#I didn’t know how he joined them so when he got unmasked like. actually unmasked

[the-squeege]

Unmasked

[ladykailitha]

Around the World Part 1

Welcome to the sequel, but not the epilogue! It a bit confusing and I'm sorry. Essentially this story takes place before the sobriety celebration in the last chapter of Icarus. Which I would absolutely read first if you haven't yet. It's 25 chapters of Steddie on tour.

The epilogue takes place SIX years AFTER Gareth's celebration. And is only two chapters. It is an unmasking of The Fallen. I wrote when I was trying to flesh out Shane, Spence, and Simon.

Summary: After a grueling tour, Steve wants nothing more than take a vacation with his boyfriend and just be regular people for three months. Only Eddie isn't just anyone, he's the frontman for the world's most popular heavy metal band. So Chrissy and Robin come long to act as beards (provided they keep their hands off of each other long enough). Join the fruity four as they travel the world looking for the spooky, the kooky, and the all together weird.

~

The tour was finally over and Steve was ready to collapse. He couldn’t wait to be himself again.

It would be two weeks with Jim Hopper and the rest of his band to deprogram them from their alter egos then a three month trip with Robin and Eddie.

Everyone else had made plans too. Spence and Nadia were going to see a few of the national parks. They were going to start with the ones in California and then go from there. They were planning on making it a yearly thing, if they lasted that long.

His friends really hoped they did. One of them needed a healthy relationship that wasn’t kept in the shadows.

Steve showed up first and waited for his bandmates to trickle in. Shane arrived first. With coffee for all six of them. Robin and Hopper included. Steve gratefully took his syrupy sweet iced coffee with a grateful smile.

Shane was doing better too. He had started therapy too after talking with Gareth about his. Gareth had told him that it was better to start when the cracks were beginning to show, then after the damn had burst. And Shane had really taken that to heart.

Him and Gareth were taking a vacation together later in the summer. To places where drinking and partying wasn’t the only way to have fun. Both their therapists recommended it, to have a friend with them who was going through a similar journey to help keep them on the path to recovery.

Simon came in next. He gratefully took his black coffee with two sugars from Shane and flopped on the sofa next to Steve. He was the only one of them that didn’t have plans. But privately Steve thought that was a good thing. He needed to learn to be more independent and not rely on other members of the band so much.

Then it was Robin and Hopper together, they were talking about business things that made Steve’s head spin. He knew it was a necessary part of what they did, but he was glad he someone else to do it for him.

They each took their coffees from Shane with grateful mumbles and sat down in each the arm chairs.

Spence arrived last and looking rather harried.

“If I see one more out of state driver thinking that they know how to drive on the instate better than Californians I might actually commit murder.”

Shane held up a white Americano and Spence broke down into tears. “I love you, man!”

Spence gave him a huge hug and Shane just patted his back awkwardly. Once Spence stopped crying he went to go sit on the sofa with Steve and Simon.

“Sorry about that,” he said with a sniff. “It’s just been a horrific morning and the sweet smell of coffee was like balm on my soul.”

Steve was about to ask what was wrong, when Hopper cleared his throat. “All right, everyone. I’ve made everyone videos that I want all you of you to study for the next couple of hours and then we’ll slowly work on deprogramming all of you.”

They buckled down and got to work. Steve kept an eye on Spence though. And when they both got a break he pulled his drummer aside.

“Hey, bud,” Steve asked soothingly, “what’s wrong?”

Spence ran his fingers through his long curls and sighed. “Nadia has to go back to India for a few months because her grandfather is dying. Only she’s not sure how long it will be so most likely the vacation is off.”

Steve blinked at him for a moment. “And you’re not going with her, why?”

Spence raised his head and blinked back at him. “What?”

“You’re a multi-millionaire, dude,” Steve pointed out, “you could go with her to India. Meet her family, enjoy and learn a whole new country and culture.”

Spence’s eyes went wide. “I–I didn’t think of that...” he made a dive for his phone but Hopper was faster.

“It can wait until you’re done for today,” he growled. “You have a lot to do before you can contact people in your life.”

Spence blushed a dark red.

“Holy fucking hell, Spencer Peters,” Hopper snapped. “I told you not go see her. And ya did it anyway.”

“I figured I was okay,” Spence muttered. “After all I don’t talk as Azrael.”

Hopper smacked the back of his head. “Yeah and how did you explain your rough voice?”

“Traveler’s cough?” Spence said with a wince and a shrug.

Hopper squeezed the bridge of his nose with finger and thumb and sighed. “Don’t do that again, yes?”

Spence nodded, wide eyed.

Things progressed naturally from there. Every day, them becoming more like themselves and less like two separate people.

On the last day of “training” Robin came bouncing up to Steve.

“So...” she said nervously, “Vickie wants us to take a fourth on our vacation so it doesn’t look like I’m chaperoning you. Preferably another woman.”

Steve sighed.

He really should have seen that coming. Even though Robin/Celeste are known homosexuals, having another woman there would dispel the rumors that Eddie and Steve were dating.

“It would have to be someone straight,” he said, resigned.

“Would another chaotic bisexual work?” Robin asked chewing nervously on her lower lip.

“Chrissy.”

Robin grinned. “Yeah. It’ll be awesome because like me she was friends with the band before she became their manager so her and Eddie are really close, like you and me and with her with us, you ‘dating’ a manager isn’t as gold digger-esque as dating a international rockstar. Plus, she really likes the spooky and supernatural stuff too, so she wouldn’t be a killjoy about it–”

Steve grabbed her by the shoulders and said firmly, “Breathe.”

Robin took a massive inhale and gulped.

“I don’t mind Chrissy coming along,” he said with a wry smile, “but are you sure you don’t just want her along because you have a crush on her?”

She opened her mouth to refute it, but Steve raised an eyebrow and she slammed her mouth shut.

“That’s what I thought,” he said smugly. “Just know you cannot do anything even remotely couple-y with her otherwise that will completely counter the whole reason she’s there in the first place.”

Robin raised her hands in surrender. “I promise to keep my hands to myself until we get home.”

“Then of course she can come.”

“Yay!” Robin cried jumping up and down.

~

Steve was packing for his trip and was starting to worry that maybe this was a bad idea. He hadn’t thought about how it would look with him spending so much money on clothes and accommodation. Travel and food made sense on a PA’s salary, but staying in the places that Eddie would want to stay in without being labeled a gold digger was starting to weigh on his mind.

Which is of course when Eddie came to his rescue without him even needing to say a word.

The man in question came bounding into his room, him long since having had a key to the place, even well before he knew Steve was Abbadon. It was just now, he also had the biolock to Steve’s studio, too.

“Baby,” Eddie said giddily. “I found these haunted bed and breakfast places we can stay in on trip. With motels on standby in case they really are haunted. What do you think?”

Eddie let out a startled squawk when Steve tackled him onto the bed and completely ravished him.

When they were lying in bed afterward Eddie asked what that was about.

“Like, I loved the welcome,” he hedged. “But damn sweetheart, what did I do to deserve that in particular?”

Steve blushed and tucked his head into Eddie’s shoulder. “I was worried about it looking like I have too munch money for a PA or looking like a gold digger, then you come in with a plan of small bed and breakfasts and motels and I honestly couldn’t love you more in that moment.”

Eddie blinked for a moment as he took that in.

“Sweetheart,” he said softly, “you’ve gone on more lavish vacations with me before, what’s all the worry for now?”

“It’s just after the tour and the press accusing me of riding on your coattails and only being your friend for your money...”

“Oh, baby,” Eddie cooed, pulling Steve in impossibly closer. “I’d forgotten about that bullshit. Of course you’d be worried about that.”

“And then you came barreling into my intrusive thoughts,” Steve huffed in faux annoyance, “and just by being your sweet lovable self, scared off all my doubts and worries. Which is why I absolutely could not keep my hands off of you.”

Eddie tilted his head to the side. “I approve.”

Steve giggled and rolled on top of him to shower him with kisses. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too, baby,” Eddie murmured. “So the B&Bs are a hit?”

Steve sat up, straddling his hips. “Yeah, Eddie, it’s a hit. It’s perfect and low key. Most of those places wouldn’t even recognize you.” He paused for a moment. “Wait... that’s why you picked it isn’t?”

Eddie blushed and shoved a lock of hair in front of his face, nodding shyly.

Steve started kissing him again and again. “I think it’s a perfect idea, honey. I love that you thought of everything. Now we can absolutely go and everyone can have a good time. Thanks to you.”

“I want to take all the credit for be smart,” Eddie said bashfully, “but I was just going for as much fun and as silly as possible.”

Steve kissed him fiercely. “Well, still take credit, babe, because you cinched it for everyone.”

“Mmk,” Eddie said, then he grabbed Steve waist and flipped them over. “For being so sweet, I think it’s time I repaid you.” He slid down Steve’s body, hands roaming over sensitive skin the further down he went.

Steve let out a gasp as Eddie’s mouth enveloped around his dick. It would be sometime before either of them got out of bed.

~

The day of their departure came and all their bandmates came out to see them off. Simon had decided to take a wine tour of Italy and France to brush up on his language skills. An endeavor Robin heartily endorsed.

Steve secretly hoped that he would find a nice European woman to settle down with and get married. He could bring her back to LA so that it didn’t break up the band, but...

Yeah, he knew it was pipe dream. Simon still got too far into his head especially with his anxiety.

They hugged and kissed everyone goodbye and started their journey of all things, spooky, kooky, and the bizarre at Alcatraz Prison.

The long white corridors and echoing chambers was exactly what they wanted in a place they visited.

They all listened with rapt attention as their tour guide went on about the notorious prisoners and the daring escape that to that day was still unsolved. They even talked about how the Mythbusters had proven that they could have survived.

That night in their first haunted bed and breakfast, they pulled up the episode on Chrissy’s laptop and they all huddled around it to watch.

Then the girls went into one room and Eddie and Steve went into the other. They probably could have afforded to have all of them having their own room, but Eddie and Steve wanted the privacy. The one place they could act couple-y.

“Just think!” Eddie said excitedly. “All the mobsters that were interned there. Machine Gun Kelly! Al Capone! Fucking Al Capone! Whitey Bulger!”

Steve nodded. “And that famous escape from the Anglin Brothers and Frank Morris! God, that place was creepy as hell though.”

“Yeah,” Eddie agreed. “If that’s what solitary is like it should be against the law. What the honest fuck.”

“Just don’t commit any murders and I think we should be okay,” Steve assured him, rubbing his arm gently.

Eddie cocked his head to the side and put his finger to his lips thoughtfully. “No promises!”

Steve laughed and tackled his boyfriend to the bed. “God I love you.” He kissed Eddie deeply. “How quiet do you think you can be?”

“Right...” Eddie snorted, “like I’m the loud one, Mr. Screamer.” He casually flipped the two of them over, Steve giving a surprised yelp. “Do you think you can be quiet or do you think we need to gag you?”

Steve’s eyes went wide and his jaw went slack. He never thought he’d like the idea of a gag, but with Eddie, he was learning all sorts of new things about himself.

“Ooh...” Eddie said with a grin. “Someone just bluescreened over that suggestion.” Steve could only nodded. “You stay right there, pumpkin, let me go find something to gag you with.”

Steve nodded again, even more enthusiastically then before. He watched eagerly as Eddie went digging through their luggage, hoping he found something quickly.

“Ah ha!” Eddie cried, holding up his prize. It was a blank bandanna with white skulls on it. “This’ll do!”

He came bounding back up the bed and tied it over Steve’s mouth. “Now you just lie there, princess. I’m going to take good care of you tonight.”

~

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

I was going to start from scratch (meaning just putting my permanent list down and have ten new people request to be tagged), but there are a couple from my permanent list that aren't on the list for this one, and as I really don't want to have to go line by line (I will fuck up and do it wrong), I'm just keeping the list from Icarus across the trilogy, sorry!

If you are on this list and want to be removed from this and future sequels, let me know!

Tag List: CLOSED

1- @mira-jadeamethyst @rozzieroos @itsall-taken @redfreckledwolf @zerokrox-blog

2- @gregre369 ​@a-little-unsteddie @chaosgremlinmunson @messrs-weasley @val-from-lawrence

3- @goodolefashionedloverboi @carlyv @wonderland-girl143-blog @irregular-child @blondie1006

4- @yikes-a-bee @bookworm0690 @anne-bennett-cosplayer @awkwardgravity1 @littlewildflowerkitten

5- @genderless-spoon @y4r3luv @dragonmama76 @ellietheasexylibrarian @thedragonsaunt

6- @disrespectedgoatman @eyehartart @dawners @thespaceantwhowrites @tinyplanet95

7- @iamthehybrid @croatoan-like-its-hot @papergrenade @cryptid-system @counting-dollars-counting-stars

8- @ravenfrog @w1ll0wtr33 @child-of-cthulhu @kultiras @dreamercec

9- @machete-inventory-manager @useless-nb-bisexual @stripey82 @dotdot-wierdlife @kal-ology

10- @sadisticaltarts @urkadop @chameleonhair @clockworkballerina @garden-of-gay

[anonymouse1312437]

American Amongst The Brits Chapter 6

Snape’s POV 

“Malfoy, you are to not tell her what my abilities are.” I said harshly.  

“Sir, why do you not want her to know what the rest of us know?” Draco asked me.  

“It is unnecessary. We never know who the real enemies are do we?” I asked him.  

“I suppose not but, if she were the enemy to us don’t you think there would be some kind of sign?” Draco asked which irritated me.  

“That’s why I do not want her to know. If she never finds out then I can continue to listen for any hints of danger. Be smart Draco. Don’t do anything stupid.” I said and waved my hand to dismiss him.  

“Understood sir.” He said and with that calling me the very name she does well, that word did not have the same effect on me as when she says it. I couldn’t be more thankful for that. She was a beautiful woman. I want to tell her that but, I can’t  

Reader’s POV: 

Why did he hold Draco back? What did he mean?  

“Herbology is actually a quite relaxing class. As well as the last class of the day for us. The next class is a free period so we can do as we please. The boys have told me all about you. I think Harry might fancy you a little. I wouldn’t think to much of it though because he is practically in love with Ron’s sister.” Hermione said.  

“By the way my name is Hermione. I hope you like it here. Have you seen anyone you fancy?” I know its early.” She said.  

“Fancy? Like have a crush on?” I asked and she nodded. “No, I don’t ever find anyone my age attractive.” I said. That is the only thing she needs to know.  

“Oh so you like the older men? We have a few sixth years that are single that are on the Quidditch team. Maybe at the next game you can hang out with me while Ron and Harry play. Afterwards when we get them maybe you will see someone you can take interest in.” Hermione said. I just smiled at her and nodded. I didn’t want to tell her that it was still not the right age group but, that was okay. By the time we sat down we sat next to each other and we both paid attention. She was not wrong. Herbology was rather relaxing which is why it was so easy for me to lose track of time. I mean it wasn’t just easy but, time really got away from me.  

“Class dismissed. Go on to your free periods students.” The professor said. I am really very tired so I am going back to my room.  

“Did you want to join us and hang out in our common room?” Hermione asked me.  

“Thank you very much for offering but, I am really very tired I think I am going to go back to my room and try and get some sleep.” I said and she nodded and smiled at me. She gave me a slight hug and we parted ways. I made my way back to my room quickly and unmasked my door. Once I stepped inside, I masked it again from the inside so I would not be bothered. I put my bag on the floor and just threw myself across the bed. I felt so tired. I closed my eyes and sleep quickly took over me.  

I don’t know how long it had been but I felt someone nudging me. What the hell?  

“What?” I asked. I felt a hand rub my back. “I don’t know who you are but, that feels great.” I said. Whoever was rubbing my back continued to rub it and put a bit more pressure on it. I moaned at the pressure and sighed a bit of relief.   “This feels good and all but, I was really enjoying my dream.” I said.  

“I am sure you were darling.” I heard Lucius’s voice. My eye’s widened and I sat up.  

“What are you doing in my room?” I asked.  

“You didn’t show up to dinner so I brought you some food. Eat.” He said.  

“That was kind of you. You didn’t need to bring me anything.” I said and grabbed the plate.  

“Yes I did. Eat. I do not want to have to say it again.” I rolled my eyes at his words. I am not fond of eating in front of people. 

“Your stiff and have a lot of muscle pains. How are you getting around so easily?” He asked.  

“I am used to it.” I said while now attempting to eat in front of him.  

“So many tense muscles.” He said and repositioned himself behind me. He started to massage my shoulders.  

“If this is not okay let me know darling and I will stop.” He whispered into my ear. Normally I hated when people touched me but, right now I did not want him to stop. It felt amazing. The knots in my shoulders and neck were intense. They were worse in my back. I stopped eating after a couple of bites and set the plate down on the table that was next to my bedside.  

“Why did you stop eating?” He asked. I moaned at the way his hands were getting some of the knots out of my shoulders and I started to attempt to relax onto him. His hands wrapped around my neck and he dug his thumbs into the back of it and massaged it. I rested the back of my head against him and moaned again.  

“Does that feel good?” He whispered in my ear.  

“Yes sir.” I said drawing it out.  

“Keep calling me that and I might have to attempt to massage something else on you.” He continued to whisper into my ear. His breathe tickling it slightly. I moaned a little at his words. Would his hands feel good there?  

“Please don’t stop sir.” I moaned out.  

“You are doing something to me girl.” He whispered again and then bit a little onto my earlobe. His hands released a little and moved down the front of me. His hands gliding onto my breast and he started to massage them. There is too many layers for me to feel how amazing this should feel.  

“I can’t feel it as good as I would like to.” I said and he hummed into my ear.  

“Then let me help with that.” Lucius said. She snapped his fingers and when I looked down not an article of clothing was left on me. I was bare in front of him.  

“You are already filling out nicely again.” He hummed into my ear.  

I saw his hands on my breasts before he squeezed them and I closed my eyes.  

“Please sir. Don’t tease me.” I said.  

“Be patient dear. I will help you. That is as long as you help me too.” Lucius said. “Will you be a good girl and help me as well?” He asked.  

“Yes sir. Anything you would like.” I said.  

“Good girl. Spread your legs for me.” He whispered again in my ear. I followed his command and parted my legs. His right hand continued to squeeze my right breast and massage is while he slid his left hand between my legs. His finger tips lightly grazed my pussy lips and I sucked in a breathe of air. His ring finger and index finger spread my pussy lips apart and his middle finger slid between my pussy lips.  

“So wet already.” He mumbled. I tensed as he slid his middle finger against my clit and put some pressure against it.  

“Oh fuck.” I moaned out closing my eyes with my head resting against his shoulder. He started to press kisses to my cheek as he brought his index finger next to his middle finger and started to rub my clit in circles and then pinching it slightly.  

“Fuck me.” I moaned out again.  

“Is that what you want?” Lucius asked. I nodded my head and he pulled his hands away from me. Wait why was he retreating. He pushed me off of him and then repositioned himself to infront of me. Before he got onto the bed he said the spell to remove his clothes and when I saw his naked frame in front of me I couldn’t help myself. I put my hands between my legs and started to massage my clit while looking at him. His chest was defined. His stomach was toned and standing at full attention was a thick cock. I can’t tell if it is seven in a half or eight inches but the girth he has was amazing.  

“Like what you see?” He said and cocked an eyebrow up.  

“Yes. Please sir. Fuck me.” I said and he crawled between my legs and rested his hands on my thighs. His hands squeezed my thighs and I closed mine. I can’t look at him anymore. He has a different kind of beauty. It’s an obvious kind of handsome. I don’t want to stare to much.  

~Lucius POV~ 

I closed my eyes. I know what I want to do. I just have to mentally prepare myself. She was moments away from an orgasm just with my fingers. Which tells me this is either new for her or she hasn’t done anything in some time.  

-Severus. I am making it painfully aware that I know you can hear me. You should see what she looks like bare. She is beautiful. I wish you were here to see what I am about to do to her. Let me describe the beauty of the scene that is unfolding in front of me. Her legs are spread apart and I am about to sink my cock into her and destroy her very pink and tight pussy. I am not going to bother even prepping her. The stretch will feel too good when it happens around my cock. - 

“Please. Please fuck me. It’s been too long.” She moaned under me. I opened my eyes and looked down are her pleading eyes. I can’t stop now. I wouldn’t dare torment the girl. I slid the head of my cock between the folds of you pussy and rubbed it along her wet clit. I angled the head of my cock to her opening and pushed the head in. It already felt so tight.  

“You are tight.” I said trying to suppress the moan from escaping. I don’t want her to know how amazing this feels for me. I thrusted my hips forward burying my cock into her to the hilt and I felt my balls slap her ass. I can’t hold the moan any longer.  

“Fuck, you are very tight.” I moaned. I leaned down and rested my arms by her head. I turned my head into her neck and planted a kiss where her neck and shoulder met. I bit down on it when I pulled myself out of her to where only the tip was still inside of her before slamming my hips forward again driving myself as deeply as I could into her hips. My eyes rolled into the back of my head and I moaned again into her neck as I bit the skin harder.  

~Readers POV~ 

“Oh god!” I couldn’t help it. It was big. I knew it was big before he buried it inside of me but, this really was making my head spin. I was becoming louder and he pulled himself back out of me and slamming back in. He pulled his teeth out of me and sat up between my legs. He pulled himself out of me and pulled me to the edge of the bed. Oh god I don’t know if I can handle what he is about to do. He pushed my legs up to as close as he could get by my head and held onto the back of my knees making sure my legs did not come down. I didn’t expect him to dip his head down and lick my pussy lips and bite down on my clit.  

“Fuck sir. That feel good.” I said. My eye’s closed and all I could see was the blackness that was behind them as my head began to spin. He let my clit go and spit on my pussy dragging his cock through it. He pressed the head of his cock back inside me and it felt like the room was spinning. He began to slam into me hitting a deeper spot within me. My legs started to shake when he hit the spot and I nearly lost full control of myself.  

“Thats it. Good girl.” He moaned out loud. Oh my god say it again Lucius. I will come undone. There will be no holding it back.  

“You are taking my cock so well. Good girl.” He said and he pulled out and slammed into me again. This time I heard the sound of his balls slapping against my ass.  

“Cum for me darling.” He moaned and I opened my eyes to look at him. His eyes were closed. His straight hair was sticking to his face because he was sweating. The sweat on his chest made him look like he was glistening. It was a beautiful sight. 

“Be a good girl for me and cum around my cock.” He said. He opened his eyes and met his with mine. He smiled and then released my left leg and moved his right hand to my clit. He was massaging it in fast circles and I couldn’t do it anymore. My legs began to shake and I started to cum all around his cock. My pussy getting even more wet and loose with the thrusts he was proceeding with.  

“Oh god. Pretty girl. Good girl. So wet. I” He said. He hummed and moaned a bit before I felt his thighs twitching as he thrusted into me.  

“I am going to cum.” He moaned out. He was being just as loud as I was and that got me close to another orgasm. I reached for my clit and started to rub it fast while he thrusted hard and faster. He was getting sloppy. Fuck. I felt my walls tighten around him. His cock twitched inside me and I started to feel something warm inside of me. He was cumming deep inside my pussy and for the moment it felt amazing.  

“Don’t move darling.” He said trying to catch his breathe. I was not going to move but my walls loosened and then tightened again as the second orgasm came crashing through me. My legs were shaking and I couldn’t help it. I felt his hand on my thigh and he squeezed it moaning.  

“Darling that was amazing. You felt amazing.” Lucius said. He was so sweet when he was getting something he wanted. I felt him start to soften and he pulled himself out of me. He grabbed his wand and cleaned himself off with a spell. He redressed and then kissed my forehead.  

“I will let you get some rest darling. I will see you tomorrow morning.” Lucius said. Really was that it? He is just going to fuck me like that and leave? He walked away and through my door. He closed it behind him and I just rested my head back on my pillow. I wanted to close my eyes and go back to sleep but I need to go to the bathroom and take a shower. I need to get his smell off me. I love how he smells but, I don’t want anyone to pick up on it tomorrow.  

I got up from the bed not realizing how sore my legs were going to be. I felt like a new born doe trying to walk for the first time. He held my legs like that for a while and it was proving difficult to stand up straight again. I made my way to the shower and turned it on. I waited for it to get hot and then got in. I started washing myself and let my hand linger on my now aching pussy. I tried my best to clean it thoroughly but, it hurt really bad. It was sore from not being stretched the right way. I didn’t mind the sting that was there. I kind of enjoyed the pain. The only thing I wish were different is I wish it would have been Snape to have done it. Lucius was handsome and it felt great but, Snape probably would have been better.  

I stepped out of the shower after a few minutes and grabbed a towel off the towel rack. I wrapped it around myself and walked back into the room and sat in front of the fireplace while I was drying off. I miss listening to music. It helped calm me down after having sex. I was happy this was something I was able to choose to do. Last time wasn’t.  

-Please get off of me. I don’t know you. I don’t want you.-  

My mind is going to the dark place. It is reminding me of the painful experience I went through.  

-Please I don’t know you. Please leave me be. Please. I kept saying to this man and he didn’t care. He slapped his hand over my mouth and continued to rip my shorts off and plunge himself inside of me. I cried into his hand and he thrusted into me over and over. I tried to mumble to stop into his hand but he spit on me. Please stop.-  

I felt some tears escape from my eyes and pulled my knees to my chest and cried. I hate what happened to me. I snapped my fingers and my wand found me. I conjured up a razor blade and looked at it in my hand. It has been so long since I have went this route. Do I care if I make this decision again? I picked it up with my right hand and brought it to my arm. I had a vein that was fairly visible to me, and I picked at it using the razor blade. I shouldn’t be here.  

Your mom didn’t even want you. Your just an orphan. I got stuck with you and now I have to suffer with you. I don’t want you here. The least you can do is clean and cook. We had to give up our room for guest because of you, you ungrateful brat.-  

My aunt was the worst. I thought the kids at the school were bad but, she made me hate my life.  

~Snapes POV~ 

Lucius came and knocked on my door and I was seething. I heard the man pleading out for me to hear him. I only hope he was fucking lying to me about what he was doing. Although if I knew him at all I knew a liar was not something he was. I walked over to my door and swung it open to reveal the bastard. I moved aside so he would let himself in and he had a smug look on his face.  

“Did you get my message?” He asked me with a grin across his face.  

“Is this really what you are asking me?” I asked him.  

“Yes, and I want you to know it was delightful. Every part of her body is beautiful.” He said with a devilish grin.  

“Shut up you twat. What you have done with her is your business and not my own. Why would you think I would care?” I said.  

-I haven’t done this in a while.- She is thinking to loudly again.  

“Snape no need to be so upset.” Lucius said.  

“Shut up for a moment you fool.” I am trying to hear her a bit more clearly.  

-I shouldn’t be here. My aunt was the worst. She made me hate my life.-  

I heard her thoughts and I couldn’t decide if she was doing what I thought she was doing.  

Readers POV 

I can’t stop. At this point the tears are falling and I can’t stop letting the emotion control me.  

-Your mom was great. She sent you away. She didn’t want me. They said she was just trying to protect me but, maybe she didn’t want me. I shouldn’t be here. I shouldn’t be anywhere. This is too tiring. I don’t want to do this anymore. I should have just died. She shouldn’t have sacrificed herself if that is the truth. I was a baby. I could have been replaced. She could have had another. I can’t seem to get deep enough for this to work.-  

Snapes POV 

I shouldn’t be here. I shouldn’t be anywhere. I don’t want to do this anymore.-  

I heard the message loud and clear. I can’t just barge in on her. That is not going to work in my favor if I want to keep this ability to myself.  

“You should go and check on her.” I said.  

“No, she is alright Severus. There is no need to check on her. I am awfully sure of that.” Lucius said.  

What an arrogant prick.  

“I am telling you she is not.” I yelled at him.  

“If you are in her head you should really mind your business. She might be thinking about how good I felt.” Lucius said with a smirk on his face. Sometimes I have to remind myself not to punch him. That would not be in my best interest to attack Lucius. I might need him on my side at some point.  

“Very well, if you are done gloating about your activities with her then please lease.” I said. “Not even a little curious about what she looks like undressed?” Lucius said. I know what he is doing and it’s not going to work on me. I will not be jealous of him having his way with a student at this school.  

“No, I could care less.” I said. He rolled his eyes because he was not getting the response he thought he would get by informing me of it. He walked out of my room and stormed off presumably to his own place.  

I do hope that she is okay. Maybe I could casually go over there and ask how she is doing. See how she is adapting to the change of the scenery. Tomorrow she will have to sit in my class for her last class of the day. I might just need a night of sleep.  

~Readers POV~ 

I woke up on the cold floor. My arm was covered in blood from me digging at the vein I could see. I didn’t even get close to nicking it which does not make sense. It looks like it is right there. What time is it? It really doesn’t matter I guess. Maybe I could bail on my  classes this morning and tell them that I did not feel good. I just need to get into the shower and clean myself up. Maybe then I would want to go to class. So far they are completely different then the one’s over in America.  

I walked over to the bathroom and started the shower. It only took a moment for the hot water to get through the pipes. My arm is going to hurt once the water hits it. The problem with going after the one vein is I did not stick to the one spot. I drew the blade over many to attempt to hit it but failed miserably. My arm looked like a cutting board by the time I was done with it. I got so carried away. I took my clothes off and cautiously got into the shower. The second the water hit my arm it burned. I wanted to cry because of the pain it caused and because I am alone I let it come out. If I had a roommate then I would have let it dissolve inside of my head but, I needed to release it from me.  

~Snapes POV~ 

It’s clear as day that something feels off to me. I did not need to look at the time as I wake up at the same time every day. Yet, something feels odd. I quickly got dressed and left my room and into the hallway. I charmed my door so it disappeared and waited behind to see if Ms. Y/l/n would be leaving her room anytime soon. After five minutes I got rather annoyed at how she seems to not care for the timing and started to knock on the door. I can’t hear any snoring. Maybe she is not in her room at the moment.  

-I hate everything about myself. I cut to deep and with nothing but the marks to show for it. I have failed everything and now I have failed at that too.-  

She is so harsh to herself in her own mind. Someone hurt her and convinced her she was not good enough and she believes it. As astonishing as it is to eavesdrop on her mind it is almost darker than my own. I have never seen someone have an equal amount of self-loathing as myself but, she surprises me. I should let her have some privacy. She does not need me to assist her in getting to the dining hall anymore.  

~Readers POV~ 

Shit. Just stop crying. It will be okay. I finished my shower and found a long sleeve shirt to cover my arms. I put the rest of the uniform on and slipped out of my room with my wand and bag in hand. I deserve to have this second chance. Clearly my mother was here once. I want to know what she lived like. I can’t imagine she had a tough time at this school. I already like it. I made my way to the dining hall slowly and once I came in view of the door I hesitated going inside. Is Lucius showing up today? Maybe, I shouldn’t go in. I don’t know if I can be near him after last night. He was amazing but, maybe that was a one time thing? I don’t really want it to be a one time thing. It felt incredible. I liked how he felt. Come on shake it off. Do not think off that if you are going to sit next to his son. Maybe I should separate from Draco. I finally stopped hesitating and headed inside and saw everyone already eating. I was on time today despite what I was trying to cover up. I felt someone his the arm with all the wounds and hissed out in pain. Hide what happened. Do not bring attention to it.  

“American trash.” Someone mumbled as the walked past me. Oh great there are bullies here too. I saw there was an open seat at the end of the table of Slytherin and I just sat there and picked at the food on my plate. I took a bite of the apple that was on the plate and that managed to fill me up enough to satisfy my stomach. I don’t need anything else.  

“Parents didn’t want her.” A girl further up the table said to her friend.  

“So we have to suffer?” Her friend said to her.  

“American’s can’t do anything. They didn’t even want one of their own and they threw her to us to pick up the mess.” She added. I rolled my eyes at their words and tried my best to ignore them.  

“Her mom was a freak. Sacrificed herself to avoid having to deal with her.” The friend added back. How would they know that?  

“My mom said she was there when it happened. Her mom should have saved herself.” She said.  

My stomach felt like it had been punched. I want out of this room. I grabbed my bag and headed out of the dining hall and tried to make my way to my room when I tripped over someone’s foot.  

“Hey there, be careful. Are you alright?” A tall dark haired man said. He had curly hair and a very well cared for mustache. He tried to make eye contact with me but, I tried to avoid his as there were tears in mine. I do not like to show others my weakness.  

“I am fine.” I said trying my best to hide the shakiness of my voice.  

“Are you sure? Where are you headed? Is your first class not about to start?” He asked.  

“I don’t think I can do this today.” I said still trying to hide my eyes.  

“Alright, well stay here for a moment please.” He said. Why am I about to listen? I know why. I don’t want to piss any of the staff off. That is if he is even staff. When he walked away from me I turned and watched him walk into the dining hall. After a few minutes he reappeared and someone was with him.  

“I realized I have not introduced myself to you. I am Sirius Black. This is Professor Lupin. We would like to take you on a walk. Maybe it would help to clear your mind.” Sirius said.  

“I don’t know. I think I just want to lay down.” I said.  

“I don’t think I can just let you do that. I have a feeling your not in the best mindset right now.” Sirius said and Lupin nodded.  

“Alright fine.” I said. Both professors walked on either side of me and we walked out of the building.  

“Are you sure you do not want to talk about it?” Lupin asked. I looked down at the ground and contemplated telling them what the girls were saying but, what good was that really going to do? It would only get people into trouble and if they already did not like me then that would only make it worse.  

“I am sure.” I said. The walked me around the school grounds and both of them looked at a beautiful tree by the school.  

“That is strange.” Lupin said.  

“Very strange. This tree is not in season.” Sirius said.  

“What do you mean? It is in full bloom.” I said. I smiled at how peaceful it was. I walked closer to it dropping my bag on the ground.  

“Don’t get to close that is a Whomping Willow. It can really hurt and sometimes even kill you.” Lupin said.  

“No, really it wouldn’t do that. Watch.” I said and stepped up close to it. It started to sway back and forth.  

“Step back before it hurts you.” Sirius said.  

“It won’t.” I said and reached my hand towards a branch on it. The tree swayed towards me and leaned the branch against my hand. I grabbed onto it and pulled. I looked at the flowers and leaves on the branch and brought my nose towards it. I smelled the flower.  

“May I have a flower from this branch?” I asked the tree. It’s leaves rattled and I plucked the flower I sniffed off it. The branches came further down towards me and I smiled at it.  

“What have you just done?” Lupin asked.  

“I asked for a keepsake from the tree.” I said like it was rather obvious.  

“May I try?” Lupis asked and Sirius shook his head not to.  

“I don’t see why not.” I said. Lupis joined at my side and reached his hand towards the branch. He got close to touching it and it wacked his hand.  

“Ouch!” He said and stepped back.  

“Oh now. You be nice. He just wanted to cherish you as well.” I said to the tree. The branch reached out to Lupis and he hesitantly put his hand back onto the tree. This time instead of hurting Lupis it submitted to being held.  

“May I also have a flower?” Lupis asked the tree and it repeated the motion of rattling. He gently picked one off and said thank you.  

“That is incredible.” Lupis said. He sniffed the flower and closed his eyes.  

“What does it smell like?” Sirius asked.  

“It will smell different for everyone. It is a smell from your favorite memory. When you love and cherish the natural life it will love you. If you think ill of it then it will think ill of you. When you love it. It loves back.” I said. They both looked at me and I felt at peace with myself.  

Tree thank you for being kind and loving to us. It was a pleasure seeing you again. Thank you for taking the ill thoughts from me. I said silently to the Whomping Willow. The branches reached up high again not hovering above the ground any longer.  

“That is pathetic. The weird girl has talked to a tree.” Someone said behind us.  

“It’s just a tree you freak. Watch.” The girl said and picked up a rock. She threw it at the tree and quickly the tree shed the flowers and leaves. It swayed back and forth and picked her up using the branches.  

“Please help me. Please. I did not know. I am sorry.” She screamed. Sirius and Lupin brought their wands out to attempt to save her but I stopped them by putting my hands up. “Wait please. Do not hurt the tree.” I said. They looked at me and I brought out my wand. I stabbed my wand into the ground and said a quiet chant to set her down gently. The tree’s movement slowed and the leaves and flowers started to appear again. The branches curled and slowly returned her to the ground.  

“Such a freak.” She said stepping barely away from the tree. One of the branches wacked her back harshly and then returned to place.  

“That wasn’t very nice Whomping Willow.” I said and it rattled it’s leaves. She began to cry out in pain.  

“She made the tree do that Professor Lupin. You saw her!” The girl shouted at him.  

“Quiet. You provoked the tree and attempted to bully Ms. Y/l/n. That is what I saw. I also saw her get you placed safely back on the ground where you again said something rude to her. I saw the tree strike you not Ms. Y/l/n. Therefore, you will be getting detention with McGonagall today.” Professor Lupin said. Her mouth fell open and she got irritated.  

“But professor!” She hollered.  

“But nothing. Would you like to add another day of detention?” Lupin asked? She shook her head and walked away.  

“Sorry about that. I want you to know that we do not tolerate that behavior here.” Lupin said.  

“Then why do I have a strange feeling that it happens often?” I asked.  

[kittydemon9000]

The Beginning of Heatstroke, aka Red's Villain Origin

* crashes down from the ceiling * I HAVE FINALLY FINISHED ONE OF MY 5+ CURRENT WRITING PROJECTS! BEHOLD, A WRITTEN VERSION OF THE 'Red's Villain Origin AU', also known as RVO / Heatstroke AU

To summarize the AU for SPBNR for those that don't now it: 

“Who'd be the biggest conspiracy theorist out of the M!Ninja? The one who drinks 5 hour energy at 3am and spits off the craziest theories and then actually gets it right but nobody gives the theory any merit because the rest of the theories are too crazy?”

The answer: Red / M!Kai

Red: Okay hear me out: Smith is actually an alternative version of one of us sent here from another dimension.

The other M!Ninja: You’re just saying that because Smith’s cool and you want him to be your counterpart

Based on the M!ninja making red cork boards trying to figure out ‘What Is Up With Smith’: Red gets increasingly accurate and nobody will believe him (all pre shogun reveal) and he eventually snaps and takes up a secret villain persona to fight Shogun like 'if they won't believe me I'll do it myself' and it gets awkward when he accidentally does too much damage and catches not only Shogun's attention like planned, but also the rest of the Ninjaforce, and now he has to keep his own identity a secret

So, without further ado, I present... Heatstroke

------------

Red blamed the 5-hour energy coffee blend at 3:00am for this.

It was no surprise that between ‘Operation: What’s Going on with Smith’ & the sudden appearance of Shogun that the resident Bounty red-stringed ‘joke’ cork-board doubled in size and seriousness. It also was no surprise that Red had a corner all to himself and that his theories were… in the words of the others, ‘wildly inaccurate and implausible’.

But this time, he was sure he’d gotten it right.

Smith is Shogun sent here from another continent/planet/dimension with the goal of protecting Ninjago City.

The latest string of laughs and scoffs at his theory was the last straw. He’d show them. He’d prove it!

Which was why he was currently standing on the roof of a noodle house, awkwardly adjusting the spare motorcycle helmet he’d ‘borrowed’ from Nya and painted black and orangey-yellow (red had seemed too obvious). He’d exchanged his Ninjaforce outfit for a soot-burned cross between a bomber jacket and a leather jacket. Down his back jutted a row of flames like the spines of a monster, courtesy of one of Nya & Jay’s unfinished inventions Red had modified- surely nothing bad would come of that!

For tonight, the Red Ninja was off-duty. For tonight, it was Heatstroke’s turn.

He fiddled with one of the weapons he’d ‘lent out’ from Master Wu. It resembled a small arm canon, like a smaller version of the Ultimate Weapon. The plaque under its post had read ‘Elemental Focuser’, which, in cryptic Wu speak, probably translated to ‘you can use an elemental power like something out of Avatar: The Last Airbender’. So far he’d only figured out how to activate a focused jet of fire. Well, at least it was on brand. He hoped it would help him catch Shogun’s attention so he could unmask him.

He’d tried confronting Smith at school, of course. But there were only so many ways of saying ‘are you the new vigilante helping the ninjas’, and Smith has a genuine talent for dancing around the topic. Red could confront him with the name Shogun to get a proper reaction, but that would mean explaining how he knew the name and outing himself as the Red Ninja.

So fake villainy really was the only way.

His plan was to use the Elemental Focuser to cause some minor petty damage, just enough to attract the new vigilante. Perhaps set a trash can on fire, block an alleyway with rocks (if he figured out how to change the setting from fire to earth), small things that could easily be repaired.

Of course, plans were never actually stuck to. One way or another, something was always improvised.

Red’s improvisation just happened to involve him accidentally setting the entire alleyway on fire.

He’d only been aiming for one dumpster, honest! And maybe he’d spotted a couple fliers for a SoG meeting on the ground and happened to burn those too. And a newspaper article blaming Lloyd for the recent Garmadon attack, again. And an article about those ‘Damn Ninja Menaces’ by a S. Sonah Sameson. And-

Okay, so maybe Red had aimed the fire at a few small targets. But just a few! And with good reason and good care, but…

Well, fire liked to burn. Give it enough kindle and it’ll continue to grow, stretching like reaching branches towards each other to join in a massive bonfire. 

So now the entire alleyway was on fire, and Red was panicking. 

He’d luckily chosen an abandoned part of town near the beaches where Shogun sightings seemed most frequent, but with the stupid Elemental Focuser not switching from fire mode to water mode or ice mode or something that didn’t have the potential to burn Ninjago City to the ground, Red had no way of stopping the flames.

And more flames meant more destruction which meant a bigger audience.

Which was why his previously muted comm suddenly flared to life, the only warning Red had before Nya’s water strider mech slid around the corner.

Red scrambled onto a roof as the mech drove past, spraying water at the bonfire to dose it. His sigh of relief was just as quickly dosed as Lloyd’s voice came over the comms; “Status, Grey?”

“Flames are out,” Nya replied. “Pursing the joker that set it ablaze.”

Uh oh. Red took off across the roof, leaping from building to building. Tiles creaked, pebbled and dust scattering underfoot. The sounds of the mech’s engine roaring behind him echoed through alleyways below to create the illusion the mech was everywhere at once. 

As the chase grew on, more mechs started to join in. Red ducked into a narrow avenue to avoid Zane’s tank, then under a cafe overhang to throw off Jay and Lloyd. His heart hammered in his chest and he groaned, filling the inside of the motorcycle helmet with steam. Saying this was going ‘bad’ would be the understatement of the century. 

What had he been thinking? Oh wait: he hadn’t. Seriously? ‘Oh I’ll just pretend to be a villain real quick, that should get Shogun’s attention and not the attention of literally my entire team of fellow ninjas!’ Stupid, impulsive, this was why everyone was always calling the red ninja the ‘hothead’ when he really tried not to be- Lloyd’s voice over the comms snapped him from his thoughts. “I can’t catch them! It’s like they know our every move!”

Red winced as he climbed up a banister and leapt from balcony to balcony. Sorry, Lloyd. 

He didn’t miss how the others asked Nya where Red was. And how she made up excuses the others bought so easily- granted, he’d told those excuses to his sister before setting his plan into motion, but still, ouch. They acted like he was simply being at best too busy and at worst lazy and selfish.

He just wanted them to know the truth! Why couldn’t they at least try to believe him when-

Of course, that was when Shogun dropped out of the sky and tackled him.

Red shouted with surprise as he tumbled down from the second floor, slamming into a few softer bags of garbage to break his fall before rolling and slamming into the unforgiving concrete. A crack formed in his vision as the visor of his motorbike helmet smacked into the concrete ground. One of the fire jets on his back sputtered and sparked, sending a thin wisp of smoke into the air.

Shogun pinned his wrists to the ground and growled. “Who are you?”

Red tried to break free, agony turning his muscles and bones to fire with the movement after his fall, but the vigilante was too strong. Damn, how often did this guy train?

“Who am I?” Red said, a nervous tinge to his voice. He quickly smoothed it over with faked confidence. “Who are you? Who are all of us, really?”

Shogun narrowed his eyes behind his hood. “Did Garmadon send you? Or someone else?”

Red sputtered. Really, the nerve! Garmadon? The thought turned his insides to disgusting mud. “Nobody sent me!”

“Then why are you here?” Shogun spat.

“Why am I here?” Why was he here again? Oh right, the bright idea on how to reveal that Shogun was Smith. “It’s, uh… a valid reason! That I don’t have to tell you!” He tried for a villainous laugh. Stay in character, don’t blow your cover, you got this!

Shogun was unimpressed. “Nearly burning down my home was a valid reason?”

“Well, I wasn’t trying to set everything on- wait, WHAT?” Uh oh. “You LIVE here?”

Now it was Shogun’s turn to look uncomfortable, though the expression was quickly wiped from his face. “Nothing wrong with this district.” 

Red nodded. “‘Course not. Uh, sorry about that… wasn’t my intention, I swear.”

Shoot, he could hear Jay’s jet getting closer. He had to get out of here, but Shogun, annoyingly, didn’t seem to be in the mood to simply let him go. “Then what is your intention?”

“Well, for starters, it’s getting out of here. This really isn’t going to plan and I’d rather just be home right now, or even inventing a time machine like in that book ‘Hands of Time’ to slap my past self in the face for even thinking about this stupid idea in the first place-“

Jay wasn’t the only one that could ramble under pressure, it seemed.

Shogun leaned closer. “What idea?”

Red shrugged as best he could with how he was pinned to the ground. “Well, for starters, I just wanted to prove to my friends that you’re Smith, and things just kinda escalated from-”

The words were out of his mouth before he realized what he said. 

Shogun lurched back, letting go of him. His eyes betrayed a kaleidoscope of emotions; surprise, worry, suspicious, hurt, fear, realization. 

“…Kai?”

Well, f!ck.

“I-“

Red was about to badly attempt to bullsh!t his way out of his identity reveal before it suddenly dawned on him that Shogun had not denied his theory. 

Which meant Shogun was Smith.

And it also meant Smith instantly recognized him as Kai, which, considering his disguise, was aptly concerning. Sure, he was the first one in his group of friends people would think to do something this extreme but give him some credit! Zane was a regular detective, he’d do the same if it meant answers! Or, well, at least something similar. And Nya could be an adrenaline seeker. And Lloyd- well, maybe not Lloyd. Or Jay, either. Cole had his head just enough on his shoulders that he probably wouldn’t do this either.

But come on, instantly guessing it?

Well, at least Smith/Shogun didn’t know Kai was the Red Ninja. That would be a catastrophe.

Right. Back to the current catastrophe at hand.

Shogun- Smith- still had a look as if he’d been slapped, and Red hated it. He hadn’t meant to hurt his friend. Shogun… Shogun hadn’t wanted them to find out his identity. And then Red had gone and done it, just to prove that he could be the smart one, or a leader, or the protector so they didn’t get hurt, or literally anything but just the ‘hotheaded one’. 

…And he’d done it in the most hotheaded, impulsive way possible.

He really was an idiot.

The cracked helmet hid the look on his face, a twisted mess of distraught and shame. But it didn’t help hide how he took stumbled to his feet and away from Smith, nervous that any second he’d spill another mistake and mess up again, like how he always freaking messed up on everything. Don’t pick this fight, interject there instead, no, not there, idiot, there, FMS why are you so useless-

Focus, focus.

Lloyd’s voice, sharp in the intercom and full of static from his tumble, snapped him from his thoughts. “Anyone got eyes on the arsonist?”

Red caught Smith’s eye as he raised his hand to his own communicator. He was so screwed, so busted, so doomed… Smith would report it, and the others would know, and they’d think he was just messing around in an alleyway with some stolen devices and weapons out of curiosity or rage, - and-

“None yet, still looking.”

…What?

Smith stared at him, gaze searching. He looked shaken, more so than Red- who’d just taken a fall from a second story, mind you, it was a miracle he wasn’t more injured than a couple small scrapes and some future bruises-, yet everything from the set of his jaw to the softening of his furrowed brows suggested a change in emotions. Well, not quite change; more like repress and replace.

“You wanted to prove yourself, didn’t you.”

Red flushed, hand instinctually clamping into a tight fist at his side. The still-working fire jets on his back ignited without him pressing any buttons; faulty activation from the fall or something. 

Palms up and hands raised, Smith silently asked to defuse the situation. “Didn’t mean it as an insult. This wasn’t about venting some anger, was it.”

Red’s lack of response only confirmed it. Smith continued. “I won’t say anything about this if you don’t tell anyone my identity. Deal? I know finding it out was important to you, but-“

“Deal,” Red interrupted. Guilt ate away at his core, like a wave of water dousing a candle. “Smith, I-“ He swallowed hard and stared at the alley floor. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to… to…”

Smith’s hand was suddenly on his shoulder and he flinched before relaxing as Smith didn’t move further, nor did the grip tighten. “I’m a little hurt, you’re right. But I’m not mad. And I won’t tell the others, so you can relax. But you better get out of here and get yourself an alibi. We can talk at school or something.”

Wow, he was handling this rather calmly. Red was struck by the sudden memory of- what did Jay call the word? Right. Compartmentalizing. That… wasn’t healthy. But at the roar of Lloyd’s mech somewhere nearby, he didn’t comment further. Instead, he shot Smith a grateful nod and ran down the alley, sticking to the shadows and blind spots of the flying mechs and the tight alleyways where the land mechs couldn’t reach him. 

When he got home, miraculously without further incident (though Shogun leading the others on a wild goose chase over the comms certainly helped there), he ditched the outfit in a bag hidden beneath a loose floorboard in the shed. He’d return the weapon to Master Wu’s ship later, and… well, hope Nya never searched for the missing supplies. There wasn’t a way of fixing it without involving her or Jay, and neither was an option.

Heatstroke was back off duty, and so was the Red Ninja.

For now, he could just be Kai Smith. And there wasn’t any issue with that.

…

Right?

—————

yooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

THIS IS AMAZING REHJJGFHDESFXJVZ

and ah yes, good ol trauma and compartmentalizing, we love to see it

[alliedbiscuit]

msr fic / s7 post-closure but pre-all things / wc: 3398

Scully takes Maggie out for a birthday dinner, and you'll never guess who they run into.

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

“So, how are feeling about dessert?” the waiter asks hopefully.

Maggie Scully scoffs. “Oh, no. I couldn’t eat another bite. Maybe just a cup of coffee? Decaf, please.”

“Mom, are you sure? You should get dessert,” Dana Scully prods, stopping herself short before she could let it slip, “It’s your birthday!” The last gift her mother would appreciate is a gaggle of underpaid waiters singing some public-domain-compliant version of a birthday song while the whole restaurant turns its attention toward her. Like mother, like daughter.

Well, the daughter made an exception and found that kind of thing charming exactly once. But at least she got a nice keychain out of it. All her mother would get was humiliation and a chocolate lava cake.

As soon as the waiter leaves to fetch their after dinner coffees, Maggie reveals her true intentions.

“I was thinking we could go to that ice cream parlor down the street. If I’m going to indulge, I think I want a hot fudge sundae. Or maybe we could split a banana split?”

“Or you could get a hot fudge sundae and I could get a banana split, and we could split both,” Scully suggests.

“See, that’s why you work for the FBI.”

“Dessert Conflict Resolution was part of my training at Quantico.”

Both Scullys giggle.

“Does Fox have the same specialty? Or is that what you bring to the team?”

“Mulder’s dessert strategy is just to eat everything and then swim a mile and run five the next day. No, he’s a Takeout Menu Marksman, though. He knows where to order from and what to order so it travels the best and doesn’t get cold and congealed by the time it arrives. Might sound like a trivial skill, but it’s a lifesaver on movie night.”

Maggie continues smiling but cocks her head slightly. Dana realizes why almost instantly.

“You have movie night?”

“It’s not a set thing or anything. We just…if we’re not busy with a case.”

“You just watch movies? As coworkers?”

“As friends.”

“Just friends?”

Dana lets out a long sigh as she stares her mother down. Her mother, maintaining that gentle yet challenging grin. Dana considers her response carefully. She could offer a simple yes because that is the fact of the matter. They are just friends. She could criticize the wording choice. “Just” friends? Why does it have to be “just” friends? As if friendship isn’t somehow enough or isn’t valuable?

She could realize it’s her mother’s birthday and she’s the only other Scully woman left to confide in about matters of the heart, and although she doesn’t want to bring up the New Year’s kiss because she still doesn’t really know what it meant, maybe they both need this little gift of honesty, filled with tempered excitement and promise.

“For now,” Dana Scully finally admits.

Maggie’s grin grows as Scully just shakes her head and manages to keep her slight eye roll from reaching embarrassed teenager level. The waiter does bail her out a bit by choosing that moment to deliver their coffees.

“How is Fox doing? After his mother…” Maggie trails off, but her daughter knows not to expect any more specifics.

“Better? I mean, as well as can be expected. The thing is, right after that, he found out some more about his sister. About what happened to her. It was just so much all at once. I was really worried…”

Maggie reaches across the table to lay a hand on hers.

“But, it was almost like he was ready for it. He finally had some answers. Like it brought him some peace.”

“That’s wonderful.”

“Yeah. He needed that.”

“We all do.”

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

Maggie is the one to spot him first as they’re heading for the door.

“Is that- is that Fox?” she asks her daughter.

“What? No, he wouldn't…” Dana trails off as she looks straight ahead to where her mother was indicating and confirms that it is indeed Fox Mulder, standing with his hands in his pockets and his eyes trained to the floor as he appears to be waiting near the vestibule for the restrooms.

“Mulder?” Scully questions as she approaches, her voice giving away her confusion and growing concern.

His head darts up in surprise, but a beaming smile of recognition quickly overtakes his face.

“Hey, Scully! Mrs. Scully, it’s so nice to see you!”

“You too, Fox,” Maggie kindly replies, although a quick glance to her daughter confirms her suspicion that Dana is still very confused by his presence.

“Did you…did you need something?” She suddenly feels silly for presuming that he must have come there with urgent news or a case or something, but why else would Fox Mulder be at Petrino’s on a Saturday night? Did his informants trade in clandestine meetings in parking garages for family-style Italian?

“Hmm?” Mulder asks.

“You didn’t come here to find me? I told you I was bringing my mom here for her birthday, didn’t I?” He didn’t look like he had rushed to the restaurant from the office or his apartment as she had originally assumed. He had clearly shaved and combed his hair nicely. He wore an olive green sweater with dark blue jeans and a black wool pea coat rather than his leather jacket. He had definitely made an effort.

“You did, but I thought you were going out tomorrow night on her actual birthday. Happy birthday, by the way, Mrs. Scully.”

“Thank you, Fox. I’m going to have lunch with some ladies from church after mass tomorrow, so I asked Dana if we could do Saturday night instead.”

“Ah. What a weird coincidence then. I can’t believe we didn’t see you at all during dinner.”

We.

Oh God.

Mulder was on a date.

Mulder was on a date in this restaurant on the night he thought Scully wasn’t going to be there. Mulder was on a date right after Scully had confessed to her mother (and herself) that their “just friends” status was in the process of changing. Mulder was on a date right after he’d been through so much pain but seemed to come out lighter and more open and he wanted to share it with someone…who wasn’t Dana Scully.

“So, you’ve already eaten then?” Maggie asks since her daughter appears unable to form a coherent statement at the moment.

“Yeah, we just finished. I’m just waiting for her…” he seems to trail off just to motion towards the restroom rather than say anything indelicate, but then he notices Maggie’s poorly masked look of concern toward Dana, and then he notices Dana’s completely unmasked look of shock.

And then he gets it.

“Oh, no! It’s not…I want you to meet her,” Mulder insists as he grabs a hold of both of Scully’s elbows and then glances anxiously toward the restroom door.

Dana Scully looks like she might be ill.

Thankfully Mulder only stammers a moment longer until the restroom door opens and he finds reprieve when a tall, thin woman appearing to be in her mid-60s walks through the door.

“Aunt Helen,” Mulder calls.

Somehow Scully’s eyes manage to get even wider as some of the color returns to her face.

“Aunt Helen, there are a few people I’d really like you to meet. This is my partner, Dana Scully, and this is her mother, Margaret Scully.”

Aunt Helen smiles widely in recognition, first shaking Maggie’s hand and then Dana’s. “It is such a pleasure to meet you both. I’ve heard such wonderful things.”

She lingers with her hand holding Dana’s while she says this, and the younger Scully is left blushing. She hazards a look at Mulder, but he doesn’t look embarrassed by this revelation. He holds her gaze with nothing but pride.

“This is my aunt, Helen Briggs. She’s my mom’s sister. She’s visiting for the weekend from Charlotte.”

They all kind of marvel over the fact that they were in the same restaurant and what a coincidence and oh, we were seated near the back bar, that must be why we didn’t see you and Scully is just starting to feel her pulse return to normal as Aunt Helen laments not having a chance to talk with the Scullys.

“Well, Dana and I skipped dessert so we could go to The Big Dipper for some ice cream. Would you two like to join us?”

“Oh, that would be lovely. As long as we’re not intruding,” says Aunt Helen.

“Not at all,” Scully assures her. “There is one catch, though.”

“It’s not real ice cream. It’s that Tofutti nonsense, isn’t it?” Mulder groans.

“It better not be,” Maggie insists. “I don’t know how she eats that stuff.”

Scully ignores her mother and her partner’s bad mouthing of her frozen treats as she returns her attention to Aunt Helen.

“I’m afraid if you want to come along, you will have to reveal a few good Young Mulder stories. And by ‘a few,’ I mean as many as you’ve got. And by ‘good,’ I mean the more embarrassing the better.”

“I’ll start thinking now,” Aunt Helen laughs.

“I knew I should’ve picked a different restaurant,” Mulder says regretfully.

***********

They’ve just sat down to a small, round table for four with their ice cream when Mulder stands up to get them all more napkins, and Aunt Helen retrieves a small, rectangular piece of paper from her purse that she then deftly slides to Dana.

“Oh my god!” Scully exclaims with joy.

Staring back at her from the paper is a very young Fox Mulder. She guesses he must be around 8 or 9 in the school photo. His long, sandy brown hair falls just above his eyebrows. He doesn’t have his distinctive nose yet, but his bottom lip is already a little pouty. The real give away is the eyes. He’s grinning for the camera, but his eyes still have that soulfulness, that slight sadness.

She’s surprised. She knows she shouldn’t be. His eyes didn’t suddenly change when Samantha was taken. His eyes were probably always like that.

But she had always assumed that the great tragedy had flipped a switch for Young Fox Mulder. That before that single event, he had certainly been a perfectly happy child. Funny and athletic, popular for sure. But the humor developed as a defense mechanism later in life. And the sports were a great physical release as well as an excuse to be out of the house as much as possible. She didn’t actually know what he was like before, but now that she thought about it, home life was probably never all that great if it eventually led to a father sacrificing one child and leaving the other to always live with the guilt and loss.

It was very possible that Fox Mulder had always been a little boy with a lot on his mind.

In contrast, present day, adult Fox Mulder looks like he doesn’t have a care in the world as he returns with extra napkins, ready to tuck into his chocolate peanut butter ice cream in a waffle cone – that is until he realizes what his friend and partner Dana Scully is looking at.

“Oh come on. I was gone for thirty seconds, and you have the visual aids out.”

Scully continues to beam as Maggie finally gets a glimpse of the photo in her hand.

“Oh, Fox!”

“Okay,” Mulder said exasperatedly. “Does this meet your embarrassment quota?” he asks, looking pointedly at Scully.

“Not even close! This isn’t embarrassing. It’s adorable!”

Mulder rolls his eyes but can’t hide his bashful grin at her comment.

“It’s only fair, Fox. I know you’ve seen family photos of Dana at my house,” Mrs. Scully says, sounding like a mother well practiced in settling disputes between children.

“Just a couple. I do like that high school graduation picture, though. I still don’t know how you kept your cap on with all that hair.”

“That was the style back then. Everybody teased their hair and used a ton of hairspray.”

“I thought it might be a religious thing at Catholic school. The higher the hair, the closer to God,” Mulder teases.

Maggie and Aunt Helen chuckle, though the latter gives him a good-natured swat on the arm in admonishment.

“See, this is what I need, though. I need something from the teen years. That’s peak embarrassment fodder,” Scully says.

“If you ask our colleagues, I think my peak embarrassment fodder would come from about 1991 to present,” Mulder points out.

Aunt Helen just looks slightly regretful. “I’m afraid I don’t have many stories from those years, Dana.”

Mulder makes eye contact with Aunt Helen. “You didn’t miss much,” he insists. She looks like she wants to debate him, but he just places a hand on hers reassuringly, and they seem to make a silent agreement to not argue the point any further.

Mulder had never really mentioned any other family before. She knew his grandparents had all passed before she met him, but she had assumed, just like with everything else, that any other extended family connections had disappeared along with Samantha. That no one would know how to comfort and console The Mulders in a situation like that, with no explanation.

His aunts and uncles must have had questions, probably even had their own theories. Did his mother’s side suspect his father’s involvement, or did his father’s side blame his mother somehow? Did any of them blame…no, she couldn’t go down that route. Besides, did anyone ever suspect horrific things like that before the days of cable news and supermarket tabloids?

The point is, it was a tense situation, so Scully assumed they had all done what wealthy white people in places like Martha’s Vineyard and Boston and Raleigh did with any uncomfortable subject – they avoided it completely.

And that meant avoiding the little boy with a lot on his mind as he became a teenager with even more on his mind.

Scully had accompanied Mulder to a small burial service for his mother in Raleigh a few months ago. It was just the service. No gathering or dinner after, or at least not one that Mulder told her about. The attendees at the service were all pretty spread out, not much mingling. Again, it was another sudden loss shrouded in mystery. They all avoided particulars as much as they could.

Scully didn’t remember seeing Aunt Helen that day, but maybe she was there and just couldn’t bring herself to say anything. Maybe she wasn’t there because she couldn’t bring herself to go and then regretted it. Dana Scully didn’t know, and it didn’t actually matter. The point is that she’s here now. And that’s exactly what Mulder’s look of reassurance and acceptance seems to say.

It seems to help her perk up because she offers playfully, “Oh, what about that summer on Quonochontaug? I think you were 9 or so, and you were collecting leaves for one of your Indian Guide badges.”

“Oh god!”

“I’m hooked already. Not to jump ahead, but please tell me there’s poison ivy involved,” Scully says gleefully.

Aunt Helen’s bark of laughter and Mulder’s exaggerated eye roll are all the confirmation she needs.

“It was heavily involved! But that’s not the worst part. While he was working on his Leaf Collecting badge, he also earned credit towards his Wildlife badge when he came across a skunk in the woods.”

“No!” Scully shouts.

“Ivyed and skunked at the same time,” Mulder admits.

“Oh you poor thing,” Maggie adds sympathetically, but with barely contained laughter.

“He had to jump right from a tomato juice bath for the skunk smell…”

“Which didn’t work!”

“…into an oatmeal bath for the itching.”

“Which worked better, but I still smelled like a Grateful Dead concert.”

Both Scullys are full on giggling at this point.

“Do you remember what Grandpa Ralph said when he walked in and saw you and mom dunking me in a tub of oatmeal?” Mulder asks.

Aunt Helen pitches her voice deeper and amps up her Southern twang, “Why don’t cha dip him in some egg and flour next? We toss him in the frying pan, we got supper! We’re havin’ Fried Fox tonight!”

Now they’re all in hysterics. Even the man who usually hates his given name can’t help but laugh along, especially when it makes his lovely company so happy.

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

Scully enters the basement office Monday morning to find Mulder already there, flipping through an open drawer in the filing cabinet.

“Good morning,” she says cheerfully.

He looks up and smiles. “Good morning. Long time no see.”

“How was the rest of your weekend? Did you guys do any sightseeing or anything?”

“No, we just had a late breakfast yesterday before I took her to the airport, but it was good to catch up some more. She told me to thank you again for letting us tag along for ice cream. It was really nice.”

“It was,” Scully agrees.

Mulder appears to be considering something for a moment before he crosses over to the desk and picks up a small envelope.

“She also told me to give this to you,” he says almost bashfully, extending the envelope in Scully’s direction. “She told me I couldn’t look inside, and I didn’t. But I think I know what’s in there, and if I’m right, you don’t have to keep it. You can just leave it here on the desk.”

Well, now she’s intrigued. Scully opens the envelope to find a small handwritten note at the top.

“I thought you might like these. I have plenty more too, if you’d ever like to see them or want any more stories. Please don’t be a stranger.”

Scully lifts up the note to see the remaining contents inside and finds a small stack of photographs, a mixture of more school photos along with a few wallet-sized family portraits and a couple candids taken on the beaches of the Vineyard or Rhode Island, she can’t tell. But she sees the same set of eyes in all of them.

She looks back to read the rest of the note.

“I’m so glad I got to meet you, Dana. Take care!”

Below Aunt Helen’s elegant signature, she has also written her home address and phone number. Scully will have to call and thank her.

“She tried to give some to me,” Mulder explains, “but I didn’t really want…and like I said, you don’t have to…”

“No, I’d like to keep them,” Dana insists.

Mulder lets her statement hang in the air for a moment, but he can’t help but diffuse it.

“You just want more blackmail material.”

“Something like that,” Scully says teasingly, but there’s no bite behind it.

“I knew I should’ve picked a different restaurant.”

She chuckles lightly as she shuffles the photos into a neat stack to place back in the envelope, thinking that this is the point where they get back to work. Mulder stays standing in front of her and appears to be considering something again. Does he have another envelope that he’s afraid to give her?

“You know it was pure luck that we ended up at Petrino’s the same night as you. I actually gave Aunt Helen a few options and let her choose. I was pushing more for that Thai place in Arlington, just off Old Dominion. The one that’s been there forever,” Mulder explains.

“Oh, the one with the secret menu? I’ve still never been there. Can’t say I’m surprised that Aunt Helen wasn’t up for Thai food, though.”

“Yeah. Fair point,” Mulder nods for a moment too long before continuing. “Would you like to go there sometime? Like this Saturday? With me?”

Scully slowly looks up from the envelope to see Mulder’s face because in all matters, other than the divine, Dana Scully needs to see to believe. And the slightly nervous yet gentle grin that she finds allows her to believe it to be true – Fox Mulder has just asked her out on a real date.

“I would like that,” Scully says gently.

“Good. You wanna say 7:30? Or we can always figure out time later,” Mulder states, aiming for practicality to keep him from grinning like a complete idiot. He ends up grinning like a moderate idiot, but he’s okay with that.

“Sounds good.”

Yep, Scully will definitely have to call Aunt Helen and thank her.

[dalekofchaos]

What would you say are the biggest mistakes Mass Effect 3 made?

Okay this is going to be a long one, but these would be the biggest mistakes ME3 ever made in my opinion

Choosing Cerberus over The Reapers. The thing that annoyed me most about ME3 is the fact that Harbinger is not the main threat. The Illusive Man is. Harbinger has been built up as the big bad since ME2. "YOU HAVE FAILED. WE WILL FIND ANOTHER WAY." He says as he discards the Collectors. Then his speech to Shepard as the base blows up. "Human, you've changed nothing. Your species has the attention of those infinitely your greater. That which you know as Reapers are your salvation through destruction. You will surrender your potential against the growing void. We return, and you will rise. We are the harbinger of your perfection. We will bring your species into harmony with our own. Your species will be raised to a new existence. We are the beginning, you will be the end. Prepare for our domination. Prepare for our coming." Then in Arrival, he came pretty damn close to unleashing quick subjugation and harvest upon an unprepared galaxy. Upon Shepard foiling his plans. "Shepard. You have become an annoyance. You fight against inevitability. Dust struggling against cosmic winds. This seems a victory to you. A star system sacrificed. But even now, your greatest civilizations are doomed to fall. Your leaders will beg to serve us. Know this as you die in vain: Your time will come. Your species will fall. Prepare yourselves for the Arrival." The perfect final villain right? Unfortunately, Cerberus was more focused on than The Reapers. My problem with Cerberus and no Harbinger is Too many Cerberus, too few Reaper forces in plot. We fight Cerberus more often than the reapers. Hardly any boss fight and the one with Reaper Destroyer on Rannoch was more an interactive movie than fight. During the Horizon mission in Mass Effect 2, Harbinger was solidified as the Big Bad. It was menacing and ominous, with just the right amount of annoying. It taunted us throughout the game, telling us how insignificant we were, and how our actions were pointless. It was willing to posses drones through the Collector General to fight us personally, and when we killed the host, it tossed them aside. Harbinger even gave the typical “You haven’t seen the last of me!” villain rant. It made any fire fight frustrating, and that made me want to kill it even more; I hated Harbinger. Many games fail to do that. Harbinger was an enemy which I looked forward to defeating. I had the desire to annihilate. In Mass Effect 3, I got a codex entry and a cameo. Harbinger just swoops in at the last second and blows my friends and I to hell(and lets the Normandy save them), then flies off. Personally, I would have loved to hear Harbinger’s menacing monologue, it drove me on. I would have felt a deeper motivation to take the fight back to Earth if it told me how much destruction the Reapers were causing, how many lives were lost. I felt cheated when I got to the final mission, only to suddenly realize it was largely absent from the game. Harbinger has been replaced. Replaced by the Illusive Man and Kai Leng. The former is an old acquaintance, albeit one now controlled by the Reapers. The latter is a space ninja from a terrible book. What would've been amazing is if Harbinger IS the Catalyst. Harbinger taunts and haunts Shepard throughout the game He uses the memory of that child to haunt Shepard as a symbol of humanity lost. After Shepard activates the Crucible. Harbinger appears. He explains to why and how The Reapers were made. the AI Leviathan created to solve the equation is Harbinger all along, Harbinger manipulated The Leviathan into giving it Reaper form and birth at first it did what it commanded and what they asked of it was to look at the dark energy building up which back then was only an anomaly that Leviathan was concerned with but then the first harvest began and Harbinger and The Reapers were born. Funny enough, Leviathan reminds me so much of FMA:Brotherhood. The Intelligence tricked Leviathan to create the Reaper is very similar to how the Dwarf in the flask became Father. So what I think should have happened is it would've been revealed that Harbinger is the AI that convinced the Leviathan that harvest was the only way to survive and justifies the harvests not because organics and synthetics can't coexist, but because of the dark matter crisis. Throughout the game we would have more confrontations with Harbinger. Have him "ASSUME CONTROL" during fights. Give us a voiced confrontation between Shepard and Harbinger. Make it clear that Harbinger chose The Illusive Man and convinced him of together they could uplift and empower humanity over the lesser races. The Illusive Man is to Harbinger, as what Saren was for Soverign. Then the Crucible will grant us the choice to Destroy or Control The Reapers or Harvest this cycle to survive the Dark Matter crisis. You could either. Destroy Harbinger and The Reapers, while the united races would discover a way to stop the dark matter problem. Give in to Harbinger to harvest humanity to save the galaxy. Control The Reapers to stop the harvesting and to work together to stop the dark matter crisis.

Choosing to have a smaller crew than ME2 and focusing solely on the ME1 characters and screwing over or ignoring the ME2 crew, especially romancing Jack, Miranda and Thane. If it were up to me, this is what my ideal ME3 line up would be Ashley/Kaidan EDI Garrus Liara Tali Javik Jack Miranda Thane(EA forgot about him and simply chose to kill him off, I think Thane could’ve rejoined the crew and even had a mission where we find a cure for Thane and Kolyat) Grunt Mordin(you'll see how later) Legion(You'll see later) Balak or any Batarian Squadmember. Ideally it would be someone who survived the Bahak system or even a Batarian freedom fighter who puts his people’s survival over the pride and prejudices of the Hegemony. His sole goal is to liberate Khar'shan and save his people. But for a more memorable person, Balak would be the squad member. I would make killing Balak not an option. The last high ranking officer in the Hegemony. Instead of causing deaths on the Citadel, he seeks Shepard out. It’s an enemy of my enemy is my friend. Over time, Balak would show remorse for his past actions as a terrorist and for the Hegemony’s past. Shepard and Balak learns to overcome their differences and see each other as friend and works together to destroy the Reapers. We would get a Priority Khar’shan where we could liberate the planet and the Batarians would be in a fighting force.

Keeping James alive. I like James, but he added absolutely nothing to the game. We already had an Alliance character. Ashley Williams/Kaidan Alenko. James should have been the Jenkins/Wilson of the game. He should have died in the crash to take out Eva and Ashley/Kaidan should have been with us from beginning to end. James is a character we barely know. We’ve waited a long ass time to see Ashley/Kaidan and it was downright disappointing that neither Ashley nor Kaidan did not get to interact with Garrus on Priority Palaven and Wrex during Priority S’Urkesh.

Mirandafying Ashley Williams. Mirandafying Ashley Williams for Mass Effect 3 was shallow and unnecessary. Wearing loose and long hair and skimpy clothing? Ashley Williams is a by the books soldier. She would not look like this. She would not grow her hair or let it down like this. I mean, it’s not that they changed her face so much, but they just tried too hard with the makeup, hair and outfit. Ashley didn’t need to be model-sexy and run around in heels and showing cleavage. She was already sexy as hell in her own way. All they needed to do was give her the Alliance Crewmen outfit as her casual look and the Phoenix Armor and the current Alliance type armor she was given in ME3, as well as a unique Spectre armor. It's not just the shallow Mirandafying. It's the fact that Ashley has little to no interactions. Ashley barely has any interactions in the game. Compared to Kaidan, Ashley is not interactable. I don't like that Ashley barely has any interactions and just feels...hollow. Ashley should have crew moments with Joker, Adams, Ashley at the monument mourning those who died with the original Normandy, Liara, Tali and Garrus. Was it so much to ask for simple interactions? And really, Ashley in the first game had a personality, Ashley in ME3 feels hollow.

Choosing Diana Allers over Emily Wong and Khalisah al-Jilani. Emily and Khalisah are two reporters we actually know and respect. They earned their place on the Normandy. Emily reported on crime and traffic controllers. Khalisah gave us hard hitting questions and actually cared about reporting on what the fuck was going on in the galaxy. They earned their place on the Normandy as far as I'm concerned. Compare that to Diana Allers. What has Diana Allers done to deserve a spot on the Normandy? Nothing. They created the Battlespace to make her seem like a hip and cool Alliance News Correspondent. Allers looked, weird and she just comes off as annoying and she's a waste of space on the Normandy when we could've had a whole new or returning squad member. God, I WISH Javik could throw her out the fucking airlock. You had TWO perfectly great reporter characters and you did jackshit for any of them. Just so you could have an excuse to hire Jessica Chobot.

Not letting us see Tali's face on Rannoch. Legendary Edition fixed the mistake by finally showing us Tali's face, but it's still exclusive to Shali romancers. What should have happened was we see Tali's face when she unmasks on Rannoch. If we don't romance her, she unmasks and gives us a smile. If we romance her we see her face and kiss her. Something simple like that. It would've been great to see

Not having the ME2 squad members join in on the Citadel DLC. I mean for fuck's sake, it's like they want us to know "fuck you, ME1 squadmembers only" Again, why? Why wasn’t Jack, Miranda, Grunt, Samara, Jacob, Zaeed and Kasumi not added? If we romanced Jack or Miranda, why didn't they come to save us when we were being hunted? Why not REALLY making it feel like Team Hammerhead by actually adding the ME2 Squad members to the Citadel DLC before the party? There was no reason why you couldn't include the ME2 squad members in the Citadel DLC

Making Cerberus the villains instead of uneasy allies, when The Batarians were the perfect allies for The Reapers. This might just be me but I think Cerberus should have been on our side in ME3 and The Batarians should have been fighting for The Reapers. Makes sense Cerberus has just been a rouge organization doing what the job no matter what the cost(even if the cost is atrocities) and instead of indoctrinating themselves they could of studied it to make themselves immune to indoctrination and The Illusive Man's goal was to use any means necessary in order to destroy The Reapers. I also like the idea that you know you can't trust him, but he does get results. The Council and The Alliance are desperate, so they accept a partnership with Cerberus. The Batarians have always held a grudge against The Alliance, The Council and would have wanted revenge for Bahak/ Viper Nebula. The fact that there are no consequences for what we had to do in Arrival from The Batarians just doesn't make any sense and you'd think this would give The Batarians the motive to turn to The Reapers. Hell in the Terra Nova DLC in Mass Effect 1 it seemed to me that Balak was already indoctrinated and Balak’s revelation of the “Batarian rebellion” makes it seem like they would be the perfect tools for The Reapers. Balak will be the new Saren figure. If you killed Balak, then The Reapers would just bring him back. The first act of war for the Batarians was the destruction of the Viper Nebula, so their retaliation was killing Udina. Prior to the Reaper invasion of Earth, Udina would go to Omega to make peace talks with Aria. The Batarians attack and gain control of Omega, Aria is ousted(but saved by General Petrovsky) and Udina is executed live for the galaxy to see. Because of Udina's execution and Anderson leading the resistance on Earth. The Illusive Man is now the Human Councilor. Miranda and Kai Leng would be squad members. Depending on if you gave TIM the Collector Base or destroyed it, he will either keep you in the dark or help you at every turn. Just think of the Cerberus War Assets Cerberus Scientists General Oleg Petrovsky Collector Base Cerberus Fighters Cerberus Phantoms Cerberus Engineers Project Phoenix We would get a big mission to deal with the Batarians, Priority:Khar'shan. If you do not deal with the Batarians, there will be major casualties. However half of the Batarian forces are not indoctrinated and just want to end the mistakes of their government and live. Balak wants to kill the rebellion of his people. Ironic. Somehow Balak has placed enough bombs on the planet to destroy everyone who is resisting Reaper indoctrination. We can either. Talk Balak out of it. Telling him to resist and fight for your people(which WOULD gain Balak as an ally) or talk Balak into killing himself. Or the true Renegade option is to kill Balak and order a strike that wipes out the Batarian forces, but sacrificing the Batarian Rebellion. By the time we get to Priority Earth everyone is on the same page and united against the true threat, The Reapers. And it is Harbinger who is the final boss

Not having Maelon be there with Mordin in ME3. This isn't really a problem, but I had a thought. If we spared Maelon and kept Maelon's data for the cure. Maelon should have been on board to help Mordin with the cure. If we warn Mordin and Maelon about the sabotage, then Maelon would choose to sacrifice himself to save Mordin. And after that, Mordin would choose to join Shepard's crew.

Legion's "death" is pointless. He....is software. He could easily copy and paste The Reaper code without sacrificing himself in the same manner when he was broadcasting the Reaper signal to all Geth. Or he could've disseminated himself after he made a copy and transfer that copy over to his platform. I just get the feeling that they didn't want to keep Mordin, Thane or Legion alive....for reasons.

[lala-ladybug]

Healing Hands: Chapter 1

Hello hello! First fic here, it’s a Maribat AU with a side of Sword Art Online. Or what I remember from having watched the show once about five years ago. We’ve got Marinette and minimal class salt, Young Justice but only the good parts, and primarily Jasonette. Please spread the word (I am a tiny sideblog) and let me know what you think <3

Read here on AO3

Next

Chapter 1: You have no idea how many baddies I’m going to blow up because of you

Friday, at long last. Marinette could not have exhaled a bigger sigh of relief. It was mid-way through the school term, her commissions were ramping up, and Hawkmoth had become frustratingly active. Her duties as class president had only increased as she and her friends neared the end of lycée, not to mention all the studying she was doing for the baccalauréat on top of her regular school work. Commissions were booming now that her popularity as the anonymous designer MDC was soaring worldwide. She wouldn’t give any of it up for the world, but she might enjoy getting more than three or four hours of sleep for once.

There was only part of her life that had gotten easier since that day three years ago when she was entrusted with a pair of spotted earrings and an old god to match. Ladybug started out with one partner, but she now had a whole team to share the responsibilities of keeping their city safe. Ryuko and Viperion became permanent fixtures of the Parisian rooftops, and Bourdonne replaced Queen Bee after the infamous (albeit self-inflicted) unmasking of Chloe Bourgeois. The people of Paris looked to these heroes with pride and trust.

And Marinette Dupain-Cheng, now the Guardian of the Miraculous, looked to her partners with trust as well. She had decided that with her in charge, she could no longer keep secrets from her friends, from her new Order of the Guardians. She discussed it with Chat Noir, and he had smiled and agreed that it was time. And one day, when Ladybug gathered her teammates on a remote rooftop in the dead of night, she said only “I trust you,” before allowing her transformation to fall.

She wasn’t nervous, not really. She knew Kagami and Luka had good hearts, and she had seen firsthand how much Chloe had grown. Those three accepted her civilian self, her true self, without half a thought, and followed their leader in dropping their transformations as well. Chloe got her quips in while Ladybug looked to Chat Noir.

He passed his gaze over the faces of their friends and smirked like he was holding in a laugh. As he said “Claws in,” Marinette could hear the laugh in his voice, an intonation that sounded so very familiar, and oh. Of course.

Adrien Agreste beamed at his friends, both in the mask and out, and said fondly, “I’m so glad it’s you.”

The rest, of course, was history. For the year and a half since then, the five heroes of Paris had kept the city safe from threats magical and mundane alike. Hawkmoth had, of course, gotten craftier and more vicious with his attacks, sometimes choosing to send bursts of weaker akumas over the span of a week, sometimes waiting a month before sending an especially brutal villain their way.

But it was nothing that the Order of the Guardians couldn’t handle. Even though it could get exhausting after a while, which is why the incoming weekend was a welcome reprieve. There was another reason why this particular weekend was so exciting, which was that a new video game, Mindscape, was debuting. It would be released at midnight EST, which was 6:00 in the morning for Paris.

“Today’s the day, girl!” Alya squealed as she flagged Marinette down on their way to the classroom. “We are so lucky that our class won that raffle to get these exclusive passes. I bet I’ll be the first blog to get the scoop on this new tech they’re using!”

Marinette giggled and started to reply, “Super lucky, right? I’m excited too, I heard--”

“You know,” Lila cut her off as she sidled up to Alya. “I’m not saying that I didn’t enter us to get those downloads, but I was a big help with beta testing.”

How she managed to time that comment just as the three girls crossed the threshold of the classroom, and how she managed to know that nearly the whole class would already be there to hear it, Marinette would never understand. She only had to wait a moment before the rest of their friends rushed to the door to thank Lila.

“This opportunity is amazing, we are incredibly grateful!” Max was first in line, ever the technology-enthusiast.

Kim pushed his shorter friend out of the way and vigorously shook Lila’s hand. “You have no idea how many baddies I’m going to blow up because of you.” Lila looked a little overwhelmed as he continued to shake her hand all the while, and she gave him a nervous smile.

He was soon pushed out of the way as Alix muscled her way to the front next. “I definitely owe you for giving me the chance to kick his ass in a brand new way!” She jerked her head to where Kim had landed on the floor, pouting at her.

As the rest of the class who would be joining them in the game’s premiere expressed their thanks, Alya looked on with an affectionate smile. She was so very happy that she now had two kind, selfless best friends. Her smile fell a little as she noticed Marinette stoically edging her way around the crowd and up to her seat, not having said a word to Lila. Alya just wished that her two besties would get along.

Alya put a hand on Lila’s shoulder and smiled her thanks before following Marinette to what was once their shared desk. “You really should thank her, you know,” Alya implored hopefully.

Without turning around to face Alya, Marinette paused and shared an incredulous look with Adrien, who was already seated at his shared desk with Nino. She then shrugged and replied, “Lila never actually said that she got us the passes,” before continuing up the steps to her seat at the back of the class. Alya shook her head and sat down. It was always like this, a cool indifference from Marinette whenever Lila came up. They were both such incredible people, Alya couldn’t understand why they didn’t get along.

As for Marinette, she was semi-content to let Lila be as long as her lies didn’t hurt anybody. Her unrealistic promise to take away all of Marinette’s friends was never fulfilled, and honestly the amount of emotional energy it used to sap from her just wasn’t worth it anymore. Marinette had no idea how Lila was going to get her hands on a copy of the game when Mari was, of course, the one who had won the raffle. She distributed the special access passes herself, and Lila certainly hadn’t gotten one. If this was the way that she wanted to make friends, she would eventually have to face the consequences.

But for now, Lila was basking in her praise. That is, until she glanced at her phone and gave a small gasp of dismay.

“What’s wrong?” Rose asked, concern already etched on her face.

Lila covered her mouth with one hand and started rapidly blinking back tears. “It’s my VIP copy of the game. There was a mixup in the mail and it won’t get here in time for tomorrow morning! I’m so sorry everyone, it looks like you’ll have to do it without me....” She buried her face in her hands and her shoulders trembled with barely restrained sobs.

The class shared a worried look, and Sabrina piped up, “It’s okay Lila, you can borrow my copy.” Lila immediately looked up and surged forward to clasp the hands of her friend.

“Really? But won’t it have the same problem?” Sabrina smiled and shook her head. “Nope, it’s a digital download! I don’t mind, you can always trade it back when your VIP pass arrives later.”

Lila gave her a brilliant smile, any tears long-since dried. “Oh, thank you so much Sabrina! I’ll see what I can do about getting you a VIP pass too once mine gets here.”

At that moment, Chloe walked in, and one look at the scene displayed in front of her had her rolling her eyes at her former best friend. She gracefully swept up the steps to join Marinette at the back of the classroom and whispered to her, “Aren’t they all digital downloads?”

Marinette, who had started unpacking her bag to prepare for class, inclined her head and gave the blonde a meaningful look that indicated yes, they were indeed all digital downloads. Chloe snickered and started preparing her own side of the desk.

After the fiasco of outing herself as Queen Bee, Chloe had lost the minimal support and tolerances she had been allowed before. It gave her time to truly reflect on how she acted and treated other people. She had since been quietly making amends with those she’d wronged, and the person on the top of that list was Marinette Dupain-Cheng. It took time and a lot of effort on Chloe’s part, but she mellowed out and did a lot of growing up. She still spoke her mind, though.

“Huh that’s strange, I got the VIP package too, but mine was a digital pass,” Chloe loudly proclaimed, studying her nails nonchalantly as the rest of the class turned to look up at her.

Lila grit her teeth into a forced smile and replied sweetly, “Well that’s because mine was an original beta testing copy that they had to update for the full game.” She turned her attention to Marinette and a note of false concern crept into her voice. “Oh Marinette, I hope you’ll still have time to come too! I know you’ll be busy this weekend with planning the spring class field trip. It would be such a shame if it didn’t happen because you were too busy playing a video game.”

Marinette suddenly felt very warm under the gazes of the entire class. She stammered out, “Oh-of course we’ll get to go! Don’t worry, I have a meeting with the school board on Monday.” Trust Lila to sniff out the one thing that had slipped below her radar.

Lila’s eyes lit up with an opportunistic gleam. “That’s great! Where will it be?”

“Well, uh, the school board has to review the location, so I don’t want to get your hopes up, but I can tell you that it will be in, um,” her eyes flicked around wildly and landed on the posterboard of different flags from the prior week’s lessons. “America!”

The class burst into excited chatter moments before Madame Bustier arrived and the late bell rang. Marinette released a breath and sagged in her seat. Saved by the bell.

Chloe gave her a sidelong glance and murmured, “America, huh?”

“Shut up,” Marinette shot back.

* * *

Madame Bustier tried to get the class to pay attention, she really did. They struggled through their lessons before lunch, the volume of side conversations between deskmates swelling all the while. The moment the bell for lunch dismissal rang, the students exploded into conversation as they left the classroom.

Marinette waved as Chloe and Adrien walked off to go meet Kagami and Luka at a nearby cafe. She breezed into the patisserie across the street from Francois Dupont and gave her surprised Maman a kiss on the cheek.

“I thought you were going out with your friends for lunch?” Sabine asked, balancing a tray of eclairs on her hip. “I forgot I have to plan our class trip!” Marinette replied cheerfully as she hurried into the kitchen to quickly fix herself a croque-monsieur. She gave her Papa a hug as she finished preparing her meal. He shouted up at her to not make a mess as she retreated into her room to eat at her desk.

She gave a small snort at that. It was nearly impossible for her to make a mess of food when she had over a dozen Kwami there to clean up after her, but he didn’t know that. She greeted said Kwami with a delighted grin and a wave as she set her plate down by her desktop computer.

“Marinette, why are you back so early?” Tikki asked, “is everything okay?” The other Kwami swarmed around her as she woke her computer up and logged in.

The girl waved one hand nonchalantly and opened up a web browser with the other. “Everything’s fine, I just forgot about planning the class trip!” She took a huge bite of the sandwich and started typing furiously. Several Kwami dove after the crumbs that sprayed everywhere.

“Ohhh, I see! Do you have an idea of where to start?” Tikki zoomed around Marinette’s shoulder to hover next to the monitor screen.

Marinette had the same determined gleam in her eye as when she finally found the perfect fabric for a design. She said confidently around a mouth full of ham, “America.”

* * *

By the time the lunch break had finished, Marinette had a preliminary list of cities on the East Coast of the United States. She had researched Gotham first, but it looked far too dangerous and gloomy. Next was New York City, which she determined was too big. Philadelphia was historic, but in a way that would definitely bore her classmates. Boston was too cold despite its excitement. Which left Metropolis as the perfect candidate. It was also protected by the perfect superheroes, Superman and his family, so she was absolutely confident the school board would approve of the city.

Of course, the meeting on Monday would need more specifics than just the city, but she was pleased with her progress so far. Marinette shut down her monitor, grabbed her backpack and plate from lunch, and went downstairs to the kitchen. She quickly scrubbed and dried her plate in the sink before waving to her parents as they bustled around, accommodating the tail end of the mid-day rush.

Marinette walked across the street with a spring in her step and, spotting a tall flash of blue hair, half-jogged up to her group of friends.

“Hey guys, sorry I couldn’t make it to lunch!” She grinned apologetically at Kagami and Luka.

“That’s alright Melody,” Luka gave her a side hug, “Chloe told us you were busy planning your class trip.”

Adrien slung an arm around Kagami’s shoulder and pulled his girlfriend closer to whisper conspiratorially to her, “I hear we’re going to America.” She laughed softly at his antics and at Marinette who stuck her tongue out at him. Kagami then said to Marinette, “That sounds delightful, Marihime. I trust you will still be joining us tomorrow morning?”

Marinette’s eyes lit up with excitement at the prospect of playing the game with her friends all weekend long. “Definitely! I’m going to finish preparing for the school board meeting tonight so that we can play the second it comes out.”

“If you can wake up on time,” Chloe teased.

Marinette crossed her arms defensively and stated with pride, “I already set three alarms, thank you very much!”

Adrien burst out laughing at that. “Leave it to our everyday Ladybug,” he winked. Her face flushed as she pouted. He chuckled again and kissed Kagami on the top of her head. “See you later, mon coeur.”

She and Luka waved to the rest of the group as they left to return to their own schools. The three Francois Dupont students watched them go for a moment before returning inside.

“So, you and Kagami have plans?” Chloe asked.

“Yeah! Our parents gave special permission for a sleepover at my place tonight so we can play the game right when it comes out tomorrow.” Adrien rubbed the back of his neck, a nervous habit he had never quite abandoned. “But I’m not sure how often we’ll be able to be online with you guys after this weekend. You know how busy our schedules are....”

Marinette elbowed him lightly as they walked. “It’s a blessing you both managed to convince your dad and her mom to let you come to the launch at all! We’ll play together when we can, it’s no big deal.”

Adrien smiled gratefully at her and held the door open for both Marinette and Chloe as they entered the classroom. Alya was already there, and once she spotted her best friend (well, one of them), she skidded down the steps with a huge grin and held an invisible microphone up to Marinette.

“Thank you Nadja, and good afternoon Paris! This is Alya Cesaire, and today I am joined by young fashion designer Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Mlle. Dupain-Cheng, can you give us an exclusive scoop on the trip you’re planning for your class?”

“Good afternoon Mlle. Cesaire,” Marinette giggled, “Unfortunately, the trip has yet to be approved by the school board so no details just yet. But I can tell you with certainty that we will be visiting the resident city of some popular American superheroes.” She winked as she finished in her best interview voice.

Alya gasped and dropped her pretend microphone as she hugged her best friend. “Really!? Oh my gosh girl, you are the best!”

Marinette laughed and hugged her back as Alya jumped and spun them around. Once they pulled apart, she told the brunette, “As soon as the school board gives me the green light, you’ll be the first to know.”

The late bell rang and the girls practically skipped to their respective seats as Madame Bustier called the class to attention. Well, “attention” in the loosest sense of the word. They struggled once more through the majority of their lessons, but Madame Bustier seemed to sense defeat and she let them chatter excitedly for the last twenty minutes before dismissal.

Kim and Alix were boasting about how they were going to stay up all night, while Max encouraged them to maximize the time they would be able to play the next day by getting a full night’s sleep in before the launch time.

Lila bragged about her role in the creation of the game from its conception to even having suggested the highly anticipated date of release. Adrien pointedly ignored Lila in the row behind his and discussed the music they had recorded and mixed for the game with a very enthusiastic Nino.

Sabrina looked on a little sadly until Mylene, Ivan, Rose, and Juleka invited her to join their Disney movie marathon double-date instead. Mylene was too nervous to play the game so Ivan chose to sit out to support her, and video games weren’t really Rose and Juleka’s style. Sabrina’s face softened as she gratefully accepted their invitation.

Nathaniel turned around in his seat to talk to Marinette about the art rendering and the programs they used while Chloe scrolled aimlessly on her phone.

By the time the bell finally rang, the class was beyond excited to go prepare for the launch the next morning.

Marinette, to her credit, swallowed her enthusiasm and sat down to fully plan out their trip to Metropolis. It was grueling work, researching the safest hotel that was still in a central location. It had to be affordable but not shabby, too, because they had a limited budget. She eventually settled on the reputable Wayne Hotel, apparently part of an enormous corporation called Wayne Enterprises, and then began to build an itinerary with different events from there.

She worked nonstop the rest of the night, with the exception of a brief dinner break, and it was nearly 11:00 at night by the time she finished. Marinette sat up from her desk chair and stretched, then double-checked that her alarms were set before finally heading to bed.

[yungidreamer]

Unmasked

When stress, jealousy, and fears boil over, it doesn’t matter if it’s the right time or place...

Pairing Yunho, Mingi, unnamed fem character, established poly relationship

Content warnings: A little bit of angst to start with, carrying over from unresolved issues from the last section. Oral sex (fem receiving), slight hair pulling, possessiveness, unprotected sex, slightly rough, marking, multiple orgasms, over stimulation.

The whole week had been strained, and it was going to drive the boys crazy. She had been standoffish since the incident on Friday, and at first they could write it off to how busy they had all been. They all had tests this week in more than one of their classes, so the fact that she was studying more, well, it wasn’t unexpected. But by the time she stayed at the library until it closed for the third night in a row, they suspected she was trying to avoid spending as much time with them.

She came home every night, slipping into their shared bed after a shower. It had become a sort of habit for her to take the middle of the bed, letting both the boys take a side each, letting them stretch out both across her and into the spaces her smaller form left at the foot of the bed. But the few times that she slipped off to bed before them, she instead slid herself off to one side, quickly trying to go to sleep before the boys could join her. 

When Yunho finally brought it up that Thursday while they had a quick breakfast before heading to their classes, she waved it off, saying that she was just tired this week and he was just reading too much into it.

“I’m not sure I am going to make it to lunch today though,” she said, taking the last bite of her bagel before pushing away from the table. “I have my last test tomorrow and I still have things I need to study for it.”

“You can take a little break and eat something with us,” Yunho sighed.

“I really have to study,” she sighed, gathering her stuff near the door. “Things will get better soon, though, I promise.” She walked back to the boys, giving them kisses on their cheeks before rushing out the door.

“She’s avoiding us isn’t she,” Mingi asked the other boy glumly.

“Yeah,” Yunho sighed. “I think she might be mad at us but…”

“But what did we do?” Mingi asked, a worried frown knitting his forehead.

“It’s my fault,” Yunho shook his head, taking his dishes to the sink. “This all started with what happened with Hong Joong.”

“But it turned out okay,” Mingi insisted. “Hong Joong seems okay and he hasn’t said anything. He’s nice and he hasn’t been treating us weird or anything.”

“Yeah,” he agreed. “I guess she is just trying to push us about just being friends in public. We never did really decide on that whole thing.”

“She is sort of deciding for us,” Mingi agreed. “But it was just going to be outside and,” he paused. “I miss having time with all of us.”

“Me, too,” Yunho pulled the other boy into a hug, holding him for a moment before they parted and prepared to leave.

Saturday came quickly with the hustle and bustle that filled the week. Everyone picked up their costumes when they had a spare moment. Yunho and Mingi would be puppies and she would be a kitty. The costumes were simple, but it was what they had available and they had all liked the inside joke of being different but the same. We’re all animals in the end, right?

Yunho had gotten a golden retriever onesie, Mingi a black and white husky, and she had chosen a calico cat one. They all looked adorable, they decided, getting the first real smile they could remember out of her that week as they dressed. They headed off together to Whitby Residence at a little after six, when Hong Joong had said the party was going to start. They made their way to north campus, passing others dressed for the holiday and ready to party.

They came to the front door of the large house, giving it a hard knock to ensure the sound would rise above the chatter and music they could already hear, even from outside. The door opened to reveal a happy and smiling Hong Joong who greeted all of them with enthusiastic hellos and warm hugs. He brought them inside and took them to the large shared living room, already half filled with the guests and residents of the house. He introduced them to a few people, all of whom waved and greeted the newcomers warmly before going back to what they were talking about when they had arrived.

Yunho and Mingi moved to take seats on the empty space on the couch, leaving room between them for her to sit, but, to their disappointment, she instead chose to take the old wooden dining chair stuffed near the end of the couch. It had been placed there to add seating and make sure there would be enough for everyone they expected to come eventually. The boys shared a glance and scooted closer to each other, closing the space, so they wouldn’t take up more of the couch than needed.

One of the residents joined them, making small talk as new people came and music played. It was still early and the party was just getting started. She was a pre-veterinary student who loved animals more than anything; one reason she had come to compliment their adorable costumes. Her name was Anne, but insisted on being called Annie, and was so happy to have someone to gush over how smart and amazing animals are.

“Hey, I didn’t expect to see you here!” The voice came from a guy who was making his way into the living room from the bedroom areas upstairs.

“Oh, I didn’t know you were staying here,” She said, standing to greet him with a brief hug. Both boys’ eyes snapped to look at her, hoping to know who he was and why she knew him.

“How do you think the test went yesterday?” He asked, sitting on the end of the coffee table near her.

“Oh, pretty well I guess,” she laughed and shrugged.

“It better have, the number of hours we spent in the library studying,” he teased. “And I think I did okay too, but I’ll wait to see what grade I get before declaring myself a success story.”

“That’s probably smart,” she agreed. “Don’t count your chickens and all.”

“Anyway, how did you come to be here?” He asked, putting a hand on her arm as he asked, sending alarm bells through Mingi and Yunho.

“I came with my roommates,” she gestured to the two boys, removing her arm from his touch as she did. “Hong Joong is in chemistry with Yunho so they’ve been studying together a lot.”

“Okay, that explains the costumes,” he laughed. “It’s really cute that you all dressed up together.” He turned towards the two boys, extending his hand to Yunho first, who was sitting nearest to her on the end of the couch. “I’m Joshua.”

“Yunho,” he said, taking the offered hand and shaking it.

“Mingi,” the other said in turn as Joshua then gave him his hand.

“Nice to meet you both,” He said with a smile. “So how did you all meet? In the dorms or…?”

“No, we've been friends since high school,” she shook her head. “But we all decided to go to the same school so we got a place together off campus.”

“Nice, nice,” Joshua complimented. “That is really cool. So you all are just friends…” he fished, pausing just long enough for anyone to object before continuing, “That’s great. Did you want a tour? I can take you to get something to drink if you want.” The invitation was clearly only for her. She looked to the boys and gave them a what’s the harm sort of shrug before standing up with a nod. The boys stared after her, not sure if they had the right to object, but they certainly didn’t feel right about it either way.

“Don’t worry,” Annie said next to them with a comforting smile. “Josh is super nice.”

“I’m sure,” Yunho said, keeping his eyes on the pair as he took her around the room as they slowly headed towards the kitchen.

“She’s like your sister, isn’t she?” Annie asked, giving Mingi a playful tap with her elbow.

“What do you mean?” Mingi asked, giving her a lost, blank look.

“You both seem really protective of her,” she explained with an understanding smile. “She’s like your sister and you want to protect her, but don’t worry. Josh is nice. He’s actually been talking about her a lot this week. She’s apparently really smart and really good with the material from the philosophy class they are both taking.”

“They’ve been studying for that together a lot, huh?” Yunho asked, hoping they would come out of the kitchen soon.

“Yeah,” Annie nodded. “He was out at the library like most of the nights this week. The material must be really hard, he doesn’t usually have to study this hard to get good grades. I am sure he is really grateful for her help.”

“Our girl is really smart,” Yunho commented, a knot of doubt forming in his stomach. Hong Joong came bounding down the stairs, another guy following closely behind, laughing at something the other had said just before they appeared. Hong Joong spotted the two boys sitting on the couch and headed their direction.

“Hey I wanted you guys to meet my roommate,” Hong Joong took the seat that she had vacated and the other boy, a tall statuesque blond with the body of a model, stood beside him, his hand resting on the back of the chair. “This is Seonghwa. Seonghwa, this is Yunho and Mingi. I think you guys have a lot in common. Yunho is who I’ve been helping with chemistry this week.”

“Oh,” Seonghwa nodded, from his tone, it was obvious that the subject had come up over the past week more than once. “Well nice to meet you. Hong Joong has said so many nice things about you.”

“Has he?” Yunho blushed, wondering what Hong Joong could possibly have said about him.

On the other side of the room they heard her laugh as she and Joshua reemerged from the kitchen, drinks in hand. Much to both Mingi and Yunho’s dismay, they headed upstairs together, rather than rejoining them.

“Oh, do you guys know Josh, too?” Hong Joong asked, following their gaze as he disappeared up the stairs with her. 

“That is his study buddy this week,” Annie filled in for them.

“Ahhhh,” both Hong Joong and Seonghwa responded, the information obviously filling in something for them.

“What?” Mingi finally asked everyone else, wanting to be let in.

“Oh he’s just been having a lot of fun studying with her,” Hong Joong waved the question away with a smile. “Apparently it’s his favorite class now. He’s had nothing but glowing praise for her this whole week.”

“He thought he was going to hate that class,” Seonghwa laughed, sending a look to Hong Joong. “And, pardon me if it's rude to say, but he probably had good reason to. It is the second time he has had to do that class since he failed it the first time. That is what happens when you don’t bother to do the homework or study because you hate the material.”

“Ouch, but true,” Annie tipped her nearly empty glass at her two housemates.

“Anyway, she seems to have gotten him to be interested in the class, so he probably owes her a lot for getting him half way through one of the required courses he needs for next year,” Seonghwa complimented them with a smile. Mingi and Yunho smiled back, even as they shifted uncomfortably in their seats, wishing they could go upstairs to check on her and her new friend.

Another knock on the door had Hong Joong bounding towards it, happy to let in the new guest who was just arriving. He opened the door, greeting whoever it was with a happy yelp. He came back in, arm around the waist of another tall and beautiful man whose face lit up when he saw Seonghwa. Seonghwa, for his part grinned, getting up to give the newcomer a hug and a long, loving kiss on the lips in greeting. Mingi stared, surprised to see the two greet each other in such an open and shameless manner in front of so many people. Beside them Annie cooed, declaring them to be the cutest couple ever as Hong Joong stepped back, taking the wooden seat again, flashing a grin to Yunho and Mingi.

Ah, this is why he wanted them to come and meet some of his friends, they had a lot in common, he had been sure. Yunho looked at Mingi whose jaw was still slightly ajar in surprise. He elbowed him to bring him back to his senses, briefly patting his thigh reassuringly. See, Yunho’s expression said, not everyone thinks that way. Mingi gave him a chagrined smile, scooting just a little closer to him. They almost didn’t notice when she came back down stairs, a new book under her arm, with Joshua behind her. They were chatting and smiling as they walked over and Yunho desperately wanted to get up and move between them but held back. 

Then, he did it; a few feet before they moved into the circle of the group Joshua put an arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer to his side. She looked up, her eyes widening before she pulled away from him with an apologetic smile. Mingi stiffened half a second before standing up and asking Hong Joong, “Where is the bathroom?”

“Uh, upstairs,” he answered, his gaze traveling between Mingi and Yunho as he answered. Yunho’s mouth had narrowed into a tight line as Mingi stomped off, grabbing her hand and leading her upstairs before anyone could get out any words of protest. Excusing himself, Yunho stood up and calmly followed them upstairs.

Everyone watched him disappear up the stairs before turning to look at Hong Joong and Joshua, silently asking them for answers. Josh looked as baffled as the rest of them and Hong Joong only managed a shrug and, a muttered, They have a complicated relationship, I think.

Mingi pulled her into the bathroom before closing the door behind him with a little more force than intended. The slam rang through the small room followed by a pregnant silence filled by Mingi’s panting breath.

“Mingi I’m sorry--” was all she managed to get out before a knock rang out at the door.

“It’s me,” said Yunho quietly. “Let me in.” Mingi opened the door, letting him into the small space before pulling Yunho against it, using their combined bodyweight to close the door as he kissed his lips with a quick, hungry desperation. Yunho’s fingers went to the key in the door, locking it securely before putting his hands on Mingi’s waist, holding him against himself.

Mingi pulled back and turned on her. With a quick move, he lifted her off her feet, bringing her legs around his hips as he leaned in to kiss her with all the frustration that had been building in him over the last week. All of his feelings were finally coming out. The pain, confusion, the frustration that had been filling him, drop by drop with every late night she studied, and every time Yunho sat across from him at their lunches and not beside him, and every morning she rushed out with barely a goodbye, and every evening Yunho could only meet him with a sad half smile as they ate dinner without her.

 “Are you mad at me?” He asked, pulling his lips away, but letting his forehead rest against hers as he spoke.

“No, no,” she shook her head, speaking barely above a whisper.

“Then why are you punishing me,” Mingi’s voice broke as he asked, barely able to squeeze out the words.

“I’m not--” she started, cutting herself off as she had to admit, intended or not, she had been. “I just needed a little time. I’ve been busy and I needed to think about things.”

“What did you need to think about,” Yunho asked, still leaning against the bathroom door. “What did you need to think about that kept you out until the library kicked you out? What did you need to think about that made you turn away when you were going to sleep? What could possibly--” He stopped, squeezing his eyes closed to hold back the prickling threat of tears.

“I needed to think about if I was good for either of you,” she turned away from both of them as much as she could, still being held in Mingi’s arms as he stood near the sink. “If I was just a crutch that you used to justify being together...Maybe you don’t really need me but you’re both just...used to me being around.”

The room went silent. She held her breath, finally having let her deepest fear slither out of her mouth. When neither of them said anything, she pushed at Mingi’s shoulders, trying to get out of his grip so she could leave. Feeling that her worst fears were being confirmed.

“Let me go,” she pushed harder, panic welling in her chest.

“No,” Mingi said finally, one arm moving around her back to pull her against him.

“Let me down,” she sniffled, though her hands grabbed the fabric of his costume, holding it tightly as she said it. Yunho stepped forward, hugging her between them as his long arms encircled them both.

Neither of the boys had expected that from her. Though neither of them had said it, both had feared that she had gotten tired of them. That they had become too much trouble to be with. The secrets, the insecurities that too often arose whenever it wasn’t just the three of them at home, maybe it was all too much. Moving in together was supposed to make it easier, but it had just brought a new host of issues with it. But it had seemed like it never even phased her. She was always strong, always the first one to say that they would find a way to work it out.

“I’m so sorry,” Yunho breathed into her hair, tucking his head in on one side as Mingi did the same on the other.

“Why didn’t you say something?” Mingi asked, his chest tight.

“Say what?” She asked in a small, watery voice. “Am I a mistake? Are you sure you love me?”

“We’ve missed you so much,” Yunho whispered against her neck, kissing it lightly.

“Are you sure?” She asked, closing her eyes and letting a few warm tears fall.

“We need you,” Mingi insisted, pressing his face into her shoulder. Yunho’s hands pulled them both towards him, pressing all their bodies together as a desperate need came over him. This wasn’t the time or the place but, frankly, he didn’t care. His skin hurt with need and his hands itched to touch both of them. He turned to look at the door. He had locked it, but he needed to check, one time, just to be sure, before anything went any further.

He let them go and stepped to the door, jiggling the handle of the door a couple of times. Assured that it was secure, he turned around to see the two people he loved, still standing, holding each other.

“Mingi, will you help me show our girl how much we need her?” Yunho put his hands on her hips as he asked. Mingi nodded, a spark igniting in his eyes as their gazes met over her shoulder. “Here,” Yunho took her out of Mingi’s arms and put her on the small counter space there was beside the sink. It was almost the perfect height, he thought to himself, walking in between her spread thighs as he drew her into a kiss. She let out a little oh of surprise as he pressed his lips to hers, holding her head still between his hands. He ate at her mouth, stealing her breath as he bit at her lips. A small part of him wanted her to hurt like he had the past week. He knew she had too, but he needed to let it out, make sure she understood what it had all done to him.

He let go of her lips, his hand gripping her hair and moving her head to the side to expose her neck. His mouth moved to the flesh he had laid bare, his tongue licking over the pulse there. Yunho’s lips sealed over it, sucking the softness into his mouth and drawing a little breathless mewl from her lips. His teeth closed over it, not hard, but enough to leave a little ring of teeth marks around the pink spot in the center.

Pulling back, he looked at her, a blank look on her face with her eyes closed and her jaw hanging slack. “Too hard?” He asked breathlessly. She shook her head slightly, unable to move much with the grip he was still maintaining on her hair. “Mingi,” he beckoned to the other boy in the small space. “Come help me get our kitten out of her clothes.”

Mingi came to stand beside him quickly. Together they unzipped the costume, sliding the cheap fabric off her shoulders and arms so that it pooled around her hips. She was wearing a small white t-shirt under the costume, which Mingi impatiently pulled over her head, leaving her bare on the top except for her bra.

“Lift her up,” Yunho instructed, taking hold of the costume, pair of shorts, and panties, determined to remove them all at once. Mingi lifted her enough so that her weight no longer pinned the fabric between her and the counter, allowing the other boy to pull it down to her thighs before he put her down again. Yunho dropped to his knees in front of her, pulling everything off, along with her shoes, and tossed them out of the way.

His hands went to her knees, spreading her thighs and exposing her womanhood to his gaze. “Kiss her,” he commanded. “Make sure she isn’t too loud.”

Mingi nodded, turning her head to face him where he stood at the end of the counter in the space between it and the toilet. Her eyes were dazed and only half open as Mingi leaned in, his soft, plush lips meeting hers in a soft brush of skin. Yunho pulled her forward on the counter until he could reach her. Kissing his way along the inside of her thighs, he looked up to watch as Mingi took her lips, matching his movements to the other boys, starting with gentle brushes and soft pecks. When Mingi finally gave in, licking along her bottom lip, begging to deepen his kisses, Yunho used the tip of his tongue to lick a light stripe up her other lips, tasting the slick arousal that was already flowing from her body at their attentions.

She moaned into her kiss with Mingi as the fingers of one hand tangled in Yunho’s hair. Both boys let go, throwing themselves into pleasing her, showing her how much they had desperately missed her touch over the last week. Yunho lavished licks and sucks to her clit, eating at her body like he was starving, his hands holding the flesh of her hips hard enough that his nails dug into her flesh lightly, leaving small crescent marks behind when he adjusted how he was holding her.

Mingi lost himself in the moment, letting go of her lips and moving to kiss the side of her neck. His thumb caressed over the warm pink mark that Yunho had left on the other side. A strong possessive urge came over him. Joshua’s face flashed in his mind. He wanted the intruder to know she was taken, she was theirs. They shared her, they shared themselves with each other, but he wasn’t welcome. He turned her head, pulling it back so she was forced to look at the ceiling as his lips brushed the shell of her ear.

“Who do you belong to?” His voice was a low growl.

“You two,” she panted quietly.

“Say our names,” Mingi demanded before sucking a matching piece of skin into his mouth.

“Mingi and Yunho,” She did as he asked, her whole body tensing in anticipation of the feel of his teeth. As Mingi bit down, Yunho thrust his tongue inside her. Every muscle from her head to her toes strained and her breath caught in her throat. She was so close that all it took was a sudden and firm suck on her clit to throw her into an orgasm that was like a hand grasping her throat, freezing her body as she tried to gasp for breath. Yunho could see the startled look on her face in profile, reflected in the half open mirror of the medicine cabinet.

He sat back on his heels and let her relax for half a moment as Mingi kept her upright on the counter. Standing up, he brought his lips to hers, letting her taste herself.

“Do you want your turn,” Yunho asked Mingi, seeing his eyes dark with tension and desire. Mingi nodded, letting Yunho take over holding her up as he slid out of the little space he had been occupying. “You’re going to want to take off your costume.” Yunho suggested, letting her head lull back against the wall slightly. Mingi nodded, quickly stripping everything off until he was left in only his white undershirt.

“D-did you bring any condoms?” Mingi asked, as he stepped in between her spread knees.

“It’s okay,” She shook her head. “I’m safe.”

“You’re sure,” Mingi moved forward but still asked, wanting to be absolutely sure. She nodded, her hand going to his waist, sending a shiver through him with the simple caress. Mingi lined himself up with her entrance and slid inside easily with the copious amount of arousal Yunho had brought out of her with his ministrations.

“Mingi,” Yunho said, having taken the place that he had been in before at the end of the counter. “One kiss?” He offered, putting one hand at the small of his back and the other on her shoulder. Mingi nodded, turning to taste her on his lips as their tongues tangled with a desperate need. “Now fuck her. Show her how much you needed her this week.”

Mingi moaned and braced himself with his hands on her waist as he drove his hips into her with all the pent up frustration he had felt that week. The snap of flesh into flesh was audible as he drove himself into her. Yunho watched, a hand supporting each of them as Mingi let all of his emotions out as he took her. The frustration, the hurt, the loneliness; he communicated it all with his hands, his hips and his lips. Both their passions built and, while Mingi managed to bite his lip and suppress his groans of pleasure, she suddenly let out a keen, her back arching at the pleasure he was bringing her.

Yunho took the hand he had been keeping on Mingi’s back and brought it up to cover her mouth. Her eyes sprang open, flashing him an apologetic look. “Do you want everyone here to know how desperate you make us?” Yunho hissed in her ear, loud enough for Mingi to hear too. “Or is it that you want everyone downstairs to know that you belong to us, body and soul?”

She moaned into his palm, pressing it harder to her face as his words and Mingi’s thrusts drove her over the edge. Her body clenched around Mingi, the fluttering of her walls quickly driving him over the cliff of pleasure, causing him to cum inside her for the first time with no barrier between them. He held her hips still against him as he emptied himself into her body. His climax left him weak but with a sense of satisfaction deeper than he had felt before.

“Can you still take me, love?” Yunho asked, taking his hand back as Mingi caught his breath. She gave a dazed nod and Yunho stepped back, choosing to strip himself completely bare, desperate to get as much contact with her as possible. As he drew near, Mingi stepped back, finally pulling his half faded erection out of her, causing them both to shiver at the delayed sensation.

Yunho quickly stepped in, using the head of his cock to stop Mingi’s cum from slowly oozing out of her. 

“Ah-ah, gotta keep that in there. Can’t be making a mess at someone else’s place.” He teased as he slid himself into her. She tensed and shivered at his intrusion. They were both such big boys, stretching her in the best of ways. She looped her arms around his shoulders for support, her whole body feeling weak already.

“You sure you want this,” Yunho asked, one last time, holding himself still inside her body as he felt her tremble under his touch. She nodded, her head lolling against his shoulder. He felt Mingi come up behind him and place a gentle kiss against his shoulder.

“Make love to her,” Mingi gently caressed Yunho’s stomach and chest as he hugged him from behind. “Our girl is so tired, but she needs to know how much you love her. Show her she never needs to doubt that we love her.”

Yunho nodded, pulling back slowly and making his thrusts soft and deliberate. He had been so desperate for their touch he had been tempted to take her like Mingi had knowing she would have let him. But Mingi’s soft embrace cooled his anxious neediness. She still trembled under his touch as his movements teased her towards her third orgasm in the short time they had stolen into the bathroom. 

Mingi could feel Yunho’s heart pounding in his chest as his palm pressed him back against his chest as the other boys hips kept their deliberate and controlled pace. “Tell her what’s in your heart,” Mingi urged, trailing kisses along Yunho’s neck and shoulder.

“I need you both,” Yunho whined. “When I don’t have you both there a little piece of me dies. I don’t know what I’d do if you left me.”

“I won’t go,” she promised, her teeth chattering as she spoke, lifting her head enough to press a soft kiss to his lips. “I won’t leave either of you.”

“We were always meant to be three,” Mingi said from behind. Yunho nodded, holding her head against his shoulder as Mingi matched his thrusts into her. She felt another orgasm building in her with an almost painful intensity. It rushed over her, stealing the air from her lungs as she felt her body clench around Yunho. She squeezed her eyes closed as her body quickly became overwhelmed by the continued sensations.

Yunho pulled her body against his as she squirmed briefly before her whole body quivered and she went limp against him. He felt her body milk him and with a few more thrusts he came inside her, his emissions mixing with Mingi’s deep inside. It was the most satisfied he had ever felt and he wished they were somewhere that would let him bask in this moment for as long as he wanted, but reality came crashing down on him. He felt Mingi step away, wisely gathering a little toilet paper from nearby to clean them up.

“Umm, can you open the lid?” Yunho motioned to the toilet, which currently had the lid down. Mingi did as he asked, and Yunho carefully pulled himself out of her body, quickly using the paper in his hand to keep her from leaking onto the bathroom floor. With Mingi’s assistance, he set her on the toilet so that he could clean himself up and give her a moment to recover before they would work on getting her presentable again.

Both boys redressed and carefully located all her clothes while she sat on the toilet, too tired at the moment to do the same. She had leaned herself against the coolness of the porcelain, letting her head rest against the wall behind it.

Yunho dampened some paper, cleaning between her legs as gently as he could, while Mingi carefully slipped the shirt back on over her head. When she was clean, they both worked the rest of her clothes on her. Though she still felt weak, she was able to stand as they pulled everything on her lower half. The boys made a quick effort to clean up the bathroom and set everything as it had been when they came in. They wiped down the counter and splashed their faces, hoping that it wouldn’t be terribly obvious what they had all just spent the last while doing.

“I’ll take her,” Yunho offered, kneeling down to let her climb on his back for a piggyback ride and allowing Mingi to lead the way back downstairs.

“Do you need something to drink?” Mingi asked as they reached the bottom of the stairs. She nodded and he headed to the kitchen to get them drinks and snacks as Yunho bravely carried her back to the seating area where everyone was basically where they had left them.

Hong Joong gave them a worried look as Yunho carefully let her down off his back before taking a seat in the empty spot and pulling her into the cradle of his lap.

“Is everything okay,” Hong Joong asked as he watched Yunho guide her head to rest on his shoulder, sitting limp and quiet.

“We just needed to work something out,” Yunho explained without really explaining anything. Mingi returned with snacks and drinks and squeezed himself in next to Yunho, handing her a drink before lifting her feet onto his lap and putting an arm around Yunho’s shoulders.

“Can you eat a little?” Mingi asked, reaching to bring the food he had brought to rest on her legs in his lap. She nodded and he picked up a little piece of food, putting it in her lips with a soft coo of our good girl. 

Seonghwa cleared his throat, watching them from his seat between Hong Joong and his boyfriend. “So, I didn’t get to ask before, but how do you all know each other?”

“We met a while ago at summer camp,” Yunho started, turning his head to the side to look at Mingi who gave him a shy but beautific smile. “We just clicked and we’ve sort of been a thing since then.”

“Like all three of you?” Joshua asked, looking between all of them.

“Yeah,” Mingi leaned his head on Yunho’s shoulder as he picked up another piece of food and fed it to him. Yunho looked at the questioner and pulled her closer to his chest, still feeling a flare of territoriality over their kitten. He stared him in the eye as he pressed a kiss against the top of her head.

“You really meant it when you said things were complicated, didn’t you,” Hong Joong said, his mouth twitching as he suppressed a laugh, finally starting to understand things. “So that’s why you all decided to go to the same school.”

“We belong together,” Yunho shrugged. “Isn’t that right, kitten?”

“Mmmm,” she nodded, taking a sip of her drink. Turning slightly in his lap, she made an effort to face the rest of the group as she leaned back against his shoulder.

“I’m…so jealous,” Annie sighed from the other side of Mingi, making everyone laugh.

“Me, too,” Hong Joong noted. “You should see the welcome home they all get from each other. Then you’ll really know the meaning of the word.”

“Ugh, so unfair,” Annie turned her eyes on Seonghwa and his boyfriend, narrowing them as she did. “Why are all the good ones either gay and/or taken? I am going to be alone forever.”

Everyone laughed and lapsed into conversations about life and school as the party continued around them. Hong Joong had been right when he said he knew people they would have a lot in common with. 

[ladykissingfish]

Under the Mistletoe with the Akatsuki // Part Six // Hidan

Hidan

“Ah; you fucking lucky bastards! I should charge you all for this; to kiss an elite follower of the mighty Jashin is a privilege you assholes don’t deserve. Except you, Konan. In fact if you want to move the mistletoe to my bedroom then — ow! OW!! Kakuzu let go!! I was only kidding; can none of you take a fucking joke?!”

Konan

She sighs before she goes to him. He’s made a big deal all day about kissing her in particular, although she doesn’t get why. She feels nothing other than friendship for him, and, despite his ramblings, she doesn’t think he feels anything stronger either. Nevertheless, it’s her turn. She steps up to him and he reaches out and takes her small hands, giving them a surprisingly gentle squeeze. “You ready for this, gorgeous?” But something about that, about the word “gorgeous”, sets off the normally calm Konan. She yanks her hands out of his and plants them on her hips. “Gorgeous, beautiful, sexy — that’s literally all you ever say to me. I’m more than a pair of tits; I have a fucking brain in this head!” Hidan blinks, startled. “That’s - the first time I ever heard ya curse, Konan.” He grabs her hands again. He speaks in a soft voice and apologizes, and tells her that he has nothing but respect for her. “I only wanna kiss you so bad ‘cuz you’re beautiful INSIDE and out, and you bring lots of light to my shitty darkness.” She blushes and thanks him, and he takes the opportunity to lean in and kiss her lips. Just a soft touch, but both of them are smiling afterwards.

Deidara

Both of them are hesitant to do this, to say the least. Hidan won’t ever admit this, but he’s held a small physical attraction to Deidara since the day they met. Very small, and *purely* physical, but still. He doesn’t like thinking about it, because to do so would be him admitting to himself that his own sexuality isn’t as black and white as he’d thought it to be. He tells himself that if he likes Deidara at all, it’s simply because the guy looks ridiculously similar to a woman. Deidara doesn’t wish to kiss Hidan because, although HE will never admit to it, Hidan scares him. The man’s proven immortality throws a wrench into Deidara’s long-held ideals of what life (and art) are ultimately about: beauty made greater by virtue of being fleeting. But Hidan being able to live forever — could it be that Deidara’s partner Sasori has been right this whole time? That art really is eternal? Still, everyone is watching, so the two shake off their feelings, and Deidara approaches him. “Keep your tongue in your mouth, okay?” “Same goes for you, blondie.” Hidan gives himself very quick peck to the lips, but both men are blushing quite hard regardless. And even as brief as that was — Hidan makes note to ask Deidara what kind of shampoo he used later, because he smelled absolutely incredible.

Kisame

After the last kiss between them, when it was Kisame’s turn, Hidan is hesitant to get close to this guy again. But Kisame is grinning, and appears to be in a good mood. “Ah, come now, Hidan; surely we can let bygones be bygones?” Hidan starts to curse at him, but catches himself just in time: after all, his mouth was what got him into trouble last time. So he merely nods and stands still, while Kisame approaches him. “Are you afraid, Hidan?” “Ah? Why would I be —“ “I can smell the fear coming from you.” Hidan folds his arms in front of his chest and demands to know who wouldn’t be afraid at the thought of possible dismemberment. Kisame just laughs and promises he’ll behave himself. He leans in, locks eyes with Hidan, and flashes his teeth — before giving Hidan a closed-mouth kiss on the forehead. Hidan let’s out a shaky sigh of relief, and Kisame walks away, laughing.

Itachi

Like Deidara, Hidan has a bit of a grudge against the raven-haired Uchiha. He’s fallen victim before to the power of Itachi’s sharingan, and the calm, quiet way that Itachi reacts to Hidan’s jabs and wheedles always serve to irritate. But even so — Hidan has to admit that the guy isn’t all THAT bad (certainly not the hell-spawn that Deidara makes him out to be, anyway). There was a time once when Hidan caught a cold, and Itachi braved going into his room to bring him a cup of sinus-clearing tea. Itachi steps up to him and nods, and Hidan leans forward and kisses him on the cheek. An oddly sweet gesture, and one that Itachi seems to like, as he actually smiles before he leaves. Hidan watches him go, thinking (and not for the first time) that having a talent like the sharingan is completely wasted in someone who isn’t immortal. Maybe he should talk to him later about joining the Jashinist movement ...

Pein (Nagato)

If the Akatsuki is a family, and everybody (save Konan) are Pein’s children, then Hidan is undoubtedly the problem child of the group. The loudest, the most foul-mouthed, definitely the most violent ... but still. When Hidan could find an ounce of maturity, and focus, he was one of the best members of the team. And Nagato finds his regenerative abilities to be amazing, and, if there was ever the time and opportunity for it, would love to study Hidan in-depth. Pein approaches him and Hidan bows his head, an act of respect he gives to the Leader ... and ONLY the Leader. Pein delivers a light kiss to the forehead and walks away. He can hear Hidan mumbling behind him about “those damn piercings could kill somebody” but chooses to ignore it.

Zetsu

Oh, God. Hidan smells like human blood most of the time (thanks to his many gory sacrifices), and Zetsu is attracted to this scent like a bee is to a flower. He’d hang around this guy all day if he could, if not for the smell then to act as clean-up for the bits and pieces of his victims that he leaves behind. But Hidan doesn’t quite care for the plant man, to say the least. He didn’t sign up for the Akatsuki to be made to work alongside non-human freaks of nature. When Zetsu walks up to Hidan, the gray-haired jashin lover is nervous, to say the least. Zetsu puts his hand on Hidan’s face, leans in, and kisses his nose. It should only take a second, but Zetsu lingers over the spot for an abnormal amount of time ... and Hidan realizes it’s because he’s sniffing him, like an animal. “Okay, freak; get the hell away from me!” But Zetsu doesn’t move, in fact tightening his grip on Hidan’s face. Hidan is surprised; Zetsu is quite a bit stronger than he’d realized. His surprise turns to fear when the expression in Zetsu’s eyes shifts, and Hidan hears a very noticeable stomach-growl come from him. Hidan is seconds away from fight or flight (he hasn’t quite decided yet) when Tobi comes into the room, seemingly breaking the trance Zetsu had been in. Hidan breathes out a sigh of relief as zetsu keaves, giving silent thanks to the moron in the mask.

Tobi

After “scaring” Zetsu away, Tobi gleefully announces that its his turn with Hidan. “Ohh boy, Hidan-san! You and Tobi are gonna have fun!” Hidan is actually quite eager for this; not so much for the kiss itself, but for his chance to see this freak up close and unmasked. Tobi looks behind him; nobody else is around. He turns back to Hidan and slides his mash halfway off his face, revealing his pale skin, dark, long-lashed eyes, and full lips, pursed into a grin. Getting closer, Hidan can detect faded, jagged lines extending from the right side of his forehead to the bottom of his mouth. Still, even with them — “Fucking hot”, Hidan mutters, the words slipping out before he can stop them. Tobi grins and cups Hidan’s face, staring into his eyes. “So are you,” he murmurs, and is it Hidan’s imagination or is his voice ... different, somehow? Well, no time to think about it; suddenly Tobi’s (unbelievably soft) lips are on his own, and for the first time since this encounter started, Hidan feels a feather-touch of unease. The way Tobi’s kissing him ... this isn’t how an idiot kisses. What in the name of Jashin — and then just as quickly as it began, it ends. Tobi slides his mask back into place, and skips off to the kitchen. Hidan has to take a few moments to collect himself, and in the way-back of his mind is a small voice urging him to warn Deidara to watch himself around Tobi. About what? Hidan doesn’t know the specifics. All he knows is those two are alone a LOT for missions, and if Tobi really is more than he seems, then — But then again, why should he care what happens with the blonde jerk, anyway?

Sasori

Another person that annoys Hidan. He was in the Akatsuki for almost an entire year before he’d realized that the ugly body that he was in, wasn’t even his own. His surprise when he witnessed a hatch open and a childlike-looking redhead step out was unprecedented. Learning that he was in his 30’s meant that Hidan should have shown him the proper respect, but Hidan just couldn’t take orders from somebody with the face of a young boy. Sasori seems to know this, and therefore avoids interactions with him as much as possible. Now, however, contact is unavoidable. “Can you even reach my face, shorty?” Sasori tilts his head and seems to really be considering Hidan’s question. Suddenly, without warning, Sasori’s wooden arm detaches itself from Sasori’s body, and hits Hidan full-force in the center of his stomach. Hidan curses and doubles over, and while he’s bent Sasori takes the opportunity to go to Hidan and kiss his forehead. “I can reach you just fine, brat,” he murmurs, before leaving. Hidan has a quick recovery time to all forms of pain, and he’s quickly back on his feet, staring after Sasori with anger — and a tiny bit of admiration.

Kakuzu

“Hey old fucker; you’ve been waiting all day to get a taste of this, eh?” Kakuzu just rolls his eyes at Hidan’s comment. He’s not sure what he did, either in this life or another one, to be partnered with a creature as odious as Hidan. Normally with people that Kakuzu finds no value in, he kills, plain and simple. But Hidan is neither plain nor simple; no matter what Kakuzu hits him with, he keeps getting back up, just as loud and irritating as ever. But ... even someone as gruff as Kakuzu has to admit that Hidan isn’t all that bad. It’s actually a bit lovely, to have found another person (besides Sasori, who has made it clear that when everyone else expires, his complete solitude is something he’s looking forward to) to be with to share the blessing (and curse) of immortality. He walks up to Hidan and grabs him by the forearms, forcing him into stillness. “What the hell, old man?! Let go of me before —“ but Kakuzu interrupts him by inclining his neck and kissing his lips. Hidan’s mouth is soft, and he has a taste to him, something akin to cinnamon or pumpkin. Kakuzu let’s go of him and starts to walk away, when suddenly Hidan reaches out grabs him, pulling him into another kiss. Kakuzu is surprised, but he makes no attempt to break Hidan’s hold on him because ... this is nice. This feels good, this feels natural. Almost like — and then a sudden explosion makes them both jump; Tobi comes running past them, with Deidara (and his bombs) on his heels. “Get back here you little shit!!” Kakuzu sighs, and this time when he turns to go, Hidan doesn’t stop him. But Kakuzu can feels Hidan’s eyes on him, following him all the way to his room.

[pl-panda]

The Vines that bind us - Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don’t own Miraculous Ladybug or any DC characters. I own only the plot, and even that is inspired by the amazing story "Marigold Ivy" by @lwandile13 on Wattpad. Go check it. It's great. He allowed me to take some inspiration, for which I'm grateful. Also, don't translate the french words maybe. Or at least do it on your own responsibility. Big thanks to @Liza! on Discord for being my Beta :)

NEXT

Marinette Dupain-Cheng was a normal girl, with a normal life. But she had a secret. Her real name was Marigold Isley. She was born under that name in Gotham city sixteen years ago. Her mother never revealed to her who was her father, but Mari never cared. She was happy with her mom and several aunts and uncles. Technically, none of them were related to her by blood, but Rogues were quite close to each other (excluding some outcasts like Joker or the Menagerie). They taught her many interesting things such as lockpicking, stealth 101, or hand-to-hand combat. She was five when it started, so her first-ever practical test was breaking into a kitchen cupboard and stealing a jar of cookies. Overall, she was very happy. 

It changed when she was eight. One very tired social service person named Elizabeth Barrow got wind of a child of a villain. That Elizabeth was new to Gotham after being reassigned from Metropolis and didn’t yet get the wind of how things worked. Maybe her colleagues didn’t like her, or maybe she was just too overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the problem in Gotham. Previously, there was an unspoken agreement in the government that they wouldn’t notice Marigold. In exchange, rogues were calmer. Or at least tried to keep the death toll down. For a time, Gotham even started to slowly heal. But then, Elizabeth took the case of Marigold Isley. Ivy tried to fight. To protect her daughter. For three days, the city was held hostage by giant plants. It was only the fear in her daughter’s eyes that made Poison Ivy relent and let go. She didn’t want that life for Marigold. The one condition she gave was that the girl would leave America as a whole, to ensure she would be safe from all the madness. 

And so Marigold ended up in the care of baker’s couple in Paris. She never showed any powers thus far and the adoption agency kept the parentage a secret. That’s when Marinette Dupain-Cheng was born. She continued with martial arts training and stealth training, but now only as fun and reminder of her mother and extended family, as opposed to actual necessary survival tool. She also picked up designing as another hobby, which soon turned into a kind of obsession. She was generally a ray of sunshine. 

The one black spot in the happy world of Marinette was the Mayor’s daughter. Chloe Bourgeoise considered herself above others and just couldn’t stand sunshine girl. She ruined her clothes, sometimes damaged her homework, or verbally assaulted her. While Chloe was generally disliked, she was more of a nuance. Overall, Marinette was happy. At least until two events changed that. 

When she was twelve, Paris was attacked by Hawkmoth for the first time. Marinette found herself becoming Ladybug, a superhero with magical powers that protected the city from harm. She received a partner in form of Chat Noir. It took some time before she got hang of it, and then more time before she and Chat became an actual team. Over time, more heroes joined them, even if temporarily only. She had people she could count on. She became Happy again. 

Privately, she started her own brand: MDC, managed to become a class representative, and became best friends with Alya, who joined around the same time she became Ladybug. It was quite ironic. The superhero was best friends with one person whose greatest dream was to unmask the hero. Marinette also developed a huge (and a bit unhealthy) crush on Adrien Agreste, a famous model who was in her class. She spent years vying for his attention, but nothing ever came from her attempts. She was unable to even say a word around him and her face always became red like her mother’s hair. Overall, she couldn’t complain.

Then, when she was fifteen another black spot appeared. It was Lila (Liela) Rossi. She came to their school and immediately started sporting lies with every breath. Surprisingly, everyone seemed to buy into that, believing her like she spoke the gospel. Everyone but Marinette. She tried to expose Lila, but it only backfired. She became an outcast, disliked by everyone, and universally hated. Suddenly, it became okay to bully her because she was a bully herself and deserved it. It became okay to shun her and no longer include her in anything. The worst was Alya, her former best friend. At first, she just tried to nudge Marinette to give Lila a chance. When Marinette tried to show the truth, Alya practically attacked her. She was just as much responsible for Mari being cast out as Lila was. The fact that her best friend abandoned her only fueled the gossip and allowed Lila to drive the final nail in. In the span of a few weeks, Marinette was left alone. 

Around the same time, Chat Noir became more persistent in his pursuit of her while Adrien, who Marinette knew was aware of the lies, was only telling her to keep the high road (do nothing). She could understand him. As a famous model and son of a well-known fashion designer, he was always taught to not provoke the press. It still served as a wake-up call on her crush. 

--------

Marinette was packing her things after lessons when she noticed someone approach her from behind. Immediately, she tensed. After eleven years of martial arts practice, it was an instinct. Before she had time to turn around, something heavy landed on her desk with a loud Thud!. She turned to see Chloe standing over a large book, a single thick envelope, and a puffy bag that content Marinette couldn’t guess.

“What’s a…” She started, but Chloe cut her off. She had her usual ‘resting witch’ expression.

“The book contains every single instance I verbally assaulted you, destroyed something of yours, talked about you behind your back, or in any way otherwise did something wrong toward you. Here are the materials for the damaged clothes,” she pushed the bag toward her, “and here is money for other things.” Chloe gave her the envelope. “I apologize for all of that. I was jealous of all the attention you kept getting even though I thought I deserved it. I now realize that my behavior was wrong and hurtful. I will understand if you’ll never speak to me again. I kept acting ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous!” With that, she turned and started to walk again. Marinette idly noticed that there was no Sabrina nearby. Thinking back, Chloe was no longer acting (overly) mean toward anyone as of late.

Making a split-second decision, Marinette raced after the blonde and pulled her into a hug.

“Wha…” Chloe yelped before sinking into the hug. Neither girl realized they were crying until they finally separated. Blonde had her lite make-up in total ruin while Marinette had tears still going down her cheeks. “Does that mean you accept my apologies?”

Marinette didn’t answer immediately. She stood there with open mouth for a moment before smiling weakly. “Yes, Chloe.”

Since that day, they were best friends. It turned out to be a blessing. Chloe, once she finally allowed someone to truly know her, turned out to be a highly intelligent, funny, and very much still overbearing person. She still acted high and mighty, but it no longer felt mean, rather just… felt. She took to defending Marinette from the rest of the class. She was aware of Lila’s lies from day one but never acted on it until it was too late. Sabina abandoned her for the liar. Dealing with loneliness was hard on her. She didn’t even have parents that cared. Her father would probably move sun if she asked, but he had an emotional range of a toothpick. Her mother didn’t even know her name, so she didn’t bother.

Something about their friendship must’ve upset Lila because the girl upped her game. Marinette’s parents suddenly found themselves facing strong critique and constant inspection from the sanitary department and child protection questioning their parenting abilities. MDC, who was slowly becoming one of the go-to fashion designers for famous found herself in the middle of several fake media scandals, including one lawsuit over defamation. If it wasn’t for Jagged Stone and Penny rallying her customers, Marinette and her parents would end up broke. He managed to save MDC and practically made her untouchable. Still, Alya and Lila got off scot-free as nothing could be linked to them.

Perhaps what pushed Lila over the edge was Chloe confronting Adrien. She yelled at him for good two hours straight about responsibility and morality, pointing in detail exactly what he did wrong. She would probably go on if Marinette didn’t stop her. After that, Adrien finally apologized and tried to make things right, but it only turned against him. By then, Lila had everyone so deep into it, that he was powerless. She didn’t go after him as her partnership with Gabriel Agreste was too important, but she did tattle to the Fashion Mogul about it. Gabriel tried to get his son under control, but this was one thing that he couldn’t achieve. 

It did inspire a whole youth fashion line ‘rebel’, which became a global hit.

All this time, Marinette kept two secrets. One was her identity as Ladybug and the guardian, the other was her true name and family. Until she kept neither.

----------

Marinette returned home after another day at school. Recently, her mother revealed she was pregnant with another child, even though she was believed to be barren. Everyone in the bakery was overjoyed and the couple even started to hand out small treats to any guest that came. The free samples helped the business return to a better standing. 

When she entered, strangely there was no sound in the bakery. It was empty. Usually, her parents would both be very busy as it was still business hours. Slightly worried, she went upstairs. When she entered the living room, she found an envelope addressed to her. 

Isley

We tried, but we can no longer tolerate you. We turned a blind eye when we learned how improper you act, trying to drag every boy you meet for some, and we quote, “alone time”. We didn’t react to the bullying accusations, believing them to be overexaggerated. Even when you were expelled, we still had hoped you’ll turn out into a fine young lady. But now, we must think of the baby. Today was the last straw. Hearing about how you ruined that poor impaired girl’s birthday was both cruel and against everything we taught you. 

We held hope you won’t follow in your mother’s footsteps, but you proved us wrong several times. We supported your obsession over fashion, even with the drama it caused, because it was actually non-violent. At first, we didn’t want to teach you how to fight, but we convinced ourselves that you would have a way to vent the emotions somewhere away from us. 

Please, don’t try looking for us. We will probably have already left the country or even the continent. The bakery is yours. We don’t want to have anything to do with the spawn of evil such as you. 

We hoped you would turn out better

Sincerely,

Tom Dupain and Sabine Cheng

Marinette tried to read it over and over again, but her eyes welled with tears. She had no idea she was screaming until her throat was coarse. Rationally, she knew she needed to keep calm or she would attract the Akuma, but emotions made her not care. 

Unknowingly to her, the plants all around Paris responded to her cry. They started growing and spreading, trying to get to their queen and comfort her. The Akuma that would’ve come for her stumbled into one of the vines, corrupting it. Hawkmoth was surprised, it was not something anyone ever seen in Paris except on TV or some strange Japanese shows that play after midnight. The more important thing was that even though he akumatized the plants, he had no control over them. He couldn’t even recall his Akuma. 

Back in Marinette’s living room, she started to feel the ground rumble. Soon, plants exploded from the ground and broke windows. She slowly looked at her hands to see them tinted with green. They were not the same as her mother’s, but close. She looked to the floor where pieces of glass littered everything. Her face was the same, but her hair became blue and her eyes were now the most vibrant iridescent green she’s ever seen, exactly the same color her mother’s eyes were. 

She started to panic even more. Tikki floated next to her, talking to her, but Marinette couldn’t hear her. Or maybe process it. She could hear the plants call to her. She could hear them speak. They promised her revenge. They promised retribution on those who attacked her. God’s wrath would rain upon them from the sky and hell’s fury would consume them from beneath. 

Impaired girl…

“Liar Rossi.” Marigold seethed. She knew there was only one person who would do such a thing. Only one talented enough to convince her parents she was a villain. If they wanted a villain, they would get one. Her mind was being clouded. Her clothes were already torn, replaced by a skintight outfit made of leaves, much like her mother wore. Then, Marinette remembered another part of the letter. She added a skirt made of purple petals that complimented her blue hair nicely and long sleeves that reached to her hands, ending with a triangle that reached her middle finger and surrounded it at the base. She left the decolletage as it was.

Exiting her house, she allowed the vines to carry her. There were only so many places The Liar could hide. First, she went toward School, as it was closest. She made plants carry her over the roof right into the courtyard while more of them broke the doors and blocked any exit. The fencing class was still going on, but The Liar was not there. She looked over the scared crowd, spotting two people she wanted to find. She needed to protect them from The Liar, else they end like her. She grabbed the fencer in a red outfit and her partner, knocking their masks to reveal Kagami and Adrien. The plants wrapped around them, forming a sort of cocoon before dragging them to the heart. Marinette then turned her sight to Eifel tower. She knew The Liar liked to drag the class there. 

As she moved through town, she passed the Hotel where Chloe lived. Pausing, she made the plants lift her toward the balcony. Her best friend was indeed there, right next to the lit-up Bee-signal. Honeystly…

“Marinette!?” The blonde jumped in surprise

“Marinette is gone. She should’ve never even been. I’m Marigold, the daughter of Poison Ivy.” For a moment, the fog thickened, but Mari shook it off quickly enough, before whatever caused it managed to get the hold of her. 

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng! If you got yourself akumatized, I’m telling my daddy!” Chloe shouted. Seeing the tears form in the iridescent green eyes, she looked at her friend with pity. “Oh, Mari! Is this the Liar again? Come here right now!” The blonde spread her arms for a hug. She didn’t care about the Akuma. Her friend needed her and she would help her conquer the world if she asked. Chloe owed Mari… everything. She helped her evolve beyond being the queen witch. In response to the gesture, the plants in the garden started to grow until they surrounded the two of them in a tight cocoon. Marinette stepped onto the balcony. She affectionately petted the vine that carried her so far before allowing it to return to its hunt for the Liar. 

“Chloeee!” Mari launched herself at the girl. She sunk into the embrace, allowing tears to start flowing again. She sobbed her heart out while pushing a piece of paper she constantly held in her clutched fist before. The blonde took it and read while patting Marinette on the back of her head. 

“Salauds! Ridiculous! Utterly Ridiculous! How dare that cochons! And the chienne! Wait till I tell daddy about this! Don’t worry Mari. I will protect you! I will ruin her! Merde!” The rant made Marigold pause. She never heard Chloe curse. Like… never. “But first. Mari. You know I love you and I would help you hide the body, but drop the Akuma. It’s making you look Ridiculous. Utterly Ridiculous! I mean the dress is so much spot on and so you, but the whole take over Paris is more my style. I can let you be my faithful sidekick while we take over the world if you want.”

For a moment, Marigold continued to stare at Chloe before she burst out in a fit of laughter. It wasn’t a nervous chuckle or the villain cackle, but genuine pearly laughter. It was just so… Chloe-ish. She couldn’t imagine anyone trying to dissuade an Akuma by offering to become a sidekick. 

“You… You… Never change Chlo.” Mari smiled at her friend. 

“Whoa. You… didn’t make me a fertilizer? I mean, of course, you wouldn’t. You are just too good of a person, but Hawkmoth…”

“I’m not akumatized Chloe.” Mari smiled. “It’s me.” As if to prove her point, she stood up and spun, allowing the blonde to see her from all sides. “This is how I really look. Apparently, I do take some after my mom.”

“Your… mom?”

“Pamela Isley, she was a famous biologist. Mom was brilliant. She used to be one of the smartest people in the world.” Mari praised. “There was this one accident that she is now famous for…”

“Pamela Isley? I remember reading about her.” 

“Yeah… She is…”

“Didn’t she create this environment-friendly line of cosmetics?” Chloe asked in her typical fashion

“Yes! I have no idea why everyone remembers her only for the ‘Poison Ivy’ thing!”

“I know, right?” Chloe nodded. “Wait a…”

“Tada!” Mari said weakly before trying to look away, doing everything not to look her friend in the eyes. The blonde gently grabbed her chin and moved it so she could look right into the beautiful green eyes of her best friend.

“Mari! If you think I would abandon you just because your mother took veganism too far… You’re utterly ridiculous!”

Marigold smiled slightly. Slowly, the green receded and her eyes turned back to normal. The dress remained, as without it she would end up naked and she didn’t fancy trying to explain to anyone that. 

She then turned to the plants and tried to order them to return to normal, only for them to resist. For a moment, her mind started to feel fogged, but it didn’t hold at all now. 

“As much as I like the scenery, maybe we stop the plantpocalypse?”

“Um… Remember how I told you I wasn’t akumatized?”

“Yeah?”

“I think the plants are…”

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Chloe shouted. “Listen here Hawkmoth! Get this Akuma the heck away! I don’t care about some fancy Jewels that will totally clash with your suit! I mean purple and white with red earrings? Are you colorblind?”

There was no visible reaction to the plants. 

“Strange…” Marigold ran her hand over the plants. “They still respond, just refuse to yield.” Inside, Mari cursed that she couldn’t consult Tikki.

“So… Want some cookies?” Chloe asked. “We just have to wait for Ladybug to save the day. At least the damage will be repaired.”

‘Except Ladybug it trapped here…’

Suddenly, something small and black slipped through the vines and entered their small peaceful enclave. It zoomed between items on the balcony, trying to avoid being seen. It would’ve been successful if Chloe didn’t know about Kwamis. 

“What was that!?” She shouted pointing at Plagg’s hiding place.

“What? I didn’t see anything!” Mari tried to lie. It was the one skill she never had. She did compensate for it by never getting caught.

“A Kwami! I’m sure I’ve seen one.” 

“Kwami? Who’s Kwami? Is that some bird? How would a bird get here? I mean we are trapped in…”

“Ugh! I don’t have time for games!” Plagg suddenly floated before the pair. “Chat is trapped and can’t help without revealing himself. Paris is being destroyed mindlessly and nobody can do anything as the vines are harder than steel.” The cat summarized. “And I’m hungry. Give me cheese!” He looked at Chloe. “Camembert would be the best, but I’m not that picky.”

“Why come to us? Ladybug took away my miraculous.” The blonde asked. 

“I didn’t come to you. I came to her.” The god pointed at Mari. 

“Me?! Why? It’s not like…”

“We don’t have time for charades guardian! The Akuma is out of control! Literally! Hawkmoth’s connection was somehow severed and now you have a giant plant that knows only the rage. This is serious!”

Mari wanted to protest or try to save some of her identity, but then Tikki floated out of her purse.

“Oh no! Marinette! He is right! We have a huge problem.”

“Why?” The girl asked resigned.

“You’re Ladybug!” Chloe shouted but was subsequently ignored

“Hawkmoth must’ve akumatized the plant, hoping to control you, but he had no idea it was sentient. But it stopped being sentient the moment you let it go. I… It never happened before.”

“You’re Ladybug!!!” Chloe shouted so loud that everyone had to look at her. 

“We can talk later. Now we need to somehow deal with the plants. Maybe… No. What about… But they are too tough… What if…” Marigold started to run through various scenarios and plans. 

“Can’t you just order them to expel the Akuma?” Plagg asked bored.

“It… It might work.” Mari had a focused expression. In her head, she was running through all her knowledge of biology, miraculous magic, and how her mom’s powers worked. Hesitantly, she walked to the edge of the cocoon and called the main vine to her. The wall spread slightly and allowed the tip of it to enter. Mari touched it and started gently caressing it. 

“you’re a good boy. Yeah! Who’s a good boy? You’re. Yes! You’re a good boy. But Good Boys don’t have Akuma. Do you want to be a good boy? Of course, you do…” 

Chloe stood there and watched how Marigold kept talking to the plant like it was a puppy. She felt something fall into her hand. Opening the palm, she saw two earrings.

“I… I can’t!” She protested, but Plagg floated before her eyes.

“She can’t do it. If Akuma escapes, we will have plantmagedon on a larger scale.”

“Fine. Spots on!”

Just as Mari finally talked the plant into expelling the Akuma, Chloe caught it. 

“Bye Bye Little Butterfly!” She released the pure white bug. “Lucky charm!” Chloe shouted. A red and black folder fell into her hands. She looked at it curiously. Inside, she found a complete set of adoption papers for her father to sign. She quickly pulled out the sheets and tossed the folder itself, releasing a swarm of ladybugs that repaired Paris to how it was before plants. The sheet stayed. 

Transformation dropped after that and Chloe handed the jewel back to the true owner.

“You still have sooo much explaining to do!” 

Nobody remembered about Adrien and Kagami being carried together to safety, which turned out to be Mari’s basement. And while Ladybug Cure should’ve restored them to where they were taken from, for some unknown reason they remained locked there until Mari returned late into the evening to spend the last night at the bakery. It would be some time until Tikki admitted that it was an act of revenge on Plagg for revealing her chosen’s identity. He had to go the whole day without cheese. The one good thing that came from it was that Kagami and Adrien had a long frank talk and ended up as friends. The relationship just wasn’t working.

----------

When Mari was adopted by the Mayor, she decided to keep using the Dupain-Cheng name at least for now. At first, Chloe’s father was against it, but once the girl presented it as a way of getting good press of mayor who personally looks after his citizens he practically ripped the papers to sign them. Although on paper he was the adopter, Chloe was the real parent/sister that took care of Mari. Lila seethed and spitted, but couldn’t really do much more. Adrien and Chloe roped Jagged Stone and Penny into Marinette Protection Squad. Luka and Kagami, who somehow hooked up, also joined. At some point, Mari entrusted Luka and Kagami with permanent Miraculous and Gave Chloe the Bee miraculous back. Some Fox illusion of Chloe publically applauding new heroine helped hide her identity. The hardest part was revealing to Chat, Viperion, and Ryuko her true identity. Adrien was a big surprise, but at least they finally dealt with their crushes once and for all. The fact that they were in love square in two people was way too awkward. Chloe and Mari did notice Adrien sometimes looking at Luka, but he was happy with Kagami. The only person that disproved of ‘Lukagami’ was Kagami’s mother, but she warmed up to him when he accepted the challenge to a duel and was completely pacified when she learned that Luka is apprenticing under Jagged Stone. 

Jagged and Penny wanted to Adopt Mari, but ended up filling the role of uncle and aunt. After some time, Mari realized that she rebuilt what she once had in Gotham. These people might not have been her family by blood, but it mattered little. That family might’ve been damaged, maybe even broken, but they were happy together. They found solace in one another. Once more, Marinette was happy. 

Until a trip to Gotham came knocking on the front doors.

NEXT

[problematicfavesareproblematic]

A Rare Night of Peace

Ron Speirs x Reader Drabble

Summary: Some truths are revealed over a rare night of peace. A few are more impactful than others.

Warnings: none, some potty words. Literally no plot, just drabble bc why not. It’s not very good but I’m working on writing scenes with dialogue from multiple characters so thank you for your time

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

She gaped at him, and Lip snorted in laughter she couldn’t help but join in.

“You didn’t.” Y/n accused, a note of betrayal in her voice as Ron tellingly smirks while he goes about collecting his winnings.

She couldn't believe it. She would’ve been truly pissed if she hadn’t been so surprised at Nixon’s revelation. Lip is giving her shoulder a squeeze of mock comfort, laughing again when she shakes him off with a hiss of shut it.

“Are you seriously trying to tell me that you were coddling me in poker?!” 

Speirs shoots her a look of ignorance. “I’m sure I don’t know what they’re talking about.”

She rolls her eyes, pushing away from the table and going over to her jacket by the door to get a new tie for her hair.

“You let me play against Malarkey and Carwod!!” she said with a glare when she got back shaking her head with obvious disappointment. “You let me bet against Malarkey and Carwood!”

“And you won, didn’t you?” he asks with a quirk of his brow, undisguised mirth in his expression.. “‘Sides, Donald Malarkey can’t bluff to save his life and Lipton doesn’t know how to play at all.”

Car’s smile of amusement disappears and a look of annoyance crosses his face. “I know how to play—”

“Oh yeah, so why are you playing blackjack at the poker table?”

She leans back in her seat and sighs, glaring at the back of Ron’s head. “Traitor.”

He snorts in amusement, knocking on the table to signal the end of his turn. “Not the worst thing I’ve been accused of being.”

She shakes her head, glaring at Bull’s unmasked amusement at her frustration. 

Narrowing her eyes, she turns to Nixon and smiles sweetly. 

“While we’re sharing harsh truths- Nix?  Bull, Luz, and Gonorrhea have been paying me in chocolate bars to smuggle your whiskey out of Dick’s stuff. They’ve been putting it back with some amber colored replacement they’ve concocted—”

“They fucking WHAT?!”

“Oh, come on! What’d I do to get thrown under the train?” Bull groans, shooting her a glare before turning to deal with the appalled Nixon, who was reaching for his bottle of Vat 69 and holding it up to the light with skeptical horror.

While she pursed her lips and sent Bull an air kiss he angrily bats away like a mosquito, Malarkey took his turn before nodding for Welsh to begin his turn. 

Peeking over Ron’s shoulder, she tried to get a peek of what cards he held in his hand, only to be caught by the man himself when she almost leaned too far out of her seat and had to catch herself on the back of his chair so she did not fall.

“Cheater,” he snarked, a dark chuckle escaping his chest when she smacked his bicep in retaliation. 

Without looking away from the game Ron hooks his foot around one of the legs of her chair, using a strong leg to drag her (and her seat) up close beside him until their thighs are pressed together, the wood of the chair leg whining as it was dragged across the stone floor. “Like I’d show you my cards without making sure you aren’t giving me away with your piss-poor poker face—”

“I’ll have you know that I have an excellent poker face, sir.” she dramatically flicks her hair over her shoulder, intentionally hitting him in the face with the still damp strands. “You’re the one who smells lies or whatever it is you do…”

“I thought it was fear that you said you could smell, Lt. Speirs?” Lipton joked quietly, earning a chuckle from those still paying attention to the game.

“I think you’re thinking of dogs or bees, Lt. Lipton.” Ron says cooly, no inflection in his voice as he watches Lip take a card and add it to his hand.

“Well, that would make your former position in Dog Company all the more ironic, wouldn’t it?” Y/n said quietly, working as hard as she could to keep a smile off of her face.

Lipton guffawed loudly, the sound making her laugh as well. Ron looked like he wanted to kick her chair over, his hatred of puns and wordplay well known to her by this point.

“And just for that,” Ron takes a deep breath, flipping his cards over and throwing them in the middle for everyone to see. “I’m not going to teach you the trick to win this game every time.”

“God, DAMNIT, Speirs!” Bull cursed, throwing his cards down in frustration as Nixon continued to interrogate him about his precious alcohol. “I fucking knew you just were fucking with us...”

“Y/N, what the fuck?” Welsh hit her arm. “I was counting on your tell to tell me what cards he had! Doesn’t your vein pop out of your forehead or something?”

“That’s Joe Liebgott...and he doesn’t do it anymore since someone taught him how to control it!”  Malarkey glared openly at Bull, who held his hands up in surrender.

“Luz had taken all the boy’s cigarettes, Don! What was I supposed to do? It was getting sad to watch…”

She smiles at the scene around her, feeling privileged to be able to see all of these men relaxed at the same time. Malark hadn’t laughed and teased so openly since Bastogne, and she remembered how when they had first met he had been laughing as well.

She hoped this was the beginning of something good for Donald Malarkey. 

He deserved something good.

Ron’s hand on her knee startles her slightly, the heat of his hand unfamiliar and unexpected. But when she looks around and sees no sign of danger, she looks down at his hand as if she’s never seen one before, cheeks heating at the sight of it. 

His thumb moves slightly, almost as if he was trying to offer some sort of reassurance. When she finds the courage to look at his face she sees that he is watching her just as carefully, as if he too is somewhat surprised by his bold action.

Turning to look across the table, she saw that none of the other men seemed to take notice of their exchange, all of them talking about some replacements she hadn’t met and lamenting their greenness.

No one knew that Ron Speirs, the Ron speirs, was touching her. No one had seen how flustered it was making her.

Well, thank God for small blessings…

“Y/N, is this—?” he began to ask under his breath, but she couldn’t bear to hear him second guess his boldness, so she quickly moved her hand to cover his and hold it in place. When he slightly raised a brow she nodded as subtle as she could, confirming that yes, she did want this.

 She did want him.

With a squeeze that she hoped conveyed her whole-hearted invitation to join her, she stood from her seat and made a point to stretch her arms above her head in a big stretch.

“I think I’m gonna call it a night,” she says with a yawn, the sound almost slipping out as a squeal when she feels Ron’s fingertips touch the back of her knee in a way that was so deliberately distracting that she had to really focus on keeping her expression passive. “Unless there’s anything else for me to look over, Lewie—?”

The slightly drunk man shook his head emphatically and pointed to the door grandly. 

“Go forth woman, I free you from your shackles. Get thee to a chaise lounge post haste and rest that big, beautiful brain of yours!”

She can’t help but laugh at his theatrics, making a show of pulling her coat over her shoulders and wrapping it around her.

“Alas, there is nary a chaise in sight, fair sir. Might I perhaps be so bold as to ask his royal highness for permission to substitute a fainting couch for a lumpy floor mattress in an apartment filled with no fewer than thirteen haunted dolls?”

Standing with a quickness someone as intoxicated as he was shouldn’t have been able to manage, he hits his fist against his chest and nods.

“Off with you, then. I tire of your dawdling!”

Bull boos from his seat, throwing a card at her as she slings her bag over her shoulder. “Go do Shakespeare somewhere else, you nerds. You’re hurting my head…”

Making a sound of false sympathy, she walks over to the blonde man and squeezes the tight muscles of his shoulders, something that made Bull groan with relief and her laugh at his reaction.

“Anything for you, Mr. Randleman.”

Giving his shoulders one final squeeze she heads to the door. “Night guys—”

“Wait,” Ron said as she walked by his seat, scooting his own chair back and reaching for his stuff. “I’ll walk you. Gotta find the mailroom anyway.”

Heart in her throat, she watched as Ron casually slung his gun over his shoulder, looking as if he hadn't just taken the first step in what was certain to be a complex dance she never thought she’d actually have to perform. Not that it mattered, she was determined to see this through.

You’re allowed to be selfish, you know. If you want something, and it’s there waiting for you, then why the fuck would you just let it get away?

He’d been talking about stealing from estates at the time, but now she was wondering if he had been talking in riddles intentionally. 

She wouldn’t put it past him.

No one bothered to give more than a wave as the two of them fell into step, the dark of the house swallowing them up. 

When he grabbed her hand in the dark, she smiled.

Y/N had a feeling that Ron was going to make his intentions very clear tonight.

About time.

~ ~ ~ taglist: @mrseasycompany​, @itswormtrain​

[thebmatt]

FFXIV Write 2021 Prompt #22: Fluster

Fluster – make someone agitated or confused.

Aetherytes were constantly busy. You learned pretty quick to move away from one as soon as you manifested next to one, lest someone suddenly appear next to you and knock you both down.

Old Man Franks, tired as he was, almost forgot this, and only barely missed being clipped by an arriving Roegadyn armed with an enormous spear on his back.

He quickly moved out of the plaza and cast a quick glance about, and then raised his hand to his ear, activating his linkpearl

Rheika’s voice answered him. “Heya Franks. You get to the Toll already?”

“Yeah, I’m here. I take it you’re not?”

“Not yet. Fearless isn’t answering her ‘pearl, so Dahk and I went to her place. Ranaa said she and Makoto went to the Sekiseigumi HQ, so we’re headed there. Turns out she left it at home. Again. Anyway, go on in and figure out what’s going on, we’ll be there as soon as we find her. “

“Copy that. Hopefully whatever this is can be resolved fast. I need to catch up on some sleep.”

“Did you stay up all night working on cross-world portals again?”

“I admit nothing, see you soon.” He disconnected the link before she could chastise him further and headed into the Seventh Heaven bar. A few of the regular patrons tossed greetings his way, which he returned as best he could in his sleep-deprived state,

The bouncer who guarded the door to the Rising Stones nodded at him and stepped aside. Franks strode in, turning to shut the door behind him quietly. Darn thing tended to slam, he’d been meaning to install something to slow it down. Maybe after some rest today.

“All right, Tataru, what is this emergency…about…” Midway through his sentence, he’d turned to face the room. Sitting at one of the table were Tataru, Y’shtola, and someone who shouldn’t be there. Someone who couldn’t possibly be there. Because she was dead.

Standing up at the table, hand over her mouth and tears streaming from beautiful sea-green eyes that he hadn’t witnessed in years, was a viera woman that happened to be the spitting living image of the woman he’d married so long ago.

She dropped her hand, looking for all the world as happy as the day they’d wed. “Hello, my love.”

Twelve forfend, it sounded like her too. “What the hells is this? No…you’re dead, this is some kind of trick!” He pointed a shaking finger. “You’re a godsdamned Ascian, you HAVE to be! How the hells did you make someone look like her??”

She ran to him. “Darling, no, it’s me, I swear it!” She moved in close, trying to embrace him, but he backed away, shock and anger on his face.

“Fandaniel, that you? Because you just crossed a fucking line, you piece of filth, and I’m going to make you regret it!”

The woman looks over to Y’shtola, panicking. “He…what’s happening, who does he think I am?”

Y’shtola has already moved next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and holding the other with her hand. “Aleister, I swear to you on my life, this is not a trick. Do you remember how Rheika unmasked Elidibus, by tricking him about the Amaro? It proved that an Ascian can’t access memories of their hosts, do you recall that?”

He had stopped backing away, but his eyes didn’t waver from the woman who looked like his wife. He nodded.

Y’shtola looked to her. “Tell him something that only you would know. Something you’d never reveal under even the gravest duress.”

Her eyes danced back and forth, considering, thinking. Finally, they widened and she smiled again. Closer and closer, she approached him, but now he didn’t move. Could….could it be?

She whispered in his ear and he cried out in joy. His world faded, and there was nothing more than the woman in front of him. He pulled her in, crushing against her. Her arms wrapped around his back and pulled in just as strong. So many sensations, so many memories flooded him, and he took all of them in. The scent of her, the feel of her living body preseed to him, the sound of her voice as she whispers her love between sobs. He could not reply, too overwhelmed to cry and breathe.

Tataru moved next to Y’shtola, unable to take her eyes off of the embracing pair. “It…it really is her.”

Y’shtola nods.

“But…how?”

“I think that story is best told to us from them. Once everyone has joined us. I think our resident Old Man may finally be ready to open up, since the loss that caused him so much pain is no longer lost at all.”

Finally, Franks was able to catch his breath and he pulled back to look at her. He kept her close, arms wrapped around her waist, as though he feared she might vanish into mist if he let go. For her part, she likewise kept her arms solidly behind his neck. “Gwen….I…I don’t understand. They…multiple people told me they saw you get taken by Sylvanas’ death squads. We…” He hiccuped. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he kept going. “We scattered when we heard you got taken…that’s, that’s how I ended up here.”

She smiled. “They were right. I was put in with dozens of others, taken to a camp somewhere in Hillsbrad, couldn’t tell you where exactly. We were lined up. Living prisoners had their names taken, checked off a list, then executed right then and there. Some were….were fed to the soldiers. Others to plaguehounds. But for whatever reason, they didn’t kill the Forsaken. Maybe she had sentimentality about us, or maybe she planned to do it later, but we were just shoved into a makeshift prison and left there. We got food occasionally, but no interaction otherwise. Just neverending boredom. Zenjulin and Beskar finally found the place and killed off the few remaining loyalists that still manned it, freeing us.”

She shuddered. “By that point, the Banshee had fucked off to…wherever it was she went. I don’t know. Zenjulin explained it, but I wasn’t listening very well. Or he was missing details, I don’t know. Anyway, he said that our allies were being brought back together to stop her and whatever else she’d brought with her, but that you were still missing. I told them I refused to do anything until I found you. They understood, and I started tracking your movement. Which was hard, because you’d concealed them well, but eventually I made it to Stranglethorn and discovered the cave, the one Y’shtola tells me you came to that same one and it brought you here.”

Franks looked over to Y’shtola, who smiled. “I went there to take some readings, and found her emerging out of the cave. Once I realized who she was, I brought her straight here and had Tataru contact you.”

“Thank you.”

She shook her head. “There is nothing to thank.”

Franks looked back to Gwen. “I… gods, Gwen, you look like the day I asked you to marry me. Even despite all the years, both living and dead, I recognized you right away. I…I actually hallucinated last night…I saw you. Worked for too long without sleeping again. You looked…almost exactly as you do now.” He chuckles. “You uh…you didn’t have these, though”.

He reached up to stroke the fur of her ears. She made a very happy noise at the touch. “Okay, those are definitely a little sensitive, good to know.” She cuddled up against his shoulder, enjoying the sensation.

Eventually he stopped and pulled back again, looking her over. Everything was the same, her long graying hair, two green eyes, one slightly darker than the other, on a heart-shaped face. Everything save the ears. He vaguely recalled the shape of her human ears, but they were no longer there.

She giggled. “I…I don’t know what changed me or why it gave me my youthful body with these ears, honestly. You, though, you look a little bit older than the day you asked me to marry you. Maybe…around our 10th anniversary, I’d guess? Bit more white though, not that I mind. That haircut’s definitely a lot better, someone’s been taking care of you on that front, I see.

She placed her hands on his arms, rubbing them appreciatively. She moves them to his chest and down to his abs, sculpted like they’d been in his younger days from long hard hours of farmwork. “And I see you’ve definitely been taking care of the rest of you. Been way too long since I’ve seen these muscles.” she purred.

Franks laughed nervously. “Well, um….you get a second chance like this, you tend to appreciate and take care of things you took for granted…before.” His hands slipped down to her hips.

Their eyes met, growing lidded. Slowly, he ran his hands up her sides, appreciating every ilm of her curves, ghosting the sides of her breasts. He pulled her close, and their lips met in a kiss they’d not been able to share in decades.

Memories of all of their favorite intimate moments with the other flooded their minds, and both had a realization that those moments could now not only be remembered, but now relived. The rest of the world had long been forgotten and their kisses and touches became more heated when the world suddenly reminded them that it was still there.

“Ahem”

The pair broke, looking in the direction of the voice. The other Warriors of Light and the senior members of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn had all entered and were staring at the pair in varying levels of confusio

Rheika spoke up. It had been her voice that broke into their moment, Franks realized. “I hate to interrupt your moment, I swear I do, but uh…didn’t we have some kind of emergency? Also, um, who is this? Not that you don’t deserve to kiss someone that gorgeous, but I feel like I’m missing part of the story here.”

Franks laughs. Both he and Gwenefyr have turned beet red having realized just how much of a crowd their reunion had attracted. “Ah, yes. Um, well, everyone…allow me to introduce you all to Gwenefyr Franks. My…not quite late wife, as it turns out”

She giggled at that. “Hi, everyone. Y’shtola’s told me a little about you all. I…think I recognize at least some of you from her stories.”

Franks looked over everyone. Thancred, Estinien, and Alisaie weren’t even masking their suspicion. Dahkar, Alphinaud, and Rheika wore expressions of shock. Fearless looked like she was going to explode with joy. Urianger just looed perplexed.

It was Thancred who stepped forward. “Franks….are you sure? I mean, we’ve seen the Asicans puppet dead bodies before..

He immediately shook his head. “No, no, I thought the same thing. But remember, Elidibus didn’t have access to Ardbert’s memories so Y’shtola asked her to tell me something only she would know. It…it’s definitely her.”

Gwen took his hand and looked to the gunbreaker. “Thancred, right?”

Thancred nodded.

“Y’shtola told me you’d probably be the hardest to convince. I don’t know what to say or do to prove to you that I’m not a…..Asican, was it? But I’ll do whatever it takes to prove it to you. To all of you. Because I’m not going anywhere.” She looked up to her husband. “Right?”

He looked right back to her, his eyes sad. “I…don’t think I can go back there again. Not if it means…going back to the way our forms were.Are you…okay with that? With leaving it all behind? I promise, this place is…it’s worth it.”

She nodded. “I don’t think I can either. Azeroth has taken enough from us. And the others…they told me they won’t be surprised if we don’t return to the fight. They’re prepared to keep working towards the dream, but they’ll have to do it without us. I’m not going anywhere without you, love. We have a second chance at actual life and I’m not going back to a world without it or without you.”

Alphinaud speaks up. “Apologies, but did you say Azeroth? I’ve not heard of such a place.”

Franks nods. “Yeah. That’s….that’s the other reason I’m pretty confident she’s not an Ascian. And it’s a story most of y’all long overdue for hearing. And now that I have…gods I can’t believe I have you back…ahem. Well, there’s just no point in hiding it anymore. Gather round…time I told the full story of where I….where we are actually from.”

[thewritewolf]

Running to Catch An Airplane Trope

Adrien has lost just about everything now that his father has been unmasked as Hawkmoth. But he isn't about to lose her too. 

Enjoy!

Read on Ao3

Adrien watched as Nino walked up to the podium and took his diploma, to general applause and the loud cheers of his family.

His hand tightened around his own diploma. There hadn’t been much of either when Adrien walked up, the first name called.

Barely any applause. Mostly just whispers. Some worried. Some… accusing. He supposed he couldn’t blame them, after everything that had happened still so fresh in the mind of the public.

There weren’t any loud cheers from his family. Mostly because there wasn’t much of one left anyway. He’d known for years that his father would never attend something as plebeian as a high school graduation, but…

Adrien hadn’t thought it would be like this. He’d had no clue at all about any of it.

It had taken all five of them - Ladybug, Chat Noir, Carapace, Rena Rouge, even Queen Bee - but they’d finally done it. Hawkmoth and Mayura, unmasked for all the world to see. No going back, no sneaky tricks to get away from it.

The only cost? Adrien’s family. His father and Nathalie, jailed. His mother, gone for a second time. His home, leveled in the pitched battle that followed. All his life except for his heartbeat is what it took to bring Hawkmoth to justice.

His teammates still didn’t know why he’d left so quickly afterwards, how he’d immediately detransformed and broken down. For most of them, they would never know. After all, no need for the secondary heroes now that the terrible Hawkmoth had been unmasked. Paris would rest easy under Ladybug and Chat Noir’s watch.

There is more clapping and Adrien mechanically joins in, only to be startled when everyone begins standing up around him. The ceremony is over, just like his days of childhood. His classmates are chatting excitedly amongst each other as they head across the street. It takes him a moment to gather the strength to stand up, but when he does, he is surrounded by his real friends.

Nino. Alya. And…

“How are you feeling?” Marinette asked softly.

This was the worst part. It was their graduation! Everyone should be happy and celebrating and here he was, dragging down the mood with his own misery. Just like always. It wasn’t fair to them, not in the least. Swallowing his emotions, he offered a strained smile.

“I’m doing better,” he lied.

Marinette didn’t look convinced, but she didn’t say anything. Nino threw his arm around Adrien’s shoulder and they all followed after the rest of their class. For a moment, the prospect of having Dupain-Cheng pastries was almost enough to make Adrien forget it all. It was a good choice of venue for them - what better place to end their time together than the site of so many of their happiest memories?

Adrien was just about to sink his teeth into a passion fruit macaron when he started listening into what his former classmates were saying.

“-Going to school for botany, so I can open my own flower shop!” Rose said, giving Juleka a hug out of excitement.

Adrien shoved the macaron in his mouth and walked toward another part of the shop to find another. There, he overheard what Alix was saying.

“Yeah I got a plan to skate with the best in my new university. Gonna try to keep the family tradition of historians alive since clearly big bro ain’t up to it with all his conspiracy stuff. But that doesn't mean I gotta be a stick in the mud about it.”

Eventually, Adrien found a place in a corner, a good ways away from the rest of his friends. Some of them cast glances his way, but no one made a move to talk to him. What could they say anyway? ‘Sorry your dad was the magic terrorist that turned every single one of us into super villains at one point or another?’

And he certainly wasn’t about to approach them either. Not if they were going to be talking about the future. They all sounded so hopeful and excited, he didn’t want to bring them down with his uncertainty.

Having his entire life charted out in meticulous, color-coded detail, he wasn’t very confident in his own planning abilities. Even in his superhero career he was more often than not following someone else’s plan. What was he going to do with his life now, when even his superheroics weren’t necessary?

The party was still going on when Adrien sneaked out. He was sure nobody would miss him from there. No doubt the mood might even lighten once he was gone. Nino and Marinette would at least have a better time now that he wasn’t bringing everything down.

The only good thing he could say about his father now was that at least he’d actually paid Adrien for his modeling. Even if Adrien only recently got access to that bank account, it meant that he could afford a house to rent now that his childhood home was cinders.

Turning the lights on as he entered, he shuffled over to the television and hesitated. He used to like turning it on to have some background noise, but it was hard to escape the news about his family these days. Backing away from the TV, he opted instead to turn on a music playlist.

Adrien collapsed onto the couch, the weight of his loneliness bearing down on him now more than ever. Maybe he could have handled everything else, but on top of all of it, the defeat of Hawkmoth meant that Ladybug had basically gone off the grid. No akuma battles, no late night patrols.

His mind wandered - Where was Ladybug? What she was doing?

--------------

Long after the party had died down, Marinette went up to her room and pulled out a letter that she had hidden away months ago. It almost felt like another lifetime when she had sent out that application. She had sent it not because she had intended to go but because it was something she was expected to do.

Someone like her, with her hopes and dreams worn on her sleeve since she was twelve, didn’t just ‘forget’ to send out her university applications. It would’ve looked suspicious. So she sent the letters, knowing in her heart that she would never be able to leave Paris because walking away from it would mean leaving it defenseless.

But now the danger was gone. She didn’t need to protect her beloved city anymore.

Holding the acceptance letter to a semester long fashion internship in Milan, her heart pounded in excitement. After so long, she could finally start living her life again.

--------------------

There weren’t a lot of people left in Adrien’s life.

He’d never been super close to most of his classmates, so that wasn’t a huge loss to him. But the retiring of most of the super hero team, plus Nino, Alya, and Marinette being super busy these days did cut deep.

But, as he leapt from rooftop to rooftop as Chat Noir, he reflected that at least he had Ladybug. Getting a call from her out of the blue was surprising, but he jumped at the chance to see her again after the maddening quiet of the last couple months.

A part of him was worried, however. Why did she want to see him? Ladybug didn’t do anything without good reason. And what good reasons were there left for them in a post-Hawkmoth world? Did she want his miraculous…? His hand brushed over his ring. No, she would never. She knew how much being Chat Noir meant to him. Besides, if she wanted to disband all of them, she would’ve taken his ring along with the other miraculous.

Heart pounding for more reasons than one, Chat Noir landed on their favorite meeting spot in one of the towers of Notre Dame. As he spots her iconic red and black outfit, he pushes aside his worries. Everything else aside, Ladybug was here - that alone was a huge load of his shoulders.

She turns around at the sound of his boots landing on the ground.

“Just the cat I was waiting on,” she said with a smile.

“I hope I didn’t keep such a beautiful woman waiting for long,” Chat replied, taking her hand and pressing a kiss to it. “What’s up, bugaboo?”

“I’ll get right to the point, chaton.” Ladybug took a deep breath. “I’m going to be going away for a few months. I got an internship in Milan. I’ll be leaving next week.”

His heart dropped and he took both of her hands in his. Eyes locked onto their interlocked hands, he murmured, “Lovebug, I’m not sure I’ll be able to make it that long…”

She freed one hand to cup his chin, pushing it up until they were looking eye to eye. There was a soft but sad smile on her face.

“I know its a whole new world for us, and I’m sure its been rough for you. So I’ll make you a promise-”

“A purromise?” He punned half-heartedly.

“...sure, a purromise,” she replied. “The first time I see you after I get back, chaton, we'll blow this whole thing wide open.”

He frowned. She couldn’t mean…?

“We'll reveal our identities, I swear." To prove her sincerity, she held out her pinky.

“But… why can’t we do that now?”

"To give you something to look forward to, of course," she said with a smile. “So what do you say?”

Staring at her pinky for a long time, he eventually grabbed it with his own pinky. The promise had been made.

They chatted for a little while after that, but eventually Ladybug had to leave. People would notice she was missing if she was gone for too long.

Chat watched her leave, turning into a dot on the horizon. After all, who was going to notice, even if he was out for an hour more?

-------------

The days run by, lost in a blur of video games and books and other distractions that kept him in his room. There was no Nathalie to force him into his usual activities. No father to breathe down his neck. Just him slowly losing track of time as the days ticked past, unnoticed by Adrien. He didn’t even realize it was the day that Ladybug had said she was going to be leaving for Milan until his phone lit up for the first time in days.

It was Nino, of course. He was practically the only one calling him these days, except for the group chats that he was in. And even then, the last few calls had been a bit of a blur, running on autopilot like he was.

Adrien answers the phone. “Hey, bro, what’s up?”

“More like - what’s out? And the answer is me. I’m outside. Open the door, my bro.”

Nino hung up, leaving Adrien to blink in the darkness of his living room, illuminated only by the light of his paused game. Standing up, he rushed over to the door and opened it a crack. Sure enough, Nino was standing there.

“‘Sup dude?” He pushed open the door, letting the sunlight filter into Adrien’s house for the first time in days. Nino scrunched up his eyebrows in concern. “T-shirt and sweatpants this late in the day, my dude? You feelin’ alright?”

“Same as usual, I guess,” Adrien said with a shrug. “What’s the occasion?”

Nino let himself in and pulled open Adrien’s curtains. “Don’t really need one to hang with my best bro, do I?” He saw Adrien’s face. “Okay, okay, so I needed some time outta the house. Can you blame me? With everything going down with Marinette, I could use some space away from that bummer fest to take my mind off things.”

“Things going down with Marinette?” Adrien asked. Did something happen?

“Yeah man, Alya was a wreck last night. We helped Marinette pack up and honestly, watching those two say goodbye just about made me tear up." Nino tugged at his cap, getting ragged from the years.

Adrien takes a moment to shake off the gray stupor that's been hanging over him for months, that had been doubled because of Ladybug’s absence.

“Uh... what? Is Marinette going somewhere?” That is someone he should make more effort to keep in touch with, if he's being honest with himself. Maybe once she comes back from her vacation or whatever, they can get coffee.

"Dude, you never listen to anything I say anymore,” Nino said, clicking his tongue and rolling his eyes disapprovingly. “I know it's tough with your dad and all, dude, but you've got to get out of your own head. Marinette's leaving."

"What? Leaving? Like, leaving leaving?"

"Might as well be, dude. She's getting on a plane this afternoon and not coming back for 6 months." Adrien got stuck by deja vu. Something about that time frame sounds familiar... "She wanted me to tell you she'll miss you while she's gone."

"I... can't believe I didn't say goodbye. Where is she going? Why is she going?" He’s more alert than he has been for months. He took a seat next to Nino, leaning forward a little as he hung on Nino’s words.

"A sweet fashion internship dude. Way over in Milan."

And it clicks. Internship. Milan. The whole semester. There’s no way… it can’t be a coincidence.

If Adrien is wrong, he doesn't lose anything. He'll see his lady and his friend when they both return. But if he's right - and he's got to be right! - then she's gone. She's gone and he won't get to say goodbye, to tell her that he loves her, that he's always loved her.

Nino's still chatting away in the background, "...and to be honest, I'm surprised she didn't come see you before she left. Alya said she wanted to clear the air about that massive crush she had on you in high school-"

"I'm sorry WHAT?" Adrien tries and fails to keep his voice level.

Nino raises his eyebrows. "Dude, I thought you knew by now.” He shakes his head. “Everybody knew."

That raises far too many questions for Adrien’s liking, but he is too focused to be sidetracked now. He leans into Nino’s space, clarity in his eyes for the first time in a long time, one question on his mind.

"When does her plane leave?"

"What? Like in, an hour or so, dude.” Nino’s eyes widened as he realizes what Adrien might be planning. “But there's no way-"

"-igottagoniceseeingyouninobye!"

Adrien throws on a pair of converse sneakers, tongues sticking out in his haste out the door, untied laces flying. Nino is shouting something behind him, but Adrien doesn’t have the time to listen. Once he was out of his friend’s line of sight, he transformed and ran. He runs faster than he ever had in his entire life, his rooftop blurring under his feet as they carried him across the city.

He can't believe it took all this for him to figure it out. At this point, he doesn't care that she might reject him. The only thing that matters is that he has to know for sure. Nothing was more important to him in this moment than to look in those bluebell eyes and tell her he's figured it out. Figured her out.

He can't have her disappear for six months and forget about him. About what they could be.

Getting to the airport took longer than expected. Getting across the whole of Paris wasn’t easy, but he did it. Even if he had to stop way outside his destination to detransform. Nothing was about to stop him. Not even his own body, wheezing and protesting the sudden activity after a summer of slacking could slow him down. There was something more powerful than muscle and sinew at work here.

The airport was busy and Adrien froze at the front door, catching more than a few odd looks from people. He didn’t have any time to spare for them, however. His eyes, his heart, were too busy frantically searching the crowd for just the barest sign of her. Despair that he was too late had begun to lace its tendrils around his heart when the crowd parted for a split second.

He saw her.

Not just Marinette, in a cute floral summer dress, hair tied back and lugging her bags behind her.

No. In that half of a moment, he saw Ladybug and Marinette as one. The strength behind her eyes, the determined squaring of her shoulders even though he knew she was scared. If he had any doubts before, they were gone like mist before the sun. He was only barely aware of himself bolting towards her, parting the crowd in front of him to a tune of a host of disgruntled French travelers.

His hand snags her wrist just before she reaches the security checkpoint. She turns, part of surprise, part out of curiosity. Her eyes widen when she sees him, but he doesn’t have the chance to savor it. He’s already pulled her into a hug, pouring all the love he’s bottled up inside himself into it.

Hand cradling her head, his mouth close to her ear, he can barely manage to pant out a few words, the exhaustion of pressing himself so hard so fast finally catching up with him.

"M'lady.... princess....found you..."

In a voice so quiet only his senses, made keen by years of using the black cat miraculous, can make out, she whispered, “...Chaton?”

He grins, gasping, and nods. Her eyes tear up and she hugs him back twice as hard. "How did you know?"

"Internship in Milan. Had to say goodbye. Had to tell you...Mari, I love you."

She's stunned for a moment, and pulls back to look him in the face. Matching her gaze, he feels himself falling inescapably into those bright blue eyes. He never thought he could fall even more in love, but today seemed to be the day for revelations. The moment broke only when she rolled forward on her tiptoes, placed her arms around his neck for leverage, and pressed her lips to his.

Time began again when a booming voice called out a flight number overhead. Marinette, kiss-drunk, pulled back and bit her lip, making Adrien’s heart do a backflip.

“That’s mine.” She pouts, then brightens and smirks, "You know, I hear Milan is lovely this time of year. You should come visit me sometime, Mr. Moneybags."

-------------------

Two months later

Adrien rose with the sun, one of the few habits from his teenage years he’d never managed to shake off. Marinette was a few rooms over, taking the guest bedroom of his Italian villa while they lived in Milan. He started to make breakfast.

It wasn’t a miraculous cure - their relationship, her being here with him. His life was still in shambles. There were moments where he couldn’t be strong. He still felt lost most of the time.

But she was a constant. He could build a life around her - together. She was there when he needed to be weak. And her steady determination that he’d find his way was more often than not enough to ground him.

He put his breakfast on a plate and left Marinette’s on the kitchen counter, knowing the smell would do more to coax her out of bed than any amount of knocking or reminders. In the meantime, he pulled out his laptop to get a head start on his online class work for the day. It was just general requirements, but it gave him time to test the waters, see what he liked and what he didn’t.

No matter what, though, he knew she was going to be there every step of the way, cheering him on just like he knew he would be right there for her. A perfect team, just like they’d always been.

Yesterday was rough. Today would be better. And tomorrow? Adrien smiled as he heard Marinette's morning grumblings down the hall. Tomorrow shone bright with possibilities for both of them.

[nooneandeveryone]

Can i request fic of arkin,asa and abby where asa gets curious on how arkin will react to abby making advancements and well he watches arkin and abby start fucking but eventually asa decides to join in on the fun?

So I thought... hey that sounds fun. It'll be a nice quick write up. Well. 1,995 words later it's larger than expected. I HOPE YOU'RE PROUD OF YOURSELF

I switch POVs through out because I wanted to.

warnings for breathplay, throat stepping

--Arkin--

It must’ve been hours, Arkin could barely feel his fingertips. He’d been left tied and gagged in a bare room. He’d managed to loosen the ropes somewhat, given enough time he could probably work his way out of them. He’d rather find something sharp to cut them with. He had wiggled to the edge of the room in hopes of finding something. An old nail or screw, anything.

He heard the dead bolts open on the door. He was ready to brace himself, expecting to be dragged off somewhere.

But instead, a young woman was shoved into the room. The door locked loudly behind her.

She was obviously another victim. She had old wounds on one of her hands. While she had intact clothes, they were still grubby. And she had the same haunted expression of someone who’d seen a lot of death.

She also seemed very unsure about why she was there. She had noticed Arkin then looked back at the door.

Carefully, she edged her way over to him, obviously checking for traps as she went.

Arkin made a pleading sound through the gag. Even if this was some kind of weird trick by the killer, she might at least get him out of the ropes.

She did crouch down and pull his gag free.

“...get me out of this!” Arkin said, managing to not sound as desperate as he felt.

She hesitated and looked back at the door again. “I don’t--I think he’s testing us…” her voice was shaky and uncertain.

Arkin strained against the ropes keeping his arms behind his back. The freak had used a weird overly complicated series of knots that kept his arms together. “I don’t give a fuck what he’s doing!” he said in frustration. “Help me outta this!”

--Abby--

Abby had seen the tied up man before, on the monitors in His room. She had asked about him. Predictably, she got no verbal response. He had simply gestured to her then the screen. He wanted to know why she was interested. “He’s… he’s kind of cute,” she said nervously, she hoped showing interest in someone that wasn’t Him wasn’t against the rules. She shrank back just in case it was.

Instead He made a hand motion that meant he agreed with her.

Just a few hours later she found herself shoved into a room with the same man. Only now he was tied up and helpless on the floor.

She usually could guess what He wanted from her, but this time she was at a loss. Was this a weird gift? A test? A trick?

The least she could do was take out his gag.

He did look better in person than the monitors. Did He tie him up <i>for</i> her? Or was he dangerous? She edged back, he certainly wasn’t happy, that could be bad.

Perhaps sensing this, the tied man’s voice went softer. “Hey. It’s okay… I’m Arkin, what’s your name?”

“Abby…”

“Okay, Abby. Listen, my hands are going numb. Can you at least try to loosen the ropes? He wouldn’t have put you in here if he didn’t want you to do something.”

Did Arkin understand Him too?

“O-Okay…”

--Asa--

It was going well, he thought. He’ll leave them in there together for a few hours, or maybe a day, and see if anything changes. While there were a few outcomes he would like to see, he was more interested in seeing what they chose to do on their own. He could have easily told Abby precisely what he wanted but chose not to.

He’ll stay the night at the hotel to keep an eye on them. He had no pressing unmasked matters to attend to tomorrow. It would be a shame to miss anything interesting.

--Arkin--

It took a lot of coaxing for Arkin to convince Abby to at least untie his legs. She was very concerned with making the masked man angry. The masked man remained silent for her too, leaving her to guess what he wanted and hope she was right. She’d definitely been here longer than Arkin.

Then they were just left alone in that room.

They sat on the floor in an uneasy silence. She eventually moved to sit next to Arkin and leaned into him. He didn’t question it, they were in a fairly cool room and she had on a sleeveless dress.

“I think it’s safe to untie me,” he told her gently.

She curled up against his side, she still looked apprehensive but not as fearful as she was. She clearly wasn’t ready to untie him, however. They stayed like that and eventually, they both fell asleep.

It wasn’t the most comfortable sleep but it was… comforting. Not just for the shared body heat.

In between bouts of fitful sleep, Abby finally decided to untie him. Again, he didn’t question it, he just groaned as blood flow slowly restored itself. His arms felt heavy and hurt. The ropes had left clear indentations down his arms.

She curled herself against him again, this time taking one of his arms in hers. She rubbed her hands up and down his forearm, where most of the rope marks were left. It felt amazingly good. His arms and shoulders had almost completely cramped up. She mumbled a barely audible apology, as her hands worked further up his arm.

Arkin could barely string together words in reply, because of the pure relief of pain being rubbed away. “...it’s fine,” he managed to slur out. He really did understand why she didn’t untie him sooner.

She moved her hands to his other arm, which turned into him spooning her on the floor. It wasn’t a conscious effort on his part, it just seemed like the natural thing to do.

Things began to shift as she rubbed his forearm. It took him a moment to realize his hand had settled against her inner thigh. She was still rubbing the knots in his arm and didn’t seem to care where his hand was.

Then her hand moved to his wrist and very gently guided his hand between her legs.

Should they really be doing this?

“The rules are different here,” Abby said, turning her head back to look at him.

She was right. They were prisoners to a murderer who enjoyed inflicting pain. There was rarely a moment where he felt anything else. Arkin shifted to bring her back flush to his chest. He slid his hand fully between her legs. There wasn’t much in the way of clothing to get past. His fingers slid down and found she was already quite wet.

God, what did that freak do to them to make them like this?

He slid his fingers back up, working a circular motion until he found her clit. She let out a small gasp. It was encouraging, despite not knowing her, just to get a positive reaction from someone. Someone who isn’t actively trying to hurt him.

She tried to stay quiet, with only little squeaks escaping. Generally, Arkin would prefer a more vocal partner but like she said, the rules are different here. The masked freak could be watching or listening. For some twisted reason, the thought actually excited him. He’ll just try to push that as far out of his mind as he can.

--Abby--

She still wasn’t sure if what they were doing was allowed. She hoped it was. It seemed likely. He left her in here with Arkin far longer than she’s been around any of the others. Maybe, He wanted her to have this?

This felt very good. Arkin kept varying the speed he moved his fingers. He’d slow down if she made louder sounds. Was he a tease or was he worried they’d get caught?

The first time she came, she closed a hand over her mouth. It was safer to be quiet. Her other hand desperately gripped his forearm. He did not stop, with her mouth covered he seemed to take that as an invitation to speed up. Two fingers slid down to press inside her for a moment then he went right back to her clit.

When she came the second time, she ground her hips back into him. He’d had an erection for a while, she’d felt it, but he wasn’t doing anything about it. She ground back again, getting a little grunt out of him. It was surprisingly gratifying.

Finally, she decided to do something about it. She turned around to face him and gently pushed him onto his back. She opened his pants, her fingers brushing over his dick. He drew in a hissing breath.

“Okay?” she asked cautiously. He just nodded in response.

She straddled his hips and let out a long breath. She took a moment to just slide her wet and swollen labia against his dick. He made a cute little choking sound; he was trying very hard not to make noise.

She shifted her hips and let his dick slide into her. She had gotten very tight after repeated orgasms.

Now it was even harder for him to keep quiet.

The door opened.

--Asa--

Asa was very pleased to see Abby reacted just as he expected. She immediately covered Arkin’s mouth with her hands and told him to not move. He heard her repeat “Just wait.” over and over to Arkin. She kept her gaze averted and pulled her shoulders together in her usual show of submission. Arkin, however, looked like he was ready to jump up at any second. But he was following Abby’s instructions.

He stood in the doorway long enough to convey he was not angry. If he had been angry he would’ve rushed in. No, this was working out better than expected.

He took slow measured steps toward them. His head tilted as he looked them over. He moved his hand in a signal for them to continue.

Abby understood, of course, but looked apprehensive. Arkin, predictably, looked angry, he also understood.

Arkin growled and tore Abby’s hands off his mouth. “You fuc--” is all he got out before Asa moved forward and stepped on his neck. Just enough pressure to keep him quiet and struggled to breathe.

He gestured to Abby to continue.

And she did. Her hips rocked against Arkin.

Arkin struggled and clawed at his boot and leg.

Asa let out a low pleased hum.

Abby relaxed, as she always did when she understood what he wanted. He ran his hand through her hair to reinforce it.

She performed beautifully. She started to move with more force. Actively fucking herself on Arkin’s dick.

---Arkin---

It’s completely insane!

He’s gasping for air, trying to get the freak’s boot off his throat. Yet, somehow, he’s still fucking hard. And the monster is encouraging her!

Logically, he understands that she has no choice. In the moment, he can’t help but feel betrayed. She’s doing what the monster wants!

The worst of it is, it feels good.

He glanced up to see a hungry look in the man’s eyes. A little jolt of pleasure hit him and he almost felt sick.

Abby suddenly ground into him, which brought a new wave of pleasure. He choked against the man’s boot.

When he glanced up again, the man’s dick was out and Abby was running his tongue up and down it.

Arkin tried to scream but the boot came down harder, his air completely cut off. He felt Abby’s muscles spasm on his dick. He could hear her actually moaning now.

His vision started to darken but he could see the man bury his dick deep into her throat. An orgasm hit her so hard it felt like she was trying to crush his dick.

Just barely hanging on to consciousness, he saw the man pull out. A string of cum fell directly on Arkin's face.

A sick pleasure ripped through him seconds before he blacked out

[gabriel-agreste-has-no-rights]

Rating: T

Chapter Summary: A month after Chat Noir learns Marinette's identity, they're just vibin'

Word Count: 4388 | Chapter 2/2

Notes: Written for @chatnoirinette​ through the @mlbforblm​ charity drive!  The donations go directly to Color of Change, an organization for racial justice.  I highly recommend checking them out and reblogging/donating the mlbforblm posts if you’re able!  I have two fic request slots left as of 7/17/2020, and many other talented writers and artists are offering incentives as well

XXX

Marinette glanced over her shoulder for what had to have been the thirtieth time.  Outside her bedroom window, stormclouds were gathering over the glittering skyline. What if the weather was too dangerous for Chat to come visit tonight?  Or what if he’d gotten held up with something in his civilian life?  That happened too often, though he probably spent every moment he could with her now.  It was oddly comforting that he wanted to be around her so much, even if it was just keeping her company while she worked on homework, or deciphered the grimoire, or let the kwamis out for some fresh air.

Despite seeing him practically every day, she still managed to miss him.

“He’ll be here,” Tikki said from her perch on top of Marinette’s mannequin.  

She sighed.  “That obvious, huh?”

“You almost pinned the collar to my leg.”

Oops.  As it was, the she’d bunched up the collar of Juleka’s dress all wrong.  She’d have to remove the pins and smooth it out again unless she wanted the fabric to pucker in her sewing machine.

“Sorry Tikki.  I don’t know what’s gotten into me lately.”

She’d survived with only seeing her partner during akuma attacks and patrols for two years now.  But in these few weeks since she’d accidentally revealed her identity, she’d come to rely on him more than ever.  Maybe too much, honestly.  She had no idea what civilian responsibilities he was carrying on his own.

Well, she had a guess, but that was better left unsaid until she knew for sure.

You could always ask him, she thought for the thousandth time, but banished it just as quickly.  

A tap at her window made her jump and prick her finger.  Even startled as she was, guilty relief flooded her.  Tikki was right; he’d shown up anyway.

She sucked on the sore spot as she ran to open the window.  “You know Papa would let you in the front door.”

“But then I’d miss getting to see you in your natural habitat, Bugaboo.”  Chat Noir grinned as he swung himself in.  Luckily it hadn’t started raining yet.  She didn’t want her room smelling like wet cat.

“My ‘natural habitat’ has too many pins on the floor.”  She scrambled to pick them up before he ended up stepping on one.  His boots would have protected his feet, but he was polite enough to remove them every time he entered, even though she’d never asked him to.

At least, she’d never asked Chat.  That was one of her flimsier evidences for his identity, though.

“I like it.  It’s cozy.”  He plopped down on her chaise, which he’d claimed for himself weeks ago.  Not that she minded.  She kept that space clear for him, even when fabric and thread was piled on every other surface.

“What about your room?  Is it this ‘cozy’?”  She asked.  It was an innocent question, not overtly fishing for information on his identity.  

“Nah.  I’m not allowed to… I have to keep things tidy.”  He frowned.

Another piece towards her theory.  She’d add that note in the conspiracy page she’d webbed out in her diary.

“Oh!  I’ve got something for you!”  He untied a plastic bag that he’d hung from his belt.  “It, um, might be a little bit squished, but hopefully it’ll still taste good.”

Her eyes widened at the small box of cupcakes he presented to her.  The frosting was pale pink, with wobbly dots of chocolate arranged to look like the spots on her yo-yo.  They were a little smushed, but still in remarkably good shape for having traveled with Chat across Paris.  She popped off the box’s translucent lid, giggling at the tiny pigeon stickers at each corner of it.

He winced.  “They look terrible, don’t they?  I know I’m not as good at baking as you, but Mr. Ramier helped so I thought they might be kind of okay—”

“They’re perfect.”  She wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug.  “You didn’t have to make me anything, Kitty.”

“I know, but I wanted to.  Since you’re always sharing your delicious pastries with me—”

“Maman and Papa make most of those.”

“—and because you deserve something nice, and you refuse to let me buy you anything.”

Her face warmed.  Before she’d put that rule into place, he’d tried to bring her a present every time he visited.  Considering he visited a lot, that would have taken a toll on his wallet.

Unless money wasn’t an issue for him, of course.

Stop that, she told herself.  She could hardly deny her feelings for Chat anymore, but she couldn’t keep muddling them with feelings for her first crush.  Not until she knew for sure they were one and the same.

Now if only she could stop being a coward and ask him.

“W-well thanks,” she said quickly.  “You better help me eat them.”

He winked.  “Can do, Princess.”

Before they dug in, she bundled her fabric away and pulled out the Miracle Box from its hiding place next to her sewing machine.  It was the perfect spot, now that she’d learned how disguise it as an extra sewing box rather than that Ladybug-themed egg-thing.  She’d never have been able to keep that a secret.

“Who’s coming out today?”  Chat asked.  He’d sprawled on the chaise with his hands propping up his chin.  Tikki had nestled herself in his hair, eating half of a cupcake and scattering crumbs in his golden locks.  

The kwami would probably enjoy Chat Noir’s visits more if Plagg was allowed out for her to play with.  Plagg would devour all of her parents’ cheese-filled pastries, and Marinette… Marinette would have to look into her partner’s unmasked eyes and admit she was still half in love with someone else.

Unless she wasn’t.  But what if she was?  A few hardly-lucid dreams and wishful evidence weren’t proof that Chat Noir was actually Adrien.

She shook her head.  That train of thought could do donuts in her brain if she didn’t pull the brakes.

“I was thinking Kaalki and Pollen.”  She wasn’t up for any of the rowdier kwamis tonight, even with Chat helping her “babysit.”  Plus the two of them liked sweets; they’d appreciate the cupcakes.

She pulled out the hair comb and glasses, and Chat Noir excitedly put them both on.  The miraculouses somehow managed to make him look both dorkier and cuter at the same time.  Maybe that was just because he was at his cutest when he was being a dork.

Tikki smiled wide as Kaalki and Pollen appeared in flashes of light.

“Oooh, someone glorious and famous.” Kaalki flew in circles around Chat Noir’s head, nudging a few of his tufts of hair with her hoof.  “You would make a fine holder.  Plagg wouldn’t be up for a trade, would he?”

Chat blushed beneath his mask, making Marinette giggle.

“Uh, sorry, but I’m going to have to say neigh to that.”

Pollen covered her laugh in her hands. Kaalki just harumphed.

“Fine.  Your sense of humor is far too unpolished anyway.”

Glorious and famous.  Kaalki might have been talking about his status as a hero of Paris, but Marinette still made note.

They fell into their usual routine, Chat Noir entertaining the kwamis by answering their questions about the world while Marinette went back to work.  The steady conversation was a better backdrop than any white noise or instrumental music playlists.  She only wished she had time to join them.  Unfortunately, she’d put off this dress for too long.  She only had a week before Juleka wa supposed to model the floral sundress at the school’s ameteur fashion show, and who knew how many akumas would strike between now and then?

Marinette was just getting ready to transfer the fabric from the mannequin to her sewing desk when she heard Pollen ask Chat, “How are things between you and your Princess?”

The pins slipped from her hand.  She barely noticed a couple pricking into her slipper.

Chat had sat up straight since the last time she’d glanced back, and the nervous yet hopeful smile on his face threatened to melt her.

“Uh—well—how are things between us, Marinette?”

Her mouth briefly forgot how to make words.  She knew what Pollen meant; Tikki and her gossiped about Marinette’s love life all the time. Maybe she shouldn’t have let the bee kwami out tonight.

“Well, um.”  Her fingers twitched nervously against the fabric of her pajama pants.  Say something, Marinette! “We’re—we’re best friends, right?”

She wanted to shove her fist in her mouth.  How many times had she died inside over Adrien calling her just a friend?  And no matter who Chat was beneath the mask, she didn't want to obscure her true feelings for him.

But his face still lit up even brighter.  “I’m your best friend?”

“Of course, Kitty.”  She sat on the chaise, scooting close to him.  Probably closer than even a best friend should, but it wasn’t like Chat was shy about personal space.  “I don’t let just anyone climb in my window, you know.”

“Awwww,” Pollen sighed while crossing her hands over her heart.  Tikki gave Marinette a knowing look, which she pretended to ignore.

Then Marinette shoved a cupcake into her mouth before she could say anything more incriminating.

Chat blinked.  She wondered if he was impressed—that cupcake had been about the size of her fist. Guess she could’ve fit her fist in her mouth after all, but at least the cupcake tasted better.

“Thesh ah really goo’.” 

...Well, she said she wouldn’t say anything incriminating.  She’d never ruled out saying anything stupid.

Chat Noir laughed.  “For a Princess, your table manners could use some work.”

She swallowed about half the cupcake.  It was really good, thick and chocolatey with a hint of strawberry.  It probably would’ve tasted better if she’d taken the time to savor it.  But the loss was worth it for the look on his face.

“No table manners allowed.  Only vibes.”

He blinked before bursting out a real laugh, fuller and brighter than the one before.  One that she was sounded strikingly familiar—especially with the backdrop of rain hitting the window behind them.

That truth cracked like a flash of lightning.

“You’ve been hanging out with Nino too much.”  He wiped a claw under his eye, flicking away a few drops of water.

It was him. It had to be him. She’d recognize that laugh anywhere.

“Princess, what’s a ‘vibe’?”  Pollen asked.

“I believe it’s like a, like a feeling,” Kaalki answered over the sound of Chat’s cackle.  “Perhaps there’s a kwami of vibes?  Or would that fall under Duusu’s domain?”

Marinette was too stunned from the whiplash of Adrien’s laugh and Pollen’s question to actually answer.

“Sort of,” Tikki interjected instead.  “Marinette and her friends sometimes talk about vibes like they’re feelings, but they also use ‘vibing’ as an action.  I’m still not really sure what that means though.  Maybe we should Google it?”

When she sat on Marinette’s computer keyboard, the desktop collage of Adrien’s photos flashed on the screen.  Marinette almost lunged for her kwami in horror, but Chat was still laughing too hard to notice.

“Princess—what’s a—what’s a vibe?”  He got out between tears.

Then he actually doubled over far enough that he toppled off the chaise—which made Marinette laugh so hard she choked on her remaining cupcake. 

Adrien was dressed in a catsuit, literally rolling on the floor laughing.  That was more hilarious than even the kwamis trying to understand teenage slang.

“Marinette?  Are you okay?”  Tikki hovered up to her face, her blue eyes filling Marinette’s vision.

She giggled again, coughing out crumbs stuck in the back of her throat.

“I’m—I’m straight up vibing!”  

With that, she too rolled off the chaise and fell on top of Chat.  He yelped before giggling again, wrapping his arms around her.

“Spare vibes, Princess?  Spare vibes for a poor vibeless kitty?”

“Ack!”  She flailed as he tickled her sides.  “Nooo, stop!  You’re stealing all the vibes!”  

“Were vibes in the cupcakes?”  Pollen whispered to Kaalki, prompting another giggling fit from both Marinette and Chat Noir.

“Maybe it’s a secret,” Kaalki replied.  “Like a code.  For when the two of them want to do… whatever this is.”  She waved a hoof towards where they were tangled together.

It was only then that Marinette realized what this would look like.  And the fact that the floor wasn’t that thick, and her parents might hear something any minute.

Not to mention the fact that Adrien was tickling her.

“I, um, need some air!”  She burst, scrambling off from his chest.

“Huh?  Wait, Marinette!” 

He reached out a hand, but she’d already bolted up her ladder and shoved open her skylight.

Which, of course, let rain dump right into her bed.  Oops.

“What was in those cupcakes?”  She mumbled, climbing onto her balcony shutting the skylight behind her.  

She pressed her palms to her cheeks, trying to cool the heat there.  The rain wasn’t doing a quick enough job of it, even though the spring shower chilled the rest of her to the bone.  Had she flushed her last brain cell down the toilet?  What was she thinking? 

Of course, she was stupid with Chat Noir all the time.  They’d challenged each other to handstand contests, dared each other to eat spicy peppers, even one-upped each other’s Hawkmoth impersonations.  Chat might be Adrien, but that meant Adrien was still Chat. Knowing his identity didn’t change the fact that he was her ridiculous partner.

“Marinette?”  A blond head poked out of the skylight.  The glasses were askew on his nose; the golden hair comb had almost fallen out. “If you want me to leave, I can.  You don’t need to stay out here and get soaked.”

It was a bit late for that.  Even though she had ducked under the awning, the rain was blowing practically sideways.  She wrapped her arms around herself and shivered.  Why had she worn her pajama tank?  Not that it mattered; Adrien had seen her in it before.  She could hardly embarrass herself more than she already had.

“N-no, of course not!  I just thought, we were being kind of loud, and it’s late, and since you didn’t come in through the front door…”

Chat winced as he climbed out onto the balcony to stand beside her.  Just a few seconds out in the rain, and his hair was already plastered to his forehead in a wet mop.  The glasses were too splattered to see through; he removed them and the bee miraculous with his free hand and put them in his pocket.

As for his other hand...

“Well, at least use this.  It might work a little better than your awning.”

...He popped open the umbrella.  Black and slick with rain, it brought her back to a moment two years ago.  Different green eyes, but the same soft gaze.  

“Of course you’d grab that one.”  She couldn’t help smiling.  It was the only umbrella she owned, and it had been sitting by her desk, but it still felt ironic.  

She reached for the umbrella, but Chat pulled it back at the last moment.

“Wait, it’s broken, isn’t it?”  He squinted up at its underside—

Just in time for it to snap shut on his head.

A laugh burst from her like a crack of thunder.  “Come on, Ad—Kitty.  It’s drier over here.” 

He disentangled himself from the umbrella and followed her to the corner of the balcony, where the rain hadn’t quite snuck under the awning.  

“Why do you have this old thing anyway?  Looks like a piece of junk.”  He twirled the now-closed umbrella like his baton, but fumbled it under her folding chair, where it promptly exploded open.  Chat scowled.  “Oh, I see how it is.  When I want you to open, you only know how to stay shut.  But when you’re out on your own you’re ready to party.”

The umbrella rolled slightly as it began to fill with rainwater.  Marinette laughed as Chat continued to glare at it.

“Be nice to that umbrella.  Someone very special gave it to me.”  She stretched out her legs, letting her heels dangle in the puddles in the brick.  Her fairy lights reflected in the water, casting the two of them in an ethereal glow.

“Oh, really?  Should I be jealous?”  He playfully wrapped an arm around her back.  Every place he touched burned, even though she knew the gesture was just part of his jealous act.

She hummed as she leaned her head on his shoulder.

“No, I don’t think so.”

“...Oh.”  She felt him deflate, though he infused his voice with fake confidence.  “Well, good.  I’m a pretty territorial cat, you know.”

Gently, she tugged on the bell at his neck until he met her eyes.

“You don’t need to be jealous,” she clarified, “because I know he’s you.”

Chat Noir’s—Adrien’s—eyes widened.  But then his gaze softened, and he shook his head with a smile.

“I should’ve known you’d figure me out.  You’ve already done it once in your sleep.”

She blinked.  “I did?  And—and I’m right?”

She’d been sure, but it was still another thing to hear him admit it.

And it was yet another thing to hear “claws in.” To see green lightning crackle over over him, unmasking Adrien’s tender face.

The electricity had barely faded before she flung her arms around him.

“Woah!”  He laughed before hugging her back just as tightly.  “You know, I think I should be jealous.  You never hugged Chat Noir like this.”

“That’s not true.  I definitely hugged you tighter after we fought the Scrambler last week.”

“Huh.  I guess it just doesn’t have the same effect when I’m covered in egg whites.  Or maybe it’s because the suit isn’t in the way now.”

She was all too aware of that.  His bare hands were warm on her back, even through her pajama shirt.  Her face was tucked in the crook of his neck, where she could drink in his scent unobscured by the leather suit.

“Sniffing me again?”  He wiggled his eyebrows.

She flushed at being caught.  Adrien her friend from school might not have called her out for it, but Adrien her partner of two years would.  Well, two could play at that game.

“Oh, like you haven’t sniffed me before.  Besides, I can’t help it that you smell radiant, carefree, and dreamy.”

He looked mortified.  “That commercial was over a year ago!  Even Wayhem forgot about that!”

“Wayhem probably didn’t watch it two hundred and fifty-five times.”

“...I can’t tell which one of us should be more embarrassed about that.”

“Probably me,” she admitted.  “What was your point again?”

“Either we both get sniffing rights, or neither of us does.  That’s fair.”

She laughed, nuzzling deeper into his neck.  “Fine.  But I probably just smell wet.”

He buried his nose in her hair and breathed in, tickling the part of her hair.  “Don’t worry.  You smell perfect.”

Maybe it should’ve been an awkward compliment, but he still found herself giddy over it.

“Thank you.  You smell like cheese.”

“Hey!”  He pouted.  “What happened to ‘radiant, carefree, and dreamy’?”

“She gave you a compliment, kid. What’s more radiant than cheese?”  Plagg asked.

Marinette nearly screamed.  She should’ve realized he was there, but he’d blended into the shadows in the wake of Adrien’s detransformation.

“Plagg!”  Adrien hissed.  “Go inside with Tikki.  We’re having a moment.”

“Yeah, whatever.”  Plagg dismissively waved a paw.  “You got any cheese in there for me, Pigtails?”

“Uh—Tikki can get you some cheese-filled pastries from downstairs.  Don’t let my parents see you.”

“They’ll never know I was there.  Unless they notice a plate of those delicious treats is gone.” The kwami grinned and dove through the floor.  

Well, that was about all she could expect.  Hopefully Tikki could keep him under control.  If not, Marinette might have to fake a rat infestation.

“Sorry about him.” Adrien sighed.  “He’s always like that.”

“Could’ve been worse.  Imagine if you were stuck with Xuppu or Roarr as your kwami.”

He laughed.  “Pretty sure my father would have grounded me for life if he saw the mess.  Or he would’ve found out my identity.  Probably both.”

Chat had been there the one day Marinette decided to let the monkey and tiger kwamis outside of the miracle box.  She’d actually had to transform and use her Lucky Charm just to undo the damage.  

“Speaking of which… I knew it was only a matter of time, but how did you learn my identity?”  He asked.  “If I need to be more careful…”

She shook her head.  “It’s not that.  I… I don’t know if I can even explain it.  At first I thought it was just wishful thinking.  Ever since we spent the night at Mr. Ramier’s apartment, I…”

She blushed and bit her lip.  Getting caught sniffing him might have been embarrassing, but admitting this somehow felt more personal.

“What?” He asked.  “Is it because I smelled the same as Chat and myself?”

“Huh?  No—well, sort of?  Maybe subconsciously.”

“Oh.  That’s what you said while you were sleeptalking.”  He shrugged.

“I guess that makes sense, since… well, I’ve been dreaming about you.  Both of you.”  

She took a deep breath.  He was still waiting patiently, his hand softly stroking her back.  If he didn’t think she was crazy yet, she guessed this wouldn’t change his mind.

“You were always the same person in my dreams.  You’d switch back and forth between Adrien and Chat Noir.  “Chat” would sit in front of me at school, or “Adrien” would help me bring down a scary akuma. Either way, it was always you.

“And then I couldn’t help looking for similarities when I was awake.  I—I started writing down all the evidence I found.  The time “Chat” almost beat me at Ultimate Mecha Strike was when I started to actually believe it.  But what finally convinced for sure me was your laugh.”

She laced her fingers together in her lap to keep from fidgeting.  All of it sounded weirder when she said it out loud.  Almost like she’d been stalking him, sticking all of their casual interactions under a microscope.

“Wow,” he breathed, leaning back against the wall.  “I’m flattered that you went through all that effort, but I don’t get it.  The only reason I didn’t reveal myself sooner was because I was afraid it would put more stress on you, and you were already dealing with so much.  Why didn’t you just ask me who I was?”

She stared into his eyes, watching the pastel lights reflect in them.  He still didn’t know.  All these secrets shared, all these weights lifted, and she still hadn’t revealed the one secret she’d wanted to confess all along.

“Because…” she licked her lips, “because I didn’t want to be wrong.  If you weren’t Adrien—I didn’t want to project my old crush onto you.  You deserve better than that.  Though I guess it doesn’t matter now, since I wasn’t projecting after all, it is you and so I should. Just be able to say this.”

He blinked at her, but then his lips began to part in a slow smile.

“Are you saying…?”

“I’m saying I’m in love with you,” she blurted before she could lose her nerve again.  “First Adrien you, then Chat Noir you, then just, well, you.  So—so jot that down.”

A startled laugh escaped him before he squeezed her tight again.

“Consider it jotted.”  He kissed the top of her head, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.  As if she wasn’t going to dissolve at the faintest sign of lip-on-hair contact.  “And in case it wasn’t obvious, I’m in love with all of you too.  So you can jot that down.”

It shouldn’t have undone her.  Chat Noir had confessed his love to her countless times.  Granted, all of those times had been before their battle with Miracle Queen, after which he’d obviously tried to move on.

But he still loved her.  She wasn’t too late.  

Maybe that relief was what pushed her to grab the collar of his shirt in both hands and press her mouth to his.

Her brain screamed, but her lips slowly figured out what to do, particularly when Adrien got over his shock and kissed her back.

Adrien. Holding her in his arms. Kissing her back.

She wasn’t sure if the sound she heard was the rain or the roaring in her ears or just her internal screaming. But it didn’t matter. For the first time, they were really, finally together, no secrets or fears between them. That truth was just as sweet as the kiss.

He finally pulled back, the front of his shirt damp where he’d been pressed against her. From the wide grin on his face, he didn’t mind.

“Will I get that kind of kiss every time I tell you I love you?”

“I don’t know.”  She tapped her lips. “It might be worth finding out.”

“I love you, my La—”

She cut him off with her mouth on his.

All that time waiting, every failed attempt at confessing her feelings, slipped away like the rain off the slick balcony railing.

When the sky finally cleared, she woke to them tangled together, slumped against that same railing.  She had a crick in her neck, and she’d probably end up with a cold from sleeping in her wet clothes.  But it still felt worth it to look up into Adrien’s blissful face.  Somehow she’d woken up before him—probably because her clothes had been more uncomfortable, since his were dry where his suit had covered them.

“Are you going to give me any juicy secrets in your sleep?”  She asked before kissing the side of his jaw.

His only response was to hum and hug her.

“I guess that’s a no.”  She chuckled.  “No fair.  I shouldn’t be the only one embarrassing myself in this relationship.”

Relationship.  She could’ve exploded into confetti just thinking about it.

“Mmm… love you… m’lady.”

Her breath caught at his slurred voice.

“...Well I guess I can’t complain about that.”

She rested her head back on his chest, and let the dripping remnants of rain from the gutters lull her back to sleep.

[gillian-greenwood]

My Episode 7 Predictions!

Mother of God! How have these weeks passed by so fast?! I've decided to share what I think will be answered tomorrow night and some of the fates of our beloved characters! The series has gotten off to an even bigger success than it's predecessor and EVERYONE'S talking about it! Without further ado, let's see what I'm predicting!

Who's H/fourth man (or woman) and will we find out?

The question that's on the nation's minds. That has been boggling us since 2017... My personal prediction still stands as CC Philip Osborne, however... I think he's purely sitting on his arse and pulling the strings, whilst others are doing his dirty work. Those people are Patricia Carmichael: who in all honesty I'm manifesting isn't actually bent but is so career driven and a bit of a lick arse that she's just taking orders and not questioning anything, plus she doesn't think much of Ted either... I have joked that she's been shagging Osborne on the side which would be quite funny. I also believe Buckells has been Osborne's true scape goat for years. Someone as laid-back and unpassionate as Buckells is easily manipulated - I mean how the hell has he become a super? As Steve rightfully says, he couldn't order a piss up in a brewery. Seeing the connections go well back into the early noughties whilst Buckells was part of an oasis tribute band, it's an easy conclusion to make. Lastly I will mention Thurwell, now I think Thurwell may have been more involved on his own doing anyway but I think he'd still been pretty busy doing things on behalf of Osborne up until his alleged death in sunny Spain (Belfast but shh). I know a lot of people still think Buckells, some reckon pas-agg Pat is the top woman... and a few still think our beloved Kate is 'H'.

Now the other part of my point is actually finding out... I think us as viewers will certainly know the identity of this mysterious individual. But, I think we'll find out in the very last few seconds and poor AC12 won't be any the wiser which will open up the foundations for a possible series 7. I think a lot of things will be answered for us viewers but not everything for the characters. I know that if they had a series 7 there would be an other primary focus but I just think it would be clever. Just like how we found out as viewers at the end of series 1 that Dot was a wrong'un.

Is Thurwell really dead?

I'm still very amazed by the whole induction of Jimmy Nesbitt as a series of photos. I know we were supposed to have a secretive guest actor appearance and I believe it was Robert Carlyle's name floating about which would have been insane! But that moment we saw Jimmy, I yelled at the screen. So, this answers the question of seeing a character that had only been mentioned previously - which has been very much hiding in plain sight. Even with a rewatch, I had forgotten about Thurwell and therefore hadn't even considered him. But, I did mention the list from series 3 which did loosely tie in. Anyway, when we learned that Thurwell and his Mrs were now dead and clearly had been for a while - it was cleverly shot so we didn't see who it was, only the Spanish Police's word. You know, I think if we were to get a series 7, Thurwell could appear and he's in fact not dead. It's very rare you get a very well known actor in for something so small without it leading to bigger things. Although, they got Andi Osho, a very much loved comedian in purely for archival photos and videos... I do feel that Thurwell could have easily been on the other end of the fake MSN, and doing Osborne's dirty work - especially with the Spanish connection. In a BTS photo we have seen a clue to a piece of paperwork regarding a time share (Spain mentioned) in front of Kate which will likely have a connection to Thurwell and Spain. I think he's possibly still alive but we'll see...

Joanne Davidson

Kelly Macdonald has been welcomed with a very warm reception. Wow, her connection to Tommy Hunter (albeit disturbing, homozygous DNA... nasty business) was not something I ever expected although I guessed very much so when we learned of the DNA match with a nominal. Would I define her as bent? I mean in layman's terms, yes she is. However each guest star has had a very complicated relationship with the definition - all have done dodgy things and usually for good reason... But I do sympathise with her because of her background, born into trouble, it was very hard to escape - even if her mum took her to Scotland for a life away from it all. From the very start of her career she was doing the OCG's bidding and it transpires she was in the police on Tommy's orders - so very much another caddy. I do feel Jo had always wanted to be a good person and do right and in some ways she did - however she's in too deep. Next I'll mention her relationship with Kate and it's something I'd never have predicted. A lot of suggestive and sapphic behaviour from the off. Now, I do think Jo cares deeply for Kate and has developed strong feelings - and I think Kate deep down has also but I don't think anything will happen sadly. And that's more for the fact that they had run out of track before they could even get going as so much has happened. Kate's gonna save Jo when her transport gets ambushed, that's a given... but I don't think we'll see anything happen that we want to happen. I hope I'm very wrong and we get something but with the hour we've got I don't think it'll be the case. And as for her fate? I think she'll survive. Guest leads usually die, eventually... with the exception of Roz who's serving time with one arm in Brentiss. Giving how unfortunate her life has been from her conception, I think it'll do her justice to escape with her life. Witness protection? Hmm perhaps... Although I think she's done enough dodgy stuff to warrant a prison stretch. Will she be instrumental in revealing who the fourth dot is? Well yeah actually, I think she grew up thinking Thurwell was her dad... and of course having connections to both Osborne and Buckells. Jo joined the force just before the turn of the millennium so would have been a copper when the Lawrence Christopher case occurred in 2003. Even though not directly working with them, I'm sure she knew what was going on and would have come across Osborne and Buckells at that time. I have a strong inkling that she knows exactly who she's been talking to and has been under their wing since the start. If she dies I will be gutted.

Kate

Where are we going with Kate? Well she's just killed Ryan (lawfully) and has gotten away with it. But Carmichael isn't thick... and nor is Steve and Ted. They all know but I think that'll be that for now. For ages I thought she was gonna D word but I think she's gonna be alright now. I hope that somehow she gets back into anti-corruption permanently because that's where she's best suited. I'm shocked that she hasn't had a glass box spectacular - my predictions for her to be accused of being bent and all that were way off the mark... and not a single mention of the two dying declarations... With only an hour tomorrow and so much to deal with, I guess that's not going to be mentioned. And Kate ain't gonna be sanctioned either. But, there's always opportunity with a series 7... She'll definitely be back in AC12, interviewing... I can't see all the BTS photos being Jed Herrings. But we'll see tomorrow!

Steve

Poor Steve eh? He's not had an easy time of it. Addicted to painkillers as I rightfully predicted, unable to trust his gaffer, torn on a transfer and a up and down friendship with his 'mate'. Oh and the car, actually let's not talk about the Mazda... Anyhow I believe that Steve will talk about his back and recent struggles with meds after a lot of emails from occupational health. Will he get pulled off the job at the last second because he didn't book an appointment... yeah I think that might happen and Kate takes his place or something. But there is a counsellor or something credited so I'm pretty certain on that. Will he lose his long overdue promotion? It's possible! I don't think the test was going to come back as a fail but more of a cause for concern - just that the levels of codeine etc in his system was higher than it should and it would be best advised to talk to someone. We haven't seen much pill taking going on since the drugs test so has Steve been going cold turkey? Or have they just veered away from that part of the story? In all fairness he's appeared fine with his back since the Windermere convoy - he ran across an industrial estate... I mean. I hope Steve gets a glimmer of hope and happiness because he rightfully deserves it. Ever since the start he's had his fair sharing of aggro and he deserves a break. I do think however he may be partly responsible for nailing the final nails into Ted's coffin - especially after he discovered the 50K up Merseyside and the truth from Lee Banks. I think he could be potentially happy with Steph, it would be nice for something to happen with them but we'll see. Steve needs a big hug.

Ted

This is going to pain me saying it. But, I don't think Ted is going to make it to the end. His retirement is inevitable. I can see the argument of the retirement being rescinded if they unmask the fourth dot etc and solve stuff but realistically, he's past retirement age. He's so focused on getting to the end of this marathon that I don't think he will see it through and know who it is - because he'll... yeah I don't need to say it. How? I've been saying his heart is gonna pack in. He's going to be in deep trouble over that 50k because Steve and Kate know the truth. But why would the likes of Carmichael find out... Well we've seen a clue of 'definate' on some paperwork - I reckon Ted by coincidence also makes this spelling mistake often as it is one of the most commonly misspelt words and therefore will be in the 'H' running again - he wont be 'H' as I reckon Osborne makes the same mistake... He alleges he misspelt it cos he studied the texts carefully but I think he spelt it how he usually would. They'll all go down the wrong path and accuse him which will lead to his ultimate downfall. Another little teaser is Steve appearing to listen to Ted's 2019 glass box spectacular however notably Carmichael says AC12 interview and not AC3... so mixing two different interviews to tease us? Maybe Ted might feel he has no choice but to sacrifice his career for the truth. However it all gets too much. Lies cost lives... I can't see Ted going on from beyond here and Ted was always supposed to be a minor character until he was very well received by the audience and he was made a main character. Realistically, his story is told and he's at his endgame. I hope he survives, by god I do... He's one of the most loved fictional characters at present. But I have a really bad feeling and I'm worried! It seems a total Jed thing to do for Ted to meet his end without ever finding the truth... seeing that's what his heart has been set on for about four years... I'm sorry to even be going there but it's what I think will happen. And I want to be wrong.

Miscellaneous Predictions

I want to round this all off with other little points. Carmichael won't be bent, maybe still involved with anti-corruption, you love to hate her, there's so much more they could do with her character. I don't think Steph's dodgy at all, she's just a widow whose been helped out by Ted in an unlawful way. I think her and Steve would be well suited. I hope Chloe will get to the end and continue on in anti-corruption, she's got a lot of potential. If Osborne isn't sussed, I reckon he'll still be CC. DCC Wise isn't bent either, just getting on with her job. But if Osborne does get caught and I'm wrong, there will be a lot of chaos for both him and Wise. Farida gets out of jail and starts afresh. Buckells I reckon will get out but won't be apart of the police force anymore. Lomax isn't bent, just a regular cop trying to get the work done. The rest of Jackie's remains will be found under the workshop floor, maybe with someone else? God knows who. Or maybe with some evidence that helps lead AC12 on the right track. Steve will still be an officer and Kate will be back where she belongs. There's probably more but my head hurts.

Will there be a series 7?

Yes.

Thank you all for reading my jumbled thoughts all packed into a text post. I'm nervous but excited for tomorrow night's finale. Let's see if I get anything right... probably not...