#+ how you got hold of me in the middle of combat is a mystery I'll solve when I'm not in an active warzone

[msmc-796-official]

//UNKNOWN OMNINET CONNECTION DETECTED, ANALYSING

[Howdy!]

[INDIGO here, just wanted to ask a question]

[have you ever had any dealings with a group called…]

[OMDI?]

[CONNECTION ESTABLISHED; BEGIN TRANSMISSION]

yo, wait, how did you- ah fuck it, nevermind, probably some new HORUS shit. I'm about to get my ass beat, so I might as well take this call while the other gals are busy also trying not to die

to answer the question: no, we haven't dealt with OMDI. I've heard of 'em before - doubt the others have. ain't those the fucks that tried to dismantle HORUS from the inside or some shit? the same ones who slap skulls on all their mechs like some kinda old Cradle edgelord? those ones, right?

also, follow-up, since P will be on my ass if I don't get some clarification - why do you ask? you got a business proposal, or do you need 'em gone? because in either case, we're a bit busy right no-

[transmission picks up scattered gunfire]

-SHIT! okay, yeah, not now. we'll talk more later, Indigo. after we're done beating CMC's ass. (or they beat ours, whichever comes first)

[END TRANSMISSION]

-- Slipshod

[ladykailitha]

The Magic of Christmas Part 4/8

Hello! How are you guys enjoying so far?

In this Steve realizes his feelings, Dustin and Robin decide Steve needs to live forever, and Steve gets roped into something he swore he'd never do.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

***

August was fucking miserable. Like the worst month of the year. After February. And January. And September...

That’s besides the point. The point was that AC had kicked the bucket in the middle of the biggest heatwave.

He was going to cry. The wizard piece turned out really well. Steve had loved all the little details that he had put in it.

But the rogue was giving him trouble. It was horrific. Because rogues were silent and mysterious, but the way Steve talked about Will, he was quiet kid, a bitchy teen, and a wild adult. Trying to figure his place in the world he kinda went punk. Dyed his hair bright green. Piercings and tattoos. Ripped clothes and combat boots.

Eddie slowly sat up. Well that’s a thought. He blinked for a moment. That could actually work.

Suddenly his phone rang. He frowned at the device. No one called anymore. It was all texts and DMs and Face Time. The name that came up because there was one, another surprising thing, was Steve.

He dived for the phone and managed to answer it before it went to voicemail.

“‘Ello?” he breathed.

“Hi, Eds,” Steve greeted cheerfully.

Eds.

Fuck.

The things that little nickname did to the butterflies in his stomach.

“Hey, Stevie!” he said back. “What can I do you for?”

“That article Nancy did is making some serious headway,” Steve explained. “I was wondering if you wanted to meet me for lunch to go over the details.”

Eddie laughed. “I was about to text you, darlin’. I have an idea for the rogue I wanted to float by you. So where to, my liege?”

“Monte Cruz, the Mexican place on 7th?” Steve asked.

It was a bit pricey, but it had the best fajitas Eddie had ever had. “Sure thing. 1pm okay?”

“Let me check,” Steve replied.

Eddie could hear him call Robin and while he couldn’t hear her response, Steve’s warm ‘thank you’ meant he was free.

“That’s perfect,” Steve said. “I’ll see you then.”

“Yeah.”

They hung up and Eddie laid on the floor staring up at the ceiling, holding his phone over his chest.

Fuck!

He got up and dashed to the bathroom to shower. He felt like he was covered in slime.

*

Steve was waiting for him on the terrace, a nice cool breeze rustling his hair. And Eddie couldn’t help but fall a little bit more.

Eddie waved and was far too pleased to get Steve’s little finger wave in return.

He sat down and grinned at Steve. “How is it cooler outside then in my loft?”

“Heat rises?” Steve suggested. cocking his head to the side.

Eddie laughed. “Well it’s the only thing that rising at this point. It’s so fucking hot.”

“I thought you’re loft had air conditioning,” Steve said with a frown.

“Apparently we worked it to extinction,” Eddie said mournfully.

Steve pulled out his phone. “Are you renting or paying a mortgage? I don’t remember what all we’re paying for.”

“Sadly, we own it,” Eddie said with a heavy sigh. “Otherwise I would have harassed a landlord to get it fixed.”

Steve hummed. “All right, I’ve messaged Robin. She’ll call around and get a technician come over tomorrow. It’ll go on my card if can be fixed or if it needs to be replaced.”

Eddie leaned back in his chair. “You don’t have to do that, man.”

Steve smiled at him. “Will the excess heat hurt your paintings?”

Eddie opened and closed his mouth a couple times before he threw his arms in the air. “Yes! Of course it will.”

“Then it’s a business expense and I’ll cover it.”

“I hate you,” Eddie said, crossing his arms over his chest.

“You really, really don’t,” Steve murmured. “Now show me your idea for Will’s rogue.”

Eddie pulled out his drawing pad and flipped to the right page. He slid it over to Steve for him to see.

“Oh Eds,” Steve breathed. “It’s beautiful. He’ll love it.”

Eddie tried not to preen, but he couldn’t help it. “So I can go ahead and start painting?”

“Absolutely,” he replied. “Though maybe wait until after your cooler is fixed.”

Eddie threw his head back laughed. “I think you’re probably right.” He gently took the pad from Steve’s grip. “So what’s going on with the charity?”

Steve lit up. He started explaining about all the people interested opening would basically be franchises but that Eddie would still have full control of each branch.

“This is amazing, Stevie,” Eddie breathed. “I can’t thank you enough.”

“I’m happy to help,” Steve said with a grin. “It means that I get drive Dustin absolutely nuts with this whole charity thing. He’s been begging me forever to meet you.”

“I mean, you can invite him to one of our reeducation of Steve Harrington movie nights,” Eddie said, shoving his hair in his face bashfully. “If you wanted to.”

Steve smiled fondly. “That’s sweet of you. But I was thinking something that would absolutely flip their collective shit even more than a movie night. A Halloween one-shot.”

Eddie’s lips formed an O. His eyes sparkled and he grinned. “I know just the thing. It’s something my friends and I used to do in high school. You have these little half–not even half character sheets that have just the most basic of stats. The point is to die in the most epic way possible. There are rewards for stupidest death, most epic death, TPK. It’s lots of fun.”

“That sounds amazing!” Steve said. “Would you be willing to do it?”

Eddie leaned forward on the table. “On one condition.”

“Oh?”

“You join us,” he said with a grin. “You read the stats, you roll the dice, you die like a bitch, just like everyone else. You’d be on equal footing with the rest of the Party.”

“Can I think about it?” Steve asked shyly, ducking his head.

“Sure thing, big boy,” Eddie replied. “But let’s order lunch. I’m starving!”

Steve laughed. “Of course.”

*

Robin poked her head into his office and held up a leather folio. “Do you want to tell me what the hell this is?”

“Sorry,” Steve said, “I’m not Spider-man. I don’t have x-ray vision.”

“That’s Superman,” Robin replied with a huff, “and you’re dodging the question. You know full well what I’m talking about.”

Steve rolled his eyes. “I really, really don’t. I haven’t done any even remotely outrageous in months.”

She walked up to his desk and slammed the folio on the desk. “Steven Kevin Harrington...”

“Not my middle name,” he sneered. “You know what it is. You have seen my birth certificate way more times than I have.”

Robin laughed. “But it’s so lame, so I make up ones that sound better.”

“Whatever, Robs,” he said with a huff of his own. “What has got you so twisted this time?”

She opened the folio and turned it around to face him. “You booked the Newfield for New Year’s eve.”

Steve smiled widely at her. “I told you I was going to. It’s hardly my fault you were making goo-goo eyes at Eddie’s agent at the time.”

Robin gasped. “I was not!” He raised a single eyebrow and she folded. “Yeah, all right, maybe.”

Steve sat up in his chair and scooted closer to her. “Look, before you start throwing accusations around about feelings and thinking with my dick, it’s for the charity. You know, the one we’re working on right now.”

Robin glared at him. “So it has nothing to do with him making goo-goo eyes at you?”

“He’s not!” he protested. “There’s no way. He can have anyone he wants, he’s not going to go for a stuffed shirt like me.”

Robin raised both her eyebrows. “You can’t actually believe that.”

“You saw his most recent video right?” Steve snapped. “The one where he ranted about how greedy businessmen destroying the environment?”

“Uh...” she said, “you mean the one where he especially called out billionaire businessmen and how smaller companies can change the face of the industry and then went on to list ten things that CEOs can do to change the world and all of them were things you did with Starcourt Ltd. That one?”

Steve blushed. “I guess I didn’t realize.”

“Look,” Robin said sitting down in one of the chairs, “I was wrong about a lot of things when you first hired Eddie for this job. About him, about you and your motives. So I get why you can’t take my advice on this, but he likes you. And more than just a friend.”

He ducked his head as the blush spread from his cheeks to the tips of his ears down the column of the throat. “Don’t go there, please.”

Robin held her hands up in surrender. “I won’t if you don’t want me to. All I’m saying is that if you think you’re falling for him, too…just know he probably feels the same.”

Steve licked his lips. “Yeah, okay.” Then he suddenly buried his head in his hands. “Fuck, I have to make a phone call.”

She raised an eyebrow.

He lifted his head and sighed heavily. “Looks like I’m going to be playing D&D after all.”

She laughed and laughed as Steve buried his head again.

The kids were never going to let him live this down.

*

“You’re sending my off for my last year as undergrad,” Dustin whined, “and you’re making me come back for fall break? Why?”

Steve was getting tired of this question. The only people who knew about Eddie DMing for them was Steve, Robin, and Eddie. And probably Chrissy. Oh and Claudia Henderson, Dustin’s mom. Which meant that all the other moms knew too.

All right, the conspiracy was bigger than Steve thought.

“Because it is your last year,” he said with a sigh. “You’ll be heading off to MIT next year and it’ll be harder for you to come home for the holidays.”

Dustin deflated. “Yeah, okay. So everyone will be home for Halloween?”

Steve brightened up. “Yep! I’m throwing a costume party with pizza and if you guys aren’t shitheads about it, I might even front for a wet bar.”

Dustin frowned. “What the fuck is a wet bar?”

Robin who had just come home, smacked him on the back of his head, knocking off his hat. “It means there will be booze, doofus.”

Dustin who had been about to yell at her for knocking off his hat, turned to Steve instead. “Seriously?”

“Yup! I’ve okay’ed it with all the parental units,” he said, “and I keep an eye on your intake to make sure you don’t get sick, they’re fine with it.”

Dustin launched himself at him and hugged him tight. “You’re the best, Steve!”

“There won’t be beer,” Steve warned. “It’s not the best drink to get started drinking on and bottles tend to hide how much you’ve been drinking.”

“Are they going to be spooky themed drinks?” Dustin asked.

Steve laughed. “Hell yeah, they are.” He ruffled Dustin’s hair. “Now go finish packing. I’m not going to let your mom do it for you this year. You’re an adult. Act like it.”

Dustin rolled his eyes. “God, you’re more mom like then my actual mom.”

Steve laughed. “If I got insulted every time one of you called me mom, I would’ve died of a heart attack years ago.”

Dustin hit him on the arm. “No talks of dying. You aren’t allowed. You have to live forever.”

Robin laughed. “Sure, just got to find that elixir of life somewhere.”

“Or the fountain of youth,” Dustin helpfully supplied.

“You could always invent something,” Steve suggested.

Dustin’s eyes lit up. “That’s a great idea!” He dashed off excitedly.

“Pack first!”

Robin laughed.

***

Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8

@spectrum-spectre @estrellami-1 @zerokrox-blog @artiststarme @swimmingbirdrunningrock @gregre369 @pyrohonk ​@a-little-unsteddie @chaosgremlinmunson @chaoticlovingdreamer @maya-custodios-dionach @goodolefashionedloverboi @messrs-weasley @val-from-lawrence @i-must-potato @danili666 @carlyv @rozzieroos @wonderland-girl143-blog @justforthedead89 @emly03 @bookworm0690 @itsall-taken @vecnuthy @bookbinderbitch @redfreckledwolf @littlewildflowerkitten @yikes-a-bee @awkwardgravity1 @scheodingers-muppet @mira-jadeamethyst @cinnamon-mushroomabomination @genderless-spoon @anne-bennett-cosplayer @irregular-child @carlprocastinator1000 @mogami13 @samsoble

[apainintheasgardiansoul]

Nah, I don't think he needs to be defended. After all, fictional characters are not everyone's cup of tea.

But then, if you wonder why is he sweeping here, maybe you should also ask the people who keep him pretty much always top 5 in the official Naruto polls throughout the years.

In my case, I started watching Naruto waay after the show first aired. The impression I got from Kakashi at that time was of him being a savage moody dude who gave zero fucks and also was sarcastic, plus, that spiky hair gave me punk vibes.

But he's the kind of character that you start liking once you realize he's kinda relatable, especially when you grow up and become a victim of the system. (x)

"But he's always wearing a mask." Well, he has to because he's a ninja and that's what ninjas actually did to keep their identity hidden at all costs? Honestly idk how other characters in the story managed to survive and avoid being a target wearing those bright colors in the middle of the forest while their faces can be recognized in plain sight, lol.

Speaking of ninja stuff, the man is well known for being a skilled tactician able to hold a one-on-one combat while just using a damn kunai, that shit is insane.

The dude ain't a nobody.. in the manga/anime you often see Kakashi being acknowledged through the five lands, even by his adversaries (He's basically Mr. Worldwide) The mask is not the only thing that makes him mysterious (eventually we get to see his face) but also his backstory, which turns out to be a tragic one and that's where you realize why he behaves the way he does.

He was the gifted arrogant kid who ended up being a burnout with unhealthy coping mechanisms after losing his family, accidentally killing his friend (an event that gave him ptsd and permanent nightmares), losing his other teammate during the war while still being a kid and whose last will was to give him his eye (that red eye with powers) since kakashi was badly injured after trying to protect him.

Then he becomes this lethal killing "Machine" with no feelings who avoided any kind of human interaction cause he felt kinda cursed and only wanted to die, but that wish wasn't granted (yet) and he ends up becoming a teacher, which wasn't actually his thing but he tried to do his best. Funny thing, his students (lovingly called gremlins by some fans) are no ordinary kids since two of them are reincarnations of overpowered ancient aliens and he has to make sure these kids don't get killed or, in fact, end up killing each other. All this while he's still fighting his own inner demons, existencial crisis and depression.

If u wanna talk about just looks, sure there are silver/white haired characters with more elaborated designs, but the fact that the guy can show emotions with just one eye is just 👌🏻😆

Then u have the "rolled up sleeves and skull t-shirt"

the slutty fingerless gloves and sitting like a whore thingy..

His inner sailor scout dramatically showing during battle:

Not to mention his favorite way of attacking opponents:

Men in a uniform with a scar in one eye and also a tattoo might be a cliché but it never fails. He could have been given the 'Mappa treatment' like Gojo and show up like this:

But I like my man looking deranged

There's nothing like preferring comfy clothes after a long day of work and we know that

Kakashi could be your sugar daddy since he's actually a millionaire. The man went through all military/ninja ranks and did lots of missions which obviously they get well paid for. However, he's not the kind of greedy guy with lust for power, he actually kinda likes to avoid responsibilities (he never aspired to become hokage/president, he just accepted because of Naruto and Obito and, while being at that position, he made considerable changes that benefited the people and improved the village) In fact, he keeps things simple as he doesn't like to be adressed with honorary titles.

There's also part of the Naruto fandom who accuse Kakashi of being a "bootlicker" but that's not the case since he also stood up for what he considered was right and never sided with corrupted characters like Danzou, the council and others, which made him a trust-worthy person who actually listened to those around him. Of course, he's not perfect and we can see his flaws and mistakes and that's why he's also considered one of Naruto's best written characters. As for the wet dog thing... It's mostly fanon pov just like the little meow meow term, but he has dogs and he cares for them (look at their tiny cute clothes, lol.)

Also that misconception of the character being a hopeless mess... He's disciplined and organized, and also a good cook.

Bonus: It is canon that Kakashi is packin' 🍆

He didn't have a canon partner or relationship, which gives fans the opportunity to play and write/draw him as aro or even ace.

He can also be straight, gay, bi, or poly depending on the mood of the show 😆:

Or maybe he just retired and married Gai:

But he ain't a perv like some people in the notes are saying.. Kakashi definitely knows about consent:

He reads a book of which we never get to know the full content, but it is assumed to be smut, perhaps fluffy stuff with a touch of kinky, who knows. And thank God NO ONE here in tumblr likes reading such thing or even any other kind of fanfiction.

The scene of him being given spoilers by his students during the test is just to show that goofy silly side of him as he can also be sometimes a troll, a prankster, a smooth talker or a badass who ain't fucking around.

He goes out in public with the book, but never reads or shows the content to his students or kids, which is the equivalent of listening to 18+ asmr with headphones in the bus or reading ao3 in a cafe silently on your own.

Who wouldn't want to escape reality through books after being crucified, stayed in coma, die and come back to life, also see your long lost childhood dead friend come back to life and then have a panick attack about it and trying not to lose your sanity and stay positive?

He just wants to take some rest, leave him alone.

He's for many the og, meme material, first anime crush, relatable character, minecraft character design inspo, he's, he's..

Okay, Naruto fans. Please explain how the one character that keeps sweeping in your polls has pathetic wet dog energy, and I'm talking about Kakashi. Now, I must confess the only episode of Naruto I watched was Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura trying to steal bells from Kakashi. They managed to steal the bells only because Naruto stole his book and read the last few pages, which it was heavily insinuated that the book was erotica and spoiled the ending for Kakashi, and he had a full-on meltdown. So again, pathetic wet dog energy. Is it the mask, and you guys find him all mysterious or something? Or is he actually competent at his job, and I just got a bad episode? I would like to know because he's on the same level as Gojo with me. It's just like a generic anime white-haired dude. So, I would genuinely like to understand why you guys love him so much

Defend Your Blurbo #5

Please remember this post is about curiosity and genuine fandom discourse. Be kind with your answers because this is not a debate essay, this is a discussion between fans.

Most of you should at least have some idea who Kakashi is. I know there are many opinions about my various photo choices because I've gone through several. After all, people keep sending me different ones.

But I think the anon is forgetting about the scar and the red Sharingan eye which I think a lot of people find attractive

So, Naruto fandom defend your blorbo

[quoteablebooks]

Genre: Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Romance

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Content Warnings:  War, Death of parent, Death, Alcoholism, Blood, Grief, Sexual content  

Summary:

When two young rival journalists find love through a magical connection, they must face the depths of hell, in a war among gods, to seal their fate forever. After centuries of sleep, the gods are warring again. But eighteen-year-old Iris Winnow just wants to hold her family together. Her mother is suffering from addiction and her brother is missing from the front lines. Her best bet is to win the columnist promotion at the Oath Gazette. To combat her worries, Iris writes letters to her brother and slips them beneath her wardrobe door, where they vanish—into the hands of Roman Kitt, her cold and handsome rival at the paper. When he anonymously writes Iris back, the two of them forge a connection that will follow Iris all the way to the front lines of battle: for her brother, the fate of mankind, and love. Shadow and Bone meets Lore in Rebecca Ross's Divine Rivals, an epic enemies-to-lovers fantasy novel filled with hope and heartbreak, and the unparalleled power of love.

*Opinions*

After being burned by the last popular book that I got out of the library, I went into this story with a bit of hesitation. There was also the added concern that this was a Young Adult novel and I am out of that demographic by more years than I would like to state. Still, magical typewriters, the looming threat of a war between Gods, and an enemy-to-lovers dynamic had me intrigued enough to place a hold. I am glad I did. 

Divine Rivals follows Iris Winnow as she attempts to keep her life from falling apart and get a columnist job at the most-read paper in the city of Oath. Her brother is away at war and her mother is not taking his absences well. Still, Iris has a natural talent and is consistently competing with Roman Kitt, including for the columnist position. When Iris’s life takes an unexpected turn, she enlists as a war correspondent to go to the front lines and report on the war to those who are so far from the front lines. During all of this, she is getting mysterious letters from a writer, ones that seem to be sent to her via magic that is almost gone from the world. When Roman also arrives at the front lines as well, Iris has to manage her growing fondness for her mysterious writer and Roman who no longer seems like the rival he had always been back home. 

My first criticism is that I don’t really think this is an enemies-to-lovers story. I know that trope is used to encompass a whole spectrum of relationships, but there was never any real animosity between Roman and Iris. They were rivals (peek the title) but it was obvious there was a care between the two of them even before their relationship changed. Still, I enjoyed the progress of their relationship and the push and pull that Iris feels between Roman and her magical correspondent. Getting into spoilers now if you’ve come this far for some reason and don’t want a huge plot point, leave now. The biggest part of this novel that let me go “You are an old lady” is the way that I did not like the fact that they got married. As a teenager that would have had me swooning, but I was sitting there going “You are eighteen and nineteen in the middle of a way, what ARE you doing? And why are the adults OKAY WITH THIS.” It wasn’t something that lowered my enjoyment of the story but made it obvious I am out of the target demographic. 

I do appreciate how gruesome and devastating Ross portrayed war. In the Acknowledgments, Ross states that she studied World War I trench warfare, which is obvious in the narrative. The story focuses on the human element of the war, the lives of those who are fighting, and those who are left at home to worry and wait. I think that the portrayal of Forest was especially heartbreaking. I also think that Ross keeps the tone of the novel from becoming too dark or heavy, but never takes away from the weight of the death and destruction that is happening on the front lines. I enjoyed how information about the Gods at the center of this war had been turned into myth to make the mortals feel better. The Gods relationship also had a rather Hades and Persephone quality to it, from what has been told in this first book, though far more antagonistic.  

This is rather a short review for me, but even though I enjoyed this novel I don’t have a lot to say about it. It was an enjoyable read and a good story, and I am interested in picking up the sequel this winter. There are heavy themes mentioned, but it keeps a tone that doesn’t weigh too heavily on the heart. Grief and love are beautifully displayed as well as love and hope are powerful. Still, I only finished a couple of days ago and I am already forgetting some of the novel. I am going to give it a 3.5 rounded up to a four on Goodreads. 

[darkacademicfrom2021]

The Dark Team (part 8)

<<Previous part Masterlist   Next part>>

Join the taglist in here (Taglist: @lucywrites02, @louieboo87, @the-departed-potato, @jesuswasnotawhiteman)

Warnings: violence, near death experience, suicidal consideration.

With all the information you needed in your head, you ran up to the hotel room. Loki and Bucky were wandering around the neighborhood, handling the “incognito” part of the mission very poorly. But you’d be soon back with them, you just needed to grab the suits, some more information and a scribbled map, and you’d be back on the streets, fighting criminals or… whatever the Hell those two were doing.

It was just a matter of time until you finally got the stick. What did it have that Tony Stark feared so much to be in the wrong hands, you would never know. Unless you grabbed the stick before giving it to him and found out yourself, of course (but no, that would be irresponsible, an invasion, all levels of illegal and probably would result in getting you in jail, or maybe even assassinated).

It sounded good, though.

After what felt like a thousand stairs later, you finally arrived at your room. Grabbing the doorknob while inserting the key, you realized it was already open. You stopped. Was anyone in there? You weren’t the last one to come out that morning, so you weren’t sure you closed it well. Bucky was; and he was generally distracted on those details. He would sleep on them because he can take anyone, he’s a supersoldier, after all.

You didn’t let go of the doorknob, and opened very carefully as to not make any noise. Damn, if I just had my gun with myself this would be much easier, you thought for the hundredth time on the mission. You made a mental note on not leaving the room without a gun ever again.

If it wasn’t bad enough, you didn’t bring any communicators with your teammates on. What for? The last part of the mission was done with all of you together. It made sense you’d sleep on it too.

You stopped the self-loathing on your last few decisions and thought about who or what could be on the other side of the door. It couldn’t be someone who wanted the information you’d already collected, because you informed absolutely no one about it. Not even Stark. And you had made sure nobody followed you or heard your steps. So, it had to be someone from the Hydra base. Someone who would think you had the stick with yourself, and wanted it back.

Basing your actions on that speculation, you calculated the time and risks to get to your gun and suit before you’d get attacked, if the agent was still in there. You could only assume it was an agent. What else would Hydra have, in the middle of 2021?

Alright, you thought. Maybe it’s empty already. I only get one chance.

You slammed open the door and ran to your suit and gun as fast as you could, suiting up with a button, and, in a matter of seconds, you were against a wall with your Beretta 92 pointing at whoever could come and attack you.

Silence and adrenaline filled the room. You looked around, and nothing moved. Not a single sound. Not even a fly.

“Whoever’s here, I don’t have it. I swear, I don’t have it”, you said, still with your gun up. “And I don’t know who has it, yet”.

No answer. You looked around a little, opening some doors and looking under the beds, but it really seemed like you were alone now. Someone had definitely been there; your papers were all disorganized and some chairs were on the floor. The window had a gunshot. But whoever went there, saw there was nothing they wanted and left, not long ago. Maybe you could even seek them with the street cameras.

You walked to the window and traced the gunshot with your fingertips. You recognized the bullet; Bucky had used them before, as the Winter Soldier. Looking outside you recognized in the distance, about three blocks away, the unmistakable figures of your teammates.

A cocking gun in your nape brought you back to the room. You didn’t turn around just yet, waiting for some talking (they usually talk, they don’t want you dead; they rather want your information. Quite difficult to take from if you won’t be able to answer). After some more silence, you turned around violently and tried to kick the (huge, even bigger than Thor) man’s gun off. Instead, he grabbed your leg and pushed you to the floor.

Maybe you weren’t exactly awesome when it came to hand-in-hand combat, alright?

Pointing your gun at him from the floor, you tried to get up, and as soon as you felt him get closer to grab your gun, you shot. You made sure to not actually shoot him; just close enough for him to think you were going to shoot him if he got close. He didn’t get fazed at the shot; didn’t flinch, didn’t even blink. Instead, grabbed your gun and bent it as if it were melted plastic.

Holy fucking shit.

Good news were, now you knew what exactly was in that stick. Bad news, it was already in the wrong hands.

“Chemistry works in mysterious ways, doesn’t it, fella?”, you asked the supersoldier standing in front of you. “When did they serum-ed you? You might be experiencing some side effects”, you chatted, waiting for your teammates, hoping they’d walk a little bit faster. Hopefully, they’d heard the shooting and realized you were in trouble. They didn’t know exactly how much trouble you were in, though.

“You do realize the more you talk, the faster I’ll have to kill you, right?” said he, finally.

“What’s your name? Can’t see you with your weird mask on” you said, standing up slowly. “Let me guess… you must be familiar with James, right?”.

The supersoldier blinked in confusion, and charged his gun, pointing it directly at your forehead.

“You have exactly ten seconds to tell me how you know about James. Ten”.

“Must be a very difficult experience”.

“Nine”.

“To be so close, yet so far away”.

“Eight”.

“You know, it’d do you wonders some therapy maybe. To process the whole James thing”.

“Seven”.

“You sound like Monica Geller”.

“Six”.

“You’ll get bored of counting, eventually”.

“Five”.

“Alright, pack it up”.

“Four”.

You sighed and rolled your eyes.

“Three”.

“I don’t know anything about that James, it was a wild guess. Everyone is called James these days”, you explained. He stopped counting but pressed the gun harder against your head.

“Quit the mocking. Give me the stick and I’ll let you live”.

“There’s no way you’re letting me live. I already know Hydra has some more supersoldiers, and I guess the thing in the stick is the formula, isn’t it? Give me the secret formula, spongebob, right?”. The man realized you were just making time, and tried to grab your wrists. “Took you long enough to notice. Soldiers are not the brightest, let me tell you”.

As he tried to lock your wrists, you used all your body weight to push him out of the window. Terrible idea. He was at least five times stronger, and instead of your original plan, the one getting thrown off a nine-floor window now were you.

Bucky and Loki were a block away, and all they saw was a tiny speck on the sky, getting rapidly closer to the street. It didn’t take them much thinking until they realized that speck was you, flying off the hotel room. Loki took impulse and teleported himself as fast as he could to the nearest floor you were currently passing, and grasped your arm and hand with his both hands, holding himself with only his legs from a balcony.

Hanging from just one arm, with seven tall floors behind your feet, you tried your best to not look down. Oh, heights weren’t your best friend, much less the possibility of a bad movement and instantly dying right there. You could only think in how lucky you were your teammate had quick reflexes, and how idiotic you were to think you could’ve possibly taken that man by your own. He bent your gun with his bare hands, for God’s sake. You looked down, and saw the supersoldier already fighting with Bucky on the streets. Your face turned even paler as you observed how tall you were. Everything was tiny below you.

“Look at me”, said Loki, with a calm voice. You redirected your gaze to him. His eyes. There was a glimpse in his eyes, showing something. Your own emotions weren’t allowing you to actually concentrate on his face expressions, anyways. He sensed it, and repeated. “Look at me, don’t look down. I’m here”.

You met his eyes once again and this time you didn’t leave them. There it was. His eyes irradiated pure and raw panic. Fear. No, not even fear; terror. What was he terrified of? Terror of losing you? Why would he care so much? Why would he care that deeply? It didn’t matter now, for you were definitely dying. His grip was strong, but your hand was starting to numb and you were losing strength. You were dizzy and sweating, frightened. He gripped harder and it pained you.

“Hold on to me. Do not let go, I'm here”, he said. His words were tranquil and reassuring, trying to keep it as undisturbed as he could, but a drop of desperation cracked his voice. “Hold strong, I’m lifting you up”.

“Don’t. You’ll fall down. You can’t take this height either” you said without hiding your dread. Your tight throat did the job and your eyes watered. That was it, you thought. And it was. There was no way Loki could lift you without him falling down too. And even if there was a possibility, why would he risk his long and meaningful life for the sake of yours? “Let me go, Loki”.

“I’m not letting you go”.

“You’ll die”.

“No, and you won’t either. Hold onto my grip”, he assured you without leaving any room for discussion, trying to lift your body and almost tripping in the process. He gasped and you left out a whine.

“Loki”.

“Stop it, I’m not letting you go”, he said, less calm than he’d have liked to. “I’m not letting you go”, he repeated, almost in a whisper.

In a struggle, he brought you into the balcony he was hanging from. Your legs were shaking, as you laid on the marble floor by his side. Both of you breathless, looked at each other without saying a word. After a brief moment, you took his hand and squeezed it gently, not ever breaking eye contact.

“You saved me. Thank you”.

[supernoonanyc]

Pairing: Yoongi and OC

Rating: G, just a sweet fluffy meet-cute

Word Count: 959

"Welcome to Art Box" a female voice said from somewhere in the store as we walked in.

"Tae, why are we here? We could've just ordered what we needed online"

He looked at me and rolled his eyes, "No, this is an experience. Plus they can help us get exactly what we need."

I followed him towards the back of the store, wide wood counters made a huge square in the middle of the store. Cash registers and huge catalogs were neatly placed in the center.

"Tali!" Tae yelled.

"Tae! Welcome back!" a voice like warm honey yelled back.

"Where are you?"

"Hold on!"

A pair of slim denim-clad legs came into view, feet covered by combat boots. The top half was obstructed by thick paper swatch books.

We both ran to relieve the mystery person of their burden.

"Thank you!"

I was stuck. In front of me was a literal angel. My brain scrambled to commit all her features to memory.

Wide brown eyes.

Freckles.

Top lip bigger than lower lip.

Mole near her right eye and on her neck.

Hair covered by a scarf.

Almost as tall as me.

"Hello? Yoongi-hyung? Hello?!" Tae's voice snapped me back into reality.

"Huh?"

He gave me a smirk.

"I wanted to introduce you to Tali! She owns Art Box!"

I pivoted my body towards her and waved.

"Tali, this is my friend Yoongi."

She waved back and we gave each other small bows. I discreetly stared at her as she went behind the counter and shelved the sample books.

"So what can I help you with?" She asked, folding her hands and placing them on the counter.

"Well I need a new liner brush and he needs paint."

She looked at me and I felt my ears get red.

"Do you know what kind of paint?"

"Blue" I blurted out.

Tae snickered and she gave me a confused face.

"Blue?" Her lips puckered as she said the word.

I nodded.

"What shade of blue? What medium?" She raised her eyebrows.

Tae slapped my shoulder, "I'm going to go look at brushes" he announced as he walked away leaving us alone. She took an apron off a hook and put it on. Tying the belt around her waist, she gestured for me to follow her.

"Do you know what shade of blue you are looking for?" She asked as we walked toward the paint section. There weren't many people in the shop, and it had a quiet energy with wood shelves and windows letting in the light.

"Shade?" My brain had run away.

"Yes, like do you want a dark blue or a lighter shade? More purple or green?"

"Um dark, like navy"

She nodded. We stopped in front of a rack with hundreds of tubes of paint.

"Acrylic or Oil?"

I scratched my neck, "I don't know?" I said sheepishly.

She let out a small laugh, "I'm going to say acrylic, it's easier to clean up"

I nodded. We shifted over to the end of the aisle. The wooden floor creaking as we stood shoulder to shoulder. I jumped as she turned towards me.

"How big is your canvas?"

I put my hand above my head. Then I spread my arms out.

"That big"

Her eyes got big, I could see the golden flecks near her pupil. They were the same color as her freckles.

"That's a lot of blue" she mumbled. "So for that I'm going to recommend you do a custom batch. We make it here and you can buy as much as you need. We will also save the formula in case you need more. Sometimes the colors won't match in commercial tubes."

I just nodded. She gave me a small smile as she walked passed me, the smell of her perfume wafting to my nose. I followed her back to the counter. She pulled out a paint swatch book from behind the counter and stood next to me.

"So here are all the shades of blue we have. But we can also mix if you want something more custom." I watched her hands as she pointed to the paint swatches. Her hands were small but elegant, covered in paint and ink marks. A small tattoo of a paint brush ran along the side of her index finger and a crescent moon was on her pinky.

She looked at me and smiled. I stared at her and saw her blush and look away.

"So...what shade do you want?" She asked.

"Oh, um…" I looked down and pointed to a midnight blue shade, "this one?"

"This shade is only this dark three coats in, one coat is more like this one." She pointed to a rich peacock blue, "Is that okay?"

I nodded and she nodded back. She pulled an order form to her and started to fill it in.

"Phone number?" She asked.

"Huh?"

"I need your number, to call you when your paint is ready for pickup"

I felt my ears get hot. I took the pen and filled out my name and number, making sure to write it super neatly.

"Min Yoongi?" She said.

I nodded, liking how she said my name.

"Okay, so I will call you when it's ready to pick up, about 2 days"

Tae walked over, about 10 brushes in his hands.

"Tali, I'm ready to pay"

She took the brushes from him and rang him up.

"Have a good day!" She said, "See you soon!"

As we walked out the store, I looked back and caught her staring, chin in hand. She popped up and blushed bright red. I smiled as she rolled her eyes. I made the ‘call me’ gesture and she laughed.

"See you in two days!"

[autumnsart22]

Flower Shop: Giyu Tomioka x reader

Wow I didn’t mean for this to end up so angsty  😭😭😭 Enjoy I guess?

Artwork I did recently 🤪Follow my Tik Tok @ autumnsart2 for more!

1 and a half years ago: 

Giyu Tamioka stood at the entrance to a medium sized village, watching as carts and horses moved past on the dirt road leading into the main square. It was market day, and the sky was perfectly clear, meaning that the town was packed with villagers and travellers looking to exchange goods and stories. 

As a new member of the Demon Slayer corps, Giyu had been given the simple task of tracking down a demon terrorizing a village a few days ride from him, and he had travelled all night in an effort to reach the town faster. But unfortunately now he was exhausted, and he wasn’t sure he could travel any farther even if he pushed himself. It would do more harm than good anyway. 

Which is how the demon slayer found himself at the center of the village, searching for a cheap food stand and a place to spend the night. Most of the villagers recognized a new traveller when they saw one, trying to trick him out of his money by overcharging for goods that were worth far less. 

Giyu was in the middle of haggling with an older woman over the price of a pear when he heard the sound of bright laughter across the square. He had never heard a lovelier sound. 

Immediately, his head whipped up and he searched you out in the crowd, his eyes resting on your face the moment he spotted you. Ever since he had begun his battle against the demons, he hadn’t been able to find it in himself to smile, let alone laugh. But you were so pretty, even as you hunched over, clutching your stomach and wheezing. 

“Never mind,” Giyu said to the owner of the pear, turning away and striding off without looking at her. He wasn’t exactly sure what he was doing as he circled the square and headed towards your booth, which was a flower stand. 

This isn’t part of the mission, he wanted to yell at himself, but the voice immediately went silent as you met his eyes. 

“Hello, how can I help you today?” You asked, smiling brightly at the strange, handsome man. 

“I’m looking to buy some flowers.” He was not in fact looking to buy some flowers, and he knew he shouldn’t waste his precious coins on something so useless. But your eyes brightened, and you immediately began to assess the buds as you searched for something he would like. 

“Is it for a lover? Wife?” You asked, glancing at him. 

“No.” Giyu responded a little too quickly. “My...mother.” 

Your eyes flickered over him, eyebrows going up as you noticed the hilt of his sword peeking from beneath his coat. “You don’t seem like you’re from around here.” 

Giyu shifted, his jaw clenching as he covered the sword once again with his jacket. “I’m not.” 

You smiled slyly, resting your chin on your hands as you gazed at him. “Hmm… mysterious. I like it.” 

He blinked, surprised by your forwardness, but you were already turning away before he could respond. 

“Do you know what kind of flowers your mother likes?” 

“Erm. You can just choose your favorites.” 

Your face lit up once again, and Giyu was momentarily blinded. “That’s ok?” 

“Yes.”

You began to hum as you worked, plucking flowers from different baskets, bunching them together and expertly tying them with ribbon. As you worked, Giyu admired the delicacy of your hands, the exact opposite of his. You didn’t seem weak; your strength just seemed to lie outside of the realm of physical combat. 

“Finished,” you announced, holding up the bouquet. “Is this ok?” 

“Yes, that looks wonderful.” 

He bowed his head in thanks, before passing you a few coins and heading away hurriedly, clutching the flowers. You gazed after him, feeling slightly disappointed as he disappeared into the crowd. You had been hoping you’d get a chance to talk to him, ask him about where he was from and why he was carrying a sword with him. Oh well. 

Giyu’s heart was racing as he stopped behind a building, the flowers clasped against his chest. He shouldn’t have bought them...it was stupid. And he had acted foolishly too, practically running for it before he could really say anything to you. Idiot.

The rest of the market passed quickly, and you sold another dozen bouquets to travellers and villagers as the sun set slowly behind the thatched houses. The square emptied, and you began to pack up all your flowers and close your stand for the night, laying everything out neatly in preparation for the next day.

You raised your eyebrows as you noticed the man from earlier sitting by the fountain, still holding the flowers you gave him as he stared distantly at a stand selling Takoyaki. Was he hungry? 

You sighed, glancing at the coins you had made today, and headed for the stand. You had finished closing your shop, so you didn’t hesitate to buy a plate before heading for the fountain where the man with the sword sat. 

“Hi,” you said, smiling brightly. 

Giyu glanced at you in surprise, taken aback by your sudden appearance. “Hello.” 

“You looked hungry.” You held out the Takoyaki, and Giyu’s mouth opened slightly. 

“I...can’t accept this.” 

“Why not? You bought my flowers instead of something to eat, so it’s the least I could do.” 

He looked like he was going to protest again, but you sat down next to him and shoved the plate in his direction. “Just take them.” 

Giyu sighed, but he took the food you offered and began to eat it quietly while you surveyed him. 

“So, how long are you staying here for?” “Just the night. I’m leave in the morning.” He cleared his throat before reaching for another fried ball. 

“Where are you headed?”

“The next village over.” 

“You have business there?” 

So many questions. Giyu glanced at you, automatic suspicious rising in his mind, but all he saw in your gaze was genuine curiosity. 

“Yes,” he said finally, and you laughed. 

“Whatever you’re doing must be a secret then, huh?” You glanced at his sword, and Giyu shrugged. 

“You could say that.” 

“I’m sorry to bother you then,” you said, getting to your feet. You hadn’t meant to intrude on whatever business he had, and you figured it was probably time for you to make your leave. 

“Wait,” Giyu said, reaching out and snatching your wrist. “I’m...sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude.” 

“You weren’t! I just don’t want to infringe...” 

“It’s fine.” Giyu was cursing himself soundly in his head, wishing he knew how to make you stay, wishing he wasn’t so harsh. “Uh--” 

Without thinking, he raised the bouquet of flowers and held them out to you. “These are actually for you.” 

You blinked, surprise crossing your features before a slow smile spread across your face. “How did you know all my favorite flowers?” You said with a smirk, and Giyu crossed his arms. 

“Got lucky.” 

“Well whoever made this bouquet must be quite talented.” 

“Very much so.” 

“What happened to your mother?” 

“She...doesn’t need them.” Giyu could feel his face getting hot, even though his expression remained blank. 

You covered your mouth to muffle your snort, but Giyu still glared in embarrassment. 

“Well, thank you Mr….” You paused. 

“Giyu Tomioka.” 

“Mr. Tomioka. I’m Y/n L/n.” 

He nodded, a small smile coming to his mouth. You were taken aback by how much lighter it made his face look, and suddenly you wanted to make him smile like that all the time. 

“It’s nice to meet you Y/n. You can just call me Giyu.” 

Present: 

Giyu sprinted through the forest, the dark trees a blur around him as he made his way closer to where he could see smoke rising in the distance. He could barely think through his panic, but he forced it down down down, down into the very corners of his mind. He had fought dozens, maybe hundreds of demons in his time as a Demon Slayer, and this fight was no different. 

Except that it was.  

You were down there. 

Giyu crested the hill and felt his heart practically stop in his chest. The village he had come to love so much, where he hoped he could eventually settle down and raise a family...it was all on fire. Screams of terror floated to him on the breeze, as well as the horrible sound of crashing as buildings were torn to bits. 

Giyu forced himself to move, running down the street and ignoring the flames on either side, despite how badly he wanted to search for you in the devastated buildings.

He skidded into the main square and felt his heart drop into his toes. Bodies littered the area, illuminated in the hellish red glow from the fire. He felt his chest squeeze as he noticed a familiar cart, it’s flowers smashed and ruined across the street. 

No. No. 

He ran, scanning the bodies as he went, feeling sick at the relief that spread through him when he didn’t see your familiar hair. But the wind changed and suddenly he could feel the monster, only a hundred feet away, it’s shadow filling up the entire block. Giyu felt his heart slow as he saw you, too, terrified and trembling even as you kept your arms spread out to protect the small child cowering behind you. 

He didn’t think, only lunged. He would keep you safe, he had sworn to keep you safe. 

You had laughed at him when he had promised that, kissing him lightly before cupping his cheeks. 

I believe you, you had said. 

His sword was drawn, flying through the air faster than the wind as he jumped at the massive demon. It snarled furiously as his weapon cut through it’s arm, sending black blood spraying. You cowered, dragging the child back from the carnage as your eyes met his across the street. Terror filled them, but determination too. Fight, you seemed to whisper. 

So he did--

And yet it wasn’t enough. 

This demon was stronger than any he had faced before, and a Demon Slayer of a much higher rank was supposed to be here to face it. But when he heard it was this village in danger, he hadn’t even paused to think. He didn’t even care if he died, as long as you got away safely. 

The monster chuckled lightly, it’s red eyes blazing against the darkness of the sky and smoke. “It’s going to be fun to eat you,” it snarled, and Giyu readied his sword even as exhaustion tugged at him. 

It’s massive claw lifted to chop him in two, and suddenly he saw a flicker of movement off to the side. You held a broken piece of wood, brandishing it just like he had taught you after you had asked to learn to fight. Your form was perfect as you slammed the wood against the demon’s hand, making him roar loud enough to shake the earth, and it gave him enough time to roll out of the way. 

But then you had the demon’s full attention, and Giyu couldn’t do anything as it slammed it’s fist into your side so hard that you collided with the opposite building, not moving as debri rained down around you. 

Giyu went blind with fury and terror. 

You were fine, you were still alive. 

He blinked, and the demon’s head was rolling away like a disgusting, bloody ball. He couldn’t even remember killing it, and he didn’t care as he turned and sprinted to your side. 

You were utterly still, curling beneath a small pile of rubble as blood trickled from your temple. Giyu panted as he dragged you from the wreckage, desperately feeling along your neck, your wrist. 

“Why did you do that?” He half sobbed, entire body shaking. You didn’t answer, didn’t even breathe. 

Giyu held your head, stroking your hair, waiting for you to wake up. You would probably laugh at him, hug him tightly and tell him everything was fine. He would be able to buy you the sugary pastries you liked, and he wouldn’t bat your hand away when you poked his cheek and told him to smile more. 

“I’ll do anything you want, I’ll smile every day. Just wake up, please, please.” His voice broke. 

You didn’t, and there was no movement beneath his searching fingers. 

The golden ring meant for your finger tumbled from his pocket, and his furious screams filled the night. 

He would kill the demons, every last one.

[fific7]

Dangerous and Divine - Part 17

Billy Russo x Reader

Summary: Billy Russo is an itch you don’t want to scratch. But he’s all over you like a rash.

A/N: This does not follow canon, it’s mainly fluff & lemon zest 🍋 Hopefully you’ve guessed by now that is my “Billy Russo Deserves Real Love AU” as I totally refuse to accept what happened in S2! The GIF is from Exposed, unreleased pilot show in case you’re wondering 😌... Billy vibes.

Warnings: 18+ NSFW due to sexual content including oral and unprotected* sex between consenting adults. Some drinking & swearing.

*Irl, please don’t go wild in the country without protection.

(My GIF)

“Are you sure about that, Billy?” He laughed nervously, but replied, “Very sure, sweetheart.”

You thought that was really brave of him, considering you were holding his favourite weapon in your hand. You shrugged, “I’ll get the information out of you one way or another, Russo.”

He laughed, “You’ll need to get past all the Marine training first, sweetheart!”

You rolled his cock between your palms then gave his balls a long firm squeeze, hearing a loud groan from him. “What was that you were you saying, sweetheart?” you snarked back at him. Laughing, he gasped, “Do your worst!”

You wrapped two fingers round his tip and squeezed quite hard, eliciting a low grunt from Billy. Then you really set to work on him, using a lethal combination of your mouth and hands. You could hear him whimpering above you, but thought you’d better not risk calling him a puppy again.

“What’s this surprise, hmm Russo?” you asked, before swirling your tongue right around his tip and down onto his slit, teasing it before dragging your teeth very gently down his length. Billy thrashed on the bed, crying out and grabbing a handful of your hair, “uhhh... unnhh!!!” You were now licking his cock very slowly and deliberately; all of a sudden Billy’s hips jerked forward like a pile driver, he shouted “Fuck!!!” and came, really hard.

You daintily wiped a finger across your lips once you’d finished swallowing Billy’s come and rested your chin on his chest, giving him your version of puppydog eyes. “Aww, c’mon Billy, tell me!” You tickled his lower stomach and smiled when you saw the muscles rippling and contracting under your touch. His head was lying right back on the pillows, chin upturned towards the ceiling and you gazed fondly at his beardy neck. He was huffing out breaths and finally tilted his head down towards you, gazing at you with wide eyes.

He merely shook his head, saying nothing and still gasping. “Cat got your tongue?” you teased, remembering how he’d ribbed you for being speechless after sex. His husky voice said, “No, an angel’s got it,” smiling down at you and you stuck your tongue out at him. “Whilst that little session just blew my goddamn fuckin’ mind as well as my balls, I’m not cavin’, sweetheart,” he smirked. “You’re just gonna have to be patient.”

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

The next morning, you were gently shaken awake. You forced your eyes open, rubbing them while yawning, only to see Billy standing over you, bare naked and holding a tray. “Breakfast in bed, sweetheart,” he cooed, putting the tray down on the bedside table beside you. Trying to drag your eyes away from the view currently being presented to you, eventually you managed to stutter, “That.. uh, that’s uhh really sweet of you, Billy.”

Of course the Russo Smirk was in place, and his hands were now on his hips. He knew exactly what you were looking at, and why you were losing your words. He was putting himself on display for you like a peacock, you thought. Then your mind skipped to all those nature programmes you’d watched, where the female of the species sat on a branch and watched the males displaying themselves, before picking the best of the bunch and mating with them.

Hmmm, you thought, Mother Nature had something there - better than the humans did. Although you did take offence over the fact that the females were usually always small and dowdy and boring-looking. While they did get the pick of the males at the end of the day, you weren’t happy with that aspect of things. However, you suspected that underneath those unassuming exteriors, the females were actually done up like guest contestants on RuPaul’s Drag Race, and gave their chosen males a massive shock when they reached the bedroom (nest, hole in a tree, rainforest, whatever) and unveiled themselves in all their true splendour.

You tore your thoughts away from nature and its mysteries, and found yourself still staring at Billy’s lush body. Then you realised he was waving his hand in front of your face, “Hey! Hello! Hey, sweetheart!” You stared up at him, “Oh, uhhh, sorry - I was thinking about birds of paradise.” He burst out laughing, “Huh?” You shook your head, “I’ll explain it to you sometime. I’m not as crazy as I sound.”

He leapt full-length onto the bed beside you, bouncing you up slightly off the bed in the process. Reaching over and picking up the tray from the side, he placed it carefully on your lap. Your eyes widened in pleasure as you looked down at the plate... he’d made Eggs Benedict! “Oh my god, Billy - you didn’t!” He smiled, looking smug, “You told me it’s your favourite! Well, alongside scrambled eggs with smoked salmon. An’ I’ve already shown off my scrambled eggs to you, so here ya go... my Eggs Benedict but without the ham. Just like the lady ordered.”

You picked up the paper napkin and unfolded it, noticing that Billy had drawn a big heart on it with a little smiley face in the middle. Chuckling, you turned it towards him, “Really? Are you sure you were in the Marines, Billy Russo? A sniper? Trained in unarmed combat and still walking around with weapons concealed in every available part of your body??!!” He smiled, looking down at the tray and fiddling with the edge of it, face that cute shade of pink again.

His eyes came up and met yours again, “I know, I know!” Laughing, he carried on, “Look, angel... this is all still a bit unreal for me, okay? Spent my whole life bein’ a ‘never get involved’ kinda guy, to put it mildly - and politely.” His hand went to your face, and his thumb ran gently over your bottom lip. “Met you, an’... an’....boom! It’s like I’ve been hit by a fuckin’ grenade or sumthin’.” He laughed, “Knocked me clean out I reckon, yeah. Woke up and hey - I’m stoned in love with you. Still tryin’ to get my head round it, but it’s how I feel...” he shrugged, still stroking softly, “...maybe this is payback, y’know? Fate just thought, there’s that Billy Russo runnin’ all over town with lots of different women, let’s just teach him a lesson.”

His big dark eyes met yours, an apologetic look in them and a lock of hair falling cutely over one temple. He continued, “Let’s hit him so hard with a case of love at first sight it’ll knock him into next year, never mind next week.” His hand moved to your cheek, laying it gently against it, “And here I am. A lovesick Romeo, as a certain person put it. I’ve fallen so hard and so fast for you and it really, really scares me. I think if you left me, I... well, I think I’d die. I love you so damn much, angel.”

You were staring at him, mesmerised, as he spilled this to you. Couldn’t even get irritated at the passing mention of the Scorned Woman. Feeling your face blush, and sure you’d melted into a human puddle, you leant towards him and kissed him. With passion. He kissed you back, arm going round your neck and pulling you closer to him. You pulled away, putting your lips to his ear and whispering, “I love you, Russo.”

He reared back, a huge smile on his face, “You said it! You said ‘I love you’ to me!!!”

Still blushing, you nodded, “Uh-huh, I did.”

He grabbed you and pulled you up against his chest, and you heard a deep chuckle, “I knew pester power would work one-a these days!”

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

You’d untangled yourself from him after that, saying that your eggs were getting cold. “Hey!” he said, “.... we’re talkin’ ’bout serious stuff here, sweetheart!”

You smiled, “Food is serious to me too, y’know!” He’d shaken his head, mock-sulking, “Okay then, here we go.” Your hand went to the cutlery, but he grabbed it before you could. Then he cut into one of the poached eggs and toasted sourdough base, and you watched entranced as the egg yolk slowly ran out of it like liquid gold and mixed in with the hollandaise sauce.

He made another couple of cuts with the knife and then stuck the fork into the bit of egg he’d cut off for you, swirling it around to pick up more sauce. “Open up, sweetheart,” he grinned, a suggestive look on his face. Rolling your eyes, you did as he said, and he placed the dripping forkload carefully into your mouth. Savouring it as you chewed, you mumbled round the mouthful, “This is really good! Did you make the sauce yourself? Or did it come out of a jar?”

Billy looked outraged, “A jar!! A jar??” he growled, “No, it did not! It was made from scratch by these fair hands,” and he held up his big hands in front of you, turning them back and forward. You looked lovingly at them; you adored Billy’s long slim fingers. “Okay, Chef - sorry I’m sure!” you laughed.

You’d let Billy feed you another forkful before grabbing the knife and fork off him, and then you started cutting up and shovelling the eggs into your mouth in a rather unladylike manner. Billy looked a bit offended, and you realised you’d spoiled his little romantic moment, so you ran your fingers through his hair, saying guiltily between mouthfuls, “Too slow, sweets. They’re getting cold, plus I’m really enjoying this so I needed to speed up my intake.” A small smile played over his lips, “Okay, then.”

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

After breakfast and a nice soak in the bath together, where you absolutely didn’t give Billy a helping hand when he got a sudden and rampant hard-on (okay, yes - you did), the two of you threw on some casual clothes and went out for a walk to make the most of the sunny morning. He slid his hand into yours and interlinked fingers with you.

Billy’s place was on the Upper East Side in Lenox Hill, while you lived on the Upper West Side in the Lincoln Square neighbourhood, so you were on familiar territory as he steered you towards Central Park. Strolling through the park, no particular place to go, people-watching as you sat beside The Lake in the sun for a while. The two of you talked about a whole load of nothing before deciding to go for a late lunch in a diner Billy knew and liked back in his neighbourhood.

As you ate, you noticed that Billy was fidgeting quite a bit and kept looking at his watch. You poked him with the blunt end of your fork, “Billy!” He jumped slightly, and you carried on, “You’re fidgeting. Have you got somewhere to be or something? - you’re checking your watch every two seconds!” Not meeting your eyes, he cleared his throat while shaking his head, “Nah, angel - just keen to get back out for some sun and fresh air.” You laughed, “Well, Manhattan fresh air.” “Yeah, true,” he said, now looking at you, “...you nearly done?” “Not quite, Billy, got some beer left too.” He stroked your hand, “Oh, no rush!”

You continued to chew on your chicken wrap, watching Billy as you did so. He’d already finished his food and beer, and was still fidgety - pulling at the sleeves of his leather jacket, fiddling with his hair, moving the ketchup bottles around the table and back again.

What is wrong with that boy? you thought. He’s like the proverbial cat on a hot tin roof. Finally you finished your food and drained the last of your beer. Billy had already paid, bounding over to the counter to settle up without even waiting for the waitress to bring the check.

Once outside and heading back to the park for a further stroll, you tugged at his hand... you were being disgustingly ’coupley’ today, you thought, a bit annoyed at yourself, but what the hell... and asked, “Billy, what’s the surprise?” He just laughed, shaking his head. “Tell me!” Aware that you were sounding more than a bit brattish, you added, “...please, Billy, go on!”

“No, angel, cos then it wouldn’t be a surprise, now would it?” You managed to resist the need to stamp your foot, but your bottom lip was pouting of its own accord. He leant down and gave you a long, sexy kiss and you gave in, resigning yourself to the fact that the tall ex-Marine was not going to confess anything so you’d better stop sulking. You grabbed a handful of hair, and Billy laughed, taking his mouth off yours, “C’mon, sweetheart - let’s head back to my place. We’ll take the scenic route.”

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Billy took you on a very circuitous route back to his place, and it took well over an hour to make it back there. As you both walked along the hallway towards his apartment, he dug out his keys and then promptly dropped them before he could slot the key into the lock. You stared at him, what the hell was wrong with Russo? Whatever he might be, he was all about precision and attention to detail - he was not a klutz! Now you - yeah, you’d be the one to drop your keys but not Billy!

However, he’d quickly bent down and grabbed them off the floor, successfully unlocking and opening the door this time. You followed him inside, and then your mouth dropped open.

Soft music was playing on Billy’s state-of-the-art music system. There was an intimate little round table sitting in front of the big picture window in the lounge. A string of LED stars was strung across and down the sides of the window. The table was laid for two, looking like a restaurant place setting - gleaming champagne flutes, plates and cutlery, fancily folded linen napkins, a pearly pink peony in a slim vase in the middle, an ice bucket on a stand next to the table, a bottle of Krug champagne sitting up perkily in it. You swung round to Billy, “What....?”

But you looked up into empty space. Your eyes travelled downwards until they found Billy - down on one knee in front of you. A small velvet ring box was held - unopened as yet - in a vice-like grip in those long, slender fingers you loved so much, and Billy’s big dark eyes were gazing fearfully into yours.

He looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

@blackbirddaredevil23 @galaxyjane @omgrachwrites @behindmyeyes-insidemyhead @ourloveisforthelovely @swthxrry

[liquid-luck-00]

Maribat Secret Santa 2020

@maribat-secret-santa-2020

Happy Holidays everyone🎁

In my defense there was a minimum of 2000 words and there was no max so this ended up being 6112 words sorry, I think. There is some Adrien, class and Lila salt, Adrien gets some sugar later.

Without further ado @eve-v0lution I am your Secret Santa, enjoy.

~~~~~~~~~~

Marinette has never been a normal girl. When she was born the goddess Tikki appeared claiming her as her chosen and the next Ladybug. She was born the granddaughter of Ra's Al Ghul, the head of the League of Assassins, the sister organization to the Order of the Miraculous. Her older brother, and twin, Damian was called to be the next Demon.

When they were five, she was taken to the Temple of the Order of Miraculous. she and her brother kept in contact, but it wasn't much more, than 'yes I am still alive, are you?' which was fine with them. As they were often trained together by both the League and the Order.

A week before they turned 10, she was named the Great Guardian and given the Miracle box. On their 10th birthdays he returned to the League to support her brother as he was officially named the heir of the Demon. However, things never went that smoothly. Slade Wilson led an attack on the League killing their grandfather. Damian rushed on to fight the Mercenary. She followed at his side the only thing she said before entering the fray was "Duusu fans" and combat fans dropped into her hands.

Between the two of them, they pushed Deathstroke back. However, he didn't retreat before throwing a sword at Damian. She called upon Wayzz's "Shell-ter" catching the sword in the shield’s dome. She took the hilt of the blade before dropping the dome. The two of them shared a look before running to find their Mother. Together they used Kaakli's portal to go to the Order.

However, they were met with an equally gruesome sight. Many of the monks laid dead, those that weren't were not in much better of a condition.

A single elder survived, speaking of the simultaneous attack on the Order and League. He told them that he will rebuild the order, but that Mari needed to keep the Miracle box safe. In the end Mother told them that she will be leaving them with their Father.

To say it was a surprise that their Father was Batman would be a stretch. Mother and Grandfather only allowed perfection, so not as surprising as one would think. Batman being Bruce Wayne, sure that wouldn't be her first guess but so what. What actually surprised her were her new brothers.

Damian hated them but she loved their antics. Where Damian became the next Robin, Mari stayed in the cave manning the comms as well as their numerous and often injuries.

However, when she did join everyone on the roof tops, Scarlet joins them. A red cropped hoodie that ended a little below her ribs. A long sleeve Kevlar shirt with a high neck. Black gloves and arm guards were holding the sleeves of the hoodie down. Her pants were the same Kevlar as the shirt and was just as formfitting, there were guards on her thighs that wouldn’t impede on her movement as well as knee pads connected to the shin guard. Short combat boots, a red sash tied to her waist hiding the utility belt and yo-yo, and a mechanical mask that conceals the bottom half of her face. And to top it off Tikki turns her eyes violet and her hair to white.

"Scarlet" Nightwing called to her. They were partnered and patrolling the west side of Gotham.

"Yes"

"Let’s race"

"What do I get when I win?"

He held his hand to his chest in mock hurt "Just so you know one week, anything the winner says is law for one week for the loser"

"Make it one favor redeemable whenever and you've got it" she challenged. He was torn but he agreed.

"Count me in" they heard Red Hood.

"Same" Red Robin also entered "Robin?"

"Tt. No"

"Fine. First back to the cave wins" Nightwing answered. "Go!"

She swung through Gotham and dropped into a pitch-black alley 'voyage' Mari whispered too low for the comms to pick up. Dropping through the portal and into the cave. Her transformation dropped and Tikki went to sit on her shoulder. Alfred was there waiting, Duusu perched on his shoulder as well, with a tray of cookies. She gave him a nod in silent thanks, as she still had a comm in her ear.

Ten minutes later Red Hood pulls in and was about to celebrate when both Red Robin and Nightwing crash into him. Creating a mess of limbs over the motor bike.

"Ha I win now you guys owe" Jason was about to rub in his victory from the bottom of the pile when Mari giggled, pulling the attention of her three brothers.

"Sorry Jay but you lost" she, Alfred, and the kwami were clearly in the middle of tea and cookies.

"She is correct Master Jason. Miss Marinette has been here for the past 10 minutes"

"Tt. Honestly don't race against some one who teleports." Damian grumbled as he walked away from the Bat-mobile.

"Don't worry. I'll wait until you forget you owe me to cash in" she smiled wickedly. "Good night."

And that was when they remembered 'Right Mari has the ability to use the powers of several pocket-sized gods' that was a lesson they wouldn't forget soon. Well Tim and Jason didn't forget; Dick would still bet against her though.

Jason found out she is the perfect prank partner. And no one in or out of the manor was safe. How they managed to swap all of Green Arrow's arrows, each being a different gag, was a mystery even Batman couldn't or wouldn't attempt to solve. The fact that the Justice League saw and heard Batman fall to the floor laughing, scared most of them from finding out. Those who didn't learned what happens when you don't leave well enough alone.

School was well boring; between the curriculum of the League and the Order she had already gotten 2 PHDs and 5 masters. School was nothing more than a pleasantry at this point. Father wouldn't let them out of school, something about needing to be normal kids. That only seemed to draw the twins into the spotlight more, because they were the only two blood children of Bruce Wayne. Damian became known quite fast as Gotham's Ice Prince, but Mari became known as Gotham's Sunshine just as fast.

But don’t let the name fool you, within the first year their classmates learned that yes Damian Wayne is scared of something, and that something was actually a someone who just happened to be his twin sister. Damian apparently was feeling petty about something, and for the life of her she can’t remember what, but he decided to write in big red letters ‘NO!!!’ across every page of her sketchbook. She found that out during lunch, and that was when the entire school learned that the little sunshine child was the only thing that can put the fear of God in the Ice Prince.

---

Freshman year Mari finally got her Dad to agree to letting her into the exchange program for the next four years.

So, she decided on Paris.

Why, why did this exchange have to be four years long. I’m not gonna survive this.

Admittedly it started off okay, okay not really but then things went downhill, fast, faster than you could imagine.

It started when she met her host family. They met her at the airport and that was an experience, I guess.

"Mlle Wayne? Correct" a tall slender woman in glasses asked her.

"Yes Madame" she replied with a polite smile.

"Natalie Sancoeur" the woman replied "And this is" she started but was cut off by a boy around her age, he had blonde hair and green eyes. But what stood out to her was his attributes reminded her of an overexcited and hyper puppy.

"Adrien Agreste" he smiled at her, so she did what was expected of her in polite society.

"Marinette Wayne" and she extended her hand to shake his. However, instead he pulled her into a hug. Once she realized what was happening, she pushed away from him and took a step back. She looked at him and her thought of him being a puppy was only reinforced with the look on his face. So, she looked at Sancoeur, while the woman looked at Agreste with indifference she looked at Mari as if she was in the wrong.

This is going to be great. Was the only thought as she endured the drive to the Agreste household.

Agreste would not shut up the entire way and seemed to be hurt that she didn't answer him. Agreste was also the one who was to give her the tour of the mansion. It wasn’t so bad it gave her the chance to gauge the defense systems, which was lacking, and the layout was simple compared to the Wayne Manor, the League's compound, and the Order's temple.

Unfortunately for her, Agreste ended the tour with her room and then proceeded to sit on the bed and continue to ramble about whatever was on his mind. She did try to get him to leave but that was a complete waste of time and effort. Kwami it was like he couldn't hear me or more likely didn’t even care about my opinion. So, she put in her headphones, hid them behind her hair, pressed play to of music and went to unpack.

As she was finishing setting up the bathroom she noticed, like every other door in this house, there was no lock.

Ugh I need to speak with Monsieur Agreste.

She went back out and saw him. Agreste was at the desk where she had set her laptop and was trying to open it.

"Excuse me but what are you doing?" she asked pointedly, having taken out her headphones and set them in the case.

"I was trying to see what you had on your laptop" he shrugged "can you tell me the password to get in?"

"No" she deadpanned; he had the gall to look shocked. That was when Mme Sancoeur entered the room, without even knocking.

"Lunch is" was all she said before Agreste cut her off.

"Natalie make her open her computer for me" Agreste whined.

She was about to speak but Marinette beat her to it. "Um No. What I have on my personal computer is none of your concern" his face fell while Mme. Sancoeur pursed her lips. "Furthermore, I am assuming since you are at the desk, the bed is askew, and the drawers are open and my clothes are in shambles you were going through my things" she was now glaring at the blonde invading her space. Now he had the decency of looking ashamed. "Am I to assume lunch will be held in the dinning room?" Mme. Sancoeur only nodded, and she left the room.

Lunch, if you can call it that, was also a disaster. Apparently, Americans eat chicken noodle soup, a hamburger, and a load of fries. Because that was what was set in front of her.

Ugh this is going to be a long four years.

"Mlle. Wayne, I hope everything has been to your liking" M. Agreste, Gabriel, as he introduced himself earlier spoke. “You have hardly eaten.”

"Would you prefer my honesty or would you rather me lie to you" Marinette responded swirling the water in her glass.

"Your honesty" he answered slightly unsure.

At this she scoffed "I am going to assume that you and no one else had bothered to read the file of my information that was sent to you" he as well as Mme. Sancoeur remained quiet "Because if you had you would know I am a vegetarian."

Mme. Sancoeur searched some thing on her tablet and there was a soft "oh" from her.

"Your son is also suffocating, to the point that when I asked him to leave the room so I could settle in peacefully, he remained as if I hadn’t asked him to leave" M. Agreste was going to say something but she continued "He also has no sense of privacy as he went through all of my belongings and was attempting to go through my laptop as well." Again, he was going to say something, but Mari continued. "On the topic of privacy neither the bedroom door nor the bathroom have a lock."

“Paris is completely safe, as the house is protected, it should not matter if there is a lock on the door” he replied in a monotone.

“I’m sorry doesn’t matter, in what universe is it alright for two teenagers of the opposite sex be in a house where one of said teenagers doesn’t respect the other enough to leave them alone” she almost started yelling, but kept her head and voice level.

M. Agreste didn’t respond right away, but he gave a small hum before stating that “I will take your request into consideration.”

“Alright, just know that I will guard myself and will not hesitate to use force if necessary” she knew they wouldn’t take her seriously but hey I am warning them, they only gave a nod that they heard. “Also M. Agreste I tend to have a strict morning regimen is it possible for me to continue it using the home gym while here?”

“Of course,” he waved dismissively.

“What does this regimen include?” Mme. Sancoeur asked politely.

Marinette had a wicked smirk as this was going to be the lightest of her routines, she could give but would still most likely shock them. “Oh it is nothing much just a 5 kilometer run as a warm up, then half an hour of boxing, a half an hour of sword forms and training, half an hour of holographic combat training, followed by half an hour of ballet, and half an hour of meditation.” She was smiling watching their reactions and it was priceless. “I usually start around 4 in the morning.”

All of them were shocked, and who would blame them, here I am in my 5’2” high glory with a sunshine disposition stating I can most likely drop kick them into next week. “Actually, if you don’t mind, I was unable to do it this morning on account of being on an airplane, this will be a good way to see the city” so she smiled leaving them gobsmacked.

Finally, she was able to breathe as she ran the streets of Paris listening to her music softly. Back at the mansion she had figured out she had an audience less than ten minutes into boxing, but she continued. As she was about to start the holographic training, that Tim, Barbara, and she had created, but by now the entire Agreste household was watching her. “If you’re only going to watch me leave or else have the decency to spar” she shot at them.

“I’ll do it” little Agreste spoke up “But if I beat you, you’re giving me your computer password.”

“Fine, but when I win, I get locks on both my bedroom door and the bathroom inside” she challenged.

Agreste senior nodded his head and replied bored “Only if you win.”

“First to be knocked down three times loses” she grinned. She went to grab her two training twin swords and handed one to little Agreste.

“These are real swords” he exclaims clearly off balance by the weight of the weapon.

“Oh, don’t be so dramatic, neither have an edge” they got into positions and it was easy to see who would be victorious. I got locks and some privacy oh the small victories are truly sweet.

---

Sunday was uneventful, but so long as she was in the mansion for meals unless she had checked in with Mme. Sancoeur, she was free to her own devices.

Monday she would come to regret that it had to end later, but not for a while at least.

Mari rode to school with little Agreste and that was her first mistake. Everyone in the entire school watched her exit the car added to the fact that she's starting in the middle of the semester and that kicks.

She was wearing a charcoal shirt splattered with metallic red paint, a faux caramel brown leather jacket with a hood, black jeans with burgundy all stars. Her hair was down, and a black messenger bag was over her shoulder.

She got out and simply walked in and towards the main office ignoring everyone, she got her schedule and a map of the school. The principal himself walked her to her homeroom and to her horror little Agreste was in the class.

"Mlle. Bustier" he spoke. "Meet your new student."

"Please introduce yourself" she spoke with a sweet smile.

"Bonjour my name is Marinette, and I will be a part of your class for the next four years."

Marinette moved to take the open seat in the back but of course Little Agreste had to speak. "Mari there is an open seat behind me."

It took all of herself control to not facepalm. "I prefer the back"

"I'll spar you for it"

Now she couldn't hide the smile in her eyes or the one playing on her lips "Okay Agreste, but what makes you think you'll win this time?

"Fencing uses lighter swords" he answered mumbling the end.

"Wait why are you challenging the new girl?" a boy in a red hoodie and two-toned hair asks.

"Probably to redeem his honor from our last bout" she was now smiling. Maybe this won't be all bad.

"Then I get the next challenge" the same boy answered confidently.

"Alright" she agreed "Name your sport, um..."

"Sorry Le Chien Kim" he supplied. "Swimming freestyle"

"You're on" a devilish smirk on her lips. Afterwards everyone introduced themselves and she sat down in the back.

They spoke with M D'Argencourt about it during lunch and he told them to wait until after school for the fencing club to set up. So, they did. Honestly, the class isn't so bad, just a little pushy, apparently a student isn't here today but should be back soon. When they all went back after school, that was when Marinette saw her.

"Gami" Marinette ran to the girl in a red fencing outfit and gave her a brief hug.

"Mari-hime what are you doing in Paris?" she asked.

"Exchange program" Mari waved it off.

"Your brother?"

"Not interested" Mari responded.

"So why at the fencing club?"

"Agreste challenged me."

She looked towards the blonde and gave him a pitying glance. "Then you should both change"

"Right" Mari called as she went to the locker rooms. Her uniform was a red bodice with black sleeves and pants, but the gloves, shoes, and socks were a shade of green so dark it appeared black, the stitches on the entire thing were in golden thread. Both her saber and helmet were a combination of black and gold.

They both got into positions when Marinette heard her.

"This is going to be a slaughter" and Gami was right.

Faster than anyone could blink Mari had scored a touch before little Agreste even moved.

"Huh and here I was hoping for a challenge. Agreste" she turned away from him and faced Kagami "Match?" was all she asked, and the girl stood and faced Mari.

Facing Kagami was like fencing Damian. Both are powerhouses and decisive, but Mari's strength was in speed and agility. They met each other strike for strike, she is probably one of the few civilians that may be a match for her and her brother. By the end of practice, she was offered a spot on the team which she accepted.

To little Agreste's dismay Kagami offered to show her around Paris, to which she had agreed.

---

One-month Mari had to settle into her new class. She made fast friends with Le Chien, after their swimming match where she also met a girl named Ondine, Alix Kubdel was next she is competitive with a need for speed, side note never let her meet Jason. Max Kante and Nathaniel Kertzberg were also added to our little group. She met Luka Couffaine while wandering Paris for inspiration, they became fast friends, and she designed the costumes for Kitty section as well as their Demo Album cover. The final and most shocking, apparently, addition to their group was Chloe Bourgeois. Along with Kagami her small group of friends were unshakeable and for the next four years will be thankful for them.

After that one month, a weasel entered the class. Her name was Lila Rossi and everything that came out of her mouth was a lie. Honestly, Mari wouldn't give her a second thought but then the strikes against her grew.

Lila's first mistake was lying about her best friend, Jon, or in reality about Superboy. Oh, she was in a relationship with him. Sorry but Jon is super bi, but leans towards men more, like a walking romantic mess that was a golden moment when he figured it out. The same can be said when it finally dawned on Damian when he figured out for himself. As the amazing sister that she is of course she would tease those two. But the teasing and cooing only escalated when the two started dating. So ya not buying that he took you out, much less as Superboy.

Lila's second mistake was threatening Mari in the bathroom. Please if your going to threaten someone make sure you aren't being recorded. And second don't threaten a Wayne, especially an Al Ghul turned Wayne. So, Marinette recorded every lie, every threat, and every reaction. If she were going down not even the Devil himself would think to help her.

Unfortunately, it had a rather annoying side effect. Little Agreste kept pulling her aside to try and make peace with the liar.

"Please Marinette, can you stop calling out Lila" he repeated for the up-tenth time . They were on their way to dinner about two months after Lila rejoined the class. "Just take the high road"

They were in the hallway outside of the dining room.

"No" Mari stated as calmly as she could. As they both walked in, Mme. Sancoeur and M. Agreste were already inside.

"Why? Her lies aren't hurting anyone"

"Not hurting anyone" she spoke finally turning towards the blonde "What unicorns and rainbows paradise do you live in?"

"Wait, what?"

"Nino almost didn't enter his script for a contest because Lila said she would get someone in Hollywood to help produce it" she answered "It took Max, Nathanial, and I almost an hour for him to submit it on the thought it couldn't hurt"

"Okay that's one"

"Alya's reputation as a reporter is plummeting. She doesn't fact check and believes Lila solely on the idea that 'Lila wouldn't lie to her'. Where Lila uses her blog to spread her lies."

"Yes but no one believes everything they hear or read.”

"Really" Mari arched her brow, Alfred would be proud "then explain how most of Paris believes you and Lila to be an item"

"Mlle. Wayne came to explain" M. Agreste finally spoke.

"Oh, most of Paris believes that your son is in a romantic relationship with Lila Rossi" Mari spoke calmly as she opened her phone and pulled up the post from Alya's blog to show the screen.

"What?" the confusion was clear on little Agreste's face as he also pulled up the blog. The meal for her was quite quick but M. Agreste held back little Agreste.

Mari was sketching in the quiet of her room latter that evening when she heard a soft knock at the door. She opened the door and there stood little Agreste fidgeting.

"I'm sorry I never liked how Lila hung off of me but that was harassment, then I realized that's what I've been doing to you I am so sorry. You probably hate me for how I acted, and I understand if you can't trust me or forgive me and I'm sorry." He spoke so fast and barely breathed as he turned about to leave, but he stopped when Mari spoke.

"Okay. Redo"

"What?" he asked tilting his head.

"Let’s start over" she smiled.

"So, you forgive me!"

"No, I am not forgiving you" he looked saddened "I will hold you accountable, but I am, willing to start a new chapter."

"Okay” he looked a bit relieved.

"Hello. I am Marinette Wayne." she extended her hand to shake his.

"Adrien Agreste" he smiled shaking hands. "I'Il get out of your hair then." he sent a small wave that she returned and left.

---

Okay so maybe I exaggerated a bit, but Lila did make these past three and a half years a living pain. Mlle. Bustier fought to keep their class for all four years. The only addition was Kagami in the second year of Mari’s exchange.

But here she was sitting in the back with her friends waiting for the last class of the day to start. Then it happened Principle Damocles and Mlle. Bustier walked in.

"Mlle. Wayne" Damocles called.

"Thank the gods" Mari stated packing up her things and she walked down. "I would say it was a pleasure but that would be a lie" Mari just finished speaking when Alya decided to open her mouth.

"Where are you going class hasn't even started." Alya smiled trying to get Mari in trouble, but neither adult did anything.

"If you really want to know because it seems you've forgotten. I am a foreign exchange student from America, where I will be finishing the final term." Her words must have made some sense to their one community brain cell because they nodded, and she left.

Marinette flew back to Gotham and oh was this going to be great.

Of course, when she landed Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, and Catwoman were making mischief in the airport. She recorded a video of the Bats stopping them, of course they were monitoring it because of her flight but I digress, and Nightwing lecturing them while Batman looked so done. Along with Jay-Jay or really Red Hood taking Mari's phone and taking a selfie with her, her hair was in braid tucked into a black beanie with a pair of red sunglasses. A halter top that had a golden rod yellow X on it. The top quadrant was red, and the rest was back. A black sweater lined and faded to red at the bottom. Comfortable black and red leggings with black flats. She posted the videos and picture captioned 'Back in Gotham. Home Sweet Home! Hood give me back my phone.' on her public account, before even exiting the terminal.

Her class will be here in about two weeks and stay as long, but right now she need a good stretch.

She found Alfred and loaded up her bags into the car and jumped in, told Alfred, transformed, and portaled out. As soon as the portal closed, she was in the middle of a huge hug from all her brothers. Patrol wasn't too bad, there was a run in with the Riddler and a separate incident with Killer Croc but that is a light day in Gotham.

After patrol was mostly filled with junk food, video games, and movies with her brothers.

Going back to Gotham Academy was like she never left. In a way she didn't, as every break she made sure to spend some time with her friends, dragging Damian with her. She would constantly text or video chat with them. To the extent that they knew about Lila and her class, almost as well as her family.

Two blissful weeks of quiet and patrols filled with teasing and bets was amazing. Yes, she will miss patrolling with Nightrunner. Yes, he is part of the extended Bat clan, but it is different with her brothers.

---

Three days granted that was longer than Marinette gave the class to avoid a villain attack. Of course, it had to happen when they were visiting, WE. Dick had volunteered to lead the tour, mainly to get more evidence, but Mari wasn't there. Since she was on break, she decided to take lunch for her brothers. The cafeteria food was good but still, and Tim would probably be holed up in his office.

She was in a blue collared button up tucked into a black skater skirt. A black and indigo letterman Jacket, black glasses frames and blue heels finished the outfit.

"Nettie?" Dick asked when she entered the cafeteria.

"Brought you lunch." Dick's face lit up.

"You are a god send"

She giggled as he took the food. "Not exactly but close."

"You going to force Timmy to eat"

"Yeah. Is he still in his office?"

"Should be"

"See ya at home Dicky Bird" she turned and found herself facing her class. Most of them registered she was there and glared at her seemingly guarding Lila from her sight, her friends noticed her so she sent a wave to Kagami, Chloe, Kim, Alix, Nathanial, and Max.

Getting Tim to eat usually proves a challenge. Mostly because he has one hand glued to a coffee mug and the other on his work. Yet when you make an entire meal into finger foods that are perfectly bite sized it is a breeze. She was going to leave when both Tim's and her phone shot an alarm. It was from Dick 'WE 2 Face' In a flash Mari transformed and waited for Tim, opened a portal, and fell into the lobby.

The two of them took out the goons and restrained them before turning towards Two Face.

"The word on the street is that you and the bird are dating, and you know the Bat." Two Face spoke out to everyone, "Let's hear what other secrets these lips will spill." A gun was held up, presumably to the teen's mouth, but neither Red Robin nor Scarlet could see.

He was clearly holding a teen hostage, and that was when they saw the two hanging sausages, Lila. For the first time since Mari had known her, she was quiet, or at least silently whimpering.

"So, who is she dating?" Scarlet asked yoyo in hand pointing at Lila.

"Robin" she gasps.

"What!?" Both of them yelled before Red Robin started again. "Crap when did I get a girlfriend. Scarlet please tell me this is just a hallucination! I swear if this is, I won’t drink a single drop of coffee for a month!”

Scarlet however was barely standing doubled over with laughter. "She’s a little young for you don't cha think."

"Not helping" Red Robin was in full out panic pacing back and forth trying to comprehend what was being said.

That was when Lila seemed to find her voice again "I'm dating Robin not you."

"Wait, What?" Both vigilantes snapped out of their laughter and panic respectfully. They shared a look and fell to the ground laughing. Two minutes later Batman and Robin showed up. Scarlet and Red Robin were now on their feet but still laughing. No one not even Two Face moved because as everyone knows, Robin is taken and no one will be getting between those two, much less a girl.

"Robin" Batman nodded and to the two laughing teens, Robin nodding in acknowledgement.

"No need B" Red Robin finally stopped laughing.

"Hey Birdie when did you get a girlfriend?" Scarlet asked fully knowing the answer already.

"Tt. Don't be idiotic Scarlet."

"Then why is she saying she is?" Two Face now had the bat fam's attention.

"Who are you?" Robin asked the girl pinned between Two Face’s arm and gun.

"Apparently the girlfriend you never knew existed before three seconds ago." Red Robin supplied, now fully enjoying the shock on his brother’s face.

"Is that why you two were laughing like idiots?"

"Well yes" Scarlet spoke up then whispered 'Voyage, Venom' and Two Face became frozen in place.

Lila was now glaring at Scarlet as she began to yell "What the hell. Why didn't you do that sooner!"

Scarlet snapped her fingers and pointed at Lila "Oh now I remember you" she semi shouted getting the attention of everyone in the lobby. "You’re the girl from Paris who said she was dating Superboy." Lila now seemed to significantly pale.

"Are you saying this girl has claimed to have dated both Superboy and I" At this point both Scarlet and Red Robin had moved and were physically holding back Robin.

"Scarlet" Batman called.

"On it" 'Voyage' "Hey Supes your boyfriend needs you" Superboy then took Robin in a hug from behind resting his chin on top of Robin's head. Her brother now willingly refraining from moving to stay in his boyfriend's arms, while Red Robin left to talk with Commissioner Gordon.

"Miss you are lucky no one was injured, and we were here to take action, your fantasies are just that. Let's go" Batman had lectured the girl who could have been switched with a statue at this point.

All the vigilantes left, and Mari sure as hell made certain Tim finished his food. In fact, he hadn't even changed out of his Red Robin uniform, so Mari guarded the door. She only left when he finished eating, knowing he could now fully react.

Mari was walking out of the elevator and into the lobby and you could practically see the change that occurred. Most of the class were huddled together, her friends were to the side along with Adrien, and Lila was practically glued to the teacher.

She spotted Alfred with Dick not far from her friends, so she decided to go over and speak with her friends.

Unfortunately, that just caused hell's gates to open as she approached, she heard. "You knew she was a liar didn't you" Alya yelled at her friends and Agreste, but Alya was specifically yelling at Agreste. That made her blood boil, so she stepped in.

"Yes, but you didn't believe me when I told you, you didn't believe them either" Mari was now standing between her friends and the blogger. "Agreste didn't want to rock the boat and how you were all treating me it is no wonder."

"Ya but she is a liar, and you are a bully" Alya retorted.

"Was I a bully. Or was that what you were told by the liar" Alya now went quiet. Of the almost four years she was in Paris there was never any proof she bullied Lila. No bruises, no destroyed items, just she said claims. "Yes, I called her out on her lies but that was all. You all were the ones who acted on her words that I bullied her with no proof and bullied me to ‘teach me a lesson'. I have more than enough evidence however, on most of this class and the liar, for cases of assault, slander, defamation of character, and destruction of property."

By now everyone in the lobby was watching this unfold. The class seemed to pale and attempted to shrink in on themselves. Lila and Mlle. Bustier seemed to try to become one with the floor. Her friends were to the side struggling to not laugh along with Dick and Chloe you traitor put down that phone.

"Miss Wayne" an employee came up to Mari seemingly afraid to get her undivided attention.

"Yes" She smiled, becoming Gotham's sunshine that everyone knew, allowing the employee and the other Gothamites to relax.

"The CEO has locked himself in his office and the Board meeting starts in three minutes" the employee fidgeted with the tablet in his hands. That snapped her into professional mode.

"Dick is the tour done?" she held out her hand to take the tablet, opened it and started going trough the documents.

"Ya"

"Go dig Tim from his office. I'll deal with the board."

"On it"

She quickly looked up to her friends "Sorry guys we should catch up later." She walked away the employee on her heels giving her more information.

A whistle was heard next to the group. "Damn I feel bad for the Board members, Mars is on a warpath and not her usual professional warpath" Dick said to Alfred.

"Reminiscent of Master Bruce even" was Alfred's response.

"She really is a Wayne"

"Master Richard"

"Yes Alfred"

"I believe it is in your best interest to retrieve Master Timothy as Miss Marinette is on a 'Warpath' as you say" Alfred barely finished as Dick began to sprint to the elevator. Alfred only sighed as he followed the eldest Wayne child, leaving very bewildered and mortified Parisians in their wake.

[capricornsims]

Strangetown Mystery 16: Tycho

The last few months of Pascal’s life had changed drastically ever since Tycho was brought into the world. He never thought he could feel unconditional love like this until he met his son. There was something about Tycho that completed a piece that he was missing in his mundane life. Now he had a purpose and that was to protect and raise this extraterrestrial gift and prove to everyone that he was a good father. Ever since he started his investigation in the [Redacted] lab along with his work at the Bunker, his time with Tycho was greatly limited. His encounter with the Mother plant instilled a fear in him that he never felt before, as though if he continued fighting he would never see his son again. He assured himself that everything he was doing at the lab along with his dangerous endeavors would be worth it in the end. The last thing Pascal wanted was for his son to grow up in this toxic world, shunned for his existence and locked away in a secret lab. Yes, he thought ... he was doing the right thing. 

....right?

Vidcund swiftly made his way out of the [Redacted] lab, Pascal’s investigation preoccupied him for the most part, rarely seeing the infant alien he kept hidden in his room. After the Mother Plant was discovered, his older brother wasted no time going back to the Bunker to continue his research on the bizarre plants, not even taking a break to see how Tycho was doing. All of this worked in his favor, The Dudes in Black were waiting for him at the house after all, with a brief case full of money waiting to be put into his bank account. This was probably one of the most morally bankrupt things he’d ever done, but at this point refusing to aid the Dudes in Black would be even more dangerous. All the Dudes in Black requested was one Sixamian alien baby, for $500,000. 

Vidcund: Well here he is, we call him Tycho and he’s turning five months soon. 

Dude in Black 1: Fine specimen you have there, from one look I can determine that it belongs to Pollination Technician #12 am I not correct? 

Vidcund: I don’t know, I wasn’t abducted yet. My brother, Pascal, made this one.

Dude in Black 1: PT12 is ...particular about their spawn, weaponizing them with extreme telekinetic powers. What you are holding is a very dangerous specimen, which I shall take off your hands. As Promised $500,000 will be deposited into your bank account, Vidcund Curious. 

Vidcund: Oh man...well I think it’s for the better, Pascal is too busy to take care of him anyways. 

Dude in Black 1: Yes you are doing him a favor, now hand over the infant.

Vidcund: It was nice knowing you, Tycho, I’m sure Pascal can just ask for another one if he gets abducted again.

Dude in Black 1: Yes he can. Now hand it over I have urgent matters to attend to. Oh, and tell Pascal that the Dudes in Black say hello.

Without saying so much as a goodbye, the Dude in black tucked Tycho under his arm and walked out door. If Vidcund had a hint of rationality left he would rush after the agent and pry Tycho out of his hands. But he didn’t, Vidcund watched as they disappeared in the distance, into the unknown expanse of the desert. 

The house was silent for a moment as Vidcund stood in the center, taking in the uncharacteristic silence. All he could hear was his rapid heart  beating in his ears and feel the sweat in his palms. He froze when he heard tires screech outside and the sound of Pascal’s voice approaching the house. “ I’ll see you tomorrow, Erwin” he said....Vidcund was f*cked. He didn’t even think of a cover story despite planning this weeks in advance! The door unlocked and Vidcund was face to face with his brother, smiling widely at him “ I think I got it. A way to combat the Mother!” He said enthusiastically. Vidcund could only nod with a weary smile plastered on his face, he knew that Pascal’s optimism was due to be short lived. Pascal pushed passed him and rushed into his room to see his baby, finally having the time to spend with Tycho...

Pascal: Tycho you won’t believe what just happened at work! 

Vidcund: ( oh my watcher...what have I done? ) Pascal! Wait! 

Pascal: TYCHO!!!

Pascal: Tycho... Where did you? Oh no...oh no no no no no no This ISN’T HAPPENING.

Pascal: This can’t be happening.. HE was HERE this morning! I fed him this morning... I...He was here.... I WAS HERE!  he’s not under the bed...no he can’t even crawl...no no no no no. 

Pascal: This..THIS IS ALL MY FAULT! If I wasn’t so busy in the lab... trying to find out the goddamn cure...trying to fight the mother... if...I just stood here for one day and actually looked after Tycho he would still be here.

He would still be here... if I was a good father. Tycho where are you!

Pascal spend the next hour tearing through the house to find any clue of where Tycho went, from under the bed, Lazlo’s laundry, and the cabinets. The house was left in an absolute wreck once he finished his emotional rampage, too exhausted to continue. He crumbled to his knees and broke down crying once more until his throat strained and his eyes were sore. He wiped off his glasses and stumbled outside in an attempt to find comfort in fresh air. The plants and the spores around him only served as a cruel reminder why his son had suddenly vanished...it was because of this Strangetown Syndrome, it took away his family, his time, his friend and his baby.

But he couldn’t just blame himself, he spent all the money he had for Tycho’s care and the one person who said that they would look after him managed to lose him. The sound of footsteps broke the silence of the desert and Pascal turned to see his brother standing pathetically behind him. He was so weak and feeble looking like a dog with its tail between its leg. He could practically smell the guilt emitting from Vidcund. The more he gazed at him, he could feel his blood boiling, his face tensed with rage as he snapped.  

Vidcund: Pascal I- 

Pascal: DON’T YOU DARE SAY THAT YOU ARE SORRY, VIDCUND. 

Vidcund: I’m - I don’t know what else to say.

Pascal: THEN DON’T OPEN YOUR STUPID MOUTH IF ITS SOME LAME EXUSE AS TO WHY MY INFANT SON IS MISSING! YOU. HAD. ONE. JOB!!

Vidcund: Now take a deep breath. I was in the basement working. I had the baby monitor right next to me the whole time 

Pascal: AND YOU LEFT HIM ALONE! YOU LEFT TYCHO ALONE!

Pascal: Do you have any Idea what world we are living in, Vidcund? He’s just a baby, he only just started eating solids. I put all that I had into Tycho and made sure that he was taken care of. Physically, mentally, spiritually! He is all that made me whole...Watcher it feels like someone just dug into my rib cage and tore a piece of me out. 

You cry about Circe all the time now imagine that pain 10,000x more. This is real, Vidcund, I can’t just take a deep breath and make this better!

Pascal: Watcher- What if something bad got him. What if he’s sold on the black market and vivisected... I can’t imagine that...what if he’s hungry. I have all his formula here. What if they don’t sing to him that lullaby...it’s the only thing that gets him to sleep....they forgot his bear...I- I- can’t.

Vidcund could only watch as Pascal’s expression fell from rage, his eyes gazed down at the sand as he imagined all the cruel scenarios Tycho could be in, tears streaking down his cheeks again as he tried to speak. He tried to say something else but he was too focused on looking around his surroundings that he completely disregarded his brother and the rage he felt a second before. His breathing became rapid as his chest weighed heavily against his lungs. The world was growing so blurry as he tried to breathe. He thought he heard Vidcund say something as he turned his heel and sprinted down the sidewalk. It was  all he could do.  

What was he doing, running until his legs burned, trying to find another living being that had not had their brains rotted by spores. For the first time he felt helpless, the weight of the world weighed on his shoulders along with freeing his family, and finding his friend Nervous. Above all now he had to find his baby. Who knows where he could have been taken in a climate like this. 

Where ever Tycho was, Pascal prayed that he was safe, somewhere that he would be fed and changed and taken care of for the time being. 

The swirling clouds of the spores towered in the air as Pascal stood in the middle of the barren road, taking in the immense responsibility he had put on himself. He knew he wasn’t alone on his mission but as the days wore on he felt doubt take over his morale along with his team’s. He needed to put an end to all of this. He didn’t know how much he could hold on. 

Pascal: Where ever you are, Tycho. I will find you even if it kills me. 

[ijenoyou]

Bright eyes.

werewolf!jeno x human!reader. 

summary: jeno reminds you of a part of your childhood you don’t remember ever living.

PT2.

warnings: mentions of blood, loss of memory.

note: this is kinda based on the book saga The Wolves of Mercy Falls hehe anyways don’t mind any grammatical mistakes:) english isn’t my first lenguaje soooo hehe enjoy! also i might do more parts of this lol depends on how well it goes lmao

MASTERLIST.

————————————————————————————————————————

Another cold and boring day.

It was the coldest day by far in the whole year, making you wear a gray sweater under your tshirt and fluffy jacket. Middle of the new semestrer starts today so it would be no surprise if you saw some new faces at school. And still, you would find most of them boring and plain, nothing could get you excited today, unless something big happens which was unlikely in the cold and boring Minnessota.

When arriving at school, you met your best and only friend, Mark. A nice boy with soft brown hair from Canada, who moved five years ago to the bright yellow house next to yours.

“I think this year is going to be good!” Mark said with a smile after you said hi to him.

You wished you were as happy as he is —it��s not like you were in a constant state of sadness— but you couldn’t help but to wonder why is he always smiling and beaming with happiness. There’s nothing in Minnessota to be excited about but maybe it’s the way he could ditch you any time and get more nice friends who could actually talk to him the way he does with you.

“I don’t know Mark, it feels like the year is going to be the same as the other years.” You said while beginning walking towards the entrance of the school.

“Maybe this year you can find someone to you know—“ He said while nudging me with his elbow while moving his eyebrows up and down.

“What? More friends to hang out with?” You snort and laugh while shaking your head to the sides.

“I mean— You could get more friends, sometimes I feel bad when I see that I’m your only friend.” He answered while faking a sad pout. “I was talking about you know... A boyfriend maybe.”

You stopped walking making him laugh with nervousness.

“Or girlfriend! I don’t judge.” Mark said while shrugging his shoulders.

You roll your eyes and push his shoulder with yours and began walking again.

“I’m not looking for someone to date, dude.” You said and took your usual seat, Mark groaned and put both of his hands at the sides of your desk making you look directly at this eyes. “What?”

“You’re going to die alone if you don’t start hanging out with other people!” He said almost screaming.

You huffed and decide to take out your phone which was connected to your earbuds. You put them on and pressed play so your loud music could start. And that’s when Mark knew he lost the battle so he decided to just sit next to you. The class was about to begin when other students started to apear and take their places. You weren’t paying any attention until one of the new students arrived, you frowned when seeing what he was wearing.

Isn’t he cold? You thought to yourself.

He was wearing black skinny jeans, a plaid black and white flannel with a black shirt underneath with black combat boots. You were thinking of how could he not be shivering since it’s snowing already and it’s going to be like that for 2 months in a row. But what got your attention was the fact that he was wearing sunglasses, wondering why since there’s no even a bit of warm lights coming from the sun.

You followed him with your eyes until he took the only free seat which was in front of you.

Mark saw the way your eyes were looking at the mysterious guy and smirked, thinking of a way to make you talk to the new blonde boy.

It was free period when you saw him again, this time you alone since Mark had basketball practice. You were walking towards your locker when you saw the boy with blonde — almost white— hair next to yours trying to open the door but failing miserably.

“You have to twist it and let it click.” You softly spoke behind him. “Like this.” You did it with your locker and it opened.

He copied your moves and his door opened in which he smiled. He turned his full body to you.

“Thanks, I’ve trying to open this damn thing for almost 10 minutes.” He said and started to put some of his books inside the locker.

You gave him a small smile with a nod and took your water bottle of your own locker and close it with your shoulder since you were carrying some heavy books for your science class.

“Can I ask you a question?”

“You’re already asking one.” He answered making you snort. “But sure.”

“What’s up with the sunglasses? There’s no sun.” You said making him laugh, he shrugged and took them out revealing a pair of eyes which had some tones of red mixed with brown and a mole underneath his right eye.

Why are his eyes red? Maybe you were seeing things but you could swear to god that his eyes were going from a deep brown to a dark red.

“I’m Jeno.” He extended his hands towards your and you took it without hesitating.

For some reason you feel like you already know him, and when you took his hand into yours a tingle went right through your whole arm. It was a feeling you had in the back of your brain like a memory you had lost. When he let go of your hand he smiled and turned around to leave.

“I’ll see you around Y/N.” He said while walking away from you.

You frowned. “How do you know my name?!” You shouted since he was already pretty far away.

“Your friend Mark told me.” He playfully said while putting his sunglasses on.

Mark is so gonna be dead.

After that atrocious meeting you had wifh Jeno you decided to nag Mark later over text.

When you arrived home the first thing you see is your mom looking at your baby pictures on the kitchen counter with a sweet smile on her face.

“What are you doing?” You asked while filling a glass with apple juice.

“I’m planing on hanging some of your baby photos on my office.” She explains while taking one photo and putting a frame on it.

You placed your glass down and took one picture off the counter.

It was a picture of you when you were between 10 and 12 years old, you could see there was some snow on the ground you were sitting at, next to a big white fluffy dog that looked almost like a wolf. You were smiling while hugging the dogs neck and for some reason the dog looked like he was smiling since it’s —weirdly enough— red eyes were curling like crescent moons with his tongue out.

“Whose dog is this?” You spoke after a few seconds of silence.

“Uh? Oh! That’s Moonie.” Your mother explained and took the picture off your hands. “I’m surprised you don’t remember him, you had him for almost two years.”

Weird. You don’t remember having a dog at that moment in your life, but when looking at the fluffy dog your heart started to beat faster.

“What kind of name is ‘Moonie’?” You mocked and took another sip of your apple juice.

“Well— You always said his eyes looked like moons even when we found him because it looks like he’s always smiling.” She said focused on getting the picture frame standing correctly.

“F-Found him?”

Your mother stoped doing whatever she was trying to do with the frame and frowned.

“Do you really don’t remember Moonie?” She asked with concerned, you shake your head and she sighed. “Y/N, you found him or maybe he found you—“ She laughed. “We went out to the mountains, the ones that are close to the forest, to play with the snow but your father and I lost you within the trees.”

Before she could continue the story your father came down from the second floor and smile when he saw what your mother was holding, gave her a quick kiss in the crown of her head and walked towards the fridge to take a cold water bottle from it.

“Honey, Y/N doesn’t remember Moonie!” She exclaimed and your fathers eyes went wide open.

“I’m surprised she doesn’t.” Your mom laughed and expressed that she said the same thing.

You rolled your eyes at your parents ethics and told your mother to continue the story in which she responded with a very enthusiastic yes.

“We were looking everywhere for you until we heard you scream, we ran as fast as our old bodies could and found you in the ground with a very big bite on your right leg and blood stained the snow.” Your father patted your moms head and she sighed. “We—“ Her eyes started to water at the thought of you hurt.

“A pack of wolfs attacked you.” Your father explains. “But there was one who tried to get them away from you, that was Moonie.” He finished talking.

“So... You’re saying that a dog saved me from being eaten?” You asked with shock. “What happened after?”

“When they left he began licking your wound to try and make it stop bleeding, we wanted to carry you but when your mom and I got closer he would bark at us.” He said and opened his water bottle then taking a sip from it. “Since he wouldn’t leave your side we took him home with us, we hid him on the car when we took you to the hospital to get treated.”

Your mind was racing, trying to remember the dog who apparently saved you— but looking at the other pictures you had with the animal you started to think that maybe he wasn’t a dog, but a wolf. Maybe just a bit smaller than a normal wolf.

“Where is he now?” You asked.

“We don’t know, he one day left on his own and never saw him again, you were so sad it broke our hearts.” Your mother finished putting all of the photos she wanted on frames and got up from the stool she was sitting at.

She gave you a squish on the shoulder and started to save the rest of the pictures in a shoe box.

“Can I keep it?” You took the picture of you and Moonie in between your fingers.

“Of course honey!”

Getting a ton of work on the second day of school wasn’t something you were looking forward to, but here you were, doing literature work if you wanted to get some points for finals. But it was hard to do it since you kept on thinking about that damn dog or wolf — whatever he is. —

“It’s a wolf.” You heard a raspy voice behind you.

“Uh?” You turned around confused.

There he is.

“You were muttering something about a dog and a wolf but looking at the picture in your hand it’s clearly a wolf.” Jeno answered and took seat next to you.

You bit your bottom lip thinking of a reply to his words. “How are you so sure?” You asked while narrowing your eyes.

He smirked and took the picture with him. “There’s no way a normal dog is that big.” Jeno explained and you nodded. “Moonie.” He whispers with a faint smile on his lips.

“H-How do you know his name?” You asked with wonder in your voice.

“It’s uh— It’s on the back of the picture.” He quickly spoke and turned the piece of paper around.

Moonie and Me! ♡

It’s written on very big and bold letters.

[leviiattacks]

Two Faced | Chapter Five

↳ levi ackerman, the very person who was about to kindly behead you by a surprising turn of events manages to become your loving husband? you would be elated if this was true love, but it's all thanks to a mysterious magic spell that your life is spared. for now at least.

pairing :: duke!levi x duchess!reader genre :: royal au, angst, fluff, slice of life etc word count :: 3k author note :: just got diagnosed with covid so i have a lot of spare time on my hands so ummm send in any requests you have into my ask box i’d love to try doing headcanons!! → next part is here!!

Erwin sees the confused look you have and now he too seems lost as he shifts his line of vision to Levi. At that moment your husband slams his heel and grinds it onto your foot. Squirming around in your seat dealing with the stinging pain you catch on that you can't let Erwin think you're clueless.

Quickly, the look of confusion washes away from your features and you return his smile. "I'm willing to do what I must."

You think you've ruined this entirely because Erwin's eyes dart suspiciously between you and your husband. However, Hange intervenes, the interference seems to be enough for him to shake off any skepticism he senses.

Two hands hold onto your frame and squeeze your shoulders. Hange is standing up and seems ecstatic."You two are just so evil." they cackle to themself and you play along laughing too. You are not giving Levi the opportunity to ram into your foot again. Hange who is practically a personified ray of Sunshine at all times does still seem a little down, you did pick up on it when you entered the room. Maybe it was just you overthinking, that's what you assure yourself with.

Then it settles in your bones. Evil? Blinking you turn to look at Levi hoping for some sort of indication about whatever is going on.

"She wouldn't listen to me at all, said she felt the need to step in and help the Empire in some way." His tone is monotonous, still not sparing you a glance and you want to kick him in the shins. He's usually much more affectionate and you're afraid Squad Leader Hange and Commander Erwin will figure out this is all a facade.

"It's a noble commitment to put yourself forward for such a risky position, I see why you and Lance Corporal Levi are a sound match." Erwin isn't smiling this time but his tone is content.

Mind now buzzing with ideas you want to fall face first into the carpeted floor of the office spread out like a starfish. You would prefer that instead of being left in the dark. Could they simply mention the name of whatever it is you've apparently offered to do?

Levi's clearly grimaces but then he moves to hold your hand rather boldly. Shaking him off isn't an available option because of his strong grip. "She wouldn't listen to me at all. If I had it my way she wouldn't step anywhere near enemy soil." He grumbles.

The fake concern he's trying to lace in his voice is having an effect on his two colleagues, they're eating it up and believe this act.

Enemy soil? Risky position? He has to be stealthily plotting your death because you see no other reason for why you would be sent off to venture anywhere near the enemy. You aren't even apart of their regime, or any regime for that matter, you're itching with nervousness and want to free your hand from his desperately.

The only emotion this man is good at feigning is straight boredom, he ignores the way your hand shakes and squirms, ignores how your palms are dampening with sweat, instead the way he holds onto you only strengthens. It's surprising that no one has said a word about the lack of chemistry between the two of you.

Suddenly Hange looks down at their pocket watch and hurriedly gets to their feet dragging Erwin up with them too. "Y/N, I have something to tell you later on, please do stop by HQ when you can, I expect that will be soon." They then tell Erwin that there's no time to loiter and that there are more important meetings to attend to.

Erwin leans into your ear and whispers. "He seems disturbed that you're putting yourself at risk. He means well." You wish that were the case but it isn't. Despite that the way Erwin tries to explain Levi's behavior is sweet.

Hange gives you a cute thumbs up but makes it a point that you need to speak later on, even as they're both walking out the door Hange keeps reminding you to meet up later on. The abnormal behavior between you and Levi may have been noticed but you know if that were the case Hange would have been more vocal about it.

"Combat classes start soon. We know this will all be difficult, building you up from scratch is hazardous but all in good time you will serve a key role in the liberation of Paradis."

Erwin's parting words are gracious.

And then both the Commander and Squad Leader leave, the room is empty but Levi doesn't even wait for the door to shut behind your two visitors.

He makes it a priority to throw your hand away from his, he's now methodically using his handkerchief to dust his fingers off. It's oddly ironic and enrages you because he's the one who grappled your hand into his grasp. What's the point when those same hands until recently looped around your waist in the middle of the night?

He thinks your hand is filthy, that you yourself are filthy and disgusting. At least that's what you think he thinks.

Crossing your arms over your chest you make your feelings known to Levi. You're frustrated beyond the way words can describe, it's not about how he refuses to touch you. Admittedly that does hurt you, makes your chest swell in remembrance of the old days but you really just want to know what he's put you up to without your permission.

Not speaking you wait for him to take the hint but he doesn't get it or he refuses to acknowledge your existence, something tells you it's the latter because all he cares about is sanitizing his hands.

He always had been a clean freak but when he was enchanted it didn't take much for him to touch you. Part of you wonders if it's the nature of the touch that he wants to exterminate or the fact it's your skin he's come in contact with which is bothering him.

"Care to explain?"

"Touching someone such as yourself romantically gives me the urge to retch." The confession is as acidic as the after taste one has after a late night of drinking, but he has no problem telling you the blunt truth.

"I see." You shortly reply, you weren't asking about that, your question was directed more towards the conversation which just took place with his colleagues but now knowing he doesn't want to touch you has an emptying effect on your chest.

A silent minute passes, maybe two minutes, you're not sure all you're doing is eyeing the carpet thinking about how you would like to be asphyxiated and brought to your end, you can't handle this for much longer.

"Sign these papers, we need your written consent." His voice shows no hints hints of Lev. Last night may have been the last time you had a chance to witness him.

A stack of documents is thrown in front of you and then you see it right at the top of the pile. A sheet filled with general information, eyes skim over the "Purpose of employment" section and you don't know what churns in your stomach. Is it Exasperation? Nerves? Grief? It can't be pinpointed, it could be a mix of all three.

"An Informant."

Rereading the title you hold the paper in disbelief between your palms. "You told your regiment that I would be willing to spy in on enemy kingdoms?"

His hands rub at his forehead, he's not perturbed at all. "Is it in your blood to be ungrateful?" Brutally cynical his tone is rocky.

He moves - not even towards you but for some reason you flinch stopping him in his tracks almost immediately. Narrow ice cold eyes trace your face carefully for any signs of manipulation or deception. Gulping anxiously you know you have to be careful with what you say or do. Getting too comfortable or casual around him is a risk you are not willing to take.

"I don't think you understand. I do not have the abilities nor the skill to do this. I would cause more issues." You cautiously move to grab his arm but before you get there he takes a wide step back. He's clearly defining that there's a boundary. You won't step into his territory not when you've already invaded a large portion of it for so long.

"I am no witch. I still don't understand what happened." You mutter hoping he believes you or at least tries to.

"Then die." Levi hisses. He fixes you with his poisonous stare. "Make it quick."

Curse yourself to a life with this man who every step of the way is hoping for your death - maybe he'll even push you towards it purposefully one day. The alternative choice available is to die by the hands of that same man right now.

Guilt and regret are what you feel, you can't look death in the eye proudly. Not right now. If you can't commit to the promise you made mother then there is truly no point in making your way to the afterlife.

Cowardice is not the cause of death you want to present her with.

With a heavy heart you sign the papers.

It's been a few days since then, you've received training from some of Levi's squad, at first the combat is nerve wracking but you get to a level where you feel comfortable in terms of defense.

Oluo is slow, you've picked up on the way his stance predicts every move he's about to make. You're thankful for that because it makes training easier, he's oblivious to just how easy it is to read his movements and you snigger at that. Today he's trying a new technique, it consists of attempting to dive in the direction of one of your shoulders and suddenly darting at the other. It catches you off guard for a second but it's simple to block him. Jumping back from another surprise attack you lunge forward as if you're aiming for his face. He lights up thinking this is his chance unbeknownst to him you've already seen the open opportunity you've been waiting for. You can change the wager in this brawl. Swiftly ducking you undercut him with one of your legs, his balance has been knocked and he stumbles teetering by a thread.

A solid kick to his stomach is all it takes for him to collapse to the ground grumbling in vexation.

Mikasa has been helping you with one on one combat and the extra hours of training behind the stables has clearly been of benefit.

Thinking back to your training sessions with Mikasa you frown, not because of the way she flipped you and shoved you into the dirt, no that part was quite exhilarating. It's Sasha. She's been on your mind. She has to be feeling left out, that's your fault you've kept her in the dark about joining the regime, how could you attend training with her? Your maid waiting on you whilst you were training? Impossible.

The last problem you wish to arise is everyone finding out you're Duchess Ackerman. No one has to know about that minor detail, in fact when you informed Hange and Erwin of your decision they strongly agreed it would be best to hide it.

"I think we should get you strapped into some gear. See how good you really are in the dexterity department." Oluo is spitefully mumbling under his breath red faced.

Offering him your hand he looks like he wants to smack it away, You don't have time for this, you were planning on dropping by and paying Hange their more than overdue visit after training hours were up.

ODM-gear doesn't look too hard, you're sure you can work out the mechanisms if given some time. Calculating and shifting time blocks in your head you can come to an end at Six, if and only if you're able to rush past ODM training.

"Okay, I admit you were tired today I could tell. I'll strap myself into some gear."

At this new new challenge Oluo willingly takes your hand and you heave him up.

He's got a cocky shit-eating grin sprawled across his face as he pats your back enthusiastically.

"Good luck, you're in for one hell of a ride."

Three dimensional ODM-gear, a contraption that is very different to a sword or dagger. Most soldiers find it difficult to master the balancing of all their body weight whilst simultaneously gliding through the air with the grapple hooks. This is why introductory lessons in balance, momentum and effective weight distribution are a must.

It's been instructed that you won't be using ODM-gear nearly as much as other members of the regiment, you're training to become a spy after all and ODM-gear is very obviously visible when a person is strapped into their uniform. Nevertheless it's still a requirement to be able to use it. It's a hurdle because it's not your forte by any means but you can't continue avoiding it.

When living as the Duchess you deemed it pivotal to only interact with a limited number of Levi's colleagues, those who worked at the estate couldn't be avoided such as Mikasa but apart from that Hange was the only outsider you spoke to (Before Erwin had come along). You don't know if you regret that decision because it's definitely why everyone is cackling as you thrash around, they have no idea he has a wife and if they do they show no inclination of knowing you are that woman.

Sniggers can be heard as you struggle to center your strength fully, your instructor bellows at you. "No, come on. STOP FLAILING AROUND!" Particles of his saliva fly in your face and that only feeds into your embarrassment. Paralyzed you don't know what to do, he tells you to not move around then the next minute barks at you to not give up, repeats that you have the agility level equivalent of a sick child.

You've been stuck in this upside down position for more time than you can imagine, at some point a large majority of the scouts including Oluo double down in laughter whenever you make a mistake - they berate you when you are trying your best.

Legs kicking out you're panicking and want to escape the harness you're in.

Oluo was right, nothing could prepare you for this.

Mikasa when she isn't busy assisting Levi is a part of the regime too, that's why she's grinding her teeth this morning when she walks into the training grounds and sees the whole scene play out right before her eyes.

She wants to desperately step in and stop this because you being forced into ODM training without having your core strength developed is unfair.

Then a yell is heard from the crowd "GO Y/N!! LISTEN TO ME ALL YOU NEED TO DO IS KEEP CALM!" Both you and Mikasa turn to see Sasha standing next to her.

Sasha? Mikasa knows very well how you forbade her to follow you today, you gave her the day off to visit her family.

"I thought Y/N warned yo-"

"I am dedicated in my service to the Lady, if she chooses to do this I will be by her side to support her. She does not have to feel embarrassed."

Members of the corps are eyeing her weirdly when she says "Lady" she doesn't know you're keeping your identity secret, that was the reason for giving her time away, you were afraid she'd slip up and expose you but simply hearing Sasha proudly announce her commitment for you in front of all these people knocks the wind right out of your chest. You've never felt this much importance before.

Sasha's motivation is all you need because by a miraculous turn of events you manage to steady your breathing pattern and find it within yourself to focus on your core. Wobbling shakily the transition is far from smooth but you flip yourself right side up, the muscles in your calf ache and throb with pain but you've done it.

Grinning from ear to ear at your two friends you feel light-headed with relief.

"Took her long enough." Levi sneers. He's made his way to the front of the crowd, you wonder when he got here. Beaming at him you think your presentation might be enough to discourage his usual response. You're incorrect.

"She's a shame to this squad, there is no need in motivating someone of her rank." Shallow breaths puffing out of you it comes to your attention that he's addressing Sasha.

She ignores what he has to say about you and stays silent, any normal person would have their head hanging down in shame but she looks into his eyes with a determination that takes your breath away.

He pays her no mind after that and turns back to where you're still struggling to keep steady. "Don't think you're hot shit." Your bottom teeth dig into your lip, and your throat suddenly clamps down on you restricting your breath. "She's no good at combat, no good at using her gear. Do you only excel at spreading lies, Cadet?" The way he's now completely indignant in the way he speaks stings. He doesn't even bother to sound normal in front of Mikasa or Sasha anymore, it makes you manually hollow your cheeks trying to keep your tears at bay.

Lies, you know what he's referencing. You want to grab him by the collar of his shirt and throw him to the muddy ground. That's what he deserves for prodding and poking at your vulnerabilities.

He doesn't understand the degree at which all these sudden changes are affecting you, in his eyes this is light work and shouldn't impact you at all, that's why when you feel a muscle contraction and reel backwards, rapidly falling back into that cursed upside down position. He scoffs, doesn't even move to check if you're okay.

Whispers circle around you and even some of the cadets who participated in ridiculing you step forward to take you out of your harness. However, Sasha and Mikasa get there first and shoot them with their intense glares, the both of them work on hoisting you out of your gear.

Levi takes one last look at you before he storms away convinced you're faking, what else would a runt like you do to escape the situation?

In his mind you lost your momentum and your ship capsized because of your own self sabotage.

Little does he know all that has truly lost momentum is the inner-workings of your heart and that is all thanks to him.

[iceeckos12]

what if... for the prompts... “you’re cold, come here” for gerrymartin... as a treat... (thank you please drink some water)

sorry i know it’s been a few days ;_; however i have been UNABLE to get pre s1 gerrymartin out of my head since you sent this ask

putting this beneath a read more since it got kind of long alskdjfskf;

Martin stood at the bus stop, wearing his beat-up old headphones, staring into the middle distance, still coming to terms with the fact that he’d had to drop out of school a few weeks ago. He felt as though he’d be digesting that one for a while, like missing a step on his way down the stairs and tripping over his own feet, over and over again.

He’d asked for more shifts at Tesco’s, but it didn’t matter whether or not they were approved. The bills kept coming in, the sums adding up higher and higher, to numbers that may as well have been astronomical for all he had in his bank account.

This wasn’t sustainable. But what could he do? He was only seventeen, he had no degree, no -

“Need a cigarette?”

Martin almost leapt out of his skin at the sudden interruption, too surprised to do anything other than look mutely over. If he hadn’t already been stunned into silence, the sight that greeted him would’ve done the job.

The teen was tall, a little disheveled; there was a mean looking scrape across one side of his face, like his head had been shoved into pavement. His hair was dyed pitch black, dirty blond roots peeking out around the roots. Eyes the color of the cold, grey ocean stared back at Martin, stealing his breath right out of his chest.

The silence stretched on, but the teen didn’t speak, or take back the proffered cigarette. He just waited, expectant, endlessly patient, the same way a lighthouse waits, lonely but resolute.

“I - “ The words choked and stuttered on their way out. “I...I don’t smoke.”

“Hm.” The teen shrugged and took the cigarette back, setting it loosely between his teeth. Martin watched the movement, mesmerized by the shine of his black lipstick. Then he added, almost as an afterthought, “You looked like you needed one.”

Martin let out a high, embarrassed laugh. “That obvious?”

He hummed in agreement, the sound coming out through a thick cloud of smoke. Suddenly Martin wished he’d accepted the cigarette, if only to see if he could capture the same feeling this teen seemed to exude in waves. The poet in him wanted to smooth that midnight black hair behind one ear and ask what’d happened to make him look so tiredly sad.

“That’s your bus,” the teen said, jerking his chin toward the incoming bus. “Wouldn’t want to miss it.”

Martin turned, then realized that yes, that was his bus. He paused, realizing that he’d never told the teen - but when he turned around, the stranger was gone, almost as though he’d never been there in the first place.

-0-

For years after, Martin wondered if he’d imagined the whole incident. A mysterious, handsome stranger offering him a cigarette at a bus stop before disappearing into the ether? That sort of thing didn’t happen outside of the movies.

Until he saw the man at the Magnus Institute.

The first time he saw him, he had to do a double take, sure he’d imagined it. But no, there was a familiar person with poorly dyed black hair sitting on the front steps of the Institute, blowing cigarette smoke into the sky. He was in all black, from his combat boots to the shiny obsidian of his lips.

Martin wasn’t sure how long he’d been staring at the man’s lips. Too long obviously, because when he looked up, he met cool, ocean grey.

The man quirked a dirty-blond eyebrow, a small, almost experimental smile twitching at the corner of his lips. Martin, mortified at having been caught looking, ducked his head and almost ran the rest of the way up the steps.

They ran into each other on and off after that. Martin sometimes saw him wandering around the Archives, coming in and out of Gertrude’s office regardless of the time. He always seemed to be able to tell when Martin was watching him; after a few seconds, he would perk up and turn around, smiling that small, experimental smile.

Martin started to accept that he had a massive crush on this gorgeous, unattainable stranger. He decided to get the fuck over himself and wave instead of running away like a coward, which made that experimental smile turn into a true, genuinely pleased one.

And it was....safe. Good. Martin admired from afar, enamored of the man’s tattoos, his grey eyes, the quiet tragedy he carried with him like a shroud.

Ironically, the first real conversation they ever had was at the bus stop in front of the Magnus Institute.

It was late, later than Martin usually went home. It was cold too, unusually so for the time of year, enough so that Martin was wearing his warmer jacket. He was lost in thought, staring far into the middle distance, composing a poem about Indian summers and unusual chills and the way weather balanced finely between them -

There was a click from somewhere behind him, a muttered curse. Another click, and then a low, relieved sigh. Martin frowned and turned around, because no, it couldn’t be -

But it was.

The man looked up as soon as he felt Martin’s eyes on him, his cigarette hanging loosely out of the side of his lips. He’d gotten a new set of piercings since the last time Martin’d seen him, two shiny studs in his bottom lip that made Martin’s mouth go dry.

“Hey,” the man said. He sounded exactly the way Martin remembered.

“Hi!” Martin squeaked, clutching his bag closer to him nervously. Oh god, oh god, the inspiration for half his poetry from the past few months was standing right in front of him. “Um - hi. Hello.”

The man’s grin widened, like he found Martin’s frantic stuttering endearing. “Hey.”

Fuck. He was doing this all wrong.

“I’m Martin,” Martin blurted. Almost went to shake the man’s hand but decided against it last second.

“Gerard,” Gerard said, the glowing tip of his cigarette dancing in the dark. “But you can call me Gerry.”

“Oh,” Martin said faintly, his heart fluttering too-fast in his chest. Then, just because he could, said, “Gerry.” Rolled the word around in his mouth, tasting how it felt against the back of his teeth. Decided he liked it. “Nice to meet you, Gerry.”

Gerry’s grin widened, his teeth very white under the curve of his painted black smile. There was a gap between his front teeth, and Martin felt almost dizzy with the knowledge of it. “And you.”

Then unexpectedly, he shivered so hard that his teeth clenched around his cigarette. It was only then that Martin realized that the man was only wearing a thin black jacket over his graphic t-shirt, and that he must be absolutely freezing.

Martin was acting before he could think it all the way through, rummaging through his bag and removing his scarf from its depths. It was a heavy, woolen thing that he’d knitted for his mother’s birthday but - she hadn’t wanted it, muttered something about it being too itchy.

“You’re cold,” Martin said absently, brandishing the scarf in front of him like a weapon. “Come here.”

Gerry stared at the scarf, his grey eyes stretched wide, then looked to Martin, then back to the scarf. Surprise didn’t sit quite right on his face, like it was an emotion he wasn’t used to wearing. “Um. I’m...that’s okay. You don’t have to...”

“Nonsense,” Martin said, ignoring the little voice in the back of his head that was gibbering mindlessly at his boldness. “You’re hardly dressed for the weather, and it’s not like I’m using it.”

Gerry opened his mouth - paused, a strange light entering his eyes. He looked at the scarf, and his surprise faded into a blank, neutral frown. Then, “That was cruel of her.”

Martin frowned. “What?”

“Okay,” Gerry said, and took the scarf from Martin. He stared at it for a moment, studying the simple pattern, before wrapping it around his neck. He looked warmer at least, and that made something in Martin’s stomach settle, relaxed the part of him that wanted nothing more than to nurture. “Thanks.”

“Sure,” Martin responded, still feeling a bit off-kilter by the strange comment, like Gerry had known what his mother had said to him and disapproved. “Anytime.”

They stood in silence for a couple more seconds, the atmosphere strangely charged with anticipation. There was something Martin was supposed to say here, something important, but he wasn’t sure what it was.

And then the bus came.

Martin stared at it for a second, disappointment a sour taste in his mouth. His window of opportunity was steadily closing, he could feel it, but he was lost, grasping at the tail end of something strange and unknowable.

“That’s your bus,” Gerry told him gently, and when Martin looked over, he was holding the scarf close to his neck.

“Will I see you again?” Martin asked in a sudden burst of confidence.

Gerry froze almost imperceptibly for a moment, but Martin had been learning to read body language ever since his father had left home. He looked away, that clear grey gaze focusing on the sidewalk in front of him, studying the cracks in the concrete. “If you like.”

“I’d like to,” Martin responded firmly, then deflated as his confidence faded and his uncertainty returned. “If you would.”

That small, experimental smile twitched the edges of Gerry’s lips again. Martin was suddenly struck by the fact that it didn’t sit quite right, as though it wasn’t an expression he was used to making. The thought was as endearing as the rest of him. His voice was unexpectedly low, unexpectedly shy, as he said, “I would.”

[horrorslashergirl]

Slasher OC: Decebal Avram Chirilă

Full Name: Decebal Avram Chirilă

Nickname(s): Dacia, Dece, The Impaler, Vladislav, Tiger, Lynx, Dracula, Casanova

Age: 38

Gender: Male

Nationality: Romanian

Place of Birth: Bucharest, Romania

Current Location: Travels from country to country

Occupation: Former Romanian Soldier; Now Hitman

Languages: Romanian, English, German, French, Italian, Hungarian, Russian, Turkish

Appearance:

Height: 6'8

Weight: 240lbs

Body Type: Middle Bulky and Atheltic

Skin Color: Warm Beige

Hair Color: Dark Brown

Hair Style: Short on the sides and longer on top, wavy

Eye Color: Pale Grey, almost white, giving the impression he is blind

Face Claim: Stephen James

Clothing: He opts for comfortable clothing mostly because of his job as a hitman and because he is always on the run. He mostly goes with black T-shirts or shirts, a khaki army coat with many pockets, along with camo army pants again with many pockets and black combat boots. He has a long black scarf with the colors of the Romanian flag trimmed along that belonged to his father.

Other features: He has many scars on his broad back and down his arms; his back's scars are covered by tattoos of an eagle and a grim reaper with two swords in an X shape. His has full sleeve tattoos down his arms, picturing all kind of nature scenarios from his country, mountains and wild animals and AK-47's on each forearm. His neck, chest and legs are also covered by tattoos along with his hands. This guy is all inked up. He also has a silver earing on his right ear. He also wears an eyepatch that is covering his scarred eye that he got from a fight with his brother Alexander, the scar mimiking the ones Alexander has, coming from his eyebrow down his eye and over his cheek.

Weapons: Twin Swords, Twin Guns, and throwing knives.

Power/Skills:

Murderous expertise

Brute strength

Skilled usage of weaponry

Skill in hand-to-hand combat

Knifesmanship

Swordsmanship

Multilingual

Cunning Nature

Charisma

Driving expertise

Ruthlessness

Fearlessness

Manipulation

Marksmanship

Master tactician and strategist

Stealth mastery

Symbols: Here is the link to Decebal's symbols

History/Bio:

Decebal was named after a Romanian king by his parents, father Apostol Chirilă, and his mother, Maria Stratulat of Moldovic heritage. They were a poor family that lived in Bucharest during the communist times, a hard period for them. Decebal's father, Apostol was one of the rebels that were against this form of a system of social organization in which all property is owned by the community and each person contributes and receives according to their ability and needs.

Because of this Apostol and Maria, along with their three years old son, Decebal, were dragged into the communistic jails where they were tortured in all kinds of ways from whipping to starvation to being chained into coldness.

Decebal tried to protect his parents even though he was a small child and the army warden that took care of the horrific jails was surprised by the child's braveness and he took him away from his parents, not before forcing him to watch how his parents were killed brutally.

During the rest of his childhood and teenage years, Decebal spent most of his life in the dark underground jail, training with the soldiers, doing hard work. Despite that, the warden thought Decebal about all kinds of languages, cultures, and history. 

'Just because you're a stray dog that doesn't mean you cannot learn to bark and bite.'

In his late teenage years as he grew into an adult man, he got more to the light outside, following the warden wherever he went and did was his so-called 'father' figure did; smoke, drink and got laid with all the ladies.

The warden's words during a drunken late-night:

'You know boy, you will do something big, much bigger than you can imagine. I saw how all these sluts looked at you... You make them fall into your arms like they are desperate whores.'

'Use everything you got; charms, brains, muscles. In this world, there are the ones that walk every inch of the ground as they own it and the ones that follow, all chained. Tell me, boy... Which one you are?'

One of the greatest abilities that Decebal earned during years in the darkness was that he got so used to it that now as an adult, he sees perfectly into the darkness, just like cats do. 

Some people called Decebal 'Lynx'; the moniker originates from the fact that Lynx has exceptional night vision, remarkable hearing, and incredible instincts. The spiritual lesson Lynx carries to you is a reminder to partake of quiet observance, remembering there’s more to the world than what’s accessible through the physical eyes and ears alone.

After communism fell down in Romania, Decebal still maintained the attitude he grew up around; being sadistic, cold, and cruel. People weren't too fond of his attitude; his habits including fighting and torturing people that opposed him, getting laid with other men's wives, strolling down the streets like he owned everything.

He disappeared from Romania when there was a reward on his head to be finally executed. The Romanian army was hot on his trail, turning against him, but he simply vanished.

He strolls from country to country, not having a definitive home and working as a rogue hitman to earn money and to survive.

After a brutal fight between him and his twin little brother, Alexander; the two brothers which resulted in both of them almost dead, they get on an agreement of peace between them, with the help of their third part, their little sister Nadia.

Family: His little brother Alexander Chirilă and his little sister Nadia Nikolina Chirilă

His favorite killing style:

He prefers a kill that will put on a good show, he will shot his victims in both their knees, then he will dismember them with his sharp twin swords.

Personality:

Decebal has two paths of personality; the civilian one and the hitman one, that sometimes cross path depending on the situation at hand. In hi day to day life, he is a charming, handsome man, confident and sure of himself, but also having a modesty edge, just to draw people in closer, because he loves the attention, having a God-like complex.

Despite his childhood, he is a very educated man that speaks many languages, sometimes taking people by surprise, he can even put on fake accents. He also has vast knowledge about other countries history, mostly because that's what his 'father-figure' talked a lot about.

He is a flirt, he simply adores to make women swon by his charming looks and mysterious persona wherever he goes, people always wondering from where he comes. He knows how to sweet-talk people, being extremly manipulative. His looks; big and strong, in his eyes a flaming white glow.

You will rarely see Decebal without his charming smile or dark smirk that makes the ladies sigh and faint. He always puts on a winning attitude, knowing for creating many divorces along his travelings. 

Here goes his saying: 'If the female raised her tail, who I am to deny.'

He has a romantic side, after all he does speaks the romance languages, but it's highly influenced his his Casanova attitude.

He is blunt; this man will tell if you're damn gorgeous or if you're down-right ugly or stupid. He has no problem putting his opinions straight on the table.

His favorite drink: Țuică- is a traditional Romanian spirit that contains ~ 24–65% alcohol by volume (usually 40–55%), prepared only from plums.

His favorite food: Sarma is a dish of vine, cabbage, monk's rhubarb, kale or chard leaves rolled around a filling of grains, like bulgur or rice, minced meat, or both. It is found in the cuisines of the former Ottoman Empire from the Middle East to Southeastern Europe.

His scent: Decebal's scent could be described as a 'game of seduction' with an "exciting rush" of citrus and cool spice top notes. Pungent bergamot "bites" with freshness, revived by cardamom and lavender. Caviar gives a provocative and erotic touch “like a trickle of sweat on a man’s chiseled body.” Masculine and rough notes of tobacco and orris root facilitate the heat of the composition. He has that scent that could be described as smoky confidence irresistible to women.

Other Characteristics:

He is a very good dancer, especially traditional ones and he also knows singing. Attending important parties with his 'father-figure' he learned from the women how to dance and sing. The women basically made him such a charismatic man.

He is a heavy drinker and holds his alcohol like it's water; his moldovic genes showing off. 

He is more of a night person that a day one, mostly because of his very good nocturnal sight.

He is pretty much an Outlaw.

His accent sounds like italian, latin, but with a little bit of russian or another slavic accent. (That's how a Austrian woman described his accent one night)

He is a master at Poker. Another way he earns a lot of money is through poker and plus, he is a master cheater. FUN FACT HERE: He won a man's wife through poker for one night.

He is a sword swallower, bonus he has no gag reflex.

He also loves to smoke from his pipe.

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

There lived a certain man in Romania long ago

He was big and strong, in his eyes a flaming glow

Most people look at him with terror and with fear

But to Bucharest chicks he was such a lovely dear

He could preach the Bible like a preacher

Full of ecstasy and fire

But he also was the kind of teacher

Women would desire

DE DE DECEBAL

Lover of the ROMANIAN queen

There was a cat that really was gone

DE DE DECEBAL

Romania's greatest love machine

It was a shame how he carried on

He ruled the Romanian land and never mind the Tsar

But the kazachok he danced really wunderbar

In all affairs of state he was the man to please

But he was real great when he had a girl to squeeze

For the queen he was no wheeler dealer

Though she'd heard the things he'd done

She believed he was a holy healer

Who would heal her son

DE DE DECEBAL

Lover of the Romanian queen

There was a cat that really was gone

DE DE DECEBAL

Romania's greatest love machine

It was a shame how he carried on

(This is an interpretation of the song ‘Rasputin’ by Boney M, mostly because the song inspired me into creating him)

For power became known to more and more people

The demands to do something about this outrageous

Man became louder and louder

"This man's just got to go!" declared his enemies

But the ladies begged "Don't you try to do it, please"

No doubt this Decebal had lots of hidden charms

Though he was a brute they just fell into his arms

Then one night some men of higher standing

Set a trap, they're not to blame

"Come to visit us" they kept demanding

And he really came

DE DE DECEBAL

Lover of the Romanian queen

They put some poison into his țuică

DE DE DECEBAL

Romania's greatest love machine

He drank it all and said "I feel fine"

DE DE DECEBAL

Lover of the Romanian queen

They didn't quit, they wanted his head

DE DE DECEBAL

Romania's greatest love machine

[Spoken:] Oh, those Romanians...

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

But when his drinking and lusting and his hunger

[kinglazrus]

Sam's Amethyst Orbs: the crackfic

Ectoberweek2020

Day 5: Orb / Reanimation

Summary: Sam has amethyst orbs. Need I say more? Dedicated to @lexosaurus

Word count: 1705

There were a lot of things Danny loved about Sam. Her take-no-shit attitude. Her stunning accuracy with shin kicks. Her delighted grin in the middle of the most adrenaline-pumping, heart-racing ghost fights. You know, normal stuff teenage boys found attractive. He couldn’t tell you when he first fell in love with her. Maybe freshman year, when he realized she would never judge him for being something less than human. Maybe eighth grade, when she got her first goth makeover and came to school wearing black lipstick and lace sleeves. Or maybe all the way back in grade four, when she punched Dash Baxter so hard that she knocked out two of his baby teeth.

Either way, he knew he loved her, but there was one thing he loved most of all: her amethyst orbs.

He loved the way Sam's amethyst orbs shone in the sunlight, how they sparkled like precious gems plucked from the deepest mine, polished until they glowed from within. Every time he looked at Sam's amethyst orbs, they trapped him with their crystal gaze. If he could, he would stare into their beauteous depths for all eternity.

The disasteroid could be bearing down on them—which, by the way, was very real and very canon—and Danny wouldn't even care. Not as long as Sam's amethyst orbs were the last thing he saw.

"The what?" Tucker asked.

Danny blinked, the lovestruck glaze fading from his eyes. "What?"

"You said something weird."

Danny wrinkled his nose. "Excuse me? Sam's amethyst orbs are not–"

"Ugh, not that." Tucker waved his hand dismissively. "You said something about... roids? Are you taking steroids? Are you on drugs? Is it," he leaned across Danny's desk and loudly whispered, "the ghost weed?"

"Tucker!" Danny slapped his hand over Tucker's mouth, casting a wary glance at the rest of the classroom. Dash was looking their way but turned back to his notebook as soon as he met Danny's eye, a sneer on his lips. Other than him, no one else was paying attention. Mr. Lancer, sitting at his desk, had his nose buried in a book that looked suspiciously like a Warriors novel, with tears glistening in his eyes.

Danny raised his eyebrows but didn't comment.

Something warm and wet touched his palm.

"Dude, what the fuck?" Danny recoiled, jerking his hand away from Tucker's mouth

"You cover my mouth, I lick your palm. It's fair game," Tucker said.

"Gross." Danny wiped his hand on Tucker's sweater. "What were we talking about? Oh, yeah. Sam's amethyst–"

"No." Tucker pressed a finger to Danny's lips, silencing him. "The disaster-whatsit."

"Disasteroid?"

"Like... disaster on steroids?"

"Like a disaster asteroid."

Tucker stared at Danny blankly.

"What?"

"Tucker." Danny sighed and shook his head. "You should know this. It's canon, remember? Endorsed by nine out of ten scientists."

"What about the tenth?"

"We don't talk about the tenth. But that doesn't matter. As I was saying: Sam's amethyst orbs." Danny tumbled headlong into another long rant. Tucker, held prisoner by the conventions of best friendship, groaned and pulled his hat down over his ears.

—

As the trio walked through the park, hunting for ghosts, Sam's amethyst orbs glinted in the moon's soft glow. They caught the silver light in a way nothing else could, more precious than any metal. Because they were like gems—amethysts, to be exact—but orb-shaped, and belonged to Sam.

Danny, enthralled by the sight and thoroughly distracted, flew face-first into a nearby tree. Rough bark scraped against his cheek, scratching his face as he dropped to the grass, yelping in pain and surprise.

"Dude," Tucker said, grinning at Danny's misfortune.

Sam, who at least tried to hide her smile behind her hand, leaned over Danny. "Geez, save some for the ghosts." She tilted her head, blocking the beam of moonlight filtering through the leaves overhead.

Danny felt more pain looking up at Sam's shadowed form that he did hitting the tree; the heavenly gleam had disappeared from her amethyst orbs. But even when shrouded in darkness, bereft of their usual lustre, Sam's amethyst orbs were exquisite. In fact, the gloom added an air of mystery, a wicked edge that fit Sam as well as her steel-toed combat boots fit the dent in Tucker's shin.

"How did you hit a tree?" she asked

"By staring right at it and flying forward," Danny said.

Sam laughed. Her head tipped back far enough that, for a second, her amethyst orbs carried that silver twinkle once again, until she leaned forward once more, and it disappeared. "No, seriously. What distracted you?"

Danny pursed his lips, cheeks burning. He didn't want to say. But as Sam leaned further, lowering her head toward his, bringing those charming, spherical amethyst orbs closer, he had to tell her. He turned his head away and mumbled, "Your amethyst orbs."

Sam frowned. "My what?"

Danny opened his mouth, only for Tucker immediately slap his hand over it.

"No, don't start. He's being on about this for, like eight hundred words already," Tucker said.

"On about what?"

Taking his hand away from Danny's mouth, Tucker pulled his own eyes open wide. "Your amethyst orbs."

Sam snorted. "What, are we in a bad fan fiction or something?"

"Well, yeah. Except worse, because it's a crackfic. But the grammar's okay, I guess." Danny shrugged. He couldn't complain, at the moment, although he could have gone without getting slapped by a tree trunk.

"Danny, are you okay?" Sam crouched in front of him and reached out, brows creased in concern. "I think you might have hit your head a little too hard."

"I'm fine, I swear. I'll prove it. Look, this," he gestured to his cheek, "can be written away in an instant, just watch."

Tucker and Sam leaned forward, watching closely. Nothing happened.

"Just give it a moment," Danny insisted.

Ninety seconds later—which was the approximate length of a moment based on medieval sundials and their correlation to modern concepts of time—nothing happened.

Danny, itching, in pain, and feeling rather done with all of this, scowled. "I take it back. This story sucks."

His cheek started bleeding profusely.

"Dude!" Tucker said, eyes widening.

"You are not okay. We're going to my place." Sam grabbed Danny's arm and hauled him up.

"But I'm fine!"

"No, you're not."

"But the next scene might not have moonlight! Sam's amethyst orbs look so pretty in the moonlight!"

—

The next scene did not have moonlight, because Danny didn't deserve moonlight. He deserved Sam wearing sunglasses and full-body cloak and no view of her amethyst orbs, which was exactly what he got that day at school

"It's not fair," Danny whined. He sat on the curb after the final bell, chin cradled in the palm of his hand. "I just wanted to see her amethyst orbs. So spherical, so perfect, so amethyst."

Too bad for Danny. He shouldn't have insulted the story.

"Well, it's stupid. It started normally, but now I'm here, talking to you."

"Talking to who?" Sam, who materialized out of nowhere, asked.

"Uh..." Danny gaped at her. "How did you do that?"

Tucker appeared on Danny's other side. "We walked."

"No, you didn't."

"Maybe we did," Sam said. "Maybe we have ghost powers, too. Maybe the author thinks this joke has gone on long enough and we're here as arbitrary plot devices to push the story forward." She sat down next to him, smoothing the hem of her cloak under her legs.

Danny liked the cloak, he really did. He was head over heels for Sam. There was nothing about her he didn't like; except the cloak's collar. Although soft and satiny, a stiff wire kept the collar upright so the lace trim skimmed Sam's jaw.

Sam poked his cheek. "You gonna be weird about my 'amethyst orbs' again?"

"It's not weird!" Danny protested.

"It's weird," Tucker said. "Just call them eyes like a normal person."

Danny glanced Tucker's way, pursing his lips. Genuine confusion flickered across his face. "Why would I call them eyes?"

"Because they're eyes?"

"Orbs.

"Eyes."

"Orbs"

"Eyes!"

"Orbs!" Danny shouted. "Orbs! Orbs! Orbs!"

Overhead, thunder boomed. Danny jumped, slipping off the curb, and quickly scrambled to his feet. Sam and Tucker followed. Together, they stared up at the sky. Moments ago, it had been bright and blue, the picture of a perfect day. Now, dark heavy clouds blanketed it all the way to the horizon. Thunder rumbled, rolling across Amity Park. A shadow fell over the trio from behind.

Trembling, they turned.

Walker loomed behind them, taller than any building. In his hands, he held his lawbook and snapped it shut with a sneer. "That's against the rules." His voice rumbled with the thunder. Before the teens could react, Walker reached down and snatched Danny up, holding him in a crushing grip.

"Hey! He didn't do anything!" Tucker shouted. He grabbed a pebble off the sidewalk and chucked it at Walker. The small stone bounced off the toe of his boot.

"Wow, Tucker. Thanks for the help," Danny said.

"Daniel Fenton, you are under arrest for violation of the fanfiction code. Section sixty-nine, appendix four-twenty: using the word orbs in place of eyes," Walker said. "Come quietly, and maybe you won't be executed."

"Don't you mean... maybe you'll be... lenient?" Danny wheezed, struggling to breathe in Walker's tight fist. The slightest movement and Walker could crush him. So maybe it wasn't the best time for sass, but Danny wasn't known for his impeccable timing.

"Isn't that the same thing?" Walker asked. He wasn't wrong. "Any last words?"

"Why do you keep saying eyes? They're orbs!" Danny beat his fist against Walker's thumb. "Sam's amethyst orbs!"

Walker's eyes narrowed. "That's it," he said. "You're going to jail." He stomped away, his heavy steps shaking the street.

Tucker leaned toward Sam and whispered, "Should we follow?"

"Nah. I mean, he did use the word orbs instead of eyes," she said. "He could use a little prison time."

In the distance, Danny wailed. "Not! Orbs! Neck! Lace!" As his final cry faded away, Sam glanced down at her cloak. She pulled the tall collar back, revealing a simple silver necklace with two pendants on it: gleaming amethyst orbs.

[dionnaea]

I hope this isn’t too specific! Kenny Ackerman meeting up with a soldier - a friend, acquaintance, or just someone who’s somehow on decent terms with him - and while chatting about what‘s been going on in their lives, the reader catches Kenny’s interest when they mention how a specific “newbie,” Levi, is already wrecking stuff and climbing the ranks. You can decide if reader’s in love with Levi or not! Thank you!

Pot Meet Kettle

pairing: kenny ackerman x reader (platonic), slight levi x reader

warnings: mild swearing, alcohol consumption

wc: 1.3k

a/n: this is definitely more focused on the relationship between kenny and y/n, so i hope that’s okay! it just turned out to be so fun to write their interactions. thanks for the request, and if you are ever interested in more of a background story for kenny and y/n, i’d be totally down! 

anon! i’d love to hear your thoughts! <3

attack on titan masterlist  |  general masterlist

Yeah, sure, it wasn’t very ladylike to get in a bar fight at 3 p.m. on a Sunday afternoon in the middle of a wealthy district, but the guy deserved the punch you threw. As soon as he made the choice to place a dirty hand on your ass and squeeze, it was over for him. 

As soon as you felt the foreign touch, you reeled around, arm thrown back. Your back heel lifted as you pivoted, rotating your torso and moving your arm forward, calling on your years of Survey Corps training. A punch was second nature to you. When a resounding crack echoed throughout the room, you knew you had broken his jaw. You returned to a neutral position, crossing your arms over your chest to hide your reddening knuckles, and gave the guy a sickly sweet grin. He hesitantly met your eyes, cupping his already bruising and swollen jaw with one hand. Your expression was an unspoken threat, and the guy quickly cowered away, throwing a few coins on the counter and scurrying out of the bar. You rolled your eyes with a sigh, swinging around to head towards the seat at the counter you had originally been approaching. 

“Y/N.” 

You would recognize that deep, lazy drawl anywhere. 

His hat shaded his eyes, one foot kicked up onto the table with a complete disregard for general hygiene or respect, the spur on his heel digging into, and subsequently scratching, the worn out wood. His laid back posture presented no threat, but you knew anyone else would be terrified to approach him. Heck, even the barmaid looked nervous as she set his whiskey down in front of him. You, on the other hand, felt no fear towards the man, and gave him a bright grin, making your way over to his table. 

“Kenny! It’s been too long, my friend,” you expressed, pulling out the chair across from him with your foot and taking a seat, placing an order with the server on your way. “What’re you doing in these parts?” It was curious to see an underground rogue like himself up top, especially in the inner districts. 

“Nothing too interesting,” he replied, obviously being vague on purpose. “What about you? A Survey Corps Squad Leader in Wall Sina? Must be something going on.”

“Nothing too interesting,” you shot back. You knew it was unwise to reveal Survey Corps information to a man like Kenny Ackerman, especially anything classified. He chuckled, tilting his head back so that you could finally see his eyes. They were a piercing grey, and happened to remind you of a fresh recruit. Your drink was placed on the table, and you took a sip, enjoying the burn of the alcohol and waiting for Kenny to speak. 

“As mysterious as ever, Y/N. You never change.” He was joking with you, and you laughed.

“That’s the pot calling the kettle black. Can’t ask for information without giving some in return, not even for an old friend like you.” You weren’t proud of it, but on occasion, you had served as an informant for the man. Just small things about the Corps here and there to help him with his own business. Nothing that would hurt anyone involved… you were pretty sure, at least. 

He nodded in agreement, and took a large swig of his drink. “Here’s what I can tell you, then,” he started, and you leaned forward a bit, interest piqued. “The nobility is getting restless when it comes to the Corp. There’s a chance you might be shut down.”

You blinked before frowning. “That’s always the case, though, isn’t it? No one is ever happy with our work.” It was true: the Survey Corps was never really appreciated, and there were often murmurs of it being dissolved. 

“They’ve approached the royal court about it, Y/N. It’s more serious than you think.” That had never happened before, and you worried the inside of your lip. “They want results from your next expedition.” 

Your whole body language changed as a smirk grew on your face, and you leaned back into your seat. “Oh, they’ll get ‘em.” Kenny hummed as a sign for you to continue. “We’ve got this new recruit, you see. Terrible attitude, listens to no one, not even his superiors, and takes absolutely no shit from anyone.” You paused. When you next spoke, your voice was lower. “...Best fighter I’ve ever seen, though. Handles the swords like they’re an extension of his body, and maneuvers like he was born to fly. Never seen anything like it.” You shook your head, thinking back to the young man. He had quickly beaten almost everyone in the Corps in hand-to-hand combat and practice stats, and was flying up the ranks. A prodigy at it’s finest. 

Kenny moved his leg off of the table slowly, and removed his hat, revealing his rugged features. You had never seen such an expression of interest on his face before. “What’s his name?” He asked.

“Levi,” you responded, and missed the way Kenny’s eyebrows rose slightly. “Short little bastard. Barely 5’3”. If you can get past that, though, he’s a looker. Thick, dark hair, tired eyes, chiseled jawline. I’m definitely not complaining when we spar.” You chuckled, half joking and half serious. 

Kenny finished off his drink with one large gulp. “Sounds like you got a crush, kitten.” 

You rolled your eyes at the nickname. Only he could get away with calling you that, and he knew it. “Nah. Just a fascination at this point,” you admitted. You really were fascinated by Levi; you had never seen a man like him before. He exuded an energy you could never quite place your finger on. “He’s apathetic as hell, not one for a relationship. Also, I’m pretty sure he has daddy issues, and I can’t deal with that.” 

Kenny shrugged, a slight smirk accompanying it. “You’ve always liked a challenge. Dear ol’ Y/N, repairing the broken-hearted.” He placed a hand over his heart, and you let out a breathy laugh at his dramatics. As far as you knew, he only behaved this way around you, and you were thankful he trusted you after years of getting to know him. 

“You only say that ‘cause I fixed your broken heart. I don’t do that for just anyone, y’know.” You gave him a small, genuine smile, and his lips curled up in return, dropping his hand from his chest to grab his hat. 

“Yeah, I know,” he responded. He stood up, tossing a few bills on the table. “Your drink’s on me. See ya ‘round, kitten.” He placed his hat on his head with practiced ease, tipping it in your direction. 

You brought two fingers up to your right temple, brushing them out towards him in a playful salute. “Farewell, my friend. Don’t go getting into too much trouble.” 

“Hah,” he scoffed. “You’re the last person allowed to tell me that.” You waved him off with a knowing grin. Straightening his hat once more, he said, “Right back atcha. Next time I see you, I better not be getting news I’m an uncle to some Levi Jr.” 

You flicked him your middle finger. “Screw you, Kenny. Go back to your cowboy fantasies.” It was completely a jest, just as his comment was, and he let out a guffaw. 

“I’m going,” he told you, the last of his laughs dying out. “Stay safe.” He was serious now, his words holding a weight that hung dreadfully in the air. 

“You, too,” you replied, the same heaviness in your own words. At that, Kenny turned and headed towards the exit. The last thing you heard was the clicking of his spurs against his heels and the closing of the door, marking the end of yet another pleasant conversation between friends.