#why do men always bring up ‘ruined lives’ as if their scolding women it feels so misogynistic as if women are

[iceyrukia]

when people expect you to feel sorry for male rapists and go “you ruined his life” as if their willingness to commit such a terrible act doesn’t appropriately go hand in hand in order to show how depraved these human scum are - willing to selfishly traumatize women and leave a scar on their livelihood all for a five second orgasm.

[sumeru-academy]

Hi! I was the anon that asked about the apy x family thingy. So my request ( if you are up for it!) Is Lisa, Jean, Beidou, Ningguang, Yae Miko and Ayaka with their S/O and their child re-enacting the scene of SpyXFamily during the schools higher-ups interview where Anya cried. The genshin character can be based of Yor or Loid (showing protectiveness) but add your own twist if you want or whatever seems fit! I actually have seen clips of the series but i feel so bad for watching the anime so early since it has minimal episodes yet!! 🥲🥲

Will they pass or fail.

synopsis: (Y/N) is the most successful and renowned spy in the country. Tackling the most dangerous and unheard of missions any human would even hope to handle. As of now, she’d been tasked to get close to a certain head of the prestigious Academy of Teyvat. With the hope of the country lying on her shoulders, she takes a false wife under her wing along with an adopted child in hopes to bring her union peace. 

character(s): yae, ningguang, lisa. (separate)

warning(s): spy x family au, talk of pregnancy, lowkey homophobia, sexism, a little violence.

note(s): female reader, i feel like this wasn’t a great intro via my writing cause it's a little out of my comfort zone ^^ however i’d never turn down the chance to experiment.

i lob yor

⎯⎯mod chewie 🪑

YAE MIKO

loves teenagers and tweens, and just endlessly ruins their pride.

she can handle herself around smaller children, but hates it when they cry, she finds it so annoying.

has a talent for cooking, but dislikes the necessity of it. finds pleasure in seeing you dash around the kitchen while she entertains Sayu.

she’s a little lost when helping with studies, always trying to do something else.

somehow always trying to start tussles with the locals in grocery stores, at one point she was blatantly insulted while shopping and she just started laughing.

the biggest casualty was marrying her due to her troublesome and unpredictable nature, she constantly tests you.

Sayu was nowhere near as troublesome as your wife. There was constant mischief surrounding her, you had begged her to stay quiet and allow you to take the lead for the school interview. You should’ve known better than to tell her what you wanted, she would do the opposite.

Not even a whole two minutes in and there was already discord in the secluded room.

“I’m just saying, it’s a little strange for a hybrid woman and a human woman to raise a child. The fact is one of you is a hybrid I can overlook, but two women?” 

Swan squabbles as if he were some sort of cattle being taken to the slaughterhouse. Sayu remained airheaded, daydreaming about the rolling fields by her home which she was excited to roll in after the visit. 

Yae held her index finger to her chin, “Pardon me, but didn’t you lose your wife and visitation rights? It feels inappropriate to comment on others’ living situation when you weren’t even able to keep your wife nor your daughter.” 

“Why you–”

You held up your hands, the man with glasses next to Swan scolding Yae on her brash comment. You apologized under your breath, none of the men could hear you over Swan’s embarrassed squealing. 

You spoke up, “My dearest apologies, she’s very defensive you see–”

“Dear (Y/N), don’t apologize on my behalf. This man has no obligation to ridicule others' lifestyles, no matter the situation! He’s a downbeat who gets off to the misery of others in an attempt to raise his ego. Please don’t sympathize with such impotence,” her attention was fully on you now, ignoring the argument bubbling within the men on the sofa.

“It isn’t about sympathy, it’s about Sayu getting into the academy!” your voice was hushed, a hand by your mouth.

Yae scoffed and mumbled something you couldn’t understand, “Let’s continue, I’ll remain quiet.”

Swan babbled, “Perhaps we’d ought to kick you out, it’s clear two women are only going to raise a brain dead child.”

Sayu’s soft voice mumbled to the Headmaster, he of which repeated her words, “The child states she enjoys her home life, I think that makes a good enough excuse to allow the wives to continue the interview.”

You tried not to shake when Yae smiled at you.

“What was your relationship like with Miss Yae before you got married, Miss (Y/N)?” Evance was scribbling gibberish down on a clipboard, his pencil strokes quiet.

“We met at a shrine, she was the head shrine maiden and I felt weak in the knees when I saw how gracefully she took care of me. She’s truly an enigma,” You sighed dreamily, “I became a regular and we had gotten engaged fairly quickly, when I saw her get along with my daughter it only made me swoon even further.”

He nodded, “I see, so you’re religious?”

“Not exactly, it’s more for pleasure than religion, I never grew up around the notion.”

“I see, Miss Yae, do you still attend the shrine you had met Miss (Y/N) in?” 

She smiled more sweetly than before, “Yes, and each time she visits me I get to relive the moment of adoration when we had first encountered each other. A magical feeling.”

“Aren’t most religions against the idea of same-sex marriage? Wouldn’t you be betraying your God?” Swan spoke up again, visible rage upon his features. Her ear twitched, “God doesn’t pay me to do hard work or follow its rules. I disbelieve in the afterlife and karma.” Yae fiddled with her collar bashfully, “If I’m disobeying him, it was worth it, (Y/N) and Sayu’s company are much more rewarding than anything else.”

A foreign warmth bubbled in your stomach when she praised you, despite the fact the marriage was only for the title, you couldn’t help but be flustered.

“Tell me, Sayu, was it?” Evance started, “Do you enjoy your new mother?”

The small girl, though consumed by the softness of the cushions, perked up with bright eyes. Her brows furrowed in a troubled but determined expression where she forced a convincing smile.

“Yes! I want to be with them forever!”

The Headmaster grumbled praise, the anxiety in your core growing fainter with the flow of conversation. The moment was short lived.

“So, would you prefer your actual father then?”

You’ve only known Yae for a few months, been married to her for the majority of that time. Never once have you ever seen her genuinely enraged by anything. In the corner of your eye, you made out the fury of which dressed itself upon her features which held a smile for so long. The room was unmoving with thick tension, only becoming more infused with Yae’s unconditional rage once Sayu showed the slightest hint of discomfort. 

“Oh my,” she started, “Looks like there’s a pig loose, please allow me to catch it.”

There wasn’t enough time to stop her. Her hand went snag to the remains of Swan’s hair and smashed it into the coffee table with a graphic crack. His nose was dug through the wood and on the wool rug beneath them, nose cracking under the pressure of her sheer strength. Once she lifted her hand from his cranium, her sharp nails dug into the skin of his scalp.

“Pardon me…” she stated again, you didn’t dare breathe, “He should stay quiet for now, please do your best to contain your pets.”

There was no possible way you were ever getting to the academy, or any academy at this rate.

NINGGUANG

isn’t fond of older children, she can get along with toddlers fine.

has a talent for cooking, and would rather cook for you then you cook for her.

married you for tax benefits, and agreed to help you with your endeavors with little Qiqi, she herself was also attached.

thinks money can solve everything, you forgot your keys to the apartment once and she tossed a variety of coins at you and continued to walk to the train station by herself. 

hates leaving Qiqi home alone, she gave you one hell of a lecture when she found out she was left alone semi-regularly.

Your wife was responsible, and you pride yourself on picking such a lovely woman to marry you. She had her ups and downs, like most people, but overall she has to be the best fit for you.

The interview for the academy was as smooth as ever, you’d taken the lead. The youngest of the men being Swan had made multiple double sided comments which you brushed off with the utmost of respect. You couldn’t help but notice Ningguang’s side eye you while you submissively bowed to their will.

“Who cooks at home? Considering you’re both women,” Swan said, eyes bore into your own.

You pulled on a strained smile, “Ningguang does most of it, I work later nights than I’d like to admit so I’m rarely home in time to cook.”

“Did you cook for your late husband?” he continued.

“No, sir. I dislike cooking.”

He scoffed, as if he were absolutely disgusted with the fact you couldn’t cook, “What kind of woman is useless in the kitchen? Surely this is why you gave up on trying to marry men.”

Ningguang quickly interjected, “Excuse me, but why does that matter for school admission? I thought this school prided itself on the height of education, not petty gender roles.”

The Headmaster quickly stood up straighter, he nodded and instructed the interview to continue while Swan leaned back into the sofa cushion.

“So, what was the relationship between you two before you got married?” Evance, the much more understanding man, finally spoke.

You put a hand to your chin, “Well, we met at our workplace. We’d only been coworkers until I got up the courage to ask to become friends, it eventually blossomed into something more.”

Evance nodded, then asked Qiqi his own questions for her. The memory exercises seemed to have been useful, her monotone voice didn’t waver and her stuttering was to a minimum. You were beyond proud of her progress, especially since she had gotten so invested in the ongoing conversations between her and Evance.

It was all short lived.

“You’re the legitimate daughter of Miss (Y/N) and the man before Miss Ningguang, correct?” Evance asked, his eyes skimming over the bunch of printed text before him.

Qiqi tilted her head, “What is, lejitay… mate?”

The Headmaster spoke first, “Is she your real mommy?”

“Of course, she’s my true mommy. The best of the best.”

“Well spoken,” the Headmaster praised.

Swan opened his fat mouth once more, “Would you prefer your old daddy? Or two mommies?”

Everyone in the room seemed to stop breathing, and every bone in your body screamed with bloodied and boiling rage. You can’t remember the last time you had been so infuriated, you don’t even know if you had ever been that infuriated. The entire room froze with shock, the girl in the lone chair started shaking uncontrollably. “Swan! Please have some respect!” Evance scolded, the Headmaster harshly cussed at the said man.

Ningguang watched you carefully restrain yourself, she made her way towards Qiqi and lifted her in her arms.

“I am Ningguang, Tianquan of Liyue Qixing. I own the Jade chamber which had defied laws of physics not even recorded yet. You mock my daughter, you mock me, you mock my lover,” She started, face devoid of human emotion, “You may be the height of education, no matter how many titles this establishment carries, no matter how many titles the employees carry. I am ten times more than you or this establishment will ever be.”

The shaking Qiqi was secured in her arms as she sauntered out, calling out your name which you quickly followed behind.

When you got home it was quiet, the walk was silent except the tapping of Ningguangs heeled shoes. You didn’t dare speak, Qiqi couldn’t do much but sulk in her arms. As soon as you had reached the apartment, you didn’t even get the chance to take your shoes off until she was on the telephone dialing spontaneous numbers. Qiqi found solitude in her bedroom.

“Hello?” Ningguang spoke into the phone, you noticed her lipstick was smeared, “You’re aware of the ultimate Teyvat Academy? Correct? Good, well find the man who owns the estate and purchase the entire thing. I could care less for price tags or investments, do what you have to do and buy it.”

You stared at her with your mouth wide open, that’s one way to get into the academy… 

LISA MINCI

Lisa actually really likes working with kids! Her favorite are probably toddlers. 

she works with Klee really well, however when Klee gets stubborn about her studies things can get rocky. 

Lisa has a tendency of over rewarding, not that it’s a bad thing! 

not the best at cooking, very good with baking though.

Klee left you hopeless on so many occasions that you couldn’t remember. When you were first handed this mission you had no idea how to respond other than a curt nod and be on your way. The entire world depended on you. Depend on you, your wife, and your disaster of a child.

It was time. You and your family walked into the interview waiting room in absolute silence. The anxiety was potent enough that you started to bounce your leg up and down, Lisa put her hand on your knee. Now wasn’t a time for visible fear, put on a brave face and tread forward. 

Fake it until you make it, you suppose.

The three older men in the room eyes widened once they saw Lisa follow in after you, they probably assumed the both of you were sisters. Although you had read the regulations very carefully, they never mentioned specifically that a man and a woman were the only ones that could pass the interview. It was the mass majority, but you had your worries. There was just no way you would conveniently marry a man under any context. 

You sat down in the seat closest to Klee. 

“Ah, welcome. Are you both sisters?” the man with thick glasses asked, he was in his early fifties with a kind tone.

Lisa and you both lifted your left hand revealing the matching wedding band.

“No sir, we are legally married,” you stated.

The chubbier man in the middle, Swan, snorted, “So the child does not belong to you biologically?”

You felt your jaw clench, “You see, I was married to a man previously. He passed away from illness, and Lisa swept me off my feet in my time of need. I indeed gave birth to Klee.”

‘Mama’s lying…’ Klee thought to herself, a nervous smile stretching her cheeks. 

Swan went to say something, but was cut off by Evance, “So this is your second marriage?”

“Yes, sir.”

You could hear Klee’s fidgeting as she straightened her skirt with uneasy hands.

Evance looked through a clipboard with scattered papers, “What was your relationship like before you got married to Lisa? How did you meet?”

A dreamy sigh left your lips, “We met at a diner, as soon as our eyes met I felt my knees buckle and my chest heat up… I thought of my late husband who would’ve willed me to move on when he passed, we’d talked only for a brief while before engagement.”

Lisa used the tip on her fingers to hide a creeping smile with pink cheeks. She hummed in agreement.

“...And yourself?” Evance directed his attention to your wife.

She nodded, “Well, I’m not the best with straightforward words… But (Y/N) treated me more kindly than anybody I had ever been with previously. She’s impossibly patient, there’s nobody I’d rather spend my life with.”

Well spoken!

Swan spoke up again, “When did you realize you prefer women over men?”

His eyes bore into yours, as if he was mocking you entirely.

“I’ve never put a label on attraction, it’s been like this since I was little. I enjoy the company of both sexes.”

You were lying, Klee knew. She knew from the looks of frustration you would give informants when they would hand you certificates of bachelors, but she didn’t mind. She enjoyed having two mothers.

Swan turned his head towards the child, “Do you enjoy having two mommies? Don’t you think it would be better if you had a Daddy instead?”

There was something boiling inside your stomach, your cheeks felt hot with absolute anger. Your hands were bunched up with the fabric of your pants.

Calm down. It’s fine.

You looked at Klee, tears glistened in her eyes. Your heart raced when you saw Lisa stand up to go comfort her, you could feel your entire body twitch upon instinct when you heard her sobbing. 

“So she prefers a father after all.”

That comment sent your nerves into a frenzy of rage. Lisa beat you two it, smashing the entire table in half with her foot. The three men jumped back in absolute terror, Swan letting out some sort of squeal. Lisa lifted up the tip of her heel, wood crumbling around it.

She mumbled, a terrifying smile upon her face as she looked down to Swan. His legs were shaking with his collar stuffed with fat and sweat, eye contact never breaking between the two. Lisa lifted her leg completely and took her purple heel off her foot, revealing the faint stain of a crushed bug upon the bottom. 

Lisa giggled, “Please forgive me, but there was a mosquito upon the table and I just couldn’t help myself. Looks a bit like you, doesn’t it, Swan?”

You weren’t getting into this school. No matter how much you may pray to some sort of God.

[zodiyack]

Ladies With Brains

Requested by anon: Might be a strange request, Could you please write an imagine where reader is dating Patrick Bateman and she has mental illnesses as well so when he says “you could always be skinnier, look better” she admits that she knows that he’s a serial killer and was just waiting for her turn to die, but he can’t bring himself to kill her because he has fallen for her?

Pairing: Patrick Bateman x Female!Reader

Warnings: Swearing, angst, mention of murder, slasher stuff

Words: 1,305

Summary: (See Request)

Taglist: @matth1w​, @redspaceace-writes​, @fandom-puff​, @darling-i-read-it​, @simonsbluee​

Masterlist | Slasher Masterlist

Though he was good-looking, Patrick was not the most desired of men to be dating. Then again, he wasn’t as much as an asshole as his coworkers. Y/n was a guest; one of said coworkers cousins. She caught his eye rather quickly and peaked his interest to a point he’d never thought existed.

They had some stuff in common too. Right when he met her, he learned of one. Like Patrick, she hated the social gatherings, constantly rubbing her temples and itching to escape the crowded room to some place more quiet and relaxed.

When she finally found her escape, Patrick followed her. He watched as she pulled out a small thing of pills and grabbed her glass of water she’d brought from the other room. Though he wondered what they were for, he moved on to engaging with his prey.

“Hello.” His voice broke the peaceful silence, but Y/n did not move a muscle.

“Oh, hello. Patrick, is it?” When she turned around, Patrick couldn’t help but stare. She was far too beautiful to be stuck in a business party. Patrick admired her beauty, imagining her death a little too happily.

“Yes. You are...”

“Y/n. Y/n L/n.” She held out her hand to shake his with a small smile on her face, more than likely fake due to the visible exhaustion running over her entire form. When he didn’t shake it back, she shrugged, “Not a fan of human contact I see? Don’t worry...it’s the same here. My cousin scolded me the last ten times, so now I either put on a smile and shake their hands or stay at his home and babysit for him.”

“Why not stay at your own place?”

“My roommate’s anniversary is today...so she kicked me out for the night. Every anniversary I get kicked out. It’s alright though, I’m used to it now.”

“And?” Patrick scoffed. He ignored everything else she’d said after the part about being kicked out. He spoke as if everything he said was obvious and easy, “You could live on your own.”

Y/n shook her head as the smile dropped from her face. “Patrick, not all of us can afford luxuries such as that. And even if I could, there are some things I just need another person to be around for. Not everyone is like you, not everyone is like my cousin, and not everyone is like me. I’m glad we had this talk, but I’d like to be alone for now.”

“I- uhm...” Patrick wasn’t too used to this rejection. Sure, he’d usually get odd looks, but rejection? “How about this, you and I go to my place and you don’t have to be somewhere you don’t want to be?”

“Patrick. That would be taking me somewhere I don’t want to be.”

The disappointment could be seen on his face. To her, he was disappointed because he wanted to get to know her, but to him, he was disappointed for numerous reasons. None of which, were legal. Nevertheless, he nodded. Seeing his reaction, Y/n continued with what she was going to say.

“However...you could take me on a date. Maybe after a few of those...I’ll be willing to go over to your place. Alright?”

He thought it over before nodding again, “Deal.”

They went on Patrick’s promised dates. Everything went as plan, smoothly and successfully...well...almost everything. Patrick had a complication that could be the thing that ruined everything he’d worked for. The dates started as a plan for three. Then it turned into one every other week. Their relationship continued to grow.

He caught feelings for Y/n, and her him. Patrick didn’t want to admit it. He didn’t know how to admit it. He didn’t know what would happen if he did admit it. So, as a solution to all his problems, he ignored everything he felt for her.

But then the day came. Y/n was in his living room with him, the two making small talk as per usual. She flipped through a magazine for a bit before scoffing and throwing it down. “These magazines, models, companies; it’s all fake. They’re just trying to get girls to feel insecure enough to buy their products.”

“Well, are you?”

“Am I what?”

“Insecure enough to buy their products?”

She shook her head with a sarcastic laugh, “No. But I admit, I’m feeling the envy they somehow make the models give to the viewers, but, it’s not like I can do anything about it.”

“You could always be skinnier.” He suggested, speaking honestly, face and voice expressionless. “Look better.”

“Patrick. That wasn’t nice.”

“And?”

Y/n sighed, looking away from him. “If I wanted to look like some plastic Barbie doll, I’d join the women you’ve murdered. Your preference in women seems to match that description.”

Patrick’s head immediately snapped back towards her. “What did you say?”

“Blond, skinny, so on. My question is why you have yet to kill me? Is it ‘cause I’m not as Barbie-looking as you’d like me to be?” She was being serious, genuinely confused, and intrigued, as to why she wasn’t already one of the people in and on the news labeled as missing but in reality very much dead.

He stood up quickly, grabbing the weapon beside him as he rose from the couch. Patrick pointed it at her and furrowed his brows. He told himself to do it, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t.

Y/n acted as if there was no weapon pointed at her, as if she had not known Patrick was a murderer, as if nothing was wrong. He wanted to say that he hated that she wasn’t scared of him but he knew he would hate it even more if she was.

“Patrick. If you want to kill me, then kill me.” Even through the horror of their complex situation, Y/n remained calm and soft spoken. Patrick couldn’t decide if he hated or loved it. She was a woman he could get use to, that he agreed with, but her brains drove him crazy. A smart woman was beautiful yet torture all at the same time.

“Get away from me!” He yelled, pained by his own human feelings for her.

All she did was stand up, providing him with a clean shot. He knew he could kill her, but his body refused to do anything that would bring her harm. His mind was filled with more worries than temptation.

“Leave! Get out! Run before I hurt you!” She didn’t budge. “I’ll kill you, you little bitch!”

Patrick groaned in anger as Y/n kept quiet and still. It was like she was silently calling his bluff. Bateman had never felt this before, thus his hesitation had been self-explanatory. Did he hate the feeling? He wasn’t sure. But would the feeling turn negative for him if he rid the world of one person in his life to make him feel as such? Would it disappear? He didn’t want to find out; any person could see the risk was too high.

“You won’t. If you wanted to kill me, you would’ve done it by now.” She didn’t move, and he hated it. He hated her for making him feel this way. He hated himself for feeling it.

He hated himself for showing weakness. He hated himself for dropping the weapon and giving in. “Just...give- give me time. I need to think-”

“We’ll need to talk about this at some point. Just know that I’m not scared. I know you won’t hurt me.” Y/n nodded and began to walk out of his apartment, turning and giving him a final understand look. “Call me when you want to talk. We...we have a lot to talk about.”

Why’d he have to pick the smart one? Patrick cursed himself; they really did have a lot to talk about.

[105ttt]

So, I'm kinda new to Cookie Run, so I don't know a whole lot about the characters inpirations and all that so I hope you don't mind me asking, but what's up with Milk Cookie's design? I've seen people say it's problematic but no explanation on why it is, and I just feel a little lost and dumb lol

It’s okay! You’re not dumb! I’m happy to explain. I’m going to put this under a readmore because there’s… a lot wrong with him and his design. I’ll put a summary before the readmore in case you don’t want details.

TL;DR: Milk Cookie’s appearance, being likely based on the Crusaders and having motifs similar to the Iron Cross used by the Nazis, is antisemitic. Milk Cookie talks down to people of color and also destroys their property without their consent, even if he does not mean it in a malicious way. All of his actions are played off as cute or a joke, which is racist because it makes a white man seem like he can’t be blamed for things he did which were legitimately wrong and meanwhile makes the people of color he harasses seem like the ones who did something wrong. His contrast with Purple Yam Cookie in his release update and the other Cookies he meets is also outright racist, even if not intentional.

Disclaimer: I’m not Jewish or a person of color, so my opinions on Milk Cookie’s design as it relates to how it’s antisemitic or his character as it relates to him being racist are not important. You should consult Jewish people and/or people of color for their own opinions on Milk Cookie above all else. The things I’m about to list out are what I’ve heard from Jewish Cookie Run fans, people of color who play Cookie Run, or other minority groups sympathetic to Jewish people who have expressed their concerns about Milk Cookie’s design.

His appearance:

Milk Cookie’s physical appearance is a major problem for many people because it brings up antisemitic imagery. He is likely based on a paladin from Dungeons and Dragons, since Purple Yam Cookie and Mala Sauce Cookie are also based on Dungeons and Dragons classes. Paladins draw their imagery from the Crusaders, which is an antisemitic group from European history that claimed their religion was a valid reason to murder and oppress Jewish and Muslim people. Milk Cookie not only looks like a Crusader, but religion is a major theme in his design. The crosses, white clothing, and the fact that he is associated with Milk Angel all imply this. His story also says he is on a “divine mission” to bring peace to all Cookies, but a religious mission like that sounds dangerously close to the mission of the Crusaders. The crosses on his shield and mace are, as I already stated, also very visually close to Iron Crosses.

While all of this was likely not intentional on Devsisters’ part, it still brings these kinds of associations to mind. This is why many Jewish people in particular are uncomfortable with Milk Cookie’s design and do not like to see him or talk about him. It does not help that he is always smiling and has rosy cheeks, as it makes him seem “cutesy” and “trustworthy” compared to a character like Purple Yam Cookie, who always scowls and has slashes on his face and chest.

His character and actions:

Milk Cookie’s character is racist in that it makes him, a white man, seem automatically more likable and good as a person than any person of color he meets by virtue of how the story portrays his actions and the people around him. From his debut, he has always been portrayed as a “kind”, “gentle” person who does nothing wrong. Even when he verbally and physically threatens Purple Yam Cookie despite Purple Yam Cookie not threatening him at all, he faces no repercussions for it. Later, he stalks Purple Yam Cookie even after Purple Yam Cookie tells him to leave him alone. Rather than being punished for this creepy behavior, he gets defended by Purple Yam Cookie from a giant Jellyworm and later stays at Purple Yam Cookie’s camp (once again, against Purple Yam Cookie’s will). Later, Purple Yam Cookie nearly falls into a volcano, and Milk Cookie saves him by grabbing onto his clothes. As he does so, however, he says demeaning things to Purple Yam Cookie. Rather than Purple Yam Cookie rightfully being allowed to be mad at Milk Cookie, the story portrays them as bonding afterward. It’s very awkward for a black man to suddenly forgive a white man for his creepy, condescending behavior just because he saved his life.

The Dino-Sour Cookie update included a scene where Milk Cookie told Purple Yam Cookie to mind his manners when speaking to Dino-Sour Cookie, which is very condescending. Purple Yam Cookie is an adult, so he should be allowed to do whatever he likes. A white man speaking over a black man and telling him to “watch his manners” is very textbook racist.

In the Mala Sauce Cookie update, Milk Cookie is once again portrayed as more “kind” than Purple Yam Cookie when he scolds Purple Yam Cookie for not offering to help Mala Sauce Cookie with her tribe’s issues. This is once again a case of Milk Cookie talking down to Purple Yam Cookie, as Purple Yam Cookie is implied to have just met Mala Sauce Cookie and therefore is not close enough with her to the point where he should want to undertake the big task of helping her. In addition, Purple Yam Cookie has his own goal which he wants to stick to, and as an adult, he has the right to want to pursue it before anything else. Milk Cookie’s condemnation of Purple Yam Cookie’s choice to focus on his own goal is just plain rude. Later, after the Dragon’s Valley Squad meets Pitaya Dragon Cookie and receives their advice on how to solve Mala Sauce Cookie’s problem, Milk Cookie once again calls Purple Yam Cookie selfish for wanting to continue his quest rather than stay with Mala Sauce Cookie. All-in-all, it’s a big mess.

In the Mango Cookie update, Milk Cookie suggests that he and Dino-Sour Cookie dig into Pineapple Mountain to try to find Ananas Dragon Cookie. Mango Cookie begs him not to do so, as it ruins the island’s landscape and enrages Ananas Dragon Cookie, but he starts digging without listening to Mango Cookie. When Mango Cookie asks what he’s doing, he ignores Mango Cookie’s obvious concern and says he’ll use his shield to defend them all from the Dragon when it arrives. Thus, Mango Cookie’s concern is played off as a joke. The defilement of the island, which is inhabited by Pacific Islanders, by a white man is extremely reminiscent of imperialism in real life, and it would likely make Pacific Islanders uncomfortable that it is played off as a funny story. Ananas Dragon Cookie’s rightful rage about the whole thing is played off as ridiculous too, which doesn’t make it any better.

Milk Cookie compared to those around him:

Every important Cookie Milk Cookie has come into contact with in the Dragon’s Valley story was not white, and almost all of them exhibits traits of racist stereotypes about non-white people that make Milk Cookie look more “perfect” and “likable”. The biggest victim of this is Purple Yam Cookie, but we’ll get to him in a moment.

Dino-Sour Cookie falls into the stereotype of being animalistic. He has sharp teeth and lives alongside dinosaurs, and he even seems to communicate with Jellysaur somehow. Attributing these kinds of characters to a man of color is a classic kind of racist stereotype which tries to make him seem more alike with animals than humans. Simply put, it is dehumanizing. People call Dino-Sour Cookie “feral” because of how he’s portrayed, and that’s… not good when you’re talking about a man of color.

Mala Sauce Cookie, who would likely be Chinese if she were human because mala sauce is a Chinese sauce, falls into a similar stereotype to Purple Yam Cookie. That is, her personality centers around combat. There is also the fact that she’s from a tribe, and her Costume contains motifs like animal skins and dangling golden jewelry which are typically racist when applied to people of color. Devsisters may have been intending for Mala Sauce Cookie to be Mongolian, based on her Costume and her living in a tribe, but that just makes her even more of a stereotype as she’s portrayed with Mongolian stereotypes (like the helmet in her Costume and living in a warrior tribe). Whether Mala Sauce Cookie is Chinese or Mongolian, she is still very obviously a woman of color, and so applying these stereotypes to her is… not good. (And we’re not even getting into how Cookie Run loves to make dark-skinned female Cookies more masculine than the ones with lighter skin, which is a racist stereotype that dehumanizes women of color and invalidates their right to be feminine if they so choose.)

Mango Cookie and Ananas Dragon Cookie both are portrayed as ridiculous for objecting to Milk Cookie’s destruction of the pineapple island, which makes them seem ignorant of “the greater good at hand” and selfish when they are simply trying to defend their home and their dignity.

Purple Yam Cookie has been with Milk Cookie since the beginning, and he is by far the biggest victim of the racism inherent in Milk Cookie’s character. He has always been juxtaposed to Milk Cookie. Even on the title screen for their release update, we see Purple Yam Cookie depicted as “rowdy” and violent, looking at the player with a smirk and wielding his mace, while Milk Cookie in that same screen is partially turned away from the viewer. He is smiling politely, and his mace is nowhere to be seen; we only see his shield. This contrast alone signifies how their different characters clash, and how Milk Cookie is supposed to seem more “likable” and “pure” than Purple Yam Cookie.

Purple Yam Cookie’s character is literally a racist caricature of black men. He is angry, violent, and loud - all the time. Even when he seemingly has no reason to be angry or violent, he shouts, complains about how angry he is, and acts in such a way that the player is supposed to see him as “selfish”. His trauma about the Oven is played off as a joke, claiming that it’s the reason why he’s always angry. The game treats his PTSD as a joke for the sake of making him a racist stereotype. His loading lines in-game are all either about fighting or being angry. He yells in most of his dialogue, emphasizing words that don’t even make sense, just for the sake of making him seem grumpy and rude. He even says things that don’t make sense at all just to keep the angry personality trait! If you equip his Champion of Valor Costume, he claims that “shiny colors” and “fancy clothes” make him angry, and his Costume description contains him yelling at people for complimenting him. He is also depicted with sharp teeth in some cutscenes, which is reminiscent of racist remarks made about black people by white people throughout history, calling them “animalistic” by nature. All of this taken together, combined with the fact that his Skill is all about destruction and that his whole character motive is to fight Dark Choco Cookie to reclaim his title as Champion, makes him into a character you are “supposed” to dislike and view as mean.

Contrast that with Milk Cookie. His dialogue in most cutscenes is polite. He gives encouragement to the player in his loading lines for his Costume. Most of his loading lines are also uplifting and encouraging. He has never been shown to be unnecessarily mad except for once, when he threatened Purple Yam Cookie after hearing he was planning to fight Dark Choco Cookie - and he was not punished for this or made to seem violent by the narrative! Milk Cookie’s backstory is about wanting to thank Dark Choco Cookie, not wanting to fight them. And the fact that he has sprites where he smiles and seems happy, whereas Purple Yam Cookie only ever smiles in canon when he’s being violent, just makes Milk Cookie seem more “pure” and “gentle” to the player. Devsisters likely did not make Milk Cookie and Purple Yam Cookie this way intentionally. It was likely the product of internalized racism, but even so, that doesn’t make it okay or make the racist elements insignificant.

There is probably a lot more I could talk about when it comes to why Milk Cookie as a character is problematic, but these should be enough details to get the gist of it. As I said before, you should consult Jewish people and people of color when it comes to this topic before anything else, but I hope this explanation clears things up.

[kandikorne]

Until The Light || {M.YG}

Genre: Smut, slight angst

Word Count: 5.6 K

Warnings: Praise kink, slight degradation, pet names, unprotected sex, oral (male and female receiving), mentions of mafia Yoongi, and break ups.

He pouted as he stared closely at his reflection, his eyes holding to his neck where deep purple bruises laid on his flesh, not from  sweet, plush lips, but from an angry boyfriend who had found him screwing around with his baby sister. Sometimes he really hated that girl, he hated how she could so easily manipulate him into coming to bed with her, to him begging for her touch.

He was so weak with that whore of a girl. He needed a lover not an occasional fuck, and Hoseok had made that pretty clear that morning after disposing of the male who dared to even touch Min Yoongi.

“Boss?” Called a deep voiced male who softly rapped his knuckles on the large doors of Yoongi’s bedroom.

“What’s needed Taehyung?” His voice raspy, his eyes hooded into a glare as he growled at his reflection, punching his reflection in the face. His inner turmoil showing in his reckless actions.

“Jungkook sent me with word as to where that slu-Da-eun is.”

“I don’t care where that whore ran to, what I do care for though is how long until she’s silenced?”

“I’ll inform him of your order sir. It shouldn’t take more than half an hour, at most.”

“Good, I’m heading out.”

The breakup stage sucked, your heart yearned and ached for him. Your bed was so empty without him. You missed the morning kisses, the slow hand that would play with your hair before falling asleep.  

Hell you missed him, but fuck, it was over. He was just a chapter in your life, one that could be replaced but you couldn’t leave him in the past. You wanted him back. You hated drowning yourself with alcohol, you hated walking around your house with the ghost of him.

It’d been a week since you left your house, but today was the day you’d clean up your house and remove all signs of him. It’d hurt, you knew it would, but you couldn’t keep living with the ghost of him, no you had to let go like he had three months prior to breaking up with you.

You were so young and naive to believe in love, now you saw where love would get you, it was fake. You would pretend to be alright even when you weren’t you always tried to please him and seem like the perfect girlfriend, but look how far your love had taken you.

Carding a hand through your tangled hair your eyes ghosted over to the mirror, taking in your messy distraught self. you sweatshirt, a size too big, with a big chocolate pudding stain on the right breast. some dried substance besides it. You shook your head at your reflection and climbed out of your bed.

Strutting your way to the shower, turning it to the hottest it could be, you stripped yourself of your clothes as your remembered how he’d come up behind you, kissing the shell of your ear and whispering, all for me. God baby you’re really something, before his large hand would take your breast and began kneading the soft flesh.

“Get. Out. Of. My. Head!” You gritted as you continued to undress only for more memories to wash over you, him helping you undress, slowly tugging your panties down before pressing you against the tile wall, his lips capturing yours. It was all the past, it wasn’t good to keep looking back on. Swinging open the shower door you climbed in, eyes closed as you let the scolding hot water burn the memories away. The tears mixed with the water, disguising the pain. If you stopped to even think about it you could hear his deep voice reverberating off the glass doors, could almost feel his arms wrapping around your middle as his lips would ghost over your neck leaving the softest of kisses.

You wished, just even for a second to have him there with you. To hold you, to kiss you. You needed a way to forget him. So after your shower you moved to the closet, towel wrapped loosely across your frame as you pulled out a nice form fitting tan dress, which showed off your lovely curves.

You could only imagine Namjoon’s words if he were to see you right now, damn baby girl you look so good. Fuck it we’re staying in. As he’d grab your hips leading you back to the bed, undressing your body before marking your flesh with beautiful blooming bruises.

You had to stop thinking about him.

You dropped the towel and laid the dress on the bed as you went to dry your hair off  that way you wouldn’t ruin the dress. You needed someone or something to make you forget about your ex, Namjoon, so why not have a few drinks, and dance with a stranger or two?

Yoongi walked around his club, his eyes  fixated on the dance floor as he searched for any single or lonely women, except almost all that he found exceptionally interesting were with someone. He wondered if he’d ever have a wife or a serious relationship.

His eyes landed onto Hoseok one of his many men, Hoseok was especially good looking and great on the dance floor. He was sure that those hip thrusts would make anyone weak in the knees.

He sighed as he paraded around to the bar, his eyes landed on a young woman, her body leaning against the bar, her hair thrown into a tight bun but then he saw she was with a man, he laughed, his smile revealing his dimples.The male happened to be Kim Namjoon, a rival gang leader. He had some balls being in Yoongi’s club, but then again Namjoon had never harmed his enterprise or even messed with him, they had the same rivals, but him and Namjoon weren’t allies, far from it.

You had just walked into the hottest new club, and honestly it wasn’t even anything special, it was just like every other club you been to, except this time instead of having Namjoon at your side you were all alone, but now you could possibly find someone to replace your love for Namjoon, or at least help you forget him. Maybe even a few drinks would help ease your mind.

God it was so awkward being there all alone, your eyes kept following random individuals as you took in the night club scene. There were so many people dancing upon each other, the bar was full, the club was full of so many good looking males and females that you began questioning if you even fit in and what your sexuality truly was.

Your mind raced as you moved towards the bar, no one there was alone, everyone seemed to have a partner or a group of friends, you pressed your way through the crowd and stood patiently at the counter.  

“Can I get a-” Shit, your mind blanked as a familiar voice spoke, you turned your head to see, him, he was only a few feet away. There he sat with a beautiful brunette, her hair in a tight bun, her body exposed for the most part through the thin material she called a dress.

You prayed he wouldn’t notice you, you just wanted him to stay in the past. You turned your head back to the bartender who offered a sinister grin, suddenly you didn’t want a cocktail, or anything that’d be made by this man. So instead you simply ordered a soda.

With your carbonated beverage you turned away from the bar and walked away only to run into a strong chest, a gasp escaped your lips as your drink fell to the floor, your eyes wide as two hands fell around your middle, holding you steady.

“I am so sorry,” you apologized as you looked at the mess on the floor, then at his face. The male said nothing as he studied your features carefully, he took in your bright wide eyes, the cute curve of your nose and plush lips. The two of you stood like that for another minute, your bodies still pressed against one another and fuck, Yoongi could feel something just by staring at you. It was as if he was back in middle school, crushing on the sweet, shy girl.

Slowly you stepped back and looked closely at him, you felt like you’ knew him. A moment passed and you were still admiring each other. “I’m Y/n.”

“Yoongi.” He responded his eyes not leaving yours. “Would you like me to buy you a drink?”

“It’s fine, I can buy myself one.”

“No, let me I caused you to spill it.” He couldn’t help himself, you were so stunning, he hadn’t meant to collide into you like that, but shit, he’d take what he could get.  He placed his hand on your shoulder and lead you back to the bar.

“Jimin,” he ordered and the bartender turned to him immediately, his creepy smile gone but replaced with a childish one.

“Your usual?”He asked as Yoongi nodded, his eyes turned to you as you simply ordered a soda.

“Not a big fan of alcohol?” He asked in shock.

“I rather be sober when I’m getting to know someone,” you answered sheepishly as you looked at the counter.

“Jimin, cancel my drink, I’ll have a sparkling water.” Jimin nodded and gave you both your drinks. Yoongi and you sat at the counter, neither of you saying anything for a second before he decided to break the ice.

“What brings you here alone?” He hoped you were alone and didn’t have a boyfriend, because that would kill the mood.

“My boyfriend cheated on me for three months and just a week ago I found out and kicked him out of our apartment. Tonight’s the first night I’ve been out since, I just wanna forget about him and his touch. You know?” You asked and god you hoped you hadn’t just made things completely awkward with this man.

“Fuck him,” replied Yoongi who shook his head causing his black locks to fall into his eyes and holy shit was that a look.

“I could care less about him right now, I seriously hope he gets an STD.” You laughed as you took a long sip of your drink, eyes locking with Yoongi’s, he couldn’t help but smile.

“What about you?” You asked ad he looked taken back.

“What about me?”

“Why are you here all alone, or are you here with someone?”

“I’m alone too, except I don’t have a shitty ex to dis like you.”

“Must be nice.”

“Not really, the single life sucks, as do the whores that come with it.”

“Oh should I leave you be so I don’t get killed by your whores?” you joked as his eyes widened.

“Hell no, and if any whore comes at you I’d kill them before they could even touch you.” He gently punched your exposed shoulder earning a laugh from you.

“Spicy,” you teased and he laughed before asking, what? The two of you laughed about nothing, his hand fell to your knee, your eyes widened but you threw it off.

“What do you do as a living?” He asked after your laughter had settled, “I’m a medical student, I’m studying to be an OB-GYN. How about you?”

“I don’t think you wanna know.”

“No I do, tell me please,” you whined like a kid as you leaned forward from your stool grabbing his hands. He laughed at how cute you were.

“I doubt you’d think it’s cool.”

“I dunno you’d be surprised.”

“What was your ex?” He asked pouring salt into the wounds, you pulled away as you looked at your hands, you remembered the lie he told you when the two of you had first met, well baby girl if you must know I’m a bouncer. When in reality he lied to you almost every single day, and it definitely wasn’t for your own good.

“It doesn’t matter,” you brushed off his question and finished your soda, realizing that now without that beverage you wouldn’t have anything to cover the awkward pauses.

“Well I own a small business that’s growing dramatically, and we’re currently sitting in it.”  His club which was gaining noticeable recognition, which wasn’t exactly a lie, and his mafia was growing quite large in size and power. Pretty soon he’d be in control of the capital.

“That’s really cool.” You weren’t sure what else to say but Yoongi smiled at you happily nevertheless.

“Wanna dance?” He looked at you with a raised brow, visibly taken back by your question. “Can you dance?”

“Not really but I bet it’ll be fun,” you beamed as you stood up and took hold of his large hands pulling him towards you, a bright smile on your face as he chuckled and shook his head slowly.

“You’re really something you know that.”

“The only thing that should be moving is your hips.” The teasing words made him smirk as he dragged you closer to him and started to rub his hips against your “Ahh like this?” He asked as he took in your blushing face.

“Almost but,” You pulled away from him and made sure to stand a bit farther from the counter as you turned and grinded your ass against his crotch, quickly his hands fell to your hips as he pulled you closer, a laugh escaped your lips earning a chuckle from him as he spun you around to face him.

“I can’t believe your boyfriend fucking left you,” he groaned as he stared into your eyes, he leaned in and your heart fluttered only for Yoongi to be pushed away from you.

“Maybe keep your hands off of what belongs to me D- Boy.” Yoongi brushed himself off as he glared up at Namjoon who was now standing in front of you.

“Fuck off Namjoon.” It was clear that he was intoxicated, the slurring of his words and staggered stance made that pretty obvious.

“Come on baby les go home.” He grabbed your arm only for you to swat if off. “You and I are broken up because your dumb-ass decided to cheat on me.”

“But baby girl I love you, why would I-?” He paused as he tried to think, he looked at you innocently. You pulled away from him as Yoongi pushed Namjoon’s shoulder.

“I think it’d be in your best interest to go buddy.”

“Not without my Y/n-bear.”

“She’s not yours to claim, or even have, just go home before things get ugly.” Warned Yoongi, his eyes in a deadly glare, his ton cold, his face threatening.

“Should I extract him boss?” Asked a male from behind you, his voice was so deep that it sent shivers down your spine, you turned to look at the rather tall man, he had a small freckle on his nose, his eyes cold, one hand was behind his back as Yoongi nodded.

“Show him the door.” Namjoon began to yell as the younger male reached for him, his shirt rode up his back revealing a gun, a gasp escaped your lips as you were pulled away by Yoongi, who looked thoroughly pissed.

“Don’t kill him!” You begged, you held your feet to the ground as your eyes watered, sure you were heartbroken and hating every ounce of Namjoon, but you did not want him to die.  

“He won’t be killed, Taehyung is part of my security force. Do you actually care for that cheating bastard?” Yoongi sounded incredulous, he wanted to make you forget all about that prick and only think of him. He wanted you to crave his touch more than you had for Namjoon’s, he wanted to see you within his future. He wasn’t exactly sure how’d you fit into his future, maybe girlfriend, occasional fuck?

Hell whatever you were to him later in life wouldn’t matter.  He wanted to live in the moment and he was sure with a few drinks and some dancing he’d get you back to his manor and out of that skin toned dress.

An hour or so passed, your feet ached from being on them for so long, Yoongi still held you by the waist as you continued to dance with him, you were feeling a bit sluggish from all that dancing, all you drank was soda and a water.

“Tired princess?” He kissed the back of your ear earning a nod, “very Yoongi.”

“Wanna sit and rest?”

“I wanna sleep,” you managed to groan as the two of you stopped and began walking off the dance floor.

“Wanna head back to my place and get a drink?”

“How do I know you don’t plan on kidnapping me and selling my organs through the black market?”

“That’s a fair point, but, how do I know you won’t kill and rob me when we leave?”

“Touche Yoongi... But, I’m far too incapable of murder, I can’t harm anything except flies.” His laughter was contagious, he had to pause and lean against a wall before he caught his breath, you weren’t exactly sure as to why he was laughing but man was it a sound and a sight to see.

His face was like a child's, round and his smile was all gums. He was adorable, except you couldn't place your finger on it but you knew he was bad in some manor. He had a fucking security officer, threatened Namjoon to leave who was also a notorious mafia boss.

The two of you left the club and Yoongi had his driver, his very own personal fucking driver take you back to his home. Within the short drive you and Yoongi managed to learn even more about one another. He learned you hated snails, and that he would kill anybody if they stole his lamb skewers, you doubted he was joking.

The SUV pulled to a stop in front of a large gate, then drove through another and another, three gates in total. Was this his house or a prison?

The car pulled to a stop before the front door right in front of a fountain.  “You live here?” You asked eyes wide as he laughed and nodded.

“Well obviously,” he rolled his eyes before climbing out the vehicle and opening your door as he lead you to the mansion, you couldn’t believe he actually lived here.  After walking up some stairs you reached what you were presuming was his bedroom.

“I thought we were gonna get drinks?” You asked as he showed you to his room. He walked over to the closet and walked inside, you followed hesitantly and your jaw practically hit the floor.

Talk about a walk in closet. Inside was a mini fridge and a small counter before going further to where all his clothes were stashed and organized neatly.

“What would you like?”

“Whatever you got in that fridge.”

He looked at you for a moment and pulled out some whiskey, “I doubt you could handle this.”

“I doubt you could handle a drunken me.”

“Oh baby doll, you’d be surprised, I’m pretty good at everything,” he shot you a wink before licking his lips and grabbing some glasses.

A few drinks later you were only slightly intoxicated, your sense were dulled a bit but fuck, Yoongi looked so good sitting across from you on his King sized mattress. Together the two of you had roughly six drinks, him drinking more and laughing at your bitter face after every sip.

“Wanna know what I’m thinking?” You giggled as you slowly finished our drink off earning a laugh.

“Does it involve me and you?” He asked his brows wiggling suggestively as he stared you down, his eyes on your chest for a bit as his tongue ran across his top lip.

“Well not before you mentioned that,” you whispered crawling over to him as you sat on on his lap, legs behind his back. “You don’t know what you’ve started,” he breathed before roughly capturing your lips in a tortuously slow but hard kiss.

A groan escaping from your lips, fingers entangling themselves in his hair, as his cold hands trailed up your thighs and underneath your dress, pushing it higher to where he’d have access to your wet folds, clothed by the sheer thin, lace fabricate.

“You wear these just for me princess?” He muffled against your lips, quickly nipping your bottom lip, your hands leaving his soft black locks, trailing down from his clothed shoulders to his chest to the buckle of his belt, quickly you unfastened his pants and before you could unzip them his hands caught yours, he pushed you back onto the bed. He hovered over you, his eyes hooded as he stared at you completely lost in lust.

“You look so good right now,” he breathed as he started placing kisses along your collarbones, his hands left your hands as he moved one of his hands to your covered slit, slowly tracing over your wet lips, his eyes holding yours as you released a breathy moan.

“So wet already, fuck, you’re such a good kitten. My dicks going o feel so good inside of you won’t it kitten?” You nodded your head eagerly as he smirked, he pushed the fabric to the side and slipped one finger inside of you.

“Yoongi, please don’t tease me like this,” you pleaded and just as quickly as he slipped his finger into you he withdrew it just as quick. A desperate mewl escaped your lips, but your eyes widened as he took that single digit soaked in your wetness into his mouth, his eyes holding yours as he sucked it clean.

You couldn’t say anything to the man hovering above you, fuck you couldn’t even find a tangible thought, instead you sat up and began to unzip the back of the dress until it got caught in the midst of going down. A chuckle fell from his lips as he reached behind your back and skillfully maneuvered the zipper down even after it got stuck.

“So sexy,” he breathed against the base or your neck trailing his kisses up to your ears, definitely leaving blooming bruises along the way to remind you of your lustful actions. Your hands grabbed on his suit shirt, quickly unbuttoning the material and pushing it off his shoulders, you pushed yourself onto your knees, you hands roaming his muscular physique in appreciation, before lowering to his abdomen and to his crotch.

The black pants that he wore was still unfastened, his zipper down, his hard on obvious against the palm of your hand. So many dirty thoughts raced through your mind from you taking hold of his cock and pumping him to you gagging on his girth.

Your fingers found a way into is boxers, his kisses halting as he looked at you through his lashes, waiting for you to make your move. Slowly you pulled his member out, he wasn’t even fully erect but looking at his girth you wished you knew Yoongi a long while before your breakup, because after tonight you knew you’d be forgetting all about Namjoon and his touch, your only focus would be the man before you, whose lips were tantalizing, his touch unearthly. You wanted him to take you right then in that moment, but of course he was gonna be a tease.

“You like what you see baby?” He asked a smile on his face, you couldn’t pull your eyes away from his cock, all you could do was nod your head.

“Eyes up here kitten,” he grabbed your chin gently having you look into his warm eyes, your lips were slightly parted causing erotic thoughts to swarm his mind. He shifted himself as he pulled off his jeans and boxers, throwing them somewhere behind him before reconnecting your lips to his. Your tongue ran across his lower lip before drawing his lower lip between you teeth before sucking on the soft flesh, swelling his bottom lip.

His hand tangled into your hair, tugging lightly as his other hand ran down to your wet heat, his thumb rubbing slow circles on your clit earning a gasp from your lips, his lower lip swollen from your kiss.

“Such a needy kitten aren’t you?” His fingers stopped as another whine escaped your lips. “No need to get upset,” he muttered as he pulled you hips up and to his chest.

“Yoongi what are you doing?” You asked eyes wide as he dipped his head down to your core and ran his tongue over your slit and to your clit to which he ran rapid circles on with his soft, warm muscle.

Your body arching upwards, and you hips shaking in his grip, he wrapped an arm snugly around your abdomen, holding you in place as he slapped your clit with his palm.

“Don’t move,” he ordered, “you understand me slut?” A shaky gasp left you as you nodded your head quickly waiting for him to continue, just his dominance on it’s own made you wet.

“Yes, daddy.” You whispered, the words catching him completely off guard. He wasn’t used to anyone calling him that, he found that kink a bit too much for him, especially if he were to have children, but hearing the words fall from your mouth and seeing your eager expression and blown out pupils, he figured why not entertain you? But he also knew that’s possibly what you called your ex in bed.

He shrugged it off nevertheless and brought his lips down on your clit and began sucking while he brought to fingers to your slick opening, slowly pumping two of his long fingers in and out. the stretch was blissful and your mouth opened as you panted in pleasure. A knot began to form in your stomach and you knew you wouldn't last long if he continued with his tongue.

He sucked harshly on your swollen nub, speeding up his fingers as he did so, his eyes would flick to yours every so often, watching your fucked out expressions.

You walls clenched and unclenched around him as your moans grew louder with each thrust. “I-I,” you panted, the words not coming out as Yoongi withdrew his fingers and lips.

“Not yet kitten,” you wanted to cry out from the loss of contact and the knot that formed in your stomach loosened in emptiness, you were so close to your orgasm only to be denied. Your hips bucked forwards out of desperation.

“Naughty little slut,” he growled pushing your hips down before hovering over your body. “Such a dirty girl, I bet you want my cock don’t you?” You nodded your head and he glared.

“Vocalize it like a good little slut. Tell me how badly you want me to fuck you, come on kitten let’s hear you.” Your core throbbed just by his words, it definitely wouldn’t be hard to beg him, especially since you did want him.

“Daddy, please just fuck me, I’ve been a good kitten.”  

“That’s debatable my little whore, you’ve been a naughty little slut. Why don’t you make it up to me kitten?”

“How would I do that?” You asked innocently, batting your lashes a him.

“You know how,” he whispered, grabbing your chin, his thumb brushing over your swollen lips, his dark eyes full of lust and dominance.

“Okay,” you whispered pushing him out from being above you, he now laid on his back and you pondered how you were going to do this. One of his hands reached out and grabbed your hips pulling you closer to him.

‘Sit on my stomach,” he commanded and you did just that, you leaned forwards grabbing Yoongi’s cock doing so gave him the perfect view of your dripping cunt and ass. Slowly you began to pump him, every so often your thumb would run over his slit gathering his precum and smearing it down his shaft.

A sharp slap rang across your left ass cheek, “stop being a tease you little whore.” He groaned out, spitting on his tip and smearing that you dipped your head and took his tip in your mouth, slowly running your tongue over his tip before sucking. Moving your head further down, taking even more of him.

His hands grabbed your ass, squeezing and massaging the soft skin, your jaw slackened as you bobbed your head up and down his length each time trying to take a bit more.

“Good little slut,” he breathed and to your surprise he slipped two fingers into your soaked cunt an curling them earning a gasp from you as his cock went further in your mouth and to the back of your throat.

“That’s it baby, just like that, throat me.” You moaned around his length, sending vibrations through him, his hips bucked upwards, fucking your throat, as you made sure not to gag on him. “Your throat is so good kitten, I bet your ex loved playing with you, didn’t he?”“

You didn’t respond as you bobbed your head and swirled your tongue around him, he pulled his fingers out of you, much to your dismay, his hands moved to your hips, pulling your ass back, your balance being tested with his movement.

“Come on kitten answer the question,” you moaned around him, pulling your lips away from his cock, his tip was bright pink letting you know you’ve done a good job and the slight twitch.

“No, he was always too busy to even do anything with me.” You muttered as Yoongi pushed you off him and crawled over you once more, his eyes taking in your swollen lips, he couldn’t resist his temptation to kiss you, so he did just that The kiss was rough, his tongue claiming every inch of your mouth, you sucked on his tongue tasting yourself, a grunt escaped his mouth and fell into yours.

He couldn’t wait any longer, he lined himself up with your entrance, with one quick thrust he was engorged by your tight, wet, pussy. He pulled his lips away from yours and moaned at the feeling.

“He was definitely missing out on something, I bet if his ass could see us now he’d be whimpering like a starved puppy just begging to be in you, to have you.” A moan left your lips as he rocked himself in and out slowly, his eyes held yours in satisfaction. He was enjoying the power he had over you.

“You like this kitten?” His lips brushing against your forehead as you nodded your head, hands landing onto his shoulders, as your legs wrapped around him giving him a better angle.

His thrusts quickened, his hips hitting yours as he moved deeper into you, his face was buried in your neck leaving a dark purple bruise in it’s place. He was so engorged by your tight wetness, he could stay there for hours if he could. His balls slapping against your ass the only sounds to be heard was the slapping of skin, heavy breathing and your moans.

His lips left your neck as his hips slowed a bit causing you to move your hips against his, earning a chuckle out of him. “You like this kitten?”

“Very much,” you answered honestly through a moan, his head falling back as he started to move his hips quicker, but made sure to pull out slow, to impale quick once again. Your walls were already pulsating around his length, your eyes began to close, looking at him through your lashes, your lips parted. He looked so good, his skin practically glowing with sweat.

He brought his hand down to your core, his thumb rubbing quick, rough circles to your clit causing you to moan out and arch your back up, bringing your breasts to his chest.

“Fucking hell kitten, so vocal and just for me.” He kissed the tops of your chests and continued to pound into you, his movements were getting sloppy but it felt so good. You were close and he knew it, his thrusts got harder as his pace slowed a bit, you whined from the lack of speed, but even at the slower pace he felt amazing.

He hit all the right spots, and he fit so well in your pussy, it was as if his dick was made especially just for you. Another moan fell from off your lips, his thumb moving erratically, you started to see splashes of colors, something that sounded like his name ripped from your throat as your high hit. He helped you ride it out, you walls enveloping him tightly making it hard for him to move, soon enough his cock twitched as he painted your walls with his sticky, hot  fluids. Your walls continued to pulse around him, milking him for all that he’s worth.

“Fuck,” he groaned as he pulled out, he fell right besides you, his body glistening in sweat, his hair sticking to his forehead. his arm fell around your waist drawing you closer to him. Your fingers ran over his ribs as your head laid against his chest.

“Wanna go get dinner with me later today?”

A laugh escaped your lips and he looked confused, “that sounds nice.”

“What was so funny?”

“Just the fact that we fucked and afterwards you asked me on a date, I’m pretty sure it goes date then you can get into my pants.” He smiled a cute gummy smile as he blushed, “so does that mean I can fuck you after our date?”

“Maybe,” you whispered as you snuggled closer to him. His lips brushed your forehead as you both fell asleep. He definitely replaced Namjoon from your head.

[marvelmando]

tempest [p.parker x o.c.] - one

notes: these chapters are really long. i hope you won’t mind that! if you want me to start doing a taglist, i’ll get one started :) just let me know if you’d like to be added by replying or sending me an ask!

contains: swearing, canon-typical violence

pairing: peter parker + fem!o.c.

word count: 4.7k

previous chapter next chapter tempest masterlist

PART ONE — SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING

"MARIN FROST, MAY I SEE YOU IN MY OFFICE FOR A MOMENT?" The raspy voice of Charles Xavier drifted through her mind, sending a shiver down the length of her back. Ah shit, she groaned internally, here it comes. The moment she'd been dreading for the better part of five months.

Shoving her sketchbook hidden under her pillow, she pulled on a pair of her worn black Vans. Other students walked the halls of the mansion barefoot all the time with no problem, but Marin could never bring herself to expose herself like that.

Students stared at her as she passed by, but she was used to that. Even after the incident in Queens, when shameful glares increased tenfold in both frequency and intensity, they'd hardly ever fazed her. (She'd noticed, of course, as she always did, but it didn't make much of a difference to her whether or not her peers hated her more than they already had.)

Still, she pulled at the string hanging off of her shirt's bottom hemline nervously. The image of her last punishment floated across her vision, causing her to wince at the prospect that she may be given it this time, too.

Marin reached the heavy oak doors to Charles' office, knocked twice, and hearing the come in, she inhaled deeply before turning the handle and pushing one door open just enough to slip her slim body through.

Charles Xavier sat primly behind his desk, hands folded neatly and resting on the wooden surface. He looked at her with what she could guess was expectancy, but over the years Marin had come to realize that he was an expert at hiding his expression (as most telepaths tended to be). "Ah, Miss Frost," he sounded pleasantly surprised, as though he hadn't literally just summoned her. "Please, take a seat."

She jerked when he pushed the chair opposite his desk with his mind, but blamed her jumping nerves on the screech the chair made as it scraped the polished floor. She didn't feel like sitting, as her nerves buzzed with frantic energy, but took the offered seat anyway. If Charles noticed the rapid bouncing of her leg, he didn't react to it.

"I swear I didn't do it." Marin blurted, her face heating with a blush when Charles raised one eyebrow. "Well, I did do it but I swear I didn't mean to ruin the garden! I thought that the tomatoes looked really thirsty and I gave them some water, but the soil still looked so dry so, to be safe, I just watered the whole ground and then it was just too much—"

"It's not about—"

"Please don't make me clean Hank's room again," Marin pleaded, not hearing his protest. "His room is just so big and you know how much he sheds and it—"

"Miss Frost." Charles stopped her, and Marin felt the words die in her throat. She wasn't sure if it was a result of him using his powers, or just because her mouth grew dry and her tongue too heavy to move. "This isn't about the garden. It's about the incident in Queens."

Marin furrowed her brow. Queens? That was five months ago, and she'd been given her punishment accordingly—removal from the X-Men and assigned cleaning duty. But if she'd already gone through her redemption stage, why was she here, still talking about that night? Marin knew better than to hope that he called her there to tell her that she was being reinstated to the team, but she couldn't help it—the idea of the possibility excited her.

Sensing her confusion, he continued. "More specifically, I want you to tell me exactly what happened that night."

What? She'd already given her report when she first returned, why was he asking her to repeat it now? "Um, I heard someone screaming, so I—"

"No," Charles shook his bald head. "Later. What happened when you saw the boy being beaten by those men?"

Marin swallowed past the lump caught in her throat. How did he know about that?

Charles sighed when Marin refused to respond. "You've been projecting your dreams, Miss Frost. Rather strongly, too." He leveled a look at her. "I believe some... new powers have manifested; can you please describe them to me?"

The realization that Charles had been peering into her dreams pierced her chest. "You can apparently see everything I dream, so why don't you tell me, Professor?" She lashed out but immediately regretted her reaction when Charles' eyes widened with disbelief. "I'm sorry, that was—"

"I think I understand, Miss Frost. What I don't understand, however, is why you didn't inform me of these powers sooner. I think you are well aware that suppressing these powers is extremely dangerous—not just to me, but to you, as well."

Marin's eyes drifted down to her hands that were clenched together in her lap, feeling like a scolded child. "I didn't realize..." she trailed off, not knowing how to explain to the Professor that she couldn't remember anything between blacking out and seeing those women react to her with fear in their eyes—that the crackling sensation of energy spilling over her skin was really just something she had dreamt of.

All she remembered was thinking of Lucy's betrayal and the abandonment she felt, and thinking of it now bubbled some of the latent anger she'd ignored from that night. The resentment burned a steady path through her like flames on a sheet of paper, catching on the edges of her dwindling control. She could feel it growing in her subconscious, but Charles was still talking.

"—can't have these powers emerge unrestrained and as chaotic as they are. You must forgive me, Marin," Charles maneuvered his chair around to approach her, looking sympathetic. "I did not want to have to do this again, but your powers are too unpredictable, too... cataclysmic to yourself and those around you to be controlled. We can excuse you for the death of your parents, but you were young—emotional and reactive, and no one blames you for accidentally catching them in the crossfire, but you have shown that you are not responsible enough to control your emotions, and we cannot have these powers resurfacing."

Marin felt her chest constrict as the air squeezed out of her like crushing an empty plastic bottle. Several things occurred to her at once: those dreams were real, and she'd had them before. Secondly, he knew. He knew about the rumors—and worst of all, he believed them.

The pain was still there, but it was the rage that surfaced this time. "Don't you dare," she spat with all the venom she had, "Talk about that night as if you were there. You have no idea—no idea—what had happened. What it was like, watching—" Marin choked off, a hiccuped sob getting caught in her throat and stopping her from continuing the memory. Her vision was clouding too much for her to register Charles' reaction. "And you knew about the rumors?! You let them continue to be spread even when you saw everyone pushing me away in fear—letting everyone hate me—shun me because of something that didn't really happen?!" Tears were flowing freely down her cheeks in a steady stream, her anger bubbling over her skin like a live wire. "You were the one person I trusted that knew the truth about me! And you're telling me that—all this time—you believed I killed my own fucking parents?!"

It wasn't until her vision finally cleared enough for her to see the look of terror in Charles' eyes that Marin noticed that she was glowing. Her skin radiated a vibrant blue, energy dancing across her skin like a solar flare. But she hardly cared—it was the fear in his eyes that broke her, causing her to flee from his office. She didn't even notice that the electricity was out as she sprinted down the halls, dodging confused students lingering in her path.

Her mind blurred once she reached her room, only one thought pounding in her head like an alarm: get out of there.

She grabbed her duffel bag, shoving in whatever clothes she could grab, her toothbrush, the small collection of cash she'd managed to save up over the years, and her sketchbook. Swiping the bottle from her nightstand, she was glad to see that it was already full and ready for her to grab as she bolted out of her room.

Marin ran straight into someone, realizing belatedly that it was Lucy, with James trailing behind her. But Marin refused to stop for anyone. Barreling forward, Marin heard Lucy yell after her, "What the hell did you do, Marin?!" Realizing that she wasn't stopping to answer, Lucy grabbed her wrist in a desperate attempt to stop her. "Where are you—"

She stopped short at the sight of Marin's crackling white eyes, and the blue light beginning to emanate from her skin. Lucy yanked her hand back like it was burned. "I can't stay here anymore."

It was the last thing Marin said as she stormed off down the hallway, slamming through the entrance and leaving a wake of chaos behind her.

+++

After almost two hours of hitch-hiking her way to Queens, Marin realized that she probably should have done more research before running away.

Not that she had much of an opportunity to before, anyway.

For the first month, in the limited amount of free time Marin had available (between diligently attending her classes and cleaning every inch of Hank's hairy room), Marin spent it searching for information on the Spider-Man. She'd only come up with a couple of grainy videos and some hateful articles written about him in the local newspaper. After then, her training schedule changed to fill any space she could get online during the allotted times to access the internet. She didn't have a phone, let alone a smart-phone, and even if she did, the Wi-Fi was locked for everyone except the school's restricted computers.

Marin briefly considered going to the Stark Tower in Manhattan but dismissed the idea once she figured that she had barely any excuse to get his attention (and if she even did, he would have probably kicked her out or sent her straight back to the Institute). She knew that finding Spider-Man was her best option—he didn't know what she was.

So, all she could do was go back to Richmond Hill and hope that Spider-Man would eventually show up.

The woman that had graciously stopped for Marin drove away after only a moment's hesitation. The lady was kind enough, and didn't try to force Marin to explain what she meant by 'I have no parents' and 'no, you don't need to call the police'. Marin glanced up at the familiar bank's overhead sign and sighed. What now? She could walk around a bit; it was nearing five in the evening, according to her small, cheap digital wristwatch. If the person under Spider-Man's mask was her age, like she strongly suspected, public school would have been far from over.

She picked a cardinal point at random, then began heading northwest. She supposed her instinct was to move toward Manhattan.

Marin wandered aimlessly for a while, and the sun was beginning to set when a red and blue figure whizzed past her overhead. Stunned into momentary shock, she watched as the person swung around a corner and out of sight. Jolting out of her stupor, she sprinted down the sidewalk, trying to catch up to them.

Once she turned the same corner, she searched over the streets but was disappointed to see no swinging hero.

It might not have even been him, she tried to tell herself. But who else would be able to swing through the streets like that? It might not have looked like him—all sleek and spandex-y—but she was sure it was him. She turned towards the road, kicking at an empty soda can. "Nuts," she muttered.

"Hey, you okay?" A voice said from above her.

Marin's eyes widened, and she tilted her head to the sky. "God?"

"No, behind you." The voice said again, so Marin turned, only to find Spider-Man perched on someone's fire escape, four stories off the ground.

"Spider-Man?" She tried. It was him, she knew, but it wasn't his suit. This one was professionally made: tight fabrics and fancy bionic eyes. His mask was also half-off, revealing his mouth and chin.

"That's me," he confirmed, although he had to yell a bit for the distance. "Who're you?"

Marin shifted on her feet, looking around awkwardly. "I'm, uh, Marin? We met like, five months ago? You might not remember me—I was in different clothes and I hadn't really expected to meet a real-life superhero, but..."

Spider-Man said nothing, just staring down at her. "Oh!" He suddenly exclaimed, his bionic eyes narrowing. "You're the girl that sabotaged my robbery!"

Marin's brows creased under her bangs. "Uh, I guess? I don't know how someone sabotages a robbery—and I wouldn't call it sabotaging, more like saving the day or something—"

"Look, what do you want?" Spider-Man huffed indignantly. "Because I'm really busy."

Marin eyed the half-eaten churro in his hand. "I'm sure you are, hot-shot, but that's actually why I'm here." Spider-Man just gave her a look—she was sure he would've raised an eyebrow if he had his mask fully removed. She could only guess that he was waiting for her to continue. "I was wondering if you needed any help? Like, with hero stuff. 'Cause I want to help."

Spider-Man took a bite of his churro. He mumbled something to himself, but Marin couldn't hear him from all the way on the street. "What?" She asked, and he repeated it, this time louder, but still unintelligible. She watched him grow frustrated as she kept asking him to repeat it, and eventually he hopped to the ground beside her. The way he landed made it seem as though he jumped off a couple of steps, not four goddamn stories. Marin couldn't help but notice that there was now a small difference in their heights where there hadn't been before.

"I said like you helped last time?"

Marin blinked. "Yeah."

Spider-Man sighed. "Why?"

"What do you mean, 'why'? Because I want to. And you've seen my powers, so you know I can help you save people." She felt a bit ridiculous saying it out loud, sounding more like a petulant five-year-old rather than a fifteen-year-old mutant.

Spider-Man didn't look convinced but continued. "How'd you even get your powers, anyway?"

Marin opened her mouth to respond, but no words wanted to come out. It should've been easy—I'm a mutant—but reminding herself of what she was only made her remember the looks she'd get in the halls of the Institute, the same looks in those women's eyes the night of the robbery, and the echo of Lucy's words pounding against her skull: we are not heroes, we are mutants. She didn't want to be a mutant if it meant that she couldn't be a hero—and Spider-Man was a chance at being the hero she'd always wanted to be.

"Oh, hell," Spider-Man said instead, luckily excusing her for failing to answer. "Some guys are robbing that bank."

Sure enough, she turned around, and across the street was a Queens Community Bank that was currently being robbed.

"Does this happen a lot?" Marin asked.

"Apparently," he grumbled in response.

She looked at Spider-Man hopefully, who just sighed. He seemed to do that a lot. "Just come on," he acquiesced. Marin snatched her water bottle from her duffel bag, before stashing it in a nearby alley. "And don't screw it up this time."

Marin rolled her eyes. What a charmer, he was.

They sprinted across the street, and Marin unscrewed her water bottle in preparation. The robbers were so preoccupied with grabbing money from the machines that they didn't notice Spider-Man and Marin enter the bank. Spider-Man awkwardly propped one hand on the doorframe and the other on his hip, while Marin mirrored him on the opposite wall.

Spider-Man cleared his throat, "Sup guys, forget your pin number?" The robbers whipped around, and Marin quirked an eyebrow when the plastic masks of Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, and Captain America stared back at her. "Whoa, you're the Avengers!"

"Halloween's not 'til next month, fellas." Marin cocked her head to the side, using their distraction as an opportunity to assess the situation. Four men in total, one carrying a rifle, and the others grabbing at souped-up weapons that Marin had never seen before. "And aren't you guys a little too old to be trick-or-treating?"

The man in the Iron Man mask cocked his rifle and aimed it at Spider-Man. Before he could pull the trigger, Spider-Man shot a web at the barrel and yanked, pulling it from Iron Man's grip and slamming it into his and Thor's face.

While Spider-Man caught Thor's elbow and pushed it into Hulk's face, Marin summoned her water and shoved it into Iron Man, who was recovering from the blow to his face. Spider-Man jumped, stuck to the ceiling by his hands and pulling Thor into the glass case behind him with his feet.

"Thor, Hulk—glad to finally meet you guys!" He exclaimed, sticking his feet under him so he was hanging upside-down from the ceiling. "I thought you'd be more handsome in person." Just as Marin shifted her focus from Iron Man to Hulk, Iron Man swung at Spider-Man but missed as the boy easily dodged the robber's punches. "Iron Man! Hey, what are you doing robbing a bank? You're a billionaire!"

Hulk had grabbed one of the fancy-looking weapons and charged at the (real) superhero, but Marin dipped, swinging low and swiping his feet out from underneath him. Spider-Man grabbed Iron Man's fist and shoved it behind him, causing the criminal to lose his balance and trip over the fallen Hulk. Before Marin could rise to her feet to get a vantage point over him, Hulk lashed out and kicked her in the face from his spot on the ground, causing Marin to fall back with a yelp.

"Hey! Don't you know it's not polite to hit a—oh this feels so weird!" Spider-Man shouted, his voice becoming distorted. In her haze, Marin had failed to notice Captain America charging up a different weapon while his friends were being attacked, and had aimed it at Spider-Man. As far as Marin could tell, Spider-Man wasn't in any pain, but he was trapped in some sort of blue energy field, keeping him floating in midair. It somewhat reminded her of the telekinetic powers of one of the X-Men back at the Institute, but she'd never seen a man-made weapon that could do virtually the same thing.

"What the hell?" Marin choked out, clutching her throbbing cheek. Ignoring the pain, she lunged out at Captain America, tackling him to the ground. The force of throwing him and the weapon forward, in turn, sent Spider-Man flying back into a rising Hulk and Thor.

"What is that thing?!" Spider-Man yelled as Marin grappled with Captain America for a split second. Despite her years of combat training, the criminal was still stronger than her and managed to hold her off long enough to shoot his force-field weapon back at Spider-Man yet again. Marin pulled at the weapon, and the man pulled back, causing Spider-Man to get slammed alternately into the floor and ceiling. "I'm starting—to think—you're not—the Avengers!" He gasped between each blow, eventually sticking himself to the floor with his fingertips.

Marin yanked hard at the weapon, as Spider-Man simultaneously grabbed a metal drawer from behind Marin with his web, and striking Captain America in the back of his head. It ricocheted off his head, and the corner flew into the space above Marin's brow, leaving a deep cut in its wake.

"Spider-Man!" Marin scolded, her voice laced with pain and annoyance, instinctively tightening her grip on the weapon. Then, when Captain America's hold loosened around it, the sudden imbalance in leverage sent the weapon straight up into Marin's nose with a snap. She jerked back but managed not to fall on her butt.

Recovering as quickly as she could, and trying not to be distracted by the blood dripping from her wounded nose, Marin slid underneath Spider-Man as he jumped momentarily back onto the ceiling to reach Iron Man and Thor. She blindly threw an uppercut into Hulk's stomach and spun to roundhouse kick Captain America in the chest, sending him right into the path of Spider-Man's fist. She called out to her water to knock the rifle that Hulk managed to retrieve. Once the gun was out of the way, she used the water to push him away from attacking Spider-Man.

"All right, men, let's wrap this up." Marin joked at Spider-Man, who laughed at her spider-related pun.

"Yeah, guys, it's a school night!" He finished, kicking Thor away and into the window.

Amidst the chaos, Iron Man slipped away to grab the force-field weapon, but Spider-Man was quick in his reflexes and stopped him before the weapon could activate by trapping it to the glass panels that separated the inside of the bank from the street. Spider-Man leaped beside him, latching onto the glass right next to Iron Man's head. He pulled back the plastic mask to get a look at the criminal's face. "So how did jerks like you get tech like this?"

Marin was too busy dodging Captain America's punches to notice Hulk drawing out another weapon—this one with a center that glowed a violent purple light. Her attention was caught when she heard the mechanical whirring of the weapon getting ready to fire. "No!" She cried, as Spider-Man also noticed the weapon with a shout. In her moment of distraction, Captain America landed a solid blow to the side of Marin's face, catching her bruised and bloodied nose and cheek. Marin collapsed to the ground, her vision darkening and stars blooming behind her eyelids.

Her head swam, the ringing in her ears muffling the crashes and explosions in the distance. She screwed her eyes shut, blinking rapidly to clear her vision. Only when she was steady enough to rise to her feet did she notice that the bank was empty except for her, and the building was almost entirely destroyed.

Across the street, a bodega was on fire. Rubble littered the street, glass crunching under Marin's feet as she stumbled out of the bank and toward the corner store, making a quick detour to snatch up her hidden (and thankfully not stolen) duffel bag. She hurried over to see if she could help with extinguishing the fire.

But as she tried to summon her water, the empty pull told her that it must've evaporated in the heat of whatever blast had come from the robber's weapon, and she was essentially rendered powerless. She was just about to thank the heavens that no one was caught in the crossfire of the fight, when she saw Spider-Man emerge from the flames, supporting a heavy-set man and a rather fluffy-looking cat tucked under his other arm.

Marin jogged over to the boy as he passed the cat off to the man, but Spider-Man only sprinted past Marin, clambering up the side of the closest building.

"Oh, come on!" Marin cried, using the sleeve of the jacket she'd slipped on earlier to try and wipe away some of the blood on her chin. She turned and dashed off in his general direction, her bag thumping solidly at her hip. Marin heard a voice coming from above her and followed it into an alley, where Spider-Man—now unmasked—was hanging up a phone call.

"Really?" She panted lightly at him, resting her hands on her knees. She wasn't really that out of breath, but she was growing weak from the lack of water intake after exerting her powers so much.

"Sorry," Spider-Man grumbled, not seeming very sorry at all. The dim lighting in the alley shielded her from getting a good look at his face, but she could tell he was angry. At what exactly (or who), she wasn't sure, but she just hoped that anger wasn't directed at her. After asking him what was wrong, he responded gruffly, "Lost my backpack."

Marin nodded, straightening. "So, now what?"

Spider-Man sighed, pulling his mask back on and brushing past Marin again. "I gotta get home, May's gonna kill me."

"May?" Marin asked, following behind him like a lost puppy. "Home?"

"Yeah, where people usually go to sleep and put all of their stuff."

"I know what a home is!" She snapped, picking up the pace to catch up to him, and tapping on his shoulder. "Do you... uh, mind if I tagged along?"

He thought for a minute. "Sure, whatever," he shrugged, moving to crouch on the ground. "Climb on my back."

"What?"

"Climb on my back." He looked back at her, his bionic eyes neutral and unyielding. "I'm gonna swing us there."

So, Marin secured her bag tighter to her back, and climbed on—slightly because she was curious, but mostly because she was exhausted and she really didn't feel like running anymore. Her head still throbbed from the beatings she took. It felt awkward at first, having to wrap her legs around a (semi) stranger, but as soon as he took to the rooftops, it was an entirely different level of uncomfortable.

The first roof they landed on, Spider-Man stumbled in his steps, jostling Marin violently. "Jesus, dude!" She hollered.

"I've never done this before!" He yelled right back, steadying on his feet as he leaped off waveringly, almost throwing her off of his back.

"What, jumping off of buildings?! 'Cause I know that's a damn lie!" Marin pressed her forehead into his back, marveling in the working of his muscles against her skin.

"Swinging with another person, smartass!" Spider-Man corrected defensively, and after a couple of swings, he got used to the extra weight pulling him back.

Her legs clenched around the hero's waist, keeping her eyes clenched shut as she tried to get used to the swooping sensation in her stomach as they swung through the streets of Queens.

Eventually, she felt secure enough to open her eyes, and she smiled nervously at the rush of wind against her face, blowing back her bangs and swirling her hair around her head.

He landed in front of a brownstone apartment complex after a good five minutes of swinging. Marin was about to hop off when Spider-Man stopped her. "I'm gonna climb up." He explained, but Marin didn't understand why he couldn't just go through the front door. He jumped onto the wall before she could ask any questions.

Marin wasn't entirely sure what he used to cling to surfaces like that, but every time he jumped from wall to wall, she got a sinking feeling that he was going to miss and they would fall to their death.

Marin gulped as they stopped at a window on the seventh floor, Spider-Man peeking through the glass to make sure the coast was clear. Looking over his shoulder, Marin saw a figure passing by his opened bedroom door. Once it was out of sight, Spider-Man pushed down the pane of glass and crept in. As soon as they passed the threshold, Marin peeled herself off of him, landing silently on his carpet. She set her duffel bag down carefully next to her feet, mindful of Spider-Man's stealth.

She repressed the giggle that bubbled up in her throat as she watched him crawl across the ceiling, tearing off his mask and tossing it somewhere on the floor. Marin glanced around the room, noting the cluttered desk and piled gadgetry on his small bookshelf. A pair of dumbbells rested idly in the corner. Marin made sure to stay hidden next to his bunk bed until he closed the door completely. Once she heard the click, she took a hesitant step forward.

Spider-Man had just turned around, giving Marin a good view of his face, when he stopped short.

Before she could fully observe what the hero looked like under the mask, she heard a crash next to her. On the bottom bunk sat a boy with tanned skin, hands outstretched and Lego pieces littering the ground in front of him as he stared up at Spider-Man with a mix of shock and awe.

Then, someone yelled, "What was that?!"

[ewankoseyo]

something there || mark imagine

A/N: I actually had some things drafted up previously but I felt really inspired to write this. Also may have been watching Beauty and the Beast before writing this idk ʅ（◞‿◟）ʃ

“Hi love! I know you said you’ve been writing a lot of Mark imagines but is it okay if I request a fluffy prince Mark imagine? I just really miss and love Mark and your stories are so sweet and adorable! You can make it however you’d like! I’m just a sucker for prince Mark! Thank you! 🥰”

——

Prince Mark always dreamed about life outside of the palace gates.

He would sit at his balcony after a long day, sketching parts of what he could see pass the gates along the setting sky. With each sketch, he’d imagine up the stories of the possible people living in the little boxes across the distance. A family in that house could be bringing home a new baby. A man in the house right next to it maybe would scold kids for picking fruits from his tree. A boy and a girl walking along the main path could be falling in love without even knowing it.

Love. Prince Mark knew of the familiar kind of love for the people closest to him, but he always wondered what it felt like to be in love. The closest feeling was probably some childhood crush on princesses from faraway lands, but they weren’t significant. Was love really like in all of the fairytales his caretaker would tell him before bedtime? Was it possible for him to just lock eyes with someone and for everything to feel like it was falling into place?

All Prince Mark knew was the palace. Though he was never lonely, with his siblings and his guards, who he sees as his (only) friends, keeping him company, the palace was beginning to feel suffocating. What was the outside world really like to the common people? Prince Mark feared he would never know, for the next day the palace would be holding a banquet where he would have to choose his bride. After tomorrow night, his dream of discovering love and the outside world would remain at that—just a dream.

Which was why Prince Mark was currently wearing one of the servant’s commoner clothes.

“Your Majesty, are you sure about this?” Jackson asked hesitantly as he led the prince down a secret passageway. “If His Royal Highness finds out about your little adventure...”

“He won’t,” Prince Mark interrupted with certainty. “We’ve got it all planned out. Jaebum and Jinyoung are guarding my room so that no one comes in because I’m ‘sick and just need to be left alone for the day to rest.’ Youngjae is making sure Bambam and Yugyeom are keeping my parents entertained.”

“If I knew they’d be better off as court jesters, I wouldn’t have let them into the royal guard,” Jackson joked.

Prince Mark smiled at his friend in the darkness as they continued to walk. “And I have my best man always ten feet away just in case things go awry. But don’t worry, it most likely will not be necessary. Need I remind you that you aren’t the only one who knows his way around a sword?”

“Not necessary, Your Majesty, you seem to remind me at every chance you get.” Jackson stopped in front of a giant wooden door with a heavy lock. They had been walking through the dark for over twenty minutes. Jackson reached into his robes and pulled out a key. “From this point on, you are not a prince, you are one of your people. Please don’t do anything rash, Your Majesty.”

Prince Mark chuckled at the guard’s worry. “It’s okay Jackson, if I get in trouble, I’ll make sure nothing happens to you. You shouldn’t take the heat for my recklessness.”

Though it was dark, Prince Mark could see Jackson’s lips form a thin line as he unlocked the door. “I’m not worried about me, I’m worried about you. It’s my job. No one knows what the prince looks like so don’t expect them to give you any special treatment. If something were to happen to you on my watch...” Jackson didn’t finish, but he didn’t need to.

“Nothing will,” Prince Mark assured him. “Wouldn’t want to ruin my last and only day of freedom.” After Jackson got the door open, they found themselves in a forest.

“Watch your step, you might step into a—”

“Trap,” Prince Mark finished as they wove carefully through the trees. “I remember the stories.” As they continued walking, Prince Mark caught the most wonderful smell. Cinnamon? He followed the scent, excited by the prospect of what was to come. The two men ended up behind—

“This is the blacksmith’s shop,” Jackson explained. “I’ll be following you behind inconspicuously but we’ll reconvene back here after an hour. Remember Your Majesty—”

“Don’t do anything stupid, I know.” Prince Mark grinned at Jackson. “Thank you, friend.” Taking a deep breath, Prince Mark walked down the alleyway next to the blacksmith’s. You are not a prince, you are one of your people.

As he emerged from the alleyway, Prince Mark felt like he was seeing color for the first time.

He saw children laughing and chasing a pig across the way. Older women gossiped as they gathered water from the nearby well. Men in front of a shop boasted to one another about the game they’ve killed. The air was cloaked with the smell of...poop?

“Out of the way, boy! I’ve got a load of manure to transport!” He was met with a red-faced man huffing as he pulled along a heavy wheelbarrow of manure. Prince Mark stood frozen in the middle of the busy street. “Don’t just stand there, you’re in everyone’s way!”

Prince Mark could only let out a dazed “sorry” as he moved out of the way. It seemed that if he was going to blend in with his people he would have to keep up with their pace. He followed the flow of bodies gathering around the village square. Some street performers were acting out a play. Prince Mark laughed and cheered with the audience at the performers’ wild antics, he had never felt so alive. He made a mental note to somehow get his servants to hire them to perform at the palace sometime. He swore one of them had made an appearance at a palace banquet before. The crowd applauded as the play came to an end.

“Thank you, thank you, don’t forget to donate whatever you can so we can continue to do these little shows!” One of the performers announced as another held out his cap to the audience for collections.

Prince Mark walked up to the performer who spoke. “Very good job! That was the hardest I’ve laughed in a while.”

“Thank you...” The performer’s eyes narrowed as he turned to look at Prince Mark. “...Sir. Say, you look very familiar, have we met before?”

Prince Mark pulled down the straw hat he was wearing lower to hide his face. “You must be mistaken, sir, I rarely leave my house. I might just have one of those faces. Now if you excuse me, I must get to the...” His eyes wandered to the nearest building. “Bakery. Good job again!”

He left the confused performer in his spot, realizing the source of the cinnamon scent from earlier as he walked closer to the bakery. The scent seemed to smack him in the face as he walked in and he was engulfed in the bakery’s comforting warmth. Prince Mark was instantly captivated by the beautifully bright and colorful cakes and pastries displayed on the shelves. Like the few customers standing around, he looked at the shelves, silently deciding what he would treat himself to. A momento of today.

And then he spotted you.

His eyes had scanned over a shelf of breads when they landed on you, coming out of what seemed to be the kitchen. Your hair was up in a braided crown, similar to the designs on some of the bread he saw. He was mesmerized as you wiped the dusts of flour from your face with one hand and put down a fresh pan of cookies with the other.

In his head, the prince swore you were the most beautiful creature he had ever laid eyes on.

“What can I get for you, sir?” You beamed at him as you wiped your hands clean on your apron. Prince Mark hadn’t realized he’d walked up to the counter as he stared at you. Even your voice was beautiful, as clear and as bright as the promising day itself.

He had given countless speeches and attended meetings with many older rulers from neighboring kingdoms in his father’s stead before (part of his education as the heir to the throne) but this was the first time the young prince could remember feeling tongue-tied.

“A sweet roll and a coffee, please.” It has almost come out as a whisper. Prince Mark cleared his throat. “And maybe one of those cookies.”

As your smile grew wider, the prince began to feel a swelling sensation in his chest. “Coming right up!” You scribbled down his order before turning to the next customer behind him. “And for you, ma’am?”

Though you were incredibly busy with the new customers that had come in, some of them snippier with how fast they wanted their order than need be, not once did your radiant smile leave your face. You handled every order with grace. Time seemed to stand still as Prince Mark watched you move skillfully like a dancer to and from the kitchen past other workers holding hot trays.

“The baguettes! Hurry up!” A voice called from the kitchen, and for once your smile faltered a little. “Can’t you move any faster?!”

You looked at the current customer you were with apologetically before rushing back to the kitchen. “Coming!”

He didn’t even know your name, but Prince Mark’s heart ached from seeing your slight (blink and you’ll miss it) crestfallen expression.

“Here you go, sir. Sweet roll, coffee, and a cookie.” You has reappeared before him with his items in hand. Prince Mark glanced at the counter behind you and noticed the fresh tray of baguettes you had taken out. You looked slightly frazzled from the short trip to the kitchen, but still made the effort to keep a smile on your face. “Be careful with the coffee though, it’s still a little bit—”

“Hot!” Startled by the heat radiating from the cup, Prince Mark let it slip throw his fingers when you handed it to him. The busied chatter in the bakery was instantly hushed by the cup shattering on the floor.

“Hey, what was that out there?!”

“N-nothing! I’ll clean it up!” Prince Mark looked up to see the your smile completely replaced with a worried expression. You wipe up the mess as one of the other workers swept up the broken pieces. “I’m sorry, sir. I’ll get you a new coffee right away.”

The prince grabbed your arm before you could go back to the kitchen. “Don’t worry about it, it’s okay.”

You put your head down in shame. “Let me give you your money back then.”

“It’s okay,” he repeated, giving you an understanding smile, willing yours to reappear once more. Before you could say anything, Prince Mark heard a familiar cough behind him. He glanced behind him to see Jackson standing near the doorway, pretending to look at some cakes. The prince hadn’t realized that his hour of freedom was almost over. “Thank you for the food, have a nice day!”

As he left the bakery (and with how busy it had gotten, it took him a bit to get out of there,) he noticed you standing out on the side of building with an older man. He was big, horizontally and vertically, and was in the middle of whispering angrily at you. Prince Mark couldn’t hear what he was saying, but it was clearly distressing you. Your back was against the building and your head hung down shamefully like it did earlier. He had the urge to intervene after noticing you wipe away some tears when he felt someone brush passed him.

“Keep moving,” Jackson ordered. Looking at your situation sadly, the prince left, the regret of not seeing you off with a smile weighing down his footsteps.

“Jackson,” Prince Mark said gleefully as they made their way back through the forest. “Who was that?”

“I take it you had fun on your excursion, Your Majesty?” The guard smirked. “I don’t know, I’m always stuck in the palace watching you. She’s just a worker at the bakery...” It finally dawned on Jackson when he noticed the prince’s smitten expression. “No, Your Majesty, you can’t,” Jackson ordered grimly. “You’re supposed to be picking your bride tomorrow.”

“I’m next in line for the throne, I’m sure we can work our way around this stupid rule,” Prince Mark replied easily. “You don’t understand, Jackson, when I saw her face, the world seemed to stop moving. It was as if fate brought me here today to tell me that she was—”

“The one?” Jackson interrupted as he moved a branch out of the prince’s way. “You don’t even know her name. Your Majesty, with all due respect, this isn’t one of the fairytales the maids told you as a child. I say this not as your guard but as your friend,” Jackson stopped walking and looked at Prince Mark with a sad smile. “She’s just a commoner. You’re the Crowned Prince. When the time comes, you will be the one leading this kingdom. You’re supposed to be with someone in your class, otherwise people will talk.”

“Let them,” Prince Mark said spitefully, continuing to walk. “The people will always find something new to talk about.”

Jackson stopped him before he could keep moving. “I know it’s not ideal, but that’s just the way things are and we have no choice but to accept it. You’re choosing your bride tomorrow and that’s that.” He gave the prince a gentle pat before leading the way. “Besides, only the fairest of maidens are set to be attending the banquet tomorrow. You can’t seriously be in love with that baker girl? You only saw her for a second and she made a mess back there. Your Majesty, there’s no such thing as love at first sight, it’s so silly...”

Prince Mark remained quiet all the way back to the castle as Jackson went on about the different princesses who were invited to the banquet. As he reminded himself of Jackson’s words, all he could think about was your faltering smile. Maybe that man yelling at you earlier always gave you a hard time, but you tried to remain strong and kept up a happy front despite of it?

The prince didn’t know your name or anything about you, but he knew he would have given up the crown at that moment just to have seen you smile again. Perhaps it wasn’t love at first sight, but Prince Mark couldn’t deny that there was definitely something there.

——

Prince Mark was never one for parties. Although he was surrounded by a bunch of people, he still couldn’t help but feel so lonely. He barely knew a face in the room. He wasn’t in the mood to talk deals and peace treaties with other leaders under the guise of a friendly toast. He couldn’t even have fun with his friends, who were scattered around the banquet hall making sure nothing was amiss. And the prince definitely had no intention of asking any of the princesses to dance. It was no secret that they only wanted to be chosen as his bride to increase their families’ wealth and power. How could he even think of dancing with anyone else when every thought kept coming back to—

You.

Was he seeing things? Did he have a little too much wine to drink?

You stood next to a table displaying three beautifully decorated cakes, kindly offering a slice to anyone who came up to you. You beamed as you handed a minister from the neighboring kingdom a plate and Prince Mark felt the swelling sensation in his chest yet again.

This was definitely a sign. He never thought he would see you ever again, but seeing you here tonight, Prince Mark knew fate was telling him to do something about it.

“Don’t do it.” Jackson had practically watched the prince’s entire thought process and stopped him before he could thoughtlessly march over to you. “We knew we had to keep a closer eye on you when we found out she was here so you didn’t do anything hasty.”

Prince Mark looked around and noticed his friends standing along the perimeter of the room, all staring at him. “But what is she—”

“The village bakery made the desserts for the banquet. The owner is actually right there talking to His Royal Highness.” They turned to see the older man you were with yesterday speaking jovially with the king. Prince Mark began to feel his blood boil. Quickly noticing this, Jackson gently held him back. “Sir, you’re the star of the show tonight. You can’t be picking fights with commoners who you’re not supposed to know of. Did you forget the purpose of this banquet?”

“It’s not like I haven’t been reminded every time I’ve voiced an honest opinion,” Prince Mark replied, shrugging off the guard’s hold. “Jackson, I’ve become a prisoner in my own palace. I’m supposed to be finding my wife tonight and for what? Just so we can waste money throwing another party? As my guards, you’re supposed to do as I say, and as my friends, you’re supposed to support my decisions even though you may not understand. I know you are all looking out for me, but you need to trust me.” He gave Jackson a solemn look. “I’m gonna talk to her, and this time, none of you can stop me.”

Jackson shook his head at the other guards when they saw that the prince was continuing to walk in your direction, silently ordering them to leave him be. What did his friend mean he didn’t understand? What was there to understand? No, the prince needed to understand that love was only a thing of fairytales. You don’t just lock eyes with someone and magically fall—

“Oh!” Jackson looked down to see what seemed to be one of the princesses collapsed at his feet.

“Are you okay?” He knelt down to help the girl back up to her feet.

“Yeah, I think these shoes might just be a little too high for me.” The princess giggled at her mishap and Jackson immediately felt a strange sensation in his chest. “Thank you for helping me up...”

“I-it’s Jackson.” Realizing he was still holding her, Jackson quickly let go.

“Well, Jackson, it was a pleasure bumping into you. Literally.” With another delighted giggle, the princess left the guard in his place. As he continued to watch the princess go about the party, Jackson felt as he finally understood.

“Would you like a—oh! Your Majesty!” You were cutting up the second cake when you noticed someone next to you. You quickly bowed when you realized it was Prince Mark. “Please forgive my informality. Would you like some cake?”

Prince Mark held up a hand. “No, it’s okay. I actually came here to talk to you...again.” He lowered his voice as one of his father’s ministers passed by.

“I didn’t realize you were the prince, had I known it was you—”

“You would have treated me like everyone else, as you should.”

You grinned at him in amusement. “But I still would have dropped that cup.”

He let out a chuckle. “It was entirely my fault, you warned me it was hot.” Seeing you finally relax a bit and smiling at him, Prince Mark felt like he was with the gods. “I hope you weren’t given too much of a hard time yesterday because of me.”

You followed where his eyes seemed to wander. “That’s my stepfather,” you confirmed. The older man in question was still rubbing elbows with the king. It was a wonder to you how he hadn’t been dragged off yet. “He owns the bakery.”

“Stepfather?”

“He married my mother when my father passed away, but my mother passed away a few years ago. So now it’s just the two of us and I help in the bakery,” you explained simply, as if you were describing the weather.

Prince Mark gave you a sympathetic look. “Oh. I’m sorry to hear—”

You shook your head and smiled at him once again. “No, nothing for you to be sorry about. That’s just how life is, I guess.”

Just as Prince Mark imagined, you seemed to smile through the hardship. “Does your stepfather...is he always like that with you?”

“Oh, you saw that?” You pursed your lips nervously as you looked down again. “It’s nothing, I’m used to it. I shouldn’t have been messing up so much. But I really do love the bakery, don’t get me wrong.”

Without warning, the prince took your free hand in his. His touch was warm. You looked up only to be met with the kindest eyes you had ever seen. They held a sadness that was not out of pity for those below him, but out of anger towards injustice against his people. He truly was the heir to the throne.

“‘I’m used to it’ is one of the worst phrases anyone can say about themselves. You shouldn’t have to be used to being verbally abused like that. Even if it was because you were performing poorly, which I didn’t think you were, it’s the boss’s job to teach his workers right.” Prince Mark gave your hand a gentle squeeze before smiling benevolently. “I’m sorry you’re being treated in a way no human ever should. It’s the kingdom’s duty to make its people happy, and at least for tonight, I hope to make you happy too.”

You grinned bashfully at the prince before averting your attention to the ground once more. “Well, you’ve already exceeded my expectations of what I thought the prince would be like and that makes me pretty happy.”

“Oh?” Prince Mark quirked an eyebrow playfully and smirked. “And what were your expectations of me exactly?”

Before you could answer, one of the servants had sidled up next to Prince Mark. “Your Majesty, you must start dancing with our guests. You need to choose a bride by the end of the night.”

“Of course, you aren’t the first one to tell me that tonight,” Prince Mark replied mockingly. You held back a laugh as he subtly rolled his eyes towards you. “Well, my good lady, royal duty calls. It was a pleasure seeing you again.”

“And you, Your Majesty.” Taking your hand once again, he left a chaste kiss on the back before heading off to the dance floor. The skin where his lips had touched felt like it was on fire, but unlike the prince, you found yourself not minding the heat.

You watched the young prince go from maiden to maiden, a small polite smile gracing his lips as he asked them to dance. You imagined yourself in their position and sighed. It had been a dream of yours when you were a child for some dashing prince to come and sweep you off your feet—how it would feel like to have him twirl you around the room and treat you like a lady.

My good lady, the prince had called you.

When Prince Mark held and kissed your hand, you allowed yourself to be someone else. After tonight, that childhood dream of yours would remain at that. His words echoed in your head.

“At least for tonight, I hope to make you happy too.”

“It’s now time for His Majesty to choose his new bride!”

You didn’t know where your stepfather had wandered off to, probably making good use of the wine fountain. You busied yourself with packing away some of the bakery supplies. You couldn’t bring yourself to join everyone in watching the main event. It was probably silly, but you felt a spark when the prince had touched you and a part of you hoped that he had felt it too. But alas, this was not some fairytale like your mother used to tell you. Feeling a spark with someone you barely knew was unrealistic.

Princes always went for princesses, and you were but a commoner who worked in the village bakery. That was your reality.

“Her?! Why her?!

You hadn’t noticed that the music stopped playing and the party had gotten almost completely silent. There was a hand extended out to you.

“Would like to dance?” Prince Mark grinned unabashedly, awaiting your response. You looked around frantically. In every direction, you caught a new pair of eyes glaring at you as if you had an extra head.

“Your Majesty, you can’t marry her!” The servant from earlier protested. “She’s a commoner! An orphan too!” You could hear bits and pieces of the chatter around you, each word nastier than the one before.

“She’s not even that pretty!”

“Her hands are all wrinkled from working.”

“She has nothing, what can she even offer him?”

“Silence!” Prince Mark ordered, instantly hushing the banquet hall. “The royal mandate only states that I must choose a bride from the banquet, it does not say anything about who I can’t choose. I choose her, and if any of you have anything to say about it, I challenge you to talk about it with me personally.” There was an edge in his voice that you originally imagined the prince to have. Still shocked by his words and actions, you could only stare at his hand.

Jackson cleared his throat to break the silence. “You heard His Majesty. Make some room so he may dance with his new bride,” the guard demanded as he began to push some people back from crowding around you. Youngjae, standing near the band, ordered them to keep playing while the rest of the guards made sure the guests kept their distance from you. Dismissing your confused expression, Prince Mark took you by the hand to the dance floor and began to lead you in a waltz.

“Your Majesty...”

“My good lady?”

You blushed at the title, averting your attention to your feet movement instead. Prince Mark chuckled at your behavior. “Sir, you must be mistaken. I am no lady. I shouldn’t even be enjoying this banquet, I’m supposed to be working—”

“And I promised to make you happy tonight.” He twirled you around. “Forgive me if I’m being hasty, but I felt something when I saw you for the first time yesterday and it’s as if fate brought you back here tonight for this very reason. I fell for you as soon as I laid eyes on your smile—it’s a question I would like to spend the rest of my life answering.”

Your face grew even hotter at the prince’s words. You never imagined the prince to be such a romantic. As you said earlier, Prince Mark completely exceeded your expectations. His kindness and the sincerity in his face, which you now realized was only inches away from yours, caused a swelling sensation in your chest.

“Sir, I don’t know what to say...”

“You don’t have to say anything,” Prince Mark replied, placing another kiss on the back of your hand. “I’m not forcing you to marry me. But I figured I’d tell you exactly how I felt, it’s something I’ve never gotten the chance to do before.”

“Tell me how you felt?”

“Tell anyone exactly how I felt.”

It dawned on you. Perhaps your life wasn’t completely different from the prince’s. You were watched over like a hawk by your stepfather. He was a prisoner in his own castle. You both dreamed of a life outside of the ones you were living now. You remembered the old fairytales as you stared back at Prince Mark. Handsome Prince Mark, who seemed to hold the whole future in his kind eyes and whose smile effortlessly brought one to your lips. A dashing prince sweeping you off your feet.

“Yes,” you finally answered, grinning at him wholeheartedly. “Yes I will marry you.”

A smitten look in his eyes as he stared back at you, Prince Mark brought you even closer to him, ignoring the scrutinizing stares all around you. You were surprised to find that his heart was beating just as rapidly as yours. As you two danced the night away, you tried to find the right words to describe the feeling in your chest. Melting into the prince’s warm touch, you decided not to think too much about it, silently labeling the feeling for now as just “something there.”

——

[tmnt-veelicious]

Across the Stars - Ch.12

I am so incredibly sorry for the wait !!! So many shits happened recently and I had so little time to actually sit down and write anything ! I feel like the ending of that chapter is a bit rushed, but I was just getting tired at the end and I just want to get on with it ‘cause it’s gonna be fuuuuuuunnnn !!!! ANYWAY, HERE IT IS.

!! WARNING, NSFW (18+) STUFF HAPPENING HERE !!

First Chapter --> HERE Previous Chapter --> HERE Next Chapter --> HERE

There were two rules for tonight: No boyfriends. Lots of alcohol! April still kept her promise from Vee's birthday and both girls were now walking into a nightclub, the music's deep basses felt in the air. The surroundings were thick with heat and illuminated by the dancing spotlights. Tonight was all about them, their friendship and about forgetting every problems in the world. Drinks in hand, it didn't take long for both women to freely slip into the nightlife style, their bodies following the pulsing tones. It had been some years since Vee participated in such activity. In her early adult years she had seen and experienced many situations regarding that nocturnal lifestyle. Some were memorable, others right down terrifying, but overall it always provided her a view on how humanity could turn for the worst – or sometimes the best – in the absence of sunlight. Humans were nothing but animals, either preys or predators, lurking in the shadows and acting in forbidden ways. ''You know,'' started April as they both were on their third drink, sitting at a booth. ''We've been living together for almost a year now and I feel like there's still things you're hiding from me.'' Vee laughed, mostly dued to her drunk state. ''What could I tell more? My life is so boring anyway.'' ''What do you mean, boring?!'' replied the brunette back with a smirk. ''Not everyone can say they've fucked a mutant, that's special.'' ''SHHHsHshshhSHhh, don't say it outloud,'' tried to hush Vee, giggling. Their hilarity didn't last for long, the artist already back to her drink. April could notice some uneasiness from her friend, the reporter silently studying her. ''… Why did you leave your country? What's the real reason?'' Vee's smile faded for some seconds, everything so silent all of a sudden. She didn't really know how to answer, but words left her anyway: ''To get a fresh start, get a new life. Everything back home brought me down and it always reminded me of how pathetic I am. I had so many plans, hopes and dreams, but they all got crushed by unfortunate events and bad choices. My family wanted me to be someone I'm not and it tore me up inside...'' She emptied her glass, putting it down harshly. ''I can't stand living a boring, repetitive life. I can't stand doing the same work over and over again. What I want to do is stressful and highly unpredictable, but so rewarding in the end! … I want to create and let my imagination flow freely. What good is life if I can't?...'' April smirked, somehow glad to see this side of Vee. That inner fire, that desire. She knew the artist was passionate, but also knew that something was missing for her to fully accomplish her goals... She was about to speak when a frown invaded her features instead, spotting something in the crowd. Three guys were walking around, looking rather suspcious. One of them had a large purple dragon tattoo on his arm... Purple. THE PURPLE DRAGONS! April grasped Vee's arm, her eyes following the three men who were making their way to a dark corner of the club. The artist followed her gaze, frowning in concern. ''… What?'' she asked. ''It's the Purple Dragons! They're here! They're probably involved with the Foot Clan.'' ''Woah, woah, wooaahh,'' stopped Vee, visibly confused. ''First of all, who are they?'' ''They're a gang residing in Chinatown. We have to follow them!'' added April, already getting up, holding her phone out. Vee firmly held April's arm, stopping her. ''Hey! What do you think you're doing? If, like you said, they're involved with the Foot Clan, we can't just follow them. What if they catch us spying?'' The reporter pulled the other up, bringing her to follow her steps amongst the crowd. ''We have to see what they're up to,'' she said. ''The turtles need any clues we could find. I've agreed to help them and now I can't back up.'' ''For fuck's sake, April!'' complained Vee, still being dragged. ''We're both drunk, they'll spot us!'' Vee could feel her heart beating hard against her chest, visibly afraid. Soon both women found their way to a darker corner of the nightclub, lightspots rarely shining over there and the lighting dimmed out. April quickly studied the place before turning around to Vee, her eyes as big as plates. ''Oh my fucking god, Karai is here.'' ''… Wasn't she in prison?'' asked Vee. ''Yes! She must have escaped very recently or else Casey would have told me! What is she even doing here? This is bad...'' ''How much bad?'' ''Bad enough that if she spots me, we're in deep shit.'' ''Okay then, let's get out of here,'' hissed Vee through her gritted teeth. ''We have to take a picture first.'' Oh gosh, Vee wanted to shake her friend so bad. ''Are you out of your frickin' mind? We just have to tell the boys what we've seen and it'll be okay.'' April didn't listen to her, already opening the camera on her phone. ''April, for fuck's sake-'' ''They need to see who's surrounding her, they'll know who to look for,'' cut April. A flash exploded from her phone, revealing their presence. All heads were now turned towards both women, Karai easily spotting the brunette. She pointed in their direction, saying something to the others, probably commanding to capture both women... ''Run!'' urged April, pushing and dragging Vee another time. Vee had no time to think, going through the crowd as if running through dense vegetation. Everything seemed blurry, every sounds muffled dued to the immense stress and rush of adrenaline she was now feeling. She only had to look behind her once to know that they were being followed by a group of men, probably Foot Clan ninjas. Soon enough they were outside, still running. At some point Vee lost her high heels, not even caring as she knew she'd run better without them (although running barefeet in this cold weather was no ideal situation...). ''Over there!'' they heard someone shout. April, still holding Vee's hand, rushed towards an alley in hopes of finding a manhole cover. Her wish was granted as the shape of one stood out from the small layer of snow on the ground. ''Help me out!'' she told Vee as she started to lift it. Both women joined their efforts, soon the metal piece out of the way. Sound brought their attention, spotting the ninjas coming through the alleyway. Vee did not wait to jump in, rapidly followed by April, the girls back to running. The brunette had her phone out again, rapidly dialing a number. ''Leo! 5th and 23rd. We're in the sewers, followed by the Foot.'' Vee knew the reporter was calling for help and she couldn't be even more grateful. She thought they'd be running forever until April pulled her to a dark corner, motioning her to stay quiet. They could hear the Foot ninjas approaching, suddenly on their guard, knowing something was wrong as they couldn't hear the women running anymore. Vee couldn't breathe anymore, her whole self frozen in fear, hoping their hiding spot wouldn't get noticed. After what seemed like eternity, a strangled gasp escaped one of the men, suddenly disappearing in the shadows. The others were on high alert, their weapons out. A shuriken was thrown to attract their attention, Leo the first one to jump in and disarming one guy. Soon enough the whole gang was there, pushing the enemy away. Everything was happening in a flash, Vee getting to experience the turtles really fighting for the first time. Her gaze found Donnie in all this hell, a strong shiver going through her as she could witness his true strength. She got back to reality as she spotted Mikey next to her and April, urging them to follow him to safety. Her body was moving on its own, unable to focus as the only sounds invading her ears were crashes and screams. *** ''What the hell were you thinking?'' scolded Leo as they were back to the lair. April was already bringing up the picture she took at the nightclub, shoving it in the leader's face. ''We saw Karai! She got out of prison and she's with the Purple Dragons!'' He snatched the device out of her hands, still frowning: ''Still, what you did was foolish.'' ''So what?!'' replied April, annoyed. ''You asked for my help and I provided. I called you for help next, wasn't that good enough? What was I supposed to do?'' ''Call us BEFORE getting in trouble,'' said Leo, his tone rising. ''We could have gone there and handle things on our own. Now you've compromised this mission and Karai is out there, probably running away from us.'' He caught a smell of her state. ''… Plus you both are drunk, no wonder you fucked it up.'' ''We did the best we could,'' tried to add Vee, trying not to show that she was shaking. ''We didn't expect for them to show up there....'' ''Give 'em some slack, Leo,'' said Raph. ''They're safe now, there's no need to be angry.'' ''I don't give a fuck, they ruined all our efforts!'' Raphael didn't like his brother's tone, knowing this wasn't his habitual behavior. He was staring down the blue clad terrapin, his stance on the defensive. ''Calm the fuck down,'' he warned. Leo was about to replicate that another voice stopped him. ''Leonardo, come with me,'' said master Splinter, standing near the scene, lightly frowning and his tail nervously swinging. Tension seemed to escape the leader's body, letting out a sharp sigh as he followed his father away. A long silence invaded the group, Raph's posture finally relaxing. Mikey was the first to break the ice, letting out a low whistle: ''Wow, I think that's the first time I see Raph trying to calm down Leo.'' ''That's 'cause he's a dumbass,'' simply said the red clad mutant, walking away next. *** Donatello had been silent ever since they came back, but now that he and Vee were finally alone in his room, he couldn't stop. ''Are you hurt?'' ''What are you doing, walking around without shoes? You'll catch a cold!'' ''They didn't touch you, right?'' Vee didn't have time to answer any of his questions, the turtle examining her, next bringing a blanket around her, trying to keep her warm enough. She couldn't look straight at him, somehow ashamed. ''Leo was right,'' she finally was able to say. ''What we did was stupid...'' Donnie sighed, standing before Vee. He gently cupped her face, slightly tilting her head so she could meet his gaze. ''You're safe, that's all I need to know.'' ''Are you angry?'' asked the woman next. ''Against the Foot, yes. Against you, no. … April had good intentions, but both your inebriated state didn't help. It was all a serie of unfortunate events.'' ''I didn't even want to do that,'' added Vee, tears of rage escaping her. ''I wanted to go away, but she dragged me and I blindly followed. I- … I didn't know what to do.'' Many thoughts crossed the mutant's mind, frowning at such revelation. ''But now that it's done,'' continue Vee, ''I'll stand by her side. We were in this together and she's my friend. I won't let her take shit because of this. … Leo was being a dick back there.'' ''You have to understand; we've been trying to find clues about this whole affair for two months now. It doesn't look like it, but Leo's been stressed a lot these days...'' ''He shouldn't lash it all on us though!'' She couldn't stop her crying, visibly hurt. All her stress was finally falling down, both angry and ashamed. She could hear Donnie let out a soft churr, trying to soothe her as he left a kiss on top of her head, keeping her in his arms. ''He was scared, Vee, we all were,'' he said calmly. ''… You're both family, we'll always protect you. … I'll always protect you.'' A tired attempt at a chuckle escaped Vee, nuzzling the other's torso. ''I have no trouble believing that, you looked so badass back there,'' she commented. ''You can protect me anytime.'' A small giggle-snort escaped Donnie, nuzzling Vee's hair in return. When the woman looked back to him, she still had some tears flowing down, although a sweet smile was showing on her lips. ''It's funny...,'' she started. ''April was asking me earlier why I moved out of my country, why I came here. … At first I thought there was no special reason, that my life was simply boring, but now I wouldn't exchange any of this for nothing.'' She tried to wipe the wet traces on her cheeks. ''Sometimes it's scary and unpredictable, but as long as you're by my side, I feel like nothing could ever go wrong...'' He knew this would never be the case. Danger was always around the corner for the turtles and he knew Vee could one day become an easy target. He then vowed to himself that he would always protect her. He would do anything for her... *** Vee and April had stayed for the night at the lair, in case the Foot Clan was still on the lookout for them. The artist barely slept that night dued to insomnia, calling in sick at her job the next morning. April, on the other hand, left early, accompanied by Leo – the leader probably feeling bad about his outburst and wanting to apologize. Donnie couldn't be more pleased to have Vee by his side for the day, keeping things calm around her as the woman had a slight hangover. She was dressed for a lazy day: a spare pair of black leggings she had left in his room, a large shirt and her hair brought in a messy bun. It wasn't the best look, but she knew Donnie loved it as he showered her in kisses and compliments. The day had been slow so far, Donatello working on his computer as he tried to find clues about last night's encounter and Vee mindlessly drawing beside him. She watched him work for a while, unable to focus on her drawing. She couldn't help juggling a question in her mind, always curious about one detail ever since they started dating. She rolled her chair next to Donnie's, leaning on his desk so she could catch his eyes. ''Hey there, beautiful,'' she greeted, playful. The turtle stopped, his eyes round until he laughed a little after her comment. He took this moment as a reason for a break, leaning back into his chair, stretching a bit. ''I have a question.'' He paused, looking back at Vee, intrigued. ''Sure, what is it?'' The woman smiled softly, resting a cheek against her held up palm, studying her lover. ''… I noticed something whenever we're intimate. It's nothing big, at least that's what I'm guessing, but I do wonder.... You make that sort of purring sound. It's low, almost inaudible, but I can feel it. What is it? What does it mean?'' Donnie blushed, gulping as he tried to sit straight, his hand grabbing the woman's free one, trying to focus his thoughts as he caressed her skin. ''Uhm, well, … first of all it's called churring. It's a rumbling sound we make whenever we experience strong emotions, such as happiness or … arousal.'' ''Is it a sound that could entice or encourage sexual intercourse?'' asked Vee, curious. Donnie cleared his throat, trying to be as serious as she was. ''In a sense, yes. I wouldn't call it a mating call, but I do guess it could serve the purpose of arousing a partner.'' Vee frowned, pensive. Her eyes wandered for a moment, as if trying to search for something. When she finally looked back to the mutant, still frowning slightly, she sat straight, breathing in and finally exhaling slowly, a quiet growling sound rising in her throat and thorax as she kept her mouth shut. Donatello was surprised, moving towards the human, some amazement showing on his face as he cupped Vee's face. ''How did you do that?'' he asked, grinning. The woman giggled: ''I simply relaxed my vocal chords and opened up, thinking wide! When the air goes through them, the vibration is more intense and I try to go towards low sounds. … I guess singing helps about getting a better control.'' The turtle studied her features, his smile never fading. ''… Do it again,'' he said quietly. Vee laughed, then focusing, her low purr back again. She could feel Donnie's hands slowly study her jaw and neck, feeling her work. His touch lingered, his fingers like feathers on her skin... Soon his churr rose, accompanying the human's. They instinctively moved closer, the turtle still cupping the other's face. He slowly nuzzled her features, letting his vibrations run through her, their lips barely brushing against one another... A soft giggle escaped Vee. ''Doing it for too long tickles and now you're not helping,'' she said, amused. She could feel Donnie's smile against her skin, the turtle gently getting a hold of the woman's wrists and bringing her towards him, sitting her in his lap. His churr never stopped, now his movements slower, still nuzzling her features and leaving small kisses here and there. Vee closed her eyes, somehow surprised by this sudden tenderness, feeling an urge to be closer... She dared do her sound once more, the mutant replying with kisses on her neck, one hand lost in her hair and the other at her back. Sensing the vibrations in his thorax, the woman could only feel attraction, starting to experience a need, now that she knew what it meant. Donnie's chair was now facing his lab area, hiding the couple from the open space of the lair. He finally took the chance to bring his lips to hers, his desire growing with each seconds. He couldn't help feeling extreme arousal at that moment, knowing Vee's ability to produce such sound woke something primal in him. The woman shifted her position, now straddling and facing him, her hands never leaving his skin as they kept kissing. Donnie's hands found their place at her hips, gently moving her in a wave pattern, rubbing against his now present bulge. ''This is turning out to be an interesting experiment,'' commented Vee, taking back her breath. She exhaled with a new purr, the other humming in approval as he kept her close, his hands squeezing in need. ''This is driving me crazy right now,'' added Donatello, his voice mixed with his constant growl. He was about to lift Vee's shirt that the woman stopped him, looking over his chair for a moment. ''Not here,'' she lightly scolded, not hiding her small laugh. ''Your brothers are still around, somewhere.'' The turtle didn't answer, placing his arms under the human's ass, keeping her against him as he got up, grinning. Vee gasped, surprised, putting her arms around his neck, a soft giggle rising as the other made his way towards his bedroom. He didn't even look back once, his eyes planted on Vee, closing the door harshly with his foot, hurrying to a desk in his room, tossing what was on it and landing the woman on the surface. This time he did not wait to remove her shirt, his need telling him to rip off her bra, but his mind stopping him, preferring to be careful and unclapse it in one gesture. He didn't miss Vee's renewed gasps, her body leaning towards him, her thighs slightly squeezing his waist. The garment out of the way, Donnie's hands traveled to her sides, his thumbs massaging her breasts and nipples, getting a moan out of her in answer. He had never felt this dizzy, filled with the most pleasant sensations. Nuzzling her, taking her scent, he wanted to hear her forever, claim her as his own... One of his hands easily went to her core, under her leggings and underwear, stroking her out of pure lust. His mouth got to her neck, his kisses stronger, biting lightly by occasion. ''Oh, Don,'' breathed out Vee, lost in pleasure. She scratched his skin, mostly towards his hips. She was about to slid her hand under his pants that the mutant's stance shifted, lowering himself as he completely undressed the woman. He moved her legs apart, bringing her closer to the desk's edge, then approaching and licking her folds. A strangled gasp escaped Vee, her hands getting a hold of the mutant's head, unknowingly keeping him close as she bit her lip. Her fingers then traveled along his mask, grabbing the tails and wrapping them around her palms, keeping a certain control. The turtle's constant churr could be felt, augmenting each sensations, keeping the woman on a certain high. She began to roll her hips with his rhythm, her breathing echoing, translating her desire. She got her first orgasm as he kept doing circles around her clit, her second coming a little while after, as he tongue-fucked her. She felt numb, on a cloud, her voice a plaintive mess as she begged him to come back to her. Donnie did move, but he lightly pushed the woman so she would lay on the desk, his form then hunching over her, trailing kisses around her features before he got to her lips, their tongues brushing in a sensual pattern. The human could feel him thrust his bulge against her sex; eager, needy. The sensation was pleasant, but she could only whimper, pleading to feel him nearer, entirely... His rumbling got stronger, moving away for a slight moment only so he could unzip his pants and lower them a little with his boxers, freeing himself. He got a hold of his sex, rubbing its head against the woman's entrance, sighing at the sensation. His gaze was now dark, filled with lust, locking on the woman's face as he watched her hiss and moan, her body invaded by many feelings. ''Fuck me, Donnie, please,'' she sighed, lovesick. The turtle felt himself melt at the other's tone, a strong shiver going through him as he joined their bodies, a long moan leaving them both. His instincts told him to go fast, lose all restraint, but on the other hand he wanted to enjoy this, going slowly, hitting all the right spots. He rested the woman's legs against his torso and shoulders, his hands caressing them, squeezing her thighs from times to times. ''You feel so good, baby...'' he mumbled, rolling his hips against Vee's skin. The woman only answered in plaintive, mewling sounds, her hands lost in her hair, her torso stretching with pleasure. She let him enjoy himself for a while, but her inner fire was demanding for more... ''I wanna be on top of you,'' she said, lost in her feelings. ''Hmm, I wanna move faster, love.'' She could feel Donnie's chest rumble stronger, getting to a stop, leaving some kisses to her right ankle, trailing along her snowflakes tattoo, before he moved away from her and helped her down the desk. No words were needed as they moved to the bed, the mutant sitting down and his shell going against the wall, giving him support. Vee easily got over him, not wasting any time to grab his penis and guide him back into her, humming in pleasure. She landed her hands on the turtle's torso, moving her hips up and down in a sensual pattern, biting her lip as she felt the other's hands trail along her arms and body. Their breathings were soon following the same rhythm, the human's thrusts starting to gain speed, her lust rising once more. She sat straight after a while, grabbing her lover's hands, guiding one to her breasts, bringing the other to her face, kissing his palm. ''You fill me so good,'' she moaned, shifting his hand to her throat. She wanted him to feel her renewed purr, excite him more. That action simply brought the mutant to rise his knees, his hips slightly changing their angle, the woman obliged to move towards him, her torso against his. Donnie's arms went around her, emprisoning her. His pace caught on hers, but this time he went stronger, bringing out more cries from Vee. He nuzzled her hair, telling her how good she felt, how he loved to fuck her, that he wanted to keep her forever for himself... Nothing else existed at this very moment, both lovers' minds blank, lost in this pleasure. Donnie did notice a change in the woman's breathing pattern, indicating her nearing end. He focused on her voice, the feeling of her skin against his, the smell of her arousal. When he felt her clench around him, her body rubbing against him, he lost it all, his churr stronger than ever, a long moan leaving him by the same occasion. He rode the waves of his orgasm with long, sensual thrusts, his hands gently clawing the woman's back. He could barely come back to reason that he felt Vee's lips against his, her kiss slow and tender. Donnie felt relaxed, his mucles rid of any tension, leaving a hand behind the other's head, lost in her hair. Their kiss turned into frenching, that simple action surpassing any words or compliments. He did smile when he heard the woman hum in pleasure, next leaving his forehead against hers, his hands petting her all around. ''That was intense,'' she murmured, nuzzling his cheek. ''… I need to remind myself to do that sound whenever I want it this way, holy fuck.'' Donnie chuckled, then sighing tenderly as he hugged Vee closer. ''It was kind of strange to hear that sound coming from you,'' he started. ''I'm used to only hearing myself so I never mind that action.... But when you did it, it's like it switched something inside.'' ''Stay tuned for next week's episode of 'How to bang your mutant': learn how to churr your way into hot sex,'' commented Vee with amusement. This time the turtle exploded with laughter, the woman following his hilarity. Still laying on top of him, Vee sighed, her finger tracing random patterns on his torso, pensive as she showed a smirk. ''You know... you're really good for someone who's never had any relationship before. Are you a sex god by any chance?'' she asked half-jokingly. Donnie chuckled with a small snort, a slight blush appearing. He mumbled something, the words escaping the woman. ''… What?'' she questionned, squinting a little. ''I watched a lot of porn, okay?!'' confessed the mutant. ''I mean, that's all I could do, right?'' Vee snickered, first answering with a quick peck on her lover's cheek. ''There's nothing wrong with that! All I can say is that you learned well,'' she smiled. ''… What kind do you like to watch?'' ''Oh my god, we are NOT talking about that,'' laughed Donnie, suddenly embarassed. ''Why not?'' added Vee, still smiling sweetly. ''It's not a bad thing and there's most certainly nothing to be ashamed of. Personally, porn makes me laugh because sometimes I think it's over-acted and exaggerated, but that's just my personal taste. If you enjoy it, you do you.'' ''Oh stop being so open-minded!'' teased Donnie in a playful way. ''… You're just so perfect right now. I don't need any of those videos these days, you're all I need and wished for.'' He trailed some kisses on top of her head, seizing this moment to take in her scent, forever intoxicating... ''And for your information, I do like it soft,'' he murmured next with a light chuckle. Vee hummed, her hands slowly trailing around on his skin. The turtle did the same, a sigh escaping him as he gently caressed the woman's back. This moment of peace was more than welcomed, Donnie's thoughts finally setting down from this high he just experienced. The more his thoughts shifted, the more his touch slowed down, lightly frowning. Vee noticed that change, lifting her eyes to him. ''… What's wrong?'' she asked in a small voice. He seemed to realize how he must have looked, slightly shaking his head and the attempt of a smile coming on his lips. ''I just keep thinking,'' he started. ''… Being who I am, I'll never be able to offer you things humans normally do: going on dates, walking around in public while holding your hand, stuff like that... It keeps me wondering what can you possibly see in me.'' A light chuckle escaped Vee, making the other frown a little. ''I don't need all of that stuff,'' she said, one of her hands getting to his cheek, her thumb slowly brushing his skin. Her gaze could only translate her love. ''I don't need fancy dates, walks amongst busy crowds or anything like that. A date with you is spending precious time in your company, doing things we both love. … I'm not asking you to be a human, I'm asking you to be you.'' ''Won't you get tired, though? Won't you long to partake in such activities once more?'' ''Those things annoy me, to say the truth...'' Her eyes caught his, trying to understand his feelings. ''… Don't be scared about those things, Donnie,'' she reassured. ''I want to be with you. I love you... I love you so much,'' she ended calmly, nuzzling her nose against his cheek. She felt the turtle's arms tighten around her a little, a long sigh escaping him. ''… How could I ever be this lucky?'' he next said in hushed tones. ''Luck has nothing to do with it,'' added Vee. ''We were just meant to be.'' ''Still, there was a fifty percent chance that I'd finally kick my own butt and decide to meet you.... If I had decided not to go, I would have missed all of this, all of you.'' ''Don't think in numbers, think with your heart... One day or another, our paths would have crossed. I just know it.'' A small smirk showed on the turtle's lips: ''You know what needs to cross my path right now? … Poptarts.'' ''Oh dear.'' ''I have such a craving, it's unbelievable.'' ''You better share or else I'll hide the box!'' *** The dojo always was either a place of peace or a turbulence of strength, a brutal ocean. This time only the sounds of calm breaths filled the room, like constant waves caressing the shores. It wasn't rare nowadays for Vee and Leo to meditate together, both knowing this activity brought them peace of mind. Although that session didn't feel as comfortable as the others, especially knowing how things unfolded last night... Vee could sense some uneasiness coming out of the leader, even if he tried so hard to keep his composure. The artist could only breathe peacefully, trying to convey her feeling of calmness as the atmosphere felt like a tug-of-war inbetween the panicking terrapin and the afterglowing human. Frowning after a while, Vee decided to get up with a sigh, making her way towards the kitchen to grab the usual tea set and cups. When she returned, she placed the plateau right in front of Leo, sitting across, facing the leader. ''Speak,'' she simply said. As the mutant had kept his eyes closed, he then opened one, gazing down the woman with slight confusion. ''I'm not finished,'' he simply said, closing back his eye, trying to regain his posture. ''I'm unfortunately an empath and right now I know you're feeling shitty. Since I can't meditate in peace, it'll be the same for you. I won't leave you until you speak your mind.'' The blue clad turtle sighed deeply, looking back at Vee with an annoyed gaze. Although he knew she was right... He took the cup Vee handed him, taking a sip before he decided to talk. ''… I'm sorry, about last night.'' ''Donnie told me you were feeling stressed with this whole ordeal-'' ''Still, that doesn't excuse my attitude,'' he calmly cut. ''… Many emotions invaded me and I let them take the best out of me; that's not how I was taught to handle things.'' ''It's okay to have some slip ups from times to times,'' added Vee. Her fingers lightly tapped around her cup, pensive. ''… I understand how frustrating it can be to see something you've been working on for such a long time just go wrong, even for one little moment. I know what April and I did last night was foolish and dangerous, but it was all in good intentions.'' Leo stopped her, holding his palm up: ''I know, I know... April went through the same speech herself. … I appreciate both your efforts and your concerns, but now we need to focus on the future, about a plan, rather than get stuck in the past and its errors.'' Vee somehow looked defeated, unable to keep her gaze on the leader. ''Even if we came up with a plan, who knows if we'd be able to keep it? Personally, I know that when I'm facing danger, I either get stuck, unable to do any moves, or I snap and actually do something. … It's really hard to know how I'll react in certain situations.'' ''That's why my plan is to get you two out of any situation,'' replied Leo. ''Even April?'' questionned the artist, confused. ''I thought you guys needed her help.'' ''And we got it,'' lightly smiled the terrapin. ''Now that we know Karai is back, we can take it from here. April is no ninja, although she knows how to defend herself. … Karai is not like any low-life gang member. She has ressources and power; she won't hesitate to use any means to get to us, which might mean that she could use both of you as bait.'' ''Then what do you suggest?'' ''One of us will accompany you both at night when you get out of work and walk you home. We'll each have our turns.'' Vee couldn't help frowning, feeling some disbelief regarding Leo's idea. ''… Leo, you guys can't keep doing that forever, it's ridiculous!'' ''No it's not,'' he frowned in return. ''Have you at least told your brothers about this plan?'' ''Not yet, but I know they will agree to it, at least I know Donnie will.'' The woman sighed, leaving her cup down. ''Look … I know you have good intentions and it's appreciated, but I have the feeling this is getting out of hands. What next? We won't be able to get out our appartment without any of you guys? … Unfortunately, danger is at every corners of this city and we have to accept that reality. What about Mikasa? Will you also try to overprotect her?'' ''No need to bring her into this; she knows how to defend herself and she's not known to Karai.'' ''Then teach us, teach me how to defend myself. I'm willing to do it if it can ease your mind.'' Leonardo paused, seriously considering this idea. He finally smiled: ''I'm no sensei, I'm not ready to teach-'' ''Then I will,'' added another voice from the dojo's entrance. Both their gazes wandered to the newcomer, discovering that it was none other than master Splinter. Leo instantly got up, properly greeting his father with a respectful bow. ''Sensei … how long have you been listening?'' he asked, lightly ashamed. ''Long enough to hear about your plan,'' answered the rat, walking towards the duo. Vee got up too, to be polite. She stayed silent, waiting to see how things would unfold. ''You have a good heart,'' started Splinter, leaving a hand on his son's forearm gently. ''But Vee is right; you won't be able to do this forever. Overprotecting won't prevent things from going wrong. Remember how you and your brothers disobeyed me and went above ground without my permission....'' Leo smiled once more to this thought, but was quick to regain a serious composure. ''I'm just trying to protect my family,'' he quietly said. ''And it is not a bad thing! But what you need to learn now is to trust them. … I trust that you will be able to protect them, but you must believe that they'll be able to do the same for themselves and even for you.'' The terrapin inhaled slowly, weighing his father's words. He finally let out a sharp puff, hands on his hips as he glanced between the rat and the human. ''Okay then, train her. See what you can do, but let me – let us protect them until she's able to defend herself properly, April included.'' Vee felt victorious, but she lowkey knew it would take time for her to get to an acceptable level for the leader. April would easily succeed while the artist would most certainly struggle at some points. It was only best to try at that point!

[iamvegorott]

Let Me Go

@watermelonsinmyattic wanted me to hurt their feels, welp...here’s some pain.

Summary: Anti know he’s a monster. That’s he’s useless, pathetic and alone and just wants all of those emotions to stop and go away. 

Warning: Suicidal thoughts

Let Me Go

“Hey, Marvy, what’cha doing?” Anti sang as he leaned over Marvin’s shoulder, seeing that he was reading a magic book.

“I’m trying to perfect my invisibility spell,” Marvin stated.

“I feel like if you took off your mask it’d be like a Superman effect and no one would know that it was you.” Anti grabbed the ears of Marvin’s mask.

“Anti!” Marvin slipped away and hugged the book to his chest.

“You know I wouldn’t do that, I’m only teasing.” Anti said with a chuckle. “Unless you got an ugly mark or something that you’re covering.”

“Then you should be the one wearing the mask if it’s used to cover something ugly.” Marvin huffed before leaving.

“Rude!” Anti called after him. “Schneepy!” Anti hopped over to the doctor when he saw him passing by. “What are you up to?”

“I’m off to rest.” Dr. Schneepelstein stated.

“That’s boring.” Anti pouted.

“Well, some of us actually do things in this house besides lay around and bother others.” Anti stopped and slumped. “Rude.” He muttered under his breath.

“I’ll be back.” Chase said as he headed for the front door.

“Chase, baby!” Anti clapped his hands and ran over to Chase. “What’s my main man up to today?”

“I’m visiting the kids.” Chase answered.

“Can I come?” Anti perked up with excitement.

“I...I don’t think you should, dude.” Chase rubbed the back of his head.

“Why not?” Anti’s face dropped.

“Your ears are pointed.” Chase pointed at his own.

“So? I can wear a hat?”

“Your teeth are sharp and your eyes are green and there’s a giant red scar across your neck and…” Chase sighed. “My kids would be scared of you and I don’t want to do that to them.” Chase patted Anti’s shoulder. “You understand right? They’re young, they get scared easily.”

“Yeah...I understand.” Anti looked at the ground while Chase left the house.

He was alone.

He was always alone.

Anti slowly walked to the kitchen, brain going to places it should never go. But he couldn’t stop it. He used to be so close with everyone. They would all be more than willing to do things with him, from going out to just chilling in a room, no one minded. Something happened that changed all of that. Anti felt useless, worthless, unneeded. What if he wasn’t here anymore? Would anyone care? Would anyone even notice?  

Quit being a hassle for everyone!

Dark’s voice from over a month ago rang in his head. That was when these thoughts started to get to him. He was a hassle. He was a nuisance. No one cared. It was just a simple argument with Dark. Anti had crashed one of the Iplier meetings and Dark wasn’t the happiest about it and those words came out of his mouth. Anti’s heard worse in his life, he’s said much worse, but for some reason, it actually hurt him to hear that. Anti had a feeling for why it did, but he refused to believe it.

Anti pulled open one of the drawers and took out one of the large kitchen knives.

Why couldn’t he be like everyone else? Why was he the only virus? Why couldn’t he take a normal form like the other Septiceye egos? They all looked like normal human beings, but Anti was a monster. He scared children. He made men run in fear and women cry with just his appearance. Blending in wasn’t his strong suit. He was a murder, a psycho, he loved the feeling of someone’s life seeping through his fingers. Maybe he shouldn’t be here.

Anti gripped the handle of the knife and turned the blade towards himself, aiming for his chest.

Just, one movement. One more stab and he’d be done. He could escape. He could get away from all of these thoughts and feelings that he just hated with his core. He never wanted to care. He never wanted to feel hurt. Physical pain was nothing but a broken heart was the worst feeling in the world.

“Goodbye.” Anti was about to move his arms when he heard his name being yelled and hands went over his own. The knife was torn away from him and thrown across the room.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing!?” The voice went unheard as Anti tried to go for the knife. He needed to do this. He needed the pain to end. “Anti!” Arms went around him.

“Let me go! Just let me go!” Anti screamed, struggling against the one holding him. “Just let me die! Let me die!”

“Stop that!” Anti ended up slipping and falling to the ground, taking the other man with him.

“I’m nothing! I’m fucking nothing! I’m just a fucking glitch that gets in everyone’s way!” Anti cried. “I’m worthless! I’m pathetic! I’m just a hassle for everyone!” Anti felt the arms hold him tighter.

“You’re not-”

“I’m a fucking killer! I kill people and enjoy it! I end their lives for money that I don’t even need!” Anti was sobbing at this point. “I’m broken! I’m a broken piece of shit that needs to be destroyed! Just kill me! Fucking kill me!” Anti was still trying to break free.

“I’m not letting you do that!” The man sat on his rear and wrapped his legs around Anti’s waist from behind, using his weight to keep him down.

“You even said it yourself! I’m a hassle, Dark!” Anti’s body glitched, weakening him for a moment which allowed Dark to flip him over, pinning him to the ground.

“You know damn well that I didn’t mean that!” Dark said, that fear and worry on his face going unnoticed by Anti.

“Yes, you did! Everyone means it! Everyone thinks I’m a terrible thing! No one cares! No one will ever care!” Anti managed to shove Dark off of him and he scrambled to his feet, going for the knife again.

“Anti!” Dark went to his feet as well and caught Anti by the back of his shirt. He pulled the virus back and pressed him against the wall, holding his wrists against it so he could be pushed away again. “They care about you! You know they do!”

“I know you don’t care!” Anti screamed.

“If I didn’t care then why am I here!?” Dark snapped. “Why am I going through so much to prevent you from hurting yourself!? Host told me that something was wrong and I immediately came to make sure that you were alright! Why would I do that if I didn’t care!?”

“You just want to use me…” Anti spoke softly. “That’s what you do. You use people. I kill them. We’re both fucked up. But your people get to live.”

“I...I don’t want to use you. I don’t want to hurt you.” Anti’s hands clenched.

“You just don’t want me.” There was a long silence and Anti started to shake when he realized what he had said. He knew that Dark understood what that meant. Why was he so stupid? “I’m sorry…I-” Anti froze when Dark’s lips pressed against his. It was a quick kiss, just a simple peck but it was enough to break him. “No...no…” Anti was crying again. “Don’t do that to me, please. Please don’t do that!” Anti tried to yank his arms out of Dark’s grip. “Don’t do this to me! Don’t make me believe that you actually care for me! Don’t let me live on false hope! Don’t do this to me!”

“Anti, Anti, listen.” Dark lowered his hands and held Anti’s face, making him look at him.

“It already hurts so much. Don’t. Don’t, please.” Anti begged. “I already hate myself for having these stupid emotions, don’t make them hurt me more.”

“It’s okay. Everything’s okay. I’m here for you. I’m here. I’m not leaving.” Anti sniffed once before wrapping his arms around Dark and began crying into his chest. “It’s okay. It’s okay.” Dark whispered as he held Anti, running one hand through his hair and the other along his back.

“Is...is is safe?” Marvin called softly from his room. “Oh…” He picked up the knife that was laying on the floor.

“Take all knives out of the kitchen.” Dark ordered.

“Even the-”

“All of them.” Marvin nodded his head and went to the kitchen.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” Anti’s voice was muffled.

“Don’t apologize. You’re fine. You’re safe. That’s what matters.” Dark kissed the top of Anti’s head.

“Anything I can do?” Dr. Schneepelstein asked.

“Can you get a glass of water?” Dark asked, watching as the doctor went to the kitchen as well. “I’ll stay here until you want me to leave, is that okay?”

“Please don’t go.” Was Anti’s answer.

“I won’t. I promise.” Dark ran his hand through Anti’s hair one more time. “I’m going to lift you, okay?”

“Yeah.” Anti didn’t fight back as Dark adjusted his hand and picked Anti up, making sure that the virus was still able to keep his face tucked away. Dark knew that Anti didn’t want the others to see him cry, he was most likely internally scolding himself for doing it in front of Dark.

“Do you mind bringing that into the room with us?” Dark asked Dr. Schneepelstein when the doctor went up to him with the water.

“Of course.” Dr. Schneepelstein followed Dark as he carried Anti to his room. “Anti. I did not mean words to hurt you. I-”

“I think later would be a good time to discuss this.” Dark interrupted Dr. Schneepelstein.

“Oh...of course.” The doctor said before setting the glass down on the bedside table. “Get better, Anti.” He added before leaving.

“I’m putting you down.” Dark warned before laying Anti on his bed. “What do you need?” Anti shuffled a little, looking as if he was uncomfortable making his request. “Tell me what you need and I’ll do it. No questions asked.”

“Hold me?” Anti asked in a small voice, something Dark never expected from the usually very loud man. It was actually very adorable. Dark just smiled and crawled into the bed as well. He waited and allowed Anti to adjust himself so he was curled up against Dark’s chest, his hands were balled up and pressed against Dark and his legs were tucked up and wrapped around the other man’s.

“You’re adorable.” Dark said as he laid his arm across Anti, closing his eyes.  

“Don’t ruin the moment.”

“After some rest, I’ll start making some calls and you’ll start getting everything that you need as soon as possible.”

“What?” Anti tilted his head up.

“I refuse to let my boyfriend suffer. And I’ll be there every step of the way.” Dark opened one of his eyes and Anti found himself speechless. “You’re not the only one who’s been struggling with those kinds of feelings and I’m glad that you feel the same.” Dark chuckled and reclosed his eye. They weren’t closed long since Anti moved up and gave him a kiss.

“Thank you.” Anti said before lowering his head back down.

“I try.” Dark chuckled and hugged Anti against him, smiling a little more when Anti let out a hum and nuzzled himself against his chest, his hand sneaking around to rest on Dark’s waist. “I’m glad I didn’t let you go.” Dark whispered as he put his face into Anti’s hair and took in a deep breath before fully relaxing as well. Both of them slowly drifting off in each other’s arms.

I had to put fluff in the end...can’t help myself and p.s. I came up with a Darkstache angst idea while writing this >:)

[myimaginespot]

I WAS IN THE DARKNESS SO DARKNESS I BECAME- Chapter 5

Reader x Thomas Shelby

Prologue - Chapter 1  -  Chapter 2  -   Chapter 3  -  Chapter 4

Chapter 5

I step out of the kitchen heading to my bedroom, when I pass in front of the office I hear men yelling out, I guess the familia from New York have already arrived. I speed up to my room , I had no intention to be around them. I throw myself on the bed , what Tete said makes sense I need to work with Thomas but I don’t know how to do that. Some one knock my door. “ Who the fuck is it?” I yell. “ Miss (Y/N),  your father is calling for you, meet him at his office.” “Fuck my life” I said in a low voice. “Ok I’ll be there”  I yell back.

Please, please don´t let me be in there with all those men. I beg to no-one in particular. I feel cold rushing through my body and the adrenaline pumping in my veins. People think I fear no one, I don’t kneel and never ask forgiveness, my face reflects nothing but I’m not stupid. Someone who fears nothing have no survival instinct.

I open the door and step inside the office, my father was sitting behind his desk , just us thank God. “You call for me” I said “Take a sit” He order. “ Thomas Shelby call me” I hope Thomas did not accuse me for that slap. It would have been funny to hear that call. I wait for him to continue. “ The little fucker  thinks he can push me around” he slam his hand in the desk. “He said that he wants you to meet his family and your new home, he said that he has no fucking time to come and go every time he wants to see you. He demand for you to spend the month in his house.” “ What ?!”  I can’t believe his daring. “You did not agree, right?” “ He took a glass full of whiskey and  he threw it at me. I dodged it, as it passed near my face the drink spilled on me. I do not even blink, keeping my face impassive. “ I had to give up, you  fucking shit!” His face turning red from the fury. “ He threatened to cancel the wedding, he said that he wanted to know who the fuck he was going to get married with and that you were not very cooperative that day of the meeting.”  Goddamnit Thomas, thank you for that.  “ I tried to be nice to him but he insult me, I couldn’t let him do that.” my father get up from his seat and walk around the desk . He took my arm hard and lifted me from the seat. “ You stupid cunt!, you will let him talk to you the way he wants, your nothing ! just a means to an end. I will fucking kill you if you ruin this for the familia.!” I snatched my arm from his grip “ Be careful old man, you know who the fuck I am and what I can do to you. Don’t try my patience, because you’ll discover I have absolutely none. You are my father, out of respect I let you live ” Liar, liar, liar. He swallowed and I saw in his eye fear, he knows that everything i said is true. “ You would’t dare. If you kill me you will lose your chance to sit in my place and the familia will hunt you and put you down like the animal you are.” He walk back to his seat “ Go pack a bag, you’ll be staying with Thomas until the wedding day you’ll take Teresa and a couple of men with you.” he order “ So I’ll take a babysitter?” I snored “ Yes , I do not trust you to keep your legs closed” I  let out a loud laugh “ You have an obsession with my sexuality”  “ Shut the fuck up you nasty bitch and get the hell out of my office !” “ Sir yes sir!” I yell and step out of his office.

I furiously enter my room, grab a pillow and scream loudly. One day … one day this will be over I swear.  Some one enter my room and I immediately take my gun out and aimed at the intruder.  “God lord is me girl !” Theresa enter and close the door. “Sorry, sorry!”  “ I heard we are moving for a while?”  she ask

“ Yes I can’t fucking believe it, At least you will be with me.”  I sigh “ Of course my child, now lets pack your things, Mr. Vitali said we’ll be leaving in two hours.” I grab my hair and pull “ Fuck my life”

Everything was set up, I was picking up my last bag when four men burst into the bedroom. They carried sticks in their hands. Damn coward, always sending others to do his dirty work. “A goodbye party? You guuuuuys!” i said spitting sarcasm.  “ Well how do you want to do this?” I drop my bag and wait for their move.

“What were you thinking!” Teresa  yell at me. “ They started it!” We were in the car heading to Thomas house.  Leaning in the sit I have trouble breathing, my ribs hurt and my head bleeds.  “Four against one is not fair” I complained. She was healing the wound in my head.   “ I hope the wound is not visible.”  Teresa said. “ At least it didn’t stain my clothes” the car  approach the entrance of the mansion , I grab my gloves and cover my wounded hands “They are going to hate me, you know I don’t do well with other, less with women”  

Thomas

After the call to Vitali I called Polly to give her the news. She’ll have to be hear in two hours with everyone to meet (Y/N). And she and Ada  will have the job to watch her moves. I stared out side the window with a glass of whiskey in my hand.  I will take the truth out of her at all costs. I don’t know what this feeling is but I think I’m excited to have her here all for myself. I just hope we do not end up killing each other.

We were all sitting scattered in the office,Arthur, John, Finn,Ada, Polly, Esme and Linda, smoking, talking and laughing. “ So Tommy why bringing her here for a month we just wanted to talk to her a little” John said  “ Because I don’t want you to keep bothering me so she’ll stay here and Polly and Ada are going to take care of her since they were the ones who demanded that they wanted to know her.” Arthur laugh “ Poor girl , she’s  going to want to go back home today!” Ada hit him in the arm “ Shut up Arthur! we are excellent company” they start to fight when I heard the engine of a car. I make myself wait sitting, a maid came to the office and announce her arriving so I stand up and walk to the living room where she was waiting.

She was standing near the window far away from everyone, she was dress all in black and her hair was in a beautiful mess . She came with a woman  and two bodyguards,as expected,  they were standing near the entrance of the living room.  When she hear us walking in, her eyes locked with mine for a moment, then she quickly look at the rest of the shelby. She start walking to get in front of me with a smirk in her face. “ So you bitch with my father, eh?  I was not cooperative”  I give her a smirk of my own “ I didn’t “ bitch “ I demanded and he fulfilled” As I look at her closely I was able to see blood in the base of her hair, she stand slightly bent, suddenly a trace of blood start falling from her hair sliding to her cheek.” What happen to you?” I ask really worried about her appearance.

She didn’t answer to me, she brought her hand to her forehead and wiped the blood, extended her arm and opening her hand, the woman who came with her immediately gave her a cloth handkerchief. She clean her forehead with the handkerchief and look at me with a fake smile “A little accident on the way over. But here I am to make your life miserable for a month, this is your family I suppose” She look so unaffected, she step away from me to face everyone. “Indeed “ I make the introductions. She look beat up, that fucker of Vitali. “Oh, this is my staff they’ll be staying here” she  walk to them “ She is Teresa my babysitter, Tony and Alonzo my butler and gardener”.  Arthur star to laugh and she gave a little smile. We all took a sit and I let the maid show her staff where to go and to take her belonging to her room. Her face reflected no emotion, She touch her hair and her fingers were stained with blood. “Do you have something to sew around here? I think I need like two stitches” “We have a nurse she could look at it” Polly said reclining on the sofa examining her, assessing her attentively as only she knows how to do it.. “I don’t like nurses, they are too rough for my taste” (Y/N) answered  with a cold look directed at Polly, realizing that she is being evaluated by everyone in the room. The woman call Teresa walk outside the living room with one of the maids. (Y/N) notice and call for her. “Teresa thread and needle” she asks politely. Interesting so she respects this woman.  I thought that Teresa was going to look for it but she approached her and took it out of her bag as if it were something she carried with her constantly. How many times did (Y/N) have “accidents”? “Would you like me to do it for you miss ?” Teresa ask. “No thank you, You know I do not like people touching me” (Y/N)  answer with an impassive voice. she is weirder as time goes by. Teresa left the room and (Y/N) stand up heading to a mirror  behind her sit . “So you bring me here to evaluate me and that your family decides if I am enough for you?” she ask.  “ Yes and we wanted to meet the woman who slap my brother” Ada reply “ So you can slap me back? I didn’t believe that your were a man that needed protection Thomas” she said as she start to sew her wound as casually as you like. Ada laugh “ Not to return the slap, to thank you for putting my brother in his place” (Y/N)  let out a real laugh. “ Well you welcome then. I think someone should do that more often.” I just smile at them watching (Y/N) as she work. she look so confident despite being surrounded  by potential enemies. She was not afraid.

“So what is the mafia true intention to have proposed this wedding” Polly demand. “Polly!” I scold looking at her with warning in my eyes. (Y/N) finish sewing and turn around to face us, she walk to the sofa and took a seat making a small grimace, crossing her legs and putting her arms on the sofa she reach inside her pocket and took out a cigar case pulling out a cigarette and lighting it up. “Directly to the point” I like it. she point Polly with her cigarette her fingers cover with gloves stained with blood. A weird thought crossed my mind, for some strange reason the red suit her hands. “Polly isn’t it?” She exhaled the smoke. “ I could ask you the same fucking question, but why make are selfs idiots when we know how things are.This fucking marriage is not about love or some bullshit of those” “Of course it is not but I don’t believe that is about peace either” John reply with a classic smirk on his face. “You would be an idiot if you thought it was about peace” she said looking at him up and down. “ Don’t talk to my husband that way you stiff bitch” Esme yell at (Y/N)  she really hate rich people, being his people mistreated by people like (Y/N) really affect her. getting used to the wealth that John gives her is complicated. (Y/N) laugh “ I would put a leash on your wife if I were you. We do not want anything bad to happen to her” “ Are you treating my family “ I asked in a threatening voice taking a sip of my whiskey. “ I don’t need to make treats Thomas, is a statement of facts, you seem to forget who I am and the little chat we had. I am not like you or the women here present and I say it without the intention of offending. “   I stand up and walk towards her taking her arm and  lifting her from the seat, bring my face to her face, Just an excuse to have her near. “I would take care of the words that come out of my mouth if I were you. I told you, even if you are going to become my wife, it does not mean that you are part of this family. The only thing you're getting is making enemies. You’ll be alone in here without daddys protection or influence.” I remind her , she’ll know me as well, I’ll not tolerate this behaviour. She flinch at my grip and put her other hand across her waist. she look at my hand around her arm and with surprising speed she take a pocketknife out of her pocket and put it against my throat. John, Arthur and Polly take out their guns and point them at her. She did not even pay attention to them “ I do not like to be touch Thomas, take your fucking hand of me or else  I’ll  start the war  here and now by slicing your throat. I don’t need your family nor the protection or influence of that fucker. Alone?  Loneliness is my kingdom, enemies?  I sleep among them.” We stare at each other closely, our faces without expression, without fear of death and with empty eyes that burn the other.  “ You’re so stubborn , will you be willing to die here and now? look around sweetheart,  this people pointing at you would not hesitate to pull the trigger for me. Because they are my family, I am not alone.” she press the knife deeper into my throat leaving a trail of blood. “ I've been ready for a long time, I don’t need guns, I can promise you this, after I slice your throat I will take your body as a shield, take out the gun inside your jacket and kill everyone of them. We the Italian mafia live by a code, our word is promise and law.” She look like a fucking soldier, I believe her now that she’ll act.

I let go of her arm and she took the knife away.  I indicated them to lower their weapons. I clean the blood from my throat. She took a seat and looked at the ceiling. she  took a deep breath . “As I was saying  before being insulted, You would be stupid to believe in peace. Of course something else is going to happen.  They won’t tell me shit. You do not know anything about me but my father does not trust me, in fact he detests me. I have a goal a very personal one. I told you before we could use each other. I now for a fact that you accept this wedding because you wanted to use me to gain information of the organisation. My father proposes this deal knowing this and you felt in his trap. He wants what he always wanted, your death.” “ And you will be the one to kill me?” I ask taking a seat in front of her as the others. “ No, I’m not the one chosen for that.I already told you he does not trust me. “ “ Then how do you know all of this?” Polly ask her. “ I can feel it, he is so eager  about this wedding, he gets so upset with me, he is afraid that I will make you regret this.” she start laughing  a beautiful sound. “ You see I am not good at human interaction. And there’s something else… The familia from New York is here. They arrived today.”

“ That motherfucker! “ I said furiously “ Yeah” I sigh “What part do you have in all this” I question her. “ I really don’t know, he just likes to use, maybe hi is expecting me to die in all of this. It wouldn’t be the first time he have tried.” “What do you gain by telling me all this?” I look directly at her eyes, searching for the true, for some emotion. “I told you we can use each other.” she sigh. she get up and start walking “ I’ll kill Vitali” there was silence in the room. “Would you kill your own father? Why?” Ada ask. “I have reason that are non of your business. But you see, we have the same objective so we can join forces  to end him.  And when everything is said and done we will go different paths.”  She stopped walking and press her hand in her waist , she started coughing, her hand had blood. “ Fuck my life” she said in a low voice before collapsing. I got up quickly and I took her in my arms before she touched the floor.

@millie67

[book-pirate]

Based off of this post by the amazing Julie, who is basically my twin. I had a really hard time ending this so I'm sorry if it seems really abrupt!

Hope you like it, Julie!

Arrogance & Assumptions

In her dream, Lizzie Bennet is standing victorious over Will Darcy’s prone body, his usual smirk turned into a frown as he pleads for his life. She shifts in her sleep as the dream changes, Darcy standing and stepping ever closer with an earnest look on his face, as she leans in and -

But her dream is interrupted when she wakes up, startled by a loud thump near her head. She sits up from where she fell asleep hunched over her desk. “Jesus Christ.”

Chaz beams down at her unapologetically. “Come on, sleepy, Jane’s waiting for us at Meryton’s.”

“How did you even get in here, Chaz?” she asks in confusion as she rubs the sleep from her eyes.

“I had a copy of your key made the last time you accidentally left them at my place,” they say with a grin and a wink. “I’ll give you ten minutes to wash your face and change your shirt into something less… wrinkled.”

She looks down at her shirt, slightly offended. “What’s wrong with it?”

“No offense dear, but that’s not something even my ninety-year-old grandmother would be caught dead in.”

She sighs. “Yeah, alright, I’ll change.”

Twenty minutes later finds them walking through the double doors of their favorite bar, Meryton’s. It’s packed to the brim with college students, so Lizzie and Chaz have to elbow their way through the crowd to the bar, where they can see the telltale flash of blonde that signifies Jane Gardner’s presence.

“Jane!” Lizzie calls out as they get closer, waving her arm wildly above her head. “We’re here!”

Jane startles and looks over at them, a bright smile stretching her face. “Lizzie, Chaz! Where were you, I’ve been waiting for like half an hour!”

“Someone,” Chaz says, jabbing their thumb in Lizzie’s direction, “decided taking a nap beforehand would be a good idea.”

“Listen, I was up all night reading about the Flagstaff War of 1845. Excuse me if I’m a little tired.” She rolls her eyes as she swipes Jane’s drink for a sip.

“Lizzie,” Jane scolds before taking the drink back, “you can’t expect us to feel sorry for you when I know for a fact that wasn’t required reading.”

Lizzie flushes. “It was required by the fact that I have class with Darcy and he’s for sure going to bring it up tomorrow during class.”

“You don’t know that. Try giving him the benefit of the doubt once in awhile.” Jane sighs.

“That's.” Chaz seizes the seat next to her when the previous occupant gets up. “Now, be a dear and get us drinks.”

“You can’t get them?” Jane asks, even though she’s already leaning forward.

Lizzie smiles and presses a kiss to her temple. “No one gives us second glances when we’re with you, Janie.”

Jane protests but it’s nothing less than the truth. Throughout the hour and a half they’re there for, no less than 8 different men and 3 women try to approach her. Lizzie and Chaz, however, are left basically on their own, which is fine by them. Chaz has a long-distance relationship with a girl they met online through a Star Trek appreciation fansite, and Lizzie is fine being single. The last boyfriend she had, if he could be called that, ended in a roaring ball of flames, literally, when he set her lab assignment on fire. And, anyway, if she’s going to take over the National Parks Service before she’s 40, she doesn’t have time for romance.

At least, that’s what she’ll use as an excuse if she’s asked out by G.W. again, when the three of them bump into him on their way out of the bar.

“Ladies, and Chaz,” he waggles his eyebrows comically, “what’re you doing here?”

“Getting a drink,” Chaz snaps, “not that it’s any of your business.”

“My bad.” He holds his hands up. “Just trying to make conversation. Lizzie, how’re your classes?”

“Fine, G.W.” She sighs, always a little more willing than Chaz to give him the time of day. “We’re heading off now, though. I have to finish my reading for class tonight.”

“Good luck!” He gives her a wink as they move away from him.

“Ugh, what a slimy bastard,” Chaz says, wrinkling their nose. “I can’t believe you’re civil to him, Liz.”

She can feel the tips of her ears go pink. “What? He may be a dick but he is cute.”

“You could do so much better, dear.” Chaz throws an arm around her shoulders. “And what’s this about reading for class tomorrow? I thought you had it done.”

Jane laughs and swings her arm around Lizzie’s waist. “Oh, she finished the required reading. This is strictly extracurricular. Like the Flagstaff War.”

Chaz rolls their eyes. “I would say I can’t believe you but I totally can.”

“Shut up.” Lizzie’s face flushes, matching her ears. “Let me live.”

Chaz and Jane laugh most of the way home, and Lizzie can’t help but join in.

“- and that’s why Cutlar was in the wrong!” Lizzie is trying her best to not yell, but she doesn’t know if she’s succeeding. Judging by the look on DeBourgh’s face, she would say she wasn’t.

“Oh, and he’s supposed to just let this pig eat all of his potatoes?” Darcy scoffs.

“Like, I’m supposed to believe that the pig would eat all his goddamn potatoes,” Lizzie says hotly.

“Enough!” Professor DeBourgh stands up. “Bennet, out!”

Lizzie makes sure to slam the door behind her on the way out. “Goddamn favoritism.”

“What did you get kicked out for now?” an exasperated voice sounds behind her.

She turns and grins sheepishly. “Mary! I didn’t know you had class in the Brighton Wing.”

Mary sighs deeply. “I don’t. I’m just taking a shortcut to King Library. You’re evading the question, by the way.”

“I got into another argument with Darcy.”

Mary rolls her eyes. “Of course you did. What about?”

“Uh,” Lizzie winces, “the Pig War of 1859.”

If Mary rolled her eyes any harder, they’d probably fall out. “Jesus Christ. I’m leaving.”

“Love you, too, Mary!” Lizzie waves after the girl’s retreating back.

Once she’s out of sight, however, Lizzie sighs and slumps against the wall, waiting for class to let out so she can talk to DeBourgh about not losing participation points.

Soon enough, the door opens and students start flooding the hallway, a few of them sending her smirks. She rolls her eyes and moves to step into the classroom when no one but Darcy himself blocks her way. “Lizzie.”

“Darcy.” She tries to be as polite as she can, but she falls short. “If you don’t mind, I need to see DeBourgh.”

“Of course.” He’s still smirking as he steps out of the doorway. “After you.”

Lizzie feels like if she were in a cartoon, there would be steam coming out of her ears. “Thanks,” she says shortly.

“Bennet,” DeBourgh says cooly. “Here to disrupt my day even further?”

“No, Professor.” She sighs. “I was just wondering if we could talk about my participation grade.”

“And how you’re currently at five out of ten points?”

Lizzie tries very hard not to snap. “And how many points does Darcy have?”

“I’m afraid that’s none of your business. If you’re really serious about raising your grade, you need to stop antagonizing Darcy.” She gathers her papers and looks at Lizzie with a condescending look. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to prepare for my next class.”

“Me? Antagonize him?” Lizzie insists. “What about when he antagonizes me? Which is all the time!”

DeBourgh rolls her eyes. “This is not up for discussion, Bennet. I’ll see you next week.”

Lizzie leaves feeling like she wants to strangle someone. She would prefer to strangle Darcy, but DeBourgh would be a fine substitute. Since she doesn’t have any more classes for the rest of the day, she heads back to Longbourn, looking forward to taking a nap.

As she enters the building, Mrs. B stops her. “Lizzie dear, how are you today?”

Lizzie manages a smile. “Oh, you know, just tired from school.”

“Well, you’re almost done, aren’t you dear?” Mrs. B gives her a smile. “Oh, I thought you might like to know, a George stopped by earlier looking for you. Is he your boyfriend?”

“Oh, God no.” Lizzie wrinkles her nose. G.W. may be cute, but his dudebro attitude is a definite turn-off for her. “But thanks for letting me know. See you later, Mrs. B.”

“Have a good day, dear!”

Lizzie takes the stairs slowly, a headache beginning to form. She sighs and rubs at her temples as she reaches her door, quickly flipping the lock and making a bee-line for her bed. She falls face first onto it and closes her eyes, silently plotting Darcy’s demise.

“Lizzie?” Jane pokes her head into her room. “You okay?”

“Yeah, fine, if you don’t count Darcy ruining my life.”

Jane sighs. “You know, I’m sure if you just gave him a chance he might surprise you. He is Charlie’s best friend after all.”

“Charlie could make friends with a wild bear,” Lizzie grumbles. “He’s too damn nice.”

“That doesn’t mean his friends aren’t good people,” Jane protests. “Come on, you can come with us to Meryton’s.”

Lizzie rolls over on her back with a snort. “And third-wheel your date? No thanks.”

“Do you want me to cancel?” Jane asks softly. “We can just pig out on ice cream and binge-watch Sense8.”

Feeling guilty, Lizzie offers a smile and sits up. “No, I’ll be fine, I promise. Go and have fun. I’ll see if I can go bother Chaz if they’re not too busy.”

“If you’re sure,” Jane says dubiously.

“Of course I am.” Lizzie waves her off. “Now, go have fun, and don’t you dare come back before 11.”

“AM or PM?”

“Either. I’m not picky.”

With a roll of her eyes Jane does leave, which lets Lizzie flop down on her bed again with a groan. The truth is, she knows Chaz is on a Skype date with their girlfriend, and is more interested in spending time pouring over her senior thesis, which is a comprehensive clean-up plan for Lake Michigan and the Chicago River.

An hour into her review, she’s interrupted by a thumping on the door. She curses as she stands up too quickly, her back aching with the sudden movement. “Jane, did you lose your keys again? Because, honestly two times in the past month is way -”

“Lizzie!” Lydia pushes past her once the door is open, Kat following closely behind. “We’ve come to raid your closet.”

“Why, yes, Lydia, come right on in,” Lizzie says sarcastically, shutting the door behind them. “Help yourselves, it’s not like you routinely ruin my clothes.”

Lydia rolls her eyes as she and Kat dig through her closet, occasionally throwing a piece of clothing onto the bed. “It’s a 90’s throwback party and you’re the only person we know who still has unironic flannel shirts.”

“Glad to help, as always,” Lizzie grumbles, turning back to her desk. “Just don’t rip them up like you did to my jacket last time.”

“We were making improvements,” Kat insists, holding up a white tank top that’s seen better days. “It’s not our fault you wouldn’t know fashion if it bit you on the nose.”

Lydia turns to Lizzie suddenly, holding up a green and blue flannel shirt she loves. “Hey, Liz, you should come with!”

Lizzie laughs. “I don’t think so, you two. I’m supposed to be done editing my thesis this week and I’ve still got the last three chapters to go over.”

“That’s a lame excuse, Elizabeth Bennet, and you know it.” Lydia throws a couple of pieces of clothing at her. “Get dressed. We’re leaving in twenty.”

Lizzie’s still not quite sure how she ends up at the party, and can only chalk it up to some sort of witchcraft, because she really wants to be literally anywhere else. Thankfully, Lydia and Kat seem to forget she exists the minute they enter the house, and Lizzie is seriously considering calling a Lyft from her corner in one of the quieter rooms. This consideration is promoted even further when she sees Caroline Bingley, Charlie’s sister, flipping her hair across the room.

There’s nothing wrong with hair flipping in Lizzie’s opinion, but everything Caroline does annoys Lizzie to no extent ever since she tried to break up Jane and Charlie over Thanksgiving break. It also doesn’t help that she’s a theater major, and uses every chance she gets to talk about that one time she was an extra in an off-Broadway play that Lizzie knows for a fact had to close a month early because no one was watching it.

“Hey, I’m sorry, but my phone has died, can I look at yours?” A girl that looks like she’s probably a freshman slides up next to her, stopping her from going down the spiral of hate she has towards Caroline. “I promised my brother I’d be back at midnight.”

Lizzie flashes her phone at the girl. “It’s 11:15.”

“Cool, thanks! My name is G.G.”

Over the din of the party, Lizzie thinks she can hear a British accent, but isn’t too entirely sure. “Lizzie.”

G.G. holds out her hand for a shake. “Pleasure. No offence, but this doesn’t really look like your kind of scene.”

Lizzie laughs. “Oh, it’s not. My neighbors dragged me out here. They’re worried I’m going to die old and alone. What about you?”

“Bum date.” G.G. jerks her thumb over her shoulder, gesturing to the room where some people have started grinding on each other. “You go to Hetford?”

“Yeah, I’m an Adventure Recreation major.” She gives G.G. a once over. “Let me guess, Music major?”

G.G. grins. “I’m declaring it at the end of the month. How’d you tell?”

“Your shirt.” Lizzie gestures to the words Drummers do it with rhythm sprawled across her chest.

The other girl laughs. “Gag gift from a friend back in England. My brother hates it.”

“Does he go to Hertford, too?”

“Yeah, he’s a Politics major and super boring.” G.G. shrugs. “I love him anyway. Which reminds me, I better get going.”

“Do you have a ride?” Lizzie asks. “I was about to get a Lyft.”

“Oh, cool! Would you mind sharing one?” She wrinkles her nose. “My ride was my date.”

As they make their way out of the house, they’re stopped by no one other than G.W. “Hey, G.G. I was wondering where you’d gone!”

“I’m leaving, George! Don’t bother calling.” G.G. rolls her eyes and walks away.

“What about you, Liz? Can I interest you in some dancing?” He waggles his eyebrows comically.

Lizzie bursts out laughing. “You don’t even go here!”

“Don’t hate the player, hate the game!” he shouts after her, but she’s able to ignore it as she makes her way to where G.G. is keeping an eye out for their driver.

“How’d you meet G.W.?” Lizzie’s glad she doesn’t have to shout anymore, her voice hoarse.

“He’s always sniffing around the Fitz Auditorium. I thought he was harmless enough when he asked me out, but he’s actually a giant fuckboy.”

Lizzie snorts. “Sounds about right.”

With an exchange of numbers and a promise to hang out, the Lyft drops G.G. off at the Netherfield Park complex, which sounds vaguely familiar to Lizzie, but she’s not quite able to place it.

When she gets back to Longbourne, Mrs. B is lurking by the door again. “Hello, dear! Have a nice time?”

“Not really. Parties aren’t exactly my thing.”

Mrs. B makes a disappointed noise. “But parties are the best place to meet potential husbands!”

Lizzie chokes on nothing. “Good thing I’m not looking for one.”

Her landlady shakes her head. “I’m sure you’ll be changing your tune soon enough, dear. No one wants to be alone forever.”

“We’ll see about that,” Lizzie grumbles, rushing up the stairs to her apartment to avoid further conversation.

When she gets back, Chaz is idly flipping through one of her many manuals on National Parks Rules and Regulations. “Sup girl?”

“I thought you had a Skype date.” Lizzie sighs, dumping her purse by the door. “Is Jane back yet?”

“Anne had to get up early so we cut it short. As for Jane, nope.”

“Good.” Lizzie stretches out on the couch next to her best friend. “I hope she’s having a good time.”

Chaz snorts. “More like getting laid.”

“Yeah, well, I’m trying to be polite.”

Chaz grins. “And where’s the fun in that?”

Lizzie turns on the TV and starts flipping through Netflix. “So, Stranger Things?”

“You know it.”

“Ugh.” Mary flops down across the table where Lizzie is trying to finish an essay.

“Bad day?” Lizzie asks, looking up.

“Just ran into Collins, who tried to explain to me the flaws behind the Dewey decimal system.” Mary scoffs and opens her own book. “It’s not like I’m a Library Sciences major or anything.”

Lizzie snorts. “Well, if mansplaining was a sport he’d have a gold medal.”

“True.”

They pass an hour that way, both of them working through their homework. Lizzie is snapped out of her reverie, however, by the sound of her phone vibrating against the table, the ID reading G.G.. “Whoops.”

Mary presses her lips together. “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that. It’s not like phones should be shut off in the library, or anything.”

Lizzie rolls her eyes before opening up the text. Wanna grab coffee? I’ve got 30 before I have to meet up w/ my brother.

She taps out an affirmative before gathering up her stuff. “I gotta go. Later, Mary. May the rest of your day be blessed with an absence of Collins.”

“Thanks,” the other girl says dryly. “Have fun.”

Lizzie manages to make it to the coffee shop G.G. named in ten minutes, looking around before seeing the flash of purple-streaked hair. “Hey!”

G.G. looks up with a bright smile. “Lizzie!”

After ordering, Lizzie sits down across from G.G. “So, what’s up?”

“I think we have the ability to become great friends, so I thought I’d make the first move.” G.G. gestures to Lizzie. “So, tell me about yourself.”

Lizzie laughs before launching into her likes and dislikes, her plans for the future, and her experience at the university. G.G. reciprocates, and before she knows it, there’s a polite throat clearing next to her.

Startled, Lizzie looks up. “Darcy.”

“Elizabeth.” He smiles. “I see you’ve met my sister.”

Lizzie can’t help but gape at G.G., who beams. “Oh, you two know each other?”

“Elizabeth is in my Politics 720 class.”

G.G.’s smile turns into a smirk. “Ah, okay. This is the girl you’re always talking about? I guess it’s a small world.”

Darcy coughs. “G.G.”

Lizzie’s head is spinning. “Um, I have to go. I’ll just…” she trails off, before booking it out of the coffee shop.

She manages to almost run straight into Jane a block away, who’s holding hands with Charlie, and generally looking very happy. “Lizzie!”

“Jane!” Lizzie bends over, trying to catch her breath.

“Are you okay?” Charlie asks with concern.

Lizzie waves him off. “Yeah, fine. Just running away from my problems.”

“Well, we were just about to grab some coffee. Want to come with?”

“No, no, that’s okay.” Lizzie shakes her head. “I’ve got some reading to do.”

Jane looks at her dubiously. “If you’re sure.”

“Yup! Have fun!” Lizzie waves them off, waiting until they’re out of sight before she starts banging her head against the brick wall next to her. It would be just her luck to befriend Darcy’s sister.

After she feels like she’s punished herself enough, she heads to Chaz’s apartment so they can knock some sense into her.

Once there, she knocks on the door obnoxiously until Chaz throws it open with a scowl. “You know you can just knock once and I’ll answer, right?”

“I’m in a mood.” Lizzie sighs as she throws herself on the couch. “I accidentally made friends with Darcy’s sister.”

There’s a beat of silence before Chaz bursts into laughter. “Oh my God, you would.”

Lizzie scowls at the ceiling. “I came over for your support, not for your laughter.”

Chaz grins as they crash on the couch next to her. “Oh, come on, you’ve got to admit it’s funny. And who knows? Maybe this way you’ll get over your stupid rivalry.”

“It’s not stupid,” she says petulantly. “And, anyway, he started it.”

They roll their eyes. “You’re such a baby. Would it make you feel better if we went to Meryton’s?”

She does perk up at that. “I’m always up for a little day drinking.”

“And that’s why we’re best friends.”

Meryton’s has a few people in it, but it’s certainly not as crowded as it will be in three hours. Lizzie orders a round for them, bringing the two beers back to their table. It’s nice to just relax and drink with her best friend after what can only be called a stressful week.

Jane shows up about an hour later with a smile on her face. “Mind if I join?”

“No, of course not! In fact, the more the merrier!” Lizzie grins, a little tipsy as she’s on her fourth beer. “In fact…” She sends out a mass text to Lydia, Kitty, and Mary, and soon the six of them are gathered around the table, laughing and catching up with one another.

Lizzie recognizes that they all tend to get on one another’s nerves occasionally, but they’re basically family at this point, and it’s always nice to spend time with her family.

She’s been friends with G.G. for a good four months when the younger girl suggests Lizzie accompany her and her brother to England for spring break. Lizzie is a little weirded out, especially because Darcy has actually started making an effort to be kinder and less antagonistic. It helps they no longer have a class together (she got a B in the class and it irks her to no end that she’s pretty sure Darcy got an A), and she’s sure G.G. has definitely told him to cool it, or however British people would phrase it.

Still, it’s weird to think Lizzie would be spending a whole week with the Darcy siblings, especially in a foreign country. She doesn’t really feel like she can say no, however, and that fact is further cemented by G.G. promising to take her to Pemberly Park, which is, in her not so humble opinion, the best public park in the entire world.

So, it’s with trepidation that she rises at 5 in the morning to meet the Darcy siblings at the closest airport. Jane kisses her on both cheeks. “Cheer up, Lizzie. You’ll have so much fun!”

“That’s what you think,” Lizzie says darkly, before taking her luggage out to the taxi that’s waiting outside.

The ride is thankfully short, but not short enough that Lizzie doesn’t doze off in the backseat of the cab, disoriented when she’s woken up by the cab driver announcing, “We’re here!”

After paying and tipping him, and making her way through security and check-in, she finds her gate with relative ease. G.G. and Darcy are already there, of course, Darcy’s knee bouncing uncharacteristically.

G.G. sees her first and waves enthusiastically. “Hey, Liz! You made it!”

“Yeah, of course,” Lizzie accepts her hug easily, “why, did you not think I was going to?”

“Oh, it wasn’t me that thought that.” G.G. sends a sly smirk to her brother, whose ears turn pink.

Lizzie rolls her eyes. “Sorry for bursting your bubble, Darcy.”

“No, that wasn’t -” Darcy sighs. “I’ll go get us coffee.”

With a roll of her eyes, Lizzie flops down next to the younger girl. “So, we’ve got about an hour before we can board. Want to watch an episode of the I.T. Crowd?”

“Ooh, that’s our favorite show!” G.G. says excitedly, pulling out her laptop and connecting it to the airport wifi. “You want to start from the beginning or skip to the parts with Noel Fielding?”

Lizzie snorts. “I should’ve guessed he was your favorite.”

G.G. waggles her eyebrows comically. “What can I say? I have a weakness for Camden goths.”

They settle into watching the show, and soon enough Darcy is joining them. He sits on the other side of G.G., but still has to lean in close to see the screen. It’s probably the closest Lizzie has ever been to him, and it makes her a little uncomfortable. Especially because he seems to be steadfastly ignoring her, keeping his eyes on the screen. It doesn’t help that they laugh at all the same parts.

Soon enough they’re on their flight, and Lizzie takes the opportunity to catch up on some well deserved rest. She drifts off, her head lolling on G.G.’s shoulder. It’s not exactly easy to fall asleep on an airplane, so there are times where she feels like she’s half-awake and half-asleep. During one of these times, when they’re two hours out of landing, she hears G.G. harshly whispering to her brother.

“- just act like a normal human being, maybe you wouldn’t be in this predicament,” G.G. scoffs.

“Oh, like that’s so easy,” Darcy retorts. “Especially when she’s so antagonistic.”

“And whose fault is that, William?” G.G. sighs. “I’m just letting you know, if you really, truly want to be friends with her, you might want to try actually being nice.”

Lizzie gets the sinking feeling this is a conversation she should definitely not be eavesdropping on, so she puts all her efforts into actually falling back asleep. It’s difficult, considering she’s pretty sure the Darcy siblings are talking about her.

It’s so hard, in fact, that she soon gives up, faking waking up with a stretch and a yawn. “What time is it?”

“11:45. We should be there around 1,” Darcy offers.

Lizzie tries to stretch, feeling a little cramped even though they sprung for business class seats. “Good. I can’t wait to be able to walk around.”

“We can take you to our favorite pub before we head home,” G.G. says with a grin, “so you can have proper fish & chips.”

“I’m at your mercy,” Lizzie jokes.

“And then tomorrow we can do all the touristy things, like the Eye and the Palace, maybe the Tower if you’re not too tired,” G.G. continues. “There’s so much to do in so little time. I wish we were staying longer than five days.”

Lizzie grins at her friend’s enthusiasm. “And what about Pemberly?”

Darcy inhales sharply. “What?”

“Pemberly? The park?” Lizzie looks at him strangely. “Please tell me you’ve heard of it.”

“Of course I’ve heard about it, our great-grandfather donated it to the city in his will.”

Lizzie gapes at him before turning to G.G., who has a sheepish grin on her face. “Uh, I plead the, um, is it the fifth?”

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me! It’s the perfect example of Victorian values in a park.” Lizzie groans.

G.G. pats her hand. “Well, on the bright side, we’re going on the Thursday before we leave. I wanted to save the best for last.”

“I had no idea you cared that much about the park.” Darcy looks at her strangely.

“Of course I care about that park! I care about all parks, all the time.”

G.G. laughs. “You’re actually Leslie Knope, aren’t you?”

Lizzie smiles despite herself, relaxing back into her seat. “This might surprise you, but that’s not the first time I’ve heard that.”

For the rest of the flight, G.G. and Lizzie flip through the guidebook Lizzie bought, G.G. pointing out things she thinks they should do and things that are overrated. Lizzie makes mental notes, but it’s hard to concentrate when it feels like everytime she looks up, Darcy has just looked away.

Once they land, Lizzie has a little trouble orienting herself to the different country, repeating to herself over and over that the cars are on the right side of the road, and she’s not going to die a fiery death. G.G. seems to notice and is endlessly amused by it. Darcy, on the other hand, looks a little worried. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” she snaps, before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. She should probably try and get along with him for G.G.’s sake. “Sorry. I’m just a little disoriented.”

“We can go straight to our home, if you’re not feeling well,” Darcy offers.”

Lizzie manages a smile. “I’m hungrier than I am tired.”

She pretends not to notice G.G. trying and failing to hide a smile.

“Oh my God.” Lizzie presses her nose against the glass, not caring about the spectacle. “It’s beautiful.”

“Isn’t it, though?” G.G. sighs as she looks out at London from their vantage point on the Eye. “Look, there’s where our home is. And we grew up over there.”

“And the palace.” Lizzie squints. “Can I see Pemberly from here?”

“It’s a bit further out,” Darcy supplies. “On the edge of the city.”

Lizzie looks at him and grins, surprising both Darcy and herself. She quickly tries to tone down her excitement. “I don’t know how you guys could ever leave.”

Darcy shrugs. “G.G. wanted to experience the States, so I followed her over.”

She frowns as she looks back out on the city skyline. “So, you changed schools for your sister? I don’t know anyone that would do that for me.” She elbows G.G. “How much did that annoy you?”

“Oh, so much,” G.G. jokes. “I can’t escape him.”

Lizzie looks back at Darcy, who has a sheepish grin on his face. “I worry.”

There’s something unfurling in her chest that feels a lot like the releasing of her grudge against him. Maybe she’s getting to meet and understand the real Darcy after all.The rest of the day is spent in a flurry of activity, G.G. dragging them across the city in an effort to fit as many things in their partial week as possible. Lizzie’s exhausted by the end of it, crashing the minute they return to the Darcy household. She has no idea how she’s going to keep up with G.G.’s youthful exuberance, but she’s damn well going to try.

When she finally wakes up, it takes her a minute to adjust to the darkness of her room. Squinting at the clock, she sees it’s roughly three in the morning. Her phone is ringing with a request for Facetime from Jane. Groaning, she rolls over and accepts it, reaching for the light.

“Lizzie? You there?” Jane’s face fills the screen, only to be pushed away by Chaz.

“Why is it so dark?” Chaz demands.

“Just give me a second, damn.” Lizzie finally manages to flip on the light switch. “There. How are you guys?”

“We were expecting you to call but you never did!” Chaz chastises. “What’ve you been up to? Getting laid?”

Lizzie chokes on nothing. “Jesus, no. I fell asleep last night the minute we got back. G.G. has like no chill when it comes to sightseeing.”

“So, what did you see? What’s it like to be alone with the Darcy siblings?”

Lizzie launches into her story, pausing at the appropriate parts to allow Jane and Chaz to ask questions. It’s four when she’s finally done, and she can feel her eyelids drooping. “So, satisfied with my answers?”

“Yeah, except one.” Chaz grins. “It seems like you’ve cooled it on the Darcy-hate. Anything special happen?” They waggle their eyebrows.

“Jesus Christ.” Lizzie tries to will her face to not flush, but she can feel it’s a losing battle. “Not anything you’re thinking, Chaz. Get your mind out the gutter.” She sighs, trying to find the words. “It’s just, seeing him outside of school. I think I understand him a little better now.”

Jane hums. “Well, that’s good. I knew he wasn’t friends with Charlie for nothing.”

Lizzie rolls her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, you were right, Jane, as per usual.”

“Lizzie, that’s not what I meant -”

“No, I know, Jane,” Lizzie reassures her. “I’m just tired. I’ll talk to you guys in a couple of days, okay?”

“Sounds good!” Chaz chirps. “Later, Liz.”

Jane blows a kiss and then disconnects, leaving Lizzie to drift off to sleep again.

Lizzie has had many dreams about Darcy over the eight months she’s known him. Many have featured her standing victorious over Darcy’s weeping body, or some variation of Lizzie beating Darcy down and proving her superiority. This dream is different, however, in that she and Darcy are doing nothing but starting at one another. Even in her dream it’s unsettling, the way Darcy’s looking at her.

She wakes up with a start, her alarm blaring right by her ear. She struggles with her covers before falling out of bed with a thump. “Goddamnit.”

“Lizzie, are you okay?” G.G. comes bursting into the room before taking in Lizzie’s disarrayed state. She laughs. “Have a hard time getting up?”

“You could say that,” Lizzie grumbles, finally managing to untangle herself from her blankets. “So, what’s on the agenda for today?”

“Shopping!” G.G. says cheerily. “I thought we should get it out of the way early, since all the museums won’t be so busy tomorrow and we’re going to Pemberly the day after.”

Lizzie gets up with a stretch. “Sounds good!”

Except it’s exhausting shopping with G.G., which Lizzie should’ve anticipated with the way the previous day had gone. G.G. wants to go into every store that looks remotely interesting, and all the music stores they pass, picking up new drumsticks and guitar picks she thinks look cool. She does also drag them into several bookstores, which Lizzie appreciates, since she can look at the nature sections.

“You really are passionate about parks, aren’t you?” Darcy muses at one such place, G.G. having run off to the biography sections, looking for a book on Keith Moon.

Lizzie side-eyes him. “I don’t know why I would lie about something like that.”

“Good point.” Darcy flushes. “I just don’t think I’ve met anyone so passionate about the parks system.”

“Well, someone’s got to be passionate about it,” Lizzie grumbles. “It’s a mess.”

“I actually don’t know that much about the States’ National Park’s system. Do you mind explaining it to me?”

It feels an awful lot like an olive branch, and so it’s with trepidation that Lizzie takes it. She carefully launches into a barebones explanation, before getting so caught up in her feelings that she finds herself gesticulating wildly and almost knocking over a bookshelf. “Shit.”

Darcy smiles and helps her straighten the shelf. “I understand why you would be passionate about something like that. It sounds like they need someone like you.”

“What, crazy and overzealous?” she jokes.

He seems to purposefully not meet her eyes. “No, intelligent and thoughtful.”

She blushes, determinedly looking away. She doesn’t quite know what to do with the compliment, so she changes the subject. “What about you? Why politics?”

“It’s the first step towards fully taking over my father’s lobbyist group.”

Her eyes widen. “You want to be a lobbyist?”

“Not the kind you’re thinking of,” he reassures her. “I want to advocate on behalf of people below the poverty line.”

“Oh.” Her head reels as she tries to reconcile this Darcy with the one she thought she knew for the past eight months. “That’s, um, noble.”

“I try,” he says, blushing.

She can’t help but find it endearing, and her heart goes oh no.

Thankfully, G.G. comes and insists they move on soon enough, and occupies enough of Lizzie’s time that she doesn’t have to think about how her feelings towards Darcy are changing rather rapidly.

All Lizzie can think about when she finally steps foot in Pemberly is that pictures really don’t do it justice. There’s a calm settling among the trees that she hasn’t experienced in a long time. A gentle breeze blows through the park, and Lizzie has to close her eyes so she doesn’t get overwhelmed.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” G.G. says, Lizzie hearing the smile in her voice.

She opens her eyes. “Yeah, it really is.”

They take their time strolling around the grounds, Lizzie occasionally pointing out features that she particularly loves, indulgent smiles on the Darcy siblings’ faces. G.G. slings her arm around Lizzie’s shoulders. “I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself, love.”

“Thank you, so much.” Lizzie leans her head against hers. “This is the best vacation I’ve ever taken.”

“Good!” G.G. releases her. “Now, let’s have a picnic, shall we?”

Lizzie grins as she unpacks the bag they brought, laying out the blanket the bought. Darcy manages to get the cork out of the bottle of wine, and G.G. serves them the food.

“This is a perfect day, isn’t it?” Lizzie asks between bites of her sandwich. “Like, I don’t think my life can get any better than this. I peaked at the young age of 22.”

Darcy snorts. “I doubt that very much.”

G.G. elbows her. “Yeah, Liz, you’re going to take over the world, remember?”

“True,” Lizzie sighs, “but it certainly won’t be peaceful like this.”

G.G. hums. “Well, you’ll just have to come back!”

“Any time you want,” Darcy adds quietly. “We’d always love to have you.”

Lizzie almost chokes on her food, but manages to keep a straight face. “I appreciate that, Darcy. Thanks.”

He smiles. “Anytime.”

G.G. smirks while Lizzie pretends not to see.

Lizzie really doesn’t want to leave, but she recognizes that she has to go back and finish her degree, and focus on getting her foot in the door so she can make her way up the ranks of the National Parks Service.

The plane ride is uneventful, and Lizzie says a quick goodbye to the Darcy siblings before making her way back to her apartment, looking forward to crashing in her own bed. She opens the door, however, to a shout of “Welcome back!”

Lizzie jumps a good six inches in the air, clutching her heart as she takes in the group of people gathered. “Jesus Christ you guys. You almost gave me a heart attack.”

Chaz snorts, gathering her into a hug. “Well, damn. That was the plan.”

Lizzie laughs, squeezing them. “Yeah, yeah, I missed you, too.”

“So, how was the trip?” Jane asks, dragging Lizzie into her arms.

“Yeah, Lizzie, what’d you get?” Lydia demands. “Did you get me a present?”

Lizzie rolls her eyes. “I got everyone something, don’t worry.”

Lydia and Kat cheer while Mary hugs her next. “I didn’t need anything, Lizzie.”

“I know, but I wanted to.” Lizzie smacks a kiss to the side of her head.

“Were you able to visit Darbyshire U?” Charlie hands Lizzie a drink. “That’s where Will and I transferred from.”

“Oh, I didn’t know that.” Lizzie gulps the drink down quickly. “There wasn’t really any time. We stayed in London.”

“You have to tell us everything,” Chaz demands, pushing her down onto the couch. “Come on, spill.”

With a deep sigh Lizzie launches into what she’s been doing for the last few days, earning rapt attention from Lydia and Kat, who are eager to know what shops she visited. When she mentions she spent a lot of time in bookstores, Mary leans forward excitedly and starts asking about what they looked like. Chaz and Jane, of course, look on in amusement while Charlie adds tidbits about what his home city is like.

Once everyone but Chaz and Jane have left, Lizzie falls over sideways on the couch in exhaustion. Jane kneels by her, stroking her hair. “Poor Lizzie. You must be exhausted.”

“Yeah.” Lizzie yawns. “It was a whirlwind adventure.”

“And how was Pemberly?” Chaz smirks. “Make you realize you’re in love with Darcy yet?”

Lizzie shoots up. “What the shit, Chaz.”

“You think it’s normal to stay up God knows how late researching idiotic wars just so you can argue with Darcy?” Chaz retorts. “Come on, Liz.”

Lizzie groans, falling back down. “I don’t like this.”

“Well, the sooner you get over your fears, the sooner you can make out with him.” Chaz pats her head.

Jane sighs. “Oh, let her rest, Chaz. She’s just been on an eight hour flight.”

“Fine.” Chaz gathers their things. “I’ll be over for dinner tomorrow, right?”

Lizzie waves without looking up. “Of course.”

“Love you, dears!” Chaz calls out as they shut the door behind them.

“Come on, Lizzie. Let’s get you to bed.” Jane helps her up off the couch and into her room.

“Thanks, Janie.” Lizzie’s eyelids droop. “Love you.”

“Love you, too, dear.” Jane presses a kiss to her head. “Sleep well.”

And she does. Her sleep is dreamless and restful, two things she doesn’t get very often. When she does wake up, she’s disoriented, thrown off by the darkness outside. With a groan, she sits up and rubs the sleep out of her eyes, before heading into the kitchen. By the clock on the oven, she can see it’s four in the morning.

She makes some tea for herself before heading back to her room, checking her phone as she goes. What she sees makes her almost drop her mug.

From an unknown number, she’s received almost an essay. Hi Elizabeth, it reads, it’s Will Darcy. I got your number from G.G. I hope you don’t mind. I wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed our trip to London together, and was happy to see my sister so happy. She doesn’t have many friends, and I know you’re important to her. You’re also important to me, even if it doesn’t sound like it. I’ve been told by multiple people that it was perhaps my fault we started off on the wrong foot, and I would very much like to correct that. If you would do me the honor of having coffee with me, I would be delighted. If not, I understand, and won’t bother you again.

Lizzie, who is an adult and in control of her emotions of course, throws her phone across the room and gulps down her tea. The thump of it hitting the wall must wake Jane, who bursts into her room, hair in disarray. “Lizzie? What’s the matter? Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Lizzie clears her throat, “yeah, I’m okay. Sorry for waking you up. Go back to sleep.”

Jane squints at her. “You look weird. What’s the matter?”

Lizzie clears her throat again. “Darcy texted me.”

Jane looks as confused as she feels. “What about?”

“He wants to get coffee.”

“Oh.” It takes a minute to sink in, but when it does, Jane’s eyes grow comically large. “Oh.”

Lizzie groans and throws herself on her bed, burying her face in her pillows. “What do I do?”

Jane sighs and sits down next to her. “Honestly, Lizzie, I can’t tell you. I don’t know.”

Lizzie looks up at her. “Yeah, me either.”

“I wonder what Chaz would say.”

Lizzie rolls her eyes, trying to imitate her best friend’s voice. “Holy shit, Liz, why are you hesitating he is exactly your type I can’t believe you.”

Jane laughs. “Yeah, probably.” She brushes Lizzie’s hair away from her face. “Why don’t you sleep on it? You don’t have to respond right now.”

“You’re right.” Lizzie yawns, closing her eyes. “As per usual.”

“Go to sleep, Lizzie.” Jane presses a kiss to her hair. “We can talk about it more in the morning.”

Jane doesn’t have to tell her twice, and soon she’s asleep once again. This time, however, she’s haunted by dreams of Darcy smiling at her. She misses the dreams she had about standing victorious over his crying body, but she knows she can’t have what she wants all the time.

When she wakes up, the first thing she checks is her phone, which is still in the corner of the room she threw it into. There are no new texts, which she is simultaneously happy and disappointed about. She enters the kitchen, intent on pouring herself a big cup of coffee, and also maybe a glass of wine.

“Good morning, starshine. The earth says hello.” Chaz grins up at her from their spot at the table. “I heard someone got texted last night.”

Lizzie sighs and gives Jane a look. Jane raises her hands. “I thought it would help to talk to Chaz.”

“Yeah.” Lizzie sits down at the table and lets her head thump against the table. “So, what do you think, Chaz? Should I fake my death and move to a non-extradition country?”

Chaz snorts. “Let me see your phone.”

Lizzie slides it across the table, Chaz unlocking it without having to ask the passcode. They hum as they read the message, brow furrowing. Lizzie sighs. “Let me guess, you think I should get coffee with him?”

“I mean, yeah, but if you’re really uncomfortable, Liz, you shouldn’t go.”

Lizzie blinks in surprise. “What?”

Chaz sighs and rolls their eyes. “I know I give you a lot of shit but this is kind of a big deal. So I’m trying to be serious here.”

“Thanks.” Lizzie leans back in her chair. “I mean, what’s the harm, right? I’m not going to be a dick to G.G. if things go south, but if they go well,” she pauses, “well, he’s not asking me to marry him.”

“True.”

Lizzie nods decisively. “Alright, hand me the phone.”

Today at 2? she types out.

Almost instantly, she receives a reply. Perfect.

The rest of the day she tries really hard not to psych herself out, but she feels like she’s failing the closer she gets to two. It gets too much to bear, so she heads over half an hour early, feeling useless sitting around her apartment.

On the way to the coffee shop they’ve decided to meet, she happens to run into Caroline, which is probably the worst omen she could imagine. Groaning internally, she tries to be polite. “Hi, Caroline.”

“Elizabeth,” she says coldly. “And where are you off to?”

Instead of snapping, Lizzie takes a deep breath. “Coffee with a friend. You?”

With a toss of her hair, Caroline answers, “I’m going to see if William Darcy wants to go on a date with me.”

Lizzie manages to not burst out laughing. “Oh yeah? How’s that going?”

“Well, he’s turned me down the last two times I’ve tried, citing his friendship with Charles as the reason, but I just spoke with Charles, and he said he was fine with it if William agrees.”

“Good luck,” Lizzie says, miraculously managing to hide a smile.

Caroline smirks. “Oh, I don’t need luck. I suppose I’ll see you around.”

“Right. See you.”

In a significantly better mood, Lizzie makes her way to the coffee shop. When she gets there, she’s only a little surprised that Darcy is already waiting for her at a booth. She shoots him a shy smile before ordering a black coffee. Once she’s been served, she slides into the booth across from him.

“Thanks for doing this,” he says earnestly. “I know you don’t like me much -”

“Darcy,” she closes her eyes and corrects herself, “Will. During our trip to London, I think I understood you better. I like you just fine.”

Something like hope shines in his eyes. “I like you just fine, too.”

Soon, they’re talking for hours, laughing and sharing stories. Lizzie is pleasantly surprised at how well they manage to get along. She almost doesn’t want the coffee date to end.

Eventually, the conversation turns to Charlie, and it gives Lizzie to ask about Caroline. “So, I ran into Caroline on the way here.”

Darcy groans. “I hope you didn’t tell her you were meeting me here, did you?”

“No, I’m not an idiot.” Lizzie laughs. “She told me she was looking for you, though. She wants to ask you out.”

“She’s already asked me out twice!” Darcy scrubs a hand over his face. “I don’t know how many more times I need to turn her down before she gets the picture.”

“She’s probably going to keep asking you until you’re married to someone, honestly.” Lizzie grins. “Poor Darcy. You’re such an eligible bachelor.”

He blanches. “Oh God, I hope not. I’m so awkward.”

“You’re doing just fine right now,” she points out.

“You’re easy to be around,” he admits quietly.

She ducks her head. “Yeah, surprisingly you are, too.”

Finally, at about six, they say goodnight and plan to get dinner in a couple of days. Lizzie is only a little disappointed that he doesn’t try to kiss her.

When she gets home, she’s all alone, and decides to try and work on her thesis.

“OH MY GOD ELIZABETH BENNET DID YOU OR DID YOU NOT GO ON A DATE WITH MY BROTHER?” G.G. bursts through the door of her apartment, panting heavily.

“How did you get in?” Lizzie can tell she’s just come from practice, a pair of drumsticks poking out of her jacket pocket. “I don’t know if I would call it a date -”

“What’s all the commotion, dear?” Mrs. B pokes her head through the still open door. “Something about a date?”

“I think you misunderstood, Mrs. B!” Lizzie manages to shut the door slowly. “No dates here!” Turning she glares at G.G. “Now my landlady is going to be creeping around trying to snoop on your brother.”

“Ha!” G.G. points at Lizzie. “So you did go on a date with Will. I knew it!”

Lizzie winces. “It was just coffee, G.G. It’s not like he proposed marriage or anything. But seriously, how did you get in?”

“Picked the lock.” She holds up her tools. “Back to the important part. You have another date set up, though, right?”

“Yeah,” Lizzie sighs, “yeah, I do.”

“I’m so excited! He’s liked you for so long.”

“I don’t know about that,” Lizzie says. “We were huge dicks to one another in class.”

“Yeah, because Will is a baby who doesn’t know how to act properly around people he likes.” G.G. rolls her eyes. “Good thing I managed to talk some sense into him.” She grins. “So, where are you going on your second date.”

“Just to that burger joint on 5th. It’s not that big of a deal.”

“Let me have this, Lizzie.” G.G. sighs and throws herself on the couch. “Just this once.”

“The things I do for you,” Lizzie jokes. “Now, teach me how to pick locks.”

"My pleasure. Just don't tell Will."

Lizzie holds up her hand with mock solemnity. "Scout's honor."

The last of the school year passes by quickly, the two months coming and going in the blink of an eye. Lizzie is frustrated both by the amount of run-ins she’s had with both Collins, G.W., and Caroline, who seem to have collectively made it their goal in life to annoy her as much as possible before she never has to see any of them.

She’s also annoyed that Darcy has made no move to kiss her even though they’ve consistently been going out on dates for the last two months.

On one particularly bad day, she slams her books down in front of Darcy where he’s studying at the coffee shop.

He looks up, surprised. “Hi, Lizzie. How are you?”

“Annoyed.” Lizzie sits down with a huff. “Caroline insinuated there are only two genders in front of Chaz, Collins tried to mansplain why National Parks should be sold off to the corporate sectors, and G.W. tried to grope my ass. Again.”

“That sounds like a terrible day, I’m sorry.” He starts gathering up his things. “Want to go get those milkshakes you love so much from the diner?”

Some of the tension leaves her shoulders. “Yes, please.”

During the walk to the diner, Will asks her how her thesis is going, and the conversation carries them through the wait line at the diner and after they order. She frowns down at the tabletop, scratching at an old stain.

“Is there anything else bothering you?” he asks concernedly. “You still look troubled.”

She sighs, looking up. “We haven’t talked about what we’re doing after graduation. Are you going? Are you staying? I don’t know.”

“Lizzie,” he slides in next to her, “of course I’m staying. G.G. will be here, and so will you.”

“If I’m so important to you why haven’t you kissed me yet,” she grumbles, being petulant.

He blushes. “I didn’t know if you’d be, well, amenable to that.”

“Of course I’d be amenable why -” but she’s cut off by the first press of his lips against hers.

It’s quick, and he pulls back, eyes searching her face, before she grabs the front of his shirt and pulls him closer.

The kiss lasts longer than Lizzie had anticipated, given that they were in a very public place. However, Darcy’s lips are so soft and gentle, she just can’t help herself.

A clearing of a throat makes them spring apart, and the amused waitress sets down their milkshakes. “Might want to save it for home, hun.”

“Yeah, of course, sorry.” Lizzie flushes. “Won’t happen again.”

Darcy flushes, too, but still holds her hand the entire time they finish their milkshakes, so she counts it as a win.

“So, what’s next for the great Lizzie Bennet?” Chaz asks, sipping their beer slowly.

Lizzie laughs. “Well, I’ve got that job lined up, but you know we’re still only going to live like a block away. And you’re graduating, too!”

“Right, and so is Jane, and Charlie, and Will.” Lydia rolls her eyes. “Rub it in why don’t you.”

Lizzie reaches over the table to pinch her cheek. “Aw, poor baby. Don’t worry, you’ll be done soon enough, and then the existential terror of graduating will take hold of you and you’ll wish you were right back here.”

Kat rolls her eyes. “Yeah, sure.”

“I, for one, am not looking forward to graduation.” Mary delicately sips at the wine in front of her. “I’m going to get my Masters and a PhD just so I don’t have to face the real world yet.”

Lizzie clinks her beer bottle against Mary’s glass. “That’s the spirit.”

“But think of the student loans,” Chaz points out.

Mary blanches. “Oh, shit.”

The group laughs, and G.G. grins at everyone gathered around. “Well, I, for one, am proud of our graduated seniors. To our friends!” She raises a glass and everyone clinks their drinks together.

“We’ll do okay,” Charlie reassures everyone.

Jane smiles. “And we’ll still be here for you all, you know that, right?”

“Oh, Janie.” G.G. throws an arm over her shoulders and smacks a kiss to her cheek. “You couldn’t get rid of us if you tried.”

“Hear, hear.” Lizzie seconds.

Darcy grins down at her. “She is the reason you’re still alive, after all.”

“Hey, just because Jane does all the cooking doesn’t mean I can’t cook, alright?”

“Sure, Liz.” Chaz rolls their eyes. “I guess we’re just supposed to all forget about the Thanksgiving fiasco of 2015.”

“What happened in 2015?” Charlie asks, looking between the girls.

Jane and Lizzie look at each other, the former laughing and the latter blushing. Mary sighs. “Well, if you’re not going to tell the story, I might as well.”

As Mary launches into telling everyone about the time Lizzie almost burned Longbourne down to the ground, Lizzie leans against Darcy and sighs. He looks down at her. “Are you alright?”

She smiles up at him. “I’m more than alright. I’m really happy.”

“Me, too.” He presses a kiss to her hair. “More than I’ve been in a long time.”

“I’m glad.”

“Hey, Lizzie, are you paying attention?” Lydia demands. “This is a story about you, after all.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m paying attention to Mary embarrassing me.”

“Aww, we love you, Lizzie,” Kat reassures her.

Lizzie grins. “I love you guys, too. We’re a family right?”

“Cheers to that,” Charlie seconds, holding up his beer so everyone can clink their cups together again.

“We’ll be alright,” Jane says to Lizzie, squeezing her hand.

“Better than that, Janie,” Lizzie tells her. “We’ll be great.”

And she’s right.

[arwaaxxi]

Why me?

Summary- Having Daryl confess his feelings for you, was the only thing you ever wanted in this ruined world. But what happens when Negan shows up and everything changes.

[PART FOUR]

[Previous part]  [Next part]

Characters - Father!RickxReader. DarylxReader. NeganxReader.

Note- it’s going to be a series.

Warnings- Smut in future parts, maybe? Violence. Abuse.

Number of words - 2120

It’s been weeks or a month, I don’t really know. That stupid hideous song kept playing loudly all the damn time. It didn’t really bother me. Not the cold empty lonely room I was in. Not the loud same song that was kept of repeat.

When Rick and Lori gave me up to some girl to take care of me, She used to held parties in the house all the time Loud music was her thing I was homeschooled so I never had any friends either.

I used to stay in my room for days So I was used to the lonely part Of course the loud music I used to tolerate when I was a kid, was totally different from now.

That time I could yell at her to lower it or take my frustration out on something, but here I couldn’t. I had continuous migraine, but it was nothing I couldn’t handle. I was used to sleeping in the loud music so that also didn’t matter.

What mattered is, I never actually slept. My body would lay down and rest But my brain was always active.

I could feel everything happen around me, every single foot step pass by my door. Every single noise My body would take rest, but my brain wouldn’t.

And that wasn’t because of what happened to me or what I witness or how I grew up. It started when I killed the first human, back at the prison.

When the governor was going to kill us all. 15 humans, 160 walkers.

Under all the dead, those walkers were still humans, people with lives and back story, people who were once doctors, children’s, parents, lovers, and god knows the list goes on and on.

Since then, it’s just my body sleeping not my brain.

What was really bad was the food. I owned few pets so I know pets food when I smell it

Fucking Dwight I’m going to fucking kill him Keeping me alive was a mistake. A very big one.

Would it kill them to get me some cereals? Some human food? Probably. I know if I stayed any longer here, I would lose my sanity, I could act all tough, but deep down I knew I’m nothing. I’m just a scared little girl, who was abandoned by her parents. And this is why they kept me in this empty room, so that these kind of thoughts, kill me and break me, I was my own greatest weakness Negan was smart, he knew how to bend me It’s just that I won’t bend for him Not now Not ever

My door was yanked open, the light that rushed in made me blind, I could only see white “Get up!” Dwight said as he yanked me up by my arms He walked and I followed, he knew I couldn’t run, where would I go? We reached a room, he opened the door. It looked like a clinic I stepped in and there was a familiar face there Oh god That bitch Dwight’s wife I think. I will kill her too Just for the fun of seeing Dwight suffer

“Hi Dee” she said as she saw Dwight. ’D’ that’s what I used to call Daryl too Both of them will pay She stood up, glancing at me like she recognized me “Y/n!” She exclaimed “Don’t talk to her!” Dwight scowled and I rolled my eyes. What was I gonna do to her? Stab her with my sharp words? “Whatever they say, just do it!” She told me and I shot her a glare “I said don’t talk to her!” Dwight scowled again

The doctor said some trash, i dont know I wasn’t listening, I was fine, they were just annoyed that I didn’t pull my hair out yet. They knew me so little and I knew them so well Cold blooded killers That’s all they were We walked out of the room and suddenly I was shoved to a wall, a hit in the back of my leg twisted my leg, forcing me to kneel, but I wouldn’t. I tried to stand up again but Dwight’s bloody hand was pushing me downwards

I heard chuckling and looked up, there he was, Negan! I looked around everyone was on their knee “Dwighty boi!” Negan laughed and walked past us Some guy stood in front of me with a gun pointed at me and Dwight shoved me into a seat I could take out that guy easily, but he wasn’t my concern Dwight. Negan. Those two fuckers! Dwight pulled me up and took me through a door that led somewhere outside

There was fence, and a lot of walkers around it, and people dressed in grey with big orange mark on there chest. Dwight took Daryl’s bow and shot one walker, he snickered “I’m getting the hang of this thing!” He told me. Oh I will kill him slowly. He suddenly pulled me and shoved me towards the fence A gasp escaped my mouth, startled by the sudden movement “That’s you bitch, unless you are smart, your choice!” He said thoughtfully “You could be like them, or me!”

Shoved me back into my room, I fell to the floor glaring at him, I wasn’t going to speak, to him. They were trying to break me I don’t break easy “Make it easy on yourself!” He said looking at the ground The nerve of that bitch “I ain’t going to kneel!” I hissed at him, bloody idiot “I said that too!” He glared “I ain’t no bitch like you!” “You are gonna.” He said as he slammed the door shut and the music was back playing

I clutched my hair tight I can’t handle this bullshit I started hitting the wall Screaming This is bullshit! Fucking idiots! Get control of yourself! I scolded myself This is what they want Then I won’t give in Calm down

Few days passed, and the guy who pointed the gun at me few days back opened the cell, giving me a sandwich, I hate their bloody food! They called him fat Joey, I think He looked at me, giving me pity looks and then closed the door

I don’t hear it locked This is a trap Don’t Don’t But I did

I went and checked and it was really unlocked Every bone in my body screamed ‘trap’ But I couldn’t take another day in this hell hole If I stayed longer I would break. I couldn’t break I needed to kill them

I walked through the corridors, trying to escape, being as quite and as sneaky as possible. A hand on my back made me turn and launch my fist in the person’s face Ouch, my fist

Looking up, I saw Dwight’s wife, holding her bleeding nose, looking at me through her fingers Yeah take that bitch “Go back.” She whispered and I gave her the Are-you-fucking-kidding-me look “Go back while you sill can” “Shut up!” I hissed at her “I will kill you all!” I spat “For what you did to Daryl, what you did to me and my family!” It was the first time I spoke in a while, my voice didn’t sound like my own anymore “Whatever he has done to you, there is more. There is always more. You won’t get away and when you are back it will be worse!” “I won’t be back except to kill you!” I said as I left her and rushed towards the door, I saw the light, Dwight brought me through here before I ran out and there were bunch of motorcycles waiting I tried to get on any but the doors busted open and men with guns walked out All pointed at me And then that whistling sound came Negan was behind me He chuckled, Fuck him “Are we pissing our pants yet!” He beamed

He stared at me sizing me up and down I was scared, oh hell I wanted to cry, something I normally never do But I had to pretend to be strong Try not to break He wanted me to break and I wasn’t going to break I tried to look anywhere but him Avoiding his gaze I wasn’t scared of him oh no I was scared that he would kill someone else to punish me I was scared to be thrown in that empty room again I might be used to loneliness but the past six years I stayed with Rick, Carl, Daryl and the rest, I got used to company. I had a family and now he is ripping it all away

“Who are you?” He asked as he pointed Lucille behind him at Joey “Negan!” Joey said “Who are you!” Negan said as he pointed it on another guy “Negan!” The guy answered “Who are you!” He asked no one “Negan!” All the guys around me said

I looked up at him, meeting his gaze for the first time Dammit Now I saw him better, the sunlight kissing his face The salt pepper light beard he had The dimples that were clear as sun The light brown chocolate eyes that bore into me I want chocolate, I’m hungry! I cursed myself for thinking all that now But if it made me look less afraid, then chocolate it is!

“See! I’m everywhere!” He smiled And he has perfect set of white bright teeth! Where the hell does he get tooth paste from, during a god damn apocalypse? “–which sucks because your life was about to get so much cooler!” Oops! I missed half of his boring speech, thinking of toothpaste! “Am I right?” Negan gloated “Damn right!” Joey smiled, Joey is going to die soon, I could see it!

Negan walked closer to me, almost making our chest touch, pulling his tongue between his teeth and smiling at me. Fucking hell, what a fucking smile! He could do ads for Colgate and those other companies if he wanted! he was so tall compared to me I didn’t even reach his shoulder I looked like a fucking baby next to him I had to strain my neck and my back bone to look at him as he hovered over me Bloody universe

“Dwight gave you some options!” He said as he moved away “I don’t think you get it, so I will break it down to you!” He smiled “you got four choices!” “One, you end up on the spike and you work for me as a dead man, or women! Whatever helps you!” He chuckled “Two, you get out of your cell and work for points but you would wish you were dead!” “Three, you work for me! You get yourself Anne pair of clothes and lipstick, and you live like a Princess!” “Or four, you marry me! You don’t work, you don’t do shit other than sit around with a tight sexy black dress that brings out your eyes and your perky ass! And you live like a mother fucking queen!” He winked at me and I was in shock, Dwight certainly didn’t tell me about the marriage portion, not that I was considering it, oh no of course not! “But you should know! There is no door number five! This is it! This is the only way!”

I stayed silent He was a manic Some psycho I ain’t playing his stupid games

“Or you know what? Screw it!” He said, and everything went in slow motion again I saw him launch towards me, but I did my best not to flinch or turn away because if this was it for me, I wanted him to remember the look on my face, I wasn’t afraid, not from him He stopped inches away from me, Lucille hanging right above my head My breathing stopped He was so very dangerously close Fuck him

He started laughing in front of my face “Wow!” He said amused “You don’t scare easy!” He said as if he just realized it Well well Happy late realization! Thank you for stating the obvious! You did a very good help to the society! “I love that!” He said proudly “but Lucille find I disrespectful, you are lucky she ain’t feeling thirsty today!” He said as his face changed moods, his face turned sinister and his eyes narrowed at me he came so close once more and I pushed my face away from him “But I’m” oh fuck! He will kill me! “I’m gonna go! GET ME A DRINK!” He jumped and I let a breath of relief Fucking hell. “Get her back to her room and when Dwight is back tell him to bring her to me and come!” Negan said as he walked away and Joey pushed me to go back to my room

Few hours have passed and then the door was yanked open. Dwight was standing there, he had a sandwich with him, I should have a talk with whoever is in charge of the food around here. I’m fucking gonna die from hunger soon

I didn’t reach for the food, he threw it next to me “Eat” he ordered “you got your friends killed” he said and in that moment I never hated anyone more I shot him a disgusting glare as I reached for the food and threw it at his face He kneeled next to me “You should be dead! Negan should have killed you!” He said as he reached for his pocket and stuck a picture next to my head I knew it too well The remains of Glen and Abraham That bastard And after a month of keeping it together I finally broke down, I cried.

@jouveriaalam @thewalkingdead178

[anodyne-sunflower]

Eddie K. May RP-(Part 4) Last part

~Eddie/Nova~

She finally got all the blood out and continued her cycle of being a cliche heartbroken girl. She stayed clear of the alcohol. She had learned her lesson. This had been going on for a few days and she kept feeling worse and worse. She missed her best friend. So, she got up, showered, put on clothes and some makeup and made her way out to her car. The sun burned her eyes from being inside for so long but the fresh air did feel nice. She got in and buckled up and made her way to Eddie’s. She parked in her usual spot. Her feet carried her up to his door. Thats when the panic and nervousness set in. She hesitantly knocked on his door.

******************************

Eddie was lying on his couch, shirtless, jeans unbuttoned and hair a complete mess above his head. The past few days had been a complete blur to him. It was nothing but drinking, smoking, even dabbling in some harder drugs that took the edge off. Not to mention the steady rotation of women he had coming. He was sure one just left not so long ago. He assumed it was her at the door, and he debated letting her stand out there instead of letting her in. He pulled the cigarette from his lips, coughing slightly as he took another drag. He blew the smoke out, rubbing his bloodshot eyes as he rose from the couch and placed his boots on.

He unlocked the door, opening it up and stared in shock at the woman standing before him. But, just as quickly as his surprise came, his usual smug self was back. He leaned against the doorframe, smoke hanging from his lips as he spoke. “He get tired of you already?”

***********************************

Nova looked up at him, shifted from one leg to another and fiddled with her fingers out of nervousness. He looked rough and he reeked of smoke and his eyes were red. She looked down at her feet.

“I made him leave after you did.” She said quietly. She didn’t really know what else to say so she kinda rambled.

"I-I was never going to go out with him again. We all saw how that ended.” The silence made her uncomfortable. She bit her lip to stop from her continuous talking.

********************************

"Ain’t that a fuckin’ pity.” Eddie scoffed, taking another drag as he opened the screen door and let her in. He turned around on the heel of his boot, plopping back down on the couch as she took a seat. The living room was littered in beer cans, empty Jack Daniel’s bottles, and cigarette butts. Not to mention condom wrappers. Eddie had fell back into his self destructive ways, something Nova managed to draw him out of long ago. “So whatcha want this time, darlin’?”

***************************************

"You’ve gotten bad again.” She stated quietly, observing the sea of empty alcohol containers, cigarette butts and, what caused Nova to physically flench, condom wrappers. She inhaled and exhaled deeply and went to cleaning up, ignoring the condom wrappers. She went over and placed some glass bottles on his countertop.

"I miss you. We’re best friends or, I guess were. I probably ruined that.” She said the last part to herself. She busied herself by wiping down the counter.

**************************************

"I ain’t ever been good, darlin’.” Eddie closed his eyes, mumbling to himself as she began to clean up his mess. He didn’t feel like talking, much less about his behavior. “You didn’t answer my fuckin’ question. What are you doing here?” Yeah, she missed him, but what did she expect to gain from coming here? He couldn’t understand why she would, he did a number on her boy toy, and now here she stood, tail between her legs and talking about missing him and shit.

************************************

“Fine, you’ve gotten worse then bad. Happy?” She sighed and stilled her hand. Nova turned around slowly. She was getting annoyed with him. She was sure he could hear it in her voice.

"Why did you have to start a fight? I get he was a dick but come one Eddie, It wasn’t anything to fight about.” She was exasperated. Nova grabbed a glass and filled it with water. She figured he hadn’t had anything to drink except for alcohol. She placed it on the coffee table in front of him.

************************************

"Nothing to fight about?” Eddie sat up at that, flicking his cigarette into the floor and crushing it under his boot. “That fuckin’ prick riled me the fuck up, sweetheart. He had it comin’.” And it was the truth. James deserved far worse than he had given him, but he held back for Nova’s sake. “He should count his blessin’s that you stopped me.” He eyed the water, ignoring the offer and propping his boots up on the table instead.

************************************ 
"No he didn’t Eddie. You did more than enough. He riled you up. Big deal. A punch would be was enough. You did overkill.” She flopped on the couch and let her head lean over the back of it. She sighed at him ignoring the water. He was stubborn and damn proud.

"Eddie drink the damn water. You are probably dehydrated.” She snapped and rubbed her temples.

"I’m sorry just-what can I do?”

************************************

"Why you always defended him?” Eddie looked over at her, brows furrowed in confusion. The guy all but hurt her and she never seemed to think ill of him. “I bet you helped him lick his fuckin’ wounds up, too. Tsk.” He clicked his tongue, getting up and heading to the kitchen for another beer. He grabbed one from the fridge, popping it open and taking a huge chug. He wiped his lip of the foam, eyes stuck on Nova as she lay on the couch. “You remind me of her…” He couldn’t stop from chuckling bitterly. “Always picking the wrong fuckin’ men.”

**************************************

"Eddie I don’t always defend him. He was awful to do what he did to be but you didn’t need to beat him up over it.” She scoffed, “I kinda did have to make sure he wasn’t dying, so yes I cleaned him up. Is that a crime?” She rolled her head to the side to look at him having another beer. Nova’s eyebrows furrowed and she frowned.

"Who’s her?” She decided to ignore his last comment. She already knew how he felt about her past beaus and she certainly didn’t need to hear it again.

********************************* He rolled his eyes at her scolding, as if he didn’t have a good reason to beat the crap outta him. James could go fuck himself for all he cared, broken nose and all. “He got his ass kicked, let him fend for his fuckin’ self next time.” Eddie crushed the beer can in his hand, throwing it behind his shoulder, not even caring if it missed the trash can. He didn’t realize what he said, not until she asked about a certain someone. Eddie gazed up at her, eyes betraying the calm demeanor he currently tried to put out. Who was her, huh? Well fuck him for even bringing it up. With a solemn smile, he looked down, whispering. “No one…”

************************************

She stayed quiet, observing him. Nova sighed, got up, and picked up his beer can and threw it away herself. She looked up at him. His eyes, she had never seen him like this. They were always happy and playful and generally light. Now though, they were dark and sad. Nova made her way over to him and brought her small hand up to cup the side of his face. She stared up at him, her face sad.

"She’s not no one.” She said softly, “I-you don’t have to tell me. I just, I can see that it’s hurting you and I don’t understand and I want to understand.” Nova pleaded. She brought her hand down and wrapped her arms around Eddie’s waist in a tight hug. Her head rested against his chest where his heart was.

***********************************

Eddie didn’t move, he stayed silent as she hugged him, and he kept his arms leaned against the counter as she urged him to realize this wasn’t good for him. But, Glenda was someone he locked away in the back of his memories. Not to say she didn’t pop up often in his thoughts, but thinking of her only made his heart ache in ways he hated. It was a moment in time he let himself crumble before a person, only to have it thrown back in his face.

“I loved her…”

He blurted out, staring straight ahead, fixating on a spot in the wall. But, between his buzzed state and her hug, he was slowly coming undone.

“I gave that woman everything, and in return I got…”

He held his breath, licking his lips as tears began to form behind his eyes.

“I got my heart ripped right the fuck out…”

**********************************

Nova looked up to see the tears in Eddie’s eyes and it broke her heart. She had never seen him cry before. Whoever this girl was really did a number to him. She pulled him gently to the couch and sat with her back against the armrest. She pulled Eddie to her and guided his head to rest in the crook of his neck. She knew Eddie wasn’t a cuddle person but with him like this she couldn’t help but want to hold him.

"Oh Eddie, I’m so sorry.” She said quietly and brushed her fingers through his hair trying to give him some comfort.

**************************************

He wasn’t really registering what was happening, not until she cradled him in her arms and apologized for things that weren’t even her fault to begin with. Everything was crashing down on him again, and as she hushed him and stroked his hair he bolted from her arms, wiping at his face and giving her a look that spoke volumes of his shame.

“Forget it, darlin’. Water under the fuckin’ bridge.”

He played it off like nothing. As was his M.O. He hated emotions, he hated sharing them, and he hated pity most of all. But, coming from Nova, he knew it was genuine, yet he couldn’t bring himself to break down in front of her.

************************************

"Sometimes it helps talking.” Nova suggested weakly although she knew he probably wouldn’t. She stayed put on the couch, drumming her fingers on her thighs. She hated seeing Eddie like this.

"It’s ok to cry you know.” She tried again but she knew it was in vain. She looked up at him with big, sad eyes.

"I am so sorry. You don’t deserve it.” Nova sighed out. Eddie was one of the best people she knew. Sure he was rough around the edges and he had his faults but he was an amazing friend.

*********************************

Eddie reached for the half empty pack of cigs on the table, lighting one quickly and closing his eyes as it calmed his nerves. He pulled it from his lips, looking over at Nova with a raised eyebrow. “Don’t deserve it, huh? You’d be the first to say that.”

He shrugged it off, ignoring all her advice and once again bottling it all up. Some people aren’t meant to change, and he was hellbent on being one of them. He sighed heavily, scratching at his chest as he regarded her with a sense of sadness. “Listen…”

He shifted on the sofa, facing her completely now, and trying his damn best to be serious despite the alcohol and nicotine running through his system.

“I ain’t perfect, darlin’. I’m far from it. And I sure as hell don’t apologize for the shit I’ve done in my life, or the shit I will do in the future.”

He gave her a half hearted smile, taking a quick drag before finishing his confession.

“But, I regret hurting you. And any man who manages to tame that goddamn heart of yours should count himself blessed by the fuckin’ good lord for it.”

***************************************

Nova watched him light up a cigarette. She hated to admit it but she missed him blowing the smoke in her face. Nova scooted closer to Eddie with her legs criss crossed and she stared up at him. His half hearted smile almost broke her heart all over again. Nova’s heart beat faster at his confession. She didn’t quite know when she had fallen in love with Eddie. Her feelings for him had been growing and growing over the course of their friendship. Nova didn’t quite know what love was but if she had to guess, it would be Eddie. She took a deep breath and looked in in the eyes, her body shaking slightly in preparation for her confession.

"Then you should count yourself blessed.”

************************************

Eddie was halfway into a drag of smoke before he stopped, his eyes turning quickly to stare upon Nova. She was looking away now, blushing softly after having just confessed. To say he was taken back was an understatement. Sure, he had suspected she felt more for him than she originally let on, but after James and being absent for days…he assumed he was actually wrong. Now? Well, now he was thrown for a loop.

He stared, dumbfounded, cigarette between his fingers, polluting the air with a steady steam of smoke as he blinked. It took him a moment, but then he scoffed, lips stretching into a wide grin.

“Fuckin’ hell…”

He shook his head, slowly putting the smoke back to his lips.

“You are somethin’ else. You know that, darlin’?” He smiled at her, lifting a hand and brushing some strands of curly hair from her face.

***************************************

Nova looked away after her confession, her face growing hot and she held her breath. She heard him curse and she moved her head slightly to look at him, cigarette smoke still coming out of his mouth in a very attractive way. Nova’s heart skipped a beat when she saw him grin. There was her Eddie. His grin was contagious and she found her self smiling with him. Her eyes followed his hand as he put his cigarette in his mouth to take a drag, her eyes fixated on his lips. Her eyes snapped up to his eyes when he began talking.

"I know.” She smirked and then Nova closed her eyes at the feeling of his hand brushing some hair off her face. ***************************************

Eddie took in her features, smirking as she blushed even more just from his touch. “You really got it bad, don’t ya?” He chuckled, leaning in closer and running his fingertips along her cheek. He could tease her all day, truthfully. But, after everything they’d gone through, she deserved better than that today.

His fingers dipped lower on her face, running over her lips and jaw until his eyes came up to meet hers. They held something in them, something that was there before and while Eddie still wasn’t completely versed in what he wanted as far as loved went, it was obvious he felt at least something.

***************************************

"Maybe just a little.” Nova gave a small smile. She loved the way Eddie’s rough hands felt as he softly caressed her face. She hummed and looked at him, her lips parted slightly when he ran his fingers over her bottom lip and tilted her head up slightly as he traced her jawline. She brought her hand up and placed it over Eddie’s. Nova didn’t expect him to be so upfront about his feelings. Eddie was Eddie. She knew there was something there. She knew that he knew.

*************************************

Eddie looked down at her lips, and as he brushed his thumb over them he decided what the hell. He leaned down, pressing his mouth firmly against Nova’s as he finally caved into the attraction he felt. Whatever came of this, whatever happened, he didn’t think about. He was never one to over think things anyway.

***********************************

Nova gasped slightly when she felt Eddie’s soft lips press against hers. Her eyes slid shut and she moved her hand to the back of his head and buried her fingers in his hair. God she loved his hair. It was usually hidden under his hat and once he took it off it was a mess. A wonderful, beautiful, soft mess. She pulled him closer to her and their lips moved together. Nova’s head buzzed from his scent and this kiss took her breath away.

************************************

Maybe it was the alcohol, hell maybe it was just his need to feel comfort and affection on his own terms, but right now he just goddamn about melted into that kiss. He started moving forward, hands grasping her shoulders and pushing her down onto the couch as he hovered over her. He pulled away for a second, licking his lips and looking down at her through darkened eyes.

**********************************

Nova felt herself being pushed down on the sofa, she could feel Eddie’s body heat over her, his legs on either side of her waist. He pulled away and Nova looked up at him with half lidded eyes. Her mouth opened slightly, her taking deep breaths. Her lips tingled and they were wet from Eddie’s kiss.

*************************************

He didn’t bother with words right now, last thing he wanted was her taking what he said the wrong way and marching out of his life again. All negative thoughts aside, he needed her right now. Terribly. His mind and body ached for intimacy, and damn if she didn’t look good right now, lying under him, bedroom eyes and all.

Eddie lowered back down, brushing his lips across hers as he wasted no time in pushing his jeans down a bit. He pawed at her clothing, removing everything until she was lying gloriously bare beneath him.

**************************************

Both Nova and Eddie laid on the couch, breathing heavily with a sheen of sweat covering their bodies. She felt blissfully happy but she didn’t want to assume anything with Eddie. She rolled off the couch and stood on shaky legs. Nova grabbed Eddie’s shirt and slipped it on, only buttoning it half way up. She walked over to Eddie’s kitchen and grabbed herself a glass of water, taking a few sips before walking back over to the couch and sitting down. She set her drink on the table and grabbed his pack of cigarettes before he could. She grabbed one and lit it up, taking a drag. She wasn’t a big smoker, mostly social. But one thing she found was it was satisfying to have one after sex.

**********************************

Eddie had his eyes on her the entire time, and he’d by lying if he said he wasn’t completely perplexed by the entire change in their relationship. Not just friends, yet not quite lovers. The entirety of their friendship was built on common likes, dislikes, hell the first time he met her was at a party, getting drunk as shit and passing out inside his truck.

It was the best of first impressions, but she accepted him anyway, without so much as a scolding. He admired her for it, even loved her like a friend for it. Now? He was lost. Losing her wasn’t an option, he clearly had no way to properly deal with losing the one person in his life that actually wanted to be around him. But, he couldn’t lie, and couldn’t make promises he couldn’t keep. Not to her. She deserved far better than anything he had to offer, except maybe his honesty.

He laid his head in her lap when she sat back down, his arm over his eyes as he willed away the effects of the alcohol and drugs in his system. Truthfully, getting laid always put him in a relaxed mood, but he tried not to give in to the exhaustion. “You bummin’ smokes off me again?” He smiled, peeking from under his arm as she playfully hit his shoulder. She was pretty, he observed, prettier than he remembered anyway. Funny how emotions can seriously cloud judgement. “Hey…” he paused, wanting to say all the words bouncing around his broken mind.

********************************

Nova blinked in surprise when Eddie laid down in her lap, his arm over his face. She hesitantly started running her fingers through his hair, not knowing if this was too intimate for him. She leaned back against the back of the couch and took another drag of her, well technically Eddie’s, cigarette. She grinned down at him, blowing some smoke in his face like he usually did to her, in response to his question.

"Whatcha thinkin’ about so hard, cowboy?” She hummed.

********************************

His expression was worried, because he wasn’t entirely sure how she’d handle his next statement. “Listen, darlin’…” He moved up from her lap, sighing as he leaned back into the couch. “When I said you were perfect for me, I wasn’t lyin’…you are damn near meant for me.”

Eddie smiled at her, throwing his arm behind the couch as he scooted closer.

“But, I can’t promise where any of this will lead. I make a lot of fuckin’ mistakes.” He laughed, almost disappointed with himself for them all. “But, if you’re willin’ to give me a chance, I promise to try and do right by ya…”

**************************************

She laid her cheek on the arm Eddie had wrapped around her. Nova stared up at him with tender eyes and she pulled his other arm to her, clasping it between both of her hands. She brought it up to her lips and kissed his knuckles.

"Eddie,” She said softly, “How many years have I known you? Everyone makes mistakes. You aren’t perfect but neither am I.” She lifted her head up and looked into his eyes.

"You are perfect for me and I love you, mistakes and all.”

***************************************

Eddie stared at her, biting down on his lip as she smiled up at him. He kept repeating her words in his head, mind racing with so many thoughts now. She loved him, and he actually believed it. Every word that left her lips only made him break down inside, because now everything was going to be different. And while he was filled with apprehension, he was equally excited to explore this new found dynamic between them.

“You really know how to woo a guy, darlin’.” He laughed, kissing her forehead and pulling away to smile at her.

***************************************

It’s a gift.” Nova smiled at him. He kissed her forehead. Nova loved the feeling of of his lips on hers. She looked up and brought his head down and kissed him.

—–

Nova leaned against the pool table in the darkened bar, a beer bottle in hand, the top pressed on her bottom lip. She smirked as she watched Eddie try to beat her. Eddie wasn’t an awful pool player, Nova was just better and her constant bragging usually led her to having little pool competitions with him. Sometimes Eddie won but more often than not it was Nova. Although Eddie would come up with the excuse that he was rusty, or she cheated or distracted him. Eddie looked up at Nova from under his hat and she winked at him.

********************************

Eddie leaned over the table, eyeing the cue ball and steadily pulling his pool stick back. He glanced up at Nova from under his hat, smirking before he meant to hit he perfect shot, except she decided now of all times to wink at him. He narrowly missed it, cursing loudly and hitting the table as the cue ball flew off to the wrong side. He sighed heavily, glaring at her and rolling his eyes as she giggled.

“You’re a goddamn cheat, ya know that, darlin’.”

He couldn’t stop himself from chuckling, tipping his hat up to get a better look at her as he once again asked for another round. “One more round. Come on.” She walked up to him, fishing into his pocket and taking some dollar bills out.

*************************************

Nova’s smirk grew bigger with amusement as Eddie missed his shot due to her winking and then accused her of cheating.

“Not my fault you can’t focus.” She taunted and raised an eyebrow. Then again, Eddie mad it hard for her to focus as well. God Eddie looked good in this light, well any light. She had used the past few weeks of getting to know him and his body even more than before. Her eyes looked him up and down and she took a drink of her beer.

"You tryin’ to hustle me cowboy?” Nova tsked. and walked over to him, her hips swaying as she did so. Her hand ran up his chest and to his neck where she played with the collar of his shirt.

***********************************

Eddie hummed at her as she played with the collar of his shirt, giving him that look that said she wanted him right then. And damn, would he be happy to comply. But, he had to tease her just a bit first.

“‘Course I ain’t hustlin’ ya, darlin’.”

*************************************

Nova set her beer down on the pool table, making a soft thud. She stepped away and jumped up to sit on the edge of the table, mindful of the bottle. She fiddled with Eddie’s belt loops on his jeans before pulling him in between her legs, her nose filling with his distinct scent that instantly gave her comfort. She looked up and him and tilted her head to the side.

"And how do I know you’re not lyin’, Kreezer?”

***************************************

Eddie bit his lip when she pulled him between her legs, her fingers dangerously close to his crotch. She really did know how to get his damn body all riled up, but he wasn’t about to give in so easily. He leaned in, lips inches from her own, breath tickling across her cheek. He smirked when she blushed softly, clearly reacting to his proximity, and as she jokingly asked him for the truth, he could only smile at her.

“You’re my girl, darlin’. I ain’t about to lie to ya.”

~The End~

[hotcocosharing]

Second Chance Part 21 (IM RP)

Shunichiro Tachibana 

Waking up to the smell of bacon and eggs; to the touch of fingers running across my chest, to my collarbones then lastly my bottom lip. It’s been far too long since I’ve had either and I open my eyes to see Midori smiling face with everything sorted and ready. She glows in the early morning light, the sun catching her slight wet curls and setting them aflame like a halo. If last night’s been a mistake, it’s forgotten for now as we share a small smile right before she quickly gets ready and disappears.

There’s a meeting that’s planned for weeks which I can’t postpone so after taking as long as I could in the shower to try and give myself more time to clear my head before I return to the office. Redialing the cab company to come pick me up and rearrange a time to take me to the airport, I’m soon preoccupied by last night’s emails, approvals confirmation from the Olympics committee plus another “intimidating” invitation from the governor. Deliberately ignoring the last one as my ride arrives on time and my morning runs out before I know it.

I groan a bit as I lift my carry-on luggage into the overhead compartment, even in business class, the luggage compartment seems dreadfully small. Eventually, with a satisfying click, it snaps shut. I release a long sigh and flop onto a window seat, shutting my eyes while the rest of the passengers settle down around me.

Free, at last.

Surrounded by strangers with no Internet or any kind of disruptions, the thoughts I’ve been pushing out of my head all morning has now crawled its way back in, Midroi’s smile and words are now on replay-

“You know Shunichiro – I never expected to fall for you nine years ago but I’m sure glad I did.”

During the two hours flight, I begin to doubt my actions and behavior lately. For sealing a deal with the devil and almost risking the Olympic campaign, starting a relationship isn’t so cut and dry with a subordinate, and ruining whatever maybe left between an ex girlfriend. What is it that I’m trying to achieve? And at what cost? The timing couldn’t have been worse as I try to figure out my feelings for two entirely opposite women, but I need to settle this, I have to. For the three of us.

9 years ago

I was just browsing, killing time on a weekend as I stared at the shelves filled with classics and literature aimlessly until a title caught my attention. “Men Without Women”,  Across seven tales, Haruki Murakami brings his powers of observation to bear on the lives of men who, in their own ways, find themselves alone. At the age of twenty seven, women was never an issue or an priority but I was intrigued and picked it up to see a girl tip toeing the shelf that’s way too tall for her.

“Can I help you with something?” I asked, I didn’t believe in love at first sight but the flashes of brown hair and a shy smile had my mind blanked for a second. She wanted the book in my hand which nearly made me chuckle, why would a young girl like her wanted to read a series of short stories about men without women? For the first time in years, I wanted to know more about someone so I left my contact on the book, grinning at the thought that I no longer needed to read that book.

Present- 3 Days Later (Sunday)

There’s nothing feels like home- only mine is a house that’s forever empty with no one to welcome or talk to, I am alone and it hasn’t bothered me (in a long time). But today, I have never felt lonelier.  

The image of Midori humming around the stove as she makes breakfast, her dance moves would amuse me, and Sachi’s embarrassed face first thing in the morning that puts a smile across my face.

They make me weak.

If I were such a smart and cunning scoundrel, why do I feel so conflicted? Sachi hasn’t replied any of my text unless it’s work related, she’s avoiding me and can’t say I don’t know why.

I should have been fair, cutting ties with the governor and his daughter sooner, stopping the rumor before it’d start. It’s my fault for putting her through unnecessary pressure.

And Midori, we have been chit chatting for days without mentioning the other night. Talking like we used to, nothing too serious or out of the ordinary. I close my eyes, trying to block the recent events from the past weeks out of my mind but all I see is her face.

All I can picture are her smiles, her tears and the fear of her slipping away within my fingertips. My chest tighten with …. something that I’m unfamiliar with, some kind of regret or guilt that I would have to live with.

I have to make this right!

Pulling my phone out and quickly send an address and time as I hurry out the door.

“7pm, The Kitazawa Bookstore, 2-5 Kanda Jimbocho. See you there.”

The place where it all began, where I found the love of my life, where I met Midori Katayani.

Midori Katayani

Three bottles of red wine equates to approximately 12 large glasses – that’s how much alcohol I’ve needed over the last 3 days to stop myself from going insane about work related issues; let alone personal. When I first started my own business, the idea of being one’s own boss seemed easy – like a slice of cake; but geez, even 3 years in and I feel absolutely helpless sometimes when it comes to the little things which always seem out of my control. I’m about to walk down to the cellar and help myself to another bottle when a new member of staff asks for my help with a cocktail she’s not familiar with mixing – just as she asks, my phone starts vibrating in my pocket, a customer who’s had a little too much to drink starts a ruckus at the bar and the power cuts out for a moment leaving everyone stranded in the dark.

It’s unlike me, yet I hold my breath with uncertainty and ask myself the question I almost always do when bad luck seems to come in three – why me? Grabbing a torch from behind the bar, I’m quick to make it to the fuse box and switch the lights back on; there’s a relieved sigh that escapes from almost everyone’s lips when they’re brought back into familiar surroundings of what they know. Drinks continue being ordered – security deals with the ‘I’ve had a little too much to drink’ patron I’d rather not and I’m about to teach someone how to make a Kamikaze when my phone vibrates again – alerting me that I haven’t checked it.

“Right now? Really?”, I murmur quietly whilst grinding my teeth, pulling my phone out. The irritated expression I’m wearing though is quickly erased when I see who the message is from.

[7pm, The Kitazawa Bookstore, 2-5 Kanda Jimbocho. See you there.]

My heart skips a beat when memories instantly flood back into my mind as my eyes re-read over the text to make sure it’s real. Kitazawa – I haven’t been there in years. Didn’t even know the place was still open. Checking my watch to see that it’s already 6.30, I bite my lip and figure that because I didn’t drive into work today to be there by 7 I’d have to leave asap. As much as I hate doing this, I call over a shift supervisor which I know is more than capable of instructing new staff on work place procedures – I wouldn’t have promoted them to the role if I didn’t think otherwise – and apologise for needing to leave so quickly.

It’s a quick dash now to my office to lock up before I head straight for the subway. Ughhh, I haven’t caught a peakhour train in months and had forgotten about the not so comfortable carriage rides. Sardined up against a young school couple who keep talking about breaking their curfew in order to spend a little more time together between kisses and a businessman who smells of beer and soba, I grin and bare it every time I’m forced to shuffle and move. It’s 20 minutes of pure torture when compared to how comfortable a my car or taxi would have been but I don’t have time to waste. Checking my watch again, I notice that it’s just hit 7 – great… for once I’m going to be the one that’s late.

Finally free from the train ride of hell, I manage to scramble out of the station and wander over in a slight rush to where I vaguely remember being the Kitazawa bookstore. Groaning as I read a sign which points in the direction of upstairs, I huff and puff not bothering to waste time and look for an elevator – my watch reads 7.10pm and I mentally scold myself although there’s nothing I can do. Pulling my phone out, I begin punching in Shunichiro’s number as I wander the aisles and take in the simplicity of bound printed texts around me. There’s something calm about being here – something safe – as if all these books could keep my secrets and thoughts within them and if anyone were to read them, I’d still be safe. I don’t even get two dial tones in before I’m walking straight to M aisle in the fiction section which I at first don’t realise.

Funny how some habits don’t change.

Hanging up as I spot Shun and don’t give him time to answer, I walk over quietly – about to apologise when I notice he has something in his hands and I grow curious instantly.

Men Without Women. Mhmm.

“Hate to break it to you Shunichiro but I’ve already read that one.”

My voice is ever so clear as I greet him; hiding the fact that I just wore myself out and felt like I’d endured a marathon. Not planning on saying anything if it’s not pointed out – I avoid bringing up the fact that I’m late.

There’s a smirk which dances across Shun’s lips which as teenage-ish as it sounds – cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye – is definitely my vice. Actually no, I take that back; he’s my vice whether or not he chooses to be.

“Fancy seeing you here”, he breaks the ice with a push in conversation, sliding the book back up onto the shelf; as I watch this, it occurs to me that I’m still too short to reach the top shelf and a giggle escapes me.

“I didn’t realize you were back in town”, I point out, folding my arms across my chest before scratching inside my elbow, “You know – you could give a girl a little more of a heads up before you force her to abandon work and meet you in a bookstore of all places.”

“I didn’t have time”, he explains casually as I feel his eyes trace over me and he rubs the back of his neck shyly. Shun – shy? No he can’t be – I’m definitely imagining things. Perhaps it’s a good thing that I didn’t get to that next bottle of wine. “..and we won’t either if we stand around here talking all day.”

I scoff at the fact that he makes it sound like he’s been waiting a lifetime for me to arrive. Taking my hand and walking me down an aisle of books I wish will never end, I pull on his sleeve to slow him down, curious to know what he has in mind.

“Hold up – just where do you think we’re going?” “Dinner.” “Dinner?” “Mhmm – 7.30 at Gabiaru, you know if we keep talking Midori we’ll be late like someone I know.”

I could already taste the delicious flavour of curry bursting in my mouth at the mere mention of the restaurants name. Gabiaru wasn’t a far walk; actually, I remember meeting up with Shun at the bookstore once years ago because I wasn’t sure of where it was with my directional skills being less than perfect, not wanting to get lost before our first date.

Tugging at his sleeve again as we were just about to start walking, I could feel a blush crawl across my cheeks as I tried desperately not to smile like a lunatic.

“Is this.. are we – hang on just.. bare with me – wait…”, I manage to blubber out uncontrollably, if it’s what I think this is, I wish I was better dressed for the occasion, “..is this a date?”

[theowlsarenotwhattheyremembers]

Episode Two: Stormborn

The attitude towards killing off characters here before they actually get to do anything interesting invites reflection of the terrible aptness of the gamer term ‘wasted’ to refer to a death.

But reader let us begin at the beginning.

Scene 1: The weather in winter-has-come Westeros is miserable, and Daenerys is cabin feverish in her new storm-whipped angular rock palace. She has a go at Varys for his key role in the plot to assassinate her in season one, which initially is awkward but then he gets self-righteous and delivers a speech about being the People’s Spook which wins over everyone’s hearts and minds again.

Honestly the Khaleesei has such a dream team around her, it makes me feel anxious. When is a traitor / assassin / magic monster / other issue going to arise and sneeze on everyone’s dessert? Probably soon and also to an extent in this very episode, the snake being that penis Euron.

Then they all go into the throne room and Melisandre is standing there between Daenerys and the throne!

It’s like Melisandre is receiving Daenerys in the throne room and not the other way around, which is very awkward and seems like it could be foreshadowing about the Red Priestesses getting out of hand like Cersei’s Sparrows? Tbh I am also concerned about the Dothraki too who hardly seem likely to bring harmony to Westeros, devoted as they are to rape and pillage. Could the Dothraki be persuaded to settle down as gentle farmspeople of the Reach? This seems unlikely. Yet mass deporting them back to the steppe seems neither feasible nor fair on everyone else who lives there, who are probably now entering into an unprecedented age of peace, prosperity and cultural flourishing. Daenerys is a magical dragon queen and Varys and Tyrion are the best statecrafters in Westeros probably, but are their skills a match for the religious fire witches of Asshai AND the Dothraki AND the Army of the Dead AND all of Westeros’ more standard-issue intractable problems? We will find out, but for now Melisandre substantially moves the plot along by telling Daenerys that she absolutely must meet this northern hunk Jon Snow. “Sounds like quite a man,” says Daenerys, probably filling the tall sails of Dany/Jon fantasists with merry gusting hope; but, further to my concerns about Daenerys’ already too dreamy team, plus how boring Skyrim is once you reach high levels, I hope your sails turn to rags sorry. Game of Thrones is about the joy of not getting what you want. There is no point complaining. Melisandre understands that more is less so doesn’t mention anything at all about Jon apart from some vague stuff about the prince/ss who was promised and wildlings and so on. 

Daenerys says she’ll send Jon an invitation to visit and “bend the knee,” confirming the sinking feeling everyone had when we all heard those fatefully inconvenient words, “the King in the North”: good for the morale of people who live too far north to be comfortable / clean most of the time; bad for every other objective.

Scene 2: Jon, Sansa and Davos are already reading Daenarys’ letter, because this plot waits for no raven. Davos, genius of his age, notes the radiantly obvious fact that fire-breathing dragons will be of great use against an army of ice demons who only die by means of 1. rare materials and 2. fire. They all agree that Jon actually going and securing the dragons to save the world would be too dangerous, however.

Scene 3: Cersei lists an array of tediously one-sided facts about Daenerys’ atrocity record to date, larded with some unnecessary racism. The sanctimonious southern lords assembled all duly listen in prim horror. Jaime tries to poach Sam’s dad from the Tyrells using more racism, a good strategy with Sam’s dad.

Scene 4: Jorah’s grayscale is looking absolutely terrible. 

The Archmaester scolds him for not cutting off his own arm immediately, but because he’s an aristocrat gives him the opportunity to commit suicide before shipping him off to a decade or so of frenzied madness in Valyria. Westerosi best practice of sending crazed grayscale victims off to roam the wilderness seems questionable from an epidemiological perspective, but what do I know.

Scene 5: Creepy kindly wrongun Qyburn shows Cersei his new spear-crossbow, and impresses her by getting her to shoot it at a centuries-old, already-cracked dragon skull, against which it works wonderfully effectively.

How punchably excited Joffrey would be if he was alive! His mum looks quite pleased too.

Scene 6: Tyrion explains to the Southern and Western Ladies of Westeros how this war is going to go. They’re going to do a hearts-and-minds war with minimal use of foreigners in key optics locations, thereby preserving the country as something more than ashes (Daenerys repeats a line here about being queen of the ashes that Tyrion used earlier). Tyrion is saving the Dothraki to pillage his own ancestral seat! What a guy. Olenna points out that the hearts-and-minds strategy didn’t work out for Maergery, something I too am yet to process emotionally. In a one-on-one Olenna counsels Daenerys that war is permanent and to ignore clever men. Thanks Olenna!

Scene 7: Missandei and Grey Worm, two extremely emotionally scarred yet preternaturally attractive young things, share a scene whose tenderness is am I right in saying unrivalled in GoT history? Grey Worm’s lines about Missandei being his weakness are not what anyone used to talking to people in informal settings would call smooth, but this poor young man is like 75% scar tissue, and anyway Missandei calls him on it and refuses to take “you know what I mean” for an answer. She has prepared for this moment by wearing a dress you can undo by pulling a cord, and after pushing Grey Worm to develop greater levels of emotional literacy they go to bed and have a fulfilling experience together despite their tragic pasts and Grey Worm’s absent genitals. In fact,

"Sir Richard Burton, in his travels, wrote about the eunuchs of Mecca and talked about them being sexually active with their wives. When we had the rise of the Italian castrati, who were castrated usually between the ages of 10 and 12, we have a number of them attempting to marry, and a legal brief from the Church in 1718 said that they shouldn’t be allowed to because eunuchs are too tempting to women. ‘They are more esteemed by lewd women because they can give them all the satisfaction without any risk or danger of pregnancy.’"

The scene is extremely affecting good god

Scene 8: Is that Missandei’s hand grasping a bedpost no it’s the Archmaester getting a badly written history book off the shelves what is wrong with you. The Archmaester is going to write A Record of the Wars Following the Death of King Robert Baratheon, First of His Name. Sam suggests a more “poetic” title. This scene is further confirmation of the fan theory that Sam wrote A Song of Ice and Fire.

Sam says he can maybe cure Jorah, the Archmaester tells him he can’t without probably catching greyscale. We cut to Jorah writing a suicide letter to Daenerys, but then Sam comes around with a trolleyful of hope and crude surgical equipment, and goes ahead and very kindly and politely peels off Jorah’s skin. Sam, is there not a facemask in the Citadel? After the Archmaester’s warning this seems excessively rash and virulent pus eye squirting seems extremely probable.

Scene 9: The show’s cruel hatred for the viewer at home is confirmed by this cut. 

But Game of Thrones forgiveness springs eternal in this recapper’s heart - look, there’s Hotpie!

The appearance of her homely old friend, together with his revelation that Winterfell is Stark again and Jon Snow is its king, gets those unending hope jets spurting too: maybe Arya’s life could end up not being entirely unremittingly without friendship, solace, love? 

Scene 10: Jon immediately scotches our reunion at Winterfell hopes by making the sensible decision to leave for Dragonstone after all in. He also makes the sensible decision to leave Sansa in charge of the north, which I guess she looks okay with? King in the North is a bit of a poisoned chalice to be passing on and he did just say he neither wanted it nor asked for it.

Then Littlefinger goes down to annoy Jon while he’s attempting some quiet reflection at Ned’s grave. To Littlefinger, Jon says: “you don’t belong down here”, “I have nothing to say to you”, and [strangling him] “touch my sister and I’ll kill you myself”. Were these the intended outcomes of this conversation for Littlefinger? I guess Littlefinger doesn’t always have a masterplan and is possibly just looking for an opportunity to worm up the old chaos ladder on which he may temporarily have misplaced his footing?

Scene 11: Was that Nymeria?? Arya says “That’s not you”, which made me think the reason why the wolves leave is because she wargs them or something? 

Scene 12: Just as Yara and Ellaria are about to strike up a beautiful friendship, Euron ruins everything by firebombing the Ironborn fleet.

This was a sad scene in which as mentioned above two thirds of the Sand Snakes got massacred after only perfunctory wielding of their signature weapons. Could the remaining Sand Snake be developed into an interesting Last of the Sand Snakes figure? It seems possible that captivity in the hands of Euron and presumably also Cersei will offer Yara, Ellaria and the Last Sand Snake few character development opportunities, and that they will be gorily sacrificed at the altar of the development of Euron’s character as the new Ramsey, and join Maergery and Ros in a lugubrious chorus of Female Hubris in the sky. Let’s hope for a sexy triple escape instead, during which the Last Sand Snake, shorn of her sisters from whom she was unfortunately formerly indistinguishable, dons characteristics and saves the day.

[dramaplatters]

Game Rai Game Rak

I'll start with the synopsis and my reviews will be after the jump break 

Saichon is an islander living on Min island. One day, the destiny leads him to find Fahlada, a 17 years old girl lying unconscious on the beach. When she wakes up, he realizes that she loses her memories. Saichon takes care of her and names her Nang Fah (angel). They fall in love with each other and lives together.

One day, Chompooprae, Fahlada's sister saw her sister's picture in the tourist magazine, so she sends people to take Fahlada back. Saichon is very sorry and has to take care of his baby alone on the island. Fahlada gets treatment until she regains her memories, but she loses her memories about Saichon, her baby and everything during the time that she is missing. Chompooprae lies to her sister and doesn't tell her anything about Min island. 

One day, Mami, a girl who falls in love with Saichon tells Saichon to run away because someone is sent to kill him and steal his baby. Saichon has no choice, so he asks for help from an American millionaire who he has ever saved his life. This millionaire adopts Saichon as his son. 

Couple of  years later, Saichon comes back from America to take care of the airline company in Thailand. He meets Chompooprae because she's a business partner. Chompooprae falls in love with him at first sight.. Saichon is surprised and very glad when he meets Fahlada again. However, he is very hurt and angry because Fahlada doesn't remember him at all. 

Saichon is angry at Chompooprae because she's the person who separates Fahlada from him, tries to kill him and steal his son and ruins his family. He's also angry at Fahlada because he thinks that she intends to forget him. So, he starts to revenge them.

Needless to say that Yaya & Nadech has a great on screen chemistry.

There are rumours that they are real life couple but they are neither denying nor accepting it :) leaving this to our imagination.

Yaya & Nadech

Kimberley & Mark Prin

those guys are a great both on screen and off screen lol

Fahlada found unconscious by Saichon, he looks after her, treats her, villagers accepts her as their own,  because Fahlada has no past memories about who she's. I have no idea what sort of amnesia it is but she acts and behaves like a mentally retarded, idiot, she has only lost her memories..  There are few examples of this idiotic behaviours in the drama, such as when one of the ladies was expecting she wanted know what's pregancy and she told that she wants to be pregnant, and one of the guys teased her that they can help her to get pregnant, she was nearly believing them.

  Saichon names her, Nang Fah,  they got married and when you just think that they'll be happy, Fahlada's adopted sister sends men after her when she learnt that she's on the island, they shoot Saichon and took Fahalada away,  after her fiance examines Fahlada the first thing she asked if her sis is pregnant or not..   Because if she is pregnant she can't get the money all the money would go to Fahlada, Saichon and their baby.

Like in April Star / Star April - Women of the Sun we have an evil adopted sister (Prae) who never liked her sister and always jealous of her, she seriously plays the caring sister in front of her fiance and others but her main aim is to get Fahlada's money as she lost her own to another woman who had shares in her hotel, she eventually got them back by using Fahlada's money.

If they ever make Thai version of that drama I nominate this actress

Now her eyes are on her money.

so we got to see how their love started up to episode 5.

After that episode things are go mad.

When Fahlada wakes up in the hospital she still has the memories of the Island and her husband, she wanted go, tried to escape but she's been forcefully given drugs. not only drugs but electroshock..  which is really painful

I don't think that  sis feeling genuinely feeling sorry for one second...

So Fahlada is in the hospital going through all sorts of problems, Saichon is the village heavily wounded.

she's gone all the horrid therapy's to regain her memory but this caused her to forget about her life on the island and Saichon

  Saichon goes off the island to look for his wife but he saw Sahat (the guy who helped the evil sister's man  (Prae) and also he had an eye on Fahlada, he was jealous of Saichon because Fahalada loves him and chose him to marry) 

On the return Saichon rescues an American Tourist and heals him.

He offers him to take him to USA with him, he didn't want to go at first but finally agrees to go to USA with him and adopts him, so 3 years later he's back to Bangkok as Charles business partner of the evil sister (Prae)

Do I need to mention that he looks hot as Charles

His secretary mentions that Prae seemed interested in him, maybe he'll have a gf this time :D

nay nay nay, his eyes still sees and his heart is only with one girl.

Their first meet up :) in the traffic, he recognized her immediately but she has no memories of the time she spend on the island...

So he follows her car with his car immediately,he starts to look for her, when he couldn't find her he thinks he's mistaken.

Yet we got to see another drama cliche here, they were nearly face to face but he didn't see her she went for another direction, he went to the opposite..

Yes the evil sis Prae already set her eyes on Charles :D she invited him for a dinner :)) so when she's having dinner with Charles her fiance arrives  (Portrayed by Thanawat Wattanaputi I think he reminds me of Wallace Chung) so she introduces Dr. Wattana as her sister's doctor not as her fiance, the fiance is shocked by this..   She also avoids physical contact with her fiance during the dinner time.

So our guys bumped each other the 2nd time while jogging, so they both lose their balance and fell of as they literally come head to head :D  Now Charles having a chance to look at his wife closer, but unfortunately she has no memories of the time she spent with him, and obviously he doesn't know that, he thinks she's doing it on purpose..

She's trying to understand while talking to her friend that Charles was so confident that he knows me  but everyone is telling her lies that he is a mad hatter, and he's wrong, don't go there for jogging ( I wonder when is she going to start to remmeber the time on the island or is she gonna fall in love with him w/o remembering anything, yes she had dreams about him and the island previously but we still don't know..  ⁇

After meeting the sis and doc fiance, and after the jogging incident he had some flashbacks of the evil friend Yasa telling him that she went with her sister, and evil sister's (Prae) fiance telling him that he's a brain and neuro surgeon, he started to have some doubts.

So he has a video chat with a doctor, and asks him about the incident, so he now knows that she had a electroshock therapy, she gained her memories back but due to this she has forgotten her memories, the secretary asks him if he had known her before, he told the secretary that she's his wife 💗

so now he's determined to make her remember back him 👍👍👍👍

So their 3rd time was at her house, she mistaken him as a stalker and chased with an umbrella 🌂 🌂

thank god sister came just in time

He's gonna use his wife as a model on their airlines advertising 😼

Come on girl before your sis snatches him from you, do smth 😼

When they had their first accidental skinship, she had a flashback so its a sign :)

His cousin Plernta caused them hard times, she eventually asked if she was his gf...  He said no, I can't love any one anymore, because my heart has an owner, oh poor honey was disappointed... No need sweetie, his 💓 belongs to you...   

Charles &  Fahlada are on the island working on the advertisement, he's hoping at least it will bring back some memories, meanwhile in Bangkok sister's fiance proposed to her ( this girl's character is pretty much though not as extreme as the sister on The Women of Sun / Star April - April Starr pretty much similar, she doesn't love the fiance but she's with because of his social status)

Fahlada had another flashback on the 2nd skinship when they were on the island :))

She still has dreams about the island, about Saichon / Charles

The evil sista Prae calls her  to check her out and appears like she's worried ( her main reason is to learn what those 2 are up to, we can see the jealousy on her face when Fahlada tells her that Charles is treating her well)

When she's back in Bangkok Fahalada tells her sister Charles bought a dress and a necklace for her,

the sister wondered why he gave her a necklace and while thinking she kept playing with her ring and eventually her engagement ring fell of from and she picked up the ring, she literally threw the ring to the drawer ( she's so disrespectful, I hope doctor fiance will leave her for good in the future)

The stupid cuz Plernta is now assistant of the secretary. she's that stupid that she can't even use a photocopy machine.

Fahlada is playing herself w/o knowing in the advertisement, she looks breathtaking

Evil sista Prae is even more jealous after seeing the skinship between the Fahlada & Charles, meanwhile it's only her who saw them, the idiot cuz Plernta's mother auntie also saw them...

Out of jealousy the evil sista Prae even checks Charles's phone and see Fahlada photos lol, she's gone even more mental....

Let's wait and see the tricks she's gonna play on Charles & Fahlada. Though Charles won't believe all but some...

Director offers Charles to play the lead in the ad, and he accepted it :D 🕺🕺🕺🕺

(You are the Dancing Queen, young and sweet, only seventeen Dancing Queen, feel the beat from the tambourine You can dance, you can jive, having the time of your life See that girl, watch that scene, digging the Dancing Queen)

While they were on the island doctor fiance calls the evil (Prae) but she scolded him..  God, doc please get rid of this woman

Sista dresses up in white and wearing a flower on her head, as well as wearing the blue necklace that belongs to her sister, to woo Charles, but it looks like Charles is only interested in where she got the necklace..  hahaha

It's now obvious that sis wants Charles for herself, while she has a handsome doctor fiancee..

The problem is while they are on the island they have the risk of bumping into the evil friend Yasa,  he might tell his real id ( who really Charles is )  to the evil sista Prae  he might kidnap Fahlada again, bla bla bla..

The sister is too much,  after the aunt mixed drugs into his drink, he got really drunk and taken to his room,  so she offered the other ppl she'd  to take care of Charles.  She tries to kiss him  but he called Fah's name

let's see what's gonna happen until episode 20...

So  now the evil sis Prae and the evil friend  Yasa saw each other in the hotel, she acted like she doesn't know him..

that's not good at all, so they are gonna play games to break the couple again..

So they sailed to sea, and the evil sista Prae fell down to the sea and acted like she can't swim, so Charles jumped and saved her, when they go to the ground,  when she was giving him a passionate look doctor fiance saw this, Charles said don't misunderstand please,  but doctor is not stupid plus his fiance's body language reveals everything

Fahalada went to her brother in law to be for an examination, he said she might have a crush on Charles and he shared this with his fiance, that's not good he breaks patient doctor confidentiality

The sister not knowing that Charles's real identity, when Charles said I love Fah, she said my sister has an islander husband, we brought her here and had a shock therapy, she doesn't remmeber anything about time she spend on the island, it's me and my fiance only

Charles said I don't care about her past, and this made sister even more crazy because as we all know she  wants Charles all by herself.

Things are going up down the hill, the evil friend Yasa saw Charles in the company as the evil sista Prae dropped her wallet when they were together

Now Fahalada avoids Charles.   That evil friend Yasa returns the wallet to evil sista Prae , now two evils got together more hard days are waiting Charles & Fah.

Unlike sis the evil friend Yasa is clever and he guessed that she fell in love with Charles, that's why she asked him to find Fah's husband..

The sister is making her jealousy more obvious now, Charles gave a call to Fah that he's going back to US bec his dad had a heart attack,  sis is making this big deal as he called Fah instead of her.

The evil friend Yasa came into the Fah's home and telling Fah he's his wife.

The doctor fiance told this to the evil sista Prae, but instead of getting worried she says how do you know he's not psycho.

Seriously if I was that Doctor I'd have already left her,  break the engagement.

Fah asks the evil ista if she knows anything about the island, Sis says Fah, but Fah wants to learn the truth, ofcourse she's not gonna tell her the truth..

She tells that yes she got married in the island but ppl had bad intentions and lied and deceived her. If ever doctor fiancee wakes up from the dreamland everything will go ok..

I feel sorry for Fahala because she's been deceived all the time, and not knowingly Doctor fiance is in it aswell.

Now the evil sista Prae is in cooperation with the evil friend Yasa , She gave money to the other evil guy telling him that he did a great job ( so from this we understood that sister send him to Fah to tell her that he's her husband) she's sure that by doing this Fah is gonna go away and Charles will be hers.

He's stalking Fah with the orders of sis, Fah offered money to him he accepted.

The evil friend Yasa found Charles and said Fah is going to start a brand new life, that made him angry

Charles went to Fah and found her tickets, he asked where she's going, she said she's going back to USA.  Charles forcefully kissed her, Fah struggled a bit and she let it go ( we can't call this a rape really ) bec as he was kissing she remembered the time in the island

In the morning when Charles wakes up, he was alone in bed, she tells Charles that the thing happend last night I think I gave alms to a dog.  She says you raped me am I your wife? She asked him to get out of her house.

Fan changes her mind, she no longer wants to go to USA, sister is even more angry now..

Doctor brother in law is clever, when she asked him to go for a lunch she ate little and doc said you didn't much is it related with you changing your mind not going to USA but she avoids answering.

Sis's playing her games on Charles, Charles's gonna play with her.

When Fah get into her house, Charles was already inside, he said it's not good for a wife to keep her hubby waiting like this lol.

She took a baseball bait, he said he's going to trick her and back hugged her, now James is like a bull very angry and now he certainly believes that Fah is remembering everything but acting like she doesn't

Charles forcefully kisses her, she doesn't struggle but she cries, as Charles kisses her.

Charles sees P with the doctor brother in law and he's extremely jealous...

Now even the house keepers understood that evil sista Prae is jealous of Fah and she loves Charles, but doc is still blind.

hahah now doc is using the jealous term, but his fiancee denies it,

He finally tells her it looks like you love someone else, I wanted marry because of love not because of my goodness.

Charles & Fah gone for sightseeing, hopefully this will help Fah at least she'll understand that he genuinely loves her

They really had some romantic time together.

Evil sister Prae is even more jealous after eavesdropping, she forces Fah to tell her that she was with Charles.

She asked if she seduced Charles, (What's got to do with you, you have your own fiance!!!)

Doc fiance again tells evil sister ( Prae) that she can't hide her own feeling for Charles but she accused him for lying, and she blames him having a crush on Pah, she breaks up from fiance even before fiancee tells her to break up..

Doctor fiancee was nearly making a traffic accident, hopefully now he got it that Prae the evil witch never loved him, she only used him for social status.

Prae tells Pah that Charles loves her not her.  She asks her why Pah is wearing Charles's stuff??

Fae visits her fiance to give back the engagement ring. She still accuses him loving being in love with Fah.  He wants a chance from Fae, I seriously suspect from this guy's IQ..

Charles went to see Fae, saying eating alone is not very nice, Pah saw them together.  Housemaids noticed Pah didn't take her medicines

Pah tells her sister that dr is not well, she wants to take care of him.

The evil sista Fae and the idiot cousin Plernta got into fight for Charles, Charles told Plernta he never loved her, she is now crying, hopefully it's Fae's turn pretty soon...

I seriously ship Plernta and the secretary lol

Finally Fae admits that she only brought back Pah for the inheritance, she said I only got a house and business from the family.

I seriously want to know what's gonna trigger Fah's memories on the island..

ahhaah Now sister tells Fah that she's pregnant.

Fah being in the hospital she started to have more vivid dreams about the time she spend on the island now she actually saw Saichon's face

Now Charles / Saichon finds the friend from the min island with her help he learnt the truth about Fah, that she really doesn't remember anything.

Now he feels guilty of what he had done to Fah

Now he  know it's because of Yasa, because he was so angry and that anger blinded him that much that he couldn't see the truth.

Now the sister Fae hid Fah somewhere and forcing Charles to marry her that's how she'll tell him where Fah is.

Finally doctor is revealing the truth to Fah, that the guy who claimed to be her husband is hired by Fae, she's not pregnant, and Charles was formerly Saichon from the island, he and the girl Nag Fang got married, NF sister send men to take her away and that NF is you Fah.

Fah is in shock can't believe what doc is saying,  but also the other girl from the island confirmed what doctor said.  Doc said after she came back from the island she cried so much to go back to island, no matter what treatment I gave you, your condition didn't get any better.  So Prae & I decided to give you electroshock therapy and when you woke up all your memories of the island are gone.  When she asked why none told me about this? Doc said because Yasa the evil friend told us your husband is a bad person so I & Prae hid it from you.

Doc says Charles never had an affair with Prae, it was all Prae's lies. He adds that Prae forces Charles to get married to trade with your safety.

Let's see what'll happen when two sisters face each other.

Now Fae says I stake your life in order to marry Charles, that wrench asks her sister Fah go give C to her..

Charles is taking Fah to the island so she could remmeber everything.  I bet it'll be the last minute right!!

When they are arriving to the island she saw the beach hut that she dreamt of.

She started ask questions to Charles like where did they get married, I guess it's a start.

Hhaha Charles told her when she was not conscious she used to behave like a kid, she used to bath naked with him, and wants to sleep with him haah

Now she can't believe what she has done at that time : p

Now the evil sista has got no one left and she goes to the doc fiance again....

Again evil 받받받받받😠 👿 sista played her game and learnt where Charles & F is.

Charles called the doc said Fae used Yasa to kidnap F..

Doc went to Fae's house and told her that you again used to me learn where C & F is and again sister acted like she doesn't know anything

But doctor waited all day at her doorstep and in the morning he drive off and wait Fae to drive where she's hiding Fah

Doc followed her and find where they are keeping her, he called Charles, he also arrived to the palace where they are keeping F, and his secretary calls the police.

While fighting with Yasa Charles accidentally shoots Yasa, and Yasa shoots Fah, he tries to shoot police officers, but police officers takes him down...

Well end of ep 20 she still has no memories. I call it her memories not gonna come back unless if we have a last minute surprise

Fah is hospitalized but docs wanted them to mentally prepare themselves for the worst.  Charles is crying by her bedside, telling her not to leave him...

Evil sista visits ma & dad's grave asks for forgiveness...

Charles quite sharp though when it comes to others, he understood that his secretary has a crush on the cuz lol..

So secretary goes to tell his love to the cuz but words doesn't come out of his mouth..  but he finally managed.  The aunt accepted him and asked him to come inside to have some water lol.

Fah still unconscious in the hospital

While she's sleeping lots of things happening in drama world, C's friend from the island pursuing the guy who has a crush on Fah, secretary is dating cuz  😸😸😸😸

When Fah wakes up she finds Charles, hugging her in bed. Her sister asks for forgiveness, and gets it!! 💢💢💢💢

Charles is still worried that F not gonna remmeber him, but doc said take it easy..

F finally discharged from hospital and wants to go to sea, where their love started, she's been taken there by doc and sis.

Doc offers to Prae to help Fah to remmeber her times on the island, as Charles might lose his patience

Charles found F and he asked why did you run away from me again.

Well she still doesn't remember anything, but she is wearing the necklace, Charles said I don't care if you remember me or not, we can make new memories, he asks if she loves him, and her answer is can't he see if she loves him or not 💓💓💓

🏩🏩🏩💓💓💓💑💑💑💑💑💗💗💗💖💖💖💝💝💝💞💞💞💞💕💕💕

She pointed the necklace and he's a happy 🐰🐰🐰🐰

so at the end she promised that she'll never run away from him even for a day...

Mint is a good actress but they always put her as the evil friend, crazy girl who is inlove with the main girl's boy etc etc when she was playing with Yaya & Kim, I think after this time if they make her good friend in any of Kim & Yaya drama, we wouldn't really believe her character.

But she has some other dramas she's playing the good girl as a 2nd - 3rd female lead.

If you want to watch the drama

You can either watch it

here 

 the resolution is really low on this link but you'll get the watch it full w/o being divided into parts, sorry the vids were removed on the other site.

*I can't use my own photos as the resolution was really low*