#probably painful to read for any native polish speaker

[krispydefendorpolice]

The Demon’s Bride (2)

So it seems the tagging worked? I hope. Thank you all for some words of encouragement. I’m glad others seem interested in the story. I finished polishing off the next chapter so I’m going to go ahead and post it tonight. The Daminette bug won’t leave me be.

This chapter is still inspired by @multifandomscribette so go check out “Gotham for Two”. And here’s to everyone else who wanted a tag. Hoping I catch you all.

@zebrabaker @poshplumcot @tog84 @luciferge @sonif50 @ravennightingaleandavatempus

@nothernbluetongue I’m not sure it worked since it couldn’t find you.

It’s a bit shorter than the last. But come on, can you blame me with a stopping point like that? I hope you all enjoy. P.S. There’s swear words ahead cuz I like the Jason that’s a little free with his words in others stories.

Previous Next Masterpost

___________________

Chapter 2

In Paris, the citizens looked at the powers that Ladybug and Chat Noir wielded and using their beliefs that life and death equals good and bad, thought Chat Noir was the one with the most potential for violence in their team up. And they were right, with the current Chat Noir as an example.

But according to Tikki he wasn’t the best suited for the Black Cat Miraculous. And if Plagg had been paired with his true holder and not just someone with the most potential, the citizens would have been dead wrong.

Ladybug was the spirit of Hope, Creativity and Life. And life? Well life wasn’t easy. It was a struggle. Every moment of every day it was a fight. Fight for food. Fight for water. For shelter, for warmth, for more, more, more. Animals knew it. An animal would fight to survive, to live, every day.

But Plagg as the Black Cat was the spirit of Chaos, Destruction and Death. Chaos was simply another name for change, albeit most changes weren’t in fact simple. Change from night to day and day to night. Change from summer, to autumn, to winter, to spring and back to summer. From infancy, to youth, to old age, to death. It was inevitable. But in its inevitability there should have been peace and acceptance. Not the bullheadedness that the current holder of the Black Cat Miraculous displayed. Not the violence and disregard for life that Chat Noir showed.

With the mugger at her feet and someone or something behind her, Marinette had to make some fast choices. But first she had to know what her options were.

She turned around and behind her stood a large man in a bomber jacket, guns strapped to his waist and a red helmet mask hiding his face. Pebbles clattering behind her, where her attacker had been, had her firing the gun which she had only moved slightly from her original target when she turned around. Instead of hitting the mugger the bullet embedded into the ground next to where his hand had been, freezing the man in fear.

“Don’t move,” Marinette said in English.

Silence followed her order. The man in the mask had frozen too. Marinette narrowed her eyes at him as she hadn’t really noticed him moving towards her but he was now a whole foot closer to her than when he landed.

Loud shuffling had her turning back to the mugger, because even though she had threatened to shoot him she didn’t really want to kill him. It would have caused an international incident and her Maman would be cross at her for causing one outside of the red and black spotted mask. The shuffling was caused by another man dressed in red with a bo staff attached to his back getting her would be mugger off the ground and out of the alley.

Jerking, Marinette reacted when she was grabbed from behind. Flipping the grabber over her shoulder she retrained the gun on the hooded assailant.

“Well that’s fucking fantastic,” he muttered behind his mask taking his own turn to stare at the business end of the gun. “Reclining, staring at a gun, thinking about where I can get one of my own that’s not currently unreachable,” he said.

Marinette frowned at the nonsensical words before realizing that he must have some kind of communication device under the helmet.

“Hell no old man,” he growled. “I’m perfectly in control.”

“Would you mind telling me why you attacked me?” Marinette decided to interrupt what seemed to be developing into an argument with the other party.

“Wasn’t trying to attack you until you started shooting at people,” he answered. He seemed to be looking at her but it was hard to tell with the mask. It was aimed in her direction at least. “Was gonna get the guy cuffed so he could wait for the police to pick him up when you started firing.”

“I started firing because he moved. And with you distracting me I had no way of knowing if it was towards or away from me. I’d rather not end up dead because you decided to play hero.”

“Any time,” he said.

Marinette was confused until another thud, this time in front of her, had her looking up and putting distance between her and these men. Of course the only way she could go was deeper into the alley.

The man that landed was possibly even bigger than the one she had laid out but considering she hadn’t taken a close look she couldn’t be certain. His costume was all black with a long cape and cowl hiding his face. The pointed ears on the top finally answered who her new attackers were. The helmet guy was probably the Red Hood, the only one in her research into the bat clan known to wear one. The all red guy was probably one of the robins. And that was the Big Bad Bat in front of her.

Not entirely sure what to do about the Bats she remained silent and kept the gun aimed at Red Hood.

There was no thud with the next drop, just a shift in the wind and movement in her peripheral vision had her turning. But it wasn’t enough for her to avoid this one’s grab or losing her grip on the gun with a well placed nerve strike of his own.

Marinette reacted by jerking her head back. The pain in her head from contact indicated it was probably his chin she hit instead of his nose. He had a grip across her body that pinned her arms to her sides and had her on top of him where they were wrestling on the ground. She had just tensed to use her body to fight his hold when he barked at her.

Two words. Just two words, but spoken in her native tongue.

An order and a name. One she hadn’t heard in years, but one guaranteed to get her to listen.

“Waqf almalak*.”

*stop angel- Arabic via google translate

__________________

So yeah, here’s chapter 2. I used google translate and will probably continue to do so for any needed translations in the future. That being said any fluent speakers that ever come across this that want to add any feedback would be appreciated.

I’m still in the establishing part of the story but again send me any questions. If I have already decided to answer in story or will answer in story I will let you know. If not I can clarify any of my headcannons.

Thank you for reading.

[perfectlinnamonroll]

Seeing the Sights [Lin-Manuel & Reader]

Summary: You never thought helping a tourist out would make such an impact on your life.

Word count: 3214

Warnings: a swearword or two, mentions of dragon slaying

Author’s notes: This is a completely platonic piece. No romance. None at all. I wrote it because, as someone eloquently put it, “I just want to be friends with Lin, is that so much to ask?”. This is exactly how my meeting with Lin would go down in a perfect universe. Self-indulgent? You bet. At first I wanted to include a scene where reader tries to teach Lin a bit of their language, but it just didn’t want to fit anywhere. Maybe I’ll post it separately later, since it was pretty hysterical. Polish is a hard language to learn, guys. Also, the reader’s gender neutral! (Just a warning - I’m not a native English speaker, so this might be a little awkward in some places. If you notice any mistakes, please point them out to me!)

“Co podać?” (“How can I serve you?”)

“Miętowe z czekoladą, poproszę” (“Mint and chocolate, please”), you said to the vendor, already excited to taste the sweet treat. It was the nineteenth of May, and that was your first ice cream this year. You always had to be careful about eating frozen food, since you were prone to catching colds, but the air was perfectly warm. An ideal day to enjoy some minty goodness.

You’ve been lucky this semester: no classes on Fridays. At first, you’ve been planning to get some work done, but seeing the pleasant weather outside you decided to get some “you” time. It’s been a while since you’ve taken a break, and your skin was yearning for sunlight.

You strolled down Basztowa Street, observing both people rushing towards the shopping mall and crows hanging around the park on your left. You liked this place; it was right in the heart of Cracow, but it never felt truly crowded, probably thanks to the greenbelt surrounding the Old Town. It was a perfect spot to people watch; something about here made you feel less lonely. Well, at least less than usual.

It was hard, starting university in a whole new city. Even though you were familiar with Cracow before, thanks to many weekend trips, living on your own was still challenging. You found yourself missing your family a lot. Making friends never came easy to you, so most of your free time was spent exploring the city and expanding your Spotify library. Not exactly what you thought life would look like at this point, but it was nice enough. Usually.

You were about to head towards the main square and check out your favourite bookstore when you noticed a man standing nearby and looking around frantically. He was the only stationary person in the smooth flow of pedestrians. That, combined with the lost expression on his face, made him stand out like a sore thumb. Was he lost?

He must have felt you staring, as he caught your eye in a matter of seconds. To your surprise he started walking right towards you. You bristled reflexively; he was definitely older than you, more or less in his mid-thirties. There was no telling what he was about to do.

“Excuse me”, he said, looking at you like you were his last hope. “Do you speak English?”

Oh. Just a tourist, then, you thought, relaxing a bit. It explained why he looked so lost.

“Sure. Can I help you?”

His relief was almost palpable. “Yes, thank you! I’ve been looking for an ATM for like, half an hour already, all those streets look the same and no one I asked was able to guide me…”

His voice sounded vaguely familiar, but you were unable to put your finger on it.

“Oh, okay”, you replied, trying to think of the best way around. “You need to go down this lane,” you gestured to a nearby street, “then turn right, go straight ahead, turn left into the third street you pass, and then the ATM should be right around…”

You stopped, watching the guy. The lost look was back on his face, and you were sure he wouldn’t be able to follow your directions properly. There was no denying that the streets of Cracow could very well be a maze to someone who didn’t know their way around.

“You know what,” you said, “it’ll probably be faster if I just go with you.”

The man brightened at the suggestion.

“Would you? I mean, thank you, but I don’t want to take so much of your time…”

“It’s fine”, you waved your hand. “I don’t really have anything to do right now. Might as well help a guy out.”

You started walking, the guy matching your pace. The silence felt a bit awkward, so you decided to make some small talk on the way.

“So I gather that you’re not from around”, you started. “Just a short visit or are you planning to stay?”

“Nah, I’m only here for a week”, he replied. “A friend invited me. Never been to Eastern Europe before.”

“Do you like it so far?”

“Yes, a lot! It has this… quaint feeling?” He gestured to the tenements around you. “It feels like time travel, a bit. Those buildings are older than my country. It’s incredible.”

“Oh, are you from the US?”, you realised. That’s what his accent suggested, but you weren’t sure before. Most native English speakers sounded more or less the same to your ears, unless they spoke with a heavy drawl.

“Yeah! You ever been there?”

You laughed.

“No, and I don’t think I ever will. Applying for a visa is a pain in the ass.”

The smile on the guy’s face dimmed a little.

“Right, I forgot you guys still have to get visas. That’s a shame.”

You shrugged. “It’s alright. Not really a fan of the US, to be honest.”

“Oh? Why?”

“Well,”, you started, without thinking too much, “your gun laws are ridiculous, for once. You don’t have Kinder Surprise eggs, too, and no paid maternity leave. The country was more or less built on genocide and slavery. Most of your population are kids of immigrants, and yet there’s so much xenophobia and racism. And don’t even get me started on your last elections, that was ridiculous...”

You ended your rant abruptly, realising your mistake a second too late. You didn’t know anything about this guy and you just insulted his home country. In a big way. You knew your inability to shut up would one day put you in big trouble, and it seemed like the day has finally come.

A heartbeat later, however, the man begin to laugh. A wave of relief crashed through you. Thank God he wasn’t offended, or this situation might have become really unpleasant.

“Fair enough”, he said, a trace of laugher still noticeable in his voice. “I can’t say I don’t agree. But there are lots of cool things about America too, you know. Oh, and by the way,” he extended his hand to you, “I’m Lin.”

“Y/N”, you replied, shaking his hand. “Nice to meet you.”

Your little chat was going so well, you didn’t even notice that you managed to arrive at the ATM in the meantime. A part of you was reluctant to leave Lin. You had fun talking to him; it made you feel much less lonely. Still, he was a stranger, and it probably wasn’t like someone more than a decade younger than him would be his ideal company on vacations, anyway.

You accompanied him as he did his withdrawal, making sure he didn’t struggle with operating the ATM. As far as you knew, most of them had the option to switch to English, but they could’ve been different from the US ones.

Things went smoothly, though. As Lin pocketed his cash, you fidgeted a bit.

“So, I guess you’re on your way to check out the rest of the city. Hope you have fun and don’t get lost again”, you said, turning around to leave.

“Wait”, he blurted out. Surprised, you stayed in your spot. “My friend works late tonight, so I’m on my own here, and… would you mind showing me around a bit?”

The request caught you off guard. He actually wanted to spend more time with you? Was this some kind of a trick? He seemed nice, sure, but who knew if he wasn’t actually a thief, or a kidnapper, or just some sort of a creep? Your doubts clashed with the good first impression, and you found yourself unable to find your words.

Lin, noticing your silence, started to fret. “I mean, you don’t know me, and you’re probably busy, it’s fine, I just-“

You took a deep breath. It’s not as if you were in some sort of deserted place, you figured. There were lots of people around; it was unlikely he would try any funny business. And it wasn’t like you had anything better to do, really.

“Sure”, you said, interrupting him. “I, um, have a day off anyway. Didn’t make any plans. So, yeah, if you want to…”

The look of surprise on his face was quickly replaced with a bright smile. “Thanks! So, where to now?”

  You showed Lin the Old Town, making sure to point out all the famous landmarks. You didn’t know all that much about the city’s history, but Lin didn’t seem to mind. Everything fascinated him – from the Veit Stoss altarpiece, to Wyspiański’s stained glass windows in St. Francis church, to the Wawel Castle. He seemed to enjoy Polish food, too, which you were adamant he tries at least once. In turn, he insisted on buying some grain to feed the pigeons on the main square, laughing as five of them sat on his shoulders.

It should’ve felt weird, hanging out with a much older guy that you barely knew, but you were really enjoying yourself. Making friends with Lin was easy, and you were glad for his company. It gave you an opportunity to hone your English, as well as see the familiar city with new eyes. And he was just fun  - asking interesting questions, constantly joking around, never missing a chance to do something silly and make you laugh.

You were in a souvenir shop, with Lin determined to at least consider buying every tacky thing he laid his eyes upon, when your phone suddenly ringed. “SILENCE! A MESSAGE FROM THE KING!” You reached into your pocket to read your message.

“Nice ringtone”, said Lin in a teasing tone. He was looking at mugs with traditional folk prints, but you could tell his focus suddenly shifted to you for some reason. He looked almost… nervous?

“Thanks”, you said. “It’s my mum’s text notification. Thought it’d be funny. You know Hamilton?”

“Yeah”, he replied somewhat absentmindedly, still eyeing the mugs.

“Well, figures, it’s much more of a thing in the US. Not many people here have heard about it”, you said, pocketing your phone and turning to browse through tote bags.

“So how come you know it?”

“Spotify thought I’d like it, and it was right”, you grinned. “It’s really good. Wish I could see it live.”

“But that’d require travelling to that hated US”, Lin joked.

You shrugged. “Doesn’t matter anyway, I don’t have the cash.”

Lin finally settled on some postcards and a plushie of the Wawel Dragon and you returned to the main square to rest a bit and enjoy the afternoon. It was around six PM, and though there was quite a lot of people, the place didn’t feel crowded. You sat on a fairly secluded bench, watching the horse carriages come and go. The clopping of hooves on the cobblestone was one of your favourite sounds, lulling you into a peaceful state.

You glanced in Lin’s direction, your attention focusing on the green plushie in his bag. It occurred to you that you hadn’t visited the statue on Vistula’s bank. A shame, since it was funny to watch people’s reactions when it started to breathe fire.

“Do you even know the Wawel dragon’s story?”

“There’s a story?”, Lin asked in return, taking the toy out of the bag.

“Oh yeah. Everyone knows it. One of the Polish classics.”

“Well then, would you mind telling me?”

“Okay, so,” you began, “there’s this den under the castle hill, right? In the legendary times of king Krakus, a dragon lived there. It was a nuisance, mostly, setting things on fire, eating livestock, killing people… You know, general dragon-y things. So the king said that whoever killed it would get to marry his daughter. It was a pretty sweet deal, so many valiant knights tried to slay the beast. They all failed, though. By which I mean died.”

Lin giggled.

“Then, one day, instead of another knight, a shoemaker’s apprentice showed up and said he would kill the dragon. He stuffed a sheep skin with sulphur and left it outside the den. The dragon soon found and ate it, and because of the sulphur, it started to feel like it was burning inside. It figured that water should fix this problem, so it went to the Vistula river and started drinking. It drank so much, its belly kept swelling with all the water, and finally it exploded. The apprentice married the king’s daughter and became the next king, and they lived happily ever after.”

“That’s one cool story”, Lin grinned. “Now I’m even more glad I bought the plushie.”

“It’s short and simple, but it’s a good one. And the moral rings true.”

“What moral, exactly? Don’t eat sulphur?”

“Well,” you said, looking at the Sukiennice hall, “Hamilton has basically the same one, doesn’t it? Anyone can become someone, if they’re clever and use their head. A bit cliché, but still relevant.”

You glanced at Lin. He kept staring at the plushie dragon, looking thoughtful.

“Think that’s the message of Hamilton?”

“Well, it’s a complicated story with many possible morals to find, I guess. It’s also about finding your voice, supporting your family, the conflict between patience and drive, about legacy, and knowing when to push on and when to take a break… But the ‘zero to hero’ one seems the most important to me. Hamilton’s story proves that hard work pays off. It says so right in the first verses, right? How does a bastard, orphan… and so on… grow up to be a hero and a scholar? He got a lot farther by working a lot harder, by being a lot smarter, by being a self-starter.”

You started rapping the verses at the end, earning a laugh from Lin. “Hey, that was mean. I know it was probably the whitest rap you’ve ever heard, but I’m trying.”

“No, it was pretty good.”

“I can hear the sarcasm in your voice. Think you can do it better?”

“And what if I can?” Lin’s smirk kept getting bigger.

“Oh, it’s a bet now? Well, I guess I could get you a coffee. But there’s no way you’d do better than my rendition of My Shot.”

“You’re on.”

You got off the bench. The hours you spent rapping along to My Shot were now finally gonna pay off. There was no way you were going to lose this.

You rapped the whole first part, stopping right before Lafayette’s verses. You were quite pleased with yourself: didn’t need to stop for breath, got all the lyrics right… There was free coffee in your near future, and you could almost taste it already.

Lin clapped enthusiastically, grinning at your performance.

“Okay”, you said, sitting down. “Now it’s your turn.”

Lin hesitated for a second. Then he hopped off the bench and stretched his arms, which earned him a laugh. Smirking, he cleared his throat and began rapping, starting at “I imagine death so much it feels more like a memory”.

And your jaw dropped.

He finished after one chorus and looked at you smugly.

You still couldn’t quite believe what your ears were telling you. But there was no mistaking that voice. Now you knew why it sounded familiar from the start.

“So I believe you owe me coffee”, said Lin, still grinning like crazy.

You struggled to find your words.

“That was unfair”, you managed at last.

Lin shrugged. “Never said I was gonna play fair.”

“I can’t believe I didn’t realise earlier.” Now that you knew, it seemed so obvious.

“Can’t believe you listened to it often enough to memorise the lyrics, but never once saw a picture of my face.”

“I was gonna check out a bootleg recording… after my exams.”

“Bootleg? Really?” Lin looked displeased.

“It’s not like I can fly over an ocean to watch it live”, you said defensively.

“Well,” Lin smiled at you. “Why not?”

You stared at him.

“You can’t be serious.”

“I am, though.”

”I still can’t afford the trip, even if you could get me tickets.”

“That’s really not a problem.”

“And why would you do that for me, anyway?” You raised your eyebrows. “I’m just a fan you met at some exotic European country on vacations. And quite a shitty one at that, because I didn’t even recognise you. You’re saying that you’re willing to pay for my plane, a hotel room, my ticket, and then fly me back?”

You couldn’t interpret the look on Lin’s face. Was it… disbelief? Disappointment?

“You’re not just a fan”, he said with a serious voice. “You’re Y/N who helped me find an ATM in this maze. Who agreed to spend their day off with a stranger giving him a tour of their city, free of charge – free of any ulterior motives, in fact. Who showed me all the best places around, fed me great food, told me a local fairytale. Without you, I’d probably waste most of that time on getting lost, and never find half of those amazing things you showed me. So, yeah, I’m willing to fly you to the US. Mostly so I can prove you wrong about that country and make you enjoy your stay as much as I enjoyed today. But also because I’d just like to see you again. I had fun.”

“So… you had fun with a fan?”

Lin groaned. “And they say that rhyming “son” with “sun” was bad.”

“Sorry, I couldn’t help myself”, you grinned. “It’s just… it all seems kinda unreal, you know?”, you gestured in his general direction. “I was just casually enjoying an ice cream this morning, and now Lin-Manuel Miranda is inviting me to the US at his expense. What’s next? Mark Hamill showing up and asking me to be an extra in the new Star Wars?”

Lin laughed.

“Well, if you’d like to, that could be arranged…”

“No”, you interrupted him. “God, no. That’s enough of surreal stuff for one day, thank you very much. Can we… go back to when you were just a nice foreign guy I randomly met? Without all that being famous, my-shows-were-on-Broadway, I-sell-out-theatres stuff?”

Lin’s smile dimmed a little.

“There’s no escaping my celebrity status, eh? Even here, half a globe away.”

You stopped, looking at him. He was right. Even on vacations on a different continent, he had no break from being the Lin-Manuel Miranda.

“I’m sorry”, you said, biting your lip.

Lin shrugged. “Well, it was to be expected. Felt nice, though, being able to be just… Lin. It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to walk around a city and be completely anonymous.”

You fell silent for a moment.

“I’m sorry”, you repeated. “It’s not like you changed in any way in the last twenty minutes. It’s just hard not to look at you differently when I found out you’re the guy I’m listening to on repeat every day. I’ve never met anyone even remotely famous before.”

“It’s fine. If I shut up before and didn’t bring up Hamilton, you probably would never recognise me”, he laughed a little.

“Fair enough. So,” you held out your hand to him. “I suggest we just go back to being Y/N and Lin, unlikely friends bonded by an ATM hunt. What do you think?”

Lin shook your hand with a wide smile.

“Fine by me.”

[myflawedfairytale]

Napisz coś po polsku :) translate ->polish

Oh dear... Jak się masz, kochanie? Kocham cię