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shanastoryteller · 5 years ago

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how different do you think the story would be if draco malfoy had been picked as the hogwarts champion?

draco doesn’t know how this happened, and he’s pissed off in between being terrified. he stands up, nose in the air, and walks to the front of the great hall, taking his place between fleur and viktor.

he expects them to look thrilled. if he’s the hogwarts champion, they’re going to have an easy time of it, but instead the both of them just look concerned. he’s been talking with both of them, friendly with both of them, because he’s not an idiot, he knows what power looks like.

he knows what it isn’t, and it’s him. he’s smart, and strong, but he’s a fourth year and even with all the spells he’s not supposed to know, he doesn’t have the easy, solid presence of viktor of fleur, people who are not only powerful but know how to wield their power, unlike potter who just stumbles around accidentally defeating monsters with that stupid confused look on his face.

then, as if this whole situation isn’t bad enough all on it’s own, the goblet spits out one more name.

harry potter.

of course. draco doesn’t know what he expected, really.

severus yells. his parents make an awful lot of scary threats that he knows they’re prepared to deliver on. his aunt floos over from the magical artifacts office to try and declare the goblet faulty, but it’s not use.

his name came out of the goblet, so he has to compete.

he can’t help but notice, however, that no one yells on behalf of potter, no one comes to his defense in the face of this ridiculous task they’re supposed to complete, not even dumbledore, even though potter’s supposed to be some sort of golden boy. it seems, maybe, that everyone’s forgotten along the way that he’s a kid too.

that night his parents send him a package, and he rolls his eyes because he hasn’t worn something like this since he was a kid, but it’s not like he doesn’t understand the rational behind it. he slips the dainty silver ring on his middle finger, and makes a mental note to fidget with it.

his housemates rally around him when he gets back, faces solemn, quiet as severus towers behind him.

he sighs, rubbing his hand over his face. “well,” he says, “are we going to win this or not?”

a slytherin is the hogwarts champion. he can’t get out of it, so he’s going to win it, he’s going to rub silver and green in the face of everyone who’s ever looked at him sideways because of his house.

over a hundred eager smiles meet him. if he succeeds, all of slytherin succeeds, and so all of slytherin is going to help him.

he finds out about the dragons from Flora, who’s cousin is an intern in the department of magical creatures. snape ropes his newts level slytherins into devising a sleeping potion powerful enough to take out a dragon, and cassius drills him in manipulating the bubblehead charm until he’s exhausted and his fingers ache and lungs hurt. pansy promises to carry the potion with her on the day of the first task so draco can cast a simple summoning charm to get it from her in the stands.

the day of the first task, he summons the potion, casts a giant bubblehead charm around them, then a smaller one on himself, and smashes the potion in the center of the dragon’s forehead. it roars, and blue mist surrounds them, and then there’s a thunderous crash as the dragon falls to the ground, asleep. draco cautiously darts forward to collect the golden egg, darts away, and casts a dissipation spell before ending both bubblehead charms and running as far away from angry, sleep muddled dragon as he can get.

he thinks it’s a pretty impressive display until potter flies around the horntail, outflying and out maneuvering her, and coming away victorious with the golden egg tucked under his arm.

the second task seems to throw everyone for a loop. even severus looks perplexed by the screaming egg, and nearly his whole house writes their parents and uncles and cousins for advice.

it all ends up being worthless.

everyone’s huddled around the egg in the common room, and there’s a pounding sound. draco closes the egg and they all look out the window, which of course leads out to the great lake.they are in the dudgeon after all.

there’s a merperson, young based on the pattern of their scales, who’s pointing towards the egg, and them pointing towards themselves, then gives an approximation of a wink and swims away.

marcus flint, of all people, is the one who figures it out. “water,” he says, “listen to it under water. it’s a mermaid singing.”

his prefect takes him to the baths, and him and as many people as they can cram in there listen to the egg sing it’s pretty song. there’s some debate about what the merpeople will take, with vincent suggesting all his hair products and daphne offering up his broom, but it doesn’t actually matter what it is, because what they take doesn’t change what he has to do, which is get it back from them.

severus offers gillyweed, adrien pucey says that draco might as well take advantage of the bubblehead charm he already knows, and theo, who is terrifying and brilliant, says it’s too bad he doesn’t have the durmstrang ship.

they all go quiet, and severus stands up and says that he can’t hear this, then leaves, “hear what?” theo asks, blinking, and marla, who’s already been accepted to cairo’s curse breaking graduate program, leans forward, eyes bright, and starts coming up with a plan.

then draco finds out they’re taking people, not things, and that’s just not on.

they’ve taken his cousin.

“luna lovegood?” potter asks, confused, because he’s an idiot, and draco ignores him.

the stakes are suddenly much higher. he doesn’t think they’d actually let the hostages get seriously hurt for this contest, but intentions don’t mean much to him right now.

the other three champions go bolting into the water. draco turns and goes the other direction.

everyone’s in the stands, so the durmstrang ship is completely empty. people must be figuring out what he’s doing, because there’s some angry yelling, but stealing a ship isn’t against the rules, so. he does just as marla told him to, and he doesn’t know what and who she had to do to get this information, but he’s too grateful to question it. he steps to the captain’s helm, activates the underwater mode, and the boat sinks into the great lake.

steering is extremely difficult and requires more upper body strength than he’s thrilled with, but he’s surrounded by a pocket of air as the ship zooms past the other contestants, so he doesn’t care all that much. he throws up the shield to barrel through the line of merpeople acting as a barrier. he uses a severing spell to cut the ropes and summons luna into the ship. as soon as he crosses the barrier, into the air, she gasps awake, and he carefully sets her on her feet.

“cousin!” she greets, smiling. “headmaster dumbledore said that i would be thing you most sorely miss. that means you like me, right?”

“wrong,” he says gruffly, flicking her radish earring. “i love you, but i don’t like you, you’re weird and annoying.”

she just keeps smiling at him, eyebrows raised, and uhg, this is the worst, she’ll never leave him alone now. “well,” she says, “we are related, after all.”

“hey!” he says, but she only giggles.

they should be leaving, he’s gotten here first and he can get back first, with his cousin in tow.

but.

what if something happens to the others after he leaves? viktor and fleur will be so upset if something happens to their girlfriend and little sister, and well, it’s not like harry will be any fun to poke fun at if he’s busy mourning his best friend.

he can’t just say that though, and it’s not like he’s willing to come in last just to make sure everything gets back okay.

“cousin?” luna asks, head tilted to the side.

“shut up,” he says, and taps his wand on his hand.

he transforms three wooden dummies with the hostages respective names carved into their chest, then right below it adds early bird captures all the prizes, xoxo draco and swaps them out, although he has to keep the ships shield’s activated while he does because the merpeople are pissed.

gabrielle huddles into luna’s side, who speaks even less french than gabrielle does english, but draco’s too busy steering the ship to play translator.

granger and weasley stand next to each other, staring at him like they’ve never seen him before, and he really wishes they’d stop looking at him. “what?” he snaps. “i just - i’m just trying to - to make them angry, is all.”

“right,” weasley says, eyebrows pushed together. he and granger share a look. draco doesn’t know what it means, but he hates it.

“oh, piss off,” he grumbles as the ship breaks the surface.

the durmstrang students are clustered near the shore. their headmaster looks pissed, but all the students are laughing, so draco doesn’t feel too bad about the whole thing.

viktor and potter bring back their wooden figures, and fleur stops crying and kisses him on both cheeks when she realizes draco’s gotten her sister. potter hugs granger and weasley, and the three of them keep looking at him.

draco gets nines across the board, with each judge deducting a point for stealing, which he doesn’t think is fair. no one said stealing wasn’t allowed after all.

the third task happens, and everything goes wrong. viktor attacks him, and later he finds fleur unconscious and sends up red sparks for her. he ends up fighting back to back with potter, which is hell, and the golden trophy is across from them. he and potter look at each other, for a moment completely still, and then they both go running. draco’s so close, he’s not going to let harry win this, even if the whole thing does seem a bit unfair what with viktor having lost his mind and attacking fleur, but draco’s not about to be a hufflepuff about this.

because there’s no justice in this world, they grab it at the same time.

draco’s used a portkey plenty of times, and it doesn’t disorient him. he lands on his feet with his wand out, and pointed right at a man with overly large front teeth.

a crackly voice says, “kill the-”

draco doesn’t wait around for him to finish that sentence. “stupefy!”

the stunning spell works, and the man falls to the ground with a loud crunch that would be concerning if draco cared. “malfoy?” potter mutters, finally getting to his feet, looking too pale and green around the edges. his hand is pressed against his forehead. “i-i think something is wrong. we should leave.”

“malfoy,” that same crackly voice says, and draco leans forward cautiously. “good, good. lucius’s boy. you’ll finish this, then.”

cradled in the man’s stupified arms is a scaly creature about the size of a large toddler with beady red eyes.

draco’s hit with overwhelming wave of revulsion, with wrongness, that he’s never felt before and can’t explain. “I-I,” he pauses, stepping back, and in front of potter, who still looks like he’s going to be sick at any moment. he keeps his wand out, but uses his other hand to twist the ring around his middle finger three times.

“pick me up,” the thing commands, “we have work to do. i need your flesh.”

oh, merlin above.

there’s two pops, and then his parents are here, following the distress signal sent off by his ring.

“mum, dad,” he says, taking another stumbling step back, finally able to breath when they step in front of him, wands raised, “that’s - i think,” he pauses, “that’s the - the dark lord.” then, because he wants them to make informed decisions, “he tried to kill me.”

“did he,” his mother says, voice icy. his father sighs, like he already knows what’s coming, but makes no move to stop it. “avada kedavra.”

there’s a flash of green light, and when draco peeks around his father’s shoulder, the scaly creature is unmoving.

“dear,” lucius says mildly.

narcissa turns, holding out her arm, and draco tucks himself against his mother’s side. “yes darling? surely you didn’t really want to get involved in this mess again. and,” her voice drops, “he tried to hurt our son.”

“yes, of course,” he says, reaching out a hand to brush it through draco’s hair, “but keep in mind there are plenty of people who will want explanations of what just occurred. he’s not actually dead, you know.”

his mother hums, “well, i suppose we’re changing sides.”

lucius frowns, but it’s not like he’s going to argue with narcissa, so he says, “very well.”

“um,” potter says, and the three of them turn to look at him, “what?”

“that’s a portkey then?” lucius asks, looking to the trophy on the ground. daring, “i’ll handle things here, you go back with the boys. surely there’s someone who set this up waiting for whoever returns.”

“uh,” potter says, “er, sorry, i just - can we take pettigrew too? he - i can use him to clear my godfather’s name, is all.”

his parents both make a face like they’ve smelled something rotten, and his mother sighs. “i suppose dealing with sirius is one of the many prices we’ll pay for switching sides. very well. petrificus totalus! wingardium leviosa!” the mans stunned body rises, and voldemorts’ pathetic corpse falls with a dull thump. she looks expectantly towards them. “ready?”

potter shoots him a desperate look, but if he’s looking for draco to explain his mother, he’ll be waiting for a long time. draco had given up on that by the time he turned five. he wonders if all this means that he and potter will actually manage to be friends.

“come on, potter,” he holds out his hand, “mum’s probably going to kill at least one more person tonight, so best not to start questioning things now.”

“at least two, if i get my hands on dumbledore,” she sniffs, grabbing draco’s other hand so she can travel with them by portkey.

potter looks down at his outstretched hand, then back up, and only hesitates a moment more before taking it. “call me harry. isn’t ant of this, you know, weird for you?”

draco shrugs. “we’re wizards, harry. weirdness is relative, don’t you think?”

harry’s just grabbed the portkey, so his laughter gets cut off, and draco tries not to mourn the loss.

hopefully, now he’ll get a chance to hear it again, after all.

#harry potter #fandom ficcery #welp #this ended up being way longer than i planned #me: i'll do a quick thing to get me in the mood to write #me two hours later to myself: you absolute buffoon #anon #asks

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thebookwormfairy · 4 years ago

Text

Maribat Winx Club Part 3

Part 1

Part 2

Masterlist

Marinette *panicing*: This doesn't make any sense. How can we be family? I was born on Earth! My parents were born on Earth! I'm an Earthling!

Damian gently grabbing Marinette by the shoulder: Angel I know this is a difficult time for you right now, but we need to focus of the mission right now, okay? Let's grab the miraculous and get back to Alfea, then we can all freak out about you and Jason being related there. Okay, Angel?

Marinette: Okay

Jason: Okay! We can have a big freak out party together with your parents, Bruce, and Alfred. Can't forget the brothers and our friends either! We can all have a mental breakdown together!

Marinette: Sounds fun!

Jason went over the the chest and opens it revealing a pair of red and black Polk a dot earrings

Jason: It looks like the Ladybug earrings. Let's head home guys.

As the fairies and specialists press the buttons to head home they all had one thought in their minds

If Marinette and Jason were family what did that mean for their quest for the Miraculous?

After a nice long freak out session between everybody over the apparent relation between Jason and Marinette they gathered in Ms. Faragonda's office to tell her what they had learned on Miracul

Faragonda: Then it seems what I feared has come to pass. I must call Bruce, Alfred, and the rest of the old Miraculous holders

Jason: Wait why?

Marinette: You used to be a Miraculous holder?

Faragonda: all questions will be answered in due time once everybody is here

Faragonda sent out the call to the surviving ex miraculous holders who came right away

Alfred, Fu, and Mariam gathered in Faragonda's office along with Bruce and Jon's dad Clark who was in charge of the Justice League, a group that formed to keep peace in the magix dimensions after the fall of Miracul

Faragonda: Thank you for joining us. As you know the Miraculous have resurfaced and with them the Dark Coven

Fu: We have heard of the attacks we have also heard of the brave students who are working the gather them. *Fu gestures the the young fairies and specialists* I assume these are those brave students

Dick raising his hand: I'm actually a teacher

Alfred: Yes Master Dick and we're all very proud of you

Dick now resembles and happy golden retriever

Faragonda: Yes these are the young people who have been gathering the Miraculous. So far they've found 5 Miraculous, the Fox, the Turtle, the Rabbit, the Mouse, and most importantly the Ladybug

Mariam: That's wonderful! If only we had the Black Cat and a member of the royal family then we could use them to pull the rest of the Miraculous to them

Faragonda: We might have 2 members of the royal family with us in this room. Jason and Marinette can you please stand up here with me

Jason and Marinette stood side by side in front of the crowd of adults

Faragonda: We've been working under the assumption that Jason was just a lucky citizen of Miracul that was able to escape it's destruction, but the Miraculous call out to him. And Marinette gained her Enchantix by saving Jason's life that means their family. I've had this feeling for a long time. Look closely at these two, who do they remind you of?

Alfred was nodding his head looking at the two as if he's seeing them in a new light

Miriam gasped, covering her mouth and tears weld up in her eyes

Fu was the one to put everybody thoughts into words

Fu: They look so much like Queen Clarisse and King Roland

Faragonda: We've been living under the assumption that the Dark Ones were smart enough to get rid of the royal heirs before the attack, but what if they weren't. What if young Prince Jason took his sister Princess Marinette to the portal room and was able to escape the planet but got separated along the way. One ending up in Gotham the other on Earth.

Alfred: That would explain a lot. When Master Jason first joined us at the Manor he use to have terrible nightmares about failing to protect somebody

Fu: To bad we don't also have the ring of the Black Cat then they could call forth the rest of the Miraculous using the Miraculous box

Miriam: But the box was lost along with Miracul

Faragonda: But we might be able to find it if we also had the Black Cat

Marinette: Is the Ring of of Black Cat black with a green paw print on it?

Fu: Yes it is. How did you know that Marinette?

Marinette was hesitant, but the voice inside her head said it was alright to show them the ring

Marinette reaching into her pocket: Last year during our final exam I was assigned Miracul as the dead planet I had to bring back. During the test i head a voice call me into a cave where I found this. The voice told me to keep it hidden and not to let anybody know that I had it

Marinette pulled out the ring from her pocket showing it to the people in the room

Fu: That is indeed the Black Cat Miraculous

Jason: Why didn't you tell us about it soon Marinette?

Marinette: I was scared what it meant if the Miraculous was really calling to me as well. If that means my parents weren't really my parents. If that somehow changed my relationship with them.

Fu walked over to the girl that reminded him so much of his dear friends and put a hand on her shoulder

Fu: Marinette I may not know you or your family, but if your parents took you in and raised you for the last 16 years then you finding out that you are adopted will have no change on the relationship you have with them. Unless you let it effect it

Faragonda: It is time for you two to claim you birthright as the wielders of the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous

Jason and Marinette stared at eachother thinking over what Faragonda had just said

Marinette: But what if you're wrong? Didn't you say that anybody who wasn't the royal family or the Dark Coven would die if they but on the Miraculous

Faragonda: I'm not wrong. I've already seen you use the power of the Black Cat once before during the Scarecrow's attack on the school

Jason grabbing the Ladybug earrings: I'm in if you are Pixie Pop

Marinette tightened her grip on the ring: Let's do it or die trying

Adrien: Wow wow wow, there is no reason for either of you to die

Damian: Yeah I have to agree with Agreste let's try to not kill my girlfriend, Todd.

Jason with one earring already in: Yeah yeah yeah, don't worry Demon Spawn. I'm not going to lose my sister again.

As Jason slipped the last earring onto his ear and Marinette place the ring on her finger to balls of light came put of the jewelry and floated in front of the reunited siblings

The one in front of Jason formed into a ladybug looking creature and the one in front of Marinette formed into what looked like a small cat

Plagg stretching: Aahg finally! You know kid you could have put my miraculous on a long time ago. Your my kitten you got to get a little bit more curious then that

Marinette: Oh I'm sorry...

Plagg: Plagg Kwami of Destruction you got any cheese?

Marinette: Not on me but I'm sure we can go to the kitchen after this

Plagg: It'll have to do

Plagg flew over Marinette and landing on her head and looked every bit like an old house cat lounging on their owner

While this was happening Jason was meeting his own Kwami

Tikki: Hello Jason! I'm Tikki the kwami of creation! I remember you when you were just a little boy! You used to love chasing us around!

Jason: I remember you! You were my mom's kwami!

Tikki: Clarisse was a great Ladybug, but I know you'll do her proud!

Bruce didn't want to interrupt the found family's moment but they need to get this meeting back on track

Bruce: Since Jason and Marinette can wield the Miraculous does that mean they can summon the rest of the Miraculous right now

Fu shook his head: They would need the Miraculous box to do that and sadly we know for certain is in the hands of the Dark Coven

Marinette: But we can choose new wielders of the Miraculous right?

Alfred: That is correct

Jason: But we don't have enough Miraculous for everyone

Alya: Don't worry about that!

Rose: Yeah we all have Enchantix

Alix: This Dark Coven members have no chance against us in those forms

Juleka nodded her head in agreement

Marinette: Then let's give them to the Specialists. I love you guys but you don't have the same protections as the fairies. You'll be safer with the Miraculous

Jon: You guys don't have to worry about us we're Specialist. We are train to go into dangerous situations like this

The other boys go to agree with Jon, but Jason interrupts them

Jason: She's right boys, but we'll need to find 1 more so each of you can get one

Fu: If you two transform using the miraculous you'll be able to focus on a certain Miraculous and track it. I suggest the Dragon Miraculous it's one of the most powerful, besides the Cat and Ladybug

Jason: Let's do this Marinette

Marinette: Let's find that Miraculous

Tikki: Great! Jason all you have to do is say Spots On

Plagg: Kitten all you have to say is claws out

Jason: Tikki Spots On!

Marinette: Plagg Claws Out!

Jason now work what looked like the classic prince outfit with a red and black color scheme

While Marinette wore a tea length Princess Dress with a Black and Green color scheme with black cat ears on top of her head and black lace fingerless gloves covering her palms

Damian stared at his stunning girlfriend

Adrien was watching him with a smug smile

Adrien: Damian you might want to wipe that dwell off your chin

Damian quickly wiped his face only to find no dwell

Damian glaring at Adrien: Shut Up!

Jon: Don't tell him to shut up

Adrien: Yeah don't tell me to shut up

Marinette: I got it! It's like I can see the Miraculous itself!

Jason: Yeah it's on Salerios hidden in the royal garden

Clark: The League will call a head to the King and get him to allow us access

Bruce: We leave in an hour

And before the day was up the fairies and the Specialists had the Dragon Miraculous in their hands

Jason: Awesome with the Miraculous we have and you fairies' Enchantix the Dark Coven ont stand a chance

Tikki: And if you get the rest of the Miraculous and the Miraculous Box we can restore Miracul to it's former glory

Adrien: That'll mean you'll be a real life princess Marinette

Alya: With all the responsibilities that comes with it!

Alix: Like meetings with royals fron other planets and-

As her friends discussed Marinette's future everything really hit Marinette

It finally sunk in that her whole life was a lie

What if she wouldn't be able to see her parents any more

What if she couldn't be with Damian any more

What if she destroyed her planet like the Dark Coven did

Marinette: Hey guys I'm going to turn in for the day

Damian frowning: Are you okay Angel?

Marinette: Yeah I just need some rest after this hectic day

Jason: Are you sure Pixie Pop?

Marinette: Yeah I'm sure Goodnight

When Marinette went to her room she didn't feel any better

She knew what she had to do so she wrote a note to let her friends knew she was okay and headed to the portal room

Marinette stood in front of her parents backery gathering courage for what she was about to do

Tom and Sabine was closing for the night when their daughter rushed into the store

Tom: Marinette?

Sabine: What are you doing here sweetheart

Marinette couldn't help it and blurted out what she had learned

Marinette: I know I'm adopted!

@t1dwarrior-of-earth @clumsy-owl-4178 @vgirl-10123 @aestheticnpoetic @toodaloo-kangaroo @animegirlweeb @k-poplunardreams @our-preciousss @razzledazzle247 @justafanwarrior @kanamexzeroyaoifangirl @eve-v0lution @fusser90 @dast218

#maribat #daminette #damian x marinette #big brother Jason #winx club au #winx club

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geekgirles · 4 years ago

Text

Your Heart

A centuries-long feud between two of the world's most mysterious and otherwordly species is put to a halt by a sudden crisis. Danny Phantom, unofficial protector of Amity Park and indisputable King of the Ghost Zone, seeing no other choice, must make a risky decision for the sake of his people and loved ones.

But can a ghost truly trust a witch given their people's history? Or will he fall under the spell of the hypnotising Queen of the Witches of Amity Park?

READ ON AO3

Word Count: 5725

CHAPTER 1 -- Desperate Measures

Neon green.

Neon green eyes.

The same sight that has accompanied him ever since that fateful day when he was fourteen and he entered his parents’ portal to the Ghost Zone.

The very first time he looked himself in the mirror after the accident he was greeted by those very same eerily green eyes, coupled with no little amount of panic and anxiety. And how could he not be frightened at the sight? Not only his eyes had changed colour, he himself had drastically transformed, too.

What once was a cascade of black hair falling down his face had become an avalanche of white strands. The black and white jumpsuit he’d worn as he entered the portal was still black and white, but the colour scheme was reversed. Surprisingly, instead of looking even paler than usual, his complexion gained a healthy tanーas soon as he learned what he had turned into, he couldn’t help but roll his eyes at the ridiculous notion of a dead guy having more flesh-coloured skin after dying. He couldn’t even recognise his own voice! And it wasn’t the typical “my voice sounds different now that I hear it recorded” type of different. No. There was a certain...echo to it.

Just what had he turned into?

As that first excruciating month after the accident would prove, he’d become a half-ghost, half-human hybrid.

He, Danny Fenton, was a halfa, as the locals liked to call him.

And by ‘locals’ he didn’t mean the people living in his hometown, Amity Park. He meant the ghosts living in the Ghost Zone. The parallel dimension to Earth that his parents had dedicated years to find, hence the creation of the Ghost Portal that led to the start of his rare condition.

And no, he couldn’t say ‘unique’ because there was another halfa that had been around for twenty years prior to his own accident. But he wasn’t going to go in detail about that; thinking about the fruitloop always put him in a bad mood. And he already had enough on his plate as it was.

To say his first year as a halfa was difficult would be an understatement, maybe as much of an understatement as it would be to call the sinking of the Titanic a midnight swim.

His first year with ghost powers had been brutal. There was just too much to take into account when living a double life. And if having a secret of such magnitude could take its toll on an adult, then that was nothing compared to what it could do to the already delicate psyche of a teenager. Wait, psyche? He wondered to himself, Where did that come from? Maybe Tucker is right and I need to meet some new people… Psychological talks are always a tell-tale sign that I’ve been spending too much time with Jazz.

But it was true, wasn’t it?

While his classmates at Casper High worried about pimples, or getting their first girlfriends or boyfriends, or fitting in with the A-listers, thoughts of his secret being discovered plagued his mind 24/7. It was a miracle he hadn’t outed himself the moment he got his powers, given how little control he used to have over them.

And it wasn’t like he could just train his powers and figure out what to do from there in peace. Oh, no. That would’ve made things easy for him and, as he would come to learn over the years, the universe just loved making things unnecessarily difficult for him. He was the cosmos’ favourite chew toy.

No, of course not. He had to learn to use his powers while countless mischievous ghosts set out to complete whatever crazy agenda they had or to pummel him to the ground materialised in Amity Park for the first time in...let’s see...ever?

He also met the fruitloop which, of course, always brought lots of pleasant memories of an obsessive psycho attacking him, mocking him, drooling and pointlessly flirting with his mum, trying to kill his dad, only to then do a complete 180 and try to convince him to abandon his ‘idiot father’ and join him as his own son… No, no! Not going there! He really couldn’t afford losing his temper at the moment.

His only saving grace those first few months had been his best friend, Tucker Foley and, some time later, his older sister Jazz.

Tucker was the first to know about his secret because he was there the day of the accident. Though not a fan of the paranormal, Tucker was really into technology; always had been. Unfortunately, that earned him the nickname of ‘Techno Geek’ back in their high school days. But it was precisely that interest in the crazy inventions his parents often came up with that had led them to checking out the, then busted, Ghost Portal. And it had been his friend’s conviction that the two of them could surely make it work that had led to his molecules getting rearranged.

Jazz was a completely different case.

Growing up with ghost-hunting parents, meaning they focused their inventions on the paranormal side of life (and that included ectoplasm-filled dinners), Jazz had taken it upon herself to be the ‘responsible, trustworthy, and caring’ (her words, not his) older sister. Since they were little, his sister wholeheartedly believed it was up to her to make sure her brother was safe and got the attention he needed, seeing as their parents could be scatterbrained, at best.

It goes without saying that such a mindset, though appreciated as they grew up, turned her into a meddlesome know-it-all in the eyes of any younger sibling. But if the aforementioned younger sibling happened to have developed ghost powers just as he hit puberty...well, that made her a nightmare.

The first few months Danny tried keeping his sister at arm’s length, much to her chagrin. But she eventually learned his secret anyway and kept it away from their parents, something her little brother could never thank her enough for.

How did she learn his secret? According to her, she found out during Danny’s first encounter with the misery-inducing ghost known as Penelope Spectra. But she didn’t reveal that she knew until a certain turn of events.

Said turn of events?

In his shortsighted search for power, the fruitloop had freed Pariah Dark, the dreaded Ghost King, from his eternal slumber and imprisonment. And not only did he free an ancient, power hungry spectre, he also stole the Ring of Wrath, the powerful item Dark needed to gain infinite power alongside the Crown of Fire already in his possession, and took it with him to Amity Park, endangering everyone in the process.

Pariah’s plans to conquer the Ghost Zone anew, only this time he coveted Earth as well, had led to many events in a surprisingly short amount of time. But the most surprising of them all was his ascension to the throne of the Ghost Zone.

After an agonising battle where he risked his very life from merely trying to go toe to toe with the tyrannical spirit, his quick decision-making made a difference that day. Stealing the Ring of Wrath and the Crown of Fire from Pariah Dark in an attempt to keep such raw power away from his person, Danny finally succeeded and imprisoned him once and for all inside the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep.

That day, he saved both his world and the Ghost Zone.

That day he became Danny Phantom; Amity Park’s greatest hero.

...until he, and everyone who had previously been celebrating him, found out that a link between him and the ring and crown had been formed after he defeated Pariah Dark, which made him the new ruler of the Ghost Zone.

All at the tender age of fourteen.

At first, he tried bargaining with the Observants and Clockwork, ghosts who would act as his rule’s Council from them onwards; he tried convincing them of how unfitting he was to rule an entire dimension. And to this day, he still maintained that belief. Back then he was fourteen, he couldn’t even drive, let alone rule over an entire race he barely knew the basics of! Many of the Ghost Zone’s inhabitants were his enemies, on top of that. Just because they’d agreed to fighting by his side during Dark’s return didn't mean they would suddenly be okay with him being the boss of them! What’s more, many of them would surely challenge him for the throne; his rule would be forever accompanied by war and anarchy! And most importantly, he was half-human. How could someone like him, who had an entire life outside the Ghost Zone, ever be fit to be its king?

But the Observants and Clockwork would have none of it.

The Ghost of Time took advantage of his “I know everything that could and will happen” powers to toy with his weakness: protecting his home and loved ones. Clockwork simply pointed out that, as the new Ghost King, he could actually keep a closer eye on his subjects than he did in the Human World, and use his position to protect Amity Park from ghosts by merely implementing some laws. Not to mention, that due to the sheer power he would possess, most of his adversaries would have to be complete morons to even entertain the thought of challenging him, meaning the amount of ghost attacks his hometown endured would decrease drastically just with him as their ruler. And, of course, there was the issue with Vlad… As Clockwork would helpfully remind him, if he didn’t accept his position as new king of the ghosts, then Plasmius was sure to take advantage of it to claim the Ring of Wrath and the Crown of Fire for himself.

And a world ruled by Vlad Plasmius promised to be a thousand times worse than anything Pariah Dark could submit his subjects to.

All of it, every single point in his favour, Clockwork said completely offhandedly. As if he were talking about his plans for the weekend instead of slowly but surely bending Danny’s decision to what he and the Observants believed was the best outcome. Every word was uttered as if he didn’t know the, then, ghost boy would do anything to prevent such a terrible future from happening.

As if the choice was truly his to make.

And that led him to where he was now, seven years since he accepted his newfound role.

In some ways, he remained the same.

His hair was still the same snow white mess falling down his face. His green eyes were still vibrant and alert, if perhaps filled with a maturity and sense of responsibility that weren’t always there. His skin was still the same tanned complexion he wished he could get after sunbathing, rather than the nasty burns he would easily get. And most importantly, he was still doing his best, dedicating every single minute of his life, to doing the right thing, to protecting the innocent, and to trying to balance his responsibilities as Danny Phantom, the Ghost King and unofficial protector of Amity Park, and Danny Fenton, an university student trying to get his degree in Astrophysics while keeping his parents and acquaintances in the dark when it came to his secret.

He still loved space and, albeit harder to achieve, he still dreamed of eventually becoming an astronaut. His sharp wit and tongue had only been honed with the passage of time; his ability to outsmart and to get his opponents to lower their guards enough to defeat them had saved his butt countless times over the years. Deep down, he was still the same Danny. The kind, compassionate, and caring boy who wanted to ensure everyone was safe. Sometimes at the price of his own mental health.

But for every single thing that had remained unchanged, many more evolved alongside the boy.

For starters, he no longer was a boy, but a man. At twenty-one, there was no trace of the baby fat that once adorned Danny’s face, having been replaced by a sharp jawline and sculpted muscles caused by several years of physical exertion. His once scrawny figure was now replaced by broad shoulders, defined pectorals and abs, and bulging biceps. With his jumpsuit accentuating every single sinew of his body.

The jumpsuit itself had undergone minor yet noticeable changes. The white collar covering his neck and collarbone had gradually extended until it reached his shoulders. His biceps were now adorned by two white bracelets each, and his white gloves included several bottoms which activated the different mechanisms he had scavenged from his parents’ trash and had Tucker include in his suit over the years. Just like he traded his old belt for a far more refined utility belt, which also held several surprises. And yet, the biggest change was the logo on his chest. Or rather, the fact that he now sported a logo at all. It was a rather simple, yet witty, design. A white ghost shaped to include both his alterego’s initials; ‘DP’.

It was rather ingenious.

He couldn’t claim the credit for himself, though. He hadn’t created the logo. It was the strangest experience and still, one of the most touching.

One day he was flying over Amity Park, patrolling to make sure everything was as it should, when, thanks to his enhanced senses, something caught his eye. Sitting on a bench in the park was a girl but, for once, he didn’t pay attention to her appearance. He couldn’t, for he was too entranced with what she was doodling on her notebook. Doodles. That was all there was to it, really, but amongst black cats, roses, and the occasional “spooky ghost”, her design for his logo stood out.

He asked Tucker to add it to the latest update of his suit as soon as he went back home.

That very same logo adorning his chest was also engraved on the verdigris medallions keeping his black and white cape on his shoulders. That cape, alongside the Crown of Fire and the Ring of Wrath, were his designated attire as the Ghost King. Jazz figured he could alter his appearance a little depending on the role he played at the moment in order to avoid making the citizens of Amity Park jittery. “We want them to accept you as their protector, Danny,” she once said, “the less you remind them that you’re the current king of the Ghost Zone, the better.”

That was him. The self-appointed protector of Amity Park, and the leader of the Ghost Zone, and his highest priority would always be to ensure everyone’s safety.

Which was why he was about to do what he was going to do.

“Great One,” Frostbite, the honorable, trustworthy leader of the Far Frozen, called out to him, “are you certain there is no other way?”

His King appraised him with a resigned look. Frostbite and his people were some of the first ghosts to accept and respect him, immediately declaring themselves at his service after he defeated Pariah Dark. His imposing appearance, that of a hairy snow monster with sharp teeth and claws and an almost unmatched proficiency in the art of cryokinesis, hid his noble, gentle, and wise interior. The leader of the Far Frozen was an ally, a mentor, a friend...But, unless he came up with an alternative of his own, he couldn’t be of much help at the moment. Sighing, Danny shook his head.

“There probably is, Frostbite. But we’ve already lost enough time. If we don’t act soon, who knows what could happen.”

“I would.” A disembodied voice announced from nowhere and everywhere at the same time. If he were still fourteen, that trick would’ve made Danny jump a few feet high. But that was no longer the case, and he knew the owner of the voice all too well. “High chance, it wouldn’t be pretty.”

“Have you come here to offer an alternative, Clockwork?” Danny crossed his arms. A part of him knew it was futile to expect a straight answer from the Ghost of Time, his lips were sealed when it came to revealing the future. But, somehow, he still hoped he wouldn’t have to resort to, as of date, his most reckless decision.

In a way, the ghost’s appearance seemed fitting. With his fluctuating age and his cloaked self, carrying a staff around, he resembled the Grim Reaper himself. Depending on his answer, he could either save or doom him.

“I’m afraid not, boy. And even if I did, I most likely wouldn’t be allowed to tell you.” Clockwork shrugged, but the smile on his face somehow made the halfa suspect he didn’t lament anything.

Gesturing with a hand at the child-like ghost, Danny turned to address Frostbite. “There you have it. This seems to be our only hope.”

“But, sire,” Frostbite started, worry apparent on his canine features, “surely you are aware of the risks we will be taking ifー”

“I know,” his King interrupted him with a raised hand, “you don’t have to remind me. I was hoping things wouldn’t come to this but we can’t afford to lose any more time. You said it yourself, Frostbite. Aside from a very few ghosts like Wulf, who doesn’t even fully understand the workings behind his power, they are the only ones who know how the Ghost Zone’s portals work. If we want to put an end to our current problem, we have got to ask them for help.”

Shoulders slumping in defeat, Frostbite sighed, “I know, Great One. But I cannot help but fear they will either refuse to aid us in our time of need, or agree to it only to eventually betray us.” A low growl erupted from his throat. “These are extremely treacherous and unpredictable beings, my King.”

“I’m well aware of the risk, Frostbite.” The halfa reassured his friend, putting a hand on his furry shoulder. “But think about it this way: if they refuse, we can start looking for alternatives and avoid any unnecessary trouble from them; and if they accept with any sort of hidden motive, all we have to do is keep our guards up.”

Now presenting himself as an old man, Clockwork nodded at Danny’s words, “It’s truly all we can do.”

Seeing as there truly was nothing else they could do, the leader of the Far Frozen could only pray his King’s noble, yet dangerous, decision wouldn’t become their downfall. Sighing, he finally nodded, silently expressing he and his people’s loyalty to their king, no matter what path he chose.

The halfa smiled at his friend’s understanding nature, but it was short lived. Squaring his shoulders, he motioned to his companions to follow him. “Come on, we don’t have much time.”

The three ghosts made their way around the corridors of the king’s lair inside the Ghost Zone. The hallways and rooms were empty, for once, since the ruler had previously given orders to stay away from his lair that day. It was a day for deliberating his next move, the last thing he needed was to be distracted by his subjects.

He was doing this for them, after all.

Opening the gates, they stepped out into the island, where a green-skinned, ghostly postman was waiting for them. The irony was not lost on Danny: the same ghost Vlad had used to trick his mother and him all those years ago would now be essential for his plan.

With Frostbite and Clockwork flanking him, the young king approached the spectre, a serious look on his face. Extending out his gloved hand, he handed him an envelope. “You know what to do with this.” He stated firmly.

Bowing his head as a sign of respect and understanding, the postman took the envelope from his hand, flying away to the nearest portal.

All that was left to do was wait.

....................

Purple.

Purple eyes.

Once again, she was greeted by the very eyes that marked her fate. Just by having violet eyes, her fate was sealed and outlined for her the day she was born. For twenty-one years she had been greeted by the same sight: striking violet eyes, glossy raven hair framing her face, and fair skin that contrasted greatly with the rest of her features. And even to this day a part of her was still surprised that it was all happening to her.

When she was a little girl, her mother and grandma would often warn her of the future that lay ahead of her, a future she wasn’t even sure she wanted. Whenever her mother spoke of what was expected of her, it all sounded far too difficult for her little mind to understand. And worst of all, far too boring.

Why would she want to host parties and ceremonies? She was too young to even know what they were like! Whenever her mother started talking about the parties she would attend, a bubble of excitement grew inside of her. She was going to go to the grown-up parties instead of staying at home! She was going to have fun and do whatever it was the older girls did there!

...only for her mother to burst her little bubble, as always.

The moment she felt the slightest excitement about the things her mother told her about, the woman would then go into a hundred details that sounded anything but fun.

No, she wouldn’t be having fun at the parties, but tending to her guests. No, she couldn’t dress however she liked once she was older, there were expectations set on her. No, she couldn’t turn anyone she disliked into a frog; of course not!

And her younger self always found herself wondering: what’s the point in being a witch if you couldn’t do anything with your magic?

Thankfully, when her mother became too much to bear, her grandma was always near. Growing up, Grandma Ida had been her role model. She was fun and understanding when her mother was strict and unyielding. She was wise and the ideal mentor when Pamela acted hysterical or unreasonable. But above all else, her Grandma understood her when she was an outcast in her own society.

Being an outcast among witches, how cruel could destiny be?

When she was a little girl she didn’t understand she was an outcast so much as she knew something was wrong with the other girls from her clan. They were never mean to her, per se, but they also never wanted to play with her.

Not like she was ever allowed to play much, anyway.

She spent most of her time awake listening to her mother’s lectures, or trying to pay attention during her governesses’ lessons, or, and this was her favourite part of the day, watching her Grandma in action.

As she grew up, she started connecting the dots, understanding the reasons behind her sheltered and lonely upbringing.

The other girls would never say a mean thing about her, nor would they get too close to her, because she was off-limits. If they ever disrespected her, their families might find themselves in a tight situation and fall from grace. But if they ever included her in their activities, making her feel like one of them, then she could be distracted and get sidetracked from her studies and her true purpose.

Such was the life of the future Queen of the Witches.

Growing up, she often tried to rebel against the role imposed on her since birth. A role she was forced to play ever since she opened her eyes for the first time and that forsaken violet colour appeared from behind her eyelids.

Although a witch didn’t exactly become the queen of her people due to their genes. That is to say, the position wasn’t inherited; it depended on the most important asset a sorceress could ever possess.

Her affinity to magic.

Whoever had the strongest, and hence was the most powerful spellcaster among them, was destined to be her clan’s leader. But that didn’t necessarily mean anyone could be queen either.

That popular belief among pop culture that spread the idea that anyone could do magic if sufficiently trained was absolutely ridiculous. You were either born with the ability to do magic, or you weren’t. Period.

Another popular misinformation humans seemed to be suckers for was the idea that magic came from ancient artefacts or spellcasting. In reality, magic came from within every witch; from their anima. Their own essence. In truth, magic was the ability to channel their essence and project it into the physical realm with the added help of their knowledge of the secrets of life.

Because when it came to magic, there was nothing more powerful than knowing the secrets of the universe. If you knew the secret to something, you knew how to master that something.

Based on those principles, witches chose their queen according to the strength of her anima, and although the throne wasn’t supposed to be passed down from mother to daughter, it was worth mentioning that they did have a Royal family of some sort:

The Mansons.

The family she, Samantha “Sam” Manson, belonged to.

And what was it that turned the Mansons into the closest thing her people had to a Royal family? Their violet eyes.

Their eyes were a tell-tale sign of a superior kind of anima. Just like their irises, it would manifest itself into purple energy; the only kind of energy that could survive dark magic without being corrupted. Sam’s own energy manifested itself in the form of a sparkly, purple mist, confirming her potential as her clan’s greatest spellcaster.

Sam spent the first years of her life cursing her luck. She didn’t want to be queen! She wanted to have friends, to play, to see the world from beyond the clan’s manor’s windows...She...she wanted...she wanted to live.

For years she hated her amethyst gaze, a cruel reminder of a fate that had already been outlined for her the moment she was born and from which she could not escape. But then, her Grandma Ida, the Witch Queen before her, died when she was fourteen, and Sam learned to value her unique eye colour.

It was the only thing she had to remember her grandmother by, after all.

Since Ida never had a daughter, but a son who would eventually marry Pamela, a lesser witch, the clan had seemingly fallen into anarchy. Several witches tried battling each other for control, while the members of the Council deliberated in search for a better solution than mindless duels that could massacrate the coven’s numbers.

And it was during that time that Sam finally embraced what for years had been her greatest curse.

Taking a stand, she casted a paralysing spell in the manor’s Grand Hall, forcing everyone present to stay put and listen to her. With that simple move, she achieved two things. Firstly, she got her people’s undivided attention, and secondly, she reminded them just who possessed the strongest anima.

Although Sam would never admit it, having so many unwavering gazes looking down on her disturbed her a little, but she forced herself to go on with her plan before she lost her nerve. Using that newfound courage, she reminded everyone that, not only was she Ida’s only granddaughter, but she also had violet eyes and, as they’d just witnessed, the anima to match. She brought up the countless hours she’d spent studying to become their coven’s next queen, and she fought tooth and nail until they recognised her as the heiress to the throne.

When the Head of the Council had reminded her of her age, still being too young to rule, Sam made a deal with them. The Council would act as her regents until her 18th birthday, when she became of age and would ascend to the throne as her Grandma, who was considered one of the best queens they’d ever had, would have wanted. In exchange, the girl promised she would dedicate those years to study and train to become the leader her people deserved.

After much deliberation, the Council accepted her offer.

Just as Sam kept her part of the deal.

The four years she dedicated to her duties as future queen shaped Sam’s view on her lifelong duty. She always wanted to change the world for the better, now she had the means to do so. As Queen of the Witches of Amity Park, she would focus her efforts on diplomacy between the rest of the covens spread throughout the globe and hers. She would personally deal with any trespasser or crook who dared threaten her witches’ safety. She would focus her energy on rebuilding the link with nature her people used to profit from.

But above all else, now that they were wandering freely around Amity Park, her coven’s home, she would protect her people from those traitors.

No witch would suffer because of them ever again.

That was three years ago. Now at twenty-one, Sam was proud to call herself the Witch Queen, a duty and a privilege she was honoured to shoulder.

Lost in thought, she gently stroked DeMilo’s head. The venus fly trap had been her familiar since her Rite of Passage back from her 14th birthday; it was the last ceremony Grandma Ida was able to attend. Unfortunately, the memory of her rite was tainted by a rather...unpleasant event, making it almost impossible to reminisce without the feeling of nausea creeping up on her.

After their Rite of Passage, witches got their familiars, signalling they were finally full-fledged members of their birthclan. But while most young sorceresses got cats, or ravens, or any other animal ーsome animals being more stereotypically “witchy” than othersー, Sam got DeMilo. As unusual as getting a plant as her familiar was, it didn’t matter. The girl’s natural affinity to nature made it incredibly easier to harvest the herbs and plants they needed for their spells.

And DeMilo was ten times more interesting than any house cat, anyways. And a hundred times more hygienic than a drooling dog.

“You’ve been staring at the mirror for almost an hour now.” A heavily accented voice broke her out from her stupor. “And then they say I’m vain.”

Turning around, the queen found her lady-in-waiting, Paulina Sanchez, leaning against the door of her quarters, her arms crossed. At her feet lay several toiletries and different kinds of make-up.

Avoiding her gaze, flustered, Sam apologised, “I...I’m sorry. I was waiting for you to come back with what you needed and I guess I got lost in thought.”

“No kidding,” Paulina snickered as she made her way to her Queen’s side. With a wave of her hand, she beckoned the items currently resting on the floor to float towards her, a soft pink glow enveloping them. “Is there, like, anything on your mind? Anything we should worry about? Because, last time I checked, everything was going smoothly for us. Except for that one nutcase still trying to hunt us, but nobody is taking her seriously anyway.” She shrugged, not feeling concerned in the slightest.

Sam frowned a little at her words. She knew of the so-called witchhunter, and although Paulina was right that nobody seemed to take her seriously, it wouldn’t be unwise to keep an eye on her. The last thing they needed was another massacre like the one from The Great Burning. “No, no. Nothing like that, don’t worry.” She dismissed the idea with a motion of her hand. “I was just thinking about the past, that’s all.”

Paulina replied with a noncommittal sound as she started brushing her Queen’s hair. Normally, Sam limited herself to be pampered exclusively if she had an important meeting with the Council or the other clan leaders to attend, such as Coven Night, her people’s most sacred ceremony. But there was another reason why she had called Paulina to dress her up for.

“Is there anything going on that I should know about?” she asked her lady-in-waiting, her eyes never leaving her reflection on the mirror.

The Latina’s gaze hardened, “Harriet is trying to get more witches on her plan to get rid of them, but, so far, everyone seems to be loyal to you and your orders.”

“As they should.”

Unbeknownst to anyone, the Queen’s two handmaidens, Paulina and Star, were also her most trustworthy informants. They had eyes and ears all over the manor, without even using any surveillance spell. The other witches tended to look down on them due to their Valley Girl attitude, which often made them look far less capable than they really were. Which was perfect for them and Sam, because that way any possible conspirators would lower their guard around them.

If anyone sneezed in the manor, they would tell her.

Paulina was about to ask about what course of action they should take, when a shrill voice broke the quiet atmosphere, immediately drawing the attention from everyone present in the large house.

Sam hastily stood up from her chair just as Star burst the doors open, surprise etched to her skin. Making eye contact with her queen, she hurriedly arrived next to her, doubling over and panting from racing all the way there.

Concerned, Sam put a hand on her shoulder as she ordered Paulina to bring her friend some water, but the blonde stopped her with a wave of her hand. “No,” she breathed, “this...this is...too important.”

“Star, what’s wrong?” The violet-eyed girl asked.

Instead of an answer from her handmaiden, she received a neon green envelope closed by a wax seal. If the colour of the envelope weren’t unusual enough, the seal was shaped after a glaringly familiar logo:

A ghost shaped to include two initials; ‘DP’.

In cursive, the envelope said it was directed to the ‘Witch Queen of Amity Park.’ And an array of red, capital letters was pressed against its green surface, reading:

URGENT

Sam couldn’t hold back her astonishment, a hand barely covering her gasping mouth. Absent-mindedly, as if under a spell, she took several tentative steps back, until her back collided with her vanity. She could not believe her own eyes.

The Ghost King was personally addressing her.

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radiant-flutterbun · 3 years ago

Text

It’s Mordecai Part 4

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

CW: Violence and mild gore

“Hello Inkdrop.”

Mordecai transformed into a form that more matched Inkdrop’s. It was the form that looked so alike the Muerto Inkdrop knew.

“It’s good to see you again, sister.”

“Hmm. Don’t like that coming from your mouth. Sounds sinister.”

“You’re the one who called me brother first.”

“Well that’s because… Look. It doesn’t matter,” Inkdrop took a deep breath “I’m sure you’ve been conjuring so many nefarious plans while I was away involving my portal powers. Because you’re like. So evil and stuff.”

Mordecai folded his arms “You’re point?”

“Well, how about a deal? I could let you go anywhere you want to go, as long as you do something for me.”

“And what is it you would like from me?”

“You’re like super powerful and stuff, right?”

Mordecai scoffed “Duh. I’m the most powerful creature in the universe, there's nothing I can’t do.”

“Ok then prove it. Can you bring someone back from the dead?”

“Pfft easy peasy.”

“Show me. Now.”

“Awfully demanding! What happened since we last met?”

Inkdrop folded her ears “My girlfriend’s sort of mom kinda got murdered.”

“Oh no how sad wah wah.”

“But you could bring her back?”

“Of course. As long as I had the remains.”

“Great! If I hop over now I should be able to-” Inkdrop created a portal only for Mordecai to move it behind him.

“No, no, no. You’re not going anywhere without my permission.”

Inkdrop snapped the portal away “Fine. Then neither are you. Besides you still have yet to prove to me you can bring someone back from death. And I mean properly back. My Muerto can perform necromancy. He told me the body is easy, it’s the soul that’s the hard part. Show me you can bring someone back, soul and all and maybe I’ll let you use my portals for whatever you want.”

Mordecai’s tail lashed “Oh you want proof? I’ll show you proof!” He grabbed her hand and began to morph back into his demonic form. He lifted his wing casings and the delicate wings underneath were unfolded. He held Inkdrop bridal style. He took flight with surprising ease.

“I’m about to enter the Gateway, so if you dare try your little melting trick your body will likely be scattered across the universe, so unless you want to never be whole again I advise you staying as you are.”

Inkdrop gulped but nodded. She had never entered one of the godly Gateways that connected the eleven god worlds and the mortal world. She had always just used her own portals. Now that she was inside one she saw dizzying visions. The Gateway showed her images of a younger Mordecai, a younger Muerto. He was punched in the face by his older brother Naperone. Naperone laughed. She saw him at the age of eight, backed into a corner by Match. She saw him swing his scythe, his eyes closed and Match fall to the ground, blood splattering both of them. Then she saw him at the age of twelve, bleeding on the floor with Match holding a still beating heart in his hands.

The Gateway spat them out in a cold land Inkdrop barely recognized. She knew this land. She had been there many times. But the state it was in made it difficult to identify as the Land of Love. No birds sang. No butterflies danced in the sunlight. There was no sun. The sky was dark, devoid of clouds or even stars. The flower gardens were withered away, not a speck of color to be found.

The vibrant, almost dollhouse looking buildings looked the same but were eerie in the lighting. The palace in particular looming over the dead land. The hot pink plastic look of the building felt like a mockery of everything the owner had held dear.

Mordecai stepped on the corpse of a hummingbird and kept walking without taking notice of the now crushed creature. He entered the palace. He was no longer holding Inkdrop, but instead dragging her along with him, his claws firmly gripping her hand.

Littering the inside of the palace were piles of glittering dust. He climbed up the stairs of the palace passing a black door that stood out from the rest of the decor. The door was ajar. Inkdrop peeked inside to see that the several band posters within were vandalized by claw marks. A computer was smashed into bits, and more pink dust littered the room.

At the top of the stairs was a grand, obnoxiously pink door bedazzled with pink gemstones. Paintings of flowers, butterflies and mice decorated the door. Mordecai pushed it open. Inside was once the bedroom of a little girl. Her bed was still made. Her plushies still sat atop her drawer. Her bow and arrows were in the middle of the room, right beside yet another pile of pink dust.

“You want your proof? Watch and behold my power little Inkling,” Mordecai bent down so that all six of his limbs were touching the ground. His antennae touched the dust. They began to glow and so did his Chaos symbol. The dust began to float. Mordecai stood back on his hindlegs. Each of his four hands held an orb of light. Purple, Yellow, Black, and Red. One by one he tossed the light into the dust and the colors began to spin and mix with the dust. And then there was a girl.

She sat on the floor. Her pink eyes wide, her ears folded back, her mouth frowning. She looked healthy and uninjured. Her clothes pristine, her pink tiara Crown undamaged, her heart shaped symbol without a scratch. Her eyes met with Mordecai’s and he took a step back.

“Muerto?”

Mordecai growled.

“Muerto wait! Muerto I -!”

Mordecai leaped forward and slammed her into the floor, snarling. Before she could utter another word, he clamped his jaws over her Crown and pried it from her head. The roots that dug into her brain were severed and blue blood splattered the walls. The tiara Crown clattered and rolled away, pulsing with magic. As the girl was busy screaming with a hole in her head gushing blood, Mordecai focused on her symbol. With his claws he pierced straight through it. It cracked and shattered, turning to pink dust. And finally, as her blue blood turned the color red, he snapped her neck with his jaws, his razor sharp beak cutting through as easy as scissors on paper. In an instant there was a pile of dust in her place.

Mordecai stood up. Blue blood dripped from his jaws. He crushed the tiara, and that too turned to dust. He turned to Inkdrop who was frozen in place, her eyes wide in horror.

“And that’s how you kill a god.”

“That… That was Niossa.”

“Yeah so?”

“She was your… She loved you!”

Mordecai licked the blood off his beak “Not enough.”

Inkdrop felt sick. Without breaking eye contact with Mordecai she clapped her hands and a portal appeared behind her.

“Tsk tsk,” Mordecai moved the portal so it was now behind him, right beside the pile of dust “How many times must we do this until you realize you’re not going anywhere without me?”

Tears dripped down Inkdrop’s face.

“You know what?” He glanced at the portal “I have to admit I’m curious as to where you were trying to go. Maybe I should hop in? I bet you’ve got so many loved ones I could pay a visit to.”

“No!” Inkdrop shouted and whooshed away the portal.

“You’re gonna have to let me through one of those portals eventually if we’re going to keep our deal, Inkling.”

“I don’t understand.”

“It’s a simple transaction. I get something and you get something.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about!” Inkdrop glared at Mordecai “Why did you kill her? She didn’t even bother to pick up her weapon! She just wanted to talk!”

“Because she’s a useless god? I only brought her back to prove to you that I could do it. So you’re welcome, now you know.”

“All those piles of dust… They’re all people! Eumoirous! Kissa! Kalon!”

“Yep and I killed them. I really don’t get why you’re so shocked.”

“But you could bring them back!”

“Why would I do that?”

“Because many were your friends?!”

“Oh I see now,” Mordecai morphed back into his more human-like form. The form that revealed how young he was. His face was so round, so soft, so familiar. “Just because I share the face of your ‘brother’ does not make me him.”

“You’re not wearing your necklace,” Inkdrop noted.

“What necklace?”

“The one Niossa gave you.”

Mordecai lashed his tail “Oh that useless thing? I threw that away ages ago.”

“It was meant to protect you!”

Mordecai laughed “Well it did a shit job at that! I did wear it. And that beast still attacked me.”

Inkdrop gasped “It didn’t work…”

“No shit.”

“That means… No Boo.”

“Who the hell is that?”

“And you never got close to Niossa…”

“Why would I? She tricked me.”

Inkdrop remembered the vision the Gateway showed her. Match stood over Muerto, holding his heart, and there was no one else there.

“Ren wasn’t there to save you.”

Mordecai clenched his fists “She promised me she would be there. I trusted her.”

“Oh no…” Inkdrop put her hand over her heart “I’m so sorry.”

She stepped toward him, and wrapped her arms around him. He stiffened.

“You’ve been hurt more than I can imagine.”

“What. The. Hell are you doing?”

“Giving you a hug?”

“Stop it. Stop touching me. Stop pitying me!” Once again he morphed into his demonic form. He pried her off of him. “I am not him!”

“Maybe not, but you’re close enough that I refuse to believe this was what you really wanted to happen. What about Sepulchral? What about Sonder? Don’t you miss them?”

“Shut up! Shut up about those stupid gods!”

Inkdrop created another portal. “Go ahead. Enter it. You want to see my loved ones so badly? You might find them to be familiar.”

“I’ll kill them too. I’ll kill them a hundred times, thousands even if I have to.”

“Then what are you waiting for, Mordecai?”

“You’re coming with me.”

“I was planning on it.”

He took her hand, and together they entered the portal.

***

It was bright. Inkdrop stood tall and proud in her nocturne form. Mordecai got up more sluggishly. He rubbed his head. He examined himself and his voice caught in his throat.

“Wha- What the fucking hell did you do to me?”

“Welcome to my world, Mordecai.” Inkdrop grinned “Looks like you took the appearance of a coatl, just like Muerto. Interesting.”

“Am I a dragon?” He spun around to get a better look at himself “I’m so fluffy. Disgusting.”

“You kept your antennae. Coatls typically don’t have those.”

His dragon form had little resemblance to Muerto’s. They were both coatls, and they were both dark in coloration, but Mordecai was obsidian over grey. His eyes were red instead of pale. His wings were laced with red, and he had red peacock markings instead of Muerto’s black gembond.

Inkdrop twitched her tail “This world is called Sornieth. It’s where I was created. I’m a Shadeling. I formed when a defenseless nocturne egg was infected with the Shade. Instead of that baby hatching, it was me!”

“Why did you bring me here?”

“If the same rules apply to you as they do for Muerto that means you’re mortal here.”

“What?”

“And your powers should be limited. This gives us even ground to discuss stuff! Maybe we can finally find some sort of compromise. Maybe you could have a chat with Sepulchral or Sonder! They should be right in there,” She pointed to a stone tower in the distance “Maybe they could jog your memory that you’re loved and your friends care about you and hey wouldn’t it be a great idea to bring everyone in your world back to life and to stop pretending like you’re Nefarious?”

“Nope. Nuh uh. Not doing this. Fuck you,” Mordecai pulled out a vial of black liquid from under his floof.

Inkdrop frowned “Hey uh. How’d you get that?”

“You left it on my floor.” A ball of orange light appeared in his paw. He held it under the vial and the liquid within began to boil.

Inkdrop screamed in pain. She fell over onto her stomach and grimmanced.

“Good to know I can still use Sadzi’s power here,” Mordecai stood over Inkdrop who was beginning to melt. “Now bring me back to my world.”

Parts of her started to bubble just like the liquid in the vial. She shook her half formed head.

“No… You’re staying here!”

“Stubborn creature, aren't you?” Mordecai continued to boil the liquid and it began to turn into vapor. “Bring me back now. And there better be no tricks.”

“No!” Inkdrop began to evaporate. The pain was excruciating.

Mordecai watched her, a cruel smile on his face.

“Fine!” With barely formed paws she pressed them together and a portal formed.

Mordecai dismissed the orange light, and the liquid began to cool.

“That’s a good little Inkling. Now pull yourself together because no way am I letting you get away.”

The pain was gone, but Inkdrop was still rattled. She took a deep breath and willed her body to solidify. Mordecai grabbed her and once again they entered a portal together.

#firefly writing #tcotg #shade haven #like to give Inky a pat on the head reblog to give her a hug

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midnighttmarauder · 4 years ago

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Full Moon

Pairing: Sirius Black x Lupin!reader

Summary: Reader is Remus’ twin sister and has always felt guilty that she managed to escape a life of lycanthropy. During a particularly bad full moon, she can’t get rid of the feeling that something is wrong, so she follows the Marauders out into the night.

Warnings: blood, violence, injuries

***

You were there the night that your brother was bitten by Fenrir Greyback. Ever since you could remember, you and Remus had been attached at the hip. Your mother claimed that the two of you shared a bond that she had never seen before, one that went deeper than that of most twins. He could predict the ends of your sentences, and often finished them for you—a habit that you loathed yet somehow found endearing. Wherever you went, Remus was never far behind. You didn’t even mind having to share a room with him, not when he snored or muttered in his sleep. But when Greyback had crept through your window that fateful night, you weren’t sure why he went for Remus first.

It was a miracle, your mother had said, that the werewolf hadn’t seen you trembling beneath your quilt. That your father had woken up in time to stop Greyback from damning both you and Remus to a life of lycanthropy. But there was no miracle, not really, because your father hadn’t been able to stop Greyback from biting Remus. You hated that he had to go through it alone—it seemed to be the one thing in life that you didn’t share. A part of you wished that you had done something to stop Greyback, but what could you have done? You and Remus were only four when it happened after all.

Remus never let you help with his transformations. Your father always snuck him away before the full moon and refused to tell you where they were going. When you and Remus went to Hogwarts, you begged him to let you become an animagus along with your friends, but he’d adamantly refused. James and Sirius had been all for it and thought that it would be useful to have the extra help, but Remus had glared at them until they’d agreed with him.

“I know you feel guilty that this happened to me, but it’s not your fault that I’m a werewolf and you’re not. I don’t want this life for you, Y/N,” he had said.

Guilty didn’t even begin to cover how you felt. It made you sick to your stomach every month when Remus would disappear and return in the morning, his ashen skin battered and bruised. You were desperate to find something to do to make up for it, something to atone for the fact that he was suffering while you lay in bed, listening to his tortured howls in the distance.

***

“Absolutely not,” Sirius said. You trailed after him, struggling to keep up as he marched towards the quidditch pitch.

“C’mon, please? He doesn’t have to know,” you replied.

“No, Y/N. I’m not helping you become an illegal animagus behind your brother’s back. He already said no two years ago. I don’t think his answer’s going to change,” Sirius insisted.

“You didn’t care that it was illegal when you did it,” you countered. Sirius turned and began to walk backwards, rolling his eyes at you.

“It’s not the illegal part that I’m worried about. It’s Moony. I’d rather face the wrath of the Ministry than him. I’m not doing it,” he said.

“Why not?” you asked. Sirius gave you an incredulous look and opened his mouth to answer. “No, I know, because of Remus. But why won’t you really help me?”

Sirius sighed and stopped walking, bracing his hands on his hips as he said, “First of all—Moony is my best friend. I’m not going to go behind his back. He said no when we became animagi in fifth year, and I know that his answer hasn’t changed since. Second of all—you’re my girlfriend and I don’t want you to get hurt. It’s a stupid, selfish reason, but it’s a reason, nonetheless. Remus isn’t your brother anymore when he transforms. He’s gone after me and James before and he’s hurt us. I don’t want that to happen you. And third—the process to become an animagus fucking sucks. You remember us having to hold mandrake leaves in our mouths for a month. It was disgusting. I don’t recommend it.”

“Okay,” you replied with a dramatic sigh. “Those are valid reasons. But I still want to help.”

Sirius groaned and looked around for a moment, as if searching for his patience, then reached out to cup your cheeks in his hands. He stooped to look you in the eyes, ensuring that you were truly listening to him.

“You’re even more stubborn than your brother. My answer is no, and it’s always going to be no. Don’t even bother asking James or Peter, because they’re going to say the same thing. The only other person you could ask is McGonagall, and before you get any ideas, that would be insanely stupid. Not even I would do that. D’you understand?” he asked.

“Fine. I guess I’ll just have to keep making him his wolfsbane,” you said. Sirius poked your bottom lip as you pouted.

“That’s already a huge help for him, and you know it. C’mere,” he muttered, pulling you into a hug. He rested his chin on your head as you tucked yourself into his chest with a sigh.

“Go before James kicks your ass for being late to practice,” you said, your voice muffled by his robes.

“Since you’re already here, and my good luck charm, you wanna watch?” Sirius asked.

“I wouldn’t miss James yelling at you for the world.”

***

The full moon was taking an unprecedented toll on Remus. You had never seen him so on edge the week before the moon, not even when he was first learning to deal with his transformations. The wolfsbane that you had made him didn’t seem to be working—even Professor Slughorn was stumped. You knew it was going to be hard for Remus, but it was going to be even more difficult for your friends to keep him under control.

“We’ll see you soon,” James said over his shoulder as he walked through the portrait hole, Peter trailing close behind him.

“Sirius,” you called, grabbing his hand before he could follow. He hummed and turned to look at you, concern flitting across his face. “Be careful. I’ve never seen him like that.”

“We always are,” Sirius replied.

“I’m worried. Let me come and help you,” you said.

“Absolutely not. The best thing you can do is wait for us to come back. I don’t know what I’ll do if you get hurt. Besides, think about what it’ll do to Remus if he hurts you by accident. It’s too dangerous. Just…sit tight, and we’ll be back before you know it,” he muttered.

“I love you,” you said.

“I love you, too,” Sirius replied. He slipped a hand to the back of your neck and pressed a kiss to your forehead. His lips lingered against your skin for a moment, before he pulled away and gave you a tight nod. Your stomach dropped as you watched him disappear through the portrait hole.

***

You knew that you were being stupid. Knew it as soon as you stepped outside of the castle and into the moonlight. You’d had a nagging feeling that something wasn’t right, and had managed to sit patiently like Sirius had asked for all of two hours before you decided to go investigate. The dewy grass slipped beneath your shoes as you clutched your wand, using the moonlight to navigate across the grounds.

A howl in the distance startled you so much that you dropped your wand. You cursed as you dropped to your knees and began to search for it. Just as you caught a glimpse of it a few feet away, a cloud passed over the moon, and the courtyard went dark.

“Lumos,” you muttered.

Nothing happened. You gritted your teeth and tried again. Still nothing. There was no sign of your wand anywhere as you began to run your hands across the cool grass. A cool breeze raised goosebumps on the back of your neck. You hissed through your teeth as your hand caught on a rock, warm blood blooming across your skin. With a muffled curse, you wiped your palm impatiently on your jumper and went back to looking for your wand. The cloud moved away from the moon just as your hand closed around the handle. You let out a triumphant laugh to yourself and got to your feet, brushing the dirt off your knees.

A twig snapped behind you.

You whirled, dread turning your blood to ice, and felt your entire body go numb as Remus crouched in front of you. But it wasn’t really your brother—not when his eyes held such carnal rage.

The last time you had seen Remus as a wolf was when you were children. You had caught a glimpse of him as he’d transformed back into himself, but he was much smaller then. He was short, gangly, and looked like a harmless pup. This wolf towered over you, its powerful limbs capable of clawing you in half, its teeth sharp enough to tear you to shreds. You took a shaky step back with raised hands as Remus sniffed at the air, his eyes zeroing in on the blood staining your palm.

“Remus,” you muttered, swallowing around the lump in your throat. “It’s me, Y/N. Your sister. You know me, don’t you?”

He growled deep in his chest. Your heart leapt into your throat as you took another step backwards.

“Please, I know you’re in there. You know who I am, it’s Y/N. Please, Remus, you have to remember me,” you pleaded.

Remus stopped advancing for a moment, tilting his head to one side. He seemed to be listening. You nodded encouragingly.

“That’s it. It’s me. Just let me go back to the castle. I’m sorry I came out here. Please, just let me go,” you said.

A bark sounded as a stag and a big black dog erupted from the forbidden forest. Remus let out a terrible howl and launched at you.

“No!” you screamed, but it was too late. You barely had time to put your hands in front of your face as he slashed at you, his claws ripping at your arms. You hit the ground hard, the wolf landing on top of you and knocking the air out of your lungs.

A flurry of black collided with the wolf, knocking him off of you. You choked on the air that rushed back into your lungs as you rolled over and stumbled to your feet. The stag ran in front of you and pushed you gently back with its horns, but you were rooted to the spot. You watched in terror as the wolf and the dog fought, the sounds of snapping teeth and savage growls filling the night.

“Sirius!” you yelled. The wolf turned its attention back to you, and a jolt of terror went up your spine at the feral look in its eyes. It knocked the dog aside, and the scream you let out ripped your throat as Sirius yelped and went limp. The stag pushed you once more and turned to keep Remus back, but he was already reaching for you.

You put your hands over your head and spun away, screaming as claws tore your shoulder open. A bark sounded over the ringing in your ears, and you were distantly aware of the black dog running towards you. The world went dark before your head hit the ground.

***

A burning ache in your shoulder roused you from your sleep. There was a weight on your arm, and you found yourself unable to lift it as you blinked your eyes open. The warm candlelight of the hospital wing slowly came into focus as you began to make sense of the sounds around you. Madam Pomfrey murmuring to your right, the clink of potion bottles that sent a spike of pain through your head, steady breathing beside you.

You looked down and smiled at Sirius, fast asleep with his head on your arm, clutching your hand in one of his. A stained bandage around his shoulder poked out from beneath his undershirt. You lifted your free hand, grimacing at the pain that shot up your arm, and ran your fingers gently over the bruise blooming on his cheek. He didn’t stir as you traced the contours of his face with your fingertips, skipping over the cuts littering his skin. You brushed his curls away from his brow as Madam Pomfrey bustled by, sending you a small smile and a promise to hurry back.

“Y/N,” a voice said to your left. You turned your head and smiled up at James. He looked to be in better shape than you and Sirius, only a few noticeable bruises scattered across his skin.

“Where’s Remus?” you asked. James blew out a breath and sank onto the mattress.

“Just across from you. He’s in bad shape, Y/N,” he replied, jutting his chin at the bed across from yours. The curtains were drawn, and there was no sign of movement behind them.

“Is he awake?” you asked.

“He woke up an hour ago for a little bit and fell back asleep. I didn’t tell him what happened, but he remembered bits and pieces. He knows that he hurt you and he feels awful about it,” James said.

“Let me go talk to him,” you replied. You took your hand away from where it rested in Sirius’ hair and threw off your covers. Just as you were about to pull yourself out of Sirius’ grasp, James put a hand on your shoulder and pushed you gently back against your pillows.

“Pomfrey says you’re not allowed out of bed yet. As soon as Moony wakes back up, I’ll bring him over,” James said, tucking your blanket back around you.

“How are you doing?” you asked.

“I’m okay. Professor Dumbledore came just after you passed out and helped us before anything got worse. I dunno what I would’ve done if Dumbledore hadn’t come,” James muttered. You sighed and put your hand on his knee.

“You would’ve done what you had to, to keep us safe,” you replied. James considered it for a moment, before nodding as if he was trying to convince himself. He patted your arm and stood, glancing over at Sirius.

“I’m gonna go sit with Moony for a bit. Looks like sleeping beauty’s finally awake,” James said. You looked back at Sirius and smiled as his grey eyes met yours. He gave you a tired grin and sat up, tightening his grip on your hand.

“How are you feeling?” you asked. Sirius let out a mirthless laugh.

“How am I feeling? I should be asking you that,” he replied.

“Well, I asked first,” you said.

“I’m alright. A little sore, but I’ll be fine in a few days. It’s not the first time I’ve been thrown around like that.” At the panic in your eyes, he added, “Not by Moony. I’ve been in…y’know, fights and stuff before.”

“Did it hurt a lot? When you two were fighting? Merlin, he didn’t bite you did he?” you asked, your eyes darting across every inch of exposed skin you could find.

“No, love, he didn’t bite me,” Sirius replied. He cupped your cheek with his free hand and ran his thumb soothingly along your cheekbone. “It hurt, but I’m okay now. I promise. Now, enough about me. How do you feel?”

“My shoulder hurts like a bitch and I’ve got a bit of a headache. But I’ll be okay,” you said.

“And how do you…feel?” Sirius asked.

“I’m not scared of him, if that’s what you’re asking,” you replied.

“I didn’t mean it like that, I just-”

“Yes, you did,” you interrupted. Sirius sighed and grabbed your other hand, cupping both of them in his palms. He brought your joined hands up to his mouth and pressed a kiss to your knuckles.

“It’s normal to be scared. I know you might feel guilty about it because he’s your brother, but it’s okay. I was scared after our first full moon. I couldn’t look at him for a week because every time I did, I saw the wolf. But I came to understand that he has no control over what he does when he transforms. He used to cry because he couldn’t remember what he did. Now he asks for a report every month of everything he does as the wolf. One time I told him that he killed a bird, and he cried for hours. Remus and the wolf aren’t the same. You may think you understand that now, but when you look at him, you’re going to doubt it,” he said.

“You don’t know that,” you whispered, tears brimming in your eyes.

“Maybe not. But just know that if that’s how you feel when he wakes up…that’s okay,” Sirius murmured. Something about the gentle tone in his voice and the way he was stroking your knuckles made the tears you were biting back spill over onto your cheeks. Sirius moved to sit beside you on the bed, reaching to wipe your tears as he pulled you into his side.

“I was terrified. I know I was stupid for going outside, but I just had this bad feeling. I felt useless and I wanted to do something to help. I tried to reason with him, but he didn’t recognize me. There wasn’t a shred of my brother in that wolf. I don’t even think I’ve made the connection that it was him yet,” you said.

“I know, love. We’ll all be here when you do,” Sirius muttered.

“I thought he was going to kill me,” you whispered.

“I would never let that happen. I swear,” Sirius said, pulling you closer as if he could shield you from the very idea. You sighed and tucked yourself against him, wincing as you bumped your shoulder against his side.

“I don’t think I want to be an animagus anymore,” you muttered. Sirius’ laugh vibrated against you.

“Music to my ears.”

***

You had already taken two naps by the time Remus woke up again. You started as the curtains around his bed tore open and watched as he stumbled to his feet. Sirius squeezed your hand.

“Moony, slow down! You’ll rip your stitches,” James chastised. He put an arm around Remus’ back and helped him straighten up.

Your breath hitched as Remus’ eyes met yours. There was no sign of the wolf in them, no rage or hunger, but your stomach still leapt into your throat. You only saw guilt in your brother’s eyes as James helped him sink into the chair beside your bed, and then Remus was falling apart.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Y/N. I never meant to hurt you,” he sobbed. You shushed him and pulled yourself out of Sirius’ arms, swinging your legs over the edge of your bed so you were sitting in front of your brother.

“It’s okay. I’m alright,” you muttered, wrapping your arms around Remus’ shaking shoulders. Your heart clenched as he pulled himself out of your embrace.

“No, I don’t deserve that. I’m a monster,” he said.

“Remus-”

“Don’t! I nearly killed you! I remember wanting to hurt you. Smelling the blood on your hand and wanting it,” Remus cried. You rubbed subconsciously at the bandage wrapped around your palm. “I don’t deserve your forgiveness. You’re my sister, and I did this to you!”

“You didn’t do anything. It was the wolf,” you insisted.

“No, you don’t understand,” Remus muttered.

“You’re right. I don’t understand what it’s like to be a werewolf. But I know you, Remus. I know that you would never want to hurt anyone. You can’t control what you do when you transform. If you could, you would be the most docile werewolf in the world. You wouldn’t hurt a soul. I don’t blame you for what you did,” you said.

“Are you scared of me?” he asked. You paused and turned to look at Sirius, seeing only love and reassurance in his eyes. When you turned back to Remus, your heart clenched at how broken he looked.

“I could never be scared of my brother,” you replied. Remus sobbed and didn’t push you away as you wrapped your arms around him again. He tensed for a moment, before sagging against you and returning your embrace. You felt Sirius wrap his arms around you and Remus, and then James did the same. They were like anchors, keeping you and your brother afloat as you cried together.

“I love you,” Remus whispered. You realized that he was saying it nobody in particular.

“We love you, too.”

#sirius x reader #sirius black x reader #sirius black imagine #marauders imagine #marauders era imagine #remus lupin imagine #harry potter imagine

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trickstersteve · 5 years ago

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Flowers of Fate

Loki x Reader

Author: Mel @trickstersteve

This was written for the @captain-rogers-beard Flex Your Writing Muscles Challenge

Prompt: June 1st (prompts used are in bold)

Summary: Loki finds himself back on Midgard.

Warnings: Angst, some fluff. Think that’s it but do let me know if I’ve missed any.

Words: 2367

A/N: Kjæresta is an old Norse term of endearment. While the literal translation means girlfriend, it can also mean “darling” or “beloved”. The other terms kjæren min, and kjære are variations that mean “my dear/my love”, and “dear” respectively.

Stepping uncertainly through the portal, Loki braced himself for what lay beyond. The instant he touched solid ground, the doorway behind him closed, sucking the air from around him and making his ears pop. Wincing, he looked around. Instead of bright lights and deafening sounds like the last place, he found himself in a sunny golden field with nothing but the sounds of birds in the distance.

Where have you brought me this time? he wondered, looking down at the Tesseract between his hands before sending it into his pocket dimension.

Such as it had been since he took the cube from under everyone’s noses and escaped. Since then, he’d traveled, wandering aimlessly wherever the Tesseract deemed fit, passing through distant planets and far off galaxies. Whether it had been only weeks or years was difficult to tell. He’d lost track of time somewhere along the way.

He just knew he was tired of running.

A croak drew him from his thoughts. Shielding his eyes from the sun, he looked towards the source of the sound. A crow was perched on one of the extended arms of some kind of effigy. Arching a brow, he studied the sight. It stood at least two heads taller than him - to be seen over the ears of corn beyond it, Loki gathered - and hung from a post protruding from the ground. The clothes were somewhat familiar, albeit ill fitting and worn judging by the straw exposed by a tear in the fabric.

Midgard.

I am back within the Nine.

That knowledge filled him both with dread and relief. With a sigh, he pinched the bridge of his nose as he transformed from his usual attire into something more appropriate for the realm.

A gasp drew his attention back to the straw effigy. Narrowing his eyes, he passed them over the mannequin until they landed on a small wide-eyed child partially hidden by the post. How had he managed to sneak up on him?

“Hello.”

“You glowed,” the child stated as pressed himself closer to the post. Loki frowned as he crossed his arms across his chest.

“I did.”

“With magic?” Loki nodded, a smirk pulling at his lips. The boy’s eyes sparkled as he gave Loki a tooth-gapped smile. “Are you a wizard?” he asked, his voice an awed whisper.

Loki chuckled softly at the Midgardian term. He took the few steps needed bridge the gap between them, kneeling so he could be level with the child. “I suppose I am,” he answered, draping an arm over his knee. “What is your name little one?”

“Manni,” the boy replied as he rubbed his nose, leaving behind a trace of dirt.

Loki looked around them, wondering why the child was alone. “What are you doing out here?”

The boy shrugged. “I live here.” He turned and pointed behind him at the cornfield. “That way. Mom says I can’t go past the scarecrow though,” he added as he looked up at the effigy.

“Scarecrow?”

“Yeah, you know, to scare birds and stuff,” Manni explained with a half-shrug.

Loki arched a brow as he observed a second crow land on the scarecrow’s head and begin pruning. “It does not seem to be working,” he stated making Manni giggle.

A voice called from not too far off and they both looked towards the source. Manni turned and faced Loki with a dramatic sigh.

“That’s my mom,” he said. “I have to go ‘cause my aunt Y/N’s coming over for supper.” He pushed himself away from the scarecrow and walked towards the cornfield. “Bye Mr. Wizard,” Manni added with a wave before disappearing between the stalks.

Loki remained kneeling, his mind reeling at the name the boy had uttered. A name he’d not heard for what felt like a lifetime. Surely that couldn’t be his Y/N. Could it?

He stood, brushing off the dirt from his knee. Closing his eyes, he summoned an object into his hand. Unclenching his fist after the green shimmer encompassing it vanished, Loki unwrapped a small fabric bundle, revealing a dried lily, its scent long gone from centuries hidden away.

A flower she had given him.

He could still remember her laugh, a melody that could rival any birdsong. Her rose and honeysuckle scented hair that tickled his face as she lay against him. He could still recall every inch of her skin as it shivered under his touch. How her fingers seared him with desire as she absently traced patterns on his chest afterwards. Her eyes, filled with such love only for him. His kjæresta.

Loki’s fingers ghosted over the faded petals as he choked back a sob threatening at the back of his throat.

“Forever and always,” she’d told him when she’d placed her token of affection in his hand.

A promise.

A lie.

The Allfather had seen to that.

A minor slight and Y/N’s father had been sentenced to death and she and her family banished. A slight that proved to be a misunderstanding.

Loki had bargained. Pleaded. Had all but begged his father to reconsider the banishment. All to bring her back.

In vain.

He’d gone to the Norns then. He wanted - no, needed - answers as to why they made it happen. Loki had demanded that of them. Why give him something so precious and tear it from him.

He’d expected them to send him away, to ignore him. To do anything other than what they did. With expressionless faces, they instead beckoned him closer. A silver light - a shimmer really - appeared between them, floating like a reflection on the waves, and they let him into their circle. He stood there among the Norns. One of them nodded and he reached out. He twisted his fate between his fingers. Not to manipulate or change. They would not allow that. Merely to see. To understand.

But he hadn’t then. The privilege had only led to more questions. Above all, would he ever see her again?

Wordlessly, they had taken it back and with a wave of a hand, dismissed him. The knowledge of his future and all that would happen, faded from his mind with every step he took away from those women. All but one image.

A glimpse. Nothing more.

A glimpse of light and of hope.

A glimpse that he’d clung to through everything thereafter.

A glimpse that taunted him. Mocked him every time he closed his eyes.

A glimpse that almost broke him when his life had become nothing more than darkness and despair.

Another lie. Just one more amidst of a lifetime of lies and betrayals.

Silently cursing the Norns, Loki stared down at the lily in his hand. Oh how he’d wanted above everything to be rid of it. To toss it into the void and be done clinging to false hopes and childish loves.

But he never could. Not when it was all he had left of her.

“Forever and always,” he whispered to the ancient token as he delicately wrapped it back in the worn fabric before placing it in his breast pocket.

He looked back towards where the child had disappeared. He hesitated. Dare he hope after all these years?

There was only one way to find out for sure.

Smoothing his hands over his suit, Loki took a deep breath, and followed after the boy. ------ “Auntie Y/N!” Manni greeted, running to wrap his little arms around her waist. Y/N laughed as she brushed back his hair, placing a gentle kiss on his forehead.

“How is my favorite nephew?” she asked, then licked her thumb to clean the dirt from his nose. Manni scrunched up his face in protest making Y/N chuckle.

“I’m good.”

Y/N gently untangled Manni’s arms from around her torso, instead clasping his hand in hers as they made their way through the yard. Her sister came around the house, her worried face changing to relief when she spotted her son with his aunt.

“There you are,” she said as she strode towards them, stopping only a short distance, her hands on her hips. “Where did you disappear to?”

“Out there,” he answered, pointing to the fields.

“Manni.”

“I stopped at the scarecrow!” he protested. Manni looked up at Y/N. “I met a wizard! Like in your stories.”

“A wizard?” Y/N asked in mock surprise, shooting an amused glance at her sister who shook her head with a chuckle. “What did he look like?”

“Tall.” Manni lifted his arm over his head and jumped to emphasize his point.

“That tall?” his mother chimed in. “He must have been a giant.”

Manni giggled. “Nooo. Not that tall mom,” he replied, letting go of Y/N’s hand and running to his mother.

“My mistake,” she teased as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pressing his back to her. He looked up at her.

“He glowed too!”

Y/N arched a brow as a smile pulled at the corner of her lips. Her nephew did have quite the imagination and she loved that of him.

“Where is he now?” she asked him, brushing a strand of hair from her eyes.

Manni shrugged. “Still by the scarecrow I guess.”

Y/N and her sister looked at each other and her sister rolled her eyes. Movement in behind them drew their attention to the man emerging from between the corn stalks.

Y/N’s breath caught in her throat as she suddenly laid her eyes on a face she’d not seen in centuries. His raven hair was longer and he was paler than she remembered but it was the intensity in his eyes that drew her. Those piercing green eyes that stared at her as though he couldn’t believe she was there. Those were the same.

It can’t be!

“That’s him! That’s the wizard!” Manni exclaimed to his mother, pointing to the newcomer.

His eyes flitted to the boy before coming back to rest on her. “Y/N?”

The low, velvety voice, full of doubt and longing was unmistakeable. It was him! She blinked back the tears welling in her eyes because she couldn’t believe that the man standing before her was the same who had whispered in her ear, had teased her and had cherished her a lifetime ago.

But it couldn’t be him. Not after all those years she stopped searching for him in the crowds. Not after she’d abandoned her dreams of seeing him again. Of hearing her name spoken from his lips like she was his everything.

And yet, there he stood. In a suit that fit his lithe frame like a glove. A suit so black, it looked almost green the way the light hit it.

Her heart pounding in her chest, Y/N took a shaky breath lest her voice betray her.

“Loki?”

-----

Loki stood there frozen, his legs seemingly planted in the ground.She had not changed since the last time he saw her. She walked towards him. Slowly. Tentatively. When she was just a hair’s breath away, she lifted her hand. He tensed as his breathing became laboured, his gaze following her every movement. She cupped his face in her hand and he closed his eyes, leaning into the touch.

“You’re real,” she whispered. “I never thought -”

He mirrored her gesture as his free hand came up and clasped hers still resting on his cheek. She was there. Centuries believing he would never see her again. Centuries losing hope of hearing his name on her lips once more.

“Kjæren min,” he breathed.

A sob escaped her lips at the old endearment. In that moment he wanted to crumbled to his knees, beg her forgiveness anything and everything. Instead, he wrapped her in a hug, burying his face in her hair, breathing in the faint smell of honeysuckle that was so familiar and yet not. Her arms wrapped around him, holding him tightly, each fearing that if they let go, the other would disappear. Loki’s hand came up and gently grasped Y/N’s chin between his thumb and forefinger, drawing her face up to meet his. Leaning in, his lips brushed hers. Rising up on her toes, she met him, gently at first, then deepening the kiss with a desperation and a yearning neither anticipated.

“Does this mean the wizard is going to stay with Aunt Y/N now?” Manni asked his mother.

Breaking from the kiss with a laugh, Loki pressed his forehead to Y/N’s. “Only if she will have me little one,” he answered softly as he reached into his breast pocket. He unwrapped the small parcel and Y/N’s eyes widened when she saw what it contained.

“You kept it?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper as she brushed the wilted flower with shaky fingers.

“Forever and always kjære.” She stared up at him, her eyes shining before looking away and wiping away a stray tear as she choked out a laugh.

“Forever and always,” she echoed turning back to him.

Loki let out a sigh of relief as he secured the flower back in his pocket and then claimed her lips once more. Breaking for air, she clung to him, resting her face against his chest. He held her, with one hand entwining in her hair as he kissed the top of her head.

He blinked back the tears brimming his eyes and that’s when he saw it. The glimpse of fate that had followed and haunted him for ages. Right there in front of him. And it was then that he realized.

It had not been a taunt, nor a mockery. It had not been some cruel joke by the Norns at his expense.

It had been the answer to his unspoken question.

It had been a beacon. A light in his darkness.

Leading him back to her.

Forever and always.

Y/N gently pushed herself away and stared up at him with softness in her eyes. “Come,” she said with a smile as she took his hand. “Let’s go home.”

Home. The Norns have led me home.

Loki chanced one last look as he and Y/N walked hand in hand towards the house before turning his attention to his kjæresta, leaving behind the lone sunflower to sway gently with the breeze in the light of the setting sun.

#flex your writing muscles challenge #loki x reader #loki one shot #loki fanfic #loki fanfiction #marvel #loki #marvel fanfiction

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thecassadilla · 4 years ago

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Change of Pace - Chapter 2

Pairing: Kristanna

Chapter 2 on AO3

Chapter 1

Word Count: 3,332

Summary: With her sister’s blessing, Anna takes a step back from her royal duties and finds herself working for a ski resort nestled in the mountains. A chance encounter with the resort’s maintenance technician leads them down an unexpected path, as they must work together to plan the resort’s annual ball - and maybe fall in love in the process.

Author’s Note: Hi everyone! Sorry to leave you all with a cliffhanger last week! This chapter picks up on the same day but from a different perspective ;). I’m thinking I’m gonna update on Tuesdays every week if that’s cool? Or should I try to update more often? Also, if you celebrate Thanksgiving, I hope you enjoy the holiday safely! Sorry for all the asterisked words - tumblr likes to censor and remove posts from tags if they have “bad” words in them, but the uncensored version is on AO3. Enjoy!!!

There were very fews words that Kristoff Bjorgman would use to describe his life; miserable, mundane, ordinary. From the minute he woke up in the morning until the minute he went to bed at night, he wished he were someone or somewhere else.

Nobody stayed in Valley of the Living Rock - often shortened to Valley - if they could help it. The main draw to the area was Valley Ski Resort, which was nestled in the mountains. For decades, the town flourished during the winter months, but suffered as warm weather drew near due to the resort’s influence. Most of the people who stayed in town year round lived above their means, as it was difficult to find and keep work when the money practically dried up in the summertime. That all changed when the resort began to expand - adding amenities such as a pool, archery, horseback riding, and a multitude of events that attracted people during the hottest months of the year.

After the resort expanded, the local government decided to put money into the town itself, enticing visitors to venture away from the resort during their visits and see what the town had to offer. Tourists began to appreciate Valley itself as a picturesque, quaint town they could visit during their stay at the resort, and money began to pour into the local economy. Deciding to take full advantage, the decision was made for the main street to be transformed to a “Winter Wonderland,” with the storefronts adorning themselves with string lights, wreaths, and pine garland in the colder months. Business boomed and as the years went on, more and more people came to visit.

For Kristoff, life in Valley was bleak. Abandoned at birth, it was difficult to navigate the foster system as a small, generally “unwanted” child. He was bounced around a lot in his early years before becoming one of the lucky few who managed to find a family willing and able to foster him until adulthood. But people talked, and in small towns like his, that gossip traveled fast. By the time he made it to high school, he had hardly any friends. The only good thing that had ever happened to him - aside from his family - was his ex-girlfriend, Joslyn. She moved to Valley in their senior year of high school, and was as much of an outcast as he was. They became fast friends and eventually started a relationship. She stuck around for a few years and attended the local community college while they dated, but like everyone else who had the opportunity, she eventually moved on. The breakup was amicable and he admittedly missed her from time to time, but also understood that where she was going was bigger and better than what Valley - and he - had to offer.

As a junior in high school, he’d managed to snag a job at Valley Ski Resort as a janitor, and then after he graduated, he took courses in plumbing, electricity, and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning in order to be promoted to a maintenance technician. It was a year round job with sh*tty pay, but it put food on the table and he had to take whatever he could get. On the bright side, it was a step up from cleaning bathrooms and mopping floors. There was no escaping Valley, for a person like him.

He didn’t mind the work at all, but there were few words to describe how much he loathed the hotel. The people who visited were willing to spend a fortune on the amenities, but were generally unkempt behind closed doors. He could think of several occasions where he’d nearly slipped on a used c*ndom after being called to a guest room for maintenance, or how frequently the pipes would clog because people were determined to flush non-flushable items.

But still, he went to work everyday, and waited to go home. He did what he had to do and he hated every second of it. The only advantage of working at the resort was the employee ski pass that came along with it. He frequently spent his weekends navigating the slopes and had worked his way up to expert-level. Coasting down the side of a mountain was freeing. For those few hours, he could put aside the monotonous life that he lived and could focus on what was right in front of him.

On this particular day, he had a sinking feeling about heading into work. He just knew that something bad was going to happen - he could feel it in his chest. He debated calling out, but because he couldn’t afford to miss a day without pay, he had to go in, bad feeling or not. The feeling only got worse as he climbed out of his car and stared at the main building in front of him.

The interior of the resort was in desperate need of an upgrade; faded, worn-out gray carpet covered the floors of the lobby area, and old-school style wood paneling laced the walls. The guest rooms in the central building remained the least expensive as a result of this, and as part of the resort’s expansion process, dozens of stand-alone cabins were built on the property. Difficult to maintain, but guests were willing to pour money into spending a week in a luxury cabin with the same amenities as a hotel but with the added benefit of a home-y feel.

He walked in through the employee entrance, which happened to be situated right next to the lobby area but was only accessible from the outside. Down a long stretch of hall and then to the left sat the maintenance office. One of the perks of the job was that he didn’t have to wear coveralls like he did when he was a janitor; just dark-colored jeans, a company-provided shirt with the hotel’s name stitched onto the front, and work boots. He dropped his jacket in his locker, grabbed one of the work cell phones so that the front desk could reach if he was needed for a repair or other issue, and walked into the main office, where his boss, Andrew, was scrolling through his email.

“Hey, man,” he said.

The other man glanced back for a second before returning to his work. “Hey, Kristoff.”

“What’s on the agenda today?”

“Nothing crazy,” Andrew responded. “A couple of rooms complained of low water pressure, so we’ll have to check that out. It’s probably calcium buildup that’s clogging the showerheads, or a clog, or something. But aside from that, it seems like it’s going to be a pretty normal day.”

He heaved a sigh of relief. “Thank god.”

He didn’t mind working with Andrew; he was quiet and kept to himself, which Kristoff appreciated. It was easier to work with someone who didn’t waste half the day with gossip or other nonsense. Having a job was about getting work done, after all.

Andrew had a list of the rooms that had been experiencing the low water pressure from the front desk complaints, so when he finished answering his emails, they set off to figure out what exactly was happening and why it was happening. “I bet another pipe froze again.”

“This hotel is so old, do they even realize that the pipes probably have to be replaced?”

“They know, they just won’t listen,” Andrew said, shaking his head. “This is going to be a losing battle for the rest of eternity.”

Just as they made it to the first floor of guest rooms, a call came over on Andrew’s work phone. They stopped in the middle of the hallway so he could pick it up.

“Hello, this is Andrew from maintenance,” he answered, scrunching his face up in concentration. “They said the water smelled bad? Did they say if it was a weird color or anything?...okay, we’ll look into it. Thanks.”

“Another water complaint?” Kristoff asked, once Andrew had hung up the phone.

“Yeah, something weird is going on today.”

“Probably a frozen pipe, like you said.”

They knocked on the door of the first guest on their list, and a woman answered. “Are you the maintenance guys?”

“We are ma’am. The front desk told us that your water pressure is low, do you mind if we come in and take a look?”

The woman shook her head. “I didn’t say low water pressure. I said no water pressure - as in, there’s no water, at all.”

The two men exchanged a worried glance before Andrew spoke up again. “Do you mind if we have a look?”

The woman didn’t answer, but stepped out of the way so they could walk into the room. They went into the bathroom, and attempted to turn the faucets to no avail.

The woman was standing in the doorway, her arms crossed and an eyebrow raised. “Well?”

“We’re trying to figure out what’s going on, ma’am. We’re going to check in with a few more guests and the front desk will get back to you.”

“I’m taking my family skiing, and all I have to say is that the water better be working when I get back or someone will be getting an earful from me. I did not spend all of this money to wind up in a room with no water!”

They nodded in an attempt to placate her and as soon as they made it back into the hallway, she slammed the door in their faces.

“God, I hate this place,” Kristoff muttered.

“I don’t understand how people on vacation can be so f*cking miserable. Management will make sure they get a more expensive room on the house if there’s nothing we can do about it, so I don’t really see the point of throwing a fit.”

“I know. It’s kind of disgusting how entitled some of these people are. I understand the frustration, but don’t yell at the people who are trying to figure out what the problem is.” Kristoff shook his head. “Let’s go to the next one.”

The routine seemed to repeat itself; the rooms were occupied by extremely angry guests who were experiencing a myriad of plumbing issues - either little or no water pressure, foul smelling water, or rust-colored water.

“Something big is going on here. Bigger than just a frozen pipe,” Andrew deduced, after visiting several guests’ rooms and being called a few more times by the front desk. “I can’t figure out what it is though.”

“Do you think a pipe burst somewhere?” he suggested.

Andrew shrugged. “I can’t imagine where. There are guests in basically every area of this hotel and no one has called about a leaking ceiling. Unless it was something in the basement.”

“We should go check.”

The two men scrambled to the basement, but as cold and neglected as it was, there were no signs of water damage anywhere. Just a lot of dust and noise from the systems that were housed down there.

“I’m stumped,” Andrew admitted, throwing his hands in the air.

“It has to be somewhere in the building. None of the other buildings or lodges have complained about issues with their water, right?”

The other man skimmed the list in his hands. “Nope, just this one.”

“Are there any places that guests and employees normally wouldn’t go during the day? The lobby’s fine, the children’s center is fine...wait, what about the ballroom?” Kristoff snapped his fingers.

“Oh sh*t, we should check the ballroom,” Andrew agreed. “No one goes in there unless they’re having some kind of an event.”

“I bet that’s where we’re going to find our problem.”

They raced back up to the first floor and passed the front desk to the corner of the hotel that housed the ballroom. Andrew searched through his massive ring of keys before locating the one that unlocked the doors.

“Holy f*ck,” Kristoff gasped, his eyes widening at the site in front of him.

The entire room was destroyed. The ceilings had caved as a result of the massive amount of water that had pooled from the burst pipe. Nearly everything in the room had been destroyed from either the water damage or from the impact of the broken pieces of ceiling landing on it. The walls were moist, and there was a considerable amount of water remaining on the floor.

“How the hell did no one hear this?!” Andrew bellowed.

“This...is bad,” Kristoff said, shaking his head. “This is thousands of dollars worth of damage.”

“I need to get Bonnie on the phone,” Andrew said suddenly, walking away from the scene.

Kristoff continued to stare in the meantime; the room was significantly damaged. First and foremost, the pipes would have to be replaced - immediately. They were already going to be spending a large amount of money for the repairs, and they definitely couldn’t afford to lose the income that guests would bring in by occupying the rooms in that building. They’d have to drain the water that pooled on the floor, rip out the carpet and gut the walls, throw away all of the destroyed tables and chairs.

When Andrew came back a few minutes later, he was not happy. “Bonnie is on her way and she’s having a cow.”

“Can you blame her? This is a nightmare.”

“I need to see if I can get any of the other guys in today. They’re going to be p*ssed.”

“I’m here and I’m p*ssed,” Kristoff scoffed. “I knew I should’ve called out today.”

“Good thing you didn’t because I would’ve had to haul your a*s in anyway.”

“Yeah, right. Zach calls out once a week and no one ever does anything about it. The rest of us are forced to pick up his slack all the time - if I called out once, it wouldn’t hurt anyone.”

“Trust me, Zach isn’t going to be employed here for much longer.”

Bonnie finally arrived a moment later with a panicked look on her face and interrupted their conversation. “What the h*ll happened?”

“See for yourself, boss,” Andrew answered, motioning to the entrance to the ballroom.

Bonnie peered inside before staggering back and raising her hands to her face. “Oh my god.”

“The damage is severe, Bonnie. The repairs are going to be time-consuming, and you’ll have to postpone any events that they were planning on holding here,” Andrew spoke up. “Most importantly, the guests in this building have to be relocated until we can replace the pipes.”

Bonnie nodded, and for the first time that Kristoff had ever observed, she was totally speechless. In all his years of working around her, he’d never seen her so quiet.

“I’m working on getting my other guys in here,” Andrew continued. “This is not going to be an easy fix.”

“Alright,” she said, before pointing at Kristoff. “You go tell the front desk to start working on getting the guests out of this building and then come back here.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

He couldn’t help but roll his eyes once his back was turned; this was not his job. He wasn’t an errand boy. But because he wasn’t trying to lose his job, he begrudgingly followed her instructions. Once he arrived in the lobby, approached the first person he saw at the front desk, a brunette woman with thick black eyeliner who he recognized from high school.

“Hey, you need to -”

She raised a finger, but didn’t look in his direction. “Hold on, I’m helping my guest.”

“This is important.”

“Sir, you should get in line.”

He glanced over at the line - which was long, because it was checkout time, of course - before interrupting again. “I have orders from Bonnie -”

That seemed to catch her attention. “Let me get my manager out here.”

“Thanks.”

A few moments later, the manager appeared from a door behind the front desk. “How can I help you?”

“I work in maintenance,” Kristoff explained. “Bonnie needed me to tell you that guests can’t stay in this building for a couple of days. A pipe burst and there won’t be any water in most, if not all, of the rooms.”

The manager's eyes widened. “O-okay. What about the restrooms on this floor? Or the restaurants and the bakery?”

“We’re not sure what the situation is with those areas of the hotel.”

She nodded. “Okay, well keep me posted. There are a lot of places on this floor that require the use of water.”

“Has anyone called to complain from any of those places?”

“Not yet.”

“Well, we’ll keep our fingers crossed that they’re unaffected, but I’m sure Bonnie will be in touch soon.”

“Thank you.”

He gave her a slight nod before turning around and walking back towards the ballroom; for the first time that day, someone had actually been appreciative and not downright condescending about the situation. He was just glad that she didn’t rip him a new one like all of the guests had earlier.

“Good, you’re back,” Bonnie said once he finally made it back to the ballroom.

“Any updates?”

“I just made contact with the people in the event planning office,” Bonnie explained. “They’re coming down now. I need you to wait out here for them, so you could tell them about the damage. The annual ball is in three months and this was their venue.”

“I should probably start clearing stuff out of there,” he insisted, hoping to remind her that he was not her personal secretary or a professional bearer of bad news. “We can’t start gutting it out until the water is drained and all of the damaged furniture is removed.”

“You need to stay right here,” Bonnie said snidely, placing a hand on his shoulder before walking away.

“Is she serious?” he wondered aloud, his mouth agape. He really was her errand boy, wasn’t he?

“Hey man, Scott and Dan are both on their way in now,” Andrew said, approaching from inside the ballroom. “Liam and Eli are outside doing snow removal. I’m trying to get in touch with a couple of the other guys, but some of them have to be in for the overnight shift. Management has to take pictures of the damage for insurance reasons before we can touch anything, but we should be able to start getting rid of the furniture later today.”

“I have to wait here and break the bad news to the event planners,” he responded bitterly. “Because I’m not the maintenance guy today, I’m her errand boy.”

Andrew shook his head. “She’s really pushing her luck. She should be the one to tell them since we warned her that the pipes would need to be replaced a long time ago and she brushed it off.”

“You know, I had a gut feeling that today would suck. Wish that I could’ve been wrong.”

“Should’ve checked the calendar, man. It’s Friday the thirteenth.”

He scoffed. “I’m not superstitious.”

Andrew shrugged before taking a few steps backwards. “I’m just saying.”

As soon as Andrew’s back was turned, he rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. It was quite the coincidence that this had all gone down on a day historically known for the bad luck it brought. He reminded himself that he didn’t believe in that stuff; this was a real life situation that had only happened because of sheer negligence from Bonnie and the other people who ran the hotel. If they had just listened from the start and had replaced the pipes when Andrew recommended they should, they wouldn’t even be in this mess. He didn’t necessarily believe in curses either, but at this point, he was convinced he’d done something wrong in life that warranted this misery.

Until he spotted a gorgeous redhead he didn’t recognize being dragged in his direction by the half-a-head shorter lady he knew from around the hotel, and he was suddenly aware of a new sensation different from the misery and dread he was used to - a hopeful fluttering in the pit of his stomach.

#kristanna #kristanna fanfic #anna #kristoff bjorgman #frozen #frozen fic #my writing

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dipplie · 4 years ago

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Temporary list of my stories and OC’s until one day I make a comprehensive and well made list:

Blinded:

Polli: My oldest OC and fun fact was my persona till she become edgy and I wasn’t 12 anymore. Everyone’s favorite yes yes I’m aware. Yellow, energetic, eats dirt and bugs, I can’t tell if she’s evil because of a wisp possession or just crazy. Breaks the 4th wall. Is she a Mary Sue???????? Who knows.

Melody: NOT Polli’s girlfriend despite Polli’s delousions. Has an abusive mom :(. Only has one eye and then no eyes and then robot eyes or smthn idk she becomes a badass when she gets older. But otherwise trembling in her shoes all the time.

Melodys Mom/Sharren: Bitch. Okay well all I’ll say is she’s old and grumpy and probably smells bad.

Louise: Total hotty, rich kid, FtM, got bullied as a kid for his weight. Had a squad of fans basically in high school. Lived with his mom after his parents got a divorce but his mom was semi abusive, projected her femininity onto him, and wouldn’t have been supportive of his transition, so between middle and high school he went to live with his dad and got his sex change and testosterone. His best friend in elementary and middle school stopped talking to him after his transition, and became his competition for the most attractive and sought after boy in school (except Louise is a sweetheart while his friend Tommy is a dick and really gross) His dad runs a company that specializes in technology, and after meeting and falling in love with Melody (even after all her abusive trauma and losing both her eyes) he has his dad and some of the developers create a way to get her vision back and I mean honestly I love him how could you not love him he’s so perfect.

Watching:

Fick: Big nerd boy with thick glasses. I feel like he’d use Reddit but don’t quote me on that. Big crush on Vivinya. Boy don’t wander into the woods- oh look dead body with a curse on it don’t touch it- aaaand now he has a wisp that makes him kill people, way to go kid. Panic attack central.

Vivinya: True crime girl, yucky yucky. Probably had a knife collection. “uwu I’m insane” except she actually is and starts using Fick to kill people for her and treats him like her “Yandere boyfriend” or something cringe and gross oh god. She deserves jail. JAIL. Needs to learn guys need to give consent too. Just overall sucks 1/10.

Tommy: I mentioned him early to be Louises ex best friend and rival. He used to have a crush on Louise actually but that don’t excuse being a BITCH!!!! Also needs to learn people gotta give consent he is just as gross as Vivinya. Cheats on all the girls he gets with because he’s again, a bitch. Idk if he deserved to get murdered though I mean he was still a teenager but it’s fine. Thinks of the song Seventeen from Heathers actually this story does feel a tad reminiscent of heathers with vivinya being a crazy and wanting to off a bunch of students. Huh.

Suzannie: Tommy’s older sister who’s a detective. What a coincidence. Monotone and depressed. Probably because her little brother got murdered. Gets real awkward when she’s talking about her brothers murder(s) to Fick and Vivinya like “when I find who did this to him they’ll regret being born”. Kind of really pretty actually.

Adolescents (there isn’t actually a story here yet but don’t worry about it shhhh):

Nelson: HIMBO HIMBO H- Jock stupid idiot big dork god he’s so awkward and his main personality trait is having a crush on Naomi and being a dork when talking to her. Probably could benchpress you.

Naomi: Gamer or something and a nerd geek. Her main personality trait is having a crush on Nelson and also being a dork when talking to him. Probably a weeb and fandom dweller. Can’t draw but she commissions artists to draw. She does write copious amounts of fanfiction though.

Andrés: Ohhh the school bad boy babyyyy. Baseball bat with nails in it or something. There’s like... A thing between him in Charlotte and he wants to be a thing but she’s being difficult and makes it hard to talk to her or about her and ugh.

Charlotte: Princess, high school princess. She’s actually pretty nice when you get to know her- but she’s a diva. Ballerina after school. Best friends with Naomi and doesn’t know what she’s talking about when she mentions ships or OTPs but she listens anyways because she’s a good friend. There’s like... A thing between her and Andrés but she doesn’t know if she’s super into him but geez he’s really hot but she gets such mixed responses when she asks her friends about it and what if it doesn’t work outttt.

Marlon: They/Them but they’re okay with either pronouns they aren’t sure yet, he or she is okay... Box boy box boy. Autism... He doesn’t want to admit He’s attracted to men but he’s totally attracted to men. He lives alone which is probably illegal for his age but somehow he manages. Everyone thinks he’s “the quiet kid” and he’s really sad about it no don’t make jokes like that please guys ahh-

Sing for Me:

Kat: The color pink, addahadda(adhd), angry and loud and short. For being only like 10 and being an adorable little lesbian dressing in sparkly pink dresses she actually likes screaming a lot and would totally sing heavy metal if her producers let her. Loud and mad but gets so soft around her girlfriend. “If anything happens to Brie I’m killing everyone in this room and then myself”.

Brie: French... Birds and stuff. Loves her girlfriend even though she is so loud. So fast. So much. Likes to write pretty things. Is only like an inch taller than Kat. Filled with so much love for everything.

Elliot: The girls manager. Lots of coffee. Stressed out of his MIND please help this man. Probably gay. Seems like a smug dick but he is just a tall and lanky dork that loves puppies and wants nothing more than for Kat and Brie to be happy. Accidentally brands them as sisters and then Kat kisses Brie and- oh fuck oh shit oh no what has he done. Hides the fan and non fan responses from them. Poor guy.

Horror Hosts:

Ichabod: Hot demon who’s the son of the current ruler of hell or something. I mean he’s hot, smart, and royalty, what more do you want. I very specifically hear the dub voice of Kyoya Ootori from OHHC as his voice don’t @ me. Goat legs????? Yeah??? Don’t be rude.

Barnabie: Ohhhhhhhhh big orc teddy bear I’m crying I love him????? He puts up a more confident ploy and the given stereotypical personality orcs supposedly have but he’s just a shy boy that wants to give girls flowers and call boys pretty. Help him.

Garrison: Gary Burger. Fat hairy gay man. I mean werewolf. Wouldn’t it be funny if I made the whole werewolf thing backwards and made him transform into a HUMAN only on the full moon??? Party animal, pun absolutely intended. LOUD AND FUNNY he’s a dork. Bites. Horny on main Garrison please you’re supposed pamper and flirt with the guests but not quite that much.

Vincenzo: Token Vampire but he’s Italian because I felt like it. Talk and lanky of course. Bitch face. Blood coffee? Yeah lots of coffee. Tired. Let him sleep in Ichabod. Steps on people. Can summon and reanimate corpses but has a bitter attitude towards them because they get annoyed with him as much as he gets annoyed with- everyone else. He does have a soft spot but idk where it is. When he’s talking to guests he’s more suave and sexy though.

Kai: Genderfluid haha get it because slime fluid-... I’ll stop. Probably objectively the hottest because they can look anyway they want and shift their vocals to sound like almost anything, also probably objectively the best in bed (if you’re okay with the texture of Jell-o) and honestly come on save some for the rest of us it’s not fair. This boy can SING oh my god seranade me and whisper in my ear baby. Spunky and sassy.

Hallvor: BABY OCTOPOD BOY OHHHHH I LOVE HIM HE’S SO SWEET AND IS AN ANGEL DARLING BOY SO EMBARRASSED SO SHY SOFTEST VOICE OHHH- ohhh nooo he’s got a knife ohhhhh Hallvor baby don’t be like that ohhhh... Used to work in hentai actually (I wonder why) but quit because of immoral practices and good for him we love that. Okay he’s not actually a yandere or whatever but he DEFINITELY wants to squeeze you a little too hard and has those crazy eyes.

Carla: Main character of this OHHC monster clone. She sucks I don’t like her because listen listen she kills monsters as a living and when she tries to kill our boys here, Ichabod catches her and goes “no” but then the rest (not knowing her murderous intent) fall in love with her and Ichabod is like: “shoot well I’ll keep you alive and around but I’m watching you” and blah blah romance and feelings and character development and wow she seems like she’s grown to care about them... So Ichabod removes a curse he put to prevent her from harming them or leaving... AND THEN SHE STABS THEM ALL IN THE BACK IM CRYING. I mean she might have an extra reason for needing to kill them but I haven’t decided if I want to actually put it in the story yet so.

Fingertips:

Maria/Marianna: Was this goth angry chick and the head of these losers but after a failed heist, fire, and being betrayed and dropped from a window on a 3rd or 4th story down into flames, and going to the hospital and changing her name, she changed totally and become a soft pretty girl... And then the next three boys went “HEY BOSS WE FOUND YOU” and she went “oh no” and now she’s just an anxious wreck like “no no no no no I don’t shoot people in the face anymore no no no no no” And has a fear of hands. Also was Diamontés best friend in primary school and yes all these characters went to the K-12 school all the other characters do/did. Pretty voice. The story is mostly about her being anxious around all the other characters because who was it that betrayed her and dropped her into the flames below? Find out next week on th-

Nikki: He’s that character that you see and immediately go “oh he’s gross and is angry and is a bitch” and you’re right he is and has a cockney accent and screams a lot and probably swings a knife around a lot, but he’s got a sweet interior (somewhere in there... somewhere) Screamo heavy metal. Him and the rest of these character briefly talked about having a band and then they didn’t and then at the end of the story they do and although he plays guitar mostly, if he does do lead vocals he screams a lot. Bitch.

Anthony: Pretty boy but like the “was in the army” pretty boy vibe. Probably played football in highschool. Pyromaniac. Punches Nikki a lot. Almost gives himbo vibes sometimes, almost. Kind of likes the old timey cozy aesthetic. Plays the piano sometimes but “oh I’m not very good at it” Plays extremely well

Diamonté: TALL. Purple goth boy aesthetic hellll yeahhhh. CRAZY EYES AND THEY SPEAK VOLUMES WATCH OUT. Drums. The scary kind of quiet because he just smiles at you. Crowbar. Okay but he’s actually really sweet though. Secretly loves watching Anthony and Nikki get into fights so that’s why he rarely puts a stop to it. I think he’s a sadist. Can be a gentle giant, but can also be a not so gentle giant. The only time he’s really talkative is after copious amounts of booze.

Unnamed/Undesigned 1: Literally a pimp and he’s pretty gross. Blonde hair and pink and white clothes.

Unnamed/Undesigned 2: Chick that likes to throw knives and be angry and threatens Marianna a lot but in a quiet and monotone way, Marianna is pretty scared and hopes that these are just shallow threats uhhhhh.

Unnamed/Undesigned 3: Sells guns (without a lisence of course) and wears a bandana over his face a lot. Tired. Grumpy.

Unnamed/Undesigned 4: Like Marianna, was cold hearted and cool but then got caught in the fire and got all soft. He only has one eyes but how sweet his eyepatch is a heart. Recoved along side Marianna and they are good friends good friends tha- wait Marianna are you going back with them oh god you can’t do that oh dear oh no oh-

(I don’t have a story or name for these two but they’re my comfort ship OC’s and my current hyper fixaction right now):

Rodriquéz: I literally designed him with almost all the traits I find attractive in a guy other than freckles so as you can imagine I find him super HOT. I also designed his personality on what I find attractive from a guy so as you can imagine I find him super GREAT. But anyways he’s grumpy and closed off and monotone and smug. I really could go on for hours about how I want him to step on me I’m so sorry guys. Both him and Samantha give the “21 and having immature fun” vibes. They’re a thing but they like going to bars together and splitting off and doing their own thing (or doing someone else’s thing if you get what I mean haHhahHhahGahGhaha-) But so help them if anyone doesn’t oblige by the “no” from one of these two, someone’s gonna get beat up.

Samantha: (She literally just my personality shhhhh don’t tell anyone it’s a secret) Bubbly, energetic, a little shy by extroverted, bombshell blonde or something? It took me way too much time and effort to design her but I’m really happy with how I finally designed her, I love her outfit. She could kick me in the face and I’d say thank you. Girly drinks at the bar. Got that trauma and anxiety™️ secretly though. Skips and jumps a lot. As I’m typing this I keep looking up at the drawing of her and more and more I would want her to also step on me.

(Space Story I don’t have a nice title for):

Unnamed/Undesigned 1: So... Funny story this story originally was with me and uh... My ex I guess... So I gotta replace the MC’s... Whoops ahaha... Awkward. But anyways the MC is a robot and a girl and is a slight tsundere or smthn.

Unamed/Undesigned 2: Has a space ship, works for this organization in space that protects the galaxy. Is cocky, lazy, sly, oblivious, and an idiot. The love interest- obviously. Probably accidentally committing space crimes. (Like space pirating hAHAHA-) Kind of cool when he wants to be.

Dandelion/Dandy: CAT. WITH A JET PACK. Kind of an asshole. Fun fact used to be Polli’s cat but then when the Second MC crash landed on earth she was like “fuck this noise I’m going with space boy laterz” (okay she can’t talk but she thought it).

Zizii: Lesbian alien? Yeah???? Okay but I mean her main character trait is being a dorky back alley doctor and engineer obsessed with the MC because they’re a sentient robot with emotions and a lazer arm and rocket boots WOW!!!!!!!!

Story I want to revive:

So I had a story I started writing a long time ago about this tech theatre kid that had a crush on this other theatre kid character, but in a play that other character has to kiss another person for the show, and as the story progresses the MC convinces themselves that it isn’t just a play and that their crush actually loves and is kissing that other kid. And in the play, that other character is supposed to die. Show night comes along and they die, but like actually, and by the hands of the MC (Idk maybe like a light falls on em or smthn). So it’s a grotesque scene the audience sees as just an act. (Mutters I dunno I think my idea’s cool...) So I’ve been wanting to design these characters and work more on the story but I’m busy being obsessed with Rodriquez and Samantha so. (And the Horror Host Club too I love them too still).

Other Characters that either don’t have a specific story or are kind of like background characters:

Jacqueiliquinne Merril: Sara Berry vibes from 35mm (go look up The Ballad of Sara Berry, maybe like an animatic idk the first one that comes up is nice) But otherwise rich, pretty, popular, bitch. Tries to like, steal Louise from his squad and it’s like bro that’s unnecessary who hurt you that’s so rude. She gives Nui from Kill La Kill Vibes too. Oh she knows her name is long and annoying but you have to say the whole thing.

Brianna: Jaqueiliquinne’s sister. Big titty goth gf??? She’s pretty popular too and kind of a bitch too but to a much lesser degree. Her and he sister throw hands a lot when no one is around, you know, “THEY GIRLS ARE FIGHTINNGGGG”.

The Louise Fan Club: 4 characters I haven’t named yet. One writes fanfiction of Louise and shares it with the others and with him sometimes and although he thinks it’s a bit weird he also finds it a tad endearing and supports her. One is an aspiring photographer and is constantly asking Louise to model for him. One is an artist and draws Louise all the time. And one is an aspiring musician who writes songs based of Louise’s relationships which again he finds a little weird but endearing and supports her.

The Jacquiliquinne Merril Fan Club: Genderbent-ish (I say ish because one of the characters is a little bit less defined gender wise) versions of the Louise Fan Club. Yes I’m lazy, and no they don’t get along with them, infact they hate each others club with a passion.

Unnamed/Undesigned: I wanna make some hacker kid just because I wanna have one.

Unnamed/Undesigned: I also really wanna have a super cutesy magical girl and then a really super duper generic boring character probably like star vs the forces of evil idk I never watched that show but it looks cute.

Me: I exist in the universe fukc you I can do what I want it’s my story and I get to chose the who also if you wanna be in the mess of a universe go ahead draw yourself with my OC’s I allow and encourage and appreciate it. I literally made the Horror Host Club as a sort of Harem story and you are absolutely allowed to make out with them if you’re a monster fucker DO it GO ahead it’s canon.

and that is ALL I have FOR now Knowing me I’ll make like 12 more characters by July, and I mean I need more characters for the high school anyways so...

#Super Long #Characters #OC's #ALL my characters so far

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bubblyani · 5 years ago

Text

Deeper Relations: 06

(Freddie Jackson x Reader)

A Freddie Jackson Multi Chapter Series

Chapter 06: The Submission

Rating: Mature (18+)

Requested by : @97freaknik

Summary: Being the youngest sister of Jackie and Maggie, you were quite young when Freddie Jackson went to prison. Upon his return, you cannot help but recall your innocent love you had for him back then. And surprised by your transformation into womanhood, Freddie cannot help but form a desire towards you. Will a dangerously seductive attraction grow between the two of you? What will be the consequences?

Author’s Note: Been waiting for so long to finally get to this part. Hope y’all enjoy 😉

Series Masterlist HERE

Which day was it out there, you did not know. Nor did you even bother to care. When you chose to be stuck in the confines of your room, how could you?

In the midst of sleep, you were a frequent guest. You were always ready to be after all the crying. With your cheeks stained with tears, you were moisturized enough to lay your face on the pillow and drift into a place where nothing had happened and you felt nothing. Eating seemed unnecessary, so you did less of it. Talking had no place in your heart either, thus you barely heard your own voice. For even when you cried, it was silent and soulless. Your mother was worried, so were your sisters, both of them. Every now and then, you’d hear them talk. Through the door in hopeful attempts to cheer you up, but they received no answer. To be frank, this ordeal was not much of an ordeal altogether. But it turned out to be one with the wrong timing. A period of time that left you vulnerable and in need of love and protection.

Four days later, the phone rang loudly for you. It was only informed to you through Maggie’s knocks on the door. After giving in to her insistence, you forced yourself out of bed, to walk out to the living room.

“Hello?” You answered in a throaty voice.

“Fuckin’ Hell!” Heath, your friend replied, “Y/N, you sound like shit”

You rolled your eyes with annoyance.

“I’m hanging up now” “NO WAIT WAIT!”

Heath was quick to respond with an apologetic tone,“Look…” he sighed, before continuing, “I heard everything from your sister. You can’t just stay locked up in your room forever, Y/N” he said, sounding genuinely concerned, “How about we blow off some steam, eh?”

“And how do you propose we do that exactly?” You asked with snark. “Dancing, my love!”

Although he could not see your reaction, you were not hesitant to shake your head furiously. “Oh no no no, Heath No-” “Come ON! Y/N!” He interrupted, “You always held yourself back when me and the lads from Uni would go…” he added, “Besides, you’re a great dancer, so it’s really a waste!” “I…uh…” you paused, struggling to respond. He does make some convincing points.  

“Please Y/N, say yes. You’ll finally get to meet Liza”  

“Is she the new one?” 

“Yeah…” Heath said, “Come on! You know it’s going to be fun. Please, Y/N! I miss my friend”

And there he went, putting the friend card in the conversation. For a second, you could sense a hint of sadness in his voice. As if he really meant those words. As this was the first ever time Heath had gone out of his way to call you. To even check up on you, guilt came over you much faster than expected. You sighed to surrender.

“Alright…I’m in”

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(Friday night)

After feeding your ears to sombre, sad music for five days straight, your body felt reborn when the festive, groovy songs called to you from the distance.

Stepping into the club, the disco lights greeted you, resting on your body, washing all over you. Fully refreshed by the illumination, you felt the depression within you disappear altogether.

Heath picked you up from home that evening. His new girlfriend Liza, was a pleasant girl to be around, so you did not mind the extra company at all. Besides, going as a group felt more comforting than going alone.

Passing through the crowd, you felt many eyes on you, remaining on you until you vanished from their sights. It made you more self aware. But it was also a good sign for looking presentable. You knew you were well groomed, you made sure of that. Today was special. You bathed instead of showering, pampering your skin with bath salts and warm foam instead of attacking it with the hot pressurized shower water. As your body slowly moved and grooved to the music, the soft, shiny curls bounced on your shoulders, complimenting the pink hues on your cheeks and the shiny rouge on your lips.

With music reuniting with your body after a while, you were certainly ready to dance your troubles away, and to wipe an unwanted slate clean.

“Y/N…”

You froze. It was Marcus’ voice. As you quickly turned to find you standing before you, you felt your heart sink. With the lights flashing behind him, he appeared ethereal. The fact you thought of him as such made your heart sink even further. Seeing that angelic face brought nothing but cruel reminders. Your suffering, your embarrassment. Two weeks of so-called ‘Happiness’ that turned out to be lies.

“What are you doing here?” You asked curtly. The minute you realized Heath stood behind you with a knowing look, made you gasp.

“Wait! Did you know?” You asked angrily, turning to him. Rubbing his own neck, Heath took a deep breath.

“Y/N…” He began, “You have to understand. You two are my best mates. You can’t expect me to just stand there on the sidelines when this friendship crumbles to the ground. I miss you both” he continued, “So please! Stop being such fuckin’ cunts and talk it out!” He finished it with frustration.

Grabbing his girlfriend by the hand, he headed to the bar. Even with the large crowd invading the dance floor, you and Marcus felt completely isolated. All the sudden, you were not relaxed anymore.

“Y/N…” Marcus began with caution, “ I know….You’re furious. And I’m sorry. I really am, you have to know that-”

“I’m not a stranger to people ignoring me, Marcus”

Looking up, you finally had the courage to speak up “But this…this was not what I had in mind. Not when it was my best friend who I…thought I loved ” the more you talked, the more you opened up, “What we had…I treasured it so much. You know I was going through shit when you…But ditching me like that? In front of my family, with no news what so ever…? ” looking at him with genuine sadness, you continued, “You humiliated me…Why?” You scoffed, “Am I not pretty anymore? Did I do something wrong-”

“Y/N, nothing is wrong with you…It’s just-”

“What?”

With hands on one’s hips, you asked him. With a heavy sigh, Marcus pressed his lips tightly.

“My parents…” he began, “They…weren’t the most pleased when they heard I was dating you.They kept using the word ‘unsuitable-”

“Is it because of my family, Marcus?” You asked him in the most straightforward manner possible. It surprised him. When he opened his mouth, nothing came out. “Y/N I-” “IS IT?” “YES! okay?” Your fist clenched as you kept staring at him, “What? Is it cause my sisters are dating gangsters? Is that it?” You asked, “And that suddenly makes me one of them? Suddenly I’m not good enough?” “You know I don’t think that way-” “Oh Piss off!” You said with squinted eyes, “We both clearly know you love your parents, of course you feel that way too…” “Y/N Please understand that I’m really confused here…” “Well, given the fact you didn’t show up that day, I’m happy to inform you that you’re really not…the answer is already there, mate!” You snapped. With his eyes closed, Marcus appeared to be in a difficult position. But it was clearly not your issue.

“Now…” you began, “If you excuse me…I’m off to engage in some unsuitable activities!”

As you said it in an ironic tone, you shot him one last look before you headed over to the bar. You walked over there with much intention. As much as you were offended, you were also very hurt. For this was your reality. No matter what you would do. no matter how hard you would try, you would always be seen as the bad girl. Gangster blood.

Grabbing a barstool, you luckily found yourself next to Heath, who looked quite hopeful.

“So? You had the talk?” He asked eagerly, looking for any trace of Marcus nearby.

“Oh… we talked…” you said through gritted teeth, trying to signal the bartender.  

“You need shots?” Your friend asked as he offered to make the order. You nodded.

“Yeah…A fuck ton!”

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The moment when your fingers felt light, that was when you stopped drinking. Pushing yourself away from the bar, your movements felt smoother and you finally felt peace of mind. You were at peace, away from the chaos that you longed to escape from. You just didn’t care anymore. For no one really cared for you.

With alcohol freeing you from your inhibitions, you began to dance. Provocatively, in fact. You felt liberated when your body moved from side to side, when it rolled with much lithe that it appeared more beautiful in your one shoulder dress. Though you danced among the others, with your eyes closed in your own world, you were the only one.

You heard people approve of your dancing, you heard their admiration. Fueling your self confidence, you danced even more. Comments from afar seemed sufficient. Until someone decided to ruin it by intruding your space.

“Well, Hello Beautiful…”

An uninvited hand slithered over your waist. Opening your eyes, you found a young man dancing with you. He was around your age, possibly someone from your university. But you didn’t know him. He was not bad looking, although that did not excuse him from acting this way. Especially when you did not offer any sort of consent. His eyes were filled with lust, predatory to be specific. Bringing you closer, he freely allowed his hand to wander further down, shocking you by grabbing your buttocks.

You felt violated, disgusted. Pushing him away, you shot him a threatening look.

“Stop touching me!” You said, for you were not in the mood to be polite.

“Well look who’s talking now?” The young man drawled, pushing himself against you once again, trying his hardest to rest his hands on your body “Come on, babe…you know you want this-”

“I SAID STOP!” You yelled, hitting him in his chest. Unfortunately, he was stronger than you. Strong, intoxicated and stubborn to the bone, he held your wrists, which made you feel helpless. The music overpowered the entire situation that no one really bothered. What were you to do? Before you could cry out the names of your friends, you saw a hand grab the man by the shoulder to pull him away. Your jaw dropped when you realized who it was.

“Alright alright…What’s with all the commotion, eh?”

Freddie Jackson said, his hand still on the man’s shoulder. Closing your jaw, you stared at him with shock. What was he doing here? And was he watching you this whole time?You were an idiot if you couldn’t admit how relieved you were to see him there.

Chuckling, the young man patted Freddie’s hand in solidarity.

“No it’s all good, mate. We’re all just having a good time” He said, moving closer to Freddie, “Except this one…she's a bit uptight” he said laughing, hoping Freddie would laugh alongside him. And to your surprise, he did.

“Oh yeah? This one?” Freddie asked, pointing at you as if he didn’t know you, “Yeah…She a fine one, innit?” He asked the man. Embarrassed even further, you just wanted to run away.

“Yeah…”the man nodded, “Hehe-ARGHH!!”

Except, he couldn’t keep nodding for he let out a painful scream. Right when Freddie kicked his face with the knee, giving him a bloody nose. As the man stumbled to the side, Freddie pushed him down to the ground, not letting him rest as he began to kick him in the stomach with anger. You’ve never seen his eyes filled with such rage as you did tonight.

“RIGHT HERE…” He said, as he kicked him with each word, “IN MY…FUCKING CLUB !”

His club? He owned this place? Perhaps he received ownership of this from Sid or Ozzy.

“Fucking Pisser!” He muttered, spitting as the man finally lost consciousness. Upon his signal, the two thugs that stood behind him took the young man away. It did not have to end this violently. But it did. And all you could do was to watch with bated breath.

And the moment Freddie laid his eyes on you, it was unknown what your fate was to be. Before you could say anything further, he took you by the hand, dragging you out from the dance floor in an instant.

“Y/N? Where is she?” Marcus cried out, looking for her. Finally meeting with Heath, they both speechlessly watched you disappear into the crowd with Freddie.

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“Freddie! Where are we going?”

Almost tripping in your heels, you followed him as he dragged you with no answer. Past the dancing crowd ,the both of you went in through a small door that led to a hallway. As relieved as you were to have him there to be your accidental guardian angel, you were equally fearful of what was to come.

“Look, I’m sorry If I embarrassed you…” you said, “I didn’t even know this was your club” you continued, “But please tell me what’s going on?”

Yet, you heard no answer. And you had no choice but to follow him. You followed and followed, until finally he stopped by a door. Most of your intoxication had left your body at this point, leading you closer to sobriety.

Kicking the door open with rage, he entered the room with you. Light and weightless in his grip, you moved so swiftly. Everything happened in a flash, as he closed the door shut, pushing you against it with his hands tightly gripping your shoulders.

“The fuck were you doing?” He spat, “Letting that fucker put his hands all over you?”

“I didn’t! He was coming on to me!” You said defensively, for it was the truth. Freddie may have sounded enraged, but you could tell that rage stemmed from concern.

Silence ruled over the both of you for a few seconds, with just the deep and loud exchanged. Finally synchronizing with the other, you watched as his gazed fixed on yours with intensity. The longer you looked, the less you saw Freddie Jackson the gangster, instead it was Freddie, the man who looked out for you ever since you were young.

“NEVER…” he began, “… let anyone put their fucking hands on you!” He said. Exhaling with relief, you slowly nodded in acknowledgement. “Except mine…” To which your eyes widened with confusion. “What do you m-” Freddie cut you off completely, simply by cupping your face, and attacking your lips with his very own.

You could not fathom what just happened. For there he was, kissing you. Freddie Jackson was kissing you. Not in your dreams, but in actual reality. Coming to that realization, you quickly pushed him away.

A part of you expected him to be displeased. But it was quite the opposite. You saw a man madly enamored by you. Desperate to have you. And the way his mouth was parted, evidently enslaved to your lips.

Seeing all that, it brought you reminders. Reminding you of that little girl from a long ago, who placed layer after layer of love in her heart for him, wishing he would love her back someday. Reminding of that very same girl, who cried her eyes out when she realized he would never be hers.

Apart from Reminders, it brought you heaps of realizations. Filterless Realizations. Realizing even after all those attempts of avoiding him, of refusing him, he was still the only man to rescue you. The only one mad enough to care for you, to want you, to strike a man down for you. Regardless of what obstacles that got in his way, he still wanted you. Wanted you in every possible way.

You may have thought it to be wrong. But in the end of the day, you realized it did not matter anymore. For right or wrong, it did not exist in your world. For the world will always look at you with just one pair of lenses. So, who were you to deprive yourself of happiness?

Grabbing him by his collar, you finally found the courage to kiss him back.

Kissing Freddie felt like seeing fireworks. Gentle only for a millisecond, followed by passion in heaps and bounds. All that suppressed desire exposed to one another in short but intense outlets. Kissing him was everything you imagined it to be, but even better. With his lips so luscious, you felt like you were spoiled completely.

Your knees grew weak. Because of the alcohol or his kisses? You did not know. But nevertheless, Freddie held you by the waist. As he held you, his own hands traveled down to cup your buttocks, arousing you even more as this simply wiped away the horrid memory you experienced earlier. With his lips moving from your mouth, you felt them latch on to your neck, kissing there with such intensity you threw your head back.

“Freddie…Ah!” You moaned.

Backing away from the door with you in his arms, Freddie moved so skillfully fast, you found yourself falling back on to a sofa. As he climbed on top of you, it felt like you were a prey being captured by the predator. Except he merely attacked you with passionate kisses. You wished you could force time to slow down, given Freddie’s rush, tonight was not the night. While he kissed you, his hands got equally busy, taking hold of the ends of your tight dress, pulling it high enough he could spread your knees open. Extreme sensitivity greeted you, and the door to your deepest fantasy opened when you felt his fingers located your slit over your panties. Stroking it through the thin material, he was gentle at first only to feel his way through, until confidence showed up and his fingers increased in speed. He was impatient, you could tell. Gasping in to the kiss, you realized how wet you were. Like a hungry mouth salivating for food, so was your opening, starving for him. Freddie peeled off your panties with great speed, until he managed to toss it away. To where, he didn’t seem to care. And neither did you. When his lips finally left yours, a groan of frustration exited you. But sitting up with your elbows, you saw that he was in a desperate attempt to unbuckle his trousers.

“Fuck!”

He said, through gritted teeth whilst undoing his belt. Heavy blushes appeared on your face only when you noticed how he kept staring at your exposed, wet slit. Fueled with more desire, you wanted lend a hand, but with experienced he was quickly freed from the constraints. Thus, revealing his manhood.

You inhaled deeply, recalling the first ever time you laid eyes on it, peeping through the shower curtain that fateful night. Only now you were finally free to admit to yourself how much you enjoyed the sight of it. And how you had to suppress that indulgent for you were clouded by your moral compass. But now, nothing was to get in your way as you stared at it.Thick, long, beautiful and very erect, you wished you had time to explore it. But when your eyes were met with his, you knew it was not the time. Especially when you cried out softly as he slowly but finally, inserted himself in you.

Your body welcomed it with ease. He felt so perfect inside you. He watched your blushing face, react with fluttered eyes to each of his thrusts that got more and more intense.

“Freddie…” you cried out, loud enough only for him to hear as he buried his face on your neck while tightly held on to him. That was all you could really do. Except this time, you did not call it out cause of fear nor confusion. For this time, you called it again and again because of the purest of pleasure.

“Freddie…”

______________________________________

Chapter 7 HERE

Tagged: @starlightmornings @rogerfxckingtaylor @daydreamerinadazedworld @courtney-thevixeniris @kimmietea @shigarakitomuraxxxdabi @tealaquinn

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kpopfanfictrash · 6 years ago

Text

A Gross Understatement (M)

Author: kpopfanfictrash

Creative Content Contributor: @baebae-goodnight (it’s the last one I promise I will stop tagging u now. LOL)

Pairing: You / Jimin

Rating: R [ fluff + enemies to lovers!AU + Hogwarts!AU ]

Warnings: no actual smut but like, some mouth over bra action u know

Word Count: 1,316

Summary: A series of drabbles about Slytherin!Jimin and Hufflepuff!Y/N, the sister of his self-declared mortal enemy.

A/N: These drabbles are non-sequential.

“Mm,” Jimin exhales, cuddling closer. “I could stay here for days. Months, even. How long can the human body go without food?”

“I don’t know,” you admit, wrapping both arms tighter around his waist. By this point, your legs are so hopelessly entangled, it is difficult to tell where he ends, and you begin. “It’s lucky we’re witches and wizards. We can make food appear,” you remind him, gesturing towards Jimin’s bedside table.

Craning his neck, Jimin looks over your shoulder. “Oh, right,” he observes, reaching out for his wand. Poking your exposed forearm, he frowns. “Too bad a transformation spell wouldn’t work on you though.”

“Oh?” you respond, arching a brow. “And why not?”

“Because you’re already a snack.”

“Oh my god,” you groan, shoving his shoulder. Jimin cracks up and pulls you closer, fingers digging eagerly into the curve of your waist. You dissolve into giggles when he fake-bites your ear; this gradually turns into soft, lingering kisses trailing from your earlobe to your neck.

With a loud sort of hum, you fall flat on your back. Jimin’s comforter is kept snug over your chest, keeping you guarded from the chill of his room. Propping himself up on an elbow, some of Jimin’s hair falls into his gaze.

“You’re cute,” he observes, breaking out in a smile.

When one of his hands wanders under the blanket, you shiver. “You’re cold,” you whisper, even as you move closer. “Your hands are like ice, Slytherin-boy.”

Rolling his eyes, Jimin sighs. “Are you trying to make a joke about me being cold-blooded? Because I’m in Slytherin?”

“You said it, not me,” you grin, triumphant. Your body shakes when you start to laugh, prompting Jimin to smile.

Furrowing his brow, he reaches over to drop his wand on the floor. “Alright,” Jimin murmurs, expression changing into something more dangerous. He slowly tugs down the length of his comforter, exposing your pale, cotton undergarments – you may have woken up here this morning. “Why don’t I warm you up, then?” he whispers.

Bowing his head, Jimin presses a kiss to your throat, then your collarbone and down the slope of your chest. Instinctively, your legs curl upwards when Jimin shifts in between them. His extremely capable hands cup your waist, sliding down to your ass and lifting your hips against his.

“Too cold?” Jimin murmurs, demure. He flicks his tongue against skin, like a snake and you giggle. Deviousness crossing his expression, Jimin bends his head. Your laughter is choked off, caught in your throat when Jimin’s lips close over a nipple.

“O-oh,” you breathe, curling both hands into his hair. Jimin gently sucks, getting your bra wet while your hips arch against him. He teases his tongue over a sensitive nipple until you are writhing, panting beneath him.

Pulling backwards, Jimin slides both hands up the length of your body. He hovers over you, letting his weight settle on top of yours. It feels good, comfortable like this. Sliding both hands around his neck, you let your fingers play with the base of his hair. He really does need a trim – Jimin’s mom has been telling him this for weeks now, via Owl. She finally figured out Owl Post after six years of Muggle contact and now, Jimin is severely regretting the introduction.

Staring at you, Jimin smiles and it is somewhat alarming, how hard your chest clenches at the sight. Squeezing his waist, your hands wander to his boxers-clad ass. “Ah,” you say happily, squeezing this, too. “There it is.”

“I swear,” Jimin pouts, lips turning downward. “You only love me for my excellent body.”

Ignoring his pettiness, the word love makes your heart soar. You two only began saying that recently. “Nah,” you disagree, shaking your head. “I also love your mouth,” you say, taking both thumbs and poking the sides of his lips. “It’s so cute. You’re so cute.”

Still hovering over you, Jimin ignores this to arch a brow. “Cute? Is that all my mouth is?”

A flash of something hot, needy travels your body. You know precisely what else his lips are, which is why you glance at the hourglass, checking the time. If things go where you think they are headed, you might as well –

“Oh, fuck!” you yelp, tossing aside the covers and nearly knocking Jimin off the bed. “Jimin! You are going to be so late for your Quidditch game.”

Flopping down on his bed, Jimin shrugs at the ceiling. “Eh,” he groans, reaching out for your elbow and attempting to pull you back into bed. “What’s one measly Quidditch game in the grand scheme of things?”

Dodging his lips, you squirm out of his grasp. “Jimin,” you groan, snatching your pants up from the floor. Hopping slightly, you try and tug them on. “I am not going to have the entire Slytherin House mad at me again because I sex-napped their Seeker! You’re playing Gryffindor today, for god’s sake.”

Grin broadening, Jimin props himself up on his elbows. His ab muscles flex wit the motion, distracting you enough that you misbutton your pants. “Yeah,” he yawns, cracking his neck. “How is Lucas feeling? Nervous, after I trounced them the last game?”

Paused with one hand in your robe, you fix your boyfriend a glare. “Ask him yourself,” you huff, “when you get on the field. If you ever get on the field.”

Oddly enough, Lucas and Jimin have been – dare you say it – somewhat getting along, in most recent months. Ever since you two began dating, Lucas decided he wanted the feud to be over. Jimin nearly choked on his Bertie Botts Every Flavour beans in response to this; your brother picked a truly awful time to make this announcement. You cannot lie; the situation was strange at first. It still is not perfect. There were a lot of hurt feelings and anger exchanged between them before you came along but things have improved, and this gives you hope.

Bending, you pluck Jimin’s robes from the floor. When you throw them at him on the bed, Jimin groans and begins pulling them on. “Fine, fine,” he grumbles, placing both feet on the floor. “But – the second I win I want you back in my bed. Naked.”

His words send heat up the back of your neck and Jimin grins, seeing you flustered. Weakly, you huff when he comes to a stop right before you. “Whatever,” you mumble, reaching up to brush your lips against his.

Grabbing your elbows, Jimin lets the kiss linger. When you finally break away, he bends his forehead to yours. “Hey,” Jimin exhales, opening his eyes. He sounds gentler than before, gaze soft in the late morning light. “I’m pretty happy. Did you know that?”

Tilting your face upwards, you smile. “I know,” you respond, equally quiet. “I am, too.”

With a hummed noise of contentment, Jimin leans for another kiss but you hold up a hand, effectively blocking him. “I’ll be happier,” you protest, wriggling free from his grasp. “If I don’t have to explain to Yoongi again why I am, ‘jeopardizing the future of the Slytherin Quidditch team.’”

With a dramatic eye roll, Jimin grabs his wand and stuffs this into his pants. Pushing a hand through his hair, the result is delightfully disheveled. “Yoongi needs to get laid,” Jimin announces, taking your hand in his to walk out of the dormitory. “He needs to get his own girlfriend and stop worrying about mine.”

Despite this, Jimin walks quickly through the hallways and you smile. As much as he pretends to be a badass, your boyfriend cannot help following the rules and being timely. As you scurry out of the castle and cross the grounds, the sounds of a cheering Quidditch pitch grow loud in the distance. You cannot help the large smile which spreads over your face.

Pretty happy, would be an understatement.

A/N: [ Master List ]

#bangtanarmynet #jimin fanfic #bts fanfic #bts writing #jimin writing #bts au #jimin au #bts hogwarts au #jimin hogwarts au

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theboyz-engup · 5 years ago

Text

To All The Boyz I’ve Loved Before; Letter Ten

Summary-

It was wonderful what a few little letters could do; they could make or break a friendship, cause someone to laugh or smile, make someone remember the time of their life or that moment they wanted to forget. Just some words on paper and poof, everyone knew the way your heart beat and workings of your brain. High school really did wonders on you, as did those twelve boys. Maybe they didn’t know it, but they changed your whole life with each smile, each wave, and each word you typed into paper. You made them permanent, and now they had to know why.

Word Count- 9.7k

Previous Letter - Next Letter

“Yeah, I’m just making myself some coffee now,” Kevin hummed, summer sun streaming through his yellow tinted curtains. They brushed against the floor and exchanged small whispers with the wood as Kevin settled shifted around his small loft.

It was a little apartment with a large window in his living room and everything was coated in pastels, just how he liked it. Mint green sofa, robin blue walls, little cacti everywhere. On days like this, Kevin found himself the happiest and most at peace. Life was easy and slow in the summer.

“You’re on your way home, right?”

Jacob hummed in response. “I’m at the train station right now. I heard everyone’s made it back in town already.”

“Some of us never left,” Kevin chuckled, hearing the whir of his coffee machine before watching the black liquid drip from it. It splashed around in his owl cup before settling and soon ripples were forming on its surface.

“You never wanted to,” Jacob pointed out with a small smile on his voice. He was so easy to read.

Kevin shrugged. “Fair enough. I just wanted to move away from home.”

“You’re teaching later today so I’ll come visit you at night, see your new apartment.” Jacob paused before quickly adding, “if you want me too, of course.”

“Now you’re just couch surfing. First Younghoon’s and now mine?” A click of his tongue came after but laughter was just following it. Jacob’s mouth probably dropped open right there, soft voice threatening to transform into something else before he began to chuckle a bit too.

“I’m hanging up,” he announced, very definitive but not meaning it at all. Kevin, with his bit of coffee and the breakfast he’d fixed for himself resting on the coffee table between him and his television, exhaled lightly. He turned on the screen, cable news playing lightly in the background as he spoke.

“Alright, see you soon.” Nonchalance dripped from his voice for once, eyebrows arching up and eyes closing. Conversations like this were ones he missed having face to face.

Jacob was a moment away from hanging up when Kevin stopped him, a little ‘wait’ breaking past his lips.

“Oh wow,” he hummed, eyes fixated on the TV. The cup of coffee he had was raised halfway to his lips but he placed it down on its coaster to inform Jacob, “did you hear about this?”

Working at raising the volume, he placed his phone on the coffee table too and put Jacob on speaker, somehow thinking that would help. The news reporter was finishing up her last headline as the new one made its way across the screen.

“Trainee rapper Kim Sunwoo is now hospitalized after sustaining injuries from a car crash that occurred last night. This happened in his home town on a vacation he had requested off for a day. His debut is now postponed, says his company. In the hospital with him are long-time friends…”

“Holy,” Jacob drew, “isn’t he the ‘sun starts shining’ kid?”

Kevin hummed instead of giving a solid response, hands doing a small run over his face. “That’s messed up. He’s so young.”

“He’s just a year younger than you,” Jacob muttered, shaking his head, “imagine how I feel.”

“Alright, grandpa.”

The sound of a train pulling in came from his line, as well as a little ring of Kevin’s doorbell. Quickly, Jacob murmured that he had to leave and that he would see Kev soon. In almost an instant, the call ended and the boy rushed to his front door, nearly slipping in the hallway due to his socks. Still, he opened the door just in time to see the mail woman.

“Good morning, Kevin,” she smiled before handing him a few letters and a box from the bag she was carrying, “just need you to sign there.”

“Have a good day, dear,” she crooned after handing the box over and giving Kevin a wave. Sifting through his mail, hands preoccupied, he shut the door closed with his foot and used his elbow for the lock.

Good enough, he thought to himself, placing his box down on his counter and leaving the rest of the mail to the side except one. This one looked like an actual letter and he was instantly intrigued. He always said that letters were a lost form of romance. He wondered who his secret admirer could be.

—————————————

Dear Kevin Moon,

I used to think that music wasn’t something that could heal until I met you. Little did I know that a few piano keys, some guitar strings, and the sound of your voice could start piecing me back together again.

—————————————

Mid March 2017

Eric sat beside you on the grey stone wall that separated the McDonald’s parking lot from the old diner’s. Between you two lay a meal half eaten and silence that wrapped around your clothed arms and legs. The wall was thick enough for you to bring your legs up and cross them, occasionally stretching forwards as you wrapped your arms around them to keep warm. Eric wore a hoodie, his classic hat and a thin windbreaker on top, a frown topping it off.

He was especially quiet this March Break, not quite answering your questions since he came three days ago on Sunday night. Today was the first chance you got alone, your parents forcing you around town with Haymond and Jaehyun and Jacob, since it seemed everyone had come home for this break. You expected it to be fun and enjoyable, wondering if Eric was just uncomfortable. He was never this quiet and yet, nothing seemed to change. Instead, being alone with him seemed to make it worse.

A light chill swirled around and landed on your shoulders, giving you a small shiver. Choosing to wait for him to start a conversation, knowing how difficult it was to force things out of him, you allowed your mind to wander. If you closed your eyes and concentrated, you swore you could hear Sunwoo’s rapping or saying a dumb joke. Your favourite was when you imagined him saying he loved you, a smile touching your lips just at the thought. Truly, you never expected him to make you as light as butterflies in flight. He was someone you never would’ve thought of in grade nine or ten, though you suspected feelings were always there. He always emanated safety, even when he wasn’t around.

“What are you thinking about?” Eric’s voice came quietly. It was just loud enough for you to hear over the wind and passing cars. If you weren’t acutely aware of him being there, you probably wouldn’t have heard it at all though. He sounded like he just fit into the noise, just another layer to the outside din; but he was your best friend. To you- for you- he could never be background noise. He would always exist at the forefront of your mind.

“A lot of nothing,” you admitted, facing your eyes up to the clouded sky, “just you and then Sunwoo.”

“I’m nothing now?” He chuckled but there was stiffness in his throat. A frown coated your lips.

“Of course not. You could never be.”

Neither of you spoke for a moment and tires rolled across pavement. Taking your eyes down, you saw a little girl in the window, ice cream on her cheek and free hand placed against her other one. For a moment, you wondered what it was like to be her and what she felt. Then you wandered off to Eric and wondered what turmoil lay beneath his skin, what kind of creeping fear and sadness dripped through his blood.

“In truth,” you murmured, shifting your gaze again to focus on your jeans, “I was thinking about how you could never just be nothing to me.”

Another small laugh escaped his mouth but this one felt cold and unfeeling. There was something wrong and you couldn’t quite place your finger on it but it made you sad. He had his head tilted away from you, down and bent so his body formed almost a circle. When you hummed his name again, his response came as a small sniffle.

“Eric, what-”

“Raven and I broke up,” he interrupted, sentence sounding clean despite the brokenness of his voice.

The news stilled you for a moment and in that millisecond, you thought of how horrible you were to her. You were so unfair and bitter about their relationship. You felt like you were being abandoned and Eric would place you in the back. You made just another friendship he’d keep on a burner for later when he had a chance to pull away from Raven, his precious girlfriend. On your most hateful nights, where spite filled you to the brim and tears dripped from your eyes, you wished he would be alone so he could text you and comfort you and talk you down. Eric was your last straw and a girlfriend made you feel like he was being taken away from you but he never was.

He would call you when he got a chance and texted all the time. He sent pictures and asked about your day. He even made sure to send you videos of dogs or cats or your favourite famous people whenever you were upset. There was nothing anyone could do to take him away from you but you stayed jealous and petty. Guilty, you wondered if it was your wishes that set them apart and if manifesting was real; but that was also just you being self-important. The whole world didn’t revolve around you and, in that moment, it didn’t even care about you.

“She said she needed space- that she wasn’t feeling accepted within my family because my mom said something or did something. My sister apparently looked at her funny. Going to meet you and your friends was a lot of pressure.”

Sniffles dotted his words, creating half sentences and fragments of words along the way. “And I gave her space. I wanted her to be happy, I didn’t know what to do; but then it all started feeling like excuses and she never wanted to see me. So we talked and she asked for a break and I said I didn’t want that because we’re either in or out and- and-”

A small shush slid between your teeth and you came closer to him. Lightly, you rubbed circles into his shoulder blade, not knowing what he wanted. The affection seemed to make him crumble a bit more and he bent forwards, elbows on his knees and palms in his eyes. His back trembled.

“What was I supposed to do? What did I do wrong?”

The words sounded so wrong coming from his lips and it seemed like a domino effect. Whatever he felt, you felt but because he was the centre of the universe in that moment. The world didn’t care about you but your world cared about Eric and all you could think about doing was wrapping your arms around his waist and bringing him closer.

He was a sensitive boy. Many things made him cry over the years and you’d been there to see them all. Movies, teachers, marks, things his parents said: all of it. Now, you were there to see him cry over his first girlfriend and it upset you. Eric had no business being sad. When he cried, the earth cried with him.

“Eric, I’m sorry,” you whispered, feeling how he shifted to hug you properly. Your bodies were flush with each other, air finding it hard to slip between the wrinkles in your clothes.

“There’s nothing wrong with you,” you promised, eyes closed as your chin lay next to his ear, “nothing in this galaxy could ever be wrong with you. It’s not your fault.”

He tried to ask what he did but it got muffled and lost in the material at your collarbone. He was so small in that moment, and fragile enough that you could feel him breaking.

“You didn’t do anything bad, you did your best. That’s all that matters,” you cooed, trying to be comforting. It was an awkward positioning on a cool, concrete wall that rested a few feet above the ground but you needed him to feel safe. You hoped your support now would make up for how shitty you’d been before.

Silence took its place amongst you two, like another pair of arms wiring you together. At first, it felt like you were trying to comfort him but something changed. A moment’s shift was all it was but you couldn’t place why or when or from who. Still, it was there in the air and in Eric’s eyes when he pulled away from your chest. He stood there just looking at you before suddenly he was coming closer. Before you knew it, his lips were a second away from yours and you gasped, pulling away.

“E- Eric, what are you doing?”

The fear that was written across your face probably didn’t help. A sense of rejection flashed before his eyes and you watched him crumple again. You didn’t even realize it but you’d brought your leg between you both, like another barrier. In a way, it represented Sunwoo. He was the thing between you both and, just maybe, Sunwoo was his Raven.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured. There was something broken in his voice, something completely defeated. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what the fuck is wrong with me. What’s wrong with me?”

His words seemed to vanish, disappearing into the air as he curled inwards again. This time, you didn’t move forward to try and comfort him.

—————————————

I’m sure you don’t understand why I told you about that but, if I really look back on it, that was when I started to feel isolated. I didn’t want to understand my friend because I couldn’t really understand myself. All I knew was that I was scared and after having something like this happen, something that made me think I had to choose between the person I loved and someone I knew for longer- the ground beneath my feet seemed to vanish. When you met me, I was in free-fall. In a way, you were there to catch me.

—————————————

Early May 2017

Life went on as it usually did. You saw Amalia and Joon at school, the latter of which was now past using crutches due to an injury he’d gotten during spring break. With a little walking boot, he hopped around campus and tried to mimic dance moves he could try, and you and Amalia would rush and try to stop him from falling or hurting himself more. You watched as sadness leached at his eyes and skin, sapping him of a lot of his energy.

One day, over a small call, he mumbled, “my body is my whole life. What am I going to do if it keeps failing me?”

It was hard to give comfort to someone you couldn’t see. You felt the best comfort was given through touch and an open ear. Words weren’t really your forte, but they were Sunwoo’s. You suppose that was why he was spending a lot more time away from school. He went to another when he needed to be in the city but, on the off season and when he had some time, he still visited your high school. The four of you would lie around the bleachers with the strong wind blowing and sandwiches in hand, grins on your faces. It felt perfect for those moments. Nothing could change your mind until you remembered the distance between you and Eric.

He was your best friend. It was just something he did out of sadness, he didn’t know what he was doing. You tried to convince yourself over and over that it wasn’t anything serious. Still, you couldn’t stop yourself from being awkward around him. It made you uncomfortable and you couldn’t figure out why. Maybe, deep down, you wanted to know what it would feel like to kiss him back. That thought came on a particularly gloomy night and you lay in bed curled in a ball for the rest of it.

“Did you buy Sunwoo a candy gram?” Amalia asked once she found you in the halls. Her arm looped through yours, taking your hand in yours as she did so. Just as you had gotten taller, so had she, and it was funny thinking that you would always look up to her.

With a small smile, you shook your head. “It’s his off-week so he wouldn’t get it today anyways. I’ll just ask the Keri for an extra one when I see her.”

“Hey, you better pay,” Malia clucked, raising her chin, “proceeds are going to all local homeless shelters and food banks.”

“Of course I will,” you countered, raising your chin as well to copy her. With a little smile and nudge at your side, she whisked the both of you into your classroom. On days like today, you felt just like your grade nine selves, pre-worry and post all the awkwardness of making new friends. Ultimately, you realized Amalia was the second person you’d ever been truthfully yourself with, and she accepted you just the same. She liked you as you. Maybe that’s why you had started to like you as well, even if it was just in a few moments a day.

Class began with the bell, your teacher already setting up her papers at the front of class. She was the only one left who still gave out paper packages, thick ones that took up too much space in your binders; but she was older and didn’t quite care about the whole saving paper business. As she began with her opening announcements, droning on about a new history club, you slid your phone underneath your desk. All you wanted to do was give Sunwoo a little message saying you missed him. It wasn’t necessarily a lie, but you really did not want to pay attention in class today. You were tired and your mind was elsewhere.

The moment you’d gotten to your chat though, a little knock on the door came and the room shifted focus. Even you looked up at the sound of your teacher’s short heels clicking against the floor, going to open it. Seeing the person on the other side of it gave you an immediate smile.

“Sorry to bother you, Miss,” Jacob seemed to sing, guitar in hand, “but we’ve got a singing candy gram in this room for uh y/n y/l/n.”

Behind him was another boy, one you’d seen at coffee house performances and online when your friend sent you one of his YouTube videos. He was carrying a little plastic microphone and a little stool. You felt your heart drop into your stomach, smile immediately dropping. With a sigh, the teacher let them in and they set up right at the front. Your family friend pointed at you before softly breaking out into a smile and strumming a little melody.

“Hit it, Kevin,” Jacob crooned and, in beat, the black haired boy began his singing. It was soft and smooth with a bit of an accent on certain syllables. They were singing one of your favourite songs but the display made you shrink in your seat, hands coming to cover up your face. Seeing through the slits of your fingers, you curled inwards, bringing your legs up to your chest and squealing to yourself.

Amalia was laughing silently, utterly amused, as other students in your class hyped Jacob and Kevin up. They only sang a chorus of the song, Kevin dancing through the seats before laying a little flower with your favourite chocolate attached to the stem. He looked like he had so much life in him, high cheekbones and bundled up cheeks making his grin more prominent.

They bowed to the teacher before leaving, Jacob giving you a final wave before shutting the door behind him. Claps followed them out before people turned to you, inching out of their seats and asking who sent you it and why. You just shoved the chocolate in your bag, not wanting anyone to see in case it was from Sunwoo. It would be so careless of him, a grand show of affection not the best way to go about it.

Amalia, sensing your panic, leaned over her desk and nuzzled her head into yours. Loudly, she gushed, “did you like my little present, y/n?”

Quickly having to play along, you patted the side of her face, closing your eyes with a smile. “I’m going to kill you after class, Mal.”

The little chirp made your classmates chuckle a bit before the teacher called attention to the front again. She shot both you and Amalia a deadly look and everyone quieted down. A little giggle found its way past her teeth and she fell back in her seat behind you. Her hand lingered and gave your shoulder a squeeze. On days like today, you were happy for her support. She was one friend you knew you could never let go of.

—————————————

I’m sure this was routine for you, just another little performance in front of people. You were a natural and I admired that about you. Singing wasn’t a chore, it was something you loved and it came from within you. I think, deep down, a part of me envied that. I saw you as free as you were and was jealous I couldn’t be the same. I couldn’t be as freely open and happy and myself. I couldn’t because I felt like I had to lie about what made me happy.

—————————————

July 2017

“Are you excited?”

Jacob’s question was soft, just barely heard over the summer breeze. It was one of those days where the wind was just as hot as the air was, making you feel infinitely more sticky and gross. Truthfully, you didn’t want to be anywhere near the outside but, somehow, you were coaxed into music classes with Jacob. He came to pick you up and you would walk to the centre together, and go home together. He said he just wanted to see how you were doing with your guitar but, really, it was about company. His placement for the summer was going to be boring and he needed a few people to help him out.

“I guess so,” you decided, shifting between no and yes. Glancing up at him, you fixed him with a little look. “Are you?”

Words weren’t necessary for you to understand the look he gave you. He was nervous, and scared obviously. Your shoulder bumped his lightly to catch his attention and, when you did, you fixed him with what you hoped was an encouraging smile.

“You’re going to do great. Don’t doubt yourself, kids can smell fear,” you joked, looking for the little chuckle he’d give to your bad jokes. He snorted instead, wrinkles disappearing between his eyebrows for a moment. You were glad to do that for him, realizing how far you’d come from being infatuated with him. Now you just saw him as he was and accepted it, not painting him out to be this man you were madly in love with. He was nothing like the man you loved, but he was still a good person- someone whose smile demanded attention. It was nice to have another friend in your life. Sometimes it felt like you were losing all of them.

Kevin caught up with you in the middle of the road, thin limbs bounding him forward. He stopped Jacob, hand on his shoulder and head hanging forwards, lulling close to the guitar on his back. He was extremely out of breath.

Jacob giggled, “when was the last time you exercised, Kev?”

“The beep test,” he huffed, free hand pressed against his chest, “grade nine.”

You let a little titter slip through your teeth, one that caught Kevin’s attention and he straightened. Trying to flatten his shirt, attempting to look more presentable, he gave a smile. Between wheezes he managed to give his name.

“I know,” you said lightly, “you sang me a candy gram.”

Jacob nodded when looked to for confirmation. “They’re my friend, the one we sang to in Mrs. Kensington’s class.”

“Oh,” Kevin drawled, knocking a finger on Jacob’s chest, “that’s why he made me dance around. He was trying to impress you.”

“He was trying,” Jacob interrupted, giving Kev a small look, “to say hello again.”

“I thought you were friends,” Kev questioned, furling his eyebrows. Deciding to take this one upon yourself, you butted in.

“We’re family friends so we don’t see each other often,” you explained, “he hadn’t seen me since spring break and even then, it was short.”

“Oh, so it was about his placement then.”

You nodded and everyone seemed caught up by then. Kevin gave a stretch of his limbs before turning the conversation into something else, pointing out a little coffee shop he loved and working on Jacob to go there after class. Hoping to create another friendship from this, you sided with Kevin and received an arm around your shoulder in response.

Pulling you closer, he lilted, “see? Y/n’s nice to me. Come on, Jacob.”

With a snort, Jacob nodded and agreed, pushing on ahead of you both. Throwing the comment over his shoulder, he said, “but you’re buying for me!”

“Deal,” Kevin snickered, shooting you a happy look before bounding off towards his friend. Despite your feet, you followed along quickly, wanting to catch up.

It proved to be easy being their friend. Something about the two of them was so lighthearted, like big tall kids who loved to talk and play music. Kevin positioned himself beside you in class, saying he didn’t want to talk to anyone new. You were someone new though, but you supposed that didn’t matter. Suddenly, you were a part of that makeshift friend group, tagging along after classes and even on weekends.

“Sing for me,” Kevin asked politely one day. You’d taken your instruments with you to the coffee shop, which had become your regular hang out. Jacob placed his lips into a circle and nodded.

“You’ve never shown me.”

Bashfully, you looked into the mug of your hot tea, an odd pick for the hot weather but it made you feel comfortable.

“I’m not any good,” you attempted to say but Kevin wasn’t hearing any of it. He clicked his tongue, refusing to accept your excuse.

“I’m not either but I still do it.” That was a lie but you didn’t know how to tell him that without sounding like you were in absolute admiration of him.

During classes, you would watch him play and you’d never get bored. His voice was enough to make hearts shake and bring tears to eyes. When he played with Jacob, he looked so comfortable too. You would watch them talk for ages about music production, chords, and what melody sounded best with each harmony. They were obviously concocting a project for class, one you weren’t included in because you were too scared to ask if they needed any help. Sometimes, they’d turn to you and raise a few questions in your direction but you kept your answers short. For people who were so passionate and happy about music, you wondered if the basics of what you knew would be enough to even come close to them.

“I mean, don’t feel pressured,” Jacob added quickly, seeing you retract again into your shell, “you don’t have to do it now.”

“Yeah, you can always try later.” Kevin’s nod was soft but encouraging. With his baseball cap on, you could barely see his eyes from the shadows cast by the sun streaming it. Still, you knew they held no judgement. It seemed hard to feel bad about your skills when they were so accepting of you. You managed it somehow though. Self deprecation seemed to be the theme of your summer.

Time passed generously in the summer. July dripped down slowly, like tap water in a leaky pipe. Day in and day out, you would section off time for the people you loved. Amalia was a top priority, as well as Hyunjoon and Sunwoo when he was in town. Days would stretch on with all four of you together and then would relax when it was just you and your boyfriend, a boy who would sometimes fall asleep during movies.

His head would rest on your chest, arms wrapped around your middle as his body rested between your legs. Leaning against one end of the couch, you would look down when you felt his head get a bit heavy. The fluttering of his eyelids let you know he was just settling into his little nap and you ran your fingers through his hair. They’d begun colouring it lighter and lighter shades of brown, strands feeling somewhat thin and coarse in comparison to before.

Still, he was yours. He would write little messages to you when he was away, love letters whispering that he found it hard to sleep when he was away. He would say you were all he was thinking of, send sections of lyrics he’d written about you. Half-written poems and apologizes in the form of candy grams filled your memory sometimes; until, finally, he was in your arms. His lips became a safe haven, arms a fortress. Nothing could hurt you when you were together, and nothing was better than those moments. You were happy.

Or at least that’s what you told yourself.

You supposed it wasn’t hard to notice that something was wrong. Spending day in and day out with Jacob and Kevin during weekdays was commonplace now, the classes being a binding contract written in blood. A few times, either one would ask if you were all right. Spacing out was your forte but even in class, when you vowed to pay attention for Jacob, did you find yourself slipping.

“Earth to y/n,” Kevin attempted, waving a hand in front of your face. You’d taken a small trip to your local diner, where Amalia had promised to meet you. She’d also noticed something was wrong, you could count on her attentiveness nowadays.

From the seat beside you, the boy pouted a bit once you made eye contact. “What’s going on?”

After a few moments of pulling teeth, you surfaced the fact that you and Eric hadn’t spoken much since spring break. This came as a shock to Amalia, the girl who’d known everything about you since freshman year. The other two boys were confused and, very meticulously so as to not mention Sunwoo’s name, worked around the story.

Kevin was the first to respond, a little tilt of his head coupling a near breathless, “that’s so complicated.”

“You’re telling me,” Amalia chittered, raising her eyebrows as she leaned across the table, “why didn’t you tell me he tried to kiss you?”

You shrugged. “I don’t know. It was weird, I didn’t tell anyone about it, not even S-”

Catching yourself, you gave both Jacob and Kevin a look around before stopping in your tracks, offhandedly murmuring, “you know.”

Jacob looked as polite as ever, exchanging a glance with Kevin. You saw him shake his head lightly, as if to say no to his friend asking any more questions. It was easy to see the restraint on Kevin’s face but the way his hand covered yours was enough to make you forget. If you looked deeply into his eyes, he lacked malice in them. Everything seemed genuine coming from him. That feeling was something you seemed to run toward, finding it within anyone who gave it to you. It was genuine compassion and an ability to understand you without you having to say much. A rarity but something you needed.

Amalia walked you home that night, fingers entwined with yours. As the sun dipped down behind you, she hummed a little tune, waiting for you to say something first. For once, you complied.

“Haymond told me this was coming,” you began, scratching at the back of your neck with your free hand for something to do, “he mentioned that Eric liked me a while ago but I never wanted to talk about it or confront it.”

“Didn’t want to believe it,” Amalia said, finding the words for you. The scent of freshly cut grass filled your street, small piles of it cast away in paper bags next to the street. The black pavement held little rainbows on it where sprinklers cast water sparingly. Cicadas whispered to each other quietly, mourning the loss of the sun.

With a frown, you nodded. Amalia took a look out into the distance, the oranges and pinks of the sky before carefully saying, “but you also have feelings for him, y/n.”

“I’m dating Sunwoo,” you retorted, suddenly defensive.

“I know,” she murmured softly, giving your hand a light squeeze, “but that doesn’t mean you don’t also like Eric. You always have. You got so jealous when he started dating Raven, I don-”

“So, what? Are you saying I should break up with Sunwoo because some childhood crush tried to give me a kiss?” The words were heavy and angry, the fire coming from somewhere within you. You felt so frustrated and messy, tangled in sheets and rope in your own brain.

Ripping your hand from Amalia’s grip, you stalked on ahead, listening to her try to splutter, trying to make up for what she said. “What? No, I would never- y/n, stop running away from me! Y/n!”

“You know what?” you started, whipping around to face her. Your best friend, just a few paces back, paused in her tracks to look at you. The small hills and valleys in your street gave you an advantage but the sun was right in your eyes so you squinted, trying to make out her curly hair, the ponytail she kept it in, the tank top with all her rips.

“If everyone was so against my relationship from the start then why didn’t you just tell me? You didn’t have to let me get involved- fall in love and shit. You didn’t have to let me do any of that but you did so- so if I get hurt, it’s your fault too.”

Amalia’s jaw dropped. “Excuse me? I’m not your parent, I don’t tell you what to do. You’re seventeen years old, make your decision for yourself for once instead of blaming other people.”

“I’m not,” you pressed but, once again, that was a lie. You were wrong. You knew you were wrong but it was hard to peddle back now that you’ve gone and run your mouth.

“Listen, if you’re having problems with your relationship, that’s not my fault. You don’t get to blame me for telling you the truth. Don’t project your bad feelings on me just because you’re upset because I won’t take it. I never have and I never will.” The finality in her words was enough to make you take pause. Without even knowing it, tears nipped at your eyes. When did those get there?

A sniffle passed through your teeth but you tried not to show it, tried to cover up the one tear that managed to fall. Turning your head to the side, you rubbed at your eye and seemed to screw your jaw together. In that small moment, you had nothing left to say.

“I’m not against your relationship,” she huffed, crossing her arms, “I actually think Sunwoo’s good for you. What I am against is you lying to yourself.”

“I’m just confused, Mal,” you managed, hoping the crack in your voice wasn’t audible. “I don’t know what to do.”

“Maybe start talking about things more. I can’t help you if I don’t know what’s wrong.”

Her hands came to your shoulders, head dipping down to try and match your eyesight. Very softly, she hummed, “I’m not against you. I never am, okay? I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry,” you mouthed but it was swallowed by the emotions stirring in your chest and the thick strap of her top.

Her hands created small circles in your back and you let her try and comfort you. Crying was better when you did it with someone else. Entirely more embarrassing but somehow, there was more of a release. You weren’t alone. Someone was there to hold you and help you and tell you everything was gonna be alright. Even if you wouldn’t believe it, hearing it outloud felt like a manifestation.

With a hand in your hair, she murmured lightly, “if being with Sunwoo is too hard, don’t blame yourself, okay? It’s okay to be sad.”

Somehow, she knew your problems before you did. You didn’t quite believe in magic but, with Amalia, you weren’t so convinced.

—————————————

From then on, music class became way more enjoyable. Though I had my ups and downs and came to class moody sometimes, you always made me laugh. I never missed a single class and, while I would attribute that to Jacob and being supportive of him, it was also because of you. I would always anticipate any time you performed because, watching you be free helped me feel just the same in those few minutes. I could forget about everything and just live inside music that you made- something I’d hardly been able to do before then.

—————————————

Mid August 2017

Getting out of bed that day was hard. Amalia had come over after hearing the news and spent the night. As you got older, instead of drifting apart like you imagined, you seemed to become closer. She stayed with you and let you be upset. She didn’t even say a word that might make the situation worse, though you supposed she had opinions on what you were muttering. Yet, she sat there and brushed your hair and gave you tea when you asked, even daring to paint your nails. Sure, you smudged them when you tried to wipe at your eye but it was the thought that counts.

She was known to baby you sometimes but, in that moment, she decided to mother you. Chidingly, she tugged the blanket off your body and clucked, “you need to get up. You can’t spend all day in bed, now come on.”

Tugging at your arms, she straightened you up and fixed you with a serious stare. “Be sad all you want but also, be yourself. Go outside. Have fun. See people.”

You just pulled your knees into your chest. Wrapping your arms around them, you dived to the side again, falling over like a pin to go back to sleep. With a sigh, she climbed back in bed with you and wrapped her arms around you again. Her chest was against your back.

“It just feels like the whole world is against me.”

The sentence slipped out easily. You stared at your wall, a window right above the spot you focused on. If you closed your eyes, you could be transported back to the summer of grade ten when you caught Jaehyun standing outside with his dog and a grin; but opening your eyes again brought you back to your present life. You wanted to escape.

“I have one thing that makes me happy and it gets taken away from me.”

“Hey,” Amalia murmured, “I’m right here. Hyunjoon’s here. Your family is here. We’re going to be okay together, yeah?”

You nodded for the sake of nodding, not sure you believed her. Somehow, this didn’t feel like it was going to be manifested any time soon.

Ultimately, you were convinced to get out of bed and put on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, looking presentable enough for your hangout with Kevin and Jacob. They invited you to a song-writing session, claiming to desperately need your help but you supposed it was something else. Usually you would be excited to go. You were in awe of them and, even though you felt you weren’t good enough to be playing or singing with them, it was a wonder to watch it happen. They had so much talent, so why did they need you?

Helping you shoulder your guitar, Amalia busied around you, chattering to try and fill the empty space.

“And Hyunjoon and I will be there after class to go get some lunch together. How’s that sound?”

Biting on your lip, you shrugged. Deep down, you wanted to say ‘no offence but hanging out with you and your boyfriend doesn’t sound so hot’ but figured it would sound bitter and mean. You loved them both and had nothing against their relationship but, considering the circumstances, you wondered if that was the best suggestion. A lot of your aggression was going to be misplaced and you didn’t want to hurt her feelings by saying something you didn’t mean so, you stopped yourself from saying anything more.

“Ready?” you found yourself asking, desperate to be out of the house now. You just wanted to be away from home where traces of him could be seen in your memories. When you blinked, you saw him shooting at you with the Nerf gun he found in Haymond’s room. Your brother and him ganged up on, chasing you around you while you laughed. Once again though, reality was enough to create bite marks in your arms and rip you from your little bits of happiness.

Amalia hummed and you were off to a walk in silence. Your friend loved to talk but somehow didn’t know what to say. All she did was grip your hand and give it a few squeezes, hoping it was comforting. Little did she know that the action also gave you vertigo, his hand being your only anchor at hard times. Then, suddenly, you were alone. She’d dropped you off at the centre where your classes were going on and nearly insisted on coming in with you until you promised you were going to be fine.

Standing outside the doorway, you rested your head in your hands and rubbed up and down. You didn’t want to replay the conversation in your head but that was immediately where your thoughts went. They went to him and the way he met you out for dinner. You skipped out on the fancy stuff and settled for McDonald’s, laughing about something on the walk around town.

Then, he was serious and he gripped your hand lightly. There was still salt on his fingers which you tried to worm away from but he held you there. The look on his face was enough to stop your heart.

“Hey, is everything okay?”

Sunwoo was slow to start, biting on his lip before murmuring, “do you remember when I said we had to talk when I got back?”

You nodded though he never looked up to see you. A sinking feeling settled into your chest and you thought you could predict what he was going to say next. Immediately, you went to the worst case scenario. Someone had died or his contract ended.

“I have to move to the main city permanently.” Somehow these words hurt the most. It meant infrequent visits, no school together, more secrecy. Less and less people would be able to see them wander around like fools and eventually he’d slip away. Schedules, idol life, fans of his: they’d keep you from him.

He tried his best to comfort you and say it was going to be okay but that made you feel more guilty. He was having the life changing beautiful event and there he was, upset that he was doing something wrong by you. God, there was nothing he could do wrong by you. Nothing he ever did hurt you, he wasn’t bad for you. He was the complete opposite. He was everything you would have wished for and more; but circumstances would have it otherwise. Everything wasn’t ending because feelings were hurt and explosions tore you apart, no. It was life and it knew how to gnaw at you until you had nothing left to give. You couldn’t decide if that was what made it hurt more.

When you removed your hands from your face, you were outside of your classroom again. A few acquaintances filtered past you to get in, murmuring slight hellos and giving you sweet smiles. Seeing them reminded you that strength needed to be had today. You had to be okay, even if you were upset. Breaking down wouldn’t help your situation.

So, you strode in and made your way to your seat beside Kevin. The piano playing boy gave you a bright smile and wave but that faltered when you came closer. As you began setting up, he asked, “are those because of crying or did you just eat really late at night?”

He motioned to the bags under your eyes. You pushed a small smile. “What do you think?”

The leader of the class walked in, a bohemian woman with Jacob and a few other summer students on her heels. The chatter quieted slightly, requiring Kevin to lean in close and ask, “you’re still hanging back to help, right?”

A nod was all he needed from you. Class that day really seemed to help you work a few things out. Frustration drove you, turning into some sort of productive energy. Focus was hard to come by but you didn’t mind putting your brain to work. As you tried to follow along with Jacob and his agile fingers, you found yourself drifting into a place where all your feelings manifested into something greater. In a way, you began to understand your new friends. It was a release and, at the end of class, you found yourself feeling just a smidgen better than you had walking in.

Jacob walked up to the two of you first, the rest of the class packing up. He was sporting a pair of ripped jeans and a graphic tee, something you never would have imagined him in just a few years ago. Yet, the laid back look suited him. Kevin, with his striped shirt and black shorts adjusted so the three of your formed a makeshift circle.

“Alright,” he said absentmindedly before directing his attention to you, “we just need your honest opinion. Jacob wants to perform this and we both think the lyrics aren’t… right?”

“Are you asking me to help with lyrics?” Nervousness set into your skin as you asked the question.

“Well, yes and no,” Jacob said softly, glancing at Kevin first for confirmation, “but we want your help to sing it on a recording.”

“W- what?”

“You promised us a song back in the cafe, remember?”

For some reason, that seemed to work on you. It was a little like a dare, almost a small nudge out the door. Somehow, all it took was everything weighing down on you for you to feel the need to prove yourself. You could be happy without seeing him all the time. You could call, text, video chat, even you could go and visit him during the school year. It didn’t have to be as colossal as you were making it out to be, you just had to be flexible, like you were trying to be now.

With a small hitch of your head, you decided, “I don’t know how I’ll sound but I’ll try, yeah. Am I just doing a harmony?”

Kevin stretched his arm out to you, notching a clean sheet of lyrics with a few chords and notes beneath it between your fingers. Gently, he explained each line and pointed to underlined words.

“These are lyrics we’re not so sure about,” he guided, end of his pen not stretching far enough. He shifted closer, coming to look over your paper again to softly hum, “and this is what we want you to try for us.”

You blinked. “That’s the chorus.”

Jacob nodded, definitely trying to be encouraging. “The point of this song is supposed to be dynamics. Kevin brought up that another voice- your voice, actually- might add layers, and three-part harmonies are usually the most appealing, so…”

Kevin didn’t dare to reach your eyes then. He looked a bit embarrassed, smile boxy and shy as he nodded along to what Jacob was saying.

“Let’s hear it then,” you agreed, though nervousness made your hands shake. Somehow, all of this reminded you of Sunwoo too but in a way that changed your perspective.Seeing how happy this made the both of them made you think of the joy on Sunwoo’s face when he’d practice his lyrics on you. They loved this. They all really did.

You could tell by the way they played that they lived in every note and every breath. When Kevin’s eyes shut and mouth opened, matched with Jacob’s sweet backing vocals, you felt like melting. If Kevin ever sang like that to someone he loved, you were sure they’d fall for him in an instant. Thinking back on your candy gram, if you weren’t already taken, you were sure you’d fall apart just as well.

The lyrics were a bit off in parts and you tried your best to fix them. As classic as ever, it was a love song, a sweet lullaby to help someone drift off to sleep. Each action described, a touch on the cheek, kiss on the forehead, a hand trying to run through or fix your hair: all of it was familiar to you. If you closed your eyes, you could see Woo whispering sweet nothings into your skin after kissing it, or the way his fingers would run up and down your arm lightly. You liked to explain it as dancing and brought up the suggestion, watching the boys’ eyes glimmer.

“I love that,” Jacob enthused, leaning forward and scratching out the word he had before. Whenever you thought of anything small that might help, you started to feel more comfortable saying it.

For a brief moment, you felt like you fit in. They were no longer untouchable, just people who heard you and saw you for you. The tears that nipped at your eyes this time didn’t come near sadness this time. Instead, there was just a featherlike touch of hope. It’s dumb, you thought, but it’s better than thinking you were alone.

—————————————

I know all this talk about my boyfriend must’ve been bothersome to you but that’s what I felt was weighing me down. I was trying to run away from my problems but you and Jacob: you told me to face them with fear and everything else I was feeling. It wasn’t a crime to be less experienced. It didn’t mean I didn’t know what I was doing. I just needed guidance and you were there. You were honest and true, never faltering to help me up off my feet whenever I stumbled and fell.

In that time, when everything seemed to be falling down all around me, you showed me how to make it stop. Just a little melody was all I needed, a small release, and then I could sort through it all. Your friendship and Jacob’s friendship, that’s part of what got me seeing a few lights at the end of the tunnel I was in. You, Amalia, Jacob, Hyunjoon- even Eric and Sunwoo- you’re the reason I can start getting stitched together again. I’m going to try, even if this determination is fleeting. It’s here now and it’s because of you.

From y/n y/l/n. On August 17th, 2017.

—————————————

Something about reading your name made a connection in his brain. Reading all of this, Kevin tried to compare it to the person he knew and how unbothered you seemed to be. Sure, sometimes your smile would slip and you’d make a grumpy comment but, other than that, you seemed to radiate happiness. In this letter, you were nothing of the sort. Hopeful, maybe, but happiness wasn’t what he’d describe you as. As much as you thanked him for his friendship, a part of him felt guilty. He could’ve done better if he knew. He wished he knew.

The bits about you dating Sunwoo did come as a shock, though he supposed he understood. Seeing you around school, if he went back far enough in his memory, he could see it. Chanhee would mention you every once in a while and, when you passed each other in the diner or when he’d pick you up from work, Kevin always thought it was suspicious.

He wondered how you were taking the news too, Kim Sunwoo’s name reappearing in his mind again. Maybe you’d said it so many times but there was an urgency he didn’t understand in his body. Despite himself, he reached for his remote again and raised the volume, hoping he could rewind on this new television plan he had. It shouldn’t be too hard, he thought, biting down on his lip.

Going back a bit in the news episode, he stopped when he saw the main title about the teen rapper. Pressing play, he reheard all the bits he’d told Jacob about. The woman on the screen looked calm, telling all of this almost robotically the second time around.

This registered easily but Kevin’s ears were now open. He wanted to know the whole story, remembering something very faintly about a friend. Someone he was in the car with. His leg bounced up and down out of nervousness and then stopped abruptly.

“In the hospital with him are long-time friends of his y/n y/l/n and Jace MacMillan, all now residing in Intensive Care after emergency surgeries. The cause of the accident is still unclear but it is rumoured that underage drinking and impaired driving is one of the reasons for it.”

—————————————

Sunwoo’s eyes blinked open, an extreme pounding in his head making it hard to keep them that way. Lights seemed to blur from white to rainbow and then back to white. Slowly, everything came into focus. A nurse was making her rounds far off, he could hear her soft voice and the questions she asked, though they seemed a bit warbled. Lifting his hand was a chore and tugged on strings when he tried so he gave up. He remembered and he didn’t at all. He was in a car, and you were there. There were bright lights again, and skidding? Or was it spinning? The ideas made his head pound even more and he let out a slight hiss, eyes clamping shut on instinct.

“S- Sunwoo?”

The voice he heard was soft but not unfamiliar. Moving his head, though slow and painful, wasn’t restricted. Trying to lift his back off the bed proved to be a harder task, beeping from a machine beside him increasing slightly. Hands came to help him back down, resting on his shoulders lightly and attempting to make him lay back. Very little force was needed for him to sit back down, his mother’s face coming into view.

“Hey, relax, okay? Sit back, don’t strain yourself. You’re still recovering.” Her words seemed to be calm but he knew his mother better than that. Underneath it all, in the midst of her eyes, she was beyond scared.

Rasps came out instead of words, broken and unkempt. Come to think of it, Sunwoo was thirsty and tried to mouth it instead, watching his mother piece together the varied sounds and lip movements. Quickly catching on, she nodded and bustled towards the door, telling him to stay put.

As if he could go anywhere else.

The thought nearly made him smile but it wasn’t that simple. Everything felt uncomfortable and he was suddenly hyper aware of the needles in his arm and the way something dripped from a bag atop him. Saline? He’d had one of those before, and that would explain the salt on his tongue. As his mind drifted, Sunwoo found focusing too hard to do. Nurses came and asked him questions and he answered as best as he could. There was too much happening all at once though. Nothing and everything made sense. Things started to blur together and he could feel himself losing touch of reality.

By the time his eyes started to wander, only his audio came into focus and, somehow, it was crystal clear. The nurse had pushed a button and a small alarm was sounding. Over that, beeps began to pick up their pace. His mother had raised his voice. If he blinked, he swore he could see her getting tugged out of the room, a few people in white and purple and blue rushing past them. People were calling his name, trying to get his attention but he was thinking about something else.

His consciousness was just a few steps away, leaning out the door frame to see a woman crying in her husband’s arms. He had white hair growing from his roots, slicked back into black hair that ended at his chin. She was a smaller woman, fitting just right into his arms. He was trying very hard to comfort her, but Sunwoo swore there was something missing in his eyes. He lacked heart. He lacked belief.

If he listened closely, the syllables of your name reached his ears from someone’s mouth. Coupled with the image of the couple, panic overtook his body.Someone murmured that they were losing him. As his eyes rolled back and he was sucked back into his body, Sunwoo felt like his head was being pushed under into a fast moving current until it stopped. Everything stopped and faded away. Pain, words, the scratches on his chin: they were all gone. There was a great nothingness until he felt something.

He felt you; and he felt at peace.

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fallsofnoir · 5 years ago

Text

Honey is Not Enough

AO3 | Beta-reader @angrycroissantt (thank you so much!)

Summary:

Luka wasn’t even supposed to be at this party, but it was Chloe’s party and he couldn’t stay away. … Even if she didn’t know his identity.

// in which Luka deals with his own girlfriend treating him like a stranger and struggles not to reveal his identity.

Luka wasn’t even supposed to be at this party. He’d been just about to work on a new chord progression for the band when Rose had come running into his room. She’d gasped and started to complain about what he was wearing, he heard something about a party as she dragged him with the strength of a mighty... bunny to his wardrobe.

Despite his protests and questions, she managed to wrangle him into a clean pair of jeans and a less worn hoodie. Juleka had thankfully put his guitar back in its case by the time Rose was done with him.

“Let’s go, let’s go!” Rose clapped her hands together and made her way to the door.

“Where are we going?” He asked.

She stopped in her path and turned around with a grin, “to Chloe’s party.”

“I wasn’t invited.” There wasn’t any bitterness to his tone, there wasn’t.

“Rose and I can’t go out this late without you anyway so her highness will just have to let you in,” his sister explained as she handed him his shoes. They stood next to each other with such hopeful gazes that he really couldn’t say no.

Looking around the party, he could see nearly everyone from Chloe’s class, the only person missing was Chloe herself. He tried not to look for her. Marinette and Adrien were keeping him busy by discussing some plans for the band to see if they could get Adrien to schedule in some more jam sessions. He was excited to be able to do more music with Adrien, the kid could seriously rock the keyboard. Finding a free evening, however, was proving to be difficult, if Adrien was free it was likely Marinette was busy or the other way round. Luka didn’t even want to factor into how many evenings he’s busy. They finally settled on the following Thursday, he’d just have to ask to see if one of the other heroes could cover his patrol. No big deal.

Alya soon dragged the pair away from him and he made his way over to the food table. There was a slice of pizza with his name on it. Chloe might just kill him if he ruined his body from the pizza, but it was so worth it. He was just taking a bite when the blonde in question strutted into the room with Sabrina in tow.

Fashionably late, but wow. She was gorgeous. He didn’t know how anyone could look that good in white jeans.

She made a beeline for the microphone set up in the corner and brought it to her lips. “You all better not have been having too much fun without me, but now that I’m here the party can really start! Let’s see if any of you can beat me at karaoke first.” Smirking, the girl held out the other microphone as if daring someone to challenge her. Luka knew that look, it was similar to the look she gave him when she raced him to the Notre Dame. A challenger stepped forward, he was pretty sure Alix pushed him, Kim. He didn’t back down though and from then on the game was set.

Five rounds later it was clear she knew the songs too well. Knowing Chloe, she’d probably spent her whole childhood playing this game. A quick glance at Adrien proved him to be mouthing along to the words too so Luka assumed he was correct in that assumption. Slowly, though, her voice wore out and she ended up handing her champion status over to Marinette with much resentment. Promises of winning next time were made and soon she was stalking over to the drinks table.

“You’re very talented,” he commented.

The blonde grinned and flicked her hair over her shoulder. “Of course I am.” She downed some punch and poured herself some more to sip at more leisurely as she perched on the edge of the table near him. “Who are you?”

“Oh, sorry, I’m Jules’ brother,” he held his hand in greeting. She shook it, pausing ever so slightly when she noticed his painted nails. “She dragged me here so she could stay out later.”

He noticed that her eyes widened and the corners of her lips turned up ever so slightly before she schooled her features. “More like so she and Rose could find some alone time.” He knew that wasn’t the case, but he couldn’t exactly prove when the two girls were currently locking lips on the opposite side of the room.

“I think they get plenty of that at ours,” he grinned at her. She should know that they were here for her. “Mum’s pretty chill with that sort of thing. And Rose has always said that you throw the best parties.”

Chloe smiled back at him and tapped her fingers against her cup. “That’s because I always have the best sound system.”

“It is pretty great, Adrien was saying earlier about how nice it would be for the band to practice here.”

“You’re in his band?” Chloe looked surprised. He wondered if the girl had stopped listening to Adrien talk about the band once she found out Marinette was in it too. He had heard both sides of the story on their rivalry and he wasn’t about to get involved.

“More like he’s a part-timer in my band. Poor kid’s got no time to join us most days.”

“Yeah well, his dad can go walk off a cliff for all I’m concerned.”

He hummed in agreement and they both turn to look at the boy currently singing his heart out to what he thought must have been a Disney song. “The only thing stopping me from pushing him off the cliff myself is that Adrien would be alone.”

The girl turned to look at him, a question on her face. Perhaps she didn’t realise how close he was to Adrien. Or maybe she just didn’t expect anyone to agree with her suggestion. Either way, she didn’t have a chance to ask when a shockwave ran throughout the room.

“Everyone get down!” He heard Adrien shout through the mic. Luka threw himself over Chloe, rolling them under the drinks table.

The lights blew out and then they appeared. A glowing white. Their body seemed to float, dancing past the glass windows without looking in the room. Everyone in the room seemed to wait with bated breath as the figure inched closer to the balcony. Chloe wriggled underneath him and he let her up. She gestured for him to remain quiet and made signals to someone across the room. He saw her motion towards the door.

One by one he could see the hands and knees of his friends make their way towards the doors and away from the balcony. Relief went through him when the doors opened. The pale person was still outside the balcony doors. Just floating.

Until.

Someone made a run for it. He jumped up when he could no longer see the ghostly being outside and shouted to Chloe that they’d vanished.

“Boo!” He heard from behind him. Turning he could see the ghost thing in front of a terrified Kim. “You thought you could ghost me! I am Remembrance and I’m going to make sure everyone remembers the love they have lost!” With that, she grabbed Kim’s hand and disappeared into thin air.

Great, just great. Marinette stared at him and Chloe with wide eyes before Adrien grabbed her hand and pulled her out the room. He knew he needed to move. He just had to try and find a place to transform.

The rest of the crowd streamed out the doors quickly after that. Chloe dodged his attempt to grab her hand and ran over to the balcony door. She was gone before he even had the chance to chastise her for running into danger. He transformed in the empty room and found his fellow heroes on the rooftop.

Finding Remembrance when she could literally phase through walls was the hard bit. Defeating her was not. And soon he was untransformed back at the hotel waiting for Chloé to return. With only Sass as company.

He had expected everyone else to come back to the room the party was held in. But he hadn’t seen a single person. He didn’t know how to take that. Didn’t know what to think. He knew Ladybug and Chat Noir had to take the person who was akumatized and Kim back home. The poor guy was going to get a lecture from one of the heroes no doubt. His sister had probably filled her quota for socialising today and taken Rose home. But the rest? He didn’t know why they weren’t here.

He’d just managed to feed his Kwami when the doors opened and he looked up expecting the crowd to steam in. There was no crowd.

Chloé slowly walked into the room, her eyes rapidly moving around the room before her shoulders slumped. She spun around and faced him. “Just you?”

He nodded. He had a really hoped her friends would pop up from behind the tables or something, anything to happen to stop the sad look from being on the girl’s face.

He could see her blinking rapidly from across the room and he knew she was trying not to make a scene. “I think that means the party is over, you can show yourself out.” With that, she was hurrying back out of the room.

Would it be alright to follow her? He didn’t know, but he damn well was not going to let secret identities get in the way of comforting her. Ladybug can kill him later. He ran out of the room.

For someone wearing heels, she sure ran fast. Her lift had already started heading to her floor before he’d reached it. He mashed the lift buttons but the next one was still 10 floors away, he’d never reach her in time. The stairs it was.

Her breathing was quick and her hands were shaking as she exited the lift. Her palm came to rest against the nearest wall and she bent over to try and catch her breath. This was how Luka found her. Sobbing next to the door of her suite.

“Oh, honey -“ he started. She gasped, pausing in her sobs. His hands came to rest on her shoulders to stop her from turning around. “I’m sorry, I’m not transformed.”

“How are you here?” She breathed out between her cries. She didn’t throw him off her, however, and that was enough encouragement as any.

“I was here when the Akuma hit,” he explained. His hands slipped past her shoulders and wrapped her in a hug from behind. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “You don’t have to explain anything, but know that I‘m here and I love you.”

If possible she crumpled even more. Her hands came up to cover her face and she allowed him to rock the two of them together. He wasn’t entirely certain why she had broken down, but he had a feeling it was to do with the lack of people that returned to the party.

“You know me?” She asked after not very long. Her breathing increased. He hadn't managed to calm her down. “How do you know me? I didn’t want you to know me, you can’t... please tell me you don’t know me.”

He didn’t know why he shouldn’t know her, he’s known who she was since day one. How could he not? Chloé was the most beautiful person he’d ever seen, of course, she’d be Queen Bee. He told her as such.

“No, no, no I’m not,” she mumbled. “I’m not supposed to be a superhero, I’m not good enough.”

“You are.”

“No, I’m really not,” she shook herself out of his grip to hit the wall with all the force of a superhero. It left a dent. “If I was people would have come back.”

“Maybe they were busy?” He tried. He knew for certain that some of them were busy doing superhero duties. Chloé had patrol tonight so she was excused. Ladybug had offered to drop the civilian home instead of him because it was a girl so he’d been given a free chance. Yes, the others should have come back, but who knows why they couldn’t. It wasn’t Chloé’s fault.

“If anyone of my classmates thought I was worthy of being a superhero they would have been here. I’m just the mayor’s daughter, they can’t say no to me, can they? I practically force everyone to come anyway. Stupid, stupid, stu-“

“Hey, hey, hey,” Luka grabbed her hands to stop her from hitting the wall again. “You’re not stupid! They’re the stupid ones if they can’t see how amazing you are! Bee if anyone should be a superhero it’s you.”

“You’re just saying that.”

“I’m not!” He glanced at the door next to them. “Can we go to your room?“

“Oh! Yeah of course,” she replies, she sounded like she’d forgotten she wasn’t in private.

They shuffle in an odd way to the room. Luka unwilling to let her go and Chloé needing to unlock the door. She immediately went to her bedside to grab a sleeping mask to cover her eyes for the time being.

He smiled when she turned around to face him blindly. The Ladybug mask seemed strange on her face. “I think I prefer your actual mask.”

She snorted, and he was glad to see a smile on her face, albeit small. But he wasn't done yet.

”You, Chloé Bourgeois, are every bit deserving of being Queen Bee as Ladybug is herself,” he said, his hands moved to grab hers. “Who was the one who brought ice cream for us when we were baking in the super-suits on the hottest day of the summer? Who is the one who always jumps in front of their teammates when they’re in trouble? Who is the one who did patrol every single night for three weeks when the rest of us were stuck with flu? On their own? Well, mostly,” he placed a kiss on her knuckles. “You are caring, thoughtful, crazy loyal, smart, powerful and absolutely ready to put your teammates first. That, honey, is what makes a superhero if you ask me.”

She had tears dripping down her cheeks by the time he was finished. His kissed them away too and a smile lit up her face.

“How do you always have the right words?” She stomped her foot in mock protest. “I bet I look like a mess.”

“I’m only being honest,” he answered, smiling when she reached up to wipe her tears away. “You look beautiful.”

“I don’t, but thank you.” He couldn’t stop himself from kissing her then. Her arms went around his neck and his around her waist. Sweet and leisurely, like pure honey. And he was addicted.

She pulled back before he could get too carried away. “This mask is so not made for kissing.” It had been bunching on her nose making breathing even more difficult than usual.

“Maybe we should save that for our next patrol then, Queenie,” he suggested but it didn’t stop him from stealing another kiss or two from the blonde. “In fact, I think you probably need to get going, don’t you? It’s Saturday.”

“Oh right, what time is it?” She mumbled.

“10:47.”

“Oh phew, I’ve got like what 10 minutes to get to the other side of town,” she stepped away from him and called for Pollen. She asked for her transformation but kept a hand over her eyes. “I’ll have to invest in a better mask for next time you plan to stop by as a civilian. You will come back, won’t you?”

“I’ll wait in eager anticipation, my queen.” He bowed and kissed her hand.

Queen Bee wrinkled her nose, “don’t start coping the cat. Ladybug and I couldn’t take it if there were two of him.”

He spat out a laugh. Chat Noir sure was a bit over the top lately with his affections for their leader.

“I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“You better be there, Scales,” she grinned at him before her wings took her out through the window.

He grinned the whole way home.

Epilogue

“I want to apologise!” Ladybug stood in front of a very confused Chloé Bourgeois with what looked to be a gift box. Chat Noir stood just behind her.

“Apologise for what Ladybug? As if you could have done anything wrong.”

“I - um - It was your party this weekend-“

“And? I had a ton of people turn up, I don’t expect you with your busy schedule to be able to make it.” The blonde rolled her eyes.

“Well yes but I’m sorry-“

“And besides we had that stupid Akuma hit right in the middle of it anyway, the party ended after that,” Chloé looked at her nails as a distraction. She wasn’t sure how much Chat Noir knew about her, but she wasn’t about to give her identity away to the cat.

“I guess so, but still Chloé,” Ladybug had shoved the box into Chat Noir’s arms at this point. She grabbed the blonde’s hand. “I wanted to be there and I know how much effort you put into it. I can’t give away my identity, but no one is more annoyed than me and Chat about that Akuma happening.”

Chloé looked up at Ladybug’s face to see her staring at her. There was something in her eyes that she couldn’t place, but she knew she had to accept whatever the superheroine was apologising for.

She shook her out of her grip and walked over to retrieve the box from Chat Noir. She noticed an infamous logo on the box. “Macaroons? How did you know where to find my favourite bakery?”

She had never told anyone that she was partial to the Dupain-Cheng bakery.

Both of her teammates' eyes widened. “Uhh, lucky guess?” Ladybug shrugged, sheepishly.

Chloé wasn’t about to complain anyway and she opened it and popped a macaroon straight into her mouth. “Apology accepted, Ladybug, not that you needed to.”

Ladybug grinned before nodding at her partner and grabbing her yo-yo. “Thank you Chloé, I’ll make sure to clear my schedule the next time you throw a party.”

“Yeah, no Akuma will be there to stop us from partying next time,” Chat Noir added. The two heroes left Chloé with the macaroons. The blonde wasn’t sure how she knew to, but Ladybug always managed to cheer her up. And she was going to do everything in her power to help out the heroes when they needed her too.

Fin.

#miraculous ladybug #ml fanfiction #luka couffaine #chloe bourgeois #queen bee #viperion #viperbee #one shot #my fic #fic: honey is not enough #series: honey honey #i hope you guys all enjoy it!#i certainly loved writing it #beta read

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