#〔shut up i’m talking ━ i.c〕

[callsign-rogueone]

the dress - i.c.

Imogen Cardulo x reader Imogen finds you getting ready for a night on the town, and makes it clear what she thinks of that idea. part of my Valentine’s Day celly! 💕 #9: love confession words: 980 🏷: no book spoilers. reader wears makeup and a dress, but no pronouns used. very mild argument, talk of drinking and hookups, it's mentioned that reader had one (1) shot (I may be sober, but I can still write about drinking!), Imogen calls you sweetheart twice. I cannot believe it took me this long to post something for her! I just wanna be her cute little femme girlfriend so bad bro 😭

You shut the eyeshadow compact, satisfied with your work. It’s been a long time since you’ve bothered to do yourself up like this, and you almost don’t recognize your reflection, but it looks nice.

You hear the door unlock, straightening up.

“Oh, hi Im,” you greet, your cheeks warming. You weren’t expecting to run into her, but you suppose it was inevitable; you do share a bathroom, after all.

She stares at you blankly for a moment, taking you in -- she’s never seen you like this, ever. “What are you wearing?”

“A dress,” you answer, moving in a small circle to show her the full extent of the outfit. “I bought it first year, but I’ve never had a chance to wear it. Do you like it?”

It’s cute, a pretty shade of light blue patterned with tiny white flowers, cap sleeves and a short skirt that flutters as you move, but it's definitely not seasonally appropriate -- it’s very likely going to pour rain tonight, and that thin cotton isn’t going to keep you warm at all, especially when it only extends to your knees. She doesn’t see your flight jacket anywhere, either.

“I do like it. But why are you wearing it?“

You gather up the makeup back into the little bag you keep it in, pulling the drawstring tightly. “Me and the infantry girls I met last week are gonna go into town to hook us some civilians. Wanna come with?”

You stumble a bit as you turn, still unused to the heeled shoes you’d borrowed from your new friend. 

Imogen reaches out to steady you, setting a hand on your back. She sniffs the air twice, undoubtedly smelling the shot of whiskey you’d taken earlier -- you hate the stuff, but it does the job, and you can’t really complain about the taste when there’s nothing else available; cadets aren’t supposed to have any alcohol in their rooms.

“I only had one shot,” you defend, seeing the unamused look on her face, “and I’m gonna need one or two to convince myself to go through with this.”

“To go through with what?”

“Y’know…” you gesture aimlessly, embarrassed. 

She raises an eyebrow. “No, sweetheart, I don’t. Care to enlighten me?”

“To go out to a tavern and take somebody home. Or to be taken home, I guess, since we can’t have visitors. I’ve never done anything like this before, but there’s a first time for everything, right?” You manage a smile and a nervous laugh.

The anxiety radiating from you is her last straw, but she treads carefully, knowing you’re a little fragile right now. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Why not?” you ask, looking genuinely confused. 

She can’t take it anymore. “Gods, how naive are you? Do you have any idea how dangerous this plan is? Walking half a mile to town at night in the cold with a group of girls you hardly know, dressed like that, just so you can get drunk and hook up with some stranger who you’ll never see again?”

You take a step back, grateful you don’t stumble again, and cross your arms over your chest in a show of intimidation that doesn’t work at all. “I can protect myself. And you don’t get to tell me what to do, or who to hang out with, and you certainly don’t get to tell me who to fuck. Why do you even care?”

“Because I want you to be safe, and because you’re worth so much more than just a drunk hookup. You deserve someone who actually cares about who you are inside, about your feelings. You’re a good person, and I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

You deflate, looking down at the floor in shame. “You’re right, it was a dumb idea,” you mumble, rubbing your hands over your arms in an attempt to warm yourself up. 

“C’mere,” she coaxes.

You step out of the shoes, taking a few steps across the cold tile toward her and letting her wrap her arms around you.

She smells nice. 

There’s a moment of still quiet, just the distant sounds of water moving through the pipes.

She rubs a hand over your back. “I’m sorry, sweetheart,” she says quietly. “I shouldn’t have raised my voice at you.”

“S’okay,” you mumble, but she isn’t entirely convinced.

“Hey,” she says softly, “you know I love you, right?”

You blink. “What?”

She stiffens and pulls away, realizing what she’s admitted, but it’s too late to take it back. “I’m in love with you,” she repeats. “But if you don’t feel the same, I— mph!”

She squeaks in surprise as you tug her back to you by the collar of her flight jacket, connecting your lips. 

You taste like malt liquor and strawberry lip gloss, and it’s intoxicating; she can’t get enough of the thing she’s wanted so badly for the last year.

You pull away for air after a moment, resting your forehead against hers. “I do feel the same, for the record. I’ve been in love with you for months. Tonight was going to be a desperate attempt to get over you, but that’s clearly never gonna happen.”

She smiles. “I’m glad I found you here, then.”

Rain splatters against the frosted window, a downpour starting outside, and you can’t help but laugh -- there’s no way you would have made it all the way to town and back like this; you’d be soaked before you got past the front gates.

“How about I go change into something warmer, and then we can start making up for all that lost time,” you suggest, picking up the shoes and your makeup bag. 

“That sounds perfect,” she agrees, giving you another soft kiss. “See you in five minutes?”

You grin at her over your shoulder as you push open the door. “I’ll make it three.”

[murderhatred]

@bloodbuttercups​

Scarlet looks around before tugging on her FUR COAT. She smiles as her GOLD TOOTH shows when she smiled. A little hum comes out of her mouth, it was a pretty hum, her LOOKS made her look scary but she was very SHY.

[porkchop-ao3]

Red-Handed

I drew Ice Cream Rick in a lace jockstrap a while ago, and it got me thinking about some other little quirks he might have besides his sploshing kink. This fic is the result of that thinking. Its I.C/Reader, NSFW and contains cross-dressing (underwear specifically), sex toys, and kind of pegging?? You’ll see. 

This pairing is fun to play around with in smutty fics, their relationship is so strong and they have so much trust and understanding in each other, I doubt there’s much off the table when it comes to their sex lives haha. 

Enjoy!

-

Rick was a man of distinct tastes. I knew that even before we lived under the same roof, but once we did his quirks became more and more inclined to reveal themselves. I'd welcome his honesty in telling me but unfortunately every new thing I found out about his tastes seemed to happen by accident. Perhaps there are always some things that no matter how comfortable you are with a person, you endeavour to keep to yourself. Though, so far, having the truth about certain things coming out had only improved our relationship.

It'd been puzzling to realise that I'd been going through far more pairs of underwear since moving in with I.C than normal. They just seemed to appear in the washing basket without me even realising I'd worn them, and I'd go to my knicker drawer to find stocks low far too regularly. I wasn't doing anything differently, I wondered if I was going mad. Until one day I actually counted them since the last time I had done the washing, and found nine pairs of underwear when there should've been only six. Curiosity got the better of me and I counted I.C's boxers. There were just three pairs.

It didn't take a rocket scientist to put two and two together. It added up to Rick wearing my underwear. Huh? It wasn't as if they looked similar to his, surely he wasn't confusing them with his own. He was a lot older than me, but he wasn't going senile just yet. Was he running out of his own and reaching for mine in desperation? No, his underwear drawer was practically full.

Oh.

Now that's certainly unexpected. If he's not doing it by accident, he's clearly doing it on purpose, isn't he? He's going out and wearing my underwear on a regular basis, expecting me not to notice. A small smirk appeared on my face where I was kneeling on the floor sorting through our dirty clothing.

I kept quiet about it, unsure of how to bring it up without embarrassing him. Part of me hoped he'd tell me himself, let me know exactly why he was doing it. Of course my mind jumped to conclusions, thinking he got some sort of thrill out of it, but I couldn't be certain that was the case… bringing it up and asking him if he was turned on by wearing women's underwear seemed like a daunting task at best. So I waited, stewing over it but all the while coming to terms with it. The thought becoming all the more appealing to me in an odd kind of way. It wouldn't have been the first time that Rick had opened my eyes to an interesting kink.

So a few weeks passed, my underwear was still being stolen, Rick still wasn't opening up about it. I had almost reached the end of my patience and was planning to ask him about it, when it happened. Tailor had been extremely busy that week and I'd been spending more hours at his studio than I had in my own home. I.C knew this and was as understanding as anyone could hope for, so I figured when I finished earlier than usual on a Friday evening it'd be a nice surprise for him.

That could've ended badly for a variety of reasons; I could've walked in on him making a huge mess, laying around in his underwear like a slob, heck, having an affair! But none of that happened, of course. Instead, I came home to find him upstairs in our bedroom, alone, dressed in nothing but one of my white lace g-strings face-down-ass-up on the bed. At first when I walked in I didn't know what on earth to do! I simply gasped and stumbled backwards, hand missing the door handle as I went to slam it shut, his image still very much there in front of me despite my attempts at giving him his privacy. He'd yelled in surprise, bolting upright on the bed. My eyes immediately were drawn to his groin, where his cock was hard and pressed upwards towards his belly by the fine triangle of lace just about containing his balls.

As soon as I saw him like that, my whole body flushed with a mixture of embarrassment and arousal, it was a strange but enjoyable mix. I didn't know whether to walk away or join him, I was caught between the two options, just standing still in the doorway. Rick shifted uncomfortably on his spot, kneeling on the bed, and tugged at the front of the thong in a vain attempt at covering his erection.

“All I can say is, I'm sorry,” his words were the only thing that managed to pull my attention from his cock, and I looked up at his face. “Just give me a minute and I'll- I'll change and we can talk about this.”

“You don't have to change,” I blurted out, unthinking. I guess my mouth made the final decision about whether I was liking what I saw.

“Well I gotta do something,” he laughed sheepishly, uncomfortably.

“Just sit down, let… let me just figure out what I have to say,” I murmured, walking into the room and dragging my hair out of my face.

Rick remained still, continuing to kneel. I paused and looked at him, puzzled by his hesitation to move. After a few moments of strange eye contact, he let out a breath and dropped his eyes shamefully to the bed, reaching behind himself. I couldn't be shocked at that point, when he retrieved a slender dildo from his body, and dropped it behind him. Only then, did he slump down onto his backside, his face burning a bright shade of red as he avoided my eyes.

I truly had no clue what I could say to him to make him feel better. It was clear to me that he was mortified, and Rick wasn't a particularly easy man to embarrass. I wondered what it said about me that my pussy was throbbing at this point, my hands were shaking and my heart was pounding with an intense mix of adrenaline and arousal. I decided to throw words out of the window for now, and slipped out of my jacket, placing it down on a chair by our dresser. Rick still wasn't looking at me, his hand on his forehead as he leaned his elbow on his knee, hiding his face from me. He wasn't even aware when I lifted my dress over my head and discarded it too. I approached the bed in my bra and panties, climbing up and shuffling over to him on my knees.

Rick's eyes widened when he realised what was happening, and I lifted his chin up to guide his lips to mine. His surprised sound met my ears only a few moments before his hands lifted to my waist and he leaned back a little, opening up to me once again. I never wanted to see his shameful retreat into himself again. I opened my mouth and played with his tongue just a little before breaking away.

“I feel like you're having far too much fun for me to let you hog it all on your own,” I said to him, my lips curling suggestively. A quiet groan escaped him, one of relief and pleasure.

I drove forwards, forcing him to lay back underneath me as I straddled one of his thighs. My hand wandered south as I kissed him again, I stroked my palm up and down over his cock, slipping down to cup his balls inside the thong. He moaned a little louder, lifting his hips and pressing into my hand. I smiled against his lips and then wrapped my hand around him, jerking his cock steadily and feeling his body tense at the pleasure. I broke the seal of our mouths and moved back just enough to look at his lidded eyes and wet, parted lips. With my free hand on his shoulder I pushed him back completely, then slid down his body until I was eye level with his cock.

I dragged my tongue up his shaft, eliciting a sharp intake of breath from him; his hands clenched into fists around the bed sheets. Tilting my head and keeping my eyes on his face, I tongued his cock into my mouth and slid down its length with a soft hum. As I sucked him I slipped my hand between his legs, following the string of the thong back to his asshole that was slick with lube. I stroked my fingertips over the passage, feeling him clench as breathy moans surfaced above me. I knew that I.C liked a bit of ass play, I'd fingered him a number of times in the past but we hadn't really explored any further than that. It was partly why I hadn't been surprised to catch him using a dildo, he wasn't shy about exploring his own body.

Carefully easing a finger into him, I brought my other hand up to his chest where I played with his pierced nipple.

“Ahh, fuck!” He hissed, fidgeting under all of the attention. “God, that's so good.”

I hummed, pleased, in response and rocked my finger against his prostate once I'd found it. It wasn't hard to make him tick, he was panting and groaning with every sweep of my mouth on his cock, every movement of my finger, every squeeze of his nipple. It was unbelievably satisfying to make him react in such a way, writhing on the sheets and chewing his lip until it was puffy. I pulled off of his cock and sat up, shuffling in closer between his legs.

“Lube up that dildo again, hand it to me,” I told him breathlessly, my mind reeling with possibilities now that this side of him was opening up.

Looking slightly stunned, Rick felt around behind him and did as he was told, holding the slick phallus out to me. I hadn't seen it before, either it was new or he'd been very good at keeping it hidden from me. It was a milky flesh colour, realistically designed, a little on the smaller side of average, and it had balls sitting atop a suction cup base.

“You want me to fuck you, baby?” I asked, licking my lips and holding the dildo against my pubic bone, glancing down and admiring the sight of it there.

“Ohhh fuck yes,” he hissed, spreading his legs wide for me. I arched forwards, keeping the dildo against my body as I pressed the tip against his opening. I rubbed it back and forth there for a moment before breaching, easing the toy into him gently. Shifting my position so I had one leg kneeling, the other bent at the knee with my foot on the bed keeping me steady, I started to rock into him.

It'd be a lot easier with a strap on, but I managed to keep the toy positioned at my groin and it was worth it. It felt more intimate this way than it would if I was simply using my hand, and Rick seemed to like it too, lapping up the view with a deep, aroused intensity in his eyes. The whole thing was probably about as enjoyable for me as it was for him, even without any physical stimulation. I had my hand positioned in such a way that my index and middle finger were straddling the dildo, and they pressed against Rick's ass when I buried it deep inside him. For a while, I pictured that the dildo was my own cock, and imagined how it would feel to actually fuck him. Moaning aloud, I bit down on my bottom lip and looked back up into Rick's eyes.

“Is that good?” I asked him sweetly. He nodded his head sharply, his chest heaving with heavy breaths.

“Keep going, d-don't stop,” he gasped.

“Don't you worry,” I smiled, thrusting into him faster, watching his eyes squeeze shut and hearing his breath hitch. Holding the dildo to my groin, I penetrated him with the motion of my hips, and the act made me feel something different to anything I'd experienced in the bedroom before.

I felt powerful, in control, but at the same time; nurturing. Like I was taking care of him, like I was giving him what he wanted and needed and pleasing him. Knowing that what I was doing to him was causing all the sounds he was making; his cries of pleasure, the precum dripping from his cock, the flush in his skin. It was all so satisfying, so hot, I moaned again and fucked him harder. His sounds were loud and desperate, needy, and so arousing. I stroked my free hand up and down his torso, rolling his nipples between my fingers, feeling the flex of the muscle in his abdomen every time I hit his prostate just right, squeezing his thigh. I found myself doing all the things that he would do to me when we made love.

Leaning forwards, I planted my mouth on his, kissing him hungrily while he continued to moan freely. I was so grateful that he didn't feel the need to hide his pleasure from me, I wondered if he'd be as open with his words as he was with his sounds. I broke the kiss, but remained close to his face.

“I've noticed that some of my underwear has been hijacked,” I told him with a smirk, seriously out of breath. This was quite a work out, no wonder he kept his figure a little easier than I did. “I knew it was you.”

“I-I-I'm sorry, baby, I don't know what to tell you,” he gasped, sliding his hands up my sides to my chest, he fondled my breasts through my bra.

“Does it turn you on, wearing women's underwear?” I asked, moving to press some kisses to his neck. It was a little hard to multitask with my hips and my kisses, so I switched to just using my hand to fuck him for a little while. Plus, I was getting tired. I wasn't used to that kind of activity!

“Mm, it's because it's yours. The fact that it's women's is by the by,” he breathed a short laugh, a smile crossing his pleasured expression.

“You've been stealing it since we've moved in together, comfy?”

“Not particularly, but that just means I never forget that it's there. I'm con-constantly reminded that it's your panties I'm wearing.”

I hummed a quiet laugh, “How naughty.”

“You must think I'm a bit of a creep, huh?” He murmured, his words a little wobbly. It was clear he was struggling now to keep focused on the conversation. His hands had slipped under my bra, he was playing with my breasts with none of the finesse he would be using if he was doing it for my sake. I let him grope me all he needed, looking down between our bodies at his leaking, flushed cock. He was gonna cum soon, I could tell.

“Hmm, no. A little quirky, yes, but I knew that anyway. I like it, I think it's pretty hot. How many times have we been out in public together while you've been wearing my knickers?” I questioned, shifting to sit cross-legged between his thighs and getting a better hold of the dildo so I could pick up the pace. He gasped and his back arched, his cock jumping. It all looked so obscene, with my g-string still clinging to his tightening balls. My panties clung to the wetness of my pussy, leaving a damp spot.

“Fuck… a few times,” he admitted, closing his eyes and frowning in concentration. He was trying to put off his orgasm. I gently stroked my palm from his balls to the head of his cock and back, light stimulation that wouldn't have affected him much otherwise. As close as he was then, though, it drove him wild. “I'm gonna cum!”

“When have you done it? Gimme an example,” I said, releasing his cock again.

“Ahh, ah, shit! Wh-when we went to see that movie the other day. I couldn't concentrate, I popped a boner halfway through the film just thinking about it, wh-when you had your hand on my thigh.”

I giggled in satisfaction, rubbing his balls again. A high pitched whine left him and his hips lifted on the bed. His belly was wet with precum and I leaned forwards to lick some away, pausing to kiss the head of his cock before I pulled back. He loved that.

“You should've told me. We had that whole row to ourselves, I could've tugged you off right there,” I indulged, squeezing the base of his cock and pulling upwards once.

Rick practically growled, his hips jolting as I let go, cum shooting forcefully from his cock as I continued to pound his ass through his climax. He shot ropes of cum right up to his chest, his hands gripping the bed sheets tightly, his jaw tense and a cacophony of grunts and whines leaving him with every jump and spurt of his cock. Intense was an understatement, watching his release. My pussy ached.

“Mmm, good boy,” I whispered unthinkingly, giving his cock a few gentle tugs to tease residual drops of cum from him. He made a soft, whimpering sound, and I let go of him.

He laid there, panting like he'd just run a marathon. I gently removed the dildo, leaving it between his legs as I moved to straddle his hips, his softening cock nestled against my wet panties. I bent down and peppered kisses along his jawline as he came down.

“Mm, sorry baby, my dick’s not getting hard for a long time after that,” he murmured, brushing a hand through my hair.

“I don't need it to,” I purred, laying down on him. I felt his cum against my chest, it did nothing but turn me on even more. Slipping a hand between us, I repositioned his cock so that it was out of my way and I could press my clit against his pubic bone. I knew in my state, it would not take much.

“Ohh fuck, that's so hot, I can feel how wet you are,” he groaned as I gyrated my hips, rubbing my clit against him. I moaned softly, my pussy clenching and throbbing, my panties providing a little bit of friction.

Rick trailed his hands down my back to my ass, one hand squeezing my cheek, the other slipping down and stroking the seat of my wet panties. We moaned in unison. His fingers continued their gentle teasing of my slit through my underwear as I moved quicker, humping against him like my life depended on it. I held eye contact with him as I moved, replaying the moment he'd shot his load all over himself in my head, letting that mental image push me closer to the edge.

“I'm so fucking horny, I'm gonna cum just from this, just from thinking about what we just did,” I told him breathlessly. He licked his lips and shuddered, pressing his fingers between my folds, dipping slightly into my opening panties and all.

“You liked that? It's gonna make you cum?” he whispered, looking incredibly turned on by the knowledge.

“Fuck, yes. Deeper,” I knew that our circumstance didn't allow for him to put his fingers properly inside me, but all I needed was for him to pump them slightly, tricking my body into thinking he was. I groaned and arched my neck, looking up to the ceiling. I could feel my panties absorbing my moisture, getting drenched, feeling better and better against my folds.

“We're buying a strap on. W-w-we're doing this again, right baby?” Rick asked, nibbling gently on my neck.

“Yeah, baby. Definitely,” I sighed, clenching my muscles and feeling pleasure ripple through me. “Oh god, that's it! I'm close!”

“Mm, that's right. Use me all you like, grind on me and cum,” he growled, his fingers moving more fervidly. I gasped and came, muscles tensing and releasing, tensing and releasing, filling me with that sweet bliss that had me waking the neighbours with my sounds. “Fuck, that's good. So fucking hot.”

I kissed him as my body started to come down, a the pleasure subsided and a pleasant warmth settled in my core. We made out for a while like that, and soon Rick rolled us over so he was on top, my legs automatically wrapped around his hips. He stroked his hands over my hair as we kissed, and continued to do so when we broke away.

“We should clean up,” he whispered.

“We should,” I half-heartedly agreed. Neither of us moved and we shared a laugh.

“You're not mad about me stealing your underwear?” He asked me.

“No. Just make sure I have some for me to wear,” I smirked and reached down to squeeze his ass cheeks playfully.

“Will do,” he winked at me, then nuzzled into my neck, kissing and tickling me into fits of laughter.

“And as long as I can steal yours.”

“What's mine is yours,” he grinned, rubbing his nose back and forth against mine. I giggled like a kid and jerked back.

“Come on, get off of me, let's run a bath,” I smacked his ass and he made a sultry noise.

“Do that again,” he teased and I pushed him off of me with a snort.

“How about you do that to me?” I countered, cocking a brow as I rose to my feet and undressed completely in front of him.

“That can be arranged, here I am having all my sordid fantasies spilled by accident. That's two of my kinks you've successfully sniffed out. It's about time you share some of yours,” he wiggled his brows.

“Well, I guess we just discovered one of them. Pounding you in the ass.”

“I could live with that,” he said after me as I sashayed into the en suite bathroom to run us a bath. “But besides that?”

“You wanna know my kink?” I called over the sound of the running water. “You'd run a mile,” I snorted.

Rick came up behind me – still wearing my thong – and wrapped his arms around my waist. “Try me,” he whispered, tickling my neck with his nose. I paused and smirked.

In a breezy tone I promised; “One day!”

[sapphonics]

a johanna / katniss playlist for an au where they have a secret affair and katniss still has to put on the front that she’s with peeta. full disclosure my memory of canon is hazy enough that this is pretty accurate to me. this mix is all about FAKE RELATIONSHIPS and the MEDIA and BEING CONSTANTLY UNDER SURVEILLANCE

listen here

tracklist and lyrics under the cut

my baby shoots her mouth off, margot & the nuclear so and so’s (the introduction with johanna literally stripping naked like she does in canon and then the beginning of the affair. but still remembering they’re hunger gamesing soon)

you’re stripping naked in the hallway / not a care in your head […]  come over and convert me, lead me straight to the cross / you’re getting vulgar in a chapel / people are staring at you, please! good grief / my baby wants to kill me

i.c. one female, black box recorder (johanna to katniss w/ the knowledge of the secret plan to break the games that katniss doesn’t know about)

i.c. one female under surveillance […]   i.c. one female not making any sense / don’t think she realises the trouble that she’s in / but i still love you, i bloody well love you, i bloody well love you to death

your lips are red, st vincent (side note: this song fucking bangs)

this city’s red, this city’s red from riding us into the ground / this city’s black, this city’s black from all the ashes in downtown (ashes in downtown, ashes in downtown) […]  my face is drawn, my face is drawn on with this number 2 pencil […]  my hands are red, my hands are red from sealing your red lips

andy, you’re a star, the killers (johanna talking about katniss’ first games, and about how she saw the ‘romance’ with peeta)

on the field I remember you were incredible (hey, shut up, hey, shut up, yeah) […]  in a car with a girl, promise me she’s not your world, ‘cause andy, you’re a star in nobody’s eyes but mine

wrecking ball, mother mother (i just really like this song. i think it fits both of them really well. they’re messy angry lesbian rebels)

it takes a dedicated hand to put it through the wall / you gotta wanna break the heart of all those pretty porcelain dolls / you gotta want to be the drummer in the band, you gotta want to be a battering ram / you gotta see the artistry in tearing the place apart with me, baby / i am unruly in the stands / i am a rock on top of the sand / i am a fist amidst the hands and i break it just because i can

human racing, st vincent (romeo is peeta and juliet is katniss as they are living a starcrossed lovers narrative for the capitol. three guesses for what the human racing is)

juliet, how you been? you look like death, like you sure could use some rest from this place, human racing and the faces of people who pound at your door / they’ll always want more, they’ll want more

december, regina spektor (katniss and johanna vs president snow and THE MEDIA basically)

rumors have started that you are in love again, rumors that are completely unsubstantiated […] come on and say you’re sorry, real sorry for the trouble that you caused / can’t you see all this love? can’t you see all this love?  we are not evacuating this house, we don’t believe in you and your wrecking crew.

crazy (cover), nelly furtado (i’m not sure where this fits in. post johanna getting tortured maybe, or maybe it’s just that she’s a little unhinged. maybe its just the journey of prekatniss johanna to post au where they’re together johanna, what with johanna having to deal with indirectly causing the death of all her loved ones through refusing to prostitute herself . johanna being cynical and ptsd’d and katniss being naive and also ptsd’d but at least they’re both crazy together)

i was out of touch, but it wasn’t because i didn’t know enough / i just knew too much […] come on now,  who do you, who do you, who do you think you are? ha, bless your soul / you really think you’re in control? well i think you’re crazy, i think you’re crazy, i think you’re crazy / just like me

[pyrewriter]

The Price (part 2)

"You know it's funny, when I first started being Chat Noir the rooftops were like another world, a world above the normal Parisian life of woven streets and alleys. Now I've been up here so long it's just an 'upstairs' to me". Adrien wasn't in a rush as the evening had only just begun so it would still be a few hours before he had to be at work. He found himself worrying about the Familia, he hadn't seen them since their party and none of them had called or texted since then. Even if they had gotten black out drunk ,which they didn’t, and were still hungover it was still odd that no one tried to reach out to him. 

Then a terrifying thought wormed its way to the forefront of his mind. He had just stepped over what was a thin line and admitted to doing so without remorse so what would his Familia think. Adrien wouldn't blame them if they were scared of or thought him a monster for his actions but at the same time he wasn't sure why they would. They've all been through hell and back without ever wavering, Nino and Milo were understanding and Fe' knew him better than any living person. The previous wielders had nothing but concern and compassion for Adrien as they felt partially responsible for him having to take a life. 

The thought occupied his mind until he was suddenly standing in front of the tavern, his hand hovering over the handle. "Why am I hesitating?" he thought "I've always taken my social lashing in stride so what makes this so different, why am I shaking?".

"Because your Familia is more than just some group of strangers, they are the ones who have been through everything with you".

"Because you care about what your Familia thinks".

"Because you're afraid of being alone again, you don't want to go back".

Adrien's precursors manifested themselves as they surrounded him placing their hands on his ,their presence, he could almost feel it. Before his mind could wonder again to torture him with possibilities the tavern door swung open and his body was locked in place by a pair of lilac-amethysts from his sister. Before he could react she wrapped herself around him in a vice like embrace, voices coming from inside the tavern tore his attention upward. Nino, Milo, the old woman who ran the shop he bought incense from, and the officers who had taken care of Belial had gathered. Nino and Milo joined in on the hug while the others let out sighs of relief 

Belial had wiggled his way free and walked up to the officers whom he had recognized and pretended to have hurt paw, meowing for attention. They picked him up and held him like a baby which Belial absolutely loved every second of. "We were just about to go out and start looking for ya, Chat" one of the officers said. The shop owner met his eyes and nodded while giving a kind and warm smile that was worth a hundred words.  

Nino scolded Adrien just a little "You better not go ghosting the whole city again after your little speech, I won't let you" he said. 

Milo had a similar sentiment, "You don't have to hide anymore kid, you've got a Familia and a community that will stand by you even if the city is against you". 

"Thank you, all of you" Adrien said ignoring the crack in his voice, the sight of them gathered together with their kind words had washed worry from his mind. He smiled beneath his mask but mentally kicked himself for not giving them more credit and thinking that they would abandon him when he knew they weren't that kind of people. Still though "You don't think of me any differently?" he asked tentatively as they released him from the embrace.

Fe' put her head against his "You're never rash without reason, there's a reason, there's always something that's out of your control that forces your hand". 

Adrien closed his eyes and let out a deep long winded sigh of relief that ended with a slight chuckle. His chuckle turned to a laugh, "And here I thought I wasn't so easy to read, guess some things never change though" he said. "Well I suppose I owe everyone an explanation huh?" he asked, addressing the room. With his thoughts Adrien silently asked his precursors what he could tell. Both Xylon and Nalma fed him the information he needed in order to not sound like a complete psychopath. One detail however that seemed to pull at the heart strings of Nalma in particular, her tone was sad and cold. 

"The power that I was granted and it's will are nigh unrivaled, had I not chosen to not kill Lila an overriding will would have taken control of me. It would have made its presence known and carried out the deed regardless of what I thought or wanted. I decided to do it myself because no matter how you look at it the blood still gets on my hands, might as well take responsibility" Adrien explained. He was reciting what he was told so all this was new to him but managed to hide that fact from the others. Despite Xylon and Nalma's forthcoming attitude though he could tell there was still more they weren't telling him.    

Everyone sat quietly and listened to his explanation and seemed to accept it even though they didn't fully understand the details. Then again it was magic they were talking about and to them he was granted power to carry out the will of an omnipotent force beyond his control. Everyone took a minute to process what they had just been told, some things still didn't seem quite right but they assumed that there were details he couldn’t share and accepted his word. 

The officers nuzzled Belial goodbye before taking their leave, "We came to make sure you were doing ok but we'll be sure to put something about that in the official report" one said. 

When the three of them were gone the old shop owner left when her ride came, before leaving however she had brought the regular bulk order of incense and wax paper. "I know what it's like to be damned if you do, damned if you don't, you are stronger than many" she told him with an understandingly kind smile as she handed him the I.C supplies.

Once everyone was gone and only members of the Familia were left the tavern immediately exploded with more questions. "What really happened?", "Are you sure you're ok?", "How do you know all this?", "Why?". Adrien did his best to answer their questions but he had to be careful but he did tell the grand majority of the truth. He told them of the council, the vote that had been cast, and why he had voted for rather than against. The mention of speaking with precursors brought more questions but he played it off as a one time thing, he didn't want to explain anymore than he had to. Again everyone accepted his answers, though he hated having to lie about so many things there were a lot of things were still hidden from him as well.

"Adrien, for the next month if you don't show up on time I want you to take the day off" Milo said with a stern look on his face but a soft concern in his voice. 

"B-but Uncle-" Adrien tried to argue.

Milo cut him off "That's an order from your employer and a favor from your Uncle" he elaborated. "I'm not saying don't show up I'm telling you that you've got vacation days to burn so if you're late it counts as you taking a vacation day this month" Milo said, unwavering.

Letting out a sigh and removing his mask to show his smile Adrien replied with a chuckle, "Understood, Uncle".

"Good! Now get changed, we open in twenty minutes. Nino, that means you too. And Fe', your welcome to help, stay, help or dine". Fe' simply smiled and followed the boys into the back, "Glad to have the help" Milo said flashing a smile of his own.

Unsurprisingly the tavern was packed throughout the night, a few patrons got into drunken heated arguments about wanting to stay a Cheshire. More often than not they bickered over fear of association with one party calling the other a fool or coward for having wavering faith in the community and it’s leaders. Adrien quickly and personally settled the disputes before they turned to altercations and somebody got hurt. "Being a Cheshire is a choice and there is no commitment other than supporting a larger community. If you don't like what we stand for anymore then you can leave your mask at the door on your way out but until then sit down, shut up, and stop causing a scene".

There were more than a few masks sitting next to the door by the end of the night but being a Cheshire was completely voluntary and they had no need for anyone afraid of what society would think. The Cheshire were wide spread across the city, part of almost everything from emergency services, law enforcement, healthcare, and public transport to the local bakery. They were everywhere yet all they did was help their fellow Cheshire and citizens or ,on occasion, assist in dealing with Akuma attacks or act as eyes and ears for Chat Noir. The only real commitment was swearing that so long as you were willing to bare your teeth you would answer the call for help, be it from Chat Noir or an unfortunate soul on the streets. 

Since New year enough time had passed that both news coverage and internet chatter of the incident had died down considerably since the initial boom. Ladybug and Chat Noir continued their duties however and continued to patrol Paris as they always had. It was harder for Ladybug though as she was living with Chloe' which made it hard to transform without ditching her. Chat was more than understanding and didn't mind solo patrolling every so often. It gave him time to prod Nalma about how she knew so much. She was reluctant of course but eventually ,during a midnight stroll when Adrien couldn't sleep, the truth came out. Plagg was asleep in his usual shirt pocket and Belial was sleeping soundly with Fe' in her apartment so it was just them.

"Remember when I told you about the day my identity was revealed, how 'true colors were shown'?" Nalma asked with a heavy hearted tone. 

Adrien nodded once "I remember".

"Heh well let's just say there wasn't always that short sermon for the council" a smirk managed to cross Nalma's face but disappeared as quickly as it formed. "I was the first Noir whose bell had tolled, I didn't know what it meant ,no Noir did, but a vote was cast and I voted against" she gestured to him "the situation wasn't too dissimilar to yours". Her eyes drifted to him "I was fighting someone I knew that had gotten caught up in some dark incantations and botched it, they had fallen to the corrupting power and it fell to me". Adrien's eyes met hers for a moment before she looked away "The people of the village were close to containing and purging him of the corruption but...my bell tolled. I wasn't the only one to against but majority rules ,I refused of course, so the choice was taken from me".

"Taken from you?" he asked, a mix of fury and cold disillusion in his voice.

Crossing her arms she looked away "Yeah", there was a pregnant pause then ,clearing her throat she continued. "I don't know how exactly but control of my body was taken from me and another Noir took over ,Paksis if I'm not mistaken, all I could do was watch. If they had just waited a few more seconds the purging ritual would have been complete and there would have been no need to take a life. As it stood however the village blamed me for taking the life of the mage's disciple and the lives of those who tried to stop the council. No matter how much I pleaded everyone I had ever known turned their backs on me as if I had never existed, as if all I had protected them from meant nothing. Plagg was the only one who offered any solace despite everything I called him". 

"Let me guess, Xylon was the second Noir to have their bell tolled" Adrien said with the same disillusioned tone, Nalma's slow nod confirmed what he had surmised. When he ended the Witch trials and the Church he did so of his own accord but wielded the unrelenting power of the council. He didn't want to bring up such a sensitive topic such as that again but it wasn't hard to gather that the council convened in response to the death of Xylon's ladybug. After a while of letting everything sink in Adrien spoke slowly, gently, "Thank you Nalma, I...know what it's like to be blamed for event's beyond your control". 

It seemed like almost no matter what happened to this city it's people just keep living in-spite of everything that's been thrown at them. Resilience was one thing that Adrien had been building since birth but after moving to Paris and becoming Chat Noir it was in his bones now. His old apartment in the US and even the mansion could never be called homes by him or his siblings, Paris as a city was different. Fe', Plagg, Nino, Milo, Belial, they made the city feel like home, a home worth fighting for with all he had.   

As the days of continued inaction turned to weeks without so much as even a sighting of an Akuma it was quiet again. "I'm starting to think that Hawkmoth is scared of you Chatton, he's gone quiet again" Ladybug joked. 

Chat chuckled, a smirk displaying across his mask as he replied "Yeah well he can join the international 'Is Chat really a hero?' club". He could see Ladybug rub her arm, she looked like she was holding something back. "You want to ask me something, don't you?" he asked, picking up on his partner's body language. 

Surprised by the suddenness she waved her arms "N-No no, well...yes" she blurted then sighed "I guess I never change huh?".

"That's not true ,not entirely anyways, you've changed" he assured her.

Ladybug shook her head to refocus "Well that's beside the point" she said "I wanted to ask you about how you're doing, it hasn't been long since the events of New Years. I know you can shrug most things off but whatever happened seems to be sticking with you more than usual, I know you don't trust me with your secrets but I'm here if you need to talk". She did her best to give him a smile and console him with a hand on his shoulder but when he looked at her he made a look of regret and pain then looked away.

Chat put his hands over his eyes trying to block the things he was seeing, they were like hallucinations or were they memories, visions maybe, it didn't matter. Phantoms of other Chats is all they were but when so many flickered and mixed in his vision it hurt his head. As if merely being haunted by the broken knowledge and memories of all the other versions of himself they had to invade his reality as well. After a minute the world around him returned to solidarity, he looked to his partner "Sorry about that I've been having some bad headaches, nothing to worry about" he told her. Opening the phone on his staff he looked at the time "UGH! I need to get going before my uncle tells me to take another sick day for being late".

Ladybug smiled and waved her partner off as he jumped to the roofs and ran into the night, she watched as that toothy smile on his back disappeared. "Tikki, Spots Off" in a flash Marinette and Tikki were alone on the Eiffel tower. 

"It's getting harder for him to hide the pain" Tikki said in a somber tone.

"He's not the only one".

Spinning to look at her wielder and friend Tikki was surprised to be met with daggers coming from Marinette's eyes, "I...don't think you're ready" she said looking away as she spoke. 

Marinette's expression softened and she sighed "I know" then, bringing her Kwami close in an embrace "I just wish I wasn't in the dark on what happened to Chat" her voice was kind. 

Tikki nuzzled her wielder "I would tell you if I had the answers".

"You mean you don't know either?" Marinette was confused and concerned, the Council sounded important and if Tikki wasn't in the know about it something was definitely wrong. 

"I don't know the reasoning yet but I was left out of an important decision, we should visit the Guardian tomorrow if we can" Tikki said adding "I need to have a chat with my fellow Kwami". 

Marinette nodded before asking "You ready? Chloe' will be getting concerned soon".

"Sugar! Your right and yes I'm ready let's go".

"Did you just swear?" Marinette asked with a raised eyebrow and an amused smile.

"Just transform" Tikki deadpanned.

Still smiling Marinette stood "Tikki, Spots On", the streets were almost barren during patrol but on her way back Ladybug saw a number of vehicles all heading in the same direction as she was, each taking a different path. Given more time she probably would have stalked one of them out of curiosity but she was already running late. It didn't take long for Ladybug to reach Le Grand Paris, hoping into one of the darker nearby alleys she de-transformed "Tikki, Spots Off". Wordlessly Tikki flew into Marinette's bag to hide and began snacking on a strawberry macaroon.

Jean was waiting for her at the door, as she approached he opened it, greeting and welcoming Marinette "Welcome back Madame Marinette, I hope the night has treated you well". 

Smiling she returned the greeting, "Evening Jean, and thank you for getting the door" they walked to the lift together "Chloe' sent you didn't she?". 

When the doors were closed and it was just them Jean relaxed and leaned against the furnished lift wall "Chloe's just a worry wart you know that as well as I, Mari". He chuckled "But ever since the two of you became so close she's been truly happy, she's started turning into her 'best self' ,if you would, you truly are amazing" he told her. The lift dinged as it brought them to the penthouse floor and Jean straightened himself again back to his professional demeanor. The door opened "Your floor, Madame".

"Merci" Marinette said stepping off the lift into the hall, when she opened the door to the penthouse suite something red caught flashed in her peripheral. It was just a passing glimpse but she was certain it was there and if she wasn't mistaken it was accented with white. She shook her head to before her mind started theorizing on what she saw ,assuming it was anything at all, whatever it was could wait. "Chloe', I'm back" she called closing the door behind her. 

Chloe's head poked from around the bedroom corner, gasping with joy and relief she rushed over to embrace Marinette. "I was about to go out with Jean to go looking for you, you left your phone here!" she exclaimed pulling back a little. 

Marinette chuckled and re-embraced Chloe' "I'm sorry, I ran into some trouble with my bag so had to fix it" she explained, "Now let's get to bed cause I'm tired". 

As they walked to the bedroom and changed into their Ladybug and Queen Bee themed pajamas. While changing Chloe' remembered something "Oh by the way Mari, your parent's called while you were out, said your room will be finally rebuilt and you can move back in tomorrow". Marinette thanked her for telling her about her parents calling then apologized for not taking her phone. The pair talked about how the rest of the class had been doing since graduating, everyone had gotten into careers that they enjoyed and or were passionate about. Some were out of the city but everyone stayed in touch as much as their lives allowed and even met up every so often.

Adrien had gone to get his bike and was working in the tavern with the Familia ,business as usual, with Belial getting all the attention he could ask for from the tipsy patrons. With his normal sleeping spot still under reconstruction Milo had been letting his nephew sleep in one of the rooms upstairs if there was room but he usually just went to sleep at his rooftop camp. Adrien hadn't talked to Marinette or Chloe' since he crashed through her wall as Chat Noir. "They were a little shaken up and confused but other than that those two acted more concerned for you" Nino explained, he was the acting informant for Adrien. There wasn't much news aside from the occasional construction updates. 

By the end of the night the tavern was empty and the overnight rooms were full ,it was somebody's birthday, so it looked like roof camping for Adrien, he didn't mind though. After changing back into his street clothes he donned his helmet and tucked Belial in his shirt before riding off. Fe' had also offered to let him stay at her place and considering that from what he's heard the reconstruction was practically finished now seemed like a good time to take her up on it. The ride didn't take long but he didn't want to wake Plagg ,who had fallen asleep on the ride, so he took the stairs to get to the front door. Adrien was only able to knock on the door once before if swung open and he was pulled inside and caught in an embrace.   

"Miss me, Sis?" he asked with a chuckle, she only tightened her wrap.

"Next time I'm dragging you here, I don't like you sleeping on the roofs so far away" Fe' told him before letting him go. 

Walking to the couch and laying down he removed his mask, "Belial and PLagg are asleep, I think I'll join them soon" he said. 

Fe' crossed her arms and shook her head but she was smiling "I mean it, I'll hog tie you and drag you behind your bike if I need to" she told him, he only smiled in reply and closed his eyes. Fe' stepped into the kitchen to prepare a platter of a few of Plaggs favorite non-stinky cheeses, she left it on the table for him in the morning. Adrien had forgotten to use an I.C but luckily it didn't seem to matter as the nightmares that plagued him had begun to fade. He wasn't going to stop though, they helped him relax and they were better for him than Ale and alcoholism was not something he was going to gamble with no matter how free he was.

Plagg woke to the smell of cheese earlier than normal in the morning the source of which was quickly and savagely devoured within minutes. Shortly after he heard dozens of police sirens go past the building. Curious and concerned that Hawkmoth might finally be active again after weeks of silence he floated over to Adrien's phone on the table and entered the password. Opening the news app Plagg's eyes widened to the point that if he was in a cartoon they'd have fallen out and rolled away. 

"BREAKING NEWS: Terrorists holding Chloe' Bourgeois and other guests of Le Grand Paris hostage, Demands: unknown, Affiliation: unknown, State of hostages: Unknown". 

In a flash Plagg flew to Adrien's face and burped, letting the noxious fumes of his cheese breath assault the nostrils of his friend and wielder. Coughing and sputtering Adrien sat up but before he could be annoyed and ask why Plagg had woken him so early the Kwami thrust the phone in his face. All he needed to read was "terrorists" and Adrien was up, out the door, and on his bike leaving Belial with his sister. Without thinking they left the phone on the floor with the news still open. The ruckus and relentlessly meowing got Fe' to stir from her sleep, walking out the bedroom she saw Belial at the door and the phone next to the couch. Grabbing the phone on her way to pick up her furry companion her eyes widening as she read the headline. 

At the Le Grand Paris Marinette, Chloe', the staff, and other guests were gathered in the corner of one of the hotel's dining areas with armed guards forming a wall around them. Their captors were still bringing in more unfortunate guests to add to the growing group with much of the staff had been quietly rounded up as they checked in. Luckily Jean had noticed something was wrong and hit the silent alarm before going deep enough into the building to be captured. Cops surrounded the building in minutes to prevent anyone else from showing up for work only to become hostages. Since then the group holding the building have been corralling anyone and everyone in the building.

Most of the guests had no time to react as they were either asleep or unaware of what was happening until it was too late. Several guests had attempted to resist or at least barricade themselves inside their rooms but they were met with overwhelming brutality and were injured but none had been killed. It was clear that whoever was responsible for pulling off a stunt like this they had planned well in advance and were far from unprepared. Marinette feared for the lives of everyone as there had yet to be any demands made, so far they were just gathering everyone together. It wasn't until a service phone rang and one of them ,presumably the leader, answered it.

"To who am I speaking?" he asked, his voice was gruff and clearly was not Eurasian descent. 

On the other end of the line was the Paris police chief, "This is the Chief of Police and for your sake you better not have-".

"Relax Chief, get me the Mayor so you can get back to croissants and eclairs, tell him the Self-protected-freedom (SPF) group sent you" the presumed leader hung up before the Chief could respond. He turned to one of the other men, "Gilson, is this everyone?" he asked pointing his firearm at the group causing many to flinch.

"Almost Breno, I believe the others are almost done checking the roof and top floor"

As the two of them finished their conversation a pair of men came in with a bloodied old man wearing a red button up with a white hibiscus print. "Found this geezer hiding in the dumbwaiter, put up more of a fight than you'd expect" one of the men said. Marinette immediately recognized Master Fu, he didn't look good and it was clear that the men who found him didn't take his retaliation kindly. If she could Marinette would have transformed and beaten a fear of Ladybugs into every armed goon in the building but as things stood all she could do was hope. 

The service phone rang again and Gilson answered it then ,after confirming who was on the line, handed it to Breno, "To who am I speaking?".

"You better not have hurt my daughter, Scoundrel" it was the Mayor of Paris, for once his tone sounded like he had grown a backbone. At the same time the rumble of a motorcycle engine caught the attention of both the police and a few of the men guarding various floors. Adrien raced through the winding streets and alleys at full throttle to reach the hotel before someone did something stupid. 

A few Cheshire officers bared their teeth and approached the new arrival they assumed to be Chat Noir to give him a status update. "Chat, we've got an unknown number of armed persons from 'Self-protected-freedom' holding everyone in the building hostage, the Mayor is on the horn with the leader right now". A radio that had been jacked into the hardline to patch the Mayor through to the group's leader could be heard nearby. 

"We already bloodied an old man and some other dumbasses who fought back but don't worry your daughter's pretty little head is safe, her friend too. But we won't hesitate to start taking lives so tell your cops to keep their distance and I better not see any heroes either. Do that then we'll start negotiations".

"Ok, ok just don't harm my little girl. Police Chief, tell your men to stay behind their cars". The order earned a disgusted and bewildered glare from both the Cheshire officers and Adrien. The Chief sighed and ordered every officer to move back and holster their weapons. There was a long silence on the radio as the mayor waited for further instructions but what the terrorists were waiting for was unclear. That was until only a few minutes later when the cameras started arriving en mass.  

As more and more news crews arrived to report on the situation the radio came to life as the leader began to deliver a speech. "My name is Breno and I am a member of the Self-protected-freedom group, we have been motoring this city for quite some time now. We have seen what the presence of this 'Chat Noir' and 'Ladybug' have done ,along with all their little friends. They have made you weak, complacent, they've lulled you into a false sense of security and made you think that you are protected. We have come to show you that they are not the idols you believe them to be, we have come to Par-"

Adrien had heard enough to grasp the situation,slamming his fist down on the radio he ripped the wires from their sockets on the back. Inside Breno looked at the phone while the dial tone hummed as if it had just insulted his mother, annoyed he slammed it in place to hang up. Not satisfied with simply slamming the machine he dumped a magazine of his automatic rifle into the phone leaving nothing but a mess of wires and drywall.   

Through clenched teeth Adrien told the two officers beside him "They're mine" before walking off. Circling the building he found a way into the building through an emergency exit that normally only opened from the inside. Pulling open his jacket and leaning in he whispered "You mind working you magic?" 

"Why don't you just transform?" Plagg asked floating through the door, unlocking and pushing it open with a muffled grunt.

Slipping inside Adrien quietly closed the door behind him, "Because I need your help, Chat Noir only gets one shot but so long as you've got cheese you don't have a limit" he explained. Trying to connect to the previous wielders proved pointless, there was no one, not even Nalma, "Uh-huh" he grunted. "Plagg, sweep through the building and let me know if you feel Tikki or anyone else. I'm going to check the foundations, these guys came prepared for heroes which means they probably have fail-safe". 

With a confirming nod Plagg phased through the floor above them to do a quick search of the building. "The Kid's smarter than he looks, I can feel the pull of the council trying to convene" the thought of his wielder preventing himself from becoming a tool brought a smile to his face. Sure enough Plagg felt Tikki's aura but there was another very close ,it was Wayzz, something was horribly wrong if both of them were involved in this. Following their auras led him to a bucket in some closet that they were hiding in. 

The two of them also felt his aura, "Plagg, what are doing here, why are you not with your wielder? Without Chat Noir the council can not convene" Wayzz whispered. 

"Adrien knows what happens if he transforms" Plagg replied plainly with a shrug.

Tikki leveled him with a look "Does he know about it?".

The shake of Plagg's head left the air in the bucket still, Wayzz broke the silence with a more urgent matter "We can deal with teaching Plagg's wielder-"

"Adrien"

Wayzz rolled his eyes "Teaching Adrien what the council did ,though perhaps it is best he doesn't serve it again so soon, right now Fu's life is in danger if we don't-". Three consecutive booms followed by a rumble interrupted the Kwami's conversation. Outside officers began ushering news crews and onlookers further away from the building. Inside the hostages whimpered and flinched as the building quaked around them. Breno and the others looked at each other with clear confusion on their faces.

One of them pulled out his radio "Flavio!" he barked "What was that, I thought you said you knew how to plant those things, weren't they a last resort?".

"I did, I-I-I don't know what happened I'm going to check it out now" a voice responded. 

A few minutes earlier beneath the building in the underbelly with the mechanisms that kept the hotel running and foundations that held it up Adrien had found exactly what he expected. It didn't take a stretch of the imagination to know that these terrorists brought explosives with them to destroy or level a building. These ones in particular were shaped blasting clay wads with old cell phones strapped to them which meant all it would take is a phone call to set them off. If Plagg were there Adrien would have had him use cataclysm and moved on but he wasn't and he didn't want to wait to see if the guys upstairs were feeling patient. 

Deciding to take matters into his own hands he tried to gather the charges and displace them to minimize damage if they were triggered. Carefully Adrien moved the first to a corner furthest from any load-bearing walls, the second he buried under sugar and flour bags to contain it. While gingerly scraping the third from the pillar his hand briefly touched an exposed piece of rebar that sparked with static electricity causing the charge to go off in his face. The three were likely linked to go off together as the one buried in sugar and flour detonated, instantly filling the air with particulate. The third followed suit and the finely ground sugar and flower filling the air ignited causing a dust-explosion engulfing the room in flame in the blink of an eye. 

Flavio found the door to the foundations open, "Something's wrong" he thought aloud. 

The other member of the group that had accompanied him was annoyed "Yeah no shit" he spat "Your charges went off by themselves and they didn't even bring the building down". 

Flavio turned "Hey! Even if my charges went off by themselves or weren't enough to bring down the building they would have done more than shake it. Plus I only packed a few pounds ,this is too much destruction for what I brought, someone messed with the charges". What sounded like coughing stopped the two of them dead, bringing their weapons up they cautiously shuffled toward the door. As they grew closer the smoke was so thick it was choking but they pressed on through the thickest part of the plume. 

"Mmmuuuhhg Plagg has some major explaining to do".

In the smoke Flavio could see the outline of a figure hunched slightly holding their head, the fact that who or whatever was down there just survived a blast like that made him scared. Shakily he raised his weapon taking aim and flicked the safety off. The click was enough to alert the thing in front him to their presence and before he could pull the trigger it moved and he lost track of it. Sudden commotion from his left made him pivot to face where his companion was just standing but all he saw was smoke, he was shaking now. Tapping on his shoulder triggered his instincts and he turned firing wildly behind him until his weapon clicked ,signalling he was out of ammo, he quickly reloaded. A short whistle ripped Flavio's attention to it but before he fired a flying rifle from the smoke knocking him out. 

"You really shouldn't fire so blindly" Adrien shook his head but immediately stopped as the movement made it throb in pain. Grabbing the unconscious bodies of the men he had subdued he used the plastic binding each of them had to hog tie them together. With part of his quarry secured Adrien looked himself over, his clothes were in tatters but physically he was perfectly fine save for the Immense pain that had begun to set in. Struggling to his feet he started to hobble up the steps when Plagg came flying at him through one of the stairwell walls, "You find Tikki?" he asked. 

Plagg looked amazed and horrified at the state of his friend but answered his question "Yeah ,Wayzz too, but are you sure you don't-". 

"Wayzz is here too" Adrien's expression though pained conveyed the fear he felt over the implications of Wayzz being present let alone him being away from Master Fu.

"The two of them are hiding and even if they're found they can handle themselves ,Adrien, you on the other hand need to rest" Plagg told him adding in a softer tone "-at least for a minute". Adrien managed a glare but Plagg was unmoved but after a moment of staring at each other caved and explained what was happening. He sighed heavily "Ok I'll give you the short version. Serving the council comes at a cost because of the power that is granted and that price is you must suffer through nine lives. You cannot kill yourself nor can you 'waste' these lives and no matter what you can't not feel pain though it can be dulled but if you just sit for a minute it will subside".

Taking a deep inhale Adrien started to lower himself to sit on the stairs bracing himself on the wall in an attempt to not fall. He focused on his breathing, steady, slow, deep, controlled like he was taught and just as Plagg said the pain subsided after only a few minutes. Standing he took a moment to steady himself and make sure he wouldn’t drop, once he was certain he was fine he looked to his floating companion. A wordless nod let him know he had permission to push on. 

"Wayzz seemed concerned about Fu, I don't know what happened exactly but I have a bad feeling that he needs help" Plagg explained. Him and Adrien went floor-by-floor disarming and subduing every member of the SPF in their way as they moved toward the main dining area. They were forced to use the stairs thanks to the elevators being disabled but using them would have been suicide even if they were in operation. While the pair was moving up through the floors tension was building in the dining area as over the radio Breno could hear his men being taken out one at a time. Outside officers were on edge as muzzle flashes could be seen in windows and occasional stray shots shattered windows causing glass to rain and panic to spike.

Eventually after an hour of gunfire,muffled shouting, and pregnant pauses both outside and over the hand radios carried by the SPF members there was a knock at the door. Breno's head snapped to the sound then to his men, he gestured for them to aim at the door then for one to open it. The one who was ordered to answer the knock gulped before pushing open the heavy wooden door, pointing his rifle through. Nothing was there, stepping into the hall using his foot to hold the door from closing behind him he looked left then right but still saw nothing. Then he made the mistake of relaxing just long enough for Adrien to rush out from an electrical room and tackle him. 

Breno and his remaining men opened up on the doorway unleashing a cacophony of gunfire until their weapons clicked. In the time it took them to run out of ammo Adrien calmly tied up the member he had just tackled and dragged away from the door. When the storm of lead stopped Adrien stepped into the doorway, Plagg floating over his shoulder. A quick whistle and Plagg flew into the room first to the guards then to Breno turning their weapons to rust or piles of melted goo. That was enough to pacify most causing them to put their hands up and surrender out of fear of what would happen if they didn't. 

Breno on the other hand only grew enraged, "I don't need a gun to make a statement!" he shouted throwing his half melted rifle to the floor with a splat. "You’re the Black Cat aren't you, the one everyone's scared of? Well I'm not, I've been beaten, tortured and far worse than anything you could ever do to me!". He ripped his shirt open to reveal a grenade and blasting clay taped to his chest, a crazed prideful smile plastered across his face. That crazed pride evaporated as Adrien calmly and confidently walked toward him, "Stay back or I'll pull the pins and you can say goodbye to this life" fear crept in his voice. Breno took a stumbling step back with his legs shaking and before he knew it the two of them were face to face. 

With an expressionless face and no warning Adrien pulled the pin then put his hands on Breno’s shoulders and swept the leg pinning him, "Au revoir mother fucker!" *BOOM*. The blast vaporized Breno, leaving nothing but a scorch mark on the floor in his place while the force had flung Adrien a few feet into the air. He landed flat on his back motionless with char covering his body but to everyone's surprise he was still in one piece. With ears ringing from shellshock Marinette and Chloe were the first to stumble over to their rescuer before dropping to their knees. They were hesitant to touch him, their hands were shaking, tears welled up in their eyes at the thought that they were powerless to do anything for him. After a minute or two with the ringing beginning to fade the girls realized they were crying.  

Plagg floated over with his arms crossed, casually he floated over his wielder's chest "Come on Kid, don't make this a habit".

"Which part? Making girls cry cause they think I'm dead or blowing up" Adrien managed to ask through hacking and sputtering. 

"Both"

Adrien somehow laughed "I make NO promises hehe-ow".

Marinette and Chloe' had a simultaneous reaction of "You stupid Cat" and pounding him on the chest at the revelation their savior wasn’t dead.

"OW! Hey, do you mind not hitting me right now I'm a bit tender in my...everywhere".

Previous Chapter(Part1)   Next Chapter (soon)   Chapter Guide

[murderhatred]

'𝑰'𝑴 𝑭𝑰𝑵𝑨𝑳𝑳𝒀 𝑵𝑶𝑻 𝑨𝑳𝑶𝑵𝑬' / @kris-thelonelyking​

Chara would be sitting by a pond, she’d be sitting all alone. The sun shimmered in the sky as little rocks would go across the pond. Chara was new to this ‘whole school thing’ she wasn’t good at making friends OR keeping them. HATRED, hatred for herself. She couldn’t do anything right she just wanted to get out of this REALITY; she despised it.  Yet she was still so young,  still a teen after all the things she SAW it still STAYED in her mind, when those THINGS popped up in her mind she thought she was going CRAZY. Fuzzy, everything was fuzzy. People's faces were fuzzy until she finally got to know them, but it was just how her mind worked none of the people faces were fuzzy in real TIME, it was just in her mind.

“...”

[murderhatred]

@thevoidknights​

“I’m human. What are you?”

Chara sat down on the ground, glancing up and down at them but not in a rude way. This creature looked very interesting, was it a MONSTER? She didn’t know but she wanted to get to know this being as well. She takes a bite of her piece of chocolate she loved it. 

[murderhatred]

@bloodbuttercups​ / here

Sorell looks at the other tears dropping from her face-- she was in shock. Another-- that was just like her, she looks at the other VERISON of her before trying to say something but her voice was so quiet. The flower blooming on her new patch of skin from the scars--

“Y--You’re just like me.”

[murderhatred]

cerise would be sitting on the ground in the snow, crying into her hoodie as she rocks back and forth. something was wrong was it a night TERROR? a NIGHTMARE? or just a little thought that scared her to death to the point of her on the snow crying. she was shaking, badly, her face would be red as her cheeks were extremely puffy, her eyes burning red, a flame in her eye.

“n-no...”

“please make it stop.”

[murderhatred]

@ask-thegoatbro

Chara falls onto the BUTTERCUP pile with a HUGE THUD. She winches as her vision as blurry, she blinks while she just lays there. She maybe had a concussion but she didn’t care really. All that was in her mind as-- she jumped. She jumped down MT. EBBOTT and didn’t die. That’s at least she was hoping for, not living but she was still breathing.

Her head started to bleed, where was she?

[murderhatred]

‘ see? kindness is all you need ’ ;; @kindsnob​

“Woah kid. Are you ok?” asked a voice. It was a gentle, soft, calming voice. She’d look up from the fall he took before looking down back at him. She didn’t know there was gonna be another human down here. Now that she was awake, she floats above him, her crimson eyes glowing a bright hue. 

[murderhatred]

@cxnnasnaxlpie​ / * mother.

Chara would be in her room humming a gentle tune as she folds her clothes with a smile. Her drawings on the floor with her FAVORITE red marker. Her room would be decorated in stars and plants she was a little green thumb like her father. As she was folding her clothes into her drawer she pauses-- hearing a whisper. It was a LOW whisper-- it was coming back. She taps her foot as she bites her lip. All she was saying in her head was; ‘go away, go away, go away, no, no, no’ 

“get out of my head.”

[murderhatred]

𝐒𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐁𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐅𝐀𝐋𝐋 / @bonepranks​

Chara would be sitting at WATERFALL, watching the stream go by slowly as it SHIMMERED. She loved it here down in Waterfall. A soft hum comes from her lips as she looks at the locket that someone very-- special to her. The gold outline of the locket shimmered as well. This place was like her get away from everything.  From the Queen, the King and the Prince. Sometimes she needed her own space but she hated being lonely.

Lonely. 

Lonely is what she felt like.

[murderhatred]

continue from here / @kris-thelonelyking​

Chara giggles as a blush surround her DULL paste skin, she tilts her head at Kris. That flirt really made her turn RED and she loved it but as she looks at Kris, she floats towards the ground, showing how short she is which was 5′2. She really couldn’t help but stare... Man oh, man...

“Hm.. Nice comeback, sweetie~”

[murderhatred]

@yettoberefuted​ 

Chara would be picking up flowers in the garden but it was -- night time, why was she out at night time? She had her green hoodie on with some pj pants that were -- comfy for her, it didn’t bother her at all. She looks at the BUTTERCUP and starts to tremble a bit, she makes a sound -- OF PURE DISGUST. She glares at the flower in her hand before crushing it in her hands, she slowly pushes herself up before walking out to the front of the yard.

[murderhatred]

‘little water flow’ [ @encchants​ ]

Chara footsteps could be heard, STICKING to some mud on her boots. She groans while cursing under her breath as she gets on the grass she looks around. She smiles GENTLY as she looks at WATERFALL, everything was so BLUE and colorful-- She looks at the ECHOFLOWERS before touching one; a little whisper faintly comes out but she couldn’t hear it,