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bababaka · 7 months ago

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Tell me a story. And i'll tell you a thousand more - Bade x reader

Summary: Hollywood Arts, the most privilleged arts school in the USA. And amongst many young talented teens, you were chosen to enter it. To be study there and be part of it. You couldn't believe it.

"Holy shit! I got in!"

This will change your life! And you are determined to make the most of it.

Warnings: swear words, not edited completely, i just needed to get this out of drafts, i will later edit.. And... that's it i guess? Like, bullying, mean teachers, but nothing much i guess. Oh, i also used google translate. So yeah. Have fun.

Author's note: so, i had this in my drafts for a while. I always had a crush on these two, and nobody wrote a fic with those two that fulfilled my need for them, so... here i am. Trying to mash my thoughts together and write something at least nice or ok. Im trying to write well. Don't have high expectations, im not a seasoned writer yet. Might never be. Also, unfortunately for me and you guys, this is a multichapter fanfiction. Sooo, you'll have to bear with me with slooooow updates. And im sorry for that. Anyways, enough chit chat, i present you, the chapter one to this mess.

Chapter 1 : I got in!

“Hollywood Arts”. The most privileged arts school in the United States of America. Only the most talented people passed the test. The list of competitors was huge. But, here you were, Y/N Y/L/N, in front of the school gates. You had passed the test, thousands of people competing against each other, and you had succeeded.

Honestly, it seemed too good to be true. The majesty of the construction, students, certainly in their second and third year, full of confidence, dancing, singing, playing, drawing, acting and even proclaiming poetry.

This was too much to digest.

You could barely believe it when you read the email, your mother cheering and shouting in the background, while you remained frozen staring at the computer, reading and re-reading your school admission.

The best arts school in the country.

You entered.

Holy shit! I entered!

You have always been passionate about dancing.

It all started when your mother caught you in your room dancing to “hips don’t lie” in a completely clumsy and enthusiastic way. She then decided to take you to dance classes. You were 4 years old.

Years passed and you fell in love.

Dancing was expressing yourself. Tell a story. Saying what words were sometimes unable to express. Sadness. Happiness. Emotion. Desire. Anger. Feelings in their purest form.

And then, you discovered ballet.

Ballet made your heart race in a way nothing else did. The slow and elegant steps, fast and rigorous. Dancing made you feel alive, happy, ecstatic.

At the height of your 10 years, watching a small part of the film your mother was watching, Black Swan, before her noticing your presence and kicking you out to your room, you found yourself trapped, in a trance, enchanted by the dance, by the way how the actress moved, how she leapt into the air and landed softly on the stage.

The next day, you begged your mother to take you to ballet classes.

At first, it was difficult. The dance classes previously were fun, relaxed. Here, they asked for excellence. Your teacher was strict and classmates were mean. There were many days when you came home crying or upset. Your mother tried to change classes, convince you to go back to dance classes, but you were stubborn. And you were more than determined to show everyone, your teacher, your classmates, that you were good, that you could be the best. So you did what you could, trained and trained, danced until your toes grew calluses and you could no longer support yourself properly.

It was difficult, but now, more than ever, you saw the results of your efforts. Oh, how you would love to see the faces of the girls who tried to get into the school but failed. You did it.

#Suckit

You would love to rub it in each of their faces. But, you didn't have time for that. What you had to do was take a deep breath, enter those gates and find where your first class would be.

Here we go.

The hallways were crazy, lost students like you walked by, friends who hadn't seen each other for the entire vacation and others who argued, dissatisfied with the classes they fell into.

Although you felt tempted to ask one of the students, you thought it would be safer to ask an adult. Supervisor, coordinator, any adult. A teacher, janitor.

You didn't trust students, especially at a talent school, the ego and arrogance must be astronomical.

You watched Glee. You didn't want to end up in a crackhouse.

But unfortunately, the hallways were full of teenagers, and there was no teacher, sign, or voices coming out of speakers magically guiding you in the direction of your next class.

You look around, searching for someone who was as lost as you. You didn't want to be the only idiot who didn't know their way around.

You find something similar.

A boy your age, talking and gesturing. He seemed to be asking a paralyzed girl for directions. She didn't even seem to be paying attention.

You didn't know exactly why she was perplexed, maybe he was saying absurd things, but you wouldn't be surprised if the cause of the paralysis was the boy's beauty.

He was beautiful. Dark skin, brown hair, delicate features, not to the point of being androgynous, but of being harmonious, pleasing to the eye. A relaxed brown look, although it is becoming confused and dull.

You decided to step in and save the girl the embarrassment of being caught drooling, and, as a bonus, get the information you so desperately wanted. The direction for your next class, acting.

– Excuse me, uh, I'm lost. Could you help me?

This seemed to work. The boy's posture relaxed, and the girl, in turn, came out of her trance and began to glare at you, shooting lasers from her eyes.

The boy smiled. And, wow. He had incredibly white teeth, and it looked like you were the only girl in the world, the tiny curve of his mouth pulled you in like he was the center of the Earth. The look that had a charm, brown like melted chocolate and all you wanted was to dive in and get lost in them.

Perhaps you have entered a trance.

But as soon as he started talking, you forced yourself to pay attention and not make a fool of yourself.

– I'm also lost. I was asking her – he turned to the “laser beam look”, who immediately stopped with the murderous expression. – But I don’t think you know, do you?

– What? I know! Of course I know! Nobody knows more than me! – and then she started walking, supposedly in the direction of the room where the boy had his class. – You're a first year, right? – she asked the pretty boy, completely ignoring you.

He looked at you sideways.

– Uh, yes, yes, I am. – She nods, and turns forward, determined, as she starts talking without stopping.

She says her name, Trina Vega, how she got into school, how she is so talented at so many things, how popular she was, and that they would make a great couple. At this part, you were shocked, eyes widening quickly, mouth falling open. She was… direct.

And maybe a little clueless, considering that the boy started to walk more slowly, putting distance between him and Trina, and standing next to you.

He leans into your side.

– She's a little… eccentric…

You laugh.

– That may be an understatement. – You look at Trina, who continued to talk. – Look, she hasn't even noticed that you're not paying attention, or even close to her.

It was his turn to laugh.

– Yeah… – He clears his throat. – I'm Beck, nice to meet you. – He stops for a moment, and extends his hand to you.

You say your name and take his hand, shaking it. Soon he started walking again so as not to lose sight of Trina, who was still talking.

– You’re a first year too, right? – You nod in response. – Yeah, I imagined it. Which course did you enroll in?

– Dance, more specifically, ballet. You?

– Cool. I came to do drama, acting.

– Cool. – You smile, he reciprocates.

For a moment, you forgot what you were saying, going and even thinking. He was cute, handsome and had a nice voice to listen to, something rare coming from a teenager. The short hair thrown to the side, looked soft, made you want to run your fingers through the strands.

The cute boy's small, happy smile was damaging your brain, because the world disappeared around him and you couldn't think about anything else.

Until, finally, Trina realized that Beck wasn't close to her, much less listening to what she was saying.

– Hey! – she called. You turned to her, who had a frown that turned into a forced smile. – We arrived, and you didn’t tell me your name. – She leans over and smiles at Beck.

You were ignored, again.

– Oh, it's Beck. And this is. – He tries to introduce you, say you name and be polite. But Trina interrups him, muttering “whatever” and heading back to the door.

Well, that was nice.

– Sikowits, I brought two lost students. – Then the bell rings, and Trina turns to Beck. – I'll see you around, Beck. – He blinked. And gone, probably to his own class.

– Please don't. – Beck says, with a pained expression. But it was too late, Trina couldn't hear him anymore, or at least, she pretended not to.

You sympathized with the situation.

It seems that being too handsome had its downsides.

His attention returned to the teacher who was at the door.

Bald, messy hair and beard, a slightly unbalanced look, layer after layer of clothing, he had a sloppy style. Maybe he was a hippie. Or just weird. It was probably both.

The hippie professor smiled, in a warm, disturbing way (you seriously wondered if that man was sane. You hoped he was).

– Be welcome! What are your names?

Beck withdraws into himself, becoming shy. How cute.

– Beck Oliver.

The please-don't-be-crazy teacher leans over to look at a list that was laid out on the table. The list of student names.

He turns to the boy beside him.

– Oliver? Alberto Oliver?

Beck puts his hand on the back of his head, looks at you sideways, and nods.

– Yes, but I prefer Beck.

– Understood! Come in, come in. – He calls Beck with his hand enthusiastically, the boy enters and sits in one of the chairs. Then, the bald professor turns to you. – Your name?

You say your full name.

– Oh yes. It's here too. Come in and sit down. The class is about to start. I just have to find the lost and innocent sheep that are lost in the corridors.

You made a face when you heard the phrase… He sounded so weird that way…

As long as he didn't kill or abuse anyone and was a good teacher, you wouldn't have a problem.

You entered the room and deciding quickly and safely, you turned to Beck, hoping to find an empty seat next to the boy. But, as expected, all the seats evaporated, and Oliver found himself surrounded by people, mostly girls.

You sighed and sat in the front, next to a girl with red hair (it didn't look natural, but you'd ask later) who had a friendly smile on her face. It seemed like a good option.

You sat down, and introduced yourself. The girl smiled, with her white teeth and a gentle and innocent aura formed around her.

– I'm Cat!

You smiled, enchanted by the redhead's cuteness.

– Cat? Like the animal? – the girl walked away, running her hand through her hair, her brow furrowed.

– What? What do you mean by that?

– No! I'm just saying that cat sounds like a kitten. – You explained yourself, nervously. You didn't want to scare the girl.

– Kittens? I like kittens! They're so cute!

You let out the breath you were holding. Cat returned to the bubble of innocence and happiness that she was at the beginning.

– Yes, they are.

Then, the professor, Sikowitz, if that was really what Trina called him, came back into the room, with a coconut and straw in one hand, and sunglasses in the other.

– Well done, class! I'm not going to ask you to introduce yourselves. You will improvise a scene. You will play the person next to you, I don't care if you don't know each other. Create a character and then live the character!

The Hippie Man asked them one by one to come forward in front of the class.

There were some interesting and funny monologues.

A black boy, with dreadlocks, a beautiful smile and lots of charm, played a shy nerd who stuttered around girls and had a puppet who made derogatory comments about the situation.

The scene was hilarious. Especially when he started interacting with the students while in character.

There were some very good ones.

Beck, who, to your surprise, played one of the girls surrounding him, and, unfortunately for Sikowitz, used the teacher as his scene partner. He was visibly uncomfortable. And the girl too. Shrinking in her chair as Beck performed, exposing how irritating she was.

She'll probably leave the boy alone after this.

Probably.

There was also another girl, brown hair, black leather jacket and pants. She was incredible. Before getting into character, she seemed closed off, grumpy, with a frown on her face. But, as soon as the scene began, her entire expression and body language changed to a more clumsy and agitated girl like a nice but extremely clumsy girl.

And other performances could improve. You were part of the last group. See, you were a dancer, not an actress. You knew you had to take acting classes, but that didn't mean it was your strong point.

You had to play Cat. You weren't horrible, but you could have done better. When he had to face all the attentive eyes of your classmates and the teacher, a chill took over your stomach and a pressure to not make mistakes was placed in your mind. At first, it was difficult, but as the scene developed, your performance improved.

As the last student finished presentation, the teacher stood up, applauding.

– Very good! You have to learn and perfect the ability to transform into a character in a short time, to analyze your character and to transform yourself in the snap of a finger. – He snapped his fingers right in your face, you jerked away reflexively, startling yourself. He smiled. And the bell rang. – Anyway. That's all for today. You even had the chance to socialize and get to know each other. – he said as everyone got up and left. You did the same, gathered your things and stood up. You were at the door when you heard him sigh and murmur:

– Ah, being young, I can remember what it was like to have dreams and hope.

…You were sure this wasn't normal…

You heard your name. You turned around, and saw red hair, you looked down, realizing that Cat was smaller than you. That made her even cuter.

– What class do you have now?

You searched your pockets, in the slim hope of finding your schedule. After long, embarrassing moments, you found it and read it out loud.

– Ballet.

– Oh, I have singing lessons now – Cat seemed to deflate. But only for a few seconds. – Do you want to sit with me at lunch?

You responded quickly, jumping at the opportunity of not having to be alone during lunch.

– Yes of course! – You looked around, remembering Beck, hoping to see him, but in vain, he had already disappeared into the corridors. But, you didn't let that bother, or sadden you, you would invite him to sit with you at lunch, in the low probability of being able to do so before the boy was bombarded by people.

– OK! Until lunch then!

Finding the ballet class was easy. You just followed the smell of pain, tears, deceit and extreme competition.

…Actually, you just followed the girls in buns and leotards.

You entered the room, or rather dance salon. The floor was smooth and black, a large mirror covering the entire wall, a large speaker and a piano at the back of the room.

The teacher, apparently, was not there. But the students were already stretching. Some in groups, others alone.

You saw some faces you had already anticipated. The rich, mean girls who were born doing ballet. The girl obsessed and completely focused on doing her best, making her potentially meaner than the other girls. The pretty boy who, because he does ballet, thinks he's cool and that everyone is in love with him. The boy who feels the need to say all the time that he's not gay, he just likes to express himself through dancing!

However, you also saw other faces you hadn't seen before, and that was a pleasant surprise. Dealing with the same types of people became boring.

Hollywood Arts would be a beginning, not only of your artistic career, but of a social life in ballet. I didn't want to ruin your high school experience with drama, toxicity, and cliques.

But unfortunately, you didn't have the best start. Because while you were analyzing and admiring everything around you, your teacher arrived, and it was then that you noticed, everyone was stretched out and dressed appropriately, while you were still standing, wearing jeans, sneakers and a shirt. No stretching.

It was instantaneous. Not only did the teacher's eyes land on you. The entire room was focused on you.

Shit. You flinched.

– You're late. – The teacher says, approaching you, like a predator approaches its prey. A panther, walking elegantly and silently, with total firmness and confidence, about to attack a beautiful and vulnerable little rabbit. The panther knows that the rabbit is already dead. Only a matter of time for death to actually occur, until the panther snatches the prey.

The bunny becomes alert, realizing the danger. Look around. Pay attention to your ears and sharpen your vision.

– The bell hasn't rung yet and class starts in 3 minutes.

The panther stops. Paying attention to the victim's movements, but at no time revealing their position or losing their calm.

– Exactly. 3 minutes and you're like this. – She points to your clothes, with clear disdain. The rabbit flinches, sensing claws wrapping around its fur. – Without the leotard and without stretching. Unprepared. I start my class on time, warm-ups start when the bell rings. So, miss late, you have – the teacher glanced briefly at the clock and turned her eyes to you. – 2 minutes to put on your clothes and stretch, otherwise you will go to detention and will not be able to participate in this class.

The rabbit begins to struggle, panic arising as it sees the possibility of death right in front of it.

– But just to get to the bathroom takes a minute.

The teacher smiles, in a sadistic and amused way.

– Then, I suggest you run.

Crunch! Fur turning scarlet, sharp fangs tearing flesh, paws playing with the limp, lifeless body.

You took off. Hearing giggles and one last image of the teacher's smile

The predator was sated. For now.

You admitted it. You've never stretched so quickly and inefficiently, nor were you so frivolous when adjusting your tights.

But, it was what you had to offer at that moment.

– Miss late! You have exceeded your time of 2 minutes, but as I am in a good mood I will let it pass. Let it serve as a warning to everyone. Be prepared BEFORE class starts. Otherwise, well, you don't want to find out. Now, don't just stand there, join the warm-up!

And you fumbled a little out of pure nervousness, and heard some giggling around, but after a few minutes, you were already in your element.

The warm-up was brutal.

Yes, of course, you already had years of ballet, but still, the teacher seemed to want you to kill yourself in the warm-up. Because it lasted 40 minutes.

To you, it felt like two hours.

Damn, who warms up for 40 minutes? Well, apparently, your new teacher.

When the warm-up, which lasts longer and is heavier than you're used to, finally ends, you're sweating profusely and out of breath. Some were in the same state as you, others were worse, and a group of girls were in better shape, they were sweaty and out of breath, but still, visibly more composed.

The teacher waited in silence for a few moments. Just analyzing all the students.

The teacher approaches the group of 5 who were sitting on the floor, taking in lots of air, barely avoiding getting sick. Some were coughing.

– Pathetic. – She said, her lips lifting in disgust and disdain. – What would your names be?

The group fumbled among themselves, saying full names, others just trying and failing in between, preferring to breathe. One boy almost threw up.

The teacher put her hands in the air and waved them. Exasperated.

– Stop, stop, stop. Are you by any chance animals? Don't know how to speak one at a time? – she sighs. – What were you thinking when they accepted you? Hmph… Disgusting…

– Why does every ballet teacher have to be mean? – a girl next to you commented quietly. You laughed quietly, bitterly, as you watched the teacher insult the poor young teens on the floor.

– It must be something they need to have on their resume. “Expert in torturing teenagers.” – You responded in an equally silent tone.

– Also, didn’t she have a vote in the admission of students? Why does she complain about the school's admissions system if she is part of it?

You shrugged.

– Some evil plan to destroy our self-esteem?

The girl quickly turned to you, a small smile on her face and an outstretched hand, as subtle as she could without drawing the teacher's attention.

– I'm Daisy.

You introduced yourself.

And in mutual and silent agreement, they turned to the teacher. You feared what would happen if the teacher caught the students talking.

Your attention returned to the scene and you only heard the last two names of the group. All red, from shame or exhaustion, you didn't know. The teacher didn't answer anything, just left them on the floor, recovering, and started walking around the room, quickly passing in front of each student.

– You are… Pathetic. Some more than others. But – she made a show of sighing loudly. – As you were accepted, I will make you true artists, dancers. You must breathe ballet, move with elegance and dexterity at all times, and face the world, the stage without fear. The classes will be difficult, long and will demand determination and strength from each person. And I will not hesitate to take punitive action against those who are not taking this seriously. Because, as your teacher, your performance in the future will reflect on my image. Therefore, now they will imitate me. I'm the best, and so will you.

The teacher pauses, and you can hear the tension in the air, the nervousness and everyone shifting in their seats, anxious.

– Am I understood?

Several voices sounded throughout the room, including yours. All saying yes. The teacher smiled.

– Good. Now, let's start the class.

You swallowed hard, already feeling tired, but still, strangely excited. It would be a challenge, and you loved difficult things.

After painful and sadistic hours (yes, hours!), the class was finally released for lunch, and then afternoon classes.

The teacher informed them that the ballet class had an exclusive bathroom and that if they wanted (but, from the disgusted way she sounded, it seemed more like a requirement) they could take a shower there.

You perked up when you heard this, and most of the students did too. It would be horrible to have to continue at school with all that crust of sweat on your body.

So, after the teacher left, everyone packed their things and went to either take a shower or have lunch.

You were more than ready to head to the bathroom and shower. You were tired, but the sweat on your body bothered you more than fatigue.

– Hey, are you going to eat or take a shower first?

You looked to the side. The girl you talked to after the warm-up. Was it Daphne? Daniela? Delilah? No, that was ridiculous. It was something with D.

– Im going to the shower. I couldn't eat something feeling dirty.

– You sure? As we are being released early, the queue is non-existent to buy… Anything.

– I'm sure. – You smiled, slightly touched by the girl’s kindness. She waved and said goodbye to you, leaving for lunch.

After a long and well-deserved shower, you head to the cafeteria where the food was. Heavens, how hungry you were!

Arriving in the area, you began looking for Cat and Beck. Not surprisingly, you found Beck first. Surrounded by people, girls and boys.

You decide to try to get past the crowd and rescue Beck, who now seems overwhelmed.

You squeeze between people, making your way through elbows and curses, until you reach the center, feeling several hateful looks on you.

Beck's face lights up when he sees you, and he calls your name, approaching you.

– Hey, what are you doing? – he asks, ignoring the entire crowd around him, and you can feel the commotion that this generates. You smile, focusing on nothing more than the boy in front of you.

– Trying to save you from this crowd by inviting you to lunch with me and Cat.

– Oh, please! I would love to.

You swear something happened around you. People cursed him, complained, maybe even hit you, but your brain melted a little when you saw Oliver's smile. A captivating, happy, friendly expression. It seemed like the air around him shimmered and exuded something almost surreal.

What brought you back to reality was a tap on your shoulder.

– So, where are you sitting? – Beck asked and then you realized, the crowd had dissipated and only the pretty boy was by your side.

– Uh, actually, I haven't chosen the table, nor have I found Cat yet. – You then start looking for the redhead. The brunette at his side.

– Ah, I see… Who is Cat? Your pet? Are animals even allowed at school?

You laugh.

– No, no. She's a girl I met today, in drama class, while you were being surrounded by�� Everyone…

Beck sighed and nodded in a more crestfallen manner. You stop looking around for a moment, to fix your eyes on him.

– Does this happen a lot? You're famous and I'm the only one who didn't notice?

– No, I'm not famous, at least not yet. I'm just pretty. – He shrugs lightly, as if it weren't a big deal. And you stop walking, and let out a disbelieving laugh. This time, his lips move to form a cocky smile.

– What? Are you going to say i'm not? – he prods you, and you fumble over your words, not wanting to deny it, but certainly not wanting to confirm it either. However, to your relief, he just laughs at your reaction and continues talking. – People have always approached me because of my – he raises his hands to gesture quotation marks with his fingers. - "exotic beauty". Eventually, I just got used to it.

You observe the boy next to you. Really analyzes him.

He didn't seem like the kind of boy who was an asshole, who thought he was better than everyone else, who believed he had everyone at his feet, when he really didn't.

Beck just seemed aware of the reality he found himself in. After all, he was handsome. Short but silky hair, great style of clothing that sold the cool kid look. If you had to guess, he seemed like a relaxed but extremely cunning type of boy. The guy who smiled at everyone, but had a mouth that dripped with venom.

You had your thoughts interrupted by a high-pitched female voice calling your name. Cat. He took one last look at Beck, who maintained a relaxed posture and the remains of a smile.

Well, you deduced, only time will show Oliver's true face, whatever it may be.

– Cat! I was looking for you! – you approached the redhead. She lit up.

– And, did you find me?

– Apparently, you found me. – When saying this, the redhead makes a sad expression.

– Oh, wow, what a shame. – You frowned, not understanding the line of reasoning, but before you could say anything, Cat was already addressing Beck. – Hi, I'm Cat. – she introduced herself, waving energetically.

Beck laughed, like you would laugh at something cute a puppy did, and waved back, but without the redhead's excessive enthusiasm.

You guys go look for a table. And when they find it, they realize they had nothing to eat. Luckily there was a food truck nearby, and everyone ordered something.

At the table, everyone talked about themselves. You revealed that although it inspired you, you never saw the film Black Swan. Cat talked about her love for purple giraffes and her brother. You were worried at that part, you didn't know if the small girl was joking or not.

Beck talked about how he moved from Canada with his parents to Los Angeles just for school, and talked excitedly about how he liked cars and was looking forward to getting his own.

When they heard sobs around them, that's when they left the bubble they were in.

– You're a bitch!

A blonde girl, green eyes, swollen and moist. She was the one who jumped out of her chair and screamed. Despite her anguished expression, she looked firmly at the table in front of her, and the person who was sitting there.

You recognized who it was from your theater class. She had a gothic style. Eyeliner, black nails, combat boots and dark clothes.

The green-eyed goth girl, you noticed, raised her eyebrow and took her eyes in a deliberate and prolonged manner to the bare legs of the girl in front of her.

– I'm not the one with the scraped knees.

She smiled cruelly, and amidst the deadly silence, a few muffled giggles could be heard.

The blonde girl choked. Tries to justify herself, you think she had says about a skateboard, but was unsuccessful. Then she resignes herself to letting out a sob and running away.

The goth turned her smile into a frown, and looked around, the many eyes in her direction. She faced everyone and with a loud, rude and direct voice, she shouted.

– What are you looking at? – and everyone went back to doing what they did before. Well, you asume that everyone had done it, you didn't bother to check. You just kept your attention on the girl. Curious. You wanted to know what had happened. And how she had made someone cry on the first day of school.

You hated this type of attitude, behavior, personality. You might not be the kindest girl in the world, but you certainly weren't cruel. Even when you felt the urge to be.

It was a shame that such a beautiful girl, with brown hair and green eyes, could be so horrible.

You assumed that beauty would spoil a person. You just hoped Beck wouldn't turn out to be that kind of person. Then, you finally returned your gaze to the table, and discovered that you weren't the only one who remained looking at her. The pretty boy also had his sights set on the table that only had one mean girl on it.

– She's mean. – Cat spoke up, breaking the silence as well as Beck's admiration and thoughts.

– She is. – Beck agrees, nonchalant.

You remain silent, taking one last look in the girl's direction.

It doesn't take long before the bell rings. You say goodbye to them both and head towards classes in the afternoon. The part of your curriculum is completely normal and, after theater and ballet classes, terribly boring.

Chemistry, geography and math classes stretched out, as if they had no end, like a rubber band that when it thought it was about to break, it stretched a little more. However, it didn't matter anymore, you were finally free to go home.

You were exhausted, physically, mentally and spiritually. Names of teachers, subjects, exercises, classmates piling up and colliding in your brain. You had absolutely no energy for anything.

Unfortunately for you, however, when you open the door to your house, you come across your mother, waiting, sitting in a chair, almost jumping with excitement. The true image of a puppy anxiously waiting for its owner.

Your heart is heavy, and your body and soul scream with frustration. You just wanted your bed. But, your mother sees you and you simply accept that you would have to stay awake for a few more moments.

Your mother spews questions one after another at you.

"How it was?"

“Have you made friends yet?”

“Are all teachers weird?”

“Is there anyone famous?”

“Did they treat you well?”

"Are you well?"

"Are you hungry? I made dinner!”

While eating, you told your mother everything, it didn't take long for you to get excited too, even though you were tired.

You leave out some details, like teachers and some bad people, but otherwise, you confess everything. The many beautiful people, with a few exceptions, the strange talents and habits you noticed, strange and normal teachers.

However, sleepiness and tiredness manifested itself through yawning and heavy eyes. Your mother, realizing this, immediately sends you up to your room to get some sleep.

After a relaxing shower, you lay down on your bed, comfortable under the blankets.

Ah, finally.

Chapter 2

#bade x reader #my fics #victorious #beck x jade x reader #jade west #beck oliver #reader insert #Polyamory #Poly

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misterragny · 8 months ago

Text

Today I finally reviewed the Psycho-Pass again

And then it started…

I am a long-time fan of the Kogami and Akane couple and have been rooting for them since the first season of the anime from the distant bearded years

And so, yesterday I watched all the movies, reread the fanfiction, and finally went to the Tumblr to read articles about this beautiful couple

I thought I could cheer myself up with these articles, because the progress of their relationship is slow...

(I know what you say, yes, maybe they are not canon at all)

But, some articles have upset me very much, but I'm holding on and I would like to say some thoughts on this pair

(Although I consider myself an introvert who is afraid of people, but now this is taking a back seat)

Well:

A comment to the article where it was mentioned that the screenwriters said that this pair was impossible and they did not want to make it canon, that in this case Akane would be better off with Gino

( Gino is my boy, I love him, and his hairstyle in future seasons makes me die of admiration)

So, back to the topic, what I still want to say..

Couldn't the screenwriters have thought that the characters they created and their stories and interactions wouldn't touch people and they wouldn't want their love?

Well, really, they couldn't think about it?

How did they prescribe the relationship between Kogami and Akane, my God

And now the screenwriters say that "It's impossible"

Khmmmmm……

I know that some people will disagree with me on this issue, but understand, I love them, I love their relationship in anime, how they help each other, respect and support, and it seems to me that there is not enough love here…

And their meeting at the end of the film, where he meets her after prison, makes me scream, and if I review the meeting after Providence, then I already cry

* a heavy tired sigh*

But fortunately, under that very post, there was a person who gave me hope and made me feel better, but I still want to hear your comments on this

(Since English is not my native language, the translator helped me a lot here, I apologize in advance for mistakes)

Guys, I do not know what I just wrote and what you can call this writing, but this is the cry of my soul

Thanks to everyone who read all this

#psycho pass #psycho-pass #psycho pass providence #shinya kogami #kogami shinya #tsunemori akane #kouaka #shinkane #providence #anime

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kingmaxstatic · 7 months ago

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Wishing Star

A 996 word fanfiction with Starvoltz lore stuff. Takes place during IDW sonic issue #36. Wrote this late at night so it might be a tad disjointed.

Toyhouse Version Link.

"Voltz has silly thoughts about someone he barely knows."

“Everyone remain calm! The chateau was built to withstand this sort of event!”

Was the only thing Voltz could pick up on before he was dragged back to his thoughts again. He couldn’t help it, his world was just shattered. His name wasn’t known to him but his features were etched in the two instances of him. Cream fur, magenta eyes, he glowed? How did he even do that? Platypus, he was a platypus, any good mobian doctor could deduce that. He leaned against the railing as he watched a familiar blue hedgehog along with an unfamiliar black hedgehog pop out from the snow. To the cheers of the small group around them. Some faces are familiar, some unfamiliar. A pit formed in Voltz’ gut for a moment.

Did Sonic even know who he was? The years he spent helping Eggman attempting to kill him? Those hours he spent in meetings within those cold walls discussing that "blasted hegdehog". He never met the famous blue blur formally but… He shook his head, he couldn’t think about that. Not now.

The platypus, right, the platypus.

Pressing his back against the railing, Voltz forced out an exhale. Emerald eyes scanned the crowd, hoping those magenta ones would stare at him back. That they’d share a glance. His heart fluttered at the thought. Gaia, did that platypus even know what they shared? He rubbed his coat, his thumb gliding across the cheap fabric at the thought of seeing him.

From murmurs around the chateau, he gained that he was an Eggman assistant (or “eggistant” as Eggman insisted they be called). The most important word was… well was. He WAS apart of the empire. He WAS his assistant. He WASN’T anymore. Yet there he was, about to bury an entire chateau’s worth of people, including him. On his own.

He rubbed the railing as he thought about this. Back when he was an eggi- assistant he didn’t have that sort of agency. An accessory, an extension, that’s all he was. But this guy? This platypus? He was his own villain after this. Voltz felt his chest well with some unknown feeling. Brought back to those enclosed metal walls of the prison egg, he didn’t get a choice. He was so small, so tiny. Another name on the wall, another Eggnet file to be updated. Another whisper to be spread amongst future coworkers.

But this platypus changed that. He didn’t have to be that.

His heart fluttered again as his thoughts were brought back to the figure. The hues that shined from his body as he darted and dashed. A collection of colors that made his eyes seek out the same hope in the stars.

One star shined brightly to him, it sparkled and glimmered in the sky. As guests around him spoke about refunds and avalanches, he reached up to the sky. A webbed hand clasped the distant shine, as if he could grab it. As if he could touch a star. As if he deserved to, Voltz was stuck on the ground, after all. Things on the ground could never reach things so otherworldly. Not things like him.

Fear welled up in his chest as he slouched against the railing, needing to steady himself once more. Oh Gaia what if the empire found him before he could? It was a fear Voltz had about himself for so long he had never considered he would feel that for someone else. He had to do something about this. He had to make sure he wouldn’t suffer alone.

He heard all the happy commotion but glanced around at all the guests, all of their chatter was enough of a distraction to allow him to slip back into the building. Voltz felt his breath quicken as he walked through the hallways, adjusting the raggedy coat that covered the Eggman Empire logo on his jumpsuit. Would he reveal it to him once he met the figure? His beacon of hope in this sea of… well currently snow at the moment. There was so much snow in the lobby. Pushing some to the side, he looked around, he didn’t want any of the staff to be weary of him.

Swallowing down the tense air in his throat, he finally pushed out some words “H-Hello? Are you there?” the words struggled. Voltz was not good at first impressions. Moving more snow to the side, he desperately looked for any signs of a bill or webbed hand. Alas there was none in the snow, though through the shattered window he glanced and saw the figure. That coat draped over his shoulders. The moon envied the light of his beacon. Voltz was so caught up in the moment, much like his words in his throat.

If he had just called out…

Then just as he saw the coat, the hues of warm against the cold vanished into the trees. Words found his throat too late. “W-WAIT!” He called out to deaf ears, his hand reaching out, as if he could touch a star. As if he deserved to. Falling onto the pile of snow, his chest felt as damp as his heart. His beacon disappeared into the mountains. Chances of those familiar glows now scattered across the ground.

Voltz curled up, almost by instinct. He could chase him, he could go on a wild goose chase for someone he didn’t even know. Well, he did know him, he knew his story all too well. Another one of Eggman’s assistants, a kindred spirit. Hopelessness covered him like the lazy coat on his back, though it was far heavier. If he could wear it, he'd probably feel hot in this weather.

No, he had to find him, he KNEW he had to. Legs shakily straightened themselves out as he stood. A determination flowed throughout his body, but first… he had to find out where to start.

#sonic #sonic the hedgehog #sth #sonic oc #starline the platypus #dr starline #oc x canon #Voltz The Swan #Starvoltz

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bg3daydream · 9 months ago

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Sharing blood and vengeance (Astarion x Tav)

Astarion x named Tav Fanfiction (dwarf paladin of vengeance called Sasha).

Summary: One-shot about the first evening Sasha lets Astarion drink her blood, before they talk about vengeance. (NA: I know I have 0 followers and only I care about my Tavs, but this idea wouldn't stop jumping in my brain until I wrote it!).

Words: 3k

Stepping on the corpse to hold it in place, Sasha released her blade, buried deep into the man's chest, as droplets of blood splattered everywhere.

Looking back, she saw Astarion looking at her blood-covered sword and she scoffed, smirking.

"What? You wanna lick it?"

"I, uh, well..." Astarion shifted his weight from one foot to the other before assuming his usual, dignified pose, chin held high as he looked down at Sasha and her bloodied blade. "Of course not, I don't need to lower myself to that, dear." He scoffed as if Sasha hadn't seen his hungry look.

"Because draining pigs is so much more dignified..." Shadowheart commented on her deceivingly sweet voice and Astarion glared at her before looking at Sasha again.

"I wasn't looking at the blood, just wondering how in the hells can you swing a sword that's almost as big as you."

Sasha rolled her eyes but she was not going to dignify that quip with an answer. She was used to Astarion's dwarf jokes when he was feeling cranky.

"Nobody will judge you for drinking from the corpse before it gets cold." Shadowheart shrugged and Sasha could have called it bullshit.

Astarion had a mean mouth but Shadowheart and Wyll were not short on mean, vampire-related remarks either.

Astarion, for once, was quiet, eyeing the corpse. He did seem hungry but almost reluctant and Sasha had to wonder if, even if he had no qualms on happily killing, he might find undignified or something along those lines to kneel and drink from a cooling corpse. Who knew what high-elves patriars found undignified. Sasha didn't know and she was not going to ask either, even if it seemed kind of a waste.

Astarion finally tore his eyes from the corpse, straightening his back with a scoff, the picture of aristocratic elegance and indifference, betrayed only by a small lick of his lips as he inhaled what Sasha guessed was the scent of blood.

"You know..." Wyll began once they were making their way back to camp. "I haven't met many paladins but I don't think I've ever met someone so...ruthless before."

"No mercy for the wicked," Sasha recited one of the tenets of her oath of vengeance, muscle memory.

"I agree but you just... Impaled the guy as soon as you were close enough. He didn't even get to say a word." Gale decided to join the conversation and Sasha didn't know if he sounded horrified or fascinated but she was past caring what people thought of her methods.

"I had already judged him and found him guilty." He'd deserved it, end of story.

The man had been one of Aradin's, who had deserted him, fleeing the Grove after assaulting a tiefling, killing her when she refused to give the man her things. The druids under Khaga wouldn't move a finger and so Sasha would.

She didn't know how to get rid of her tadpole or how to find Halsin alive, but vengeance? She did know how to do that. And off she had gone to get revenge.

Wyll and Gale had offered to go with her, she'd managed to convince Shadowheart somehow, and she wasn't sure why Astarion had decided to tag along.

"He didn't see it coming," Shadowheart commented, sounding oddly cheerful. "Nobody expects a dwarf with such a sweet, chubby-cheeked face to stab them like that."

Sasha rolled her eyes. Sure, she had a round face, whatever.

"Look who's talking..." With that sweet voice and face, who would expect Shadowheart to worship Shar?

Well, probably everyone, since she was as bad at hiding it as Astarion had been at hiding he was a vampire. But Shadowheart hadn't admitted it yet, and so Sasha wouldn't say anything.

"Let's go back."

Later that night, Sahsa was taking watch, sitting next to the campfire. They'd set camp outside the Grove so as not to create more tension and so they wouldn't be, perhaps, murdered by angry druids, but that meant they had to worry about goblins, wild animals, and whatnot.

Her hand went instinctively to the pommel of her sword as she caught sight of two eyes in the darkness, reflecting the light as a feline's would, but soon she realized it was just Astarion, waking back from hunting.

"What was for dinner tonight?" She asked quietly as he made his way towards the fire.

"Rabbit," he answered, sounding disappointed. Sasha had thought he'd go to his tent, but he flopped down next to the fire too.

"You know... I'd like it more if you fed on evil bastards like the one I killed today rather than on some poor innocent rabbit who did nothing bad..."

"Oh but darling, how can you know the rabbit didn't deserve it? I could see the evil in their eyes..."

Sasha snorted. Astarion could be funny when you weren't the target of his jokes and he was not hangry.

"I'm sure they didn't have it coming as much as the guy." Sasha didn't even realize she was snarling at the thought of the man and his crimes.

"You know, Wyll was right, sometimes you're so... Brutal. I like it." Astarion smirked, giving her the look that Sasha never knew to read as flirting or teasing.

She hated that it made something in her belly flutter, it embarrassed her... She was not like that, what was wrong with her.

" Anyway... " She cleared her throat, looking away from Astarion and to the fire. "I don't mind you draining the next bastard we met that deserves it, seriously."

"Well, darling, then my fangs will be on our next criminal's neck faster than you can impale them with that trusty sword of yours," Astarion said with that cheerfulness that no matter what, still sounded fake to Sasha's ears.

"It's different from animal's? People's blood? Sasha asked after a minute, more curious than she cared to admit.

" Well, it's... " Astarion shrugged before trailing off with a frown." I guess."

"You... Guess?"

Astarion shrugged again, looking away from her, seeming a bit uncomfortable, and Sasha frowned, she'd never seen him acting like that.

"Cazador banned his spawn from drinking people's blood," he finally said with that look of hate mixed with hurt and distaste that he had when talking about his former master.

Sasha wasn't sure of what to say, she knew Cazador was a sore topic for Astarion, understandably so, but then a thought came to her mind, flying past her lips before she could stop it.

"So you'd never tried to bite someone before the other night when you tried to bite me?" She asked and Astarion nodded, eyes on the fire. "No wonder you were so bad at it."

"Excuse you?!" At that, Astarion glared at her with the biggest look of outrage.

"Sorry." Sasha raised her hands, feeling a bit bad. "But how were you expecting me not to wake up, seriously?"

Astarion just shrugged, he now seemed more defeated than outraged, a look Sasha hadn't seen on him before, and she felt worse. "I know I punched you that night-"

"Still hurts," Astarion interrupted her and Sasha rolled her eyes.

"Are you surprised I reacted like that, really? Something getting on me woke me up and then someone was leaning to my throat... I punched out of instinct," Sasha explained." I didn't know it was you... Although I'd have probably punched anyway, and you were trying to bite me and drink my blood without a word so maybe you had it a bit coming..."

Astarion scoffed, glaring at her again, and he made to get up as if he was going to leave, but Sasha reached to hold his wrist.

"Wait," she called after him while Astarion glared even more, moving his wrist away from her touch.

"What I wanted to say is..." Sasha sighed. "If you need blood someday, like... If you're hungry... I won't punch you, if you ask me." He might be annoying sometimes, pretty much an asshole others... But still, Sasha found she hated the idea of him going hungry.

"Are you... Saying you'd let me drink your blood?" Astarion looked at her, seeming doubtful. "Is this some kind of paladin trick to stake me better?" He gestured dramatically and Sasha sighed.

"No, it's not some paladin trick and unlike some people, I don't make a habit of lying." She idly wondered if he'd take offense at that. "And I have no intention of killing you, stake or otherwise." Astarion was just looking at her, still seeming doubtful. "I just... I guess I just don't like the idea of you going hungry."

"Really?"

His voice was softer than she'd ever heard it, and she'd never seen him looking so doubtful and insecure before either. She just nodded and it took a moment until finally Astarion seemed to believe her.

When he did, the small smile that he gave her made Sasha wonder if it was the first genuine one he'd shown her.

"Well... Thank you." His voice sounded as genuine as his smile looked, even to Sasha who was sure he was laughing at her more than half of the times he talked to her.

She tried to ignore how that soft voice and genuine smile made her feel and instead asked, "Are you hungry?" A rabbit sounded like a nice diner, but bloodwise she wasn't sure.

"Not hungry hungry… But I just…” He sighed with that look of defeat that didn't suit him, vaguely gesturing around. “All this moving and fighting, I feel so tired and so weak all the time…" And he seemed to hate feeling like that, Sasha couldn't blame him.

"So... Will people's blood help with that? Or do you just need more blood?" Sasha asked when Astarion didn't elaborate. She felt kind of lost in this matter and the fact that Astarion, who was the actual vampire spawn, looked lost about it too wasn't helpful.

He just shrugged but his eyes were on her neck, as if he didn't see anything else since she told him she could drink from her. "Cazador always had people's blood."

"Okay... okay, then let's try it..." Before she could think it too much, Sasha offered him her forearm. “It doesn't have to be the neck, does it? There's an artery there." She said when Astarion didn't move. "Just… Remember I'm not a pig or a rabbit, so drink only enough to feel better…"

"Oh... Oh, yeah, right…" Astarion muttered before holding her arm, seeming very much taken by surprise by her actions. "Just a taste I promise," he said eyeing her arm and swallowing already, but instead of bitting he gave her another unsure look.

"It's not a trick," Sasha assured him softly. "I won't hurt you."

Something that wasn't hunger went through Astarion's eyes, gone as fast as it had come, as he lowered his head to her arm, grabbing it more firmly now, and then, his fangs pierced in.

The pain was sharp and cold, as if been stabbed by two ice shards, a contrast to the warm blood Sasha felt rushing out, but in seconds her arm was numb, and she wondered if maybe vampire bites somehow had an analgesic or sedative quality to stop victims from reacting.

Astarion drank as if he was starved, and Sasha idly wondered how she tasted before calling herself stupid for wondering such a thing and even caring.

She'd never ask Astarion...but if the sounds he was making as he eagerly drank were to judge, it seemed it was good.

Sasha tried to mute it...those sounds were sending something to her belly that she would rather not feel at such a time, thank you very much... And if Astarion realized, she wouldn't see the end to his jokes and teasing, even if he was the one making those damn sounds.

He seemed too lost in her blood to notice anything outside it, though.

Eventually, she began to feel lightheaded. Astarion was drinking too much without stopping, he'd go ahead and kill her if she didn't stop him. Sasha wondered why was she even surprised or why she felt so bitter about it. Should have seen it coming.

"Astarion, enough," she warned him but he didn't acknowledge her, and so she grabbed his hair to force him away, pulling harder when he tried to lower his head back to her arm again.

"You'll kill me." She snapped.

"What, no, I..." Astarion mumbled. He seemed dazed, eyes unfocused, her blood staining his mouth and chin, some of it dribbling from his lip. He had even managed to get some droplets on his nose. "No, I uh... I'm sorry."

"You're not," Sasha scoffed, the feeling of bitterness wouldn't leave her.

"I am," Astarion insisted. He seemed less dazed but still a bit out of himself. "I didn't mean to hurt you, I got carried away, I'm sorry, it's just... That was... Amazing."

He grinned and he should look ridiculous, unsettling even, grinning with his lips smeared in her blood, but somehow Astarion always managed to look beautiful.

Sasha wanted to be mad at him, to snap again, to refute his words when he said he was sorry and hadn't meant it, but she couldn't...she would blame it on the blood loss, the bite, and whatever sedative, mind dumbing powers she'd decided vampire bites had.

"You feel better then?" She asked gruffily.

"Better? I feel incredible!" Astarion chuckled, still grinning. I don't feel hunger, nothing at all... I feel strong, I feel... Happy."

It should sound ridiculous and silly, such a choice of word, but he did seem happy, Sasha didn't think she'd ever seen such a look like that on him. It suited him...

She wanted to be mad but couldn't, and she didn't want to think that he looked rather cute no matter the blood stains, yet there she was... She would never, ever admit it, not even to herself.

"Okay," Sasha muttered before she looked at her bleeding forearm, she had to take care of that.

"I'm sorry I got carried away, I couldn't help it, Astarion said again and she just nodded curtly. "But, uh... This is a gift, you know? I won't forget it, thank you."

Sasha looked at him at that. Astarion was serious now, and she really wanted to believe that he meant his words, even if the doubt was always there. She nodded again, her expression softer this time.

Without another word, she held a hand over the bleeding wound of her arm, channeling some healing.

"That's a nice trick," Astarion said as he watched her.

"Not a trick."

"Heard Gale calling it that."

Sasha snorted. Gale was nice, he really was, but he did have his slappable moments. "Because sometimes he's a pedantic, full-of-himself wizard, like most."

"Oh? I'll be sure to tell him."

"Of course you will"

"So... What god gives you... This?" Astarion asked as he gestured to her hands. "You never said."

"None."

“None?” Astarion arched an eyebrow at her “I thought you paladins got your powers from gods”

“Most do, but others…we don’t. We get our powers from our oath, if it’s strong enough,” she explained vaguely.

“Oh?” Astarion seemed quite interested in what she was saying. In fact, Sasha didn’t think she’d ever had his full attention like that before, except when he was drinking from her a minute ago.

“It’s just… I don’t know. I know other paladins or clerics like Shadowheart love their gods and get their powers from them but I…I called them for help first, then for vengeance, but none of them answered…”

Sasha hadn't told this to anyone so why was she telling it to a vampire whom she knew she shouldn't trust, who’d have drained her of her blood if left to his own devices, who laughed at her on a daily basis…She didn't know. “So I took this oath of vengeance by myself and it seems it was strong enough to grant me this powers.”

“Mmmh…” Astarion seemed thoughtful but then he was smirking in that devilish way of him. “Maybe I should take an oath like that too, My wish of vengeance is more than strong enough.”

Sasha didn't know if it was a joke or not, but she snorted anyway. “I'm not sure it'd work, you have to care about helping people get their revenge if they deserve it, even more than you care for your own, like…You have to care for other people.”

“Oh…yeah, it might not work then,” Astarion deadpanned and again, Sasha didn't know if he was joking or not but she couldn't help her chuckle.

For a moment, she chewed on her lip, considering…but she'd already shared more than ever, so…

“Every day I think that maybe the gods don't want me to be a paladin and so that's why they didn't answer, why they don't give me power. “

Astarion scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Who cares why they think, besides, if that were true, then the gods are doing a poor job at stopping you from being a paladin.”

Sasha didn't say anything to that, but how much did she want to believe him... It was oddly comforting.

There was another moment of silence before Astarion spoke again.

“I asked all the gods for help too, but none of them answered or helped me either, ” his voice was quiet and hurt, but angry too.

Sasha didn't need to ask about what he was talking about.

“Cazador was a bastard, wasn't he?” She asked and Astarion scoffed.

“No… Calling him that would be a compliment. He was much, much worse,” he spat, fangs bared, red eyes aglow with hatred but also pain.

Astarion hadn't shared much about Cazador and his life under him, and Sasha knew that what he'd told her was barely the surface of the abuse he'd suffered, but it was enough, even without considering how the whole of it was probably much, much worse and horrifying.

She took a deep breath before facing Astarion, who seemed a bit confused about what was she doing.

“Astarion… I vow to help you get your vengeance on Cazador.” She delivered it as seriously and confidently as she could.

Astarion seemed even more confused, then he looked like he was about to do some joke or quip with that nonchalant facade of his, but then he went serious too.

“Really?” His voice was barely a whisper.

Sasha nodded. “I swear it.”

There it was, that genuine, soft smile that soon he was masking again.

“I'm the one killing him.”

Another nod. “Yes, and I'll help you.”

“Thank you,” Astarion whispered before looking away, clearing his throat… Maybe it was enough vulnerability for one night, for both of them. “I suppose we'll have to deal with all this missing archdruid and tadpoles in our brains first…”

“I suppose… And you should clean up my blood from your face before someone wakes up and thinks you murdered someone,” she half-joked. “I'll take watch, come on.” She nodded toward his tent.

She wasn't sure he got much rest, she'd heard his nightmares last night, but she didn't want to bring it up, not yet, and at least he needed to try to get some rest.

It seemed Astarion was going to say something, but he changed his mind, just nodding instead. He got up and walked to his tent, and when he looked at her over his shoulder before walking in, Sasha tried to ignore the silly, fluttering feelings in her belly.

NA:

Thanks for taking the time to read this little thing, I love Astarion and I'm rather fond of my tavs, so my brain is always daydreaming about them.

If you liked it, please let me know in a comment, and as always, reblogs are more than welcome.

Excuse my English, it’s not my first language.

#astarion fanfiction #astarion x tav #astarion x oc #astarion #tav: Sasha #tav #my fics #bg3 astarion #astarion fanfic #astarion fic

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hayleythesugarbowl · 1 year ago

Text

You Can’t Change the Past || a short story inspired by elena of avalor

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ masterlist ⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ summary: Jacques, Chancellor of Emelda, plagued by regrets, is used to helping his cousin run her kingdom. But when he meets some ghosts of his past and a villain returns is he ready to face it all?

word count: 6k

warnings: the formatting is a little funky!!

a/n: ok so i know i usually post x reader fanfiction but this is a short story i wrote when i was 14 (see also this cover art i did when i was 14) and I recently came upon it so i figured i’d post it here for you guys to see inside of young-me’s mind (I haven’t completely read through it since then so keep that in mind). this a very loose ripoff of elena of avalor so please also keep that in mind. little me didn’t quite understand the word copyright so we’ll just call it a little elena of avalor fanfic with name changes!! if you aren’t familiar with eoa, even better. forget i said any of that stuff about copywriting and just enjoy this fic that I myself made up entirely and marvel at my creative abilities. either way, let’s laugh at me together!! all jokes aside, all credit to the writers of Elena of Avalor, this is by no means my own thing. also i do apologize this is so long, you have my full permission to skim. i implore you <3💌🍓🩰

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~°~❦~°~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cold, empty, lifeless, Emelda was a small, mystical kingdom just outside of one of Spain’s main cities. It was spring, and normally Emelda was beautiful, lush, enchanting, and had crowded streets full of busy merchants and giddy tourists. But to anyone who had never seen this once flourishing city, it looked deserted as if no one had lived in it for many years. It was as if one busy day, everyone had fled suddenly, leaving everything forlorn. Hardly any people were in the marketplace other than the occasional runaway or stiff guard. Dark shadows filled the streets and not one sound could be heard. The only place that seemed to show any signs of life, was the elegant palace that sat on a hill overlooking the town. This palace was beautiful with marble walls and a sparkling, refreshing looking moat surrounding it. Tourists who walked into this castle were always dazzled by its display. It looked dignified, but cozy and inviting, or it used to. Now the palace was bare, dull, and even sinister. This is because the woman who now sat on the throne liked things bare, dull, and even sinister. This woman’s name was Francessi. Francessi’s appearance matched her evil disposition. Her pine green dress stuck tightly to her slender body. Her long black hair fell below her waist and crowded her pale pinched face. Francessi’s eyes were a dark, dark piercing green. A wand was clutched tightly in her hand. Francessi gazed at her castle in triumph. After she took care of the king and queen, she had all the guards take anything with any trace of cheer, or bright colors out of the palace. Francessi was ruthless. She was unforgiving. She had no mercy.

“Jacques!” Francessi yelled in her low raspy voice to her loyal and most trusted assistant. A man sheepishly entered the room. He stood by the cold-blooded queen’s throne ready to obey her every command. There was a hint of regret in his eyes.

“Yes, Ma’am.”

*****

“Jacques.” Jacques awoke with a start. He had barely slept that week. In fact, he had barely slept at all ever since he had taken up the job of Chancellor of Emelda, and this wouldn’t be the first time he had fallen asleep at the breakfast table.

“Jacques,” Christina said again, “I was going to take a walk around Emelda after breakfast, if you would like to come along.” Christina smiled at Jacques. She wore a flowing blue dress with white flowers painted on it. She had caramel skin and chocolate brown eyes. Christina’s silky cocoa hair was pulled into a high ponytail atop her head.

Jacques sighed, “I told you I don’t have time for useless recreational activities; there is work to be done.”

He picked a piece of lint off his jacket. Jacques wore a deep red coat buttoned up to his neck. A blue and yellow sash with the word “Chancellor” printed on it ran across his chest. His pitch-black hair hung loosely over his light brown face. Everything from Jacques’ tall black boots to his thin mustache reflected his uptight nature. Christina’s not cut out to be queen, Jacques thought. She didn’t take her work seriously, and in his opinion, nobody that innocent and naïve should be running a kingdom. At the young age of 16, Christina had recently been crowned queen and welcomed back into Emelda. After her parents were killed, and the previous queen was banished and sentenced to death, Christina was the only heir to the throne. As soon as the image of that witch entered Jacques mind, he felt a pang of guilt. He was reminded of the dream he had just awoken from. Jacques groaned. This dream had been haunting him for a year now. He had predicted that once that wretched queen was sent out of the kingdom never to return, he would shake the guilty feeling he always carried around, but still everything reminded him of that dark time.

“Well, do you maybe want to take this breakfast outside and enjoy the sunshine then?” Christina asked, bringing Jacques out of his thoughts. She looked at him with pleading eyes. Jacques had plenty of work he would rather be getting back to, but Christina looked so desperate to spend time with him that he couldn’t help but say yes. She was his little cousin after all. Jacques was also all the family Christina had left, and he understood she missed her parents. There came the guilt. Jacques knew it wasn’t his fault Christina’s parents had been killed. It was Francessi’s of course, but he still couldn’t help but feel responsible. He decided to drop the matter for now.

“I’ll help you carry the plates,” Jacques said to his cousin. Anything to take his mind off the past.

“The weather’s beautiful today!” Christina exclaimed as she and Jacques stepped out, carrying the plates, onto the front steps leading out of the palace. Stretching out in front of them was the marble bridge that led from the castle high up on the hill, to the cozy town below. From here Christina and Jacques could see the whole kingdom laid out below them like items from a dollhouse. Jacques followed Christina’s gaze and saw that she was right; the weather was beautiful. The town was lively with people shopping and selling at the markets. Children were running through the streets carelessly, occasionally bumping into an annoyed merchant or cart full of fruit. Their laughter could be heard all the way up at the palace. The trees were just blossoming in the fresh air and a few small piles of snow that hadn’t melted were the only traces of winter. A slight wind blew through the trees and ruffled the feathers of the elegant birds.

“It is beautiful,” Jacques mumbled almost in a whisper. He sat down on the steps by Christina and continued to pick at his pancakes. For a while nobody spoke, and the two cousins just sat there and listened to the chatter of the townspeople and the chirping of the birds.

“My mother always said that if you looked down at the bustling village, and all the people beneath you, you would feel like the whole kingdom was yours,” Christina described finally.

Jacques chuckled, “I remember. Your father would always remind her that the whole kingdom was theirs.”

“And then my mother would say that the kingdom wasn’t theirs, they just watched over and protected it,” Christina narrated wistfully. She stared down at the town, “My parents always told me that one day I’d protect Emelda and keep it safe, and now I’m queen. I can’t believe it. I always imagined that I’d be as old as them before I became queen.”

And now she’s queen, Jacques thought. What he thought was that Christina wasn’t exactly protecting the kingdom, as he did most of the work.

“It seems like just yesterday you were crawling around the palace, hiding behind the curtains at bedtime,” Jacques said, instead of how much of the kingdom’s paperwork do “you” take care of?

“Old people always say things seem like just yesterday!” Christina snickered.

“Old?” Jacques challenged. At 47 with only a few gray hairs, Jacques didn’t consider himself necessarily old. Qualified to rule Emelda, yes. Old, no.

“Ok, I guess you’re not as old as,” Christina thought for a moment, “Agatha, the lady who always sells the spoiled milk and rotten fruit.”

“Or Martha the Maid!” Jacques announced playfully.

Christina giggled, “Or bitter Francessi!” Christina’s smile suddenly faded. Jacques grew quiet. The birds sang louder. “I miss them,” Christina said to her cousin. Jacques missed them too. He knew, of course, that he missed Christina’s parents more than Christina knew. “I just wish that I got to see them one last time, you know, before I was taken away for 10 years.”

“The guards took you away because they knew it wasn’t safe for you to stay in Emelda,” Jacques reiterated, more reserved now, “And they were right.”

“I know,” Christina answered, “I can only think of how different things would have gone if my parents left with me in that carriage. That reminds me, Jacques, when Francessi took over did you…”

“You can’t change the past,” Jacques interrupted bitterly, “Your parents stayed in Emelda to try and defeat Francessi and look where it got them. You said their job was to protect everyone. Well they failed, and it cost them their lives. Now you have been hastily left in charge, setting your parents’ kingdom, the kingdom they kept safe, up for failure once again.”

“You can’t change the past,” Jacques said again almost to himself, “no matter how much you wish it were so.” He walked up the stairs and shut the palace door behind him. With that he was gone.

Christina sat on the stairs in shock. You can’t change the past she repeated, as she tried to finish her pancakes.

Jacques walked through the castle doors. He hurried through the numerous rooms absently, while still obtaining good posture. Jacques scarcely looked around him. When he found himself in the throne room, he hesitated and stared at the regal looking throne sitting in the center of the room. He closed his eyes for a second, then continued walking, and didn’t stop until he reached his office.

Jacques collapsed into the chair at his desk. Work, he thought. Work always clears my head. Jacques started flipping through the pages on his desk but couldn’t stop thinking about Francessi. He looked for a pen but could only think of Christina, and as he tried to sign peace treaties with the neighboring kingdoms, thoughts of how he had blown up at his cousin filled his head. Jacques rolled his eyes. There was no way he was going to get any work done. Usually his royal duties were his favorite, and most time consuming, part of the day. Jacques wished he could just forget this whole day, but since he couldn’t, might as well try to collect his thoughts. He pondered Christina. He knew he would never do anything to harm her, at least not intentionally. Jacques remembered what he had declared to her, you can’t change the past. He was telling this just as much to himself as he was to Christina. He thought about Christina’s job as queen. Christina wasn’t going to fail Emelda, not with Jacques as Chancellor. He also knew that his cousin’s friends had all fled the kingdom or been killed, so the least he could do was help her. Jacques paused and remembered his old friend and associate, wondering where he was now.

He stared at the papers on his desk; this was going nowhere. The only thing he could think of doing was apologizing to Christina. Jacques didn’t have any better ideas, so he walked out of his office. It had been about half an hour since he had last seen his cousin, and he figured she was probably up in her room. The Chancellor had only walked a few steps when the doorbell rang. He decided his apology would have to wait. He couldn’t say whether he was disappointed or relieved.

Jacques walked rapidly down the grand stairs to the front door. As soon as he opened the door and looked at who was standing on the front steps, he wished he had ignored the doorbell completely. Standing at the door, smirking, was a man with a pine green blazer. A yellow scarf peeked out from under his shirt, like a mustard spill. His black-gray hair was slicked back, and it looked like he had put some of his leftover hair gel on his sharp goatee. Green eyes sparkling with pride, this was a man Jacques had hoped he would never see again.

“Hola,” the man said grinning, “old friend.”

“Why?” Jacques was having trouble finding his words, “Why are you here, Manuel?”

“Guess,” Manuel smirked. He stood there calmly, but his presence was sketchy, and it was unsettling.

Jacques composed himself, “Oh, I don’t know. To laugh at me? To borrow something of mine and then never return it? Steal from the queen?”

“Queen?” Manuel asked “Christina lived?”

“Yes, she lived but that’s not the point. I demand to know why you are back in Emelda.”

“Well, you know, I just thought since I’m no longer banished,” Manuel snarled. “I’d come back, visit the kingdom, take a vacation, and see my old and dear friend, El Segundo.”

Jacques adjusted his sash, “Nobody calls me El Segundo anymore; that was just my childhood nickname meaning ‘The Second’ because…”

“Because when we used to have races in the hallways of the castle, you’d always come in second,” Manuel cooed.

“Yes, well people call me Chancellor of Emelda now,” Jacques said, “because while you abandoned Emelda, and went running around breaking into people’s homes, I have been running a kingdom.”

“Abandoning Emelda and running around breaking into people’s homes?” Manuel repeated, “You know perfectly well that I didn’t abandon the kingdom, and I only stole to stay alive. If I’m not mistaken, you are the one who betrayed your kingdom, eh? If I recall correctly, you stayed in power while everybody else, including me and Christina, suffered.” Jacques stiffened. He knew there was no truth to this statement, right? “What do you have to say for yourself now, Chancellor?” Manuel mocked.

“I’ll ask you one more time, Manuel; why are you here?”

Manuel rolled his eyes, “I see you’re still as stubborn as ever. Same party-pooper attitude, now you just have a fancy-pants jacket and a custom-made sash to go with it. But if you must know why I’m here, look in the carriage.”

Manuel noticed for the first time that behind his old companion, sat a horse-drawn carriage. This carriage was stunning. It was a creamy white color with golden trim and sparkling gold wheels. The driver looked confused, as if he had just woken up and been put at the reigns. A window was carved into the side of the carriage, but a set of pine green curtains covered it so nothing could be seen inside.

Jacques looked at Manuel blankly, but Manuel nodded his head in the direction of the carriage. Jacques looked again. This time as he looked carefully, he could see something in the window. A hand pulling back the curtain ever so slightly. A pale slender hand with pine green nail polish. A familiar hand. Past the hand were a pair of dark, dark green eyes that Jacques felt were piercing him. The rest of this person couldn’t be seen, but Jacques could tell they were grinning from ear to pale ear. Jacques couldn’t see the rest of this person’s body, but he didn’t have to. He gasped. “It couldn’t be!”

Manuel laughed triumphantly, “You’re not the only one who can partner with Francessi.”

“This isn’t possible; Francessi was banished and sentenced to death!” Jacques looked at Manuel, but he merely shrugged and leaned casually against the doorway.

“Francessi has her ways,” Manuel announced. “You know that wand isn’t just for show. You know how powerful it is, and how many lives were lost because of it.”

“Of course,” Jacques responded, “but that doesn’t explain why you’re working for Francessi.”

Manuel snorted, “Come on! You know more than anyone that Francessi has no mercy. You know that even if you try to fight her, she overpowers you. You know that no matter who you are, or what you believe in, at the end of the day you must stay alive. You know more than anyone that if you can’t beat them, join them.”

Jacques looked past Manuel at Francessi scheming in the carriage just feet away from them and shivered, “That’s still no excuse…” Jacques paused.

“No excuse to what?” Manuel continued, “Do you not remember when you used that same excuse to justify…”

Now it was Manuel’s turn to be interrupted. “Who’s there?” a voice called. The voice was Christina. She walked carefully down the stairs.

“Christina!” Manuel called, immediately changing his tone, “It’s been so long since I’ve seen you!”

Christina looked confused, “I’m sorry, have we met?”

Manuel smiled a fake smile, “I’m not surprised you don’t remember me. The last time I saw you, 10 long years ago, you were only a little girl. My name is Manuel Montoya, and I am your cousin’s oldest friend.”

“Manuel Montoya!” Christina remembered. “My parents used to invite you over for dinner almost every night.”

“The more the merrier, they would say,” Manuel added.

“Yes,” Jacques piped in, “you would always eat the food that Christina’s hard-working parents put on the table.” Christina frowned at Jacques.

“It seems like so long ago we were all sitting around the table laughing together, you know, before I was banished for 10 years,” Manuel reported, glaring at Jacques.

Christina sighed, “It seems like everyone in the kingdom was banished for a long time. Francessi caused us all much grief, but she’s gone now.” Jacques knew she was far from gone, and closer than they knew, but he didn’t feel like Christina would believe him. Not after he insulted her. Jacques thought about the whole truth and realized that there were parts of it he didn’t want his cousin to know. Besides, Manuel would probably have some scheme of his own to make sure nobody else knew that he had brought a villain back to Emelda. In fact, Jacques didn’t even know why Francessi or Manuel were here. All he knew was that Victor was shady, suspicious, and a con man. He had to figure out Manuel’s plan.

“It’s such a relief that witch is gone,” Manuel agreed, glancing over at the carriage that had brought him and his “companion” to Emelda.

Christina noticed Manuel’s glance, “That’s a beautiful carriage.”

Manuel looked around nervously, “Yes, well I’m very tired after my journey; maybe the Chancellor would like to invite his old pal in.” Jacques opened his mouth to speak, but Christina ushered Manuel in. Jacques knew Manuel just wanted to make sure Christina didn’t see the carriage, and its wicked occupant, but Christina was already showing Manuel to the dining room table. Jacques sighed, but followed them.

“…and this is where we all used to sit when my parents were done working for the day,” Christina was finishing.

“This all brings back so many wonderful memories!” Manuel said. “Which reminds me, Christina, on my way to the palace I saw a shop selling raspberries. Would you care to go and get some, and maybe bake one of your mother’s famous raspberry pies for us to enjoy later?”

Jacques figured Christina would refuse, saying that she could do that later and instead they should all spend some time together. Jacques was wrong.

“I’d love to! I’ll get going, and tonight we’ll have raspberry pie to celebrate the return of an old family friend.” Christina pranced out of the dining room towards the front door.

“I can’t wait; take your time!” Manuel called out. Jacques could tell he was impatient for Christina to leave. As soon as the two men heard the door close, Manuel folded his hands. “Alright Chancellor,” he began, “now that your ignorant cousin is gone, let’s talk business. It might surprise you to know that I’m not really in Emelda to visit an old acquaintance.” It didn’t surprise Jacques at all. He knew from the moment he opened the door that Manuel wasn’t simply here to vacation. “It may also surprise you to know that Francessi is weak now,” Manuel continued, ignoring Jacques’ silence.

Now this surprised Jacques. He frowned. Francessi, weak? He thought back to all his memories of the evil queen and couldn’t ever imagine calling her weak. Jacques might have reminded Manuel of this if Manuel had not, enjoying Jacques’ puzzled expression, kept rambling.

“Yes, Francessi is weak, which is why she needs me, and I need you.”

“Manuel, just tell me why you’re here.” Jacques was growing impatient himself.

“Ok, ok,” Manuel leaned back in his chair, “so desperate. Well I’m sure you know how it all began. Francessi took over the kingdom. Ten long years ago a powerful witch invaded Emelda and the nation suffered. She banished almost everyone. She killed the king and queen. She shut down Emelda. And when she did, I was sent out with no money, no home, and no hope.” Jacques rolled his eyes. Manuel always had a flare for the dramatic. Besides, Jacques already knew how the story Manuel was telling went and didn’t see the point in him telling it.

“Manuel, I was there when Francessi took over.”

“You certainly were,” Manuel said. “While I was trying to stay alive like everybody else, you were living in luxury. You were only thinking of yourself. You partnered with Francessi! You betrayed your family!”

Jacques gasped. He didn’t know what to say. “I didn’t partner with Francessi.”

Manuel continued, “No, you didn’t partner with her. You worked for her. You became her minion, which is exactly what I am doing now. Since you have a history with Francessi, I figured you would understand my dealing with her. After all, it was your idea.”

“It was not my idea. Do you think I don’t regret working for the woman who killed Christina’s parents?” Jacques asked. He could feel his ears burning.

Manuel ignored Jacques, “Why don’t you just calm down and let me finish my story. Anyway, after 10 brutal years enough people finally fought against Francessi and were able to overthrow her. When they did, she was sentenced to death. Banished, just like everyone else. She was weak. Well, I found Francessi and agreed to get her out of her punishment if she would let me assist her. I only wanted to stay alive, and so did she. Once I started to carry out Francessi’s orders, I found out the reason Francessi was weak. She didn’t possess her wand. The only reason why she couldn’t come right back and take over Emelda, was she didn’t have the wand that did all the work. If she had her weapon, you and your dim-witted cousin would be exiled, or worse. That is, unless you decide to support Francessi to get out of your mess again. The bottom line is, Francessi needs her wand. Which brings me to the plan. The part that involves you. Francessi has been looking all over the country for a material, a kind of jewel that can replace her old wand. So far, we haven’t had any luck. Until we came to Emelda. Francessi believes she has found the material that will work. The deep blue sapphire on Christina’s crown.”

Jacques paused for a moment to take all this in. Learning that the only thing stopping Francessi from stealing the kingdom was a crown that sat in the Royal Treasury, was more than unnerving. He thought back to that morning, and everything that had happened seemed petty now. What Jacques didn’t want to think about was how Manuel’s behavior seemed familiar. Desperate, revengeful, trying to stay alive, doing the bidding of an evil queen. Jacques could see parts of himself in Manuel’s plan, and he didn’t like it at all. What Jacques thought of instead wasn’t any less upsetting. Christina’s crown had belonged to her mother. He knew she wouldn’t hand it over to Francessi, and he told Manuel so.

“Oh, I don’t think you understand,” Manuel replied, “nobody’s handing over anything. Christina can’t know that Francessi is here. Why do you think I sent her to get those fake raspberries? No, Christina is not going to give Francessi her crown. I am. I will give the crown to Francessi, right after someone gives it to me. You. You are going to steal Christina’s crown.”

“I will do no such thing.”

“Oh, but I think you will,” Manuel countered, “because if you don’t steal that crown for me, old friend, I will tell Christina the truth. The truth about you. The truth about how you betrayed her. The truth about how you conspired with the enemy.”

Jacques froze. Steal from Emelda or tell Christina how he abandoned Emelda. Both seemed like betrayal. He would like to say Manuel wouldn’t dare, but he wasn’t sure.

“Speechless, El Segundo?” Manuel asked, “Well how about this, I’ll give you until tonight to make your decision. If you don’t give me the crown by tonight, I’ll expose you and all your secrets to your dear cousin. I’ll give you some time to think it over. Decide wisely.” With that, Manuel strutted out of the room. Jacques could hear the front door shut and the sound of the horse-drawn carriage rattling away. He figured Manuel probably had stolen a hut somewhere to wait with Francessi while Jacques thought things over. But he would be back. Back with Francessi in time for Jacques to deliver Christina’s crown. Or not; not if Jacques told the truth.

Jacques thought about Christina, looking in the market for raspberries she would never find. He sighed. He pictured the crown sitting in the Royal Treasury, and then he thought of the decision he had to make by tonight. Jacques imagined Christina’s reaction upon being told her only family member had abandoned her in order to gain power and security. He cringed. Stealing wouldn’t be so bad. Christina was out in the village, so she wouldn’t catch him. But then he remembered what would happen if he stole the crown. Francessi would use the sapphire on it to create a new wand, gain power once again, and take over the kingdom. What would become of him then? Jacques figured as a last resort he could, perhaps, work for Francessi again. He didn’t like to think that he could be persuaded to join a villain so easily, but he wouldn’t join her, right? What would happen to Christina? Emelda? He couldn’t imagine knowing he was the cause of Francessi’s redemption. Especially after what had happened last time. But then he thought of Christina. Innocent Christina not being able to trust him. Would he be fired from the position of Chancellor and not be able to do the kingdom’s work? He had no idea what to do.

Jacques stood up from the table. He decided to walk towards the Royal Treasury and think. Jacques opened the grand treasury doors that towered over him. When he stepped in, he was blinded by the sparkling jewelry and treasure laid out in cases, stands, and tables. The large windows let in all the shining sunlight. Amid all these valuables was Christina’s crown. It sat in the middle of the room on a grand podium made of solid gold. The crown sat majestically in the room, the light dancing off its deep blue sapphire. Jacques had been in this room before, but not often, and he was dazzled by its charm. He took a couple unsteady steps toward the crown. When Jacques was close enough to see his reflection in the crown’s jewel, he frowned. The man looking back at him looked troubled, like he had been 10 years ago. He wondered if Christina was right about him being old. Jacques took a deep breath. He took his hands out of his pockets and gently lifted Christina’s crown off the podium. Jacques held it carefully in his hands and felt its weight. He walked out of the treasury and headed toward his office to figure out what to do next. Jacques opened the door and standing there staring at him was Christina. He jumped, almost dropping the crown that had belonged to Christina’s mother. He anticipated that Christina wouldn’t be back for at least another hour. Jacques was caught.

“What are you doing with my crown?” Christina was as surprised as Jacques.

Jacques was stuck. “I was just…taking it out to clean it, as part of my job as Chancellor of Emelda.” He hoped this would work. Lucky for him Christina was trusting. Trusting for now.

“Oh, ok then. Well, I’ll let you get back to it. I just got back from town; I didn’t find the raspberries. Hey, where’s Manuel?”

“He, uh, went to the house he is staying at while in Emelda. He said he was exhausted.”

Christina nodded slowly. Jacques hurried past her, leaving her standing at the door to the treasury. Once Jacques was in his office, he locked the door and slumped into his chair for the second time that day. He set the crown down on his desk and examined it. He had stolen the queen’s crown. It didn’t feel right, even though he hadn’t actually left the palace with it. Manuel would be back tonight, waiting for Jacques to hand over the crown. He had time to think about what had just happened and what would happen, but he didn’t want to. He got up and flopped down on his bed. Francessi could take over Emelda again, he thought, and then he was out cold.

Jacques awoke to the sound of a low rumbling coming from outside. He thought it was thunder. It was Francessi. That was worse. The sun was just rising over the mountains. Night had passed. Jacques was late, but so was Manuel. Jacques watched the carriage pull up to the front of the palace. He sat up. The crown was still on his desk. Regret filled him. Grabbing it, Jacques walked down the stairs reluctantly. He hid the crown in one of his pockets right before opening the door. Manuel was there staring at him.

“We meet again.” Manuel rubbed his chin. “Have we made a decision?” Jacques had made a decision. He decided that he wanted Manuel out of Emelda. He decided that he didn’t want Christina to find out about his betrayal, and he decided that stealing the crown, and helping Francessi once more, was the wrong thing to do. Jacques had made many decisions, just not the one Manuel was looking for.

“Well,” Manuel waited, after Jacques didn’t answer him, “are you going to hand over the crown?” Jacques didn’t answer once more, he just straightened his back and grabbed onto the item in his pocket. He pulled the crown out of his coat and showed it to Manuel.

Manuel beamed, “Good decision, partner, good decision. I’ll be taking this,” he announced pulling the item from Jacques’ grip. Jacques looked at the floor. Helpless, he thought. The same feeling he had tried to avoid the last time he helped Francessi. “Well,” Manuel said, as he examined the crown, “I can’t keep Francessi’s waiting.” He walked over to the carriage and drew back the curtain for the first time. There was Francessi, pale, powerless, and staring daggers at Jacques. Francessi’s hair had turned from black to pure white. She was older than the last time Jacques had seen her, but so was he. Anything Jacques wanted to do; it was too late. Manuel handed Francessi the crown. She cackled and broke the sapphire off the crown and threw the rest to the ground shattering it. Francessi pulled out her old broken, dusty wand and stuck the sapphire on top. The wand illuminated the carriage. Francessi let out another sinister laugh and stepped out of the carriage. The wand worked fast. Francessi’s hair immediately turned a dark black, like ink being poured onto a blank page. Her wrinkles faded, and she drew up to her full height. It was transfixing, but terrifying to watch. Francessi walked up to Jacques, who took more than a few steps backwards.

“Thank you, Jacques.” She smirked. “I couldn’t have done this without you. As soon as the kingdom is mine once more, I will make sure to reappoint you as my royal assistant!” Jacques didn’t know what to feel. Terrible, relieved, guilty, petrified. Francessi started to say something else, probably about herself, but at that moment Christina walked into the doorway. Jacques felt history repeating itself in many ways. Christina screamed.

“Hello Christina, enjoying your job as queen?” Francessi said, “You won’t have it for long. What do you say you hand it over to me?” She pointed her wand at a frightened Christina. All Christina managed to get out was How? “How?” Francessi responded, “Why don’t you ask your cousin. We couldn’t have done it without him.” Christina soon realized that “we” meant Francessi and Manuel. She gasped at Manuel, but he just shrugged and leaned against the carriage.

“Jacques, what is she talking about?” Christina asked. Jacques looked at Christina. She looked back, but Jacques couldn’t answer her.

“I’ll tell you what she’s talking about,” Manuel piped in, “Jacques gave the kingdom to Francessi. He stole your crown and gave it to me. That is how her wand is back to its former glory. He was afraid the truth would come out if he didn’t steal from you, but the truth always has a way of coming out anyway. Christina, when Francessi took over this land 10 years ago, you and I, along with all the other Emeldians, suffered. But Jacques stayed in power. Your cousin answered Francessi’s every command in order to stay in Emelda and avoid being hurt. He betrayed you and everyone else in this kingdom. Some Chancellor.”

Christina looked at Jacques, “Is this true?” Jacques didn’t even care that Manuel had broken his end of the deal; he just needed to figure out what to tell Christina. Jacques opened his mouth to speak, but Manuel beat him to it.

“Of course, it’s true! And look, he’s let you down again, all because he was too afraid to face the truth and fess up to you. Well it’s over now, Francessi will take over Emelda once again, and this kingdom will fall!” Christina looked at Jacques and then turned away. She burst into tears. Jacques looked at Manuel in despair. Francessi stepped forward again.

“Yes, Manuel, thank you but I can handle my own tyranny now. But it’s true, Jacques is a traitor,” Francessi revealed, her hands on her hips. “Well, now that my wand is fixed, and Christina is in shock, the only thing left is to become Queen of Emelda. Now stand aside and let me finish this! Christina, unless you want to end up like your poor parents, I suggest you get out of my way,” Francessi aimed her wand at Christina. Jacques couldn’t take it. This was all his fault. All of it. There was no way he was going to get banished, but he wasn’t going to serve Francessi either.

He stepped forward and smacked the wand out of Francessi’s hand. She gave a cry of frustration. The wand landed on the ground halfway between Manuel and Jacques. Francessi started yelling at Manuel, telling him about the consequences of him not retrieving the wand. Manuel lunged for it, but Jacques beat him to it. He stepped on the wand, shattering the sapphire into thousands of tiny pieces. Francessi looked wildly at Jacques but as soon as the wand broke, she fell to the ground, crippling to the old woman she was without the wand to give her strength. Manuel hurried her into the carriage and got in, defeated.

“Until next time old friend,” Manuel said, and with that, he and his villainous boss were gone.

Jacques sighed with relief and frustration. Everything had happened so fast. Francessi was no longer a threat, but he still had the problem of his cousin.

“Christina, what Manuel said about me betraying Emelda, you should know that I only…” Christina hugged Jacques.

“It doesn’t matter,” Christina said gently, “you saved me from Francessi’s wand and stopped her from destroying the kingdom again. Whatever happened in the past, well, that’s in the past. Even if you can’t change it.” She smiled at Jacques.

Jacques looked at Christina and smiled back. Maybe she wasn’t the best queen or the best at running a nation, but she made a pretty good cousin. He watched the fading figure of Francessi and Manuel’s carriage until it disappeared. Jacques looked down at the kingdom of Emelda. He looked at the enormous palace behind them. He looked at Francessi’s wand, hopelessly smashed on the ground. You can’t change the past, Jacques thought, and maybe he didn’t have to.

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ˋ°•*⁀➷ if you made it though all 6k of that, you deserve a medal. here: 🏅it’s not quite a recompense, but it’s close <3

#writing #fanfiction #elena of avalor #creative writing #fanfic #let’s make fun of me together #say what you want about my writing now #but I’ve come a long way

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imaginesbymonika · 3 years ago

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Pure Honey, or whatever she said.

the final chapter to pure honey, a pedro pascal fanfiction

Read previous chapters here

warnings: none, just fluff fluff fluff fluff - got teary eyed at the end :’) i love these two characters together so much

imagine: pedro is talking about his relationship to the musician Y/N and how the media has reacted to it

a note by me: i want to say thank you so so so much, everyone who has read and commented it, it truly means a lot <3 so this is a small present to all of you!!!! love you tons, stay safe :)

song to listen to while reading:

"So, a couple of days ago a picture on the Internet managed to get quite the buzz. Dare I say it went viral.", Jimmy Kimmel says after Pedro sat down on the couch. As soon as he finishes the sentence the crowd laughs and even the actor can't help but smile at the repetition. "I think you know where I am going with this.", the late-night host turns his head towards his (very giggly) guest. "I hope we are talking about the same thing."

Jimmy laughs as he leans his upper body on the giant table: "You and Y/N, huh?" At the sound of the musician's name, the crowd erupts in cheers and whistles, which makes the older man blush almost immediately. He clears his throat a few times while he shifts in his seat: "Y-Yeah, me and Y/N." He watches how the comedian takes a couple of thin wooden plates in his hands: "Who would have thought?" "Yeah. Who would have thought?"

Pedro who really doesn't seem to be able to stop giggling nods his head: "Well, first of all, how did it happen, and second of all why did it take so long?"

The audience laughs and he rubs his chin: "Well, you know to be honest with you. It was primarily my own stupidity that kept this thing we had going on a secret for so long. We were like discreetly meeting up and I don't know, dating- because I was worried people would judge us. This is so...stupid because people are always judging you, no matter what you do. But I don't know, I was worried it would do more harm than good."

Jimmy chuckles softly: "Well, I am just glad that you guys have figured it out." At that, the actor lets out a sigh, which makes a few audience member laugh: "Me too, dude. Me too."

"But we aren't the only people who are happy about this. The internet nearly exploded when you were seen together in New York. So I thought maybe...", Jimmy once again takes the wooden plates in his hands:" Maybe you could read some of the tweets that people have written about you two." "Yeah, sure."

"The concept is super easy. I will turn these plates around and you will just read whatever's written on them out loud." The actor nods and watches how the host flips the first one around.

Pedro laughs together with Jimmy:" Whoever wrote this appears to be screaming at the end, but yeah, our first day out in the open we did go to grab bagels for breakfast." "I love bagels.", Jimmy adds before moving on.

” Oh god.", Pedro runs a hand through his hair:” Oh man, people seem to be very invested in us:" That’s so crazy. Oh my god, another one."

"And to think that I was so worried that people wouldn’t be supportive.”, Pedro leans back in his seat and crosses his legs:" So stupid." Jimmy nods: "Well, we were all rooting for you guys, and by the way, just real quick before you leave." Jimmy takes a new plate in his hands and quickly turns it around. It reveals a picture of a random couple standing next to a Starbucks. His finger glides over the wood and lands in the background. The cameraman zooms in and a few people gasp.

"Just how it started, just you two spotted-."

"In the background of another photo. That's crazy."

"History repeats itself in the weirdest ways, right?"

Y/N who has her back turned to the front door listens to footsteps coming her way: "Oh you're already back?" The woman is standing in the kitchen, putting a few plates back into the cupboard:" How was it? What did you guys talk about?" But when she isn't receiving any answers, she turns around:" Pedro, are y- Oh my god."

Her eyes widen. He is kneeling, staring at her with the most sincere look in his eyes:" Initially I really wanted this to be more romantic, but when I was sitting in the car. I don't know, I just- I don't want to waste another day without asking you this. Y/N, I actually don't think that I could tell you how much I actually love you. Even if I knew all words in every single language. There is something about you that seems so ethereal. But I never actually managed to put a finger on it. And ever since we've met I really tried to do that: figure you out. I needed to know what drew me to you in the first place. Every time we were meeting up, I wanted to know what it was so I could try to find it outside of those hotel rooms. I knew from the time we talked at that bar, that I would chase that feeling you gave me for the rest of my life like some blood-hungry shark. And fuck I got too scared, every time you left- every single time I assumed that that's it. That would be the last time that I would be able to feel this 'something' that I couldn't even name. And it broke my heart in such a weird way. But now I know that it's okay. It is okay, that I don't know why I love you the way I do. Simply because I know I have a whole life ahead of me where I can try to get to the bottom of you. But I also understand, that one lifetime simply isn't enough for that. I love you Y/N, will you marry me?"

Without waiting a single second she nods. First sluggish, but then quicker until hot tears emerge in her eyes:" Yes! Oh my god. Yes."

They got married four months later. In Italy, a tiny city near the beach. Not a lot of people were invited, they both figured that they would want their closest friends and family there. Neither of them announced their engagement or wedding to the public. Not because they didn't want the world to know about it, but simply because it really doesn't matter.

In the end, it is just like Taylor Swift once wrote: “All these people think love's for show, but I would die for you in secret.” You really can’t understand that until you feel it, can you?

#Spotify #x reader #imagine #pedro pascal masterlist #pedro pascal angst #pedro x reader #pedro pascal #pedro pascal x reader #pedro pascal x reader fluff #pedro pascal fanfiction #the mandalorian x reader #the mandalorian #pure honey

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vanilla107 · 4 years ago

Text

The Absurd Plan to get Amity Blight a Girlfriend (Chapter 1)

Summary: “You’re late Mittens. Caught up at school like the teacher’s pet you are?” Edric teased and she rolled her eyes.

“I was hanging out with my friends. I have a life outside of school you know,” Amity huffed before a book fell out of her bag and the twins stared at it.

It was the latest Azura the Good Witch novel and she quickly picked it up and shoved it back into her bag.

“So…hanging out means Azura book club? With Luz huh?” Emira winked and she gritted her teeth.

“We’re just friends and happen to like the same books. Leave it alone.”

“We never said anything about you two being more than friends…right Ed?”

Alternative title: Edric and Emira try to help their sister get a girlfriend...emphasis on try.

Read on AO3: here

1 / 2 xoxo

“Edric?”

“Hmmm?”

“Have you noticed Mittens acting...different lately?”

It was an overcast Friday afternoon and the Blight twins were at home, avoiding the boiling rain that was supposed to hit in the next 15 minutes. Emira had just finished her homework, for once deciding to do it early than last minute and had come downstairs to find her brother on the chaise lounge reading.

Edric looked up and raised an eyebrow at his sister, a smirk forming on his lips.

“I assume you’re talking about how she acts with Luz…then yes. I have noticed.”

Emira giggled and sat down next to him, her golden eyes sparkling with mischief.

“We have to use this opportunity! Mittens threatened me earlier this week for cutting class and it’s been a while since we’ve teased her,” she said as she tossed her plait over her shoulder.

“Well we were a little harsh with the whole diary incident to be fair…”

“And that was weeks ago, Ed! I think it’s time to have a little fun and who knows…maybe Amity will finally loosen up a little if she had a girlfriend?”

At that moment, Amity walked into the house, barely dodging the boiling rain that started to hit the roof, and an automatic shield was resurrected around the house.

“Almost got caught,” she mumbled, and her siblings looked at her in curiosity.

“You’re late Mittens. Caught up at school like the teacher’s pet you are?” Edric teased and she rolled her eyes.

“I was hanging out with my friends. I have a life outside of school you know,” Amity huffed before a book fell out of her bag and the twins stared at it.

It was the latest Azura the Good Witch novel and she quickly picked it up and shoved it back into her bag.

“So…hanging out means Azura book club? With Luz huh?” Emira winked and she gritted her teeth.

“We’re just friends and happen to like the same books. Leave it alone.”

“We never said anything about you two being more than friends…right Ed?”

“That’s right Em…so that leaves the question…”

They looked at their sister, smirking, who had gone a deep shade of red before running up the stairs to her room and slamming the door. They laughed before Edric sat up straight and slammed his book shut.

“Okay Em, I’m in. Let’s get Mittens a girlfriend.”

~~~

Monday came and it was a new school week. Edric and Emira had spent the entire weekend plotting on what they would do exactly to irritate Amity and they were ready.

They both knew Luz read and wrote fanfiction and that meant cheesy tropes, cliché gestures and flirting. Their plan was perfect and designed to rile their younger sister off the wall.

There was ten minutes before school started and the two entered the building nodding towards each other before Edric set off in the direction of Luz’s locker.

He spotted her, surprisingly alone, and struggling to her her books out of her locker.

“C’mon! You. Were. Working. Perfectly. Yesterday!” she heaved as she wrestled with the locker but it only bit down harder on the books.

“Hey Luz, let me help!” he said cheerfully, and she looked up at him, out of breath.

“Mornin’ Edric! I don’t know…no matter how much I tickle it, it just won’t…”

She trailed off as he leaned against her locker and tickled it gently before her books were presented to her.

“How did you do that-?” she asked as she picked up her books and turning to face him.

“You gotta be gentle Luz. A gentle touch is exactly what everyone needs from time to time,” he said smoothly, and watched as her eyes crinkled in confusion as well as curiosity.

He inwardly cheered before spotting the head of bright mint hair walking towards them. Amity hadn’t seen them yet and he had to act quickly.

“Where are your friends? I thought they’d be here,” he asked, as she packed each book into her satchel.

“Willow has a practical plant exam and she wanted to be at class early to prepare and Gus is sick today. Amity said she’d meet me before class starts so I think she’ll be here in a couple minutes.”

Edric could clearly see Amity now and from his peripheral vision, saw her facial expression turn sour when she saw him with Luz.

Now it was time to strike.

He read in a manga at the library that usually the female protagonist was cornered by her love interest against the lockers. He wasn’t sure if it would work on Luz or if it would have the desired effect, but he thought he’d give it a shot.

“Well I’m happy I could help with your little locker problem. Remember Luz-” He leaned forward and firmly planted a hand against her locker, blocking her from exiting and gave her a wink, “-A gentle touch is what everyone needs from time to time.”

He could hear her sharp intake of breath and saw how she avoided eye contact with him, but the undeniable blush rising to her cheeks showed that what he had done worked. He waited a couple seconds before cocking his head to the side, Luz laughing nervously.

"You'll remember that...right?" he said softly.

“Y-yeah…I will,” she managed to say before he stepped back, the moment broken, and he walked down the corridor.

“Bye Luz! Have a good day!” he called and grinned when he saw Amity run to Luz's side.

She glared at him before he turned at a corner and went to class.

~~~

“So…how did it go? Did everything go as planned?” Emira squealed as they worked on an illusion together, being careful to keep her voice down.

“It went perfectly. Luz was alone which made it easier and Mittens looked furious. You should’ve been there because her face was priceless!”

“Well, it’s my turn after class and I can’t wait!”

“Make it subtle. I already feel like Mittens is on to us.”

“Seriously? But you only had one moment with Luz!”

“You know how she is. Little Miss Jumpy when we’re around her friends. It’s probably because we embarrass her so much,” Edric murmured.

“Yeah…maybe we should give it a rest?” Emira said softly.

They looked at each other before snorting with laughter.

“Nah!” they said in unison before completing their illusion.

The bell rung and their teacher nodded at their illusion allowing them to leave.

“Okay Em, you’re up. Don’t disappoint me!” he said.

Emira made her way to the courtyard and waited for a few minutes.

She knew that Luz had Potions before lunch and that she would be exiting the class opposite her. She also knew Amity would be walking to her locker to fetch her Abomination books so she would be in plain sight of what was going to unfold.

She hummed with excitement before seeing the class door open and watched Luz walk out, coughing with her other classmates. There was smoke coming from the classroom and Emira stared in confusion. Clearly, she would have to improvise her plan a little to match the situation.

“Luz!” she yelled, and the brunette looked up before making her way over to her.

“Hey Emira. Wow, it is bright outside,” she winced as she covered her eyes.

“What happened? You’re all covered with soot and smoke!” the twin exclaimed before getting napkin from her bag, grabbing Luz’s hand, sitting her down by the fountain and wiping her cheeks.

Emira spotted Amity walking across the courtyard and thanks to how the courtyard was built, it echoed, causing Luz’s loud voice to be heard by any passing students. She saw Amity’s head look up from her book when she heard the human’s voice and Emira concentrated on Luz, not wanting her sister to see that she was looking for a reaction.

“Weirdly enough, it wasn’t me this time! One of the guys at the back’s potions ended up backfiring a second before the bell rang and we couldn’t find the door because of all the smoke. But guess who could do wind magic and get everyone out of there? This girl!” she said, pointing to herself and Emira giggled.

She could understand why Amity liked her.

Luz was funny, charming and so much more laid back than her younger sister was, but the determination was still there to learn how to be a powerful witch.

They were perfect for each other.

“You’re getting better every single day Luz. I’m proud of you. I know that’s something Eda would say but…”

She wiped Luz’s forehead and booped her on the nose.

“You are going to be a great witch, cutie.”

She saw the red blush bloom on Luz’s face, and she smiled.

“Well, I better get going to class and you should too. I know you have a busy day ahead of you.”

“How…how do you know that?” Luz asked, curiously.

Emira cast a quick glance at her sister, who was standing dead still and watching every movement.

“Oh, Amity mentioned it to Ed and I over the weekend. She sounded worried about you and your stress levels, but we assured her that you would be fine. She seemed a little calmer after that. She really does care about you Luz,” she added with a small smile and watched in satisfaction at the blush deepening in colour.

“That’s really nice of her but she doesn't need to worry about me,” Luz said with a smile and Emira grinned.

With Amity watching them she knew exactly what to do next.

“Oh, there she is! You can thank her now if you want? Friends do that right?” she offered, and Luz wasted no time in running towards Amity’s direction and wrapping her in a hug.

“Luz! What are you doing?” Amity exclaimed and even from the distance, Emira could tell her sister’s face was bright red.

“Amity! It’s so sweet you care about my health, but I’ll be okay. I prepared sufficiently for today to pass my tests and all that but it’s really sweet you care so much!” she said.

Amity was too dumbstruck to answer but Luz was hugging her, and she liked being hugged so she let it happen.

She was about to send a glare to her sister but when she looked around the courtyard, Emira was gone.

~~~

“Ed, I wish I had taken a picture of her face! I don’t know why we didn’t think of this before!” she laughed as they walked outside and sat down in the sun.

They were supposed to be in their last class for the day, but they were tired from class as well as their antics and decided to cut class instead. Emira sighed as she illusioned a pair of sunglasses and placed them over her eyes.

“She looked like a bright red strawberry ready to explode-”

“What do you two think you’re doing?” a familiar voice came from behind them.

“Mittens! Gasp, are you cutting class?” Edric asked.

“No, I’m here to tell you two to back off Luz,” she growled and Emira smirked.

“Oh? And why’s that? We’re just being friendly.”

“No, you’re not! I saw you at her locker this morning Ed and Em, you knew exactly what you were doing when you-”

“-When I booped her nose and told her that you cared about her?” Emira interrupted and she watched Amity’s eyes widen in horror.

“You did what?” she screeched, and they rolled their eyes at her overreaction.

“I mean…it’s not like you don’t care about her so really…we’re doing you a favour Mittens,” Ed shrugged but the mirth in his eyes was there.

“No. Don’t you dare interfere with my friends! Luz doesn’t deserve to be manipulated into your little games.”

“Okay…fine,” Emira said as she took her sunglasses off and placed them on top of her head and Ed looked at his twin sister in shock.

“But Em-!”

“-No Edric…Amity’s right. We shouldn’t interfere and stop teasing Luz. We’re sorry Amity. We’ll cease our teasing and leave you be.”

Amity blinked at her response and nodded slowly.

“Oh…okay. I’ll be heading back to class…bye.”

They watched her leave and Edric stared at his sister.

“Em! What was that about? What about our plans for the rest of the week-?”

She lifted her sunglasses off her head back to her eyes and laid back down.

“I lied. I just wanted her to leave us alone and look! She’s gone. If I hadn’t stunned her like that, she probably would’ve dragged us to Principal Bump for cutting class. Now we can enjoy half an hour to ourselves and we can still implement our plan!” she smiled.

Edric chuckled and laid back down on the grass, “And it’s not like we’re trying to ruin her chances with Luz!”

“Yeah, we’re being good siblings by helping our sister with her crush!”

They looked at the clouds and laughed at the ridiculousness of the situation.

“This week is going to be very interesting indeed.”

~~~

A/N: I keep falling into fandoms and I'm not mad about it at all. I ended up binging The Owl House over the last week and let me just say it was the perfect thing for me now that She-Ra is done! Lumity is basically canon and I ADORE how chaotic Edric and Emira are. They are probably my favourite characters next to Amity, Eda and Luz. I hope you enjoy this and please comment/like/reblog if you liked it! If you want to follow me for rambles about my fanfiction or talk to me, hit me up on Twitter or Tumblr @vanilla107!

#the owl house #toh #amity blight #luz noceda #my writing #vanilla107 writes #edric blight #emira blight #willow park #gus #toh fanfic #lumity #the absurd plan to get amity blight a girlfriend

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theimpossiblescheme · 4 years ago

Text

So one of my favorite musicals of all time turns forty today…

Funnily enough, my first exposure to anything even related to it was through a little magazine called Cricket. I genuinely don’t know if it’s still in circulation, but it was a children’s magazine full of short stories, poems, fascinating articles, and book recommendations. It was old enough that not only had some of my favorite writers as a kid contributed to it (I also owe my love of Lloyd Alexander to the magazine since he always wrote the “Old Cricket” editorials at the end of every issue), but my aunt had also been subscribed to it. One day, my grandma let me borrow an old Cricket record full of stories and poems being read out loud, and the last track on the second side was a poem by T.S. Eliot. The poem that would eventually become “The Song of the Jellicles”—“Jellicle cats are black and white, Jellicle cats are rather small…” I thought it was a cute poem, but I had no idea there was anything more to it than that.

A few years later—when I was about eight years old—I read that poem and a bunch of poems like it had been turned into what was once the longest-running Broadway musicals. As soon as my brain saw the words “Jellicle cats”, I immediately flashed back to that old Cricket record, and I decided I had to learn more. As luck would have it, my grandma also had a VHS of the 1998 Great Performances show. For a long time, I dragged my feet on watching it. What if it didn’t live up to the hype? What if they were really better off as poems and not songs and dances? How did you make an entire musical based on poems for kids, anyway? But one evening I finally broke down and put in the VHS. I still have all the previews on it memorized—one for the huge Andrew Lloyd Webber concert in Royal Albert Hall, one for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and one for the movie The Borrowers. Then after a moment of silence, the overture started and the first glowing yellow cat’s eye appeared onscreen. Showtime.

What followed was an honestly life-changing experience. I’ve talked before about Cats being pure fantasy and escapism, and eight-year-old me had never seen anything like that outside of Disney movies. These were real people in these fuzzy, colorful costumes doing these incredible dance moves, performing magic tricks in real time, and transforming themselves into these fantastical creatures who sounded like humans, but behaved like cats. Real people who did this for a living—who went to work every day and got to become something else for hundreds of audience members to see. Who could make you laugh and cheer and cry while wearing fluffy wigs and painted stripes on their faces, and you never questioned it for a second. I marveled at Victoria’s ballet solo, Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer’s double cartwheel, Mistoffelees’s sparkling coat, Jemima and Grizabella’s beautiful voices. And by the time the credits rolled, I decided I wanted to do this for a living. I wanted to be an actress and make this kind of magic happen myself.

For a few years afterward, I’m pretty sure I was “the Cats girl” to everyone I knew. I always talked about it, I had all the characters memorized, and I first discovered fandom and fanfiction thanks to dedicated websites (once I was old enough to have unlimited Internet access). I even tried to stage my own production of it in elementary school, starring myself as Grizabella and my best friend at the time as Victoria (it never got off the ground, and it wouldn’t have been legal anyway without the Really Useful Group’s permission). And of course, it was a gateway drug to the wonderful world of musical theater; I wouldn’t have found Phantom, Great Comet, or Man of La Mancha without Cats. It wasn’t until I was older that I learned what a strange reputation Cats had. People respected it, but no one really seemed to like it—it was just a weird, silly fluke of a show with a strange concept and no plot. Some even considered it the worst thing Andrew Lloyd Webber had ever written. It didn’t make me love Cats less, but it did make me feel more… self-conscious about it. Like it was something I needed to precede with an “Okay, hear me out…” or “I know, I know, but…” before mentioning it to anyone. So while I still loved the show, I talked about it a lot less.

Then, about a year and a half ago, the movie came out. And for better or worse, it got people talking about the musical again. I was absolutely dreading the amount of people who were going to come out of the woodwork and keep saying what I’d always heard—that Cats was a bad musical and its fans were deluded, and they were never going to give it an honest chance now because of the movie’s reputation. Hyperbolically awful reviews and video essays came out, all bashing the very concept of Cats, and I wanted the earth to swallow me whole. But then, a miracle happened. People started rediscovering the actual musical again. People started talking about how they’d grown up with the 1998 version just like I had. People talked about liking it—actually liking this funny little show with its poems and songs and elaborate choreography in service of a loose, highly metaphorical plot. Actual fans talked about how they loved Cats and saw multiple productions of it and cared about the dozens of characters just like I did.

And very slowly, I started talking to them. I started learning new things, like little bits of trivia and the names of different performers and exactly what a “non-replica” was. I made friends and talked about headcanons and favorite productions with them. I started writing again after a long dry spell. I rejoined my first fandom ever, this time with new people I could actually interact with instead of just leaving messages in a long-dead guestbook, and I had the time of my life. I’m still having the time of my life with everyone in the Cats fandom here on Tumblr, getting to share one of my oldest and greatest inspirations with people who feel the same way I do. So thank you guys—for liking my ficlets and headcanon posts, for introducing me to the Mexican and Italian productions, for saying such kind words when I needed cheering up, and for letting me be a part of it.

And thank you, Cats. For sparking my love of theater and everything it’s capable of creating. For being such a joy to watch and learn about even on my most depressing days. For being wild and unapologetic the way few shows are brave enough to be. And for holding a special place in my heart, now and forever.

#the schemer speaks #cats the musical #cats fortieth anniversary #I love this show and I don't care who knows it--it's been such a formative influence. <3

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recurring-polynya · 3 years ago

Note

Tokusatsu Au where Rukia plays the lead actress in a superhero action show. Renji plays one of the villains and they are The most popular ship in the fandom. Bonus points if Orihime plays the main villain and loves every second of it.

This was the very first prompt I got, and I fell in love. Unfortunately, aside from a brief period of being grotesquely fascinated with Power Rangers as teen, I know almost nothing about tokusatsu. I did as much research as I could and I attempted to watch an episode of Kamen Rider, but my eyes glazed over halfway through. Anyway, please forgive my inaccuracies, I wrote this with my heart.

ao3 | ff.net

🏍 ⚡ 🎬

“Uh, looks like we’re almost out of time,” the panel moderator for “High-Spirited Battle Clairvoyant Tomoe!: A Sneak Peak at Season 5” declared, “but would you be willing to take just a few audience questions?”

Head Screenwriter Kurosaki Ichigo glanced at Leading Actress Kuchiki Rukia out of the corner of his eye, and she gave a tiny nod.

“Yeah, sure!” he replied.

There was already a young woman waiting at the microphone, practically vibrating with anxiety. She was wearing a t-shirt that had ZabiTo4Ever!! handwritten in marker on it. Rukia knew, deep down in her bones, what the question was going to be.

“Hi, yes, hello, big fan of your work! My question is: are Tomoe and Zabimaru going to kiss this season?”

“No,” Rukia started to say.

“As you probably know,” Ichigo said loudly on top of her, “the show holds close to the core plot points of Kuna-sensei’s manga, although, because of her minimalist style, we do expand a lot of the dialogue and filler scenes. She has said in several interviews that High-Spirited Battle Clairvoyant Tomoe! is not a romance manga, so the odds of Tomoe and Zabimaru ever kissing on screen are very, very low.”

The young woman stared at Ichigo grumpily. “Does this also count Zabimaru’s secret college student identity, Satonako Takeru?”

Ichigo stared back at her. “Yes. It does.”

The next question came from a person wearing a full suit of HellKnight’s plasma armor made out of overlapping plates of cardboard. Rukia was kind of impressed by it. She wondered if he could sit down.

“Hi, Kurosaki-sensei, I am a huge fan of your work,” a voice emanated from deep within the cardboard. “I was wondering if you are influenced at all by fanworks, and if Episode 73: Pride is on the Line!: The Bake Sale Must Go On! was based in any way on the classic fanfiction, ‘Tell Me All Your Best Lies’? It’s the top story by kudos in the ZabiTo tag, which I might point out is the most popular shipping category on AO3.”

Ichigo cleared his throat gently. “I am contractually not allowed to read fanfiction, although I do enjoy fanart! There are some incredibly talented artists in the fandom, although for some reason, no one ever wants to draw pictures of Lead Screenwriters.”

“I’ll draw you, sleeping on the set like you always do,” Rukia offered, and that got a pretty big laugh. Rukia’s Tumblr of behind-the-scenes doodle comics was beloved among the fandom.

The next question was from a nonbinary person wearing a big poufy skirt and a hairstyle that would make their make-up and hair guru, Yumichika, sit up and take notice. “Hi, this is a question for Kuchiki-san! If the show is going to roughly keep pace with the manga, as it has done up until now, you should be shooting the storyline where Tomoe and Queen Bloodbuzz switch bodies later this year. I was wondering if you could comment on how you feel about filming that storyline?”

Finally! A good one! “Yes!” Rukia nodded eagerly. “I don’t usually like to speak for my fellow cast members, but Orihime and I are beyond excited about playing each other. We’ve been studying each other’s mannerisms and practicing already! Does anyone want to hear my Queen Bloodbuzz cackle?” She wagged her eyebrows as the audience cheered. “Here goes-- bwaHaHaHaHAHAHAHAAHAAAHAAAAAAAA!”

“Bonechilling,” Ichigo commented dryly as the audience erupted.

“Amazing, Kuchiki-san!” the moderator exclaimed. “I think there is time for one more, but this will be the last question!”

A tall girl in a full set of High-Spirited Battle Clairvoyant Tomoe motorcycle leathers stepped to the microphone. She was holding a notebook. “Hello!” she warbled. “In a 2020 interview with the Psychics and Sidekicks podcast, Abarai Renji was asked about his opinion on ZabiTo as a ship, and he replied,” she consulted her notebook, “‘Tomoe is such a cool lady and talented Battle Clairvoyant, and she always follows her heart and stays true to herself. I think that Zabimaru can’t help but be impressed with her, even though they’re enemies, and I always try to roll that into our on-screen interactions.’ I know that in the past you’ve refused to comment on the ship, but I was wondering if you had any thoughts on, y’know, his thoughts?”

“Well, he’s correct, of course, Tomoe is very cool and admirable,” Rukia replied, which drew a few laughs, although it seemed like the audience was leaning forward in anticipation of her answer. “Like I said, I don’t like to speak for other cast members. I’ll be doing a big cast panel with Abarai and Inoue and Matsumoto and Ukitake tomorrow afternoon, and I hope you all can make it! See you then!”

The moderator thanked them enthusiastically, and then Ichigo and Rukia slipped out the back guest entrance.

“Evasive as always, Kuchiki,” Ichigo teased.

“Whatever,” Rukia sniffed. “The higher ups say we’re not supposed to comment on stuff like that, and I was not commenting. By the way, how many secret fanfic accounts are you up to? Four?”

“It’s only three!” Ichigo paused. “I wrote that fanfic the guy brought up.”

“Of course you did,” Rukia sighed. “I do blame you personally for the popularity of the damn ship.”

“Me? Blame Kuna for making up two such sexy, emotionally constipated dumbasses!” Ichigo defended.

“Also, it’s not Ichigo’s fault that you and Abarai have insane chemistry.”

Rukia spun around, grinning. “Orihime!”

Rukia’s two co-stars, Inoue Orihime and Abarai Renji, the portrayers of Tomoe’s demonic archnemeses, stood in the hallway behind them.

“We sat in on your panel!” Orihime beamed. “You two were brilliant!”

“Don’t worry,” Renji added. “We were incognito.”

“Incognito” was relative, Rukia supposed, when you were at Tokyo’s biggest tokusatsu

convention.

Orihime was wearing a Zabimaru outfit so detailed that she probably could have won a prize down at the cosplay hall. She had the gravity-defying ponytail, the eyeliner, the insane widow's peak (complete with forehead tatts), the fangs, the motorcycle boots. The paper mache snake skull helmet was a little lopsided, but it was charming. She had her top zipped a little higher than canon, but that was forgivable, too.

Renji had taken the opposite tack of looking as much like a normal person-- or at least a normal Battle Clairvoyant Tomoe superfan-- as possible. Relaxed fit jeans and an oversized hoodie de-emphasized his ultra-fit physique. He was wearing a t-shirt with a very dramatic rendering of Orihime that said “Queen Bloodbuzz can step on me!” and a ball cap with the logo of Seireitei University, the fictional college Tomoe and Takeru attended.

“You think you’re in disguise,” Rukia pointed out, “but there are thousands of teen girls in this place with entire Tumblrs dedicated to your stupid face when you’re out of costume.”

Renji cocked an eyebrow at her. “You underestimate me, Rukia. I have bought… new sunglasses.” With a flourish, he whipped out a pair of the dorkiest wayfarers she’d ever seen, and flipped them onto his face. “I’ve disappeared! Who am I? Where am I?”

“You look really great, Orihime,” Ichigo said, his cheeks coloring a little bit. “Did you get Uryuu or Yumichika to help you with that costume?” In his continuing theme of doing things he wasn’t supposed to, Ichigo had finally started dating Orihime on the downlow around the time they finished up filming last season. It had done absolutely nothing for how shy he still got around her. They were, in Rukia’s opinion, cute as hell.

“Oh, no, that would be cheating!” Orihime replied, wagging a finger at him. “Well…maybe I did cheat, just a tiny bit. Renji helped me make the helmet and he held up references for me while I was painting on the tattoos.”

“Only the forehead ones,” Renji quickly added.

“He wouldn’t even offer feedback on my booby tattoos!” Orihime frowned. She leaned forward. “Rukia, how do they look?”

Ichigo turned even redder.

“Perfect, as in all you do!” Rukia replied loftily.

“What’s everyone got coming up next?” Renji asked. “I was thinking of slipping out and trying to pick up some real coffee.”

“I’m judging a villainess-themed cosplay competition,” Orihime chirped. “But I’m dying for a blueberry caramel iced latte. Renji, my henchman, pleeeeease!”

“Of course, my liege,” Renji replied in his Zabimaru voice.

It’s not like it had been a hard decision to accept the role of the motorcycle-riding, badass heroine of one of the most popular manga of the last decade, but it had turned out to be one of the best decisions of Rukia’s life. not just her career. Aside from a few of the money-obsessed executives, she liked nearly everyone in the cast and crew, but the fact that the fact that the ruthless, homicidal, literally Hell-spawned villains of the show were played by the two sweetest marshmallow people she had ever met just took the cake. Renji and Orihime had already known each other from some voicework they had done previously, and their excitement at working together on a live-action project had infected the entire cast from the start. Rukia wasn’t sure, but she strongly suspected that Renji was the one who had hyped Orihime up to ask Ichigo out.

“I have a writers’ workshop I’m moderating this afternoon, and I wanted to review the writing samples people sent in,” Ichigo said, scratching the back of his head. “I’d love to stop by that cosplay contest, though, at least for a few minutes.”

“You’ll be needing caffeine, too, then, eh?” Renji offered. “Hot, black, and in the largest cup they make, as usual?”

“Ugh, you’re the best,” Ichigo groaned. “You wanna power-up this season? Costume update? You know what? Maybe I’ll just have you defeat Tomoe once and for all, no one likes her anyway.”

“C’mon, you know I’m the world’s number one Tomoe simp, don’t do that!” Renji laughed.

Rukia rolled her eyes. “I’m free and I could use some fresh air. Besides, it’s going to take all your dumb muscles just to carry Kurosaki’s vat of coffee back here.”

“Cool!” Renji proclaimed. “We’ll be back soon!”

“Thanks, Renjiiiii!” Orihime waved.

“You need to stop off and put on a disguise?” Renji asked.

“No point in it, I always get recognized,” Rukia sighed, pulling her sunglasses out of her purse anyway.

“Here,” Renji said, plunking his hat on her head. “Maybe this will help.”

“Thanks,” Rukia replied, and then did a double take. “Whaaaaaat is on your head?”

“Shut up!” Renji laughed. He usually shaved his head when they were filming, because it made it easier to deal with the make-up and wigs, but since they were between seasons, he’d grown his hair out into a short, tousled mop of reddish-brown waves. He looked, for the lack of a better word, dreamy. “I shot a movie over the summer, and they wanted me to look softer.”

Rukia looked at him over the top of her sunglasses. “You didn’t tell me you were doing a movie!”

“Oh, it was just a little indy romcom thing. I wasn’t sure it was gonna pan out, I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it.”

“You were in a romcom? You’re kidding me!” They ducked out of a side door of the convention center into the bright sunshine.

“Yeah, it’s about a guy who goes to the gym to try to get ripped to impress a girl, and makes friends with me, this nice, already ripped dude who gives him lifting tips and encourages him a bunch. By the end of the movie, it turns out we have crushes on each other.”

“Oh, no, that sounds really cute, actually!”

“It was written by a woman who graduated from one of Ichigo’s writing workshops. The script was really snappy and Ichigo thought having someone like me as the gym guy would give it just a bit of campy cachet. You know what a good sense he’s got for stuff like that.”

“That was cool of you to go out on a limb a little,” Rukia replied.

Renji rubbed the back of his neck. “I’d been wanting to try something like that for a while, actually.”

Rukia blinked. “You aren’t… you aren’t thinking of leaving the show, are you?”

“Huh? No. No! No, the show means the world to me, I would never. But… it’s not gonna run forever, y’know?”

“I would have guessed you’d want to be a big action star or something!” Rukia said, throwing a few air punches. “That’s my dream!”

Renji stuffed his hands in the pockets of his hoodie. “Yeah, that’s what I thought I wanted when I first got into acting. I’d read the Tomoe manga, and I thought playing Zabimaru would be a good jumping-off point, besides just being a cool character overall.”

“Is that… not true?” Rukia frowned.

“Oh, I mean, I guess so! I didn’t really know about the fandom, though and… to be honest, I’m kinda into the idea that there are all these fans who think I’m complex and redeemable?”

Rukia regarded him out of the corner of her eye. “They just want to fix you.”

“Maybe! Ichigo made me read this one fanfic that was eight thousand words of the reader getting sick and Zabimaru making them soup? And feeding them the soup? I still haven’t decided how I feel about it.”

“How does he have time to find these things? Does he even sleep?”

“Anyway, it doesn’t hurt to be well-rounded and it was fun. I’m still mostly an action guy, but I wouldn’t mind doin’ something with a romantic subplot. A period drama or something like that. I look pretty good in hakama, you know.”

“I bet you do,” Rukia laughed. She squinted at him, but his expression was unreadable behind the shades. Renji didn’t have the classic leading man looks, not like her ridiculously famous older brother, but she could definitely see him as the best friend, the B-plot romance, with his cute, messy hair and that big doofy grin.

“By the way, I’m sorry you had to field that question about me spilling my romantic sensibilities on that podcast.”

Rukia laughed. “You didn’t even answer the question, either! These people are relentless!”

Renji stopped at a street corner and peered down the various possible directions they could go. “Which way feels like it might have a coffee shop?”

“You didn’t have one in mind before we left? I thought you knew where we were going!”

“Nah, I just like to go out and see what there is.”

“I can look up a map,” Rukia said, reaching in her bag for her phone.

“Let’s just go this way,” Renji said, stepping out into the street in the direction that had the WALK light. Rukia sighed and had to scramble to catch up with him.

“So, what do you think about it?”

“Huh?” Rukia asked. “Think about what?”

“Our ship. ZabiTo.”

“I can’t believe you just said that word out loud. And you know we’re not supposed to give our opinion on it!”

“Aw, c’mon, we’re not supposed to give public statements on our opinions. I don’t think there’s any harm in talking between ourselves. We’re in disguise, even.”

“‘Disguise’,” Rukia sniffed.

“You don’t like it, I can tell.”

“He’s a bad guy! Everyone always talks about chemistry, and that may be true, but I just don’t think that Tomoe could ever get over his acts of violence and cruelty.”

“Queen Bloodbuzz is cruel. Zabimaru is not cruel.”

“Okay, that’s fair, but still. He’s kidnapped just about all of Tomoe’s friends and or turned them into monsters at one time or another. He’s always setting Karakura Town on fire or flooding it with magic lizard goo. He ruined the sports festival.”

“Maybe the sports festival deserved to be ruined,” Renji muttered under his breath.

“Okay, you’ve got a point on that one,” Rukia admitted.

“It’s really clear though, that he’s got some agenda beyond just simping for Queen Bloodbuzz--”

“The simping for Queen Bloodbuzz is the most relatable thing about him, to be honest.”

“Granted. But, what if he’s got a good reason for everything he does, actually? What if he’s doing all of this against his own moral code as a means of infiltrating Hell itself and getting himself into a position of trust so that he can bring down the Lords of Hell from the inside?”

Rukia slipped her sunglasses down to the tip of her nose. “Does Kuna give you Zabimaru spoilers?” The reclusive creator High-Spirited Battle Clairvoyant Tomoe! was only barely involved with the television show, but she did privately meet with each of the cast members about once a year. Most of Rukia’s meetings consisted of Kuna giving her constructive criticism on her battle poses.

“No, mostly we practice sneering,” Renji replied. “But I gotta play the guy, so I gotta think about this, you know, what motivates him? I mean, you’re probably right, it would never work out. But unlike Tomoe, whose principles would call for her to ignore any attraction she has to him, Zabimaru has the freedom to pine for her, perhaps because his love is futile and he doesn’t think he deserves it anyway.”

“That’s kinda dark, dude,” Rukia frowned.

“Yes, well, that is the kind of character acting that netted me the 2019 Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Best Villain Award, Foreign Language Category.”

“That’s literally what’s going through your head when you’re shouting that if I can’t make some sick motorcycle jump, you’ll turn all my friends into stuffed animal versions of themselves?”

“No, of course not! At those times I’m thinking about how much I love my job. OH! and what is that I see!” Renji struck an extremely Zabimaru pose. “A MISTER DONUT!”

“My hero!” Rukia exclaimed, unable to resist an opportunity to shout dramatically. “I’m sorry I doubted you!”

“I think we should get some donuts, too. Orihime loves donuts,” Renji declared.

“Oh, for sure,” Rukia agreed. She was thoughtful for a moment. It would be easy to move on to a different subject, the subject being donuts, but she wasn’t happy with leaving the last conversation hanging. “Look, Renji, just because I don’t like the dumb ship, you know that’s not a reflection on you, right?”

“Huh?” Renji replied. “You mean you don’t mind if I like it?”

“Well… I mean, I don’t, I guess, but what I really meant was, er… we joke a lot, but Tomoe and Zabimaru are just parts, y’know? Just because I don’t think Zabimaru isn’t good boyfriend material doesn’t mean I…” Rukia trailed off, suddenly realizing what she was saying. “Um. What I mean is. You’re very nice and probably one of my favorite people I’ve ever worked with and if someone I knew wanted to ask you out, I would definitely encourage them to, A+ guy, I’d say, probably would make a great boyfriend.”

Renji pushed his sunglasses up onto his forehead and regarded her for a long moment. “For the record, Kuchiki, I think that both you and Tomoe would make excellent girlfriend material.” While Rukia stood there and gaped like a fish, he turned and pushed open the door to the coffee shop. “Ichigo likes crullers and Orihime always wants the most colorful thing they’ve got. Do you know what you want?”

“I need to think about it,” Rukia squeaked. She wasn’t talking about donuts.

🏍 ⚡ 🎬

Bonus: Here are my notes from when I was making up the show. I hope this wasn’t too confusing!

High-Spirited Battle Clairvoyant Tomoe!

based on a manga by reclusive mangaka Kuna Mashiro

Head Screenwriter: Kurosaki Ichigo

🌟 Starring: 🌟

Kuchiki Rukia as Yukimura Tomoe, a spunky college student who can see ghosts and fights demons from Hell! She rides a motorcycle!

Inoue Orihime as Queen Bloodbuzz, a Lady of Hell, who seeks to gather energy from the Living Realm so that she can become the Supreme Ruler of Hell. Very aesthetic. Much bees.

Abarai Renji as Zabimaru, Queen Bloodbuzz’s ruthless henchman. He leads a double life as fierce-looking, but gentle-hearted college student Satonaka Takeru! What is his long game??

#renji's birthday 2k21 #my writing #this was really hard to write actually #because i had to make up SO MUCH STUFF #i hate making up stuff #astute readers will notice that i just recycled rukia and renji's fake names from between tides #i am so in love with this au tho #especially ichigo and his false pretenses ao3 accounts

15 notes · View notes

tpwkxxangel · 4 years ago

Text

Side A: Track 1

//this is a continuation of a fanfiction that i am writing. if you haven’t read the prologue before this, please check it out or else this might not make sense. if you have any comments, let me know! here is the masterlist //

**************

June 2018

"Thank you Dallas!" Harry calls to the stadium full of fans. The cheers are loud and fill Harry's heart with love. It always amazes him how people sing his lyrics back to him. If someone told him 10 years ago that he would be playing a sold out arena, by himself, while touring his first debut album, he would think they were insane.

Every night, it takes a toll on him though. The energy in every venue and the laughs shared between him and his audience is so difficult to end. The endings are the worst part aren't they? This one is bittersweet.

Harry gives one last wave of his hand before walking off backstage. His breathing is a little labored due to him giving 110%.

"Another great show, Hersh! We should do something to celebrate!" his manager, Jeff, pats his back while handing him a towel. Harry gives a small appreciative smile before wiping off the sweat from his face. Jeff sighs knowing that this night won't be any different than the last month and a half. "Can you at least go out for one drink? You haven't been out in so long. We all miss you..."

Heartbreak can change you, and that's exactly what it did for Harry. He met Camille when he was in One Direction. She's a few years older than him, but no one could resist the Styles charm. After a few conversations at parties they both found themselves at, they started dating. Nothing was public of course, but the relationship was real none the less. Over the eight month relationship, Harry feel in love with the model. Towards the end, they both got really busy and couldn't devote as much time to the relationship as needed. There were other factors that made things difficult, so they decided to brake things off. Harry has never felt a pain like that in his life.

So he shut down.

He has always had big emotions that invade all of his senses, so when his love was taken away from him, he couldn't stand the brokenness he felt. He began to numb his pain with various methods, but nothing worked. He still feels all the pain he felt when he watched her drive away from his flat in London.

"I don't know man...I'm not feeling--"

"Up to it. Yeah, I know, but H. You are bottling up all of these feelings and that isn't healthy. I think a night out will be good for you. Have you called your therapist lately?"

His therapist lives in London, so when he is traveling, he usually calls in. It's nothing to be ashamed of. Think of it like paying for someone to spill your emotions to and they can't say anything about it.

Maybe Jeff is on to something. This bottling things up is tiring, so a night out may be fun.

"Fine. I'll go out as long as I'm back by two. We have to be on the road at nine and I'd like to get some rest before we leave."

"Deal!"

~~~

The air was stuffy in the heated club. They were all in the VIP booth on the second level of one of the hottest clubs in Dallas. Harry was sipping on his drink trying to pass the time. Only 3 hours before he can leave. God, did he want to leave. The concert was tiring and the never ending heartache was causing his head and heart to throb.

He was about to excuse himself to go find the restroom when a golden dress caught his eye. He took a deep breath before opening his eyes again only to spot the girl again. She looked different than the last time he saw her. Her skin was tanner than before, sunkissed just right. Her blonde hair is curled to perfection and lips still red, but she now looks old enough to be in a club like this. Her green eyes are bright with laughter at one of the other girls she is with.

Why is she here? How is she here?

He first saw her in New York. Was she just visiting there? All the memories flood back to him, taking him back to the time where everything was more simple, a lighter time. The way her voice sent a shiver down his spine, the eye contact she made while dancing, the way she touched herself, luring him in. The mere thought of her still drives him crazy.

"Excuse me guys," he turns to his bandmates and manager, "I'm going to find the loo."

Harry makes his way over to the bar where he sees his mystery girl. He flags down the bartender and tells him to give her the order she got two years prior.

He should probably feel embarrassed that he remembers everything about that night regarding the mystery girl, but for the first time in a while, he feels like this is exactly where he is meant to be.

When she received the drink, her brows draw together in confusion before looking to where Harry was sitting. The smirk that made him curious all those years ago made an appearance on her red stained lips. She says something to her friends before downing the drink and making her way over to the brit.

He admired the way her hips moved as she walked. The dress she was wearing complimented her is so many ways. She wasn't a model, but she sure could be.

"Well if it isn't Harry. Long time no see," her voice coming out just as velvety and sweet as before. He's absolutely ecstatic that she remembers his name. That means she thought of him after their encounter like he did.

"Hello, love. Nice to see you again," he smirks back. This is the first time since his break up that he sort of feels like himself.

"You cut your hair," she says while reaching for his drink. Instead of throwing this one back, she just takes a sip, leaving a perfect lip print on the glass.

He nods in a daze, watching the way her tongue darts out, running across her bottom lip. "I was in a movie. Needed it cut," he swallows dryly.

Her eyebrow rose slightly but wasn't surprised. He gave off superstar energy. "Would I have seen it?"

"Depends," he takes his drink back, trying to recover from the dirty thoughts running through his mind, "Do you watch war movies?"

"I've seen a few," she giggles softly, not being able to picture the Brit as a fighter.

"I was in Dunkirk," Harry shrugs.

"I'll have to give it a watch," Harry nods slightly taking a sip of his drink, "especially if the cast is as handsome as you."

Harry chocks slightly not expecting her to be so forward. He chuckles nervously. "Well, I don't want to be the only reason you watch the movie. I'm only a small part of it."

She cocks her eye brow slightly at his tone. Is he being shy? That's different than last time.

Her smirk quickly turns into a more genuine smile as her hand makes it's way on his shoulder. "I actually enjoy action movies, so I have a feeling you being in it would just be a perk."

Harry feels his cheeks flood with color. He distracts himself from the beautiful girl that's starting to make him nervous by sipping his drink again. How was he so confident the last time he saw her? Probably because his heart wasn't broken and there was more alcohol in his system.

He might not be able to fix the first one, but he can fix the second one. He gets the bartenders attention before turning back to his company.

"So, what brings you to the city? The last time I saw you, you were in New York," he asks, not trying to sound invasive, but the question has been brewing in his mind since he saw her.

Her smile dropped slightly before recovering quickly. "I actually grew up here. I'm...visiting some family while I'm in town," she shrugs.

"Do you live in New York now?"

"Part time. I'm a graduate student at Columbia," she says the words as if they aren't impressive.

Harry's mouth falls open slightly. Her prick of a boyfriend was right. She is very smart. Speaking of him...

"What happened to your boyfriend?" he finds himself asking before he can stop himself. Thankfully, the bartender sets another drink next to his empty glass so Harry could hide the blush on his face. This isn't going as well as he wanted it to.

"Who?" her brows furrow in confusion before they smooth out in realization, "I don't even remember his name. You could say that I was just helping him out with an...issue he was having."

"That's very mysterious..." he trails off, remembering he still doesn't know her name.

She laughs at him. She wasn't telling him her name on purpose. One thing that anyone knows about her is that she LOVES games. They make life so much more fun, but for some reason she wanted to hear Harry say her name over and over again in his cute accent. Maybe she'll tell him by the end of the night.

"You can call me J. Everyone does."

He looks at her, and really observes her features. The way her strong cheekbones and jaw are a stark contrast to the softness of her eyes and plush lips. She is truly a beautiful creature, so he finds himself standing up from his stool by the bar and holding out a hand to her to ask something he should have two years ago.

"Would you like to dance with me, J?" he asks.

J smiles brightly in return and Harry's knees go weak. They make their way out to the dance floor as a rock song wraps up. As luck would have it, a very familiar song plays next. The irony was not lost on Harry. That fact that he wrote this song about the girl that is currently swaying her mesmerizing hips against his is so funny that he almost laughs. He gets too distracted by her subtle touches to notice the eyes on him.

From across the bar, Jeff watches his friend loosen up for the first time in two months and feels a pressure release off his chest. He was worried about Harry when him and Camille split. He knows how sensitive his friend can be. Harry leads with his emotions and goes all in. When everything went down, Jeff was the first one Harry called. His broken voice shattered Jeff's heart. It sucked since they were in the middle of the tour and Harry had little to no break in between. Harry is tough, but even his fans noticed him crying during one of his performances in Scotland.

Jeff looks back at the couple on the dance floor to find them laughing. This is a good thing. He will have one night with this girl, and then go back to touring.

Little did Jeff know, Harry wasn't planning to let this girl walk out of his life again. It had to be a sight. He was miserable and had no hope when she randomly showed up in his life again. There are such things a coincidences, but this felt like more than that.

Harry's hands find their way to the girls waist. She looks ups through her lashes at him. "You know, this is my song." He's starting to feel the alcohol in his system, so his words are slightly slurred.

Her laugh makes it's way to his ears and sends a goose bumps all over his body. "No, shit. Really?"

Harry just nods before taking a deep breath and belting out the lyrics. "She goes home to a cactus, in a black dress, she's such an actress, she's driving me crazy!" He's met with her beautiful laugh again. Maybe one day he'll have the courage to tell her who the song is about. They continue to dance for a few more songs before both of them need another drink.

"So, you are not only an actor, but a musician as well?" she hums into her whiskey.

Harry gets nervous again. "I wouldn't say an actor. It's just that one movie."

"One more than me," she giggles. Her lightly glossed over eyes let Harry know the alcohol is taking effect.

As he opens his mouth to speak again, one of J's friends from before comes up to her. She turns her head to hear what her friend says but never takes her eyes off Harry. With one nod of her head, her friend leaves.

"Do you need to leave?" Harry asks. He doesn't want her to leave again. He finally can breathe after two months of suffocating. He's finally out of his head. Maybe it's time to open himself up to new things and not be afraid of hearts getting broken. Camille moved on, so why can't he?

She shakes her head and he lets out a sigh of relief. "I'd rather stay here and talk to you. But they are leaving."

"I'll be sure to get you home," he smiles softly at her. There's the familiar flutter in his heart. It's crazy, honestly. He met this girl once two years ago, yet he is so infatuated with her. She makes his broken heart feel less lonely. He checks the watch on his wrist for the time. It's getting close to two in the morning. He wants to get out of here, but not be done with the night. He doesn't want to go back to his hotel and be lonely. He won't admit that to her though. "Would you like to get out of here?"

His eyes widen at what that sounds like. It's not like he doesn't want to be with her in that way. He was going to take her home two years ago. But, he's different than he was then. He just wants to talk to her in a place that doesn't drown out her gorgeous voice. He starts to correct himself, but she just laughs at him.

"I know what you meant, Harry. I actually have a car waiting for me outside. I know a place we can go if you'd like to come with me."

He nods quickly. "I just have to tell my friends. I'll be right back."

"I'll wait outside. Don't take too long," she smirks before kissing his cheek. She left a bit of lipstick, so she wipes it off before turning around towards the door.

Harry makes his way back to the VIP section with the biggest grin only to see Jeff quickly duck down. He was spying on him, but harry can't even find it in himself to care. He felt like he was floating in the sky towards this sunshine he so desperately needed. When he gets to the spot everyone is sitting at, all the conversations go quiet.

"I'm leaving. I know I have to be back at the hotel at nine to go to Houston. I have my phone on me. Please don't need me until then." Before he can turn around and follow his golden girl, Jeff speaks up.

"Are you sure about this Hersh?"

Harry smiles softly at his concern. "She's an old friend. I finally feel like I can breathe," he whispers the last part as everyone goes back to their conversations.

This is such a relief to his manager. Originally, he just wanted Harry to loosen up and have some fun again. He wasn't going to let him leave with anyone. That's not how you get over a relationship. For some odd reason, this girl seemed to help him more than any of his other friends have in two months.

"Okay. Be safe and text me if you need anything."

Harry nods and heads towards the door. When he walks out, he sees J leaning on a sleek black car talking to an older guy. When she sees him, her eyes light up. She seems so bright compared to how he has been feeling the past few weeks. It's a breath of fresh air, and he couldn't be more relieved to finally take a breath in.

J touches the mans arm before he walks to the drivers side and gets in. "I thought you might have changed your mind?"

"On you? Never," he chuckles while opening the door for her. They both get into the car and Harry starts to wonder why she has a driver? It didn't register in his mind until now. Before he has time to ask, she speaks.

"Stanley, to my hideout please," she speaks softly to the man. There is genuine affection in her voice and Harry can already tell this man is not just a driver to her. He nods and pulls out onto the streets. There are cars on the road, but not as many as a bigger city like New York.

"So, where are you taking me?" Harry breaks the comfortable silence of the car.

"It's a place I like to go when I'm in town," she answers honestly. She's not used to opening up to people, but with Harry it seems almost natural for her. "I travel a lot. When I come back home, things can get a bit crazy for me. I come from a family that expect a lot out of me, so it's nice to have a place to get away from everything."

"I understand the feeling of wanting to get away. In my line of work, there is a lot of pressure to act or be a certain way," he thinks back to his time in One Direction. He never wanted to be the cause of the band breaking up so he held himself to higher standards than the others. It wasn't all bad, but it hurt when his name was thrown around in the press.

"That's right. You're a Popstar," she giggles.

"Rockstar more like," he playfully scoffs.

She rolls her eyes at him with a smile adorning her cherry red lips. "I'll be the judge of that mister."

"Would you like to come to one of my concerts to see for yourself?" he asks partially joking.

She looks at him with her eyebrow raised. "Would you like me to come to one of your concerts?" In all honesty, she wasn't expecting to see him after tonight. Her life can be hectic so her friends are very limited. Harry seems like a nice guy that she wouldn't mind in her life for longer than tonight.

"Yes," he replies with no hesitation. Now that he thinks about it, he wants to see her in the audience singing along to his songs.

She smiles at him and he's back in her trance. She grabs his hand and gives it a squeeze before letting go. "Then I would love to see you perform. When were you thinking?"

"I'm on tour right now, so name a city," he says, "I have the Houston show in two days and then I head to Florida. After that, I believe I'll be in Georgia, Tennessee, and Pennsylvania."

"Wow, that's a lot of shows. I feel like I should have known you would be successful," she laughs, "I'm actually busy for the next week, and after that I'll be flying back to New York."

Harry thinks over his schedule. "Are you free on the 21st?"

She thinks for a moment. "Yes. I don't believe I have anything planned until the end of June."

"I have a show in New York that day if you'd like to come. I believe I'll be there the following day if that works better?."

"That sounds perfect!" she exclaims.

"Ma'am," Stanley interupts politely. "We are here."

"Thank you, Stanley." She turns to Harry with an intoxicating smile. "Let's go!"

J gets out quickly and makes her way to the back of the car. She pulls two blankets out of the trunk and a small bag. Harry gets out and looks around. They are at a small park. This isn't exactly where he thought she would 'hideout' when things got tough.

"A park?" he asks. He's not complaining. He'd could be at a landfill and be happy as long as he's with her.

"It's just a stop on the way. We have to do the rest by foot." He looks into her beautiful green eyes. That familiar warmth is spreading through him. He's scared of becoming more attached to this girl he barely knows, but where's the fun in being cautious?

"Lead the way, love," he gestures forward as she blushes at the pet name.

They both move to the trail that is lit up by lamps. There's a peaceful silence that falls on them. The sounds of crickets and the wind blowing is a stark difference between the roaring stadium a few hours ago. It's nice to feel this silence with her. He feels a hand slip into his. He looks down at their hands connected in shock. He doesn't know how he feels about it at first, but as her hand holds onto his, he loves this feeling. It's insane and strange but he's said it before, she drives him crazy. So, maybe him letting her take control is what is meant to happen. Loving her may be his antidote...

But, that's for another time.

She clears her throat, breaking him out of his thought. "So, where are you from?"

"I'm from a small town in England called Cheshire," he replies.

"Like the cat?" she asks curiously.

He booms out a laugh. "Yes, like the cat."

"What's it like there?" she asks. There's something in her tone that he can't quite decipher.

"It's very beautiful. I love England. Have you ever been?" he asks.

"Yes. I traveled with my parents when I was little. I haven't been in a while though. After I graduate, I plan on seeing more of the world," she says thinking of all the places she wished her parents took her to see. "What's the coolest place you've been to?"

"I love Brazil. It's lovely there. When I played in Rio, my band and I went sightseeing." he says. As a musician, you might get to travel the world, but you have a hard time actually seeing the cities you are in. When Harry was with One Direction, they would have to organize their sightseeing weeks in advance to prepare for the potential mobs.

"That sounds amazing!" she says. "Rio is on my bucket list." Before he can reply, she looks at the path and pulls on his hand to stop him. "We have to go off path from here."

He laughs nervously. "Are you taking me out into the woods at night to kill me?" Even though it's night time here, there are lamp post that light up the way.

"How did you know?" she replies seriously. He gulps before she bursts into laughter. "No, there is a place about 10 yards from here where I like to watch the sunrise. If you feel uncomfortable, we can just head back. I won't be offended." she says honestly.

He thinks about going back, but oddly enough, in the trees with her, he feels completely comfortable. He shakes his head. She smiles that sunshine smile before she leads him into the trees.

The wind starts to whistle, gliding through the trees in the night air.

"What is that?" Harry asks when her starts to see the trees clear.

"That's where I'm taking you," she smiles. They walk through the small gap in the cluster of bushes. Once they get through, she stops them both.

"This is..." Harry seems to be at a loss of words. They stand in silence for what feels like ten minutes. The clearing that they are in is relatively small. No bigger than a baseball diamond, but it is full of flowers. There are solar lanterns on the surrounding trees to light up the beautiful scenery. The reason they stand quietly is because that's the only way to hear the music in the wind. The trees surrounding the clearing are close together causing the wind to pick up speed and whistle a beautiful melody.

J slowly walks towards the middle of the field and lays the blanket she was holding down in an open spot of flowers. She pulls out two wine glasses and a book from the bag on her shoulder before sitting down. She looks at the Brit that hasn't moved since getting into the clearing.

Harry stands smiling down at his mystery girl without saying a word.

"What do you think?" she asks softly, not wanting to interrupt the breeze.

He slowly walks over to her and sits down. "I love it," he simply states.

A strand of hair falls in front of his eyes and before he can move it away himself, J's warm hand tucks it back in place. Her palm rests on his cheek and he leans into it. He feels so comfortable as her thumb caresses his cheek. He feels that familiar heat as her thumb travels down to his lips. A small gasp leaves him as her fingertips rub against his bottom lip.

She leans forward slightly, searching his gaze for any hesitation. He can't move. He closes his eyes, breathing in and breathing out. When he opens his eyes she is the only thing he can see.

When their lips touch, it's even better than he thought it would be. The world around him disappeared. The floating feeling is back. It's like she's waiting for him in the sky, pulling him towards her warmth. He parts his lips slightly and she leans against him more. She matches his feverish movements by moving her hand to his chest. He has no doubt that she can feel how fast his heart is beating. His hands move to her hips, pulling her on top of him slightly. He is still conscientious to the fact that she is still in her dress. He pulls the bottom of it down, to make sure everything is covered.

Always the gentleman.

They stay like that for a while before pulling back. Opening the wine, and diving into conversation. She pulls out a disposable camera while he's telling the story about the time he met his good friend when they punched Harry in the face instead of the person who deserved it. As he laughs, she takes the picture. The stars shine on his face and the lanterns light up his features. When he hears the click, he looks over at her curiously.

"Um," she looks down blushing, "I love taking pictures with disposable cameras. My life can be a little crazy, so taking one shot pictures helps me remember all the important things. I don't want to forget this night."

His heart stutters and picks up double time. "You are such an amazing person. I don't want to forget this night either." He pulls out his phone and tells her to smile. She grins so brightly that he officially doesn't believe she is real. She's an angel on this Earth.

They talk for hours before she reads him the book she brought while he lays back enjoying to musical wind and her voice. When she stops suddenly, he opens his eyes.

"The sun is coming up," she smiles at him. He looks at his watch again and realizes it's five-thirty in the morning. The time has flown by. As the sun starts to rise, she finally tells him her name.

"Janis Rogers," she whispers, "My name is Janis Rogers."

He looks over at her and smiles while he stretches out his hand, "Harry Styles." She matches his smile before taking his hand. He takes this opportunity to pull her onto his lap.

She giggles, but leans back into him. He feels her sigh into him. He puts his arms around her and feels a warmth fill his chest. He could get used to this feeling.

They sit and watch the sunrise above the trees, but he can't take his eyes off her. He takes this time to reflect on the last eight hours he has spent with the girl he thought he'd never see again. The sunlight hits her face and she closes her eyes. There's only one thing running through his mind...

She's so golden.

#harry fanfic #harry fan fiction #harry smut #Harry Styles #harry edward styles #sunshine temptress #harry styles imagine #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles one shot #harry styles smut

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bakugosimpsquad · 4 years ago

Text

It’s about time...

Pairing: Kageyama Tobio x Reader

Word Count: 2.8k+

Warnings: none, just cuteness

A/N: wrote this at work so hah! finally, i’m getting paid to write fanfiction. also i used that picture for my banner because even though bb boy smiles a lot in this, it’s still a Kags smile :)

The stare you’re giving Kageyama right now is scary. It’s almost the same scary, focused look he gets during an intense game.

You’re one of Tsukishima’s “friends”. More like Yamaguchi’s but Tsukishima is warming up. So much so that he was actually the one who asked for your help with tutoring his least favorite team member.

He trusted you because you’re just as smart as he is but definitely more patient than he could ever be.

That patience is being shown right now, you have been sitting next to Kageyama for the last 15 minutes in silence as he “attempts” a problem on his paper. One that you just explained to him right before you asked him to try to do it.

He is sitting and staring at it and you’re sitting and staring at him, anytime anyone tries to intervene, all you do is hold a finger up to stop them.

“Do you give up?”, Your voice is calm and cool as he moves his head up to look at you. He does not look happy and now your face is showing a smug expression as he stares back at you without answering your question.

The guys make another attempt to intervene. You stop them once again and calmly speak to Kageyama.

“It’s not that hard, you know”, you let out a sigh, rolling your eyes just a bit. “I thought you were supposed to be smart, being a really good setter and all.” You give him a light shrug.

You reach over to begin cleaning your stuff up, you hear Tsukishima chuckle and you have a feeling you know why.

All of a sudden you were caught off guard by a hand grabbing your wrist to stop it. You look at the hand grabbing your wrist and then up at Kageyama who is now standing. A light blush spreading across his cheeks.

He takes his hand away just as quickly as he had grabbed yours. “I’m ready to try it.”

You nod and motion for him to sit down and go ahead. He shoots a glare at Tsukishima but goes back to focusing on the paper. Now he actually picks up the pencil you had provided for him. He takes a deep breath as he begins writing.

Another 20 minutes and four attempts later he pushes his paper towards you again. You look at it and begin to mark what he did right and wrong. You push it back with a shake of your head.

He’s improving but is still wrong overall. But now everyone else is focused on their own work so Kageyama is a little more at ease.

Another two attempts later and you decide to explain it step-by-step again and have him do it along with you. It takes time, two hours to be exact but he’s got it now. You were thankful for having Yams convince you to go to their practices and games because you ended up having to use volleyball to help him better understand it.

Everyone else had finished about 30 minutes earlier and left, so you decided to call it quits for the evening. You stand up and stretch. “You did really great today, sucks that I had to threaten you some but great nonetheless”. You give him a smile as you begin to gather your things.

“Do you like volleyball? You seem to know plenty about it…” he keeps his normal serious face as he helps you clean up, waiting for your answer.

“Yes, I like volleyball. Thanks to Yamaguchi.”

He nods, “Are you and Yamaguchi… ummm…”

You cut him off with a giggle and a shake of your head, “No, just friends.”

He nods but his cheeks blush a little darker now. He seems to want to ask something else. You beat him to it. Already knowing what some people assume.

“Nothing with Tsukki, just friends as well” You smirk this time. He slightly frowns and just nods.

You pick up your packed book bag and turn to him, ready to wish him a good night.

“Do you want to play with me tonight? I find that it helps me relax.” He says the last part softer than what his usual voice is like. He’s looking away and is still blushing. No lie, you were not expecting this at all.

Now your face feels warm, “I’ve never really played but if you don’t mind that… sure.” You smile sweetly at him. He gives you a short nod.

He explains the situation as the two of you leave, you following him, “We can play in the gym. Sugawara knows and said he’d leave it open for me, he’ll be coming by later to close it up.”

There is an extra set of a practice t-shirt and shorts, both Nishinoya’s size, thankfully. You can comfortably play in them, they’re a little loose but good enough.

You have seen a lot of Kageyama so it surprises you when this time he’s the one being patient with teaching you.

Volleyball is not as easy to play as it is to understand in words and while watching it. There’s a lot of technicalities to follow when it comes to each position and how they move. Even the basics.

Neither of you have any idea what time it is, both enjoying yourselves too much to even care.

You have been trying your best this entire time but it’s not coming easy to you. That’s why you keep apologizing to Kageyama for not being a great practice partner.

He keeps saying it’s ok and to not worry about it, that he doesn’t mind it at all.

____________________

Suga checks the time, 9:15pm. By the time he makes it to the gym it will be time for Kageyama to go home.

He sets off, arriving at the gym sooner than he thought.

Before walking in he sees that Kageyama isn’t by himself. He’s with Y/N. They both look like they’re having a lot of fun.

____________________

Now you’re trying to do receives.

“Hey, it’s ok, receives aren’t easy. Even for some of us on the team” He reassures you as you miss another one.

He walks over, you stand up straight again as he approaches you. “I can help with positioning…” he sounds hesitant, “Umm… show me what you’re doing.”

You do your best to imitate what you’ve seen on the court before. He nods as he watches, hesitantly bringing his hands up “C-can I- touch?”

“What?” You ask, confused.

“Sorry, can I help adjust your position?”

“Oh! Yeah, of course.”

He takes a deep breath, “Ok, bend your knees a little more,” he pats your shoulder gently as you move, “Ok, that’s good.”

You hear him swallow hard as his hands shakily move to your hips. “Ok, drop them just a little” his hands are barely touching you as you do what he says.

He moves so that now his arms are around you, you feel your cheeks blush with being at such close proximity to him, he’s adjusting your arms. His soft breaths hitting your hair.

____________________

Suga can’t believe his eyes, he has half a mind to stop whatever is happening but he quickly realizes it’s all innocent.

He knows there are better ways to explain receives but maybe... just maybe this is Kageyama’s idea of flirting.

He smiles warmly at seeing the usually cold setter be nice. He’s being blushy and soft.

Suga can’t help the huge smile that’s on his face. He quietly continues to watch (supervise).

____________________

He pulls away once he’s happy with how you are positioned. “Great. Now, don’t move. I’ll serve right to you and you’ll get it, I promise.”

You smile and nod “Ok. I’ll get it.”

He runs over to the other side of the net, “Don’t move- but move when I serve so you can-”

You giggle softly as you cut him off “I know Kags, don’t worry!” The nickname slips out. Both of you blush hard but neither says a word. He just gets ready for the serve.

You see the ball fly over the net, coming straight at you.

You take a deep breath and receive it, perfectly like he said you would. The ball falls to the ground but you stand up straight, smiling wide “I DID IT!!!” You cheer happily.

Kageyama runs back over, a small smile on his lips, “I told you so!”

You raise your arm up for a high five, his eyes go wide as he seems to hesitate but he quickly high fives back. His smile is bigger now.

____________________

Suga’s jaw drops, he gasps softly and smiles along with you two.

He really can’t believe his eyes.

The scene before him is so sweet. He doesn’t want to interrupt.

And seeing Kageyama smile freely makes him feel strangely proud even if the poor boy still looks a little weird.

____________________

The two of you stand quietly. You stare up at him as the excitement dies down a little. There's silence now, it makes you a little nervous as he stares back.

His hands are at his sides in fists, he’s fidgeting a little and suddenly he speaks.

“I- I believe this is what-,” he clears his throat “I feel like this is what I should do”

Those words make you cock your head to the side, unsure of what he means but hopeful for what the possibilities are.

He takes a deep breath, closing his eyes as he leans down, you close your eyes as well and feel that he places a soft kiss on your forehead.

The butterflies in your stomach invade the rest of your body. He moves away and you both open your eyes and stare at each other again.

You’re absolutely sure your face is blushing a dark red.

His eyes go wide, this time he looks a little scared, “Oh no. No, I read it wrong, you didn’t like that-”

Before he can continue any further you quickly shake your head. “I did! It’s ok. You didn’t do anything wrong” you offer a reassuring smile.

He squeezes his eyes shut, rubbing the back of his head. He seems a little embarrassed but relieved.

“Ok.”

“Ok.” You repeat.

He opens his eyes, looking down at the floor before looking at you again.

“Thank you for helping me today and… and for playing with me”

“It’s no problem. Thank you for teaching me today! I enjoyed it a lot!” You lock your hands together in front of you.

“Me too…” he gulps, “Same time tomorrow? I-I’m talking about tutoring and- and this. Too.”

You nod, feeling shy now but very happy.

“Yes, I’d love to.”

With a little more confidence now he gives you a shy smile, “Great, I’ll walk you home, it’s really late.”

“Oh, thank you!” You look at the volleyballs all over. “Should we clean up?”

Kageyama’s eyes go wide as Suga reveals himself, the biggest smile on his face.

“Hey guys! Kageyama, you didn’t tell me Y/N was going to be here with you…” Suga looks at you now “I thought you only came with Yamaguchi and Tsukishima?”

Both you and Kageyama are blushing. The poor boy is wondering how much his upperclassman saw.

“Oh, usually but umm- Kageyama wanted some help-”

Suga’s smile doesn’t go away “Mmmm mhmm” he nods. Clearly having seen more than what he’s letting on. “It’s cute, I approve.” He almost looks like a proud mom.

Kageyama takes a deep breath in, his face back to normal now as he just frowns.

Suga notices and clears his throat “Anyways,” he’d hate to ruin anything between the two by being too intrusive, “It’s getting really late, 9:45 to be exact so I’ll help you guys clean up so we can get out of here.”

Suga gives you both a warm smile. You return it, Kageyama just nods.

It turns out two people don’t make that big of a mess, 10 minutes later everything is all done.

The three of you leave, Suga locking the gym behind you guys. You wish him a goodnight, he does as well, also telling you guys to be safe as he sets off.

Before you and Kageyama set off yourselves, it hits you. “Do you live close to me?”

You would really hate for him to go out of his way. Especially with it being so late now.

He just gives you a shrug, “It doesn’t really matter, I- um, I don’t plan on leaving you to walk home alone.”

A blush returns to your cheeks but this time you’re thankful for the dark surrounding you.

Through the pale moonlight Kageyama can see the blush across your cheeks. He’s doing his best to hide his as well.

He’s never really had a crush but ever since Yamaguchi and- ugh, Tsukishima, started bringing you along he can’t help but admit to finding you very pretty.

He also knew you were incredibly smart and nice. The team liked you, you would show up to practices and games. Always cheering the team on.

He liked it. He liked you.

And after today it only solidified everything. Although he had never had the guts to approach you on his own, he knows that he likes you.

You two have been walking for about only two minutes now. He notices you shiver lightly.

Neither had changed out of the practice clothes and it is getting chilly outside now.

He stops walking, digging his Volleyball Club jacket out of his gym bag.

You stop walking as well, “Everything ok?” You ask, concerned as you rub your arms to warm up a bit.

He doesn’t say anything, just holds his jacket out, ready to put it on you.

“Oh- it’s ok. Don’t you-”

He cuts you off with a shake of his head, “No. I’m ok. Here,” he helps you put it on. He even goes as far as to zip it up for you.

With burning cheeks, you smile, “Thank you.” You say softly.

He gives you a quick nod and you begin walking again.

Before long you point out your house, “This is me…” the walk ends before you want it to. It had been very peaceful and nice. Some light conversation about volleyball, just really nice overall.

You are stopped at your gate, “C-Could I get your number? I just want to- well… make sure you get home safe. A text?” Stumbling over your words like this is very unlike you.

Kageyama doesn’t show it but he’s feeling nervous. He nods, pulling his phone out and handing it to you. This is what happens. He’s sure, he’s seen other people do it.

You take the phone from him, texting yourself and leaving your contact name blank.

You see him quickly type something before sticking the phone back in his pocket.

He gives you a soft half smile, “Have a goodnight” he says while looking down at you.

You smile back, “You too. Be safe.”

You turn around as you begin to open your gate. He waits patiently.

Your heart feels like it is about to beat out of your chest but you just take a deep breath, count to three and turn around, just doing it.

A kiss on his cheek.

You had to do a small little hop to reach him but just as quickly as it happened, you’re already walking towards your front door.

You turn around, waving at him. He waves back, his other hand touching the cheek you kissed.

You go inside, careful to be quiet.

As you make your way upstairs, you can still feel your heart beating.

You make it to your room in no time, quick enough that you catch him walking away. You are watching through your window when you see him walk into a house that's not too far away, at all.

You can’t believe how close he lives.

With this new information, you walk away from the window. You plug your phone in and set it next to you on your nightstand, flopping down on your mattress.

It’s not until then that you remember you still have his jacket on. You smile to yourself as you play with the too long sleeves covering your hands.

It’s like 3x too big for you, he’s just so tall. As your mind wanders off, you’re brought back by your phone going off.

He lets you know he’s home.

You answer, immediately after you put his contact name in as “Kags :) ” and you remember you took a funny picture of one of the many times he went after Hinata. You decide to make it his contact picture for now.

He sends another message but before you can reply, you see that he’s typing again.

Your heart flutters as you read the incoming texts. You don’t waste any time answering.

For as long as you’ve been around him, which is probably since the beginning of the school year, this is the most you’ve ever talked one on one with him. The closest you’ve ever been.

With that you put your phone down, getting ready to go to bed with the biggest smile on your face.

Before going to bed, Kageyama remembers something…

#kageyama x reader #kageyama tobio #kageyama x y/n #haikyuu #Haikyu!!#haikyuu!!#yamaguchi x reader #tsukishima x reader #haikyuu x reader #this will probably have a part two #fingers crossed that it posts right #hope you enjoy #08/12/2020

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horansqueen · 4 years ago

Text

You & Me : chapter 50

A Niall Horan fanfiction ; rated MA

Sequel to AM CONVERSATIONS

(FINAL CHAPTER)

CHAPTER 1 || CHAPTER 2 || CHAPTER 3 || CHAPTER 4 || CHAPTER 5 || CHAPTER 6 || CHAPTER 7 || CHAPTER 8 || CHAPTER 9 || CHAPTER 10 || CHAPTER 11 || CHAPTER 12 || CHAPTER 13 || CHAPTER 14 || CHAPTER 15 || CHAPTER 16 || CHAPTER 17 || CHAPTER 18 || CHAPTER 19 || CHAPTER 20 || CHAPTER 21 || CHAPTER 22 || CHAPTER 23 || CHAPTER 24 || CHAPTER 25 || CHAPTER 26 || CHAPTER 27 || CHAPTER 28 || CHAPTER 29 || CHAPTER 30 || CHAPTER 31 || CHAPTER 32 || CHAPTER 33 || CHAPTER 34 || CHAPTER 35 || CHAPTER 36 || CHAPTER 37 || CHAPTER 38 || CHAPTER 39 || CHAPTER 40 || CHAPTER 41 || CHAPTER 42 || CHAPTER 43 || CHAPTER 44 || CHAPTER 45 || CHAPTER 46 || CHAPTER 47 || CHAPTER 48 || CHAPTER 49

THANK YOU’S

I can't explain how much AM Conversations and YOU&ME has meant to me. This was a story I started just for fun after I realized how much I loved Niall. After only a few chapters, i almost let it die. It took me 4 years to decide to continue it again, despite knowing back then that no one cared or was interested to read. I don't know how I got lucky enough that you guys actually gave this story a chance. And I can't thank you enough for trusting me. I hope I entertained you through the past year and a half, and I really hope I made you go through a bunch of emotions, good and bad. I don't think all of you realize how happy you made me feel with the likes, the reblogs, the comments, the feedback and the ideas you sent me. It made me want to write more, it made me want to continue this story and actually finish it.

And here I am. It's the very first time I actually finish a story. two books. 105 chapters. Over 440k words. I can't pretend I'm not proud of this. This story will always be my baby, my favorite. And all of you who took time in your busy days to read and comment it mean more to me than I can ever explain.

I love you guys. I love you so much. I can't seem to express how grateful I am.

Julie ( @paynesqueen ): thank you for brainstorming with me almost every week. thank you for all your ideas, and all the help you gave me through the year I wrote these books. even when in quarantine, we'd talk for hours on the phone and you'd be there to help me. thank you for your big heart, thank you for being an incredible friend that I can always count on, thank you for listening to all my sad shit and feelings even if i know I rarely share because i feel stupid. thank you so so so so much! you're one of my best friends, and im so glad i have you in my life!

Isa ( @sushiniall ): you are such a beautiful persons. idk if we would have started talking if it wasnt from this story. i like to think that we would, but i can never be sure. thank you for always commenting, sending ideas, liking and reblogging. As a writer, it blows up my heart that someone would be so kind, and as a friend, it makes me want to cry. you're amazing, youre incredible, and you were always always there to cheer me up and tell me that I had talent, It made me keep going and I can never thank you enough for that. I love you. I really really do.

Laila ( @liallerr ) : what can i say? you've always been there for me, to make me feel better and to tell me how much you loved my writing. thank you for being such an incredible person. and thank you for being so patient with me whenever i'd message you (even if it wasnt about this story). thank you for never judging me, and for your beautiful friendship. I really hope I bring to you as much joy as you bring in my life. im so happy we met, im so glad we started talking. i love you so so much, youre like a little sister to me. thank you for always commenting and reading my story. thank you for being you, because i cant think of a better quality in someone. thank you.

@ewhkylie: you were always one of the first to comments every single chapter. how can i not thank you for being so loyal and giving my story a chance. i saw all the efforts you made into commenting. and every single time, it made me smile. youre amazing, thank you so much!

@llainnaroh: thank you so much! your tags always made me smile! thank you!

@bamb11: thank you for always caring and reading!!! youre amazing!

@behind-my-hazeleyes27: i saw you reblog with tags or comments every time... thank you so much!

special thanks to you guys who reblogged, commented, or messaged me so often! thank you! i noticed every time!

thanks to you guys! @beachsecrets @wasteddarlinglover @torismusing @sunsetter96 @bunbun9396 @missy14us @mannien @cybermugneckpsychic @mariamorris913 @sunshine-sma @mypugsley @loulouloueh @awomanindeniall @tylkotroche

and many many more! (im so sorry if i forgot you!)

thank you to all of you who liked and reblogged my chapters. thank you to those who recommended my stories to their friends or on your blog. thank you to the person(s) who nominated me for the 1d craft awards. thank you so much, you're all amazing!

thank you so so much to all of you who sent me anons about my chapters or the story as a whole. thank you for taking the time to do that. i love every single one of you even if i don't know who you are. just know that waking up with comments and feedback from you in my inbox made me smile every single time!

thank you to every single one of you who ever sent an idea or a request, even if i may not have used them. please know that it's not because your ideas weren't great, but just because it didnt fit in the story. (i received almost 300 requests/ideas for the 2 stories!)

thank you to the 41 persons who asked to be notified when this story was updated. I never thought it would be that many, and every single time i send you guys the link im amazed by how many of you actually care! thank you!

thank you to all of you, the silent readers. those who never messaged me, sent me comments or requests... i don't know who you are, but I know there are some of you out there. i hope at some point you get less shy and send me a comment or two!

i'm extremely thankful for all the love i received, and i'll never forget this. thank you everyone for following me in this crazy adventure. i love you all.

Olivia 💗

Chapter 50 (final chapter)

OLIVIA

I felt Niall's lips brush the skin of my neck and my lips curled. He wrapped his arms around my waist and I chuckled low, tilting my head to allow him to kiss me more. We had been back from our trip to Vegas for about a week, and had intentionally and very carefully ignored the messages and calls we had gotten. All we did was send an invitation for a party to everyone we knew, including our parents, along with plane tickets. We had taken hotel reservations for them and made sure their stay would be perfect. Everything was ready, everything was planned, and all the persons we loved the most in the world were going to be present. I was extremely stressed and as usual, Niall was totally relax about it. I had no idea how he did it, but the fact that he was so calm and laid-back helped me relax, too.

"This is amazing." he let out, pecking my skin more. "Everyone that really matters will be there."

"I hate talking in front of people, you know that." I whined, raising my nose up in a grimace.

"But everyone who'll be there actually loves you, petal." he argued, running his hands gently and slowly up my arms. "I love you the most and I'll be standing right next to you."

"How do you think they're react?"

"Mm, our moms will cry, our dads will laugh, our friends will scream and Louis will curse."

I let out a louder laughter, making Niall chuckle against my neck.

"You told him, didn't you?"

"I showed him the ring but I didn't tell him when I was going to ask you, or that we would just fly to Vegas to get married." he shrugged. "I just left him there and ran to you."

I smiled fondly and turned around in his arms to face him, tilting my chin and licking my lips as I stared in his eyes. He was wearing a tie and I gripped it gently, pulling on it. He had convinced me to wear a dress even if I knew I'd feel uncomfortable the whole evening but I knew I couldn't just wear sweatpants to this event, even if I desperately wanted to.

"How's my make up?" I finally asked, raising my eyebrows, after a few minutes of silence.

"On point." he replied, making me laugh.

"You have no idea what you're talking about, do you?" I asked as he pulled me closer by the waist.

"No idea. None."

I laughed more and he bent down to kiss me gently. "All I know is that you're beautiful. You always are." he whispered, brushing his lips against mine again.

"You're so full of shit, Horan." I breathed back against his mouth, my lips curling slightly.

"I mean it." he insisted very low, his arms slipping around my waist as he pressed my body against his. "You're the most beautiful woman i've ever seen. You shine so much, you glow, my love."

I giggled and he smiled, moving his face slightly away to look at me. My smile faltered a bit and turned into a fond one. I wanted to stay right there, in our living room, as he'd hold me close, but I knew we had somewhere to be.

"My wife."

My eyes fluttered close and my lips curled more. All the papers were signed and the 'I do's were said. We were officially husband and wife and that thought always made my heart jump in my chest. It probably always would.

"Yes?"

"I would love to stay here and make love to you all evening but we should really get going."

I laughed a bit and shook my head, knowing it was exactly what we had been doing for the past weeks but I didn't mention anything. Instead, I tilted my head and just nodded. I was stressed and I was not sure why but after everyone was arrived and had consumed at least one drink, Niall walked up to the small stage and I frowned a bit when I saw him grab his guitar. His eyes found me and he made a quick head movement, telling me to join him.

"Go!" Louis told me, pushing me gently but I just pressed my lips together and breathed in deeply. "Come on, my queen."

I finally joined Niall and he cleared his throat, placing himself in front of the microphone. That was it, that was the moment I was dreading, and I started feeling nauseous.

"Hello everyone, thank you for coming here tonight." he let out with a smile. "I know you're all here because you think we're getting engaged."

I bit my bottom lip but suddenly, I relaxed. Perhaps, it was the sound of his voice that calmed me down, or maybe the fact that we were surrounded by all the people we loved, or maybe it was just the thought that we were married and that no one could take that away from us. Either way, I moved closer and I smiled while staring at him.

"Uhm, we're not getting engaged. In fact, if you haven’t heard from us at all in the past two weeks, it's because we flew to Vegas and got married there."

The memory of him, standing in front of me as he held my hands and promised to love me forever came back to my mind and I held my breath. Everyone started whispering but coming loud from all the murmurs was the sound of my best friend screaming "FUCK YEA!" from the middle of the room. I let out a laughter as my eyes looked for him and he sent me a 'rock on' sign with his free hand while the other was holding up a glass of wine.

"Thank you, Tommo." my boyfriend let out with a smile and a small head movement. "So you guys are here to celebrate the fact that Olivia and I are husband and wife, legally and emotionally. I waited until you were all at least a bit intoxicated to let out the news but if you're here, it's because we love you, and we wanted to live this with you. We knew you would all be happy for us, because after all, Liv and I, it was meant to be."

His eyes found me and I smiled more, I took a step closer and licked my lips as In gripped the side of my dress nervously. It took only a second for Niall's hand to reach mine and when he squeezed my fingers, I felt better.

"Thank you so much for being here. We're sorry you missed the ceremony, but it was important for us to do it just the two of us. When you find the love of your life, that one person you want to spend all your days with until the very last, then there's no reason to wait. I've always known Niall was my soulmate, but now I know I'm his too, and nothing can change that. I know it's cheesy, but each and every single one of you were with us when we said 'I do'"

Niall chuckled next to me and shook his head slightly. "Here, let me reenact what happened to you." he turned to me and just let out a low 'I do' before grabbing my face and kissing me.

It was not as gentle and emotional as it had been when it really happened, but I still felt my heart jump in my chest. I loved the feeling of his warm palms on my cheeks and the way his fingertips brushed against my jaw and neck. I loved his touch. I heard everyone start cheering and clapping and I laughed through the kiss, feeling his lips curl into a smile too.

When he pulled away, I could swear my eyes were sparkling and when his eyes met mine, he smiled even more. "Okay so I wrote a song for you." he explained when the small crowd of our families and friends became quieter. "I wanted to sing it here, in front of everyone, because I thought it was perfect for today."

I took a step back and when he started singing, I recognized the lyrics. I had read them in his notebook a few months before. It was the song he wrote in the middle of the night and I remembered watching him for so long, his pen running quickly on the paper and his hand moving in his hair from time to time, messing it on the top of his head. I remember reading the lyrics the next day and tearing up when I realized there was my name at the bottom. I remembered everything and I tried to keep the tears in as he sang.

"Yeah, I see us in black and white Crystal clear on a star lit night In all your gorgeous colors I promise that I'll love you for the rest of my life See you standing in your dress Swear in front of all our friends There'll never be another I promise that I'll love you for the rest of my life"

I knew Niall would have preferred a more traditional wedding, and I also knew he gave it up just for me. This small reception was the closest he would get from telling everyone that he promised to love me forever and somehow, with this song, he was doing it very clearly and openly.

"I want the world to witness When we finally say I do It's the way you love I gotta give it back to you I can't promise picket fences Or sunny afternoons But, at night when I close my eyes"

I held my breath, feeling suddenly a bit guilty that he couldn't have his family and friends with him when we got married, but I teared up at how beautiful his lyrics were, even if I already knew that. I breathed in deeply only when the song was over and without thinking, I walked up to him quickly, got on my tiptoes and kissed him.

"I love you so much." I just let out before my lips crashed against his.

Everyone started clapping again but I was not sure if it was for the kiss or the song. Either way, it didn't matter. I just deppened the kiss and he answered it without hesitation. I knew he didn't like PDA, but I couldn't help it and when he pulled me closer, I knew he didn't mind. I felt half of his guitar press on my stomach and laughed a bit.

"I love you too."

NIALL

Everyone was dancing, talking, laughing and drinking. I remained close to my wife the whole time and when I saw our parents talking together, I knew that was the ultimate test. I was pretty sure they would be okay with this but I was still a bit scared of their reaction. I felt Liv hold my hand so tight that I almost took it back. Instead, I squeezed her fingers back and smiled as we walked up to them. Quickly, my mom engulfed me in a hug and all the stress disappeared. I noticed Olivia's parents do the same to her and I hugged my dad before turning to my parents-in-law and hold out my hand to her father. It took a few seconds but his lips finally curled and he shook my hand before pulling on it and hugging me too.

"I am happy for you, son."

"Thank you."

"We're sorry that you couldn't be there with us. I promise we didn't want to hurt you, we just..." Liv started before licking her lips and pressing them together. "We just wanted to do that alone."

Her mom raised her eyebrows and they stared at each other in silence for a while.

"Es-tu heureuse?"

My girlfriend's lips curled and her eyes fluttered a bit. "I've never been happier, maman."

Her mom nodded and after a while, it was my mom's turn to hug her. When they pulled away, Olivia frowned and her lips parted. I couldn't help but think that she looked too pretty for words but I tried to push that thought away when I heard only one word escape her mouth. "How...?" My mom smiled more and chuckled slightly. "I just do."

I was about to ask them what they were talking about but I felt someone slap my back and it took me by surprise. I jumped slightly and groaned low as Louis appeared in front of me.

"Congrats mate, I'm happy for both of you." he said, wrapping his arms around me and hugging me so tight that I lost my breath.

"Thank you." I said as he let go of me to engulf my girlfriend into a tight and more emotional hug.

I stared at them for a few seconds and finally turned to Eleanor who congratulated me too before hugging me. Soon, Liam, Julie and Harry joined us and after hugging everyone, we all started talking and laughing together. I knew everything would go well but at the same time, I was a bit nervous. It was important for me that our friends and family would be okay with the fact that we got married without telling them, and I just wanted them to know it was not against them at all, but mostly just for Liv and I. We had started just the two of us, and it was just the obvious way to do this.

For the rest of the night, I spent my time watching my girlfriend dance, laugh and interact with the people we loved, telling myself that this was the happiest time of my entire life. I watched everyone leave one by one, our parents being the firsts and then our friends. Louis was the last one to leave and we decided to just leave with him.

"You know, you literally made me want to do it too." he let out low, looking at our girlfriends saying their goodbyes and making me frown. "Your speech earlier. It made me realize that maybe I shouldn't wait anymore."

My lips curled and I let out a chuckle. "Go for it." I just let out, knowing perfectly well that their couple was as strong as ours and that they both considered each other their soulmates. "I don't even know why you waited that long."

He didn't send me a glance, he just kept looking at El and after a few minutes, we said good night and left in a different cab. It's only when we walked inside and closed the door behind us that I felt all the stress disappear from my body. It was a good stress, but it was still nice to relax.

Olivia disappeared in the hall and I just sat on the couch, loosening my tie and putting my feet on the coffee table. I closed my eyes and leaned my head on the back of the couch as a bunch of memories came to mine. I had been so close to lose the love of my life forever and by my fault. I had hurt her in a way I had never hurt anyone else in my life and at the same time, I had hurt myself in a way I had never been hut before without realizing it immediately. I couldn't lie and pretend Olivia was not the best thing that has ever happened to me because she was, and I liked to believe I was for her, too. You can call it fate, you can call it destiny, you can call it 'soulmates' but in the end, it was just an other love story for most people. For me, however, it was epic and the accomplishment of a lifetime.

After everything we've been through, every wrong decisions, every mistake and every problem, we still managed to reach this point of happiness together. Olivia has always told me that love was not all you need, despite the popular song, and I knew she was right. But it was because of the love we have for each other that we actually tried over and over again. It was because of this love that we actually ended up together, because we were ready to make the effort, and because we believed in the feelings we had. I knew I would never truly be happy without her and now that we were together, I planned to do everything possible and impossible to keep her in my life.

My girlfriend came back and put something next to the couch, which I guessed was her purse. I was not surprised to see she had changed into a pair of my sweatpants and a shirt that also belonged to me but looked so much better on her. It stuck to her chest and hips in a way it didn't to me and I loved it more than I should.

"I would have loved to take that dress off of you myself." I admitted with a smirk, making her raise her nose up as she sent me a smile. "But hey, I'm not surprised."

She moved closer and gripped my tie, pulling on it gently and making me laugh right before her lips reached mine. I was a bit tipsy and mixed with my happiness, it made me sound totally drunk, but she knew me well enough to know I was just ecstatic from the night we just had had.

"You can take my sweatpants and t-shirt off later, if you want." she proposed before I nodded. "I'm not wearing anything under, if it changes anything."

I chuckled and she kissed my lips again as one of my hands reached for her waist. "Come on, sit on me, will you?"

I watched her hesitate and bite her bottom lip gently before actually straddling me. I moved my chin up, endeared by her behavior, and my hands reached for her thighs. I let my palms rub slowly on the fabric of her pants and stared at her as she licked her lips.

"Thank you for the song." she whispered, a shy smile gracing her lips as she looked away. "Honestly, I had read the lyrics before. I know I shouldn't have but it was sort of an accident."

I raised my eyebrows and smiled back at her. "You're so nosy I swear," I joked. "No one told you not to touch other people's stuff?"

"I'm sorry! I know I shouldn't have. Forgive me?" she asked with a cute grimace, making me roll my eyes with a smile.

"Of course." I just let out, moving my head slightly. "I almost sang you 'This Town' instead." I paused and she frowned. "I know I wrote it when we first dated, and I told you it was partially about you, and partially fiction... but when you were with Dylan and we met again, It hit me how it had completely turned out to be what I was actually going through. And the lyrics are still true, you know? Everything comes back to you."

Her eyes fluttered and a fond smile spread on her lips. She brought her hands to my cheeks and let her thumbs brush on my stubble. I wanted to keep telling her how much I loved her but quickly, she pressed her mouth against mine and my hands gripped her thighs at how good she tasted. I don't know how long we stayed close, her forehead leaning against mine while we both kept out eyes closed, but I focused on her weight on my lap and the aroma of honey and vanilla invading my nose. I could have stayed like that all night.

"Told you our parents would be happy." I let out after a while, making her sit back up to look at me.

"Mm, and your brother?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.

"He sent a text message to say congrats earlier." I explained as my hands kept running on her thighs. "You know we're gonna have to entertain our parents for a few days. That means we can't spend our days locked her to fuck anymore."

She laughed a bit and tilted her head. "I think we can take a few days break."

I frowned but shook my head, wrapping my arms around her waist and pulling her closer. "That's not what I meant, we can still have sex when we come back home, and if you're too exhausted I can do all the to work."

"I suspect you actually enjoy that." she laughed, making me smile more.

"Mm, maybe I do."

I pulled her closer and when her lips brushed against mine, I heard her whimper low. I slowly deepened the kiss just to taste her and she let me, moving as close to me as she could. I felt her ass rub on my thighs and groaned when it reached my cock.

"Maybe we should go to our room now, what d'you say?" I proposed in a whisper before kissing her more.

"Not yet." she murmured back, grabbing my upper lip between hers and sucking on it.

I felt myself get hornier and groaned low as I grabbed her waist and turned us around, laying her down on the couch. She let out a little scream and I quickly moved over her, smiling big.

"Fine then, we'll do it here."

We kissed a bit roughly and deeply for a while but when my hand slipped under her shirt, she quickly stopped me. "Niall wait, I have something for you first."

I frowned but even if I was curious, I definitely thought it could wait. Seeing her face though made me back away slightly and after a few seconds, I sat up and she did the same, pulling on her shirt to put it back in place.

Without a word, she reached for what she had put next to the couch and held me a white gift bag. I stared at it for a while and finally turned to her, a bit suspiciously.

"Did I miss something? An anniversary or something else that was important?"

She chuckled and shook her head, but I noticed how she was nervously playing with the fabric of her pants. "No, don't worry. I just wanted to give you a little something."

We just looked at each other for a while and I let my eyes roam on her face before finally take the colored tissues off the bag and dive my hand in it. I grabbed something and took it out but it took a few seconds for my brain to process everything. It was a piece of fabric, almost the same white as the bag but a bit lighter, and when I turned it around, I understood. On the front was written "my daddy is a rockstar" and somehow, I felt my heart jump so high in my chest I had to swallow it back.

"Petal." I whispered before turning to look at her. "Are you pregnant?"

Slowly, she nodded, her eyes never leaving mine, and I felt my heart jump for a second time. I blinked a few times, feeling tears coming to my eyes as a bunch of emotions flooded me. My eyes roamed on her and ended on her belly who looked exactly like it always did but when I looked up, I held my breath, realizing something.

"My mom knows."

She nodded slowly again. "She... she guessed it. I don't know how she knew, but she congratulated me earlier, at the party."

"You... you didn't drink?"

"Not a drip. I had soda." she explained, tilting her head and pressing her lips together. "I thought you had noticed."

I didn't answer, I just blinked again a few times before looking back at the small pajama I was holding. It seemed surreal and despite what I thought I would feel if it happened, I felt overly emotional but in a good way.

"I'm really gonna be a dad?" I asked, raising my eyebrows and finally turning to my girlfriend who just nodded. I chuckled a bit, and then some more. "Fookin' hell."

"Are you happy?"

Her question was legit since we had had a pregnancy scare a few months earlier, but it seemed like so many things had happened in such a short period of time and now that my tour was over, I felt like it was a good time to jump into this.

"Honestly, Olivia..." I turned on the couch to face her and noticed she was holding her breath and tearing up. I moved closer and her eyes fluttered. I watched one single tear fall from her left one and cupped her face, brushing my thumb on her cheekbone to catch the tear. "I thought marrying you and finally being with you was the highest moments of my life. I honestly never thought I could be even happier than I already was. But you just made me the happiest man in the whole fookin' world, pet."

She let out a loud sigh of relief and I brought my lips against hers. "I love you so much, Olivia. I can't wait for that future with you. You and Me. This is just the beginning."

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etherealhoneybee777 · 3 years ago

Text

My first ever fanfiction! (Work in Progress)

Summary:

Mikey has been feeling depressed for weeks, but mean comments about his cooking send him over the edge. Leo comforts Mikey and talks to him about his feelings, and he realizes the impact that words can have on his little brother.

I wrote this fanfiction because I have a history of mental illness, and I project pretty hard onto Mikey. I wanted to see what it would be like if Mikey was depressed, and how his brothers would help him cope. Please excuse the potential bad writing! This is the first short story I’ve written in a long time :) TW for depression.

Link: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13941733/1/Small-Words-Tumbling

The fanfiction:

Small Words, Tumbling

Mikey was curled up on his bed, watching small slivers of light stream through the blinds of his window.

Worthless. Screw-up. Good-for-nothing. Waste of space. Everyone would be fine if you were gone.

He had spent the better part of the day in his room, only coming out to train and prepare meals. Although his brothers would often make fun of the disturbing things he would eat—like anchovy jellybean pizza-Mikey knew that they relied on him to cook practically everything, since they were hopeless in the kitchen. Mikey loved cooking because it made him feel valuable to his brothers. Mikey always had the unshakable feeling that he wasn't as good as the rest of his family. Donnie was a tech genius. Leo was the leader. Raph was a badass fighter. And Master Splinter was, well, Master Splinter. The rest of the family had something specific and valuable to contribute, and all Mikey could do was cook. Cooking was Mikey's talent. No one else in his family could do it. Sure, he wasn't the best fighter, but if Mikey didn't cook, no one could eat. Mikey had been feeling deeply depressed and worthless for months now, but the fact that he could cook made him feel valuable to his family. It was the only thing that made him feel valuable anymore, if he was being honest.

That's probably why what happened that morning hurt Mikey so bad.

That morning, Mikey strode into the kitchen confidently. He had the best idea in the world: grape French toast. Grape soda was delicious. French toast was delicious. So why not combine them?

And so Mikey labored in the kitchen, stirring flour, egg yolks, butter, and sugar until it made a smooth mixture. Then, he pulled the grape soda out of the fridge and poured a generous amount into the mixing bowl.

"Yeah!" Mikey screamed to the empty room, "This is gonna be awesome!"

Thirty minutes later, there were four plates piled high with vivid purple French toast. Mikey pulled out a can of whipped cream and a bottle of syrup and placed them on the counter next to the plates.

"Hey guys, it's time to eat!" Mikey bellowed into the layer. Raph, Donnie, and Leo, who had been watching some morning Space Heroes, got up and sluggishly walked to the kitchen.

"Thank God, I'm starving," Raph said, rubbing his plastron. As he walked into the kitchen though, his slight smile turned into a scowl. "Mikey," he growled, looking at the purple pieces of toast, "What the fuck is this?"

"It's grape French toast, dude!" Mikey said as he tried to hand the stacked plate to Raph. Suddenly, Mikey lost grip of the plate, and three pieces of grape French toast went flying towards Raph's lap.

"Seriously, Mikey?" Raph sneered. Then, he picked up a piece of the purple French toast and waved it in the air, "Whatever this is…it's disgusting!" Raph lowered his voice to a hesitant grumble. "I just wish we'd order takeout instead of letting this genius cook. Honestly, I don't know what to do with him sometimes."

Mikey felt hurt blaze through his chest, for reasons he couldn't explain. He was used to being insulted by Raph, even though he was grumpier than usual today, but no one ever insulted Mikey's breakfasts. Sure, Mikey's cheesy jokes were often met with annoyance, and he was often belittled for being unfocused during fights, but no one ever insulted breakfast. Breakfast was Mikey's one sanctuary, the one place where the things he did could be appreciated.

Mikey looked at Donnie and Leo for some reassurance, but he couldn't find any. Leo was silently flicking his pieces of toast into the trashcan and reaching for a granola bar. Donnie was reluctantly sniffing his pieces of toast but refusing to take a bite.

"Maybe you should go back to cooking the regular breakfasts, you know?" Donatello said, not unkindly. Mikey's heart felt like it was about to burst as he watched Donnie scrape his toast into the trashcan and wash his plate.

"I'm sorry, guys," Mikey said, looking at the ground sheepishly, "Eggs and bakies tomorrow, I promise!" he continued with forced cheer.

Raph grumbled as he walked out of the room and sat on the couch to continue watching Space Heroes. Donnie scurried off into his lab. Leo moved to walk out, but not before he caught a glimpse of the hurt in Mikey's bright blue eyes.

"Hey, Mikey," Leo said, lips bent downwards in concern, "Raph is just a little grumpy today."

But the damage had already been done. As Leo turned away, Mikey's eyes started stinging, and all of Mikey's negative thoughts came flooding to the surface. You're not good enough. You're not as good as your brothers. You can't get a single thing right. Screw-up. They would never miss you if you were gone. Mikey ran to his room, making sure that his brothers couldn't see the tears welling in his eyes.

He stayed in his room for most of the day, only coming out to train. When Mikey trained that day, he only spoke to answer questions and say Hai sensei. He didn't see his brothers trade looks of concern with each other. When training was over, Mikey walked briskly back into his room.

"What's wrong with Mikey?" Raph asked, a tone of annoyance veiling his concern.

"He'll probably come out and tell us soon enough," Leo replied, looking anxiously towards Mikey's room.

Mikey sat in his room for hours. It was so impossibly lonely, not being with his brothers, but how could he face them now? He wasn't good enough, and he didn't want to be a burden to them. He had cried his eyes out for an hour, until he felt like he couldn't cry anymore. It was so stupid that he felt this way over an offhand rude comment Raph made about his cooking. But, the truth was that Mikey had been feeling pretty worthless for weeks, and Raph's comment seemed to validate Mikey's feelings. Mikey desperately wished he could be someone else, someone focused and attentive during battle, someone who knew how to talk to people. He wanted people to laugh with him, but they only laughed at him. Like he was some big joke.

Mikey didn't want to be a joke. He wanted to be a leader, a badass, someone with a purpose. But he was just a burden. A screw up. And his brothers were left to pick up the pieces. Honestly, they would be better off if he wasn't around.

Mikey slowly felt himself sinking deeper in his bed as his thoughts consumed him. He almost didn't hear the slow, methodical knock at the door.

"Mikey, can I come in?"

Leo.

Mikey didn't answer. He had started crying again, and besides that, he just really didn't want to talk to Leo. Mikey was surprised when the door squeaked open and golden light filled his room anyway.

"Mikey!" Leo's eyes widened as he saw the tear tracks on Mikey's face. "Oh my god."

Mikey felt Leo place his weight on the bed. He turned to look at Leo's eyes. Cool and calm. But Mikey could tell that beneath his collected exterior, Leo was panicking.

"What's wrong, buddy?" Leo said, a little too gingerly. Leo was used to comforting Mikey after his nightmares when they were young, but, now that they were older, Leo no longer knew the words to make his brother feel better.

Mikey stared at Leo. He felt like there was a huge blank expanse between them, like a black sky with no stars. Mikey desperately wanted to reach out and close the divide, but Leo would never understand how Mikey felt. Leo was a fearless leader. He always knew what to do, and people took him seriously when it counted. Meanwhile, Mikey felt that he was the last person anyone would trust in an intense situation.

Leo furrowed his brow in concern at Mikey's silence. "Talk to me, Mikey. Was it the thing that Raph said this morning? We didn't mean to hurt your feelings by not eating the breakfast you made for us."

Mikey shifted his eyes to the floor. "Uh…it is and isn't about what Raph said this morning," he said finally. "I just…I don't know. I just feel like everyone has their thing, you know? Like you're the leader, and Donatello is the smart one. Raph is super good at fighting and Master Splinter has taught us everything we know. But no one really needs me. And I always screw up our fights, too." Mikey's mouth felt dry now that he had said what he had been feeling for months out loud. Surprised that it came out that fast. But he had wanted to say it, needed to say it.

Leo's bright blue eyes widened in surprise. "Mikey, we do need you." He put a comforting hand on Mikey's shoulder. "And your thing is being Mikey. The team wouldn't be the same without you. And sure, you've messed up our fights sometimes, but you've saved us more times than I can remember," he looked down and continued gravely, "We are all equally valuable in this family."

Mikey refused to look at Leo. Leo's words were comforting, but for some reason, Mikey's throat felt like it was filling with clay. It was only when his vision blurred that he noticed he was crying. The crying quickly evolved into full-on sobbing. It felt like a torrential storm, punctured only by the choked sounds of his shaky breaths.

"Oh god, oh god. Mikey…"

Before Mikey knew it, his head was buried in Leo's chest, and his body was wrapped tightly in strong green arms. Leo rubbed Mikey's head, which he usually only did when Mikey was seriously injured. Mikey should have felt closer to Leo, but he felt the black, starless expanse between them getting wider and wider.

Mikey pulled away, wiping his eyes. "You just wouldn't understand."

Leo's eyes flashed with hurt, but he quickly replaced it with his signature practiced calmness. "Wouldn't understand what?"

"You're the person that everyone needs. You're our leader. If you were gone, nothing would ever be the same. You don't understand being worthless. You don't understand what it's like to be the kind of person that could disappear forever, and no one would ever miss. That's my life, dude," Mikey said, his voice strained from all the crying.

Mikey looked at Leo. And he was surprised to see that the pantomimed calm patience that usually occupied Leo's eyes be replaced by an intense, gripping fear.

"You're not worthless, Mikey. You mean so much to all of us," Leo said. "I love you, little brother" he continued. Mikey could tell that wasn't all that was on his mind.

Leo paused a long time before finally speaking again.

"Mikey…you haven't ever thought of hurting yourself, have you?" Leo's voice was shaky and deeply sad. Even though Mikey had been crying, for some reason Leo sounded sadder than he was.

"No," Mikey answered quickly and with certainty. Truthfully, he had never even considered it, at least, not in any real way.

"Promise?"

"Promise." Mikey gave him a slight smile.

Leo pulled him into a second embrace, squeezing Mikey even harder than he did last time. This time, Mikey didn't pull away. He just stayed there, leaning against Leo's neck, feeling a million times lighter than before. The black expanse between the two brothers had vanished, and he felt closer to Leo than he ever did.

"Mikey…" Leo started, and then paused. Mikey could tell by the strained choke of his words that Leo had started crying.

"Mikey," Leo began again, "If anything ever happened to you, I would miss you for the rest of my life."

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