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ah-ga-seven · 4 years

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Till’ The End Of Summer - Chapter 10

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Pairing: Choi Yeonjun x Reader

In a Nutshell: College!AU, Rich Kids, Friends to Lovers, Fuckboy athlete Yeonjun, Overprotective Best friend Soobin, contains all of TXT and other Idol cameos, Omnipresent perspective.

Synopsis: You and Yeonjun are caught up in a cat and mouse game because of unspoken feelings and endless pining for each others’ attention. With the summer break approaching and lots of college parties, will you finally get a chance to explore your feelings for each other; even though the world and Yeonjun’s reputation makes things complicated?

Word count: 6.8K

Genre: Angst, Fluff

Warnings: Mentions of death, alcohol consumption and depression.

6 weeks had passed since the funeral and Yeonjun has been completely immersed in Choi Enterprises. With the help of other higher-ups and meeting after meeting, he had become quite the little businessman. The major stockholders seemed to love everything about him. They loved his youthful point of view, his energy, and his potential. The way he carried himself and charmed the people around him made them fall for him, just like everyone did at college. It was Yeonjun’s superpower. It’s like he was born with suave, but he never imagined using that charm against middle-aged men in clean-cut suits.

To his disappointment, he still wasn’t a single step closer in figuring out why his dad didn’t trust his mother with the company. He had been trying his best to keep up with past business affairs, making sure to listen in and attend meetings whenever he could but it was to no avail.

Everything seemed normal and boring, though he managed to stick around and keep up, it’s not like he enjoyed the job. However, it did distract him from the grief he didn’t allow himself to feel.

It was 11 PM and Yeonjun was seated at his fathers’ old desk. Scanning through document after document about the company he once had no knowledge of. It’s like his dad took every company secret to his grave. There was nothing fishy to be found and Yeonjun was getting tired of trying to prove a point that apparently didn’t even exist.

A soft knock on the door broke his trance, as he looked up, he saw his mother in the doorway, looking at him with concerned eyes.

“Yeonjun, you’ve been in here all day for the past week. What are you looking for?”

“Nothing,” he says, averting his attention back on the pile of papers in front of him, trying to organize the mess he made before leaving his dad's former home office.

He rubbed his temples, forgetting the presence of his mother until she closed the door behind her, and sat on the opposite side of the desk to face him.

“You look like your father,” she says crossing her arms.

Yeonjun glanced up and cocked his eyebrow. “…That’s the last thing I want.”

“Exactly.”

He sighed, slouching in the large desk chair, parting his lips to speak but at that moment his phone lit up with a call request from you.

He looked at his phone, muting the sound as he took a mental note to call you back before he put it in his pocket.

His mother sighed at the sight. The last thing she wanted from all of this was Yeonjun neglecting the life he had built with his friends. She wanted him to finish school, make dumb decisions, party, and fall in love before he had to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders if he did decide to join the company later on.

“What…?” Yeonjun says as he catches his mom staring at him with sad eyes.

“I just…wish you would go back to school.”

“I never said I wasn’t.”

“Then why are you ignoring that girl.”

“That girl has a name.”

“Really? Cause it seems like you’re forgetting all about her,” she savagely states pointing to his phone.

Yeonjun rolls his eyes in irritation and scoffed. “I feel like I outgrew the need for being a college boy. I don’t need school.”

Well, that was a straight lie. He wanted to go back, but he didn’t know how to return to his ‘normal life.’ The fact of the matter is that Yeonjun has always been running from his father. He ran away across the country to go to college so he could build a new life and forget about everything, but now that his dad is out of the picture; he didn’t have to run anymore.

For the first time in his life, he could make decisions purely based on his own will without being haunted by the shadow of the mighty Daniel Choi, which made him rethink all of the choices he has made up until now.

Does he return to school and still run from his life back home by pretending the multi-billion company he’s inheriting doesn’t exist?

Or does he stay here and run from you, his best friends and the life he had built for himself as a distraction from what awaits him when he graduates?

Either way, he was still a runaway. Running on a track with no finish line in sight and he was tired, emotionally and physically.

“Yeonjun. The semester only just started, you could still go back and catch up with the few weeks you’ve missed out on. I can contact a few people I know and help you get back on track. It’s your call,” she tells him in an almost pleading tone.

“I feel like there’s too much-unfinished business,” he replies nervously biting the inside of his cheek.

“The only unfinished business you should be worrying about is the relationship with your friends. How can you turn your back on them so easily after everything they’ve put themselves through to stand by you?”

Her words rubbed salt into his already existing wounds. She’s right, and he knows it. But it was almost as if Yeonjun felt ashamed to return to his friends. He hasn’t come one step closer to solving his emotional scars. He wanted to return to them and you as a changed person. Someone who grew from tragedy.

He wanted to be the same carefree Yeonjun that he used to be, the Yeonjun that people admired and looked up to, but genuinely this time.

“I just…don’t know right now.”

“Let me know when you do.” His mother says coldly, running out of patience with him as she got up, leaving him alone in the massive home office.

He threw his head back in defeat. Closing his eyes to think; something he’s been doing a lot of lately.

He wanted to come out of this stronger, and he had hoped that staying here would help him do so but the frustration of not finding out what he wanted to only made matters worse.

He couldn’t move forward with all of this weighing him down. He owed it to himself and to you to be better because that’s how much he loved you. However, he wasn’t getting better at all. In fact, he wasn’t able to shake off his sadness and anxiety the way he used to, which meant it was getting more difficult to hide it from you as well.

So instead of hiding his pain from you, he hid from you altogether because it didn’t take a genius to notice that Yeonjun was depressed.

Keeping in contact with Yeonjun became harder and harder as soon as school started. Talking every night before bed turned into short texts throughout the day that he forgot to reply to.

Ever since you, Mia, and the boys left his house, you wanted to give him space because he seemed so busy, but when you did talk to him, he was the same Yeonjun for all you knew.

He put in so much effort during summer to make sure you knew how much he cared.

He would tell you he loved you every night before he ended the phone call.

He would send you flowers every week with notes attached to them so you would feel energized and doted on, and he would also send you hoodies with remnants of his cologne on it so you wouldn’t forget his scent when you missed him.

Yeonjun really tried the best he could for you. He even called Mia from time to time to check up on how you were doing so he could get an honest reply other than your usual “I’m fines.”

You were always putting on a brave face for him, just like he was with you. And it made him realize just how similar you two were in that aspect.

Mia told him that you were doing okay, that even though you missed him, you were focused on yourself and hanging out with friends per usual. Mia also told Yeonjun that you are coping with it all due to the fact that you thought he’d return before the end of summer, which made him feel guiltier than ever; especially when he didn’t return at all.

The night he casually told you he’d be staying at home longer than planned over text, you panicked. It’s like your nightmare was coming true and there was nothing you could do about it since it seemed like Yeonjun had already made up his mind. Also, the fact that he didn’t give you a time frame on when he would be returning, only made it worse.

As school started, Mia started feeling guilty about being in the know, and didn’t know how to be around you or Soobin without feeling trapped. Yeonjun felt bad for getting her involved. He knew it had to stop sooner than later, and that he would have to make a decision soon, but then again. He was ashamed of being unchanged and maybe even worse than before.

You hated that the connection between you two started to sever, but you had no clue that Yeonjun might have been doing it on purpose.

The thoughtful and loving Yeonjun you used to talk to had been missing for the past weeks and given the fact that he declined your phone call after 7 days of no real contact whatsoever, made you doubt his self-proclaimed love for you.

The dumbest shit started to swirl into your mind. Was he getting tired of you already? Did he find some new hot office worker lady to replace you with? Or did he realize that a relationship is the last thing he needs right now?

You felt horrible for feeling insecure. You wanted to be more understanding and give him time to heal but you missed him, and you wanted to be there for him, but he didn’t let you.

You were more than fed up with the endless overthinking while hoping for a call or text from Yeonjun, but you also knew that the next time you two talked; should be on his own initiative, and not yours.

“One. More. Shot,” you yell over the loud music at the bar while you beam at Soobin, holding the shots of tequila in front of his face.

“Y/n. Do you want me dead?” he asks you wide-eyed as he leans on the bar, taking the shot from your trembling fingers anyway.

“No, where’s the fun in that,” you pout as you cheers with him, downing it without a chaser.

Both of you put down the shot glasses on the bar simultaneously with a loud thud. You quickly grab a piece of lemon to suck on to subside the bitterness on your taste buds and make a face as you do so.

Soobin shakes his head aggressively at the burning sensation, his cheeks flopping around in response as he pinches his eyes closed to recompose himself while you laugh at his antics.

“Fuck,” he growls, looking at you a little googly-eyed. “I’m fucked up.”

“I can see that,” you snort, ordering the next round of shots.

You were mad at yourself for calling Yeonjun again tonight without response and you were sure to wipe your memory with liquor so you wouldn’t have to feel the shame lingering in your brain.

It has been entirely too long since you spent time with Soobin alone and you would be lying if you said you didn’t miss having him around all the time. When he told you earlier this week that Mia and him had been going through a rough patch due to vagueness and silence from her side, you didn’t hesitate to invite him to drown your sorrows away because you were both going through the exact same thing.

Mia had been a little distant since school started, but it was nothing out of the ordinary to you since you all had different majors. But if Soobin is saying that she’s been distant to him too, then maybe you should talk to her about it. You take a mental note as you listen to him vent, hoping that she would open up to you if you asked.

Your evening started off slowly by talking about the whole situation with Yeonjun. Even though Soobin had been there for you throughout the remaining weeks of summer break, the past week was different. You felt a shift in your relationship with Yeonjun and it almost felt like you weren’t part of his world anymore. He told you over text that he wouldn’t be returning in time for the start of the semester, and though you’ve tried calling him; you hadn’t seen his face or heard his voice since.

He would text you in the dead of night that he was sorry, and that he was just busy, promising to call you the day after but he never did. During the rest of the summer, you did your best to distract yourself from missing him. Even though he wasn’t around; he made quite the effort to show you that he was thinking of you, so in some way, it just felt like he was on vacation or something. In the back of your head, you had this lingering fear that he’d fall in love with living the life he was supposed to have if he had a good relationship with his parents and with his dad being gone, he could finally get a taste of what that life would be like.

When he spoke to you about the company he actually spoke enthusiastically, it’s like he enjoyed being Choi Yeonjun a little more than he enjoyed being just Yeonjun and it was incredibly selfish of you to say, but you wished he didn��t.

After talking over your issues, you had both decided you’ve done enough moping. Soobin started talking about funny things that have been happening during basketball practice and somehow it made you two reminisce about your childhoods when he would challenge you to basketball games. He’d never let you win with his towering height and you felt yourself relaxing in your seat as you laughed the night away.

Drunk was an understatement of your current state, it was nearly 2 AM already and the both of you stumbled out of the bar together. You were latching onto his arm to steady yourself and to your surprise, Soobin was still strong enough to keep you and himself up as you were standing on the sidewalk to hail a taxi.

“Remind me to never drink with you again,” he says as waves his hand in hopes to be noticed by a taxi driver.

You giggle and roll your eyes, and just as you were about to say something, your phone starts to vibrate.

You mindlessly pull it out of your pocket, and with blurry vision, you see Yeonjun’s name on your display. You let go of Soobin’s arm and turn around, giggling to yourself as you pick up.

“HelloooOooo, look who it is. Mister important businessman. Mister Choi himself. How can I help you,” you slur your words as you ramble incoherently.

“Y/n?” Yeonjun sat on the couch in the formal living room, immediately alerted with the sound of your drunken state.

“That’s meeee” you snicker, leaning your unstable figure on a lamppost.

“Are you drunk?” he asks for confirmation as he sat up.

“Oh jeez, what a genius. Hey, by the way. If I want to talk to you do I need to make an appointment with your secretary, or do you take personal calls as well?”

The liquid courage was coursing through your veins at rapid speed as your heart started thumping in your chest. You had no idea why you were being such a bitch, but the alcohol revealed the emotion you so desperately tried to hide from him for leaving you: Anger.

“Are you alone? Where are you?” Yeonjun completely ignored your drunken banter, knowing that your frustration is completely justified. He honestly thought you’d snap at him a lot sooner than this, without the alcohol involved.

“I’m with Binnie.” you sigh as you look back at him.

“Good, so you’re safe.” Yeonjun assumes out loud.

He started pacing in his living room, hating the fact that he wasn’t there to make sure you were okay, but knowing you were with Soobin eased his mind a little.

“Oh, fuck no, he’s doing worse than me,” you say cocking an eyebrow as you see Soobin still waving his arms around like an idiot as he was trying to hail a cab.

“Make sure you get home safe okay?” He says as he bites his lip nervously.

“What do you care.”

“What do you mean, Of course I care.” His eyes were getting sad. He felt horrible for making you feel as though you didn’t matter when in reality, the thought of you alone was the reason he was able to get out of bed every morning.

You scoff. “Yeah, right. Okay.”

You feel a tap on your shoulder and turn around, averting your attention completely. Drunk you could only focus on one thing at a time and you completely forgot that you were on the phone with Yeonjun.

You blink a couple of times before you put your phone in your pocket with Yeonjun still on the line, just now realizing who’s standing in front of you.

“JOHNNY!?” you exclaim loudly and maybe a little too excited.

Yeonjun froze in place, increasing the volume on his phone so he could hear.

“Long time no see!” Johnny says as he wraps you up in a tight hug. The shuffling of your clothing against the mic of the phone was enough for Yeonjun to start clenching his jaw in anger.

He listened to the distant banter of you giggling, talking about this and that before Soobin called you over after he finally managed to get you two a cab.

“I’ll text you,” Johnny yells after you, which made Yeonjun scoff. “Like hell you will,” he says under his breath.

He waited until he heard the doors to the car close, just to make sure before he ended the call.

If a simple hello from a random guy already bothered him this much, how would he ever be able to leave you be on the other side of the country?

He groaned loudly, angrily throwing his phone to the couch, but he missed the safe landing, knocking over an expensive vase which shattered in an instant as it made contact with the tile floor.

“Shit,” he exclaimed before crouching down to pick up his phone, rummaging through the shattered pieces of glass carefully.

Lita emerged from the halls, alerted by the loud noise. “Yeonjun! Don’t touch that. We have vacuums for that!” She practically yells at him.

He felt like a dear caught in headlights as he let go of the broken pieces of valuable glass and waited for Lita to return.

She cleaned up the mess so quickly that he couldn’t offer to help. She didn't even ask questions, and just stayed silent as she did her thing. He followed her to the kitchen like a lost puppy and sat down at the breakfast bar as he watches her discard her gloves in the sink.

She sighed, turning around to face him.

“Sweetheart, I’m going to tell you something and you can’t get mad,” Lita breathes as she sits down in the chair next to him.

He looked up at her, giving her a slight yet confused smile. “Okay...”

“Go back to college, and get counseling,” she says seriously.

He cocked his brow at her bluntness, as it is not something that Lita has ever done before.

“Counselling as in therapy?” he asks wide-eyed.

“Don’t you think it would help?” She questions carefully, fixing a piece of his grown-out hair on the back of his neck.

“Why do you think I should go back?” he questions in genuine curiosity.

Lita is someone who watches from the sidelines. She observes but rarely speaks out. The fact that his mother wasn’t here to interfere was a good reason for speaking up, and so she did.

“Because, the only time I’ve seen you genuinely happy since you’ve been here, is when you saw your friends at the door the day they arrived. Oh, and that girl, you should have seen yourself when you laid eyes on that girl.”

Yeonjun chuckled at her observation. “So it was that obvious huh?”

“Yes. Stop carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders. Stop thinking you need to fix your flaws on your own and seek help. Professional help.”

She was right, though therapy was never something Yeonjun considered it didn’t sound too outrageous to him.

He didn’t feel comfortable with letting a stranger pick his brain, so maybe talking to a school counselor or teacher that he already knew and trusted would help.

He wanted nothing more than the hollowness in his soul to be replaced by the light he once had inside of him.

He wanted to feel something other than sadness, but when he was trying to think of his last genuinely happy moment; he thought of you and the night you snuck into his room in the middle of the night.

He blinked a few times, giving things a good thought.

“Your mother would understand too Yeonjun, the company can wait,” she adds as she strokes his hair again lovingly.

He nodded, getting up from the barstool as he gave Lita a shy smile.

“I know it’s late…but would you help me pack? I’ll leave first thing in the morning.”

It was a rash decision, but a decision like this had to be made on a whim; cause if he would let himself overthink about it. It would take another week for him to come to one.

Lita’s eyes lit up, smiling at him brightly. “Only if you promise you will consider the counseling part as well.”

“Okay,” he sighed. “I’ll think about it.”

You walk into your living room in your loungewear, your hair still wet from the shower you just took, and see Soobin still sound asleep on the couch. His mouth was slightly hanging open and he was snoring ever so lightly. You chuckled at the sight, crouching down before him as you shake his shoulder softly in an attempt to wake him up.

Soobin, being the light sleeper that he is, immediately arose from his sleep. He looked at you a little puzzled, immediately pressing his bunny-like lips together as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes before he made eye contact with you again.

“Oh…oh…hell no,” he mutters as he feels the nauseating pain in his head as a side effect from his hangover. “Why is it so bright in here?” He huffs as he turns around, burying his face in the pillow he slept on.

You chuckle, smacking his back. “Get up.”

He groans turning back around to face you. “How did we even get home?”

“I don’t know, but the important part is that we did,” you say making your way to your kitchen.

He chuckled, reaching for his phone as he expected missed calls or texts from his girlfriend, but Mia didn’t contact him at all last night.

He frowned. “I don’t know what’s going on with her. She was fine until school started.”

You immediately knew who Soobin was talking about, and you purse your lips together; looking at him as you pour yourself a cup of coffee.

“Maybe she’s just stressed about the workload,” you try, but he shakes his head in response.

“I don’t know, every time I try to talk to her about it, she changes the subject.”

Soobin got up from your couch, waddling to your kitchen to steal the coffee you just poured for yourself.

As he took a sip, you glare at him. “That’s mine.”

“Shut up, you owe me this much for killing at least half my brain cells last night.”

“Can’t kill what you don’t have,” you argue, taking back your coffee while he glares at you this time.

“Now go shower. You can wear some of Yeonjun’s clothes.”

“He left clothes here?” Soobin asked raising his eyebrows in surprise. “Yeah, he never got to use them though.” You sigh, looking at the by now wilted roses in the vase on your kitchen counter and suddenly your eyes widen in realization.

The phone call.

“Fuck,” you exclaim, leaving your kitchen, running around to find your phone.

“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” You raise your voice in annoyance scattering your apartment to find your jacket.

“What…are you doing?” Soobin asks as he takes another sip of your coffee, his eyes darting around your living room to follow your panicky figure.

You find your jacket and retrieve your phone from its pocket. You quickly open it, seeing Yeonjun’s name in the ‘Recent’ callers list at the exact same time you left the bar.

“He called me last night. It just came back to me. Shit. I was a total inconsiderate asshole.”

Soobin’s eyes widened and he walked up to you, grabbing you by your shoulders, making you look at him. “Calm. Down. What did you say?”

“Something along the lines of him not caring about me and asking him if I need an appointment with his secretary to get to him, Also. I’m not sure if he heard Johnny’s voice but we all know how he feels about him” you pout.

Soobin pursed his lips, trying to suppress a laugh but he couldn’t as his nostrils flared, bursting into loud laughter.

Your distressed state vanished, and you chuckled lightly, slapping his chest. “That’s not funny.”

“Yes, it is. Look, don’t worry. I’m sure he laughed just as loud as I did,” he says patting your hair in assurance before he envelops you into a hug to calm you down.

“You think?” you say nuzzling your face in his chest.

“Yeah, I’ll call him if you want, don’t worry about it too much okay?”

You nod and he let go of you, giving you a sweet smile. “Now, while I wash up, please make me breakfast. I’m starving.”

You scoff, pushing him off of you. “Fine.”

“That’s the last of it.” Lita says as she handed the driver Yeonjun’s last piece of luggage. He closed the trunk of the car that would take Yeonjun to the airport and got into the drivers’ seat without a word.

His mother gave him a small smile. “I’m glad you changed your mind.”

“Actually…Lita imo changed my mind,” he says giving his housekeeper a warm smile before he averted his attention back to his mother.

“Please, pick up when I call you. Okay?” She says as she put a hand on his shoulder. He just chuckled, pulling her in for a hug that she didn’t expect.

“I will,” he says breathing in her scent, a scent that started to feel like home. Despite their differences, they did become closer. And hopefully, their future would be filled with more of these moments.

His mothers’ eyes got glassy as he let go of her, but he didn’t notice as he wrapped Lita into his arms as well. Hugging her goodbye without saying much.

“I’ll see you two soon, okay?” He says winking to them before he got into the car.

He gave them a smile, waving to them from the car as he drove off and when they were completely out of sight, his smile faltered.

Saying goodbye wasn’t hard for him, it was going back that made the stress inside of him run wild.

He didn’t know how to face you knowing that he has to tell you that he wasn’t even planning to come back before Mia’s guilt would eat her alive.

Hell, given the conversation you had with him last night on the phone, he wasn’t even sure if you’d run back into his arms at all.

He closed his eyes hoping that you would understand, but he also knew that the probability was small that the truth would be accepted without turmoil. He opened his eyes slowly, staring out of the window, wishing that his return to college would bring more good than bad.

“Soobin, you’re taking too long!” you yell out for him as you assemble a sunny-side-up egg on top of the avocado toast you just made for the two of you.

“I can’t find Yeonjun hyungs shirts!” He yelled back to you.

You sigh, pausing your movements. “It’s on the top shelve.”

Just as you were going to resume your actions, your doorbell startled you.

You frown, walking up to your front door, and open it, completely and utterly shocked when you see them at your doorstep.

“Mom? Dad?” Your eyes widen in shock, and then you remembered. They planned to visit you this weekend and you completely forgot about it.

“There’s my girl!” your dad exclaims as he wraps you into a tight hug.

Oh my god, how could you forget...

Your mom hugged you next, and your dad walks in, inspecting your living space.

“Wow, something smells good in here.”

You dumbfoundedly follow your parents inside of your living room, and right before you could open your mouth to speak, a wet haired and shirtless Soobin emerges from your bedroom, towel drying his hair.

“Y/n, I can’t find the sh-shirts.” Soobin paused, frozen in place as he made eye contact with your parents.

He quickly wrapped the towel he used to dry his hair over his chest as his cheeks colored a bright red.

“Soobin!?” your mom exclaims as her eyes dart from you to him.

Your dad’s eyes narrow at Soobin and he sighed. “I knew it.”

“No! No. Absolutely not. That’s not what this is,” you say as you stand between your parents and Soobin.

“Then, what is this?” Your dad asks rubbing his forehead.

“Soobin, sweetie; didn’t you have a girlfriend?” Your mother asks as she crosses her arms.

“Y-yes, I do.” Soobin stutters nervously.

“Well son, that doesn’t make this look any better does it.” Your father retorts.

“No. We just went to have drinks last night, he crashed on the couch. That’s it.”

“Yes, besides, we’re both in relationships and we’re like family. It’s nothing like that I promise.” Soobin says with a bright smile before realization hit him.

You turn to him, fire-spewing from your pupils. Your parents had no idea Yeonjun even existed, and now Soobin basically outed him as your boyfriend.

“Both in relationships? Y/n what is he talking about?” your mom asks wide-eyed.

“I-uh…I’m…” you stutter before you turn to Soobin. “Please, dude. Get dressed. Top shelf, on the right,” you say through your teeth, shooing him away.

He mouthed an inaudible ‘I’m sorry’ to you before he disappeared into your room to find the shirt once again.

Your dad sat down on your couch, patiently waiting for you to start talking and you sighed, trying to not so subtly change the subject.

“So…how was the trip…” you ask as you lean against your kitchen counter.

“This boyfriend of yours? What’s his name?”

“He’s…not really my boyfriend…yet…I don’t know where we stand.”

“Ok…well as long as he treats you right.” Your mom says, making your dad nod in response.

Soobin emerged from your room again, fully clothed this time and you immediately relaxed in his presence. He took a seat across from your dad as your mother stood beside you.

“So, what’s his name? And, where is he?” Your dad start interrogating you as he crossed his legs. His tone was overbearingly protective which made Soobin chuckle as you roll your eyes.

“His name is Yeonjun…and he’s not in town right now,” you state vaguely which made Soobin jump in.

“Unfortunately, his father passed away and he’s been dealing with that before he returns to school,” he adds, and you thank him with a sad smile which he reciprocated with an assuring nod.

“Oh no, that’s horrible.” Your mom says.

“Yeah, too bad, I’d love to meet him before we left tonight.” Your dad huffs.

“Don’t count on it,” you sigh.

It was 3 PM and Yeonjun finally arrived at the apartment complex. He silently thanked his mother for insisting he should take a flight instead of driving for six hours because the last time he did, he was exhausted for several days.

Yeonjun turned the key to the apartment, sighing loudly as he twisted the doorknob. The familiar feeling of anxiety rippling through his veins. Making him freeze before he built up the courage to open the door.

He took off his shoes before rolling his suitcase into the living room, and as he glanced up, he was surprised to see a frozen Taehyun, Beomgyu and Hueningkai on the couch, looking at him as if they just saw a dead man walking.

Taehyun was the first to get up. “HYUNG!” he grinned from ear to ear. Jumping up from the couch to fly into Yeonjuns arms, followed by Beomgyu and Hueningkai who enveloped him into a tight hug as well.

Yeonjun’s lips curled up into a smile, genuinely this time. God, he missed them. So much.

“Oh my god, we missed you so much.” Hueningkai yelps as he clings onto the older ones’ waist.

Yeonjun chuckled, feeling a huge weight lifted off his shoulders as he patted Hyuka’s head. Completely overwhelmed with how happy they were to see him, and he had to admit; the feeling was completely mutual.

“How are you feeling?” Beomgyu asks as he took a hold of Yeonjun's shoulders, looking at him intently with his big eyes. “Anxious to be back.” Yeonjun answers honestly. “I don’t know, I’m not the same person I was before I left, you know.”

The boys nodded in response. “Well, we’re here for you regardless. Take all the time you need.” Beomgyu says with a sweet smile, and Yeonjun sighs in relief.

“Thanks guys.”

“Yeah, but don’t take too much time. The team is completely out of balance without you, our next tournament is in two weeks so it would be nice to have you back y’know.” Taehyun remarks which earned him a painful elbow in his ribs from Hueningkai. “Why would you burden him with that now,” he hisses, which made Yeonjun laugh out loud.

“It’s ok, I’ll still do charity work.” Yeonjun says cockily which made the guys laugh in response as he winked at them.

“Ahh, jup. He’s back.” Taehyun says rolling his eyes.

“I’ll take this to your room.” Hueningkai volunteers as he grabs a hold of his suitcase, rolling it to Yeonjun’s bedroom before he could say anything.

“So…where’s Soobin? He was out with y/n last night, right?” Yeonjun carefully asks, sitting down on the armrest of the couch.

“Oh, yeah. He didn’t come home. I think he crashed at her place.” Taehyun says absentmindedly as he poured Yeonjun a glass of water.

Yeonjun raised his brows, nodding understandingly. He wasn’t thrilled that Soobin slept over at your place, but he also knew he had nothing to worry about.

The constant tinging feeling of jealousy was just a result of his own insecurity and he knew he couldn’t blame you for any of it. Especially since Soobin is like a brother to you.

“Did you talk to y/n yet?” Beomgyu asks crossing his arms over his chest.

“More or less. She doesn’t know I’m back.” Yeonjun says, nervously biting his cheek.

“Oh really! She’ll be so happy to see you.” Taehyun exclaims, handing Yeonjun the glass of water he just poured for him.

“Yeah…” Yeonjun says taking a sip of his water. “So happy…”

Mia was seated behind her desk, completely immersed in her study material before the loud vibrations of her phone on the wooden desk snapped her back to reality.

She sighed seeing Yeonjun’s name on the caller ID, so she picked up. Ironically so, he was the only one she didn’t have to hide secrets from. Meaning that she could pick up with an eased mind.

“Hey,” she says as she answered the phone, moving the device to her left ear.

“Hey, how are you?” Yeonjun asks, staring at the ceiling as he laid on his bed.

“Uhm…ok? I guess.”

“I’m back at school,” he says getting straight to the point.

Mia’s eyes widened in shock as she gulped. “What? Really?”

“Yes. And I’m so sorry about making you lie to Soobin, y/n and the guys. But I want to make it right. I’ll tell them everything. I’ll tell them it’s my fault for getting you involved, but I need to clear my conscience before I can move forward you know.” He sighs, waiting for Mia to respond but she stayed silent.

“The last few weeks were hard Yeonjun.” Her voice cracked when she finally spoke up, and that familiar feeling of self-loathing took over Yeonjun’s senses again.

“I’m sorry. Let me make this right,” he says closing his eyes, hoping for a positive response.

“Let’s go to y/n place together Ok? I think Soobin is still with her since he didn’t come home yet.”

Mia sighed, rubbing her forehead nervously. “Ok...do I meet you there?”

“No, I’ll pick you up. Don’t worry. I’ll be there in half an hour.”

You spent the day with your parents and Soobin around town for most of the day. Your mom wanted to cook all of you a feast, so you spent the day shopping for ingredients, and the four of you even had lunch together.

It felt like old times, and you desperately needed it. You were so wrapped up in schoolwork, Yeonjun, and everything that happened over the summer that you didn’t even realize how much you missed your parents.

You came back home around 5 and you were helping your mom prepare dinner as Soobin and your dad talked about the trip your parents made in Europe.

“Mom, this is way too much food.”

“It’s okay, Soobin can take it home with him to feed those other boys.”

You chuckled, your mom never knew how to portion her cooking right and it got the two of you talking about the time she cooked four whole turkeys for Christmas a few years ago for your and Soobin’s family alone.

The ringing of your doorbell snaps you out of your conversation, and you ask Soobin to get the door as you were expecting a package one of these days.

Soobin nodded at your request, getting up from the couch while he made his way to your front door.

Since your kitchen is directly across from your hallway, your gaze followed him while you peeled some potatoes, curious to see if your assumption was right.

Soobin opened the door with a dramatic swing, his friendly smile faltering as he sees Yeonjun in the doorway with his girlfriend. “Y-yeonjun hyung? Mia? What are you two doing here?”

You swore your eyes were playing tricks with you. That the alcohol from last night came back to you in forms of hallucinations and unexplainable mirages but when his eyes locked with yours, you knew it was really him.

You stand frozen on your feet, dropping the half-peeled potato in the sink as you start blinking to recompose yourself, suddenly realizing that your parents were in the room; having equally confused facial expressions to match those of you and Soobin.

“Yeonjun?” your dad asks. “The Yeonjun?”

Yeonjun’s eyes left yours, completely shocked to see your parents in your apartment. Well fuck. This is not what he had planned at all.

Soobin’s eyes were boring into Mia’s, completely and utterly confused as to what she was doing here, and with Yeonjun at that.

He gave you a look and you shrugged, still too dazed with the fact that Yeonjun was standing in your doorway; so much so that you hadn’t even noticed Mia standing next to him.

Your mom's eyes lit up, seeing the two of them. “Oh, this is just perfect,” she exclaims.

“Now you can all stay for dinner!”

Chapter 11

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pl-panda · 4 years

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The vines that bind us - Chapter 4

Chapter 1 || Previous || Next

She was now back in Gotham and it was time to start acting like it.

The break came sooner than expected. Mari might have actually missed it if not for the text from Chloe that they are on their way. Mr. Drake locked the doors to his office from the inside to made sure nobody interrupted him unless Batman started skateboarding in the lobby (his words). She really didn’t know what to think about the young CEO. So far their interactions were limited to the brief moment of panic before meeting Luthor, followed by this brief moment when he locked the doors.

When she arrived in the cafeteria, Chloe was already waiting for her with Ethel. They took over a table in the corner and already littered it with various documents and folders.

“Um… Hi?” Mari greeted them.

“Oh, Mari-bear!” Chloe grabbed the girl by the wrist and dragged her to the table. When she was seated, several papers were put in front of her.

“So! Ethel and I read through the contract and we have good and bad news? Which first?”

“Let’s get the bad out of the way.” Mari nodded.

“You’re stuck in that job for half a year.”

“What!?”

“Don’t worry.” Ethel palaced her. “It’s not as bad as it looks. The whole deal was that you could be hired at any point of your internship for a period of six months, after which there would be a revision of your contract to either terminate it or make it more permanent.”

“Who does that kind of thing?” The girl shouted a bit louder than necessary, but nobody paid them any mind. Alya and Lila were clearly visible at the other side of the cafeteria with a large crowd around them.

“It’s practically never used. I mean now you have all the benefits of being Wayne Enterprises’ employee. Plus you will actually have a salary. And Sarah’s salary was nothing to scoff at.”

“But… What about school!? I know we were allowed to leave for two months, which by itself is crazy if you ask me…”

“Given that our headmaster is an idiot that bends under whoever throws money at him and our teacher should never be allowed to be in the same room as any child…” Chloe muttered in French.

“Yeah. I get your point. But I can’t just leave school for six months!”

“Puh-lease!” Chloe waved her hand dismissively. “We both know you could’ve graduated in the middle of last year if that Chienne and Connard allowed you. And you would have the perfect scores. Hey! I’m sure you can sit SATs in Gotham while you work here.”

“And my commissions?” She looked at the blonde. “Marigold Désign et Création is only starting to get some popularity. I can’t just close the store! Oh no! What about my Flower Shop in Paris? The girl I hired was supposed to work there only for like… three months best! I can’t just suddenly… Oh no! You know Sang hates being away from me! And what if Bleue outgrows her pot? And don’t get me started on Rouge! He is…’

Mari suddenly felt two hands on her shoulders. “Goldie! You’re spiraling again.” Chloe stared in her eyes. “And your eyes are showing.”

That finally calmed Mari. She usually tried to suppress her natural look in favor of how she used to appear. Her iridescent green eyes were kept blue and dark-blue hair muted to the point it seemed black. Plus her skin was not green unless she was using her powers. She was not sure where that skill came from and she was ninety percent certain her mother couldn’t just mute her green skin and fiery red hair. Still, she was glad that she did not have to look like an Akuma 24/7.

“Thanks, Queeny. I’d probably have a breakdown if not for you.”

“You have a Flower Shop in Paris?” Ethel asked curiously.

“My… It used to be a bakery before I inherited it. Since I like plants more than bread, I turned it into my own greenhouse. I used to only have a small garden on the rooftop, but then I kinda… filled every room with plants.” Mari suddenly blushed.

“Whoa. You sure do love plants. Are you sure you’re not related to Poison Ivy?”

Chloe half-expected Mari to start trying to deny it or babble.

“And what would make you think that?” The girl joked instead. “Just because my plants don’t wither at my touch, I am related to a villain?” It might have come harsher than she wanted, but her bright smile and pearly voice made it clear that she had no hard feelings.

Ethel laughed. “True. I’m sorry about the commissions and the store. I really wish there was something WE could do, but our hands are tied.”

“How am I supposed to be a personal assistant? I have like zero experience or even theoretical knowledge!”

Ethel opened another folder and read something. “Well, you were class representative, ran your own small business, kept up with school work, met with clients, and babysat several kids. That’s pretty much what you have to do now. Just make sure that the baby is doing things on time and organize his time.”

“Ha ha ha.” Chloe deadpanned. “Why not ask Nathalie? She liked you well enough.”

“I can’t just call her and ask her to teach me!” Mari protested. “I mean she must be very busy!”

“We can go find the disaster boy. He can definitely convince her.”

“I can’t just use Adrien like that! And besides, we don’t need to look.” She pointed at where the Blond boy sat next to Lila. He was clearly very uncomfortable with his situation, but they both knew that he couldn’t go against his father’s orders. Apparently, ‘Lila was good for business’.

“Then we can go now. Thank you, Ethel.” Chloe said as she grabbed Mari and started to drag her toward the group.

“Stop it! Queenie! You know…”

“Hush! I will deal with the idiots if they try anything.” The blonde silenced all protests.

The two approached the group just as Lila was finishing a ridiculous tale about how she was on good terms with the bat-family. Alya was of course recording the whole thing and streaming live. When the class spotted girls approaching, Kim and Ivan quickly turned into bodyguards blocking them from joining.

“What do you two want this time?” Sabrina asked with venom.

“Like I would lower myself to dealing with the common rabble. I came to speak with the only person here who doesn’t have a negative number of brain cells, so be kind enough to let us pass. Or just pry Adrien from Lila and we will leave you to your fantasy world.” Chloe stared down at her former follower (they were never really friends).

“Nobody asked you!” Rose shouted.

“Sabrina did.” Mari pointed out. She was not sure why, but she felt much more confident in her dealing with the class now that they were in Gotham. Maybe it was because they were now on her own turf, maybe because there was no Akuma risk, or maybe she was just done.

“Shut up you bully!” Alix shouted. “Adrien doesn’t want to go with you anywhere!”

Over half of the WE employees disperse, not wanting to be pulled into the drama. The ones that stayed were just looking between the two groups.

“Actually,” Adrien started, surprising everyone, Lila included. Why was her boy talking? She didn’t order him to talk. “I’m curious about what they want. The break is almost over anyway so we should probably get going back to work.” He said diplomatically.

“Whatever!” Alya put her phone down.

When the class and the spectators dispersed, Adrien sighed in relief. “Kwami I hope Gerard gets here soon. He usually tries to at least limit the Liar somewhat. Then again, he won’t be coming to WE…”

“It’s a tall building. I’m sure that we could make it look like an accident.” Chloe grinned.

“We are not killing her!” Mari protested.

“Spoilsport.” The Blonde deadpanned.

“Anyway, is that a social call or do we have some situation? Please tell me it’s not an Akuma.”

“Not that I know of.” Mari quickly checked her phone, but so far no messages.

“Mari here got hired.” Chloe did not bother with subtlety.

“Congratulation!” The boy beamed. “I knew you would do great here. We should go to celebrate on Friday!”

“Except I have no idea how to be a personal assistant.” Mari moaned.

“Oh! That’s no problem. Let me just call Nathalie.” Before the girl could protest Adrien already had his phone out and dialed his Father’s PA. “Nathalie?” He asked when the face appeared on the screen.

“Adrien. I’m sorry but your father is not here. He left Paris and won’t be returning for some time. He will be supervising the acquisition of new resources in China.” She informed him.

“Oh. That’s no problem. I actually wanted to speak to you.” He smiled brightly.

“Huh?” She asked surprised.

“My friend Marinette found herself in a peculiar situation of being hired as a personal assistant. Would you mind giving her some pointers?”

“Sure. Please forward her my personal number so she can call me in an hour. I will be free by then.”

“Thank you, Nathalie. You’re the best.” He waved the woman goodbye and hanged up. “See? No problem at all.”

“Um… Okay… Thank you so much!” She hugged him tightly.

“Sure. That’s what friends are for. What about the Friday celebration?”

“Well, I can give you all a Marinette tour through Gotham…” Her smile grew a little mischievous “Or you can get Marigold style trip.” They all laughed before scrambling to do their respective works.

Mari got into the elevator and pressed the top-floor button. Slowly, the doors closed and it went up. When she arrived, she looked around to check if anyone was looking for her before walking to her desk. Out of nowhere, a blade pressed itself to her neck.

“Who are you and what are you doing here?” A low voice asked from her right, slightly to her back. Immediately, she tensed.

“I work here if you must know. Now I apologize for the delay if you needed something, but I was trying to sort out a certain problem. Do you have an appointment with Mr. Drake?”

“Tt. I’m not in a mood for games.”

She smiled slightly. Acting faster than would be expected, she grabbed the blade in a monkey grip and pushed it away. The attacker then tried to swing it at her, but she managed to side-step. Doing a quick lunge she managed to punch his hand and make the blade move to the side while walking into the guard. She delivered a strong punch to his face, followed by a low-kick to the back of his knee, forcing him on one knee. The daze caused him to loosen the grip he had on the sword. Mari kneeled on his legs, pinning him down and at the same time stole the sword and threw it away. Before he even had a chance to explain anything, she delivered another punch to his head, making the boy see stars before everything turned black.

She gathered herself and walked to the sword. It was rather simple ninjato that she stored under her desk. There was a tablet with the WE logo on it that she promised herself to check later. The intercom had at least two dozen buttons. They were all labeled with some shortcuts she did not understand, so instead, she picked the security number from her WE employee handbook and called.

“Um… Hello?”

“Hello. What’s the problem miss?”

“Yes. My name’s Marinette. I’m the new PA to Mr. Drake. When I returned from break some boy attacked me with a ninajto. I managed to knock him out, but I would appreciate if someone came here to…” She didn’t get to finish because a burst of loud laughter came from the other side. She stayed silent for a few moments, baffled at the reaction. Finally, she had enough. “Good to know the fact that someone almost chopped me with a Ninjato is funny to you, sir, but personally I do not find the situation laughable and I would appreciate if you showed at least some concern over the terrible breach of security that is firstly bringing the sword to the building and secondly trying to kill an employee!” She screamed loud enough to make her cup of (now cold) coffee shake. Only now she realized that her hands were trembling.

“Um… of course, madame. I will be sending someone up right away… madame.” He hanged up. She still heard that he was on the verge of laughing.

Mari collapse into her chair and stared angrily at the boy on the floor. She was afraid to walk to him. She was definitely getting some plants here tomorrow. That would make her feel safer. Nervously, she started to design. She didn’t even notice that she was using the boy that attacked her as the base.

After a few minutes, the doors of the elevator opened and two guys in suits walked in. As soon as they saw the unconscious boy they broke into a fit of laugher. Mari stared at them before recognizing one of them as Grayson, who was giving them the tour earlier.

“Oh! My! God! She actually knocked Demon Spawn unconscious!” The other one said through tears. Mari decided she didn’t like him either. They were supposed to be helping her, not laughing more.

“Excusez-Moi! I was attacked here! During the tour, I was led to believe this is a respected company,” she made a jab at Grayson, who only laughed more. “In respected companies employees are not attacked with a sword when they come back from the break. So can someone explain to me what the actual fuck?!” She swore.

“This is gold. I’m calling B. Wait! I need a picture or he won’t believe me!” The not-Grayson kept rambling, completely ignoring Mari. Angry, she picked a pencil from her desk. Taking a few seconds to aim, she threw it. The impromptu projectile sailed through the air until it hit the elevator button, making the doors open. This finally got their attention, especially since the pencil passed not-Grayson by an inch from his ear.

“What the…?” He was interrupted when the girl stormed past him and entered the elevator. She was now holding the ninjato through a tissue. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“To HR. Maybe they will help me.” She answered simply and sent them a glare. “It’s clear that you two dumbasses aren’t doing anything.”

Grayson held the button, stopping the doors from closing “Hey! Aren’t you supposed to be French?” Dick asked, confused by her strong Gothamite accent that showed itself.

“Aren’t you supposed to be helping?!” She shouted at him.

“Ugh… My head…” A groan came from the floor.

“Aww… I didn’t get any pictures.” Not-Grayson grumbled.

“Tt. Shut up, Todd.”

“How is the view from down there Demon Spawn?”

“I don’t have time for games. There’s some intruder on this floor. She claimed to be Drake’s personal Assistant, but we all met Sarah.”

“Um… Baby D, did no one inform you about the french class coming for an internship starting today?”

There was suddenly a glimmer of realization in the boy’s eyes. “Oh…”

“Oh?” Mari screamed. “that’s all you have to say?!”

Her would-be attacker jumped at the sound of her angry voice. When their eyes met, the two had a staring contest. It continued for a moment, neither wanting to leave it be. Dick and Jason observed with amazement how that little girl was able to rival Damian’s glare and not wither immediately as most would.

“While I enjoy seeing the two of you fight for dominance, can someone explain to me what exactly happened?” Todd finally broke the silence. Mari immediately turned her eyes at him. He briefly noted that her blue eyes had a green tint in them that he did not notice before.

“What happened is like I said. I after I returned from break that imbécile attacked me with the sword. I had some self-defense classes, so I managed to disarm him.”

“Some? You had ‘some’ self-defense classes and you disarmed Demons Spawn?”

“Okay, I’ve been practicing since I was five. Happy? It doesn’t change the fact that he attacked me!”

“You’re the one that attacked me. I was merely ensuring you were no threat.” Damian tried to argue.

“By pressing a sword to my neck?” She asked/shouted. “Please! This is Gotham.”

“She has a point.” Dick decided to intervene. “Okay. We will make sure that Damian won’t bother you anymore… and maybe add some bonus to your next paycheck for the trouble he caused. Our father will definitely hear about this.”

“Your father…?”

“Bruce Wayne.”

“Oh… Fine. But I’ll be keeping the ninjato for now.” She said in no-arguing tone. It was clear that Damian wanted to argue, but his brothers pushed him into the elevator while Mari walked to her desk. She put the sword under the desk and mentally added some hooks to her shopping list. If that rich idiot thought he would get away with attacking her with a sword, he was sorely mistaken.

The tablet turned out to have a complete calendar with all planned meetings, a ready to-do list, and access to inter-department chatrooms. There were more apps that she decided to look up later. For now, she opened Mr. Drake’s schedule. He had quite a lot of office hours, but she also noticed that there was a press conference set on Friday, several meetings throughout the week, and a few other stuff. Definitely much cleaner than Adrien’s schedule that she already knew by heart.

As the hour was mostly up, she knocked on the office doors to see if her boss needed something done. He shouted a barely-audible ‘busy’ and she did not try to intrude. Probably some important stuff. She pulled her phone and called Nathalie’s number that Adrien sent her earlier.

“Hello, Marinette.” The woman greeted her.

The next several hours were spent on the crash course about everything that being Personal Assistant boiled down to. Ethel was right. Her work as Class Rep, babysitter, and the business owner gave her quite a few necessary skills. What nobody mentioned (because nobody knew) was that her obsessive Adrien stalking also came in very handy. Most of what she practiced with Nathalie was about dealing with people and applying her skills in the new job. By the time her work was ‘over’, she had a bit more confidence. Mari was still panicked over the amount of responsibility that befallen her and the additional work and reading that she would have to do after hours. It was a pure blessing that this day was empty. Nathalie also gave her an incredible amount of pointers about how to deal with situations when the Boss is absent most of the day. She could guess that Gabriel kept dumping more work on the poor woman as he locked himself away to design. The last thing before she entered the elevator was to pull out the drawers in her desk and hide the ninjato behind them. It fit perfectly and the drawers didn’t seem that out of place. She suspected the boy would try to take it back when she was gone.

As she was leaving the elevator to meet with her class, she spotted Chloe talking lively with Ethel. Madame Bustier came through the main entrance. Once the class gathered in one place, she gave some speech about how proud she was of them and thanked Lila for the opportunity. Mari used that time to check on the class. Some looked quite happy, others had sour moods. Adrian managed to sneak away from Lila and was hiding behind the girls.

Just as they turned to leave, the front doors burst open and several guys (and one woman) in green suits with purple question marks walked inside, followed by a man in a similar suit. He carried a cane with a question mark on top and a green bowler hat with a single question mark in the center. Mari resisted the urge to gag. The fashion disaster that was Riddler entered the house. Seriously! Who mixes deep green with neon purple? And not to even mention the Hawaiian shirt she could spot under his suit. Whoever dressed that guy deserved to be shot. And it had to be a custom job, because what store would dare to sell such monstrosity!? She also noted that people got on the ground so she did the same. Her senses tried to reach to nearest plants for some comfort, but all of them were fake. Why does no one keep real plants in this building? Then again, Mr. Drake had and they were almost dead.

“Well, hello Wayne Enterprises!” He greeted them. “Riddle me this: It belongs to you, but other people use it more than you do. What is it?”

“Name,” they heard a voice say from the back.

“Yes.” Riddler seethed. “And I really don’t like it when someone uses mine in their ridiculous stories. Now, which of you can tell me where I can find Lila Rossi?

#maribat au #maribat #Mother!Ivy #miraculous lb #miraculous ladybug #miraculous #batman #dc #MLB

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caitlinsfandomthoughts · 3 years

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Watching Star Trek TOS For the First Time! Season 1 Reaction

I’ve been a TNG, DS9 and Voyager fan for maybe 10 years but had never watched TOS until I decided that I would. And then I realised I couldn’t live with the possibility of the internet not being able to know my incoherent rambling reactions if it so desired. Most of these were written the day after I saw them but with the early ones it was later so sorry if I don’t remember your favourite.

Season 1:

The Cage: Be still my beating heart why must number 1 leave the show? Why?! Imagine a world in which Majel Barrett got to continue to be her in the Star Trek universe instead of Lwuxana (sorry I don’t love her) and Nurse Chapel. She’s so beautiful I love her. And she gets to where pants and be the second in command. While the episode for sure has sexist moments it does seem like there was more of an actual effort to present to future as having gender equality. When you compare this to the ultra mini skirted version of the actual show, it does feel like executives went through it to make it more marketable. It’s been noted by others that she is quite similar to what Spock’s character became: the cold, logical one, while Spock smiles in this episode. While I ended up loving Spock I still would’ve loved to see a woman in that kind of role, especially in the 60s. Although I’m not sure she would’ve been treated that well.

So Vina can’t like, get medical treatment from Starfleet doctors who know how to put a human body together? No? We’re just gonna leave her there? She’s too ugly? She’s better off living in a fantasy world where she’s pretty? Ok then…

The Man Trap: I don’t even really remember this one so I’d have to rewatch it.

Charlie X: Charlie sees women and becomes an incel, Kirk has to try and teach him not to be. This is a decent goal that somehow culminates in a space boxing match. Kirk loses his shirt. Sexual tension is presumably resolved. Uhura sings.

Where No Man Has Gone Before: The pants are back. Man becomes some kind of god and Kirk beats him up if I remember correctly.

The Naked Time: This is where The Naked Now comes from. This one was less sexual, which is probably a good thing, and less drunk, which is too bad cause I love drunk Crusher and Picard trying to focus on work while their brains won’t brain. Highly relatable mood. This one is where the immortal line “sorry, neither” comes from, spoken by Uhura in response to Sulu calling her a “fair maiden.” According to the internet that was an ad lib and I so hope that’s true cause it’s amazing. Also according to Spock Sulu is a “swashbuckler at heart” which is cool and all but I wish we got to find that out by him actually being a character that we know the personality of rather than a background diversity guy who gets to say a couple of lines sometimes. Also each to their own but shirtless Sulu is infinitely more attractive than shirtless Kirk.

The Enemy Within: Bad. Women at Warp podcast said it best, it’s bad because they say the evil Kirk is still Kirk and is needed for him to be a good captain/person. This could’ve been ok if he didn’t do something so irredeemable, or they could’ve not had him be defined as a true and necessary part of Kirk, but you can’t have both and sell it as an ok message. Rand not being able to look at ‘good’ Kirk after really makes it feel real, her acting in general makes it feel too real.

Mudd’s Women: Women take beauty pills that make them have makeup on and men find them too ugly to marry without them even though they are still beautiful. Also said women were kinda slaves but don’t worry about it! *hand waves*

What Are Little Girls Made Off: I don’t know what the title has to do with the episode. This is the episode where Nurse Chapel is introduced even though she was in a previous episode. And she’s taken more seriously than I thought she would be. Kirk gets an android version of himself made by a guy who he already doesn’t trust and doesn’t predict that maybe that’s not a good idea. Apparently to make an android all you need to do is put one person and one dummy on a giant plate and spin them around real fast. If only the guy who wanted to take apart Data in Measure of a Man knew.

Miri: Problematic. I think the crush angle could’ve worked if it was one sided, but Kirk played into it and it was creepy, and you know, also manipulative, assuming Kirk doesn’t actually feel the same way and is using it to get her to help them. That’s my more charitable interpretation anyway. Also McCoy doesn’t know how vaccines work. Also this episode doesn’t know what puberty is, or rather when it starts. If the virus is supposed to get to you then, that starts round the preteen age. Miri is older than that even though she’s not an adult.

Dagger of the Mind: This was the first one where I was starting to quite like it and it was feeling a little more like Star Trek to me (I know this is the first Star Trek but there’s a certain way 80s/90s era Star Trek feels to me). I really liked the beginning where it was setting up this whole maybe prisoners become violent because of how the prison treats them thing and that it was challenging the viewpoints of some of the main characters, although McCoy was already team prisons are bad and I love him for that. It then went more into the lobotomising asylum type story which was still ok. The guy turned out to be a doctor rather than a prisoner which I didn’t like cause I wanted the prisoners to be humanised. Although you could’ve done a “see anyone, even ‘innocent’ non criminals can be turned violent with this treatment” but they didn’t really emphasise that.

The Corbomite Maneuver: I don’t remember this. Kirk playing poker with some alien I think. Edit: I’m been informed this is the one where the alien turns out to be a lollypop guild kid lip-syncing to an adult’s voice, which I do remember, and probably thought it was some kind of sleep-deprived fever dream.

The Menagerie Part 1 & 2: I laughed so much when they wheeled Pike out and I finally got the Futurama reference in Where No Fan Has Gone Before. I mean I obviously knew the whole thing was a Star Trek Reference, but I had never seen that specific imagery before and now the joke makes sense! Also Pike wanting to go back there seems kinda wrong. I mean they say he’s a vegetable mentally I think but he doesn’t seem to be? I can kinda get that he’s got more incentive to be there than Vina who could probably be helped by Federation doctors but also, he hated that place and spent the whole episode trying to get out of it and it doesn’t feel like a fitting ending for him.

The Conscious of the King: And here begins Star Trek’s love affair with Shakespeare. The only thing I have to say really is, if I didn’t mishear something… a father and daughter played Macbeth and Lady Macbeth? A married couple. And no-one thought that was weird? She was the daughter of a dictator though so there was an Ivanka Trump vibe.

Balance of Terror: Romulans. Spock wasn’t sure that they were related to Vulcans till this ep, though he suspected it. How far back did they split for it to be unknown? I like that the Romulans were sympathetic and we had scenes with them just in their ship from their perspective, and they had some conflicting views with each other. And I really like how Spock was suspected as a spy cause racism and of course he wasn’t and saved that guy cause he’s the better person. That said I found this episode pretty boring and I don’t know why. I kinda wish it turned into a witchhunt situation and was more about the racism on the Enterprise, kinda like The Drumhead from TNG.

Shore leave: Wtf was this episode?! And I don’t ask that because the white rabbit from Alice in Wonderland showed up, or that it was a random holodeck planet episode, that’s fine. When the White Rabbit appeared I was just like, ok it’s going to be one of those episodes, that’s fine. Holodeck episodes are fun, I don’t even mind a random magic alien or two appearing for no reason to wreak havoc, say by making everyone larp as Robin Hood, that’s all Star Trek, that’s Star Trek doing a Star Trek, what I didn’t like is this episode goes nowhere! McCoy sees the White Rabbit, we’re off to a good start, Sulu “Swashbuckler at Heart” sees an old gun that he geeks out on, cool. Kirk sees some woman of course. Also there’s some guy fending off a tiger. Random female guest star of the week rather than letting Uhura be part of the story gets her uniform torn by some guy. Then she imagines a princess dress and if that were me as soon as I realised I could think things into existence I would just imagine all my dream clothes. Kirk imagines an old student friend who is attempting very hard to be Irish (thank you Colm Meany for saving us from this).

Anyway so the planets a holodeck cool. And I’m like, Spock should beam down, I wanna know what he’ll see, this is where the episode could get interesting. And then it happens, but nothing happens, they don’t even make much of a deal of him not seeing anything. But then I thought what if! What if Spock didn’t beam down and this was another imagination?! What if he was some alien with some ulterior motive OR better than that we get to see Spock as imagined by whoever was thinking of him. You could go down a very fanfic road if it were Kirk’s imagined or desired view of him, or maybe you could show different people’s perceptions and then they still suspect he’s not acting like himself even though it’s how they see him, but its not quite right, cause it’s not actually how he is. Or at least I thought they were going to find out what was going on. But NOPE none of that happens. Instead leprechaun guy shows up again and Kirk just wonders off to fight him for the next fucking millennium! The uniforms they wore at the academy seem like they were made out of better quality material than that of a Starfleet captain’s. Poor Kirk must be having to replicate new uniforms every other day. Then they laugh I think, and sexual tension is presumably resolved. Then the aliens show up and are like yeah this planet is a holodeck we thought you’d like it also McCoy died but he didn’t and I’m like THEY DIDN’T CONSENT TO THIS. But then they decide to party.

It reminded me of a Red Dwarf episode called Better Than Life where they knowingly go into a virtual reality game which is basically the same as this planet. But over time Rimmer keeps sabotaging what he imagines cause he hates himself so much his brain won’t let him have nice things. And it’s still a comedy, but there’s an opportunity for exploring the character’s psyche with this setup that wasn’t done here and that made it boring.

The Galileo Seven: This episode was good!! In contrast to the last one it delivered on promises it made, it had a satisfying ending, it’s probably my favourite so far. The whole time I was like this should be about how Spock can be wrong and logic isn’t everything to be a good commander. But given the quality of the previous episodes wasn’t that great and Spock was always right about everything I didn’t trust them to do that. BUT I WAS WRONG. I thought it would be about how just because you don’t have emotions doesn’t mean you can disregard those of the crew. But instead it was about how he couldn’t predict their enemy wouldn’t act based on emotion rather than logic. And then he admitted he was wrong and helped the guy bury the other guy, and then they were about to die and McCoy was like at least I’ve lived to hear Spock say he fucked up. And then Spock jettisoned the fuel so that it might act like a flare but it gave them less time and I was like no you’ve learned nothing! Don’t just do things that severe without asking your crew. But then after they were saved it was described as an act of desperation rather than anything logical and Kirk was like that’s an emotion isn’t it? You acted on emotion? And Spock was like well yes but I’m not gonna say it like that.

I like that emotion was good actually. I think it’s a fine balance between the message of its ok to be different and using Spock as an analogy for racism, and inadvertently neurodiversity, but also not buying into the idea that emotions = weakness and lack of emotion, or emotional repression = objectivity. Even if you don’t factor emotion into your decisions (which would be impossible unless you don’t experience emotions at all) it doesn’t mean that you don’t have personal biases in your perspective. So I’m glad Spock was wrong for once.

The Squire of Gothos: This is Q this is Proto-Q. He does all the same things that Q does; he shows up in clothes that are way out of date (and he thinks they’re from 900 years ago when they’re clearly early 19th century) and he flirts with the captain. Oh and he has powers, maybe they were computer powers, but not all? And he goes on about humans being brutal, warmongering people but he’s kinda into it. He fights Kirk but there was actual tension so it wasn’t annoying like the one with the Irish guy. And then it turns out he was just a kid exactly like the Futurama episode, except he is a kid not 35. I think him being a kid makes the flirting seem weird though.

Arena: Kirk and the Gorn at Tanagra. Kirk fights a lizard because aliens wanted to encourage them to not fight by telling them to fight. I thought maybe these lizards could be proto Cardassians but then I thought they can’t be they don’t talk, but then he spoke so I thought they could be, but then he was the one who was invaded and was only defending his people so I thought they couldn’t be, unless that was actually just lies and justifications in which case they definitely would be, but then that would undermine the message of the episode so I guess not. I wonder how many leaders have killed each other before these alien’s negotiation tactic actually worked.

Tomorrow is Yesterday: This was fun. There were a lot of twists and turns. I wonder if it was before or after the moonlanding. Every plan just makes it worse and more and more people keep getting exposed to the future. Kirk could’ve easily just closed the door and beamed back at the end but instead opts to punch like six people. (I think this is where “a woman?” “Crewman.” Comes from).

Court Martial: What if Kirk actually did it though? Would that be more interesting? Maybe. At least here he has an age appropriate love interest. She’s prosecuting against him which is surely a conflict of interest. AND she has a uniform with a longer skirt! And it actually looks good, like it looks like an actual dress that she can sit down in and it still looks like a dress and not a crumpled up shirt. It’s elegant but it’s still short. I could see this being an option (for any gender) as a dress uniform but it would still make no sense when they’re serving on a ship.

Return of the Archons: I am LIVING for Spock in a medieval style hood. It’s giving me Peter Cook in a Mother Superior’s wimple in Bedazzled vibe, it’s not quite on that level of beauty, but it’s close. For some reason Sulu returned from the planet in 18th century gear but then everyone else is dressed like it’s the 19th century, with some medieval robes thrown in, and this annoys me more than it should. Maybe it’s because he’s a swashbuckler at heart. Apparently they had a completely peaceful society except for the nightly purge they seemed to have going on that is never mentioned again.

Space Seed: KHHANN! I liked this a lot until the end. I want to know the lore behind Data’s Dad having his middle and last name. Edit: Actually only the middle name is the same and the last name is just similar. I still think there’s lore there (excuse the pun), probably he’s a descendent of his cult followers or something. The story seemed to be eugenics bad and also the type of guy to basically be a eugenics cult leader would be super manipulative and abusive but just charming enough in a relationship. It does a pretty good job of showing the abuse in his relationship with the historian woman, how he switches between being loving and I guess charming, and flattering to being abusive and degrading. I wish that the historian woman could find someone that she can explore domination and submission with consensually cause that seems like it would be what she really wants. Anyway but in the end they just let him go? Like he tried to take over the ship but they were like here have a colony. They compared the place to Australia when the colonists arrived at Botany Bay and that it could be... I forget what the word was but basically ‘civilised’ and No NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO STOP RIGHT THERE NO Australia was already populated and didn’t need eugenicist cult leaders who were demonstrably bad to show up make it ‘better.’ AND THEN the historian is given the choice to go with them and she does and its framed like it’s good? Or at least ok? When they just did a pretty decent job of showing how abusive and manipulative he was and she had redeemed herself by turning against him? So I get that they probably wanted to bring him back although they’re probably not gonna bring her back, but they could’ve easily had him escape instead.

A Taste of Armageddon: Suicide machines. I forget the rest.

This Side of Paradise: SEX POLLEN! Well it’s more fall in love pollen, I guess, for one character. There’s a woman and there’s the music and the soft focus and BUT WAIT then the camera cuts to Spock not Kirk! Because she has taste. It’s about this point that I think the ‘Spock’s the most popular but Shatner wants to remain the star so we’ll emphasise their character’s relationship thus inadvertently inventing slash fic’ might’ve started. It’s time for a love triangle! She makes Spock get the sex pollen, which is not getting consent, and then he falls in love with her and is climbing trees and is all happy. Kirk can’t get a text back from Spock. Then Kirk and two others get the pollen except Kirk didn’t, but he did, but anyway I thought everyone would be horny but they weren’t they were just brainwashed. Soon Kirk is all alone on the bridge, then he gets the pollen and is happy to live as a poly triad but then he gets angry and it’s gone. Then he calls Spock to the ship and approaches the situation in the only way Kirk knows how: Homoerotic punching! So they fight for not long enough and then Spock is cured but he’s a little sad, there’s sadness in his voice, it’s not quite so matter of fact. Then Spock’s gf gets sad and the sex pollen is gone too, Spock might still have feelings for her but he has responsibilities to the ship and “to that man on the bridge” which if he was saying to just mean once again the whole ship, and its mission and the captain in a professional sense, seems a little redundant, which would surely be illogical.

The colonists get sad that they haven’t done anything for years because the sex pollen made them unambitious but I would argue maybe the sex pollen was right and you were better off just vibing. This episode was more interesting and less silly than I thought the creator of sex pollen would be. At the end Spock says that for the first time in his life he was happy. While every other character could still easily become addicted to a thing like that they could at least know they would experience happiness or any feelings again in their life, for Spock it was going back to nothingness.

Devil in the Dark: Spock calls Kirk Jim which I don’t think he has before, when he’s talking over the communicator and he’s worried he’s in danger, there’s some actual fear or urgency in his voice. Also the moment that got me was when Kirk wanted to send Spock back the ship cause he didn’t trust him to kill the creature and Spock was like “but… I’m not really as useful there I am here… so…” If I was writing it I would’ve played that up more but anyway, I like that they didn’t kill the creature. I like that McCoy said the thing. And also said “I’m starting to think I can cure a rainy day.” He’s my favourite.

Errand of Mercy: It’s kinda becoming the Kirk Spock show now, I like the ship but I miss McCoy. I like that the passive pacifists who Kirk was so angry with were actually more powerful. And KLINGONS! Oh yeah the orientalism, the yellow peril, it’s… it’s there all right. They were played a lot colder here, a little Cardassian maybe, still bloodthirsty but I don’t believe this guy has to do it himself to feel honourable, he can kill for sure but he’s fine ordering someone else to do it and being a chessmaster too.

The Alternative Factor: God this one was boring. But it does have a man with the worst beard wig I’ve ever seen. Now he’s stuck fighting the bad version of himself or something to save the universe. So remember that when you’re watching later Trek series, all of this could suddenly be destroyed if one of them gets tired.

The City on the Edge of Forever: UHURA GETS TO GO ON AN AWAY MISSION! Aaaand she doesn’t get to do anything :/ The usual three go back in time! To the 60s again! Oh wait… that’s meant to be the 30s? Oh. That’s some tall hair that lady has for the 30s. But at least said lady is a character, she’s a little perfect but she does things, she has strong beliefs, she might be written a little idealised, but she is still written like a person compared to almost every other Kirk love interest. “He says it (captain) even when he doesn’t say it” is an interesting line. So she has to die, I still think they could’ve just convinced her that you don’t make friends with fascists but ok. They never say what the Clark Gable movie is.

Operation Annihilate! Kirk’s brother dies, and so does his sister in law, leaving his nephew without parents. This is never resolved and the episode ends with them laughing about how Spock got his eyesight back.

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kinetic-elaboration · 3 years

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April 30: 2x17 A Piece of the Action

Today’s ep was A Piece of the Action, one of the greatest of all time. Honestly, as far as feel good episodes in particular go, it’s one of my ultimate faves.

Uhura seems to be having a lot of fun listening to Kirk trying to communicate with this alien.

Yes, Kirk, please explain how it took you a hundred years to get back to this alien society.

I actually like this whole back story a lot. If the Horizon met the Iotians 100 years ago, and the planet is on the edge of the galaxy, it must have been one of the earliest contacts between the Federation and another planet. Or did it even pre-date the Federation? I’m too hungry to try to figure out timelines lol but still, the plot kind of relies on it being an early contact: pre-Non-Interference Director, pre-modern communication methods.

Also just really curious about the Horizon in general. What kind of ship was it? What was it doing out there? What was that first contact with the Iotians like? I do not want subsequent “Star Trek” to explain this to me, I just want to speculate.

Woah who is this guy filling in for Spock? He looks like a Spock impersonator.

Kirk just turns Spock and McCoy around: “We’re beaming down now!” Has to take his BFFs on the mission.

The aliens are SOMEWHAT imitative?? This doesn’t look somewhat to me.

“Home was never like this.” Lol well he’s from Iowa so it’s probably missing some corn fields I guess.

This is clearly an open-carry state. Are they imitating Texas?

Spock is truly not bothered by anything at all. He’s so chill.

Heaters.

Baby blue eyes. McCoy looks so offended at that. It’s a compliment, Bones!

This is a great triumvirate ep because you can see their very different reactions to the whole thing, basically on a spectrum of chill (Spock) to alarmed (McCoy)

“I distill it myself.”

Compared to all these suits, the Starfleet uniforms really look like pajamas.

Ah-ha, Spock has found something interesting!

Published in 1992?! I want one.

AOS Kirk would have actually played pool with this alien gangster.

“This is the contamination, Captain.”

These “fancy heaters” lol.

The way the Iotians interact with the Federation aliens is honestly so interesting to me.

Come on, man, Kirk isn’t an arms dealer.

What’s this? It’s a cell phone, obviously.

What would these aliens do with an iphone? It would probably destroy them.

Oh, Scotty, so confused, trying to keep up with the slang.

I like how the secretary looks up like she can see the ship.

I feel like if you looked up “heater” on the Enterprise language banks, it would not be helpful. Imagine Scotty personally making and the beaming down 100 space heaters.

I love that Kirk knows so much random Chicago history. True Midwestern Boy.

Love those old pinball machines in the back of the room.

Lol Kirk trying to subtly get Spock to shut up and stop being truthful. “Don’t mess this up for me, babe.”

Fizzbin is a true classic moment in television. I love how much fun Kirk is having with it. And Spock nodding along like this makes sense to him. Adorable, supportive boyfriend. Also, I feel like fizzbin is a particularly effective strategy for this culture because they are imitative. A chance to learn a new game?? Amazing.

Kirk is so great in this episode.

“Mr. Spock--Mr. Spock? What are you doing on this frequency?” He’s on it because he finally figured out how to work the primitive radio.

I feel like real Chicago gangsters didn’t have “Boss” engraved on plaques next to their front doors.

“I never been arrested my whole life!”

“How’d you get back up there?” Lol. Well at least he remembered Spock was supposed to be a hostage.

“Why would he put a bag on our Captain?”

I realize that it is correct to refer to the gangster aliens as indigenous but it still amuses me.

Kirk is going to save himself while Spock is working on saving him. My boy is so smart!

“Ship’s log. Incredible as it seems, Dr. McCoy and I have been fooled again.”

You can tell Spock is trying super hard not to laugh here. His lips in that very thin line.

Kirk saves the day again!

It’s hilarious to me that in the time Kirk was kidnapped and escaped, Spock and McCoy got all the way up to the Enterprise and then all the way back down.

“I admit logic won’t work here, so let’s go wild with some cosplay instead.”

I love that Kirk canonically cannot drive and I think about this EVERY time he’s forced onto a motorcycle in AOS.

TOS Kirk has never been on a motorcycle in his life. But TOS Sarek definitely does own one.

But CPine would look good in this blue gangster suit.

AOS Kirk can’t drive stick any more than TOS Kirk can but he would be way more confident about thinking he can.

Spock is definitely going to veto Kirk buying an old car.

“I’m calling you a babe.”

Wow but I love Kirk and Spock and their adopted alien son. This kid is smart and bold; he is a good K/S surrogate child. And I definitely appreciate that when he calls for “daddy” two men show up.

I am now going to refer to the Federation exclusively as “the Feds.”

Kirk is having so much fun with this whole thing and I love that for him. “The whole ball of wax.” “Sawbones.” “Spocko.” The exaggerated accent.

And Spock is... just trying his best. I love this nerd. He wants to play but he’s just not got the hang of it.

Scotty and Uhura just hanging out, as they do. She definitely gets what Kirk is doing before Scotty does.

Scotty’s so proud of the term “concrete galoshes.” Well, close but no cigar.

Honestly I really want to know what the cars on Vulcan look like.

Kirk calling Scotty “baby” and “sweetheart.” Confirmed space bi.

Even Spock is getting into it. He even said “You’s.”

I have PTSD from the phrase “run government like a business.”

Spock and Bones are definitely Kirk’s boys.

“Now we have hostages again.” There’s something legit hilarious to me about that line.

“Isn’t that logical?” He hopes he’s pleased his space husband.

Is it really fair to say that the mobs are a criminal organization when, as far as we know or have seen, there is no actual government? Like what laws are they breaking?

Don’t at me about the paternalism of using the Feds’ “cut” to somehow inch the Iotians away from mob governance.

That ending with McCoy and the communicator was great lol. The image of the imitative Iotians taking apart the communicator and just going to town makes me happy.

I’m quite serious when I say I want this ep rebooted with the AOS cast for the costumes alone, as compensation for having to sit through yet another film about Khan.

Also I really love these aliens. They might be among my favorite aliens. I just like how they attach themselves to things they find interesting and then make them the centerpiece of their culture. Like, what were they doing before the gangster thing? Besides farming?

Also I love how they have no problem at all with the aliens showing up in their big ass space ship. They just think ‘oh, maybe they’ll give us stuff, like last time.’ I kinda feel like they weren’t weirded out by the Horizon, either. They know what they’re about.

My new stance on Kirk and cars is that probably, being from Iowa, he can drive, just not stick, but since he’s lived in San Francisco and space his entire adult life, he probably hasn’t driven since he was 18. Thus why he thinks he’s better at this than he is.

Spock has never been behind the wheel of anything, ever, though, in either universe.

Next up is The Immunity Syndrome. The only thing I remember about this is that all the Vulcans on the Intrepid die. And I think it’s the one where Spock flies a little ship into the amoeba and Kirk and McCoy rescue him? In other words, I remember the beginning in and the end, and nothing in the middle. So, should be fun!

#the year 2021 #2021: star trek #star trek tos #2021: fandom thoughts

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finallyaniguana · 5 years

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Watch The Eyes: Paris 12:30pm CET [6]

[5] masterpost ao3 [7]

Marinette blinked back to her own body utterly confused. Who was that? Why were they fighting? Why were they speaking English? (Again thanking the kwamis themselves for having taken English lessons for several years). Why were they in a CAVE? And what was with the masks?

Taking into account that she had now moved from the classroom to the park she adjusted quickly to her surroundings. Her phone was in her hand. The time was 12:30. Six hours later than the time zone she had just left. The Americas, clearly. But why?

Adrien stood next to her, looking at her expectantly.

"Bug?"

She looked at him.

"Yes?"

"We're supposed to be picking out a spot to sit," he reminded.

"Oh... of course." She looked around and saw a vacant bench not too far away. "How about there, minou?"

He smiled at the nickname. It had been a few months since the reveal. Their friendship had only grown. Adrien might even go so far as to say they were closer than he and Nino.

It was a tough conversation at first. His vision still clouded with his juvenile declarations of love. He came to realize he really did love her. And she loved him.

But not in the way he had been expecting. She was his platonic soulmate. Not everyone who has a romantic soulmate will have a platonic soulmate as well. Some people have one or the other. Adrien was lucky enough to have both. It manifests by a slight glow at contact after a strong friendship had been formed.

He had been born with a tattoo tucked away on his shoulder blade.

He had mentioned it before and found his lady had no such mark. It nearly crushed him. But he got over it and realized that losing her completely would be far worse than never having the relationship he thought he wanted.

He grew up. He changed. Their partnership grew stronger.

The platonic bond is what gave him that final push to discovering her identity. He passed something to Marinette, skin fainting glowing from the brush.

He was surprised to say the least. He didn't think he and Mari were that close.

When they finally revealed themselves he nearly cried with joy. The strong willed amazing girl in his class he so desperately wanted to be closer friends with was already his best friend. She seemed quite excited too.

She was ecstatic to find out the sweet boy in her class she used to hope was her soulmate was her best friend. She grew out of her crush a long time ago, especially after seeing how well he got along with a certain fencing partner.

He was her strongest ally against Lila's manipulative lies. Without his support and backup, Marinette sometimes wasn't sure she would have been able to face the classroom over and over and over again.

Her repeated threats had no effect since Adrien couldn't be used against her.

The class was baffled at why Marinette would be so resistant to being Lila's friend. She knew the Italian girl's lies would pile up against her one of these days. She was, with Adrien's help, quietly undermining the falsehoods spread to her classmates.

When Marinette took a frontal attack on Lila's lie about her sprained wrist, in turn upsetting Max about the dangers of balled up napkins, Adrien had gone to Max after the fact and suggested he do more research on the statistics of people getting irreparable eye damage from paper. After just one quick search, he found out the truth, approaching Mari afterwards to apologize.

"I should have known you would never do anything that would put me in danger," he quietly confided.

She smiled her bright smile.

"That's okay, Max. I totally understand."

She and his back and forth dynamic of coming in after Lila to do damage control for the easily disproven lies helped keep the class on her side, even if they were still quick to believe it in the first place.

The lies about her famous connections were a bit harder to disprove. How could she show that it wasn't true if she didn't know the celebrity themself.

Of course, having done many commissions for Jagged Stone and Clara Nightingale, she had easy access to that proof. But she wasn't Marinette. She was MDC. Nobody knew that but her three closest friends and her parents. She wasn't trying to advertise that. She didn't want to win popularity like Lila did. That's why, even though that was the one she could easily fix, she didn't.

The biggest beam in her support network sat down beside her on the bench she had picked out. She deliberated what to tell hin for a moment before deciding to just say something. A few beats of silence passed.

"Adrien, the weirdest thing just happened," she said suddenly.

He looked up at her, startled.

"What? But you haven't moved," he said.

"I swear on my Kwamii I was literally just somewhere else for the last fifteen minutes," she looked over at him, wide eyed.

"You mean... like-"

Alya and Nino finally arrived with the icecream.

"Your favorite!" Alya claimed, passing off a cone to the birthday girl.

"Here you go, dude," Nino said, handing Adrien his.

They all looked at Marinette, smiling. It was an all around good moment. But the fifteen minutes of misplaced time would continue to trouble her. Adrien didn't get a chance to bring it back up at lunch.

She had fifteen minutes of someone else's memories. Throughout the rest of lunch and her remaining classes Marinette maintained an eerie calm. A calm that usually wouldn't be there. Normally she would be freaking out. For some reason, she was inclined to figure this out for herself.

Arriving home that afternoon her parents greeted her warmly, letting her know they would be closing up shop a bit early and cooking her favorite for dinner that evening. She hummed her thanks before heading up to her room.

Sitting a her desk, she jogged her mouse to wake the monitor, home screen showing an image of her superhero family, smiling wide.

Marinette clicked open the internet and put in a few key words.

'Mind switching for fifteen minutes'

"Rare Mind Switching Soul Bond"

An article popped up. Her eyes widened and she opened it up.

She pulled a notebook towards herself, copying down all the important information.

• Younger person's birthday in the year the two would meet

• Fifteen minutes at a random time

• Eyes follow the mind

• Eyes are windows to the soul

• As the souls grow closer, the two people begin to trade traits until they finally meet at some point during the year

This had to be it. She scrolled a bit further down but found the article ended there. There was very little data for this soul bond.

So all Marinette knew was that she was going to meet her soulmate this year. But there was no way of knowing when. But... she had submitted an essay to win a trip for her class. To Gotham City. Three weeks fully funded, Mlle Bustier said. She put her heart and soul into that essay. For even a little while she wanted to get her classmates she cared so much about out of Paris. They deserved a break from the stresses of holding everything back. They deserved to feel their emotions.

It ended up being lengthy and it took her a good bit of time to perfect. But once she submitted it to the Wayne Enterprises educational class scholarship competition she felt incredibly proud of herself. Hopefully it would win her class the respite they needed.

#daminette #maribat

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harryandmeghansussex · 5 years

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When Bryony met Meghan..

In a small, sparse room at the back of a bakery on the urban streets of Camden, north London, the Duchess of Sussex is comforting a crying woman.

Tanya’s tears fall over the scars that will remain on her cheeks for the rest of her life; stark reminders of the violent ex partner who is now serving a lengthy prison sentence after he stabbed her repeatedly.

Tanya is explaining what this, the bakery that doubles as a social enterprise, has done for her since that terrible day back in 2016. By a cruel twist of fate it was International Women’s Day when her attacker lay in wait for her outside the doors of the London university she was studying at.

Tanya had been a victim of domestic violence for a decade. “Society judges women for staying in abusive relationships,” she says to me and the Duchess. “But I don’t ever feel judged here. I feel I can be free. I feel I can be myself.”

Here is the Luminary Bakery, a small, grass roots organisation that helps to empower disadvantaged women through training and employment opportunities.The Duchess has been a supporter of the enterprise for some time; featuring them in the issue of Vogue that she guest-edited, and today she has invited me to join her on a private visit to the bakery’s newly-opened second branch, to meet some of the inspirational women that Luminary supports.

In this small room, I watch as the Duchess puts Tanya and her friend Giselle at ease.

“One of the things I have realised since being here [in the UK],” begins Meghan, “is that people have an expectation when I’m coming somewhere, so I’m like, let’s just be really relaxed, keep everyone nice and chilled, because at the end of the day we’re all just women. We all have a story to tell, and I feel honoured that I am getting to hear yours.”

The effect on Giselle and Tania is immediate. Giselle tells us about her history of drug abuse and homelessness, about ending up in prison, and about how coming here to train gave her a much needed opportunity to turn things around. The duchess, or Meghan as she prefers to be called, listens intently.

When was the first moment you thought ‘this is going to change me, on the inside ?” She asks Giselle. “When you realised that this was not just about learning to bake, that there was another element to it?”

It was the moment when the girls around me told me that it was OK for me to be hurt,” says Giselle. “That it was ok for me to show them that I was hurt, and that I was struggling.”

“They gave you permission, right?” Asks Meghan. Giselle nods her head vigorously, smiling.

I first met Meghan Markle eighteen months ago, shortly before she married Prince Harry. We went for lunch at a restaurant in London, sitting in a corner where she went unnoticed and undisturbed. She ate monkfish, offering me some when I expressed my food envy, and we discussed some of our shared passions: mental health, running, yoga.

It was, bar the odd talk of the impending royal wedding, no different to many of the lunches I have with girlfriends, and when people asked me afterwards what she was like, I felt a little disappointed to have to answer honestly that she was really not that much different from the rest of us.

We kept in touch. It was Meghan who had encouraged her then boyfriend to do the podcast about his mental health with me, and I felt we were on the same wave-length.

I saw her a couple of weeks before the Tom Bradby interview came out, just after they had got back from their tour of Africa.

Then, as in the interview, her eyes glistened when I asked her how she was. But if I have learnt anything about Meghan in the time I have known her, it is that she is a doer, not a wallflower. She lives in the solution, not the problem. She told me that she didn’t want people to love her - she just wanted them to be able to hear her. I have found that this is what the Duchess of Sussex stands for: using her voice to help give one to people less privileged than her.

So that is what we set out to do.

Certain sections of our still buttoned-up society may not like it, but the Duchess of Sussex is, by giving the kind of open interview she did to Bradby, also giving the women she is meeting today permission to be open.

There is a point where Tanya apologises for her tears. Meghan reaches for a box of tissues and hands them to her. In this room, these apologies are not necessary. For the Duchess of Sussex, showing vulnerability is not a weakness. On the contrary - it is one of humanity’s greatest strengths.

“I was talking about this with someone the other day,” continues Meghan. “We get into this habit of wanting things done immediately nowadays. There’s a culture of instant gratification, of the instant fix. But we aren’t mechanical objects that need to be fixed. You’re a wounded creature that needs to be healed, and that takes time. And that’s what I love about this place. It gives you the support to heal.”

The Duchess’s critics will no doubt turn their noses up at this language of healing. But the Duchess is not doing this for them. She is doing this for women like Tanya and Giselle.

Women like Monica, who came to Luminary after being trafficked and beaten to within an inch of her life, and who now shares her apron with the Duchess so that she can join her while baking. Women like Halimot, a victim of child exploitation who, thanks to Luminary, can proudly show Meghan the business cards she has just had printed out bearing the name of her new catering company.

These are the people who matter to Meghan Markle.

In the days since the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s interview with Tom Bradby, there has been much speculation about the couple. They are in torment. They are at breaking point. They are planning to flee the country and move to America.

In reality, though, the situation is not quite so attention grabbing. For one, there is the not so small matter of a six month old baby to deal with, and all that this entails (weaning, feeding, an almost permanent state of exhaustion - Meghan tells me that while her husband has flown to Japan in his role as a patron for the RFU, she and Archie will be watching the final tomorrow morning, Archie in an England babygro. “Go England!” she beams).

But secondly, I get the distinct impression that Meghan has accepted the strange situation in which she finds herself: she is damned if she does, and she is damned is she doesn’t, and being the kind of person she is, she’s going to carry on doing, thank you very much.

Back in the Luminary Bakery, Giselle is telling us how seen she felt when she first came here. “Joining the Luminary project changed my life,” she says.

“I had spent so long feeling alone in a crowded room, but for the first time I truly felt that I was being heard. For the first time I felt no judgement for my past decisions or my mental condition and most importantly of all, through Luminary, I found a way to accept my own condition and past choices. It was hugely empowering, to be accepted, because sometimes it feels like we live in a world where nobody wants to accept anybody.”

It is true that we seem to have taken several steps back when it comes to striking for a culture of acceptance and tolerance.

It is hard to believe, in the current climate, that just two and a bit years ago, when I did my podcast with Prince Harry, he was lauded for speaking openly and honestly about his feelings, and how close he came to a breakdown. Now that same openness he was once praised for is - in some quarters at least - being used against him.

Whereas in 2017 he was a huge force for good, helping men in particular to realise that mental health issues can happen to anyone (suicide is still the biggest killer of young males in this country), now he stands accused of being too privileged to be allowed to express anything other than endless gratitude.

But there is no doubting that this openness and honesty helps the couple to connect with people on a level that other royals might struggle to reach.

Meghan, in jeans, Adidas trainers and a shirt today, is pretty quickly absorbed into the task in hand, rolling up sleeves, decorating cakes, and taking time with each woman to hear their story.

“I find that when you strip all the layers away, as people, and especially as women, we can find deep connection with each other, and a shared understanding,” she says.

Our lives may be different, our backgrounds, our experiences, all varied, but I find that in these moments of connection it becomes abundantly clear that our hopes, our fears, our insecurities, the things that make us tick…. well, those are very much the same. And there’s comfort in that.”

Later, as I make my way home from the bakery, I think about her ability to transcend pomp and circumstance. Some accuse of her of being too Hollywood about her royal duties, but I don’t think that really nails it. I think she is probably just a bit too human about them.

“I’m a child of nobody,” says Halimot. “And you are a somebody. It means so much that I can meet you.”

Meghan smiles at the woman. “Oh no,” she says beaming widely, and taking the woman in her arms. “It means so much that I can meet you.”

It is a small gesture, but a genuine one. And for the women of the Luminary Bakery who came here today, it will not be forgotten.

#meghan markle #duchess of sussex #bryony gordon #meg x bry

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bluesakura007 · 3 years

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What She Had to Do - Chapter 7: What Happens Now - Khan Noonien Singh x OC

Summary: It’s the final chapter of What She Had to Do. Zinalya’s crewmates and family receive a pre-recorded goodbye message, and she and the person she loves are finally free to sail off into the sunset.

Warnings: Ever so slight angst and mentions of alcohol abuse, but it’s mostly fluffy.

"Captain Kirk, commander Spock." Admiral Fletcher greeted the two newcomers who’d just been beamed down to Sierra-Lambda 3’s front gates, a day onwards from Zinalya’s successfully engineered plan to awaken and aid the escape of Khan.

"Admiral." Replied this captain courteously as he and Fletcher shook hands, the latter then doing the same with the first officer. Both he and his captain were wearing their on-duty Enterprise uniforms, having been contacted early that morning by the admiral about this breakout of the man sentenced to cryosleep those two years ago, along with the vanishing of the seventy-two other Augments who were still currently sleeping in their own tubes.

"I wish I could be talking to you under better circumstances, but this is all we’ve got so I guess we’re gonna have to do the best we can." Said Fletcher, before beginning his explanation of the events which had unfolded the previous day. "I’m told that somebody’s coming to carry out a transfer order of a batch of torpedoes kept here to Starfleet Headquarters, and then the next thing I know a couple of hours later I’ve got a phaser pointed at my head. When I woke up a few hours later, the cryotubes we’ve also been keeping an eye on here since two years ago had gone. Vanished into thin air."

"Every cryotube, sir?" Spock queried, somewhat amazed that such a feat was successfully accomplished. Sierra-Lambda 3 was one of the most secure Earth Starfleet facilities you could think of.

"Yep, every damn one." The older man in front of the pair of officers from the Enterprise replied, nodding his head in confirmation. "Except for one. The one containing the very man you went up against those same two years ago."

"Khan." Said Kirk, his voice dropping a notch or two in both pitch and volume at this name.

"What could one hope to achieve by taking all seventy-two of the other Augments only to leave behind him in particular?" The half Vulcan put forward another question.

"Khan wasn’t left behind, commander. He was woken up and took part in the escape that happened next - he’s the reason behind why some of my men are being treated for broken arms right now."

"Whoever did it knew the facility and managed to get in with that fake transport order, so it’s a foregone conclusion that they must’ve been a Starfleet officer." Jim reasoned, him and Spock both beginning to get a tiny feeling deep down in their guts, although they wasn’t consciously aware of this feeling’s presence yet, that who they were thinking was responsible for this might turn out to be the true perpetrator.

They could, after all, think of only one person off the top of their heads who’d resort to doing this to break out the jet black-haired man from his sentenced slumber. "And they must’ve had advanced combat knowledge and experience to get past all your guards, even with his help."

"You’re right for both, captain. That’s why I’ve called you two down here and why the Enterprise specifically is involved: what do you know personally about a certain security chief by the name of commander Zinalya Hamilton?"

Spock and Kirk both exchanged looks with each other of their newfound knowledge that what they’d been subconsciously suspecting was indeed true.

"We don’t really know her personally as well as Mr. Scott and ensign Chekov do because the three of them have been friends for a while, but after Khan was brought here for his cryosleep sentence she was hit pretty hard by it." The Enterprise leader told him a few seconds later as the three of them entered into the front entrance of the facility alongside each other.

"She held a great deal of affection towards him." Added Spock, remembering the emotion of concern evoked inside his mind whenever he would hear about another of Zin's drunken nights which sometimes involved outings by herself through the city of San Francisco, to later be found by one of the others and talked to. "And she developed a reliance on beverages with a high level of alcohol content in order to assuage the sadness she felt in his absence."

"Yeah. She told me about the stuff she'd been through before she came here." Said Fletcher, the trio coming to a stop off at the side in this entrance, a few scientists and guards walking past them in a more hurried manner compared to yesterday, which was probably because of them having to check that everything else there was fine and to find out whether anything else was taken. "She said she ended up having to depend on what's at the bottom of a glass to get over her troubles even for just a couple of days, and said she used to try and fool herself that maybe he'd just come back on his own and walk in through the door if she waited long enough. Apparently she was thinking about everything that could've been and going over hypotheticals for a while, and said she felt justified enough from that to come and take him and the others." The way he said this last part of his sentence gave off a sense of someone looking down their nose at another person, prompting Spock and Jim to experience another recollection of their worry for her.

"Did commander Hamilton have any assistance from any other individuals outside of Sierra-Lambda 3?" Asked Spock.

"We don’t know - if she did then we’ve got no idea who it was. We think the programmed chip she used to disable our security systems might’ve been given to her by somebody else, but we can’t be sure who specifically or whether that’s even the case to begin with."

"And they got past every in-person security measure?" As he asked this question, Kirk’s eyebrows raised themselves by a few degrees, not quite sure whether or not it’d be morally incorrect for him to be impressed.

Fletcher nodded again. "The guards were armed with higher-powered phasers and the research personnel and doctors had hypos full of anaesthetic powerful enough to drop half a dozen horses at their disposal, and they still got away." His lips tightened slightly in irritation. "One of them, Baxter’s her name, said she tried to take him down with one but she got the commander instead, and some of the others told me they saw him carrying her away afterwards like a damsel in distress. Because she’s not a superman like him, she’ll sleep for a while, around a few days."

With Spock also thinking the same thing, the captain mentally realised that Zinalya must have taken that accidental sedation to stop it from happening to Khan instead: in combat situations she didn’t tend to get caught by the enemy easily, doubled with the fact that she had a big heart and they all knew how much she cared for him. If she had the chance to stop it, she wouldn’t have just let him be captured like that. "So what happens now, sir?" This same captain asked after a silent moment which took up this realisation. "What do you want the Enterprise to do?"

"Well, I’ve sent word out to the rest of Starfleet command and they’re considering going after them." Responded the admiral. "There’s no warp signature around Earth that matches up with the time soon after they beamed out, so they must’ve covered up that signature and ran for the hills, but they’ve decided the Enterprise is the Federation’s best bet for starting the search because of it being the fleet’s most advanced ship and because you and your crew worked with her, so you’ll have the best chance at getting her to come quietly. Especially ensign Chekov and Mr. Scott, being friends of hers like you said."

"What about Khan?"

"They’ve said you can use any means necessary to bring him back here so we can put him back into stasis, as long as he comes back in one piece, and once Miss Hamilton’s brought back to Earth they can hold a tribunal to decide on what her own sentence is gonna be; they think it’ll be something like a few years in prison. But they’ve told me they don’t have to go ahead with beginning the hunt so as to say if you turn it down." Despite this final sentence taking the pair by mild surprise, they continued listening as he explained this further. "Because of that fact that you’re her colleagues, they’re gonna let you guys have the final say: it’s up to you whether the search for her and our good old pal Mr. Singh goes ahead, so you’ve got a couple of days to decide but I don’t suggest taking too long on that."

"He said it’s up to us?" Sulu addressed Kirk and Spock for clarification that what he’d just heart was correct, him and the other senior officers including Carol all standing together as a group in a meeting room onboard this ship of theirs.

"That is correct, Mr. Sulu." The latter confirmed. "The matter of whether the Federation begins the search for commander Hamilton and Khan is ultimately of our own choosing."

"They could be anywhere by now; how the hell are we gonna find them anyway?" Said Bones, adding to the conversation.

"Admiral Fletcher told us that we would have several other ships assisting us, allowing us to cover a wider area outside of Federation space."

"Poor Zinalya." Pavel, from a few feet away next to Scotty, commented in addition. "She felt so lost without him that she was pushed into doing this in the end."

"Aye, he did mean a lot to her. I can’t say I’ve ever seen anyone else change as drastically as her after Khan was gone." This engineer with him spoke his own mind out loud in agreement with what had just been said. He and the young ensign both often worried for her the most especially, as they were just as grateful for having a friend like her in their lives as she was for their presence in hers. It’s a universal concept that friends always look out for each other no matter what.

"And the look in her eyes when she talked to me about it all one night - it wasn’t just infatuation, what she felt towards him was definitely genuine. Nothing about that look was superficial." Said Carol, remembering this particular night she was referring to. "She must’ve decided that the only way to properly solve her troubles was to go to the root of the problem itself and undo it."

"It makes you think about that length of how much he meant to her for her to go ahead with a plan like this." Said Pavel.

"Captain." Uhura suddenly spoke up, looking at the screen of the computer console off at one side of this meeting room which she was stood near to. "We’ve got an incoming message, from her."

"What, from Zinalya?" Asked Scotty.

"Yes sir."

"Can you pinpoint where it’s coming from?" Queried Kirk, him and the others gathering round as the lieutenant sat down in the seat in front of this console, setting to work at opening the message.

"I can’t, it looks like it was rigged by her at some point yesterday morning to be sent to us at this time; this same message has also just been sent to the address of her parents in Canada."

"It’s gotta be something personal if she’s included her parents in it too." Dr. McCoy vocalised his own current thoughts, before the communications officer opened the message, allowing the video file which was seemingly embedded in it to begin playing.

It appeared to be a pre-recorded message in this video form. Its creator and sender was perched on a bed, presumably the one located in her family's home in Manitoba based on the casual decor and windowsill ornaments behind her. Outside this window, which was on one side of the video frame and located behind her head, several trees and pieces of greenery here and there could be seen, along with a small portion of a light blue-grey sky.

This Zinalya in the pre-rec video quietly sighed for a moment, before she began to speak. "If you're watching this, then it means one of two things: either I did it and I've managed to get Khan out, and we're pretty far away by now, or the worst case scenario I could think of has happened and I'm locked up in a prison cell." She chuckled lightly to herself at this second possibility, most likely in an attempt to add even just a slight atmosphere of humour to a worrying thought.

"But whichever of those two has happened, I guess I owe you an explanation. For a while, as you might know already, I've been struggling a lot with coming to terms with the fact that he's gone, and I have a little beer and vodka problem sometimes because of that." She continued, her now former cremates still watching and not daring to tear their eyes away or to speak yet. "And that's not right, basically. No matter what happened that led to all this, this sentence he'd got... it's not justice." Zin took another brief moment to pause before she launched into her main point. "No one should have to live with having the person who they find out they love taken away from them forever. Him being medically knocked out and kept knocked out indefinitely in the name of a punishment to control him is a half life, if you can even call it life in the first place - it's just death with a pulse. That's all this time without him has been for me, too. A half life."

She then seemed to be stuck for what exactly to say next, smiling to no one in particular for a couple of seconds as a result. "This whole business of getting my feelings out into words is harder than I thought... but I guess I'm gonna have to carry on and just do my best. I had high hopes, you guys. I felt scared and electrified with him both at the same time, and the way I couldn't stop thinking about him was all I needed to convince me that I had those kinds of feelings for him. I know by the end of the court trial and everything I'd known him for a total of a week, but a couple of times being around him was like I'd known him for years and years. As far as I can remember Khan was the only man I felt that strongly about in my life; I had plans, I can't remember a time when I haven't wanted to ultimately end up getting married someday to guy I love and maybe even have children later. When Khan was suddenly gone and sent to sleep in some science facility hangar by the Federation authorities, it was like those plans had been taken away with him." The already poignant look on her face grew a little bit in intensity.

"I tried getting my head back into the dating game after a while, see if I could find anyone else who could be Mr. Right, but that didn't work. None of them turned my head like he did. So that's when I decided, somewhere around a year ago, to do this. To wake him up again and get him back myself, I mean if the Federation won't let us go to a new home, I guess we're gonna have to go anyway. Worst case scenario as I've said is that I'll end up getting caught and thrown in jail for trying it, and even then it's a case of still having a warm bed and three meals a day. And I will have given it a try and gone down fighting." Another pause momentarily set in. "I digress, though. The main point behind why I'm recording this right now and why I'm going to set it to get sent out after I'm done is because I want to say goodbye - I'm not going to get into the stuff that happened in court and the decisions that were made, I'm just going to tell you guys that I'll miss you. Talking honestly, I don't know when or even if I'll ever see you again, but I love all of you, and I wouldn't have traded the years I've had with you for anything." Another smile appeared on her features. A smile that soon grew to be wider than those belonging to her previous chuckles so as to express her happiness, which seemed somewhat bittersweet at this moment due to this goodbye she had to make to her family and friends. "A new kind of adventure's waiting for me. So long, everyone."

And then the video ended.

For the next moment or two that followed, the crew still remained silent, and so did her brothers Enaar and Rajen Hamilton and their parents Mason Hamilton and Siazru Tebal, who had all just additionally watched this pre-recorded video message in the places where they were located on Earth.

"It seems that commander Hamilton chose to take any means necessary in her own goal." Spock was the first to break this silence in the meeting room.

"Well, I’m happy for her." Scotty then added, nodding his head and feeling relieved that he had visual closure to back up what had happened being his best friend’s choice that she alone made. Although he was sad that she was now gone, a small smile made an appearance on his face. "I know the way she did it might be a bit illegal, but I’m glad that lassie’s managed to ride away into the sunset with Khan. It means she gets to be happy again - truly happy."

"And by ‘a bit illegal’ you actually mean very illegal?" The helmsman asked jokingly.

"You get what I mean, Mr. Sulu." Chuckled the Scotsman in reply.

"I’m happy for her too; we still did our best and it still helped for at least a while, but there was only so much we could do to help her cope with what she was going through." Said Chekov. "In the end, undoing the fact which was causing that was the only way she could go back to fully feeling like herself, if that makes sense."

"Yeah, I get that." Bones said in response to the Russian with a nod of his own head. "I know I’m don’t normally take part in sappy crap, but I guess you’re right: her gettin’ Khan back and running away with him was the only way to get the old Zin back too. The old Zin who had that... I don’t know, some kind of twinkle in her eyes like every day was some kind of new adventure. Or else God only knows how long she’d still be going over not being able to see him or talk to him again."

"What should we do, sir? Should we go after them?" Uhura, turning around in the chair she was still sitting in, queried.

For a few seconds, their captain still didn’t speak. The inside of his mind was a battleground with all the thoughts, options and arguments in this matter at hand crashing around within their walls. He had a duty to Starfleet and to the Federation, to make sure that Khan, a convicted criminal, served the rest of his indefinite cryostasis sentence as ordered by his court tribunal those fateful two years prior and to also ensure that his now former security chief answered for her own crime of awakening and aiding the escape of said convicted criminal.

However, another duty that he simultaneously had along with this one was to her as one of his trusted crewmembers and companions. He didn’t want to trample on her freedoms and happiness or that possibility that she could be able to help Khan with becoming a better man in their exile together, as she’d said during the above-mentioned court case when asking for this ultimately declined exile. Admiral Fletcher had told him and Spock that whether the Federation fleet began searching for the couple was up to them. Jim looked around at the remaining members of his senior crew, ending with his gaze landing on Carol.

"No." His answer came. "If nobody has any objections, we’re going to not go out looking for them or send any other ships from the fleet to do the same. We’re just going to leave them alone and let them go."

"So that Miss Hamilton can be given a chance to amplify good traits within Khan." Spock, who seemed to have been thinking along the same lines, added. "Spoken like a true romantic." Nyota remarked, this being with a small edge of a lighthearted joke but with the soft, loving look deep within her eyes conveying one simple fact: she was glad that he’d managed to grasp the emotional side of the situation.

"I do, however, also agree with the point made by Dr. McCoy, ensign Chekov and Mr. Scott. This could be her only chance for reclaiming the joy she lost after he was sentenced."

"Even if we do end up probably not seeing her again, she’ll be alright - she’s a fighter." The CMO, deciding for now to not once again voice his opinion on his ongoing discomfort at the first officer’s concurrence with him, said.

"You’re right. I’m sure the two of them will be able to count on each other if they do face some form of threat in the future." Carol expressed her own agreement with this latest statement.

Realising the fact that all of these others around him were speaking the truth of the matter, Jim nodded, and slowly began to smile. "They’re gonna be alright."

"Do you think she’s going to be safe with him?" Mason Hamilton asked, he and his Trill wife still pondering on the possibility of them perhaps never seeing their daughter again due to her technically now being a fugitive.

"Of course she will. She chose this, and you and I both know she’s a smart woman, so she wouldn’t have made that decision if she hadn’t weighed everything up." Siazru replied reassuringly while sitting next to him on their living room sofa and putting her hand on his shoulder in the same manner.

"You are right there. You’re always right." He chuckled fondly, before looking out in front of him, staring into space while still maintaining his attention on his surroundings at the same time. "And I'd be a liar if I said I didn't still love her with every decision she makes." Siazru nodded, agreeing with this point of his.

"Can I ask you something...?" Meanwhile, the now twenty-seven lady of the moment put forward this question quietly in the darkness of the quarters onboard Iadras' ship that she and Khan were using until their arrival at Ceti Alpha V another two days on from then. She'd been told to just rest in bed until this arrival, in order to recover her energy back from the efforts of this Trill captain's medical officers to counteract the sedative from yesterday - anaesthetic intended for use on Augments and the physical enhancement of theirs that allowed them to be more resistant to sedation.

"Hm?" This baritone-voiced man laying with her in this bed responded. The lights were turned off due to it being late at night and the pair deciding as a result that they should get some sleep, so it took a few minutes but they were currently able to faintly make out each other's outlines in this darkness of the room.

"When you were in cryo, did you dream?"

"Are you referring to the most recent occasion, or to the previous instance which lasted over centuries?" Khan made his own query for further clarification.

"Either."

He thought for a moment or two. "I'm not entirely certain. Most of what you might call my dreams were no more than fleeting images and sounds, and even then it's impossible for me to fully recall every one of them."

"So it was like how people dream during normal sleeping? How people get a kind of feeling of déjà vu when they're trying to remember one but they can't actually remember anything?" Said Zinalya.

"I suppose it is. From what I can remember of my dreaming whilst I was in stasis on both occasions, the images I saw were mainly memories from my life, some of those experiences being good ones and some being less so, and I believe I have vague memories of seeing the sky in my dreams, as well." He gave his answer to the main question which had brought this conversation into being. "Both times after awakening again it was like my physical body and one half of my mind were saying it was only moments since I went into sleep, with the other half knowing that it had been a much longer time. But I think we should try to begin with the average method that applies to everyone."

"Yeah - agreed." She admitted to the current tiredness she was experiencing. "Goodnight, Khan."

He smiled in soundless bliss. "Goodnight, Zinalya."

The hybrid with the green eyes, burgundy hair and Trill spots dotted sparsely on the sides of her forehead and neck found herself returning this same expression as, with her having no objections to it, Khan once again gently pulled her closer towards his chest with his arms around the back of her shoulders.

#khan #khanbatch #star trek #star trek into darkness #khan noonien singh #khan x oc #khan noonien singh x oc #star trek aos #aos #into darkness khan #khan singh #benedict cumberbatch #stid

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wickedsingularity · 5 years

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What Makes You Different [One-shot]

Fandom: Star Trek Pairings/characters: Jim Kirk x reader (but not really) Words: 2351 Warnings: Disapproving parents, mention of bullying

Summary: Three scenes from Jim and his significant other's lives, showing their progress from friends to marriage.

Note: For @thefanficfaerie‘s Backstreet's Back challenge. Sorry this is so late! Moving is exhausting... I had the song "What Makes You Different". I wanted to do so much more with this, but lack of time and energy and living in boxes came in the way.

When I look at you, I see something rare A rose that can grow anywhere And there's no one I know that can compare

She had been in his Warp Theory, Basic Warp Design and Astrophysics classes at the Academy. Jim hadn't paid much attention to her at first. To him, she was just the same as what the rest of their classmates saw her as, the mining-spawn that didn't belong in Starfleet.

She had come from basically nothing. Her parents were third generation miners on a struggling moon that had been colonized right before the Federation was founded. She had been expected to join her two brothers in the family mining business – brothers who had too big ambitions about how to make the business flourish, but she had always looked to the stars.

Only when they had been paired together for a project in Astrophysics towards the end of the first semester, did Jim's eyes open up to her. Her determination to do well, and how well she actually did. How she was able to turn a deaf ear to their classmates' whispered remarks or a blind eye to the eye-rolling whenever she gave solid answers to their teachers. How effortlessly smart she seemed to be. Something about it felt familiar to Jim and they made fast friends, and towards the end of the first year of the Academy, she was one of his closest friends.

After celebrating yet another aced end-of-year exam, Jim came back from a bar in the city centre, a bit unsteady on his feet from one too many Andorian ales and found her lying across a bench near campus, arms behind her head, staring up at the sky.

"What're you lying here for?" he asked, stumbling over and leaning across the back of the bench.

She hadn't even turned to look at him, but just nodded gently upwards.

He looked up at the dark sky, littered with stars and the occasional blinking light from a shuttlecraft on the way to one of the many space docks up there.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" she asked, a small smile on her lips.

Finding it hard to stand there and look up in his state, Jim sauntered around and unceremoniously lifted her legs and plopped down on the bench, letting her rest her legs in his lap.

"It is," he replied. "But why're you lying here in the middle of the night staring at it?"

"It's the reason why I'm here," she said simply. "I just got so tired of studying for the exams and feeling like I'm constantly walking uphill, I needed to get out here and be reminded of why I'm here. I used to spend countless nights sneaking up to our roof at home and just stare at the stars. Have I ever told you about that?"

"Don't think you have..."

She went quiet for a bit, still gazing upwards. "My parents always said I was a dreamer who had her head stuck in the clouds," she said finally, quietly. Jim looked away from the diamond studded black canvas and down to her face, barely lit by a nearby streetlamp. "That's why I started sneaking up on the roof at night. Didn't want to sit on the porch or in the garden anymore. They said I had to keep my feet on the ground. Stop wasting my time in the clouds and join my brothers with the mining. But I never wanted to be stuck underground, in the dark. I wanted to go up, into the light."

"Space is dark," Jim then said, humour in his voice. "There's no light up there."

"It's light to me. Stars, suns, planets, all emitting light." She got quiet again.

Jim rested his hands on her legs. His thumbs moved absentmindedly over her smooth skin until she spoke again.

"I studied on my own. And then I ran away and took the entrance exam. My parents were not happy, to put it mildly. But I longed for the stars. I can't remember a time when I didn't long for them."

Jim hummed. "I think I've longed for them too."

She looked at him. "But it still took being beaten senseless and a dare from a Starfleet Captain to make you sign up."

"Gotta play hard to get." He flicked the skin on her ankle, right above her well-worn flats.

"Hard to get aren't exactly words I would use to describe you, Jim Kirk." She lifted a leg as if she was about to kick his face.

Jim chuckled, but then they fell silent again, looking back up at the night sky. Jim felt like he sobered up as his admiration for her grew.

And when they graduated a few years later, after the destruction of Vulcan, when he watched her from the crowd as she gave her speech as the top of her Engineering class, he felt so proud. Knowing where she came from, knowing how most of their classmates had ridiculed her and talked behind her back and said that "mining-spawn had nothing to do in Starfleet", and yet she had surpassed them in almost every class and had earned the right to speak for her division at the graduation.

He never told her though, how proud he was. Not until many years later.

You don't know how you touched my life Oh in so many ways I just can't describe You taught me what love is supposed to be

From the second Jim landed on Altamid in his escape pod, he worried for his crew. He was thankful Chekov was with him, that was one crew member accounted for. But the rest... He had seen so many pods being captured by swarm ships as he fell towards the atmosphere and it had given him a sick feeling in his gut.

How many were dead? How many had made it to the surface? What had they met there? More danger?

He tried not to let his worry cloud his judgement as he, Chekov and Kalara made their way back to Enterprise's saucer section. As he exposed Kalara's true intentions. As he and Chekov blew up the saucer to save themselves. As they found Scotty and Jaylah and made plans to rescue the others.

Thinking back on it all, it was all a blur to Jim. Finding out about the Franklin and Edison and what he had planned. The whole rescue operation was just blank, with the occasional flash of memory here and there. Grabbing Jaylah's hand in the air and being beamed back, the moment when the first swarm ships exploded, and Edison being ejected into space. Those three memories stood clear in his mind. Not even the aftermath – the medical check-up and the reports and the counsellor session he was required to have, all of it seems like a blur when he thinks back years later.

But like a bad classical movie, the blurry out of control world seemed to clear up and right itself the moment he laid his eyes on her at the birthday party Bones had arranged for him. He hadn't seen her during the rescue mission but trusted that she had been beamed onto the Franklin if she was alive. He had enquired about her after everything was said and done, but there hadn't been time to find her. It was a relief though, to see her safe and sound, albeit a bit tired and with a small bruise on her jaw. They had just started exploring the possibilities of a romantic relationship, and he was glad he still had the chance to pursue it.

She met his eyes and the classical movie-clichés continued, as his heart skipped several beats and he felt his face flush. He only hoped Bones didn't notice because the good doctor would think he was getting sick and would start pressing that wretched tricorder to his face again.

Jim flashed her a quick smile, regretting that he was stuck in a conversation with Spock and not able to go talk to her. But when she smiled back and raised her glass in a greeting, he turned to Spock.

"I'm sorry, Spock. But we have to continue this conversation later, there's someone I have to see." And without even waiting for an answer, Jim rushed through the crowd to where she leant on a table near the windows at the back of the room.

"Hi," she said. "Glad to see you're okay."

"You too," Jim said, feeling a bit breathless. The relief of seeing her alive and well was greater than he realised. "I've heard great things about how you held your own against Krall's men."

She flushed in embarrassment. "I'm sure it's all lies."

"I doubt it. And Scotty says that you averted a crisis on the Franklin, while we were falling to the ground."

"Oh, it was nothing. He could have handled it."

"No, he said he wouldn't have seen it. And if you hadn't redirected the power, Sulu would have never been able to take off."

Silence fell between them. Then she raised her glass to her lips, a playful expression crossed her face. "You come here just to embarrass me with praise?"

"No. I'm just proud of you. But... Can we talk later?" Jim asked quietly, staring into her eyes, watching them go from crinkly and smiley to worried at his question. "It's nothing to worry about," he hurried to add. "Nothing bad, I hope. I just... need to talk. About us."

"Okay, yes, we can talk." Her smile came back. "By the fountain out in the centre square? Or somewhere more private?"

"The fountain is okay. And then we'll see how it goes." Jim winked and was pleased to see her face flush again and her eyes blink rapidly for a moment.

Then she nodded with a small smile, recovering quickly. "Happy birthday, Jim," she said, laid her hand on his arm and leaned in to kiss him quickly on the cheek. And before he knew it, she was gone.

Love you give shines right through me Everything you do is beautiful Oh, you're beautiful to me

The room was packed with colourful and exotic costumes and dresses. Tables along walls with bright and flavourful food from most of the different members of the Federation. Flowers one could never find on Earth were set up in tasteful centrepieces on all the round tables, each one high and grand enough to strike awe, but each one restrained so as to not block the view of the other guests around the table. It all brightened up an otherwise bland ballroom on New Vulcan.

Jim had to admit it was strange seeing all this materialistic beauty, and frankly, a little bit of gluttony, on New Vulcan. But the Federation felt it was politically necessary to have this banquet there to show off how far the Vulcans had come in the years since Nero destroyed their planet. And it showed how adaptable they were, without losing themselves.

Movement at the table Jim had just left in order to get a plate of fruit caught his eye. In a dress in a shimmering colour that reminded him of the oceans on Risa at night, his wife grabbed Uhura's hand and pulled the communications officer up and to the dance floor.

Wow, wife. It felt too strange. They'd only been married for a month, and Jim was still getting used to the thought of being a husband, being tied down to one person for the rest of his life. He had never thought he'd get to that point, but he was happy he had. And thinking back, he should have known it would happen since the day he was paired with her for that project in Astrophysics at the Academy.

Jim watched his wife dance with Uhura, hypnotized by the way she moved. And he realised he hadn't yet danced with her that evening. So, he set the plate of fruit down and navigated between the other dancers and tapped Uhura on the shoulder, his eyes on his wife.

"May I cut in?"

Uhura glanced between the two, a small smile on her lips. "She's all yours, Captain. It's about time I get Spock onto the dancefloor anyway."

"Hello, husband," she greeted as he took her hand in one of his and laid the other low on her back. "I never get tired of saying that."

"And I never get tired of hearing you say that, wife." He dived quickly in for a quick kiss. "Enjoying yourself?"

"Meh, these events are so dull. It's much better now though." She winked.

They danced in silence, eyes only on eachother. As far as they were concerned, there was no one else there.

How far they'd come, Jim thought. She, from a cadet from a mining-colony to Commander-rank and Scotty's Assistant Chief Engineer. Assistant, because becoming just Chief meant being transferred to another ship. Jim, from a hot-headed too young captain who could never settle, to a diplomatic explorer with a crew he would die for and would die for him.

And the two of them, from good friends to her running scared when he flirted with her for the first time, to best friends years later and then husband and wife. Jim knew without a doubt that he wouldn't be the man he was without her. He had been ready to give up the life of captain, he had lost his way and his purpose. That talk by the fountain on his birthday on Yorktown all those years ago... He told her how he felt about her, and how he felt so lost in his life. She had taken his hand, and kissed him for the first time. And it fell into place for him. She tasted like space, she belonged in space. And so, did he. In space and with her.

Jim halted their dance.

"What?" she asked, looking concerned.

"I just... love you," he said, the hand on her back pulling her closer and his lips meeting hers.

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randomnessunicorn-imagine · 6 years

Note

Hope of it's alright if I send another TNG request in? I simply love yours. :) How about Headcanons for a young reader who looks up to Worf and Data emulating their behaviour and so on? Perhaps with the reaction of the crew as well?

{ I just love thisask!

I have written adrabble for it.

I don’t want to makethis post too long and so I will create another post with Data’s reaction,I think I’ll write a drabble for him as well, since I really like your ask.

Now you can read Worf’spart.

If you want otherreactions then you can send me another ask with the characters you want (max four). }

➤ WORF & CHILD! NEUTRAL! READER:

『 Klingon state of mind 』

The Enterprise’smission of the day was to rescue a group of Klingon that has been missing aftera motor’s malfunction of their ship.

The survivors were notnumerous but there were still several people to save and most of them wereKlingon families. Or so it seemed.

“There’s one lastperson to be transported, it’s a child.” O'Brian said, looking at hiskeyboard with a confused expression on his face.

“Energy.”The Captain ordered and then the beam of light brought you on the Enterprise.

You were a human andnobody would expect a human there and so the Captain started worrying and hewondered why a human kid was with the Klingons. Even Worf, who was there, wasperplexed since nobody has talked about a human in that group of survivors.

Before Picard couldtalk and ask for some explication, you spoke, seeing the perplexed looks of thepeople here as if they have just seen a ghost.

“I’m *Your Klingonname*, son/daughter of *your Klingon father’s last name*.” you introducedyourself, speaking with a serious and cold tone of voice. The kind of tone thatnobody would expect from a kid.

“Where are yourparents, (Y/N)?” asked the Captain.

“They are lost, I waslooking for them before being teleported, I don’t know where they are, sir.”You answered, nodding.

“We’ll form anexpedition team for your parents. Are they Klingons?” Picard asked with hisusual professional tone.

“Of course, sir.” Youseemed confused at that question but you were also so worried of your parentsbut you did not show it.

You came down from theteleporter’s platform and then, when you have noticed Worf, you startedspeaking with him in Klingon. You greeted him, using some expressions only trueKlingons knew and this impressed him a lot.

He did not expect youto speak such a correct Klingon but, since your parents were Klingons, he couldnot be so surprised.

Even the Captainseemed astonished by your behaviour but maybe you were just worried of yourparents.

“Mr. Worf, escort(Y/N) to the other survivors.” Ordered the Captain.

Worf seemed reluctantbut he followed his orders.

“What happened to yourtrue parents?” Worf asked.

“Uhm? I said they arelost…” you raised an eyebrow.

“I mean, your realparents…” he asked again but the only answer he got from you was a confusedlook.

Worf supposed that youdid not even know your human parents and it seemed you have never wonderedabout them. Maybe you have been adopted by a Klingon family just like he hasbeen adopted by a couple of humans. These things could happen but he couldperceive your discomfort.

His assumption wascorrect because you were adopted and you had never known your real parents.Actually, you thought the Klingons were your true parents and you have neverdoubt to be one of them. Because you considered yourself as a true Klingon.

For some reason, youcould not accept to be a mere human being and your parents have educated you asa Klingon, they have always treated you as a Klingon, and so you had no reasonto think otherwise.

Sometimes, yourschoolmates made fun of you and they told you that you were not a Klingon, youwere a weak and stupid human, you were worthless and so you have stopped goingto that school and your parents wanted to protect you from those bullies.

Worf accompanied youto the quarters where the other Klingons were and then you asked to him.

“Can I help somehow?Can I participate to the research with the expedition team? I want to find myparents.” Your voice was resolute and your glance was the same glance Worf hadseen on some Klingon warriors’ faces.

“It’s not possible.It’s too dangerous and you’re a kid…” Worf said but he could admit, if he was achild he would do the same and he would not be here to waste his time and so hecould understand your point of view but, as a member of the security, he couldnot put you in danger.

“But my parents counton me… Maybe I’m just too little to think that I would be able to protect them…”you said with a voice filled with sadness and, for some strange reason, Worffelt a pain in his chest since you wanted to help your family so hard and hestarted thinking that maybe you were really a true Klingon.

“I promise on myhonour that I’ll find your parents, but stay here and don’t do anything stupid,okay?” Worf reassured you with his usual fierce and rough tone of voice and whenhe promised on his honour, you would be sure he was going to bring your parentsback.

His words comfortedyou and so you thanked him speaking in Klingon and he nodded.

Worf kept his promiseand the rescue mission was a success and you were so glad seeing your parentsagain but you were still afraid because there would not be always Worf to helpyou and so you took a decision: you wanted him as your Klingon master and rolemodel.

You visited hisquarters with the determination of a warrior that burnt in your eyes but Worfwas not surprised to find you here.

“I wanted to thankyou, you saved my parents.” You said.

Worf nodded, “I’m gladyour parents are fine now.” he declared and he thought you did not want only tothank him.

“I want to become stronger;I want to be like you and so the next time I’ll be able to protect the ones I love.”You confessed, clenching your fists.

“You’re very brave anddetermined, kiddo.” Worf said and he truly appreciated your willpower.

“I want to be apowerful and bold Klingon warrior like you, Mr. Worf… I know that I don’t looklike a Klingon but I really feel like I’m one of them… Even if nobody believesme, they keep calling me freak but my appearance does not match with what Ifeel inside, who I really am.” You saidand you have never confessed your thought to anybody but you trusted in Worf,he was your role model now and you knew he would not laugh at you.

“You’re not a freakand I think you’re braver than so many spineless Klingons I have known. I’d behonoured to help you.” Worf said and a little smile of satisfaction appeared onhis face, but it lasted half second since he was not used to smile but he trulymeant his words.

A smiled appeared onyour face as well, the first smile since you arrived here and you were happy thatyou could finally realize your dream.

Worf started trainingyou as his apprentice and sometimes he even forgot you were a human since yourbehaviour could not be defined as human.

Sometimes, you growledat the other children or people, especially at the ones who seemed to irritateWorf. You did not even eat human food because you found it disgusting and itwas not the proper food for a warrior like you, it was food for the weak.

Worf was impressed,some of your behaviours seemed very amusing and you were the perfect pupil.

The other officers ofthe Enterprise found you a little weird but they could understand you have beeneducated as a Klingon and so you acted like a Klingon and you believed to be aKlingon.

“I saw you have taken(Y/N) under your wing, Worf.” Deanna asked to Worf as if she wanted to be sureit was the right choice and she wondered if this could cause some trouble toyour life.

“Yes, they asked me tohelp them to become a real warrior and I’m sure they will.” Worf said in aserious way.

“Do you think it isright? They have never been in contact with other humans. Don’t you think theyshould explore both of the worlds before deciding what the right path of themis?” she asked with her usual calm tone of voice.

“They are true Klingonand I’m going to treat them as true Klingon. They don’t believe to be a Klingonbecause they are.” Said Worf a little irritated.

Worf knew what to be a real Klingon meant and it was not a question of appearance, it was somethinghe felt inside and when he looked at you, he saw a Klingon. Asking you to actlike a human, something you were not, would be like lock you up inside a cagemade of lies.

He remembered when he was a child and every human made fun on him because he was the only Klingon of his class. The only Klingon between the men.

Worf could understand your feelings of discomfort and sadness because being different from the crowd was never easy.

You felt like a true Klingon but some of the Klingons did not consider you as one of them but you decided to keep fighting and do not giving up. Because you believed there was a place in the universe for you and Worf wanted to help you to find this place.

Even some Klingons have discriminated the poor Worf for acting like a human sometimes, because his values were different but this did not make him a second-hand Klingon. This made him a special Klingon, his sight was wider than the others just like yours.

Deanna smiled andnodded and actually, she did not doubt of your feelings but she wanted to understandWorf’s point of view and he has changed a lot over the years, he has gained anew wisdom.

“They will learn fromthe best Klingon.” Deanna said, smiling and her comment made Worf blushing alittle but, since true Klingons did not show such warm emotions, he just nodded,heading towards your quarters because a new lesson was about to start.

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nedcanquen · 6 years

Text

NedCan V-Day Exchange - The Rules of Acquisition (Or Not) - Part 1

Dear @orbitinghetalia

Happy belated Valentine’s Day, here is Part 1 of your gift. I decided to write a Star Trek AU set after the Dominion War (after Deep Space 9). I hope that’s alright. It is a little dark in the beginning (attack on a ship) but it lightens up considerably afterwards. I’m sorry it is late and half complete, but it did run away from me a little. I’ll post the next bits as soon as I finish them! Hope you enjoy!

Pairing: Ned/Fem Can

Tags: Star Trek AU.

Notes:

The Ferengi were a warp-capable humanoid species from the planet Ferenginar. Ferengi civilization was built on a caricature of free enterprise, where earning profit was the sole meaningful goal in life, superseding all other endeavors.

The Ferengi governing body, known as the Ferengi Alliance, was formed over a period of ten thousand years, beginning with the establishment of a system of currency, to their purchase of warp technology, and finally to its state in the 24th century.

The Ferengi Rules of Acquisition were a numbered series of aphorisms, guidelines, and principles that provided the foundation of business philosophy in Ferengi culture.

Memory Alpha

http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Ferengi

Ferengi call their mothers ‘Moogie’ - I think that’s ridiculously cute.

Names:

Johan - Founder and Owner of the Latinum Palace - largest Casino barge in Ferengi space and Galaxy

Lt. Commander Madeline Williams - Chief of Security on the USS Hudson

Belle - Belgium

Chrisjan - Luxembourg

Prologue

“Captain’s Personal Log, Stardate 62391.8. We are on the way to Earth for the most joyous occasion of Lt. Commander William’s wedding. I admit that when we first encountered Johan, I would never have imagined that I would one day see him married to my Chief of Security, but their union is proof that love can overcome not just the vast distances of space, but also the walls that can be built between cultures. I am especially happy for them and touched by their union. As the first Ferengi in Starfleet, I do know firsthand, the clashes that can appear between Ferenginar’s profit-driven and exclusive philosophy, and the cash-free and inclusive society that the Federation has embraced. I have been a small voice, promoting the similarities between Ferenginar and the Federation for many years, so it is satisfying to see this union personified. Johan, a human who was orphaned and raised by Ferengi, grew up to navigate the Great River better than most Ferengi. I feel that if it were not for my father’s reforms, perhaps Ferenginar would not have changed so much that it could embrace him. And Commander Williams is one of the shiniest examples of a Starfleet Officer. It will be my honor, to officiate their wedding.”

Captain Nog, U.S.S. Hudson

Johan - First Impressions

“Let her go Kurvim. Let her go and I’ll give you the Crystal.” This had not gone according to plan. In his arrogance he had forgotten how much most Ferengi hated him for being human and raking in more latinum than they could ever dream. They had finally convinced the Syndicate to come after him. No, not him. His Moogie, the woman who had found him in a crashed escape pod when he was four years old, who raised him as her own even though as a human he had the smallest lobes, and there was certainly no profit to it. She could have made him a slave, at best a servant. She chose to raise him as her son.

And now this bastard Kurvin was holding a phaser to her head.

“Johan sweetie.” His mother sobs. “I love you.”

“It’s going to be okay Moogie. Every man has his price, Rule of Acquisition 98. That’s true isn’t it Kurvim? This is no ordinary Crystal. It’s an energy source that’s coveted by the Breen. It has the power of destruction, all in your hands. Imagine who you could blackmail? The power? You could get enough money to retire on a moon somewhere.”

Kurvim, that damned Orion just grins. “I suppose I can think about it. How about you give me the Crystal first. I mean, you have no options anyway, I have the phaser, all your guards are trapped or dead. You can either give it to me and hope I feel generous, or I shoot you both and take it anyway.”

Johan starts the slow walk towards Kurvim, hands up in the air, his right hand holding the Crystal. He’s running through the Rules in his head and can’t think of any guidance on the Great River to get him out of this. The Crystal is already worth more Latinum than this entire barge so he can’t bribe Kurvim with anything else. The only hope he has now is that Mathias managed to get out an emergency call to whatever ship was nearby that could actually help them. As much as he had avoided the Federation all his life, he had to admit to himself that only a Federation ship would be willing to drop everything they were doing just to help. Please, please, please, please, ‘I swear on the Great River, even if it means giving up everything I’ve built, everything I am, just don’t let my Moogie die.’

When he gets about three feet away, Kurvim laughs. “They’ve always hated you, you know that Johan. Truth is, you’re too expensive a prize to pass up.”

Johan sees the phaser turned to him and he hopes his Moogie will make a run for it. He takes a breath and prepares himself.

A figure jumps falls from the upper balcony, landing on Kurvim’s shoulders. The phaser fires and mostly misses Johan but grazes his forehead. Damn it that stings. He sees his saviour’s legs twisting Kurvim’s head and body around, forcing him to release Moogie, then he sees her jump off and deliver a particularly satisfying roundhouse kick to Kurvim’s head. He doesn’t have time to admire the view though, he grabs his Moogie and runs to the closest corridor, away from the criminal and his phaser. His Moogie is out of breath, Ferengi weren’t usually built to be athletes, so he picks her up and carries her. He knows his ship like the back of his own hand. He built it - every level, every room, planned the layout, the environmental systems, where each game would be located, the decor, the-

“Johan! We’re saved!” Johan grinds to a halt and sees Mathias grinning at him, a little worse for wear but not much. He’s got two Starfleet people with him.

“All of you, take my Moog- my mother and get her back to your ship. I’ll be back!”

“Johan!” She cries, but Mathias has her. Good ol’ Mathias.

One of the other Starfleet people hits their comm badge and commands ‘Four to beam’ - once the transporter light is gone, Johan runs back to the main gallery where he carried his Moogie from the fight. This is his ship, and he’s not going to just abandon it. He needs to make sure Kurvim is gone.

He runs back to see Kurvim being kneed in the face by the Starfleet woman, then knocked out with a two-handed blow to the head. That’s when she looks up, panting - dusting off her uniform, hair dishevelled, cheeks flushed and surprise in those violet eyes.

‘Females and finances don’t mix’ he tells himself. It’s what he always told himself while amassing his fortune and keeping his focus. ‘Females and finances don’t mix’

She smiles gently and straightens herself, as if she hasn’t just finished beating up an Orion Syndicate scumbag, saved both him and his Moogie, as well as his Casino Barge.

“I am Lt. Commander Madeline Williams, Chief of Security of the Federation Starship Hudson. We heard your distress call.”

None of the Rules of Acquisition are going to help him now. He’s avoided the Federation all his life, and now…

“I am Johan.” He spreads his palms. “Welcome to the Latinum Palace. Best Casino in any Galaxy. Not that...you’d know I suppose, coming from a uh...cashless society.” He can’t keep the disgust out of his tone at the idea, but he truly is trying his best to be polite.

Still, she smiles very politely and looks around. It’s pathetic, it’ll take him about a year to fix it up properly and get it back to its glory - but he has to. For himself but also for Ferenginar. If this destroys him, the conservatives win. The only reason why he managed to grow up in Ferenginar in the first place, was Grand Nagus Rom’s reforms.

“Mister Johan.” Commander Williams’ voice is gentle. “I need to put him in the Brig, he will face trial. And...you’re bleeding. You need medical attention. We can provide that on my ship.”

All his life, Johan had never fallen sway to anyone’s charms the way most other Ferengi did. There was a first time for everything.

Commander Madeline Williams, Personal Log. Stardate 57911.9. It has been one year since we rescued and found the United Benelux’s long-lost Prince Johan. His highness was reunited with his family for four months, then returned to rebuild the Latinum Palace. I suspect it was difficult to be reunited with his family, having been raised among the Ferengi, but they are all trying their best. Our current mission, as a special favor to the Royal House, is to safely bring Queen Belle to the Latinum Palace for its reopening ceremony. I am in charge of security, and I’m the most nervous I’ve ever been. I...hm...honestly I...I call him by title because I’m not...sure what to think of him. I didn’t like him much at first. I have often heard that humans were not unlike Ferengi centuries ago. Like the Ferengi, we embraced Capitalism and profit as our way of life. My own country was formed because of a mad beaver trade! It is all difficult to conceive now. Most times I feel that Prince Johan is cruel to those whom he sees no value in, which is most. He openly scoffs at Federation ways, especially our cashless society. But...he treats me...differently. I don’t let myself be...carried away by the slight attentions of someone. I’ve learned my lesson, all my life. I keep reminding myself, he’s nicer to me just because he feels I saved him, also his Moogie, and his Casino. If anyone else had done so, even...Amelia let’s say, he would do the same. Yes. That’s it. Now I’m going to fulfill my job and make sure that his sister and brother are safe while they visit him. They have their difficulties, but they are dedicated to learn how to be family. Hopefully this trip will help them learn to appreciate the world he grew up in.

Johan

Belle is giving that look. That mischievous little look that his Moogie insists is identical to his but he doesn’t believe her (he doesn’t want to believe her). Chrisjan also has a look, a twinkling in his eyes that makes him look like he’s laughing at everyone else all the time. Only this time, it feels like he’s just laughing at Johan.

The Bigger the Smile the Sharper the Knife. Rule #48. It wasn’t quite accurate because his sibling’s cat-like smiles were small and sharper than any Ferengi’s tooth, even after a good sharpening. He should know, he’s used his humanness several times to his advantage to get his rivals to underestimate him. Right now though, he’s so out of his depth.

It’s not his fault that he’s mostly tongue-tied around Lt. Commander Madeline Williams. Who wouldn’t be? Pretty much everybody else, that’s right. Idiots. Well, not really, they knew when someone was out of their league and moved on, but Johan had lived a life of impossibility. There was something in his chest that kept nagging at him to DO SOMETHING even as his head told him to leave the Commander to someone more worthy. He tries that. He hates himself for it. Then he thinks about what he could do about it and hates himself even more. Building the Latinum Palace, Ferenginar’s largest Casino Barge, was easier than trying to talk to Commander Williams and sound “normal.” On the other hand, his siblings were only visiting for a week. After one week, he could go back to feeling horrible because he didn’t manage to say anything to her, rather than feeling horrible in general because the nerves in his stomach made him want to vomit.

The Commander had just left the room, after inspecting it for safety. Now he has privacy with his newly-discovered siblings. Of course the moment the doors shut, they burst out laughing, and can’t stop. Part of him wants to hate them, truly, but he can’t. He knows what it feels like to enjoy a private joke, so he knows why they can’t help but laugh. It’s amazing how similar they are, even being raised so differently. Besides, he’s tired. Organizing the reopening is tiring but satisfying work.

Satisfying and hungry work. He could eat some tube grubs right now. But Belle and Chrisjen were fast getting him addicted to the sweet desserts from his homeland. As if reading his mind, his little brother steps up to the replicator and orders a feast of them!

Maybe there was something undoubtedly positive about this sibling business after all.

“Well Chrisjan, what are we going to do to help our big brother finally ask Commander Williams on a date?”

On second thought, he could have done without discovering that he had siblings. Even finding out that he was royalty was a disappointment - what good was royalty with no money? “You’re going to do nothing. The Commander has more important things to do than to further entertain me.” And besides, she also had no time. He knows that she volunteered herself to guarantee his sister’s safety. But it did also mean that her trip to the Latinum Palace was a work trip, not a leisure one

“No, you’re right, it’s not for me to do anything.” Belle humms. “About her at least. But I did come here to see my brother’s life’s work! Look, we kept the news hush hush back on Earth out of respect to you and your Moogie, so no one knows we’re royalty! We want to follow you around tomorrow as you prepare for the grand opening, through every inch of this barge! Tell us everything! Why you built it that way, why you planned where everything is located the way you did, just...let it out brother! We brought normal clothes! Even disguises! We can modify our physical appearances on the USS Hudson! You can keep your reputation and not risk any blackmail through us. I want to see what my big brother has built, on his own! I don’t really know him yet, but I’m proud of him.”

Johan isn’t quite sure what to make of that, but the tightening in his chest is undeniable.

“Don’t hog the admiration sis!” Chrisjan laughs. Then he turns and looks more serious. “All this time I had the most amazing older brother and didn’t know it for sure. We’ve already spent our lives growing up with the tragedy of thinking we would never know you. I’m not going to actually pass that chance up now that I have the chance to do that.”

He’s a sap. Johan is an absolute sap. That’s why he’s suddenly hugging two strangers that he only met a year ago. But they’re not just strangers, they’re his siblings. He’s gone from having a family of one to a family of...well. There’s a part of him that still wishes someone else was here with them, and not standing outside his door.

Johan now knows that siblings are evil and cunning, and he should have known. All his life he had thought that the Federation was sickeningly sweet and naive, HAH!

Belle and Chrisjan shadowing him on the tour and inspection of the Latinum Palace means that Commander Williams has to shadow them.

“I didn’t get a chance to see it properly the first time!” She exclaims. “You designed and built a self-sustaining ecosystem on your ship! These plants! They’re real and...the water...there’s not much replicating going on is there? The biodome in the central Casino actually has its own weather. The only other place I’ve seen that compares to this is Risa, and it’s a planet! That’s what the forcefield is for right? So people can experience rain without actually getting wet! How did you modify the dampeners for the field? And the plants! Where did you...”

Belle leans in and whispers, “Cat got your tongue? You can step forward and actually...you know...answer some of her questions.”

When he doesn’t move he swears someone pushes him forward so he stumbles next to the Commander. She notices and turns with some embarrassment in those large violet eyes of her.

“Oh sorry! I’ve been rambling haven’t I? I didn’t even give you a chance to answer any questions, but I’m just…” She laughs shyly. “Sorry I’m not...usually like this. I’m just surprised. It was so destroyed when I was last here. I’m happy for you that you were able to rebuild it. I also...I started off in Engineering and Ops before I switched to Command track so…” She shrugs with an embarrassed wave of her hand in front of her to the wall of plants before them. “I like this…”

Warmth climbs up his cheeks and he can’t help but smile. “Uh...well. Since you asked me about the plants twice, and we’re here, I’ll answer that question first…”

He does not see Belle and Chrisjan looking so absolutely smug behind him.

Commander Madeline Williams, Personal Log. Stardate 9734131.1. I’m crazy. I’m absolutely stark raving bonkers crazy. I’m on a runabout to Risa. What am I even...I DON’T EVEN LIKE RISA! Computer, delete this...no, no. I’m already halfway there and I’m still flying, I may as well see this through. Besides, I’ve never gone hiking … on … Risa? Right. Williams out.

Johan - First Date

It was easier to send letters. Somehow he can express himself better with just words, than he can speaking to someone face to face. He’s figured this out recently - growing up on Ferenginar as a human has meant that he’s developed masks - Johan the human who is more Ferengi than a Ferengi, the “trusted” businessman, sailor of the Great River. He’s Moogie’s son, he’s the tinkerer. He likes to fix things and build things. It’s when he builds things that he’s the most genuine, because he tends to work alone, and there’s no one to put an act up for. It’s difficult when there are laws like “A contract is a contract, but only between Ferengi.” That means almost every contract and business he first tried out was doomed to failure. He did the only thing he could - find his own way out in the stars, build his own world where he could reinterpret the rules in his own Kingdom as he wished. Then he had become Johan the Casino King.

Going back to Earth, meeting his siblings and Madeline is another exercise in simply being Johan. But he’s finding a part of himself coming out that he’s hidden for so long. It’s hard but…

He hears the runabout and turns to see it landing. The doors open and there she is. He can’t help the smile breaking out on his face. Even if this goes terribly and he makes a terrible fool out of himself, Madeline will be worth it.

“I’m an idiot.” He huffs, following her up the hill that never ends. “If I was going to take you hiking I should have chosen a place less wet. It already rains without end in Ferenginar.”

Madeline just laughs, but then turns and offers him her hand. He takes it, and maybe if he’s lucky, he won’t have to let go. “And here I thought you just loved places that rain - Ferenginar, Risa, you even needed to make it rain in your Casino!”

“That’s for the plants! I never understood how Starships could be so...dead honestly. Metal corridors after metal corridors, you can only see green in a holosuite when you get a break. Why not just have it around all the time?”

She stops then, and looks at him with a shy smile, cheeks flushed. “Thank you for the flowers.” She tries to turn away and keep marching up but he squeezes her hand before he can stop himself. To his joy, she squeezes back.

There’s a beat of awkward silence, hands still intertwined, then...

“So you don’t like holosuites?” She offers.

“I like real things.”

There’s more silence and Johan hits himself for closing that conversation. What could anyone say to that? “Uh...what is your favorite...holosuite program?”

“It depends. In my Academy Days I played Ice Hockey, I miss it so I do that often. But sometimes when I just need quiet, I do things like this. I’ve actually ‘hiked’ in Risa loads of times before. This is the first time I’m doing it for real. Thanks for inviting me. I wouldn’t have come out here without you.”

“Why not?”

“Hmm?”

“Well, you get personal days and leave time. You clearly enjoy doing this. Why not experience the real thing instead of rely on something synthetic?”

Madeline chuckles. “It is quite realistic you know?”

“It really isn’t any different?”

She releases his hand to push a large branch out of their way. “No you’re right, it is. Holosuites are the next best thing but there’s even more elements of unpredictability in the actual place. I think I like it, I just relied on holosuites because...um. Odd that you don’t like holosuites? Isn’t there a Rule of Acquisition that goes ‘Nature decays but latinum lasts forever?’.”

“That has to be one of the most short-sighted rules. I make up my own rules as and when I realize that I’m doing better. Don’t get me wrong, mostly they make sense but...some were just added as idiotic last-minute additions by old Naguses or Trade Commission leaders over the years. All politics, no wisdom.”

There’s an amused but unreadable look on her face at that as she gives him an exaggerated nod. “Would be interesting to see you debate my Captain. But that’s some good insight. As for me, well, I’ll start to prioritize seeing the real places from now on. Thanks.”

Madeline marches on ahead and doesn’t take his hand again. Johan feels the loss of that but soldiers on. He hasn’t overlooked the fact that she’s rather deftly not answered his actual question but he’ll deal with that once he catches his breath. They’ll move faster this way anyway, which is good considering that there actually is a timeline he’s gotten them on. Hopefully all goes according to plan.

“Should I ask about the answer you left hanging or ask you something else?” He huffs - he may not like holosuites but it certainly looked like he was going to have to spend more time in them just to get his physical fitness levels up. He did not want to be embarrassed again at how obviously out of shape he is compared to Madeline. Then again, she is a master strategist and Chief of Security on her ship, who took on lot of physical roles because her Captain was the Grand Nagus’ son, because Ferengi were not exactly the strongest species in space. So, he expected her to be in much better shape than he, but still!

“How about I ask you a question. Dare I ask, why do you like Risa so much?”

Oh what a question. “I don’t know if I like Risa that much, but I’m familiar with it. Other than Ferenginar and the Latinum Palace, it’s a home of sorts. I made my first fortune in Risa, and Risa was the first place I ever felt...accepted and able to be myself. I first started designing the Palace here. I wouldn’t be who I am without Risa...even though yes, it always rains here too. Maybe one day I’ll try a desert planet. My turn?”

Madeline smiles her acceptance and stops to take a drink of water. Finally a sign of fatigue!

“Alright...could you maybe...tell me about your home?”

“It’s a little boring compared to yours.”

Johan has to shake his head. “I find that homes are never boring. Not really. Even if the landscape is dull, the symbolism in our heads make up for the rest.”

She smiles at him again, amused. “Good point. Well, I was born in a city called St. Johns, in Newfoundland, Canada. My parents lived right by the coast…”

Before he knew it, they reached the peak of the hill.

“There’s a cabin here?” Madeline asks, taking in the simply built hut in front of them, built with wood from the surrounding rainforest and covered by leaves as its rooftop.

“It’s more of a viewing station. Come on.”

“Oh?”

“Come on!” Now he finds the energy to jog to the chairs that were set up outside. He knew there was an advantage of booking the most remote and least luxurious place in Risa. Sunset Cottage was literally that - a little cottage that took too much energy to trek to simply to enjoy the best view of Risa’s double sunset.

“Wait...you asked me to travel with you on a holiday to see…” Madeline coughs. “The most romantic sunset in the Federation?”

Johan freezes and looks up at her, she’s standing right in front of him now. “Is there...yes? Did I not mention…?” Maybe he had covered it up in a lot of words because of how nervous he was. “Maybe I…” Were his intentions not clear with the flowers and the letters? “I apologize if…”

Oh. He can’t look away from her blazing smile. Beautiful. How was it possible for someone to be so beautiful? Somewhere in the back of his brain, he hears his siblings’ voices yelling “Well tell her that Johan! Say something!”

“Thank you.” Is what comes out instead. He’s such an idiot. He clears his throat and looks down at the grass for a moment. “I mean, thank you for coming. Here. With me. I...I’m not quite...smooth I should say, or brave when it comes to women. I had the smallest lobes out of anyone on my planet and...”

Madeline doesn’t laugh at him as most Federation people do at the Ferengi. “Large lobes or no, you made yourself the richest man from Ferenginar. And if you were raised on Risa I’m sure you would have, I don’t know, built the best environmental controls that gave you control of the planet, and if you had stayed in the Federation, you would have become a brilliant Captain. You’re a survivor Johan. You would have thrived and made your way no matter where you ended up.”

What she says silences him with his own gratitude. She understands and...she thinks so highly of him? She knew exactly what to say. “I mean it Madeline. Thank you for joining me here. I. knew when I first saw you that I probably wasn’t special enough for you but-”

“You think that?”

“Of course I do. You’re a brilliant strategist, absolutely terrifying in a fight, and I’m not entirely sure why you’re not the Captain of the Hudson yourself. I’m not sure why you give me the time of day. And of course, you saved my life, my Moogie, and my life’s work. I’m pretty much...yours Commander. I’m not sure why you’re giving me the time of day, but as long as you are, I’m not wasting it.”

She’s shaking her head even as she closes the distance between them and softly kisses him. Of course it starts to rain, but he doesn’t care. He wraps his arms around her as the rain softly falls on them and around them. As the suns set, it covers them in a misty, golden glow.

Commander Madeline Williams, Personal Log. Stardate 9734132.1 AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

#nedcanvde #aph netherlands #nyo canada #orbitinghetalia

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janeykath318 · 7 years

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Five Stages of Falling In Love With Leonard McCoy

#leonard mccoy x reader #bones/reader #my fics #fluff

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trhharrymeghanarchie · 5 years