#I started having a migraine this afternoon but we had a family dinner I was looking forward to | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

scarletshnoz · 2 years ago

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Sally XL (2/5)

Sally posed around in the mirror, frowning and cringing all the while.

'I look like I've put on ten pounds! I've never had bloating this bad… Though I guess I've never really gotten it from eating… Sonic was right though, that salad wasn't even that big…

She scratched her head through her amber locks.

...maybe I'm allergic to something they put in it?'

The princess wandered back onto her couch, noting the alien feeling of the softness covering her butt squashing up against the cushion and flattening. She debated going to see Dr. Quack for some allergy tests as she'd realized she'd actually never had that done before. In her teenage years she'd obviously had neither the time nor resources when fighting to save Mobius from the original Ivo and when having limited rations to survive on allergens weren’t really something that crossed her mind… not that the veggies they had to farm would have been anyway. Though, she didn't feel anything other than puffy. No sore throat, eyes, migraine, lightheadedness … still though, if there was some oil or sauce or pesticide out there that would make her inflate this much whenever she accidentally ate it then maybe she'd best know to avoid it. She would swing by the Tommy Turtle memorial hospital, but… not until tomorrow. She'd rather not leave the castle or even her room until this went back down. The only times Sally ever covered up were when a mission meant she’d need protection from the elements or for special occasions where a dress was expected, she knew she didn’t have any casual baggy clothing that could conceal this.

She stayed seated on her sofa, unsure of what to do with the rest of her evening. She did notice she was hungry, which made sense she supposed… it may have been due to a sudden drop in her blood sugar but it was most likely that it was just because Sally usually ate dinner around this time. She realized deep down that she was overreacting but she didn't want anyone to see her like this. While she knew dinners with the rest of her family were soon going to become a special event again as she had returned to active duty she didn't want to take the chance of any of them noticing and commenting. She decided she would order delivery from somewhere, though most places that did delivery didn't have the healthiest selections and apparently even the healthiest now risked upsetting her stomach to the point where the bloating looked like she had doubled her body fat percentage.

'I'm pretty sure it's an allergy thing, but if not I'm going to have to start asking Sonic if I can pick the restaurants more often.’

If not for some sort of food intolerance this bloating must somehow be the lone work of the overabundance of balsamic in her meal this afternoon, she had already noted that the lack of restraint with portions spread even into the salad.

‘After his guilt tripping today I’m sure that’ll be a fun conversation…’

Sally rolled her eyes as she thought.

It seems even the healthiest options in New Mobotropolis’s back water establishments were still somewhat rigged. Speaking of… she felt quite greasy, uncomfortably so.

'I'll take a quick bath before the food gets here.'

She planned, she would just be ordering another salad and she had grown very familiar and attached to the options at Uncle Chuck's at this point.

She called in.

"Uncle Chuck's, what can we get you?"

The robotic voice of Sonic's father Jules rang through Sally's pointed ear.

"Hey Jules! Just a large caesar salad please, to the castle obviously. "

"Sally? It's delivery? You know you can always stop by."

The robian offered warmly.

"Oh, um sorry. Think I'm spending the night in..."

She answered awkwardly, realizing she probably should have come up with an actual excuse to avoid looking rude to her boyfriend's father and family friend.

"Alright hon, well we won't have any trouble finding the address."

"Well I should hope not."

The chipmunk bantered back.

Sally took a quick glance down at herself, fixating on how her boobs were now peeking out farther than the distance where her chin was resting as her neck bent downward. Her breasts ends were nearly where her nose was now on the x axis.

‘Maybe I’m actually eating too many greens…’

She begrudgingly pondered to herself before realizing Mr.Hedgehog would be hanging up now and quickly blurting out-

“Sorry, actually could I get a tuna salad instead?”

She said far more awkwardly than she intended.

“Oh, sure hon. Expect it in fifteen, take care dear."”

Jules said, knowing her well enough to know the crack in her voice was a little unusual but thought nothing of it. He hung up.

About ten minutes later Jules approached the table seating his wife and son. After the near apocalypse of the metal virus and with another commercial-like few months without a looming threat his father had noticed Sonic spending a lot more time with the family. He would savour it, knowing said months were probably nearing their end.

"A large tuna salad for a…

He jokingly pretended to squint his artificial eyes at the order.

...Sally Acorn, figured you'd want to be a delivery boy again for this one."

Sonic smiled.

"Meh, I guess I could for old times sake. I'm surprised she didn't do take-out though."

"I told her we'd be happy to see her."

Jules cleared himself.

"She must be busy with royal affairs, so I should be back pretty quick."

He looked to his mother, whom he had just been in the middle of a conversation with. Before grabbing the paper bag containing the salad and speeding off out the door.

With his super speed Sonic ran straight up the castle walls and vaulted over the rail of the princess’s balcony.

He knocked on the glass doors with a smile.

Sally stepped out of the bathroom with a towel around her brick red hair. Her eyes widened at the sight of Sonic eagerly waiting for her to open the door as he often did.

‘Of course.’

She moaned

‘Why did I have to order from chucks?’

The princess mentally smacked herself.

“Long time no see princess”

The blue one greeted as she opened the door.

“Since when are you doing deliveries again?”

She asked, frowning.

“I’m not, just happened to be at unc’s when you ordered. Why, not happy to see me?”

He joked.

Sally struggled to find an excuse that Sonic wouldn’t immediately realize was a lie. The fact that she had just clearly gotten out of the bath meant she couldn’t pretend she was up to something urgent.

"I'm uh… actually not feeling well now."

She answered, figuring the classic would serve her best. She tried to rush him back out onto the balcony before they broke eye contact. Obviously out of everyone Sonic would be the first to notice any changes in her body, she needed him out asap.

"And I didn't want to get anybody sick, including you… so 'git!"

She took the bag and began pushing Sonic back out onto the balcony. Only for her to almost fall forward as he whipped around behind her in the blink of an eye.

"Aw don't sweat it Sal, it's kinda my job to be here for you."

He waved, guiding her by her shoulders back onto her sofa.

She groaned, there was nothing she could do now. Sonic was as stubborn as she was and the more she insisted he leave the more suspicious she'd look.

She sat her large salad bowl on her lap, hoping that would be enough cover her puffiness. Apparently the warm water had done nothing to soothe the bloating, she still felt her thin new airbags need to deflate on impact of the cushion.

Sonic took her feet in his hands, rubbing them thoroughly. Sally cringed as he advanced to her calves, worried he'd notice the extra softness.

"Anything else I can get you Sal? Ginger soda or something'?"

"Just some warm water."

She answered with a faint smile. Despite their bickering he was a great boyfriend when he wasn’t actively trying to annoy her, which made her feel guilty to lie to him… even over something so trivial.

Within a millisecond he was back with the mug and a tv tray.

"Do the folks know you're sick?"

He asked before rubbing her shoulders.

"No, whenever I'm sick daddy acts like I have something terminal. I don't need to waste Dr.Quacks time when I know it's just a cold or a flu."

She explained, pulling from truth to aid her lie. Sally's face then contorted into a crooked smile as she let out a satisfied sigh, Sonic’s massage had reached her scalp and temples while she enjoyed her salad. She was royalty, she could have people pamper her like this any time but she would feel bad abusing her status like that. If it was just Sonic however she didn't feel so bad…

'I should pretend to be sick more often.'

She thought to herself, the temporary guilt of her lie had faded when Sonic got a knot out of her back.

Sonic had brought a puke bucket and some acetaminophen over to Sally (although she said she had already taken some), before seating himself next to her as they briefly watched some cheesy romcom.

Sally had finished her dinner and he'd soon be offering to throw the garbage out for her, she devised a way to get Sonic to leave without having to remove the large paper bowl from her lap. She immediately pretended to doze off like she'd had hours ago, letting her head slump to her shoulder.

Sonic looked at the 'slumbering' princess. Something hadn't seemed right since he'd arrived, Sally was acting funny.

Regardless he still had an obligation to be a good partner. He took the garbage from out of her lap, to which Sally cursed under her breath. He went to pick her up but paused for a moment, something seemed a little different about Sally… her body? Yeah, her body seemed different somehow. Sonic’s brain was already running through the possibilities to explain the weird differences in Sally’s behaviour, if this was an imposter then that would explain the indiscernible difference in her body type. Sonic squinted to Sally’s discomfort, then he realized. The princess’ near anorexic build had filed out a little bit, less boney and softer around the edges.

‘Bloating maybe? Nah, it’s not the end of the month yet...’

Sonic found it hard to believe that Sally of all people could’ve put on a few.

But as he reached for her he confirmed that she was softer to the touch. He lifted her into his arms and noted she was the littlest bit heavier.

'Must've been why she didn't want me seeing her.'

He rolled his eyes, having thought something was actually wrong. Her putting on a few was karmic as far as he was concerned. Apparently she had struggled to notice it as well, otherwise their lunch date would have been in jeopardy earlier today.

Sonic chuckled, maybe she did already know then…

‘Maybe she was projecting.”

The hedgehog sniggered.

It would make sense given she had spent the past few months with little exercise in recovery.

Sally continued cursing internally as Sonic brought her to her bed, laying her down and planting a kiss on her cheek. He paused for a moment, Sally didn’t quite have her usual flowery scent. Definitely still smelled nice though… kind of like… chili???

‘No way.’

He thought to himself. An intense hunger pain interrupted his confusion. His stomach had not calmed down over the evening, despite the fact that he ran back to his family's restaurant to pick himself up some chilidogs and let his mother know that he would be taking care of Sally the rest of the evening. It still felt as though he’d eaten next to nothing today. Sonic did notice the taste of tuna was stronger in his mouth than it ought to have been from just the single bite his girlfriend let him have. He looked to the ring, still planted on Sally’s petite (by mobian standards) finger. He then looked to his own. He developed a theory, it was kind of ridiculous but Sonic had encountered stranger things of a similar nature. He took off back to his house. Currently unoccupied, he could pull a bunch of the Hedgehog’s snack foods from their cupboard without further questions from his parents. He rushed back up through the balcony doors, with almost more junk food than he could carry. Sonic knew the proposition would sound ridiculous and he would likely end up hurting Sally’s feelings by pointing out her slight gain if he were wrong (which would not quite be funny enough to die over). Though, on second thought… No, he would still have to test this without her permission.

Luckily for him whilst pretending to sleep Sally had actually slipped off for real in her continued lethargy.

Sonic took out a package of chocolate chip cookies and scarfed the thirty-plus sugary treats down, he noted that the emptiness of his stomach still felt not even the slightest bit better. There seemed to be no effect on the princess so he continued his little experiment. Sonic opened a container of leftover pizza he'd had in the fridge and plowed through the five slices. Sonic continued through more of the foods he had happened to have quick access to. After gobbling down a couple hot pockets and a few slices of cheesecake Sally’s middle seemed to be jutting out more than it had when he'd first laid her down. He pressed his hand against his resting girlfriend's tummy. His hand sunk only the slighted bit before pressing against a buoyant, stuffed stomach. Sonic's eyes were now glued to the princess's middle. Further inspecting he quickly wolfed down more of his pile, with each pretzel, sponge cake and chip bag he watched in amazement as her stomach would suddenly press outward more and more. It continued reaching out farther and farther from her pelvis. Sonic stopped, satisfied and astonished. He had definitely packed her more than he needed to but he had to make sure he wasn't just imagining things. Sally's tummy looked like someone had inflated it with a pump. Sonic took his own ring off and looked at what remained of his mountains of snacks. He quickly shovelled them down his throat and by the time he was through it all it had felt like he'd actually eaten something.

"Oooho, finallyyyy."

He moaned in relief. It hadn't been his usual portion size but it felt good to have something in his stomach, that plus the tuna salad Sally had apparently eaten for him was at least enough to quell the aching.

"So the rings swap our stomachs."

Sonic pondered in a whisper.

'And apparently our metabolisms too. If Sally could take in all the food I ate today and still be hungry enough for dinner she must've digested it as fast as I would’ve, which explains where the extra padding came from.'

The hedgehog deduced.

'I could probably burn all that off for her and I wouldn't have to feel bad about feeding her junk food, a straight twenty minutes of just running past the sound barrier would be more than overkill.-

-but…”

He grinned mischievously.

“If it can be fixed so easily, might as well have some fun with it first.'

He loomed over the slumbering chipmunk in the moonlight, placing his hand on her belly. It felt like an overinflated basketball.

“Let's see how quick she is to laugh when it's her with the 'potbelly'.”

He snickered, putting his ring back on so Sally's body would take the calories more efficiently. He noticed her brows were cringed as she slept, she was likely uncomfortable with her stomach so tight. He grazed his hand smoothly across her underbelly, caressing it to relieve some of the pressure. He had to rub gently so as to not wake her, but after a solid minute he noticed she was sleeping more peacefully.

Adorable little hiccups began escaping her, Sonic smiled warmly down at her before closing the balcony doors behind him. He would be making sure to have a late night snack tonight.

___

Sunlight peeked through the princess' thin blinds and rested on her beautiful face. She slowly came to, tossing her forearm over her face to give her eyes some shade. When she became conscious enough she flopped her arm back onto the mattress, revealing her annoyed expression. She couldn't believe she had accidentally fallen asleep twice, she had practically lost half her day yesterday. The only solace was that hopefully her bloating had gone down. She sat herself up but was immediately stopped by a strange discomfort in her middle.

Her heart sank and her eyes widened as she looked down, her stomach was scrunching. One hand slapped over her mouth as she gasped, the other poking her new slight underbelly, it bulged out with fat compressed from the folding of her abdomen. With the way it curved back down into her abdominal wall just above her crotch it wouldn't be unfair to say it looked like the beginnings of a roll. She began tracing fingers through this surreal new shallow fold… it looked like a crack in her middle. Evidently this new discomfort was the sensation of her body rubbing against itself. Springing upright evenly redistributed this alien fat through her center, killing the fold… yet it came right back each time she manically hunched back over.

She leaped out of her bed and sprinted to her bathroom mirror, confirming her fears. Yesterday's bloating looked as though it had doubled. Well, it was obvious now that it wasn't bloating…

"I'm getting fatter."

She said faintly in disbelief, leaning over the sink as her big blue eyes stared into her reflection.

Her stomach now had a slight outward arc and sucking in only gave more prominence to that little underbelly. It required more effort for her fingertips to reach the stiffness of a rib, any sense of muscle definition had been lost completely as her thighs and upper arms were now noticeably swollen. Her collarbones were still visible between her broadened shoulders but just barely and only closest to where they met. Her upper arms looked thicker as well with a layer of creamy 'unsculpted muscle' covering her triceps. The itchy panic-inducing feeling of folding plagued her sides as she bent from left to right as her now pronounced love handles squished up against the puffiness arcing over her rib/sternum line and the bottoms of her armpits. Her almost nonexistent chest had blown up like water balloons, going up a cup size at the very least. Each breast had expanded into teardrop-esque shapes. She could even feel the tip of her tail poking out atop a higher spot on her back than usual, she swiveled around to confirm her inflated butt cheeks had sent it upward to a different angle. The inward dent of her glutes had been filled in and forgotten as well, the result of countless workouts gone just like that. She didn't seem to be overweight, however she was now at the high edge of the average weight range… a day ago she was dangerously close to underweight. In silence… Unable to process what had happened to her she hopped her now athletically thick body slightly in the air, with less jiggling than she would've expected aside from her bust. The cellulite clung as densely as it could to the muscle it now surrounded, she at least wasn't flabby. She looked and felt like a girl who had the respectable workout regime that she did, if just kept eating one too many cupcakes. That realization had understandably done little to calm the poor girl down; however. She needed a scale. Hunched over she began ravaging through the drawers of her bathroom, cringing at both the continuous scrunching of her stomach and how far she could feel her derriere sticking out behind her. Every towel, razor and shampoo bottle had been knocked over before she focused back in and smacked herself harder than she'd intended. The scale was behind the toilet.

She stepped on it, dreading the result. The digital numbers read.

'141 mlb'

Twenty seven pounds. Twenty seven mobian pounds higher than what she weighed last time she had checked.. and presumably what she had weighed less than twenty four hours ago. It was obvious what was causing this, it was the only possible explanation. She chastised herself for chalking it up to mere bloating before.

Sally gripped the ring on her right pinky with her left hand, expecting it to slide off seamlessly. Instead it instantly snagged against the flesh on her finger above.

"You've got to be kidding me…"

She huffed under her breath, apparently even her fingers were thicker now than when they were when she had first dawned this stupid golden band.

She yanked as hard as she could, ignoring the pain but the ring only dug more and more into the meat on her finger. If she pulled any more she'd suffer a dislocation or even fillet her poor digit.

She realized she needed to either call for help or leave her living quarters looking like this to search for some lubricant and pliers herself.

She immediately began debating between reaching Bunnie or Nicole. Then she realized-

"Sonic!"

He was wearing the same ring, she chastised herself for not immediately worrying for his well being. He could be suffering the same effect, his 'fast metabolism' would likely not protect him from apparently magic carbs. She had to get a hold of him first, this was her fault after all.

_______

Sonic laid back against his bed, relaxed and reading a comic book.

His ear perked at the sound of his communicator beeping.

*Bpp bpp bpp!*

He took a wild guess who was calling and why.

"Sonic, the rings!"

Sally's panicked voice shouted.

"What about 'em?"

He feigned ignorance, his voice sounded completely innocent.

"I-I… what do you mean what about them!?"

The princess sounded completely baffled.

"Take yours off, come over."

She ordered, he noticed her voice was shaky.

"On my way."

He responded.

Within a minute Sonic paced through the already open doors of her balcony.

"Sal?"

He asked, peeking in, ready to take a look at his own handiwork. Sally was leaning against the back of her couch frowning.

She gestured to herself as if to say 'well..?'

She didn't want Sonic to see her like this, but with the chance that he too may have been affected she had to bare it. False alarm though, he seemed the exact same.

Sally however looked, if Sonic had to describe it: broader.

"Huh."

"Yeah, huh!"

The princess panicked. She winced as Sonic poked her middle.

"I thought the same thing was happening to you!"

The princess threw her arms out.

"Huh? Oh nah, I already figured these out."

He held his ring out in the palm of his hand.

"Come again?"

Sally cocked an eyebrow, why was he being so nonchalant?

"Yeah it's weird, when we're both wearing them it's like we switch guts. If I eat something it ends up in your stomach and you digest it quick, like if you had my stomach. I was starving yesterday and I couldn't figure out why."

He chuckled.

'Well, at least that means I won't be getting any bigger…'

She thought.

...She thought.

She had hoped merely taking the ring off would reverse her gain but that seemed pretty unlikely now.

"Okay. So you just have to put the ring back on and not eat anything for a couple days, with your metabolism this should melt off me."

She planned, calming down somewhat as she rubbed her temples.

"Oh, yeah! I was just going to run around a bunch and see if that worked."

"We can try that too!"

She smiled awkwardly.

Sonic’s already unusually coy expression deeppend. He leaned in to Sally's surprise, his nose touching hers. He smiled.

"On one condition."

"What!?"

She was taken back by that.

"We have a proper date at Uncle Chuck's. No healthy options, you're going to actually try the juicy stuff. The stuff people actually come for."

He said as authoritatively as he was physically capable of.

Sally's brows were pressed against each other and her mouth was agape.

"You're gonna finally experience the fun of pigging out a little, no reason not to now. Calories aren't a sweat anymore if we can just put these on and I can take them off for you."

He crossed his arms, still grinning.

"Are you serious!?"

She asked at a rather high volume, partially due to laughter… partially due to legitimate rage.

"Well if not, I could just keep my ring on twenty four seven. I'm guessing you can't get yours off or you'd've done it already…

He pointed to her thickened digit.

...so maybe you could see what it's like to really be chunky since you thought it was hi-larious with me."

He crossed his arms in victory.

Sally couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Sonic, you literally can't get away with this. Do you really want to have to explain to our families and our friends what you're doing? They're already going to notice, look at me!"

Sonic's smile deepened, making Sally even more uncomfortable. It was clear to the princess that he knew something she didn't.

"Hey. You, me and a large basket full of chilidogs… that's all it'll take to stop this."

He declared smugly before flipping off the balcony.

Sally ran to the guard rail.

"I'll dump you!"

Sonic merely laughed as he took off below.

Sally frowned, he'd called her bluff. Fine, two could play it that way.

She tossed on her sky blue boots and vest, both were squeezing her now. Her top was cutting off circulation from her armpits to her triceps as the jacket's arm holes were shaped to suit a thin woman. Sally’s boots had one problem spot as well, the band squeezed the upper calves and the bottom of her thighs… no discomfort anywhere else yet. Wanting as few people as she knew to see her, Sally took the same path to ground level as Sonic did. She jumped off the balcony and did a parkour roll as she landed on the cobblestone trails of New Mobotropolis. She noted the minor discomfort she would usually feel in her back and shoulder when landing from such a height had disappeared thanks to the extra cushion, though she had plummeted a little harder than she was accustomed to with the extra weight. Her knees had taken a bit of strain from the start of her landing, it was a further reminder that if Sonic wasn't just pulling her leg such feats would soon become impossible to her. The princess' eyes darted about as she power walked through the crisp morning air. She kept tugging her vest forward in the hopes of covering herself a little, though there was more of her to cover now and the piece was revealing to begin with. She found herself surprised at the lack of reactions from the citizens she passed. She was expecting some pointing and whispering amongst onlookers or at worst pictures being taken but she saw nothing of the sort.

'Maybe it isn't as noticeable as I thought.'

She hoped, continuing her quick strut.

Luckily she didn't bump into anyone she knew on her way down to the Hedgehog's house.

She knocked on the door and was met by Bernadette.

"Morning princess! What's up?"

She smiled, friendly as ever.

"Oh, just wanted to talk to you and Sonic about something."

She smirked.

She further opened the door, welcoming her inside.

"Maurice! I think you're in trouble!"

Bernadette called, her smile having deepened.

"Doubt it!"

He responded, stepping out of his room looking even more cocky than usual.

"No, you are."

Sally threatened with her arms crossed.

"What did he do?"

Bernie asked, her tone belied a healthy mixture of amusement and annoyance.

What else was she to feel watching her son and his long time girlfriend squabble in their twenties the exact same way they had when they were five. You'd think after all the trauma they'd suffered together over the years they'd be more understanding with one another, more mature. Nope.

"Notice anything different about me?"

The princess gestured to herself.

Bernie just stared at her with a blank expression.

"It's okay, you're not going to hurt my feelings."

She assured, but still Bernadette said nothing.

"...You're going to have to help me here honey."

The elder hedgehog frowned.

Sally laughed awkwardly again.

"No really, it's fine!"

The chipmunk reassured, tossing her hands up.

Bernadette merely shrugged.

'Is it seriously not that noticeable!?'

Sally had to ask herself. She was flabbergasted.

'It's almost thirty pounds!'

She continued internally.

"He was already asking me if you looked funny in his pictures of you, but I have no idea what you two are seeing."

She admitted. Sally: now pretty confused herself, swiveled her head back to Sonic.

"Well Sal… want to explain it to her?"

Sally huffed. If her growth somehow wasn't noticeable to anyone else then she would simply have to wait until it became… more noticeable.

"Or do you agree to my terms?"

He pressed coyly.

Bernie stood up wandering off to the living room.

"Alright I'm tapping out, you two are beyond me. Maurice, whatever you're doing stop it."

"Wanna try someone else?"

He leaned against the wall in a b-boy pose, clearly happy with himself.

"Bunnie will notice."

Sally threatened.

"Bunnie would think it's as funny as I do."

She folded, that was probably true.

"Fine Sonic, keep it going! Make it bad enough so that she'll notice."

Sally pointed to the rug room.

Sonic placed his head in his hand.

"This isn't the stalemate you think it is."

He cooed ominously.

"So, unc's at six?"

He offered.

"Ugh!"

Sally turned out the door.

"Taking that as a no!"

He called down the road.

___

Sally had arrived back in her room, she'd been lucky enough that only some guards had seen her. Not her parents, not her brother. She sat back on her couch pouting, further annoyed by the reappearance of the scrunching sensation. Days like today when her schedule wasn't booked up and there was no disaster to attend to were usually made busy through exercising and training.

"I guess there's no point in doing it now."

She realized as she growled.

She watched TV simply waiting to feel herself get fatter so she could go show everyone to tell on Sonic. While she knew Bunnie and Amy would be no help Antoine, Tails and Rotor would come to her aid since Sonic’s folks would be spending the rest of their day at the restaurant. She didn’t want to stroll into a densely crowded space looking like a whale. However, the mere folding of her middle and molding of her rear was doing nothing but making the squirming and sighing princess restless. The feeling of butterflies wouldn't go away, how could they with her impending doom? Maybe she didn't have to wait, maybe she didn't have to give Sonic the privilege of seeing her with a full spare tire. She knew other speedsters and other mobians with abilities that could possibly reverse Sally's expansion if given the ring. Maybe if she could get Sonic's ring out of his hands she could fix this without his blessing.

Sally quickly tossed a blanket over herself before calling-

"Nicole!"

Suddenly a green frame appeared before the princess and a dark brown lynx girl materialized onto it.

"Mhm?"

She smiled.

"I need you to do me a favor, can you keep an eye on Sonic?"

Nicole looked concerned.

"Oh, is something wrong?"

"He's just messing with me, he has a little ring that he knows I need. If he leaves it vulnerable let me know."

"Oookay?"

She cocked an eyebrow but she was smiling again.

"Don't ask."

Sally frowned, knowing Nicole was going to want more context.

"Okay."

Nicole didn’t press, she simply gave a thumbs up before dispersing into green pixels. Her consciousness returned to monitoring the kingdom.

Sally sighed as she tossed the blanket off, if she were to go with her plan B where she didn't have to humiliate herself to get Sonic yelled at then she was going to need to go back out at some point to take it from him. The longer this went on the more likely she was to be seen, and she still had to worry about getting bigger.

Sally browsed her wardrobe, frowning as it was only now she wished she covered up more frequently. If Bernadette genuinely hadn't noticed her new softness while it was all out there then maybe she could effectively hide it from everyone with the right clothing.

Unfortunately nearly her entire selection was comprised of similar blue vests and combat boots, aside from pajamas and nice 'princesses-y' dresses for special occasions. It was also now that she wished she had been more fashionable in general, more patterned or stylish clothes could help distract from this excess weight yet all she had was plain and practical. She didn't need to hide her body when she was hot and her natural beauty meant no fancy accessories were required to add to it. Her dark red locks, sad blue eyes and most importantly her toned body compensated for her complete lack of fashion sense.

'Ugh.'

She held her head, she needed to calm down a little. She was acting as if she would never be her old size again when in the worst case scenario, Sonic would just thin her back down whenever he stopped getting amusement out of this… which would be after maybe a few weeks...

Sally shut her dresser doors with a huff. Any of those clothes were going to be a little snug on her as she was already, and she was likely going to graduate from a medium to a large within the afternoon anyway if her other half had anything to say about it. Sally couldn’t feel it but she was sure hundreds of calories were already being pumped into her as she sat about here, being converted to fat at super speed.

The princess laid out her yoga mat, she could at least maintain her flexibility without having to worry about her boyfriend undoing her hard work.

She descended into splits, exhaling as she tried to relax a little.

"Sally-girl!"

A raspy, high-pitched southern accent called to her from behind her bedroom door. Sally's calm was instantly destroyed, she didn't want anymore people seeing her like this than was necessary and Bunnie was most likely to pick up on her expansion after Sonic. Instantly, before Sally could make it to her blanket a blonde rabbit simply strolled in towing some chicken noodle soup.

"Hi… Bunnie."

The princess greeted her best friend in an uncharacteristically awkward tone of voice.

"Hey hon, Sonic told me you were sick. Figured I could whip you up some broth."

'Of course he did…'

She muttered under her breath.

"Oh, you didn't have to Bun."

She smiled, taking the bowl and holding it up to her midriff.

"Yeah.. but 'ah never get to cook anything fer you, also 'ah just wanted to see how you were. You doin' yoga?"

She asked, slightly confused.

"Oh yeah, thought maybe it'd help me feel better. Didn't work."

Sally responded, reaching for the blanket on the sofa. Bunnie cocked an eyebrow at the strange uncertainty in Sally's answer. She knew her best friend and very rarely if ever did she come off as anything but confident, it was especially odd given that it was such a simple question.

Bunnie frowned.

"Sally-girl... yer not really sick, are you?"

"I-

Sally cut herself off, realizing how foolish it would be to try to continue to lie.

no…"

Maybe she would be going with plan A after all... Sally sat the soup down, revealing more of her middle.

"Obviously you can tell right?"

Sally waved hands to herself.

"Uhm…

The southern belle wiggled her index finger in front of her mouth.

Sally's mouth dropped and her eyes widened, Bunnie seriously looked confused.

"Bunnie!?"

Sally cried, completely offended.

"Wut!?"

The rabbit shouted defensively and in utter confusion. She put her hand to her head.

"Did you guys just always think I was fat!?"

Sally threw her hands out.

Bunnie paused, looking Sally over and trying to think of what exactly she was supposed to say.

"Sally girl, you know 'ah would be the first to tell you if you were putting on a few. But you look the exact same t'uh me."

Bunnie mustered as sincere a look as she could as she placed a hand on the chipmunks shoulder. Sally squinted, then her eyes widened again.

"Bunnie, you're actually serious aren't you?"

"Sheesh hon, what'd you go up by? Two pounds?"

Bunnie joked.

"I think you need your eyes checked. "

Sally responded bitterly.

"Well erm, Sally… maybe it's that yer just now noticing but you've always been a little bit broader than Amy and 'ah."

"What!? No I wasn't!? I was the skinniest!"

She yelled in utter shock at what was coming out of her best friend's mouth.

"Sal…"

Mrs.D'coolette merely smirked.

"You're helping Sonic aren't you?"

Sally accused as she leant in.

"I promise I'll eat your soup if you stop playing along."

Sally's voice sounded almost unhinged, Bunnie had seemed genuine but there was no possible explanation she of all people could have believed what she was saying.

Bunnie threw her hands up defensively.

"Sally-girl... yer freaking me out now."

"I was the maid of honour at your wedding! You know my dress size!"

"Yeah, you're a ten?"

Bunnie answered, now concerned for Sally’s mental health.

"I'm a two! I-

Sally was about to shout, insulted again before she paused… her expression went blank.

"Wait… Nicole!"

The holo-Lynx reappeared.

"Aren't I supposed to be spying on Sonic?"

Nicole chuckled (unlike Knuckles).

"What are y'all spying on sugah-hog for!?"

Bunnie asked.

"What was my weight the last time I had you run diagnostics on me?"

Sally questioned, completely ignoring Bunnie's own confusion for the moment.

“...”

"One hundred forty five pounds."

She replied nonchalantly.

"I'm gonna kill him."

Sally rubbed her temples.

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a-lonely-womans-dreams · 10 months ago

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Another beautiful evening with the roommates. I was supposed to visit my aunt and uncle but had to cancel due to a migraine. Two of my roommates held me while I cried from pain, overwhelm, and stress.

One roommate made dinner for all of us (we try to do one joint meal a week, usually I do most of the cooking but not tonight) and when the meal was almost ready she called us to clear the table for dinner. I responded with "yes mother!" teasingly, and she laughed and said "that's what friends are - mothers, aunties, daughters, sisters, and friends all at once." And my goodness, is she ever right. Truly, before this year I did not understand the depth of female joy through companionship.

We played a silly card game after dinner, and we laughed until we couldn't breathe. I wondered how it could be that this was the same day I'd had to be held while I cried. How can these beautiful people change my day so significantly?

After that, I was banned from doing dishes even though I hadn't cooked - the one who made dinner told me she was fully capable of doing dishes given she "hadn't cried or had a headache today". I put away my laundry and tidied my room, and I'll have a much better week for those extra 20 minutes.

We sat on the kitchen floor and chatted for an hour about our lives, dreams, fears. We discussed the issues with the education system and how we'd had to adapt in that model, the changes we'd made in our lives - doing homeschool or alternative education programs or whatever. We lamented the hardships of being "mature for your age" and searching for meaning when you knew you could make a difference if given a chance. How hard it had been as youngsters to find common ground with other people our age. How grateful we were to find each other.

I will work so hard to keep these beautiful people in my life forever. We live with kindness, love, generosity. Our home is bright and colourful and safe.

I often feel like I can't ask others apart from my parents for help. Early on in living with my roomies, I had a bad mental health day and shut myself in my room, not able to face anyone while I was feeling so awful, just totally shut down, ignored the texts asking where I was or if I was okay. One of my roommates had to coax me out with bites of sweet yams and lemonade and soft reassurance that it was okay, I was safe, I was wanted. This afternoon, I was similarly upset, and similarly didn't want to be seen, but when I got the text saying they were starting to prepare dinner in the kitchen if I wanted company, I felt sure enough to come out of my bedroom despite it all.

Somehow, without my fully realizing, this home became a place I could be honestly myself, rain or shine, and be comfortable to rely on the family that I found, not only the family I was born to.

#musings on family and love #female joy #love #happiness

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claireinnc · 2 years ago

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Christmas in UK

Our journey back to the UK, included a short afternoon stop in Charlottesville in Virginia. This was a coincidence as it was the location where my sister had spent a year a few years previously. I had therefore already created images in my mind and it was good to see the quaint town. However, it was unfortunate that I felt absolutely awful as a result of a migraine and couldn't make the most of our short time there.

Our flight left Washington on time and arrived at Heathrow after, for me, a sleepless night. It was good to back!

Spending Christmas in the UK gave us the chance to catch up those we love the most and miss the most.

Our first stay was with Joe, Roxy and granddaughter Mia. We stayed a night and then Richard headed to Wales to see his family whilst I went to stay the night with my sister and catch up with a friend. We then returned to Joe's for a few days.

We enjoyed dinner at the Saxon Mill on Christmas Eve, which was a great start to family gatherings, before enjoying an evening of Christmas Eve traditional customs for children.

Mia preparing for Christmas...carrots for Rudolph and mince pie and milk for Santa. It didn't go according to plan. :)

Unfortunately, there wasn't much left for Santa or the reindeers!

Christmas morning was a treat. Mia was great at opening her presents and had rather a lot.

I'm not sure Mia was so happy about having to share her cracker with grandad!

On Boxing Day, we headed up to Yorkshire to spend the next few days with Liam and Vic. There were lots more Christmas festivities, including the local pub, wine tasting in York, walks in the fresh air and time to chill and watch rather a lot of Gavin and Stacy.

After time in Yorkshire, it was time to head back down to the midlands for a larger family gathering. It was great to get together with my sisters and nieces and nephews and enjoy the usual quiz from 'the talented quiz master' in the family.

The last few days of our holiday were a mix of coffee with friends and some last minute shopping of essential supplies to return to the US with.

Our trip was busy and enjoyable and over too quick.

#charlottesville

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polarbearaone · 4 years ago

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☔︎ Sayuri

✞ synopsis: Aone thought your life with him was supposed to be long and happy, but all good things must come to an end right?.....

✞ pairing: Aone x fem! reader

✞genre: angst :(

✞ warnings: character death! mentions of v*miting, pregnancy and health conditions

The look on everyone's face when Aone proposed to you was to die for. Within the crowd there were surprised team players of the VC Date team along with elated coworkers from the construction firm that Aone invited. Oh, failed to mention that Aone proposed during one of his volleyball games. Soon you would be (Y/N) Aone, married to Takanobu Aone. Dating for the past six years, Aone was the best partner you could ask for. He never left your side, even accepted you with you and your past. When he met your parents, Aone told your father a trick to keep his plants from freezing during the harsh winters from Japan, since that day, your father began referring to Aone as “son”. Five years later, Aone was sitting on his soon to be in-laws couch, asking for your hand. Your parents understood how amazing Takanobu was, they knew he would never leave your side and always protect you.

“What theme should we have for our wedding?” Aone blurted out one day while dinner was steaming on the stove. “Already thinking about themes huh?” the way you looked at him, wearing his shirt while you made your way to the stove. If it were up to him, Aone would marry you in that very kitchen. The kitchen was where there were so many memories waiting to be made. “A turtle theme would be nice” you jokingly said. Aone started to lightly tap his chin, considering the theme. “Babe, I’m joking,” you said giggling. “oh” Aone said, in his little voice. “(y/n), can I ask you something?” Aone asked, playing with the strings of his shirt. You gave him a quick nod as you continued cooking dinner. “Can we get a turtle?” he said, a soft blush appearing on his face. Putting down what you had, you walked over and cupped his face. “Is it going to be our first child?” replying with the biggest smile on your face. The blush on his face matched the red shirt he was wearing. His brain was going wild, his dream was always to have a family with you. Kissing his forehead, you replied, “We can go tomorrow to the pet store”

The headaches began around a month after the proposal. You thought it was the stress of planning your perfect wedding. Aone noticed you were hurting when you did not accompany him to feed Kame, your turtle. He did not open the curtains like he usually did, nor did he give you a forehead kiss in fear that he will cause more pain. He started brewing tea and gave you some medicine. He let you stay in bed that day, and the day after that, also the whole week. Aone was worried sick, he knew stress caused headaches but every single day? His mother reassured him that the stress of working, trying to plan a wedding but also being there for Aone was a lot and that he should pamper her. Aone cleaned the whole house that afternoon, he even cooked your favorite dinner. It was supposed to be a perfect night, but you came home with a pale look on your face. The mere smell of the food made you run to the bathroom. Anything you ate that day came out of you as you hunched over the toilet. Aone held your hair back, softly rubbing your back. After emptying your stomach, you leaned into Aone’s touch. You needed him, his support, his love. As you slowly fell asleep on his lap, one thing ran through Aone’s mind, what if you were pregnant? You two were sexually active, plus it would explain the nausea and headaches. His mind was going wild once again, Kame finally will not be your own child anymore.

“hey honey, can I ask something?” Aone whispered into your ear as he massaged your head, a common occurrence in the morning. You hummed an answer. “do you possibly think you could be pregnant?”. The question lingered in your mind. Could you? It would make sense. After taking some medicine, you booked an appointment to the doctor. With Aone next to you, you knew you would be ok. The days leading up the appointment felt like forever. You were still with nausea and headaches, but you were excited to find out if a mini Aone was formed in your stomach. Finally, the day arrived. Aone was nervous next to you, you felt his handshake as he held yours. “Baby, you are more worried than me” you said giggling at him, “I just want you to be ok” he replied. “(Y/N) (Y/L/N)” The nurse called. “Wait here ok?” you reassured him before entering the hallway. After many tubes of blood later, the doctor asked you to come back when the results were done.

A week later, Aone and you were waiting for the doctor in his office. All Aone wanted to hear that you were pregnant so his worries can subside. The doctor entered with a gloomy face. “Unfortunately, the blood test we did let us know that you weren’t pregnant but there is something more concerning” the doctor stated. The grip Aone’s hand on you faded away, at this point he did not care if you were not pregnant. He wanted you to be ok. “What’s more concerning?” Aone asked the doctor. “ We see some hormones that are way higher than they are supposed to be, we only see these types of numbers when a tumor is present near the pituitary gland, we would like to do more studies to confirm our suspicions” Tumor was the only word in your mind. You could have a tumor. The doctor requested more blood work, and scans. The weeks following, many of your symptoms began to worsen. Your vision began to blur, migraines began more and more frequent, even had a seizure. Aone was terrified, but even with fear, he never left your side. He held you every time you felt weak, he spoons fed you soup his mother taught him to make. The wedding was postponed until you felt better but you told Aone that both of you should get married legally before having any celebration just in case anything happened. “Nothing is going to happen (y/n), you and I will get through this ok?”

You seemed to get worse. You had to be admitted to the hospital due to your condition. After many more scans, it was revealed that the tumor in your brain was a mere 5 centimeters long. Despite being so small, it caused you excruciating pain. The physical pain you felt was nothing compared to the news you received two weeks later. “We have extremely bad news” the group of doctors who had been treating you said. “The tumor located inside your brain is too dangerous to live with, it cannot be surgically removed” Your sobs could be heard from across the hallway. Aone tried to calm you down, he held you so close to him, he could not lose you. Your sobs subsided when the doctor cleared his throat “That is not all”. “It’s not your fault that you didn’t notice since pregnancy symptoms are similar to your symptoms but you’re roughly two weeks pregnant.” The room had an eerie silence to it. The pain inside of you was so immense that crying was not an option anymore. “You have to do something! She cannot live like this! What about the baby?” Aone practically yelled at the doctors. Despite knowing him for 5+ years, you had never heard him yell. “Baby, shh, its fine. They did what they could” You said, trying to calm Aone down. “B-but” Aone was choking on his own sobs. Now it was you holding Aone. The doctors made it aware that the last weeks of your life should be spent at home, with your Fiancé. The baby would not survive much longer, therefore the both of you should cherish the small amount of time you had.

The following weeks were filled with smiles and pain. You were getting paler, weaker. Aone could see life leaving you as the days progressed. He saw how tired you were, each day you got more and more tired. You could barely walk over and see Kame anymore. Aone resulted into bringing him inside for you. Kame specifically liked when your soft blankets covers his shard shell, Aone loved seeing you two sleep with one another, well three. Aone remained strong for you. When you would sleep, he sat near you, crying. The love of his life, the one who was supposed to be there for him through it all, was dying. He felt that he could not keep his promise to protect you. You nor his child. He got into bed next to you and Kame, wishing you a beautiful night. That morning was like any other, except it was Kame who nudged him to wake up. He groggily got out of bed to make your tea for your medication. Something felt off to him. Usually you nudge him to wake him up. He ran towards your shared bedroom, turning on the lights. He knew you would kill him if he did but he needed to know your awake. Despite the bright light shining in the room, you were silent. Kame on the other hand was making an array of noises. He walked towards you, tears threatening to fall. “Baby?” he whispered. He fell to his knees. He felt weak, he felt empty. Aone began to shake you, trying desperately to wake you. “(Y/N) this isn't funny, wake up” Aone shook you one last time, before screaming into the bed. He ran to dial an ambulance. The paramedics looked at Aone with sorry eyes, he knew what those eyes meant. “Take her to the hospital now” Aone said, growing at them. “ Sir-”... “I SAID TAKE HER”.

The doctor who was treating you slowly sat next to Aone in the waiting room. “She was strong” Like you a couple weeks ago, the pain Aone felt didn’t allow him to cry. “I know that nothing is visible yet but here” The doctor handed Aone an ultrasound picture. “The baby is too small to see yet but they’re there. No matter how much it hurts, know that they will both be there, forever.” The doctor gave Aone one last hug goodbye, before walking back to the hallway you once entered through. Aone stood outside the door of your shared house. How could he enter without you? How could he ever live without you? His thoughts were erased when he felt something hit his leg. Looking down, he saw Kame rubbing his head on his leg. Slowly picking up Kame, he headed inside. Sitting on the couch with Kame, he showed the turtle the ultrasound. “This is your sibling Kame, I’m not sure what gender they were but this is Sayuri, my small lily”

a.n: NOT ME CRYING UNCONTROLLABLY AT THIS. also I wanna thank @nuttymouthful for this idea! It was originally an reincarnation au! but I got lost at the end :( so I closed it with a bittersweet (?) ending. Reader was supposed to reincarnate as Kame but idk kame is a himbo turtle but that’s ok. PLZ REQUEST MORE ANGST I LOVE THIS

tags: @elianetsantana @girlofdystopia @kara-grayson04

#haikyuu!!#haikyuu fluff #haikyuu x reader #hq #hq x reader #haikyuu angst #angst #aone takanobu x reader #aone #aone takanobu #aone angst #Aone Takanobu angst #aone x reader #plz i love aone #aone x y/n #aone x you #plz forgive me aone #PLZ I CANT STOP CRYIN G

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giant-sketches · 4 years ago

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Hello everyone! I’m sorry it’s been so long since I’ve gotten any writing done, but I’m back with a brand new chapter for you all. I think I have a pretty good ending planned for this story so from this point on it won’t be open ended anymore.

I have another story I’m working on as well to replace Guardian Naga that I hope to have the first chapter up of soon-ish. Quarantine has been tough and I’ve not been feeling the greatest. Still it’s nice to be back at it with my fanfics and I hope you all like the new chapter.

This leaves off two chapters ago when Virgil finally got to meet Thomas. You can find all my works here. Please feel free to ask me questions or comment on how you liked it. :3 Disclaimer: Swearing/Cursing/Violence/Paranoia/Memory Loss

What was happening? Suddenly, Virgil’s mind was filled with memories of a past he had forgotten. A past of a full family living together in the Light Side of the mindscape. His head hurt as he slumped over in Thomas’s arms.

“Woah hey there. Take your time, I think we all are feeling rather confused right now.”

Thomas looked to the others who were holding their heads. It looked like they were all having a massive migraine.

“What is this? These memories...are they real?” Roman was in disbelief.

“No please stop!” Patton cried out. Whatever he was remembering seemed to be painful.

“How could we have forgotten? Is this another side-effect of destabilization? How cruel.” Logan mumbled.

Virgil stood up, gripping onto Thomas’s shoulder for support. “Guys, are you all okay?” It’s like they were all having a mind blast! It was going to take a second for the dizzy spell to disappear.

“I don’t know, this is all so confusing!” Roman shuffled over to grab Virgil’s hand. “Still to think we could ever forget you. I’m so sorry Virgil.”

Logan followed suit, except for the hand part. “Indeed, I am also sorry Virgil. This current situation is unprecedented! A complete wipe of someone's existence from the mindscape...it’s too much to fathom.”

Patton remained as the others looked to him. He was bawling as he continued to wipe away his tears in a losing battle. “I can’t! This is...this is too much. It’s all my fault Virgil! How could I ever apologize enough to you over what I’ve done?”

“Patton...it’s o-”

“IT’S NOT! It’s n-not okay Virgil. I-I-I caused you to destabilize!”

This was the shocking truth. Sides didn’t destabilize by nature and they didn’t do it to themselves. Destabilizing always required a catalyst and for Virgil, that had been Patton.

Many years ago in the mindscape Virgil was known as Curiosity. He was naive and full of questions. He had no sense of danger and this had led to a tragedy no one would remember. The aftermath is the story of his own destabilizing.

------- Many Years Ago in the Mindscape:

Months...it had been months since Janus was erased from the others minds. Yet, for some reason I remember him. How he was like a big brother to me and would always keep me safe. How did this happen? Was it my fault, or was it them who made him disappear? Virgil felt like he was losing his mind as his doubts grew day-by-day.

“Hey kiddo! How are you doing?” Suddenly, Patton snuck his way into the sulking sides room with a fresh batch of cookies.

“Fine I guess...I’d be a lot better if you told me where Janus went to though.” Virgil pleaded with his eyes as he stared at Patton. If he could trust anyone it should be Morality right?

“Oh no. Did you lose your imaginary frien-”

“HE’S NOT IMAGINARY!!!”

Virgil shoved Patton up against the wall with a loud thud. His strength was unreal, the innocent cookies fell to the ground in horror. “Woah! Woah! Virgil I’m sorry. I-I didn’t mean to upset you. Please you need to calm down.”

“NO! What I need is big brother Janus!!! Where is he? WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM!?” Virgil came in fast for another go, but Patton dodged as he scrambled to the door. “I’m sorry.”

Patton let out a sorrowful apology as he fled from the room to find the others.

“Patton! What happened to you?” Virgil’s shouting and that large thud had alerted the entire household so some kind of trouble.

“Ah Roman...I-I don’t know what to do.” He began crying into his stock friend’s chest. “I want to help, but I have no idea who this Janus person Virgil keeps going on about is. What do I do?”

“Oh gosh Pat, it’s going to be okay. We can work together to figure this out.”

“Y-yeah you’re right let’s go find Logan and come up with a plan.”

Roman smiled as he held his friend's hand tightly. Hastily, they walked down the hallway until they reached Logan’s office. “Hey it’s Pat and I.” A quick knock and then they entered. “Bro!”

“Ah Remus? Why are you here?”

“I thought it best to have all of us here to discuss this current issue with Curiosity.”

Guess that made sense. Still it was hard for Roman to be near his impulsive brother. His thoughts were always too intense. Yet, he seemed quite calm for the moment; at least Roman could breathe easy for the time being. The group took their spots around the desk to begin formulating their plan. “So...what exactly is happening with Virgil?”

“Well, we have a theory.”

“We? You don’t mean you and Remus do you Lo?”

“I do actually.” Logan eyed the creative twin while adjusting his glasses. “The both of us believe Virgil is undergoing a mental change based on Thomas’s growth. Yet, it’s putting a strain on his mind...thus he is mixing up fantasy with reality.”

“Really? You think Curiosity is having some kind of meltdown?”

“Well brother, you and I both know first hand how intense mental changes can be on us sides.” Remus smirked, twirling his mustache.

True, the twins were definitely the prime example of how extreme these changes could be. However, this had been going on for months. When Roman and Remus split it only took a few seconds. Why was this situation so different? Because it was Virgil or because it was only one side being affected?

While Roman was lost in thought Patton spoke up, “If that’s true then we need to be there for him. He’s obviously confused and pained by thoughts he’s not able to control.”

“Agreed. I’d like to have you be led on Virgil’s treatment until this passes. If you need anything the rest of us will support you Patton.”

“Thanks Lo!”

With that their plan was set into motion...the only problem being that they had no idea what was really going on. Lurking inside the darkened room was a side falling into madness by his fragmented memories of a now forgotten family member. “Liars. They are all liars.”

Two weeks went by with Virgil sinking further and further into his paranoid thoughts. He spent most of his time in his room and avoided contact with the other sides at all cost. Annoyingly, Patton always came to his door in the morning, afternoon, and evening to talk with him from the hallway.

“He’s a deceiver. You can’t trust them or anyone. They lie, all they do is lie.” Virgil only let out hushed mumbling to Pat’s meaningless chatter. “Think you could come to dinner tonight? We miss you a whole bunch kiddo!”

Same kind words. “Will Janus be there?” Same old question.

“...no. Virgil please, this Janus person isn’t real. You’re just confused kiddo, but that’s okay. I’ll always be here for you, we’re family after-all.”

Liar! Deceiver! Fake! All of them were just a bunch of snakes trying to lure him out in order to suffocate his mind with false ideas. No more. No more. NO MORE!!!

*CRASH*

“What in the world?!” Suddenly a loud crashing sound came from behind the door. “What was that?”

“Roman! I-I don’t know. I was just in the hallway when this loud noise came from behind that locked door.”

“Stand back!”

Quickly moving aside Roman proceeded to slice the lock with his trusty katana and kick down the door. Yet, nothing could prepare the sides for what they saw next. A tall, looming shadow inching higher and higher into the air until two large purple hued eyes stared down at them.

“Oh my…”

“I-it’s a giant! We need to get the others, we’re under attack!”

Snatching Patton’s hand, the two booked it to the dinning hall and alerted the others to the current situation. Mysteriously though, once the group returned the giant was nowhere to be seen and another family member was erased from their memories’.

------- Back to Current Time:

Slowly, Virgil made his way to his crying friend and shifted to a size where he could easily pick him up.

“Hey there Pop-star. You don’t need to cry so much on my account.”

Patton chuckled a bit at the pun as he looked up to Virgil with a lingering expression of pain and sorrow. “I-I’m so sorry I didn’t believe you. That I wasn’t there for you like I should have been.”

The baby sized side raised a hand up to caress his long lost friend's face. “You couldn’t have known Pat and besides it’s in the past now. I’m just glad that you remember now...you do remember right?”

“Yeah, I think? Like I remember you, but Janus...he’s still kind of fuzzy. I remember him interacting with you, but still nothing on my own relationship with him. Sorry.”

“No, no it’s okay. What you’ve said is enough.”

“While that may be true I’d like to know more about this strange phenomenon. Why do we forget...why do you forget?” Logan came over. He needed answers, they all did. “I mean not even Thomas himself was aware of this!”

“Now that I’ve remembered everything I hope I can answer all your questions.” Virgil set Patton down and shifted downwards. “To start, when you destabilize your mind and the entire mindscape goes into shock.”

“Shock?”

“Y-yeah. In order to fight against the trauma the mind r-represses Thomas’s mind and our minds as well. That’s how it affects all of us. I forget about you all and you forget about me in order for the mindscape to stay balanced. It also works to stabilize my body as it expands.”

Everyone was gobsmacked at this information. “Wh-what do you mean by stabilizing your body?”

Virgil looked to his family with saddened eyes. “As you expand...cracks appear. The repression helps stop the already unstable core from....shattering.”

“Fuck. That’s so messed up.” Roman held himself, pained by what he was learning.

“So either you forget about who you are and about all your loved ones or you break?” This was all so heartbreaking as Patton made his way to Roman for comfort.

“Mhm…” Silence. Virgil didn’t really know what else to say at the moment. Honestly there was nothing more to say. This was the cold, hard truth and yet there were two blaring problems. “Remus...what about my brother? H-he remembers! How!?”

“Yeah what about Remus and Janus too? You were able to restabilize so can’t the two of them as well?” Was there any hope for the others who were afflicted? Virgil appeared uneasy at the notion, but tried to stay level headed.

“I-I’m not sure. The thing is that we shift in size to minimize the damage to our cracked bodies. Even though growing causes cracking, the cracks are smaller in comparison...so tha-”

“That means the bigger you are the more cracks you have.” Finally Thomas spoke up with a serious expression plastered on his face.

“Is that why Remus is different, because he’s the biggest?” Virgil nodded.

“The way we destabilize has an effect on it too. I destabilized because I felt betrayed and alone so forgetting definitely helped to lower my anxieties. Remus on the other hand destabilized because he wanted his brother back. I think because of those strong feelings he remembered at least you Roman. Yet, that discrepancy in his mind caused him to crack even more than I or Janus.”

“And because of that we remembered him as well.”

“Though, I forgot because the effect was only on you guys and not me overall.”

“So it’s my fault my brother ended up like that.”

Virgil winced and quickly embraced Roman in his arms. Princey’s eyes widened by the sudden show of affection by the usually shy side. Still he wrapped his arms around his friend's warm body and internally thanked him for the hug.

“Roman you can’t blame yourself. You didn’t know, none of you did!” Ro nodded, pulling Virgil back to look him in the face with a brand new resolve.

“Right! Then we have to make up for our ignorance and save them both!” His eye’s sparkling.

“That’s the spirit kiddo!” A rescue operation huh? Guess it was only fitting with this bunch of action heroes.

It was time for a plan, a real plan now that everyone had the necessary information. Finally the truth was revealed, the cruel reality of it all lay before them. Although, who were they going to go after first?

To be continued.

@crystalk17 @paranoidgurl @gentlegiantdreamer @suckedinfandoms @craz-ewaters @rainbowbowtie @pattonvirglsanders @enby-phoenix @sanders-sides-virgil @just-some-gt-trash @notkolaidoscop @bluegreeninbtwn @lgbtqiaemo @avenirunknown @ncanspeak @maryann-draws @himeperson @perfectly-princely-emo-nightmare @daydreamburritoworld @im-a-creepy-cookie

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sillyrabbit81 · 4 years ago

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Her Heavy Cross

Summary: Three years after tragedy hits, Lana she decides to start dating again. She meets Will through a dating app and they begin an online romance. After months of constant requests, Lana relents and agrees to meet and go on an irl date with Will. But is Will who he says he is? Lana is quickly pulled into an intense relationship forcing her to confront her tragic past. Will Lana face it or will she close her heart forever?

Pairing: OMC x OFC (Female and Male POV)

Word Count: approx 3.3k

Warnings: swearing, smut,

Authors Note: The story started as a Henry Cavill fanfiction but I changed it to be an original character, but shades of Henry are still there. Hope you enjoy the story and thanks for reading.

Part 19

Part 20 Final Chapter

Liam and I took it easy for the next couple of days. We spent some time with Perrin and Cole, taking them for walks and making sure they were getting along.

We watched Inglourious Basterds in Liam's theatre room, which was amazing. It was like being in an actual movie theatre. The dimmed lights and sound system made the experience great. Liam cooked me dinner. We even played Scrabble a few times. We were pretty evenly matched, so the games were competitive. We worked out. We fucked. We made love.

On Saturday morning, I woke with a sore neck. I prayed it was just a strained muscle from working out but the stress I was under during the week tended to catch up with me on a Saturday. By about 4 pm, the left side of my head started pounding, and my eyes became sensitive to light. Every sound in the house felt like screaming in my ears, and I wanted to throw up. I would have cried if I didn't already know how much worse it would make it my migraine.

I told Liam I had to go to bed. Even though my migraines were terrible, I was lucky I could usually treat them with some codeine and a few hours of sleep. They rarely last more than six hours. Liam was lovely about it. He insisted on helping me get changed for bed, and he even went and got me a cold washcloth for my head. He laid in bed with me until I fell asleep.

I woke up around 11 pm feeling groggy, but the migraine had gone. I got out of bed and went looking for Liam.

I found him asleep on the lounge under a blanket downstairs. It looked like he had planned to sleep there all night. Perrin was curled up on the blanket between Liam's legs, and Cole laid on the floor in front of the couch. Cole looked up when I came in, rubbing himself against my legs like a cat and nudging my hand for a pat. Perrin's ears came up, and his tail wagged but didn't move. Lazy old Dog.

I knelt in the spot Cole had been. Liam looked so much younger asleep, almost like a boy, since he had started shaving. Apparently, his character is clean-shaven a lot of the time, so he will be switching between being shaved and unshaved depending on filming. I didn't want to startle him, so I ran my fingers through his hair until he started to wake. Liam stretched a bit before opening his eyes, and he looked so cute doing so I almost pinched his cheeks. Perrin finally got up, realising his warm spot was compromised.

"Hey, Sweetheart," he said and looking at his watch. "Are you ok? do you need anything?"

I smiled at him and shook my head. "Just you," I said.

Liam smiled one of his full Hollywood smiles. He takes my breath away when he does that. "How's your head?"

"I haven't had any complaints," I said, winking. I think I've watched Drag Race too many times.

Liam chuckled and shook his head at me. "And you certainly won't get any from me." He said, getting up. Kissing my forehead, he said, "I'm glad you're feeling better."

I took his hand and pulled him towards the elevator. Like the gentleman he is, he pretended I was able to pull him.

We get in bed, Liam on his back and me with my head on his chest. He stroked my hair, trying to lull me to sleep. I always find it difficult to sleep at night if I have a nap in the afternoon. I was content to breathe my calming breaths and not worry about forcing the sleep I knew would eventually come.

Since sleep was alluding me, I asked Liam, "are you nervous about tomorrow?"

"Meeting your family?" I nodded. He shrugged, "a little. It's been a while since I've been introduced to the family. A couple of years, actually. But I'm mostly looking forward to it." He gave me a quick kiss. "What about you?"

"After Thursday, I don't know if I'll be nervous about anything again." Liam chuckled. "I'm a little concerned about my mum. But I'm excited about you meeting the kids. I wonder if they will recognise you."

"Sometimes, kids do. Other times they say that's not him. He doesn't have a cape." I chuckled. Liam didn't speak for a while, so I tried letting Liam's breaths rock me to sleep. Then he spoke again, "Do you want kids?"

"You know, I do," I replied. We had spoken about it when we first started talking. Not wanting kids had been a deal-breaker for both of us. It was one of the first questions he had asked once we had gotten past the superficial talk. I looked at him, puzzled. "Why?"

"When you first told me about your contraception, I thought with my dick, so naturally, I was excited about not having to wear a condom." Liam's lip twitched, "Having said that, I wouldn't mind seeing you put a condom on me again." I rolled my eyes and indicated he should keep talking. "But then I thought you got that thing put in when you were still with Andy. If it's none of my business, that's fine. I had just been thinking about it, is all."

"You're wondering why I would use such a long-lasting contraception when I was married and wanted kids."

He nodded. "That sums it up."

"Well, several reasons. I had to replace the one I had. It had expired. Second, I have Poly-Cystic Ovarian Syndrome, and one symptom is very irregular periods. I was always scared I was pregnant. I could go months without a period, and when I did, they were hell. I would get migraines for weeks, mood swings from being happy to almost suicidal throughout my cycle. When the period came, there was bad cramping and back pain, joint pain, fatigue. So, I had my first implant when I was 20."

"That sound's awful, Sweetheart."

"Yup. I got the last one put in instead of trying for kids because I was 26. Yes, Andy and I wanted kids, but we wanted to wait a few more years, pay more off the house, grow up a bit." Liam nodded.

I was surprised that talking to him about Andy in such intimate detail didn't make me start crying. I still felt sad and missed him, but it was different now. There was a fondness to the thoughts rather than the fear and guilt that would usually arise. Anthea had been right. I had to talk with Andy and be honest with him about how I felt. As if verbalising how I felt to Andy, wherever he was in the universe, eased the guilt I was feeling. It made me realise that it wasn't wrong or selfish to seek love again. It was what made life special, sharing your life with someone else.

Liam was looking with furrowed brows. "Are you ok?" He asked.

I wondered if I should tell him what I was thinking. Would he be interested? Would it be weird for him to hear about Andy? In some ways, Andy had always been the elephant in the room. He was mentioned in passing, but other than last Friday, I hadn't told him anything meaningful about him or how I felt. He had been right when we argued, Andy was a shadow that loomed over the relationship, and that was my fault. I decided to be honest.

"Yeah, I am." I gave him a half-smile and said, "I spoke to Anthea, my mother-in-law, on Tuesday." Liam's face was unreadable. Too late to stop now. I kept going. "I wanted her to hear from me that we were dating before it was official. It turns out she already knew. She was cool about it, happy for me. I was surprised by her response, and I thought she would think it was a betrayal. But she said I should talk to Andy, and I would feel better."

Liam still wasn't showing me what he was thinking. His face was stoic. I thought again, I should stop. "Keep going," he said, his voice not much louder than a whisper.

"So I visited Andy and told him about how I was feeling. I told him about you and how I felt about you. It seemed to work like a weight was lifted from my shoulders. I felt free."

Liam was quiet for a while. I could almost see him arranging his thoughts. After a while, he said, "it seems the only one who makes you feel guilty is you."

"I think that was true, but not anymore," I said. "Are you upset I told you that? Is it... I don't know... tmi?"

Liam gave me a half-smile, "no, Lana. I'm glad you told me. I'm glad you did that. Not just for me, but for you."

"Then why were you looking at me like that?"

Liam's smile was full now. "Because I thought you were going to break my heart. Instead, you told me something private and because you wanted to. Not because I forced you or put you in a position where you had no choice. It makes me believe you may care about me as much as I care about you."

I cupped his face in my hands and looked deeply into his eyes, so he knows what I'm saying is true. "Liam, I do care about you. I don't think anyone else could have opened my heart. I was ready to go the rest of my life alone. If it weren't for you, I would never have taken those final steps to move on. For being the catalyst I needed, I will always be thankful for you and care about you."

Liam POV

Lana held my face in her hands. Her green eyes shined in the dim light of my bedroom as she spoke to me. "Liam, I do care about you. I don't think anyone else could have opened my heart. I was ready to go the rest of my life alone. If it weren't for you, I would never have taken those final steps to move on. For being the catalyst I needed, I will always be thankful for you and care about you."

My heart stopped a moment before it started to thunder in my chest. Lana so rarely bared her soul to me. She dropped hints sometimes, said little things to make me believe she could love me. But too often she was closed off when things get too intimate or too real.

She had changed so much since I first spoke to her, yet somehow she was still the same. She was kind and generous. I picked up on that early. That she was so funny and witty was something that she was slow to reveal but was a joy to watch. Watching her start to open her soul to me was beautiful. To see her courage and strength as she pushed through her grief was inspiring. That she saw enough in me to want to go through all she went through was humbling.

I loved her. I was desperate to tell her. I almost told her so many times. But my fear kept me from saying it. I didn't want to scare her off. I knew now she has to set the pace. She will be ready when she's ready and I will be there when she is.

Lana kissed me, and my body lit up. Her lips were like a match igniting a fire that travelled through my whole body. I instantly grew hard and needed her. I kissed her back, my tongue licking at her lips, urging her to open for me. When she did, I was lost, and all control left me. I needed to be in her.

My tongue entered her mouth, and her taste reminded me of apples and honey. She tasted so sweet to me. I wanted to taste her everywhere. I rolled her onto her back, reminding myself not to throw her around too roughly. She could take a lot of punishment, but I was still careful.

I sought Lana with my hands, pulling off the underwear that separated me from her. I put my hand between her legs, and my fingers parted her. I groaned when I felt how wet she was already, and I had to taste her. I moved between her legs as she opened them wide for me.

I put two fingers inside her, and my cock ached. "You're so warm, Lana," I told her, and she moaned, arching her back, her hips moving as I fucked her with my fingers. She was so responsive to my touch, and I loved watching her every movement. Her body moved in the most spectacular ways, writhing and seeking her pleasure.

I couldn't wait any longer for a taste, so leaving my fingers inside her, I let my tongue find her clit. When her taste hit my tongue, I hummed with delight. Lana's fingers slid into my hair as she pushed me into her and her hips rocked as she grinds herself on my tongue. God, she was so sexy. I wanted to stay here forever, watching her and listening to her moan. I ran my hand up her hips to her tiny waist. Feeling her hips under her soft skin was so erotic. I needed to fuck her, but she needed this first.

Lana started panting, her moans became short cries as she exhaled and I knew she didn't have long. I felt her walls close in on my fingers as she started to cry out my name, begging me not to stop. As if I would deny her this. As if I would deny her anything.

When Lana came, she was beautiful. Her eyes closed hard, her body convulsed, and her thighs trembled. Then she did this thing where she throws her head forward, and her body almost curls into a ball, and I know she's finished. Even when she's standing up she does it, I almost dropped her the first time. It's the cutest fucking thing I've ever seen.

I lapped at her one more time, taking one last taste. She shuddered and tried to close her legs, giggling. She smiled at me, and my heart melted, but my cock was in pain. I needed to have her.

I kissed her, and she licked at me, tasting herself. She drives me wild when she does that. I felt like an animal, my careful control was gone, and I pushed my cock into her. She was so wet and tight, her body moulded around my cock, taking me all in, holding me so tight I almost came.

"Fuck," I swore into her mouth. Lana bit at my lip, playful, but I knew what that meant. She wanted me, and she didn't want me to be gentle.

I wasn't gentle. There was no way I could be. She had me too worked up, and all I wanted was to own her and claim her as mine forever. I started to thrust into her, her tits bouncing as she takes all I give her. Her lips were parted, and her cheeks were red. Her hair looked like a halo of fire on the sheets. Its vibrance thrilled me. I pushed my self off her and watched as my cock pumped into her. Seeing her stretched around me, I felt my orgasm rise again. Not yet. I wasn't done with her yet. I slowed down.

"Liam," She whispered my name, and there was no stopping it. My body took on a mind of its own, driving itself to release. She cried my name again as I felt my seed rise into me, and ecstasy flowed through me as it pumped into her.

I fell on my side next to Lana and took deep breaths. She gave a hum of contentment and I pulled her into me, hugging her tightly and I felt the surge of love again. She was so beautiful and sweet but so fucking sexy. She made me feel drunk. Even moments after orgasming, I wanted her again. I put my face into her hair, smelling her sweet pomegranate shampoo. Lana hugged me back as she played with my chest hair, and I smiled, she loved to touch me there, and it felt so good when she did.

My mind wandered as she caressed me with her pretty little hands and pink fingernails. The first time she had touched my chest, she had seemed so hesitant and unsure, even looking at me for permission. It had been such a turn-on.

It had been so hard not to fuck her that first night. I did try and seduce her. I knew what effect I had on women. It's hard not to know when you're famous and have women hitting on you all the time. I think I could have, there were a few times there where if I had played my cards right she would have let me. But knowing what I know now, I'm happy I didn't. I'm sure she would have run, and I would never have seen her again.

When she did let me, she had knocked me for six when she bit me. It was almost out of nowhere, and the way she opened up to me after about her desires was amazing. We still had so much to explore, only just getting to know each other sexually. I could tell she was getting more comfortable with it. She was probably going to teach me a thing or two. That thing she did with the condom, I think I almost told her I loved her then. I chuckled.

"What are you laughing at?" Lana asked. Her accent made it sound like she said, "whadcha laughn at?" I don't know why, but her accent excited me, especially when she swore at me. Her mouth was filthy. Maybe it was the combination of her outward elegance and her potty mouth that I liked. It was such an exciting combination.

"Nothing, Sweetheart." I kissed her long neck gently and held her. She seemed to accept it and squeezed me into her.

"I love you, Lana," I said, and my heart stopped. She froze. I don't even think she was breathing. My blood was like ice as my heart started to beat again. Oh, God, I fucked up. I'm going to lose her this time. I wanted to take it back. I was such a fool. Fuck.

Then Lana found my mouth and kissed me. The warmth that spread through my body was such a relief. Her kiss held such sweetness and passion. It was the promise that I needed. She wasn't mad. She wasn't going to run away. I held her close and kissed her back. She didn't have to say it for me to know that she loved me too.

End.

#original character #original story #original fiction #romantic story #happy ever after

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shadowedoracle · 4 years ago

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Amends

Summary: Rumple has noticed something up with Belle's behaviour over the past few days, and is concerned one morning when he smells blood on her. Belle is upset by his nosiness and he has to work out how to make things right with her.

Rating: G

[AO3]

A/N: Happy Belated Skin Deep Day/ Rumbelle Anniversary/ Fluffapalooza!

This was supposed to be my main Fluffapalooza fic this year but the last few weeks have been super busy. Then I started suffering from the what we now finally think are migraines that give me terrible vertigo so I can barely sit up half the time. Also they made looking at a screen kind of bad. So this got delayed. ***

Something was wrong with Belle. She hadn’t been her usual cheery self the past few days, and now she was an hour late with his morning tea.

Rumplestiltskin tapped his fingers against the wood of the long table in his Great Hall. Belle had never been late before but he supposed it should not surprise him his maid was late. After all she was a noblewoman he’d trapped in a humiliating bargain, poor service was indeed one of the downsides of picking her -- she’d made some truly dreadfully inedible meals the first week she was here. He was the Dark One hence immortal, so he knew she couldn’t poison him but he’d spent those first several days considering whether one could in theory die from foul tasting food. Eventually he’d given in (for his taste buds’ sake) and told her how to tell the castle to make the meals.

He hadn’t gotten around to telling her that the castle was capable of performing all her other duties itself. It would hardly do for his maid to simply sit around all day and read (well, more than she already did). After all, that would deprive him of the stunning sight of her standing on ladders and showing off her legs while she cleaned up high or the breathtaking view of her bending over while working on lower surfaces. It was definitely his own desires (admittedly long dormant), his... his depravity that stopped him from freeing Belle from her cleaning duties, he assured himself. It wasn’t due to any other emotions on his part.

So he continued to make her clean the castle and to serve his meals. Despite her poor culinary skills, it turned out that she made lovely cup of tea. Soon breakfast and afternoon tea had had become his favourite times of day. A few hours where they both sat around making idle chitchat about anything or sometimes just eating in silence. This had been quite unexpected and he refused to examine why he liked it so much.

But, predictably enough, it was over now.

Things had been going so well after they’d returned from chasing that thief and he’d shown her North Tower library (that he’d definitely not magicked into existence that very day). But now, for no reason he could see, they’d gone back to those first uncomfortable days of her time in the Dark Castle.

Perhaps she was trying to test him. But why he didn’t know. He hadn’t said or done anything abnormal in the last few days. They’d had no visitors to the castle, it had just been the two of them.

It would be easier if, as he’d intended, he didn’t care about her at all. Instead he actually quite liked his little maid. Although, of course, he would never actually tell her that. For her part, she no longer seemed scared of him. She’d even hugged him in the forest that one time. But he was still the monster who’d taken away any chance of the life she’d been planning to lead.

The whispering voice of his conscience -- that sounded like a certain fourteen year old teenage boy he had not seen for over two centuries -- told him he should let her go back to her family. But he ignored it. He wasn’t a good man. In fact, he hadn’t been a man for a long time now. No. He was a monster and monsters could do things like bargain for pretty maidens to come and live -- forever -- in their castles.

Rumplestiltskin sat mulling the situation a little longer. He’d just resolved to go and find where his erstwhile maid had gotten to when he heard the tap of her heeled shoes outside the double doors behind him.

He sat back in his chair as nonchalantly as he could, and set his face into the terrifying grin that had made grown men piss themselves.

She opened one of the doors and he listened to her muffled footsteps draw nearer and nearer to him. When he thought she was just a few feet away, he trilled, “You’re late.”

She paused briefly then continued her progress towards him and placed the tray in front of him.

She held her head high and said mildly, “Yes, I know. I’m sorry, Rumplestiltskin.”

Then she began pouring the tea in her usual way. She showed no sign of fright at his grin. The tea tray was clean and dry -- even his attempt to startle her hadn’t worked. Rumplestiltskin felt quite deflated.

“Well,” he trilled, “don’t you have an explanation for yourself?”

She shook her head. “I just got distracted by something this morning…”

She placed his teacup in front of him and her scent, of books and roses hit him. But something else was there too… Rumple sniffed the air and stiffened and turned to thoroughly look over his maid.

She frowned at him as she reached to place a plate of breakfast pastries in front of him. “What?”

He grabbed her wrist to stop her pouring her tea and she glared at him as she tried to free her wrist. He just ignored her and sniffed the air very deliberately and scanned over her.

She squirmed and growled at him, “What do you think you’re doing. Unhand me at once!”

“You’re bleeding. Someone’s hurt you,” he growled. “Did you help another thief out and he took a slice at you? Or did you cut yourself attempting some task in that kitchen that I’ve told you you should leave to the castle?”

Belle’s face shuttered but a faint blush appeared on her cheeks. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“There’s no use hiding it from me.” He said wagging his finger in her face, “The Dark One has his ways of finding these things out.

"There's nothing to tell."

He sighed, "Belle, I can heal you if you tell me where you’re injured. So why don’t you just show me where you’re bleeding and make this simpler for the both of us.”

He watched Belle carefully. He saw anger and embarrassment flit across her face, as well as a hint of… was that amusement? She bit her lip and seemed to be wrestling with herself before coming to some conclusion. She lifted her chin and gave him a haughty glare down her nose and he felt a surge of affection at her attitude and complete lack of fear.

“Well are you going to tell me what I want to know?” He asked impatiently as she still didn’t say anything.

“I’m not injured.” She said at last.

“But you’re bleeding...” He was going to say more but she cut him off.

“I’m not injured.” She repeated.

“If you’re not injured why are you bleeding? You’re being secretive and hiding things from me and I want to know why.”

She glared at him, “You really want to know?”

He rolled his eyes, “That has been the point of the last minute or so of conversation, yes.”

Still staring daggers at him she sighed and said, “I’m bleeding there.” As she pointed straight the centre of her pelvis.

“How the …?” Came out of his mouth before his brain caught up and clamped his mouth shut. But he couldn't quite tear his eyes away for another few moments, until he suddenly remembered how it would look to Belle that he was staring at her there and he focused himself to meet her gaze.

“Oh.”

“'Oh'? 'Oh'? All you have to say is ‘oh’? You all but force me to tell you and all you can say is ‘oh’? Not ‘sorry’? I mean I know you won't willingly admit to being wrong but you could at least apologize for being an ass.”

He rolled his eyes, “I’m sorry my concern for you has upset you. Next time I smell you bleeding, I’ll ignore it and just hope you will deign to tell me about an injury before you bleed out. Is that what you want to hear?”

She glared and him and her hand twitched. For a moment he thought his lovely kind maid was about to slap him but she just shook her head and stomped out of the Great Hall.

Rumplestiltskin slumped back in his chair and muttered to himself, “well that could have gone better.”

***

Rumplestiltskin was disappointed, but not entirely surprised when Belle didn’t appear at lunchtime. But when she didn’t appear for their afternoon tea, he knew she was still quite upset. When she didn’t appear for dinner he knew she was truly mad. She might be late once, might miss one mealtime sitting around reading. But she wouldn’t miss three like this.

Clearly he’d upset her even more than he’d realized this morning. He just didn’t know what to do to fix it. He didn’t have a lot of experience with women and their… moods.

Milah had become even more bad tempered before and during her bleeding. Eventually he’d learned to just stay out of her way as much as he could. His attempts to keep Bae protected from the worst of her rage and keep him from asking too many questions, meant he had often invented little father son activities (some of his favourite memories of Bae’s early years) to stay out of her way during those days. But that didn’t help his current situation at all. He couldn’t just avoid Belle until her bleeding passed -- he sensed that would make this much worse. With Cora he’d just helped her use her anger and pain at her body and turn that into more magic. Which didn’t help him with Belle at all either.

He frowned. Neither Milah or Cora had been particularly good tempered women to begin with. So perhaps he needed a different tack with Belle. Which just left him even more stumped.

He paced around the Great Hall trying to think. What could he do to get his maid to speak to him again? He knew many spells but he didn’t think she’d be happy if he used on on her. He supposed he could appear wherever she was hiding and frighten her back to work but then they’d lose that nice companionable relationship they’d developed of late.

So he had to find a way to make amends to her. But how?

He paced around the table and caught sight of the tea cup Belle had chipped on her first day here -- which was now the only teacup he ever used. He started to turn away from from the table when an idea occurred to him. He stared over at the cup and smiled to himself as the idea began to unfold in his mind.

Yes that could work. He thought as he magicked himself up to his tower to begin his work.

***

It was late when he finished, but still a few hours off midnight. He hoped this would work. Now he was done arranging it his little tray of offerings, it didn’t seem quite so clever or enticing. But he had no other ideas for how to appease Belle so he supposed he was stuck with it.

It took a matter of moments to work out that she was still hiding up in the North Tower Library. Without giving himself any more time to overthink this he magicked himself halfway up the staircase, where he could hear and see her before she could see him.

Belle was curled up on her little sofa and while she didn’t look her usual happy self -- she didn’t look as furious as she had this morning. He hoped that meant she had calmed down.

He climbed the stairs with quiet and deliberate steps and was almost to the top when she noticed his presence. Her countenance changed to an angry scowl. And he paused one foot hanging above the next tread, wondering if he should just magic the tray to her side and disappear until she was calmer again.

Before he was able to make that decision she spoke, glaring at him. “Are you here to apologize?”

He took the final steps up to the library proper and stood there, glaring down at her. He spoke with as much dignity as he could muster, “The Dark One never apologizes.”

“Then you should leave.”

She crossed her arms and looked away and he cursed to himself. This wasn’t going how he’d imagined at all.

He shifted from foot to foot and glanced around the room as he wondered again whether he should just leave the tray and go away. He took a step towards her side table when she turned to look back at him and he froze in place, his left foot hanging in midair.

She spoke in almost a whisper, “And what about Rumplestiltskin? Does he apologize?”

He stumbled. Getting his feet underneath himself again he glanced warily into her piercing blue gaze that seemed to be trying to read his very soul. He could only meet her stare briefly before he had to look away again. He should leave. He was on dangerous territory here and he didn’t know how to handle it.

He focused on his fingers twitching on the tray he was holding. The green-gold skin of the Dark One and the black nails -- so inhuman and nothing like his human hands had been. No the Dark One didn’t apologize but then again Dark One wouldn’t have brought that tray up here and expected nothing in return.

He didn’t know what it was about Belle. Why this young noblewoman affected him so. How she could look at him as if she could see his soul, as if she understood him. How could she even think that the Dark One and Rumplestiltskin were not entirely one and the same?The only other one who’d thought that was long gone from these lands. Would Belle become as disillusioned with him one day as his Bae had?

He risked another glance at Belle and she was still watching him calmly. He met her eyes for a second and she quirked her eyebrow as if to say “well?”.

He looked away again, focusing on the rows of bookcases behind her, and muttered quietly, “Rumplestiltskin sometimes apologizes.”

He moved towards her and placed the tray on the side table next to her.

Then he took a step back and stood in front of her swaying from side to side uncertainly. Belle didn’t say anything just watched him with those wide blue eyes of hers and he wavered between wanting to run away back to his tower room and stay here forever with her.

His gaze flitted over the room, to anything but her. He couldn’t think what to do or say, and Belle didn’t offer any assistance.

The silence wore on and on, until eventually Belle sighed. “Well, if you’re not going to say anything, perhaps you ought to go.”

The startled him and he looked up, to see yet more hurt that he had caused on her face. Now that would not do at all. What was it she had said was her motto? 'Do the brave thing and bravery will follow?' It seemed like arrant nonsense to him but then he was a lifelong coward. But perhaps he needed to try something new -- for her.

He took a deep breath and then said quickly, “I didn’t mean to upset you this morning.” When she didn’t respond he continued, “I smelled blood and thought you were hurt… It was an accident. I wasn’t trying to embarrass you or… or anything else. I swear.”

She chewed on her lip for a few minutes seeming to ponder his reply carefully. “I suppose I can understand how that happened.”

She paused and he wondered if she had done until she continued in a quiet voice. “It’s just… It felt like you were yet another man mocking and discomforting me just for being a woman.” She crossed her arms across her chest looking awkward and uncertain.

His fingers curled into fists as he felt a flash of anger at the men who had done that to her; he had a sudden urge to hunt them all down one by one. But his anger towards those anonymous men was soon overridden by a deeper an anger and shame. He’d made her feel like that. Bad enough any man had upset her so, but so much worse he had. His fingernails bit painfully into his palms as if as his hands wanted to punish him. He’d come up here to make amends but his appeasement offers now looked so pathetic and small compared with the hurt in her voice.

He didn’t know what to do now. He wanted to retreat and rethink his approach but he sensed that would make things worse. He just wasn’t sure what he was supposed to say or do now.

“Do you want to go?” He blurted out.

She looked puzzled, “Go? Go where?”

“Anywhere. Leave the Dark Castle. Travel the world as you’ve always dreamed... And get yourself far away from me.”

“I can’t. That would break our deal.”

“I could release you from it if you are no longer uncomfortable here.”

She blinked at him and frowned. “You spent the first few weeks I was here deliberately making me uncomfortable. What’s changed now?”

Rumplestiltskin shifted his weight and tried to think of a way he could get out of this conversation with his dignity in tact.

“Perhaps I’ve decided I don’t mind having you around.”

Her mouth quirked into a half-smile, “How does that lead to you wanting to let me go?”

“Because...” He shifted nervously, the urge to lie almost overwhelming. Taking a breath he said quickly, “Maybe I prefer you being happy here... Maybe I like some of your changes to the castle and our conversations about books… But those wouldn’t be the same if you truly hated and feared me the way you did when you first arrived.”

She shook her head and smiled slightly. “I didn’t like you at first, I’ll admit that. But I never really hated you and I wasn’t all that afraid of you.”

He smiled, “You are such a pretty, brave little thing aren’t you.”

She blushed and glanced away, and he cursed inwardly as he realized what he’d just revealed to her. He was digging himself into an even deeper hole with every moment he spent here talking to his maid.

Belle met his eyes again and he was once more held in thrall by her piercing gaze. “Do you want me to go Rumplestiltskin?”

He shook his head violently, “Gods no!”

“Then I will stay. On one condition.”

He stilled, “And what is that?”

“You tell me you’re sorry.”

He resisted the urge to hiss and automatically deny her request. He could feel the Dark One roiling inside him and yelling at him that only weaklings and cowards had to apologize. But he was beginning to think this apology might take more courage than almost anything else he’d done in his life.

He was dimly aware of the silence dragging on as the minutes passed and Belle watched him with her arms crossed protectively across her chest.

He took a deep breath looked down at his feet briefly and then raised his eyes to hers for a moment before flitting away to a point past her shoulder and mumbled in a low tone, “I’m sorry I upset you.”

Belle’s smile was brilliant. She stepped forward and squeezed his hands with hers. Then gave him a swift hug -- so like that one in the forest -- before standing back looking at him with that broad smile still on her face. “Thank you. I know that was hard for you, so thank you.”

He nodded not trusting himself to speak at that moment.

She looked to the tray he’d placed on the side table when he’d come in. “What is all this?”

“Oh, I knew you were upset so I brought you some things to make it up to you.”

She looked amused. "The Dark One doesn't do apologies but does do apology gift?" she said. “What are they for? I see herbs, some cloth and an envelope.”

“Ah well... the herbs are different teas you can make to ease your, um, symptoms.” He said, waving a hand vaguely towards her middle.

“And the cloth?”

“The printed cloth is a herb bag you can heat by the fire to ease any, um, pains you have. The, er, rest of the cloth is some soft cotton rags that are extra absorbent for the, um --” he was the Dark One damn it he wasn’t going to blush --”bleeding.” He could feel his cheeks heating and he hastened on with his explanation, “the pile will magically replenish itself when you get near the end it so you’ll never run out of the rags.”

Belle’s cheeks looked a little pink too, but mostly she looked like she was trying not to laugh. He hoped that was a good sign. “That’s very thoughtful of you. And the envelope?”

“Ah, well.” He magicked it over into her hands, “perhaps you should open it to see for yourself.”

She opened the envelope and pulled out the little slips of parchment and began reading through them. Then looked up at him with bright eyes.

“Are these real? There’s no secret deal or trick to them?”

He shook his head, “You have my word. They are exactly what they appear to be.”

She smiled that brilliant smile of hers and held out one of the slips to him. “In that case I want to make use of this one right away.”

He glanced down at the words written in his own hand, ‘Rumplestiltskin will read to you.’

She grinned up at him. “I trust it won’t be a problem for you to read to me right now?”

He shook his head and bowed to her, “No, I am at your service lady.” He straightened up. “Now what is it you wish to read?”

She smiled at him, “Why don’t you pick out something you like -- for us both to enjoy.”

He stared at her as he tried to think of anything suitable he could read to her. Distant memories of sitting on a little bed, reading to a sick boy appeared and he wandered to the section where he’d placed all oldest books upon creating the Library. He pulled out a dusty and well-worn book of children’s tales.

Soon he was seated in the armchair across from Belle, while she was curled up on her couch under a blanket with the warm bag of herbs on her lap and sipping a cup of the herbal tea he’d made.

“Are you ready?” he asked.

She nodded, “Yes, Rumple.”

‘Rumple’, he thought could get used to hearing her sweet voice saying that nickname… forever. But now was not the time for thoughts, or hopes, like that. Now was the time to focus on Belle, the here and now and this story.

He smiled and began, “Once upon a time...”

#Fluffapalooza #Fluffapalooza 2021 #Rumbelle #Rumbelle Fic #My Fic #Fic: Amends #Shadowedoracle's Fic

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astarstruckcherryblossomstudent · 4 years ago

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The Maid and The Elf

Hi, I have a story on AO3 Called The Maid and the Elf which is a Bright Fan Fiction Focusing on the my own OC’s with some main characters in the film coming to play. I just wanted to post the first chapter here but if you want to read the rest of the chapters. Feel free to visit AO3 and Check it out.

Chapter 1

The ride into the elven neighborhood was far from silent as Amanda had hoped. It wasn’t that she wasn’t expecting it but more of that she had hoped that in the early morning that she could enjoy some semblance of peace within it but it seemed to be the exact opposite. She leaned against the seat and closed her eyes. She was glad, she had taken her medication before getting on the bus today. The smell of sweat, alcohol, and perfume wouldn’t have been overwhelming to her especially right after she had a migraine. When the bus began to slow, Amanda began to rise with the others following them out of the door and onto one of the nearby streets. They all walked in lines as they entered the well-guarded neighborhoods near the elven district. Amanda kept a steady pace as she made herself grit through the aching pain as she moved towards the farthest house in the neighborhood.

It was also one of the more expensive houses. A beautiful Classical style house painted in white and detailed with a dark grey roof with beautiful roman columns and pediments. As she walked up the neat but natural stone walkway of the house towards the large white fence that protected their yard. Amanda reached out her hands across the planted flowers that circled the gate; she picked up the newspaper that laid hanging from the mailbox.

She unlocked the service door with her key before placing her purse and outdoor shoes within the closet and her indoor heels on. Amanda moved quickly washing her hands and grabbing items from the pantry and refrigerator. As she began to set out ingredients for the small breakfast for the family they worked for Amanda could hear the awakening footsteps of those above. As she set small scones into the oven, the shower turned on and as she placed the pot of oatmeal to boil, she could hear the sound of clothes being picked up from their drawers. And, she chopped up the fresh fruits and blended the fresh cinnamon. She could hear the sound of heavy footsteps as they walked across the floor above she hurried towards the dining room where she set the newspaper along with the table and ready the babies high chair in the corner.

When she knew the oatmeal was finished and the scones were golden brown. Amanda set them up neatly and beautiful upon their plates and bowls. She carried them carefully to the table being extra careful not to spill the meal upon herself or the floor. When she heard the clicking of heels, Amanda kept her head down and set the spoons upon either side of each bowl. The first member of her employer was Lady Syvais. Syvais was a tall blonde with light ice blue eyes and clear white skin. She was dressed in a beautiful red sheath dress. Her make up was impeccable as usual and for a moment Amanda couldn’t help but feel jealous because she knew that she would never look like that. She was human and humans just couldn’t pull off that near ethereal look like elves could. She was the first to take a seat. She gave no smile or no thanks; just a simple bend forward and taste of the oatmeal. That initial taste of that oatmeal always made Amanda worried because it was a walk the plank moment. It was a moment when Amanda could possibly lose her job just because the Oatmeal wasn’t seasoned or the fruit wasn’t as crunchie. When she put the spoon down, Amanda tensed. But instead of her dismissing Amanda. Syvais turned to look up the stairs and watch as her husband brought down their young daughter. Syvais didn’t smile or greet her husband but instead, she simply looked at her daughter and husband with a distant almost disapproving look before turning back to her food. Amanda tried not to swallow and show her unease but she could feel the tension in the air. It was a heavyweight upon her own frail emotions and she couldn’t help but which to exit the room. A soft laugh echoed for a moment drawing Amanda’s attention to the little girl in Lady Syvais’s arms. Arien was a beautiful baby girl who was gifted with that unique eye color associated only to elves. She was chubby but adorably sole with platinum blonde hair like her mother. She reached out from her father’s arms for her mother but the woman only seemed to ignore her.

That made Amanda a little upset and melancholy. She had remembered when her own mother uses to do those things. At least, Her first mother anyhow. She remembered asking for attention to only have it ignored or turned away. Airen reached for her mother again, this time crying a little louder and this time Amanda heard Almar’s deep voice. He spoke in övüsi towards Syvais then and from the tone, it didn’t sound exactly happy. What transpired was a shouting match in övüsi that made Almar hand off his daughter to Amanda and the two elves leave the room. Amanda rubbed the child back as she watched the girl's parents disappear into another room.

The little girl looked back at Amanda and reached for her cheek, her need for attention now met by someone she knew. Someone she had at least some close relationship with that was similar to her mothers. Amanda gave the baby a soft smile before she moved towards the table and began to feed spoonfuls of cinnamon and apple oatmeal to her. She hummed with praise as Adrien ate with gusto. Amanda had first started when Sylvais had been pregnant with Airen. Elven pregnancies were strenuous upon their bodies. And, Since Elves had also had such a difficult time getting pregnant. It seemed it was best for the family to hire a housekeeper while Slyvais was pregnant. But, Now that Airen was here Amanda couldn’t help but feel as though she had overstayed her presents here.

Amanda was halfway finished feeding Airen when Alamar returned to the room. Airen gave a happy smile completely ignoring the spoonful of oatmeal for her father. Almar reached out taking Airen from Amanda’s arms and walking out of the room. Then the place was empty and silent, Amanda was left alone with an empty bowl of oatmeal and the feeling of being completely alone.

She sighed, cleaning up the room and moving the full bowl of oatmeal to the side so that she might eat after she finished cleaning up the house. The house was a typical two-story with actually very little mess as Elves weren’t a messy race but sure enough, they weren’t incapable about leaving messes especially children. The work went by quickly. There were very little clothes and toys left around and mostly what took up most of her time was the news. About two months, a cop was shot in the robbery of a bodega. Usually, That sort of thing didn’t draw her attention because sadly these things happened a lot in L.A but there was something about that cop, and no matter what the name Daryl Ward wouldn’t leave her head. Amanda finally copped it up to her natural obsessive behavior of anxiety and tried to distance herself with something better to do such as doing the laundry. By the afternoon, she was starving and took to her bowl of oatmeal with gusto before then beginning her way into making dinner preparations. Elves were scientifically apex predators and were taken to eating larger amounts of meat then plants compared to humans or orcs. So Most of the meals involved a large roast, steak, or fish that the family could consume equally with smaller portions of veggies, fruit, or grain. Today’s menu was a large Prime Rib served with Mash Potatoes and Glazed Carrots.

She was stabbing holes into the roast so that she could add seasoning and butter into the dish when she felt a searing headache take hold. She grasped for the edge of the island as the pain moved from the center of her head towards her eyes, making them ache. She gasped as the ache became so intense that it caused her to drop the knife in the sink and run to the bathroom that lay open across from the kitchen. She slammed the door with some force as she struggled to get to a safe spot as her world began to disappear and grow dark.

The first time she had these episodes she had finally thought the things her biological mother had stated about her had been true. That she was actually insane. Maybe she was in some sort of way. Because Normal people didn’t see what she could see. Normal people couldn’t feel what she felt.

The world erupted into a world of color and like a movie. A scene began to play before her.

Two beings stood outlined in shadows, their voices muffled. They were like low echoes in the raging storm of her mind. They stood outlined in a field of black and red snakes.

Has she shown no promise?

None my lady. I have shown her your wand. Allowed her hands to touch it and it shows no sign of her being able.

And, Then try again. Our numbers a little and if we chose to survive the dark lord. We will need many. Try again with your mate.

If I may, my lady. I don’t believe Alamar shows any promise providing me with the young we will need for our lord. I plead for another.

And, Your current Mate and Child.

There was silence then the snakes stopped shifting and moving and turned and stared right at her. Blood began to pool at her feet soaking her shoes and her hands.

Kill them both.

The snakes swarmed her and as they began to attack her body and consume, she could see the outline of a dark figure looming over them all.

#Bright 2017 #Elf #human/monster #monster lover #OC #Romance #ao3 fanfic #Ao3 #monster boyfriend #like and follow #orcs #Fantasy

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beyondconfessor · 4 years ago

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Principle Decisions [6/24]

Rating: Explicit

Pairing: Lilith/Zelda Spellman

Summary: She had engaged in dominatrix services from Sabrina’s principal. It was enough to make her light-headed.

N.B.: Also posted on AO3. This is pure fantasy, please suspend your disbelief.

“Zelda,” Faustus said, walking into her office. He entered as if he owned the place, not caring that this was her office and she was in the middle of a discussion with Elspeth about her recent failure in an essay that weighted thirty percentage of the semester’s grade.

“Yes, Professor Blackwood?” she said, smiling sharply as she looked away from Elspeth.

“Unfortunately, Shirley won’t be returning as we expected. She’s requested further time off. I’ll need you to look after her classes until she returns.”

It’d been a month, and Zelda was already thin on time and stressed as it was, trying to manage lesson planning for all of her classes and Shirley’s religious second-year subjects on top of that was more than she wanted. Prudence had been a much-needed help, but there were things she couldn’t leave with her.

Her academic paper was well behind schedule she’d set out. She was barely seeing her family outside of dinner. As it was, she barely managed to get in six hours of sleep most nights. She’d counted on finishing those two subjects in two weeks.

“I’ll require further funding for my TA,” she said. “But that’s no issue Faustus.”

“Of course,” he agreed with a nod, and then seemed to notice that someone else was present in the room. Providing a polite nod, he went to leave before pausing. “Thank you, Zelda.”

Zelda bit her tongue, feeling annoyance flush through her. She turned and looked at Elspeth, finding the girl’s eyes wide open, as if she just witnessed something she shouldn’t have.

“Where were we?” Zelda asked, honestly failing to remember what point she’d been discussing.

“Extra credit,” Elsbeth said, “So I don’t lose my scholarship.”

Zelda nodded and flicked through Elspeth’s marks. It was only the most recent essay that dragged down her overall grade, having a heavy weighting on it. “It was a rushed essay. I can give you the chance to re-write it if you feel you can bring something better to it?”

Elspeth drew in a breath, sitting up taller in the chair. It wasn’t the response she wanted. Clearly, the girl had expected something else been asked of her.

“I can do that. When do you want it handed in by?”

“Two weeks.”

Elspeth agreed, standing up and leaving. Zelda drew a sigh and watched as she left. She’d probably been lenient with the deadline and should have cut it down to a week, but the truth was that she was too exhausted to care. She was completing twice the amount of unpaid overtime than usual just to keep her classes at a certain standard and had been pressing to ensure she attended Sabrina’s extracurricular that popped-up, given that she couldn’t even fit in time to take Sabrina to and from school most days.

She considered pulling away from dinner and just eating in her office to get an extra hour of work, but Hilda would never allow. It was the one thing that she and her sister had agreed on the way back when Ambrose was barely twelve years old, and Sabrina was learning to walk. A family sat together, no matter what.

The truth was the only place she could afford to cut, was her sleep schedule. But the tension was building up inside of her. With so little time for herself, she was going to snap if she didn’t do something soon to ease it.

She just needed an hour or two.

Zelda picked up the phone and rang from her personal phone.

“Zelda,” Lilith purred like they were old friends. “I thought you’d forgotten about me.”

“I’ve been busy,” Zelda said, “Do you have an appointment for this week?”

“Hmm, let me see,” there was the sound of shuffling, and then a quiet pulled on the phone. Zelda drew in a breath, trying to ease her beating heart. A part of her hoped that she had an appointment for this afternoon. “How long were you looking for?”

Zelda’s tongue grew heavy. She flicked open her planner, looking through her availabilities. “What do you have available?” she asked as if they were trying to pencil in a business meeting.

“Saturday morning, you can have me from nine until twelve.”

Zelda’s eyes fluttered shut at the choice of words. You can have me. Oh, she would very much so enjoy having her.

“Three hours?”

“How about we say from nine until eleven, and I promise not to watch the clock,” Lilith said. “I quite like the idea of you in my garden,” Lilith said. “But there are many things we could play with.”

“And just what were thinking that I would enjoy in your garden?” Zelda inquired, trying to hold onto some semblance of control. After all, the woman was becoming entirely too presumptuous.

“We’ll discuss once you’re here. But don’t get me wrong, I would very much so enjoy hearing any ideas from yourself.”

Zelda shivered. “I’ll see you Saturday,” she said, clicking off the phone.

It was something to look forward to, and yet Zelda found herself going from meeting to meeting, class to office time (which was always busy midway through the semester when students started to realise that unless they did something soon, they wouldn’t make the marks they needed). She came home, she ate and then she returned to her home office for lesson planning until late at night, where she would drag herself to bed for a few hours.

Twice, Hilda had commented on how tired she was, enquiring if she was eating enough, and twice Zelda had snapped back that she was perfectly fine and had only just recently seen her doctor.

Hilda had shrunk away at the comment, embarrassed at the breakfast table as Zelda drank her tea, trying to ease the growing headache behind her eyes. There was a test for this afternoon, that would give her a better idea on if she needed to re-evaluate her lessons for them––and yet for the life of her, she wanted to call in sick.

“Aunt Zee?” Sabrina inquired softly. “Can I ask you something?”

She looked up, setting the cup down and tried to ease the headache she felt.

“Theo’s having trouble with some of the other boys on the team. They’re not letting him use their locker. I’ve tried talking to Coach Craven, but he doesn’t care since Wardwell told him off––and I’m worried that if I do go above him to Principal Wardwell again, he’ll just let things get worse.”

Zelda paused, drinking in the words to the context. “I can speak to their parents if that’s what you want,”

“No, I think that will make it worse.”

Zelda agreed, but she still wouldn’t mind wringing through the children’s parents. Not that it was her place, in the end, it should be Theo’s father (and yet that, still, could make things worse). “Honestly Sabrina, there’s very little things you can do with a bully like that. It may be in Theo’s best interest to quit the team.”

“But he wants to be apart of that!” Sabrina said. “It’s not fair that they just take away his enjoyment of such a thing.”

“It’s not,” Zelda agreed. “But there are some fights that you’ll need to walk away from, that is, unfortunately, how the world works. It’s not worth Theo’s unhappiness if he’s been pushed out by his peers. If anything, I would suggest perhaps finding a different sporting group who’s more open to having diversity in their team than high school.”

Sabrina frowned, sinking in her chair, “But none exists.”

“Then perhaps there’s your idea, start a new one. I doubt Theo’s the only one who feels that way.”

“No! Then they get what they want.”

Zelda sighed, “Yes, they do,” she agreed. “And it’s not fair, and it’s not right, and I’m sorry, really. If we could wave a wand and teach them all a lesson, I’m sure we would. Realistically speaking, to avoid Theo facing further punishment, it might be in his best interest to leave. Not all fights are worth battling. Sometimes it’s about walking away and creating your own happiness.”

Sabrina’s face twisted, conflict crossing over her face. “I mean, is that what you did?”

Zelda frowned. “Pardon?”

“Aunt Hilda mentioned that things were hard for you when you were starting at Greendale University. That the others––“

“Your Aunt Hilda is going off gossip. No, it was entirely different; I wasn’t being berated the way young Theo was. Just some minor office gossip, and nothing I couldn’t rise above.”

Sabrina frowned. “Maybe I should just speak to Principle Wardwell.”

“You could,” Zelda agreed, “And then she’ll speak to the coach, and then…what? I don’t mean to detract you from this goal. It’s admirable. But perhaps you should think about what’s actually fair for Theo rather than seeking justice.”

Sabrina made a face, her nose wrinkling. “It is about Theo. He’s getting bullied by these…these…dicks,” Sabrina said, spitting the word.

Zelda blinked and watched as Sabrina continued to sit tall in the seat, chin lifted defiantly. No matter what Zelda had to say, she knew Sabrina would go against it. Her niece had apparently already decided as to what she was going to do.

“Speak to Theo,” Zelda urged. “Maybe speak to his Coach yourself. But actually, look towards what the repercussions are likely to be. I’m sure the last thing you want to do is make life even more difficult for your friend.”

“I won’t,” Sabrina said. “I just want him to be happy.”

“And that’s not a bad thing to want,” Zelda assured. “But be sure that this is really about Theo’s interest and not just to serve your own hero complex.”

“Hero complex?” Sabrina echoed. “Is that what you think this about?”

It was, but Zelda didn’t particularly want that argument so ignored the bait, and left a quiet to settle between them and with it, as she began to feel her migraine increase. What she needed was to lie down in a dark room with a damp towel across her head. As it was, she couldn’t. “Do you need me to drop you off at school?”

“Or what, you think my hero complex will have me try and rescue a cat out some tree I pass?”

Zelda sighed, staring at her. “Do you want me to drive you or not?”

“I can walk to Harvey’s and see if he’ll take me.”

There was a strange way she said those words that had Zelda narrowing her eyes. “Has something happened between you and Mr Kinkle?”

Sabrina shook her head before biting her lip. “I don’t know,” she admitted before she smiled and looked up at Zelda, an otherwise perfectly happy expression on her face. “It’s fine,” she assured. “I think he’s just busy. He and his dad are fighting,” she shrugged.

Zelda nodded. Despite never seeing the senior Kinkle drunk himself, Zelda was familiar with Sabrina’s stories of how Harvey felt about it all. Once, Sabrina had begged to have Harvey move in with them, and although Zelda wasn’t against the idea, especially if a child was being harmed, the practice of it was trickier than theory.

Still, there was the older sibling in the household, and as Zelda understood it, he often cooled the clashes between the family.

“I’ll drop you off. I’ll be ready to leave in five minutes,” Zelda advised, looking to the clock upon the wall. It was enough time for her to finish her tea and grab her bag from her office.

She’d spent most of the last night finalising her lesson plan for Shirley’s class, and this morning, she felt a tightness in her neck, likely adding to the growing migraine she had. Before she finished her last mouthful of tea, she dug around for her painkillers and took the familiar dosage.

“Ready!” Sabrina said, just as she managed to set her cup in the sink.

Zelda made a gesture for her to go to the car, as she picked up her bag from her office, taking her computer and day planner with her. She checked for keys and her wallet and then paused, noticing that her computer’s light wasn’t on.

Opening it up, she watched the screen flick on…and then turn off completely.

Zelda took the charger, plugging it in and watched as, again, the computer’s screen flickered.

Panic welled up in her chest. It’d worked perfectly fine last night. The last thing she needed was for it to seize––all of her work was in it, including her lesson planning. And yes, although she did have it backed up, it was all on the cloud and inaccessible to her from any of the school’s computers. She would have to use her phone.

Zelda took a breath, taking the laptop and shoving it into her bag. There was every chance that the charger was the issue, and she just needed to obtain a new one.

“Aunt Zee?” Sabrina called from the hallway, and Zelda squeezed her eyes shut. There was a computer shop in town. She could duck in, confirm if there was a problem, and then return to pick it up if need be.

Shutting her office door, Zelda’s heels clicked loudly on the floors as her frustration seemed to be growing to a boiling point.

Sabrina shifted as she saw her, adjusting the bag on her shoulder. “Are you okay?”

“Fine,” she clipped back. “Get in the car before we’re late.”

Sabrina’s eyes widened, but she seemed to have enough decency to realise that it was the time, and climbed into the car.

Zelda drove to the school, pulling into the parking lot, and watched as Sabrina climbed out quickly before running off, wishing a brief “have a good day!” though seemingly somewhat avoidant of dealing with her bad mood any further.

Not that Zelda could blame her.

She was just pulling out of the parking lot when she noticed a familiar car pull in, Lilith at the wheel. Zelda blinked, watching the car pass before she could so much as absorb the situation.

Briefly, she wondered why the woman was attending the school––before remembering their conversation at the game the other week. Zelda wondered if the woman was a mother to one of the children bullying poor Theo––if she was, Zelda was going to have strong words with her about using her so-called discipline to better use and actually parenting her son.

Putting the thoughts away, she drove to the computer shop and walked in just as the sign on the front door was switched to open.

The retail assistant’s mouth opened, going to babble out a polite welcome or whatever as she pulled out her laptop and placed it on the counter. “My computer’s screen went black, and I need it to be fixed before my classes start.”

“O-of course,” he said, taking the computer in his grip. He looked over it, checking for something before he plugged it in.

The charger’s light flicked on, confirming that was working before he pulled open the screen. Zelda watched as again. The screen flickered before turning black.

“Ah,” he said. “It could be a screen issue, but…have you visited any new websites recently? No judgement of course, but if you downloaded new software from online, or clicked on any…ads, or…anything like that?” he asked, looking at her awkwardly.

Zelda’s jaw tightened, under usual circumstances she’d be able to tightly respond with no. Still, the truth was, she had been doing some minor extracurricular website searches to understand some of the services Lilith had (because they used slang she was unfamiliar with), and there was every possibility that one of them might have downloaded something.

“Could you fix the issue?” she asked instead.

“Oh, definitely,” he agreed. “It might wipe your hard drive though, if-if it was…that.”

Zelda exhaled a deep breath. Her lesson plan was fine, but she would lose a lot of resources she was using for her paper, and it’d be difficult for her to retrieve them again. “If you could avoid that, I would prefer it,” she said.

The man nodded, typing on the screen. “I can have it back by Monday. I’ll try and see if it’s a screen issue first.”

“Monday?” she asked tightly, before nodding, “Monday’s fine,” she agreed. She’d just have to live off her phone until such a time.

“Let me just grab your contact details.”

Zelda provided them tightly as she dug out her phone and clicked through, pulling out the information from her lesson plans. She was going to be late, but that would just have to be something she dealt with.

As it was, she managed to make in time and was able to deliver her lesson without drawing to her phone too much. She was, however, late to her office hours due to trying to get a spare laptop from the library, which was being looked after by a grad student who didn’t know how to loan out the spare laptops.

By the time she arrived, one of her students was sitting on the ground by her door and fumbling to stand-up awkwardly. “Professor Spellman!” he said. “I need an extension for the essay due next week.”

Zelda pulled out her keys, clicking the door open. “Which essay is this for?” she inquired, pushing the door open and clicking the lights on. Her headache was growing as she set down her bag and set the laptop up, opening before she noticed a low battery warning.

Of course, the student had forgotten to provide a charger. She closed the lid and looked up at the student, watching as he nervously took a seat before her and began twisting at his clothes.

“Ah—well, it’s…technically…P-professor Jackson’s…class. And she’s usually fine with giving extensions, so as long as…”

Zelda’s brows rose. “So as long as…?” she prompted.

“Ah…can I have an extension. Please? I have an exam on the same day and I just…really need…”

Zelda sat back in her seat. “Did Professor Jackson go over her timetable for when assignments were due?”

“Yes?”

“So you were aware of both your essay and exam being on the same day since your first week of classes?”

“I mean, tech-technically, yes, but I didn’t actually realise until…until this week,” she admitted.

“Melvin, isn’t it?”

“Yes, professor.”

“Melvin, I suggest that you go over your schedule for the rest of the semester. The answer is no; I will not be granting an extension. You’ve had all semester to plan for this.”

“But Elspeth––“ and then he stopped himself, seeming to realise he said too much. Zelda’s brows rose, waiting to see if he would continue, but thankfully Melvin just stuttered out a muttered apology, before he scrambled at his bag and left, leaving her alone in her office with a dying laptop.

She clicked the power save button and stared at it. It wasn’t like she could easily download her lessons and transfer it across anyway, they were two different systems (and it was one of the few times she regretted not using the school’s standard provided laptops to do all of her work).

She sunk in her seat, pulling open her drawer to pull out the Advil packaging, only to find that it wasn’t there.

No, because she’d used it all up and the only container she had was the one at home.

Of course. Of course, it was because the day couldn’t get any worse.

Except it did, because just as she was about to take lunch, her phone rang.

“Ms Spellman?” the woman on the line enquired.

“Yes, who’s speaking?”

“This is Mrs Meeks, I’m calling from Baxter High.” Zelda’s stomach sunk. “Your niece got into a fight this morning. Principal Wardwell has requested if you could come into the office to discuss her behaviour? Usually, we’d speak to Hilda, but I’m afraid her phone’s been switched off.”

Of course, it was because her sister was working today. Though it certainly raised the question as to why Hilda was first on the list when she should have been. But that wasn’t the concern now.

Zelda’s eyes squeezed shut. Sabrina got into a fight, and Zelda knew exactly what the reasoning of the fight was.

“I’ll be right in,” she said.

Clicking her phone off, she looked across her time table. She had lunch, and then two hours after that before her next class. It meant she was shutting her office hours prematurely shut, but she wrote on the whiteboard of the door, advising that she would be available through email or in the following week, adding that if it was urgent, to reach out to Professor Blackwood.

Bad things came in threes, her mother used to say, and Zelda hoped that this was the last of her bad luck.

In the drive over to the school, she considered calling up Hilda and asking her to deal with it. Still, the truth was, Hilda would be a push-over and agreed that Sabrina warranted some kind of punishment when Zelda knew perfectly well that Sabrina was likely only protecting her friend and did not require any form of punishment.

Parking in a teacher’s spot (it wasn’t like they could do anything about it), she locked the car and walked to the front office, before getting directions to the Principal’s office.

There, she saw the strange, blonde woman on the phone, and then Sabrina, Theo, Harvey and Roz, all sitting on the bench with their heads bowed and bruises forming across their faces and knuckles. To the other side was a half-dozen boys Zelda didn't recognise sitting on the other side of the room.

Zelda looked across them all, brows raised. As Sabrina and her friends all began speaking at once, she rose her hand, silencing them. “Have your parents been called?” she asked, looking to the other children.

“Yes,” Roz answered, “They’re with Principal Wardwell now. Except…for Harvey’s dad, since Mr Kinkle was in the mines.”

Zelda looked to him and then to Mrs Meeks. “Am I right to enter?”

“Oh yes, should be fine,” she nodded.

Zelda swept a look over them, giving a small nod to Sabrina to let her know that she didn’t disapprove of whatever happened, but they would certainly talk later about it.

Pushing open the door, she came into a room filled with six other parents, recognising Sabrina’s friend’s parents, she gave a small nod and went to shut the door before her eyes fell onto the principal.

And then she nearly fainted. They both stared at each other, a tightness rolling over the room before Lilith’s face brokered into a mask.

“Ms Spellman, I take it?” Lilith asked, tilting her head. “I thought we requested your sister?”

“She’s occupied,” Zelda said, grounding herself as she closed the door.

“Well, we were just concluding this matter,” Lilith said, hands folded neatly before her and Zelda felt her stomach flip. The principal.

She had engaged in dominatrix services from Sabrina’s principal. It was enough to make her light-headed.

“And just what would that be?” she asked, standing in the doorway, afraid that if she took a step, she’d wobble on her heels.

Her principal!

Lilith’s eyes roamed across the room. “Suspension, I believe. Across all parties for next week. Baxter High has a zero-tolerance after all.”

“Ridiculous,” Zelda counted. “Whatever Sabrina’s reasonings were, I’m sure they were warranted.”

An argument arose, and Lilith pushed up on to her feet, a sharp grip on her face enough to silence the room with commanded respect. “Ms Spellman,” she clipped, before gesturing to the seat before her. “How about you take a seat and we’ll discuss what occurred. No need for anyone else to be held up any further by this.”

Zelda rolled her shoulders back and stepped over to the empty seat before her, but refrained from sitting. Lilith’s eyes held hers, and there was a beat as tension seemed to hold between them, and Zelda wondered, briefly, if she was going to say something to her.

She didn’t. Instead, Lilith walked around her desk and seemed to direct the parents out of the room. There was a moment where she spoke to Mrs Meeks, asking her to direct the students back to class, before she stepped back in the room, shutting the door behind her.

“Sit down,” Lilith said, and Zelda felt her knees bend, a part of her wanting to obey before she resisted and glared at the woman.

“You’re a principal?” she hissed.

Lilith’s eyes fluttered innocently, “In fairness, I hadn’t put two and two together until I saw you at the football match the other weekend. And at that point, I thought you had worked out the truth as well. Hardly my fault if you came to the wrong conclusion.”

“You––“

“Are here to discuss Sabrina, not our relationship. Now…sit. Down.”

Zelda scoffed, looking away, before she sat down in the chair, crossing her legs. “This is absurd,” she advised. “If I’m to conclude, Sabrina was only defending her friend against bigoted bullies. If anything, she should be rewarded.”

“Did she discuss the fight with you?”

“No, but I understand Mr Putnam has been having some issues with bullies.”

Lilith nodded, deep exhaustion pulling at her. “Yes, well. Unfortunately, Baxter High’s policy towards any fights is absolute.”

“Did Sabrina start the fight?”

Lilith closed her eyes, annoyance growing on her as she sat back in her seat. “Witnesses say she did and didn’t. Apparently one of the children made a snide comment and Sabrina retorted. When she was walking away, one of the footballers went to do…something in retort against Theo, and Mr Kinkle ended up striking them first.”

“It sounds like to me that they were starting it then.”

“And if it were a simple thing of words, it would be much simpler, but no, it was an extensive fight, and one of the kids has been taken to hospital with what might be a broken leg. His parents would like to push for the expulsion of Sabrina and her friends. At the very least of Theo, who they’ve assured was the person to push the boy, not that anyone else agrees with that.” Lilith rolled her eyes.

Ah, Zelda realised. There were deeper politics at play. She shifted in her seat watching the annoyance flick over Lilith’s face, realising that it had nothing to do with her and everything to do with the other parents.

It’d taken her over forty-five minutes from when she got the phone call to walking into the school’s office. Likely a lot of the students' parents were much closer and Lilith––or Principal Wardwell––had been dealing with them for quite some time.

“This could ruin her academic prospects,” Zelda counted. “It could ruin all of the children if they’re suspended. Surely, something else could be arranged.”

“Surely,” Lilith said, a smirking growing on her lips. “Between you and me, I would very much so like to separate this issue and deal with what I know likely to be true with regards to Theo, but unfortunately I can not. None of the children have come forward to me outside of this event. Despite the assurance from Sabrina that she has spoken to Coach Craven, he assures that it’s an overdramatic flare of what actually occurred.”

Zelda watched as Lilith’s eyes narrowed, seething at the coach.

“So, because a teacher is going against Sabrina’s word, you can’t do anything?”

“Oh, no, I didn’t say that,” Lilith said, “Just that I have to be careful about what I do.” Her nails drummed on the desk, before her eyes flashed, looking at Zelda. “Suspension is what the parents want, and given that it would be across all the students it would be fair, but you’re right, it could affect the academic progression of some our students, as well as the possibility of scholarships for others.”

Zelda swallowed, feeling a flush form over her chest at the way the woman was looking at her. It sounded almost like she was leading to a point. “So you’ll reduce their punishment?”

Lilith tilted her head, her eyes going to the office door briefly. “Well, punishment needs to be served, but I can certainly get creative in finding something for the students to do. Perhaps a charity organisation for their time to remind them that they need to work together—on top of detention, of course.”

It wasn’t fair, but it was agreeable. A fight she was willing to relent.

“But is that really fair?” Lilith mused, seeming to once again, read her thoughts. “After all, Baxter High’s rules are quite strict on this matter. It should be an expulsion of all students. I was negotiated down to a suspension, however…you’re asking me to agree to detention and a few wasted Saturdays.”

“Surely the rules don’t explicitly dictate expulsion.”

“They do,” Lilith assured. “In fact, a lot of the rules haven’t been updated since the nineteen-twenties.”

Zelda blinked, “What are you getting at?” she asked.

“I would never suggest corporal punishment on a child, but if someone…older were to take it on their behalf…”

Zelda paused, allowing the words to settle between them as she caught the woman’s expression. “Are you suggesting that I act as a whipping girl?” she asked, feeling a shiver run down her spine.

Here? Now? On the desk? If she was honest, it was almost exactly what she needed after the day she had.

Lilith bit her lip, and there was a fine balance to a played innocence and devilish intrigue in the look she threw. It caused Zelda to shift in her chair, turning to look over her shoulder and confirm the office door wouldn’t be thrown open.

“And if I don’t do this?” Zelda asked.

Lilith shrugged. “I’ll still arrange for them to complete their community service, but you’ll be left knowing that the punishment was unfairly reduced to a slap on the wrist—so to speak.”

Zelda knew what she meant was, I won’t offer this again to you, because they’d be unlikely to find themselves in such a situation again where Zelda needed to play as a whipping girl.

It wasn’t a fantasy Zelda knew she wanted until it was dangled before her and almost too unbearable to resist. Low in her belly, she felt the flicker of desire warming through her, enough so that she could feel her heart pounding in her chest as much as she could feel a dull thrum between her thighs.

“Fine,” she said, trying to pretend it didn’t have the exact effect of her that it was.

Lilith grinned, an excitement lighting her as she rose to her feet and then gestured to the desk.

Zelda swallowed. Removing her coat, she stepped around the desk and gave a glance to the windows. The blinds were pulled closed, making it impossible to look in. “Well?” Lilith asked, “What are you waiting for. On the desk, now.”

“Shouldn’t we lock the office door?”

“Bend over,” Lilith said as if she hadn’t heard. Zelda bit her tongue, excitement rolling through her as she bent over the desk. She couldn’t see her, but she felt the woman’s hand run over her skirt.

There was a creak of the chair, and then Lilith was standing, coming around to the office door where she flicked the lock with a meaningful look to Zelda, letting her know that they would not be disturbed.

Zelda splayed her hands on the desk. She wasn’t sure how she felt laid out on Lilith’s desk like this, watching as the woman circled back behind her, not unlike a shark examining circling their dinner.

“Cane or barehand?” Lilith asked.

Zelda blinked. “You have a cane here?”

“Don’t make me ask the question again,” Lilith said. “Or I’ll start adding lashes.”

Zelda swallowed, thinking over the words. “Cane,” she answered because they might as well do this right.

“Good girl.”

Zelda heard the sound of a drawer opening, before the dragging of something firm against the wood, and then Lilith was setting the cane down beside her so that Zelda could see it as another hand ran over her backside.

“I’ll admit, I’ve wanted to do this to you for a while, now. Impetuous as you are.”

Zelda scoffed. “I’ve been rather well behaved if anything.”

“Backtalk,” Lilith tutted. “That’s another lashing, I think.” And then her hands were running down Zelda’s thigh, dropping over the hem of her skirt. Zelda shivered, and then felt as the pencil skirt was rolled up her legs, and then over her hips, before being bunched around her waist.

Lilith’s fingers drew over the back of her thighs, touching over the bare skin void of any stockings or lace. “Do you remember your safe word?” she asked.

“I do,” Zelda nodded, pressing firmer against the table as she stared over the edge, looking at the collection of books and knick-knacks that Lilith had on display.

“Good girl,” Lilith breathed, and Zelda felt her knees go weak.

She felt the garter belt unclipped from the back of her stockings, before being pushed up and out of the way, and then her underwear was being rolled down. They’d barely begun, but if Zelda was honest, she could already feel how wet she was.

“My, my, Ms Spellman. I’m not sure if this is going to get the message across given the effect it’s had on you,” Lilith said, as a finger drew dangerously close to her sex, but didn’t quite touch, keeping to the edges of her thighs. “But let’s give this an honest go, hmm?”

Zelda nodded, not trusting herself to speak as she heard the cane get picked up, dragging slowly against the wood of the desk.

“Spread your legs there, that’s a good girl. Back straight,” she said, adjusting Zelda into position and Zelda shivered at the contact, feeling the cool air brush against the warmth of her sex.

Never in her life had something been so utterly erotic as this.

“We’ll start with five lashings?” Lilith said. “I’d appreciate if you could count them for me. Otherwise, I tend to lose track. Can you do that for me?”

“Yes.”

“Yes…?” Lilith enquired.

“Yes, Principal Wardwell.” She wasn’t sure if it was the right thing, but Lilith seemed to chuckle at the response, apparently amused by it.

“Five lashings, dear,” she reminded. Zelda nodded and then waited. Nothing occurred; there was only the dull sound of a clock ticking in the room.

And then the first thwack of the cane hit her on the right cheek, stinging against the skin. “One,” she gasped, eyes squeezing shut as she felt the pain roll across her. The next strike hit against the other side, stinging across the lower side of the cheek and Zelda felt herself clench, “Two,” she said.

There was a punishment in counting it out. Not only did it seem to make it worse, but she felt horribly young, counting her punishments.

“Three!” she gasped, though a moan was building in her chest. A pause came, and then Lilith’s fingers were running across the strike, and Zelda was dropping her head against the table, legs shaking.

It wasn’t horribly painful as she’d first expected, but apparently, she was more into being struck than she realised.

Another strike hit her, high on the right buttocks and Zelda whimpered, feeling wetness slide down her thigh like warm honey. She was drenched and aroused, and there was a dull throb pulling at her sex. There was nothing more she wanted than another hit.

But Lilith seemed to pause, and in the reflection of a knick-knack, Zelda could see a warped version of Lilith holding the cane as she seemed to examine her. “If I knew the effect a good disciple would give to you,” Lilith purred. “I would have done it much sooner.”

Zelda turned, looking over her shoulder to watch Lilith’s eyes dart from her ass to looking up at her, her grin widening.

“Turn around,” Lilith coaxed. “We’re not finished yet.”

Zelda turned around, jerking as fingers pressed against the welt across her backside, slipping over it. And then Lilith’s hand rested over her lower back and the second strike came, sudden and hard and Zelda bit back the groan, her back arching as she jerked forward against the desk, hard enough that it rocked.

And then Lilith’s hand was rubbing against the area, soothing the sting and Zelda felt a whimper rise in her throat, leg shaking at the contrasting touch.

And then came another strike, firmed on the side and Zelda gasped, eyes wide open. “Five, that was five.”

“Was it?” Lilith asked. “I heard you count to two. It sounds like you skipped a few numbers there.”

Zelda twisted around, looking at her. “You can’t be serious?”

Lilith’s brows rose, mischief in her eyes as she cast an exaggerated stern expression at her.“I did ask you to count. I get very lost with these things.”

Zelda huffed, facing back on the desk. She wanted to bite back a response but didn’t trust herself to speak. Despite the sting, Zelda felt the arousal pulling at her. The reality of the situation seemed to hover, reminding her that she was in the school, that she was engaging in discipline by a dominatrix, who’s apparent other job was working as a principal.

And yet, she couldn’t find herself to care.

“We’ll start with three, hmm?” Lilith asked

“Yes,” she answered and then when a silence held between them, she groaned, ducking her head to swallow back her pride. “Yes, Principle Wardwell.”

Again, Lilith laughed. It was a deep, low chuckle divining pleasure from the sadism. It was with that that Zelda was reminded of her email insignia. Madam Satan indeed.

The first strike was firm, and Zelda spoke the word, feeling it come from low in her chest. “Three.” And then the next strike was sharper. “Four,” she gasped, eyes pressing shut. And then, finally, a last strike. It was firm, and yet it crossed over most of the welts, making her thighs shake. “Five,” she whispered, feeling the strike work its way through her body.

She felt her knees weaken, a tugging sensation pulling at her sex as if she’d almost managed to orgasm from that alone.

And just as she steadied herself, another hit came, smacking against both cheeks hard. Zelda bucked and gasped, feeling herself clench at the hit. “Fuck,” she cried, her voice high and pleading.

It was enough for tears to prick at her eyes, and more than enough that Zelda felt an ache low in her body, desperately tugging at her.

“There, all done,” Lilith said, placing the cane down as her other hand rubbed over her backside, soothing the sting.

She didn’t mean to (well, not actively at least) but as the fingers ran over her welts, Zelda found herself arching her back, adjusting her backside in a way that would have the fingers slide across and touch over her sex.

“Oh, I see,” Lilith breathed, and then Zelda felt her hand slide near and close. “You were such a good whipping girl for me, taking ten lashes. Did you want a reward?” It was a tease as if pretending she wasn’t already entirely aware of what Zelda wanted.

She wanted to ask what reward, not wanting to be tricked with something horrible, but she couldn’t find the words. She was so close, so close that it would hardly take more than a well-placed stroke to get her off. Zelda nodded against the desk and felt the hands drop away.

“Turn around,” Lilith said, and she obeyed, hissing as the welts pressed against the edge of the desk. Lilith stepped forward and then Zelda’s chin was being tilted up as Lilith grinned at her. “Part your legs for me.”

Zelda obeyed, spreading her legs, breathing in sharply as she pressed firmer on the welts against the edge of the desk.

Lilith grinned at her, and then she was stepping between her legs, hand drawing lightly against the slick folds. Zelda watched at the pupil expanded, Lilith’s mouth parting as she gasped with what she found.

Zelda wasn’t slick, or wet. She was drenched from the caning and Zelda could feel something akin to embarrassment as she bit her lip, feeling herself quiver at the light touch, arousal dripping over her thighs and stinging against the forming welts.

And then Lilith was sliding inside of her and Zelda felt it like stars behind her eyes. Never had anything felt as deliciously good as the woman sliding however many fingers inside of her.

Lilith’s expression shifted, her face holding in faux surprise before she grinned, like the cat that got the canary, stroking inside of her purposefully with the intent to tease. “Is this what wanted?” she asked. Zelda’s eyes fluttered shut as she nodded, rocking forward.

She regretted the movement, feeling the sting shudder up her spine, mixing with the growing climax.

“Hold on to the desk,” Lilith said. “You’re going to want a steady grip for what I’m about to do.”

Zelda’s fingers wrapped around the desk, uncertain as to why, since she could certainly hold herself up on her feet.

And then Lilith was on her knees before her and Zelda felt herself tremble at the sight. The woman’s incandescent eyes staring up at her as she bent forward, fingers still stroking inside her as she pressed a kiss to her skin, licking along the crease between thigh and labia.

“Jesus Christ,” Zelda hissed, pressing on the ball of her feet, hands grasping at the desk. It was too much, definitely too much in a way that every other fantasy would be shattered and replaced with the image of Lilith on her knees.

Zelda swallowed, watching as Lilith’s tongue slipped between her labia folds in a low, languid stroke, and then she couldn’t watch her any more. It was too sinful, too delicious and her head rolled back, jaw clenching shut as she felt the tongue slip over her sex, drawing over it with such wonderful delight that Zelda could feel the sting of the welts melting and heightening the pleasure Lilith was summoning between her legs.

It was slow and drawn out, and then Lilith’s pace increased, her fingers sliding deeper insider of her, filling her up in a way that felt like she was entirely designed to please her, pressing where she needed it to be pressed, sliding deep and then back.

Zelda could feel her arousal dripping down against her thighs.

“Fuck,” Zelda whimpered, squeezing around the fingers as Lilith’s tongue drew over her clit. “Lilith,” she keened again louder, as Lilith began sucking over the clit, drawing over it until Zelda was no longer riding a wave. She was thrown high and higher and, oh god, she needed more. Her body was shaking, and her grip on the desk was slipping with the way she was riding those fingers.

One hand let go of the desk, slipping into Lilith’s hair, as she urged for more. She could hear the woman laughing between her thighs, but she didn’t care about how unhinged she felt. The woman was filling her up and licking her out like she’d never experienced before and there was nothing in this world that Zelda wanted more than to come.

“Let’s see how messy you are,” Lilith said before her tongue began swirling firm circles and it was all Zelda could do to nod, biting her lip.

The pressure was firmer, and then, Zelda was squeezing tighter, her whole body convulsing as all she could focus on was the pressure building and building, until––

“God, Lilith,” she managed to say, the words squeezed between a breath as she let go and felt the orgasm shake through her, with a sudden, unexpected gush of wetness.

She fumbled back on the desk, barely able to consider what exactly occurred as she realised that Lilith’s fingers hadn’t let up her. Her tongue was pressing flat over her clit, down to her fingers, and Zelda was shaking again. Before she could push her away, she was brought again to climax, stronger than the previous one, that took her by surprise so much that she dropped awkwardly against the desk, feeling papers crease, and something hard and wooden press against her forearm as she caught herself from falling.

Only then did Lilith pull away, her mouth dropping away first, fingers drawing out in such a way that Zelda whined at the sensation, blinking up at the ceiling.

She felt…very wet. And worse, she felt as if there’d been a sudden force to her orgasms, almost like she’d…

Well…she wasn’t sure, but she hadn’t had an orgasm like that for some time.

“What did you do?” she asked breathlessly, feeling the words come out in heavy pants as she watched Lilith rise to her feet, wiping her chin with the back of her hand with an entirely too pleased expression on her face as she reached over Zelda to pick at a tissue.

“Why I believe I made you come twice,” she said, her smile widening. “What do you think happened?”

Zelda felt a flush rush over her face. She’d had many orgasms before, but that had been different to anything she’d experienced. “You…” she trailed off, voice strangling as she looked away as Lilith cleaned her fingers with the tissue before throwing it in the wastepaper bin.

Zelda moved, but before she could, Lilith stopped her. “Here,” she said, reaching over her again and plucking out two sheets of tissue before handing it to her. “Have you never ejaculated like that before?”

Zelda took the sheets of tissue, cleaning herself the best she could before fixing her underwear and stockings. “No,” she admitted. “Well…maybe once or twice, but not like that.” She threw the tissues in the wastepaper bin and shifted her skirt down, feeling the marks on the ass sting as she did so.

They were going to hurt for a while.

“Pleased to be of service then,” Lilith said, taking a seat back in the office chair. “Did you want me to place cream on that?” she asked, pointing towards Zelda’s ass, though the way she swivelled in the chair made Zelda think that she just wanted to pull down her underwear again and fuck her over the desk once more.

“I’ll be fine,” Zelda said, feeling the flush of embarrassment wash over her. They had both been intense orgasms, and although Zelda had greatly enjoyed them both, she couldn’t help the embarrassment that had come with it. She’d been utterly unhinged, and now it seemed there was shame rolling over her for the ejaculation.

Lilith’s face tilted and before Zelda could push away, the woman was standing up before her, a finger on her chin gently guiding her eyes back to face her. “There’s nothing shameful about that.”

Zelda’s eyes narrowed, pushing the hand away from her. “I’m quite aware, thank you,” she said. “I’m not some young girl you need to guide in the ways of sex and sexuality.” Huffing, she pushed off from the desk and immediately regretted it, feeling the sting press over her.

“As you say,” Lilith said, going to sit back in her office chair as if they were having nothing more than a casual conversation. “I do hope you’re finished for the rest of the day, as I imagine that will be quite painful until late this evening.”

Zelda looked away, fixing her hair the best she could without a mirror present. “I trust that what we discussed stands––community service?”

“Yes, but it will be for all the students. Can’t look like a favour any of them,” she said, with a pressing look—annoyance from the need to play politics.

“And the other children?”

“I will handle it. But if you’d like to take up the issue, our PTA is always open. Or we can have another meeting?”

Zelda made a non-committal noise, running her hands over her skirt to ensure she couldn’t see anything.

“I shall see you tomorrow, Ms Spellman,” Lilith said, before gesturing to her door.

Zelda gave her a sharp look, before nodding and stepping away. The next day it was then.

______________________________

#zelda spellman #lilith #zelith #madam spellman #caos fanfic #morgan writes #morgans fics

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scatterednova · 5 years ago

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Summary: Asmodeus and Clara discover the truth behind Iruma's parents and decide that it's their responsibility to make up for the love and affection he missed out on growing up. But they somehow miss the fact that Iruma is doing just fine without his previous family, and he's enjoying his new one very much.

“Whoah, Azz-kun! Your bloodline magic is so cool!” Iruma gushed. He had roped himself into helping the janitors clear the cherry blossoms again, but thankfully Azz-kun was there to burn them to a crisp.

“Thank you, Iruma-sama! But my magic pales into comparison to yours!” Azz-kun puffed up in pride with a literal sparkle in his eyes. But that quickly morphed to anger as Clara slammed into his side.

“Iruma-chi! Are you done yet? I wanna play!” she whined as Azz-kun tried to pry her off. Iruma rubbed her head and laughed.

“Yeah, just finished thanks to Azz-kun. What do you want to do?” Clara launched herself off of Azz-kun to latch onto Iruma.

“I wanna play with the fire!” she cheered and lunged for the small traces of soot that Azz-kun’s fire had left behind. She slammed her hands in the ash and spun around. “Look! It’s like chalk! I bet we can draw with it!”

“You idiot! You’re going to get our uniforms dirty!” Azz-kun growled as he hoised Clara up to keep her from touching anything. That backfired, and Clara latched onto the sleeve of Azz-kun’ all-white uniform. He dropped her and started rubbing his sleeve. “See what I mean! You’re lucky class is already over!”

“Don’t worry Azz-azz! I can make another one!” She pulled a nearly identical copy of Azz-kun’ uniform, but in a glaring shade of hot pink and sparkling like a disco ball.

“I’m not wearing that thing!” Azz-kun yelled back. Iruma was left in the background to watch with an awkward smile. He knew that if he let them keep at it they would never get around to leaving.

“Clara! How about we play as we walk home?” He interjected into their little squabble. By this point, Clara had climbed on top of Azz-kun’s head and was cackling madly while waving the uniform around. They both turned to face him at the same time, which looked a little creepy. Clara launched herself off once again, causing Azz-kun to squawk about his hair, and landed next to Iruma.

“Can we play tag?” Clara started bouncing in place while flashing Iruma puppy-dog eyes.

“Sure thing, that sounds like fun!” Iruma gave her another pat to the head and started leading her out the gates. He trusted Azz-kun to follow, and by the time they got to the gate he had reclaimed his usual position by Iruma’s side. Clara started skipping ahead of the pair before screeching to a halt right outside the gate.

“Alright! If you don’t have a ribbon you’re not it!” Clara yelled as she produced two ribbons patterned with some creature that Iruma didn’t recognize. She shoved one in Iruma’s hands before sprinting off. Iruma fumbled with it for another moment before following suit.

“Hey! We didn’t agree on who it would be! Why am I stuck with it!”

Iruma sprawled out across his bed, idly watching Clara build an entire fort out of materials she pulled from her pockets. Azz-kun was yelling at her about ‘disrespecting the sanctity of Iruma-sama’s room!’. Iruma was content to stay there and watch them. He was still unused to having so many people around him, especially people who seemed to have an interest in his happiness. And his friends were so powerful, it still blew his mind whenever he saw them pull off some powerful feat of magic.

“Clara! That’s amazing!” Speaking of magic, Clara had just finished her elaborate three-story fort, complete with a ball pit and balcony. It was easily one of the coolest things Iruma had seen that week, and Clara had just assembled it before his very eyes. “Both of you have the coolest bloodline magic.”

“Iruma-sama, you honor us! But your bloodline magic is surely far superior….” Azz-kun gushed, only to be cut off by Clara.

“Iruma-chi, what’s your bloodline magic?” She jumped up next to him and leaned in until their noses were almost touching.

“Valac! If he wanted us to know he would have let us know by now!” Azz-kun started to scold her in the background, but Iruma laughed.

“Oh, I don’t know either.” Technically, he didn’t have any bloodline magic. But he had Grandpa’s magic, so that might have ended up in his ring as well. But Grandpa had never mentioned it, and Iruma had never thought about it before.

That was apparently the wrong thing to say, as both his friends were giving him weird looks.

“How do you not know?” Clara cocked her head and gave him a puzzled look.

“Well, I haven’t spoken to my parents in ages, and Grandpa never mentions it. So I just never figured it out,” Iruma tried to laugh it off, but he just got even weirder looks.

“Valac! You shouldn’t pry! You could be messing with very painful memories!”Azz-kun was fuming in the background and tried to yank Clara away.

“Don’t worry, I’m over it. They didn’t want anything to do with me, and I’ve accepted that.” Iruma had spent hours thinking it over, and it had taken a while for him to realize that he no longer felt an affection for the people who had tossed him aside after he spent his entire life trying to please them. He even felt comfortable enough to open up about it, as he was doing now.

“Iruma-chi…” For once in her life, Clara was shocked speechless. Azz-kun was in a similar boat, but he looked more offended than shocked. “Your parents...just left you?”

“Yeah, but now I live with Grandpa. I’m happier than I’ve ever been!” Iruma tried to appease his friends, but they still looked disturbed. Clara was plastered to his side, and Azz-kun was hovering around the edges of the bed. “Really guys, It doesn’t bother me anymore. I’m happier here than I ever was there with them. You don’t need to worry.”

Clara and Azz-kun still seemed deeply disturbed, but they seemed to be willing to drop it. The rest of the afternoon had a tense current to it despite that.

“Do you remember what Iruma-chi said earlier?” Clara would usually use the walk home to mess with Alice, but today she quietly trailed behind him. She’d tried to brush off Iruma’s words when she was playing with him, but it stuck with her.

“About his parents? Vividly,” Alice, on the other hand, was trying not to combust until they were out of Iruma’s line of sight. “Iruma-sama is the pinnacle of ability and compassion! Any respectable demon would kill to have him as an heir, and those idiots just throw him away!”

“I can’t even think about my mom doing that to me.” Clara moped as she thought about her own family. Whenever she tried to think of her mom doing that to her, her mind just blanked.

“I don’t exactly see eye to eye with my mother, but to think that she didn’t even care about me…” Alice had gone from fuming to staring at the ground. Similarly to Clara, he simply couldn’t imagine his parents turning on him. “His grandfather really seems to care about him, though.”

“Yeah! Iruma-chi doesn’t need those losers! He has everything he needs right here!” Clara declared. She was starting to get pumped up. “We can be all the family he needs!”

“Valac, you’re on to something! Iruma-sama seems to be doing fine, but it’s our duty as friends to make sure that he has the love and support he needs in life!” Alice yelled. He was blazing with determination, and in his haste, he forgot that Iruma had clearly told them that he was fine with the whole thing.

“Clara, is something going on?” Iruma was getting a little suspicious. Azz-kun and Clara had seemingly been on the same page all day, which was weird in of itself. But now Clara was dragging him off on an ‘adventure’, and Azz-kun hadn’t yelled at her about it. As a matter of fact, he seemed to be as excited as Clara was about all this.

“Don’t worry Iruma-chi! We’re gonna have fun!” That didn’t calm Iruma down in the slightest, but if Azz-kun seemed okay with it he probably wouldn’t die. He shrugged and let himself be dragged away. Grandpa wasn’t expecting him home for a while, so he could text him once they got to their mystery destination.

“Yes, Iruma-sama! You have nothing to fear?” Well, that sealed it. Iruma was just going to roll with it.

Alice regretted every decision that led him to this personal torture. He should have remembered the festival, but he got swept up in Valac’s enthusiasm and forgot that Valac’s entire family were carbon copies of her.

“Azz-kun, are you okay? You’re looking a little pale,” Iruma asked.

“I am quite alright, Iruma-sama!” Alice gripped his cup tighter as one of the boys plastered his uniform with a supply of stickers that he hadn’t been holding a minute ago. His hair had been yanked into braids and tied with bows. Iruma had half a flower garden in his, and a new manicure that was so blinding it gave him a migraine every time he looked at it.

“If you’re sure, Azz-kun.” Iruma-same gave him a blinding smile and Alice felt better about the whole thing.

“Dinner’s ready! Everyone gather around!” Valac’s mother swooped in with an entire feast. Iruma-sama’s eyes lit up, and he and Valac shared a look across the table. It appeared that Operation: Home Cooked Meal was a success. Mrs. Valac, who had been informed of their plan, seemed to take great pleasure in lovingly piling more on Iruma-sama’s plate. Time for the next phase!

“Alright, kiddos! Have fun while I’m out! Take care of yourselves!” Valac’s mother gave all the kids one last pat on the head before breezing out the door.

“Bye-bye!” The Valac children waved after their mother as she made her way to do whatever it was she was doing. Clara spun around and grabbed Iruma-sama by the sleeves while her siblings attached themselves to his legs. “Iruma-chi! Do you want to play now?”

“Of course! What do you guys usually play when you’re home?” Iruma-sama gave them another beaming smile.

“It’s a surprise!” Iruma-sama was dragged over to one of the many piles of pillows in a corner of the room. Alice trailed behind them while suppressing the urge to lecture them on their treatment of Iruma-sama. But this part of the operation required authentic sibling bonding, so it would be counterproductive to intervene. But he still made sure to nab the cushion next to Iruma-sama. For all he knew, those little demons had more stickers stuck up their sleeves.

“Behold! The ultimate sibling experience!” The boys shouted in unison as they raised what looked like an ordinary board game in the air. Iruma-same clapped his hands together.

“That looks like a lot of fun! How do you play?” Iruma-sama gushed as he praised the little ones.

“Last one to turn pink wins!” Alice should have been concerned about the helmets that were being passed around, but this was just a board game, right? Surely Clara didn’t really need all those balloons filled with a mystery liquid.

The matriarch of the Valac family sighed and put her head in her hands. She wished she could join in on the fun back home, but it was important for kids to have space to express themselves. And it was her duty as a mother to give the kids the enrichment they need! Her heart went out for that poor Iruma boy, but he seemed to be doing just fine. He had some very caring friends and a home to go back to. But it wouldn’t hurt if she ‘accidentally’ made too much food in the morning and sent Clara to school with an extra bento.

Iruma staggered home, covered in paint and glitter but loving it at the same time. He’d always wondered what having siblings would be like, be he never imagined something so explosive. Though, Clara’s family was probably a special case. The only thing that could top it was spending an evening with his new family.

“Opera-san? Are you here?” He called out as he stepped through the doors of his home. The cat demon in question appeared at his side and gave him a critical look-over. Her tail twitched, the only sign of her slight displeasure at his appearance. “Sorry I got the uniform dirty.” He gave her a sheepish look as he took his shoes off.

“Who did this? Do I need to handle them?” She got a slightly dangerous look on her face. “I will inform Lord Sullivan of this if I need to.”

“Oh no, it’s not like that. I just went to Clara’s house to play and it got a little out of hand. It wasn’t a prank or anything.” Iruma waved his hands in front of his face as he tried to calm her down. “And sorry again about the uniform.”

“You don’t need to apologize for something like that. I’ll draw a bath for you. Try and brush some of the glitter off in the meantime,” Opera-san reassured him. Her face was still blank, but her tail had stopped lashing around. He took that as a good sign and followed her upstairs.

“Is grandpa around?”

“He had some business at the school, but he’ll be home shortly. I believe that he has a surprise for you afterward. “ Iruma cringed slightly. Surprises from Grandpa were always a big deal, but they had a tendency to go overboard. Like his entire first day here, for example. And nearly every day after that.

“Well, I’m still looking forward to it.”

“Iruma! My precious grandson!” Iruma found himself in a familiar set of arms.

“Grandpa! How was your day?” He returned the hug with a warm smile.

“Ahh! You get cuter every time I see you!” Sullivan cooed as he squeezed Iruma tighter.

“If you’re done, you have something to tell him.” He could always trust Opera-san to be the voice of reason in this household. His grandpa started sparkling at the reminder and he finally released Iruma from his embrace.

“Your beloved Grandpa has set up a playdate for you! I’ve spoken with their parents and both of your friends are coming over for dinner tomorrow!” Grandpa straightened up and spun around.

“Wow! Azz-kun and Clara are coming over? I’m so excited!” Iruma gushed and got caught in another hug. Even Opera-kun looked pleased with the situation. His friends had been over to his house before, but they had always just kinda ended up here. The few planned social events were usually class-wide, and while he loved his other friends he looked forward to hanging out with Clara and Azz-kun.

“My grandson is so cute!”

“Sir, please let go of Iruma-san so he can eat.”

“Iruma-chi!” Clara sprung forward the instant the door was opened and plastered herself against Iruma’s side. He laughed and patted her head.

‘I’m glad you’re here! Have you seen Azz-kun yet?” Iruma looked back out the door and into the woods, trying to spot a flash of pink and white. He saw him a second later when he came barreling into view.

“Valac! Don’t go running off like that!” He growled at Clara, who was hanging off of Iruma’s arm like a monkey. Clara laughed and ran off farther into Iruma’s house. Azz-kun scowled after her. He bowed deeply. “Iruma-sama, I apologize for her manners. To think that she would disrupt the sanctity of your home,” he growled softly.

“Don’t worry about it! You know how she is.” Iruma waved his hands in front of his face while he assured his friend. Azz-kun raised himself with a sparkle in his eyes.

“Iruma-sama is so gracious!” Azz-kun gushed. Iruma felt the urge to slam his face into his hands in embarrassment, but he’d gotten better at handling Azz-kun and had developed something of an immunity.

“Come on, Azz-kun. The food will get cold.” He shot him a grin while leading his friend down the hall. He was followed by Azz-kun’s fervent compliments.

“Iruma-sama! I will avenge your honor!” Azz-kun shouted as he mashed the buttons on the controller. Clara was perched on the back of the couch like the gremlin she was, and Iruma was enjoying the sight. He’d been knocked out by the boss, so he had a minute or two before he respawned. He took the time to enjoy the atmosphere. Opera-san occasionally popped in with snacks and advice, and Grandpa was lurking in the corner with a camera.

“This blasted creature!” Azz-kun threw his controller down after his character took a fireball to the face and died.

“Don’t worry, Azz-kun! The longer you play the easier it gets.” Iruma comforted his friend while he prepared himself to rejoin the game again.

“You are truly an admirable person to master this blasted device.” And Azz-kun was back to complimenting him. He shot him a quick smile before joining the game again.

“Well, I play them a lot. Opera-san plays with me every day. It’s not as chaotic as Clara’s games, but it’s nice to just hang out with my family.” Iruma was fully focused on the game at this point, so he missed Azz-kun’s revelation.

“I think we miscalculated,” Alice hissed as soon as he and Valac were out of earshot. He had made sure to properly say goodbye to Iruma-sama and his family, but he had to admit that he rushed a bit. He needed to talk this over with Valac.

“About Iruma-chi’s family?” Valac had gone quiet, and the whole situation was very reminiscent of the conversation that had started this whole thing. “I felt bad for him because his parents suck, but he seems to be doing alright.”

“Opera-san and Lord Sullivan gave him everything we thought he was missing,” Alice mussed. Valac latched onto his arm and gave him a look that he assumed was her version of being thoughtful.

“I guess we don’t need to do anything else,” Valac declared as she danced ahead on the path. Alice instinctively lunged forward to grab her.

“Well, that’s obvious! Now stop running around!”

#welcome to demon school iruma-kun #mairimashita! iruma kun #welcome to demon school iruma kun #iruma suzuki #asmodeus alice #clara valac #mairimashita! iruma-kun

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ask-will-and-nico · 4 years ago

Note

"And I think we all need a mom figure in our lives," Jason says quietly. Will nods. He sometimes forgot Jason also had a messed up family with how well he seemed to have his life together. But he hopes his mom can work her magic on Jason, too. "I definitely got lucky being matched with her," Will says. "Some advice, though, don't get between Piper and my mama's cookies. She's drawn blood before." Jason nods. "Noted. I've definitely heard lots about the cookies."

Just as Will was going to text Piper to ask her, he receives a text in all caps. 'HOW DARE YOU SAY NO TO YOUR MAMA?' Will rolls his eyes. 'Good thing she doesn't listen to me.' Piper sends back a rolling eyes emoji. Will knew she and his mom texted back and forth. Piper was like a sister to him, and she'd pretty much made the Solace clan her home since her dad was always MIA. Will sends a few texts back before letting her know that Nico had a migraine and to be quiet coming home.

The afternoon was alright. They just had to try to keep Carter calm and quiet. Jason got dinner started a bit before Piper got home, occasionally going in to check on Nico and get him to sip on some Gatorade. They’d heard that electrolytes were supposed to help, so they’d stocked up on Gatorade and gotten some Pedialyte too. It seemed to help about as much as anything else did, which is to say, it helped a little but not much. “What’s for dinner?” Piper asked when she came home, scooping Carter up into her arms from the couch.

-/-/-

“Some pasta with sauce from a jar since Nico isn’t going to be around to yell about it,” Jason said. Piper snorted, resting Carter on her hip. He was telling her about his day, including all of the embellishments. “How are you doing you sneaky little bastard?” Piper asked Will. “Trying to tell Naomi no behind my back.” Will rolled his eyes and shook his head. “This place wasn’t exactly made for five grown adults and a baby,” he said. “I just don’t want her to make the trip for nothing.”

#asks #mini fic 6

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athingthatwantsvirginia · 4 years ago

Text

Really, Marcia?

PART THRTY-FIVE OF THE DO YOU SEE HER FACE? SERIES

Pairing: Jess Mariano x Original Character (Ella Stevens)

Warnings: mentions of parent death, mentions of anxiety, plentiful pop culture references, lack of dialogue because this is exposition and foreshadowing for the next chapter just hang in there with me friends

Word Count: 4.6K

Summary: Jess and Ella return to Stars Hollow once again during graduation season.

Dropping the bags again in the apartment above Luke’s almost made Ella want to laugh out loud. Maybe she shouldn’t have made such a big deal of leaving the diner to move to Philadelphia; she felt like she almost couldn’t escape Connecticut. The trip, this time, was planned in advance, however. Both Adam and Rory were graduating, and Jess’s new sister had been born only a week earlier. Much was to be done, many people to visit. It made Ella feel slightly overwhelmed, the prescribed familial nonsense. Going back to Stars Hollow was easier when she could just casually pop into Luke’s or her home, and then drive away in the Station Wagon with Jess in the passenger seat and Liz Phair on the radio whenever she felt compelled. But the graduation had a scheduled time, Rory’s graduation party had a scheduled time. There was no getting out of it.

For a moment, she had thought about staying back in her old room in the little blue house. She felt as though they were taking advantage of Luke staying over at his place as often as they did. But then it occurred to her that she had no real idea what her room looked like anymore. The few times she’d been over in recent years, she hadn’t even ventured past the threshold of the small hallway, her door the second on the right. She felt maybe it was better to leave the room the way it had been in her memory. She was not in the business of reopening old wounds for no reason other than curiosity.

There was also the issue of her father. Fiona had been cagey at best about Jake on the phone. Would he even show up to the graduation? Surely he would. Even Noah had traveled back home, for the first time in years, though without his fiancé. She was a nurse, and hadn’t been able to get away from the midnight shifts. He was a paralegal, though, and had been able to swing a Saturday afternoon graduation. But, still, there was a gnawing feeling in her stomach. A fear he would simply not show. He had been at her high school graduation, with his robotic hugs and teary eyes and the usual detached way about him. It hadn’t been warm and fuzzy, but he had been there for her. He had clapped as she crossed the stage. And, as far as Ella was concerned, Adam deserved more than she ever got from Jake. Adam called often, and seemed to get along rather well with Fiona, but remained flighty about their father. She could count on him changing the subject every time Jake was brought up.

“Hey! Eleanor,” Jess said, breaking her from her reverie.

She blinked harshly and jumped at the sound of his voice. Slowly, she turned her gaze away from the view of the window above Luke’s kitchen sink. Town square was decorated with florals, and the troubadour stood playing an upbeat, folksy tune on one of the corners. And, as she thought about her family, it had all struck her as a bit plastic. It seemed impossible for so much heartache to happen to her while living in a place like Stars Hollow, but it had. In spite of the sunshiney smiles and the constant offerings for help. Probably why she got along with Jess so well, who understood more than anyone she had ever met what it was to feel a pain she could truly recognize. Luke, too. She wondered at how many people milling down on the sidewalk were concealing all of their hurt for the sake of maintaining a positive, cheerful facade. The farther away the years took her from her upbringing, the more reasons she felt she was better off somewhere other than her hometown. She had never quite been able to polish her outward mold, could never keep it all under wraps. Instead, she ended up cursing out kids who tried to steal random shit from the diner or punishing herself through constant schoolwork and lack of sleep, all to keep her problems from making it from her mind to her mouth. And, most of the time, she had slipped up eventually. Once more, her father came to her mind. He hadn’t been able to wear a convincing mask, either.

“...yeah?” she asked, then looked down to realize the glass she had been filling with cold water from the tap was overflowing onto her hand.

Quickly, she shut off the sink and sipped carefully at the drink, until it was back down to a manageable level. She switched it to the other hand and shook off the wetness, though it hadn’t felt unwelcome after having just come in from the May heat. Jess smirked quizzically at her, from where he stood at the fridge. They were meant to have a late lunch and then go over to Liz’s house and meet the baby, Doula. Despite how much Luke was making fun of it, Ella couldn’t say she hated the name.

“Jeez, Stevens. Where’d you go?” Jess’s voice was lilted and smug as he pulled some leftover sandwiches from the fridge. Luke had instructed them to finish off whatever diner cast-offs they could find. It reminded Jess of his teen years, tense dinners with Luke at the small kitchen table, eating stale food which had been prepped but never actually ordered. And he felt an odd, surprising jolt of nostalgia. But his face didn’t show it.

She shook her head at herself, placing her glass down on the table and grabbing the cutlery as Jess put the leftovers out on the table buffet-style. It reminded her of the way he arranged a meal on her kitchen table the night they’d watched the prom scene of Carrie together, when he’d brought her a care package because she had a migraine and then refused to admit to it later. And, for the most fleeting of moments, she was in the past and they were the people they had once been. A fond smirk tugged at her lips as she sat down, plates and forks in hand.

“Nowhere,” she replied finally, her voice a sigh. Before Jess could ask anything further, she gave him a pointed glance as she piled some cold mashed potatoes onto her plate and continued. “You sure you’re okay going to Liz’s house today? We could always wait until tomorrow morning, then we could have an excuse to leave and go get ready for the graduation.”

He seemed to consider the idea of a moment as he took his first bite of meatloaf, then shook his head. “No. Let’s just rip the bandaid off.”

“That’s the spirit when you’re going to see a new baby,” she quipped.

“I can guarantee the baby will be easier to handle than Liz and TJ, no matter how much she cries,” Jess grumbled, looking down at his food.

Ella bit the inside of her cheek and leveled him with her eyes. Each time they returned to Stars Hollow, he seemed to get more anxious about it. At first, it was because the entire town had hated him as a teen. But it got much worse when Liz moved there. She thought it strange how much everyone seemed to discount how Jess felt about this, how much Luke complained about her. How much they expected Jess to get over what he was feeling and play dutiful son. It reminded her of the way she felt she needed to treat her own father after her mother died. Though the sexist bullshit about her being the ‘woman of the house’ had also played a part. She knew how Luke felt about family, how he would always show up for family regardless of circumstance. Maybe Jess was the same way, loyal to a fault. But maybe it was only for his chosen family. Maybe the rest of it was more because of all the outward pressure he faced.

She reached over and ran a hand through his hand, smoothing it out. For a moment, she thought of saying something, but decided it wasn’t the right time to start a conversation about Jess’s childhood, or the lingering effects he still wouldn’t acknowledge. Not right before seeing his mother. She was trying hard lately to be patient, despite the way his eyes became guarded at the mention of his new sister or his mother, or the increased frequency of his nightmares. It was getting worse before her eyes and she didn’t know why. But Jess was Jess. And he wasn’t going to see it until he was ready to. It almost physically pained her, the effort of swallowing down the words, but she bit her tongue nonetheless.

He offered her a lazy, lopsided smile in return.

. . .

His grip on her hand was tight as they made their way into Liz and TJ’s house, just as gaudy and eclectic as Ella remembered from the baby shower. She might’ve even found it charming if it weren’t for the screaming color of the decor. The place smelled of burnt toast and sour milk, and Ella was instantly glad she and Jess had chosen to eat beforehand, just in case Liz asked them to stay for dinner. The scent was overpowered only by the strong perfume Liz was wearing, which Ella couldn’t ignore as Liz pulled her in for a big hug of greeting.

“Come in, come in,” Liz said in her high, sing-song voice as she led them down the front hall and into the living room. “She’s just waking up from nap!”

The room was littered with toys, empty bottles, blankets, story books Doula wouldn’t be able to read for years. But it was sweet. Ella could see how much they’d been preparing, planning. For a second, she was relieved about it, but then the feeling mixed with a distasteful sadness. Jess had never specifically addressed his bedtime routine as a child, but Ella was fairly positive Liz had never read him Goodnight Moon. She gave his hand a final squeeze before disentangling their fingers and sitting down on the paisley patterned couch. Liz lifted Doula up from the bassinet in the corner by the rocking chair. Ella could barely see the baby beneath the patchwork quilt she was swaddled in. Doula fussed for a moment, and Liz smiled at the two of them apologetically.

“She needs a change. I’ll be right back!” she said, retreating back into the bedroom. “Make yourselves comfortable!”

“Okay. Thanks,” Ella replied cordially. She looked back at Jess as his mother exited the room. “You okay?”

He shrugged, his eyes surveying the clutter. “I guess so. It’s just weird still. All of this.”

Ella hummed, nodding.

“And I’m not really used to the whole baby thing yet. I’ve never even held one before,” Jess said, slightly sheepish and slightly curious. He crossed his arms over the Metallica logo on his worn t-shirt. He’d taken a half day working at Truncheon before they left for Connecticut, and was always happy to change into less professional attire after his shifts.

“I know, but it’ll be easy. Unless TJ pops out and sings that song the frog does in Looney Tunes. Then is the only instance when you’d be even slightly at risk of dropping her,” Ella assured him, leaning back into the overstuffed couch.

She’d gleaned from their conversation the night before that his inexperience with children was also not helping his nerves. The only time she’d ever recalled Jess interacting with kids for any real length of time was the one Thanksgiving she’d brought him to meet her family. But even then, she’d been surprised how easily he’d wowed Erin with his card tricks, and played along with her jokes. Not something she’d exactly expected from the boy who wore a battered leather jacket and a constant scowl and a scarred heart on his sleeve.

“Why do you always worry he’s gonna do that?” Jess asked, cracking a smile for the first time since they’d walked in.

“I told you! He sang it to me one time when I was working and he was hanging out at the diner. He was trying to figure out what song to serenade your mom with,” she explained, eyes wide and utterly serious. “I was just wiping down the counter, minding my own business, and he just appeared, like, right over my shoulder.”

Jess rolled his eyes at the story, remembering when Ella had first told him about it over one of their phone calls, back when they were hundreds of miles apart. “Well, it doesn’t seem like he’s here right now.”

“I didn’t think he was in the diner when it happened,” Ella countered, her voice jokingly grave.

Jess chuckled but didn’t have a chance to respond as Liz reentered the room. A large smile stood out on her face, the baby dressed in a soft punk onesie in her arms. Doula squirmed around a little and cooed, but didn’t seem altogether unhappy.

“Ready to meet your little sister, Jess?” Liz asked, coming over and preparing to put Doula in Jess’s arms before he even had a chance to answer.

“Guess so,” he muttered hastily, eyes widening.

“Just be careful with her head,” Ella offered, watching as Liz hovered over her son, placing her daughter’s head in the crook of his arm.

Jess was surprised at how naturally his other arm moved to cradle her. She felt so light, it was as though he was holding nothing at all. Her skin was slightly flushed from the warmth of the quilt she’d been napping in, and he could feel the heat against his arms and his chest, through his t-shirt. His heart fluttered around anxiously in his chest, and he couldn’t help the slight trembling in his hands, but he was pretty sure he had a good grip on her. Liz straightened up again, looking down at the two of them. Jess almost couldn’t take his eyes off the baby, embarrassed at how awestruck he was. Ella’s nieces were the youngest kids he had ever been in contact with. He had never met someone when they were only a week old before.

“Isn’t she something?” Liz said, hands on her hips. “She looked a lot like Danny Devito when she first came out, but I think she’s finally getting past that early ugly baby phase.”

Jess hummed in absent acknowledgement, but said nothing. Doula had thin wisps of blonde hair, and pudgy, rosy cheeks. Her fingers were curled into small fists, her legs scrunched up. He wondered vaguely if she was going to fall back asleep, since it seemed she couldn’t keep her eyes open for very long. She smelled like rash cream, but he couldn’t bring himself to be annoyed at it.

“Yeah, she’s beautiful, Liz,” Ella answered, though her gaze went back and forth between the baby and Jess. She couldn’t think of a time when she’d seen his eyes so clear and full of wonder before. She’d been too young to hold a newborn when Adam arrived, but she remembered the feeling of holding Erin as a baby, in the hospital just hours after Julie had given birth to her. It was certainly a unique feeling, and she felt her heart swell at the thought of Jess getting to experience it.

Glancing back at the kitchen for a moment, Liz once again gained a frantic tone in her voice. But, after having known her for so long, Ella knew it wasn’t unusual. Liz was the kind of person who put her coffee cup on the top of her car while unlocking the door, and then drove away without remembering it, the mug shattering and coffee splattering on the road behind her.

“Damn, I was just makin’ a bottle when you guys got here. TJ usually does that stuff, but dinner got a little burned. He had to go get some Plan B takeout. Let me finish with the formula,” Liz said, making her way back towards the opening into the kitchen. “You guys okay with her for a second?”

“Yeah. Fine,” Jess answered, surprising Ella.

Just as Liz left again, Doula opened her eyes once more. But instead of letting them shut, she kept them open. She stared up at Jess, her large brown eyes meeting his and doing their best to focus on his face.

“She’s got a withering stare,” he murmured.

“Isn’t so hard, is it?” Ella shifted a little closer to him, leaning over his shoulder to see Doula. “You didn’t have to be nervous.”

“Yeah, maybe not,” Jess said quietly, a small smile on his face as he glanced over at Ella.

. . .

Back when she graduated high school, there had been rain. The day before, they’d had to move the ceremony preparation into the small auditorium. People were squished inside, standing up in the aisles once the seats ran out. Ella’s valedictorian speech had been a bit more than daunting with a bunch of irritated family and friends facing her, those who had traveled miles to Stars Hollow only to be packed into the smelly room like sardines. She supposed having graduation outside in the gazebo was better. The class size was small at Stars Hollow High, but it was best when everyone still had personal space. The one downside was the heat. Connecticut was not usually up near ninety degrees in late May, but a pocket of dry air was currently sitting atop the state, moving at a glacial pace.

Ella and Jess had sat sweating on some lawn chairs. While Julie and her husband Michael, who still lived in the same small house in New Britain, were on Ella’s other side, trying to get their girls to sit through the ceremony to moderate success. Annie’s wild curls were blowing in the scorching wind as she sat on her father’s lap, reading the small storybook she’d brought with her. Erin, on the other hand, just about to cross over into adolescence and middle school, had folded her arms sullenly over her chest and rolled her eyes at nearly every name called up to receive a diploma. Ella didn’t imagine she would’ve reacted much better at that age, being forced to sit out in the heat for hours only to watch Adam be handed a piece of paper. Noah had been on the far side of their row of seats, in his plain clothes, looking stoic as usual. He would be leaving just after the fanfare ended. He’d stayed at a motel the night before, with perhaps even less desire to stay in the little blue house than Ella had.

The valedictorian speeches were actually pretty good, but long. Adam would’ve been giving one if he hadn’t stopped trying in every one of his classes except for those involving science during his senior year. Ella respected the decision though. She had never found any application for calculus in adult life, no matter how hard she had worked at it in high school.

Fiona and Jake had shown up, together for some reason, ten minutes late. No seats were left near Ella, or anyone else in the family. Instead, they were relegated to the far back row. Her brows furrowed at their entrance, but they didn’t get close enough to Ella for her to say anything. Jess had brought her arm around her shoulder as she watched them pass her without so much as a look, and took to whispering jokes about their old principal in her ear. It didn’t work as well to distract her as he had hoped, but it had still earned him a laugh or two, which was far from nothing.

As they all stood around afterwards, under the shade of some trees behind the old gazebo, congratulating Adam, Ella couldn’t shake the thoughts of her parents from her mind. She wondered how different the day would be if her mother had lived. Would her parents still be together? Probably. Despite the problems they hid, the ones Ella had become more aware of the older she got, they did love each other. No matter how much her mother laid down and took Jake’s outbursts and his alcoholism, and no matter how much her father ignored Sophia’s distracted nature and inability to decide on anything in life, they loved each other. And, the thought struck her suddenly, that maybe everything would have been easier to swallow if they hadn’t loved each other so much. It would have been easier to accept how quickly everything fell apart, and how quickly her father had found someone new to fill the hole in his heart.

“You okay?” Jess asked, close to her ear as they lingered amongst the group, pictures having been taken and pleasantries having been exchanged.

“Just peachy,” she replied, unable to hide the bitterness in her voice.

“Yeah, I can see that,” he said, pressing a kiss to the crown on her head and giving her hand another squeeze. It hadn’t taken him long to gather how angry seeing her father again had made Ella. He wondered when the last time had been.

“I could do without the Brady Bunch performance,” she whispered back to him, gesturing to the members of her family as they continued with fabricated niceties.

“Really, Marcia? But you’re the oldest sister! That means you would’ve been prom queen!” Jess teased.

She rolled her eyes and snorted a laugh. “Whatever, Wally Logan.”

Approaching the two of them with narrowed eyes, Erin still had her arms crossed over her frilly dress. She had more than one bandaid on each knee, and she had already pulled the french braid out of her red hair. Speaking mostly to Ella, she sized Jess up.

“I remember him,” Erin said suspiciously.

A confused, bemused grin crossed Ella’s face. “Yeah. At Thanksgiving. You were like five. You remember that?”

“I have a really good memory,” Erin said, shrugging, confident and casual.

Ella chuckled at the flippant ten-year-old.

“Photographic, huh?” Jess asked, eyebrows raised.

“Pretty close,” Erin replied, then focused her eyes back on Ella. “Did you ever figure out his middle name?”

“Sure did,” Ella answered, smirk growing. “You wanna hear it?”

“Of course,” Erin said. “I know for a fact it’s not Santa Claus.”

Jess rolled his eyes.

Ella leaned down and whispered in Erin’s ear. Straightening up again, Ella watched Erin’s gaze roam over to Jess doubtfully.

“What kind of a name is Cosmo?” Erin asked.

“Listen, my mom’s into crystals and-” Jess began, but Michael called Erin over for something.

“Gotta go,” Erin said, and skipped off towards her father without another word.

“C’mon, Elle,” Jess groaned, a blush creeping up his neck and warming the tips of his ears.

She chuckled, nudging him with her shoulder. “Sorry, Cosmo.”

Before Jess was able to retort, Fiona and Jake approached them. Considering they were split up, the peculiarity of the two of them arriving together wasn’t lost on anyone, not that it would ever be mentioned. At a closer proximity, Ella was surprised to see how different Jake looked. His hair was greyer, he was skinnier, there were dark circles under his eyes. Whatever has been going on in Maryland didn’t seem to be conducive to health. She had to bite back her sigh at the sight of him. Fiona was more or less the same, though Ella had visited her more or less recently. She couldn’t remember the last time she had laid eyes on her father. The shadow of the man he had been when she was a child was almost completely gone. Her heart twisted painfully in her chest.

“Hey, kids,” Fiona said, giving Ella a quick hug.

“Oh, hi,” Ella chirped, surprised at her instant warmth.

She also hugged Jess, shocking everyone involved.

“So good to see you guys! How are things in Philly? Adam tells me you just got a new apartment?” Fiona asked, buzzing and bubbly. Her black hair was cropped close to her head. Ella remembered how she used to let apprentices at the beauty salon experiment on her locks during breaks.

“Yeah, we’ve been there about a month,” Ella said. “It’s only a few blocks over from school. I can walk there.”

“How nice,” Fiona smiled.

“It is,” Jess agreed.

Shifting uncomfortably from foot-to-foot, Jake finally interjected. “Hi, Ellie.”

“Hey, dad,” she said, biting the inside of her cheek.

“Young man,” Jake greeted Jess coldly, nodding.

Jess gave a curt nod and a thin-lipped smile in response.

There was a long pause before anyone spoke again, filled with distant, amiable chatter of other families and shrieks of congratulations. Out of the corner of her eye, Ella could see Adam was already off with his friends. Soon, they would be headed to dinner and Project Graduation. Part of Ella was glad Adam didn’t want a big day of family celebration. No one would’ve survived any extended period of false positivity.

“I see you’ve got tattoos now, Ellie,” Jake said, looking down at the tulip on her arm, exposed in her spaghetti strap dress. “Your mother would’ve called that sinful, you know.”

The corners of Ella’s lips tugged up into a resentful smile, the words dripping with venom as they left her mouth before she could stop them. “Well, it’s a good thing she’s dead then, isn’t it?”

Both Fiona and Jake’s jaws dropped and it seemed all the oxygen had been sucked out of the air around them. Ella’s stomach dropped and she brought her hand over her mouth just after she said it. Her hazel eyes grew to the size of saucers. Immediately, Jess took her by the shoulders and began leading her in the direction of the diner, blurting out excuses.

“Hey, nice to see you folks, but we have to get to Rory’s graduation party tonight and it’d be pretty rude if we were late so…” he trailed off, stopping once they were far enough away, leaving Fiona and Jake flabbergasted and speechless.

“Oh my god,” Ella muttered, chewing at her thumbnail for the first time in what felt like forever. “Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god. I was gonna try to be nice if he came, because...at least he showed up, right? Fuck. Oh my god. Jess. Oh my god.”

“It’s okay, Daria. Just try to relax,” Jess breathed, steering her towards the diner as she instantly began melting down.

“I can’t relax, Jess! Don’t fucking tell me to relax! Did you hear that?! Did you hear what I just said?!” she muttered hastily. “Fuck me! Fuck! Every time I see him, my fucking mouth-”

“Hey, language!” Luke scolded her as they entered the diner, the bell jingling jovially above the door. There were only a few customers scattered around, the mid-afternoon lull.

“God, Luke, I thought age was supposed to negatively affect your hearing!” Ella snapped as Jess directed her to a stool and sat her down, hopping up on the seat next to her.

“Joe Pesci here is having a bad day,” Jess explained shortly as Luke shot Ella a bewildered stare.

“What happened?” Luke asked, arching a brow.

Ella heaved a great sigh and placed her head in her hands, elbows on the counter. “Bigmouth has struck again. And apparently she has even less of a filter now than she did in high school!”

“Right,” Luke said, increasingly confused.

Running a hand up and down over Ella’s back as she continued fuming, Jess gave Luke a dejected glance. “Green tea?”

A shadow of realization passed over Luke’s face. “Comin’ right up.”

#jess mariano #jess mariano fanfiction #jess x oc fanfiction #jess mariano x oc fanfic #fanfiction #fanfic #oc fanfiction #jess mariano imagines #jess mariano au #gilmore girls fanfiction #gilmore girls fanfic #gilmore girls au #gilmore girls imagines #luke danes #jess #mariano

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me-and-my-glitch · 4 years ago

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Shock Factor: Thanksgiving

The cousin nobody like was arguing about politics with the uncle everybody hated, and Dakota was trying to decide if it was worth it to accidentally on purpose eat a piece of bread and spend the entire afternoon in the bathroom if it would get her away from her family. She was starting to think it was. Lexi, a cousin Dakota actually didn’t mind, had said she had a migraine coming on and wasn’t able to come to dinner. Dakota envied her. She picked at her food, which was fairly plain, considering the feast surrounding her—the joys of having relatives who refused to cook gluten-free.

The argument between the two least popular people at the table kept escalating. Dakota felt a headache of her own coming on, but she still couldn’t quite convince herself to taste the bread. I hate Thanksgiving.

Finally, dinner ended, but the relief was short lived, as she was promptly pulled into the kitchen to dry dishes. She scowled. Hell must just be a never-ending Thanksgiving.

“Well, Dakota, how is school going?” Her least favorite aunt asked.

“Fine.”

“Just fine?”

“Yeah.”

“Any cute boys?”

“No.”

“Really, there aren’t any boys you like?”

“No.”

“Oh, don’t be silly; there’s always somebody.”

“No, there’s not. Please leave me alone, Aunt Vera.” Dakota grit her teeth.

“Dakota Sierra Orit,” Her grandmother scolded, “Your aunt is just trying to take an interest in your life.”

“No, she’s trying to meddle. If she wanted to take an interest, she could start by finding out how to make food I can eat.”

“I’m not going to cater to your fad diet, Dakota.” Aunt Vera crossed her arms.

“It’s not a fad diet! How many more times do we have to explain this to you? I have Celiac Disease!” Dakota practically yelled, throwing down the dishtowel.

“Dakota Sierra, go to your room.” Her mother said.

“Gladly,” Dakota said, storming off.

“And stay off your phone and computer!”

“Fine!”

“No books either.”

“Whatever.” Dakota went to her room and flopped down on her bed, staring at the ceiling. She stayed there for a long time; after a little bit, though, she did start to grow somewhat apprehensive about what her mother was going to say when she came to talk to her.

When her mother did come in, Dakota didn’t move from her half on the bed, half off it, staring up at the ceiling position.

“What was that about?” Her mother asked.

“I hate Thanksgiving.”

“And you thought it was alright to take that out on your aunt?”

Dakota sat up, “Aunt Vera is one of the main reasons I hate it. She makes sure there is flour in as many things as possible, and when we try to talk to her about it, she acts like I’m stupid and making this up. Then she starts trying to pry into my personal life, and she can’t take a hint. What else am I supposed to do?”

“I don’t know.” Her mother sighed, “Just try to avoid her.”

“Can’t do that when I’m roped into dish duty,” Dakota grumbled.

Her mother gave her a warning look.

Fine. “I’m sorry I talked back to you.”

“Thank you, now you need to apologize to your grandmother and aunt too.”

“Why?”

“Because you need to be the bigger person.” Her mother said, getting up to leave.

I’m getting really tired of always being the bigger person. I’m still a kid.

#shock factor #alexis orit #dakota orit #lexi's cousin dakota #abelist family #thanksgiving #not a big fan of thanksgiving #hating thanksgiving #epileptic superhero #disabled superhero #female superhero #superhero #disabled characters #celiac disease #growing up gluten free #gluten free #gluten free thanksgiving #disabled thanksgiving #happy thanksgiving

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ironwoman18 · 5 years ago

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The Worst Third Date Ever part 19

Chapter 19: Confessions x Dates x Decisions

The next day, the doctor informed Spencer that he can leave that afternoon because his MRI was clean and he was more like himself.

Max went to his apartment to get him some clothes and to leave her suitcase in there. Then she drove back and find him with her dad and sisters.

"So maybe we can watch the movie when you get better" said Dom

"Which movie dad?" Max asked as she walked in.

"Psycho. Spencer wanted to watch it... again and I'm sure Eloise will love it" his youngest daughter rolled her eyes laughing.

"Sure dad, we will see" they all laughed "well I guess you have to leave now, Spencer will leave this place in an hour right?"

"Yeah. I will stay with him all his medical leave"

"Ok, take care Spencer and take it easy" he nodded then the Brenner family hugged him then Max and left the room.

"I brought you some clothes. So while I sign up some papers and the doctor gives me the instructions we have to follow during this month, you change and I will come back to go to my car"

"Ok" he smiled and stood up holding her hand then she left him.

At the nurse station the doctor made her sign the papers of his discharge and said to her "ok Ms Brenner. He can't do heavy exercises or lifting heavy things, he can't drive during this week, he can't watch movies with light effects like The Incredibles 2, he will need a healthy diet and do some mental exercise, maybe two hours so he doesn't get exhausted. He can't drink coffee only green tea or chamomile but no coffee, at least for this month and no alcohol" she nodded looking at the list the doctor gave her "I talked to Doctor Hank Thompson to check him in two weeks. He's a neurologist and after he said his brain is out of danger, we can let him do more things"

"Ok perfect. The alcohol will be easy because he doesn't drink it but coffee will be a challenge"

"You can do it. I trust you" Max laughed gently and nodded.

"Thank you doctor. Can I call if I have a question?"

"Of course and take care of yourself and him" Max nodded and went back to his room.

When she arrived he was sitting on the couch and looking at her "are we ready?"

Max nodded "yes let's go handsome. I have to get some stuffs at the store and guess what? You are coming with me" he laughed and stands up then held her hand and both walked to the door as she explained everything the doctor said.

"Yeah I imagined they would say I can't drink coffee. I stopped it when I was having migraines a few years ago but when I got better I started to drink it again" he smiled at her.

"Good" they arrived to her car and she opened the passenger door for him then went to the driver side and got in.

"It was weird" she laughed at that.

"Yeah, normally it was you, my sweet gentleman, who opened the door for me" she held his hand gently and kissed it "but don't worry, in a week you will be able to drive again and be my gentleman again"

He smiled and held her face with his free hand and kissed her, then she started the car and got out of the hospital parking lot.

She drove to a market close to his apartment and parked there. Then they bought some food the doctor recommended and, of course, Spencer gave her facts about each of them and how they will help him.

Then she paid and they left and some minutes later they were in his apartment, she forced him to lay down while she put the food in the fridge and the meat in the freezer.

She later walked in and saw him sleeping, she smiled and decided to cook dinner. So Max walked back to the kitchen and started to make a soup, salad and meatballs.

She was focused in and she did not listened to him walk in "hey Max"

She jumped scared "Spencer... you scared me, how are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling good and I'm sorry if I scared you. You were so focus that you didn't listen me walk in" he sat down looking at her as she cook "what are you cooking?"

She explained the menu and he just nodded and smiled at her "Spencer, what do you plan to do after this medical leave?"

He looked at her then down biting his lip "well I'm still thinking. Because in my unconsciousness I... I have one of those... um... you know close death experience" she lifted her eyebrow "I know it sounds weird but I had it and I saw Maeve, a woman I was in love but she died in front of me the first time we saw each other" he could read her expression of confusion "she had been stalking by someone. At the moment we thought it was a man but them we discovered it was a woman who was upset because she didn't accept her PhD thesis"

"Just because of that?"

"Yes, because her thesis was about a personal theme so she won't accept a no because it means her believes would crumble"

"Wow... you have a deal with all kind of freaks in this world"

He laughed and nods "oh if I told you... I think you would lose hope in humanity" she laughed softly "ok back to the main idea... she asked in this hallucination I was doing what I love"

"And what do you love exactly?"

"Well I love studying, teaching, books, make the difference, make connections, hope, I love you" she blushed softly "so I think I'm doing some of them but I feel like the BAU is a double-edged sword because I make the difference but at the same time it kills part of me... metaphorically speaking"

"Well not so metaphorically..."

"True" he smiled looking down "the thing is that I have three options. The first is leave the BAU, the second is stay as a consultant source which means I don't need to be with the team to help them, and the third one is stay as a field agent"

"Ok... I like the second" she said getting out of the oven the meatballs and placed them in the tomatoes sauce "but is it what you want?"

"I think that option is the safest for me and for our relationship, because this job also taught me that couples normally never last with such schedules"

"You know I will support you whichever you decided to do Spence" she walked to him and sat on his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck "I love you and, for me, you are a hero for what you did, do and will do" she kisses him.

He hugged her "thank you for this, and I will make the right choice"

"The right choice is the one you feel happy and you feel comfortable with"

"You are so intelligent" he smiled and she blushed.

"I will finish these food so we can eat then we can cuddle, maybe watch a movie" he nodded then she stood up and went to the stove to finished the food"

Some minutes later they both eat what she cooked. Spencer then helped her to wash the dishes and both went to his bedroom, changed their clothes and laid there together.

They hugged and she rubbed softly his hair until he fell asleep then she did.

They spent that week playing board games, doing light walks around where he lives and watching movies in streaming.

When Spencer was allowed to drive again, he invited Max on a date. He took her to Williamsburg, they spent the day there watching the museums and going on tours around there.

It was a historical place and they have fun watching some historical representation before they headed to a restaurant.

The restaurant had Virginia typical dishes and the decorations were typical of the 18th century.

They ate their dinner there and then he drove back to DC.

"Did you have fun?" He asked as he drove.

"Yeah, I loved all the esthetic of that place, it's all on point of that period of time. Even the painting they picked to decorate it"

"Yeah and with the old English accent and words. Very accurate" he smiled.

"We are history nerds, aren't we?" She laughed and he followed her.

"Yes I think we are" the rest of the ride back home was in silence. When they reach DC he took the way to the park where they met.

"Um... where are you going?" She asked a little lost because his house was the other way.

"I'm heading somewhere else before we go back home"

She lifted her eyebrow but did not say anything else. He drove some more and parked his car at the park where they met.

"Want to walk around?" She looked around and nodded. He got out the car and walked to her door and opens it, he held her hand and they walked to the park.

They walked in silence, not an awkward but comfortable, they got the the food truck Spencer found her after leaving the hospital.

"Do you want a coffee?" She looked up at him lifting an eyebrow "I won't drink one, I will order hot chocolate or tea" she laughed and nodded so he walked there, ordered and pay then wait for them.

He walked back to her and handed her cup "so why are we here Spencer?" He looked at her innocently "oh don't give me that look. I can tell something is up"

"Why do you think something is happening?"

"Just tell me"

He sighed and drank some more of his chocolate "ok Max" he looked at her "I love you and I wanted to brought you here because this place is full of good memories and that's what makes people happy... and did you know that sm..."

"Spence... I love when you ramble and give me useful facts but... go straight to the point"

"Ok" he took a deep breath and moved his hand to her hair, to places a lock of hair behind her ear. He did an extra move of his wrist and when he moved his hand away there was the ring Diana gave him, Max looked at it and covered her mouth with her hand "remember what I told you that day in my kitchen a week ago?" She nodded with some tears "well I made the decision to do one of the things that I love... I love you and I don't want to lose time, especially after what happened to me a week and 4 days ago so..." he held her hand and looked in her eyes "Maxine Brenner, will you marry me?"

There was a silence, a long one for a nervous Spencer, he was holding his breath and then she nodded "yes, I will Spencer" he smiled and put the ring on her finger then they kissed.

OOooOOooOO

I would like to thank Bohogal1998 for the idea of Williamsburg. I had to do some research and summon my inner Spencer Reid to throw some facts to you.

I hope you liked it and that you find this cute and sweet. The magic trick to propose was something I had in my mind for a while and I hope I did it alright.

I would like some options of universities in Washington or Virginia because I will stick with the canon about part time consulting and teaching, also because I love Reid teacher.

Read you soon.

#fanfiction #spencer reid #criminal mind #maxine brenner #maxcer

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