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jadedxrealityw · 3 years

Text

-Opposites- Peter Parker x Female Reader

☼-☪-☼

Kody: sassy reader for the win

Movie/Show: Spider-Man: Homecoming / Infinity war / Endgame

Request: hi, how are you? i hope everything is okay! it's ok if i ask for some peter×reader where the reader is all sass and peter is all shy and cute maybe? idk, don't really have something specific in mind, but i really like your writing thank you! 💕 @loudbluepancake

Possible Triggers / Warnings: cursing, puke/throwing up/vomit, angst because i suck, Peter being to innocent for his own good

☼-☪-☼

people always say opposites attract. That two completely different people could cherish each other. You didn’t really believe in such superstitions for most of your life. That was until you met Peter Parker in chemistry class, it was like your whole idealism was thrown into orbit.

it was sophomore year and you despised anything science related. Mostly because you sucked at it- okay that’s the only reason. Your teacher had issued some work packet, about six pages to be finished by the end of class. The urge to throw yourself out the window was growing by the second.

you guessed your internal struggle became visible at one point because you felt a light tap on your shoulder.

your head snapped to the left like an owl, startling the brown haired boy in front of you “What?” you said rather harshly due to your stress. He purses his lips together, contemplating whether it was a good idea to come over to you after all, he just had to listen to Ned.

he holds out his hand, offering it for her to shake with a nervous smile “I’m Peter- uh Peter Parker. I saw you were um- struggling? I can help” he says, stumbling over his words a bit, something he usually did. You eyed him up and down, noting his nervous stature.

narrowing your eyes for a second, you sigh “Yeah clearly. I’d appreciate that. I’m Y/n by the way” you reach and grab his hand, shaking it twice before letting go. “Pretty- i mean your name is pretty. Sorry” he apologized quickly. Watching him trip over himself was kinda funny.

“Well i hope i don’t look ugly either” you said, a small grin on your face as his drops to a worried look. “No!-” he exclaims, earning a harsh shoosh from the teacher in front of the classroom and a few weird stares at his outburst. Peter takes notice and smiles nervously around the room.

he turns to look at you and sighs “That was joke wasn’t it?” his face scrunches up. He looked cute that way “Yeah, but i would actually like your help” you admit with a half smile. He blinks mindlessly for a moment before exhaling deeply “Alright”

and that’s how it started

☼-☪-☼

six months later

after your quick encounter, would would always bug Peter on chemistry work when it didn’t make sense to you, so most of the time. “I- I’m busy Y/n” he spoke, not looking in your direction “With what?” you asked, not believing him in the slightest. He was such a bad liar.

his hands clench a bit as he crosses his arms “I’m going out of town for a bit” he says and Ned nods along with him. Ned didn’t look like he was lying, so you figured he was in the dark too? Unfortunately you were a hot head “when you want to buck up and tell me the fucking truth, delete my number”

Peter looks up at you, his mouth opening to say something. He wanted to say something, anything really, but he knew he couldn’t. How was he supposed to say he was going to Germany to fight Captain America with Tony Stark. Oh yeah he was also Spider-Man!, but he really wanted too.

his mouth closed and you took that as your cue to leave. Turning on your heels, you walk towards the door of the classroom “Y/n!” Peter calls out, but instead of turning round you lift your hand up and flip him off. As you walk out the door Peter drops his head onto the table.

“That girl has too much sass for her own good” Ned says, Peter just folded his arms and sighs, but he did agree. You on the other hand were huffing and puffing as you walked out, trying to calm yourself down and convince yourself that Peter blowing you off shouldn’t hurt as much as it did.

☼-☪-☼

two weeks later

you were sitting at your desk looking at your chemistry textbook and taking notes. The truth was you had been taking Peter’s study techniques to heart and were actually passing because of it. You had just gotten so used to Peter coming over to help you study for tests that you assumed he’d be there.

maybe it was selfish of you too expect him to bend to your will, but he was your only friend other then Ned and Maybe Michelle, but she was more of a loner at the moment, but she’d come around. You liked watching him teach you because he was confident in the way he spoke.

but you loved his shy side, because you could get an reaction out of him by anything you said- that sounded more mean then it should. You were brought back to reality once you hear your cat meow next to you, since they were sitting on your desk.

“Do you think he has a girlfriend and that’s why he blew me off?” you ask your furry fellow who nuzzles it’s head into your hand. “It’s not like i would care if he had a girlfriend. We don’t even like each other like that” you shrug your shoulders, the words not feeling right as you say them.

“Are you talking to your cat?”

“What the fuck!” you shout and jump out your chair to face your window. Perched on the windowsill was a guy in a red and dark blue spider suit. Spider-Man. He raises his hands up in defense, almost falling back out the window “Okay okay, maybe i should have knocked” he joked.

was he- making jokes?

you turn to your desk and grab from the stack of textbooks, chemistry. You chuck it at him and he catches it “Yeah that’s not gonna work” he says with an amused laugh, but it’s cut short s you throw your english book next and it hits him straight in the head.

“Ow! What is your problem?!” he shouts and throws your books onto your bed. You deadpan and gesture to the room “Your in a 15 year old girls room you fucking creep!” you shout back. “If it makes you feel any better i’m also 15!” he says, dodging more flying books and throwing them on the bed.

“It doesn’t dipshit, your still a man!”

“Okay okay, i’m sorry!” he apologizes, letting out a groan as he grabbed his his side. You narrow your eyes and drop the book you were holding “What’re you hurt or something?” you question, He lets out a small laugh “Ran into a mugger on the way here- i mean i live around here”

“Right and you stopped by my room because?” you say, not fully trusting spider boy over here. “I heard you talking to yourself- well cat and thought you needed some company” he shrugs. At this point you thought he was either a creep or a really nice dumb guy.

“Why were you talking to your cat. Don’t have friends?” he said and you life up the book again to throw it at him “No no no i mean like you seem like a nice gal, so i assumed you would have friends?” he quickly mustered up the words. You roll your eyes “Nice save” you say before sitting on your bed.

“I have three, one is busy with crime documentaries, one is building legos, and i’m not talking to the third” a frown overtook your face. Spider-man stepped through the window and sat down, leaning against the wall “What’s the reason?” he said, sounding unsure if that made sense.

“He’s a dick and lied to me” you reply, hoping off the bed to sit on the floor, but still lean against the wooden frame of said bed. “How do you know he lied?” Spider-man questioned “He shoves his hands under his armpits and doesn’t make eye contact with me. He’s also just a shit liar”

Spider-man went silent after that, mumbling something to himself before eventually speaking up “Maybe he had a good reason?” he said and you rolled your eyes. “I told him everything about myself and he lied to me. Maybe everyone else was right”

“Everyone else?”

“Most of our other classmates and people in our year in general think i’m obnoxious, loud, and just overall an overbearing attitude. Ned, my other friend just calls it sass.” cracking a smile, you advert your eyes to your hands to mindlessly pick at your nails.

you weren’t able to see as Spider-man’s fist clenched before sighing “Does he know about what they say about you?” he asked, already knowing the answer “Nah” you shake your head “I didn’t want to worry ‘bout lil old me. I guess someone got to him”

“I don’t think that’s true”

“How so spidey?”

“If i was your friend i’d never believe what other people say about you. You don’t seem obnoxious” he says. That was kind ff sweet of him “Well you don’t seem like the kind of guy to fight Captain America, plus some other avengers but i saw the news yesterday”

he reached behind to scratch the back of his clothed neck “That’s on the news already?” he asked. You lift your head and nod “Yeah dude, some people stayed back and recorded it i guess” you shrug, thinking that was a plausible answer. “Aw man” he whines, making you chuckle.

“I think you held your own for a good amount of time. i would have probably died, but i can’t shoot webs out my wrist so it only makes sense” you wave your hands a bit “Hey! i also have enhanced strength, reflexes, and speed. I’m amazing” he gloats.

“Alright Spider boy don’t let that go to your big head”

“It’s Spider-man, thank you very much” he replies with as much sass “I’m already rubbing off on you, get out of here before you become my clone” you joke, standing off the ground, Spider-man doing the same. You saw his mask move as he laughed a bit.

“I should get home and you better call your friend, even if it’s just yell. I’m sure he’d want to hear your voice after how long?” he asked, going over to the window “Two weeks” you say, stepping towards him “Yeah he definitely misses you. See you around”

“yeah yeah i will. See you round Spidey. Get that rib checked out by the way” you point at him in a mock scolding tone. He shakes his head “I will too, bye” and with that he fell back out the window. You went over and looked at the sidewalk just as he swung passed you.

he waves and you do too before shutting the window. What a weird dude. You look back at your desk and spot your phone “Dammit” you mumble and walk over slowly, like the device was going to jump out and bite your damn finger off. Once your close you grab your phone and swipe up, unlocking it.

you click on the green phone button. It opens up and you click contacts until you see ‘P.B Parker’ it was funny at the time you made it, now it seemed stupid. fuck, why did this seem so hard all of the sudden? You quickly click the call button before your mind could make you pussy out.

it rang once, then twice.. “Hello?” you press the phone to your ear, feeling nerves nip at your skin “Hey Parker” you say and it went silent for a few moments “It’s- uh It’s nice to hear your voice, i thought you’d ignore me forever” he says with a nervous laugh.

“Nah, i don’t have enough friends to do that. What were you really doing the past two weeks?” you ask, hoping to get straight answer from him “I was working with Tony Stark, i got an internship with him. I wanted it to be a surprise” he said. “Now i feel like a bitch”

“Don’t- i. I should have said something. I don’t like when your mad at me Y/n. It’s both scary and depressing” he admits, which made your chest feel a bit warm “It’s because i’m so amazing i know” you reply, making him chuckle “Yeah, you are”

you two ended up talking on the phone for hours about nothing and everything. He seemed more confident in the way he spoke as well, but you will always like the shy side of him. It was also the night you figured out you liked your best friend.

☼-☪-☼

one month later

“Hey guys, Peter’s in his room. I’m making turkey meatloaf” May says as she steps aside so you and ned could come through. May wraps her arms around you and squeezes you tightly “May. Losing. Oxygen. Tell my mom. I love her” you say dramatically and she laughs, letting go.

you smile as she kisses your forehead before going back to the kitchen “Five bucks says she burns it” Ned says and you nod, shaking his hand. Both you and Ned walk into Peter’s room, not bothering to knock because you both suck “Where the hell is he?” Ned asked and you shrug.

“May said he was here, so she probably doesn’t know he’s out. I’m not snitching’” you raise your hands, pushing the door a bit with your foot. Ned rolls his eyes and goes over to Peter’s bed placing the box of legos down “I’ll call him” he says and you nod, taking a seat at his desk.

Ned lifts his phone to his ear and you could hear as it rang a rang, but Peter never picked up “I’ll text him were here and i guess will wait?” he says, unsure. You shoot him a shrug “Whatever you want to do dude” you reply. Ned sighs as he texts rapidly on his phone before looking at you.

“What?”

“You are no help sometimes, you know?”

“Fully aware. Now let’s build that death star thing to rub it in his face” you suggest, going over to sit next to Ned “It’s just death star” he says and you roll your eyes this time “Yeah whatever. Now open it up before i put legos in your shoe”

☼-☪-☼

a couple hours later

“I don’t even know what it’s supposed to look like, but damn that’s cool” you say, looking at the fully built death star in the hands on Ned “Yeah! We have to take a picture for Peter-” Ned stopped talking as you both heard the window to the left of you both.

you tilted your head to watch as the the similar figure wearing red and dark blue suit clung onto the wall. What. The. Fuck!? Both you and Ned are stunned into the silence at the fact that Spider-man just crawled through your best friends room.

was this a normal thing for him?

you were just beginning to process what was happening until Spider-man reached up to grab his mask and rip it off his head. You should have looked away, but you didn’t and what you saw some reason made you feel sick. The dorky face of Peter Parker.

what

the

fuck

Peter slowly crawled across the ceiling until he was a few feet to the right of his door. He lifts his arm and shoots a web, slowly pulling it closed. Once he could no longer do that, his feet detached from the ceiling and he was dangling by one arm for a second until that detached as well.

he went to the door and used his hand to fully shut it, letting out a deep sigh. He turns around and his whole body freezes up, his brown eyes going back and forth between you and Ned. Ned drops the death star, causing it too crash onto the floor and break apart. Damn-

Ned stood up abruptly while you looked around, reaching for the trash can beside his bed. You grab it and release the lunch you had earlier in it. “What was that?!” May called from the kitchen. Peter looked back and the door with a worried look “UH! Nothing! Nothing!” he shouts back.

he looked back at Ned, who looked like he was bubbling with questions already “Your the Spider-man, from youtube” he breathes out. Peter pats his chest as his suit deflates around him. You look up for a moment, wiping your mouth to see Peter just in his boxers. “I’m not. I’m not” Peter repeats

fuck, Shit, Damn-

emotions were everywhere at the moment. Wait did he have abs!? “You were on the ceiling you dipshit!” you shout at him, pointing up with your finger. Peter looks like he’s about to implode “NO i wasn’t. Guys what’re you doing in my room?!”

is he- trying to- turn this on you guys?

“May let us in. You said we were going to finish the death star?!” Ned explains hastily. “You can’t just bust into my room!” Peter shoust back just as the door opens, causing him to stand next to Ned as smoke came filing into the room. Jesus, was the house on fire- oh nevermind.

damn you owned Ned five bucks. May came in laughing to herself “That turkey meatloaf recipe is a disaster. Lets go to dinner. Thai? Ned, Y/n you wan’t Thai?” she says, reaching up to take the clip out of her hair. Ned smiles “Yeah actually-”

“No he’s got a thing”

“A thing to do after” Ned corrects, smiling nervously as May looked at you, waiting for your answer “I just puked in this trash can so” you say simply making May’s face become worried “Okay, i’ll go get some stomach medicine” she says, grabbing for the handle

“Maybe put on some clothes”

Peter purses his lips together and grabs a grey sweatshirt off his desk chair quickly. May smiles and closes the door, Peter going back to standing in front of both of you. Ned raises his hand gesturing to the door “Oh! She doesn’t know!” Ned says.

Peter sighs before turning back to ned. “No, nobody knows. Well Mr. Stark knows, but that’s because he made my suit, but that’s it” he explains, showing his arms through the sleeves of the sweatshirt. “Tony Stark made you that? Are you an avenger?” Ned says in pure disbelief.

Peter’s mouth went agape for a moment until his head did that cute, stupid little nod thing “Yeah basically” he says, shrugging his shoulders. Ned dramatically leaned against the bunk bed “Oh Jeez” Peter went to stand directly in front of him. You finally stood up and stood next to Ned

“Dude, you guys can’t tell anyone about this. You gotta keep this a secret” he says in a hushed tone. This is a first seeing him so serious “A secret, why?” Ned says and you facepalm next to him “Seriously?” you say, whacking Ned’s arm. who swats your hand away.

Peter’s voice suddenly got very high in pitch “You know what she’s like. If she finds out people are trying to kill me every single night, she’s not going to let me do this anymore” he says, gesturing to the door every couple words. “Come on Ned please” Peter begs.

“Okay, okay, okay, kay I’m gonna level with you.I don’t think i can keep this a secret ” he says and Peter sighs, turning his head away “This is the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me” he says. He acted like he just found out that he himself was Spider-man instead of Peter.

“May can not know. I can not do that to her right now, you know?. With everything that’s happened with her I- please” he pleaded his case once more, his voice cracking a bit. It would have pained you to see him like that a little more if the urge to strangle him wasn’t there.

“Okay”

“Just swear it okay, both of you”

“I swear” Ned says and Peter looks at you. “Yeah i swear, for May’s sake” you make sure to point out you were still pissed at him. “Thank you” Peter says anyway. “Okay” you shrug your shoulders. Peter ran a hand through his hair “I can’t believe this is happening right now”

“Is the internal freakout kicking in Spidey?” you say with a small grin on your face. “Can i try the suit on?” Ned asked “No“ both you and Peter say at the same time. “How does it work? Is it magnets?” How do you shoot the strings?” Ned kept the questions rolling.

Peter grabbed his arm, leading him towards the door “I’mma tell you this at school tomorrow okay?” he said and Ned nods as Peter grabs the door handle “Great. Wait ” Ned says and they both stop at the door. Did he forget about you. “How do you do this and the Stark internship” he asks.

wow

Peter gives him a strange look “This is the Stark internship” he says and Ned smiles, nodding “Oh” Peter shakes his head and shoves Ned through the door “Just get out” he says and shuts it. He turns his back and leans against it, exhaling deeply.

you take a seat on his bed and grab your black sneakers so you can slip them on. “What’re you doing?” Peter asked, pushing himself off the door “Leaving. What does it look like genius?” you snap at him as you stand up once more “But May said she’d bring you some-”

“I’ll tell her i’m fine. I just want to go home” you say and go to grab your bag off the floor when Peter shoots a web at it, pulling it towards him “I know your mad at me” he says “Oh so he is a genius, what do you want? a cookie. Give me my bag Peter” you say bitterly.

“I wanted to tell you, i really did. Especially after that night in your room-”

“Don’t even bring that up”

“Y/n please, just let me and explain” he begs as you walk towards him and go for the handle, but he shoots a web onto it before you can even touch it. You sigh and look at him with a glare “Fine” you submit and he nods, dropping your bag beside him.

“I was a normal kid my whole life and then my world was flipped over. I could do things no one else could and it was awesome, but i knew i couldn’t tell anyone but at the same time i knew i could help people. So i did and it became my new normal”

you listened quietly, trying not to give off any emotions or whatever “then six months ago i met a girl who couldn’t do her chemistry work, so much so that she was breaking her pencil and didn’t even notice. Everyone calls her obnoxious and full of attitude, but i think she’s perfect”

“Are you flirting with me Peter?” you asked and he smiles sheepishly “No- well yes, but i’m trying to tell you i like you. Like- like like you” he said then immediately averted his eyes away from you. “Oh” you breathed out, in shock yourself.

“Yeah”

a few moments went by and both of you didn’t say a word, just stared at each other awkwardly. Peter seemed to become antsy by the second because out of nowhere he grabs your face with both of his hands, planting his lips on yours. It took you a second, but you kissed him back.

wait

pushing him away, you wipe your mouth “Peter i just puked in your trash can dumbass!”

☼-☪-☼

two years later / senior year

“I fucking hate bridges” you groan, slumping down into your seat. Field trips sucked ass, especially when you had to drive over a bridge. “You’ll be fine” Peter reassures, wrapping an arm around you. You narrow your eyes and look at him “When we drive off this bridge and die. I’m blaming you”

Peter shook his head before his face dropped and he looked at his arm. The hairs on his arm standing up. He takes his arm from around your head and places his hand over the hairs, causing your head to fall back “Ow. What the hell Peter?” you glare,

you sit up in your seat and spot what he’s looking at. Oh aliens- that’s fucking great. Wait your boyfriend is a superhero “Peter” you say, but he looks at the back of the bus before reaching in the front to tap Ned in the face. Ned takes out his earbud and looks back at him.

“Hey Hey. I need you to cause a distraction”

“Ned don’t” You say, but it’s too late, Ned spots the spaceship, his face lighting up “Holy shit. We’re all gonna die!” he shouts, getting the attention of everyone on the bus. “Peter” you say again. Everyone gets out there seats and strats to crowd the back of the bus. “It’s a spaceship!”

Peter reaches into his backpack and pulls out his web-shooter, slapping it on his wrist. It connects automatically. He points it out the window on the other side of the bed and shoots a web at the latch, pulling it open. You grab his arm, finally catching his attention “Peter for fucks sake think about this”

“It’ll be fine. I always come back, you know this. I’ll see in a couple hours okay?” Peter flashes you a smile. You sigh and nod “Fine, come back soon” you say and he nods, leaning down to peck your lips. “I Love you, bye” he spoke quickly before launching himself out the window.

he had never said i love you before

☼-☪-☼

you were at home, religiously watching the news on your phone, switching to other channels if they didn’t have any view of Peter. Speaking of Peter, he was currently holding onto Doctor Strange as something was beaming it up “Peter just let go” you say to yourself.

but you knew he wouldn’t

you watched as the light post that was keeping him down was ripped out the earth and your boyfriend shot through the air, leaving earth with that spaceship. He was gone, but he would come back. That’s what he told you. Like she had been watching herself Mj’s contact appeared on your phone.

scrambling across your bed, you grab your phone, answering it “Y/n” she says before you have a chance to explode on her “He’s gone Mj What am i supposed to do?” you say, your words breaking like you had forgotten how to speak. Mj waits a few seconds before responding.

“He’ll be back. No get some rest it’s late will meet at the cafe next to your house with Ned”

☼-☪-☼

two days later

“Y/n, you looked like you haven’t slept” Ned points out, causing you to send a glare his way “Yeah no shit, my boyfriend is in fucking space and i haven’t seen him for two days, but yeah thanks for pointing that out dickwas” you snap, leaning back in your chair.

Ned purses his lips and looks around, begging for Mj to show up with your drinks already. “He’s my friend too, my best friend. I’m scared, but you know Peter. He’ll be back” he says. You look at him and sigh “Yeah i’m sorry Ned” you say and reach across of the table, opening your hand.

Ned takes your hand into his and you smile “You guys having a seance without me or something?” you both turn your heads to see Mj standing in front of the table. She places the drinks down, one in front of you and one in front of Ned. “God, did we have to chose a table outside it’s hella freezing”

you laugh at Mj’s comment “I needed the fresh air. My room smells like depression and doritos” you say, making Mj snicker this time. You lift up your drink and look at Ned who is frozen in fear. “Ned” you say, placing your cup down.

Ned doesn’t say a word, only lifting his finger, pointing at something between you and Mj, who had taken a seat next to you. Both you and Mj turn around to see people- people turning into dust and floating away like a old dandelion you blew to make a wish on as a kid.

Mj’s eyes widen “We have to go!” she shouts and just as you were both ready to take off- “Guys” you both turn to look at Ned. He’s staring at his hand, watching as he came apart and floated away “Ned!” you shout and jump out the seat, going over to him.

Mj grabs his hand, but he goes right through it. You can see her eyes watering, you can’t remember ever seeing her cry before “Ned, it’s going to be okay” she says. “I- i feel weird” Ned spoke. You both lift him out the chair, but it’s too late. The last bit of him had flown away.

“Oh god” Mj spoke, looking at her own hands, she was fading away as well. You grabbed her shoulders, both of you in tears at this point “Mj you can’t leave me, okay? That’s not how this friendship works. Your to stubborn for this bullshit” you spoke through sobs.

Mj’s knees buckled under her and you fell with her. As soon as her lower legs touched the ground she was gone. You didn’t know what to do, your best friends and vanished in front of your eyes. Like you were on autopilot, you grab your phone from your pocket and click the phone icon.

‘P.B Parker’ you click the call button and it goes straight to voicemail

“Please leave a message after the tone”

‘beep’

“Peter. Ned and Mj vanished into thin air and i don’t know what to do. Your usually the logical one and- fuck Peter why did you leave. I’m so scared and all i can think about is how you told me you loved me on the bus, you really know how to make an exit”

as you spoke you saw your hand beginning to fade as well “shit- I love you too Peter Parker” your boyfriend would never hear that message.

☼-☪-☼

titan (sorry in advance)

Peter Parker clung onto Tony “I don’t wanna go” he kept repeating like he could convince the stones to let him stay.

“I don’t wanna go Mr. Stark”

“Please”

Peter fell, taking Tony with him “Y/n- find her and make sure she’s alright please. I should have stayed with her- i-” Peter was choking on his words “I’ll find her kid” Tony assures him and Peter cracks a small smile, before looking Tony in the eyes.

“I’m Sorry”

and the universe lost Spider-man

☼-☪-☼

23 days later

“It’s been 23 days since Thanos came to earth” Rhodey spoke as pictures of the avengers and other people related and were blipped flashed on the screen. “world governments are in pieces and parts that are still working are trying to take a census and it looks like he did-”

Natasha stopped speaking for a moment “he did exactly what he said he was going to do. Thanos wiped out fifty percent of all living creatures” as Nat spoke Tony saw Peter’s face and quickly looked away “Where is he now, where?” he asked.

“We don’t know, he just opened a portal and walked through” Steve replied, leaning against a table. Tony sighs, a bitter smile on his face before his head turns to see Thor sitting away from the rest and points at him “What’s wrong with him?”

“uh he’s pissed. He thinks he failed, which of course he did, but you know there's a lot of that going around ain’t there” Rocket chimes in, sitting on the floor. “Honestly, until this exact second i thought you were a build-a-bear” Tony says, point at Rocket.

“Maybe i am”

“We’ve been hunting Thanos for three weeks now. Deep space scans and satellites and we got nothing.” Steve admits to the room before looking at Tony “Tony you fought him” he adds. “Who told you that?” Tony asked, holding onto his robe.

“Your a fighter”

“No he wiped my face with a planet while the bleaker street magician gave away the store. That's what happened. There was no fight.” Tony corrected. “Okay” Steve nods, noting Tony’s agitated behaviour. “Did he give you any clues, any coordinates, anything?”

Tony shakes his head “Pfft! I saw this coming a few years back. I had a vision. I didn't wanna believe it. Thought I was dreaming.” he says. He was starting to act like a child. Steve sighs “ Tony, I'm gonna need you to focus.” he says, trying to calm him down.

but Tony’s anger was already bubbling up and ready to boil over “and I needed you. As in past tense. That trumps what you need. It's too late buddy. Sorry. You know what I need?” he asked, standing up from the table. He reaches into robe and pulls out a camera and a cellphone. “I need you too watch this and listen”

“What is this?” Steve asked, looking at the tables contents. “Oh you know just some things i asked Happy to grab from Peter’s apartment. Let’s have a look shall we?” Tony said. Everyone in the room looked tense at the mention of his name.

“Friday play the video on the screen” Tony instructs as he steps back. Everyone turns towards the screen and the first thing they see is Peter, laying on his bed with a smile. He turns the camera and shows you peacefully sleeping on his chest, wearing his shirt.

“Peter if your recording me, i’m going to break that camera” okay maybe you weren’t sleeping. The camera is placed on his chest “You uh- looked cute” he spoke and you shook your head, leaning up to kiss him, it only lasting a couple seconds. “Friday pause” Tony says.

“Why are you showing us this?” Steve asked, but his questioned went unanswered. “That right there is Y/n L/n. B to C student at Midtown high, only child and all that. She was also the kid’s girlfriend for three years. He told me to find her and i did”

“Friday play the security footage outside of Steamin’ mugs cafe” Tony says, Friday replying with a ‘yes boss’ before the footage of you crying on the phone before you vanished into nothing. Natasha looked away, having see that too much for her own good.

“I’m kinda happy for her. At least i didn’t have to tell her i watched him turn to dust in my arms, but you know i got here the last thing she said to him. It’s a real tear jerker. Wanna listen?” Tony says, going over to grab Peter’s phone off the table.

“You made your point Tony” Rhodey says. Tony turns to Steve once again “ I said, ‘we'd lose’. You said, ‘We'll do that together too’ and guess what, Cap? We lost and you weren't there. This is what we lost. This is who we lost. You didn’t know her, but it matters. It matters is because they’ll never see each other again ”

☼-☪-☼

five years later

(Kody’s endgame so no death lmao)

everyone was in front of the destroyed base. Thanos was gone and everyone was still around to see it happen (i wish). Doctor Strange has just finished returning everyone to where they belong. “I must say i did not think we would win” he admits.

“Thanks for the optimism buddy” Rocket says, looking up at him. Peter stood up from the rumble he sat on “I need to see someone, can you bring her like- here?” Peter asked Strange, who already knew who he was talking about because- it’s Doctor Strange what do you expect?

he nods and backs away to do his thing.

☼-☪-☼

you took a large gasp of air as you saw light. What happened? Didn't you just vanish? It was only a second ago. You look around and see people staring at you strangely. “Aw damn my head hurts” you heard Mj groan. You instantly tackle her to the floor “and now it hurts more”

“Yeah cry about it i just saw you vanish”

“I’m here too, ya know?” both of you turn to see Ned and the hug became a group tackle as you both smiled and embraced each other. That was until you were pulled into a orange portal out of nowhere. You end up facing a bunch of rubble and debris.

“What the fuck?! I’m so tired of the super magic bullshit!” you shout.

you turn your head and see a couple of avengers like Captain America, Thor, Hulk, and thor stare at you. You already met Tony. “Hi Mr. Stark’ you say, raising your hand for a awkward wave. Tony smiles and gestures his hand to Peter who was standing, in a new suit might you add and a nervous smile.

you didn’t care much for embarrassment after that and ran towards him, practically leaping into his arms “I’m back” he says, digging his head into your shoulder “Yeah no shit, you went to space you dumbass. I think i called you a hundred times or until my phone died”

Peter let out a breathy laugh as his arms tightened round you “I’m sorry,no more space okay? Just you and me on earth. ” he suggests and you nod “Yeah i like that. About what you said on the bus by the way” you let go a bit to look up at him.

his nervous, shy stature set in quickly “What uh- what about it?” he asked, hoping for a good answer. “i love you too dork” you smile and he sighs “Oh thank god. I was about to dust away again’ he says and you whack him in the arm “What?” he asked, slightly hurt.

“Too soon Peter” you explain and he nods “Right” he says and a silence falls on both of you. Was he going to do anything “Oh my god- Kiss her!” Tony yells from behind you both. Peter’s face flushes in slight embarrassment before he shrugs, grabbing your face.

you both share a sweet kiss, long overdue by the amount of time spent apart. Even if it was just two days and five years to everyone else. Both you and Peter end up spending weeks together, alone just cause you could. You made Peter promise no more space trips and he begrudgingly agrees.

a girl with two much attitude and a boy who was too shy somehow managed up the nerve to talked to said girl. They were polar opposites and some would say completely different people, but they managed to fall in love and make it through anything.

who wouldn’t want love like that

☼-☪-☼

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@sonbelleame @hel-viti @loudbluepancake @vmame

☼-☪-☼

Kody- i haven't slept yet and i pulled this plot out of my ass. It’s 8am and i’m going to go pass out. Anyways, peace.

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itsclydebitches · 4 years

Text

Welcome back, everyone! Starting here in Chapter Six these recaps are doing double duty with my latest attempt at completing National Novel Writing Month. Granted, this isn’t a novel and yes, I technically started this project well before November, but there’s no way I’d manage 50,000 words of fiction in 2020, so I’m hoping to hit that with these recaps instead. You all get semi-frequent updates and I may get to finally say I completed this challenge! That’s a win-win as far as I’m concerned.

Quick reminder: new teams, CFVY was separated, everything is awful. There, done. Seventy-five pages in we’ve come back to Velvet’s point of view as she and the other students are carted off in airbuses. She’s experiencing the “same shock and dismay” that she saw on Yatsuhashi’s face before they were separated, thus I’d like to re-emphasize last chapter’s argument that though shaking up the teams isn’t inherently a bad idea, doing it in this way while your students are recovering from/still involved in a war is… not so great for their mental health. Yeah, yeah, Remnant is a hard place and these kids experience traumatic events on the weekly, but still. There’s a fine line between preparing students for that kind of life and simply traumatizing them further, because this is a kind of trauma when the teams so heavily rely on one another - fill every aspect of one another’s lives: friend, colleague, family, teacher, student, leader, follower, romantic partner - and you’re now uprooting them with no warning. Whether or not new teams actually happen, the students think they are and that’s messing with their heads. Basically they’re just:

This problem is highlighted when we get confirmation of what I stated last time: the teams aren’t merely colleagues turned friends, but family. These fighters have got all their emotional eggs in one basket. Velvet goes so far as to imply that she loves her team more than her parents, with the logic being that they (her parents) “never talked to each other anymore.” So… if Coco and Yatsuhashi stopped talking would that undermine your love for each of them as individuals? I get what the overall takeaway is - divorce is a nasty business and can leave lasting scars on kids caught in the middle, to say nothing of the fact that, as a young adult, Velvet is poised to start creating a family by choice, not blood - but it’s still an odd way to phrase the issue. Here we have another instance of me picking up on implications due to RWBY, the franchise’s, overall themes. When you’ve got a story so thoroughly touting a teens vs. adults mentality, having Velvet mentally reject her parents for her team reads differently than it otherwise would. Chock that onto the pile that already includes things like, ‘Ruby denies that Qrow ever helped her’ and ‘Yang is no longer a part of grieving for Summer’ and ‘Weiss seems to have forgotten all that Klein did for her.’ There’s a lot of uncomfortable details attached to our heroes and how they see the adults in their lives, parents included.

Velvet doesn’t get to worry for long though. A much happier voice sounds across the airbus and she spots Sun, classically hanging from his tail. Instead of hearing more about her fears we segue into - you guessed it - Sun bashing. The first thought to pop into her head is that Sun “wasn’t with the rest of his team, but knowing Sun, that might have been his decision.”

...Velvet, you just tried desperately to stay with your own team and were (somehow) swept away by the apparently overwhelming crowed (still ridiculous imo). But if you didn’t manage this, what makes you think Sun had a chance? Why is his separation suddenly a potential choice when yours was presented as nothing of the sort? That is some real insistence on thinking the worst of him. I dragged Sun for abandoning his team in Volume 4 because that was abandonment. It was a choice worthy of criticism. This? This was outside of his control and Velvet knows it.

Sun saw her, smiled, and waved. Velvet looked away.

Nice, Velvet.

He comes over anyway and (kindly!) asks if she’s okay. Velvet says no, specifically because “Yatsu and I were separated.” Here we have another example of how close the partners get even within each team. Blake and Yang are inseparable. Ruby talks to Weiss more than her sister (and the concept of her talking to Blake in any meaningfully way is hilarious at this point). Now, despite being separated from her entire team - everyone is in the same awful boat - Velvet frames the situation as just being separated from Yatsuhashi. Later she repeats, “Well, I still want to try to find Yatsu.” So would it be a disappointment to find Fox or Coco instead? It’s especially weird because in the main show we see Velvet and Coco interacting the most. I actually had to look up who Velvet’s partner was because I just assumed our two girls were a duo. Apparently not. I’m not really into the CFVY side of the fandom, but I imagine there’s a substantial ship community for these two based solely on how Velvet embraces RWBY partnerships in this book, outside of the always popular Velvet/Coco, of course.

That’s admittedly a ship I can get behind.

After Velvet unloads all her worries “Sun stared ahead, like he couldn’t quite manage to feel bad.” Attention, readers, this is an important lesson coming up! In fandom spaces I often see people analyzing novels (and other print media/visual media with narration) without taking into consideration the perspective. Unless we’ve got an omniscient perspective we need to take into account that our narrator might, simply put, be wrong (and even then, omniscient unreliable narrators are a popular choice). Often I see readers taking a characters’ thoughts - and words - at face value, which is understandable given that we’re meant to emotionally connect with them, but we have to keep in mind that this is their interpretation of events. We see the story through their eyes, how they perceive the world, but their perception of the world may not be accurate or, at the very least, is open to further interpretation. Sometimes this is used in an obvious, plot-driven manner - there’s a surprise twist for the reader, made possible because our protagonist was likewise kept in the dark - but it applies to our reading of more casual interactions too. This is a good example. Just because Velvet says Sun looks “like he couldn’t quite manage to feel bad” doesn’t mean that’s actually how Sun feels. As we’ve just re-established, Velvet is inclined to think the worst of Sun, or at least consider the worst as a distinct possibility. So if we’re asking the question, “Is Velvet’s perspective accurate to reality here?” weighing her previous assumptions against actions like Sun smiling, waving, and asking how she’s doing, AKA caring about her situation… I’d say no, it’s likely not.

At least she doesn’t outright accuse him of anything. Given that he’s not privy to these insulting thoughts, Sun chatters on about the test. He thinks it “isn’t a bad idea” because, as established, a lot of students lost teammates and are having trouble settling into Shade while still trying to live the life they had at Beacon. Changing the teams could be a “chance to really commit to our new school and our training, and learn from one another in a new way.” That’s what I think!

“Right… Or maybe some of us burned bridges with our team and might be looking for an easy way to avoid fixing those relationships.”

Velvet what the actual fuck. Can our cast NOT be assholes for five minutes??

Sun goes red at the accusation and calls her out on being harsh. “Tough love” Velvet calls it. Okay, no. Tough love is reserved for people you’re actually friends with and is meant to have them face a harsh reality they might be avoiding. Sun is avoiding an overt apology with his team, but we (and Velvet) have been given no indication that his thoughts on the test are a smokescreen to hide ulterior motives, which is what she’s talking about here. Sun clearly wants to make up with his team, he’s just struggling to accept what needs to be done to do that. Tough love would have been Velvet encouraging Sun to use this separation to reflect on what his team means to him and then, regardless of whether they end up back together, apologizing for how he unintentionally hurt them. Not… this. Plus, again, Velvet hasn’t exactly been friendly lately. She has little ground for dishing out “tough love.” You need established “love” before the “tough” part.

In addition, she’s not listening to what Sun’s saying. “If they want us prepared for an attack, breaking up teams sounds counterproductive.” When did Sun mention anything about an attack? That’s your assumption of what’s going down based on the illegal investigation you’ve been assisting with. Sun just said that changing the teams would provide some of them with a much needed clean slate, which is true. Just because that’s not what Velvet needs doesn’t mean it’s not useful for others. As she eventually acknowledges, they can get too comfortable in the roles they’ve been playing.

We get her line about wanting to find Yatsuhashi followed by, “Sun, you do whatever you want. That’s what you’re good at.” Velvet seriously? Then minutes later she’s hoping Sun sticks close to her if he can. Real talk: everyone deserves better than this. ‘Friends’ who constantly act like your presence is a burden, insult you whenever they get the chance, insist such insults are for your benefit (it’s just tough love), but then turn around and play nice when you have something they want... those aren’t friends. Note that Velvet is - both privately and overtly - mean to Sun while he’s just existing in the airbus, going through the same horrible test as her, trying to be nice, and holding an otherwise civil conversation. While trapped on the bus with nowhere to go, Sun is a nuisance despite his best efforts. When the floor suddenly opens up and Velvet is terrified of falling and surviving on her own though, then his presence is desirable. That’s not friendship and in another story I’d praise the author(s) for writing a compelling move from shaky acquaintances to a strong bond… but I’m honestly not sure that the relationship (any of them, really) will improve. Far as I can gather, Myers thinks this is friendship.

So Velvet accuses Sun of always and forever hurting others in his pursuit of doing what pleases him (after checking in on Velvet… literally minutes ago…) which is right around when Scarlet decides to make himself known. He agrees with Sun’s belief that this test will be harder than they assume: “I think you’re right… For a change.” Everything comes with a caveat. Apparently Scarlet has been listening in the whole time, but somehow manages to turn that into an insult as well with “I’ve been standing five feet away. Maybe I’m ready for a new team, too.” Wait, is the implication that Scarlet is further annoyed because Sun didn’t notice him? Do you all have ANY idea how many times a friend has stood right next to me and I didn’t notice them because I was caught up in something like work, a show… a conversation? I’m oblivious af. I get that Sun has things to make up for but at the very least these characters could keep their criticisms to what he’s actually done wrong, not crazy reaches like, ‘Sun probably abandoned his team when everyone was separated’ or ‘Sun was busy talking to Velvet and didn’t notice me eavesdropping, so I guess I don’t mean much to him, huh.’ I’m constantly torn between the presumed realism of this writing - people are unfair in their criticisms, teens do hold unsubstantiated grudges - and acknowledging that Myers seems to have felt confident writing (1) personality and just gave it to everyone. Velvet privately becomes as critical as Coco, who is as vocal as Fox, who agrees with Yatsuhashi, who echoes Sun’s team, and Sun himself often throws that attitude right back. Round and round we go.

As one might imagine, the three begin theorizing about what the test itself will be like. Usually Shade sets up initiation just like this. Students are transported in windowless airbuses, dumped in the desert, and told to find their way home. I’m interested in the bit about how teams are made up not only based on arrival, but also “the manner in which [the students] survived.” It definitely lends support to the assumption I’ve always had that the teams can really be random. At least not entirely. There’s strategy on the part of the instructors, thinking through aspects like, ‘Well, these two students used their wits in this manner so they’d pair together nicely.’ Or the reverse, ‘Put together the strategist with the student in love with blunt force, let them balance each other out.’ I certainly don’t think that Ozpin formed teams based solely on who ran into each other first. Not only do we have agency on the part of the students (Weiss leaves Ruby, then Jaune, then goes back to Ruby), as well as the fact that two sets of partners had to be paired together someway, but Ozpin was also carefully watching their whole performance. If the only thing that mattered was getting back to Beacon with a chess piece, why bother examining their choices? Shade appears to employ a similar setup of careful decisions portrayed as randomness, which would make sense given that Ozpin set up these schools. Though all the headmasters may not realize it (is Theodore a part of the inner circle?), or perhaps don’t agree with his methods overall, Ozpin’s influence is undeniably evident in each institution we’ve seen.

The only difference between normal initiation and this test seems to be that the students have to find a gold figurine this time around. Though as our trio points out, there’s likely to be other differences as well, otherwise the original Shade students would have a pretty significant advantage.

During all this Velvet remanences about Beacon’s initiation and we learn that Ozpin does, apparently, use the whole ‘Throw you into the woods where you’ll find some relic’ setup each year, as Velvet remembers being “thrown into the air” during hers. She also hits on another concern that hadn’t crossed my mind until now: what if a team includes a new student alongside the “more vocal in harassing recruits from Beacon and Haven?” It might do the Shade students some good to get to know the newcomers, but it’s not the newcomers’ responsibility to teach them some basic respect and kindness.

During all this Rumpole, via a screen, has been explaining how the test will go down. Her little info session concludes with her telling them to “Prepare for drop-off… See you back home soon.” I really like that she used the term “home” here. It says something about how she views the school and her students’ place in it, despite the tough attitude and tougher culture of Vacuo.

Turns out, when Rumpole said drop-off she meant that literally. The floor opens up and we get a mix of some students panicking while others just happily jump out.

Yeet.

Like I said, Ozpin’s influence.

I didn’t understand the panic initially - aren’t landing strategies a basic part of huntsmen training, something everyone (except Jaune) is expected to know coming into a school? Isn’t it at least partway through the year when everyone, even firsties, has had practice at this? - until I remembered Rumpole’s comment about how she hoped everyone remembered to bring their weapons this morning.

…that’s one hell of a lesson. Let’s break this down for a second. Yes, everyone at Shade is expected to carry their weapons at all times, but the meeting that started all this was early in the morning and, far as I can tell, entirely unexpected. ‘Supposed to’ is not the same thing as ‘will,’ especially when one is dealing with college-equivalent students who are still figuring expectations out. It’s not outside the realm of possibility that someone did leave their weapon behind. So now what? These buses are thousands of feet in the air, dropping students randomly as they jump/fall. If a student did need help how in the world would a professor assist them? Do they just expect other students to help like Pyrrha did for Jaune? It’s possible given that in a moment Octavia will help Velvet despite seeming to dislike her... but that’s not something I’d want to bank on. Whether a student forgot their weapon or has a weapon unsuited to a landing strategy, they’re going to die from this fall. Yeah, yeah, the test is supposed to be deadly, but what’s there to learn then? You’re dead! The lesson ‘Don’t forget your weapon’ or ‘Find a weapon more suited to landing strategies’ will never stick unless there are contingency plans in place to ensure that students survive their first mistakes.

It just all seems kind of flimsy, like everything works out because the plot says it must, not because I believe this in-world setup is geared towards keeping students alive and teaching them how to survive this world. (The reverse of the story conveniently not killing civilians off during a major grimm attack.) If landing strategies are so crucial to a huntsmen’s work - and we see them a lot - why are students allowed to have weapons like Yatsuhashi’s Fulcrum that, far as I can see, provide you with no way of slowing your descent? What if you don’t have a suitable semblance? Or it hasn’t been unlocked yet? What if your weapon would work, theoretically, but you haven’t taken any pictures of other suitable weapons lately (Velvet)? What if you never figure out that there are parachutes on the ship? Unless the instructors have a secret way of saving someone from getting splattered, this seems like a test rife with deadly mistakes, not just encounters. Why not teach your students to carry mini high-tech parachutes on their belts, with weapons and semblances as backups? Incorporate Atlas tech into standard schooling, then give us huntsmen who suddenly have it taken away with the embargo, resulting in a lot of problems. I mean, the students are legit scared in this scene, Velvet included. Having them face deadly grimm is one thing, but why test the odds with a thousand foot plunge when there’s absolutely no reason to? Far as I can see, the schooling isn’t built around ensuring they survive a fall like this - nothing like weapon requirements, or carrying additional gear if you semblance is something like Ren’s - which means making the fall a part of the test itself is... not great.

Which, to be clear, is the fault of the author(s) and how much thought (or not) they’ve put into their fictional school, not the fictional school’s fault because it’s, you know, fictional. Basically, the world building in this series kind of drives me nuts, in case you haven’t noticed lol.

Velvet does find the parachutes, oh so conveniently, and at least has the decency to give one to Sun. Also yeah, kudos for thinking to search for them in the first place. I do like the ‘survival is the only thing that counts’ theme. Cheating, lying, and the like is great when it’s used because the odds are already stacked against you. We get her agreement to try and stick close because remember, there’s nothing like a dangerous situation to remind you to be decent towards someone else. As Velvet magnanimously thinks, “Being with Sun would be better than being alone.”

Okay. Low bar, but okay.

So they fall and we get to hear a fair bit about Vacuo’s history based on what Velvet remembers about each landmark from history class. Honestly, I’m impressed at her recall. I wouldn’t be able to dredge up class notes while falling through the air. We get an abandoned city previously hidden by sand and the somewhat confusing sentence, “These were all that was left of the underground mines, the Drylands, the site of the old Paradise Oasis, long since dried up following Dust mining and the Great War.” Are these three separate places among the rock-less area pockmarked with holes? Or is this a single area of underground mines, called the Drylands (for some reason?), that includes the contrasting place called Paradise Oasis? I’m not sure. The takeaway though is that Velvet hopes Coco isn’t heading to that ambiguously named place because she’s incredibly claustrophobic.

What I find the most informative in all this is the description of the quarries as “physical manifestations of the wounds that still ran deep in the people of Vacuo.” The overall issue of outsiders coming into Vacuo, draining it of its resources, and then taking it back to their own kingdoms (while leaving their trash behind) is the sort of theme significant to our own lives and worthy of examination in fiction… Not saying that RWBY necessarily handles this theme well - especially given the messy conflation of that generational trauma and the awful treatment of any ‘outsider’ who wanders into the kingdom - but I do appreciate when I can see the series trying. Even if it fails, effort is (to an extent) still worth acknowledgement.

What I’m less inclined to praise is the strange follow up of “maybe that was why Rumpole was sending students there.” …what does this mean? Velvet just told us the quarries are the “wounds” of Vacuo, so are they being sent there because they’re dangerous? Because huntsmen will somehow fix this?? Neither of these make sense but I literally don’t know what point Myers is trying to make… which happens a lot. Again, there’s a whole lot of wise-sounding statements in this novel that, at the end of the day, mean very little - if anything at all.

Velvet eventually lands, nearly getting pulled into one of the openings when she can’t get out of her parachute. She’s saved at the last moment by Octavia Ember, a member of Team NDGO. You know, “One of the people she least wanted to run into.” We all knew the moment Velvet worried about running into one of the crueler members of Shade that it would happen.

Their conversation is filled with heartfelt gratitude and riveting greetings:

“Thanks?” Velvet said.

“Whatever.” Octavia sheathed her blade and started walking away. That was more like it.

What is wrong with all of these people? My kingdom for a kind, enthusiastic, non-team exchange!

You know the ‘enemies forced to work together’ conflict couldn’t end there though (a trope I normally love and would likely love here except having Octavia be another stereotypical mean girl was the least innovative choice possible). She and Velvet end up heading towards the same quarry, simply because there’s nothing else for miles around. Velvet displays some quick thinking when she explains that the instructors likely hid the relics in there to ensure they weren’t forever hidden under the sand. Velvet, unlike Yatsuhashi, has also realized that there’s more to the test than just their fighting skills. They’ll be graded on everything, “Including how we treat each other.” I’m always appreciative of characters who use their brains as much as their brawns.

Perhaps that not-so-subtle nudge resonated with Octavia because she opens up a bit. By this I mean she moves from “Whatever” to telling Velvet the traumatizing story of how she lost a third of her clan to Blind Worms in one of these quarries. Okay. That’s a complete 180, but I’ll take it. Velvet continues to have supposed insights about the Vacuans like, ‘Maybe they don’t cry because that’s a waste of water?’ and ‘Maybe they hate everyone on principal because of the past?’ and ‘I guess bullying is just something you’re supposed to survive out here’ (um… no.) In Velvet - and Myers’ - defense she acknowledges that none of these explanations excuse their actions… but I’m not so sure it explains them either. A few chapters ago we were hammering home how teens don’t have an emotional connection to their past, despite it not actually being that long ago (recall Coco’s conversation with Rumpole in class), but now we’re supposed to believe that all of these teens reject newcomers because of stuff that happened during a war they weren’t alive for? Also, I’m neither a doctor nor an anthropologist, but the concept of a desert people refusing to cry because it’s a waste of water - especially in an otherwise advanced civilization - seems suspect. I can buy someone being unable to cry because they’re currently dehydrated, but a whole culture denying themselves this outlet when most of them don’t actually lack water anymore is odd.

Granted, culture isn’t always logical. Case in point: memes. So let’s give that a pass.

However, we’ve still got the issue of continuity across paragraphs. First Velvet is smug because she’s a better climber than Octavia. Then Octavia is ahead and supposedly annoyed that Velvet was slowing her down. It’s unclear when, or if, they’ve finished climbing at this point and a second later Octavia is climbing a tree - why didn’t Velvet do that? Really, I lay little blips like this at the feet of the editors, not the author(s), simply because as an author I know precisely how easy it is to lose track of every detail you’ve introduced. It becomes obvious to the reader when things don’t quite align, but it will often go unnoticed by the writer - like typos. (RIP my own work.) Which is why you need that second perspective to not just catch the big mistakes, but tweak all the smaller ones too. RWBY is now a part of WarnerMedia and Before the Dawn was published by Scholastic. There’s a standard here I don’t think either is meeting.

As said previously though, Octavia climbs a tree because Velvet - with faunus eyes - spotted a trinket the others had missed. Octavia falls, Velvet catches her, and a whole swarm of Ravagers show up, which seem to be a bat-like grimm. Nice. My gothic, vampire, Stellaluna loving ass can get behind that.

Behold: my childhood.

They make a run for it and we - finally - get some solidarity as Octavia admits that the relic is technically Velvet’s and Velvet wonders in turn if they can share it. I offered my kingdom for a kind exchange and I got it! Hurray! More importantly, apparently that is an option because the airbus coordinates have shown up on both their scrolls. I’m not going to pretend that I understand how that tech works, but that’s a level of world building we don’t actually need. Not unless the hypothetical of students piggybacking on another’s relic is a part of the evaluation.

I love that Velvet used her camera flash to scare off the Ravager in their way. That’s a fantastic twist on the ‘Velvet will use her semblance and impress Octavia’ expectation as well as a great way to demonstrate that she is a formidable fighter, capable of paying attention to her situation/surroundings and responding accordingly.

There are more Ravagers though, incoming Blind Worms, an avalanche… and the airbus. A narrow escape indeed. Octavia drops that attention-catching, “Thank the Brothers” as they reach safety.

Going back to my earlier point about Shade seeming happy to kill its kids, apparently Velvet and Octavia were the last to reach the bus and Sun told the pilot to wait. That says good things about Sun, but horrible things about the test. If Sun hadn’t insisted on staying would Octavia and Velvet have had a way out? Why in the world wasn’t the pilot told to wait longer?? The whole timeline is confusing, with Sun and Velvet leaving the airship only a short time after everyone else, but it looks like the whole group was way ahead of them (the quarry is empty of both relics and people by the time they arrive), except Sun managed to get super far ahead of Velvet somehow, and their pilot was apparently working under an unspoken deadline… I’m just taking information at face value because if you try to piece it all together, good luck.

Also sorry, but I straight up laughed at Sun’s “You woke up the Ravagers. And you lived to tell the tale.” That is so unnecessarily dramatic. Oh no. Not the Ravagers. Literally the first thing I thought of was some B horror movie like

Coming only to a streaming service near your couch because we’re still living through a pandemic. Wear your masks, friends!

Back to this very entertaining reaction. Sun, you and Velvet have both taken out Atlesian knights, you fought a gigantic sea monster with Blake, and Velvet just bypassed a nest of Ravagers with a simple bright light. If RWBY is going to randomly try and make the grimm threatening again, do it with stuff that actually reads as a significant threat to these fighters. After you’ve got your first years blasting through (Yang) and riding (Nora) bear grimm at initiation, a couple of bat grimm just doesn’t cut it.

Moving on, Velvet’s iffy perspective rears its head once more as she thinks, “What if Sun had passed by the trinket in the tree, knowing it would be too dangerous to retrieve it? She and Octavia had not had that luxury.”

There’s a lot wrong with this theory:

How do you know Sun has better vision, even as a fellow faunus? As Volume 7’s Tyrian attack brought to the surface, supposedly not every faunus has that advantage.

Velvet straight up says that she wasn’t able to see the Ravagers, otherwise she would have warned Octavia about them. The whole point is that they startled her and she fell. So what, Sun not only has faunus vision but better than Velvet’s? (Do monkeys have better vision than rabbits? I have no idea, but this is the kind of stuff I would google if I wanted to potentially draw attention to it in my book).

If that trinket was too dangerous to retrieve, why did the instructors put it there in the first place? Fox mentioned things being unfair with his lack of sight, but that’s a pretty big difference: easy grabs in a supposedly abandoned quarry vs. a grab that wakes up the whole nest of grimm.

“She and Octavia had not had that luxury” why does this sound like another dig at Sun? Like it’s worth criticizing that he… got there first? Got lucky with the relics closer to the floor? Probably because everything is a dig at Sun in this book, including Velvet’s surprise that he might have “respect in his eyes.” Velvet! He was just asking about you, made the bus wait, and has always worn his heart on his sleeve! Sun’s respect/care is not in question, only how he chooses (at times) to display it.

Not that the story seems to get that. We can’t work through Sun’s questionable choices if we’re stuck in this never ending loop of ‘He’s so annoying/incompetent/willfully cruel’ into ‘Hark! is that a positive trait I see?’ and then back to ‘Never mind he’s awful.’ Maybe Velvet’s pride at his reaction to the Ravagers will finally move things forward.

Which is where we leave off. The airbus scares off the other Ravagers with its guns, the group heads back towards Shade (or a second part of the test? That did feel too much like a normal initiation to be fair), and Velvet ends with the equally dramatic line, “The initiation ritual had been hard and almost deadly, and even worse was yet to come: the assignment of the new teams.”

I have to say though, that is the most teen-accurate thought I’ve seen so far. An 18 year old would be more scared of their team social life than getting eaten by a monster lol.

On that note, drop a comment or an ask if you feel like being social yourself and I’ll see you during the next burst of NaNoWriMo energy! 💜

[ Ko-Fi ]

#rwby #BTD Recaps #Before the Dawn #mymetas

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spaced-out-imagines · 4 years

Text

The Mentor’s Child (a multi-chapter Shinsou x reader fic): Chapter 5

First Chapter | Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

Warnings: none!

If you like my stuff you can buy me a ko-fi here!

Taglist: @universal-imagines, @lucio-the-beautiful-goat, @lostgirlheart, @katsheen, @estrellitaaart, @complexhouseplant, @vinaios

A/n: And here’s the next chapter, along with a snazzy new picture that will replace the gifs in the beginning of the chapters! Thank you for your continued support towards this series and I hope you enjoy!

You sat in your classroom, not really listening as your teacher droned on and on about something. Normally you would at least try and pay attention or take notes but today your brain just wasn’t having it and you eventually just gave up. Akihiko would let you copy off his notes later anyways. So instead of being a good student and paying attention, you were zoning out lost in your thoughts.

Specifically, you were thinking about what you said to Shinsou a few days ago during your training session.

You mentally groaned at how harsh you were. Sure he had commented on your quirk but he hadn’t even said anything bad or malicious. He was simply asking a question and you had let your insecurities get the best of you, causing you to be a little more mean than you had intended. It’s not like Shinsou knew your past or why you didn’t like your quirk, he was simply trying to get to understand you better and you had ruined it. He had even kind of complimented your quirk in a way, as he had commented it could be useful, but nope you had to focus on the bad parts.

You couldn’t even tell if Shinsou had taken offense or not. The only interaction the two of you had in the past couple of days was greetings in the morning before class, as Shinsou had made a habit of saying good morning to you every day. You assumed that he wasn’t mad at you since he was indeed talking to you but he was always so hard to read in general. His face was always stoic whenever you saw him and you could never tell what he was thinking.

Even during the actual training session, right after you had exploded, Shinsou showed no difference in his actions or words. He didn’t poke fun at your quirk or use your words against you to try and get you under his quirk, to which you were grateful for. The times he did successfully brainwash you, he had used his usual taunts and if you were being honest, your annoyance and anger had gotten to the better of you causing you to respond. He could have used your hesitance over your quirk against you but he didn’t and you really didn’t know how to respond to that.

As you were mentally tearing your hair out in frustration, the bell rang snapping you out of your reverie. You let out a quiet sigh before starting to put your stuff away. You quickly placed your eraser and pencil in your pencil case and closed your notebooks. After you shoved all of that into your bag and zipped it up, you stood up and made eye contact with Akihiko. You were about to walk over to him, as you usually hung out with him and Kazue along with your other friends on your free days, when you felt a tap on your shoulder.

Surprised, you turned around only to come face to face with Shinsou. You simply looked at him in confusion, raising an eyebrow, causing him to look away while rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

You were just about to ask him if he needed something when he said, “can I talk to you in private for a second?”

You couldn’t help but blink at him a few times, more confused than ever, before nodding hesitantly. You looked back over at Akihiko and Kazue, who was now standing beside him. You gestured for them to go on ahead and made a little telephone with your hand, signaling that you would call them later. The two of them nodded before heading out of the classroom, Kazue shooting you a thumbs-up before walking through the door.

You turned to look at Shinsou again. He was still just kind of standing there awkwardly, one hand on his neck and the other gripping the strap of his bag that was slung over his shoulder. “Why don’t we find a more secluded hallway to talk? It’d be a bit weird if we just stayed here in the classroom,” you suggested, taking pity on him slightly.

“Yeah that’s probably a good idea,” he said. You nodded and began to head towards the door, making a “follow me” motion with your hand over your shoulder. The two of you exited the classroom and walked in silence, you in front with Shinsou slightly behind you. You passed by other students who were heading downstairs to start the trip back home or to wherever they went after school. You didn’t really acknowledge them, only focusing on the purple-haired boy behind you and what he wanted to talk to you about.

The two of you finally found a quieter hallway and stopped. You leaned back against one of the walls and looked at Shinsou once more. The two of you stood there in silence again for a few moments before you broke it. “So… what’s up?” you asked, “what did you want to talk to me about?”

Shinsou rubbed the back of his neck again, probably a nervous habit you noted, before finally meeting your eyes. “I um… just wanted to apologize I guess,” he said, catching you off guard once more.

“Apologize for what?” you asked, crossing your arms as you continued to stare at him.

“Sorry for asking you about your quirk. I didn’t mean to offend you in any way and it wasn’t my place to ask,” he said, “you clearly don’t like talking about your quirk and yet I asked you about it anyways. I was just curious but I still should have held back since we’re not really that close as well.” You opened your mouth to say something but he continued, “I really did mean it when I said I wanted to at least be on friendly terms with you and I’m sorry if I ruined that possibility. But please believe me when I say I didn’t mean to make you angry.” He went quiet after he finished and you stared into his eyes. For once you could sort of get a read on what he was feeling and you didn’t see a shred of dishonesty. He really felt bad that he had made you upset.

You sighed and said, “you really don’t have anything to apologize about Shinsou.” He opened his mouth as if to protest but you raised a hand causing him to close it once more. “Please let me finish,” you said, “I accept your apology but if I’m being honest I’m kind of at fault too. I shouldn’t have exploded the way I did, especially when you didn’t even really say anything that offensive. I’m just a bit sensitive I guess about why I don’t like my quirk… it’s not exactly a happy topic ya know?” Shinsou nodded in understanding and you shot him a grateful look before continuing, “you didn’t ruin your chances of being friendly with me at all. I would still be more than happy to get to know you better, especially since we’ll be spending a lot of time after school together. You really don’t have to worry about that at all so you can relax a little.”

After your little spiel, you couldn’t but look away from him, feeling a little awkward for saying so much. You didn’t look back at him until Shinsou spoke up once more. “I’m still sorry though, I should have respected your boundaries more. Plus Aizawa-sensei had already mentioned you don’t really like talking about your quirk in general…” he said.

“You know what? Let’s settle it like this. Let’s just say it was both our faults alright?” you told him, “if you forgive me for exploding like that, I’ll forgive you for asking about my quirk. Sounds like a deal?” You extended your hand out for him to shake, similar to how you introduced yourself when you first met up with him and your dad in the gym a couple of weeks ago. Shinsou glanced at your hand before taking it in his own as he met your eyes again. The two of you firmly shook each other’s hand before letting go.

You smiled at him, “well, that settles it! Let’s put it behind us now Shinsou.”

He gave you a smirk of his own as he said, “oh it’s Shinsou now and not Shinsou-san like it was back in the gym?”

Your cheeks flushed a little as you nervously laughed. “Sorry about that. I was just really annoyed and I just added the honorific to get the point across,” you explained, “unless you prefer that I call you Shinsou-san?”

Shinsou shook his head, “no it’s fine, you can just call me Shinsou if you want.”

“Cool, you can just call me Yamada then, I don’t mind,” you replied. He nodded and you went silent for a few seconds as you mentally debated on something. You were hesitant but you pushed those doubtful thoughts away as you asked him, “hey are you doing anything after this?”

Shooting you a confused look, Shinsou shook his head no causing you to smile a bit wider. “Great! Do you wanna come with me to a cafe then?”

“Um. Can I ask why?” he said more confused than ever.

“Well the both of us have a free afternoon and it’d be a good way to get to know each other more. We can talk for a little longer there instead of just awkwardly hanging out here in this hallway,” you said, “plus I’m in the mood for something sweet anyways and you look like you could use a coffee, no offense.”

Shinsou’s hand reached up to touch under his eyes for a second before he sighed. “None taken. And I guess you’re right I could use some caffeine.”

“Awesome! Well, let’s get going. I know a pretty good cafe nearby,” you said as you began to walk down the hall. Shinsou didn’t say anything else as he began to keep pace beside you. You lead the way out of the school as you took a deep breath to calm your nerves.

Hopefully, you won’t be too awkward and wouldn’t regret this decision later.

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sepublic · 4 years

Text

Something Ventured, Someone Framed

EDALYN CLAWTHORNE

LILITH CLAWTHORNE

CLAWTHORNE FAMILY

WE HAVE CONFIRMATION ON THE FAMILY NAME!!!

...Okay, with that out of the way and off my chest, I LOVED this episode!

Firstly, I love how the show is addressing and exploring Luz’s frustration with Eda not exactly helping her explore witch society, while also admitting that Eda is doing this out of a place of concern and not wanting Luz to be hurt like her. But at the same time, Eda KNOWS that Luz is feeling stifled and she of all people doesn’t want to tell someone else what to do... As she said earlier, it’s best for Luz to figure out how she feels about the system. And while she does, Eda will be supporting her the whole way! Even fixing all of her past mistakes, of a few of which were really hilarious and impressive (the moving, sentient graffiti was an amazing gag)! I just... LOVE how much Eda cares for Luz and is willing to put herself into an uncomfortable situation for her sake!

Principal Bump is actually a cool dude! I had my suspicions ever since Episode 3 (what with him going out of his way to place Willow in the track she wanted to be in... yeah he tried to dissect Luz, but at the time he thought she was just a really advanced Abomination). Then Covention had him say “I failed you as a teacher” to a kid... Which while harsh to say in front of a crowd, is ultimately a line that puts the responsibility on himself, and not the student.

And it shows! I’m not sure if a lot of people in the Boiling Isles just... don’t care for Bellows’ reign in particular. Is there some form of quiet, conscious dissent going on? As a surprisingly benevolent principal (not including the detention), Bump is genuinely willing to look past Eda’s criminal status and even bend the law just so his students (and Luz herself) gain ‘enriching’ knowledge and experience from interacting with a person/people from another world! With Bump, he seems to be the kind of person who’d much rather focus on rehabilitating and helping reintegrate a person into society, over just punishing and isolating them. That I have to respect!

(Although that Detention... thing is a bit too far when it comes to ‘rehabilitating’. Also it’s going to be weird re-watching those scenes knowing the Detention Monster is just a regular dude who acts like a monster for his job.)

Mattholomule is... Well, he’s a jerk like Dana said. Not much else to say here. But he’s also her favorite jerk, so I guess we have something to look forward to! Also, him becoming president of the HAS seems a bit of a pyrrhic victory, seeing as how he already admitted to the club that he lied to get appreciation. He really didn’t think this through, did he?

Also GUS! Gus, my baby boy. He’s incredibly smol, and it’s because he’s actually really young for his grade! That joke with his rebellious illusion was great, and it was cool seeing Emira and Edric as a casual, background-character joke! And when he raised his hand I deadass thought he’d deck Mattholomule in the face (not that I’d blame him). The fact that promotional art for the episode had him getting physical with Mattholomule and Dana joking about getting into a fight certainly didn’t help. Likewise, I was pretty glad to see an episode centering on him (since just about everyone else from the main cast got focus... Not sure if Hooty counts. Would Hooty’s Moving Hassle count?), and it was neat to switch things a bit to have him as the protagonist. I think it’s always neat when that happens, and it helps us see how others see Luz, our main protagonist!

(Willow, you’re so precious and amazing I love you. Looking out for your girlfriend and being the voice of reason.)

But back to what REALLY got my eye... YOUNG EDA! YOUNG EDA HAS ORANGE HAIR! And she’s freaking adorable... You are my angel...

Her being in the Potions track makes sense, but it makes me wonder if that happened before or after the curse? Some of her magic graffiti had the words ‘Hoot’, but that might’ve happened during her time at school? It’d be interesting if part of her interest in the Potions Track was to help curb her own curse, or if later on her school track just conveniently ended up working out. There’s always the possibility that since Bump is willing to accommodate his students according to their needs, he switched Eda to the Potions Track after she got cursed. Who knows? Either way, Young Eda is my precious baby girl... I would give the whole WORLD to you...

(And now I’m a little depressed imagining Eda having innocent, carefree days and fun at school and enjoying her friendship with her sister, only for the curse and/or some other incident(s) to cause a falling-out with the system and disgrace.)

On a minor note, when @disneytva released that one infographic showing off each school track and a corresponding image, we have yet to see the screenshots for the Bard, Fortune Tellers, and Healing Coven? AKA we’ll definitely get more of Hexside this season and I can’t wait!

I really loved reading about Eda’s pranks as a child. What a wonderful trouble-maker who knows exactly what she’s doing. But what I really appreciate is the one report mentioning how she caused an entire lunch fight just to get back Lilith’s lunch money! Lilith shows she cares about Eda (in her own flawed way), and we see how Eda cares for Lilith! I just WANT these two to be happy!

(Also I want to see young Lilith)

I was thinking about it and “Look Hoo’s Talking” mentioned it as well, but there’s a ‘mystery thief’ (AKA the person that stole Luz’s lunch money)? At first I wasn’t paying attention, but then the report specifically mentioned they worked with Eda and Lilith to save the school from the giant, sentient Abomination. Is this the favorite character from Season 2 that Dana talked about??? A peer from Eda and Lilith’s class???

(By the way, did Bump write those reports on Eda’s behavior? Whoever it is apparently had the obligation to clean up the Griffin-vomit but took a break, which... I love you Eda. But that dude totally deserves a break from your pranks.)

It was really touching to see Eda interacting with Hooty this episode. Given the implications that she may have made Hooty herself, it was really kind... But at the same time, I can see why Hooty’s behavior convinced Eda to enroll Luz in school.

And while Eda mentioned that she knows Luz is smarter than the ‘One Witch, One Coven’ nonsense... What if she and Luz have a falling-out because Luz buys into the system???

...I mean, I’m not too sure about that. But mostly, it seems like an assigned track is mandatory. Unless Eda pulls off some special treatment for Luz the human, I REALLY want to see which track Luz will be placed into! Her expertise is light spells, which seems like it’d be in the Illusion track... But we already have Gus, Emira, and Edric. Earlier I discussed with @fermented-writers-block about Luz possibly getting into the Healing or Beast-Keeping Covens, what with her relationship with the symbolism of Azura-Hecate and her own character motifs. I can’t wait to find out!

(Assuming something tragic doesn’t happen to prevent Luz from attending Hexside... could you imagine?)

#the owl house #owl house #the owl house eda #eda clawthorne #the owl house luz #luz noceda #the owl house gus #principal bump #lilith clawthorne #analysis #speculation #episode review

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loverspersonas · 4 years

Text

the most beautiful moment in life | iv

pairing: ot7? x reader

genre: hyyh au, high school au, angst, drama, fluff, smut?

length: 5.2k

summary: Eight strangers with different stories happen to meet one day, by fate or some kind of cruel, exquisite happenstance, and realize that they’re not as different as they thought.

↳series masterlist

It was only the first half of the day, and you were already mentally tired. Your classes had a lot of new content but for some reason, you were having trouble paying attention. Maybe it was the dream you’d had, a reminder of a memory that you still couldn’t seem to shake, and the fact that you’d had the same one multiple times. Or maybe it was the events of the previous night, how you and the seven boys had found their way to each other again. Almost like it was fate. Who knew, though? Maybe it was.

But it had you wondering, why specifically the eight of you?

“Y/N, are you listening?”

You blinked. “Yeah. Sorry, I just spaced for second.”

Sana frowned slightly but returned to searching the line of books on the shelf. The two of you were in the library since she had a research assignment to start. “You seem to be doing that often. Everything okay?”

You shrugged. “I guess. My mom and I kind of had another argument.”

“What about?”

“The usual,” you replied, scoffing. You’d gotten back home late last night and had to sneak back into your room to avoid conversation. By morning, she was gone for work, so that hadn’t been a problem. “I just can’t believe how ignorant she is to everything. Like why can’t she just admit that she’s wrong?”

“That’s adults for you.” She hesitated. “But to play devil’s advocate, I can see why she might be worried. She didn’t have to hear about your detention to know that things haven’t been the same for a while now.”

You closed your eyes for a moment, drawing out a breath instead of snapping back like your first instinct was. “She doesn’t talk about what happened that night, you know. It’s almost like she wants to pretend it never happened.”

Sana looked at you, eyes filled with sympathy. “I wonder why she would want to do that.” Before you could ask what she meant by that, she grabbed a hardcover book from the shelf. “I’ll be right back.”

You watched her disappear around the corner as you leaned you back against the shelf. Across from you, through the gaps on the shelf where there weren’t any books, you thought you noticed a familiar face.

“Namjoon?” you said, uncertain.

He looked up, surprised to hear his name and even more to see that it had been you to say it. “Oh, Y/N.”

You moved around to the aisle he was in, busy flipping through pages of a book. “What are you doing? Wait, don’t answer that. Why wouldn’t you be here?”

He looked like he was refraining from rolling his eyes. “I don’t appreciate your usage of stereotypes.”

“Hey, my basis is on facts only.”

By the twitch of his mouth, you knew he was amused rather than offended. “Fine. So, then what are you doing here?”

You folded your arms over your chest. “Accompanying a friend.”

He nodded. “Makes sense. Also referring to facts, this isn’t really where you prefer to spend a lot of your time, is it?”

“I guess not.” You shrugged. You weren’t offended, because as a former cheerleader and part of the academy’s swim team, you didn’t have a lot of free time during the day. Having to finish your assignments and get studying done was done in those less often breaks in between and at home. “Not everyone is as intellectual as you,” you said jokingly.

“You don’t have to be intellectual to come here,” he argued. The way he looked down at his book at your comment showed that he wasn’t pretentious or obnoxious about his talents. He knew he was smart, but he didn’t let it get to his head, and you kind of admired that. “You can just like reading. Or quiet.”

“Unfortunately, it’s not as quiet in here as it used to be,” you said. “The debate team likes to have group meetings in the study rooms, and the walls just aren’t soundproof enough.”

Namjoon sighed. “You’re telling me. The other day, I had to listen to a whole rant on the dangers of cell phones use in schools. The guy had way too much passion for a topic like that.”

You smiled slightly. “How come you aren’t on the debate team?”

He shook his head. “I don’t know. I was part of the Academy’s newspaper, the academic decathlon, the mathletes, and even a book club… I don’t have a lot of time anymore, I guess.”

You tilted your head, studying the way he averted his gaze, returning to scanning the spines of book titles. There was something more there that he didn’t want to talk about. And you wouldn’t pry either.

“I get that,” you said at last. “I didn’t actually realize how stressed I was last year until now when I don’t have as many extracurriculars.”

“You were stressed?” Namjoon asked in disbelief. “That’s the last thing I would’ve thought you were.”

You frowned slightly. “Why?”

“I don’t know.” He gave a small shrug. “None of you ever seemed like that. You always… looked like you were having the time of your life.”

His words seemed to transport you mentally back to the previous year. Maybe there were a lot of instances where you were having fun, acting like a carefree teenager with no worries. But at the same time, now that you were able to look back, you weren’t sure if all those times were always genuine. And of course, the latter part of the year was when everything had started to change, when the things you used to love started to make you miserable.

“I guess it seemed that way,” you spoke, seeming a little far away as you stared off into the space. “It’s weird, because everything seems a lot slower now. Like the past few years were so fast paced and I was only ever trying to keep up. I think I’m more relaxed now… if that makes sense.”

A second later, you felt like you’d said something dumb or you’d overshared, but when Namjoon finally spoke, the tension melted away. “I think it does. I mean, I might not know exactly how you felt before, but… it’s completely valid.”

You pressed your lips together, sighing. “Thanks for saying what I wanted to hear.”

“It’s not just what you want to hear, it’s also the truth.”

You looked up at him, half curious and half with a slight smile. “I get it now.”

He raised a brow. “Get what?”

“Why teachers love you. You’re good with words. Is that how you manipulate them into falling for your every request?”

“Hey.” He looked like he was ready to throw the book he was holding at you.

You moved your hands to cover your face. “No, please, not a hardcover.”

He let out a sigh eventually, like he couldn’t believe what he was dealing with. But as you started to laugh, you could see that he was holding back his own.

“Y/N, you ready to go?” Sana asked. She stopped near the front of the aisle, doing a double take when she saw the boy with you. Her eyebrows furrowed in your direction as though questioning what she was seeing.

“Yeah,” you answered after a few second, standing up straight. You nodded at Namjoon. “I’ll see you later.”

“What was that about?” Sana asked as you were leaving the library.

“Oh, that was Namjoon—“

“I know who he is. I just meant, why you were talking. Are you guys friends or something?”

Truthfully, you didn’t know the answer to that. Were any of you really friends? You forced a chuckle. “Please. I don’t have any friends.”

She jabbed you in the stomach with her elbow.

You winced and hurriedly added, “Except for you. Although with how physically violent you’ve recently gotten, I’m beginning to question this friendship.”

It was one of your free periods and you decided to go to the library to catch up on work. The hallways were mostly empty at this time since everyone was either in class or ditching class, so you were a little caught off guard when someone bumped into you.

“Sorry,” you began to apologize until you actually got a good look at the person.

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it, Y/N,” Yuna spoke. Everything about her was as immaculate as always, from her sleek black hair down to her red acrylic nails. The way she was looking at you was different from how it once used to be. It was condescending now, in a way it hadn’t ever been so overt.

For a second, you felt like you were frozen or your throat had dried up. This was something you’d been avoiding since the beginning of the year; you hadn’t been prepared. But you managed to from a sentence without wavering. “I guess it has.”

Yuna folded her arms across her chest. “I want to say the cheerleading team misses you—“

“But you don’t,” you finished, not allowing yourself to sound angry or upset because that was what she wanted. “You never liked having me on the team. You always did hate the idea of sharing the spotlight.”

“It was always yours,” she said sharply. “It was always ever yours.”

“What are you talking about?”

She shook her head, like she couldn’t believe you. “It wasn’t even just concerning cheer, but with teachers, academics… even all our friends seemed to choose you. I was just your understudy.”

“The world isn’t a stage, Yuna,” you said. Maybe before you would’ve felt bad after hearing that, but you were tired of listening to her victimize herself about things that were so insignificant in the big picture, things that she was just distorting. “And it doesn’t revolve around you or me.”

“Then why did it always feel that way?” she cried. “What makes you better than me?”

You released a breath. “I don’t know, Yuna.” And it was the truth, because never once did you think you were better than her. Not in any way that mattered, at least.

She stared at you with eyes welling up with anger. “You thought that, too, didn’t you?”

“I didn’t—“

“You were the princess of Sky.” She smiled a bitter smile. “Everyone loved you. Because everything about you seemed so good and nice and… perfect. But they never saw the truth. That you were fake underneath it all.”

You involuntarily flinched at the harshness in her words. You weren’t too surprised by the resentment she must’ve held, but you supposed you could never be ready to hear such things.

“It was just a matter of time for them to find out the truth about you.”

At this, your fists clenched at your sides. You could only relax when you felt your nails dig hard into your palms, the sensation bringing you back to reality. Only after summoning up some courage could you look up at her. “You were glad to help spread that, weren’t you?”

“It’s not like any of it was a lie.”

You couldn’t believe how she could be so heartless about something that had been the worst moment of your life. But you didn’t have to stand around and listen to it. “Enjoy the crown, Yuna. It was what you wanted all this time anyway.”

“Hey!” she yelled after she got to process what you said, when you were already making your way away from her. “Don’t walk away from me!”

You turned around to the next hallway, aware of the sound of Yuna’s heels following after you, but you couldn’t do a minute more of talking to her. The fact that you’d pulled off that conversation with a straight face and without your emotions getting the best of you was very shocking.

From the corner of your eye, you found a door on your right and didn’t think twice before opening it. Leaning against the back of the door, you waited until there was no sound of Yuna outside before releasing the breath you were holding.

“What monster were you being chased by?”

You jumped in your spot, hand going toward your chest to feel your heart racing. Then you turned to glare at the boy who’d startled you. “What the hell? Were you trying to give me a heart attack?”

Taehyung shrugged, like that proposition wasn’t so bothering. It was only then that you realized you’d walked into the storage room, now looking nothing like the abandoned storage room it had been in the beginning of the week. It looked more like a common room than a classroom with how the eight of you had arranged it.

“What are you doing here anyway?”

Taehyung glanced at you from the corner of his eye. He was using his phone, sprawled over the old sofa in the middle of the room. “Are you really asking me that when you’re the one who interrupted me?”

You rolled your eyes. “It’s not your room, last I checked.” If you’d had a part in cleaning and revamping this place, you had as much of a right to be there as he did.

“Fine,” he said. “I didn’t feel like going to class.”

“And you wonder why you’re failing half of your classes,” you mumbled to yourself.

His head turned to you, eyes narrowing. “So, then what is the princess doing here? Who’re you hiding from?”

You folded your arms over your chest defiantly. “What makes you think I’m hiding from someone?”

His expression was mildly amused. “I saw you come in here. And I know what someone looks like when they’re hiding.”

“Please, I have nothing to—“

“Y/N! Where the hell are you?”

You outwardly winced at Yuna’s screeching just as Taehyung smirked. “Ah, so that’s why you’re hiding.”

“I’m not hiding,” you practically snapped out of irritation.

He stood up then. “Okay, then you’ll have no problem with this. Hey, Yuna! She’s in—“

“No, wait!” You rushed towards him, covering his mouth with your hand. He protested at first, but his voice was muffled and besides, you could hardly pay attention to that as you anxiously glanced at the door. Only when you were sure Yuna hadn’t heard you and was out of the vicinity, did you relax.

“Um, Y/N?” Taehyung said as he slowly removed your hand so he could speak. “You want to get off of me?”

“What?” Then you realized that you’d been too worried about being found by Yuna, you didn’t realize you’d pushed Taehyung back onto the sofa, one hand still on his shoulder and practically sitting over him. “Oh, sorry.” Hurriedly, you pushed yourself off of him and turned your face away in case the mild embarrassment was showing.

Taehyung’s previous awkwardness seemed to have disappeared. “Hey, it’s no big deal. But maybe buy me lunch first next time.”

Just like that, the blush in your cheeks was gone, and you scoffed. “This was not my fault. You’re the one who was going to get me caught.”

“And you’re the one who said you weren’t hiding.”

You wanted to retort to that, but instead made an exasperated sound. From what you thought you knew about the boy, you didn’t think he’d be this insufferable.

There was the faintest grin playing on his lips, like he could tell how much he was starting to get on your nerves, and that only made you more annoyed. “Why are you hiding from Yuna, anyway? I thought you guys were friends.”

Best friends, you added in your head. Or at least, that was what you were supposed to have been. Clearing your throat slightly, you moved to sit on the sofa, at a small distance from him. “Yeah… we were.”

Taehyung snorted. “No friends I know talk to each other the was she was talking to you just five minutes ago.”

“You heard that?” you asked sheepishly after a moment.

“It’s not like I was trying to. But when you’re yelling in an empty hallway, someone’s bound to hear you.” You gave this a shake of your head in agreement before he surprised you with what he said next. “Why are you so scared of her?”

You forced a scoff, because there was no way you could show that you were intimidated by a girl like that. “I’m not scared. I just don’t want to see her. There’s a difference.”

He hummed. “So, running through the hall, desperately looking for some place to hide doesn’t qualify as afraid? All right then.”

You stared at him, that same twinge of annoyance passing through you. It was the way he spoke so nonchalantly about everything, like he’d never heard the word tact before. But at the same time, it evoked you, made you want to speak up for yourself. “Fine,” you admitted. “Maybe I was hiding. I mean, I know that I can’t avoid her for the rest of my life. I guess I wasn’t ever going to be ready to face her again.”

You felt the sofa move as Taehyung shifted in his spot, straightening up the way someone did when they were interested in listening. “You make her sound like she’s this big bad villain. I always thought the worst she could be was the ugly stepsister.”

A laugh left your throat, shooting him a weird and amused look. Never had you heard anyone refer to Yuna as that. She had to be one of the prettiest girls you’d seen, like she could very well be in the modelling industry. Being next to her all the time had you feeling insecure of yourself sometimes.

“Harmless,” Taehyung elaborated. “And extremely irritating at best.”

You nodded, laughter abating now. “Irritating for sure. Harmless… not so much.” You played with the rings on your fingers as you spoke. “It’s kind of… complicated.” You looked down at the floor, sensing his eyes on you, awaiting a further explanation.

“Look, you don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to,” he said finally. “But you know, you might feel better after talking about it.”

You looked at him out of surprise. Of course, you didn’t expect anything thoughtful like that to come out of his mouth, especially not from the impression he’d given you.

He shrugged. “That’s what my therapist used to say, at least. I didn’t really believe it."

If you thought you couldn’t be more surprised, you were wrong. “You have a therapist?”

“I did,” he answered, and you were vaguely aware of the shift in his demeanour into something a little uncomfortable. “It was a long time ago.”

You bit your lip, not knowing what to say at first. It seemed normal to be taken aback by a confession like that. You wouldn’t tell just anyone something personal, but then Taehyung seemed different. Maybe he was carefree in the sense that he didn’t care much of what other people thought. You found yourself wishing you could do the same.

“It’s not the exact same thing,” you spoke, sensing him shift to look at you. “I’ve talked to the guidance counsellor a few times.”

“Mrs Oh?”

“Have you spoken to her, too?” you asked, curious.

“Yeah… a while ago.” He hesitated. “What did Yuna mean when she called you fake?”

That made you laugh, but nothing inside you felt the same. Finally, you gave out a sigh, like you were tired. And maybe you were. You’d been keeping so much to yourself for such a long time, it only made sense you were tired of it. Was it better to confide in someone you knew or someone you barely knew? “When you like being at the top, everyone around you is competition.”

“Is that what you were to her?”

You remembered when you’d first met Yuna back when you were children, colouring in drawings with crayons and playing tag on the playground. It had been an innocent friendship then, made by chance, but the two of you had been inseparable for a long time. When did it all change for her? When did it become fake? Was it when you’d gone off to high school? Or when you’d both joined the cheerleading team? You didn’t know the precise moment, but you feel like you should’ve known.

“I think,” you said slowly, “that she was just waiting for a reason to cut me off.”

And maybe you’d given her more than enough. There the situation with Min-hyuk, drama in the group, cheerleading, and of course, the incident on the night of June 7th. It felt like there were so many factors to it. One might’ve just been a catalyst to set everything in motion. You were pretty sure of which that was.

You cleared your throat, not giving the chance to ask anything further. “Anyway, it’s done. I don’t—I don’t want to talk about it.” Your message was clear: you weren’t as much of strangers as you used to be, but that didn’t mean you had to start sharing your life story.

“I think,” Taehyung said, almost slowly like he was trying to carefully construct his words, “that cutting off toxic people from your life is never easy. A lot of the time, you don’t even realize how toxic they are until they’ve already hurt you. But you should be glad that it’s done.”

You supposed you didn’t think you needed to hear that until now. “I do feel… relieved, in a way.” Another thought hit you, and you turned to look at him. “What you said just now… have you ever had a relationship like that?”

He gave a quiet, humourless chuckle, not quite meeting your eyes. That was enough of an answer for you. It made you feel sad for him, and then you were wondering how you could feel that way for someone you barely knew.

Your eyes caught sight of the clock and you rose to your feet. “Um, my free period’s almost over. Thanks for… you know.” For not ratting you out to Yuna, for listening to you, for trying to make you feel not better, but understood.

He nodded, attention already away from you. He didn’t really say anything else, but you couldn’t help but wonder if you’d been too quick to judge him based on what little snippets you’d seen of him or heard of. It was almost ironic, since that was what people had been doing to you in the past year.

You didn’t always hate the hospital.

When your mother used to take you for checkups and dentist appointments as a kid, you would always walk away with lollipops and treats. As you got older, it became vending machine snacks or cafeteria coffee. But the past few months had you avoiding the place as much as possible, which was why that day was an unfortunate one.

Your prescription had run out, and your mother obviously forgot to pick it up for you, something that didn’t usually happen with her. So, you gave the place a call and they told you to come by to pick it up. You made it a point to avoid speaking to anyone unless absolutely necessary. You didn’t want people to recognize as that one strange girl who’d been brought to the emergency department last summer.

The pharmacist handed you your refills and you thought you were clear from there, right until you heard someone say your name.

“Jimin,” you said in surprise when you turned to face the person. What was it with today and running into members of your former detention squad in the least likeliest of places?

Jimin seemed to get over the initial shock, now looking even more taken aback, like you’d caught him doing something he shouldn’t have been. “What are you doing here?”

With a glance around, you realized you were in the hospital’s cafeteria now. You had a split second to come up with something. “I was just, um—I had an appointment.”

“Oh.” He started to nod. “Yeah, me too.”

“Really? I didn’t see you upstairs or anything.”

He spoke after a second. “I just got here. I don’t come here a lot, so I was wandering since I have some time to kill.”

You noticed him look away, and you took the chance to find the exit doors with your eyes. You could leave right then, and nothing would’ve gotten out. But then, here was this boy who reminded you so much of your scared self whenever you had to come here by yourself when your mother couldn’t make it. So, you found yourself reaching for a coffee cup from the stack sitting on the counter. “Did you come for the coffee, too? I swear, it’s the only thing keeping this place going.”

His posture became a little more relaxed with your nonchalant attempt at conversation. “That, and their bagels.”

“Right,” you said with a chuckle. “Love the bagels.”

After what seemed like a moment of debating, Jimin grabbed a coffee cup too and joined you at the self serve coffee station. “So, how did your appointment go?”

You slowed to a stop. Then you pressed the button and watched as the cup began to fill with dark liquid. “It was fine. Just the regular checkup my mom makes me do.”

While he was getting his drink, you waited for him, finding it easier to answer while he was preoccupied. “Is she here too?”

“No, she’s busy tonight.” And every other night. “But it’s fine. It’s not like I got into a fight and have to get stitches for a broken jaw."

As you tried to figure out how to work the toaster oven, Jimin said with great interest, “Did you really break his jaw?”

“No, but wouldn’t that have been nice?”

He stifled a laugh. “I’m sorry if I sounded like I was taking his side when we were talking about it in detention. It’s only characteristic if he’s an asshole all of the time. He must’ve done something stupid.”

“Something like that.” At the same time, you wanted to know if you came across as someone who didn’t get into meaningless fights often. To you, it felt more like the fights and drama came to you. “Eun-ho deserved a lot more than just that.”

“I don’t doubt that. Here, let me.”

You didn’t stop him as he stepped forward, fixing the toaster oven and choosing the settings before putting in the slices of bagels. You shot him a curious glance. “For someone who doesn’t come here often, you sure know how to work that.”

A blush appeared on his cheeks and he looked down at the floor sheepishly. “Oh… I just—“

“You don’t have to tell me why you’re really here, Jimin.” Since he’d said it, you had a bit of a doubt of the reason he was at the hospital. He just seemed too nervous and on edge while he was talking, like he was afraid of slipping up. But you didn’t want to point it out so openly. Everyone had reasons for keeping things. You did too, after all.

“I didn’t want to lie,” he spoke finally in a quiet voice.

You tilted your head, analyzing the way he sounded apologetic for it. You didn’t expect it, and why would you? He didn’t owe you anything, and you knew that. “Then why did you?”

“I–I don’t like talking about it.”

When it was clear he didn’t have anything else to say, you nodded. “I get it. I wouldn’t want to talk about it either.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to,” he said and you looked to him, waiting for an explanation. His shoulders lifted in a half shrug and when he spoke, you could tell it took courage from him to admit it. “I don’t have a lot of people I can talk to.”

You frowned slightly. “What about Hoseok? I thought you were close.”

“Not really. We just know each other through dance.”

“And your parents?”

A dark, melancholic shadow crossed over his face for a brief moment, but he played it off with a chuckle. “They’re the last people I’d want to talk to.”

You could relate to him, in that sense. Your father was long out of the picture and it felt like your mother might as well have been. You supposed he was right. Besides Sana, you couldn’t just go to anyone whenever you wanted to talk. Some things you couldn’t even tell her. They stayed in your subconscious, sinking deeper, collecting dust. Or maybe waiting until they got to see the light. “Well, I guess we both could use an ear to listen,” you started. “I’m probably not the best person, but... I’ve been told I’m a good listener.”

When he looked at you, a smile was playing on his lips. “Oh, yeah?”

You nodded. “By like one person. But if she hears I’ve set her opinion as a low standard, she will not be thrilled.”

“I will remember that,” he said with a laugh. “If I want to talk about it someday…”

“You know where to find me.” You sent him a grin. “If not around here, possibly in another detention.”

“Are you planning on making a habit out of it?”

You spent the rest of the time, sitting in the cafeteria with Jimin, just talking about little things. You were trying to be cautious not to touch any topics that would make him close off, and you could tell he was doing the same. At the same time, you could feel the smallest bit of guilt simmering in your stomach. He wanted to talk to someone, to you, but you couldn’t do the same, not yet and not about this.

Although you couldn’t help but feel like for the first time, the hospital didn’t feel like such a sad and lonely place to you.

part iii // part v

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kclenhartnovels · 4 years

Text

Horseshoes and Hand Grenades, Larocque’s Introduction

As I’m finally getting some actual words done on the project, here’s a fun sneak peak into the early chapter, and Harding’s first interaction with Larocque. I feel like I’m finally finding the narrative voice, and I may be having too much fun with descriptions.

===========================

"Agent John Harding, Sr.?"

The use of his full name startled Harding out of his focus, and he jerked up so suddenly he sent half a dozen papers fluttering to the ground. They hadn't been in much order to begin with, emptied from the file box and strewn across his desk and the floor with a few of his own notes scribbled on post-its on top of them, still trying to make sense of the flood of information. He had expected some other lackey suit to be standing in the door to his office, perhaps holding another full box or checking in on his progress as they had been doing for the past couple days, but instead was someone he had never seen before. And he didn't look like a paper pusher, or a field agent. Instead of a suit, he wore a long white lab coat, immaculately pressed and clean. He had the long, narrow look of someone who had at one point been a normal proportion, but then had been squeezed and pulled too tightly through some sort of unforgiving machine. His high cheekbones angled too sharply against the line of his jaw, leaving hollows that might have been called dimples if they didn't look so severely cut. Dark blond hair curled loosely across his temples, and seemed the only thing about him not pressed and stretched into a cultivated, regimented perfection. Harding got the distinct impression that he was some sort of lizard that had decided to wear a human-suit, but had no idea how to make it properly fitted. If he saw a forked tongue, Harding was going to carve a window into the wall behind him and jump through it.

"Yes, sir," he answered instead. "That's me. Can I help you?"

The reptile in the doorway smiled, at least much in the same way a snake smiled while sizing up a cornered mouse. It was less of a gesture of goodwill, and more a yawn of fangs in preparation to swallow someone whole. "My name is Dr. Henri Larocque. I have the results of your bloodwork."

"Ah." When Larocque didn't continue right away, Harding felt compelled to speak. "Is this like looking up symptoms on the Internet? Do I have brain cancer?"

The doctor's smile widened marginally, enough to finally wrinkle the hollows of his pitted cheeks. "Quite the contrary. Won't you follow me?"

"Why do I feel like I don't have a choice in the matter?" Harding picked up a few of the papers that had fallen, returned them to the piles where (he thought) they came from, and gingerly stepped around the rest. Standing beside Larocque, he was even more acutely aware that his own suit was rumpled, his tie was loosely done, and he hadn't really slept in a day or so. He felt rather like a stray dog beside a freshly-groomed Westminster poodle.

"You always have a choice, John."

Harding flinched. No one called each other by first names here, and he wasn't sure if it felt too familial, or too mocking when the doctor said it. It was just weird. Everything about the doctor spoke something of the other, and he couldn't help but wonder if there was some sort of Lovecraftian beast lurking under the skin, rather than a simple razor-toothed lizard. "Yeah, it sounds like it. You sure I don't have brain cancer?"

Larocque led him down the hallway, past the series of windowless offices where other paper-pushers like him worked, past the open cubicles of other agents. RJ saw them pass by, and she stood to exchange a glance with him. He offered her a shrug, and gestured vaguely towards the white coat in front of him, before spinning one finger beside his temple in a gesture of insanity. When she looked genuinely alarmed, a tightness formed in his stomach. Did she know something he didn't?

The doctor pushed open a door at the end of the hall, and gestured Harding into the same small clinic room where the nurse had drawn his blood almost two weeks ago. "Please, have a seat."

The only place to sit was on the hard metal table, covered with a sheet of sterile paper, and Harding felt like a child waiting for a round of vaccinations when he hopped up onto it. The paper crinkled under his hands. The sound settled around the knot in his stomach, adding an acidity that made his teeth ache, as if he had just heard nails scraping against chalkboard for the past two hours. "So," he began lamely, "what's this about? They never said what the blood draw was for."

Larocque drew the shades on the door's window, giving them as much privacy as could be expected. Harding half waited for him to pull out a butcher's knife and begin painting the white walls with chunks of his flesh. But instead, the doctor moved in front of him, and tapped his tapered fingers against a clipboard. "How much do you know about the human genome, John?"

His teeth ached, and he realized he had been gritting them. "It's Agent Harding."

The doctor smiled thinly. "Answer the question, please."

What the fuck was he supposed to say? "I'm not a biologist. I studied French and political science. I know they finished the human genome project recently. It was all over the news." Larocque nodded, and seemed to be waiting for him to go on. He felt a frustrated sigh hiss past his clenched teeth. A headache began to throb in his temple. He hadn't slept, hadn't eaten anything that morning aside from three cups of coffee and half a bagel that he had mostly neglected after he found mold in the cream cheese. "I don't know. DNA makes us who we are?"

"That is correct." He sounded like a teacher, praising an especially thick student for finally answering a simple question, while the rest of the class snickered and flicked spitballs at them. "And we have mapped your genetic code. This is a brave new world we are entering, and you and I are to be on the forefront of this new science. You see, your DNA is holding something extraordinary."

"Not brain cancer, then?"

Larocque's impeccable human suit flickered with irritation. His nostrils flared, and a hint of color finally touched the hollows of his face. "I am certain that you are aware of the rumors of humans with powers beyond the norm? Those that can produce elements with the powers of their mind, or move at speeds and strengths thought impossible?"

"I read comic books," Harding agreed.

"This is not colorful fiction any longer, John. We may have the power to unlock and strengthen these abilities, now that we know the genetic markers that indicate a predilection towards them." He tapped the clipboard again, and his taunt body leaned forward some. "And the markers on yours are incredibly rare. Tell me, how often do you get sick?"

"Get sick?" he repeated, feeling a fresh pulse in his headache when Larocque called him by his first name again.

"Yes, how often do you contract an illness?"

The question gave him pause. "I don't know. I guess--as often as anyone."

"Specifically, when was the last time you were ill?"

"I don't know." He had to bite his tongue to keep from cursing. Professionalism had been his feedback when he was accepted into the program. He had really wanted to tell them then that they could go fuck themselves. Translators weren't in the public eye anyway. But he needed this job. He just didn't need this reptile probing him with weird questions. Fuck, when was the last time he had been sick? He could remember looking after Karen when she got colds, when she got the flu last year, and she had scolded him for kissing her, because what if he got sick next? The only thing he could remember-- "Food poisoning," he said at last. "Uh, senior year of college. Four buddies and me went to a bad choice of restaurant. They all ended up in the hospital."

"And you?" Larocque pressed.

He shrugged. "I was cradling the toilet for eight hours or so. It was miserable."

"Only eight hours for food poisoning, when all your friends were in the hospital for--how long?"

His shrug came stiffer. It hurt his shoulders to make the gesture. His stomach tightened again, knotting in on itself like a low throb of warning. "I don't really remember. They got their stomachs pumped and they were dehydrated so--a day? Two?" He could taste the lie. One of his friends had nearly died, and was there for a week. The other two spent four days wretched and pale. They had sued the restaurant and won enough money that the one who had treaded the veil decided he didn't need to find a job, and bought a house instead. Harding hadn't been a part of all that. He had never even told a doctor that he had been ill. It hadn't seemed to do any harm.

Larocque made a note on his clipboard. "And that was how long ago now? Four, five years?" he guessed.

Harding felt his shoulders jerk in another harsh shrug. It felt as if his muscles were trying to tear themselves free of the bone.

"And before that? Or since then? Any allergies?"

"Nope. Not that I've found yet. Why? Do you think I'm some sort of superhuman cockroach or something?"

"Precisely that."

Harding opened his mouth to speak, but his tongue was dry, and he snapped his teeth shut again. What the fuck was he supposed to say to that?

"What about injuries?" the doctor went on. "Any broken bones?"

"I broke my arm when I was a kid. I got a papercut this morning." He held up his hand to show the mark on his finger, but the line was so thin it was nearly invisible, and the skin was barely torn. He had a hard time finding where it had happened to begin with. "Fuck, I was in a car accident two years ago and had a concussion. Ripped my head open on the steering wheel." He tilted his head slightly, running his fingers along a scar just at his hairline, faded and smooth. "I'm not a man of steel or anyth--can you back up?"

But Larocque had closed the distance between them, and took Harding's head between his thin hands. His fingers were cold. Harding tried to pull back, but he was held like a vice, and the doctor inspected the scar with such intensity that he had to wonder if the reptile also possessed laser vision or something.

"Fascinating," the doctor breathed at last. "A scar this healed would take decades for a normal individual. You had stitches on this wound, yes?"

"Twelve staples."

"Incredible. The marks have completely vanished. If your body already possesses this sort of accelerated healing, then it should only grow stronger once we begin the treatment."

Harding finally jerked himself free of Larocque's probing hands, and all-but fell off the metal table to get away from him. "The fuck do you mean, treatment?"

"I have your paperwork to sign first, of course. We will need your informed consent to begin." Larocque's dark eyes were glittering, and he had the giddy appearance of a schoolboy that had found a particularly large worm on the playground, and couldn't wait to pull it apart to watch both ends wiggle bloody death throes. "I'll have it all sent to your desk. I suggest you finish your current project quickly. We start treatments on Monday."

Tag list:

@fatal-blow @gingerly-writing @rrrawrf-writes @pied-piper-of-hamlet @inkstarlight

As always, let me know if you want to be added or removed!

#excerpt #writeblr #horseshoes and hand grenades #harding #larocque #hippocrates #honestly this book is going to be so much fun just because it's very much harding's voice #and he's so snarky #and so weird #i love him #he's so YOUNG here

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brieflygorgeouss · 5 years

Note

52, 82, and 100 please!

52. “I need help.” (82 and 100 are coming in a separate fic because i couldn’t help myself, hope you don’t mind!)

Lucas really likes his job at the coffee shop, you see, as out of character as it is for him. There are three reasons for that.

Reason number one: it pays his bills. He doesn’t earn particularly much, but it’s enough to cover his rent and basic living expenses, and if he tries really hard, he can even afford to go out every once in a while to keep the illusion of his social life in place.

Reason number two: he gets to work with some really cool people, which is unexpected but not unwelcomed. Manon is the one who got him this job, so he basically owes her his life, and she bakes the best fucking muffins Lucas has tried in his entire existence. Yann is like his long-lost brother at this point, and Lucas feels as if they’ve known each other for years instead of four months since he stared there. Imane can be harsh sometimes, or stubborn, but Lucas appreciates that, actually, how she doesn’t let others fuck with her. He also appreciates how, when Lucas’s ex-boyfriend kept pestering him, she was ready to break the dude’s arms if Lucas only said a word. That was nice.

Reason number three: Beautiful Boy.

See, Lucas doesn’t know much about Beautiful Boy. He knows his name is Eliott, and guesses he is an art student because he sometimes comes into the coffee shop with art supplies peeking out of his bag or with his fingertips stained with ink. He wears weird patterned shirts or the immortal brown-orange jacket when the weather gets colder. He has a nice voice that makes Lucas think of sunlight, warm and golden.

And he’s the most goddamn gorgeous person Lucas has ever seen. So there’s that.

Lucas gets to see Eliott every Tuesday and Friday morning. Eliott is always nice and smiley, even at 7 AM, and very kindly ignores it whenever Lucas is very obviously trying not to yawn as he takes his order. Eliott always drinks the same thing, and it’s tea, of all the options he could choose, but Lucas finds it endearing, even if Yann keeps making fun of him for it, like right now.

”Lover boy not here yet?” Yann asks as he comes out of the staff room, only to find Lucas slumped at the cash register, trying not to fall asleep. It’s 7:30. Lucas likes this job, yes; the fact that he has to wake up at 6 for the morning shifts is not why he likes it.

”He’s not a ”lover boy”,” Lucas mutters. They’ve had this conversation before. ”Stop calling him that.”

Yann shrugs, raising his eyebrows. ”Yeah, he’s not but he could be,” he says and winks, and Lucas thinks, it’s too early for this. ”You know I’m right.”

”You’re not right,” Lucas tells him. It doesn’t sound convincing.

”I’m right,” Yann says. He sounds like he’s having the time of his life. ”You realise I still have that picture of you blushing while taking his order, right? It’s hard proof.”

Lucas is, suddenly, very grateful that the morning rush hasn’t started yet and they’re still alone at the coffee shop. ”I asked you to delete that,” he says, feeling the traitorous blush creeping its way onto his face.

”And I’ve decided to ignore that request,” Yann says, the cheeky bastard, but then he has to notice something about Lucas’s expression because his grin softens. ”Lucas, he keeps coming back here twice a week, and he doesn’t even drink coffee. It’s a coffee shop. Have you never thought about that?”

He has. ”Maybe he really likes tea.”

”Yeah, maybe,” Yann says, and then the bell at the door tinkles, so he turns to greet the first customer, ”Or maybe it’s not the tea he likes.”

Lucas only ducks his head and doesn’t say anything in reply.

He tries not to think about it, as his shift progresses. He busies himself with making the orders and not messing anything up as Yann handles the cash register, and then when that’s done, he busies himself with cleaning and then busies himself with whatever else he can after that. He also tries, and fails, not to flit his gaze to the clock every five minutes. It’s Friday today. It’s really stupid, how his heartbeat stutters every time someone comes through the door.

Lucas knows it probably doesn’t mean anything — how nice Eliott is, or how he seems to light up whenever he spots Lucas, like Lucas has anywhere else to be. Eliott is nice to everyone, from what he’s noticed. And Lucas is not blind, okay, it’s not particularly difficult to realise that Eliott might flirt with him a little bit from time to time, but maybe he’s just…naturally flirty, or something. Or maybe he’s doing it unconsciously. Lucas can’t really see any other explanation, really, because people as beautiful as Eliott don’t really get interested in people like Lucas.

(Imane almost maimed him with a spoon, once, when he’d said that out loud, but that’s how it is. There’s nothing self-deprecating about it, really; it’s just the truth.)

He’s so deep into his thoughts that he doesn’t catch Yann saying his name at first, but then he snaps his head up and —

Eliott is here at the counter. Lucas remembers, like he does every time he sees him, why he’d kept calling him Beautiful Boy in his head for almost three weeks before he finally caught his real name.

”I need to make a call, dude, I just remembered,” Yann says, untying his apron and turning to Lucas, and he doesn’t ever try to hide the sly grin that pulls at the corners of his mouth. ”Can you take care of the cash register for a second?”

”Um,” Lucas says, thinking, fuck you but also thinking, thank you so much. ”Yeah, I— Yeah, okay.”

”Great,” Yann says, beaming like a child that got away with something, and then slides past him, and Lucas is left on his own.

Eliott fidgets a little by the cash register. Lucas swallows down how idiotically flustered he feels and comes up to him.

”Hi, Eliott,” he says, hoping it comes off sounding normally. ”Your usual?”

Eliott’s usual is rosehip and cranberry tea, which Lucas has teased him about, on some occasions. Eliott smiles at him, but there’s something off about it today, and Lucas wonders briefly if it’s because Eliott is afraid that he’ll make fun of him again, maybe.

”Yeah, sounds good,” Eliott tells him and then quickly turns his eyes away, looks down before flitting his gaze up again. Lucas blinks. ”Sounds great.”

”Okay,” he smiles. “Right up.”

He rings it in, and Eliott pays, and Lucas feels— a little strange. Without any specific reason to, really, except this is usually the part when Eliott’s vague flirting starts. Eliott likes to lean over the counter a little and ask about how Lucas’s shift has been going, or — if Lucas is feeling brave and manages to ask Eliott about his day first — talks about something he’s seen on the street and found funny, or a book he’s been reading or a song he’s been listening to. That’s how it usually goes, and it’s enough for Lucas to spend the rest of the day smiling quietly to himself when nobody else can see him.

Except that now, when he goes to make Eliott’s tea — since Yann still hasn’t, shockingly, finished his call — Eliott is completely silent. He stands at the cash register and kind of just keeps biting at his lower lip — which, god — and shuffles a little awkwardly on his feet, and even when he sends Lucas a smile, it seems strained around the edges. Lucas finishes making the tea with a confused frown forming on his face, and it only deepens when he hands Eliott the cup and Eliott takes it, says, ”Thank you,” and then just keeps standing there.

Lucas tries to discreetly size him up, starting to feel worry sprout up next to his initial confusion. ”You’re welcome,” he says and it comes out sounding more like a question than a statement. He catches Eliott’s gaze, bright and beautiful. ”Is everything all right?”

”Yes, it’s— yes,” Eliott says, but the words are quick and laced with something Lucas can’t pinpoint. Eliott licks his lips again. Lucas tries very hard not to follow the movement too closely. ”I’m— listen, I— I need help.”

Lucas’s frown deepens. ”Okay,” he says, trying to swallow the worry down, ”well, how can I help you?”

It comes out sounding stupid but he can’t do much about it, really. Not when Eliott’s acting weird like that. They might not know each other very well, but he’s been talking to Eliott at least twice a week for the past two months and he doesn’t think he’s seen him acting like this before. Eliott usually seems like an extremely laid-back guy, with his gorgeous face and tall frame and shoulders hunched just a little bit. He laughs like he doesn’t have anything to worry about, ever. Lucas is not sure how to approach this change in his behaviour.

”This is going to sound really stupid,” Eliott says and then fidgets with the rings on his fingers, making a pause like he’s waiting for Lucas to stop him from talking. Lucas doesn’t, only waits until Eliott looks up at him again, then watches as Eliott takes a breath. ”Listen, I’m not sure if you know, but I’m an art student.” Lucas nods. He figured that out right, then. ”And I actually have an art project to make, and it’s about—it’s, well—” Eliott cuts himself off. Lucas raises his eyebrows, hoping it comes off as encouraging. ”It’s— We’ve been talking about what attraction and beauty mean in the context of contemporary art, and my teacher asked us to draw a portrait based on that theme, and I know it probably sounds extremely idiotic but I— was wondering if maybe you’d agree if I drew you. Possibly. If that’s okay.”

It takes Lucas a moment to register what Eliott has said.

Then, he swears his heart fucking stops for a moment, probably because all the blood in his system rushes to his face as he blushes.

”You—” Lucas is the one stuttering now. ”You want to draw me?”

Eliott runs a hand through his hair in a gesture that Lucas finally pinpoints as nervousness. Eliott’s freaking nervous. Oh, Jesus. ”I mean…if that’s okay?”

Lucas barely hears it. ”For your project about beauty?”

He watches, incredulously, as Eliott ducks his head and the tips of his ears get bright red. ”Yes,” Eliott tells him, small, and then he takes a breath and kind of squares his shoulders like he’s getting ready for something and says, in that same small, warm, sunlight voice, ”I— I just think you’re really beautiful.”

And Lucas thinks, oh.

For a moment, he just stands and looks at Eliott. At Beautiful Boy, with his big eyes and messy hair and his forever-there jacket, at how he shuffles on his feet nervously and how he’s fidgeting with the hem of his t-shirt now. Something in his Lucas’s chest tips over and floods him with warmth, a tingly feeling, spreading slowly.

He says, ”Okay.”

Eliott’s head snaps up at that. ”Okay?”

”Yeah,” Lucas says, smiling at how Eliott’s voice sounds, then smiling wider as Eliott’s face lights up with a wide grin. ”Sounds good.”

”Great,” Eliott says. Lucas nods in agreement. It’s really great. Really great. Eliott thinks he’s beautiful. They keep smiling at each other like lunatics, grinning like kids, at 8 AM on a Friday. Lucas loves this job.

After a moment, Eliott shrugs a little, and it’s sheepish and endearing all at once and Lucas thinks, god. Jesus. ”Can I get your number?” Eliott asks, sounding shy, but also like he’s happy and Lucas is nodding before he even knows it.

He writes his number down on Eliott’s cup of tea, and then Eliott takes it and, smiling at Lucas with the brightest grin he’s seen from him yet, says, ”Thank you.”

And then he turns around and goes, and Lucas keeps grinning until Yann finally materialises by his side and starts laughing at how red Lucas’s face apparently is.

(He gets a text later.

what would you say, it says, if we started our portrait drawing session with a nice dinner first?)

#skam france #elu fic #elu #skamfr #skamfr fic #hope you like it!! it's corny but well :')#my writing #this was so much FUN #also it was supposed to be quick and it's over 2k words anyway welp

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waltzofthewifi · 4 years

Text

Kota Chapter 13: Classroom of Chaos

Beginning | Table of Contents | Next

Lacy watched Juleka leave out of the corner of her eyes, tempted to dart out of the room herself. All around her, she could feel the tension in the room building.

Alya broke the silence first.

"Are you sure you heard Adrien correctly?" Alya questioned. "Because he told us he was helping Ju- someone else in the contest."

Lila shook her head. "No, I know I heard him right." She gasped, holding her hands up to her chest. "You don't think he lied, do you?"

"Adrien's not a liar," Nino stated.

"Maybe he was talking about something else?" Mylene offered.

Lila bit her lip dramatically. "Maybe."

"I'm sure Adrien meant no harm," Bustier said.

"I don't see what's so wrong about supporting Lila?" Kim questioned.

Alix scowled. "Because he promised Juleka he would help her - and told her he thought she'd win!"

Lila's eyes widened. "Oh, I forgot Juleka was entering-"

"You forgot?" Alix asked. "We haven't been talking about much else for the last week!"

"Rossi's just jealous the attention was on someone else," Chloe scoffed. "Trust me, I've pulled similar stunts."

"Lila, you have said a lot of... less truthful statements before," Alya admitted.

"Are you accusing me of lying?" Lila asked, sounding near tears.

"You can't be buying this," Chloe scoffed.

"I'm sorry girl, but you have to admit-"

"Alya!" Mylene scolded. "You're going to send her into tears."

"Class!" Bustier called.

"They're fake tears, for crying out loud," Chloe said.

"Why did you even enter the contest in the first place?" Alix questioned. "You don't want to be a model, do you? Do you just love stealing the spotlight from everyone?"

"Alix, aren't you being a little harsh?" Nathaniel questioned.

Lacy buried her head farther into her hands. This was getting more and more chaotic by the second.

"We went over this with Marinette," Sabrina piped up. "There's no proof she's lying-"

Alya slammed her fist down on the table. "I give up. I want to believe you, girl. Just - don't make me not." She slumped back into her seat.

"I'm so sorry I caused Juleka to break into tears!" Lila continued. Every word grated into Lacy's head. "I didn't realize she put so much effort into this contest. If she had told me-"

Alix slammed her fist down on the table. "Juleka's shy, okay? What little she told you she told you in faith. You need to respect your friends more."

"Alix," Bustier scolded.

"Don't Alix her!" Lacy stood up, surprising even herself. Talking back to a teacher?

But she was done.

"Alix is right. Lila is just as much of an attention hog as Chloe. She never lets anyone else in this class have a moment in the spotlight - not when Alix won her race a few days ago, not when Marinette got commissioned by Clara Nightingale, not even when Ryuko - a superhero! - pulled of a cool stunt last week. Hades, she's even been targeting Marinette for as long as I've been here, but then she just smiles and it's like - it's like magic! So no, don't go scolding Alix just because she wants to stand up for her friends."

"Thank you," Alix replied.

"You have been targeting Marinette," Alya said, squinting her eyes. "Haven't you?"

"Marinette was the first not to completely buy into everything," Alix added. "I bet she was right!"

"Yeah," Kim agreed. "You completely overturned Odine's win the other night - made it all about your Olympic friend!"

"And when Ivan tried to invite everyone to Kitty Section's concert, she made it all about her saving Jagged Stone's kitten," Mylene added. "Again."

"And when Rose talked about meeting Prince Ali, you were suddenly his best friend!" Ivan added.

"And you say you're Ladybug's best friend too," Nino said. "But you talk trash about her. Not cool."

The class all nodded in agreement.

"And what is it between you and Marinette?" Alya questioned. "Marinette is a sweetheart."

Lila stared at everyone in shock, taking a moment to process all their words.

And then she started back on the fake tears.

"Class, I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for all of this," Bustier said.

"I'm sorry, I was just trying to help," Lila sobbed. "Juleka was the whole reason I wanted to win the contest. I thought - I thought I could help her - show her around set -"

"Oh," Mylene said. "That's - that's actually really sweet."

Oh, you've got to be-

Lacy slumped down into her seat. "Guys, she's still lying."

"And the thing with Marinette-" Lila sniffled a few more times.

"You think so?" Alix whispered.

Lacy nodded.

"Yeah, okay. I believe you."

"Marinette - she -" Lila continued.

"She what?" Chloe snapped. "Hurt you somehow? Dupain-Cheng doesn't have a mean bone in her body."

"She threatened me." Lila sniffled. "My first day b-"

"No!" Alya interrupted Lila, shocking everyone else into silence. "Marinette would never do that."

"I don't know Alya, she's been acting weird," Mylene whispered.

"You're kidding me, right?" Alya asked. "This is Marinette we're talking about."

"Alya's right!" Lacy said. "This is what I'm talking about! Its - it's got to be magic or something. Every time she opens her mouth, everyone believes what she's saying."

"Given the current situation in Paris, a magical explanation seems plausible," Max added.

"Lacy wouldn't say that if she didn't believe it," Alix added.

"Alix has a point," Nino added. "Either Lila is a liar, or Lacy, Marinette, and Adrien are."

"We can't just ignore Lila's accusations," Mylene argued.

"Really?" Alya questioned. "Accusations against someone who isn't even here - because she ran after someone Lila made burst into tears?"

Mylene's eye widened, and then she nodded. "Okay, yeah."

"Alya's right," Ivan said. "Marinette was the first person to reach out to me after I was akumatized. She wouldn't threaten someone."

"Marinette's our everyday Ladybug," Nino added. "She would never treat someone like Lila is saying."

"Miss Bustier," Alya said. "Lila here has clearly been lying - and targeting one of us! Surely there must be some punishment for this."

"You can't just demand punishment, Alya," Bustier scorned. "I understand that not everything Lila says holds up to scrutiny-"

"You knew?"

Lacy stood up again, anger surging through her veins.

"A few half-truths does not give us the right to treat someone poorly," Bustier continued.

"She's been bullying people!" Lacy yelled. "I can't believe this happening again! Can't you see that for as long as she's been here, she's been hurting people! Getting people to do her homework, flunking out of everything every other day, making us cancel plans last minute and always making Marinette out to be the bad guy. But no, teachers never see it, do they?"

"Sit down Lacy."

Lacy sniffled, noticing that tears were now sliding down her face.

I need to get out of here.

Lacy bolted for the door before she finished her thought, nearly slamming into Marinette as she did so, and left the chaos behind her.

Hawkmoth stood in his lair, a grin spread on his face.

"I've been waiting for this day for a long time," he monologued. "The fall out of this liar's lies have left so many vulnerable. The only question is, who shall be my Akuma today?"

Marinette, because she was Marinette, followed Lacy.

Lacy ended up in an empty classroom, sobbing and slumped up against the wall.

Marinette sat down next to her. "Are you alright?"

Lacy sniffled. "Yeah I'm... I'm fine." She sniffled again. "I just - things got a little heated, that's all."

"What happened?" Marinette asked, genuinely curious as well as concerned.

"After you left, things got chaotic," Lacy said. "And then Lila tried to place the blame on you, and Alya just snapped, and yelled at Miss Bustier, who said something about keeping the peace, and I just... kinda yelled at her?"

"At Alya?"

"At Bustier," Lacy replied.

Marinette blinked. "Wait, what did Bustier say?"

"Sh-she said something about what she says not holding up to scrutiny, like she knew-" Lacy sniffled. "But maybe I took it the wrong way. I don't know. She wasn't handling the situation very well, like every time someone tried to defend you, or Juleka, she scolded them and..." Lacy sniffled again. "I just don't have luck with teachers."

"People were defending me?" Marinette questioned, a little shocked.

Lacy nodded.

Marinette was silent for a moment. She had been so afraid that she had lost all her friends, that all Lila had to do was one more push, and they'd abandoned her. But when push came to shove, it looked like they stayed by her.

"How much trouble do you think I'm in?" Lacy asked.

"Trouble? With Miss Bustier? I'm sure she'll understand."

"You think?" Lacy looked up at her hopefully.

"Of course!" Marinette replied.

Lacy's face lifted, and Marinette felt a curl of concern in her stomach.

"Lacy, is there a reason you're so scared of Miss Bustier?"

Lacy sniffled again. "It's not her, specifically, it's just... I have bad luck with teachers, I guess. When I was in first grade, my teacher used to get so frustrated with me because I couldn't sit still. And then when I got my ADHD diagnosis, my teacher at the time was convinced I was lying - and then my teacher after that didn't believe I was dyslexic! Then I had a teacher that treated all of his students like crap, and another who would just berate me whenever I was more than a few seconds late - which wasn't that often! And then there was that mess with Drew."

"Drew - was he that bully you were telling me about?" Marinette questioned.

Lacy nodded. "Yeah, she - when I started at that school, I met this really cool girl, Helen, but Drew started spreading rumors and... well, the point is, the teachers made it worse."

"I'm sorry," Marinette said. "I can't - you deserved more of a support system. But Bustier isn't like that. Sure, she handled the Lila situation badly, but so did everyone else! I'm sure she understands where you're coming from."

Lacy smiled. "Thanks. You're a good friend, you know that, right?"

The compliment made her smile.

"I try my best," Marinette replied.

Lacy stayed silent for a moment, before suddenly stretching out.

"My back's cramping," she said. "Come on, let's head back to class." She stood up, and offered a hand to Marinette.

Marinette smiled and took it, and the two walked out into the hallway.

Just in time for a wall of water to crash into them.

Adrien had never seen the class in such chaos.

Alix was near-yelling at Bustier, who was insisting that someone had taken her words the wrong way - "no, of course I didn't think Lila was lying" - while Alya was silently fuming, sitting next to Nino. Nino was sending a glare to end all glares at Lila, who was being told off by a very irritated Ivan. Mylene was watching with her arms crossed and her chin wobbling. Nathaniel was just shocked. Chloé was acting like she didn't care, but every time her comments were ignored she became a little more annoyed.

Adrien slid into the seat next to Nino. "What happened?"

"Lila tried to say Marinette threatened her," Alya said, her voice dark. "And Bustier has done nothing."

"Dude, what Lila's been trying to pass off has been horrible," Nino said.

"Class, please try to calm down," Bustier called.

Lila sniffled, and Adrien wondered if maybe this time she was actually crying.

Bustier called for quiet again, and this time the class silenced.

"Now, Lila here has obviously made a mistake," Bustier continued. "But if we could all just forgive her-"

"Forgive her?" Alya echoed. "She hasn't even apologized!"

"I think it's up to Marinette whether we forgive her," Adrien added. "Lila has been targeting Marinette since she got back to the school. It's her that's been hurt the most, so it should be her choice."

"Alya's been hurt too," Nino muttered.

"And Juleka!" Alix added. "You need to apologize to Juleka."

"I'm sure Marinette will be forgiving," Bustier said.

"You can't make that decision for her," Alya argued.

Lila sniffled again. "I'm so sorry for causing so much trouble today, Miss Bustier! I didn't think-"

"That much is obvious," Chloé cut in.

"Juleka even wanted to be a part of the contest. If I had, she would have had my full support."

"Girl, this is so far past the contest," Alya replied. "You accused Marinette of threatening you."

"Maybe Lila just misunderstood," Bustier said.

"Maybe," Lila agreed.

"I don't think so," Adrien retorted.

"Akuma!"

The whole class fell silent, all eyes searching for and falling on the black butterfly fluttering through the door.

"Everyone, think positive!" Bustier commanded.

The butterfly fluttered down, aiming for Alya. Alya scowled, glaring at the butterfly, and the butterfly swerved towards Ivan.

Lila growled, and in a swift move, snatched the Akuma out of the air. It combined with a hair band on her wrist.

"Everyone out!" Adrien yelled.

Lila was cocooned with purple. Adrien didn't wait around to see what she'd transform into.

Alya reached for her phone as she headed for the door. She stopped to take a picture, and Adrien shoved her through the door.

The two of them stumbled out just as a wave of water hit them hard in the back. Adrien struggled to regain his bearings as water crashed down on him.

Something tugged at his arm, and Adrien felt himself being guided.

A second later he surfaced, and he gasped for breath. Kim surfaced beside him, and a second later Alya and Nino appeared on his other side.

"Let's get to the roof," Nino said.

The current was strong, but the four made it to the roof, where Bustier helped Adrien pull himself from the water. Max, Markov, and Mylene had also made it to the roof safely.

"You okay dude?" Nino asked.

"Yeah," Adrien replied. "What about you?"

"Wet," Nino replied.

"My phone's ruined," Alya complained. "I have no way of contacting Ladybug! I had a picture of Lila and everything."

"I'm still connected to the internet," Markov said. "And I have video of the whole thing. I can hack into the Ladyblog and post it for you."

"Thanks," Alya said. "Wait, hack?"

"I think I see someone stuck over there," Adrien blurted. "I'm going to go check on them."

He darted off from the group, searching for a place to hide to transform.

As he looked, Lila made her entrance.

"I am the Wailer! I've been betrayed by everyone around me - and now they will drown in my tears!"

#kota #miraculous ladybug #miraculous ladybug fanfiction #Percy Jackson fanfiction #Percy Jackson and the Olympians #heroes of olympus #kane chronicles #crossover fanfiction #my writing

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wavemaker9 · 6 years

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So I realized the first people on the Oasis that Toni doesn’t really get along with are Austin and Kyle and that’s really good?

Bffs with Mel, that strong war tie. Then Ivan joins and Toni’s a little iffy about Ivan but Ivan proves to be good at his job, friendly and respectful if not a little awkward (both feeling awkward sometimes + also occasionally doing things that aren’t standard society-wise so causing awkwardness), and determined to prove himself on the crew. Then Cian joins and Cian’s super friendly and chill but also knows his stuff and even if Toni doesn’t have quite as much in common with him, they’re still pretty good friends. Cami and Gil both join and Toni ends up befriending them the most, he’s absolutely charmed with Cami and Gil makes him laugh and relax in a way he realizes he hasn’t in a while, and Mel will always be his best friend on the ship, it started with the two of them and it’ll end that way, he’s sure of it, but Gil and Cami fall into slots 2 and 3 pretty quickly. Micha probably Toni isn’t immediately impressed with, but Mel insists on letting him on the ship so Toni isn’t going to argue her letting her family travel with them and I’d imagine they’d get along in little ways. Probably the least close of toni’s relays, but /please/ imagine any conversation where Micha and Toni are left to their own devices to sass anyone else + talk about how great mel is. He likes everyone and then… who joins but Kyle and Austin! I’ve made it no secret that Toni likes austin here about as much as any other AU. Austin acts like he doesn’t want to be on the ship half the time and like he doesn’t want to be around Kyle the other half, despite the fact that the Oasis is doing /him/ a favor more or less and that from what he can see of them, Austin needs Kyle just as much as he needs Austin. Like I don’t think Toni /hates/ either one of them but man is he just constantly irked by austin’s whole existence. The only thing they have in common is pride in their own beliefs and that’s not the only thing you want in common between two people. And like Kyle's better but barely. He has more natural talent but less refined skill, he has more drive and determination but less focus. I think I mentioned in a GTA post that Toni tends to see Kyle as wasting potential and that’s not to the same level here but like. still kind of legit. I just very much like him bringing that up to mel when they first join and haven’t really become a part of the team yet. Like are we sure we’re keeping them to the next job? I heard this next planet is a really good place for fresh starts! Of course that eases up and then stops the longer they’re on the ship, but i like this starting period where these two just invade this nice perfect ship of all these people toni liked right away.

OH! But another possible scene in an AU of Austin and Toni actually getting along for two seconds, though: I kind of like Toni overhearing Austin’s conversation with Kyle after the whole Doug thing and like. Actually impressed? Oh look, Austin can grow as a person just like he gets his plants to grow, who’d have thought. I like him not confronting Austin immediately after the whole ‘kyle’s dead’ thing, which I would assume happens before the doug thing. At least not directly. A brief discussion to explain himself, he didn’t mean to be a total asshole, but Austin has to show his appreciation for others, specifically kyle, outside of when the man is dying or he might miss his opportunity. Food for thought! Then fast forward to this and Toni surprising Austin one evening with a specially made meal. I think I want it to be something where the group had to talk about favorite meals once, maybe even like if you could have any meal ever, what would it be. like the convo started and everyone went around in the group until it got to kyle who described some big delicious meal of like super good meats cooked just right and the best beer he can imagine and blah blah blah, before elbowing austin all tin your turn, what would you pick if you could eat any meal in the verse! Austin trying to pass before being pressured into giving an answer and him stumbling before offering one that’s like super simple, like a small ice cream sundae with strawberry syrup, or whatever the future equivalent is. When pressed on that not really being a grand meal like most others gave or that he doesn’t usually seem to like sweets, he won’t get into details why he’d pick that and just tries to go back to his book, with only Kyle seeming to get anything about what Austin’s talking about but deciding not to speak up when he catches Austin shoot a look at him as he starts to explain his brother’s answer for him. When it was clear neither would explain why a simple sundae was the one meal Austin would want to eat out of anything he could dream up, Toni at the time had playfully called out a ‘boo! Next person!’ to move the topic on because of course austin’s answer would be boring, let’s hear about cool thing X would pick instead! But in the present, Austin trying to read in some more secluded area and toni just showing up with a little sundae with strawberry syrup. Insists austin not worry about how he found the things and didn’t let the crew know about it where they could eat it up first, just enjoy. Austin is /very/ suspicious, like if i eat this is it going to make me sick? Make my mouth or insides look/feel weird? Or will you just cut to the chase and poison me? What are you up to? And toni laughing in surprise before asking if Austin really thinks he hates him that much. Austin like no, I /know/ you hate me that much. You told me my brother was dead when he wasn’t. You don’t do that to someone you /like/. Toni admits he might have overstepped himself a little bit there (Austin: /Might?/) and apologizes, reiterating with more details how he was trying to help Austin learn a lesson, and maybe he was a bit of a harsh teacher, but also, Austin hasn’t forgotten said lesson, has he? Austin unimpressed, still not eating the food, like oh yeah, I definitely still remember the time /you told me my brother was dead/, good job, professor fernandez. Toni letting out a mix between a chuckle and a sigh, before declaring he was wrong. Not just about that. He saw how Austin tried to help the crew with dealing with Doug, how he tried to protect Kyle from a threat Austin knew Kyle would fall victim to, how he did his best to help make Kyle understand his worth. He took action and showed determination on this in a way he rarely has, he worked with the crew and helped protect them from a potentially large loss in a way he rarely has, and he made how much he values Kyle crystal clear in a way he rarely has. Toni was starting to think Austin was incapable of a lot of that, especially all at once, but he was wrong, so… consider this a Sorry Sundae. He really did underestimate Austin; not much, but enough to warrant an apology for it. Austin still skeptical for a moment before waving off Toni’s comment. He decidedly doesn’t say anything to forgive toni or say it’s alright, but more justifies what he did with the doug issue was what he needed to do and was also for his own peace of mind as well, it’s not as impressive as Toni’s making it out to be or whatever. Toni chuckling, shaking his head before starting to stand up, at least offering that he should eat the sundae before it melts. Austin hesitates before asking again that it’s not poisoned or something, saying that Toni has to remember that Camille and Amelia probably won’t be thrilled if he poisons their main source of flowers and fruits. Toni laughing again, crossing his heart that the most dangerous thing in there are the calories, jajaja. Austin quiet for a beat before offering a thanks and taking a bite, actually smiling at the taste. As Toni starts to leave, Austin asking if he cares why Austin picked this meal as the best meal he could ever have? Toni stopping at the door, quiet for a second as if in consideration, before nodding, genuinely answering that yes, he is, if austin’s willing to tell him. Austin 100% considers just being like “I’m not; thanks for the sundae, have a good night.” but he does actually tell toni and it’s basically like. Nostalgia. Literal comfort food. When he was little and in a bad mood, his dad would make two ice cream sundaes with strawberry syrup and they’d sit together talking as they ate their treats until austin felt better. Austin had mentioned that to Kyle when they started to become friends, and in the year after Austin’s parents died, that following birthday of Austin’s, Kyle took some money to buy supplies to make ice cream sundaes for them just like austin’s dad had. and austin had cried about it and for once kyle just let them sit in peace until austin’d calmed down and he told him it was fine even when austin was really embarrassed, and then he took all the blame when his mom got mad at him for ‘wasting her money’ on that. Then later, the night after she’d taken all their remaining funds and left them, Kyle stole supplies to make sundaes again, and they sat out on the porch, watching the stars, eating their ice cream, and trying to figure out what to do next. It’s a simple treat, he knows, he gets that. He could wish for a whole mountain of ice cream if he wanted to, but he /doesn’t/ want that. To him, the sundae just means... family, he guesses. It just means ‘I’ve got your back, I’m with you, you’re not alone’, and even as a loner, knowing he has /someone/, whether it was his parents or Kyle or even, and he lifts the sundae Toni made, this crew… it’s important to him. After a beat and Toni’s surprised silence, he sighs and waves off what he said, thanking Toni again for the sundae, it’s very good. After another beat, Toni suddenly starts back towards austin, stopping next to him and leaning in close to look Austin in the eye and put a hand on his shoulder, telling him firmly, “Austin Brown, listen to me. I know you ain’t exactly trusting of the things I tell you anymore, but if you’re only gonna ever believe one thing I say, make it this. /You are a part of this crew/. Sundae or not, we will /always/ have your back. We’re a family and no matter how we get along, we look out for each other, no questions asked. As long as you are on this ship, as long as you are in this crew, you will /never/ be totally alone.” and it’s Austin’s turn to stare back in surprise for a moment, before slowly nodding and giving a half-stunned, “I-... th-thank you.” at which point Toni smiles and warmly says, “Of course! Now enjoy your sundae and have a good night.” before patting his shoulder and turning to leave. Austin still completely caught off guard even once left alone, but it’s a better night getting to enjoy the treat as he returns to his book.

I think this should also be after the one thing of austin being captured and not expecting anyone coming for him until he’s surprised they did. If that was following this, I think he’d have a half-hope tehy might come for him, whereas him being totally surprised then and then this being the confirmation later on that that wasn’t just “we didn’t want kyle to come alone” or “mel didn’t want to lose her veggie source” or some other shit but instead was “you’re important to this crew and we weren’t going to abandon you no matter what” is way way better.

#ignore this #the thief kid #the suit kid #the boss kid #amusing muse musings #hey you au #au firefly edition

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hey-hey-chan · 6 years

Text

High School!Jeongin

Finally I get to write something for Jeongin omg.

“You should totally do it.” I glared at the boy.

“No. No way.” I stated clearly throwing my lunch in my locker. The other boy laughed.

“Why?? You love to sing?” I shut my eyes.

“Dude, I really don’t so I would appreciate it if you just leave me alone, Seungmin.” The boy was the star soloist in our choir, I hated him for it. He sang every where: in school, on the streets, at restaurants, in my house, everywhere.

“Hmmm well, y/n is in there.” My ears perked up at the name, but I shrugged it off.

“Who cares? I never liked her anyways.” I lied.

Y/n was an annoying girl in my science class and for some odd reason, every single year, I was her science partner. It makes no sense, how could my 3 years of high school science be cursed by her?

“Ok, whatever you say dude, see you in choir.”

“I’m not-” Before I could say anything, the boy disappeared into the crowd of high schoolers. I sighed.

I adjusted my tie and slugged my backpack over my shoulder. Alone at last-

“Hey Jeongin!” I heard a shriek. I visibly flinched, but politely turned to the girl.

“Hi y/n.” She pulled her hair behind her shoulder and toyed with it, a habit she had.

It was quite obvious the girl had a crush on me. Everyone told me and I also figured it out myself, but it was so hard when she was so annoying and bothersome. She doesn’t ever leave me alone. But obviously, I’m not going to tell her to get lost so I just deal with it as quickly as possible.

“Um, so Seungmin told me you were joining choir, is that true?” I sighed, feeling more irritated by the moment.

“Uh, no, I don’t know why he said that. I don’t even sing.” The girl winced at my harsh tone. Honestly, I sort of wanted to make her feel uncomfortable so she would leave me alone.

“Oh ok, just curious.” I shut my eyes and sighed. I knew why she was asking, I mean she is one of the best soloists in choir along with Seungmin. Honestly, those two should date instead.

“I have to go to class now, so... yeah.” I didn’t say see you later because I hoped we didn’t.

“Oh yeah! Of course! Have a good time!” She scurried away, making me feel sorry for the girl, only a tiny bit.

“You’re harsh.” I jumped while walking into my math class. Felix was leaning against the wall with one brow raised. That guy was always weird.

“What are you even talking about?” I sighed, laying out all my stuff on my desk. Felix plopped right next to me. “That isn’t-” He held up his hand for me to shut up. Seriously, what’s up with-

“Y/n.”

“What about her?” What’s up with people and y/n today?

“You’re harsh.” I shook my head, fed up with the boy.

“How? She’s not even in this class!” I knew I was getting mad for no reason, but people were just talking in riddles today and I was confused by it all.

Felix snorted and shrugged.

“Not even a see you later? Or a nice goodbye? What happened to Mr. Nice Boy?” I furrowed my brows.

“How can I be a Mister and a boy?” Felix smacked me on my head.

“Ow, what the hell?”

"Don’t sass me Mister Nice Boy!”

And this day only continued to get weirder and weirder.

I walked to the dreadful class I hated the most, chemistry. I was lab partners with Y/n and I just wasn’t in the mood to deal with her today.

“Hi Jeongin!” She exclaimed in a high pitch tone. I groaned internally.

“Hi Y/n.” Why doesn’t y/n like cold and mysterious boys like Hyunjin? Isn’t taht what every other girl likes??

“So how did you fair with the homework last night? You were struggling a bit in class yesterday.” She started, trying to make casual conversation but it was painfully obvious what she wanted to do.

“It was ok, I guess.” I replied shortly. I didn’t want to give her too many details in case she wanted to suggest-

“I’ll tutor you if you need help!” She shouted. The whole class looked at us and I wanted to scream. Curious stares glanced our way and I wanted to fling myself out of the window.

“Um, no it’s fine.” I said quickly. “It wasn’t bad at all.”

That was a lie. I didn’t understand anything on the homework, it was like I was reading hieroglyphics or something.

The girl calmed down and straightened out her clothes.

“Oh ok, just making sure. You know, just wanting to do a favor for a friend.” She added. Wow, you really aren’t my friend.

Instead, I just smiled and thanked her.

“Thanks y/n.”

“And also if you ever wanted to join choir too-” I groaned, out loud this time. I was seriously fed up at people asking me to join the choir! Like is it even such a good class?

“Uh, no thanks. I don’t really sing.” I curtly said. She didn’t get a chance to respond until the teacher walked in.

And never had I ever been happier to see the old geezer.

Finally, the end of the day came, making me excited to lay my body down on a soft bed.

“Jeongin!” I heard someone yell after me. I turned around, confusion writen all over my face.

“Seungmin-” The boy crashed into me before I finished my words. “What the-”

“Jeongin, you have to join choir now! Our best tenor just dropped the class! I mean, second to me of course, but we were the only two actually good tenors!” I rolled my eyes. I pushed him off of me and shook my head.

“I am not joining choir! So stop asking me, I can’t betray the robotics club like this.” Seungmin rolled his eyes.

“Choir is a class, not a club, differences. Plus you do sing! Just please please please-” I covered my ears and groaned.

“Shut up. You are not getting me to join! Especially since y/n is in the class, oh gosh, I would lose my mind so fast.” I blurted. “Seriously, I do not want any more extra classes with that girl.”

Seungmin suddenly detached himself from me, making me confused as to why the boy gave up so easily.

“What, now what’s up-” I stopped speaking when I saw the familiar high ponytail and red shoes whip by me.

“Uh oh.” Seungmin stated. I felt my world topple over when tears start dripping out from her eyes. I didn’t like y/n a lot, but I hated it when girls cried. More specifically, when I make girls cry.

“Hey, y/n wait-” I tried to grab after her, but she avoided my grasp.

“No, it’s fine. I’m sorry.” She squeaked out and then ran away from me.

“Y/N!” I yelled once more, but she was long gone.

Shit. Today is just not my day.

“Well, good luck with that. Now is my cue to leave awkwardly.”

Seungmin left me standing with my head in my hands, feeling like the most horrible person on this planet.

The next day was weird. Science has never been more awkward than it is now.

I saw y/n already sitting in her chair, legs crossed like they always were since our science room is exceptionally cold.

Her hair was in a high ponytail as always and her red shoes were laced up tightly because she told me she hated when they untied themselves.

But it’s not like I noticed every little thing about her or anything.

I awkwardly took a seat next to her, making much noise so she would look my way.

She didn’t.

“Uh, hi y/n.” At those words, she finally spared a glance at me.

“You know what Yang Jeongin?” I gulped. Uh oh.

“Um I-”

“I was really upset yesterday when you said those things about me, but I’m over it now. I realized that you were always nice to me to be good to your reputation, you really don’t care what I feel.”

My eyes widened in shock at her words.

“No, y/n, I am truly sorry about what I said and-” She held her hand up, similar to what Seungmin does.

“Save your bullshit. I’m tired of playing these games with you.”

And then the old geezer entered the room again, and this time, I was upset to see him.

Y/n left class quickly, fast enough for me to not be able to talk to her.

“Wow, you’re an asshole.” I felt someone hit my shoulder and I saw Felix brush by me. I rolled my eyes at the boy, not taking his words to heart. Even though, I still felt upset when he said them.

The day went by like a blur and soon I was being dragged somewhere by Seungmin.

“Where are we going dude, I’m not in the mood today.” The tall boy laughed at me.

“Oh wow, and I really care about how you feel Jeongin.” I groaned, but stopped once we hit our destination. No, no, no-

“No, no, no.” I flailed, but the boy held me firmly in place. “Seungmin-”

“Nope nope, you are doing this.” He shoved my in a chair, making me topple over.

“Oop-”

“Here.” He tossed a bunch of sheet music at me. “Read from measure 25, that’s where the solo is.” I got up off the ground, feeling beat up already.

“Solo? What-”

“Just sing!” I scoffed, not intimidated by the boy at all.

“Seungmin, I’m not doing this! I really don’t sing, I’m not good nor do Iike to do it. So stop trying!” I yelled.

I was really tired of people pulling me in every direction, but more specifically, I was tired of people forcing me to do something I didn’t want to do.

I hated my singing, it paled in comparison to Seungmin’s. I used to be in choir when I was in middle school, but I was always made fun of for being the voice that stuck out, and sticking out in a choir is never good.

I knew I sounded childish to Seungmin, but I didn’t care.

“Jeongin, I know that you have some bad experiences-” I threw his hand off from my back.

“Just leave. Whatever.” My tone oozed self-absorbed teen, but I didn’t care at this point.

Seungmin scoffed and threw his blazer over his shoulder.

“Fine, talk to me once you start growing up.” He stormed out of the room, and somehow I lost the two people who annoyed me the most: Y/n and Seungmin.

I groaned, sinking my in chair.

Why is high school so complicated? Why can’t everyone just listen to me and not encourage me to do things that I want to do-

Wait, what to do? I don’t want to do this, no, no.

“UGGGH.” I exhaled loudly. Did I just admit mentally that I wanted to do this?

Then, I looked around, peering closely to see if there was anyone nearby. No one.

I quickly picked up the sheet of music. I let out the first note which sounded shaky since I was trying to find my pitch.

“That’s do, so this note is mi, then this is la.” I soon solfeged the whole piece and then sang the solo clearly and confidently.

“Finally, I got it-”

“Wow, it doesn’t seem like you can’t sing.” I jumped up, throwing the papers to my side.

Once I jumped up, I saw the girl who was trying to avoid me all day.

“Oh so now you’re talking to me?” I snapped.

I was still upset at the fight Seungmin and I had, so I was going to say really crappy things today. She smiled at me, adjusting her ponytail.

“You’re in the choir room. I lead all the sections when our teacher isn’t here.” I felt a blush spread upon my face.

“Oh.” I said lamely. The heat still spilled across my cheeks. Stop, why am I even blushing?

The girl walked closer to me and suddenly I felt shy when she came closer to me. I gulped, not knowing what she was going to do.

Then, she walked right by me and picked up her guitar. I felt even more embarrassed at myself when she did so.

She turned towards me, whipping her ponytail in her face.

“Well, first of all, kids not in choir are not supposed to be in here. So I’m going to have to ask you to leave.” I nodded, feeling even more embarrassed.

“I-I’m sorry.” I picked up the music and was about to leave until I plucked up my courage to say something else.

“Uh hey, by the way, I’m-” She laughed, holding up my hands.

“Don’t, I’m fine. This experience made me realize how much of an idiot I was acting like for 3 years.” I fiddled with my tie, the room suddenly feeling a lot hotter.

“Um, still I’m really sorry.” God, I was lame at apologies. Is that why I’ve never had a girlfriend?

“Ok cool, well, if you ever want to be welcomed into this room again, we’ll be happy to let you in.” Her nonchalant words made me pause, rethinking my previous decision.

“Um, about that, I was thinking... Can I still be in choir?” She froze with her guitar still in hand and whipped her head at me.

“Seriously? Even with me in it?” I felt bad, but for some reason I laughed.

“Hey, I was just really upset that day, I don’t really hate you.” She set down her guitar and walked towards me.

“I mean, I guess we need a new tenor. You’re in.” She stated. A smile of relief flew on my face.

“Thanks y/n and I’m still-” She laughed, holding up a hand.

“Save it, I don’t want to hear it. Just make up for it by joining choir, yea?” I nodded and I turned to walk out of the door until I realized something.

“Also...” She lifted her gaze up at me.

“Yeah?”

“Can you also tutor me in chemistry? I’m failing.”

#stray kids #skdays #happyjeonginday #straykidznet #jeongin #stray kids scenarios #stray kids scenario #stray kids imagines #stray kids imagine #stray kids reactions #stray kids reaction #jeongin scenarios #yang jeongin

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ifreakinglovewritingsomuch · 6 years

Text

Changlix AU / Break The Silence (Part Ten)

Pairings: Seo Changbin x Lee Felix, Bang Chan x Kim Woojin, Lee Minho x Han Jisung, Kim Seungmin x Hwang Hyunjin, ft. Yang Jeongin Plot: Chan finally sees no other chance to rebel against the system, even though he knows that he can get into trouble once again, losing the person he loves a second time. But he has to risk it! Felix ha no clue what the strange package in front of his house is meant to be, but when he follows the clues it leads him to a conspiracy he never wanted to be part of. (SiFi!Au, Futuristic!AU) Warnings: Angst maybe, but nothing really bad, I guess…alos a little blood… Words: 1640 Part One/Two/Three/Four/Five/Six/Seven/Eight/Nine …

A/N: Finally the next chapter!!!! Thank you, everyone, who reads my FF! <3

Hyunjin fidgets with the hem of his white sweater. The sign of his education home at the front. He hates those clothes, they all look the same, you aren't even allowed to choose what you want to wear.

But that's not the point. Maybe he feels embarrassed, because of his clothes, because of the sign. He has never been in this area, where all the rich people live and all the children that were allowed to stay with their parents.

People that still have a family, unlike Hyunjin. Stray Kids could have been his family, those other boys, but he definitely messed up.

That's why he is here, to apologize. He shouldn't have hit Seungmin, but it was still hard for Hyunjin to come here asking for forgiveness. Especially because it's Seungmin.

Since the first day, the two had a hard time getting along. Hyunjin doesn't know why. To be honest the other isn't that bad. Maybe he is just jealous, Seungmin's live is definitely better, you can see that if you just look at the houses or more like the mansions here.

There he is. In front of Kim Seungmin's home, which is typical for that area, white with a flat roof and no garden, security systems everywhere. Hyunjin wouldn't have known where the other boy lives, but Jeongin had told him. However, the younger found it out. Sometimes Jeongin knows so much, it creeps the older out. That kid has ears everywhere and is really nosy. Or he probably cares, because he is one of the most precious humans. Hyunjin had liked the younger since the first day he arrived at the education home, coming from another one. Since that day it has been the older's mission to look after Jeongin, like Jinyoung had done it for him, those years ago.

Taking a deep breath and quickly dismissing the thoughts Hyunjin takes a step closer, ringing the bell. He can feel his heart beat faster when the door swings open and a woman looks at him with a confused and judging expression, looking him up and down.

"Good morning." Hyunjin greets friendly but just wants to run, because the woman looks scary. "Is Seungmin here?"

"Who are you?" Hyunjin flinches at the harsh question.

"I'm his classmate..." He stutters, already regretting his decision to come here.

"He never brings classmates home!?"

"It's about a project one of our teachers send me."

"Why didn't they send a message first?" That woman is annoying, why can't she just let him in.

"Who is it?"Hyunjin had never been so glad to hear Seungmins voice. The other boy appears behind the woman, probably his mother, looking surprised when he spots the older.

"Hyunjin?"

"I'm here because of the project...for class." for a moment Seungmin looks confused and hesitates to answer, making the other nervous.

"Oh yeah right...I nearly forgot." Hyunjin releases his breath, not even noticing he has held onto. Quickly he follows the younger, who seemed to ignore his mother. She seems to be was angry that he didn't tell her before that someone was coming over. When they arrive at Seungmin's room, the younger immediately closes the door, looking at the other, his expression changing. Hyunjin knows he deserves it. The other has a bruise on his forehead, which has probably gotten him into trouble, his family seems to be strict.

"Does it still hurt?"

"No" Hyunjin sights at the younger's short answer.

"I'm sorry...it's just...I didn't even want to hit you." Seungmin only rolls his eyes sitting down on his bed, not looking at the older.

"I don't know what happened five years ago and if it was Chan's fault, but I don't think so."

"You can't know that."

"He cared for those people too, for Jinyoung...was that his name?" Seungmin says, making eye contact.

"Why did he survive then and they didn't?"

"I don't know. But I think there is a valid reason. You're just hurt Hyunjin, which I understand. It's hard to lose someone you love."

Hyunjin is getting angry. Seungmin doesn't know how he feels. Jinyoung has been the only one that cared for Hyunjin, no one else did.

"You don't understand how that is." He snaps.

"I do." the younger quietly says. "My mother died when I was ten, she was the only one that would support me and help me survive in this fucked up system."

"But I thought..."

"She is my stepmother." Seungmin stands up, getting closer to the older. "Don't assume things about me. You don't know anything about my life."

Hyunjin can’t look away, the other's eyes are to capturing and there is this crazy thought in his head, that makes him scared. Why the heck is he thinking about that now?

He literally stumbles back, when their watches suddenly cheeps showing a countdown. Another meeting. Without saying anything, Seungmin gets his jacket, ready to go.

Hyunjin is still startled by what happened, it takes him a second before he follows the younger, who just tells his stepmother, they have to go to extra classes.

"So will you go back?" Seungmin asks.

"Yeah." And again that small smile on Seungmin's face brings the thoughts back.

Why does he want to kiss the younger that bad?

They are discussing the plan and Chan is beyond happy, that they all are back, after what happened the last time. Everyone seems to be enthusiastic about their big mission.

Chan had planned it for five years. There are two archives in the city that are all information, about society, criminals, where the money goes. All illegal activities by the system are documented there. The suicide rates statistics about bullying and violence. All the things the government doesn't want the people to know. Why? Because then they wouldn't have enough people who aren*t on their side anymore. No one would follow the laws anymore. The system would be forced to change.

All they had to do was hack into the system, by breaking into the tower of the government. They could stream the files on every monitor in the city because at the tower you also have the full access to all electronics in the city.

It was the same plan, like five years ago, with the difference that Chan had changed it. This time he can't fail. He can't lose another group. He can't lose his friends again and most important he can't lose Woojin for the second time.

Stray Kids are in a discussion, thinking about who will do which job, but they have to postpone it because school is going to start for all of them soon.

Before Hyunjin can leave too Chan holds the younger back. He feels guilty towards the other.

"I'm sorry for my behaviour."

"No, it's okay. I should be the one to apologize. I put Woojin in danger...and I don't know what happened five years ago." It was hard for Hyunjin to say that it has kind of been easier those past weeks, with blaming someone for what happened. But he remembers Seungmin's words. He has no clue what actually happened.

"Come on." Chan leads him into the room at the back, probably the older's bedroom. The leader pulls out a small box under the bed, filled with small pictures.

"Five years ago, we had our basis at an old shop downtown. Yugyeom found this Polaroid camera and was taking pictures all the time." Chan paused sitting down on his bed, putting the boy on his knees, going through the images. Hyunjin steps closer, deciding to sit down as well. "I thought that it is annoying, but...now they are the only thing I have left of them...here."

Chan handed the younger boy a specific picture.

"It is the last one we all took." Hyunjin has to smile at it, they all are posing for a picture, making dorky faces. He had never had a picture of Jinyoung or the others. He could feel himself tear up a bit.

"I didn't know Woojin was part of the group as well." The younger says when examining the picture.

"I made sure he wouldn't show up at the last mission, I was too scared to lose him..." Chan answers while closing the box, putting it away.

"You two were together, weren’t you?" The older boy only nodded, sighing at the thought.

"We all knew how dangerous this is. We wanted to change something, but it went wrong. Our hiding place wasn't safe enough, that's why I build this here." He motioned around.

"They have better security systems now, but we got better too. I really want this to work out for them...before we said goodbye...it was the last day...Jinyoung asked me to look after you if he doesn't make it. I guess I failed at that." Chan chuckled coldly.

"I want you to keep it." He motioned at the photo in Hyunjin's hands.

"Thank you...and you didn't fail."

Chan feels guilty. He isn’t specifically lying to the younger, but it isn’t the whole truth either. But he promised to not tell anyone, not even Woojin. He has to keep it a secret, just for now.

*Flashback*

"Put that damn thing away," Jackson complained, hiding his face in Mark's neck when Yugyeom, took a picture of them again.

"Come on. You two are too cute, I can't resist."

Chan chuckled at them, smiling at his boyfriend, who was currently reviewing one of his smaller missions with Jaebum.

Maybe this all would finally pay off, their hard work.

"Let's make a group picture." Yugyeom suddenly squealed, hugging Bambam, enthusiastically. Everyone in the room groaned, but they all knew that he wouldn't let them go before they haven't at least taken one picture.

"We need to remember this." Slowly the moved behind Yugyeom making weird faces at the camera. Holding the Polaroid camera, up Yugyeom started to count down from 3.

"Smile guys!"

*Flashback over*

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blogisastrongword · 7 years

Text

Thinking For Myself

**I originally published this on Medium here but decided it should also live in this oft-neglected corner of the internet.**

When I was growing up, I didn’t go to church on Sundays. There was a short period of time when I was about 13 or 14 that my parents started taking me and my brother to church on Sundays, and that lasted for about a year, maybe two. When I was younger I would sometimes go with a girlfriend of mine when I stayed over at her house on the weekend, which I thought was a little strange, but at the time I kind of liked going. It was different and I got to dress up, so that was cool. In my freshman year of college, I tried going to church with a group of people I had become friends with (you know the way college freshman never seem to do anything alone?), and that actually stuck for a little while, but I eventually dropped that too after it became what church had always been for me: invasive, exclusive, and judgmental. I didn’t lose a lot of sleep over quitting church altogether. I say all of this to say that I am not a particularly religious person now, nor did I grow up in a super religious home. In fact, though I still believe in God, I am someone who harbors a lot of resentment toward the church and Christianity*.

The thing is, I didn’t grow up going to church on Sundays the way most kids I know did, but I went to church every other day of the week. I went to a small private Christian school, in Texas, from Kindergarten through 12th grade. What does this mean? Well, first of all it means I went to chapel once a week, every week, for the entirety of my education. I had a bible class every single year, and in high school I had two because I was on the worship team and we had our own “worship class” we attended on non-chapel days. It also means things like I wore a uniform to school and graduated in a class of only 62 kids, but those things are less unique than some of the other stuff. One thing I’ve learned in the last few years is that when you tell someone who didn’t go to Christian school that you went to one, they just kind of nod and say “oh, okay.” and that’s it. But if you meet someone who also went to Christian school, congratulations, you have just found someone to talk to for the rest of the night. Suddenly, you’ve found someone who also knows all the words to literally 100 hymns and worship songs, and who also had to memorize passages of scripture for a grade. It’s going to bore the people around you, but the two of you don’t care, you have so much to talk about!

The thing is, other people just don’t really get it. And that’s not me trying to say “I’m so misunderstood!” I’m saying that there’s no way someone outside of the experience could get it because it’s so, well, outside of their experience. But also, I don’t really think to explain it to other people because it was my normal. So when I casually mention something about reading C.S. Lewis in English classes, or the time one of my math teachers spent an entire class period talking about the evils of witchcraft instead of, you know, algebra, I forget that those things didn’t really happen to other kids as much (or…at all). For me, that was an ordinary school day.

When I got to be a certain age, I think part of me knew it was weird, but it was also the only thing I had ever known. I was happy to be in a Christian environment because it was the best place to be — everyone kept saying so. It wasn’t until college that I really started reflecting on it with any kind of perspective, and it took me awhile to recognize that some of the things I had been taught were not only batshit insane, but damaging on a deeper level.

As I got into my 20s, I would sometimes notice the way my religious background influenced my life in not-so-positive ways. It created difficulties for me in my relationships, both romantic and platonic, and in my social life in general, as well the way I thought about and treated myself in my own mind. In the last year-ish, I’ve really started examining this influence, and I’ve discovered a couple of things (which yes, I am talking about with my therapist). There’s so many things I could list and stories I could share that are bizarre, funny, even inappropriate about my christian education, but for now, I’ll list the three things my Christian education did not teach me:

how to think for myself

to trust in myself

to be kind, both to myself and to others

A lot of people I went to school with and definitely a lot of my teachers would probably be shocked and upset to hear me say this, but it’s true. More than that, it’s taken me years to realize it.

Christianity doesn’t teach you to think for yourself because you don’t have to think for yourself; it’s called the Inerrancy of Scripture (seriously, you can google that) and it makes everything super easy. If the Bible says it, it’s true and you believe it, or you go to hell. The end.

You don’t trust yourself because your trust is in God — and in your pastor, or your parents. Usually, in my case, it was in my teachers. They were right and I was wrong if I disagreed. This issue of trust also has a special significance for women, especially young women, because we often receive a rather mixed message from Christianity regarding our worth as human beings. And if you’re constantly questioning your worth, how are you ever supposed to start learning to trust your own mind?

Lastly, and this is the thing I almost didn’t say because I recognize that it is harsh, but Christianity doesn’t teach you how to be kind. You don’t learn to be kind to yourself, a sinner, for whom there is no hope of salvation, or life worth living, without God. And you certainly don’t learn to be kind to others. This was especially true in the place I come from. You know those places you hear about where shout about homosexuality being a sin and an abomination? And about how Muslims will kill us all, and there’s a war on Christmas? Yeah. I went to school there. These are people who preach kindness and do not practice it themselves. And look, I know this is harsh and not totally fair — churches and Christian organizations do a lot of good. They do. But you can’t ignore, or I can’t ignore, the unkindness they have also perpetrated, some of it through me as a young person.

Because guess what? When you’re 13 and it’s your normal, and no one is ever telling you anything different, and the only internet is dial-up that you can only use when your mom doesn’t need the phone? You believe all that shit. People want to believe, kids especially I think, and when you combine that with not being taught how to think for yourself? It’s kind of a perfect storm. I look back on some of the things I believed at 14, 15, 16, and I’m ashamed of that girl. But I’m also trying now to cut her a little slack. Because even now, when my beliefs have changed so drastically for the better, I am still a victim to that system in some ways. A lot of them are subconscious — I don’t even realize where a feeling or attitude formed until I have it pointed out to me (did I mention I’m seeing a therapist?), but I’m making a real effort to examine and reprogram some of those negative influences. Only time will tell, of course, how successful I am and how it affects my eventual relationship to faith and Christianity, but I think it’s going to be a healthy thing for me in the long run.

So that’s what I’m thinking about right now.

Talk to me about religion — I’m weirdly obsessed and I won’t judge you!

*In case it isn’t clear throughout here, I’m speaking specifically about white, southern, evangelical Christianity. I don’t want to type this out every time, but it’s important to note because I do recognize that there is a huge variety of experiences just within Christianity alone. This is mine.

#christianity #evangelicalism #white christianity #christian school

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you-can-call-me-verge · 7 years

Text

Memory (Lonely Part 3)

Part One Part Two

Words- ~2k

Summary: Ash had a life before.

Tagging: @here-to-vent (who is honestly my main motivator for this series)

After Thomas and Ash met each other, the next few days passed as usual. Thomas and Ash had time to get to know each other. They both loved to watch movies, specifically superhero ones. Patton watched a couple Disney movies with them as well. They found that they couldn't go out of the house with Thomas, or in any place where he wasn't alone. It was simply another solemn reminder that Ash wasn't real, at least not real enough to be with other people. That aside, they'd been making friends with the other sides as well.

Logan did have a minor conflict with them the day after they met Thomas. Turns out their talent with art also came with knowledge of art history. Even though Logan was pouty for a day or so, they ended up being some sort of a learning power-duo, feeding off each other's knowledge to expand their own.

Patton was especially loving having another person to monitor the sides. Parenting didn't come naturally to Ash, but as a favor to Patton if they saw any of the others’ shenanigans getting to out of hand, they'd distract them. They were also sleeping on a couch in Patton’s room, because he insisted they shouldn't be sleeping downstairs at it couldn't be nearly as comfortable as having a room.

Virgil was doing everything in his power to be accommodating and nice, and Ash was spending by far the most time with him. Logan, Patton, and Roman were busy more often than not, and even Thomas was starting to have more to do. But Virgil kept a fairly free schedule, and so Ash spent their time with him. Now was one of those times.

It was 3AM in the mindscape. Ash was on Virgil’s bed, listening to the last of a song on his record player. “What'd you think of that one?” He asked when the song finished.

“Hmm. It's a little dark, no?”

“That's what I like about it. I think there was a lot of emotion behind the song.”

“No fair, you love emo songs,” Ash teased him.

“I do not!”

“Dude, you're so emo. You have the entire MCR discography, on vinyl and CDs. Probably on your phone, too!”

“That does not make me emo.”

“Really? Then what does? The eyeshadow? Your personality?” Ash pushed, shoving Virgil jokingly.

“God, you're the worst.” Virgil said, rolling his eyes.

A comfortable silence passed between the two as Ash laid back on Virgil’s bed while he looked for another album to play. Eventually, he selected one, and the serene quiet between the two continued as the music played on.

Virgil broke the silence. “So you had an entire life, huh?”

“Hmm?” Ash looked up at him. “That came out of nowhere. Yeah, I did.”

“Oh… Do you mind talking about it? Am I making you uncomfortable?” Virgil asked quickly.

Ash was silent for a long time. They’d met Thomas only a week ago, but it had been a good week. Every night the sides had dinner together, and most of the time they ate lunch with at least one of them. Everyone was trying their hardest to include them in daily life. To everyone's surprise, Virgil was especially close with them. While Ash was undeniably more chill than Virgil, they both enjoyed each other's company immensely. They'd had a lot of deep talks, about existence, the sides’ lives, the mindscape, everything. But in the week they'd known the sides, they'd carefully avoided talking about themself. It was a little difficult to remember that these were their friends, that it was okay and even encouraged for them to open up to the others.

“Ash?” Virgil sounded worried.

“Yeah… Yeah, if it's okay with you, I wouldn't mind talking about my childhood. I can't say I know a lot about it, though. It's a little hard to remember.” They finally replied.

“I'm listening.”

“Well, I don't remember my early childhood. I suppose that's normal. I think my first memory was when I was in preschool. We were having snack, and that day we had grapes. And I kept on eating grapes, and that's it. It's not that cool, I guess.”

“It's cool in the sense that not every memory you had was interesting.” Virgil replied. “Boring and sad memories are what makes you a person.”

Ash smiled. “I remember the kids in kindergarten weren't nice. Some girl took a pair of safety scissors and cut off a lock of my hair, right at the root. I was a kid, so I wasn't worried about my appearance, but it still sucked to be on the receiving end of violence like that.”

“Jesus, kids are so cruel. I'm so sorry.” Virgil said.

“It's fine. I lived, after all. My elementary school life went on without being very interesting. Kids continued to not be nice to me, but really it's just because we were young and in a small school. It was never anything big enough that it was especially scarring. In middle school people laid off, just a little. We were in a bigger school and so everyone had their pick of friends to make. I think… I think I had friends, too. Yeah, I was in band. I played the clarinet. All of the clarinet players were close with each other. We weren't the most relevant group, but nobody hated us and we even made friends with a couple more ‘popular’ people. I always thought the whole popularity thing was really stupid, but maybe that's because I was never considered up there. I'm sure the people who benefitted from it loved it.”

“Wow… I'm glad you found friends, at least. I know what you mean- with the popularity thing.” Virgil said to them, remembering harsh words and cruel nicknames.

“Yeah… middle school was a turning point in my adolescence. Sixth grade was when I first dyed my hair. I dyed it purple by myself, and it came out surprisingly good, actually. Since then, I do my own hair. I remember being in theatre, but I wasn't acting. No… I was in stage crew. I built sets. Oh man, I loved that. I made even more friends there, there was a sort of solidarity that came from teaching each other to use power drills. I think I met someone there. A girl… people were weirded out by that, by us dating. But I think it was more about how pretty and nice she was and how I was just starting to become irrelevant instead of disliked. She was nice, but I know we didn't work out in the end. I think her parents found out, and she wasn't allowed to date. We were both sad, but I guess we couldn't make it work. I remember my last show that I built the sets for in middle school, I was the stage crew teacher’s right hand man, for lack of a better term. I oversaw everything and I built a couple set pieces by hand. There is where I found out how much I love painting. I mean, I knew already, but I specifically loved painting set pieces. After that, I graduated middle school.”

“Wow. I mean, I knew you were better at art than Princey but I didn't know it was something you liked to do that much.” Virgil laughed a little.

“Me neither. Not until now. Then came high school. I was scared going into my new school, but I think I adjusted pretty well. I started making more friends, even upperclassmen. There was this one guy, his name was Toby. Real jock. Really into me, if I do recall. But he didn't want to date me, not publicly. He never gave a real reason, he just told me not to act like I knew him in school. I remember thinking his friends would think he was weird if he was dating someone like me, or someone as young as me. I should've realized it wasn't right to treat me that way, but he seemed so nice… so I went along with it. I wasn't as assertive then. He was my first kiss, but nothing else. Then he graduated and left me in the dust. I saw it coming, but it still hurt.”

“God, I'm so sorry, Ash,” Virgil said, voice soft, putting a hand on their shoulder.

“At least that was only my freshman year. The next year, as a sophomore, I made friends with my art teacher. I went there on any off period I had, usually to paint. I ate lunch with him sometimes. It was really chill, we had a lot of good talks about life. He's the one who got me into philosophy. He was a real existentialist, and he said I was too. That continued on to my senior year. For all of high school I kinda went with the flow. Everyone let go of the whole popularity contest mentality too, I guess we were too old in a school too big for that. I made some great friends in every year, and I like to think that I helped out a couple of the younger kids when I was older.”

“Did you go to college?”

Ash sighed and concentrated for a minute. “Yes, but this is where it gets blurry. I think I switched majors… or something… I was into psychology… I'm not too sure. My family wasn't… really… supportive.” Their hand came up to cover their mouth as their voice lowered to a whisper. “Oh my god… my family…”

“Ash? Are you okay?” Virgil sat up from where he'd been reclining. He spoke with urgency. “Ash?”

“I had a family. I had a mom and dad and I had a baby sister. I remember my parents and I always fought. They were supportive of me as a person but I guess we just didn't see eye to eye on everything. I was happy where I was but they wanted me to be different. When I switched my major, I think I switched from what they wanted me to do to what I wanted to do. We had a big fight, and that's really the last I remember. Man…”

“Do you miss them?”

“I guess I do. I don't know. I feel bad saying I don't, but this is so different in a good way. It's less stressful, and you guys are so unconditionally loving. I don't even remember where I was right before I was here. And a part of me knows it was never even real. So I guess if it isn't real, how can it matter? I'm here now, and I can't go back to what was never real.”

“Are you happy here?” Virgil asked.

“What?”

“Are you happy?” He repeated.

“Well, yeah. You guys are the realest friends I've ever had. Everything else is blurry and faded, like an old photograph, or a dream. You're… real.” Ash said contemplatively.

“We’re lucky to have you.” Virgil was quiet, but speaking with utter conviction. “Me and the others, we’re friends, but we're so close that we’re basically family. You're the same way. You're family.”

With that, Ash felt their eyes burning as they closed them. They smiled, the first rays of dawn coming through Virgil’s spider curtains. There was no way of knowing whether the warmth came from the light, or the first real time in their life that they knew they were loved.

#sanders sides #anxiety sanders #roman sanders #prince sanders #creativity sanders #patton sanders #virgil sanders #thomas sanders #logan sanders #logic sanders #sanders sides fic

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andromedahawking · 7 years

Text

NaNoWriMo Day 7

One week! One whole week! 11667 words! I’m doing a thing!!

(Apologies again, sleep-induced weirdness may occur here...)

Things progressed smoothly over the next week. The project moved swiftly, Maria made sure to keep up on all her other classes, and work managed not to drive her crazy. All in all, she’d had worse weeks.

But then, it was Tuesday, the 7th of November, 2084.

Election Day.

She woke up that morning briefly ignorant of this very important fact, and for that moment, it was a very blissful ignorance. But then the bubble popped, right as she was about to get out of bed, and suddenly she decided she wasn’t feeling up to going to school todayy. She would just stay home and sleep. Yeah. Let’s not think about the outside world today.

Group Chat

Maria: Someone tell Monaca I'm sick, won’t be in today.

Tatie: I’ve got you, sweetheart.

Maria: Thanks.

She let her phone fall out of her hand, and buried her face in her pillow. Why today, of all days, to exist on this mortal plane?

At around 9, she heard the front door slam shut, and she let out a small sigh of relief. Thalia was taken care of. One less thing to have to think about now.

She tried to go back to sleep, but her mind was swirling with thoughts about the election. It was going to be a very big night, and a lot of the hubbub would probably have her name tossed out way more frequently than she would ever like it to be. Why did she have to be a dumbass? Why did she have to try to make a statement? And why did everybody else decide to listen?

John had said it was looking close this time. Herald and Andrews were easy losers, anybody could tell but Alighieri and Waters… that was where the real battle was gonna play out. It was going to go to Round 3 voting, without a doubt, and the margin would be incredibly thin when it was all said and done. And of course, tomorrow would probably be worse than today, because the result would be known and everyone with half an opinion would be rushing around to tell everybody what they thought about the whole ordeal and what it meant for the future and yadda yadda ya, just thinking about it pissed her off.

She moved her head under her pillow, and clamped it down around her ears in a futile attempt to drown out the noise in her head, and slowly managed to drift off into a very unstable sleep.

—

She woke up multiple times: 11, 13, 17, and then finally got up at 19 to get a couple pieces of toast and some milk before going back upstairs to crash again, telling Thalia, “Lemme know who wins before you leave tomorrow, m’kay?”

“Thought you don’t give a fuck.”

“Would that I could, sis, would that I could.”

“You gonna actually get up tomorrow?”

“Not if I can help it.”

—

The next morning, Maria was awoken by a sharp knocking at the door.

“Wh’d’you wan’?”

“Alighieri won. 220 to 215.”

“Ah, sweet. Make sure to kick anybody’s ass who gives you any grief at school, tell ‘em I told you to.”

“Buddy, you don’t gotta tell me twice. I was planning on kicking ass anyway.”

“Attagirl, Thal. I’ll see ya later.”

“Don’t spend the whole day being dead, okay? You look like shit when you do that.”

“Thanks, Thalia, I already knew that. Now get to school.”

“Roger dodger, sis…”

She listened to her footsteps thunder down the steps, then the front door slam. Then it was very, very quiet.

So, Alighieri, huh? President Alighieri. That was not gonna go over well for a lot of people. Having a Democrat snatch victory out of Progressive jaws after everything that had happened this year was something that was considered a bit of a worst-case scenario in the eyes of the liberal establishment. So that also meant Maria had to keep out of the public eye again, to avoid getting pulled back into the blame circle and being picked apart again by all the media pundits.

God, couldn’t she just lead a normal life? Somehow?

Ping.

Tatie: You going to call in sick again today?

Well, kudos to you, Tatie, for being very observant and also very up-front.

Maria: Something like that.

Tatie: Hope you know where to find the homework. And make sure you show up on Thursday, otherwise four out of four groupmates will murder you!~

Maria: Don’t worry, I’ll be in tomorrow. I don’t like the idea of being drawn and quartered any time soon.

Tatie: Haha yeah, generally speaking it’s good to try and avoid death. We would prefer you alive.

Maria: Me too. I’m going to be passed out most of today so don’t be surprised if I don’t answer any of my messages until tonight at some point.

Tatie: Enjoy your sleep, then~ I’ll leave you alone.

Maria: See you tomorrow.

—

Maria did manage to extricate herself from bed on Thursday, although to be perfectly honest, it was mainly because she didn’t want to be the one to flake out on the group project first. If she did that, then she was screwed on a school level as welll as a national one. Thankfully, school was also a lot easier to repair, so on balance, probably not the worst thing in the world if she missed today. Just bad.

Adrien and Hannah were chatting outside the History room when Maria got there. “Hey, Maria!” Adrien said, waving. “How’s it going?”

“I am so tired,” she groaned. “The last two days just had me wiped out.”

“Yeah, we missed you on Tuesday,” Hannah said. “You just catch a bug or something?”

“Mm-hm. Nothing too serious, just sorta took the energy out of me. I’m over it now.” She pinched the bridge of her nose. “So, uh, what did I miss, dare I ask?”

“Not much, actually,” Hannah said. “Monaca spent most of it just sort of going over the details of Teller City. Most of it’s in the reader.”

“Okay, good,” Maria nodded. “I can live with that.”

“She also was railing about making sure to vote,” Adrien snickered. “I didn’t think she could be much more high-energy than she already is, but man, that was something to see.”

“Definitely,” Hannah agreed. “You were probably smart to stay away from that if you were under the weather.”

“Oh, yeah, I can only imagine.”

“Keep it that way. It was hilarious, but also a little bit scary,” Adrien said.

“I just hope that she doesn’t use today as to follow up on that…” Hannah said.

Just then, Monaca came around the corner of the hall, Snapple bottle in hand. “Morning, guys!” she said, waving enthusiastically. “How was your Wednesday?”

They all gave her the usual spiels about "lots of stuff to do” and “not enough sleep”.

“God, you guys sound like my roommates from when I was in college,” she said.

“It’s almost like we’re in college or something,” Maria said, smirking sarcastically.

“Woooow, really?! I never would’ve guessed!”

—

“Now, today’s gonna be a bit different from the usual format,” Monaca said to the class. “That’s because the election has been decided, so as your History teacher, I’m obligated to spend a few minutes with y’all to discuss the implications this whole thing has on the future of the next four years, what it means for you, for us, all that good stuff. So let me start off by asking, how many of you followed the election pretty closely?”

About a quarter of the class raised their hands.

“Okay, and how about just the cursory stuff, like the headlines and stuff?”

About three-fourths of the class raised their hands this time.

“Alright. That’s a fairly decent percentage of you. Now, how many of you voted for the candidate on the ballot, and not the party?”

“…Um, could you explain that a little better?” Graham asked.

“Sure.” She picked up her bottle, empty now, and started fiddling with it in her hands. “What I mean is, when you voted, how many of you chose your options based on who you liked, as opposed to based on which party they belonged to? Did you vote for Terry Waters because you like Terry, or do you just like the Progressive Party?”

“Oh, man, that’s a harsh question, don’t you think, teach?” Maria asked with a small grin on her face.

“The truth hurts, what can I say?” Monaca said, grinning back. “You don’t have to answer, of course, I just thought that would be a good question to roll around in your heads for a little while today. A lot of people tend to vote for a candidate based on which party they belong to more than what the candidate’s positions actually are. Party loyalty plays more of a role than what the candidate is about. You can usually infer a candidate’s positions based on which party they’re a member of, but just because someone’s a Democrat or a Republican or a Progressive doesn’t mean they’ll fit neatly into the party platform. Heck, the Progressives and Constitutionals became major parties because the Dems and the Republicans split way back in the 20s and 30s, remember? Party is an umbrella, but candidates are usually more specific.”

“Implies politicians keep a stable platform!” someone called out, earning a lot of snickers from the class.

“You got me there!” Monaca laughed. “Yes, politicians are always notorious for saying one thing and doing another, hypocrites that they are. But hey, that’s part of how it all works. Politics is just as much about charisma and knowing how to talk to a specific audience as it is about policy. You can’t get very far if you can’t get a lot of very different people behind you.

“But now I’m rambling! Okay, back on topic. So, with Waters and Alighieri, what do you guys think the main difference was that…”

#NaNoWriMo #My work #My OCs

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