#her desk is going to be a sparkly disaster

[hazbinextgeneration]

Safe Haven’s Angel Book1 Ch54

Saturday. That one day she was dreading this entire week and for good reason. This was the dreaded day that'd she was going to have to go on that date. With Helsing. And a couple of his friends that she had never met. Great. She'd been debating all week on what to do about this whole situation. Maybe she could've tried talking to Prince Damian or someone else in order to get Helsing to back off or tried to find some loophole in his deal right? Maybe she could've even pretended to be sick. You can't possibly go on a date if you were sick right? She was sure Raven and Indigo would've backed her up if she decided to take that route...But like Indigo pointed out, Helsing would've just saw through her ruse or even just rescheduled the 'date'. Plus..he DID promise he'd leave her alone if she went on one date. That was too tempting to pass up. From what she's seen he always kept his end of the deals he made anyways, so maybe it wouldn't be too bad. Go out. Pay for her own food. And then afterwards turn him down in the politest way possible. Win win. The only thing she was dreading was the fact that ....well...She hadn't exactly possibly maybe....Never have went on a date before. So she didn't exactly know what to do on one. It couldn't be too different from the movies right? Just go out and just talk and eat food. Should be easy!....R-Right? Well the anxiety of a date and the fact that (despite it just being Helsing) it was with a Hell Royal of things got to her and she ended up asking the one person that could've even known about what to do. Her boss of course! Ms. Tenta would absolutely know what to do with her experience in love and romance!

"This night is going to be a disaster." One make over and dress up game later and she was staring uncomfortably at herself all dolled up, hair done up, and a sparkly black sweater (forced-) thrown over her head by her boss. Was this too much? Surely looking like a super model for a first date was too much...right? Or would Helsing even care or notice? "RRRRR!!!" She growled in frustration and ended up gripping the strands of hair that wasn't in whatever do Tenta decided to adorn her with and groaned out. And she inhaled. "No. No no. It's ok. It's gonna be alright." She assured herself holding up her hands. She just had to remind herself. It was just one date. "It's just for one night. It doesn't matter if it's good or bad it's just one time. You can put up with him for just one night. You've dealt with his stupid antics for years. You can put up with him for just a couple hours. It'll be fine.".....Right? Groaning she stood up from her desk and sighed. "I need a walk!"

And out her bedroom door she left. Walking out into the hallway and going down towards the corridor past permanent residence, a.k.a live in workers' rooms, and down away from the residency areas. Sure she wasn't allowed outside the palace like the rest of the live in workers, but if she was lucky then the walk around the halls would clear her head before Helsing seeked her out for the 'date' or before she had to go look for him unfortunately. The very thought made her stomach churn and her mind whirled as he mindlessly walked around. Passing a few other workers and guards who some gave her a glance probably because she was dolled up like she was going to the greed ring to spend the night at one of those fancy casinos for the night out. She was spending so much time rethinking the terrible what ifs and worst case scenarios that she didn't notice that she had ended up walking out of the servant wing and into one of the larger areas of the palace. Towards the giant library if she bothered to look up and check her surroundings. But she didn't and ended up wondering through the giant library doors and into the quiet giant room on instinct to be somewhere quiet to hopefully sort out her thoughts and clear out her head. The place was almost dark in the dim lights. Giant shelves the size of trees were lined up everywhere stacked to the brim with books of all kinds from your normal surface world books like romance novels and manga to more hellish subjects like 'How To Cook Using Hellfire' and how to potion books. As wells as one or two tables and chairs around. It was a pretty big place being the head ruler of hell's palace. Barely anyone came in here or used it other than when one of the palace's children needed to research a subject or whenever the servants came in here to deep clean the place twice a month or so. She only ignored everything still and walked between two random shelves before groaning a sigh of some kind of relief and would've rubbed her face if it didn't mean ruining her rouge and blush and whatever Ms. Tenta had slapped onto her in that make over session. What was she going to do!? She didn't want to go on a date with anyone!? Let alone Helsing of all people!! The guy was smug and cocky and didn't let up and is known for throwing hands at demons who decided it'd be a good idea to push around the ruler's grandson! And on top of this date she was already roped into being his 'date' for the next time there was a gala! Was he just hoping to show her off or something!? She wasn't a trophy girlfriend! What if she got fired!?

"Tell me another verse, Helsing," a small girl's voice asked. And Margo froze.

"Haha! Another one? Isn't the point of your homework to make you come up with your own poems?," a very, very, VERY familiar voice asked back making her eyes widen even more and her heart sink into her gut. "You know if Pops or Dad finds out I'm giving you the answers to your homework again they're not gonna be happy."

......Well screw her luck. Right universe? It was unmistakable. Those were the voices of Lacey, who was nothing but a sweet little angel......And the bane of her existence. The one who she was anxious to even see. The one who was the cause of her entire freaking problem here....The prince Helsing. With her. In the library. Where she was hoping to try and avoid anyone else right now ESPECIALLY HELSING OF ALL PEOPLE!! All calm feelings shot out of her head at that point and she shot back up. Pressing her back again the shelf with a feeling of dread in her stomach. Dangit! If he saw her then she might as well be ready to be bugged and smothered in compliments and praise she definitely did NOT WANT from ANYONE!!! She had to get out of there-

"Ok. Then lemme try and think of something real quick."

She slowly started scooting along the shelf towards the aisle between the shelves where it was just a straight pathway towards the door. If she was quick and quiet enough maybe they wouldn't notice her or realize who she was looking a little more different than normal.

"I've changed as much as I can. There's only so much change in one man. I'm still trying to find who I am. But it's easier said than done." She paused. "Then there's you to color my black and white days. I can count on you to color my black and white days. When you're here I come to life. But I wonder who colors your black and white days?"

......Did Helsing just..recite poetry? Ever so slowly she peeked over the side of the shelf and didn't see anyone. Thank goodness. But they sounded close. REALLY close. Maybe one or two shelves away. If she left now she might make it. She slowly and quietly stepped out from behind the shelf.

"Wow! That's so pretty! No wonder you always got As in writing class."

"Hey. Don't give me so much credit. You're better at math than I am."

"True," Lacey's voice came in a bragging tone. "Give me some more to write!"

"More? You sure?"

"Uh huh! We're supposed to turn this in by next Friday but if you help me now I can just turn it in Monday and not worry about it anymore."

"Hehe. Alright. Fair enough."

Margo slowly started walking towards the exit within sight.

"Forget this life. We're leaving here tonight. Haven't you longed to be free? I have dreamt of a place. No one knows who we are there. I've dreamt so long I can not dream anymore. So drop your guard." She slowed the closer she got to the voices. "There's no need to tell anyone. They'd only hold us down. So by the morning light we'll be half way to anywhere. Where no one needs a reason. Let's run away. I'll take you there."

Her interest peeked as she got closer and closer. Now they sounded only a shelf away.

"That's great! A couple more verses should be everything I need! Tell me more, please."

"Hmmm. Alright. But this is the last time." There was a brief pause as she got close enough to hear their voices as if she was standing just a yard away from each other. "I'd lie if I say your beauty wasn't breathtaking. Same would be if I said didn't immediately stole my heart. My criteria are different from those of your race. The lightning in your eyes in that moment was enough."

She finally peeked around two other shelves she had to pass and her eyes widened seeing what she did. It was Lacey and Helsing alright. The two royals sat there at one of the few tables and chairs. Their backs towards them thankfully with Lacey looking like she was writing down something as Helsing watched. Neither noticed her thankfully so maybe she could still sneak past. She took two quiet steps going forward looking ahead towards the door. Her freedom. When all of a sudden purple ears flicked and Lacey turned around to her trying to sneak past and gained a wide smile.

"Margo!" She froze. Body suddenly feeling like ice was injected into her veins as Helsing looked over as well and surprise riddled his face as Lacey smiled seeing her. And giving her away to him. "What are you doing here?....Wow! You look so pretty! Why are you dressed up like a super model?"

For a minute silence over took them. No one spoke. No one moved. No one did anything but sat there in silence to see who would respond first. Eventually Margo did. As much as her instincts told her to run she didn't. Instead her ears pressed against her head as she ever. So. Slowly. Turned. Around. Slowly her eyes met the other two who still stared at her and if it was even possible Helsing's pink eyes widened even more seeing her all dolled up like this. The two still stared at each other before she nervously forced a smile.

"Uh....Hey y-you." She forced a smile and chuckled nervously. "I was uh...Just g-going for a walk and didn't know you were here. S-Surprise! Ahaha!.....Uh..W-What are you doing here?"

Lacey in response held up the piece of paper she'd been writing on with the poem stanzas on it. "Helsing was helping me with my poetry work! He's really good at spewing that stuff out."

She blinked. "He what?''

"Uh huh. He really likes that kinda stuff. He likes to show grandma all the time." She innocently looked back to Helsing in question. "Hey. Why didn't you ever try to woo her using that mushy stuff? I bet she would've liked it-"

"AND would you look at the time! Wow!'' Lacey blinked as she was picked up from the chair by Helsing before being turned around and placed down on the floor and lightly shoved. "Ok, Squirt. You got what you need. Get going now."

Lacey did do as Helsing suggested waving goodbye to the two of them before scurrying her way out the door Margo had tried to seek freedom from the situation. Leaving the two of them there. Alone. Margo still stared off towards where Lacey left and wondered if Helsing would notice if she also left.

"So....How much did you hear exactly?" Or maybe not. She slowly looked back to him finding him looking at her but he looked...more embarrassed than mad.

She shuffled nervously for a second but knowing Helsing was a prince and he wouldn't stop bugging her about it anyways ..she sighed and answered truthfully. "Most of it I guess. I didn't know you guys were in here honestly..." She tilted her head. "I also didn't know you knew a lot of poetry."

"Oh. Uh...Yeah." His hand reached up to rub his face as he looked down. "My grandma actually got me into it. I like making them a lot....Hehe. Sounds crazy right. The third heir to the hell throne likes to recite poetry like a lovestruck succubus."

"....No. Not really."

He paused..before looking back to her surprised. "Wait..Really?"

"Yeah. I mean..We live in literal hell and your grandpa is the ruler of hell himself. That seems a bit more out there than someone simply liking poetry. Don't you think? Lots of people can say they like poems. How many people do you know that can say they're the prince of hell?"

After a moment Helsing chuckled and gave a smile. "Yeah I guess you got a point."...He looked back to her for a moment before gesturing to her. "You look ..good. Like really nice. Did Tenta do your hair?"

"Hm? Oh Thanks. uh..Yeah." She reached a paw up to pat ger hairdo lightly. "H-How did you know?"

"Because she's the only one who can do that hairstyle you've got there."

"Oh. Y-Yeah I guess that makes sense." More silence passed between them again as they looked around awkwardly....Hey. Since when did feel awkward with Helsing of all people? "...Uh. So. I didn't know you liked poetry so much. I don't think I've ever heard you mention it."

"Y-Yeah. I uh....Didn't think you'd be interested to be interested to be honest."

"....Can I hear some?"

He paused looking at her. "......What?"

"What I heard you tell Lacey was really lovely." She tilted her head at him. "Can I hear some more?"

He still stared at her as if she suddenly disappeared. "Wait...You're really interested?" She nodded. And he paused a minute before sighing. "....My peace. Another beauty loved by a beast. Another tale of infinite dreams." Margo paused tilting her head more at him. "An angel you struggles toward the future and an angel who lights up the dark. Come with me. Because you need to escape as much as I do. And you can't deny it any longer." When he finished he timidly looked back up to Margo and seemed genuinely surprised she was smiling at him.

"Wow. That was really pretty. You're really good at coming up with beautiful poetry, Helsing."

At that moment his pink skin became a shade darker if that was even possible before stuttering. "UH...Y-Yeah! Thanks! Um...Oh wow look at the time!" He stood up suddenly making her blink. "I didn't realize how late it was. W-We should get going!"

She blinked. Her worries coming back just as fast as she had forgetten. "Wait. NOW NOW!?"

With a chuckle that sounded more like Helsing he looked at her and smiled. "Yep! Now now." He held his arm to her like some night but seemed a bit more nervous again. "So uh....Shall we?"

She still stared between him and his arm for a moment before she slowly reached over and grabbed his offered hand.

-elsewhere-

He didn't know how Helsing talked him into this mess! He tried calling him multiple times when he first arrived in front of this building plaza restaurant place when his mother had dropped him off. But he guessed reception couldn't reach all the way down in hell. Which made him end up having to wait in front of the front doors as other people went in and out no doubt either coming here for the giant arcade, or the joined movie theater, or eating at the cheap (but honestly the greasy fast food served there was delicious-) fast food place inside. Looks like he'd have to stand there and literally wait for Helsing and his date and whoever this 'friend' of his was exactly. Which left him leaning by the doors as to not bump into anyone's way and just scrolling through his phone. Oh he swore Helsing had better keep his half of the promise! He was only doing this so the guy didn't get cold feet around this gal. He failed to see the figure looking around before their eyes landed on him and he also didn't notice the guy walking up to him until he felt someone stop right in front of him. Forcing Dimitri to look up and jump a bit seeing a confused face and pale eyes staring back at him.

"HOLY HELL- W-Who are you!?," he ended up stammering out startled from the sudden appearance of the pale guy.

Instead of answering he held up his hand and pointed at him in Question. "Dimitri...right?"

he felt his fluffy deer ears bristle hearing his own name and in an instant his face scowled and he became defensive. "....Who's asking!?"

To his surprise the pale kid smiled showing off a pair of long fangs and a comical tooth gap between them. "You can say I'm a friend of a friend. The name's Thomas. I'm goin' to take a wild guess and assume Helsing didn't tell you about me yet."

Dimitri paused. The word Helsing catching his attention before he pointed. "Wait. You're this 'friend' of his he roped into tagging along?"

"And you must be the blind date he set me up with too. But it looks like he's fashionably late as usual." He held out his hand. "Nice to meet you though."

Dimitri looked at him and his hand for a moment suspiciously...before reaching his hand out to shake it- Before both jumped as a flash of red appeared right next to them and as both looked over a portal appeared within that red light. The round entrance way gave way to a certain pink and red demon as he stepped right out through it casually with some girl right behind him. Oh it was about time! As soon as the two of them stepped out the portal closed and the girl blinked looking around the place.

"You're LATE!" The girl made a yelp sound and snapped her head towards them as both guys looked towards Helsing. Dimitri annoyed crossed his arms as the demon chuckled.

"Sorry. Lil sis needed help with her homework and I kinda lost track of time. Hey! You know M-Margo right!?" he quickly looked back to Margo and gestured a hand over to her nervously. "Margo these are the guys! Dimitri. Thomas. Margo. Margo. Thomas and Dimitri. I assume you two met each other too now....Hey." His brow rose as his head turned around as if looking for someone. "Where the hell's Julian?"

"He couldn't make it." Helsing looked back to Dimitri. "One of his mother's potions exploded again and he had to rush her to the doctor's. Camelia's didn't want to third wheel our 'dates' so she's not coming either. I tried to call you but you didn't answer your dam phone." His brow rose more as he looked to Margo. "But yeah. I've heard of you before. Helsing won't stop talking about you."

Margo blinked. "Oh?"

"Yeah. He's always saying how nice you are, and how creative you are, and how your cooking is delicious-"

"HEY!! I think the movies are about to start!," Helsing yelled as he pointed towards the entrance way towards the theater as Margo looked at him. And to prevent Dimitri from saying anything else. "It's gonna get packed soon! W-We better get our food and get in before all the good seats are taken!"

Dimitri felt smug seeing Helsing flustered but agreed that it would be best to get in before it became too crowded. There was a few movies to chose from but only one or two looked good so they chose one called Monster Spiders Panic. Thomas for whatever reason tried to insist on another but it was three against one so that's where they all went there after grabbing some snacks and getting situated. The movie was ok. Cheap looking cgi spiders and the screams could've been more realistic but it was a nice movie. None had noticed but Thomas had been shifting uncomfortably in his seat the entire time and flinching at some scenes in the movie, more specifically ones with the obviously fake spiders but it wasn't until near the end of the movie that the real event started. It was near the end until a lot of people in the audience jumped at a admittedly good jump scare of one of the spiders that suddenly jumped in the middle of the screen-

"A H!!"

Popcorn flew all over the floor and the people in the row in front of them making them yell being showered by buttered popcorn. And others turned their heads to the one responsible as Thomas yelled and clutched onto Dimitri who froze up with the ending scene jump scare. The last of the movie wasn't too exciting and when the credits rolled everyone filed out along with them. Thomas rushing out faster than the others and the three of them found him by the food stand leaning against it. Dimitri made the first move to speak.

"Hey. Are you alright there?"

Helsing chuckled. "He'll be fine. The big bad vampire-incubus is afraid of spiders."

Thomas shot him a look. ".....You're afraid of spiders? But they're harmless small creatures."

"H-Hey! T-Those things are c-creepy with their fangs and beady little eyes!!" The demon shuttered wide eyed. "Next time I'll just wait for you guys out here!"

....Dimitri offered a few pats on his back. Spiders? Honestly? This vampire-demon guy could strike fear into anyone yet he was scared of a few usually harmless animals that you could just put outside? That was like Helsing being afraid of a puppy. But he chose not to comment and instead patted his back in an attempt to comfort the guy.

"Hey. Why don't we play a few games?," Margo offered in order to get rid of the awkward air by gesturing away from the movie theater and over towards the entrance to the connected arcade. "It's still too early for dinner and that looks like fun!"

"Y-Yeah. Good idea. Hopefully nothing with spiders." Thomas mumbled that last part to himself.

With some reluctance the four of them exited the lobby and went into the arcade room that well...operated like a regular arcade. Plenty of game cabinets that needed quarters that you could convert from the machine up front with the tokens you'd get depending on how many wins you got and you could exchange those tokens for small prizes up front. Etc. Etc. It went..pleasantly well. Of course she wasn't as good as the games as much as Helsing or his friends were. In fact she'd say she was terrible at most of them with the exceptions being the wack-a-mole one. And she didn't feel.....Bothered at all. In fact it didn't even feel like a date at this point. I mean was it supposed to be at this point? She saw a movie, and played a couple games which could be just an everyday thing. Helsing hadn't said a thing during the movie and had barely said a word to her now beyond the typical polite talk. Asking how she was liking the game she was playing, congratulating her if she won, giving her a couple pointers, or asking if he could have a turn after her as the other two did a similar thing collecting more of those prize tickets. The only difference was that Helsing seemed nervous in his tone and body language. Stuttering his words making her look at him as he nervously laughed it off and offered her another turn or turned his attention to a different game to get himself out of that awkward scenario. Once and a while he'd look to Thomas or Dimitri for help but it seemed the both of them were hitting it off. Thomas smiling and Dimitri chuckling at something he said. Helsing was, not on purpose but, on his own for this one.

"Helsing!"

"GAH!?" he whipped around and Margo happily pointed towards a game. "That one's probably one I can do but it requires two players. Do you wanna play with me?"

...He sighed letting his body relax before his usual smirk appeared on his face. "Anything for a beautiful lady.~ Which one are you talking about? Doomsday? Resident dEvil? It's Maria Kart isn't it?"

Margo pointed over towards one game cabinet, and his smile vanished upon seeing it. "Dance Dance Evolution! I play it all the time with Lacey at home so it should be fun!.......Helsing?" When he didn't say anything to her, she turned around and was surprised to see his smile vanished and he had taken a couple steps back from her. "....Hey. What's wrong with you?"

"I uh-...." Pink eyes looked from her to the game again before he shook his head. ''I can't play that game."

"Why not?"

"I.....can't dance."

She blinked. "What?"

"I said I can't dance! Ok?" he semi shouted at her and she blinked at the embarrassed look flashing across his face as he slumped. "I just....I can do a lot of things but...dancing isn't one of them, Margo. *sigh* I'm down right terrible at it. I have two left feet and I trip over thin air every time I try and lessons do nothing and ....and.....I just..CAN'T!"

"hey, hey, hey." She held up her hands in an assuring motion making him look up surprised at her as she gently grabbed her arms. "Hey. That's fine. We don't have to play that one if you don't want to. I didn't want to play it anyways. C'mon. Let's go play something else."

He stared at her and didn't move even when she tugged him to move and just....stared at her. "wait...What did you say?"

"Let's go play another game."

"N-No. Before that. What did you say?"

"Uh...Y-You don't have to dance if you don't want to?" He stared at her. "Why?"

"T-That's....That's the first time someone ever said that to me."

Margo blinked. "What?"

"That's the first time someone that wasn't my parents said that to me." he reached his free hand up to rub his face as he looked up. "Look...Being a prince isn't all it's cracked up to be alright. There's a constant amount of expectations from everyone, even from my grandparents and...It's not really every day I hear something like that from everyone."

She blinked after a moment of awkward silence before she asked. "Wait. You've been on dates before me! Surely I can't be the only one who's said that."

"Outside my parents and Dimmy other there...not really. Heh. You'd be surprised at how many girls were expecting to be swept off their feet by this big fancy edgy prince and be disappointed by my wreck of a mess."

"....I don't think you're a wreck." He looked back at her as she rose a brow. "So you can't dance. There's nothing wrong with that. You've seen me play tonight. I can't play a video game to save my life. That's perfectly fine." She tugged him again. "Come on. Let's just go find something else we can play alright?"

This time his numb body was able to be pulled by her as his face lit up. "Uh...Y-Yeah. O-Ok."

The rest of the night actually went pleasantly well. They did end up winning enough token ticket things to win a few prizes and Helsing gave Margo one of those giant stuffed bears that were way too soft and squishy for their own good which she hugged to herself making him smile. Until Thomas suggested they grab some food before Dimitri's mother comes back to pick him up and off they went to the fast food area. Like Dimitri expected before it was really greasy but delicious tasting and not too expensive. He did end up smiling when Helsing blushed the hardest in his life when a small joke he made made Margo snort and laughed genuinely. Poor guy really was smitten with her. Sunset approached and it ended up with the four of them walking outside and standing around for a bit talking until Helsing looked over and noticed that Dimitri and Thomas with their phones out doing something.

"Hey. Whatcha two doing?"

"Exchanging numbers so we can hang out at next week at the art convention."

"Art convention??"

Thomas nodded. "Yeah. My uncle taught me how to sew something so I sometimes go. Never know what you'll find." He turned back to Dimitri. "And I'm honestly looking forward to seeing your paintings. If they're as good as you told me I just might buy one to put on my wall. That way I can say I got to meet a cute artist.~"

Dimitri flushed a light pink but didn't get a chance to respond before a couple honks behind him made everyone turned their head. "Oh! T-That's my mom." He turned back to everyone. "I uh...Gotta go. I-I'll see you later. I-It was really nice to meet you Margo."

they waved a bit before Thomas too looked at them. "I better head out too. Aunt Kenzie's gonna throw a fit if I don't come home."

"Ok pal. You want a lift there?"

"Nah. I can get there fine on my own. 'Sides I still have a few loose ends to tie up before the night's over. But I'll see you around dude."

Which left them as Thomas walked away and Dimitri left in the car that came to pick him up. After a silent moment or two Helsing suggested they also head back and she agreed watching again as he easily just tore a portal back to hell through thin air and helped her step through it before it closed behind them. Leaving them to stand back in front of the library where they had originally left off. And after another silent moment Margo looked over to Helsing.

"T-Thanks for that. Um....I-I had a nice time out."

"Uh...Y-Yeah!" He smiled rubbing his neck. "M-Me too! O-One of the best dates I ever had. Ahehe he."

She smiled. "Well it's getting late. I uh...b-better head back to bed now." She hugged the stuffed animal to her tighter. "I really had fun. Can't wait to see what we do for that second date you made me promise you." She turned. "Good night, Your Highness."

Helsing stood there paused as she walked away..and away. And away until her flustered form disappeared around the corner and the realization of reality hit him with the weight and force of a truck.

"Second d-date......SHIT!! I NEED TO PLAN!!"

[sweetchup]

💌Love/Hate💌

Type: Pariston Hill x Reader

Prompts: Soulmate Au (Colorblind) + 7– Innocent/Corruption Kink

Author Note: OMG I am so so so sorry this took so long. I’m not sure what it was but my brain couldn’t write for Pariston. Like it was if the zodiacs took over and put it into a total shut down mode. It was insane. (ALSO Small warning, this is Pariston and, as expected, he’s an abusive dick)

(Valentine’s Day Masterlist)

When you had first accepted the job of being randomly assigned someone’s secretary, you hadn’t expected to be assigned to the CEO of a high end tech company. You mean, who in the world would have known that by just calling a flyer on a street corner would have led to working with someone so prestigious.

It almost sounded too good to be true!

….And, you wished you hadn’t jinxed yourself in that moment. The CEO of that high end tech company actually turned out to be only 21, having inherited the company from his father. He was not only a spoiled brat and a player but, my god, was he lazy. You were sure that if you hadn’t spent hours on the phone discussing ideas with his father and done all the paperwork for him, that the company would be in ruins before someone could say “We’re broke!”.

Though, no matter how hard you worked your ass off these past couple months, nothing could prepare you for this moment.

“Dear god someone help me…”

You and his father had told him many times over this week. On February 14 at noon, you have an important meeting with the Hunter Association. You can’t miss it.

But, of course, that lazy ass was running late. By 45 minutes to be exact.

“Miss (y/n), is Mr Avoli going to be showing up any time soon? It isn’t like him to be late.”

… And it surely didn’t help that you were standing in the meeting room, waiting for him with the Hunters Association's very own Zodiacs.

Shamefully, you turn to the doglike woman who had introduced herself as ‘Cheadle’ earlier and give an apologetic bow, “I-I deeply apologize. You see Mr Avoli's son, Hunter Avoli, recently took over the company. I reminded him constantly this past week about the meeting but I’m afraid he may have forgotten...”

“Oh that guy.” You hear the monkey zodiac ‘Saiyu’ spit out in disgust, “He is almost as bad as that dirt bag, Ging.”

“It’s not a problem Miss (y/n). I’ve met Hunter many times before so I’ve seen first hand how unprofessional he acts. This is clearly not your fault.” Cheadle reassures, giving you enough confidence to lift your head up from bowing to look at her as some of the Zodiacs complain in the background.

As you stare at the grayish colored woman, you can’t help but wonder what color she was wearing. Due to you still not having found your soulmate, you can only see the color of your soulmate’s eye color. Which, in your case, was brown. A chocolate brown to be exact.

And, usually dogs were brownish in color so you kind of wondered what color Miss Chealde chose instea—

“We are still waiting on the chairman and two other zodiacs so why don’t you take the chance to try and give Hunter a call.” Mizaistom, the ox zodiac, suggests suddenly.  

“O-oh of course. Thank you very much Miss Cheadle, Mr Mizaistom. I’ll be very quick— Eep!”

Oh god why me?

Just as you made your way to the door to exit the room, someone on the other side had already swung it open. Making you, in pure surprise and shock, take a step backwards. Though, just like how your day is going so far, Luck truly didn’t seem to be on your side as you end up tripping on your own two feet and begin to fall backwards.

You expected to land hard on the cold tile floor in front of everyone, extremely embarrassing really, but instead you don’t. You still hit something firm and hard but… it was different. Actually, now that you think about it, you felt higher up than you were before…

“Ah, Ging this is why I said you shouldn’t barge into rooms so suddenly! You scared our poor guest!” A voice suddenly calls out from behind you, his breath slightly tickling the shell of your ear. Quickly, in surprise, you whip your head around to—

…Shit.

As your eyes lock with the male’s chocolate brown ones the room suddenly bursts into a flurry of color. Blues, reds, greens, maybe yellows? You honestly didn’t know the proper names for all the colors you were seeing for the first time. However, in all this chaos, you happened to know two things.

One, That you had just met your soulmate and Two,...

… it was none other than the Vice Chairman himself, Pariston Hill.

“Oh my! How unexpected!” Pariston chuckles out, causing what seems to be sparkles to pop out around him, “I never thought our guest here today would end up being my soulmate. Not at all!”

“I—“ “Shut up Rat!”

You freeze as something suddenly comes flying past your head. What the fuck...

“You have a soulmate? Not a Chance! Not a Chance! Not a Chance!”

“Quit joking.”

“I doubt the King Of Kickbacks would have an ordinary soulmate.”

It was as if a bomb had erupted in the room, everyone was in pure disbelief at what Pariston had just said, Suggested, he even had (Well everyone except Ging, of course). Hell, some of them haven’t even found their own soulmates yet. So, why did the heartless ass Rat get to have one?!

“I assure you, I’m speaking the truth. Why would I lie about something like this?”

We can think of many reasons…

“U-uh…” You suddenly speak out, slightly flinching as everyone’s attention turns to you, “He is telling the truth… I saw colors other than brown for the first time when we locked eyes.”

“See!” Pariston says happily, pulling you affectionately closer to him in his hold. As you are flustered by the act from the handsome man, he takes the chance to walk to what you believe is in the direction of an empty seat. However, you soon realize that wasn’t what he was intending as he walked right by it and leaves through the other door located in the room.

“Hey Rat!! Where do you think you are GOING!?!” The tigerlike man screeches out, storming through the door you two just left as well.

“Well, I’m going to spend time with my soulmate of course.” Pariston exclaims, his smile not even flinching as bloodlust from the other zodiacs creeps out from the room.

“As if I—“ Suddenly, a loud chuckle behind you rings out, cutting Kanzai off.

“C-Chairman Netero!” You squeak out in surprise at the older man. Oh god, what a disaster. As someone trying to make a deal to him, this looks bad. So bad.

“My, what a twist!” The Chairman rings out, stroking his beard as he thinks as he walks past you two. “Hmm… You and (y/n) can be excused from today’s meeting, Pariston.”

“B-But, Chairman!” Kanzai rebuts. Soon shutting up however as the chairman grabs onto the collar of his jersey.

“It only makes sense to give them alone time, Kanzai. We will just call Mr Aloisi for the meeting instead of having (y/n) give it to us.” Netero explains, giving you a small wink as he drags Kanzai as if he was some kitty cat back into the meeting room.

What a strange group…

As you sit there stunned at everything that has happened so far, you don’t realize Pariston has already begun walking again. It takes you a while to realize as well, precisely the loud sound of the door of his private office being closed. He must have walked pretty fast…

“A-ah. Umm you can put me down now.” You mumble out to the… Blonde man (unable to tell if that was the correct color).

“Hmm. What was that?” Pariston asks, as if he didn’t quite hear you from before.

“Oh. I was wondering if you could put me down.” You tell him again. Shit, the way you said that came out bad. “I-I mean I’m really appreciative of you saving me but you are likely getting tired of holding me and I can walk on my own.”

“Oh!”

You expected at that exclamation that Pariston would instantly put you down to the floor, but instead he walks over to his deck and places you down in front of that. Odd, but you don’t question the sparkly man.

Speaking of odd, as you looked around the room, you realized it was really cold in here. Much colder than the conference room and hallway. God, what a bad day to wear a skirt but no tights. Especially those insulated ones you recently bought.

“Are you Cold?” Pariston suddenly voices up, causing you to turn behind you to look at him. He still hadn’t moved from his spot right behind you.

“A-ah yes I am. I don’t want to be a bother but could you possibly turn it down a couple of notches?” You ask, taking a step back a little to give a little bit of space between you two.

“I’m afraid I can’t. My thermostat broke this morning.” Pariston exclaims, his smile turning into a bit of a frown. However, that didn’t last long as he soon had a full blown out smile again. “But, I do have my jacket that I wore to work this morning. It should be… Ah! There it is! Right on the seat of my chair if you want to grab it.”

“Oh.. thank you.” You give Pariston a small smile before leaning over the desk to grab the brown coat.

You couldn’t wrap your head around it but for some odd reason you didn’t feel fully comfortable around him. Which was even weirder because you didn’t understand what was causing it. Shouldn’t you naturally feel comfortable around your soulmate?

Perhaps, you just needed to get to know him better. That’s likely it. Your just nervous since he was supposed to be your clien—

“Ah!” You let out a yelp as you feel pressure and sharp pain in your lower regions. At first, you thought it was perhaps a weird cramp or something like that. However, once you fully grasped what you were feeling, you realized you were just trying to make yourself believe that.

“Oh whoops! Tight. Tight. That must have hurt.” Pariston chuckles out, rocking his hips back and forth as his eyes watched his cock disappear and reappear out of your hole. Harshly letting go of the strap of your panties that he had pulled aside to watch as an ever so slight bit of blood comes out in your slick. Delighted to see such results.

“P-Pariston. Please be gentle.” You gasp out, turning yourself by your waist to place a hand on the man’s chest. Ever so slightly fisting the fabric of his suit when he suddenly gave a really hard thrust. “Let’s slow down… too soon…”

“How come? I thought you said you were grateful to me right?” Pariston teased out, pulling your hand off his suit as well as pushing your front down against the desk. Making it so you were trapped underneath him.

“I-I am but—“ “Shh… I’m only taking my reward!”

However, even with your constant pleas for him to be slower, gentler, Pariston continued his actions. Watching you grow more and more wet as that uncomfortable burning sensation suddenly turned into pure ecstasy.

It was perfect…

Pressed down against the desk, unable to move as you were essentially being taken advantage of by him. Your very own soulmate.

It was embarrassing, agonizing and traumatizing.

Surely, you hated him. You despised him.

Having waited long enough, Pariston decided to finally pull out and flip you over so he could see you and the results of his hard work. “Now, Now my dear. It’s not so—“

Pariston feels himself blink a couple of times.

Oh… So, you were one of those types huh?

It was if you were some humanized version of a golden retriever. Your eyes that were supposed filled with terror or hatred were still as sparkly and innocent before you began. You were loyal to him to a fault and he honestly doubted you could bring it in your heart to even hate him.

It was annoying but it wasn’t that big of a problem. He could always break you in other ways.

However, that’s not exactly what was troubling him right now.

Fluttering? Or, Bubbles?

Whatever it was, he didn’t understand why he was feeling this sort of way. Especially seeing you look at him like that. With that love filled look…

“Pariston…” You mumble out, your voice slightly slurred. “Are you okay? Are you done?”

Are you okay?

Those three words ring in Pariston’s head. Eventually, causing him to break his composure and let out a light laugh.

“Aw. Did I leave you high and dry? Here I’ll fix that.” Pariston calls out. A slight shiver going up his spine as he hears you let out a small moan as he slips back into your dripping cunt.

You know what, he didn’t care how strange you were making him feeling.

Whether you looked at him with loved dazed eyes…

Or cried out how much you hated him with those kissable lips of yours.

Either way, he would enjoy every bit of playing with you. You had the rest of your miserable lives to try it out after all.

[wickedsrest-rp-archive]

New Year’s Mischief || Group Chatzy

Timing: New Year’s Eve Night Summary: Don’t trust balloons or mimes or hanyo Warnings: Sauce

The Common was alit. There was no evidence of the chaos that had befallen the Christmas market not that long ago, although a fire engine and ambulance are parked nearby. Instead, stalls were lit up in every colour imaginable, offering hot meals and hot drinks, even the occasional alcoholic drink. Sparklers and popping toys were being sold alongside glow sticks and neon jewellery. There was even a stall run by mimes which charged you three dollars to stick your hand into a strange box which may contain prizes. This was particularly popular. Further on, there were a couple men in plain brown suits at a stall with mysterious stains on it. The men were making the most incredible balloon sculptures, more detailed than any balloon sculpture had any right to be. Beside them was a sign that read “WARNING: DO NOT POP BALLOONS”. Aunt Jolene, however, who ran the brownie stall, claimed she’d popped hers and found a check for a thousand dollars in hers. It was a beautiful, lively evening, ready to ring in the new year, as if the black ocean, eye sun, sandman and all else could be left in this one. 

 Nora insisted that her and Remmy had to be the first at the Mime event. Remmy may have told Nora that it wasn't a complete mime event, but Nora wasn't hearing any of it. If anyone was going to watch the silent ball drop, it was going to be Nora. As they approached the commons, Nora was craning her neck wondering if Marie-Jeanne was going to grace them with her presence. Nora was a big fan of her. 

 Dakota had heard about what was happening at The Common through a few people at work—excited chatter between coworkers grabbing a cup of stale coffee before returning to their desks, or their offices, or their labs. Originally, she hadn’t been planning on showing up because New Year’s Eve happened to be the busiest night of year for most people at the precinct. For Dakota, the disasters usually followed a few days after, because that’s when you found the bodies. But tonight she was feeling more adventurous than she’d had in weeks—mainly due to the fact that she was bored, but she had also never been to The Common, why not check it out? So, she showed up. There was a bit of commotion concerning someone popping a balloon and finding money, but she decided to spend a bit of cash and grab a cup of hot chocolate and watch the events unfold, much like a wallflower would do. 

 Ally debated the whole day as to whether to or not she would be in attendance at the ball drop. She could’ve sat in the office all night, waiting for the calls that would inevitably come in the closer that they got to midnight, or she could get dressed up and be on call at the party. Every time she decided she wasn’t going and took off her dress she remembered what Christmas alone felt like, and she sure as hell didn’t want that again. So eventually she got herself into her car and drove to The Common. Best case scenario, she made a new friend, worst case scenario she wasted a few hours. When she arrived she walked around, looking at all the activities and nervously staying far away from the mimes, especially after what Regan had told her.

 After the kitchen incident with Nadia, Arthur really hadn't been planning to leave the house. But it was New Year's Eve, and whenever the mimes were out in force he couldn't entirely control the morbid curiosity to witness them. The issue he had presently was trying to get his wallet out to pay for a hot chocolate with one arm presently held in a sling and cast. "Ah shoot" he muttered as he dropped the wallet on the floor crouching down to grab it and glancing over to a lady who was also stood nearby. "Sorry- Could- Would you mind helping me?"

 Being first to the ball drop hadn’t been important to Remmy, but it was to Nora, and so they’d donned their nicest clothes that weren’t packed, and had headed out before the sun was even beginning to set with Nora. They noticed her looking around for someone and raised a brow. “Who are you looking for?” they asked, casting a glance around as well, seeing if they could spot anyone they recognized as well. Wondered if Luce might show, wondered if they’d want to see her, even. They rubbed the back of their head as they walked along. “What do you wanna do first? Looks like there’s some sort of carnival game stuff. Wanna check that out?

 This was the last place Kaden wanted to be. Ringing in the New Years surrounded by goddamn mimes. He was going to be at home with his dog and some wine and cheese. It was going to be simple. But no. Nor was going to steal a fucking ball from the ball drop. And he had a feeling he had to be there to either stop her or help her. He wasn’t sure which right now. Either way, he had a flask on hand. He didn’t know what he needed but he knew he needed that. When he saw Nora he waved. She could call the shots. And she was hanging out with that other hunter, Remmy. Interesting. “Hey,” he said with a nod.

 "Marie-Jeanne." Nora answered without explanation. Nora cracked her neck. It hurt after so much craning. "I gotta go steal the ball before it drops. Will you be good?" Nora asked. Nora wasn't sure Remmy would want to help. Nora had met them whilst they were working security and the conversation about thieving public displays of new year bringing. Just then Kaden showed up. "Good." Nora gave him an approving nod. She thought he'd be too chicken to show up. "Step one. Don't get seen by any mimes. Step two. Steal the ball. Got it?"

 Never having been very good at dealing with the unknown, the moment Solomon learned that they were warned to not pop the balloons, the ache to rip them all to bits was almost overwhelming. He was perched on a bench, his attention flicking between that stall and the one with the mimes and mystery box, trying to decide which one would be more satisfying to wreck. The fact that he was surrounded by people, something that would normally make him extremely antsy, was completely overshadowed by the need to reveal whatever those men in the suits were hiding. In what he thought was a sly manner (but probably wasn’t), Solomon sidled his way toward the balloon stand, still eyeballing the creations as they were whipped together at record speed and handed off to their buyers. As one of them passed hands from the artist to the commissioner, Solomon made a quick gesture with one hand, sending a couple thorns hurtling from his fingertips and bursting the thing right in the woman’s face. The delighted laugh was barely muffled as he relished the loud sound (which had been unexpected) and sudden burst of glittery bits of... whatever it was that exploded in her face. Which of course drew attention to him, so he quickly turned tail and slipped off to find more people with those balloons.

 “Steal the...ball?” Remmy asked, blinking. They looked around again, when a familiar voice piped in. It was Kaden, the guy from the cooking class that Remmy was pretty sure was another zombie. They wondered if Morgan knew him, hadn’t she mentioned him once? They smiled, waving back. “Hey-- oh,” glanced over at Nora again. “Uh, yeah, I’ll be good. Just try not to get into too much tro--” they paused, snapped their jaw shut, “never mind. Just don’t get yourself hurt, okay?” they said, sighing and shaking their head. But they were smiling. 

 Connor wasn't sure how long he was going to stay, mostly for the sake of his new companion, Nico. So far she'd seemed to be a well-adjusted and friendly dog, but he didn't want to put her in a situation that would be overwhelming, so was more than ready to head home early and have a quiet night instead. “Come on, girl,” he said, scratching behind her ear as they walked. So far, so good. He headed over to the common, looking around for someone he might recognize. 

 The celebration of the coming year was a strange, but pleasant thing. Kevin couldn’t quite recall the last year she had seen come and go. Glamor in place, she wandered about, making her way over to the stand with the mystery box. Such an enchanting idea… even if the people running it were clearly abominations. She was never one to leave much to chance, but there was a certain appeal to the surprise. Still, this was for the people of White Crest to enjoy, she was content to simply observe… at least for the moment. 

 “This is Hell. I’m dead - for real this time - and I’ve gone to Hell.” Mercy had a very deep hatred for mimes. Not humans playing at being mimes, but Mimes. Of the White Crest variety. The kind that had shot her and tried - see: very nearly succeeded - in murdering Arthur. Not to mention a slew of others. So while she waited on Arthur to come back from the hot chocolate line - Mercy had opted for beer, which she sipped thoughtfully from her perch on the back of one of the Common’s benches - she took in her surroundings, noting all the strangeness (both normal and suspicious in nature) and thinking that maybe the four knives and her pistol (for which she was properly permitted thanks much) that she currently had hidden on her person might not be enough if shit went sour. Which there was a fifty-fifty chance of. The sharp pop of a balloon caught her attention, and her gaze cut across the crowd, locking on an unfamiliar face that was quickly exiting the scene. “I’d be careful popping those,” Mercy said, hopping off her bench as the stranger passed by. “Some of them might not be so… sparkly.” 

 Savannah would have happily been at home with a bottle of wine, but she was trying, perhaps in vain, to be a little more social. Every time she went out into the world, something unexpected seemed to happen, and not all of them were welcomed. Still, anything this event and its mimes could offer had to be better than ringing in the New Year alone, right? She spotted a few people she knew, but opted to quietly observe for a while. 

 Kaden sighed deeply before bringing the flask to his lips and taking a swig. He held it out in case Nora or Remmy wanted any, too. “Lead the way.” This was a mistake. “You want to help? I feel like this is a terrible idea and could probably use more hands,” he asked Remmy. 

 If only Marley could’ve used the excuse of working the party to come, but as it were, she wasn’t allowed in the field anyway, but she sure as hell wanted to show up to what would likely be a disastrous event. If only for the free food. People around here either loved mimes or hated them, and with hate often came fear. Donning her glasses, she strolled into the Common with hands tucked in pockets, glancing around to see who else was going to show up to this place. Kept to the fringes of the crowd for now, spotting Kaden with two others, including that nuisance bugbear who kept bothering all the cops at the precinct. Solano was on the other side, idling around as awkwardly as Marley, as if trying to blend in, and over at one of the drink stations was Dakota. Marley made a mental note to stay far away from there for now. Maybe after a few shots of tequila she’d gather up enough courage to go over to her. 

 Remmy looked at the flask Kaden was holding out to them, then up to his face as he asked if they wanted to help. “Oh, uh-- n-no, that’s okay. I’ll just...I mean i guess I could keep an eye out to make sure ya’ll are good, but I’d rather not.” 

 All at once, there was a screech of violins. The college band fell silent as the mime band began to play real music, despite the apparent lack of real instruments. Even more unnervingly, the mime lead singer's lips did not move, but they sang with the exact vocal cords of the college band singer, who was clutching at his throat in distress.

 Dakota hadn’t really been paying much attention to the guy with his arm in a sling—at least not until he dropped the damned thing and she was the closest person who could help in the least bit. “Shit, yeah,” she said. Dakota did sort of feel bad for him, crouching down like that, so she kneeled and grabbed his wallet, handing it back to him. “The hell happened to you arm?”

 Nora took a large swig of the flask then grabbed Kaden by the arm to pull him behind a stall. Reaching into her coat she pulled out two berets and some face paint. "We need to get in disguise. Paint up." Nora started applying copious amounts of white face paint onto her already pale face. In retrospect, she should have brought a hand mirror. Oh well, much like this year, hindsight was 2020.

 Slowing his roll as he heard someone speaking to him, Solomon whipped around to look at the woman, offering his best innocent shrug. “I don’t know what you meeeaan!” he lied, snickering all the while. “What else could they possibly stuff in there, bees?” There was a pause, and he raised his eyebrows. “Actually, that wouldn’t be a bad idea. Bad for the bees, though. I gotta free them!” He sucked in an unusually energetic breath, ready to take off again in pursuit of another target, but rattled to a stop before he’d even gotten started. “... Aren!” He waved both arms when he spotted his friend just a short distance off, beckoning him over. “Aren, come help me rescue some bees!”

 Connor spotted the person with who had the giant fluffy dog that he'd seen at Nell's party, although no dog in tow this time. "Hey," he greeted. "Nice to see you again." The strange noise brought his attention over to the stage and he cocked his head curiously. "Oh. That's... normal."

 Ally heard the screech of violins and spun around to look at the band. When she heard the sound coming from the mime band she scrunched her eyebrows trying to comprehend how sound was coming from the mimes. The stall nearest to her was selling drinks, and although alcohol certainly wasn’t going to explain what she just saw, she suddenly felt like she needed a drink. She downed it and leaned toward the person nearest to her, “Is this like a performance piece or something?” She whispered. 

 Savannah spotted Marley, but she didn't want to approach her given the last encounter they'd had. Probably better to talk in a one on one environment. She saw Kaden, and a couple of people from the station, one of whom she thought she remembered was called Alejandra. "A performance piece... that's one way of putting it," Savannah said, grateful she'd already grabbed a drink. "You're new here, right?" 

 As the woman handed back his wallet Arthur smiled awkwardly as he stood up, "thanks, sorry- I'm not normally this much of a clutz."  He took the wallet back, awkwardly trying to fish a couple of dollar bills out to pay the disgruntled looking hot chocolatier. "Oh this? I was involved in an accident-" not the total truth, but near enough all things considered. Taking the bills he finally handed them over. “Sorry again- thanks.” Catching a figure waving in his periphery Arthur grinned and waved back "Hey Sol- Bees? What bees?"

 Mercy tipped an eyebrow, unable to help her own amusement. “Bees would… be preferable actually,” she said. Before she could say anything else, he was going on about freeing said bees and Mercy was… thinking her night was getting just a little bit better. This could only end in glorious chaos. But it took a slightly unexpected turn when the stranger called to someone in the crowd… and used a name had never heard anyone else use. Not in a very, very long time. “You know, Arth- Aren?” Mercy said, grabbing one of the excited stranger’s flailing limbs. “There aren’t bees…” she told him. “No bees,” she said to Arthur as he approached. Mercy took a long sip of her beer. “Not yet at least.” 

 Was he drunk or did Nora just pull out fucking berets and facepaint? “No. I’m not doing that. You can’t make me. I’ll just put up my hood or something.” Kaden tugged it up and hoped that was enough. After being striped for about a week, there was no way in fucking hell he was putting on any more goddamn facepaint. “This way,” he said quietly as he led the past a few crowds of people and around some tables and decorations. They reached a group of “performers.” He sure as shit wasn’t going to work to blend in. He made a gesture that he’d just go around, but it was too late. One of the mimes grabbed his arm and then made a gesture, pulling their finger across their throat. Uhhh. He looked to Nora for help. 

 Ally nodded in agreement with what the woman next to her said. When she asked if she was new she turned toward her. “Right, yeah, I’ve seen you around the station. I’m Ally.” She said sticking her hand out. “Do they do this every year?”

 "Savannah," she introduced herself. "Yeah, I consult on cases there sometimes. I'm FBI." Apparently the White Crest Police Department was just a bunch of attractive women and one weird Sergeant. "I wouldn't know, this is my first time here. I only came to town a little over six months ago. Still long enough to no longer be surprised by these things." 

 “The bees in the balloons!” Solomon bleated over Mercy’s attempts to stifle him, though the wind did seem to get sucked out of his sails after another brief moment of consideration. “Fine… but I still want to see what’s in them. “Yeah, yeah, we met, uh… a long time ago. Y’know.” He gave her a shrug, beaming at Arthur as he approached. “I’m breaking stuff, d’you want to help?” He glanced at Mercy, giving her a quick once over. Any friend of Aren’s was a friend of his. “You too!”

 It was the fatal error of refusing to put makeup on that caused Kaden to get grabbed and noticed by the mimes. As the mimes made a slit throat gesture to Kaden, Nora, now a true mime, made the gesture of a tear rolling down her face. Deciding she'd better do her best to help her tall friend Nora decided to speak up for Kaden. The mime sequence was intended to say "I was chasing him, and he got away, then you caught him, and now I'll kick him out." In Nora's mind, she was convinced it looked brilliant. Truly she was a mime natural but to a person who could actually perceive Nora's actions, Nora looked like a flopping dead fish. Letting out an exasperated sigh, Nora summoned an illusioned mime bear to scare the mime and pull Kaden away in that moment of shock. Nora grabbed Kaden's arm and made a run for it. 

 Wandering over to his old friend Arthur's brow pinched in confusion as he looked over the crowd and realised what Solomon was referencing. Balloons. Oh right. "You're breaking stuff? That tracks..." his smile grew a tad devious as he glanced at Mercy and back to Solomon. "Do you need help with that?" As if to emphasise the point he glanced at the nearby balloon stand where a black balloon was in the process of being placed in the extended hands of a middle-aged woman. It didn't take too much focus to warm the air around it just enough to make it explode, sliming the recipient's hands in lumpy hanyo.

 “Nice to meet you. Do all towns have a dedicated FBI agent or is it just this one on account of the…” Ally motioned to the mimes bizarre behavior. “Alright so six months until this is normal. Great. Another drink?” She suggested. She had moved across an ocean for a new start, and the new start was fucking weird. She heard a balloon pop and glanced over, watching what looked like mayonnaise cover a woman’s hands. “That’s going on the ‘not illegal but it should be’ list.”

 What a curious thing, how the music changed, seemingly stolen away from the poor child trying his best. Best not to interfere. Kevin instead busied herself, walking over to the delightful bunch of balloons. Her eyes widened as one of them suddenly popped, a delighted smile curling onto her face as she drew near the strangers at the stand. “Ah, I thought the sign said not to pop them. How strange. Do they all have that… substance inside them, do you think?”

Jared was only there to support one of the mimes in the band. He was a regular at the restaurant in town and the nymph always tried his best to mime back with enthusiasm when he was ordering. It seemed to have won him some favour when he was slipped a flier for the event in the commons, the mime silently letting him know that they were to be there. And so there he was, miming clapping along to the supposed beat of the silent band, only to swap to real clapping when the band burst into sound. 

Savannah snickered. White Crest's dedicated FBI Agent. That was a funny way of looking at things. She certainly felt like that, at times. Although she was beginning to get the feeling it wouldn't last much longer. "I came for one specific case, and found several more. Missing people, cults, a ridiculously large death toll for a town this side. What could be better?" she said, playfully sarcastic. "I like the accent," Savannah said. "England, right?" 

“No, I didn’t.” Mercy didn’t seem to know a lot of things these days. Not that she expected to know everything about Arthur’s life here in town. But if this guy knew him as Aren… then he was old like they were. He had to be. Mercy thought at least something like that would be worth her knowing. Her mind drifted off to places she didn’t want it to be, places that held nothing but self-doubt and bitterness, but her new acquaintances excitement pulled her out of it. “Oh, you don’t want my help…” she huffed, glancing between Arthur and his mysterious friend as she finished off her drink. “Unless you like fire. Lots of fire.” Another balloon popped, this time at Arthur’s bidding, and Mercy shook her head. “And people say I’m a bad influence…” Though the air around her hummed slightly, sounding ironically… like bees. 

 Kaden wasn’t sure what the hell was going to happen. Or what Nora was trying to convey in what he assumed was mime gestures. It looked like a lot of flopping around. From the looks of it, the mimes weren’t convinced. Putain de merde, this was how they died. Or became striped again. He wasn’t sure which was worse. Before any of them could reveal extra teeth or stripes under stripes, a mime bear appeared and chased the mimes. Kaden was prepared to high tail it and run the opposite direction, but the actual bugbear pulled him away. He wasn’t sure where the fuck they were running, but he kept going. Straight into Marie-Jeanne. Putain de fucking merde. 

 Kevin let her attention wander, humming along to the music. It was a pleasant sound, but it was being stolen. So very rude. Well, two could play at that game. A twist of her fingers was all she needed. As the mime band continued on, their music seemed to spread. It spilled out of the mystery box and echoed from the balloons, sounding almost as if it was trapped inside. As the melody went on, it grew stranger, louder, almost as though it were at odds with itself. Impossible instruments joined in, a few discordant voices joining into the mix. Now this was what a party was supposed to sound like. 

 Looking absolutely thrilled as Arthur joined in on the balloon-bursting fun, Solomon tut-tutted at Mercy. “Come on, it’s not often you get to cause a little mischief and not worry about repercussions. Also no, not the biggest fan of fire, but… a little seems to work just fine,” he added with a grin. Extending his hand to the woman, he figured a proper introduction was in order. “I’m Solomon, by the way. Aren and I met back in the… gods, what was it?” He glanced to Arthur, cocking his head to the side. “1700?” Then he noticed the sound around them was changing, and made a face. “The hell is that?”

 Ally sipped on the next drink she was handed, feeling a little more comfortable. “Cults?” She said, perking up. In London there had been a cult that she had suspected was actually just a clan of vampires. “I’ll have to look into that. At least it’s not boring.” She said simply, glancing back down at her drink. “Yes, yes I’m from London. And you?”

 Marie-Jeanne grinned at Nora and Kaden, swivelling her hips salaciously. Unfortunately, she saw what they were going to do and that was ever so unacceptable. She peeled one of the stripes off her body to reveal more stripes underneath. She'd gotten ever so many more stripes since the last time they'd met. With the stripe of questionable material, she tried to tie the pair of them up. 

 Witnessing all these people seeming to run a muck made Dakota truly wonder why she had moved to White Crest in the first place. Sipping her hot chocolate, she did happen to see Marley, and she promptly choked on her drink and made a bee-line in the other direction, stumbling in to someone else’s conversation. Oh, wait… She’d seen this person before. FBI agent, right? “Uh, sorry, I heard there was commotion about bees.” She looked between the FBI agent and the other person she was speaking with, whom she had not the faintest idea of a name. “Sorry to interrupt. Are you guys talking about London?” Please be a normal conversation…

 "Yeah, my colleague who worked here before he passed away was an expert in cults," Savannah said, as plainly as she might when talking about the weather. "I'm from Massachusetts," she said. "I was working at the Field Office in Boston for a few years prior to moving here. I'm sure the place will leave an impression..." She turned to the newest person who'd entered the conversation, someone from the crime lab. "Yeah," she said. "You been there?" She wrinkled her face in confusion. “Bees?”

 “London? No, no. I do know there’s like, a big clock. And a ferris wheel. And I’m not sure what I heard, but there was definitely someone shouting about bees…” Yeah, Dakota, that’s why you tried to make yourself look busy. “Have you?”

 "Big Ben and the London Eye," Savannah said, nodding. "Yeah, I went to a few places around the UK on my Honeymoon," she answered, but was quick to lift her drink to draw attention to her empty ring finger. 

 Nell had come to this event for one reason, and one reason only. To ruin as much of it as she could. The mimes thought they ruled this town, holding it under the tip of their striped thumbs, but in her mind they could stand to be brought down a few pegs or more. As she finally arrived, her eyes narrowed, nose scrunching at the cursed sound the band was emitting. Without a second thought she murmured a spell under her breath, snickering as the strings of the mime band’s violins snapped to slash back across the musicians faces in a light slap. Already in a much better mood, she made her way through the crowd looking for more opportunities to soil the mimes. 

 Ally made a mental note to ask Savannah about her colleague, interrupted by a new person in the conversation. “I mean, bees aren’t usually out in the winter. Have you seen any?” she asked, looking around. “Oh, well, I’m from there.” Ally explained. She looked at Savannah’s empty ring finger and nodded. “Ah, sorry.” she said awkwardly, unsure what to say. 

 “Oh, it’s fine,” Savannah answered. “It just means I’m single.”

 Remmy was instantly relieved when they spotted Nell across the way, and started making their way to her. Picked up a drink on the way and watched out of the corner of their eye as Kade and Nora went off to do their mime shenanigans. The screeching of the new violins were lost on Remmy’s ears, and they smiled brightly as they found their way over to Nell, waving. “Hey! Nell!” they called out, “I didn’t think you were gonna come. I thought you hated mimes?”

 Connor was grateful that someone else he knew had shown up; someone in a similar age range. It was weird when everyone around him was in their thirties or forties. "Nell!" He called, unaware of what she had just done to upset the mimes, waving her over. "Come meet Nico!" The Golden Retriever seemed all too happy to make a new friend.

 "Oh! You haven't met? Mercy this is Solomon. Solomon this is Mercy now you know one another." Arthur would've clapped, except, he couldn't so he grinned instead looking between his compatriots tonight. "Oh come on," he nudged Mercy "let's be the chaos crew." Another balloon nearby popped and a plastic necklace dropped into the hands of a pleased looking little girl.

 Dakota furrowed her brow, not exactly sure what had happened with Savannah and her ex. “Damn, was the honeymoon that bad?” she joked, then drew her attention to Ally. “Sorry, I totally butted in. I’m Dakota. And I heard London is nice. Except for when you’re having bad honeymoons, apparently.”

He heard a familiar laugh and turned to spot Remmy and Nell across the way. Jared gave a small smile to his mime pal in the band, giving them a thumbs up before heading over. Overhearing Remmy’s words he frowned, however. “Hate mimes? Why?”

Savannah rolled her eyes with a snicker. "No, the honeymoon was great. The marriage was just average," she said, shrugging. "No huge angst, no broken hearts. Just better off as acquaintances these days." 

Nora was ready to book it over to the ball to steal it when the most beautiful person Nora had ever seen stepped in front of them. Of course, Nora had seen this person before but that didn't make her appearance any less breathtaking. Nora skidded to a stop, not willing to brush past Marie-Jeanne. It was with rapt attention Nora watched as Marie-Jeanne took off one of her many stripes. It was with no quarrel that Noar let Marie-Jeanne wrap her in the stripe. It was with a weird sense of belonging that she thanks Marie-Jeanne for tying her up. "Thanks." Nora let out. Of course, that came with complete forgetfulness of having been pretending to be a mime. Nora looked expectantly to Kaden, expecting him to get tied up as well. 

 “Oh, you fucking bet I hate mimes. That’s why I came to destroy everything they love,” Nell quickly replied to Remmy, her voice bright despite the doom promised in her words. “Why are you here?” There was, without a doubt, one thing that could momentarily turn her head from her current mime mission in life, and that was one singular golden dog that was approaching with Connor. “Nico?” Nell asked excitedly, already bending to pet the pup. “Since when do you have a dog?” Then she turned to Jared, confusion and judgement plain on her features. “Jared- you know I literally despise mimes.”

 After several drinks, Marley finally felt confident enough to join the group without either accidentally feeding off someone or saying something stupid or rude. She made her way over to the group of people she recognized all together-- Savannah, Ally, Dakota. Only two out of three of them would be awkward to talk to, so that was a win. In most situations, they all would be. Grabbing another spiced eggnog, Marley headed over, pausing just short when the violins began screeching, turning to glance back over at them. Disaster one, she supposed. Opting to ignore it, she leaned against the table. “If we’re all here, who’s working the lines?”

 “A partner is usually more trouble than they’re worth, I’ve found. Except it would certainly lower my rent.” Ally offered. “Maybe one of those are looking for a roommate.” she joked, watching the mimes lose control of their violins. Another sip of her drink. “I’m Ally, nice to meet you.” she smiled. She was heading toward best case scenario territory. Even with the mimes and maybe bees. When Marley approached Ally smiled, glad to see someone she recognized. “I’m on call.” She said, tapping her earpiece. “I’ll have to arrest someone in a dress tonight, I’m sure of it.”

 Remmy felt a tad overwhelmed as the boy from Nell’s birthday party that had wanted to pet Moose came up to them as well as Jared. Nell confirmed her hated for mimes and Remmy shrugged. “I came with Nora, she was really excited to be here. I think she’s trying to con that guy Kaden into stealing the ball for the ball drop with her,” they said, looking at the other two. “You brought your dog? Are they okay with fireworks? I heard there might be some later.”

 "They are kind of weird, aren't they?" Connor said about the mimes. There was something even more unsettling about the White Crest version of mimes than the usual ones. "I adopted her right before Christmas.” He looked to Remmy. “I'm gonna leave if she gets antsy about the crowds and fireworks, and probably head away before they go off, so I can see how she is at a distance, but she's a gundog, so she might be alright." 

 Savannah shrugged, unaware of the situation with Marley and Dakota, and also not really caring. She was just happy Marley wasn't avoiding her. "I dunno, Keene, maybe?" 

 Ah so there was another witch about. How sweet. Kevin found the woman quickly, feeling the magic in the air trailing from the broken instrument to the caster in question. It was a decent spell, clever and rounded at the edges. Still, her own had already reached the music, and Kevin wasn’t particularly interested in letting others cross paths with hers. Her hand turned, hidden in her glamor. The music grew louder, horns and bells chiming in, whispers of voices in a dozen unknowable tongues joining in. All of it centered around that sweet, young caster. The musical notes began to take shape around her, turning into birds, into bubbles that popped with a scream, and all the while, the volume continued to grow.

Jared spared a bright smile for Remmy and the stranger before mumbling a soft “I hoped you’d grown out of hating mimes… We haven’t really spoken about them all that much since you got back…” He glanced back at his mime friend in the band hoping they weren’t hearing this; he’d hate to offend such a new friend like this. “They’re just trying to get along like everyone else.” 

The mention of the word partner made Marley’s skin vibrate and she nodded perhaps a bit more enthusiastically than she should’ve. “Agreed. People aren’t worth the trouble,” before shooting back another chug. “Oh, right. Agatha.” She should’ve known that, Agatha had practically tripped over herself to volunteer tonight. She was a real teacher’s pet, but for whatever reason, Marley only found the trait endearing, whereas usually she hated it. She watched Dakota back away and head off, wondering if it was because of her, frowning. She glanced at Savannah, only for a moment, before turning her eyes away. “What do you think of the band? Kinda eerie, huh?”

 “You’d be surprised,” Mercy said to Solomon, eyeing the stranger with even more curiosity. “Though it has been awhile I suppose.” Besides, Mercy’s brand of mischief might utterly ruin the mimes’ night. How could she resist? Especially as Arthur so eagerly introduced her and the stranger. “It’s an honor to meet you, Solomon,” she said, shaking hands. “But you can call me Freyja if you like. I’ve known Aren… well, forever really.” And that was the truth. Idly she wondered if she and Solomon had perhaps met in passing when she’d been in Maine herself in the early 1700s. Or if the man had known Arthur’s family. His children. But the dour thoughts passed easily as she was jostled by Arthur. She sighed in a pseudo-put upon fashion, smiling faintly as the little girl showed her necklace to her father. “You really want me to do this?” she asked, looking first at Arthur then at Solomon, who seemed a bit worried all of a sudden. 

 “Kind of weird is an understatement,” Nell replied dryly, glaring at a passing mime as if she were daring it to say, or sign something. “Steal the ball?” she asked with renewed curiosity. Surely that would be a good way to throw a wrench in the mimes’ celebration. Unfortunately Jared’s words were lost as the music swelled around her, and her skin prickled as another magic blossomed. Apparently someone wasn’t all too thrilled with her antics around the band. “I can’t hear you!” she yelled over the music towards her friends, but that didn’t matter now. If someone was upset she was messing with the band, deafening her was the wrong way to make her stop. Instead it fueled her hatred of the mimes even further, and in another moment she let her magic fly again, targeting the mime band with renewed vigor as she flipped the chairs of the first row, sending mimes tumbling.

 It was her. The mime who had given him the lapdance on his birthday. The one with too many teeth and stripes under her stripes. He tried to get away, make a run for it, but she had peeled off her stripes and was tying him up. Shit. Shit fucking shit. Of course Nora was thrilled. Kaden tried to pull his hands away, but she had a vice grip on his wrist and wasn’t letting up. Even with hunter strength it was hard to pull away. He heard strange sounds coming from the center of the Common from the band, seemingly. Like someone threw something at the musicians. “Hey, uh, this was, this is great but I gotta go.”

 Remmy glanced between Nell and Jared, wondering what was going on between them that someone would think Nell liked mimes. Anyone who knew Nell knew she hated them. It was strange to think she ever did or ever would like them. But then she was shouting and Remmy was glancing around anxiously. “Nell, are you okay?” they asked, reaching out for her, but she was already doing something else, and Remmy watched as the front row of the mime band was upturned. They winced. “Nell, was that--”

 "Kaden's here, too," Savannah said. She knew she'd spotted him talking to a goth-looking person earlier. Speaking of the band, Savannah's head turned as the front row of the orchestra seemed to all be thrown off their chairs. "The band are... interesting, but... Oh. Well, I don't think that's part of the show." 

 Quickly forgetting the bizarre sound he’d heard in favor of getting up to no good, Solomon nodded enthusiastically. This wasn’t normally his brand of activity, but something about running into such an old friend had rekindled a spark in him that had been snuffed out long ago. “Well then, Freyja, yes! We do!” He scanned the crowd for another unsuspecting guest, spotting a balloon gripped in the hands of a young boy, and grinned. “It’s easy… like this!” Letting loose another small volley of thorns, Solomon’s delight quickly turned to confusion as the balloon burst and out fell… dust? What was that? “Huh,” he grunted, a little disappointed. But then the dust was on the move, balling up in clumps as it rolled along the ground, with alarming… intelligence. “Uh oh.”

 There was a horrific clatter of musical instruments (including the ting of a strangely loud triangle). The mimes stopped all at once, helping their brethren to their feet. In unison, they turned to face Nell in particular, and frowned as one in perfect synchronisation, drawing a sad face onto theirs. There was a ripple of perfect silence across the crowd before the music started up again. Unbeknownst to Nell, changes were beginning to happen at the Vural household. Then they sat down, picked up new mime instruments and began to play once more. 

 “Single cops who spend all their time at the precinct. Aren’t we stereotypes.” Ally noticed Marley frown when Dakota disappeared and wondered if there was a story there. “Very eerie here. How do you think they’re doing it? Hidden speakers.” She said, leaning over to see if she could spot them. She noticed them get thrown off their chair. “What is happening?” she said, wondering if they should do something.

Jared whipped around to see the chairs fly and his smile vanished. “Nell what the hell! Stop that, what have they done? They haven’t done anything, stop that.” He glared at her and stomped over to help pick up the chairs. He missed the eerie stop of the music completely in his anger.

As the mimes looked to Nell in unison, she raised a single finger. A very carefully chosen finger. The most offensive finger a person could raise as she collectively flipped them the bird.

 Remmy, noticing the mimes all staring at Nell, backed away slowly, taking Connor and his dog with them. “We should...go.”

 Connor didn't need to be a genius (he definitely wasn't one) to figure out that Nell was the one messing with the band. He raised an eyebrow, chuckling as she gave them the finger. "Careful. I've heard they can be pretty dangerous." He nodded to Remmy. “Yeah, good idea,” he teased. “You’re on your own, Penelope.” Miriam had made him promise, after all, not to let the dog get into any dangerous situations.

 Nell’s finger began to develop stripes.

 Wincing, Marley took another long sip of her eggnog, watching the turmoil begin to crescendo-- pun intended. All the mimes were focusing on one single person, and Marley noticed it was the little jailbird, Nell. Chuckling, Marley relaxed little, excited to see how this might play out. She glanced over at Ally and Savannah. “Well, here’s to being single and dedicating our lives to shit like this, yeah?” she raised her glass to them both, not bothering to answer the unasked question of whether they should intervene. She wasn’t on duty, she had no obligation to act, just like with the Dullahan. Instead, she’d enjoy the show, and the free meal. She deserved it.

 Oblivious to the ensuing chaos by the bandstand, Arthur watched the strange clumps of dust rolling across the floor mildly entranced by the dust bunnies. "Huuuh, weird." As if on cue another couple of balloons popped, but this time instead of their owners suffering the repercussions he heard a pop too close for comfort and felt the wet slide of something down his face; which was now covered in a stream of white mayo. "Ewwwww- I hate mayonnaise Disgusting."

 Nell couldn’t deny that her first thought upon seeing her finger develop stripes was ‘chop it off.’ Thankfully, she did no such thing and made the very wise decision to raise her other middle finger, brandishing it as she stuck out her tongue to the mime band. “I have two, bitch!”

 Her other finger began to develop stripes. So did her tongue.

 Sam Rainsbottom grinned for a camera as he posed in front of the New Years party panorama. “Hello everyone! This is WC Student Broadcasting coming to you from the Coooomon!” Sam’s blue eyes flicked up to where the Yearbook students manning the camera switched to a new cue card. “We’d like to officially thank the Striped Club, The Quiet Place, and Your Mime and Ours, and whole Silent Thespian community for sponsoring this civic event!”

 Sam looked back at chaos of stands being tipped over “shit shit” he side shuffled and made motions with his hands for the camera to pan away to some non-destruction scenes of this New Years party.

 Marie-Jeanne giggled silently, tapping Nora's nose that developed some stripes of their own. She did not do the same to Kaden, holding him tightly as she pulled a balloon out of her pocket. Don't ask how she has pockets. Don't ask how a large balloon fit in the pocket. All Kaden and Nora needed to worry about was that the balloon was slowly expanding, getting ready to pop.

 Mercy glanced over at the ruckus from near the ‘mime band’, but since it was actual sound being made, she didn’t pay much attention. She turned back to watch Solomon send a volley of… was it thorns??... through the air and pop another balloon. “Good shot,” Mercy grinned, squinting at the balls of dust that rolled away. “Oh… it’s just some dust bunnies. Nothing to worry about.” The air hummed with chaotic energy, the brisk chill of the evening and the sounds of the crowd - barring whatever was happening with the ‘band’ - along with the contagiousness of her companions’ mischief was quickly taking over any good sense she might’ve shown. The balloon that popped nearby only got a passing glance from the Fury, though she did grimace a little at substance that coated Arthur’s face. “Are you sure it’s mayo?” she asked, scooping a bit onto her finger to taste. “Yeah… yuck. Definitely mayo. With undertones of birb.” But… with no harm done from yet another balloon, Mercy finally handed Arthur her drink. “Those were both great shots, boys…” she said of their individual balloon-popping. “Now it’s my turn…” With that, she turned and walked off into the crowd. A brush of a hand here… a tap of a finger there… and when she returned a minute or so later, her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes were bright with mischief and the effects of her power. Mercy glanced at her watch. “You wanted chaos…” It read about a minute or so til somewhere nearby a bell would toll. “You’ll get chaos…” 

 Nora giggled. Nora actually fully giggled as Marie-Jeanne tapped her nose. She might have actually giggled more if she'd known that her nose was now striped. It was like mime themed freckles. Her eyes followed the balloon, looking up at it. The roundness of the balloon reminded Nora that she was on a mission. "I'm sorry. I have something I need to do." Nora rolled to her side and started rolling towards the giant ball. Not very fast, to be fair. Definitely not fast enough to get away from the balloon. The balloon popped above her in a shower of rainbows. It was a beautiful effect. It was less beautiful as Nora noticed that her outfit went from the signature black to colorful rainbow. 

 Looking a little grossed out when the new substance appeared on Arthur’s face, Solomon only looked more aghast when Mercy tasted it. “That… could have been one hundred percent bird poop! You’re brave,” he laughed. Happy to see that she’d finally decided to join in, the leshy watched curious as she walked away, nudging Arthur gently in the side. “Cool friend you got there, Aren. She seems like fun!” His eyebrows raised again as she came back into view, and that struggle with the unknown took hold once again. “What did you do?” he gasped excitedly, eyes widening. 

 Tired of being unable to hear the voices of those surrounding her, and currently angered by the mimes audacity at stripe-ing her, Nell cast another bit of magic to disrupt whatever spell it was the other caster in the crowd had thrown at her. The music returned to its normal, albeit still disturbing volume, but at least she was no longer being taken over by sound. Unfortunately...there was no saving her fingers. In rebuttal, she magicked a few of the mimes into the opposite of her fingers...rendering them solemnly solid rather than striped. 

 Kaden tried to pull away and swore he could have made it, but it was too late. It didn’t matter. The balloon exploded and rained down color on them. Great. That was fine. Just a nice pretty balloon. And he seemed to be free to walk away. “Great. Nice seeing you again. I guess.” And while Nora rolled away, Kaden just walked around Marie-Jeanne as she blew him a kiss and headed towards the ball. He looked down briefly and noticed the color seemed to be following him. Hmm, no it was on him. He looked down at his clothes and noticed, like Nora’s they were all rainbow. He look at his hands and his fingernails were rainbow colored. With a deep dread, he sighed and leaned over to take a quick look at himself in a pane of glass nearby. He saw his hair. It, too, was rainbow colored. “Putain de merde!” he screamed. Loudly. It wasn’t Regan loud, but it was loud. He heard balloons popping in the distance. And what sounded like flesh exploding closer by. He looked to his left and black sludge was splattered across the way. 

Whilst trying to help the first row of chairs up again Jared tripped. He’d never been super sure in his step when he was wearing shoes. So, as he tripped a balloon tied off to one of the nearby benches popped. In the rain of confetti Jared blinked. And then he blinked again. His entire being was striped. But it wasn’t static. He was flashing stripes that moved up and down his body as if to the beat of the remaining music from the band. He was a disco mime.

Nell's stripes began to extend down her fingers and her arms. They extended into her clothes. She would notice that, but the more sinister change, she would not notice later tonight, once she was out of these stripey clothes. She could only speak when dressed as a mime. 

 Solomon's statement made Arthur snicker even if he was kind of disgusted by the sentiment. "That's rank, ew." But his disgust was forgotten as Mercy wandered off into the crowd attempting to roughly track her movements but she was lost for a few and so he turned back to Solomon. "She is. Like the coolest." There was a small swell of warm pride as Mercy returned and whatever she had done he knew it was bound to be great. In for a penny in for a pound, he popped another three balloons. One of which splattered a white substance on the ground into which a young boy stepped... And got stuck. "Mummy!” the boy screamed “Mummy! Help! I'm stuck!" The second balloon popped, and a rotten banana peel fell out of the sky landing on Mercy’s head with a wet squelch.

 Marie-Jeanne exploded at the sound of Kaden's yell. She would be back.

 Sam listed off more town facts and corporate sponsors as the sparkler burned in his hand. His eyes briefly strayed to the sparkler ignition. Pure white and black flames poured from the sparkler, strange umbral fire and pale fluoresce weaved together in a mydriatic dance that caused an ecliptic blur across Sam’s vision when he focused on it. 

 How..did…how could fire? That's not how light works..right?

 A cough from the camera guy brought Sam back to reality, away from questions, and unwelcome thoughts suppressed across generations. Sam grinned with a thumbs up as the mime-flame burned without a sound.

 A rainbow tear slid down Nora's face as Marie-Jeanne exploded in front of them. Nora, tied up, defeated, lay there. Was there a point to stealing the ball? This was a bad end to the year.

 Nora looked defeated. Which was probably for the best. They likely didn’t need to anger the mimes anymore. “Come on, let’s go back to the party or whatever you’d call this,” Kaden said as he tugged on Nora’s arm to lead them back to the center of the Common. As they made their way back to the center of the Common, he saw Nell. Covered in stripes. “Putain de merde, what the hell happened to you?” he said in between laughter. It was horrifying, sure. But it was also fucking hilarious. 

 The gayest bear to ever exist, covered in rainbows and stripes, followed Kaden without complaint. Not a word would come from Nora’s mourning mouth for the rest of the night. The rest of the new year was in memory of Marie-Jeanne.

 An enthralling quiet descended across the crowd as the mimes began to mime out the minute long countdown. Even if you wanted to yell (with two colourful exceptions) you would barely speak louder than a whisper.  On top of a tall spire, a striped black and white ball slowly descended. The silence rang like an orchestral harmony, which was a strange experience for everyone who hadn't heard loud silence before. When the clock hit midnight, the silence was loudest of all. Then the ball burst, and black sauce the hadn't been seen since the Sauce had dried up exploded over the whole common, covering many people. Those who got some in their mouths would soon come to regret it. 

 “What happened to me? What happened to you?” Nell cackled as she took in his rainbow stripes. But Nell certainly wasn’t about to let Kaden have the last laugh, and with another narrow of her eyes and quick spellwork, she wasted no time in hauling a metric fuck-ton of Sauce towards the hunter, pouring it over Kaden in a cursed and sticky waterfall, but purposefully leaving his rainbow hair on full display. 

 Snickering as the banana peel dropped on his new friend’s head, Solomon gave Arthur a nod in solidarity. Not wanting to fall behind, he made sure to get another popped balloon under his belt, but… nothing happened? He was certainly close enough to have seen it, the young man was passing right by them, balloon tucked beneath his arm when Solomon reached out and burst it with a prick of his thorned finger. Disappointed, he gave the two of them a shrug. “Guess it was a dud…?” Glancing up as a sudden hush fell over the crowd, he watched with interest as the mimes counted down silently, the ball slowly started to slide down, and then… exploded? Alarmed, he raised his arms to cover his face, sidestepping behind Arthur quickly as he could.

 “Nah. Bird poops all runny. Was too thick for that.” Mercy wiped her hand on her jeans as she departed for the crowd. It wasn’t often that she used her power to such an extent, but tonight, with so much chaotic energy thrumming around them, the pull was… irresistible. Add Arthur’s gleeful encouragement - along with that of her new friend Solomon - and nothing could stop her from tipping the scales in favor of letting chaos reign supreme. She gave Arthur a warm, knowing smirk as she returned, and glanced at Solomon as the moment the bell would toll drew closer. “You’ll see…” She looked up as the little boy got stuck in the glue, but his mother got him out eventually, sans a shoe she didn’t bother to retrieve. “Eww!” she laughed, swiping the banana peel off her head… “That’s so gro-...” Mercy’s voice fell to a whisper. She frowned. She looked at her watch.

 There was only silence where a bell should’ve sounded the time… 

 Silence that was deafening… until...

 ...pop… pop… pop-pop… POP

 The sound of balloons. 

 Because in the crowd that Mercy had ducked through moments earlier, people were raising whatever they could find to the floating bits of plastic… and as the New Year began… they were popping them, one by one. Not all of them, and not everyone, but enough. 

 Mercy wasn’t sure what was happening. Only that she was covered in…. glitter. So much glitter… but it could've been worse. So much worse. So in true Fury fashion, she embraced the chaos she’d helped create… and laughed. 

 The echo of pops broke the otherwise eerie silence and Arthur didn't even bother to stifle his chuckle. "No no no!" he protested as Solomon tried to hide, grabbing his friends arm and scuffling to get behind him instead... Right as a balloon popped over his head and covered him in glitter. Well, that was the weirdest New Year’s he’d ever experienced.

 Even the camera footage has been tainted with the Sauce as Sam and his camera crew tried the playback function on soggy recording device. Everything just played back in black and white without any sound, like an old silent film. 

 Sam tried to give an updated new report on what happened for the Camera after trying to wipe black goo from his hair and gag it off his tongue. But he couldn’t speak. Sam raised his voice and even shouted until he was red in the face, but not even a rasping sound left his throat. 

 Eventually the sauce-sodden student was reduced to forlornly scribbling on the cue card with markers and holding them up to the camera. 

 HAPPY NEW YEAR WHITE CREST

 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 

[bungeegumsurprise]

(Headcanon) Super Fluff!: Benimaru, Obi, Hinawa, Karim x Reader As a Cat

What your life as a cat would be like if your owner was Benimaru, Obi, Hinawa, or Karim.

Original Request:

A/N: I made this as fluffy as I could XD Reader is a different kitten for each one. :)

Benimaru

How you met:

-He was sitting out on the patio in the backyard of the guardhouse, taking a break from filling out boring paperwork while snacking on some fresh mochi.

-He was about to take another bite when he heard something rustling in the bushes and paused to look over towards the tall wooden fence.

-He could hear something faintly meowing, as he leaned forward and squinted his eyes. 

-You had wandered in from your owner’s yard, which happened to be home to the same grandma that had made him the mochi.

-That’s when he saw a small fluffy ball of half-light grey and half white fur, crawl out from underneath the bushes. 

-When he called her over to take you back home, she said that her son had recently gotten you after getting married, but it turned out his wife was allergic to cats and had no choice but to look for a new owner.

-The grandma said she was simply too old and frail to take care of a cat, and had insisted that Benimaru was somehow destined to be the one to take care of you. 

Random Facts:

-At first, he liked being left alone in peace and quiet when duty wasn’t calling him, and actually wasn’t too keen on keeping something that would keep nagging in his ear for attention.

-But to his surprise, you were actually a good nap buddy.

-Whenever he would lie down to get some shut eye, you would quietly circle around your spot once, before curling into a ball and cuddling up against his side or climbing onto his chest, sometimes letting out the occasional yawn before you closed your eyes and drifted off together.

-He also thinks it’s cute how you stretch out your arms and limbs after waking up, and he’ll actually ask you if you had a good nap.

-If you did: You’d meow, and he’ll pat your fur from the middle of your forehead down to your tail.

-If you didn’t: You’d let out another yawn, and he’ll tell you to go back to sleep with him.

-Both of you like it when he lets you crawl into his haori, riding shotgun to wherever he has to go next (that is kitten safe of course).

-You guys played hide-n-seek once and he got worried when he turned the entire guardhouse upside down and still couldn’t find you.

-You actually fell asleep in the laundry basket when Konro found you.

-That’s how you ended up with a little golden bell dangling from the middle of your light blue collar.

-He thinks that dried cat food is like eating dried rabbit poop (idk how he knows this), and that wet cat food smells like spoiled fish.

-So he has Konro make your daily meals with only the freshest and healthiest ingredients for his, “little princess.” (He named you “princess” but only adds the ‘little,’ when you’re both alone, because everyone else would guarantee not to let him hear the end of it if they did.)

-He likes feeding you the juicy and sweet strawberries from the center of his daifuku, to which you happily oblige.

-He likes staring at you while playing with your ears. 

Obi

How you met:

-Despite how he looked, he was more of a cat person.

-He was at the local pet store to pick up more food for his pet goldfish when he saw you speeding around the other cats in a game of tag, in the little playpen the store’s owner had set up near the entrance.

-He liked how this adorable creamsicle-furred kitten was so carefree and happily playing around with its friends.

-You were like the little ball of energy he needed in his mundane bachelor life. 

Random Facts:

-He likes how your brightly colored fur looks even more orange in the sunlight.

-He got you an orange colored collar to match the color of your fur and the fact that you liked the smell of oranges.

-You like it when he feeds you wedges of sweet tangerines from time to time.

-He named you “mittens” because of your fluffy white paws.

-You like sitting on his stomach or on top of the barbell when he’s working out.

-He got you your very own cat wheel so you work out with him.

-He always buys you the newest cat toys.

-You like riding on top of the Roomba when it’s vacuum day.

-You like it when he takes you to work with him because Shinra and Maki are the only ones besides Obi, that can keep up and play with you until it’s time to go home.

-You like bathing in the sunlight while he’s out on the front yard or at the beach, trying to get his tan on.

-He’s actually pretty good at skateboarding, and you like riding between his feet on the board.

-He’s trying to get you to ride with him on a surfboard, but you don’t see that happening any time soon.

-You earned the nickname “speed racer,” from the time you were running around the office and zoomed across all the desks, sending the paperwork flying all over the place.

-Both of you like it when you’re both at home sitting on the sofa and he puts on a good action movie.

-Both of you agree that the “Rush Hour” movie series, are your favorite movies to watch over and over again.

Hinawa

How you met:

-Your previous owners had turned infernals and sadly died when company seven was the ones to put them to rest.

-Hinawa rescued you from your burning home.

-You were feeling scared, lonely, and sad as Hinawa carried you out; and the way you looked up at him with your big round eyes, he couldn’t bear to give you up to the local animal shelter. 

Random Facts:

-He named you “angel” because of the disaster you miraculously survived, and because of your pure white fur.

-Hinawa lets you pick your collar for the day, between either the white or pink one, both with a small metal heart hanging from the middle.

-He was patient with letting you adjust to him and your new home.

-He actually took a week off from work to spend time with you.

-You loved the smell of the delicious food he would cook both at home and at work, and had your own designated space on the counter so you could watch.

-He would place your homemade cat-friendly food in the pretty dishes he had bought for you.

-He would always say that, “taste is half the battle, the other half is presentation.”

-You like crawling under his hats and walking around with them.

-You like crawling around his paperwork and keyboard when he looks like he could use a break.

-He sighed at first, but found it cute how you walked into the stamp pad filled with black ink, and left your paw prints all over the place.

-He likes uploading photos onto the company website, of just you, or with small random objects on your head.

-Both of you like it when you nap on his lap while he’s reading manga at home or at a manga café that allows pets.

-If they don’t, he’ll try to sneak in with you under his hat, claiming it’s a hat that happens to look like a cat is sleeping under it.

Karim

How you met:

-His neighbor’s cat had given birth, and he went there with the intention of only dropping off some blankets he no longer needed.

-He kneeled down to spread them out onto the ground, when a new born kitten with fur that looked like a caramel mocha latte, shakily crawled towards him with its eyes still closed.

-“Aww, I think she likes you.” Karim wasn’t the best with animals, completely disagreeing with the owner’s statement; when you decided to crawl onto his lap, and meowed so preciously.

-He sat like an ice sculpture not knowing what to do, when the owner scooped you up in her hands and showed Karim how to hold you.

-When you licked his face and purred as he held you, he was in kitty love. 

Random Facts:

-He took FOREVER trying to come up with your name.

-The old man that was in charge of engraving a pet’s name on their collar at the pet store, said it was confusing if Karim kept repeating the same name on the collar, and because 20 letters would no way fit.

-He finally settled on “brownie,” because of the color of your furred patches.

-He bought you a grayish-blue collar because it matched the color of his hair, and added a little sparkly star accessory to your collar.

-He asked the veterinarian almost a 100 questions because he had no idea of how to take care of a cat.

-He isn’t as nervous as a wreck as he was before with taking care of you.

-After a few years, you were just the right size to crawl from one of his shoulders to the other, and settled on sitting on his head.

-He could watch you run around his room all day.

-Both of you like it when he lets you lie down on his pillow, as you curl into the crook of his neck, and he turns on some soft music for you.

-Though he can’t feed you chocolate like your namesake, he’ll feed you frozen berries and thinks it’s cute how some of the juice from the berries got on parts of your white fur; making you look like a “berried kitty berry.”

-Captain Burns has a big soft spot for you, and likes to play with you when he should be working.

[catubarca]

Harry Potter Next Generation Headcanons

im bored. im full of emotions, and am rly missing the HP world... i just want to write down my headcannons for the next gen kiddos tbh.

please remember these are just my opinions? its okay if yours are different. im just bored and want to share my thoughts,,

Teddy Lupin

his name is Theodore Remus “Teddy” Lupin. it’s just what it is

I don’t care what JKR says, to me his name will always be Theodore

i can’t do this “Edward” stuff im so sorry,,,

h u f f l e p u f f

proper school uniform? never heard of it

messy hair, messy clothes

punk rock child

we’re talking like,,,at least two (2) lip piercings ok

absolutely terrible in herbology. do not leave this child alone in a greenhouse, bad things happen

fuckin hoards chocolate

its a problem

dating Victorie Weasley

random bursts of dancing

keeps a lock of hair pink for his mother

lives with the Potters, enjoys pretending to be Ginny to ground his siblings

“Lily, why aren’t you coming out of your room? Dinner’s ready?” “You said I’m grounded! You tell me!” “What? Oh, for the- THEODORE REMUS LUPIN-“

s m i r k s

effortlessly cool,,, but so so dorky,,, in a cool way

Victorie Weasley

ravenclaw!

looks a lot like her mother, Fleur, but inherited those Weasley freckles

a little confused a lot of the time

absolute sweet tooth (teddy abuses this fact a lot)

Mom Friend™

will help you with your homework

always got a book on her

super beautiful and like,,,, the absolute nicest person,,, but

cannot dance

like at all

adores Charms class

a softie you don’t want to cross

“I’m the oldest”

Dominique Weasley

inherited the Classic Weasley Red Hair™

idolises her Uncle Charlie

“I wanna save animals and work with cool dragons, just like Uncle Charlie does!”

Bill almost has a heart attack

always bringing stray animals home

(“is that a lizard in your pocket, Dominique?” “Yes! His name is Blob.” “You know how your father’s afraid of reptiles, sweetheart, you can’t bring it inside.”)

Gryffindor child

favourite class is definitely Care of Magical Creatures, she and Hagrid like to talk about proper care methods for rare creatures

perpetual dirt stains

BIG middle child vibes

doesn’t really label her sexuality… just kinda does what she wants rly

all the pets in Hogwarts love her

rumours are she’s got an innate, natural magical ability to make them all love her

(she feeds them under the table)

it’s a mystery

big advocate for animal rights

f e m i n i s t

willing to throw hands at all times

usually all smiles though

one of those people who use their whole bodies to laugh

kind of an accidental heartthrob

romcoms

Louis Weasley

looks the most like his mother

ravenclaw

absolutely filled with curiosity. always reading or talking or learning

random facts

(how do you even find that sort of information?

you don’t want to know)

coffee boy

sort of musically talented?

he and James Sirius preach the importance of skincare to all who will listen

secretly full of sass and dry wit

vry graceful and fluid

e y e r o l l

awkward smiles? can never smile properly in photos

on the ravenclaw quidditch team

Ravenclaw Prefect

(“You might be older, but I’m taller.” “Fuck off!”)

only watches High Quality™ tv shows/media

kind of a disaster, despite the gracefulness

Molly Weasley

Classic red hair

comes across as a bit uptight, like her father

I don’t care what you think. (She really cares what you think.)

E y e b r o w s

death glares

drinks like 5 cups of coffee in the morning

studies,,, like a lot

definitely a Gryffindor though

mom jeans

always ready to debate a topic. will destroy opponents.

has been trying to start a successful Debate Club for like 4 years now

naturally falls into the position of a group leader

would be a teacher’s pet, if she wasn’t ready At All Times™ to debate the relevancy of the course syllabus or outdated teaching methods

got into a fight with Severus Snape’s portrait in Headmistress McGonagall’s office.

(Dumbledore’s portrait was laughing, until she turned and ragged on him for a bit. Minerva thought it was absolutely hilarious, so she just let Molly go at it for a while).

full of rage towards everything, but wears a very careful mask of aloofness

to calm down, she likes painting her nails

she’s very good at it

she’s also very good at painting and art in general, weirdly enough

Lucy Weasley

G R Y F F I N D O R

adores shitty puns and has a terrible sense of humour

brown hair, not red

loves to prank people, which makes her Uncle George very proud

Percy complains about her behaviour, but makes sure he knows he’s proud too

(charming all the cauldrons in the potions classroom to scream whenever they’re stirred takes a more complex understanding of spell work than one would expect).

a pit of a punk streak

rly loves hip hop

high key drama queen

does she ever stop yelling? we’re yet to find out

average grades in terms of theory, but she’s the best in terms of applying information

especially for her pranks

has allies throughout the castle, from the portraits to the students

the bigger the prank, the better

but is a firm believer in “confuse, don’t abuse”

all her pranks are mostly harmless

is a surprising lover of older literature, like Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, an influence of her sister

a bit rebellious

Fred Weasley II

name isn’t officially “the second”, but it sounds cooler

James Potter, Lucy Weasley, Molly Weasley and Fred Weasley are like the Marauders 2.0

says “squad” and “lit” unironically

niche humour

hipster vibes

avid music lover

smiley sunshine child

takes after his mother the most in looks, just like his sister

a chill type of gryffindor

plays quidditch, and is an excellent chaser, just like his mother

the absolute undisputed King™ of puppy-dog eyes

just,,,, beautiful

the True teacher’s pet

hands in his work on time,, asks lots of questions,,, likes helping students understand their work,, what a boy

can hella nyoom

runs so fast

look at him go

as you might expect, loves a good prank. always down for a laugh

Roxanne Weasley

Gryffindor and pROUD

absolute Queen tbh

was definitely Head Prefect or Gryffindor Prefect at some point

loved by the school

absolute legend

G I R L   P O W E R

infectious laughter

has a soft spot for Louis Weasley and Scorpius Malfoy

these poor disaster children,,,, they need a Mother

M O M

big mom vibes

mothers the hell out of all the first years

a feminist through and through

can be found nodding aggressively to Molly Weasley’s semi-deranged, furious ranting

YAAAASS

loves slang. uses so much slang. always up to date with trends and memes

has all the gossip

becomes a mess around pretty girls

absolute blushing, stuttering disaster around cute girls oh my god

her eye make-up game is killer

sparkly

Distinguished Lesbian

Rosie Weasley

did someone say Weasley™?

red hair and freckles and curls oh my

on the autism spectrum, has trouble socialising sometimes

hella passionate about stuff

hangs out with Scorpius and Albus, the Golden Trio 2.0

f em ini st

her jokes are the best. high quality sense of humour.

Ravenclaw

likes to read. it’s quiet in the school library, which is nice.

abysmal at herbology

surprisingly good at Care of Magical Creatures though? Animals are just,,, so much easier to deal with

overall, really good grades though

bit of a silent type, but she’s actually a riot to hang out with

actually pretty good at quidditch? She’s not on the team, and she’s not super interested in playing, but?? She’s not bad??

She can land a solid hit with a beater’s bat

(eyes you judgementally over the top of a book)

dry wit humour

will throw hands over chess

Hugo Weasley

hufflepuff

unbeatable at chess, like his dad

a lost puppy

someone please help this child

softie

kind of low-key emotional

so supportive!! and loyal!! high-key best friend material

foodie. loves food. please feed him.

takes a bit more after his dad appearance wise

loves to cook. spends lots of time with grandma Molly and his dad in the kitchen

Professor Longbottom is his favourite professor, because he’s more chilled and laidback.

other professors and classes fill him with Distress™

loves astronomy too

maths whizz, so good at arithmancy

(“uh, actually-“)

a little bossy, like his mother

is trying so hard

maybe a little too hard

a bit insecure and nervous, but so soft

please treat this child carefully and with love

James Sirius Potter

Gryffindor

L O U D

a fucking disaster child

what’d you expect, putting “James” and “Sirius” together?

DRAMATIC GASPING

flails his hands around when he talks

s t r u t s

bisexual mess, had a crush on both the Longbottom children at some point

is better than you at everything

including being a different gender

fuck you that’s why

so pretty

he’s so pretty

is thIS CHILD EVER NOT LAUGHING AT SOMETHING OH My god

laughs at everything

all the time

always

high-key emotional

badly timed finger guns

looks like a model in photos? wtf?

gets invited to Girls Nights™

wears nail polish and makeup

loves to yell at people about gender roles and defying stereotypes

TEA SIS

not on the quidditch team surprisingly enough, even though he’s pretty good

prefers to be in the stands, doing A+ commentary on the games

if he can get Fred to stop mid-air due to unbearable, suffocating laughter at least once a game it’s a win in his books

has it OUT for the hufflepuff quidditch team and no one knows why??

definitely makes puns on his name

it drives everyone insane

harry always replies he’s just making his namesake proud

that also drives everyone insane

smug lil shit

Albus Severus Potter

“It’s just Al.”

S L Y T H E R I N

will always find a way to get what he wants, eventually

“dad, why did you name me this way?”

unimpressed

sigh

hella smart. is topping at least five classes

Aunt Hermione is his favourite. She’s the fucking Mistress of Magic! All that power, the ability to make change and improve the Magical World as a whole-

sass master

the reason headmistress mcgonagall keeps a bottle of scotch under her desk at all times

the only potter child to inherit The Eyes™

absolute insomniac

kind of emo, but turns into a fucking softie around Scorpius Malfoy it’s hilarious

adverse to violence. prefers a verbal beatdown method

really tall? despite having shorties for parents??? no one saw it coming

(especially not Teddy. He’s always scared of losing his last few inches of height)

Functional Gay

he’s on the slytherin quidditch team, as a seeker

Lily Luna Potter

Gryffindor

FEMINIST

do not mess with lily luna potter

she may seem cute and sweet, but she will destroy you

inherited her father’s black hair

disaster lesbian

transfiguration is her favourite subject, by far

has no idea what she wants to do with the rest of her life.

Existential Crisis Father-Daughter Bonding Time™

do you ever sleep?

takes after Ginny the most in personality

also, kind of the most like James Fleamont Potter in personality, too?

Loves to help her brother out with pranks, laughs at him when he gets caught and she gets away with it

The only one of the Potter Children who hasn’t got into a fight with Severus Snape’s portrait

because she just ignores him instead

loves talking to the portraits around the castle

Super good at Quidditch, is on the team as a Chaser

Quidditch Captain at some point

adores Hagrid, but who out of the Potter children doesn’t?

Idolises Minerva McGonagall

just as oblivious as her father

Scorpius Malfoy

Actually in Ravenclaw, not Slytherin, much to many people’s surprise

abSOLUTE DADDY’S BOY

super close with his dad

Draco is just so supportive of like everything he does (unlike his father)

classic blonde malfoy looks

actually really funny?

a cuddler. loves hugs. always leeching warmth off of someone

he and Rosie sometimes finger-tip-touch which is their version of a hug, because he know’s she’s not super comfortable with touch

was basically adopted by the Weasley’s and Potter’s

James Sirius will murder for this child

booknerd, always rambling to Al and Rosie about new books coming out he’s interested in reading.

has had a crush on Albus Potter since like 1st year

always worried about making his dad proud, and keeping up the Malfoy name

sweet tooth

he’s just,, soft. just a warm, happy child. he wants love, and affection. someone tell him he’s doing okay, please.

needs,,, validation,,,

he’ll tell you out loud that he has no favourite aunts or uncles, but he secretly really likes spending time with his Uncle Ron

they had a talk, once, in like the middle of the night at a sleepover with Rosie and Al, about feeling insecure in comparison to others, and learning to be proud of yourself for your achievements

there were a few tears, but it was nice

Ron was actually the third person he told, besides his dad and Rosie, about having a crush on Al

openly a disaster romantic. trash taste in romance novels.

always welcome in the Potter-Weasley households

[silver--storms]

Portland

Okay Sammy Anon here it is, sorry it took me so long I just wasn’t happy with my original draft so I started over. I hope you like where I went with it.

Shoutout to my babe @sparrowof-thedawn​ for being my Bae-ta. ;)

Warnings: None, it’s so fluffy it’ll rot your teeth.

WC: 3.8k

It was a Saturday afternoon, you were in your apartment lounging on the couch, waiting for a new video to upload to your YouTube channel, when you receive a message on your instagram.

Hello y/n, I am writing you on behalf of Greta Van Fleet. Jake Kiszka recently listened to your debut EP, which he shared with the band, and they really liked what they heard. The band is playing a ten show run across the West Coast in a month and their opening act had to cancel. We wanted to extend the opportunity to you to join them. Please get back to us as soon as possible to make arrangements, if you are interested in accepting this invitation. Thank you.

You sat there, heart pounding out of your chest, in shock at the thought of Greta Van Fleet even knowing you existed, let alone liking your music.

Without hesitation, or even taking a moment to process what you just read, you accepted the offer. 

Grinning ear to ear, you called your mom telling her the news.

 “I’m so for you happy y/n, but are you ready for what comes with this? At most the largest crowd you’ve played for has been 200 tops.” 

You felt the air leave your body “Oh my god, you’re right. What did I just say yes to?”

You spent the next few weeks practicing five hours every day to nail down a small setlist and different elements you could incorporate into some sort of stage presence. Going as far as recording yourself for hours on end, mercilessly criticizing yourself, trying for perfection. 

You went shopping with your best friend Alix to find some outfits that were easily interchangeable to add variety to your stage clothes without having to travel with multiple bags. You picked things like a colorful sparkly blazer, some see through button up blouses and, of course, the staple ripped black skinny jean that Jake Kiszka himself would approve of. 

The day came to fly out to Portland to meet the band before your first show the next day. You were relieved when you found out you had a day before jumping right into the shows to be able to get to know them. 

When you arrived at Portland International Airport everything was going to plan, you even made it there a few minutes early. However things took a turn when you arrived at the baggage claim to find out the airline had lost your luggage. You were mortified, as this only left you with your guitar and carry on bag containing just the essentials. 

Panicked and filled with anxiety,  you left your contact information with the airline in case your bags turned up in the next day or so that you’d be in the area. But you knew it was unlikely they’d find the luggage in time for your first show tomorrow night. 

You exited the airport and searched for the description the band’s management gave you of your driver and the license plate number. There was no driver fitting the description, no one holding a sign and no matching plate. 

You tried to calm yourself down “Maybe he is running late, I am a couple minutes early, wait it out.” 

You waited for another thirty minutes before you broke down and called the manager, with no success. You spiraled into full blown panic as you hailed a cab and gave them the address of the hotel you and the band were staying at. 

When you arrived at the hotel you were over an hour late. Heart racing, you hustled into the lobby heading for the front desk. 

As you checked in with the clerk, you caught a glimpse of yourself in the mirror off to the side of the desk. You looked rough, hair disheveled and makeup smeared from tears of frustration you had tried to suppress in the back of the cab on the way here. 

All checked in you grabbed the key to your room and stepped over to the mirror to quickly try to freshen up your appearance. Fussing with your hair and reapplying some lipstick in an attempt to salvage any chance of a good first impression. 

“This is as good as it’s going to get” you mutter to yourself. 

Just then you heard familiar voices as you glanced over your shoulder. You saw the twins, Josh and Jake sitting at the hotel bar laughing about something between themselves. 

Your hands began to shake as you grabbed your guitar and carry on, quickly walking towards the bar, when you collided with a boy. 

You watched as your guitar slid out of your hands, flying into the air, when the boy lurched forward, almost diving, to catch the guitar inches from the ground. 

“Holy shit!” you let out a sigh of relief as you practically snatched your guitar back, holding it close to your chest. 

You looked up at the boy “Thank yo-” you stopped mid-sentence when you realized who he was, Sam Kiszka, the youngest of the band. 

You were starstruck and at a loss of words. You never really gave Sam much thought. But being inches from him, you finally took him in. 

You found yourself in a daze, staring into his bedroom eyes. You were completely mesmerized.

 You felt your face growing warm and palms become sweaty “Oh my god, hi, I’m so sorry I ran into you like that, I really need to pay more attenti-” 

Sam interrupted you “It’s okay, no worries.” he laughed. “I’m Sam, I’m assuming you’re y/n?” 

You smiled at the fact he knew your name “Yes, it’s nice to meet you. I was just heading over to introduce myself to your brothers at the bar.” 

Sam waved his arm motioning towards the bar “After you”.

Sam introduced you to his brothers, Jake and Josh, who were everything you thought they’d be. Jake, who was more timid, but very sweet. Where Josh was very vocal and had this passion behind each word. The four of you made polite small talk, Jake complimenting your EP and you expressing how excited you were to be here. 

“Wait, where are the rest of your bags?” said Josh. 

You let out a defeated sigh “Well you see…” you explained the trials and tribulations of the baggage claim disaster and the no-show driver to which the boys all apologized for the mix up with the transportation. “Yeah it just sucks because I’m not sure what I’m going to wear now for tomorrow’s show.” 

Jake said he’d talk to management and see if there was anything they could do for you. 

Josh stood up from the bar “Well let’s go up to the rooms, we have to wake up Danny anyways, he’s only been napping for over two hours.” He rolled his eyes.

As you entered the elevator, Sam offered to take your carry on, swinging it over his shoulder “You know, we have a couple interviews lined up for this afternoon, but after that I think we’re free?” 

You looked at Sam with a confused expression. 

“Portland has some of the best thrift shops, we could always hit a couple to find you some new stage clothes.”

You noticed Josh crossed his arms and exchanged looks with Jake smiling at each other. Before you dissect what they were thinking the elevator arrived at your floor, turning your attention back to Sam “Yeah, that sounds great!” Sam smiled at you as the elevator came to a stop. 

 As soon as the door opened Josh bolted and ran down the hall to their room to bust through the door, screaming at Danny to wake up. 

Within seconds Josh retreated back into the hall, with his arms up in defense as Danny appeared running at him into the hallway with a pillow raised in his hand, screaming  “WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS?!”

Before Danny could land his blow to Josh’s head, Sam loudly cleared his throat, “Guys!” in a strained deep tone.

Danny turned to look behind him and laughed, dropping the pillow, walking over to introduce himself to you “Sorry, sometimes I just want to kill him. Trust me at the end of this tour, you will too.”

You laughed looking at Josh rolling his eyes behind Danny’s back. 

The band had to get ready for their interviews and said their goodbyes. You entered your room, surprised by how big it was, but mostly taken aback by the view of the city. Stepping onto the balcony you breathed in deep, feeling like you should pinch yourself that this is actually happening. 

Later that evening you were drying your hair after taking a quick shower when you heard a knock on your door. Peering out the peephole it was Sam, you felt your stomach flutter, opening the door slowly. 

“Hey” Sam said smiling at you.

“Oh, hey, come in” giving him a half smile as you felt a little self conscious being makeup free with damp messy hair.

Sam stepped into the room “Are you ready to go?” 

You looked down at yourself in your sweats, “Uhh…” 

Sam chuckled “Need a few minutes?” 

You felt your face get hot again “Yeah, sorry. I didn’t expect you guys to get back so quickly. Meet you downstairs in ten minutes?”

Stepping off of the elevator you spotted Sam sitting in a chair across the lobby, he waved at you, which made your heart skip. 

“Hey, sorry, hopefully I didn’t take too long.” 

He smiled, “You’re fine. Ready?”

 You nodded but suddenly noticed he was alone  “Wait, where’s everyone else?” 

Sam started walking towards the door casually said “Oh, Josh and Jake already had plans to check out a local brewery and Danny’s girlfriend flew in a couple hours ago.” 

Suddenly you felt very nervous, not in a bad way, just having the whole band with you was far less intimidating than just you and Sam alone together exploring different shops across the city. Nethertheless you felt an unfamiliar excitement grow within you. 

Sam said he was taking you to downtown Portland to a couple of his favorite shops.

“You’re bound to find something that will work for tomorrow and we can figure out the rest later.” he said, but you were too lost to really pay attention to what he was saying. 

You tried to play it cool, not wanting him to notice you studying him in the taxi. The way he held himself, the way his skin seemed to glow, his high cheekbones and perfectly arched eyebrows. 

You always thought you were more into Jake, considering your mutual love for guitar, but there was something about Sam that lingered in your mind. Maybe it was how calm and collected he seemed, but not in a cold or intimidating way. He was warm and welcoming, like you’d have known each other for years versus the couple hours you’d spent together looking through racks of clothes. 

“Ohh, this is it y/n!” Sam yelled across the store as he held up a bright purple polka dot fur vest with tassels hanging off the sides “This will really make a statement” he said sarcastically 

“Oh yeah, that will definitely make a lasting impression, a real show stopper” you quipped back at him. You both laughed and smiled at each other. 

You were starting to get frustrated not being able to find anything when Sam walked over to you holding a deep maroon dress. 

“How about this” he held it up in front of you. 

The dress had a subtle sparkle to it with bell sleeves and lace on top, something straight out of Stevie Nicks wardrobe. 

Your face lit up “Oh Sam, it’s perfect. I love it!” 

Sam smiled brightly “Why don’t you try it on, make sure it works”  

 You headed to the dressing room and slipped the dress on, it fit perfectly, like a glove. You admired your cleavage and the way it hugged your hips just right. Your worries about losing your luggage started to fade away, but you weren’t sure if it’s because Sam had found you the perfect dress or if this meant you got to have these little thrift store adventures with Sam throughout the tour. 

As you were lost in thought Sam tapped on the door “Did it work?” 

“Yes, it’s absolutely perfect”, you laughed in reply. 

There was a moment of silence “Well…can I see?” 

You felt your face get flushed as you slowly opened the door. Sam was standing directly outside, his eyes got wide and his mouth slightly dropped open as he stuttered.

 “uh…Wow, yeah it looks great. I think it’s a keeper.” 

You smiled coyly “Thanks, I’ll get changed and we can head out.” 

Sam and you couldn’t stop talking the entire way back to the hotel. Everything from food, to different countries he’s visited, his favorite bands and of course you had to ask about the no shoe policy.

 As you pull up to the hotel Sam quickly got out of the cab and ran over to your side opening your door for you. 

You laughed loudly at him “Oh, Samuel, you’re such a gentleman. Thank you.”

He beamed at you, looking rather pleased with himself “So I’ve been told.”

As you were walking together to your room things suddenly shifted, an unspoken tension between the two of you, you started to feel nervous. The conversation between the two of you sort of died out and were mostly quiet the whole way up until you got in front of your rooms 

“So this is it, I’ll see you bright and early?” 

You nodded “Yeah, sounds good. I’ll try to not let the nerves get me and actually get some rest.” 

Sam chuckled “You’ll be okay, promise” as he started to walk away you lightly grabbed his arm 

“Thank you, by the way, you really didn’t have to do that tonight.”

Sam’s face scrunched up with confusion “Do what?” 

Your hand remained on his arm “Helping me find new stage clothes, I really appreciate you taking the time out.” 

Sam smirked and took a step towards you, your heart feeling like it was about to explode inside of your chest. Sam started to say something when Jake opened the door of the boys room and peaked out at the two of you standing inches from each other.  

“I thought I heard voices.” You smiled at Jake and back up at Sam as he started to back up and walk towards Jake.

“Sweet dreams” he said joining Jake in their room. 

You entered your room and collapsed on your bed replaying the night in your head trying to dissect every moment. You sighed as you rationalized that Sam was probably just being nice and you were getting ahead of yourself. You decided to head to bed to be well rested for the long day ahead of your tomorrow. 

The next morning you all headed to the venue and started to run through your sets. Soundcheck went well and you were feeling okay about the show, however when it was an hour before you took the stage your nerves really started to get the best of you. 

The band was finishing up with a pre-show meet and greet with some fans who had VIP passes so they weren’t available to talk you down. You felt hot and like you might vomit as the time inched closer. 

With only twenty minutes left, you decided to peak out at the crowd from the side of the stage, instantly you knew that was a terrible idea. Looking out you couldn’t tell where the crowd started and came to an end. 

Feeling like you might pass out, hot and sweaty, you needed to do something to cool yourself down. You headed to the refreshment table and grabbed some ice, dabbing it over your face and chest. The whole while taking deep breaths to center yourself.

 After a few minutes, you felt yourself starting to calm down when you heard footsteps behind you.

“You okay?” turning around it was Sam with a warm smile, embarrassed you chucked the ice in the garbage next to you.

“Yeah, I guess” you said sheepishly “I’m just feeling a bit overwhelmed, how do you do this every night?”  

Sam laughed “Well, to be fair it’s not every night, but it does get easier” 

You smirked “I hope so.”

Sam motioned for you to follow him over to a set of chairs “Look, I used to feel the same way when we first started doing live shows. Honestly, sometimes I’d get sick right before going on stage.”

You were shocked he admitted that “Wow, really?” 

Sam nodded looking a little embarrassed “Yeah, really, it was awful.” Sam moved his knees in closer to you, lightly brushing them agaisnt yours “The thing you have to remember is that if you fuck up, the crowd will have no idea, only you will. You choose how you react to it, so just play it off. That’s one of the best things about being an up and coming artist, they have no idea what to expect from you more than you from them, so use it.” 

You instantly felt the tension release from your body but before you could respond to his sweet words the stage manager yelled your name and waved you over, you got up.

Sam followed you to the side of the stage, handed you your guitar and said “Good luck and try to have fun.” as he gave you a light shove onto the stage. 

You walked out on stage stopping halfway to turn back and smile at him as he gave you a thumbs up. You laughed at him mouthing the words “Thank you” and he nodded.

 You strummed the first few notes of your opening song and after that it was all a blur. You felt electrified to play in front of that many people and you lost yourself in the energy of the night. 

Catching glances here and there from Sam, who watched from the sidelines your whole set. You knew this tour was going to be the best few weeks of your life, especially with someone like Sam cheering you on.

[chicgeekgirl89]

Valentine’s Day 2020: A Squid and Dagger Story

A/N: I couldn’t let the day pass without throwing together a little something for our fave couple inspired by my recent experience with trivia night.

                                        XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

“Oh my god. Oh. My. God.” Deeks sat at his desk in the tiny back office of the Squid and Dagger, head in his hands as he stared at the computer in front of him.

“Babe? You back here?” Kensi’s voice floated toward him but all he could do was continue to look blankly at the screen until she finally came and found him. “Hey, what’s going on?”

He turned to look at her, his hair mussed from frantically running his hands through it, eyes slightly wide with panic. “It’s over.”

“What’s over?” she asked.

“Valentine’s Day. It’s done. It’s caput. Finito.”

“Deeks, what are you talking about?” Kensi asked in the calm tone she reserved especially for her husband when he was spinning out over unreasonable things.

“I’ve ruined Valentine’s Day,” he said it in a pained whisper. “It’s a mess. The whole thing.”

“Deeks. Martin. Babe. Calm down,” Kensi said. “It can’t possibly be as bad as all that.”

“Oh it is. It is as bad as all that. It’s worse.” He shook his head.

“Well why don’t you tell me about it and we’ll see what we can come up with. Whatever it is, I’m sure it’s fixable.”

“Fixable? Fixable. Right. You know the wine order? The one with all the special, sparkly wines with the fancy French names? It’s not here. I asked Derek to check the other night when the rest of the inventory came in. And apparently he didn’t. So I didn’t find out until I got here tonight.”

“Okay, that’s not great, but it’s not a Valentine’s deal breaker.”

Deeks shook his head. “The computer updated itself and dropped half the reservations. Two of the bartenders quit and the last one called in sick. And the woman who was coming to run the RomCom trivia got a corpse gig on CSI so she’s not coming.” He slumped in the chair. “We’ve got eighty people coming here in two hours and the whole thing is a disaster. We’re done. This will ruin us. The Facebook comments alone will shut us down within two weeks.”

“Honey, nobody goes on Facebook anymore.”

“Maybe we can still cancel. It’ll be bad, but not as bad as having everyone show up with no wine, no service, and no entertainment.”

“We’re not cancelling.”

“Kensi, I don’t think you really understand the situation we’re in here!”

“Yes, as a Federal Agent I have no idea what it’s like to be in a high pressure environment when everything is going down the toilet,” she said dryly.

“We only have,” he looked at his watch, “one hour and fifty-seven minutes to fix things. That’s not enough time to hire another bartender. Or get the wine or new entertainment. And the reservation list is gone forever.”

“Deeks. Love of my life,” Kensi put her hands on his shoulders. “Would you please listen to me? I think I know something that might help.”

Deeks firmly grasped her wrists and pushed her away, his eyes serious. “Baby, I love you so much, and you look sexy as hell in that red dress, and I really, really want to take it off you but now is NOT. THE. TIME.”

“Oh my god,” Kensi rolled her eyes. “As delightful as having sexy time with you in this teeny, tiny, smelly bar office sounds, that is not what I meant. I can help. With all of this.”

“Seriously?” He looked skeptical, something she would remind him of later when they finally did get to some Valentine sexy time.

“Yeah. Seriously. Call Nell. She worked as a bartender in college. She and Eric were planning on coming anyway, I’m sure they won’t mind helping out. He can take a look at the computer and try to fix the reservation issue. If you stay behind the bar with Nell and have Bertie run service we’ll be fine.”

“Okay,” Deeks said slowly. 

“Then call Hetty. She can get you the wine.”

“But we’ll owe her a favor.” It was a mark of how well they both knew Hetty that he didn’t question how their boss could procure said wine on such short notice.

“No you will owe her a favor. Do you want the special sparkly wine or not?”

“Point taken. Call Hetty, sign over first born child. Got it. But what about trivia? The people coming are all diehards. Only true romcom devotees choose to go to trivia night on Valentine’s Day.”

“Well,” she slid onto his lap, looping an arm around his neck, “that is a tricky one. If only you knew someone who has watched ‘Love Actually’ every Christmas since 2003. Someone who can quote the entirety of ‘Sleepless in Seattle’ and paid a lot of money to go on a tour of famous romcom movie sites in New York the last time she was there.”

He blinked at her. “You?”

“I’m honestly a little offended you didn’t ask me in the first place.”

“Are you sure? That’s not going to be a very romantic evening for you.”

“It’ll be fun. Besides,” she leaned close to whisper in his ear as she trailed a hand up his thigh, “I think we can find a way to make up for it later.”

His sharp intake of breath told her she’d accomplished exactly what she’d wanted to. She’d drop a few hints later about the lacy underwear she was wearing to give him some incentive to close up quickly at the end of the night. Or maybe just leave the cleanup until tomorrow altogether. 

She gave him a peck on the lips and then sashayed to the door. “Call Nell. Then Hetty. I’ll go check and make sure the kitchen is ready for all these hungry lovebirds then start setting up the sound system.”

“You’re my favorite Valentine. You know that right?” Deeks called as she walked away.

She turned back and gave him a saucy smile. “Oh, I know.”

[sailorportia]

Femslash February 2020, Day 4

Fandom: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power Pairing: Glimmer/Catra Prompt: Punk/Pastel

approx. 2,100 words, rated T

also available on AO3

Summary:  Catra and Glimmer are forced to work together on a group assignment, and it's almost a competition to see who's more annoyed by this arrangement.

Tags: University AU, Swearing, Alcohol, Drunken Kissing

Catra was holding court in her corner of the student union building's cafeteria. "I can't believe Professor Prime stuck me with Sparkles for a group project!" She slammed her fist on the table, rattling everyone's lunch trays. "Anyone else would've been better than Sparkles!"

"I'm confused," Entrapta said, picking up tiny sandwiches from her lunchbox. "Who's Sparkles? Oh, do we have a new friend!?"

"Oh, um, that's what she calls Glimmer," Scorpia said. "Because, well, y'know," she leaned in and whispered, "Catra doesn't like her very much."

"Oooooooh!"

Catra ignored the exchange, lost in her own petty misery. "That girl is the worst. Total control freak. She never shuts up in class, always arguing with the profs and making everything a debate. She's not even that smart. I bet she only got in because her mother's got tenure." Her hatred toward Glimmer in no way stemmed from the fact that princess was now closer to Adora than Catra was. They were even roommates now. Not that it bothered Catra at all.

"Um, just out curiosity," Scorpia said, "this might not be important, but have you ever really talked to her? Like, other than insulting each other?"

Catra gave her a blank look. "Why would I need to do that? I don't need to learn her favourite colour to know I hate her." Knowing Sparkles, it was probably pink. Or worse, hot pink.

Entrapta frowned. "That's not a very scientific approach."

"I'm a political science major. Everyone knows that's a fake science."

"Okay," Scorpia said. "But she's one of Adora's friends. Isn't that enough reason to try to get along with her?"

"I don't want to get along with Adora's friends." Catra uttered the words as if they were a rule. If Scorpia and Entrapta had been feeling sassy, they could've pointed out that Catra was also one of Adora's friends, and that would explain why she didn't get along with herself.

"I'm just saying," Scorpia said with a shrug. "Maybe if you give her a chance, you'll find something you like about her. Or, uh, something you don't hate at least. Who knows? You might have more in common than you think."

"As if!" Catra and Glimmer couldn't have been less alike. First off, their appearances were complete opposites. Catra's punk style had attitude, conveyed through dark colours, unruly hair, spiked accessories, the patches on her jacket and other modifications to her clothing, such as stylish, strategically placed holes she tore with her own claws. Glimmer, in contrast, was a pastel disaster whose brightly-coloured outfits hurt to look at. Her hair was literally pink, like she was made of bubblegum or something. Secondly, Glimmer was a sanctimonious goody two-shoes, whereas Catra just didn't give a fuck. No way in hell were they going to get along.

"Well, you better figure out how you're going to talk to Glimmer," Entrapta said, "because she's headed this way."

A group of three approached their table: Adora and Bow, led by a pissed off Glimmer. Catra might have found it intimidating if she weren't wearing the softest possible shade of lavender. Her new haircut was something of an improvement. She was almost hot—but Catra wasn't into bossy girls.

"Hey, Catra," Adora said nervously as the group reached the table.

Glimmer cut Catra off before she could say her customary greeting. "If you screw up this assignment for me, I'm going ruin you."

Bow grimaced. "Glimmer! We literally just went over this!"

"You could at least pretend to be nice," Adora said.

"Why do I have to be nice?" Glimmer pointed at Catra accusingly. "If you heard the way she talks in class you'd get it. She's a war criminal waiting to happen."

Catra snorted. "Says the girl who's a shill for the monarchy."

Bow stepped between them. "Guys, guys, cool it. We don't want another fist fight on our hands."

"It was one time!" Glimmer protested. "And it was hardly my fault. Nyan Cat over here was being a belligerent drunk."

"Don't blame me for that incident," Catra said. "You threw the first punch after like six Shirley Temples."

"Who wouldn't punch you when you're so obnoxious?" Glimmer let out an agonized groan. "Just get your ass to me and Adora's dorm room tonight by six o'clock, or I'll come looking for you."

"Whatever." Catra stuck her tongue out as Glimmer stalked off, her friends running off after her. She didn't need any more proof that the two of them were incompatible at every level. Maybe she'd fail this assignment on purpose just to piss her off.

Glimmer was already regretting her decision to work on the group project in her dorm room. Her reasoning had been that she didn't want to be seen in public with Catra, but she hadn't anticipated how much having Catra in her living space made her skin crawl.

They were sitting on Glimmer's side of the room. Catra had attempted to make herself at home on Adora's bed, but Glimmer put that to a stop immediately.

"You don't shed, do you?" Glimmer asked, eyeing Catra's wild mane of fur. "I don't want to be picking your hairs off my clothes for the next month."

"That's an anti-cat microaggression," Catra said. "Not very politically correct of you. Besides, it can't be as bad as all the glitter you leave behind, Sparkles."

"That's not my name! And I do not wear that much glitter." Sure, Glimmer preferred sparkly eye shadow some days, and some of her clothes did have glittery details on them, but glitter wasn't her thing. "You're in no place to criticize how I look." She sneered at Catra's outfit, specifically the tears in her pants. "Nice jeans, were they 50% off?"

"Haha. Very funny. I'm sure you bought your clothes at 200% the price just to show off how bougie you are."

"Listen you—" Glimmer groaned through her teeth. She knew Catra was just trying to get under her skin. All she had to do was be the bigger person and let this go. "The sooner we start this assignment, the sooner we'll be done and out of each other's hair."

"Finally something we can agree on," Catra said. "What's the topic again?"

"We're supposed to pick one from this list." Glimmer retrieved the relevant paper from her desk and read them off. "There's one about arguments for and against raising the minimum wage."

"Eh? That sounds dangerously like math. Economics sucks."

"Fair. Next is one about the role of money in politics."

"Still too much math."

"Suggestions for electoral reform?

Catra laughed. "Maybe get rid of elections altogether? Then everyone's equally unhappy with the result."

Glimmer could've sworn she had some patience, but it was running out faster than she'd anticipated. "There's one about the ethics of torture."

"That one's easy. Whatever gets the job done is fine with me."

Never mind writing an assignment together, they were never going to find a topic they could agree on due to Catra having the moral centre of a Saturday morning cartoon villain. "Torture doesn't even work! The premise is flawed."

"Really? It's working on me right now."

Glimmer groaned. "Is this a joke to you? This assignment is for 10% of our mark! You might not care about your own future, but I do."

Catra smirked. "What's wrong? Afraid that Professor Mommy will be disappointed if her little princess flunks a class?"

"You don't have any idea what it's like studying at a college where your mother is one of the professors. Having to measure up to those expectations all the time."

"Hey, at least people expect something from you. You can't imagine what it's like to grow up in Adora's perfect shadow."

"Yeah, well now she's my perfect roommate, and I'm going to lose it if I have to hear one more time that Adora got on the dean's list last year and I didn't."

"Oh yeah? Well I would've gotten on the list too if I didn't have to deal with Professor Hordak's inferiority complex."

The conversation carried on way longer than it should've. It turned out the only way they could avoid bitching at each other was by bitching to each other instead. Before long they ordered a pizza and cracked open a couple of cold ones, the assignment lying forgotten on Glimmer's desk.

By the time they ran out of things to complain about, they were both a little beyond tipsy. They had moved to sitting on Glimmer's bed, leaning against each other. Glimmer was very aware of the fact that she had never been this close to Catra before, physically or emotionally. Not wanting to linger on those thoughts, she said the first thing that came to mind.

"Hey, is it true that you wore a tux to your high school prom?"

Catra smirked. She put her empty beer can down and got out her phone. "Feast your eyes."

Feast, Glimmer did. She was tempted to ask Catra to send her the pictures. "Daaaaaaaaaaamn," Glimmer said. "Adora's so lucky. I went to mine with Bow as a friend-date, but she got to dance with the hottest girl at the prom."

If they were any farther apart, she wouldn't have picked up on the other girl's reaction: a low, rumbling sound in her chest.

"Oh my god." Glimmer couldn't believe her ears. "Are you purring?"

"No!" Catra stuffed her phone back in her pocket and crossed her arms over her chest, as if that would cover up the sound she'd already made. "You're imagining things. All that glitter must've gone to your head."

"Oh, looks like someone isn't used to hearing people say nice things about her." This was too good. "So that's how I get under your skin."

Catra's face looked like it couldn't decide if she were furious or embarrassed. "Screw off, Sparkles."

"Aw, you can dish it out but you can't take it? That's so cute." Glimmer honestly didn't know why she was winding Catra up. Maybe she wanted to see what would happen when she finally sprung.

Catra stood up, but didn't step away from the bed. "Isn't Adora going to be coming back soon? I should probably go..."

Glimmer grabbed Catra's arm and pulled her back down. "We've talked enough about Adora. Let's talk about you."

"I don't want to talk," Catra said. "I don't want Adora to walk in and see me getting along with you!"

"You care too much about what Adora thinks. Are you that hung up on your old prom date?"

"I am not! Screw you! I'm always getting the girls. I don't need to chase after Adora. I've got pull!"

Glimmer smirked. "I'll believe it when I see it."

Catra had hit her limit. The cat finally pounced. "You asked for it."

In one swift motion, Catra pushed Glimmer down and pinned her to the bed. There was a moment's pause before their lips crashed together.

Oh my god, Glimmer thought as she tasted the alcohol on Catra's breath, is Catra kissing me? Am I kissing her back? Even being tipsy wasn't enough to excuse this. But Glimmer didn't really care. She needed to blow off steam, and making out with a bitchy catgirl serviced that need.

The kissing kept getting messier and messier, which was a nice analogue to their interpersonal relationship. Glimmer vaguely acknowledged that she'd never live it down if anyone found out about this, but it wasn't like Catra was going to brag about it either. They were in the clear—

"Oh my god. I didn't expect you guys to get along this well."

Glimmer and Catra sobered up instantly. They broke apart, Catra springing away as if she'd suffered an electric shock. In absolute horror they turned in unison to see Adora standing in the doorway, barely containing her amusement.

"This isn't what it looks like!" Glimmer said.

"It's actually exactly what it looks like," Catra said. "Kill me."

Adora laughed so hard she snorted. "Looks like you guys had a party," she said, looking at the empty pizza box and beer cans. "You guys must've finished up that assignment pretty quickly." She raised an eyebrow at the sight of the pair's blank looks. "You did work on the assignment, right?"

As if a switch had been thrown, Glimmer and Catra were back at each other's throats as if nothing had happened. "This is all your fault!"

[hellas-himself]

Crack Ship Holidays

Halloween Pt. 1- Cassian x Feyre 

.

.

.

My cellphone falls to the floor and I groan, blindly reaching for it in the dark. Was it really five-thirty already? I tap the screen until the cursed alarm goes silent. I slide out of bed, taking the pillow and blanket with me and once my bare legs hit the cold floor, I shoot to my feet and toss my phone on the bed.

It was only October and the damned apartment was a freezer. But I have to shower; I have mascara and eye liner smeared on my face, my hair looks like a rat’s nest after all the hairspray I’d used and this dress- god this stupid dress. It belongs to Mor, but I haven’t done laundry in over a week and I needed something decent to meet them all in at the bar. It was beautiful, but it was so snug that it left marks all over my skin. And that wasn’t even counting what the strapless bra did to me.

Cursing, I shower quickly, washing my hair under cold water until it turns hot enough that I stop shivering. I blow dry my hair and pass the flat iron over it quickly before hurrying to get dressed. Mindful of where I will be today, I slide into skinny jeans and a black t-shirt. No one is going to see my Halloween socks, which is a tragedy, but at least I have my sweater. I know Mor and Nesta would look at me with disgust if they knew I hadn’t washed this sweater since the last time I’d worn it but it still had Cassian’s cologne. As did his leather jacket that he so conveniently left here after everyone had come over to play cards. 

My car takes way too long to start but luckily, I still have enough time to stop for coffee and a bagel before driving to the school. One of Cassian’s friends, another tattoo artist, has a girlfriend that teaches music there. He had mentioned to Cas that they needed an art teacher and my best friend gave them my number. I had been so nervous when he’d told me, to the point that I almost puked. But he had talked me back down to earth and drove me to meet the principal last week.  And for now, it’s just volunteering, and I can live with that.

I mentally go down the list of all I have to do when I get there. I have to find and park in the visitor’s section. Go to the front office and hand in my ID and get signed in. Scope out the supplies readily available and set up shop before 9am.

The security guard eyes my bag of art supplies with amusement.

“Carrying a body in there?” he asks in a pathetic attempt at teasing. I force a laugh. If I say what I really want to say, I will ruin this and I cannot fuck this up.  

“Good morning, you must be Ms. Archeron,” the secretary says cheerfully. She wasn’t here when I came in last week.

“Is it that obvious?” I ask, reaching into my back pocket for my wallet.

She stands and leans over, as though sharing a secret. “You’ve got a bit of paint on your jeans.”

I look down. “Oh… That happens a lot.”

I set the bag down, taking my license out and sliding it towards her.

“Perfect,” she says. “I’m Briar, by the way.”

I nod, doing my best not to shove my hands into my pockets- a habit I developed thanks to Rhys.

“So, I know we asked for an hour,” Briar says, typing away at the computer. “But some parents handed their forms in late. Do you think you could stay until… eleven?”

“Uh… Yeah. Definitely.”

Briar hands me back my license and then holds out a name badge.

“I’m trying to convince the principal to do something like lanyards but for now, this is what we have.”

I put the sticker on my sweater, mindful of the sparkly bats on my chest. Then, she guides me out of the office and through several hallways until she unlocks the door to a room bigger than my apartment.

“The previous art teacher left it just like this… We’d hoped so much for her to come back, but her husband got deployed and she needed help with her kids. She moved out of state over the summer.”

I set my bag down on a table and start walking around. There was the teacher’s desk with the projector beside it. A shelf that housed various kinds of paints and two enormous paint-stained sinks. The brushes were stored in cups of all kinds, ceramic mugs and plastic cups, glass mason jars. This was heaven.

“So… I’ll leave you to it. The first class begins at 9.”

“Is there an attendance sheet or something?” I ask, suddenly remembering that there was more to this than painting.

Briar giggles, her cheeks flushing pink.

“There’s a book. But don’t worry about that today. I’ll send someone up with a sign in sheet for the kids.”

I nod, taking the leather jacket off.

“Thank you,” I say and she smiles, leaving me to my own devices.

*

The smell of barbecue is doing nothing to help how hungry I am. I step into the diner and go to my usual seat, waving at the owner who is already telling the cook that I’m here. I sit down with a long sigh, pulling my phone out and checking my messages. Two missed calls from Nesta. A text from Elain in our group chat. 57 messages in the group chat with Rhys, Lucien, Az and Cassian. I roll my eyes and ignore that. Then, there are the calls from unknown numbers, all of them within minutes of each other. I lock my phone and set it down, looking up when the bell at the door rang. My heart does leaps in my chest as Cassian looks my way, breaking into a smile as he walks over.

“Well, if it isn’t the new art teacher,” he says by way of greeting, pulling me in for a bear hug when I get to my feet.

“It was just today,” I remind him, “And hello to you, too.”

He flicks my nose before sitting down across from me. He smirks when he notices that I’m wearing his jacket. He takes off his own and rolls up the sleeves to his shirt.  

“How did it go?” he asks, adjusting his watch.

“It was… terrifying.” He raises a brow but I smile. “Kids are fucking scary, Cas… And being responsible for 20 of them at once is just…”

“A nightmare?”

“A dream.”

Cas snorts.

“It’s been too long, Cas. I feel out of practice… But I started them with color theory and having them paint their own wheels… The second class was even bigger and it was just so much fun.”

Cassian is still smiling and I blush, grateful that our food is being placed before us.

“I haven’t seen you smile this much in a while, bunny.”

“I was smiling last night,” I quip, and happily reach for my strawberry milkshake.

“You were drunk.”

“All the same.”

Cassian would normally push the subject, I know, but he only has an hour and a half before he has to go back to the shop. And between proving a point and eating lunch, food will win every time.  

“This isn’t over,” he says, stuffing fries into his mouth.

*

I toss my keys on the little table in the entrance hallway, kicking off my boots as I walk into the apartment. I set my bag down on the floor before I walk across the carpet to open the blinds. I look around the living room and internally kick myself for forgetting that my sisters are coming over today. Last weekend’s beer cans and empty boxes of pizza are still littering the floor and coffee table. Someone’s bra is hanging over the arm rest. Rhys managed to leave his socks under my couch, and as I pick them up, I make a mental note to bring up a ‘strip poker laundry basket’ for them to deposit their clothes when we play. I grab the bra and realize that it’s mine.

I start a load of laundry and wash all the dishes in the sink and around the apartment. Once I finish with that, I take out the trash which required two trips. When I get back to my apartment, I wash my hand and burn incense- dragon’s blood, Cassian’s favorite. I vacuum the carpet and sweep the entrance hall and kitchen but don’t bother mopping. The bathroom is miraculously clean, but my bed is a disaster. The fitted sheet is beginning to come off but I hear the doorbell and leave it alone, tying up my hair as I go to answer it.

“I thought you stopped smoking,” Nesta says as I kiss her cheek.

“I did.”

“Then what’s with the incense.”

“The neighbor was cooking fish again,” I lie, but it’s happened enough that Nesta easily believes me.

“Elain is stopping to bring dinner after she leaves work.”

“Are you thirsty?”

Nesta sets her purse and keys on the counter, shrugging off her trench coat. She looks as flawless as always.

“Feyre, we know that you haven’t gone for groceries in weeks.”

“But I have water.” I sound pathetic, but I am not going to tell her that I went food shopping and brought everything to Cassian’s house. He’s the better cook and I would rather drive to see him every night than burn dinner at home. I was never here as it was.

“We had a luncheon meeting, I’m alright for now.”

She sits down on the barstool and looks me up and down. I have paint on my jeans and shirt, and I’m still wearing my purple sweater with the bats tied around my waist. When I see her eye my socks, I start walking.

“I taught at the school this morning,” I say as I grab my bag off the floor. I bring it to the kitchen and start pulling out the palettes and brushes I want to thoroughly clean.

“Did you like it?”

“I did, honestly.”

For once, she doesn’t roll her eyes when I set the palettes in the sink. I turn on the water, grabbing the sponge set aside for my art supplies and the soap.

“And what did the school think?”

I blush at this. Nesta doesn’t do well with unknowns.

“Briar, the secretary, she says she’ll call me once she hears something,” I say, and before she can scowl, I add, “But the principal seemed really happy with what we did. They asked me to stay an extra hour… It was a lot of fun.”

“And if they ask you to come back, will you take the job?”

“It’s not a job, Nes… But I mean, if it came to that, of course.”

“You turned down teaching jobs to work at that bar and look how that turned out.”

“I was depressed, Nesta. Cut me some fucking slack.”

“You can’t expect Cassian to keep saving your ass, Feyre.”

“I don’t expect anything from anyone. Least of all Cassian.”

“It’s almost been a year –”

I set the palette in the drying rack a little harder than I mean to.

“Did you write that down in your calendar so you can remind me that Tamlin left? I know how long it’s been Nesta.”

“That’s not what I meant, and you know it. You can’t depend on Cassian forever.”

“Why do you hate him so much? He is always there for me- something you can’t say. Honestly, sometimes I have no idea what he saw in you.”

“I told him I was sorry.”

“You broke his heart and have the nerve to bitch about what he does for me. I love you, Nesta, but give me a fucking break.”

*

I am almost glad that Elain cancelled dinner. Nesta had left once I refused to listen to her empty apologies. But now, I’m hungry. And alone. You can’t expect Cassian to keep saving your ass, Feyre. I laugh at myself; my thumb is hovering over the voice call button under Cassian’s name. My eyes burn with tears and my throat feels like it is closing up. Did Nesta not understand how much I hated the fact that I’ve had to ask any of them for help?

I toss my phone across the sofa, hating that I am crying. Hating that almost a year has passed and my life is no better than it was when Tamlin left. Hating that Nesta seems to forget that she was able to finish college because I was the one working my ass off to keep us afloat. Hating that I’d let Tamlin convince me to leave my job- my career- just to leave me.

I breathe in deeply, letting it out as I press my fingers against my eyes. I know that I can’t drive like this. With a sniffle, I get my jacket and boots on. The more I move, the less I cry, and by the time I make it down the stairs, I only have a stuffy nose.

The owner of the corner store gives me a sympathetic smile when they see me walk in. I can’t return it, but I wave, going right to the fridge. I grab a beer, ignoring Nesta’s voice in my head, telling me how irresponsible this was. I grab another one just to shut her up.

“Your usual?” he asks as I near the counter.

“Uh… No. Surprise me.”

Tamlin and I would come here every few nights, always getting the same thing. I’m not sure what’s for dinner tonight, but I see him throw a soda and bag of chips in the bag and decide that I’m perfectly fine with that. I pay in cash and wish him a good night, hurrying back to my apartment.

I put on a game show and sit down on the sofa, taking everything out of the bag. Before I open the Styrofoam container, someone starts knocking on my door. I don’t have to ask who it is, but I am still caught off guard to find Cassian standing outside, holding a bag of take out.

“Cas… Hey.”

“Your phone dead?” he asks as I give him a quick kiss on the cheek and let him in.

“No… I went up the street.”

He sets his bag next to my food and sits down, taking off his jacket and tossing it.

“Az told me Ellie had to cancel dinner with you,” he says as he starts to take his food out of the bag. He grabs one of my beers and opens it. “Iliana got sent home sick from school.”

“Oh… What about Val?”

“I dropped him off at Rhysand’s before coming here.”

I make a face. “Stupid apartment and its stupid dog rules.”

“What’s for dinner?” he asks as I sit beside him.

“I don’t really know,” I reply. “I told him to surprise me.”

Cassian takes a drink of his beer and chuckles.

“Well. I’ve got Chinese.”

It’s a sandwich, that much I know. A sandwich Cassian tries to take the moment I hold it out to him.

“Bunny, please.”

“What is it?” I ask again, holding the sandwich up and away from him.

“It’s a tripleta. Chicken, beef, and pork with cheese and those potato chip fries. And the mayo-ketchup. I haven’t had one in forever! I’ll give you anything!”

I start laughing, as if I would ever say no to him.

“We’ll split it,” I say, laughing some more when he hugs me tight.

Cassian changes the channel to watch one of our favorite crime shows. I take my boots off and sit cross legged. He smiles when he sees the little ghosts on my socks and reaches down to pull his jeans up to show me that he’s wearing the exact same ones.

After we eat, I bring the empty containers to the garbage and come back to find Cassian sprawled out on the sofa. When he sees me, he holds out his arms to me and I walk over, letting him pull me into his arms. I rest my head against his chest, closing my eyes.

“Rhys says hello… He misses you.”

I giggle. “As if he didn’t freeze my phone texting us so many times.”

Cassian holds me a little tighter as he chuckles.

“You know how he gets when he thinks he’s being ignored.”

“He’s a brat.”

He laughs. “You’re telling me.”

I stretch out a bit and Cassian places one hand on the small of my back, the other on my arm where he begins to trace his fingers up and down bare skin.

“You alright?” he asks quietly. I don’t say anything at first but then I shake my head.

“I’m stuck,” I whisper. “What is wrong with me, Cas?”

“Nothing is wrong with you.”

The way he says it makes me want to believe him.

“What did Nesta say to you?” he asks and I sigh. “You only ever get like this when you talk to her.”

I cross my arms, resting my head against them to be able to look at him.

“She just… It’s been almost a year. And nothing has changed.”

“You really believe that?”

When I don’t answer, Cassian sighs.  

“Last November, you couldn’t leave your bed. You didn’t eat. You didn’t even talk. You taught classes today, Feyre- you would have never let yourself even think of such a thing before.”

He’s right- I know that he’s right, but it doesn’t stop me from crying again. When I get up, Cassian follows suit and simply pulls me into his lap, cradling me against him.

“Things like this take time,” he says. “And I’m going to be there, for as long as it takes. You know that, right?”

“I can’t expect that of you,” I say before I can stop myself and Cas goes still.

“What do you mean?” he asks.

“I’m sorry… She just really got to me.”

“What did she say?”

Once I repeat her words, I feel completely ashamed of myself. I want the earth to swallow me whole when Cassian curls a finger under my chin and makes me look up at him.

“I love you, Feyre Archeron. And I don’t give a fuck what your sister thinks. You are my best friend, just because she refuses to lend you a hand, doesn’t mean that everyone else has to.” He brushes the tears away and tucks an errant lock of hair behind my ear.

“I love you, too.”

He presses a kiss to my forehead and I close my eyes, letting out a sigh.  

“I’m always gonna be here for you, bunny.”

When he kisses me, I practically melt in his arms, but I still pull away.

“Cassian, you know I’m no good for you,” I say.

“If you weren’t good for me,” he says as his hands slide to my waist. “I wouldn’t be here.”

It’s a lie, we both know. So I kiss him, adjusting myself to straddle his lap.  

“If we’re going to hurt… might as well be with each other, right?” I say, and he chuckles.

“Don’t use my own words against me.”

I kiss him, reaching back to untie his hair.

“Just this once,” I say in a terrible imitation of his voice. I run my fingers through his hair and he closes his eyes. He sighs, and the smile that blossoms on his face gives me butterflies.

When he opens his eyes, he smirks; he’s caught me staring.

“Hey, the second time was your doing,” he quips, tugging on the hem of my shirt and pulling up. I lift my arms and laugh as he tries to mimic me. “This time and no more.”

“What can I say? You make me feel alive,” I declare, blushing suddenly. I did not mean to say that out loud. Cassian pauses his attempt at undoing the hooks of my bra. I have no idea how to turn my words into a joke.  

“Alive, huh?” he says softly. “That makes two of us.”

I don’t believe either of us are ready to unpack any of that. So I put my hands on his face and kiss him, and Cassian abandons my bra to slide his hands down to grab my ass. I shriek when he stands up, taking me with him.

“Asshole!” I shout, Cassian laughing as he walks towards my bedroom. He tosses me on the bed, walking over to turn a light on. When he turns to come back to me, I toss a pillow at him.

“Don’t start,” he warns, trying not to smile.

“Make me.”

Cassian chuckles at that and climbs on the bed, grabbing my ankle and pulling to him. He starts tickling me, and I have no strength to grab the other pillow and hit him with it.

“Stop it!” I managed to say through laughter.

“Make me,” Cassian says, mimicking me. But he still stops, grabbing me by the waist as he moves to lay on his back. My heart tightens in my chest at how light his eyes are. I reach out to brush his hair away from his eyes, then to trace the contours of his face.

“Plan on painting me?” he asks, smiling.

“Do you want me to?” I am out of breath.

Cassian traces his fingers up my spine and unhooks my bra.

“Not yet,” he replies and I laugh, leaning down to kiss him.

.

.

.

I had meant to put this out on like... Tuesday so by yesterday (actual Halloween) the fic would line up but fuck it. 

Cassian and Feyre are my #1 crack ship (that isn’t Sesshomaru and Kagome). I might try to do the next few holidays as well. But for now, it’s based around Halloween. It was supposed to be a one off based off a song BUT it turned into this fluff fest. Also, the “bunny” nickname came from another thing I wrote and never posted in which when they were like fresh out of highschool, Feyre went on a trip with Cassian and the guys, their dad. She wanted to try out hunting and shot a rabbit and cried so much about it Cassian started calling her bunny cuz it made her mad. Then it stuck. 

And then I couldn’t stop using it. I mean... he COULD call her Fey but no. Bunny. Also, remember how in my Elriel fic our Illyrians were basically like me and my family? Puerto Ricans from the mountains? We’re sticking with that. 

I do have to separate it into like 4 parts because it’s like 30 Word pages long and I can’t imagine how terrible that would translate on Tumblr. <3 

also, if you have a pairing request or whatever, I got you. 

[cloudshapedpatch]

Well, I’m 3 days behind but I’ll be damned if I’m not going to participate in Marichat May. Here is the start of a continuous fic, following the prompts on the Marichat May 2020 calendar. Thanks @marichatmay ~!

The Unusual Connection We Share

Day 1 - Witch AU

Chapter 1/31 - The Witchy Debate

💚 💚 💚 💚

“Obviously you’ve got your head screwed on wrong. Chat Noir is a walking disaster.”

Marinette looked up from her sketchbook, turning her full attention on Chloe. The offending party had flicked the artificial hair of her blue wig, one of the pigtails swinging slightly.

Mlle. Bustier had ended class early and stepped out of the room, leaving the children to do as they please. Not a good idea when they were already hyped up on sugary treats and anxiety for that night. For it was Halloween, and the excitement of the annual All Hallow’s Eve party at the Grand Paris Hotel was enough to rustle everyone’s nerves.

“He is not a disaster! He may not be as important as Ladybug, but he’s not incompetent.” Came Alya’s snarky response.

Marinette dreaded conversations like these. She knew they were inevitable, but she never would know how people could be so ignorant.

“Ladybug would be much better off without him.”

“As if! He’s a great helper.”

“Is not!”

“Is too!”

Finally Nino came in and pulled his girlfriend back a few paces, successfully stopping the two girls from continuing. Unfortunately, due to Alya’s slick bodysuit, Nino was unable to get a good grip on her. Alya lunged forward and criticized Chloe’s Ladybug costume, saying she looked like a frog in her wig.

“And what are you supposed to be? Superhero wannabe? You don’t need a costume for that.”

“I’m Majestia.” Alya said plainly, crossing her arms.

Marinette could only slam her head into her desk. It was so infuriating. She wanted to tell everyone off, inform them of the black cat and ladybug’s unique connection. But she couldn’t, not unless she wanted her identity revealed.

Her only solace was that Adrien looked just as uncomfortable as she was, though it was a double-edged sword. If she could help it, Adrien would never feel sub-par.

Speaking of which, when she looked up to steal a glance at him, she found him already staring at her.

“Marinette, are you okay?”

My, how gorgeous his eyes were! They were so concerned for her, and so sweet! They looked almost glossy, but maybe that was the light. Marinette noted how they looked even more green with the black hooded cloak he wore. Black was definitely his color.

It took her a few seconds to realize that she hadn’t responded.

“Oh! Yes, I’m fine. Thank you.” She gave her best smile and hoped it was enough.

“Marinette, back me up,” Alya interrupted their moment (if you could even call it that), “Chloe won’t listen to reason.”

“Well, your reasoning is ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous.”

Marinette sighed and scooted out from her chair, careful not to step on her long black dress. “What now?” She muttered, mostly to Alya, as she descended the stairs.

“Tell Chloe that Chat Noir is necessary.”

“Um, he is necessary?” She sheepishly told Chloe.

“Like I’d believe that. Ladybug could do so much better. Like moi.”

Marinette rolled her eyes, wanting to go sit down again. Everyone was watching the argument go down, and she was wishing she had stayed out of it. Chloe kept on talking, much to everyone’s chagrin.

“Honestly, if I have to see that stupid cat boy on TV again, I’m gonna hurl.”

Don’t say anything. She just wants attention.

“Paris would be better off without him. She should just take his miraculous and find someone better.”

Her opinion is just one of many. Deep breath.

“Even a homeless bozo would be better than him.”

Marinette snapped like a rubber band pulled too tight. Grabbing Chloe’s shoulders, Marinette stared her down. Everyone was mortified at her sudden outburst. Marinette was never one for violence, but everyone had a limit. And apparently, the small bluenette drew the line for a certain black clad hero.

“Chat Noir is just as important as Ladybug. Just because he can’t de-evilize an akuma doesn’t mean he doesn’t have value. He is a person just like you or I, with feelings and complex life experiences.”

Chloe could only stare in shock as Marinette continued.

“Ladybug needs him. He’s there for her when she’s down, he encourages her. Ladybug gets insecure just like the rest of us. Chat Noir is always there to be her shoulder to lean on when she doubts herself, and he is the greatest thing that ever happened to this city!”

You could have heard a pin drop as the tension in the air weighed on everyone’s shoulders. Taking in a shocked breath, Marinette released her hold on Chloe and took a few steps back.

The silence lasted only a few seconds, but it seemed like an eternity. Had she comprised her identity? Had she lost her friends’ trust once again? Her mind ran wild until Alix laughed.

“Come on Marinette, be real. Ladybug doesn’t get insecure; she’s a hero. And a perfect one at that.”

Everyone nodded and murmured in agreement.

Cheeks red and heart racing, Marinette walked up the few steps and sat at her desk. She could feel eyes on her as she deflated. Her pointy witch’s hat fell off as she laid her head on her desk once again, bringing her cloaked arms to shield herself from the world and from Alya and Chloe continuing their argument.

Unbeknownst to her, Adrien was fighting back tears. His heart was getting shredded to pieces not only by Chloe, but by the rest of his classmates as well. They all seemed to think that Chat was more of a bother than a help to Ladybug.

Except Marinette. She had stood up for him, taken the embarrassment of having a different opinion. But the kind words she spoke about his alter-ego weren't the only thing that caught his attention. Her comments about Ladybug stood out to him like a sore thumb. Nobody else seemed to realize that Ladybug doubted herself. Apparently, Marinette did her research.

Well, she did confess her love for Chat Noir at one time and claimed to have followed him around. Perhaps she was just more observant than everyone gave her credit for.

No matter how she knew these things, he was grateful that she said them aloud. More grateful than anyone would know.

* * * *

“Marinette, can you watch the register for a moment? I need to take this phone call.”

“Sure mama, no problem.”

Marinette had just walked in the door when her mother answered the call. Marinette straightened her witch’s hat and plopped her backpack behind the counter. It was not uncommon for Marinette to finish her homework in-between helping customers. Today was sure to be busier than usual, for people would need treats for their parties. Occasionally a small child and their parents would come in to trick-or-treat, preferring the daylight hours so their young child would get to bed on time. Though celebrating Halloween was still quite new (and mostly an English thing), the traditions were picking up popularity.

After a few hours, Alya came by (still in her Majestia costume) to pick Marinette up for the party. She bade her parents goodbye, then left with Alya.

The girls talked of random things to pass the time as they walked to the hotel. Mostly the evening was quite uneventful. No akuma attacks disrupted the party, the snacks were good and Nino played the newest songs at the disk-jockey table.

Things were quite normal for a Bourgeois party. Well, until it was time to go home.

Alya had gotten a ride home from Nino, leaving Marinette to walk home alone. The hotel wasn’t too far from home, and she could always use her Ladybug speed to zip home.

After looking around, the coast was clear. Just before ducking into the alley to transform, a voice called out from the street.

“What are you doing alone out here, little lady? Don’t you know it’s not safe to be out alone after dark?”

Marinette yelped in surprise. So much for being alone. “Huh?”

A quiet thud reached her ears as Chat Noir jumped down from atop a lamppost.

“I thought you were smarter than this, Marinette. Why are you alone, anyway?”

Marinette crossed her arms over her chest. “I was just walking home. Not that it’s any of your business, anyhow.”

“But it is! It’s my job to protect damsels in distress.”

“Then go find one. The only distress around here is caused by you.” Marinette smirked at him, though she wasn’t sure whether she was annoyed or amused.

“Meowch, little lady has some claws.”

Marinette just rolled her eyes and started walking down the road. Unfortunately, Chat just bounded up next to her.

“Anyway, I wanted to thank you. For your kind words.”

This caused her to stop walking. The surprise was evident on her face. “I don’t recall speaking to you earlier.”

“Not to me, you spoke about me.”

Finally, the recollection of the school debate came to the front of her mind. Groaning, she threw her face into her hands.

“You heard that?”

“Oh course; I hear everything. Perks of being a superhero.”

Marinette knew for a fact that was not how the Miraculous worked, but of course Chat couldn’t know that. She was so caught up in keeping her own identity a secret, she did not think about how he may have heard.

“Well don’t let it go to your head. I was just defending you.”

She looked over to find him flexing and being a general show-off. “Don’t worry too much about it. Your words will forever be in my heart.”

A snort escaped her lips before she could stop it. “Sure, whatever.” She started walking again, only for Chat to run in front of her, successfully cutting her off.

“Let me take you home. To return the favor.”

“I got it, thanks though.”

“You’re going to turn down a ride with your favorite hero?”

“Who said you were my favorite?”

“You did, at one time. Did you change your mind and fail to tell me?”

His face turned down into a little pout. Damn, he looked just like a kitten, and unfortunately Marinette was a sucker for the big, sparkly eyes.

After a long sigh, she gave in. “You better not drop me.”

Marinette would not admit it, but feeling the wind whipping around her dress was exhilarating. It was truly different than swinging around Paris with her own yo-yo. And something about not being in control made her shiver in fear and delight. She wondered idly if she had ever swung around the city with Civilian Chat in her arms (she had, after the battle of Style Queen, but she was blissfully unaware of this occurrence).

Almost as quickly as Chat had scooped her up, he was setting her down by the side entrance of her home.

“Well, until we meet again, little lady.”

Expecting his signature two-finger salute, she was surprised when his hand came to his chest and he bowed, using his other hand to grab her own and give it a chaste kiss.

Even after he left, she could still feel the warmth across her knuckles, keeping her frozen in place. It took a few calls from Tikki and a poke on her nose to snap Marinette out of her shocked daze.

That dumb cat.

[queensparklekitten]

Okay, so for some reason any time I decide to ask somecreature questions from an ask meme I simply have to ask lots and lots of questions from it at once so, sorry about this, buuut... 12, 14, 22, 25, 29, 36, 37, 39, 54, 57, 74, 75, 79, and 99. ... :-] ... sorry again :P

You better be, I’m gonna fail geography if i keep putting off the homework assignment due tomorrow in order to answer ask memes! 

anyways. 

12: I can’t remember 

14: Well, what’s your definition? I may have a psychic connection with my cat, because i can have mean intrusive thoughts and she’ll instantly walk away as if i insulted her, and then when i think (but NOT say aloud) an explanation that i wasn’t saying anything mean to her, she’ll go back to curling up next to me purring. 

I have also, several times previously, gotten a song in my head at random, and felt like putting on the radio, and lo and behold, that song was playing on the radio station i put on. 

22: Once I ran away from school (like actually just left the building and began heading home in the middle of the day) and next thing i knew there was a police car following me. 

I have also done several other illegal things, but harmless ones, like sneaking around the back of the public transit station so I could board the streetcar without paying, vandalizing a couple public advertising posters, or using pirated websites for movies and anime. I have never gotten in trouble for those, however. 

25: No socks right now

29: No, I have not, but it’s on my bucket list 

36: I don’t have one

37: I have never thought about this and i am surprised that i haven’t given how often I swear both online and irl. 

39: Emotional, yes. Physical, no. 

54: MESSY. My desks at my last school always looked like a tornado AND a hurricane had happened in them simultaneously, and I sometimes used the empty desk next to me to store extra stuff because my main desk is too cluttered (I’m 99.999% sure i had the messiest desk in the whole school). My backpack right now is extremely disorganized and has things just stuffed into it wherever it fits, as well as some old writing utensils, tupperwares of Cheerios, crumpled up drawings and homework sheets that i never handed in, a hat, and the smell of old milk from a lunch box spill. 

But those have NOTHING on my room. The armchair always has so much stuff piled on it that I sometimes can’t actually sit on it, the books have no organization, more than half of the floor is covered with stuff, the desk and dresser top and shelves and corner junk pile are such a disaster that no one but me can find anything effectively, absolutely nothing that i have been using recently is put away (my mom sometimes puts things away and i scream at her for it), there’s enough dust to make my moms sneeze (which i use as a defense mechanism to keep them out of my room), i never throw things away which leads to junk from years ago mixed in with the stuff i actually need and/or use, and there’s makeup and nail polish smudges on the wall and desk from past screw-ups. Clothes, books, blankets, drawings, Christmas gifts not yet used, notebooks, a random white glove (i don’t even know why i own it), old tags and the like, coat hangers, cat toys, pillows, birthday cards, and so much more, all on the floor. 

Mess is my natural habitat. Cleaning my room would be like invading an ecosystem with buildings. 

57: On a regular day, it’s proportionate to the amount of fucks I give and how much I want to be asleep. It can be anywhere from a 3-4 minutes to 20. 

For the kind of event I dress up for (aka anything slightly out of the ordinary), I take half an hour at minimum picking out the best sparkly outfits and accessories, styling my hair, doing my makeup, picking out shoes and jewelry, and singing to myself about how fabulous I am while doing so. Sometimes I plan out my event outfits days or even weeks in advance. Expect a tiara. 

74: Oh, like I’m gonna tell you that and potentially give you ideas to torture me into doing your bidding! 

75: Not that I am aware of

79: [DATA EXPUNGED] 

99: Rainbow 

[rosesisupposes]

What I’ve Been Looking For

Part 4 of Breakin’ Free, a High School Musical Sanders Sides AU

Chapter Pairings: Prinxiety

Chapter Warnings: Roman Is A Disaster Gay (If Only He Was Out Enough to Know That)

Reader tags: @residentanchor @royally-anxious @bewarethegrammarpolice   @jemthebookworm @arandompasserby  @sparkly-rainbow-salt @astral-eclipse​ @thelowlysatsuma

<<3. Get’cha Head In The Game | 5. The Status Quo>>

read on ao3

SCENE: Homeroom and Hallways of East High

A particular air was flowing in the Ms. Darbus’ classroom the next morning. There was a humming undercurrent of excitement that didn’t quite spread to every occupant, but filled those it touched.

Dee Evans was in full form, glowing in gold accents, from the line on his sneakers to his eyeshadow and lip liner. His head was out of his phone for once as he smiled at every student he walked past on his way to homeroom. Cee was in an equally good mood, in complementary shades of silvery blue with a matching hat in navy. He carried a small gift bag with artfully arranged tissue paper. Cee handed the bag to Dee, who placed it on Ms. Darbus’ desk with a flourish. “Just a little something for you in honor of today!” he said with another bright smile.

As he returned to his desk, the rest of the class filtered in. Virgil and Roman made eye contact as they found their desks, sharing a small smile before Remy called Roman’s attention away. Patton Baylor chatted happily from his spot at the center of a small crowd of students, all of whom looked up at him with slightly starry eyes. Logan McKessie brushed past the crowd, his face buried in a book on theoretical physics. Murmurs of chatter slowly quieted as Ms. Darbus stepped on the stage at the front of the room.

“I expect we all learned our homeroom manners yesterday, correct? If not, we have some dressing rooms that need painting,” she said imperiously. Remy rolled his eyes at Roman as he leaned on his basketball as a pillow.

“Now, a few announcements,” she continued, brightening. “This morning during free period will be your chance for the musicale auditions, both singles and pairs.” Dee sat up even straighter in his seat, clapping in excitement. “I will be in the theater until noon for those of you bold enough to extend the wingspan of your creative spirit.”

Remy snorted. “When you’ve got auditions at 11 but have to be back on the mothership by noon,” he snarked under his breath. Roman had to cover his mouth with his hand to keep from catching the teacher’s attention with his laughter.

Unaware of her students’ commentary, Ms. Darbus began to instruct. “Today, we are going to discuss the importance of William Shakespeare and his works. Can anyone tell me of a phrase or word we use in everyday language that was originally coined by the Bard?”

Behind him, Roman could hear Remy sliding dark glasses over his eyes as he settled in to nap.

~~~

Later that day, Roman was sorting through the books in his locker when Remy came up, spinning his basketball on a finger.

“Sup, gurl.”

“Hey, what’s up?”

“So the whole team's hitting the gym during free period. What do you want to have us run?”

Roman looked directly at the books and binders in his locker as he answered. “Uh, my dude, you know what, I can't make it. I gotta catch up on some homework.”

Remy snorted. “Bitch, it's only the second day back. I'm not even behind on homework yet. And you know I've been behind on homework since preschool.”

Roman forced a laugh. “Oh, Rem, you’re so funny! I’ll catch up with you later, okay?” He closed his locker and walked off before his friend could offer another objection.

Remy pulled his sunglasses down his nose to stare at his friend’s retreating back. “Homework? Girl, nah.”

He followed Roman down the hallway as the team captain turned into a classroom to chat with another student. Remy slid up to the door as he tried to see where he was going, listening to their idle chatter. Then someone bumped him. He turned to see Patton and a small handful of admirers.

“Remy! How are you today?”

“Hi Pat - I’m good, thanks, just busy…”

“Not too busy to miss the GSA meeting this afternoon, right?”

“Never too busy for my little minions, you know that,” Remy said with a fond smile.

“Oh good,” Patton said, his bright teeth a contrast to his brown face and browner freckles. “See you later, gay-ter!”

He turned and walked off with his friends as they giggled and Remy rolled his eyes. Turning back to the classroom, he realized it was empty. Roman has escaped him. “Boo, you whore,” he muttered to himself. “What could possibly be more important than basketball?”

Roman slipped down the southern stairwell of the school, checking behind him to make sure Remy was off his tail. He wasn’t sure he say why he felt so compelled to at least watch the auditions, but he knew that for some reason, he needed to be there. That need wasn’t quite enough to admit to even his best friend in the whole world what he was doing, though. He strolled through one of the lower courtyards, alert for any team members who might see him and ask why he wasn’t heading to the gym. He turned a corner and immediately turned back. Here he’d been worried about teammates when Coach himself was in the next courtyard, clearly looking for him. Had he seen him? Were those his footsteps walking in his direction?

Crapcrapcrap gottahide gottahide

Roman ducked into the closest door, the auto body and mechanics shop. He put on an air of nonchalance as he leaned behind a car, seeing his dad glance into the shop from the corner of his eye. Coach didn’t spot him, though, and he breathed a sigh of relief. He turned his head to see the shop teacher staring at him oddly.

“Uhh, shortcut,” he said lamely. “I’m… late for class. Gotta go, thanks, bye!”

He walked quickly out, from the auto shop to the woodshop. He could hear snatches of a tune played on the piano from here, where the woodshop connected to the backstage and green room areas of the auditorium. He took a deep breath. This was it - the auditions. He could as least get up the courage to watch, right? He walked into the backstage, trying to summon more confidence. Then he heard another person walking towards him and immediately ducked behind a janitor’s cart, hunching over to hide his face behind the mop.

SCENE: Auditorium

The auditorium and backstage were buzzing with chatter as multiple auditioners filed into the audience seats. Ms. Darbus strode to the stage to welcome them all, a small person in her wake. They seemed to be trying to hide from the crowd behind their bright orange beanie and also behind Ms. Darbus herself. The drama teacher took center stage and addresses the crowd.

“This is where the true expression of the artist is realized. Where inner truth is revealed through the actor's journey…”

She was interrupted by a loud ringing, and immediately glared at the crowd in front of her. “Was that a cell phone?”

“That was the warning bell, Ms. Darbus,” the student at her elbow whispered.

“Ah, I see,” she said, clearing her throat. “Those wishing to audition must understand that time is of the essence. We have many roles to cast and final callbacks will be next week.”

Roman slowly made his way to the back of the auditorium, still hiding behind the janitor’s cart as he listened. Callbacks, next week? In the same week as the big game? Luckily, even if he somehow got the nerve to audition, there’s no way he’d get called back. That was a thing that only happened to real actors, right?

Ms. Darbus was still reviewing the audition process. “Please come to the stage on your turn. Once you’ve introduced yourself, you will sing a few bars and I will give you a sense of whether or not the theater is your calling. Better to hear it from me now than from your friends later.” From his hiding spot, Roman gulped. Maybe this whole ‘audition’ thing was a mistake. “Our composer, Joan Stokes, will accompany you and be available for rehearsals prior to callbacks. Shall we?”

Joan took their seat at the piano bench as the first singer came to the stage.

“Hi, I’m Derionna!” she said with enthusiasm. She dove into singing, with plenty of energy but perhaps not a lot of rhythm.

“It’s hard to believe that I couldn’t see that you were always right beside me. Thought I was alone, with no one to hold, but you were always right beside me”

Joan played well, trying to get her to match their beat, but she was snapping to her own beat and seemed unaware.

“Thing feeling’s like no other, I want you to know…” she paused, seeming to have forgotten the rest of the song. Ms. Darbus took the opportunity to jump in.

“Uh-huh, thank you, next!”

A nervous-looking, gangly boy came to the stage. He seemed to be speaking rhythmically more than singing, and kept checking his hand for the words he’d written there.

“It’s hard to believe that I couldn’t sneeze - see! That you were always right there next to beside me!”

“Camden, I admire your pluck. As to your singing... That's a wonderful tie you're wearing. Next!” Camden smiled and smoothed his tie as Ms. Darbus’ words sank in. His face fell as he shuffled off the stage.

Roman winced through the next singer. Even he could tell she was badly off-key and trying to conceal it by winking frequently, directly at Ms. Darbus. Joan mouthed the words along with her, trying to get her back on rhythm, but it was to no avail.

“Please, stop,” Ms. Darbus finally interjected. “Thank you, Brittney. Next!”

Another auditioner. She was clearly talented, but was also singing as if in an opera, not a musical.

“So lonely befooorrrre I finally fooooo-hooounnddd what I’d been lookiiiiing fooooooooooooooooooor!” She held her last ear-piercing note as Joan stopped playing in shock and audience members tried to subtly cover their ears.

“Ah... Valerie,” Ms. Darbus said with forced cheer. “What... courage to pursue a note that has not been accessed in the natural world. Bravo! Brava! Perhaps the... spring musicale?”

Valerie frowned and looked over at Joan. They forced a smile as Valerie hmphed in affront and left the stage. She was almost knocked over by the next auditioner, a tall, graceful man who leaped onto the stage to the opening bars of the audition song. Joan stopped playing once again, confused. The auditorium was silent as the dancer pirouetted and jetéd before elegantly leaving the stage. The effect might have been perfect, had not he crashed into an unseen obstacle backstage that was audible to everyone. Joan looked over in concern as Ms. Darbus coughed politely. “Thank you, Leo. Next!”

Up came a pair of auditioners, one very short student with brightly-colored hair, the other a man with a headband and bangs swept to one side. The shorter of the two started delivering a dramatic reading of the song as the other whispered echoes of their words.

“It’s hard to believe that I could not see”

“See”

“That you were always right beside me”

“Beside me”

The pair accompanied their words with strange motions that appeared to be attempting interpretive dance

“Thought I was alone!”

“Alone”

“With no one to hold!”

“Hold”

“But you were right beside me”

“Beside me”

They both began to roll and crawl on the floor as Joan backed up their piano bench as far away as possible.

Ms. Darbus had been stunned into silence, but finally found her voice again.

“Talyn, Dominic, that was… that was just... very disturbing, go see a counselor. Next!”

A hand suddenly tapped Roman on the shoulder, and he jumped so high he almost hit his head on the doorway. Virgil had come up behind him, smiling wryly.

“Hey there - did you decide to sign up for something?”

Roman ducked his head. “Uh, no. I was just… watching. Did you?”

Virgil shook his head, his purple bangs falling into his face. “So, uh, do you often hide behind mops, or do your friends just not know you’re here?”

Roman flushed lightly and shook his head in response as another auditioner came to the stage. She stood tall and adjusted her glasses as Joan began the opening bars. She took a breath to sing as she looked out at the audience, and froze.

“Thank you, Dahlia. NEXT!”

Roman winced. “Ms. Darbus seems a little… harsh,” he observed quietly to Virgil.

Virgil smirked. “Roman Bolton, Wildcat superstar, afraid?”

“Not afraid,” he protested. “Just… a little, uh… scared.”

“Me too, usually,” Virgil said, rubbing his neck. “But, um. I was thinking of actually auditioning, if someone could sing onstage next to me?”

Roman blanched with fright. “Um, uh, I could--  I mean, possibly, uh--”

“And for the lead roles of Arnold and Minnie we only have one couple signed up,” Ms. Darbus said happily. Virgil pushed Roman slightly as he hurried to hide behind the janitor’s cart with him. “Diego and Cedric, I think it might be useful for you to give us a sense of why we gather in this hallowed hall.”

Cee and Dee walked from the audience to the stage, flashing smiles at the remaining audience. As Cee started up the stairs, Dee stopped him so that he could go first.

Joan caught Cee as the twins picked up their microphones. “What key did you want?”

“Don’t worry about it, we had our rehearsal pianist do an arrangement,” Cee said with a smile.

Joan deflated. “Oh. Okay.”

The curtain closed as Dee & Cee prepared to sing. Virgil tugged on Roman’s arm to follow him as he found a seat in the last row of the auditorium.

The music started, jazzy and far more upbeat than the previous auditions. Two pairs of hands stuck through the curtain and snapped to the beat, before the curtain opened to reveal Cee & Dee with matching bedazzled microphones in silver and gold, respectively.

“It’s hard to believe that I couldn’t see,” Cee sang. He had an unarguably nice voice, and his perpetual smile matched the bouncy drumbeat the accompanied them.

“That you were always there beside me” Dee joined in, singing in harmony with his twin. Virgil wrinkled his nose as he watched. The pair were both excellent singers, but they kept adding in a lot of over acting, pretending to be surprised by each other on “beside me.” Even for a musical, this felt corny. But Ms. Darbus was clearly enjoying it, bopping along from her spot in the audience.

Roman physically recoiled as Dee handed off his mic to perform a peppy tapdance solo in the middle. “Is this normal?” he whispered to Virgil, who grimaced.

“I don’t think so,” he responded, nodding a head at Joan. The pianist watched from their bench, looking vaguely horrified at the spectacle in front of him.

The pair continued on through the song, adding full choreography. Cee even broke in the middle to do a highly energetic jazz square with accompanying jazz hands before accidentally bumping into Dee. His twin scowled and pushed him, but both recovered and smiled as they continued to sing.

They finally came to a close, Ms. Darbus and the sprinkling of audience members applauding enthusiastically. Dee shot Joan a glare until they clapped too.

Holding their final pose, Dee hissed in Cee’s ear. “I told you not to do the jazz squares.”

“It's a crowd favorite. Everybody loves a good jazz square,” his twin shot back, grinning hugely.

As the applause quieted, Ms. Darbus stood. “Are there any last minute sign-ups?”

Roman stood and tried to edge out of the theater without being spotted as Cee appealed to the dispersing crowd. “Don't be discouraged. The theater club needs more than just singers. It needs fans, too! Buy tickets!”

Joan caught Dee’s attention as he strode backstage. “Oh, actually, if you do the part with that particular song, I imagined it much slower…”

“If we do the part? Joan, Joan, my sawed-off Sondheim, I have been in 17 school productions. And how many times have your compositions been selected?”

“This would be the first,” Joan admitted.

“Which tells us what?” Dee asked with a tight smile.

Joan flinched and offered, “That I need to write you more solos?”

“No,” Dee snapped, his smile dropping. “It tells us that you do not offer direction, suggestion, or commentary.” He advanced on Joan, who backed up nervously into their piano. “And you should be thankful that Cee and I are here to lift your music out of its current obscurity. Are we clear?”

“Yessir! I mean, Diego.”

Dee backed down, then smiled brightly, lifting his mic closer to his mouth again. “Nice talking to you!” He followed his twin backstage with a tiny wave.

“Any last minute sign-ups?” Ms. Darbus called again.

“We should go,” Roman whispered at Virgil, reaching out to grab his hand.

“No?” The theater teacher said, looking around. “Good. Done.”

Suddenly, Virgil was pulling away from Roman’s hold and speaking up. “I'd like to audition, Ms. Darbus!”

Roman’s mind went into overdrive. What is he doing? What? How!? Why?! He gestured wildly at the smaller man, willing him to somehow take back his words and for them both to disappear.

Ms. Darbus looked up, surprised, but her surprise quickly morphed to disapproval. “Timeliness means something in the world of theater, Mr. Montez. The individual auditions are long, long over and there are simply no other pairs.”

Roman stuffed his fear into a tiny corner and emerged from his hiding place behind the theater door. “I’ll sing with him.”

The drama teacher pursed her lips. “Mr. Bolton? Where is your sports posse or whatever it's called?”

Roman stared. “Team”

“Ah.”

“But I’m, uh. I’m here alone,” Roman stuttered out. He felt as nervous as he ever did right before a game. “I’m actually here to sing with him.”

Ms. Darbus was unimpressed. “Yes, well, we take these shows very seriously here at East High. I called for the pairs audition, and you didn't respond. Free period is now over.”

“He has an amazing voice,” Roman protested, gesturing towards Virgil. Virgil looked vaguely queasy over the confrontation, and appeared to be attempting to will himself out of sight or out of existence, whichever came first.

“Perhaps the next musicale, then,” Ms. Darbus said, and left the auditorium.

Just then, Joan tripped as they turned away from the piano, spilling sheet music in every direction. Roman and Virgil hurried to the stage to help them.

“So, you’re a composer?” Roman asked, smiling at the piano player. “You wrote the song Dee and Cee just sang? And the entire show?”

Joan seemed unable to speak, but nodded weakly, staring at Roman like an alien had just landed in the middle of theater.

“Well, that's really cool. I, uh, can't wait to hear the rest of the show,” he offered, helping them up. “So, uh, why are you so afraid of Cee and Dee? Or, Dee, at least. It’s your show, isn’t it?”

“Um, it is?” Joan asked, confused.

“Isn't the composer of a show kinda like the playmaker in basketball?” Roman asked with a smile. Both Virgil and Joan stared at him in incomprehension.

“Playmaker?”

“You know, the one who makes everyone else look good. I mean, without you there is no show. You're the playmaker here, Joan.”

“I am?” they responded, smiling tentatively. “Do… do you want to hear how the duet’s supposed to sound?”

Virgil nodded, and tossed a small grin Roman’s way. The taller man covered his face with a hand to hide what felt like another blush and followed the composer back to the piano, standing behind them to read the sheet music over their shoulder.

Joan tapped a foot to the proper timing, a much slower, sweeter tune than the one the twins had performed, and prompted Roman to begin at the right moment.

It was like New Year’s Eve all over again, and yet nothing like it. The fluttery nervousness was still there, but without the surprise or fear of the crowd. And this time, he wasn’t standing with a mysterious stranger who might run away. It was Virgil, smiling up at him as he came in for the second line. He no longer felt the same electrifying urge to grab the other boy’s attention at any cost - he just wanted that smile to keep being directed his way.

“I've never had someone that knows me like you do,” they sang in harmony, eyes meeting. Was Virgil blushing? Roman couldn’t be sure, especially as the shorter man turned back to the sheet music.

They finished in harmony and paused, all three appreciating the sweetness of the tune.

“Wow,” Roman finally said. “That’s really nice, Joan.”

Suddenly, a voice sounded from the rear of the theater. “Bolton, Montez,  you have a callback.” Ms. Darbus stood at the entrance, looking less severe with her glasses removed. “Joan, give them the duet from the second act. Work on it with them.”

Joan gasped in delight, then started bubbling over with plans. “All right. If you guys wanna rehearse, I'm usually here during free period and after school, and even sometimes during biology class. You can come and rehearse anytime. Or you can come to my house for breakfast. I have a piano, we can rehearse there. After school, before school - whatever works. After basketball class… do you have basketball class? Is that a thing?”

Virgil listened to the pianist, smiling a bit bemusedly, as Roman stared after Ms. Darbus’ retreating back in shock.

“We- she- what?”

a/n: Look who's able to write fluff again! Trust me, no one's as surprised as I am

(I know all of Thomas' friends are incredibly talented and would never be awkward/bad auditioners, but I feel like they'd have fun acting it out anyway :])

[uarcana]

Bad Reputation Pt. III Mother Midnight

“I see”, Nezu’s softly replied after Aoi’s explanation. “So, your alcoholism hasn’t gotten better?”

Aoi shuddered at the principal’s harsh cheery realization, followed by a stifled chuckle from Silver.

“Mrs. Tamahagane, you never got the chance to truly prove yourself to become a hero”, the mongoose continued. “And until you are able to do so, you are meant to be a model citizen and pupil of Mr. Aizawa. With this incident, I fear you may have only thinned your thread to redemption”.

Although Aoi’s nerves couldn’t easily be stirred, it was obvious Nezu had pinched one.

“Now, wait, hold on, sir...”.

“And Mrs. Heiwa”, the principal cut off the mystic, “you are a teacher and a mentor of one of our most promising first years. Your reputation with the press and the public is already rocky. I know you are a magnificent hero, but how are you going to when the trust of those you are meant to save with incidences like these dropping from the sky?”

Nezu knew he was playing with fire with Silver, but he believed a level of self control was needed to be developed.

Once he saw the nerve on her temple tighten and anticipated her risking from her seat, he feared of what he’d have to say next until...

...a sharp and solid slam on the desk abruptly broke everyone’s attention averting it to the otherwise silent woman in the center of all of this.

“Sir”, Midnight finally spoke up. Her voice collective, yet stern.

It wasn’t until then that Silver noticed her friend’s hand was planted firmly against her wrist keeping her in her seat.

“...if I may interject”, she continued. “Though I understand the concerns of the circumstances at hand. Based off what you’ve said, you don’t have all the facts”.

"Whatever do you mean?" 

Nezu's serious features made Nemuri's friends stare at her even harder.

Midnight was about to spill everything that really happened after the girls' stories and that made them nervous; all on its own. 

Nezu was definitely going to "rip them a new one" if she didn't have a plan.

"Well..." 

Back at the bar...

Nemuri got most of what was happening between her uneasy stomach and spinning room. 

"You're destroying mine." 

She kept thinking this was a mistake from the start. 

Why did they have to listen to Silver when she proposed going to a villain bar? Who, in their right mind, does that? 

A loud crash, "she broke the table with his head." 

That was definitely Aoi. Who the hell would dare get in between her and her drink? 

"Alright guys..." Nemuri tried getting her friends' attention; knowing her words were in vain. 

Aoi and Silver kept an eye on their trio but they were so focused on the villains and throwing them out every window, they didn't notice Nemuri trying to get their attention until she got up from her seat and tore the sleeves of her shirt.

Her quirk making its presence known with the sparkly stardust flowing and feeling the air all around her.

Aoi was quick to catch on her friend's intentions, using her quirk to enhance hers and make the hypnotic cloud bigger, making sure it would be able to include every villain in the bar. 

Silver, on the other hand, wasn't. 

Being the one to actually start the fight she was quickly consumed by her need to punch someone. 

So much so she didn't pay attention to her surroundings. Not paying attention to what her co-heroes had created and thus... not thinking of what a spark of fire would have done. A snap of her fingers and... 

"Wait, Silver no-" 

BAAM!!!

“So, what you’re saying...”, Nezu pondered the X-Rated hero’s words, “it was all Mrs. Heiwa’s fault?”

The mongoose’s cheery voice stabbing the mystic like a knife to the chest.

“Sounds about right to me”, Aoi suddenly cut in nonchalantly, “case closed. Can we go home?”

“SERIOUSLY?! WHAT THE HECK, AOI!!! YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE ON MY SIDE!!!”, Silver shouted toward her pouty friend on the other side of Midnight.

“Tell that to my sake”, the bitter metamorph mumbled.

“OH, SHUT UP, YA DAMN SIDEKICK!!! IT’S NOT MY FAULT YOU DON’T KNOW HOW TO HOLD A CUP!!!”, Silver continued to shout completely unaware of a well-manicured hand beginning to rise from underneath the desk.

“Not my fault that you can’t hold what’s IN your cup”.

“YOU CALLIN’ ME A LIGHTWEIGHT?!”

“Don’t remember you holding silver hair away from the toilet”.

Two sharp deafening whips silenced the two bickering women. 

Nezu was left in a light sweat upon the two bright red prints left upon the cheeks of the metamorph and the mystic as Midnight lowered her flogger from sight.

“What I’m saying, sir”, the agitated woman began as she suddenly slammed a ridiculously thick binder upon the mongoose’s desk, “you haven’t been informed of the entire situation”.

The woman’s confidence, of course peaked the principal’s interest, as well as the anxious curiosity of the two women beside her.

NEMURI KAYAMA. AKA: MIDNIGHT. LEADER OF HERO TRIO ARCANA AND DESIGNATED MOM OF THE GROUP. AS YOU CAN SEE, THEY GET PLENTY OF DISCIPLINE.

“You see, sir, some people believe that due to the presence of heroes, it is not necessary for our city to be spending money on police forces. When the truth is police patrols are just as important is not more. It is how heroes are able to maintain an ability to do their jobs properly and without situations arising where drastic actions must be taken”, she began to explain.

“A hero’s job is to combat the conflict of the world, but what most don’t know is that patterns in crime must be identified for heroes to develop the safest and surest strategy to assess the situation and at the wrong place at the wrong time, could end in disaster”.

“Fortunately”, the woman lightly grinned, “we were here at the perfect time”.

“Of course the media is only going to exploit the property damage which in turn would cause civilians to lose trust in the safety of heroes patrolling the city, as well as our competence in teaching”, she admitted before a planting a solid finger upon the binder, “but, I have something much more valuable than a petty story to ruin UA’s reputation”.

“My my, what is this?”, Nezu cheerfully asked as he took the binder in hand.

“That, sir, is all unsolved crime reports of certain sections of the city”.

As the principal opened the binder, Aoi and Silver could’ve sworn they felt his soul plummet to the floor.

“As you can see, sir, over 57% of our city is lacking in surveillance and police patrol. Though there have been many complaints of activity, there is clear negligence in keeping these areas under watch. Resulting in multiple properties being used for criminal activity”, Midnight continued, “One of these properties being…”.

“The bar you girls destroyed…”.

“Precisely”, the x-rated hero shouted in triumph.

How did she even find this so quickly?, the women thought to themselves, slightly unnerved by their friend’s investigative talents.

“My goodness”, Nezu lightly stuttered as he continued to look into this disturbing news. 

“There are, however, multiple reports of criminal activity at this property”, the principal stated. “AllMight has even been documented to have investigated this property before”.

“True as that may be, pay close attention to the dates of which these investigations occurred”, Midnight countered. “Months almost years apart from each other and over time these villain gangs can easily adapt. Imagine how many times these gangs possibly sensed suspicious activity and fled to other hideouts in other to avoid detection and every report indicates that these groups have been growing more and more in size. This particular bar was a fair size and was packed to the brim. There’s no telling how much they could’ve multiplied. At this point, it would’ve been far too risky to alert the authorities. Any extra suspicion could’ve caused them to flee or worse, also, how long until the city ignored this property again? The risk was too great. Action needed to be taken”.

As much as Nezu wanted to believe there was a better way, he could not help, but agree with Midnight’s observations.

“So, tell me, sir? Is property damages to a known criminal hideout more important than the number of rapists, thieves and murderers brought to justice and the negligence of city officials that could’ve ended their reign over such a large portion of our beloved city sooner?”

The fury in the woman’s eyes sent a chill throughout the room, leaving the principal with only one possible answer.

“And that is how we seized a notorious criminal hideout”, Nemuri proudly, news cameras focused on the three heroes.

“WOW, SIMPLY INCREDIBLE!!! THERE YOU HAVE IT FOLKS”, the cheery reporter chirped toward the camera into her microphone, “HEROICS AT IT’S FINEST!!”

“It is our job to protect and serve and we do so proudly”, Midnight commented as she smiled and waved toward her fans, signing numerous autographs. The other two women watching on from afar.

“Why is SHE getting all the credit?”, Silver mumbled in annoyance, “I’M THE ONE THAT BLEW UP THE PLACE, Y’KNOW!!!”

“Yeah, you deserve a medal”, Aoi rolled her eyes at her friend with a smirk.

Somewhere in the dormitories…

“…we’re gonna hear about this tomorrow, aren’t we?”, Toshinori Yagi asked as he stood next to an exasperated Aizawa in the teacher’s lounge of UA. The channel currently turned to the news.

“…more like until we retire”.

Tagging: @digitalkanvas @glacian-apocalypse @nykamito @aquathemermaidstripper

If you would like to be tagged, let us know!

[angelavengedinspo-blog]

Any of the Shadowhunters he knew back in New York would have dealt with the situation without blinking an eye. He was sure Isabelle would have cut off the possum’s head with a sword. But now he was surrounded by people who panicked and screamed and stood on stools, flailing disasters of human beings who could not cope with a single rodent, and Simon was one of them. They were all just normal kids. It was such a relief, Simon felt dizzy with it. Or maybe that was because he’d hit his head. 

-----------

But he did think he remembered Isabelle, Jace, and Alec saying some sketchy things about mundanes, now and then. Isabelle, Jace, and Alec weren’t so bad. It was just the way they were brought up: They didn’t mean what it seemed like they meant. Simon was pretty sure. 

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

And he remembered Isabelle, her dark hair flowing over his pillow, her throat bared to him, her toenails scratching his leg, like a sexy vampire movie aside from the bit about the toenails. The other Simon had been not only a hero but a lady-killer. Well, more of a lady-killer than Simon was now. Isabelle. Simon’s mouth moved to form the shape of her name, pressing it into his pillow. He’d told himself he wasn’t going to think about her, not until he was really getting somewhere in the Academy. Not until he was on his way to being better, being the person she wanted him to be.

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

“No!” said Simon. “I can’t stress that enough. I’ve bitten several Shadowhunters. I bit Isabelle Lightwood and Alec Lightwood; biting Jace was not a tender and unique moment!” “You bit Isabelle and Alec Lightwood?!” asked Julie, who was starting to sound freaked-out. “What did the Lightwoods ever do to you?” “Wow,” said George. “I imagined the demon realms were fearsome and terrifying, but seems like it was pretty much nonstop nom nom nom.” “That is not how it was!” Simon said.

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

“—despite her tender years, a Shadowhunter of some renown and noted expertise with less-used weapons such as the whip. May I welcome to Shadowhunter Academy our first guest lecturer: Isabelle Lightwood!” Isabelle turned, sleek black hair flaring around her shoulders and black skirt flaring around her pale legs. She was wearing glittery plum lipstick, so dark it looked almost black. Her eyes did look black, but another small knife of memory pierced Simon, of course at the worst time possible: He remembered the colors of her eyes from close up, very dark brown, like brown velvet, so close to black as to make no difference, but with paler rings of color. . . . He stumbled over to his desk, and folded into his chair with a thump.

...

When the dean left, Isabelle turned and regarded her class with absolute contempt. “I am not actually here to instruct any of you idiots,” she told them, walking up and down the rows of desks. “If you want to use a whip, train with one, and if you lose an ear, don’t be a big whiny baby.” Several of the boys nodded, as if hypnotized. Almost all the boys were watching Isabelle as if they were a nest of snakes intent on being charmed. Some of the girls were watching her that way too. “I am here,” Isabelle announced, finishing her prowl of the perimeter and turning to face them all again with snapping eyes, “to determine my relationship.” Simon goggled. She couldn’t be talking about him. Could she?

“Do you see that man?” Isabelle asked, pointing at Simon. Apparently she was talking about him. “That’s Simon Lewis, and he is my boyfriend. So if any of you think about trying to hurt him because he’s a mundie or—may the Angel have mercy on your soul—pursuing him romantically, I will come after you, I will hunt you down, and I will crush you to powder.”

“We’re just bros,�� said George hastily. Beatriz edged her desk away from Simon’s. Isabelle lowered her hand. The flush of excitement was receding from her face as well, as though she had come to say what she had said, and now that she was out of adrenaline she was actually processing what had come out of her mouth. “I am going to go now,” Isabelle announced. “Thank you for your attention. Class dismissed.” She turned and walked out of the room. “I have to—” Simon began, rising from his desk on legs that felt a little unsteady. “I have to go.” “Yeah, you do,” George said. Simon went out the door, and ran down the stone corridors of the Academy. He knew Isabelle was fast, so he ran, faster than he’d ever run on the training grounds, and he caught up to her in the hall. She stopped in the dim light of the stained-glass window as he called her name. “Isabelle!” She stood waiting for him. Her lips parted and gleamed, like plums under a winter frost, ready to be tasted. Simon could see himself running up to her, catching her in his arms, and kissing her mouth, knowing what it had taken for her to do that—his brave, brilliant Isabelle—and carried away in a whirl of love and joy, but he saw it as if through a pane of glass, as if looking into another dimension, one he could see but not quite touch. Simon felt a hot pang of grief through his whole body, not just through his chest, as if he had been struck by lightning. But he had to say it. “I’m not your boyfriend, Isabelle,” he called out. She went white. Simon was horrified by how badly his words had come out. “I mean, I can’t be your boyfriend, Isabelle,” he said. “I’m not him—that guy who was your boyfriend. That guy you want.” He almost said: I wish I could be. He had wished he could be. That was why he had come to the Academy, to learn how to be that guy they all wanted back. He’d wanted to be that way, be an awesome hero like in a game or a movie. He’d been so sure, at first, that was what he wanted. Except wishing he could be that guy was like wishing to obliterate the guy he was now: the normal, happy guy in a band, who could still love his mother, who did not wake up in the coldest, darkest hour of the night weeping for dead friends. And he did not know if he could be that guy she wanted, whether he wished it or not. “You remember everything, and I—I don’t remember enough,” Simon went on. “I hurt you when I don’t mean to, and I thought I could come to the Academy and come back better, but it’s not looking good. The whole game has changed. My skill level has decreased and the difficulty level has been jacked up to impossible—” “Simon,” Isabelle interrupted, “you’re talking like a nerd.” She said it almost fondly, but it freaked Simon out more. “And I don’t know how to be smooth, sexy vampire Simon for you, either!” Isabelle’s perfect mouth curved, like a dark half-moon in her pale face. “You were never that smooth, Simon.” “Oh,” said Simon. “Oh, thank God. I know you’ve had a lot of boyfriends. I remember there was a faerie, and”—another flash of memory, this time most unwelcome—“a . . . Lord Montgomery? You dated a member of the nobility? How am I ever going to compete with that?” Isabelle still looked fond, but it was diluted with a good deal of impatience. “You’re Lord Montgomery, Simon!” “I don’t understand,” said Simon. “When you’re made a vampire, are you also given a title?” Maybe that made sense. Vampires were aristocratic. Isabelle put her fingers up to touch her brow. It was a gesture that seemed like disdainful weariness, like Isabelle was tired of all this, but Simon saw the way her eyes closed, as if she could not look at him when she spoke. “It was just a joke between you and me, Simon.” Simon was tired of all this: of knowing pieces of her so well and others not at all, of knowing he was not what she wanted. “No,” he said. “It was a joke between you and him.” “You are him, Simon!” “I’m not,” Simon told her. “I don’t—I don’t know how to be, that’s what I’ve been realizing all this time. I thought I could learn to be him, but since I got to the Academy I learned that I can’t. I can’t experience everything we did over again. I’m never going to be the guy who did all that. I’m going to do different things. I’m going to be a different guy.” “Once you Ascend, you’ll get all your memories back!” Isabelle shouted at him. “If I Ascend, it will be in two years. I’m not going to be the same guy in two years, even if I do get all the memories back, because there will be so many other memories. You’re not going to be the same girl. I know you believed in me, Isabelle, I know you believed because you—you cared about him. That means more than I can tell you. But, Isabelle, Isabelle, it isn’t fair of me to take advantage of your belief. It isn’t fair to keep you waiting for him, when he isn’t ever coming back.”

Isabelle had her arms crossed, fingers curled into the dark plum velvet of her own jacket as if she was offering herself comfort. “None of this is fair. It isn’t fair that part of your life was ripped from you. It’s not fair that you were ripped away from me. I’m so angry, Simon.”

Simon took a step toward her and took one of her hands, uncurling her fingers from her jacket. He did not take her in his arms but he stood a little distance away from her, their hands linked across the distance. Her trembling mouth sparkled, and so did her eyelashes. He did not know if this was indomitable Isabelle crying, or whether it was sparkly mascara. All he knew was that she shone, like a constellation in the shape of a girl. “Isabelle,” he said. “Isabelle.” She was so much herself, and he had scarcely any idea who he was. “Do you know why you’re here?” she demanded. He just looked at her. There were so many things that question could mean, and so many ways to answer. “I mean at the Academy,” she said. “Do you know why you want to be a Shadowhunter?” He hesitated. “I wanted to be that guy again,” he said. “That hero that you all remember . . . and this seems like a training school for heroes.” “It’s not,” Isabelle said flatly. “It’s a training school for Shadowhunters. And yeah, I think that’s a pretty cool thing, and yeah, I think protecting the world is pretty heroic. But there are cowardly Shadowhunters and evil Shadowhunters and hopeless Shadowhunters. If you’re going to get through the Academy, you have to figure out why you want to be a Shadowhunter and what that means to you, Simon. Not just why you want to be special.” He winced, but it was true. “You’re right. I don’t know. I know that I want to be here. I know I need to be here. Believe me, if you’d seen the bathrooms, you’d know I didn’t make this decision lightly.” She gave him a withering look. “But,” he said, “I don’t know why. I don’t know myself well enough yet. I know what I said to you, at first, and I know what you hoped. That I could turn back into who I was before. I was really wrong and I am really sorry.”

“Sorry?” Isabelle demanded. “Do you know what a big deal it was for me to come here, to make a fool of myself in front of all these people? Do you know—of course you don’t. You don’t want me to believe in you? You don’t want me to choose you?”

Isabelle pulled her hands away from him, turned her face away as she had in the garden of the Institute that was her home. This time Simon knew it was absolutely his fault. She was already leaving as she said: “Have it your way, Simon Lewis. I won’t.” 

[thelostandforgottenangel]

Perfect Valentine’s Day

Posted this yesterday but it never went through so all four are a day late might take me some time but here you go - sorry hope nobody minds

Sweet Donnie Smut  (Sorry this song it just cannon to me for him)

Song: Perfect - Ed Sheeran 

@devilsnevercry1388 @tmntwhat-you-get-is-what-you-see @fyreball66 @illcallyouvega @tur-nerd-tle-girl @bunnyboo9889 @technical

Donatello had been working himself ragged rushing around with repairs, trying to finish all his projects, and be sure his family didn’t need anything before he had to meet her at six that night wanting everything to be perfect for his Valentine surprise. He had it all planned out to the very small details the would make it work but around four that evening a message came through to his phone from her, it left the genius wondering if everything was okay when she had text him she had to cancel.

It wasn’t like her to cancel via text which made him quickly call her only to hear the young female sounding as if she was losing her voice “Hey honey - Is everything okay… you don’t sound too good?”

“Oh Donnie - I’m so sorry" her voice cracked making him worry even more as she coughed loudly on the other end of the line wheezing almost sounding miserable as she tried to catch her breath sniffling after a while

“Sweetie? Baby what’s wrong you’re worrying me?”

“Donnie - I am so sorry I have to cancel tonight I’m afraid I’m coming down with something… I feel awful and I don’t want to get you sick… I know tonight’s important-”

He cleared his throat as he looked at his computer seeing all the work he still had to do before clearing his throat again stopping her from saying anymore “It’s okay Love, please don’t worry about it… if you’re not feeling good we shouldn’t go out - you need to get you some rest so you can heal”

She sounded so relieved by his quick reassurance and his tone showing no hint of anger her voice coming out so soft it melted him “Donnie you’re amazing. Thank you so much - I promise I’ll make it up to you" before he could say anything else she had hung up the phone feeling his heart sinking that his mate was sick on one of the most important day for any couple especially their first year of being together. The turtle didn’t move a muscle staring at his phone finally dropping it on the desk mumbling to himself as he shifted through the papers trying to remember where he had been on his notes sitting there for few more minutes before looking to his phone again as an idea popped in his head but he would need to hurry if he was going to pull it off on such short notice

An hour later the genius turtle was flying over the city jumping between roofs heading straight to her apartment, a small yet heavy gray tote under his arm with several things he felt would make her feel a lot better in no time. He was going over everything in his head double checking to be sure he hadn’t forgotten anything until he was standing on her roof glancing down to the window of her place seeing a faint light from the lamp by her desk on meaning she was either laying on the couch or had fell asleep and left it on slowly making his way down the fire escape until he was pushing the window up looking inside to see her home was a disaster zone; used tissues were on the floor, dishes scattered her coffee table, and clothes were laying around the front room. It was obvious to him after knowing the young woman for a few years she had to be sick if she hadn’t clean that day smiling to himself as he let himself in quickly being sure to close her window softly going into ninja stealth mode cleaning up the apartment for her

He set to throwing the trash in a bag and dropping it down eight stories with perfect accuracy into the dumpster on the other side of the alley before gathering all of the dishes taking them to the sink washing every last one so she wouldn’t have too when she got up, his next step was to layout the clothes in a basket and set them on the washer in her linen closet for later before finally setting up everything he had brought with him.

45 minutes later he had the living room set up the way he wanted, it actually looked better than he had originally planned quickly checking everything before changing his clothes into something a little nicer and more comfortable which for their date had been a loose pair of slacks and a modified dress shirt to go under his shell only half buttoned the way his mate liked, checking himself in the mirror he was finally satisfied heading down the hallway quietly to her room seeing the door was cracked peeking in to see her beautiful princess knocked out on her bed – for a moment he started to let her sleep before her phone dinged and she jumped looking at the screen hopefully before pouting when it wasn’t who she wanted it to be dropping it beside her with a disappointed huff

She was missing him

He smiled softly tapping on the door frame before he stepped in seeing her look over from under her blankets giving her the warmest smile he could when her face lit up upon seeing her special turtle “Hey there beautiful how you feeling?”

She quickly sat up brushing her hair back trying to make herself look presentable even if right then she was the most adorable female he had ever seen and he was going to be sure once she was better he told her so for the rest of her life “D-Donnie… what are you doing here… don’t get me wrong baby I’m happy to see you but - I don’t want to get you sick… Why didn’t you tell me you were coming over I look terrible!” the pout that took over her face had him falling for her all over again - god he was a sucker for that little puppy pout

She did it so well, it was her little personal weapon against the turtle and she had to have known it

“You don’t look terrible baby – here your hair needs to be like this” he grinned stepping further into the room with a small sway to his steps going to her side sitting down on the edge of her bed ruffled it up a bit more making the wild locks frame her face more “There - perfection in its truest form” his smirk was genuine as he gently kissed her forehead feeling how warm she was cupping her face in his large hands “Hey - don’t worry about getting me sick. I needed to come see how my girl was feeling; it’s not right for me to let you be alone on Valentine’s Day without somebody to love on you no matter what you said. Besides what kind of boyfriend would I be if I left you to suffer all alone in this lonely bed – a very terrible and very insensitive one...” his sass tone came out in full Donatello flare as he laughed at himself gently pushed her hair back behind her ears seeing the tears in her glassy eyes as he looked her over like she was the rarest and most priceless gem he had ever seen “I’m here cause it’s where I belong, where I really want to be – so deal with it Princess”

For a moment she gave him a slight glare – he knew she hated being told to ‘Deal with it’ but seeing him being so sweet cracked her attitude, in only a few seconds she laughed leaning over to hug him tightly nuzzling up to the genius who held her the second she was against him “How in the world did I get so lucky to have somebody like you care about me”

He chuckled softly kissing her neck before gently picking her up in his arms seeing her in a long sheer white night gown walking towards the door “Well before you ask yourself that again wait until you see what I brought you” she looks so confused as he walked down the hallway before stepping into the living room turning the corner as her eyes widen and she gave a surprised gasp cupping a hand over her lips

Her entire living room was decorated to perfection with several pillar candles lit around the room making the room glow softly so her eyes wouldn’t hurt from the lights, red rose petals were on the cleaned floor trailing from her hallway over to her couch where he had set it up with her softest pillows and thickest comforter, the TV was on with one of her favorite movies, and the coffee table had a red sheet over it set up with a large pizza and 2 large drinks but closer to the couch there was a bowl of her favorite soup and her crackers… he had made her dinner too!

“If you couldn’t go out for Valentine’s Day - I was going to bring Valentine’s to you… I figured since you were staying in we could make this the best date night we’ve ever had” he gently kissed her cheek carrying her over to the couch and laying her down on the comfy nest before stepping back over to the plastic bin behind the couch pulling out a bouquet of two dozen roses wrapped up beautifully in a sparkly dark purple tissue paper with a shiny ribbon made bow holding them all together and what had to been the cutest teddy bear she had ever seen, he kneeled down beside her like a prince would in the movies she loved to watch presenting them to her with a cute smirk “Happy Valentine’s Day my love – do you still want to be mine?”

She was so shocked by everything she was seeing she had to hide her face as tears dripped down her cheeks, Donatello had done all of this just for her – just to make her feel special on their first Valentine’s Day together as a couple feeling him lifting her face as she took the bear hugging it tightly to her chest while he wiped the tears away still smiling “I ruined our first-”

“No you didn’t… if anything you improved it, made it fifty times better than anything I had planned – I mean how many ladies are going to wake up tomorrow and be able to say their guy did-” he clicked on his phone before the TV turned off on its own as a projection of the beautiful night sky filled her roof clearly before her stereo clicked on playing a slow song “- all of this just for them”

She just stared at him – Nobody… nobody in the world come tomorrow would be able to say their boyfriend had come over at the threat of getting sick to make her feel like the luckiest girl in the world by just being himself!

He was such a nerd!

“Donnie-” she stopped her mouth falling open looking over as the song he was playing started over melting for the turtle in an instant, she knew this song by heart and for a moment she was speechless “This is our song…” he nodded grinning smugly before getting up extending his staff and twirling it with eerie accuracy blowing out all but three candles before placing it back down where it stayed while he was visiting her as she kept staring at him in awe against the night sky as he bowed holding out his hand to her

“May I have this dance under the stars Princess?” he couldn’t surprise her past this, they was nothing that could top all of this as she slowly took his hand letting him pull her up placing his free hand on her hip swaying slowly with her, the woman refusing to cry again as they slowly dance barefooted on the soft carpet, she leaned on his chest as they slowly moved mumbling her negative feelings about herself, wishing she didn’t look half dead and a mess before he lifted her face to look at her his voice coming out under his breath “Dove you look perfect tonight” their eyes met  locking on one another before he spun her pulling his girl closer to him as the song picked up

She was enjoying herself; not only was this the best Valentine’s day she was so deeply in love with this man

After a while she heard a different deeper tone then the one coming through the speakers seeing him smiling looking at her as he sang along softly to the song when it restarted before quickly stopping blushing “Sorry” it wasn’t the first time she had heard Donatello sing but usually it was off key to his weird music or with Mikey to ‘Holla Back Girl’ but this… this was beautiful

“No… Please Donnie – keep going…”

The purple banded turtle looked up at the love of his life as he spun her before moving a little differently as his voice got a little louder as he looked at her, every word he was about to speak true and heartfelt my the genius turtle towards his mate “Well I found a woman, stronger than anyone I know.  She shares my dreams, I hope that someday I'll share her home.  I found a love, to carry more than just my secrets.  To carry love, to carry children of our own” he grinned seeing the tears in her eyes as she smiled at the turtle dancing with him as they moved around the living room “We are still kids, but we're so in love.  Fighting against all odds. I know we'll be alright this time.  Darling, just hold my hand. Be my girl, I'll be your man.  I see my future in your eyes”

She laughed as he picked her up spinning her with him before she was leading him feeling better just being this close to him not thinking about it when he leaned in kissing her slow and passionately – she finally realized he really didn’t care if he got sick.

“Baby, I'm dancing in the dark, with you between my arms.  Barefoot on the grass, listening to our favorite song.  When I saw you in that dress, looking so beautiful. I don't deserve this, darling, you look perfect tonight”

He was normally a bit of a germaphobe but with her it never seemed to matter - to him she was worth getting sick for a day or two

“Baby, I'm dancing in the dark, with you between my arms… Barefoot on the grass, listening to our favorite song-” he softly brushed a finger over her flushed cheek the song slowly coming to an end as she saw his honey brown orbs drift over her face holding her as he always did like she was the most prized possession in his world, slowly she realized he was no longer singing to her but speaking lovingly and softly “I have faith in what I see, now I know I have met an angel in person and she looks perfect…   I don't deserve this you look perfect … tonight”

She was so lost in the moment she made him dance with her again begging until he caved to sing for her one more time once they were done he laid her down and made her eat some of the soup nibbling on the pizza here and there to make sure she was taken care of until his love had made him sit down and eat while they watched the movie they had seen a million times

By the time morning came and the third movie had ended Donnie looked over to see her out cold in her soft nest, a gentle hand slowly made its way to her forehead feeling her head before smiling finding her fever had broken finally seeing her shift pulling him closer until he laid down beside her chucking softly when she turned over nuzzling into his chest unbuttoning his shirt the rest of the way pressing closer smiling in her half sleepy state “Perfect night-” she was sleeping soundly before he kissed her forehead holding her close as he got comfortable feeling sleep finally claiming him as the candles flicked out

“Nothing is more perfect then you – Happy Valentine’s day baby”

[renaroo]

Day 10 Plaid: It’s a Fashion Statement

Disclaimer: Batman and associated characters are the creative property of DC Comics. Warnings: Canon-typical violence & language, Canon character death mentioned, Mild adoption discrimination at the beginning Pairings: CassandraxHarperxStephanie Rating: K+ Synopsis: When it’s date night and the club scene is popping in Gotham, one would think that some wardrobe coordination wouldn’t be a bad thing. Obviously those people never dated anyone in the Gotham Girls Gang.  CassandraxHarperxStephanie. Sapphic September: Plaid.

A/N: The amazing thing is that I didn’t get to the Gotham Girl Gang sooner lol

Cassandra had never really been to a club before. It sounded intimidating. And possibly at least slightly gross. But she wasn’t exactly sure about either of those either. Maybe she was completely wrong. Maybe it was going to be fun.

She laid on her bed, head hanging over the edge, and sighed, looking at the clothes strewn across all of the floor and furniture and more.

Her room looked like a tornado had gone through her closet, and just perhaps that was the best description of how Cassandra went through the wardrobe Bruce and Alfred bought her.

She waited a moment more, then allowed herself to slip backwards off the bed and roll out onto the floor.

There were only five hours left and Cassandra was already exhausted. At least she had showered for the date tonight. That was a positive. Maybe.

Perhaps it was also possible for Cassandra to not understand much about the whole dating thing either.

With a groan, she rolled over onto her back, laying on the piles of clothes and stared at the ceiling.

Maybe Harper and Stephanie had misspoken. Maybe they were going to a fight club and Cass could wear the biking shorts and sweatshirt she already had on. And punch people.

That was the part of her that she was fairly sure that Harper and Steph liked anyway.

For a good little bit, Cass stayed on the floor, closing her eyes and pretending that she wasn’t nervous about clubbing. That clubbing actually meant getting hit with clubs, which she was almost sure was something more up her alley already. Which made it something of a surprise when there was a knock at her door.

Eyes snapping open, Cass glanced toward the door. She tried to remember the word that Tim used to tell her to come on into his room when she knocked, but it was escaping her at the moment.

So instead she settled on, “Here!”

The door opened and Cass felt herself immediately brighten up at the sight of Kate — Batwoman — on the other side. She smiled at Cass and pushed the door on open before walking in.

“Hey, Alfred warned me you had a big night tonight,” Kate said, looking around the disaster zone of a room. “Hm. He failed to warn me that you picked a fight with a tailor.”

Cass spun herself around to sit up on her pile of clothes rather than be sprawled out like a child. She frowned a bit at Kate’s words and just spoke honestly. “I… don’t know how to…” she rotated her hand as if it were supposed to mean something that her words were failing her on. She glanced off, scowling at the adjacent wall in concentrated thought. “How to… be…”

“Fashionable?” Kate joked, pulling up a seat from the desk in the corner of the room.

“How to be… girl with… girls? Dating?” Cass clarified. She looked to Kate. “How to club? With girls?”

Kate blinked a few times before laughing. “Well, typically I tell people to get used to playing pool and leather jackets.”

Putting a hand to her chin, Cass hummed to herself in thought. “Yes…”

“Okay, no more sarcasm,” Kate laughed, leaning over and grabbing some of the clothes from the floor. “You’re worried about what exactly with this date? I thought Alfred said you already have dates.”

“Yes,” Cass nodded.

“Okay… Well, I hate to tell you, Cassie, because I know you adore a challenge, but you already did the hardest part of being a lesbian in Gotham City,” Kate explained. “In fact, you’re actually ahead of the curve. I kinda want to fight you for gay dominance.”

Perking up, Cass put up her fists. “Can do that!”

“Sarcasm,” Kate quickly corrected.

“Mine’s not,” Cass replied.

Kate hummed in amusement before gathering some more of Cass’ clothes. “Do you want to wear shorts tonight? It’ll be pretty hot.”

Cassandra looked down to her legs and frowned to herself. Like most of the rest of her body, scars and pockmarks from her years with Cain and with Mother left their tell-tale signs. It was not something she saw on other girls.

“No,” she finally answered.

“I think you look cute in shorts, but if you want, we’ll make one of these pairs of skinny jeans work — oh, love these boots,” Kate replied distractedly as she rummaged more. “I’m thinking heavy eyeliner. Do you have any band shirts?”

When Kate looked up, Cass could only blink back at her before smiling and shrugging.

Kate grabbed some clothes from underneath Cass’ pile and yanked them free despite Cassandra’s impeccable balance. “Okay, it’s official, I’m going to handle your everything this one time and get you ready to walk in confident, ready, and kicking ass.”

Smiling widely, Cass nodded. “Lesbian ass!”

“Honey, you already have that slain,” Kate assured her.

Cassandra stepped out of the black Mercedes that Alfred had drove her in with her toes turned in, attempting to offset the strangeness of wearing the high heeled boots that Kate had chosen for her. She gave Alfred a nervous look and he nodded to her before she took a deep breath and completed walking out of the car.

She was wearing a black shirt with fancy, loopy white writing on it. It was a band shirt, according to Kate.

Kate also had told her the name of the band and what to say her favorite song from them was if people asked but Cassandra had forgotten it already in between the thick smattering of dark and sparkly makeup ad the sticky way her crimped hair felt after being yanked and pulled and styled to Kate’s approval.

Pouting her lips out, Cass did remember that the black lipstick was supposed to get on her teeth and she was supposed to stop from letting that happen. And instead she used her tongue to roll across the front of her teeth repeatedly.

Hanging off her shoulders, ripped but according to Kate not ripped in the way of the sweat pants Bruce made her throw out, to show off her biceps and rolled up her forearm was an open plaid shirt that Kate informed her really completed the outfit. It was supposed to be in, whatever that meant.

It made Cass feel awkward for sure, and as she stood on the sidewalk nervously, being looked over by passing strangers, she began to think a mistake had been made until there was a surprised sound.

“Cassandra!?” Steph’s voice rang out.

Excited, Cass turned immediately to meet her. Then Cassandra’s smile only grew as she saw both Harper and Stephanie walking toward her.

Stephanie was in heels and the kind of torn shorts that Cass had rejected — but they looked good on her, Cass was glad to see them on someone else — and was wearing her hair curled and half back. Her makeup was similarly dark but even more sparkly, especially the purple eyeshadow. She had a purple plaid shirt, sleeves rolled up to her elbow, that also had a hood. Cass could not have been more envious of that hood.

Harper was in her signature converse shoes, baggier pants than Cass or Steph, but with holes. Cass supposed those holes were also different from the sweat pants holes. Harper wasn’t wearing much makeup, but her piercings were changed out for new ones and she similarly wore a black shirt with fancy, though different, writing and a blue plaid shirt hanging loosely open over it.

The three girls looked at each other.

Cass happily clapped her hands. “We match!”

“We look like complete dorks!” Steph snorted, throwing her head back in laughter.

“Hey, you two speak for yourselves. I’ve been rocking this look every day of my life long before I met either of you. And I don’t play around with softening my butch,” Harper joked, fluffing up her shirt collar. “But yeah. I guess we all have the same definition of clubbing from the looks of it.”

“I have no idea what we’re doing tonight actually,” Steph laughed. “I just tried to dress for what I thought you two thought was cool.”

They then looked to Cass.

“Kate,” she said simply enough.

Both nodded sagely in understanding of what saying their mentor’s name meant.

“Explains why you look better than either of us,” Steph laughed.

“We all look the same,” Cass argued.

“Ladies, ladies,” Harper joked, wrapping her arms around their shoulders as she hung between them. “We’re all beautiful. Now. Let’s try to act like we know how to have a good time!”

Cassandra laughed with her girlfriends, certain that there was no better start to a fun night.