#when you introduce two people who are destined to be besties.

[notherpuppet]

Let’s Dance

Part 4/12

Part 3 | Part 5

[lex-is-up-all-night-to-get-bucky]

I Wanna Bake It With You (A Bucky Drabble)

This is just a bit of fluff that's been kicking around my head. Not part of any story, really. No real warnings, just super fluffy headcanon-type thing. Fem!Reader, though no description listed.

Summary: Bucky's a secret baker. A guy who throws down cupcakes like it's going out of fashion as a way to handle his anxiety and nerves. And he's nothing but a ball of nerves where you're concerned.

You're friends, besties even, but oh, what he wouldn't give for something more.

Summer afternoons on the weekends in the Tower were incredibly slow.

Outside of folks on missions or at training, most everyone had made themselves scarce, out enjoying life beyond the walls that constrained them.

Which is what made Bucky feel safe enough to do what he wanted to do.

Oh, he could get out of the place if he wanted. A million and one destinations he could wander off to, curiosities he could sate, but those involved seeing people, and that was not what he wanted. at all.

No, for the last three weekends or so, he'd had the same routine on Sunday afternoon. He'd get up and train early, watching as his friends and compatriots vanished into their own little worlds, one at a time, until he was free.

Free to indulge his secret without any pesky prying eyes.

After training, he went back to his quarters and cleaned up. Throwing on the comfiest t-shirt he had, a loose pair of basketball shorts, and his slides, he tied up his hair before gathering his supplies to head downstairs to complete his mission.

So the communal floor had the largest, most decked out kitchen. State of the art, and built to accommodate feeding an army, or maybe eight average humans, two super soldiers, a shapeshifter or two, and the occasional gods or Hulk.

It was in this kitchen, he indulged one of his newest hobbies: youtube cooking.

So many recipes and different kinds of food that were available now that hadn't been when he'd been coming up with Steve, and he wanted to experience it all.

Ideally, he'd love to cook for you, but he was self-aware enough to know he wasn't anywhere close to doing that yet.

The most important part to him, at least right now, was that he got to make it himself.

It was a little thing, but just having the chance to do something that required precision and focus, that created something instead of destroyed it, brought his soul a good bit of joy, so he went with it.

Setting up his ingredients on the counter and the video on his phone, he went to work, stopping halfway through the dry ingredients to ask a favor of Jarvis.

"The usual, Sergeant?"

"If you would, please."

"Of course."

The music from your 'Yacht Rock' playlist flowed from the invisible speakers around the room as he carried on with his culinary endeavors. Mellow and gentle, it wasn't something he would have normally gravitated towards, but he'd heard it enough times that it had really grown on him. The music, and the loving sentiments it expressed, were all intrinsically tied to his feelings for you.

It was one of the (many, many) things that he enjoyed about your friendship. From the moment you'd been introduced to the team, he'd enjoyed your company. You were just a joy to spend time with. You were shy, in a lot of the same ways he was, so while everyone else could be out being extroverted, you were the two hanging back and observing. And the best part was that you could do it together.

Truthfully, you two did a lot of things together, late nights watching movies neither of you had seen, reading books, and just catching up on life in this century at his pace. Spending time with you was as easy as breathing. You made it easy.

He sighed happily as he thought about it. You made everything easy for him.

That he'd been crushing on you forever wasn't exactly a secret, regardless of how much he would have preferred it was. Stevie knew, and of course Sam and Tasha had figured it out with no prompting. Wanda, of course.

At this point, it seemed like the only person who missed his terminal case of heart-eyes where you were concerned was, well, you.

Which wasn't so bad, really, he mused as he pulled the snickerdoodle cupcakes he'd made from the oven and set them on the rack to cool. He knew he wasn't ready to take that leap and tell you anyway.

He was mixing up the frosting when one of his personal favorites came on. It was one of those little synchronicities in life where the lyrics to the song exactly encapsulated where he was emotionally.

So that was how you found him, singing into a pastry bag, belting out the chorus to Arthur's Theme. Wisps of hair were escaping the confines of his ponytail, he had flour on his cheek and swiped across his shirt, and your heart had never felt fuller.

Sometimes the best that you can do is, in fact, fall in love.

A/N: Okay, so this was a shameless little drabble that I've had in my head forever. I have this vision of Bucky baking and belting out Air Supply songs at top volume and it just brings me fucking life.

[alyjojo]

January ⛸️ 2024 Monthly - Scorpio

Whole of your energy: The Lovers

I went straight from one reading to the next, and as I was even picking up the cards to start shuffling, “What a Wonderful World” started playing in my head. Should be a good sign 🧡 In the preshuffle, some of you could be dating someone you see as a possible 10 Cups everything you ever wanted kind of person, you see a long term future with them. If so, they’re new, not old. Meditation was iffy. You had the same 2014/2024 issue as I think Virgo did, except you took the 1 off of the 14 and chucked it behind you into some body of water. You were a gruff sort of person, currently staying in a shoddy motel room, like this thing was *dirty* dirty, the whole room needed a good soap, power wash, and one of those rug cleaning people. Idk if you were on vacation, or lived there, you were unconcerned with my (sanitary?) concerns, and had a way about you that was like “don’t question me or I kill u”. So I didn’t. But um…if it’s dirty, clean it up a bit. That can’t be for everyone, not literally anyway 🤷🏻‍♀️

The Lovers shows a powerful romantic connection between you and another person, you could have known each other a long time, 6 Cups is here. Same sex is highlighted for some, and you may meet them at work, or admire what they do for work, they make you very happy and things may be moving along very quickly between the two of you. 8 Wands can be a flurry of texts, and for you to show up as Queen of Cups, you could be in love and telling them that this month. Or you’re just comfortable in your emotionally expressive energy, which for most signs is the usual - their own element - but not always with you. You’re guarded. You must really like them 🥰

What’s going on in January:

6 Cups:

Followed by Wheel of Fortune, this connection could feel destined, or the circumstances involved are too funny & serendipitous to explain, positively. You could work together, either literally or maybe even with something involving kids. Queen of Pentacles can be a person with a home business, this could be like someone who watches your kids for you, in their home. Or yours. It could also be a very dear friend, a childhood neighbor, a bestie, your kid’s friend’s single parent. If it’s not romantic, then The Lovers is a powerful partnership between two people, a soul contract even, doesn’t have to be love but it is for most. You admire this person and whatever they do, you feel like they bring joy & happiness to your life and fill it with sunshine. They deeply appreciate you too, it’s a beautiful & mutual feeling between you.

Wheel of Fortune:

Ooo, maybe one of you has romantic feelings and the other one is unaware of that. Wheel of Fortune clarified by Knight of Pentacles, again you’ve known this person a long time, worked together for a long time, maybe worked in the same building a long time and never really talked, but time is essential and there’s a lot of it invested in some aspect of this. If children are involved, there are deep bonds between you both and your own children, wanting to take it slow introducing people. I get you being the one with deeper feelings that you want to express, but you’re afraid to mess things up. You don’t want to make it weird, but also, you could feel like this is your person.

The Moon:

What you fear is 10 Pentacles rev, family tension with ex’s and kids, a solid friendship, or a stable situation you’ve created, tension at work or among coworkers, especially if you’re in a group of friends outside of just you two. What you don’t see is this person being on the same page as you are, you’re being patient and see them as a dream come true, they’re what you want. At the bottom of the deck is this person, Queen of Pentacles, and 6 Pentacles, showing it’s reciprocated, you are probably their wish come true as well. When you know, you know. I get a sense of you both kinda feeling each other out, subtle flirting even, nothing over the top. It’s just you want to take that energy and ramp it up by 1,000 let’s do this 💯

10 Pentacles rev:

You’re terrified to be blunt, laying your heart on the line, and then being rejected. You’re afraid to lose this person, afraid they don’t reciprocate or they have someone else, feelings for someone else. Most of all you’re afraid that whatever you’ve built will fall apart if you say how you feel, you’ll no longer have a good rapport with this person and everything will be lost. I think the connection is stronger than those fears, and again at the bottom, 6 Pentacles & Queen of Pentacles. They reciprocate. Give a little and they will. Maybe they have the exact same fear, you two could be mirroring each other. If you’re playful, so are they. If you’re serious, so are they. I think they look to you for direction on how to proceed, as much as you’re worried about them, so are they 💯

5 Wands:

There is perceived competition from some other person, Queen of Wands, I’m not sure where she fits. Someone you’re with now, or were with before? You may be carrying some leftover baggage from that relationship, or need to put that to rest before starting something new with this Queen of Pentacles. If you do have a new connection, there could be someone on the outside of this that feels defensive or left out for whatever reason, there is potential drama. But, again, 6 Pentacles, Queen of Pentacles, and this time, Ace of Cups - new love - is at the bottom. I think whoever this is will be worth the risk, it looks that way. Enjoy taking your time.

Signs you may be dealing with:

Heavy Virgo, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Pisces & Scorpio

Oracle: ✨

3 Slow But Steady 🐢

Don’t rush the situation. More often than not divine timing and our timing are not the same! When you try to speed up a life experience, a relationship or even a project, you circumvent necessary experiences or lessons along the way that will contribute to a perfect outcome. Know that wherever you are in this situation, it’s the perfect place for you to be. If this place is causing you anxiety - perfect. Now you can look within and ask yourself why. What are your fears surrounding this perceived delay in getting to where you want to go? What is the worst that can happen? What is the best that can happen? What if we removed the words “worst” and “best” and just let things unfold at their own pace without attaching judgement?

We enter into January as:

Princess of Amber 👸🏽:

“I quietly sizzle and shine.”

You are connecting with your passion. It is time to focus on the task at hand and not divert your attention. If you are being of service to others, you will reap great rewards. This is a sign of great abundance with selflessness. Put your eye on the work and not the rewards. You’re also being urged to stand up for what you believe in. If you are being asked to compromise yourself, you must not. You are correct to feel passionate about your position, you know intuitively what a fair request is. When your intentions are good and true, you will always land with two feet on the ground. You may be up against pretty big odds, but you mustn’t give in to what you know is not correct. Others see your worth, it’s time for you to, and have faith that you are doing the right thing.

What is to be learned in January:

Saint Apricot 😇

“I’m sorry that I have to take care of myself.”

Saint Apricot comes to you when you have been (or are about to be) freed from a situation that has you chained. This is a lesson in taking care of yourself. It’s a reminder to not give away more than you can, or it will drain you. We are not giving from a place of love if we are giving only to get. People may not like it when we focus on taking care of ourselves, but it is necessary in order to have a truthful relationship with them. If you speak the truth from your heart, then any guilt you feel is from the fear of being disliked. Feelings of shame come up when we feel we are “bad”, guilt comes up when we feel something we’ve done is “bad”. If another person no longer chooses to be in our lives, due to what’s been said or done in total honesty, it’s not our fault, it is their choice. This signifies a turn in your destiny. You are moving in a new direction towards freedom, and this opens the gateway towards more rewarding relationships in life.

Orange may be a lucky color 🧡

What a Wonderful World 🌎

[locallepidoptera]

Droplet and the red heart!

i realize now i probably should’ve introduced all my ocs before doing something like this. so basic context. pearl is the (terrible) “mentor.” donna is her yes-man (and girlfriend). mauve (college student that dropped out) is the sweet and cheery one. lime (high-school student that ran away) is the mindless complainer. edison (also a high-school student) is the realist. and thyme (also a high-school student) is. hard to describe. he’s just my favorite delusional little guy. he’s just a weirdo. weirdo protagonist.

(droplet) random angst headcanon

pearl - her weird god complex has lead to a distant relationship with her parents. she just wants to pretend they don’t even exist. they’re not needed and so they don’t exist.

donna - she used to spend most of her time cutting coupons. it was her favorite hobby. she didn’t really enjoy it though. she just wanted to see pearl happy. pearl had a sweet tooth and donna just wanted to save on all the different shit they’d need. nowadays, donna really just bakes 24/7. except she doesn’t actually like sweets. she bakes them all for pearl’s sake. donna’s actually got a really bland taste in food. girl’s favorite food is unbuttered toast.

mauve - she used to have a really good therapist. she would cancel the appointments pretty frequently. she never really ‘opened up.’ but she definitely appreciated their presence. until she dropped out and moved into pearl’s house. pearl had already decided therapists weren’t allowed. why visit a therapist when you could just. rely on pearl.

lime - the thing she misses the most is actually all the different trophies she used to own. she couldn’t take any of them with her. she won’t ever admit it though. whenever the topic of trophies comes up she likes to complain about how they’re just a waste of time. she’s one of those people who loves to hate on participation trophies. she doesn’t understand why people love celebrating. but she does like having “undeniable proof” that she’s “worthy.” that’s what her trophies were to her. proof.

edison - she doesn’t like eating. she thinks eating is tedious. she really likes taking her time except eating just takes too much time and everything keeps getting soggy too quickly and everything keeps getting cold too quickly. she’ll eat regardless because she knows it’s good for her. but she won’t enjoy it. she’ll hate it. the whole experience. she’s got a pretty admirable diet. she makes sure she’s well-fed. and adequately hydrated. she always keeps a million water bottles in her room. but that’s just because of an overwhelming fear of death.

thyme - this man’s life is a random angst headcanon. he daydreams about being a beloved philanthropist in a huge mansion living together with his best friend who diligently takes care of all his needs in exchange for an endless love. said best friend doesn’t even like him irl. thyme’s controlling and self-centered and paranoid and his friend is just here to keep him sane. once thyme starts getting irrationally bold the friend just leaves. thyme thinks this is the third act disagreement inside the disney movie they’re both living in. and is convinced that he just has to wait a week or two and his bestie will come back. he probably won’t. all of that isn’t even a ‘headcanon.’ that’s basically his whole deal. it’s a big part of his character. this is all context for the angsty headcanon. he’s liked drawing him and his bestie as a happy family since he was a kid. it’s how he got good at drawing. he keeps all the drawings in one big box. he keeps drawing similar things even after his bestie leaves. he draws them spoiling the local children. he draws them eating dessert together on their big fancy table. he likes putting having disney movies playing in the background as he draws. he has a lot of disney movies on dvd. he owns a weird amount of straight-to-dvd disney sequels. the movies all remind him of his bestie. he’s sure they’re both destined to live a beautiful movie-like life. he thinks this is all normal behavior.

(red heart) their love language

pearl - words of affirmation. she’s very much a sweet-talker.

donna - gift giving. overzealous gift giving.

mauve - acts of service. you might not think so at first glance though. she’s very touchy-feely. and a flatterer. and a longtime gift-giver. and almost never alone. her love language seems indiscernible. but eventually you realize. her being so loving is an act of service.

lime - quality time. you kinda just gotta tolerate her complaining. make her appreciate your presence. she’s subtly affectionate.

edison - quality time. the kind of person that thinks all the other love languages are just too shallow.

thyme - well. the problem with thyme is. he’s in love with love. he’ll accept any form of love. he’ll provide any form of love. that said. if i had to choose one. one that surpasses all others. physical touch.

[studiojeon]

troubled outsiders | intro - jjk

| summary | -  how you two end up pining for each other.

warnings: none :) 

content: idol!jungkook x student!oc, friends to lovers (because it’s THE superior trope okurrrt), jungkook is quiet and shy but a social butterfly when needed (and when it comes to oc but you’re not supposed to know that yet), oc is both a badass and a socially akward queen, she has TWO friends and only because one is dating the other (like... same), the Lee Charyeong is her bestie, oc works at bighit and feels like everyone either fears her or hates her, author nim is a crackhead and has no plot planned for this series whatsoever (doesn’t know if she’ll keep this up, we’ll see).

words: 1.93 k

His presence was overwhelming, to say the least. Even if he were surrounded by six hundred other equally handsome men, somehow, to you (and the majority of the female population, at that point) he was as captivating and magnetic as they come. Jeon Jungkook didn't pay no mind to no one, but sure as hell everyone became hyper aware of his existence and essence in time. And that didn’t exclude you.

Yet, as nonchalant and indifferent as the man could be perceived, in reality he was more considerate and friendly than the aura he exuded. You knew this because working in the same company had to teach a thing or two about the people who literally carried said company and the whole industry at some point, still you barely knew four or three people, including your assistant and Jungkook, whom you had met once.

The opportunity of working at the company had come to you out of the blue, quite literally, you were attempting to send one of your assignments in when an email appeared in your notifications during your sailor moon study break. 

HYBE Entertainment

We’re glad to inform you that you’re being recruited for the position of Logistics Manager in one of our sub companies, BIGHIT Entertainment. We’ve thoroughly looked through the CV you’ve submitted and are very interested in your capabilities and what you can contribute to our organization. One of our other managers will gladly meet you on a day you can both agree on. Make sure to answer this email to get more details about your interview.

“Nani!? THE FUCK?” sure as hell that your eyes and cognitive functions were deceiving you (ADHD) you went over the text a little over three times in a row before the message settled in your mind. This was sus. 

Before even considering a reply you made a quick call. “Fucking Lee Chaeryeong” you spat on your end of the line. “You did this, didn’t you?”.

Her silence was more than enough to have you cursing her under your breath. “I don’t know what exactly you’re talking about but it most likely was me. Does it have to do with a sex toy in particular?”

“No” you denied almost monotonously, guessing the pile of boxes in the corner of your room with her names on them was what she referred to. “Does anything come to mind if i mention BIGHIT FUCKING ENTERTAINMENT?”

It was her. All those conversations during the summer about how badly you wanted to work in the entertainment business as marketing staff of some sort had their effect on your friend, who, despite all your excuses and denials, knew you better than you and your mom combined did, and because of this, was sure as hell you were not making a move towards that goal whatsoever. So, being the boss bitch she was, she took matters into her own hands, was what she explained.

You concluded that was the reason you had reached a point in your life where you had more experience than most recently graduated kids in your field, because Chaeryeong had you moving every summer break. You had been the manager of a coffee franchise and convenience store during you junior and senior years, and also figured a way to improve the marketing management strategy of a fucking restaurant while at it. Not to toot your own horn, but you were kind of cool.

Or not. “I hope this job satisfies your workaholic ass for once, I’m running out of ideas”. Chaeryeong spat before hanging up.

Sure as hell it would. 

On friday afternoon, you made your way to the HYBE INSIGHT building and introduced yourself to your recruiters who promised to give you a call at some point. “It went fine” you told Chaeryeong once you were in your car. And it was the truth, however you weren’t so sure if they would actually hire you at some point since well, you were a girl in a male dominated industry and, in your opinion, there were always better people than you. “Wanna go grab coffee?”

“I want to. But, I have practice today. I’m actually on my way there. Please avoid driving through Hongdae today, this shit’s packed.” You sighed and thanked her for the heads up. You missed your friend, badly. You hadn’t seen each other in three weeks, and you didn’t even live so far away from each other (you did, but it had been worse before). You two had very agitated lives to say the least. Chaeryeong was a kpop group member, and well, you were jumping from job to job and getting your phD in Business Management at the same time. It was hard to find moments to spare together during some periods of the year, but you guess the anticipation made your encounters better.

“Talk about anticipation” you slammed your forehead against your desk, taking a breather after such an anxiety packed situation. Short story: you got the job (for some fucking reason). And you had gone through a whole week of expectancy and anguish. Not getting that job would have broken your heart, and ego at the same time. 

You guessed the law of attraction tactics Chaeryeong had taught you had sorted their effect and were what led you to your current position in life.

“Miss _____, your presentation’s ready” your work assistant gave you a comforting pat in the back as she took a seat somewhere next to you. You were nervous, shitless. It was your fifth week at the job, and being the proactive woman you were, you had collected lots of data in order to come up with a resources management plan.

It was a Thursday afternoon, and more than a hundred people sat in front of you, waiting for your speech. Including him, who you’d once bumped into accidentally during one of your data recollections runs inside the building. 

You hated having the need to impress others yet, hence your anxious behaviour. But this was a decisive moment in regards to your validation in your new job and how you’d continue to be perceived during your work stance (no reason to panic at all)… you needed to get it together.

“I think I just pissed off a bunch of old men right now,” you told your assistant right after you got off stage. “I need a bathroom break”. Linh gave you a reassuring smile, one she always had plastered on her face.

“Take as long as you need to. I’ll give you a call once the rest are done”.

The commute to the bathroom was unnecessarily complicated in your opinion. You had spent a little over a month rushing through the hallways of the building and you swore every single day your spatial orientation got a bit more fucked up. There was no way there wasn’t a single bathroom on the floor you were in, that would just be atrocious. “It’s not completed yet” someone said beside you as you stared at the half empty map the company had projected on a wall next to the elevators. “Where do you need to go?” 

Kim Taehyung of all people in the world was talking to your ugly and unworthy ass. Your breath caught in your throat and after staring for at least five seconds your body finally reacted to your orders. “Oh, um… the bathroom. I’ve been looking for it for a good ten minutes” you explained with a nervous laugh.

“Trust me, I get it. I still get lost over here” he smiled gently. “It’s in the hallway in the middle of the next hallway” 

You laughed at his very ambiguous explanation. “Thank you” you bowed your head and made your way to said destination.

It was in the hallway to your left, not your right, and it took you a while to figure out that new piece of information. Once you were staring at yourself in the mirror, you realized that you looked considerably tired and exhausted from all the social interaction you had undergone throughout the day. You were used to the side stares and whispering you’d get whenever you entered a room at that point, but some days you just wished you could get a break from them. After all, it wasn’t your fault you didn’t look Korean at all, and that you also didn’t fit the stereotype of a foreigner.

You got that from your mom, both the non Korean features and social fatigue. But that wasn’t even the problem most of the time, it was your friendly and smart nature which she had also passed onto you. Some would consider it a blessing, but to you it was a burden, like a clear glass that shielded you from introducing yourself into other people’s realities. You had few friends and people to trust, but in your everyday life you had to deal with the pressure of standing out too much and that came with a lot of negative energy from others. You sigh as you spray your favorite fragrance on yourself. You could be feeling like shit, but no one will ever catch you slipping.

But that excluded him apparently. You hadn’t noticed that on the other side of the hallway was the men’s bathroom and the realization hit you as you were calmly getting some tea from the vending machine. “Good afternoon” the man greeted you as he made his way out the hallway, but stopped in his tracks right after he noticed you. “_____! Hi” he smiled at you and you wanted to die, suddenly forgetting what you were ordering in the first place.

“H-hi Jungkook” You smiled back, poorly attempting to put your wallet back into your backpack. 

“Need help there?” he noticed your agitated state and held your bag for you. He smelled just as heavenly as you had expected, somewhat between big dick energy and flowers. Oh, and he also remained as kind and polite as you remembered him.

Seeming as if he wasn’t planning on continuing his path to wherever he was heading to in the first place, he stood quietly by your side, waiting for you to be done with your deal. “How have you been?” you break the ice for him.

Quickly, you grab your tea and start walking back to the auditorium together, unaware of your surroundings or the suspicions that could arise. “Busy, but very good. How have you been? I saw your presentation earlier… I wish I understood half of what you said but you still sounded amazing”.

And you would never admit it out loud, but you were positive you were blushing (and falling in love too - platonically, of course). “Oh god, you think so? I basically told them they’ve been doing things wrong all along so maybe you’re the only one who’s appreciative of my work” you handed him the second can of iced tea you bought without him noticing. You swear his eyes lit up like stars in the night sky. “Payback for the other day” you smile at him.

The first time you two had crossed paths you didn’t look nearly as glamorous as you did now. In fact, you looked incredibly disturbed and in pain, carrying a huge pile of paperwork in your hands. But as soon as sweet Jungkook noticed your state, he offered you a hand and somehow ended up helping through your multiple data collecting trips that afternoon. It was a nice day.

“Anytime” he took the can in his hands with a shy look on his face. “Unless I’m practicing, you know…” you look down at his feet, with huge black boots engulfing them, and you smile due to their contrast with his personality. “Here, i’ll give you my number so you can call me whenever you need to put all those papers back. Hopefully I’ll be around” he added as he pulled his phone from his back pocket.

Way to get a girl’s number, my god.

[crazy-loca-blog]

Casey Valentine: About Her Future

A/N: This has been one hell of a ride! Talking about Casey and her life has been an amazing experience. There are many situations about her future that I haven't figured out yet, that's why I'm keeping things in a very limited timeframe (around 2 and maybe 3 years after the end of her residency). Thanks a lot to @openheartfanfics for organizing this event. I've had a blast!

Meet My MC || About Her Past || About Her Present

Casey has been leading the diagnostics team for over two years now. And things have changed a lot.

As soon as she assumed her new role, she was determined to make the team the core of a system that also involves the rest of the departments at Edenbrook. And she uses her friends for it.

Casey, Ines and Jackie are implementing a special program to evaluate interns and residents in order to discover outstanding doctors that may support the diagnostics team and other areas in the hospital after their boards. It follows a lot of the guidelines that Ethan used when they were interns, but it also gives selected residents an opportunity to assist the diagnostics team in some cases in order to improve their skills.

Elijah and Zaid became her go-to people when it comes to studies and reseach, especially in those cases where experimental treatments are the only option for patients.

Sienna quickly became a team favorite. As the best pediatrician at Edenbrook, every time the team receives a pediatric case, she is involved in the course of treatment of the patient. Casey is considering to offer her a permanent spot in the team.

Bryce's research skills when it comes to evaluate surgical options for patients are brilliant, so he frequently helps Harper by giving her second opinions on certain procedures. He also covers for her as member of the diagnostics team every time she's on leave.

When a patient needs rehab after some surgery, Rafael is the one in charge of the process. The results his patients achieve in their recovery are proof that he has all the profesionalism, the patience and the work ethics the team needs in their collaborators.

As per Baz and Ethan, Casey convinced them to keep collaborating with the team on an ocassional basis. They are one of the best immunologists and the best diagnostician in the country, so she needs their brains in her team, even if it's not permanently. They assist in the hardest and most enigmatic cases.

Despite all their efforts, the team can't accept every case they receive. And that's when Kenmore help is appreciated. A year ago, Tobias, Casey and Aurora developed a collaboration project between the diagnostics teams of both hospitals, which now allows both Edenbrook and Kenmore to help twice the amount of people they used to assist when they worked separately.

Of course, none of this would be possible without Ethan's help. As Chief of Medicine, he has the power to approve most of Casey's projects, so he's been making a very good use of a position that he wasn't convinced to accept at first. It's definitely been a win-win situation when it comes to team work between Dr. Ramsey and Dr. Valentine.

Despite of them being very private when it comes to their personal lives, there is no doubt that Casey and Ethan are relationship goals. If seeing them working together in the past was a delight, the way they've been ruling Edenbrook after becoming official has certainly helped them become the power couple the hospital needed.

Because you can definitely tell they're not only great partners, but also each other's best friend. Their nonverbal communication skills are at a whole different level and they certainly boost each other in a way you can tell they're the best thing that has ever happened to the other. They're in love and it shows.

That's why no one was surprised when, after 8 months of becoming official, they decided to move in together.

But everybody was surprised when Ethan proposed only a few months afterwards. Except for his dad and her brother (who were the only people who knew about his plans), literally no one saw it coming, not even Casey (because yes, Ethan has mastered the art of surprising her).

They almost canceled the wedding... twice. The stress of their jobs plus the chaos that involves planning a wedding was beginning to affect their wellbeing as individuals. It wasn't a big issue for any of them: Casey never cared about having a ring on her finger and they both knew that nothing about their relationship would change if they didn't sign a piece of paper, as they were certain they had sealed the deal a long time ago.

The thought of an elopement also crossed their minds... and right when they were about to do it, Sienna came up with a brilliant idea to save their original plan: a micro wedding, that took place 6 months ago.

These newlyweds like saying they have a family of four: Ethan's dad and Casey's brother are pretty much the only relatives they have, so they consider them part of their household. They even have their own rooms in their new home in Boston!

They'd both agree that getting used to wear a ring has probably been the hardest part of their marriage, even when they cared about buying bands that were "compatible" with their jobs. But they are pretty sure that if they take it off, they'll end up losing it, so they kind of gave up. They expect to get used to it over time.

When they're not at work, they love exploring all the hidden gems that Boston has to offer. They've found a bunch of great places thanks to Rafael's recommendations, but they have also discovered a lot of new places by themselves. That doesn't mean they don't enjoy a good date at home after an exhausting day at work or getting lost and disconnecting from the world for a full weekend without telling anyone where they are.

This philosophy of discovering new places also applies to their holidays. Sometimes they'd go to well-known places, but they both agree that their favorite trips are those where they visit underrated destinations. Of course, they also leave a few days to visit Alan in Providence and to go to Casey's home in Virginia.

Kids? They have talked about it, but they don't feel ready to take that step yet. Not only their jobs are very demanding, they both have some baggage they need to get rid of before thinking about becoming parents. They're not in a hurry though, they're convinced that everything happens for a reason... they are happy, and that's all that matters.

She may not live with them anymore, but the roomies (and the rest of the gang) are still incredibly close. Casey still has lunch with whoever is available almost every day, and they still have a booth with their names on it at Donahue's.

When Casey moved in with Ethan, they didn't search for a new roomie. With the exception of Sienna, they all were attendings, so it was easier for them fo afford Casey's part ot the rent. They decided to turn her room into an office they all use a lot.

And none of them has the intention to leave their apartment any time soon. Housing in Boston is incredibly expensive, and they know none of them could afford a place like the one they have by themselves. This also gives them a chance to get rid of their med school debt a little faster.

Jackie, Aurora, Sienna and Casey also host a "girls just want to have fun" event at the apartment whenever Elijah visits his parents. It's a bonding tradition they started during their residency and they have no intention to finish any time soon. Sometimes, Kyra (when she is in town), Ines and Angie join them as well.

Bryce is the person she relies on when she needs a brotherly figure. She can definitely see a lot of her brother on him, and he always seem to have the right answer to everything. He also had to get a bigger place, as Keiki returned to Boston after being accepted at Harvard. Casey and Jackie guided her to attend med school... and convinced her to become a diagnostician.

The gang never knows when Kyra is going to make some surprise visit. She's been travelling around the world for a long time now, but she's been back home a few times for special ocasions. The last time they saw her was for Casey and Ethan's wedding.

Sienna and Casey have been exchanging recipes for a while now. Casey can cook to survive, but Ethan takes cooking to a whole new level, so Sienna usually comes to the rescue when her bestie needs help.

Casey is also playing matchmaker between Sienna and Rafael. She has been observing the way they look at each other for a while, and she's convinced they would make the cutest couple ever. Because beautiful souls deserve to be together. So yeah, she most definitely will introduce Sienna and Rafael's vovo very soon with some "help me cook dinner" excuse.

Tags: @adiehardfan @izzyourresidentlawyer

[fiddlepickdouglas]

Viva Las Vegas, Pt. 10 - Clean This Up

Summary: Sunset Curve Alive AU, Willex, who is he really?, 2.9k

@trevor-wilson-covington is the bestie who makes these lovely edits, we stan supportive friends

WARNINGS: abuse, mild violence

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9

Alex had said to check the diner, so Victoria opted to have dinner there and asked to see the owner. She was aware of the vigilante-style work she was doing, but with everything else going on in her life, this couldn’t possibly hurt any worse. Folding her hands, she breathed calmly as she peeked at the menu. It was important not to act as authoritative as she usually did, she reminded herself. A portly man with short gray hair and a mustache came over and took the seat across from her.

“Hi there,” the man said, shaking Victoria’s hand. “What can I do for you?”

“Hi, I’m Victoria Molina,” she introduced herself. “I was actually trying to find someone and I was told you could help me.”

The man raised his eyebrows in surprise.

“Oh, alright. Who are you looking for?”

“I’m looking for a young man of about seventeen, he goes by Willie? I was told he works here. I just have some questions for him. Would he happen to be in at all today?”

“We don’t have anyone named Willie here anymore,” the man told her. “I actually just bought this establishment along with the hotel about two weeks ago and a few of the staff followed the previous owner to a different business. You might want to talk to him instead.”

“Oh,” Victoria sat back in slight disappointment. “I take it you’re not Caleb Covington?”

“No, he’s the guy I bought it from. I’m Frank Wolfe. I can give you his contact information, though.”

Nodding, she smiled politely.

“I would appreciate that. Sorry I had to come bother you, though.”

“Not at all,” he said. “I apologize that I can’t be any more useful. If you like, I can take your order.”

“Oh, thank you. I’ll actually have the carne asada.”

“Perfect,” he smiled as he took her menu away. “I’ll have that information for you in just a minute, too.”

Taking a gulp of water, Victoria sighed. It certainly felt just like any regular case. The fact the business had recently changed hands made her want to be suspicious, but she fought to remain level-headed. It was enough that she was going off the word of a teenage boy and an old poster. If it was a dud, if this trip led nowhere, she would buy Carlos a gift and head home safe and sound.

After finishing her meal, she returned to her hotel room and pulled out the business card Frank Wolfe had given her. Something about the dark purple design and the old-fashioned lettering he’d chosen made her feel like Caleb Covington was at least a little pretentious, if not flashy about his business. Picking up the phone and dialing the number, she held her breath waiting for an answer.

“Caleb Covington, who may I be speaking to?” a baritone voice chimed on the other end. The touch of sing-song in his tone was unexpected.

“Hi, my name is Victoria,” she introduced herself for the second time that night. “I was told you were the guardian of a young man named Willie?”

“Are you with social services?” he asked.

She furrowed her brow. “I’m sorry?”

“I usually only get a call when we have a hearing scheduled, but our last one was just a couple months ago.” His tone had gone from happy to serious at such a jarring speed it took Victoria a moment to process his words.

“No,” she said finally. “No, I’m not with them. I didn’t mean to confuse you. I’m actually reaching out on a personal favor. See another young man I know says they met a while back.”

“Oh, is it the band that came through a few weeks ago?” Caleb immediately picked the cheer back up.

“Yes, I’m glad you remember,” she responded, surprised.

“How are those boys doing?”

“Oh, they’re just fine. I think they’re gonna be a success.”

“Good to hear it,” he said. “Listen, no harm done. I own a swanky little club just in the south of town. I would be delighted if you gave me a visit, and I’d be happy to chat.”

“Sounds great, thank you,” Victoria smiled, unable to believe how easy that felt. “I can stop by tomorrow evening.”

“Wonderful. If it isn’t too much, I’ll make you a reservation.”

“Well, I can’t say no to such generosity!” It had been a long time since Victoria had gone on a night out. This was a much needed vacation, and if it killed two birds with one stone, all the better. She said goodbye and decided since she was practically getting everything she needed at the club, the rest of the day would be spent treating herself for once.

Willie skateboarded up the driveway and only just remembered Caleb’s rule about the pool in time to hop off before pulling off his helmet and going around the back. He took the back route into the house and dropped a number of grocery bags on the counter. One of these days he would age out of the foster system and not spend the morning being Caleb’s errand boy, but for now he just laid Caleb’s credit card on the table and went outside toward his shed.

Opening the door, he saw Caleb standing in the middle of the room, looking around at all of his drawings. Paper covered most of the walls now. Faces with no names to them, locations with no map to their destination - only snippets of a past life. Willie couldn’t stop drawing them. There still weren’t many memories returning to him, but any detail was an important one. He hadn’t drawn this much in ages, since before he found Sheldon. The backwards dream had become a recurring one by now, and there was still very little that he understood about it. Still, he had so many scenes made out of it that he could almost recreate the dream in a very rough animation.

“Hi C-Caleb,” Willie stammered. This never happened. It made him immediately nervous.

“What a collection, William,” Caleb said, not exactly sounding like an awed patron in a museum. “I mean, the sheer volume of work that went into these is absolutely mind-blowing.”

A small pebble of pride rose in Willie’s chest.

“Really?.... Um, thank you.” He couldn’t suppress his smile.

Caleb held up a hand and looked down at his well-manicured nails, and then back up.

“I just don’t understand why I look so hostile in this one,” he said, pointing to the picture in question. “And that one. And all of these in this corner.” His gaze returned to Willie with unprecedented menace.

Willie immediately shrank away, his mouth gaping open.

“Well...I..they’re from a dream.”

“A dream?” Caleb repeated, not liking what he was hearing.

“Yeah, I think it was a memory.”

Willie watched the man straighten his posture, a calculating expression on his face.

“Are these all memories?” Caleb asked after a tense moment, casting his eyes about the room.

“I think so,” Willie said hesitantly.

Caleb lifted a hand and grabbed the bottom of one. It was the first one WIllie had done of his dad sitting inside the truck and smiling at him.

“Hm,” was all that he said for a second.

And then he tore it in half.

Willie made toward the picture in alarm, feeling a part of him inside being torn just the same, but was stopped as Caleb held a hand out.

“Ah ah,” he said. “What have I told you about becoming your own person regardless of the past?” He took a handful of another drawing and ripped that one too.

Ignoring what Caleb said, Willie lunged forward to try stopping him anyway. Caleb was faster, grabbing his shirt and tossing him backward into the wall. He couldn’t help but begin crying.

“But these are my memories, why would you - ” he sputtered, lost for words.

“Because, William,” Caleb continued loudly, pulling as many as he could off the wall and shredding them into smaller pieces. “Your history? The one full of loss and being shuffled here and there? That is all that awaits you. You know it’s the truth; that’s how you ended up here. I offer you the opportunity to become a new person, and I can’t allow you to spoil yourself with reminders. And besides, those little friends you not-so-secretly made a few weeks ago have started snooping around in my business, and I can’t have that.”

He didn’t even pick anything up, he just left paper strewn all over the floor and walked all over it. As he made for the last wall, Willie made one more attempt to overpower him. He leapt onto Caleb’s shoulders and tried to pull him back with all his weight. A fist landed in his eye and he slacked his grip. Caleb wrestled him onto the bed and held him down, a crazed look in his eye that Willie swore he’d never seen no matter how familiar it felt.

“I don’t understand, what do they have to do with it? Why can’t I have friends?”

“I’m doing this for your own good,” Caleb hissed at him. “You” - he reached up and touched the scar on Willie’s head with his finger - “You got a reboot and you know how many people are lucky enough for that? You should thank me. Unfortunately, you can’t have friends when they send someone asking me questions about that little past of yours. That’s just asking for trouble.”

All Willie could do was hold his eye and lay back as Caleb tore up the last of the drawings. Once he finished, Caleb patted himself off and made his way out the door.

“Clean this up,” he told Willie. “And don’t bother doing any more art.”

As the door shut behind him, Willie scrambled onto the floor to search for just one of the drawings. Shuffling through smudged pieces of paper, he saw a few tears drop onto his ruined work. Eventually, he held the picture of his father in two pieces in his hands. Sobbing, he tried to hold them together evenly, but Caleb’s work had made that hard to do. His only hope was to try drawing it again, but he was already terrified of what Caleb’s reaction to that would be if his first one had been this.

A piece of another drawing caught Willie’s eye from underneath. He recognized Caleb’s snarling face from the dream and was surprised at how well it captured what he’d just witnessed. His mind went back to the way he knew the look in Caleb’s eyes. Suddenly, the awful realization dawned on him: he finally understood the dream.

Victoria walked into the club that evening, glad she had taken the time to look and feel fresh. This place was clearly up to snuff and then some. A live band played with dancers scattered throughout, all in bright, sparkly, feathery getup. A tall man with neatly styled dark hair was mesmerizing the crowd as he sang, keeping the energy high. As she was led to a table, Victoria simply sat and watched, greatly impressed with the talent.

Once the man’s solo finished, he bowed, gestured at the band to play on without him, and exited the stage. To Victoria’s surprise, he took the seat directly across from her.

“Ms. Victoria, you look so lovely, how are we this evening?” he asked with a charming smile. “I’m Caleb Covington.”

“Are you kidding me?” she started. “That was you up there? You’re a man of many talents; I’m already dazzled.”

“Oh, well, I hope that remains a constant while you’re here,” he said. "But you came to ask me about some other things, what were they?”

“Yes, I had some questions about Willie.”

Willie sat outside the bodega, unwilling to move for a while. He felt like everything inside of him was empty, as if Caleb had possessed claws and dug everything out until he was left hollow. The many ideas that had risen in his mind in the past few hours were all too much, all at once. If he dared, was he sure he could handle everything that might come his way? Every time he’d heard that ridiculous speech about starting over, becoming his own, yada-yada, he hadn’t considered any of the options he was now contemplating.

He’d already done some things. Already bought some things. Now he got up to collect Sheldon and held him tightly as he nodded to Escobar, who saluted him back. The man had said he didn’t want a dramatic thank you. Stuffing the items he purchased in his bag, he kept a hold of Sheldon as he skated off into the darkness.

“So, you see, Willie isn’t missing. He was abandoned,” Caleb was saying to Victoria. “Poor thing has struggled to adjust. I’ve dealt with some handfuls in the past, but I really have been doing the most for him, and he’s been with me for more than three years. I think it’s really sweet of those boys to raise a concern, and I hate to be a dead end, but that’s the truth of it.”

Victoria sat, nodding in acceptance.

“That makes a lot of sense, Mr. Covington, thank you for providing that for me.”

“Oh, call me Caleb. We’re all friends in here.”

“Okay, then, Caleb,” she corrected. “What got you into foster care?”

He put a hand over his heart and a fond look came over him.

“The youth are just full of so much magic, and I hate to see that their parents have chosen to lay it to waste. I’m the one who takes some of the tougher cases so I can bring out the best in them. You see that young man over there, Dante?” Caleb pointed at one of the dancers. “Classic rebel when he was young. You wouldn’t even know, he’s turned into such a gentleman. There’s a few more here and there in the club. I call them my graduates.”

“Well, I will tell you,” Victoria said. “When I first talked to you on the phone I wasn’t expecting you to be so generous. But now I can see that it’s just how you are.”

Caleb shot her a playful smile.

“Victoria, no need to butter me up. I do have some tight business practices to keep up.”

Fluid poured over every inch of the shed. Willie had made sure it was more than enough to get things going. He’d made sure to get the essentials: food for himself and Sheldon, a few changes of clothes, and a stash of money he’d taken from the safe in Caleb’s bedroom. The man shouldn’t have given him the combination in the first place.

Stepping out of the shed he looked at it one last time. What a sad, lousy existence. Living to perform for this man who shut him up inside this little thing and he had actually called it home? The further he was into his plan, the bolder he began to feel. He remembered when he had missed getting into the Pearl and that feeling of wrongness that had made him so frustrated. This feeling he had right now? It was so right. It was so right it drowned out anything scary about this whole idea.

He looked back at where he had put Sheldon on a small leash and tied him along the fence around Caleb’s backyard. It was definitely a safe distance. Then Willie pulled a box of matches out of his pocket, lit one, and looked at the flame for a minute. He held it just over the threshold of the doorway so it would land inside. It was so weak, like he had been ever since his accident. But he knew it was going to become so powerful, and he desperately hoped that he could retain some of that power for himself.

“Clean this up, Caleb,” he said, and he let his fingers go.

Victoria had stayed just a little longer to enjoy more food and music before standing up and heading toward the door. Caleb saw her on her way out and made her stop for a moment.

“It’s been a lovely night, and I’m grateful for everything you told me,” she said to him.

“Well I’m glad you took the opportunity to see what I have here,” he replied. “If you’re ever in the city again, please stop by. We’re always partying and putting on the best show.”

“Oh, I most certainly will,” she said, smiling as she made her way outside.

Someone tapped on Caleb’s shoulder from behind. Wordlessly, he turned to see who it was and why it was important.

“Sir,” one of his servers said. “You have a phone call. It’s the fire department.”

“What?” Caleb spat as he went to pick it up.

Willie sped along on his board the best that he could with Sheldon in his arms. He carefully made it down the ramp onto the freeway, controlling his speed as well as he could. He could picture Caleb now, just getting back to his home, eyes wide as he came upon the blaze. It was a very strange feeling, but right now Willie chose to focus on his newfound freedom. The cost wasn’t the matter right now. Freedom was all that was going to take him and his cat as far as they could go. The destination for now was Los Angeles.

[vitalityofficial]

Vitality LORE ACT 1 - The Girl: Prologue

VITALITY LORE // A1 - The Girl

Summary: We are introduced to a young girl whose life is about to change forever. After suffering a devastating loss, a mysterious man will eventually come into her life and begin his dark path of vengeance. The girl is only the beginning.

Warnings: Death, Cursing, Mentions of Blood, Bullying, Depression, PTSD, Anxiety

Wordcount: 1,778

School had been out for an hour now and all her friends had gone home. Why hadn't her parents come yet? They never took this long! And why haven't they called? She took her phone out, dialing her father's number and it rang and rang before going to voicemail.

"Dad! I'm still waiting. Are you okay? I'll wait for fifteen more minutes and if you aren't here, I'll walk home! I'll take the special kimchi route, okay? I love you!"

The 'special kimchi route' is a series of alleyways littered with various family-owned shops - one of those shops owned by an older woman who had the best kimchi dishes around and one her family ate at often.

The girl frowns after the fifteen minutes are up and finally hops off the swing, grabbing her book bag and sighing. "Traffic must be bad today," she reasoned, leaving the gated school property and making the long trek home. She still found it odd that neither had contacted her, but her mother's cellphone was being repaired and her father was old and sometimes didn't pick up service well. They lived far up in the hills - the rather "poor" part of Seoul, tucked far away with the main city in the distance - and any nearby payphones were broken and left to rot.

As she walks and walks, she can't help but to hum a happy tune, feeling perky despite everything. Her birthday was in 5 days and her parents had promised to take her to Busan for a whole week! Her best friend had moved there last year and the two didn't get to keep in contact so it was the perfect way to celebrate a special day.

"You! Child!" A gruff voice spoke from a darkened corner and she yelps when a frail hand grabs her arm, spinning her around. "Grandma! You scared me!" She laughs, hugging the older unrelated woman. She was a well-known resident to all in the small neighborhood and the girl's family was very familiar with her.

“It’s so awful, child! Truly terrible!” The elderly woman murmurs, her eyes wide and pupils as big as saucers. The girl frowns and a look of concern comes over her face - word around was that Grandma was not well and often spouted eccentric things but the other residents often did their best to take care of her as there were no known relatives around. “Are you okay, Grandma? Shall I help you home? It’s getting chilly out.” The girl softly grabs her hand, guiding her in the direction of the woman's house.

“I am so sorry, my sweet girl. You are to endure so much pain and it is not fair for you were destined for so much good.” The old lady rambles as they walk but the girl brushes it off, use to it. When they reach the final hill - which happens to split off into a fork - the girls home on the right and a cliff just across the weather-beaten road and the woman’s on the left - they are overwhelmed by the flashing lights of multiple police cars and an ambulance.

“What’s going on?” The girl panics as she takes everything in, immediately dropping the old lady’s hand as she rushes towards the commotion. She had never seen so many people gathered around this area and to her horror - right in front of her house!

"Was there an accident? What happened?" She pleads with an officer, who immediately stops her from crossing the tape barrier. "It's not safe, young lady. Please stay back!" The female cop grasps the girls shoulders, pushing her back. It wasn't soon enough though as the girl peaks around her, seeing a trail of blood that went over the cliff edge - something truly abnormal and mortifying.

“That’s my home! Where's are my Mother and Father?” She was panicking now - something clearly wasn’t right. Her parents were never late picking her up from school or activities and to come home to this...mess...The girl knew now that something terrible had happened and there was no hiding it from her. “Mama? Papa?” She screams desperately, tears instantly flooding down her cheeks.

The officer gave her a solemn look before turning to her superior, the two whispering among themselves for a couple of minutes. When they returned, the woman put a reassuring hand on her shoulder and guided her away from the commotion, sitting on a bench with her - a bench the girl often sat on with her Father when they ate breakfast and waited for the school van to pick her up each morning.

The officer didn’t waste much time breaking the news. “My dear, I am afraid your Mom and Dad had an accident and are no longer with us in this world.” Though her voice was gentle, it was clear that breaking such awful news to a child wasn’t something she did often, or even wanted to do.

The girl sputtered, unable to form any words. She looked around for the Grandmother but the woman was nowhere in sight now. “Mama...Papa?” She cries out weakly - the thought of never seeing them or speaking to them ever again filling her with an overwhelming sense of despair, leaving her gasping for air.

Everything went black then.

7 Years Later - (2016)

“Yah! Chaewon! Are you even listening? Hey! Watch out!” A firm hand grabs the girl's arm and yanks her backward just as a delivery scooter races past, beeping madly. “Are you spacing out again? What is with you?” Areum looked at her friend worriedly, the rapper of the triangle kimbap she was holding in her opposite hand crinkling loudly.

“Huh? What did I miss?” Chaewon snaps out of her funk, a tentative smile on her face. Areum groans in response, rolling her eyes as she takes a bite of her snack. “I said,” she begins with her mouth full of food, “I was thinking of asking Kangdae out. Isn’t he handsome, yeah? He’s not like the other boys in our class.”

“He’s a bit dumb, isn’t he?” Chaewon mutters. Sure, he was cute and had muscles but he wasn’t exactly known to be bright and was at the bottom of their class in terms of grades unlike Areum, who was in the top five.

Areum groans and smacks her friend on the arm. “Don’t be so rude, Unnie! He’s not stupid, okay? He just doesn’t really like studying but he’s a good person! He wants to get into music and he’s really good at it too! You should listen to one of his tracks he’s produced!” She goes to pull out her phone, biting her lip as she scrolls through some files.

“Maybe another time, yeah?” Chaewon waves dismissively at the cellular device her friend holds out to her. “I have to get home.”

“Let me walk you!” Areum offers, linking her arm through Chaewons. She was understandably concerned about her friend - who had been experiencing sporadic blackouts for a couple months now - and wanted to make sure she got home safely. “I mean, you did just nearly get shit on by a scooter while having one of your...moments.”

Chaewon shook her head, “No! I’m fine! Plus you know how my parents are.” Areum pouts, grumbling. “They have to be the lamest parents on earth if they won’t let their daughter bring a friend home. We’ve been besties since forever and I’ve never even met them! Ugh...”

"Yeah. They’re...strict and really embarrassing, to be honest. You’re not missing out on much.” Chaewon huffs, checking her phone for the time. “I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah?” She forces a smile at her friend, pulling her school blazer around her tighter as suddenly a chilly breeze whipped through the air. The two said their goodbyes and went their separate ways.

As Chaewon walked, she couldn’t help but feel guilty for being so distant lately. Areum had been a true friend to her ever since her move to Gwangmyeong. She was the first student to welcome her. The first to defend her against the snotty students who picked on Chaewon for being sullen, quiet and “weird”. Prior to the...incident, she had no real issues with bullies and was rather well-liked by her peers.  She had since become the opposite version of former herself - the girl her parents adored was gone and she had no proper concept on how to defend herself or react to the other student's harsh words and actions.

So why was she so rude at times? Why did she lie to someone she considered her best friend? Chaewon had come to the conclusion that it was a defense mechanism of sorts. The only way she could deal with everything was by lying about her life outside of school. It made it easier to pretend - the façade she had created was an escape, albeit still very bleak, much like the truth.

The sounds of the city center grew more distant as she reached the iron gates of her “home”. Her slender hand gripped the cool iron and pushed it open slowly, the squealing of the metal sending a shiver down her spine. Laughter could be heard flittering from the playground behind the old stone building that housed 13 other kids just like her:

Orphans.

The Seojun house for orphans wasn’t too terrible - the food was edible on most days and the rats and roaches were few and far between as of late. The couple who ran it weren’t the kindest and had clearly become burnt out after running the institution for the past 20 years. If they hadn’t been getting a good sum of government money to run it, they most definitely would have abandoned the ominous place long ago. What made the place tolerable were some of the staff, like Mr. Kim.

“Welcome home, Miss Lee!” Mr. Kim - the designated maintenance and security man --  greets Chaewon with a cheery smile as she approached the front door. He even stops raking to open it for her, bowing and motioning with a hand for her to enter as if she were royalty.

“Ah! yes! Home sweet home! Thank you, Mr. Lee.” She manages to muster a smile, bowing as she walks through the familiar doors and sighing loudly. Her smile falters as she is out of the caretakers sight and the familiar sense of dread slowly overcomes her once again.

[bigskydreaming]

thehollowprince said: And I also stand by the opinion that they could have just done a solo run of the O5 X-Men starting a new timeline with the information they got from the future.

thehollowprince said: Its not like Marvel doesn’t constantly do AUs and retcons

OMG Josh you have no idea how bad I wanted this. They could’ve done SO MUCH with that concept. Letting the 05 keep their foreknowledge and the world they could have created with that?

They could’ve averted the initial Krakoan mission and saved Darwin, Gabe, Petra and Sway in the first place. They could have all been X-Men from their Day One, Scott and Alex would have actually gotten to KNOW their brother and Gabe quite possibly would never have gone full Dark Side despite the writers apparently now seeming obsessed with the idea there’s just something innately bad within Gabe that’s always destined to bear fruit at some point, ugh, whatever, like who do you think you are, Kant?

They could’ve recruited the Giant Size X-Men lineup earlier, and saved John Proudstar, who side by side with his brother Jamie, are a force to be reckoned with. 

They could have convinced Pietro and Wanda to join them instead of the Avengers and been like no but seriously that way lies nothing but shitty storylines and bad decisions that will be blamed on you by your teammates despite the fact that any and all of the bad decisions that were ACTUALLY yours could have been averted if any of your teammates were capable of functioning as an actual support system. Come join us. We have actual support systems, except for the times when we don’t, but we recruited Deadpool to break the fourth wall and he and Logan are currently cutting through the ranks of every writer who would write as hating and fighting each other instead of being a loving fucking family goddammit.

Jean could have faced the Phoenix head-on when the time for that came, using her knowledge of the future not to fear an inevitable death, but rather to know she had nothing TO fear, that the power to not control this force, but just be ONE with it, with no NEED to control it or be controlled by it, a symbiotic union, two beings in harmony deciding on courses of action together. The Phoenix’s innate powers and prerogative of rebirth and destruction tempered by Jean’s mercy, aimed and focused by Jean’s reason, the double-edged sword that is fire capable of warming homes or destroying them completely combined with Jean’s conscience guiding it to use its power for the former rather than the latter.

They could have stopped the Legacy Virus from getting out and killing millions as well as spared us from migraines induced by an AIDS metaphor so shitty at being a metaphor most people forget it was literally written to be an AIDS metaphor.

The body swap would never have happened and Kwannon could have joined the X-Men as a full member from the time she was introduced, rather than dragged along in the wake of Betsy’s tangled storylines for a couple decades.

They could have stopped Fitzroy from killing the Hellions. Hell, if they train Illyana early enough and have her mentored by Wanda who is perfectly fucking competent when left to her own devices, then like, maybe they can even take a jaunt to the future to save Fitzroy from dying in the first place and being resurrected with no soul. Not gonna lie, ever since then I’ve kinda been seriously interested in what the hell would a hero version of Trevor freaking Fitzroy even BE like, y’know? Call it morbid fascination, but like. I kinda want it, guys. LOL.

Add to that note, they could have taken another jaunt to the future and rescued Rachel from being made into a Hound by Ahab. Through the power of some convoluted plot tangle I just made up for convenience, Scott still ends up in a relationship with Maddy briefly, in one of those self-fulfilling prophecy type things where he went into it with the full intention of just averting the future and saving Maddy from her fate as the Goblyn Queen, but somehow ended up in a love triangle with a very alive Jean and Maddy who is fully informed of Sinister’s shenanigans and quite displeased with that asshole, and look, I don’t know how all of this goes exactly, but let’s cut to the chase, my only real endgame with this is making sure that Nate’s born properly, saved from Apocalypse and the techno-virus by the combined efforts of Scott, Maddy and Jean as well as Uncles Warren, Bobby and Hank, and Jean calls up the Phoenix through some psychic bond or whatever and is like hey girl, can I hit you up for a loan real quick? Got some losers that need toasting. 

And in this AU the Phoenix totally has her back, and one brief cosmic power-up and gratuitous Sailor Moon transformation later, Jean glows and intones some epic one-liners with appropriate gravitas, and then just punts both Apocalypse and Sinister to the far side of the universe, never to be seen or heard from again. They like, hit a black hole on the way there I guess. It was very sad. Violin strings may commence with the requiem. Okay that’s enough, they can stop now.

So then through the plot contrivances of fuck you, I said so, Scott and Maddy ultimately part amicably and Scott and Jean get back together and the three of them civilly co-parent both baby Nate and Rachel, as Maddy keeps the healing powers she gained as Anodine and stays with the X-Men for her own reasons.

The telepaths are all better trained by the expertise Jean gained in her powers while in the future, so the next time the Shadow King comes bumming around looking to cause chaos, Betsy, Emma and Jean just look at each other and laugh and say nuh-uh before psychically squishing him into a marble.

Warren never becomes Archangel. Onslaught isn’t a thing. They make nice with Magneto and say okay you may have a couple points, let’s discuss. Bishop arrives in the past for reasons totally unrelated to his original story, has no traitor to seek out among the X-Men, and thus he and Gambit end up besties in complete defiance of that stupid fucking story and because I just think they’re neat together. Yes I said neat. Gambit and Bishop are just neat. Deal with it. 

Bishop still hates that Fitzroy guy though, he’s like, I don’t even know what it is about that guy, he just rubs me the wrong way, even though Fitzroy is not evil here and has always done good with his powers, which are channeled through a device Forge made him that lets him just absorb life force from a wide range around him, spread out and diluted enough that its like, the grass feels weird for a second, like whoa what even was that, and then its over. Actually, y’know what, scratch that. Fitzroy’s powers are stupid and unnecessary the way they are now anyway, so fuck it, this Fitzroy doesn’t need life force or whatever, he’s just a dude who makes time portals. He’s like Illyana with green hair and that ugly goatee. Hey I said this Fitzroy was non-evil, not that he was perfect.

Bobby’s out and proud since he was sixteen, and with actual competence and proficiency with his powers, which make him a Literal Unkillable Gay Icon, he’s an inspiration to LGBTQ+ teens everywhere and inspires other gay, bi and trans heroes to come out. He’s a big brother figure to all the baby gays that later join the X-Men, like, Rictor comes to him for advice back during the time equivalent to early X-Factor, when Rictor’s a trying-too-hard sixteen year old who thought college age Bobby was like the coolest, which is valid, because X-Factor Bobby was like A+ Bobby characterization and deserves more reads. 

So Rictor comes out earlier as well, and by the time they even meet Shatterstar, instead of a slow burn friends to roommates to lovers scenario, Rictor takes one look at the love of his life and wastes no time coming out swinging with an absolutely terrible pick up line. Look, I said his big brother figure Bobby was out and proud in this AU, not that he magically had a better sense of humor. Some things just don’t change, y’know? Luckily, Shatterstar is a weirdo, and thus he finds terrible pick-up lines charming. At least when its Rictor saying them. They walk off for a first date, already practically hand in hand, voices fading into the distance as Rictor asks “By the way, have you met Dazzler yet? According to Bobby, apparently she’s your mom. That Longshot dude with the mullet over there is your dad I guess. We should go say hi.”

Hank gets an assistant hand-picked by the rest of the original X-Men, and who has one job and one job only. To follow him around and observe all his experiments, and he has veto power over experiments that People With IQs As High As Yours Should Know Better But I Guess You’ve Got Reed Richards Syndrome.

Hank’s like, “Hmm, if I built a time machine I could go back to the Jurassic Period and observe whether my theory of - “

Hank’s assistant: “Veto.”

“Damn. Okay I was also thinking of making a deep space communicator that can reach into the farthest reaches of space beyond any known civilization and just say hi, y’know? See if anyone’s out there.”

“Veto.”

“If I combine these genetically modified antibodies here with this strain of of DNA from - “

“Veto.”

“Well Forge built this device that does this to mutant powers but I think I can make it do - “

“Veto.”

“These nanobots I - “

“VETO,”

“Honestly, at this point I think you’re just saying that just because you like saying it.”

“Dr. McCoy, I promise you, I’m really, really not.”

Logan finds out about his future clan of stabby children, and seeks them out. He rescues Daken from Romulus, somebody stabs that loser with the immortal-killing sword, I don’t even care who, and after a few tense months of Logan trying too hard, he and Daken eventually bond over how hockey just isn’t violent enough. If you’re going to make a sport all about hitting each other, just really go for it or don’t even bother, y’know? Logan claps him on the shoulder and sniffs. That’s my boy. Then they find and rescue Laura and Gabby and take a road trip to Earth 1610 to pick up Jimmy. They have a house on campus, and new students walking by it are used to hearing loud growling and even howls. They were assured during orientation that that’s nothing to worry about, it just means the House of Snikt are watching a game and are rooting for opposing sides. 

Emma’s recruited practically the day they get back. She’s only just started at the Hellfire Club and has only done a tiny bit of Evil when Warren schedules an appointment with her, and then he, Scott and Jean make a better pitch than Shaw and his ilk could ever match. They’ve been to the future. Come join with us and we’ll give you an all access pass to memories detailing exactly what’s going to happen in these particular areas and many more. All you have to do is ask. Oh and also please don’t seduce any married teammates. Its bad form. To be honest, I don’t think it’ll be an issue because Deadpool assures us Morrison has been taken care of, and don’t worry if that makes no sense to you, its a head-scratcher for us to. Just roll with it. 

Nate ages normally here so its not like he ends up besties with forty year old Wade, but the latter having his own plot-contrived knowledge of the future because He’s Just Like That, decides that he won’t be denied at least SOME kind of bond with The Bestie That Wasn’t. He becomes Nate’s official babysitter. Well, not official, seeing as how Scott, Jean and Maddy don’t hire him and are very clear that their son is not to be left alone with this man at any time, he is a terrible influence and he keeps giving our kid guns. But then Wade just shows up anytime they’re out because he just has a sixth sense for Making Trouble, and he terrifies away whatever babysitter’s there and greets the returning and exasperated parents with a cheery wave. 

“I know what you’re going to say, but don’t worry, we didn’t do anything dangerous or against the law. All we did today was I taught him to make bombs, but we were very careful, we wore safety goggles and really, they were very little bombs. Not even anything atomic. I honestly don’t think any of them could have even blown up this whole house, and I’ve been meaning to say, I’m not impressed with the structural integrity of this place. Couldn’t you have picked something with a sturdier foundation? Its like you don’t even expect random space mercenaries to attack your place out of the blue every other month. Have any of you even read a single issue of your own comics?”

Scott’s jaw twitches Ominously. Wade starts gathering up his things. Jean rubs her forehead wearily.

“Wade, what do you even think ‘dangerous’ means?”

Wade pauses and cocks his head. Gives it a solid twenty seconds of thought. Then he shrugs. 

“I don’t know actually. Don’t think I’ve ever really thought about it. I always figured it was just one of those things people just say. Like, ‘oh, it looks like rain today,’ even if they’re not a forecaster and have no real meteorological credentials to speak of. ‘Oh, this mission will be dangerous,’ and I don’t even have to use up all my ammo and I only get shot twice. Y’know?”

“Leave,” Scott says. More like intones. House shakes a little bit but that might just be Wade’s imagination. Its very active.

“Leaving!” He says hastily. He jumps through the closed window and then teleports away amid the falling shower of broken glass. Why didn’t he do that while he was still inside the room? No one knows. Not even Wade knows. Why did the chicken cross the road? Who the fuck cares, now is it Original Recipe or Crispy?

Scott, Jean and Maddy search the house while Nate angelically claims they won’t find anything, Wade doesn’t even bring him cool stuff anymore cuz he knows you’ll just take it.

Maddy finds a high-tech laser space gun under a floorboard in the closet. She holds it up with one eyebrow raised pointedly. Scott and Jean flank her and their own eyebrows raise in solidarity. Well Jean’s does. Scott’s probably does but its hard to tell sometimes. Depends on what glasses or visor he’s wearing.

“That was already there,” Nate tries. Most powerful telepath and telekinetic in the world, but the kid can’t lie for shit. There’s not much point in trying when one of your moms is the freaking Phoenix, and that’s a skill that takes practice he just doesn’t have. 

The three sets of parental eyebrows make a V, judgingly.

“One month of no video games or TV?” Okay, so terrible liar but quick on his feet. At least he knows when he’s beat and jumps straight to trying to shape his own punishment proactively.

“Two months. And no flying lessons either,” Jean says. “And don’t pout at me, young man. You know the rules. No weapons inside the house unless your grandpa Corsair is visitng and we’re too tired to fight him on keeping knives under his pillow. This is a Do As We Say, Not As We Do house. Deal with it. Now, this is going with the others and you can have it back when you’re eighteen.”

It would have been three months, but Jean and Maddy caught a telepathic sniff from Scott. He’s just so proud of his kid thinking so tactically. He’s growing up so fast. Both women mentally roll their eyes. Why is he like this.

“I don’t see what the big deal is anyway,” Nate sulks. “Its just a stupid laser gun. I mean, Uncle Gabe blew up our last house with his brain.” 

“Yes and it was an accident and he feels absolutely terrible about that which is why we’re not going to bring it up when he and Armando come visit this weekend, right?”

“You can have my full compliance for two weeks off my sentence.”

“Or we can have your full compliance or two weeks will be added to your sentence,” Maddy says.

“You guys suck,” declares the ten year old vessel of near unlimited psychic might. He goes to his room, stomping all the way up the stairs so his grievances can be heard even by the House of Snikt next door. Course, they’ve already been listening to the whole thing with their enhanced hearing. There was nothing good on TV. Jimmy made popcorn and chewed with his mouth open just to piss off Daken. 

‘The second Father leaves the room, I am going to stab you in such a slow healing place you’ll still be bleeding at bed time.’ Daken mouths at his little brother from another universe. Jimmy scrunches his face in confusion. 

‘What?’ He mouths back. He’s terrible at reading lips. Or anything that isn’t skateboarding, really. And yet Father’s so happy that ‘at least one of my kids is content with stupid normal stuff and doesn’t go around drawing cover fire just because a mission is going so well its boring and they haven’t even gotten to pop their claws out yet.’

“That’s only because you’ve coddled him. He’s barely ever even been shot at. Just the one time on vacation in Majipoor and he wasn’t even the target, the assassin was aiming for me. If you would just let me take him on a proper outing to gain some real experience - “

“Not gonna happen.” Logan shuts that down real quick.

“Really Father, just look at him. He has zero situational awareness. I’ve been glaring a hole in the back of his head for a full minute now and he has no idea. That could just as easily be an actual laser scope, you know. He’s a disgrace to the whole family.”

“Daken, we’ve been over this,” Logan says firmly. “You have your sisters to bond with over gratuitous violence. Leave your brother alone. I don’t want anyone traumatizing him until trauma finds him all on its own. It’ll happen sooner or later, he’s as much a part of this family as anyone and that means its as good as done already, so there’s no need to hurry it along. If later on he decides he’s got a taste for it, you can take him on all the outings to get shot at that you want. But he’s gotta figure it out for himself first, and he doesn’t need his big brother being the one who introduces him to all that. He idolizes you, you know.”

Daken scoffs. He can’t even get the brat to chew with his mouth closed.

“He cut his hair from that style he liked so much, just because you hated it so much,” Logan says obliviously. Daken nods like he’s conceding the argument and hastens from the room while he can still keep his mouth shut. It won’t benefit anyone at this point to tell their father that Jimmy really only cut his hair because Daken told him he would set it on fire if he didn’t. 

Ugh, families are the worst. Don’t even get him started on Laura stealing some of his clothes to wear without asking. And then has the gall to yell back at him when he yells “Silk! Its the finest cut of silk! Does that mean nothing to you?” at her.

“Oh get over it. Its not like I asked for killer robots to interrupt my date.”

“Of course they were going to interrupt your date with that Julian boy. I keep telling you, he’s a magnet for trouble. I can tell. I’m one too, remember?”

“Fine, whatever, you’re right and I should just expect every date with Julian from now until the end of time to end with fire and disaster.”

“Well now you’re being melodramatic. There’s no way that boy makes it past twenty five. He doesn’t even have a healing factor.”

“Why do you hate him so much anyway? If you’d just give him a chance - “

“What are you talking about? I give him a chance every single time he’s here and I don’t kill him.”

“Ugh, I can’t even talk to you when you’re like this. You always do this, you just decide on something and then you commit to that like the fate of the world depends on you standing firm on what’s usually a completely arbitrary decision in the first place!”

Daken sniffs. “I can assure you, there’s absolutely nothing arbitrary about my disdain for the Keller boy.”

“His name is Julian,” Laura enunciates with a glare.

“I don’t care,” Daken enunciates with an expression of lofty superiority.

“You two are so dumb,” Gabby says from the end of the hallway. They both turn identical glares on her. They’d noticed her arrive several minutes ago but they weren’t about to be distracted from their battle of wills. “Laura, you know Daken isn’t actually going to kill Julian. He doesn’t do that anymore except for really bad people sometimes and he just talks about stabbing people or killing them cuz he thinks he’s funny and then he gets all pissy because nobody ever gets that he doesn’t really mean it. He doesn’t even hate Julian and he used to be fine with him before he started dating you, its just he doesn’t think he’s good enough for you.”

Daken frowns at the petite would-be peacemaker. Meddlesome toddler. “What are you even babbling about? None of that is remotely true.”

Gabby rolls her eyes up at her brother from her much lower height. She taps the side of her nose with emphasis. “You do know we all have the same abilities to smell and analyze scents as you do, right? And you know everything you can tell from peoples’ scent, right? Of course I’m right, I can smell it as clear as anything and so can Jimmy and Dad and we actually all know this and talk about it all the time, and its why Dad never actually gets mad at you for talking about killing people because he can smell you’re saying it just cuz you’re used to saying it but really you’re too marshmallowy on the inside now to do half the stuff you claim you’re gonna do. Hate to break it to you bro, but you’re a closet softie and you’ve been made. The nose doesn’t lie. Only reason Laura doesn’t know it is because you piss her off like its your favorite hobby and its probably impossible for her to smell anything beyond her own scent of Royally Pissed Off.”

Ugh. Meddlesome insightful toddler. Who asked for her intervention anyway? Daken crosses his arms in a way that’s decidedly aloof and not at all sulking.

Laura’s staring at their sister assessingly. “That’s really what you think is going on? And Jimmy and Dad think so too? You’re not just saying all that?”

Gabby bats her eyes up at them. “Would I lie to you?”

“Yes,” Laura says without missing a beat.

“Without a shadow of a doubt,” Daken says dryly, right on her heels.

“For the sake of a candy bar,” Laura adds, because that really did happen.

“Or just boredom, because god forbid you pick up another hobby that isn’t just Chaos.”

“This from the guy who only has fun when there’s blood and bullets flying about,” Gabby fires back from a position of petite petulance.

Daken smirks down at her. “Didn’t you just say I don’t really mean it when I say all of that?”

Gabby narrows her eyes. “Touché. My own words thrown back at me. I am undone.”

“Yes, well - “

Daken’s cut off as Jimmy chooses that moment to walk past them down the hallway to the bathroom. He’s laughing and shaking his head.

“You guys are both so dumb. She plays you like this all the time, and you never see it.”

“Silence, mortal!” Gabby thunders at their brother menacingly. The effect is somewhat diminished by the fact that she can’t hit a baritone note to save her life.

“No, I’m interested in hearing what he has to say,” Daken says coolly. “For once. This is a moment without precedent and one unlikely to occur again, so let’s explore it a bit.”

Jimmy sighs and shakes his head without ever losing that amused smirk. “Had to tack on that last part, didn’t you. Just couldn’t help yourself.”

“I am a faithful student of the Truth,” Daken says, matching his brother smirk for smirk.

“The point, Jimmy?” Laura prods aggressively before that can erupt into a wholly separate thing she wants no part of.

“Oh, right.” He shrugs nonchalantly. “Its kinda her thing with you two when you get like this. You pick a fight with Laura, Laura gets pissed off and succumbs to the family curse of Tunnel Vision at the Worst Possible Time, and you both go back and forth endlessly and like you have all the time in the world for your stupid tete a tete, because on account of you both being practically unkillable and immortal, you kinda do and you know it. And then whenever she gets bored of listening to you two, Gabby swoops in and draws both of your attention until you’re both so focused on being annoyed with her you don’t even realize you’re actually side by side agreeing with each other, and she keeps it up just long enough til she’s sure she can just say she’s bored now and just leave the room, leaving you both annoyed and frustrated by a fight you can’t even claim to have won because she really just kinda...left, in the middle of it, and you’re so focused on that, you’ve totally forgotten to be pissed at each other. And by the time you do remember, like, the moment has passed and peace has been returned to the kingdom. Or at least as peaceful as this place ever gets.”

Daken stares at his mistake of a brother in the hopes that if he stalled long enough, his senses would arrive at a different conclusion. But nope. Scents don’t lie, unlike baby sis, apparently. He’s telling the truth. And Daken really does not....care for that conclusion.

Gabby stamps her foot and glares up at their brother.

“You are such a tattletale. I am providing a service, by keeping this family free of these two constantly at each others throats, and how is that service repaid? With betrayal! I hate you, you’re dead to me. Never speak to me again or at least not until I’ve stopped being mad at you, but that could be like ten years or something, I don’t even know right now.”

She draws up to her full height and squares her shoulders as she thunders this Mighty Mouse style at the still laughing Jimmy. Then, seeing she’d yet to make a dent in his armor of amusement and he was failing to take her pronouncement seriously, she punctuated her declaration by spitting on their brother’s shoe. Daken’s eyebrows shoot up again, this time in amusement of his own. Gabby then spins around on her heel and stalks off down the hallway, muttering more dire threats under her breath as she goes, the sound of them nonetheless carrying clearly to three siblings with enhanced hearing of their own. And apparently, little sis could be quite creative. Who knew she’d been hiding such talent?

Jimmy barely even notices; he’s still staring down at his shoe.

“Dude, you spit on me! That’s so not cool.”

“Some things need to be expressed so strongly, mere words will not suffice,” Daken says loftily, savoring a slightly renewed sense of superiority.

One quickly dashed, of course, because apparently he just can’t have anything.

“Bold words from the seventy year old who needed the sixteen year old to clue him in he’s being regularly manipulated by the twelve year old,” Jimmy fires back. As a return volley, its obnoxiously effective, and Daken’s still grinding his teeth and searching for an adequate rejoinder as Jimmy just grins even wider and then strolls off down the hallway as well. Whistling either an absolutely hideous song or else proof that he’s absolutely hideous at whistling. Tough call. With him it could be either.

Daken and Laura both stare after him in silence as he rounds the corner and disappears, leaving only the lingering scent of smugness in his wake. Daken hates the scent of smugness. It has a particularly....cloying feel to it. Well not his of course. But everyone else’s, especially little brothers? Acrid is the only word adequate for that.

“Sometimes I really do want to stab him. Just a little bit. And I’m not even lying,” Daken says. Laura just nods, her own nose scrunched up in distaste as well.

“Honestly? Me too.”

Brother and sister enjoy the rare moment of solidarity.

“You know what’s really bugging me?” Laura says suddenly, still staring off down the hallway. Daken turns an inquiring eye on her, prompting elucidation. She frowns.

“Where the hell did he learn a phrase like tete a tete? I mean. Its Jimmy.”

Daken does know what she means, and frowns as the nagging awareness of that leaps from his sister to himself like memetic chain lightning.

“And he used it correctly. That’s....unexpected.”

“Sometimes I wonder if maybe he’s not as completely airheaded as he pretends, and the fact that he’s got everyone so convinced of that actually means he’s running circles around the rest of us,” Laura says. She shrugs. “Of course, then I have to question everything and who has that kind of time and also the very idea of genius mastermind Jimmy disturbs me on a deeply visceral level. So then I just. Stop doing that.”

Daken nods and sighs. “Sometimes, that’s all you can do.”

“Okay, this is annoying. I kinda still want to fight, but now fighting with you feels kinda anticlimactic. Ugh, siblings are the worst,” Laura declares with a glower. “They ruin everything.”

“On that, we can agree. With allowances for temporary occasions of some of them being bearable,” Daken says. “Some.”

“That’s the nicest thing you’ve never said to me, big brother,” Laura says lightly. Daken swiftly scowls but she holds up a hand to forestall any rebuttal. “Sorry, don’t mean to ruin the moment. I’m thinking about how else we can put all that frustrated energy to good use. Wanna go pick a fight with the Summers’ kids?”

A slow smile spreads across Daken’s face. “Well now. Finally, a family outing I can get behind. I believe that’s precisely what we need right now. Care to lead the way?”

He still hates her boyfriend, of course, but he supposes he can let that be. 

For now, at least.

[misssophiachase]

In case you missed it, this is my Valentine's Day Gift Exchange drabble for the lovely Steph - aka @klarolinedrabbles - Happy Valentine's Day! Well you asked for fluffy goodness and I hope I delivered (the toothache I have is telling me I did though, unless that's all that Valentine's chocolate).

Synopsis: Caroline Forbes considers herself one of the best fundraisers in New York City but reclusive billionaire Klaus Mikaelson has always been out of her reach. Not one to give up easily, she decides that the upcoming Valentine's Charity Ball is her perfect chance to make him realise what's really important in life but she might find out more than she ever expected.

Try a Little Tenderness

"You're doing what now?" Katherine asked through the car speaker. Caroline didn't need to see the brunette to know what her shocked expression looked like. They'd been best friends for about seventeen years now, so it kind of came with the territory.

"You see this is why I didn't tell you where I was going until I'd at least passed through Queens," she replied, staring at the road ahead thinking this was a very different destination to her summers spent on Coney Island growing up.

"Because you knew I'd tell you what a bad idea this was, roomie," she drawled. "While I admire your dogged determination Care, I think the state of New York would consider this type of activity illegal."

"And how did you come to that conclusion?"

"Stalking is illegal in all fifty states, including ours," she drawled and Caroline could tell she was rolling her eyes now.

"I am not stalking him."

"So, how exactly do you explain the fact you tracked his movements, jumped in your car and followed him on vacation? I think when business people escape to the Hamptons, albeit during the middle of winter, it's for some sort of rest and relaxation Care, not to be hounded by fundraisers for their upcoming charity events."

"Number one, I didn't need to track anyone. It's not difficult to find even the most private people given the exorbitant amount of media there is these days ," she scoffed. "And number two, did you ever think I needed to escape the city for some rest and relaxation myself?"

"No. Although this latest stunt tells me that maybe you might need some kind of therapy."

"Fine," Caroline scowled ignoring her comments and placing her sunglasses over her eyes to shield the invading light. "It's for a good cause, Kat."

"I'm not saying it isn't," she agreed. "However, that's your justification for everything. Just because you think that, it doesn't mean everyone else does."

"Exactly what's wrong with today's society," Caroline muttered. "Look, I just think if I went to him and explained myself Klaus Mikaelson would understand that donating to the upcoming Valentine's Gala would make a difference to so many kids with cancer."

"I think your multitude of emails and phone calls to his office have already done that."

"And obviously it failed because I've heard nothing back. Which is exactly why a face-to-face meeting is required."

"So, why don't you make an appointment like normal people do instead of stalking billionaires at their vacation residences?"

"Because his secretary is ignoring my calls," she growled. "I haven't even met Lexi Branson but she seems to have it in for me for some reason."

"Might have something to do with all that phone stalking," Katherine teased. "Did you ever consider maybe taking no for an answer?"

Caroline didn't like the word no, in fact it just made her more determined to succeed and probably why she was so good at her job. Caroline considered herself one of the best and most persistent charity fundraisers in New York, if not the whole East Coast. She'd recently taken a new job at a Children's Cancer foundation and was determined to make a difference. That included raising as much money as possible for their upcoming Valentine's Ball.

She'd been considerably successful so far but Caroline always like to push herself harder and that meant trying to convince one of Manhattan's most reclusive billionaires that this was a cause worth donating towards. It wasn't her first attempt; she'd tried on two earlier occasions with different charities but failed. To be honest she was surprised someone of his status didn't donate already, a fact that didn't sit well with her at all. She didn't like to judge but given how much he was worth Caroline couldn't understand why he wouldn't give back to those less fortunate.

The one thing you could say about Caroline was that she was thorough in her research and she'd read every available article and biography on Niklaus Mikaelson. The second child of four siblings, born in England to meagre beginnings but after completing high school he'd won a scholarship to Oxford to study law where he'd graduated first in his class. He moved to the US and obtained a subsequent Master's degree in Business Administration at Harvard only to start his own computer business months later. That business would net him $12 million in the first year of operations. The profits only increased each subsequent year. Becoming a millionaire was easy and his billionaire status was confirmed only five years later.

Caroline understood money, it was her job after all but she knew the real motivations for donating to anything came from a deeper place. Unfortunately in his case Klaus didn't seem to have any at all from what she had seen. He always came across so aloof in the few interviews she'd watched, almost like it was a chore having to converse with people. Caroline wasn't surprised but it didn't stop her from wanting to know what made him tick. Unfortunately google wasn't going to tell her what she wanted. The one thing she did know from the internet was that he was gorgeous, with those crimson lips and dirty blonde curls. How could someone so good looking be so arrogant? It seemed a shame but Caroline figured you couldn't have everything.

That's why she'd decided after being stonewalled by his office again that she needed another approach. Some might have considered it stalking but she considered it business, surely if anyone could understand that concept it was him.

"Oh that's Bonnie calling in, I'm going to connect her," Katherine interrupted. Caroline rolled her eyes knowing this wasn't a coincidence, no doubt Katherine had sent her a sneaky text while they'd been talking.

"Does anyone know where my calm and rational friend has gone? She's about five nine with blonde hair and blue eyes, was last seen driving crazily out of Manhattan an hour ago?"

"I'm perfectly calm Bonnie," Caroline huffed. "Some people would consider this plan a masterful stroke of genius."

"Or crazy, depending on who you ask," Katherine drawled. "So, I'm curious what are you planning to do when you get there, Care? Play next door neighbour and ask to borrow a cup of sugar?"

"I have no intention of lying."

"Oh, I get it you're going to say you just happened to be in the neighbourhood and thought you'd stop by?" Bonnie asked.

"Yeah, cause I'm sure he'd believe that," she baulked.

"So, how are you going to penetrate the Mikaelson mansion? Tell me you have some kind of plan in place?"

"Of course I do, Bon. Do you know who you're talking to? I'm going to just knock on the front door and introduce myself," she gulped, thinking just how lame that sounded aloud. She'd planned to come up with something on the drive and decided to blame her lack of preparedness on Katherine and now Bonnie's impromptu phone interrogation.

"Please tell me you have something more creative than that? You don't just knock on doors in Southampton. They have high walls, big gates, security cameras and an angry German Shepard if you're really lucky."

"You seem to forget just how charming I can be, Katherine," she argued. "They don't call me one of the best fundraisers in the City for nothing."

"I'm not saying you aren't but it's pretty obvious this guy is immune to your charms given his constant refusal to meet with you."

"Oh yea of little faith, Kitty Kat," she scoffed. "Not only will I put on my best charm I'm also wearing THE dress."

"The red Stella McCartney?" Bonnie gasped.

"And the black Louboutins," she grinned knowingly.

"But you only break those out when..."

"It's an emergency." Caroline didn't like to use her sexuality, in fact she only did when it was absolutely the very last resort and she figured the circumstances called for a little designer intervention. Her attire was equal parts business like and sexy as hell.

"If Klaus Mikaelson doesn't agree to see you in that ensemble then he's either gay or really, really stupid."

"I guess we'll wait and see," she murmured. "I really should get going, ladies. You know as fun as this weird phone frientervention has been."

"Play some Eye of the Tiger, that's what I always do before a case," she explained. Katherine's win-loss ratio in the courtroom was impressive so Caroline figured she might take her up on the advice and began to search for some Survivor in her music library.

"Good luck," they both replied in unison before disconnecting. Before Caroline could play the Rocky anthem and get her head into the game, her phone beeped indicating a new text message. She eyed it curiously, noticing his name appear. She certainly had to hand it to all her besties, they certainly had her back.

"Knock him dead, gorgeous." Caroline grinned at Enzo's words. She should have been angry at Kat for telling him and Bonnie but Caroline needed all the encouragement she could garner. It was only then the phone beeped again. "P.S. If you find any hot, available millionaires give them my number." She rolled her eyes; he always had an ulterior motive when it came to women. She turned up the volume losing herself in the music as she drove closer to her destination.

Forty-five minutes later, Caroline found herself turning down Meadow Lane in Southampton, immediately she was intimidated. She knew this was millionaires (or in many cases billionaires) row but had never seen it personally. The houses were as much spectacular as they were enormous and she was in awe of the architecture as much as the grand, impressive grounds each boasted. She almost missed his at number 96 and had to apply the brakes quickly before she ventured too far off course. Caroline thought they were all gorgeous but his was especially picturesque. A brilliant, white, multi-story residence with royal blue accents that blended in with the surrounding area but Caroline knew that was only the beginning of its appeal. She inhaled deeply, wondering just what she was doing here. She'd been so determined but seeing his house had stunned her slightly.

Caroline lifted her head, determined not to let some billionaire get in the way of what was important. She pulled her Prius into his driveway, and was met with a guard housed at the entrance.

"Hello, I'm here to see Mr Klaus Mikaelson."

"And you are?" He asked searching his clipboard seriously.

"Caroline, Caroline Forbes," she gulped knowing she wouldn't be on his list.

"You're not on the list Miss Forbes, so I'm going to have to ask you to leave," he instructed, his emotionless expression not changing as he said it.

"But I just need to see him for a few minutes," she objected, ready to go into the spiel she'd practiced on the way down. "It's a business matter."

"No buts, you need to leave the premises straight away," he replied dismissively. Caroline was stuck for words; she'd half considered getting out of her car to model her outfit but knew this grouch would be unmoved.

She reversed begrudgingly, uttering a few colourful terms as she did it. She looked to the road ahead, dreading the drive back and annoyed at her failure with him yet again. She didn't come all this way for nothing. Caroline noticed a gate to the property as she drove along the side street. Maybe she could make her own entrance? Klaus Mikaelson would surely give her points for originality. Either that or he'd have her arrested. Caroline decided on that option, hoping that Enzo, Bonnie and Katherine could pool together the proceeds for bail if not.

The gate had a keypad on the side, Caroline realised that she had no idea what the code would be. She wracked her brain thinking about all she knew of the billionaire without many results forthcoming. Caroline thought it was hopeless but decided to enter something anyway, what did she have to lose? She entered the digits she knew so well. One. Two. Zero. Seven. It was her birthday. What she wasn't expecting was the click as the gate opened.

As much as she wanted to question his choice and the fact she guessed correctly, Caroline pushed the gate and stepped onto the manicured lawn in awe. Caroline wasn't expecting such an easy entry but here she was looking up at the foreboding property. If she turned up at the front door what was she supposed to say? I just broke into your house but I promise I'm not a burglar? Caroline hadn't figured out what she'd do at that point. She really needed to stop being so impulsive, it only seemed to get her in trouble.

Before she could walk any further, a white husky approached, eyeing her curiously. Even with Katherine's earlier warnings she hadn't worked out what she would do in this situation, if only she had some dog treats to bribe him with. "Hey, gorgeous," Caroline cooed, attempting to make friends with the majestic looking dog. "I'm not going to hurt you." What Caroline wasn't expecting was for the dog to sidle up beside her and nuzzle its nose into her leg for a pat. Some guard dog this was, not that she was complaining. She gave him a long rub relishing in his adorable affection.

"Wolf always has been a sucker for a pretty face," someone observed, startling her slightly. She looked up into his curious brown eyes, glad the first person she came across after breaking in wasn't the blonde and blue eyed owner. "Now, you don't look like our gardener," he enquired. He was gorgeous for sure standing at just over six foot with brown hair and a cheeky smile.

"I could be," she argued, knowing how stupid it sounded as soon as she said it.

"So, what are your care instructions for these daisies then?"

"Just leave them be, urgh they'll die soon enough," Caroline offered feebly, looking at the suffering plants. She never really considered herself much of a gardener given the number of plants she'd subsequently killed over the years.

"Brutal," he said. "But I like your style. So, do you make it a habit of breaking and entering?"

"This is my first time actually," she admitted, deciding she had no choice. "And surprisingly easier than I thought it would be. But you, uh, might want to change your gate code, god knows who could just walk on in."

"You're either here to see Rebekah, Niklaus or Elijah. I'm not sure why you'd waste time on any of my siblings. Just FYI they don't put out very easily, far too uptight for their own good."

"Which means you obviously do. Is that supposed to impress me or something?" Caroline drawled knowingly and he let out a chuckle.

"I think you should be a bit nicer given I could call the police and tell them some crazy blonde pretending to be a gardener broke into my brother's house."

"I'm not crazy, well most of the time," she conceded. "I'm Caroline Forbes and by the sounds of it you must be Kol Mikaelson."

"I see my reputation precedes me," he grinned. "So, enough about me. What exactly are you doing here, darling?"

"It's actually work related," she explained.

"I'm listening."

"Kol!" A loud voice echoed throughout the impressive entry hall as they walked inside ten minutes later. After their talk in the garden, Kol had been surprisingly receptive and had agreed to let her inside so she could speak with Klaus. That she hadn't expected but she wasn't complaining. "What have I told you about leaving the toilet seat up?"

"Someone's obviously happy to see you," Caroline joked, as a gorgeous blonde barrelled down the staircase, her eyes narrowing in Kol's direction.

"You realise that there are five bathrooms in this house, right?"

"And who is this?" She demanded, arms crossed over her chest. Caroline felt slightly awkward as she studied her appearance critically. "Don't tell me someone actually likes you, Kol?"

"This is my charming sister, Rebekah," Kol explained. "Don't take it personally she's always this lovely. Play nice Rebekah, this is Caroline Forbes. She's here to see Niklaus."

"Lucky her," another voice chimed in. As soon as she laid eyes on the tall, dark and handsome brunette, Caroline knew this was the eldest Mikaelson. She'd heard he could wear a suit and seeing him in person he certainly didn't disappoint. These people certainly had good genes, even if their behaviour was strange. "I should warn you that he's in a terrible mood. Almost bit my head off before for breathing in his presence, god forbid I should stay alive."

"Maybe I should return with my business matter when he's in more of a charitable mood then," Caroline squeaked. She'd heard stories about his temper but given he was rarely in public Caroline wasn't sure if the rumours were actually true or not."

"Did you say business?" Elijah asked. "If there's one thing that rallies Niklaus, it's work."

"Nik has been going crazy since he got here," Rebekah said. "Vacations aren't really his thing."

"Probably because he has to put up with his insufferable siblings," a voice growled from the top of the staircase. Caroline's eyes flickered toward him, immediately taken aback by his sudden appearance. She was so used to seeing him in suits but he was more casually attired today and it was throwing her off slightly. The man was even better looking in person with fitted, dark jeans and a navy blue henley that hugged his chest and brought out those eyes she'd memorised from photographs. "What's all the bloody commotion about? I can't hear myself think."

"You have a visitor," Kol said, gesturing to Caroline.

"Way to throw me to the wolves," she mumbled through gritted teeth and trying not to lose herself in his piercing gaze.

"You won't know until you ask, darling," he murmured under his breath.

"Last time I checked I was on vacation," Klaus growled, his glare unwavering.

"Because you are doing such a good job of that," Elijah muttered. "Maybe some business might be just what you need."

"I'm perfectly fine," he snapped.

"Yes, we can all see that, Oscar the Grouch," Rebekah joked.

"Fine, if only just to get away from all of you," he conceded, his blue eyes seemingly boring holes in her skin. "Should we go upstairs to my office then?" Caroline nodded, happy that she'd gotten the opportunity for a hearing with Klaus Mikaelson but at the same time terrified of being in such close proximity if that penetrating gaze was anything to go by.

Caroline already knew the house was stunning, but walking across the plush carpet and taking in the impressive art work housed on the walls not to mention the prized view of the pool and beach from the large, bay windows was overwhelming. Klaus had barely stopped with his back to her, his fast pace making Caroline increase hers just to try and keep up. This guy really didn't understand the concept of a vacation, that much was obvious. The office was large and spacious affording a spectacular view of the sizeable backyard. He sat down at the intimidating desk, clasping his hands together his gaze returning to her once again. Caroline really wasn't used to such intensity but she knew now she was there she had to make her case.

"I'm Caroline..."

"Forbes, yes I know who you are," he replied dismissively. Caroline was shocked, she may have contacted his office a few times but they'd never met so she was surprised he knew her identity. "You came here for a donation to your Charity Gala." She was immediately rendered speechless. "Do you always stalk potential donors or am I just lucky?"

"Well, I wouldn't exactly call it stalking," she mumbled, knowing it definitely could be construed that way. "I am ambitious Mr Mikaelson. I care about my job and the people it supports, I don't think there's anything wrong with that."

"So what about break and enter? Is there anything wrong with that?" That Caroline hadn't expected given she thought she'd been discreet by using Kol to gain entry but obviously his security cameras had betrayed her.

"It's a crime, one that I certainly don't condone," she answered truthfully.

"So, does that mean you think I should have you arrested?"

"Well, it wasn't actually as black and white as that," she explained, thinking that if Katherine was there she'd tell her to shut her mouth so as to avoid any criminal charges. Unfortunately for Caroline she was too honest for her own good and couldn't help but continue to explain. "I got in through the gate using the correct code, so there was no breaking of any sort I assure you."

"Yes about that, I'm curious. How exactly did you know the code to my gate? Are you psychic or something?"

"Unfortunately not, it's actually my birthdate."

"The seventh of December is your birthday?' He asked, his voice rising slightly in pitch and Caroline could tell she'd piqued his interest. Although she had no idea why.

"I know Sagittarians can be impatient and entirely too honest for their own good, this situation is case in point, but we are generally quite nice people when you get to know us," she offered, wondering why she was giving Klaus Mikaelson an astrology lesson. His glazed over expression was telling her he didn't appreciate it much.

"Let me guess, they talk excessively too?" Caroline could swear she saw a slight tugging at the corner of those deep, crimson lips. Maybe there was some hope yet.

"How about you?" She asked.

"How about me what?"

"What's your star sign?" Before he could reply, Caroline continued almost like she was on autopilot. "I'm guessing Scorpio. You definitely have that intense broodiness down."

"And this is your way of asking for money?" He baulked, swivelling his chair slightly. "Insulting me, breaking in, somehow convincing my brother to go along with your scheme, although he always was a sucker for a beautiful woman."

"You think I'm beautiful?" She asked, unable to stop herself. Well, at least she knew her lucky outfit had done the trick.

"How about we get back to your unlawful entry Miss Forbes," he muttered, his face a telltale shade of pink.

"I think we've already established that no crime was committed here, Mr Mikaelson," she argued. "There was no property damage, your brother kindly agreed to give me inside access. Even your dog likes me. It seems you are the only one who isn't happy to see me." Almost like he knew he was being spoken about, Wolf appeared at the office door. He immediately ran to her side, rubbing up against her leg affectionately.

"Sell out," Klaus murmured trying to sound annoyed but Caroline spotted a stray dimple accentuated in his left cheek. "He really does like you."

"According to Kol he has a weakness for women," she recalled.

"I'm pretty sure he learnt that from my younger brother," he quipped. "I'm still surprised you made the effort to come all the way down here."

"I hadn't heard back from your office and I wanted to make sure you knew what a good cause this is," she implored. "I sent some information to your secretary that outlined what your donation will go towards and the generous advertising benefits it will have for your company."

"I have to admit your methods are quite unorthodox," he murmured, standing up and making his way over to her side of the desk and perching himself on the edge. A move she wasn't expecting. Caroline was trying to concentrate but from this close proximity his aftershave was infiltrating her nostrils and causing her concentration to wane. Were those necklaces peeking out from his henley? And why did his cheeks have to be so stubbled and those curls in desperate need of someone to ruffle them?

"I'm extremely committed to this cause, Mr Mikaelson," she reiterated, breaking from her slightly untoward thoughts. "Which is why I think donating would be a good move, not just for the foundation but for your personal stature in the business community."

"I've never been one to care about what people think of me. I tend to prefer my own company over others, I always have." That certainly was something Caroline knew. "And, as much as I appreciate your perseverance and your cause Miss Forbes I am going to have to decline your request," he asserted, surprising her slightly. Caroline honestly thought she'd managed to get through to him.

"But it's for the kids."

"I realise that," Klaus shot back, his tense undertone not lost on Caroline.

"I'm not sure why you won't consider it then," Caroline said trying to appeal to what possible humanity he had.

"It's complicated," he uttered, surprising her slightly. What was so complicated about donating to a worthy cause? Caroline studied him closely trying to work out whether he was just fobbing her off or whether there was something else behind his reasoning. Caroline was tempted to keep asking but something in his body language was telling her not to push him any further.

"Well, that's certainly a shame," she murmured, standing up so they were only a metre apart. "But thank you for your time, Mr Mikaelson. I appreciate you hearing me out today." Caroline could have sworn she saw something resembling regret on his face but she figured it was best to leave it alone. Neither of them moved, Caroline felt like she was rooted to the spot as his eyes searched hers intently. She should have detested this guy for being so unkind but there was something not right about his response. Maybe there was something more to Klaus Mikaelson, Caroline just had no idea what it was.

"I really am sorry, Miss Forbes," he murmured and Caroline couldn't miss just how sincere he sounded.

"That makes two of us then. I'll see myself out."

"Feel free to use the front gate this time," he smiled, despite everything.

"Where's the fun in that though?" She asked, sending him a half smile before walking out, Wolf dutifully by her side as she did. Caroline wasn't quite sure what had just happened between them but she had a feeling she wouldn't be forgetting it anytime soon.

xxx

"What do you mean the chocolate favours are melting and the roses are wilting? I don't know, have you ever thought that the heating might be up too high?" She asked the obviously clueless event planner. She'd already done the fundraising and organised the auction items now it looked like she was supposed to do her job too. The ball was due to begin in less than an hour and this kind of situation was far from ideal. If she'd been organising this they wouldn't be having this problem right now.

"How did I know I'd find you at the helm of this ship?" A familiar voice enquired, making Caroline turn around curiously. She wasn't quite sure if her eyes were deceiving her but there was Klaus Mikaelson in the flesh. If she was being honest, Caroline had thought about him quite a lot in the past two weeks since their meeting in the Hamptons. She hadn't expected him to show up to her gala though, especially given his views on donating to the foundation.

Ever since Caroline had met him she'd been torn about what she felt for him. When he declined her request, she fully expected to feel only negative thoughts but the way he looked at her and apologised so sincerely was telling Caroline she couldn't judge him just yet, that there was definitely something much deeper to Klaus Mikaelson.

"Trust me, I'm not supposed to be but some people can't do their jobs," she muttered, eyeing the event planner as she ran off to try and fix the heating issue. "You're not on the guest list last time I checked."

"No, I'm not but..."

"Because you know if you're planning on crashing you might want to at least change into a tuxedo," she advised, looking at his business suit critically. "The dress code is strictly black tie, no exceptions."

"Are you always this bossy, love?"

"Yes," she replied simply.

"I'm not here for the ball," he explained. "I was just wondering if you had a moment to talk."

"Did you not hear about the chocolate and flower crises?" She baulked.

"How about we make a deal, I'll forget about that whole breaking and entering thing and you give me just five minutes of your precious time," he pleaded. Caroline had to admit he looked adorable when he begged.

"Five minutes," she agreed, gesturing to a table near the window of the Plaza's Great Ballroom. Caroline was curious about what he wanted especially given the way they left things. She still thought there was something to it but had been too busy as the ball fast approached. "So, what can I do for you? To be honest I'm surprised to see you after our conversation the other day."

"I wanted to apologise," he began.

"You already did."

"Vaguely yes, but I wanted to explain my actions," he said. "I don't like attention, that's why I shy away from the public spotlight. On top of that I don't like people knowing my personal business and prefer to do things through anonymous means, including donations." Caroline inhaled sharply understanding his meaning. There had been a few anonymous contributions, including a sizeable one worth $10 million. She remembered asking the CEO about it but he'd remained tight lipped about the mystery donors at their request.

"It was you," she uttered in disbelief before continuing. "But I don't understand, why couldn't you just tell me that? I would have respected your privacy and not come across as such a persistent and..."

"Crazed stalker," Klaus smirked knowingly.

"Well, do you blame me? But why not admit it?"

"It's something I don't really like to talk about or dwell upon and I suppose this particular charity opened up some old wounds," he started, his eyes now firmly downcast. "My youngest brother Henrik passed away from cancer when he was eleven years old. I've always donated to this particular cause but it's not always something I like to talk about openly, as I'm sure you can imagine."

"I'm sorry," she murmured, automatically placing her hand over his comfortingly. "If I had known I wouldn't have pushed you like I did. I had no idea you even had another brother."

"It's not something I talk about publicly. Journalists in particular are always looking for an angle and finding out the supposed heartless billionaire experienced this kind of loss would be right up their alley," Klaus muttered.

"Well, your secret is safe with me," she promised, realising her hand was still covering his and for some reason choosing not to remove it. "What was he like?"

"Henrik was a cheeky bundle of energy who was always so happy, we were lucky to have him even for that small amount of time. His birthday was actually the same date as yours."

"Well, that would explain the gate mystery," she murmured thinking how much of a coincidence it was and the fact it led her to him in one way or another. "But just know that besides all you've been through there's nothing wrong with donating to charity; if anything people would see that there is another side to you."

"People can think what they want; I don't donate to charity so people will think better of me. In fact if anything they'd probably think I was weak and emotional, not something I like to portray in my business dealings."

"No they'd think you were kind and compassionate," she shot back.

"Thank you for understanding, Miss Forbes."

"Well, that's just the kind of person I am and it's Caroline by the way. Oh and I don't really think you're heartless" she added. "I have to say I'm surprised you admitted all of this given our first meeting."

"What can I say? Kol wasn't going to rest until I sought you out and explained. After you left he gave me a hard time for not donating to something so close to our hearts and when I admitted I already had, he wouldn't leave me alone until I came to see you. I have my moments but his annoying tendencies far outweigh any of my stubbornness."

"So, that's the only reason you came, because Kol made you?" Caroline teased.

"Well, that and the fact that Wolf has been missing you since your visit, he's been absolutely miserable lying by the side gate waiting for you to break in again."

"Oh really?"

"Well, him and Kol. Sometimes he joins Wolf in the backyard and they pine away together for you," Klaus teased.

"So Kol and Wolf are the only reasons you came?"

"No. They're not. Look, I've never met anyone like you Caroline Forbes. Even before I saw you that day, I knew you were beautiful and intelligent."

"That's why you knew who I was, you'd been spying on me," she accused, raising her left eyebrow.

Possibly," he replied, a telling blush crossing his face. "Looks like we'd both been doing a bit of research, love. Once we did meet though I realised just how frustrating and determined you are. I mean you break into people's houses because you're kind of crazy. My kind of crazy."

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?" Caroline asked, slightly confused.

"Funnily enough it is, Caroline. Would you, uh, like to possibly go out sometime?" He looked so shy and nervous all of a sudden and Caroline couldn't help but feel sorry for him.

"Well, there's this thing called a ball happening tonight," she explained. "Maybe we could start here."

"I think my earlier confession is as far as I'm willing to go today. Not sure a big, fancy event with the who's who of New York City is something I'm quite ready for," he admitted sheepishly. "You know baby steps and all that."

"It's okay, I'll probably be too busy yelling at the supposed event planner for more mistakes," she smiled. "But we can take a rain check."

"Or I could meet you afterwards for a debrief about said party planner," Klaus offered. "I know this cute diner on fifty-first Street that does a mean slice of apple pie."

"You go to diners and eat pie?" Caroline asked, a little shocked that someone of his status would do that sort of thing.

"I'll let you in on a secret, I even have a little whipped cream on top," joked. "You really need to stop misjudging me, love."

"Okay, you're on mister, but this pie better be good," Caroline challenged, glad that she'd chosen to stalk this guy because maybe she'd found something special in him.

xxx

"How about Gladys?" Klaus asked, his arms encircling her growing bump, pulling her closer and placing a chaste kiss on her head. It was a beautiful summer's day in the Hamptons and Klaus and Caroline were seated on a bench in the garden, her head rested on his chest as he rubbed her stomach lovingly. Wolf was lying next to them dutifully as she rubbed his ears affectionately; he was even more protective of Caroline now she was with child. "Or Gerald for a boy?"

"Our baby isn't an eighty year-old," she groaned, his constant teasing about baby names wearing on her last pregnant nerve. After their first meeting Caroline never thought they'd be here two short years later but after sharing a slice of apple pie on Valentine's Day things between them had changed considerably. Marrying nine months later and now they were about to welcome their new baby girl or boy into the world in two months.

Not only were they partners in life but in business. They'd started a children's cancer charity in Henrik's name six months earlier and Caroline had been actively raising funds for other children like him. Klaus had been reluctant at first as expected but since they'd made the decision, Caroline had noticed a different side to him. A much less guarded one, although Kol would say it was all due to Caroline's sudden appearance in his life. She didn't like to boast but maybe that was true, although she'd gotten just as much from him and was so grateful to him for that.

"If you ask my sister, she thinks we should name her Rebekah Jnr," he scoffed. Caroline had to laugh given Enzo had said the same thing if it was a boy. They'd seemed like an unlikely couple when they first got together a year ago but as it turned out their sizeable egos couldn't have been more perfect for each other.

"I'm surprised Kol hasn't made any suggestions."

"Be careful what you wish for, love. I'd give him time; he's been a little preoccupied with Bonnie." Klaus said, they had begun dating only a few months earlier and were still very much in the honeymoon stage. Speaking of them, what time are they all coming for lunch?"

"Well, I told Katherine midday because I know she'll be late but it's actually twelve-thirty."

"I don't think Elijah ever thought he'd be married to someone quite so tardy," Klaus chuckled. Caroline didn't think they'd ever be married period but they both did have quite ambitious and argumentative natures and from the moment they first clashed it was an instant attraction.

"I'm not sure we every really imagined anything to turn out quite like this but I'm certainly not complaining," Caroline grinned, turning her head slightly to face him and placing a sweet kiss on those crimson lips followed by both dimples she knew so well.

"Who knew charity would bring us together?"

"And Henrik," she murmured, thinking back to that gate code. "I know, how about we call him Henry if he's a boy?"

"I think that's a wonderful idea, love," he replied, capturing her lips again, this time deepening the kiss and delving his tongue into her hot mouth. Caroline groaned knowing she'd never get tired of that feeling. When they finally broke apart their breathing slightly ragged he spoke again. "Have I told you lately that I love you?"

"Yes," she grinned, knowingly. "But feel free to tell me again."

"How about I show you instead?" Klaus suggested, wiggling his eyebrows. "Lunch doesn't start for a while yet and we both know Katherine and Elijah will be late."

"I thought you'd never ask," she purred.

You can review on FF HERE

[vampyjoong]

Locked Up, My Love

I have an idea for a series you could do with any member. Everyone is either a Lock or a Key (like “You’re the key to my heart”) so you either have a lock or a key and your soulmate has the other half of the pair. They could be literal physical objects or cute little tattoos like a key on your hand or a lock over your heart you can decide. <3 I love your writing by the way and everyone who sends in such creative suggestions! <3

i know you said series but i thought it would be a really cute idea for my bb mingyu, i hope you don’t mind!!

2k words unedited

since you were young, you’ve had a lock with you 

it was on a chain that was ever changing, sometimes it was short and other long

sometimes linked and chained, other times it was a twine string

you had no idea who’d given it to you, it had just appeared in your cot one day

you had never met anyone else surprisingly with a lock or key

you could never take it off as well lmao which sucked when it was twine cos it kinda itched

one day tho you met a rly nice guy called James

he was so cute and funny and kind

even though you felt no real spark, he had a a key tattoo on the back of his hand

you both thought maybe it could be you two

you tried it out for a few months before deciding it wasn’t meant to be

i mean there was no spark and you read it would both be either physical or tattooed, no mixing

you two stayed friends though because although there was no spark, he was a really nice guy

you two became besties, especially after he found his soulmate and she joined the group

they described it as their tattoos getting really really warm and tingly the closer they were to each other

then the lock opened up when they touched

thats all you wanted to happen

mingyu always got teased about how he was the key to someones heart

he never paid it much attention cos he found it so cute

his chain was the same as yours, changing endlessly

sometimes he would hide it but more often than not he wore it proudly on show because he’s a big romantic

when he took his growth spurt, his chain was longer than usual for a good year till he started to slowly regulate

then it became normal sized

because you two always matched though, yours was long as hell for a while too

sometimes it got tangled in things around you which was annoying as hell

you aways waited for the day that you would finally meet someone who had the matching key

your lock had a beautiful red gem on it and you hoped that your soulmates matched

thankfully it did

mingyus one was a lovely red colour

he always held it when things were kinda rough

when he first started training, when he was in 13 castaway boys and they weren’t sure what would happen, when they weren’t sure what the future held

it was a reassuring constant in his life that he would have you eventually

and especially after seventeen had started to find their soulmates

you had decided to travel after you finished college

you had a list of places, and james and sam were gonna come with

you all decided to learn the basics of one language for the places you were gonna go

james learned how to speak spanish 

sam learned how to speak japanese

you learned korean

it didn’t rly feel like third wheeling when you went on trips with them which was nice, it just felt like a group of friends

so you traveled

first to spain, where james led the way and was the main guy 

then japan, where sam was the lead gal of the story

honestly this whole learn the basics thing for the trips were genius

then finally korea, where you were the leader

you hadn’t noticed but on the flight over the lock was starting to get warmer

mingyu however had noticed

it was the middle of the day and he was having a break during practice cos s.coups’ soulmate watched a really sad dog advert and was crying uncontrollably and coups was trying to calm them both

and suddenly it was warming up

he thought it was just his skin warming it up before remembering it had been cold all his life no matter what so why would it suddenly change

so he asked juns soulmate and she said yeah that was a thing, when they got close it would warm up

she was a lifesaver

so mingyu was now worrying about when he would meet you and how

knowing himself, he thought he would probably end up tripping over his own feet

he knew he would meet you so he tried to convince one of the members to go with him

wonwoo decided to be nice and join him

so they were walking around and if mingyus key started to cool down they turned around and waiting to find the way back until it heated up again

it was like a weird maze

you had finally started to notice something happening

it took the chain changing about 15 million times for you to react to it

sam pointed out the fact that it was twine one second then gold then silver then black metal

it was basically telling you to shut the fuck up, sit the hell down and listen

so when you finally noticed it you noticed was getting warm you kinda freaked

your friends managed to calm you down but also kinda freaked out themselves lmao

would never admit it but they were feeling like it was their own child finding their soulmate

mingyu and wonwoo were having a fun time trying to find you

not really

they stopped to get much needed coffee

and when they stopped mingyus key was still heating up meaning you were closing in

so he got you a coffee too hoping you liked it

you were starting to run frantically with sam and james trailing behind you

they were beaming like a proud parent couple

but also about to cry because who likes running 

despite your efforts though you didn’t find him that day

it was getting late and your friends decided you could try again tomorrow

wonwoo told mingyu that they would have to continue this tomorrow cos it was getting far too late

mingyu almost ran just to find you again but decided against it

so the next day he got up early just to get you a coffee again this time in a flask

he walked around for hours

you could feel the lock going warm then cold then warm and it just repeated

it seemed you just weren’t destined to meet

mingyu was starting to think the same

he was walking across the road distracted and didn’t notice the car coming towards him

you’d noticed that someone was going to get hit and there wasn’t enough time to shout out to them

so you sprinted across the road to push them out the way and yourself this aint a drama 

you necklace was almost burning when you run into him

mingyu was walking when he suddenly felt a small force just barrel into him

he wasn’t expecting to look and see a tiny ass person cannonball into him, i mean who would

when you started angrily yelling at him in english for being a stupid idiot who wasn’t looking where he was going, he noticed that his key was almost burning him and the red gem was glowing

you finally switched over to korean to ask him if he was okay and if he needed anything

then the lock and key started to move

they rose out your tops, over your heads and into the air

the chains started to change endlessly and started to merge

until the lock and key joined and unlocked

and then they separated and floated down 

you now had the key and he had the lock

and when you finally looked back at each other

he held up a still warm flask and offered to you with a simple 

“Coffee?”

you were laughing harder than you ever had

that was the smoothest son of a bitch move you’d ever seen

of course you accepted

you two walked around learning about each other

you both loved to cook

you yourself had went to college for bakery me lmao

you both were clumsy as hell the almost accident proving that

you both had a love for family and friends that made everyone feel like family

you thought he was the most interesting and handsome person you’d ever met

his eyes, his lips, his dragon teeth FUCKING FIGHT ME IF YOU DONT LIKE THEM

every word that came out of his mouth made you fall even more

he told you about the times when his key helped him get through things

you told him the same

it was nice

then you two got to a big ass building and he started explaining that he was in a group with his friends and they were kinda famous 

you weren’t surprised, you thought the man in front of you could be a freaking model 

and then when you walked in the building, there was a kinda nervous boy standing about, and when he noticed Mingyu he looked like he was ready to either sleep or kill someone

it was hard to tell

but then he noticed you and he got a huge smile on his face

even mingyu seemed taken aback by how wide his smile was

it was a nice sight though

the man quickly introduced himself as Wonwoo and that he was one of mingyus friends and a member of seventeen

you tried to be as polite as possible knowing he was a friend of your lovely soulmate

then you were walking to the training rooms

and when you walked in it was chaos

there were things flying everywhere

a couple looking like they were about to start crying in the corner

a couple observing

a couple looking ready to fight, the guy even had a pair of nunchucks in his hand

a couple backing them up

and then the rest were on the other pairs side 

the guy with the nunchucks looked over at the door opening

you were hiding behind mingyu as soon as you saw a large group of people

“HYUNG PICK A SIDE”

“MINGYU-SSI GET OVER HERE AND HELP US”

you were slightly terrified, and was about to cry when someone shouted “THERES ANOTHER PAIR OF FEET!!!”

crap crap crap crap

suddenly a large crowd was formed around you two

you peeked and noticed the couple in the corner were still calming down

mingyu noticed too

yelled for help

they finally noticed and told everyone to spread out again

mingyu turned round and got on his knees to apologise to you for all them

you pulled him up and said it was fine you didn’t mind, it was bound to happen

he stood up and thanked you so much

then he turned around, grabbed your hand and pulled you in front of him

he introduced you and after greeting everyone and learning their names, the argument commenced

you didn’t even know what it was about but you and mingyu were on minghaos side

you were yelling vigorously with gyu and then you pulled his hand down, went to the back of him and jumped on his back

he was startled but resumed gesturing with one hand while the other herd you

the day started off kinda sad but now

now it was amazing

after the argument, you all ordered food from the place hao wanted

until you checked your phone and it was late at night with messages from your friends worried as hell about you

you quickly apologised for having to leave and then started to run out

mingyu followed you until the front door and grabbed your face

oh sweet baby jesus yes

he leaned in dead close and 

kissed your

forehead cos gyu respects boundaries god damn it

you blushed and did the same to him

then you ran back to where you were staying

your friends noticed the changed necklace immediately 

you were mush as you talked about him

you always got cute texts from him

and then when you moved into the female dorm

you ended up cooking in the guys dorm whenever mingyu didn’t want to

you didn’t mind even if it meant being in the kitchen all day

as long as you had mingyu with you, you would go anywhere with him