#<- going into lb cause we all hang out here :)))

[bclarke]

hi eveyone i was looking through soccer highlights and found my silly boys 🤲

[the-lonelybarricade]

Did you say elriel one shot, LB? I may be too late in giving a prompt, but what if Feyre set up Azriel and Elain on a date because she loves to meddle in modern au? Feel free to ignore this. I just wrote the first thing that came to mind. 😊

Thank you for the prompt Mel!!! I know that you're asleep right now, but I hope this feels like a nice surprise when you wake up! <3

As a contribution to @elainweekofficial and LB officially dipping her toes into the Elriel waters, here's a short fun little one-shot!

Summary: House sitting Feyre's cat doesn't go exactly how Elain is planning

CW: None! Besides Prick the cat returning to cause mayhem

Words: 2.5k

Read on AO3

-

Elain’s heels clicked against the uneven cobblestone outside of Feyre and Rhysand’s townhouse. She regretted wearing them—had forgotten how easily they caught on the pavement outside her sister’s home, threatening to trip her while she was focused on the impressive feat of juggling her sister’s keys, two armfuls of groceries, and the phone she had pressed between her shoulder and ear.

“Gray,” she said, trying hard to maintain her patience, though an unintentional sharpness still edged her voice. She was having a difficult time getting the necessary key into her occupied hands. “I already told you I’m not coming over.”

“Why?”

“Because, for starters, I’m busy sitting Feyre’s cat,” Elain explained patiently. Again. “And more importantly—” She swore as fumbled the keys, watching them clatter to the pavement. Her irritation surged, getting the better of her in the form of a harsh sigh and a hissed, “Because we’re broken up, Graysen!”

The phone line became quiet, not that Elain paid much attention as she tediously squatted down, balancing precariously on each heel, trying not to drop the incredibly heavy groceries as she hooked the keyring between a finger and slowly rose back to her full height.

Graysen, who was oblivious to what she’d just accomplished, finally said, “This is why I want you to come over so we can talk about it, El.”

She huffed through her nose. Graysen’s version of talk about it usually consisted of taking off her clothes and occupying her mouth so that she didn’t have a chance to tell him what a bastard he was for sleeping with his secretary. She had no interest in talking about it.

Elain let herself focus on pushing the key through the lock, turning until she felt the mechanism click. Graysen could wait.

“Elain?”

Not that he was terribly good at it.

The front door pushed open to a carpeted entryway. Despite Graysen’s growing impatience, she felt her heart lift at the sight of the familiar wood paneled walls, lovingly framed with Feyre’s portraits of her husband and their friends. She loved coming here and being reminded of the love that existed in Feyre’s life—even if Elain was having trouble finding it in her own.

“I should get going, Graysen,” she said. Her arms were aching from the sustained weight of the groceries. Desperate to set them down, she headed into the kitchen, scanning the hallways as she went in search of the kitten Feyre had recently adopted.

“It’s just a cat, Elain. They can take care of themselves.”

She spied the cat in question lounging in a sunspot atop the marble counter. His sleepy face raised up at her approach, blinking bleary eyes towards her as she set the groceries—finally—on the counter.

“Prick,” she cooed, holding a hand out in greeting to the small black cat.

“Excuse me?”

Elain rolled her eyes. “Not you, Gray. That’s what Feyre named her cat.”

“She named it Prick?”

With no patience for the judgment in his tone, Elain scooped up the cat in one arm, cradling to her chest as she snapped, “Maybe she named him after you.”

She headed towards the living room, intending to set the cat down, hang up with Graysen, and watch reruns of old sitcoms until the heavy knot in her chest loosened. Except, as Elain stepped back into the hallway, all of four things happened.

Elain screamed.

The naked man standing in the hallway shouted in surprise and dropped his towel.

Prick startled and raked his sharp claws across Elain’s arm as he scrambled to escape her hold.

And Elain’s phone clambered to the ground, taking her awareness of Graysen and any of his complaints along with it.

For a moment, she and the naked man could only stare at each other through wide eyes. It was a consolation that the naked man seemed equally as surprised to see her, unless this was all some odd, elaborate, and terribly ineffective murder tactic.

“Hi,” she squeaked. “I’m, uh, Elain Archeron.”

She knew it would be polite to turn away, since he obviously hadn’t intended to flash her with his naked body. And truthfully, that was what Elain tried to do. But she made the mistake of looking from his beautiful face to the body beneath it. It was an understatement to say he cut an imposing figure. All rich golden brown skin stretched over taut, carefully honed muscle that was still wet and glimmering from his shower. When her eyes fell to his sculpted chest and the corded abdomen beneath it, she told herself she should stop, but still her traitorous eyes slanted downwards, to the defined vee of his hips and wisps of dark coarse hair that led…

Elain swallowed, her tongue suddenly thick, her mouth suddenly dry.

“Hi Elain,” he said, not nearly as flustered as she imagined someone would be in his situation. He had most definitely noticed her unsubtle ogling, and he hadn’t bothered yet to reach for the towel. Her cheeks flushed, but she was in no hurry to complain about it. “I’m Azriel.”

“Azriel,” she breathed, wracking her mind for why that sounded familiar. The sight of him had turned everything else to static, she couldn’t even remember why she’d been coming this direction in the first place. “Are you, uh. Are you one of Rhysand’s friends?”

“I’m his brother.”

“Oh.”

Elain did remember him. From Rhysand’s wedding party. She had thought he was a security guard until she’d seen him standing next to Rhys at the altar. He had given a speech, though by that point in the night she had been too drunk, and too naively smitten with Graysen, to remember much else about him.

“Do you often walk around your brother’s house naked?”

He raised a dark brow, something dangerous about the look he offered her. “That depends,” he said. “Are you often here to watch?”

The way his eyes flickered, just briefly, to the appendage hanging between his legs was just as condemning as if he’d gestured with his hands. Saying, I saw you looking. There was no denying that she had been. Even still, she hadn’t turned away from him, and could still see it growing in her peripheral vision.

There was nothing casual in the way she needed to clear her throat before speaking. “I’m here to watch the cat.”

Although god knows where he ran off to.

Azrie’s lip twitched. “What a coincidence. I’m here to watch the cat as well.”

Typical. Utterly typical of Feyre to hear of Elain’s breakup and decide to meddle, no sooner than a week after it had happened. All good intentions with scarcely any tact. Her sigh was exasperated, taking with it the earlier affection she’d felt for her younger sister and her husband, with his stupidly attractive—and if she had to guess, single—brother. Who was watching her though dark hazel eyes, lips quirked in just enough of a smile that Elain knew that he knew he was hot.

“Well,” she said. The strain in her voice convinced her to finally avert her eyes, not willing to boost his ego any further. “The cat doesn’t need both of us to watch it, and you look like you’ve made yourself at home, so maybe I should just—“

“You’re bleeding,” he interrupted.

Elain frowned, glancing down to her arm. She had felt the sting from the cat’s scratches but she hadn’t realized they’d broken skin. A hand clasped her wrist, turning her forearm upwards. Azriel leaned forward and she could feel the fresh heat of his shower still drifting off his skin. Gods, she could smell the soap he had used, the scent of cedarwood suddenly cloying in the small space between them.

He gave a low whistle. “Guess the cat earns its name. Come on, you’re going to want to wash this.”

“I’m a big girl,” Elain said, snatching her hand away, uncertain why she was deciding to be so haughty with him. Besides that he refused to put his towel back on. She rubbed her wrists in an effort to banish the residual heat of his touch, grumbling, “I think I can manage to put a bandaid on my own cuts.”

“Do you know where they are?”

No, but she took it by the smirk working its way onto his mouth that he did. Rather than answer, Elain turned back into the kitchen, prepared to find them herself. A moment later, she heard footsteps following after her.

“Not there,” he said as she opened a cabinet. Elain slammed it shut, then opened another. “Not there, either.”

She whirled, nearly slamming face first into his naked chest. He was, at least, wearing the towel again, however precariously it was tied at his hip. She had to tip her chin upwards to scowl at him. “Do you even care about helping? Or are you just here to be a pest in my ear?”

Rather than respond, Azriel reached over her head to flip open a cabinet, wordlessly retrieving a small first aid kit.

“Go on,” he said, nodding to the kitchen sink. “Show me what a big girl you are.”

“Ass,” she muttered.

“Come again?”

“I said Az.” She turned on the tap, giving the water a moment to heat. “That’s your nickname right?”

“I don’t think that’s what you called me.”

Elain ventured a glance towards his face, trying to gauge if she’d offended him. He wasn’t smiling, but there was a certain lightness, almost laughter, dancing in the honeyed flecks of his irises.

Their eyes met. Held. Her breath felt shorter than it had been a moment ago. “You must be hearing things.”

“Must be,” he agreed.

His voice rumbled in the back of his throat, deep and rich and dark, like the spoken equivalent of ground coffee. It caused her pulse to quicken just the same, and she might as well have down an entire cup, for how much more alert she felt. Aware of her every breath, of his.

Eventually, Elain decided that thrusting her bleeding arm under the running water would be preferable to participating any moment longer in their silent staring contest, where the rising tension had become the world’s most smothering consolation prize. She bit her lip, trying not to hiss at the sting with Azriel watching her so intently, a number of taunts likely prepared for the moment she let her discomfort show.

Elain still winced when she added a small bit of soap, and found herself funneling each stinging pass of her fingers towards her growing frustration with Azriel. She couldn’t help feeling that if he wasn’t standing over her shoulder, making such a big deal out of this moment, then it wouldn’t hurt as much because she wouldn’t be so focused on not feeling pain. Besides, it was his fault for scaring her while she was holding a cat in the first place.

“What’s this?” Azriel’s attention snared on the bags of groceries she’d set on the counter. He walked over, sparing her from his attention as he nosily peeked into both of the paper bags.

“None of your business.”

“It is if it’s leaking onto the counter,” he responded coolly.

A scarred hand lifted the top of the bag to reveal the puddle of melted ice cream that had leaked through the paper. Elain turned off the tap with an aggrieved sigh. She’d forgotten she’d bought things that needed to go in the freezer.

“They were groceries,” she snapped, fumbling for the box of bandaids. It felt childish to even be using them. “I thought I was spending the weekend here.”

“Nothing’s stopping you.”

“The naked man standing in this kitchen says otherwise,” Elain sniped. “It’s fine,” She added, more to herself than him. She peeled back the protective plastic on the bandage before rubbing it over the cut with more concentration than was necessary. “I can stay with a friend.”

“You don’t have anywhere to stay?”

“No!” Elain knew he didn’t deserve the way she spat the word, or how she slammed the box of bandaids back to the counter. But she worried if she didn’t shout, then she might cry. “Because I just moved out of my ex’s house and my sister told me I could stay here while she and Rhys are away.”

“That’s fine,” Az said, holding up his hands. His voice was soothing, rather than angry, and Elain immediately felt guilty for lashing out at him. “I didn’t know you would be here, either. Clearly Prick is in good hands, so I can go.”

He turned away without giving her a chance to argue, or thank him. Elain swallowed back her guilt. Really, Feyre should have been the one on the receiving end of her rage, and it was unfair to take it out on Azriel, who had been equally a victim of her scheming. Even if he had taken his sweet time putting that towel back on.

Once she heard the soft click of a door being shut, Elain went back into the hallway to retrieve her phone. It thankfully hadn’t suffered any damage in the fall, though she did have a number of confused, vaguely hostile, messages from Graysen demanding to know what happened and who she was with.

She ignored them when she saw that a message from Feyre had also come in.

Hey!! Ellie I’m so sorry, there was a slight miscommunication between me and Rhys. I knew he wouldn’t mind if you stayed at the house while we were away so I didn’t bother telling him. Buuuuut turns out he’d done the same thing not telling ME that HIS brother is staying at the house. Azriel’s apartment is getting fumigated so Rhys promised him he could stay. You don’t mind sharing, do you?? Gosh, you’re probably already there. I would have warned you if I’d known!

Fumigated. Elain slumped defeatedly back into the kitchen, mulling this new information over while she tried to salvage the groceries that hadn’t been ruined by the ice cream mess.

Azriel returned soon after, dressed in black jeans and a navy tee that brought out the cooler colors in his eyes. He offered Elain a polite smile. “Nice meeting you again.”

And he wasn’t even going to tell her.

“Wait,” she said, reaching for his arm. He stopped, eyes falling immediately to where she touched him. The contact suddenly felt scalding, but Elain resisted the urge to let go. “I just got a text from Feyre. She told me that your house is being fumigated. I’m—I’m sorry, for losing my temper earlier. I’m happy for us both to stay, if you don’t mind either.”

The look Azriel offered her made Elain want to dash out that door. She knew there would be no surviving a weekend with him. There was hardly surviving an hour.

“I don’t mind,” he said, that devilish half smirk returning to his lips. “Could be a fun weekend, afterall.”

[the-firebird69]

I AM BUILT DIFFERENT - DOMINATE EVERY GOAL - ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER MOTIV...

I did shrink down quite a bit and it is about survival these guys are still big and demand a lot of stuff it's kind of awful I'm supposed to this role model they discover they're down there and they don't think they have to do anything. Just treat the ones up here badly but they go down there and they get in shape and a large attacks on you very large ones then they're going after a very hard what you're doing here I'd like to tell you why looks like my friend here would like to wait

Arnold Schwarzenegger

We did think about it so good idea you see them around there big the ones around us were small sometimes really small and I can't stand it they're very much into it

Bja

I can't stand it either this guy came up everyone's on this topic good idea the demons and then this now I get it

Know this been threatens society to control demons

Trump

This is a part of him that a lot of people don't see when he's real bulky it's in a couple of the scenes and his it was for like a year he's about 6 ft 3 and that will be the size our sun will be pretty big and we're not afraid to do it now but these people are so you're looking at them like they have three heads and then we continue on and say okay it's not necessary right now it's not really but gee whiz what a pain. There are some differences my son's arms our son's arms are not as long because of his age and they will be a little bit bigger around and they'll look at he's going to look chunkier and it's only like an inch difference in life and the lights to a little shorter but he's going to be tall 6 ft 2 6 ft 3 and he will weigh about 150 lb more this is legs will have some beef and the people will be really surprised maybe like Steve carrier. Now that guy is a small guy and he came up to our son and he said you don't remember me and I said I'm sorry I just can't place you and he says you used to be my friend all the time and hang around and he said you're kidding I don't remember anybody that looked like you or sounded like you is a little nervous since I've been working out for a long time I got real big and you kind of sitting there a little bit shocked and said yeah you're really big yes my name is Steve carrier I said no way so she shook his hand and he said thank you very much for recognizing me I said I don't really but okay he started laughing and said that's what we talked like but it's true he's telling them I don't really recognize you but I'm trying so you're talking about things you're talking about and it went back and they hit a few hot spots and you didn't talk to him again and Steve carrier was aloof because he was so big he's drunk down in a year and he came by and he couldn't talk to our son so you tried to get near him to get big together and he couldn't do it somehow he said this this is the weirdest experience of my life I can't do this and I want to do it I'm going to use steroids and he said it's going to be another way and he heard stem cells and there's a lot of milk they have to be careful with and you have to until these smoothies with vegetables and some fruit and he got it too so he went ahead and tried that and he grew several inches making wider and said I wonder if I'm normally the size is like 5 ft 6 and about 180 lb and usually they're about that big no nobody's normal size and he said wow this stuff works so he shared it with his friends but for real there seems to be absolutely no movement on this stuff they think the foreigners will handle it and that's what all they have to do but they say they see them around and they're taking their territory so now they're thinking of making Arnold Schwarzenegger our son says it's going to be a problem when you cause one for yourselves and Arnold Schwarzenegger and people start saying no way he gets in these movies is all beat up and old but a little later on it looks like he comes back and no he's not really the Terminator you did the movie but it's not you can you smiling saying that's right no he wants to see our son when he's bigger Schwarzenegger's arms were 23 in our sons will be about 24 in and he'll look different when you flexible cite this one big giant ball and with you guys it's like a small little ball with muscle around it but when you tones down it looks kind of similar it just looks a lot bigger and Lou ferrigno have that look it's a good idea he wasn't using spice no he was you're making go deaf. These guys are trying to hear it coming and it's not pretty fairly soon he is going to be kicked out the social security and we think it's days and he will be out running around bothering people we're getting ready for that time we have announcements and we'll watch those in a minute we will announce those in a minute

Thor Freya

Olympus

Zues Hera so good idea have like a test run

[serialfirstdater]

After the Sun #7: The Buff X-Ray Technician

Before I fully dive into this story (cause it’s a doozy and the highlight for the end of 2022), I was told that some friends of friends are sill reading this blog (I’m pretty public about my dating life amongst people I know. So feel free to relish or pass this blog onto someone who needs some real life entertainment, LOL). I know one of them wanna hang, so girl, I told C that I am down, just let me know! Otherwise I might just add you on IG very soon if the man doesn’t connect us, just sayin’ LOL. [We have connected whilst I was in the middle of typing this blog post. :D ] Okay, we are friends nowwwww LOL :D

Anywho, back to this guy #7, the X-Ray Technician, who was HELLA fit. Like, husky, weightlifts 200 lbs type fit (is that a lot in the world of weight-lifting? I just started but I have no idea).

When I originally matched with him, I knew that he was shorter than me by a couple of inches but decided to give him a shot anyway. Especially after dating Mr. Sunshine for 4.5 months, I have opened up my mind up just a bit to shorter men. Obviously I will not go for someone who is 5′5, but, 5′8 I would be willing now compared to over a year ago. (And technically, Mr. Sunshine was around 5′7 despite his claims of being 5′8, cause it said so on his health card. But sometimes the height on your health card is wrong. No matter, the man may have been short but he was masculine and confident, which made him sexy and why I dated him for as long as I did).

First Date

When I was messaging the X-Ray, I was on my way home from my part-time job. He mentioned he was free and offered to meet up if I haven’t left the city yet. At the time I was at Bloor station and he messaged just on time for me to turn back around. Since I had the time, I thought why not knock out a first date? It was also at the end of August, so the weather was still nice enough to hang outside and I wanted to relish in it. 

He came up to me and I was like, hm, not sure about this one but let’s see how the date goes. We sat down at a local pub and had some food. As time went on, I became more and more attracted to him. I think it was a mix of banter, ease of conversation and him just overall becoming more attractive to me physically. I normally was not into guys with beard but, hey, I always end up liking someone quite different from the last guy cause no physical type here really LOL. (Though apparently I was told I do have a specific type now LOL). He did have a nice half sleeve *eyes emoji*. I personally was never crazy about guys with tattoos before until Mr. Sunshine. He also had a half sleeve and now after that experience, any man with a sexy half or full sleeve, or even a connecting chest piece to arm, you can sign me uppppp. 

Anywho, I knew by the end of the first date I wanted the man. LOL. Sooooo...

Second Date

Our second date happened shortly after where he took me to axe throwing. It was quite fun and honestly, activities for a date are only really enjoyable if you like that person. *cough*NewRealtor*cough*

Towards the end, the employee asked if we wanted a photo together. I was hesitant but then went, why not. He was the FIRST DATE I’ve ever had a photo taken with. I only previously had photos taken with my ex-partners. Even I didn’t have a photo together with Mr. Sunshine.

After, he asked what I wanted to do. I suggested checking out his area. *eyes emoji* And let’s say he was very surprised by my suggestion LOL. We definitely went back to his area LOL.

Third Date

I liked him a lot by the end of the second date, clearly. Especially when we had a LOT of chemistry in the bedroom. I was eager to see him again. Mind you, all of these dates were happening almost back-to-back because I happened to be free and was going with the flow of things.

For our second date, I took him out to watch Bullet Train (which is now part of my top 10 favourite movies of all times. I went first time with my sister. The fact I paid to see it again, it was WORTH it). During the movies, he kept turning to me and thanking me for bringing him to such a great movie. He even continuously gave me kisses, and I reciprocated happily. I thought everything was going swell! Afterwards we went back to his place and to enjoy the rest of the night together.

Fourth Date

I think I mentioned in previous blog posts that the fourth date normally makes it, or breaks it. I barely gone beyond four dates except for a couple of times since my first ex. There was the dude that made me left to Australia back in 2018 where we had either five or six dates and I think the one Accountant Aussie I went out it whilst in Melbourne). Asides from those two, anyone that went beyond four dates were either men that became my boyfriends or we dated exclusively (but unofficially). 

How many surpassed 4 dates? Exactly 4: He Who Shall Not Be Named (first ex), Ex-Actor, Crazy Rich Asian Ex, and Mr. Sunshine. The Bull, technically I think we saw each other 6 times buttt the situation was unique cause he was in an open relationship so I don’t count him. 

I was a little worried about this fourth date because of the repeating patterns of my dating experiences. Of course though, things were seemingly good so I tried to put that out of my mind.

We decided to go hiking. Hiking was also a date activity I always wanted to do but never had a chance to with any previous partners or dates. On the drive there, he told me a story after I told him about experiences where I saw men that would go to such LENGTHS for certain girls that they were infatuated with. The next thing I realized, he started to share with me his dating experience about a girl he was head over heels for last year (2021 in this case).

- X-Ray Tech’s Dating Story -

In 2021, he was swiping and came across a girl that he found attractive. After swiping her, he found out that she was from the U.S. One of the M states, like Michigan or Massachusetts or Maine. She was going to move to Toronto within a couple of months because she’s an actress that was trying to break into the scene here. (Nothing big, minor background roles, no talking roles from my understanding). Somehow, this man became INFATUATED with her. They didn’t meet whilst she was in the U.S., of course. But prior to her leaving to Toronto, she needed a place to stay for a month. X-Ray ended up paying for her AirBnB for A MONTH. 

I exasperated asked, “Why???” in our convo and he said he thought she “would pay him back.” I didn’t think so and after telling my guy friend the story, my friend laughed and said, “Yeah, no, the man knew he wasn’t getting any money back. He was just a sucker.”

Shortly after the AirBnB situation, she moved up to Toronto. Apparently the organization that she was a part of did not find her a place to stay at yet. So what did he do? He decided to move her into his place! Mind you, up until this point they have only Facetimed but he was head over heels for her. He didn’t even live in Toronto, but out in bloody frikkin Aurora.

He told me, when it was high, it was so high with her. But when it was low, they were basically fighting and at each other’s throats. They never defined their relationship but rather stayed in this weird situationship dynamic for four months. Yes, FOR FOUR MONTHS SHE LIVED WITH HIM.

The house though was not his, but his mother’s. However she was living with her partner and he got to live at home rent-free of course. But one day when X-Ray’s mom came over, she realized that this random girl was living there. She asked him who she was and technically she wasn’t his girlfriend or anything close. So his mom told him to get rent from her since it was costing her money to house another person. 

So of course he went to the girl and told her she needed to start paying rent. She outright refused. Instead, she packed up and moved out because apparently she had a place ready for her by her organization.

But their contact didn’t stop there. Oh no. She would call him to ask him to pick her up from one part of town, to drop her all the way on the other side of town (almost an hour drive on the highway). He asked her why, and she would tell him she missed him.

“Then can I see you after your event?” he asked in earnest (well, I assume in earnest).

“No,” she said.

...The man did not pick her up and dropped her off, but he did pick up the phone twice cause she made the request two separate times! LIKE SERIOUSLY.

- End of X-Ray Tech’s Dating Story -

Once we got out of the car, the story above was very much burned into my dating archives. I knew mentally that this was a story I was gonna share with everyone if this date didn’t work out (newsflash, clearly we didn’t considering it’s going all up on this blog LOL).

We had a pleasant hike. We were flirty and fun, poked fun at each other and genuinely enjoyed each other’s company. Well, at least that was what it felt like to me. During this date, I felt so relax and got to be truly me. I thought this man understood me.

After the hike, he took me to a local ice cream shop and bought me ice cream and chocolates. It was super cute and I just don’t get guys doing that for me that often (beyond your usual first date dinners of course). We sat at the trunk of his car, with our feet dangling off on the side as we enjoyed our ice creams for the last summer days. It was a really sweet moment.

He told me that his cousin was moving from their home country to Canada to go to school in Toronto. Therefore he was going to be busy for a bit because his cousin’s English was not fluent and he wanted to help his cousin get his documents in order for the school year. He told me after the date, he was going to go home and clean up the place.

I offered to join him to help him clean up his space, because I genuinely wanted to help. He refused multiple times because I kept offering. 

At some point in the date, probably before this point, I don’t recall when, he told me, “You know, I feel that you are doing so much for me and I don’t deserve it.” He went on to mention the little things I have done, which he had notice. Such as making sure that he got to work on time for our first date when he was in between shifts. I immediately clocked this casual mention in my mind. When he said that I was doing a lot for him, I knew it was bad news. If you haven’t dated a lot or listened to as many dating podcasts and TikTok videos as much as I have, you’d probably think that was so sweet of him to notice.

Anywho, I did want sex but decided to hold it off for next time because he wasn’t going to let me help him and I thought it was best I went home instead.

Post Fourth Date

Over the next few days, we continued to chat as normal. X-Ray was very responsive and we basically could text all day, and I would hear back from him in less than an hour.

I thought everything was dandy.

Almost a week has passed and I hit him with a, “I’m available these days!” since I wanted to start scheduling our fifth date.

He told me he worked those shifts. I went back and asked if the following week seemed good. He said he didn’t know.

“So I’m not gonna see you anytime soon? :’(” I texted.

And few minutes later I saw some dreaded words. “Hey, I think you’re an amazing person...” 

You can imagine how the rest went.

It was like someone crushed all my hopes in an instant. 

Remember how I always say, the fourth date is always the make it or break it stage? Welp, this was another one for the books.

I told him okay and left it at that.

However, I couldn’t stop ruminating over why it all ended. It didn’t make sense to me. I have gone out with so many men over the years, I knew it when a guy didn’t like me. But this was the first time I had barely any indication he was not interested, minus the fact that he prep his busy excuse ahead of time. But because he told me far in advance, I thought it was more than reasonable. 

Everything he did up until then indicated he was interested. Even the day before, he told me that he switched gyms and got a free guest pass and told me that I could join him! I didn’t even ask!!

There were also a couple of times where he kept reassuring me that he wasn’t seeing anyone else because he didn’t have enough time. I didn’t ask if he was seeing other people either! I even went on a date with someone else in between that time because I wanted to make sure not to overly invest in the guy.

I didn’t understand what was going on so I caved and messaged him the next day asking what the heck has happened. It didn’t make sense to me that someone that was overly affectionate in the last couple of dates suddenly was not interested. Even at the end of the date, I didn’t feel anything has changed.

“I won’t bother you again after this but, what happened?” I texted him.

Long story short, he wrote something along the lines of, “I’m not sure. I thought that if I acted like I liked you, that eventually it would happen. I did not feel that spark.”

Now that was a slap in my face. I never had someone tried to fake it until they make it. That absolutely made no sense to me. Why in the world would you pretend to like someone in hopes that feelings will develop? If you are unsure, just act normally and see if anything changes. Don’t pretend!

I was peeved, I did give him a bit of a chew out and he was apologetic. I wanted to rage on him but I knew nothing was going to change.

It took me 3-4 days to get over it. Which was a long time in my books. However, I was temporarily scarred. Completely jaded. I had to wrap up the last couple of guys I was talking to and took a three month break. To be honest, I wanted to take a year long break but Matthew Hussey told me otherwise in 2023. But of course before I dive into 2023, we still have some 2022 stories to go... And maybe a wrap-up/lessons post before 2023 stories?

[mraculous]

*slams eighth shot of whiskey* okay listen i gotta get this out before more episodes come out, invalidating it all, but can we TALK about the adjusted dynamics of the lovesquare, stick to the end for me losing my mind about ladrien

I never read the bible so no spoilers there, but spoilers for the tfou apocalypse up through elation/exaltation

Ladynoir. The classic. The OG.

We're in a unique position with them because, Ladynoir has historically had 2 distinct dynamics: 1 when Ladybug thought Chat Noir was just flirting and he thought he had a chance, and one when she knew he loved her, and he knew she didn't.

When she was oblivious, it was flirt central! it was cute! light! fun! In the second, it was sad (we the audience knew that lb DID in fact love cn back, just, behind the mask. yakno, the classic, the og) and somewhat frustrating bc we wanted CN to chill tf out, which, eventually, he did, all the while still loving his lady

Now? NOW???? Y'all it's BOTH

Chat Noir doesn't KNOW (yet) that Ladybug is in love with him. He just thinks she's flirting, or testing him.

But Ladybug DOES know. She KNOWS he doesn't love her. When CN was in this phase, flirting to an oblivious LB, he still had hope that she would love him or at least he lived for the moments she flirted back, but NOW?? Ladybug knows!!! She knows exquisitely that CN does not love Ladybug anymore. (even though we AND LB know that he does love her, just behind the mask)

It's just such a beautiful reversal chefs kiss mwah

I basically just keep thinking of that sad look CN gave her when Glaciator was screaming about how CN should love LB, and that little comforting pet she gave him. Tears.

the other sides under the cut

Adrienette. Our cute blushing oblivious babies.

Tbh team? I'm not sure where this one will go! Don't have a lot to say about it that the show hasn't already. Adrien fell for Marinette hook line and sinker, we all saw it coming we're all just happy to be here. Marinette is afraid to love him and "no alya he's just a friend" I'm just thrilled to see where this goes

(especially now that Adrien has kissed Marinette???? AND that he knows she doesn't love him anymore??? I Am All In)

(but also we the viewers have just a little drop of sadness/frustration too in this because, like, We Know!!! we've been here the whole time!! You DUMMIES YOU LOVE EACH OTHER and this is RIDICULOUS and UNNECESSARILY TRAGIC just LKAJSD;FLKJ anyway)

Marichat. Okayokayokayokayokayokayokayokay

In Ye Olden Dayes, Marichat was the sin ship. But even before that, it was always the side of the square where there was no performance, no pretension, just two people who were friends (but didn't know how good) hanging out with lots of chemistry but no blushing.

But now WWHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOO BOOI I mean the fact that marichat was the first side to consensually, of sound mind, and in the canon timeline, kiSS is bonkers to me, congrats to taylordraws for predicting the future I guess

But! Now!!!! They love each other!! If they're ever around each other again it's going to be a bluSHING NIGHTMARE especially since them being together caused Marinette to almost get akumatized, and that they both understand it can't work, there'S THAT HINT OF SADNESS r u sensing a theme

But okay, that thing I just said 20 words ago, them being a blushing nightmare, it's because this is the side that's in love with each other. Marinette < - > Chat Noir it's a two way door okay and that's what ladrien used to be and what ladrien was based on. But now we have the ladrien dynamic + sads + MORE KNOWLEDGE + EVEN MORE DRAMATIC IRONY and frankly I'm alive

Ladrien. *smashes whiskey glass on floor and screams*

FOLKS. WHEN I TELL YOU. I AM FROTHING AT THE MOUTH FOR LADRIEN CONTENT NOW MORE THAN EVER let me tell u why

I'm a longtime Ladrien stan. I just think they're neat. I just think they should kiss. A li'l smooch. The first fic I ever wrote for this fandom was a ladrien "almost kiss UST" one shot.

But now? NOW??

Ladrien is now the Marichat dynamic. Marichat and Ladrien have flipped. Before, Ladrien was the two way love street, and Marichat was the platonic "no pretenses" street. Now, Marichat has taken on Ladrien's vibe (with some extra Sadness TM), so what has Ladrien become?

You'd think, oh it's just marichat now, no pretenses, they know they don't love each other, easy, *kisses you on the mouth* NO.

Picture this. Ladrien bathroom balcony scene. Or Ladybug saves Adrien. Whatever. All the reasons the show has given us for our heroes/civilians to interact outside their partnerships. With Marichat, they're cursed by knowledge. They know they love the other, but that the other doesn't love them (or so they think). With Ladrien, there's no such curse.

For Adrien? He looks at Ladybug, the girl he used to love. Used to. Past tense. All those pictures on his phone, his silly date ideas, his puns and flirting, that's all in the past now. She made it clear she doesn't love him back, and besides, he loves someone else now. He'll always love her like a friend, of course, she's his best friend, but... anything else is too hard.

For Ladybug? She looks at Adrien. The boy she used to love. She probably still does a little bit but it's different now. How it used to be, all that flailing around, the ridiculous schemes, the presents, the obsession, that's done. He might think he loves her now, but, no, she loves someone else. Outside of the mask, she's still his friend, of course, but, how it was before? It was just too hard.

Basically: THE BIG SADS. These two are exes, they're forlorn lovers, they're each other's "one that got away." But without either of them truly knowing why, or how, or even with the benefit of a real "we were together, now we're apart." These two moved past their unrequited love for each other through sheer force of will and lack of communication and now... now what are they?

I for one am frOTHING AT THE MOUTH TO FIND OUT

[littlemourningstar]

Okay I have to ask “Fuck”?

Oooh this one is a bit older but I thought about a slightly older Ladynoir hang out with Chat Noir goading Ladybug into swearing. This was before I bought into the headcanon that Marinette has a potty mouth lol.

All of the dialog is complete and the story is relatively short but I think I just never got around to fleshing it out so it just thins into banter between the two at the end.

“Well, as long as you don’t get caught by a civilian or compromise your identity, I can’t say I have any objections. Just as long as you’re not torturing that poor girl with your bad jokes and penchent for chaos.”

“The chaos comes with the suit, unfortunately. But, I’m sure Marinette won’t hesitate to kick my ass if I cause too much trouble.”

“Chat! Language!”

“What? All I said was ‘ass’.”

“Exactly! We’re heros, set an example.”

“Oh, come ON, LB. No one can hear us up here!”

“Whatever, just keep that potty mouth of yours in check in public or you’ll have another girl to worry about kicking your butt.”

“Fine, fine. Shall we start the game?”

“Sure, go ahead.”

“Okay…never have I ever…hmmm…stolen money.”

“Well, I’m certainly glad to hear that! Me neither. Let’s see…never have I ever…visited with a civilian while suited up.”

“Now that’s just mean, m’lady. Fine then, never have I ever thrown my partner in a trash can!”

“Bringing out the big guns huh? Well, never have I ever kissed a girl.”

“Wait! You can’t do that! I never remember any of our kisses so that can’t count!”

“Surely, you’ve kissed other girls than me?”

“Nope. Got close a few times but it never really landed.”

“Ooooh, with Marinette?” She didn’t miss the hint of scarlet that surfaced across his cheeks.

“No! Hey! Don’t change the subject! No more cheating! Pick a new one.”

“Okay, okay! Fine…never have I ever…uh…swore.”

“What! No way! You’ve totally got a sailor's mouth under the mask!”

“Nope. I’m an angel.”

[butwhyduh]

Ghosts

Tim Drake x reader

Warning: grief, maladaptive grieving strategies, alcohol, smut, ghosts

I wrote this probably 3 months ago and just now edited it.

You met Tim Drake at the graveyard. It was a blustery early February day. The snow was on the ground but hadn’t snowed in a few days. A short dry blessing for Gotham. Graveyards were the few places that were treated as sanctuaries that they were. Most people in Gotham knew more than their fair share of loved ones residing in multiple across the city.

You walked down the stone path. In the summer the lazy shade of oak trees covered the path but right now, the bare branches just hung mockingly as they protected only a little from Gotham’s frequently bad winds.

You pulled your coat a little tighter and wished you had grabbed a scarf too. Nevermind, your visit was going to be short. You moved with practiced ease through the tombstones. You knew exactly were they were buried. A delicate iron fence surrounded a small spattering of stones. His family plot.

You walked through the gate to a grave on the right side. A small stone vase was attached to the tombstone. You placed a single white daffodil before standing silently. You had nothing to say. Funny when you miss a final goodbye, you often run out of things to say afterwards. You couldn’t cry. It was too stiff. Too odd. All you could do is sigh deeply before walking out of the yard.

You swiftly walked down the path as you hoped to escape the place that caused so much pain. In your hast, you hadn’t bothered watching for others. People very rarely visited on such cold days. You ran into someone.

“I’m so sorry,” you gasped. You’d ran into a man that was clearly grieving. How terribly rude.

“I’m okay,” he said steadying you with a hand on your elbow.

“I’m so sorry to bother you. I’ll let you be,” you said, flushing even in the cold weather.

“Are you alright?” He asked looking at you carefully. You nodded but didn’t move. “Grief is odd, isn’t it? I had to come down here but feel nothing. Not a damn thing.”

You froze. Most people weren’t this honest. “I get it. Grieving sucks. And it never makes any sense, hu?”

“No. It really doesn’t. I think that I’ll come down here and have a deep conversation with him but nothing comes out. I get over here and feel silly talking to a stone,” he said with a sigh. You looked at him. He was about your age and wore a long black peakcoat and a red scarf that whipped in the wind. His clothes were impeccably tailored but looked almost too mature for him. Something a man closer to 30 would wear rather than a guy around 20. Black hair, icy blue eyes. A little bit of a natural sarcastic smile.

“Sometimes the words come when I sit for a while,” you offered.

“Do you- do you mind if I ask who you were visiting? Not their name but who they were to you? You don’t have to. I just wonder,” he said. You hesitated before speaking.

“My boyfriend. He was my boyfriend. And you?”

“My best friend,” he said. “I don’t visit enough. Not near enough.”

“I understand. I’ll let you be then. So you can talk to them instead,” you said carefully. Most people wanted quiet alone time with their dead loved ones. Unlike you. You felt a sense of relief. At least your ghosts weren’t speaking to you when there was someone there.

“Please don’t,” he said quickly. Perhaps not. Maybe you weren’t the only one haunted by ghosts, even if his was more metaphorical. “I just hate being here alone. You don’t have to stay. I’m just a weirdo asking you to hang around a random grave.”

“It’s okay. I really hate being here alone too,” you said barely over a whisper. He nodded. “Do you- do you want to talk about them?”

“Him. Not really. He was just so young. To be dead already,” he said. You looked at the headstone. Yes 22 was far too young to be in the ground. You didn’t say anything.

“I’ll wake up and forget he’s dead sometimes,” he said playing with his fingers roughly. “And it’s like he dies all over again.”

“I’m so sorry. I’ll have a dream so vivid that it’s like he’s back. Sleeping can be so cruel, can’t it?” You said, feeling your throat tighten a little.

“It’s the worst. I just see his death over and over. I think my mind hates me sometime,” he admitted before gulping. You nodded again. You didn’t trust your voice not to break and you could bear to cry.

“You’re freezing,” he said suddenly, looking at you. “Here,” he offered you his scarf and put it around your neck before you could truly protest. His soft cologne invaded your senses. “Do you want get a drink? Or a coffee?”

“I could use a drink,” you answered and he nodded. He kicked the dirt with the tip of his shoes.

“There’s a little pub around the corner. They play cliche Irish music but it’s pretty quiet with good drinks,” he said.

“What’s your name?” You asked.

“Tim. Yours?” He asked back and you told him your first name. “Drinks? It’s cool if not.”

“Yes. I’m half frozen at this point,” you admitted.

“I can tell. You need to wear more layers,” Tim said with a small smirk.

“Is that Gotham’s version of ‘you’re not from around here?’” You asked. He huffed in amusement.

“Basically. You’re from somewhere warmer,” he said. You shrugged in agreement. “Let’s get going before you freeze.”

“It would be the most ironic place to die,” you responded. He shook his head but didn’t seem upset at your dark humor.

The pub was Irish themed in a way that made you wonder if they did anymore research besides the color green and putting on Flogging Molly which isn’t really Irish anyways. But it was warm and smelled like fried food. You sat in a cramped booth in the back and you couldn’t help but notice just how out of place Tim looked. Everything about him screamed rich and this was a working class bar. Tim didn’t seem to mind though.

“Are you hungry,” he asked and you realized you had a rumbling in your stomach. When was the last time you ate?

“Yeah. I wasn’t hungry until just now,” you commented.

“Yeah I usually force myself to eat,” he said waving over the waiter, a tall skinny guy that looked about 14 with almost white blond hair wet with sweat. You both ordered food and drinks.

“What do you do for a living,” you asked Tim as the food arrived. You were finally warm.

“My job is really boring. I work in investment in a technological corporation,” he said and your eyebrows rose. Tim shedded his coat. “I told you, boring.”

“Sounds... serious,” you said with a little smile and he chuckled. His smile was handsome and he had pretty blue eyes.

“Well, yeah. What do you do? Is your job fun?” He asked in a teasing voice. Even as you smiled back at him, you felt guilty. How could you be happy right now?

“I’m a painter. Or I’d like to be. I mainly design advertisements for companies right now,” you said.

“Painting? That actually sounds fun,” he said a little surprised. “Sorry. I haven’t really been around people since...”

“Yeah. It’s hard to be there when their happy and you’re...” you said. Great. You just made it dark again.

“Yeah...”

“Hey pretty lady,” a drunk man said, sitting next to you in the booth, pushing you closer to the wall. “Have I seen an angel on a star, or whatever.”

“Okay, let’s get going,” Tim said standing up and putting his hand on the guy’s shoulder and the guy shrugged him off. “She doesn’t want to talk to you.”

“How do you know, rich boy? Maybe she wants to talk to a real man,” he said with a lopsided grin.

“I don’t,” you breathed as he leaned towards you. You pulled back against the wall. Tim pulled the man out of the booth. The guy growled and sized Tim up. He must have thought he had a good chance, being at least 4-5 inches taller and 50 lbs or more heavier.

He took a drunken swing at Tim who easily deflected away from him. The man didn’t stop but tried to punch Tim again. When he deflected another attack, the man grew even more red faced and tried to tackle Tim against the table. Before the gasp you made could fully come out, Tim had slipped out of the way and grabbed the back of the man’s neck and popped his face on the table. The man slid down unconscious to lay on the floor.

You stared with your mouth slightly agape. What the hell just happened??

“Are you okay?” Tim asked and you stuttered before assuring him you were. “Then we should probably get going. The bar won’t like this.”

“It’s a pub,” you corrected.

“Yeah, let’s go,” he said and you snapped out of it as he grabbed your hand and left out the building before the owner could throw you out. He instead screamed out the door that neither of you could come back. You and Tim ran down the street before stopping at the next block. You laughed loudly and after a confused second, Tim joined. He was still holding your hand.

“That’s the most fun I’ve had in a long time,” you said loudly before Tim shushed you. “How did you? He didn’t even get one hit in,” you breathed.

“Luck I guess?”

“Not a chance. You do karate or something,” you said, standing way too close to him. He grinned at you.

“Some Krav Maga. A little Jui Jitsu,” Tim said almost shyly and you nodded.

“I’ll pretend to know know what those are,” you said and he chuckled. “Thank you.”

“Not a problem,” Tim said staring at you. You caught him looking down at your lips. He was really handsome and had just saved you. Cliche? Totally. Did you care? No.

You put your arm on his other shoulder, Tim’s free hand slid to hold your waist. He bent until he was just short of kissing you. All you had to do was lean up to kiss him.

“Can I?” He breathed.

“Yes,” you whispered. He pressed his lips against yours. The kiss started gentle but before long Tim’s hand held your jaw as he pushed his tongue in your mouth. You made a little breathy moan. Tim pulled back to catch a breath but still rested his forehead against yours. You grabbed his collar and pulled him back in. He grasped your back and pressed your body against his. You were panting when you finally pulled your lips apart.

“My place is a few blocks away,” you breathed. He gave you a questioning look. “If you, if you wanna come back.” He nodded before giving you a dizzying kiss. “Through this alley and we’ll be there in 2 minutes.”

“You shouldn’t walk through alleys,” he said before giving you another kiss. You pulled him along.

“I think I’m fine with you.” You said kissing him before walking some more.

“Okay but still. Alleys are dangerous.” He answered before you placed another kiss on his lips.

“Yeah, and we’re out of the alley now,” you said. “And here’s my building,” you said suddenly shy. You didn’t want your neighbors seeing you kissing some random guy. Especially one obviously rich like Tim. He probably didn’t even know he stuck out. You pulled away from him.

You unlocked the door and quietly offered for him to walk in. Where did your boldness go? Tim stepped in and you thanked your stars that you had cleaned up that morning.

“Do you want a drink?” You asked as you shut the door. Tim hung his coat on a coat rack that had come with the places. He shook his head and walked over to you. His eyes looked over your body like he wanted to eat you.

“What do you want?” You whispered. He looked down at you with dark eyes. His lips were red from your kissing.

“You?” He said more as a question. Can I have you?

“Hmm,” you said with a little smirk before pulling him down by the collar to kiss more. Tim’s hands roamed your body, gentle at first and then more aggressive.

You knew you shouldn’t bring a man home. Not a one night stand. Especially because you were grieving. Emotional. But as dusk fell outside your window and his hands held you firmly, you couldn’t help but be grateful that he was chasing your ghosts away. He leaned over your in bed, his lips pressed against your collarbone as he fingered you.

“Do you have condoms?” He breathed against your skin in a rough voice.

“Bedside table, top drawer,” you answered. Tim reached over to grab one. “Are you sure? Do you want this?” He asked, holding it in hand.

“Yes,” you said taking the condom to roll it on yourself. Tim breathed out quickly as you jerked a few times before sliding it on. He leaned over you and carefully looked over your face before sliding in.

You arched into his touch as he moved. His touch was soft, sweet, cautious. But not in the way anyone in your life treated you. There was no pity. You weren’t a broken doll to be tiptoed around. He was grieving too. His movement sped up as you both got closer and you got out of your head.

You softly moaned his name as you came. Tim groaned before resting his forehead against yours as he finished. He pulled out and threw the condom away. He pulled on his boxers but didn’t seem to know what to do next.

“Stay,” you said and he looked at you surprised.

“Are you sure?”

“Just-just tonight. I hate sleeping alone,” you said, feeling small. The idea of him leaving had the place feel colder, darker. Tim seemed to deliberate in his head before nodding.

“I can stay just tonight,” he said and you weren’t quite sure if he was telling you or himself. He climbed in bed and you scooted closer. He laid on his side and you slid closer to spoon. It was comforting to hear another heartbeat and feel the warmth of a body. It’d been months since you’d had that. Even if it was just one night, you didn’t feel alone. It felt secure and you quickly fell asleep.

You woke up to the unfamiliar but pleasant sensation of laying on a man’s chest wrapped up tight in blankets. A steady heartbeat and warm skin was soothing in the early morning light. You almost drifted off to sleep to the sounds of his breathing when you saw her.

A ghost. A woman in her late 30s or early 40s in conservative upper class women clothing that wasn’t too out of date. She had her arms crossed over her chest and she looked down at you both in disapproval. Her nose looked like Tim’s and she had the same black straight hair as he did.

You gulped and tried to blink her away. That worked some times. Not today. It was weird to see her anyways. Wasn’t it his make best friend that died? Who was she? She stepped closer and you stiffened. She was self-aware and was trying to speak to you. A very determined ghost indeed.

Tim moved in his sleep as if he could sense her presence. She reached out her hand as if she wanted to push the hair back on his forehead. You gasped as she moved closer. What kind of fucking ghost...? Tim woke up and she disappeared with a pop.

“You okay? You look scared or something,” he said in a rough pretty morning voice. You debated answering him truthfully that he was haunted by a mean looking woman but decided against it. He was a one night thing right?

“Nothing. Go back to sleep,” you said and he nuzzled closer.

“Hmm I’d rather have breakfast,” he muttered kissing your neck. You flushed. You hadn’t bothered shopping in a while.

“I don’t really- my fridge is-“

“Not the kind I’m talking about,” Tim said gently pushing you to your back.

“Oh,” you said as he slid beneath the sheets. You certainly weren’t complaining as he kissed down your body. He was good at it but it was also a great tactile distraction. Ghosts weren’t there when you were far to busy to see them.

It’s a little different so let me know what you think.

[mochegato]

Pixie Spy

Chapter 8

Chapter 1     Chapter 7

Ladybug swung through the streets as long as she could before the wind became too powerful for her to keep her trajectory. She only managed to make it about halfway to where the team was waiting before the wind became too strong.  She landed on the street with a roll, deciding running would be more effective after the fifth crash into a balcony. She looked down at her yoyo as she ran looking for the dots indicating her team.  Chat, Carapace, and Rena were already together under a bridge along the Seine.  Bee was quickly approaching from the opposite direction.  

Ladybug felt her progress slow as the wind suddenly picked up significantly.  She blinked a few times when she saw a tornado barreling toward her.  She gave a surprised squeak and jumped into an alley to get out of the tornado’s path.  She breathed a sigh of relief, leaning against the bricks of the alley wall until she started sliding toward the alley entrance.  Her eyes widened in surprise as she fell back and was sucked toward the tornado.  She threw out her yoyo, capturing a pipe on the other end of the alley and held on as the tornado sucked the dumpsters out of the alley and flung them out into the street, demolishing cars.  She stared at the pipe nervously when it started to bend under the pressure of the tornado’s pull on her.

She felt her body slowly lower as the tornado passed by and the winds died down.  She took a few seconds to catch her breath before walking out to see the devastation. It looked like a bulldozer carved a diagonal path through the neighborhood.  There were buildings destroyed next to buildings that looked completely untouched.  There was wreckage everywhere.  She could see at least one leg just barely sticking out of one of the wrecked buildings.

She scrunched her eyes shut and took a deep breath to focus herself.  He hoped that was the only tornado they had to deal with, but with the way things had been going lately, it was unlikely.  If it was following the regular pattern, the akuma would be flashy and devastating.  While devastating, one tornado was hardly flashy.  What she wouldn’t give for the early days of Mr. Pigeon or even Guitar Villain.  That one was kind of fun actually.  Even as a dragon, Fang was just a big puppy.

“Waiting on you, LB.” She heard over her com.  She looked down and saw Bee had joined the others.   She shook her head and started running again.

“Sorry, got caught up in something.  Weather is crazy today, don’t you think?”  She responded with a fake casualness.

“No idea what you mean, Dudette.” Carapace responded in the same tone.  “I’ve just been chillin’ here watching the trees break in the breeze.”

“Screw you both!” Bee seethed.  “That fucking wind absolutely destroyed my hair.  That bitch is going down.”

“Is it Stormy?”  Ladybug asked.  It seemed like her MO, but it made no sense.  She could do a lot worse.  She had done a lot worse years ago.

“Can confirm, it is Stormy.  I saw the butterfly land.  One guess where.”  Rena added. They knew all knew where it was. With Aurora, it was always her umbrella. “One guess who caused it too.” She added bitterly, her eyes darkened with anger.

Ladybug groaned.  Most of the people at school had figured out to avoid or laugh at Lila, but Aurora still took everything to heart.  She had grown a tougher skin, but criticisms still hurt.  The insinuations still hurt.  The judgement still hurt.  And Lila knew just how to phrase her words to maximize the hurt and capitalize on insecurities.  “Fucking bitch.”  Ladybug muttered under her breath.

“That’s what I said.” Bee bit out.  “And as soon as this is done, I’m killing her.”

Ladybug sighed heavily.  “We don’t kill, Bee.”  Fuck, now she sounded like Batman.  She needed to say something to rid herself of this feeling.

“It won’t be permanent.  I’ll do it before the miraculous ladybug.” Bee dismissed her.

Ladybug opened her mouth to reprimand her but that would be what Batman would do.  What wouldn’t batman do…  “That is very creative thinking, Bee.  I love your creativity and passion.” She said focusing on the positives instead.

She jumped down next to the group just in time to see Bee’s face scrunch up in confusion and disgust.  She turned on Ladybug and shook her finger in her face. “You… you… Don’t do that.  You’re supposed to be our voice of reason.” She slapped Ladybug’s arm.  “It’s creepy when you’re all supportive of my bad ideas.”

“If I wasn’t supportive of your bad ideas, I’d never be supportive.” Ladybug quipped before she thought about it.  As soon as the words were out of her mouth she cringed. Damn, she was moving closer to Batman again.  

Bee gasped dramatically and opened her mouth to respond but was cut off by Chat.  “Yeah, yeah we’ll all just imagine the cutting response.  Can we focus please?”

She sighed and turned to Rena, “So how bad is it?”

“At least twenty smaller tornadoes around the city. And by ‘smaller’ I mean just terrifying and destructive instead of horrifying and catastrophic like the one over there.” She motioned vaguely behind them.  Ladybug looked warily at the rapidly swirling clouds in the sky. “News estimates that one is above an F-5, which is the highest known level.”  She looked up with a haunted look.  “If that thing were to start moving, nothing in the city would be standing. Nothing.”

“So why isn’t it moving?” Carapace asked keeping his eyes on the clouds in the sky.  “Stormy has never held back before.  We know she can do worse.  So why isn’t she?”

“You think there’s something more going on?” Chat asked, furrowing his brow.

“Amok?” Ladybug asked looking at him.

Carapace shrugged.  “Not sure what is going on.  I’m just saying Stormy created a super volcano that almost destroyed us.  A few tornadoes is stepping back a bit.”

Ladybug nodded and returned her gaze to the clouds. She ducked quickly when something came flying over the embankment and almost hit her.  “We aren’t going to be able to get close to her with this wind. We need a way to neutralize the wind if we want to do anything.”  She mused more for herself than the team.  Her eyes darted around to her teammates and up at the sky.  Her mind started running through potential plans and likely outcomes, backups, workarounds, collateral damage, risk assessment.

“We’re going to have to do it without talking too.” Chat noted.  “Once we get up there, nobody is going to be able to hear anything even if we yell.” He turned to them with a small grin. “But, that means we’ll be able to sneak up on her without having to try to be quiet because she won’t be able to hear either.”

Ladybug made a note of his comment, adding it as a potential puzzle piece.  She pursed her lips as the pieces started fitting together.  It would take all of them working together, acting at the right moments, but lean more heavily on Bee than she wanted to.  Not that she didn’t completely trust Bee.  She knew Bee could do it, she just hated putting any of her team on the front lines while she watched from a safe distance.

She was putting the last pieces in place when she heard an eerily sweet voice floating towards them.  “Come out, come out wherever you are, Ladybug and Chat Noir. I want to play.” Stormy’s voice took on a hard edge.  “We can fly a kite.”  There was a short pause before her voice returned to the eerily sweet tone.  “I’ve already provided the wind and everything.”

Rena gave Chat a deadpan look.  “So, not affected by the tornado’s noise and able to make her voice heard over it are part of her powers.”

Chat shrugged sheepishly.  “That’s okay.  We won’t need it to get the akuma.” Ladybug said confidently.  All of the eyes turned to her, ready to take her orders. “Carapace, you’re going to create a shelter for us to hide in on a roof close enough to observe, but not so close the building might collapse under us.  Then create a tunnel through the tornado to the eye, but you’re going to need to create it from higher up.  Bee, you’re going to need the flying power up so you can fly through the tunnel into the eye. You’re going to drop down on her from above and use Venom to incapacitate her.  Rena, on Bee’s mark, you’re going to create an illusion that the tornadoes are gone.  The devastation will still be there, but her tornadoes will be gone.  Bee will take advantage of her confusion to deliver the venom.  Chat and I will keep an eye out for the amok, but this plan is mostly on your shoulders, Bee.”

“If she can talk through the wind then I imagine she can see through it too.”  Chat commented somberly, looking around at the buildings near them and trying to remember the buildings around the Champ de Mars or the Trocadero.  “We’ll want to pick a rooftop that gives us a view but that won’t allow her to see us.”  He pulled up a map on his baton and examined it for a few seconds.  “This one should work.” He turned and showed them the building he had in mind.  He stared at Rena a few second and cocked his head to the side.  “Or, we just have Rena hide us.  Can you make that part of your illusion?  Hiding us as well?”

“It will get a bit complicated getting the different layers and timing and complexities to work together, but I should be able to do it.” Rena nodded slowly, staring at nothing while she fit the pieces together in her head.

Ladybug nodded.  “Good idea, Chat.  Rena, can you give us some cover while we get there, too?”

“On it, LB.” Rena jerked out of her thoughts and nodded at her before playing her flute.  “Mirage.” They looked around but nothing looked different.

“Uh… Babe?” Carapace started, looking around in confusion.

Rena gasped dramatically.  “You doubt me?”  Carapace rolled his eyes at her.  Rena laughed at him.  “It’s like a screen around this area, a screen showing a picture.  Anyone on the other side won’t see any changes.  We can move as much as we want and they won’t see it.”

“So are we moving or are we just going to hang out here until Stormy gets bored with us and moves on?”  Bee asked annoyed with the lack of movement.  

“Come on guys, we’re going to make her late for her spa appointment if we don’t move and Lord knows we wouldn’t want to be responsible for that kind of travesty.”  Rena snickered.

“No, you wouldn’t.” Bee snapped.  “Those spa appointments are the one thing that keep me from killing you all.”

“On that sweet, teambuilding comment, let’s get started.  The sooner we stop this the better.” Ladybug grumbled.

They made their way to the rooftop, occasionally dodging random objects flying.  “That was a…” Carapace’s eyes followed the object as it flew out of view.  He whipped his head around to Rena, looking at her apprehensively.  “There wasn’t a baby in that stroller, right?  It was empty?”

“No Babe, there was no baby in the stroller.” Rena assured him.  “It’s okay. The baby is safe.  It was empty.”

Carapace nodded at her words. “Okay, good.  Good.  Good.” Rena looked over at Chat and grimaced. Chat gave her a sympathetic look and patted her on the back.

As soon as they landed on the roof Carapace called for shelter and Rena called for a new mirage.  They huddled together under the camouflaged green dome and assessed the situation.  From their new perch, the scene looked more horrific.  The tornado was even more massive than before.  Ladybug expected the buildings surrounding the area to start crumbling any second now.  If the tornado moved even a few feet in either direction, they definitely would.

“Everyone knows their job.  Everyone ready?”  Ladybug looked at all of them seriously, looking for any signs of uncertainty before they started, especially from Bee.  She was the one taking all the risks.  She was the one they needed permission to start from.

Bee looked at her confidently.  “I’m ready to go.” She said with conviction.  She detransformed, pulled a power up out of her purse, and handed it to Pollen.  As soon as Pollen was done, she called on her transformation again and looked back at Ladybug with a smile.  “Let’s do this.  I’ve got an appointment to get to.”

Ladybug nodded to her.  “We don’t want to make her late for that.” Ladybug smiled slightly. “Rena, Carapace, you’re up.”

Rena called for Mirage again, camouflaging the area where the tunnel was going with just a few notes from her flute. Carapace moved forward and called out, “Tunnel.”  A green tunnel only they could see formed in the sky linking the shelter and running through the side of the tornado.  As soon as he nodded to Bee, she extended her wings and started beating them.  She rose slowly off the ground.  Thank God they had practiced with the power ups before. Otherwise she would be a jerky, uncontrolled mess right now, plus it was just extremely cool practice, much more fun than the fire resistance training.  She gave them one last look before flying into the tunnel.  After a few seconds, they heard a beep on their coms indicating Bee was in position.  “Rena,” Ladybug cued her quietly.  

“Mirage,” Rena called out again.  This time, they all saw the change.  The scene looked completely different.  Not only was the tornado gone, but the trees appeared to have stopped blowing, standing tall and unbroken.  They could almost believe what they were seeing if they couldn’t hear the wind against the outside of the shelter and on Bee’s coms.  “She should be able to see what’s in the eye but nothing outside of it.  That goes for both of them.” Rena reported.  “Nothing except what I want them to see.”

They waited with baited breath for something to change, for the wind to stop or Bee to say something.  They stared so hard at the spot where the tornado had been that it was amazing none of them broke any blood vessels in their eyes.  Ladybug let out a loud yelp when she felt something touch her.  She looked over and saw Chat give her a sheepish look and continue to pat her hand comfortingly a few more times.  She let out a strangled sigh and turned back to the spot

The sound of the wind was starting to drive Ladybug crazy.  It was a constant reminder that things had not changed.  That Bee was still in danger.  That she was out there by herself, with no backup.  If anything happened to her, they would be too late to help.  She was alone and Ladybug had sent her there.

After a few minutes they finally heard a break in the white noise the wind had become.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t the easing of the wind as they had hoped.  They all jumped and Rena’s illusion disappeared as Bee’s screaming rang in their ears.

“Bee, report!” Ladybug screamed.  “Carapace, kill the tunnel.  Bee, report.  Are you okay? Bee!”  Ladybug was getting more and more frantic with each word.  She checked her yoyo for Bee’s beacon.  It started blinking a few blocks away.  “Damn it!  I should have sent backup with her.  Rena, Carapace please go check on her.”

“I’m fine.  I’ll…” she cut off her sentence with a groan.  “Yeah, these bricks are definitely hard.” She reported as she slid down the side of the building she had been thrown into.  “There’s definitely an amok, by the way.  The little bastard can ride the tornadoes and jumped me while I was focused on Stormy.” Bee groaned rolling onto her hands and knees.

“Bee, do you think you can get back here on your own or do you need a bit of assistance?”  Ladybug asked gently.

“While I appreciate the offer of my own personal sedia gestatoria, and it is much deserved, I think I can make it myself.” She answered proudly but her voice was ragged.

Ladybug turned her com off and turned to Rena and Carapace.  “Can you two go escort her anyway?  She’s already weak after what I’m sure was a hell of a hit.  If she gets caught in one of those random tornadoes, she might not be able to get out of the way in time.”

“Will do, LB.” Rena saluted her.  “Come on Carapace.  I’ll race you.”  Rena took off running.  Carapace gave them a weak smile and followed after her.

“Sending your underlings instead of dealing with me yourself, Ladybug?  I’m hurt. I thought we meant more to each other. I just wanted to play.  My little pet wanted to play, too.  Unfortunately, your little pet Bee just wasn’t strong enough to handle him.”  Stormy taunted, laughing eerily.  “What do I need to do to get your attention?  Should I send my pet after all of your little pets?”

“Right,” Chat grimaced at the thought of the pain he could hear in Bee’s voice.  “I think we could use a bit of Luck right about now.  What do you think, m’lady?”

Ladybug nodded still looking at the growing tornado. “I think you’re right, Chaton. Lucky Charm!” Ladybug called out throwing her yoyo into the air.  She stared in bewilderment at the object that dropped into her hands.  “Seriously?  What am I supposed to do with this?”

She continued staring at the very distinctive red, full face mask now adorned with black dots that had dropped into her hands. Her mind raced through the possibilities.  Was she supposed to wear it?  Was Chat? Someone else?  Was she supposed to throw it at someone?  Did it have a voice changer she was supposed to use?  Some kind of analytical software she could use? She could throw it into the tornado and it would become a deadly weapon as the force of the wind launched it. With her luck, it might hit Stormy… but that didn’t feel right.  What did Tikki intend?

Chat cocked his head to the side staring at it with doubt as well.  “Do you think it means he is supposed to help us with Stormy?”

Ladybug shook her head.  “I doubt it.  It is never that straight forward for me.  If it was you, I would say that was what it meant, but Tikki always makes it more difficult than that.” She huffed in frustration.  She looked around them seeing if anything jumped out at her.

“Maybe he has something you need then.  Like when Tikki used to give you Lucky Charms to let you know you needed to go see Master Fu?” Chat offered uncertainly.

Ladybug’s eyes lit up.  “Yes!  That’s it. Great idea, Chat!  That is exactly what it means.” She stood up to find Jason. “Hold down the fort.  I’ll be back as soon as I can.  Let me know if anything changes I need to know about.” He nodded to her, his eyes turning hard as he watched the swirling clouds above her as she swung away.

<><><><><> 

Ladybug ran until she was out of Stormy’s tornado’s range then switched to swinging back toward where she had left Jason. She really needed to get his phone number.  It would be a lot easier finding him if she could just call him.  As it was, she was going to have to hope he stayed near where she left him and ignored his own self-interests to find a safe place to hide.  If he was already hunkered down somewhere safe, she would never find him.  Of course if he wasn’t hiding somewhere safe, she was going to kill him.

She reached the alley she had left him and pushed down a blush as memories of what had happened, what almost happened, came flooding back.  She turned away instead and started jumping from rooftop to rooftop, keeping a keen eye on the alleys and any place that looked like it could be used as a hiding place.  She finally found him walking a few blocks away, keeping close to the buildings. She dropped down into an alley just in front of him and reached out to pull him in with her as soon as he passed by.

He whipped his head around in shock, tensing his body ready to fight whoever had grabbed him.  He immediately lowered his fist when she saw Ladybug’s raised eyebrow, giving her a dashing grin instead.  “Ladybug, Paris’ hero.” He looked her up and down, his smile turning into a smug smirk. “You're quite a bit shorter than I expected.”

She narrowed her eyes at him.  “Red Hood, vigilante of Gotham.  You're quite a bit assholier than I expected.”  

His grin grew larger.  “I haven’t even gotten into my rhythm yet.”  She rolled her eyes at him and punched him hard in the shoulder.  He winced in pain.  “What was that for?”

“You couldn’t find a better place to hide than on the street?  Out in the open?  Where you have absolutely no cover or protection?”  A bit of concerned annoyance coming through in her voice.

“I don’t know what I’m hiding from and I wanted to see you in action.” He shrugged, wincing only slightly at the movement, his grin firmly in place.

“Tornadoes.  Lots of them. Some stronger than others.” She huffed, looking to the alley entrance with apprehension.   “Speaking of which, what do you have on you?”

He frowned at her in confusion at the seeming change of topic.  “What do you mean?”

“I mean, what do you have on you.  What equipment do you have on you?” She prompted him.

“Why do you need to know that?” He asked as he started reaching into his pockets and pulling out weapons.  He lined them up on top of the dumpster lid as he pulled them out.

“My Lucky Charm gives me clues or tools to help me defeat an akuma.  My Lucky Charm today was this.” She held up the black spotted mask Tikki had provided earlier.

“That’s… that’s my mask.  Wouldn’t that mean you need me?  It’s telling you to let me help.”  He looked at her seriously as he pulled a knife out of his sleeve and placed it on the lid.

She shook her head at him. “No, it is never that straightforward, at least not for me.  It is always a windy path to get to the real significance.  And whenever it points me to a particular person, it means they have something I need to use; a tool, a weapon, information, something.  I just need to figure it out.  I’ll know it when I see it.”  She watched in surprise and a bit of shock, as he pulled more weapons and tools out of his coat pockets, around his ankles, belt.  “That’s… What the fuck?  Seriously?”

He shrugged at her.  “I travelled light today.”

She stared at him blank faced for a second.  “I can’t tell if you’re joking or not and I don’t think I want to know.” He gave her a dashing grin as he pulled out the last few items from a hidden pocket.  She looked down to assess the items he had laid out.  The last few items turned red with black spots. “There!” She pointed to them. “What are those?”

“These?  Trackers. You plant them on someone or something and you can follow them if you have the frequency.”  She nodded as he spoke.  The pieces of the plan started forming in her mind.  “It’s accurate to about 3 feet.”  

She suddenly looked up at him with a calculated grin.  “That is very helpful to know.  Can I borrow these?”  She asked as she grabbed them and dropped them into her yoyo.

“Uh… I guess.  What are you going to do?”

“Track someone.”  He huffed at her but didn’t challenge her.  “You might want to put those away before another tornado comes through and starts flinging them around too.  Find somewhere safe to hide and stay out of trouble.” She pointed her finger at him.

He moved a step closer to her and gave her another dashing smile as he started tucking weapons away.  “Not my strong suit, either part, not going to lie.”

She raised an eyebrow at him and gave him an amused smile even as she groaned mentally at herself.  He really shouldn’t look that sexy just putting weapons away.  What did it say about her that him tucking a gun into a holster made it hard for her to breathe?  “And what is your strong suit?”

He took another step closer.  “Being handsome and charming.” He smiled wider as she rolled her eyes at him. “And causing equal and opposite trouble.”

“Well, I have enough trouble to deal with right now, so if you could contain your chaotic good for a bit, I’d greatly appreciate it.”  She gave him a wry smile.

His eyes turned hard.  “I can help. I can plant the tracker.  I have years of experience doing it and massive amounts of training sneaking up on people.”

She gave him a pained look.  “You don’t have any protection.  Even with magically protective suits one of the team already got hurt.  So unless you’re going to tell me you’re invulnerable, I don’t know that it’s a good idea.  And we haven’t had the chance to figure out how you’re going to fit into all this and with the team.  We haven’t even gotten the team to agree that you are allowed to fit in here.  We don’t have time to figure this out now.”  Her eyes softened a bit as her expression turned more solemn.  “Seriously, there are at least 20 random tornadoes tearing through town destroying buildings and throwing cars, among other things.  The one she has shielding herself is worse. Please, find some place safe to hide until we take care of this.”

He looked up ready to assure her that he has fought worse but instead, caught her eyes, which was a fatal mistake.  She eyes were saturated with worry and fear for him.  He’d seen that look before.  He had that look when he was still Robin and Dick would do something stupid, more stupid and self-sacrificing than usual.  

He gave out a deep sigh and dropped his head.  He looked back up to her, his eyes took on a concerned look.  He stepped closer to her again, close enough now to pull her close, to lean down and kiss her if they wanted.  He reached to caress her face instead.  He nodded slowly.  “Alright.  I’ll hide. But you need to promise to be careful. I didn’t finally find you just for you to die on me.”

She stared into his eyes and leaned into his hand.  She opened her mouth to respond when something from the corner of her eye caught her attention.  “Look out!” She screamed tackling him to the ground.  They landed just as a table shattered against the wall they had been standing in front of.  She stared at the table in dismay and back out to the street, searching for the tornado that had caused the table to fly at them.  She inched closer to the opening to look around, but the tornado had already passed.  “I really have to go.  Get somewhere safe!  That table means there is a tornado in the area.  And these are magical tornadoes so they don’t follow normal tornado rules. Just because it passed already doesn’t mean it won’t come back.”  He nodded to her just before she swung away.

He stood there for a few minutes looking in the direction she had swung. He looked out to the street in front of him assessing the potential danger and trying to figure out the best place to hunker down for the storms, ideally some place that would still allow him to watch the fight.  The alley was fairly safe but exposed and he didn’t know how much longer it would be safe, especially if Marinette was right about a tornado coming.  Plus, there was no way to see the fight and he was dying to see her in action.

He considered his options for a few seconds before realizing he didn’t know where she would be fighting.  He gave a disappointed curse realizing he would have to wait to see her actually fight. He might as well follow her instructions and find a better place to hide.  He walked a few blocks before he saw signs of a tornado.

Whereas the street he had been on looked pristine, when he turned the corner, there was carnage.  Cars had been thrown on their sides, bikes were thrown through windows, balcony tables and chairs were laying broken against buildings, and more than a few bodies were laying under some of the wreckage.  He walked near the bodies, searching for signs of life.  He sighed as none of them moved.  He started walking again when he heard crying and scratching.  He followed the source to a mailbox in the side of a building.

He ripped the mailbox door and was met with wide, terrified green eyes, familiar green eyes.  “You’re the kid from the bakery.” He said in English before he could catch himself.  The kid’s eyes got impossibly bigger and started babbling to him in French.  Damn it! Jason cursed to himself.  This was going to be a crash course in French.  He was fluent at some point, years ago, but disuse had dulled his memory. He thought about it for a few seconds, mentally switching to French.  He just had to think of this like a mission and access those parts of his brain… quickly.

“I saw you in the bakery.  I’m Marinette’s friend Jason.  We need to go somewhere safe.  Are you okay? What is your name?”  He tried to give the kid a soft smile, making himself look as unthreatening as possible for a 6 foot, 225 pound man could seem.  Kids in Gotham knew he was dangerous but only against the bad guys, not kids.  He didn’t think this kid would be able to differentiate.  

The terrified look lightened only slightly as he responded.  “You know Marinette?” Jason smiled bigger as he nodded in response.  The assurance seemed to work as the kid relaxed a bit and looked around.  “My name is August.  Have you seen my father?  He put me in here when the wind came.”

Jason looked away and tried to hide his grimace.  He had seen a few men on the street, none of them alive.  “You know, I’m sure he found a place to hide from the big wind.  I’m sure he’s safe somewhere.  We can find him after Ladybug fixes everything.  We can have Marinette call him to let him know where you are, but now that we have a chance, we should find someplace safer.  Is it okay if I get you out?”

He waited until August nodded at him before lifting him out of the box.  He set him down on the ground but August clung to his arms.  Jason smiled comfortingly at him and settled him on his hip instead.  “Okay, August.  Let’s find a place to hide, yeah?”  August gave him a watery smile.

He started walking, holding the little boy close to his chest, shielding his head so he couldn’t see what was happening around him.  He just needed a safe place for them to hide, a building with a basement ideally.  Like he would know that from here he grumbled to himself, and he didn’t have the time to get it wrong.  Fuck! He should have done better reconnaissance, or any, before he came.  They had walked another block and still hadn’t seen anything that looked promising. Pretty soon he was going to have to take what he could get.  The wind was starting to pick up again, giving him the terrifying feeling that another tornado was headed their way.

He growled in frustration and looked around him again concentrating on the buildings.  Surely there was a metro somewhere, right?  He hadn’t seen a sign for blocks.  They passed by a pile of cars and paused hearing pounding and screaming from under the cars.  He searched for the source of the sound.  His eyes widened in horror as he realized where it was coming from.  A young girl had gotten trapped between a building wall and the pile of cars and was beating the cars trying to get free.  He set August down with a reassuring smile and pushed the car on top out of the way.  He reached down and grabbed the girl.  She looked up at him with wide eyes and screamed.

He flinched at the scream and sighed in acceptance.  “Yeah, I guess I deserved that.  I’m here to help not take you.  It isn’t safe out here and it’s about to get much less safe.”

She looked at him suspiciously, ready to say no to the giant of a man with scars who had grabbed her, until a head popped out from behind him.  “Manon!”

“August!”  She reached out to hug him but Jason grabbed her instead.  

“Hugs after we are safe.  It is getting worse by the second.”  He looked around for a good place to hide with the two kids.  Nothing much around them, a few shops, a few restaurants, a wine shop, a bookstore…  Wait! He instantly started moving.  When he finally reached the door, it was locked. “Who the fuc… why would you bother locking your doors during this?” he exclaimed loudly.  “Okay, move over here for a second… and don’t do this yourself.” He rammed his elbow through the door’s glass, shattering the glass panel near the handle.  He reached in to open the door, scratching his arm as he did. He hissed in pain but hid it from the kids.

“Why here?” Manon called loudly to be heard over the wind.

“Because wine shops have wine cellars.” Jason explained calmly.  “Now in you go.” He pushed her through the door, following with August close behind.

<><><><><> 

Ladybug landed inelegantly next to the team, taking a few seconds to steady herself against the sudden lack of wind.  “I have a plan.”  She smiled at them.

“Well then let’s hear it.” Rena encouraged her.

“Something better than the last one would be appreciated.” Bee grumbled.

“Sucks for you.  Exactly the same plan as last time… kind of.” Ladybug smirked at them.

The sound of four people groaning at the same time made Ladybug smile even wider.  “Dudette, maybe you missed how it turned out last time, but we lost.”

“I have faith this time will be luckier.” She smiled cheerily.  “And we’re going to build failure into the plan… or at least the appearance of failure.” She looked over at Bee with a conspiratorial smile.  “You’re going to lead them into a false sense of security thinking we are trying the same thing again, but the real goal…” she leaned in closer as she pulled the trackers out of her yoyo, “… is to plant one of these.”

“And what the fuck are those?” Bee demanded unceremoniously.  “And just how the fuck are they supposed to change anything?”

“These my lovely pain in the ass, are tracking beacons.  Carapace, you will do the exact same thing as before.  You will create a tunnel from above through her tornado.  Rena, you will create the camouflage illusion on the tunnel, Bee, and yourself this time.  And you will need to use your flying power up.”  Rena gave her a skeptical look.

“Bee, you’ll have to use my or Chat’s flying power up.  Apologize to Pollen that it isn’t in her flavor.  I suggest using mine.  I don’t think Pollen will appreciate the cheese power up.” Bee huffed out a loud breath at the thought of that.  Pollen would not react well to the disrespect.  Chloe was going to have to lavish her with praise for days to make up for it.

“I hope you know what you are doing.  Pollen will not appreciate this.” Chloe grumbled as she crossed her arms over her chest and turned her head away.

“I understand and please explain how eternally grateful we are for how magnanimous she is in agreeing to this.” Ladybug rolled her eyes as she said it.  “You’re going to pretend to try to take her out with venom again but it is a cover for Rena to plant this on her.” She said holding up the tracker before tossing it over to Rena. “And for you to actually get the amok with the venom instead.

“Rena, you stay camouflaged and try to plant that on her.  If anything happens to Rena while she is planting it, Bee, you take advantage of her distraction to plant yours on her.”  Ladybug tossed another tracker to her.  “Once you have them planted, notify me and Chat.  We will take her from there from below.  Your sole focus will be the amok.  We need you to restrain it until we can find the possessed item and free the feather.  Hopefully, when we deakumatize Aurora, she’ll know where the item is or at least what it is.”

Chat eyed Ladybug suspiciously, slowly nodding as he picked out the key words he needed to figure out her plan, all the pieces quickly falling into place.  “We’ll have to act quickly,” he warned her.

Ladybug nodded at him, “Getting the umbrella will be the top priority.  Whichever of us sees an opening, we take it.”

“Hey Wonder Twins, care to let the rest of us mere mortals in on your part of the plan?” Rena asked unamused.  Honestly, it was freaky how they could read each other’s minds sometimes.  One of them would say one part of an idea and the other would act on it before anyone else had even comprehended what they had said in the first place.  She understood that they had been partners for years now but if she didn’t know better, she would swear there was more to it than that.  And that asshole cat better not be trying to replace her as Marinette’s best friend. She could and would skin a cat.

“We’re going to go into the sewers.  We’ll use the trackers to know exactly where she is…” Chat started to explain.

“Within three feet.” Ladybug corrected.  Chat gave her a questioning look.  “He said there is a three foot uncertainty radius.”

Chat nodded, “…approximately where she is and get right under her.  I’ll use Black Hole to create a hole under her, dropping her into the sewers with us.” Chat finished with a smile.

Carapace nodded at the explanation.  “Removing her from the tornadoes.  As long as you act quickly, her biggest asset is gone.  Good thinking, Dudette.”  

Ladybug smiled at him.  “Thanks Carapace.  We’ll need you to get as close as you feel is safe as well.  We’ll follow you on our maps so we can get close to where we will need to be.”  She turned to the rest of the team, her face turning serious.  “Okay, we have the plan, everyone knows their parts.  Let’s get out there.  Good luck guys.  Keep us updated.”

<><><><><> 

“Why are we down here?” Manon asked annoyed.

“That’s what you do in a…” Jason started but quickly realized he never learned the French word for tornado.  Honestly, why would he.  It wasn’t something they experienced.  “…tornado.” He finished in English.

Manon let out a critical huff and provided the French word for him.  “Thanks” he grumbled.

“Why?” August scrunched his nose.

“I know you guys aren’t familiar with them, but tornados destroy things, like buildings.  So you go underground.  It’s safe underground.”

“Like the sewers?” August asked.

Jason cocked his head to the side to consider that.  “That also would have worked.” He nodded slowly.  “But we’re going to stay here.  We’re not going to risk moving.  We will be safe here.”

“Not worth getting dirty.  It’s just Stormy Weather.”  Manon showed them her phone which was playing the news.  “They’ve fought against her before.  They know what to do.”  She continued flippantly.  Jason stared at her trying to figure out if it was an act or not.  He’d seen enough kids acting tough so they didn’t seem vulnerable and comfort the kids around them, to know it when he saw it.  It was a constant for the older kids on the street when he was growing up.  The older kids did it for the younger kids.  It was a rite of passage.

She was more scared than she was letting on but Jason couldn’t tell how scared she was.  August’s reaction to her was immediate though.  He started nodding at her, thinking over what she was saying.  The concern in his expression lessening with each nod. Manon continued to watch the news program as Jason took a seat, pulling out his phone as well.  

After a few minutes, Manon sat near him and sighed.  “Poor Aurora.  She’s such a nice person, too.  I wonder what happened this time.”

“Trying to destroy an entire city isn’t what I’d call nice.” Jason scoffed.

Manon shrugged, keeping her focus on her phone. “It’s not really her though. It’s the akuma.  It makes you do things you would never have wanted to do. It takes over.”  She paused for a few seconds seeming to stare past her phone. “And you don’t remember what you’ve done after.  You have to watch it later.  It’s like you’re watching a stranger, but it’s you.  It’s so wrong.”

She said it with such conviction, so much confidence, like she was speaking from personal experience.  Jason felt his stomach sink with the realization.  “Have you ever become an akuma?”  He hated saying the words but he hated the look that crossed her face when he asked even worse.  The look of guilt and horror, the same look he saw in the mirror when he would get a flash of something he had done immediately after getting out of the pit.

“Yeah… more than once.”  She said it quietly, still looking at her phone in an unseeing stare.

“Not as much as me,” August said sadly, taking a seat between the two of them.

“You’ve been an akuma too?  Christ, you’re still a baby!” Jason exclaimed loudly.

“I’m not a baby!” August cried out.

“You were when you were first akumatized.” Manon pointed out.

August shrunk in on himself.  “It’s okay August.” Manon reassured him, pulling him into a side hug.  “I swear there are more people who have been akumatized than haven’t been and it’s not like you’ve been akumatized that many times.”

“More than you.” He said sadly.

“Well yeah, but not like M. Pigeon numbers.” She rolled her eyes at him. “Or is it M. Rat now?”

“Rat for a while before he stopped getting akumatized.” August confirmed.  “I liked him.  He was fun to watch.”

“Wait, wait, wait.  Just hold up a second.  There’s a guy that turns into a pigeon or rat that has been turned into an akuma dozens of times?”  Jason asked shaking his head.  What the hell kind of demented Disney movie was going on here?

“No, he controls the pigeons or rats.  He is a big animal lover and anytime he thinks someone is abusing the animals, he gets upset.  Like really upset.  Akumatization level upset.  Really nice guy normally.”  Manon explained calmly.

Jason nodded thinking over what she had said, so more Steven King than Disney. “How many kids have become akumas?” Jason asked a bit scared of the answer.

“How young are you looking for?  August was the youngest, he was like what 6 months old when you first got akumatized?” She looked over to him for confirmation. August shrugged.  “I was about his age when I first got akumatized.  He doesn’t go for kids as often as adults, but he doesn’t avoid us.  I don’t think.  Maybe this is holding back.  How would we know?”  As she spoke her eyes got darker and darker, anger starting to show through her detached façade.

“Holy fu…” he looked down at August and immediately clamped his mouth shut.  “Uh… that sounds… traumatic.”

Manon let out a loud scoff.  “Not nearly as traumatic as living through the other side of it.”  Jason looked at her curiously, encouraging her to say more. “Most kids I know have died at least once.  They’ve lost a parent right in front of them, some while they were holding them. They’ve lost friends, watched them die or get hurt.  Most have experienced all three.”  

Jason watched her eyes take on a haunted look as she spoke.  “And if you’ve been akumatized more than once it’s like people are just waiting for you to get akumatized again.  Put them through that again.”

“Yeah.”  August agreed quietly.  His whole body seemed to collapse in on itself in guilt.  Just looking at him hurt Jason.  All he wanted was to bring his mood back up.

“Not everyone though, right?  Marinette seems to like you.” Jason reassured him.

“Yeah, she likes me.  But that’s Marinette she likes everyone.”  August waved him off.

“Pft, not everyone.” Manon scoffed quietly.  Jason raised his eyebrow at that.  He’d have to ask Marinette about it later.  She didn’t seem the type to dislike people enough that a random kid would know about who she liked or didn’t.  He knew she had an issue with Constantine… and apparently Batman, who didn’t though, and the rest of the Gotham vigilantes… and the entire Justice League… okay, maybe it made sense that the kid would pick up on some things.

Instead, he turned back to August.  “Maybe, but she seems to like you.  She must really think you’re a good kid.  I mean she was sneaking you treats at the counter.  I’m sure she doesn’t do that for just anyone.”

Manon whipped her head to August.  August almost jumped when she yelled at him, “She gives you treats?”

<><><><><> 

“How do we always end up down here?”  Chat whined eyeing a patch of slick green something oozing down the sewer walls.

“Lucky I guess.  It’s where we do our best work after all.  We have a pretty good track record down here.” Ladybug quipped without looking up from the map display on her yoyo.  “We need to take a left up here.  We’re getting close.”

“You think it’s going to work this time?” Chat breathed out.  He had faith in their teammates but he knew Bee was not working on full capacity. She took the failure hard.  She would fight hard, but when Chloe doubted herself, it took a while to build her confidence back up.  And he couldn’t help.  He was stuck down in the sewers only able to hear their reports.  If anything happened, he and Ladybug wouldn’t be able to do anything or even know what happened.

“I have faith.  Our team can do this and they will.  Bee always rises to the challenge.” She assured him as though she could read his true concern.  

“Mirage.” They heard Rena say over the coms.

“Tunnel is up.” Carapace reported.

“Rena and I are going in.  You guys close or are we going to have to buy time for you slowpokes?” Bee asked.

Ladybug rolled her eyes at Chat but smiled along with him.  Bee was snarking at them.  That was a good sign.  “We’re close. Don’t wait on us.  We’d hate to hold you guys back.”

“We’re good enough to pick up your slack.” Bee quipped, the accompanying hair flip evident in her tone.

“Right behind you on 3.” Rena paused before counting down.  “3, 2, 1, and go.”

Chat shook his head and took a deep breath. It would be fine.  They would get the job done.  Alya and Chloe might fight like sisters but they defended each other like sisters too.  They would have each other’s backs and together they were a force to be reckoned with. His anxiety would lessen significantly if he could just see what was happening.  It was the being in the dark that made it all so much worse.

Chat and Ladybug made their way toward Carapace’s tracker in a tense silence, hands flinching towards their coms every time a grunt or groan or squawk came over the coms.  Their footsteps hesitated when they heard Chloe whisper venom.  Ladybug glanced back to him.  They both took another deep breath and nodded to each other. Things were about to happen and they needed to be prepared.  They were close to Carapace’s tracker already but moved with more urgency to close the gap.

“We’re here.” Ladybug reported over the coms.

“Working on it.” Bee grunted.

“Behind you!” Rena screamed.  They heard some more grunting and the second tracker appear on the yoyo and baton screens.

“We got her, Rena.  Go help Bee.” Ladybug ordered.  “Ready, Chat?”  She braced herself and settled into a battle ready position when Chat nodded at her and moved closer to the spot on his screen.

“Black hole,” he whispered.  Speaking at full voice seemed irreverent in the quiet darkness of the sewer.  He took a deep breath and took a running start.  He planted his baton, extending it as he rose in the air.  The highest point of the arc hit exactly where the tracker marked.  He touched the ceiling as he sailed by, allowing his magic to create a large hole that went through to the street above.  He landed with a roll.  He pivoted as soon as he came to a stop, holding his own battle ready position, ready to pounce the moment he caught sight of Stormy.

He didn’t have to wait.  Before he had even pivoted Stormy was already in sight, falling toward the sewer water.  Chat jumped at her reaching to grab her umbrella before she could start another tornado down there.  In their confined area, a tornado would be too strong and there would be no place to hide.

Stormy pulled her umbrella out of his reach just as he was about to lay his fingers on it.  She held it above her head, giving him an irate look.  “Stupid cat!  Did you think that is all it would take to defeat me?” She sneered.

She jerked back in shock as a yoyo wrapped around the umbrella and yanked it from her hands.  “Yes, yes we did.” Ladybug responded with a self-satisfied smirk as the umbrella landed in her hands.

“NO,” Stormy screeched.  She reached out for the umbrella but fell to the floor instead when Ladybug broke the umbrella and a little purple and black akuma fluttered out of it.

“No more evil doing for you little akuma. Time to de-evilize.” Ladybug twirled her yoyo around in a circle a few times and threw it up to capture the akuma. Ladybug pulled the yoyo back to her and opened it again, allowing the now white butterfly to flutter out harmlessly. “Bye, bye little butterfly.”  She waved peacefully at the butterfly.

While Ladybug was purifying the akuma, Chat ran over to Aurora.  “Hey, Aurora. How are you doing?  Are you okay?” He asked looking at her with concern. Aurora was a good person to begin with and had a fairly good temperament.  She had been taking classes on how to control her temper on top of that, so whatever happened it must have been pretty bad.

Aurora looked around in a daze and held her head for a few seconds before she could respond.  “Chat Noir?” She examined his face for a few moments to confirm it was him. She looked around until she saw Ladybug releasing the purified akuma.  Her shoulders slumped and her face fell.  “Oh no,” she whispered to the ground.  “I did it again didn’t I?” She looked up at Chat with pained eyes.  Chat gave her a sympathetic smile and rubbed her back.  “How bad this time?” she looked back to the ground again trying to brace for the answer.

“I’m not sure.  It was a few tornadoes but it could have been a lot worse.” He gave her a side hug when he saw some tears fall down her cheeks.  

“We got the amok tied up, Ladybug.” Rena reported. “And you might want to hurry and find the item, Bee got hit this time and worse than I did.”

Chat looked up at Ladybug.  She looked at him questioningly.  He looked over Aurora, trying to find anything that stood out. When he didn’t see anything, he looked through her bag.  His eyes lit up when he saw what he was looking for.  He grabbed the kite and threw it over to Ladybug.

Ladybug looked at Chat questioningly.  He nodded to her letting her know he would handle Aurora for now and meet her up top.  She made a motion with the kite, letting him know she would purify it topside, so Aurora didn’t have to see it.

Once Chat nodded in silent understanding, Ladybug nodded back and spoke into the coms. “Got it.  We’ll be right there.”

Chat leaned in closer to Aurora and lowered his voice conspiratorially, “Personally, I think you might have been holding back. We both know you could have done far, far worse but you didn’t.  That takes a lot of strength.”

She looked up at him with wide eyes.  “You really think so?”  Hope permeated her voice and expression.

Chat smiled at her.  “Yeah, I do.  I think you were trying to give us a clue about where the amok was as well.”  She looked up at him with wide eyes.  

“There was an amok too, huh?”  She gave him a weak, guilt laden smile.  “Guess I should have expected that by now.”  

“Yeah, but we took care of it.  Now, ready to get back topside?”  She gave him a weak smile and nodded.  “Okay, hold on.”  He grabbed her into a princess hold and jumped through the hole, using his baton to give him more height.

As soon as they landed, they heard Ladybug call out “Miraculous Ladybug.”  He let out a relieved breath and turned back to Aurora who was watching the miraculous ladybugs swarming throughout the city fixing all the damage with an apologetic look.

Rena joined them with a sympathetic smile for Aurora.  “Hey, Aurora. Sorry this happened to you.  You are a good person.  We know you would never have wanted this.  You didn’t deserve this.  You are a victim too.”  She gave Aurora a hug.

Aurora pulled back and looked at both of them with a smile that was a little stronger than the last one.  “Thank you and thank you for saving me.”

Rena gave her a smile.  The rest of the team came up behind Rena, all smiling at Aurora, except Bee who leaned against a recently returned car and examined her nails. “We done here or what?”

Ladybug scowled at her and turned back to Aurora. “Do you need a ride to your next destination?”

Aurora shook her head.  “No, I’ll walk.  Thank you though.  I think I need the space to process.”

The team smiled at her and nodded in understanding. Aurora waved to them and walked toward her office.

Chat looked at Ladybug with a grin on his face.  “Hey m’lady, ask me how I think we did today.”

Ladybug groaned.  She knew that look.  That was never a good look.  She knew she was going to regret it but she couldn’t deny him this simple pleasure, something to bring his mood back up.  “Okay Chat, how do you think we did today?”

His grin grew even wider and his eyes lit up with excitement that she was willing to play along.  “I was blown away by our performance.”  He started laughing at his own joke.  Ladybug groaned even louder and hid her face in her hands, but Bee smacked him upside the head hard enough for his head to jerk forward making him laugh even harder.

“Thank you!” Rena groaned.

“What are you guys doing now?”  Ladybug asked suddenly nervous.

“Meeting at the hotel?” Bee shrugged.

“Meeting at the office in… crap 12 minutes.” Chat groaned.  “I need to go.”

“Homework,” Rena and Carapace said at the same time.

“Okay, are you guys free tonight to talk?” Ladybug asked.

They looked at each other uneasily.  “About what?” Rena asked suspiciously.  

Ladybug grimaced and clasped her hands together, swinging them in front of her a few times.  “I have to go, LB.  Spit it out.” Chat urged her.

“Red Hood found me today.  Me, me.”  They turned suddenly serious, all straightening their stances.  

“How bad is it?” Carapace asked.

“Not bad, I don’t think.  We can discuss it tonight when you have more time.  I don’t think the rest of the family knows, just him. But we have things to discuss.” Ladybug confirmed.

“I need to leave now or I won’t be able to get out tonight.  See you guys at 9.”  Chat called over his shoulder as he vaulted away.

“You heard the cat, we’ll talk at 9.” Carapace declared.  “See you then.”  He and Rena jumped away together.

Bee looked at her and shook her head. “Unbe-fucking-lievable.  Only you.”

Ladybug sighed and gave her a guilty look, “Sorry.”

“Sorry my exquisite ass.  Knowing you this is going to be exactly what we need and it will be over in a few months like some kind of cosmic Lucky Charm and all because you got one of the most eligible bachelors in the world tottering after you like a lovesick puppy.”  Ladybug’s jaw dropped as she watched Bee jump away.

“He is not tottering after me!  But you are right, it is exquisite.”  Ladybug yelled after her.  

Bee turned her head to yell over her shoulder. “Of course I’m right… about both parts. Now go give him a kiss and ask him if he has any hot, rich, kinky friends for me.”

Chapter 9

  Tags:

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[lokislittlesigyn]

// loki spoilers

This is basically a huge infodump on my thoughts about the first episode, because I doubt y’all want to sift through my trauma-ridden ramblings. I’ll make another post for the rest. This is just everything not related to the IW stuff/my reaction to that. It’s general thoughts, theories, musings.

1. When Loki gets first taken into the TVA. Is that Peggy Carter in the background? Others have suggested it might be. What would that mean??? Will we see the TVA fix the mess the Russos made with Steve/Peggy (not likely) or is it just a lookalike? Who knows..

2. A skrull at the main intake desk! Idk not super relevant just interesting!

3. I’m kind of glad they changed the... uncomfortable scene... with the robot burning his clothes off. He gets more time to react to seeing the machine itself, and he seems more shocked (”Now.. H-hang on just a minute.”) than angry (”Now hang on just a minute!”) i still feel.. horrible for him, i’m glad nobody Saw him and that the machine didn’t grab the clothes off, but still. Ehhh.. uncomfortable.

He is beautiful though, don’t get me wrong - I’d just prefer a shirtless Loki scene where he wants to be shirtless? let him do what he wants with his body?? he’s probably felt so out of control of his body, from being jotun to falling through space that any invasion of privacy like that hits extra deep...

That being said, I recognize the utility of the scene for the narrative - his lack of control, his literally being stripped of what he was before.

4. WHO IS THE MAN WITH THE CAT. What is his name. I love that he has a mug with his cat on it. But I want to know more. Who is he?

4.1 WHY DIDNT YOU LET LOKI PET THE CAT Please,,, I am begging you,,, let loki pet the cat and have something react kindly to him and purr all happily at his scratching behind their ears plea s e

5. The info sheet. Now this is just a little nitpicky tidbit, but in a previous promo they listed Loki’s height as 6′4 ft and weight as 525 lbs. This is taken directly from the comics if I’m not mistaken. However, in the actual show he’s listed as  6′2 (Tom’s height and Loki’s presumed height) but I don’t remember if his weight is the same. Is Loki 6′2? 6′4? please let me know i want to know how smol i am in comparison

6. His little aggressive shaking of the ticket at the guard makes me giggle each time.

7. The fact the turnstile hits so low on him reminds me,, I am short compared to him. Those things hit my stomach/waist. That one hit his legs. I am once again asking Loki to pick me up.

8. The cartoon with Miss Minutes introducing the TVA is wonderful, I love the art style especially. But it raises questions about Variants... I guess Variants can just, pop out of nowhere? Any action could be the wrong one? And then once you commit the wrong action you either get returned or pruned? Yikes??? And THIS ties into another thing later!

9. The trial scene. I have a hunch - a feeling, a suspicion. That one of three things may be true.

A. The Time-Keepers never actually existed. They’re fabricated, and now whoever runs the TVA is actually using the excuse of “The Time-Keepers decree it so!!!” to carry out whatever They think is right. The fact we haven’t seen the Time-Keepers makes me.. suspicious...

B. The Time-Keepers existed, but they have since passed on, however that may have happened. Now someone is doing the same as above, using the excuse of the Time-Keepers apparent dictations to run things.

C. The Time-Keepers do exist, and do run the timeline/TVA, but maybe they’re not infallible? Maybe the TVA info video is lying or incomplete in some way? Idk I just feel like, something about the TVA and how they run things has to be wrong. It has to? Something is off. Again, this will tie into another thought later...

I have no idea if any of these are actually true! But Loki’s questions of “Who’s in charge here? What do they do? What do you do?” punctuated by laughter leads me to believe he’s suspecting something too, or perhaps just trying to figure this mess out.

10. Seiðr/Magic. We see in this scene, Loki’s magic (”powers”) don’t work in the TVA. (and a quick side note, did he have to Flex like that? do you have to make me see Loki’s bare arms Flex like that? be still my heart. anyway please get that collar off of him and let him rest for five minutes) This makes me wonder.. Why isn’t Loki in his Jotun form? His pale skin and blue eyes are decided by magic, are they not? I suppose this is 2012, so perhaps Odin’s magic is keeping Loki looking like that. But if magic doesn’t work in the TVA, why would his spell reach so far? Clearly Loki’s magic isn’t what’s doing it. How is Loki not appearing as a Jotun? Is his Jotun form repressed - is pale skin his default now, rather than something hidden by magic? I need answers!

11. he sounds so scared about being “reset” please dont hurt him,,

12. cALLING LOKI A PUSSYCAT? (lokitty confirmed) I think Mobius was goading him (Mobius strikes me.. As extremely clever. He’s trying to push Loki’s buttons to see who he’s dealing with. At least, I hope so. Because if he really meant that “You were born to cause pain and suffering and death... All so that others can achieve the best versions of themselves.” and that line about killing Frigga??? No no no he is not guilty. He had no way of knowing what would happen. It wasn’t right to send Algrim up to Asgard (i think algrim wouldve found the way up anyway) but there was no intent to hurt Frigga. I really hope you’re trying to goad him, Mobius, because if you believe that I trust you much less. anyway i digress) but wow is he pushing Loki’s buttons a lot. I can’t... Blame him entirely, I understand he’s trying to make sure Loki’s on his side, maybe I’m just too soft for Loki idk. But some of that was very cruel to say. /:

12.1 AND ANOTHER THING ABOUT MOBIUS. That scene with the girl in the church?? Did that little girl kill the men? Is that young Sylvie? Or is she using an illusion to make herself look young and innocent? What’s going on!!!!

13. LOKI SNATCHING THE LITTLE TIME-TWISTER DEVICE AND STOWING IT IN HIS POCKET.... POCKET....... sorry sometimes i get so caught up about loki that i just say random words in between little noises and squeals,,, i am a silly thing

14. CASEY. CASEY??? That whole exchange is funny. Poor Loki, just trying to intimidate this guy so he can escape but - Casey doesn’t know what a fish is. to be fair.... thor doesn’t seem to know what a raccoon is... right?

15. That bit with the infinity stones is kind of funny until you realize

A. Natasha died for a paperweight

B. Tony died from paperweights

C. Loki was tortured for paperweights

D. Oh, and Gamora died for a paperweight too. And Vision. Need I go on?

Then it becomes less of exclusively “haha funny” and now it’s a mix of funny and pain and gosh, is that a good way to sum up being a Marvel/Loki fan sometimes...

16. Loki gazing at the timeline all “Is this the most powerful thing in the universe?” or something, i’m sorry i don’t remember exactly... made me think of a meme and i shall make it presently.

17. I love that Loki got to see examples of how his family loves him but the fact he’s all “I can’t go back.” really just breaks me. It’s like he can finally see they love him after all of this mess, and now he doesn’t have the chance. Please, please let him be happy. Give him some relief. This is the Loki that just came off finding out about being Jotun, falling from the Bifrost, encountering Thanos, attacking Earth, facing defeat, and now he’s being thrashed around in this wild place and has just found out he inadvertently caused Frigga’s death (he did not kill her: his actions, by mistake, lead to her murder, let me be very clear) AND Odin will die AND all the rest... And he wants to be with them.

18. Loki’s reaction to Thor suggesting the hug makes me soft. Please I want to hug this little mischief man so so so bad-

19. Skipping over the iw parts! That’s for another post because this one will be grossly long anyway.

20. “I don’t enjoy hurting people.” and “It's part of the illusion. It's the cruel, elaborate trick conjured by the weak to inspire fear. A desperate play for control.” was all so, so validating. I’ve been trying to argue on Loki’s behalf for almost a solid decade. Seeing the show recognize that Loki’s not all just violence and hurting for “fun”, that he’s not unhinged and bloodthirsty.. Is so nice. It’s just so, so comforting. and it gives me hope for future episodes that they won’t go the route of “oh haha loki bullied and mistreated and stabbed thor for years!!! :)” loki cries during basically every fight with Thor and you want me to believe he stabs Thor for fun? absolutely not.

21. Theory.. Just another hunch.. So we know a fugitive variant, aka Loki, is running amok. Refer back to 8 and 9.C. What if the Time-Keepers never actually fixed the timeline into a single timeline? What if there are other timelines, and these different Loki variants have hopped over to the current one? Or, maybe the Time-Keepers did fix the timeline into a single one, and these Lokis are remnants from that huge time-war at the beginning? Time runs differently in relative spaces, they may have Just Left that war from their perspective!

I say Lokis and not Loki because we’re pretty sure there’s Female/Lady Loki, Old Man/King Loki, and possibly Young/Kid Loki. That’s at least three. From the peeks of Asgard and NYC we’ve seen from the trailers, I think we’re also getting an Asgardian King!Loki and Midgardian King/Vote!Loki. (unless our dearest variant is hopping into timelines and situating into them, but I doubt Mobius would let that happen..?) That’s five.

To further support this, keep in mind, I believe recently six (i think 6 regular and 6 rare...) different funko pops were announced for the series? I’m not sure if they’re in addition to the Loki and Mobius already released. If they are, there’s enough room for each Loki and maybe a TVA agent. One of the pops is supposed to have a buddy/companion I think? Maybe they’re making the cat guy into one, or maybe there’s something else (Throg, anyone?).

22. That is totally Lady Loki/Sylvie at the end by the way. Has to be. But why does she want the reset devices? Why did she snatch that TVA Hunter? Again, WHAT’S GOING ON

ANYWAY this was a very long post if you made it this far, I commend you.

[2manyfandoms2count]

I love you (not) - Chapter 13

It's only fitting that chapter 13 of this fic would be the one that's most inspired by Taylor Swift (big Fearless vibes in here)... Tackling two prompts of @marichatmay in one, Locked in and oops. Spoiler: they finally kiss! Hope you enjoy the chapter! xx

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Chapter 13: In which it's finally timeTM

“Marinette,” Chat Noir said softly, reluctantly loosening their embrace.

She hummed in response, eyes still closed, and he tucked a strand of her already damp hair behind her ear. The skies were darkening, if it was even possible, the rain turning into a thick curtain around them, yet her soft smile was like a ray of sunshine illuminating them both. He was torn between staying there, basking in her light, and bursting their bubble. The thought that she could catch a cold crossed his mind, though, and he knew where his duty lied.

“Marinette, we should find shelter, you’ll be sick,” he insisted gently.

“I’m on holiday for the next two months, I have plenty of time to be ill,” she replied. She didn’t care if it wasn’t entirely true. She needed to be operational enough to fight any Akumas that sprouted up, but at that moment, those concerns felt like they were miles away.

Chat Noir paused. Even if he didn’t like the thought of her being bedridden, she did have a point.

“But you’ll ruin your pretty dress,” he whispered in her ear.

Marinette sighed against his chest. She really wanted to answer that she didn’t care, that she’d dance with him anywhere, whatever was going on around them, whatever she was wearing, but also especially in her best dress.  She was starting to feel a little cold, though, and she couldn’t let her partner get ill himself.

“Fine.” She looked up at him, bluebell eyes wide and beautiful as a stroke of lightning lit up the sky, and Chat forgot how to breathe for a second.

The clap of thunder that swiftly followed made him gasp like he’d literally been drowning in her eyes, and he averted his gaze.

“Hang on tight,” he warned her, bending down slightly to reach behind her knees to lift her in a bridal carry.

As he strode purposefully towards the lift, Marinette wrapped her arms around his neck to steady herself, and she realised that if he were to turn his head ever so slightly towards her, then there would only be a couple of centimetres between their lips. Rain streaming down her face, she was reminded of the dream she’d had about kissing Chat Noir. Would it be so bad to know what it would feel like, without the rush of an Akuma battle? She blushed at the thought, and buried her face against his shoulder to conceal her fluster.

Chat Noir had barely, tentatively, laid his head on the top of hers when the lift doors opened with a “ding”. He straightened up rigidly and walked inside, before delicately setting her down on one side of the cabin and walking to the other.

Marinette leaned back against the panel, stealing a glance at him as he pressed the restaurant button. The elevator got into motion; she pouted when he didn’t return to her side.

But maybe she’d gotten ahead of herself. Maybe the dancing, the rain, and the late night visits had gotten to her head, shining a new light on their, all in all, platonic all but in name relationship.

Before she could start dissecting why she felt disappointed, the lift stopped abruptly, making her lose her balance slightly. She tensed up, feeling that something wasn’t right.

Opposite her, Chat was also on high alert, ears perked up as he tried to pick up on any sound that could indicate the cause of the stall. When the cries for help and the crashing reached them, their gazes met, and they could read the panic in each other’s eyes at the thought that it wasn’t just the storm.

Chat pounced on the elevator button panel and punched all of them, hoping it would kickstart the machine, but unfortunately not even the alarm button responded.

“ Mince ,” they both swore under their breath.

Chat’s whipped his head towards her, and he flashed her a small smile.

“It’s okay, Marinette, don’t worry. Ladybug will get us out of here.”

“You really think so?” Marinette was trying very hard not to let her panic flood her as she looked around for any possible exit. Wasn’t there supposed to be a trap door on elevator roofs? Or could they try prying the doors open, and see where to go from there? Actually, why use force when they had a much more powerful weapon? “Can’t you maybe cataclysm the doors or something?”

“I’m afraid it doesn’t mix well with technology,” he grimaced. “I don’t want to risk hurting you. But I trust Ladybug, she’ll find a way.”

“I trust you too, Chat Noir,” she replied automatically. Her eyes widened when she realised how he could interpret her words, but Chat looked lost in his thoughts. And slightly… waxy, for some reason?

“Chat, are you-” Her question was interrupted by the lights flickering, and then turning off.

Chat’s gulp was extremely audible in the penumbra.

“Are you okay?” She asked cautiously.

“Absolutely peachy.” He might have been able to distract her from his strained voice with one of those smiles he was so good at putting on, but in the darkness, it was all she could focus on.

“Kitty.” She tried to channel all of her warning glance into her words.

“It’s nothing. I might be a tiny bit claw-strophobic, but don’t mind me.”

Marinette heard him slide down against the panel, his breathing accelerating.

“It’s alright, Chat, I’m here.” She knew he wouldn’t get exactly what she meant, and she definitely wasn’t going to clarify, but she hoped her soothing tone would be enough to help him keep calm.

Just in case, though, she scrambled to her knees and felt around so she could kneel in front of him. Her eyes were starting to be accustomed to the darkness; she saw his eyes sparkling in front of her. Leaning forward, she placed both of her hands on his shoulders, and hoped he saw her better than she saw him. She didn't care what was going on on the other side of the doors; her Chaton needed her, and he was her priority. They could figure things out later.

“I’m here, I promise it’s going to be alright,” she whispered again, and he nodded slowly, unconvinced. “I’m guessing this isn’t the first time it’s happened; what do you usually do when you’re feeling like this? Is there anything I can do to help?”

“I generally try to think happy thoughts,” he whispered back.

“Happy thoughts. Got it. Give me an example.”

“I like eating chouquettes?” He said tentatively.

“Okay… They are really good pastries. You know what, I think I saw some around at the party; think about how you can stuff your face full with them when we get out.”

“That would be nice.” He nodded a little more vigorously.

“Okay, what else?”

“I… I kind of like it when Ladybug scratches my chin,” he said almost shyly.

“You’re a real cat, you know that?” She smiled fondly. “Erm… would you like me to do that now?”

“Nah, it’s kind of a thing between me and her.”

“Okay, then.” She bit back a smile. “Keep going.”

“I really like receiving presents from you. They’re always so thoughtful.” His breathing was slowing down, his voice more assured.

“I really enjoy making them for you.” She blushed.

“Thank you.” He brought one of his hands to cover hers.

“You’re very welcome.”

Marinette stared into Chat Noir’s eyes, only averting her gaze and clearing her throat when she felt that she was getting a little too close to his face. She couldn’t help it. It was like being pulled in by gravity. “Anything else?”

He shook his head.

“Come on, Chat, there must be more good thoughts in that head of yours.” She ruffled his hair. “How does… How do the pictures of you and… Ladybug after the fight against Oblivio make you feel?” It was a daring question. She regretted it almost instantly, his lack of answer at first the most deafening of sounds.

“I used to really enjoy looking at them,” he said cautiously just when she was considering that transforming and making a break for it would be a less awkward option than being scrutinised like this.

“Used to?” She felt her heart rate pick up.

“Well, truth be told…” It was his turn to avert his gaze, although he tightened his grip on her hand ever so slightly. “I’m not sure I’d enjoy kissing Ladybug very much now.”

“Oh?” She hated that she was losing all coherence, her brain overanalysing the implicit meaning of his words, which truly couldn’t be what she thought, dreamed it could be.

“Well, see, there’s this other girl…” He tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, a smile gently spreading on his lips. Which she definitely wasn’t focusing on.

“Yeah?” she asked breathlessly, very aware of the short distance between them as she forced herself to hold his gaze.

“I’ve just found myself feeling closer to her, and hoping that maybe, just maybe…” His eyes flickered to her lips, and she couldn’t help it.

Her lips found their way to his like a butterfly to a flower, landing lightly at first, testing the waters. It was sweet, like apple juice.

Just as she was about to break contact, Chat’s arms came to wrap around her waist and he deepened the kiss. Her own hands moved up to tangle in the hair at the nape of his neck. She felt him smile against her lips, and couldn’t help but smile herself.

And then there was light.

She jumped out of Chat Noir’s arms and he scrambled to his feet just as a firefighter finished opening the door, helped by Kim. They’d been so close to a proper floor.

“I knew I’d heard people talking in there!” Kim said excitedly, helping Marinette out. “Oh, hi Chat Noir! Do you know where Ladybug is? This Akuma is not messing around.”

“I’ll go and take care of it, I’ll call LB on the way.” He replied almost sheepishly. Marinette didn’t know where to put herself. She didn’t doubt that what they’d been doing could be read all over her face. Maybe Chat would even figure everything out by just looking at her. There was no doubt that she was just as red as Ladybug’s suit.

“Go find yourself a safe hiding place, Marinette.” Chat put a hand on her shoulder, his eyes boring into hers.

“Will do.” She nodded. “Be safe out there.”

“Will do.”

He started running towards an exit, but turned around just as he was about to turn the corner. He paused, as if he was about to say something, but thought better of it and flashed her a bright smile instead.

It almost made Marinette forget that she needed to get moving too.

[sturchling]

In the heroes day's episode. Did Lila's mom say somthing about a meeting with the embassy and talk about "How useless LB and CH were"?? Wonder how that meeting go??

Here you go! Hope you like it! 

When Heroes Day happened, Lila hadn’t realized what her mother had just said. In Lila’s urgency in keeping her mother from talking to the school, she had caused herself a whole new problem. Mrs. Rossi was very concerned about all of these akumatizations. Especially since most of them were close to her daughter. Lila hadn’t even been able to go to school in several weeks. This Ladybug and Chat Noir seemed pretty incompetent as heroes. Luckily, Mrs. Rossi and her daughter haven’t been put in a position to meet them yet, and Mrs. Rossi hoped they never had to meet. Seeing her daughter quickly close the blinds to hide from whatever is outside made Mrs. Rossi feel even worse. She was determined to do something to help fix this for her daughter. She was going to make Paris a safe place for her. “All these akumatizations are really concerning. I’ll bring it up at our next embassy meeting.” With that, Mrs. Rossi kissed Lila on the head and left for work.

 -------------------

Lila hadn’t registered what her mother had said at the time, but now she was panicked. If her mom looked into this, it would all be over for Lila. But Lila knew there wasn’t an embassy meeting planned for a while. This gave Lila some time to come up with a plan. About a week after Heroes Day, she saw her mom come home from work and Mrs. Rossi said, “Good news Lila. There will be an embassy meeting in four days, and I was given some time to speak at the meeting. I’ll be able to try and come up with a solution for all of these akumatizations that haven’t been resolved. I’ll start working on my presentation right now.” Now Lila was worried. She had to keep her mom from digging too deep. Lila put on her best smile and hoped this worked, “Don’t worry about it mom. I can do it for you. I have a lot of free time now since school is closed, and it would help teach me how to research. You just focus on what you want to say, I will get the facts for you!” Her mother looked thoughtfully at her for a moment, “If you are sure it won’t be any trouble, then I agree. I think it would be a good learning experience for you. But I will look over your work before the meeting. To make sure it is ready to show at the meeting.” “Yes mom! Leave it to me!”

  -------------------

Lila spent the rest of the night working on this stupid presentation. Not like she could foist it off on a classmate. The whole class loves that stupid bug, and they think that Lila and Ladybug are best friends. If they knew that Lila had been badmouthing Ladybug, then it is all over for Lila. She filled the presentation with all the lies she had told her mother. The schools being closed, the akumas left to run free through the city, and the ineptitude of Ladybug and Chat Noir. She made sure to Photoshop some images to make them really moving, but more importantly convincing. Lila eventually sat back and admired her handiwork. She was sure this would fool everyone at that stupid embassy meeting. This would keep her lies safe, for a little while longer at least. Now she just had to hope the rest of the diplomats were as gullible as her mother.

  -------------------

Lila showed the presentation to her mother the next day. Mrs. Rossi was very impressed by her daughter’s work. The presentation was very thorough and covered everything that Lila had told her about, while still being succinct and well organized. Lila had even thought ahead enough to include a works cited page. Mrs. Rossi praised her daughter and told her she was very happy that Lila had helped her with this project. Mrs. Rossi felt confident going into the meeting in three days, with a presentation this nice. For the next few days, Mrs. Rossi practiced what she was going to say, and Lila helped her with that as well. Lila seemed to have developed a love of research, she always volunteered to check the facts for Mrs. Rossi. Mrs. Rossi was very proud of her daughter. Lila’s school opened back up the day before the meeting, Lila saying that Mr. Damocles and the rest of the staff were finally deakumatized by Ladybug. Lila seemed excited to go back to school and see all her friends, and Mrs. Rossi was happy that Lila’s life would have a semblance of normalcy again. Soon it was the day of the meeting and Mrs. Rossi thought she was ready. She had no idea the storm she was about to walk into.

  -------------------

Mrs. Rossi had just finished giving her presentation. She had thought people would jump into action and start suggesting ideas to help. Instead, she was met with stunned and angry silence. The tension in the room was palpable. Just as Mrs. Rossi thought that the silence would last forever, one of her coworkers spoke up, “With all due respect Mrs. Rossi, what on earth are you talking about?” Mrs. Rossi was shocked, what did he mean by that? “Was there something you needed me to clarify from the presentation? I understand it was a lot of information.” The entire room was looking at her like she had grown a second head. From the back of the room, a young woman, spoke up, “Mrs. Rossi, there are no akumas running around. Akuma attacks do happen, but they have never shut a school down. At most, they cause an early dismissal. Typically, Ladybug and Chat Noir have the akuma issue resolved within an hour or two. Why would you insult Paris’ heroes like this?”  Mrs. Rossi was shocked. “What do you mean? My daughter’s school has been shut down for months and her principal has been akumatized for just about as long.” Now Mrs. Rossi was growing frustrated, as she watched some people in the room role their eyes. The first coworker that had said something looks at Mrs. Rossi with a very condescending look on his face, “Your daughter goes to Francoise Dupont right? That school has never been shut down for an extended time because of an akuma. And the principal, Mr. Damocles was deakumatized within a few hours of the akuma alert. Whoever told you otherwise is lying to you. Next time you want to present something, make sure to fact check it. Ladybug and Chat Noir may be incredibly young, but they have been doing an amazing job.” Ladybug and Chat Noir were young? From what Lila had told her, they sounded like lazy adults. Though Mrs. Rossi was beginning to realize that Lila was not a reliable source of information. Mrs. Rossi was incredibly embarrassed as she sat down. The meeting was quickly adjourned after Mrs. Rossi’s embarrassment. Mrs. Rossi went to her desk and began checking everything that Lila had told her. She quickly realized everything that Lila had told her was false. Every source Mrs. Rossi could find said the same thing; that Ladybug was an extremely capable hero and saved the day all the time. And her coworkers were right, these heroes were very young, they looked to be about Lila’s age. Lila had never even told her that she had been akumatized several times. There was no announcement from the school saying they had been closed either. Mrs. Rossi had never been more furious in her life! She couldn’t believe Lila would lie to her like this! And Lila had even lied about school, her daughter had been truant for who knows how long. The lying ends now. Mrs. Rossi took an early lunch and headed to the school, determined to get some answers.

  -------------------

Lila was having a pretty good day. The class was so excited to see her ‘back from Achu’ and were hanging off her every word. It was now free time for the class and she was in the middle of telling the class how, ‘Prince Ali was so happy to hear about my new plans for our go green charities’ when out of no where the door to the class room slammed open. Lila paled as she saw her mother storm into the room. Mrs. Rossi looked FURIOUS and Lila knew this meant trouble. Lila braced herself as her mom got ready to yell, the class still to stunned to question who this strange woman was, “LILA ELIANA ROSSI! How dare you lie to me! I have never been more embarrassed in my life! I just made a fool out of myself in front of everyone at that meeting using your presentation. And now I find out that you lied about the school being closed!? You have been truant for this whole time!? Do you have any idea how much trouble I could be in for this!? You had better explain yourself right now young lady!” The class continued to stare in shock while Lila was panicking. This couldn’t be happening. Her mother was about to ruin everything for Lila. Those stupid people at the embassy just had to reveal Lila to her mother. Lila quickly tried to deescalate the situation and get her mother away from the rest of the class. “Maybe we should talk about this somewhere else?” Mrs. Rossi laughed coldly, “Yes we should, I think the principle should be involved in this conversation. Let’s go young lady.” Mrs. Bustier snaps out of her surprise, “Now wait just a moment ma’am, who are you?” Mrs. Rossi whipped around, “I am Lila’s mother. You are her teacher, right? Mrs. Bustier? You should come with us too; you should be a part of this conversation too.” Mrs. Bustier reluctantly agreed, telling the rest of the class to read chapter 10 from their history books while she was gone. The whole class was just staring at Lila as she descended the steps and left with her mother. The whole time they were walking to the principal’s office, Lila was trying to come up with a way to salvage everything. But Lila’s struggle was futile, she couldn’t think of a way out of this mess.

  -------------------

Lila was right, there wasn’t a way out of this mess. Her mother revealed to both Mr. Damocles and Mrs. Bustier that they had not been in Achu the last few months. She told the pair of educators what Lila had told her about the school being closed. It wasn’t long after that the rest of Lila’s lies had been exposed. All of the different disabilities and ailments she had claimed to have, including the lying disease. Mr. Damocles also revealed how Lila had caused another student to be unjustly expelled. Mrs. Rossi was furious at her daughter for causing so much trouble! After everything was revealed, it was decided that Lila would be expelled because of the truancy and the faking different disabilities. Especially once Mr. Damocles realized that since there is no lying disease, Lila was trying to get Marinette expelled on purpose. Before they left, Lila was made to apologize to the class for her lies, since they had been taking notes and doing homework for her because of her ‘injuries’. The class was furious at Lila for tricking them. Marinette was thankful that Lila had been uncovered before she was able to carry out her threat. She did have to fight Lila as an akuma later that day, but she was perfectly fine with that. Especially when she heard that Mrs. Rossi decided to send Lila to relatives back in Italy to make sure she wouldn’t be akumatized again. Things returned to normal in Mrs. Bustier’s class pretty quickly after Lila left. Marinette was just happy that the liar was out of her life for good, and she had Mrs. Rossi to thank for it.

[cquiazon]

JJK OC

Here’s the first rough planning of my jjk OC. A ton of stuff is not filled out yet and I’m struggling, STRUGGLING to grasp cursed energy and technique but here we go:

Her name is Kaiya, her mother never told her of their descent even after passing away.

16 (Grade 2)

5’1

125 lbs

Appearance:

Pale skin, 1c light burgundy hair, two beauty marks on both cheeks, the palest of lilac irises (cus those are fuckin pretty).

(Inspired by Geto saving those two girls in that one chapter)

The clothes she is wearing asides from her uniform is the robe from her deceased mother, hoop earrings which I’m planning to add gemstones on, rope, a thick waist ribbon, bandages, and a worn out jumpsuit.

History:

She lived around the Totsukawa village in Nara, except in the forest and waterfalls with her mother. Inspite of the kind villagers, they do not take lightly to shamans. Her father is unknown, that fact causing more controversy among people in the village.

They lived a more primitive life, growing, hunting and mercy killing, harvesting herbs, and practicing medicine. Her mother also taught her the knowledge she was given from her time, especially the ongoing reversed caused technique that has been perfected from their bloodlines. These are the only remnants of what she knows of her ancestors: they were healers. There were many times she felt unwelcomed from the village no matter how many times her mother and her provided medicine, helped their crops, or exorcise cursed spirits. Though there were a small few who were exceptions, especially most of the youth there. Kaiya struggled to push her caring efforts. Her mother was always there, urging her to hold no malice and stay selfless. So she kept that promise, and it only grew stronger the day she died. Her mother then took a form of a spirit guide, which are entities that help serve as a guide and protector for people, usually for their family members. She’s shaped as a butterfly and only occurs in important situations. Kaiya calls her ‘Shiori’.

She was enrolled in Jujutsu tech after being found battered from a grade 1 cursed spirit by the first years. Only came because her spirit guide urged her to.

Personality:

Caring, resilient, selfless, shy, stubborn, reserved. Due to living in nature all of her life with almost all of her communication being from her mother, this girl is socially inept to the point it’s sad. She has this resting scowl on her face, her eyebrows look angry all the time. There are rare occurrences where her face softens up but that’s just when eating food or thinking of people close to her like her mother. Once someone actually approaches her she turns into a blabbering flustered mess. She feels so overwhelmed from the lack of knowledge and experience in literally EVERYTHING, she will stare at a street lamp or a microwave heating up a meal for quite a while and still be at awe. When it comes to being social or adjusting to her new and much more modernized environment she is a dumpster fire, her reactions are either pure childlike wonder or a failure at covering up her emotions. With this she prefers to express herself through actions. Once she is assigned with dirty work her brain does a 180 and now has the mentality of a hunter that she was raised on at Nara.

For abilities as of now I only have:

Refined reversed cursed technique: just like the normal one but perfected so that it heals substantially with cursed energy

Karma: Transfers injuries or effects to another desired body, 10% of it distributed to hers. (Requires barely any cursed energy)

Agility: legwork is much more efficient when channeled with constant cursed energy (duh)

Offense:

Uses a bow to fire arrows, be it poison arrows, ones charged with cursed energy or pure cursed energy.

Overall she lacks endurance, shes like squishy as fuck but has some lean muscles that she trained from hopping, running, doing Tarzan shit yadda yadda

Alone she’s quite weak against grade 2 alone but a great buff when paired with someone even against a cursed spirit slightly stronger than grade 1.

More stuff:

Wears leg binds for swiftness 100

I should have given her sport shoes instead 🤔

Is sometimes saddened by the fact she looks unapproachable

Fears that her village would be in danger while she’s gone

Shows her gratitude through making delicious meals with the knowledge she was given, especially for nobara and yuuji. “Oh you made this? It tastes wonderful!....you got the meat from what.....listen just tell gojo to buy the meats instead of getting the squirrels from the parks .”

Can’t handle having makeup on for a minute without wiping it off her face, nobara a n g e r e d

Geeks out with megumi in animal documentaries

When hanging with Nobara she is forced to try out outfits picked by her.

Often too literal for her own good, yuuji once told her to “break a leg” and she...yeah.

No knowledge of ANYTHING, she’s a caveman people and it’s FUCKING FUNNY

Loves poetry though

Doesn’t like staying in her dorm the whole day, inspite being introverted she will just go out and look around with what the new world had to offer.

[jawritter]

When The Lights Go Out

Chapter 7

Summary: Life hasn’t been your best friend lately, you lost your job, and are on the verge of losing your apartment. Who knew when you decided to join a Sugar Daddy app that your best friend suggested ina last ditch effort to save your apartment, and not end up on the street, your first and only client would turn your whole world upside down.

Pairing: Mobster!Dean Winchester x Virgin! Reader

Word Count: 2152

Series Warnings: Mob level violence, injured Dean, description of injury, creepy Godfather John Winchester, John is pretty much a douche bag, escort services, virgin reader, lose of virginity and all the insecurities and fun stuff that come with it, age gap (23 year old reader; 40 year old Dean), angst, unrequited/requited love?, language, smut, unprotected smut.

Chapter Warnings: Recovery from injury, Dean being cute and playful, Language, Heavy implications of character death, insecure reader, shy reader. I think that’s everything. 

A/N: Beta’d by @deanwanddamons! Thanks so much love!! Please don’t copy my work!! Feedback is golden! Hope you all enjoy this one!! It’s gonna be a little bit of a slow burn y’all, but just hang in there!

(This fic is based on this request: Could you do a Dean x reader where she is 23 and lives alone in her apartment, she gets fired and can loose her house, her friend tells her about a sugar daddy app, she makes a profile and Dean 40, contacts her, she is virgin and don’t offers sex, Dean is billionaire business man and needs a girl for his business parties,the reader is really shy, blushes a lot, they fall in love, he takes her to a trip and makes love to her on a private island, could it be a series?)

Want more? Check out my masterlist!!

***MASTERLIST***

***SERIES MASTERLIST***

If you thought the first two weeks of your stay at the Winchester Estate had been long, the time you had spent since Dean’s injury had been even longer. Which had been roughly two weeks. 

The first two days after he came home nearly gutted like a fish was the worst. He was in a great deal of pain, and when the pain medication didn’t have him completely knocked out, he was very uncomfortable and miserable, refusing to eat, which in turn made him nauseous, which caused a whole other set of problems. 

Getting him up to go to the bathroom was a challenge all on it’s own. 

He was a great deal larger than you were, and it took a few tries, but after a few times you both seemed to have learned how to evenly place his weight in order to get him there as painlessly as possible. 

Then around day five he decided he wanted a shower. You had been just washing him up with a washcloth as best you could up until that point, but he was getting up and down a lot better, so you let him do it. After that, he seemed to start moving around on his own a lot better, but still didn’t try and venture downstairs, preferring to stay in the confines of your room, and just have the maids bring dinner up to the two of you.

By day eleven, Nick had returned to remove the stitches, which Dean was grateful for. They had started to itch a pretty good bit because there were so many of them, and that just added to his discomfort. What neither of you anticipated was the amount of soreness that would happen once the stitches were out, and that set him back another few days of mainly just laying in the bed. 

You had spent the majority of your time taking care of Dean, and you barely left the room yourself. You knew from Jess coming in and seeing Dean that Sam and John had gone to exact their revenge on the Campbells for Dean’s injury and attack. 

Dean didn’t really want to know the details, so Jess never elaborated. He said it was easier if he stayed in the dark about this, and honestly you didn’t want to know either. 

After about six days they showed back up, and said it was handled, and that you and Dean had nothing to worry about. You didn’t ask for the details, but from what you had heard here and there, it seemed like Samual Chambell was no more, and the Winchester clan and gained a few more members. 

One thing you knew for sure is that you were going to stay out of it, you had no desire to know what happened, as long as no one could hurt Dean again, that’s all you cared about.

You had learned something in the past fourteen days, aside from the fact that Dean has an insanely high pain tolerance.

You could really get close to someone in fourteen days of taking care of them.

For the first week Dean was depending on you for everything. 

Pain medication, food, cleaning, getting to and from the bathroom, and you had to be there with him constantly, getting way more personal than you had with anyone ever. One thing you learned pretty quickly was the man craved affection. 

Even in his sleep, he’d taken to holding you as close to him as his stitches would allow him to. Constantly wanting to touch you. As he got better, and became more independent, he continued to lean on you, as if he stopped, things would go back to the way they were, and he’d lose you. 

Thing is, there was no going back for you now. You had developed some pretty deep feelings for him, feelings you were pretty sure were always there, but you had just now allowed yourself to feel.

You found yourself craving his touch, even subconsciously sitting closer to him at night while the two of you watched whatever was on TV, or leaning against him while you worked, and he slept. 

That was the smallest of the changes though. 

It was in the conversations that the two of you had. That’s when you first noticed it. 

You had no one else to talk to, and you were with Dean constantly from the point of his injury, so that opened the door for some major bonding between the two of you, and by the time it was all over you both knew virtually everything about each other, even some of the things that were harder to talk about. 

The only thing that left untouched was how he felt about you, and how you felt about him. Today though, was the day that Nick would do his last examination, and clear him to go back to work, so you knew you were running out of alone time with him, and quickly. You couldn’t let things fall back into the same pattern that they were. So you made the promise to yourself that you would talk to him, even if you did die from embarrassment because of it. 

“So what’s the verdict Nick?” Dean asks as Nick checked his stomach for any sign of infection, and to make sure he was healing up properly. 

Shaking his head a little, Nick looked up at Dean with an apologetic look on his face. 

“Ya had some major damage to the tissues and muscles that line your stomach Dean, I know you feel better, but your at a place right now that it would be very easy to hurt yourself if you had to run long distance, or pick up something heavier than 30 lbs, so I’m gonna say give it another week; let’s see where you're at there. You almost died mate, don’t rush it.”

Dean let his head fall back against the pillow with a heavy plop, letting an exasperated sigh pass his lips as he pulled his tight fitted black shirt back down over his stomach. 

Nick could sense Dean’s aggravation, and gave him a confident smirk. “I can give you a bit of good news that might help with your rest of your sick leave.” 

Dean lifted his head, along with one of his perfect eyebrows as he crawled back onto the bed next to him, and Dean reached for your instinctively, making your heart flutter in your chest every time he did that. 

“You can start having sex again.” Nick said with a smirk, making you nearly choke on fresh air, and Dean’s eyes went wide with embarrassment. “I mean don’t do anything too kinky but..”

“Thanks Nick. That’s enough.” Dean said, and you hid your profusely blushing face in his shoulder. Nick chucked, throwing his hands up in defense. 

“Alright, alright, I’ll leave you two love birds to it, and I mean it Dean, take it easy brother, I don’t want to have to restitch you or worse.” Nick said, pointing a finger at Dean before leaving the room. 

Thanks Nick!” Dean yelled as the door closed, brushing his hand through your hair, letting you know it was safe to come out.

When you looked up at him, his mossy green eyes were looking down at yours, the old Dean shining through for a moment, mischief crossing his god like face as he watched you. 

“Well you heard the doctor. I’m cleared for certain..extracurricular activities.” Dean said, wiggling his eyebrows playfully at you, making you blush deeply, and return to your hiding place on his shoulder. 

“I’m only joking sweetheart, I know you’re not interested in me that way.” Dean said, giving your forehead a peck, tension filling the room again. 

“Dean, that’s not true,” you say, and at first you thought that he hadn’t heard you.

“What?” Dean asked, his voice filled with uncertainty, fear of rejection hanging not so far below the surface. 

“It’s not that I’m not interested in you Dean, that’s not it all,” sitting up and crossing your legs on the bed you look down at him, and his eyes were no longer playful like there were a moment ago, but they were cautious, and scared even. It broke your heart to know you were partially at fault for that, that you pushing him away had affected him so greatly. 

“Dean, when you first brought me here, and I ended up having to stay, I felt like I’d been thrown in jail. I lost my apartment, I lost my only friends, I lost the freedom to go to the damn grocery store on my own, hell I felt like I lost who I really was, we were so busy living a lie.” Shaking your head, you bite down on your lip to stop the tears from falling down your face like they threatened to do. 

“I took it out on you, I resented you for it, I shouldn’t have, it was wrong and I’m so sorry I did.”

Dean was stock still on the bed for a moment, before sitting up and wiping the tear away that had trailed past your eyes and down your cheeks with the pad of his thumb, his eyes much softer than they were a few moments ago when you first started talking.

“You know, you're not the only one that fucked up there darlin’. I handled this all wrong. I should have told you that from the moment you stepped foot in my car you knocked me on my ass, and I couldn’t stop thinking about you. I should have told you that I stupidly showed up to your apartment that night, intending to tell you how I felt, but too damn scared to do it. When dad made you stay, I foolishly started thinking about myself, and didn’t think about how hard all this was for you, until you pushed me away. Baby girl, I’ve been in love with you from the start, I’d give my life to protect you. I almost did. I don’t want you to ever feel trapped here, or alone, because I’m right here with you, and if you let me, baby I want to be so much more with you.”

Leaning in Dean brushed his lips against yours before kissing you softly, wrapping his arms around you. You instantly melted against him as he pulled you down on the bed with him, never breaking the kiss.

Finally when the two of you parted your head was swimming, and you had  felt safer wrapped up in Dean’s arms than you ever had  in your life.

“What if, what if we do this, what if I let you in, and you're not impressed with me, or find someone better than me, and want to get rid of me?” 

Dean brushed the hair out of your face before giving you another chaste kiss. 

“Sweetheart, I’m not gonna get bored with you. I’m forty years old now, I’m in this for the long haul. There’s a greater chance that you will get tired of being with an old man like me, and want to find someone younger.”

Shaking your head you blush and cover your face from him. He chuckles and moves your hands so that he could see you.

“Don’t hide from me pretty girl.” He said, his lips finding yours again, but you pulled back with a realization that made your stomach curl.

“Dean..I’ve never...I mean I’m not...Dean, what if I’m not good enough for you, you know, in bed, and you don’t want to be with me anymore because I’m a virgin.”

Dean placed his finger over your lips, stopping your rambling.

“Oh baby girl, that’s not gonna be a problem for me.”

Chewing on his lips, his eyes searched yours for a moment before the light bulb almost visibly appeared above his head.

“Say you will be my girl, for real this time, and we'll sneak off for a weekend, by the time we come back, I would have shown you a whole new side of just how close we can be.” he said, his hands sliding down to your hips, letting you know just where he was going. “Let me show you just how much I love you, show you just how you will always be enough for me.” 

Swallowing hard you nod your head, blushing deeply at his growing excitement as he waited for your answer. 

It was all the confirmation he needed. Rolling over on top of you and kissing you deeply as you melted into the mattress underneath him, you could feel the smile spreading over his face, and your heart felt as if it could leap out of your chest, and fly around the room.

This felt so much like a fairytale you almost pinched yourself to make sure you were still awake.

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[xo-phile]

Tides (M!Mer x Fem!Reader) p1

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Excerpt: “Listen,” he started, “If it makes you feel any better, I’m sure there are plenty of people who have lived next to a body of water their entire lives and are still afraid of it.”

“Maybe I wouldn’t be so afraid of the water if it stopped producing such obnoxious mermen.”

Word Count: 5.8k

Warnings: thalassaphobia, emetophobia (just in case, no actual vomiting), situational anxiety, almost drowning

Author’s Note: Hope you all enjoy! If you did, please harass me to finish part 2!

Part 2

╚═════ ∘◦ ☝︎ ◦∘ ══════╝

༻✦༺　༻✧༺　༻✦༺

Morning light filtered through your windows, casting shadows of tree branches onto the walls of your art studio. The room was quiet except for the soft scratching of your charcoal against the rough paper of your giant sketchbook and Teddy, your massive Newfoundland water dog, snoring by your feet. You stopped your sketching to rifle through a stack of photographs that you used for reference of the old church in the woods.

The photographs showed a lone brick building, church bell and all, that would have been unobtrusive in design if it weren’t for the fact that it was the only building in the middle of Saggitaria Woods for miles. The chapel’s warm brick exterior and defined architecture stood in stark contrast the surrounding lush greenery. You couldn’t forget the way the trees seem to slowly close in on the stone intruder, while the building stood stoically, seeming to welcome nature’s embrace.

When you looked back up at your sketch, the lines you scratched onto the page didn’t evoke the same balanced contrast. It just looked like trees and a building with a cross. You sighed exasperatedly and threw down your stack of photographs with a hard thump. Teddy awoke with a startle at the sound, and let out a disgruntled huff, looking up at you with disdain.

“Sorry, buddy,” you laughed crouching down to ruffle his massive brown head. The Newfie lolled his gigantic pink tongue in a doggy smile and leaned into your hands in forgiveness. Outside, the sound of a boat’s motor approached and cut off. Teddy jumped up to gallop out the door, with you snatching a cardigan off your chair to follow behind. From your porch, you saw Romero and Willow, old childhood friends, waving excitedly on the dock. Squealing in delight, you broke out into a run down the path from your home to the wooden lake-front dock.

“My two favorite gremlins!” you cried excitedly throwing yourself into Willow’s arms.

The sound of two girls screeching in delight made Teddy start to bark excitedly. Romero,  a six-foot-nine lycanthrope, picked the both of you up for a massive bear hug, swinging you two around like rag-dolls. Seeing your childhood best friends’ faces for the first time since their wedding made you realize how long you had been cooped up with just Teddy for company.

“What are you guys doing here?” you asked, “I thought you guys were gonna move into the new house after you got back from your honeymoon.”

“Well we were, but Dresden asked us to check on you,” Romero said, bent down giving Teddy what looked like the world’s best tummy rub. You looked at Willow in confusion and she rolled her eyes.

“He said he hadn’t seen you take the ferry in like a month,” she said accusingly, arms crossed over her chest, “We wanted to make sure that Teddy didn’t make a snack out of you.” At the mention of his name and the word “snack”, Teddy tilted his head comically. It was your turn to roll your eyes.

“Well you can tell Dresden that I’m up to eyeballs in projects right now and that he doesn’t need to worry.” Willow and Romero gave each other a look before turning back to you.

“How about you tell him yourself? We’re meeting him at the buoy, tomorrow. Think of it as a welcome back party for us,” Willow offered.

The thought of being out in the middle of the lake made your stomach dropped. Willow must have seen the look in your eyes and grabbed your hands to hold them comfortingly.

“It’ll be completely safe, I promise. We won’t go swimming or anything. We’ll just hang out like old times,” she assured. You gave an awkward smile.

You knew your friends were just looking out for you.  They constantly ribbed you for your workaholic nature. If you had a dime for all the times they joked about you painting nature more than being in it, you probably wouldn’t have to paint again for the rest of your life.

“I don’t know guys… The gallery opening is coming up soon and I’m nowhere near where I need to be in the collection to be goofing off,” you tried with a sheepish shrug. You were lucky enough that your online presence grabbed the attention of a curator willing to display a series of never before seen works. The idea of blowing this amazing opportunity, whispered menacingly in the back of your head.

Romero looked at you for a moment and then smirked.

“Oh, that’s too bad. Micah was gonna show us his new boat…” he mentioned casually.

At the mention of Micah, you felt your ears warm at the tips. Willow side-eyed your reaction and added,“He’s been asking about you, you know…”

“Micah?“ you asked skeptically, "What does his girlfriend have to say about that?”

Willow rolled her eyes in response.

“Who cares about her? Micah said she’s not coming. Homies only outing,” she responded waggling her eyebrows.

These little shits, you thought. She knew that was the final nail in the coffin so with a groan, you acquiesced and smiled in defeat. Willow and Romero cheered in victory while Teddy ran around in circles excitedly.

༻✦༺　༻✧༺　༻✦༺

With your eyes closed, all you could hear was the sound of Romero’s boat, Lobo del Lago, cutting through the waters of Lake Obsidian. The wind whipped past your face and through your hair as the Lobo navigated through rogue waves. When you finally opened your eyes, the sierra mountains that surrounded Lake Obsidian were in clear view. Surrounding redwood forests made the scenery look like something right out of an old postcard you’d find at a gift shop.

Lake Obsidian stretched out for miles around the boat, the water glittering in the afternoon sun. For most people, being out on a boat with friends in gorgeous weather would have made for a perfect day. Unfortunately for you, being this far out on the lake and not knowing how deep below Lake Obsidian reached, made your stomach flutter. Instead, you focused on the horizon of the lake and the surrounding forests passing by in the distance to distract yourself. Next to you was Teddy, who, unlike yourself, stuck his head over the side of the boat, mouth open wide, his tongue and ears flapping in the wind.

At least one of us is enjoying themselves.

"You doing okay, sweets?” Willow asked, sitting down next to you. Her hazel-blonde hair was wind-swept perfection and she looked like an old movie star in her giant sunglasses and strapless one-piece. You, on the other hand, opted for jean shorts and comfortable flannel, not exactly fit for swimming or water sports. You saw in the reflection of Willow’s sunglasses your hair was sticking up in all different directions from the wind and your complexion was looking green. She handed you a bottle of ginger ale and you took it gratefully.

“So far, so good. As long as I don’t think about the bottomless infinity of this godforsaken lake, I think I’ll make it,” you replied, trying to suppress a grimace.

“Well, you’ll have a pretty good distraction soon enough,” she chuckled, giving you a knowing look.

When you felt Lobo start to slow, you looked up to see a cruiser, Siren, approaching. Its pilot, Micah, a sandy blonde Minotaur, was at the helm, waving excitedly. The Siren circled some laps around Lobo causing the breaking waves to rock the boat. The motion caused you to clutch at the railing, knuckles turning white. Teddy was barking madly next you at motion of the boat, excited to see a familiar face.

“Hey Micah, stop showing off!” Romero yelled from the helm as the Siren finally slowed to a stop.

“Sorry, Rome,” the hulking Minotaur laughed from a distance, “Just made some upgrades and she drives like a dream!”

When both boats finally anchored, you willed your face to not look completely sea-sick. Micah hopped over to Lobo as gracefully as a 285-lb Minotaur could and went to give hugs to Willow and Romero. When he came to you, he lifted your whole body effortlessly, into a warm embrace.

“Hey stranger,” Micah smiled infectiously. You couldn’t help but grin back despite the anxiety in your stomach rising even further. You weren’t sure if it was seeing your childhood crush or the fact the you were five feet in the air, rocking in a boat. When he put you down, you took several sips of ginger ale. Teddy started hopping on his hind legs, pawing at Micah, wanting to be carried like you were. Micah just laughed and lifted the 145-lb dog into a hug like he weighed nothing at all.

“I was starting to get worried!” Micah said as he smiled down at you. His large figure was so broad and tall, he blocked the bright light of the afternoon sun from your eyes. He set Teddy down for him to run off somewhere to get his toy.

“You know how it is,” you tried sheepishly, “the work gets away from me…”

“Well it’s good to take a break once and a while,” he said with a big furry palm warm on your shoulder, “It’s nice to have the whole gang together again.”

“Not the whole gang. Looks like somebody wants to show up fashionably late,” Romero said working on unloading paddle boards.

“No worries, let’s just get out on the water while we wait.” Micah started to take off his shirt to reveal a thick, sturdy torso and giant, muscular shoulders. You pretended to look for Teddy instead of openly staring.

“You gonna come out with us? My board can probably hold both of us…” Micah offered with a smile.

“Uuuuh…” you started to say before Willow cut you off.

“Sorry Mic! She’s gotta help me take some pictures for Instagram first,” Willow lied, hooking her arm through yours. Micah’s face fell for a moment.

“Maybe later then?”

“I actually forgot my bathing suit today,” you tried without looking at his eyes. Micah gave you a consoling smile and a shrug.

“No worries. Maybe another time, soon. Gotta make sure you still remember those lessons,” he said with a wink.

Micah had given you paddle boarding lessons in shallower waters before so there was no reason for him to think you couldn’t be out on the water. The words warmed something in your chest, but you felt bad for lying to your friend.

“Thanks, Willow, seriously,” you confessed gratefully to your friend after the boys were out on their paddle boards. You watched Micah’s powerful back flex as he pulled himself through the rocking waves on his board. You wondered what it would feel like under your hands.

“No worries, sweet-cheeks. I was serious about those Insta pics though,” she laughed. The two of you took turns taking pictures in the brilliant, sunny day. The scenery was no doubt, gorgeous, perfect for would-be social media influencers and artists, like yourself. Today, however, you promised your friends you wouldn’t bring work with you, so you ended up lounging on the platform on the back of Lobo, throwing a tennis ball out into the water so Teddy could swim after it. You were on something solid and the waters were somewhat calm, so you were actually able to enjoy yourself.

You were about the throw the ball again, when Teddy started barking at a form in the water. Out of the corner of your eye you saw a long fishtail shimmer as it swam by. It raced over to where the boys were paddle boarding and you saw Romero’s board shake and flip with him on it. When Romero finally surfaced with his hair plastered to his face, Dresden’s head popped up out of the water howling with laughter.

“Dres, you little shit, I was about to win,” Romero deadpanned.

Micah ended up laughing so hard, he fell off his own board with a gigantic splash. The merman and the Minotaur high-fived, still howling with laughter.

“It’s okay, Dresden,” Willow yelled from the boat, “He desperately needed a bath!”

“Sorry Rome, I’ll make it up to you I promise,” Dresden sniggered. He ducked his head underwater and resurfaced again right in front of you.

“There’s our little recluse! I was beginning to think that monster you kept as a pet ate you,” he said pulling his body halfway out of the water to reveal lean, muscular shoulders and strong arms, toned by years of deep-water swimming. He shook the water out of his dark curly hair like a dog, and sprayed it all over you.

“As always, it’s such a pleasure to see you, too, Dresden,” you greeted sarcastically.

“Oh, you wound me. Be nice, or I might change my mind about your present,” he countered, hazel eyes glittering.

“Presents? Oh, well now you’re a man after my own heart,” you smiled, reaching out your palm with a gimme motion. He pulled a satchel bag that was hung across his broad shoulders and threw them onto the platform next to you. You reached in the to pull out a a flat rock the size of a dinner plate. When you flipped it over, you found a perfectly preserved ammonite, embedded into the stone. The white shell shifted hues in the light as you moved it, turning blue, green, and then orange, opalised by time.

“Dres, this is beautiful…” you gasped, as you ran your fingers over the ridges of the fossil.

“Eh, it’s not big deal,” he shrugged nonchalantly, though his complexion and fins framing his face seemed to warm at your praise.

“What!? I want something pretty too!” Willow came out from behind you to start rifling through the bag herself. She pulled out a giant abalone shell, the mother-of-pearl iridescence shining rainbows across its surface.

“Dibs!” Willow declared before running to hide her newly acquired treasure. You and Dresden looked at each other for a moment, and broke out into chuckles. You looked up to admire how the scales framing his eyes shimmered copper and green as he laughed.

“Guess, Willow likes hers,” you snickered, “Must have taken some effort to find this stuff.”

Dresden watched your hands as you traced the ridges of the ancient fossil.

“Like I said, it’s not a big deal,” he said and looked up at you through long, dark lashes, “Consider it a reward for coming out today. Figured if you got some positive reinforcement, you’d want to come out with us more often.”

You sighed and looked up at your friend with annoyance. Dresden put his hands up in apologetically, knowing he touched a nerve.

“I appreciate what you’re trying to do, but you already know how it is for me,” you retorted trying to keep the frustration out of your voice. You looked over to where Romero and Micah doing backflips off the Siren, Micah’s laughter ringing through the air. As you sat curled on the edge of the platform, you felt a pull in your chest for not being able to fully enjoy the day with him. Dresden saw your look and made a face you couldn’t quite interpret.

“Listen,” he started, “If it makes you feel any better, I’m sure there are plenty of people who have lived next to a body of water their entire lives and are still afraid of it.”

“Maybe I wouldn’t be so afraid of the water if it stopped producing such obnoxious mermen.”

“You say obnoxious, others might use the word ‘charming’.”

“Charming, huh? Doesn’t sound like anybody I know…”

“Give me a chance, and maybe I’ll show you what they mean,” he replied, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

“Ew, who even are you?” you laughed, “Keep talking to me like that and I’m gonna have to bop you one.”

“Oooh, those are fighting words. Why don’t you come down here and say that to my face? Oh… wait…”

You must have given him your meanest glare because when he saw your face he started laughing uncontrollably. He started to float on his back still shaking with laughter, when you got an idea. You took the tennis ball from out of Teddy’s mouth.

“Hey Dres! Heads up!” you called and tossed the neon yellow tennis ball to the merman who caught it swiftly with one hand. He looked down at the ball confused and looked up to see a gigantic mass of brown fur about to land on his face. Dresden’s girlish shriek and the gigantic splash of water made you double over in laughter. You were starting to catch your breath again when a huge form stepped up onto the platform next to you.

“What’s so funny?” Micah asked, watching Dresden tease Teddy into doggy-paddling in circles to chase his precious tennis ball. You stood up quickly and tried to straighten yourself out.

“Ha… it’s nothing, just Dresden being stupid,” you said with a small smile. Micah took a moment to observe your face and your ears warmed under the attention.

“You know… It’s good to see you out with all of us. I get worried about you sometimes,” he remarked, watching Dresden continue to tease Teddy in the water. Your thoughts paused for a moment as a warm feeling bloomed in your chest, heart fluttering like a bird. You liked knowing that he thought about you, even if it was just out of friendly concern.

Shouldn’t you be thinking about someone who was actually your girlfriend?

“I’m used to it,” you replied, “Not all of us can have a doting partner to keep an eye on them.”

Micah seemed to cringe at the reference to his girlfriend.

“Actually, me and Becca broke up…” he confided. You turned your head to look at him in shock. There was a sort of  dejected look in his big brown eyes. The two of you sat in silence and you thought about his bright, beautiful girlfriend…

No… ex-girlfriend…

Becca was a vibrant personality, energetic and friendly. When you were all younger, Micah and every other teenage boy in town couldn’t help but be infatuated with her. The summer you left for university, Micah had finally built up the courage to ask her out. Four years and one art degree later, when you finally returned to your hometown, it seemed like this gorgeous couple were well on their way to getting married. You nursed this crush for years, never entertaining the idea of actually being with Micah because he always seemed just out of reach…

Until now, I guess…

You reached out to grasp his big furry hands with your smaller ones when you saw the sad look on his face.

“Micah, I’m sorry,” you apologized. He gripped your hand in response and smiled a small smile at you.

“Hey, it’s not your fault. Things don’t work out sometimes,” he sighed. You both looked at each other for a moment in a silence that stretched out a little longer than was comfortable. You looked down and you were still holding his hand and your palm was starting to sweat. With how hard your heart was starting to beat, your were afraid that he was going to notice your pulse quickening. Your mind raced to fill up the awkward silence with something… anything.

“Hey, you wanna race?” you blurted out before you even thought about the words coming out of your mouth. Before you could register the situation you put yourself in, Micah’s face lit up with a big smile.

“You’re on. Winner has to buy loser a case of beer!” he exclaimed as he went to unload the spare paddle board.

Shit shit shit shit shit.

Willow’s gentle voice called your name, snapping you out of your panicked fog. She must have overheard your conversation because she looked just was panicked as you did.

“Hey, um, what’s this about you paddling with Micah?” Willow asked, alarmed. You saw Micah approaching with the boards and paddles.

“I don’t know, Willow, I just blurted it out,” you whispered. Willow looked at you and then at Micah, who was already setting up the boards.

“Okay look, you already know what to do. Micah already taught you. Just don’t look down and you’ll be fine, okay?” Willow coached you before you felt a warm hand pull gently at your wrist.

You barely registered where you were, until a paddle was pushed into your hands and you were standing on the board out in open water. Your eyes were parallel to the horizon the entire time you waited for Micah to push himself out as well, but you couldn’t help but notice how dark the water was below you, stretching down so far, light couldn’t even penetrate it. You’re heart was pounding in your ears.

Somehow, you managed to paddle yourself out and follow Micah on his board, even though you gripped the paddle so tight, your knuckles turned white. Micah turned around to give you a big grin and call your name.

“Better catch up! I can already taste that beer!” He called over his shoulder. You did your best to smile back despite the nausea rising up in your stomach and your heart thumping heavily in your chest.

I will buy you fifty cases of beer if it means I’ll never have to do this ever again, you thought as you moved the paddle mechanically.

You focused on keeping your eyes forward and paddling the way Micah had taught you. It seemed like you were doing okay, too, following Micah’s form toward the designated finish line until a random current caught you and pulled you away from the boats.

Stay calm. Don’t panic. Stay calm. Don’t panic.

Looking up to see the boats getting smaller as you drifted away, you heard a loud buzzing in your ears as you felt panic rise up through your spine. Suddenly, a random wake surged upwards in front of you, causing the nose of your board to tip up and backwards. The last thing you heard was Willow screaming your name and the ringing in your ears reaching a fever pitch before your back hit the water.

You gasped as you sunk and started choking on the water filling your lungs. The sudden chill of the water paralyzed you, even though you did everything you could to will your numb arms and legs to move. The world around you was just about to dim until you felt a pair of arms wrap around you and swiftly pull you to the surface.

When you reached the open air, you started coughing up all the water that you had swallowed. Your hair was pressed flat and wet against your face, blocking your vision, not that you could see, anyway, with the way your head was spinning. You clutched at broad shoulders and felt an arm hook your legs around a waist. A familiar voice- Dresden’s voice was repeating your name.

“I need you breath in and out really slow, okay? We can’t have you hyperventilating. Big breath in. Big breath out.” You breathed slowly like he instructed, your body clinging to his like a blind koala. You felt one arm hold you tightly against a firm torso and a big hand gently brush wet hair, plastered to your face, out of your eyes. He then cradled your cheek, keeping your head still, looking into your eyes with his striking hazel ones. Dresden’s defined jaw was clenched and his eyes were devoid of its usual mischief.

Why so serious?

You giggled a little bit, panic turning into hysterics.

“There she is. Hey, you’re okay. I got you,” he spoke softly, relief in his voice. His vibrant eyes were still flicking back in forth between your own searching for something. For what, you weren’t sure but the funny way his face looked made more giggles bubble up through your chest.

“I don’t think giggling is a symptom of a concussion, so we’re probably good,” the merman observed, “Hold on to my back and I’m gonna swim you back, okay?”

You nodded wordlessly in response and unhooked your legs from around his waist. He twisted around in your arms and started swimming towards Lobo.  Dresden’s powerful arms sliced through the water propelling the two of you forward, but he was careful enough to make sure to keep your head above water. When you approached Lobo, Romero pulled you out of the water and Willow wrapped you up in a thick beach towel. Your fully drenched clothes didn’t help the shiver that wracked your body despite the warm weather. Micah ran up from behind your two friends.

“What happened out there?! Are you okay?” He asked, rubbing your arms furiously over the towel, trying to warm your shaking body. Before you could say anything you heard Dresden’s voice interrupt you from the water.

“She got swept out by a current. When she fell, the undertow caught her. Maybe instead of dicking around, you should have kept an eye on her,” he ground out, angrily. Micah’s eyes flashed to Dresden, anger and confusion bleeding into his face.

“What the fuck, Dres? How is that fair?” Micah retorted, volume of his voice rising.

“Enough!” you yelled before your two friends could start hurling more insults at each other.

Dresden let out a curse and dove under the water, swimming away. Your shoulders drooped and you started to pinch the bridge of your nose in frustration. At the awkward silence around you, you closed your eyes, not being able to stop the tears from welling up. Willow wrapped her arms around you as you cried silently on the way home.

༻✦༺　༻✧༺　༻✦༺

Through your high windows you could see the light of the waxing moon shining dimly through the redwood trees surrounding your house. You were on your father’s old corduroy couch, wrapped in your thickest cardigan, with Teddy’s big head resting in your lap, softly snoring away.

Willow and Romero insisted on staying the night with you to make sure you were okay after your fall, but you told them you didn’t want to ruin their day more than you already did. When you finally promised that you would go to the neighbors if you felt strange, they took their leave. Hours later, you felt nothing but exhaustion and embarrassment at what happened.

You leaned your head against the cushion, closing your eyes to listen to the lo-fi music playing softly from your laptop. Distantly, if you focused, you could also hear the gentle push and pull of the tides breaking in front of your home.

Your mind drifted to the confusion on Micah’s face when he saw you pulled from the water and grabbed one of the cushions to shove in your face to muffle a groan.

Seriously? What the hell was I thinking?

You then thought about Dresden and the way his voice sounded when he yelled at Micah. Dresden almost always had a confident smile on his face, making crass jokes and pulling pranks. To see him so upset formed a knot in your stomach.

Gently lifting Teddy’s head, you got up from the couch to walk to the art studio. You knew it was too soon to try to start working again, but you needed to feel the charcoal in between your fingertips- to feel like there was at least something  you could control. You found the photograph of the old church and set it up next to your easel, making sure there was enough light on both the blank sketchbook and the reference.

Using the general shape of the building and the mass of foliage surrounding it you started sketching out general locations of where everything was. Then, you started adding in rough detail shaped as a guideline for how to paint. When you looked back at the photograph, though, something felt off. The trees in you sketch didn’t carry the same presence as it did in the photograph.

Is it the proportions? The shading?

You flipped a page to start over, determined to capture the ambience that you felt when you found the hidden church. Again, you sketched the general outline, but started with detailing the church. By the time you managed to sketch out most of the building, something in the proportion was off. You rubbed your charcoal dusted fingers on your forehead, willing away the frustration you felt growing behind your brows.

Before you could throw down your charcoal and call it a night, you heard Teddy whining from the other room. When you rounded the corner, your dog was pawing at the door, eager to get outside. Before you could even fully open the door, his massive form pushed his way out and made a break for the dock, barking ceaselessly into the night. You sighed in exasperation before running after your giant dog to stop him from waking the neighbors.

When you caught up to Teddy, you found him laying on the edge of the dock, nose sniffing at something swimming in the dark depths of the water, tail wagging wildly. Teddy gave another loud bark at a splash and you shushed him.

“Teddy, you’re gonna get us in trouble,” you chided, tuffing at his collar to bring him back inside.

“Gotta say, he’s got a pretty good nose,” came a voice from below the dock that made you yelp in surprise. Dresden swam out into the moonlight and you let out a breath that you didn’t realize you were holding.

“Jesus, Dres! Can we keep my near-death experiences to once a day? Thanks,” you breathed, unclenching your fist from your rumpled cardigan.

“Heh, sorry,” he let out, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

You went to sit at the end of the dock next to Teddy, legs hanging off the edge, toes dipping into the water. Neither of you said a word until you both looked at each other to smile awkwardly. Dresden almost always had something to say, so his silence unnerved you.

“What are doing here so late, Dres?” you asked, breaking the long silence. Dresden floated for a moment worrying his lip between his teeth and then finally spoke.

“I came to check on you…,” he stated, “and to apologize.”

Your brows furrowed and you wrapped your cardigan tighter around your body. You watched him for a moment, observing his face without saying anything.

“So,“ he started, breaking the uncomfortable silence, "Are you doing okay?”

You thought for a moment, stroking the downy fur of Teddy’s ear.

“Yeah, I’m doing okay…” you said, picking your words carefully, “Are you?”

Dresden looked at you in confusion.

“Yeah…? I’m not the one that almost drowned today,” he chuckled, albeit nervously. You let out another deep sigh, this time in exasperation.

“How am I supposed to know? You yell at Micah, who didn’t do anything mind you, and then you just left all mad! I’m not the one that needs an apology, Dresden,” you argued. This time you held his gaze, almost daring him to look away. Dresden did his best to match your stare, but then ran his hands across his face and his hair in frustration.

Before he could get a word in edgewise, you interrupted, “You guys are literally best friends and I already feel bad enough for ruining everybody’s day. I don’t want to be the reason why you two stop talking to each other.” You shifted your weight to lay on your stomach and rest your chin on your crossed arms, not unlike how Teddy looked, next to you. Dresden disappeared beneath the surface of the water and popped up again at the edge of the dock, pulling himself up out of the water enough to be at your to eye level. You pointedly held his hazel gaze until he rolled his and sighed in defeat.

“I’ll talk to him tomorrow and apologize. For you. Satisfied?”

Both of you stared at each other for a long moment before sharing a big grin. When you two started snickering like little kids with a secret, a weight lifted from your conscience.

“I never got a chance to thank you for saving me out there,” you said after the soft chuckles you shared subsided, “Thank you. And I appreciate you not telling Micah what really happened.”

Dresden made another incomprehensible face, but you could almost anticipate his next question.

“Why don’t you just tell him you’re afraid of deep water? I doubt he’d care,” he asked, his turn to look you straight in the eye. You looked away as you tried to figure out how to best articulate your response.

“The thing is, is that I care,” you tried, but he just cocked his head to the side in confusion.

“You said it yourself, I’ve lived at Lake Obsidian my entire life, it’s completely irrational!” You buried your face in your arms, thumping your head against the wood deck. “He’ll think I’m a freak for hiding something like that for so long.”

You kept hiding your face in embarrassment and heard a soft curse. Dresden muttered under his breath, “I can’t believe I’m doing this…”

You lifted your head, “Sorry, what?”

“I’ll help you get over your…” he waved a hand in your general direction and said, “issue.”

You were mildly offended and confused.

“And why would you want to do that?” you asked.

“I’ll be sleep better knowing that the next time you try to impress Micah, you won’t end up at the bottom of the lake. Gods know that Micah’s big ass can’t swim as well as I can,” he concluded.

You flushed bright red at Dresden’s blatant remark.

Was I being that obvious?

“Okay then, let’s do it,” you promised before you could talk yourself out of it. Dresden gave you his signature cocky grin.

“Micah’s really lucky. I’ll see you tomorrow before sunset by Driftwood Beach. Bring a paddle board,” he instructed before disappearing beneath the dark water.

“Good night to you, too…” you muttered as stood up, watching the waxing moon’s reflection ripple in the water.

As you and Teddy walked back up to your house, you replayed the conversation over again in your head. That night you dreamed of a warm hand cradling your cheek and voice distorted by water whispering Micah’s really lucky.

༻✦༺　༻✧༺　༻✦༺

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[vln-vibes]

Birds of a Feather (Sometimes Fly Together)

aka the time @anjuschiffer and I got a big brain moment and this happened.

So, we know that in canon Barbara Keynes (Knightowl) comes from money, presumably adopted or something but nonetheless a rich kid from New York. We also know that our dear ol’ broody vigilante was a playboy in his youth (still is) so whose not to say that he and Barbara didn’t hook up and boom; Jessica is born.

So our dear Jessica Martha Keynes (Wayne) may or may not have developed a bit of a crush on the scarlet hero of Paris during her stay. She hadn’t meant to! But damn those bluebell eyes...

See she and Aeon had decided to help the Marinette and Adrien get together, with prompting from the questionable Alya and complacent Nino; she had time to kill.

However, nothing was working

Aeon even used the same trick her mom used on Jess’ (The whole romantic shebang!)

It wasn’t even until after the whole Hawkmoth trying to cause nuclear warfare thing that they were made aware that Adrien had a girlfriend already (And that was because she and Marinette were friends! Marinette was facetiming her for a souvenir she wanted!!)

Also if it had been her she’s sure she would have mentioned or talked to her significant other while she was away... But that wasn’t her problem to deal with.

During her last night in New York, Uncanny Valley, Aquila and Ladybug go on patrol; a week of hanging together and they’d miss their new friend.

Aquila stayed behind for just one second, thinking about the whole rollercoaster that happened when she spotted it.

U.V and Ladybug had been bantering, a bright laugh escaping Ladybug as she soared through the New York skyline. The moon reflecting perfectly off of her midnight black hair and making her eyes brighter.

Her heart skipped a beat

She was so fucked

It did not help that somehow the internet got photos of Sparrow with Ladybug and got #Sparrowbug #Luckybird

Jess manages to contain her crush, much to Aeon’s amusement, as they (well mostly for her sake) continue to communicate with Marinette/Ladybug. She wanted to go and help in Paris but she knew her mother wouldn’t approve and she REALLY didn’t want to clue in her nosey father and brothers and sisters in on it.

They’d been concerned as with the passing of time not only did Marinette look and sound more and more tired but Hawkmoth seemed to be improving with the Akumas and Mayura seemed to be making stronger (if more sparse) Sentimonsters. Jess even questions Aeon’s programming about Ladybug and Chat Noir after numerous incidents where Noir is a no show, Ladybug on her own or having to call upon Ryuuko or Bunnix (an unknown hero they’ve been told could travel through time).

And it came crashing on night;

It was a regular night of patrol between Aquila and Uncanny Valley, she’d been training with the Guardian (seriously the man just said she’d learn his name when she was ready!) and was able to sense an active Miraculous nearby

She was surprised to see Ladybug standing on the roof she was about to land on.

“Hey guys! How have you been? I’m just here for a quick visit. Wow it’s still night here well yeah duh time zones and all that though it doesn’t feel like much but that’s probably cause I just teleported here and all that. Oh magic can be so weird but you know how things go—”

She could tell straight away that Ladybug was tense and was a bad liar, it seemed her sister had a similar idea;

“Ladybug? Is everything alright?” 

Her words seemed to have struck a cord as the girl’s bluebell eyes began to water, closing in on herself as the tears began to fall. 

Aquila practically flew over to console the crying hero, wanting to do nothing more than pass on the pain to herself than watch the girl suffer. She hasn’t seen her this down even as they believed Chat Noir had abandoned her in their mission

“C’mon LB, you can stay the night with us “

Ladybug didn’t even respond as she seemed so emotionally tired to both the sisters concerns, Uncanny gently taking the girl in her arms as Aquila wondered what had happened to cause the girl to fall like this.

Barbara and Olympia were surprised when the girls came home early from patrol only to see Ladybug with them, very much dazed and looking so so tired. They were even more surprised when her transformation dropped revealing the frazzled Marinette Dupain Cheng.

Olympia quickly got the girls some snacks, knowing the Kwamii would need it after months with Lirii, and got to taking out any spare clothes that could fit the petite girl.

Barbara just say there and listened as Marinette seemed to come to after a cup of tea, the girl recounting all the events that led her to the way they found her

Hawkmoth’s attacks seemed more centered on tiring the heroes out. Mayura seemed to create more powerful sentimonsters though however more scattered they got.

Chat Noir was becoming a no show, at least five battles in a row with no appearance. She had to get help from Ryuuko (the only hero not to be outed by Queen Wasp) and Bunnyx. She admitted to have chosen a new Fox on one occasion though she didn’t want to risk Hawkmoth finding out about them.

Her training as Guardian, her career as a designer and manning her commissions as MDC, the pulling responsibilities as class rep since their teacher couldn’t do much “in her state” and the bullying she was suffering that seemed to pick up again after arriving back in Paris

It was all too much

Then she confronted Chat Noir after finally making an appearance in the latest battle; apparently he realized that he couldn’t get over her, that they were always destined to be

That wasn’t even including the fact that he was still irresponsible, still playing around too may when he knew she could only do so much!

She felt so close to bursting that she told Kalkki to send her somewhere safe; safe was apparently in New York

By the end of her rant she felt a weight come off of her chest , she hadn’t been able to express her emotions like that for years in Paris.

“I think it’s time we get the League involved”

The small family looked surprised as Jessica dreaded what her mother’s words could mean

“The League?” “Yes, the Justice League”

The girls were sent off to rest as the mothers strategized on how to bring this up to the League without having them try to take over for the young hero; Barbara usually didn’t like cashing in favors but she knew he’d at least think before leaping into action.

Meanwhile Aeon decided to “optimize her sleep for the night” and take up her whole bed while resting the night.

Unfortunately for Jess’ heart this meant sharing a bed with Marinette; mostly because both refused to let the other sleep on the couch and because the guest rooms were being repainted for some reason (Aeon may or may not have gotten too excited one day and destroyed a wall or two)

“Thank you for everything Jess”

“No problem Birb”

“Birb?” “You know, Ladybird? Birb? Birb”

Not even half an hour later, Aeon sat up with the ominous words of; “They’re here”

Marinette didn’t even have the time to worry about who or what she was talking about when Jess groaned.

The girl quickly threw one of her Feathers (Her weapons while she was Sparrow) that was quickly grabbed by a shadow before reaching the balcony window. When was it even opened??

“Tt, thought you would have tried better sister “

“Yeah and what gives, I would have thought you would have told us about some world ending problem that happened when we were in space instead of it trending on Twitter!”

“Uhh guys I think Jessie might have a guest over”

“Oh shit I didn’t even know she had any friends other that R2-D2 over here”

“Oh fuck off! Like you have any room for talking!”

Marinette watched, thinking that she surely must be dreaming , as the masked figures continued to banter and fight amongst each other and with Jess.

“Wait you have brothers? .... Aren’t they the Gotham vigilantes??”

This was how Marinette discovered just how close Jessica’s life really intertwined with Truth, Justice and the Night.

Part Two

[quijotine]

*slips you a twenty*

Hey kid wanna read some lit fanfics? 

I just updated my blog with a link to all my AO3 works

Also...... Chapter 8 of The Wall Between Us is up and it’d be cool if you read it or whatever, a bunch of us are gonna be there, we’re gonna cry and order pizza and suffer for the love square it’s gonna be cool 

Read Chapter 8 on AO3 Start from the beginning here

Or on this post below the cut! 

The Wall Between Us 

Summary: Marinette is left to pick up the pieces after losing her chance with Adrien and having Master Fu give up his memories to protect the Miraculous Box. She struggles to find her ground as the new Guardian, and finds unexpected support in Luka Couffaine. Simultaneously, Adrien is learning how to navigate his emotions and slowly growing into his role as future co-guardian, and in the process realizes important truths about his feelings for Kagami, Marinette, and Ladybug. When Ladybug tells Chat Noir that as the Guardian, she is okay with not only revealing their identities but also entrusting her secret to close friends of hers, things become unequivocally complicated for the superhero duo. Will Marinette and Adrien be able to sort through their feelings and do what’s best for the Miraculous team?

Chapter 8

By the time Gabriel and Natalie had returned from their business trip to Seoul–and really, Adrien wasn’t even sure they had been gone at all due to the fact Akumas were aplenty during their absence– he had already extracted a good volume of information to make a case for his suspicions.

He hadn’t found the evidence he needed to prove that his father was indeed Hawkmoth, but instead he had found years of badly-filed fiscal reports, personnel that had been hired and fired under very mysterious conditions, some sort of project for the mansion that his father paid millions for which Adrien had never seen, and the one that irked him the most: audits from France’s Child Protection Services, fines, and ‘cease and desist’ letters warning Gabriel that he was putting Adrien under too many work hours.

That, he discovered, was the real reason why Adrien had been allowed to go to school in the first place. It wasn’t that Natalie had made him a favor: They enrolled him so that Child Protection Services would get off the brand’s neck for forcing Adrien on a part-time job when he wasn’t even sixteen yet.

All of Adrien’s findings were pretty incriminatory, not to mention infuriating, but none were exactly what he was looking for. And yet, it was one of those things that once you have considered, you cannot help but keep seeing.

“Adrien, would you like to explain to me why you have been missing your extracurricular activities for the past two weeks?” Natalie said with a stern voice one morning, as Adrien meticulously chewed on his oatmeal breakfast.

The fiery urgency to flip a table, which had taken a hold of him lately any time Natalie or his father addressed him, surged like a geyser.

“I just didn’t feel like attending,” he said politely, without looking up.

Natalie was taken aback by his answer. “Excuse me?”

Adrien looked up this time. “I didn’t feel like attending,” he repeated. “You weren’t here, and I just didn’t feel like going.”

“You know if you start doing poorly, your father will have you homeschooled again and–”

“And what? He’s gonna lock me up again? Is that it? Wouldn’t people start asking questions?” he demanded.

Natalie blinked, completely caught off guard by Adrien’s sudden rudeness. “This is no way to be talking to your–”

“My what? My dad’s assistant? You’re not my babysitter, not my teacher, and certainly not my mother. I can do whatever I want.”

Natalie composed herself and marched swiftly out of the dining room.

“Kid, what the hell?” Plagg hissed from inside his shirt. “That’s a dumb way to get caught.”

“I’m sorry,” he muttered back. “I’m just… I’m so angry at them! I can’t stop thinking about all this stuff that I found, and just… the idea of them being–well, you know who. It’s making me see in red.”

He marched to the patio and went into his car, where, to his surprise, he found he’d be sharing a ride with his father.

He felt Plagg jabbing his little paws at him as if to say, “I told you so.”

“F-father. Good morning.”

“Drive, George,” Gabriel instructed. After a silence, he spoke again without looking at Adrien. “You think you’re so smart, don’t you? Disrespecting Natalie like that, blatantly disregarding your responsibilities, and giving the brand bad publicity.”

He threw a newspaper at Adrien’s lap. It was from a few days ago. Apparently his sudden outburst at the crowd of harassers in the skate park had made it into the news.

“I’m beginning to think it was a mistake to give you this much freedom.”

Adrien gulped, shuddering with sudden terror.

“Perhaps it will be better if you go back to being tutored at home. Or even better, I’ll send you to a boarding school where I don’t have to deal with your carelessness anymore.”

Adrien gasped. “Please… please don’t. Don’t send me away.”

“You’re not feeling so brave and boldened now, are you? Do you have anything to say for yourself?”

Adrien didn’t move. He didn’t dare speak, breathe, blink.

The car had stopped already, they were at the steps of the school. His friends were all hanging at the entrance and had spotted him.

“Your lack of words doesn’t surprise me. You’re just a naive, spoiled little boy who can’t begin to understand the sacrifices I make for this family… You’re dismissed.”

Adrien opened the door, not yet getting off the car.

“Are you going to take me off school?”

“No. Take it as a gesture of good will, and a warning. Stay. In. Line.”

“I-if you send me away, people will start wondering what happened,” he said with a small voice. “They’ll ask questions.”

“And what sort of questions would those be, son?”

At Adrien’s silence, Gabriel sighed. “Close the door. Have a good day.”

He got up and stood in front of the car, breathing deeply so as to not give into the urge to cry.

“I can’t wait to be eighteen to get away from you,” he said and smashed the door close as hard as he could, then sprinted into the school building, afraid that Gabriel might order George to stick him back in the car.

Regrettably, all his friends, Marinette included, saw the display unfold.

It was Nino the one who ran after him.

“Hey, dude, everything alright?” Nino said, as he caught up with him in the locker room.

“Hey Nino, good morning!” he chirped with sunny disposition.

The sudden contrast between what he had seen at the school entrance and then, gave Nino whiplash.

“Erm. Yes, good morning. Don’t ignore my question.”

“Nothing happened,” he said shrugging. “Come on, we’ll be late for—”

Nino yanked the strip from his messenger bag and forced him to stop. “Cut the crap, Adrien. I saw. Is everything alright?”

Adrien’s mask of optimism wavered, but he fought hard to keep it in place. “Yes, Nino. Everything’s alright. I promise.”

Nino sighed, not impressed. “Okay, if you say so.”

As they went into the classroom, Adrien saw from the corner of his eye how Nino shook his head discreetly at the girls. He had been right not to tell him. He knew those two would also want to know what happened. He didn’t want to cause hysteria. However, a more pressing thought occupied his mind for the rest of the day.

Given his regrettable display of temper, and though his father said he wouldn’t pull him out of school, Adrien knew not to trust it. One could never anticipate what his father would do just to stay in control. It worried him that he may have crossed a line that would be difficult to come back from. His father might increase his security, might actually pull him out of school. Not ideal, if his hunch was actually right.

He had to tell Ladybug what he knew as fast as possible.

On the lunch break, he excused himself to the bathroom, taking the burner phone with him to send Ladybug a message:

I DECIDED I’M READY TO REVEAL MY IDENTITY. SOMETHING CAME UP. DON’T WORRY, I’M NOT IN DANGER. BUT WOULD IT BE OKAY IF WE MEET AT THE HANG OUT TODAY? PLEASE WRITE ME BACK AS SOON AS YOU GET THIS.

He kept inconspicuously checking the burner phone for the rest of the day, getting no answer from Ladybug whatsoever. It made him restless. What if she was in danger?

No, she couldn’t be. There would have been an Akuma attack or something.

Still, he was worried, and he knew he couldn’t afford to go back home that day without having told Ladybug about his suspicions, so he resolved to drop by the hang-out anyway later that day. Natalie and George would pick him up after fencing, which gave him enough time to swing there and come back.

It only occurred to him that this might not be the greatest idea once he found himself sans transformation, standing at the door of the hide-out.

What if she wasn’t there today? What if she’s shocked by learning who he is?

He shook his head. No. This was an emergency. He had to do it now, so he ringed the bell.

He texted: LB DID YOU GET MY MESSAGE?

Almost immediately, he got a text back: YES :) I AM HERE. WAIT A SEC. WILL OPEN THE DOOR SOON.

His heartbeat so fast he could hear his pulse. He was short of breath and felt as if his knees would buckle under him at any second.

He heard some voices, then someone approaching to open the door.

Adrien felt temped to open it himself just get over the painful anticipation. The seconds extended for an eternity.

And then, all of a sudden, he was greeted with a most confused Alya Cesaire.

“Alya?”

She crumpled her face, perplexed. “Adrien? What are you doing–”

From inside the house, Adrien distinctly heard the voice of none other than Marinette. “Alya? Is that him?”

It took him a fraction of a second to figure out something that had taken him two–almost three now– years to realize. It felt as if time had stopped and then abruptly resumed, pushing him into a turbulent shore of angry waves.

All of a sudden, it was hard to breathe, impossible to buoy to the surface for a gasp of air. His voice caught up in his throat.

He figured it out.

“Alya?” Marinette repeated from inside the house as Alya stood petrified in front of Adrien, realizing exactly who he was.

“Don’t–” he said gasping. “Don’t tell her,” he pleaded and then darted away as fast as he could possibly run, only stopping when the tears completely blurred his vision.

Back at the house, Marinette was trembling from the utter anticipation. She had requested that Alya come with her to meet Chat. She wasn’t sure she could take it by herself and she needed someone for moral support.

The seconds of wait stringed into whole minutes of silence and Marinette forced herself to march to the front of the house, where Alya was still clinging to the frame.

She was… were those tears? Was she crying?

“Alya?” she asked with trepidation. “What happened?”

“Chat— Oh, Marinette!” She gasped. “Chat was here. He was–he wasn’t transformed.”

Dread came over Marinette’s expression. “Where is he?” she insisted urgently, “What happened?”

“He– he’s gone. Mari, you need to talk to him. You–we… we know him.”

She blinked, too shocked to let fear take ahold of her. “What? Who is he?”

Alya shook her head. “I can’t tell you.”

“Why?” Marinette demanded.

“Marinette, I can’t tell you. You’ll never forgive me if I do… Just… You have to go talk to him, Mari.”

Marinette sprinted outside, hoping to catch a glimpse of ‘someone she knew’, but it was the beginning of rush hour and the streets flooded with commuters, anonymizing everyone. She called and called and called him. Left him voice mail after voice mail, message after message:

CHAT NOIR PLEASE PICK UP! I’M WORRIED, PLEASE!

CHAT.

CHAT PLEASE.

ALYA SAYS YOU KNOW HER, SO MAYBE YOU ALSO KNOW ME... I’M SORRY IF YOU’RE DISAPPOINTED IT’S ME. CAN WE PLEASE JUST TALK?

MINOU. PLEASE. TALK TO ME.

CHAT NOIR, I KNOW YOU’RE MAD. PLEASE, JUST… PLEASE PICK UP.

Chat Noir did not pick up the phone and Marinette, well, Marinette had not been this brokenhearted since Adrien had started dating Kagami, and that was saying something.

Adrien didn’t sleep that night. He hadn’t cried this much since he lost his mother, hadn’t felt this much either.

He never was one to give into negative emotions, but when they got the best of him, they pulled him deep into an abyss that was hard to crawl out of. If any butterflies came flying his way, he wouldn’t have known. Plagg kept guard the entire night.

“I can’t do this anymore, Plagg,” he confessed. “I can’t–I can’t be Chat Noir anymore. It hurts too much.”

“Kid don’t say things like that,” said Plagg as Adrien sobbed. “I’m sure there’s a way to fix this.”

“She loves someone else,” he cried. “I can’t… She’ll never love me, Plagg. It doesn’t matter if I wear the mask or not.”

“That’s not true,” Plagg said, fetching the burner phone. “Look at how worried that poor thing is for you.”

Adrien kept crying. “She doesn’t love me the way I love her. I won’t stand in her way.”

The next morning, Adrien had to put on very little effort to act indisposed for school. He hadn’t come down with anything, but he felt sick. At one point during the night, he had been so caught up in his crisis that he ended up emptying his stomach. In the morning he had woken up from the few hours of sleep he managed to clock in with an insulting headache and even worse nausea than before.

He called in sick and remitted to his room for the next couple days.

It was funny. He never remembered feeling safe or at home in his room. It was too big, too cold for him and somehow at the same time, too small, too stuffy. It was as if his dad had tried to fit in the entire world inside it in the hopes that he’d never want to see the real thing himself.

It wasn’t comfort what made him feel like he belonged there. It was the fact that for once, his surroundings completely matched his state of mind. This is how he felt: as empty and grey as the mansion had been since his mother disappeared, as much of a prisoner as his father intended for him to be.

He groaned at the sound of his civilian phone chiming non-stop with messages from Nino asking if his father had done something to him, Marinette offering him any help if he needed it–these were the ones that hurt him the most to read–, and finally, Alya, who was not sending messages so much as entire monologues begging him to answer at least Ladybug.

He turned off both his civilian phone and the one for Ladybug, hoping there would be no Akumas while he was in this state.

With Chat gone, Marinette regressed into the sort of grief that shut her down when she became the Guardian. She didn’t stop showing up to school, mainly at Alya’s pressing insistence, but it was evident to the class that something was going on with her again.

A few of her more curious friends and acquaintances ask her if everything’s alright with Luka, which only added  to her mortification. She hadn’t been herself these past days and she wasn’t exactly sure she’d be able to explain to Luka why she was so brokenhearted without giving her identity away; why Chat’s sudden rejection was way more painful than anything she ever had to go through. So, against her better judgement, she decided to ignore him for a couple days, at least until she was able to sort her head through the situation.

The truth is Chat’s disappearance–not only this one but every time he’s been convinced he’s not cut out to be her partner–hurled her into a spiral of helplessness not just because she couldn’t fathom doing this without him. There was another reason, one she always purposefully ignored.

It’s like she had told Alya: She had feelings for Chat Noir. It had become easier to ignore them with time, and especially when she could just invest all of her romantic attention on Adrien before Luka came around. But the thing with being in love with Adrien is that she was in love with the idea of him. The idea of being together if she could only one day bring herself to tell him. He was an outlet of sorts–more often than Marinette liked to admit out loud– to feelings she could never show, as they were forbidden.

The second reason why Marinette always fell into despair when Chat Noir surrendered or try to surrender his ring, was because she actually loved him. If she was honest, completely, absolutely honest, she loved him. But she could never tell him, it was Master Fu’s orders not to get involved with him, not to reveal their identities. She maneuvered through those restrictions by effectively fooling herself into believing that one day, in the far future when Hawkmoth was defeated and the stakes wouldn’t be so high, she’d tell him and then everything would be okay. She’d tell him the way you admit to a school crush on one of those high school reunions or unlikely encounters as adults.

Chat surrendering his ring always cut that fantasy short.

What is worse, Marinette realized, was that this time she wasn’t using the idea of someone to distract herself from the way she felt. She was using Luka. Luka, who has been nothing but supportive and absolutely selfless. Luka, who loved her, who didn’t deserve to be treated like this.

Marinette cried in part because this was Chat being typical Chat. But also, because she realized she would eventually need to let go of Luka, and she didn’t want to do that, no matter how wrong it was to keep him to herself. Maybe she just needed to try harder, maybe she just needed to shut down the idea of Chat as she had done before.

The problem was that ignoring him was impossible in this circumstance. Ladybug was about to lose her Cat for good.

“Mari,” Alya said softly as she rubbed her friend’s back as Marinette sprawled over her lap. They were in Marinette’s room. “I think he was just shocked. He’ll come around.”

“But what if he doesn’t?” she asked desperately. “I can’t do this without him, Alya. You-you wouldn’t understand. I can’t explain it… I just can’t do it if he’s not there.”

Alya gave her a pained smile.

Oh, this was all so rotten, Alya thought. And Marinette didn’t even know the beginning of it. Alya found herself wondering what would have happened if they had actually revealed their identities before things got complicated off and on the hero costume. It probably would have saved everyone a whole lot deal of pain.

“He will,” she reassured him. “Trust me, he will.”

Alya gave it a few days. But when the end of a week arrived and there was still no sign of Adrien, she decided she probably overestimated him. Nino was mad at him for virtually disappearing, Marinette was growing worried that something had happened to him, not to mention that his disappearance as Chat Noir was truly causing a number on her.

So, she did what she did best: take action.

She asked her teachers for Adrien’s homework worksheets and on she went Friday after school to confront what would be very possibly a mess even bigger than Marinette’s.

She sighed, rang at the gate of the Agrestes’ mansion and waited for the camera to activate.

“Yes?”

“Hello, Miss Sancoeur. I’m Alya, I’m in Adrien’s class. I’m here to give him his work for the week he missed.”

“Deposit it on the bin, please,” Natalie said, as an automated door slid open. to receive the packet of books.

“Actually, I was hoping I could see him? There’s a few things that our Social Studies teacher asked me to explain to him about a specific assignment,” she said, beaming.

“Adrien has come down with a bad case of the flu, I am sure it wouldn’t be safe for you.”

“Don’t worry ma’am. I got all my shots up to date.”

Natalie sighed and after a few minutes of deliberation, the gates opened. She met Alya at the front door and directed her to the floor where Adrien’s room was. “Down the hall, first door to the right,” she instructed. “I have to warn you. Adrien has specifically requested not to receive visitors.”

“Oh, I’m sure he’ll make an exception,” she said with determination in her eyes. “Thanks!” Alya flashed her a smile and once Natalie had returned to her office, proceeded to barge into Adrien’s room.

The blinds were all drawn, only letting in slivers of light. The air was stuffy, like no one had opened the windows in a good while. It also smelled disgustingly of spoiled cheese.

There were clothes and dishes and all kinds of things lying everywhere. Alya did not remember Adrien ever being this messy.

Both the three displays of his computer and the television were on with different shows each, mixing the occasional strands of yellow light from the windows with the morbid blue of the screens.

A lump, which she supposed was the culprit himself, lay buried in a mountain of blankets and pillows. It seemed he hadn’t noticed her–or in the very least, he didn’t care someone had entered the room.

“That’s it!” Alya announced, dropping her school bag unceremoniously as she huffed and puffed making way through the catastrophe of a room he had, to draw the curtains back and open the windows letting in fresh air and the sounds of the city. She then proceeded to turn off every screen and to yank, almost with unnecessary force, the blankets off of Adrien.

“What?” Adrien groaned.

“That’s it!” Alya said. “Get up. Get up this instant or so help me god, I’m going to toss you directly into your bathtub, clothes still on.”

“Alya?” He seemed confused. “What are you doing here?”

She proceeded to make piles of the different kinds of trash to make it easier to bag them later, and discarded plates and cups as she gagged at the smell.

“Seriously, what is that stench?”

“Camembert,” he explained, not finding it in himself to feel ashamed. “For my Kwami. He doesn’t eat anything else.”

Alya eyed him with disbelief and shook her head. “What are you doing there, just looking? Go take a shower!”

“But–”

“Go. Take. A. Shower. Adrien Agreste.”

A little afraid to continue questioning her, Adrien made his way to the bathroom and emerged a good twenty minutes later still in pajamas. Fresh ones at that, but still.

“You live like a pig,” Alya berated him as she took a seat in the couch in front of the television.

“I’m not– why are you here? Did you just come in to criticize me?” Adrien complained, joining her.

“First of all, no. I came in to make sure you were still alive, seeing as you decided to literally disappear off the face of this earth telling absolutely nobody. Nino is livid, by the way. Will love to see how you explain yourself out of that one. Oh, and there’s been Akumas, not that you’d even get the memo in this bunker, so I had to pitch in as Rena. You’re welcome.”

Adrien looked down.

“Second. I knew. I knew you were going to do this; lock yourself up here and wallow in your self-pity. And I knew somebody needed to come here to make you snap out of it,” she said, giving him a gentle slap on his head.

“Hey!”

“Am I wrong?” Alya demanded. Being met with silence, she nodded. “My point exactly.”

“Third,” she continued. “You think you have it bad? Try being Marinette for a little bit and have your oh-so-trusted partner of years now, suddenly bail on you with no explanation after realizing who she is. How could that possibly look to her, huh?”

“Marinette?” he said softly. “Is… is she alright? I didn’t mean to–”

“Shush. Don’t interrupt, I'll see that you get your chance to apologize to her, don't you worry your pretty face. Fourth. You sir,” she said poking her index finger at his chest. “Need to put on your big-boy pants and deal with your shit like the superhero you are.”

“And fifth,” she said, the fire in her eyes lightly subduing. “There’s homework,” she said pointing at her bag. “I brought it for you.”

Adrien became small in his seat as he took in Alya’s numbered series of complaints. Meanwhile, Plagg came out of hiding, knowing Alya already knew of his and Ladybug's identity.

“I like the way this one talks,” he said, munching a piece of cheese. “Finally, someone with some goddamn common sense!”

“You’re… Plagg?” Alya said.

“Have we met?” Plagg retorted. “Ah yes, Marinette’s friend on the door the other day. Of course. Either way, you have to know. I would’ve kicked him off the bed myself but well, I’m the size of a tennis ball.”

“I’m sorry, okay?” Adrien said quietly, gaining the attention of the pair. “I know… I know I keep messing things up. Which is precisely why I’m not going to be Chat Noir anymore.”

“What?” Alya said, widening her eyes.

Adrien brought his knees up to his chest and rested his chin on top of them. “I just make everything worse,” he explained. “I keep messing up. And I… I know she used to have a crush on me, as Adrien. I don’t want to get in the way of her and Luka…”

“Adrien,” Alya said softly. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but for such a smart guy, you’re pretty darn stupid sometimes.”

Adrien couldn’t help the sudden chuckle that escaped his lips.

“Why on earth do you think that would be a good idea? Have we not met the same Marinette, or, Ladybug in this case? For a reason that’s entirely beyond me, the girl crumbles if you’re not the one to help her up. It’s like… like she wouldn’t believe anything unless it comes from you. You should have seen the certified dumpster fire the last Akuma was. We were all over the place without you.”

Tears fell down his cheeks, and in that moment, Alya knew to knock down her tough-love strategy down a notch. Yes, this was Chat Noir. But it was also Adrien, and while Chat may react to confrontation, Adrien would do anything but.

She clicked her teeth. “Oh, Sunshine. Don’t cry,” she said as she pulled Adrien into a hug.

“I don’t think I can do it, Alya… I’ll make everything worse.”

“You keep saying that, Adrien. But why?”

“I–I think I know who Hawkmoth is,” he admitted in the quietest possible murmur, followed by a sob.

“What…? Adrien, look at me. What do you mean you know who Hawkmoth is?” she said, eyes wide with concentration.

“I figured it out,” he said, hiccupping as he tried to stop crying. “That’s why I went to the hide-out that day. I wasn’t ready to reveal my identity, but I had been stupid with my dad and I thought he might pull me out of school so I knew I had to tell her what I knew before my dad could lock me up or send me away. The first time she took me to the hide-out, I was browsing through some of the documents… Then I found this, this scanned page about the Peacock Miraculous from one of the grimoires and I knew I recognized it from somewhere.” He looked up with an ominous look. “My dad,” he explained. “He has this safe that I once broke into out of curiosity. And he had the missing grimoire in the set and also the brooch. I snuck in his office to investigate and they weren’t in the safe anymore. Then, I found all these documents… he’s been spending money in weird ways, making orders to companies that don’t exist… If he’s Hawkmoth and Natalie is Mayura… that’s–that’s why I had to tell Ladybug. I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if she found out who I was and thought that I was part of it all. Alya I’m so scared… I don’t know what to do.”

“Oh, Adrien,” she said softly. “And why didn’t you stick around to tell her that?”

“Because I’ve been in love with her since I met her, okay? I panicked,” he said, now a bit more exasperated. “You– I don’t think you and Nino know what it’s like, it all came so easy to you. But for me… It was so hard to get over her as Ladybug, then realizing that I was really in love with Marinette, and now–”

“Wait, you’re in love with Marinette?” Alya interrupted, jaw on the floor.

“Did Nino not tell you?”

“No! We don’t gossip about what you guys tell us!… I mean, unless it's really important, but that's besides the point! Holy shit, this is so complicated,” she said with a long sigh, plopping her back against the couch. She groaned as she processed the information. “Why are you two like this?” she exclaimed, rubbing her face in frustration. “Okay, but about your whole theory,” she said, once she recovered. “I think that doesn’t prove much, Adrien. I wouldn’t worry if I were you.”

Adrien shook his head. “I know what I saw, Alya. He had the Peacock Miraculous.”

“But that could mean anything. It could be a replica; I’ve read a lot of studies tracking the history of each jewel. People have tried replicating them to scam others.”

“It’s Natalie, Alya,” Adrien said with less patience. “Natalie is Mayura,” he said. “I just know it…” He sighed. “I don’t know how to tell Marinette. I don’t want to make things complicated for her.”

Alya thought for a moment, then snapped her fingers. “I got it. What you have right now is a lead, at best. We need to come up with a plan to prove your theories. And Marinette doesn’t need to know how you found it. I didn’t tell her that it was you at the door that day, so really, you could just tell her there’s reason to believe that Gabriel might be Hawkmoth. You tell her your sources is someone close to the Agrestes.”

“What if she asks who the specific source is?”

“We’ll get to that bridge when we cross it.”

“Half-baked plans don’t work on Ladybug,” he said, crossing his arms.

“Perhaps. But she won’t press if she knows your identity is at stake. And for what it’s worth, Adrien, I really do think you should just come clean. About your identity, I mean. It would make everything easier for both of you. I know it must be super scary but... At least promise me you’ll think about it, okay?”

-- “Well, you look like shit,” Juleka commented a bit amused as Luka joined for breakfast before school. He hadn’t been sleeping well and it showed. He simply gave Juleka a ‘I’m not in the mood to fuck around’ smile and begrudgingly served himself a bowl of cereal.

“What is it?” Juleka insisted.

“I really don’t wanna talk about it, Jules.”

“It’s Marinette, isn’t it?” she asked, sounding more like she already had an answer.

Luka sighed and said nothing.

“She’s still not answering your messages?”

Luka shook his head. “I don’t know what I did wrong.”

“Nothing, probably.”

Luka looked up at his sister, who shrugged at him. “Alya says there’s something going on with her family or something, and she’s really having a hard time with it. It’s probably only that.”

Luka appreciated the fact Juleka tried to cheer him up, but he already knew Marinette wasn’t answering because of family trouble. It had been no secret that Chat Noir had been absent in the last few Akumas. Coincidentally, Juleka had mentioned Adrien had been missing school the last few days, so he knew something must have happened between them. Maybe a fight, it was anyone’s guess. The only thing he knew is that he couldn’t bear it. He couldn’t stand that he couldn’t do anything about it, that Marinette wouldn’t actually tell him why she was hiding–to be honest, he also was unsure he even wanted to know. The prospect of her crying to him for a guy who has broken her heart not once, but twice now, did not appeal to him in the slightest bit.

Adrien Agreste was so stupid! He was an idiot! And yet, Luka couldn’t help but wonder if Marinette would ever cry for him like that, even if the last thing he’d ever want to do was to hurt Marinette the same way Adrien had. If she’d ever trust him as blindly as she trusted Chat Noir or love him just the same.

He sighed, trying to push the thought away. Lately, he had run out of strategies to keep his jealousy at bay and so, defeated, he simply tried to ignore his feelings as best as he could, not knowing what else to do. Giving into the feeling made him think horrible things about Adrien, which he was sure weren’t true. Confronting them brought up a proposition that made him break a cold sweat, which although extremely painful, had begun to make a case for itself. It was something he didn’t want to do, but that he suspected would be the best for both of them in the end:

Break up with Marinette.