#lila skies

[theplotdemandsit]

Remember when Five was a cute gremlin who grinned like the devil but would do anything and everything for his family?

Needless to say, I dropped season 4.

[genderfluidblob]

A 4 page Moon^2 comic where Moonpaw finds Moonpool being hurt from the twoleg destruction and swims down to save her girlfriend. She finds her love dying and decides to sacrifice herself to let Moonpool live on in her body. Also yes, I am making her a Nightsun kit in this lol.

[p1nkcoff1n]

Some little Rainbow High doodles I did in class :)

[meiko333]

My Rainbow High / Shadow High Bisexual Headcanons

[missydior]

love letters ౨ৎ

♡: an eternity of silent, mutual yearning and friendship that flourishes into something new when feelings are finally confessed.

notes: charles leclerc/reader, friends to lovers, humour, fluff, confessions.

type: smau & writing ・ fc: lila moss

a/n: my favourite trope ever mwah 🤍🤍 this feels a little messy and stuff but I had a lot of fun writing it and hope you feel the love all over it I have, ily

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yourusername: hello from the birthday girl here <3 thank you so much for all of the kind messages, wishes & gifts. sending lots of love

3,122 comments

friendusername: happy bday to our favourite girl ever 🍰🫶🏼

yourusername: 🤍🤍🤍

user1: happy birthday to our favourite paddock princessss

charlesleclerc: did you like the cake I bought you then, or?

yourusername: I loved it until you threw half of it in my face

charlesleclerc: it tasted nicer that way

franciscagomes: bday girl !!

yourusername: i love youu

franciscagomes: i love you more 🤍

pierregasly: what about me?

franciscagomes: today is about y/n. shush.

I. Your Birthday.

After hours spent with café au lait and too much maple syrup on pancakes in the morning with gift receiving and wishes, a quiet luncheon with those closest to your heart, enjoying the beauty of the shores and rosé champagne, evening eventually settles in a beautiful colour against the heavens of Monaco.

You have never been one for the dramatics or high attention of crowds, settling on an intimate celebratory affair amongst close friends and family: pretty dresses and glasses of Lavender French '75 or those strawberry daiquiris that Ésme is in love with; a sweet, favourite song heard in the background.

Charles arrives fashionably late, the collar of his white-linen shirt loosened and soft, dark-brunet hair slightly tousled as he comes near, the sight of a smile on his face you've always loved, dimples revealed.

There is a certain relief that comes with being graced by his presence, like you had been silently longing and waiting for his greeting before anybody else's, though you disguise it from any chance of teasing.

"(Y/N)," Your name rolls off his tongue like caramel, accentuated as he shifts to kiss both your cheeks in friendly affection before he chuckles at your expression, "Happy birthday." Mon ange.

"Thank you," You breathe, a laugh falling past your mouth at the sight of him in manifestation, inclining your head when you look at him through your lashes, "I was beginning to think you forgot."

"Forget? Me?" The Monegasque exclaims as though wounded, placing his hand to his chest though the smile about his sun-kissed visage never dissipates, stealing a nearby glass of champagne, "Never. I had some work to finish."

There is an edge of teasing beneath your looks, a dance of butterflies in your stomach when he touches the small of your back fleetingly as he shifts past with that signature wink of his, all friendly and humorous in years of friendship, and yet your heart stutters.

You almost say something else, confessions and thoughts that want to erupt from your chest like love letters you have never sent – certain it is merely the liquor fogging your judgement – but he's wandered away with a final promise before a syllable can come forth.

"Let me get the birthday girl a drink, oui?"

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yourusername: july with my favourite people <3

mentioned charlesleclerc, friendusername, franciscagomes and two others

1,354 comments

user1: literal angels

user2: second pic is definitely y/n and charles

friendusername: you still owe me another ice cream 🍨

yourusername: sorry bby, i’ll be at your front door with a double vanilla ice cream soon <3

franciscagomes: 🤍🤍

II. At the beach.

Warm light kisses your skin like heavenly delight, a forgotten copy of Paris' Vogue beside where you are currently bathing with a finished strawberry lemonade, long lashes fluttering when you open your eyes to gaze at the skies above in the heat of July, a mosaic of white and cerulean about the Côte d'Azur.

Most of the others have momentarily departed for the nearby café for new sweet treats, though you are consciously aware of a half-dozing Charles Leclerc nearby against the slight flush down the bridge of his nose and eyelashes that ghost about his cheekbones where he is lying.

Pure bliss; perfect heaven.

"Charles?"

It takes him a second, the mention of his name rousing him to blink out of a hazy hint of a dream with the tilt of his chin towards the direction of your voice that calls to him like an angel's symphony, squinting against the haze of light before a lazy, boyish smile reveals his pearlescent teeth, "Mm?"

Shifting upright, consciously trying not to stare at him for too long though you have come to simply welcome and fall used to the sight of his naked chest, all smooth ridges and lean muscle, you absently adjust the ribbons of your pretty bikini and reach for sun cream.

"Do you think you could help me put some on my back, please?" You ask politely, offering him the item whilst shifting on your knees and gathering the edges of your hair over your shoulder that have fallen loose.

He does not respond initially, not until he's sat upright and shifted closer with a kind edge of a smile that dances across his face, "Oui."

Charles does not hesitate or take advantage of the circumstances, applying the fine lotion against the curve of your shoulders with gentle ministrations and lower down, fingertips feather-light, careful not to linger too long.

The act feels oddly intimate as you gaze towards the serene shores, like his touch is meant for the most secret parts of you, an unconscious shiver and the subtle arching of your vertebrae when he traces a particular area. Whether he notices or not, there is no indication given, instead continuing in a method that seems entirely platonic but leaves an ache in your stomach.

"Merci," You tell him once the deed is most finished and he draws away, shifting just enough to offer a look of him from the corner of your eye in a gratuitous smile.

You wonder if how his gaze lingers is the same way yours does, like a painting worth admiring or a flower in emergence, heart thrumming quicker under your sternum before the moment is broken when he clears his throat.

"Of course."

III. A dinner.

Caffè Milano, a quaint but fanciful and warm establishment tucked in the quiet luxuries of Monaco's principality with its dancing chandeliers, oak-varnished furniture and beloved menu.

A semblance of familiarity, pleasantry and polished glasses clinking against the rhythm of conversation amongst friends in the warm afternoon: a lingering aroma of roses from the centrepiece décor neatly arranged and fine cuisine.

"– Non, I am not lying," Pierre is recounting a recent, humorous anecdote of experience, thumb idly tracing the edge of his wine glass whilst you and the others listen on, your cheeks beginning to hurt from how much you have laughed in the recent half-an hour, idly toying with the necklace resting at the hollow of your throat in common fashion.

"You are." Francisca frowns, albeit fondly.

Your concentration is removed from their talk when there is a subtle caress against the ankle bone, a touch beneath the furniture and a fleeting glance from your peripheral sight at the Monégasque beside you, all handsome smiles and that addictive song of laughter whilst a stray hair falls about his eyebrow, though he does not seem to show any degree of deliberation or notice that his shoe idly touches you there.

You have the urge to hold him, caress him, to press a thousand, butterfly kisses along his jaw and say something you should not. Instead, you continue to listen and nurse the last of your Château-Chalon.

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f1gossip: y/n at the grand prix this weekend <3 our paddock princess is back

mentioned yourusername

333 comments

user1: she looks divineee

user2: charles and y/n friends to lovers when?

user3: leave them alone, they’re just friends and have been since childhood

IV. A balcony.

Charles had forgotten his keys somewhere and, until his dear brother could come and return them, you had offered the warmth of your welcomed apartment: all minimalist but homely in décor against a palette of cream, white and the like all complemented by paintings and furniture.

One hour had melted into two by the late afternoon with dusk's slow kiss, hints of lilac and grey in the edge of the skies, your cats curled contently on the plush chaise lounge and resting after endless affections from the Monégasque who seemed to be in love with them.

"Can I join you?"

The voice – honest and clear, albeit a fraction amused – is recognisable as you are drawn out of reverie on the balcony of rocaille motifs, gazing into quiet streets below and the nearby public gardens flourishing with flora, gnawing at your inner cheek as you look to the man where he leans against the threshold, a look in his eye that comes with a subtle indulgence after he stole your favourite bottle of rosé in the kitchenette.

"Of course, yes." Always.

He stands beside you, a few inches apart with his elbow resting against the intricate balustrade when he follows your dreamy stare for a moment, lost in his own thoughts. There is a comfort between the two of you, something you know must come from years of familiarity:

An seemingly endless, innocent youth that manifested in its complications as you aged and neared adolescence, like an evening primrose that flowers and sometimes falls apart, but always returns, even changing with senescence. With age.

You can feel his gaze, almost like an internal, silent imploration for your own, the edges of your fingers and nails polished in a rose quartz-esque varnish that glitters prettily in the evening, and his lips are parted just enough as if wanting to say something before they curve a little higher on the edges, his words hushed.

"Have you ever thought about love?"

Your eyebrows raise a fraction, though it is not so unexpected of a question and one that has been on the edge of your tongue since forever, even with the doubtful inkling that he has merely enjoyed too much wine.

"Sometimes," All of the time. You murmur, a soft, breathless chuckle following as you shrug and tilt your head upwards, gazing above like some wished answer or instruction from the angels or whoever listens, "Why do you ask?"

"Because," His response is delayed, though his answer is sincere and thoughtful like he has been thinking over his words since a time he can't remember until his fingertips touch your elbow fleetingly, "I can't stop thinking about it."

There is a moment, a single fragment, in which you meet his eyes, his touch is known and everything seems to pause like a finished painting, a still image in a history book: his hand, his body and his eyes – the colour of autumn, earth, hints of something else so unique to him.

"Charles, what are you saying?" You laugh softly, looking away momentarily and toying with the knitted wool of your soft cardigan with the kind of feigned indifference that comes with disguising truth, "I didn't think you were a romantic, who has caught your eye?"

For a moment, you wish he would say someone's name, a blessed girl that you have never heard of, so that you can deny your own feelings and settle on the painful reality that you are merely friends.

Instead, his gaze flickers, almost nervously, and a palm cradles the curve of your cheek and jaw with the hesitance of a man of conflicting considerations even when he tries to smile a little. "Please, forgive me."

There is not an instance given to allow any insistence or inquiry as Charles presses a kiss upon your mouth: it is not rushed and there is a desperation there that is not greedy, tasting the remnants of your lipstick and rosé, slow and methodical – longer when you indulge and welcome the feeling.

He does not draw away completely when the feeling ends, his forehead lightly pressed to yours and his touch a little firmer where his fingers curl into your hair, swallowing slowly as his eyes close for a moment until he dares meet your stare once more.

"(Y/N)?"

You smile.

"Je t'aime." There is something in his face you have never seen before, something raw and open like an unfurling rose revealing itself, and you know that your heart is his and his alone.

Another kiss with your prompting, fingertips tracing the soft cotton of his shirt near the shoulder until you drape arms about his shoulders, breathing him in with hints of raspberry, amber and cinnamon, "I love you."

There is poetry in his eyes like those unsent love letters shoved under your pillow, and he delves in, holding you close and intimate until you're most certain, mutually, of the silent yearning you have felt for one another for years.

"C'mere," He mumbles, an arm drawing around the back of your thighs as he picks you up and holds you securely, and you cannot help but laugh in pure, unadulterated glee at his touch and affections, the bottle of rosé abandoned as the night settles in and you are whisked away.

He loves you.

He loves you.

♡ ✧ 。*・.

© missydior

a/n: please don't forget to interact, like, etc. <3

[stylespresleyhearted]

THE MAJOR’S WIFE

warnings: mentions of miscarriage, adultery, nsfw, marital problems, oral (m! receiving), spanking, being turned on even when your brain isn’t in it, bucky in 1x04, bucky married pre-war, slight age gap bc reader can come off slightly immature (i think?) angst, historical inaccuracies, new mediocre writer be nice

summary: John Egan gets to know his wife again

word count: 9.7k

notes: i’m not sure where this came from i wrote it all today and got no part of my research paper done. there’s really no point to it and also irl john egan was actually really close to his mother so i emphasized that here. he wrote to her so much. no disrespect to any of the real people, this is based on the show/show timeline as well.

Lila gets the call on the 2nd of October and her dreams come true.

Not entirely, no. The real dream would be having him home safe and the tragic war being over but she knows how fortunate she is to have the next best thing happen. Her husband’s been granted a few days leave and Colonel Harding believed it would do Major Egan some good to have his sweet, young wife join him during those days overseas. For the good of John’s mental health the Colonel or the President - or whoever was in charge, Lila really had no idea - had agreed to pay for her ticket and their hotel. There was only one thing they asked for in return and although it wasn’t explicitly said, Lila caught their drift: sort your husband out.

Lila knows it would do her no good to sit and wonder how horribly John must be doing in order for them to declare an all expenses paid trip for his spouse. All she does is worry for him anyhow so she forces herself to focus on the one good thing of the entire ordeal - she’s going to see her man.

There’d been letters, although not as many as she liked and she tried not to let it show how it hurt as every other wife received more than one letter at a time. Her John wasn’t the sort, she knew that when she married him. He was the kind of person who needed endless skies and land to maintain his sense of stability. Having him cooped up would do him no good and she partly wondered how much of what he was struggling with was the trauma he witnessed in the air and how much of it was feeling caged on base. At least his plane, good ol’ Mugwump (he wrote about her quite often) offered him the opportunity to head anywhere he wanted.

The only person he wrote consistently and readily to was his mother. It was rare if a week went by and she received no letter. During these instances it was more times than not an issue with the postal service.

Be that as it may, Lila knew who she married and it made her love him no less so she tried not to let it get to her. His mother was a saint. Firm and strong and loving all the same. Lila would have never survived sending John off if his mother wasn’t who and how she was. She held Lila at night when her cries woke her and she let Lila sleep in his old childhood bed. She kept food on their table and ensured everyone got their work done through the worry.

When John first left and Lila was sick to her stomach and vomiting multiple times of the day it was his mother who consoled her through the night when her sheets turned a crimson red and any ideals of having their baby through the war was lost.

Frances Egan was the glue holding them together. All of them, even her son who was an entire ocean way - so no. Lila would not be angry that she was John’s preferred pen-pal.

“You fix him right up,” Mama Egan had said in lieu of goodbye when leaving her at the airport, “you give him the loving he needs as his wife and the smacks he needs from me to get on the straight and narrow before sending him off to continue saving the world. You do it for him, not for any of them war bastards. You hear me?”

All Lila could do was nod. Dropping her bags on the floor and clutching her pseudo mother tightly. She was excited as she was frightened.

They had only gotten two months together before he had been pulled away. She didn’t want to complain, loads of women had gotten less time at all while others had only ever been left with the promise.

But her two months as Mrs. Egan? They’d been a dream. Her man was a romancer. He hadn’t hesitated in introducing her as the newly (and younger) Mrs. Egan, always resulting in an arm slap from his mother, he held open doors and he never stopped courting her; however she thinks the best times were when he was teaching her how to act married.

In their bed, at a home he had spent a year building for them. Using any extra pennies he had to pay off younger boys to help him hurry it along. Giving her the wrap-around porch she had always envisioned.

He showed her how to kiss. How to undress him. He had laid her underneath him, using his large frame to cover her completely, protecting her from the cold as he threw the sheets off them and making her feel tiny compared to him. She had never felt safer.

It had hurt the first time but he had held her through it. Never allowing any inches of space between their bodies; as if telling her they were in it together. She’d always known he was large, everything about him was large in general, but she never thought how much it would hurt to have all of him fit inside her. Lila hadn't wanted to disappoint him so she tried to muffle her tears and whimpers but he had swallowed her cries and gone slow, soft.

“If this is it, it’ll be enough,” he had promised, only about half way inside her and wiping away her tears with his thumbs. As a thank you she had taken that calloused thumb into her mouth and sucked. He allowed her; hiding his face in her neck and pressing wet kisses along there.

And for the first few times that had been it. She couldn’t take all of him and his thrusts couldn’t get too deep so he would only slip inside until her tight hole resisted and pulsed and he’d hump against that spot until reaching his pleasure.

“Do other girls take all of it?” She had asked a couple days later, trying to wrap her head around it.

She was no idiot. John Egan was no virgin.

“Yes.” Lila could always count on him to be honest. At least there was that. Meanwhile she couldn’t even fully pleasure him. She was failing as a wife. “Hey,” he lay facing her and she lay on her back. He tapped her cheek until she turned her face. “You’re my wife. That’s what makes this feel better.”

And she had beamed at his reassurance even though she didn’t feel much better. She knew John would never push her, and he couldn’t stand to see her cry, so if she ever wanted to learn to be a good wife she would have to take it upon herself.

So that’s what she did.

He was always on top and she was always on her back. That’s the first thing she had to change. From her understanding of it, from her talks with friends that always ended in giggles and blushing cheeks and from what she learned from John, it could be done in many different ways.

“I prefer to be in charge,” her school friend, Linda, had admitted to her. “Not like that -” she clarified, cheeks pink, “Just - if I’m gonna take it, I’d rather do it at my pace. Be on top. Some husbands are good like that. They’ll allow it.”

And knowing her husband wasn’t just good, he was great, she knew he would hold no qualms about it. The next time they lay in bed kissing it was easy to turn him over and straddle him. Move her wetness against his belly to let him know there was still more she just needed him to accept it.

Except he thought she was asking him to do it so he flipped her on her back again. And without breaking their kiss, she turned him over again.

It was more like they were wrestling.

Lila pulls away from his mouth, reluctantly, noticing his lips were wet and red and swollen and wondering if hers were much the same. They had been kissing for so long her mouth felt raw.

She loved it.

Straddling him, she reached behind her, feeling him standing straight and hard against her backside in between her cheeks. Sticky.

He gasped, bucking into her fist with a loud, guttural groan. It was so manly she rocked against his stomach again in need.

“Fuck, baby,” he grunted, “what’re you doing?”

“I want to try it like this,” she breathed, leaning over to whisper in his mouth, her tiny hand still wrapped around him and lining her up to her hole. “I want it all.” Lila clarified.

And John allowed it, like she knew he would. Let her take control and go at her pace. Let her swivel her hips on the way down to help with the tightness of being stretched so wide and thick.

Nothing but curses and promises of love leaving his lips. Gasping mine, mine, mine and my perfect fucking wife and I’m gonna fuck you forever.

He felt large inside of her, like if she was being split in two but it felt so good as the tip of him repeatedly hit a spongy part inside that had her coming with no contact to her clit for the first time.

She was beautiful, red splotches appearing on her body from the heat of their love-making, her hair tangled in his fists, her mouth falling open as she threw her head back - all of it was too much. He was flipping her over and pounding into her trying to chase his peak and a second one from her, their headboard banging against the wall in rhythm with his thrusts.

Things changed from then on. Sexually, that is. Becoming aware of how badly she needed to feel like she was pleasing him, John was not above using it against her. Like letting him lick at her.

“Good wives allow their husbands everything,” he would say, lips wide in a smile and eyes bright at the prospect of getting his way but Lila always knew the choice was really hers. He would respect what she wanted.

He was just too damn addicting. She couldn’t stand to tell him no.

His favorite times were when she allowed him to sit her over his face and let him feast. It drowned the outside world for him and he kept at it even after she had reached multiple orgasms and was pulling on his hair and the only thing keeping her up was his forearms locking around her thighs.

Her favorite was when he allowed her to taste him at the same time he was licking her. It was a tie between those times and when he held her down until all of him was in her mouth and she was spluttering, choking, gagging. Knowing she made a filthy vision and he adored it did something to her.

Now she was in London, closer to him than she had been in years, and all their intimacies were within reach. She could almost taste him, feel him petting back her hair and settling a hand at the low of her back. She still remembers the smell of his after shave and sweat, how he’d come into the kitchen asking for some of her homemade lemonade to help with the heat.

Jack Kidd was tasked with picking up Mrs. Egan from the airport and having her arrive at base with him. She remembers meeting him a couple of times before John shipped out early. Originally she was meant to wait for John at their hotel but there had been an issue when planning her flight and she arrived sooner than intended.

“Ma’am,” he greeted, placing a friendly kiss on her cheeks and taking her bags from her. “Bucky’s gonna be happy as hell to see your face.”

The tone in his voice - relief? alleviation? - had some of her happy wife's facade crumbling. How badly was her Johnny hurting that everyone was looking at her at his only chance to remain sane or alive?

Stop it. Maybe everyone’s just aware Johnny misses you. You’re his wife.

“Not as happy as me, I wager,” she returned with a smile. “I’m glad to see you’re doing okay, Jack. Glad to see you still kicking.”

His shrug didn’t soothe her worry but she saw him try to mask it with a smile.

“All we boys can do is pray.”

She placed a hand on his shoulder, gathering his attention. “You boys have got the prayers of our entire country protecting you.”

Jack simply nodded in response.

For the most part the ride to base was quiet. Her bags would be kept in the trunk until her and John were ready to drive out to London in a couple of hours and until then, she’d be his surprise at the officer’s club. Silver Wings, Jack called it. Where all the boys gathered and had drinks and celebrated accomplishments. And where some chose to mourn, too.

Her stomach was turning as she neared the hut, following Jack’s footsteps. There was so much that could go wrong and although this was meant to be a surprise, the U.S Army showing their gratitude towards a brave Major, she suddenly wished she would have called John and told him. She wished he knew so that she wouldn’t have to walk in feeling alone and unwanted.

Not that Lila thought John would turn her away, she simply wanted to have him hold her hand as she walked through the threshold.

“Stick close by,” Jack murmured, being respectful of where he touched her before deciding to lead her by her shoulder. “It gets crowded but I’ll take ya to him.”

As she walked through different groups, she felt the offending eyes of men and women alike. Wondering who she was. With a pang in her heart she realized she had met John’s squadrons before but all these crews were new. The boys she met, most of them at least from what she could tell, hadn’t made it. John never wrote about who passed away (except to inform her of Curt) ; most of their letters were him expressing his love and how he missed her so and asking what she got up to.

Having walked around the roundabout bar in the center of the room, her stomach in knots and fingers tangled in front of her - she caught sight of her husband smack middle in the dance floor. Pressed against a beautiful brunette.

Lila caught sight of him before even Jack did. That’s how connected she was to her husband. Jack whistled from beside her to gain Gale’s attention who was resting against the bar holding his signature ginger ale, also watching John Egan chat up the woman he was swaying with with something like disapproval in his eyes.

His large hands were occupying most of the space of her waist, keeping her body tethered to his as she laughed.

“Lila,” he gasped, eyes wide. He was smart enough to not turn and look at his buddy. To act as if nothing was amiss and she expected nothing less from Gale Cleven, “damn it all to hell. You’re a sight for sore eyes, Mrs. Egan.”

Because he was close to John, he didn’t hesitate in wrapping her up in a tight hug and pressing a kiss to her tinted cheeks. He knew John wouldn’t mind.

When he pulled back she patted his chubby cheek in return, “You still shame the rest of us with your good looks, Gale,” she laughed. “I’ll let Marge know when I see her next.”

Lila also knew she would share with Marge that while Gale was being loyal, standing off to the side her husband was exchanging oxygen with a woman on the dance floor.

His cheeks tinted at the mention of his girl. Buck and Bucky were both aware Lila and Marge wrote to one another and visited each other whenever time made it possible.

“Colonel Harding said Major Egan was in need of something from home,” she said, studying his reaction to see what she could read but Gale had always been aloof, cold. He wasn’t close to her like he was with Marge and John.

Gale thought back to a few moments earlier when John had disrespected their Colonel and all his actions before that too - disrespecting superiors, drinking more consistently, becoming angry - hopelessness in his eyes.

“He’s in need of you Lila,” Gale clarified and it wasn’t lost on either one of them that he they were referring to was currently on the floor wooing another woman.

“Holy shit! It’s Mrs. Egan!” Hambone animatedly announced and suddenly it felt like the eyes of everyone in there were on her. Her cheeks tinted pink, never having been one for the spotlight like her husband.

She was greeted with welcoming cheers and hugs.

John, for his part, disentangled from the woman he was holding at the mention of his missus. He was sober enough to appear sheepish and guilty, but in the next second it was gone as he stalked towards her. Determined. Quick. His smile growing the more he neared like he was becoming more aware she was really there and it wasn’t a fucked up scenario in his head.

“God, Lila,” she managed to hear him say before she was elevated in the air, his arms tight around her waist and lifting her high so they were at face level and he could kiss her. Channeling his love and exuberance and aggression into kissing his wife. “It’s you, it’s you, it’s really you,” he was saying in between smooches, “I missed you. So fucking much, doll.”

Basking in his love she didn’t feel the need to mention the woman that was so kindly keeping him preoccupied before she entered.

She couldn’t help the first tear from falling or the rest from following. It was like the tightness in her chest unlocked as she finally got to hold him and feel his heat surround her. He still smelled of after shave and the same hair gel that was kept in their bathroom at home but he tasted strongly of whiskey and cigarettes and strawberry lipstick.

John tucked his face into her neck, setting her down and bending to her level. Sniffling in there as he continued to hold her.

“None of that,” she did her best to stop her voice from wobbling or breaking, “we’re together. That’s all that matters.” She drew his face out from where he had hidden to pepper him with a few more kisses.

None of it was enough.

The rest of the guys were kind enough to return to the dance floor and act like they couldn’t see them.

“Who? What - why? How?” He was obviously having trouble forming coherent thoughts in between the kisses he continued stealing from her.

She was crying and laughing and trying to return all his touches. It was a terribly difficult ordeal but she had never been happier.

“Colonel Harding called and said you had a weekend leave. He said he talked to some of the higher ups but they couldn’t allow you a leave home so this was the next best thing,” she explained, cupping his cheek as she rubbed her thumb over his cheekbone. He had minor scars that weren’t there before.

She wanted to kiss every single one of them.

He was still bent towards her height, taking her in as she was taking him in.

She forgot how blue his eyes were.

He was whole. Complete. Hers.

“You’re here for the entire weekend?” He asked to confirm and she nodded, laughing when he lifted her again with a loud whoop to celebrate. That got a few of the guys to join in although they had no idea what their Major was celebrating.

“I need you,” his voice suddenly dropped, setting her down as he turned to the door. “Let’s go.” He was buckling up her coat to make sure she was protected from the freezing London air. She was lucky he was too far gone to scold her for arriving with it unbuckled in the first place - she could get sick.

“John, John - relax, my sweet man,” she laughed, cupping his cheek to get his attention. “We can stay for a while. We don’t have to go yet.”

It’s why she was at the officer’s club in the first place. She had arrived early.

John turned stiff in her hold, straightening to his full height as he suddenly loomed over her. “I’ve got you in my arms for the first time and you want to stay here?” His voice was tight. His face stern.

“Yes - no, I -” she was unsure of where she went wrong or how to fix it. She clasped his hands in hers but he didn’t allow her to thread their fingers together so it was just her holding on. “I just meant we’ve got time, John.”

The way he was looking at her made her want to cry. She felt her lower lip quivering.

She felt ashamed, whispering, trying to get him to keep his cool.

“Time? Time?” He laughed loudly. She was mildly aware of Gale breaking away from a group of guys to near them, worried but she was mostly focused on John. The tense lines on his face even as he laughed and the quirked eyebrow even though she found no amusement in their situation. “You think I’ve got time? You have no idea what it’s like up there.”

She shook her head but didn’t try to verbally explain herself. She wasn’t sure she could manage a few words before breaking into tears.

“Come on, Bucky,” that was Gale stepping in to save the day. Perhaps the only person who could get John to listen. “When have you ever left before dancing with your girl? You gotta show these rookies how it’s properly done right?”

With Gale slapping a hand to John’s shoulders, he seemed to snap out of it. Releasing a deep breath and seemingly all the tightness in body with it.

He leaned down again, pressing his forehead against hers. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, clasping a hand around her neck so she wouldn’t pull her head back. As their eyes locked she felt a tear fall again and this one wasn’t happy. “I’m so fucking sorry, baby. It’s this place. It’s fucking with my head.”

And she chose to believe him, nodding her head in understanding and trying not to think about how she wasn’t his preferred person to write letters to or the one who could clear his head.

Maybe the Colonel should have allowed a weekend pass for Gale and John.

Lila swallowed the thought, allowing John to pull her to the dance floor as he lost all anger and aggression and became charming and loving all over again.

“Everyone, this is my wife!” He bellowed and everyone cheered in response. “She’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen and -” he hiccuped and she realized he was drunker than she thought, “and I bet we can out dance any couples here tonight!”

So for the next hour she found herself being twirled around the dance floor by her husband. She almost forgot their prior negative interaction; his love and energy was so infectious. For the slow songs he would hold her close and she would rest her head against his chest, letting it lull her to a relaxing state. He was alive and she was with him. That had to be enough. For the more upbeat songs, he was challenging any couple beside them. Asking those sitting who were better dancers? Who could perform certain dance moves better?

And all throughout, he was like he used to be back home. Loud and happy and the center of attention, keeping everyone entertained. He kept announcing to his boys that his beautiful wife was there and then he’d place a wet kiss on her mouth that had their cheeks (and hers) turning red but all he would do is smile and continue on.

She was finally able to disentangle herself from him when Crosby pulled him in for a conversation. Lila wonders if her state of disheveled hair and panting breaths made him want to aid her in allowing her to sit and grab a refresher.

Once she accepts Crosby’s hug and cheek kiss, she excuses herself to go grab a drink. John only pulls her back once to steal a kiss before she gets too far.

Her lips might be bruised by the time they leave if he kept it up.

She orders a cup of ice water from the man tending the bar, looking back out at her husband as she waits. He’d always been tall and strong, but she notices the change in his posture. The bulges in his arms as he twirled her around and lifted her in the air. His eyes were only bright when he forced it. They had lost their shine and she wishes she brought the picture from back home. Where he looks young and full of life and joyful. Even when he smiles he seems hollow; hopeless.

She’s there but he doesn’t really care because in his head he’s already thinking of when she leaves again.

She wasn’t used to that. Her John only lived in the moment.

“He keepin’ you busy?”

Gale settles up behind her and pushes the glass water towards her. She didn’t even notice when it was put down.

“Dizzy, more like,” she jokes and gets him to crack a smile. She thinks to when she walked in and seen Gale, how he’d been watching the scene unfold but with a disapproving look in his eyes. How he didn’t try to hide the scene from her or excuse it. He let it be. And she knows John has never shied away from attention. He’s always been handsome and charming and girls always swarmed but Lila wasn’t aware she had to be around to keep him loyal. She thought he just was. And she knows it’s not too long before they leave now so she decides to be direct with him. “So, does that happen often?”

She sees Gale’s expression split for a second, like he debates playing dumb before deciding against it and she respects him even more for it.

“I think you should talk to John about it.” He decides on.

“Is it something that needs to be mentioned?” She doesn’t like playing this game with him but she knows at the first words of cheating and adultery Gale is going to excuse himself and her chance will be lost.

She can’t be simple and ask: Does my husband cheat on me?

“Another ginger ale, Marty,” Gale raises two fingers to grab the man’s attention and mutters a thanks as his drink is immediately refilled. He turns his attention back to Lila. “He still loves you, Lila. It’s just - hard. Being out here.”

“You seem to be coping fine.”

She feels bitter. Crazy. There’s a sob she has to choke back.

Lila’s too embarrassed to meet Gale’s gaze. Ashamed that everyone knows what’s been going on and she was the ditzy woman being twirled on the dance floor.

“I think I was used to loneliness. He isn’t.”

And he says nothing else as he leaves her behind heading back to his boys. It’s just Lila and her shattering heart and her husband calling to beckon her back to the dance floor.

Luckily they didn’t stay much longer. She walked over to Bucky but he wasn’t able to pull her back out for a dance - it’s my song, Lila! - because Jack Kidd was approaching, letting them know it was time to leave them at the train station.

Lila waited in the car while Bucky ran into his quarters to pack his bag. He didn’t have many things to take, he would be stuck wearing his uniform anyway. Gale walks him back out to the car and despite the earlier conversation Lila exits the safety of the interior to say her goodbyes.

“Take care of yourself, Major,” she squeezes him, “I need you to stick around after this weekend to look after my man.”

“It’s a hard job but I try,” he replies, both of them ignoring Bucky’s protests.

Besides that, Bucky’s quiet on the ride to the train station. He carries her bag on board but he’s quiet for the duration of the train ride. Lila doesn’t disturb him; he might be tired or hungover or both.

And if she’s honest she’s scared of him snapping at her like the night before.

Instead she takes the time to take him in. He’s handsome in his suit. Tall and big and strong, his sharp jaw and powerful mouth, his eyes blue like a sunny day and his curls coming undone from the gel after all the dancing he did.

Lila doesn’t allow her mind to wander down this path too often but suddenly she can’t help it. Would their baby have looked like him or like her? She wishes more than anything they would have had his ears. She wishes they would have had his heart and his strength - but her loyalty. Her faith in them.

It’s crazy when she stops to think she was nineteen when she married him and now she’s twenty-one. She’s loved him for more than she’s been allowed to have him. She has changed without him like he has without her and it’s frightening to think neither of them could be accepting of those changes. Whatever they may be.

Lila shuts those thoughts out, closing the distance between them to sit on his lap. Passerby’s and his horrible mood and what scares her could be damned to hell - all she wants is her man.

John doesn’t deny her; she admits she was a little scared he would.

“I love you,” she tells him, catching his eyes.

“I know.”

He doesn’t return the words as they continue staring at one another but she refuses to let it get her down. This is her husband. She has the rest of her life to get to know him; new or old habits, she doesn’t care.

So instead, Lila plasters a smile onto her face. “What’re you gonna show me first in London, Major?”

“Well I really wanna show you our hotel room,” he plays along, allowing her to trace the edges of his mustache. She lets out a knowing chortle. “And I really want to show you -” he cuts himself off to look around, making sure no one was near them as he leans in to whisper, “- my cock, Mrs. Egan.”

She turns a bright red, trying to sputter out a proper response for that but all she can do is indignantly scold him. “John Clarence! If your mom were here -” and they both break out in loud laughter at the many possibilities of what his mother would exactly do to him if she heard his wicked mouth.

“Wanna grab some grub first?” He asks instead, knowing she hadn’t eaten at the officers club and before then she had been stuck on a plane. “I know a few places.”

Lila nods happily, pressing a kiss to his mouth. His lips are warm and as plump as she remembers them. His mustache tickles her.

“Let me feed you first, woman!” He groans, trying to be a gentleman. “When’s the last time you ate?”

She puckers her lips to think about it and that’s the only answer he needs: food is definitely first.

When they arrive at the hotel John enters to check them in but he slips a few bills into the bell boy’s hand with strict instructions to leave the bags in their room before pulling her back out to the London streets.

Lila felt underdressed surrounded by women in diamonds and fancy hats, and it didn’t help that John was beside her in his uniform looking dapper and catching the eye of many. They were stopped multiple times on the way to the diner; men wanting to shake his hand and show their gratitude while the women introduced themselves, uncaring of Lila under his right arm.

As long as he wasn’t ignoring or dismissing her she realized she didn’t really care. It wasn’t much different back home; everyone knew and loved John Egan.

The diner he chose was small and cozy and his legs were too long to fit under their table so his boot and his knee kept bumping into her own and she adored it. She wanted to feel close to him and since sitting on his lap currently wasn’t an option she figured this would have to do.

He tells her many stories but none of them are sad or tragic. He only shares the happy ones. He talks about how he convinced the Colonel to allow Buck, Curt, and himself a London weekend pass one time and they had shoved Gale into a haberdashery where he tried on a multitude of top hats worth more money any of them would ever see combined. But because they were soldiers and majors at that, the owner allowed it. There’s a museum nearby he talks about wanting to take her too, it showcases art from as early as the 1400s and he says he’s gotten lost in there plenty of times and it was lovely.

All the while, she listens without hearing him. Choosing to take him in and letting her mind wander to how it would be if things were different. It pains her to think how much older he looks since she last saw him. Looking more like it was ten years instead of the measly two. John’s always been one to smile freely but the wrinkles by his mouth, eyes, and forehead aren’t from smiling or laughing too much.

Lila knows they’re from worrying and stressing and being scared and she hates that she can’t understand him or be there for him. No matter how hard he tries.

“I’m sorry,” she apologizes when a sob breaks free. She curls in over the table and John’s reaching over to rub her shoulders. She grabs a hold of her hand in his. “I just missed you so much.” She presses a kiss to his knuckles. “I don’t think I know how to not miss you.”

John doesn’t say anything but he motions a server over to settle the bill and once that’s done, he’s taking her hand and pulling her out the chair.

“You got enough food in you?”

All she can do is nod.

Her body feels electric on the short walk back to the hotel. He doesn’t do more than hold her hand and she thinks that is what has her nerves jittery, his palm in her hand sets her alight. She can feel his rough skin and the calluses on his fingers and the fingertips he runs over her skin and she bites back a moan.

Moaning in the middle of a bustling London street? She’d be thrown into an asylum she’s sure.

Beside her he’s quiet but his steps are quick. She has to lightly jog to keep up with long strides. He pulls on her hand to help her keep pace. It makes her think he’s as impatient for it as she is so she was surprised when upon closing the hotel room behind him he stays by the door. Not nearing or touching or kissing.

Just - nothing.

Her throat becomes tight again as she remembers the girl from the night before and her conversation with Gale. Is that the reason why?

“You’re so fucking gorgeous,” he says before she can spiral any further. Approaching her and bringing their lips together in a searing kiss, wasting no time in sliding his tongue alongside hers.

“I love you,” she responds and once again he doesn’t say it back. She figured he wouldn’t but she wanted to try. He takes her mouth in his again.

She gets irrationally angry, suddenly feeling the need to claim him so she bites at his bottom lip. He pulls back to press a finger to his lip, wiping the blood there.

Lila pulls on his belt, dropping to her knees right there in the middle of the room.

Mine. He’s mine.

“Make me your wife again,” she’s not sure but it sounds like she’s begging as she manages to unbuckle his belt and pull them around his strong thighs.

“God,” he breathed, “fuck. Look at you.”

Swollen lips parted for him to put to use. John wrapped his fist around her long hair to maintain a good grip, allowing the tip of his cock to hit the back of her throat. There was no resistance, no gag, her body remembering how it was taught to take all of him even though time had passed. John loved that fucking mouth and he found himself angry as thoughts entered his mind - if anyone had fucked her mouth while he’d been away - and he jerks his hips more forcefully. Rough.

This time Lila does gag. Her hand goes to push against his hip but he doesn’t allow her to pull away.

“Did anyone else do this?”

She splutters, eyes on him and confused with a mouthful of cock, unable to talk.

“Did you suck someone else’s cock? This is mine, Lila. Mine.”

He holds her down for a couple of more seconds before allowing her reprieve. She sputters and coughs, looking at him the entire time.

His dick is still hard and long, standing to attention, and he’s not sure whether he should apologize before she’s taking his bobbing dick back into her mouth. To the back of her throat and gulping and fondling his balls. Her nose kissing the coarse hairs on his belly trail and although it feels fucking amazing - he can feel the anger too. Her anger.

How dare he accuse her.

When she pulls off there’s a strand of saliva connecting his prick to her tongue. She has half a mind to go back for more but he’s pulling her back by her hair.

“I’m so lucky to have a wife who’s cock hungry,” he groans, pulling her to her feet by her hair and connecting their mouths in a rough kiss. Their teeths crash and tongues wrestly and he feels fucking crazy that she tastes like him. Simultaneously ripping each other’s clothes off.

Lila didn’t have any warning. One second she was kissing him and ripping open his shirt and the next she was bent over the bed with her ass in the air. John ran a finger over the wet patch on her underwear. The bite on her cheek was also unexpected and she clawed at the sheets, sure she could come from the feeling alone.

“This is mine, Lila,” he leaned in close, burying his face in her underwear. “Mine.”

All she could do was whimper and agree.

John smacked her ass so hard it jiggled. Lila yelled and after the pain ceded, time seemed to stop. Nothing but their rough breathing filling the room. John had never done that before.

She wasn’t sobbing but there were tears escaping. She was sure he didn’t know. He was waiting for a reaction.

Lila wasn’t sure where this side of her husband came from. Had he held back those two months? Did he learn it in Europe? Was that why there was another woman - because she couldn’t satisfy him?

She can’t lose him.

“Please,” she begs, hiding tears in the duvet, “do it again.”

Lies. It was all lies but John believes her and he strikes again. She yelps, fisiting the sheets. He believes it’s in pleasure.

Ten slaps. That’s how many she endures before he begins shushing and petting her again. He runs his fingers through her folds and although she didn’t enjoy the punishment mentally - she did nothing wrong, he was the liar - her body certainly did. She’s sopping wet, she’s gonna have to throw out her underwear because they’re destroyed.

“Did you enjoy that?” He grabs a fistful of her hair to sit her up, her back against his sweaty, matter chest. “You like being spanked, baby?”

“Yes.” It’s only half of a lie.

“Now - now, I’m going to fuck you. Nice and hard, just how you like it,” she wants to scream at him. She wants to hit him. When did she ever like it hard? When was hard ever nice? Who was he thinking about because it wasn’t her.

But at the same time she rocks back against him to feel his cock hard between her cheeks. She can’t say she doesn’t want it. Him. This.

He pushes her back down at her teasing, using his now free hands to spread her cheeks and show her tight asshole. Untouched and pure. He presses the tip of his cock against it but he doesn’t push. He doesn’t move.

She jerks at the pressure. Drools on the mattress as she tries to bite down to temper her screams.

Do it.

No, don’t.

“One day,” he promises, pressing deeper so her hole opens but not deep enough to push. “But today, today I want this.” And without any prepping like she’s used to, without any more warning, he’s sliding down and pushing into her. Hard. Deep.

She screams, can’t help it, claws at the mattress in an attempt to crawl away.

It hurt but it felt so good.

Who was she?

“You think you can go be with other men? Let them use the holes I trained? The ones that belong to me?” He pumps into her deep. Once, twice. She’s so wet the noises filling the room are pornographic, her yelling and his panting and her sopping wet vagina smacking against his thighs and taking his cock so well. “You like it like this, Lila? Like when I fucking own you?”

“Yes, yes,” she swears and this time she isn’t lying. It’s all she can manage; she thinks she’s gone cock dumb. There are no words, no feelings, just the feeling of him filling her.

She clenches tight when he slides out. She wants him inside her forever.

He releases his hold of her hair, stepping away. He’s tired of muffling her moans and words. He’s tired of not being able to see her beautiful face.

John’s favorite face in the entire world.

“Turn around,” he commands.

Lila kneels on wobbly legs as she turns over, having little to no energy and bouncing as her body lands with no grace on the mattress. John grabs one of her jiggling breasts in his large hand, squeezing tightly.

“I fucking missed these.” He takes one in his mouth, biting down on her nipple hard. She shrieks but holds his head to pull him closer.

Her thighs are forced open by his hand and then he’s taking hold of himself and thrusting in deep again. Releasing her breasts from his mouth in order to look at her mouth. Lila’s face when he’s fucking her is as close to heaven as he thinks he’ll ever get. She’s incoherent but she’s begging for more - that much he can make out. She manages to gather the strength to grab hold of him and pull him down, clawing at his back.

He hisses at the pain and bites on her collarbone to reciprocate it.

When she grabs the nape of his neck, the cool touch of her wedding ring against his skin, it gives him pause. This was his wife. His wife.

John has been gone so long he thinks he forgot he was married.

“I love you,” he finally says it, pressing his forehead against hers as he slows down. He sniffles then, leaning down to press a wet open-mouthed kiss against hers and swallow her moans. John can’t believe he forgot he had this; can’t believe he forgot for a minute how lucky he was. She’s gorgeous (and not just externally) and he’s quite sure he somehow managed to dream her up. “I love you,” he swears again.

This time she’s the one who doesn’t say it.

She clutches at neck and pulls him down to take a boob in his mouth. Looking him in the eye hurts too damn much. Why did he have to do this now? She was lost in the pain; she had been taking her punishment.

Lila squeezed her eyes shut, moaning loudly as she thrashed around the bed. Her orgasm taking over her body. She wrapped both legs tighter around John, squeezing and pulsing around him and dragging him to the edge with her.

“Fuck, fuck,” he roared, “so damn tight. Yes, Lila. My perfect wife.”

For a couple of seconds, they lay in the aftermath. Lila could feel the heat of John’s breath against her neck. She counted how many breaths they shared in between one another as they recuperated.

Forty-seven that’s how many breaths they shared as they stayed connected.

Forty-eight that’s when John managed to lift his head and place a peck against her mouth. One she didn’t return.

Forty-nine that’s when John pulled back in concern. Lila was so still.

Fifty. That’s the breath she used to say, “you cheated on me,” looking him right in the eyes as she broke out in uncontrollable sobs.

She cried and cried underneath him. Unable to move because her legs felt like jello and they held no power. Unable to push him off because she didn’t want to let him go. Unable to speak because she was suffocating in her heartbreak.

John watched her until he couldn’t, until he was afraid she was going to choke on her own tears and then he was sitting her up, trying to ignore the way she fought against his touch.

I’m sorry, I’m here, he kept saying.

I hate you, she thought but didn’t say.

Until finally, “don’t touch me!” She yelled when he got too close and made to wrap her up in a hug. “Get away from me, John. Stay away.” She crawled to the edge of the bed and curled herself into a tiny ball. Aware she was fully naked and he was still leaking out of her but she couldn’t find it in herself to do anything except cry.

She couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t open her lungs and get any air in. She slapped at the headboard, aware that she was having a panic attack as suddenly everything hit her all at once. It was entirely consuming and she couldn’t do anything to fight against it except cry. All the feelings rushed her at once.

This was going to be it. The weekend of two lovers reunited was the weekend from hell and this was going to be it. She was going to return home in a day and he would stay in Europe and continue to fight the war and seek out other girls and when he returned she wouldn’t be his wife anymore.

Lila would be scornful and full of resentment and miserable and he would leave her. This last time was going to be all she had and she hated him for ruining it.

Why couldn’t he hide his affairs better?

Why did she have to surprise him?

She was perfectly happy not knowing. She was worried and stressed to hell and crying every night missing him but, oh God, all that was better than this.

Lila isn’t sure how long it’s been since she last took a breath but she feels herself fading. She’s shivering and naked in their bed and she can only slightly take in that John’s wrapping her up in the duvet and curling himself around her to warm her up. She’s trying to tell him she can’t breathe, she’s suffocating, at the same time he’s blowing air in her face.

She’s fading when she feels it. A sting on the left side of her face. Hard and sharp and enough to have her gasping for a deep breath.

“Baby, please, wake up,” he’s crying over her, his head on her chest, “wake up. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

Her chest aches. She coughs.

He whips his head up so fast she almost laughs. Almost.

“Lila,” he holds her against his chest, rocking them back and forth on the bed as she takes in her surroundings. She isn’t sure how long she was out or how long she was panicking for. Had the sun been setting while she lost her shit? It was dark outside now. “Don’t leave me, you can’t leave me. Please.”

She taps at his arms to get him to release. She doesn’t think she can talk.

John allows her the space but he doesn’t remove himself from the bed. He stays kneeling, watching her. His hands keep twitching like he wants to reach out and touch her but he’s trying to respect her wishes of not being touched.

She doesn’t lay back down, she stays resting against the headboard. Breathing hurts. She’s scared of suffocating once more. Her left cheek begins burning and she wishes she had the strength to go look in the mirror. Did he mark her? She hopes he did.

Lila’s glad he made it hurt.

“You need to go,” she finally manages to say, ignoring the way he’s already shaking his head in defiance. “Leave me here, John. I want you to go. Get another room.” Find another woman. “I leave in a day.” She wishes she never came to stupid London. She wishes she could forget this entire trip.

“Lila it’s the war,” he starts, shaking in his own tears. “It’s all the shit I see, baby. None of it was because of you okay? None. You don’t fucking know what it’s like up there for us but I stay alive in hopes of coming home to you.” He promises.

She shakes her head, fighting back any more tears. How the hell could she still have any tears left?

“But Gale didn’t cheat,” it bursts out of her before she can stop it and she knows it’s the wrong thing to say entirely.

John stops his apologies, clearing his throat as he gets up and begins dressing into his suit. She doesn’t stop him. She doesn’t take back any of what she said. She gets tired of sitting so she lays on her side, staring out the window and noticing London doesn’t have many stars. Is that why it’s so horrible here? Because there were no stars to wish upon.

She could hear his boots stomping on the ground as he reached the door. “Maybe you should have married Gale fucking Cleven then.” And the door slams shut behind him.

She wonders if he’s angry enough to find a girl and sleep with her. Her eyes blur. The time on the clock is six p.m and London’s already dark. She realizes she hasn’t slept since her plane ride. About 19 hours awake - her and John.

Lila allows her eyes to close, hoping when she wakes everything will be better.

Shadows over her eyelids wake her up. Lila finds she hasn’t moved. She’s in the same position facing the window. Facing London, only now bombs are dropping over it. The prettiest colors burst forward in the window but she knows it's truly only tragedy and loss. Murder.

She recognizes John sitting in the arm chair and she wonders when he got back. He isn’t facing her, he’s watching bomb after bomb drop and land no more than mere miles away from them. He’s holding a whiskey on ice, twirling the ice so it hits against the glass.

Lila wonders then if it was the shadows or the noise that woke her up.

“I must have punched in my card a long time ago,” his voice is strong in the dead of the night, seemingly even louder than when he’s singing in the pub. “It must be the reason for all of this. Karma.” He scoffs.

I deserve this, is what he’s trying to say.

Lila feels her stomach twist and spin and there’s bile sitting in her throat. She closes her eyes to stop herself from imagining John in a plane, dropping a bomb that lands on children. She closes her eyes so she doesn’t have to see the hurt sitting on his shoulders.

She remembers how angry she was when he first signed up. Before they were married. They had been dating for over a month, barely, and she already scribbled ‘Mrs. Egan’ over her notebooks. She’d heard it from his younger sister, Eileen, and she felt her world stop. She hadn’t hesitated to run to the stables he worked at and confront him in front of all the men.

“You’re leaving me,” she had accused him. “You’re gonna leave! I’ll never forgive you, John Egan.”

And in front of everyone he’d knelt down and produced a ring, the one his father had given his mother and said, “Marry me.” He didn’t ask because they both knew it wasn’t a question.

She was already his.

And he was hers.

Lila had forgiven him and promised to love, honor, and obey for the rest of her life.

She doesn’t have the strength to stand so even though her throat burns she speaks. “Lay with me,” she croaks. Her voice is raspy and broken and even clearing it aches.

John shakes his head. “You don’t want me to.”

“Lay with me,” she repeats, firm. “I just want to fall asleep with you.”

He looks at her like he's scared to believe. Trying to figure out whether she’s simply being cruel and going to kick him out in her next breath. Or more likely, he’s scared she’ll lose her shit being near him again.

John, hopeful and never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, sets his drink down and nears the bed. Lila keeps her eyes locked on his and he does the same. Their moves and tension resemble a game of chicken, one of them afraid any sudden change can have the other running off.

“Take off your uniform,” she says when he pushes back the covers while still fully dressed. He jerks his head in confusion and she bites her lip to contain a laugh at his dirty mind. Sex is the last thing on her mind. “I want to feel you, that’s all.”

John does as she asks, setting his cap down and shredding every layer before he’s naked and gorgeous and sliding in beside her. She doesn’t allow herself to think about what it means when she immediately slides closer.

Lila’s the one to wrap her arms around him.

Lila’s the one to intertwine their legs.

John follows her lead, lifting an arm so she can raise her head and use it as a pillow. She scoots her face closer and she nuzzles into her armpit, smelling his deodorant and feeling his hairs poke at her nose. She moves further along, escaping the cocoon of his armpit to press her cheek against his chest. She clutches his dog tags in her palm, tight, so he can’t get up in the middle of the night.

“Can we fall asleep together?” She asks, but when she looks up John’s already there.

The next time Lila wakes up her palm aches. She releases what she’s gripping, remembering how she clung to John’s dog tags when he slid into bed beside her. She lifts her head and finds John already looking at her.

He’s got the saddest eyes she’s ever seen and she hates that she’s partly why.

“We should talk,” her voice is low and cracks from not being used. John nods his head but makes no move to begin.

Lila lays her head back on his chest, lightly picking at his matted, curly chest hair. She presses her lips to a freckle near his nipple and his intake of breath lets her know he felt it,

“I’m not the one you write the most letters too,” she starts, finding it easier to not have to look him in the eye. “You write the most to your mom. And I’m not the one who can calm you down when your anger gets the best of you,” she’s so tired of crying, “that’s Gale. “And I can’t even be here for you at the end of a mission to console you or kiss you or help you forget,” she chokes on a sob. “That’s whoever else.”

I couldn’t even keep our baby healthy, she leaves out.

“What’s your point with all this, Lila?”

Lila lifts her head from his chest, “My point is I’m a horrible wife. I - I don’t know if it was too soon or just not thought out but this - I- ” she can’t get the rest of the words out.

“Don’t say that,” John sits up against the headboard, forcing her up as well. He grabs both her wrists in one of his hands to pull her closer and grab her attention. “Don’t fucking tell me that, Lila.”

“I don’t make you happy,” she shakes her head.

“You do. Everything I do, everything I’m doing - it’s for you Lila.”

“I don’t want to marry Gale. Or someone like him. I love you. Only you. But I’m scared that I don’t make you happy. You deserve better.”

“Oh you dumbass,” John coos, suddenly finding the entire situation amusing. He pulls her in for a hug. “You’re my entire fucking heart, Lila Egan. You don’t think you make me happy? You’re the only thing in my life, in my head, that makes me happy.”

She pulls away to hold his face. “If you’re gonna leave me John you need to tell me now. I don’t care about the girls if all they are is to pass the time. And I don’t care that you write to your mom more than me and I don’t care that Gale is the one you listen to but I just need to be the one you love the most. I need to know I’m making you happy.”

His heart aches at the fact that he made her feel she was ever anything less than the most important person in his life. “Lila,” he presses a kiss to her lips, “Rose,” another kiss, “Egan,” another. “Are my only reason for staying alive.”

[myreia]

wip wednesday

tagged by @lilas, ty!! 💖

tagging: @birues @thewitchofelpis @hylfystt @anneapocalypse @lilbittymonster

@thevikingwoman @galadae @janzoo @bearlytolerant

This is from a chapter of a thing I am working on for a prompt and I may have gotten carried away with Thancred's POV but... hm. Something will happen here eventually haha. General Shadowbringers spoilers.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Water sloughs off the great giant leaves of a plant he cannot name. The artificial rain begins above, misting across the vibrant foliage, droplets pooling in the creases of its leaves until it overflows and follows the predictable pull of gravity down. Most lands in the pot below.

The rest spatters on the floor.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

The sound sets his teeth on edge.

Biting his tongue, Thancred opens his eyes and adjusts his position, ignoring the way sweat creeps across the nape of his neck as quickly as the droplets form on those leaves above. This was not his first choice, but as Y’shtola and Urianger have taken over the Cabinet of Curiosity, the twins are split between the Crystalline Mean and the Musica Universalis, Ryne returned to their apartment to rest, and the Wandering Stairs is dangerously alluring with its arsenal of wine and beer, there are precious few places left to be alone and think. A few Hortorium workers have taken note of him, but all have had the good grace not to inquire about his presence. Perhaps they welcome a rare new visitor watching their aquaculture in practice, or the look on his face has scared them off from asking.

Either way it suits him fine. He has no desire for trivial small talk.

Not when Aureia is dying.

Drip. Drip.

Fuck.

His crossed arms dig into his chest, his coat pulling taut in the shoulders. Strange how his mind makes all these useless connections. He would rather it didn’t. Perhaps the Hortorium was a mistake. That damn dripping is too close to rain, and thoughts of rain remind him of the outside world and the blistering sky above.

The mark of their failure. The mark of Aureia’s failure. They promised to return the night sky, and now…

His jaw clenches hard, dull pain radiating out through his teeth. It’s easy to recall when Aureia conquered the first lightwarden—the memory is seared on his heart. He was cutting through the woods in the far west of Lakeland, leading Ryne off the beaten path. Her pace was slow—stopping and starting, stopping and starting—falling further and further behind each time she paused to look at something in the distance. A dangerous thing to do in the middle of the woods with vermin all around and a powerful new sin eater sighted in the area. Finally, he had had enough. He rounded on her, a reprimand on the tip of his tongue—

He never said it.

The heavens ripped open. Ryne watched, back straight, silent and firm as the wound streaked across the sky from the north-east. From Holminster. He followed her gaze, hair raising on the nape of his neck, suspicion twisting in his gut. He reached over his shoulder for the hilt of his gunblade.

And then the sky rippled and bled black, as if every last bit of the everlasting light had been sucked out of it.

For the first time in her life, Ryne saw the night.

He knew, without question, what had happened. He knew Aureia had arrived on the First, knew she was bound to approach Lakeland’s lightwarden sooner rather than later. It was why he was ushering Ryne as far away from the Crystarium.

“Look, Thancred,” she said, her voice so small and yet so strong. “Stars.”

Stars. The likes of which Lakeland hadn’t seen in a hundred years. The likes of which they may never see again. He remembers those constellations; they were the same as the ones scattered across Mor Dhona’s skies.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

He exhales a breath, staring absently at the rushing underground river and too-bright plants. Anything to push the memory from his mind. He allowed himself to become hopeful once Philia had been slain. Hopeful that there would be an end to this living nightmare. Hopeful that the First could be saved. Hopeful that Minfilia’s legacy would not be wasted in vain.

How could he not, after what they both just witnessed? How could he not, knowing that it was Aureia’s hand that changed the course?

Fool. Deep down he knew the solution was too easy, the ask too great. An expert in aetherology he is not, but he doesn’t have to be to recognize the simple truth: no one can contain that much light and keep it in check, not even the bearer of Hydaelyn’s blessing. But he chose to ignore what his instincts were screaming. It was easier that way. To choose to hope, rather than face the reality of the circumstances.

This is the one time where he wishes his instincts had not been proven right.

[help-an-alter]

Hi first off this blog is awesome and I think this is such a cool idea. Secondly we just found out about a new subsystem of fragments and we need some help with their names and such.

It’s a Kpop/Idol group each one based on different colours of the rainbow. (Including light and dark of each colour) would it be okay to ask this all in the one ask or would you prefer separate asks for each? They’re still undecided on gender so any for names and pronouns would be fine.

Sorry if this is a lot.

Also could we claim 📼🌌 if possible?

Hi anon ! mod firefly here ,, you can totally claim that :3 thanks for giving the blog compliments !!! We'll separate it by the colours !

names ,,,

Red themed ,,

Rouge , Red , Scarlett / Scarlet , Poppy , Rory , Reed , Ruby , Flynn , Garnet , Jasper , Opal , Rhodonite , Carnelian , Flame , Fire / Fyre , Blaze / Blaise , Poppy

Orange themed ,,

Topaz , Opal , Amber / Ambre , Clementine , Coral , Saffron , Alani , Ginger , Blaine , Ember / Embre , Peaches , Nerenxa , Aurelia , Blaine , Azahaur , Cyrus , Garfield , Daisy

Yellow themed ,,

Helio / Helios , Sol , Apollo , Xanthe , Marigold , Citrine , Elio , Casper , Sunny / Sunney / Sunni / Sunnie , Flavia , Goldie , Gildie , Gilderoy , Sunday , Erica / Erika , Aura , Zahava , Ziva / Ziv , Apolline / Apollina , Eleanor , Dahlia / Dalia , Zinnia / Zinnie , Camille / Camylle / Camyle / Cam , Clara

Green themed ,,

Shiloh , ShamRock / ShamRoc / ShamRok , Laurel , Em / Emerald , Ivy , Midori , Myrthe , Meadow , Thyme , Spring , Celadon , Hunter / Huntre , Kelly / Kelli / Kelley , Ciara

Blue themed ,,

Emily , Azure , Seafoam , Blu , Marina , River / Rivre , Cyan , Sapphire , Indigo , Marlais , Carolina , Iris , Maya , Capri , Marian / Maryan , Yves , Sini

Purple themed ,,

Cecil / Cecilia / Cecyl / Cecylia / Cecylya , Violet , Prince / Prynce , Rain , King , Heath , Heather , Martin / Martyn , Dexter , Gefen / Gefyn , Gethen / Gethyn , Jacinto , Vincio , Vincius / Vincyus / Vyncius / Vyncyus , Jasper / Jaspre , Harold , Harry / Harri , Harriet / Harryet / Harriett / Harryett / Hariette / Harryette , Louis , George , Leroy , Roye / Roy , Rex / Rexx / Rexe / Rexxe , Rey / Ray / Reye / Raye / Reyes / Rayes , Indigo / Indygo , Indi / Indy , Indiana , Lavendar / Lavender , Vander / Vender , Evander / Evandyr / Evender / Evendyr , Perry / Perri , Periwinkle / Periwynkle , Mage / Mayge , Magenta / Magynta , Jack / Jac , Jacaranda , Pru , Prunella

Pink themed ,,

Rose , Roisin , Rosa , Rosalind / Rosalynd , Rosalina / Rosalyna , Rosalynne / Rosalynn / Rosalyn / Rosalinne / Rosalinn / Rosalin , Barbie / Barbye / Barbara , Ken , Adrienne / Adryenne , Penelope , Cordelia , Coral , Elle , Woody / Woodi / Woodey / Woodie , Priscilla / Priscylla / Pryscilla / Pryscylla , Cadillac / Cadyllac ,

Pronouns ,,,

Red themed ,,

red/reds , cer/ise , cer/cerise , crim/son , crim/crimson , scar/let , scar/scarlet , burg/burgundy , burg/undy , fi/fire , py/pyro ,

Orange themed ,,

or/ange , orange/oranges , sun/rise , sunrise/sunrises , mari/gold , mari/marigold , aura/auras

Yellow themed ,,

yell/ow , yell/yellow , yellow/yellows , sun/rise , sunrise/sunrises , mari/gold , mari/marigold , au/ra , aura/auras , sun/flower , sunflower/sunflowers , fi/fire , pyr/pyro , sun/suns , sun/shine , suns/sunshine , sunshine/sunshines , sun/sunshine , bri/bright

Green themed ,,

gree/green , green/greens , li/lime , sprout/sprouts , plant/planty , grow/grows , tree/trees , for/est , forest/forests

Blue themed ,,

blu/blue , blue/blues , teal/teals , cy/an , cy/cyans , rain/rainy , snow/snows , ice/ices , sky/blue , sky/skies ,

Purple themed ,,

ind/igo , indigo / indigos , pur/ple , purp/le , purple/purples , pur/purp , vio/let , vio/violet , violet/violets , lil/ac , li/lac , lila/lilac , lilac/lilacs , orch/orchid , orchid/orchids , lav/endar , lav/ender , lavendar/lavendars , lavender/lavenders

Pink themed ,,

pink/pinks , tul/ip , tulip/tulips , ro/rose , rose/roses , pea/peach , peach/peaches , sal/mon , sal/salmon , salmon/salmons , carn/ation , carnation/carnations

I hope these help all of them !! :3

[snakegorl212006]

From the beginning 

“Don’t feel despair. He only did this for the sake of the kingdom,” Crowley said as he tried to comfort the crying prince/princess “it’s not fair. I never wish to marry” they sobbed “It’s for the sake of the kingdom. Think about this. Would you rather have your people suffer a once sided battle or live to see tomorrow” Crowley stated, which ceased their cries,sorting them into sniffles “what if I don't make it out alive… you’ve heard. The fae king is ruthless..” they stated as they glance at there reflection 

Viewing the scene as if I was a ghost myself only to be shocked by the sight of my own reflection staring back at me. My eyes red from crying as my skull tightens around my fragile brain. Then a knock was heard by the door “Your highness, it’s time to leave” a familiar voice spoke. Out of my control, my body moved as I went to the door to see a familiar face. Lilia? I question yet… he looked different. His hair was longer and had red highlights. In contrast of his warmer eyes, when this lilia glances at me it’s almost like he’s calling me pathetic. I couldn't even look at him. “Come, you mustn't keep the king waiting no longer” lilia spoke as he moved behind me, edging me out of my own room, guiding me away from my safe haven. Down thousands of stairs and through unfamiliar halls, we reached the throne room where the king sat. my eyes glued to the floor as he gave lilia his blessing to whisk me away. A stray tear fell on the floor as lilia took me by the hand leading me to a carriage. The ride was long and silent, only feeling the hard glares though the back of my head. I ignored this feeling and glanced up out the window just in time to see the sensory changing from once luscious forest, to dark bark, and gloomy skies. I found this odd for we were overseas. Perhaps magic did exist some time ago. There in the distance was a familiar sight. Diasomnia wing… was it always this big. My eyes glance in awe as my jaw slacks a little. No way… this was the castle in all of it’s glory. The

carriage rode up the hill and reached the entrance where more guards were waiting. Lila tisk “I told him i don’t need any extras.” he huffed “Our king only wished for the Prince/Princess safe arrival. To him this is necessary” the guard replied. Lilia rolled his eyes “move” he whispered as we continued walking through the gates. Unlike the property I once knew, the only building around was the giant castle right in front of us. It looks no different than the same building which stands today during my time. My heart pounds loud like a drum. Each step I took, that thumping grew louder. Walking though dim lit halls to an unfamiliar room. a large throne is what stood before me. This wasn't here before..or at least in my time. There in the middle on the throne sat a familiar figure. Lavish robes cover his body and a large silver crown decorated his horns. Familiar green eyes pierced down at me almost like a casting shadow.so that was malleus. My vision grew blurry as a wave of dizziness washed over,covering me in cold sweat. Before i knew what was happening, I was falling to the floor. “I should apologize my lord, humans are fragile creatures.” Lilia said as he carried the sleeping prince/princess. "I hold nothing against them.” malleus replies “make sure they are well. It must be a long journey for them. We will discuss arrangements when they awake.” Malleus spoke with a soft smile plastered on his face

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

===========Kalim Forgot(short fic)=====================

Kalim looks particularly frustrated today. Of Course a angry ghost is the worst thing ever, so I decided to investigate the problem. I head over where kalim is sulking with his cheeks all puffed up “kalim. What is the matter” I asked. He turns around and lights up. Kalim made a attempt to grab my shoulders but phazes right through me falling to and through the ground. Weird… “y/n have you seen kalim? I came to bring him some food” Jamil asked “I thing he phazed though the ground. He might be on the second floor” I replied which made him sigh and mumbled “not again”. I was going to ask what he meant but I have errands to do Later on I returned to Scarabia to check on Kalim only to be tackled by the man “FINALLY. CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW” Kalim yells making my head spin “loud and clear..”i mumbled “oh sorry. You’ve just been ignoring me I thought i did something wrong” Kalim explains “could it be because you were invisible” I explained, which made him think. His face flushed up somewhat embarrassed as he covers his face “right..” he laughs as he scratched the back of his head “I forgot”

[acronym-chaos]

Phantom (Minecraft) Inspired ID Pack

[PT: Phantom (Minecraft) Inspired ID Pack]

[ID: A purple thin line diivder shaded at the bottom. End ID].

Names

[PT: Names].

Adrian, Aiden, Alaric, Aria, Ash, Asher, Astrid, Aurora, Bram, Calypso, Casper, Celeste, Ciaran, Corvus, Dahlia, Damien, Darius, Dorian, Echo, Eirwen, Elara, Elias, Elysia, Ember, Erebus, Faye, Felix, Fenris, Finn, Gideon, Haze, Hunter, Ingrid, Iris, Jett, Juno, Kai, Kane, Kiera, Lark, Leif, Lila, Lucian, Luna, Lyra, Magnus, Mara, Marlow, Niamh, Nyx, Oberon, Ophelia, Orion, Pandora, Persephone, Phoenix, Raine, Raven, Rook, Rowan, Ryder, Selene, Shade, Skye, Soren, Storm, Sylas, Talon, Thalassa, Thorne,, Veda, Vesper, Willow, Wraith, Xander, Zephyr, Zephyrine, Zora

Pronouns

[PT: Pronouns].

Ae / Air / Airs; Astra / Astral / Astrals; Bat / Bat / Bats; Clo / Cloud / Clouds; Dark / Dark / Darks; Dusk / Dusk / Dusks; Ethe / Ether / Ethers; Gho / Ghost / Ghosts; Gloo / Gloom / Glooms; Hau / Haunt / Haunts; Mist / Mist / Mists; Moon / Moon / Moons; Ni / Night / Nights; Noct / Noct / Nocts; Phan / Phantom / Phantoms; Shade / Shade / Shades; Shade / Shadow / Shadows; Sky / Sky / Skies; Spir / Spirit / Spirits; Star / Star / Stars; Sto / Storm / Storms; Twi / Twilight / Twilights; Veil / Veil / Veils; Wind / Wind / Winds; Wisp / Wisp / Wisps

Titles

[PT: Titles].

A Ghostly Specter, A Haunting Presence, A Nocturnal Flyer, A Silent Stalker, A Wraith of the Night, The Dark Avenger, The Dusk Dweller, The Ethereal Entity, The Ghostly Menace, The Haunting Phantom, The Moonlit Terror, The Nocturnal Menace, The Shadowy Apparition, The Skybound Haunter, The Spectral Being, The Starry Wraith, The Veil Wanderer, The Wisp of Night, [Pronoun] From the Night, [Pronoun] Who Flies in the Dark, [Pronoun] Who Haunts the Skies, [Pronoun] Who Hunts by Moonlight, [Pronoun] Who Lurks in Shadows

[ID: A purple thin line divider shaded at the bottom. End ID].

Made for @rwuffles' 700 followers event!

Day 2: least favorite video game character (sorry for all Phantom lovers out there, i dont hate it but its definitely bottom tier)

Also tagging @pronoun-arc @id-pack-archive

[autorotation]

polskie opisy w alcie, English descriptions under the cut.

a grayscale comic.

frame 1: the facade of a tysiąclatka type school building; an "Alumni reunion" banner hangs from the windows near the entrance. frame 2: interior corridor: classroom doors, corkboard with pinned notices, bust of the school's namesake. end page 1

a gathering in a glass-fronted room; there's a "Cohort of '82" poster on the door. a dark silhouette stands on the right, a ways back from the door, watching. end page 2

frame 1: a balding, middle-aged guy with a goatee enters the frame from the left, headed toward the glass door and the dark silhouette. frame 2: the beardo is now closer to the dark silhouette; light gleams on its long hair. end page 3

frame 1: front view of the two characters from before: the long-haired brunette and the balding beardo exchange grumpy glances. frame 2: the beardo goes through several surprised expressions, exclaiming "Woźniak!"; the woman eyes him distrustfully. frame 3: the beardo goes on: "Boguszewski. Rafał. You look great.", the woman seems less tense. end page 4

frame 1: both characters silhouetted against the glass door. the beardo says "Just remind me what your name was.", the woman replies: "… Lila." frame 2: bird's-eye view. the beardo says "Long time no see, Lilka.". trans pride flag energy beams shoot from the characters' upraised palms, meeting in the middle in an explosion of white. end page 5

note: Woźniak is a gender-neutral surname while Boguszewski has the masculine -ski suffix

[jjsmaybank20]

Bitchy is my Type Pt. 2

Leighton Murray x Fem!Reader

Summary: Reader is a motorcycle riding, tattoos, badass type. What happens when there is a new volunteer at the Women’s Center who is just her type, but instead of getting along, they become enemies? But what if those hateful feelings turn out to be something more? Or Enemies to friends to lovers.

Warnings: Language

Word Count: 1.2k

Pt. 1 Pt. 2

navigation  the sex lives of college girls masterlist

---

There are many very unique people during poetry night. "Happy Father's Day. "Dad, "thanks for always protecting me from spiders, "from nightmares, from feeling respected as a woman." You snap with everyone else.

"My nipples are my own. But will they ever truly be free?" You hold back a laugh at the motion the girl makes while saying this. 

"Oh, beautiful, disgracious skies. For amber waves of pain!" Everyone around you snaps aggressively in agreement. You hear Leighton call out, “Yeah.” Then you hear Alicia berate her. “Leighton, stop filming people without their consent.”

You can practically feel her eye roll. “Yes, Warden.” When you turn around you see Leighton drinking another glass of wine. “Are you seriously getting drunk at an event that you're working because you were caught getting drunk?”

She stops to think about it for a second, before nodding her head. “Yep.” Alicia groans. “Ridiculous.” You are about to yell at her, until someone comes in front of the group and you remember that there are other people still there. 

The girl states, “I figure, if it's okay with you, I'll sing a few songs tonight. This first one is about a woman who deserves more love than she gets. Mother Nature. 

The meadows so cloverly 

Awakening my ovaries 

Awakening my ovaries” 

Leighton bursts out laughing and quickly runs outside. You follow her, making a mental note to apologize to the girl singing for the interruption. “Leighton, what the actual fuck? That's it. I'm not signing off on any of your hours tonight.”

She stops laughing instantly and whips around to face you. “What? Wait, you can't do that. I deserve double hours for sitting through this shit.” You look at her with an astonished look on your face. “Why? All you did was drink wine. And eat very noisy snacks!”

“But I was here.” Leighton whines. You shoot her a glare. “I don't care. You know, you just wasted three hours of your own life. Zero down. 100 to go.”

--- 

The next morning, you make your way into Sips. When you see Canaan, you go right over to him.

“Hey, man! Where have you been?” You ask him. Normally, you two hang out almost every day. You guys had known each other since the 4th grade, and you were inseparable. Practically brother and sister. “So sorry dude. I was going to text you. Econ has been crushing me and I asked for some shifts off so I could study for the finals.”

You nod in understanding. When you see Kimberly come in, you call for her to come over. 

“Dude! How the fuck do you put up with Leighton? She is the most entitled person I have ever met, and that's saying something. I have dated a lot of snobby people, but she takes the cake by far.” Kimberly gives me a look before saying, “Look. Yes, Leighton is a lot, and yes, she can be very entitled, but she is super sweet once you get to know her.” 

You shoot her an unbelieving look before you hear Lila call for you. “Y/N! Bring those big, strong, lesbian muscles over here to lift these boxes for me! I just got my nails done.”

You roll your eyes before walking over towards her. “I told you not to call them that. Just call them my muscles please.” Lila smirks at you before saying, “If I was gay, I would hook up with you just for the abs.” You snort before lifting up the five boxes she wanted you to move. “YAS! LESBIAN MUSCLES!”

---

Later that day, you were cleaning up the Women’s Center with Leighton. While you were actually cleaning, she was sitting and looking at her phone. Suddenly she says, “Look, I know you're in charge or whatever, but I really think it would benefit you to take things a little less seriously.”

You grunt out, “Oh, it would, huh?” while trying to put away a folding table. Leighton puts her phone down dramatically on the chair she is sitting on. “Yeah, okay. Like, if you didn't notice the song that girl sang was beyond terrible, then I am genuinely kind of worried about you.”

Before you can stop yourself, you let out a laugh. “Of course, I knew it was terrible. If she was good, she wouldn't be playing at the Women's Center!” Leighton gives you a “no duh” look before exclaiming, “Uh, yes. I agree!”

You pause what you're doing and turn towards the blond girl. “Okay, look. Some of these people are really fucking annoying. Doesn’t mean I say it to their face. Instead, I smile and cheer them on, and then mock them privately. Maybe give that a shot.”

Leighton sighs and throws her head back. “All right. All right, I will try to be less of a, um– Oh, God. What did you call it?” At the same time you both say, “A dumb, cis bitch.” You chuckle, finding the nickname you had come up with hilarious. Leighton nods with a strained look on her face. “Right. That’s the one.”

You just shrug and go back to trying to force a folding table to fold. “It’s true, you sounded like one. You know, it might be hard to stop. Just wait till it’s October, when Ginger starts her shit about her coven.” Leighton freezes for a second before violently asking, “What the fuck is a coven?”

The light laugh that you let out is enough to make the aggressive look on Leighton’s face melt almost instantly. You don’t notice, and you go back to your work as if nothing had happened.

---

Once you finish up, you offer to give Leighton a ride to her dorm on your motorcycle. She accepts hesitantly, but you assure her that it is completely safe. When you hop on, she pauses and looks at the bike worriedly.

You let out a sigh and say, “Come on, Leighton. I haven’t got all day.” When she finally moves forward and sits down behind you, you reach for her arms so that you can wrap them around your waist. She quickly pulls them back, snapping, “What the hell are you doing?!” 

You put your hands up in defense, quickly snapping back, “Calm down! Jesus. If you don’t want to fall off, you have to wrap your arms around me. Otherwise, we can’t go anywhere.” You can practically feel Leighton roll her eyes behind you before slowly worming her arms back around you. 

You try to ignore the feeling that you got when she did this, and you start on your way towards her dorm. She slowly but surely gets more comfortable and ends up putting her chin on your shoulder so that she can see where you are going. 

When you finally get to her dorm, Leighton hops off. She goes to walk towards her building before freezing and turning around. She calls out to you and quickly asks, “Hey, um. What did you mean last night? When you said me being straight hasn’t stopped you before?”

You freeze for a second, not expecting that question. When you finally snap out of it, you recompose yourself. You shoot her a smirk and casually say, “Well. I have a theory that everyone is at least a little fruity. I’ve hooked up with and dated quite a few women who thought they were straight. So, hasn’t stopped me before.”

You give her one last smile before speeding off towards your apartment. The question threw you off, but then you realized why she asked it. This was going to be fun.

---

Join my taglist!

[toxinellebug]

Shadybug/Claw Noir Christmas PART 1

HEAD CANON TIME!

You know that Xmas in Paris with those two on the loose wouldn’t be a Silent Night.

I imagine the nightly curfew to be indoors would still be in effect, even during the holidays, but that wouldn’t stop people from having holiday parties provided their guests stay overnight… And what better party could there be than the Bourgeois Christmas Gala, held at the Le Grand Paris Hotel? An extravagant and EXCLUSIVE black tie event for the richest/most influential people and Celebrities in Paris! There’s dancing and dining and only the BEST decorations money can buy! And THIS year, Chloe plans to make it an unforgettable event where she will kiss her Adrikins under the mistletoe, and she even had her daddy invite news photographers to document the whole thing so she can rub it in the smug face of that Lila Rossi who had the AUDACITY to suggest that she and Adrien should spend time together over winter break since this year she wouldn’t be going to her Uncle’s ski-lodge in the Swiss Alps, due to re-modeling.

This will prove once and for all that Adrien is HERS, and the riff-raff should all back off!

Chloe was sooo nice, she even made Daddy hire Adrien’s favorite bakery to cater all the baked goods for the party… Provided that loser Dupain-Cheng doesn’t step foot inside and infect the place with her lameness.

It’s a brilliant, fool-proof plan to make this THE. BEST. CHRISTMAS. EVER!

…Adrien is convinced this is the WORST Christmas ever. Scratch that, CHRISTMAS is the worst ever!

It’s the first winter without his mom, and the Bourgeois’ had the nerve to invite him to a PARTY? For WHAT? So he can force himself to laugh at celebrities’ lame jokes, and begrudgingly waltz with rich people’s daughters who can barely avoid stepping on the hem of their gaudy, sparkly dresses, drink sparkling cider and play hokey, out-dated party games and pretend he’s having fun?!

His mother is GONE, and he’s supposed to just act like everything is Merry and Bright?? Thankfully, his father has already turned down the invitation. He’ll probably be chewed out by Audrey for missing this golden opportunity to show off his new formal winter collection though.

Gabriel promised him that they didn’t have to do any sort of Holiday appearance or event. Which is perfect because Adrien doesn’t think he could manage to smile for any cameras right now… But he still can’t believe his father wants to celebrate at all?? What is there to celebrate?? His father actually put up a tree! And asked him to help him put on the ornaments… Just like they did with mom every year. Does he seriously expect them to just decorate the tree like nothing has changed? What’s next? They watch cheesy old xmas movies while snacking on cinnamon cookies and Les Papillotes and then eat Father’s greasy fried cooking for dinner at Midnight? Were they just going to pretend everything was fine and just the same as always???

How could it be christmas without Mom to tie lopsided red ribbons just to tease father before adding way too much Cheveux d’ange to the tree? How is it christmas without mom’s cheeks turning pink from too much vin chaud while watching “L'assassinat du Père Noël”? How is it christmas without her singing along to the carols on her vinyl record player as they set the table while Father is so focused on the Amandine and the fried bugnes that he lets the Turkey burn?

It WON’T be the same, and he doesn’t want it! He just wants to lock himself in his room and wait for this miserable day to be over!

Gabriel is hurt, but Nooru suggests that Adrien needs his space so he shouldn’t insist- it will only push him farther away. Gabriel knows the holidays will never be the same, but he has hope that they could still be special even if it’s just the two of them now… But, only when Adrien is ready.

But Adrien isn’t going to be ready… In fact, Adrien had an idea- an AWFUL idea. Adrien had a wonderful, awful idea: Why should HE be the only one who is miserable?

Claw Noir would turn this Holy Night into a Massacre! He’d smash every window full of holly, and each and every wreath he could find would serve as kindling when he burned the giant tree in the center of Place de la Concorde to the ground! He wouldn’t be satisfied until everyone in Paris was as miserable as him!!!

…There was no one in Paris more miserable than Marinette.

Christmas was always a busy time for the bakery; Bûche de Noël, Biscuits de Noël, Pain d'épices, Pompe à l'huile, Oreillettes, sables au cumin, and SO. MANY. CINNAMON. COOKIES.

But THIS year, in addition to the usual amount of fare for regular customers, they had been given a huge order to fill for the Bourgeois Christmas Gala; they wanted EVERYTHING, and despite their exclusive guest list, they seemed to want enough to feed all of Paris! Which meant that most of it would end up going to waste in the trash once the party was over.

The party that her PARENTS would have to attend in order to deliver and serve the guests, which meant that they would be spending all of Christmas Eve and into Christmas morning at the Hotel, while Marinette stayed at home…. Alone.

All because of that selfish, vile Chloe Bourgeois- even if they are no longer in the same class, that witch STILL finds a way to take EVERYTHING from Marinette, now even her own parents??? …No, not just Chloe. It’s also the fault of that spoiled Adrien Agreste! Apparently Mr. Super Model is an extremely picky eater, which meant it HAD to be her parent’s bakery that catered the Gala, because whatever Agreste wants, Agreste GETS. Those two truly were a perfect pair.

After being forced to help bake and run the register all day, Marinette is now alone on her rooftop balcony, freezing cold but at least she can finally escape the oppressive odor of cinnamon that has saturated her whole house. She hates cinnamon. She hates Chloe Bourgeois and Adrien Agreste. But most of all, she HATES CHRISTMAS!

Thanks to Enforcers patrolling the streets to make sure Parisians are inside after dark, the city is silent, save for the tinkling of glass being smashed.

Windows are broken, snowmen are toppled, and wreaths are snatched as Claw Noir makes his way towards the main public square; Chestnuts roasting on an open fire? How about a raging inferno instead?!

An old man watches from his window- he is alone on the Holidays, as always. No family to spend festivities with, no Christmas feasts with 13 desserts to distract him. All he has is nostalgia and memories of the christmases of his youth, back when he was still just a boy, back when this holiday was still about GIVING, back when people still told stories of Santa Claus before it was considered fanatical socialist propaganda, back before… The Supreme.

Christmas these days is nothing like the old days. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t still precious!

He can’t get a clear view of whatever miscreant is causing the damage from his window, but he can see the path of destruction left behind. And he knows that even though the Enforcers will no doubt hunt down and punish that ne'er-do-wel, they will not bother to clean up or repair the damage.

Who would do such an awful thing? If only there was SOMETHING he could do to help…

He doesn’t notice the faerie white butterfly that passes through his window, unfettered by the glass, and lands on his knitted hat.

But he DOES hear the voice; soothing and gentle inside his head, emphasizing with his concern over the wanton destruction, sharing his desire to bring back the true meaning of Christmas. The Voice offers him a gift- one that will allow him to bring peace and joy back to those affected by the vandal, and prove that this night is still one of hope. The voice asks, very politely, if the man will accept this gift in the name of the greater good?

The man accepts, and the voice grants him a new name… “Father Christmas.”

Claw Noir is whistling a casual tune, twirling a candy cane he stole from a window display in his fingers in one hand, and flicking away the remains of shredded ribbon from his claws in the other, when he hears the sound of sobbing.

His route of mayhem has lead him to “Tom and Sabine’s Bakery/Boulangerie” the place where that pretty girl with the dark hair in pigtails works.

Said pretty girl is on the roof, completely unaware of his presence, too busy crying her eyes out.

Once more, he feels that this girl is probably the only one in all of Paris who he can relate to. Alone and miserable… he doesn’t know what pain she’s going through to leave her out on a snow-covered rooftop where no one (but him) can witness her tears, but somehow it is oddly comforting to know that he isn’t the only one… that they are kindred spirits in a way. Having someone else hate Christmas as much as him makes the pain somehow more bearable…

Are those sleigh-bells?? Where the heck is the sound of sleigh-bells coming from?!

Something catches his eye, and Claw Noir can’t believe what he sees… He can’t even figure out WHAT he sees…

Some old fat guy in a tacky red suit is flying- ACTUALLY FLYING- in a sleigh being pulled by reindeer for some reason?! What is that even supposed to BE?? Just how much mulled wine has the butterfly man had???

Weirdness aside, that fat freak is ruining all of Claw Noir’s work! As the sleigh flies over houses, broken windows vanish and are replaced with shiny new glass adorned with bright red bows. New Wreaths with sparkling gold and silver berries seem to actually sprout on doors, and tiny, wrapped gift boxes seem to rain down to rest at each door mat.

And the geezer is headed straight towards the Place de la Concorde!

Oh NO he doesn’t! Claw Noir has a good pile of stolen kindling going around that tree and NOTHING is going to stop him from torching that sucker! He gives chase.

The sound of bells and old man laughter makes Marinette wipe away her tears and look up just in time to catch a tiny wrapped box. Opening it, she finds a smiling gingerbread cookie holding a peppermint stick. She scowls before snapping off the cookie’s head.

Betterfly… that tears it!

Marinette transforms into Shadybug, crunches the peppermint stick HARD between her teeth before summoning her Lucky Charm- a shoulder mounter missile launcher, just right for blowing magic sleighs out of the sky!

The butterfly miraculous will make the perfect christmas gift for The Supreme.

But first, she’s gonna annihilate that bearded tub of lard who mocked her with friggin’ cookies!!!

Obviously Betterfly can’t let his new ally who laughs like a bowl full of jelly be blown to smithereens or be torn to shreds. He must help fend off Shadybug and Claw Noir to save Christmas and return home before Adrien comes down from his room (or that suspicious bodyguard notices something is up)

Meanwhile, Chloe is miserable! She has a brand new golden ballgown, diamond covered shoes, her hair is even MORE amazing than usual, and Adrikins isn’t here to tell her how gorgeous she is! CHRISTMAS IS RUINED! This is all her Daddy’s fault! Audrey agrees; the invitations SHOULD have been engraved, not embossed, and gold foil borders on linen paper? What is this, the 90’s?? Anything but glitter infused envelopes is just tacky! And WHERE are the solid crystal champagne flutes she requested?! No wonder Gabriel and Agreste Junior didn’t show- this whole Gala is turning out to be ridiculous, utterly ridiculous! Andre has no wish list, but as for New Year’s resolutions, he plans to take up drinking.

PART 2

[baenyth]

Bethany's Bizarre Miraculous Reviews Episode 5-20: The Fox Miraculous 2: Lila is Unstoppable

Alright, Lila time. Is this the one where her lies are revealed or is that the next episode or?

How many moms does Lila have? How many identities has she taken?

Girl's loving the attention for sure

Road Work Ahead

Wow, all these people believe her? I guess not everyone can be as smart as me...

Get cucked lmao

That look in her eyes. I don't think she trusts her entirely.

Soon enough he's going to have to wear a ski mask with how far the cataclysm's spreading. Or maybe just a lot of makeup.

How ironic. Alliance is forcing Adrigami just like how this show is forcing Adrienette. Clearly, the answer is Lukadrien.

Sabrina's rebelling for sure. Though I can finally say that the fact that Ms. Bustier never knew and the implication that Chloe doesn't know how to write is just stupid, even for this show. Now that I think about it so are those people believing her.

I'm getting secondhand embarrassment from how crudely Chloe's being written here.

Oh, she's good.

And there it is! I can't even say it's an idiot ball! Lila could probably slip, slide, or weasel her way out of lying that she's good friends of Ladybug since that's the one Marinette can disprove thanks to Alya knowing she's Ladybug. No idea about the others, though.

Adrienette ruining everything as always

Alya: "Marinette, Lila's a nice girl."

Lila: "Don't you want to kill Marinette?"

Cartoony ahh blink sound

Lookit that forced smile

Is this the point where TA uses Marinette as a ventriloquist dummy? Chloe needs a therapist, not to be reached out or whatever.

Oh dear god

Oh hey! I've heard that steel drum sound effect before in Mario games! I love it!

Oh god. The power of Saltfics.

Yes! Ivan and Mylene!

Yes! Just as thought!

This is the least believable lie so far. I'm impressed.

Shouldn't Chat be removing more rings? Or any at all?

Gabriel Agreste lore

Credit where it's due. Lila's crafty as all hell. She's always been. The only weakness I can see her having is the time she said she had a lying disease.

[malekthecat]

Ninjago x Mlp Au: S1 Rise of Snakes and Night Princess

In city called Ninjago, Master Wu gathers four ninjas, who have the elemental powers، Kai and Nya the Masters of Fire and Water, Zane the Master of Ice, Cole the Master of Earth, and Jay the Master of Lightning, come together to protect their city From the evil Lord Garmadon and Serpentine, and also to know which one of them is the legendary green ninja A prophecy, the boy who will save Ninjago from Lord Garmadon and the Overlord... At the same time the residents of Equestria are preparing for The Summer Sun Celebration which occurs once a year, a girl named Twilight discovers that there is a prophecy that says that the Princess of the Night and Princess of Darkness called Luna, or currently known as Nightmare Moon, will return to spread eternal night in Equestria...so it is decided that She tells the Princess of Equestria and her dear teacher The Empress Celestia, Celestia tells her that she must go to a small village called Ponyville to supervise a summer sun celebration and to find friends. There she meets five girls: Pinkie Pie who represents the element of laughter, Applejack who represents the element of honesty, Fluttershy who represents the element of kindness, and Rainbow. Dash represents loyalty, Rarity represents generosity and Twilight represents magic Together, they will search for the elements of harmony to save their city from Nightmare Moon...With all these differences between these, the heroes of our story did not know that there were many similarities between them and that they would meet soon and work together to defeat the Villains...

Episode 1: Way of The Ninja And Pony on The Moon

"A pony named Twilight discovers the truth that Nightmare Moon has returned to Equestria, so she decides to tell her teacher, Empress Celestia, but she receives a reply that she must go to a small village called Ponyville, so Twilight goes there with her little cat, Lila, to supervise a summer sun celebration and to make new friends as well." There she meets six girls: Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Nya and Fluttershy, and also meets Kai, Jay, Cole and Zane, and together they will defeat Nightmare Moon and Lord Garmadon!"

"Before time had a name, Equestria enjoyed peace and tranquility for a period of time, and there were two princesses who maintained this balance. The princess, the Greater, raised the sun every morning, and the youngest raised the moon at night. Thus, the two princesses maintained a balance for their kingdom and for their people as well, but over time, the youngest became dissatisfied. Because ponies play and have fun during the day that her sister attends, and ponies sleep at beautiful nights that the youngest attends, and the situation remained like this until one fateful day, the younger sister refused to lower the moon. She turned her sister in every way to master it, but the younger sister did not want to, and with sadness and hatred for her sister, she turned into a pony. An evil darkness, she was Nightmare Moon! She swore to cover the skies of Equestria with eternal night. So the eldest decided to look for any way to stop her sister, and she used the elements of harmony. After a great battle, the eldest sister was able to exile Nightmare Moon to the moon, and after that, the people of Equestria began celebrating a summer sun celebration, and this continued. Celebrating for a long time...”

Twilight said this while reading the book she borrowed from Celestia

Then Twilight said:

"The elements of harmony and pony on the moon? I think I want to know more about this story!"

Twilight decided to go to the library to learn more about Nightmare Moon. On the way, Twilight met her childhood friends, and they wanted to invite her to one of their friends' parties. Twilight could not refuse their request, so she went with them.

The host of the Moon Dancer party was preparing a number of things until she finally found her friends coming and she was happy about that

And she said:

"Finally! I'm really happy that you guys banned my party, especially you, Twilight...I didn't expect you to come too."

Twilight laughed and said to her:

"Why wouldn't I go to my best friend's party?"

Moon Dancer said:

"Because you're always busy with your studies an-"

Twilight cut her off and said:

"Maybe whatever, you want to see my gift?"

Twilight gave the gift to Moon Dancer and began to open it and found inside a picture of her and all her friends

Moon Dancer smiled with tears of happiness evident on her eyes and said:

"Thank you...thank you, Twilight, thank you all."

Twilight approached her and wiped her tears and said:

“There is no need for this, Moon Dancer, we are friends. Well, what do you say we start celebrating?”

The celebration began and after a few hours, when night came, everyone went to their homes, and Twilight and Moon Dancer remained at the party

Moon Dancer said:

“The party was really fun, I'm really happy to-”

Moon Dancer stopped talking when she looked at Twilight, who was thinking about something

She said anxiously:

"What's wrong, Twilight? What are you thinking?"

Twilight said:

“I think there's something I've forgotten, something important...”

Twilight looked at the sky and found that a moon was starting to appear, and then she remembered her search for Nightmare Moon

Twilight said:

“The moon... How did i forget that?!”

Moon Dancer said in amazement:

"What do you mean?"

Twilight said:

“I have been searching for anything related to Nightmare Moon so I can inform the Empress...”

Moon Dancer was about to ask her what she meant, but she found Twilight starting to go and said:

“Don't worry, I'll come back later when I'm done!...”

And she was gone

Moon Dancer suddenly felt a strange feeling, as if this would be the last time she would see her friend... would it really be the last?

(In the library...)

"Lila! You??"

Twilight said as she looked for her little assistant

Lila answered:

"I'm here"

When Twilight looked up, she saw a black cat with eyes as blue as the sea. Yes, it was Lila, her favorite cat, It was a gift from Celestia because Twilight studied her diligently, and Twilight used a spell to make her talk. Lila always said that she came from a cold place full of snow, and the Empress found her and she was injured and took care of her until Twilight got her

Lila went down and Twilight asked her:

"What were you doing up there?"

Lila answered:

"I was taking a nap"

Twilight said:

“Okay Lila, can you find a book that talks about old legends?”

Lila went to a bookshelf to get the book and she found it. Twilight took a book, opened it and started reading it:

"Elements of harmony, a pony in the moon?..."

Lila said in surprise:

"Pony in the moon? But it's a fairytale."

Twilight continued:

"A pony a pony, I found it! The pony in the moon is a legend from the history of ponies. A powerful pony wanted to rule Equestria in the eternal night. She was defeated by the elements of harmony and was banished to the moon. Legend says that on the longest day of the year she will find a way To escape from a moon that will bring with it eternal night...”

She also said:

"Lila! Do you know what this means??"

Lila answered:

"no?"

Twilight said:

“This means that at the end of the Summer Sun Festival, Nightmare Moon will return to Equestria and bring with her Eternal Night, so I will write a letter to the Empress!”

Lila said in surprise:

"Okay, but what are you going to write?"

Twilight replied while writing:

“My dear teacher, because my continued study of the history of the ponies, I discovered that the pony in the moon, called Nightmare Moon, will return at the end of the Summer Sun Festival and bring with it eternal night. Therefore, I hope that you will take action to prevent this from happening...”

- Your loyal student (Twilight Sparkle)

Twilight finished writing the letter and sent it using her magic

Lila said:

“Okay, but the Summer Sun Festival is tomorrow and the Empress is already busy with it and it would be really bad if we disturbed her?”

Twilight said:

"This is the problem! Summer Sun's celebration will be on the same day as Nightmare Moon's coming...so I had to tell her about this..."

Shortly after that, a reply arrived to a message from Amira, and Twilight was happy about this

Then Twilight started reading a letter:

“My dear student Twilight, I know that you have been studying well and that you are one of my best students, but you must forget these superstitions and you must make some friends when you go to Ponyville tomorrow to attend the Summer Sun Festival there.”

-Your precious teacher (Empress Celestia)

Twilight's smile turned into shock and said:

"What?! But...but these are not myths! They are real!!"

Lila sighed and said:

“It's already night, tomorrow when we go we'll talk about this.”

Twilight grabbed her cat and they go to sleep

(in the next day..)

In a blacksmith shop in a village near Ponyville, there was a young blacksmith named Kai Smith trying to make a perfect sword, but he was unable to do so, and then his younger sister, called Nya, came.

Kai told her:

"I thought I'd make it this time..."

Nya looked at her brother and said to him:

"Don't be so sad, brother... I'm sure you'll succeed soon!"

Kai looked at the sword he wanted to make and said:

"Do you really think so?"

Nya answered:

“Of course, if father were alive, he would have told you...”

Kai continued:

“I know... something requires patience in order for me to succeed...”

Then Nya approached her brother and smiled at him, but then a man entered them

Wu said:

“So this is the blacksmith shop right?”

Kai looked at him and said:

"Yes, it is. How can I help you?"

Wu said:

"You seem to have weapons for warriors and even samurai, but nothing for ninja?"

Kai said surprised:

"Ninja?"

Wu told him:

"Yes, like you, Kai."

Nya said in shock:

"And he knows your name, too."

Wu said:

"Of course I know, Nya."

Then Kai said to him:

"Well, I don't know how you know our names, but tell me what you want?"

Wu said:

“There's no need to be angry Kai, I just wanted to give you an offer.”

Kai was surprised by what he said and said:

"Really? What is it?"

Wu replied:

“My name is Wu, and I have come to give you an offer to become a ninja.”

Nia said surprised:

"A Ninja?!"

Wu said:

"Yes, you can both be ninjas on my team."

Nya was surprised by Wu words, but Kai did not like it, and said to him:

"Listen man, this is a store called Four Arms, not Four Ninjas. If you don't want to buy anything, go away!"

Wu looked at Kai angrily and said to him as he left:

"I thought I found something special here..."

Then Kai said:

“But if you want something special I can give you...”

When Kai turned around, he found that Wu was already gone...

Then Kai looked at his sister and said:

“Where did he go?...”

Nya answered:

"I don't know, he was here for a moment."

Then Kai went back to work, but then Nya said to him:

"So Kai, when are we going to Ponyville?? The Summer Sun Festival is tonight and I promised Rarity I'd help her with the decorations!"

Kai looked at her and said:

"I know, I know... also I promised to Applejack help her organize a celebration... It's almost over and we'll go together."

But suddenly Kai and Nya heard people screaming outside, and when they looked outside, they found that there was an army of skeletons coming towards them.

Nya said:

"who are they?..."

Kai answered her while taking a sword and shield:

"I don't know...but stay inside!"

Kai then went out and started attacking the skeletons, but then he turned around to see that his younger sister was also fighting with him.

Kai said as he approached her:

"Didn't I tell you to stay inside?!"

Nya answered:

“And leave you have all the fun?”

They started fighting together

But there were some skeletons trying to enter a store, but Nya noticed them and kept them away and felt that they were trying to steal something, but then Samukai came down and started fighting Kai, and when Samukai was about to perform Kai, suddenly Master Wu went to save him with Spinjitzu.

Then Samukai said to him:

"Even your Spinjitzu has become weak!"

Wu then replied:

"Nothing is weaker than bones, Samukai!"

They started fighting each other

Then Samukai tried to cheat and try to hit Kai, and he threw a water deer and was going to fall on Kai, but Wu saved him.

Then Samukai said:

"Lord Garmadon said get the boy!"

Wu said in surprise:

“Garmadon?...”

Then they were going to catch Kai, but Wu used Spinjitzu and saved him

Then Samukai's army decided to withdraw, and before they left, Samukai said to them:

"It's not over yet! I'll come back for a map!!"

And then they go...

Kai approached Wu and said:

“Thank you for saving me and my sister! By using you to...where was that?”

Wu looked at Kai and said:

"Spinjitzu, it's called Spinjitzu... so have you considered my offer?"

Kay answered:

"Honestly, I don't know...I have to fix a store and..."

Nya interrupted him and said:

"But Kai! This is going to be fun! Imagine us being ninjas!"

Nya continued to insist on Kai until he said:

"Okay sister, if you want it...we'll be ninjas."

Wu smiled at them and after Kai and Nya gathered some of their things, Wu told them to follow him

Then Wu went and took the map that was hidden in the store

Kai said in shock:

"Hey! How long has this map been here?!"

Wu replied:

“I don’t remember, maybe ten or twenty years ago.”

Then Nya said:

“But how did we not notice this... Who were these skeletons and why did they want to kidnap my brother??"

Kai continued:

"And who are Samukai and Garmadon??"

Wu sighed and said to them:

"Well, I will explain to you the story...Once upon a time, Equestria had protectors who protected it from evil people, and one of them was the first Spinjitzu master and the first elements Masters... and the Spinjitzu master made four Spinjitzu weapons, and when he left, he left the Spinjitzu weapons with his sons, but it was one of them." He seeks the power of these weapons... and after a long struggle between two brothers, one of them fell into the underworld... and then a younger brother decided to hide weapons because of their dangerous power... and he drew a map of the places and gave it to his bestfriend so that he could hide it....”

Kai said:

"And that friend was my father..."

Wu looked at the shocked child and answered:

“Yes, he was your father... He was my friend before....”

Nya continued:

“Before he died...”

Wu then continued his words:

“And I am the younger brother in the story and the elder brother is Garmadon and he wants the map to steal weapons... and for this I need elemental masters, a ninjas who will help me to find weapons.”

Kai sighed and said:

“Okay, we coming but only for Nya.”

Wu smiled and Nya was jumping with happiness

Then Wu said to them:

“And I'm sure Celestia will be happy to know this.”

Kai and Nya were shocked, and then Kai said:

"You know Empress Celestia??"

Wu laughed at their reaction and said:

"Of course I know her and I will tell you why at an appropriate time. Now let's go to the Spinjitzu Monastery."

Later, after hours of walking...they finally arrived at the Spinjitzu Monastery. Kai was tired from walking and Nya was a little more active than him, perhaps because she was carrying less things.

Wu said to them:

"Come on, little ninjas! You got a lot of work today?"

When Kai heard this, he fell to the ground in shock. Minutes later, Kai and Nya entered and showed them their room.

On the way, Nya noticed that there were other rooms for other people and said:

"Are there other people living here?"

Wu replied:

“Patience Nya, everything will come in its own time.”

Kai and Nya looked at each other and continued walking. Then they started training, and Nya was good at it, but Kai...in fact, he didn't want to come there from the beginning. Wu was scolding him for this, and whenever Kai tried, he would fall, and they stayed like that until noon.

Wu told him:

"What's wrong with you, Kai? Why don't you want to train?"

Kai got up from the ground and answered:

“Because I don't want to be a ninja! I only came here for my sister...”

Wu sighed and said:

“okay... Take your time and then you will think about whether you want to continue or not”

Kai said:

"Well, I feel Like I forgot something..."

Wu said in amazement:

"what did you forget?"

Kai said:

"I don't know, but I'm sure it's something important..."

Then Kai and Nia looked at the setting sun

Kai said in shock:

"Summer Sun Celebration!! Applejack!! I have to go because!"

Then Nya said:

"Oh no...I forgot my date with Rarity!! She must be angry..."

Wu said to them:

"Okay, but don't be late."

Kai and Nya quickly went to Ponyville

Wu said after they left:

“I hope this celebration goes well...and I hope that Celestia will quickly gather the Elemental Masters of Harmony...”

Later, when Kai and Nya arrived in Ponyville, they went their separate ways and agreed to meet at the end of the day and celebrate.

(With Kai..)

Kai went to Sweet Apple Acres, the place where the Honestly girl of Ponyville and Equestria live, Applejack! Kai and Nya adopted sister

"You're finally here, you naughty cat," Applejack said as she shook Kai hand

Kay said:

“I was late because of some things...You won't believe what happened to me today.”

(With Nya...)

"Rarity! I'm here" Nya said as she rushed to catch up with her best friend

Rarity said as she put on an ornament.

"Nya!"

When Nya reached her side, Rarity said:

"It's good that you're here, I've brought together some amazing things for the party!"

Nya laughed and said:

“You still care about elegance as much as you used to, Rarity.”

Rarity said:

“Of course, the most important thing about a woman is her elegance. How about you help me here?”

.......

Later with Twilight, the carriage sent by the Empress arrived and Twilight rode in, taking Lila with her

Lila said to her:

“Perhaps what the Empress said may be true, and you should leave the library for a while to make friends. Also, the Empress made us stay in the library in ponyville”

Twilight said to her:

“It is a good thing that the Empress made us stay in the library, and I will continue supervising a celebration, and then I will complete research on the prophecy!”

Then Lila said:

“But how can you be sure that the prophecy was true?”

Twilight answered:

“Honestly, I'm not sure if this prophecy is true, but my feeling says it will be true!”

Then Lila said:

"I see...but what about making friends?"

Twilight said:

"Making friends won't save Equestria! I have to find more information about Nightmare Moon."

Then they finally arrived at Ponyville, and when they got down, Twilight kept contemplating the beauty of the place, even though it was simple.

Lila said:

“What a beautiful place indeed!”

Twilight also said:

“You're right, although the buildings look really simple compared to Ninjago City or Canterlot"

Then Twilight and Lila noticed a pink-haired girl

Lila said:

"Twilight, how about trying to be her friend?"

Twilight said in shock.

"Really? But what abou-"

Lila interrupted her and said:

"Come on Twilight, try it"

Twilight sighed, then walked a little closer to Pinkie Pie and said:

"Hello?"

Pinky smiled and said:

"Hi !"

Then Twilight said:

"I'm new here and I'm here to..."

"You what?" Pinkie said as she stared at her

Twilight tensed a little and said:

“Uh...I said I was new and...”

Then Pinkie screamed in shock and ran quickly

Then Twilight said:

“Oh, what a successful attempt at making friends, so where will we go now, Laila?”

Lila answered:

"It seems that we will go to the apple farm and there we will meet a girl named Applejack. She supervises the food."

Twilight said:

"Okay let's go...Wait, who is these ponies??..And what are they doing to this child??.."

Twilight and Lila looked at three boys wearing black, ninja-like clothes who were holding a child with blond hair.

Twilight came closer to them and said:

“Who are you and what are you doing to this child??”

One of the boys looked at Twilight and said:

“Hello, my name is Jay and this is a naughty kid who ran away from school again.”

Twilight looked at Jay strangely, and then Cole said:

"Are you serious Jay? You just said your name to a girl you saw now, did you forget that a ninja should be mysterious??"

Jay told him:

"Oh yeah, I forgot."

Zane looked at them in surprise and said:

"But Cole, you told her about our identity by deed."

Cole looked at him and said:

"Hey did I?"

Jay said to them:

"But we really do look like ninjas, don't we?"

Twilight looked at them and said:

“Honestly, you just look like ponies in pajamas.”

Jay looked at her in shock and said:

“pajamas?? I thought we looked like ninjas...”

Then Zane said:

“But we have to get Lloyd back to his school now and get back to the sensei”

Lila was surprised and said:

"sensei?"

Then Cole tell them:

"Let's go, guys"

And then the ninjas went with Lloyd

Twilight said in surprise:

“Well, that was really weird... Let's go, Lila”

Then they went to the apple farm

(And at the same time with the Empress...)

Empress Celestia was holding Twilight's letter and next to her was a man wearing a straw hat

Tia looked at him and said:

“So it seems that their return will be on the same day...and we are still wasting time here.”

Wu looked at her and said:

“Don’t worry, Tia, I started collecting Elemental Masters in order to protect the Golden Weapons, but what about you? Have you collected Harmony Elemental Masters?”

Celestia sighed and said:

"no not yet..."

Wu was surprised and said:

"Why not? Haven't you found them yet?"

Tia answered:

"No, I already found them in Ponyville but I prefer Twilight to be the one to find them...she is, after all, a chosen person..."

Wu asked her:

"Do you think she'll be the green ninja?..."

Tia answered:

"I don't know...but what's the harm in making sure of this matter? But we must not repeat the same mistake we did in the past..."

Wu sighed and then left, and Tia turned to see the picture of her and her sister on the glass, and her look turned to sadness.

With tears falling from her eyes, she said:

“I will save you, Luna, I promise...”

Then Celestia looked at another picture, and it showed Wu in his youth, and there was a young man with brown hair with him

She said:

"And I wish the same for you, Garmadon..."

.......

Twilight and Lila arrived at the apple farm

Twilight saw an orange-haired girl who was wearing a straw hat and a brown-haired boy with her

"It must be Applejack," Twilight thought to herself

Then Twilight approached them and said:

"Hello, my name is Twilight Sparkle and I'm here to..."

Then Applejack took her hand to greet her and said:

"Hey Twilight! My name is Applejack but you can call me AJ, and I'm sure we'll be friends soon!"

When Applejack opened her eyes, she found that Twilight was going to fall to the ground

Applejack said shyly:

“I'm sorry, I always forget that I'm a little strong.”

Kai and Lila were laughing at them, and then Kai said:

"a little?"

And they continued laughing

Then Twilight said to them:

"whatever, we came from Canterlot at the request of Empress Celestia to supervise some matters here for the Summer Sun Festival.”

Twilight looked at Applejack and saw her calling her family to bring food for the guests, and Applejack began to introduce her entire family to Twilight and Spike, her closest and oldest brother, “Big McIntosh” and of course her other brother, “Kai,” and her sister, “Nya,” who was not there at the moment, and her younger sister, “Applebloom,” and her grandmother "Granny Smith" and of course bring a lot of food with them

Twilight said to them:

“Wow, it looks like the food is in good hands...well I guess I'll go and finish a mission...”

But before Twilight could go, Applebloom caught her and was looking at her sadly

When Twilight looked at everyone and saw how sad they were, she said:

"Okay, I'll stay longer."

When Twilight said this, everyone was happy again

Lila was shocked, then she looked at Kai and said to him:

"Do they always act like this?"

Kai answered:

"Yes, Ask me. I've known Applejack since childhood, and it's normal for her and her family to behave like this with strangers."

Later, when they left, Twilight was tired from eating so much, so she said:

“Oh... I think I ate too many pies...”

Then I noticed that Laila was looking at the sky

Twilight asked:

"What's wrong, Lila?"

Lila answered:

"a girl named Rainbow Dash was supposed to come to sweep away the clouds.”

Twilight looked at the sky and then said:

“It doesn't seem like it's doing its job...”

After Twilight said this, she collided with a pony that was speeding and fell into the mud

Twilight looked at that pony and said:

"Hi!"

the pony looked at her and said:

"Oh, I'm sorry...but I know how to make it up to you!"

Then that pony flew into the air and took up a cloud with her, drenching Twilight with it

the pony laughed and then said:

"Oh...don't worry, I know how to fix this!"

Then the pony flew in and made a small tornado to dry Twilight's hair, and when she finished, Twilight's hair was a disaster, so she and Lila burst out laughing.

Twilight said to them:

"is this funny?"

the pony said:

"Yes, really funny!"

And keep laughing

Then Twilight said:

“So, are you Rainbow?...”

Her answer:

"Yes, I'm Rainbow dash! The fastest and the best!"

When Twilight looked at her, she found that she looked more like a griffin than a pony, but she had a special jewel in the form of a necklace.

Twilight looked at her for a moment and then said:

"So you're a Griffin?"

Rainbow Dash was surprised by her question and said:

“Yes, I am, why are you surprised?”

Twilight answered:

"No, that's not what I mean, but only because this is the first time I've seen them...And I also wanted to ask why you still haven't pushed the clouds away?"

Rainbow Dash replied:

“Because I've been practicing some cool moves! And I still have some time.”

Twilight was surprised by something and said:

“Who are you training for?”

Rainbow Dash said:

"Wonderbolts! I've been wanting to join them for a while and the Summer Sun Festival would be the perfect opportunity for that."

Then Twilight had an idea and said:

"So you think they'll accept a girl who can't push away clouds?"

Rainbow Dash looked at her and said:

“Is this a challenge?”

Twilight smiled and said:

"Yes"

Rainbow Dash said:

"Then you'll see how I can get her away in just ten seconds."

Then Rainbow Dash flew into the sky and began to push away the clouds and quickly finished them

Twilight was shocked and Rainbow Dash was laughing at her reaction and then said:

"This was fun! I hope we meet again."

And Rainbow Dash was gone

Then Twilight went to the place where the celebration would be held. Twilight was amazed by Zeina's beauty, and at the same time she noticed the presence of two girls, one with purple hair and the other with black hair.

Twilight said to herself:

"I think Rarity is one of them."

Twilight went up to them and asked who Rarity was

The woman with purple hair answered her:

"Of course I'm Rarity! The amazing fashion designer!"

Twilight was dazzled by her beauty and said:

“Wonderful, actually. I came to supervise The decorations an-”

she noticed that Rarity was shocked by something

The black-haired girl said:

"Rarity? What's wrong?"

Rarity was going to fall but Nya caught her and said:

"Nya! I can't see...please tell me I'm dreaming!!"

When she said that name, Twilight remembered about Applejack sister

Nya sighed and said to her:

"You're exaggerating too much"

Twilight did not understand anything and said:

"What?? oh you mean my hair?"

Rarity got up and grabbed Twilight and said to her:

"Don't worry, honey, I'll fix it!"

Twilight was shocked and said:

"Wait what??"

Nya and Lila were surprised, but they went with them

(In Rarity house)

Rarity was brushing Twilight hair and Nya and Lila were watching

When Rarity finished it, she put some ribbons in Twilight's hair

Twilight said in shock:

"It's... really cool!!"

Rarity smiled and said:

“This is the least I can do, so why did you come to see me, my dear?”

Twilight answered:

“I came from Canterlot because Empress Celestia sent me to supervise the Summer Sun Festival here and wanted to meet you to see how you prepared the ballroom, and it seems that you have been doing a good job an-”

“You're really from Canterlot?!” Rarity said happily as she held Twilight close

"Uh, yeah?" Twilight said surprised

Rarity said:

"You don't know how much I wanted to visit that place! It's one of the most beautiful places in Equestria. Wait, I'll get you a gorgeous dress! Then you'll tell me all about Canterlot."

When Rarity was gone, Twilight approached Nia and said:

“Does she always act like this?”

Nia answered:

“No, but if it was about Canterlot, you would do more than that.”

Twilight sighed and said:

"Honestly, I don't have time to try on all these beautiful outfits, because I have a lot of work to do."

"Okay, but will you come back later?" Nya said

Twilight answered while holding her cat:

“there is not much time left until I finish my tasks and perhaps I may return.”

After Twilight left, Rarity came carrying several dresses and said:

"I'm back! And I have some- hey where did that girl go?"

Nya told her:

“She went because she had a lot of things to do.”

.......

"So looks like we should check out the music now," Twilight said as she wandered into a village

Until Twilight heard the beautiful sound of birds singing, when I approached, she saw a cute girl holding a small bird

"Hi” Twilight said

Twilight said nervously.

“Uh, my name is Twilight Sparker and I'm here to supervise the celebration...”

Fluttershy grabbed her hair shyly and said in a low voice:

"I'm... Fluttershy."

Twilight asked:

"What?"

Fluttershy said:

"Fluttershy..."

Twilight didn't understand, but she saw birds, that girl had returned

Twilight said:

"Ah...your birds are back. I think you're good at this."

Lila got out of her place

Twilight said:

“That was easy.”

When Fluttershy saw that little kitten, she quickly flew to Lila side and caught her and said:

"Little kitten! She's so cute!"

Laila said:

"Oh, that's really nice."

Fluttershy said:

"Amazing! you can speak our language. How about you tell me something?"

Lila asked:

“Like what?”

Fluttershy replied:

"Oh, I don't know. What about your life story?"

Laila said:

"Well why not?"

But Twilight grabbed Lily and said:

“But I'm really in a hurry and I have to go to a library, but I don't know where it is...”

Fluttershy said:

“If you don’t mind, I can accompany you and show you to her place and on the way hear the story of your cat’s life.”

Twilight smiled at her and let her come

Lila started speaking:

“When I was young, I came from an empire full of snow...”

Later, they arrived at a library, and Laila was still talking

Lila finally finished her speech with:

"And this is the story of my life, what do you think about me telling you what happened that day?"

Fluttershy said happily:

"This would be wonderful!"

Twilight said:

"Wait while I open the door."

Twilight opened the door of the library and she and Lila were shocked when she turned on the light and found that all the ponies she had met were there and had prepared a party for her. This was the first time anyone had thrown a party for her....

Twilight said in shock.

"what is all of this?..."

The five ponies gathered with Kai, Nya, and the three ninjas and said:

“A party for you!”

Twilight smiled and said:

“That's...really nice, thank you guys but how did you have time to do this?”

Pinkie Pie approached her and said:

“Because when I saw you for the first time in the morning, I didn’t know you, and if I don’t know you, that means you’re new, and if you are new, it means you don’t have any friends here, so I threw this party for you!”

And then Rainbow dash said:

"The important thing is let's celebrate!"

Everyone started celebrating, and by the time night had come and the time for the Summer Sun Festival was approaching

Twilight was in her room and was looking at the sky

Lila approached her and said:

"What's wrong, Twilight?"

Twilight said:

“It's almost sunrise and I haven't looked yet...”

Twilight saw stars shining close to the moon and said:

“Legend says that on this night the Princess of Darkness, Nightmare Moon, will return...I hope the Empress’s words are true and that these are just fairy tales...”

Then Applejack came and said:

"Come on, Twilight, it's sunrise time!"

Later in the celebration hall everyone was there for Shorouk

Kai told his sister that he had to return to a monastery for something and left. Nia and Wu were surprised...

The mayor came out and said:

"As Mayor of Ponyville, I announce that the Summer Sun Festival has now begun. In a few minutes, our village will witness this celebration and celebrate the longest day of the year, presented by Empress Celestia!"

Fluttershy started making the birds sing and everyone was happy and excited except Twilight who was worried about what would happen....

Pinkie Pie noticed her feeling and said:

"What's wrong, Twilight?"

Twilight looked at her and said:

“Uh? Oh nothing!”

She tried to put on a fake smile, but Pinkie Pie is an expert in these things, so she knew she was lying

Rarity opened the curtain to introduce the Empress, but was shocked because she was not there!...

Everyone was shocked, and suddenly the Princess of Night and the Princess of Darkness, Nightmare Moon, appeared!... and they were laughing

Twilight said:

"Oh no...."

(and at the same time in the monastery)

Samukai was holding the Golden Weapon Map and was laughing, but suddenly he heard someone's voice saying:

"So you thought I wasn't expecting you?'"

Then he turned around and saw that it was Kai and he was holding a samurai sword

Samukai said:

"So you're back...prepare to finish fighting!"

(To Be Continued...)

Fun Facts:

• I used Google Translate for this, so there may be some errors

• Spike has not appeared yet because I hate the way he appeared in comics in Twilight's past and after episodes, so I decided to make him appear in the next episode and that would be the first meeting between him and Twilight And I will make his relationship with Twilight and the others better • Kai and Nya are twins and were adopted by Applejack's family in the past • Wu looks like his adult form in Season 9 and not just an old man • I call Celestia the Empress because the title of princess doesn't really make sense • You will discover that Lila is not Normal cat with the seasons... • When Kai said he didn't want to be a ninja, he wasn't joking about that, and you'll find out why later (and I don't mean he won't be a ninja) • It has taken a long time to write this :( • I made Twilight much better with her friends and with the five girls from Ponyville then the real show

[mariharem-trash-heap]

Talk Her Down

The inevitable seems to have finally happened: Marinette gets akumatized after a friend gets hurt in the crossfire between her and Lila - and it’s up to her friends and classmates to do what they can to calm her down before Ladybug can purify her akuma.

Notes:

I really, really love the trope of “this isn’t you, I know you’re in there, let me talk you down”. ESPECIALLY when it’s between friends. It’s just so (chef’s kiss)

Also yes, I’m well aware eastern and western dragons are largely different - I’m keeping mostly elements from eastern dragons because they’re super cool and underrated over here in the west.

(This will have hints at a Mariharem (but I couldn’t resist adding a lot more Lukanette because that ship still has my heart, sue me)

What began as a bright, sunny day had suddenly grown dark, sinister clouds rising to shun the sun and bathing the city of Paris in a thick gray curtain of dread.

Civilians looked on in horror from the relative safety of their homes at the giant red and black dragon weaving her way through the air, steam hissing from her nostrils, gleaming golden eyes narrowed in rage.

“LILA!” A thundering roar reverberated through the streets. Whoever remained outside had to clap their hands over their ears lest the painful ringing the sound caused actually did them damage as raindrops began to fall from the skies.

The softest tinkling of bells in the akuma’s wake was offset by another earsplitting roar, masking the panting of the two heroes trying to follow her.

“Man, who gave her control over the weather?” Chat Noir complained, eyes narrowed against the growing sprinkling of rain.

“I think it’s-- a culture thing?” Chanceux answered hesitantly, eyes darting back and forth as they vaulted another rooftop. His fingers were beginning to slip. “We need to change her back before all of Paris floods!”

Chat winced, troubling memories resurfacing. “Yeah,” he quietly murmured.

“Marinette!” Alya shouted from the roof of Le Grand Paris, squinting against the pounding rain.

The dragon whipped her head around, and glinting eyes settled squarely on the reporter, just a tiny, tiny figure on the roof below her.

“Mari, hey,” she continued, her tone dropping into a more soothing one. “Look, I know you’re upset - but you can’t let Hawkmoth get to you! You’re hurting people!”

“Hurting people?!” She exclaimed. “Lila has been the one hurting people for far too long! She needs to face the consequences of hurting my friends!”

Alya tried her best not to heave a frustrated sigh. “I know! I know, believe me, Marinette, I know. But what you’re doing - this isn’t you! The Marinette I know would never hurt so many innocent people like this!”

For a moment, she thought she saw something flicker by the akuma’s eyes - something troubled.

“Please,” she pleaded, reaching out to her friend. “Fight him, Marinette. You’re better than him.”

It seemed to have worked. And then that irritating glowing purple outline appeared before her face and she let loose another earth-shaking roar; and with a rush of wind so strong it nearly blew her off of the building, the akuma - Marinette - had gone.

Alya huffed, raising her phone to speak clearly into it, “Sorry guys, I tried. She’s beyond even listening to me.”

“Got it, babe,” Nino answered, before hanging up and slipping his phone back into his pocket. Turning around, he surveyed the members of Kitty Section... minus their guitarist.

“Where’s Luka?” Mylene wondered aloud, worry knitting her brow.

“He...” Juleka hesitated, but Rose’s comforting arm around her shoulders helped her finish, “...he wanted to try and talk her down. I told him it was a stupid idea, but he insisted.”

“If he can’t do it, we won’t be able to either,” Ivan admitted glumly.

Rose looked around the group in desperation. “But we’ve got to try something! That’s Marinette!” She cried, turning her pleading gaze on her girlfriend. “None of us liked to be akumatized, did we?”

An awkward air hung around as the rest of them either shook their heads or mumbled various “no”s and “not really”s.

“It’s not our faults we were akumatized,” the blonde reasoned. “I know I would’ve loved someone to help me fight off Hawkmoth’s butterfly.”

Juleka turned to her, a soft, solemnness to her eyes. “But would you have listened?”

Here, Rose opened her mouth to reply... then a few seconds later, shut it and slowly shook her head.

“We’ve still got to try something,” Ivan repeated, raising his drumstick. “For Marinette.”

“For Marinette,” Mylene echoed.

“For-”

“Marinette!” Nino exclaimed, finally spotting the serpentine akuma slither its way through the clouds.

It almost appeared she didn’t hear them, but finally she slowly turned to fix a hard stare on the group. Steam hissed again from her nose, as if in an annoyed snort. Something akin to frills - or spikes? - flared back and forth down her back, jet-black fading to white tips.

“Marinette!” Nino repeated, relief flooding his voice as he adjusted his glasses. “Oh, dude! We’ve been worried sick-- hey, where are you going?!”

She didn’t dignify him with an answer, turning back and returning to her course.

Nino watched her go, agape in shock.

“We tried,” Juleka heaved a sigh and patted his shoulder. “It’s up to the rest, now.”

“Luka...” she quietly wondered to herself, “... where are you? Please be safe...”

“Ugh, why am I here again?” Chloe huffed, turning her back on the group in the courtyard.

“Maybe if we use you as bait, we can keep her in one place for long enough that Chat Noir and Ladybug--” Alix hesitated, “--Chanceux can purify her.”

“That’s ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous. Do you want all of us to become fish food?” The blonde demanded. “Sabrina, we’re leaving.”

For once, the redheaded girl hesitated, watching Chloe begin to walk off.

Once she registered that no footsteps were echoing behind her, the rich girl paused, turning back with a raised brow. “Well? We don’t have all day, Sabrina - I’m already soaked enough as it is from all this stupid rain.”

All eyes fell to the girl, who shrank a little from the scrutiny. Alix and Kim looked to her in disdain, Chloe, expectant, and Max was still searching the clouds.

“I... no,” she murmured.

“What?” Chloe squinted, leaning in with a hand cupped to her ear. “I didn’t hear you. Speak up, will you?”

“I said no,” Sabrina stated forcefully, more forcefully than she meant to, judging by the surprise in her face. “I’m staying here. I...” she glanced to Max before looking her friend in the face, “I want to help Marinette too.”

It was silent for a second, save for the pounding rainstorm. Chloe was utterly aghast.

Then the blonde scoffed, whirling around and walking away. “Whatever, your loss. I’m going home where it’s warm and safe.”

“Wait, there she is!” Max suddenly exclaimed, pointing to the skies. The other students crowded around, watching a bright red line rushing through the clouds, cutting clean through the gray like a bullet.

“Marinette!” Kim bellowed as loud as he could. “We need you to stop!”

Unsurprisingly, she didn’t give a single indication that she’d heard.

Max paused, pondering something quietly to himself for several long seconds. When Chloe gave another dismissive scoff, he looked up, a newfound determination in his eyes. “I’ve got an idea; but first, who has Lila’s number?”

“Luka, where in the hell are you?” Juleka questioned.

“Nowhere you should go to in this weather,” he answered, balancing the phone between his cheek and shoulder as he got off the bike. Pulling off his helmet, he returned his phone to his hand and looked around. “Wait for me at the Liberty. I’ll be back as soon as I talk to her.”

“You’re crazy, you know that? She didn’t even listen to us.”

“She’s... so angry, right now,” he murmured, and a chord of pain struck his chest as he heard another angry roar ripple through the sky. “I’m hoping I can at least keep her for a minute - but if I’m lucky...”

“If you’re lucky, she’ll decide to spare you,” his sister huffed. After a second of silence on her end, she added, “The band is worrying about you. Hurry up and come home.”

Luka managed a chuckle at the warmth belied in her voice. “Will do.”

As he hung up the phone, he walked through the park until he finally came to the spot - and pulled out his guitar.

“Marinette!” He called, seeing her soaring above.

At the sound of his voice, the thunderous rain seemed to lessen in intensity for a moment - and so did the heat in her eyes as she turned to hover above the park.

Smiling up at her, he ran a hand through his drenched hair and pulled out a pick. “I know you’re angry right now... horribly angry... but I want you to hear something.”

Tilting her head slightly, she gave no indication she would take off.

Strumming a few chords, he began to play a song - one that he knew almost as well as his own, or his sister’s, or his mother’s. As he looked up at her, he could see her golden eyes closing, an echo of the day they met.

“Is it working?” He questioned, sparing a glance up at her hovering form. “Can I finally... be the one to calm her anger, just as she tried to bring me back all that time ago?”

The next time he looked up at her, his hopeful smile fell into a despairing gape as a familiar purple mask faded before her eyes, and they reopened - full of pain and anger.

“Marinette--!” he began, but his guitar slipped from his hands as giant, gleaming talons wrapped about him, tight enough so that he couldn’t wiggle free.

“Marinette!” Another voice yelled, and the akuma turned with a growl at the people leaping into the park.

Chat Noir and Chanceux led the charge, a group of teenagers following close behind. With them was a familiar person wrapped up like a package, angry and glaring - until she saw the akuma.

Lila squeaked, struggling against the rope. “When you said you were going to get help, this is NOT what I--”

“LILA!” The akuma’s roar dizzied them for a few moments, and the rain began to pelt them like hail.

“Marinette, stop!” Chanceux exclaimed, darting in front of the girl as the dragon dropped Luka only a foot to the ground in anticipation of grabbing her instead. “This is what you wanted, right? You wanted Lila? Why?”

“Because she hurt Marc!” The dragon snarled, eyes flashing in fury at the memory. “She ruined his comic because he stood up for me!”

“Mari, Marc is okay,” the red-and-black-spotted hero tried to soothe, raising his hands placatingly. “So what if Lila ruined ou-- his comic? He’s already planning on making a better one!”

Marc chose that moment to hobble over from the crowd, trying to smile up at the serpent with tearstained cheeks.

“Marc...” The akuma murmured, all heat gone from her voice. “Your eyeliner is running.”

“Oh, is it?” His smile dropped, and he swiped at his eye with his thumb. Sure enough, a smudge of black stained it. “Well, that’s no big deal, is it? I’m more worried about you.”

“We all need you to shake off Hawkmoth,” Alya pleaded next. “We’re here to help. You would’ve done the same for us. It’s only fair we do the same thing for you.”

“We love you, Marinette,” Rose implored. “Please.”

The akumatized girl looked back and forth between her friends, brow knit in indecision.

Suddenly Hawkmoth’s voice snarled in her ears. “What are you doing, Huangdi?! You need to take the Miraculous!”

Clenching her eyes shut in pain, she screamed as a wave of agony flooded over her through the mindlink.

“He’s hurting her!” Ivan exclaimed.

“Quick, Chanceux,” Chat said, catching the hero’s attention, “where is the akumatized item? Do you see it?”

Scanning the creature, the hero’s brow knit together in confusion - until he saw it.

“The tail,” he stated. “The object is wrapped around the tail.”

Chat looked, and indeed, it was a beaded object tightly strung around it. His throat constricted, and his heart began to race - he recognized it.

“Do we have to break it to get the butterfly?” He questioned aloud.

“I hope we don’t,” the ladybug hero answered softly. “How can we talk her down with Hawkmoth abusing the mindlink?”

A cry from the dragon interrupted their little talk, and the two looked back to see the dragon land with a thud on the ground, her magnificent length spreading across the entirety of the park as she tried to cover her ears with her talons.

“Marinette!” Alya cried in alarm, rushing over to her.

“Please, please make it stop,” Huangdi begged, tears filling her eyes.

The group froze in fear.

Then, Rose spoke up. “Group hug!”

Determinedly marching over, she reached out and wrapped her arms around one of the dragon’s, holding it to her chest as tight as she could.

“Rose...?!” Juleka questioned.

“Go away, Hawkmoth!” Rose yelled as if she hadn’t heard her. “You big meanie! Leave Marinette alone!”

Bewildered, a few of the group exchanged glances.

Shrugging, Alix and Kim walked over with confident faces and joined Rose in hugging Huangdi’s arm and shouting at the villain.

“You stink, Hawkmoth,” Kim scoffed. “Hurting our friend like this? If you were here I’d punch you right in the face!”

“Not before me you wouldn’t!” Alix retorted, squeezing the scaled appendage as tight as she could.

“What... are they doing...?” Chat breathed as more and more made their way towards the dragon.

“I... I think they’re bullying Hawkmoth,” Chanceux let out a tiny little hysterical laugh. With an incredulous smile, he shrugged and made his way over to their hostage.

“You suck, Hawkmoth!” Nino joined in, pressing himself against their friend’s side. “C’mon, Marinette, you can totally kick him out!”

“Do it for me!” Alya added, trying her best to hug her as she planted herself firmly at her throat. “Come on, Marinette, you can do it. I know you can show this bully who’s boss.”

“Go away, Hawkmoth!” Sabrina yelled in unison with Rose.

Huangdi’s eyes continued to water, and large tears spilled over the sides of her cheeks and splattered to the ground with the rain.

Luka had long since picked himself up and pressed a hand against her scaled jaw. When she looked down at him, he gave her a reassuring smile.

“You can do this, Marinette,” he encouraged. “Where’s the amazing girl that stood up to XY for us?”

“I...” The dragon sniffled a little.

Slowly, her voice began to change from its guttural timbre to something softer.

“Hey, it’s working!” Mylene exclaimed in relief. “Come on, Marinette...!”

Slowly, the dragon began to flicker - and with a bright light and a sharp scream, she disappeared, leaving a shivering, sobbing Marinette in her wake. Her classmates fell to the ground abruptly, letting out exclamations of surprise, and Chanceux was quick to dart away from Lila and towards the dark-purple butterfly trying to flutter away.

“Gotcha!” He exclaimed with pride as it disappeared into the yo-yo. “Your evil comes to an end, akuma!”

Throwing the yo-yo into the air, he followed it with “Miraculous Ladybug!”

Almost immediately a bright light pierced the sky, and a swarm of ladybugs chased it as it shooed away the dreary blanket. Slowly, the bright blue sky came back into view as the rain came to an end. Rainbows danced about as the last of the rain shimmered in the sun’s cheerful rays.

Alya was the first to get to her. “Marinette, are you okay?”

Nodding wordlessly, she collapsed into her best friend’s arms, still crying - and one by one, the rest of them joined the group hug. Luka glanced towards Chat and Chanceux, gesturing towards the pile with expectant eyes.

The ladybug hero sighed, smiling in relief as he joined in. Chat hesitated, but Nino caught his eye and pointed at Marinette. He gave in and hugged around Alya and Luka.

“I’m... I’m so sorry,” Marinette whimpered, trying to wipe away her tears. “I was just... so upset and hurt that I lost it.”

“It’s not your fault,” Marc spoke up firmly, brushing away his own tears and squeezing her arm. “Like Chanceux said, I can always make an even better one.”

“Um, hello?” Lila groused. “Right here...”

“Oh, right,” Chat remembered with a glower, turning to the Italian girl. “As for little miss troublemaker, I want you out of the class effective immediately.”

“Wh- what?” It wasn’t just Lila, but Marinette who answered. The group stared at her even as she spluttered, “Chat, are you sure--?”

“She has caused too much harm in the classroom, Mari,” he stated, his usual banter traded for a serious tone that demanded she listen. “Not just to you - now she’s involved someone from another class, and it’s not just Bustier’s problem to deal with anymore.”

“He’s right,” Juleka added. “Nathanael and Marc are my friends. I can’t just sit and watch her start bullying Marc.”

“Th- that wasn’t-- I was just--” The brunette stammered.

“You tore up something precious to him,” Chanceux suddenly spoke up, voice flickering with anger as he stared her down. “That’s something Chloe would do, sure - but you? After everything we did to try and be nice to you?”

“It’s bullying,” Chat emphasized, folding his arms across his chest. “Marinette, I know you don’t want to make things harder, but I don’t feel comfortable having another bully in the classroom after everything else that’s happened this year.”

There was a heavy few seconds of silence from the group.

Finally, Marinette swallowed. She nodded her head and admitted, “... I’m not going to argue with you. In fact, I agree. I don’t want to have to deal with that anymore. It was enough being the only one having to keep quiet - but I am not going to stand around and watch my friends get the same treatment.”

Alya pulled away with a concerned frown. “So it was true, then? She lied?”

“She lied about the connection with Dargaud,” Marc confirmed. “I assume she’s lied about other things as well, but that one affects Nath and I.”

“I can’t believe this.” The reporter shot her a disappointed stare. “I was so set to publish that interview with you, too. That would’ve gotten me so much hate if people actually contacted them and asked about you, you know? I can’t believe I didn’t even see it earlier; you don’t even like comics.”

“I- I do,” Lila defended. “I read a ton of webcomics all the time!”

“You didn’t even know the name of the studio you were promising a gig with,” Chanceux pointed out with narrowed eyes.

“Do I have to know the names of every single last place I work with, now?” She questioned, exasperated and upset. “I mean come on, not even Gabriel Agreste himself would know like half the models and agencies he collaborates with. Excuse me for having a bad memory.”

Rose shifted from foot to foot. “This one was a lie, but... surely she can’t have lied about everything, right? Who just does that?”

Marinette turned to give Chat a flat look over Alya’s head. He nodded in response.

“Chanceux, why don’t we let her loose,” he said to the hero standing near her.

Pursing his lips, the redheaded boy thought for a moment. Finally, he sighed. “Fine. Might as well; the only thing she did was serve as bait for the akuma.”

Pulling at the end of the bow, the rest of the rope sagged free, and so did Lila. She got up, rubbing her sore arms, and glared at the group.

“Now I’m wet, muddy, and have ropeburn,” she complained with a heavy sigh. “Mama is going to have a fit when she sees how dirty my clothes got...”

As she ran off, the heroes returned their attention to the pile.

“Thanks, guys, I’m feeling a lot better now.” With another sniffle, Marinette smiled weakly at her friends. “I feel so ashamed for giving in...”

“Believe me, I was really close,” Marc commented with a light laugh. “If you hadn’t jumped in front of me and took the butterfly when you did...”

“You continue to be an Everyday Ladybug,” Chat praised with a soft smile. “Don’t beat yourself up over it, Marinette. I’m just glad we were able to snap you out of it.”

Extending his hand, he added, “Why don’t I take you home? I’m sure your parents are worried sick.”

“Better idea, why don’t we have a sleepover tonight?” Alya asked, glancing around at the girls. “That way, we can keep an eye out for any more nasty butterflies.”

“I’m down.” Alix nodded. “I’ll ask my dad.”

“Sounds like fun!” Rose cheered, Juleka nodding in agreement.

“I’ll ask my dad,” Mylene said, folding her hands together.

“It’s settled.” Alya smiled triumphantly, squeezing Marinette’s shoulder. “We’re all here for you, Marinette. Just say the word and we’ll help you beat away Hawkmoth’s akumas with a superpowered stick if we have to!”

“You don’t have to,” laughed the girl as she wiped her last tear away and took Chat’s hand. “But thank you. Really, thank you. I’m glad to have you all as my friends.”

“No,” said the ladybug hero, his eyes growing soft at the pigtailed girl, “thank you for being ours.”