#i get the theme of not needing the bangs to hide herself behind anymore but

[chinelacanta]

more paper doodles!

[themissinghand]

Lookism: What Normal Life? You're at J High!

Summary: In which a girl thought she could live a freer, unbothersome life hiding behind a) handsome or beautiful, b) gangster wanna-bes or c) all the above people at J High.

(Spoiler, she thought wrong, and let's face it, she's not that normal either)

Pairing: Our queen just gathering bits and pieces of interest from everyone in school and Gun...yea. A little bit of Everyone x Female! OC!

Note: A short bit of interesting background plot on the Female OC at the beginning before we meet manhwa characters.

Maybe a part 2 to continue this series?

Warning: Some swearing, blood, and fighting (just Lookism themes).

Lee Seo-Jun hates it here.

"Why J High?"

"...why not?" 

On her left was her mother, and to her left was her father.

"J High won't do you any good." Chung Ye-Jun, Seo-Jun’s mother, and the Co-President of the Lee Company, shakes her head. When she was about to put one hand on Seo-Jun’s shoulder, Seo-Jun immediately stood up and glared. 

Chung Ye-Jun let out a sigh, before backing off. 

"Alright, as per our deal, we won't interfere, right, Duri?" Chung Ye-Jun turns to her husband, Lee Duri, the other Co-President of the Lee Company with a smile.

"I will not go back on my word, however you must not ruin our reputation like that brother of yours." 

Seo-Jun narrowed her eyes at the father of hers, and begrudgingly nodded obediently. 

She hates them just as much as she hates this place. 

"Duri. I thought we decided to not speak of him anymore, after all, our successor has always been our lovely Seo-Jun right?" 

No, the successor was supposed to be her older brother, and no one else. 

"After all, she is a good child. Such a shame that you weren't a boy. That would've been perfect." 

Sometimes she wondered just what she did to deserve this? 

To them, nothing else mattered as long as Seo-Jun stayed with them, and she had to, for where would she go?

But that’s a misconception, Seo-Jun can go anyway but here. 

"I'll go myself." She excused herself without any sort of permission, but a call of her name stops her in place.

"Lee Seo-Jun. You won't forget us, will you? Make sure to send back your monthly quota and send us how you're doing from time to time!" A subtle nod, before she shuts the door behind her.

Behind the door, Seo-Jun could still hear them speak, and it’s almost too obvious, predicable and sickening that she wants to silence them.

How dare they?

"Honestly, if he was here, Seo-Jun wouldn't be so lonely. Why did he run away? He was doing so well in our education just like Seo-Jun." Chung Ye-Jun crosses her arms and winks at her husband. 

What do they know? 

"That is why she won’t fail us like that failure, Lee Suho. She is our successor after all."

Seo-Jun decided to not hear anymore of their bullshit and took large strides away, followed by a couple of unneeded security guards and assistants. 

Seo-Jun entered the elevator with the silent group of spies, people assigned to watch over her, and promptly ignored their pointed stares. Instead she looked outside the large glass windows and repeated the vow in her mind. 

Lee Company will fall.

The Lee Company stood proudly as always.

Lee Seo-Jun was a simple person.

An apartment near the school, with a two bedroom and two washrooms. A small kitchen with the bare essentials is all she needs.

Silence is her favorite noise, and loneliness is her best friend.

Normality is often overlooked, yet it's something she appreciated.

"Young Master! Welcome! I will be your butler-wait wait wait! Why are you pushing me out!?"

She slams the door in front of the innocent butler as she should, and ignores the banging on the door, or the calls of her name.

"Young Master! Just because you sent me money that could feed a person for a year, doesn't mean that I will leave you! I promised the Co-President that I would make sure you are fed everyday!"

She sends another hefty amount, as she should, to get rid of the nuisance, and for tips, she ensures to call the police.

"Young Master!"

Carlos Garcia is the type of person she hates the most.

Overzealous, annoying, and gives no care for her privacy.

But he is her butler (watcher) and if she does want to get rid of him, she would have to speak to her family again.

"Young Master! It's time for school!"

"..."

"Why didn't you tell me you were awake! C'mere! I made some tostadas-Young Master! You have to eat breakfast-"

She shuts the door behind her without hesitation and moves on with her day. 

“I know you don’t mean it Young Master! You saved me that day after all!” 

Seo-Jun pulls her hood over her head and sprints. 

“It’s a guy?! Dammit!” 

“Why is he not saying anything? Is he mute?”

“Why is he wearing a mask? Is he super ugly or something?”

“Fuck, another weirdo.” 

Seo-Jun doesn’t bother with introductions, instead, she writes her name on the board and makes her way to her assigned seat without saying another word. 

Though she did avoid one guy’s super obvious foot blocking her way. 

Before he could make a fuss, she sent a threatening look at him, basically telling him to shut up and not bother her if he wants to live. 

Like an obedient child, he shrinks away from the ominous aura and looks sideways. 

Seo-Jun heard whispers of awe and nervousness spread like an epidemic, and she’s already sick of it. 

The only reason she chose this shitty school was because it was so bad with gangs and drugs that it’s easy to hide behind these meat shields. 

Normalcy isn’t easy, as desirable it was. 

But Seo-Jun is more than ready to do what it takes for others to leave her alone and defend herself when times come.

After all, isn’t that what her parents' education is for?

“Hey. Get up.” Seo-Jun looks up from her phone and sees three large boys staring down at her with sneering expressions. 

She could already tell this was going to be a headache. 

“You, did you bully my junior? On your first day? You want to die?” 

“Kneel and apologize if you don’t want to get punched by our King, Zack!” Following their gestures. Seo-Jun shifted her sight to the tall man sitting with his feet on the desk. 

“Yea, Zack is a boxer!”

So what if he’s a boxer? 

Seo-Jun simply pushes herself up, and pushes them aside despite their disbelief.

She doesn’t have time to deal with them. 

“Oi. How dare you ignore us!?” Seo-Jun turned around swiftly and easily dodged their juvenile punches before tripping them over her leg. 

She doesn’t spare them another look, and instead turns back to the exit, ignoring the whispers. 

“Hey! You! Stop right there.” Just as she stopped, she leaned back slightly to barely dodge the powerful punch from a boxer. 

But she wasn’t fazed, instead, she spun around and swiped her feet at the boxer’s leg. Although the boxer did try to defend, she was faster due to throwing the man off guard. 

In the next moment, she narrowly dodged a quick punch to her chin and swiped the boxer off his feet. 

Zack promptly ended up on his butt as Seo-Jun didn’t wait to witness his existential crisis and immediately left the room that erupted into chaos a few seconds later. 

Seo-Jun hates her life, did she mention it before?

It’s only been a few days and she’s sick of everything. 

At home, Carlos will be there. 

At school, Zack and his little minions are stalking her, and now, other “gangster-wanna-bes” want to fight with her. 

Especially Vin Jin the wanna-be rapper, and…Vasco? What strange people with strange names. 

Also Eli the rainbow man, and Daniel, the new transfer that came in that also conveniently humiliated Zack, so now he has a vendetta against the both of us. 

But did Daniel have to look at her with those disgusting puppy eyes? 

What did she even do? Not bother him like everyone else? 

She doesn’t recall anything that would catch his attention…nevermind, it’s not worth her time. 

It’s annoying. 

That’s why she immediately left school and found a convenient store to eat for now. The one near her house, so she goes there often.

She quickly grabs what she needs, and scares the living shit out of the stupid bullies asking for alcohol with a single glare like usual, before paying her due. 

“T-Thank you.” Seo-Jun doesn’t answer, simply nods at the overweight cashier before finding a small table to sit at. 

Shoving snacks down her throat while fulfilling her quota for the month is hard as usual, but it doesn’t stop her from finishing some work. 

She chews on her bread while she quickly hacks into a famous company's security system and exiting before she is caught.

After cutting all ends loose, she takes a deep breath while she sips on her 5th cup of coffee of the day.

Work done as requested by her parents and…

“Jun?” 

“What do you want?” She whispered, and withheld a smile. 

“Don’t be so mean to your oppa. He might get hurt easily.” 

“Shut up.” She answered crudely even if she didn't want to. 

“Alright, I’ll treat you to a meal once they stop watching you as often. It’s been a while. But, before we do, can you help your oppa do some things? Just the usual.” 

“Don’t contact me.” His gruff laugh is full of guilt and melancholy, all of which is familiar yet unfortunate, but Seo-Jun doesn’t act out of character. 

For herself and for her brother. 

She endures and endures. 

“I knew I could rely on you.” 

She hangs up and shuts her laptop before packing up her stuff. 

When she arrives at the front, the cashier is looking at some snacks with funny eyes, as if he’s debating whether to devour the entire rack of snacks or not.

So she simply grabs what he’s staring intently at, and buys it with her own money, before pushing it towards him and leaving despite the confusion. 

Why is she doing this? Because this cashier has let her work in peace at the back many a times, she’s simply returning the favour. 

“Can I at least get your name!?” He yells out.

Seo-Jim chooses to ignore his question and simply replies.

“Take it or leave it.”

She didn’t stay to see the thankful, and tearful eyes from the cashier.

 

“If you beat me in arm-wrestling, I will leave you alone.”

When Vasco made that preposition, Seo-Jun agreed after some consideration. 

If she wins, while she gains popularity, but at least this boss man won’t bother her with his minions for a bit. If she loses, everyone will eventually forget about her. 

While both are equally tempting, she chooses the most ideal solution that benefits her life.

With a nod, she prepares herself. 

“Take off your hood.” 

“It won’t affect the outcome.” She says, and ignores all the background trash talk behind her.

“Don’t regret it.” 

If there is anything she knows about Vasco, it’s that this guy is stupidly naive and pure-hearted. 

The type she dislikes the most. 

When they clasp hands, she felt Vasco tense for a brief moment, as if coming to a realization, but he gathered his wits and gripped firmly.

“You are a man?” 

“What do you think?” Seo-Jun calmly replied before Jace, the monkey right-hand man of Vasco starts to count down.

“3, 2, 1, Go!” 

In an instant, the desk began to shake from the sheer pressure it was under. 

“What?! He’s matching Vasco in strength!” 

“No way! It’s equal! Both of them aren’t budging!” 

“Go Vasco! You got this!” 

It’s…disappointing really. 

“No! Vasco is losing?!” 

She chose to win.

Why? Not only does Vasco leave her alone, his crew and other people who fear Vasco will leave her alone. 

Furthermore, knowing Vasco’s personality, he will not rest until she showed him what he wanted and will bug her forever, saying that she didn’t use her full strength.

Not that she did anyway.

Compared to fighting Carlos…this is nothing. 

Just like that Seo-Jun slammed Vasco’s down firmly, locked and secured, as she looked at Jace for confirmation. Jace coughed nervously in shock, but them recovered promptly and declared.

“The winner is Lee Seo-Jun.” 

She immediately withdrew her hand and shook off her hand to relax her muscles. She glances at the shocked man before standing up. 

“Then, keep your promise, Vasco.” Just like that she leaves again, and sighing as she hears the rumour spread loud and wide. 

At least they’ll leave her alone.

At this point, she’s not surprised. 

“You, fight me.”

Lee Seo-Jun was not even close to them, in fact, once she saw them she turned the opposite way. But no, she got noticed.

What is with her shitty luck?!

With Daniel, Vasco, the daughter of a rich family and her bodyguard, Seo-Jun knew things would not go her way. 

“Lee Seo-Jun. The CEO talked about you.” 

“Gun, you mean this person is-” 

“Yea, this guy here is the one the CEO told us to look into.” 

Oh? Now that Seo-Jun thought about it, this girl here, she thought she saw her before, isn’t she the daughter of Choi Charles, the CEO of HNH? 

Then this man must be…ah, Park Gun? What a cringe name. 

Looks like hacking into their system was beneficial for both her and her brother. 

“Either come with us willingly, or you fight me.” Gun said as he took large strides towards her. 

She first looked for a way out, but appearantly Gun guessed the same and is more than ready to stop her if necessary.

“First to cause the other to fall to the ground wins. I don’t have time.”

So she takes the lead. If she can’t run, she might as well fight. 

A smirk rose on his face as he towers over her.

“Alright, the faster the better.” 

“Wait Lee Seo-Jun, that guy is strong.” Vasco states and looks concerned. Seo-Jim glances at him briefly and noticed that he was quite injured.

Although his concern was unwarranted. 

“Let’s get on with it then.” 

When the fight started, Seo-Jun noticed how Gun’s bored look slowly morphed to one of excitement and ecstasy. 

“You…where have you been hiding!?” 

Seo-Jun has done some research in the man before, so she has a broad idea of how he fights. She admits he’s stronger than many of her opponents she fought before.

But she fought and trained herself too much during her education to be defeated or fazed by this half naked man. 

“Very good! Lee Seo-Jun! Show me more-“

“You're annoying.” 

So when she does smash his face down to the ground after some difficulty and getting multiple injuries herself, she ensures he stays down by trapping him and landing solid punches on his face. 

Until Crystal tells her to stop. 

“It’s your win.” 

Seo-Jun lets go and jumps back immediately after Gun recovers almost instantly. His eyes were pitch black and he wore a giant smirk on his face. 

“Lee Seo-Jun! You…You are a girl?!” Daniel and Vasco exclaimed and flushed red. 

Seo-Jun blinks and notices that her clothing had been ripped in the process, revealing some parts of her scarred body, from her bruised abs to her bloodied toned shoulders and scarred legs. 

"What...Lee Seo-Jun, where did you get those injuries?!" Daniel ran over in worry.

"None of your business."

It was then she noticed her hood has fallen off due to the impact of Gun's punches, and her mask was ripped off in the fight.

What a shame.

Seo-Jun wasn’t flustered, at least she had her undergarments on and was still functional. 

The only thing now is that she can't pose as a boy anymore, unless she silence these people, which she doubts.

“Very good. To think you were the daughter of Lee Company…they were hiding you in Lee Suho’s shadow too well.” Gun applauded as he put his shoulder back to place. He finally puts on his glasses to cover his eyes.

Seo-Jun brushed off any excess dirt and dust and then sent a dark look to the rich duo before walking away. 

“Let’s have a complete fight one day, Lee Seo-Jun.” Seo-Jun jumped aside instinctively when someone’s coat was thrown at her. Gun smirked and she returned a disgusted look before ignoring the expensive jacket on the ground. 

“Wait Seo-Jun, you can’t go back looking like that!” 

“Seo-Jun. You are a strong girl.” 

With Daniel fussing over her appearance, she ended up taking his jacket and had to bear Vasco’s determined look for the rest of the school day as they wouldn’t leave her alone. 

So much for normalcy huh. 

Seo-Jun enjoyed her temporary peaceful life, but now she’s far gone, with gangs, companies, and the world knowing her name. 

Dammit Gun.

[totebagchiqbarista]

can we have a chat noir x reader x ladybug where chat and lady are constantly trying to out due in battles each other for the reader’s attention, even in school with adrian and marionette

a loving feeling

Pairing: Adrien/Chat Noir, Marinette/Ladybug x GenderNeutral!Reader

Here's the first request I got! I literally love this idea so much oh my god. I hope you like it :)

“Adrien, dude, go talk to them. Now’s your chance!“ said Nino, reassuringly patting his best friend on the back. Adrien’s palms sweat just because of the thought of talking to them. It had been so long since he felt anything other than platonic love for somebody and was losing his mind. Adrien knew he wasn’t the only one who saw Y/N as potentially someone who was to be more than a friend. How could he be? 

“Go! Now!“ Nino pushed him closer to the infatuating dream of his best friend. Disappearing in a split second he rebounded with his girlfriend. 

Adrien made a few steps. It has seemed the person of his dreams was way too far away from him. Fear grew with each step and his heart was now beating in his throat, unable to catch a breath. Yes! They are so close! He can see them, just a bit more. He is already there, just hanging by the tip of a finger... And suddenly he was in a broom closet. 

“Oh, Plagg I chickened out again“ Adrien cried, clenching his fists against the wall. The kwami flew around his head in an attempt to catch his gaze. 

“Honestly Adrien, you could only talk to them when you were Cat Noir. But when you’re...well you, you lose your mind!“ he spoke “You see, cheese doesn’t do that to a person“

“You’re a kwami“

“My point still stands.“

Adrien banged his hair against the wall. It’s true, he could always talk to them when he was dressed in black. “I'm going to talk to them, today!”

“You go to the same class, you talk to them every day “ Plagg rolled his eyes, getting tired of the same old story his owner has been playing over and over

The blonde boy shook his head trying to talk to Plagg on a serious note “You know what I mean”

Upon entering the class, Marinette stumbled over her thoughts. She had decided she will talk to them today. She had no idea how, but she had put her mind to it. She is doing this.

"Hi, Marinette," said Y/N when they saw the bluenette deep in her thought.

Marinette's eyes widened in surprise, her breath hitching in her throat. She had to process what is happening before she could open her mouth.

"O-oh, hi, Y/N. Are you how? I mean, how you are?" she felt embarrassed by the inability to speak as she tried to collect herself "How are you?"

"I'm good, thanks. Do you want to sit next to me today? Nino and Alya sat together." they questioned, pointing to the couple in love, sat in the second row.

Marinette's face lit up in joy as she shook her head in approval "Yeah, I will". The two sat down in the first row, waiting for the class to start.

"So, Y/N, tell me, um do you- want to-" Blue-haired girl started as the duo collected their bags and headed towards the door. Y/N watched the girl carefully until she was interrupted by a loud cheer behind them.

They turned around, meeting eyes with a pair of green ones that lit under the blonde hair. "Hi, Adrien!" they waved in response.

Marinette's face reddened. It wasn't just because of the Adrien himself who too, made her blush a little. But it was because he could not have found the worse time to come by...

Her fingers twitched as she watched him smile sweetly and sly to the person she was just about to ask out. He had a kind, heart-warming smile on his face, and he was talking so softly to them. His fingers twirled in his blonde hair as he...

Marinette's face widened at the realization. The guy was stealing her date!

"Actually, we were talking you can come back by later" she interrupted blushing Adrien, taking Y/N's hand in hers and walking off. Without thinking, Adrien reached out, grabbing Y/N's hand. His fingers wrapped around their wrist. "Why can't I join you?" he blurted.

"Of course you can!" Y/N exclaimed

"No, you can't. Don't you have a fencing class to attend to?" Marinette fought back, crossing her hands on her chest.

"It got postponed"

"It never does"

"But today it has so I have an hour of free time"

Y/N watched as the two held a strong eye contact filled with rage and jealousy. Their bodies came closer and closer as they fought back and forth for their attention.

Suddenly, the door of the school burst open, shrieks fulfilling the building. A woman dressed in black entered, her ripped dress falling to the floor. Silver hair of hers flowed in the wind as she wrapped her fingers tighter around the machine in her hand. Two rat ears grew on the tip of her head and a tail that followed the theme.

She walked around, shooting every random passenger and turning them into...rats?

"We have to hide!" Y/N exclaimed as they took both of their hands, leading them into a classroom.

Marinette stuttered, ripping their hands apart even though that was the last thing she wanted to do. "I forgot my bag in the other classroom, I have to get that, it's important, you guys go hide now!"

Y/N nodded, running again, leaving Adrien to follow along. "Locker rooms! We can hide there" he said, grabbing them by the hand and running to the secure place in school.

"Chloe! Where are you Chloe!" the rat lady yelled, leading her way through the corridors of the Françoise Dupont High School. "Hide here," he said, showing them a safe place in one of the lockers.

"You too." They said pointing to the one across. Adrien only nodded in response and faking it once they were completely safe. The blonde's legs carried him to the bathroom by the speed of light.

Closing the door he took a moment to take a deep breath and rest his back against the wall. His kwami reappeared in front of his face, waiting for a word. Something. Anything.

"Don't you have a significant other to save, Adrien?"

Adrien got himself on his feet, away from the daydreams. Plagg was right, he did everything better when he was Chat Noir, so saving them should be as easy too. Maybe then he can finally talk to them without interruptions or his own fears.

The blonde nodded. "Plagg claws out!"

Although they knew they could be in danger, Y/N couldn't take being locked up in a locker anymore. She stepped out, only to be met by Adrian's open locker. The rat lady must have got to him.

"Stupid" they hummed to themselves as they looked around, figuring out what to do.

Suddenly, the door to the locker room opened and the infamous black cat costume appeared before them, taking their breath as always. "Well hello I guess we're stuck in danger together," he said flirty "Might as well make the most out of it" he bowed down before them.

"Poor kitty, and where's your lady?" They said, teasingly to the cat boy who so desperately tried to get under their skin.

"Said she will be right back."

And just on queue, the lady in red stormed into the room. Taking a look at Chat Noir once she sighed. "I'm sorry to do this, but it's important. Multimouse, I need you." She handed the already well-known miraculous box to them as they nodded in response.

It was safe to say Chat Noir was losing his mind. His eyes widened at the sudden information, as he stared at them in amazement. "You're Multimouse?!" he squeaked. Thinking back on the previous times Multimouse came to help and he did nothing but flirt with them. There was something that stood out about them and he never knew what. Now, it all made sense.

Then yet again, he wonders how whenever Multimous was around, Ladybug also got way more talkative and goofy and eager for their attention. He remembers all the fights over Multimouse he and the lady had led. It all came together now.

"Of course I am," they said, tying the necklace around their neck and meeting with Mullo, once again.

"I've missed you Y/N," Mullo said, happily flying around.

"I can say the same" they responded, ready to transform "Mullo, get squeaky!"

"Wow," both of the Paris' superheroes were smitten. Stealing a dirty look from each other for one last time they created a plan with Multimouse to defeat Ninkilia. As Ladybug said, she is completely sure the Akuma is in her hand machine.

"That's the plan, just follow my lead" she finished her speech

"As you wish my lady" Multimouse chimed in before Chat Noir could say anything. Ladybug's hot cheeks were prominent through her mask, and the cat looked nothing but jealous.

"R-right, let's go" the girl with spots exclaimed, her cheeks still burning red.

Jumping from the roof, Multimouse teased the villain. "A mouse? No!" Ninkilia yelled. "If you can live in the garbage now, why can't you do it in a form of a true rat itself" she cried as she shot around random people on the street.

"We have to get to her hand machine quickly," Chat Noir said fighting the lady in black. "And maybe then we can go somewhere just the two of us."

He winked at Multimouse who only laughed, and earned a look of pure hatred from Ladybug. Expecting a comment on his own behalf, Chat Noir was surprised by the lady's response. "You don't want to go with him trust me. I know the best ice cream in town."

Multimouse only laughed "Let's get rid of this rat lady first," they said "Multitude!"

"No, not the mice!" Ninkilia desperately tried shooting the little mice around her as they climbed up her legs. Ladybug's yoyo wrapped around her, pinning her to the ground.

"Chat Noir!" Ladybug exclaimed.

"Cataclysm"

The Akuma has been purified and the trio has once more, saved the day. "Pound it!"

"It has been a pleasure working with you" black cat smiled sheepishly, taking the mouse's hand and kissing it softly. "Will I have the pleasure of seeing you again soon?"

"We'll see," they said, signalizing Ladybug it's time to go.

Ladybug pulled them close, taking them by the waist and already feeling her heart beat faster. Multimouse, or precisely, Y/N placed their head in the crook of her neck and sent shivers down her spine. Soon, they were flying through the air, holding just by her yoyo.

"Thank you for choosing me," they said, as they scootched closer to her body, clinging in fear of falling down.

"How could I not?"

Marinette's heartbeat raced faster as they shared a soft smile. If it were up to her, she would like to fight alongside them all the time.

[noethicalconsumptionunderdisney]

Ranked: Hannah Montana — Mamaw vs. Dolly

So this seemed like a fun one for me to do!  These are two of the most iconic recurring guest stars, so naturally I had to pit them against each other (or, well, pit their episodes against each other).  This competition isn’t particularly serious, but it is a nice excuse for me to talk about some of my favorite episodes on the show.  Like before, I’m going in reverse-order of how much I liked them, or Worst->Best, so I can save the best for last.  

“B-B-B-Bad to the Chrome” (Season Three)

It’s a testament to how awesome Vicki Lawrence is that even in the “worst” episode she’s in, she still brings it and is in many ways the strongest part of it.  This one loses out mainly on writing, and me fucking hating the subplot.  I’m sorry.  “You forgot some really arbitrary timestamp I decided to put on our relationship without telling you, which means you don’t love me” will just never be anything but annoying to me ever, no matter how much I like the couple involved.  Honestly, it was shit like that that made me glad I didn’t do a lot of dating in high school.

The main plot is kind of weak too tbh, but I’m still in some ways fond of it, because it’s very clear that it’s all coming from a place of love.  They replace her car because they love her, and they try to recreate the old crappy car because they love her, and she pretends not to notice because she loves them right back.  The best scenes are the one-on-one interactions between Miley and Mamaw, where you can see how much they understand each other.  It was because of those that I almost bumped this up one… but they weren’t quite enough to sell me on this episode.  Sorry again.

“You Give Lunch A Bad Name” (Season Three)

This one, again, not a very strong episode, but there are a few reasons I liked this one just a little bit more.  Part of it is I’m a sucker for Miley/Jackson centrics, and they strike such a perfect balance of brother-sister solidarity and sibling rivalry in this: the song in the beginning, the schemes, the mimic fights, them immediately pointing at each other when Mamaw asks them who the “guiltiest grandchild” is.  Another part is that weirdly, Lilly and Oliver seem to have more of their natural chemistry in this episode than they do in the one where they’re actually dating.  Case in point, their little quiet communication to leave in the middle of the siblings’ bickering without having to say a word to each other.

What’s interesting about this one is, Mamaw isn’t necessarily wrong that the kids are gonna take advantage of their dad being gone.  That’s exactly what they’re planning to do.  But then she takes it too far and holds on too hard, treating them like they’re 10 rather than 16 and 18 respectively.  There’s a classic conflict here of teenagers thinking they’re more mature than they really are, versus their family knowing they’re still kids but treating them like outright children instead of meeting them where they are. And I think it’s harder for her to accept they’re growing up than it is for Robby Ray because she isn’t around very much to see it happening.  While she recognizes in the end that they had good reason to be embarrassed, that theme of holding on to how things were because she’s afraid of losing them seems to be a consistent one with her in later seasons.

“I Am Mamaw, Hear Me Roar!” (Season Four)

First off, I just want to say that I think having a Dolly episode and a Mamaw episode after “I’ll Always Remember You,” and right after each other, was a really smart choice, especially the way they did it.  Dolly can help her embrace what it’s like to be all-celebrity, all the time, and Mamaw reminds her not to forget her family, and how hard that kind of life can actually be. Not just for Miley, but for the people around her.  They just tie really well into that whole, “She’s always had the best of both worlds, but now she’s gotta learn what living without her secret feels like” theme that late stage Season 4 has going for it.

One thing that always strikes me about this episode is how it puts so much of her actions in context, not just in this episode, but retroactively.  Of course Robby Ray forgot to visit her when he was younger and his own music career was in full swing.  Of course she would panic when the same seems to be happening to Miley, when they can’t take one picture or have one tea without Miley getting hounded by her fans, because she doesn’t have Hannah Montana to hide behind anymore. (Of course, I’m not so sure the timeline adds up there, but I’m gonna let that go because of the point it was trying to make.)  Being smacked in the face with Miley’s fame is really a wakeup call for all of them, but that makes Miley’s efforts to make sure Mamaw understands how much she cares all the more sweet.

“Good Golly, Miss Dolly” (Season One)

I’d initially put “Kiss It Goodbye” here, but I switched them when I realized I was underrating it— that episode was better than I remembered.  But I like this one, too!

This is Dolly’s first appearance and introduction, and she comes in with a bang.  The frou-frou, the flowers, and of course, the infamous camera that kickstarts the conflict of the episode.  Well, sort of— the real conflict is Miley’s confused feelings for Jake Ryan, torn between “falling all over him,” playing hard to get, and not wanting to give him the satisfaction of seeing her vulnerable.  The way it ends up intersecting with Oliver’s subplot of trying to compile a goodbye video for the principal is brilliant, and that sneaking scene?  Just amazing.

Of course, this puts her right back where she started, and she ends up regretting it when it’s seemingly too late for her and Jake, but her ripping up the flowers is funny, and then Dolly gets to show off her singing chops a little when she and Robby Ray cheer her up in a really sweet scene.  Beyond that, the subplot is… fine.  It’s pretty forgettable, but I liked it okay.  It’s not frustrating like some of the subplots in previous episodes on this list, but not quite as awesome as…

#3: “Kiss It Goodbye” (Season Four)

And with that, we’ve cracked the top three!  This one surprised me upon rewatch.  I knew I liked it, I just didn’t know how much I liked it until I saw it again. I think part of it might be me attributing some of my own feelings about Cancel Culture as a whole and how that’s affected us for the worse overall, celebrity or not, as well as some meta-significance to Miley’s career, both at the time and afterwards.  But let me get into the episode itself rather than getting on those tangents.

Miley starts off being a little careless with her image… but this is understandable, as she’s used to having her privacy, and living without it’s gonna take some getting used to.  Dolly has this legendary entrance in a personalized helicopter, complete with a pink ladder.  She uses her own know-how about fame to help Miley navigate the paparazzi, reassures her after a brutal interview with Colin Lassiter, and then encourages both her and Robby Ray to sing with her at her performance.  While both of them object at first, Robby Ray eventually gets up the courage to go… which is the push Miley needs to get past her fears and get back on the horse herself.

Beyond the main plotline and overall message that I love, it’s really quotable, and has one of the best subplots this show has ever had.  Rico goes practically catatonic because the Stewarts, a family of “idiots” he looks down upon, fooled him, an evil genius with an ego that can’t handle that.  I also like that we see Lilly’s compassionate side coming back in this episode in both plotlines, it’s the one thing I felt season 4’s Lilly was lacking overall, and it was fun to see her point her sharp tongue towards herself for once this season.  And of course, Jackson enjoying Rico’s suffering, but ultimately being the one to help him out of it was perfect, and bringing back the choir from earlier that season was even better.

#2: “I Will Always Loathe You” (Season Two)

Before anyone gets mad that this wasn’t my #1 pick, let me just say for the record that this episode is AWESOME.  Mamaw and Dolly’s rivalry is so explosive and they play off each other so beautifully, and the culmination of that into the “Granny Smackdown” is so well-done.  And look, yeah, I know that there were stunt doubles and probably a mannequin or two involved, but I don’t care, it’s a fantastic scene.  I love Robby Ray trying to make peace and ending up getting dragged into it, I love Hannah Montana awkwardly trying to salvage the situation, and ultimately breaking them up, and I love Jackson and Lilly scarfing down popcorn and watching the whole thing unfold from home.

If I had to pick which one of these episodes was the funniest, it would be this one, no contest.  The subplot here is great too; simple yes, but I think the simplicity works in contrast to just how much is going on in the main plot, and Oliver’s shame at his own involvement in the end?  Wonderful.  The contrast between the two women picking clothes for Miley’s award show, and the decision to genuinely make up after seeing how much it hurt Miley were executed beautifully too.  We don’t get the sense that they’re going to be BFFs, but I do like that the ending scene shows promise, that they’re at least capable of getting along, when they want to.   As Miley says, “You’re trying.  That is all I’ve ever wanted.”

So yeah, this episode?  Amazing.  But… not quite my favorite.

#1: “Grandmas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Play Favorites” (Season One)

Remember when I said I’m a sucker for Miley/Jackson centrics?  Yeah.  This episode was probably where all of that began for me.  (Also the beginning of my feelings about Jackson going from “oh he’s pretty funny” to “LET ME LOVE YOU,” but I’ll try to keep my stanning to a minimum here.)

We start off with what appears to be a fairly straightforward story.  Hannah Montana is meeting the queen.  Jackson has a volleyball game.  Mamaw’s coming to visit, and she’s critical of Robby Ray, particularly his eating habits, she’s tepidly nice to Miley, but treats her as an afterthought, and she heaps praise and adoration and attention onto Jackson by the bucketload.  On the surface, it seems that this is about Mamaw unfairly favoring Jackson over Miley.  Right up until this happens:

“She’s gonna insult the queen and ruin my command performance all because of her ‘little Jackson.’  It’s always about you!”

“Me?!  Well, it’s never about me!  Everything in this family revolves around you!”

One comeback, and the tables are turned.  Yes, Mamaw hasn’t treated Hannah Montana getting to sing for the Queen of England with the respect and admiration it deserves.  But Robby Ray and Miley haven’t been treating Jackson with the respect and admiration he deserves.  When Miley snarks that Mamaw would rather go to Jackson’s volleyball game than her performance, she responds with, “Well, if I don’t, who will?  I don’t see either one of you heading for the door.”  She doesn’t ignore Miley because she loves her any less.  In an ironic turn of events, the reason she ignores Miley isn’t about her at all.

I do like, though, that the episode doesn’t treat this as “two wrongs make a right.”  Mamaw still apologizes for making Miley feel “invisible,” like her accomplishments don’t matter, like she doesn’t care.  Jackson feeling invisible because his dad and his sister and the whole rest of the world treat him that way, doesn’t excuse Mamaw treating Miley that way.  And the fact that all of it’s unintentional, and that the neglect is coming from someone who does, genuinely, love that person, doesn’t erase the harm it causes. This is a lesson for both of them, and Miley comes away with a greater understanding of what her brother goes through.

There is still a part of me that wishes this had gotten elaborated on more in the show?  Not that Jackson doesn’t bring up the favoritism issue multiple times afterward, but it’s not treated seriously very often after this, considering how often it comes up.  It saddens me to think that, for all the efforts they make in this episode to make sure they’re there for Jackson in the end, Miley and Robby Ray still end up falling into the same patterns with Jackson as the show goes on, and worse.   I can’t help but think this pattern of neglect and Jackson’s deterioration into “the family failure” are related, and while I don’t need every single episode to treat it as A Big Deal, the truth is, it is a big deal, and I wish the show had been more consistent in actually taking it seriously.

So that’s my list!  In the end, I think we can all agree Mamaw and Dolly are both pretty iconic characters, and made the show all the richer for being on it.  I’ve loved getting a chance to look at their episodes again, and make sure to stay tuned for my next Ranked post for this series, where I may be talking about another iconic recurring character on this show….  (Hint: one of these episodes is on that list, too.)  Until next time!

[papers4me]

Fruits Basket, SE02, Ep23

Love is in the air is the theme of this ep! All kinds of luv~ for everybody!~ kyo/tohru (main), yuki/machi(new!!), rin/haru(on going), Arisa/Kureno (dead-end?), hiro/kisa (babies to luvers...), hana/tohru/arisa (sisters love!) yuki/kakeru (friendship), momiji/tohru (cutest friendship!) kyo/haru (underrated friendship), hana/kyo/arisa (living to tease*torment* you friendship!XD), kyo/kazuma (parental love!), Haru/kisa (big brother care), yuki’s fanclub (toxic love), hana/food (OTP). What an ep!! One of a kind where you start off crying of laughter & end up crying from broken heart!

-Arisa’s second outburst:

The best thing abt this play is that you can’t tell if they’re following a script or not for the most part. XD, However, for some it IS clear when they bring in their personal feelings. Arisa was fine acting her role with improvised jokes on kyo’s expense. However, due to kyo’s refusal to meet the princess, she got angry to the point of screaming in front of the whole school & visitors? The outburst was treated seriously with climatic music, audience reaction, fellow actors surprise & narrator-san pointing out it IS personal & not scripted. But afterwards arisa is fine. Even though I’m not into love at first sight, I acknowledge it exists in fiction & in reality. No problem. But the extreme intensity of kureno/Arisa’s love is higher than everybody’s without enough basis from those two meetings they had before... Sure, she can fall in love with him, wish him to meet her.. but her outburst is too much, too painful, too heartbreaking. However if you look at her outburst as a plot device to get kureno involved once again & complicate things, bingo, you get why it was planted there. Momiji’s footage will reach him. cool. but too forced in my opinion.. everything abt their interaction is too forced, from her first outburst at his few words that got her to cry her heart out & leave the restaurant & get nearly kissed on the lips to her second outburst in front of the entire school. Arisa likes ppl who are tohru-like. The narrative hints that kureno is tohru-like. First, his clumsiness, second? being content with his unjust life? what is tohru-like abt him so far that gets arisa to scream her heart out? I’m sure we’ll see more of his tohru-like qualities. but so far, it comes across too forced for me.

-Machi SEES the real yuki:

It seems that the confirmation that any female is heading to yuki’s heart is to be bullied by yuki’s fans. lol.  Machi not seeing yuki as a prince is her unique thing. Everybody including tohru see him as a prince & put him in a pedestal. In the play yuki descended from the sky, emerged from underground, said deep lines & glowed. Yet, machi saw thro the acting. I was cheering for yuki to step in & put these toxic girls at their place. Machi can be saved by kakeru’s indirect plan, sure, but this toxic behavior has been going since ep1. tohru was saved from them by hana & arisa. Bullying is always used as a plot device in furuba & unfortunately a comedic gag (there’s an entire ep dedicated for the fanclub). Sure furuba isn’t going to fix every issue or even provide solutions. It can’t. it shouldn’t. bullying is one hell of hard issue to solve. furuba wants to use bullying for plot. no problem. but also decides to comment on it quickly? yuki & kakeru’s argument abt the proper reaction towards bullying with each one of them taking an opposite opinion while machi herself is being bullied behind them felt too philosophical & untimely. Only for all this to end with a gag. Yuki is stuck paying the consequence cuz they’re his fans?.. ok. I’d love if the entire scene didn’t involve this argument. For example, yuki finding the girls, him listening to machi’s opinion abt him, him about to step in & defend her, then kakeru makes a prank abt photo-session with yuki, unknowingly saving the situation. Cuz the whole point of the scene is for yuki to know machi is different & sees the real him! Not that I hate how things played out, it is just furuba’s treatment of the issue of bullying is always weird to me. Similar to its treatment of violence, sometimes it’s serious, sometimes it’s comedy.

-Tohru’s best visual presentation ( show-NOT-tell): YES!

I’ve complained plenty abt furuba not treating tohru with enough visual presentation when it comes to hints for her issues or thoughts. but NOT today! This ep is tohru’s heaven! Tohru was torn apart between too many things & she didn’t inner monologue abt anything, YET, the visual imagery was enough to talk in her behalf!!! They showed tohru’s reaction to arisa, they showed tohru noticing haru/rin connection, they showed tohru react to Hana’s words without showing any of her inner thoughts & it works 100%. I’m so satisfied with this kind of treatment. You can show tons of silent emotions & trust the audience to make the correct conclusions without making your character spoon feed the audience on what they’re feeling. Hana’s “ do you plan to keep on deceiving yourself, locked in the castle, until you die?” is too close for comfort! it triggered kyo to react & say exactly his reasoning behind his decision without bringing the real world “ So what if I do? Does it hurt anyone else?” Kyo is sick of believing that he’s causing harm to his loved ones (mother, father, kazuma, kyoko, tohru). He agrees to be locked till death cuz this way no one will be harmed. ONLY him. he thinks he DESERVE it for existing & causing harm to these same ppl. His response prompts tohru to forget herself & react. What did tohru say? ( you are loved? you need to live? don’t hurt yourself? ) NO. It is NOT abt kyo. it IS abt HER!!! It is the (true form ) scene again but this time symbolically with 10 times harsher consequences!!! kyo’s true form’s final scene is NOT abt kyo deciding to stay, it IS abt tohru saying what she wants. That day tohru talked abt HERSELF. “ I want to listen to your complaints cuz u listened to me”. “ I want us to stay together” By demanding things & acknowledging herself, she got kyo to come back. This time, too, she react cuz SHE wants kyo to stay. “ I wouldn’t..” It is ME. I’ll be hurt if you’re locked. it is abt ME. I need you. I want you. I’m too scared to loose you. You’ve been my true support for long time now. Don’t Leave me, too!!!. Tohru stops herself cuz tohru doesn’t allow herself to want things or even acknowledge that she is worthy of things!! Just focus on her dialogue with others “ if I’m not troubling you, it is forward of me, please allow me” she’s talking to her friends! tohru has the lowest self esteem in furuba!

-Kyo, being an expert on reading tohru, knew the rest of the line. Kyo notices she’s in love with him. but again sinners don;t deserve love! You can’t love monsters? you’ll end up hurt!! hello!! tohru bled in the true form ep. he can’t hurt her again!!! NO way!! Enough causing her pain & tears. “ I wont take anything away from you again” he said in ep, 9. So, kyo forces himself to NOT see the truth. Forces his eyes to close tight. He’s an expert on that. Last ep, his eyes were forced to open to the reality that he doesn’t really hate yuki, but hates himself. Now, you want him to un-hate himself a little & acknowledge tohru’s love? if he did, where will it lead to? they’ll both confess & live together without him telling her abt kyoko?? that’s deceit! Him telling her abt kyko? she won’t forgive him, she’ll hate him! it is better to leave with happy memories than leave after causing tohru harm. Heck! tohru forgiving him or not IS not the issue, at all. the issue is HIM. he can’t forgive himself. he’s unforgivable!

-The most tragic Foreshadowing: (Symbolism DONE Right!)

They meet after the semi-confession, things are not the same anymore! they try to awkwardly get back to normal. Kyo says “ it couldn’t be, (I won’t let my self think it)” we know why. tohru says “ I wont (let my self think it)” WHY?!!! what is the show hiding for tohru? we know kyo’s issue. it is the BEST untold issue!! but tohru? What is stopping her more than her denying herself? it gotta be convincing & deep. otherwise, the writer would ruin the best complicated emotional dilemma that she is building her climax on! I know I’ll like what’s in store for tohru. No way such writer will miss on this. This will be EPIC. The tear between them is one of furuba’s greatest visual symbolism. One image only causing enough heartache to balance & take away the laughter from the entire ep!! One image leaving you with a punch in the gut. leaving you frustrated as to “Nooooooo~ stop! get back together”. I’m not usually into romance as I’m not a romantic person, but furuba has weaved this tale of emotionally abused children with traumatic experiences & tied them together with faint romantic direction & one of the best slow burns in anime! steadily building up their romantic connection without making it forced or in your face or apparent. I still can’t pinpoint when it first happened! Well-done writer & anime team. 10/10 scene!

Side Notes:

Narrator-san is the BEST! He kept everybody in check! & did it in style!

I’d like to thank the director for bringing their A+ animators to this ep! Kyo mostly looks hot & handsome but not HD, but there’s this kyo animator that kills the kyo animation!! kyo’d have three long strands of hair on his nose & his eyes would have more light animation than the mono-light. You can TELL the eps they bring this animator on! (such as Se01,Ep5, kagura ep, etc. ) & tohru!!!! my girl was done right!!!! no weird animation, no extra small baby hands, no shoulders that start around chest area, no bangs that are drawn like they suddenly ran out of brown ink mid coloring! lol. yuki is pretty & HD in every ep & so is hana!!

Hana is the prettiest furuba character hands down! 

Let’s be honest, yuki could’ve said 1+1=2 & the school would’ve celebrated his wisdom! XD. I kinda wish he’d deliberately say sth stupid jst for the heck of it. part of breaking the perfect yuki image. XD.

The opening gag of the men ogling kisa is the most unnecessary scene in furuba, eww~ Not funny!

why is every character MUST be part of romantic couple in furuba? Even children? & they have their own mini love complications with jealousy & misunderstanding, pinning & all. lol

Kazuma. that’s it. that’s the note.

Hana was mocking fiction tropes (animosity in families, traditions pressuring youth, helpless heroine, love at first sight! XD, romance for romance, happily ever after romance, main male protagonist loving main female protg, magical beings saving the day). Best play ever!

why does it feel like kyo just came from war? XD. He was in last ep. perhaps cuz he was absent for most of the season after kagura’s ep, with cameos here & there, few lines & not much focus. But they made up for it & brought his face expressions game up! from annoyed, cat ears, love struck, teased, blushing, a white cartoon-ish cat with an orange cat inside his mouth, shirtless hot, childish jealousy for his papa, his fangs, his cat reflexes. Name it & you bet there’s a kyo face for it. XD.

Speaking of funny faces, prince yuki got one today! all thanks to machi. that’s what I call women power! XD.

What is this weird skin-colored thingi? school mascot?

I love that hiro is questioning the play. XD

momiji is back, I feel that it’s been long as I last saw him!

haru is hot. Haru is kind.

I love the small awkward tension between kyo/tohru as they met after the play, tohru’s faint sweat drops as she does her closed eyes smile & kyo’s sweat drop as he takes the food from her & talks abt shisho.

Shisho & kyo mini manga. is it published yet?

kyo & hana’s interactions are life!!!! XD.

Ayame deserves praise! costumes on point!!

Hana wins the one liners game. sorry haru, XD.

You know it is serious when kyo monologues! I used to think, it happens ONCE a season (ture form SE01,Ep24, akito confrontation, SE02,Ep,9)!! but he got one or two inner monologues lines today, if you count him repeating tohru’s line! Sh*t is going down! Will I hear more before the season ends???!! or will the honor goes to tohru?!! I can’t even imagine what’ll happen next!!!!

[mrs-i-have-too-many-biases]

Bang Chan// Sun and Moon (-light)// Chapter seven

Summary: Sun and Moon, different from another, but both unmissable in the world. The sun is warm, it provides daylight. It represents life, strength and growth. The moon, the brightest and largest object in our night sky. It makes the earth more liveable and represents admiration, change, mystery and feelings. The sun is untouchable and unreachable, but what if his ,independent, sun(-shine) becomes his world? Tropes: Enemies to Lovers Season: Spring Pairing: Bang Chan X Reader (ft. Seo Changbin) AU: | Delinquent!Female Reader | Vice President!Bang Chan | School!AU | Non!Idol AU | Genre: Fluff/ HEAVY Angst Word Count: 8,9K Warnings: HEAVY Themes of bullying, death threats, Themes of Abuse, swearing, insults, Anxiety, Depression, Suicidal thoughts, Self-hatred Requested: Yes, (Reference) A/n: For the sake of the fiction, Chan is a twat in the story (his mother is very unpleasant in the story/this chapter), but only for imagines/ fiction purposes only. We all know better than that. I have mentioned his real-life sibling’s names in this chapter/story. Please remember to not harass them.

Y/n was a little out of breath and her body hurt slightly as she entered Chan’s room. She sat down with a sigh, trying to take the situation in. “I’m so sorry I told my parents like that-“ “It’s okay, it probably will clear up some thing to them.” Y/n muttered as she made herself comfortable on his bed.

“I’m sorry for their behaviour, from before and about today.” “It’s okay, you know if you want me to go, I can go right now. I don’t want there to be a conflict between your parents and you because of me.” “There isn’t, really. Well at least not anymore. I just want them to see that you’re so much more than tattoos and a so called ‘delinquent image’.” Chan stressed as he sat down next to her. “Besides, you’re not leaving. I don’t trust you outside, especially not with all those fractures. God knows what you would be up to, going to work I bet and get back to working out. You need to get some rest and let me and the others help you.” He added. “You know that I’d be fine just on my own, don’t you Chan?” She said with a small smile. “I know, and that’s why I want to help you this time.”

Y/n was about to continue arguing against Chan, but something else seemed to catch her attention. Chan turned slowly around to see what she was looking at and noticed the pictures he had put up of them together. He immediately started to stutter out gibberish and frantically tried to hide them from Y/n sight, causing her to laugh at his flustered state.

“Oh my- It’s not what you think! I- fuck!” Chan stressed as he tried to slam the pictures off the shelves I panic, but he was quickly stopped by Y/n who held him by the arm as she laughed. “It’s fine, I’m just surprised. I’ve never seen those before?” She wondered with a smug look on her face. “I-I certainly do not hide them whenever you would’ve come over- what no?” He stuttered, making her burst out in laughter yet again. “You’re cute Channie.” She said with a smile, not admitting that she had pictures printed out of them together as well.

The two were interrupted hours later by Chan’s father who peeped his head through the doorway. “Dinner’s ready.” He announced, before disappearing again. Chan and Y/n quickly following behind.

Chan noticed the nervous look on Y/n face. He held her by the waist in a swift move, hugging her in a comforting way, her heart beating loudly at the sudden action. The whole family sat together, and Y/n couldn’t deny it, but it was awkward as hell. “Y/n, my husband and I want to apologise to you.” Chan’s mother voiced, breaking the silence finally. “We’ve acted needlessly rude to you and we truly regret out immature actions. I hope you can find a way to forgive us?”

“It’s okay Misses Bang. I know that you only want the best for you son. I understand and I respect that. It’s also that I’m quite used to being judged already. Especially since people don’t know my background story...” And so Y/n told the Bang family everything.

They were shocked and saddened to hear the words leaving her mouth. It all sounded like a terrible nightmare. But that terrible nightmare was her actual life, or at least was up to that day when Chan found her.

“I can’t thank him enough for finding me, I wouldn’t know what would’ve happened to me if he would’ve been later or not there at all.” Y/n muttered in a sad voice. “Let’s be glad that didn’t happen and celebrate that you’re still here with us. And Y/n, we are once again terribly sorry. We will try our best to make it up to you.” Chan’s father states with a kind smile, making her smile back.

A warm feeling was filling her body, a loving sense of family had returned to her. Something that had been long for too long.

“Chan really, I can carry my books myself.” Y/n whined as she stepped out of the car with Chan, chasing him as he carried two heavy bookbags in his arms. “No, the doctor told us crystal clear that you need someone to help you carry things. Your stiches could rip open if you aren’t careful.” Chan states seriously. She let out a whine before she followed him to the building.

The pair received lots of looks from other students. Bang Chan, the popular vice president hanging out with the delinquent, again? People just couldn’t seem to wrap their heads around it. They also couldn’t seem to keep their butts out of other people’s business. Minho had met up with Chan and Y/n in front of the school, where he had already complained about how many people had already run up to him, asking what the deal was between Chan and Y/n, because a poor student was thinking about confessing her love to Chan this week.

“Poor girl.” Y/n muttered. “I know right, Chan has always been ‘smothered’ with confessions, yet he never accepted one.” Minho had informed before getting a notebook thrown to his face in middle of class by Chan who sat right in front of him. Jisung laughed loudly, Y/n did as well as she watched the three from her usual spot in the back.

Sooyun just happened to walk into the room at the wrong, yet best, time. She was about to sit next to Chan, where she usually sat, but to her surprise he stood up.

“You two are annoying, I’m going to sit with Y/n, at least she’s nice to be around with.” He playfully huffs to Minho and Jisung before seating himself in the back.

Sooyun watched his movements like a hawk eyeing its prey. She was about to protest and get him sit back next to her, but Jisung had grabbed her by the hand and pulled her down to her seat, stopping her from doing so. She huffs and turns herself away from them. Her ears caught the sound of Y/n and Chan laughing together in the back of the classroom, talking about whatever. Jealousy rose back into her body as she clenched her fists in anger. She had to do something about this, but what?

Days at school went by and to Y/n’s surprise, people had started to feel for her. She didn’t know why. She had told her story to the principal, explaining why she often skipped school and why she missed classes the past few weeks. There was a promise that her story wouldn’t be made public among the students of other teachers, for Y/n’s privacy and safety purposes.

Eventually Y/n figured that the fellow students were probably nice to her, because Chan and his whole clique were. So, she must’ve become ‘okay’ in their eyes.

There still were a few rotten apples to be found in between the others. They made Y/n out to be a clout chaser, that she wanted popularity or something like’s Chan’s status, his money. People had become quite creative and even said that she apparently wanted to become Chan so she could live a life where people actually liked her.

Y/n ignored the comments and never said anything about them. Especially since she believed that Chan had neve heard them, yet he did. He would look to his side as the whispers kept on going. She smiled at him and shot him a wink, a sign that she was okay. He wondered how she did it. How she handled with such people. It broke his heart to think that she used him. He knew she didn’t.

He wished they would had made an agreement, whenever she would argue that she could just go and stop bothering him, he would receive a thousand won from her. Chan would’ve been even richer by now if that was the deal.

In the meantime Chan wasn’t the only one who kept staring at Y/n, wondering how she did it. Sooyun could’ve been a character in Shrek by now, the green toxic tinting her from jealousy. She had enough of it. Y/n’s sudden gain of popularity, Chan’s attention and everything else she had been working years on to achieve. And here Y/n was, snatching it all away from her within days.

And so, suddenly. Y/n’s life turned upside down, once again. Y/n would walk into the school one day and receive the old nasty stares from everyone again. People bumped into her intentionally, making her hiss in pain, her body still not being completely healed. Chan yelled after them, the quickly asking if she was okay. “I’m fine.” She would mutter back. When they entered the room, a bunch of girls would pull Chan away from Y/n, leaving the both stunned. “What are you doing? Get off me.” Chan glared as he tried to shake the girls’ hands off. “Chan, you need to stay away from her.” “She’s not who you think she is.” The other cried out as they continued to pull them further away from Y/n.

“What are you talking about?” Y/n sighed as she crossed her arms, still in pain. “Don’t act so innocent bitch. You know fully well what you did.” A girl said as she shoved her phone in Y/n’s face. There was a news video playing on her screen. The colour seemed to leave Y/n’s skin as she watched how a journalist talked about her life, her story with her father. She was exposed, but something wasn’t right.

‘… we’re informed from a secured source, that y/l/n, a y/age girl, has drinking problems, abused her father and even thrown him in rehab when she should’ve been the one needing detoxifying…’

“They changed the story. That’s not true-“ Y/n was cut off by the pictures she was shown, also shown in the video that was still playing. They were pictures of her father, bruises all over his body and passed out on the ground. Y/n had seen her father drunk plenty of times, when he was drunk, he could easily hurt himself. She remembered that day, but she just couldn’t figure out how that picture was taken.

“How did this happen.” Y/n murmured to herself in shock. “Just admit it, your true colours are out. We’ve always known that you were nothing but a dense delinquent.” The girl spat, a sly smirk following next. “You know nothing.” Y/n snarled back, stepping closer to the girl. “What were you going to do? Hit me? I think it would be a great addition to your abuse-story, make people hate you more than they already do.” The same girl snarled, a witch-like laugh following.

Y/n turned to Chan in panic, but he was still struggling to get the girls off him.

As soon as Y/n had stepped out of the classroom she was once again swarmed by girls who were ready to protect Chan from her.

Their filth were getting to her head and the boys eventually came into the picture to defend her, but no one seemed to believe them or her. “She must’ve been lying to all of you, it’s all over the news. Every drama channel is talking about it as well.” “This is absurd, you believe those rumours, but not the person who the story is actually about?” “Why should we believe her lies? She’s dysfunctional, she always has been. Besides Sooyun told us that Chan told her himself.”

The words made Y/n’s head take a toll. “He did what now?” Y/n hissed anger firing up her heart. “Oh, please. Don’t pretend you didn’t know. You probably did all of this to get attention, didn’t you? To get Chan to like you and his little friends, well believe us it didn’t work. It’s for the best that Chan has put you back in your place, you’re an awful human being, you shouldn’t be allowed to walk around on earth. You’re not even fucking worthy to be breathing the same air as us-“ Y/n quickly pushed the girls aside when Sooyun was locked into her vision. “You! What the fuck did you do!” Y/n yelled as she stormed her way to Sooyun. “I didn’t do anything.” She said with a wicked smile. Y/n was holding back her tears as she wanted to rip that devilish smile off her face.

Felix would try to calm Y/n down, but he couldn’t stop her from talking as she yelled at Sooyun. “Y/n, sweetheart, here you are blaming me, but aren’t you the one who told Chan everything? He’s the one who gave me the information. How else would people know. You sure as hell didn’t tell me in person.” Sooyun states, which sets Y/n to think. It couldn’t have been Changbin, he didn’t know Sooyun. She didn’t tell Felix, Minho and Jisung anything with deep detail, yet Chan knew everything about her. There were even pictures taken of her passed out father. It seemed too bad to be true. It couldn’t be, right?

To Chan’s inconvenience, he walked right into the conversation at the wrong time. He looked at the two girls in confusion as he was stared at by the both. “Chan, did you…” Y/n couldn’t seem to get the words past her throat, but Sooyun seemed glad to steal the words from her mouth. “Chan, you were the cause of all of this, weren’t you?” Sooyun states, making him shot his head towards her in shock and confusion. “N-no, what are you talking about- Y/n I would never-“ “How do people know about all of this then? It’s told into detail, things I haven’t even told Changbin were exposed in that fucking clip. Explain that! I can’t believe this-“ Y/n cried out in frustration, feeling stupid for ever trusting him at all. “I should’ve known better.” “I’m sorry to say this Y/n, but Chan never seemed to actually care about you.” Sooyun snarled.

“Haven’t you said enough.” Y/n hissed to the girl in front of her. “I’m just saying, Chan never stood up for you whenever someone talked trash about you. We went on dates together and the things he said about you weren’t pretty-“ “Hold on- I never said anything-“ “But you never argued against them either, if you really cared about that poor girl, you would’ve defended her, wouldn’t you?” She said, trying to hold back a smirk as everything seemed to go just as she wished. “Y/n, please, don’t believe her.” Chan begged. “No, she’s right. Months ago, you wouldn’t even look at me, why would you now. I can’t believe how foolish I am to believe you.” Y/n sighed, she felt betrayed and just couldn’t look him in the eye right now.

She quickened her pace and ran out of the building, Chan was about to follow her, wanting to set things right, because this sure as hell wasn’t. He was held back by the same girls, who tried to make him seem that she wasn’t worth it and whatever filth they were trying to fill his mind with.

Y/n had been running for over thirty minutes by now, her hood covering her face as she made her way across the city. Her bones hurt, her arms felt like they were being ripped open as she rushed through the crowd, bumping into people constantly and receiving dirty looks from them as she ran past them.

She didn’t know if it was because they might had seen the video, or if they already knew her by her old reputation. Y/n finally made it to the parlour and stormed inside, completely ignoring Hyunjin who looked at her shocked when he saw he walk in. “Y/n, where’s Chan? Shouldn’t you be at school- what’s wrong? Are you crying- Y/n!” He called after her as paced to Changbin’s wing of the parlour. He jumped in surprise when he heart the curtains being ripped open. The smile on his face quickly dropped when he saw Y/n’s broken state and he rushed to her side to hold her close but carefully.

Her body being like glass to him that had been shattered too many times, put back together and on the edge of being broken again.

“…I never should’ve trusted him.” Changbin understood in-between the sobs that came from Y/n. “Who? Who hurt you? What’s going on? Why aren’t you with Chan? What happened?” Changbin had held Y/n face into his hands as she kept on crying, the tears rolling over his tattooed hands. Y/n murmured in-between her cries the explanation of what happened at school earlier.

Changbin was furious, he was planning of giving Chan a piece of his mind, he didn’t care that he was at school or at home, this was just sick. But for now, he needed Y/n to calm down. He felt her heart racing through her chest as he held her close. He sat her down and hugged her as she rubbed her back. The pain she must be feeling right now were probably unbearable, so he sussed her to sleep and asked Hyunjin to keep an eye on her as he went out to look for Chan.

Changbin didn’t had to look for long to find Chan as he was at home. Changbin rather punched the door than knocked, before the door swung open. “Bin! I’m so glad you’re here! I can’t find Y/n, I’ve looked everywhere-“ Chan was cut off by a punch that was thrown to his jaw and he stumbled back into his apartment. Changbin followed him in and grabbed him by the collar before throwing another punch to his ‘friend’s’ face. “What was that for!” “Who the fuck do you think you are Bang Chan! What is your bloody deal?” Changbin yelled as he shook Chan in anger, still holding him by the collar. “She went to you, didn’t she?” Chan asked, feeling slightly relieved.

“She did, and I’m glad she did. She came to me crying after all this time. Do you know when the last time was when I saw her cry?” Changbin snarled. “Never, because I don’t make her cry Bang.” “Listen! It’s not what you think! I’m being set up!” Chan cried out. “Sure you are, is this why you want Y/n to be with you these past few weeks. You never like her anyway. Y/n always complained about this vice president who just couldn’t stop harassing her with harsh words and nasty looks. Why should I believe you? I bet you wanted to ruin her all along-“ “I never- no, no! That’s not true!” Chan yelled.

“There’s no reason why I should believe you over the girl who has come crying to me, spilling her heart out on how everyone hates her again.” The fight went on for longer, they exchanged punches and eventually they were panting as they stood in front of each other again, yelling at one another with a black eye and bleeding lips.

“And who the fuck do you think you are! You act like you’re the only who cares about her!” Chan yells. “Well I do care about! I actually do and I show it! I have her trust unlike you!” “What do you think you’re her boyfriend or something?” Chan yelled. “Why do you care? Are you in love with her or something?” Changbin snarled back, leaving Chan stunned in silence.

The silence said enough for Changbin to figure out how it is. “What, you think you can fucking do this and confess your love to her right after-“ “I told you already that I’m being set up!” Chan yells in anger. “Sure buddy, at least she trusts me. You know she does. She comes back running to me every time you mess up. And how many times have that been by now?”

Chan was still panting, but he didn’t know what else to say. He messed up a lot. He wanted to make everything right, but this just made everything worse than it should be, he didn’t understand how this all happened anyway. His mind was blurry and he was confused, because he had his priorities set on Y/n.

“Changbin please-“ “Do you really think I will bring you to her? To break her heart once again after you had your way with it. To ‘confess’ to her and play games with her mind again. I thought not so, buddy.” “Changbin please, I do-“ “I bet I could confess to her right now and she would be with me. I’ve been her friend for the longest time, my parents already thought it would be time for us to step it up. People already think we’re a couple, why not put the title on our relationship?” Changbin snarled.

“Maybe, I should just confess my love to her.” Changbin added as he almost threatened Chan.

Chan felt his heart break and he dropped down on his knees. The tears were flowing down his cheeks and soon past his fingers as he hid his face in his hands. “Bin, please. I love her so much. My heart is in constant pain because of her. Not because she hurts me, but because she has been so good to me. She’s so different, so special. I-I don’t know how to describe it. She’s breath-taking, she’s so much more I could ever wish for in someone. My parents want me to be with a snob rich kid, who only cares about her reputation and the numbers on her bank account. They want me to think about my status and push my feelings aside. I can’t help it Bin, I love her. I love her so much. The past month I’ve felt so free with her. She has no expectations for me, she doesn’t expect me to pay for everything. She always fought me whenever I did, she’d argue with me that she could buy things herself, because ‘she’s an independent woman’.” Chan chuckles as he leaned back on the couch behind him.

“My parents don’t like her, because they can’t see past her appearance. It’s sad. They don’t experience, they don’t see the beauty that she carries. She’s so kind, she’s funny, she makes my heart race and make me do dumb things. Like, skipping school to go on a trip. I have to say that it was the best day of my life, that’s for sure. I’m just an idiot for being such a fool.” Chan cried out.  

Changbin sighed as well and sat down next to Chan. “I had a feeling you might’ve been in love with her.” Changbin admitted. Chan looked surprised to his side and eyed Changbin, who ended up bursting into laughter. “If you keep asking about her, then you aren’t playing it off to well mate.” Changbin chuckled, causing Chan to blush.

“Let me tell you another thing about Y/n. You’ve got to know her well up until now and apparently you did a pretty good job doing it since she opened up to you. If you want her to like you, the way you like her. Just be there for her and support her through her hardships.” Changbin’s words causes Chan to burst out in tears again. “I tried! But I keep messing up. I fucked up so many times, where I knew I should’ve been there for her or should’ve stood up for her, but I didn’t.” Chan cried out.

Changbin sighed and got back on his feet. He offered his friend a hand and Chan smiled as he took it. A couple minutes later, they were cleaning their wounds and kept talking together. “Chan, how did you end up in this mess?” Changbin asked softly. “I don’t know man, first thing I know is that I was smiling and laughing with Y/n, then next thing I know. I’m being ripped away from her by some other kids and following that, Y/n running away from the scene.” Chan sighed. “Y/n is really worn off, she ran all the way from school to my parlour. Eyes red from crying and in a lot of pain, I thought her wounds weren’t healed yet.” Changbin states. “They aren’t.” Chan cried out in frustration, guilt and sadness taking over his body.

The boys were interrupted by Changbin’s phone, Hyunjin had texted him. Saying that he had brough Y/n to Changbin’s apartment due to her request.

Chan read along with Changbin and was glad that Y/n was safe.

Changbin sighed once again after pulling his hoodie back over his head, done with cleaning his wounds. “You need to fix this, I don’t know how or where to start, but you need to.” Changbin states. “I know.” Chan let out a whimper, feeling like crying again. “Hey, it will be alright. I’ll make sure she’s okay and I’ll help you figure this out.” Changbin promises. “Really? Aren’t you mad at me?” “I am still a little fired up, but something isn’t right. I can feel it. Besides, I can tell you truly feel for her, I appreciate that you opened up to me.” Changbin voiced in honesty. “So, you aren’t going to…” “No, I’m not going to confess. I was just furious in the moment. I’m sorry.” “No, I am. Thank you Bin.”

When Changbin arrived home, he went to look for Y/n. He panicked a little when he didn’t find her in her room. He ran to his own room, only to find Y/n sound asleep on his bed, Gyu tightly wrapped in her arms. He sighed in relieve and went to lay next to her.

A couple days later, Chan went out for a walk. His jaw still hurt from the punch, he well deservingly, got from Changbin the other day. It was already late and it started to get dark outside. Chan mindlessly revisited the spot where he and Y/n had their first ‘date’ together.

Memories flashed beyond his eyes as he saw the exact spot where they took pictures together. He couldn’t help but smile to himself as he remembered the way she laughed at his lame jokes, how she lit up when she ate his food and enjoyed each other’s company. He remembered holding her in his arms as they danced slowly in the middle of the park, not giving a damn if someone was watching.

His pleasant revisits of memories were cut off by the slurs of a drunken man who wandered around the park. Chan ignored the man, not wanting to be involved into any type of trouble. Unfortunately, the man thought otherwise.

He started to yell and shout around and eventually his eyes caught Chan and decided to stumble his way, rather quick, towards him. Chan noticed the bottle of liquor and a piece of paper in the man’s hand as he caught up to Chan. “You,” the man started. Chan wanted to gag by the disgusting smell of alcohol filling his sense that came from the man. “You look familiar kid.” The man slurred. “I’m sorry sir, I have no idea who you are.” Chan said quickly whilst his eyes looked for someone to help him, but no one seemed to be out at this hour.

“You! You’re this kid!” The man slurred out loudly as he waved a paper, which seemed like a picture, into Chan’s face. Chan’s heart dropped when he recognised the picture. It was a picture of him and Y/n from their first date. “Y-you’re Y/n’s father-“ “I sure as hell am! And you are the piece of shit who brought me into that hell hole! Taking my daughter away from me and daring to involve into our businesses!” The man screamed as he dropped the paper and filling his hand with the collar of Chan’s jacket.

“Sir, please I don’t want any trouble.” Chan begged. “Too bad buddy. You shouldn’t have interfered into our business. You should’ve left your stuck-up ass in one of your little penthouses.” Chan to get away from the man, before anything bad could happen. But Y/n’s father’s grip seemed to be stronger than he thought. “Sir, please let me go-“ “Nah, I have to show this rich city boy what the consequences are like when you ruin my life.”

Chan closed his eyes shut and prepared himself for what was coming, only remembering a piercing pain and darkness taking over him.

“Y/n, Y/n wake up.” Changbin yelled in a whisper as he shook her awake. She groaned in annoyance and pushed him off. “Just five more hours.” Y/n groaned as she hid her head under her pillow. “Y/n it’s an emergency, Chan’s in the hospital.” The words made Y/n shot up. She felt confused, because she didn’t know how to feel about him at the moment, but something inside of her told her to go. “Put on a hoodie and let’s go.”

Y/n and Changbin arrived at the hospital, only to see Chan’s parents and siblings in their pyjama’s as they waited nervously. Chan’s mother was hysterically crying, Lucas and Hannah were tiredly sitting back in their seat, pacing back and forth in anxiousness.

Y/n made eye contact with the mother who immediately pointed violently to her as she started to cry out to her. “You! This is your fault! You’re the reason he’s in the hospital isn’t it?” She yelled as she was being held back by her husband, who quickly argued against his wife alongside the kids. “Honey, this isn’t her fault. The doctor said Chan was attacked by a drunk man.” “D-do you perhaps know what he looked like?” Y/n asked carefully. “No, but he’s send back to rehab, apparently he escaped somehow.” Chan’s father explained, causing Y/n to stumble back. “Y/n, you don’t think that your…” Changbin whispered, not daring to finish his sentence. “I-I hope not. If he has found Chan, he could find me-“ “I wouldn’t let that happen Dumpling, you know that. You’re safe with me.” Changbin assured as he hugged her, whilst they all waited for the results from the doctor.

Which finally came in after forty minutes of waiting. Hannah and Lucas had fallen asleep, too tired from waiting since it was quite late already. “…your son will be fine mister and misses Bang. I do have to inform that he apparently has been hit by a glass bottle and is unconscious right now. We don’t know when he will wake up, but we are sure to keep a close eye on him. You can see him now, direct family first please.”

Y/n could hear the worried cries from his parents coming from the room as she and Changbin still waited. Changbin voiced that he felt guilty for beating his friend up. Y/n admitted that she didn’t know yet how to feel about Chan yet. If she even wanted to be there, especially after what Chan did to her. “Y/n, I understand that you have hard feeling towards him right now, but do consider that there is something wrong. Something just doesn’t add up.” Changbin states, setting Y/n to thinking.

Days had passed and Chan still hadn’t awakened from his unconscious state. She had seen how hard it had been for his parents and she truly hoped that Chan would wake up soon. Y/n also had been thinking about what Changbin had told her the other day, but it just makes her even more confused than that she already was.

‘He’s so nice, he has been for the past months, why would he do this?’ She questioned herself as she walked towards the hospital, wanting to visit Chan. ‘Chan hasn’t always been nice to me though, why would he become nice to me all of the sudden? Was it an act since he was forced to tutor me? Or did he actually mean everything he said- this better not be a fucking bet or I will throw him back into his hospital bed as soon as he’s able to leave it.’ Y/n growled in her mind as she now stomped her way to the hospital.

“Y/n, calm down. There must be something going on, like Binnie said.” She said to herself, before she took a deep breath and entered the building.

When Y/n arrived at Chan’s room, she wasn’t surprised to see his mother there. She had been staying there for the past couple days, not wanting to leave her oldest son alone, especially at a time of vulnerability. She shot Y/n a side eye when she entered the room.

“Hello misses Bang.” She said politely as she bowed for her. “Y/n.” She sighed as she focused on her son again. Y/n looked at the monitor that kept track of his heartbeats, which seemed mostly steady. “How is he doing?” Y/n tried to ask, but not receiving an answer from the woman in front of her.

Chan’s mother would sigh after a period of silence and turn herself to Y/n with a serious look on her face. “Don’t you think you’ve done enough.” She sighed, causing Y/n to become angry. “I’m sorry, but I’m tired of this. With all the respect, but you keep pretending as if this is all my fault, when you sure as hell know that it is not.” Y/n snapped. “If my son never interfered with you and your issues, none of this would’ve ever happened.” She cried out in frustration. “First of all, Chan and I were both forced together by our principal who made him tutor me. And besides that, don’t you think I know that. Because my drunken dad had to escape and somehow find Chan, he’s hurt. Don’t you think that I think this is all because of me? If you don’t you are pretty dense.” Y/n snarled.

“I think it’s time for you to leave.” His mother said calmly as she took her son’s hand into hers. “Fine, I’ll go. But I just want to make sure that you know that, Chan means a lot to me. You’ve raised one hell of a son. He’s absolutely amazing. He’s sweet, caring, charming and humble. You re lucky to have a son like him. I know you don’t like me ma’am, I’m aware of it, but I love that guy. So much. I don’t even know what to do with my feelings since I know you would never accept me and my ‘issues’. Everything I’ve told you and your family is true ma’am and Chan helped me through a lot of them. And I love him for that, more that you could ever know.” Y/n said as tears stream down her face. Both of their faces turned to the monitor when Chan’s heart skipped a beat, before Y/n continued to rant.

“I know I’m not perfect and that I never will be, that’s why I respect your request and I’ll leave as soon as I’m done ranting, but just know this ma’am. There’s much more to me than the tattoos and old stories that belongs with my past. He was focused on who I am today and saw good in me. Something not a lot of people notice in me.”

Chan’s mother looked at Y/n stunned and surprised. She would’ve never guessed such meaningful words coming out of Y/n’s mouth. She gulped loudly and tried not to show how Y/n’s words had moved her to tears.

“I’ll get going then, goodbye ma’am.” Y/n whispered, before she bowed and left. Her heart aching as she just admitted to someone other than herself, her feelings for Chan.

During her rant the two women didn’t know Chan could hear everything the two said. He felt like he couldn’t move, his body was numb and uncontrollable. His heart sped up in panic when he heart her leaving.

Before she exited the room, he could make out a whisper. “No… stay…” His mother, who was now alone with him again in the room, shot her attention to her son, who also managed to squeezed the hand he was holding slightly. His mother thought he was talking to her, when in reality Chan was begging in his mind for Y/n to come back. For her to confess her love to him over and over again, that’s all he wanted to hear. He wanted to see her again, he wanted to tell her that he loved her too.

“Don’t worry Channie, I’m right here.” His mother said as she kissed her son’s hair. Chan was glad she was there, but all he wanted right now, was Y/n to be by his side.

His mother knew better though. She knew the words were meant for Y/n. She had observed her son and had of course seen the pictures of the two in Chan’s room when she went to bring him his freshly washed clothes. She was shocked at first to see her son and this trouble maker of a girl together, but she couldn’t lie to herself. She saw how happy her son seemed with Y/n. She has at least never seen pictures of Chan and Sooyun together in Chan’s room.

That was one of the moments where she realised that Y/n was something special that Chan was planning on keeping close to his heart. When Chan brought Y/n home almost every day, she started to feel scared and thought that her son might take things too fast and he should reconsider his other possibilities.

But it seemed like Chan had already made his choice. She brushed her son’s hair as she looked down at him and knew that he had it all figured out already.

Well, most of it.

After calling in sick for a week at school, she was now forced again to attend classes. And yet again, there were students blaming Y/n for Chan’s injuries and him ending up in the hospital. Y/n had been doing quite well with ignoring all of them.

“I’m surprised you aren’t put in jail yet. That’s where you belong.” “Don’t say that. You’re insulting the prisoners when you compare them to that.” Another girl said as she nodded toward Y/n, laughing annoyingly right after.

As Y/n had been continuing to go to school, everything seemed to go downhill for her. The three boys couldn’t seem to cheer her up. They did manage to make everyone back off and leave her alone, but it wasn’t enough for Y/n.

She looked so depressed and it broke their hearts. They were confused as well, but they knew this wasn’t the Y/n they had always known. The Y/n they knew was strong, independent and could shine as bright as the sun whenever she was happy or in her own habitat. The Y/n who sat in front of them was laying her hear on the table as it rested on her arm. Her glow seemed to be gone and they wanted nothing more than to fix it for her.

One day, Y/n would call in sick anyway, saying that her body still hurt too bad, making up the excuse or else the school wouldn’t let her stay in. Changbin didn’t know this and was surprised once again to see his best friend arrive at the parlour. Hyunjin noticed Y/n gloominess and called Changbin in as soon as he could.

Changbin’s heart broke and brought her to his wing where they could talk. Hyunjin decided to give the two some space and went out to do so. “What’s wrong?” Changbin asked carefully as he took her hands in his. “I-I can’t do this anymore Bin.” She sobbed in front of him, her body shaking from exhausting, not only physically but also mentally.

“W-what do you mean? Please Dumpling, talk to me.” Changbin’s voice was shaking in fear as he suspected the worse. “I don’t want to go on Bin, I can’t do this anymore. Everyone hates me. Everyone is against me and I’m ruined. Why does everyone hate me? Why always me? I hate myself so much Changbin. Chan is in the hospital because of me, my dad is in rehab and was probably looking for me. He hates me as well. Maybe I should listen to everyone and just-“

“Don’t you fucking say that!” Changbin yelled out as he stood up with tears streaming down his face as his heart broke, piece by piece. “But Bin-“ “No! I won’t let you. I will fucking end myself if you ever try to end your life! You don’t want that right?” “That’s just mean Bin.” She whispers whilst looking up to him with tears-filled eyes.

“And this isn’t? Think about how much pain I’d be in if you ever leave me. I was already in so much pain when I was in Japan and I couldn’t be with you. Fucking hell, I even hired Felix to keep an eye on you, because I needed to know how you really were. Please. I love you, you’re my best friend. I can’t live without you, you’re my better half, you’re my partner in crime and I can’t afford to lose you. Besides, I know there is someone, who I can’t name, but this person loves you so much. I can’t even explain how much this person loves you. Please Y/n, will you promise to stay?” Changbin cried out, causing Y/n to cry out as well.

Changbin sat down next to her and brought her into his arms as they cried their hearts out together, “I’m sorry Binnie.” She sobbed into his shoulder, hugging him tighter. “It’s alright Dumpling, you’re safe as long as you’re with me. And I promise you. I’m not going anywhere.”

Meanwhile, at the hospital Chan had finally awaken to everyone’s joy. He groaned out loudly when he opened his eyes for the first time in days. His head was pounding, his chest hurt and he felt a weird tube in his nose that he assumed was to feed him, so he wouldn’t die of hunger. He couldn’t remember much, everything seemed like a vague dream.

His mother would swaddle him as soon as the doctors said she could, after they had finished their check-ups. “Where’s Y/n?” He’d ask eventually. “Goodness dear, think about yourself for a second. You’re the one who’s hospitalized.” His mother argued as she tucked him in. “Mom, seriously, how is she.” When his mother chose to ignore him, he got mad. “Just forget about her Chan, think about your health.” She scoffs, only making Chan angrier. “No! I’m done with you and dad always deciding for me what to do or who to be!” His mother was surprised by her son’s reaction. “All my life you have been planning my future, not even giving me a chance to think or speak for myself! I’ve always pleased you! By winning all my competitions I attended, all my grades are better than others. You made my life an actual competition and I’m done with it! I get that you want me to think about myself, but from now on I’m done listening to you two. I have a voice of my own and I won’t let the two of you decide for me anymore. I’m a young adult for God’s sake!” Chan exclaimed in frustration.

“I get that you and dad are looking out for me, but once I fall in love with someone, I just feel like you want to ruin that for me. Because you want me to be with a shitty snob who only cares about money and her status. I have better things to do than think about the numbers on my bank account and how my hair looks. I want someone who’s interesting, who has a deep personality, someone I could talk to in the middle of the night about anything and everything.” Chan sighs as he sat back, looking away from his mother as he tried to calm down.

His mother knew her son was right and sighed as she tried to stroke his cheek in comfort. “We’ll talk about this at home, okay?” “No! Stop ignoring this! You know I’m right!” Chan yelled as he sat up. “Channie, please lay back down.” His mother almost begged. “All I’m asking was how she was! I get that you hate her, but just answer the bloody question. I already have no idea what the hell happened to me. I only know the things you all told me and I don’t know who to believe anymore! She hasn’t visited me at all and that might be my own fault, but she’s still healing mom. Someone needs to help her out. I just want to make sure she’s alright, okay.” Chan cried out.

His mother sighed and stood up and left the room for now, knowing Chan needed some time alone. She saw how upset he was, almost heartbroken that she hadn’t visited him. She couldn’t help but feel guilty for sending Y/n away every time she came to visit him.

Chan laid back in his bed and he felt like crying. He was just so worried about her. He couldn’t help it. Eventually Chan would realise that she would be safe at Changbin’s. He sighed and felt envious that he was able to be with Y/n, whilst he was stuck in his hospital bed. Chan would look to his side and pick up his phone before he scrolled through is gallery. Deciding to revisit the happy memories before he fell back asleep.

“Chan, Channie wake up there’s someone here to see you.” A familiar voice woke him up before he fully opened his eyes, unsurprisingly his mother came into his vision. Still feeling angry with her he turned away from her, causing her to sigh. “Fine, you don’t have to look at me. I guess I deserve that. But at least look at her when you talk to her.” She mutters, still pressing a kiss on her son’s hair through his protest.

Chan looked away from his mother to see Y/n standing at the end of his bed, a small smile plastered on her face as she looked at him. She looked better, still tired and a little bruised, but her wounds definitely healed well. Chan was startled at her presence and shot up in his bed. Feeling a little embarrassed as well since he probably looked like a mess. “I’ll be down in the cafeteria if you need me.” Chan’s mother states before she exited the room, leaving Chan and Y/n alone.

Chan tried to find the right words to say, but was quickly interrupted by the tears that suddenly flowed down Y/n’s face. “Hey, hey! What’s wrong?” Chan asks as he mentioned to her to sit beside him. “I’m sorry, none of this would’ve ever happened if-“ “No, don’t cry. This isn’t your fault.” Chan assured as he brought her in his arms. “But-“ “No buts, this isn’t your fault, none of this is. I’m fine Sunshine, I’m not going to lie, I missed you.” He chuckled, causing her to burst out in laughter as well as she tried to stop her crying.

“I missed you too.” She pulled away from him and caressed his cheeks as she looked at him. “Are you okay?” She asked him as she realised that she was actually with him in the hospital. “I am, don’t worry. I’ll be back on my feet in no time.” He chuckled as he leaned into her hand affectionately, also couldn’t help but feel like she was the cutest being in the world right now. “How have you been? Do your arms still hurt?” Chan asks as she inspected them. “They healed well. Felix and the others have helped out a lot. I owe them one, I promised them to make them something ‘scrumptious’ when everything calms down a little.” She said with an awkward chuckle, but was surprised to hear Chan burst out in laughter.

“Where did you get the word ‘scrumptious’ from?” He wheezed. “Trust me, ever since you’re gone, Jisung and Minho have been fighting on who is smarter and they had this vocabular battle. I picked up some of the words after laughing my ass off.” She giggled. “I’m glad they’re good to you.” Chan sighs in relief.

“I’m glad too.” Y/n said before the two sat in silence for a period of time, not later being broken by Y/n who nervously asked Chan what happened to her dad. “I heard that he was brought back to rehab, but a stricter one with more security and supervisors.” “I-I’m scared Chan, I know he was looking for me. I-I should’ve been more careful, you wouldn’t be in pain right now.” She cried again. “Don’t cry, you’re safe with me. I promise.” Chan whispers as he hugged her tight.

She relaxed into his touch and buried her face in the crook of his neck. He had his hands on both of her cheeks and she leaned into his touch, just like he did minutes ago. She was stunning to him, even if she had cried her eyes out only seconds before. Chan felt like he had to tell her, it was now or never. He sat up and leaned closely towards her as he kept staring deep into her eyes. “What?” She giggled in a whisper, feeling flustered by the sweet smile he was sending her.

Chan’s heart was racing, the words were on the tip of his tongue and he felt like he left his sanity and mind in cloud nine. “I like you.” He whispered. Y/n was taken back by his confession and leaned back in surprise, looking at him in expectation of him to tell her that he was joking. “What?” She asks him again. “I like you Y/n. I’ve had feelings for you for some time now.” He admitted with a smile plastered on his face.

Y/n’s heart was racing, but unfortunately not because she was happy. “Don’t say that. Don’t say things you don’t mean.” She stuttered, feeling her heart increasing beats per second. “What do you mean? Y/n-“ “I have to go.” She murmurs as she got off the bed, anxiety overtaking her esteem as she picked up her pace. 

A nurse had walked in the middle of the scene, obviously not knowing what was going on and was surprised when she saw Y/n run past her, out of the room. Chan was ready to jump out of bed and run after her, but the nurse had other plans. She ordered him to get back into bed since he wasn’t fully recovered yet and it could do major damage to his body.

In the cafeteria Chan’s mother spotted Y/n running through the building with tears streaming down her face. She got up and wanted to catch up to Y/n, but she was too quick and eventually disappeared in the crowd. She hurried to Chan’s room where she found her son crying. She asked him what happened and Chain explained through his sobs that he had confessed to Y/n. Chan felt heartbroken and confused. 

“I don’t get it mom, why would she react that way?” Chan sobbed softly as he looked at his mother with big, teary eyes. “I don’t know honey, maybe she’s scared. She has lost quite some loved ones already. She might be scared to have her beloved close in her life. We don’t know honey.” She mutters as she rubbed her son’s back.

Chan immediately felt a wave of guilt washing over him and started to cry out harder. “I should’ve been more sensitive. I didn’t realise that. I should’ve been more careful.” Chan cried. “There, there. Don’t worry love, the two of you will be fine. I know you will. Besides, you have always been caring, especially towards her. From what I’ve seen?” She chuckles. “She will turn by honey, trust me.” She added, before pressing another kiss on her son’s head.

She knew that Y/n felt the same way as the son did, but it wasn’t her job to tell him that.

Gif isn’t mine

[creativeskullcreations]

HTaHHQ Episode 3: The Vengeance of an Artist (part 1)

Episode 3 is here! Nick has a job, but will Stacy go for it? Find out when the next chapter comes out! :D

The Oddballs belong to @enderdwarf123

Stacy had gotten quite used to her routine at the Studio. Go in, get list of tasks, then pick up Scout from Daisy. She then had to do the tasks she'd been assigned for the day, with Scout often "helping", to whatever effect she could. The most help she was able to help was when Stacy had to fetch props, since the Puppet always knew where they were. Sometimes they also worked in the cafeteria, but not anymore since Stacy accidentally set a microwave on fire.

In her defense, Scout had distracted while she was setting the time, so it wasn't entirely her fault. She just forgot to take a spoon out of a bowl, that's all.

Now the only time she went into the cafeteria was for lunch, which suited her just fine. It definitely beat having to eat with Mary in her office, even if she had to sit with the Oddballs. They were four young men, the youngest being a sixteen year old who went to the local high-school, and were always seen hanging out together. Stacy really only sat next to them because Nick Nack, who would often come to the cafeteria, avoided them like the plague.

Plus they didn't seem to mind she was there, just continuing to joke and talk, sometimes including her and Scout in their conversations. Which Scout especially loved, since it  meant she got to try out the new swear words she was learning. Though Stacy worried about her new vocabulary, and made her promise to never use those words around Daisy.

"I mean it, too. She might not let us hang out together anymore if she finds out you know how to swear now." The girl told her, to which the Puppet had nodded solemnly, treating it with the utmost seriousness. Scout certainly didn't want to be separated from her only friend outside her siblings, and could tell that Stacy didn't either.

Currently, it was lunch time on Friday, right before Stacy could go and sit at home for the entire weekend. She had collected her food on a tray, and was making her way to their usual table while futilely trying to defend it from Scout. As they got close, the could hear some of the conversation going on there.

"Anyways, so after all of that, Beth totally took all of his underwear!" One of them, Nathan was saying as Stacy approached, tray balanced on her right hand while holding Scout to her chest with her left. Held as she was, the Puppet could only pout and wait until Stacy let her go.

"Seriously?!" Sam responded. "Dude that is sick! He had nothing left?" He sounded honestly curious, and Stacy was as well.

"Absolutely not!" Nathan told them. "I guess that's what you get when-"

"And the girl's back." Daniel warned, covering Nathan's mouth. "Time to stop talking about your stupid college stories before we all get in trouble."

"I don't mind. "Stacy said, putting down both tray and Puppet. She picked up one of the sandwich halves as she sat down. "It's not like I'm gonna tell on you." She took a bite out of her sandwich while Scout went for the chips, devouring them like Cookie Monster would cookies.

"Eeeeeh, maybe? I mean, you're only twelve." John told her. "The stuff we talk about is for, y'know, older kids." He shrugged. "It's not really age appropriate for you."

"Ok first of all I'm thirteen." She told him. "Second of all I have seen so many R rated movies that nothing can faze me anymore."

"Aren't you scared of the Handeemen?" Sam asked, and received a death glare for his trouble. It was pretty potent, for coming from such a stick of a girl.

"No." She gritted out, before tearing into her sandwich. "I'm not scared of them. I just don't like them." A pause. "I do like Scout though. She's cool." Scout looked please at the comment, mouth full of crunched up chips.

"That's not what I heard." Sam muttered, and was popped on the head by his brother. "Ow! What?"

Daniel opened his mouth to answer, but was cut off by the cafeteria doors bursting open. They made a loud bang as they hit the walls, making everyone jump and stare.

"Where is she?!" Yelled Nick Nack as he wheeled into the room. Any remaining conversation died as the people inside realized that, once again, a fight was beginning. In the furthest corners of the room money started to exchange hands, while new bets were made.

"Did you check the lab?" Someone called back, while Stacy slowly sank into her seat. If she thought she could do it without attracting attention, she'd make a run for the door. But Nick was right there, and she didn't want to go anywhere near him.

"What did she do this time?" John asked, and Nick rounded on him, glaring. He drew back a little, wishing he'd never asked as the artist came closer, voice getting louder with every word.

"She took my best paints!" He shrieked, and Stacy gave in to her urge to fully hide under the table, which went unnoticed by the Puppet. Scout joined her a moment later, though mostly for the fun of it. "I told her not to touch them, and she took them for her experiments and I need them back now!"

"You sound mad" Sam noted, and Nick rounded on him. But before the Puppet could tear him a new one, Daniel stood up, adjusting his jacket.

"Here, Nick, I'll help you go find Riley. Maybe she hasn't used the paints yet." He suggested, heading out the door with Nick. "And if she has, I'll help you find some replacements, and tell Lydia we'll need to order some new ones."

"For her sake, I hope not." The Puppet threatened as they left the room. Everyone waited a moment, and then the lunchroom conversations continued. Stacy climbed out from under the table and sat back down, ready to resume her lunch.

"Not scared, huh?" Sam asked, an eyebrow quirked. Stacy squirted her capri sun at him, and the others laughed as he complained about the sticky juice getting on his shirt. Stacy watched as he blotted at it with a napkin, pushing the rest of her food towards Scout.

After lunch it was back to reorganizing the closets with one of the others; taking what Bonzai had messed up and putting the props back into their proper places. It was tedious work, especially when Scout was doing her best to keep things chaotic. But, with some time and Stacy eventually just grabbing the Puppet, they managed to finish eventually.

From the closet Stacy went to sweeping, removing... confetti? from the main set, upon which filming had just finished. From the corner of her eye, she could see the Handeeman Puppets. Daisy had gone off somewhere, but Riley and Nick were having a very animated discussion. Not that Stacy could hear it, or even wanted to, but she was pretty sure it was about the stolen paints.

Instead she focused on sweeping the confetti, then moved on to collecting the bits of paper from the fake bushes. This usually involved smacking the foliage with the broom handle to shake it loose, then sweeping it into the long handled dustpan. Sometimes Scout would leap into the bushes to try and help shake loose the ones on the inner branches, which Stacy was thankful for.

Together they were able to get quite a bit of the confetti swept up, leaving the floor of the set spotless. That done she started gathering the discarded props, piling them into a wheelbarrow for someone else to put away.

As she was doing that, she hummed softly, some anime theme song or another. Scout had asked her about anime before, and Stacy had resolved to show her some whenever she could break her out of the studio. So far she couldn't, as Daisy expected to literally be handed Scout each time the girl left. But, eventually, Daisy would forget, hopefully before a weekend, and Stacy could make a break for it with Scout.

So she was stuck making plans that wouldn't be fulfilled, at least not for a while. But still. it made her happy to think of such things, and so she continued as she helped to reset everything, getting it ready for next week's episode.

Soon enough it was almost time to leave. Most of the others had already left, leaving just her and Danny waiting for Mary to finish up whatever and come get them. She spent the time straightening the props while Danny played with Scout. Stacy had no clue what they were playing, but they weren't being loud so she left them alone.

However as she worked, she missed the approach of a Puppet on a wheeled stand, though in her defense the wheels were made to be silent. He watched for a moment, hidden around the corner of a "building" so as not to scare the girl. He stayed quiet, watching as Stacy carefully put things into position, and thought 'Yes. She is perfect for this.' He then came out of his hiding place, clearing his throat. The girl turned around and stilled when she saw him, a half formed smile frozen  on her face.

They stared at each other for a long moment, but the second the Puppet tried to speak he was physically assaulted by a flying blue blur.

"Nick!" Screeched Scout as she launched herself onto his face. He caught her as she slid off, and spotted how Stacy grabbed Danny, holding the boy back. Unfortunate, but it made sense. Obviously she wouldn't want her brother around them, however safe they might be. Scout babbled on without a care as the girl shoved her brother behind her.

Tension now broken, Nick allowed himself to indulge in a small smile, looking Stacy right in the eye. "Miss Stein, I have a job for you."

[heartxclouds]

Diabolik Lovers: Wrong Blood-Prisonned Bridal;;Part 1

[C]♡. Hello! Welcome to this blog..

This is my first try on writting my DL AU, which is called Wrong Blood-Prisonned Bridal if you are new to it! I think that I am experienced enough in writting so this is why I took the courage to write it! I do hope that you enjoy and follow the instructions clearly because yes, I have a rules in here- It isn't forced but you still need to view the rules. 📄

Rules;; {+ Instructions}

If you click on a OST link, you can hear the music ^^

When something is written in italic, it means that it's a wisper.

I would appreciate it if you have enjoyed the story, that you comment or like! Like that it makes me want to continue! If you need to give me constructive critism please send me a PM (Private Message).

In here there will be some spooky things so if you dislike that a lot, please proceed with caution. PS: Niko is a gypsy, that isn't meant as a slur. Niko is a girl that travels, does fortune telling and dances. So don't worry. I'm not here to offend.

If you see a edit with subtitles, read the subtitles! And if you can't see a image clear? Click on it!

Some edits are old or come from friends! I will credit them don't worry, they will be credited in the section 'Information'. And for the old edits, I'll put old in the end of the post in section 'Iformation'.

Thank you for reading the rules! I hope you enjoy this now. 🎃🍂

...

It was afternoon, at this time.. Many kids were playing. Screams of joy because of hide and seek, sometimes pain because they fell and even tears or joy because they were laughing so much. But there was one little girl that wasn't in the mood for playing. She would rather read books at this time of the day, she had secretly picked out some books out of the small library of her mother. Vampires..What were they? Monsters- Bloodsuckers- Creatures of the night... The little gypsy girl was amazed by these stories but also terrified. Welcome to the world of the small Niko Riverdale.

Winter.. It was cold but fun, Niko turned six years old not long ago. She felt like she could be a adult any second. Niko loved to play as the little adult.. But to be honest, it was scary. People always had some type of disgusted look when they spotted a gypsy, and it was like this everywhere. But on the possitieve side.. Some people could be nice and accept them, even enjoy they're dances. A gypsy was never meant to have a bad view.. Being a gypsy was seen as some kind of culture too. The priest always said that God hates gypsy's.. That if you were one, that a spirit will haunt you.. Kill you.. Destroy you. All kids from Niko's age knew the dark reality already, God? Hah.. When did God help? That's what they were thinking.. But Niko thought otherwise, she believes that God is good.

-"Mom.. Why do people hate us?"

Niko was holding the hand of her mother while they were walking back home. Reading hour was finished and Niko had hidden those vampire themed books in her bag before her mother got to see it.

-"Ah.. Don't worry about that honey.. You know.. In this world there are people that can hate you without a good reason.. That is why we need to be strong."

Her mother had felt some un-easy feeling.. Excactly, why did people hate them? She didn't know the answer herself... She held the hand of her daughter slightly tighter, they would go to the cathedral before getting back home. She entered the building and went to the small praying spot that was there. She looked at her daughter, she would need to pick a different one.. Niko went to the Maria statue that wasn't too far away from her mother.

-"My God.. I'm here to ask you questions.. I hope that I don't bother you at this moment but..Do you hate me? Or my mom..? My gypsy people..? You know.. Today some kids didn't want to play with me.. They're parents didn't want that.. Even if it was my birtday.. Hmph.. And God, I'm 6 years old now.. That's a lot, right? Hehe.. Will you please answer me..? I now pray this in the name of our saviour. Amen.."

Niko did the quick cross sign before walking back to her mother, that seemed to have finished her praying. Niko held the hand of her mother.. Did God hear her? Will she get the message..? Who knows.. Maybe God, had a surprise.

After getting home, having dinner and having a bath.. Niko was relaxed and ready to read some more about the nocturnal horror creatures.. Curiousity really killed the cat.. And Niko was clearly the cat in this example. The moon was up.. The beautifull blue moon that shinned in Niko's room, Niko could observe those beautifull night skies forever.. She didn't realise that is was already 2 AM, Niko would be in trouble if her parents found out that she was still up.

{[OST|https://youtu.be/9xWi_RkqYiM]}

But strangely a sound ruined the silence.. Crying.. Rather disturbing. A fenale voice? Calling out for help but it all sounded like a echo. For a kid this could be creepy looking, but for Niko.. She was worried.. Not about that sudden visit in her house of a crying voice but she was actually concerned about the feelings of the person.. Did they need to escape? Was there a killer outside? No.. Not at all. Niko got out her room and walked down the hallway.. The wood plancs made a creak sound. The more Niko approached.. The more the crying became louder. She could see now.

A woman with pretty long white hair was sitting on her knees on the floor. Her clothing was white too- She also had some kind of long blue see-through scarf, she also had white gloves, pretty ones that people always wore when they were from a rich family.. Her skin was pale, as pale as porcelin.

-"Umm.. Miss..? What's wrong? What is happening..? Are you hurt..?"

Niko was a child with good manners but it was kinda weird.. How did that woman come in? The door was locked, the windows too.. Who was this woman? Or what is she? The crying didn't stop but when Niko placed her hand on the shoulder of the beauty, then she turned around and held Niko's shoulders tightly.

-"Where is h-he?! WHERE IS HE?! I NEED HIM-?! MY CHILD.. HAVE YOU SEEN MY CHILD?! AHHHH!!!? I WANT HIM BACK! I WANT HIM BACK?! HE NEEDS TO BE FIXED.. HE NEEDS TO BE HAPPY!! WHERE IS HE?! AHHH?!!?? TELL-?! TELL MEEEE AAHHHH!?!"

Niko felt paralyzed.. A random woman just came here and was finding her child.. Her child is broken? He needs to be fixed? That woman didn't look normal at all either.. She was way too pale for a human being.. It was dead skin colour.. She had long fangs too.. And also you could see through her..? A ghost-? A spirit?! Niko's eyes were tearing up- God, can God explain?! Why don't Niko's parents hear this?! Was she crazy?! Niko just got out the grip and ran to her room and locked it, she got on her bed and hid under the covers.

-"God please.. Make it stop.. Make it stop.. I'm scared.. Don't give me to Satan.. Not the devil, I beg you.. Do you hate me? Is this my curse now?"

This was a bad experience for a child, it could be traumatizing.. Niko was praying for this to stop, but then she heard the loud banging against her door- She was screamed.. The woman was still crying and screaming.

-"FIX HIM?! YOU CAN FIX HIM!! FIND HIM!! YOU MUST FIND HIM!?? DO IT PLEASE!!!"

Niko hugged her knees, she was way too scared to say anything or open the door. Niko cried in her sleep.. In the background she could still hear the crying.. The crying of a female vampire ghost..

...

[{OST}|https://youtu.be/NvMROvgMOz0]

[C]...

It was night time, a few nights have passed since that incident and that woman always kept her awake- Screaming and crying.. Niko was hidding under the covers- Hoping that it would stop soon. She held her bunny plush close, it was a white bunny with red buttons as eyes.. It clearly was a old design, but she loves it. The banging on the door soon stopped.. But it replaced with a wisper. Was Niko getting crazy? Hearing wispers in her head.. That made Niko just hug her plush tighter.

-"Go to the forest.. In the forest you'll find a mansion.. I need you to fix him.. Please"

Niko looked down- She letted out a sigh.. Even if her parents forbid her to go out at night- She would do it- Like that the nights without sleep will stop..Maybe. Niko puts on her small brown boots and then got out the house after grabbing her plushie and wearing a yellow jacket, it matched her eyes perfectly. Now, Niko got in the dark forest.. Why did she forget the flashlight?? She hugged her plush tighter.

-"It's you and me mister carrots.. We will finish this.."

You could hear in Niko's voice that she was scared- She planned to get back home and get the flashlight.. But it already was too late- Her house wasn't visible anymore. Was she lost-? Niko started to tear up, she felt stressed and she could sense that there was danger close by. Niko didn't trust the sound of breaking twigs and leafes that were being crushed.. Without further hesitation, she started to run- She didn't care that she could see nothing- Her mind told her to run. And she was lucky that she started running now, because the hungry wolves were out now, howling and groaning, they wanted the eady prey that was there now.. And the prey was Niko. A girl her size and her age was as easy as catching a mouse.

{ [Wolf howling|https://youtu.be/66HKBdZe_WA]}

-"HELP!! PLEASE SOMEBODY!! WOLVES!! HELP!!"

Niko was screaming while running- But nobody was there to save her- But God must have heard her wish.. The mansion- It was there- Right infront of her! Niko quickly openned the door and got in. She heard the wolves outside, they were howling and sniffing where she was hidding. There was a moment of silence soon.. Were they gone? Niko peeked through the window to see if those carnivores were still there and it seemed that they dessapeared.

-"Hehe!! No dinner for you guys!"

Niko giggled happily, she was happy to stay alive- But soon after her short victory dance, she felt something.. No.. Someone behind her- She gulped and then slowly turned her head to see a tall man.. His eyes were some type of dark pink and his hair was purple- He also was wearing glasses. Niko stepped back as her eyes were wide from how scared she was- Will he hurt her..?

-"Entering the house of someone like that is really dissrespectfull. You need to learn some manners."

The male was getting straight to the point- His expression was serious and he clearly wasn't happy with Niko's action from before. Niko quickly openned the door and ran out- This was unexpected. She never knew that someone lived there.. No wonder that it looked so clean.

The man with glasses sighed as he watched a albino with the corner ofhis eye.

-"Oh.. So you did decide to come for dinner. I am waiting for your apologize. The dinner is cold and everyone is back to their rooms."

The purple haired man walked away, slightly annoyed. He puts his gloves on in a more comfortable manner as he was walking. The albino narrowed his eyebrows as he gave off a 'tch' noise, he just got back from the garden not long ago. Who was that girl though? How did she find this hidden mansion? He wondered.. But he won't think about it too much. He went to the dinning room.

Meanwhile, Niko had ran away from the mansion.. Fear was described in her eyes. But then- Her house, she saw it.. And yet, she didn't run far away from the mansion. Magic? How? She turned around.. Only trees were seen. How in the world? The small brunnette ran quickly to her home and her parents waited for her.. Crying tears of relief and ordering her to never ever do that again but.. Will she keep that promise-?

✧.*ೃ༄9 Years later...

The sound of the flutes and tambourines filled the streets, the gypsy's were there.. And it seemed that Niko and her sisters were the ones to dance. The same thing happened once again, for some the disgusted look and for some others there was the look of enjoyement. The gypsies how flexible and gracious moves- They always had a beautifull performance in mind. After the dance performance, niko and her sisters earned some money.. They will use this for food and clothing... And for Niko's mother, Rei. She was doing fortune telling to get money for the small house that they have.

The golden eyes of the brunnette spotted a animal..A cat..A white one to be specefic. She stared at it for quite a while- The cat looked at Niko and purred before walking away. Niko sighed a bit as she furrowed her eyebrows. Then Niko realised that her siblings were already going back home- She better quickly catch up with them.. Niko openned the door of the house and watched her father, he was laying on his usual dark blue couch.. She sighed and went to him, seeing that he was sleeping for bow. Niko smiled softly and puts a blanket over her father.. You could sleep better if you were cozy and warm. Niko remembered that she needed to handle something quick- She went to the door and openned it.

-"Where are you going?"

Her big brother John saw that she was planning to leave..Even if it was almost dinner time. He placed the wood in the fire, it was spring and yet it felt like it was still winter.

-"I'm going to the church.. I'll be back home soon though, see ya..!"

Niko got out once more and step by step made her way to the holy building..To be honest, the church was scary.. All dark colours and paintings of suffering- Even some god statues were scary. But Niko always felt much calmer when she saw the Maria statue. She closed her eyes and held her hands together.

-"God.. It is already nine years and three months that this ghost is haunting me.. The cries, they scare. Please help me..Give me a sign to freedom. In the name of our saviour. Amen.."

Niko could not live forever with this kind of ghost that visits her each night. Each time begging to save her child more specefictly her son.. What was this all about? She letted out a sigh- A sad one.. A concerned one. Was this all in her head? Was Niko getting crazy? Her parents and siblings didn't realky believe her.. Her mother did but she didn't know what to do. She rubbed her forehead and just went back home after doing the little cross sign. Niko really believed that god exists.. That someone is watching you.. Sins, Actions, Desires..Wishes. It was scary and yet so releaving in her opinion. After having dinner and a family talk, it was time to prepare for bed. Niko took a shower to refresh herself, she brushed her teeth, got in a fresh nightgown and then finnaly got in bed.

{ [OST|https://youtu.be/aG-39UWA4u0]}

Niko knew what will be going on tonight, she just hoped that it will stop. Each time, she repeats that hope. 12 pm.. It's almost time, Niko's eyes stayed open- She probably won't be able to sleep this night again. This was a punishement.. Was it really though? Niko didn't know but it was horrible to go through.

-"Go..Go.. Go back to the mansion.. He needs you.. You need to make him happy. Please. That's my only wish.."

-"W-Why can't you just leave me alone?"

-"Go..Go.. Go back to the mansion.. He needs you.. You need to make him happy. Please. That's my only wish.."

This repeated over and over again. Niko tried to get a other answer but it still was the same the "Go..Go.. Go back to the mansion.. He needs you.. You need to make him happy. Please. That's my only wish.." was always repeating. Niko had enough, she will go back there, early in the morning to not get wolves or other wild animals after her.

And she really did this plan. In the morning, around 5 am, she got up and got in her red gypsy dress and she wrapped a yellow scarf around her waist, she also puts on her yellow bandana after that she had brushed her long brown hair. She took a quick toast from the kitchen and frowned. She will return back home like last time, she was sure that it would happen as planned.

-"Let's get done with this"

Niko mumbled after getting out and going to the forest. Niko could see now where she was going. It wasn't dark, it was sunny already. The brunnette tried to find the mansion, but it was nowhere to be seen. It really annoyed her, she wanted to not be haunted by that woman anymore, she didn't want to struggle anymore with it. This was going to be the end. Did she really need to wish for the mansion to appear out of nowhere??

Niko ran through the bushes but that caused her to trip, she shook her head and got up after wiping some of the dirt away. But then.. When she lifted her eyes back up to normal. It was there- The mansion that she searched for for hours long. Niko stepped towards the gates-

Niko gulped when the gates went open on it's own. This was..Magic? No way. She must be dreaming. Niko slapped her cheeks with her hands.

-"Gah.. Niko-chan.. Wake uppppp..! Owie-"

Niko stopped slapping her cheeks and took a big inhale before taking the courage to enter the territory of the mansion. A certain stress overwhelmed Niko, it was uncomfortable... As if she was going in some type of haunted mansion. The crows were watching Niko, some letting out their loud bird noises.. These type of birds were mostly around graveryards. Which made this give more of a creepy atmosphere. Niko knocked on the door and waited- She learned last time that shouldn't just enter a house/mansion out of nowhere.. But hey she had no other choice. Niko saw that the door openned.. But weirdly nobody was behind it. Anyone would be running away from this already..No? Niko would have loved to do that but she really wanted to get the spirit away from her. So- Niko got in and looked around..

-"Helloo?? Someone here..? Uh.."

{[OST|https://youtu.be/_iF7lkXKHlA]}

Niko wanted to check first of course. And yet, there was no reply.. Maybe they weren't home? The brunnette wanted to know what the woman meant. 'Make him happy' 'Fix him' 'He needs you', her only wish. The spirit meant a person? Of course- Niko facepalmed. The brunnette still felt that same uncomfortable feeling, that feeling of being watched. This place wasn't safe.. It wasn't safe at all!! Niko had shivers running down her spine. Blood.. Blood running down the walls, Niko's visions made her think that.. This mansion.. It had bad secrets.. Secrets that nobody should ever know about.

Run..

Niko's mind kept telling her to run. Run for your life. Run for you freedom before-

Niko had ran back to the front door, it won't open?! No no- This wasn't the plan. God, what did Niko end up into?! Tears ran down her cheeks as fear took her over once more, was she trapped? Was this a prank??

Niko felt a hand on her shoulder.. She hesitated to look behind, but after some seconds she did. A albino man, right there..Glaring down at her with his intimidating look. Niko could not take it anymore.. She fainted. The man catched her in time and groaned.

Run for your freedom before it's too late..

It's too late...

He snarled when he saw her exposed neck with her black chocker necklace. He seemed to hold back something- He seemed to control it for now. The man openned his lips to speak out his words;

End of episode 1... 🍂

Information section:

Time taken: Started on 6 oct 2020- Finished on 14 oct 2020.

Credits;; Story (@me); Edits (@Me) Niko at the gates (Old edit)

I hope that you enjoyed! And I also hope that you would like to follow my journey of Wrong Blood!

See you soon... 🎃

I had posted this long ago but I wanted to share it here too♡

[artxyra]

In Her Darkest Moments

Note: So this story came from me listening to the song “The Bully�� by Sody. If the last part seems kind of lost it because I started this on a whim and took a break to work on other projects (both school-related and personal). There might be more added to this later but I’m not sure yet. Anyways, enjoy.  

Part 1 | 2 | 3

Trigger warning: thoughts of suicide

Anger can manifest in multiple ways, but it’s what you do with that anger that can change the outcome of a single event.

~*~

Marinette may have grown used to the Lila and her classmates’ bullying towards her, but that didn’t mean she was slowly shattering. Every day was a war zone for her. Looking behind her back every second of the day, hoping that she wouldn’t stand out. But this has been going on for two years nearly three now. She can’t take it anymore.

Suicide was the easy way out, and she knows this. It was confronting her bullies and saying goodbye that was the hardest.

Gripping onto her sleeves, she covers the marks of cutting, forcing herself to acknowledge she was okay when she clearly wasn’t. No one knew she was doing this to herself, and she wants to keep it that way. No longer did she wore pink capris with a white blouse and blazer, but now a grey knitted sweater with a pair of skinny jeans and low-heeled wedges. It was a nice change, but she didn’t feel like herself in her own skin.

Walking into her high school, Dupont’s sister school, she ignores the glances coming her way. Making her way to her locker, she quickly grabs the items needed for class and scurries down the halls. Because of the lack of akuma attacks, she’s often on-time to class and gets a decent night of rest when nightmares aren’t plaguing her mind.

Her books fell from her arms. She staggers in her steps.

“Oh my god, Marinette! Why did you purposely drop your books on me?” She dreads the familiar Italian accent female. Lila could only internally smirk at her work because it wasn’t long before Alya made her voice known.

“What the hell, Marinette, that’s the fifth time this week. What is wrong with you?”

A hard jab came to her shoulders. Marinette counts to ten. Her breathing evens just enough for her to gain her bearings. She grabs her books and pushes through the growing crowd of Lila supporters. No one is never on her side anymore.

Taking her seat, she barely acknowledges the disappointed look she was receiving from Adrien. Adrien, oh sweet Adrien, the blonde model manages to convince his father to let him continue with public school under the intention of doing more photo-shoots. They barely have spoken since collége and he unknowingly played into Lila’s greedy hands.

“Good Morning class,” The teacher greets as she walks in. Marinette doesn’t acknowledge today’s lesson as her mind started to doodle in her worn-out notebook.

Lila made sure that everything good in Marinette’s life was a diminished flame. Turning the former bluenette’s parents against her was the tipping point of it all.  She would copy Marinette’s work, turn it in before the latter could get up from her seat. That would then turn into a long meeting with the school’s dean about plagiarism and dishonesty. It was a miracle that Marinette was still able to attend the school with the constant amount of this occurring.

Marinette’s safe place slowly became this Ladybug and Chat Noir theme café. She goes by there every day after school instead of heading home. It’s a great place for her to work on her projects without the fear of being judged, bullied and copied from. The owner, an older woman, grew to love the teen’s company and told her that she was welcome at any time of the day. She’ll forever remember the day that Marinette gave her the most heartfelt real smile instead of the dull, barely reaching her eyes smile. Those were the days that the two of them will cherish forever.

She sighs, pushing the unfinished work of a new design away from her. The owner notices this and looks around. There was no need to take orders; she quickly makes her over to the struggling teen.

“Is everything alright dear?” She asks, placing a comforting hand on Marinette’s shoulder.

A gentle gesture was all it took for her to breakdown. Tears stream down her face, red watery eyes glance up to the older woman breaking the owner’s heart. She hates seeing Marinette like this. Pulling the young woman into a comforting hug, Marinette cries into her chest.

“Shh, everything will be alright one day.” The owner repeats into the teen’s ear, rubbing on her back.

When Marinette couldn’t cry her eyes out anymore, she lifts herself up from the older woman’s lap to look around. The sky has darkened and there was no one in the café beside the two of them.

“I’m so sorry.” She immediately apologizes.

“Nonsense, Marinette. You clearly needed to let it all out.”

Marinette couldn’t help but look down in shame. She doesn’t deserve any of this comfort. To her, a mental breakdown went weakness and weakness is something that has been affecting her in all aspects of her life.

“I should get home.” Marinette murmurs holding herself.

As much as the owner didn’t want the teen to leave, she knew she couldn’t stop Marinette from leaving. Sighing, she hands Marinette her bags and wishes her goodbye.

Dread fills Marinette as she returns home, but something stops her from entering. Perhaps it was because of her parents and their lack of trust for her. Maybe it was the cool protective breeze of the night’s air. Biting her bottom lip, she pushes against the door and quickly makes a be-line to her bedroom.

Her room lacks its usual luster. Over the years, she slowly became dissociated from her room leaving it frozen in her middle school personality with only pops of colors representing her now.

Not wanting to go to sleep, she finds herself on the balcony watching the stars.

“You could have asked me if you wanted to stargaze tonight.”  Her frown deepens hearing one of many voices she doesn’t want to hear.

“Go away, Chat.” She demands; caring less that it will hurt his feelings, but she knows him well enough that the word “no” isn’t in his vocabulary.

“Meow-ch, Princess—” He begins but Marinette turns to him with a glare on her face.

“Don’t call me, princess. I hate it.” She states getting up from her position. Chat Noir touches her shoulder only for her to push him away.

“No, you don’t.” He tries to counter, giving her his cat-like smirk, “Your heart wouldn’t have fluttered if you didn’t.”

Marinette scrunches her face. A single tear slides down her cheek. Chat, being the heroic knight he is, pulls her in for a hug, she tries to break free but due to her fatigue, she couldn’t. Instead, she wiggles in his arms.

“Let go of me.” She demands.

“You’re kidding me?” Chat slightly pushes her away, only to take in Marinette. Her body’s shaking, her arms hugs her torso, and tears ran down her face.

“Goodbye, Chat Noir.” Marinette rush towards the trapdoor and enters it.

She wants it all to end. To be fear from the nightmare that is her life. Collapsing onto the floor, the waterworks began. Tikki finally making her presences known and cuddles next her chosen knowing it was only time before Marinette gives up.

Marinette barely found the energy to wake up the next morning.

“Marinette, breakfast is ready!” She heard her mother’s voice carry out from the lower floor.

Trudging down from her bedroom and into the kitchen, Marinette sits down and stares silently at the plate of food in front of her. This felt odd. It’s been months since her mother made breakfast for the family. Her excuse has been that the store needs more attention and earlier opening time. When was the last she saw her mother’s bright smile and not the disappointed look? Marinette couldn’t remember for the life of her.

“Um…merci, maman.” Marinette murmurs taking a small bite.

Sabine either ignored the appreciation or she didn’t hear it, causing Marinette to feel even more out of place. It was after her tenth bite, that Marinette gave up on breakfast and walk out of the room. Looking at her phone, she realizes that class was going to start soon. Opting to ditch today, Marinette changes into a simple tee and a pair of denim shorts. Maybe today will be a better a day than the rest.

~*~

Marinette was enjoying her day away from school, but that all ends when a notification came through on her phone. It was the contents in that notification that made her want to hide, to throw up, and never show her face again. How could someone be so cruel to photoshop a photo of her doing explicit poses and send it to everyone in her class? How did they even get her new phone number?

The comments surrounding the post was a mixture of good and bad. Some, those who know her, wrote that it was clearly photoshopped, critiquing the image while others were expressing their shock and disappointment in Marinette for taking such photos.  

Everything’s ruined. Her reputation (that was already on the rocks), her dreams, her life.

Locking herself in the nearest bathroom, that she could find, she collapses to the floor. Breathing became a challenge, her mind making thousands of scenarios, causing her to spin around confused and dazed. Reality began to shift into nothing. Grasping for air, she uses the sink to balance her, but no strength came to her aid.

“Marinette!” Tikki worries for chosen. She felt useless. Useless that to help her chosen, she must reveal the three-year secret that they’ve kept hidden. “I will get help. Please stay strong.” Tikki cries out, flying out the bathroom in search for help.

Marinette didn’t know how long she stayed in a fetal position on the floor. Minutes, maybe even hours there. Because the next thing she knew was the loud banging on the bathroom door. Someone’s calling out her name from the other side. The loud sound made her want to curl, even more, anything to get away from the torture that’s she experiencing.

“Marinette,” The voice calls out more clearly.

Arms surround her fragile body. They pull her in closer to their chest. She clings to the person’s shirt as it was the only tangible object that was grounding her to reality.

“I got you. You’re safe, Nette. Come back to me.” The voice whispers into her ear.

Her breathing evens.

The voice continues to repeat the same phrase as it was bringing her back to reality and calming her down. Her grip lessens on their shirt.

“That’s it, Nette. Come back to me.” He murmurs.

“Is she alright?” Another voice asks. It was feminine, something that allowed Marinette to feel safe and loved. Another pair of hands wrap around her body.

Darkness begins to fade away allowing the bright colors of images to flood her senses. Blinking, Marinette looks around and sees Kagami and Luka holding onto her. Her eyes make their way to the door where Felix stood with concern in eyes stoic eyes.

“W-w-what happened? H-h-how did I get here?” She stutters clenching onto Luka’s shirt even more.

“You’re okay, now, Nette. If it wasn’t for Tikki, we probably wouldn’t have known to be here.” Kagami says rubbing the small teen’s blue hair. Marinette welcomes it and cuddles closer to the woman.

“It was Rossi that caused this mess. I’m sure we can charge Rossi with slander and defamation.” Felix voices his opinion.

“Let’s ignore, Rossi, for a moment and focus on Nette. From what Tikki told me, this kind of behavior is becoming a regular occurrence. Which would explain why she doesn’t come to school from what Agreste been explaining.” Kagami declares with a heavy sigh.

“Should we call Bourgeois and ask for her input?” Felix suggests as his body dance subconsciously with the idea of going into the bathroom.

“No, not yet. Right now, we need to focus on bettering Nette.” Luka speaks with authority.

Felix and Kagami agrees and turns back to their now sleeping friend.

~*~

A week has passed since Marinette’s breakdown. Kagami refuses to let the bluenette be alone, so she offered her place. Marinette at first refused, but after a long talk with Felix, Kagami, Luka, and their kwamis, it was decided that she would stay.

As the days went by, the three friends to could a change in their beloved bluenette. She’s eating more and getting a good amount of sleep. Granted, there were akuma attacks during some of those days and if it wasn’t an akuma, it was Lila’s lying her way out of any situation.

Heal is always the hard part; as much as Marinette wanted to move on from this, she knows that it will only stop when Lila’s luck runs out.

Sitting down at the Ladybug and Chat Noir theme café, Marinette silently sips her coffee. The owner makes her way over to the teen and offers her another round. Marinette declines and apologizes for all the pain and concern she caused the older woman. To which the owner denies and told her that she reminds her of her own granddaughter that was bullied when her daughter and husband were living in Italy.

“I’m so sorry, what happened to your granddaughter?” Marinette asks, secreting cringing at such a question.

The owner answers with a sad sigh, “She nearly killed herself, if it wasn’t for the pets, she wouldn’t be here. Today, she’s following her dream by attending a private school across sees. You two would have gotten along very well if she was here.”

Marinette smiles, “I’m glad that she’s alright.” She replies, but the lingering thought of death managed to sneak up into her mind.  Perhaps, I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for my friends. Shaking her head, she focuses on her coffee.

“If you need to talk, I’m always here.” The owner quickly gestures to the café before returning to the counter to take the orders of new customers.

Marinette finishes her coffee and exits the café.

“So, this is where you sneak off to.” Felix notes with Luka and Kagami behind him.

“What are you guys doing here?” Marinette asks, hugging the blonde before the two dark hairs.

“Well classes got out early and we wanted to spend the rest of the day with you,” Kagami answers pushing a strand of hair behind Marinette’s ear.

Marinette rolls her eyes, “Well the day is still bright and I’m feeling rather famished.”

The small group of friends laughs at the grumbling sound of Marinette’s stomach.

All it takes is for one grand action to make someone feel loved in their darkest moments.  

Part 2

[ego-driven-one-wing-angel]

1.2 DEMURE | Sephiroth

ego-driven-one-wing-angel 1.2 DEMURE | Sephiroth

A/N: Ahhh, finally. This thing is up and I apologize for the long wait! But now that I have everything scheduled for the next three weeks, we can get this show on the road! Which means you’ll officially be getting a chapter out every week as previously described! So have fun!

WARNING:  THIS BOOK IS RATED 18+, READER DISCRETION ADVISED. THERE WILL BE SEXUALLY EXPLICIT SCENES, SWEARING, ADULT THEMES SUCH AS PAST ABUSE, ALCOHOL, AND AGAIN SEXUAL SCENES, I CAN NOT REPEAT THIS ENOUGH. This is basically an erotica between OC Kalista Shir and Sephiroth.

PLEASE TAKE CAUTION.

CHAPTER 1 CAN BE FOUND HERE

1.2 - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

“She stood in the storm, and when the wind did not blow her away, she adjusted her sails.” - Elizabeth Edwards

[TRACK: Ancient Roman Music - Synaulia I]

(You can listen to the tracks in the background if you wish, these are just the songs that either inspire me/listen to while writing the chapter. Some of them are not in the taste of some readers, so it’s not necessary to listen to it. Anyway, enjoy!)

Kalista yawned as one of the other girls continued their fair share of stories. It was as per usual at the Poppy Circus Outlet. Where the workers gathered around in a circle, left in pillows and half-drunken champagne bottles, drowning out the Midgar noise with sweet music and their even sweeter voices of tales from the night before. Tradition they would call it, but that morning had them buzzing with more laughter and curiosity than ever before.

Adras, who had been labeled as floor two’s leading woman, kept a keen sight on Kalista as another eventful story filled their ears. It seemed their prized girl had no sleep the night before, with subtle black bags hanging from her eyelids, puffy cheeks, a lack in even participating besides slurping the champagne as if she had a better place to be. No surprise, she had been nicked with a knife. But that wasn’t what Adras was paying attention to. She had survived much worse, and still came out smiling. In other words, her usual chipper self was halted, and Adras had a flicker of an idea as to why.

“Well, didn’t you hear what happened last night?” Another one of the girl’s said quietly as if reading Adras’s thoughts, scooting over to Kal and barely grabbing at her thick black hair to call her attention. “A certain General was said to be seen walking out of Kalista’s room, quite scandalous don’t you agree?”

A hoard of laughter arose, and Kal took another sip of her champagne. “Nothing happened.”

Adras tried to keep a smile building on her angular features, a red eyebrow cocked. There was hardly a time where Kalista spilled her story with eager ears, but Sephiroth’s appearance had all the girl’s curious. Not a single one of them had met him before, what made Kalista so special? Special enough to receive an invite into her quarters late at night.

“Not what I heard.” Another said, almost insinuating details that were otherwise untrue. A sly smile, and it caused the other girls to nod and whisper as if they were small children.

“I promise you, it was as thrilling as watching paint dry. Nothing happened.”

Kalista tried not to let the wondering eyes burn, but it was hard keeping thirty girls occupied with fictional stories. Especially if it tarnished a name. Poppy Circus prided itself on secrecy, and if it ever got out that Shinra’s top notch poster boy was wandering in it’s halls, the secrecy would be no more.

But she tried not to imagine his hands running up and down her silk tapestries, so precise, so clean, no wonder he had a fan club built on hormonal young women. He was dripping sex appeal with the most mundane tasks, words, even making Kalista dream up dirty thoughts the moment he had left.

Adras popped open a new bottle, spilling it into her empty cup as she continued to stare, waiting for Kalista to give a few minute details. Anything would satisfy them all.

Kalista’s lips parted just as Daring’s signature knock rang against the wood doors, and all heads pointed until Daring popped in, his wide grin interrupting their storytime and mild interrogation.

Adras set her bottle down, as did the other girls to listen to today's news. The customer's, the rooms, the timeline on when and how they are presented and dressed for the upcoming day. If they were still on retainer, if they were removed, how much money they would be receiving and so forth. Important details every girl in the Poppy Circus kept their ears open for. Especially the ones who’s salary depended on the men who wandered through the doors.

“I have some very good news today,” Daring said, almost dancing as he clapped his hands together. His teeth were showing more than ever, his eyes nearly shut, and he let his voice run in a sing-song pattern. “We have one of our girl’s now set on an official retainer. Can you guess which one of you had captivated a man’s heart to the point of spending stupid amount of gil?”

A few of them shook their heads no.

Daring wandered over close to Kalista, pulling the champagne glass from her hands and sitting right beside her.

“Oh Kal,” he said as if he was on the brink of bursting into song, “can you guess? Just take a huge shot in the dark on which one of you has lured in a lucky lad.”

Kalista shrugged.

“Oh darling, it’s you!”

The other girls chorused into a wave of oohs, deliberately trying to come closer and listen further as Kalista sat up from her pillow, a little uneasy and wary of her future endeavors. Especially after the unfortunate customer she had dealt with previously, she was a bit terrified to hear what plans Daring had next. She could never be too cautious.

“What are you talking about?”

“Sephiroth.” He said as if it was obvious, handing her back her glass as he skittered off to the other side of the room. He was beyond proud, feet kicking as if dancing, twirling with the other girls, listening in on the music barely heard through the jukebox. “My little peach you, always seducing the best ones and you seemed to catch the biggest fish in the whole dang pond this time.”

Kalista let out a chuckle, taking a much needed sip of her now returned champagne. “You’re joking.”

“Why would I be joking?” And before she could ask anymore questions, he skipped back, placing a finger above her plump lips to shush her. “You must prepare to get ready, he’ll be back tonight”

Kalista fiddled with the pins in her hair, propping up a loose curl there, pulling her bangs from her face, letting them loose and raising them up as she couldn’t decide. Hair was never her specialty and she stared back at the mirror, focusing, watching as her hair turned from a solid black to a fire-crimson in a mere few seconds. She inspected her new look, trying to decide if red was too much, but the footsteps riding behind her door caused her hair to simmer back it’s raven flight.

Her stomach seemed to be lodged in her throat. There weren’t many men that sent her nerves haywire prior to her first appointment, but it seemed Sephiroth did. Maybe it was the major height difference, his voice, how he presented himself so well without even trying. She hardly met a man that could just waltz into her room with a set goal in mind, Daring was picky, and it meant she had to be on her best behavior if Sephiroth was graciously paying for her services.

But as she opened the door, Daring’s sweetened face popped back into view, the smile still evident, his teeth polished and primed with the faint smell of mint and alcohol.

“Oh, Kalista,” he said, pushing the door aside as he inspected his best showgirl. Hand underneath her chin, moving her head side-to-side to see the painted beauty of the Poppy Circus Outlet.

Lips like a rose, eyes lined with black, lashes set to a point with her natural rosy cheeks coming to view. With the candle-lit glow, he was quite pleased with how well she could present herself. One minute she was just a simple beauty, the next, a million-dollar prize. All dolled up in a silk robe.

“Beautiful as always,” he said, removing his hand and inspecting Kalista’s room next.

Compared to the other girls in the building, she always had a much cozier atmosphere. With thick blankets lining the windows and bed, tapestries with gold fringe and candles seeping out a sweet vanilla scent. Carpets so soft and fluffy, paintings and brushes hidden in corners, and Kal’s signature bottle of champagne always sitting at a table.

He always did appreciate Kal’s tactic on homely appeal.

“He’ll be here in the next hour,” Daring said, “Genesis and the other usual SOLDIER are already here, but I’m sure he wouldn’t want the attention to be brought unto him, you know, with his reputation and all.  So just be prepared when he does show, I won’t be there to break the ice.”

She nodded, “how much did he pay?”

“The usual. But I may or may not have taxed a bit more off him to pay the building off.”

“How much for me?”

“Seventy-percent, as always.”

Kalista couldn’t help but let the smile wander. “You always know what to say.”

“Of course I do, darling.” And he patted her on the shoulder, as he always did to wish her good luck. “If there’s any trouble like last night, please come to my office. Get one of the other girls. Don’t come back in here to hide out, alright?”

She gave a little kiss on the cheek, a red stain left on his tanned skin. “Always.”

One final pat and he shut the door behind him, leaving Kalista to her things. For a minute she believed Sephiroth was already there, but as the candles flickered and the other girl’s shut the doors to their bedrooms, she realized she was on her own for a while.

Within the hour. Daring’s voice popped back into her head, and she smacked her lips mindlessly as she fiddled with a stray curl. There was a lot to mentally prepare, and the only way to stop the anxiety from rising, and keep her stomach from releasing large amounts of alcohol, she turned to the one thing she knew.

Painting.

Kal hadn’t even pulled out all her brushes when another knock echoed on her door. The lump in her throat returned, and she couldn’t stop herself from staring blankly as another knock filled her eardrums. Her hands seemed to be shaking, and she couldn’t figure out why.

But with baited breath, she had made it to the door, opening it, and getting the fresh scent of honey and soap.

“You were downstairs in Daring’s private bar weren’t you?” She said matter-of-factly, letting Sephiroth in as she got another whiff of the honey infused wax they kept on in the bars downstairs. She could always tell when a customer would come crawling out the waiting room, it was usually very few, but those that had taken a minute or two waiting in Daring’s personal lounge always left with an engraved smell of sweet honey and tea leaves. Much different than the cigar smoke and hard liquor in level two’s free range bar.

The click of the door closing had her heart set on fire. Her mouth had gone dry. And a very low chuckle escaped her throat.

“What’s so funny?” Sephiroth asked, and Kalista tried not to speak as she shut the door completely, locking it as she always did in case curious souls decided to peek. Not the best in case she wanted to get out, but it was better than letting a pervert interrupt her most intimate moments.

“It’s nothing.” She finally said, turning back to find Sephiroth back in front of her paintings. He seemed to have a fascination with them, but she didn’t mind. She hadn’t met another person who appreciated the arts like she did. It felt different. Just to let someone take their view of her art, it was almost joy-ridden, and Kalista almost forgot the fear rising in her nerves.

Kalista placed her paintbrushes on the stand next to her, coming up behind Sephiroth just to peek at her own artwork too.

“Do you know who this is?” He curiously questioned, his eyebrows furrowed at the contrast of the blond woman holding a rose. So pristine, quaint, almost as if it was a snapshot of reality framed for the world to see.

Kalista shrugged, “she was this girl I met a long time ago. She used to work here. Never been painted, so I ought to change that.”

“And you kept it?”

“She never came back to get it.” She said quietly, almost as if the thought disappointed her. “I’ve had it ever since.”

He nodded at her answer, and for a moment the room was silent. Minus their low breathing and the wind picking up against the window.  They were beginning to hear the rest of the nightly cries of the other rooms, and Kalista tried not to think about it too much.

“Why did you put me on retainer?” She couldn’t help but say. Crossing her arms as if it was an interrogation scene and not a civil conversation. She was never supposed to ask, but Sephiroth was too weird not to question.

Most men who had paid her would already be taking their clothes off, kissing her, smearing her makeup as they drank too much champagne and vodka. Sephiroth only smelt like Darin’s honey, not a smidgen of alcohol left on his clothes or breath, nor even insinuating the concept of sex. Even last night, he hadn’t given a damn clue on what he really wanted from her. “How old are you, Kalista?”

He said her name so clearly, perfect enough to bottle every syllable.

“Twenty-two.”

“How long have you been working here?”

“Four years, but I’ve been with Daring much longer than that.”

“How long.”

“Does it really matter?”

“It does.”

She kept her mouth shut, brows furrowed as a slight smile appeared on Sephiroth’s lips. “Does it actually matter?” She repeated, and his blue eyes nearly burned through her, almost as if he was reading her every thought rather than just staring.

“I would like to know.”

“Hmm,” Kalista shook her head, stepping a few feet away as she lanced down at a near-extinguished candle. “Most people don’t ask for a full background. Let alone buy me before even having a single night with me. What do you really want, Sephiroth?”

And he let off another smile just by the sheer utter of his name. Kalista had a voice like velvet, smooth to the ears and capturing every word. She hadn’t said his name before, and it only added to the ideas circulating his mind.

[quinzelade]

Making One’s Bones (chpt 13)

Chapter List

--

Porter Gage is in a pickle. Nuka-World needed a new boss and some woman just killed her way to the top. But a pre-war Mafia boss on the theme park's throne? Well...at least she'll have experience.

--

Hello, everyone! Welcome to my newest fanfic! While this is technically a ‘sequel’ of By No Constraint, you don’t need to read BNC to read this. It can be read as standalone.

--

Explosive Personalities

--

The world was a warm, comfortable haze of black. Sarah shifted under the heavy blankets, savouring every moment before she had to open her eyes. Even her aches and pains couldn’t take away the peace she felt. Oswald must have found her. Or she’d died. That wasn’t so bad either. Her body wasn’t hurting as much anymore at least, though she couldn’t say why.

A loud clatter across the room made Sarah jump. Her eyes snapped open of their own accord, and she lay in the bed, staring up at the dingy ceiling. The panels were all loose, revealing a dark hidden world above. A sharp, hissing sizzle cut through the sound of pots and pans being moved around, and a delicious smell slowly wafted over. Her stomach rumbled. Deciding she wasn’t in any danger, Sarah sat up.

The room was bright and airy, the tops of the dead trees just visible at the bottom of the wide, broken windows. The walls were a vibrant red, with pictures of cola bottles hanging in crooked, shabby frames. Sarah glanced around to see various bits of battered old furniture, including a creepy mannequin, an old coffee table, and a yellow metal frame with wires hanging off it. Next to the bed was a wooden wall, blocking off her view of the rest of the apartment, but a big, pretty light fixture with lots of bulbs hung over the bed. Sarah admired it for a moment and then got to her feet.

As soon as she stood up, she saw him. Sitting on a sofa, just across from the bedroom nook, was the dirty one-eyed raider with the greasy mohawk and yellow-painted armour.

Gage.

He glared at her as he chewed on something, his arms folded tight across his chest, looking as if he’d love nothing better than to hit her. Sarah’s stomach tightened and she shrank back. But then the images of the other raiders beating her until she couldn’t walk flashed across her mind, and a hot fury prickled across her skin. So what if he hit her? She’d been hit before and she was still alive.

Sarah stepped out from behind the wall, folded her arms, and glared back.

Gage blinked, his expression faltering. The corners of his mouth twitched, his eye lingering on her, before he turned his head and called, “Boss? It’s awake.”

“Don’t call her an ‘it,’” snapped an oddly familiar voice.

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever. She’s awake then.”

Sarah followed Gage’s line of view and saw Mrs. Bossanova wandering over, balancing two plates on one arm and holding a cup in the other. She couldn’t say whether she was pleased to see the older ghoul, as their last meeting had been...strange. But Mrs. Bossanova was a more welcome sight than Gage by far. She set down the two plates and the cup on the coffee table, beckoning Sarah over.

Sarah obeyed, biting back a laugh as Mrs. Bossanova slapped Gage’s hand away when he reached out for the food.

“The fuck?”

Mrs. Bossanova ignored him, pushed the cup and one of the plates towards Sarah as she sat in the closest chair. “There you are, honey. Brahmin bacon and beans, and some warm milk. How are you feeling?”

Both Gage and Sarah gawked at her. Gage recovered first. “The hell are you doing?”

Mrs. Bossanova rolled her eyes and sighed. “Do you have to act like I’ve kicked a puppy every time I make breakfast?”

It was his turn to roll his eye. “Like that’s a big deal.”

“Boy, if I ever catch you kicking a—”

“What, that’s where you draw the line?”

Sarah wasn’t too sure what a puppy was, so she left them to argue and ate her beans. They were very good. Almost as good as her dad’s cooking. The fight became background noise as she slowly made her way through her meal, fear melting away the more Mrs. Bossanova snapped and snarled at Gage. Whatever he thought of Sarah, she wasn’t in any danger while the boss lady was here. As she ate, she noticed a grenade belt on the floor next to Gage’s feet.

Finally, Mrs. Bossanova turned away from him and settled herself down with the other plate, tucking in.

“Where’s mine?” Gage said, sounding wounded.

Mrs. Bossanova tilted her head and smiled. “What did I say to you the other week?” She gestured to an old, broken plate on the floor, surrounded by moldy food. “Clean up your plate and I’ll make you some more.”

His mouth fell open. He looked from the plate to Mrs. Bossanova, his face slowly turning red, and then spat, “I ain’t picking that shit up.”

“Then you can stay hungry,” Mrs. Bossanova replied primly, cutting her brahmin bacon. “Or make your own food for a change instead of scavenging. You’re a grown man.” She turned away from him and looked at Sarah. “You didn’t answer my question earlier. How are you feeling, honey?”

Sarah blinked. “Um...fine, I guess?” And she did feel fine. That was weird. “Do you know how I got better? I remember hurting a lot, but that’s it.”

“We had some stimpaks to spare.”

Gage opened and closed his mouth a few times, glowering first at Mrs. Bossanova, and then Sarah. He seemed particularly angered by her presence, though Sarah couldn’t understand why. She met his eye and stuffed as much bacon into her mouth as possible. Gage’s stomach rumbled loudly.

“God, fine.” He got to his feet, making a big show of stomping around and cleaning up, flinging the broken plate and its rotting contents out of the window. Below there was a shriek and a splash.

“Thank you,” Mrs. Bossanova said pleasantly. “I’ll just finish up, and then I’ll get started on yours. How do you like your bacon?”

“Cooked,” grumbled Gage, dropping heavily back into his chair and wiping his hands on his pants. Mrs. Bossanova didn’t rush, but ate in her own time, which made Sarah smirk behind her mug of warm milk. Eventually though the boss cleared her plate, took Sarah’s with her, and set about at the stove once again.

Sarah and Gage returned to glaring at each other. She was feeling a little braver with a full stomach, and her collar was sticking uncomfortably to her neck. Tugging at the metal band, she said, “I remember you.”

Gage’s eye trailed lazily over her, his scowl making way for an expression of supreme disinterest. He shrugged. “Can’t say I remember you.”

Sarah’s cheeks burned. “You put the collar on me.”

“I put collars on lots of people.” There was a smile on his lips now, revealing his blackened teeth. He seemed to be enjoying her mounting frustration, the twisted grin telling her he knew who she was, but was pretending otherwise.

Sarah wriggled in her seat, unable to keep still. “You’re a nasty man.”

“Yup.”

She hadn’t been as angry as this in a long time. Now she came to think about it, had she ever been this mad? Sarah clenched her fists, staring into Gage’s hateful hazel eye, barely resisting the urge to jab her finger into it. She wanted to hurt him, wanted to make him mad too. “The big raider had to hit you first though. You were scared of him. I could tell.”

Gage straightened up, red slowly creeping up his neck. But to her surprise, he nodded. “Yeah well, kid, it was obey Colter or get my head blown off." He propped his feet on the coffee table, his eye fixed on her. "I would have given you to the Disciples myself to keep ‘em happy. They'd already threatened to skin me that morning. I didn't know ya, and I still don't know ya. So I don't give a fuck about you."

Sarah’s stomach plummeted at the thought of the Disciples and their long, bloody knives. A cold shiver passed over her body, and Gage smirked. Anger and embarrassment shoved fear aside, and Sarah leaped up from her chair and jumped onto the coffee table, kicking his feet aside. She glared down at the startled raider, her hands on her hips. "You're such a—a—" she paused, glanced around the room, and then leaned forward and whispered, "an asshole."

Gage burst out laughing. Raising one finger to her forehead, he pushed her away so she staggered and fell off the coffee table with a bump. He got to his feet. “Yeah, I am. Now fuck off.”

He walked towards Mrs. Bossanova, who had apparently not heard a word of their argument, and accepted a plate of food. Sarah winced, getting to her hands and knees. As she did, her hand brushed against something heavy. She looked down and a smile spread across her face.

Gage had left his grenade belt behind.

--

It took Gage a whole hour to realise his belt was missing. Sarah was in the bedroom nook, giggling as she listened to him rummaging around and cursing. When she heard his banging footsteps, though, she knew it was time to hide, but before she could get under the bed, Gage came into view.

“Where the fuck is it, you little freak?”

Sarah squeaked in terror despite herself, trying to push herself out of reach, but Gage grabbed her ankle and dragged her out, throwing her down the wooden ramp so she crashed into the coffee table. He advanced, his teeth bared, his fist raised. “Tell me where it is now, or I’ll wrap your legs around your fucking head.”

“Gage!” Mrs. Bossanova came running into the room, her eyes blazing. “What the hell is going on?”

“Teaching the girl some manners.” He turned his back on her, reaching out for Sarah’s head.

Mrs. Bossanova drew her sword and put it between them, the blade close to his body as she held it steady. “Lay one hand on her and I’ll cut it off, Gage.”

Gage rounded on her, batting the blade aside carelessly and stepping towards her. “That little bitch has taken my grenade belt! I put it down for five fucking seconds and it’s gone!”

“Maybe you shouldn’t just leave things lying around.”

He spluttered at this, but Mrs. Bossanova ignored him, turning to Sarah. “Sweetie, did you take Gage’s belt?”

Sarah shook her head dolefully, pushing herself as far back into the coffee table as she could manage. Gage was turning red as a tato.

Mrs. Bossanova returned her attention to him. “There you go.”

“You’re just going to believe her?”

“What use does a ten year old have with a grenade belt, for God’s sake?” She sheathed her sword. “Although at this moment, I’m having difficulty figuring out who the child is here. If it makes you feel better, I’ll buy you a new belt in the marketplace.”

Gage looked as if he was about to explode, but finally seemed beyond words. Or maybe he just didn’t want to argue with the boss. He shot Sarah a filthy scowl and stormed from the room, slamming the door so hard one of the framed pictures fell off the wall and shattered.

Mrs. Bossanova sighed. She crouched down and touched Sarah’s cheek. “Did he hurt you?”

Sarah shook her head.

“We’re going to be out of town for a day or two. Will you be okay here on your own?”

Sarah nodded, then feeling she should say something, cleared her throat. “I’ll be fine, thank you. No one else will come in, will they?”

“No. You’ll be safe.” Bossanova smiled at her. “Want me to bring you back some cola?”

“Yes please.” Sarah licked her lips, feeling awkward. She wasn’t sure if she wanted Mrs. Bossanova to stay or not. She seemed like a nice lady, but something was...off. Oswald wouldn’t have kept someone as mean as Gage around. Pansy and Petey were much better than Gage. Maybe she would be allowed to go visit him.

Mrs. Bossanova made a move as if she was going to do something, but thought better of it. Instead, she squeezed Sarah’s shoulder and stood up. “I’ll be back soon.”

Sarah waited until Mrs. Bossanova’s footsteps died away and then crawled over to a loose floorboard, pried it up, and took out Gage’s grenade belt. She didn’t know why she stole it, or why she lied. All Sarah knew was it felt good to take something from Gage, even if she wasn’t sure of the reasons.

The belt itself was very heavy, but Sarah liked the cold metal against her thin fingers. She ran it through her hands back and forth, an odd sense of power caught in her chest. If she wanted to, she could pluck each grenade like tarberries from the vine and toss them out of the window, killing whoever lurked below. The idea made Sarah shiver—with anticipation or revulsion, she wasn’t sure.

Sarah stood up and tried to put the belt on. It wrapped twice around her tiny waist, and even then she had to add another notch with a kitchen knife to fasten it. The grenades bunched together over each other as Sarah preened, imagining herself like a raider, tough and strong. No one would ever hurt her again.

“Watch what you’re fucking doing!”

A loud clunk followed by a string of swearwords made Sarah flinch. For one heart-stopping moment, she thought Gage and Mrs. Bossanova had returned, until she heard another voice say, “Haze, be more careful. Don’t want this to explode before we’ve set it all up.”

The raiders must have snuck in below. Sarah had seen the entrance to the Fizztop Grille when Mackenzie pointed it out to her during her first few days in Nuka Town. The boss’ lair, and the last place she should ever go. Now she was here, trapped inside, raiders just beyond the door. Without Mrs. Bossanova, she was easy prey.

Sarah gasped for breath, the hated terror gripping her throat. She glanced around the room, looking for a place to hide. The bed was the obvious choice, but might be the first place they checked. She’d also be stuck there until they left again. The panic was making her sick, and she retched silently, before straightening up. The voices were drawing near.

A thought suddenly struck her and she looked up. The ceiling panels she’d seen this morning—they were still loose! But would she be able to reach them?

Sarah made her mind up in an instant. Wiping her sweat-slicked hands on her shirt, she clambered on top of the rickety bedside table against the wall and reached up, taking hold of the wood trim and pulling herself up. The holes in the wall became footholds, and despite her body’s protests, Sarah managed to drag herself up to the ceiling and out of sight. She held her breath as seconds later the door banged open and several sets of heavy footsteps entered the room.

“Not a bad setup this,” said a rough-voiced woman.

“Who cares?” There was a heavy thud of something being placed on the ground.

“Haze, how many times? Be careful or you’ll blow us up, you fucking idiot.”

“Yeah yeah,” said Haze. “When that bitch and Gage get back, the whole place will be fucked.”

Sarah poked her head out from the gap in the ceiling. Below her were five raiders—two women and three men. The women looked much meaner than the men, even though all of them wore bright clothes and body paint. The one Sarah thought might be Haze—with purple hair and a blue vest—gave a large package on the floor a little kick. “Now let’s set this baby up—”

One of the raiders—a woman with a green mohawk—punched Haze in the face.

“How—many—times? Stop—manhandling—the—bomb!” She punctuated every word with a strike until Haze submitted, raising his hands in defeat. She snorted and kicked him away. “Get out. We’ll deal with this.”

“But—”

The woman punched him again and Haze scrambled to his feet and bailed. She watched him go, sneering. “Mason won’t give him the credit for this. Not if I have anything to say about it.”

“To be fair, it was his idea,” cut in the other female raider.

“Not anymore. We can handle this without him.”

Sarah ducked out of sight again. She waited a moment, letting her eyes adjust to the dark. In the far corner she could see a sliver of light that looked like it led to the outer corridor the raiders had come in from. If she was quick and quiet—and most importantly of all—lucky, she might escape without being spotted. But the raiders were clearly trying to kill Mrs. Bossanova and Gage. Sarah didn’t much care what happened to Gage, but Mrs. Bossanova had made her breakfast. She had been nice.

Sarah shifted in her spot, glancing down as the grenades at her waist gently clinked together. An idea blossomed, unhindered by the fact she only vaguely knew how grenades worked. Sarah tugged one free with difficulty and crawled over to where the voices below were loudest. Carefully she pried away one of the panels, paused to make sure no one had heard her, and then moved to observe.

The raiders were setting up their bomb. Even if they hadn’t been talking loudly about it for the past ten minutes, she knew what a bomb looked like. The comics Wiseman had given her contained everything she needed to know about bombs and how to disarm them. All you had to do was cut a wire...except she wasn’t too sure which wire to cut. Maybe instead…? Sarah glanced at the grenade in her hand and then to the light at the far end of the crawl space. She’d have to be fast.

Sarah shuffled back closer towards her escape route, as close as she dared. Then she took a deep breath, and with some difficulty, pulled the pin from the grenade.

Terror erupted through her as she froze. What was she doing?

Sense kicked in at the last second. With a squeak, Sarah flung the grenade away from herself, watching it bounce and disappear down through the ceiling, before whipping around and scurrying away.

“Did you hear that?”

Her sweaty hands slipped as she crawled, her breath escaping in panicked pants. The exit was just within reach.

“Is that a fucking grena—?”

There was a split second where Sarah realised she hadn’t made it. The panels ceiling rumbled as a deafening noise ripped through her eardrums. She felt the heat, saw the lights, and then the floor surged from beneath her, sending her flying forward. Her head hit something hard, and she knew no more.

--

A/N: So, gonna be totally honest with you. I have zero motivation to keep posting these chapters.

I am going to, because they're done and NOT posting them would feel like a massive waste of the two years it took to write them.

But yeah. My motivation comes from the enjoyment of my readers. And from what I can see, very few people are enjoying this, let alone actually reading it. It doesn't help I'm in the middle of a depressive episode right now, and mustering up the energy to format these chapters on Ao3, FFnet, and tumblr when I know I'm essentially throwing my words into the void is just...eh.What's the point?

I'll be making sure this story is updated to completion. After that though, I'm going to have a long think about whether or not I'm going to bother finishing writing the sequels. It seems like a pointless exercise at the moment, and I'm too tired and too sad to keep banging my head against a wall for nothing.

[jokerfan99]

Diabolical Thieves!!! (RWBY/RVB) by Necroceph

*RVB Opening Theme*

2300 Hours in Red Base's Living Quarters

Ruby awakens from the rumbling beneath her heart that is her stomach. She sits up and get out off bed before heading toward the door and into the slightly lit hallway. Despite having two bowls of ramen back at dinner, her stomach still cries out for more sustanance. In order to calm it down, she decides to get a midnight snack and then return to bed.

Ruby: Now where's the food dispenser? Aha!

She sees the dispensing machine on the corridor's walls up ahead. Still on tonight's menu, there's turkey dinner, chef's special, ramen etc. Though what caught her eye the most on the menu is good old sweet cookies. The military version, although she wouldn't mind so long it's enough. She presses the menu and machine dispenses her order. She grabs the plastic covering and start to open it, until her eyes caught a glimpse of the locker room's lights.

Ruby: That's funny, I thought Lopez turned off the light.

Ruby heads to the locker room to investigate. When she enters, there doesn't seem to be anyone inside. Its empty. Before she was about to leave, she noticed one of the lockers are open and on it is engraved with the name, her name. 'ROSE'. Then she starts to become worried. She rushes to her locker and looks inside. Her face turns to pure horror.

At Sarge's Room

Sarge: Of course, Douglas MacArthur. Have some more tea. No Sun Tzu, it's not Chinese, it's English!

Here we see Sarge, sleeping peacefully with a Patton doll wrapped in his hands. From what he's muttering, we can tell his dreaming himself having tea with the greatest generals in Earth's history. Must be peaceful in that head of his.

Ruby: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

Not anymore. A loud scream was enough to wake him up. He shot up from his bed with his arms posed for a close-quarters combat.

Sarge: Who goes there?! Show yourself in the name of the Red Army! Huh, must be nothing. Ruby: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Sarge: Or not. Sweet jibblets, that sounds like Rose!

Sarge then jumps out of hid bed and rushes towards his personnal locker. He quickly opens it and grabs both his helmet and trusty shotgun. Now armed and ready, instead of opening the door like a normal person, he kicks it down before running through the hallway heading towards the source. Until he runs onto an obstacle that is Donut. Both men fell onto the ground.

Donut: Ow, my spline! Sarge: Donut? What are you doing here?

Both of them got up.

Donut: I was asking the exact same thing. Ow! What's happened? Who'd be screaming so close to midnight? Sarge: That's the sound of Rose in peril and it came from the locker room! There must be a Blue intruder in here who seeks to sabotage our plans and he's possibly holding Rose hostage! Donut: Yikes! We better wake up the rest! Sarge: That will take too much time, we need to move NOW!!!

At the locker room

Ruby: She's gone. She's gone.

We see Ruby with her knees on the floor. Tears flowing down from her large silver eyes like waterfalls as she continues muttering 'She's gone' again and again like a mantra. At the same time, Sarge and Donut arrived at the scene.

Sarge: Freeze dirtbag and let go of my private! No wait, it's just Rose sitting there. She's fine. Donut: Oh crap. Rose, are you okay? Ruby: WAAAAAAAH!!!

Ruby launches herself onto Donut, hugging him tightly around and burrowing her face onto his pink striped pajama shirt soaking it with her seemingly neverending tears.

Ruby: It's horrible! She's gone, she's GONE!!! Donut: Gone? Who's gone? Ruby: Crescent Rose. Sarge: Rose, compose yourself and explain us clearly! What do you mean gone? Ruby: *sniff* My rifle... my baby... SOMEONE KIDNAPPED HER!!!

Ruby points at the inside of her locker. Inside was supposed to store Crescent Rose, Ruby's sniper rifle. But there is no sight of it anywhere and all that's left is a sticky note with writing saying, 'NO TOUCHY -Love, Ruby'.

Donut: Oh, her rifle's gone. That's no big de-GAAAH!!!

Ruby suddenly violently shakes Donut by the collar.

Ruby: No big deal? NO BIG DEAL?!?! CRESCENT ROSE IS AN EXTENSION OF MYSELF! SHE'S A PART OF ME... me.... WAAAHAAAAAA!!!

Continues crying on his shirt. Feeling both pity and confused, Donut pats Ruby's back and tries to comfort her.

Donut: There, there. Everything's going to fine! Uhm, Sarge?

Sarge takes a closer look at the locker. He noticed something locker's door. Above the handle is a hole where the lock should be. It looks as though somebody torched it.

Sarge: Suffering catfish! Someone did stole her rifle! WHO DARES SIGN THEIR OWN DEATH WARRANT!!! Nobody steals the private property of my favourite markswoman! Donut: Doesn't make sense, who would want to steal a single wea... uh,  I mean... Crescent Rose.   Sarge: It's obviously the Blues! They must've realized how powerful Crescent Rose was in combat and they decided to steal it for their own diabolical schemes! Possibly mass-produce it. Donut: You mean like, tearing it apart from the inside and... Ruby: That's not helping!!! Donut: Sorry, sorry! So what do we do? Sarge: Simple, we'll steal it back by force! Call Lopez, Simmons and Grif.

Somewhere on of the cliffs near Blue Base

BANG!

Simmons: Holy shit!!! Another clean shot!

Simmons was more disbelieved to witness the accuracy of the shot. Grif silently laughs by Simmon's reaction as he aim for another shot with Crescent Rose.

Grif: So what do we have next? Simmons: Hmm, let's see.

Through the binoculars. he could see the damage Grif cause with the rifle, from the destruction of the tank's control panels to the Blue base's floodlights. To test the trajectory, he'll need to find something much further. Moving away from the base to another shooting area, he spots is bush much further and on that bush is a small red fruit on it.

Simmons: See that small fruit on that bush to the left? Grif: Yeah? Simmons: Shoot it. Grif: With pleasure.

Grif steadily aims at the fruit. Despite Crescent Rose's large size, it is surprisingly light so it wasn't a problem to hold it by hand. Once the crosshair's aimed at the fruit, he pulls the trigger.

BANG! SPLUUUURTT!

The explosive sound echoed through the cold night air. In a second, through Simmon's binoculars, the fruit exploded into a gooey mash, leaving nothing but bits and such.

Simmons: Alright, I think that's done it! Grif: Man, why didn't Command make this kind of weapon in the first place? It's awesome! Simmons: I totally agree. It's powerful, accurate and more lighter than the standard sniper rifles. Just imagine if we mass-produce this kind of weapon and equip the army with it, it'll be a turning point to the war. Grif: And we can finally end it early! If only Rose isn't so clinged to it all the time. Simmons: Oh I'm sure she'll understand how beneficial it would be. It'll only take a few tear outs to figure out its functionality.

TZZT

Donut through radio: This is Pvt. Franklin Delano Donut, do you read me over?

Donut's voice came through both of their helmets' radios. Simmons responsed first.

Simmons: Read you loud and clear, Donut. What are you doing up so late at- Donut through radio: Where are you guys? You weren't in your rooms! Simmons: Yeah sorry about that, we were doing a late night spying on the Blues. What's wrong? Donut through radio: We... kinda have a bit of emergency. You know Crescent Rose, Ruby's weapon? Someone stole it.

Simmons and Grif looked at one another with worried looks behind their visors

Simmons: Uhm... stolen? How? Donut through radio: Well an intruder entered the base just and we found a hole burned through Ruby's locker, possbily made by a hand-held blow torch. Sarge suspects its the Blues and since your both outside, have you seen anyone out there holding it? Simmons: Uh.. negative we haven't seen anyone out here nor anybody leaving the Blue base. Donut through radio: I see. Well then if you see them, do whatever it takes to stop 'em. Pvt. Franklin Delano Donut out!

CLICK

Grif: We are so dead. Simmons: We? You're the one who decided on the 'dirty work'! We should've opened that locker discreetly! Grif: It's locked up tight like ancient Fort Knox! There's no way we can pick it with a pin. Simmons: Whatever! Fuck, we can't let the others know. Grif: Or worse, Sarge. We gotta hide it. Simmons: And where Do we hide it, genius? Grif: How the fuck should I know? Bury it maybe? Simmons: Wait, I have an idea! Donut said Sarge suspects its the Blue's work, right? Grif: Ooooh, I know what you're thinking. Hehehehe. Let's put it in Caboose's room.

Deviantart: https://www.deviantart.com/necroceph

[thedreamergirlofsummer]

S8E3 Sansa Stark

Okay the last episode really did Sansa's character a disservice. Also this won't solely be about Sansa, but it will be the most I'll be talking about.

We see that E3 was an episode chopped away from the first two, it was like an isolated movie. All the show makers focused on was the battle and the problems surrounding it, which is great. Yet the crypt scenes were the most bland and flat moments in the episode. They didn't add anything to the montage of survival and grit displayed by the other characters, which is why it pissed off most of the audience.

The first shot we see is of Sansa on the battlements with Arya. She watches the entire Dothraki army vanish within moments, watches the dragons light everything afire and she realises that this threat is way more awful than any other. There's fear on Sophie's face. Arya gives her a dagger and tells her to leave which was an excellent decision! It showed Arya cared about her sister, it also showed how Sansa WAS prepared to stand there and face everything. Despite being scared. But it was a good call for her to leave, because we see what happens on the battlements. It would have been incredibly difficult for Arya to protect her sister and herself, not that Sansa wouldn't have fought, she would have but she also would be getting in the way.

The second scene is when she enters the crypts. This entire scene was non verbal with Sansa's face telling us, "it's awful up there" and Tyrion's reaction being "oh we're fucked" This was an okay scene but I expected a bit more dialogue.

The third is where Tyrion contemplates going up to the battle. He does feel useless and he does say that he's as capable as any other. Sansa says "we can't do anything that's why we are here." "the most heroic thing we can do now is look the truth in the face." Now this made me feel that Sansa was as frustrated as Tyrion, knowing that people are dying to keep them safe, knowing that she cannot fight. But here's where DnD did wrong. Sansa was this hope for the frightened women and children in S2 but here we find her statement to be rather cynical and rather Cersei-like. I'll explain further why this was a pulling back of her character.

Tyrion, learning that Sansa has "wised up" says that they should have stayed married. Sansa speaks of why they wouldn't work and Missandei says "We'd be dead without the Deagon Queen" Now here, Sansa didn't say anything wrong, nor did Missandei. Both were right in their own way. Why?

We've seen that Dany already questions Tyrion in the Great Hall Jaime trial. Sansa picked up on that. Tyrion's family relationship with Cersei is equal to treason for Dany. So her and Tyrion being in a marriage would provide more suspicion in Dany's mind. She could never trust him entirely, knowing that Tyrion is the husband of a woman who is the Lady of a Great House. A lady that wants her North to stay independent. Sansa and Tyrion's end goals are in direct conflict with one another. The only common goal they can have is destroying Cersei.

Missandei faced a lot of distrust and racism on behalf of the Northerners. She tried to be friendly and bond with them but she was rejected due to her alliance to Dany and her different appearance. I believe that Missandei was just channeling that bitterness, knowing that Greyworm and his soldiers are fighting for their lives, for people that could never accept them entirely.

Uptil this scene I had no problems with Sansa's arc. The next two scenes go against the essence of Sansa's character.

The scene where everyone is frightened and soldiers are banging on the doors asking to be let in. The unease and the tension in the room could have been cut with a knife. This is a situation where Sansa could have stood up and calmed everyone. Because if she was in character she totally would have. She did it before. Her not saying anything again makes this scene Cersei-like which is to say undermines Sansa as a person responsible for people's safety.

The last scene was a fucking let down despite the fact that they shot an entire scene with Tyrion and Sansa taking down the wights. Was it too much trouble to add this 1-2 minutes of footage? The time that J/D spent aimlessly navigating dragons in the storm could have been cut and that time could have been used to further the crypt scenes.

The reason why the crypt arc falls apart is because we don't see any interaction between any of the characters. Except for a few points where Missandei and Varys speak we don't see their interactions with the Northmen, we don't see Sansa's interaction with her people! The people for whom she let the gates of Winterfell stay open for longer! Can you see how it negates Sansa's character development? This is a Lady who cared for her people until the last episode and now when they need her leadership the most she suddenly doesn't step up at all? Are you fucking kidding me DnD?!

We don't see Sansa's interaction with Gilly. Sam is Jon's friend so doesn't Sansa care at all about his wife and their child?

Do you want to know what would have been a believable realistic scene?

Shot starts with Sansa and Tyrion running from the wights. They hide behind a crypt. Screams of people being killed. They look at each other. Sansa's scared expression as she swallows and pulls out a dagger. Tyrion nods and grabs her hand.

Shot of them circling around two wights and killing them. Shots of them trying to rescue some survivors. Shots of Sansa killing a wight that has caught Missandei. Both gaze at each other and nod.

Tyrion and Sansa getting the survivors with Varys and the others. Forming a plan. Deciding to get a bag of dragonglass (this is common sense, if you're holding up your people in a closed area give them some fucking weapons so that they can defend themselves if the need arises! Have some caches of dragonglass to use for self defence) near the door entrance where a couple wights wander. Everyone working together to get the dragonglass bag then arming everyone that can be armed.

Tyrion giving a recycled Battle of Blackwater speech (it would have made sense WHY they referenced Blackwater in the first place!) Sansa following it up with, "We're not fighters, none of us know what we're doing anymore, but when we go out there, we are the Warriors of Winterfell."

All of them standing in solidarity, as the NK theme plays we don't know if these characters live or die but they are determined to protect their people.

A shot in the entire theme sequence of Bran and NK, of all these people in the crypts being overwhelmed yet they're fighting.

As Arya kills the NK many in the crypts are near death but the wights all perish and all these people, who shared a harrowing night between living and dying stand up and gaze. THIS is where that shot would come in handy, everyone watches as the wights die and look around dazed and scared.

See I'm a writer, I try to write good scenes, most of the scenes above are what I invented on the spur of the moment and are incredibly cliche. Yet the fact that this cliche tripe that I wrote under 5 minutes makes MORE SENSE than what we saw yesterday regarding Sansa's scenes just makes me feel like shit. End of Rant.

And I apologise that you had to sit through my stupid scenes. Let's hope E4 turns Sansa's character around.

[phandomphightclub]

The Lexxpocalypse: Prelude

(AKA, Dots seeks shelter in the Denny’s as she begins the hunt for the Lexx blogs’ true identities)

“...You know we’re supposed to be closed, right?”  Tali asked the lone hooded ghost who sat at the bar of the Denny’s.  Yes, the Denny’s has a bar now.  No, they don’t sell alcohol, because too many of the ghosts are minors and aren’t allowed, but they does sell a pretty legit sea-salt soda, which Tali can’t seem to get anyone to try for some reason.

“I know, I know.  But this is the only place I could go.”  The ghost side and pushed back her hood, revealing the face of the Denny’s own infamous cook, @d-o-t-s.  “I can’t take it anymore.  They’re conspiring against me, Tali.”

“Who is?”  Tali frowned.  Dots leaned over the counter, seizing the neck of her jacket.

“The Lexx blogs,” she hissed, eyes wide.  “They’re everywhere, all over the ghostzone!”

“Lexx… blogs?”  Tali asked while polishing a dumpster-shaped glass.  “Sorry, I was with Technus on a trip to the human world this last week.  Did something happen?”

“Something?  Tali, everything happened.  This is even weirder than the Phight Club.”

“Really?”  She raised her eyebrows.  “I mean, I know the phandom’s been dead so long we’ve all lost our sanity, but I thought it would be tough to beat that.”

Suddenly something banged on the doors.  The dim diddles-piddles lights flickered ominously.

“Don’t take my word for it,” Dots said, yeeting herself over the counter to hide behind it with Tali.  “I think you’re about to find out.”

Then the door burst open, revealing a flood of Lexosaurus duplicates.  They swarmed the Denny’s, laughing and snoring and meming so violently they destroyed half the fidget-spinner shaped tables in under five minutes.  One Lexx even yeeted an avocado that exploded next to Tali’s head.  

“O-kaaaaaay… I’m officially concerned,” Tali said.  “When did Lexx learn how to duplicate?  I thought Bug was the only phighter who did that?”

“That’s the thing!  They’re not Lexx!”  Dots replied, gesticulating wildly.  “These are all other ghosts who’ve changed their appearance to impersonate her!”

“Wow.  That’s some dedication right there.”

“It’s not dedication, it’s – it’s madness is what it is.”  Dots crossed her arms, dodging a door that got thrown behind the counter.

“Hey, repair staff is on break!  Gah…”  Tali shook her head, patting the floorboards fondly.  “The Denny’s wasn’t ready to handle another giant phandom shenanigan so soon.  She needs her rest.”

“Rest is very important to all growing buildings!”  One of the Lexxes said brightly before launching into a lecture on the importance of sleep.

“That one would be Lexosnorus,” Dots explained to the shell-shocked Tali.  “Each incarnation of Lexx has a different theme.  I’ve categorized over twenty-five different species.  I have theories that some may actually be duplicates of the same ghost, but it’s all still in the early stages.”

“...You’re starting to sound like Wes.”

Dots sighed.  “I get that a lot.”

“Hey, it might not be such a bad thing.  You’re going to need his kind of dedication and skill to figure out who all these Lexxes are.”

“Dang right I am.  But I can’t do it by myself.  I’ve got agents across the ghost zone, but no place to base my operations.  You mind if I use the Denny’s?”

Tali shrugged.  “Once we get these Lexxes out of here, it’s all yours.”

“Thanks!”  Dots beamed.  “But… how are we gonna do that?”

“She’s got a few tricks,” Tali said with a smirk.  “Denny’s, engage intruder defense system!  Mark ally D-O-T-S!  Protocol zero-three-YEET!”

As soon as the command was finished, a fierce wind swept through the building.  Several of the Lexxes called out in confusion and chaos as they were blasted off of the premises. “Huh.  That was surprisingly easy,” Dots noted.

“Wind core.”  Tali tapped her chest with a fist.  “Some of the security staff helped set up the link before they went on vacation.”

“They didn’t do a good enough job, apparently,” a mysterious voice said from the other side of the counter.  Tali and Dots both jumped, peering over it carefully.

“Another one?”  Tali whispered, seeing the remaining Lexx clone.  “Why didn’t my security system take them out?”

“That’s their general,” Dots whispered back.  “See the ectoplasm dripping from their mouth?  That’s @lexovorus.”

“Lexov– ugh.”  Tali smacked her forehead before emerging from behind the counter to confront the Lexx.  “Look, we don’t serve vore here, bro.  Besides, we’re closed.”

“I’m not here for you, Tali.  I’m not even here for the Denny’s.  Not this time.” Lexovorus smirked, and Tali frowned.

“Then what the heck do you want?”

“Oh, you’ll see.  But more importantly, Dots will see.”

“I will see!”  Dots shouted, bursting from behind the counter.  “I’ll find out who you are, Vorus!  And all your Lexx friends too!”

Lexovorus chuckled darkly.  “I look forward to seeing you try.”

And with that, Vorus vanished into the shadows.  Dots’ eyes darted around, as if expecting them to reappear at any moment, but the Denny’s was still.

“Sheesh, I leave for one week and everything explodes.”  Tali sighed.  “But you know what’s going on?”

Dots nodded.  “I explained most of what I know.  They’re going around confusing everyone in the ghost zone.  Some of them seem innocent enough, but others…” She shook her head.  “Well.  They all need to be exposed, by the end of this.”

Tali nodded.  “One Lexx is about all the ghost zone can handle, if you ask me.  Do you have a plan for how you’re going to find out who they are?”

This time it was Dots’ turn to smirk.  Her white eyes glowed brightly.

“Oh, I’ve got more than a plan.  Those Lexxes are going down.”

The Lexxpocalypse has been going on for a while, and after some discussion with Dots and some of the Lexx blogs, I’ve gotten permission to make a fic of it a la the Phight writeups!  The other installments will feature Dots herself as the main character as she takes on the Lexx blogs one at a time.  Each post following this one will reveal the identity of one Lexx blog.  The goal is to get at least one installment up per day, but this may vary depending on my schedule.  Posts will be tagged #lexxpocalypse and #lexxpocalypsefic so feel free to blacklist those if you were only following for the Phight!  

[magicalsalamander]

Aurelius Part 1

Pairing: BTS Namjoon  ⇆ Reader

Genre: Werewolf | Fluff | Angst | Smut [later] |

Summary: When the daughter of the secretary for the Minister for Wolf and Canine relations is the last living member of her clan, she must find a way to avenge her family. She must find a way to put an end to the hunters whose sole purpose is to cleanse the world of werewolves. The golden one hasn’t forgotten. Will she be able to get the revenge she needs?

Words: 8.7 K

Warnings: Rated Mature; Explicit themes, action/ violence, blood shed, torture, death of characters (minor), and graphic depiction. This is not true though series, only this part for context.

A/N:  Orig post: 01|15| 2018; Updated intro 12|12|19. Part of the KLF Universe. 

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The sound of his footsteps was thrumming against the dirt like the drums of war. As if the bass was bowing deeper in lower frequency with each lunge, drawing out in a hum left to ring in your ears in a faint whisper. Stronger and thundering with each step matching the intensity of the crimson obscurity in his eyes. Increasing, increasing, and never breaking the pace. He was making his way forward almost silently against the mulchy floor with a blurring pace. He takes a glimpse down to see the color leaving her with each pressing second. Fear blooms over his being, a blistering red accompanied by anger at the savages who decided to hurt her, his mate.

The darkness of the forest was broken when the familiar large estate welcomed him. He sat her down for a split second amongst a small bed of mulch to rummage through the wooden box that was designed to hide amongst the rocks. It was important no one found their clothing, not that many knew they lived out here anyways. They couldn’t afford any more mistakes. Practically speaking, it was more of a way to prevent bugs from crawling up their back when they put their shirts on. He tossed a black, over sized shirt behind him and slipped on his denim straight jeans before he turned around. There wasn’t time for complete modesty the shirt was slipped over her bare chest. His beast purred when she wore a piece of him. Regaining pace, he picked her back up and ran up the back stairs connecting the acres of forest and the welcoming warmth. He banged on the glass sliding door with his foot growling viciously for anyone to open up. A second later one of his cousin’s mate slid the door open, but she wasn’t given a chance to question the noise noticing the dying woman in his arms. “Grandmother! Please, Help me! Help me! She’s dying!” For an older woman she was fast; she came around the entrance of the kitchen not bothering to look at him already directing his actions. She’s sensed him about a mile away, the urgency in his pace. “Take her up to the room,” she pointed upstairs towards Namjoon,” you, child, go get me the atropine.” She was directing everyone within the vicinity to participate in the carrying. “Atropine?” He gurgled out sensing the life diming in his mate it was stressing now carrying weight up the grand main staircase. “The wound has wolfsbane, quiet a lot too.” Namjoon looked down at you worriedly, in high concentrations it could be lethal. Death was inevitable.

She opened the infirmary room. It was created when enough of the pack members came back injured from runs. He set you down on a table moving to the right side grabbing your wrist, your pulse was soft now. His eyes widened, “Grandmother, please!” The young woman brought in the Atropine vile kept in a safe in the basement. The older woman pushed Namjoon aside finally taking in the bullet wound on your thigh. Tsking to herself older woman asked for Namjoon to step outside the room. He went to open his mouth to refuse, but she insisted, “don’t make me repeat myself.” He had no choice, he didn’t want to watch you in pain, but he didn’t want you without him either. You weren’t alone anymore.

The other woman was already setting up an IV bag with a saline drip on your arm. She went to grab the medical tongs, iodine, gauze with saline solution setting it neatly on a side table that draped over the table. All mates in the pack were taught basic medical procedures by his grandmother when the were accepted into the family. She pulled out the wooden hair stick tucked in her neat bun and within a ceramic bowl she poured the Atropine and began mixing it with the end of her pin. The wooden pin was blessed by the moon goddess and it was passed down the Lunas’ of the Kim family for generations. The wound was washed out with the saline solution and cleaned around the exterior with iodine. She didn’t even look up at the other woman but with an outstretched hand asked for the tongs. The cold metal was passed and with a deep breath she pressed the forks into the tongs into the wound fishing for the bullet.

The digging was a violent wake up call. My nails extended clawing at the bed with guttural growling. I wasn’t physically awake, but it was the beast within still acting on instinct to fight for my life. Namjoon knocked on the door, but was told, “Stay out!” His grandmother turned the tongs one last time dislodging the bullet dropping it onto the side tray. She was sweating, but it wasn’t over. She went back looking for fragments, but it came out clean. She poured the blessed Atropine in the wound mumbling chants of, “please protect one of your servants, guide this unfortunate beast. Do not ask for her to return just yet, she has much work to do Moon spirit.” I let a visceral scream at the burn of the antidote. Again, the beast was taking over and it was her screaming fighting against the burn. Namjoon’s beast was roaring internally, the pain you were going through was tearing him from the inside out. The pull he felt towards you caused him to feel a degree of your pain.

Eventually she stopped pouring the antidote and the screaming quieted. They cleaned everything up as much as possible and his grandmother let the other woman do the dressing. His grandmother finally opened the door to a pacing, agitated Namjoon. She just smiled at him, “she’s going to be alright. I think the moon goddess really looks after this one.” The visual upset in his eyes didn’t curve, he needed to see you for himself. His grandmother put a hand on his chest as he made steps to the room, “ I know that look in any wolves eyes. She may be your destiny, but treat her kindly now. She still is fighting for her life in her mind. Give her space and time. Take her up to one of the guest rooms, she can’t remain in the infirmary all night.” He nodded understanding that his grandmother wanted the best and was the most logical at the moment. He mustn’t act on instincts.

He came in to the room to see that color has returned to you slowly, but you were still covered by mud and other forest accessories. The amount of blood on the table made his beast whined, he wanted to take away the pain. He wanted to hold you in his arms until the end of time. He was able to satisfy that to a certain extent when the mate finished wrapping your leg and stepped away. He picked you up gently this time around. The warmth from his chest brought me yearning closer to him unconsciously. He was going to go crazy. Exiting the room and making his way up the third floor he passed his room stopping at the one across from his. It was a small guest room, but it was just enough for you to stay in. He didn’t want you being far away from him as possible, not anymore. He resituated you to be supported by one arm and pulled back the edge of the covers and laid you down on the full-size bed. You whined being placed down, missing the warmth. He smiled to himself knowing that your beast must’ve felt it too. The pull. He sat next to your bed for a moment taking you in. He was the last one in his pack to find his mate; his father was becoming worried he wouldn’t find her before he turned thirty. He was to take over his father’s position as the main Alpha and the Minister. He burdens sat heavily on his shoulders, but it felt like nothing now sitting next to you. The orange light coming from the stained-glass lamp finally illuminated you enough to see him properly. He reached out to grab your hand and studied it tracing over the scars following an especially long one up your forearm. His beast was rumbling again but he closed his eyes resting his arms on his knees bringing your hand to his forehead. Of all ways to meet someone, this was cinematic.

Days passed and some mates along with Namjoon took shifts taking care of you. He would always take the night shift sitting next to you and reading one of his many novels. He was beginning to worry you weren’t going to wake up, but your slow breathing and steady heart rate said otherwise. What you must’ve gone through really shook your whole system. He could tell you were young, early twenties at most. He sat there not reading his book anymore pondering over the many possibilities of what you could be like? Would you be a sweet woman with an innocent heart? Would you be a sassy woman with endless comebacks? Just exactly who were you. It was the fourth day of your unconsciousness when Namjoon came to sit by your bed. He opened the blinds to let sunshine in to bathe your skin in warmth. He pulled the padded, wooden chair closer to the end of the bed and traced his finger over the book mark of his last reading. He sat in the silence, but your heartbeat was like soft jazz playing in the background. It calmed him matching his own rate.

The rate changed though, it became fast pace beating erratically against your ribs. He looked over the edge of his book to you noticing you shaking your head to side with tears streaming down your face. He set his book down coming over to you. He grabbed your shoulders calling to you, “Hello, are you awake?” Your eyes shined back at his, the brilliant rose gold spoke a thousand words at him. His breath was robbed from his lungs. The beauty staring back at him was unlike anything he’s ever seen. This, this beautiful creatures was his.

I saw them, I saw them come towards the back of the house in a row of fifteen men. They had cloaks covering their shoulders in wolf pelts. Before I could even rise from the table, the man in the middle raised his hand carrying a large sword with a leather-bound handle and arched his arm behind him. The moonlight glimmered off the gun metal iron’s edge, while the royal purple syrup dripped from tip. I knew that liquid, it’s wolfsbane. I couldn’t move, I couldn’t do anything. I looked at my family sitting around the table and watched them all fade into black. I was screaming at them, “come back! No!” They kept dissipating, only black ashes filtering through my fingers as I soon disappeared too.

I woke up to a face looking right at me, their eyes were a bright red with blown out pupils. Even though the eyes staring back were owned by a stranger the weight they carried felt familiar. Under his overbearing gaze, I scrambled over to the opposite edge of the bed not knowing where I was going, but I had to get away. Namjoon caught the tipping IV pole steadying it back in place. I growled at the man dragging my useless leg along with me. With a groggy voice, “Why am I here? What do you want from me?” My chest was rising and falling rapidly slightly shaking. He wasn’t surprised by my stand-off approach instead just raising his hands in surrender. He stepped back until the back of his knees hit the padded chair he sat calmly into his chair. The space between us allowed me to relax a bit, but I was eyeing the window already. He began, “I’m Kim Namjoon. You were running in my pack’s territory. We saved you. If we didn’t take out the bullet, you would’ve been dead.” I pulled the plush, but dirty covers back and noticed right next to the H engraving was covered by gauze wrapped around my thigh. “How long was I out?” I asked cautiously. “Four days.” I was out for four days? In another packs home? I didn’t want to be here any longer, I had to find a way out. Namjoon could see the struggle behind those rose-gold eyes. He felt the need to comfort and coddle but that wasn’t going to help with this defensive wolf putting up tall walls.

“Your name is?” I whipped my head back up and took in the figure sitting before me. He was an unfairly handsome man. The dimples showed when he smiled could melt any glacier. It was hard to not smile back. I wanted to caress his cheeks feeling the dimples with my fingers. I craved his touch. I don’t give into wants, only what I need, and right now I need to get away. I knew I couldn’t give them my real name, but I could give them the name I was now known as, “Aure.” He smiled, “that’s a pretty name, Aure. I will get my grandmother to come check on your injury and check your IV.” I didn’t nod or respond, but he got up regardless and closed the door behind him. When I felt his presence dip farther away, I went into action. I grabbed the IV tube attached at my inner elbow and ripped it out. The impact of the injury sent blood and the saline solution to pour out onto the sheets. I shuffled out of the comforter slowly maneuvering my legs over the beds edge one leg at a time. The dull pain in the right leg intensified once my heel flattened against the dark wood floor. I whimpered caving forward clutching the sheets as if my life depended on it. I was able to stand but I tumbled forward with my first step clutching the wall. I was able to limp and drag that leg to the window pane. It was next to chair where Namjoon was sitting minutes ago. You knocked over a picture frame on the side table with a thud, luckily no glass broke, but the sound was audible enough. My vision blurred, and black dots scattered across my sight because of my fast movements. Laying down for four days and suddenly getting up wasn’t the best of ideas. I held my breath and remained still. When no sounds of oncoming footsteps approached, I crept over the frame with no choice to use my bad leg now. The pain was causing a ringing in my ear, but I needed to open the window. I grabbed the edge of the latch and pulled it out of the lock. The window gave after a few tugs and pulled up. You looked down noticing you were on the third floor and the only landing was on some bare bushes. The closest roof was to your left, but it wasn’t close enough to jump on.

The door to the room opened and Namjoon saw me standing at the windowsill. His instincts kicked in, he couldn’t hold back especially if I was going to hurt yourself. He ran up behind me grabbing around my waist picking me up off the floor. Namjoon was taller than me so feet hovered above the floor. I struggle in his hold, but when I lifted my knee up on my bad leg the usage sent me into a whining mess. “Calm down, Aure! You’re going to hurt yourself!” It was futile shaking any further, it was just too much. He froze feeling my tears drip onto his forearm. In the calmest voice he could produce,” Who did this to you?” I wasn’t a part of his pack why did he care? I was in his territory as a rouge, I shouldn’t even be treated this nicely. It’s normal in our culture that we get thrown into a dungeon and executed without much trial. They even pulled the bullet out, this situation was too weird. Rogues are only bad news. “Make it easier on yourself and let me go! You don’t have to deal with me. Let me enter another’s territory and die peacefully.” Namjoon was getting upset with your words, especially mentions of you ending your life. You even winced at your own words. You didn’t want to die. He was growling showing his dominance, he will make you submit. You yelped out when his claws dug in to you a bit. It was intentional to calm you down and displace your anger.

We both stopped moving when a calm, but powerful voice spoke from the doorway, “Stop you two.” Namjoon turns around to face the voice of authority with you dangling in his arms. The once intimidating wolf turned into a puppy at his grandmother’s command. She walked forward approach, “Dear, don’t hurt yourself any further. The wound on your leg is only going to get worse with movements. Before Joonie sets you down you need to promise me you won’t run again.” I looked down in shame, this woman brought out my inner puppy as well. Her calming voice just felt like hot chocolate on a cold day. I nodded silently and Namjoon placed me back on the bed. His grandmother approached the edge and Namjoon went back to sit in the chair guarding the window. Her hand reached for the wound and out of instincts I growled but she smacked my arm in punishment. I squeaked out and Namjoon got up from his seat to come to me, but his grandmother raised her hand, “sit, and you behave!” She pointed her aged finger between my eyes. I went cross eyed trying to focus on the digit, “I’m sorry.” She smiled a dimply smile at my submission. She trailed her hand around the edge of the wound checking for swelling. Each touch was delicate but held purpose, as she trialed her fingers over the etched “H”. That was when I pulled back wordlessly, I was ashamed of my body and all the deformed marks. “Honey, the marks on your body is nothing to be ashamed of. For the sake of our pack taking you in would you tell me how you got them?” You looked up, “I… I don’t want to be taken in. I’m don’t belong—,” but again a smack was left on your arm. “Don’t you dare say you don’t belong anywhere. You are more than welcomed. It’s protocol to know where you’re from and who you are. I need to know if you are a danger to us, but from the look in your eyes I can tell you’ve seen things and you know things most don’t. That doesn’t make you bad or invaluable. You are welcome and worthy to be a part of us.” I couldn’t help it the tears were flowing in streams down your eyes. It’s been so long since I’ve felt comfortable and safe. Even living with the couple, I was always on edge and never felt safe. The years of pain and hurt came out.

Namjoon let his instincts take control again and sat next to me pulling me into his lap wrapping his arms tightly around my figure. The comforting warmth slowed my tears, but I tensed up when he began rubbing my back. He felt the uneven nature of my skin and pulled away worried, “is your back injured too? Is there something we missed Aure?” I shook my head in a no. He exchanged looks with his grandmother knowing that the scars didn’t end at the appendages. He kept comforting me until the tears stopped and his grandmother passed him the antidote to apply the daily regime to the wound. He accepted it and she walked out the room give you two time alone. I was falling asleep in his embrace, but he shook your shoulders, “Aure, I need to apply the medicine. Can I do that?” I tightened my grip on his shirt but nodded burying my head in his chest. He reluctantly pulled me away from him and set me on the bed. He pulled the bandage away making me grumble at the pain, “who did this to you?” The words didn’t leave me quickly, but I observed his face as he studied the wounds. The soften gaze in his eyes were assuring. They truly didn’t want you to leave. They truly meant well.

I didn’t want to open myself to them yet, what if they end up just like the couple? A half-truth would work for now. I was already in too deep with this family now, “I was staying with someone who…didn’t know what I was. They—they found out and disowned me. The older man shot me I had to run away. I wanted to live, I couldn’t break the promise.” He was holding back his anger but displaced it by cupping my hand in his rubbing his thumb over mine. He didn’t speak but just moved to put the medicine over the wound, “this is going to hurt, hold my hand and squeeze when you need to.” I nodded and watched as he raised the vial and poured the thick solution on the scabbed wound. The bite was immediately, and I hunched over squeezing his hand. I rested my head on his shoulder grunting with clenched teeth at the pain. He stopped when it was lathered well enough to let it solidify over the wound. It needed to air dry before they wrapped it up again. He rubbed my arm and laid me back down. Somewhere along the line the pain became too much, and I passed out again. He smoothed away the hair covering her face willing away the worn-out expression even her sleeping form took. The rose-gold of her eyes was completely new to him. He’s never meet a wolf with that kind of eyes, not even in one of the thousands of books he’s came across. He had so many questions to ask, but that would have to wait.

“Alpha,” a deep voice rang at the door. Namjoon turned to his father standing at the door who asked for permission to enter. Namjoon stood up and signaled over to the chairs at the corner of the room. “I see you’ve already grown attached to the rouge.” Namjoon looked over to me, “Alpha…she’s my mate.” His father raised his brows at him, “You always had unique taste, son.” They shared a laugh, but it turned serious when his father raised the question, “she may be your mate, but is she a danger to us? Can we trust her? We can’t let another mistake happen again.” While staring at her figure he spoke, “She was betrayed by the people closest to her, she was shot because she was a wolf. Her scars tell a story I don’t know yet, but I’m sure I’ll figure it out.” His father stands up, “I trust you son. The packs future lies in your hands.”

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Copyright 2018  © by magicalsalamander. All rights reserved.

[superfreakerz]

TDDUP 3

"Til Death Do Us Part"

Rated M for smut and heavy themes.

Immortal/Reincarnation AU.

Summary: There are immortals and there are those who reincarnate, though it's best to keep these things hidden. Lucy is attending college and meets Natsu, a mischievous boy with pink hair, a devilish smile, and a body that never ages.

Read earlier chapters on FF.net

Chapter 3

Chemistry

Beer, cigarette smoke, and boisterous laughter hit Natsu the moment he approached Fairy Tail. With a toothy grin plastered to his face, the boy happily waltzed inside, dodging chairs and bottles that were being thrown in one of the daily brawls. He'd definitely join in later after he had his fill of Mira's cooking.

Fairy Tail was run by a family that knew about and associated with immortals. The founder, Mavis, was an immortal herself, one of the first ones to discover her immortality. She and her friends of mortals traveled the world, searching for people like her to bring them to a safe place. With their connections, they managed to make Fairy Tail a home for those that lost theirs over the vast years.

Mavis handed Fairy Tail over to her friend, Yuri Dreyar, who was a mortal that cared about the wellbeing of everyone while she continued her journey to find more immortals. Once Yuri died, control went to Makarov, who was the current leader as of now.

People were born as immortals, but it wasn't passed down through genes. It was just an odd strike of luck- though, it was usually considered a curse to the people affected themselves. Mortals could give birth to immortals, and immortals could give birth to mortals, there was no guarantee.

Natsu didn't find out he was immortal until he was around forty years old, as he had stopped aging at roughly twenty-one. For the first few years, he had assumed that he had gotten his good genes from his father, Igneel. But once he was surrounded by his fellow forty-year-old friends, their faces adorning wrinkles while their hair was starting to grey, he knew something was off, but he couldn't put a finger to it.

He never expected the answer to be his body never aged. That is, until Makarov found him and explained the whole situation to him.

"My boy, just how old are you?" Makarov had asked.

Natsu arched a brow at the old man who had approached him seemingly out of nowhere. "Huh? I'm forty, why?"

"Surely you realize that you don't look it."

Natsu frowned, shoving his hands in his pockets. It was admittedly something he had been wondering about a lot. "So what? I got good genes." He moved to walk past the old man, when he froze at what he said next.

"Have you ever considered the possibility of immortality?"

Sharp laughter cut the air, Natsu peeling over and clutching his stomach. "Oh man, you're senile! There ain't no such thing!"

"If you believe that to be true, then go ahead and keep going about your day," Makarov said, giving him a hard stare. "But if you are hesitant as to why your body never grows or why your wounds heal at miraculous paces, come with me. There are others like you. You aren't alone anymore, boy."

Since then, Natsu was introduced to the world of the immortals. He learned of the networks, Fairy Tail, even more about himself.

Immortals all had what they referred to as their death day, the day that they stopped aging. Of course, nobody knew for sure what their death day was, considering that it was impossible to pinpoint the exact moment they stopped aging. But they could roughly guess the age at which their features stopped evolving.

In Natsu's case, it was around his low twenties, same as Erza and the others. Mavis' was in her mid-teens. Laxus', Makarov's grandson, was in his mid-twenties. There was no specific reason for people's death days, it was all arbitrary.

Natsu followed his friends behind the counter where only immortals were allowed. Past a hallway, there was a set of stairs leading to the large basement, full of pool tables, lounging areas, a large kitchen, and plenty of other amenities. The top floor was a coverup, a way to make money to help feed the immortals while the basement was for the immortals that couldn't roam around with it being too risky of a time period.

Though it sounded cruel to be stuck in a basement, it wasn't too bad. The people had plenty of friends and things to do to occupy themselves. Plus, they could leave the basement and go upstairs once the pub closed.

Cana sat at a table, clutching a barrel of booze to her chest. She had been an immortal longer than Natsu and the others.

"Oh, how was your first day of school?" she asked, her words slurred and her cheeks pink from the alcohol.

"Pleasant," Erza answered with a content smile. "Though I do wish professors went over more than the syllabuses on the first day."

"Nerd," Natsu muttered beneath his breath. A dark shadow loomed over him, his lifeforce seeping out of him under the harsh glare that Erza was giving him.

"Care to repeat that?"

"N-No, ma'am!"

Everyone laughed at Natsu's misfortune, save for the boy himself, who crossed his arms with a huff.

"Is Levy out with her friend again?" Mira asked, cooking up food in the kitchen.

Gajeel scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Yep. Shrimp never learns, and she's supposed to be the smart one."

"I actually met this Lucy girl today," Jellal announced. Everyone's heads whipped towards him, but he didn't fluster under the attention. "I sensed no malicious intent from her. It seems she's just a college student with a love for writing and books, which is probably why Levy took such a liking towards her."

Natsu's ears perked at the word 'writing', reminded of the girl he sat by in class and the story she was writing. Part of him couldn't wait for Friday so that he could read more of it. That is, if she continued to slack off from school and write more.

"I don't care what she's like," Gajeel retorted. "I don't trust her. There's something off about her, I just don't know what it is."

"I understand your suspicion towards mortals but-"

"That's not it. Yeah, I don't trust mortals, but I especially don't trust this one."

"Why?" Erza questioned, her need to protect flaring for their friend. "Has this Lucy girl done anything?"

Gajeel rubbed the back of his head. "Nah, not exactly. But there's something about her. If you met her, you would understand. It's just, whenever I look her in the eyes, it feels like she's hiding something."

"Perhaps we should all meet this girl."

"I don't know how Levy would feel about that," Cana said, wiping alcohol off of her chin. "She'll probably know that you're going to interrogate the girl. Probably scare her off in the process."

Erza shrugged. "Perhaps that's what's best."

"I think it's good that Levy has a friend she is close to, even if it is a mortal," Mira argued, her signature, pleasant smile glued to her face. "If Levy does agree to bring her friend, I want you all to be on your best behavior, got it?" Her face barely changed, but her smile suddenly felt sinister, like that of a demon.

"Fine," Erza agreed, crossing her arms. She glanced towards Gajeel. "Well? Think you can convince Levy to invite her friend over so that we can all see if she's a threat?"

The boy nodded. There was no way he was going to let his girlfriend dive too deep with the mortals and get hurt the way some of the others had. Some scars were too deep.

Sunlight filtered through Lucy's curtains that Thursday morning, to which the blonde tried to avoid by shoving her face in her pillow. As if on cue, birds began chirping their morning melodies, only making things worse for the sleepy girl. Knowing there was no chance of her going back to bed, she rose in a slouching position, glaring at the wall in front of her. She wasn't a morning person.

Glancing at the alarm clock that rested on her nightstand, Lucy's eyes widened, a gasp escaping her lips as she scurried out of bed. Her ankle was tangled in the sheets, so she ended up tripping and falling face-first onto the floor, but she ignored the pain and quickly got ready for school. Waking up late on the second day of school wasn't what she had in mind.

Her golden locks were thrown in a messy bun on top of her head and her clothes were haphazardly thrown on. Lucy frowned, knowing that she didn't have time to eat breakfast before bolting out the door.

Reaching the classroom just in the nick of time, Lucy collapsed in the nearest available seat and laid her head on the desk, not paying attention to who else was sitting at the table with her.

"Oi, why're you here?" a familiar voice questioned, quite rudely she might add.

Lucy swallowed thickly and dragged her gaze towards the harsh voice. Immediately, she was met with crimson eyes that felt like they could turn her to stone. "G-Gajeel. I didn't know you were in this class."

"Got a problem with it?" the boy asked, crossing his arms and giving her a look that could freeze all of hell.

"N-No, of course not!" Lucy glanced around the room, searching for another table she could sit at. It was clear she wasn't welcomed there, and she didn't want to spend the entire quarter by someone that hated her guts. Finding one in the opposite corner of the room, the girl rose. "W-Well, I'll just go-"

"Nonsense," a girl at the table interrupted. She was mesmerizingly beautiful with long locks of scarlet hair, her bangs sweeping to the side to cover one of her eyes. "You're welcome to sit anywhere you'd like. Ignore Gajeel."

"You two know each other?"

"Unfortunately."

"Oi! Why'd you hafta go and say that!?" Gajeel barked, though he went unheard.

Lucy, having a feeling that it would be rude to turn down the redhead's offer, slowly sat back down once again. With it being a chemistry class, they were in a lab with stations that had two chairs on both sides and then one on the end. She was sitting at the end of the table and felt like the odd man out.

To her left were Gajeel and the redheaded girl and to her right was a couple. It was obvious they were a couple with how the girl was clinging so tightly to the boy's arm. She had wavy blue locks of hair and was dressed for the winter, despite the warm weather. She had fair skin and her lashes were dark and noticeable. She was stunning.

Lucy's eyes widened and her mouth parted as she glanced towards the boy. To her surprise, it was the same boy that was late to her math class yesterday. She recognized his scar that ran along his forehead, not to mention the fact that his shirt was unbuttoned yet again.

"Hey, we're in math together," Lucy said, facing the raven-haired boy.

His browsed raised, recognition lighting in his eyes. "Oh yeah. You're the one that sits next to-"

"Love Rival," the girl next to him interrupted through clenched teeth. Her grip on the boy's arm tightened as her eyes shot daggers at Lucy.

"Th-That's not it!" the blonde denied. She really should've just moved to the other table.

"Ignore them, too," the redhead said with a sigh. "You must be Lucy." She could tell by the way Gajeel acted with her.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. How do you know my name?"

"We're friends with Levy."

At that, Lucy's features lit up. "Oh, really? That's great!"

"I'm Erza. This is Gray, and this is his girlfriend, Juvia. And you're already acquainted with Gajeel."

Erza studied Lucy. In truth, she seemed like a nice girl, but looks could be deceiving. She learned that the hard way. Now, there wouldn't be a need to have Levy invite Lucy over to Fairy Tail. Through dumb luck, she could watch over the peculiar blonde herself.

"Yo!" a sudden voice rang out. Everyone turned towards the front of the classroom to find a man in his mid-twenties strolling towards the professor's desk, placing his bag down. He was a peculiar looking man with red and white hair split perfectly in the middle. He wore a red button up shirt with a large collar, though just like Gray, he opted to leave quite a few buttons undone. "I'm Scorpio. This quarter, we're gonna be learning about chemistry. We are!"

"He's kinda weird," Lucy thought. "But at least he seems nice." She couldn't say the same for her last professor.

"Hope ya like where you're sitting, because from now on that's your assigned seat. We're gonna be doing a lot of group projects and it's just easier if everyone works with the same people every time."

Lucy suppressed the urge to sigh. She didn't want to work with Gajeel, or his friends for that matter, even if they were also Levy's. Aside from Erza and perhaps Gray, she didn't get a very warm welcome. The other two kept glaring at her the whole time, not even bothering to be discreet about it. Despite what class they were in, she did not have chemistry with these people at all.

Luckily, the class went by quickly as Scorpio used the time to go over the syllabus, as most teachers do on the first day of class. Lucy quickly packed her things and gave a hesitant nod as farewell to her new deskmates. With that, she was out the door.

Grabbing her phone, Lucy typed a quick text to Levy, careful so as not to trip or bump into anyone.

"So I met some of your friends today."

The reply she got was instant. "What? Who?"

"Erza, Gray, and Juvia. And Gajeel was there too. Turns out we have chem together."

"That's perfect!"

"Maybe for you but not for me. Juvia called me her love rival the entire time and Gajeel was being his normal lovely self."

"Sorry about that. Juvia is overly jealous and I try to talk to Gajeel but he's a hardheaded idiot."

Lucy couldn't help but laugh aloud at that text. Though Gajeel was a huge ass towards her, she thought his relationship with her best friend was quite entertaining. She found their bickering way more endearing than other couple's lovey-dovey statements. She momentarily wondered what she would be like if she had a boyfriend before shaking her head and staring at her phone again.

"It's okay. Maybe I can finally win him over now that we see each other twice a week!" Lucy texted back.

"How about we make it three times this week?" Levy replied. "Why don't you hang out with us tomorrow! It's a Friday, so I know you don't have to rush to do homework!"

Lucy stared blankly at the text. Hang out? With Levy's friends? "I don't know, Levy-chan. I had some stuff planned for tomorrow."

"You're a horrible liar, Lu-chan. C'mon! Hang out with us! It'll be fun! Please do it for me?"

Lucy sighed, knowing that she couldn't turn her down now. "Alright. Only for you, Levy-chan."

"Yes! You and I can go get smoothies after school and then I'll bring you to where we all hang out!"

"Where's that?"

"Fairy Tail!"