#1) my orbs r gone

[sieglinde-freud]

these two and their fucking falchion themed arrow and dagger 😭😭😭 shut up youre so lame… do you think owain came up with that

[ceridescent]

what started in beautiful rooms — r., thérèse

thérèse raquin x female!reader

summary: you never really knew what’s behind those twinkling, green eyes.

warning/s: pure angst & adultery.

word count: 1, 229

author’s note: been fermenting in my drafts since november of 2022 i think it’s finally time it sees the light of day. i hope you like gay angst. ♡

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“you are all i could think about.”

she cannot even bear to look you in the eye, and yet, in this decadent condition, you took courage professing the revelation clogging your throat so surreal you had denied speaking. terrified to the point of refusal to eat, alive at most with your lips clipped together, barricading the words only for her to hear. 

dismissive her jaded eyes are, lingering in the vastness of the forest, indulging herself in the rejuvenating lush of greenery — she’d let her eyes get plucked by it, you suppose, with how wide-eyed she stares at anywhere but you. 

“what am i supposed to do with that?” her impertinence tips you to the brink of falling apart, although not quite, because she is just as nervous as you are. clamping her lower lip with her pearly white teeth, and now darting her gaze haphazard. she turns at you, “what do you wish me to say, y/n?” just as lost as you are. 

is she though?

lest you forget, she engineered all of this. 

you crawl closer to her, just enough to pretend that her husband is not resting on top of her legs, dozed and unaware of your conversation. 

you’ve only known thérèse for a while, and whilst you strain making sense of her hoaxes, you wish you had never gone into her aunt’s shop, enthusiastic and amicable to accept her dinner invitation with a shake of a hand. 

a tattooed smile lingered on your face basking into both you and thérèse’s interests, unintentionally disregarding the mother and son dining with you in the background. 

your eyelashes fluttering with a gaze so intense thérèse repeatedly stuttered with a blush on her pale face, admiration coating your orbs with your chin on top of your palm, tilting your head sideward as she talked about her wonderment at the glistening river near her aunt’s old abode from vermont; the lone thing she dearly missed. 

unseen was thérèse’s eye roll when her husband held and squeezed her hand, gladly speaking on behalf of his wife — she wouldn’t miss anything else from vermont, because the whole family is together. you were more than a stranger now that you had sparked an interest with thérèse but nonetheless a stranger — unaware of the faux laughter coming from her, indulged only in the crinkled smiles of the couple. 

that single, lovely dinner erected into visits, almost daily, thérèse knocking on the wood of your family’s abode during afternoons, when your parents have scattered be with their jobs, invited over for embroidery lessons. 

“press it lightly with just enough pressure, that’s right. good! don’t be too hard on the needle,” you whispered close thérèse’s ear, guiding her fingers with your own into weaving the needle into the fabric. 

you were crouched over the back of her frame whilst she sat on a padded stool, patiently waiting for your commands and evaluations. she was a diligent student who had a keen eye for details, yet at that moment she was sloppy. 

eyebrows knitted, confused with thérèse’s sudden burst of swiftness in movement, you reflexively pressed your hands around hers, locking them in (picked from your usual habit of teaching your younger sister), getting a good look at her up close. you caught sweat sliding down her forehead, the red burning on her pale cheeks, and the quiver of her plump mouth. 

“take a deep breath, thérèse-“ 

she did so, taking three breaths per second, alarming you further. “slower, thérèse. slow and steady for me,” you raspsed unintentionally, squeezing her tensed shoulders, the view of her apprehension catalyzing your body to warm without an appropriate reason you failed to explain. 

“you want me to go slow on you?”

it wasn’t a true question, you realized after she tossed the embroidery hoop to the ground, rising from the chair abruptly that unexpectedly your lips were clamped in between her own, slightly nipped and slightly licked, pinning you to the sofa. 

a muffled noise bubbled out of your swelling lips for the first time. it was ardently luscious that you wished she’d urge you to do it once more, grappling the nape of her neck, burrowing your fingers in ‘till you have nested yourself within her. 

lost in the moment you became pliable ditto clay, your blouse hastily unbuttoned, kneaded were your breasts by thérèse’s svelte hands, along with whispered salacious fantasies in your ear, her wedding band glistening due to the gleam of the sun. 

clandestine meetings brewed from that moment on. hidden in their quarters, basked in the rays of sunlight, the huge duvet that fit three people, thérèse’s warm hold. 

“how do i satiate myself of you?” she would whisper in your ear, breathy as she could be, empty and sore from a hushed sin veiled away by her incessant ‘migraines’ when asked her conditions from her aunt. 

you would chuckle, wrap your cramped arm around her tender frame, and give her forehead a kiss. 

drifting your thoughts direct toward the days you have not encountered the twinkle in her eyes — the playful smirk on her pink lips — the laugh so angelic you had worshiped it. 

“just-“ a leap of air alleviates from your lips, clawing out the whirling emotions permeating in your system. 

you stare at her for eons you have imagined her a statue. what a divine being to admire without being hurt, without the desire to touch. a stiff sculpture that appears dainty it would invoke jealousy within you. a material lifeless, at ease at its tense. a material not to long for. 

“y-you left me…”

unfathomable are the shake in your words, unaccepting of the feelings you have laced with it. “you do not- no…you refuse to care!”

“y/n!” thérèse’s half-scream bolts you from your senses, two drops of tears threatening to fall down in the law of gravity. you are stupefied by the sound of your name thrown from her lips — ginger, lipid, ashamed. thérèse used to lace it with vampishness, gentleness, and blitheness. 

you only cared. 

“y/n, please, let’s not- don’t do this, please.” her eyes watered, either of anxiety or spite you cannot determine. however, once you observed the trail she had left, of her gazing jade orbs — at your polished eyes and chapped lips, and soon the sleeping body of her husband. 

“then please, thérèse,” you sob her name, pleading for her. “tell me we mean something! this is more than hiding us away…”

“you are all i can think about, thérèse. please say something.” you wish to reach her hand, but enough of the touching. nor the staring. this is the riskiest attainment you have taken — asking for permanence from a woman whose hands are bound by another’s, nonchalant of your wisdom cracking away. 

thérèse observes her husband’s face for a long time, caressing his curls away from his face, ignoring your presence. a passerby would assume you are a maiden awaiting orders from her masters. a relationship between maiden and master cordial that she is treated as equal, sitting down against the warm grass, conversing over domestic activities or of scorching gossip. 

“we’re leaving paris, y/n. we’re going back to vermont.”

thérèse remains a statue. however, this time, she has become a blur. 

you weep in silence whilst she watches you, stiff in her shoulders, loose with her hands caressing her man.

[undertale-museum]

Behind the Stacks

Part 3 / Part 4 (here) / Part 5

Several notes on previous pages given context for Being X's contribution, RIPs, etc. ~Guide

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Snowfall by Taggen96

P:  2016/7___LU:  2019/9 ___Status: Incomplete, unknown ___Pages: 88

C: Fallen Child, UT!Asriel, UT!Chara, UT!Frisk, UT!Flowey, UT!Gaster, UT!Papyrus (cameo), UT!Sans

~

Note: Dub Snowfall【 Undertale Comic Dub 】 Video(s): 5

[Being X] Note to Self: It’s mostly intense. Besides the fear of a reset coming soon, I didn’t find it too nerve wracking. From what is currently available, it mostly focuses on Asriel/Flowey

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TC-96

(A026_1) Entertale

P:  2016/8___LU:  2019/8 ___Status: Incomplete, Pause ___Pages: 52

C: UT!Asriel, UT!Chara, UT!Frisk, UT!Papyrus, UT!Sans

Note: I put this under Classic Undertale except for Flowey is Asriel form so… it’s technically not.

(A026_2) Kiwitale:  Fallen Child / Meet Sans / Pantry Helper / Kiwi Vs Humans / Yoda Kiwi

P:  2017/11 ___Pages: 5 ___ C: KT!Chara, KT!Papyrus, KT!Sans, KT!Undyne

~

Note: Dubs Kiiwiiiii II Kiwitale Dub , Endertale【 Undertale Comic Dub 】 Video(s): 9

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The Bomber Diggity 666

(x) Don't Have to Hide

P:  2016/7___LU:  2016/12 ___Status: Complete ___Pages: 22

C: UT!Gaster, UT!Papyrus, UT!Sans

~

Note: Dub Don't Have To Hide - Undertale Comic Dub Movie (FULL)

[Being X] TW: broken bones

[Being X] Note: Gaster is being a great caregiver. Papyrus is adorable. Sans, poor kid

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thegreatrogue

Guide: I am aware their username was tehgreatrogueblog or something of the like but I'll correct my mistake later.

They were hit by the p*rn ban back in the day. Sadly, about 60 of Being X's links are made useless. At one point, I believe The Orb salvaged some of thegreatrogue's work but it took so long going through all the reblogs it was scrapped.

They did have some horny content but most of it was very cutesy.

For example, their blog featured a short series of wolf cross. They had Afterdeath, ErrorFresh, ErrorInk, High School AUs too.

Though, the Museum's favorite is their Vampireverse series that featured: Encre (alt Ink), Jasper (alt Paper Jam), Suave (alt Fresh), Fallacy (alt Error), Azure (alt Blue), and some version of Underfell Sans who name started with an R like Rufus but I can't remember for sure. It was set an in a medieval AU where Fallacy was the Lord of a castle with his child Paperjam, Suave (butler) and house staff (alt Frisk, Chara, misc monsters). All of the staff except for Suave were vampires while Encre was a painter, Azure a member of the guard, and Rufus a blacksmith.

Most of the comic revolved around shipping Encre x Fallacy or Suave x Jasper. I believe I remember Fallacy kidnapping Encre sometimes which was fun. There might have been shipping between Azure and Rufus but I can't remember.

Thegreatrogue also had also did some Swap Error and Ink called Eraser and Reboot. We're not sure if that's their own version of the Sanses or if it was based on someone else's.

PaperFresh (Paperjam x Fresh) was their most prominent ship. It was mostly contained to the NAJ au aka "nerd and jock."

DUB: Glasses / Mirror Confession / Kiss High

It involved a mixture of kissing, high school style couples courting, comfort/hurt, lots of flirting and with a healthy dose of memes mixed in.

Guide: I don't remember there being so much wolf based AUs.

Another ship that was prominent featured was Poth (Goth x Palette). Unfortunately, the part 1 link is broken so it may be deleted or gone.

DUBS: Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5

Ah... there was a Swap Sans comic that was an NSFW comic. *shakes head* the things you miss when you don't archive early.

Here's a montage of some of their content misc content:

Link 1 / Link 2

At the end of Being X's notes, there's also several reblogged deactivated blogs that ze tried to save. It's truly unfortunate. Even in 2019 when the majority of this "Behind the Stacks" exhibits were collected, it had only been 4 years post the game's release and there were already blogs deactivating. Truly a shame.

Guide: Being X used to call these salvage projects the "Land of Lost Artists" which is quite endearing.

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Tinderboxofsilly ideas (Kinky spy)

(x) [How Much Can Lazy Muster?] ___ P:  2018

Day 2: Nobody Knows Me like Me

Day 3: Getting Productive

Day 4: Closed Door

(x) Land of Forgotten Comic / Part 2 __ P:  2018 ___ Note: two different artists talking in comic form

(x) Kustard Week Day 1: Hello Hello, I’m not Where I’m S’posed to be  ___ P: 2019/10

Kustard Week Day 2: “you can’t do that, he’s baby.”

Kustard Week Day 3: “hit or miss.”

Kustard Week Day 4: “loss.jpg”

Kustard Week Day 5: 30-50 feral hogs.

Pictures:  Geno x Classic / Dom or Sub /Sensory Deprivation / Frottage / Bitty Red / Hate Fucking /Bara Bitty Sans

Comics : Reaping Souls / Over Did It / Heart Lick /Undyne Comforts Red / Licking and Punishment / Dentist / Sensitive Skele Tails

Misc: Bloom Meme

Note:

Dub

sans the skeleton undyne and papyrus

Outfit [Kustard Comic Dub]

Goodbye Sans, Remember Me (Pre Dentist)

I Love you so much【 Undertale Comic Dub 】

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Fatal Error by Xedramon

alt Geno

Guide: I recall FE!Geno being very popular character back in 2019. You saw him EVERYWHERE it seemed. An angsty concept which Being X humorously labeled "asshole Geno."

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RIP xXThe- Purple-GlitchXx or xXPurple-LoveXx

Sadly, all comics for Purple Glitch were deleted it seems. Our notes say that there was some wonderful Fresh x Error one shot comics.

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Insomina by WilyArt

Edit 20May24: Thank you Anon! Wily-Art does still exist. Thank the stars, weird that none of our links worked however… ah well, that is technology for you.

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[lostonehero]

Becoming less human

It was a week after the near end of the world by two men who had good intentions but no common sense. The teams Aqua and Magma merged and started on trying to help without the use of extreme measures. Both teams thankfully were pardoned and nobody died, but the orbs the orbs were absorbed into both leaders flesh, and as far as anyone knows nothing came of it except the two leaders getting together.

Maxie gave a frustrated sigh as he tried to put his shoe on again, for some reason it felt too small. He was 35 he was well past growing stuck at 5ft 5in for the rest of his life. He never complained though his height never defined him, and he could beat Archie in a fist fight no problem, growing up in a orphanage where everyone hated would make someone tough. Granted Archie would never admit to loosing, well it wasn't like anyone would belive Maxie either to the world he was a weak skinny nerd. He wore the long sleeves and stocking to cover up scars from past abuse he didn't want to show the world.

"Leader Maxie? I mean Maxie." Tabitha stutters out.

Maxie sighs "Archie isn't in here Tabitha." He heard a sigh of relief as his former admin walked in. "And I told you you didn't have to stay, you can get a better job and not be stuck with the crazy man who almost ended the world." He cursed under his breath again and tossed his shoes to the side.

"Le- Maxie I want to help with your new vision, and even if it involves Aqua what you have drawn out is pretty amazing sir...." he trails off as he watches Maxie. "Sir are you alright."

Maxie sighs. "I think I must of hurt my feet and they are swollen my shoes seem too tight." His feet look perfectly fine except for his nails that look like they are turning black.

"Oh I see do you want me to call for a doctor?"

"No Tabitha I'm fine I'll just steal Archie's shoes he left here." Maxie sighs seeing Tabitha scowl at the former Aqua leader. "I don't need you judging my love life Tabitha."

Tabitha huffs. "You can do better sir."

"Tabitha I appreciate the sentiment but I'm pretty hated right now."

"W-well you are still liked."

"I know you have feelings for Matt, and besides I'm 10 years older then you and Courtney so my answer would still be no."

Tabitha tries to hide his red face, Maxie knew him too well at this point. "R-Right sir uh today is your day off I came to remind you no work."

Maxie curses under his breath Tabitha knew him well as well. "Right very well then I think I'll visit Archie."

Tabitha sighs but didn't argue he knew Maxie wouldn't overwork himself around that pirate.

.......

"If you keep staring at your hands I will smack the back of your head Archie." Shelly huffed

Archie was in casual clothes and nit his wet suit today. He felt naked without it on, but fir some reason his gloves couldn't go all the way down, and it seemed as if the webbing on his fingers had gotten deeper and his nails longer. He kept thinking back to the blue orb absorbing into his skin filing his blood with ice and the legendary beast staring at him seemingly to say "you survived you'll be rewarded" he really didn't know why that was in his head. He even asked Maxie about it and he said the same thing when in regards to his encounter.

"Archibald you're boyfriend is here." Shelly sneered rolling her eyes.

Archie sighs and gives a look to Shelly and she just raises her hands and left. Archie knew Shelly hated Maxie, and he knew Shelly didn't approve but he made him happy.

"Archie? Are you alright." Maxie asks as he plops down into a chair wearing longs sleeves and pants.

Archie frowns he knew the real reason why Maxie covered up and hell it had been only a short time but he wish he could see more of him more often then the bedroom. He shook his head. "I don't know I couldn't put on my gloves today."

Maxie leans back. "Funny I couldn't put on my shoes today I had to wear yours, well the pair you forgot to get when Courtney chased you put of my bedroom."

Archie grimaced at the memory but looked confused. "Maxie I'm like three sizes bigger then you how have you not tripped?"

"They fit perfectly." Macie says calmly but his shaking hands gave him away. "Is this the reward." He whispered fear lacing his tone.

Archie has never seen Maxie truly scared, sure he had startled him but the man was ready to punch him in the face rather then run away. His nerves were starting to eat away at his confidence. "I-i don't know Max. Are we taking there place?"

Maxie shivers. "I never wanted that, I don't think I could stand to loose you now." He frowns. "Could I stay with you tonight...." he trails off.

Archie nods frowning, Maxie never asked he always just stayed and was so dominate in his ways. He decided he didn't like seeing Maxie scared. "Have you gone back to..." he didn't finish his sentence when Maxie looked him in the eye.

"Yes once, it was for closure to make sure they were gone...." he stopped seemingly recalling something. "I heard something though."

"What?"

"Uh I think you've been blessed by the gods your body will change to accept it.... I thought I was just hearing things." He looked down biting his lip.

Archie sighs and looks at Maxie. "I don't want to talk about this anymore..."

"Neither do I." Maxie gets up and offers Archie his hand. "Shall we get some ice cream and try to forget with bad movies."

Archie smiled softly nodding getting up. "Aye that sounds great."

.....3 months later.....

Maxie tried to wrestle Archie's shoes onto his feet but he had little to no luck, it's been months and he was comfortable wearing them this was like being a teenager in a growthspurt all over. "Fuck this!" he threw the shoes across the room and finally noticed his pants were short that doused his frustration with fear.

Archie rushed in right out of the shower his towel haphazardly around his waist. "Maxie are you alright."

Maxie in a quiet voice. "My pants are too short and slightly tight."

Archie furrows his brow and actually looks down and to his astonishment Maxie was right. "I know you've gained weight Maxie, but uh you gained height."

Maxie sighs. "I thought it was I eating more I gained weight, and I didn't mind that but.... but " he stops and takes a deep breath. "Archie we never did stop did we?"

"My legs aren't fusing if that's what your asking." Archie tried to joke but he was starting to get scared too.

Maxie sat down on the bed. "I need to get new clothes." He sighs laying down. "We probably should tell Steven."

Archie frowns and moves to lay down next to him. "Maybe we should start with our former admins, or current ones they really never stopped doing their jobs."

"I don't know which one would be worse." Maxie chuckles covering his face. "Tabithia and Courtney will be the worse mother hens."

"You think that's bad Matt once carried me to bed when I had the sniffles." Archie gives a small laugh.

"When did our lives get so messed up? Wait don't answer that I know why." Maxie huffs looking at Archie.

Archie couldn't hold it in and started to laugh.

Maxie threw a pillow at him.

..... 6 months later......

Archie frowns looking at the large blanket Matt bought for him and Maxie. "Is this really necessary? Maxie only grew 6inches."

"Bro you need to think long term, you're changing too." Matt puffs out his chest. "Even if you become another kyoger I want to make sure you're warm."

Archie sighs scratching his beard. "I don't think that's what I'm becoming Matt, but uh thanks." Matt was like his brother, he was just a tad over protective.

Matt shakes his head. "No matter what happens Archie I will be by your side no matter what."

Archie smiles softly. "Thanks Matt, but uh I think we are good on blankets, Maxie is like a furnace..."

"Does he have a fever, I know I was rude and mean when you started dating but he really loves you can I help?" Matt rattles off

Archie chuckles. "No Bro like how my body temperature lowered Maxie's went up."

"Ohhh ok so you guys cancel each other out just like them. Maybe they are dating too."

Archie covers his face with his hands trying to get that image put of his head as Matt rattles on about the many plans he has to help.

.....4 months later.....

"This is insulting at this point." Archie huffs laying on his stomach.

Maxie matching Archie's position. "I didn't want a tail either but here we are. It's not even fully formed yet and it's so sensitive." He sighs. "I honestly thought you would be upset because I'm taller then you now."

"Not gonna lie Max that kinds of turns me on." Archie chuckles hearing Maxie scoff.

"We aren't even entirely human anymore and you are thinking about bedroom activities." He tries and fails to look offended. "I can't say it hasn't crossed my mind Archie but I want to wait till we are done changing."

"Agreed, so how are your feet doing I know they were killing you." Archie hums trying to keep conversation to distract from the pain.

Maxie looks away. "Scales and bone spur on my heel...they feel a lot better but I'm worried I might hurt you while we sleep."

Archie has wide eyes. "Matching your claws."

Maxie looks back raising his brow. "Seriously Archie? What about your neck?"

"Gills got matching ones on my waist as well, I don't need my wetsuit anymore." He smiles.

Maxie smiles "swimming with Bruce is in your future right." He grimaced as a soft crack is heard. "F-fun with your p-pokemon."

Archie held onto Maxie's hand. "Its ok you don't need to be tough around me I love you."

Maxie held on tightly to Archie's hand. "I love you too." It was the first time they exchanged those words.

....1 month later....

Archie was chasing down Maxie with a bucket of soapy water. "Maxie I swear to arceus that you need to stop you're shedding let me help."

"Fuck off Archie, and leave that fucking hell brush in the trash." Maxie growls a red glowed from his eyes.

"Maxie it's just a brush stop being a baby." Archie tries to tackle him but misses. "I swear I will call Courtney and Tabitha."

"You wouldn't dare." Maxie hisses.

"I would you human lizard just get in the medicated bath." Archie crosses his arms.

Maxie grumbles and walks back to the large bath with bubbles and a medical oder he hated. He got in crossing his arms. "Only because I don't want them to see me naked again."

Archie sighs and begins to scrub softly at Maxie's scales helping them shed. "Look I don't like this either but I refuse to be covered in your shed again. I don't care if we are still changing you will take a bath when you shed."

Maxie scowls. "You don't have to baby me Archie. You know why I don't like baths."

Archie pauses. "I know Max, but you'll feel better we both know that. I'm sorry but I don't want the shower spray to hurt you like last time when you first shed."

Maxie looks away and nods. "I know I know, could you.... maybe uh come in with me?"

Archie chuckles and plops into the bath with Maxie splashing him.

Maxie spits out the soapy water at Archie. "You know what I changed my mind get out."

Archie laughs harder. "Love you too Maxie."

......1 year later....

Maxie was sitting at his desk Archie was late to their meeting, Tabitha and Courtney were both waiting along with Shelly and Matt. It was an uncomfortable silence. Maxie tapped his claw against the wood not realizing he was creating a small hole. "He's the one who called the damn meeting why is he running late."

Tabitha sighs knowing Maxie's temper was high by the smell of burning coming from his tail that slapped the floor in annoyance. "Maxie he probably forgot something."

"We share a home Tabitha he seemed perfectly put together." Maxie glares at Matt who looked guilty.

Matt Maxie knew was awful at keeping secrets and a glare from Maxie was enough to set him off. "ARCHIE IS GOING TO PROPOSE." Matt yells breaking all tension. "I promised I wouldn't tell but I just can't. He is late because the ring is taking longer to make then he realized." He covers his face in shame.

Shelly curses. "Fucking hell Matt he told us in confidence."

"I know I know but Maxie looks so upset." Matt whimpers

Shelly groans and leans back.

Courtney was laughing softly a rare sound.

Tabitha gave a look to Matt saying you're on the couch tonight.

Maxie slams his hands on the table startling everyone. "That fucking bastard" he gets up quickly. "I already bought a fucking ring."

The four stared at Maxie connecting the dots and everyone realized that maybe that their collective bosses were both actually so deeply in love they had the same idea.

At that moment Archie walked in hearing Maxie yell. "You bought a ring?"

"Of course I did you dumb pirate I love you." Maxie huffs. "I was waiting for the full moon because you like the moon's reflection on the water."

Archie looks like he was about to cry. "Maxie I love you so much woukd you marry me?"

Maxie threw his own black box at Archie. "Make an educated guess you college graduate."

Archie burst out laughing and runs to tackle Maxie into a hug. "Damn right Maxie I will marry you."

"And I will marry you Archie." Maxie smiles

[timextoxhajima]

Grounded: Level 0

Level 1

Member: Minho (Lee Know)

Genre: idol minho x idol trainee reader, angst cause is it a dana fic if there is no angst

Taglist: @valeriee-h​

A/N: Thank you for 400 followers. You all have been nothing but exceptional. 

[F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6]

The metallic taste seeping into your mouth was starting to annoy you, and on top of that, the tears that were running down your cheeks and between your lips were stinging the wounds you managed to inflict on yourself with your teeth.

You can hear the laughter and the sound of the bass against the flooring from where you were, though you were a good distance away from the practicing hall. The room smelled like dust and must due to the hose reel box being unused for such a long time, you wouldn't know. Your hands were probably messed up from all the accidental touching of the walls and the floor -- and great, now you've gone ahead and wiped away your tears with your hands.

Your teeth are gritted so hard against each other that you can feel your temples tightening, and all you want to do was to pack up and go home and call it quits--

"I know you're in there."

Silence. Then a shadow comes to block the bars of light coming through the slits of the door.

Choosing to keep quiet, you don't know why you thought he'd go away. He was the vice-captain of the dance crew and he obviously wasn't going to let you go without getting you out of the hose reel storeroom.

"I'm not going to force you out. But I need to know just one thing."

A pause.

"Do you still like dancing?"

Out of shame, you look down to your knees, now curled up into your chest. The tears continue to fall because you both know your answer. It’s just the physical pain and lack of resistance that’s keeping you from going further.

You can hear him sigh when he leans against the door, the wood creaking just the slightest with his weight against it. It was almost completely dark, now that he’s covered most of the slits in the door. The sweat trailing down the sides of your forehead and down your cheek gets mistaken for tears, urging you to wipe them away with the back of your hand. 

“I know you’re tired, but if you stop here, then there’s no way you can improve.”

You gulp, your throat feeling dry from the continuous days of air-conditioned practice hall and then the crying did nothing but further aggravate it. 

“...What makes you think I can still improve? What if this is the furthest I can go?”

“I thought like that once,” A small thud. He probably leaned his head backwards. “But I signed up for this because I like it. And frankly, I don’t know what else I’d do if I don’t do this for myself. So, now my question is: who are you doing this for, and if you’re willing to continue doing it for yourself?”

Your head is empty. There’s nothing but the want to start moving again, it’s the reflection in the mirror you’re afraid to see. 

The music from the practise hall starts again. By now, the song is more than annoying, but the adrenaline always manages to push you through anyway. The door creaks and more light floods in when he shifts away. 

“Come talk to me if you need to after practise. But for now, just come back and finish for today, okay? I’ll see you inside.”

He stays still for a few moments, before the sound of his shoes shuffle away from the storage room. Leaning your head back against the wall, you let the humidity coat your face like a layer of warmth. 

Why’d he have to give me that stupid pep-talk?

Shutting your eyes tightly, you recall the amount of effort you took to audition for this. A stage where BTS would perform on, and they were looking for a small group of girls in the back-up dancers’ team. The chances were ten to... hundreds. 

You shuffle to your feet, eyelids heavy from the physical activity but heart still full of hope. Your fingers wrap around the cold handle of the door and push it open, greeting the bright lights that illuminate the corridor down to the practice hall.

“Where is-- Oh! There you are!” The choreographer nearly yells into the mic when you rush through the door, some of your other dance crew mates jokingly yells at you for taking your own sweet time. 

“Sorry, bathroom.”

“Okay, okay. GIve us a head up if you’re going to do a number 2 next time, would you?”

Some of the dancers chuckle at the choreographer’s teasing, nudging you or ruffling your hair before they return to their positions. And as you do, you cannot help but to lock eyes with the vice-captain in the front row. He had the tiniest smile you’ve ever seen, the kind that if you didn’t stare hard enough... or if you didn’t pay enough attention... you’d miss it. 

A small nods finds you, eyes of encouragement welling up in his brown orbs under the lighting, and then the choreographer asks for the music. It thrums through you like an Earthquake, but instead of conjuring magma and ash and gas, it sucks the passion out of you and motivates you to move your feet again. 

The practise session ends fast, only because you realised you had been enjoying it. So when the choreographer thanks the dance crew and jumps off to speak to the captain, you take your time to grab a drink for yourself and let some other crew members chat you up. 

That is, until you noticed the vice-captain strutting out of the practise hall quietly. Excusing yourself, you grab your belongings and rush out behind him, just missing the lift that he was in. 

He’s about twenty metres ahead when you run out of the stairs lobby, the cool end-of-winter wind kissing your sweaty skin.

“Minho!” 

The boy stops in his tracks, taking awhile to look up from his phone as he slowly turns his head around. He watches with intent eyes as you catch up to him, gently huffing from the hurrying after he quietly left the practice hall.

“It’s a good thing you didn’t disappoint me,” Minho looks back down at his phone before locking it. “I was beginning to worry you wouldn’t come back.” 

Once you’ve aligned your footing with him, he shoves his phone into his pocket and waits for you to calm your breathing. The sky was dark now, but the streets were still bustling from all the night market activities - fried seafood, crackers, cotton candy. 

Minho turns his head back to the streets where waves of people were walking past, taking a first step to tell you he’s going to start walking. 

“I just wanted to thank you for that little pep-talk.”

“Pep-talk?” Minho chuckles under his breath. “Oh, you don’t know what a pep-talk sounds like.”

The crowd washes the both of you in some direction, the scent of food wafting in the air coupled with the overlapping conversations and loud music from some stands made you feel like you’ve just entered some amusement park. Smoke was prancing in the air against the night sky and people chewing loudly on food brought you some strange sense of nostalgia -- though you’ve walked this exact road for some months now. It just so happened that the night market only came round every Lunar New Year. 

“I just... I hope you know how much that means to me. It’s the first time I’ve done something of this scale so... it seems easier for me to lose faith.”

Minho stops at a particular store selling some honey-glazed apples and orders two. It’s like he didn’t hear you. 

Standing awkwardly next to him, the store owner carelessly hands Minho the two sticks with the stabbed apple on the top, and he doesn’t hesitate to hand her a five dollar bill. Just enough.

“Thank you,” He turns around, the store owner barely acknowledging his business. “People lose faith all the time. You just need to know when to force yourself to have it again.” 

Handing you one stick, Minho doesn’t wait for you to process the offer and his words simultaneously before he’s off again. By the time you’ve walked the length of the night market and reach the main streets of the city, Minho has cleared every drop of honey and apple on the stick, and you were just busy finishing up the last one-eighth of it, the bite nearly touching your fingers. 

At the bus stop, Minho drops himself on the bench, scrolling through his phone as you are occupied with licking the honey off your fingers while you find the nearest trashcan. Ironically, out here along the main road, there were fewer people. More traffic on the road, definitely. But it’s like everybody was so busy living their lives, you’ve forgotten to live yours. 

You’ve spent more than half your time in the last three months coming to this same practise hall, dancing the same steps over and over and over again until every cell in your blood and body knows it by heart. 

But what worth is it? For a performance that you wouldn’t even be seen?

You sigh, eyes darting downwards naturally to see what he’s been staring at on his phone-- then you see it. 

NEW EMAIL: CUBE AUDITION RESULTS

Your eyes widen, lips somehow still stuck together despite the overwhelming excitement in your lungs. Sucking your lips in between your teeth, you watch in anticipation as he clicks the notification and it directs him to his email. Poor boy doesn’t know you’re watching, but it’s a good thing, because the first two sentences were enough to tell you what his reaction could be. 

Dear Lee Minho, we’ve received your audition tape and reviewed it carefully. Unfortunately, we are unable to accept you as a trainee. We wish you the best in all your future endeavors. 

Regards,

Cube Audition Management

Biting down on your bottom lip, your eyes quickly flit away when he closes the app and keeps his phone. Standing next to him, it’s a wonder how he’s managed to hold himself together. If it had been you who was rejected, you’d be on the floor bawling by now. But Minho’s strength is subtly concrete when he only watches his bus arrive, standing up and only turning around to ask, “Are you taking the same bus?”

“Um, yeah but my dad’s coming to get me, so I’m waiting here.”

Minho nods, the bus stopping right at the foot of the bus stop. Other passengers waiting for the bus start to crowd, but Minho doesn’t bust an inch just yet. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow then?”

You hum in response. They’ve started boarding, so Minho’s taking small steps towards the vehicle. 

“If you don’t come, believe me when I say I’ll whoop your ass.”

You can’t help the small scoff that bursts through your lips when he says it, that tiny smile of his emerging shyly on his face for a split second. Reducing the amount of time you get to admire that strength in him, he turns and gets on the bus. 

[D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 6]

At this point, half the dance crew was probably crying their hearts out back stage. BTS’ Fire and Not Today performance at the KBS Song Festival was the last official time you would be performing as one unit with this dance crew. Any Fire or Not Today performances in the future would call for a renewed or changed dance crew line-up, which meant you’ll never see the same group of people on stage again. 

Heck, even your captain was sobbing his eyes out, mercilessly pulling everybody he could find into a hug and muttering some incoherent words of gratitude in their ears. You were laughing and wiping away the droplets on your face, unsure if they were tears or sweat, when he came to you and pulled you into a bear hug. 

Everybody hears the heavy backstage door close and BTS shows up just steps from you, and the group of idols know very well that this was the last performance with the current line-up of crew members. 

“Dul, set, Bang! Tan!” More people are crying now, and Namjoon just looks prouder than he was sad. “Annyeong haseyo, Bangtansonyeondan ibnida.”

The captain literally starts wining, not hesitating to go up and hug Hoseok tightly. The members embrace him in the hug, offering him words of praise and compliment as Namjoon urges them to keep their volume down. The leader thanks the crew for the enduring hardwork for the past year - from when the track was first released, to the first choreography reviewing and then the constant performances on all kinds of stages. 

Blinking away your tears, you manage to catch Minho standing at the far end of the first row, and if you weren’t mistaken, you could catch Jimin showing him two thumbs up. 

“I hope to see all of you around, and once again, BTS thanks you for your hardwork for the last year. Take care everybody!” 

Everybody erupts into loud yells of ‘thanks’ and ‘bye’s, but before you can the other crew members in shaking their hands as they return to their dressing room, one of BTS’ assistant managers approach you.

“Hi, can I check if you’re y/n?”

“Uh--” Minho catches your frantic glancing behind the assistant manager. “Yes.”

“Great, so...” The assistant manager fumbles in his back pocket, your eyes darting down to notice him pulling out a name card. Your peripheral vision presents you with Minho looking at you from behind the assistant manager, eyes and ears peeled. “We’ve been monitoring the dance unit and... we think you might have potential.”

He hands you the name card, and your hands are trembling when you process the carbon printing on it.

BIGHIT CASTING

Anxious, you look back up at the assistant manager. Yet, he offers you a mere smile before walking away, leaving you and Minho behind as the rest of the crew pushes themselves nearer to the back of the staff area. 

The restaurant had been booked for the sole purpose of the dance unit celebrating your final performance there, and while the card was being bent in all sorts of different ways in your back pocket, all you cared about was being in a moment.

BigHit casting? Why would you even subject yourself to that kind of torment? A solid 7 to 8 years of no privacy, probably no dating, and if you were caught outside with someone of the opposite gender, you’d be royally screwed over.

“You’re going to get drunk.”

“No, I’m not.”

“You’re not even legal to drink, and it sucks, honestly.”

“Pfft,” Rolling your eyes, you collect the shot of Soju from one of the older crew members. “I’ll take like five shots. I’ll be fine.”

Minho glares at his captain, thoughtlessly pushing the shot across the smooth surface of the table to you. 

“You know she’s like, 16 right?”

“I know, but it wouldn’t hurt to let her try some. Besides, we all did a great job this past year. I think we all deserve a little break.”

Minho huffs, the air pushing his fringe upwards for a split second. He watches you down the shot, the burning alcohol forcing a look of slight disgust on your face. 

“Told you you wouldn’t like it.”

“Ugh,” Sticking your tongue out, you reach for your glass of water and take a huge gulp. “I’ll get used to it.”

Nah.

“My God, why are you so heavy?” Minho grunts, struggling to keep your arm over his shoulders. He looks behind him, busking in some slight satisfaction when he had managed to get the captain completely wasted by playing some stupid game with him, the kind that he would never win. The other vice-captain and another crew member were channeling all that effort into keeping the big-sized boy on his feet. You remember hearing Minho’s hearty (or evil) laughter when the captain plops to the floor, completely blacking out. 

“Okay, he’s your responsibility now!” He yells at the top of his lungs, dragging you towards the nearest bus stop in his knowledge.

“Go fuck yourself, Minho! Have some mercy next time, would you?!” HIs co-vice captain shouts back.

“I’ll think about it!” Minho laughs, trying really hard not to drop you as he waves back. 

“Bye, see you soon!”

Minho returns his attention to you, half your body already leaning a good ninety degrees towards the floor. 

“Free bows for the floor, huh?” He grunts as he gives up on holding just one of your arms. Afraid that he was going to dislocate something, he pulls you onto his back. Your head is pressed into his shoulder when he turns round the corner, eyes looking up to gauge the distance to the bus stop. “Oi.”

“Hmm?” Your head of messy hair perks up from his shoulder, your eyelids feeling too heavy to keep open. 

“Are you going for it? The audition I mean.”

You groan, throwing your head back into his shoulder. Tightening your arms around his collar, you grit your teeth and swallow the burning sensation of alcohol in your throat. 

“I don’t think I want to think about that now. I have school to worry about.”

“You’ll just be put into SOPA.”

“What about university?”

“That’s like 3 years away for you. And studying can wait if you’re chasing your dream,” A pause as he sets you down at the bus stop, grabbing your bag and searching for your wallet to take out your bus card. “Of course, only if you want it.”

Your head hangs low, the Soju zipping through your blood like hamsters do in their tunnels. Minho turns, spotting the bus nearing.

“Do me a favour and swallow your vomit if you need to, don’t make a mess in the bus.”

[O C T O B E R 2 0 1 7]

Do you know the feeling of your lungs collapsing in on themselves when you can’t breathe? When your heart is palpitating so fast, it feels like it’s stopped? 

“I don’t know why you guys are treating it like it’s a huge thing-- I might not even make it.”

“Shut the fuck up, would you? You signed up for it, shouldn’t you put your 100% and go as far as you can?”

The words can’t find their way out of your mouth. Minho was sitting in his sofa, petting Soon-ie, with a huge duffel bag at his feet. You were sitting in Minho’s living room, with Doongie curled up in your lap and the dance captain from BTS’ Fire and Not Today performance dance unit about to swing a fist in Minho’s face. 

An awkward silence fell upon the three of you, knowing that this could be the start of a friendship with a changed dynamic. You were one foot into BigHit because you’ve passed the first audition, Minho was going on JYP’s Stray Kids survival show and your dance-captain was being scouted into Yuehua’s waters.

The morning sun gushes down onto your faces when Minho’s father rushes to get the car ready, leaving the three of you at the entrance of the carpark. Your dance captain had an audition appointment with Yuehua soon, so he pulls Minho into a tight hug and provides him a harsh pat on the back.

“Make us proud.”

Minho doesn’t respond, only nodding subtly before sending him off. 

But you? You are reluctant to even look at him. If he wins that show, he’d be gone for more days and months than you can count. No longer would he spend his Christmases and New Years with you, but with his group members. His cats wouldn’t be meowing for his attention, because he’s not at home anymore.

What’s worse, if you get through BigHit’s third audition, you’ll be thrown into a girl group. 

And Godforsake a girl group member being seen with a boy group member, right?

“You could be a little more enthusiastic, y’know.”

“How can I be enthusiastic when I’m watching you strut your ass off into unchartered territory?”

Minho smiles, his bunny teeth unafraid to expose themselves. You can see his father’s car coming out, the ache in your heart getting harder and harder to ignore. 

“I’ll come back to find you, or maybe BigHit, I don’t know,” Minho gently pulls you into a hug, careful to keep his hands on your upper back and shoulders. “But I will always come back to you.”

[mrs-daddyissues]

considerably

~ C H A P T E R   2 ~

~ Masterlist ~

Pairing: Alfred Pennyworth x OFC

Series Summary: Sarabi Nichols is Bruce Wayne’s life long friend that aids in creating weaponry and making outfits. When she was younger she had a thing for Bruce but now her taste has aged. Considerably. Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce’s guardian and butler is more her style now. Despite this knew found liking, Sarabi feels trapped. She can’t talk to Bruce about it and clearly can’t mention it to Alfred. The only person she has is her best friend, Claudia. Sarabi has to fight the things she feels for the older man because he could never feel the same way back, right?

{Normal} Playlist

{Slowed+Reverb} Playlist

Warnings: Swearing

Word Count: 1426

Author’s Note:

This part should be much more interesting but be warned, this story is kind of a slow burn *evil laughter*. It is a bit slow but the pay off will be worth it. I promise.

Sarabi awoke to find herself wrapped in the warm embrace of her bed. The black and gold covers engulfed her body as soft morning light poured through the sheer window curtains. Sarabi was still dressed in her clothes from the night before. Sarabi couldn’t remember how she got here, the only thing she could think of was the massive headache she had.

She arose from her slumber and planned to go find some Advil when something on her bedside table caught her eye. It was a bottle of Advil, a glass of water and a note written in elegant handwriting.

For that headache, Miss Nichols.

“Thanks, Alfred,” Sarabi grumbled as she gulped down the tablets quickly. She smiled softly at the note knowing from how she was addressed and the handwriting that the British gentleman left it for her. That was Alfred’s best quality, his gentlemanly persona that he carried for anybody he met. ‘How sweet of him’ Sarabi thought to herself before rising from the comfort of her bed.

She dragged her feet towards the walk-in wardrobe to look for an outfit. While she was gone, Bruce had bought even more clothes for her as it seemed. She picked up a new baby pink sports bra, matching shorts and didn’t even bother with shoes. 

After taming her hair as well, she trudged down the large Wayne Manor stairs and into the kitchen. As she neared the kitchen, her nose picked up the most delectable smell. She turned the corner, chasing the smell and ran straight into Alfred’s chest. She let out a surprised yelp as she felt her feet slipping. With effortless grace, Alfred wrapped his arms around her and stopped her fall. He pulled her back up against his chest as Sarabi’s heart raced. Her heart wasn’t pounding just because of the near fall but because of how his light brown eyes stared into her’s behind his glasses. 

Though it was only a few seconds it felt like an eternity. Sarabi could feel her body relax but also tense simultaneously. She felt good. She felt at peace but her heart still fluttered. Her stomach did a small somersault that she barely picked up on. The things she was feeling confused her. Was she just jittery because of the near fall? Or was it something more? Sarabi shook the thoughts from her head and hoped that Alfred couldn’t sense the change in her demeanour. 

“Miss Nichols, are you alright?” Alfred asked concerned as he slowly let go of her body. Sarabi felt a sort of melancholic cloud drift over her as his arms slipped from hers. This feeling scared Sarabi most of all. 

“Yes, Alfred, thank you. I could smell your cooking and came running,” Sarabi hoped her joke would ease the tension and it worked. Alfred let out a small chuckle before moving to the side so she could walk to the bench. 

“So, should I take it as a compliment that you ran right into me?” Alfred queried as he pulled out one of the bench stools for her. 

“Most definitely,” Sarabi sat down as Alfred started dishing up her bacon and eggs. 

“Ah, Master Wayne, how did you sleep?” Alfred delicately placed Sarabi’s plate on the bench before dishing up another for Bruce who had just walked in. 

“Like shit, I mean crap,” Bruce corrected himself as Alfred stared him down. Bruce took a seat next to Sarabi and devoured his food. 

“Where is Claudia?” Sarabi inquired, looking around for her bestie and partner in crime.

“Miss Flynn awoke very early and went back to her apartment for work as it is a Monday,” Alfred answered, pushing his glasses up his nose.

“Oh okay. Wait, how in the hell did I end up in my bed?” Sarabi asked Bruce but from his bugged-out eyes, she knew he had no idea. Bruce had never been a good liar, well, at least to her.

“I have no clue, Sarbi,” Bruce stole a quick glance at Alfred that Sarabi noticed. She looked over at Alfred and his face remained stoic. Sarabi saw a glint in his eyes as his orbs locked with hers.

“Alfred? Did you?” Sarabi questioned as Alfred cleaned up the dishes. Sarabi wondered how Alfred could manage but she guessed it was possible. He was skinny but still well built from his years as an SAS soldier. He was strong but lean.

“Yes, Miss Nichols, I did. I hope you don’t mind. If you do then I apologise,” Alfred sincerely stated and Sarabi smiled.

“No that’s completely fine, thank you. I’m surprised you managed to carry my ass up those stairs,” Sarabi snickered as she stood up with Bruce.

“I am full of surprises, Miss Nichols,” Alfred quipped as he continued washing up. 

Sarabi’s voice caught in her throat so she slowly staggered out of the kitchen. She gulped in air as confusion filled her veins. Sarabi had no idea why these things were happening to her body. She had no idea why Alfred, of all people, was having an effect on her.

Sure, he was handsome in a classic sort of way and definitely would’ve been hot in his prime time. He also had a hypnotic voice. If Alfred talked about Wall Street statistics she’d be invested. Sarabi would not deny that Alfred had a lot going for him. He was attractive, charming, gentlemanly and kind but he was also about 45 years her senior. That in itself is wrong on so many levels but still, her body and heart felt something. Sarabi couldn’t put a finger on what it was but decided it was a mixture of fatigue and the headache that still lightly pounding through her head. 

“Sarbi, you alright?” Bruce placed a strong hand on her small shoulder, noticing her thoughtful but confused face. 

“Yeah, yeah, fine,” Sarabi shook the puzzled look on her face and smiled. Sarabi couldn’t speak to Bruce about this and felt that even Claudia wouldn’t understand. Claudia made jokes about Alfred being grandad hot and so forth but never had a thing for him. Plus, she was much more interested in Bruce and Diana Prince. Claudia was a classic bisexual, having no idea whom she found more attractive. ‘Bruce’s got the abs and money but Diana’s got the face and body of an angel’ she would always rant to Sarabi. One day she preferred Bruce then the next day it was Diana. Claudia had no idea of Bruce’s or Diana’s secret identities as Batman or Wonder Woman but she knew their maskless personas well. So well that she had battles over which one she could sleep with first. Sarabi had tried to tell Claudia that neither would be interested but she still tried.

“Ready to get back to work?” Bruce suggested and Sarabi patted him on the back.

“I’m actually excited to see what shit you got yourself while I was gone,” Sarabi slapped Bruce on the arm as the two made their way to the infamous Bat Cave. 

“What am I working on today?” Sarabi curiously asked as she walked towards her working desk still kept in prime condition. Alfred was a clean freak and clearly kept her desk scrubbed and spotless. 

“Gauntlets that absorb and dissipate energy, my own idea,” Bruce smugly showed off.

“Actually, Miss Prince’s idea. She’s had those gauntlets of her’s before she was born,” Alfred answered as he stepped out of the lift.

“And Wonder Woman’s gauntlets are there to minimise and weaken her powers. Talk about a real superhero with real superpowers,” Sarabi teased as she sat down at her desk.

“Watch your mouth, Sarabi before you lose your job,” Bruce warned with a wag of his finger.

“You know you love me,” Sarabi blew a kiss in Bruce’s direction as he stalked off to train or do paperwork, it was either of the two.

“Good one, Miss Nichols. I do remember Diana reminding me of how her gauntlets lessen her powers,” Alfred sat down beside her and pulled off the cloth covering the gauntlet idea.

“Here it is or at least the idea,” Alfred corrected himself as they both stared at the drawings.

“Shall we get to work?” Sarabi turned her head to Alfred and instantly regretted it. His stunning brown eyes caught her attention and sucked out all her sensibility. There was another stomach backflip before she snapped out of it.

“Most definitely, Miss Nichols,” Alfred shuffled closer to her and the two worked tirelessly on the idea Bruce swears he came up with.

<<CHAPTER 1<<  ~ ~ ~  >>CHAPTER 3>>

[cto10121]

Do Romeo and Juliet “Miss” Each Other?

*le sigh*

So I’m not entirely sure how on earth 2010s era Tumblr came up with this specific joke as the default text, but at least it’s a little more interesting than the garden “hahahaha R&J are just lustful teens!!!” one. Even so, it’s one of those takes that sound clever but are actually just another variation of the whole “R&J wouldn’t last two seconds together!!!!1!” take. Not a serious one for anyone who has read the play, at least.

I know it’s a joke. But for a joke to be funny, it has to have a kernel of truth, no? And it…doesn’t, really.

Misunderstanding/Miscommunication in R&J

There are plenty of misunderstandings in R&J, though mostly on the Nurse’s part, as she, not R&J, is the one with the most problems with communication. There is 1) the Nurse being too upset over Tybalt’s death and accidentally misleading Juliet to believe that Romeo is dead, instead of Romeo killing Tybalt and being banished.

Nurse. Alack the day! He’s gone, he’s killed, he’s dead!

Juliet. Can heaven be so envious?

Eventually the Nurse finally manages to communicate properly and that misunderstanding is resolved.

There is also the Nurse again, 2) not telling Romeo about Juliet forgiving him for killing Tybalt.

Romeo. Spak’st thou of Juliet? How is it with her?Doth she not think me an old murderer, Now I have stained the childhood of our joy With blood removed but little from her own? Where is she? And how doth she? And what says My concealed lady to our cancelled love?

Nurse. O she says nothing, sir, but weeps and weeps

As a result, he assumes that Juliet hates him and wants nothing to do with him, with almost disastrous results. After the Friar sets him straight, the Nurse finally gives Romeo Juliet’s ring, and the misunderstanding between him and the Nurse is resolved.

There is also 3) the famous miscarriage of the Friar’s letter due to the plague and Romeo never receiving it, thus knowing the plan. Again, not anything to do with R&J’s relationship, just really bad luck/fate.

Notice how none of these “misunderstandings” arise from the relationship itself, but from other people. The Nurse is the one who accidentally misleads R&J and the letter never arrived to Romeo because of the plague.

R&J Do Not Chill, Not For One Second

R&J not only do not misunderstand or miscommunicate with each other, they don’t even so much as bicker. The closest thing to a snafu these unabashed simp lords get into is this part where Romeo tries to swear his love and Juliet just doesn’t let him:

Romeo. Lady, by yonder blessèd moon I swear, That tips with silver all these fruit tree tops—

Juliet. O swear not by the moon, th’inconstant moon, That monthly changes in her circled orb Lest that thy love prove likewise variable.

I would argue, though, that this is not really a good example of an argument or even a negotiation, since it’s clear that Romeo is responding to Juliet’s previous rambly monologue, which showcases her worries, hopes, and insecurities so vividly:

Juliet. O gentle Romeo, If thou dost love, pronounce it faithfully. Or if you think I am too quickly won, I’ll frown and be perverse and say thee “nay” So thou wilt woo. But else, not for the world.

Juliet explicitly worries that if Romeo vows, he may “prove false” but she contradicts herself slightly when she tells him to “pronounce it faithfully”—which necessarily means a vow of some sort. (Unless we’re to take this to mean that Juliet would be perfectly assured with Romeo just saying “I love you, really!!!” which…sure, Jan). For all her assurances that she would believe Romeo if he told her he loved her, it’s clear she has doubts. He picks up on this undercurrent easily enough because of course he would and reacts accordingly (Romeo is not a very active listener or pays much attention to detail, but when it comes to Juliet, he is Sherlock freakin’ Holmes).

The only other possible “argument” or disagreement is not really an argument, but merely part of a love game: After the wedding night, Juliet tries to persuade Romeo that what he heard was the lark, not the nightingale, and that it was not time to go yet. Romeo says no, it was the nightingale, Juliet tells him to stay, and it’s all sweet and sad and flirty and tragic all at once, like a reverse “Baby It’s Cold Outside”:

Juliet. It was the nightingale, and not the lark, That pierced the fearful hollow of thine ear. Nightly she sings on yond pom’granate tree. Believe me, love, it was the nightingale.

Romeo. It was the lark, the herald of the morn, No nightingale. Look, love, what envious streaks Do lace the severing clouds in yonder east. Night’s candles are burnt out, and jocund day Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops. I must be gone and live, or stay and die.

Juliet. Yond light is not daylight. I know it, I.

“I really must go” 🎶“But bae, it’s still dark outside”🎶

(There is also R&J’s shared love language and shared metaphors that both employ, either influenced by each other or independently from each other. These simp lords have tons of soulmate vibin’ and imagery in their exchanges, it’s insane.)

R&J both want the same things, to be together, and they both react similarly when confronted with obstacle or disaster. Chances at miscommunication are subverted; Juliet’s anger at Romeo for killing Tybalt quickly gives way to forgiveness, and they reconcile for without trouble for their wedding night. They are consistently on the same page from start to finish.

So In Sum

Characters don’t usually communicate well in R&J, for either feud-related reasons, generational ones, (Friar with Romeo, Nurse with Juliet) or even individual ones. R&J are physically apart for most of the play, so they have to rely on other people to be messengers of their love, which inevitably leads to a lot of trouble communication-wise. But the important thing to note is that the miscommunication is never at their end. It’s at other people’s.

[phoebehalliwell]

I've always wondered about paige meeting a witch/darklighter hybrid? Because she is big on nurture vs nature but how would she react to someone who half of their existence is deadly to half of her? But at the same time they are both half witch?

okay but like!!!!! literally Literally we meet a fucking darklighter season 1 whose sole purpose was to knock somebody up like light magic has all these rules to follow but who’s setting the rules for dark magic? the source? the source doesn’t care oh no there are more evil babies in the world aaaa ?? it was the same thing with hecate it was the same thing with the manticore hell it was probably the same thing with cole. evil loves having lil half-mortal babies it stands to reason that the idea of an extra power boost from having a kid with say a witch (or hell even a warlock or any other mix up of the two) would only be a plus. it stands to reason that the girls should have run into So Many splits like. Especially darklighters!! given that we were literally told there’s like darklighters who specifically exist to just knock other people up (which also. girl what. boo.) i mean honestly? honestly? i don’t even think we need a hybrid just straight up someone with a mortal mother and a darklighter father like that alec/daisy situation who was raised by his mom for the majority of his life until his father found him and took him (maybe killing mom who’s 2 say) and tried raising him as a darklighter. but it’s like. you know. he was raised for the most part as a human kid and yes he had some powers teleportation and then like. instant kill. but like. those aren’t well no teleportation is but instant kill is not a fun power especially if you’re just supposed to be a normal dude!

and then i’ve talked about this before (this is where i would link the post If I Could Find It i searched for. 30-40 min. i do not know where it is. aaaaaaaaa.) i don't think darklighters are born with any innate imperative to kill whitelighters or anything, the same with demon warlocks etc. i think it's all a cultural thing like killing the most witches makes you like. idk you know popular celebrity within ur faction. like uhh u drive a whole bunch of whitelighters to suicide ur fuckin steph curry of ur darklighter clan the man can't miss. So. if we have a guy let's name the guy let's pick a name that means darkness. kieran!! okay so lil kieran was raised by mom and knows very little of his powers, and you know mom knows even less she doesn't even know his father's name. But!! mom is a future whitelighter, she's just a bit wayward at the moment, so her whitelighter cloaked her so that she can raise her son in peace n safety. but oh no!! mom's dead. and the cloaking on kieran was only an extension of mom's cloaking so now he's out in the open n here comes dad. and you know we'll say kieran's a bit of a fucked up kid nobody's perfect so like. he's never really quite fit in anywhere and he's always been terrified of his powers but when his dad offers him a people like him who understand him who can better hone his powers (we'll say he's in highschool) he's like this is lit!! and i get a crossbow! and he's always kinda taught that whitelighters are the enemy they're these abominations souls reanimated by the elders as weapons, stacked w powers, they can never move on, and they just have to behave as pawns to the elders whims. bc like. this kid was raised human he really doesn't get hunting whitelighters for like sport so his dad tries to keep him a little bit sheltered from the true nature of it all thinking that once the kid is older, once he gets the taste in his mouth he'll come around. so kieran spends ages 17 to like 23-25 underground in the underworld learning about darklighters learning about the lineage he's from but there's like. like he's a smart kid. and he knows there's something they're not telling him. so when he hears talk of two of his peers going on a hunt, he kinda tails them just to see what's what, only to see them maim a witch to kill their whitelighter, and who should their whitelighter be if not kieran's dead mom. and they leave both the witch and the whitelighter for dead bc like. kieran's mom can't heal with the poison in her veins it’s a slow working poison so they'll both be cold as the grave in 24hrs. and kieran like runs up to his mom like a) you're alive?!? b) you're a whitelighter?!!?!! and c) you know like what the fuck. because that's his Mom. she couldn't have like. told him. left him a sign. and you know like heart to heart blah blah blah and the witch is over here kinda saying like hi?? darklighter? what the fuck? and kieran's like aaaa because he can't help all he can do is like kill and the witch is like doesn't matter bring me a map and a crystal and using kieran's mom's blood scrys for the nearest whitelighter like u should be able to sense them go bring them to us and maybe i won't vanquish you, a threat kieran has literally never received, and quite frankly the terminology makes him a little bit uncomfortable.

and you know where else should the crystal land if not south bay social services, and you know kieran really doesn't know what he's looking for he's never hunted whitelighter so he was never taught to sense them but evidently it's in his power so he gives it a shot but like no. what's he even looking for? he has no idea. so instead he just runs up to this raven haired woman about his age like fuck it do you have a phone. and paige is like ??? who do you need to call who are you here for what are you here for do i need to grab you any forms and kieran's like fuck it if you go to this address you'll find to people in mortal danger. they need help. and then like. bolts. and paige is like what the fuck!!

and you know blah blah blah they manage to save the witch but they can't save the mom bc they don't know what poisoned her and it kinda makes the papers Because It's Fuckin Weird especially because the mom already died?? this woman literally must have faked her own death five years ago only to die from an unknown poison in a san francisco apartment. and then you know blah blah blah within a month or two it's revealed paige is a charmed one! a witchlighter! and then comes the reveal of darklighters and their poisoned arrows and paige is like wait. i've seen this before. and describes you know the scene with the witch and the woman and leo's like. i should name the mom. soleil. leo's like that was soleil she was a whitelighter, and piper's like wait why were you there, and paige is like i don't know there was this guy who told me to go to that address to save them and then like ran away, and piper and phoebe are like that's fuckin weird. and he approached u specifically? and paige is like yeah he pushed his way across the office to get to my cubicle. and piper phoebe are looking at leo like what does this mean what does this mean, and leo's like idk. and meanwhile kieran's trying to break from the darklighter clan but he knows he can't get out unless he's cloaked. so he goes back to try to find the witch he saved to ask her to cloak him but she says she doesn't have that power and he's like okay well who does and she's like only a whitelighter does and he's like okay could u find me one and she's like r u fucking joking. you want me to get a whitelighter here just so u can kill? and kieran's like what no i'm not i want out that's why i'm here i don’t wanna be a darklighter anymore, and the witch is like that's not a choice you have it's in your blood now the only reason i'm letting you live rn is because evidently you’re soleil’s kid she was a good woman i trusted her but i don't know you. and i don't trust you. and if you orb in here again i swear to god i will vanquish you. just so we can get you know a solid dose of light magic not trusting kieran, not based on his actions (hell even in spite of his actions) but purely based on his lineage.

so blah blah blah kieran start spending more and more time above ground and just trying to subtly distance himself from the clan which his father can sense and quite frankly like yes is concerned but is more just like. pissy because he's making him look bad, especially the fact he's gone this long without a kill it's making him look weak. so his dad's like fuck it we're going hunting together and now it's like. obviously non optional. you're gonna kill a whitelighter or you'll you know get the boot lose the only people who could possibly understand you so you know it's kieran and dad above ground and he's teaching him to sense for whitelighters teaching him what the skill is and kieran's actually picking it up quite well and honestly. honestly? he might make this kill. he can't survive alone. he doesn't even know who he is. and his powers are calling him loud and clear to a whitelighter. meanwhile paige is out on a mission with like piper and leo and immediately drops everything breaks from the pack starts running because there's that guy!! and kieran realizes that the call is coming from the raven haired girl. and that his dad is right behind her lining up the shot.

and so you know act now think later he grabs paige and they disappear into a cloud of black orbs and reemerge right behind his father and kieran calls his crossbow and shoots his father. in the shoulder. it's intentional. kieran has great aim. and he won't kill. and his dad's fuckin pissed and honestly about ready to kill the both of them when piper rounds the corner and blasts him to bits. and well. now kieran's definitely left with no family. so he says a quick apology to paige and orbs out. and piper and leo are like that one was a darklighter too!! and paige is like no no u don't get it. he just saved me. and they're like He What? why'd you follow him into this alley in the first place? and paige is like that's the guy! the guy the soleil & witch guy who told me to save them. and leo's like a darklighter working to save a witch and whitelighter? that's not right. paige i trust you i don't think you're lying but i don't think you know the whole story. he's a darklighter. they're evil. and paige is like then why did he save me? why did he save the other witch? why’d he try to save the whitelighter? and piper's like for all we know he's the one who shot her you saw his crossbow. and paige is like no this isn't right there's something we don't know here. blah blah blah they go to the original saved witch who informs them that while kieran is a darklighter he's soleil's son and paige is like !!! i knew it! he's an innocent we're meant to save him. and piper and leo are like respectfully, paige, no, that's way too dangerous. bonus round if piper's pregnant here pre- orb shield knowledge. and leo's like paige he can't help it it's nature it's just who he is. he can't be good. and paige is like why. why not. and leo's like he's half darklighter. and paige is like yeah and i'm half whitelighter. and piper's like fuckin yeah babe that's The Point he's a danger to us. and paige is like no the point is if it's all so predetermined if there's no fighting what we're born as they why was i awful. why was i a brutal cruel evil miserable child? you don't know me and you don't know the things i've done (pushing back the paige dead parent reveal for later) and it doesn't matter that i have literally angel blood i was terrible! there was nothing in my nature that held me back from that vicious side. i chose to grow. i chose to become the woman i am today and every morning i wake up and chose that it's not some predestined halo around my head it's me waking up every day and choosing to fight for the good in this and you know what i think he's part of it.

[ficsnroses]

Friends With Benefits Chapter 9 - Keanu Reeves x Reader

Chapter IX ~ Full Circle.

Part 1  Part 2 Part 3 Part 4  Part 5  Part 6 Part 7 Part 8

❧ Word Count : 3.7K

❧ Warnings : Angst, light nsfw/smut,  (I apologize in advance..)

❧ Series Summary :  What happens when two, lonely friends start seeing each other for sex? A tricky friends with benefits love story, when feelings get in the way.

Notes : Just a couple more chapters after this, series is scheduled to end this month! Thanks for sticking around since I started this in November. I love it with my entire heart, and I hope you do too. Please do leave feedback and comments if ya get a sec. There’s tons of parallels in here from previous chapters, kudos if you can spot em!

Chapter 8 Recap : After leaving Keanu’s house in tears at midnight, Y/N’s car breaks down, and she’s left with no one to call but Keanu. After much persuasion, Keanu convinces her to come back to his house and spend the night; where they end up having sex yet again, only making things worse. In the morning, Keanu reveals to Y/N that he plans on purchasing a new car for her, which offends her significantly, considering their relationship. Y/N ends things with Keanu for good, leaving them both distraught and heartbroken in their own ways.

It all comes down to the last person you think of at night.

That’s, where your heart is.

.

Day after day; week after week, abiding to dreary half executed routines and less than productive projects. It’s been 3 weeks since you’d weary boned, walked out of Keanu’s house,

and perhaps his life

once and for all demolishing the sole, fraying thread of your damaged relationship. As you roam your seemingly emptier apartment, the air around secludes, chilling wavelengths and brisky cold temperate in the atmosphere. On an oak coat hanger, draped in a corner of the living room entrance, a knitted black coat hangs, the same one Keanu had forced you to wear on impromptu evening adventures downtown the LA scene. Neither of you were much for the crowds, yet social affairs seemed…alright. When in the company of the other.

A lot seemed alright when in the company of one another.

Gray ash clouds outside, the LA afternoon falls dark, the dewy gold gleam of a black pine candle illuminating a halo around its part on the coffee table.

It was his favourite scent.

To the hallway wall, a small chip in the crisp white walls taunts you, his elbow bellowed in a charge too fierce when you’d pushed him to it; satin lips on yours in a feverish kiss.

    His baseball cap, long forgotten on the loveseat by the skyline window.

    Two wine glasses stowed away in the glass kitchen cabinets.

    The lighter you kept on hand for him when he’d need a smoke after sex.

    Quiet laughs shared in the moonlit dark within these very walls.

All around, there was him.

You don’t realize just how much someone is a part of you, until they’re gone.

For him, it may have just been sex. For you, you were making love. You were making love the entire time, to him. And now, as you sit alone in your outcast LA apartment, that same love mocks you. Suffocates you. Kills you, because it never really goes away. Just because he’s gone, it

hasn’t

gone

away.

He’d yet to call, and you distrust he will. Lover or not, you know him as the back of your hand. He won’t call, he cares too much. Respects you too much to force himself on you. Loud and clear, you’d made rich, undoubted clarity of the end that dreadful morning. The death of you and him.

And nothing comes back from the dead. All that leaves mark is haunting, cold memories.

Cold comfort. Burning memories of what was. He’s a man of measured words, speaks only when there was reason to. Yet, they’d left you haunted. His words that spoke far too much, far too deep, forced you to fall far too profound when you’d promised each other, it wasn’t ever the end goal.

You’d blinked once; then twice, thrice, until the first tear fell.

Warm, stinging, burning. You’d gotten used to those first couple tears lately; the ones that would come uninvited, without notice.

Even after him, all there was,

was burn.

Out.

You needed to go out, do something, find anything to distract, to quench that burning long inside you. The studio sounded nice, nothing a half finish project to get your brain juices flowing couldn’t fix.

Work had been an outlet; designs, sculptures, drawings, late night sessions locked away in your studio had been rather therapeutic when you’d first moved out.

Therapeutic-before you began finding comfort in Keanu’s king bed, silken sheets and cotton pillows scattered around almost every night.

The lock to the apartment door clinks, keys bustling with a toss into your bag before you start toward the elevator.

This is good. This is okay. The morning is rather low-spirited and desolate, not a soul in the halls or lobby. Perhaps you preferred it that way for now.

Alone. Something so familiar, but revitalising. Or maybe truth be told, right now, for you, if it wasn’t him,

it couldn’t be anyone at all.

His rich chuckle,

His smoky laugh,

That inquisitive, immersed stare with the tip of his lips slightly agape while he listens, breathes in the world around him,

Stop.

With a half executed, drained sigh, you trudge to the brassy elevator doors, sounds of trudging cables and gaudy belts before the doors glide open, the elevator scent of a freshener far too strong, mimicking fresh linen and Californian citrus. The ride down is short, a derisory accomplishment of actually stepping foot out into the world outside your sheltered apartment corridors. With a stop to the third floor below yours, the elevator dings, heavy footsteps and the scent of spiced cologne wafted through the trivial space.

Spiced cologne; a dire contrast to the woodier, pine-ier one of Keanus.

Voice intruding, you pick up deep soundwaves and flashy baritone, a greeting of curious surprise your way. “Y/N?” They speak, snapped out your dreary daydream, thoughts somehow continually reverted back to broken eyes, deadbeat silence from that shattered morning endured three weeks ago.

Curious orbs raised, you perceive him; an old colleague residing in the same complex. He’d been the first neighbour you encountered in the midst of your move here, a heavy box of dishes and cutlery saved by his robust arms carrying them up to your front door that year ago. “Matt?”

“It’s been a while, haven’t seen you around.” He raises, hands shoved into his blue jean pockets, tall frame taking place a mere few inches apart from you.

“Just been busy.” You smile, stray strand of lock tucked behind your ear. Matt had been much help during your move, and you’d kept in touch thereafter. He’d come visit time to time for a piping cup of French coffee; discussions of work and projects mindlessly favoured together.

“Right.” He replies, amiable smile to his full lips. “I saw you’d been working on bigger films.” He starts, admirable sheen to his dark eyes. “Very commendable work.” He praises, a gentle chuckle when the following words flow. “Hey, I have to ask…” The elevator descends further down, main lobby in approach. Sounds of trudging still bellow above, yet the sound of his talk was…nice. It was nice to hear someone.

Apart from failed attempts of your girlfriends to take you out for drinks, you’d heard little rather from the voice that would seep your television; the Netflix catalogue had been getting much devotion lately.

With his brows scrunching, the baritone of his voice raises slight, wondering. “I’ve seen a guy visit you every now and then…was that Keanu freaking Reeves?” timidly chuckled, he takes in your gentle giggle, a nod to his query.

“Yeah, it was.”

“Ahhh.” He breathes, glance at the polished floor. “Boyfriend…?” His voice lingers, a dragged out tone in question, eyes focused to assess your features change.

“Business partner.” You lie.

A cold, dreadful lie that held so much history, so much regard. So much history, thrown away with those two, taciturn words.

“Right.” Matt rakes a heavy palm through his hair, moved to gesture out a peace offering in front of him. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to assume.” He apologizes, nervous tone thick with unease, yet held to a certain confidence. Matt had charisma, poise, a pleasant presence.

Voice warm, you overtake, smiling in return. “Of course not.” Sincerely, you compliment. “You look well.” Commenting, the elevator rings open, the main lobby arrives. Matt allows you to go first, leading the way graciously.

“You do too, as always.” He praises, eyes glazing over your features in an admirable glow. Hand tucked back into his jean pocket, a timid silence stays put in the air around, your brows raising when at a loss of what to say next. Features contemplative, Matt’s voice gruffs in his throat, gently coughing a nervous pitch to the look of your welcoming gaze. “I’d actually love to catch up sometime, if you’re free.” He proposes. “Maybe a coffee sometime this week?”

Your thoughts halt in trek, gaze flickering to the pavement below in the distance for a moment. Company…someone to ease your mind off the storm brewing inside….

You think back,

Two wine glasses stowed away in the glass kitchen cabinets. A half drank bottle of Merlot sitting in solitude.

“Do you wanna come over tonight?” You blurt, uncertain of when the words had even fallen off your lonesome lips. Partly wonderstruck you’d extended an invitation so sudden, you marvel if it was too soon. You’d just met Matt again; only shared a meagre 3 minutes together thus far.

You’d only shut Keanu out so soon ago, yet you knew deep inside, he was still stuck in each part of you. But it couldn’t go on like that forever, this couldn’t go on forever. You need something new, potentially someone new.

Someone that doesn’t come with such baggage, someone who doesn’t come with so many complications.

Matt shifts, charming smile plastered to his lips with a quick glance down. His thoughts collect; gaze locked to yours in an admiration filled sincerity. “Yeah, for sure.” He speaks. “I’d really like that.” Controlled and certain, you nod, gesturing to the roads off sight. “I’ve just got a day of errands and work ahead. But I’ll see you at my place tonight?” You offer. “Is 7:00 alright?”

“Of course.” He smiles, giving you a gentle nod, and if you thought close enough, you’d swore his awed eyes sputtered to your rosy lips ever so briefly,

wondering….

3 weeks. 3 long, tiresome, drained week without her. Without her company, without her voice, without her floral scent; roses and lilies to brighten his days. It had felt as if she’d been wiped away, his motionless mind left with nothing but burning memories of their time together.

Laying in his king bed, Keanu wonders what she’s doing right now. Is she thinking of him, the way he thinks of her? Has she forgotten him, the way they were, the things they did? He prays. He pleads she hasn’t forgotten. Three weeks had passed, and time seemed to mock him at every second. A lifetime spent alone, the lonesome days and months, turned mindlessly to years. Her walking away had been perhaps the most gut wrenching, soul eating occurrence to ever break his mind. Her walking away was the sourest sting he’d ever had to swallow.

Because he knows he’ll never forget her. Not now, not today, not in another three weeks.

She was it for him, he’d known it for a while. If it was going to be anyone, if he had a chance to make it right with anyone, it was solely, unconditionally, her. He couldn’t forget.

Couldn’t forget the things they did.

She’d been a dire reflection of him, mirroring his tepid, half sheltered heart. The heart that longs, for so much more. It was only her. It could only be her.

It wasn’t toxicity.

time passed, the days turned to nights, the tick bestowing further, the time spending away, not making either of them younger, he knew. She was it. It all meant something, it was never just sex.

It could never just be sex. What he felt, she had to feel it too.

She had to. No longer was it feasible to suffer. He won’t suffer. This time, now, finally, he won’t suffer. He won’t let it be.

As he turns his side, an exasperated sigh flees his lips, hand bestowed to his feeble forehead in an aching protrude. He wonders what she’s doing right now, if she’s awake, wondering, thinking, missing him like he is her. Longing for him, as he is for her.

Suffering for him, as he is for her.

A glance toward the bedside table shows, dainty clock illuminating the time. He’d seek her in the early morning, and this time, he’d at least try to make things right. Lay his heart out on the line, hoping, pleading she’d accept it. Enough had been enough, dreary thoughts and lonesome nights, burning away, wondering of what could be would perverse no more.

He wonders what she’s doing right now.

11:38pm.

     She couldn’t forget him. He wouldn’t let her.

     Couldn’t forget the things they did.

Words not spoken,

Things not said,

     Regrets; enveloping you.

A finished bottle of Merlot, a shot or two as well. Something crisp…something that,

     burned.

You don’t remember who did it first, who wanted it first, who let it happen first.

His scent lasted longer than you’d liked on your skin, that murky dusk of spiced cologne, his polite, appealing presence. He arrived with a bottle of White, a variety you’d almost never kept on hand in the last couple of months.

Red used to be his favourite; so it was yours.

Perhaps you were vulnerable, perhaps he was too kind. Too charming, too present. But you asked for it, you did it, you wanted it. Or so you think you did.

     It always comes full circle.

You needed someone that night, needed to feel someone that night. You don’t remember who made the first move, seemed as if both of you wanted that mutuality, that connection just as much.

     Back where you’d started.

His skin grazed yours, gentle thumb soothed to your own; wine glass held in a wavering grip, frail to your boney fingers.  You didn’t stop him, didn’t pull away. He moved closer, and maybe you did too. Closer to him, nearer to him.

The gray bedroom walls heard the scene; they saw it all, unadulterated, held the secrets of what you’d done. His lips on yours, his hands on you, your fingers clawing to his back. You let him in, and he took each inch of you. Raw, exposed, desperately attempting to chase that high, that cloud nine feel that came with months gone. You could lay with this man while you thought of him, drawing sorrow deep inside his skin. Scratch his back to forget his face, bite his neck with his name on your tongue, touch his face while you think of him.

It’s an awful feeling, knowing you did nothing wrong.

But did everything wrong, all in the same.

“Y/N…” You cut Matt off by kissing his lips, gracefully on the bed underneath him, hands in his hair with his heavy palms to your hips. Moving diligently, he sulks into your neck, moaning, soft and quiet grunts between bites and nips to your neck. “Faster,” You spill, nerve endings tantalized as he thrusts, your lips stippled to his piercing jawline.

Is it easier for him? you wonder, you ponder,

you guess.

“You’re irresistible…” He whispers, lips browsed to your chest in a warm enhold, skin on skin within the softness of release. Back arching, you lean into his touch, hips bucking along with his when your mind jumbles, an awful realization, the bitter realism. He’s changing your breath with every thrust, working your body in a hot, humid intimacy so foreign, his manhood hastily working your body beneath. So foreign, so…empty.

That familiar stretch isn’t there, the sweet burn isn’t there, he isn’t there. This isn’t him. No matter how hard you try, how tight you clench your eyes hoping you’ll trick yourself into believing it, it isn’t him.

     He’s safe, he’s new, he’s different,

But he’s not him. The façade you show melts away.

He’ll never be him. No one will ever be him.

As he slips out in the midnight light, the bed sinks beside you, and you turn with the comforter held to your exposed chest. The only light in the bedroom filters from the cracked window, the illuminated alarm clock on your dainty nightstand enlightening the while,

11:38pm.

The misty LA morning brought new found hope; new found anticipation. The weather had predicted a storm brewing out soon, yet that wouldn’t be enough to stop Keanu.

Not today. Not when he needs her to know. Not when he loves her, and he knows so deep, so profound that he does.

Sunny California had grayed a dark to its golden rays lately, a frigid mist clings to the air. Heavier rains had been the norm recently, damper months in full fledge. A tug of war impends his mind, should he wait until evening? Should he call? Was this an intrusion of her space? Her choices?

Was she really, truly content leaving things the way she did?

He looks in the mirror; beard longer than it had been since he’d seen her; hair shaggier than she’d left him. He hadn’t had anyone to look good for since she’d gone away. Hadn’t had motivation to present himself to anyone since she’d left.  Some of Y/N’s things still lingered the empty walls of his home; a lacy bra left in his wardrobe, a crewneck sweater mindlessly thrown under his bed; her copy of a Hemingway novel abandoned in his office, a toothbrush for when she’d spend the night.

It had been there the entire time.

Just sex isn’t this involved.

Friends with benefits aren’t this involved.

She’d been there the entire time.

After a quick shower and groom of his rather untamed features, Keanu snatches his keys and wallet, fear filled drive to her apartment drained on his mind. Y/N had to see this through, had to trust him, understand him.

Y/N and Keanu had never really got it right, never quite found the balance. But it could be found, could be learnt, could be when they’d finally accept it.

The balance was always them. Them together, as whole. Half executed attempts at being anything less would suffice no more. What was, what is, was always more.

     It was never just sex.

     It was so much more.

The apartment complex is rather fuller than normal, piercing cold and dewy morning air enveloped around. Crowds had stayed in, and the first murky dewdrops of fresh rain speckled his worn out leather jacket on arrival.

This worn out leather jacket….

He’d placed it on her shoulders when the bitter cold threatened her skin. She’d peeled it off him when they did what lovers do.

     It was never just sex.

     It was companionship.

The wearing pockets had held her special birthstone ring, forgotten in his possession solely for him to have a reason to come to her, sooner than they’d planned.

     It was never just sex.

     It was the feeling of needing someone; having someone.

The fraying insides and ravelling threads felt the weight of her body holding him, chest pressed to his back along the scenic LA mountains, breezy winds and violet sunsets known all too well on destination less rides.

     It was never just sex.

     It was connection; intimacy.

This old, worn out leather jacket, a possession of his he’d held for so long, something that had been through it all, held so much of her. Knew so much of her.

     It was never just sex.

     It was their love. And it was so much more, so much more than just physical.

The ride up and trek to her door seemed endless, racing pace and quick strides in desperate attempt to get to her as soon as he could. Everything had finally fallen into place, he’d finally understood. And he knew so well, that she would too. Takes one to know one; they’d been lonely far too long.

Within moments, Keanu stood firm at her door, abundance of confidence, anticipation, yet a timid nervousness all in one piping cocktail of eagerness flowing through his veins. He hadn’t seen her in weeks; his favourite, the most prized possession in his life, he hadn’t seen in weeks. More than anything, he hopes she had been alright. Taken care of herself, stayed healthy and safe.

A ring at the door bell, and a loud knock.

Seconds, moments, small increments of time passing seem as if an eternity slowly moving by.

Another knock, for good measure.

Hands shaking so slightly, skin crawling, fists clenched with a stare to the floor.

She should be home, it’s only morning.

Trudging elevator belts moving in the distance, footsteps in and around the complex halls, leg bouncing, lip bitten in dreary wait, a nervous sigh when more moments pass until…

Click. The door wavers open, she stands behind, half dressed, features borderline stoic, yet with a gentle hold of sorrowed blues. She looks beautiful as always, and his heart hitches at the sight of her. The woman he loves, so dearly, so much. Hair stowed in a messy bun, fatigue seeps under her eyelids, tired features soft under the artificial hallway lights.

“Y/N…” Keanu speaks above a smooth, buttery whisper; the sound of her name slipping off so naturally, so effortlessly. “I wanted to see you…”

She swallows tight, eyes never leaving his chocolaty, sincere gaze, so love drunk as he stares. He’d engulf her in his arm right now if he could. Hold her for an eternity if time allowed. Kiss her so passionately, so lovingly that it’d take her breath away. Yet he waits; waits to do things right. Do it the right way, for the first time in their tumbling relationship. “Can I come in?” He asks, voice almost choking in his gruffed throat.

She’d hardly moved before he’d caught glimpse; a deep baritone behind her, the sound an intruding shock to his already racing heart. Calm yet collected, Keanu stands, eyes tracing behind as the voice firms in closer,

a man, jacket hung over his left shoulder blade, morning hair just woken ruffled a mess, palm placed to her back with a gentle squeeze as he bids goodbye. “I need to head out, but I’ll call you.” He smiles at her, before locking gaze with Keanu.

“Morning.” He greets Keanu, before giving Y/N’s arm a reassuring, goodbye squeeze, slipping beside Keanu and out the door, disappearing down the hall. Y/N stands in front of him, eyes locked to his still, as if pleading, begging for something…something neither of them could quite understand.

Keanu stills, fists clenched, heart stinging with piercing defeat.

She’d been with another man.

     The love he so desperately longed for, the women he knew he needed,

     had been in the arms,

     of another.

>>Chapter 10>>

➶ ➴➶ ➴➶ ➴➶ ➴➶ ➴➶ ➴➶ ➴➶ ➴➶ ➴➶ ➴➶ ➴➶ ➴

s/o to ma bish @fanficsrusz​ for looking over this cluster fuck for me lol. ily

My taglists will be posted in reblogs from now on. Let me know if you want to be added or removed from either this series, or the permanent! 

[imaginekhaos]

Look Me in the Eyes

NSFW

Pairing: Deku x Reader

Warings: unprotected sex, coercion, semi-public sex, dirty talking

Word Count: 3,911

This is my first time writing a fan fiction for BNHA and I’m really nervous. Any feedback is welcomed and I hope you enjoy. 

This is also really unedited so I apologize for any spelling or grammatical errors. 

* * * * * * *

Izuku Midoriya was many things. He was smart, determined and very kind. A flirt, however, he was not. You had developed a crush on Midoriya sometime around sophomore year, a few months into transferring to U.A. after your family's big move to Japan. It had started out harmless, a school girl crush with the intent of staying that way. You should have known better the second you met the girls of class 1-A and their giggling ways. Things took a deeper turn one night when you were all hanging out in Momo’s room, laughing, gossiping, and eating way too much junk food for your own good. The topic had naturally ended up on boys, specifically those in class 1-A. One thing lead to another and you eventually confessed your tiny crush on a certain green haired hero-to-be. Oh how you wish it had stopped there that night, but getting a group of girls together always ends up eventful.

“So,” Mina started mischievously from beside you, “who do you think is the most… endowed… of all the boys?”

The question caused many mouths to fall open at the abruptness but pretty soon thoughtful faces coated the entire room.

Mina continued, “I wouldn’t be too surprised if it were Kiri. He’s polite, manly and cute, so if he had a big dick it would just complete the package. No pun intended.”

Laughs rang out along with a few agreements from the other girls. Eyes trailed to your form sitting next to Mina, waiting for you to spill your thoughts. Heat engulfed your face, never expecting to have to answer this question.

“What about you, [Y/N]? Any particular green-haired, freckle-faced person come to mind?” Jiro teased.

“I-I don’t know. I’ve never really thought about it before. Seems kinda r-rude, doesn’t it?” Stuttering your way through an explanation, hoping to diffuse the situation and detract attention from yourself.

Jiro rolled her eyes at your lame answer. Uraraka then chose to speak up in a voice barely above a whisper, “I bet he’s big… “ The blush on her cheeks was so dark that is was only outmatched by the one across your cheeks due to the thoughts that were running through your head. The rest of the night was spent laughing and spilling more secrets. It brought you all much closer as not only friends but as a new class of heroes.

Though the night went on as a festive blur, one remark in particular kept repeating in your head the next few days. Thoughts of hard muscle juxtaposed with soft skin and tufts of green hair. Thoughts of hot sweaty bodies intimately colliding. It was all too much! But, it was all in your head. No one knew the kind of lewd scenarios playing out in your mind. Especially Izuku. So, since he wasn’t much of a flirt, you weren’t surprised when he never noticed how bright your cheeks burned when his friendly touches lingered a little longer or how his eyes managed to make you feel so exposed when he studied you during training. Even if he had noticed he had been kind enough not to say something, no matter how bad you sometimes wished he would.

* * * * * * *

The last two years of high school went along without much of a hitch. As a class, you helped dismantle any trouble you came across and under the guidance of professional heros, you all managed to blossom into a promising new generation of heros. But with graduation comes separation. Many of the class broke off to find the region where they would be most helpful. Asui managed to snag a perfect placement on the coast, assisting in storm and water rescue while other students like Kaminari and Iida found agencies that had them doing all kinds of hero work. Even though you never left the area after graduation, you still found the perfect agency for you. It was small in comparison to some of the more well known ones, but they often assisted other agencies when short staffed or needed specialized help, so you couldn’t complain. Plus, all the other heroes were nice and very helpful when it came to learning on the job. It wasn’t until two years into the new job that the first real problem arose.

* * * * * * *

Slamming your fist on your desk you let out an aggravated groan. Tonight was a bust. There had been a new villain terrorizing the area around your agency for a few weeks now. They were strong, fast and impossibly hard to capture, always managing to escape their bonds before the could be truly apprehended. It made you so damn mad and made you feel like an awful hero because you couldn’t capture a single villain. You run your hands across your face and through your hair before rubbing your tired eyes. It had been too long since you had any quality sleep and it was starting to take its toll on you. With a sigh, you decided that the best course of action would be to call for some assistance. You got in contact with a local agency who agreed to send someone to help you with the problem. Thanking them, a huge weight felt lifted off your shoulders knowing that the villain would be caught within the week and you'll finally get some much needed rest.

The next day went forward rather uneventful until the evening. The extra hero was supposed to arrive early in the day for introductions and debriefing, but they had yet to show. Deep frown lines and worried creases overtook your normally cheery face. Why weren’t they here yet? Did they forget? What if they got caught by the villain, got dragged back to their layer and is currently being subjected to foregin tourture methods and no one knows where they are and- A very familiar head of green hair entered your field of vision, successfully ending the panicked mental ramblings. You had to take a second look. Surely they didn’t send him, he was much too busy to help with something this small.

Then your eyes met enrapturing green ones. They were the kind of green that spoke of lush growth in the wake of a forest fire. They were determined, fresh and held a new sense of warning that read: “I have power. I have authority. I will not start a fight, but I will end one” His eyes scanned the agency, noting every face, name and exit strategy he could retain before his eyes were caught on you. I bright smile spread across freckled cheeks, the glint in his eye gone and replaced with pure sugar. His steps quickened in your direction. Your feet were frozen as juvenile feelings came rushing back as fast as your heart was beating.  

Before you knew it, strong arms embraced you, snapping you out of your haze as you gently returned the hug. There were so many questions you wanted to ask, but your tongue was tied in a knot, filling your mouth and preventing any word from escaping.

“[Y/N]! I can’t believe it! It has been so long. How are you?” He spoke in a chipper voice, much too chipper for the feeling running through your body.

“D-Deku…?” you replied

“Yeah! Don’t tell me you already forgot about me, we were so close in school.”

“N-No I didn’t forget, I’m just surprised is all. I didn’t expect them to send their favorite hero to help out down here. Especially considering how low-profile this villain is.” you explained.

His cheeks warmed up at your statement. He rubbed the back of his neck, eyes cast downwards. “Well, I actually volunteered to come help. I saw the request form and your name on it and thought I would lend a hand. I hope that is alright?”

It was your turn to blush as his statement registered in your mind. “Y-Yeah! That’s fine, we need all the help we can get and who better to help us than the future number one?”

His hand retreated into his front pocket, eyes turning slightly cold almost as if you had offended him by bringing up the topic of being the number one hero. He gave a slightly strained smile. “Well I’m here. What can I do to help?”

* * * * * * *

Both your lungs and legs burned as you ran after the villain you had been chasing for weeks. It was finally going to happen, you were going to catch him! Bursting through the warehouse doors the villain had just ran through, your eyes scanned the room for signs of movement. Your heart stopped as you realized there were none. Carefully examining the cargo garage once more, slower as you walked around checking every corner, you found it empty. Heavy footsteps followed after you. Izuku caught up to you, panting from the exertion of chasing the villain. He took a look around the space himself, noticing it was empty.

“[Y/N], how did they get away? What happened? Are you okay?”

A low growl escaped your throat, aggravation flowing hotly through your veins. He had escaped. Again! Think, think, think! Where could he have gone? Was it his quirk that helped him escape so many times?

“[Y/N]! What’re you doing? Aren’t you going to go after him?”

Those eyes. You could still feel their effect on you from earlier and it only intensified because you could feel them on you now.. He just had such an intense way of logging your every move. Don’t get it wrong, it was exactly this kind of awareness that would make him such a successful hero one day, but it made chills run up your spine when you would catch those orbs focused on you. They ensured that any shred of focus you had on the case was dissolved. You weren’t a school-girl anymore, so why were you acting like one? Getting distracted in the middle of a chase was a rookie move and you would be kicking yourself over it for days.

Eye twitching, you whip around to face Deku. “Will you stop asking so many questions? He just escaped like he does every time! I am trying to figure out a plan and I can’t think when you’re looking at me, much less speaking! You are just too distracting and don’t need to be thinking about what you’re making me and my body feel when I’m trying to work!” Huffing, it takes a second for your outburst to register. The angry heat flowing through you immediately turned to cold as all the blood runs from your face.

Those damned green eyes bore into yours with a fire almost as hot as the blush painted across his freckled cheeks. Desire rolled off of Deku in seering waves and you could almost feel it. He took a step forward, breaking you out of your haze. Immediately you began to stutter an excuse for your outburst, “D-deku… I didn’t mean to say that. It was an accident. You weren’t ever supposed to find out!”

He took another step forward and cocked his head to the side, that cold look from earlier clouded his face making him look like a completely different person. “Keeping secrets isn’t any fun, [Y/N]. It isn’t good manners and it hurts people's feelings.” He pouted slightly, “Is that what you wanted? Hm? To hurt my feelings?”

Quickly you shake your head, but still take a step away from him as he continued to walk your direction. “No! I just… I just didn’t want you to know.”

Another step forward. Another step back. “Want me to know what? About your crush on me since high school? Bunny, I already knew. You’re a very bad liar.” Gone was the sweet and caring Izuku you thought you knew. And gone was your escape route you realized as your back hit the cool metal walls of the warehouse. “And not only are you a bad liar, your body is too. I still remember that cute little blush on your face when I would touch you, much like the blush you have now.”

His chest pressed lightly against yours, hot and electrifying. Your body slightly trembled but you weren’t sure if it was from anticipation or from shame of loving his attention. His hands came to rest on the wall by your head, successfully enclosing you two together so all you could focus on was him.

The steady ring of his phone snapped your attention away. Not breaking his eye contact with your face, he grabbed his phone and answered it. After a few nods and yes’s and a few moments of you squirming under his gaze, he hung up and put his phone away.

“They caught him.”

Shock overtook your features, momentarily forgetting the previous predicament. “What? How did they get him? He escaped!”

A smirk crawled onto Midoriya’s lips. “I had a hunch that his quirk dealt with teleportation, specifically short range considering he never leaves this area of Japan. If I were trying to escape, I would lead my enemies to the lowest floor of a building and then teleport to the top, giving me ample time to escape in any direction without leaving a clue. Since most quirks have a drawback, I made a guess that a teleportation quirk would have a cooldown time, limiting the amount of times you could teleport. I then let the local authorities know. They did the rest.”

He seemed so proud of himself. Smug in the fact that he was right. What happened to the sweet and bashful Deku you knew, and what was with that look in his eyes? His scarred hand came up to push your [Y/H/C] locks behind your ears, drawing your attention back to him. His fingers trailed across your cheek bone, down to your jaw before squeezing both cheeks between his fingers making you look at him.

“Now, where were we, bunny? I think you were about to tell me about how you want me to touch you. Right?”

Speaking was difficult with the way he was squishing your cheeks, “I-I don’t think this is a g-good idea. Let’s just go h-home for the night.”

He sighed, a small amount of disappointment flashing across his face. “Oh honey, that’s not what I wanted to hear. Don’t you want me to touch you?” He leaned forward, lips touching the sensitive shell of you ear, “I know you’ve thought about me doing… things… to you before. I can read it on your pretty little face.”

“T-That was a long time ago. H-How are you so sure I still like you?”

A deep chuckle, “I know you still like me because you’ve been distracted since I walked in the door at your agency. Your thighs have been clenching on and off for hours and you can barely look me in the eyes. Do you need me to go on?” by the end of his explanation Deku’s lips were grazing yours. Half-lidded eyes stared at his mouth, focused on its movements.

With a sudden rush of courage, you pressed your trembling lips to his. Mouths moved together in sync. They molded together like two halves of a whole, sliding and caressing each other in a steamy dance. The tip of his tongue ran across the bottom of your lip as an invitation you gladly accepted. Your tongue gilded against his equally as eager one for a moment before you both broke away for air. A string of saliva connected your lips to his. He pressed his forehead against yours, breathing heavily into your space just as you were breathing in his.

“Bunny, you know I can’t let you leave here without giving you what you want. Legs up.”

You followed his demand, jumping to wrap your legs around his waist and arms around his neck as he pressed you against the wall. His strong hands grasped your upper thighs just under the swell of your ass. He let out a breathy groan as he squeezed your plush legs, obviously aroused by their softness and their strength. Doing a balancing act, he propped you up on the wall with one arm and his knee just long enough to flip your skirt up and move your panties to the side.

As his fingers grazed your hot core, you couldn’t help but let out a gasp. His touch was electrifying. It had been too long since someone had touched you like this and every brush and every touch causes your body to react, pussy clenching in anticipation. Your underwear were unbelievably wet considering how little Deku had actually touched you. Noticing this, a sweet smile spread across Deku’s face reaching all the way to his eyes causing them to crinkle at the corners. It was such a strange expression compared to the lust raging in his eyes. He looked pleased with your reaction and for some reason you felt happy that you could please him.

Suddenly you felt something large and hot rub against your lower lips. Looking down for a brief moment, your eyes widened from the sight. A thick and veiny cock slowly rocked along your glistening folds. When had he even gotten rid of his pants? He was much larger than you had originally assumed, but not comically massive the way most people would assume. The throbbing and prominent veins created a beautiful pathway to the tuft of green hair growing at the base and trailing upwards, disappearing under the top of his hero costume.

Deku chuckled, finding humor in the way you were staring at it and how you were analyzing every inch. His hips still rocked slowly against yours, gently nudging your clit. Just that small amount of friction caused your breath to hitch in your throat and before you knew it, you were already panting. His hand came up to cup your cheek. The pad of his thumb traced gently across your bottom lip and your tongue darted out to capture it in your mouth. Deku hissed lightly through his teeth at the way you softly sucked and nibbled on his digit, your eyes half-lidded with ecstasy. Pressing his forehead against yours he spoke, slightly strained from having held back, “Are you ready, love? I can’t wait any longer. You’ll let me fuck you, right? Oh baby, I promise I’ll be gentle.”

Yore core clenched at his words, soundlessly nodding your head, releasing his thumb. “Please…” You sounded so desperate, so needy. This was a new feeling for you, arousal in its most primal form. All you knew was that you didn’t want him to stop no matter how exposed you both were and no matter how needy you sounded. In this moment, you’d let him do anything to you.

With your confirmation, he slowly began pushing his length into you. A groan left both of your lips at the same time. Inch after inch disappeared inside you and with every movement of his hips came a sound of pleasure from your lips. By the time his pelvis met yours, you were both covered in a thin layer of sweat. HIs from effort and restraint, yours from the heat of arousal.

“Fuuuck… You’re so tight, bunny. So tight for me… I have to move, love. You’re driving me mad…” His hips then withdrew from yours in a smooth and slow motion before pushing back into you a little faster than before.

“I-Izuku!” You called out, voice echoing through the empty warehouse.

“That’s right, moan my name, baby!”

He began to pick up speed, using your position against the wall to push you up and then drop you back down on his cock. He felt so big inside you, filling you up and making sure to hit all the right spots even ones you didn’t know existed. You felt you eyes begin to roll back as he kept pistoning in and out of you at a brutal pace. Hands quickly found the hair at the nape of his neck, pulling on the green strands.  It was all too much for you to handle and you could already feel the knot inside you tightening. Moans after moans were spilling from your mouth, almost incoherent in your lust-filled daze.

Deku could feel you getting tighter as he pounded into your sopping cunt. Your juices coated his cock along with your thighs. He’d never had anyone so aroused by him and he loved every second of it. Sweat dripped off of his brow and ran down his neck before disappearing behind the collar of his shirt. Your arms slipped from his neck and gripped his shoulders hard, nails leaving red crescents on his pale skin even through the fabric of his costume. The knot in your abdomen tightened even more as he rested his head on your shoulder and moaned deeply into your neck. His lips sloppily placed kisses up and down the column of your throat, tongue flicking out to taste your skin. It wasn’t long before his kisses turned to nibbles which turned to bites hard enough to leave bruises. But you weren’t complaining, if anything it only made you more turned on. Your hands threaded through his hair once more as you could feel yourself getting closer. You knew he was getting there too due to how sloppy his thrusts were becoming. He quickly looked up at you.

“You better look me in the eyes when you cum, okay? I want to see just how I make you feel. Show me that pretty face, love.”

You made eye contact with him. It was deep and sensual and way too intimate for you to handle in your current state. You remember how you felt every time you caught his eyes on you in class or training. You remember how they made you feel so exposed to him, and now that you really were exposed, it was like he could see your every want and need and he was determined to be the one to fulfill them. After a few more thrusts of his hips you could feel yourself unraveling. Stars danced in the corners of your vision as you reached your climax, body jerking against his and cunt quivering. He could feel your walls squeezing him, milking his cock and begging for his seed. Just as you were beginning to come down from your high, Deku’s hips stuttered. His hot cum painted your walls as he cursed deeply, filling you to the brim and then some.

Both of you were breathing heavily, still connected and embracing as the euphoric sensation stopped buzzing through your veins. His eyes were still searching yours, glazed over with want. Slowly he slid his softening member from your core and sat you down on your feet. You felt sore but so satisfied. Your thighs quaked from having to support your own weight again and small rivulets of mixed juices ran from your pussy and coated your thighs. You were truly exhausted.

Deku got himself dressed and situated before helping you get everything straightened out. He pulled you to his chest, lips pressing into your forehead quickly before he spoke.

“Let’s get you home, bunny. My place isn’t far from here.”

* * * * * * *

As you left the next morning after a shower and homemade breakfast, along with a promise for a real date soon, you sent a text you Uraraka with a simple message: You were right.

[beebeyjuice]

Beezleboss (Beetlejuice*x Neutral!Reader x OC) NSFW-ish

I have to complete anessaya dn I’m over here awake, listening to Tenacious D so just take it okay? just take it and...cuddle with it. It needs to be cuddled with.

*I may add the rock!BJ AU and Devil!BJ tag because...it’s fucking Tenacious D what other excuse do I have???

Warnings: Mentions of R*pe, drugs, with a little dark humour* (read after the ellipses)

Update: It is 4 am...I started at 1 am. I liked this story very much :D. Enjoy.

Published: 4/11/20

https://soundcloud.com/butcher-ben-592/tenacious-d-beezleboss

~~~

I was sitting on the couch, strumming the guitar semi-consciously while waiting for my roommate to put the pot in the bong. The notes rolled off like a god was savoring the delicious riffs that kept on cooking. We alternated the use of the pick that we have found, and with its existence our lives gotten better. We gotten fame, money, a taste of both pussy and dick, because why the fuck not?

We even got a new friend, our agent, who’s nickname was Beezleboss. Sure it was a weird name, but there’s even weirder ones that are accepted by the crowd. Maybe he wanted to join the band?

(Y/N) came into the living room with the bag in their hand and sit next to me, and I placed the guitar in the stand. The pick I placed on the necklace frame. We both have our own necklace that holds the pick so it wouldn’t be as easy to lose it. It had its own eight, and its own disadvantages-

For one...we sometimes get paranoid and we forget the other one has it. Sometimes I’m up at 3 AM on the roof in my underwear and braless desperately looking for it, but then realization hits like a motherfucker when I realize that 1) (Y/N) has and 2) I am never on the roof for whatever reason, nice view though. It is always a nice view, it would be fun to fuck someone...maybe Beezlebub? Bezebos? Beteljuice? Juice...

“Hey (Y/N) hand me the orange juice will ya?” I asked and made a grabby motion and thanking them for the carton.

Our phones vibrated and (Y/N) leant over on her right side to scan the screen while holding the bong in her hand, “Oh hey it’s Beezleboss, wants to meet us in the front yard.”

Confused, I asked, “Why didn’t he just come in like he always does?”

You shrugged your shoulders and set down the bong gently, bitch, you’re never gently with my stuff.

~~

I dressed up, well...put on a bra because I didn’t want to deal with the sweat stains when I’m inside the house and followed you outside to meet our manager. Sometimes (Y/N) and I speak freely in our home how much we really want to fuck him...oh my goood was he just delicious-looking. He can join our little band anytime if it means we just hop on and-

“Hey boss, how’s it going?” you greeted with a smile and pulled him in a hug.

He smiled, his canines (fuuuck me he can mark me anytime) showed as he returned the hug, “Pretty good, I was just strolling by see how you guys are.” When he released the hug, he pulled back to adjust the striped jacket. He had such an unusual sense of fashion, but he was so fucking adorable. Sometimes I don’t know whether to pinch his cheeks or to whip his sweet thicc butt *I felt my head tilt a little to scan the curves* or to just...take me.

I know (Y/N) is thinking those dirty ass thoughts, they do this little thing by crossing their arms across their chest and and using the fingernail of their pinky to scratch their arm lightly to ground them to reality and not slip into their sexual fantasies. I’m pretty sure they want to see him in a leather outfit, and god do I as well. I’m more of an emotionless, “zoning out” kind of person. I scanned his body and when I watched those gorgeous hazel eyes, only for them to have a direct contact do I smile and go over to hug them. I had no fucking clue what they were talking about but they didn’t say my name. I held him in a side-hug, resting my hand on my hip as I now enter the conversation, “Boss, you looking sexy as ever.” I reported, serious and saluting him  as that was the most important part of the discussion. We both saw the sudden blush and timidness that appeared and I leaned back slightly, made direct eye contact with you and went from an emotionless expression to a wide grin and a thumbs up liek it was indeed the mst blessful day ever. I got away with these comments because it was common, (Y/N), however, that (gurl/boi/madamonsieure)....that’s 50 shades of F.U.C.K.E.D.U.P., my comments were NOTHING compared to what this sex demon had to offer

~Flashback~

Me: Yo, (Y/N), the city of fallen angels has nothing compare to the operas you perform when you commit to the sexto-y-nueve.

You: *chuckles and you lil shit would grab my chin and lightly graze it*  I will fuck you day and night, from pleasure to pain, whether you want to or not *leans closer* and you will start calling me the Lideric because I will not stop until you say my name like a prayer and your bones will be crumpling, you will be so dehydrated that you will need to go to the hospital constantly to get IV bags injected into your bloodstream that when you waste their resources, you depend on my own cum to keep you alive. *smirks*

Me: ... *mouth gaped*...

You: *taps on my chin and leaves me hanging as you do your research*

Me: Holy shit, mark me down as scared and horny.

~~

You smiled so sweetly as you tried to brush me off, “Ignore her, she’s had too much to drink.”

I lazily pointed at you, objecting your claim, “That is not true...I may have had about two cups of Orange Juice, who knows.” I shrug my shoulders lightly. This made beezleboss chuckle and had a fit of giggles before taking a deep breath to calm down, “Alright, alright, guys I’ve been meaning to tell you about this..situation that I’m in and-” now I slowly unglueed myself from the manager made slow, long steps to stand next to you, “...que paso, compadre?”

He was confused, trying to understand why I got so defensive and ready to beat his cute butt off the driveway.

“I hope it isn’t to tell us you won’t be our manager.” You stated bluntly, always more mature than me. Now I was able to see the rings that decorated his fingers, the black fingernails, the green hair that was slicked back, his skin slightly palish as always.

When he laughed, he shooked his heads, “No noo, that is not it nah- uh it has to do with production.”

I tilt my head to the side, “But we just finished producing songs yesterday.” I say in a high-pitch voice to make aware of my confusion.

He nods, “Yes, you have.” He grins, now there was one canine tooth that was visible and I was confused. I wasn’t going to address the lost tooth, but you sighed softly, “Right, I think I know what you mean. Mija, let’s grab our guitars and go to the studio and make a few more songs.” When you walked passed me, you added: “Besides, we have a few songs under our sleeves.” and you glanced down on the silver necklace.

I smile and nodded in affirmation then looked at our boss, “We’ll be right back!” and I ran, following you. When I walked up the stairs to the door, I reached up to the necklace and looked down to see the empty frame. I smiled, then I suddenly panicked. My eyes widen, and my body tensed up. I rushed to you, nearly pinning you against the wall. You were taken off guard, raising the guitars above our heads, “Mija! Watch it, you almost made drop the guitars-”

“Listen to me, and I mean....fucking. listen to me.” My voice was shaking, my hands were trembling and I was on brink in crying, “I...lost the pick.” and I sucked in my lips. Your eyes widen, lowering your arms, “Whatthefuckdoyoumeanyoulostthefuckingpick.” You said faster than you ever said anything in your life.

“I mean...I lost the pick. It was in the frame, and now it’s gone. We have to distract him, we have to distract boss and I have to look for the pick.”

~~~

Meanwhile, Beezleboss, who waited patiently, smirked slowly as he raised his hand to reveal the glowing green pick. The pick transformed into a canine tooth that was possible for him to shape shift into his true form: His eye color changed from the hazel to the golden orbs, his mouth opened slightly to reveal the two pairs of canines into two rows of sharp teeth. He stuck out his tongue for it to be fork-pitched and slithering to get the sensation used to.His suit got dirtier in means that it was aging, horns grew from the temples, making an upward curve. His finger nails grew into claws and he was more pale, like beige white paper. A tail was revealed from under the coat and flicked a few times, it stretched as well, curling a few times before making it rest on the concrete floor.

He lolled his head, making a growling sound emit from his throat as he was relieved to be in his true form, ready to take your souls to the netherworld and make you two suffer from the pain he had to endure with the stupid breathers.

~~~

I paced back and forth, repeating fragments and ideas before you take my shoulder, “We’re gonna find the pick, and we are going to make music after, okay?” You gave me my guitar and I put on the strap, “Y-yeah, yeah, we’re gonna find it.” I repeated, doing the habit of rubbing my fingertips and we headed out the door. However, when we walked outside, we screamed in horror as we jumped in our arms.

“IT’S SHOOOOWTIME!!~” The entity sanged in his gravelly voice, even biting his lip as he heard the screams, blinking only to smirk towards us, his golden eyes filled with rage and mischief.

We separated from each other to fully observe the demon, monster whatever it was that was in front of us, speechless in the moment.

He spread his arms apart as he says in a guttural tone: “I am complete!!”

“Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck” (Y/N) and I synced, really progressing what was going on.

“Yes you are Fucked! Shit out of Luck! Now I’m complete and my Cock you will suck!” and he proceeded to open the jacket slightly to thrust his hips forwards to mimic the fucking motion, “This world will be mine, and you’re first in line, You brought me the pick and now you shall both die!”

I was frozen in place, my eyes could not tear off. I must be high, I must be.

But I hear (Y/N)...sing? After all, he did sounded like he was singing too in the way that he spoke.

“Waaaaaiit! Waaaaiiit Waaait you motherfucker!” and I finally looked over at (Y/N) who stepped forward and pointed at him, “We challenge youu to a rock off!”

They brought the guitar in hand, ready to play, only before he pointed at the demon with their basic pick, “Give us one chance to rock your socks off!...”

I swore I saw a little hip jiggle when you sang that part softly.

I know looked at the demon who looked ready to kill us, but was distressed.

“Fuck!” He turned around, his back facing us. Well, at least his ass looked better. “Fuck! Fuuuuuuck.” He growled, turning back around after clenching his hands and even running his hands through his hair, “The demon code prevents me,” and when he turned around, a scroll appeared in his hands. He looked annoyed, if not irritated at the challenge that my roommate came up with, “From declining a rock off challenge. WHat. are your terms, what’s the ca-a-atch~.”

Now it was our time, (Y/N) looked back at me and I was trying to tell you something but nothing came out. I was too scared,

“Four things, two from me and two from her!” You shouted, looking back at him, “...If we win, you must take your sorry aaasssss back to heeeelll. And also you will have to pay our reeent.”

I actually thought that was a good idea, and I nodded slowly in agreement but also respect for thinking outside of the box.

“And what if I win?..” His hand raised to graze his beard and the growls came back, and there was a chill in both our backs.

“...” Now I’m stuck.

“...Then you can take her back to hell...” (Y/N) suggested, shrugging her shoulders in an inquisitive way, to see if it would work. I nodded mindlessly before those words clicked. I quickly snapped my head to you, worried as fuck, “...What?!”

I stepped forward to you.

They looked straight ahead before glancing at me, “Trust me mija, it’s the only whey.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” I asked in a panicked tone, only to be grabbed by them. Their arm wrapped around me , the other on my abdominal area as we both looked straight.

“To be your little..” and then I feel someone groping my chest, “bitch.” they finished and I snapped at them.

Partially satisfied, with an eye roll, he announced: “Fine! Let the Rock off Begin!” and he released a maniacal laughter that would have wet my underwear for multiple reasons besides being scared.

And when he raised his hands, the scene changed. We were caught in the middle of an arena of speakers, a drum set appearing, a microphone sitting in the middle. A guitar and a bass on their stands. We watched three clones appear, each taking their places. The real raised his hand and lowered it as he stood behind the microphone. The drummer was perfect in every way playing the drummer, never missing a beat (no times for puns).

“I’m the devil- I love metal!” They all sang in unison, more guttural than with one, only from the real one to stuck out his tongue and wiggle it at us. We jumped at every chance, fidgety and also speechless at the performance.

The guitarist stepped forward, planting his right foot forward only to succesfully catch out attention when said, “Check this riff is fucking Tasty!!” and proceeded to shred out souls he performed.

Lastly, the real boss, he took the microphone, the tail wrapped around the stand as he sang his verse:

“I’m the devil I can do what I want

Whatever I’ve got I’m gonna flaunt!

There’s never been a rock off that I’ve ever lost!”

I glanced at you in a concerned look, already certain that I’m fucked.

When I look back, however, he revealed a wall of sex toys which made me jump.

“I can’t wait to take her back to hell

I’m gonna fill her with my hot demon gel” and he squirted lube on us, making us jump but me cower behind you.

“I’ll make her squeal like my scarlet pimpernel!” and he mimicked once again the fucking motion. .For a moment, (Y/N) stepped forward and shouted, “NOoooo!” It Boss by surprise, the illusion getting rid of. Head turned over their shoulder, they tried to make me jump in, “Come on Mija, bring the thunder!”

I was hopeless, I was already see the future of being a sexdoll, “There’s just no way that we can win, that was a master piece...”

Now they turned around and grabbed my shoulders, “Listen to me.”

“He rocks to hard because he’s not a mortal man!” I raised my hand at him who was currently smoking a cig.

“God damn it! He’s gonna make you his sex slave, gonna gargle mayonnaise-”

“Nooo” I sobbed.

“Unless we bust a massive monster mama-jam!”

I nodded, understanding you, “We’ve been through so much shit...“

“Deactivated lasers with my dick!” He shouted excitedly, and for a mere second attempted to remember a single memory where they did that.

“Now it’s time to bow this fucker dooown!!” we synced and faced the boss.

I brought out the guitar and began to strum only for you to continue “Come now, it’s time to blow doors down!”

I nodded excitedly, bouncing on my toes, “I hear you man it’s time to blow doors down!”

You posed and danced as you sang, “Light up the stage ‘cause its time for a showdown!”

Now I was confident to step forward with the thanks of my friend, “We’ll bend you over then we’ll take you to Brown Town.”

and we both sang, “Now we’ve got to blow this fucker doown!”

I quickly stated the fact if this does not work: “He’s gonna rape me if we don’t blow doors down!”

“Come on, we must drive it down now”

“Yeah Baby!!”

You confidently pointed at him as you smirked, “Hey anti-christ-er, Beezlboss, we know you’re weekness- OUR ROCKET SAUCE!”

ANd the something came over me that suddenly I stopped playing, only to actually be stuck ina thinking process.

The halt confused you and the boss, “What the fuck was that!” you shouted.

I scanned the boss almost ina  critizing way, “I just realized something...”

“HUH?!” you both responded.

“I never got to say what I wanted.” I stated plainly.

You wacked the back of my head and I nearly tripped.

“You were nearly raped and you’ve got the nerve to say that!”

“Wait cabron listen to me!” you shouted back and the you looked at the boss, “Yo, you gnna destroy the world?”

Speechless, Beezlboss remained there, “Uhhh...no?”

I nodded and process that, “Then how about we forget all this and come inside, become our new roommate and date?”

That question alone made them look around for any secrets cameras of some sort.

“What the fuck is happening..”

“Exactly, you know, when you were human and all, (Y/N) wanted you to fuck us and fuck you. You see them scratch their arm right?”

“yeah...”

“Observant! But that’s their way of not falling into a sexual fantasy! I’m a motherfucking open book that will open her legs with a snap of fingers! Rape is off-limits though!”

“And...?”

“Boy,...you will not hear the end of the day if you let me continue talk when I want to date that sexy ass of yours. ANd now that you have horns, now I have something to hold on when I’m riding- let’s go inside. now.” You made your way inside, shocking both outside.

“Now!!!!” you barked and both (Y/N) and boss head inside. I got closer look and I grin, “Oohh, you managed to get even sexier.”

“Wait...you both....really wanted to fuck me?”

“And date you, don’t forget that. We just didn’t want to make it awkward since you were out manager.” you explained, making you blush from the revelation.

“And you still want to date me?” He asked in clarification and you quickly grabbed his tie and pulled him down in a lustful kiss, taking your hand in mine to pull closer. I introduced tongue and when we pull apart, a string of saliva was attached, “You should wait until (Y/N) opens their mouth. I came three times.” you admitted, “didn’t even touch me.” I smirked, “Now come on, let’s ignore what just happened and just get on with it yeah?” you asked and leaned forward to kiss his neck. You blushed so hard, you felt him place his hand on your waist and nodded to male the move. His expression soften up and you leaned forward to kiss him, already twirling tongues.

One thing for sure, this relationship is the best one ever made.

[aronasnack]

circles ⎮ aròn piper fiction

summary: flying back to madrid leaves ur heart feeling heavy bc you know you were bound to reconnect with ur past. 

characters: arón piper x bella alvarez (o/c)

author's note: this is the start to a series! ps sorry for the terrible spanish, i'm using google translator BAHAHHA :') in this storyline, aron is 23 when he starts filming elite. :)

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pt. 1 ⎮ pt. 2 ⎮ pt. 3 out now!

word count: 1,489.

This can't be happening. You knew you were bound to meet him when you returned to Madrid, but you never imagined in a million years that you'd run into him in the club the both of you used to party frequently together, and needless to say, on the very first night back to your hometown. You had been trying to suppress the thoughts of him ever since you entered the club. Despite the club looking completely different as compared to when you were last here, the atmosphere it had with the blasting of hip-hop and r&b music, the high that you were feeling, the view of hips swaying, strangers making out with strangers, and everyone else dancing their night away, it was all too familiar. Four years ago, you were here, dancing your night away with the love of your life, hoping that the night would never end as you swayed your hips against his, loving every moment you spent with him. Crazy how four years went by, and everything's changed, here you were trying to run away from the very guy you once thought was the love of your life. You could still hear him calling and running after you, but you just weren't ready to face him. After so many years, you never expected to meet him in such a manner, you were expecting to bump to him in the streets, or in a mall, where you could just look away and walk off. However, it seemed like someone was playing a joke on you, forcing you to have a conversation with someone you've been trying so hard to forget over the past four years. You quickly run to the dance floor that was packed full of people, squeezing your way through the swarm of drunkards that were dancing like there was no tomorrow. You couldn't hear him anymore with the loud music that was almost ear-deafening, and you thought that you were safe enough for him not to find you, so you turned around to make your way to your friends.

"Bella, where have you been? you've been gone for almost an hour." Miguel rushes to examine you, worried that something might have happened. "I was resting in the loo, and... well, i bumped into him." you replied cautiously as you knew they had been trying to resist mentioning him the entire night. You had noticed how your friends stopped talking as soon as they were about to mention him, but changed the topic because they were trying to be considerate of your feelings. " you met arón! ...oh, so did you guys talk?" your friends questioned, after all, they were friends with him. All of you, together with his group of friends, used to hangout frequently together. You knew some of them were still close friends with him, but the fact they were your close friends first, before meeting Arón, is the very reason why they are still here after the breakup. You shooked your head and sighed, "i'm not here to deal with whatever i left in the past. it's unnecessary." the group stays silent because you clearly weren't in the mood, and then Miguel says, " alright now you freaks, we're here to party, so let's cheers to Bella being back!!" All of us smile and laugh, realising that he was right, and we cheers our glasses together, yelling, "WELCOME BACK BELLA!!!!!"

The night continued until it was 4 in the morning, and damn, half of your group were drop dead wasted, and you were barely sober when you guys all made your way out of the club. They were going to send the drunk ones home first, and they forced you to go home first since you had a long flight and a very long night as well, so there you were alone outside the club, in your coat, waiting for your cab home. Lighting your cigarette, you take a puff, and felt the heaviness that was weighing your heart down lifted. You had been smoking for the past four years, as a coping mechanism to deal with all the sudden changes in your life over the few years. You smiled to yourself as you had enjoyed the company of your friends that you hadn't met all this while, and that smile dropped when you see someone suddenly yanking your cigarette away, dropping it on the floor, standing in front of you. "We need to talk."

You look up to see Arón staring down at you, and it sent shivers down your spine, because those hazel orbs that you were looking at used to be your major weakness. "i have nothing to say to you," before you look away to turn around and walk away from him. However, with a sudden grab on your left wrist and a strong pull, you were struggling to keep up with a fuming Arón taking you to an alley near the club. "what the hell do you want from me?" you yelled at Arón as he finally stops pulling you into the alley. You touch and look at your wrist, only to see how red it is, and you knew it was definitely going to turn into a bruise. Seething with anger, you looked up, ready to curse and swear at Arón, and you stopped when your eyes meets his equally fiery eyes that softens when he asks you, "so you smoke now?" Seriously, did this guy just drag you here just for this. "i don't have the energy for this. my ride is coming." you turn to walk away once again, and again, he grabs your arm to pull you back to face him. "when did you come back?" he asks you another question. You knew he wasn't going to let you leave until you answered his questions, so you replied him stoically, "yes. and this morning." you tilt your head up to take a look at him and you swear, you saw his eyes glistening, and for that split second, he seemed sad. "it's nice meeting you again. you look.." arón's eyes wander from your body to your face and smirks, "beautiful." Hearing his compliment didn't leave you feeling surprised or happy, instead you were rather indifferent, replying "i wish i could say the same. just a word of advice, lock the door next time. my ride's here so goodnight arón." before turning away to catch your cab. As you walked away, Arón continues to stare at you until you got into your cab, and he whispers, "i miss you."

You laid back in the cab, groaning at the encounter you just had with your ex. Saying you were uncomfortable was an understatement. The night was great, but running into your ex with a girl on him and furthermore, having to be alone with him in a desolate alley was the last thing you could have ever imagined how your night would have panned out. As your thoughts started to wander around the thought of that awkward encounter, you found yourself daydreaming about how good he looked in that blue striped shirt, with his luscious curls that you once loved twirling so much. "señora, hemos llegado," your driver informs you that you've arrived at your apartment, snapping you out of the thoughts you were having of Arón. fortunately. You returned home, quickly washing up and got into bed because you were exhausted from all the travelling and partying, and you knock out at the drop of a dime.

the next few days, you stay home to unpack your luggages and arrange the furnitures to make your apartment more homely and cozy. it was nice having some time off to recuperate because you've been working consecutively for multiple productions back in the States, and you had barely any breather. thus, the time you had before starting the new netflix production was a great chance for you to relax and focus on your well-being. however, rest was over. it was finally the day for you to meet the cast of the new netflix production as you were heading down to the studio to do the first reading of the scripts with them. you had already met the crew prior to moving to madrid, as they flew out to LA to discuss on the script and some technical parts with you. you were ready for a new chapter in your life, to direct a series that was in your native language. it was exciting for you. you made your way down to the studio with a ferrari f430, that you had bought a few days ago so that you didn't have to constantly rely on cabs as a mode of transportation. you arrive at the studio shortly after, smiling, ready to welcome the cast into the family. "chicas y chicos, meet the directors whom you'll be working with closely." your smile falls, oh god, this can't be happening.

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pt. 3 out now!

[davidtennan-t]

‘Saviour in the Snow’ 

Chapter 2

The Doctor doesn't return from a mission on an alien world. Donna has to take matters into her own hands. Some Whump and general Ten/Donna foolery.

Chapter 3 will be following soon!

AO3 Link - Chapter 2

- 

Gelta’Divians were known for their ignorant, selfish behaviour. Their attitude to life wasn’t exactly rainbows and sunshine, nor was their hospitality. It would be the last time he ever offered his help to species this side of the Adrota Galaxy.

“N-noted for n-next time…”

The Doctor never liked to admit when he was cold. A Time Lord’s body temperature was easily adjustable and controlled – better central heating, is what he said to Donna once and she had laughed and commented on his ignorant cockiness over his superior biology.

But even Time Lord’s had their limits and the temperature wasn't going to stop falling.

He was shivering and that, in his mind, was a bad sign. A terrible sign. A dangerous sign, even.

He'd tried countless times to pull himself out but being unable to turn to reach the rocks, or use his sonic screwdriver in any sense or fashion, it all proved useless. The throbbing of his ankle caused the occasional wince and groan, only furthering the problem of his situation. It even crossed his mind to use the sonic to try and shift the rock using setting 82, but even then, the chances of causing another collapse in the cave would be high. It was better to be a trapped Time Lord than a squashed Time Lord.

So, after 1 hour, 3 minutes and 19 seconds, he was still firmly trapped.

“S-should have brought the coat…” the Doctor stated through lightly chattering teeth to nobody but himself. The dimming light through the very few cracks along with his very good sense of time told him the night was drawing close, and there was still no solid plan on how he was going to free himself. The Time Lord was used to making plans up as he went along but he couldn’t move – how could he move along? There was no way of contacting Donna to tell her where he was, nor what he could do to fix the situation. He wanted her there... he missed her.

“In here – the collapse must be further in.”

“With two of our buildings gone it has to be an extensive collapse. The northern forces will pay for the damage caused!”

Deep, booming voices suddenly echoed through the cave and the Doctor steadily glanced up from where he lay. He considered shouting in reply but the unfriendly tone made him second guess his thought. The blue light from the sonic screwdriver was illuminating his position so he reached over with his cold fingers and fiddled with the device, trying to dim the light. However, it was inevitable they would come across him if they were heading this way. There seemed no point in attempting to dim the only light.

"If anyone is in here, present yourself!"

As the Time Lord tried to shift his cold arms into a more comfortable position, the sudden tremor from the loud voice caused one of the rocks in the large pile to slip. It shifted the entire bulk of stone, increasing the pressure on his trapped foot. The Doctor was unable to keep a yell of pain restrained.

That was one way to present himself.

"Who's in here?!" one voice called in response to the pained yell, now much closer. "This is the chief from the southern camp, make yourself known!"

No point in keeping quiet now. The Doctor, now aware it was another group of Gelta'Divians, decided asking for help wasn't the worst thing he could do. Perhaps this was his chance for aid. He would more than likely have to work some charm on the group - at least he knew not to use any of his Judoon jokes.

"Any of you fella's ever s-shifted heavy rocks before?"

Even to him, his own voice sounded weak and feeble and he waited anxiously for a reply, trying to control his quivering jaw and the shivering from his skinny frame.

This was a different group of the native species, not the ones he had helped, so they would owe him nothing. He needed to be on his guard.

"I'm n-not a threat, I'm actually in a rather crushed-s-spot," he added, the footsteps growing ever closer until the large, bulky aliens finally appeared in the blue light of the sonic screwdriver. All five had sleek, golden spears drawn and were kitted in full armor. They must have been expecting a fight, but with what, the Doctor didn't know. They all looked similar to the group he had aided but the colouring of their armour was different - dark brown leather pads instead of overpowering grey.

"Hello, gents - am I g-glad to see some friendly faces around here! Just between us, these cave walls aren't much for conversa-"

"Who are you, and what are you doing here?" The leader of the group bellowed, stepping forwards with the sharp end of his weapon only inches away from the Time Lord's face. The Doctor, unable to protect himself, tried to keep his brown eyes locked onto the blue orbs that were staring down at him. His friendly approach usually always calmed tensions but it couldn't work all the time, he thought.

"Well, if I told you that the northern camp asked for my h-help to track down an alien ball of energy that, upon exploding, caused a cave-in which now has me trapped since all the strapping big fellas I came with ran off without helping me... would you b-believe me?"

The alien cheif and the rest of the threatening group looked between one another, almost debating whether they should believe the thin man lying on the ground.

"Honestly, it's the truth... I was just here t-to help. Now, if you wouldn't mind helping moving these rocks I need to get back to my frie-"

"Silence!" the leader bellowed. To the Doctor's utter dismay, another creak from the rock pile echoed through the chasm and a boulder slipped from the very top. It crashed down near the leader, causing the group to jump back while also narrowly missing the Doctor's side. The Time Lord sighed in relief - or was he relieved? A simple cry for help seemed to be getting him nowhere and, at this rate, he would be crushed if he tried to reason with them any longer.

"P-please," he pleaded, now in a much softer tone, "I just need one of you to move a few rocks and I-I'll leave immediately. If this is your turf then take it up with the leader of the northern camp."

"This cave-in caused a tremor," the leader growled, restraining himself from interrupting the chatty, shivering man again, "it destroyed two of our buildings and nearly killed several of our warriors. We came in search of any culprits and we found you, an outsider. If you're partly responsible for this, then the punishment of our people is death.Your crime is certain and we will not take into account your off-world plea."

Right. Of course it would be death. No rainbows and sunshine present. Straight to the point.

"What?" the Doctor stated, "N-now hold on a second, I never intended for the cave to collapse, I w-was only trying to h-"

A firm kick to the face stopped his plea. The large, armour-clad foot smacked violently into what felt like the entirety of his face, throwing it back and causing horrible vibrations from the impact. Within seconds, droplets of blood escaped from the Doctor's nose and, with no strength to keep his posture defensive, let his whole upper body collapse from the impact of the kick, his face buried in rubble and his breathing raw.

Selfish, ignorant - now he could add violent to his ever-growing negative list.

"You have no say in this!" the leader declared. None of them took pity on the trapped man, nor had they listened to any of his pleas. The Doctor managed to keep one eye feebly looking up, the figures now blurred in the blue light as he tried to retain some of his dwindling focus.

"You... you c-cant do this," the Time Lord wheezed, unable to keep his jaw tremors at bay from the cold and pain, "I h-have r-rights, under the juri... jurisdiction of the Shadow Procla-AH!"

Another kick. This time, his ear caught the brunt force.

"What should we do with him? A quick death would perhaps be more efficient... it would shut him up quicker," one of the group suggested while another shook his head, ignoring the Time Lords wheezes and groans of discomfort.

"Maybe we should leave him to starve... he already appears to be near it."

"Silence - you all know the law. We came here to find the one guilty of the collapse and we found him. I carried out the sentence, it is I who follows through with it," the leader confided, "if the northern clan finds him, they will heed our warning. If what he says is even true."

For the second time that day, the Doctor had no plan. He couldn't run or even move. He couldn't plea for his life. He couldn't even use his most entrusted tool.

He couldn't save himself. And his hearts were now pumping with fear. Not just for himself.

But for Donna.

-

Read the rest over on AO3!

[dvp95]

quiet on widow’s peak (1)

pairing: dan howell/phil lester, pj liguori/sophie newton/chris kendall rating: teen & up  tags: paranormal investigator, youtuber phil lester, dan howell is not a youtuber, online friendship, slow burn, strangers to lovers, nonbinary character, background poly, phil does some buzzfeed unsolved shit and dan is a fan word count: 3.2k (this chapter & total) summary: Phil's got a list of paranormal experiences a mile long that he likes to share with the world. Abandoned buildings, cemeteries, and ghost stories have always called his name, and a particular fan of his has a really, really good ghost story. Bingo squares: met on tumblr

new wip? NEW WIP.

read this chapter on ao3 or here!

The wind is loud in this one. That's frustrating, and it makes Phil's job a lot harder, but he can't control the weather. Be cool if he could. He does his best to level out his voice and the background noise of Mother Nature before he settles in with his good headphones and really cranks the volume.

It's even more annoying to listen to the alternating crackle and whistle right in his ears. Phil has dealt with worse during this whole process, though, so he finds the strength to power through it. He listens to the full thing three times, scribbling a few timestamps down on a Post-It pad as he does. He takes a break after that, does some stretches around his tiny bedroom and tiptoes out to get a snack without waking the whole damn house, and then he's right back in his apparently ergonomic office chair to subject his ears to more of this nonsense.

Wind, wind, and more wind. And sometimes just Phil's own voice. Nothing of note.

Phil is about to give this video up as a loss altogether when he hits one of the final timestamps and... can't figure out what that noise is.

For the first time since he opened this file, Phil grins. He exports the clip and plays around with it in Audacity. Some videos are always more fun than others, and Phil had felt like he was slogging through this one until now.

"Do you hear that, Theodore?" Phil murmurs. The tiny cactus on his desk, thankfully, does not respond.

It sounds like a person. It sounds like a person, whispering, and it definitely isn't the wind, and it isn't Phil's own voice, because he's in the middle of a question in this clip.

Phil might just be going crazy from sleep deprivation or wishful thinking, though. He pulls out his phone and texts the only group chat that doesn't cause him anxiety, which is comprised of the housemates that he actually gets along with. Anyone up? he asks, adding a single eye emoji for good measure.

Even though it's gone two in the morning, he gets immediate responses from all of them. A string of vaguely dirty emojis from Chris, a simple yeah from Sophie, and a cheerfully morbid did you know that insomnia leads to an early death? from PJ.

Wanna listen to a noise for me?

Within three minutes, Phil's bedroom is full of people in various states of sleepiness. All of them are in ridiculous pyjamas - including Phil - and PJ's hair in particular has taken on a mind of its own. Phil's room isn't really big enough for all of them, so there's some awkward shuffling before PJ claims the office chair. Phil sits at the foot of his bed with Sophie and Chris on either side of him, pressed close against each other's shoulders. It's a good thing he likes these people.

"I mean, it isn't the wind," is PJ's confident opinion. "Did you have anyone with you?"

"No, it's just me and my camera against the world," says Phil.

"No need to be a twat," Chris informs him. He taps at PJ's upper arm, impatient. "Let me have a go, then, if there's something there."

Chris is famously bad at hearing things in white noise, but PJ acquiesces the seat easily enough. Phil laughs, watching them do a weird step dance around each other in the small space between Phil's bed and desk.

"I can't hear any specific words," PJ says as he flops down across Phil's pillows, making himself comfortable. Phil just nods, because neither can he.

"How d'you know it's a person, then?" Sophie asks. Her voice is probably the only one soft enough for the hour. Their other housemates hate them for their frequent all-nighters, but Sophie is kind and quiet enough that she slips under the radar.

"You'll see for yourself."

When Sophie goes to respond, Chris interrupts in a hilariously loud voice, as if he's forgotten that having headphones on doesn't mean they can't hear him. "It's some kind of ghoulie or ghostie! I can barely fucking hear it, Philly, why didn't you mic it?"

"Why didn't I mic the ghost?" Phil asks, bewildered. Naturally, Chris doesn't hear him.

Sophie taps Chris on the shoulder and stands, leaning over his shoulder as she takes her turn listening to the sound clip over and over. Chris spins in the chair a few times and gives Phil an unhinged sort of grin.

"You got something this time," says Chris. He sounds like he's having just as much fun as Phil is, now that there's actually a thing to listen to besides his own voice and the loud, loud wind.

"I think so," says Phil. "Why didn't I mic the ghost?"

"I'm saying it would make your job a lot easier if you mic the ghost, yes."

"If I could mic a ghost, I'd be a millionaire."

"Then you better get on it, eh?" Chris laughs, spinning a bit faster. Phil has never seen the man sleep. It's a little bit worrying.

"Sure," Phil says, giving up on trying to teach any logic to someone who's clearly long lost their hold on it. "Next time I spend all night in a graveyard, I'll mic any spirits that might be hanging out."

"Shut up," Sophie tells them, mild.

Chris mimes zipping his lips, wrapping an easy arm around her waist, and PJ laughs.

For the first few months they all lived together, Phil had struggled to keep up with whatever dynamics were going on between the three of them, but he's long since given it up as something he's not going to understand.

After a moment of quiet, Sophie nods. "I hear it," she tells them. Even with the headphones on, she's quiet. "It's not words, I wouldn't put any subtitles over it."

"Yeah," PJ agrees. "Just let your audience duke it out in the comments like they always do."

"Thanks, guys," Phil says, feeling a sort of warmth sink into his shoulders. He notices that Chris is pulling up another application and half-heartedly protests. "Chris, you don't need to edit this one for me. I still haven't paid you for the last video." Or the one before that. Or the three or four previous. Phil has it written down somewhere.

"Don't be stupid," Chris hums, already clicking around erratically. It makes the editor in Phil want to scream, but he has to admit that Chris manages to find more weird visual stuff to isolate than he could on his own.

"I feel bad," says Phil, chewing his lip.

"I've told you," says Chris, "you can pay me back in chores and sexual favours."

PJ's slippered foot knocks against Phil's hip, and he grins brightly when Phil turns to him. "You know, I do have a bit of a laundry backlog."

"Funny thing, that," says Sophie.

Biting back a laugh, Phil shakes his head. "Alright, alright. Everybody leave their laundry in front of my door tomorrow."

"That's a no on the beej, then?" Chris asks, raising a single eyebrow and pointing dramatically at Phil. It has been near two years of this, and Phil is still too afraid to ask if it's a joke.

It's not as if Phil's answer would change if it wasn't a joke, because he's not interested in Chris, and he's especially not interested in becoming entangled in whatever nonsense his housemates have gotten themselves into. But, still, he might be kinder about letting Chris down if he were being genuine.

"That is a no," Phil confirms. "But I will wash your pants."

"Kinky," says Chris. He turns back to the screen and makes an incomprehensible hand gesture. "This is pretty shit. You know that, right?"

Yeah. Phil does know that. It's getting harder and harder to have the same optimism in every video that he'd had when he first started recording his wanderings around the supposedly-haunted places of Rossendale. He'd brought the camera with him when he left, but might have left that optimism behind. Phil only kind of believes in supernatural things - the way he only kind of believes in giraffes or true love - but it's been more fun than anything else to pick up a camera and try to find some evidence.

He's been doing this since he was nineteen, though, and he's getting a little bored by the formula of it all. Go into a haunted place, try to communicate with the spirits, pick up some garbled words or creepy noises, highlight visual oddities like orbs, and let the internet tear it all to shreds. Honestly, he'd have more fun making proper horror at this point in his life.

Phil shrugs and pulls his knees up to his chest. He wants to hide away from the sympathy in Sophie's eyes, from Chris' blunt words. "Yeah. I'm getting kind of... I don't know. Restless."

"Maybe you should ask people to submit things again," PJ suggests. "That went well last time."

It had, actually. Phil had needed to sort through a lot more ridiculous stories and obvious hoaxes than usual, but he'd found some nuggets of gold in all that hay. Or however that saying goes.

"People did like having their stories read out," Phil says slowly. "I'd just need to be extra sure that nobody's, like..."

"Ripping off r/NoSleep," says PJ.

"Yeah, exactly."

"We can help," Sophie says, and Phil could cry at how easily PJ and Chris agree with her.

He really doesn't deserve to have such great people around him. They've got work and lives of their own, but they're always happy to spend time crowded around Phil's computer listening to weird noises together. Phil sometimes wonders what they get out of it. Do they just like helping him, the way he has fun holding the boom for PJ's films or testing Sophie's concoctions? Or are they just as fascinated as Phil by the weirdness of it all? Do they want to see the cool instances of paranormal activity, too? At this point it feels nearly impossible to ask.

"That's going to be a lot of washing pants for me," Phil sighs. He doesn't know how to thank them, not when they always just wave it off.

"Sure is," says PJ. "But you should... ask the audience!"

"Your Chris Tarrant is pretty good," says Phil, only a little surprised by it. PJ's voice is as much of a tool to him as the rest of his body, and it's one he's always been skilled with. The impressions still tend to catch Phil off guard sometimes.

PJ tips an invisible hat. "Thank you, thank you, I'll be here all week."

At his friends' not so gentle encouragement, Phil makes a few posts on his socials to ask his followers for new creepy things to explore. It might be the middle of the night in Brighton, but he has a feeling that Chris isn't leaving his desk until he's found every instance of an orb or strange shadow in the fifty minutes of currently uncut footage.

It seems like Sophie is on the same page, because she excuses herself to make tea for everyone. PJ leans over Chris' shoulder and watches the clips without sound, his lips moving as if he's murmuring to himself.

Sometimes this feels more like a group effort than Phil is comfortable with. He's never been very good at asking for help. As grateful as he is, he still itches with the need to take back control of the situation. He uses the slow trickle of fan submissions to distract him from that feeling, because all three of them do make his videos better when he stops being so possessive over his footage. Phil flops onto his back and scrolls through the incoming emails, tweets, and Tumblr messages to see if there's anything promising.

For the most part, the answer is a resounding no. Some things are blatant lies - there are countless ripoffs of films or novels that Phil happens to be familiar with, a few things swiped from creepypasta or subreddits, and his usual amount of conspiracy theorist fans insisting that some high profile person or other is a lizard - but most of it, to Phil's dismay, just doesn't grab his attention the way he wants it to.

Sophie comes back with tea and snacks. She leans her head against Phil's shoulder and watches him cycle through his apps, fact-checking idly and sighing every time something easily proves to be a hoax. Her hair smells like coconut and she makes a soft humming noise every time she lifts the mug to her lips. Her presence alone, small and warm and supportive, is enough to keep Phil from throwing his phone across the room and having a right sulk about how his career is in a tailspin because nobody makes ghosts like they used to. At some point in the night, Sophie's breathing evens out to the point that Phil thinks she's asleep, but then she reaches out to tap a tiny finger to his screen.

"What's this, then?" she murmurs.

Phil has been zoned out entirely for at least fifteen, and he blinks back into reality. There's a new message in his Tumblr inbox, one that seems like it must be over the character limit for asks. He must have submissions turned on or something, that's the only possible explanation for an actual essay being sent to him. It's barely broken into paragraphs with very little punctuation and no capitalization, and Phil has been staring at screens for far too long to try and parse this on his own.

"Can you please make sure this isn't, like, the entire Bee Movie," Phil asks, handing Sophie his phone with only a slight twinge of anxiety. He trusts her not to go snooping, but. Still. "I need to pee."

"Mhm," Sophie hums, already apparently lost in whatever stream-of-consciousness has been dropped into Phil's inbox.

The floorboards in this old Brighton house creak, and Phil has always envied some of his housemates for being able to sidestep the noises. It doesn't seem to matter how long he lives here, how much he tries to avoid making any noise, it's like the floorboards are determined to creak under Phil's weight. He winces as he passes two bedrooms whose occupants surely don't appreciate creaking outside their doors at such an ungodly hour.

At least he doesn't run into any walls this time. The nightlight in the bathroom at the end of the hall is the only thing lighting Phil's way, and he tends to stub his toes on absolutely nothing in this kind of semi-darkness.

When he makes his - very, very creaky - way back to his own room, he's bewildered by the scene that greets him. PJ and Chris have joined Sophie on his bed, and all three of them are poring over Phil's phone as though they're looking at a map to the Holy Grail.

"Hello," Phil says slowly, closing the door behind him. It creaks, too. "You aren't going through my pictures, are you?"

"No," Sophie and PJ chorus without looking up.

"You got nudes on here or something?" Chris asks with a mild sort of interest, clearly also too engaged in Phil's phone to put his all into the flirting.

"I don't," says Phil. It doesn't sound convincing, even though it's true, and he waits for Chris to tease him about it some more. When he doesn't, Phil has to admit that he's curious. "So I guess it isn't a meme or something?"

That makes them look up, in almost comedic synchronicity. Sophie blinks a few times, as if she's coming back to herself. She holds out Phil's phone and shakes her head.

"It's not a meme," she says. "And near as we can tell, it's genuine."

Phil joins them and takes his phone back, adjusting his glasses. His bed really wasn't made for four people, but his housemates have never had any personal space amongst themselves, and Phil isn't one to say no to human contact when he isn't getting it anywhere else.

The message is just as hard to read as it was at first glance, but Phil puts his brain to work. If his friends are reacting like this, it usually means he's in for something good.

hi ok so the thing is that this is completely ridiculous and i dont think its what youre looking for at all but theres a building near my uni thats got a ton of stories around it and it only started happening like this year like it isnt an old obviously haunted type of place but theres a lot of weird shit that goes down there so i found all the references to it online that i could and ive summarized them here (w/ sources ofc im not a dick) and its all just this side of strange so it seems like the sort of thing you might be interested in ok here we go SO

And it goes on like that. Phil feels his eyebrows raising as he clicks the provided links in the following walls of text, which are exactly what they're advertised as. Not a single rickroll in there. Just a handful of posts on Reddit and Facebook and independent blogs about various experiences people have had with a particular abandoned building in -

"I know this place," Phil says, surprised. He looks up at PJ's grin, Sophie's wide eyes, Chris' palms rubbing together in exaggerated interest. "I've been to parties here. Well, okay," he corrects himself before his friends can do it for him, "I've gone with Martyn to parties here and left early."

"Yeah, it isn't far out of Manchester," PJ hums. He bounces in place a bit, like he's suddenly energized enough to go jump on the soonest train up north.

"It didn't seem that weird," says Phil. "It's been a few years, I guess, but it wasn't even that scary."

"Sounds like it's only just started, though," Chris pipes up.

Phil isn't sure how much he likes that. The idea of a place he's been a few times, half an hour from his childhood home, being so suddenly full of haunted activity feels... weird. Still, it's catching his interest in a way that nothing else has in months, so.

"I'll look into it some more tomorrow," he decides, glancing at the time. His brother is probably still awake, to be honest, but Phil doesn't want to be that guy asking 'hey, do you remember the Wilkins place?' before dawn has even broken. Again. He has definitely done that sort of thing in the past. "I'll have plenty of time while I do, what, seventeen loads of laundry?"

"Something like that," PJ laughs. "Want us to clear out?"

As nice as the company and help has been, Phil still feels a rush of relief at the concept of being left alone again. He nods, still scrolling idly through the Wilkins place submission.

It hits him, very literally, too close to home to ignore. He wonders if his fan knows that, if this is somehow an elaborate prank that will end up just wasting Phil's time, but he's too curious to leave it alone. He'll just have to ask around, see if anyone else has heard these murmurings.

Til then, maybe he ought to try and get some sleep. Phil's computer, still open on the editing software, tempts him.

Well. What's another couple hours at this point?

[aweebwrites]

Celestial Influence pt2

Part 1

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(Big thanks for my lovely beta whom I love very much @thelucariosfish! 😘😘😘)

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After the two days of winter Zane brought forward, Sensei Wu double banned pranks. He banned them before but now he banned them with the consequence of several hours of community service in Ninjago City- with no powers. They were already busy helping the city pull itself together again and it sucked. Doing it longer than they needed? Pass. It's been a month since then and another major incident hasn't really happened. There were near misses but nothing too extreme. They haven't quite found a way to voluntarily use these new powers as yet but they were still trying. Sensei Wu thinks if they find the key to voluntarily use these powers, it will unlock a way to control them, even when they were angry or upset.

“You know, how cool is it that I can control the sun?” Kai says, reaching a hand up towards it, trying to move it in the sky and failing.

“And I, the moon. It is quite the phenomenon.” Zane mused from where he was meditating nearby.

“I could make quakes before but nothing like the ones I made then! Like, I bet if I tried, just a little bit, I could level this whole mountain!” Cole grinned from his place laying on the ground in the shade.

“Yeah, let's not… Do that.” Lloyd says with a grimace, glancing over at him then turning back to the practice dummy, going at it in hand to hand combat.

“You know what they say: with great power comes great responsibility.” Nya says, focusing on making various shapes with an orb of water she summoned.

“I would say that's pretty boring but I've learnt my lesson.” Jay says, flopped over on the stairs to the inside.

“I certainly hope so.” Zane huffed, keeping his eyes closed.

“Well, I guess your powers would be bad if someone got struck.” Kai shrugged and Jay frowned. “And I guess Nya's would be bad if it didn't stop raining…” He added and she looked over at him with an arched brow.

“When you put it that way, Lloyd's powers are completely harmless. Auroras are rather beautiful however.” Zane added and Lloyd blinked then narrowed his eyes.

“Our powers are just as bad as yours.” Jay says defensively.

“It's really not.” Cole says as he sat up. “I mean, lightning is pretty normal and so is rain. Auroras may be rare but not unheard of. Kai can literally hold the sun in the sky and create heat waves like nothing you've ever felt. Zane can do the same for the moon and he can bury Ninjago under inches of snow in minutes. I can level everything in just a few shakes. It's not that I'm saying your powers are weak or useless but ours are just… More powerful, more dangerous.” He told them with a shrug.

“Cole is correct.” Zane agreed.

“Yeah. No offense.” Kai says to them with a one shoulder shrug.

“None taken.” Lloyd says dryly.

Offence was fully taken.

_________________

“Can you believe those three? Our powers may not be as bad as theirs but dammit, we're valid!” Jay growled irritably after they split up for a mission, thunder rolling overhead.

“Cool it Jay.” Lloyd cautioned as they searched the museum for the thief trying to hide them out.

“I'm trying.” Jay says after taking a deep breath. “It's just- really gets under my skin.” He says irritably, a thin spark of electricity traveling up his arm.

“Look, it posses me off too but we can't afford to let another incident happen again. Especially not while we're in the middle of Ninjago City.” Nya told him as she held her sais defensively. “Don't think about it. That actually helps.” She advised as they entered the hall holding animatronics.

“Yeah, alright.” He sighed, looking around instead. “You know, maybe animatronics weren't the best idea for a museum. Have these people ever heard of Five Nights at Freddy's?” He says, walking over to the animatronic of himself.

“Jay-”

“Lightning!” They all jumped once his animatronic spoke, nearly giving Jay himself a heart attack.

“Holy fish sticks.” He got out, a hand held over his chest.

“Jay, stop fooling around. We have perp to catch.” Lloyd says with a sigh.

“R-right.” He grinned sheepishly before returning to their side.

“Kai, any signs of them?” Nya asked from the comms.

They only got static back.

“Kai?” She questioned but received no answer.

“Guys? Are you there?” Lloyd tried his but only heard static. “Jay.”

“What? I'm not doing it on purpose!” Jay huffed, crossing his arms.

His electricity sometimes messes with their comms like this but he and Nya made these ones. He was sure they would have been ok… Oh well.

“I'll look in the next room.” He says, already walking towards it as they checked the comms again.

He looked around as he spun his nunchucks idly. That perp must have either escaped or have already been caught. Nothing looked stolen anyway. He looked around then perked up, realizing that this area held the gift shop. He looked around before dashing towards it with a grin. He picked up a snow globe before shaking it, watching the particles fall over the Grundle hunting its prey. Nice. He noticed movement in the reflection of the snow globe and quickly turned around. His eyes widened at the sight of the masked figure holding a metal spear then jumped out of the way before he was speared.

“Woah! Careful with that thing!” Jay yelled, getting to his feet, holding his nunchucks defensively.

“Or what?” Jay was surprised and confused to hear the familiar voice.

“Zane?!” He says, alarmed then blocked his next swing with the chain of his nunchucks.

“Guess again.” The masked person says again, attacking quickly but Jay kept blocking, despite his confusion when the person sounded like Kai now.

“What is this? Are you some kind of skrull?” Jay accused then ducked out of the way of the person’s and punched them in the gut, making them stumble back.

“Cheap shot.” They said in Cole’s voice then cracked their neck.

“Look, I don’t know who you are or why the heck you sound like all of my friends but I do know you’re going down.” Jay says, channeling his lightning into his golden nunchucks.

“Oh really? You take me down?” They sounded like Nya now and very cocky.

He didn’t know what they aimed to do, changing their voice every time they spoke like they did, but he wasn’t about to get taken down by this wannabe.

“Lightning!” Jay yelled, using his nunchuck to zap the person dead on.

He looked alarmed when they didn’t even look phased. They didn’t even falter.

“What? Did you really expect that to work?” Oh great, Lloyd’s voice now. “Face it Jay. You’re the weakest one on the team. It’s about time someone took your place.” They said as they began circling each other.

Jay scoffed.

“What? You think you can take my place?” Jay asked, unphased. “News flash!” He struck again with a bigger bolt of lightning but they only stepped back before stepping forward again.

“I’m the only lightning elemental here.” He says, thinking of taking this person down.

“Oh I wouldn’t be so so sure about that.” The person says, using Jay’s own voice.

Jay was about to make a crack at that but then the person brought their hands together and his mouth dropped open to see them charging electricity in their palms.

“I’m sure you find this shocking!” They yelled, using his voice still before they blasted Jay, making him yelp as he skid back then fell over from the powerful blast.

“Ok, this is a little scary.” Jay grunted to himself as he got back to his feet.

“Even my electricity is better than yours, stronger even. Face it Jay, you don’t stand a chance.” They said as they walked towards him, electricity cackling along their hands.

“Uh guys! Now would be a great time to jump in!” He yelled out to the other room.

“Don’t worry about them, they’re not there.” The person says in his own voice then stood before Jay. “Zane gave them the tip that they found the perpetrator on the roof of the museum and you’re already on your way there.” They said using Zane’s voice then pulled off the mask and Jay looked at them wide eyed.

They looked almost exactly like him. Same hair, same round face, same appearance but a closer look showed their nose was just a little narrower and a little more crooked and their freckles were thinner and dotted differently than his.

When plastic surgery runs wild.

“With that, we should hurry this up. My new team will be here any second now.” They said again, a blue light coming from the collar around their neck.

That must be how they talk like them but how can they use lightning?!

He ducked out of the way of the next attack before charging, swinging his nunchucks at their head. They ducked them punched him in the gut, making Jay grunt as he stumbled back.

I can’t believe I fell for my own move!

“Are you realizing now, Jay? You’re nothing but the weakest link. The ninja need a stronger, faster, better member. I bet they’ll be glad to have you gone.” They hummed, circling Jay.

“Jay’s such an idiot. He can’t even focus on a mission. Here we are, needing to catch the intruder and there he is, playing with snow globes!” They said in Kai’s voice and Jay flinched at that.

Kai never said that. They’re just trying to get into my head…

“After analyzing our team dynamics, it is proven that Jay is the weakest member on our team. His physical strength is lacking and his powers are weak.” They continued on in Zane’s voice.

No. Zane wouldn’t say-

Their conversation earlier came to mind.

‘Well, I guess your powers would be bad if someone got struck.’

‘It's really not. I mean, lightning is pretty normal.’

‘Cole is correct.’

Jay gritted his teeth, lightning arching along his arms. The Jay knock off didn’t notice, too busy monologuing with his friend’s voices.

“Face it Jay. You’re as useless as useless gets.” They said in Cole’s voice, only adding fuel to the fire.

The nerve of them! Sure he couldn’t raise the sun or lower the moon or split Ninjago in two with a sneeze but he wasn’t weak! He was valid! His powers mean something! Outside on the roof, the ninja finally met up, all of them confused.

“Where’s the perpetrator?” Lloyd asked Zane.

“I do not understand. You said you had caught them up here in the comms.” Zane says with a frown.

“Uh, what’s going on here?” Kai says, confused.

“We were bamboozled, that’s what’s going on.” Cole says with a frown.

“Where’s Jay?” Nya says, looking around with a frown.

A huge clap of thunder had them flinching before looking up wide eyed at the night sky. The sky was overcast from the rain that fell before but they didn’t hide the lightning continuously arching and dancing in the sky.

“We need to get back down there fast.” Lloyd whispered before they all took off.

Jay on the other hand was thinking himself into a spiral, sneering at his own thoughts.

He had use! He had purpose! He may not be the strongest or fastest or even the smartest but he does his best! Sure he may joke around during serious situations but it was only because he couldn’t handle the stress of those situations!

The lightning arcing against his body became bigger, wrapping around him like a serpent as his eyes glowed. The intruder noticed this and scowled.

“Your fancy little light-show won’t change the fact that you’re nothing but a waste of space on the team!” They yelled at him, charging even more lightning into their hands then blasting it at Jay.

They looked on alarmed once Jay seemed to absorb it before he floated off the ground, his hair turning into a glowing blue, raised on end. Glowing white lines crawled up his face, creating a sharp swirling pattern over his cheeks and forehead. The perpetrator stepped back, seeming to realize that they were way over their heads now. Jay was getting hard to look at, only glowing brighter.

“Jay!” The perp looked past him to see the other ninja rushing towards him before turning around and taking off.

This won’t be the last time they see them!

“He’s gonna blow!” Cole says as they stopped in their tracks, watching him glow even brighter.

“Get down!” Kai yelled and they quickly dove behind a display stand just as the electric energy Jay kept building went off in the form of a massive electromagnetic pulse, shattering glass and short circuiting every single power source it came across as it rapidly expanded past the city and even further out.

The team of ninja had to quickly throw down their ear pieces before it could electrocute them in the process. Outside, they could hear the alarmed sounds of the citizens of Ninjago City as everything that needed electricity or even batteries went out, plunging the city, all of Ninjago into darkness.

“Zane!” Lloyd was the once to yell when he fell over, his eyes dark.

“Let me see.” Nya says, crawling over and taking a look at him. “It looks like he just shorted out but I won’t know for sure. I’ll have to get to Borg Tower to see for sure.” She told them before looking out to were Jay was still floating, lightning shooting out of him much like one would see in a plasma ball.

“You two need to apologize to him now.” She says, looking at both Cole and Kai.

“What did we do?!” Kai asked, alarmed.

“Yeah! I’m not lightning proof you know!” Cole says, a little terrified to go out there.

“Look, it was all three of your insensitive comments about our powers compared to yours that made this happen. Zane is offline so he can’t apologize but you two aren’t.” Lloyd told them firmly.

“And if you don’t hurry up, he’ll go off again.” Nya told them sharply.

A quick look showed that he was indeed charging lightning again.

“Ok, ok.” Kai says then took a breath.

Both he and Cole looked at each other before heading out, yelping when they were immediately almost struck by lightning. They managed to not get stuck and took the place the perp once was standing.

“Jay!” Cole yelled over the sound of cackling lightning and he looked down at them with his oddly glowing eyes and sneered, revealing fangs that glowed bright white as did the rest of his teeth.

“Don’t electrocute us!” Kai was quick to say once he held a hand in their direction. “Just hear us out! Please!” He begged, not wanting to feel Jay’s divine wrath.

He didn’t lower his hand but he didn’t attack so that’s a plus.

“We’re sorry we’re insensitive jerks about your powers! We really didn’t mean to hurt or upset you!” Kai yelled out to him.

“Yeah! Lightning is way powerful! We were just idiots not to see that! Believe me when I say, we see it now! Your powers are just as powerful as ours! All of yours are!” Cole says, looking across at Nya and Lloyd who were peeking out from behind the display, its glass shattered. “I know Zane would be apologizing too if he wasn’t offline right now but you’re our friend and we promise to be more considerate!” He told Jay and he looked over to where Nya and Lloyd were.

He then turned fully to where they were and Kai and Cole had a moment to panic once he floated towards them, thinking they had somehow turned Jay on them.

“Jay!”

“H-hold on!”

Their yells were ignored as he floated around to where they were, Nya and Lloyd creeping backwards a little terrified. He didn’t seem interested in them however. He looked down at an offline Zane before charging electricity in his hand, making them all panic now.

“Zane’s sorry!”

“Don’t do this Jay!”

Jay ignored them and blasted Zane with a bolt of electricity. Before they could even think of attacking Jay, Zane sat up with an unneeded gasp, his systems rebooted so suddenly, it left him scrambling for his bearings. He blinked up at Jay  owlishly just before the lightning ninja closed his eyes, his powers fading as he passed out. Zane quickly caught him on reflex before blinking down at the glowing blue streak in hs hair. Well then.

A long moment of silence passed in the room.

“So uh, how do we explain this to Sensei Wu?” Nya spoke up and they all grimaced.

______________________________

Jay felt guilty sitting before the TV late the next day. Getting the power on was easy but Ninjago City has a lot of glass related damage. Not to mention the cars stuck in the roads still. No-one died and the only ones injured was his look alike. Apparently they wore an elaborate get up under their clothes that involved a lot of powerful batteries. It was what made them appear as if they also had the power of lightning. The EMP short-circuited it and gave them quite a shock in the process. Let’s just say they would have scars to look back on. None of that helped his guilt however. He brought his hand up to his face, seeing the lazy arching of lightning between them. While anger and intense emotions fuel this power, sadness and guilt does the opposite.

He reached up and toyed with the ever glowing streak of blue towards the front of his hair. Sensei believes he’s unlocked the full potential for this power and had called in the other elemental masters to take care of things in Ninjago until they all had. He had right to fear what destruction unlocking the rest of their powers could bring forth. His was the most predictable yet no-one expected his powers to be felt continent wide. It put their poor Sensei on edge. There wasn’t any sign or cause for their powers to suddenly evolve like that and still no signs of how to control them. It had the Monastery shrouded in a gloomy atmosphere.

“Jay.” He jolted at his name then looked over his shoulder meekly to look at Zane.

“Hey…” He says awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck.

He was surprised he wanted to talk to him after he made him go offline like that.

“I never got the chance to apologize.” Zane says as he took a seat next to him.

“You don’t have to. Really.” Jay says, looking down at his hands. “I mean, at least you were knocked offline. I could have really hurt your systems.” He says quietly.

“But you didn’t.” Zane pointed out and Jay frowned. “You would not have been in that state if I had been more insightful. If anything, it was a dose of karma.” He says and Jay looked at him borderline horrified.

“No-one deserves something like that happening to them, especially over something so simple.” Jay paused to consider. “I’ll forgive you but only if you forgive me.” He offered and Zane smiled.

“I think I can work with that ultimatum.” He agrees and Jay smiled back.

“Who do you think will reach their potential next?” Jay asked, changing the TV channel.

“It is hard to say. When unlocking our true potentials, you were first but I think it is unlikely the same phenomenon will happen again. Perhaps Kai. Or Nya. Cole even. Perhaps even I. Like I said, it’s hard to say.” Zane shrugged.

“I guess.” Jay says, returning his focus on the TV.

Lloyd frowned from the doorway. He wasn’t even on the list of possibilities.

_________________________________

Lloyd didn’t know why he let it get to him. It wasn’t that Zane didn’t mention him that bothered him, but the likeliness that he wouldn't actually have anything to unlock. He wasn't stupid. The auroras were just a timed coincidence. Kai sending more heat from the sun like he had must have triggered it. He was meant to be the green ninja. Nothing more, nothing less. He bounced the tennis ball against the wall again, catching it a second later. The question now was how to break the news to the others. He threw the ball again the caught it, holding it as he stared at the wall. Now that they had their newer, stronger powers, would they even need him anymore? He gripped the ball tightly, gritting his teeth just as tightly. He should be happy. Being the Green Ninja was never any fun. Some nights, he wished destiny had chosen someone else. But not being the Green Ninja meant not having his friends. He would probably have to leave the Monastery and just disappear. Careful what you wish for as they say. He looked down at the green ball. Looks like the legacy of the green ninja ends here.

Lloyd watched as Jay practiced with his new powers for the first time, everyone watching him in awe. He didn't know how he set it off, just that it had gone off. He wasn't charging energy or anything but he was levitating again and his hair was blue. The marks on his face were also along his arms and legs, stopping in a jagged swirl around the back of his hands and the tops of his feet. When he spoke to warn them he was going to try and call a bolt of lightning, his voice sounded all echoey and- godly even. They covered their ears at the loud clap of thunder once he did it successfully then watched in awe as he held the lightning bolt and molded it into a pair of nunchucks. The lightning at the handles faded, leaving a material similar to chronosteel in its wake, lightning arcing between both handles.

“So cool.” Jay says as his powers faded, leaving him slowly floating down to his feet, still holding the nunchucks.

“It’s like an alternative version of the Golden Nunchucks of Lightning…” Nya says in awe.

“Hey, could we do that too?” Cole asked, excitedly.

“There is a high possibility.” Sensei Wu agreed.

Lloyd looked away sadly and walked back into the Monastery. That was an epic show of power and he didn't even know what he was doing. Imagine what would happen when he does? Imagine what would happen when they all do. He heard into their room and took a picture of himself and his father from under his pillow. He didn't know where his father disappeared to after everything with the Oni. It was as if he left the realm completely- and that wasn't as impossible as he had once thought.

“If things were different, maybe I could have gone with you dad…” He whispered, heart aching as he looked at his purified father.

He then flinched at another loud clap of lightning and frowned at the cheers that came after. He shouldn't wait for them to tell him to go. He should leave while he still had some dignity left. He reached under his bed for the duffle bag there and began packing.

__________________

“Alright, maybe we should put away the overpowered nunchucks before people begin to think some huge storm is coming.” Cole says as Jay grinned at his new nunchucks.

“That would be best. Lunch will get cold.” Zane says as he stood up.

“Lunch!”

“Yes!”

“I'm starving!”

“Lunchie munchie time!” Jay says with a grin, filtering in with the rest.

“Jay, what?” Nya says and he gave an embarrassed grin.

“One of you should get Lloyd.” Zane says as he slipped on his pink apron.

“Got it.” Nya says then headed into their room. “Hey Lloyd lunch is-” She cut herself off, realizing no-one was there.

She frowned then went over to the bathroom and knocked. Before she could call to see if he was there, the door squeaked opened to reveal an empty bathroom. Getting worried, she made quick work of checking the other rooms and came up short. She even checked outside with no results.

"Guys." She panted once she walked into the dining area, everyone looking at her confused. "Lloyd's gone." She told them and they gasped.

____________________________________

Lloyd swiped the sweat away from his brows as he continued to walk in the Sea of Sand, planning on spending the night in the old Anacondrai tomb before heading off to find somewhere people won't recognize him. He'd just squeeze himself into a nice village and everything will be fine. The Ninja didn't need him anymore. Not when they would all soon have powers far beyond his own. He pulled the bottle of water he stashed from his bag then took a few gulps before continuing on, seeing the tomb in the distance. Once he got there, he dropped the duffle bag then sat in the shade close to the entrance of the tomb and rested his tired feet. He's been walking for hours on end and he was really tired. He spared a moment to wonder if they've noticed that he was gone. Would they even bother looking for him?

He had thought of leaving a letter but they were smart. They'd figure out why he left. He leaned back against the tomb wall and closed his eyes. They'd probably be grateful that he left without them needing to tell him to go. They were better off anyway. They were always the ones meant to keep Ninjago in tact. He sighed. He'd miss them but they won't miss him. He looked away. If only he had power like they did. He could stay then. Be apart of the team but he was weak… And no-one wanted a weak leader. He looked down at the tennis ball he had in hand, not sure why he brought it along. He wished he was just a little stronger, had just a little more power. They were more than his friends. They were family.

He missed then already…

____________

"Any idea where he would go?" Kai asked as he paced the length of the bridge.

"No. He could have gone anywhere. Traffic cameras in Ninjago City are down and still in the process of being repaired after the EMP hit so we can't know without going there." Nya told them as she and Zane ran a search.

"What else can we check?" Cole asked, anxiously.

"I'm afraid there's nothing much we can do…" Zane says with a frown, hands moving at an inhumane speed against the control panel.

"Ugh!" Jay says, pacing too.

"Perhaps the sky may help us." Sensei Wu says and they all frowned but walked out.

They all gasped at the bright, familiar aurora borealis streaking across the sky, flowing in the opposite direction they were going.

"Quick! Follow it!" Nya yelled as she ran back inside the bridge, taking the wheel.

She then swerved and sent the Bounty full speed towards the source.

"I'm detecting high levels of radiation ahead." Zane says minutes later, walking over to the computer to check.

"Radiation? I don't understand." Nya says with a frown.

"But I do." Jay says after a moment. "Zane! What's radiation?" He asked his Nindroid friend who looked at him puzzled.

Didn't he say he understood? He answered anyway.

"Radiation is the emission of energy as electromagnetic waves or as moving subatomic particles, especially high-energy particles which cause ionization…" Zane whispered the last bit then looked at Jay. "You think he's unlocking his powers as well?" He says to Jay who grinned.

"But what set it off? How do we end the episode?" Nya asked them.

"That's… The hard part. We won't know unless we talk to him." Jay says with a single shoulder shrug.

"Then I must be the one to go. These increasing levels of radiation can and will kill you." He told them and they weren't very happy sending him alone but what other choice do they have?

"Alright. But be careful. We can't go all the way in so take your mech." Nya told him and he nods before heading down below deck.

He then headed to the holding area, climbing into his white mech and powering it up.

"This is as far as we can go. Anything beyond this would be dangerous for us." Nya says through the comms so Zane could hear from the suit.

"I'm ready." Zane says, looking at the screen showing her and the others in the bridge.

"Dropping now." She says then pressed a button that allowed the bottom of the Bounty to open.

He then hopped out, landing the mech on its feet.

"Here I go." He says, heading further into the source of the radiation.

"And while he does that, I'll send out a warning to every nearby city and village." Nya says, leaving the steering wheel to head back to the computer.

"I wonder why he left in the first place…" Cole says as he walked out next to Sensei Wu.

"Only time will tell." Wu says calmly, despite the worry over his nephew he felt.

____________

"The old Anacondrai tomb… but why would he come here?" Zane says as he walked towards it, a frown on his face.

"That's what we're about to find out." Nya says from the comms.

He walked closer and soon saw Lloyd himself walk out then stepped back.

"Lloyd." Zane says in relief but Lloyd obviously wasn't happy to see him.

"What are you doing here? How did you find me?" He asked as Zane stopped in his tracks.

"We came to find you, to bring you home. We found you by-"

"Wait, we?" Lloyd says, cutting Zane off. "As in the others?" He asked, stepping even father back.

"Yeah Lloyd. We came to take you home." Jay spoke from the comms, the volume loud enough for Lloyd to hear.

"Why did you run off like this? We were worried! We still are!" Nya says next and Lloyd gritted his teeth.

"You shouldn't have come." Lloyd says as he turned away and stalked off.

"Why shouldn't we? Lloyd, speak to us, to me. We don't understand what's going on. Let us help you." Zane says, following after him and Lloyd growls.

"Help me by leaving me alone!" He snapped at Zane, whirling around as his green energy began to arc and flash around him. "I left for a reason! I'd rather leave before you guys tell me to!" He yelled, eyes glowing green as his energy continued to grow and so did the radiation, the super charged particles around him taking on a green glow.

"Crap! We need to get away now!" Nya's panicked voice came from the comms and Zane switched it off, just so he could focus on Lloyd.

He left the video on however.

"We would never tell you to leave Lloyd. Why would you-"

"AARGH!" He growled, a glowing streak of green lighting its way through his hair, the tips taking on the same color as he began to float. "Don't you get it Zane! You're supposed to be the smart one! You're a Nindroid after all!" He yelled, his voice taking on that echoey tone but far louder.

"I can't get anything if you don't-"

"I don't have any powers Zane!" He snapped at his friend, confusing Zane completely, even as he watched the bright green swirls, similar to Jay's make their way on his face.

Unlike Jay's, his were perfectly swirled using perfectly curved patterns. He watched wide eyed as two smaller swirls made their way high on his forehead before dark horns began to grow in, swirled from tip to base in the same green.  

"Kai was the one to create the auroras! His heat was the one to make it happen! It was just a coincidence! All I'll ever be is the green ninja! I wasn't meant to have powers like you do! I'm not meant to be or have any more than I have now! Don't you see?! I'll only drag you all down!" He yelled and with that, another huge wave of radiation pulsed out of him.

Zane snapped himself out of his shock and awe. He knew he had to stop this before the radiation field spread to villages- or worse: Ninjago City.

"Lloyd! Listen to me!" Zane yelled.

"No! You listen to me!" He yelled at Zane, floating right over to him, directly before him. "I'll only drag the team down! I've already been dragging the team down! You guys are better off if I leave! I was trying to do you all a favor! Now let me leave!" He demanded, warning signals going off in the suit.

"I can't do that!" Zane yelled back and Lloyd only grew angrier, the entire sky turning green. "Open your eyes Lloyd! You do have power! How else could you be as tall as I am in this mech?" He says, softening his tone towards the end and Lloyd was about to yell then paused.

He looked down and realized that he was floating off the ground.

"What?..." Lloyd whispered, floating back, looking down at his hands.

He then turned them over and saw the swirls on them glowing green.

"Even if you didn't have this power, we wouldn't care. You're our family Lloyd. Our brother. We love you as you are. Power or no power. We would never ask you to leave either nor do we want you to." Zane says, and Lloyd looked up at him. "It wouldn't be home without you." He says and Lloyd's eyes filled with light green glowing tears that poured from his cheeks.

His eyes then rolled back as he began to fall. Zane was quick to catch him with the mech, watching as his powers faded away, the horns leaving with it. He sighed in relief then smiled at Lloyd. He spotted movement from the corner of his eye then turned to see Nya waving at him. He quickly flipped on the audio again.

"Sorry about that. I needed to focus. He's ok now." Zane told them and they all sighed before cheering. "We're coming home." He says before turning around and walking back.

"Yeah but before you do…" Jay says and Zane frowned at that. "Make sure to stop by the decontamination shower we had Cyrus set up outside the radiation zone. It should be done by the time you get there. No offense but I'd like to keep living." Jay says and Zane huffed.

"Seems fair." He nodded.

_________________________________________________

Part 3

Part 4

____________________________________

(I’m turning the Ninja into gods? pffff What? Noooooo. I wanted to add Nya in this but it’s already past midnight so she’ll be in the other part of this series. Yes! I did say series! I have sooo many ideas for this I simply cannot not make it a series! I hope you guys liked this! Nighty night!)

[quentinsquill]

Fic: “The Muttgicians”

The Muttgicians Author: Lexalicious70 Fandom: The Magicians Genres: Crossover,(The Magicians/Those People) sequel, established relationship Rating: R for strong language Word Count: 4,861 Summary: After Quentin’s first-year twin brother, Sebastian Blackworth, accepts a bet from a peer about who can cast the most powerful spell, Eliot and Quentin find themselves accidentally transformed in a way that may be permanent, unless Sebastian, Margo and their friends can find a counter-spell before time runs out. You can read the first part of the crossover, “Those Magic Changes,” on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11513553

A/N: This is for the @whitespiresarmory Writing Challenge,  week 1, “Crossovers.” I don’t own The Magicians, this is just for fun. Comments and kudos are magic: enjoy! 

The Muttgicians

By Lexalicious70 (all_hale_eliot) 

 “So, what was the hardest spell of the year?”

 Sebastian Blackworth-Coldwater glanced up from the drink he was mixing. Around him, the first years’ end-of-the-semester party was in full swing. Like his twin Quentin, who was a second year and had been accepted to Brakebills the year before, (and before each had known the other had existed,) Sebastian had been lumped in with the Physical Kids to even out their ranks. He stirred his gin and tonic as he considered his housemate’s question. He didn’t particularly like Devon Shea, or care for people in general, but what the hell, it was a party, and such social occasions required small talk.

 “For me it was the thermogenic spell, where we had to control the temperature of that glass orb without it cracking. I was ready to hurl the damn thing out the window by the third day.” He sipped his drink, grimaced, and added a touch more gin.

 “Ha!” Jay Tannis crowed from the couch. “That was nothing! I can do way harder magic than that.”

 Sebastian frowned; the skinny red-haired first year annoyed him worse than a persistent fly at an outdoor Sunday brunch. Devon, already three glasses of wine into the festivities, rose to the bait.

 “Piss off, you could not!”

 “Yes I could, and I’ll prove it!”

 Sebastian rolled his eyes and Tannis pointed at him.

 “You think I’m full of shit?”

 “If the toilet bowl fits.”

 “Okay smartass, let’s bet! You and me, Blackwater!”

 “It’s Blackworth. Blackworth-Coldwater,” he said, even as he felt heat creep up his neck.

 “Right, right. Your brother is a big shot second year.”

 “Let’s not trade witticisms, as you seem woefully unarmed. You want to bet on what kind of magic you can do?”

 Tannis sat up and swirled his tumbler in one hand. The melted ice inside flashed and winked as it caught the common room’s lighting.

 “Fine. Here’s the deal: we each draw a third-year spell from a hat or bowl. Whoever can cast their chosen spell successfully is the winner.”

 “And the prize?” Sebastian asked, warming to the idea. Being able to cast complicated spells made you popular at Brakebills, he’d learned that much, and leading his class in talent would set him apart from Quentin and maybe get him noticed by some third or fourth-year boy.

 “How’s a hundred bucks sound, Blackworth?”

 “Like you don’t know how to place a real wager,” Sebastian replied. Tannis scowled.

 “Then name the amount!”

 “$500.”

 “Uh, guys?” Devon broke in. “I don’t know if we should—”

 “You’re on!” Tannis reeled off the couch to grab Sebastian’s hand. Sebastian shook.

 “It’s a bet.”

 It wasn’t difficult to find the third-year spells. A few inquiries and several bribes later, and Sebastian found himself with a transformation spell that turned animals into other species, such as goldfish into horses, or horses into cats. Sebastian, his rival, and a smattering of first years met in the field near the school’s Welter’s board to cast the spells, unaware that Devon had gone to Quentin about the bet. Now, as Sebastian stood before a goldfish bowl that contained two small, multicolored koi fish, Tannis mocked him.

 “Well go on and do it, big shot!”

 “Shut up and let me cast,” Sebastian muttered, raising his hands. He planned to turn the fish into dogs because they seemed the easiest to visualize. He began to unpack the spell and was two minutes into the incantation when he heard his brother’s voice shout out from nearby.

 “Sebastian! Stop!”

 Sebastian started, turning at the shout before he’d even realized it, the spell building all around him. Quentin and his partner, Eliot Waugh, were running toward him. Quentin raised both hands to scrub the spell when it bloomed outward, freeing itself from the inexperienced magician’s tenuous hold and striking his brother and Eliot. The air around them rippled and then seemed to burst with large, luminous sparks. Acrid smoke rose up and Sebastian coughed, fighting for breath against the onslaught. He waved away what he could, blinking, and then his heart gave an unsteady whack before it crouched, slamming in uneasy thumps against his ribcage. It felt like the wingbeats of an injured bird.

 Two dogs lay on their sides where Quentin and Eliot had stood a moment before. One was medium sized with fine tawny-gold hair and long, silky ears. The other was twice the size of the long-eared dog and jet black, its fur a riot of glossy curls. Tannis stepped forward, staring.

 “Oh shit . . . look what you did!” He wiped a hand across his mouth and then fled, most of the spectators taking his cue and retreating as well. Only Devon stayed, his pale blue eyes wide and unblinking.

 “Fuck,” He said at last. “Oh fuck, Sebastian!”

 Sebastian walked over to the dogs, all eyes under the hand clapped over his mouth. There was no doubt to what had happened—Quentin’s messenger bag sat near the brown dog, and a scattering of rings—Eliot’s—lay near the black dog’s front paws. Sebastian scooped them up and shoved them in his pocket as he looked up at Devon.

 “Go back to the cottage and get Margo Hanson. Do you know who she is?”

 “Knockout of a second year? Killer figure, won’t give me the time of day?”

 “That’s her. Tell her to come out here, that I’m—” Sebastian looked down at the magic-addled dogs.

 “That Eliot is in trouble.”

 ****

 “What in the name of Jesus H. Baldheaded CHRIST were you thinking? Are you really this stupid?”

 Sebastian squared his shoulders against Margo’s onslaught. They’d been friends, more or less, since Sebastian had helped his twin find the courage to ask Eliot out and end their mutual pining. He could appreciate her cool, tough exterior and quick wit, but he’d never been the target of her ire before.

 “No, I’m not stupid—”

 “Look again, hotshot!” Margo snapped, pointing to the dogs that sat at the foot of her bed, side by side. The black dog’s amber-colored eyes rolled toward her every few moments and he barked almost ceaselessly, trying to form words. The little tawny dog sat with its liquid-brown eyes downcast, its long ears drooping.

 “It was a bet, Margo! We’d all been drinking and that little sparrowfart Jay Tannis was baiting me, inferring that I only got into Brakebills because of Q—”

 “And you believed him enough to try and practice magic that’s way above your pay grade?”

 “I—not completely—sometimes it’s very difficult, being Quentin’s twin. We may have been raised by different people, but we wear the same face, so there’s no denying who I am! It’s like it was with my father! I felt like I had something to prove!”

 “Oh, you proved something, all right.” She turned and put a gentle hand on the big black dog’s head. “Shhhh, sweetie, I know, I want to rip his throat out too,” she said as Eliot gave a low growl and shook himself. “but that’s not going to help. What we need is someone who knows how to reverse this.”

 “You aren’t going to tell the dean, are you?” Sebastian asked. “He’ll expel me—he’ll mindwipe me! I’ll have to go back to Manhattan with nothing!”

 “Hey, Blanche! Did I say anything about going to the dean? Besides, even if I was sure he wouldn’t kick you out, I wouldn’t tell him anyway.”

 “You wouldn’t?”

 “No. El and I have never entirely trusted him.” Margo plucked at her full lower lip. “Where did you and discount Ron Weasley get these spells?”

 “I’m pretty sure he bribed some third years, but he ran after the spell went wrong and I don’t know where he is now.”

 Margo’s dark eyes narrowed.

 “That’s what locator spells are for, and I think I know someone who can help us persuade your betting buddy to give up some names.”

 ****

“You have to believe me—I don’t remember!” Jay Tannis whined, his puny hands raised in a warding-off gesture as Penny pinned him to a tree in the library courtyard with only his body language and the force of his stare.

 “I don’t believe you,” Margo countered, admiring Penny’s talent as an enforcer. The traveler had been loathe to get involved until she’d reminded him that Eliot was the principal supplier of their group’s Adderall.

 “I’m fairly sure Eliot won’t be able to make any deals as a dog, so unless you know someone who speaks Fido, we all have something at stake!” She’d told him, and Penny, who appreciated his Adderall, had agreed to help.

 “I was drunk! I bribed some guy at a party at the healer’s cottage. That’s all I remember!” Tannis said. Penny stepped closer until they were nose to nose.

 “Think harder.”

 “I—man, do you know what he’d do to me if I gave you his name?”

 “Man, do you know what I’ll do to you if you don’t?” Penny countered, glaring down at the first year, who was at least six inches shorter. Tannis cringed and squeezed his eyes shut.

 “Okay, all right! It was Spencer Carmichael! He lives in the healing kids cottage near the river!”

 “We appreciate the information,” Margo nodded at Penny, who stepped away. The redhead squeaked and bolted like a flushed rat and Penny scowled after him.

 “Seems like him and Quentin’s spare don’t have the sense nature gave a fucking goat. You sure this is all worth it?”

 “Q would never forgive us if we let Sebastian get expelled. Besides, they wouldn’t be first years if they had any fucking sense. C’mon . . . let’s visit the healer’s cottage.

 Spencer Carmichael was, Margo observed, like a weak imitation of Eliot. He seemed faux bored with everything around him and smoked hand-rolled cigarettes, the smell of which didn’t do much to complement the odor of the rich patchouli incense that seemed to burn in every corner of the cottage’s common room.

 “So I gave him the spells,” the handsome blond flicked the ash of his cigarette away in a disdainful manner. “It’s not my responsibility.”

 “Except that one of those spells turned my friends into dogs!” Margo snapped. “So now we need the counter-spell to undo this abracalabrador bullshit before Fogg or one of the other professors finds out!”

 “What will you give me in return?” The older boy asked, then grinned as Margo narrowed her eyes at him. “This is Brakebills, Hot Lips, nothing is free.”

 “Call me that again and what I’ll give you is your balls in an imitation Fendi bag! Seems to be about your speed!”

 “Violent!” Spencer chirped as he took another long draw on his smoke. “But by all means, threaten instead of bargain. After 72 hours, the transformation spell becomes permanent.”

 “Fuck.” Margo hissed as she folded her arms across her chest. “Fine! Name your price.”

 “Word has it you and the Physical Kids have portals to all the best pubs, all over the world. Give me access, and I’ll give you the counter-spell. Also, if the dean or any of the professors find out about this, you and that skinny first year don’t know me and we never met. Deal?”

 “Deal,” Margo nodded as she shook on it. Spencer gave her and Penny a smug smile as he went to a bookshelf and pulled a spellbook free. He flipped through it, clipped a page, and handed it over.

 “I’ll need that returned as soon as possible.”

 “Oh, I’ll try my best to hurry this along,” Margo drawled. Spencer’s answering sardonic smile was familiar, but seeing it on anyone but Eliot made Margo want to rip this asshole’s eyeballs out and use the tendons for garters. Penny was much more succinct as they left the cottage.

 “What a fucking prick.”

 “At least we have the spell,” She replied. As they rounded a corner they all but ran into Sebastian, whose short, dark blond hair stood up in spikes. His Brakebills blazer was torn, his tie missing.

 “What the shit happened to you?” Penny asked, and Sebastian raked a hand through his hair that reminded Margo of the similar gesture Quentin used when he felt anxious. Sebastian’s hair was shorter, though, so instead of falling to one side, it now stuck out in tufts that made him look like an anxiety-ridden porcupine.

 “I’ve been looking everywhere for you! I got lost in that Goddamned hedge maze—” He swallowed against what looked like an extremely dry throat. “I took the spell to the library to see what I could find out—”

 “What about Quentin and El?” Margo asked, and Sebastian made a dismissive gesture.

 “I locked then in my room with a pan of water. I didn’t find a counter-spell at the library, but what I did discover is that we only have three days to undo what happened. If we wait too long, my brother and Eliot will be dogs permanently!”

 “Okay, calm down White Rabbit!” Margo reached out and smoothed down Sebastian’s hair. “We’ve got the counter-spell, and we have plenty of time.”

 “I can’t believe you found out who gave Jay those spells!” Sebastian said as they headed back toward the Physical Kids cottage.

 “We were highly motivated,” Penny replied. It was nearly sunset now, and as the three magicians headed up the walkway, they heard a crash and a startled shout from within, followed by a woman’s shriek of either surprise or fright. A series of sharp barks followed, and the cottage door slammed open. Eliot and Quentin streaked from the cottage, yelping, their tails tucked, as a freckled first year named Donna Denker swung at them with a broom. The dogs ducked around Margo and the others and headed west, toward the school’s borders.

 “No! Wait! Eliot, Quentin!” Margo called after the retreating figures. Donna frowned.

 “Dogs aren’t allowed in the group areas! Those mongrels broke out of an upstairs room and attacked me!”

 “They wouldn’t attack anyone! They’re not—” Margo reached out and yanked the broom from her hand. “You have no idea what you just did.”

 “We have to find them!” Sebastian took a few steps backward. “Come on!”

 Margo threw the broom at Donna’s feet.

 “Here! You’ll need this for when you need to get back to Oz after someone drops a house on your sister!” She paused to tug off her heels and fled after Sebastian. Penny rolled his eyes but trotted off after them. The grass was dry but they could see where the dogs had passed and at one point, Penny nearly stepped in some fresh evidence and cursed as he hopped to avoid it.

 “Shit!” Sebastian shouted suddenly. “Shit, wait!”

 Up ahead, the edge of Brakebills gave way to a rural route that was used mostly by camping juggernauts and townies, and Margo’s heart dropped when she saw a hefty man in a khaki uniform slamming the back doors of a city vehicle. Frantic barking could be heard from within as the man climbed into the van.

 “Wait!” Sebastian called again, leaning to one side as a stitch bit into his ribs. The magical barrier prevented the man from hearing, however, and he drove away with two stray dogs—one small, tawny cocker spaniel and larger black mutt with amber eyes—toward Troy and the closest animal transfer center. Behind the barrier, Sebastian, Penny and Margo traded stricken glanced as the sun went down and cast long shadows on the now-deserted road.

 ****

 Two days later

 “We’re running out of options.”

Margo raised her head from the flickering laptop screen she’d been staring at for what seemed like a major portion of her life, scanning local animal intake websites and looking up phone numbers for shelters in search of Quentin and Eliot. The spell would become permanent at sunset, in less than nine hours, and there was still no sign of them. The idea that they had been taken to some pound and euthanized that same day lurked in the back of Margo’s mind, the thought curled up like an adder, and Sebastian’s words only made it coil more tightly.

 They can’t be dead. Eliot cannot be dead, so just stop it, girl, stop it . . .

 “The city pound in Troy said their animal control officer picked up seven dogs that day on Rural Route 7. Two of them had to be Eliot and Quentin. They were taken to an intake facility that separates adoptable dogs from those that are sick beyond help or too aggressive to be adopted out. The intake place is mostly run by a skeleton staff of volunteers, so the records they keep are sketchy. Local shelters in the five boroughs accept dogs from there, so . . .”

 “So that’s a huge area with multiple shelters, including ones run by unlicensed people who want to try and give strays a second chance,” Sebastian sighed. “Are you sure a locator spell wouldn’t work?”

 “It’d work if they were human. But they’re under a spell, and it’s like trying to tune in a radio station in a mountain overpass. There’s just too much interference and the original signal is muted.”

 “Then what are we going to do?” Sebastian asked, and Margo warred with her irritation as she opened her email. There was a message there from one of the intake facility volunteers with a link to a Facebook page, and she frowned. Facebook was a hellsite, as far as she was concerned, good for little more than the messenger app, but she clicked the link anyway. The page was from a shelter in Queens called Happy Tails, and Margo’s heartbeat quickened as she hovered over the “new arrivals” link. She scrolled down and there, sitting in a concrete dog run, were Quentin and Eliot. They bore collars—red for Eliot, purple for Quentin, and Margo ran a hand across her mouth.

 “It’s them! Jesus . . . Sebastian look, it’s them!”

 Sebastian crossed the room to peer over her shoulder, his dark eyes wide.

 “Rufus (lab mix) and Jingles (cocker spaniel). Caught running together near the Hudson, in Troy.”

 “Please God, don’t tell me they were neutered,” Margo muttered, but tears of relief burned in the back of her throat. She jumped up from the chair. “We need to make a portal to Queens before the sun sets and it’s a lifetime of flea dips and Alpo for Q and El!”

 ****

 “Mommy! Mommy look, I want that one! The Lady and the Tramp doggie!”

 Quentin raised his head as the young mother and her daughter paused at the door to the concrete run. His human memories and consciousness were fading with the day, and coherent human thoughts were now coming in brief sentences, tinged with confusion. Eliot had bayed and thrown himself against the fence separating them the first day they’d been brought here until the volunteers housed them together, and they’d spent two nights curled up with each other, shivering with fear and uncertainty. Quentin wasn’t sure how much Eliot remembered, but he was grateful that they’d been brought to this place together.

 The chain-link door to their run swung open and one of the volunteers knelt down.

 “This is Jingles. He was brought here with that black dog, we think they’d been running together for some time.”

 Jingles? Not Jingles—Quentin. Quentin, me . . . ?

 The little girl crouched next to him and petted his head. It was pleasant enough and he could sense that she was a gentle child, but he couldn’t go with her. He was a person, not a shelter dog. Wasn’t he?

 Eliot stalked close to the mother and child and got in between them and Quentin, and another volunteer clipped a leash to Eliot’s collar and forced him back. Eliot tossed his head and strained against the leash as another clip hooked around Quentin’s collar and he was led from the run. He looked over his shoulder as Eliot began to bay and fight the leash as the volunteer clipped it to a metal hook inside the run. Quentin whimpered and tried to turn back, but the little girl picked him up.

 “C’mon, Jingles!” Her tone was merry. “We’re gonna take you home!”

 No! Home Brakebills not you, home Eliot, Margo!

 “He’ll have to be neutered, of course,” the mother was saying. “And vaccinated.” She glanced over her shoulder, frowning, at Eliot’s howling. “And that one should be put down. He seems very unpredictable.”

 “We plan to work with him, ma’am,” the volunteer replied. “I’m sure once he’s neutered, he’ll be much calmer.”

 New-ter . . . ? Quentin blinked. New-ter—oh nononononono, vet bad no snip snip, no! He wriggled and leapt from the girl’s arms, and she cried out after him as he ran back toward Eliot.

 “Jingles no! Come back!”

 Eliot looked up as Quentin raced toward the dog run. He’d already chewed through the leash, and one limp section hung from his collar. Quentin leapt up and pawed open the latch before giving three short, sharp barks to his friend. They raced from the run together, toward the open gate at the end of the row. A volunteer stepped in their way and Eliot bared his teeth at him, never slowing as they reached the gate. The kid yelped and stepped aside as Eliot’s teeth flashed and he and Quentin raced across the shelter’s yards, thick with dog pens, to the open road beyond.

 “Shut the main doors!” Someone called, and Quentin cowered as the sound of the gates being pulled shut reverberated in his ears. Eliot rounded him, herding him in the other direction, where a low fence ran along the other side of the shelter’s property line. In the distance, Quentin could hear the little girl crying and the human that was left in him prickled with guilt,

 But oh no, no snippy vet no, bad, so bad

 but he couldn’t allow them to separate him from Eliot or let them do the new-ter.

 Eliot was racing ahead of him now and Quentin knew he intended to jump the fence, but from his vantage point, it looked impossibly high. He leapt up with a grunt and began to scrabble up the chain link, his rear legs flailing. Eliot cleared the fence with one motion, but the trailing end of the chewed leash caught between two sections as he landed and he gave a strangled yelp of pain, his amber eyes bulging. Quentin toppled over the edge and began to bark in pure canine panic. Behind them, the sun began to sink. Eliot’s body writhed as he fought the leash, and then voices called out from behind him. The words made no sense, but they were growing louder and then oh! Bright flash, so bright, are we die--?

 “Quentin! Quentin stop, it’s me!”

 Quentin came back to his human self to find his brother Sebastian holding onto his hindquarters while Margo worked a section of frayed leash off a fence nearby. Eliot hung from the other end, gasping, his long fingers trying to work his collar—collar??—free. Sebastian gave him a shake.

 “Quentin, look at me!”

 He thumped down onto the hard-packed dirt and turned to gaze at Sebastian. His twin looked relieved, and there was a brightness in his eyes that threatened to spill over onto his cheeks. Human awareness was creeping back into him now, and he realized he was naked, all but—

 “Here, let me, uh . . . get that off you.” Sebastian reached out and unsnapped the purple collar’s catch. Eliot freed himself a moment later, wheezing and coughing. Voices sounded in the distance, and Margo looked up.

 “Fuck, it’s the shelter people!” She opened a portal and all but shoved Eliot through, not seeming to care that he was completely nude. “Sebastian, come on!” She called. Quentin tried to get to his feet but stumbled, his canine mind rejecting the idea of walking on two legs. Sebastian threw an arm around him and half walked, half carried his brother through the portal and it closed behind them, leaving the collars behind as the last remaining sliver of sun sank beyond the horizon.

  ***

 “Margo, I swear, if you make one more ‘free to good home’ joke . . .”

 The Physical Kids cottage was empty, all but for Quentin, Eliot, Margo and Sebastian. The other students had gone home for the summer, but Margo’s sources told her that Jay Tannis had left Brakebills after giving up Spencer Carmichael’s name and wouldn’t be returning. Now she smiled at Quentin as they all shared a bottle of Riesling.

 “I have to admit, Q, you made one hell of a cute dog.”

 “It’s not funny! El and I could have been dogs for the rest of our lives if you hadn’t found us in time!”

 “And I think I have flea bites from that wretched intake facility!” Eliot scratched behind one ear. His rings, returned to him once they’d reached the cottage, flashed in the light. Margo reached out to smooth down his curls.

 “Come on, we’ll go upstairs and I’ll draw you a bath.” She picked up the bottle of Reisling, kissed Quentin’s cheek, and then Sebastian’s. He blinked up at her and she smiled. It had many edges.

 “Do anything that stupid again, and I’ll turn you into a goose so Eliot can make foie gras out of your liver. Got me?”

 “Loud and clear,” Sebastian nodded. Margo and Eliot vanished up the cottage steps, leaving Sebastian and Quentin alone. Sebastian shifted in his chair.

 “Quentin. I . . . you must know that I never meant for any of that to happen. I didn’t know Devon had gone to you and Eliot about the bet. I’m so sorry.”

 Quentin smiled and pushed a hand through his hair.

 “I guess I do know that. And I have to say, if you’d cast on those fish instead of me and Eliot, the spell would have worked and you would have won the bet. And that’s some pretty powerful magic. Even if you weren’t supposed to be using it . . . I’m proud of you.”

 Sebastian sat up a bit.

 “You are?”

 “Yeah. You’ve obviously got the stuff. Just . . . listen, don’t let anyone get to you about being my brother from now on, okay?”

 “How did you—” Sebastian dropped his poker face for a moment before putting it back into place. Quentin shook his head.

“I know what people say about you . . . about your adoptive dad. And about me. But it’s all bullshit, Sebastian! You have your own talent, and you’re an individual! You shouldn’t risk your magical education just because you feel like you have something to prove.”

 Sebastian sighed as he got up to open another bottle of wine.

 “I suppose I’m still reactive when I’m forced to remember the person I used to be. And I remember Charlie, and—” He filled a glass with a sun-yellow Moscato. “It makes me feel alone.”

 “But you’re not. I’m here, and so are Margo and El . . . they like you.”

 “Even after all this?”

 “You wouldn’t believe how badly all of us fucked things up our first year,” Quentin smiled. “Especially me. They’ll forgive you, if they haven’t already.”

 “How much do you remember?” Sebastian asked. Quentin reddened and drained his glass before holding out for his twin to fill.

 “More than I care to! Being caged, the collar . . .” He lowered his voice. “. . . being named Jingles.”

 Sebastian drowned his smile in Moscato but a moment later Quentin was chuckling. Sebastian sat down next to him on the big sectional sofa and raised his glass.

 “To Jingles!” He declared, and Quentin touched his glass to Sebastian’s.

 “To Jingles,” he agreed, and both of them sipped.

 Somewhere in Queens

 Their doorbell rang, and the little girl ran to open it. Her mother followed, frowning.

 “Who on earth could that be?” She asked, watching as her daughter pulled the door open. The child blinked and then squealed as she knelt down to hug the tawny-furred cocker spaniel puppy tucked into a wicker basket.

 “Mommy, look! Oh, look, it’s just like the one that ran away at the shelter!”

 “But who . . .” The mother picked up the basket and flipped over the tag tied to one side.

  It read, simply, Love, from Jingles.

 Fin