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saturnsummer · 3 years

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the fairytale she never had (will you believe again?)

when sol is invited to a wedding, sol doesn’t think her best friend would follow her.

aka: solhwi attending a wedding

notes: it just struck me one day, and i really wanted them to see each other outside of the law school moments! while law school defines them, they are certainly people with social activities.

i adapted this from a similar prompt i saw from a fic many years ago for a separate fandom, and i always wanted to write something similar. this was honestly not met to be multi-part, but i write too much anyways. so multi-part it will be.

also, it might sound depressing in the initial part where sol is talking about the wedding invitation, but it gets explained later on.

as always, enjoy! any grammar mistakes and all will be taken fully responsible by me!

ao3 link

words: 4135 words

I: 我愿变成童话里, 你爱的那个天使 (i am willing to be the angel of that fairytale you love)

--title inspired by fairytale (童话) by Michael Wong!--

Sol absolutely hates weddings.

She hated the big social crowds, the way drunk men in tuxedos staggered around with women in one arm and a drink in another. She found no purpose in dressing in lavish gowns, then eating dinner for the next two hours without even feeling full.

Sol couldn’t blame anyone but herself for this. She can’t help but remember her mother’s failed marriages. The way her biological father left them in the middle of the night, with all their hard earned savings. The way her stepfather, Byeol’s father, would come home drunk and violent towards her mother. It was a memory she couldn’t erase. More than a decade later, she still wakes up in a cold sweat, worrying for her mother and small Byeol’s life.

She long ago gave up on the concept of love back then. She wasn’t opposed to anyone dating or talking about it, and she certainly didn’t mind short flings. But marriage? Eternal love? The fairytale that everyone hopes to achieve? Sol threw those ideas out of the window.

So when Sol received a thick, cream-coloured card and envelope, embossed with rose gold foil and flowers, a pretty silver wax seal and her name written in careful strokes of a calligraphy brush, she was stumped.

Her friend, Im Jiyoon, was getting married. Jiyoon was a good friend of Sol’s, and they occasionally met up for quick meals. Jiyoon was an accountant and climbing the ranks in her company. They lost contact for a period when Sol was in juvie, but they reconnected when Sol was just starting law school. It was only polite that Jiyoon extended invitations to her high school classmate.

Sol had mixed feelings. The wedding was on a Friday night, which made things good since she didn’t have to wake up early, fitting her schedule properly. But she had nothing to wear. She could borrow a dress and shoes from Yeseul, but the last time she borrowed a shoe from Yeseul, she almost broke her ankle. And she had so much work to catch up on. Yet, not showing up felt rude of her.

Jiyoon was nice, don’t get her wrong. She was smart, resourceful and lovely to be with in high school. Sol wanted nothing more than for her high school friend to marry the love of her life. But she hasn't been to such social events in years, and being so focussed on school, the legal clinic and contributing to her family, she found it difficult to understand why she needed to go, besides doing it out of courtesy.

“What’s that?” A familiar voice pipes from behind, drawing her out of her thoughts. There’s the familiar shuffling of several pairs of feet as Sol turns her attention to the one who spoke. Behind her, was Han Joon Hwi with his bag just being set on the table. The rest of the group was just settling in for another study session.

“Ah, nothing important.” She monotonously says before sliding the card in her files. Joon Hwi’s hands catch the card before she can slide it fully and stop her from hiding it from him, or the rest of the group. The rest draw their attention to the expensive card and Sol only stays silent.

“A wedding? Your friend’s?” Yeseul asks as she picks the card up with perfectly manicured fingers. Turning and feeling the thick paper between her fingers, Yeseul knew it was no cheap manufactured paper. This was expensive, premium, and each card looked handmade from the brush calligraphy.

“Yeah. But I don’t think I’m going.” Sol says as Yeseul returns her the card and successfully stores it away in her bag.

“Why not? Don’t you want to be there?” Joon Hwi asks, cocking his head to the side in utter confusion.

“There isn’t much point, is there? I have school and the legal clinic and things to revise for. And besides, I don't have anything to attend in. I just rather send her a gift and treat her a meal.” Sol simply explains. Everyone bombards her with more questions, but she diverts their attention to her paper and the cases they are reviewing today.

Joon Hwi, however, couldn’t get Sol’s reasoning out of his head. He knew Sol well enough to know how much she values her friends, and that she would be willing to drop everything for a friend. Her loyalty was unmatched. It didn’t make sense that she would be held back by her vanity or school work that caused her to not attend such a joyous occasion.

When everyone is done reviewing the cases and the session ends, Sol is the only one who has her books and papers still scattered all over the table. She still has to review her notes and catch up on a few lectures before she can officially end her day. Joon Hwi was long done, but he stayed put, bringing out a past report he’s done and glancing through it, hopeful to catch any mistakes. The others have headed back or gone to the cafeteria for a meal.

“Han Joon Hwi, you don’t have to stay for me, you know?” Sol says, her eyes not once looking up as she stays concentrated highlighting her book with a fluorescent orange highlight. She sticks it in her hair when she’s done, raising her head to meet Joon Hwi’s eyes. Joon Hwi only smiles, letting his eyes crinkle.

“Why don’t you want to attend the wedding?” Joon Hwi asks, still smiling. Sol scoffs.

“I already said. I’m too busy-” Sol is cut off by Joon Hwi with his teasing.

“You sure? I think it’s about the groom, though.” Joon Hwi smiles brightly, earning an irritated series of clicks of her tongue from Sol, clearly successful in being teased.

“None of that sort! Who do you think I am, Han Joon Hwi?” Sol rebuts back, throwing her eraser across to him in annoyance.

Joon Hwi catches it with a laugh, but doesn’t lose eye contact with Sol. A few moments of silence follow, as she looks at the file with the card. Slowly, she draws the card from her file, holding it carefully between her fingers.

“It’s not that I don’t want to be there. I… it’s my first time going to such a social event in such a long time. And the last time I met Jiyoon was a year ago, back in our 1L.” She says softly, letting her fingers brush her calligraphed name.

“I just… rather not go, you know? Treat her to a nice meal somewhere, maybe a couple drinks. Besides, I’m sure she’s just doing it out of courtesy.” She lets out a light laugh.

Joon Hwi’s heart softens. He’s witnessed Sol in her different elements. The courtroom, where she’s a powerful woman in command, dressed professionally in a suit and hair in a perfect ponytail. The day-to-day her, where she’s comfortably dressed in jeans and her tanned coat, hair in a bun and post it notes on her jacket. She was always so bold, so confident and so full of fire. It never occurred to him that she would be uncomfortable in social events. She was always the life during dinners, with Bokgi. She laughed loudly, engaged in conversations and seemed so comfortable. He remembers how she would help out the old halmeonis with her neighbourhood on some days when he sent her home, or the times she bought ice creams for Byeol’s classmates. She seemed so extroverted, yet so closed off. Eying her, Joon Hwi reaches out and clasps his hand over hers in an attempt to comfort.

“I never went to school events, you know? Especially since juvie made me miss it. When I redid my high school year, I didn’t go too. There wasn’t much of a point, since I didn’t have a date or many friends to begin with. If it was Dan, she would have gone, being the popular girl she was back then.” Sol softly says, a small smile ghosting her face.

She remembers the day prom arrived for her school. She was expectant, hoping that the boy she liked would invite her. Or maybe the girls that she occasionally had lunch with will invite her to hang out. But all she got was a stone cold silence the weeks leading up to prom. When everyone buzzed on what they were wearing to prom night, she silently put on her headphones, drilling herself into her science assignments. Of course, she wouldn’t be invited.

She knew the rumours floating in school. How Dan was the perfect one, how she was the failed one. She knew everyone knew she went to juvie. She knows how the boys snicker at her when she walks past them, or how the girls gossip and whisper when she’s eating her lunch. Besides, it didn't help that she was poor. She can’t even afford a dress of her own, let alone go to the event.

Realising what she’s said, Sol quickly draws her hand away along with the card and slots it away in her file.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to blabber on. You must think it’s stupid, I think so too. Anyways, do you have the notes Professor Kim...” Sol quickly apologises and diverts her attention to her notes. But Joon Hwi was no longer listening. He was shattered by how the woman sitting in front of him has never been treated like how she should be treated. It was no secret to Joon Hwi that he cared for his friends, but cared a little more for Sol. He was the one that left post-it notes on her table and pretended he didn't. She was the only one that he would let steal a mouth or two from his ramyeon. He could read her moods just from her eyes. He wonders sometimes, if he sees her more than a friend.

He won’t hide that she’s beautiful. The way her eyes slant in an elegant fashion, her smooth, slightly tanned skin, and her winning smile that he always found his heart beating faster for. He loves the way she smiles at her extra pickles, the way her eyes light up when she sees Byeol, or the way she argues and practices. The tenacity and desire she has to improve inspires him to work as hard as her.

This is why when Sol spilled the beans, he couldn't help but feel all sorts of emotions. Anger, towards the people in her school, for not realising such a wonderful student. Anger towards her for degrading herself. Sadness, for her not being able to experience such events.

As Joon Hwi ended the session with her and returned to his room, he made a promise to Sol. He’s convinced it will work, and he begins planning in his head.

He will show her the fairytale.

-----

A week passed.

Sol had to give a reply in a few days and she has not figured out what to say. The wedding was in a month. She knew Jiyoon would be busy... Sol figures that she should just treat Jiyoon after her honeymoon, knowing how she would be away with her husband as newlyweds later on.

“Still thinking about the wedding?” Joon Hwi nods at her, her head in her hands. Sol, looking defeated, nods. So much for trying to hide. They were at their pantry area of their dorms, Sol stirring her ramyeon, as Joon Hwi slurps his. It was 3am, and they just finished studying. The next day was a weekend, so it didn’t really matter if they slept late, since they got the privilege of sleeping in.

“What do I tell Jiyoon? I don’t want to sound rude.” Sol mumbles, lazily stirring her soggy noodles.

“Go to the wedding.” Joon Hwi says suddenly, continuously slurping.

“What?!”

“Sol, how many weddings can you even go to in your life? Are you sure you want to miss this one? Besides, you said you haven’t been to social events. Don’t you want to experience it?” Joon Hwi says, adrenaline building in his voice.

Sol falls silent. She can’t deny that she wants to experience the feeling of being dolled up, the fun that everyone talks about, and the enjoyment that everyone goes through. And Joon Hwi is right; she wants to celebrate with Jiyoon. But her fear of social events and the past was holding her back.

Joon Hwi could tell the change in her eyes. He gives a sweet smile, knowing that he said enough to change her mind.

“Joon Hwi, but what if she doesn’t even-” Sol begins doubting herself as she shoots off her doubts and worries. Joon Hwi calms her down with logical reasons, calming her nerves in between his mouths of ramyeon.

“But... I’ll be alone there, right?” Sol asks, her voice so soft, Joon Hwi barely picks it up. Her ramyeon is still untouched, and the noodles have gotten soggy and cold. Sol is silent for a moment, as she realises how right she is, for once. It wasn’t like she could ask a date, she doesn’t even have one. And her friends from the study group were out of the question. They don’t even know Jiyoon. Joon Hwi quickly brings up his bowl to his face, hopefully covering it as he feels the heat rising to his face.

“I’ll be your plus-one.”

Sol’s eyes light up and her head rises. Did she hear that right? Han Joon Hwi, her plus-one?

“Oh, no! No, I didn’t mean it like that! Joon Hwi, no, I can’t-” Sol can’t find the right words to say. He can't? He shouldn’t? He doesn't need to? Sol can’t deduce her own reasonings for this argument. She knows her roommate likes him, and she definitely doesn’t want to be the target of her roommate’s stares if she catches wind of this. Besides, Joon Hwi doesn’t like her. She knows, and she doesn’t want him to get any wrong ideas. He’s her best friend, and confidante. She knows, deep down, his heart is someone else's.

“I want to.”

Sol freezes as Joon Hwi finishes drinking his soup. Placing the bowl down, he does as best as he can to lock eyes with Sol seriously, showing her he wasn’t teasing. No, this was out of his sincere heart. He knows how nervous she gets in a new environment, and him being next to her was bound to calm her nerves just a little more.

Sol could see the genuine care and want in his eyes. She knows this isn’t one of his jokes or teases. For a split second, she catches herself thinking if he meant something more. That going as a date, was more than just keeping her company, but for something to develop…

Her face is flushed red as she looks at her puffed noodles and lukewarm soup. She picks her chopsticks up but is stopped by Joon Hwi’s hand as he shifts the bowl toward him, away from her.

“Get yourself a fresh one. This is the first meal all day, isn’t it?” Joon Hwi calls her out, covering her noodles. Sol wants to argue for her soggy noodles, but she falls silent knowing how he revealed her secret. She hasn’t eaten all day after running reports and studying. Grumbling, she does as instructed and boils another bowl of ramyeon. When she’s back at the table with a fresh, hot, spicy and red bowl, she dives into it, wondering how she managed to survive the whole day.

Joon Hwi only gives a small smile looking at the girl slurping her noodles with delight and looking at her. Joon Hwi wasn’t lying. He did want to be her plus-one for the wedding. He knew that more than just being a comfort for Sol, he wanted to make this one day a day she could look back and smile at. That she could be pretty, relaxed and happy instead of stressing over her grades, exams and family.

“Fine.” Sol says as she continues slurping the spicy noodles. She blesses the spiciness of the noodles, such that she could blame her pink blush on it. Joon Hwi, clearing the cold noodles and getting water for both of them tilts his head in confusion.

“Come with me to the wedding, if you want to.” She mutters softly, almost shy to let him know. To hide her blush and hide her confusion, she lifts the still hot bowl to her face. She drinks the soup, but chokes on the spiciness. Joon Hwi lets out a light chuckle before passing her a bottle of cold water. Sol looks at him with narrowed eyes of annoyance, but graciously takes the water.

As he watches Sol eat her first bowl, then a second, as Joon Hwi munches on some crackers, he only smiles and laughs at whatever Sol was complaining about her reports and her frustrations at her cases that she picked. He lets out comforting words, but is rebutted back with Sol saying he will never get it because he’s smart unlike her.

As he went to bed that night, he only gave a giddy smile, burying his face in his sheets. He scored his point of taking Sol out on a date, and was already counting down. He officially succeeded in the first step of his plan.

The rest of it required a little bit of help. But he knew who to ask.

-----

“Yeseul! What is it that you need to wake me up on a weekend? I was up until 4am last night!” Sol grumbles as she places her phone on speaker, rubbing her eyes. It was 8am, way too early for Sol to process any emergencies. Well, if it was Yeseul, she would do it any time.

“Sorry, unnie. But it’s urgent. Could you meet me in 10 minutes at the lobby?” Yeseul’s bright voice echos. Sol notices her roomie’s bed made, pillows nicely fluffed and sheets tucked in neatly in pure perfection. She isn’t surprised, considering how she gets up early anyways.

“Fine.” Sol says and hangs up, getting a fresh change of clothes and heading to the bathroom to wash up. She throws on a hoodie, grabbing her only tanned ochre coat and grabs her bag, before jogging downstairs to the lobby. There, Yeseul is standing there, with a sling black bag and with one of the many nude heels she has, hair styled to perfection.

“Unnie!” Yeseul waves her hand over. Walking closer, Sol notices two other familiar friends behind as she scoffs.

“Joonhwi? Bokgi? What are you doing here?” She asks, her hand playing with the strap of her bag unconsciously. She was surprised to see Joonhwi, but even more Bokgi, who usually spends mornings sleeping in. Joonhwi only gives his usual cheeky smile and drags a drowsy Bokgi with him out towards to the main entrance of the school. Dumbfounded, Yeseul takes this moment to link her arm with Sol’s as she leads her out and catch Sol up to their agenda today.

“What?! You’re bringing me where?” Sol exclaims, her voice echoing throughout the lobby. Yeseul shushes her as she drags a shocked Sol out of school. Yeseul didn't need the whole school to know where Sol was going.

“Unnie, please? You need a dress for the wedding, and don’t think you are going to go in one of mine or your old ones! Besides, you promised to go shopping with me one day, right?” Yeseul defends herself as Sol sighs.

Yeseul wasn’t wrong. The wedding was just a week away and she had absolutely nothing to wear. She owned a couple pairs of flats, but they were so old, it would be embarrassing to attend with those. And her dresses were either too big or too small. She was so caught up with school after submitting her reply to Jiyoon, that she would have forgotten about the wedding if it wasn’t for the post-it on her bedside wall.

“But...but...” Sol couldn’t find any reasons to counter. She knew Yeseul was right. Besides, it’s a weekend. And they had no upcoming tests or projects, so there was no harm in doing something besides studying in the copy room. She nods, defeated, earning a smile from Yeseul.

“Wait, then why is Joonhwi and- Who’s car is that?!” Sol’s thoughts are cut off when she sees a familiar black sedan waiting by the entrance as Sol and Yeseul just exit. In the car, she manages to see a Joonhwi in the driver’s seat and Bokgi riding shotgun.

“Yah! Han Joon Hwi! Isn’t this my roomie’s car?” She shouts as she strides a couple of steps when Joonhwi rolls the window down.

“She loaned me the car for today. Don’t want you carrying so many things back from shopping today.” He replies curtly. Bokgi opens his passenger side door on the right.

“Bokgi-”

“Noona, sit in front. I’m too tired to watch Joonhwi-hyung drive.” Bokgi mutters before he climbs into the backseat with Yeseul. Sol wordlessly settles into the seat next to Joonhwi, who only looks at her with a smile. Sol catches his odd looks and pauses.

“What?”

“Ready for shopping?” He has his cheeky smile on again. Sol glares in annoyance before turning behind to Yeseul.

“Did you make him drive?” Yeseul shakes her head and spills out her defensive explanation.

“Oppa called me up yesterday! He just said he needed my help to accompany you shopping for a dress!”

“Then, why is Bokgi here? Trying on dresses too?”

“Noona! I’m listening!” Joonhwi only laughs and shakes his head.

“He’s just accompanying me.” Joonhwi says as he begins to drive off.

Well, Joonhwi wasn't lying. He waited till their quizzes and projects were over before executing this. He knew Sol was busy, and had waited for the busy season to pass before calling Yeseul. He explained that he knew Sol would not go shop for a dress, and he needs her help to accompany him and her. She willingly, too willingly, agreed.

Next, he asked Sol B if he could borrow her car, knowing how Sol was not going to go home with just one dress and one pair of shoes when Yeseul was involved. Sol B was skeptical, but just passed the keys over to him. Besides, she was going to be in school studying all day; she didn’t need the car. Bokgi joined in, as Joonhwi couldn’t spend hours on end waiting for the ladies to shop. On further thought, Bokgi just might help him out with something.

“I could go myself with Yeseul. You didn’t have to wake up for this.” Sol mutters just loud enough for him to hear, fiddling with her fingers. Joonhwi returns with a light scoff.

“As if you’ll do it.” Sol glares at him from the side and is ready to punch him, but retracts her hand, knowing she might literally kill everyone in the car. The ride from the school to the bustling heart of Seoul is a rough twenty minute ride. Bokgi takes this time to catch a wink and Sol does the same, but she can't seem to do it.

Something about Joonhwi bringing her out to buy a dress specially made her heart flutter a bit more than usual. She knew that Joonhwi cared for her. The ways that he left rolls of gimbaps and energy drinks as opposed to coffee on her table during her tough days. The moments when he would offer his jacket as a pillow wordlessly when she wanted to rest her head after hours of studying. The unspoken synchronisation between them was just a showing of how they understood each other inside and out.

Sol thought nothing of it. She knew him as long as she stepped into school when he saved her from Professor Yang. They spent almost everyday studying, having classes and eating together. After all, they are best friends, and don’t best friends do this? They look out for each other, right?

He is going to be my plus-one at Jiyoon’s wedding. He’s taking me to shop for a dress.

Sol wonders, truly for the car ride as she stares outside at the blue skies and empty streets of Seoul, if Han Joonhwi meant more than friends to her. If… she wanted more.

Deep down, she couldn’t deny hoping for more. She liked the way he looked at her, eyes crinkled and smiling in half moons, the sweet smile that she couldn’t help but return. She has never had many relationships, considering her experience in school and afterwards. She was just too busy; too focussed. Seeing how this man cared for her just made her feel so… special.

She has never felt that way.

#original by akinosakiya #jtbc law school #law school #jtbc drama #jtbc #joonsola #kang sol a #kang sol a x han joon hwi #solhwi #han joon hwi #netflix #kdrama #wedding #ryu hye young #kim beom #kim bum

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rosemaidenvixen · 3 years

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A Secret’s Worth

Chapter 19: Toby

Ao3

Toby's chest hurt so bad it actually felt like someone was literally stabbing him in the heart. Still he didn't slow down, if anything he pedaled even harder.

The girls were riding neck and neck with him, in just as much of a hurry to reach their destination.

He shouldn’t have flipped out at Jim yesterday. He shouldn’t have thrown back what he knew about the scars on his ankle just because he was pissed. Now this whole thing was ten times worse and it was all his fault.

It had been so hard, watching Jim go home every day for the past month and forcing himself not to say anything, even when Jim started to look more and more anxious every day. But you know who had it even worse? The guy doing the actual suffering.

Toby had heard the phrase victim blaming before, but he never really got it until now. He’d just been so insanely furious hearing Jim yell at them for lying when he hadn’t said an honest thing to them in months, and when they’d been doing everything they could to help him he hadn’t responded right--

The guy’s mom locked him in the basement and slashed up his ankle; what the hell was the ‘right’ way to act after that?

Now Jim was hurt really bad and he’d had to go to the hospital and he wasn’t in school today and he wasn’t answering his phone--

Toby needed to see if Jim was ok.

A throbbing pain that had nothing to do with the strain of pedaling uphill stabbed through his chest.

Or if not ok, alive and kicking.

He skidded to a stop on Jim’s lawn, stumbling off of his bike and running up to pound on the front door “Jim you’ve got about ten seconds to open this door before I’m breaking it down!”

Ok maybe that was the wrong thing to start off with considering he was there to apologize, but Toby would just add it to the list of things to grovel for forgiveness for after he saw that Jim was alright.

And just when he was about to make good on his threat, a hand grabbed his shoulder and started tugging him away. Toby jerked around to see who it was.

“Don’t try to stop me Darci,”

Her expression was soft in a way that made him feel even worse “I’m not, but Toby, I don't think anyone's home. All the lights are off and the car’s gone,”

He snapped back around, heart plummeting when he saw that she was right.

Jim and Dr. Lake weren’t here.

“And your Nana’s watching,”

Toby whirled, spotting Phil, one of Nana’s chess buddies, sitting in his car in their driveway with Nana stepping into the passenger seat. He stood there frozen for a few seconds before darting around Darci and sprinting across the cul de sac.

“Nana, wait! Stop stop stop!”

Phil, clearly startled, stopped the car in the middle of the street, Nana rolling down her window and poking her head out “Toby? What on earth is the matter?”

Besides the fact he didn’t want Nana witnessing him busting into Jim’s house, just because Jim had gone radio silent on them didn’t mean that Nana had stopped talking to Dr. Lake. So there was a chance she knew something they didn’t.

He slowed to a stop, panting “Have-- have you- have you heard what’s going on with Jim?”

Immediately her face shifted from confused to contrite “Oh yes Barbara told me, so sad that he got hurt, but he’s doing much better now,”

Toby heard the girls scurry up behind him.

“Do you know when they’ll be home from the hospital?”

“Didn’t Jim tell you?” Nana glanced at Phil, who took the hint and put the car into park before Nana turned and faced them again “They came home about two hours ago, but left for their spring break trip right away, Barbara and Jim won’t be back for about ten days,”

Toby actually felt his jaw drop open.

“B...But…” Claire stammered “Are they seriously going backpacking in Yosemite with Jim being all busted up?”

“I was surprised to, but Barbara said that Jim really didn’t want to miss their vacation, so they’re going to San Francisco and staying in a hotel instead,” the corners of Nana’s mouth tugged downwards into a frown, eyebrows drawing together “Did Jim not tell you any of this?”

Ok she had clearly picked up on the fact that things weren’t ‘Ok’ between Jim and them, and normally Toby would be trying to reassure Nana that everything really was cool, but right now he was too busy concentrating on not puking.

They were gone. For ten days. Ten whole days Jim and Dr. Lake would be gone.

Plenty of time for another 'animal attack'.

After an uncomfortably long silence Nana leaned back in her seat and redid her belt “I need to get to my cardiologist appointment now, but we can talk more when I get back,”

With that she nodded at Phil, who looked incredibly uncomfortable, but restarted the car and pulled away, leaving the four of them alone in the cul de sac, with nothing to do but slowly pick up their bikes and trudge into Toby’s garage.

They’d screwed up. He’d screwed up. He’d screwed up so freaking bad. Yeah Jim was being a gigantic freaking hypocrite about the lying, but his mom locks him in the basement every other Tuesday. Of course the guy wasn’t acting rationally.

He could still see the terrified look on Jim’s face while they yelled at him yesterday crystal clear.

And just because Jim was being a hypocrite didn’t mean that it wasn’t a dick move to lie to him about calling CPS.

And what they did yesterday….

Toby swallowed back another wave of nausea. Just thinking about what he’d done was enough to make him sick, he wanted to go back in time and smack some sense into himself.

He’d let his anger win out over everything else and started firing back at Jim, and then the girls had followed his lead. Pushing Jim so far over the edge that he went and started a fight with Psycho Steve of all people, who put him in the freaking hospital. Now Dr. Lake had taken him out of town and he wasn’t answering his phone--

His train of thought flew off the rails and crashed to a halt.

Jim and Dr. Lake were gone, and wouldn’t be back for over a week. Which meant that their house was going to be completely empty for that whole time.

Before the idea had even finished forming Toby knew what he had to do.

Immediately after propping his bike up against the wall Toby strode over to the toolbench and grabbed the items he was looking for. A doorstop, an unraveled wire coat hanger, and the biggest pair of bolt cutters Nana had been able to find at Home Depot.

Darci was the first to notice him “What are you doing with all that?”

“Snooping,”

Now Mary and Claire were looking at him to “What do you mean?”

“Jim and Dr. Lake are gone for spring break, and I think we all know that Jim is going to ignore any texts or messages we send. So I’m going straight to the source, I’m going into their house to get some real answers,”

The girls all shared an uncertain look “Toby…” Claire said slowly “You know that if you break in they won’t be able to use anything you find as evidence, right?”

He wilted a little, but tightened his grip on the bolt cutters at the same time “I know, but this might be the only chance to find out what’s really happening to Jim. And if I can figure that out, maybe I can figure out how to get Jim to let us help him,”

Toby turned and then hesitated, dragging the toe of his shoe on the concrete “I won’t ask you guys to come with me, but I need to do this,”

Knowing that if he waited any longer he was going to chicken out, Toby raised his foot and strode out of the garage, making a beeline for the Lake house. After a few seconds he heard footsteps behind him as the girls started to follow.

And even though he knew he’d do this alone if he had to, it felt really really good that he didn’t have to.

Once he got to Jim’s garage, Toby pulled a trash can up to the door and stood on it. Boosting him up high enough to wedge the door stop between the garage door and the frame, reaching in with the coathanger until he snagged the cord and pulled it down within arm’s reach. Cord in hand, Toby yanked until he felt it give, allowing him to slide up the garage door with ease.

Stepping down and picking up the trash can, Toby turned to go put it back when he saw Claire, Darci, and Mary staring at him with big eyes.

“Toby…” Mary said slowly “How did you know how to do that?”

“Oh, uh…” he felt his face heat up “Nana showed me how when Meow Meow PI got locked in our garage, then she made me promise not to tell anyone….so please don’t tell anyone,”

“We won’t but you are going to have to teach us that one,”

Once the trash can was back in place they headed in, Toby pulling the garage door shut behind them “Where should we start?” Darci whispered, even though it was only the four of them in the deserted house.

Toby glanced around, tool bench, picnic coolers, spare fridge, chest freezer-- He froze, eyes locked on the chest freezer pushed back against the far wall. The one that was always kept padlocked for reasons he’d never questioned until now. The only reason he could think of to keep a freezer locked would be--

He shoved the idea away before a picture could form in his head.

But now he needed to see for himself to make sure that the thought he was desperately trying not to think about wasn’t true.

“Here,” he strode over, and with only slightly shaking hands, cut the metal U of the latch off with two snaps of the bolt cutters, the unopened lock clattering to the floor. It was actually easier than he thought it would be, of course the bolt cutters were ginormous compared to the latch.

The girls gathered in close as he popped the now empty latch and slowly lifted the lid.

First off there weren’t any dead bodies staring back at them, so that was good. It looked like the freezer was just stuffed with regular plastic grocery packages. But why put a lock on ordinary food? Maybe they really were worried about racoons, those were a menace in this neighborhood.

Despite that perfectly rational, reasonable explanation, Toby couldn’t shake the feeling that something looked off about the food in front of him, something that he couldn’t quite put his finger on.

It only took a few more seconds of staring for him to figure it out. He didn’t recognize any of the labels on these packages. And he and Jim had done a lot of grocery shopping together. Jim going on and on about all the subtle differences in flavor between different items and different brands.

That’s how Toby knew with absolute certainty that this stuff wasn’t anything you could buy at any grocery store in Arcadia Oaks. Because in all of their trips shopping together, they’d never bought any of the items in this freezer.

Reaching past him, Claire gingerly picked up something shrink wrapped in blue and yellow plastic “Beef sweetbreads?”

Toby eyed the package suspiciously “Bread doesn’t come from beef,”

“Sweetbreads aren’t bread, they’re organ meat,”

“Ew,”

“Hey they’re actually pretty good when you cook them right,”

Even more curious now, they all started reaching in and rifling through the frozen packages in front of them.

“It looks like this is just a bunch of meat,” Darci said while holding up a bag of beef bones by the corner between her thumb and forefinger.

Mary wrinkled her nose at a package of chicken livers “Yeah, but I’ve never seen Jim cook with any of this stuff,” she peered in Toby’s direction “Have you?”

His mouth went dry, nausea creeping back in “No, I haven’t,”

They kept digging, plastic packs of meat piling up on the floor around them, and the deeper they went the weirder things got. Eventually hitting what looked like whole small animals, cleaned and skinned and sealed in shrink wrap. Toby lifted one of them out, guts squirming in his belly “Guys, what are these?”

Claire leaned over and read off a tiny label on the corner of the package “It says whole rabbit,”

This kept getting freakier and freakier, Jim had never cooked rabbit meat before, let alone roasting them whole.

Darci and Mary cleared off the rest of the rabbits to uncover a massive package at the bottom, one that would have taken all four of them to lift out, bright red of raw muscle showing clearly against the white of the freezer. But unlike everything else in here, this one had clearly been opened and resealed multiple times, with chunks of meat taken off, proving that someone was taking stuff out of this freezer and using it on a regular basis

“This one says whole bison leg,” Darci said quietly.

A chill went through him, and not because he was standing in front of an open freezer.

“Oh my god, I just can’t--” Mary darted away, running to the wall farthest away from the freezer and slumping against it, gasping and shaking. Claire immediately ran over and put an arm around her shoulders, leaving Toby and Darci standing in front of the freezer.

“Toby,” Darci’s voice was a monotone, her eyes locked on the frozen leg in front of them “Are you absolutely sure that Jim never cooked with any of this stuff,”

“Positive,”

“Then...what do they do with all this?”

Toby’s stomach shrank in on itself “I don’t know,”

Were they trying to bait racoons or something? It was the only thing Toby could think of, but if they were, why? And he was pretty sure there was a lot cheaper stuff out there they could use for racoon bait. But if they weren’t using it as bait then what they hell were they doing with all this weird meat? And why the lock?

Pulling in a deep breath through her nose, Darci slowly started putting the packages they’d taken out back in the freezer “Ok, we’re not going to find anything else out here, we need to clean up and keep looking,”

Fighting past the painful tightness in his abdomen, Toby grabbed a rabbit and joined her. Claire eventually came over to help them, but Mary stayed far away until the lid of the freezer was shut.

“Um, Toby…” she said, walking back up to join them “How are we going to put the lock back on when you cut it off?”

“Easy,” he walked over to the toolbench and picked up a small bottle “Instant set Gorilla glue,”

And with two quick dabs of glue and Mary holding the pieces for him, the lock and the latch looked nearly as good as new. The latch did look a little funky from where the cutters had gone through, but Toby was pretty sure Jim and Dr. Lake wouldn’t notice it.

Now time to search the rest of the house.

Toby headed through the side door into the main house with the girls just behind him, pausing just inside the hall while he tried to figure out the best place to search first.

“Let’s look in Dr. Lake’s bedroom,”

All three of them slowly turned towards Mary.

“I mean…” her cheeks filled with red “If she’s hiding something chances are it would be in there,”

Claire nodded at that “You’re right, let’s go,”

The girls headed towards the stairs, but Toby hung back. Darci paused at the foot of the stairs, glancing back at him “Everything ok Toby?”

Even knowing what he knew, about the basement and the scars and all the other strange stuff. There was a part of him that still thought of Dr. Lake as….Dr. Lake. His friend’s fun, sometimes goofy mom, the one that took them to theme parks and gave the best presents on birthdays and holidays, who was never too busy to talk and always happy to see him. Going into her room and snooping through all her stuff felt...wrong.

All the girls were looking at him now, seeing what the hold up was.

Toby clenched his jaw and raised his head.

But no matter how bad he felt about it Toby couldn’t let his guilty conscience get in the way. Dr. Lake….Dr. Lake wasn’t who he thought she was, and Jim was in real trouble. This was the only way he could help him. That meant he had to suck it up and follow through.

He’d come this far already.

“Y-- yeah I’m fine, let’s go,” Toby forced his feet to move and followed them up the stairs into the back bedroom. His throat tightening when he saw Mary dive straight into going through her dresser, even as he set aside his tools and got down on his knees to join her.

They spent nearly two hours going through the room from top to bottom. Searching the closet, every drawer in the dresser, under the bed and in the nightstand, every single nook and cranny in the room, even under the mattress. But they didn’t find anything. Just clothes, jewelry, and books.

Toby glumly replaced the socks back in the drawer he pulled them out of. If there was anything hidden in the house it wasn’t in here. So all they’d managed to accomplish was violating Dr. Lake’s privacy. But if there wasn’t anything in her bedroom then where else would--

“Toby,” Claire spoke up, startling him “Do you know if this house has a crawlspace, or an attic?”

He paused with his hand halfway out of the sock drawer. The Lakes had both a crawlspace and an attic. He’d seen the crawlspace, a small cubby in the basement full of their Christmas decorations, but the attic--

Dr. Lake had only mentioned once that they did have an unfinished attic, even shown him where it was.

And then said that he should never ever go up there.

“Their crawlspace is full of Christmas decorations, but I’ve never seen inside the attic. Dr. Lake said it was off limits,”

That got the girls’ attention.

Mary got to her feet “Where is it?”

“Closet, in the ceiling,”

Immediately they all made a beeline towards the closet, Mary pulling open the doors and revealing the square cut out of the plaster in the ceiling.

Claire frowned “How is one of us supposed to get up there?”

“I’ll do it guys,” Darci stepped forward, shoulders square and mouth set in a firm line “I’m the tallest, just give me a boost,”

Positioning themselves directly under the hole, Mary and Claire each grabbed one of Darci’s legs and lifted, allowing Darci to push aside the cut out square of ceiling and poke her head into the darkness of the attic beyond.

“A little higher guys, I need to get a good grip to pull myself up,”

Claire and Mary obliged, raising Darci until she was waist deep in the attic, allowing her to kick off from the palms of their hands and vanish into the dark hole. After a few seconds Toby saw a small light, which had to be from Darci’s cellphone, blink on, illuminating the bare wooden beams of the unfinished space.

“You see anything Darc?” Mary called up at her.

The light bobbed around in the small space above them, ceiling creaking under her as Darci moved around “Nothing so far, there’s a lot of fiberglass insulation so I have to be careful not to…”

All of a sudden the creaks stopped, the light staying frozen in one spot.

“Darci,” Toby forced the strangled word out “What’s going on?”

Things were silent for a few more seconds before they heard her voice again “There’s a box here guys, and it doesn’t look like Christmas decorations,”

With some tricky maneuvering, Darci managed to push the box down the hole, where Toby and Claire caught it. Quickly moving it off to the side so the three of them could catch Darci as she jumped down. Once she managed to untangle herself from them they all turned their attention back to the box.

Toby pushed it out of the closet so there was enough room for all of them to huddle around it. The box was about the size of a microwave, dark metal and surprisingly heavy for its size. It looked like one of those heavy duty water/fire/apocalypse proof boxes, and fortunately it wasn’t locked, meaning they wouldn’t need the bolt cutters. Trembling, terrified of what he might find, Toby popped the latches and lifted the lid.

Part of him was worried that when they opened it they wouldn’t find anything but boring adult papers, bills and insurance stuff like that, but one look and he knew that wasn’t going to be the case.

Inside were two black bags, a large plastic one and a small felt one, and some kind of weird plastic rectangle. Mary reached in and pulled out the small bag first.

They all watched her tug the drawstrings open, not even daring to breathe as she turned the bag over and dumped the contents out.

A bunch of loose teeth and a bundle of black hair in a rubber band tumbled onto her hand.

Just when Toby thought this couldn’t get any more confusing “What the hell is all that?”

Claire poked at one of the teeth sitting in Mary’s palm “This looks like stuff from an animal,”

It certainly did. That hair could easily be fur, and those teeth would have been right at home on a bear’s mouth. Big and sharp and clearly from a meat eater.

A locked freezer full of strange meat, animal parts hidden away in the attic. Toby still couldn’t put the pieces together, but it wasn’t shaping up to be anything good.

They spent a good minute staring at them before Mary poured the teeth and hair back in the bag “We aren’t going to learning anything by staring at teeth, let’s keep going,”

Claire grabbed the large bag just as Mary was replacing the small one, setting it in front of her and untying the straps to peer down inside.

Toby crawled closer “What is it? What’s in there?”

“It looks like...bath bombs,”

“What? No way,” Darci scooted up to Claire’s side and glanced down at the open bag “Huh, it does look like bath bombs,”

It took Toby a few seconds to realize they weren’t talking about actual explosives “Bath bombs,” he said incredulously “You mean like those fizzy scented things you put in the tub, those kind of bath bombs?”

Claire got to her feet “Only one way to be sure, follow me guys,,”

They tailed after Claire down the hall into the bathroom, where she promptly started filling the tub. Once there was about a half a foot of water inside she reached into the bag, pulled out a grainy pink ball, and dropped it in the water.

As they gathered in close and watched, a cloud of pink bubbles fizzed up around the sphere, filling the tub with pink foam and the scent of--

“Huh,” Toby sniffed “Roses,”

Mary reached a hand into the water, swirling it around before emerging slightly pink “It looks like they are just bath bombs,”

Ok this was getting really weird. Bath Bombs and animal parts weren’t exactly criminal, but what were they doing locked up in a secret attic box?

For a long time Toby had thought that the curfew and the locking in the basement was because of what Nana told him. That Dr. Lake was so scared of losing Jim she’d started doing some messed up things in order to keep him.

But after learning about the scars he started wondering if that was actually true. And now after seeing the meat and the animal parts and the bath bombs…

It was starting to look like all of this was just scratching the surface of something a lot bigger.

And there was still one more thing to check out.

After draining and rinsing the tub, they all went back to the bedroom and gathered around the box again, where Toby picked up the final item inside it, the plastic rectangle.

He turned it over a few times, trying to figure out exactly what it was when it clicked, filling him with a jolt of exhilaration.

“Guys I think this is some kind of book,”

Books meant data, information. Maybe even the answers behind the bath bombs, teeth, and weird meat.

Mary kneeled down next to him “Can you get it open?”

“I’m trying, but there’s a combination lock, and the thing’s completely sealed so I can’t just bust it open with the bolt cutters without destroying it, and--”

They all jumped as a deafening chime rang through the house.

The doorbell.

Toby’s heart shot up into his throat like lightning, beating hummingbird fast as the bell kept ringing again and again.

Hearing the sound shattered his focus like a harsh slap, forcing Toby to remember exactly where he was and what he was doing.

He was in someone else’s house.

They’d come in without permission by breaking into the garage.

They were breaking and entering.

They were committing a crime.

If they got caught it wouldn’t be extra homework or detention they had to deal with.

If they got caught they would get in real trouble.

For the first time Toby knew he wasn’t being melodramatic when he imagined getting arrested and sent to juvie.

Toby shot his head up and saw that the girls had the exact same panicked, horror-stricken looks on their faces that he knew he had on his. From down below the doorbell kept ringing again and again.

The locked book slipped from his hands and fell to the carpet with a dull thunk.

Oh fuck.

“Guys we need to get out of here now!”

They all simultaneously jumped to their feet, Claire practically throwing the bag of bath bombs back in the box, and after fumbling with it for a few seconds Toby managed to toss the book in after it, Darci slamming the lid shut while muttering ‘oh god’ over and over again.

Frantically dragging the box back towards the closet, they figured out really fast that getting the box up was going to be a lot harder than getting it down, especially considering they were all freaking out. After running around like idiots for a few seconds, they got it together enough to hoist Darci up to the attic again, and then raise the box to where she could grab it and put it back, before dropping down from the attic herself.

Meanwhile the doorbell continued to ring over and over, each chime practically giving Toby a heart attack, as they raced around the room, replacing items and shutting drawers and removing every trace of their snooping.

“Claire what the hell are you doing!?” Mary hissed.

Toby glanced over to see Claire standing in the doorway staring down the stairs to where the front door was “C’mon Claire we have to hoof it before Jim and Dr. Lake come in!”

“But...why would Jim and Dr. Lake be ringing the doorbell of their own house?”

Toby, Mary, and Darci all stopped dead

Claire was right, if Jim and Dr. Lake were back they’d just come right in without even touching the doorbell. But then who was ringing it? If it was just a salesman or something wouldn’t they leave as soon as they figured out no one was home? Whoever this was had been ringing the doorbell for nearly five minutes with no sign of stopping.

“New plan!” Mary piped up, voice a full octave higher than normal “Sneak out the back, then circle around through the bushes, act like we’re just out walking and see who it is,”

Toby nodded shakily along with Claire and Darci, leave it to Mary to come up with a plan under extreme pressure.

After double checking and making sure they’d gotten rid of all evidence of their break in, Toby grabbed his tools and ran to the stairs “Quick guys, go go go!”

Not wasting a second the girls scampered down the stairs on light feet, Toby following after, the unrelenting doorbell even louder on the first floor.

They made a beeline for the back door, Toby going out last and locking it behind them. Following them, he ran over to the fence and, in a feat only possible to the insane amount of adrenaline shooting through his veins, hopped it in two bounds and dove into the shrubbery, joining the girls.

“Everyone ok?” Darci whispered, crouching low in the undergrowth.

“Yeah,”

“Uh huh,”

“Yep,”

It was all Toby could do not to collapse, gasping for breath and quivering all over from equal parts relief and leftover panic.

They’d gotten away with it. He was pretty sure they’d gotten away with it. No one had seen them and they hadn’t left any evidence behind. Although they hadn’t had time to wipe their fingerprints off of everything, or get rid of their DNA, hopefully Jim and Dr. Lake wouldn’t realize that their house was broken into at all. And even if they did there was no reason for the four of them to be suspects.

They were fine. No one was going to get arrested.

Although now that the adrenaline was starting to fade, Toby was pretty sure he was going to have some wicked bruises from his landing.

Mary sank lower the the ground, perched on her hands and knees “Keep to the plan guys, let’s sneak around to the other side,”

They all followed her lead, Toby forcing his breathing to slow and become quieter, crawling through the bushes until they emerged on the sidewalk around the corner. Standing and shaking off the leaves and branches, Toby tucking the cutters, hanger, and stopper in a bush to retrieve later.

“Let’s go,” Mary took the first steps towards Jim’s house. A few months ago Toby would have thought she was completely relaxed about the whole thing, but now he could see just how on edge she was.

Toby walked after her, along with Claire and Darci, trying to be as casual as humanly possible without completely overdoing it.

Nothing to see here. Just a group of teens out walking around, as teens did. No criminals here.

He had to try especially hard to act normal as they were heading around the corner of the block, breath catching in his chest as Jim’s house, and the mysterious bell ringer came into sight.

It was some scruffy looking guy, messy looking beard and jeans and a jacket that had certainly seen better days. Not a particularly scary looking guy, but it certainly didn’t look like he was there to sell anything.

Feeling bolder now that they were out in broad daylight and not at risk of being caught mid-felony, Toby came right up to where the front steps met the sidewalk, the girls stepping up next to him, with scruffy standing less than ten feet away. Fidgeting and pressing the bell every ten seconds or so, face crimped in frustration.

Of course this close they should have realized it was inevitable that the mysterious scruffy man was going to notice them.

“Oh hey!” he jogged across the porch towards them, causing them all to shuffle backwards involuntarily “You kids know the people who live here?”

“Why do you want to know?” Mary said warily

“Oh-- I heard from my buddy that CPS has been sniffing around, and Barb took Jim out of the hospital without checking him out yesterday, so I’m trying to see if they’re ok,”

Instantly uneasy, Toby glanced over at the girls, the three of them looking just as tense as he felt. The whole leaving the hospital without being checked out was news to him and definitely not good. But even more alarming was the fact that although this guy apparently knew Jim and Dr. Lake, Toby had no idea who he was. And by the looks of it, neither did Darci, Claire, or Mary.

“So do any of you know when they’ll be back?”

Claire took half a step forward “Sorry but...who are you again?”

“Oh! Well I…” scruffy trailed off, letting out a gusty breath and running hand through his hair “You see I’m--” all of a sudden he cut off and looked over at them sharply, Toby flinching as the man locked eyes with him.

“Toby! Come on, you know me, right bud?”

His heart stopped, blood running cold. From the corners of his vision he could see the girls pull around him protectively “Who are you, how do you know my name?”

“Come on,” the man grinned, as if they were all old buddies “You know me, from back when I used to live here,”

Toby just kept staring at him blankly. Used to live here? The only person he could think of that used to live here was--

No. It couldn’t be.

He looked at him again, really looked, comparing the shape of the jaw, the scraggly beard to the ones from his murky, half faded memories.

“Hang on,” Toby slowly raised a finger to point at the stranger who might not be a stranger “You mean that you’re--”

“That’s right,” he flashed them a smile, painfully familiar now that he could see the resemblance “I’m Jim’s dad,”

#tales of arcadia #Trollhunters #A Secret's Worth #rmvwrites #fanfic #toby domzalski #darci scott #mary wang #claire nuñez #nana domzalski #nancy domzalski

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cornacopicimagines · 4 years

Text

best of friends pt.2 │t.h

pairing: singledad!mob!tom holland x singlemom!reader

words: 5.7k

warnings: SMUT, swearing, major violence, depictions of violence and blood, rough sex, oral (male receiving), face fucking, unprotected sex, dom!tom & creampie.

summary: Everything was perfect. The two-and-a-half years since they first met have been nothing but love and respect. Until, y/n comes home one night, her husband gone for the time being. It all somehow crumbles in front of her, she can't help but question it. Though this thought is nothing to what he feels in that very moment. It's pure fear and terror, a pent-up storm of worry. Their comfort zone is nothing longer alive, it was buried and left to rot.

a/n: so. it must be said, i went through three different plots before i settled on this one. that is why this goddamn fic has taken me so long to write. This is probably the last mob!tom holland fic i'll write because bitch has a lot of other AUs that i would honestly prefer to write. enjoy!

part 1

masterlist

━━★✼☆｡

y/n waited for a moment. It wasn't long, but it was enough she had to check the clock on her wrist. 1:37am. Although she heard the snoring of Lottie, sound asleep in her bed, y/n knew otherwise. She knew that as soon as her feet hit the carpeted floor of her daughter's bedroom, the girl would shoot straight up and whine for y/n to come back. She loved Lottie with all of her heart, like all of her kids, however sometimes the precious little angels got on her nerves. Just last Tuesday is a prime example as y/n desperately fiddling with the buttons of Tom's shirt, wanting nothing more to take every inch of him while his whole operation continued below them. Just as she had popped the last latch, James called out for his father from across the house, most likely because one of the boys got hurt again from the play fighting they insisted they do. Sadly, y/n redid her husband's buttons and let him leave her widely aroused and dissatisfied.

As she watched Lottie take in her small breaths, y/n recounted the moments. She still remembers her wedding, clear as day. It was in their garden, with the trees dressed in beautiful pink silk and the flowers somehow in full bloom. No one was around, it's was secluded and perfect. It was just them, Theo and James stood side by side, their matching suits made her heart swell. Their perfectly rosy cheeks lit up as they saw y/n make her way down the grassy aisle. Though she never saw it, Tom admits that it was Theo who smacked him on the arm to turn around. To come face to face with his bride, a blushing bride that was 7 months pregnant. It was a rush of a events that y/n never quite saw occuring so early into her life. Yet, the day she told Tom they were going to be parents, he asked her to marry him. Of course, y/n organised a typical wedding after she had given birth but at that very second, every bad thing she had to live through suddenly became a single speck of sand on a vast beach. A prologue to her wonderful life ahead of her.

The door swung open slightly, though the light from outside Lottie's room was off, y/n could instantly tell who was stepping over countless dolls and plastic cars. Tom knelt at the side of his daughter's bed, just below his wife as she softly stroked Lottie's forehead. "You need some rest Sweetness," he told her quietly, watching over Lottie's snoring figure.

"I can't" y/n stifled through a yawn. Though she greatly needed to run to her bed and pass out, she refused to leave Lottie unless she knew her daughter was absolutely deep in sleep. Tom sighed, letting his forehead hit the soft linen of the bed cover.

"You need sleep, I can't look after the brady bunch by myself," Tom joked. His hand came to draw soft circles on y/n's thigh. It was nothing if not soothing to her. He could directly make out her face in the darkness, but Tom knew his wife was smiling, a low grin painted upon her fatigued face. "I'll take this shift."

y/n reached out for his face, finding it in seconds. Her thumb now matched the pattern on his cheek that Tom was drawing on her thigh. "We made a deal," it was his speciality, but he never wanted it to get this bad. "You would help Theo with his Valentine's Day gift if I could get this one to sleep."

y/n possessed many traits that Tom adored. She was empathetic, a woman of incredible wit and intelligence, had the stamina of a bull but her stubbornness seemed to be her crowing glory. Tom knew his wife as well as he knew how to count to ten. She wasn't leaving until absolute confirmation was handed to her. "Sweetness, I would prefer if you came to bed with me," he tried, the approach was simple and usually it worked.

"As much as I would adore that, I'm not going anywhere with you mister," y/n teased. Her attention focusing back on Lottie. Perhaps it was the way her eyelids seemed to betray her, closing every few seconds or if it was simply the way the mattress felt beneath her legs. Eventually though, the mixture of all of those and her husband's head laying flat on her thighs, she began to slowly creep off the bed. The pads of her feet pressed against the floor in such delicacy, y/n doubted that she even touching it. She reached out for Tom, grasping slightly at his bare bicep as she lifted herself up.

Tom caught on to his wife's movements and made sure that the path was completely clear of any of Lottie's toys. Calmly, the pair of them tip-toed out. Every move halted by their daughter's movements but eventually, the door closed and y/n was free from the little montress's grip. y/n wishes that she was more awake, more alert because even in her half sleep dazed she could make out the tight white singlet that clung to Tom's body. She reached out for him, it was the weakest of touchs. Yet, her hand fell on his shoulder and running up to the base of his neck. It wasn't sexual in any form, instead they stood in the dim light in complete silence. Watching each other feel the affected of forced insomnia.

"How am I going to get up this morning," y/n giggled as she accepted the sudden embrace from Tom. Her head finding it's way into the same shoulder she tenderly caressed seconds ago. Tom's fingers coiled around her forearm gently as the began to quietly walk to their bedroom. "Hopefully Meg will be around at that time," she sighed as the soft breeze of their room hit her face. Meg was their nanny, a woman who has been employed by Tom since James was a baby. She was a sweet old thing, a cliché of the lovely old lady in fairtales.

"She will, sadly I won't," Tom told her, pressing a kiss to her cheek as they both hid themselves under the sating covers. y/n wanted to continue the conversation, she knew that Tom wouldn't be back at home until tomorrow night and for the first time, she would be in charge of everyone but she couldn't. As soon as her head hit the lavender scented pillow, she was out like a light. Tom just chuckled in return, pulling her into a soft embrace.

━━★✼☆｡

y/n wasn't an idiotic woman. She has been with Tom for two and a half years; married to him for two years, she immediately knew when something didn't feel right. As her fingers gripped the steering wheel, she peered in her rear-view mirror. It was something Tom's bodyguards drive around in. The vehicle was large and bulky, looking like it a take down a building with minimum amount of speed. It was painted in the midnight black, even the widows seemed to be darkened. Like before, y/n recognised the model of the car to be a sister of the cars she would frequently have to ride in if she accompanied Tom anywhere, he thought posed even the slightest amount of danger. She knew that with every corner she took, the car would mimic her turns. y/n caught onto it in seconds, watching through Lottie's car seat and Theo's mop of hair. It didn't help that when she called Tom's head guard, he told her that he had followed her orders. To let her pick up her children to avoid the never-ending shock from the ensemble of 6'5 muscular men accompanying her wherever she went.

"Do you want us to do anything about it ma'am?" he asked through the car's speaker. y/n pondered for a few seconds. While her gut was screaming at her that this was something completely out of the ordinary, if there was any ordinary being married to a Mob boss. Her mind knew that if she did say something to him now it was no doubt find its way to Tom. He would instantly assume the worst and cancel any important deal in front of him to race home. The guard's voice pulled her out of her concentration.

"Get the house under lockdown," she ordered, for the first time she felt truly in control but as all things it was slipping. "Do not tell my husband."

"Ma'am, it is imperative that Mr. Holland know of this," the guard protested. y/n had been going through quite a rough day. She was tired, overworked and constantly around wailing children. She refused to be around another. Her jaw clenched as she pulled into their street, the car still hot on her tail.

"I don't care, Tom will not know of this," y/n snapped, peering up for a final time but to her initial surprise that car had vanished. She had no clue where the fucker had gone. "It's probably nothing," she spoke quietly. The sentence was more reassurance for herself than from him, yet he had heard her, accepted her terms and hung up.

As she pulled the car into the impressively large garage, she lets her bare forehead hit top of the steering wheel. She closed her eyes for a moment, breathing in through her nose and out through her mouth.

"Mum," Theo called out from the backseat, "are you alright?" The boy's question was laced with genuine concern. It released whatever anxiety riddled grip had got a hold of y/n. She gazed up, smiling as she let all her negative thoughts leave her before turning to her three children.

"I am just really tired honey," she replied as she exited the car and proceeded to undo Lottie's buckled. "Not to worry, I think it is Boy's Movie Night tonight!" Both boys cheered in unison. The afternoon went on as usual. Theo and James spent the entire time with their faces glued to the screen in front of them. Squealing every time the supposed bad guys landed flat on his ass, jumping at every occasion that they could. Even if they lived in a mansion, y/n was positive that everyone in this house could hear their playful laughter.

y/n sat next to Lottie; her curly brunette hair clipped back into two adorable pigtails. Lottie was a carbon copy of Tom. Even next to her half-brother James, Lottie seemed to possess ever physical trait of y/n's husband. The smooth somehow flawless skin, the bouncy chestnut curls that y/n just knows will be her daughter's statement piece when she grows up and finally the pair of chocolate eyes that gets her father weak every time, she babbles up at him. She wondered how all of her children would look like when they get old enough to make their own decisions. While James doesn't have Tom's colouring like Lottie does, he has this glimmer of mischievousness in his eyes. Something y/n has loves about her boys, they all share this odd ball of high-energy. Theo looks exactly like y/n, her colouring and her features. Theo's look alikeness to his mother is something y/n feels is divine intervention. To show that, this is her son. Her baby boy and no one else's unless she says so.

"Ma'am" Meg's heavy Irish accent perks up. She's standing at the windows, peering through the curtains slightly. "I think you should see this," she advises before stepping away from the scene and running to grab Lottie from her highchair. y/n hesitantly waltzes over, she presents a cool face to her children, but she can feel her stomach crawling into her throat as she gets closer. y/n pulls the fabric back slightly, she prays that is it now in the early hours of the night and the light is off. It's the same car, it's now parked across the road from her house. Just outside of their camera’s visibility, the vehicle is camouflaged almost to perfection, she can still spot it. Its headlights are off and the car makes not a single sound. At first, y/n faithfully believes she is now seeing things, that her brain is so unfathomably tired it has resorted to petty tricks. That is until one of the car doors open quickly. She waits for a moment as does this figure in the car before a pair of fit hit the ground. Though it makes no clamour, it startles her. y/n doesn’t wait to meet his eyes as his head ducks under the car roof to fully meet the air. She turns around to meet Meg’s eyes, the women wear matching looks.

“Take the children into the spare room, go now,” y/n speaks softly as not to alarm her sons. Meg nods quickly, instantly holstering Lottie on her hips and shooing the boys away from the glowing TV.

She pauses until she hears the door close. It’s deafening. She turns her attention back to the scene, it’s worse than before. There’s at least 7 of them huddled around this car, pulling unknown bags from the seats. As the mystery bags hit the ground, the unknown men begin opening it. It’s filled to the brim with metal, the holsters of guns peeking through with the aid of the dim light of the streetlight. y/n refused to observe anymore, silently she alerts the guards in the house. She doesn’t even process the next second, it’s like nothing is working anymore. y/n knows what the sound is, she knows what is happening, she knows that in a matter of seconds the men have begun firing at her front landing. Killing anyone standing outside, she can feel the bullets entering their bodies.

It’s with that, y/n goes from a fast pace to sprinting. She rushes down the long halls to meet with her children. It’s feels like an eternity that she is opening doors, calling out for any of them. All the while, gunshots ring out like a bell, constant and terrible. Her phone vibrates,it send her nerves over the edge. y/n stops for a second to stare at it, Tom’s name lights up the screen. Instead of answering, her fingers lose all their function. Her phone drops from her hand and hits the floor. She wants to pick it up but her feet work against her and begin to simply pace herself away from her phone as it continues to hum against the tiles.

Finally, she reaches the room. Meg holds Lottie close to her chest, rocking the toddler back and forth as Lottie cries into Meg’s shirt. Theo and James are standing in the middle of the room. Both look like they are on their verge of tears and to be completely truthfully, so was she. Closing the door, y/n immediately wraps her arms around her sons. She feels the wet tears staining her shoulders. She feels their chests rise and fall drop as best they can.

“You boys are so brave,” she sooths, her palms rubbing circles atop their heads. Slowly, she peers up. While the gunfire continues to ring out, y/n stares at the people in the room with her. Not a single bulb is turned on, the area is pitch black, but she can still see how this if affecting the boys. How Meg clutches onto Lottie’s wailing body. “It’ll be over soon.”

“You promise,” James chokes out, he wipes his face of her blouse. y/n pressed a tender kiss to his hair. She lets a single tear escape her eyes.

“I swear handsome,” y/n tells him, but she’s not convinced by the sound of her own voice. The boys pull away from her, one of her hands reaches for their salty cheeks. “Everything will be alright, Mumma swears.”

She doesn’t want to; she wants to scream. She wants to burn the entire house to the ground. She wants to leave with her children and never come back. y/n has never felt this in her entire life. This is not only pure terror for the lives of her children but it’s uncontrollable rage. She’s being held together by a tearing material of a rubber band. Her limbs are coiled, feeling as though she has rusted in the rain. Her mind doesn’t stop, it runs as if it has never felt this wrathful freedom in its life. A million different thoughts threaten to take power, as if they should decide her next move. She doesn’t let them of course, y/n’s had practice at this, and she will not crack now.

“Meg, give me Charlotte now,” y/n’s voice is hoarse and breaking with ever vowel that drops from her lips. The old lady rushes over to y/n and hands her Lottie. The toddler instinctively wraps her arms around y/n, refusing to let go. Another 20 minutes go by, it's torture. The air seems to wash around y/n as she clings onto her children for dear life. Quietly, she pans over to Meg. The old woman looks as if she has turned from the humble baker's wife down the street to death herself. Their eyes lock, passing silent messages to each other.

I'm sorry, y/n pleads. She thinks if she spoke it aloud, it would travel barely above a whisper.

It's okay, sweetheart, Meg responded. Though the woman only truly meant the first part, y/n wanted to believe that she would have used the nickname to calm her nerves. Somehow it did.

The moment lasted for only seconds. A fleeting feeling of safety was ruined by the doorknob rattling furiously. At the speed of sound, y/n had handed Lottie over to Meg and told her to hide in the bathroom with the children. y/n heard everything, the door lock behind Meg and the muffled yelling behind the door in front of y/n. She scrambled to her feet, driving her to the wide bedside table. She threw open the doors until she landed on the one thing she never believes she's use. A small handgun. y/n didn't quite have time to question her morals at this very second in time. y/n wrapped her fingers around the handle just as the door swung open. Tears spilled as she pointed the gun aimlessly.

"Thank god," his familiar voice rang out. y/n sunk to her knees, the gun falling right from her fingertips. Tom rushed to her side; he didn't know what to say to her. He knew exactly what she was feeling, he knew whatever attempt he made at explaining the horrid situation would break his poor wife even further.

y/n studied his features in the dim light of the room as he got closer to her. She had never seen him in such a state. His hair flopping all over his face, hiding whatever panic was clearly evident over his features. More specifically, y/n watched as it became clearer. A large splatter of blood across his right cheek. She fell right into his arms, finally allowing herself to stain his shirt with her burst of weeps.

━━★✼☆｡

y/n's body was on fire. The fire was nothing but pure pain. As if bugs were nesting right under skin, desperate for a gasp of air. Even the clock ticked loudly, ever noise of the hand pressed her brain against her skull. Every joint rigid in its own specific way, damaged and tight.

"Sweetness, talk to me," Tom soothed, using the towel to clean the final fragments of blood off his cheek. Her eyes squinted at him, waiting for him to do anything other than be his normal gentle self. y/n slid herself off the foot of their bed and walked to the closed door. Flashing images of the other room crossing her mind.

"I need to check on the kids," she huffed. While y/n knew Meg was laying wide away on the floor of Theo's room as all three children slept contently, she wanted to be away from him at a moment like this. She needed to not see his face. Alas, Tom's hand gripped her wrist tightly. The touch sizzled her skin, the tension elevated for a split second.

y/n whipped around to face him; Tom felt his patience slipping from him. "y/n, be an adult," he hissed.

Tom knew he shouldn't be talking to her like this, but he was at his wit's end. A candle burning to the final wax. He mentally fucked himself over when he got that stupid fucking call. Sir, your wife has informed us of an unidentified vehicle following her, it engraved itself into his mind. Tom remembers sitting at the desk, wondering if she was witnessing the same group, he had fucked over a few months ago. Deciding it could wait, Tom told them to keep his updated throughout the night. As if whatever god was up there decided to play a tortuous comedy routine with Tom, it did begin to progress. First, the car pulling up hours before his arrival. Then the major security breach and finally as they began shooting at his house, ready to slaughter anyone they found inside. Especially his family.

She watched his intently. Waiting for a further response and yet, nothing. Her anger was bubbling over. "I am an adult," she seethed at him, her fingers unwrapping themselves from the doorknob. "I make sure that my children are safe, I make it my life's mission to ensure that I am not the direct cause of those certain dangers I wish to keep them so far away from!"

She had ripped her hand from his grasp, this wasn't something she was backing away from. It was something she could fight and to which she intended to do until the very end.

The little monologue broke Tom's heart. How could she believe that he would do such a horrific thing? How could she blame him for the events that unfolded tonight? He wondered if she truly knew this was never his intention. That he never wanted his family to come under direct attack all because he made one dangerous decision.

“You don’t talk to me like that y/n,” He grumbled. The air seemed to thicken with every word, cause more distance between the spouses. It was never like this they fought like a normal couple but never with this much venom. “I don’t deserve such criticism, especially from you.”

“Why?” she pondered, she moved closer to him. Inching closer with every second. “Is it because you question my authority? Or maybe is it because I am some silly little schoolteacher who got trouble with the wrong kind of people," she moved closer with every word of the sentence, pushing her dangerously closer. It’s a risk she must take if she wants to feel any sort of release.

“Stop being so theatrical y/n, you endured something horrible, but that is what you signed up for when you married me,” the room climbed in temperature. Tom had half a mind to strip himself just to get closer to peace, but with y/n so close to his chest, he preferred to work on her. Tom can’t pinpoint what made his mind switch in directions. Maybe it was the ever-growing heat, or perhaps it was the indescribable feeling of almost losing your wife and mother of your children. Either way, Tom thoughts were growing darker. The need to bruise y/n’s skin seemed to be the only thing he could really think about. “You wanted this,” he grunted, closing in on her. “Sweetness, you agreed to this lifestyle as soon as you sunk your sweet cunt onto me.”

The vulgarity of his words caught her off guard. Her breath stopped halfway when her back almost slammed into the wall. She wasn’t giving in so easily, even if the heat from her body had swiftly travelled to the valley between her thighs. y/n turned her head away from him in any desperation to not look at him. Unfortunately, Tom caught her actions as if he knew her every move. His fingers pressed against her chin to bring her eyes back to him. Tom was worried for an instant that she would truly be too furious with him to play into his game. Luckily, her eyes betrayed her. The big doe eyes of her stared up at him, pleaded to be fucked like an animal. Slammed into until all of her rage had slipped from her conscious.

“Screw yourself Tom,” she coughed out. She was playing along, y/n knew exactly where this was heading. A tender kiss was placed upon her lips, while the action itself was soft, nothing about the kiss genuinely was. It was the ultimate puzzle piece for him.

"You want to speak to me like a bitch," Tom chuckled, "you'll get fucked like a bitch." He kicked the back of her knees harshly, causing her to meet with the floor. "On your knees and hands behind your back." She wanted to protest, she wanted to act out the little brat but like most things, her arms instinctively pulled themselves behind her. "Now, I sincerely hope I don't have to punish you further sweetness," Tom soothed as he swiftly undid the buckle of his jeans, discarding the items of clothing across the room. His throbbing cock hit the base of his stomach with a soft slap. y/n bit her lip in instinct, it had been a while, and did she wholly miss this glorious scene in front of her.

y/n leaned forward and dragged her tongue from the base of him until her lips met with the beads of pre-cum drenching him. Slowly but surely, she wrapped her lips around him. Letting him enjoy the wet cavern of her mouth for a short time. He threw his head back in unison with a beautifully quiet moan. Her eyes never left him, as she bobbed her head gradually. If she was on her knees unable to reach out and touch him, she would at least make it fun for her. y/n only quickened her pace if their line of focus connected. As soon as Tom stared directly into her eyes, she would start her movements but if he turned away to enjoy the moment, everything would stop. It went like this before Tom had quite enough of it all. Without uttering a single word, Tom wrangle his hands into her soft hair and thrusted right up into her mouth, hitting the back of her throat roughly. She gagged loudly, making an awful sound as she attempted to regain her position. He pulled away from her, only to slam right back into her mouth. Unlike her plan beforehand, as he face fucked her, his pace begins to speed up.

y/n was now struggling to hold back her ragged gags as small tears slid out of her eyes. "Pretty girl, all worked out from my cock in your mouth huh?" Tom teased as he relished in the sounds of her cacophony of broken breaths. Just as quickly as he began, he pulled away from her complete. He dropped out of her mouth with a small pop and a trail of saliva that landed on the tops of her breasts. "Get up," to which she happily obliged. As soon as y/n had regained her footing, Tom's hands had completely destroyed her pants. The loose skirt was now in two pieces at her feet, along with her favourite pair of panties. Unfortunately, she didn't even get a second to scold him before he spun her around and slammed her chest against the wall. The pain excited her, it coursed through her torso and down into her legs, causing them to spasm slightly.

Tom looked at her, in the soft moonlight she was glowing. Ass facing him, tits pressed up against the wall. Complete ready for him. Tom gave her a small kiss on her shoulder, this time it truly was meant to be tender but in typical Tom fashion. As soon as his lips left her skin, Tom plunged right up into her. His hand covering her surprised squeal. God did he miss this. Filling her tight pussy right up to the brim. Even after everything they had been through, she still fit him like a glove. Hugged him so perfectly, Tom was worried he was shot his load right into her at this very moment. Sadly, he pushed the thought away and began rocking into her; his hand still covered over her mouth.

y/n could feel every inch of his like this. She could feel just how hard he was ramming into her cunt. Her nails gripped onto the wall in front of her as she whimpered into the palm of his hand. With every snap of his hips, her worries seemed to really melt away. All the tension built up in her body being oiled as he parted her legs to reach a nook in her that she thought impossible. “Tommy, f—fuck, oh my god,” it was incoherent garble. Nonsense talk as her eyes rolled back into her head for a few seconds. His head found the valley of her neck, peppering light kisses a major difference to the rough pace he had adopted.

“What is it sweetness,” Tom gasped right into her ear. The hot air tickling her skin. His other hand gripped callously at her hip, bruising the delicate skin under his fingers. “Come on tell me,” Tom was struggling to keep himself in check. The pure sound of skin against skin as he fucked her ass filled the air, pushing him closer to ecstasy. His hand pulled away from her lips, an immediately low moan tumbled from her lips. y/n waited for her body to response to anything, everything thrown out the window every time his dick hit her perfect spot inside of her.

“Har—harder,” she strained through strings of vulgarities and chants of his name. Tom smirked at her, she caught it before he pulled away from her. Tom started to slow his movements, observing how she swallowed him whole every time he thrusted into her tight hole.

“You really want it harder sweetness?” Tom asked, he was just as desperate for a release as she was. y/n nodded her head furiously, words seeming to fail her at this instance. “Turn around,” he ordered, she swivelled around to face him. Her once neat hair now a mess of pleasure tugged strains. Her lids fluttering shut and her cheeks flushed. She looked like a Greek statue. Tom bent and lifted her over his shoulders, earning a tiny giggle from his huffing wife above him. He frantically sprinted over to their bed and promptly chucked her on it. The force knocking a bit of wind out of her.

In a flash of actions, her face had been pressing into the mattress and her ass high up in air. Tom gave it a light smack before lining up and pounding right into her. Both of them let out a soft line of curses. It had never been this intense in their entire relationship.

The room was silent. Nothing could be heard outside but inside was a different idea. Tom brought her hips down roughly onto him, matching his tattered speed. y/n’s breaths were muffled by the cover of the blanks, her hands desperate for anything to latch onto for support as he fucks her relentlessly. It a beautiful mixture of sounds. Nothing like the soft breaths and gasps on a normal night. While those still as amazing as now, this was pure unfiltered animalistic need. No feelings, just a fantastic way to blow off incredible tense steam. Tom usually adored staring at her as her face scrunched up in pleasure but something about how every time his cock rammed up into her, everything moved with his thrusts. It was memorising, as if a painting had been brought to life. y/n had lost track of time during this, so focused on the way he was able to stretch her so wide that she had completely forgot how long she had been lying here. She didn’t dwell on it for too long before the divine familiar feeling presented itself to her, dwelling at the pit of her stomach.

“Go faster, I’m going t—to come,” she pleaded, lifting her head up for only a moment before diving right back into her muffled screams. Tom growled at this, picking up his already forceful speed. While he tried, his thrusts became sloppy and jagged.

“Come with me sweetness,” he whispered to her, his fingered rubbing cathartic circles on her sensitive clit. The sensation on her bud rupturing another last piece of sanity in her body.

With a final thrust, both y/n and Tom came. A relief as both almost shouted out in absolute ecstasy, their juices mixing together in a beautiful sense of the terms. y/n’s toes curled as she felt it all, every little piece of tension, anger and lust all combine and explode inside of her. Tom wasn’t even the slightest but worried as he had been before this had begun. His sweaty forehead lay against her spine, as his wife attempted to catch her breath. Slowly he pulled out of her, his cum leaking out of her. A sight he would love to have burned into his vision for the rest of his life.

“Feel better?” Tom asked her as he threw himself next to her. y/n turned to face him and for the first time that night an honest grin appeared on her face. A grin given to her by whatever relief she had received moments before.

“Much,” she replied.

━━★✼☆｡

955 notes · View notes

kalimagik · 4 years

Text

Should’ve Said No

Sirius Black x Reader

Marauders Era

Based off the song “Should’ve Said No” by Taylor Swift

<3k

Warnings: Angst and mentions of cheating

A/N: I’m back with another song based fic because that’s one of the few places that I draw inspiration from. I had a three hour car ride, listened to this song on repeat a million times, so in short, this fic just wrote itself! If you enjoy it, like, reblog, comment, or follow (I think you get the gist so far!) It’s my first time writing for Sirius, so I hope you all like it! Happy Reading <3

I knew the risks that came with catching the eye of Hogwarts’ biggest playboy. I knew his reputation. I had stayed away for a decent amount of time, but the boy finally wore me down at the end of sixth year. He asked and asked. He said he was done with his play boy life. I said yes. Everyone was surprised I said yes. Hell, I was surprised that I said yes, but it was worth the risk. Sirius Black had my heart in his hands. He was careful with it too, almost delicate.

Then seventh year kicked in and so did the beginning of quidditch matches and parties. I did as much Common Room rotating for the parties as the next girl, but the one time, the one time I decided that school was more important, he wasn’t strong enough to not ruin everything. Let me go back for a minute.

Lily came up to me during lunch the other day, I think it was Tuesday or Wednesday, and sat with me at the Y/H table.

“Did you finish that Transfiguration homework Saturday?” she asked me casually, but seemed to have a little bit of a tremor in her voice.

“Yeah, Remus was a ton of help. Thank you for telling him that I needed him even though I didn’t want to ask. How was the party?” I asked, thinking nothing of it. It had been Gryffindor’s turn to host, but I wanted to get a good grade in my N.E.W.T. level transfiguration this year, so studying took precedent.

Lily grew quieter suddenly.

“That bad, huh?” I giggled, judging her reaction. “Where’s James?”

I was still so daft. So stupid to think that everything was normal. Lily’s boyfriend and my boyfriend were best friends. It brought us closer than ever and it made me happy. Sound began to fill the Great Hall as others came in for lunch.

“He’ll be along. I just wanted to talk to you,” Lily piped up again. “Are you almost done? Could we go to the loo to talk for a minute?”

“What is with you, Lil?” I was worried now. Lily was usually such a happy presence to be around, but that day, something was off. I gathered my things, following Lily to a bathroom a little ways from the Great Hall. What was she so upset over? I hoped she was alright. “Oh, look! There’s James and Sirius!”

I had started to call them over, but Lily quickly pulled me through the door of the bathroom.

“Seriously, Lily. What’s up? Did James do something? Should I warm up my wand?”

“He didn’t do anything, Y/N.” I just stared at her, mouth slightly opened. I was wracking my mind over what had potentially happened that had her acting this way

I realize now that I was so worried for her when she was just being protective over me.

She finally spoke. “I didn’t want to be the one to tell you this, but you deserve to know. He isn’t going to tell you, Y/N/N, but I like you and it isn’t fair.”

“What are you rambling on about?”

“Sirius cheated on you…” she finally blurted out. My whole body went numb. I didn’t even hear her say who it was with. I later found out it was Marlene. That was a whole other beast to deal with. We were never that close anyways, so it didn’t surprise me.

Like I said, I knew his reputation.

“Y/N/N? It was at the party. I don’t know if he was drunk or what. I wasn’t paying much attention. He begged me not to tell you and James even begged me to give him the chance to tell you. I did. It’s been nearly 5 days and he hadn’t and I couldn’t just watch him with you, acting normal. I’m sorry.”

I realized then that I hadn’t said anything yet. I stood there, staring at the sinks behind Lily. I didn’t even look at her. My gaze shifted to my face in the mirror. The color had drained from my face. I couldn’t even see any emotion in my features. I could only feel my heart shattering into a million pieces.

Then Lily asked those dreaded words. “Are you okay?” I looked at her, a blank stare still ensuing, “Oh, no. You’re mad at me. I am so sorry, really. I didn’t want to tell you all of this.”

Words finally found their way to my lips. “I’m not mad at you, Lily. I’m mad at him. I’m going back to my room. I may see you tomorrow. I don’t know.”

I bolted to the door and for the crowded halls. I didn’t want to be with anyone anymore. I heard Lily calling to me over the noise. “But, we still have classes today!”

I wasn’t going to classes. I was processing. Processing was allowed right? I just found out that my boyfriend, correction, my now ex-boyfriend, cheated on me. I would face him later, but for now, I needed time to myself.

With classes continuing, my room was completely empty. The moment the doors shut, the tears began to roll down my face. I scanned the contents next to my bed. There were those stupid flowers that Sirius had given me the previous Friday.

I stood in front of them on my night stand. I felt all the hurt and anger that had been numb explode. They burst. My hands acted on their own accord. I picked up the flowers in my hand. They were so delicate, but the anger flowed through my veins and instinct threw them against the wall. When the noise of the limp plants didn’t give me any satisfaction, I followed the flowers with the vase. The smashing sound of glass against the wall was all I needed to hear to know that I was broken inside.

I skipped my afternoon classes, falling into a heavy sleep, exhausted from the crying. It felt like a hippogriff had run me over. I got up to use the bathroom later and assess my running makeup and horrendous bed head. It was bad, but I didn’t care. I enchanted the door so that no one could come in. They’d only be able to enter when I gave permission. I just needed to be alone in this school that was now seeming all too small.

When I skipped dinner too, I knew someone was bound to come searching for me eventually. Only, I was expecting Lily or one of my roommates to knock on my door. For some reason, the idea of Sirius coming to talk to me never crossed my mind.

I heard someone attempt to push against the door as I curled up under my blankets. I felt like they would protect me from the world.

“Love? I know you’re in there,” Sirius called out to me from behind the door. “You skipped classes and dinner.”

His voice was so calm. Surely Lily told him that I knew the truth about his weekend. He should be a mess like I was right at that moment!

“Go away. I’m not feeling well,” I lied. I wasn’t ready to confront him then. I wasn’t ready to even look at him.

“Evans told me,” he sighed. I could hear his fingernails scratching against the wood. Another pause. “I know you know.”

“Then you know why I don’t really want to talk to you.” I couldn’t help but let the blunt words take the place of my gasping and sobbing. I’d rather him hear the harshness in my voice than any of the hurt.

“Y/N, darling. I will take it all back if you just give me one chance. It was a moment of weakness, love. With the party and the alcohol, it just happened. It meant nothing though.”

I had no response for him. I wasn’t going to give him that satisfaction. 45 minutes may have passed. Sirius tried to speak to me a few more times. I even heard him trying to counter the charm I used to lock the door, but he couldn’t. He had no choice but to leave.

I endured the cooing and sympathies from my roommates, but I hated it. I hated feeling like this. I hated feeling hopeless. This wasn’t my fault. I was a victim, but I’m not weak.

I couldn’t sleep all night, so I silently moved around the room and placed all of Sirius’ things in a bag. His records of the muggle music he adored, the remnants of the flowers, even the pictures of the two of us. I didn’t want them.

I marched down to breakfast with the strong intent of telling him off in front of everyone. Everybody in this bloody school knew what had happened by now. I’m sure Marlene basked in the mess she caused and would tell anyone who wanted to hear about it. So, I wasn’t going to let our break-up be ruined by rumors. I’d let everyone witness it first-hand.

I combed my hair. Redid my make-up. This didn’t hide the fact that I had been crying all day and night, but I don’t care. I needed to do this.

So now, here I am, standing outside the Great Hall. Students from all the houses are eating their breakfasts and I’m holding this bulging bag.

I feel Lily Evans’ bright green eyes on me as I walk down the length of the Gryffindor table to where she was sitting with Sirius and the other Marauders. From the short glance towards her, I can’t tell if she is scared about what I am going to do or proud. I don’t really care at this point though. I am here on a mission.

“Pads,” Remus whispers as he is the first one to see me walking towards the group (aside from Lily).

I’m carrying this bag and just thinking to myself how strange it is to think the songs we used to sing, the smiles, the flowers, and everything is just gone. His dark, piercing eyes met my own. He doesn’t look like a mess. He looks perfect like he always does. This recognition just fires the anger that has been building up inside of me all morning.

“Y/N? You’re up! Excellent!” Sirius smiles at me. He reaches out to take the bag from me as if he’s helping. “I was thinking perhaps we could have a chat this morning before classes? We could go to the courtyard.”

I examine him. He seems different to me now. He was pretending like nothing was wrong while he was in front of his friends. I can read him. I know this.

“I don’t think so, Sirius. Those are your things.” I spit out at him, pointing to the bag now in his hands. Hoping that I am wearing a blank face, I watch his fall. I know he can tell what I’m feeling through my Y/E/C eyes. He always did say that they gave me away every time.

“I told you last night though. It didn’t mean anything.”

Scoffing, I can’t stop myself from shaking my head. “No, Sirius. Yesterday I found out about you and even now just looking at you feels absolutely wrong! I heard you last night. You say that you’d take it all back given one chance. It was a moment of weakness-” My arms were flailing as I began to yell. I’ve never been capable of keeping my voice down. I know I’m loud. “And you said yes!” The words bellow out of my throat and I feel like they echo. I don’t know. I’m mad. I’m not finished either.

Sirius looks at me as if he wants to speak, so I have to cut him off quickly.

“You don’t get to talk yet.”

The silence of the Great Hall was deafening. I know that everyone is watching us. Although, I am feeling extra strong. Maybe all those girls that Sirius screwed over in the past were sending me their strength.

“I was studying the night of the party. It was the first one that I missed and you messed it all up! Here’s what should have happened.” My hand motions are taking over as the words roll off my tongue. I didn’t even plan any of this. “You should’ve said no, you should’ve gone home, you should’ve thought twice before you let it all go. This school is so damn small that you should’ve known that word about what you did with her would get back to me!”

Maybe I shouldn’t have just pointed to Marlene at that point…oh well. Put my focus back on Sirius.

“I should have been there in the back of your mind. I shouldn’t be asking myself why all of this happened. You shouldn’t be sitting outside of my room begging for forgiveness at my feet. If you would’ve said no, we would still be together. I did everything right! This is your fault!”

His eyes widened at my words. I can’t look at him anymore. I’m not eating breakfast, but it’s fine. I would be on a high from this for at least a little while. I could probably get through my morning classes. I don’t have any with Sirius, so that wouldn’t be a problem. I do have them with Remus, so that could pose an issue, but with what I am feeling right now, I can take it.

“Y/N! Wait up!” Lily’s red hair chased me from the crowded hall. Her face was lighting up everything else. “That was awesome! I mean, Sirius isn’t looking too great, but you were fantastic! I think some people wanted to applaud you on your way out.”

My high began to fade. I didn’t mean to make him feel awful. I just didn’t want to let it seem like he could walk all over me and what he did was okay. It isn’t okay! Cheating is one of the lowest things a person could do!

Lily could see the uncertainty on my face. “Was I too hard on him? Should I have done that in private?” I could feel my eyes begin to puff and redden again.

“He deserved it, Y/N/N. What he did to you wasn’t in private, so I think this is justice.” Lily smiled.

That smile quickly fell. I turned to follow her line of sight. Sirius stood there, just looking at me. He was being quick to run up to me.

“Can we please talk?”

“That’s not a good idea.”

“I said I’m sorry. It’s all in the past!” His eyes are pleading with me, but I just can’t do it. “I want to be with you, Y/N! I have wanted to be with you for the longest time. It was just a moment of weakness. If you could just give me a chance, please?”

“You hurt me, Black.” I needed to stop and cringe. I used to only call him by his last name and it felt wrong to be using it again. “You can tell I’ve been crying, just look at my eyes! I’m sure everyone can see it. And you know all the right things to say! You’ve always been good with words. That’s one of the reasons I fell for you. But do you honestly expect me to believe that we could ever be the same after this? You should’ve said no, Black.”

I turn to walk away, Lily being supportive next to me, but something is tugging on me, a question I didn’t realize I had, so I turn back to Sirius.

“I need to ask you something before I go. I can’t resist. Was it worth it? Was she worth all of this?”

Sirius hung his head. I haven’t seen him like this since he decided to leave home, and I was just a friend at that point. “No. She wasn’t.”

I nod, accepting the fact that he understands that he messed up. Maybe, in the future I can forgive him for this and even be friends, but like I said, we could never be the same. Walking away right now seems like the best option for me though. With Lily beside me, I am going to go to classes and I am going to heal and move on. I said my peace to Sirius Black. He made a mistake, but I would not be the victim of the next one.

#sirius black x reader #sirius black #marauders #young marauders #harry potter #angst #harry potter x reader #song fic #first sirius fic #kalimagik #angst fic #lily evans #james potter #remus lupin #padfoot #sirius black imagine #sirius black fic

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summoner-chan · 4 years

Text

[𝕊𝔸𝕃𝕆𝕄𝕆ℕ 𝕊ℙℝ𝕀𝕋𝔼𝕊 + 𝔼𝕏ℙℝ𝔼𝕊𝕊𝕀𝕆ℕ𝕊]

Ever since the latest opening of CHP 11 and the introduction of Mephistopheles made my brain keening with the possibility of Lil Sal or rather Salomon since he's not so little anymore, is an exact carbon copy of Mephistopheles? Thus, I began my quest of editing and drawing Mephistopheles's sprites into Salomon and remaking the expressions

It was a challenging since I wanted the expressions to show Salomon's cheery and quirky personality but still having similarities of Mephistopheles. I even made a personal AU where Summoner-chan haves Salomon AND Mephistopheles as her personal familiars and that they're also blood related, specifically being twins (and also because the thought of 6ft+ tall anthromorphic goats tag teaming on me is a very much a nice thought to think about (◡ ω ◡))

𝔼𝕏ℙℝ𝔼𝕊𝕊𝕀𝕆ℕ𝕊 (𝕎𝕀𝕋ℍ + 𝕎𝕀𝕋ℍ𝕆𝕌𝕋 𝕁𝔸ℂ𝕂𝔼𝕋)

[A/N: Please click for better quality viewing!]

As you can see, I changed my photo presentation since there's so much I want to show and having the 10 photos limit is a no-go, considering I have 17 photos in total so do expect these flashy photo collages in future time! (And I'm sorry if it seems too girlish shdjjdd I can't help but to overdo it-)

Majority of the expression making involved of cleaning and redrawing the face area hence the reason to why the expressions lack of originality, except the Crying one where it had to be included since it's a signature look from Lil Sal, one I wholly recognized and remembered a lot (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧

𝕆𝕍𝔼ℝ𝔸𝕃𝕃 𝕊ℙℝ𝕀𝕋𝔼 (𝕎𝕀𝕋ℍ+𝕎𝕀𝕋ℍ𝕆𝕌𝕋 𝕁𝔸ℂ𝕂𝔼𝕋)

[A/N: Please click for better quality viewing!]

Alright, the reason why there's a Without and With Jacket Variant is because I was indecisive- I busted my ass to erase the jacket and redraw the shoulders but redid it again with another sprite and was about to delete the Without Jacket Variant. However, looking back, I put a lot of effort into it so I kept both versions 乁( . ര ʖ̯ ര . )ㄏ

In the original plan for the With Jacket Variant, I wanted to only colour the innards of the suit and jacket blue, separating Salomon from Mephistopheles but once I thought it over, if we were to view them from behind, no one could tell them apart (other than the small details like the Infernal flame and the ring) hence I coloured the jacket to be white ←(*꒪ヮ꒪*)

In my opinion, I think I did a great job for the outfit and pretty much glad that I kept both versions (人*´∀｀)｡*ﾟ+✨

[𝕋ℍ𝔼 𝕊𝕋𝔸𝔽𝔽]

[A/N: Please click for better quality viewing!]

The staff is getting a say in here because I LITERALLY had to do it from scratch and the reference from Lil Sal's sprite only gave a directory on it's general look, giving not much any details other than very pixelated colours that screws my eyes over- I tried following the colour scheme of the staff but received a comment from my sister that the colour of the gold was too yellow.

Unfortunately, I've compiled the colour layer and line art layer already, meaning that if I want to recolour it back, I have to start all over again with the line art and I DID NOT want that, especially how I wanted to finish the sprite fast when I have the motivation to do so (｡ﾉω＼｡)💦💦 Felt satisfied with the whole look but wanted more details on it but damn am I bad at doing details-

So yeah! That's the whole thing for the post! ヾ(･ω･*)ﾉ I give my thanks to everyone who liked and reblogged this! Means very much to me that people liked my stuff (◍•ᴗ•◍)✧*❤️ I'll see everyone on the next post!! Summoner-chan, signing off!✨

#housamo #tokyo afterschool summoners #anime #furry #housamo art #furryart #housamo mephistopheles #tokyo afterschool summoners mephistopheles #housamo lil salomon #tokyo afterschool summoners lil salomon #mephistopheles #lil salomon #@summoner-chan #housamo edits #tokyo afterschool summoners edits #character sprite edit #TAS #tokyo aftersvhool summoners art

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feeling--pink · 4 years

Photo

Hello and welcome to I redid my age up designs because I wanted to and so I did!!!!!!!!!! :D

uhhhhhhhhh explanations under the cut as per usual!!! :D

Officially speaking: shoot I figured out what I forgot

Okay so whenever I’m drawing I always forget SOMETHING right? That’s just a thing people deal with??

Anyways I forgot the FRIENDSHIP BRACELETS (except for Huey)

It’s very important that they all have friendship bracelets but I drew this over such a long period of time that I completely forgot to give it to people where it would be visible (i.e. Dewey, Boyd, kinda Lena)

It was almost important enough for me to go back but oh my gosh these pictures literally took an hour and I'm not doing that again very sorry

just: they’re there!!!!!! I promise!!!! Its just.... invisible.....

skdhjfgk okay sorry onto the actual thing

In order of left to right also known as height order!

Huey

I didn't change much from my first time doing this!

Basically I gave him a dress shirt and a sweater vest :D

The key difference this time is that last time I made the undershirt red and the sweater vest burgundy!

This time I made the undershirt pink!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D

Y’all that pink Huey trend from a little while ago was my life force

I hecking love the color pink so much

Anyways!! Moving on: he’s the shortest lol

As I have said before “Older Sibling Culture is being shorter than your younger siblings (I would know)”

But!!! I do love the concept fo Tall and Stronk Huey so he is actually very strong!!!

Instead he’s Short and Stronk!!!!!

Webby and Boyd are the only one’s physically stronger than him but that’s because of spy training and literally being a robot (respectively)

But yes!!! Huey in a sweater vest and also very strong are important concepts so I did that here!!!!!

(hmmn.... sweater vest,, nerd,,, weirdly strong,,,,,,, oh no I turned Huey into Chidi Anagonye klsdfjhgkakjahs)

Webby

y’all I messed up so much on this one

literally so many times

since you’re reading this I'll let you in on a secret

that may not be that secret ksdjfhlkds

Anyways if you look closely at Webby you’ll probably see some weirdly placed lines

specifically around her face, shirt, hand, etc.

basically I messed up enough that I thinned the paper significantly from erasing (multiple, separate times)

so I had so go in and paste another layer of paper over the thinned layer kjjdkahfgs

But enough about me messing up!! what’s with this outfit?

This one’s mostly about Vibes

I wanted to give off a femme lesbian vibe but still keep that formality we see in Webby’s regular outfit!

Hopefully I achieved that!!!

This is one of the outfits I resigned completely from last time btw

The old one was fine but looks kinda weird to me now so this!!!

Oh yeah and I love long hair Webby a lot!!! So I included that!!!!

Louie

Louie is probably the one I changed the most about that still resembles the original design

Both times I gave him a button up for an undershirt

this is ‘cause I see y’all giving him suit jackets for when he’s an adult and he needs a middle stage before that

skdfjs- a middle evolution if you will jkadfhgkjhsfdka

But instead of a slip on hoodie over that I went with a zip up jacket because that’s just more practical y’know?

Also cheek tufts!!!!!

I had them last time too but I love seeing adult louie with full cheek tufts so middle evolution effect comes into play again!!!

He and Webby are pretty much the same height right now btw

If you want to get technical about it Louie’s about a millimeter taller though!

I think that’s all I have for him though!

Gosalyn

Okay so I barely changed anything from last time for Gosalyn

Mr reasoning behind her outfit is mostly that I wanted a flannel gay and Gos was the obvious choice for that

and I liked that decision so I kept with it!!!

Main differences this time include: hair and shoes

So for the original hair I wanted to give her the “bisexual haircut” and I do like Gos with short hair so I kept that!

But I was having a hard time figuring out how to draw her regular bang situation so I went with a totally different style instead!

But I have sense learned how to draw her hair from the show so I incorporated that instead!

In the original I also had her wearing shoes! I changed that this time because I forgot to give her shoes until it was too late! jksdafhg

Yeah this happens often kdsjhvfkajl (mostly with Lena)

Lena

Oh boy where to begin!

In the original my one and only goal was to make Lena look like as much of a Lesbian as possible

And I achieved that much!!!!!!

But in doing so I neglected to make it look like Lena

I mean well it looked like her but it didn’t give off her complete vibe y’know?

So instead of a Hawaiian shirt gay I made her a leather jacket gay!!! Much more Lena in my opinion! :D

I based her hair off of my interpretation of her Phantom and the Sorceress hair! (I know it looks nothing like it but thats how I draw it so???)

In the original I made her hair fade from pink to blue as well and I liked that so I kept it!!

Then I kept the blue button up undershirt!!

I thought about giving it pinstripes but I don't have a thin enough pen or pencil to pull that off so I didn't :P

Hint of her old green shoes coming from the sock color!

And then finally: stompy boots

Just to tie it all together! :D

Dewey

This man is LANKY!!!!!!!!!!

sorry I don't make the rules

Well technically I do sense I drew the thing- but thats unimportant!!!!

Dewey gets to be tall to annoy his brothers but in return he is LANKY tall

Otherwise I largely followed my original design!!

All my reasons for the original were solely based off of ✨Vibes✨

I did change a few things though!

For example: last time I gave him a 3/4 sleeve short and this time I just made them regular short sleeves

Last time I meant to give him shoes but I forgot so this time I didn't forget!! :D

Also cool socks!!

Oh and I added fingerless gloves!!!!!!!!

This is once again based solely on ✨Vibes✨

I can’t put a lot of my reasons into words but I personally think I captured the theater kid meets aspiring pilot meets best friend to super hero’s sidekicks meets adventurer vibe pretty well!!

Boyd

!! Okay I’m excited to get into this one!

In my original Boyd was the shortest because technically he can pick his own height being a robot and all

BUT for that same reason I made him tall because: he wants to be tall like Gyro

The idea that Boyd wants to be tall like Gyro is literally so cute yall

I also based his outfit largely off of Gyros!!!

That is: dress shirt, vest, bowtie, pants

But in Boyd’s color scheme! :D

I’m still working out how to Not to make Boyd look like a popcorn bucket but that’s a problem for another day!

Violet

To start off: literally nothing was changed from the original

akjfdsghkskhal I’m serious no color changes, no outfit elements, nothing

I liked the original one a lot so I just kept it and redid it for this!!

My inspiration for the original was as follows: ✨Librarian Vibes✨

And I think I achieved that with the original so I hope I achieved it here as well!!

Also Violet is TALL

She’s the tallest now and will continue to be the tallest!!!

I mean just LOOK at her dads!!!! They’re SUPER tall!!

So therefore she gets to be tall too!!!!!!!!!

And I think that’s it!! Thank you so much for reading if you got this far!!!!!!!!! :D

Have a nice day folks! :D

#huey duck #webby vanderquack #louie duck #gosalyn mallard #lena sabrewing #dewey duck #boyd gearloose #violet sabrewing #my art stuff #age up designs #uhhhhh idk what to say down here I kinda covered it all in the keep reading section #hope everyones having a nice day btw! :)

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thorne93 · 4 years

Text

The Stars Made Us (Part 12)

Prompt: In this world, you’re one of the “lucky” ones who got a soulmate, but what if the universe gives you more than you bargained for?

(Prompt challenge – You live in a world where your soulmate can write on their skin and you will get the writing on your own and vice versa. Where they can wash away the ink on their own skin, however, the writing is forever scarred onto your skin until you meet face to face)

Word Count: 2671

Warnings: angst and language throughout

Notes: This was supposed to be for @sorryimacrapwriter and their challenge like a year ago, I think? I still loved the prompt though and have been working on this story for quite some time. This aesthetic was made by @dontshootmespence, thank you so much! Beta’d by @like-a-bag-of-potatoes, couldn’t have done it without you, as well as @carryonmyswansong and @arrow-guy and @mrs-dragneel-stark-solo

Also, I’ve never really liked the whole soulmate AU thing idea, but this felt so right and it was amazing to write. I hope y’all love it too!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Y/N,” Charles started but you just glared at him before holding a finger up to silence him. Once you got it ordered you stuffed your phone back in your purse.

“Y/N, please, I didn’t mean to slip up about the move,” he tried again.

“We’ll talk about this when we aren’t on my parents front yard,” you responded with a calmed anger.

Pretty soon, an uber was there to pick you up and take you to your home. You didn’t look at Charles once and you wondered if he was reading your mind. He promised he never would, but you two hadn’t argued like this before.

Your luggage was set down and you were well prepared to just start boxing up what you could when Charles spoke again.

“Please talk to me. You said we would talk about it later,” he begged.

You slammed the books that you’d pulled off your shelf on the table. “I asked you to do one thing! One thing! They were already upset. We could’ve salvaged it. But you had to open your big mouth.”

“It wasn’t on purpose! Besides, maybe if you had told your parents where you were and that we were coming it wouldn’t have been such a bomb to drop on them,” he countered.

“This is somehow my fault now?”

“No it’s not your fa--”

“It’s somehow my fault that you decided to throw the world’s biggest pity party and completely eradicate me from your life.”

“I didn’t eradicate you, I thought about you every day,” he argued through clenched teeth.

“What a nice sentiment,” you hissed. “Did me a lot of good while I worried day and night if you were dead or alive!”

Charles put his fingertips on his head before taking a deep breath. “Fine. You’re right. This isn’t your fault. Not alone anyway. I should’ve never cut you out the way I did, and you should’ve told your parents where you were and that we’d sorted our troubles out. Otherwise I look like the bad guy who fooled their daughter into loving him.”

You wanted to argue. You were so mad. At Charles for what he did, for what he said, and at your parents for not just listening to you. Why didn’t they just trust you? You sighed internally. Because they didn’t know him like you did. Sure, you could explain all of his powers, all of the troubles he faced, all of the loss he’s had but couldn’t they just trust you? Charles didn’t need to be exposed and exploited like that just so your parents would understand he’d never do anything like that again.

But you knew that he was right. Maybe if you’d called a month ago and explained everything, or at least told them he had a really rough year, they’d be more supportive of this. But as it stood, they only saw a man that hurt you deeply, and that you were perhaps too young or too love struck to see that he was really a charlatan, someone not to be trusted. Someone who would hurt you again.

Like your dad said, this wasn’t some silly high school break up. You’d put all romance on hold, saving everything for Charles, the day you’d finally meet. He was your boyfriend, your longstanding love. So when he stopped responding, it was almost as bad as a divorce. A once integral part of your day had disappeared without a trace and no way for you to know why or how it had happened.

But now he had no way to close you out. It would all be different now. If only you could make them understand.

With that, hot tears streamed down your face and Charles rushed to envelope you in his arms. “There, there. It’ll all be alright,” he assured.

You started to pull away. “I have packing to do,” you said through the lump in your throat.

He tugged you back against him. “No, you don’t. You have to meet with your landlord and the realtor tomorrow. I’ll get this all boxed up for you while you’re gone. But right now you’re upset. I am sorry for what I said, truly. It was a stupid mistake. As far as your parents, we’ll get them to come around. You’re they’re only daughter. They love you and they’ll understand in time that things happen in relationships.”

“You sure?” you asked, pressing your face into his shoulder.

“I’m positive,” he insisted, rubbing your back. “Why don’t you give me a grand tour to take your mind off things?”

You nodded, stepping away to wipe your nose and face. “Well, this is the kitchen,” you said, walking into the open area behind the counter. “Not much to see except a mixer. I’ve got a truck load of pots, pans, molds, and baking supplies though,” you said as you walked to the pantry. When you opened the doors you heard Charles gasp.

“That is a hell of a lot of kitchen utensils. I’m not sure we’ve got the room.”

You smiled. “I’ll make room.”

“This is your...office, I suppose?” he asked, gesturing to the dining area. The dining area was actually just a small breakfast table next to a large built in book case. The table was littered with books and notebooks. “I took you to be a lot more organized than this,” he tsked.

“Oh, well excuse me for not having maids,” you retorted, making a sour face.

He laughed. “Touchy, touchy. And the bedroom?”

“Are you trying to be clever?” you asked with a cocked brow.

“No, but if it’s working, I’m certainly happy to be of service.”

You rolled your eyes. “It’s not. Let me show you the bathroom. I redid it myself,” you boasted, taking his hand and leading him all around. You showed him every room, and he often asked about unique items you had. You showed up your patio and yard, sharing times you’d sat out there for hours sending him text messages. Every room, every foot was a memory soaked in Charles’s presence, whether he knew it or not.

By the end of the evening, you two had fallen asleep in each other’s arms on top of the blankets in your room -- soon to be your old room.

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

You stirred when the sun hit your eyes. You forgot to draw the shades closed last night. When you began to move, it woke Charles who groaned in the most adorable way.

“Good morning,” you greeted in a warm voice.

“Mmm, morning.” He rolled and kissed your head. “You ready for your day?”

“I will be after six more hours of sleep,” you moaned, rolling into him. How magically blissful it was to wake up next to him.

He chuckled. “I guess we should start the day,” he suggested, reluctance in his voice.

“You’re right.” And so the two of you got up, you grabbed a shower and Charles got dressed. While you were getting ready, you went over the plan for the day. “Okay, so I’m going to meet with the realtor, then I have to go meet my landlord -- shoot that reminds me I need to grab some boxes to box up my office. I’ll have to run and do that too.”

“And while you’re gone, I’ll box up the house,” he noted.

“Thanks.”

“Any preference? Would you like all fragile things in one box, or how do you like it?”

“However you think is best. I think I'd prefer to keep all the stuff organized by room.”

“I’ll try my best,” he offered and you smiled at him in the mirror as you curled your hair and he began to brush his teeth.

Once you two were all ready, you began your day. Charles started in the room you had the least amount of stuff in - the dining room. It was a dining table and a small chest filled with recipe books. You met with your landlord first for the office. You gave him the date you’d be gone and you two revised the lease agreement. Your lease wasn’t up for another few months but because you’d been a great tenant, he decided to let you close the agreement for the end of the month.

After that, your stop was the realtor’s and she said she needed to come see your home.

When you got home, Charles had only gotten one room completely packed and had started on the living room.

“Ugh,” you groaned. “I really need to go through all this stuff. I’d hate to pack it, just to find out I need to throw it away when it gets there.”

“We can always go through everything together,” he suggested.

“Actually, we need to clean. The realtor is coming over to give me a loose appraisal,” you sighed. “Guess we should order pizza and get started. I’ll start throwing stuff out tomorrow,” you conceded.

Charles nodded and you two began cleaning the kitchen like crazy.

The night drug on, and around 11 pm, you finally called it quits. You’d scrubbed, brushed, dusted, mopped two rooms. The rest would have to wait until the morning.

So it did.

The next morning, you spent all day cleaning until the realtor arrived at 5, did a thorough walkthrough, showed you comparable homes in the area, then discussed how she worked. Once you agreed on a list price and her commission, she said she’d get the papers to you tomorrow. At that point, you began to go through old files in your office and books. You were surprised at how much you actually threw away.

The next day, the realtor and your landlord had their paperwork ready to be signed. You headed into the city to sign the documents and box up your office.

Shortly after you left though, Charles had a thought. He ordered an uber and took it all the way to your parents house.

When he arrived, he wasn’t entirely sure what he’d say. He had planned part of it, he’d been thinking about what to say ever since your parents had shown their disapproval. He’d practiced several speeches, gone over many mock conversations in his head, but now that he stood on the doorstep, he wasn’t sure anything he said would be right, or if he should even be here.

He wondered that too -- if he was overstepping a boundary, talking to your parents when you hadn’t asked him to, but he knew how close you were to them and he didn’t want to see that end just because the two of you were in love. He felt he had a duty to try and mend things, make them understand if he could.

He took a deep breath and knocked on the door. When they answered, they weren’t overly hateful or cruel, but they weren’t exactly thrilled either.

“Charles?” your mother, Tracy, greeted. “Where’s Y/N?” she asked, poking her head out a bit to peer around.

“She’s not here, Mrs. Y/L/N, it’s just me. I was wondering if we could talk?” he inquired. He desperately wanted to use his powers but invading your parents privacy like that to gain an edge in this dispute felt wrong on many levels. No, he needed to fight this battle fair and square.

Tracy eyed him up and down curiously before glancing to her husband, Frank. He bobbed his head side to side, falling into submission. She nodded and opened the door wider and stepped back to let Charles in.

“So where is Y/N?” Frank asked, crossing his arms.

“She’s signing papers. Putting the house up for sale and releasing her office.”

“Ah,” Frank said, nodding his head in disbelief. “So why are you here?”

“If I may,” he offered, gesturing to the living room. The two of them nodded before leading him to the sitting area. He sat on the chair and they sat adjacent to him on the couch. “I...love your daughter. I know what I did was...awful. To be honest, I haven’t forgiven myself for how I treated her. She didn’t deserve that, at all.”

“No, she didn’t,” Frank agreed quickly and harshly.

“I lost a dear friend. A girl I grew up with. She’s really like a sister to me, she was raised with me, my parents took her in when she had nowhere to go. She and I had an argument, a rather nasty fight, and she left with another man I called friend. I haven’t heard from them in over a year. On top of that, I started a school for special children, at my home. I completely renovated it to function as a school and boarding home. Only, after a semester I was met with so many threats and opposition, I had to close down the school, for the safe and sake of the children.”

Your parents shifted uncomfortably as they listened.

“On top of this, I was paralyzed. The friend that took my sister away… he accidentally shot me in the back, and left me paralyzed. I was only able to cope with the pain through a strong drug a very dear friend of mine created -- he’s a scientist, you see. He’s an engineer, a biochemist, he can do anything. He created a serum that helped me to walk and not feel pain, but my other… motor functions weren’t as good, my mind would be a bit foggy. So I could either be in pain, but have mental clarity, or numb it, as best I could. I chose to numb it, to numb out everything I’d lost. I have other friends who were lost to tragic accidents. I’m not asking you to give me an excuse. I don’t deserve one. Y/N deserved the truth. I should’ve told her that I was in a dark place and that it would be best if we didn’t talk. Honestly, sometimes I think if I’d just reached out to her, she would have saved me from myself, but I didn’t. I reclused into myself. I was a very, very depressed person and didn’t want to bring her down with me. I supposed that when I got better, I’d contact her and tell her everything… but I never got better. As time went on and I didn’t hear from my sister or my friend, I just got worse. I sunk into a hole that was...very hard to get out of.”

“That’s all very sad,” Tracy offered, “but you hurt our daughter very deeply.”

“I know,” he agreed softly. “I just want you to know it wasn’t intentional.”

“Intentional or not,” Frank began, “she reached out several times. She showed us she did, and you couldn’t even send her a message back.”

All he could do was shrug. “As I said, I was in a dark place. However, I was also in a place to do it. She didn’t know my name, who I was, or how to contact me other than by text or email. It was easy to keep her away, to keep her at bay. But now, she knows me, I know her, and I can’t imagine life without her. I will do everything I can to make her as happy as she can possibly be,” he vowed.

Tracy and Frank glanced at each other.

“I don’t want Y/N to get hurt, but as long as she’ll have me, I’ll be there for her, by her side. It’s where I belong. The universe put us together for a reason,” he pleaded.

However, they remained silent. Steadfast in their opposition of the relationship.

“Just… something to think about. I’ll leave you to it. I’m sorry to interrupt your day,” he softly apologized as he stood. Tracy nodded and stood to show him to the door while Frank seemed to stare into nothingness.

Charles had no idea if his words had any affect on them. He could have probed their mind but he felt that violated too much of their privacy. He wanted to do this the honorable way.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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#the star made us #charles xavier x reader #charles xavier fic #charles xavier #stephen strange #stephen strange x reader #stephen strange fic

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ofstoriesandstardust · 4 years

Text

How the Boys Would React to You...

Running Up, Hugging Them and Crying

a/n: this was inspired from @coffeeaddictedauthor so please go show her some love! i’m also thinking about turning this into a series so please let me know! I also recently redid my blog so give me your thoughts!

masterlist | prompt list

warnings: none

Harry:

Harry was just leaving the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom with Ron and Hermione when you walked up to him with tears in your eyes. You flung your stuff down and ran, giving him a tight hug. He held on to you as students passed you on their way to the Great Hall. He held on to you just as tightly as you did him, trying to communicate what he didn’t want to quite share yet. He would be here for you, and always make sure you felt loved and safe in his arms and he would go to the ends of the Earth to fight for you and make sure your smile returned. For now though, he would hold you for as long as you needed.

Draco:

You would come up to while he was in the Slytherin common room. Although his friends were watching, along with quite a few nosy first years, as soon as he realized you were hurting, the only thing that mattered to him was making you feel better. Draco isn’t one for affection so he holds you closely, making sure you know he’s there. He holds you for a few minutes, allowing you to just feel safe in his arms. “Whenever you’re ready darling.” He mutters into the crook of your neck.

Ron:

You and Ron had only been dating for a few months and were still going through an awkard phase of figuring out PDA and what you were both comfortable with. However, as you ran up to him in the crowded common room, the only that mattered was the fact that you were crying and you needed him. As you reached him, you pulled him in for a hug, depserate for his comfort. He reached a hand across your waist and one on your back, moving his thumb ever so slowly. “I’m here.” He’d whisper over and over until you pulled away, ready to let him in.

Fred:

Fred would be off somewhere in a crowded hallway with Lee and George, selling and testing new Weasley Wizard Wheeze products. Suddenly George was nudging him, as you rushed through the hallway trying to brush tears out of your eyes. He side-stepped a few students and grabbed your arm, pulling you into a hug. You immediately repsonded by wrapping your arms around his neck. He held an arm around your waist to keep you close and another hand placed on the back of your neck to help you feel supported and loved. You two stood there for who knows how long in that same hallway, in the same position until your hurt had subsided and your heart a little less heavy.

George:

George had come searching for you while everyone was at lunch that day. You hadn’t come to breakfast nor had you shown at classes, which is so abnormal for you that George was immediately concerned. Thus, he had set off in his search to find you, wherever you were hiding. He pushed the door of your dorm room open, unsure of what he was going to find. What he hadn’t expected was to see you sitting on your bed, eyes bloodshot, gripping a letter in your hands. You turned at the sound of the door opening and ran to him, tears already dripping down your face again. He pulled you close, whispering sweet nothings in your ear and drawing small designs at the nape of your neck. Whatever contents that letter held that had caused you to become so upset could wait. All that mattered was making sure that you did not feel alone in this moment.

Cedric:

One moment Cedric was chatting with his friends in the courtyard during his free period and the next, he was holding you as you sobbed into his shoulder. One hand held you close to his chest, the other holding your hands as he drew small circles into your palm with his thumb. “Shh, darling... it’s gonna be alright. I promise” Whatever you needed, he’d be there. And if that meant spending the whole day holding you like this, he’d do whatever he could to follow through on that promise. He’d make it be alright again, he had to.

Neville:

Neville was incredibly shy, you knew this when you started dating him. He would never make a move to show you physical affection unless it was initiated by you. Which is why when you came up to him crying, he was hesitant to return your hug. He wasn’t particularly good with emotions and he wasn’t sure how to help you. But his want to comfort you when you had clearly chosen him to turn to overrode his hesitiation and anxiety. He slowly wrapped his arms around you, pulling you close to his chest. He’d press soft kisses to your temple until you felt comfortable enough to share what had caused the smile to fall from your face. Until then, he’d make sure you knew he would take care of you, whatever you needed.

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feverinfeveroutfic · 3 years

Text

chapter seven: off to the races

“my old man is a bad man, but i can't deny the way he holds my hand and he grabs me, he has me by my heart. he doesn't mind i have a las vegas past; he doesn't mind i have a l.a. crass way about me; he loves me, with every beat of his cocaine heart.” -”off to the races”, lana del rey

She couldn't hardly shake the taste of Cliff's lips from her own for the whole rest of the day, nor could she rid the feeling of that bristling hair over his lip. Even after he had left her apartment, Sam kept on bringing a hand to her mouth to make sure it had actually happened. Even with the sips of coffee shortly thereafter, she could still taste him. She could smell him. She could feel him.

His essence followed her even when she strode into the neighborhood to pick up some things for breakfast and for the next week. It was official: she had a boyfriend. Or perhaps he wasn't. But if he kissed her, then surely that would mean boyfriend status. However, he never went any further than that kiss. He never said anything other than that last thing and thus the whole thing left her wanting more from him.

Even when she returned home, she considered calling him up and asking a little more from him. But then again, he was going to be in New York for the next day or so: she could wait on the call to him for at least a few days. With nothing else to do, and Anthrax having gone out of town, Sam was alone for the whole entire day with nothing more than her art journal and her own imagination. She wondered if she see those photographs from Aurora at some point as she doodled up a quick drawing of Charlie and Marla together. She tried to recall the direction of the sun on their heads as she sketched down Marla's hair.

Brighter orange, almost pale yellow, in the direction of the sun. Deeper, richer orange and scarlet on the underside. Of course there was the deeper shade of violet and royal blue for the streaks. She couldn't completely recall which way the sun was pointed at their backs all the while.

Then there was that boy Alex. The boy with the small stripe of gray in his hair. He was so elusive and so far away from her that she couldn't hardly tell if he was even a real boy. He felt more of a dream to her than the dreams she had had of Cliff. But there was that drawing she had started in that first journal.

She needed to fetch that journal from Frank's apartment, but she knew he had locked the door prior to leaving. If only there was a way inside because it felt like an itch she couldn't exactly scratch. If she redid it on another piece of paper, it wouldn't have the same look as the initial drawing. It was something that simply couldn't be repeated. She needed it at her finger tips: she needed to see him.

But first things first: this drawing of Charlie and Marla right in front of her, in all of their bright colors under the bath of sunlight. She pressed on with it even when the sun began to shine through her bedroom window, directly above her in a single column through the glass.

Sam stood to her feet and lifted the base of the window pane off of the sill, and she was greeted by the softest of spring breezes on her face. The air smelled sweeter in the wake of that kiss. She returned to her seat and the drawing in front of her. The glints of gold in Charlie's curls made her think of that gray stripe again.

Boys with stripes and different colors in their hair. They seemed so odd and yet she wanted more of them for herself. To know more of them. To connect with them.

But then there was Joey. The boy whom she owed a drawing to, something beyond those markings on his hands. She needed to go above and beyond with him.

So much to do and yet it felt as though she had hardly any time to do it. A whole month before things picked up again with the side of attending the short tour with Stormtroopers of Death, and it felt so short even when she thought about it.

Careful not to give it too much of a shadow, she lightly ran the dark burnt umber pencil all around both of Charlie's eyes. She had made his face a little too full near his chin and thus, she ran a bit more of the dark brown to slim him down and add a bit more shadow. He stared back at her from the paper, and even though she couldn't add too much of a glimmer to them, she did leave a tiny white speck in his pupils for just that tiniest bit of gloss against the soft sheet of bright sunshine behind them. She did the same for Marla's eyes as well. It almost looked as though she wore eyeliner but at least she wasn't about to turn into the school for the sake of getting in.

This was nothing more than her desire to draw a couple of friends who had become like her muses of sorts. Sam looked on at them for one last glance over before she signed her initials at the bottom of the page. The shape of Charlie's round jawline hovered around the real thing, as did the full tip of his nose and the bow in his lips. A soft glow from the sun lined the crown of his head. Meanwhile, Marla was as orange as a sunrise following a heavy storm.

She then nodded her head and she signed her initials right over Marla's shoulder.

She sighed through her nose. That other journal was downstairs and she needed to get it out of Frank's apartment. Indeed, she rubbed both of her temples with her fingertips. It was like an itch she couldn't exactly scratch. But she needed it to finish that drawing, to finish that thought, to finish the man of her dreams.

Sam climbed to her feet and she made her way over to her bedroom doorway, but then she hesitated there with her hands on the edges of the door frame. It was such a long shot and one contingent on mere chance. The chance that Frank left his place unlocked and it felt so unlikely and out of reach.

She fetched up a sigh and pressed on to the front door. That journal was needed more than anything.

Sam headed out of her place and she made her way down the stairs. She caught Emile's crown of black hair atop his head once she was halfway down.

“Emile!” she called out.

He turned his head: she could only make out the shape of his nose and his chin.

“Emile!” she called out again, and that time, she pressed on down the stairs to the landing. She moved quick enough to catch him before he did anything more. He turned around all the way and greeted her with a friendly smile.

“Miss Shelley! What's happenin'?”

“I—left something in Frank's apartment the other day,” she explained at a careful pace as she chose her words. “Like, right before he left for their tour.”

“And—what's that got to do with me?” Emile slipped a little keyring into his jeans pocket.

“Well, I figure since you're the landlord, I thought maybe you have the keys to all the rooms in this building.”

“I do, actually.” He paused for a moment. “You want me to break you into Frank's apartment,” he said in a flat tone.

“If it's not too much trouble,” she said as she shrugged of the shoulders.

“Well, I was headed out just now and I'm kinda runnin' late,” he admitted, “but if it's something that belongs to you, and it's just gonna quick—”

“It'll only take me a few seconds,” she interjected with a shake of her head.

“—I'd be happy to get ya in, though,” he finished, nonplussed. Sam brought a hand to her chest and breathed out a sigh of relief.

“Oh, thank you, Emile!”

“I just have to fetch the big keyring,” he continued with a raise of his finger. She watched him double back into his apartment for a few seconds. She didn't want him to be late, but at the same time, she could feel herself wanting to scratch that proverbial itch some more. Every second felt like a whole minute with him in there. But within time, he returned with a big silvery keyring loaded with a myriad of keys. He left the door ajar as he led her back down the corridor to Frank's apartment: prior to reaching the front door, Emile shuffled through the keys to ensure it was the right one. Sam held still behind him: she could hear the low, nondescript sounds of the pipes in the wall next to her as well as the low drone of someone's air conditioner running nearby. It was a nice day and yet one of her neighbors was running their air.

It was right there she felt a little more thankful for Emile and his helping hand.

Indeed, he stood before Frank's front door and unlocked it for her. He let the door swing open and then he held a hand out as a signal for her to go on inside. Sam wasted no time going inside, although she could feel him watching her as she made her way over to the couch: it felt so intrusive not hearing Frank's voice or feeling his presence there in the apartment. Careful not to bring too much attention to herself, she knelt down before the cushion on the far right side and she lifted it up. The journal remained there atop that smooth mesh covering.

She swiped off of there and she set the cushion back down in place. She was quick to return to Emile, who had turned away a bit to give her some privacy: he turned in her direction and showed her a smile.

“D'you find it?” he asked her.

“Yes!” she told him as she tucked the journal under her arm. “And thank you so much, Emile.” Sam stepped out of the apartment and shut the door behind her, and Emile was quick to lock the door.

“Oh, y'know I'm more than happy to help,” he admitted as he tucked the keys back into his jeans pocket.

“Sometimes I can't go for very long without my journal,” she confessed as they returned down the corridor towards his apartment.

“I feel ya on that,” he replied, “I'm havin' to finalize my divorce as quick as possible and it kinda blows.”

“Aw!” Sam showed him a sympathetic look and he nodded his head at that.

“But I'll catch ya later, though, Miss,” he told her, “don't stay up too late.”

“You, too, Emile.” He pressed onward to the front door. Sam watched him go, right outside to the bright afternoon sunlight as it shone down on his jet black hair, and then she glanced down at the journal in her hands. She held it to her chest for a moment before she returned upstairs to check on that unfinished drawing.

There he was.

It was definitely Cliff now that she had a second glimpse at it: those deep set eyes and those prominent features that poked out at her from the nothing. It was just her memory playing around with the vision of the dream. The blank space upon the crown of his head was pure white but it made sense: she needed to see his hair for herself.

She set the drawing of Charlie and Marla atop her dresser, and she lay the journal upon her desk so she could finish the drawing. No colored pencils this time around, just mere soft, dark graphite. He gazed back at her as the graphite took on the shape of his face and the crown of dark hair upon his head. He gazed back at her with fear laden inside of his eyes.

His fingers fanned out from his hand like the legs of a spider.

Someone had pushed him down to the ground and he needed a bit of help climbing back up to his feet.

At one point, she paused with her hand over the paper so she could look deep into his eyes. Something didn't feel right, and she had no idea how to describe it. Was it the way in which she drew his hand? Or the way his hair was shaped? Or perhaps he was missing something, like his hat.

That was it!

Careful not to smear the graphite, she sketched out the wide, dark brim of his hat right next to him. She then followed it up with the round shape of the crown as it rested on the ground upside down. Her memory was foggy as to whatever else resided within the dream, and in fact there was a lot of it she couldn't fully recall anymore now that it had long passed, but she still could feel and see the grand scheme of it as it were in her mind.

At one point, she held back for a good long look at the drawing and she let out a low whistle. She wondered if she let this original journal to the admissions office, would she have made her way into the school regardless of all else. All of the drawings she had made in this journal were from deep within her. They needed protecting from everything in the world.

Sam closed her eyes and she rested her hands flat on the desk in front of her. There was something in there, something that needed no explanation, something that needed a release.

The phone rang right then, and it jarred her eyes open. It rang again and she climbed to her feet without closing the journal first. She skidded into the next room; she nearly dropped the phone itself on the floor upon answering.

“Hello?” she said as she tucked a lock of dark hair behind her ear.

“Sam Shelley?” She recognized that voice.

“This is her,” she replied.

“I'm Bill, from the admissions office. I was just calling to say that the next step following admissions itself is to sign up for classes this coming fall and the sooner, the better.”

“Oh, excellent!” Sam could hardly contain her excitement.

“Would you be willing to come in again on Friday?” he offered her. “Friday at three? It's the only slot I have open.”

“I'd be happy to,” she replied with a smile on her face.

“I'll just sign you up for a spot on here—” The sound of papers rustling caught her ear and she closed her eye at it. That became a sound associated with all that was good in the world.

“So I can just swing by the school and you can do that for me with me?” she asked him.

“Yup, just be here by three and I'll walk you right through it,” he answered her as silence fell right behind him. “The spring term has already started so in order to get it in for the fall, it's imperative you be here soon.”

“Okay! I'll write it down to remind myself.” Her face began to ache from smiling so hard. “Thank you, Bill.”

“You're very welcome, Miss Shelley!” he replied. “You have a good rest of your day.”

They hung up in unison, and Sam leaned her back against the wall and fetched up a sigh. It was really happening. It was all about to happen for real for her.

She peered to her right to the kitchen window. It was a lovely day outside, and one that didn't warrant staying inside under the whir of the air conditioner. Add to this, she hadn't really gotten to know the neighborhood all too well given everything that had happened to her so far.

Sam doubled back to her bedroom to fetch her shoes and her sunglasses. She headed outside to the bright afternoon sunshine and the whiffs of blossoms from the nearby trees. She put on her sunglasses and she headed towards the sidewalk with her hands tucked into her pocket: she figured it would be best to have left her purse at home and thus she could feel her house key against her fingertips. The soft breeze kissed the crown of her head as she peered up at the New York skyline in front of her. The trees that lined the street were lush and green with life.

She reached the corner when a shiny brand new black car rolled up next to her: it pulled up right behind her and she staggered back a bit to give him some room. Confused, she peered over her shoulder, and she beheld the sight of those thick black curls upon his head and those dark lenses over his face. He showed her a pretty wave and she stopped right in her tracks on the sidewalk. She bowed down a bit to come eye to eye with him.

“Hey, what're you doing here?” she asked Joey. “I thought you guys were on tour!”

“Yeah, we still are!” he replied. “But we got a couple'a days off so I was able to get this car here and show it to ya.” He yanked on the parking lever and he switched it off. Joey climbed out of the front seat and he showed her a big lopsided smile. Sam lifted her sunglasses for a better look at it: she noticed the black paint was actually a rich deep cherry red color that melted away into blackness depending on where the sunlight hit it.

“Brand new?” she asked him as he sidled up next to her.

“Brand new, my dear,” he announced with a gesture to it. She glanced up at him as she lowered her sunglasses back over her face. “Bought it yesterday after our gig down in Philadelphia. I was able to get it fer a reasonable price and everything. It wasn't really a lot of money but it was sump'n, though.”

“Every penny counts,” she pointed out.

“Exactly!” His face lit up at the sound of that. “By the way—since we've got another day off before our next stop here in the City, what're you doin' right now?”

“Well, I was just taking a walk,” she replied, and then she stopped right in her tracks. “Why? You wanna do something with me?”

“I owe you a trip upstate,” he stated. “To Poughkeepsie and also out to Syracuse.”

“You wanna take me all the way out to Syracuse?” She gaped at him, to which he shrugged his shoulders.

“Again, if you're not really doing anything more than your li'l walkie here,” he repeated.

“I don't have my purse with me right now,” she pointed out.

“That's okay—it's not like we'll be livin' the jetset life after all,” he said. “If we want sump'n on the way out, I'll care for it. I've got a bit of money finally. Not much but it's sump'n, though. C'mon, we'll have fun! It'll just be you and me.”

Sam nodded her head and she reached out for the passenger door handle. She climbed into the front seat there and she was greeted by that new car smell: the fresh, pristine deep red leather underneath her and the soft felt upon the floor beneath her feet. She fondled the arm rest under her left arm as Joey climbed into the seat next to her.

Sam peered over her shoulder to the small back space behind her: nothing more than a little strip of carpet which extended back to the hatch.

“No back seat,” she remarked.

“Don't really need a back seat,” he pointed out as he held onto the key.

“What if you have kids, though?” she teased him.

“I ain't gonna have kids, Sam—gonna tell you that right now. I'm too bone broke and I worry 'bout fucking them up with my nonsense, too. I've always felt better with animals anyway.”

She nodded her head at that.

“Me, too,” she replied. “Come to think of it, I'd rather care for a dog or a cat myself.”

“A dog, a cat, or a horse,” he pointed out as the car quietly returned to life.

“A horse?”

“A horse, a horse, of course, of course.” That brought a laugh out of her. They rolled forward to the corner and Joey hung a right down the side street there.

Soon, they reached the freeway which was to take them back upstate, towards Poughkeepsie. They passed that spot where his old car ignited as though it was something that couldn't hurt them anymore.

“So what's your next show, you said?” she asked him at one point.

“Down in the City,” he answered as he merged lanes towards the center divider. “It'll be the first of two nights, too.”

“I should see you guys play,” she remarked as she folded her hands across her lap.

“You totally should! I think Marla, Aurora, and Zelda are all comin', too—you ought to join us. It'll be a full on party.”

“Aurora never told me about it, though,” she pointed out.

“Probably hasn't been able to,” he suggested. “She works real hard for us and for Jon, too—more diligent than me, if you can believe it. She's just totally relentless with it all.”

They fell back into silence for a brief moment before Sam spoke up again.

“Are Metallica gonna be there?” she asked him.

“No idea to be honest,” he confessed. They rounded a slight curve in the freeway and Sam made sight of a stretch of the Hudson River next to the pavement. Those cold blue waters swirled in cool silence next to them. She noticed the low hills looming all around them, the thick lush trees that made up the wilderness shielded them from the bright afternoon sun. The car was silent, even as the pavement roared underneath them and the air conditioner had a bit of a noisy fan. She nibbled on her bottom lip and she recalled the taste of Cliff on her skin.

She hadn't told a soul about what had happened that morning, and Emile gave her all the privacy one could ask for. But it was something that she needed to share with someone, especially given Metallica were so close to them. Sam leaned closer to him.

“Please don't tell anyone this,” she begged him in a low enough voice for him to hear, and he moved in closer to her.

“What's that?”

She swallowed.

“It's kind of important,” she added.

“What is it?” Joey knitted his eyebrows together and bowed his head forward so he could better hear her. Sam shifted her weight. She hadn't even told Aurora and Marla about the moment in her apartment, and now the words had already left her lips with Joey. At one point, he gazed on at her with intent: those big brown eyes swallowed her whole, like a pair of big black holes gaping back at her. She nibbled on her bottom lip.

“Cliff—kissed me,” she said in the softest whisper. Joey froze and then he raised those eyebrows into his bangs.

“He kissed you?” he asked her with a bit of a break in his voice. She brought a finger to her lips.

“He kissed you,” he repeated in a hushed whisper.

“Yes,” she answered with a nod of her head.

“How'd he kiss you?”

“He—kissed me. He leaned in and put his lips onto my own.”

“Wow,” was all Joey could say right then.

“Yeah. I haven't told anyone about it, either.”

“Until now,” he said.

“Until now.”

“So I oughta consider myself lucky then.”

“Absolutely!” A rush of blood swarmed to her head and she could feel the warmth as it bloomed across her face.

“You know why else we should consider ourselves lucky?” he asked her in a broken voice.

“What's that?”

Joey gestured out of the windshield: she followed his gaze and she made out the sight of the low city skyline nestled in a small shallow bowl of a valley before them.

“The city by the river, my dearest Sam,” he declared. “I hope we get to record a record up here at some point.”

“Just go out to the wilderness here and play down by the river,” she followed along as she nudged her sunglasses up the bridge of her nose.

“I kinda wanna show you Syracuse now,” he confessed as he merged lanes again. “That's just a straight shot that away.” He pointed off to his left.

“Let's do it,” she quipped.

“You wanna?”

“Yeah!”

They neared Poughkeepsie but Joey was quick to take the next exit onto the road to Syracuse. Everything was green and lush as they crossed the river: Sam peered out the windshield at the sight of the low dark mountains right outside of town.

“The Catskills, my dearest one,” he declared. “The infamous Catskills.”

It would be another few hours before they made sight of signs that guided them to Syracuse All the way there, Sam kept her eyes on all the lush greenery around them. She did not miss California in the least right then: she didn't even want to leave New York, either. It was all so quiet and so serene, and yet so chilling at the same time. A quiet place for nothing more and no one else than her and Joey. A quiet place within the quiet place.

At one point, she rolled down the window and she slipped her fingers out to feel the cool wind on her skin.

She knew the lake had to be near there: things were cooling off and dampening up with the setting sun in front of them. The shadows of the trees on the other side of the road stretched over them like a tapestry of dark splatter paint. It all felt so alien and yet so exciting: a place she needed to be at and a place she needed to be in forever.

They rounded a slight corner in the road and Joey held out his hand before him.

“Welcome to Syracuse!” he declared. Off in the distance, she made out the small sliver of blue that was Lake Ontario; but in front of them stood the short skyline: somewhere in there stood that inner city donut Joey had talked about before.

“So this is home,” she said as the road widened out and Joey moved the visor over his head to protect himself from the low hanging sun.

“This is my home,” he replied with that lopsided grin on his face. “I grew up 'round here and all my friends are either from here or 'Swaygo, where I was born. It's about an hour from here. I don't really wanna go that far out, though. Y'know, 'cause it's gonna be dark soon and neither of us have much money and whatnot.”

“I'm starting to get hungry, too,” she confessed.

“Yeah, I am, too. There's a place my old hockey team and I used to go to, up in the north side of town. It's not too far from a lake itself.”

He led them into that donut shape of freeway near the inside of town. The buildings rose high over their heads, while off to the left, in the heart of town, there wasn't much to be seen. A hole in the earth.

Meanwhile, the pavement needed a bit of polishing up given every time they rolled over a small dent in the road, they bounced in their seats a bit.

“Easy now,” she muttered as she held onto the bar over her head.

“Yeah, that's kinda the only drawback with this beastie,” he said as he adjusted his fingers on the rim of the steering wheel. “It's kind of a bitch to go over the smallest of bumps, especially out here where they seem to be all over the streets.”

They rounded the hole in the city, and the setting sun shone upon the side of his face: even from the side, Sam thought Joey resembled to a dark Indian chief right there in the seat next to her. All he needed was a war bonnet to crown his head.

Within time they reached North Syracuse, a cozier, more buttoned down part of the city and one that indeed, straddled a small lake. She wished to see Lake Ontario at some point, but it was something. It was something more than what she was used to out west. The glassy black waters loomed low in the thick green trees as Joey took the next exit to the heart of the borough. Even more lush green trees and ornamental cherries lined the streets as he led them towards the lake shore. Sam gasped at the sight of it as they rolled up to the stoplight. Right in front of them stood a small walkway and a low metal railing.

“The best part, ain't it?” he remarked with a befuddled look on his face.

“There's like hardly any lakes out in California or in Nevada,” she confessed, “so this is like science fiction to me.” He chuckled at that; the light turned green and they rolled forward to the vista point: off to the right stood the cafe in question. He hung a right and he took the spot closest to the railing. Eager, Sam climb out of the front seat and she hurried towards a piece of the railing. She closed her eyes and took in a big whiff of the fresh air from the lake.

She gazed out to the waters: beyond the far lake shore stood a low ridge lined with even more trees. She knew Lake Ontario was past that, as well as Joey's hometown. Everything was calm and still: the only sound came from the little birds nestled up in the trees and the small bit of traffic behind them. Everything smelled fresh and sweet with springtime.

“Wow,” she breathed under her breath.

“Absolutely beautiful, ain't it?” he noted as he ambled up next to her. He folded his arms over the railing and showed her a little lopsided grin once again.

“I've never seen anything like it,” she confessed: a small gust of cool lake wind sent a shiver down her spine and she huddled closer to Joey. He stuffed his hands into his jeans pockets but he never shivered from the sensation. She turned to him and the cool reflection of the sky upon the dark lenses of his sunglasses: the shadows caressed over his brown eyes to make them look as though he had covered them up with dark lacy veils.

“I feel like I'm home here,” she said in a soft voice.

“Well,” he started, “welcome home, then. And I'd be more than happy to show ya around.” He flashed her a little wink and put his arm around her.

#chapter 7 #chapter seven #fanfic #fanfiction #anthrax fanfic #anthrax #joey belladonna #fever in fever out #fever in fever out fanfic #deadly nightshade #also on ao3 #writing #text

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peculiarnation4u · 4 years

Text

Wood's wisdom| Round 1

Saying Kanri was excited would be an understatement. Afterall, she came here to be a hero, to learn to fight, and that’s what she was doing. Granted, her team was the villains, that didn’t change her attitude. It was a simple task, stop an escort mission. Keep the heroes from getting their “dog” to the end of the forest. To make it even easier, she got a partner! The heroes did as well. Kanri glanced over to said partner. He had long turquoise hair, similar in color to hers but heavier on the green. It was tied up in a low, thin ponytail. He had a serious look in his eyes and a steady posture but what really stood out to Kanri were the odd glasses he wore. They were rhombus shaped and small, barely covering his eyes. She decided not to judge since her own outfit wasn’t really stellar.

He noticed her staring and turned to her with a perplexed look. She smiled back.

“This is crazy! To think that we’ll be heroes in a couple of years, and it all starts with pretending to be villains.” she spoke. Her partner, Merce as she learned, only hummed in response. Studious type, she could vibe with that. Once their quaint introductions were out, Kanri surveyed the area where they’d all be fighting. It was a forest arena except it didn’t really look like one. In the trees she could make out a path, though slightly hidden. That was on one side while the other side looked to be like much denser and taller wood.

“I’m guessing that the path is the faster but more dangerous way.” Kiko spoke without warning.

“How are you sure?” Merce asked in response.

“because we can see it. That makes it easier to attack them. The safer path would be the one with dense trees since it is harder to see through.” Kiko answered.

Merce nodded at her insight. Within a moments notice, the alarm sounded, stating that the round had started. Merce and Kanri jumped at the signal, heading off into the forest.

“so which path do you think they took?” Merce asked running alongside kanri.

“Not sure, since we don’t know each other quirks, it’d be smarter to take the safe route and avoid detection.” She started “On the other hand, if they’re cocky enough to believe that they could win in a fight, they would take the fast route.”

Merce pondered her explanation.

“however, all they have to do is get the lumin to the end, they know their route, but we don’t. we’d have to split up to avoid the risk that they went the other way.” Kanri continued in her explanation of the situation.

“So, either way, we’re at a disadvantage” Merce said.

“Pretty much.” Kanri whined once she heard the rhombus man’s words.

Before they could decide on where to go, they heard a giant crash from the fast route. The two looked at each other with confusion before rushing in that direction. The fast route was not only dangerous because of the visibility to the opposing team, but also a number of traps and various dangers. The heroes must’ve set one off. This meant that she and Merce wouldn’t have to split up, they had their target’s locations. Merce must’ve came to the same conclusion since he had a grin on his face.

They both headed off into the narrow path, avoiding traps here and there. As Kanri was running, she noticed a beam coming towards her. Before she could process what it was, Merce quickly tackled her, pushing out of the way. The beam hit the ground, destroying the area around it. They both turned to look up at the source. There stood, or flew, one of their opponents.

“Yikes, that was a little stronger than I intended.” Said the floating “hero”. The boy had brown hair with a black and orange attire on. All rounding down to some red sneakers which didn’t fit the outfit. What was even more strange was that he seemed somewhat translucent. Right next to her Merce seemed to grab a rock and held it in his hand behind his back. Like magic, the rock created two more copies of itself. Merce grabbed on of the copies and chucked it at the brunet. In a split second, he swapped places with it, effectively transporting himself to the boy. The brunet was caught off guard and Merce got a hold of him, dragging him down to the ground. They hit the floor with a loud thud. The boy pulled his hand to shoot another beam, but Merce quickly returned to the location of the other duplicated rock next to Kanri. When they both looked back to the location of the boy, they noticed he was gone?

“Beam boy is gone!” Merce exclaimed.

“Actually, it’s Yurei” said a voice from no particular direction. Both Merce and Kanri tensed up at the voice.

“Great, a ghost.” Kanri sighed. Just then, another beam came at her, which she narrowly dodged. Another at Merce. This went on for a bit until Kanri noticed the slowed down pace of the beams. She then remembered what Yurei said earlier after he first shot at them. She rushed along to Merce’s side and bent over to his ear.

“look Merce, earlier Yurei said that the beam came out stronger than he intended. And just now, their firing rate has heavily decreased. What I’m guessing is that he can’t control it. We can use that.” She whispered.

Merce looked at her and nodded, an idea forming in his head. Kanri ran off onto the side of the path, hiding in the trees.

“where’s your little friend?” Yurei asked, his invisibility fading.

“I’d ask you the same.” Merce said, splitting himself in three. Yurei eyes went wide at the now, three Merces. They each ran around in circles, drawing in Yurei’s attention. So focused on the “three merce-eteers”, Yurei didn’t notice Kanri sneaking up on him. With a quick leap, she pounced on him, placing a rewind symbol on his back. She then let go, falling back to the ground. Merce combined with his duplicates and witnessed the rewinding yurei. He redid all of his actions ranging from the constant shooting to even before he turned invisible.

“I can only send someone back two minutes. I hope this works.” Kiko explained to Merce.

True to her theory, Yurei started returning to a point before they started fighting him, except it was odd. He was just standing there, it looked as though he was talking to someone. But no one was there, he was just mouthing words to no one? Kanri’s eyes went wide as a thought hit her.

The lumin was also nowhere to be found.

“Merce! You handle this guy! I gotta go somewhere!” she directed her partner as she bent down to put a fast forward symbol on her legs.

“Ok!” he yelled back, getting in a fighting stance to prepare for the “about to be unrewound” Yurei. Kanri took a running sprint towards the safe route. She cut through the trees in the blink of an eye. Running and running until she spotted the culprits, nearing the end of the dense forest. She cut in front of them, bringing her feet to a sharp stop. What she saw was a purple haired kid calmly leading the lumin through the safe route without a care in the world.

“I figured out your plan.” Kanri said with a smirk.

“It was more of Yurei’s plan, but I appreciate the credit.” The purple teen spoke. He looked back at the dog and told it to stay. They then took a look at Kanri, tilting their head.

“You look tired, why not go to sleep?” the teen asked before lunging at her with some weird dust forming in their hand. Kiko dodged it, only to have the teen lunge at her again. Kiko wasn’t really good at fighting on her own, more of a support. And she wasn’t sure what that sand did but she knew she had to avoid it and she was getting tired by the minute. Kiko noticed the lumin in the back and started creating a symbol to throw at it. With a flick of her wrist, another rewind symbol shot out and hit the dog, effectively making it walk backwards. The purple haired teen noticed and shot a wave of sand at Kanri. At the same time, she shot a pause icon at the teen. The purple haired teen was frozen in place while Kanri’s eye lids became too heavy to bare. The lumin out of sight, hero stuck, and Makiko hoping that Merce could finish the job without her as the world went dark. @taiyuu-oct@

#taiyuu #oc #makiko kanri #kanri makiko

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missmalice202 · 5 years

Text

Designing Your Melody: Chapter 04 - Chocolate

Chapter 01 - Chapter 03

“All right, mate?” Luka looks up from his guitar and sees Jagged Stone, rock star extraordinaire, poking his head into the recording studio. “Something’s got your sound all mixed up. So tell me,” he cajoles as he strides into the room, brimming with confidence and larger than life, “what’s got your knickers in a twist, eh?”

Luka stills his fingers and gives his attention the other man now sitting on a stool in front of him. He could literally feel Jagged staring at him, a look of unabashed anticipation on his face. Running his fingers through his teal tipped black hair, he closed his eyes and sighed.

He’d tried not dwell on how utterly frustrated he was. It’s been almost a week since his fateful encounter with his new inspiration, but he’s no closer to finding her. All he has is the mysterious melody playing on an infinite loop in his head and the scrap of paper that he now carries with him everywhere he goes, tucked securely in his jacket pocket. He isn’t sure where to even begin to start looking for the girl. After some serious thought, he contemplated asking Juleka if she would know how to track down a certain fashion designer because if the drawing he had in his possession was any indication, she was obviously very skilled and therefore had to be well known in the fashion industry.

But unfortunately for the guitarist, by the time he had worked up the courage to ask his sister to do some investigating on his behalf, she had been booked for a photoshoot overseas and had left the country. Sometimes he just had the worst luck. Plus, between doing deliveries in the morning and getting some studio time with Jagged to prepare for his next album, he honestly really didn’t have the time to be hunting down a single girl out of the two million residents of Paris. The odds were not in his favor.

In the end, he had resigned himself to the fact that he’d have to wait until Juleka came back and then ask her for help. Until then, the only thing he could do was tweak her melody and keep her design safe. He’s sure their paths will cross again. They had to.

“Nothing has my ‘knickers in a twist’ as you so delicately put it. I’ve just got some stuff on my mind, is all.” His fingers pluck at the strings of his guitar restlessly, the notes contradicting him wordlessly.

“Sorry to tell ya this, bloke, but that guitar of yours is callin’ you a liar. Level with me, man, anything I can do to help a rockin’ musician like yourself out, just let me know. We’ve gotta get that sound of yours back in harmony.”

“Yeah,” Luka responded listlessly, “I know, Jagged. Thanks.”

Luckily, they were interrupted by a knock on the window separating the recording studio from the control booth, signaling that the producer was ready for them to begin their session. The last think Luka wanted was to be interrogated by the flamboyant rocker, regardless of how well meaning he was.

-xXx-xXx-xXx-xXx-xXx-xXx-xXx-

After their recording session was over, Luka decided to grab something to eat before heading back home to log in and get some grinding done in-game. However, he seemed to have acquired an extremely obnoxious and over-eager shadow.

“I’m telling ya, mate, that’s some of the best playing I’ve heard since I worked with your mum. You could become a superstar if you set your mind to it.” Being ambitious and hungry for attention, someone like Jagged Stone just couldn’t understand that there were some people who preferred to linger in the shadows.

“I’m happy just playing my music, to be honest. I don’t have any grand ambitions of stardom.” A small smile graced Luka’s lips. “I don’t want a record label to try to dictate what I play or how I sound. I don’t mind playing your music because it speaks to my soul, but I want my freedom when it comes to my own music”

Jagged threw his head back and laughed, holding his stomach in mirth. “I feel ya, mate. There’s times I wanna kick some of these record labels prats out on their arses. They have no respect for the artistic process. I can’t just snap my fingers and deliver a chart- topping song. It takes talent and dedication and, most importantly, they gotta feel it in their soul!

“Oh! That reminds me! Penny!” he called over his shoulder at his ever present and long suffering personal assistant, “I want you to send some chocolates or flowers or whatever it is that girls these days like to Marinette. That girl is fabulous and dedicated to her craft and I want her to know how much I appreciate her help.” She nodded, tucking a stray piece of her sleek burgundy hair behind her ear and took out her tablet, tapping a reminder in her notes.

That caught Luka’s undivided attention. The Jagged Stone he knew wasn’t the kind of guy who just gave other people presents. If anything, he expected other people to do things for him, without a seconds hesitation or complaint. For him to go out of his – or rather, his assistant’s – way to offer a gesture of appreciation was, quite frankly, unheard of!

“Who’s this Marinette girl?” he asks. “What did she do for you that was so important that you’d want to send her a gift?”

Jagged reeled back in shock. “Oh, what hasn’t she done for me? Whenever everything goes pear shaped and I’m in a pinch, I know I can count on her to help me out. I mean, one time she made the wicked rock n roll shades for me. Another time, she basically saved my career when she redid my album cover after the bloke who did the first design wouldn’t accept any of my input and came up with this absolutely bonkers cover art. And now this time, she’s really saving my skin. I had to ask a massive favor of her and in such a short amount of time too.” He chuckled to himself, shaking his head. “I just want her to know that I appreciate her style and all that fabulous girl does to help me when I’m in a bind.”

Honestly, Luka was a bit surprised. Jagged usually wasn’t one to sing another’s praises, so this “Marinette” girl must really be something special.

Luka looked at his phone to check the time. “Well, Jagged, I’ve got to run. I’ve got somewhere I need to be.”

“Cheers, mate. I’ll catch you next time.” Jagged saluted the younger guitarist. “Do what you need to in order to fix your sound. It’s doesn’t sound right when it’s all jumbled up like that.”

Luka waved goodbye and left the record label, heading home to his boat.

-xXx-xXx-xXx-xXx-xXx-xXx-xXx-

When got back to home, the quiet slapping of waves against the hull of the boat was the only sound he heard as he strode across the deck, taking a moment to appreciate the beautiful sunset reflecting over the Seine. It was kind of lonely being the only one on board. He couldn’t wait until his sister got back in a few days. Until then, he’d just have to fill the silence in other ways. Shaking his head at his own melancholy, he ducked into the cabin and made his way to his bunk.

Deciding that he needed to find his center again after such a chaotic week, he toed off his sneakers, settled onto his bunk, crossed his legs and gently rested his wrists on his knees to meditate. Maybe that was why he had been so off lately; he just needed to clear his mind and get rid of the negative energies swirling inside his mind. Taking a deep breath in, he closed his eyes and relaxed into his meditation.

Thirty minutes later, he opened his eyes feeling refreshed and less off balance.

Glancing at his phone again, he figured he had time to get some gaming in before heading to bed. With any luck, Ladybug would be online too. He liked playing with the rest of his clanmates, don’t get him wrong, but Ladybug was just such a badass. Her skill was unparalleled and when they were in the midst of an intense battle, she took command of the situation and always led their team to victory. She fought with grace and made everything she did look effortless. If he were honest with himself, he just enjoyed being in her company. She had such a sweet voice that even when she was barking out orders on the battlefield, she still sounded as clear as a bell.

After logging on, he was pleasantly surprised to discover that luck, for once, was on his side: she was online. That was a relief, especially considering she’d been MIA all week due to being busing working on whatever project she had going. Deep down, he was a little jealous that “real life” was dragging her away from the UMS4, and therefore away from him. But he did have to admit that it was a bit hypocritical of him to be jealous of her being busy when he was bordering on obsession with finding someone who, if he didn’t currently have her design tucked into the pocket of his jacket, he would have thought that the whole encounter had been an extremely vivid figment of his overactive imagination.

Walking up to her avatar, his own waved in greeting. “Hey, Ladybug. Just you and I tonight, huh?”

Her avatar waved in response. “Hi, Viperion. Looks like it. Want to do some grinding and work on equipment upgrades since we don’t have enough people on our team right now to do any major missions?”

He smiled and his avatar gave a thumbs up gesture. “Sounds good. Let’s go”

As they traversed through their online world, she struck up conversation to fill the silence. “So what have you been up to this week? Anything fun and exciting?”

He chuckled softly. “Not exactly. Just working and practicing. How about you? How’s your project coming along?”

Her groan echoed in his ears, making him laugh under his breath. “Oh god, I’ve been working non stop since I last played with you. Five days, working ‘round the clock without even leaving my house. I’m pretty sure my parents were about to send a search party up to my room to check and see if I was still breathing,” she laughed.

“Oh? You still live with your parents?”

“Yeah,” she admitted. “We have a very good relationship, so it works out well for us. I help them out with their shop from time to time when I have time and they give me food.”

Luka laughed, shaking his head. Sometimes she really was too cute. “That’s nice. I live with my mom and sister, but they’re out of the country right now, so it’s just me. I never thought I’d think this, but with them gone, it’s too quiet here and the music in my head is a bit overwhelming in the silence.”

There was a brief pause before she responded, “the music in your head?” He could hear the confusion in her voice.

“Yeah, I’ve had this song stuck in my head for almost a week now and I can’t get it out of my head until I find what I’m looking for.”

“Uhh- Okaay, I’m not sure what you mean, but I wish you the best of luck finding what you’re looking for.” He heard her yawn audibly through his headphones. “And on that note, I’ve got to go. I have to get up early to help my parents with their shop since I have some time before the next phase of my project.”

A little disappointed that he wouldn’t get to spend more time with Ladybug, but he understood that she had prior commitments. “All right. Will you be on tomorrow at all? I had fun just messing around with you tonight.”

“I should be able to get on for a few hours tomorrow night. I had fun too,” she admitted. “Well, goodnight, Viperion.”

Smiling softly, he replied, “Sweet dreams, Ladybug.” And logged off himself.

-xXx-xXx-xXx-xXx-xXx-xXx-xXx-

Turning her console off, Marinette plugged her controller into the charge cable and turned off her desk light. Stretching her arms over her head as she walked over to the ladder leading to the loft where her bed was located, she giggled as when she realized that she had learned more about Viperion in that one conversation than she had in the months she had been playing with him since he’d joined “Miraculous Kwami”. She enjoyed playing with him. He was just so calm and collected, completely relaxed even in the most stressful situations. There were many occasions where his level head had really helped keep her calm enough to figure out how to defeat an especially tricky boss. Plus, it didn’t hurt in the slightest that his voice was really hot. Idly, while she changed into her pajamas, she wondered if his face matched his voice.

Shaking her head, she thrust that thought right out of her mind. Online was online and reality was reality. It wouldn’t do to confuse the two. For all she knew, he was a 45 year old bald man with a pot belly and a handlebar moustache. Shuddering at the thought, she shook her head again and made the decision to just leave things as they were. There are just some things that are better of not knowing.

Chapter 05

*Not going to lie, I had a lot of fun writing Jagged Stone. I also tried to stuff in as much British slang as I possibly could while still having it sound relatively natural.

Oh, and if you want to understand a little bit what Luka’s music sounds like when he’s confused and stressed out, this is what I listened to when I wrote the first scene of this chapter.

Until next time Lovelies XOXO*

#lukanette #mlvalentines2k20 #lukanette february #lukanette fic #luka couffaine #marinette dupain cheng #miraculous fanfic #fanfiction

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tiny-smallest · 4 years

Text

day twenty-five - sunshine

Rating: T Characters: Henry Warnings: mention of dismemberment; no graphic detail used Description:

that we may fall in love every time we open up our eyes

Also on AO3!

---

The cement was warm, almost hot, against his bare feet as he sprang outside onto their tiny patio with a giggle. A leaf blew by his face and he grabbed it, running back the way he'd come and almost slamming right into his mother on the way back in.

"Mama, mama, look!"

He held up the leaf and pointed to it, and she smiled.

He wouldn't remember the rest of this little event later, and he didn't need to.

---

"I'm giving her the puppy," his papa explained as he gently lowered the whimpering, whining, squirming thing into the box. Henry tilted his head.

"Why?"

"Because she'll adopt it like it was her baby all along." Hands on his underarms; he was lifted into the air. The cat in the box was calico. He wouldn't remember much else. "See? She's sniffing him."

She was. A moment later, she began cleaning the whining infant.

"Instincts are a powerful thing," he murmured, shifting his son to rest against his hip. "Your mother says it's amazing how many of them are geared towards love."

Henry watched the puppy begin to nurse, something warm inside him growing. "It is."

---

"You're really pretty," he murmured as he fed the hungry baby batting at the bottle with his feet.

Harry flailed his fists around. Henry managed a smile, wishing he had a free hand to rub his heavy eyes.

"You are," he cooed. "You're a very beautiful baby. And you're good. Like- good all the way down to your core, and I hope you know that. I hope I teach you that. I hope-"

The words hung in the still darkness of early morning.

"I hope I do as good a job with you as Mama and Papa did with me," he finished in a mutter as he set the bottle aside, trying to ignore the way his voice cracked. The little feet batting at the bottle now kicked at his chest, and he swallowed.

"They were so- they were good too, down to their cores, and they were nice, and they loved me, and I love you, and I hope I make you understand that as well as they made me understand it." He lifted the baby to his shoulder and burped him, trying to blink back tears.

"... I miss them," he whispered as he lowered the baby back to his lap after he heard the burp.

Harry looked at him with his large, dark eyes- the ones Henry could almost believe came from his own mother, and liked to pretend did, sometimes. There was a teeny knot in the baby's forehead.

Then his face crinkled. His mouth lifted.

He laughed.

Henry stared in shock, a tear or two sliding uninhibited down his face as wide eyes stared at the giggling, flailing baby.

Then a laugh fell from his mouth. Another. Another.

Harry reached to press his tiny, chubby hands to his cheeks, and Henry laughed and laughed as the room grew light with morning around them.

---

Sammy's tongue was sticking out of his mouth as he worked again. He scratched notes onto his paper, frowned, redid them, tuned his guitar, sounded out the new ones.

His tongue kept poking in and out of his mouth, especially when tuning. Henry set his art down just to watch.

"What’re you smiling at?" Sammy snorted when the feeling of eyes on him must have finally penetrated the concentration of his work.

"Just you," Henry beamed.

---

The world was choked out by dust and debris.

Henry had long ago come to consider himself... maybe not an atheist, but something close. If there was a god that claimed to be omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent, they had a lot to answer for.

He tripped over a leg. Just a leg.

A lot. To answer for.

Explosion to his left. He was just far away enough to avoid anything worse than a chunk of rock hit his head, but the force of the ground rocking sent him tumbling over, unable to stop his momentum in time before he started rolling down the hill.

He returned to himself to hear screaming nearby and scrambled to his feet, pushing onwards by blanking out everything else.

He did not fire his weapon. This time, he didn’t have to.

The dust eventually cleared. Henry felt the sunlight on his skin again. As he twirled in a slow circle, surveying the battlefield, the dust and dirt dissipating and leaving broken bodies in full view, something inside him snapped, and he sobbed.

A hand touched his shoulder, and he looked up (when had he collapsed to the ground?) to a face that would later be obscured by scribbles and stains on his memory, but at the time was warm and bright and weary but alive.

He clasped the hand and squeezed it tightly and even in a field of death at least there was this, at least there was this string holding him up.

---

It had been a long day. Unremarkable. Nothing particularly special.

He crossed the street on his way home, hands in his pockets. He might say he was enjoying the emptiness of his head, but really it was so empty there wasn't much of anything.

That was how he liked it, whenever the fog lifted enough for thought.

He stopped short at seeing a man sitting on a stoop as he rounded the corner. The other man's eyes turned away instantly, shoulders drawing up.

Henry walked softly up to the cup sitting beside him and peered in, then got out his wallet and dropped a few dollars in before giving him a gentle "good evening," and going on his way.

---

He had vowed to save them. To pull them all from the depths of this cold, dark, hole and end this nightmare once and for all.

And Henry had meant it when he said it, even as something within him knew he had no idea how, exactly, to do this. Not knowing how to do it meant nothing at the time; he just knew he had to.

That he managed it felt like a miracle.

It didn't feel truly real until he pushed the door open to find himself standing in the cracked parking lot, Bendy in one arm, Boris clinging to his other sleeve, staring out at the last few sunbeams of daylight touching the world golden and orange.

The slimy ink clung to his clothes and his skin. His breath shuddered, and his body straightened from putting his shoulder into opening the door as he stared around the parking lot, almost not daring to move any further.

The flowers in the cracks in the asphalt waved in the breeze, reaching up for the sunlight; for a wild moment, he wanted to do the same.

He managed not to cry, but only just.

There was still work to be done.

---

Henry clasped his hands around his coffee mug, breathing in the steam from the hot drink as he sat in the quiet of the blue-gray pre-dawn. He watched the sun rise slowly from the treeline beyond their yard through the back door, watched it stroke the trees, the grass, the pool. It sparkled on the dewdrops, jeweled light reflecting off the water droplets.

The last stars were disappearing, tucked in by the blanket of light to sleep until nightfall. Henry watched them wink out one by one. There went the Big Dipper, and Polaris, and that one that looked like a cat...

The crickets were quieting. Cicadas began to sing in their stead, maybe woken by the warmth. It would be a hot one today, but for now the breeze was cool and the earth was warm and the result was a comfortable atmosphere to sit in.

He stirred his coffee. The liquid sloshed against the sides of the mug.

The early risers would be up soon. In less than a half hour.

Heavy lids looked back from his drink to his kitchen.

The sun streamed through the windows and began to creep over the room, touching the counter, and the cabinets, and the tile. It lit up their bulletin board (and the note telling Bendy to clean the bathroom, he noted with a little frown as he remembered Bendy had yet to do that), and the little chalkboard on which they left notes to each other.

It embraced the numerous plants in the room, their leaves turning from blue-green in the shade to bright emerald in the light.

He closed his eyes and breathed it in as it lit upon him in his chair, hoping somehow he could put it into his body and light him from within, linger inside him and radiate outwards like a kaleidoscope.

That would be nice.

---

“Henry is very easily taken by the little things. Cicadas of summer, the little idiosyncrasies people do without thinking, sunbeams at sunrise, how animals will seek human help because they know humans will likely lend a hand.

He's not a child. He knows very, very well the world is also cruel and evil and dangerous.

But sometimes it is soft and golden and a cup of coffee at sunrise as the last stars are hidden by the sun and sometimes it is the first laughter of a baby and sometimes it is a mother cat accepting a newborn puppy as one of her own.

And sometimes it is the kindness we leave strangers with long after we are gone.

That's worth something.”

Something I wrote about Henry to describe why Sleeping At Last's Sun was so fitting of him. I'd meant to write a drabble of some sort based on this explanation and gave a go at it here, but I'm not sure if I'm completely satisfied with it and might revisit this concept another time.

#bendy and the ink machine #the ink demonth #the ink demonth 2020 #henry stein #batim henry #henry batim #batim henry stein #my writing #strike up the band au

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