around your chin, pointing it upwards so you were looking up at him. He wanted to trace your pretty lips with his fingers— spread them apart and feel the warmth as he let you taste him.

"No?" You beckoned, your heart trashing against your chest. His hands were so soft but his touch was rough and he steadied the hard grip around your face. If it were any other man, you would've pushed him off you, cursing him. But this wasn't just any man. 

"You have everything I want."

December Magic: @kiwi-the-first​ @100layersofdaddyissues​ @mrschiltoncat​ @honeymandos​ @thisisthe-way​ @this-cat-is-dea​ 

Permanent: @goth-topic​  @supernaturalgirl @phoenixhalliwell @ah-callie @luvzoria​ 

[gainaxvel3o]

A Miraculous Tale of Rubybug and Cat Blake Chapter 3

Previous / First / Next

If I don’t, who will?

Glynda Goodwitch was never one for tardiness.

Every year she'd get a new batch of students and they would all be the same. On one hand you have the lazy and unmotivated, the ones who coasted through high school and came here expecting an easy grade.

On the other hand, you have the tired and unfocused. These people struggled to get into Beacon and feel the weigh of expectations thrust upon them. They fear that they will not be able to pos the grade with even a C.

The last group are the ones she both loved and feared. These students are eager, motivated and ready. They are fearless in the face of error and have so much potential ripe to be unlocked.

The common factor among these groups was that they all needed discipline. And she would show them that discipline.

Glynda would most certainly do that for the girl who walked into the room just as she was in the middle of her lecture.

"Good of you to join us Miss Rose," She said. "Take your seat."

Ruby nodded, clearly embarrassed over being called out like this. Glynda wasn't sure which of the groups she fit in yet. She could only hope that the short girl learned her lesson.

"You will be taking your seat next to- OH FOR THE LOVE OF GOD YOU TWO STOP THAT!"

A pair of girls interrupted their passionate make out session to look at their teacher. One of them had long brown haired and blushed furiously at Glynda's outburst. The other one, who had a black beret on her head and a pair of sunglasses, only smirked.

"Sorry teach," Sunglasses girl adjusted them. "We just couldn't keep to ourselves this time."

Glynda was not amused. "Well since you clearly can't manage such a basic task, then you won't mind if I have Miss Rose take Scarletina's seat?"

"I… well." The shy girl said. "No it won't be a problem Miss Goodwitch."

She moved up from her seat, Ruby taking her place on it. The shy girl had to sit next to Ruby, a desk apart from Sunglasses Girl.

Yang had asked her to make friends this year. Ruby felt she was pretty lucky yesterday, Weiss aside. Maybe this time might also work?

"…Hi!" Ruby said whispering to the shy girl. "I'm Ruby?"

She really hoped she wouldn't get yelled at.

"Huh? I'm Velvet. Velvet Scarletina." The shy girl smiled. "Pleased to meet you."

Oh thank God it was another nice one. However, before any more conversation could be said, Glynda had already returned to the lecture.

"We have only 20 minutes before class ends, so pay attention." Ms Goodwitch said to the students. "The Fashion Industry is a harsh and cruel place where only talent and luck will save you. Thousands enter but only few make it to the top. Because of that, we need to perfect our skills to stand out among the crowd."

Ruby took out a pen and wrote down on her notebook. She was already late, but maybe she could get this right. Something had to go right today…

_______________________________________________________________________

After class ended, Ruby made a bee line for the bathroom.

No one was there (which was odd but she rolled with it), so Ruby rubbed the earrings. Out from them came Tikki, who looked concerned.

"Ruby!" She screamed. "I was so worried did something happened?!"

The girl was forlorn. She sighed sadly.

"I'm so sorry Tikki," Ruby said. "I went to look for Nooro but therewasthisbadguyandheturnedpeopleintomonstersandIcouldn't-"

"Slow down Ruby!" Tikki waved her stubby arms in front of her chosen. "I couldn't understand… did you say monsters?"

She nodded. "Yeah… that bad guy I beat up the yesterday, Roman… he had this tacky bowler hat and awful eyeliner and was calling himself Chadwick (like that Pinocchio character) and he turned all the prisoners into these… these donkey people! It was horrible!"

"Donkey… people…?" Tikki tilted her head in confusion. "Now I know something is strange, Nooro is a kind Kwami. His powers shouldn't be able to be used for evil gain."

Ruby herself had question marks written on her face.

"If that's true then how comes Roman was able to get this power?"

"Because he wasn't." Tikki said. "He was borrowing it from whoever is Nooro's chosen… they wee wielding dark power."

"Dark power?" Ruby asked, "What do you mean?"

The red Kwami hesitated. She closed her eyes, ha an utterly serious look on her face. It was the first time Ruby had seen her truly afraid. It worried her immensely.

"Ruby, this is more serious than I thought. The power… it's similar to an ancient evil that me and the previous Miraculous users faced before. When we lost the butterfly miraculous we just thought it was broken. That would have been preferable to this."

Tikki opened her eyes, a fierce glare.

"Nooro's power has been corrupted by the Grimm."

Ruby scratched the back of her head. "Okay… And who are they exactly?"

A few seconds pass.

"Oh right. You don't know the legends…" Tikki blushed a little. However, she regained her composure. "The Grimm were terrible things… evil things. They fed on the negative feelings human beings have and used it to become stronger. Nooro is the Kwami of Compassion. His power is supposed to heal and nurture whoever he possesses, help them overcome their flaws. Instead, his power is being used to corrupt people into monsters!"

"Like some kind of… Grimmification." Ruby hesitated to say, "It would explain his power."

"Yes that's exactly right! We have to find whoever is causing this and beat them!"

"I don't know Tikki… he managed to beat me this time what if he does it again? How do we even depower him?

"Don't worry about you losing that time Ruby!" Tikki quickly reassured. "It was your first real fight, and now that you know more you can do better this time! As for how to depower him…"

She conjured up the yoyo. Tikki opened it up.

"Nooro's power is to posses someone and grant it powers. However, each of these victims have a special item that contains the butterfly possessing them. If you can break it, you can use the yoyo to capture the butterfly and undo their effects on the world."

"Yeah! I can get help from Chat Noir!"

"Chat Noir?" Tikka's eyes widened. "Shit, that means Plagg's out."

"Wait, who's Plagg? Is he a Kwami?" Ruby asked. "What's wrong with him?"

"Him I don't have a problem with. It's his wielders I'm concerned about." Tikki said. "Beware of those chosen by the Cat Miraculous, Ruby. Such people tend to a sketchy history. I wouldn't want to get you hurt by them."

Ruby shrugged. "I dunno Tikki, she seemed nice. She saved me out today and promised she'd help me find Chadwick."

"She did?" The Kwami raised it's stubby arm to her chin, scratching it. "Just be careful. She could be manipulating you for her freedom. Previous users would woo Ladybugs to receive a kiss, made from love… and then leave them at a moment's convenience. I don't want you going through that heartbreak."

Ruby blushed heavily. 'True love's kiss breaks the spell, huh… like a fairy tale.'

Ever since she was a kid, Ruby loved fairy tales. Tales of heroes, princesses and creatures that lurked in the woods, she loved how even though they go through horrible and painful things they would eventually have a happy ending. Maybe even get married! That seemed nice…

Nowadays, she still liked them. They were entertaining, questionable moments from heroes aside. But Blake had been right when she said the real world wasn't like a fairy tale. Ruby kept that in mind when Tikki continued talking.

"We should go find him immediately! When do we get started?"

"I… I have to be with my friends first." Ruby said. "Once dinner is over then I'll get search for Chadwick again. I promise."

If Tikki noticed anything up with Ruby, she did not say. She only nods, and vanished back into the earrings.

Satisfied, Ruby left the stall. She opened the door only for it to bump into someone.

"Blake? Oh I'm so sorry!"

Her new friend waved it off. "Don't worry about it, Ruby. Where are you headed?"

"I was… umm…" Ruby chuckled. "I was heading to the cafeteria!"

"Good. Me too."

"…"

"…"

"So um… wanna walk together?"

"…"

"…"

"Sure."

_______________________________________________________________________

Chadwick sat down on a rooftop, panting heavily.

He had made a reasonable amount of distance from the prison. Roman didn't do that much exercise before or during his stint as a crook so this was a bit more than he could take. He wished he had a cool limo getaway car.

Or a scooter. Scooters were nice.

The more Roman thought about, his entire situation was pretty weird. The moment that butterfly landed on his hand and he heard a voice in his mind Roman thought he had been going crazy, Getting the power to turn people into donkeys and fighting those pesky heroes did nothing to soothe his worries about being insane.

Maybe the voice in his head would stop being vague and finally explain herself. He hoped for that as a glowing violet butterfly symbol appeared over his face again.

“You failed to get the miraculous, Roman.”

"Give me a break, woman." He said. "I was just about to when those stinkin' cops were about shoot me."

“If you hadn't gloated for so long you might have been able to take both. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't take away your power and give it someone competent.”

That wasn't good. Roman had to think about this carefully. If he wanted to keep this power, he needed a plan of attack.

"Wait your disembodied majesty, I may have something that can get your special magic jewels!"

The voice hummed in thought.

“Go on.”

He got down on his knees and begged, "Now see here, Mayor Ironwood's gonna give a speech later today. It's gonna attract a whole lot of press… and a mountain of cockroaches I call people. So many people that I can turn into big grey jackasses and overwhelm those so called heroes and steal those earrings! I can make this work, trust me I won't do any screwing around that isn't in service of your goal!"

Chadwick hoped this would work. He wasn't prepared to go back to being Roman Torchwick, the puny criminal who got caught by a freaking toddler. With this power he can be more.

A feeling of sinister content flowed through him. The voice seemed to have made her choice.

“Very well. This is your second chance. If you fail, it is your own fault.”

Good. This was good. Chadwick gave no one but the air a cruel evil grin.

"Thank you mistress… say, what do I call you anyway? I'm pretty sure sure you're not just a voice in my head."

"Well Mr. Torchwick, I could be your magical godmother or your evil queen. So I guess I'll be your very own… Monarch."

_______________________________________________________________________

"Breaking news! The most unusual prison break!"

Lisa Lavender's voice and image was for all the students to see. The cafeteria watched with passing interest at the latest news to available.

"Reports found that all the prisoners had mysteriously disappeared, with donkeys found all over the place! Ladybug and a mysterious new Cat Girl were last seen fleeing the scene. No word had been given but suspicions are now placed upon Vale's latest vigilante…"

On one table, one Yang Xiao-Long sighed.

"Oh great don't tell me she's a fake. A real shame, If I can't trust an anonymous vigilante who can you trust?"

The same table sat not just her, but her… friends? Acquaintances? She hoped that these people were friends

"They can't be the ones responsible," Jaune said. "Okay maybe the Cat Girl might have done something but Ladybug could be going after the real bad guy!"

"At least she got a better costume," Ren said. "The other one didn't feel like her if I say so."

"I just know that I like Cat Lady's outfit!" Nora yelled while raising her fists up and down. "Quick Ren, do we have time to go shopping for cosplay?"

Yang rolled her eyes. She turned to find her precious sister and roomie walking towards them. Noting the seemingly forlorn look on their faces, Yang wondered if something had happened. If she should ask any questions.

"Yo Rubes! Blakey! Why not come with the cool kids at the table?"

Blake glared at Yang. "Call me that again and I'll end your life."

"What's going on Yang?" Ruby asked trying to prevent a problem. "How's the first day for you?"

"It's been going fine Ruby. Boring, but I met some cool people." Yang pointed at the TV. "We were just talking about Ladybug. People disappeared from prison and the news think it's her and some Cat Girl's fault."

Ruby frowned. 'They didn't say anything about Chadwick? That's so strange… or maybe that's how it is. The bad get away and the good get blamed…'

Blake had her own reaction. 'I expected the cops to cover up for their own incompetence. Police look out for each other, not the people. But… Cat Girl? Seriously? Would it have been that hard to get my name right? At least translate Chat Noir to Black Cat or something, I hate this.'

"Hey Pyrrha, you haven't said anything yet." Jaune said. "What do you think of this thing?"

Pyrrha seemed nervous about something. He wasn't sure what about, but Jaune didn't want her to be left out. She seemed pretty nice.

"Ah, well," Pyrrha said. "I'd rather wait until more information comes through. Sometimes we have to wait for the truth to come through right?"

"Yeah… that makes sense." Jaune nodded. "I hope her name is cleared. She saved my bacon and I'm not sure what I'd do if-"

"Ah, Pyrrha Nikos! Right in our midst!"

The group turned their heads towards the offending voice. The sight of Weiss Schnee with something that wasn't a frown or annoyance would normally be a pretty sight, but the gleam in her eye indicated that trouble was afoot.

The way Pyrrha was shaking from her words rang some bells in Jaune's head. She looked around to see if anyone heard.

"Um, could you please keep it down? I'm not-"

"This will be perfect!" Weiss interrupting. She clearly wasn't paying attention to her discomfort. "The great fashion model combined with the famous Vale athlete! Together we will be unstoppable!"

Everyone at the table looked at Pyrrha. Ren and Nora didn't really care all that much. A pal is a pal after all. Yang had an eyebrow raised. Ruby was rubbing her chin as gears were turning in her head trying to figure something out. Blake just stared impassively, not caring either way.

Weiss kept talking over them. Jaune had previously asked her out because she was pretty, but the way that Pyrrha tensed up at being recognized made him have second thoughts.

"I can see it now! We'll be popular! We'll be even bigger celebrities together! We'll get perfect grades! Nothing can come between us now!"

That about did it. Jaune had stood up now.

"You know what else is great?" Jaune said. "Me. Jaune Arc. Nice to see you again, Snow Angel."

Weiss was irritated at the buffoon from yesterday speaking to her. "You again? Haven't I told you enough that your incessant flirting will get you nowhere?"

"Yeah I figured. But you're not exactly being friendly yourself right now soooo…"

Weiss looked annoyed. Blake observed how Pyrrha seemed relieved when Jaune spoke up. She'll admit that this moment was about the most spine he'd shown but Blake thinks Pyrrha could do a little better than Jaune. He showed basic respect and nothing else.

Still, anything that annoyed Weiss was good in Blake's book.

"Jaune, is it?" Weiss said. "Do you have any idea who you've talking to?

Jaune shrugged. "Not in the slightest. Should I?"

"Miss Schnee, please." Pyrrha begged. "I don't want anyone to know!"

The ice queen ignored her words. "This is Pyrrha Nikos! Graduated top of her class at Sanctum, she's a super star football player who's athletics are known far and wide!"

Looks like the cat was out of the bag. Yang's eyes widened in surprise while Ren and Nora stared at Pyrrha with awe.

Pyrrha for her part was angry. It would have been foolish to think that her secret would be kept hidden for long, but she expected at least a week before it happened. Not immediately the day after arriving. She readied her fist to pummel the offending Weiss right now.

"Really?" Jaune tilted his head in confusion. "Never heard of her."

… What?

Pyrrha reeled a bit from the shock. He really didn't know her? Wonderful words to hear admittedly, but… really? Her fortune couldn't possibly be this good.

Any moment of shock Weiss had quickly disappeared. She scoffed at this clearly moronic ingrate too low for her.

"Oh please, you mean to tell me you're NEVER HEARD of the invincible girl who won the Mistral Football Tournaments four years in a row, establishing a new record!"

Jaune scratched the back of his head. "Can't say I've heard of them no."

Eye twitch. Weiss was feeling a very annoyed eye twitch happening right now.

"There's no way you could not know! She's on the front of every Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes box!"

A loud gasped was heard. It came from Ruby, looking as if a lightbulb was shining over her head.

"Holy crap you were on my cereal boxes!" She pointed at Pyrrha. "I used to eat Pumpkin Pete's all the time back at Patch and I didn't expect you to be a real person! Holy crud this is SO awesome!"

"Yeah, I remember doing that for a charity event." Pyrrha chuckled, shaking her head. "Sadly the cereal isn't very good for you."

Yang laughed heartily. "That's what I keep telling Ruby, but her sweet tooth overrides her common sense."

"Hey!"

"Wow I can't believe you didn't say anything Pyrrha!" Nora said. "Must be so fun being a famous football player! Closest thing to football was when me and Ren threw badgers at the trees expecting them to break down and reveal HIDDEN TREASURE! They didn't though which is so disappointing."

"I kept telling you it wouldn't work." Ren said. "You find treasure inside of caves, not trees."

"See Ren, this is why you're my other half!"

Weiss rolled her eyes at this most unorthodox nonsense. She simply had to get Pyrrha out of there for her own good.

"So, after hearing all of this do you really think you're in a position to talk to Pyrrha at all? You're not quite on our level."

Jaune frowned. "If she wants to talk to us, then that's her deal, Snow Angel. Not yours."

"Don't be ridiculous." Weiss said. "Pyrrha come with me, you need to be with people of your stature!"

At that, Pyrrha stood up from the chair. She glared at the Schnee with fire in her bright green eyes.

"And I'm telling your right now, I don't want to be around you. I asked you multiple times to stop and you haven't done it. Now leave me alone. I won't say it one more time!"

Her stare made Weiss take a step back. Her attempt to save this pure maiden from the savage ingrates had clearly failed. Oh well, she would try again another time. She wouldn't be intimidated by anyone. Definitely not going to run with a tail behind her butt because she was scared.

It was definitely that.

"Fine," Weiss turned around, scoffing. "Throw your lot with useless peons! But I'll be there if you need a true equal."

The heiress stormed off in a huff. As she took steps away, everyone on the table smiled in relief.

"Wow you handled her so well Pyrrha!" Nora said. "Maybe we can break her Schnees Knees next!"

"I… really wouldn't want to do that." Pyrrha sat down again, blushing in embarrassment. "I get enough press already. I just want to be a normal girl right now, at least for a while. Normal knees and all."

"I know what that's all about." Ruby said. Then she frowned. "Ohhhh and I have her for a roomie! Crud my life sucks."

Unable to help themselves, everyone laughed. Yang placed an arm on her precious sister's shoulder and rubbed it reassuringly.

"Hey don't worry Rubes. It's one semester. Soon as it's done we'll work on transferring you out of there into another room. "

Ruby smiled. She was so lucky to have a big sister like Yang around. It always seemed like Yang knew what to say, what to do… how to do it… Ever since Ruby was a little girl Yang had been her hero, the light that shined in the dark. In every way that mattered Yang had the qualities of a hero. She could have been a champion if Ruby hadn't been picked.

Maybe she should be. Ruby still had time to rectify it. Maybe Yang can be the hero she could never be. maybe-

"Ow! Stop it! Stop it please!"

Everyone at the table turned from the table. burly looking guy. He had an ugly crew cut and muscles meant for wrestling. He had been grabbing someone by the hair. Aside from a few glares, no one was lifting a finger to help.

"Shit man," Yang said. "Wonder if a teacher's here."

She turned to her sister, but Ruby wasn't there. Yang followed the sound of footsteps and found she was heading for the trouble.

"Hey Ruby? Wait a sec!"

Ruby wasn't listening. The girl instead travelled to where the noise came from. As she got closer, Ruby could hear words being exchanged.

"Fuckin' bitch, not so tough without your girlfriend here huh?!"

The girl- Velvet Scarletina. Ruby remembered her from class- strained against his grip. "Leave me alone, Cardin! You bastard!"

Cardin Winchester grinned. "Yeah? Well who's gonna stop me?"

"Hey!"

He didn't even notice the tight grip on his arm before he felt the punch coming.

_______________________________________________________________________

Blake Belladonna waited outside the conference room.

After the incident at the lunchroom, Ruby and Cardin had been called away to receive discipline. Cardin had left a few minutes earlier, not all that worried. Ruby had been inside longer.

Worry had built up within her. Blake hoped Ruby wouldn't get in trouble.

That worry only increased when the door opened. Ruby stepped out of it, looking… unlike herself. Previously Blake had seen with sunshine and smiles pouring from her very being. Now, Ruby's normally flashy grey eyes seemed dimmed, as if dulled by resignation.

It was not something that made Blake happy.

"You okay?"

Ruby looked at her. Thankfully a small smile seemed to form on her lips.

"Maybe… Surprised to see you here Blake." Ruby said. "Where is everybody?"

Blake shrugged. "The headmaster been called to attend a rally later. Mayor Ironwood will be speaking. I decided to stay behind to get you."

"Oh…" Ruby looked away. "Good."

"… Ruby." Blake said. "What did they say to you?"

The girl didn't seem sure what to say. She then sighed.

"Cardin Winchester acted out of line. But you shouldn't have acted so violently. You have to think about his future prospects." Ruby mimicked. She sighed. "They said if something like this happened again I would be kicked out."

Then, Ruby frowned. "It's so stupid. Cardin was the one hurting people. He got a tiny reprimand, but I'm the one who's punished? I thought it would get better in University… but it doesn't. It's so unfair!"

"I'm not surprised." Blake agreed, nodding sadly. "The world can be pretty unfair."

Ruby nodded, not saying anything.

The pair were walking outside. Ruby had noticed that the students were being filed into a line.

"Why are they lined up? Is it for that rally you mentioned?"

"Yes," Blake answered. "Yang and the others are in a different group. We'll see them later."

"Ooohhhh… nice!" Ruby said. "So what's this Ironwood guy all about? I don't really read much news."

"… Ironwood is… controversial." Blake tried to find the right words. "He's considered popular for raising the economy in Vale but some of his policies have been questionable."

"What do you mean by…" Ruby bit her lip. "Questionable?"

"Well," Blake said. "He increased funding for the police department, allowing them access to military grade guns and weapons."

Ruby raised her eyebrows. "Doesn't that seem… excessive?"

"Some think it's needed."

"What do you think then?"

"… I think it's horrible." Blake said. "I haven't had the best experiences with cops, and the last thing we need is to give them more stuff to harass people with."

"Sounds about right." Ruby scratched her chin. "The sheriff back in Patch acted all high and mighty 'cause he had a gun. Freaked my classmates out whenever he walked near the school waving that thing around. If that's one sheriff imagine the whole department like that."

They walked a bit further as the line continued.

There was a thought that had been nagging at Blake. A relatively simple question she wanted to ask. Considering that they were going to be there for a while, it seemed about as right time as any to start.

"Ruby…" Blake said. "Why did you do that thing earlier?"

The girl turned her head around. "What do you mean?"

"Punching Cardin." Blake said. "You knew you were going to get in trouble, but you did it anyway. Why?"

Ruby frowned.

"… Blake? Remember what I told you last night? How I wanted to be like the heroes of those fairy tales?"

Upon hearing those words, Blake's face morphed into a subtle glare.

"Is that it? You wanted to play a hero?"

"No no, it's just-" Ruby shook her head, pinching her nose. "Listen. Cardin wasn't going to stop harassing Velvet, and no one was standing up for her. No one. If I didn't do something, who would? Evil triumphs when good men do nothing. When someone's in trouble, you have to stand up for what's right even if bad things happen to you. Because if you don't… if I don't… then we would be no better than Cardin. The world's damned if nobody did the right thing. Just like you helped me the other day with Weiss, I had to do something. The fairy tale heroes worked for their happy ending. I'll do the same, maybe for everyone else. You understand?"

"…"

"… Sorry."

"No it's fine."

The two said nothing. They continued their walk.

At this moment, Blake felt an odd mix of emotions. Ruby thought she was saving her that time with Weiss… the girl didn't know. That time, Blake hadn't helped Ruby out of any sense of kindness. All she wanted to humiliate the mighty Weiss Schnee, nothing more.

Blake couldn't even say Chat Noir was helpful. She only helped Ladybug out because Plagg told her she would solve all her problems. A simple kiss was all that was needed, and Blake would wait until they defeated Chadwick to ask her for that.

If there was one thing Blake knew, it was that she was not a good person. A good person would help out of the kindness of their heart, wouldn't help people because it was convenient. A good person wouldn't run away when they did something bad, or stand around and watch as someone was going to get hurt. If she was good, she wouldn't have that accursed Plagg on her fingertips.

Every day, Blake looked at herself in the mirror wondering when she will feel fine. Perhaps…

She looked at the ring in her finger.

Perhaps with this, she might finally feel like herself.

_______________________________________________________________________

The crowd had gathered at Town Hall.

They surrounded a tall platform that was surrounded by several armed guards. The wide metal fences kept the people back.

Amid the cheers and screams of the audience were students either too tired or too jaded to care about the conference either way. One of those was Yang Xiao Long, who, bored out of her skull, searched around for her friend and sister.

"Where's Blake and Ruby?" She said annoyed. "They're supposed to be here aren't they?"

"Hey relax," Jaune smiled. "The crowd's pretty thick after all."

Yang knew as much. Upon hearing claps from the audience, she turned her head to see a tall bearded man in a white suit walking towards the podium. He waved, a practiced smile on his face and a slight shake on his right arm.

He cleared his throat, before taking the microphone into his left hand.

"Thank you all for coming ladies and gentlemen!"

James Ironwood considered himself a lucky man. Having served in the military for years, he knew the value of sacrifice. How men on the frontline were considered expendable by the chain of command, how compromise was necessary in order to complete the mission.

"In just a few months, elections will be heading underway. I will be running a campaign for reelection."

James kept that same attitude in the political arena. He had to pull strings and make alliances in order to get stuff done. Things that have made people uncomfortable, even suspicious. It was worth it in Ironwood's mind.

"Thanks to me, crime rates have gone down by 20% and the city infrastructure has prospered in my time. If you can get me elected again, we can do so much more."

The city is infected by lowlives and scum. He will do whatever it takes to ensure order in his city. He will protect the people from themselves.

His words faded into the background of applause, as Yang heard an apology or two from behind her.

"Sorry we're late," Blake said. "Thick crowd."

"See, I told you!" Jaune pointed at Yang. "Don't be so worried."

Ruby looked up to the podium. "Has he said anything interesting?"

"Eh," Yang said. "Just drumming up publicity for his campaign. Nothing solid, like usual for politicians."

"… on my soul, I promise," Ironwood said. "I promise to do a better job this time around than I did before. I will focus on the real issues affecting this city, and drive them out from our town!"

That got a round of applause from the audience. Ironwood basked in the praise, doing a little bow here and there.

This was not the best part of the job, far from it. The best part of the job is getting behind the desk and going through the boring, practical paperwork that'll allow him to make the big decisions. James smiled. Things were going well.

"Excuse me, Mayor Ironwood! Just a question!"

Now the questions barrage. Sometimes he wished Winter were still there to sort this stuff out.

"Of course," James said confidently. "Just as expected from the press."

"What do you have to say about the Ladybug vigilante? And her Cat-themed assistant?"

Ironwood breathed with a heavy sigh. Of course this would come up. Might as well get it out of the way.

"I will make my position clear. Ladybug is a threat to peaceful society as we know it. If we allow her to run the streets unsupervised she will bring harm the innocent and destabilize order. Her existence will cause an escalation in crime. If she cared to save people, she would join the police. As soon as this meeting is done I will put together a task force to hunt her down."

Now that caused quite a stir. The people were going uproar at Ironwood's declarations, some baffled, some relieved but most of all confusion.

"Guess someone's not a fan." Yang crossed her arms. "Not sure if I'm liking the guy so far."

"He has to pay lip service to law and order." Blake said. "Potential backers wouldn't be too pleased with a politician who openly supports a vigilante."

"That guy's a load of crap!" Nora yelled. "Ladybug's not a bad guy and I'm sure she'd do a way better job of being a mayor than that jerk face over there! Ren do we have the eggs?"

"Nora no"

"Nora YES!"

Ruby herself was not sure how to respond. Ironwood raised a good point. What if she made things worse by stepping in? Roman turned into Chadwick because of her. Maybe-

"Glad to find someone who isn't a fan of that bug!"

Several bowler hats spread around the area. The guards protecting the rally had them stuck to their heads, and dropped their guns. One fired in fear. That caused the crowd to disperse!

"RUN FOR IT!" Someone said. "They're gonna- AH!"

Ruby looked around in horror. Everywhere people ran, there were a couple or so who were writhing in pain, turning into creatures they were never meant to be.

"Get away Ruby!" Yang yelled in her ear. "Run!"

"YANG!"

Ruby felt her sister push her away. She couldn't see Blake, her friends or anyone she recognized in the crowd. Even amid the crowd she was alone.

Her earrings glowed.

Perfect.

_______________________________________________________________________

The situation had turned insane.

It was as if Ladybug was not a lucky charm but a symbol of a doom according to the world of James Ironwood. All it took was saying her name and then the cavalcade of bullshit reigned on him today. To think James was looking forward to a nice meal after this event.

He hid behind the podium. He could that his guards were being turned into hideous beasts, and despair gripped his heart at the thought he could end up like them.

"What the hell is going?!" James tapped his ear piece. "What's causing these attacks!?"

"I don't know sir," The voice on the other line. "Everything is getting chaotic. You need to get out of there."

"Spoken like a true detective," Ironwood said. "This is clearly a terrorist attack. Coordinate the police to block the perimeter."

The static in his ear gave him no answer as to whether his instruction was heard. Just then, Ironwood heard a thud. He surmised that someone had landed on the platform.

"Excuse Mr. Mayor," The stranger leaning his head on the cane. "I hope you don't mind if I take the mike."

Ironwood glared at this gaudy looking villain. He took out the gun from his pocket, only for the criminal to knock it out of his hand with the staff.

"You're a parasite to our city," James said. "I will stop you."

The criminal laughed. "Nah. I don't think so. You just sit there while I wait for the bug."

The man who was Roman Torchwick smirked at the Mayor glaring at him. He never liked Old Ironwood anyway. This has been the second most amazing day of his life. Seeing everyone turn into the horrible monsters they are deep down, causing chaos everywhere… It was truly an honor to see.

He would have to thank the Monarch. Chadwick will get the miraculous, after prying it from Ladybug's dead hands.

"Chadwick!"

Speaking of whom…

"If it isn't the stupid brat I beat earlier," Chadwick turned his head towards the teenage heroine. "Ready to hand over your earrings?"

Ladybug clutched her fists. "You wish. What are you doing here, Chadwick? Why are you involving innocent people into this?"

"Ignoring your remark about innocents." Chadwick said. "I can say with certainty that you are in fact the one responsible for this."

She hesitated. Her eyes widened in fear.

"I… what?"

Good, Roman thought. Shiny knight types tend to be the most easy to manipulate. Just use their sense of shame to your advantage and you win the deck instantly.

"That's right Ladybug, YOU are the one at fault!" Chadwick said. "I was but a mere criminal that night until my new master sent a teeny butterfly and VOILA! Chadwick got his start! I have the power to turn everyone I want into stupid little mules, which I wouldn't have been able to do if you didn't step into the limelight."

The violet symbol of the butterfly appeared over his face.

"Hand over the miraculous my child," A whispery, angry voice could be heard in synch with Roman's own. "and you will save everyone."

She had taken a step back. Roman was close to getting to her. If he kept talking, he would get the Miraculous from her own hands.

"Come on…" He smirked. "Hand it over… and do nothing."

Suddenly Chadwick was struck by a staff to his skull.

He fell to the floor, blood spilling from his mouth. Chadwick looked up to see Ladybug's partner.

"You are a liar and a cheat. Ladybug won't listen to you."

Chat glanced at her partner. Ladybug was breathing in and out, trying to control herself. Chat had seen this sort of thing before. What was needed was encouragement. That was something she could do.

"If Ladybug had not interfered, you would have endangered the life of an innocent boy. You've had a life of crime beforehand. All Ladybug did was beat you before you could perpetrate more harm. She did the right thing then, and she does the right thing now. Whoever your master is, they are not ones to be trusted. If they would endanger the lives of civilians to get the miraculous then how can Ladybug trust them to stand down when she does? The only way for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing. Neither of us will stand aside to let you do as you please. Not now. "

Chat could feel the presence of her lady next to her. Ladybug stood tall, with yoyo in hand.

"Not ever." She said, staring down the criminal in front of her.

Chadwick wiped away from the blood from his mouth. Slowly he got up from the floor, facing the heroes in front of him.

"Stupid girls like you, always demanding things go their way. Fine. I'll just rip off the miraculous from your dead bodies!"

Yang won't lie. The situation was pretty weird.

One minute she and her friends were sitting at a boring political rally. Then everyone was turning into… Donkey dudes? She couldn't really tell what they were.

All she knew was, she had to punch. So she did.

Her hand hurts a bit, but these guys went down easily. That's a good sign.

"LAY OFF MY FRIENDS YOU BUTTS!"

Nora was off to the side whacking people around with her own punches. Now that Yang could take a good look, that girl was jacked! Not quite as much as her, but if Nora told a story about how she suplexed a bear Yang would believe it in a heart beat.

Ren wasn't doing too badly either. He wasn't hitting anyone, but no one was hitting him either. He was swift, moving like the wind to avoid getting swamped.

"Watch out Yang!"

Yang was caught off guard, getting hit from behind.

When she came to, a giant Donkey Man was standing over her. It was snarling, ready to attack anything was in it's way.

And she was right in front of it.

"… hey buddy?" Yang said nervously. "Sorry for hitting your friends?"

"HYAH!"

Something had hit it.

The giant Donkey Men fell to the side. Yang looked up, wondering who could have saved her then. Was it Pyrrha? Nora? Did Jaune do a second cool thing and save her?

Nope.

She certainly didn't expect to see a panicking, scared out of her own mind Weiss Schnee dropping a fire extinguisher.

"You people are idiots!" Weiss was practically screaming. "There are MONSTERS everywhere in this god forsaken street and you're just standing there and fighting?!"

"… Yeah." Yang said. "Seemed about right."

Weiss face palmed at that admission. "Whatever. Come with me, we can get out of here!"

"JAUNE!"

Yang and Weiss turned to the scream. Pyrrha was holding Jaune in her arms… or at least they presume it to be Jaune.

His hoof hands and transforming face are making it hard to be clear.

"Stay with me Jaune!" Pyrrha held Jaune tight. "Fight it! Don't let it control you!"

Yang didn't wait to ask the question. "What happened?"

Pyrrha frowned.

"I was trying to get away, but one of the hats almost landed on me." She said. "He sacrificed himself to save mine."

Jaune groaned in pain. Pyrrha gently rubbed his hair.

"Hey don't worry about it…" Yang tried to reassure her. She wasn't particularly fond of Jaune, but this was too much. "Ladybug will find a way to save him. I'm sure of it."

Yang hoped she did. She wasn't sure what's gonna happen if she couldn't.

_______________________________________________________________________

Roman remember when he thought this was the second best day of his life? He was mistaken.

Trying to dodge Ladybug and Chat Noir's attacks was a tricky feat. Unlike before, where they were exhausted by his Donkey Men, this time they were coordinated. They worked together.

If he tried to jump, Ladybug would use her yoyo to pull him back down. If he tried to run, Chat Noir's staff would bring him in. He would dodge one of the staff's swings, but Ladybug would punch him. He would swing his staff to try hitting them, but that just left him open for another attack.

'It is getting ridiculous!' Chadwick thought. 'Why don't they just give the fuck up and let me go?!'

"Ladybug!" Chat yelled. "The butterfly miraculous needs items to possess people. We need to find the item to break the butterfly out."

"Right." Ladybug nodded. "Working on it."

Ruby remembered Tikki explaining Nooro's power as well. She tried to guess at what item could have been possessed. Her first guess was the cane, but Roman was swinging it around without worrying about it. It was pretty sturdy too.

That left only one other place. How did he transform people into those monsters again…?

"Chat!" Ladybug yelled. "Aim for his hat!"

Chat raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"

"I think his hat is the key! Break it or something and I can purify it!"

Roman was sweating bricks. He might actually lose…

"You're not stopping me! I have the power!"

He made a desperate charge at Ladybug, swinging his cane at her. However, Ladybug caught it between her hands.

"What the hell-?" Chadwick felt something come out of his head.

"Let's hope you're right, my Lady." Chat said. "Cataclysm."

The black bowler hat in her hand turned grey. Chat Noir gripped it even as the pieces turned to dust. Seconds later the wind carried the destroyed dust away from the palm of her hand. From the ashes, a glowing violet butterfly fluttered away.

"No no no" Chadwick was kicked away, tumbling to the floor. "Stop! Stop!"

Ruby knew what to do. She brought out her yoyo, and tossed it into the air. The yoyo opened up and captured the butterfly.

"Time to de-grimmify!"

"NOOOOOO!"

"Miraculous…CURE!"

The yoyo spun around. A storm of tiny insects burst from it, and covered… everything. Little ladybugs crawled everywhere, covering people, objects, anything in it's path. The average person would be horrified at the wave. It would have been a sign of a mini apocalypse.

However… it was the opposite of that.

The monsters that Chadwick brought into the world were undone. The donkeys returned to their original human shape, little by little.

"What… what happened?" Jaune groggily opened his eyes. "Did we… get em?"

"JAUNE!" Pyrrha held him close. Her eyes threatened to burst into tears. "You're alright!"

"Looks like Ladybug did it." Yang said. "Good on her."

The bugs where everywhere. More and more people were restored to normal. Any sign of damage had disappeared from their spread.

To make a bad pun… it was simply miraculous.

From the podium, Ladybug and Chat Noir were being watched by a curious audience. Some were frightened, unsure of what to say. Others…

They started clapping.

Ladybug and Chat Noir looked on at the audience applauding them. Both of them smiled. They beat the villain and saved everyone. What more would be needed?

"We did it…" Ladybug said, not quite believing those words. "We did it."

"Yeah." Chat placed a hand on Ladybug's shoulder. "We did."

Ladybug grabbed her hand. The two looked at each other again, closely.

"Was… there something you wanted to tell, Chat?" Ladybug had to ask. She needed to be sure about Chat's answer. "Anything at all?"

If she wanted to stop things here, if she wanted to be free from her curse… Ruby wouldn't have a problem. She did plenty, helping her today.

If Blake could hear those thoughts, she would violently banish them.

"No." Chat Noir said firmly. "We have yet to catch our mysterious butterfly villain. I will assist you until we manage to capture her, my lady. I won't let you down."

Hearing Chat say those words sent Ladybug's heart flutter. A blush appeared on her cheeks. She hadn't felt this way since…

Ironwood stood up from his hiding spot. He grabbed the microphone, and stared at the heroes in contempt.

"That criminal was after the likes of you two!" Ironwood yelled. "You two will be put under arrest!"

The crowd went insane. Yells and insults were thrown at the Mayor for his frankly godawful decision.

"What the HELL man?!"

"They saved our lives!"

"FUCK OFF!"

"LADYBUG! LADYBUG! LADYBUG!"

"I guess we should get going," Chat winked at her partner.

Ladybug nodded. "Yeah."

They jumped away from the scene. Ladybug swung in the air with her yoyo, while Chat crawled up the side of a building. The guards were disoriented from the earlier attack, so they didn't even try to fire on them.

Ironwood glared at the vigilantes.

"You won't get away with this, Ladybug. We'll hunt you down."

_______________________________________________________________________

"Oh thank goodness Ruby, thank you!"

Velvet had been crushing Ruby in a rather tight bear hug. She was shaking Ruby around wildly, which made the smaller girl dizzy.

"No problem Velvet," Ruby managed to say. "Stop crushing me."

"Sorry it's just," Velvet put Ruby down, smiling wildly. "Not a lot of people stand up for me, but you did! I'm super grateful for that!"

"Haha… it was nothing…"

"That was not nothing." Sunglasses girl came to the scene. "I'm Coco. Coco Adel. Thanks for helping my girlfriend out. Shame about Cardin not getting punished."

"Oh she was great!" Velvet hugged Coco. "I expected something like that to happen. I'm just glad she didn't sent away or something."

"Haha, that's true." Coco said. "Listen, Rubes? Me and Velvet need to do some work but thanks a lot. Hope to see more of ya in class."

The pair walked from Ruby.

Well that was nice. Ruby would say she did good today. She considered that a win. With that, Ruby turned around to head to her dorm.

Problem was, her dorm was all the way to the other side of the University. She'd have to cross the courtyard to do it.

It was also raining.

"I guess today wasn't so lucky," Ruby sighed. "Oh well. One bad thing in a day of good things I guess."

She was about to make a step, when she felt something over her head.

"Hey."

Ruby turned to see that Blake was standing next to her. She was holding an umbrella over her head.

"I was…. heading in the same direction." Blake said. "Maybe we could share?

Ruby blushed, but nodded.

The two headed out, the umbrella over their heads.

Ruby stole glances at Blake. She thought Blake looked so pretty then… it's like Chat Noir, the way she swore to help her and how she said she wouldn't let her down. Ruby knew that Blake wouldn't let her down either. Funny… both Blake and Chat Noir both caused her to blush so much today. She wasn't sure what that meant.

Blake thought about Ruby. All things considered, Ruby looked pretty cute right about now with the way she blushed. She also thought of Ladybug. Blake could have asked Ladybug for a kiss so she could go back to normal. Ladybug even seemed to give her an opportunity to do so. But then that would mean people would get hurt, and Ladybug would be alone. She won't let her down. Ladybug and Ruby inspired the good in her, it seemed.

As Blake protected Ruby from the rain, neither noticed two sets of eyes staring at them.

"I'm just gonna say it Ren," Nora said. "They're gonna be together together."

"It's incredibly obvious Nora."

[xingplytwelve]

Author’s Note: This is a continuation of That Morning Love, just some slight references to the first part so for better understanding do check out That Morning Love otherwise it can act as an independent one too!  Title: That Morning Love: Epilogue Pairing: Yixing x Abigail (OC) Genre: Lil bit of fluff, Smut Rating: NC-17 Word Count: 2.7k

Abigail was so immersed in her work that not only did she not realised the time, she also didn’t realised that a figure was standing by the desk opposite hers. ‘Ahem,’ the figure called, attempting to catch her attention. Abigail looked up, and a smile soon formed on her face as she stood up and walked towards him. She placed her hands on his waist, pressing her body on his as she apologised, ‘Sorry, I didn’t realised it was so late already.’ ‘Do you know how daring you are nowadays, Ms Abigail Liu,’ he replied, pinching her nose lightly as a tiny punishment. She closed her eyes at his touch, and guessing that he won’t let it go so soon, she gave him a light peck on his lips quickly, shutting him off before heading back to her seat to pack up. He can’t help but to smile, as dimples deepened on his face, interlocking his fingers with hers as they left the office. 

It had been a month since Abigail started seeing yixing, the guy whom she had an amazing one night stand with, who was also coincidentally the CEO of her company. She had her doubts at first, but touched by what he did for her after their night together, and her friends’ convincing skills, she decided to give it a shot. And besides, she simply couldn’t believe that even though she attempted to keep him out of her life, he still managed to find his way to her. Yixing was never one who’ll drop by the office, since he preferred to work comfortably from home without much disturbance. But ever since they’ve got together, she noticed that yixing started dropping by the office more frequently. And knowing that he simply wanted to take the chance to steal some glimpses of her at work gave her butterflies in her stomach. It had been a long time since she felt like this, and even though she wasn’t sure how this was going to end up, she knew she was enjoying it. 

The moment the waiter served Abigail her food, yixing took it away from her, while a perplexed expression hang on her face. It was soon replaced by an inevitable grin, the moment she saw his sweet gesture. Yixing was cutting up her steak for her. ‘What?’ Yixing asked, puzzled, when he found her giggling as he passed her plate back to her. ‘Nothing,’ she answered, a gleeful smile still on her face. ‘Just wondering if you were this sweet to other girls too,’ she added, seeing that his brows were knitting into a small frown. ‘Well, if you must know, the last time I’ve ever cut a steak for a girl was 5 years ago. In the past 5 years, I’ve only slept with women, nothing more,’ yixing replied frankly, as he playfully stole a piece of meat from her plate. ‘I must be really special then,’ Abigail teased, as she took a sip of her white wine, her eyes not leaving him even for a bit. ‘I’m glad you know that,’ yixing said, that tiny frown leaving his face as his dimples soon appeared. 

Yixing soon sent Abigail home, and gave her a goodbye kiss the moment she was at her door. In the past month, the most they ever did was to exchange intoxicating kisses, and nothing more, since yixing promised that they’ll only do it when she’s comfortable. But just for tonight, Abigail kinda wanted him to stay with her. She had her hands on the hem of his vest, reluctant for him to leave. ‘Wanna come in for another glass of wine?’ She blurted out, still playing with his vest as she looked into his eyes. ‘Oh? Of course,’ yixing agreed, pleasantly surprised, as memories of the night they’ve shared started coming back to his mind. Yixing sat on her couch, and as he waited for her to come back with the glasses of wine, he can’t help but to let a smirk escaped his lips. Before he met her, he never had to wait for it. And in the past 5 years, his hormones were always well taken care at all times. Whenever, wherever he felt like it, he gets it. Filthy rich, want zero responsibilities, yup that’s zhang yixing. Of course, he had someone that he waited for as well, someone that he thought he’ll marry eventually. But in the end, he was the one who got hurt, causing him to lose faith in love. Until he met Abigail. Abigail was just, different. As she handed him his glass and sat down beside him, planning to take a sip of her glass as well, he took it, placing hers on the lounge table as he gulped his down, locking his eyes with hers. Before Abigail realised it, his lips were already on hers, and she was soon tasting what she wanted to, his lips, and that sweet white wine. Her eyes widened, surprised at his fast reflexes, and also how fucking ecstatic that felt, leaving her craving for so much more. ‘You like that?’ Yixing asked as their lips parted, his tone full of smugness knowing how good that made her felt. ‘Oh shut up,’ Abigail said as she simply stared back at him, before landing a daring and heated kiss back on his lips. Yixing loved this side of her, and as he returned her tacky kisses, he put his glass away quickly, in order to free his hand so that he could caress her beautiful face. His lips soon left hers, as he leaned in closer, laying her down gently on the couch. Abigail tugged the collars of his shirt towards herself, and tasted those lips again as she wrapped her legs around his waist. His hands were trailing down her body, almost finding it’s way down to her clit when his phone rang. 

Yixing groaned in annoyance, whereas Abigail just giggled as he stopped whatever he was doing to reach for his phone in the back pocket of his pants, her hands still grabbing onto his collars lightly. ‘You’re calling me at a fucking bad timing, it better be something important,’ he answered. His tone, though not loud, was extremely stern. He sighed as he ended the call, saying, ‘I have to go back to the office, there’s some urgent issues. Sorry, baby girl.’ He wanted to just disregard the call so damn much, even more so when he saw disappointment behind her eyes. Abigail pouted, as she released him from her grip as she said, ‘Go run along, work is more important. Will I see you tomorrow?’ Yixing softened at the sight of her, but soon got up and answered, ‘I’ll let you know ok? Think I’ll have to burn the midnight oil later.’ He then caressed her hair, landing a soft peck on her forehead before he left. Abigail sighed, as she cleared the glasses and went to bed after. Her attempt to sleep after what just happened wasn’t successful, as she tossed and turned in bed. She reached for her phone and took a glance, it was already midnight. She started thinking about him, and soon got out of bed. 

 It was wee hours in the morning, and dim lights were still lit in yixing’s office. He was finally done settling his urgent matters at work, as he took a glance of the documents that he had worked on, before piling them up and putting them away neatly. He then threw himself back into his chair, hands running over his face, followed by his hair, trying to freshen up a little. His mind wandered off to earlier on, right before he was about to have another amazing night with Abigail, and he started to wonder if she’s already asleep. He took a look at his watch, 3.31am. Of course she’ll be asleep, why won’t she be. Just as he was about to shut his eyes to take a quick nap, he heard noises, as though someone had arrived at the level. There were only that few people who had access to his floor, and he couldn’t think of anyone that’ll step in here at such ungodly hours. He soon found his answer the moment she stepped in, dressed in an oversized hoodie and hair up in a messy bun, extremely casual. Surprised and delighted, he stood up, walking towards her while she placed her things down on the coffee table. Slipping his hands around her waist the moment she turned over to face him, which got her to chuckle, as he then asked, ‘What are you doing here? And why aren’t you asleep?’ ‘I thought you might get hungry, so I prepared some snacks for you,’ Abigail answered, as she stroked his face gently. In actual fact, how could I sleep after you left me wanting you so much zhang yixing, was what was going through her mind. ‘Actually yes, I am hungry, hungry for you,’ yixing said, as he started planting kisses playfully on her nape. She laughed, stopping him after awhile as she said, ‘Aren't you going to at least eat a little to not let my efforts go to waste?’ She then pulled him lightly over and sat him down, as she took out what she brought. ‘Besides, good things comes to those who wait,’ she mumbled. She simply cannot wait to see what kind of expression will hang on his face later on. 

As soon as yixing was done wolfing down whatever Abigail had prepared, she stood up, as she walked past the table, his eyes staying with her as she moved. She then stood directly in front of him, as she undid her bun, her hair falling over her shoulders as she ran her hand through it. She then removed her hoodie, revealing her eyelash laced teddy, in a dreamy shade of purple, as she looked at him, biting her lips seductively at the same time. Yixing’s eyes grew bigger at what was being presented in front of him. No words were needed, Abigail could tell that she managed to wow him from his reactions. He couldn’t wait a moment longer to devour her, as he stood up, joining her, which she then proudly asked, ‘You like it?’ His hands were on her shoulders, moving downwards as they passed her breasts, groping them which made her released a soft moan, then down to her waist, as he whispered in her ears, ‘Yes, I fucking love it.’ Fluttered, a tint of pink appeared on Abigail’s cheeks, as she took his hand, leading him towards where he was working just now. She then pushed his chair slightly, making more space for the both of them, as she laid herself down on his desk gently, spreading her legs apart, as she said suggestively, ‘I’m all yours, CEO Zhang.’ ‘FUCK,’ yixing sweared, and lust was taking over his mind. He gave her a possessive kiss, his tongue finding his way into her fiercely, and was soon taking over her mouth. His hands, caressing her cheeks with one and kneading her mound with the other. She was enjoying how dominant he was, and knowing that her words were the trigger made her pleased. She was engulfed in his kisses, and how he was playing with her tits, as she unbuttoned his vest, followed by the shirt underneath, revealing his toned body. She might deny, but it was definitely a sight that she’ve missed since that night. He started leaving wet kisses on her, from her shoulder and downwards. He tugged the piece of cloth to the side, exposing her tits, and started nibbling, playing the other with his fingers. Cries of pleasure were leaving her mouth, as he continued to run his tongue over her nipple, while she raked her fingers through his hair. Yixing gave it a final lick, then pausing to catch his breath before he pulled down her one piece completely, exposing her bare skin. Knowing that her other breast was craving the same amount of attention, he soon begin to pleasure it the exact way as he did with the other as his fingers started trailing down her belly, before reaching her pussy, and started stroking her. ‘AH,’ she moaned, from the mind numbing sensation that he was giving her. As he continued feeling her, she can’t help but to squirm, her body, tensed and unable to stay still. 

Satisfied with his little whore, yixing then removed his pants, his length springing into action the moment it was released. Abigail sat up, preparing for his entrance, as she flirted, ‘Fuck me yixing, fuck me hard.’ The corners of yixing’s mouth were raised, turning into a full on smirk as he answered, ‘You got it, baby girl. I’ll fuck you, so hard, you won’t be able to walk later.’ He entered her immediately the moment he ended his sentence, while a loud moan escaped her lips. He thrusted inside her hard, so hard that she had to place one of her hands on his desk, while the other one holding onto the hems of his shirt for her dear life. He continued thrusting into her, skin slapping against each other, while caressing her thighs, which was hanging on his waist. Abigail begged him to quicken his pace, knowing that she was close, in which yixing gladly compiled. ‘AHH,’ she released, as she clenched onto the hems of his shirt tightly, after feeling a remarkably good load of hormones running through her body. She looked at him breathlessly, and decided to spice things up a little more, knowing that he was close as well. She pushed him down onto his chair, taking him by surprise yet again, as she got down from his desk swiftly, and kneeled between his legs. She stared into his eyes, hands on his knees, as she took him in with her mouth. ‘AH FUCK,’ he groaned in much pleasure, as he shoved her hair back away from her face. She ran her tongue around his sweet spots, and took his dick deeper and deeper each time she goes, at times almost gagging, but continued as she saw how much he was enjoying it. ‘Fuck, I’m gonna cum baby girl,’ he warned, and soon released his loads in her mouth a few throbs later, sending it straight down her throat. He let out a deep, and loud moan while catching his breath, as she shifted herself, before standing up and adjusting her teddy, with his vision still on her. She then moved closer, and sat on his lap as she gave him a soft peck on his cheeks. 

Yixing stroked her hair fondly, before removing his shirt entirely, and putting it over Abigail’s body, hands snaking around her waist and held her in his arms, like she was a baby. His thoughtful and sweet actions made Abigail blushed, which she then buried her face in his neck. He grinned at how adorable she was, to think that she was the one seducing him earlier on, and was now shy. ‘Rest for a bit first, ok?’ He whispered, before returning a kiss on her cheeks. She nodded, as she mumbled, ‘wake me up in 30 mins,’ before falling asleep in his arms. 

It was 10am in the morning, and Abigail woke up to find herself in a seemingly familiar surroundings. She recognised it the next moment, she was at yixing’s place. She jumped out of bed when she realised the time, but a sleepy yixing held onto her wrists, stopping her from getting out of bed. ‘Are you going to sneak away this time too?’ He questioned, in his morning voice. ‘Of course not, but I’m so late for work!’ Abigail answered, as she turned around to look at him. For some strange reasons, he looked even hotter when he’s still half-asleep, as she unknowingly gazed at him. Still reluctant to open his eyes, he showed a faint smile as he answered, ‘I already took the day off for you, so you can sleep in as long as you want.’ She heaved a sigh of relief, before laying down beside him again and resting her head on his bare chest. ‘Thank you, CEO Zhang,’ she whispered with a smile, as he gave her a peck on the forehead, eyes half opened. ‘You’re very welcome, Ms Abigail Liu. Let’s get a little more sleep alright,’ he answered, as he turned slightly and wrapped his arms around her. 

[corpse--diem]

Haunted Hallways | Jasmine & Erin

TIMING: Current PARTIES: @halequeenjas & @corpse–diem SUMMARY: Jasmine shows Erin around a new apartment when they’re interrupted by an old friend.

It was interesting how time could keep moving and stand still all at the same time. Weeks had gone by since her world had all but gone up in flames but the world kept going. Still pushed forward. So Erin had to keep moving with it, and by the time the opportunity came to look for a new apartment, it made all the sense in the world to jump on it. Nic and Skylar had been more than gracious allowing her to stay with them as long as they had but she needed her space. Always had. Especially now, given that some lunatic felt comfortable just waltzing in and burning down buildings she frequently inhabited. The door was already open when she approached the apartment building her new realtor, a Ms. Jasmine Hale, had picked out. From the outside, the place seemed nice enough. Seemed like a place she could exist, at first glance, even if only temporarily. “Hello?” She called out, knocking on the open door before she saw the other woman. Greeting her with a smile, Erin reached out her hand. “Jasmine?” She asked tentatively. “Erin Nichols. It’s nice to meet you, finally! Sorry, I hope I’m not too late. The fog out there is extra wicked today. I had to take my time getting here,” she apologized with a crinkle of her nose.

As Jasmine had rushed up to the apartment she was showing her new client, she was grateful Erin had yet to arrive. One of the stupid floating fish had been circling her Jag and she wasn’t about to become some fish’s dinner. Being late was never a good look for a professional and she wasn’t in the business of wasting people’s time. Just as she was about to head up and place some wards around and scope out the scene, she heard her name. Crap. She threw on her megawatt smile anyway and extended her hand to shake. “Yes, it’s me. Good to meet you in person, Erin.” This fog did really put a damper on the whole driving thing and the fish were weird. With a laugh, she responded, “Oh yeah, the fog is a doozy. Really uncharacteristic for it to be this thick, but better to drive safely.” She kept her face bright and smile winning to not give way to the nerves that were boiling underneath. Larry Bob was likely to show his pathetic, scraggly face to blow this rental for her. She had to hide the horrified look on her face as she opened the door and saw the stripes. She could spin this. “As you can see, this place is really into modern decor, but I think the floor plan and price here is what the real winner is.”

Jasmine was as chirpy and bright as Erin expected any good realtor to be. Not unpleasantly, though, like how an overzealous salesperson could drown you in big grins and enthusiasm. Jasmine was teeming with all of that stuff too, that much was obvious, but Erin could still breathe. She appreciated that. “Good to meet you too--” Erin started, the smile she returned drooping into a slacked jaw she couldn’t stop. Black and white stripes. Everywhere. “Christ,” she mumbled under her breath, the unexpected bold lines making her squint. There was something innately familiar about this scene she couldn’t put her finger on. Probably saw something like it in a magazine at one point. “Modern decor is…” she started, shrugging when nothing positive came to mind immediately. “Well, it’s something, alright. Definitely not my area of expertise.” Didn’t find a lot of that in a funeral home, that was for sure. With a chuckle, she raised an eyebrow in Jasmine’s direction but slowed her movements until she came to a complete stop, gesturing towards the stripes that felt like they were swallowing them whole the farther they went. “I’ve got to be honest, if the apartment looks anything like this hallway, I’m going to save you the trouble and stop the tour right now. This is…” she grimaced, shaking her head. “Like, a lot.”

Modern decor was one of her personal areas of expertise, but this definitely wasn’t it. Still, Jasmine could spin this. They’d both driven all the way out here in the crazy fog and from the video tour, the apartment itself looked darling. “I’ll admit, the exterior is a little loud for my tastes, but that’s not where most people spend a lot of their time… well, unless you like hanging in hallways but that seems weird so,” she explained with a shrug as she led them to the unit in question. Internally, she pleaded that they hadn’t decided to redecorate the interior of the unit as well. As she opened the door to the apartment, she let out a breath of relief. Totally normal just as she had planned. “See, definitely different from the hallway. I think too many buildings are trying to be trendy nowadays, but the floorplan here is amazing. You’ve got all this open space, but let’s take a look around. I always like to end with the kitchen-- if it turns out they didn’t clean something right, you don’t wanna deal with the smell the whole time you’re perusing the place.”

Oh, thank God. This whole set-up was a temporary solution--somewhere to stay while Erin waited for the insurance to kick in and the (hopeful) rebuilding to start. But even temporarily staring at an apartment that looked like the hallway was absolutely out of the question. “Oh, no, you’re so right. This is great,” she exclaimed with genuine surprise and relief. Way better than the other apartments she’d found looking on her own, anyway. “I honestly don’t need anything too fancy. If everything goes to plan, this should be temporary. I should mention that, shouldn’t I? And it’s just me and my cat, anyway. Well, and sometimes my boyfriend, but I’m usually at his place. Indoor pool guy--need I say more?” She raised a playful brow, grinning. “Pets are okay too, right?” She asked, though her attention drifted to the windows in the living room. Not a great view she determined, but not bad either. Decent enough for temporary. What felt like a small gust of wind moved past her--barely detectable if it wasn’t for the temperature. Like someone had opened a freezer right in her face. “Oh, is it always this cold? How’s the heating?” she asked, turning to Jasmine again, following closely behind as she did her thing.

There was a bright smile on her face as she saw Erin look around seemingly happy. Jasmine knew this would be a perfect spot. Nice open floor plan, decent storage space, a nice view from the window-- and for a fair price? Who wouldn’t love this place? If she wasn’t already living in her perfect waterfront home on Harris Island, she’d have snagged this place up. “I do try to make it a habit of being right,” she joked although if she was being honest, she actually meant that statement. “I think this might be the spot for you then. Not overly fancy, but still very comfortable and a practical price. And wait… isn’t indoor pool guy the one who eats water with his cereal?” Men really needed to be stopped sometimes. Water in cereal when milk wasn’t even expensive. It was definitely gross and she definitely judged him a little for it. Still, she recovered with a laugh and said, “But indoor pool. Sure it makes staying there more fun.” She’d looked over the details carefully before showing this place even if she did somehow miss the striped hallway. “Yep, cats are totally welcome! They don’t even charge pet rent,” she answered as she felt a familiar cold sensation. Oh no. She swore she would throw Larry Bob out of existence as she cursed under her breath. She clutched the bag of salt in her purse and looked around carefully only to be shocked to find a ghost that was surprisingly not Larry Bob. “Oh my god, I totally have to show you the bathtub. It’s right over there,” she gestured and quickly threw a dash of salt at the tacky ghost in the Hawaiian shirt. Who dodged her. Of freaking course!

It’d been a few years since Erin had lived in an apartment on her own, and while the circumstances that had brought her here weren’t ideal, it was a little exciting. Something of her own again. Something that wasn’t passed down and filled with ghosts of a family that no longer lived there. This could be hers, for as little or as long as she had, and the thought was a welcome one. Jasmine’s upbeat attitude had a refreshing grounding nature to it. She liked her already. “Ah. You remember that, huh?” she laughed quietly, shaking her head. “The one and the same. Bit of a dumbass--I think the water cereal speaks for itself on that. But he’s a good one,” she said, a teasing fondness in her tone. Good. Betty could live peacefully here too no problem. At this point, she had little doubt about whether or not she would be taking the place. She could picture her curled up at the large window, Nic frying up eggs in the kitchen--oh, she wanted to see the kitchen next. God, it was freezing in here though. Holding her arms against herself, she followed Jasmine, turning her head sharply at the exclamation about the bathtub. “Oh, yeah. Sure,” she nodded, narrowing her eyes.

“Missed me, bitch.”

Was someone else here? A squatter, maybe? The familiar voice, that deep-throated chuckle shook her immediately. She knew that voice somehow. Her mind jumped to Roy and his goons. Was he seriously watching her this intently? How? “Jasmine?” She called out, slowly reaching for the knife in her purse. “Everything alright in--” She saw the bowl of fruit flying straight at them as she turned the corner to the kitchen. An apple smacking her shoulder when she turned and cowered away and that hearty laugh echoed through the apartment.

“Oh hell yeah. That’s what I’m talking about,” the voice boomed. Erin saw the loud Hawaiian shirt first, covered with dry blood that had soaked down from the side of his head. There was still a gash from the baseball bat she had nailed hi No, no, no. This--this wasn’t happening. Dale was dead. Dale was not standing there in her soon to be new kitchen. “...Dale?” His eyes turned dark when they fell on hers. “Miss me, sweetheart?” His grin was as sharp and vile as she remembered, and without missing a beat, he sent one of the pans hanging for show beside the stove hurtling their way.

If it wasn’t Larry Bob, apparently it was some other jackass in a Hawaiian shirt trying to crash her showings. Seriously? Jasmine was fuming now and wanted to smack this ghost into whatever ether it was supposed to be in. She had been pretty sure Erin went to go check out the bathroom, so she was surprised when he asked if she missed him. “I don’t even know you, you absolute creep,” she retorted with a glare on her face as she quickly reached into her bag for her iron rod. The familiar chill had never been comforting to her, but she wouldn’t lose her resolve to a ghost in a tacky shirt.

She saw him ready to throw and apple and her head whipped back to follow it. It clearly wasn’t aimed at her and she gasped when she saw Erin there. Shit. How was she supposed to explain this? “I’m so,” she started but quickly had to dodge a pan. There was a loud crash as it fell to the floor after colliding into the wall. “Oh hell no,” she grumbled, standing taller this time and charging toward the ghost. “You were not invited to this and I don’t know who the hell you think you are. I’d get out of here before I exorcise you out of existence. I know it must be hard to move on stuck in that awful shirt, but trust me, it’s better than what I’ll do to you.” She raced forward ready to whack him with the iron rod, but he dodged out the way, causing her to stumble forward.

Was Jasmine trying to apologize for the big ass bald ghost in the kitchen? Dale. Fucking Dale. Erin didn’t understand the how or why but there he was, and she’d be a liar if the word zombie didn’t cross her mind again. Because here he was, live and in color. She was still trying to wrap her head around it when Jasmine went on the attack. “Jasmine, don’t--” Erin started, but she was insulting the clothes on his back and charging at him anyway. Exorcise? Did she just say exorcise? Sounded like some Blanche-flavored ghost bullshit she wanted nothing to do with. “Don’t worry lady, you’ll have your turn,” he growled, giving Jasmine a good kick from behind after she stumbled forward.

Erin ran forward out of instinct after her, stopping in her tracks when Dale turned around only feet from her now. His smile wicked, verging into a sneer. “Been a while, huh?” He asked, reaching for anything close. Both of their eyes widened for different reasons when he managed to get a hold of a display knife out of it’s holding block. Erin stepped back with every step forward, shaking her head. “No, no, no--you’re dead,” was all she could manage. She was sure of it - she’d burned his body and that ugly blood stained shirt herself. This wasn’t possible. There shouldn’t have been a body to come back, even if this was some sort of zombie situation. But here he was anyway, swinging the blade at her. She stumbled on the pan that he’d tossed earlier, falling back when another swing of his arm narrowly missed. Grabbing it, she used it as a shield when the blade came down, leaving a dent. Fuck. Yep. Didn’t matter how at this point. He was very much real. “Jasmine!” Erin hollered for help, clambering backwards.

The kick in the back she got from this ghosty asshole as she moved forward hurt, but Jasmine wasn’t about to let this rando spirit ruin this showing. She quickly recovered and tightened her grip on the iron rod. A horrified look crossed her face as she realized Erin was charging toward the ghost who was clearly still stuck in a mid life crisis without any salt or iron. “Don’t,” she called out, but it was too late. She was already in range of the Danny Devito knock off and now he was picking up a knife. She swore she’d banish him from existence right now if he used that knife on Erin. That was a $400 chef’s knife and he’d ruin it. Or worse, it’d be stuck in evidence forever. “Hey, asshole, over here,” she called out as she reached out for the salt on the counter. “Maybe next time you choose to haunt a place, stay out of the kitchen you absolute buffoon of a ghost!” She threw a dash of salt at him, which had to sting, but he was still with them. Ugh. She tossed the salt to Erin and raised her iron rod, daring this jackass to take her on.

Salt? What the fuck was she supposed to do with this? Erin racked her brain, trying to remember something Blanche had mentioned about it -- but it seemed to work. His physical form wavered just enough for him to drop the knife and let out a hiss. “God, you fucking b--” He hollered, turning his head to Jasmine, the dried blood on the side of his head the most glaring thing. Erin kicked the knife down the hallway, scrambling to sit up before taking Jasmine’s lead. His fist missed Jasmine when another handful of salt burned his corporeal form and he flickered again, like someone trying to blow out a candle. “You both want to die today? That’s fine by me, chickadee. I’ve got all the time in the fucking world,” he practically snarled, grabbing for Jasmine once he got a hold of himself again.  

It seemed Erin didn’t hesitate too long on the salt. Small miracles were still miracles, but anger rose in Jasmine the moment he grabbed hold of her again. “Oh, hell no. Get your ugly ghost hands off my blouse,” she yelled as she kept her grip solid on the iron rod in her left hand and stabbed it through him. There was something nausea-inducing in the feeling of an iron rod going through his very much solid form, but she could feel that he was a ghost. Plus, the salt had worked on him. The iron did, too, and soon enough after some choice words he faded away. She let out the breath she had been holding before straightening her jacket and blouse and turning to Erin. “Okay, excuse my French here, but what the fuck,” she exclaimed. “It’s clear you know Mr. Wannabe Tommy Bahama over here, so what’s the deal?”

Ghost. Erin definitely heard the word ghost come out of Jasmine’s mouth. Fuck that. Fuck ghosts. Fuck Dale. Thankfully Jasmine shared the same sentiments. With wide-eyes, she watched as he practically dissolved before her eyes, gone as quickly and violently as he’d come. Something told her he wasn’t gone-gone though. The room was still as cold as it had been before, like a slightly wind chill nipping at her skin. Erin shifted uncomfortably, straightening her clothes as she tried to think of an adequate explanation. “He, uh--” Erin cleared her throat, shaking her head. “He was an old co-worker. It didn’t… you know. End well,” she nodded. That was all she needed to know, right? Her eyes narrowed at Jasmine. “How did you know he was a ghost? He was--” she held out a hand, tapping her forearm with her pointer finger. “Tangible. He could hold stuff. I thought they weren’t supposed to do that.”

It dawned on her that she said ghost outloud and Jasmine mentally cursed herself. Thankfully Erin didn’t find the concept to be too far fetched. At the mention of him being an old coworker, she immediately had a kindred feeling. Funny enough, they both had old coworkers as ghosts following them around. “Funny, I’ve got a pain in the ass coworker that’s a ghost, too. Normally, you wouldn’t be able to see yours. I just happened to be ‘blessed’ with the gift of seeing ghosts… and of getting rid of them. Since you’re not totally running for the hills, I’m an exorcist.” At the question of being tangible, she grumbled. She was thoroughly over this whole ghosts being solid thing. “I don’t know what’s going on there, but it’s a thing right now. Ghosts seem to be solid some of the time and I’m not loving it. So no, he’s not supposed to be able to do that and you shouldn’t have been able to see him.” Realizing this ghost had it out for her, she added, “Whatever place you move into, I’m throwing up some wards for you.” Talk about full service realty.

Jasmine’s words did little to comfort Erin, and it was even less of a relief to know that Dale was probably hanging around with her long before this. That cold feeling wasn’t entirely new--just something she’d shrugged off on more than one occasion. Awesome. Her heart was in the process of dropping to her stomach as Jasmine spoke, only perking up at ‘exorcist’. “Right,” she drawled with a hint of unintentional skepticism in her voice. “I hope yours at least shopped at places that weren’t tacky beach gift shops,” she murmured, trying to lighten the tightness suddenly enveloping her chest. Didn’t work as well as she’d hoped. “All I know is that they exist. I’ve never seen one before. Ever,” She said with a sigh, running a frustrated hand through her hair. Is that what Blanche had to endure on a daily basis? She couldn’t blame her for her freakouts if that was the case. “If he’s not supposed to be like that, then how is he like that? And do they always--uh, you know. Look like that?” She gestured towards her head, a reference to the bloody crack in his skull. The one Erin had put there months and months ago. Her heart beat hard again and she started to pick up the dented pan and knife at her feet, wincing at the scuff marks on both. Her eyes filled with fear, jumping back up to Jasmine. “He’s not going to come back, is he?”

It was evident to Jasmine that Erin wasn’t exactly comfortable with this news. Not that she could blame her. It was likely that this tacky ghost had been following her around for longer than she’d known which was far from comforting. “Worse, when he’s off work, he had crocs in 10 different colors,” she joked to keep the mood from getting too heavy. Of course Erin had never seen a ghost before. It wasn’t a gift that most people had and had to be alarming if you weren’t entirely used to it. Hell, even she was alarmed from time to time. “That makes sense, I’m not sure why people can see them now and why they’re solid. Probably some bigger White Crest bullshit like the fog and the mimes. But yeah, they do usually look like that. Well, not that specifically, but any injuries that killed them are still there as a ghost. Not always pretty, but to be fair, I don’t think your guy here was all that pretty to look at when he was alive either.” Jasmine started tidying up a little bit and put the knife back in its rightful spot. Dale had really come in and made a mess of the kitchen. At least no one was hurt. “The iron will have him gone for at least a few hours. Whatever place you pick, I’ll put wards up. Actually, wherever you’re currently staying should have wards, too. It keeps them out.”

Erin tried to laugh at the joke Jasmine volleyed back at her but it came out more like a stunted, heavy breath. “He sounds like the worst kind of person, honestly,” she said a bit distantly, her brow raised in harsh skepticism. Ghosts. Fucking ghosts. Dale’s ghost. It was hard to focus on anything else but those two things right now. How long had he been following her? How the fuck was he solid now suddenly? Skipping town and going into hiding, putting this place behind her just kept looking better and better every day. “Aren’t we just… super lucky to live in a town like this?” She asked, teeth tight against her smile and her fist slightly clenched. God, she was tired. But for all the nonsense they’d just experienced, this apartment fortunately looked just as good as it had before things got weird. “Oh, yeah, please. I’ll take all the wards you can possibly give me. Anything you’ve got. Like, I will personally pay you extra just for the wards,” she said, finally letting out a long breath, trying to think of anything but the sound of her baseball bat crunching skull bone or that toothy grin. He was gone. They were fine. For now. “But that asshole sure as hell isn’t going to stop me from missing out on a great apartment.” She paused a beat, nodding towards Jasmine, a gentler smile finding its way to the surface. “I’ll take it.”

[bigbadwolf-16]

anyway heres the thing for wolf and i am SO sorry if the readmore doesnt work oof this bitch long

slightly modified it

Name:

Wolf-16

Age:

Mentally twelve, but roughly Dark Age old.

Race:

Exo

Call signs/alias:

Wolf. One syllable, easy.

Pronouns:

He / Him

Class:

Hunter

Preferred subclass(es):

Gunslinger, but he’s handy with Void and Stasis. Never got the hang of Arc.

Ghost's name:

Serenity, but she reluctantly answers to Red sometimes.

Their Vanguard:

He came late to the party and properly joined the Guardian ranks sometime after Tallulah died, but he was closest to Cayde-6, rip.

Fireteam name:

Foxtrot Uniform Charlie Kilo (former) Maelstrom (former) Exodus (current)

Fireteam teammates:

In Foxtrot: Liz Cabrera, King-3, Armani-7 In Maelstrom: Amelia-9, Atticus Maav In Exodus: Puck-13, Aera-9, Emmanuel-7

Favorite legendary weapon:

Dire Promise IKELOS SMG Seventh Seraph SAW

Favorite exotic weapon:

Ace of Spades Riskrunner The Lament

Favorite exotic armor:

Sealed Ahamkara Grasps The Sixth Coyote St0mp-335

Are they offense, defense, or support:

Generally offense, he’s blindingly fast and is a crackshot with any weapon you put in his hands.

Do they prefer being close, mid, or long range:

He prefers mid to long, but ends up getting in close more often than he’d like. The agility kind of nerfs his ability to take a lot of damage all at once, so he goes airborne the second he gets surrounded.

Do they lean more "Element of Surprise" or "Upfront and Aggressive":

A bit of both! He’ll pull a surprise attack and jump in to get his hands dirty if he has to, which makes him a pretty good distraction if there’s a lot of enemies looking for a bullet sponge, but he prefers a little bit of distance if he can get it.

Strikes, Gambit, or Crucible:

Getting him into strikes takes a lot of perseverance, honestly. He’ll do them if Zavala can actually hold him down long enough. Hunters are elusive as hell anymore, and the amount of times he’s been back to the Tower or even within the City’s walls since the Red War can be counted on one hand.

Crucible is also kind of a gamble. Serenity doesn’t like him doing it because he gets ruthlessly competitive and tends to favor Stasis which gets... ahhh, intense...

He fucks super hard with Gambit, tho. If he’s anywhere near the City, he’s probably playing Gambit because the Drifter won’t give him the good stuff until he does.

Who was their mentor:

If anyone was, it was probably Serenity and only insofar as teaching him how to be fucking normal. It hasn’t worked very well.

Who are they mentoring:

He went through a brief stint where he mentored Atticus. He couldn’t teach him any Warlock things, of course, but other stuff like no-scoping an Acolyte or picking locks? Absolutely.

What ship do they have:

After Forsaken, all of Cayde’s stuff was pretty much left alone, but Wolf asked the Vanguard if he could take the Queen of Hearts and they let him.

What is their Sparrow:

Blood in the Water

Favorite Ghost shell:

Serenity picks her own shells. When they met, she pretty much had the Rust Punk shell after the one she was created with got messed up pretty badly. The new one didn’t stand up very well against the elements.

Wolf keeps a handful of them in the ship so that she can go between them and her favorites are Wisteria Orbit and In Fine Omnium, but she goes back to her old one occasionally if she doesn’t want to get the others dirty.

Favorite color:

Red, but sometimes purple.

Favorite food:

Any kind of spicy ramen and shawarma.

Least favorite food:

He doesn’t like anything with a bitter taste and there are a lot of veggie-based things he just genuinely cannot stand the thought of.

Favorite Pre-Collapse music:

He discovered classic rock and hasn’t looked back once.

Favorite place in The Last City:

Before the Red War when he spent more time in the city itself, his apartment. It was small and pretty cozy and also loaded with his hauls from various jobs. He’d sit in the window and play video games on his off days and just chill with Serenity for hours.

There was also a bar he’d frequent with his old fireteam (and sneakretly sometimes with Cayde) where they pretty much knew everyone who worked there by name. It’s the one place he never got kicked out of for causing a ruckus.

Favorite NPC(s):

Cayde and Wolf hung out a lot when either one of them had the time. These days, if he’s anywhere near the Tower, it’s only to see Amanda or Banshee.

He also likes to kick it with Devrim, Variks, and Failsafe. Osiris finds him frustrating at best, but he and Crow are kind of a package deal at this point.

Least favorite NPC(s):

He finds Rahool kind of dry and nerdy and has nothing but bad things to say about Hideo.

Favorite patrol location:

The EDZ. It’s more or less his home now and he knows every square inch of it by heart.

Least favorite patrol location:

Anywhere on Europa or the Moon. Europa he’ll at least go to without being dragged, if only just to say hi to Variks or Elsie and check up on how things are going, but after the Lunar Incident he won’t step foot on the Moon unless Eris requests him specifically.

5 things your Guardian likes:

Glimmer, babeyyyy!! Also food, bad jokes, going real fast, and springtime.

5 things your Guardian dislikes(this can be anything):

Handling trauma in a healthy way like normal person, having to be responsible for people, being told what to do, big open spaces, and waiting.

Your Guardian has to rest. What is their living space like:

Wolf can and will sleep just about anywhere and in pretty much any position. His old apartment in the City was destroyed during the war, and he just never went back, so now he knocks out in whatever place has enough cover or is out of the way enough he won’t be found.

Does your Guardian have any casual wear?:

Lots. He usually goes for a more urban style, so lots of huge hoodies, joggers, chunky sneakers, snapbacks, that kind of thing. He generally only wears armor when he’s actively working.

What hobbies and/or skills does you Guardian have:

Outside of Guardian stuff, he’s picked up a handful of skills over the years. He can rap and sing and figured out how to autotune his voice/mimic others, he’s pretty good at woodcarving and making little things out of scrap metal, and even if his designs are intentionally tacky he’s good at custom paint jobs for jumpships and Sparrows.

As for hobbies, that mostly consists of exploring. He’s got a lot of patrol areas memorized, and does a lot of urbex in places that aren’t very thoroughly mapped because he likes finding pre-Collapse artifacts and seeing places not very many others have. Mostly for selling.

He also does a lot of gambling, but whether or not he’s any good at it is arguable.

What would your Guardian's lore book be called:

Sixteen Wolves

Where was your Guardian reborn?:

Somewhere in the humid and shitty swamp that used to be Houston, Texas. It was tough going for a while, but they eventually traveled all the way to what would eventually be the City.

What were they wearing when they were reborn:

Rapidly disintegrating work gear from, presumably, some kind of security job.

What was their reaction to being reborn:

Confusion and alarm, but he warmed up to Serenity pretty quickly, so it wasn’t too bad after the initial shock.

What was their reaction to their first rez:

Very surprised until Serenity explained what had just happened. After that, all bets were off.

After being reborn, did they meet friendlies first or hostiles:

Like many, the first sentient form of life he met was hostile, but it wasn’t aliens. His first run-in with other people was a group of survivors who had a lot of mistrust regarding the Risen and he didn’t want to fight them, so he took off.

Who was the first other Guardian they met?:

He definitely doesn’t remember, but it probably wasn’t a pleasant encounter.

Did your Guardian get reborn with, or find, any indication of their past life? If so what do they have/found:

Exos get the luxury of at least knowing their name, but Wolf found his etched into a corner of his chest plate in cool letters. He didn’t remember anything from his past life beyond random glimpses if he dug hard enough, and nowadays those glimpses are pretty rare and extremely vague. There’s never any memory fragment that’s enough to really grab onto, so he tends not to bother with it.

How did your Guardian get their name(if they didn't rez with past life mementos):

Exo thing! He doesn’t remember if it was just some kind of moniker or part of his actual original human name, but Wolf sounds cool so he’s not worried about it.

Going back to your Guardian's lore book, what would be some quotes or passages from their book:

The Hunter dove for the ball and caught it, whipped it back across to his companion with a well-practiced flick of his wrist and tumbled. The Warlock caught it a bit more gracefully and without getting dirt on his clothes.

“Do you ever think about home?”

“What do you mean?”

The Warlock shrugged, tossing the ball back and forth between his palms. “Home. You know. Where you’re from. Your people, I mean. I think about the Dreaming City a lot. I don’t remember how it used to be, but... I like to think maybe I had family there once. Someone to miss me when I was gone. Dreadful to think of how it’s been destroyed...”

“Hm.” Wolf considered the question, then it was his turn to shrug. “Dunno. Guess we don’t really have one.”

“You must have something, Wolf. Exos had to come from somewhere. Everyone has a home.”

“Y’all might have a home. All we got’s a graveyard.”

Does your Guardian have a significant other:

He’s had a handful over the years. He’s still friends with Liz, not that anyone can tell because all they do is fuck with each other and cause trouble when they’re together. He and Amelia were a thing briefly but that one had to be called off to preserve their friendship because, even though they’ve known each other for decades and get along surprisingly well, they are very, very different people.

The last one was Cayde, and that didn’t end well for anyone. Cringe culture is dead, don’t @ me.

Did your Guardian go explore first before going to The Last City? If so, where to:

That was kinda the name of the game back then. The City was just a dinky little encampment and Wolf was on a completely different continent, so by the time he actually got there it was a dinky little town with not much to explore. He ended up breezing through a few times before anyone even really realized he was a Risen. The section of the wall he helped build is actually still there.

What was their reaction to first seeing The Last City:

A little bit surprised, honestly. He already knew there were a lot of little camps and small towns scattered around, but he hadn’t expected to find any that were that organized and so full of lightbearers and mortals, just working side by side.

Is your Guardian a part of a clan:

Yes! He’s part of the Exodus Family.

Does your Guardian's clan have a back story? If so, what is it?(if you want to or able to share):

Not much that I’m personally aware of, just cus my friends and I haven’t talked about it at length, but basically everyone is an Exo and having a fairytale/biblical theme is pretty common. Like. Puck is an obvious one. Wolf and Serenity are a little bit Little Red Riding Hood themed, only insomuch as Serenity having an affinity for red shells and Wolf thinking he’s all big and bad and tough.

(He’s not, he’s a baby.)

If your Guardian would have a quote as a flavor text for a weapon and/or piece of armor, what would they be:

I have a couple of these actually, all inspired by some really good quotes I’ve seen.

Wolf Moon’s Chase (Exotic) “Don’t look back. You’re not going that way.” A hand cannon with a wolf head grip and the Howlin’ Wolves perk; Successive precision kills gradually reload the clip and boost Super energy regen even if stowed. Missed shots have a chance to track enemies and explode.

Last Man Standing (Exotic) ”I was always taught that if you shoot for the Moon and miss, the vacuum of space will suck out your eyeballs. Failure is not an option. Go kill ‘em.” Chest armor with the Knock ‘Em Dead perk: Low health massively boosts damage, resilience, and mobility for a short amount of time.

Bad Blood (Legendary) ”The strength of the pack is the Wolf. The strength of the Wolf is the pack.” A Hunter’s cloak with the Vermilion Stripe down one side and a moon shattered into three pieces on the back.

If your Guardian has had any interactions with any civilians, Eliksni, Cabal, Vex, Hive, Taken, Scorn, Rogue Lightbearers, or Iron Lords/War Lords tell us about it!:

Wolf’s been around a while and he’s seen a lot of things, so let’s dig into this one.

He’s not as well known in the City except by name unless he’s wearing his wolf mask, but he drops in at the Farm pretty often and he’s on good terms with everyone there. He does a lot of supply runs for them and will stick around if they’re shorthanded to help with upkeep or defense if there’s a lot of hostile activity in the area. In general, he doesn’t interact a whole lot with mortals unless they’ve been out on the front lines like Devrim or Suraya. There’s way too much cultural and social disconnect there and he doesn’t have the patience or really even the language to try and explain to them that he, even as a Guardian and Old Light, is just as human as they are and while he may be immortal and have crazy cosmic superpowers given to him by a mysterious and sentient white spheroid, dying hurts and the trauma every Guardian walks around with just is not worth it.

Where Eliksni are concerned, he tends not to initiate fights with them. If they shoot first, all bets are off, but for the most part he has a lot of respect for what they’ve been through and can relate to feeling lost and completely adrift with no identity. He helps rebels on Europa either fight back against Salvation or escape to Earth to join the House of Light. He’s made a lot of friends that way.

Cabal he has a lot of respect for as well, for similar reasons. They lost their home to the Hive and are trying to survive in the best way they know how, even if he doesn’t agree with their politics. He doesn’t know what’s going to happen with Caiatl, but he’s trying to maintain hope that her empire and humanity will eventually reach an understanding. They’d be unstoppable as allies.

He doesn’t fuck with the Vex. Even before things came to light on Europa, even being near them made his brain itch and one of his biggest fears is being infected with some kind of Vex virus that’ll turn him into one of them and spread to other Exos or Ghosts, almost to the point he’d prefer to avoid them altogether.

He is terrified of the Hive. I’ve mentioned the Lunar Incident before, and the trauma of it caused such an intense meltdown that it forced a reset. Unless Eris Morn specifically asks him personally to go to the Moon for any reason, he doesn’t go anywhere near it. He can deal with them in other places like the Reef or on Earth, but the combination of Moon + Hive just scares him to death.

Taken and Scorn both are kind of a wobbly thing for him. He feels bad for what happened to them, but knowing that it can’t be reversed and that just killing them is a mercy makes it easier to deal with them. With Taken and anything relating to them, the spatial distortion they cause kind of overwhelms his processes if he’s dealing with it for too long and can make him feel a little sick, but that usually subsides once he’s gotten some distance. (Scorn are just... Oof. On the one hand, he kind of feels like they’re not too dissimilar to lightbearers just in that they were brought back from the dead and now won’t stay dead, but he always wonders if they’re suffering or if they even know where they are or what they’re doing. It’s just incredibly sad to see them like that, and the same goes for the Wrathborn.)

Rogue lightbearers? He kind of is one. He didn’t join the Vanguard until long after the City was established and before that he was just kind of doing his own thing being a thieving little shithead. It was Amelia who encouraged him to do it, and he’s shaped up a lot since then and become a lot more sympathetic toward other people. He still has that wild edge and always plays it fast and loose with the rules, more so than even most other Hunters, so he’s always butting heads with Zavala about that. In general, he doesn’t think much of them unless they’ve genuinely gone bad and are actively out there hunting and hurting other people.

Warlords/Iron Lords, uhhh. He was friends with a Warlord back in their day, but he didn’t pay them much mind outside of that. As far as he was concerned, if they stayed out of his way and he stayed out of theirs, everything was fine because other people’s problems weren’t his problem and he had no intention of getting tangled up with all that shit when he had a free pass to do all the petty crimes he wanted. He’s always thought the Iron Lords were stuffy and holier-than-thou, but he does kind of respect what they did back then and he might rip on Lord Saladin, but he understands his perspective on things. That kind of survival instinct and total victory or death philosophy, like... ya know. Wolf grew up in different times, too, and back then it was genuinely kill or be killed and you couldn’t trust anyone not to stab you in the back over scraps. He gets it. He may not always agree, but he gets it.

Does your Guardian have any unconventional allies or connections(By Vanguard standards):

Definitely. It didn’t start with Crow and Spider of course, but they’re a pretty good example. As a Hunter, he is connected. He knows a guy for everything you can think of and most of that knowledge is very under the table kind of shit. If the gains are good, he’ll partner up with just about anyone and his only hard limit is probably wholesale murder and not necessarily even because he isn’t comfortable with it. It’s a lot of mess, and a lot of potential to get his ass into really deep trouble he’d rather avoid.

He’s got a lot of Eliksni and Cabal buddies out in the system, most of whom he met in some makeshift prison or while trapped somewhere. More than once it’s been a situation of kidnapping where he just accidentally became friends with his captors.

One of his best friends for years was an Eliksni vandal out on the Tangled Shore, so he has absolutely no issue with having unconventional allies.

(Plus, like. With the system in total fucking chaos, you’re gonna need all the friends you can get. He’s dumb but he’s not stupid.)

How does your Guardian feel about themselves or others using Stasis:

Wolf has mixed feelings about Stasis. With Exos being pretty much literally born of Darkness, he has a natural affinity for it but being such a sensitive dude makes it very easy for the Darkness to manipulate him through. Any time he uses Stasis, he gets weird and a little bloodthirsty, so he tries to only use it when nothing else is working. He’s got a lot of willpower, but you can only hold out for so long when someone’s promising you salvation, peace, and power after the sort of life an Old Light has to deal with. Fear and trauma are very easy to appeal to when everything is looking increasingly more bleak all around you.

As far as other people using it, he’s still very “not my circus, not my clowns” about it. The only time he’d take issue is if someone was using it like legitimately trying to RTL someone he cares about.

Did they run The Last Wish raid? How did they react to seeing a live Ahamkara a.k.a Riven:

I’ve only done parts of it myself, but if he has met Riven he definitely almost short-circuited. I think anyone would if they met a supposedly extinct magic space dragon for the first time.

Did they run The Deep Stone Crypt raid? How did they react to the Crypt and seeing Exo Eliskni:

It was harrowing to say the least. Everything on Europa has been a nightmare, just from his own standpoint as an Exo. He goes through phases where he thinks that being one is the greatest thing ever because you’re faster, stronger, and tougher than anyone else, but at the same time, like. Look at what they have to deal with.

And all the secrets that came out as we learned more about Exoscience and Clovis Bray? Yikes, dude. Any time he’s not feeling cheeky or neutral about it, he just feels this weird sense of shame and guilt. Why would anyone want to be an Exo? Why would anyone willingly hand over their peace of mind and their security in their own identity like that? Most Exos don’t know who they were before, some don’t even know who they are now, and all because they got too close to the truth or their fundamentally unsustainable existence backfired again and they had to completely erase everything and start over.

Seeing Atraks was like watching a car crash knowing you wouldn’t be able to do anything to stop it. All these people seeking that out, wanting to make themselves or their allies into Exos just to be top notch unstoppable war machines when they don’t even slightly understand what it’s really like to live inside a completely foreign body is something he just can’t wrap his head around. He tries not to think about it too hard.

Is your Guardian from D1? How did they react to seeing Taniks alive once again:

He has his own beef with Taniks, but like. If he kept being killed and revived in shittier and shittier conditions, he’d probably be really pissed off too.

Where did they go and what did they do during The Red War:

The Red War kind of spelled the end of him transiently living in the City proper. His apartment was in one of the residential areas that got leveled, and he just never went back once the dust settled.

He did what he could to help, but his main concern was just keeping Serenity safe. He’d never admit it out loud in mixed company but if it came to having to choose between her and a handful of mortals, he’d choose her every time. She’s been the one constant in his life since he was revived and he couldn’t imagine having to try and carry on without her.

It really brought home just how much abuse he could take before his body would quit on him, and he almost didn’t make it through the whole thing. He’s way too reckless now to survive long without his Ghost, but it brought them a whole lot closer together.

For the most part, he teamed up with other Hunters to scout for safe exits and round up survivors, and when the Vanguard left to take care of business he stayed to help keep his lil classmates on task. After that he stayed at the Farm for a while dealing with the whole self-repair and maintenance deal, and he spent a whole lot more time out in the field when it was over.

Here are some characters that are either polarizing or have created a strong enough mass emotion within the community. What opinion does your Guardian hold on each of them >>>

Osiris, First Warlock Vanguard, originally exiled:

Wolf likes Osiris. Anyone who’s reckless, stubborn, uncouth, and a little bit feral is always going to be someone that Wolf likes and wants to be friends with. They get along for the most part, but because focusing doesn’t even make the list of Wolf’s strong points, Osiris can get exasperated with him pretty quickly when they’re going over some kind of batshit strategy and Wolf is over there in his corner texting. Osiris has no idea how he’s survived this long and has definitely said as much to his face. Wolf isn’t so sure either.

Eris Morn, Bane of the Swarm:

He’s a bit intimidated by her. She was kind of the catalyst for one of the most traumatizing events of his life, so being around her now still makes him feel a little bit weird and very nervous. Despite that, he still respects and trusts her immensely and will always come if she needs him.

They’ve taken time since All That Mess to talk to each other and she’s incredibly remorseful over what happened, but Wolf doesn’t blame her for any of it.

She has a very unique perspective on the Darkness and the Hive what all of this shit means, and he generally will trust her word over someone else’s when the topic comes up. She’s got a lot of wisdom in that crazy head of hers and they have a bit of a shared experience when it comes to being trapped in a Hive nest.

Cayde-6, Sixth Hunter Vanguard:

Lemme roll out the simp wagon for this one, ahem.

Wolf adored Cayde. Before The Dare, he joined in on Cayde’s little crew every so often for jobs and over time they got to know each other about as well as anyone can know Cayde or Wolf, and Wolf ended up falling for him pretty hard between all the snarky banter and watching him in action. They did some casual messing around and I’m sure anyone with eyes could see how bad he had it, but he never got the gumption to really confess and never tried to actually pursue anything beyond casual fun.

Cayde’s death absolutely destroyed his entire world. He’s seen plenty of death and his fair share of RTLs, but none have hit him as hard as that one. He spent a little while just immobilized by grief until it morphed into anger because, honestly, I don’t think any Guardian handles loss very well, and he decided after the memorial service to hunt down Uldren regardless of the cost.

The whole thing caused a bit of a rift between himself and his old fireteam and the Spider got a few good laughs out of calling him ‘Killer’. He doesn’t remember a lot of it now due to his reset around Shadowkeep, but he still gets flashes, and he definitely still blames himself. If he could have gotten there just a few minutes sooner, he knows Cayde and Sundance could have survived.

Ikora Rey, Second Warlock Vanguard:

Mad respect for Ikora Rey, especially when she low key high key supported his revenge mission. She has a unique way of being shady about things that Wolf really likes, and they don’t have much in common but he’s enjoyed working with her any time he’s gotten the chance.

When he has things to report on that he knows Zavala won’t like, Wolf goes to her first since she knows best how to soften the blow, and when he has the forethought to even bother, he runs strategies by her to get input. She’s the best Crucible player in history and he kind of sees her as a Warlock that thinks like a Hunter in a lot of ways. In the absence of Cayde, she’s the Vanguard he answers to the quickest.

Commander Zavala, Second Titan Vanguard:

Wolf and Zavala have a tense relationship. They don’t agree on most things and any time you put them in the same room together it inevitably devolves into some kind of argument about the best course of action to take on anything. Wolf’s story has him kind of lined up to be promoted to Vanguard because of experience and technicalities on the Dare, and while it’s not entirely up to Zavala, he does have a lot of sway as the Vanguard Commander. Wolf could not be less interested in the seat if someone was holding a gun to his Ghost.

He’s intentionally unprofessional as hell any time he has to work with Zavala directly and tends to go out of his way to use very unconventional methods that he know Big Blue won’t approve of, because he’s a child. Being petty is the spice of life, and Wolf is still mad that Zavala forbid him from going after Uldren. That he does remember.

With all of that said though! He does respect Zavala. You wouldn’t know it, but he truly does. The guy has the weight of the entire Sol System on his shoulders and never once has he complained.

Saint-14, legendary Titan, First Titan Vanguard:

Wolf is very fond of Saint and Saint is probably one of the few people left who has a way of getting Wolf to slow down and just take it easy for a while. Before Wolf dipped out for good, he’d sometimes just track the guy down to spend time with him and listen to his various wisdoms.

These days, he still calls him up sometimes to shoot the shit and check in on things and he always asks Saint to tell the pigeons and the Colonel that he said hi.

Lord Saladin, Iron Banner handler, One of the last remaining Iron Lords:

Wolf clowns on Saladin a lot but he does understand his point of view when it comes to survival. I’ve mentioned it before, but Wolf “grew up” in the same time period and gets where the intensity and giving no quarter comes from, because back then it really was a life or death decision with way more immediate consequences. Table politics are kind of lost to him and the turning tide between humanity versus the Eliksni or the Cabal is calling for a more open and foreward-thinking willingness to take that risk in allying with them against a common enemy. Wolf’s a quicker learner though, and spending as much time as he has with both has taught him that, in a lot of ways, they’re just like us. They had their homes taken and destroyed, they’ve lost loved ones in droves, and they’re struggling to hang onto a thread in the only way they know how.

Wolf hopes that Lord Saladin will come around and let go of his dated worldviews, because the old ways aren’t what’s going to win wars anymore. Things are far, far bigger than us versus them now and Wolf has a feeling that humanity is gonna need more resolute leaders like Saladin to survive what’s coming.

Lord Shaxx, Crucible handler, Hero of Twilight Gap, living megaphone:

Don’t leave Shaxx and Wolf alone together unless you want complete and utter chaos to unfold. Any time they get together, they get rowdy, and no piece of furniture is safe from having one of them suplexed or dropkicked into it. Shaxx is kind of like a cool uncle to Wolf and they have been known to test new weapons on each other.

The Crow, New Light, Ex-Enforcer to The Spider:

Whoof. When Wolf first met Crow, he was absolutely gobsmacked. Of all the things running through his head, the biggest question he had was why. He almost shot Crow on sight, but he hesitated for some reason. It took a long time for Wolf to warm up to him and in that time he was uncharacteristically quiet and a little cold. Serenity managed to get him to keep his stupid mouth shut, and he’s glad he listened for once.

I think just spending all that time with him hunting Wrathborn, just being a team and really going through it together, was what brought Wolf closer to him. Learning about what Crow was dealing with in his personal life, everything he was going through just as a consequence of existing. Wolf opened up over time himself and once he worked through that big C6 obstacle, he found himself really endeared to both Crow and Glint.

These days, Wolf would probably consider Crow one of his best friends. He’s taught the kid a lot of old Hunter tricks and they hang out a lot, to Glint and Serenity’s immense relief. Crow is like the little brother he never had.

The Spider, The Shore's Only Law, founder of "House" Spider:

He may or may not have low key threatened Spider before he left the Tangled Shore with Crow. From day one, even as someone who is by default insufferably cheeky, the amount of disrespect. Ooh, bitch.

Spider calling him Killer (especially around Crow) got under his skin so fast, you would not even believe, and it was all Wolf could do not to leap across the room and strangle him to death any time they had to do deals.

As far as Wolf is concerned, if he never sees the Spider again, it’ll be too soon.

Uldren Sov, Prince of the Reef, Master of Crows:

Khhhh, hoo boy. The hate. The Frothing Hatred he had for this little man. Wolf had never in his life wanted someone dead as badly as he wanted Uldren Sov dead.

Being friends with Crow and his 16th reset has softened that a lot, and he’s learned a few things about Uldren that have made other things make a lot more since sense then, but. Yeesh.

Mara Sov, Queen of the Reef, Queen of the Awoken, Ex-Kell of Wolves:

Very mixed. He never dealt with her directly, but Wolf has a natural aversion to any form of leadership just by nature. That she cornered the House of Wolves into subservience doesn’t help, but on the other hand, if she hadn’t been at war with them, things would have turned out a lot different for humanity at Twilight Gap.

Variks, the Loyal, founder of House Judgement:

Speaking of shifty motherfuckers.

Wolf definitely likes Variks and his reset between Shadowkeep and now has conveniently erased the memory of knowing Variks had a hand in Cayde’s death.

He does what he can on Europa to help Variks get Salvation rebels to safety if they just want to get the fuck up out of there and is happy to do knife tricks for him when he asks. Variks has made a lot of questionable decisions, but it’s all been done for what he believes is the good of his people, and Wolf can respect that.

Mithrax, the Forsaken, Kell of Light, founder of House Light:

Hasn’t met him, but he’s heard... a lot. With Mithrax being the Kell of the House of Light, Wolf is hopeful it’ll be a good step in the right direction toward uniting humanity and Eliksni. He’s pretty sure they’re both doomed if they can’t at least fight alongside each other temporarily.

The Exo Stranger/Elizabeth "Elsie" Bray, Granddaughter of Clovis I and Sister to Ana Bray:

Wolf is incurably nosy, so he finds Elsie pretty frustrating. She’s full of secrets and never hangs around long enough to explain what the hell she’s talking about or what her end goal is, but she’s been invaluable on Europa. Once she finally opened up a little bit and started actually telling him important things, he found her a whole lot easier to get along with and it helped to have her around when he was discovering a lot of things on his own about where Exos came from.

Eramis, of House Salvation, Kell of Darkness:

He... gets where she was coming from, in a way. She was angry and desperate and that kind of thing is easy for the Darkness to take advantage of. He can’t rightly blame her for grabbing onto anything she thought might save her people, even though it’s ended in yet more trauma for them.

Eramis isn’t someone he’d go out of his way to try to be friends with if she was ever freed from Stasis, but he would hope she’d more or less see the Light and realize that her methods needed some serious rethinking.

Empress Caiatl of the Cabal Imperial Empire:

Wolf has a lot of respect for Caiatl. She watched her home burn down around her and has used that pain to fuel a cause he thinks is pretty noble. Humanity has been at war with the Cabal for a long time now, and both sides have suffered incredible losses because of it. He thinks that trying to mend that and join forces is a good idea, but for once he’s kind of with Zavala on something: They shouldn’t have to swear fealty or subservience to a foreign empire to have their support against a threat that’s coming for both.

He’s holding out hope that if they show their strength against her greatest warriors, she’ll understand that Guardians and humanity as a whole are more beneficial as equals, not cannon fodder. It only takes one Guardian to decimate an entire Cabal squad, after all.

The Darkness is fast approaching. How is your Guardian handling it:

He’s... handling it. It’s been getting harder in recent years to just not think about things which has been his entire motto since he was first revived. More and more he’s having to confront head-on the things that scare him the most, and there’s only so much running away you can do before you run straight into a corner and have to choose between extinction and fighting until you draw your last breath.

Wolf isn’t a pacifist by any means, but it’s just one of those things where he’s starting to realize his way of living just isn’t sustainable with the system in such chaos. The Hive used to be just another threat he had to deal with every so often, but now they’ve become the Big Bad that are outpacing even the Vex in terms of imminent destruction of several species all at once. His biggest hope right now is that humanity, Eliksni, and Cabal can all set their differences aside, at least long enough to try and put up a defense against the Hive and the Darkness. If they can’t, then... well, they won’t have to worry about it for very long, at least.

And finally, does your Guardian have any advice for any New Lights:

Be good. Be understanding. Tell the people you love that you love them every single chance you get, because you never know what could happen out there. Don’t treat everyone as your enemy, because you may find friends in strange places, and how you treat someone may be the difference between waking up dead and surviving to see morning, but most importantly; Don’t look back. You’re not going that way.

[reggiejworkshop]

The Warners Get the Boot (Chapter 2 of 2)

Summary: When the Warner's find out their show might be rebooted, they head to Mr. Plotz's office for some answers. What they find out is... interesting to say the least

Chapter length: 

5,173

Link to the original story here: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12851058/2/The-Warners-Get-the-Boot

xxxxxxxx

"Well let's say the new show could cater more to your likes! What do you three like?" Terry proposed.

Without hesitation, the Warners gave their own personal suggestions on what they though would make the show great. Unfortunately, all of them chose to speak at the same time. So the resulting response sounded like this. "BlbalbaDonknottsBblblqldFfoodfadInifneyellowpolkadotbikininlkgknknlkMichelphifferrfskgslknglshruqhjqrjhMelGibson…!"

"One at a time! One at a time!" Plotz ordered them. The Warners obediently piped up, their mouths frozen wide open. The CEO pointed at the middle sibling. "Wakko?"

"Yes!" Wakko cheered. Yakko and Dot grumbled as their younger brother jumped onto the seat cushions. He was rarely picked first. "How about some more chases scenes, movie parodies, uncanny celebrity cameos, and maybe some new songs?!"

"See there you go! I love the way you think!" Terry shot his finger at him.

"Try living with him, you'll change your mind pretty quick" Dot retorted. Wakko stuck his tongue at her.

"And well… I never felt we did enough episodes with Ms. Nurse" Wakko admitted, giving a sly wink at his older brother.

"You know me all too well little bro" Yakko responded.

"Unfortunately" Dot sighed. The two executives pursed their lips in uncomfortable frowns.

"Uhh… yeah, about that." Terry interjected. "We were actually planning on giving Nurse a little less screen time. And you kids will have to cut back on the compliments" He winced his fingers on the word 'compliments'. The Warner brothers' smiles slowly melted away. He might as well have told them Santa had given them coal for Christmas.

"But why?" Wakko asked with a pained moan.

"Well, we want the show to appeal to a more female crowd" said Terry. This had gotten Dot's attention as she scooted forward in her seat.

"But Nurse is already appealing!" Yakko answered. He and his brother's eyebrows waggled.

"I don't think you understand, we want it be less offensive towards women. And with Nurse, we can't really do that"

"What are you talking about?" Wakko asked. Gillman cleared his throat.

"She's a character simply used as a curvaceous piece of eye candy for men to ogle at." he replied.

"Thank you!" Dot threw up her hands. "That's what I've been trying to say to them for years!"

"And we've haven't been listening to you, for years!" Yakko replied back, much to Dot's annoyance.

"But we don't see her that way!" Wakko got up from the couch. "She's good looking, and tall, and uh, what else is she Yakko?"

"She's nice and interesting, and Uh... Stimulating?" Yakko scratched his head.

"Oh yeah, she's stimulating alright!" Wakko gave a sly nod. Dot shook her head at her brother's fruitless debate.

"Not even going to acknowledge she has a high IQ are you?" she muttered.

"True, you don't see her that way…" Terry continued speaking when Gillman turned on a slide projector. He pointed it at a blank screen near one of walls. "But these clips appear otherwise"

What followed on screen was a serious of archive footage from the show. Each one involved Yakko's various encounters with women. Yakko fondly remembered each and every one. But the way they appeared here, they suddenly didn't seem so flattering.

"Hello Nurse!"

"Wait till were alone"

"Don't run! I've had my shots this time!"

"Hellooo, Nurse!"

"Come on one more romp! I'll even get in front this time!" After that last line, Gillman stopped the projector.

"But, your taking those out of context! It was all in good fun!" Yakko protested. Terry shook his head.

"What you may consider 'good fun' may not be fun to some people, and the last thing we'll want is for you to be accused as a well, you know"

"No! A what?" Yakko grabbed a cup of water from Plotz's desk. He took a sip when Gillman came over and lifted up Yakko's ear.

"A sex offender" he whispered. Gilman received a spray full of water that lasted five seconds. Coughing, Yakko dropped his cup.

"Who didn't see that joke coming?" Dot said to no one.

"What?! This is Yakko Warner you're talking about not Yakko Weinstein!" Yakko yelled at him.

"Calm down Yakko! You know how important it is to appeal to a wider demographic! " Plotz scolded him.

"But Plotz…" Yakko began to complain. Plotz wasn't seriously considering this was he?

"But nothing! You want your show revived don't you?"

Frowning, Yakko pondered this for a moment. Ogling the female species was part of who he was, and now he'd have to downplay it? They might as well recast him with SpongeBob. As much as he didn't want to do it, he didn't want to ruin this opportunity for his siblings.

"Well, I guess you can't have your cake and eat it too." He said half heartily, plopping himself back on the couch.

"Thank you, glad we can all be a little flexible here." Terry stated.

"Hey, if it keeps my brothers from acting like pigs, I'm good" said Dot. Smiling, she rested a hand behind her head. Wakko on the other hand was far from satisfied.

"But, Yakko saying 'Hello Nurse' is his thing! Just like 'Faboo' is mine! And Dot, yours is…"

"Boys?

"See?"

"Yeah, about those catch phrases, you might want to switch them up every now and then. Find some new ones." Terry interjected.

"Excuse me?" Dot asked. She was no longer smiling.

"What's wrong with the ones they use?" Plotz asked, arching an eyebrow at Terry.

"Well, they're fine and all but, don't you think they're a tad bit dated?"

Plotz opened his mouth to answer when Yakko cut him off.

"Please, they're not as dated as Buster Bunny's stuff, I'm surprised he still gets royalties from his!" Yakko scoffed.

"What were his go to catchphrases again?" Dot asked.

"Hiya Toonsters! It's the 90's!" Yakko responded in an uncanny impression of Buster. He then smacked his head when realized what he said. "Oh shoot."

Out of nowhere, Buster Bunny appeared from behind the couch, his gloved hand held out. Yakko's grudgingly took two dollars from his pocket and gave it to him.

"Thank you!" Buster replied before vanishing within the seat cushions. Wakko peered inside them. The rabbit was nowhere to be found.

"What do he and Babs do nowadays?" he wondered.

"Let's stay focused here please; it's time to move to the next addition of the show." Terry announced with a quick snap of his fingers. "Gilman..."

Right on cue, Gillman ripped off his business attire, revealing a tacky golden sweat suit underneath. His puffy pants were barely hanging up by the enormous wrestler belt around his waist. The initials W.B. were bedazzled on the belt buckle with ruby rhinestones.

The Warners couldn't decide what was more painful, the blinding glare from the sparkling sliver bling around Gillman's neck, or the following words that came out of his mouth. "We need you dawgs to be crunk for the new kids, ya dig?"

Yakko rubbed his brow while his siblings shook their heads. It was definitely the latter.

"Can you repeat that in English? We don't speak Cringense" said Dot.

"Look, we want to make sure you three make a perfect transition to the 21st century. Appeal to today's modern crowd." Terry explained.

"But kids have always liked us. And we like kids!" Dot replied. Her older brother blew a kiss.

"Goodnight everybody!" Yakko froze in a horrible realization. "What am I saying?!"

"Here's the thing, you three haven't been in steady rotation ever since Donald Trump had hair. Most kids today have heard of you, but they don't know about you!" said Terry. It was an admittedly true statement.

"But, what about our cult following?" Dot asked. Terry waved her off with a scoff.

"Eh! Cult groups are a niche crowd. They'll will only get you so far"

"What about the Hub…?" Wakko asked before both siblings placed a hand on his mouth.

"Wakko, we agreed to never acknowledge that channel ever again" Yakko warned sternly. Terry shook his head before adjusting his glasses.

"Gillman, help me out here" he said.

"You three love music and dancing right?!" the second executive spoke up.

"Yeah?" said Wakko. The trio perked their heads up in anticipation. This seemed promising.

"Well, you'll love this! It 'll give your new show a funky fresh jizzam!" Gillman pressed a button on a nearby laptop before restarting the projector. "Let's drop that beat!"

Dubstep music blared from the laptop speakers at full blast. The Warner's pulled and gripped at their aching ears. The bass rumbled the ground beneath them, vibrating the couch. On screen, archive footage of the Warners dancing in various episodes, were unfittingly synced up to the music. Some of the clips were repeated with quick cut edits, while others were marred by bright flashing lights. Tongue hanging and drooling, Wakko droned as his eyes flickered from epileptic inducing effects.

"Forget the Pokémon shock. This is Warner Shock!" Yakko strained, holding his pounding head. Gilman started shuffling his feet against the synthesized swoops and sleek drum sounds. His gut jiggled to the fuzzy bass line. The pudgy man slid over to Yakko, his arms popping and locking to the beat.

"Come on Yakko! Drop it like it hot!" he goaded. Yakko pulled out an anvil and raised it above Gilman's head.

"The only thing I'm dropping is this if you keep talking like that!" he warned. The man wisely stepped away before looking at Dot.

"What about you? Know how to twerk?" he asked. The youngest sibling gasped in offense.

"Yeah, I don't do that" Dot spat back.

"Oh no…?" Terry responded. He pressed another button on the projector. The music stopped. On screen was one of the Warners old routines, the three of them were sitting around a campfire.

"I got the beans" said Yakko.

"I got the ketchup" said Wakko. Dot pulled her ears; she knew her line came next.

"I got the buuunnns" The music kicked back in at a deafening roar. On screen Dot's butt shaking started repeating in a continuous loop, creating the obscene illusion of her twerking.

"That's taken out of context!" Dot screamed.

"Doesn't feel good now does it, sis?!" Yakko yelled over the music. Suddenly all three Wanrers appeared on screen, and somehow all of them were edited so they were twerking at the same time. With the seizure inducing colors strobing on screen, the trio writhed in agony at what they saw. To make matter worse, the song transformed into remixed dubstep version of the theme song. It went about as well as one would expect.

"Ii-i-i—i-it's time for animaniac- acs –acs ac sacs! And we-ee-e-e—ee- zany to the max, max, max…" the voices of three stuttering robots sang. The Warners own voices were barely recognizable underneath the slick production and excessive auto tune.

"Make it stop!" Yakko and Dot screamed. Wakko came to rescue when he whipped out his trusty mallet. The song blared on.

"…While B-b-bill Clinton plays the sax! Sax! Were A-a-a-a animaniacs! Gilman 34 remix what! Meet Pinky and the…"

Thwack! Thwam!

In two swings, both the projector and laptop were crumpled into piles of rubble. The song whirred down to a stop. Happy sighs came from his siblings.

"Sweet release" Dot moaned.

"Wakko! Put that thing away!" Plotz broke the welcome silence, as he pulled wads of cotton from his ears.

"Sorry" Wakko tucked his mallet away with a guilty frown.

"This was a rental" Gillman whimpered, tossing bits of the broken projector on the floor. Terry shifted in his shoes. He gave his glasses another tug.

"Okay, so… we'll work on the music and dance thing." Terry stated, trying to get the meeting back on track. "What about social media? What do you kids prefer, Tumblr or Twitter?"

"Whichever one has less annoying people?" Yakko answered.

"Okay, so Instagram it is!" said Gillman, who started typing away on a smartphone "What type of hashtags would you like for your account?"

The trio gave each other confused looks.

"What's Instagram?" asked Dot. The two executives responded with a few confused looks of their own.

"Have you three been living under a rock?"

"Actually a water tower to be exact." Yakko stated flatly.

"Now, we'll also need to update your outfits" said Terry.

"What's wrong with the ones they have?" Plotz asked impatiently. The Warners threw their heads back in relief. Finally, someone one else was on their side for once. So they thought.

"Nothing, if you forget the fact that they're all half naked."

The Warners looked down at themselves. Each of their faces crinkled with confusion. They were far from bashful about their appearance. No one ever made an issue about Wakko not wearing pants, nor was there one on Dot and Yakko not wearing shirts.

"What's wrong with being naked?" Wakko asked innocently. Yakko rose his hand to say something, but then he stopped himself.

"Animals are naked" said Gillman.

"But we are animals! Aren't we?"

"Anthromorphic animals, there's a difference. And gratuitous nudity is something we can't let kids be influenced by." Terry explained as if any of this made sense. Gillman came forward with a small box of clothes.

"Just peep out these kicking thread-" the executive stopped mid sentence when the anvil reappeared in Yakko's hand. "I mean, just try these clothes on."

Yakko put the away the anvil with a smile. Within a second, the Warners had their new outfits on. And in less than a second, they voiced their opinions.

"Wow, nothing says zany to the max like stainless leather jackets and tie dye shirts!" Yakko exclaimed, sarcasm bleeding into his voice.

Wakko, who now sported a pair of red yoga pants, pointed at the brown shoes he wore.

"What kind of shoes are these?" he asked.

"Alligator shoes" Gilman replied. Wakko politely placed the shoes back in the box.

"You shouldn't take an alligator's stuff, it's not nice!" he told him. A blank stare was Gilman's response.

"Hot pink sequins?! Did Lady gaga design this?!" Dot complained. She pulled at the tattered blouse underneath her burlap vest. She wouldn't be caught dead wearing something like this in public. "Can't I just ditch the shirt?!"

"But then that would reveal your underage chest" Terry warned. "Censors wouldn't want that!"

"Please tell me there's a gas leak in this room." She moaned at Wakko.

"I think they're confusing kids with the special people on Deviantart." Her brother commented.

"Oh that's nice! Real nice!" Yakko chucked the heavy jacket to the floor. He flung the shirt off to the side. Out of all the Warners, his tolerance level was being pushed to its limit. "You change our clothes, our music, and even our catch phrases! I bet we can't even use violence deal with our specials friends!"

"Actually you can." Terry smiled, tugging at his sun glasses.

"What?!" The trio yelped in excitement. Finally something they could agree on!

"Despite what censors think, People aren't really affected by cartoon violence. The cartoonier, the funnier" He shoved Gillman in front of them. "Here, have a go at him"

"Wait, what?!" Gillman freaked out.

Wham!

Wakko pounded him out with his mallet in less than a second. The sound of the impact was sweet and satisfying. Gilman dizzily fumbled on the floor, a nice lump growing on his bald spot.

"Let me try!" Dot took out her trusty medieval mace. She swung it.

Clang!

Stars swirling his eyes, the executive's lump grew in size. Gillman barely had time to react when Yakko whipped out his anvil just for the heck of it.

Thud!

A glittering gold pancake that was the executive crept out from underneath the anvil.

"Hey, that was kind of fun!" Dot smiled.

"Goody…" Gillman moaned, his entire body unfolding like a stretched accordion.

"See, now were talking!" Yakko agreed.

"Can we have a go at you?!" Wakko eagerly raised his mallet at the skinnier executive. Terry threw up his hands, backing away from him.

"No thanks. Kids, I like your raw enthusiasm" Terry said. He folded his arms together. "But…"

"Oh no!" Yakko whimpered. Of course, there was a catch.

"There will also be a series of checks and balances."

"We know how to do our own accounting thank you very much" Dot spat in defense.

"No, for every episode you have to resort to your "special friend' antics, you also have to include a brief PSA."

Yakko could feel his own eye twitch. Behind him, Dot smacked her forehead while Wakko whacked himself with his own mallet."Uh…Were not exactly the PSA type…" said Yakko.

"What about that Wheel of Morality bit?" Plotz interrupted. Yakko gave him a side glare.

"Thank you, Plotz" he ground his teeth.

"Actually, that's not too far from what we had in mind. You spin the wheel to reveal the lesson of the day, then proceed with the episode to learn said lesson."

"Didn't this kind stuff get old after Tiny Toons did it?" Wakko muttered.

"It was old before Tiny Toons did it" Dot spat back.

"Censors won't really care about the violence as long there's a point to it. Preferably once with a slight liberal tone." Terry answered.

"That explains Seth McFarlane" Yakko retorted. "So what was the point of wailing on Gilligan here?" He asked, jutting a thumb into the taller executive's gut.

"Well… um" Terry was at a loss for words. He reached for something behind him. In his hands was a large clear bowl filled with smalls strands of paper. "Why don't you check out some these lessons we've drafted to find out?"

"Thanks, Terry…" Gilman answered with a scowl.

"Each strip of paper has an important lesson printed on the back. They're true to life, and could provide a lot of potentially zany material." The executive lifted up his sunglasses to wink at them. Yakko smiled back, resisting the urge to flip the bird. He gingerly picked up one of the small strips inside.

"You're lucky you have pretty eyes" Dot said with little interest. She was far too annoyed to bother flirting with him. She and Wakko pulled a few strips from the bowl as well.

"Don't let idiots play with dynamite?" Yakko read aloud. "Well that's, uh... decent"

But the more the trio sorted through the strips, the less promising they became.

"Always remember to take your clothes off before you put them in washer machine?" Wakko read. "Huh?"

"If you ever meet someone you don't like, you can always change them" Dot chucked the strip she'd read. "What the-?! What kind of lessons are these?!"

"Dry yourself off before running into an electricity plant?!" Yakko read, anger taking over his voice. "Are these important lessons for kids, or for people like Ralph the Guard?!"

"But even Ralph has common sense! What little there is" Dot spat. Wakko reeled back in shock when he read the next one.

"It's not a good idea to snort cinnamon and soda while you're constipated?!"He glared at his older brother. "You said you wouldn't tell anybody about that!"

"I didn't!" Yakko pleaded. Gillman suddenly shoved his smart phone right into his brother's face.

"Hey if you do it again, make it a viral video! Kids love that!" he exclaimed. Yakko clenched his fists, this had gone on far enough.

"Alright, that's it!" Yakko swapped the phone out of his hands. "I've crossed many lines in the past, and will cross many more in the future, but this one I will not!"

"Yakko! All of you! What is wrong with you three?!" Plotz scolded. The Warners turned to the annoyed CEO sitting behind the desk. They were too distraught to notice he'd barely talked this whole time until now. But it was time to stop. Wakko climbed on the table and grabbed Plotz by the shirt.

"T.P! Don't make them do this!" He begged. The CEO hastily peeled him off.

"Why should I do that?!" Plotz spat back. Wakko and his siblings backed away from him, disbelief and horror contorting their faces.

"Do we have break out landing lights to your brain? We think this idea horrible!" Dot screeched at him.

"So what?! You kids don't run the show, you just star in it! If your show gets you back in limelight, it brings in better ratings for us! And don't you three want that?"

"Mr. Plotz! We'd rather spend another 50 years locked in the water tower than this!" Yakko pleaded.

"Yakko, please!" Plotz scoffed. The short man got down from his chair and brushed him aside. "This is fantastic gentlemen!" he called to the two executives. All three of the Warners jaws dropped at the same time. Both Terry and Gillman graciously accepted the handshakes from the CEO. While Plotz's back was turned, Terry looked right into their eyes.

"It pays to be flexible" Terry uttered softly. The Warners quivered at the smug smile he gave them.

"No! We're ruined!" Dot sobbed, burying her head into Yakko's chest.

"What's gonna happen to us Yakko?" Wakko stared up at his older brother.

"Best case scenario, we'll have to move to Canada and change our names to Mud, Mudd, and Muddy" said Yakko.

"I'm just glad I had the honor of meeting some brilliant geniuses, like yourselves." Plotz said as he patted both men on the back.

"Well I wouldn't consider us geniuses" Gillman gloated, flaunting one of his silver necklaces.

Yakko repeatedly slammed his head on Plotz's desk. Wakko gnawed at his hat while Dot curled up into a fetal position whispering to herself. "This is a dream, this is only a dream…"

Mr. Plotz was hopelessly hooked, and there was nothing they could do about it.

"So I take it's a yes for show? Come on! Be honest" Terry gushed in a phony attempt to sound humble. The Warners shivered as they witnessed Plotz giggle with uncontrollable excitement. Finally, Plotz cleared his throat. His joyous mood taken down by several notches.

"You know what I really think? This reminds me of an old show. Ghostbusters was it? There was nice crew, just like you two called Q5. They made some changes to appeal to the TV viewing crowd."

Plotz paced around the two men, keeping his voice at a low volume. A rarity for him.

"Changed some voices, added new characters, even gave em a cute little sidekick. It was the whole hip and fresh package!"

Seeing the CEO this upbeat and calm was really unnerving. The Warners had no idea where Plotz was going was this, but they remained silent.

"And you know what happened to that show?" Plotz stopped just inches from Terry's feet. The executive's smile weakened by a few notches.

"What?" he asked softly. Within less than a second, Mr. Plotz's face was as red as the tie on his shirt.

"IT GOT CANCELED!"

Plotz's loud shriek made the Warners jump. His sudden release of anger also knocked the two men off their feet. Terry's sunglasses fell to the floor. One of lenses popped out on impact. When he reached for them, Plotz's stood right on top of them.

"Mr. Plotz, what…?" a finger to his face cut him off. He backed off.

"You hack wits actually think this is what kids want?! You think I'd want to waste my hard earned money on this?! Horrible music?!" Plotz yelled at the top of his lungs, stepping over the broken laptop on the floor. "PSA's?!" He kicked aside the bowl of lessons before his eye level met with Gilman's gaudy wrestler belt. Plotz swiped it from his waist. "And ridiculous clothing!"

"Mr. Plotz, kids don't know any better! Many shows been redone this way!" Gilman pleaded. The burly executive trembled in his tighty whities. He attempted to pull his pants back up, when Plotz flung the belt right at his head. The belt buckle clocked his balding noggin "Ouch!"

"And guess how many of them hold up! None of them do!" Plotz growled. Ditching the pants, Gillman scampered behind Terry, who was now shaking and sweating.

"B-buts sir, I-I think should y-y-ou really reconsider this decis…" the shorter executive fumbled with his words before he was cut off again.

"After that horrible presentation?! You think I care what you bloated introverts think?!" Plotz marched towards them. Terry and Gillman wisely started backing away from him, and made their way to the front door.

"Bu-bu-butt the show! Without this reboot, I-it will be just m-memory!" Terry stuttered, failing to regain his composure. Plotz grabbed Gillman's pants off the floor and wrung them in his hands.

"Then maybe that's what thier show should stay as! A good memory!" Pants in hand, Plotz repeatedly swiped at Terry's head, the puffy clothing slapping him with every word. "Not some trendy, brainless, half baked, stupid, idiotic, pandering, dated! Bull! pockey!"

The last swipe made Terry and Gillman stumble onto the floor in the middle of the doorway. The CEO stood over the trembling men.

"I-I-If w-we don't do this, well b-b-b-e making the biggest mmmmistake of our c-careers!" Terry pleaded. The confident swagger in his voice vanished.

"We? There is no we! The only mistake I see, was letting you two in my office! Now get out! Out! Out OUT!"

Both Terry and Gillman were gone by the second "out!", their terrified screams fading down the hallway. Plotz barged into the doorway and chucked the pants in their direction.

"And take these pants back to the 90's where you found them!"

On that final note, he slammed the door. It echoed on impact.

Silence was all that could be heard now, that and Plotz's breathing. Slack jawed and bug eyed, the Warners stared at him, unable to comprehend what at what they just witnessed.

The CEO marched away from the door, breathing heavily through his nostrils. He stopped right in front of the Warners, an indignant frown on his face. But the corners of his mouth began to creak upward. Then he burst into laughter.

"What just happened?" Yakko spoke up, his beady eyes widening.

"You…" Plotz pointed at his head red nose before exploding into a uproarious fit of howling and coughing. It didn't take long for the others to realize what had just occurred. The flustered gazes from the trio turned to furious glares as the plump CEO slumped against the couch, burying his hearty chortles within the seat cushions. When he finally stopped, he wiped a tear from his eye.

"You set us up!" Dot shrieked!

"You mean this whole thing was fake?" Wakko asked. His fists clenched together.

"No, those hacks were real alright, and I've dealt with plenty others like them" Plotz confessed. A few chuckles sprinkled every other word. "I can't believe you three thought I was serious! Oh, this made my day!"

Yakko's brow furrowed at seeing his regular adversary laughing at him. But after a few seconds, a smile of admiration replaced his furious glare. The same happened to his siblings as well. As much as they hated to admit it, he'd gotten them alright. Anyone that managed to do that deserved credit.

"You're a cruel man Plotz, and that was a cruel joke" the eldest Warner answered. He planted a sloppy kiss on one of his cheeks. "And I like it! I guess after twenty years we finally rubbed off on you!"

"Agh! Don't ruin my moment!" the flustered CEO rubbed his cheeks.

"You know maybe it's for best" said Dot. "Our show is better as good memory."

"Wait, a minute! Plotz, said our show was good memory?" Wakko spoke up.

"Yes. So what?" Plotz crossed his arms.

"But Mr. Plotz, You never say anything good about us!" Yakko and Dot's faces brightened at their brother's observation.

"Well, I uh…" Plotz stammered, his face blushing a bright shade of pink. He hadn't realized in his fit of rage he'd said more than he intended.

"Oh Mr. Plotz, did you just compliment us?" Yakko asked. A wide grin stretched across his face.

"I- I did no such thing!" The CEO dodged his question. He immediately started pushing them to the door. "Now get out of here before I get Ralph!"

"Suuure, Of course you realize, I'm going to have to get you back now" Yakko said with a smirk.

"I look forward to it." Mr. Plotz replied. Sarcasm bit into his voice. "Now get out!"

With a swift yank, the door closed. The click of a lock followed a second later. Dot and Wakko peeked through the keyhole to see Plotz strutting back to his desk, a written piece of paper taped to his back. When they read what it said, they glared at their older brother.

"A 'kick me' sign? Really Yakko?" Dot shook her head. Yakko shrugged.

"Hey the story's over, it's all I could think of."

xxxxxxxx

I hope you all enjoyed this. Sorry if it came off as a little too preachy. To be honest, my feelings were more mixed about the show being rebooted back when I wrote this. On one hand, I'm very excited to have one my favorite shows brought back. But on the other hand, I can't ignore that most reboots tend to fall in two categories: it become an unrecognizable mess that fails to attract old or new fans, or its pale attempt at trying to recreate the magic the original had. But if  reboots like the new Looney Tunes show on HBO Max managed to actually look good, then that makes me a bit more optimsistic.

Oh yeah, one more thing. The Q5 and Ghostbusters bit is actually true. It was classic example of network interference messing with a good show. If you want to find more about it, I'd recommend the documentary "The Heroes of Ghostbusters". Or if your lazy like me, just check out Phelous ripping on them in his YouTube video: The Real Ghostbusters: The Bad Episodes watch?v=OW51PDa_puE&t=1717s

[irwintry]

Birthday Baby

Warnings: swearing, mention of alcohol, mention of sickness

Author’s Note: by request lol

Word Count: 4.2k

Luke felt his heart beating heavy in his chest as he rounded the corner. Of course, you would be there. Out of all the people in the fucking world, you would be there. He didn’t care about how or why you were there because he couldn’t get over the fact that you were there.

He tried to avoid his problems with the nearest bottle of booze that would intoxicate his brain. Every time he made a break for it, he’d catch a glimpse of your shirt or your hair and he’d run away from it all. If he had wanted you there, he would have asked you himself. But, that was the problem – he hadn’t talked to you in a year.

-

Eight-year-old Luke wanted a pool party for his ninth birthday. He wanted all of his friends and classmates invited, including the ones he never had the confidence to talk to on the playground. Those were the cool kids, and he figured they’d jump at the chance of going to a pool party. Everyone was doing those nowadays.

His parents went all out for him. The cake was two-tiered, and the balloons and decorations were an assortment of blues and yellows. They had even purchased a new swimsuit for him. When the day came, Luke had received no RSVPs, but he tried not to let it bother him much as they arrived an hour early at the pool they reserved. He was most excited about the gift bags he made (with the help of his mother Liz) for his friends.

At 2:02 in the afternoon, he was straining his neck to look for people with gifts coming through the front entrance. The rest of the pool was crowded with strangers enjoying the nice warm day while Luke was stressing over a party he’d forget about a few years later. That would not be the case, unfortunately.

He spotted a fellow classmate after fifteen minutes. He had nearly started to cry when you joined him on a picnic bench, a big blue gift back in your left hand. Your swimsuit had flowers all over it, which Luke thought was kind of tacky. Sure, you were one of his classmates, but you were never one he cared to get to know. You were quiet, albeit nice.

Luke realized later that he should have invited more people and that he should have given them more of a heads up about the party. Nevertheless, he couldn’t stop crying in front of you. After forty minutes of waiting, you had been the only guest to arrive. This crushed his parents, and it even made you sad as well. You jumped in the pool while he was busy throwing a minor tantrum, and after you pleaded with him to join you, he finally slid into the chlorinated water.

Maybe he liked being around you. Being around you made him happy, and even though he liked his other friends enough, none of them had set out to make his birthday party better like you had. He invited you over to his house the next weekend for a playdate. After that, playdates between the two of you were more common than those with his old friends.

Plus, you had gotten him LEGOs for his birthday, and Luke loved LEGOs.

-

He squeezed through the mass crowds of people in his best mate’s living room. The tequila shot running through his system could only burn through his surface level thoughts. He had gathered enough courage to find your face, but no amount of alcohol could save him from the guilt he felt when looking at you. He had bitten a hole through his red solo cup just thinking about you.

The watch on his wrist read half past midnight. Everyone was wide-eyed and alert as they drunkenly ground against friends and soon-to-be lovers. Luke, on the other hand, could not keep himself awake despite the bass bouncing in his chest. He wondered about you, what you liked, what you disliked, the people you liked and disliked... all of the above. No matter how many times he shut his eyes tight, he couldn’t erase the expression on your face the day he told you the truth. He couldn’t shake the feeling of his stomach rolling every time the silence grew too thick. He couldn’t imagine the emptiness you must have felt once you left and never came back.

That was why Luke was throwing up in the upstairs bathroom at one in the morning. He wasn’t nearly drunk enough to be getting sick, but your random appearance had made him this way. If he had been expecting you, he was confident his reaction would be the same. You made him nervous, and he absolutely hated it.

He challenged his stomach to make it through another hour. Though he wasn’t sure of his plan, he knew he couldn’t let you leave without him saying something. Luke let out a sigh as he backed away from the all-too-expensive toilet. He took the wad of toilet paper in his hand and rubbed it along his mouth before tossing it into the toilet before him. He wanted to believe you didn’t hate him. He wanted to know for sure that you were doing okay, but nausea returned every time he thought of you happy without him.

That part sucked most of all. He wanted you to be happy with or without him. Luke knew he was selfish. He hadn’t been most of his life, and you got to witness it develop firsthand.

He hardly had enough energy to stand back up. The silk shirt that clung to the hairs on his chest was drenched with vodka, soda, water, and sweat, but he couldn’t take it upon himself to peel it off of his clammy body. If things had been different one year prior, he wouldn’t be in this situation. You wouldn’t be in the living room of Ashton’s home, trying to celebrate the birthday of your former best friend while he was upstairs puking because he saw you.

None of this would have happened if Luke had decided that maintaining his friendship with you was more important than his greed.

“Whatever you did up here,” a voice boomed over the music reverberating through the tiles of the bathroom, “I hope you cleaned it up.”

Luke let out a muffled groan as he nuzzled his face into the arms situated on his knees. He felt so awful, he couldn’t even say a word.

“Mate, lemme in,” the person – Ashton – said again. “It’s just me.”

“’s open,” Luke mumbled in response.

A few seconds later, Ashton was closing the door behind him and kneeling to Luke’s level on the cool tiled flooring. Sometimes Luke wished that his friend had laminate flooring for moments like these. He found himself in sickly situations more often than he would like to admit.

“Y’okay, Luke?” Ashton asked while propping his back against the tub beside his friend.

Luke shook his head. He didn’t even want to look up.

“Look, we’re doing a few lame party games in the basement if ya wanna join,” offered Ash. “I’m placing bets on whether or not Jack passes out first. Wanna wager anything?”

Once again, Luke shook his head. “’m not feeling well.”

“Sorry ‘bout that, man,” Ashton replied, his tone calm and understanding. “But, hey, when you are feelin’ better, the basement is where the party will be.”

Luke managed a tight smile as his friend stood from his spot.

“See ya soon,” said Ashton as he rotated the doorknob.

“Who invited her?”

His hand fell. It took him a moment to take a breath and come up with an answer to the question. “I don’t know. If I did, I’d tell ya right away. Try to have fun, okay? You’ve both changed since then.”

Luke nodded, and after another few seconds said, “see you soon.”

“Feel better, man,” Ashton replied before closing the bathroom door behind him.

Luke sighed, the knotting in his stomach returning but only momentarily. He had to collect himself whether he wanted to or not. So, he brushed his hair off of his forehead, stood up way too quickly, shut the light off, and walked out to face the party meant for him all along.

-

On the eve of his fifteenth birthday, Luke had wandered to the park at a quarter to ten at night to meet you. His ankle was still swollen from having previously tripped over a sewer grate earlier that afternoon, but he was braving the pain just to see you. The pain in his ankle mattered little as compared to the pain settling in his chest. He couldn’t believe what he had done, and he had never been this scared to tell you anything.

His parents raised him to tell the truth whenever it mattered the most, and in this case, the truth made him seem like the weeniest best friend on the planet. He lost the bracelet you made him last spring – the one you worked two months on to get it to match yours perfectly. And now, he had to tell you that all of your hard work was gone forever.

“Accidents happen,” you told him after his word vomit ensued. Your feet were dangling off of the boulder beside the creek. This was the exact boulder the two of you always met at after the park was “closed”. One of these days, you were bound to get caught. “I’m bummed, but I can’t be mad.”

“Don’t say that,” he sputtered. “I was being careless, and you don’t deserve to have a friend who is careless. I should have made sure that– “

“Lukey,” you giggled, swinging your body around to face him. “You ass. I’m not mad.”

He frowned. “Since when did you swear?”

“Since my friends dared me,” you replied with a shrug.

Luke felt his stomach fold, but it didn’t last long before the blood rushed to his cheeks. What was he feeling? “Maggie and Jenny? Didn’t they hang out without you like, last weekend?”

You brought your knees to your chest at the sound of your best friend’s words. “They... it doesn’t matter. I like talking to them, and they like having me around.”

“Sometimes they like having you around.”

“Luke!”

He cowered back, realizing how all of this must have felt for you. What Luke never understood about you was the way you handled other relationships. Things appeared different when he looked at it from a larger perspective. The way you acted around others never amounted to the way you acted around him. Plus, he simply didn’t understand why you put up with people’s shit. He was right when he said that you deserved a friend who wasn’t careless.

The only sounds between the two of you now where the chirping of cicadas and crickets and the rushing of the water below you.

“You have a zit,” you muttered after a moment, your finger reaching up to poke his inflamed cheek. “Want me to pop it?”

“No,” Luke whined and swatted your hand away. “Disgusting freak.”

You laughed lightly. “I think I like someone,” you said to him, your hands deep in the pockets of your jacket. You had popped a Tic Tac in your mouth only a second ago.

Luke felt that feeling in his stomach again, only this time, his heart beat faster than usual. “Y-yeah? Who’s the unlucky dude?” Even though it was dark out, he could still see you roll your eyes.

“That guy Tyler from our gym class,” you responded hesitantly. “I played him in tennis the other day, and I think he was flirting with me.”

“You already think you like him?”

“Well, I think he might like me, too.”

Maybe Luke had digestive issues. He felt like he was about to get sick right then and there.

“You can’t be serious,” he stated with a frown. “Tyler? The guy who just dated Anna Parks, the junior?”

“Why are you acting like this?” You seemed to be in disbelief.

Luke didn’t understand your question, nor did he want to. He felt as though he was acting logistical with his questions. Little did he know, all you wanted was support. Little did you know, he was talking through distant feelings.

“You can do so much better, Y/N,” he said. He tried to slide up farther on the rock so he could be closer to you, and amid transition, his sandal began slipping from his foot. As fast as he could try to catch it, it fell off completely and plummeted into the water below. “My shoe!”

“I can do so much better?” You stood, balancing yourself up on the rock so you could tower over him. “What do you even know about me? He’s a nice guy, and he actually likes talking to me in school unlike you.”

“I just lost my fucking shoe!”

“Yeah, well, you deserve it. Happy fucking birthday,” you said and walked away.

-

Luke’s mind was a broken record. Every time he figured out a new thing to say to you, he repeated it over and over until he grew sick of it. Now, he was standing on the bottom step of Ashton’s basement, an ice pack to his head as he peered around the room. Nobody had noticed him just yet, something Luke wasn’t necessarily used to.

The group before him was playing a fucked-up version of drunk Jenga. He never imagined finding you first thing, your back against the coffee table as some dude he met a few years ago was doing body shots off of you. You were laughing, even when the whole ordeal was over. Suddenly, Luke was missing the sensation of the cool tile under his ass as you stood, your body facing his direction. When your eyes met, he panicked and threw up a peace sign. A fucking peace sign.

The frigid ice against his head was starting to hurt as you neared him. Your shirt was slung over your shoulder, so you clearly did not mind being this exposed around a bunch of strangers that Luke knew a little too well. Not only was he missing the cold tile, but he honestly preferred vomiting up his dinner to seeing you like this. He needed to find a distraction before his mind began to wander in an undesired direction.

“You have a zit,” you said with a smirk. “Want me to pop it?”

Luke shook his head. The running gag never got old, even after all of these years. However, the words were unsettling as of late, especially since he hadn’t heard them since June of last year.

Your smile fell after that, your eyes darting around his figure to take in every little thing he was offering tonight. The dark circles and cracked lips said enough.

“Someone told me about this great twenty-four diner just a few blocks away,” you started, taking your shirt from off of your shoulder so you could pull it over your head. You tucked it into your pants while you continued talking. “And, I’m kinda in the mood for waffles. My treat?”

Luke nodded slowly as he brought the ice pack down from his forehead. He looked down, whispering out a meek “okay” while nodding once more. “Just lemme brush my teeth.”

You raised your eyebrow but smiled again nevertheless. “Okay, freak.”

-

Luke had gotten used to being away from home for years, and you had gotten used to never seeing him. Somehow, the two of you managed to stay in contact. You’d occasionally visit him while he was on tour, and he’d come to visit you for a bit just for a slumber party of sorts. Before he left for good many years ago, he never imagined the pain of leaving you and his family. He always dreamed of a life like the one he was given, but missing people made it hard to enjoy the finer things.

Talk of his 21st came up faster than he realized. You planned to stay with him for a month by that point considering his band’s hiatus. He wanted to treat you to everything LA had to offer. You were his best friend, his roots, and he needed a little taste of home every once in a while. He needed a little taste of you.

Sometimes, he believed he needed more of you than he was aware of.

Luke had the issue of letting romantic relationships get out of hand. He struggled to maintain them while keeping a focused head, and most times, he let them go on a little too long. He compared his dates to you all too often, and he never quite grasped the reason why.

On one late June evening, he had gotten too drunk with you. He was acting as though the two of you had just met in some slimy bar with beer-gut drunks that wore beards down to their belly buttons. His lips were all over your exposed shoulders, and he kept fumbling with the straps on your tank top until you pushed him away. While he couldn’t stop apologizing, he couldn’t get away from you either. He still remembered how you smelled after all of those months without you. He had never wanted someone as badly as he had wanted you.

After that, the air between the two of you was thick. The conversations shared resembled small talk more than anything and thinking about that made Luke queasy. He needed a wakeup call similar to this; boundaries were something he hardly had to worry about when it came to his life. He had been certain that the two of you wouldn’t have any, but sitting on the kitchen stool next to you in silence on a Monday morning, he was proved wrong.

The two of you used to hold hands whenever something was wrong. Any deep conversation at two am on a school night called for it. You would lie next to each other in bed and talk about anything that came to mind. Now, it was more talk about him and less of you. He hardly knew a thing about your career, and the more time passed, the more he strayed from asking.

Luke hadn’t meant to deliver any confessions. In all actuality, he hadn’t been aware that he had confessions. The energy had shifted dramatically since your first day with him in LA, and he couldn’t bear it any longer. All of this was his fault.

But, he would never acknowledge that aloud. Not in front of anyone, especially you.

He had never been selfish until these past few years, so when he hammered you with every single feeling in his soul, he had no idea you would react the way you did. Your anger was justified by this point. The drunken thoughts being spewed back and forth only fueled the flame that burned in your guts. The tears falling down his cheeks weren’t because he was sad. He wanted you to feel what he was feeling, but he had already ruined everything good about the relationship the two of you had.

The two of you unloaded every single emotion on each other that night. Any thought one of you had about the other was told through spiteful words that shattered the heart like glass. He wanted to take it all back at the time, but he didn’t have the strength to make you feel better. He only knew what he felt, and he was frustrated you couldn’t see his point of view.

Your friendship had never been as tricky as it had been that night. Luke wanted more than a friendship, and from his understanding, you no longer felt wanted by him in the first place.

The crying had subsided, and all that was left between the two of you was that familiar tense feeling in the air. Your lip trembled, and Luke tried to resist reaching out to touch it. He had never imagined his feelings this heightened before.

“I’m going,” you whispered.

“Okay.”

“Leaving you.”

“Okay.”

“Leaving LA.”

“Fucking okay,” Luke spat, but he wasn’t okay. He didn’t know how to beg you to stay.

Your eyes widened at his sudden volume. All you could do in return was nod as you bumped his shoulder to pass him. He winced, and he almost considered reaching out for your arm to stop you. He wished he could change a million things about the night he told you he loved you, but you left before his brain could catch up with his heart.

-

“I haven’t had a waffle like this since I went home last winter,” you said, pure lust in your eyes as you gazed down at the syrup-drenched golden delight.

Luke didn’t order anything. He simply couldn’t. He couldn’t fathom the idea of food after that hour of getting sick because your face haunted his body. And, he couldn’t believe you were sitting here with him after that whole year of silence. You were merely strangers now.

“Remember when I had a waffle party when I was like, thirteen, and– “

“Can I pay you back for the Uber?”

You looked up from cutting your waffle. “What?”

“Can I pay you back for the Uber?” Luke asked again, his tone as deadpan as it had been a second ago. He felt dizzy and incapable of speaking to you as if nothing had happened.

Slowly, you took a bite of the syrup-soaked piece, nearly moaning at the taste. You nodded at him a moment later.

Luke appreciated the fact that you were trying to avoid awkwardness. You wanted to continue things the way they had been, but it was impossible for him. His mind hadn’t changed, yet all he could think about was your reaction that night.

“I was thinking since I’m in LA for the weekend, that we should– “

“Why are you in LA?” he questioned.

“When will you stop interrupting me?” you mocked in return. You waited patiently for his expression to change and continued speaking when it didn’t. “For your birthday, of course.”

Luke shook his head. “Bullshit.”

“What do you want me to say?” You placed your silverware down onto the scratched plate before you.

“Donno.” He shrugged. “We haven’t spoken in a fucking year. Excuse me for being cynical.”

“Okay, and whose fault is that?”

Luke frowned. He hadn’t meant for any of this to happen.

You sighed. “I just wanted to see you. Is that a crime? I missed my best friend. Thirteen years is a long time to be friends.”

“Twelve.”

“Thirteen.”

“We stopped talking last year,” he said. “Twelve.”

You rolled your eyes and proceeded to take another bite of your waffle. “Whatever. I wanted to see you. I don’t care about last year.”

Luke tensed, his jaw clenching as he fought back words.

“It doesn’t mean anything now.”

His hands balled into fists on his lap, and he had to shut his eyes and breathe through his nose to keep calm.

“Besides, I’m sure we’ve both forgotten most of what happened anyway, so I think– “

“You expect me to just forget that I told you I was head over heels in love with you?” he asked, a somewhat-devilish laugh coming out unannounced. “Babe, you’re fuckin’ kidding me.” Luke rapped his knuckles down onto the tabletop.

“I just– I just hoped we would be okay.”

Luke’s smile faltered, and soon, his gaze was falling back to his hands. “You have no idea,” he said breathily, “how much I want to be more than okay.”

You nodded. “I know.”

“I’ve been replaying that night in my head every single damn d– “

“You never asked how I felt.”

Luke scratched at his pants. “Huh?”

You pulled your wallet out, dropping a bunch of uncounted cash before escaping the confines of the booth. Luke stared at you, his eyes slightly wide as you pulled him up by his wrist. You led him to a dark corner outside of the diner, a place Luke knew you wouldn’t feel safe being in unless you felt safe with the person you were with.

“If you want to tell me nothing has changed,” you started, “now’s your chance. If you regret the things you said, now’s the time to fucking tell me. If you still have feelings for me, then you’ll just fucking kiss me.”

He repeated your words twice over in his head, making sure he heard every little thing correctly. Your hand was still tight on his wrist, but he wriggled out of your grip so he could wrap his arm around your waist. His pressed his lips onto yours roughly, taking no extra time to slip his tongue into your mouth so he could tell you how badly he’s wanted you after all of this time.

Your hands wound themselves into his hair, your fingers tugging at his roots so he could groan and whine against you. His chest heaved as he pulled away, and all thoughts about what happened within the past year were drowned out by the taste of your lips.

“You have a zit,” he mumbled, a lazy smirk playing on his own lips. “Want me to pop it?”

You smiled in return. “Freak.”

[thirstygirlclub]

Duchess - 15

Chapter 15 – Your Duchess

“Come on, come on!” Bambi was saying to me, shaking some lace in my face, “Just try it on! I want you to look amazing for your debut!”

We had spent hours in Stockton looking for the perfect thing for me to wear on my first night. Bambi wanted me to wear small bikinis or weird metallic booty shorts and bras but none of them were my style. I wanted to look classy and pretty and girly. We were in a lingerie store because she was getting tired of me being so picky in the dance store where she got all of her outfits.

“What’s your signature thing going to be?” She asked, looking over the various different things on the walls, “Like, I always wear tacky Halloween costumes, Kitty always wears the cat stuff, what about you?”

“I don’t know,” I shrugged and picked up loads of stockings because all of the girls wore them, “I haven’t really thought about it.”

“You’re going on tonight!”

I shrugged again. There had kind of been a lot going on with Mr Lowman in the hospital and I was still waitressing every hour I could so I didn’t really have time to think about dancing. I was literally so tired all the time I couldn’t think about anything. I didn’t even think about what my name was going to be. Apparently that was a big thing.

“I just wanna look… expensive,” I told her eventually, “like I used too, you know? Like, how I looked at parties in LA.”

I was looking so plain nowadays but I blame Jerry for that so much. I mean, he was the one that cut up all my good clothes and only left me with track pants and a pair of shorts. The only nice dress I had was the one I wore for Mr Lowman’s party and I couldn’t wear that to dance in.

“I’ve got it! Stay here, try some things on. I want to see at least three cute outfits to match your shoes when I get back,” Bambi instructed me firmly before turning to leave quickly.

Where was she going?

But, I did what I was told and looked around the store. Everything was pretty but I wasn’t sure if it was pretty enough. I wanted to make lots of money. I know I had boobs and a butt which, apparently, men liked but I don’t think that was good enough. I wanted to look nice.

Eventually, I found some stuff that was pretty. I picked up a beige bra and panty set with those things that hold stocking ups, I know lots of the girls wear them and the men like it; a pale grey sheer and lace body suit thing that would hide literally nothing when I was wearing it and some nude coloured stockings. It was all really pretty and literally nothing I would wear in real life but I guess I would be a different person when I was on stage. Bambi had taught me how to be cool and sexy and stuff which was so not me at all.

As I was paying, I heard the sound of high heels clopping towards me with the sound of shopping bags. I looked over my shoulder to see Bambi coming over with a massive grin on her face, holding a bag with a name I didn’t recognise it on it. It looked expensive.

“Here!” She exclaimed, “For you!”

“What? Bambi-” I stuttered, shaking my head and pushing the bag back towards me.

“Psh! Just take it! It’s a gift, ok? I wanted to get these for you.”

There was more than one thing in there? I hesitantly took it and looked inside. As soon as I did my mouth went dry and I lost all the air in my lungs. Inside I saw two boxes wrapped with a beautiful white ribbon. I recognised it as jewellery; all my stuff used to come wrapped like that.

“Come on, let’s go for lunch and you can open it!”

I nodded numbly and followed her through this weird city that wasn’t really anything like I was used to a city being. It was quieter and looked more like a big town than a city. We sat at a table in a cute restaurant, ordered food and drinks before I was ordered  to open my presents. Bambi was bouncing in her seat and clapping as I pulled the two boxes out of the bag, slipped off the ribbon and lifted the lid and just wanted to shriek in excitement. Inside the first one was a choker covered in rhinestones that looked so much like diamonds. It was about two inches thick and made of a solid metal with a hinge on one side and a clasp on the other. It looked almost like a collar. Then, in the bigger box, sat a crown. Like… an actual crown. It was gold with the same kinds of stones in as the necklace.

“Duchess,” Bambi said with a smile, “that’s gonna be your name. You’re gonna look expensive and all the men are gonna try and impress you with how much money they can give you.”

“Thank you,” I said, almost crying, “Bambi I don’t know what to say.”

Bambi shrugged as if it was nothing, “I wanted to. You helped all the girls when we needed it so I wanted to get this for you. It’s gonna look so pretty with your hair all up and everything. You can borrow my extensions to make it thicker. You’re gonna make so much money.”

(((((((())))))))

That evening, before the club opened for the dancers, I let Bambi do my makeup and hair. She had curled my hair neatly and piled it up on my head then clipped in extensions to make it thicker and nestled the crown in it. My makeup was heavy with big eyelashes and pink lips. I wore the less revealing outfit I chose, strapped myself into the crazy big shoes that all the girls wore. When I looked in the mirror I barely recognised myself as the person I was in Charming and more like who I was when I was doing pageants; the makeup and the crown helped.

“What do you think?” Bambi asked with her hands on my shoulders, “Your tits look great in that bra.”

“I- yeah,” I nodded.

I did look good. I felt good.

“Do you know if Mr Lowman is here yet?” I asked, peeping through the curtains to look at the gathering crowd of guys, “I can’t see him.”

“Who’s that?” Bambi asked, easily looking over my head, “You’re sugar daddy?”

I laughed and shook my head, “He’s my bestest friend! He said he’d be here.”

“He’s probably forgotten; men are pigs. They never keep their promises.”

“Nuh-uh! Not Mr Lowman. He’s a really nice man.”

She huffed. She had loads of guy troubles lately and would talk about it but I had literally no idea what to say to her when she complained about them. But Mr Lowman wasn’t just a guy. He was a nice guy. Maybe I could set them up? No. Mr Lowman was my friend and Bambi was my friend; I didn’t want them to be friends too. I wasn’t very good with sharing. What if Mr Lowman liked Bambi more than me and then didn’t want to be my friend anymore?

“You’re on now Babe,” Bambi said, moving back from the curtains and pulling me back, “you can’t wait for him forever. Come on. Madame’s announcing you.”

I frowned, still unable to see my friend but I knew I had no choice but to go on without him being there. Bambi perfected my hair and made sure my stockings were even and dusted this glitter thing over my cleavage before I went to the entrance to the stage to wait.

“We have a special surprise for you gentlemen this evening,” Madame was saying, “because we have a new girl for your viewing pleasure. But be gentle with her, she’s very nervous. Are you ready?”

The crowd cheered and my heart thudded in my chest and in my ears. It was the same feeling before I would go on to do the talent performance of the pageants or the swimsuit section. I was nervous and excited at the same time. I was nervous because I knew that after I danced on the stage I would have to go into the crowd and dance for the men. I know I had been taught really well by Bambi though.

“Then welcome to the stage, your Duchess!”

I stepped out, put on my pageant girl smile and opened my arms wide; as if welcoming them to the club as they cheered for me. Then I went into dancing in the enticing way Bambi had taught me; drawing my hands over my chest and stomach, moving my hips slowly then sinking to my knees in front of the gathering crowd of men. At first, the way they reached for me scared me but then I realised what they were doing. They were putting money into my stockings, my garter belt and trying to reach my bra but I was too high up for that. The ones that didn’t tuck money onto my clothes threw it on the stage under me and one man was just patiently holding it up to me. I recognised the hand that held it and then the arm attached to that hand.

Mr Lowman had come.

I smiled at him, wrinkled my nose and slipped the money out of his hand to then throw it up into the air so it fell down onto me. They seemed to like that so I reached down, grabbed a pile of money with both hands and threw it up so it rained down over me. I’ve never been happier to see crumpled up dollar bills in all my life. I wasn’t that good at counting but I could easily see that there was at least $200 there plus whatever was stuffed into my underwear. It was amazing. I had literally made one weeks worth of waitressing wages in less than 10 minutes.

When my dances were over for a while I gathered my money up and ran backstage with a quick glance back at Mr Lowman. Bambi grabbed me and shook me slightly, grinning madly and laughing.

“You did so good! They fell in love with you!” She exclaimed, “Come on I’ve got you a bag for your cash so you can count it up when you go bac and get changed.”

I nodded, too excited and buzzed to say anything, and stuffed all the money into the tote bag. Bambi helped me take it out of my clothes quickly because I had to go onto the floor in like 2 minutes. She came out with me, chatting happily while all I could think was how much I wasn’t looking forward to dancing for the men.

“Heads up,” Bambi whispered, suddenly different from how excited she was before, “I think you’ve got your first dance. He’s a handsome one too.”

I looked over to where she was nodding and breathed a sigh of relief. It was Mr Lowman stood with his hands in his pockets and smiling slightly. I bounced on the toes of my big shoes and walked over to him, took his left arm in my hands and dragged him to a chair.

“You can be my first, Mr Lowman,” I whispered to him and pushed his chest gently so he would sit down before putting my hands on his legs so I could lean in and talk in his ear without other people hearing, “don’t worry, you don’t have to pay.”

“No,” Mr Lowman said, almost sounding tense, “here.”

He handed me some money and wouldn’t let me refuse it. I just shrugged and went to take it but he moved it just out of my reach with a sly smile when I frowned at him. Before I could ask what he was doing he slid the bills into the garter on my left leg, except it wasn’t the front; he hand leaned forwards and put it in the one around the back just under my butt. I rolled my eyes at him then started to do what Bambi taught me. I moved my hips over his lap but hovered so I never touched him, that was a big no-no when dancing for them, then put my hands on his knees to gently stroke down his shins towards his boots so my butt was basically in his face. I took my hands away from him while I turned to kneel between his legs then put them back on his knees. His face looked weird, like tense and stressed, and his hands were in stiff fists on his legs. Was I that bad?

The song ended and I blinked up at him.

“Did I do ok?” I asked, nodding slightly.

“Yeah,” he breathed, “you did good.”

“Amazing! If you wait around for like two songs I can give you your money back, ok? Let me just get some more so people don’t realise.”

“It’s fine. It’s yours.”

But Mr Lowman didn’t have much money. I didn’t want to take any more from him so I shook my head and firmly told him I’d give it back to him anyway. Before he could argue with me, another man had come over and asked if I was available. I offered him my hand so he could help me off the ground. I squeezed Mr Lowman’s fist lightly to tell him I’d see him later before this other man led me away to a table so I could dance for him too. He handed me $30 and I didn’t feel bad about taking the money now because this man was just some guy; I didn’t care if he had money or not all I cared about was if he was giving it to me. I slid it into my stocking and started to dance, swaying my hips over him and turning around and touching my chest in front of his face.

I’m not sure how sexy I was being but guys literally queued up. Every time I finished one dance and turned to find someone else to dance for there was another guy waving money in my face and asking me to dance for them.

On Mr Lowman’s second dance, an older man hovered behind me and I decided to practise flirting. I wasn’t attracted to this guy; he wasn’t my type whatsoever, but he looked like one of Daddy’s friends that would have had money. I mean, I’m sure I’d need to flirt at some point in my life anyway.

“How much for a dance?” The man asked when I turned to look at him.

I threw the curls that had fallen from my hairstyle over my shoulder and perched on Mr Lowman’s leg. I’d never sat on a boys knee before so I was a bit uncomfortable but Bambi told me that even if I feel weird and unsure that I just needed to play it off as good as possible. I needed to act fine even though I wasn’t and I think I’ve been getting really good at that over my time in this town.

“How much do you think I’m worth?” I asked coyly, “Impress me.”

This had the man reaching for his wallet even though he was already holding money. I’m gonna use that line in the future for sure. I leaned back against Mr Lowman’s chest while I waited for this guy to count out his money. Mr Lowman made a weird noise and I worried that I had hurt him, he had literally just got out of hospital after being stabbed, but I had to keep being professional and pretend I didn’t notice. His hands went around my waist slightly then down my hips over my garter belt and to my thighs. I felt weird. I felt warm and restless and tingly but before I could start squirming I was handed $150.

Breathing a sigh of relief, I stood from Mr Lowman’s lap and looped my arm through the other man’s and walked with him to the small sectioned off area behind a curtain. I could see Bambi already dancing with another man in the next alcove over.

“So,” The Guy said, trying to touch my bra but I moved subtly out of the way, “what’s your name?”

“Duchess,” I murmured to him, dodging out of his reach again.

“No. Your real name.”

We weren’t allowed to use our real names for safety reasons. It didn’t matter what I told him though he still tried to take off my clothes and get my real name out of me. I glanced over at Bambi and saw that she was looking at me and watching the man carefully while she danced. I nodded to her to tell her that I was alright. I didn’t want to do private dances anymore; only on stage and out on the floor.

It seems that men liked me. I kind of knew that anyway, they always looked at me and asked me out when I was waitressing, but they especially liked me when I was half naked and giving them all of my attention. Bambi had told me to only ever look at the man I was dancing for and no one else; they had to believe I was only there for them. That was kind of hard though when others watched me dance and tried to get my attention so they could know if I would dance for them next.

At the end of the night, at 2am, my tote bag was full of money and I was so sleepy. I changed into the comfy shorts I wore for bed and shirt; happy to be more covered up.

I really didn’t want to walk home because my feet were hurting me so much but I think a couple more nights dancing and I could afford a cheap car; then I can start saving up to rent somewhere for me and Jack and then I can save to move back to LA. I said goodbye to the other girls and hitched my dance bag (the one with all the lighters and stuff in) onto my shoulder to leave the club. As I passed the bar, I picked up 3 matchbooks and put them in my bag without thinking. There were a few men still wandering around outside but a smile came onto my face when I saw Mr Lowman chewing on a toothpick he’d got from the bar and leaning against the wall next to the door. He looked like a cowboy.

“You’re still here?” I asked but wasn’t unhappy about it, “Aren’t you sleepy?”

“Making sure you’re ok,” he shrugged and pushed himself away from the wall.

“Oh? You’re walking me home?”

He nodded slowly and started walking beside me. I talked about the night and all the people I danced for and the money I had made. I hadn’t counted it yet but I was saving that for when I got home. Mr Lowman nodded, listened and laughed with me as we walked. Then, when we got back to Mr Chibs’ house he walked to the door with me.

“Are you coming in?” I asked, turning to look at him.

“Yeah.”

I nodded. Mr Chibs had made a key for me since I was going to be staying with them for a while. He even put a really big, cute and fluffy keychain on it for me. It was so cute. When I threw my bag on the bed all the lighters in the bottom rattled but I don’t think Mr Lowman noticed. He greeted Romeo in a hushed voice because Mr and Mrs Chibs were sleeping upstairs. I flopped back onto my bed and kicked off my shoes.

“I don’t think we have any food. We should have got some, huh?” I asked, looking at him as he sat beside me.

“I got this.”

Like a magician, he reached into his leather vest and pulled out a foil wrapped object. I think I could smell grilled cheese and my stomach immediately started growling. When he opened it both me and Romeo were getting closer. Where had he got it from? It was still steaming like he had just made it. It was even cut into triangles; my favourite. He handed me one half which I gladly took from him.

“Where did you get it?” I asked, before I bit into it.

“The diner. It’s open all night.”

That was good to know.

(((((((())))))))

We sat cross legged on my bed while we counted out my money. Mr Lowman was really fast at counting money. Eventually, I just let him do it because I kept losing count and getting confused. It was all arranged in neat stacks on the mattress and seeing it all made me so happy.

“$955,” Mr Lowman concluded, “not bad.”

“Not bad?! That’s like… a new pair of Louboutin’s! What could I buy? Maybe a dance bag… or a new pair of dance shoes or-”

“Maybe you could pay some money to Chibs for rent and food.”

He didn’t say it nastily, more like he was reminding me. I had never had to think of things like that before so it just didn’t come into my mind. I wanted to give Mr Chibs all of the money though because he had helped me so much.

“That’s a good idea,” I yawned, “I’ll do it tomorrow.”

I put all the money back into the bag and then lay back on my pillows while Mr Lowman stood and moved behind the couch. I heard the door of the linen closet open and close again.

“Are you staying again?” I asked with another yawn.

“Yeah. That ok?”

“Sure. It’s not my house though so if Mr Chibs comes down and tells us off I’m gonna blame you. I don’t know what his rules about sleepovers are yet.”

Mr Lowman breathed out a laugh. I took my bra off from under my shirt; unclasping it from the back and pulling the straps out of the arms before slipping it out of the bottom. Taking off your bra is the best feeling in the world, I swear. I kept my eyes shut while he changed then opened them again when I felt him get under the blankets. He looked just as cute as he had last night when he was tucked in up to his chin.

“Does your mom mind you not being home?” I asked as I settled into my pillows. “I mean, you only came out of the hospital, like, yesterday and you’ve not slept at your house.”

“Nah, Aunt Maya is still there. She’s in my room so I got nowhere to sleep.”

“The couch?”

“Rather sleep here,” Mr Lowman shrugged.

I liked it when he slept here too.

Happy/3rd Person POV

Chibs had grown used to going down for his morning coffee and seeing Catherine asleep in his living room. His routine had become to gently pat her head to wake her up for work and then let her little dog out in the garden while he had his first cigarette of the day. What he wasn’t used too was going to sleep thinking Catherine would be alone and then waking up to find someone else asleep beside her but not only beside her; wrapped up in his arms under the blanket. From the stairs, their heads were hidden behind the back of the couch but there was no mistaking the bigger figure beside her. He thundered down the stairs, about to rip whoever it was out of his kind of daughter’s bed only to see who it was.

Happy lay peacefully in the sofa bed with his arms wrapped tightly around Catherine with her head tucked under his chin; like she was a teddy bear. Calming down, Chibs puffed out a relieved breath and went about his morning routine.

“Fucking lighters,” he mumbled when he looked for the one he usually kept on top of his cigarettes by the door.

Happy woke up to the sound of clattering in the kitchen and the smell of coffee. He opened his eyes to see blonde curls spread over the pillow beside him and he couldn’t help smiling. At some point in the night Catherine had rolled closer to him and he hadn’t been able to resist pulling her even closer. She was so small and soft and cuddly.

“Morning Lover,” he heard Chibs say with a smile in his voice.

He looked over his shoulder he saw Chibs sat on the armchair wearing his old man pyjamas and a newspaper across his lap. He was smirking.

“Oh,” Happy said roughly with a small cough, “hey.”

“How did she do?”

Happy looked back down at the girl in his arms and smiled. She looked entirely different than she had in the club. He preferred her this way although seeing her dressed like that had definitely made him feel something that was less than PG.

“Amazing.” Happy told Chibs with a nod.

“Did you have fun?”

Happy scoffed as if to say that it was obvious that he had fun. Catherine started stirring and he had to reluctantly let go of her. She rubbed her eyes and yawned adorably before looking at his chest with a small frown then suddenly looked up at him with wide eyes. He loved it when she looked at him like that.

“I’m sorry,” she squeaked and moved back across the mattress.

“Morning sweetheart,” Chibs said almost smugly.

She gasped, sat up and then looked at him with wide eyes.

“Oh my gosh! I’m sorry Mr Chibs! I didn’t know your rules about sleepovers and- and-”

“Shhh! It’s too early for shrieking,” Chibs laughed and winced, “it’s alright. How much did you make?”

As Happy sat up, Catherine bounced out of bed and grabbed her money bag from the floor with a small laugh before practically skipping over to her dad and started to empty the money over his head. Chibs covered his coffee with his hand then laughed as well, watching as the almost $1000 was shaken over him. She told him excitedly about how much she had made and about how her first night went. It was good to see her so happy.

Happy made sure to remember how happy she looked when she lay back on the stage the night before and dropped money all over her body. He liked seeing her smile. He especially liked seeing her smile when she was covered in money and barely clothed. But, she wasn’t a stripper at the moment; she was just a girl seeking approval from someone that she thought of like a father figure. Chibs understood, told her that she did really well and he was proud of her before touching her cheek with a very affectionate smile. Happy couldn’t help thinking how angry her real dad would be when he found out she was a stripper. Perhaps it was for the best that he had disappeared.

Catherine didn’t look directly at Happy for the rest of the morning which he found funny; she would dance in underwear and be seductive for him but waking up cuddled up to him made her blush? He purposefully spent the morning shirtless just because he liked making her blush. Which she did almost every time she looked in his direction.

Surprise Bitch – This was only a little chapter. I didn’t really know how to end it but really wanted to write about her first night of dancing! There was no way I could carry it on in a way that made sense.

Happy finally be making some moves even though it was when she was giving him a lap dance.

Prepare yourselves kiddo’s because it’s gonna start getting dramatic from here. Now, Catherine is going to be bobbing along happily in her life making money but behind the scenes there’s going to be a lot going on so we’ll be seeing it more from the Sons perspective.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this little one. I’ll see you soon.

Love, Doe xxxxx

[the-simone-jones]

Broken Parts.

INVOLVED: Mo’nique Jones and Bryce Hayes. LOCATION: Jones’ Home; Los Angeles, California. TIME FRAME: Friday, January 4th, 2019. NOTES: Mo’nique’s ex husband pays her a visit. AUTHOR’S NOTE: Smut warning.

“I thought I’d stop by to get my check” Bryce said licking his full lips as he let himself further into Mo’nique’s home. He took a look around before he plopped down on the couch having made his way into the living room space.

“You did?” Mo’nique asked as she rested one hand on her full hip, her eyes followed the man as he let himself in. Leaving her to stand there at the front entrance holding the front door handle tightly. “I told you my accountant would handle that this morning, in which I am sure he did” she said as she closed the front door and locked it behind herself. She swished her full hips past the living room and into the kitchen. Were they divorced? Yes, going on 3 years now. Did they love each other? Yes, in the past. Did he make up sorry excuses to see her and come over? All the time. Did she do the same? Often. Why neither knew for sure. Their marriage was smooth sailing until her fame outgrew her and everyone else’s expectations. He was her ex drummer, a guy she didn’t expect to connect with, but she did. And together they always made beautiful music.

Bryce watched Mo as she walked past him without a care, she knew why he were here. Well, without a doubt he needed his money. No, he wasn’t a big star like her, he got by with his love and passion for music. But she had by passed him and ran laps when it came to the just due of it all. However, he still needed his money, every month, without a doubt. How else were he to entertain his list of women if he didn’t get his 10 thousand dollars a month? If he knew one thing for certain, it was that nowadays hoes were not cheap. But even with that he couldn’t miss dipping into her jar of honey whenever he could. And he knew she would not deny it.

Mo’nique moved into the large kitchen it was fit for someone with a full staff, a chef even, but it was just her these days. She loved her solitude it kept her at ease. Years back she used to think having Bryce around gave her tremendous comfort but that was never what he truly was to her. Not in the end. She scratched her head as she began checking emails from her laptop. She would have joined him in the living room but whatever antics he was up to today, she didn’t have much patience for. She scrolled for a moment before she sighed to herself again. Opening a tab in Chrome she began to research this fellow artist, of course she knew of the guy he were in some band or something but, who was he really?

“Aye” Bryce said as he moved into, her large kitchen. She had definitely upgraded from the small home he bought them in Pasadena. To think he thought of himself as a pretty big fucking deal having done so for them. He felt like a man, back then. “What you up to?” he asked her curiously taking in her demeanor. His ex-wife had always been a damn mystery to him. A broken home, estranged mother, siblings spread out, and a deadbeat father. And behind all of that stood the darkest cloud he’d ever seen one human being carry the weight of. Maybe that’s how it all dissipated, she was cold – spine numbing at times. She couldn’t love and didn’t know how to be loved and most of all she was fucked up.

“E, I, O, U, and sometimes Y” she replied looking up slowly. “Nothing” she replied to him squinting slightly. “Bryce, what else do you want?” she asked him. “Come out with it…” Mo’nique said swiftly. “The cat could never have your tongue…”

“Nawl, ‘cause I’d rather be using my tongue to lick the cat. Why you uptight?” he asked her. “What’s bothering you?” Bryce asked as he moved over towards her, tucking a loose curl behind her ear.

Rolling her eyes, she shut her laptop. Pushing the Macbook to the side a bit as she raised a brow at him. She hated him, completely. Yet here he stood before her. She never turned him away. “Victoria called me… and I know what she wants. I am not giving her money. It’s unfortunate she’s sick. But she made her bed…” Mo explained to him easily.

“Victoria, Victoria, Victoria” Bryce repeated with a shake of his head. That damn woman. Evil never seemed to die when you needed it. He for one, was lucky to not ever had to deal with his mother-in-law throughout their marriage. It was the one true blessing out of all of it. “Shh” he said softly, she was vulnerable he knew that. He was so sure of her that, he knew by now she’d spent days not eating and nights not sleeping over this. Mentally she just was not herself when that woman was ever inserted into her life. She was honestly better off having been given to someone or adopted. He leaned down kissing her full lips, large hands moving to her hips as he pulled her flush against his.

Mo’nique bit her lip roughly as she looked away from Bryce, as he shushed her, she closed her eyes momentarily before her lips were greeted with his. She hummed softly into the warmth and the feel of it all. She honestly just missed someone taking her out of her own thoughts and her own mind. I guess you could say in a crazy way, he needed his fix and so did she. It was sick and twisted but they were using each other in the most disgusting ways. As he grabbed her thick hips and moved her closer to his built body, she tilted her head deepening the kiss with each passing second. Though something deep down inside her begged her to stop, pull away, and grow up she continued to indulge especially with the heat growing between her thighs. Closed eyes weren’t blind, but they surely chose not to see.

Rough hands moved to the waistband of the tacky Gucci pajamas she had on, though rightfully in his mind he knew they were only tacky because he couldn’t afford them. His digits worked to push the fabric down, fingers dancing across her round ass as the elastic stretched across her brown skin. If he missed nothing more every time, he left it were her ass, Bryce could never get used to it. Hands pushing past thick thighs now, he allowed the silk fabric to glide down the rest of the way as his hands moved to unbutton the silk top next. He released an agitated growl, as he popped buttons open one after the other, his dick hardening with each attempt as finally he freed her full breast. With a delightful sigh, he ducked down capturing her chocolate round mound into his mouth hoisting her up in the process. The man rested her atop the kitchen counters.

As his hands moved to remove her pajamas bottoms Mo’nique moaned softly into his mouth. Their tongues battled in a never-ending war for dominance, she nor he bowing to allow the other to win. It was like their tongues danced, the tango to be exact in time on a constant rhythmic beat. God, it was what she missed. The way they just worked hand and hand to get the job done. She didn’t know where they’d gone wrong, what she could have done differently. But as long as he still desired her, it wasn’t her looks, weight, face? As he began to unbutton her shirt, she at one point of time said it would be easier to help him, but 2 buttons in he’d accomplished his goal so there was no longer a need for her. She squealed slightly as he hoisted her up onto her marble counters; white, gray, and black flecks of marble wore her shadow as her hands pressed into it gently. Balancing herself as she toed her pants off completely. She moaned softly to herself as his warm mouth teased her feverishly.

His hands gripped her thighs parting them and he released her nipple seeing the moisture that had already collected between her legs just for him. He moved over to her other full breast capturing it into his mouth, using his tongue to tease it as he used it to dance with her tongue moments ago. He unbuckled his jeans, Louie V belt buckle hitting the marble floors with a loud thud as he moved to free himself from his boxer a grunt leaving his mouth. He released her right nipple and moved to pull her panties down looking up at her with darkened eyes. Mo’nique was actually very gorgeous it was just everything on the inside of her, what made her uniquely herself that made her ugly. Bryce pulled her to him, jerking her forward.

Hips rocked on their own accord as Bryce moved from one full breast to other, she watched as he unbuckled his jeans, unzipped them, and let them fall to the ground. She shifted a bit as her lip found its way back into her mouth. As he pulled her panties down, she lifted her hips a bit assisting him in his task. As he pulled her forward, she slid slightly, and she caught herself. Elbows pressed into the marble as she shifted herself a bit, catching his gaze as he moved to slid into her depths. She inhaled sharply, lips falling open head falling back ever so slightly at the feel of him filling her up once more. Mo’nique whimpered slightly in anticipation for what he intended on administering to her.

Bryce stroked himself slightly before pushing himself deep inside her depths, he groaned at the feel of her slick wet walls engulfing him. In his mind she always fit like a glove, like she was made just for him and he closed his eyes as the thought sent chills up his spine even now. He pulled her closer if that were even possible, prompting her to wrap her thick legs around his waist. He moved nice and slow, his hips dipping in and out of her heat in a cool and calculated way. He knew her like the back of his hands, he had to coax the freak in her to come out. He couldn’t do too much too soon, or she’d hide behind her shell but if he took his time, she’d depend less on him and instead take over.

“Yes!” Mo’nique moaned back arching off the king-sized mattress as Bryce pounded walls down. Toes curling, she gripped him tighter, closer as he dived deep inside reaching peaks he hadn’t before. “Don’t stop” she begged as he slowed a little. “Don’t stop” she urged as she rolled her hips in time with his. “Please” she breathed out softly as she laced their fingers, locking hands.

“I gotta go” he hummed into her ear kissing the side of her neck, they’d fucked in the kitchen, the couch, and somehow that were not enough. In his defense he prompted the kitchen and couch. And somehow, they landed in her bedroom, but he had somewhere to be. And he knew if he stayed any longer, she’d become needy. Bryce landed each thrust just right as she grabbed his hands in hers, lacing their fingers and he opened his eyes looking down at her. Kissing her lips, he said “come on, let up…”

“I need you” Mo’nique said trying to reason with the man as he picked his pace back up slightly and she released another moan filled with nothing up ecstasy and thankfulness. She continued to grip his hands mouth parting as she panted slightly into the thick hot air. She released his hands only to grab his hips rolling him over onto his back as she took control. This way, she could keep him here just a little longer. Her mind was finally at ease, if he left it would all come swarming back and she couldn’t take that. She didn’t want that. Even if he were a headache, right now he happened to be a great pain reliever. She licked her dry lips as she rode him, her eyes closing as she rocked in time with him.

Bryce looked to the woman crazily, she turned them over riding him like a true freak would. His hands moved to her round ass, gripping it into his large hands. He groaned slightly, cursing her in his head he needed to bounce, in fact he had another booty call. As she bounced, and rocked, thick hips enticing him, he dropped his head back against the bed. “Damn” he said in the room looking up at her as she pleased herself on his account. And he began to match her thrust, he had his fun now it was time to dip and move on with his day. So, if getting her to cum again would, he’d get it out of her sooner than later. He used her hips as his leverage slamming her down against his large dick as he forcefully pushed in and out of her depths.

Hands splayed against his chiseled chest Mo’nique panted softly above the man, bouncing playfully against him a she smirked to herself. Nothing felt better than this, right now, in the moment, period, ever. Even as sweat trickled down her spine, as messy hair cascaded around her head, even as he forcefully pounded into her depths. Causing her cries of both pain and pleasure to leave her lips even with the pleased smirk on her face. Eyes still closed her head fell back slowly “yes, God yes” she murmured. Her thighs begin to tremble slightly as she gasped as the familiar feeling danced around in the pit of her stomach. “Fuck” she cried behind clamped lips.

Bryce huffed slightly as his hands moved back to her round ass and he continue to meet her thrust. He felt her plush thighs trembling, closing and opening on their accord. “Fuck” he said the sight of her nearly causing his own orgasm and he dropped his head back against the bed once more as continued to cry out for him. Bryce hiss mumbling “fuck” again. “Cum” he commanded to her in a husky voice, as his digits dug into her moist skin.

Whimpering, Mo’nique felt his hands digging into her skin and she gave in as he commanded her to. His husky voice was just what she needed to push her over the edge, and she came above him moaning, whimpering, crying smoothly as she did. Her body buzzed as waves of pleasure surged through her, it was electrifying to say the very least. Her body buzzed even more as he came shooting his load into her carelessly. Finally opening her eyes, she leaned down to kiss his lips soundly, savoring the taste of her still on his thick tongue.

Bryce felt her body vibrate at his command and he unwillingly came with her, spraying his seed among her fountain of nectar as she continued to rock against him. Her lips met his and he angrily kissed her back “alright” he barked. “I gotta go, that bitch waiting on me thanks to you” he said pushing her over slightly, pulling away from her kiss.

At his bark, she pulled away slightly from him sitting up a little as she brought her hips to a stop. His next words had to be swallowed down quickly, simply stored into a bottle. She looked to him unknowing of what to say, as he pushed at her she slid off of him. “I said I needed you…” she told him softly as she pulled the sheets toward herself, covering her body from him though he knew every inch and stretch mark. Mo’nique exhaled softly “Bryce” she said in a defeated voice “please?” she pleaded. “This one time… I don’t want to be alone” she told him.

“Come on man” Bryce retorted as he moved to grab his boxer, sliding them back on he snatched his jeans up after. One leg at a time he slid the jeans up before he said “grow up, alright” he barked at her again. “All this shit from your mother, father, whoever…. grow up. Shit happens. You are a grown ass woman, move past it” he said looking to her wildly. He zipped his jeans up and fastened his belt in place. “Where the fuck is my shirt bro…” he asked shaking his head as he found a sock. “You look silly…” he told her in a calmer voice. “Nothing is ever that keep bro.”

Mo’nique wrapped the sheets around her, she kept her eyes low as he angrily grabbed his things. Each word was another wound that would never heal, it was her fault anyway. “It’s downstairs” she replied back to him, he had left his shirt by the couch. She swallowed hard as she looked up at the ceiling. “I’m sorry” she said even though she had no clue what she was supposed to be sorry about, what did she do? He came to her. But like most people in her life, he came, he took and that was that. She never got anything in return. Pain, misery maybe.

“Save it” Bryce replied “sorry don’t even mean shit, it ain’t even needed right now. I’ll catch you later” he told her as he ran his hands through his hair a bit. He felt bad, leaving her like this. He just knew he couldn’t stay. To be sucked back in to her whirlwind. Love me now, wait, no hate me instead. It was too much. I love you, I hate you, I need you, I don’t want you. “Too much baggage Mo, people just can’t love your fucked-up parts, it’s not possible man, you have to much shit on your plate” he trailed off. She never knew what she actually wanted or needed out of life. “Bye…” he said leaving the room and moving down a set of stairs.

Mo’nique watched him go she blinked hard as the tears fell, she sniffled slightly to herself. Looking to the right of her as her chin quivered slightly a sob left her and she leaned down. Her body slumping over into her mattress crying harder. She sobbed, hard to catch her breath as each passing sob left her body like a crushing blow. Her eyes closed shut unable to see out of them anyhow. She pulled the covers tighter to her chest, hands gripping them as she were left with her tears and cries of heartache.

[anima-contritum]

The Rush of Blood - part 2

A/N: omG can you believe it? I actually finished part 2! Holy crap, I am so sorry for the extreme amount of time it took to finish this and I hope it won’t take as long to make the next part. To add to that, there’s only going to be maybe 2 more parts or so, so get prepared for the angst (; anyways, enjoy y’all! feel free to ask questions, give requests, and give feedback as my ask box is always open! love ya! xx

Word Count: 2,012

Notes: It’s kinda long and mostly internal thoughts so I’m sorry if it’s a lot to take in

T/W: references to past abusive families and slight depressive thoughts (if i missed anything necessary to note, let me know and i’ll add it)

Parts: 1 2

Five hours until heist

Midnight was approaching faster than you wanted it to.

After the plan was officially laid out and organized, the consequences of it didn’t start clawing it’s way up from hell until Angelica left along with the other girls. John took a bottle of dark whiskey and headphones, locking himself in the bathroom. Herc went for a drive and still hasn’t returned. Alexander wouldn’t even meet your eye as he brushed passed you to “go out for some coffee.” Only Laf decided to stay behind, his silence from the kitchen making it hard to consider it a comfort. You knew they were only trepidatious and more than frightful for the tense night ahead of them, but it still felt like your heart was ripped out and stomped on.

The shitty mostly abandoned apartment building you and your boyfriends lived in has never felt more claustrophobic. Your body felt like lead as you settled on the old tattered couch that sat in the middle of the room. In front of you sat an old clunky TV that remained as a black-screened ornament in the stale room. The ripped mustard-yellow wallpaper of the living room never looked more taunting and ugly, water stains forming ghostly shapes. Shivers often raked through your body as the cold chill nipped at your skin despite wearing a heavy leather jacket and warm hat - courtesy of Hercules. Everything seemed to start closing in on you the more you thought about what was to come and you started pacing across the tacky beige carpet.

Angelica had given you the handgun and other supplies for the job just before she left. The cold metal had bit into the heel of your pale palm turning the skin pink and clammy. It felt heavier than it actually was, like old remembrances were layered onto the metallic weapon to make it feel that way. Stomach acid had burned the back of your throat even after you shoved the firearm under all the other clothes in the black duffel bag, then putting the bag in the deepest corner of your bedroom closet.

You’ve only fired a weapon once and the memory still stains your mind like blood on a pristine white shirt.

It was getting harder and harder to breathe in the stale air wafting in the cramped apartment as your overbearing thoughts and worries crowded you. Each round of pacing steadily got quicker and panicky before it was hard to distinguish shivers from the cold and the wavering anxiety that flooded your entire mind and soul.

~*~

Four hours until heist

With the vast New York City washed in pastel oranges, pinks, and yellows your own personal world seemed bleak and dark as you looked over the busy streets from the roof of the building. It was a meager place as tiny puddles from yesterday’s rain littered the concrete surface accompanied by different clangy ventilation system vents. For the most part, it was a simple, generic apartment building roof accustomed with a fire escape ladder and pigeon shit. Yet, this was always your get away place, your safe haven.

When you were younger you would sneak out onto the damaged shingles of your house’s roof and sit there for hours just to admire the stars or to get away - despite the cold or pouring rain, it was better than what was going on inside the house. As you gazed upon the galaxy above, you got lost in them. The constellations became a familiar comfort, the twinkling outlines of history and the extensive universe always constant and never changing. Change was a bad thing, you remembered your mother saying, because change meant new things and new things were always broken and once they’re broken someone is always to blame and bare that heavy guilt.

You wrapped the leather jacket tighter around your frail body against the wind that whipped around you, threatening to take you down. The air you breathed in burned your lungs with each icy inhale, each exhale like a tiny cloud of its own. Although the cold froze over your core making your nose and cheeks red, watching the sunfall gave you a small sense of warmth.

Up here you swore you could almost touch the sky every time you reached, but with each extended hand toward the glittering heavens it always was just out of your grasp. Nowadays it felt like a childish gesture, but even so your arm still reached up towards the skies as far as it could. As the sun set it casted a golden light over your skin, encasing the neighbor buildings in it’s glowing embrace as if it were renewing the crumbled and broken parts - both human and building parts alike.

If only, you wished, the light could truly restore your being, to heal it, to make it better. But the light only steadily faded and disappeared in response and with it left the warmth you felt before as time slowly crept by in an endless cycle.

~*~

Three hours until heist

Time became irrelevant to you the longer you stayed on the roof. The sun was gone and in its place the stars shimmered behind dark clouds that rolled overhead. Your nose was runny and your legs and arms had been numb for longer than you could tell. It was funny in a way, how the numbness and aching chill in your bones anchored you to the earth. Without that steady shivering, nagging need for warmth, you knew your brain would wander and get lost in your anxieties or get tossed in the abyss of less than pleasant memories.

Instead, you watched from afar as New York City slowly came alive with illuminating skyscrapers and busy late night traffic. You noted patterns in a distant traffic light and kept up to date with the cops’ routine as a black and white car cruised down your secluded street. It was then that the roof door creaked open behind you with a grating metallic squeak.

“I knew I would find you up here,” the thickly french accented voice carried over to you and relief flooded through your tensed muscles. For a short moment, your mind viciously convinced you that someone else was invading your sacred hide out. “Merde, it is freezing up here. Are you alright, my love?”

Turning towards Lafayette you sniffled despite your best efforts and shrugged, looking anywhere but his face. “Sure. I’m just peachy…” You took a deep breath in that ended with a hacking cough. After sitting in the cold for so long it was no surprise that you had gotten a little sick, but then again after years of doing similar things in the past you were used to the heavy feeling in your chest and congested sinuses from the cold weather. The feeling always shot you back in time to a past memory where you had gotten so sick from sitting on the roof amidst a downpour of rain, you had to stay home from school for a week and a half. Most kids would be envious of the ‘vacation’ but no one would understand the almost purest form of terror that took over you during that time. Your mother would get caught up in tending to black and blue bruises and angry red cuts across her own body while making sure you got your medicine and soup.

That was the week you decided one day you and your mother would run away to a place where your monster of a father would never find you. If only your wish came true sooner…

The hands that suddenly pulled you into a warm chest jostled you from your past remembrances as Laf embraced your shivering form. “We must go inside, darling. You need to eat and I’ll make you some tea to warm you up.” His voice was soft and endearing as he pulled away from the hug to take your icy hands in his. “Come, now.”

Lafayette never let go of your hand as he led you back to the apartment. It was nice to have the comfort of one of your boyfriends with you although you missed your other boys as well. It left a hole in your heart to not have them with you. If only they could understand that it wasn’t hard for just them. Knowing what you had to do when the clock struck midnight made your entire body go rigid and your stomach churn with nausea as if the thought was poisoned.

The silence between you and Laf stretched until you came upon the dimly lit kitchen of the apartment. It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence but it wasn’t necessarily pleasant either. Anxiety raced through your veins as you gently tugged on the man’s hand to get his attention. It was hard to look into his concerned gaze as words started to blindly tumble out of your cracked lips.

“I’m sorry, Laf… For accepting to do something so risky and dangerous, I mean. I-I know how much you and Herc and John and Alex care and how worried you all must be, but I-... I have to do this or we’ll never make it through the winter without starving or freezing to death.” Your voice came out small and weak in the cramped space of the musty kitchen, the only other noise being the shuffling of the man’s feet as he came close to you.

Lafayette’s warm calloused hands cupped your cheeks, tilting your head up to look at him. His dark eyes shone with an unconditional love and restless contained worry as he leaned forward and pressed his lips to your forehead. Although it was such a simple form of affection, it still left your heart fluttering.

“You do not need to apologize to me, my love. I understand. All I wish is that I was in your place instead. To have you go in alone causes me so much worry, I cannot bare it… If something were to happen to you-” his tone wavered as the frenchman took a shaky breath, his eyes filled with something you couldn’t begin to decipher, “I would never be able to forgive myself knowing I could have protected you or done something more.”

You could barely hold back the watery sob that built up inside you as you tilted up into his loving kiss that touched your lips. It instilled so much warmth into your cold, frail body that it felt as though all worries from before melted away.

Soon after the kiss, you were wrapped up in blankets and - despite your objecting appetite - ate maybe a little less than half a bowl of stew. The mugful of tea Laf made you heated your chilled fingers and dissipated the congestion you felt before. Your boy stayed by your side for most of the hour in which Alexander and Hercules both returned sporadically. They gave you a somewhat vague and cold greeting in turn Lafayette nearly smacked them upside the head for. Around 10:40, John emerged from the bathroom with red-rimmed eyes and bruised knuckles you hadn’t noticed before.

Finally, everyone you loved were in the room together. The tension was high as you expected it to be but you still managed to revel in the truth that they all came back. Glancing around the room Alex was shuffling nervously on his feet, Hercules was concentrating on one spot on the wall opposite of him as if it were the most interesting thing on the planet, John was slightly tipsy as he staggered to lean against the wall nearest him, and Laf was seated next to you on the couch with his fingers intertwined with you.

It felt almost like collective grief and anxiousness took over the room as the clock struck 11, as if everyone knew the full weight of what the chimes truly meant as they dinged in an echoing chant. John snorted a laugh with no hint of amusement before muttering a slurred, “Time to get ready for the ball, Cinderella.”

[babylon-bitch]

Just Friends ~Nostalgia And Running (part 61)

Harper White is best friends with Luke Hemmings, they always have been. Not only is she  friends with the rockstar, but with the rest of 5 Seconds Of Summer, as well as a really nice girl named Erika.

Harper has a few secrets, she can play all the instruments the boys play and many more. It’s a talent she has kept hidden, only very few people know.

What will happen to the six teens, wondering around the world together?

***

Calum’s P.O.V.

Watching Harper walk away from me, I sigh shaking my head at how simple the solution is to their pain, and walk the other direction, towards the hotel.

Harper and Luke frustrate me so much, they’re blind to the solution, and by the talk I’ve just had with Harper, it’s clear that she wants Luke as much as Luke wants her, she just can’t admit that.

I get both of their views.

Luke wants to be where they used to be, and almost forget every that has happened. I think that’s what we all want, but we know it’s never gonna be the same again, maybe worse, maybe better, I don’t know, just not the same.

Harper wants to forget everything, but not the same way as Luke, she wants to forget Luke. Which is brutal, but that’s how Harper says she wants it, and the heart wants what the heart wants. Although I don’t think it’s the heart talking.

I could be seeing Harper’s view wrong, and she actually doesn’t want anything to do with Luke at all but it’s kinda hard to believe.

I’m torn between supporting Harper in that she needs to get over this herself or that her solution is Luke and only Luke. But going with her theory that she wants nothing to with Luke, she needs to get away from that. I want to be a good friend and support her, but I’m not sure if this is the right decision for her at this moment in time.

I love them both but this makes me want to hit their heads together until they understand.

Even though they were fucking gross together, kissing and being affectionate all the time, I’d still take it, if that means they’re both happy.

I’ve not experienced what they are going through, so there is a certain extent that I don’t understand it, but from an outsider’s view point, what they’re doing can’t be healthy, physically and mentally. You can tell they have both lost some weight, the bags under their eyes signal that they don’t get much sleep, their minds are on each other all the time, and how can it be healthy to be in your thoughts all the time that it’s like they’re not even in the room.

The two of them are suffering, it’s clear, they’re suffering differently though. Harper’s mental health is off the charts and Luke’s heart is off the charts.

Luke’s stuck with nostalgia, whilst Harper is running.

The amount of times I’ve found Luke going through his camera roll on his phone is uncountable. He always has this small broken smile on his face when he looks through them. We want to take the phone off him because he gradually get more distant every time he does it, but if that’s his only joy nowadays I don’t want to be the one to take that away.

Smiling at the receptionist as I walk through the lobby of the hotel we’re staying at, and wait for the elevator to open.

Stepping in and pressing our floor number, then waiting, pulling my phone out in the process.

“Hey.” I say as I walk into Ashton’s hotel room, where everyone seems to be hanging out.

“Hi.” Luke sighs, going back to his phone.

“Hello.” Ashton waves.

“What took you so long?” Michael asks.

“Yeah you were like 17 hours.” Ashton exaggerates.

“I was like 2 and a bit hours, calm down.” I shake my head, sitting in a tacky armchair. 

“But what took you so long? We thought you’d be like half an hour later than us.” Luke says.

“Well I was talking to my sister longer than expected then I ran into-”

“Wait, let me guess.” Michael cuts me off. “Britney Spears.”

“Uh no.”

“Highly Suspect?” Ashton questions.

“I wish.” I shake my head.

“An old one night stand?” Luke asks.

“Thank fuck not.” I answer. “Why couldn’t you just let me finish?” I ask.

“Because it will probably be someone we don’t know or someone lame.” Michael tell me.

“Okay, rude, and you better not let them hear that, but I ran into Harper.” I confess.

“What?” I grab Luke’s attention instantly.

“She’s in London?” Ashton asks.

“I swear I could’ve heard her voice when we were leaving.” Michael says.

“You probably did because the room she was in was on the way out.” I confirm.

“Is she still here?” Luke questions.

“Right now she is, she’s gonna go see her brother, but I’m not sure if she’s staying overnight.” I shrug, leaning back in the chair.

“But isn’t her bro-”

“Yeah but he’s staying with his girlfriend or something.” I save Luke the time.

“Oh.”

“So how is she?” Ashton asks.

“She’s um, fine.” I nod vaguely.

“Just fine? That’s all you’re gonna say?” Ashton raises an eyebrow.

“She’s the same as what she was when we last saw her.” I shrug.

“So miserable?” Luke asks.

“I wouldn’t say that.” I try to protect his feelings.

“I’m a grown boy, Cal, I can take the truth.” Luke tells me.

“I know, it’s just a touchy subject.”

“Is she happy with her new boyfriend?” Ashton asks.

“Actually no I can’t.” Luke pokes fun at himself and gets up.

“I think you’ll be happy to hear that he’s just a friend and she’s still single.” I stop him.

“Really?” Luke excitedly asks, then coughs. “I mean, really?” He says normally, making us laugh.

“Yeah, really, so stop getting your pants in a twist.” I sigh.

“Is she really going all the way back to Sheffield now?” Michael asks.

“I’m not sure, I told her we were staying here, but she might stay with her brother, I don’t know.” I shrug.

“What was she here for anyway?” Michael asks.

“A meeting I guess.” I say.

“Ugh, I miss hanging out with Harper.” Ashton groans.

“Same, even though she was annoying and shit, I still miss her.” Michael agrees.

“Why don’t you just text her.” Luke bitterly suggests.

“She’ll never reply.” Michael sighs.

“I actually asked her about that and she said it just doesn’t feel right anymore.” I tell them.

“Uh, how am I not supposed to be offended?” Michael jokes.

“Nah, I understand that though.” Ashtons nods.

“Yeah, things are different, times have changed, people change, and I think it’s time to move on and accept that she doesn’t really want anything to do with us anymore.” Michael says.

“Only thing you can do.” I agree.

“Does she still speak to Erika and Maddie?” Ashton asks.

“I imagine she still talks to Erika for work and stuff, I don’t know.” I shrug.

“No I stay correct, I can’t handle this.” Luke shakes his head walking out, slamming the door lightly.

“They’ve gotta sort this shit out, it’s too much, Luke’s storming out almost everyday, he had a mini break down this morning because he thought she’d actually moved on, at this rate every thing is gonna go into decline in his life, and he’s going to be left with nothing.” I state.

“What really happened when you saw her earlier?” Ashton question.

“She was a mess, she was crying when I walked it. She knows that Luke is the solution she just doesn’t want him to be or can’t believe he is. She said she wants to be back where they used to be, but she can’t and she needs to let go of him.” I explain.

“I just want to shake them until they realize that they’re still perfect together.” Ashton laughs.

“I don’t think Harper is ever gonna get back together with Luke, and I don’t fully understand why.” I tell them.

“I mean, Luke did cheat on her and that’s hard to get over because you think was I not enough? Was our whole relationship a lie? Did you actually love me? Your trust in people goes out the window, and we all know when Harper gets along with someone she puts her all into the relationship, so if she gets nothing back and instead shreds of a broken one, that’s gonna be hard for her. Look at when her dad left her, that took 2 years, and during that she was a mess, and now this is Luke, this hardly compares to that.” Michael points out.

“What Luke and Harper had was the real thing and now I don’t believe love exists.” Ashton sadly chuckles.

“I can’t believe Luke and Harper actually broke up.” I admit.

“I don’t think they can either.” Michael says.

“I honestly thought they’d break up for like 6 weeks then get back together again.” Ashton confesses.

“How long has it been since they broke up?” I ask.

“Like 7 or 8 months.” Ashton answers.

“Could you imagine if this was all some big prank.” Michael jokes.

“I wish.” I chuckle.

“How many time have they seen each other since the break up?” Ashton asks.

“The night of the accident, when she woke up, and when Maddie proposed, theres probably some I’m forgetting.” Michael tells us.

“Do you think there are any that we don’t about?” I question.

“Didn’t they see each other when they went over to Maddie’s?” Michael questions.

“Yeah.” I nod.

“And didn’t she say something about them seeing each other the night before? Like she said they had an argument or something and Luke asked Harper if last night ment nothing to her.” Michael tries to remember.

“Oh yeah, she did say that.” Ashton says.

“Do you think they slept together?” Michael asks.

“Ew, I don’t wanna think about that.” I grimace.

“I don’t either, but why would Luke say that? Also that’s another 2 times they saw each other.” Michael adds.

“I don’t know, is there anything we can do to help them back together?” I question.

“Harper doesn’t want anything to do with Luke though.” Ashton points out.

“No, if you have a conversation with her about this all, you can tell she wants nothing more than to just run into his arms, it’s a fact.” I say.

“What’s stopping her?” Michael asks.

“I haven’t really got a clue.”

***

“Luke get up.” I poke his arm.

He groans in response.

“We’ve got interviews and shit like that.” I remind him.

“So?” He questions, rolling over.

“So you need to be there, because you’re kinda in the band.” I poke his back, making him tense and wiggle.

“No shit.” He deadpans.

“Luke, you need to get up, the first interview starts in an hour and a half.” I inform.

“I’ve got loads of time.” He mumbles.

“It takes half an hour to get there, and we all know you take the longest to get ready, on top of that you’ve gotta eat.”

“Can’t you just do it without me? It’s not like I’m gonna say much.” Luke asks.

“No.”

“What’s even the point? It’s going to be the same as always, with the same answers. I’m better off just lying in bed all day.” Luke groans.

“I swear to God Luke, I-”

“You’ll what?” He asks.

“For fucks sake, Luke. You can’t keep feeling sorry for yourself all day, you have to sort yourself out at some point.” I exclaim.

“Yeah well that’s not today.” He sighs, rolling over again, looking at me.

“Will not even a kiss get you up?” I tease.

“Why does that sound familiar?” He questions and I laugh.

“‘Cause Harper said that to you once.” I say.

“Ugh don’t mention her name.” He groans.

“Why? She was part or your past, she still exists, you know.” I tell him.

“Don’t I know it.” He rolls his eyes.

“Just please get up.” I urge.

“Fine.” He huffs and throws the covers off him, and sits at the edge of the bed.

“When I said up, I meant get or of bed and get ready, so we can go.” I tell him.

“I’m getting there.” He waves me off. “You sure, you can’t just do it by yourselves?”

“No.” I shake my head.

“Just say I’m sick or something.”

“Luke this isn’t school.”

“Fine.” He grumbles, getting up, and going to his suitcase. “Um, you can go if you want.” He awkwardly says as I pull out my phone.

“Nah, I want to see what Harper saw.” I smirk making him glare at me.

“You’ve seen me naked before, even before her.” Luke says.

“Shut up.”

“Fine, I’ll get dressed with you in here.”

“Have you done your pubes recently?” I ask whilst laughing.

“I’ve got no need to anymore.” He laughs with me, whilst pulling up his jeans. “Got no one to show it to.”

“Have you been with anyone since, you know, you broke up with her?” I question.

“Uh, no.” He furrows his eyebrows.

“Not even kissed?”

“Maybe when I was drunk but if I did I can’t remember.” He answers.

“Has uhm, she?” Luke asks after some silence.

“I don’t think so, I don’t know, I don’t talk about that stuff when I talk to her.” I shrug. “I think she said that she kissed someone on a night out the other day.”

“What else did she say last night?” Luke asks, putting on a shirt.

“Uh…” I trail off. “We talked about you basically.” I confess and I get silence in return.

“She hates me doesn’t she?” Luke asks after a while.

“Uh no, I wouldn’t say that.” I cautiously speak.

“Well does she still have feelings for me?” He questions.

“It’s not my place to say, you should talk to her.” I tell him.

“She wouldn’t reply to me.” He shakes his head.

“When was the last time you talked to her?” I ask.

“When she left me at the airport.” He sadly states.

“What about texted her?”

“Ages ago, like before the accident even happened.” He answers.

“I gave her your number by the way.” I inform.

“You did?” He raises an eyebrow.

“Yeah.” I nod.

“Why’d you do that?” He asks as he does his hair.

“In case she wanted to talk to you or something, I don’t know, I think it gives her comfort to know that you’re just a call away.” I shrug.

“Really?” He questions, looking at me.

“She doesn’t hate you Luke, she even told you herself that she’ll always love you, Harper just doesn’t want to be around you right now.” I tell him.

“Do you think she’ll ever want to be around me again?”

“Of the times right and things have changed then she might want to, I don’t know, I didn’t ask her.” I reply.

“Does she miss me?” He questions.

“I guess, you guys were in each other’s lives physically for 18 years, and now they’re gone, you’re gonna miss them. She saw you nearly everyday her whole life, you’re gonna have this connection and she’s bound to miss that. You miss her, don’t you?”

“Yeah.” He nods.

“Then there’s a chance she’ll miss you like you miss her.” I say.

“But she doesn’t want me anymore, I lost her.” He states.

“Yeah you did.” I agree.

“Do you think I have a chance to get back with her?” Luke asks.

“Not anytime soon, she’s not ready for anything like that, I don’t think. Maybe in the future, but I wouldn’t get your hopes up. It’s time to move on Luke, it’s been like 8 months, you can’t keep waiting around, just accept she’s gone, she’s the one that got away, and I’m not sure if there’s anything you can do about that.”

“It’s a lot easier said than done.” He shakes his head.

“She can’t understand that you cheated of her and why you’re so upset.” I tell him.

“I didn’t cheat on her because I didn’t love her anymore, there is no reason as to why I did it, I was just fucking stupid and ruined the best thing that ever happened to me.” He shakes his head in disappointment.

“To her, it’s not really about the cheating, sure that hurt like a bitch, but the actual break up is why she’s hurting so much. I know that she hates you for it, but she doesn’t hate you.” I reply.

“I wouldn’t say that.” He bitterly chuckles.

“It’s true, she doesn’t hate you.”

“How come every time we see each other she seems to hate me then.”

“She’s never been in the right headspace when she’s seen you. I don’t know, she doesn’t hate you, I promise.” I reassure.

“When do you think she’ll ever be in the right headspace?” He asks.

“That’s a conversation for another day and when we have more time.”

***

“So any music coming out anytime soon?” The interviewer, George, asks us.

“Maybe after the tour, but not anytime soon.” Ashton answers.

“Then again, we could be lying.” Michael says, putting his hands up.

“Then again.” I chuckle.

“So how has life been since you took this little hiatus?” George questions.

“Oh.” I awkwardly chuckle.

“We went back home for a while, and uh, had to do some stuff back there.” Michael replies.

“What happened? It had to be pretty urgent for you to take 2 months off tour.” He obliviously chuckles.

“We have a friend there and um she got in a serious accident.” Ashton informs.

“Oh, no way, I didn’t know. Is she okay now?”

“Yeah, I guess she’s fine.” Ashton nods.

“Good, so what are you looking forward to the most about being on tour again.” George questions.

“I’m looking forward to seeing the crowd sing with us.” Ashton answers.

“Running around on stage and messing with Luke.” Michael laughs.

“I feel like I’m in primary school again, uh, I’m looking forward to just performing, really.” I shrug.

“Luke.” He urges.

“Uh, I’m looking forward to interacting with fans and traveling.” Luke speaks for the first time.

“So who’s single?” He asks.

“Me.” Ashton raises his hand.

“Me too.” I raise my hand as well.

“Me three.” Michael answers, making me playfully glare at him.

“Me.” Luke sighs.

“You recently got out of a serious relationship, correct.” George asks Luke.

Luke just nods his head and bites his lip in response.

“How’s that been? You glad you’re out of it so you can do what most teenage boys do?” He cockily laughs.

“Um, I wouldn’t say that.” Luke chuckles, playing with the ring on his finger. “Uh, we broke up a little while ago, it’s different, I can say that. She’d been in my life for 18 years, so it’s been hard.”

“Are there any hard feelings? I imagine there is.”

“Not really, we don’t really talk much anymore, but she’s an amazing person and I don’t think I could speak badly of her. She’s was a huge part of my life so it’d be wrong to do so, it wasn’t a particularly bitter break up. She’s helped me through some tough times in the past, and I’ll be forever greatful for that because I couldn’t of done it without her. She’s so important to me, even still, and I miss her, but she’s living her best life and I can’t be mad at that.”

I wouldn’t say best life.

“Are you on good terms now?”

“We don’t talk much, but last time we spoke it was a little rocky, but what break up isn’t? I’ll always think highly of her, so I’d like to think we’re on good terms. We’ve moved on with our lives now, and it’s an end of an era.” Luke bites his lip.

This is what you call moving on?

“Do you still love her?”

“There’s always going to be something for her.”

[iceamericanoventi]

Love Will Find a Way, Well, Eventually : 1. Eventide

A complicated yet very simple slice of life of five different men, and the entire world rotating around them, and all the coincidence colliding among them, and all the shenanigans entailed.

One is a sneakers designer, one is a jazz cafe owner, one is a pediatrician, one is a photographer, one is a writer - and five are free souls finding what we called love. 

In the world where Tinder exists, some chose to go vintage. Who said these days meeting people conventionally is out of date? What they thought a simple dinner, turned out to be the first encounter of more nights later.

Coincidence? Universe don’t think so.

cross-posted on my AFF

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

“What?”

“You’re not deaf, don’t pretend to be one.”

“I’m not deaf. I just confirming, whether it’s true or not that my friend gone mad already after spending almost two weeks in Spain.”

“Mad? Try kind.”

Jinki only rolled his eyes and back to his scale and continued to weigh some coffee beans that just arrived to the store. It’s 8 A.M in the morning, the only thing he wanted to picture in his mind is how many new customer today he could gain. Business is not doing well lately, since lots of cute café appeared in the neighborhood, after some rich people found out it’s a very promising area.

It’s not like his café is less great, it’s just young people nowadays prefer to go to some instagramable places. And the rustic Scandinavian style he offered since four years ago is a bit out dated. Of course he got some regular, those people who stick to his coffee choices and live music performance, he just feels the needs to keep up with the market demand.

That’s why, Minho stupid dinner night invitation is not preferable at the moment. Dinner is always good, actually – it is a belief he walked by since he knew how to chew solid meals –, but his friend’s agenda entailed is too tacky for 35 years old Jinki.

“Come on, Jinki. You just need to be present.”

“For what?”

“Moral support?”

“Moral support doesn’t involve selling your friend soul to get what you need.”

“For God’s sake, stop using the term selling. I’m not a pimp!”

“Yet,” he moved to check the espresso machine and snapped his finger to call one of his employees. A young man walked closer, and when he pointed to the machine, he just nodded and started inspecting the machine, “You’re actually worse than my Aunt. She gave up finding a perfect spouse for me a while ago. And here you are trying to drag me to one of your wild hunting season because the other end wouldn’t show up with the prey if you didn’t bring me as the offer.”

“You made it sounds like thousand times worse.”

“It does!”

Minho massages his temples once again, clearly forgot that his friend is too hard-headed sometimes, “I just asked you to go for a dinner with me and my friend who happened to tell me he would bring his friend as well.”

“Who happened to be potentially the new man Choi Minho would take back home at night.”

“Only if everything went well of course!”

“And by well you mean I got matched with your friend then said friend would let you take his friend, am I right?”

“I always thought you’re the smarter one between both of us.”

***

It all started two weeks behind, at one night before Minho took the flight for a shoot in Spain. The editor in chief personally appointed him as the main photographer for the autumn spread for the magazine. He lived in Spain for almost six months for his ‘Iberian Rendezvous’ photobook released on January. Everyone fell in love immediately with the book. Not only because he did very good job on the story line of the book, but also because at some point he used the tripod and captured himself at the roof top of La Muralla Roja, giving all the summer vibe with the pinkish wall, vast ocean, and of course his all tanned sun-kissed skin. That one photo itself got the book on the bestseller shelf for six weeks nonstop.

After the last briefing before the team took off, he went to his favorite bar where he met Taemin, a partner he worked with on one project about street style.

“Spain?”

“Yeah, Barcelona supposed to be the main. But I’m still not sure about that decision.”

“Dude, but you’re flying tomorrow.”

“That’s what brought me here. I couldn’t shake that off of my mind, you know. I mean, they hired me because I’m more familiar with Spain. But then they came up with Barcelona, which couldn’t be more mainstream. If they wanted to do Barcelona shoot since the very beginning, any photographer will do! There’s no need to contact my agent and book me.”

“I would kill to go to Barcelona again.”

“Too crowded, too noisy, too many tourist. Just like you and your friend.”

“Leave me and my friend alone, you tall giant!”

Minho almost fell off his chair laughing his ass hard, “You’re really cute when you’re mad, you know that?”

“And you’re too ugly and nasty when you’re drunk. That’s it,” he took the glass from Minho’s grip which earned him some adult baby whining, “You got yourself a flight tomorrow, young man.”

“The flight is by midnight. And I’m not the one who flies the plane.”

“If you started the flight with headache, you’re going to have headache the whole trip.”

“Where and when did you learn all this stuff?”

“My friend who you’re always mocking is actually much better adult. And you should thank him he made me into quite decent human being.”

“Should I pay my respect, bow to him, or offer my heart to this noble man?”

Minho might still under influence of those bitter aperol, but in Taemin’s ears, his words sound like a perfect jingle of new world advertisement, lured him off just enough.

“You know what? I have an idea.”

“Sure you have an idea, if not, how can you survive in this hella competitive world? Your creativity so far saved your ass from starvation.”

“No, no, listen. My friend is nice and you’re not so bad,” Minho annoyed ‘hey’ halts him for a second, “Why don’t I introduce both of you to each other? I don’t see any harm on it.”

“Surely you never had seen me in bed, Honey.”

“You wish,” Taemin gulped down his rum cola down and asked the bartender to give him any other stuff, apparently, rum is not for him.

“So what are you saying? You’ll introduce me to your dear friend?”

An apparent smirk appeared on Taemin’s face under the dim of light, “Baby, there’s nothing in this cruel world that is free.”

“When people said you are cunning, I didn’t believe it. Your innocent eyes are pretty convincing.”

“I learned from the best.”

“And I am very glad I could teach you whatever I got, truly a diligent apprentice.”

An apparent eyes-rolling scene landed on Taemin’s face, “Let’s say.. We can try this restaurant that I always passed every single time I went to my office.”

“Too fancy. I hate restaurant.”

“You should learn to like it, the man you’re about to meet very fond of night out involving tasty supper.”

“He can get tasty supper back home.”

“You and your squalid mind, intrigue me and disgust me at the same time.”

“My charm indeed, my darling,” Minho’s giggling too much he almost fell the tall bar stool Taemin needs to use his fast reflect to catch him by the shoulders.

“Anyway, I’ll let you touch his pristine skin if you brought some dishes to table as well.”

“You know I don’t coo—oh.”

“Get it?”

“You’re an evil, yet the most brilliant man I’ve ever met.”

“That’s why I don’t date you, Baby.”

“Fair enough.”

“So are we deal?”

“Sold. I’ll return from Spain by the end of the month. Text me whenever you’re available.”

“No, Minho. Text me whenever you’re available.”

So here he is, two days after landed and 24 hours jet lag, begging Jinki to be his sort of plus one. Not the ordinary plus one, because Minho’s coming for hunting. Taemin already at the top of his wits, told him not bother to come if he’s walking to the restaurant by himself.

But Jinki settled his mind only to the matters which gave him benefit. At this moment, taking care of his jazz café before the rustic theme eating up its own existence. Dating is not something he pursued these day, nor live action of Tinder.

“One last time, Jinki. One last time. If this one doesn’t work, I’d stop dragging you with me.”

“You said these at least four times already, Choi. You think I just befriended you yesterday? You don’t need me anyway. I’d be lump of rock there sitting restlessly and by the end of the night, would just embarrassed myself by spilling someone’s food onto their perfect dress shirt.”

“So your answer is no?”

“You heard that already twenty minutes ago.”

“I’m never been this desperate before.”

He is indeed, that’s what crossed Jinki’s mind when he saw the destitute looks on Minho’s face. His best guess, Minho is actually having issues on something else. The way he tried to get out from there though, is to vent everything up on completely different matters to divert his mind.

“True. And I barely know you at this very second. Why are you so distracted? Where is this composure you always talk me into it?”

“I don’t know, I really don’t know. This is the first time I feel helpless. And the idea of someone choosing the perfect option to me is too tempting. As if at the end everything isn’t ended as I expected, I could just blame someone else. Because it wasn’t me who picked them at the first place.”

Jinki hang the apron he had on the side of the tall credenza. He moved to the old piano by the corner and started to clean it, as gently as possible. He doesn’t want to ruin the only love evidence left from his grandfather.

“It’s always easier to blame someone else. But we won’t go anywhere near that way.”

“Too early for some lecture,” Minho parched to Jinki’s side, “If you help me this time, I’ll shoot your café and put it in my blog. How’s that?”

Any deal regarding his café always irked Jinki’s head. He knew what his friend’s talking about, that very blog, at least got 2000 hits every single day. And it’s probably the only way out from the slump catching his business at the rear end. But he’s also a man of his word.

“Don’t tell me we’re negotiating, because I’m not.”

“Your voice says different thing.”

“It’s just because I’m upset you’re ruining what supposed to be a new day for me to keep my business running. With the amount of fame you have, you’d have no idea how some people are struggling to meet every day’s end.”

“That’s why I made you this proposal. It’s a win-win solution. You came to the dinner, it’s on me, no worries, you only need to put some nice and clean pants, you probably meet some handsome faces, and I’ll take care of your marketing.”

“No wonder you have long list of people kissing your feet.”

“Is this a yes?”

“I’m only available on Thursday. No rescheduling because I got some employees to feed.”

“You are the actual best.”

Jinki starts to play some tunes from Tchaikovsky, “Tell me something I don’t know.”

***

“A date? You literally got me a date?”

“What’s with the tone of surprise?”

Kibum removed his notebook from his laps, almost flying he marched to the side of Taemin’s desk, a perfect disbelief expression washed all over his face.

“Tell me this is because you left the part of me being an odd certified day-dreamer who has his head at least ten hours per day on the clouds when you described me to this said person.”

Looking at his friend of seven years Taemin could only serve his trademark flat unimpressed forced smile to Kibum before returned to his Wacom and started to fill his sketches with some colors.

“Judge by your tone, I can tell already that you’re excited.”

“Try terrified,” Kibum scoffed.

“It’s not like your first date after you got rescued from some weird cult bunker.”

“Don’t play Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt on me.”

“You sounded you came out of it, though.”

Kibum doesn’t date. He does have several episodes of one night stands but in his life manual, none of those is considered a date. And imagining the scenario where he’s sitting in front of another person sober and without stuffing his own face on the other’s gave him goosebumps. How unreal. He sucks on dating, not because he’s an asshole. He just happened to get bored very easily. And if the company couldn’t excite him with the flow of conversation, there would be only two choices left, call it off or bring it home.

“You know I don’t date.”

“Hmm, you might as well start to. He’s a friend of mine.”

“Doesn’t guarantee he would make a very nice date.”

Taemin lazily looked up to meet Kibum’s gaze.

“What do you need? Face? Checked. Build? Checked. Wallet? Checked. Ass? Double checked, assessed thoroughly, approved and great quality certified.”

Sometimes Kibum wonders what’s inside Taemin’s head besides shoes and men, “Does he know already what I do for a living?”

Kibum is actually very particular with people he would deal with, he’s very proud of what’s he doing even though people sometimes look down on it.

“Besides being my pimp, no, he doesn’t.”

The man before him tossed one of the dinosaur figurines lined up on the desk.

“Ouch! What the heck?!” he stopped his activity and rearranged the dinosaurs back – no one should ever mess with his toy collection –, “Next Thursday, dinner is on the gentleman.”

“Oooh,” Kibum coos, “Fancy.”

He then detached himself from the chair and collected his MacBook Air from the couch where he left it since he arrived.

“He’s just being himself.”

“We’ll see. Gotta check my schedule first.”

“I’ve called your assistant. You have no event on that day.”

“You are a snake.”

“Proud Slytherin over here.”

“Whatever. Smooch you later!”

He walked towards the glass door of Taemin’s workspace, train of thoughts filled his mind for such out of nowhere date night.

“Bum.”

“Yeah?” his hand lingering by the handle of the door, ready to push it, but he cocked his neck in the direction of Taemin.

“I forgot to mention, it’s a double date night.”

“I should have known better that you’re a man with agenda.”

***

Jinki pushed the door of the restaurant after two times rechecking his phone, because, hell, the restaurant is too fancy for his preference. It’s not about what he can or cannot afford, but fancy restaurant tends to be overprice for something he knew he could get it in so much better offer. Plus, he needs to dress up on certain level. Again, it’s not about what he can or he cannot make a fashion statement, but overthinking about his outfit just not something he would use his time up for.

“Table for how many?”

“I have reservation.”

“Oh, which name if I may?”

“Choi Minho.”

“Ah, the gentleman arrived twenty minutes ago, Sir. Very draped, for sure. This way.”

Judging by the look of the usher, he already thought Jinki was Minho’s date. Unnecessary smug and scanning from head to toe over him, told everything. He doesn’t mind at all, he doesn’t care actually. All he needs to know is that friend of him going to pay all of the expense tonight and keep his promise to promote his cafe or he would cut the friendship right away.

“Five minutes ago I wasn’t sure you’re appeared before me. But look at you, killer turtle neck and even put your watch on.”

Minho smirked right away when Jinki dragged the chair in front of him. He gave his coat to the usher who took it diligently and wait for him to leave before flopped his ass down.

“Well, look at you. The symbol of tardiness itself already standby before the show time. I don’t know should I applaud on it or cry over your display of desperation.”

“Would it hurt you if just for once not to be sarcastic?”

“I’m just being honest. Courtesy talk tired me.”

“And being mean turned you on.”

“I’ll take that as compliment.”

“Compliment my ass.”

“Cannot see it unless you’re standing, but I’m pretty sure you prepared your best for whatever your friend will introduce you to.”

“So are you, I guess. Purposely wearing something that drawing some good lines of your pecks. You’re quite desperate as well.”

“Only because I need to save my business. That’s all,” a waiter come to serve him the wine Minho chose a while ago, “And this. If someone buys me drinks or dinner, I should be grateful. That’s how my grandfather told me.”

“Have no idea you gramp should be proud or throw a pity on you.”

“Neither, he would probably just read quietly by the corner of his room and ignored the whole universe happening around him.”

Minho failed to notice some resentment over his buddy’s tone, and Jinki couldn’t be more relieved. Silently he picked up the menu and studied it while Minho’s busy typing something by his phone.

Choi Kermit        : where the heck are you?

Choi Kermit        : I won’t hesitate to kill if you bailed out

The Taem            : chillax dude

The Taem            : coming over in ten minutes, fucken traffic

The Taem            : you have the goods on your arm?

Choi Kermit        : you have the goods on your arm?

The Taem            : well played, Choi

Choi Kermit        : stop blabbering and get your ass over here

“Can you speed it up?”

“Excuse me?” Kibum dramatically cocked his head to his left, almost losing himself trying to kill Taemin by pushing him far to the window, “You’re the one who still had a meeting until six!”

“In my defense, I had no idea that the artist already agreed to the design proposal and wanted to proceed right away talking about production and operational!”

The restaurant is only two blocks away, and Kibum taps the wheel rapidly, slightly more frantic than before. No, no, not because the traffic is getting worse, it’s because he’s going to meet someone who high potentially hurting him somewhere near the future. Mind the sappiness and angsty vibe, Kim Kibum is a writer after all. He got his bills covered by succumbing into his sadness and made words over it.

“Bum.”

“Yeah?”

“Relax. You’ll be okay.”

“What do you mean? I am completely okay. Just the traffic plus rain plus rush hour, why shitty hell like this had their gut ruining my mood? It starts to get on my nerves.”

“Dude, you’re just meeting my friend. He’s not some investor whatsoever who gonna judge your book poorly before betting his money to make a movie of it.”

“Heck it’s better if he’s an investor.”

“Point is, you have no need to impress some people. I know you did this to me, but if your date tonight makes you uncomfortable, then leave it. Have your meal and bye, no pressure, really.”

“Are you being serious?” Kibum scoffed and wheeled his car to the left, “I can see the front door of the restaurant already from here and you being oh-so-wise lecturing me about how I should behave tonight? Unbelievable.”

Taemin cracks while Kibum makes sure he parked properly. He didn’t say anything after turned off the engine and collecting his bag from the back seat. Those bow lips still perfectly zipped even when he checked himself on the rear mirror.

“Oh, so you give me silent treatment now?!”

“Zip it, Lee Taemin. I’m preparing my show. Who knows I’m going home with both?”

He winked, leaving his black Mini Cooper and loudly laughing Taemin inside.

***

When the usher pointing his hand to the table across the room where two men are casually talking to each other while sipping their wine. What makes him let out silent gasp is the fact that neither of them he could put on his shame-on-you box, an imaginary box he created himself back when he’s still 18 years old to put some people who by the face already looks like mean person. Both are equally gorgeous and seem friendly. He started to swallow all the curse he saved for Taemin.

“Which one you said you’re going to introduce to me, again?”

Taemin smirks, knowing that his friend is not mad anymore, “The one with the turtle neck.”

“You blind? Or stupid? Both of them wearing turtle neck.”

He closed the gap and whispered, “Torturing you gave me more pleasure, Kim Kibum.”

“Masochist.”

“That’s what I like, Baby.”

“You’re disgusting. Stop it before I lose my appetite.”

Both men by the table haven’t caught two people walking their direction yet. They’re still arguing the chance of Minho would deliberately forget their deal. Jinki bet his money on Minho bailed out because the man introduced to him is a moron. Minho on the other hand, still believed, Jinki would fall in love faster to the other man way faster than Minho would be able to land a kiss to the date.

“Am I interrupting?”

Taemin nonchalantly approaching Minho’s right’s side, making the later cocking his head in surprise. Jinki managed to keep his composure and stayed in one of his series of poker face.

“Stop your nonsense and come here.”

Minho wrapped Taemin in casual hug, leaving Kibum standing awkwardly between a warm affection happening on one side and cold dagger stare shooting from the other one.

“Sorry, we’re late. I had unexpected meeting and the traffic was no joke.”

“No worries,” Minho smiles slightly wider when he face Kibum, leaving the later flustered, and ducked his head quickly while taking the chair next to Jinki, who seems still out of place and keep it quite all the time, “This is my friend Jinki.”

The said man only smile, nodding his head a bit, he wanted to ask Kibum if he needs any help with his stuffs but refrain himself to say so for the fear interfering someone’s comfort zone.

“Hi, Jinki. I’m Lee Taemin, and this is Kim Kibum over here.”

“Hi, nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you, too.”

For Jinki, the whole matchmaking shenanigan is a complete bullshit, still. But the smile just greets him, proves him that even if it’s way after the velvety dusk, sometimes you can still catch glimpse of rainbow after the rain.

***