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mypoisonedvine · 4 years ago

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Juicy Fruit (Chris Evans x Reader oneshot)

Based on a dare by @hnryycvll and @honeychicanawrites, I decided to write something about my personal theory that Chris is a two-pump chump who cannot last in bed to save his life. So, yes, this is somewhere between smut and mild bullying.

Word Count: just under 2k

Warnings: smut (duh), drunken shenanigans, dub con if you want to be totally accurate about the fact that they’re intoxicated but I promise everyone involved wanted this to happen

He struggled to slide the key card through the door, and you tried not to laugh at him as he did it.

When he finally made it work and you both stumbled inside, you took a moment to appreciate the expanse of his suite.

“Your room is a lot nicer than mine,” you blurted out.

“Starring versus guest starring,” he smirked.

“Truly, guest stars are the most oppressed, downtrodden people on the planet,” you laughed.

“You want a drink?” he offered, waving to the minibar.

“I’m already pretty lit,” you admitted. “So, just one.”

“Right,” he winked, “just one. You’ll like this whiskey-- on the rocks?”

“Yes, and with a twist please,” you requested. He nodded and obliged, rubbing the orange peel on the rim before dropping it in and handing the glass to you.

You took a seat on the couch, admiring the view from his expansive window, showing the glittery city lights below.

As he brought his own drink over and sat next to you, you honestly couldn’t tell what sort of “let’s hang out in my hotel room” interaction this was. You hoped it was the more mature kind… and the way he was looking at you made you think your hopes weren’t so outlandish.

“I’ll admit that was my first cast party,” you said quietly, breaking the silence.

“Well, you pretty much did all the stuff you’re supposed to do,” he soothed. “Drink, chat, try not to think about how long it’ll be until you see these people again…”

You nodded and looked away. “Yeah, I’m definitely gonna miss these crazies. For better or for worse.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he shrugged, “we’re gonna get renewed. And we’ll be back together again in no time.”

You decided to believe that, but you didn’t want to get your hopes up too much. Sure, you believed in this show, but that didn’t always translate by the time it was edited and released.

“And if we get cancelled?” you couldn’t help but ask.

“Then at least I got to meet some super cool people,” he answered hopefully. You smiled.

“Yeah, this is such a great cast,” you smiled.

He bumped you on the shoulder with a finger. “You’re my favorite,” he admitted.

“You’re drunk,” you frowned.

“Yeah, but it’s still true. Don’t tell anybody though.”

“Cause you told them all the same thing?”

“No,” he laughed. “Word spreads fast in this town, that’s all.”

“People would think we were… involved? If they knew we were friends?”

“Yeah, definitely. If I say anything nice about a female co-star, everyone is convinced that I have a crush on them.”

“Ugh, that’s so annoying,” you groaned.

“Yeah,” he agreed, “especially when they’re right.”

“Oh my god!” you gasped. “I totally knew it! You had a crush on Scarlett Johannson, right?”

He frowned. “I was talking about you, genius.”

You nearly dropped your drink. “Seriously? I mean, the girls in makeup were always joking about it, but I never thought…”

“Why wouldn’t you think? You’re super smart and you made me laugh, like, a hundred times a day.”

“Yeah, I get the feeling our director didn’t care much for that.”

Chris laughed at the memory. “We ruined a lot of takes…”

After a pause, you took the last sip of your drink and set it down. “So, is that it?”

“Huh?”

“You’re just gonna tell me you like me and… not do anything about it?”

He gave you a look, and you hoped you weren’t blushing too hard.

“Should I do something about it?” he asked lowly.

You simply nodded, and tried not to grin too hard.

He leaned in and kissed you sweetly at first, slowly. It was giggly and innocent-ish until you found yourself feeling suddenly desperate, needy, and you grabbed his shirt to pull him closer. He got more serious then, too, his hands slipping to your back and holding you; you felt so small in his embrace.

“Chris,” you whimpered.

“Yeah?” he asked, only pulling back from you as little as he possibly could to talk.

“Are we...gonna do this?”

“I really hope so,” he admitted with a little smile.

You kissed him again, leaning forward even more such that you would’ve fallen over if he hadn’t wrapped an arm around your waist to keep you stable.

A sober you would’ve thought about not straddling him on the couch, but tipsy and love-drunk you was tired of the damn waiting and was already on top of him, moaning a little at the feeling of his hands running down your legs.

He laughed softly and moved the kiss down to your neck, taking a moment to murmur your name, as if he needed to remind himself who this was happening with.

The intoxication made your skin warm and tingly, and the arousal made your eyes feel heavy-- or maybe it was the other way around, you couldn’t really tell. Either way, being held by him felt like being wrapped in a warm blanket, even as your heart raced and your mind was happily supplying anxious thoughts of oh my god this isn’t happening, is it?

You didn’t even realize your hips were rolling against his until you felt what was obviously his erection, somehow managing to rub against your clit just right even through so many annoying layers of clothes. You heard his breath stutter, and his hands gently guided your hips to do it again.

As much as you felt like you could just keep doing this and get off pretty quickly, that was not at all what you wanted from this.

"I need to taste you," you sighed against his lips.

"Aren't you already?"

"I was thinking somewhere a little different," you admitted with a raised eyebrow.

You felt your dress stretch a little as the hand on your back clenched into a fist.

"Fuck," he replied softly, "yeah, okay, damn."

You smiled as you stepped back and dropped onto your knees, pushing his legs apart. He looked at you with some mix of confusion and amazement as you ran your hands up his thighs and finally reached to unbutton his jeans.

You bit your lip when your hand reached into his boxers and wrapped around his cock. It wasn’t even fully hard and yet already so thick and hot in your palm. Of course, it didn’t take more than a few lazy strokes over it as you pulled it out for it to get entirely hard and oh shit, this thing could take your eye out.

Deciding you’d better get on with it before you changed your mind, you licked the head and wrapped your lips around it. He moaned and it spurred you to bob down further, loving the way he filled your mouth until your jaw ached.

“Oh god,” he sighed. He couldn’t seem to decide between letting his head fall back onto the couch, or looking down to watch you take him deeper into your throat.

You hummed around him in approval. The whole time he couldn’t stay still, squirming and gasping beneath you. He was so sensitive; every time your tongue swiped just under the head of his cock, his hips jerked up into you just a little.

“Baby,” he praised with a breathy voice, “so good. Oh my god, you’re so good.”

It was hard not to smile, but you managed for the sake of your task.

“Get up here, please,” he begged suddenly, “I need to--”

You didn’t even let him finish, pulling off with a pop! and hopping back up into his lap.

“Eager, are we?” you smirked.

“I don’t think I’m alone there,” he chuckled. “I’ve wanted this for so long,” he explained breathlessly, “I’ve wanted you for so long. God, I’ve thought about this for so damn long.”

“Me too,” you grinned.

“Well shit,” he laughed, “why haven’t we done it sooner then?”

“Let’s not worry about that now,” you decided, pulling him in to kiss you again. His hands pulled at your clothes and you finally relented, letting him shirk you of your dress. Before you could worry about what he’d think, he was kissing you again and running his hands over your bare skin.

You felt yourself blushing a little as you reached between your legs to pull your underwear to the side. You’d never been quite so desperate but you needed him inside you as soon as humanly possible and there was no chance you were going to get up off his lap until you were done.

His breathing stuttered when you grabbed his cock and guided it to slide through your folds.

“Oh,” he gasped as you started to drop your hips down, your eyes fluttering shut so you could focus on the feeling of him stretching you open.

“Fuck,” you whispered.

He winced as your hips reached his, fully seated inside you. You just stayed still for a moment, absorbing the perfect feeling of him before starting to, finally, move.

“Oh… oh god,” he groaned. He hissed in a sharp breath as you started making circles with your hips, your own moans impossible to stop from emerging. You wrapped your arms around his neck, attempting to keep yourself stable as you bounced on his thighs.

“Yes,” you hissed, “oh my god, Chris, yes.”

He bared his teeth when he heard you say his name like that, leaning in to lightly bite at your neck. Every graze of his teeth against your skin made your walls clench around him, and both of you moaned.

“Baby, if you don’t stop, I’ll-- oh my god-- I’ll come. Fuck, I’m gonna come.”

“I’m not gonna stop,” you promised, “I wanna make you come.”

“Fuck.”

“I want you to come inside me, Chris.”

“Fuck!”

You sped up a bit, leaning in to him so all you had to do was buck your hips and his cock would brush against your clit on its way into you with each thrust.

You weren’t sure what it was that made you ready to come so quickly, but him being on the edge was pushing you over as well.

“Yes, oh my god, yes,” you hissed as pleasure washed over you, and suddenly he was wrapping an arm around your hips and pulling you down onto him as he came inside you.

“Fuck,” he groaned, “baby…”

You stilled against him as you began to catch your breath, laying your head on his shoulder.

“I didn’t last very long, did I?” he whispered.

“Nope,” you laughed. “Me either, though.”

“I’ll go ahead and blame the booze,” he shrugged, but then he turned his face to look down at you and tuck your hair behind your ear.

“We should do this again sometime,” you suggested, already drifting into sleep and hoping he would carry you to the bed at some point.

“Sober?”

“Sure.”

“After a nice dinner?”

“Or before. I’m flexible.”

#chris evans x reader #chris evans headcanons #chris evans smut #chris evans x y/n #steve rogers x reader #chris evans imagines

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snowdice · 4 years ago

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Little Kestrel (Part 6)[Birds of Different Feathers Series]

Fandom: Sanders Sides

Relationships: Logan & Patton & Virgil (future Virgil/Patton but not in this story)

Characters:

Main: Logan, Patton, Virgil

Appear: Thomas

Mentioned: Janus

Summary:

It was supposed to be a quick job either way. Either Virgil would assassinate King Thomas of Prijaznia or he’d be caught and get executed. Yet, when Virgil gets the wrong bedroom and gets caught by Prince Logan and his future royal advisor, Patton, the job ends up getting way more complicated for the 14-year-old. He also ends up sleeping in a (actually pretty comfortable) closet for a few weeks…

Notes: Implied/referenced child abuse, assassination attempt, knives, torture mentioned, captivity, teenagers being really dumb

This is a prequel to Kill Dear. I wrote it 100 words at a time on my blog, but this is the edited version. If you want to see how it was crafted, look at the tag proofread stories.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

Virgil had started to feign sleep about an hour after Logan had left to his potions lab. Patton could tell he was faking because his arms never relaxed. Despite the boy no longer responding, he kept talking to him in soft tones. He seemed exhausted, but he was also clearly not planning to truly sleep any time soon. Patton wondered what had led up to him being here both recently, which had caused the dark circles under his eyes and long term that had caused the sunkenness of his cheeks.

Patton’s stomach growled, reminding him of the passage of time. He had no idea how long whatever Logan was doing was going to take, but someone was going to have to go to the kitchen and get some breakfast soon. The snacks truly had not been enough to hold them through the night.

He felt secure enough even knowing Virgil wasn’t actually sleeping to push himself to his feet and walk over to the potions lab door. “Hey Lo,” Patton called. Virgil still hadn’t moved to indicate he was still awake.

“Yes?” he asked.

“How long are you going to take? I need to get food soon and maybe come up with an excuse for at least one of us to stay here all day.”

“It’ll be a little while longer,” Logan said.

Patton glanced back at Virgil. He caught the boy with his eyes open this time and saw him wince at being caught. “Maybe Virgil can stay in there with you while I go get things?”

“That would be fine,” Logan said, turning back to what he was working on. “Bring him in here if you’d like.”

“Okie dokie,” Patton chirped. He turned to Virgil who was looking up at him. “I’m going to take your arms and lead you to the other room, okay?”

He nodded and Patton leaned down and grabbed his wrists. He got even tenser somehow when Patton moved his arms to his front and Patton frowned, but didn’t comment. He helped him get to his feet and led him into the other room.

“You can seat him over there,” Logan said pointing.

Virgil was looking around the room with wide eyes and Patton had to stop and think about what this room might look like to someone who hadn’t been enthusiastically introduced to every new potion ingredient and piece of equipment as they arrived. There were shelves of ingredients, all organized and labeled. Logan kept all powders in uniform glass vials and liquids in bulbous containers. Whole dried herbs hung from strings in one area and there were containers of fresh ones glowing a soft green; the preservation spells that Logan came up with himself kept them fresh for months longer than they would usually last.

Logan had three separate areas for potion making. There was one space for potions that required more dangerous ingredients which currently had something simmering at it, but the enchanted protective curtain wasn’t drawn around it, so Patton imagined it must not be doing anything that could be too harmful at the moment. The table he used for experiments was empty and thoroughly cleaned, so he was clearly making something with an already well-established recipe. Currently, he was standing at his table reserved only for non-harmful substances. He was chopping up what appeared to be mint as two smaller pots boiled in front of him.

Patton led Virgil over to the indicated chair which was out of the way of even the non-dangerous ingredient zone. He still seemed to be trying to take in the room as Patton settled his wrists on the chair’s armrests.

“Any requests?” he asked Logan.

“Not really,” Logan replied. He glanced up at Patton. “Though if you can sneak me some of the leftover macaroni salad from dinner, that would be appreciated.”

“That’s not breakfast!” Patton chided.

“Which is why I requested that you to sneak it.”

Patton shook his head and turned back to Virgil. “What about you?” he asked.

He looked up at Patton and shook his head. Virgil looked a bit scared and out-of-sorts. He wanted to reach forward and pat him on the head or kiss his cheek to comfort him, but he imagined that would go over worse than badly. Instead, he flashed the boy a quick smile and then turned to leave the room.

He left Logan’s private chambers and closed the door behind him before walking down the hall.

“Good morning Patton,” one of the stationed guards greeted.

He smiled at her and the other guard. “Good morning Kalani. Hi Owen.”

“I see you and the prince had a sleepover,” Kalani said. “Should we be planning on him not making it to his royal duties until later today?”

“Actually,” said Patton. “Maybe all day. He was feeling a little sick. Had a headache.” It was… probably true. They hadn’t slept a wink last night.

“Hmm,” Kalani said. “Maybe there’s something going around. Clover said she had a bit of a dizzy spell last night.”

“Oh,” Patton answered. Clover had been one of the two guards set to watch the door to the royal wing. At least Virgil had been telling the truth about not hurting anyone.

“I hope she feels better. I’m going to go get Logan something to eat for breakfast since he can’t come himself, so I’ll see you again in a few minutes.”

The guards nodded to him and he turned to walk down the hall. The areas around the kitchens would be pretty busy at this point in the morning so instead of taking any of the busier paths to it, he walked past the dining hall towards the guest wing and took the staircase that led straight outside. It was a longer path because he had to go around and through the garden, but it was worth not getting in anyone’s way.

Patton always did like the garden. It was pretty at every time of year. Even now as the flowers started to get sparser in the fall, it was still wonderful, and it smelt great. He took just the briefest moment to himself to splash a hand through one of the fountains with a giggle. He turned away to continue on his path to the kitchen, which is when he saw her.

“Oh,” he said softly. “Hi kitty.”

Ghost Kitty was there and stared at him briefly before taking off into one of the bushes.

“Bye kitty,” he said just as soft. He smiled even though she’d ran away because that was the closest, he’d ever gotten to her.

He continued his trek to the kitchen and snuck inside on quiet feet, hoping to be unnoticed as he went for the chilled storage box. Luck was on his side, because Mama was busy talking in hushed tones to the gardener, Mr. Deknis, as she peeled potatoes.

“Well certainly no one has joined the kitchen staff who has a child,” Mama said. “I’d know.”

“Perhaps a maid or even a guard,” Mr. Deknis suggested.

Mama was frowning. “We don’t usually hire many people towards winter for those positions. Maybe someone in the stables?”

“But he needed to get back to the castle, not to the stable hand’s lodging.”

“Well then,” Mama said. “I don’t know Jeff. I’ll ask around.”

Mr. Deknis sighed. “I should have asked him more questions, but the poor thing seemed ready to startle out of his boots, and I didn’t want to push.”

“Well if he’s new to the castle, he’s probably just a little out of sorts and nervous,” Mama reasoned.

“It didn’t seem like normal nervousness. He was…” Mr. Deknis shook his head. “Anyway, tell me if you figure anything out.”

“Of course,” Mama said.

“Also, your kid’s steeling macaroni salad for breakfast.”

“Patton!” Mama said, rounding on him. “That’s not breakfast!”

Patton shot a pout at Mr. Deknis, but he seemed unrepentant. Patton pulled his hand away from the macaroni salad. “The prince wanted it,” Patton said.

“That’s not breakfast for ‘the prince’ either.”

“But,” Patton argued, “he’s not feeling well.”

She placed her hands on her hips. “Is he not feeling well or is he tired?” she asked.

“…Both?”

“Mmhmm.”

“No! Seriously mom!” Patton said. “Kalani said that Clover wasn’t feeling well this morning and she sees Logan all the time. I even convinced Logan not to do any unnecessary royal duties today.”

“Well he must really be sick if that’s the case,” Mama admitted, “unless of course he found an interesting book to read or had an idea for a new potion.”

“It’s not about a book or a potion,” Patton promised.

Mama considered him. “Fine,” she said, turning back towards the countertop. “Then give me a few minutes to make him and you a nutritious breakfast that doesn’t consist of 80% mayonnaise.”

“Pancakes?” Patton asked hopefully.

Mama shot him a look over her shoulder. “I said nutritious,” she said, wagging a finger at him. “Besides, I thought you said he was sick.”

“He’s not nauseous, mama,” Patton said. “And if you put blueberries in it, it’ll be healthy!”

“Mmhmm.”

“It will!”

“Now I know my own son doesn’t think I was born yesterday,” she said.

“Please mama,” he begged. “I promise we’ll both eat some other stuff too.”

“I don’t believe you.” Patton gave her a wobbly lip. “No,” she repeated.

“But Mama.”

“You and Logan are going to have a healthy breakfast or so help me…”

“… but Mama.”

Want to read more? Click below!

Part 7

#sanders sides #logan sanders #patton sanders #virgil sanders #character thomas sanders #adriana writes #little kestrel #birds of different feathers #implied/referenced child abuse #assassination attempt #past torture #captivity

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bard-of-worlds · 4 years ago

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Chapter 12

Sorry i’ve been gone guys, this chapter just killed me and then i fell into another fandom and then my novel......... Sorry again i will try and have the next chapter out this month.

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“Mari got expelled without a hearing!? That ain’t right dude!” Jagged growled and Penny nodded as Fang growled from where he sat at Jagged’s feet.

Penny had made it back to the hotel and up to their suite and after a few moments had told Jagged everything that Sabine had told her.

“They're dealing with it Jagged, but Sabine and this Nora said something about homeschooling Marinette and another one, probably more if this is as bad as Sabine said it was then it might cause the school to close!” Penny said and Jagged whistled and shook his head as dark memories went through him.

“Heavy.” Jagged said and Penny nodded. I remember how my school treated me because of what I wanted to do, how they tried to use peer pressure to try and change my mind. Never worked but I did learn who I could trust there, hard lesson but one I needed. Jagged thought as he looked at Penny.

“But there’s another problem Jagged. According to Sabine she heard from Marinette that this liar has been telling stories about knowing celebrities.” Penny said and Jagged scoffed and looked at his partner.

“Why would that matter more than what she did to Mari?” Jagged asked as he picked up a glass of water.

“She’s only sixteen. And she said you wrote a song about her because she saved your cat from being run over by an airplane when she was fourteen.” Penny said bluntly as Jagged started to drink from his cup. Jagged drank for a few seconds before his eyes went wide and he spat the water out and Fang started to growl.

“Good Rock and Roll! I could be accused of courting a minor!

Can we sue her for anything Penn?” Jagged asked and Penny grinned at him.

“No, it was never put on the web by any of the kids she told it to, the Ladyblogger even edited the interview she had of the liar to leave it out. But we can speak as a character witness that it never happened and help them put this little bitch away!” Penny said and Jagged laughed and smirked.

“I can’t wait until that happens love, but I’m worried about little Mari at that place!” Jagged said and Penny grinned.

“Sabine said they’re considering home school because of what happened to Mari, this might be good for them all.” Penny said and Jagged nodded.

“Good, so the last of the spots for the next tour are ready then?” Jagged asked and Penny nodded.

“I’m just waiting on replies for the last three venues and Sabine told me that Marinette will be done with the last of the costumes for the shows by tomorrow night if nothing happens but with this city…… And she said that they might home school Marinette, but about the last show before we leave...... it will be good to get away from this place, and to release our emotions healthily.” Penny said and Jagged nodded as Fang ragged his tail.

“Might be for the best if that happened to her……. Still, this might be good, might let the little lady handle her education and her design career better.” Jagged said and looked into his past as he remembered how he got into show business and the first few gigs he had, and that was all after he had become homeschooled and everything.

“Maybe, but this is going to be a very big mess if half of what Sabine tells me about the school is true.” Penny said and then Jagged looked at her for a minute.

“Isn’t that place where the guy who was Akumatized into The Owl is the principal?” Jagged asked and Penny nodded and Fang started to growl. “Yeah Fangster I don’t like him either.”

Penny looked at Jagged as he sat and stewed and she knew from comments he had made over the years that he had a few scars from his own school years. And she had to admit that she hadn’t had a good time in that school with that racist bastard as a principal. But still, this wasn’t about them, it was about Marinette.

“So besides we have nothing we can sue her for? Please tell me we do.” Jagged begged and Penny looked away and went over everything she knew about the incident and then frowned.

“No, and since it was in school when she said that, and because the Ladyblogger………. Wait a moment. We might have something, I’ll need to call Sabine and have Marinette ask her friend if she still has the original interview that the Liar gave her……. Then maybe just maybe.” Penny said and Jagged grinned and Fang wagged his tail. Penny looked between them and tried to calm them down. “I said maybe, maybe. I’ll need to talk to our lawyer and it’s their anniversary tonight so I’ll call tomorrow but I might not be able to get in touch before noon.”

“Oh yeah, it’s that time of year insist it? Remember when we walked in on them?” Jagged said and chuckled as Penny went red as she did remember how they had surprised them and what the two had been doing.

“I’ll just call and make sure it’s not video. But even if Marinette is doesn’t get us the clothing we order by the weak after next then we still have a month to get everything ready for our departure, and we have a city-wide show before we leave of course that we have the costumes for already.” Penny reminded Jagged and he laughed and looked up at the ceiling before smirking at her.

“Good, with luck we might just celebrate the show with the closing of a terrible school! I can’t wait until they tell us what’s going on!”

Jagged said and looked at Penny and smirked at her friend as he celebrated. Jagged is such a man-child! Still, the fact that he’s bounded with Marinette and her parents as much was good for all of them! Still, he has a lot of baggage that I hope he can put to rest. Still, I hope that Marinette is okay after everything is done, I mean this is terrible, why on earth would that idiot even have done this? Penny thought as Jagged looked at her and smirked.

XXXXXXX

As the kwami ate their little feasts and the teens ate their sandwiches Fu frowned as he stroked his beard.

“So you say that you could see Hawkmoth talk to the Akuma?” Fu asked and when Sabrina nodded he put his head down and muttered prays of forgiveness and creativity. Why didn’t I think of taking out the Dog, if I had even tried to use it then we could have found Hawkmoth by now! He thought as he tried to figure out anything else he might have missed but he couldn’t see anything

“You didn’t even think it was possible, did you?” Alya asked dryly and Fu shook his head, completely shocked about what he was told.

“No I…..I had no idea there was even a small possibility of it Barkk’s powers working like that. I mean nothing in all my training and the grimoire even mentions this was possible.” Fu said and the kwami started to chuckle and laugh a bit in Plagg’s case.

“My chosen have seen when mages cast curses at our side during battles in days of old, this may be like back then.” Barkk said and Sabrina looked thoughtful and frowned, her mind going strange places as she looked at Barkk who looked back at Sabrina with a grin. “Up for trying again the next time partner?”

“Yeah, I am! If it’s okay that he stays with me that is.” Sabrina said as she blushed and Fu nodded.

“I was thinking about having them stay with all of you, with the exception of Wayzz for now.” Fu said and looked around at the teens, Nino nodding in understanding.

“That’s the reason you changed the hiding form for your Miraculous Trixx?” Alya asked as she looked at the new Fox Miraculous around her neck, an orange pentagon with a tribal fox face painted on it.

“Yes, but we have to talk about how you’ll handle the attacks in the future, while I would love to have all of you handle the Akuma your schooling might face troubles with that.

And how to deal with the new Bee hero.”

Fu said and Chloe looked at Alya and smirked.

“Say, you’re going to be staying at the hotel tonight right? Sleeping in one of the rooms that we set aside for the staff and their families when they can’t make it home right?” Chloe asked and Alya nodded.

“Yeah, my little sisters are sleeping over at the Zoo because dad will be there tonight looking over two of the animals, so the kids of the staff are all watching a movie and sleepover tonight.” Alya said and Chloe grinned.

“Good, then tonight you are going to have supper with me, Sabrina and the Kwami in my condo, after which we’ll have an interview about how I feel about the new hero, who will then crash it and then you as the ‘New Bee’ will take a selfie with me, which I’ll then be able to post about passing on the Miraculous. And to make it better I’ll make it so it’ll auto-post on Monday at lunch, with a link to the exact page of the Ladyblog where you’ll post the interview.” Chloe said and Alya looked at her and smirked back. “But you’ll have to publish the interview on Monday; I’ll hide in my rooms over the weekend, watching some movies that will make me cry and have food brought up so if any of the bellboys who will gossip about it, then if our liar comments about it on Monday I’ll be able to explain that away and hopefully we’ll make that little liar scramble to explain how she evens know I was crying.”

Alya looked at her and grinned, a crafty light coming from her eyes. “An interview with a hero, and then we might be able to catch Lila in a lie, I like it. No false Fox is gonna pull me around where she wants to anymore!”

“My thought exactly!” Chloe said and smirked. And with luck Hawkbutt will try and get me to go over to his side, but if I can learn anything about him…… I need to talk to Pollen about this, and Marinette. Chloe thought and then Alya’s phone beeped.

Alya looked down at it and paled. OH boy! Nora went and talked to somebody and heard about the Mass attack, at least she understands to talk to me about it first! She thought as she tried to keep her smile up but she cringed, causing the others to look at her

“What is it, Alya? What happened?” Marinette demanded and Alya sighed.

“Yeah, is it bad, another attack……no all our phones would have gone off if that was the case.” Max said and Alya looked away.

“I didn’t tell my parents and Nora about the attack in the locker room. Nora just texted me…… she says she’ll let me explain before she passes on what happens to our parents if I don’t convince her it’s the best to stay silent.” Alya said and Chloe giggled a little causing Alya to glare at her.

“What?”

“Sorry, sorry. I just remembered your sister is a kickboxer and then I thought about how we could throw her at Lila and then!” Chloe said as she started to laugh and the others started to chuckle, even Fu grinning a little.

“Perhaps you should try and explain to us, gather your thought for your talk with your sister?” Fu suggested and Alya nodded and Trixx grinned as he finished his sandwich.

“Okay, to start with I already told the family all about the Lila situation, just want to get that out there. I never mentioned the attack because, well I thought mom and dad might pull me from the school, but then I was talking about going homeschool like Marinette and Adrien and well…… I guess I didn’t want to worry them with everything that’s happening now.” Alya said and Nino nodded.

“Yeah I get that. I talked to my Ma about doing that too, I mean with what happened it really doesn’t paint a good picture about the school. And that’s not even talking about what you told us Adrien.” Nino said and Alya winced. “You didn’t tell them about that either?”

“I just told Nora, and we decided not to spring it on them……Dad’s busy at the Zoo, the Panther is pregnant and the elephant is sick and mom has that big conference to cook for at the hotel tomorrow……..” Alya said and Chloe nodded.

“Makes sense, I mean mom fired the last head cook the last time this group came through and he was a minute off because of some problems with his kid.” Chloe said and Adrien winced, remembering how that had gone down.

“I remember how you’re mom went off before she left…….. didn’t that guy only not make it there by a minute because of an accident outside the hotel he was almost in and had to talk to the police?” Adrien asked and Chloe nodded.

“Yeah but he was late and almost in it because his kid was attacked at school and dad rehired him after she left, gave him a raise and everything.” Chloe said with a shudder. “Of course he did quiet about two months later and moved to London a year later, but well that’s how far he ran from her.”

“And your father did nothing to stop this, nothing at all?” Fu asked and with how Sabrina looked away he knew that whatever Chloe said he would see just how far from being a good person the mayor was.

“With him, it’s more the fact that if he can ignore it then he’s happy to do so, most of the time he throws money at me to keep me quiet.” Chloe said with a bitter edge to her voice and scoffed. “And I’m fifty percent sure that their marriage was forced by my grandfather on my mother’s side in exchange for backing in dad’s first campaign.” Chloe said bluntly and Fu looked at her in concern as the others absorbed what Chloe had said, a look of shock on Alya’s face and a look of worry on Marinette’s.

“They might not have……” Wu trailed off at the look Chloe sent him and Adrien nodded with a somber mood.

“They got married after he won, she only stayed here to give birth to me and went away as soon as she recovered and had a reason to fool the press, do the math.” Chloe said bluntly as Adrien and Sabrina put a hand on her shoulders as the others winced. For Marinette this knowledge made her remember how Chloe had first attacked her when she had complement Chloe’s mother so many years ago, for Max with how much love his mother showed him he couldn’t comprehend how Chloe’s parents could treat her like that and for Alya she remembered a few old classmates whose parents were abusive.

Wu looked at her in shock and then seeing all the teens nod he face palmed and shook his head. This girl needed someone in her life like Pollen more than I thought, and with her friend and Barrk hunting down Hawkmoth, we might have a better chance of finding him than ever before. I could step forward, but no……..my mistakes won’t taint these young ones. I need to find homes for the others, I need to make sure that they all have someone to look after them, and I know who to give Hawkmoth’s and Mayura’s when they get them back. He thought as he looked at the teens as they confronted Chloe.

“So that’s that. Anyhow I’m sure my dad will want to know where I was, so I’ll tell him I was with Sabrina and we were going to see a move.” Chloe said and Fi laughed lightly.

“Good, now if you are all done I’ll show you the sewer entrance to this place, this way you can drop down if you need to talk to me and you need more Wayzz help in the future.” Fu said and looked at Sabrina and Max. “And there’s a space for you to make a portal so we can try and see if we can track him down and get her away fast.”

“We’ll talk about our plans later, okay Sabrina?” Max asked and Sabrina nodded. “Oh, I just remembered, a while back Markov and I made this secure video chat program that uses the background codes of the internet to communicate, I’ll send you all a copy so we can talk easier.”

“Good. But before you go, young Max would you mind looking at the network here, my manager said it was slowing down………whatever that means. I am of course willing to pay you an honest wage” Fu said and Max nodded.

XXXXXXXX

As Nino, Alya, Marinette, Chloe and Sabrina walked out onto the streets of Paris, Chloe looked at Marinette and smirked at her. “So got any plans for next week?”

“No, not now why?” Marinette asked and Chloe shrugged.

“I was hoping that you and your renter would mind if I come over for some help with my geography? I’ll help with English in return.”

Chloe offered and Marinette smiled.

“I’m still looking into what program I’ll be doing, but I think we might be able to arrange something.” Marinate said and Chloe laughed a little as Alya looked around and saw a bus stop.

“I’m heading off, my sis wants to talk to me about this before her match tonight, and dad’s taking the twins to sleep at the Zoo with the other worker's kids, a movie night so the vets can watch the elephant tonight.” Alya said as she walked off.

“And I need to pick up a mix board dudetess, talk to ya later and I want a copy of those programs Mari.” Nino said as he left in the opposite direction. A shadow caused them to look up to see Chat Noir fly overhead heading towards the Tower, and Marinette smiled.

“And I still can’t believe you two didn’t know.” Chloe said and Marinette looked down and Sabrina giggled. “Good luck with those programs Bakery-Grill. Me and Sabrina have a talk to finish along the river.”

“Why are you going there?” Marinette asked and Sabrina grinned.

“Because of the Indie Bands who haven’t signed on to brands yet! There’s a stretch that bands love to sing at, and the acoustics make the area perfect for little concerts!” Sabina said and Chloe giggled.

“It really lets us know what teen clubs to go to in the winter, they always put up who they have playing on social media.” Chloe said and Marinette nodded and walked off, Chloe waving at her. “I’ll talk to you over the weekend Marinette, I want to commotion something for when you have some free time!”

Marinette looked at Chloe as she and Sabrina walked away, a strange look on her face. I didn’t even think I would like Chloe enough to be sad that she’s walking away from me. I mean I always thought the girl had issues but that much, it didn't even seem possible. I guess that's the way the world turns sometimes. She thought as she looked ahead.

“I told you everything would work out Marinette!” Tikki said from Marinette’s bag. Marinette looked down at her bag and smiled. Tikki had told her when Lila had come back that things would get better and they did, it just took a while. With everything that happened she was sure that sooner or later everything would turn out okay, they knew Lila was a liar but she and Adrien had to talk about their relationship, and how to keep Hawkmoth from figuring out their identities but she was sure that things would be good.

“Yeah, and it did.

The team is stronger than ever, we’ve got a lead on tracking down Hawkmoth, and with everything I feel……..hope.” Marinette said and Tikki giggled and Marinette laughed and walked back towards her home, deciding to just move slowly to make sure she could absorb everything that happened to her today.

XXXX

Adrien slipped into the back doors to the Dunpain-Cheng and sighed as he closed the door. That was incredible, Chloe is finally dropping her mask and letting the others in, and that will help her more than anything else! But I can’t believe that she followed them to help keep Lila from finding them, I knew was hiding a lot of stuff but this, I almost didn’t think she’d do that! he thought as he walked up to the living room, never noticing that Sabine was waiting

“Oh there you are Adrien.” Sabine’s voice caused him to turn and almost jump out of his skin.

“Man miss Cheng, you sure walk quietly. I didn’t even notice you.” Adrien said as he held his chest as he felt Plagg giggle.

“Oh I was just heading back to the bakery after putting some food into the slow cooker. How was your appointment?” Sabine asked and Adrien smiled bitterly.

“I’ve lost a bit of weight and I’ve gained a bit of muscle, the doctor thinks that I need to eat more and that my dad might have underplayed my needs.” Adrien said and looked ashamed. “Anything for the brand of course.”

“But you don’t believe that, do you?” Sabine asked supportively and Adrien nodded.

“Dad is crazy overprotective and he did move away from me emotionally a bit……. But I can’t believe that he would do something that would hurt me.” Adrien said and Sabine smiled at him.

“I hope your right, for you at least.” Sabine said and Adrien smiled and moved up towards his guest room to stay out of sight and think. Sabine watched him go and sighed, hatting that his father was putting him in this position, hating that Gabriel used Lila to get her daughter expelled and she hoped that this didn’t break her kids. After all those kids do for this city, I want to think that Gabriel is just neglectful, I mean my father fell apart when his brother died, mom says it took getting pregnant with my sister for him to snap out of it. And I can understand how hard it if you hide away from the world to feel safe, but he had a family to help him! She thought as she walked into the bakery.

As Tom saw her he smiled. So far the ‘dinner rush’ hadn’t started yet, and lately the rush started in about an hour and was over well before it was time for their own supper but working with his wife always made it easier for work.

“Hello Love, did our guest make it back in one piece?” Tom asked and Sabine nodded and Tome sighed.

“So how’s the batch for the dinner rush coming along?” Sabine asked and Tom grinned.

“It’s going to be ready on time, but we need to talk about what we’ll do with the leftovers from now on.” Tom said and Sabine looked at him before ahhing as she understood what he meant.

“Yes, I know what you mean. Maybe we might have to send Marinette to the shelters or ask them to come by more often than the weekend.” Sabine said and Tom nodded.

When Marinette had started at the school she had the idea to bring the leftovers for free advertising by giving them to the school for the students and faculty to have. It had worked but with the school probably closing down they needed a new way to get rid of the leftovers and the second way that they

“It was a good deal, we give some of our old bread to the school for their meals and we get free advertisement, but I guess the Owl doesn’t care about that!” Tom said with a scowl and Sabine glared at the school and Tom felt his hands clench as he remembered everything the principal didn’t do for their daughter and what he did.

“In the last few days, I’ve wanted to put my hand around that man’s throat and so help me!”

“Calm down dear, I know how you feel but we need to help him deal with it, we just have to help them with all the burdens their under. And with Marinette, we can’t let that bastard win, either of them!” Sabine said sharply and Tom sighed and tried to center himself as his mother taught him long ago. He nodded and looked at the store as the doors opened and slipped back into the kitchen as Sabine walked towards the counter and smiled at the customer as he came towards her.

XXXX

Alya looked around the park and tried and failed to get herself under control and keep calm, Trixx was riding in her pocket and she felt the warmth from her and smiled, part of her being jealous that she had Tikki helping for so long, wondering how much the little Kwami had helped her friend by just being there.

“Don’t worry Alya, no matter what happens your sister will help you, just be calm and explain your reasoning.” Trixx said and Alya smiled and rubbed Trix’s head and sighed.

“Yeah, sis is great. A little overprotective but I can’t deny that she’s helped me a lot over the years.” Alya said softly and Trixx laughed and looked up at her.

“Then just be calm and explain why you didn’t say anything calmly, if she’s like your saying then all you need to do.” Trixx said and smiled up at Alya. My kit is gonna handle this fine,

“I guess yeah, I can do this.” Alya said and looked around for Nora before a million problems began moving through her mind as she started to spiral like Marinette. Oh this is terrible, I mean I…….this is going to be bad, sis is going to tell the rents, they’re going to come back and mom will be fired, dad will be discredit when the panther dies and he could have saved it, he’ll lose his job and we’ll be homeless in a week! She thought as she walked through the park until she found her sister.

“Hey sis, there you are!” Nora called out and Alya looked up and saw Nora.

“Please don’t tell them sis, please.” Alya said miserably and Nora sighed and just looked at Alya.

“I gotta baby sis, I mean it was another mass attack! I mean you were able to hide last time with string bean but this time you were in ground zero!” Nora said and Alya nodded as she sighed.

“But nothing happened! The attack failed, it was more of a scare tactic than anything else!” Alya argued and looked at Nora who only shook her head.

“Sis, mom was worried after the last time the scum did it for two weeks, she jumped each time the alert went out! We have to tell them about it!” Nora said. Why is she fighting me on this, I mean she has to know how mom and dad are, but what’s she thinking acting like this?! Nora thought and looked at her sister. “ I have to do this sis, you know how mom and pops will react if they learn from anyone but us!”

“But with everything that’s happening now!” Alya said before she clapped her hands over her mouth and Nora looked at her sister and sighed and shook her head.

“It’s because of what they have on their plate, isn’t it sis?” Nora asked and Alya nodded.

“Oh Alya.” Nora said and shook her head. Her sister was a great kid, but she always put more on her to help the family than was healthy for her.

“Yeah I know, but I did what I think was right for the family.” Alya said and Nora looked at her and sighed

“Kid, you know how to give your sister problems.” Nora said. On one hand, I should tell the rents right away, but on the other hand I can understand why my sister does what she does, most of the time. Nora thought as she looked at her sister.

“Sis, there was a mass attack again, there going to find out sooner or later even if it fizzled out. But I get it that you don’t want their jobs to be in danger…….so I won’t tell them about it, but after dinner when dad’s back tomorrow the three of us will sit down and talk to him about it.” Nora said and Alya hugged her sister who laughed a little and smiled down at her. “Hey sis, I just doing what you were, it’s something to talk about sure but we can throw it on the back burner until this is done okay? But once dad is back we’re talking all about it.”

“Thanks Nora, I……sorry.” Alya said and Nora grinned at her sister.

“Hey you choose the harder option, and I’m proud of you for doing that, even though I don’t like the fact you had to do it.” Nora said and sighed before she reached over and grabbed Alya around her shoulders, drawing her closer. “But it shows maturity, but we need to talk about that kid!”

“Okay, okay!” Alya laughed and Nora laughed with her. As they walked through the park Nora and Alya just made small talk with each other; letting the stress of their lives die away from their minds as they just bonded as sisters. As they were turning the corner Alya looked ahead and pulled Nora to the side, hiding her from view behind a statue before she put a hand on Nora’s mouth. As Nora looked at her sister in confusion she saw a look of anger and hatred and followed her eyes to a teen girl with long, hip-length chestnut brown hair with bangs similar to a horse mane in a vermilion jacket over a dark gray strapless jumpsuit that has tiny white spots and wears light gray tights and brown ankle-length high heel boots.

“Lila!” Alya growled as she saw the girl walk towards an empty area of the park where the fence separated the park from the street. After a few moments, Alya moved her hand away and looked at where Lila had gone.

“I’m betting that was the liar who snowed you little sis?” Nora asked and Alya nodded.

“That’s her.” Alya said softly and looked at where Lila was going and looked at Nora.

“Let’s follow her.”

Nora said and Alya grinned and hugged her sister, remember where she had gotten her sense of justice. As they dashed after Lila, they saw her sit down at a bench.

“What’s she doing?”

Nora muttered and Alya shrugged as she brought up her phone and started to record what Lila was doing. I don’t like this, what wrong? Something about this is making my teeth chatter and something is setting me on edge.

Nora thought and looked at Lila as she sat there doing nothing. After a few minutes Nora frowned and looked at Alya. “I’ll walk over, I mean I can say you described her and I’ll trash talk Marinette with my phone recording, see if she bites.”

“Might not be a good idea sister, but……wait what?” Alya breathed as a limo drove up and stopped behind the bench and Lila. As they watched the window on the passenger side behind the cab dropped down to reveal Gabriel Agreste who looked ahead.

“You’ve been quite Gabriel, how’s Adrien? After the incident at the photoshoot I would have thought you might have done something beyond keeping him from school, I told you that those peasants were a bad influence. ” Lila’s voice carried to them and Nora’s mouth dry as she heard a growl from Alya.

“He’s not at home, he ran away.” Gabriel said and looked ahead and didn’t react when Lila turned her head to gape at him.

“Has he contacted you at all?”

“No, I haven’t seen him at all and he hasn’t called me. He hasn’t made any announcements on his social media accounts has he?” Lila asked and Gabriel scowled.

“No, he’s completely dark. I don’t have to tell you how bad this could be for both of us. If he tells anyone about what you said how you were given a modeling contract because of how you got Miss Dupain-Cheng expelled, though why you even think that I can’t understand at all! When we came to this agreement I thought I was very clear, that all I wanted from you was a complete understanding of how Adrien conducted himself in class and how people interacted with him, and if anyone was trying to take advantage of him!”

Gabriel said with a growl and Lila looked back into the park to keep Gabriel from seeing her face and the scowl she had.

“Dupain-Cheng is the most useless girl in the school. A terrible student, a trash fashion designer and she clings to Adrien in a completely inamorata manner!” Lila said and it was all Alya could do to keep from screaming at her for the lies that pass from Lila's lips.

“Her talent won a competition of mine in the past, do not tell me lies. I am beginning to think that I should tell your mother about your travels.” Gabriel said and Lila kept looking into the park and even Nora could tell that this threat worked on her.

“My mother is so busy sir, please don’t bother her!” Lila said and Nora frowned as she saw Lila’s eyes were full of rage.

“Don’t drag my brand down young lady, I don’t know why you went so beyond what I expected from you, but I will not have my family name or my son around people who are so low class.” Gabriel said and Alya bit her lips as Lila paled in fear.

“Don’t worry sir, I won’t. And after what I did there’s no way for her to get back into school, I was able to check the camera’s, the one in the courtyard doesn’t even have power running to it!” Lila said and Nora gasped softly, Lila looked around the park and frowned.

“What is it?” Gabriel asked and Lila shook her head.

“I thought I heard something, it must be some brat playing by the trees nearby.” Lila said and Gabriel stayed silent. “And sir, about the shoot?”

“What about it?” Gabriel asked and Lila swallowed.

“Well it was canceled but if there’s a chance for me to have a solo shoot without Adrien sir?” Lila asked and Gabriel looked ahead and the limo turned back on.

“I’ll be in touch with you.” Gabriel said as his window raised and he drove off. A few moments after he had driven out of sight Lila started to grit her teeth and screamed to the wind.

“That idiot! Why did that idiota Adrien have to develop a backbone after everything that’s happened!? He’s nothing but a pretty face, at least until I start to teach him how to rule over people! He’s not like the others, with time I could have shown him the right way to live! But instead, he wants to be one of those sheep like that whole class and the school, they are all completely idiotic fools, I was able to use momentum to get Dupain-Cheng expelled, she doesn’t have a leg to stand on especially with the principal, I told him exactly what he wanted to hear to get him to like me just like all the other fools in that school!” Lila spat and Alya grabbed Nora and pulled her down before she could confront Lila. As the Italian liar walked away Alya kept Nora down until Lila had been gone for ten minutes and Alya turned her phone off.

“I didn’t expect that.” Alya said as she looked at her phone and felt Trixx press against her. But this might help Marinette get and us put Lila away for life! And I better call Max about the…….wait. Mari was sent a file that showed what Lila did, but then does that mean what? Alya thought as she tried to figure out what Lila had thought as she did

“What the heck was that about girl!? That was Sunshine’s old man, what’s that mean! And the Cameras don’t work at your school!?” Nora demanded and Alya looked away.

“Adrien said that Lila said his father told him to get Marinette expelled, and he and Marinette aren’t going back to the school after everything. And that one camera might not work but others do, I’ve seen proof.”

Alya said and Nora frowned, wondering what Alya was hiding.

“The old man said Adrien ran away, so where is he?!” Nora asked and Alya looked away.

“I can’t say Nora, I don’t know where he’s staying but I saw him at Marinette’s place.” Alya admitted and Nora whistled.

“Woah, Sunshine moves fast.” Nora said and Alya looked at her before blushing as she realized what her sister meant.

“Not like that! He went there to apologize for some advice he gave my girl when he didn’t know everything about the topic, and then he stayed there after he served his father some papers!” Alya said dismissively and Nora grunted. And then when we talked again Max spilled the beans and showed how logic could get around the glamor. And those two have to have a talk about their feelings for each other. What I wouldn’t do to learn what they decided in the end! She thought and looked at Nora. “But back on topic, you’re staying at the apartment all alone tonight right?”

“No, at the zoo. I’m the second chaperon.” Nora said and Alya nodded. “So you’re not at home tonight either sis?”

“No. I’m staying at the hotel in the servant’s quarters. Mom wants to keep an eye on me I guess.” Alya said and Nora grunted and looked at her.

“I promise sis, I won’t say anything to dad but you will say something when we’re all home okay?”

Nora said and Alya hugged her sister goodbye.

“Say hi to the twin terrors sis, good luck with them and the rest of the gremlins.” Alya said and walked off, looking down at her phone as she moved. The way that Gabriel talked to Lile-la, he didn’t want Marinette expelled at all. It doesn’t absolve Gabriel from spying on Adrien, but a father trying to look after a son if the son had to fight to go to school….. Alya thought before sighing and shaking her head before she walked towards the hotel, wondering how she could tell the others that she had proof that Gabriel used Lila to spy on Adrien

XXXXXXX

Chloe looked around her room and smiled as she put away her tablet and watched as Pollen flew around the room, smiling at her as she sat on her bed.

“Everything is done Chloe, you don’t have any of those cameras around here and all we have to do is wait for Trixx’s kit and her to come over here.” Pollen said and she looked at Chloe who frowned and looked around her room. “What is it?”

“I want to make you a little bed, but I don’t know where to put it so my parents won’t have somebody find it.” Chloe said and Pollen grinned and nuzzled Chloe’s cheek as she buzzed in happiness.

“Thanks Chloe!” Pollen said and Chloe looked down at her with a slight scowl.

“You deserve to at least have a bed at least!” Chloe said and Pollen giggled and smiled.

“Some people wouldn’t.” Pollen said and beamed as Chloe looked away. I knew it was fate that we found each other Chloe, I knew it! I’m just happy that Fu let me stay with you. She thought before Chloe looked down at the Kwami.

“I just realized something; I listen to relaxing music, soft and simple to help me sleep. That won’t be a problem with you, will it?” Chloe asked and Pollen looked back.

“Vocal or instruments?” Pollen asked with a smile and Chloe looked away.

“Instruments and the sounds of rain.” Chloe answered and Pollen grinned.

“That sounds wonderful; Biao and I loved the sound of the rain when we were partners!” Pollen said and A knocking at the door caused Pollen to jet and hide under the bed as Chloe walked towards it, opening it to reveal Sabrina who smiled at her as she came in. As soon as Chloe closed the door Barkk flew out from Sabrina’s purse. As Pollen came out of hiding Chloe smiled as Sabrina sat down and put her purse on the table, a grin on her face.

“Well, the plan will work.

Pollen checked everything and as far as she can see there’s nothing that records what happens here, so we’re safe and secured. And all those times I was sure he was spying on me.” Chloe said and Sabrina giggled and hid a smile. After a few moments of silence, Chloe looked at Sabrina and just crossed her arms and as she looked at her friend.

“What?” Chloe asked as she looked at Sabrina who grinned back at her.

“I’m just happy that you’ve finally gotten around to opening up to more people besides me and Adrien! And you’re ship is finally sailing!” Sabrina said and Chloe looked away and blushed. Ever since she had learned that Marinette had a spine that the latter wasn’t afraid to use against Chloe, and seeing how the teen felt about her brother Adrien, she had hoped the two of them would stop dancing around them, something a lot of students at school wanted too and because then they would win……Chloe went still as a grin suddenly grew on her face, one that wouldn’t be out of place on her mother.

Sabrina looked at Chloe’s expression and paled in fear, the Kwami huddled together as a strange feeling that they couldn’t identify. “Chloe…….what is it?”

“Oh I just thought about the pot for the bet. When did you give your date for when they would go on their first date?” Chloe asked and Sabrina looked at her before giggling.

“And the two of us haven’t placed a bet yet and with your insider knowledge……. I like it.” Sabrina said and looked up at the ceiling.

“And the pot is big enough even if we split it four ways for us each to get a nice chunk of change.

“Four ways? Oh our partners!” Sabrina said and Barkk started to smile as Pollen buzzed. Sabrina looked at Chloe who blushed and looked away as she realized just how that sounded.

“Well they're here and will be with us now aren’t they?” Chloe said as she hid a blush.

“Yes they are.” Sabrina said and smiled at her friend. Sabrina’s dad used to have the hotel as his beet, back during the time after her mother had died so Sabrina had stayed at the hotel and gotten to know Chloe and Adrien then, and even now she helped Chloe out with her plans because she knew what caused Chloe to do them.

But no matter how long Sabrina had known Chloe, she had always been hard and closed off from others beyond her and Adrien, having a hard time letting others in. But learning that they had Kwami partners too, that let her drop a few of her shields. She still had a lot of baggage that held her back, but she would deal with it and maybe this would help her move on and grow, but Sabrina was worried about what Lila would think if Chloe acted differently.

At this thought Sabrina went still and winced and looked at Chloe who looked back at her with a calm look that turned into a sigh. “You always could read me Sabrina, what gave me away?”

The Kwami looked at each other, both of them not understanding what Chloe meant but Pollen feeling a strange feeling.

“At least tell them all first!” Sabrina exclaimed and Chloe nodded with a hard look

“Yeah, that is the plan for this weekend, before I watch a few of those movies I love to cry too.” Chloe admitted and Sabrina nodded.

A knocking from the door caused Sabrina to turn and Chloe shook her head and walked over herself and opened, Alya walked in pushing a cart with food, and Chloe smiled as she smelled Pizza under one of the domes. Chloe was about to say hi when she saw the look in Alya’s eyes.

Chloe gestured to Sabrina who turned on the music and as Chloe looked outside and not seeing anyone stepped back inside as Alya sat down and Trixx came out and joined the other kwami.

“Spill it reporter, what happened now?” Chloe asked and Alya looked at them.

“We saw and heard the false Fox and Adrien’s father talk in the park.” Trixx said and Chloe looked at the Kwami and

“He didn’t tell Lila to get Marinette expelled.” Alya bit out and Chloe’s head snapped up and looked at her.

“What.” Chloe said flatly and Alya paled at the way Chloe was looking at her.

“He said he just wanted a completely independent view about how Sunshine’s acting in school, how people interact with him!” Alya said as she held up her phone.

“That is so like Uncle Gabriel. So Lila was the brain behind everything?” Chloe asked in wonder. Hu, I didn’t think the little parasite was that smart, I mean I always saw her as an idiot but what happened to Marinette…….no I don’t believe it.

Chloe thought as Trixx started to growl.

“Yeah, that false fox is a total liar! After what Tikki and Plagg said she was like as Volpina, I didn’t know why I expected something different from her!” Trixx said as the others tried to calm her down.

“Wait…… She was Volpina!? Oh god!” Sabrina said as she dropped to the floor, her eyes shrank to pinpoints as Chloe dashed to her.

“Brina? Sabrina are you okay!?” Chloe asked as she started to worry

“She’s working with Hawkmoth.” Sabrina whispered in horror. Alya gasped as Chloe looked at her friend and tried to follow her logic before she realized what Sabrina said and started to growl.

As Chloe started to growl Alya went pale in fear as she realized if Sabrina was right then she had let a terrorist watch her sisters! She was already feeling down about Lila watching them before, but if this was true then she might have put them in real danger if Lila ever figured out she was Rena Rouge.

“What do you mean!? She’s slime but how do you get from that that she's working for a terrorist? How do you get what her Akuma was to that!?” Alya demanded and Sabrina swallowed and looked at them

“Think about it! He can’t make those scarlet akumas on a whim!

He has to prepare before he does it! how did he know those events would have happened if Lila didn’t tell him!” Sabrina said and Alya went still as Chloe eyes became pinpoints as she realized that yes, what Sabrina said made sense and if she was right, then they were in a lot more trouble than they thought they were.

“That little idiot!

When I get my hands on her throat I’ll kill her! I don’t care that……..” Chloe began before she went still and swallowed and looked at the others, a million thoughts going through her head, none of them good.

“Chloe, what is it?” Sabrina asked and Chloe looked at them and glared into space.

“We only have her word that her mother is a diplomat and after the first super-villain attack anywhere with embassies, all high-level policymakers leave the city, especially mind-benders like Hawkmoth, that’s the rule most countries follow. So why would a diplomat high enough to give immunity to family members go to a city under attack?” Chloe said and Alya’s mouth dropped open, about to say why would Lila lie about that when she realized how many lies the girl had told everyone.

“Hell. She probably said her mother was a diplomat just so that people wouldn’t bother her about the lies Lila tells! And how could any diplomat believed whatever lie let Lila skip months of school?! We don’t know what could happen when we bust her!”

Chloe said and Alya scowled and Sabrina went over a few things that she had learned from her father and she agreed with her friend, this was shaping up to be a lot harder than she thought it would be.

A rumbling caused them to look at Sabrina as she blushed and looked away, both Alya and Chloe looking at her before they started to snicker before turning towards the food Alya had brought and grinned at each other, promising to talk to the others once they were done with their meal.

#ladybug fanfiction #Miraculous Ladybug AU/ The Law is The Law #miraculous tales of ladybug and cat noir #ladybug au fic

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pebblysand · 4 years ago

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OF CRYSTAL ROSES (EXTENDED AUTHOR’S NOTE OF CHAPTER VI. OF CASTLES)

-- TO READ THE CHAPTER ITSELF, SEE HERE ON AO3 --

well, well, well. here we are. spoiler alert, gryffindors make plans they don’t stick to, lolz. all the good intentions in the world, i had. study, i said i would. yet, here were find ourselves, eighteen thousand words later. this appears to be how i roll. slept about five hours last night, too, so apologies if i’m slightly non-sensical/rambly. this chapter ought to be sponsored by deliveroo and teapigs tea, a brand of tea that appeared in my local supermarket a few moths ago and that i steadily refused to buy because - can tea really be worth this much? low and behold, once you’ve tried it once, it appears to be addictive. i’ve, while writing this chapter, worked my way through about four packs of their different teas - they are just this good. i have a job interview tomorrow so wish me luck in gaining employment which will hopefully fund my expensive habits.

now, before we get into the nitty gritty of the chapter, itself, i just needed to say this: i cannot thank everyone enough for the incredible response on last chapter. i’d kind of grown accustomed to getting a couple of reviews for each of them and to writing in my little corner of the internet but boy, you guys are bloody legends! i am so overwhelmed with gratitude for everyone who commented, kudo-ed and generally gave love to this fic in general. i really didn’t expect such a response and it’s meant the world to me. i think it’s probably also the reason why i’m posting so early because i kept being like, god, i can’t leave this many people waiting in this cliffhanger hell. i think this chapter ends on a more positive note (although, i’ll let you judge), one that might be more conducive of a few weeks’ wait (more on that below), haha.

this being said, as i explained on here before, i come from very tiny fandoms where basically everyone knows each other and the number of people reading would usually fit in my flat. the fact that over 80 people are now subscribed to this fic just blows my fucking mind. you’re all magnificent and i love you. i try to respond to all the comments so let’s keep chatting if you feel like it (although, no pressure - comment if you want to, but do know that it makes me very happy when you do :)). you’re all fabulous and i wish you all the best!

anyway, spoilers for castles, chapter vi under the cut.

guys, guys, guys, i am so tired. i’ve spent four days editing almost 20,000 words and my brain is fried. but, we are officially at the halfway point of this story, yaaaay!!! my plan, at this point, is that we’ll have six chapters on each side but even if i do end up splitting this one later (more on this below) i’ll end up with seven chapters on each side so either way - yay to the end of act 1!

i think that’s also why i tried to turn this chapter around this quickly. to me, i always kind of saw this fic as having two parts. part 1: the immediate post-war aftermath with the heartache and the love-fast/burn-fast start to harry/ginny. part 2: a slow and actually healthy rebuild of their relationship, and of the world around them. i have genuinely been writing towards that last harry/ginny scene in this chapter for months. it feels like such a relief to finally have that weight off my shoulders. and i actually do think it’ll allow me to focus on study later. act one is finished, and act two can wait a bit, i suppose.

now, obviously, given that i already apologised last time, part of me still wants to apologise for the length of this chapter, even more so, actually. it sits at about 18,000 words which, by nanowrimo’s standards, is over a third of a full book, wtf. yet, you guys also said last time that you didn’t actually mind long chapters, so perhaps i shouldn’t beat myself up too much?

as i said in the a/n, this is a little bit of different set up than chapter v. though. i know exactly where to split this. as you’ve probably seen by now, there’s a very natural split point after harry has his breakdown on the couch with ginny, before Christmas properly "starts." the reason i didn’t split this one there, though is: a) selfish: i needed to get this out. stop working on it. i need to study. when it’s out, i’m not thinking about it anymore. it would have been a bit non sensical to split this just for the sake of it and post two chapters at once, which means i probably would have held onto the second part for another couple of weeks, and fuck that. additionally, b) you may not have noticed this but: the chapter titles rhyme. why did i bring this additional difficulty upon myself, i do not fucking know. especially because i will soon run out of one-word construction materials to draw from, lol. as a result, though, i need an even number of chapters to close out this story and because i’m sort of planning six chapters from now to the end (more on that below) i can’t really split this one right now. like, if i end up with another overlong chapter in the next few months, i probably will take that opportunity and go back and split this one, just for readability. but at this stage, at this stage, because i don’t know how many chapters i’ll have for act two (six or seven), i’m keeping this chapter like this for the time being. i kind of hope i end up with seven chapters on the other side and am able to split this one down the line, but we will see. in the meantime, my most sincere apologies to the folks who read fanfiction before bed and it’s now 4 am by the time you’ve finished this. i’ve been there before, believe me.

from a personal standpoint, though, i have to say, this chapter (compared to the last one) was incredibly easy to write. i think i’d spent so much time imagining and writing these scenes in my head as kind of a culminating point for the first half of the story, that it quite simply poured out. i did have a little bit of an everything is shit crisis yesterday and today, but sure look, that always happens. overall, i am quite happy - i think - with the end result.

now, when i say "easy to write" i mean, technically, easy to find words to write down what was in my head. i do not mean: easy to write on an emotional level. oh boy. i’m generally not a crier. i have been asked, a number of times, by people who said my writing made them cry: do you cry when you write, too? and my answer was always ‘no’. i don’t judge, but i’m just not that kind of person. i know people who cry every day but personally, we are in the middle of a pandemic, my father recently passed away, i’ve lost my job and am studying for an exam my life is pretty dependent upon, and i haven’t cried in months. yet, i swear, there were a couple of times, both writing this and editing it, when i had to step away from the screen because i could feel a lump in my throat. that had never happened to me before. i didn’t, like, bawl or anything but god i felt it. i don’t know if it’s because it’s my first time killing an oc, someone who was really mine but boy. giulia. i kept trying to find ways not to kill her, or apologising to her. to me, she’s tom’s last victim and that really, fucking hurts. if you’re hurting too, i don’t really know what to tell you. i’m sorry, i suppose. her death was needed for … plot purposes, lol. god, i’m the worst haha.

re:harry/ginny: i must say i really like where they end up, at the end of this. i had planned this to a certain extent. i was always under the impression that they would talk over christmas, but not get back together. however, the reason why they weren’t getting back together, in my head, was initially quite different. i initially didn’t have ginny dating someone else. i think i mentioned i was toying with the idea in the a/n for last chapter, but at the time i wasn’t truly sold on it. then, i ended up writing the scene i’d originally planned for them and it didn’t quite fit. what i’d planned, at the time, felt rather ooc for ginny when actually on paper. on the other hand, harry, under my fingertips, kept trying to kiss her and i kept hitting the delete button. i swear, i know it sounds weird to people who might not be writers but sometimes, your characters really do seem to have their own agendas. when i caved, let him kiss her, then the scene took on a different meaning, and, i hope, a better one. i think something clicked there and it feels like a good place for act one to end. obviously, they’ll get back together cause this follows cannon so you know, not much suspense there. it’s more about the how than the what, to me.

re:ginny’s letters: this idea came to me a while ago, actually. i was thinking that they’d need to talk about what happened last year, but i was kind of struggling on the how. having character a tell a story to character b is always a bit difficult, in writing, because it can quickly end up being boring. like, when ginny tells harry about christmas last year and lupin, in this chapter, telling that in dialogue is already rather long an laborious, and it’s overall such a short story. for harry, it’s easy. i’m in his head so he can just say ‘he told her about the hallows’ and the dialogue can be about their reaction, rather than the events itself. but ginny, she needs to share facts, as well as feelings. and doing that through long monologues just didn’t appeal. first, it’s quickly boring and second, it’s also kind of ooc. she’s not giulia, you see.

i did entertain the idea of completely skimming past it. ‘she told him about last year and he was horrified.’ - moving on. but, i don’t know, that didn’t feel quite right either, because i think they need to exchange, and talk, and that just felt like a copout. also, to be honest, it’s a very difficult story to tell. like, i’ve seen people in fics being like ‘so, harry sat down all of the weasleys and told them everything the trio did in seventh year,’ and i’m like that’s so difficult, though. sitting someone down and telling them all about your trauma, with little preamble, just setting it all out there, i can’t imagine ginny (or, frankly, most people) actually doing that, you know? we reveal bits of ourselves bit by bit, not all at once.

then, it hit me: she’s a writer, isn’t she? at least, she is canonically in first year, with not only the diary but also the poems, then writing for the prophet. obviously, the diary thing would have riled her up a bit but i do think in the end, she would probably have been like: no, i won’t let him take writing away from me, you know? so yeah, letters. daily letters. you won’t see all of them in next chapter, but probably quotes from the most important ones, things that harry reads. that’s where he gets his facts about her story last year, and then they can focus on their feelings about it. fab! something to look forward to, haha.

now, re: the future. as i said, we are entering act two. act two will gradually become more "fun" and fluffy, i suppose, but i won’t lie, we will be keeping the same happy/sad vibe that a lot of you have commented on with this fic. it exists for a reason (as i said, life is about sex, but it’s also about funerals). as i said before, this fic is, above all, an exploration of what ‘all was well’ actually means.

this being said, this isn’t an 8th year fic. there is a very specific future pov from which this fic is being narrated, and that’s in october 2027 (i know, precise). obviously i have 28 years to get through in act two so that will affect the way that the timeline is designed. it will obviously be more spread out, especially in the later chapters. this being said, while i have about a million of ideas for all the space in between and a very clear view of what the last chapter will be, the exact layout of each chapter is still slightly blurry. i haven’t sat down to put all my ideas in chronological order yet, as well as into some sort of chapter structure, which is also why i can’t really tell if it’ll be six or seven chapters in the end. all of this to say, there’s still quite a bit of work to be done.

this means that, as i said in the a/n, i don’t think you’ll get next chapter until at least, may. please don’t think that this means i’ll be abandoning this fic or anything, it’s just that i’ll be doing work you probably won’t see. i’m probably going to take the rest of march off writing to study (bar maybe a roar-series Harry&Hermione friendship one shot? maybe) then take april to plan and write as much of the next chapters i possibly can. ideally, by the end of april i can have a first draft of the whole thing. i desperately want to write as much as i can now that I’m jobless in the hopes that when i do find a job (again, interview tomorrow, pray for me), i can just have editing to do at the weekends. but we all know i relate to harry on a very deep level when he says ‘when have our plans ever worked, anyway?’ so we will see, haha.

anyway, these were all the thoughts off the top of my head, re: this chapter. if you have any questions or other things you’d like me to ramble about, feel free to send in questions, my ask box is always open. i know i probably think about this fic (and hp) way too much but i’m an extrovert and my hobbies used to include travelling, pints at the pub, dating and, well, there’s none of that anymore, is there, lol? the uk has stolen our vaccines (fucking brexit) so here’s to being obsessed with fictional worlds i wish i could live in for a while longer,

i will now go and endlessly refresh my email for reviews and kudos, like the attention seeking basic bitch i am haha.

have a fab evening, everyone!

#castles #is out baby #whoop whoop

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ikdrama · 3 years ago

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≫❥ hi, hope everyone's doing good. so um i've been inactive on tumblr for a long time for many reasons; whether it was 'cause of losing interests, life getting in the way, etc. i neglected this blog and kept leaving and coming back. i've been on this platform for years now and kept switching between other platforms for the times i've been mia on here. i've tried out instagram, then came back to tumblr, but switched again. i changed between interests—from photo editing to gif making to graphic design to video editing and now back to using photoshop again for making gifs, hopefully. for topics from kdramas to kpop to western back to kdramas, etc.

≫❥ however, i feel like tumblr still holds a space in my heart closer to home unlike instagram. perhaps because it's where i initially started out that i grew more attached to this platform. also maybe i'm getting older and most people on here are the og ones, they're more at the same age range as me, unlike instagram. age has never been an issue to me, i have friends who are much younger than me and those who are older (but mostly young ones) and they all are very dear to me. but i guess i just needed some friends with a closer age range too.

≫❥ i have made some lovely friends on here and i'm forever grateful for those sweet times. however, over the years when i abruptly left tumblr, i had also lost touch with them. so, i might have no friends left on here which saddens me a little but that's all on me and it's okay, i can always try getting in touch with them again, right ? but i'd love to make new friends and reunite with my old ones, so please feel free to message me anytime you wanna be friends, my dms and askbox are always open <3 (doubt anyone's reading this at all lol but it's worth the try i guess heh).

≫❥ anyways, what i'm saying is, i'm coming back this time for real, or at least try making a better effort into taking good care of this blog. i used to be a content maker (mostly creating gifs) but stopped at some point and only rb posts now. frankly, over the time dramas would have a less impact on me, i wouldn't be as much interested in them as before and switched interests but then again came back to them, just now i'm not up-to-date with the on-air ones, i would watch a drama that i find being interested in, so it's random and inconsistent, i don't watch a lot of dramas like i used to (surely my list of watched dramas became quite poor too oof). but i do watch some every once in a while when i find the time and am in the mood for it. my personal favorite genres nowadays are thriller/action/fantasy/comedy dramas with slight romance (teenage romance makes me cringe now when watching those, idk maybe i'm just getting old lol).

≫❥ but another reason to why i stopped creating content was also because i was too focused on whether my post reaches a wider range of audience ? i would get scared it wouldn't get much attention compared to the time and effort i would give into working on my original content. surely, this would bring the content creator down but at the end of the day i chose to be here because i find joy in making the content i wish the world to see and it's still okay if the whole world wouldn't see it as long as i shared it on my blog and me myself am satisfied with what i'm posting. this applied to all the platforms i would use as a content creator. so, one day i just stopped looking at the numbers. and my mind was much more at ease. now every time a post of mine blows up or it would get more recognition than usual, it would make me happy inside and i would be grateful but on the other hand if it would flop, i wouldn't care anyway and still be okay. and why is that ? well, that's because life comes in the way. other things happening irl outside of social media would keep my mind busier than having myself wasting my time by sulking over some digital numbers online. and i guess that's when one's perspective on wanting to gain more recognition on social media changes.

≫❥ anyways, i went a little off topic there heh. so, my blog would mostly consist of the dramas i've already watched or the ones on my watch list or if i find a pretty gifset, i'd rb it too :) i'm rambling on for too long now, oh god, my apologies (i mean i doubt anyone's reading this but that's fine, it's like more for me to get this off my chest).

≫❥ i guess with this post i'm trying to announce that i'll be back to this blog being more active with rb posts and i will also start making content again, but this time it'll be mostly different from the content i've been making so far. my usual content would be creating simple gifsets of scenes/dialogues but i've come across so many artistic and beautiful gifsets that i'd like to give it a try. also since i'm not up-to-date with on-air dramas, making gifsets of the dialogues and scenes from those dramas wouldn't happen—by the time i'd start those dramas people would have made gifsets of the scenes already anyway. this would mean for that kind of content i would give in a much greater effort into making the gifs looking more artistic/aesthetic and that's why i'd post less of my original work. but i'll still try to keep the blog active by rb other people's posts in q of course. however, right now my life is a little bit of a mess, i'm standing on a thin line between education and career, so i'd need some more time to sort this mess out first and then i'll change things up with my blog. i'm excited to come back though; this blog is still getting love from people even at times when it was completely dead and it's still growing which surprises me a lot and i am truly thankful for each of your support. i feel like i don't deserve this, i've been a terrible owner. but i'm willing to change that once i get my life atm together hahah.

≫❥ though i'm not sure how tumblr works now with the changes over the years, i'll just do me and somehow try and revive this blog again. i come back on here because i feel content browsing my dashboard seeing all these beautiful posts on here and i truly wish to come back to being a content maker like these wonderful artists too.

≫❥ ngl, i miss getting on/off anon asks in my askbox (although i wouldn't get that many but it still made me smile every time i received one no matter what it was about as long as it wasn't offensive <3). i missed talking to my friends and people on here. i missed rb ask game posts and get excited whenever someone reacted to it. i miss posting original content and reading other users' tags and them fangirling about a certain topic. i missed the times when i was interactive with my followers/mutuals. i miss the old times on tumblr. when i would have friends on here and a community that was warm and supportive. i wish to experience all of that again.

≫❥ lastly, thank you for listening (if you're still here, doubt so though hah) and so sorry you had to read through this all, i rambled on too much i guess oof. but if you're reading this please know that you're an amazing person. hope we could become friendsʕっ•́ᴥ•̀ʔっ~♡

。.❁stay beautiful:·ﾟ*

·☾ﾟir。

#personal #did not expect this to be that long but um hi hello let's be friends;w;#<send me anything nice in my askbox on/off anon & i'll wuf u 4eva:3 #announcement #ily

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dreamcatcherfication · 5 years ago

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Dreamers in Fantasyland - Part 4

I keep forgetting that I tried to do a balance of old English dialect and modern English dialect, and it surprises me every time I edit this fic.

Final part, woohoo! We made it guys! A little sooner that expected, but that’s the fault of my laptop breaking. This is the last part of the fic requested by @theatergirl06 long ago when we had our ask war. As this door comes to a close, hopefully I’ll be able to open another... more sinister door...? This part is about to be very confusing, but if I’ve done it correctly, it’ll be (hopefully) a great ending. Things are about to get really meta. Buckle up, cause you aren’t ready.

Writing Masterpost

If you want to send a request or a prompt, my inbox is always open! I publish a story at 8:00 AM PST everyday, so I’m always in need of new ideas. If you want to be tagged in my works, just let me know and I’ll be sure to tag you!

Prompts | More Prompts | The Trifecta of Prompts | Original Prompts

Trigger Warnings: Mentions of sexual abuse

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Things seemed a lot calmer on Anne’s boat, the world finally back on track. Cathy had no real sense of what was normal anymore, so she relied solely on the feeling of calmness she felt with Anne. They were sitting on the floor, backs against Anne’s bookshelves. “You know,” Anne commented, her hand unconsciously fiddling with the bandages on her upper arm, “I was afraid you and Cleves wouldn’t come.”

“Why would you think that?” Cathy asked, putting a hand on Anne’s leg.

The captain shrugged. “I barely know you, and no matter what I feel when you’re around,” Cathy had to hide a blush, “you have no loyalties to me. The only reason I could think for you tracking us down was to save my cousin. Thank you, by the way,” Anne tacked on at the end. Despite the melancholy in her voice, Cathy could tell Anne was being sincere. “And Anna, she may seem young, but she’s smart. She knew our ship had taken serious damage from Henry’s attack. I didn’t think she’d risk our crew just to come for me.”

Knowingly, Cathy replied, “I don’t think you were her only motivation.”

Laughing, Anne’s face lit up, if only by a little bit. “Yes, yes. I’m glad she’s found someone in my cousin. They seem happy together. I long for that.”

Cathy frowned, suddenly hyper aware of her hand on Anne’s leg. “What do you mean.”

Hanging her head, Anne’s hand crawled until it was sitting on top of Cathy’s. “You remind me of a past that I don’t have, Miss Parr.” Anne lifted Cathy’s hand and pressed a light kiss to her knuckles. “I feel as if we’ve spent a thousand years together, and those thousand years have been lost somehow. I want nothing more than those years back.”

Staring at her hand in Anne’s, Cathy took the leap and slowly leaned forward, pressing a chaste kiss to Anne’s lips. “I believe I understand what you’re saying,” she murmured, hiding the full truth from Anne.

Anne’s lips pulled upwards slightly, her eyes going soft as she stared at Cathy. “Everything is right in this world.”

A phantom hand shoved Cathy backwards, causing her to jump in shock. “No,” Cathy spoke softly, “everything is not right.” For some reason, she had been handed an answer. “Things won’t be right until you tell Kat that you are her cousin.”

Nervously chuckling, Anne shook her head. “I don’t think it’s best to drag up my family history.”

Grabbing Anne’s hands, Cathy leaned forward so that their noses were inches apart. “Things will never be the way they are supposed to unless you tell Kat.”

Anne was growing frightened by Cathy’s strange behavior. “How do you know this? What if she turns me away, knowing of the past with our family.”

“Kat is the most kindhearted person I know,” Cathy stated determinedly. “She is loving, and while she retains some of her naivete, she is intelligent. I know that girl better than she knows herself,” Cathy felt confident in her words, despite having only met this version of Kat a few days ago, “and I know she will not hate you. Kat is the last person to judge anyone on family matters. It will do her good to know the truth.”

At first Anne seemed reluctant, but she agreed. “I… I will tell her.”

As if summoned by Anne’s agreement with Cathy, Anna and Kat entered the quarters. “Anne,” Cleves greeted her captain, a hand around Kat’s waist, “It seems you’re doing much better.”

“Yes Anna, thank you,” Anne grunted, standing up from her sitting position. Cathy followed, brushing off the dust that had collected on her skirt. “Kat, if I could speak with you?”

The girl frowned but detached herself from Anna and moved over to Anne. “What is it Anne?”

“I…” Anne struggled with the words, “Do you remember when you asked me if we knew each other?”

Unsure of where Anne was going, Kat hesitantly answered, “Yes?”

“Well, the truth is, we do.”

Kat’s eyes narrowed as her head scrunched in confusion. “How? I still can’t quite figure it -”

“Boleyn.” Anne blurted. “My full name is Anne Boleyn.”

Eyes widening, Kat finally made the connection. “You’re my cousin,” she gasped, staring at Anne with wide eyes. Biting her lip, Anne nodded, expecting Kat to yell at her. Instead, the noble girl threw herself into Anne’s arms, hugging her close to her chest. “It’s been so long since I’ve heard from any of you,” she admitted into Anne’s chest.

It took a moment, but Anne reciprocated the hug, wrapping her arms around her younger cousin. “I didn’t think any of you wanted to hear from me.”

Pulling away, Kat curled her lip. “Our family is a mess. Everyone is constantly fighting and there’s never any peace. You may not have felt welcome, but that’s not your fault. It’s theirs.”

“Oh, Kat,” Anne’s voice was so full of emotion, it almost seemed as if she would cry.

“I want to stay with you,” Kat told her newfound cousin. “I want to stay with you and Anna and Cathy on this ship.”

“You want to be a pirate?”

Kat did the equivalent of a 15th century puppy dog pout. “More than anything.”

Unable to resist, Anne told her, “Well then, welcome aboard sailor Kat, I hope you're ready for some chaos.”

“I’m always ready for chaos if it’s with you.”

This, Cathy thought, this was right. This was how the world was supposed to be. The two cousins were together and happy, reunited after their family had torn them apart. Anna had found her happiness with Kat, and she had gotten her captain back. Cathy had saved the girl she loved with all her heart and Henry was gone from their lives. This should be the end.

…

But something kept pushing in the back of Cathy’s mind, telling her there was more. There was something that she kept missing, even when it was blatantly obvious to her. It was right on the tip of her tongue, infuriatingly so. “Anna, Kat,” she spoke up. “Would it be alright if I talked to Anne for a moment. Alone.”

“Of course,” Anna nodded, holding her hand out for Kat to take.

Before the two girls could leave, Cathy intercepted Kat. She pulled her friend into her arms, holding her tight. “I love you Kat,” she murmured into her ear. “You’re my best friend. Don’t you ever forget that.”

“I know Cathy,” Kat mumbled back. She pulled away and bounded to Anna’s side, holding her hand as they exited the room.

Shifting her attention to Anne, Cathy started to feel dizzy. Stumbling on her feet, Cathy had to press a hand to the wall to steady herself. “Cathy?” Anne spoke worriedly, promptly at her side. “Are you alright?”

Cathy wasn’t alright. Everything was hitting her at once like an epiphany and her mind couldn’t handle it. “Anne, Anne,” Cathy started to stutter, reaching out and grabbing Anne’s arms. Pulling her closer, Cathy spoke directly in her face, “Anne, I’m not from here.”

Laughing nervously, Anne nodded. “Yes, I could tell that by your skin color, but it’s not anything to be worried abo-”

“That’s not what I’m talking about,” Cathy cut her off. “I’m from the future. Or from the past and then the future. Or they’re both the future compared to now.”

Anne was at a loss for words. “Cathy, did you hit your head -”

“No,” Cathy stared directly into Anne’s eyes. “I am going to tell you something that sounds crazy and - and - and,” Cathy stuttered over her words, “You have to promise to believe me. Please,” she begged.

As confused as Anne was, she could tell when people were lying. Cathy was either telling the truth, or she was crazy, and Anne didn’t believe for a second that Cathy was mental. “Okay, I promise.”

Nodding, Cathy stepped away from Anne and started pacing around the room. “In my first life, I was married to King Henry VIII of England, known to you as Henry Tudor.” Anne’s face grew into a snarl but she said nothing. “I was Queen Catherine Parr, the sixth wife of Henry. We never met, but I knew you well in that life.”

“How could you know me if we hadn’t met?” Anne questioned.

“Because you were Queen Anne Boleyn, Henry’s second wife. You divided England from the Catholic Church, and you changed the world.”

Anne didn’t like the way Cathy was speaking. It wasn’t in her tone, but rather the way her words made sense. Anne knew she should be finding Cathy’s claims preposterous, but for some reason they resonated in Anne’s heart. “Who were his other wives?”

Attempting to steady her shaking hands, Cathy started to explain. “His first wife was Catherine of Aragon. You might know her name, she’s the informant who run’s Aragon’s Pub.” The way Anne’s eyes lit up let Cathy know she did in fact know who that was. “Then there was you who pushed Henry to break from the church and annull his marriage with his wife. You two were married, but when you proved too much for him -” Anne scoffed, “he beheaded you.”

Falling silent, Anne looked at the floor. “Who was after me?”

“Jane Seymour, the one who gave him a son. She’s Kat’s caretaker back at court, although you’ve never met her. She died of natural causes. His fourth wife was Anna von Cleves,” Anne’s head shot up.

“Please don’t tell me -”

“She got the best outcome of us all,” Cathy assured her, breathing in heavily as she continued. “She had an arranged marriage with the King, but when she embarrassed him, Henry started calling her ugly and later annulled his marriage once again. Anna got her own palace and lived far longer than any of us.” Cringing, Cathy realized who she had arrived at.

Noticing Cathy’s apprehensiveness, Anne pushed, “Well? Who was next?”

“Katherine Howard.”

“No,” Anne choked. Cathy was only giving her a brief rundown, but Anne felt as if she was living through this experience with Cathy.

Swallowing, Cathy had to take a moment to steady her voice. “He married Kat when she was only fifteen, maybe a year or two older, none of us know for sure,” she refused to look in Anne’s horrified eyes, “But Kat had a terrible past where men had… sexually abused her. One of her friends in court took advantage of her and when the King found out,” Cathy’s voice hitched, “he beheaded her.”

Anne was devastated, even though she knew Kat was safe and sound. “That bastard,” she hissed. “I’m glad he’s dead.”

“Then there was me. The survivor,” Cathy was finally able to make eye contact with Anne. “I watched him die, and I thought I was free. I remarried, but died barely over a year later.”

“That’s… quite the story,” Anne muttered, unsure of how to process what Cathy told her.

Grabbing Anne’s hands again, Cathy set her face. “That’s not the end. After we died, the six of us woke up in a new world. The 21st century.”

“The what?”

Cathy knew it was hard to believe, but she had to get Anne to understand. “This is going to sound very confusing, but you have to understand what I’m saying.” Anne’s hesitant nod was all Cathy needed to dive in. “Five hundred years in the future, we live in the modern world. We tell our story as Henry’s wives to the world, and we reclaim our lives. You and I are in love in that world,” Cathy said fondly, running her hand over Anne’s, “and all six of us are a family.”

Anne was subconsciously smiling, content with the picture Cathy was painting. But it was shattered as Cathy started choking on her words. “I - I think that - that - that,” she breathed in deeply to control herself, “That this was meant to happen. Us being here.”

“What are you talking about?” As hard as Anne was trying, she couldn’t keep up with Cathy’s mind.

Resuming her pacing, Cathy made a variety of frustrated noises. “It all makes sense, doesn’t it! Right from the start, it’s been set out. I’m not Cathy Parr. Or rather, I’m not the Cathy Parr of this reality.”

Anne took a step forward, attempting to calm Cathy. “I don’t think you’re making much sense.”

“No, it makes perfect sense,” Cathy gasped. “When Kat and I snuck into Mary’s room, the only reason we were in there so long was because I couldn’t write her letter. If I had control of myself, I could’ve written that letter in five minutes. Instead, the actions of the other Cathy Parr, the real Cathy Parr, kept me from completing the letter. And because of that…” Cathy paused her pacing. “Because of that, we met. Anne, don’t you see!” she turned to the captain, “It’s all predestined.”

“What?”

A theory started to weed its way into Cathy’s mind, taking root. “What if, every generation there’s a Catherine Parr and Anne Boleyn. And a Katherine Howard and Anna von Cleves, Jane Seymour and Catherine de Aragon. We’re all destined to meet again and again in some new reality. Somehow, we all are connected, with ties to Henry.”

All common sense told Anne that Cathy’s theory was impossible. Yet deep inside her, there was some little bit of her that couldn’t help but believe what she was saying. “If you’re right, then why can only you remember this?”

“It must be some fluke in the system,” Cathy ran a hand through her hair. “Clearly I don’t have complete control of my actions. When Anna and I were getting information from Catherine, she asked what was in my satchel. The only thing that I had packed was a journal full of academic teachings, the exact thing Catherine wanted. I would’ve never thought to bring it, yet somehow it ended up in my possession.” There was awe in Cathy’s voice as things started to make sense. “The longer I stay here, the more I speak as you do. I’m speaking as this Cathy Parr would, not as I, my modern self, would.”

Anne nodded her head, understanding what Cathy was trying to say. “Every generation, the six of us are destined to be connected. Somehow, some way, and Henry’s involved.”

“Yes,” Cathy bit her nails, an anxious habit she didn’t know she had.

“But I’ve never met Jane Seymour or Catherine de Aragon,” Anne frowned. “Surely that doesn’t make sense.”

“I said we were connected, not that each of us have to meet,” Cathy corrected. “Anna, Kat, and I never even met you in our lives as Queens. I - I don’t know Anne, but there’s more to it all than the surface level.”

Sliding back down against the bookcase, Anne rubbed her eyes with her hands. “This is a lot to take in Cathy.”

“I know, I’m sorry Anne,” Cathy came and sat beside Anne. “Just, promise you’ll still love me if I wake up someone else,” she pleaded.

Giving the girl a painful smile, Anne leaned over and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “I don’t think it’s possible for me not to love you Cathy Parr.”

Giggling, Cathy rested her head on Anne’s shoulder. “I’m so tired,” she whispered, feeling her eyes drift shut. “This is all so much.”

Anne pulled Cathy into her lap and wrapped her arms around the girl. “I’ll be here when you wake up. No matter who you are.” And so Cathy gave in to the darkness.

Jerking out of bed, Cathy spun around, looking for anyone familiar. “Cathy?” Anne groaned beside her, shifting under the sheets. “Are you awake?”

“Shh,” Cathy shushed her girlfriend, slowing her breathing. “Go back to sleep Anne.” The bedroom was dark, exactly as she remembered it when she fell asleep here last.

“Mmkay,” Anne hummed lucidly, “G’night babe.” Cathy watched her girlfriend fondly, holding back the tears that inexplicably appeared in her eyes.

“Sweet dreams, Anne Boleyn.”

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

Tag List:

@radcowboyalmondtree @boleynhowards @annabanana2401 @babeebobo @dont-lose-your-queerhead @everything-insanity @mindless-pidgeon @i-wanna-dance-and-sing-six @thedemidisaster @its-totes-gods-will @thatbolxyngirl @thenameisnoone @sixqueendom @totally-not-boleyn-falcon

#six the musical fanfiction #six the musical fanfic #six the musical fic #six fanfiction #six fanfic #sixfic #dreamers in fantasyland #part four #this part is really confusing #if you finish the series #i suggest rereading it all #because there are a ton of easter eggs #you'll start noticing them after reading this part #i don't want to spoil anything #but i'd love to see what you guys think of this #especially the ending #i worked really hard on that ending #im going to stop ranting but #thanks for sticking around until the end!

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scullysexual · 5 years ago

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Jewel Sequel: Chapter Two.

There’s been a change of plan. I was originally gonna get this out on the weekend (so it had a similar system to what Jewel had) but then I finished it and edited it today so the post day will either be late Wednesday/early Thursday and hopefully I’ll be able to stick to that schedule. Hi, hello, if you’re new to this. This can arguably be classed as a ‘Titanic au’ still cause it exists within that universe. This is a sequel to that and it is highly recommended to read A Jewel Beneath The Moonlight first, it’s not long, it’s thirteen chapters and if you’ve read my stuff before you’ll know my chapters/one shots are never long. You won’t regret reading it either. It’s been a while since I’ve been in this universe but most wanted me to continue with it so here you go. I do really hope you enjoy this as much as you did Jewel. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them :)

Tagging: @baronessblixen @suitablyaggrieved @purrykat @today-in-fic. As usual, let me know if you want to be tagged in future chapters.

Link to Chapter One.

Scully sighs in frustration as she turns the pages of the newspaper. It was the third one she had picked up so far and nothing; nobody advertising for any job, nobody looking for extra help.

She places the newspaper back on the rack, her hand hovering over the next before…

“We’re not a library. If you’re going to look through it, you better pay for it.”

Scully looks up to see an old man peering down at her from his stall.

Reluctantly, she leaves the fourth paper where it is and saunters over to the counter.

“Yes?” the man asks, warily.

“I was wondering if there had any job requests,” Scully answers, her elbows coming up to lean on the counter.

The man eyes her cautiously. “What kind of job?”

“Nanny, housekeeper, that sort of thing,” she shrugs.

With one last careful glance towards her, Scully watches with apprehension as he pulls a piece of paper off the wall and hands it to her.

“The Burkes came in a few weeks ago saying they were looking for a new housekeeper. They never came back to tell me they found someone so you can always check there.”

Scully looks at the yellowing paper. The address was not of a place she had heard of but it sounded upper class enough for them to have money so it was good enough for her.

“Thank you,” Scully says, exiting the shop. Too busy still reading the paper, she misses the sign If you read, you buy the man tapes onto the newspaper rack.

Three knocks and she’s stepping back, praying that her appearance is presentable enough for this family to consider her.

Physical appearance had been everything with the other family; hair up, clothes tucked in, and not a single curl out of place. Scully’s curls always fell out of place, regardless.

She hears barking from the other side of the door and smiles. They have a dog.

Out the way, Bruce, she also hears before the door is opening and a boy no older than herself stands before her.

“Uh…can I help you?” the boy asks.

Smiling (just as she had been taught) Scully begins,

“Hi, uh…there was a housekeeper request made and I was wondering if it was still open?” She extends the note towards the boy and he looks down at it, looking as if he’s unsure as to what it is or what to do with it for a second before he’s taking it from her.

“Uh, yeah…just, hold on a minute.”

Scully nods, still smiling, as the door is placed on the latch and waits for him to return.

To say she was disappointed to being back in this position again perhaps wasn’t right. She knew even four months ago that there would have to be an adjustment period, and while her future turned out differently than she imagined before stepping onto the ship, career-wise, it wasn’t entirely off target.

The four months she had been here was really about allowing Mulder to settle. She knows how much of a drastic change this is for him, how important it was for her to be there when he came home every evening- she was his only familiarity anymore, after all- but Scully couldn’t shake away the feeling that maybe she had pushed her dreams too far back, all just to accommodate Mulder.

Had she still been here with Charlie, they would have found the swing of things fairly early on; him at some construction site, her in some upper-class house. And she wouldn’t have to try and get the weekend off.

Charlie…

It still stung to think of her brother.

The door reopens to an older woman, late 30s Scully assumes, holding the note Scully gave to the boy.

The woman looks her up and down. “You’re the help?” she asks, distastefully.

“Aye, ma’am,” Scully nods.

The woman sighs defeatedly. “I suppose you’re better than nothing.” She opens the door the little wider to allow Scully entrance. “Well, come on, then.”

Scully enters and immediately the dog bounding towards her, curious as to who this intruder is. She laughs as the gold Labrador slobbers all over her skirt, not minding at all as she pets the top of his head.

“Edward!” Mrs Burke shouts towards the rooms leading off. The boy who answered the door exits out of the nearest doorway. “Take the dog somewhere else.”

Edward moves towards the dog, gripping it by the collar and tugging it away from Scully. “Sorry,” he says sheepishly.

“You won’t need to worry about the dog,” Mrs Burke says, shutting the front door. “That’s Edward’s job. What did you say your name was?”

“Ingrid Brevik,” Scully answered.

The woman smiles slightly, a smile that tells Scully the woman knows she’s lying.

“You’re real name.”

Scully hesitates for a moment. They had been using their fake names since they got here, every new person they met they introduced themselves as Leif and Ingrid and nothing was said on the matter. Even when they had got to Ellis Island, they had been allowed to pass through immigration fairly easily.

“If will remain within this household if you’re scared,” Mrs Burke reassures.

And maybe Scully was scared. What if they knew the Mulders had been her first thought, was always her thought when meeting anybody. Scully knew first-hand what vultures these people were.

But what if not all of them were? Mulder certainly wasn’t.

“Dana Scully,” Scully finally answers.

Mrs Burke nods, “That sounds more like it. Come on, I’ll show you around.”

Scully gets a tour of the house. It’s easy enough to navigate, give her two days and she’ll be able to walk around with her eyes closed.

She’s finally led to where she’ll be staying. A room in the basement. Minimum furniture; a single bed, a set of drawers yet the added bonus is the small bathroom attached. The last house hadn’t had a bathroom and Scully had been forced to use the one they had outside.

“You’ll work from six to nine every day. Dinner is usually served at seven. Any meals you have are to be had after we’ve eaten. Yes?”

Scully nods.

“Any questions?”

Scully fumbles with her fingers, unsure of how to proceed.

“Um…I have one request, actually.” The woman looks at her, waiting. “Can I have Saturday to Sunday off?”

An agreement was made. Monday to Friday she would work, for half the wage.

Scully hadn’t tried to bargain with Mrs Burke. She hadn’t been too impressed with Scully’s request but had granted it anyway once Scully explained Mulder. She may not have been truthfully honest, Mulder was far from inept and she had no doubt he could take care of himself if it really came down to it but needs must.

Now she had the task of actually telling Mulder, something she had been dreading since this idea first came to mind. Five days a week Mulder would have to learn to live without her which meant he had a few new skills to learn.

Scully braces herself at the sound of the door unlocking. It opens to reveal Mulder, worn out and dropping his sketchbook onto the floor. He looks over to her, smiling tiredly, taking off his shoes.

“Long day?” she asks.

Mulder smiles in agreement, placing the money jar on the table. Scully’s eyes fall to it and widen when she realises what sits inside.

A dark green dollar bill.

She brings the jar towards her, twisting off the cap.

Mulder is full smiles now, pulling out the opposite chair and sitting down.

“Took a bit of convincing, but I managed to con them into giving that over.”

She looks up at him disapprovingly. “Mulder! We agreed you weren’t gonna use any deceitful tactics.”

“Look, I only did it the once, and look what it got us,” he points to the bill she holds in her hand. “I promise I won’t do it often.”

Scully sighs, placing the note back into the jar and pushing it out of the way. “You won’t have to. I got a job.”

Mulder stares at her in surprise. “Really? Where?”

She slides the note she got from the newspaper stall over to him.

“It’s just a housekeeper. I work Monday to Friday but I get to be home for the weekend.” She smiles, hoping it’ll lift his spirits.

Mulder stares glumly at the note. “You won’t be here for five days.”

She reaches her hand out, grasping his. “But I get to be home every weekend, that’s something right?”

Mulder shrugs, his fingers playing with hers. “When do you start?”

Scully looks down at their entwined hands. “Monday.”

“Monday?” Mulder exclaims. “But what’s in two days.”

“Well, it’s better than starting tomorrow, isn’t it?”

Mulder looks glumly down at their hands. “I guess,” he mumbles. “Scully, how am I meant to survive five days without you here?”

Scully smiles, “I’ll teach you how to cook. That should keep you alive.” Another thought passes through her mind then, one she hadn’t thought about before this moment.

“Mulder, will you be okay at night? You know, with the nightmares and that?”

She watches him think for a moment, a flash of panic crossing his face. Often their nightmares consisted of something happening to the other, or just a memory of what happened that night, and when they would wake up, the other’s presence would soothe them, allow them to go back to sleep knowing the other was safe and alive next to them. With them both being separated, there was a worry that that safety, that comfort wouldn’t be there anymore.

“I’ll be fine,” he says, trying to sound like he was convincing them both. “What about you? I know you have them, too.”

Scully tried to be less vocal about hers. Sometimes, Mulder’s dreams would have her waking up- usually because Mulder’s woke her up- sometimes it was the only way he could really go back to sleep if he knew she was really alive. Scully would just cuddle closer to Mulder, listen to his breathing and fall asleep that way.

She grasps his hand tighter. “I’ll be okay. I promise.”

It was going to be strange, being away from each other for so long. They had been in each other’s company since the day they met. They have never gone a day since that day without seeing each other at some point during the same day. Scully just prayed Mulder would be able to manage without her.

#txf #titanic au #jewel sequel #i write

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you-know-like-the-bird · 4 years ago

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The Day of Projectile Chairs

Alright so this is something I wrote quite a while ago. But thing is I never post it on tumblr (it’s on Ao3 tho), but since I wrote a companion piece for this I decided to send them out together. I’ll figure how to link the two, but until then they have the common tag ‘Days of Chaos’, since that’s the name of the series that these shots belong to. So if you’re looking for these shots, just search that tag in this blog’s search.

The Days Of Chaos are mainly centred around Quirkless!Izuku and his friendship with Mei and Shinsou. There aren’t any romantic elements in this yet, but as I keep on writing I might add them. After all, I did start these with Shindeku in mind.

Anyways! This is the first part, so I hope you enjoy!

Edit: Yooooooo I figured it out! Second part is here!

It's by pure chance that when the alarm rings out, Izuku is looking out the window.

"Alert! Alert! There has been a Level 5-"

But Izuku's not really listening, because at that exact moment, he sees a group of people startle into view. What that means is, one moment there was nothing, and then suddenly four people appeared out of thin air. The one walking in the middle, a pale looking man with straight black hair who has a hand touching two others and a fourth person gripping his elbow, looks up in panic as the school wide alarm starts blaring. His friend behind him shoves him roughly, and the man shakes his head, before they all disappear into thin air once again.

'A warping quirk? No... there's a shimmer in the air where the group had been standing, almost like a mirage. So maybe... maybe they're still there, just that I can't see them...'

And it's at that point that the blaring announcement finally registers in Izuku's brain, "-repeat, there has been a Level 5 security breach! All students are requested to reach their classrooms immediately!'

Which means that the group was probably villains.

Izuku's classmates mill about the classroom, talking to each other excitedly as they try to figure out what's going on. Multiple voices, all loud and outgoing, catch at the edge of Izuku's brain, but the words being said enter from one ear and slip right out the other as Izuku scrambles out of his seat. His classroom makes up one corner of the school building’s third floor, which means they have windows all along the side and back of the classroom. With the direction they had been walking in, there’s a chance that Izuku can catch sight of them from the back windows if they accidentally drop whatever quirk that is keeping them hidden again.

Izuku quickly opens the windows and leans out, looking to see if he can see the air shimmer around the corner. He can't, but then something else catches his attention, and he looks in the other direction to see someone walking with a humongous wooden box that seems to be filled with odd bit of machinery. On a closer look, he realizes that it's a girl, with cross-haired eyes and manic pink dreadlocks. She walks with a bounce in her step, and the box in her arms jingles happily with each step.

She's headed straight in the villain's direction.

For a moment, he considers calling out to her, but then reconsiders quickly, because he may be able to warn her, but the villains will hear him too.

Fuck.

During this time, a teacher had already entered the classroom and is trying to get the kids to settle down, so that she can properly explain the situation. Izuku barely registers this as he runs past her, citing some excuse about going to the bathroom, and books it.

Hitoshi had conveniently just finished his business in the washroom, when the alarms rang out. He stood stalk still in front of the sinks, hands still under a spray of water as the P.A system informs him that there's been a Level 5 breach in the school, and that he needs to get back to his classroom, immediately. He quickly dries his hands and exits the washroom to do just that, when a green blur shoots past him. He watches a boy skid around the corner, and in that split-second catches sight of his face and realizes that it's a classmate of his. He hasn't really talked to the boy, but from what he remembers, he's pretty sure the boy is just as antisocial as him, albeit probably for different reasons, if his constant nervous fidgeting was anything to go by.

For a moment he wonders what could be so urgent that the boy risked crashing face first into a wall.

As he's about to continue his journey back, he hears an urgent voice coming from his classroom's hallway. Hitoshi inches closer and comes to carefully stands just around the corner, until the voice is clear enough to listen to, "-need someone to look over class 1-C because a kid just took off with a shady as fuck excuse and I am not getting in trouble with the principal for this Sora. You'd think kids at a hero school would be better at following safety protocols but no, and now I gotta hunt this kid down before the principal has my head-"

It takes all of five seconds for Hitoshi to make his decision, before he's running after the kid.

Izuku jumps down the stairs five at a time, sure he's going to trip and fall any second now but somehow managing to stay upright. He reaches the first floor and runs towards a separate staircase he knows is closer to where he saw the girl. He runs across an empty classroom but skids to a stop a few meters away and backtracks, because this classroom is the one one floor below his own, but more importantly, it'll give him the perfect vantage point to look and see if the villains have spotted the girl yet.

And to his dismay, they have.

"-must be one of the support brats. Listen girly, just pretend you never saw us, alright? We're hopefully not here to cause trouble."

"Oh but according to the school alarms I think you are!" The girl speaks cheerfully as the metal bits in her box jingle again, "What are you guys even here for at the main building? I thought the attack was at the U.S.J?"

A villain with spiky purple hair snorts, "As if we'd tell you. Sorry kiddo, but villains don't monologue in real life."

The girl just shrugs in faux disappointment, "Ah well, that's a shame. But hey, who cares what you're here for when you're gonna get caught anyways?"

'She's stalling' Izuku realizes with a little bit of awe, 'The security cameras have probably already seen these guys, and she knows that the heroes are going to get here soon.'

"What are you doing?"

Izuku shrieks and jumps a foot in the air from being startled. He quickly backs away from the window, which means that when the villains' heads snap up they don't see anything out of the ordinary.

The boy who snuck up on him, one that he recognizes from his class, stands back and let's Izuku catch his breath.

"Why the fuck would you do that?" Izuku whisper shouts at the boy.

The boy shrugs, "Thought you'd heard me come in."

"What was that?!" The furious shout catches both their attentions, and they exchange a weary glance before creeping back up to the window. It's the guy with purple spikes who shouted this, and looking at the thin metal spikes covering his fist, Izuku realizes he must have activated his quirk. The pale looking guy, who Izuku suspects has the invisibility quirk that got the group this far, stays close to his teammates, hand hovering in the air and ready to touch them and activate his quirk. One woman with neon green flames for hair fiddles with the lighter in her hand, eyes frantically flickering around. Their last party member is hunched over the back-cafeteria door, and it looks like she's trying to get them in with the way she has her hand pressed against the computer pad. (Unbeknownst to everybody, this poor woman is literally trying to hack past the principal of U.A and she is, of course, failing miserably).

'Probably an electricity quirk of some sort, something that'll help her get past the computer pad but it clearly takes away her situational surroundings...'

"I said what the fuck was that?"

"I don't know!" The girl snaps back, much to the purple-spikes' guy's surprise. "I told you that the pros were coming, so are you really that surprised?"

The guy growls, "You..."

Izuku frantically pulls his classmate back from the window, "We need a plan."

"A- what? A plan?"

"Yes." Izuku hisses, "I don't think that girl actually knows how much time it'll take for the pros to get here, and anything can happen between then. We need to help her stall."

"We can't just step in! Those are villains, we could get hurt!" The guy argues back.

"And if we don't do something, she'll get hurt anyways. Come on, if you hadn't scared me, they wouldn't have been agitated in the first place."

His classmate clenches his jaw. Finally, he says, "Fine. What are we going to do?"

"-You don't know what you're fucking talking about-"

"Your gear is horrible! Haven't you ever met a decent illegal broker before, dumbass?!"

Izuku stares up at his classmate. "What's your quirk?"

The boy in front of him hisses, "What does my quirk have to do with-"

"Oi oi, fuck you! You haven't even spent a week in the support course, what the fuck do you know girly?!"

"A lot more that you apparently-"

"Your quirk, what is it?"

The boy seems to finally be giving into the pressure as the arguing from down below starts getting louder and more heated, "Brainwashing. I can put someone under my control if they verbally respond to a question."

Izuku nods slowly, "I can work with that."

Mei is getting ready to just about throw down the metaphorical gauntlet with how stupid this villain in front of her is, when all of a sudden, they hear a new voice join the fray.

"Ah, yes, Present-Mic sensei? Yeah, I'm- no- I'm actually near the cafeteria back door right now."

Mei and the three idiots in front of her quiet down as a boy with purple hair and eyebags so deep they make Mei want to take a nap comes around the corner with a phone pressed against his ear. He doesn't notice them yet, not immediately, and just continues talking on the phone. "Yes, I know I should be in my classroom, but it's not like I'm out here on purpose. Ah- yes- sorry sensei, it won't happen again."

And then he looks up. He stops abruptly, staring at the odd view Mei and the villains make, with the chick who was trying to get into the school still stuck at the computer pad (it's like she can't hear their commotion at all honestly, and Mei is starting to think it has something to do with her quirk). Its kinda pathetic, how long this woman has been trying and failing to unlock a simple back door, and Mei's half tempted to march up there and unlock it for a her.

The boy stares at them for a moment, before he says, "I-" he cuts himself off to lower the phone from his ear, "Are you guys villains?"

And the Pale Guy with the invisible quirk must be feeling extra dumb today because he says, "Yeah. Yeah we are." He immediately gets a swat on the arm from Fire Lady for that, but it's already too late, because the boy is back to talking to his phone. "Yupp. Villains. Back cafeteria door." There's a pause, before the boy says, "Alright, see you soon Present Mic."

And then he cuts the call.

"So... you guys come here often?"

And Fire Lady loses it, "That's it!" With the stress of getting caught already by two people and the irrefutable knowledge that backup was soon on its way to arrest them, Mei doesn't blame her.

The Pale Guy has other plans though, with how he reaches out towards Fire Lady, "No, wait-"

Surprisingly, Fire Lady stops, but they soon find out it's not because of Pale Guy. The kid with eyebags sighs tiredly, "Just one? Why? Alright then, knock out your teammate with the spikes for me, will you?"

Fire lady turns, a blank look in her eyes, and Spikes Guy takes a step back, "Wha- Haruhi?"

It's like Fire lady can't hear him, when she reaches for her hair and managed to pull a ball of fire away from it, which she subsequently chucks at Spikes. He scrambles back to avoid getting hit, and the game is on. Pale Guy reaches for the chick still trying to work the door and yanks her away from it, and it looks like she's just coming back online when she blinks and looks around confused, "What the fuck is going on?"

Pale Guy has already grabbed her forearm, and is trying to pull her away from the fight between Fire Lady and Spikes. "Come on! We gotta run!"

"On no you don't!"

And then a chair comes sailing through the air, and nails the poor man straight on the nose. Three sets of eyes turn to where the chair came from, Fire Lady and Spikes too busy playing a flammable version of tag and Pale Guy crumpled on the floor with two hands over his poor nose, to see a kid leaning out from one of the classroom windows, breathing heavily from where he just threw a piece of furniture at them. He scrambles away immediately, probably going to get another projectile, when Miss I'm-going-to-break-into-U.A-and-I'm-going-to-succeed-because-I-have-an-electricity-quirk hisses, "You fucking kids. I'll show you-"

She bends down and goes to press her hands flat on the ground, but Mei thinks quickly and fishes out the biggest piece of cobbled together metal and wires she can find in her box, and throws. Instead of hitting Electricity Girl though, it just painfully clips her shoulder and makes her stumble back, before conking Pale Guy straight on the head. It's about all the trauma his head can take and he passes out.

The Electricity Chick scowls at them, "You're dead." She slams her hands down, and another chair comes flying, but this time closer to Eyebags and Mei, and Chair kid shouts, "Jump on!"

And Mei has worked with electronics and people with electrical quirks enough times to somewhat know what's going happen already, because a surge of electricity comes cackling towards them along the ground. Mei jumps, hoping to land on the seat, but at the same time, Eyebags jumps over the back support, and they end up toppling into each other. It works out though, even if they do land in a heap on the ground, because Electricity Girl gets knocked out soon by, guess what?

A chair.

Mei and Eyebags look over to where Spikes is laying flat on the ground, a large bruise forming on his temple, as Fire Lady stands silently besides him.

Mei makes no move to get up from where she's sprawled across Eyebags' legs. "Well. That could have gone worse."

Chair kid gives her a thumbs up, before sinking out of view.

They're scolded, of course, almost gloriously so. (Mei finds out that Shinsou's whole call with 'Present Mic' was actually fake, since one; Shinsou doesn't even have his number and two: Present Mic was actually all the way at the U.S.J. All in all, it was a pretty ballsey move, but it did it's job of further scaring the villains). Even if they did manage to get those villains in the end, they shouldn't have been outside their classroom in the first place, and to avoid dangerous scenarios exactly like this, too. Chair kid, who Mei learns is named Izuku Midoriya, tries to defend himself by saying that he panicked when he caught sight of the villains heading in Mei's direction, but the teacher reprimanding them simply shakes their head and says he should've just called a teacher instead.

Which... fair.

Eyebags, or Shinsou Hitoshi, doesn't have an excuse at all, just that he got curious and had decided to follow Midoriya.

And Mei? Well, Mei was just the poor victim of a villain attack.

(She's also very disappointed, because she had a half-finished baby in that box that she was sure she could have used. Oh well, maybe next time, when there's no risk of it blowing up.)

"So… you guys are gen-ed?" Asks Mei as they walk to the infirmary room. They don't really have any injuries, except for Shinsou's scraped elbow from when Mei has toppled into him, but they're going to get checked up anyways for everyone's peace of mind.

"Yupp."

"Huh." Mei counts the tiles of the ceiling as she walks, "You two wanna get onto the hero course or something or...?"

Shinsou rubs the back of his neck and sighs harshly while Midoriya just looks blankly down at the floor.

"That would be ideal," Starts Shinsou, "but people aren't all that receptive towards a brainwashing quirk, not to mention, the Sports Festival is tailor made to cater to physical quirks most of the time."

Midoriya nods absently. "Yeah. Besides," he laughs harshly, "It's a fever dream for me, quirkless and all."

Both Shinsou and Mei look at him surprised, "You're quirkless?"

"Yupp."

The three of them are silent for a while, before Mei says, "Still managed to take those villains down though, so does it matter?"

And Midoriya looks up at her, surprised, with something like relief in the small smile he gives her. Shinsou laughs, "She's not wrong. That plan wasn't half bad back there, short-stack."

"I am not short-"

After a trip to Recovery Girl's room, the moment they step out, Mei says, "So, I was thinking..."

Shinsou raises an eyebrow at her, "Yeah?"

Mei smiles, all wide and wicked, "If you're really going to try for the hero course, you might want some support gear to boost that quirk of yours! It's not bad in itself, just that you're at a disadvantage if you can't use it before you get punched in the face."

Shinsou sullenly stuffs his hands into his pockets and scowls, "I know that-"

Midoriya cuts in before he can get very far with that though, "What are you saying Hatsume-chan?"

Mei gives them both a thumbs up, "Since you two helped me out today, I don't mind working on a bit of gear for you! I gotta make stuff for the Sports Festival anyways, but my babies will really shine if they're tailored perfectly for someone else and used by them! And you guys get a advantage over the hero kids! So, what do you say?!"

Midoriya looks surprised, "Even for me?"

"Yeah! You're even easier, since I can give you anything I want."

The way she says it sounds slightly ominous, but Shinsou and Midoriya exchange a glance, before Midoriya smiles warmly at her, "I think that sounds wonderful."

(And that was the day their friendship started, on the day of the Projectile Chairs.)

(Honestly though, with how long Shinsou and Midoriya pine after one another, Mei herself had started to consider throwing a chair at the two oblivious idiots.)

#bnha #bnha fanfiction #boku no hero au #boku no hero academia #boku no hero fanfic #my hero academia #my hero academy fanfiction #mha #izuku midoriya #shinsou hitoshi #mei hatsume #The Days Of Chaos

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pangtasias-atelier · 5 years ago

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A Little Bit of Selfishness

Edit: Added a couple more lines and changed the title. Formerly titled: Siegfried (Santa)

This was also in the works for about 8 days. I wanted to get it out before 2020 as like a final story for the year, but decided against it since I just had no motivation.

However, as a result of this getting pushed back , the theming doesn't really apply anymore.

So this instead became a story that I really wanted to be proud of to start the new year! And it shows with it being 4.2k words and being proofread (only once but still lol)

Only real gripe is feeling like I didn't have enough WG description? Though at this point I've just been failing in that area no matter how hard I try I feel.

Really wanted to emulate the silliness yet seriousness of Fate and I don't think it was a terrible result; hopefully it doesn't feels too FGO specific, which I know a lot of my followers don't know anything about. But eh, Siegfried deserves the love, so I'm glad I got this fic out.

Anyways, rambling over, happy new year and thanks for sticking with me for so long! And for new followers, thanks for joining!

P.S. I really hate this title lol

______________

"Master…." Struggling with his hat, the fabric dangles uncomfortably on his horns before he gives up. Sighing, Siegfried glances down at his new attire offered to him by Gudao. His hat falls down to the floor. A large warm red coat and matching red pants, they both are finished with white fabric; his coat also has white running down the middle. A black belt contrasting the bright outfit, it matches with his black boots. The outfit specifically tailored to him, the back is cut out for his tail and wings along with his curse. His muscular fit figure is for once hidden by the loose clothing; his defined pecs and abs are also no longer on display with his closed coat.

"I am not fit for the title of Santa," Siegfried picks up his santa hat off of the floor, fussing with it once more. Placing it back on his head, he yanks it down; it tears against his horns. The hat sits safely on his head with it skewered.

Now fussing with his outfit, Siegfried picking at it, he makes a face as he struggles with that too, rearranging it to no avail.

"Perhaps you should ask another servant to be this year's Santa," Eyes widening, Siegfried blushes and averts his gaze as Gudao grabs his hands.

"You're perfect as Santa!" Gudao proclaims, smiling down at Siegfried. "And this year…" Spinning, Gudao jumps and spreads his feet, arms on his hips. "I'll be your reindeer!" He shouts with a grin on his face, fanfare emanating from some unknown location announces his role. His costume the bare minimum, it's comprised solely of an antler headband. His outfit is instead the opposite of holiday cheer unlike Siegfried, Gudao wearing the magus uniform.

"The other Santas will be upset, won't they?" Siegfried asks, a slight frown adorning his face as he continues his fussing, his costume wrinkling.

Gudao waves his hand dismissively, snorting. "Nah, it'll all be fine I'm sure!" Siegfried doesn't have the heart to turn his master around, Altria Alter, Jeanne Alter Lily, Attilla, Quetzalcoatl, and Nightingale all standing outside Gudao’s open door. Their hands gripping the doorway, Siegfried purposely avoids eye contact with them,

"Will I be delivering presents?" Siegfried stiffens as all five Santas glare at him.

"You don't have to. You already did basically that all your life. You're Santa just for fun," Gudao's answer appeasing to the murderous Santas, they silently slink away, their master none the wiser. "This is a time for you to relax,"

"Thank you, master," Siegfried smiles up at him. "But why must I wear this outfit?"

"Cause you'd make a great santa, I just know it. Siegfried the Santa, or Santafried. Or even Sanfried for short!" Gudao exclaims, stars in his eyes. Siegfried hears fanfare and lighting coming from behind himself, the music pathetically quiet before it sadly dies out. "You're nearly perfect for Santa!"

Siegfried catches the pivotal conditional word in the sentence. "Nearly?"

"And that's my cue, your reliable exposition giver and plot coupon! Ta-dah," Merlin popping up in a puff of white smoke, Gudao coughs as it fills up the room, fanning the air in front of his face with his hand.

"Did you like my big entrance, master?" Merlin smirking, his Cheshire grin grows further as Gudao glares at him. "Anyways, while master may believe you contain the important components that comprise Santa, you are missing one key component," Pausing, Merlin laughs at Siegfried's confused expression. Siegfried glances back between Merlin and Gudao "For you see, what is Santa if not round?" Crickets suddenly chirping, neither of them respond to his question.

"Santa is fat. Dense people like you aren't great for feeding off of," Glumly clutching his staff to himself, Merlin brushes it off. "That's why master here offered to let me feed off of him! And it was either you or me and well, survival of the fittest and whatnot," Merlin casts a spell at Siegfried. Siegfried feels the effects instantly.

Balance offkey, the spell taking a hold on him, Siegfried questions Merlin. “All the other santas are as skinny as their regular forms. And their outfits don’t even look like-”

Merlins tsks, shaking his head. He pulls out a graph from nowhere. “This is the demographic, as you can see,” Merlin points with his staff. “The current demographic is mostly straight men and considering how they are-”

“No need for the social commentary here!” Gudao shoves Merlin, tearing the graph apart. “Especially not from you, sexual harasser,”

"Well, time for my grand exit for an amazing grand-," His obnoxious comment interrupted by his own screaming, Merlin falls to the floor as Fou comes barreling through the door and kicks him down. Clawing at the floor, Merlin shouts for his master as Fou drags him away.

"Fou fou!" Fou growls, Merlin's coat in between his teeth.

Gudao closing his door, him and Siegfried are now the only ones in his room, both in the privacy of it.

Siegfried's stomach gurgles. Uncomfortably warm despite his cold reptilian self, he continues clutching his stomach. Huffing, he reaches to his face, his hand coming back sweaty. Disoriented, his bleary eyes barely make out Gudao standing in front of him. A guiding hand offered, Siegfried hesitates. Taking a step by himself, he stumbles over his own tail. Gudao catches him by the arms. Accepting his master's help, Siegfried clutches onto him.

"Sorry, master," Huffing, Siegfried trudges his way to Gudao’s bed.

"Umm, this was all my plan? You shouldn't feel sorry about this," Gudao averts his gaze.

"I forgot," Siegfried blandly replies. He sighs as Gudao helps him sit on the bed. "I blamed it on Merlin; everyone seems to find him a nuisance," His forehead incredibly warm, the sensation feels foreign.

"Yeah," Gudao agrees. "But he's great in combat, so-"

"Unlike myself," Siegfried holds back a grunt as the extreme warmth in his body spreads. He clutches his stomach, the soft fabric warping under his grip.

"You're always on the team though!" Gudao shouts as he grabs Siegfried's shoulder. "Sure you're on the back row, but not just any servant can claim to be in every battle. And yeah, you may struggle out there, but it's okay," Gudao pauses before grabbing Siegfried's hand instead, clutching it.

Siegfried shakes his head. He glances at Gudao, seeing two of him. "It's not okay, I-"

"You can be even better than just another fighter on the battlefield. This is actually a promotion! You get to be my personal pillow!" Prideful, Gudao smirks down at him, brimming with joy. "A job only you can fulfill!" Reaching for Siegfried's head, he fumbles with the hat before removing it. He gives Siegfried's head a pat.

Merlin's spell seems to react to the statement, the beginning stage complete. Siegfried furls and unfurls his wings, desperate to release some energy with the magic building up inside of him.

Outfit once roomy, the extra fabric slowly becomes necessary as Siegfried begins to bloat. Unable to do much at all if even anything, Siegfried remains seated. Soft plush clothes a strange sensation on his body, the feeling grows stranger as Siegfried feels his body push and pull in all directions.

Stomach bubbling, he feels his once flat abs accumulate a bit of pudge. The sensation foreign, he pushes down on it as his stomach continues its growth. The mass expanding, it knocks at the edge of his coat, his outfit tight on him now. Pants end up filled with Siegfried's thighs, the pudgy cellulite spreading across the bed as his ass straigns the back. Brand new moobs, Siegfried grabs them, holding back a moan from the tender new flesh. Gudao’s hands on his body, Siegfried turns towards him, his face flushed.

Mind barely able to form words, it races as it tries to figure out what to say, a different feeling of warmth bathing his heart from the touch. Shutting his eyes tight, Siegfried keeps quiet as he feels the growth continuing, Gudao leaving two satisfied pats on his belly.

Lightly tanned skin pokes out as it pushes his coat. Clutching his once loose belt, Siegfried is unable to get it off as his body continues to expand and throw him off. The belt tightens its hold on Siegfried, his billowing fat warping around it. Hands on his stomach again, Siegfried opens his eyes. At his current size, he can barely see Gudao over the load of lard making up his stomach. Only the top of Gudao’s head is visible. His master undoing the belt, Siegfried's gut lurches forward with the dam now broken. The mass nearly hits Gudao in the face, narrowly missing him. Gudao ignores it, instead hugging Siegfried's stomach, rubbing the sides of it as Siegfried's growing stomach pushes him away. His coat unbearably tight, the ripped opening isn't the only damage it suffers. The small sleeves constrict his girthy wings for arms; the fabric tears at his armpits, little holes soon plugged up with the swelling of his fat. Siegfried's growing rolls push his arms further up and up at an angle.

Stomach growing, it makes the perfect shelf for Siegfried's moobs. A once defined broad chest residing there, it was kicked out by the new inhabitants, two large swollen saggy moobs replacing it. His coat not strong enough to contain such girth, Siegfried pulls at the edges in vain. His large chest exposed, his light blue markings are warped and stretched as it travels from his stomach to his neck.

His neck now blubbery, the ring of fat constricts his movement as his stomach constricts his vision of his legs. His tree trunk legs slightly get covered by Siegfried's roll riddled expanse of a stomach. The uncovered portion squeezes out from underneath his gut, fat sagging and squishing against each other. His ass sits behind him, the mounds rising like fresh dough as his pants continue to keep them contained despite a tear running straight down the middle. The elastic band of his pants have their own limit, the material constricting and squeezing his fat. No belt or button to aid in its chokehold on his waist, Siegfried merely holds back his groans from the discomfort.

Huffing, Siegfried lets out strained breaths as the weight of his own body rests on him. Small gasps escape his lips as his master pokes and prods his body, lingering touches left all over his body. He blushes from said contact.

"Merlin outdid himself…," Gudao mumbles, his face agape with a blush on his cheeks. He grabs Siegfried's fat addled cheeks, pushing and pulling them, fascinated as Siegfried reacts, Siegfried blushing himself, his eyes are half closed. Gudao’s hands on his arms, Siegfried goes to stand up. Instead he ends up with a hand against his chest. Confused, Siegfried understands once his master helps him move back, his back against the wall.

Siegfried's stomach growls. Gudao stands in response, smiling.

"I'll go-" His eyes widen. Rubbing his eyes for good measure, his eyes remain wide as Siegfried groans and clutches whatever part of his body his arms can reach at this point. "M-more?"

Siegfried can't help but share his master's sentiment, Merlin's spell ridiculous in its effect. A pile of fat surely can't be what anyone would wish for. His breasts growing and taking up his vision even further, Siegfried sighs as he catches a glimpse of his master. Gudao’s shock and concern is gone; he instead clasps his hands, swinging on the balls of his feet.

Siegfried's already large heavy body grows in its immensity. Each limb and part of himself feeling so heavy and obstructed. Shifting in his spot, standing up a dangerous prospect, the bedsprings creak under him as his thighs spread like batter.

His master's bed only meant for a single person, Siegfried's body begins to overtake the mattress, his body wider than it with his fat sagging off.

Feeling so puffed and stretched out, Siegfried shakes his head as he feels the spell leaving him. Disorientation gone with it as well, he takes in the gargantuan immensity of his form.

Unable to see them but clearly able to feel the way they sag and pull down with gravity's help, Siegfried can sense the size of his jowls. Each one rotund. His neck now containing rolls lining the entirety of it, they squish into one another as Siegfried attempts to look down.

Only getting a view of his breasts and stomach, Siegfried grimaces. The once defined blue markings on his chest appear distorted, warped from his fat. Clothes meant to properly fit in the spirits of the holiday instead were torn, each piece just resting on Siegfried's new corpulent body with his outfit in complete tatters. Well defined chest and abs now seem to have never been a feature on Siegfried, or even appearing in the same room as him. Moobs wider than watermelons, the massive knockers dig into his recliner sized stomach, his stomach even rivaling a loveseat. His stomach's crevices and rolls rise and fall with each breath Siegfried takes, his stomach folds shifting and slapping each other. His stomach covering everything in its wake, his lower half unable to be seen but clearly able to be felt, he can only sense their width by the way they also fall off the edge of the bed and how the rolls of his stomach shift and fold around his immense thighs. Shelf of an ass behind him, Siegfried can feel the way they compress against the headboard, fat rearranging itself to occupy the large space it needs. His back rolls do the same, Siegfried at least grateful for the cool touch to contrast the utter warmth that fills his body.

"I have some clothes for you!" Gudao unfolds the fabric, the sheer length and width of it making him spread his arms to their widest span. Siegfried's mouth open, Gudao answers his oncoming question. "Da Vinci made these! She said they were super high-tech since they can't tear, not even your curse will tear it," He parades around the shirt, holding it higher and peeking his head out from the side. "It was only 30 saint quartz, too! It was a steal," Gudao’s smile brightens, eyes closed from the sheer joy.

Siegfried keeps his comment of Da Vinci stealing from his master to himself. Especially considering how much his master values the precious saint quartz, a single missing saint quartz the start of a crazy search led by his master. A Witch Hunt had been Siegfried's first name for it before his master asked him to never utter such words once he returned from Salem, but the meaning was the same.

Still, his master effectively proudly claiming 30 saint quartz was nothing for him is a bit heartwarming despite making Merlin curse him. Several grails offered to Siegfried and numerous other items, perhaps he had been blind to his master's favoritism towards him, Siegfried finds himself feeling.

"Merlin can always change you back," As if hearing his name, the scumbag known as Merlin walks through Gudao’s door. His cape torn and ripped from Fou's vicious attack, his body is littered with scratch marks.

"Cath Palug was no match for me," Merlin proudly exclaims with a smirk. Sniffing, he perks up. "Looks like it worked! Now that I don't have to carry Siegfried on the battlefield with Hero Creation EX, my job is easier and now I get some wonderful emotions from you two," Merlin licks his lips while he rubs his hands. "Guess this is going to turn into a poly-" Merlin lets out a small oof as he bumps into Gudao’s outstretched hand. "Ah come on, I'm sure this is exactly what you wanted to happen," Merlin lets out an exaggerated pout, his body hunched over. "I'm always out on the frontline, you know how exhausting that is on me? I may be a mighty Grand Caster, but I can only do so much when I have deadweight who can barely do damage. Siegfried doesn't even have any team skills, so he's useless outside of lancer nodes!"

"Merlin...," Gudao clenches his fists, back stiff as he stares at Merlin. Merlin turns his back, hiding his smirk.

"And he's bond 10, you don't even need to use him anymore," Merlin fakes a heavy sigh. "Well, he's no Fionn that's for sure. Poor generation stats, weird deck combination, I mean, 2 quick, 2 arts, and 1 buster? I can only do so much. At least dragons are kind of common," Merlin taps his chin thoughtfully, humming as he thinks.

Sensing the room again, Merlin feels the boiling emotional presence from his master's and Siegfried's anger cooling down, the lightly stinging sensation of annoyance budding instead. Smirking, Merlin pats his stomach.

"Well, I've had a decent meal from that rush. It’ll take a boatload of food for Siegfried to get a decent meal. That’s more effort than me making him decent, I’m no miracle worker after all,” Merlin the miracle worker skips away as he hums; Merlin ends up stopped by Gudao holding his arm. Gudao glaring at him, Merlin beams, more emotions for the road a treat. "So you do want me to join. I'd be-" Gudao dragging him out of the room, his words when he opens the door makes him freeze.

"Fou! I found Merlin!" The sound of scampering paws fills Chaldea's Halls.

"Well, I guess that's my cue!" Saluting, Merlin breaks into a dead sprint.

“Fou Kyu!” Fou right behind Merlin, he chases after him.

Gudao sighs as he closes his door, wiping his hands. "Merlin's taken care of. But he can't change you back right now. Once the New Year comes around, I'll make him do it!" Bustling around Siegfried, he grabs the cloche on his nightstand, Siegfried not noticing it.

"It's small but hopefully it'll keep you satisfied for now," Gudao smiles as he unveils the food. "I know servants don't technically have to eat, but I did some research on Germanic food from around the time of your legend so I made krapfen but today's version of it," Bringing the plate to Siegfried's face, he places it on his moobs. The dish only comprised up of three fried pastries, Siegfried doesn't have the heart to tell him that he doesn't recognize them. But his confusion gives him away.

"Ah, I figured that it'd be unusual considering the origins of Nibelungenlied contains some historical basis way before the medieval times but I based my research on that time period…," Gudao speaks to himself, not giving Siegfried a chance to speak up. "But I hope you like it?"

The treat shoved into his mouth, Siegfried chews at it, the powdered sugar dusting his lips. The fried confectionery sweet, the tart jam in the center balances it out, the food surprisingly delicious.

"It's delicious, master," Eyes widening, Siegfried winces as he realizes he spoke with some food still in his mouth, chunks of the jam getting caught in his sharp teeth.

"I'm glad!" Gudao getting closer, Siegfried's malleable fat bends from the contact. Allowed to nibble at the second one, the contrast of sweet and tart lasts longer on his tongue, the scrumptious food rather addicting. "Last one," Gudao plucking it off the plate, Siegfried’s open maw ends up crammed with the last one, all of it entering his mouth at once.

Cheeks full, he can barely close his mouth to chew, the effort far more than expected. Crumbs falling down to his moobs, the crevices catch them, a light sprinkle adorning them. Throat dry, swallowing each morsel is harder than the last, Siegfried feeling each piece slowly descending down.

Once he finishes the last bit, he lets out a sigh, one not too far off from contentment.

The praise and affection apparently not enough, Gudao pats Siegfried's hair, placing the plate back on the nightstand.

"That's just the appetizer! Let's get you prim and proper to go to the dining hall!" Gudao standing up, Siegfried's eyes widen.

"Master, wouldn't you rather enjoy spending this evening together?" Keeping his eyes on his master, Siegfried mentally commands his face to not blush, unable to deal with other servants reacting to his size. If Astolfo saw him like this… He refuses to consider their actions in such a scenario.

"Fine," Gudao crosses his arms over his chest. "Merlin can change you back tomorrow," He huffs. "So I'll make sure to enjoy today, Emiya should be on cooking duty. Wait here," Gudao excitable as ever, he rushes out of the room.

Siegfried now alone, he straigns to lift his hand on the headboard. His arms difficult to bend with fat built up around his joints, moving them is a chore. Getting leverage, he slowly twists his body, bed creaking. Standing up, his body feels so different with nothing to support his astonishing weight.

Gut sagging down, his arms are unable to fully hold it all. Lifting it up, the weight of it is more than his sword, Balmung deceptively heavy. Letting it go, the pull of it nearly topples him, Siegfried flapping his wings to not fall over. His expansive gut jiggles. Sighing, he waddles to his master's desk, his new change of clothing left there. Thighs chafing, each heavy step causes his rolls to jiggle. His undefined ass wobbles back and forth, the massive rectangular masses jutting and sagging far out. His tail drags on the floor, the appendage having grown in width as well. A wide berth needed, Siegfried bumps into the desk, his stomach bouncing back and jiggling. Grabbing the pair of clothes, they seem to activate, the clothes floating and wrapping itself around him.

Taking the form of a simple t-shirt and shorts, they cling to his fatty form. Perfectly sized, they simultaneously show nothing yet cover nothing, the fabric caught in each roll of his. The shorts outline his new fat pad, the bulging mass feeling strange.

Glancing at the chair, Siegfried reconsiders sitting down, his ass wider than the chair.

The door opening, Siegfried turns around, thighs widely waddling to pull off such a maneuver.

"Emiya kicked me out," Gudao pouting, he pads his way to Siegfried. Letting himself fall onto Siegfried, his head uses Siegfried's moobs as a cushion as he hugs Siegfried's stomach. "Said I'd use up all of Chaldea's rations with my ideas," His voice is muffled as he speaks into Siegfried's fat.

Siegfried blushing, three times wider than Gudao, he clears his throat. "Master...," Siegfried trails off. Pensive, Siegfried lets his thoughts trail off, finding the new sensation somewhat enjoyable, especially with his master's enjoyment contagious, the act of traveling through numerous singularities not insignificant to their bond.

“Would being moderately selfish be so wrong with an entire life as a human spent fulfilling others' demands?” Siegfried finds himself thinking.

"Perhaps I can stay like this for a couple of days?" Siegfried lets out, pressing his tongue to his teeth to calm his nerves. Gudao removes himself from Siegfried. "Only a couple days," Siegfried clarifies. Though Gudao’s radiant expression remains plastered on his face.

"Of course, whatever you want!" Gudao grabbing him by the hand, his hand ends up wrapped around Siegfried's pudgy bear claw of a hand.

Siegfried hesitates, eyes shifting. "Perhaps some more krapfen, master?"

"Got it! Krapfen coming right up," Siegfried smiles, Gudao’s difficulty in pronouncing the word despite enunciating and slowing down endearing to him. "They're easy and don't require much ingredients, but if Emiya tries to kick me out, I'll just use a command seal," Grinning, Gudao salutes Siegfried before rushing off to complete his mission.

"Master, don't waste…" Siegfried trails off, Gudao already gone. Sighing, he shakes his head with a small chuckle. Gingerly testing the bed, Siegfried sits back down on the edge. Fat pooling around him, the position offers a different sensation of his immensity. Blushing, he clears his throat.

"Only a couple days," He reminds himself. Yet the warm feeling of being coddled and waited on remains in his heart.

Gudao's coddling on the battlefield merely felt like pity, Siegfried indeed needing support. And despite Gudao’s consoling and praise towards him, he couldn't help but feel as if they were hollow, not deserving of such praise and affection.

And while he had been roped and forced into his current predicament, his master's overt display removes all doubt, his master indeed fond of him.

Siegfried looks to the door, Gudao already back.

"Maybe I can extend staying like this, only a couple more days," Siegfried thinks as his master comes back with more krapfen, the few he asked for instead a dozen and then some. The sweet fresh scent reaches his nostrils, Siegfried refraining himself from licking his lips. A bit offered to him, Siegfried’s new train of thought only strengthens with it.

"I'll make sure you're as comfortable as can be," His master beams down at him.

Siegfried only lazily opens his maw, feeling voracious all of a sudden as he can’t wait to polish off the rest of the plate. Gudao rubbing his stomach, Siegfried looks forward to the rest of his first day out of however many he wishes.

#my writing #fat grand order #fat!siegfried #male weight gain #ssbhm #weight gain story

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pilyarquitect · 4 years ago

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Hello everyone! Well, the time has arrived… Huey will come back home! Everything will be like it was before! Or maybe not? What do you think it’ll happen? Also, this chapter could have some important revelations for Huey. Who do you think these revelations will come from? Welp, you’ll see it soon 😊, you just need to read.

Also, if you’re interested, I started publishing a new story on Asterix fandom, it’s a story named: “Getafix’s mistake” if you want to read.

Aaaaand, one last thing, in this chapter there’s a piece of art made of my own, where I present my OC Dr. Owlfang!

As always, I’d like to thank Empro-8 for helping me editing this story. Honestly, without her help this wouldn’t be as good as it is, so thank you very much Empro-8 you’re amazing!

Welp, I’ll stop talking and let you read the chapter, enjoy it! 😉

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32.- Back home

Finally, the day had arrived! The day he would be discharged! He would go back… home…

Huey wasn’t entirely comfortable with the idea of going back to the mansion. It was true that he had come to consider it as his home… but after everything that had happened… he was no longer so sure of that.

The duckling looked to the other occupant of the room, his friend —and practically confidant in recent days —was talking and talking, completely oblivious to the thoughts of the oldest triplet.

Huey smiled softly, at least he had that consolation. Fenton was coming with them, he had agreed to stay at the mansion with him! And Huey couldn't have been happier about it. He pushed himself up off the hospital bed and began to collect everything he had in the room. There were so many gifts that others had brought to him. There were clothes, books, video games (courtesy of Dewey so he wouldn't get bored), there was even a list of the best Ottoman Empire episodes, made by Louie for Huey to watch whenever he wanted.

Huey's eyes softened when he reached a specific box. It was Webby's. Yes, the day Webby came to visit, she had brought him simple training items.

"So that you can regain strength here in the room," the young girl had told him.

Huey really appreciated the gesture, and certainly, because he had read about them, he knew how to use them… mostly. He tried a few of the excel uses, and they certainly helped him to recover slightly quicker. Even Fenton tried some of the tools and was surprised to see that they could be very useful for his own training.

"Hey!" Fenton had exclaimed excitedly, "this is very practical! With something like that, I surely would always be prepared for…" the Hispanic duck had stopped before finishing the sentence, probably because he knew that Huey wouldn’t be very comfortable to talk about his alter ego.

Huey couldn't help but feel guilty about it.

Just a few weeks ago they both had been in a similar situation, one of them hospitalized and the other accompanying him. Huey hadn’t had any problem talking about Gizmoduck then, but now… it was impossible for him to do so. Any mention of the superhero, made the older triplet’s body tremble.

The duckling sighed again and kept gathering things up. Pulling out a cabinet drawer next to his bed. His hand suddenly ran into something hard. When he looked to see what it was, he discovered that it was a blank notebook he had given it from Dr. Owlfang. Huey took the notebook and stared at it.

The doctor had given it to him and told him he did it so that the duckling could write in that notebook – if he wanted – his emotions, the experiences he lived during his imprisonment and how he felt about them. Because according to the owl, he believed this could help Huey to have a better understanding of what was happening to him and hopefully would help him recover sooner. The triplet remembered looking at the doctor's gift with some reluctance… but still accepted it, because of whom it came.

Huey gripped the notebook tightly, he knew the doctor had given it to help him, but for Huey, digging into his current emotions could very well mean he would have to face how he felt about his family… among other issues, and the boy didn’t feel even remotely prepared for that.

Not yet.

Quickly, Huey tucked the notebook into the bottom of the bag that had been brought for him to keep everything. He didn't want anyone to know about this notebook, not even Fenton.

Speaking of the brown-plumaged duck, Fenton seemed genuinely excited about going to live in a mansion.

"You know? I've only been there to visit, and it's never been for more than a few hours. Now, I'm going to live there… temporarily of course. But it’ll be great!" He said with eyes beaming with excitement. Huey couldn't help but giggle as he replied to his friend:

"I know, and I'm sure you will love it Fenton."

The Hispanic duck scratched the back of his neck and looked away, and then with a voice that had a touch of shame in it, he admitted:

"Surely! But it’s not because of the mansion itself, but because of the fact of finally leaving this hospital."

"I guess… you're right," replied Huey who had been caught off guard by that answer. Noticing his bewilderment, Fenton hurriedly raised his hands and clarified to the duckling:

"Hey, don't get me wrong, I don't mean to say that they treat you badly in a hospital. In fact, there is no better place for you to be well taken care of, it's just…"

Huey smiled at Fenton's unfinished sentence, he knew very well what the brown-plumaged duck was trying to say, so he finished the sentence for him:

"It isn’t a place to live,"

"Exactly!" Fenton exclaimed with a wide smile. Huey also smiled and added:

"I think the same."

"Yes, as do I," said a voice suddenly.

The two ducks turned around in surprise to see who had just spoken, and both exclaimed at the same time:

"Dr. Owlfang!"

The doctor was next to the fully open door. He took a step forward and after clearing his throat, said:

"The door was ajar and I took the liberty of entering,"

Huey's eyes widened in embarrassment. So he had heard them… what was he going to think of him now? With a slight hint of fear, the duckling dressed in red asked:

"Won’t… you be angry about what we were saying, right?"

Doctor Owlfang cocked his head, looking puzzled. He then smiled softly and approaching the older triplet knelt in front of him and said:

"How could I be angry about something like that? Especially because I share that opinion. People should live in their own homes, and a hospital isn’t a home,"

"Oh boy, what a relief!" Huey exclaimed before he could stop himself. As soon as he said that, he quickly covered his beak and looked at the doctor with wide eyes.

For his part, and completely taken aback, the owl asked:

"Relief?"

Slowly Huey removed his hands from his beak and looked down, then weakly, explained:

"I didn’t want to leave knowing that I had made you angry… especially after everything you’ve done for me,"

The owl gently put his hand under the duckling's chin and gently tilted his head up with the clear intention of making Huey look at him. When the older triplet finally made eye contact with him, all he saw in the doctor's eyes was reassurance and understanding. Then Dr. Owlfang said to the boy:

"Oh Huey, I could never be angry with you. I think I can affirm without fear of being wrong that you always think of others before yourself, how could I be angry with someone like you?"

Huey smiled widely and throwing himself into the doctor's arms, he said:

"I’ll miss you Dr. Owlfang.”

The owl returned the hug and said:

"And I’ll miss you too, Huey, although I hope to not see you around here for a long time."

Huey couldn't help but giggle at that comment. He also wanted it to take a long, long time to step back into a hospital, at least as a patient. Suddenly, the doctor seemed to remember something and added:

"You know? Before your uncles left the other day, we were talking, and they suggested an idea that I was unfamiliar with. Apparently, your Uncle Donald has a boat, doesn't he?"

"Yes, he does," Huey replied a little puzzled. Seeing his expression, the doctor continued with his explanation:

“Well, your uncle Scrooge thought that maybe, if you go straight back to the mansion, maybe it would be a bit too much, so it occurred to him that maybe you would prefer a smaller environment and at the same time more familiar to you, such as your uncle Donald’s boat."

The older triplet's eyes widened.

"Did Uncle Scrooge suggest that?" he asked. The doctor nodded and replied:

"Yes, although he said they left it up to you to decide. They said that you choose what you want. I’ve just let you know so you can go thinking about that… and the other thing I gave you,"

Huey looked at the doctor without knowing exactly what to answer. He knew what he meant by the 'other thing' but he didn't know if he would ever use it… he didn't want to lie to the doctor either, so he finally chose to answer:

"Yes… I'll think about it. Thank you, doctor, for everything."

"You’re very welcome, Huey. Take care." said the owl, waving goodbye to the boy.

Not long after, the two ducks were told that someone had arrived to pick them up and take them home.

The time had finally come to leave that place. With some nervousness, Huey left the room, fearing that, just like the last time, there would be a bunch of reporters who would mug him and ask a bunch of questions all at the same time. Fortunately, it seemed that the press had vacated the hospital, something the older triplet was deeply grateful for. How could his great-uncle endure these constant "attacks"? It was admirable. When he and Fenton reached the door, they found Launchpad waiting with the limo door open. It was as if they were practically at the mansion already.

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Huey had almost forgotten Launchpad's wild driving style. During their trip, the driver-pilot had hit a fire hydrant for the time being, twice. He spun like a top to avoid a hummingbird woman who was walking with her dog. He caused all the balloons of a peddler to be blown up… which was all relatively little damage for Launchpad McQuack. Although, on the other hand, there was still a while to travel before reaching the mansion. Swaying from one side of the vehicle to the other, the red-clad duckling (yes, he had finally been able to put on his usual red polo shirt, and was truly happy about it) was surprised when suddenly Launchpad spoke up saying:

"I'm glad you're finally okay Huey.”

Huey froze at those words. He may have been physically fine, but… he was well aware that mentally he was notwell. For that reason, he awkwardly replied to McQuack:

"Yes… I'm happy too.”

Completely unaware of Huey's discomfort, Launchpad spoke again saying:

"You know? Everyone in the mansion was very depressed since you disappeared,"

"Really?" Huey asked, eyes wide in surprise at the news. Launchpad looked at him in the rearview mirror and replied:

“Oh yeah, of course Mr. McDee was very grumpy pretty much all the time with everyone except his family. Your Uncle Donald looked like, what did the kids call him? Oh yeah! A zombie. And my great friend Dewey, Louie and also Webby were very depressed. I think the only one who acted or tried to act normally was Mrs. B. But I think she did so in an attempt to encourage others, since, in my experience, she also suffered. And let's not forget about me. It wasn’t the same to fly them from one place to another alone without you being there. I felt like… an emptiness in my heart. In short, we've all missed you,"

Huey had listened carefully to all that explanation. In fact, he knew little about how his family had coped, so the explanation – although summarized from Launchpad – was like a beacon of light to Huey that helped him understand a little better. In a slightly embarrassed voice, the duckling said:

"I… didn't know about that…"

Fenton put a hand on his shoulder and responded by saying:

"It's normal, Huey. If you were kidnapped and held against your will, how would you know?"

"Fenton is right," Launchpad added. Then Fenton smiled proudly and pointing to himself, said cheerfully:

"Of course, I am,"

Huey chuckled lightly at the current Hispanic duck pose. But the moment of joy was abruptly cut off by Launchpad's following yell:

"Take the brakes!"

Needless to say, the warning came slightly late and Huey had no time to prepare for McQuack's hard braking. In fact, if it hadn't been for the seat belt, Huey would probably have gone through the windshield.

As they recovered from the braking, Launchpad looked at both ducks and said cheerfully:

"Well, we have arrived. Welcome home, Huey."

"Thanks Launchpad," Huey replied, slightly breathless. He knew the older duck hadn't done that on purpose, it was just his unorthodox way of driving. With Fenton and Launchapd’s help, they unloaded the luggage from the limo. While McQuack parked, Fenton and Huey climbed the stairs to the mansion entrance. Once in front of the door, they stopped. Huey could feel his heart racing, it had been… a month since he had set foot in the mansion. Was it possible that something had changed in his time away?

"Nervous?" Fenton asked him suddenly. Huey looked at him and replied:

"A little," was actually terrified.

The Hispanic duck cocked his head with a sympathetic look and then asked:

"Do you want to take my hand like that day in the hospital?"

Huey shook his head and replied:

"No, I… I want to do this myself,"

"Okay, I'll stay by your side then," said the brown-plumaged duck with a shrug. The older triplet looked at him gratefully and said:

"Thanks Fenton."

The red-clad duckling took a deep breath and approaching the door, rang the bell. The response was almost instantaneous. The door opened revealing Mrs. Beakley behind it, who with a wide smile said:

"Hello Huey. Welcome. We were waiting for you,"

Then she opened the door wide and stepped away, letting the boy see what was on the other side. There, in the middle of the Hall were all his family and friends, all together, radiating with joy… even Gyro. There was also a huge banner that read: "WELCOME HOME HUEY." The duckling also saw several tables with food and drink, all together seemed…

"Have you organized a welcome party?" he asked excitedly.

Dewey stepped forward and answered his question by saying:

“Yes! At first we thought about hiding and shouting: Surprise! When you came in… but we thought it best not to scare you, so we did something simpler."

Huey looked at them all with a huge smile. He could feel tears forming in his eyes, but unlike the countless times before, this time those tears were tears of joy. In a completely excited voice, the older triplet said to everyone:

"I really appreciate it!"

After these words, the party began. Everyone ate and drank together. Launchpad joined them after he had parked the limo. Everyone enjoyed it and had fun, and thanks to the fact that his friends were mixed in with his family, Huey didn’t feel so uncomfortable upon his arrival home.

So, it happened all afternoon, when the party ended, they told Huey he could choose between going back to his room, with his brothers or that, if he still didn’t feel ready for it, they had enabled a room with two beds for him to sleep there with Fenton as he had done so far at the hospital. Or – as Dr. Owlfang had told him – he could temporarily occupy the houseboat. His Uncle Donald said he didn't mind at all moving into one of the rooms in the mansion. They also made it very clear to him they would conform to whatever he chose.

Huey found himself in a controversy. He really wanted everything to be as before, to sleep with his brothers again, but he still didn’t feel ready to sleep with them, no, still… he could see everything that Graves had done to him as if it had been them who would have done it. And while he was ashamed to admit it, he was… afraid of being alone with Dewey and Louie. The older triplet looked at his brothers, and with all the regret of his heart, told them all that for the moment he preferred to sleep with Fenton on the houseboat.

After those words, they decided then that that moment was a good time for Huey to go rest, even if he had left the hospital – he still needed rest, especially after such an exciting celebration. The older triplet had no objection to that, and meekly allowed himself to be taken to his new room. He got ready and went to bed. Fenton was by his side the whole time. Little by little the triplet was falling asleep, he was about to embrace Morpheus' dream when a door opening, a light that hit him directly in the face and a voice brought him back to wakefulness.

"Fenton? Your mother is here and wants to talk to all of us. We’re in the living room."

Huey noticed movement behind him and soon the voice of the Hispanic duck sounded when he replied:

"Okay, I think Huey's already asleep, so I'll come right away."

Fenton soon left the room and as soon as he left, Huey got out of bed. If Fenton's mother who is a cop was there to talk to them, it was probably to tell them something about her police investigation. Huey – though fearful – also wanted to know what the police had discovered.

Cautiously, the duckling entered the mansion again and stood outside the living room, hoping that no one would see him there, spying on the meeting. Suddenly, Officer Cabrera's voice reached his ears:

“After interrogating both Graves and Beaks, the parrot by showing him the evidence immediately spoke up, confessing and confirming all the evidence against him. La verdad… he even seemed proud and satisfied with what he had done,"

Proud? Beaks… was he satisfied with what he had done? No… it couldn't be true… he had cared for his well-being, right? Huey felt his hands begin to shake. He couldn’t believe it. Apparently, someone else shouldn’t believe it, as he asked:

"Really?" that had been Louie.

Huey heard Fenton's mother sigh, and then she replied:

"Yes, he was proud of everything he had done. How Huey had ended up in the state he was because of his 'plan'"

Plan? Had it all been Beaks’ plan? It couldn't be true! Beaks couldn't have been acting all this time… could he? The truth ... Huey no longer knew what to think-

"That Beaks has a sick mind," said Uncle Scrooge in a clearly angry voice. Right after him, Fenton spoke in a voice that sounded… pained, and asked:

"Was he really showing no regret?"

Officer Cabrera sighed again and then she replied:

“No, not even an iota. He just smiled as he spoke and talked about how he had planned it all… el secuestro… the brainwashing of Huey if refused to sign the contract and how he intended to make the boy depend on him no matter how extreme he had to go."

What?! Did Beaks tell the police all this? So… now they knew about the contract too… to tell the truth, regarding the contract… Huey felt embarrassed about it. He… had been about to surrender and sign it, all for the promise that it would end his suffering.

And now this. Everything Beaks had done for him… everything he'd suffered… had been part of that parrot's deranged plan, and he had come to believe the words of the CEO. How could he have been so stupid?

The older triplet squeezed his eyes shut and felt his body shake wildly. Now he felt much more ashamed than before. He felt despicable for falling into a trap like that.

"I can't believe it, that Beaks is a monster," Dewey said showing his natural attitude and way of being.

Huey's eyes snapped open when he heard Webby suddenly ask:

"And what about Graves?"

The question seemed to have taken her by surprise, as it took the officer a few seconds to answer the question posed by the young Vanderquack.

"The truth is, it has been more difficult to get Graves to speak, although he has finally confesó he acted following Beaks' orders because he knew that, if he didn’t do so, the parrot had the means to get only him to be blamed."

"Is that to say that Graves' acts were under duress?" that was Beakley's voice. Huey felt his breathing quicken, if Graves treated him the way he did… was it all on Beaks' orders? But the hawk really seemed to enjoy-

"I think up to a punto," Fenton's mother said, interrupting the red-clad duckling's train of thought. Quickly interested in what Officer Cabrera Huey had just said, he listened carefully to whatever was going to be said next.

"Until a certain point?" Louie asked in a shaky voice. Huey couldn't help but feel bad for his brother. He knew how sensitive his little brother was, even though the triplet dressed in green knew how to hide it very well. Officer Cabrera then responded:

"Yes, from the security camera recordings, él parecía… to enjoy what he was doing,"

I knew it! Graves did what he did not just because he followed orders, but because he wanted to.

Huey continued to listen as his Uncle Donald who spoke next:

“So that means you already have confessions from both of them, right? Does that mean they will go to jail soon?"

Huey couldn't see it, though he guessed Officer Cabrera had nodded before replying:

"Our investigations are practically over. We have more than enough evidence to convict them. It's just…"

"What's wrong mamá?" Fenton asked a little puzzled. Huey heard a slight sigh and then the policewoman replied:

"I'm not asking you to do it ahora, especially after everything that happened to him, but it would be good if once he felt ready for it, that boy came to testify and tell us everything that happened."

Huey involuntarily stepped back. Did they want him to testify? No… he couldn't… the boy thought that maybe it was time to retreat before someone noticed he had been eavesdropping. He quietly left and returned to the houseboat and once there he lay down, it made him a little uncomfortable being alone in the room, but technically everyone believed he had been sleeping all that time, so to continue making them believe it, he had to hold on until Fenton return.

Huey rolled onto his side and looked over at the empty bed the Hispanic duck would occupy when he returned. All the older triplet could think about now was how naive and stupid he had been for allowing himself to be manipulated as he had by Beaks and how scared he was if he had to tell someone about everything he had experienced during his time as prisoner.

The CEO of Waddle had been playing with his mind all that time and the duckling—like a complete inept—had let the gray parrot do what he wanted with him. The older triplet was feeling very embarrassed for not having believed a fact as clear as that, even when everyone was telling him it was so.

Although it was still difficult for him to accept that, Huey tried to convince himself of one thing: Beaks had deceived him and as much as he wanted to know how he was, he could not trust the gray parrot.

Never.

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Welp, so… as you could see, Huey isn’t ready to come back to his old life, but his family is there supporting him in his decisions. I particularly liked Launchpad in this chapter, being himself he probably helped Huey more than he can imagine. Also, Scrooge – even being totally against parties – agreed on make a welcome party for Huey, I’m sure the duckling appreciated it a lot.

And, as you could see, Huey discovered important things from Fenton’s mom but in a not really orthodox way. Do you think it’s a good thing Huey has learned those things?

Okay, after say that, I really hope you all enjoyed this chapter, I also would like to thank to all the people who’d read this story, the ones who commented, those who reblogged it and: @mysteriouswriter72 @elianemariane17 @araminakilla20 @hakuneki07 @i-cant-find-any-creative-name @gizmovi @some-dum-wizard-bitch @infamousquack @margaretnobbs @alphatheplant @sugerheart @squackcrowquack @nsbfenro @marshmeadow12 @ohgeeeznotagain @constellations1 @isabellanajera @you-big-palooka @deathcat003 @dragonsareawesome123 @via15 @wellshit333 @ninjawarrior100 @your-salty-dorito @rowan-npg @thesuperepicawesomefireninja @duckworth-is-love @worldsbesteagle @shaz231 @cherriesandpoison @softlemonboi @rosebu-uds @mulaneysnl @ihavenonamehalp @drummergirl231 @narnour-momo-007 @via15 @trash-queen-fahey @gamerfansims389 @lesbianz4glomgoldje @jessie-00 @maclove54north @northofanvi @maditheanimaniacuwu @gabrielpainterfest-blog @Variousfandompage @whiteeyesandtina @official-toebeans @r6sedust @gabrielpainterfest @obsessionhell @werdna213 @chydesa-star @a-stupid-girl @fudgecantlife @elipaghy04 @whisperwillyou @fnafgirl30 @exceeeed-charger2020

And if I’ve forgot someone, I’m sorry

See you in the next chapter 😉

#ducktales 2017 #war for genius #Huey Duck #Fenton Crackshell Cabrera #oc dr. Owlfang #scrooge mcduck #donald duck #Dewey Duck #Louie Duck #Webby Vanderquack #bentina beakley #duckworth #launchpad mcquack #Gyro Gearloose #Officer Gloria Cabrera #Mark Beaks mentioned #falcon graves mentioned

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randomguywithwords · 5 years ago

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As The Dust Settles: Chapter 10 (Dabi x Geten Slowburn)

Previous Chapters: 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

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Dabi spent his Friday evening slouched over the counter, occasionally sipping from his whiskey. The bar was quite empty for a Friday night, with only a few customers scattered around the chairs and stools.

“Hey,” Dabi called. The bartender, a man who looked to be in his mid-thirties, looked at him.

“What else can I get for you, sir?” He asked politely.

“Is this place usually this empty at this time?” Dabi swept an arm around as a gesture.

The bartender chuckled. “If anything, I gained more customers, probably thanks to you lot. You’re part of the League, right?”

“Were, I suppose,” Dabi said boredly, but straightening up to rest his head on his palm. “Why?”

“You guys defeating the army depressed the hell out of some of ‘em. Usually their doctrine frowns upon drinking – something about wasting their days when they could be practicing, but after their commander was overthrown, I saw a big turnout that night. Largest I’ve ever had.”

“You keep saying them…” Dabi frowned, recalling something Hanabata had said. “Are you the 10% of people in Deika who aren’t part of the army?”

“Damn right. I’ve no intention of joining their crazy mission.” The bartender looked at a customer at one of the tables, nodded, and started to prepare a drink. “Only thing that sucks is getting caught in the crossfire.”

“Ah.” Dabi took another sip. “You look alright for a guy whose city was nearly destroyed.”

The bartender waved his hand dismissively, the other placing the finished drink on the counter for collection. “I ain’t talking about what Shigaraki did. I like the guy. He taught these delusional people a lesson. My problem…” He leaned in slightly closer, lowering his voice. “Is with the army themselves.”

“Really? I thought you would hate me and the League,” Dabi said.

“I got no issue with you folks. But I hate the soldiers. Especially the ice-man. Apocrypha, or whatever his name is.”

“Huh.” Was Dabi’s response, though his mind was whirling. He didn’t need that girl on his mind, though he was curious enough to ask, “What’s wrong with him?”

“He’s merciless, cruel. I don’t know if you saw, but during the fight, I heard from some of these guys here, he took out so many of his guys just to get rid of the army of clones from Bubaigawara Jin.”

“Right…” Dabi’s mind flashed back to that glacier that sent entire houses into the air, along with the blood of both Twice’s clones and the Liberation Army. He was both disgusted and awed by the audacity of that move. Now, he felt more disturbed than anything. “Yeah, I was there. You were safe?”

“Yeah, my house was on the other side of the city. I didn’t go out that day when I saw all the soldiers marching towards the centre. Wherever the army gathers, it’s good to not go there,” The bartender said. He paused, and then added grimly, “Some of my friends didn’t heed that advice.”

“Oh.” Dabi swallowed. The statement sounded like a backhand threat or a lash of anger, but looking at the man’s face, he strangely did not detect any sign of hatred.

“Honestly, they got what they deserved.” He gave a smile, pouring two glasses of whiskey and passing one to Dabi. “It’s on the house. I haven’t had a good talk in a long time.”

“Cheers.” Dabi grinned. The glasses clinked, and the two took a good gulp of the burning liquor.

“Is it dangerous here?” Dabi said as he set down his glass on the countertop.

“Pah, not really. Until last week, the army hadn’t really done anything, only train over and over again. At least, that’s what I could see. Maybe underground, they’ve been up to something, but I’ll be honest – I doubt they ever had plans to expand.”

“Yeah,” Dabi said non-committedly, thinking about the plans Shigaraki had laid out, taken from Re-destro’s strategies.

“And honestly, I couldn’t leave even if I wanted to. They wouldn’t let me.” The bartender grimaced, taking another gulp. “Not that it’s illegal, but the leaders – those guys in that tower, they make it sound illegal, so everyone knows it’s illegal. You get what I mean?”

Dabi nodded slowly. He had to admit, the way Re-destro and his lieutenants kept Deika city controlled was impressive: Not with an iron fist, but soft, persuasive whispers. Noting that this man here was likely subjugated by them in all by thought, he asked a question.

The question was probably influenced by the thoughts in his head, and the alcohol. “About that gi – guy, Apocrypha, what’s he like?”

The bartender’s expression tightened, and Dabi wondered if he’d touched on something personal – Apocrypha had apparently killed his friends, though he hadn’t seemed very affected by it.

“Whoever that man is under that hood, he’s a monster. I’ve grown up here my whole life, and I’ve never seen a soldier so addicted to the cause. Now, I’m no soldier, but even I understand the camaraderie that soldiers should share. Apocrypha has no feelings. He kills people to achieve his goals…” The bartender leaned in closer, till Dabi could smell the whiskey on his breath. “And I’m not talking about what happened last week, but what he’s been doing since he joined.”

“What d’you mean?” Dabi asked, a sense of foreboding sending a chill down his spine, while his stomach bubbled with curiosity and trepidation.

“Hey, Dabi!” A cheerful voice made him and the bartender look at the man who had just entered. The crimson wings made it obvious.

“Hey, Hawks.” Dabi waved. The hero walked up to them.

“You want anything, Hawks?” The bartender asked.

“I’m good, thanks man.” Hawks replied, eliciting a nod from him. While the bartender busied himself with washing some glasses, Dabi turned around on his stool to face Hawks.

“What’s up?” Dabi said.

“Some people are looking for you.” Hawks glanced around, noting the few other customers within earshot. He gestured towards the exit.

Sighing, Dabi gulped down the last of his drink, thanked the bartender and left with Hawks.

–––––––

A few hours ago...

Shigaraki knocked aside Dabi’s raised arm with a backhand. “I let you go your own way because I don’t believe in ordering you guys around, but now that I’m leading more than a small group, I’m changing my style. You’re settling things with Apocrypha, got it?”

The two stared at each other with cold fury for a second, before Dabi spat, “Fine.” and spun on his heel to exit the room.

Shigaraki watched Dabi leave the council room. Once the door was shut, he sat down on his chair and tapped his earpiece. “Still there, Ujiko?”

“You actually sounded convincing,” The doctor’s voice came in reply. “Not the Dabi-Apocrypha thing. The plan you gave them. I almost believed it myself.”

“Good, it’ll throw them off the scent for a while. I trust you’ve kept up your end of the deal?” Shigaraki said.

“Yes. Come. I’ll show you everything.” At this, Shigaraki felt the build-up of that muck in his mouth. He’d experienced it so many times he no longer gagged or retched.

The mossy-green ooze expanded and enveloped him. He lost vision temporarily as the nauseating feeling churned for a second before disappearing. He blinked, finding himself in Ujiko’s lab. The doctor himself stood before him. No chair, nothing shrouding him from sight, just him standing with his lab coat and silver glasses.

“Tomura Shigaraki, Kyudai Garaki. It’s a pleasure to work with you.” He gave a nod of respect. “You and All For One are the only two that know my true name. I trust that you’ll keep it that way.”

–––––

Plot stuff, getting a bit dry I know, especially if you’re here for Dabiten. You might not like next chapter if that’s the case, but it’ll hopefully set up the premise much better so you get a general idea of how the plot is going. And yeah, I’m aware that 10 chapters in is a horrible time to establish even more premise to the story. My excuse of first draft isn’t exactly great. So uh, fault taken.

Flow-wise, I actually don’t really like this jumping back chronologically. I think in an edited version, the 2nd scene in this chapter would be the chapter 7/8, so right after the meeting (c7) goes into this Shigaraki POV. So yeah, reading it might be a bit dissatisfactory in terms of pacing, but bear with this first draft for now. I’ll change it when it’s time.

Also, I’m happy to say that I finally planned out Dabi’s backstory, so now the issue is writing it out in a way that doesn’t break this flow. I used to do flashbacks as an independent scene with line breaks at both ends, but I personally feel that it’s lazy writing now. If I can’t think of any decent way to transition into Dabi’s past, then I might go back to what I mentioned.

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a-singleboat · 5 years ago

Text

Accidents Mark a Soul

Word Count: 3041

Request: Can you please do a Joven x reader soulmate au - anon

A/N: I would like u all to know that my wonderful betas pulled some grade A editing on this for yall so give them some love, their acc will be tagged at the end!

Waking up with a burning chest and other parts was not how you wanted to start your day. It felt like you had been newly waxed and you fought the urge to write on your skin to make sure your soulmate was okay. You had settled long ago that you wouldn’t reach out to them unless your life depended on it. The amount of pain they had caused you already was an as good sign if any to keep your distance.

Your friends had theorized that your soulmate was apart of the army or whatever but you knew it couldn’t be. The injuries had never been too severe, mainly blunt force from being hit with blunt objects. You watched as letters formed on your arms, spelling out, “Hey, sorry for that. I just got my chest waxed for a punishment video.”

Excuses almost always came like that, which is also how you knew he wasn’t in the army. The excuse was always video-based and you got tired of the constant repetition.

You walked to the sink and scrubbed at the words until they faded to nothing. The ink swirled down the drain as you pat your arm dry. It was time for you to get ready for work, having been offered a job as a video editor for a company that labeled itself as, “Mythical.”

After doing some research on them, you came to the decision that you’d stay with them through the year-long contract but you’d search for something better the entire time you worked with them. You liked the company but you didn’t know if this was something you’d be willing to do forever.

You took the bus that morning, seeing as your car was still in the shop after a hit and run busted your trunk door. You thanked whatever deity was up there that the damage hadn’t been too extensive. Having a totaled car was the last thing you needed after the unfortunate string of bad luck you had been having.

When you had arrived at the building, you stood in front of it for a solid five minutes digging around in your bag for the temporary keycard you had been given to actually get past security in the building’s lobby. You rolled your eyes as you realized it was left hanging on your wall hooks along with your car keys, which you hadn’t grabbed due to the unfortunate event.

“Do you work here?” A man approached you from behind and your hand curled around the pepper spray you had in your bag. You internally screamed. How had you remembered to pack pepper spray and not your keycard?

You stood up straight and zipped up your bag, flashing a smile at the man. He was tall with brown hair, the fringe dyed blue, but he looked like he wouldn’t hurt a fly. “Yeah, I work here,” you smiled at him. “I was hired last week as an editor at Mythical.”

A look of realization flashed across his face, “Yeah, you’re actually working with us. We needed another editor after our last left and so we put out an ad through Mythical. I’m Damien, by the way.”

You introduced yourself and walked into the building with him, becoming more and more confused as he continued to talk. The two of you breezed by security, making a beeline for the elevator.

“Sorry, can we backtrack? Who is, ‘We’?”

“Were you never told who you were working with?”

“No, just that I got a job as an editor for a YouTube brand under Mythical,” you played with the straps on your bag.

“Oh,” he stepped aside to let people out of the elevator before stepping in. “Well, we are called Smosh and you’ll be working with a specific branch of Smosh called Smosh Games. You’ll essentially be taking footage from the board games we do and edit those. Eventually, if you work here longer than a year, you’ll start working on the video game videos and maybe you’ll get the chance to appear in some videos for extra pay.”

“Oh, well I’m not really planning on staying here for longer than a year,” you said awkwardly. “This job was an interim job for me, I used to work for another media company that went under last year.”

“Did you work for Altos?”

“Yeah, my friend had her YouTube channel under them but then they went under so she’s been shoddily trying to get her team back together. I’m editing a few things but it wouldn’t be enough to get by.”

The elevator door opened in front of you, signifying the end of the conversation.

“I’ll show you to the editor’s room and let Ian know you’re here,” Damien left the elevator first with you quick to follow.

You walked behind him, taking in the open space and the office desks laid out in a casual manner. There were office and meeting rooms that branched off from the middle and another open area that looked like a kitchen space within the office. Damien took a left and a right before ending up in front of a room decked with technology up to the ceiling.

“This is where the editors work and where we keep some of our recording cameras while we clean out the closet we usually store them in.”

“It looks nice,” you observed, looking around the room through the glass door. “Is anyone here right now?”

He looked around, “No, I think most are out for lunch but that desk over there is yours. It’s the old editor’s space but it’s all yours now!”

You thanked him and went into the room by yourself. You sat at the desk that he had pointed out to you and started to mess around on the computer. You soon found out that you needed a login to get into the computer and gave up on trying to get in without a password.

Pulling out your own laptop, you started to work on the two hours of footage your friend had sent you. Since her parent company got shut down, she’s been trying to rebuild her team on her own. As her previous editor, you told her that you’d help when you can, or at least until she could find full-time editor. It also helped that her mother was filthy rich and she wouldn’t have had any problems otherwise.

This was the last video you were going to edit for her, getting a hefty paycheck that would go towards a month of rent and two months of groceries. After that, she would have to look for a permanent editor that she could keep on payroll herself.

You were ripped from your daydream by a sharp pain on the back of your left arm. You pulled up your sleeve and watched as your skin separated from itself and fresh blood pearled on the surface of your skin. You rolled your eyes before pulling your bag up onto your lap to look for the bandaids you brought around with you in case your soulmate got hurt during the day.

You heard the door open behind you and you spun around with your arm in the air and a bandaid in your mouth. You waved at the man who had entered with your free hand before taking the bandaid from your mouth and opening it.

You reached out with your right hand and shook it, “Hi, I’m Y/n Y/l/n.”

He shook it, introducing himself as Ian Hecox. “What’s up with your arm?”

You half-rolled your eyes, pulling your sleeve back over your arm. “My soulmate cut themselves, today has just been full of pain.”

He nodded in understanding, “Yeah, my soulmate used to get hurt all the time.”

You took note of his use of the past tense and decided to move on from that. “So I’m here for a year, what’s the gist of what I’ll be doing with you guys?”

“You’ll be introduced to the rest of the editing team as they trickle in, but you actually joined in the middle of Smosh Summer Games. Or at least, you joined in the middle of releasing all the videos from that filming period.”

“So what are the videos I’ll be editing for this period?”

“We have some Maricraft episodes where Mari, Courtney, Damien, and Shayne play Minecraft along to a sort of storyline, but you won’t be editing those. We’ll have you just take note of the editing style for them,” he explained, shifting his weight. “We’ll have you work on editing the Spelling Bee-Kini Wax video as that was what the old editor was supposed to take care of.”

You were about to ask about the spelling bee-kini wax when three people walked into the room.

“Perfect timing!” Ian clapped once. “Y/n, these are a few of our editors. Spencer, Mike, and Kevin.”

You looked at where he pointed and gave them each a smile.

“They’ll help you out from here on out and hopefully they’ll convince you to stay for longer than a year!”

You gave him a thumbs up and watched as he disappeared out the door.

“Let’s get you started with a log-in, yeah?” Kevin waved you over to your computer. “So you should already be in the system so it should be the first letter of your first name and four letters of your last name. The current password should be SMOSH:NEWEDITOR, no spaces, all caps, and it’ll tell you to change it when you log in.”

You typed out the username and password, sitting back to wait while the computer-processed everything. “So what’s the rest of the schedule today?”

“I’ll probably have you go down with Spencer to sit in the editors cave while a video is filmed so you can see what it’s like, I’m pretty sure a Smosh Games video is being filmed at this moment with Joven, Shayne, Damien, Lasercorn, Wes, Courtney, and Mari.”

You blinked, not sure of who the people listed were. Kevin took note of your confused look and laughed a little bit, “I know the names are off-putting but Spencer will introduce you when you get down there.”

“Okay,” you grabbed a notebook from your bag and followed Spencer out of the room.

“So, what’s this video for?”

“I’m not completely sure, I know that we’re just trying to get some content with Joven and Wes in before they leave for a bit,” Spencer fiddled with the pen in his hand.

“You’ll tell me who’s who when we get in there, right?” you nervously ran your finger over the exposed pages of your notebook, the feeling of the rifling papers calming you ever-so-slightly.

“Of course,” he reassured you. “I wouldn’t let you walk in blind.”

When you got to the set doors, you didn’t have much time to take in what the set actually looked like before you felt a sharp pain on your back. You stood frozen for a little bit under a full minute, taking in the pain that you had to endure. Spencer noticed you had stopped walking and turned back to ask what was wrong.

“I think my soulmate just got slapped on the back like really hard,” you were trying to roll out the pain by moving your shoulders back and around. “I bet I have a handprint mark on my back now.”

You knew you were coming off of bitter and resentful, but you couldn’t help it. So far that day, your soulmate had gotten waxed in two very sensitive areas, stabbed themselves in a very visible area, and gotten slapped by what seemed to be a giant not even two seconds ago.

“It’s whatever, I’ve survived with this soulmate for this long. It’s not as bad as a lot of other people have it,” you shook off the pain and followed Spencer into what was known on set as the Editor’s Den.

He introduced you to the video’s director, Matt Raub, who Spencer also mentioned was the acting Vice President of Smosh. He introduced you to the camera crew, though you barely managed to concentrate on the names that flew by as your soulmate managed to stub their toe.

Now that you thought about, there was a thought that the pain that your soulmate feels gets stronger the closer in proximity that you both get. If it was any consolation, the amount of pain you were feeling meant your soulmate was within slapping distance.

That was the soulmate loophole, you didn’t feel any pain you caused to your soulmate. Which meant you could slap whoever your soulmate was without feeling anything.

“Spencer, I might have to kill my soulmate,” you rubbed your temples to ward off the headache you felt coming. It’s a good thing was that if you got a migraine, your soulmate would feel it too. “How is it humanly possible for someone to get hurt this many times in such a short amount of time?”

“I don’t know, but the cast has arrived!”

He introduced you to the cast members but you focused in on the bandaid the man called, “Joven,” had on his left arm in the same spot you had yours in.

You smiled and introduced yourself, careful not to reveal anything to the person that could possibly be your soulmate. If you had finally found him after thirty years of pain and he was definitely within slapping distance, you could wait another hour or so more to confront him about it.

You sat in the corner with Spencer, taking notes along with him. During the filming break, he went over things that you should look out for while watching the filming. You turned the page and pull your hand back in shock at the sudden pain from the paper.

“Do you have a bandaid, Spencer? I left all mine back in the room,” you were tempted to suck on your cut but you knew it would most likely end up in an infection.

“No, but Joven usually keeps bandaids on him. He’s really accident-prone,” Spencer answered, not even looking up from his notes.

You looked around the room in search of Joven, or otherwise known as your supposed soulmate, and saw him standing by a chair near the back of the room. He was tending to the small papercut on his own hand that you had caused.

“Hey,” you greeted him. “Spencer said you had bandaids? I usually have some in my bag but I left it back in the editing room.”

“Yeah,” he replied without looking up. He passed you a small bandaid, you didn’t know if it was a coincidence or if he didn’t have any regular sized bandaids. He finally looked up at you and then down at where you were applying the adhesive strip.

“Hey, did you just do that to yourself?” he asked, looking the slightest bit confused.

“I did,” you replied. “Gave myself a papercut on my editing notebook.”

He pointed at and poked the bandaid on the back of your left arm. “What about that?”

You recoiled slightly, falling back into yourself. “No, my soulmate cut themselves earlier.”

This was the moment of truth, if he was your soulmate then he would use this to reveal him as so. You watched as he rolled up his left sleeve, a bandaid in a similar spot.

“No way,” he said in astonishment. “Wait, let me grab a marker.”

You grinned in amusement as he sauntered across the room in search of a marker. When he had found one, he raised it triumphantly above his head and made his way back over to you.

He uncapped the pink marker and asked you to hold out your left arm. “What should I write?”

You shrugged, “Just write your name or something.”

You watched as he wrote his name, Joshua, on his own arm and the both of you watched as the ink also appeared on your arm as well.

“You’re my soulmate?” he questioned. You were confused, you thought this moment was supposed to be the climax of your life, the moment you’d been waiting for so long.

“I am,” you were taken aback. This was the opposite of whatever reaction you thought you would be getting. “Is something wrong?”

“It’s just,” he stammered. “How come you never responded to me? The messages I would send you would just disappear.”

“I did respond to you, I responded to you for fifteen years and then fifteen years later you told me you were getting married and so I said my congratulations,” you were angry at him. Not for getting married, no, being soulmates didn’t mean you had to be romantically involved with them. It just meant that your two souls were the ones that were infused together when the world had begun and they would find each other through every rebirth. Some people do end up together but in most cases, soulmates stayed as the closest friends and it was their bond that kept them close.

“I started washing the messages away for personal reasons,” you said. You were rethinking everything up to this point in your life. “Maybe we shouldn’t have even met, our link had turned before we even met.”

When a link between soulmates turned, it meant that the souls combining the two were weak. This usually happened with souls that were so old and reused that no connection is feasible, or if the two people were just incompatible. It seemed that was what this was turning out to be.

“Listen, we don’t know to keep up contact. I know I work here now, but it’s just for the year. You won’t ever have to talk to me,” you reasoned.

“No,” he shook his head. “I might be a little mad but I wouldn’t reject you as a soulmate.”

He opened his arms and engulfed you in a hug, “Our souls haven’t turned and they won’t for a long time. It’s good to know my soulmate isn’t a complete asshole though, and when you feel comfortable enough, I hope you can tell me the reasons why you had stopped responding.”

“Maybe, but we have forever to talk now.”

=================

these are my lovely betas!

@star-mum

@spookylegshayne

@my-name-i-we

@judastarkid

give them love!!!!! they worked hard to make sure the finished project was as amazing as any other work of mine has been, but y’know, better :)

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rmg91 · 5 years ago

Text

The Woes and Antics of Living Together-21

Edit: I've decided to spam you all with the last three chapters! Enjoy and I'll see you all at the end!

21 chapters, wow, just wow, I'm just...kind of in awe of myself cause I actually did something this long. Anyway, I don't know all what to say here except Hooo Boy are you all in for a ride! Our climax chapter has arrived and boy oh boy is a dozy! At least I hope it is as the second longest chapter in this fic XD

Anyway! Without further ado...I'll see you all at the end of the chapter!

Previous Chapter/Next Chapter; AO3/FF.net

@writerofberk-OUR CLIMAX CHAPTER HAS ARRIVED! And while I admit I might have rushed it a little, I feel I’m justified cause I just wanted to get to the Broppy already!!! Hope you enjoyed!

~*~*~*~*~*~

Poppy got a chance to talk to Creek two nights later, or rather she would have had he not kept changing the subject every time she brought it up. They were in Bergenville's museum tonight, a special display on royalty through the ages being featured, surrounded by gentle chatter. Poppy had a good appreciation for art but a museum, if she was being honest, wasn't really her idea of a 'date-night' location. It also really wasn't her ideal place for this conversation but she was at least trying to tell him she wanted to talk about something serious. She was seconds away from dragging him to some place they could talk when he wrapped his arm around her and guided her over to look at another piece.

“Exquisite, isn't it?” He said, gesturing to the beautiful gold crown adorn with rubies in the case they stood in front of.

“Yes.” Poppy looked up at him, “Look, Creek, I-”

“You would look stunning in a crown, Love.” He wasn't even looking at her as he said that, just the jewelry on display.

“Creek.” She stressed, actually starting to feel just a little annoyed with him, “I really, really want to talk to you about something serious.”

He sighed, looking forlorn before turning his gaze to meet hers, “Yes, I can tell. You haven't been subtle.” It was honestly just a little annoying, he was trying to enjoy what little time he had left to toy with her feelings before breaking up with her. She could be so frustratingly stubborn when she wanted to be, especially if it was about some asinine party, “I just thought we could enjoy the rest of the exhibit before talking 'seriously'. This is a date after all.”

“I...” Poppy knew she had to firm about this, Smidge made her Cupcake Promise she would, but she supposed if this would possibly be the last date with Creek, for a while hopefully, then she could at least give him that much, “I guess so...”

“You guessed right~ Boop!” He tapped his finger against her nose lightly, “Now, how about we enjoy the rest of our date, hmm?”

Poppy nodded, though she really wasn't feeling all that into it. She had been hoping he would see how important this was to her, he was usually so good at seeing her feelings, but she supposed she could wait until the drive back to her apartment to talk. The thought of possibly breaking up with him still made her stomach clench, she hated hurting people's feelings especially Creek's, but it didn't clench as much as when he leaned down and kissed her. Plus she had promised Suki and Smidge she would voice how uncomfortable she got because it was important she communicated with him. And, she had to remind herself, this could all be for nothing! They could talk and work this out and then everything would be fine! Yes, everything could be amazing again and they would have the romance Poppy had been dreaming of.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Poppy sighed dejectedly as she leaned against the door, closing it. She let her head fall backwards and rest on the wood as she thought about the mistake she'd made. She hadn't gotten a chance to talk to Creek after all and now she was regretting not being a little more direct with him. And she hardly ever regretted anything! He had gotten a call from his upstairs neighbor saying they had accidentally flooded their apartment. Poppy listened as they told Creek it would be a good idea to come home and make sure it hadn't leaked down into his place. Poppy had offered to come help, to even call the Snack Pack if the damage was bigger, but Creek had denied her. Almost harshly too before he sent her home in a cab. It hadn't been until she was on the way up that she got a call telling her things were mostly fine and they'd talk about what she wanted soon but he was tired and was going to bed. After a lackluster good night, the pinkette had stepped inside and slumped against the door. She hated feeling so out of sorts, she had always been so sure of her feelings and now…now she wasn't.

It wasn't until Branch's voice floated from around the corner did she snap out of it, "Everything okay?"

Taking a breath, she stepped around the corner to find her roommate at the table, text books spread out around him, "Yeah…" She smirked slightly as she rested her arms on the back of a dining chair, "Studying again, I see."

Branch rolled his eyes before standing up, "Well excuse me for caring about my grades. We all can't just get by on sugar and good luck. Besides midterms are coming up." He crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at her, "So…You sure you're okay?" He had to tread carefully here, as he really wanted to ask how her date had been, hearing how dejected she had sounded when she came in but he didn't want to risk upsetting her.

"Oh, yeah. Totally!" She grinned slightly before sighing, "Creek just…had to leave a little early cause he got a call from a neighbor saying there'd been a tiny emergency. So I had to come home by myself." She also hadn't gotten to talk to him about his odd, pressuring behavior but Branch didn't need to know that part. If she knew Branch, he'd get all protective about her and possibly call Creek to start a fight or something. She hung her purse on the chair she was hanging on before walking by, "But I'm all good, yup! Though I think I'm gonna go get ready for bed and play on my computer for a bit."

"Alright…" Something in his gut told Branch that wasn't all there was to it but he didn't know how to ask without it seeming like he was prying. He didn't want to start an argument with Poppy right now.

"…Hey, Branch?" Poppy paused, before shyly half turning toward him, "Can…can I have a hug?" She knew this could end with him saying no but she felt she really needed one right now and none of the Pack was here. And, if she was being honest, she wanted one from her best friend.

"Uh…" Branch was a little confused and caught off guard by her request, she'd never really asked before, "Sure?"

Suddenly she was wrapping her arms around his waist and tucking her head under his chin and Branch was taken slightly aback by how quickly she had come to him. He slowly and carefully wrapped his around her and he felt her heave a sigh of relief as she relaxed. Poppy hummed happily, face half buried in his shoulder, feeling better already wrapped in his warm embrace. Branch's hugs were still the best, they'd been her favorite to receive when they were kids, and she glad it felt the same, strong and comforting. This was exactly what she'd needed after her little hiccup tonight. Branch looked down at her with concern, wondering just what was going on with her lately as he subconsciously rubbed soothing circles on her back.

"Hey, Poppy?" He asked softly. He needed to be careful here.

"Hmm?" She hummed, making no move to pull away from him. Not yet at least.

"Are you…really okay?"

"Yeah…" She finally looked up at him, smile soft, "I just need a 'Hug Time' with my best friend."

Branch snorted at her old childhood term, "Whatever you say…"

"Really! I'm fine!" She chirped before snuggling her face back into his shoulder. They stayed like that for a moment, neither really wanting to move, before Poppy spoke up, "Hey, Branch?"

"What is it now?" He asked, sounding annoyed but lacking any real bite.

She giggled before lifting her face, "Wanna come study with the Pack and I tomorrow at the park? We're doing some pre-midterms prep and I…I'd really like you there." She felt a blush crawl over her cheeks and hope it was light enough to blend in with her make-up.

Branch groaned lightly, studying with all of them could be disastrous, "I don't know….Are you asking because you actually want me there or because I know the curriculum?"

"Um…both?" She grinned cheekily at him, "Come oooon, it'll be fun~" She did want him there, everyone together would be fun but she also need a little bit of help with the stuff she didn't quite remember and knew Branch would help her. "Please? I'll make you those super fudgy double chocolate brownies you like~"

He groaned again, only it sounded more dramatic than anything, and he mentally cursed Poppy and her knowledge that he had a tiny chocolate obsession, "Fine. But!" Here he pulled back enough to look her in the eye, "You've got to promise to actually pay attention to what I tell you. No whining."

She giggled as she pulled away and swung her arms around her back, "Deal~ Gonna go find those PJs now!" Then, without really thinking about it, she quickly kissed his cheek, before scurrying off to her room, leaving a shocked and blushing Branch in her wake.

~*~*~*~*~*~

The next day held a bright blue and sunny sky as Poppy happily skipped through the park, a picnic basket swinging from her arm and a bored looking Branch trailing behind her. Today was going to be a good day, she just knew it! She was gonna have fun with her friends, well as much as they could while studying, she was gonna enjoy the fresh air and sunshine while they sat outside and she was going to talk to Creek today! He had told her this morning he'd be joining them so she was going to take advantage of that and pull him away for that important conversation they needed to have. Yes, part of her was still worried and didn't want to in case it did ruin her day but she knew she had her other friends silently supporting her and she wasn't going to let anything stop her anymore! Plus, there was always a chance things would work out and everything would be wonderful between her and Creek afterwards.

Poppy was so determined that today was the day nothing would go wrong, she failed to notice a few of her friends already sitting under a tree until they called out to her. Blinking and then laughing, she skipped over and happily claimed a spot on the blanket laid out as Branch approached more casually. He took his backpack off his shoulder as he nodded to Biggie, Cooper and Suki. Poppy had already set aside the picnic basket and was rummaging around in her own backpack, tossing text books and other various supplies in a pile beside her before she happily greeted her friends.

“Hi, guys~!” She chirped, eyes crinkling with how large her smile was, “Where's everyone else?”

Suki leaned back against the tree, stretching her arms out, “Guy should be here any minute, said he wanted to stop and grab something first.”

“Smidge is actually here already,” Biggie chimed in, pointing to the pink and yellow duffle bag sitting nearby, “She just went for a quick run to get her pumped up for studying.”

Branch rolled his eyes, “Wouldn't that just make her tired and not want to study?”

“Surprisingly, no.” Poppy hummed, sorting her pile to find her glitter covered, teal notebook, “It actually does help her stay focused.”

“For a little while at least!” Cooper laughed.

“Hey!” That familiar deep voice shouted, “Are you talking about me?” Smidge came storming up, hands on her hips and a water bottle in her hand.

Poppy giggled, “Nothing bad. You know that. We love you, Smidge.”

The short woman then smirked and fell beside Cooper, “Damn right you all do!” She then sent a suspicious look Branch's way, “You're not gonna be a fun sucker today are you?”

“Haha,” Branch breathed, “Very funny. I'm here to help Poppy.”

“And eat the brownies I made!”

Branch glared at her and she merely giggled before flopping against him, laying her head on his shoulder, a move she did to everyone, as she addressed Smidge, “And Smidge, you know how helpful Branch is. Don't be mean.”

“Who said I'm being mean?” Smidge blinked before grinning, “I gotta give him a hard time.”

“No, you really don't.”

“Yes, yes she really does!” Poppy, Suki, Biggie and Cooper all chimed together before giggling.

Branch rolled his eyes again but let the subject drop as he shook Poppy off his shoulder and reached for his own text book and a notepad. Poppy engaged in conversation with the Pack members there and he simply let the sound of her voice wash over him as he flipped though his work. It really could be so soothing at times and having her sound as happy as she did today made him feel a little bit glad he had agreed to come along. She had been so odd lately that it was nice to see her acting normal again and he could see her friends thought so too. He was...slowly learning the Snack Pack wasn't all bad, just a little too extroverted for his taste, and still absolutely insane but not bad. They cared for Poppy a lot, which he knew of course, but seeing it was a little different, he guessed. Not that he was going to tell anyone any of that of course.

Branch was brought out of his thoughts when Guy came strutting up with Couture sisters, exclaiming how fabulous he was and that they could all be in awe. Rolling his eyes, Branch looked back to his notes as Poppy rushed over to hug her other friends before they all sat down. There was some talk about what their various tests would include and what they needed to study for, when said tests would be occurring during the week and some brief gossip on how some fellow students were once again going out after breaking up for fifth time. Cooper also asked Poppy if Gristle and Bridget would be joining them and when Creek would be around.

“Well I told Bridget she and Gristle were more than welcome to join us but she said she had to work today and that Gristle was already studying with some of his business buddies. Oh! That reminds me!” She turned to Branch, “She said she'd probably call or come over this week for some help with her Calculus again before her test.”

Branch nodded, eyes still skimming his work, “That's fine. Kind of figured she would, remind me to pick up some jasmine tea before that. She'll most likely get nervous about it, tends to be pretty bad before important tests, but having her favorite tea calms her down.”

“Got it~” Poppy sang, adding a note in her phone before addressing Cooper again, “As for Creek, he said he'd be able to join us this morning but he didn't say when he'd come....But I'm sure it'll be soon!” She hoped so anyway, she wanted to talk to him as soon as she could so all this uncertainty surrounding their relationship would be gone.

“Hey.” Branch's voice cut her thoughts as he tapped her text book, “Pay close attention to chapters thirteen and fourteen, there's some pretty important information in them.”

Poppy giggled, “Okay~”

The group settled then, most going over notes or re-reading material that they needed. They weren't necessarily quiet, the Snack Pack rarely ever was, but all conversation was hushed in a way that blended in with the ambient sounds of the park. Even the music Suki eventually played was soft enough not to bother but loud enough to enjoy and motivate. Branch felt himself almost relaxing, well as relaxed as he allowed himself to get anyway, but he had to remind himself to still be alert for when the person he couldn't stand showed up. And he thought that phony 'guru' would have by now. But as he glanced at Poppy, who had an adorable concentrated looked on her face, she didn't seemed too worried that he hadn't joined them yet.

An hour like this passed, Branch was amazed at the level on concentration the entire group had for something that wasn't singing, or parties, or anything other than school work, when Poppy loudly dropped her notebook to the side and stretched her arms high in the air, “Is it too early for lunch?”

“Yes.” Branch deadpanned as some of the other bobbed their heads in agreement.

“Yeah, Pops', let's give it another hour before we have lunch.” Suki said with a smile before turning back to her Japanese text.

Poppy pouted slightly, shoulders slumping, “Aww, but I want a snack.”

“How can you be hungry?” Branch shook his head, “It's been an hour since we started.”

“Hey! Reading and trying to remember information takes a lot out of a girl!”

“I could go for a snack!” Cooper suddenly spoke up, voice cheerful, “I haven't anything since that pancake on a stick this morning.”

Chenille hummed, “And I suppose a snack doesn't sound too bad. Maybe a fruit bar?”

“Ooooh~!” Poppy cooed, “Yes!” She knew there was an ice cream stand not too far where they could get one. She stood up and grabbed Branch by the arm, hauling him up too, “Come on, Branch! You can come with me!”

“What? Why?!”

“Cause I'll need help carrying all those treats with me, duh.” She looked back at the Pack, having a good idea their answers to her next question, “Anyone else want a fruit bar?”

There was a resounded cheer of 'Yes', 'Yes, please' and 'I want cherry!' from them all, Cooper wanting cherry, that had her giggling as she pulled Branch away and toward the path. He grumbled and snatched his arm away from her but otherwise followed. They were just about the turn to go find the ice cream stand when the familiar, ombre haired guru came up the opposite way. Poppy stopped and grinned, waving cheerfully at him as Branch rolled his eyes, he didn't sign up for this. He was just about to say he'd go on ahead of her when Creek reached them.

“Hey~!” Poppy greeted, glad he was finally around. It felt like it was all too long since the entire Snack Pack had been able to spend time together, “The other's are right over there. You can go join...” She tilted her head to side in confusion, “Hey...where's all your stuff?” She would have thought he'd have brought something to study.

“Hello, Love.” Creek greeted, stopping to flash an apologetic smile at her, “I'm afraid I can't join you today after all. I just got a call from work saying they need me to come in right away. I am truly sorry.”

“O-oh...” Poppy's shoulders fell and her smile turned upside down. She had hoped for once Creek wouldn't have to go rushing to work for something and she'd be able to see him outside of their dates. And now her chance to talk to him again was slipping her by, “I-I see...”

“Now, now, Love. Chin up!” He bolstered, “There will be plenty of time to see each other soon. I promise. But work is important you know.” Creek smirked inwardly, taking some sort of pleasure in watching Poppy deflate before his eyes. What he didn't count on though was the spectator to their little exchange.

Branch watched as Poppy's entire countenance and mood shifted right before eyes, going from her usual cheerful self to disappointed and sad. Creek had to have known how let down Poppy would be when he announced he couldn't stay. Branch couldn't help but frown himself before glaring at Creek and that was when he saw it. There was a smug, self-satisfied look swimming in Creek's blue eyes even as the rest of his face tried to look sorry for what he was doing. And that just made Branch's blood boil. How dare that no-good, preaching, bastard take pleasure in hurting Poppy's feelings!

And just when the crestfallen young woman was about to say something, Branch spoke up, probably against his better judgment, because he wasn't going to let that fake hurt Poppy anymore, “You don't deserve Poppy!”

Poppy and Creek looked over at Branch's words and Creek raised an eyebrow at him, “Excuse me?”

“You heard me.” Branch growled, stomping over to stand between the two as he continued to rant, letting out not only weeks of having to watch Poppy be unhappy with her relationship with Creek, for Branch could see that was the most likely cause for her unusual behavior now, but also years of watching her fawn over the snake and not having to courage to tell her how he felt, “You don't deserve her! You're always ditching her and making up excuses! It's like you never even consider her feelings! If I had to bet you don't even have to go anywhere, you just said that to upset her! Hell! You probably only see her as piece of ass and were going to break her heart once you pressured her into sleeping with you!” Branch knew, somewhere beneath the rage and jealousy bubbling inside what he just claimed could be untrue but he just didn't care, in the end it didn't matter because Creek still didn't deserve a sweet and caring girl like Poppy.

Creek pursed his lips, his own cool glare directed at Branch as he ranted, surprised he had hit the nail on the head. Oh well, it wasn't like he wasn't going to do it soon. So why not confirm his little suspicion while also getting his own little piece of revenge? Branch has always been a bit of thorn in his side and it wasn't like Poppy was going to return any of Branch's feelings anyway, “So what? Things happen.” He chuckled darkly, “And you're certainly one to talk. You sound as if you're in love her!”

Branch felt his heart rate pick up and sweat begin to bead on his forehead, panic beginning to set in at having his feelings called out but then he clenched his fists, he wasn't about to let Creek have the last laugh about this, “...So what if I am?” He ignore the gasps of the Snack Pack who had all gathered around them, he ignored whatever look Poppy could be giving him, “I know I'm a miserable person with too many issues to count and she's sunshine personified. I know I'm too cautious and paranoid for the beautifully, vibrant person Poppy is but at least I know she deserves someone who treasures her completely and will actually respect her!” He stepped forward into Creek's space, glare intensifying, “I know I'm not worthy of her but at least she knows now that you aren't either.” And then before anyone could say anything else, he stormed off.

Poppy, in stunned silence, watched Branch storm off, her thoughts in a whirl. Branch loved her? Branch was in love with her? Branch, her very best friend since they were kids, who grumped and grumbled about everything, who was paranoid about natural disasters and freaked out about things when he didn't need to and was always prepared for the worst, who-who...Who, despite all that was always there for her, who never truly pushed her away, who made her feel better when she was homesick by making her favorite dish -and used his grandma's old recipe to do it-, who kept her company while she got a tattoo, who took her mini golfing when the guy who was suppose to couldn't. Who made her hot chocolate and watched all her favorites movies with her late into the night when she was sad and upset over that same guy. Who hadn't ever really stopped being that reliable, strong, caring boy she knew as a kid. Who-Who-Oh....

Oh!

Who she was also in love with.

Poppy felt like an idiot, she'd been so blinded by her crush, and she knew that what it was now, she hadn't noticed just how much she actually cared for Branch. Someone who had always, always been there, supporting her even when he thought it was a bad idea. Or if he felt her or someone else would be in danger, he'd offer a different solution that could still be fun. Creek...Creek never did that. He'd support her, sure, but he had never really approved of some of the things she or the Pack did and she could see now how he always tried to persuade or change her to be something different. Branch cared for her the way she was...Creek didn't.

Poppy looked at Creek then, despite the revelation singing in her head and telling her to go after Branch, she had to-to know exactly how Creek felt about her. “Creek-” Her voice cracked a little, “Is...is that true? Were...were you going to break up with after-?”

Creek looked at her then, something cold that didn't look like the friend she'd known all these years, before rolling his eyes, “If you must know...Yes. I was.”

Poppy gasped, feeling like she'd just been hit the gut at the confirmation. Even-even he didn't want to be something romantic, she had thought they'd always been friends. She felt tears starting to prickle as she croaked, “W-why?”

He shrugged, looking none too apologetic, “Because I've gotten tired of this game. Your little sunshine and rainbows act had gotten to be quite the bother and I have no need for such a childish woman such as yourself. Perhaps if you had taken my advice and matured a little but alas you continue to stay naive. It's time to stop seeing the world through that sugar filled lens of yours and grow up.”

Poppy couldn't believe what she was hearing, could hardly even process that Creek, that shy new kid she had invited into her friend group way back when, who she had thought was always such a wise and kind soul had said something like that to her. Poppy felt a sudden and strong urge to do something then, something she normally would never have thought of doing-She punched him. She punched Creek in the face knocking him to the ground. And as she stood over him, tears finally running down her face and ignoring his shocked expression she said something she never thought she'd ever say, “Don't you ever speak to me again. I-I don't ever want to see you again.” And then she fled, hoping to catch up with the man who truly held her heart before he did something stupid.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Branch hastily stuffed items into a bag as quick as he could, letting the panic now coursing through his veins control him. After he had stormed off he had let the feeling of having to flee, to run and never look back, to take over and had rushed back to the apartment to pack. Poppy knew how he felt now, knew he was in love with her and he had no desire to hear whatever gentle let down she had for him. So he was going to leave, he didn't know where yet, his thoughts were far too chaotic to think of a proper plan right now, he just had to get out of there, to save Poppy the awkwardness of kicking him out. There was no way she'd want to continue to be roommate's after the fiasco he had just caused. Maybe he'd stay with Gristle and Bridget? Or maybe even a hotel room until he found a place? He didn't care, he just wanted to get away before Poppy inevitably showed up. He'd fine some way to get his text books back later.

In his haste, Branch knocked over the box of invitations he had pulled from under his bed, spilling the contents over and onto the floor. He looked at all those wonderfully crafted memories of Poppy wanting him to join in on whatever fun she had planned and frowned. He doubt there would be any more now... No more seeing her lovely smile light up the room, no more hearing her adorable laughter, no more of her beautiful singing or sharing rare quiet mornings sipping coffee... Shaking his head, he gently kicked a few aside and grabbed more of his clothes, he didn't have time to be thinking about any of that. He needed to leave. But then he heard the door fly open and knew his time was up. Still he kept shoving things into his bag, ignoring the way Poppy called his name before rushing down the hall.

Poppy froze in his doorway, breath heaving as she watched him toss things into a bag. She gasped, trying to catch some air after having ran all the way home before croaking out, “You're leaving?” He couldn't be, he just couldn't!

Branch paused at the sound of her voice but didn't turn around as he nodded, “Yes.” He knew if he turned, looked into those big amber eyes of hers, he'd crumble and loose any nerve he had. But he had to leave, it was better for both of them.

Poppy made a high keening sound in the back of her throat before she flung herself at Branch, wrapping her arms around his waist and burying her face in his back, “No! You can't!” She wasn't going to let this happen, he had to stay, he just had to! “Stay!”

“Poppy...” He sighed wearily. He couldn't, it would be too painful.

She whined, tears leaking out and soaking into his shirt as she squeezed him as hard as she could, trying to prevent him from leaving, “Don't go! Please!” She had to get him to stay and to listen to her, to let her explain how stupid she was.

Branch's face twisted, he hated that Poppy was crying and he was the cause but he had to leave her. He wasn't what she needed, “I have-”

“Don't I get to decide who's worthy of me or not?!” She finally shouted before sobbing in his shirt. She felt him tense under her arms but didn't let that stop her, “I'm stupid! So, so stupid and I'm sorry!! I-I-” She gasped, trying to catch her breath before whining once more, “I was so blinded by my-my stupid crush that I-! I didn't even notice my real feelings and-and-!” She sobbed harder into his back, words starting to become almost unintelligible, “And now it might be too late but please! Please, please, please, don't goooo!!!! I-I-” She made another high keening noise before crying, “I love you!”

Branch felt all the air in his lungs leave him, unable to believe what he just heard. That couldn't be true, could it? Poppy...Poppy couldn't-She loved him? He unconsciously squeezed one of her hands around him as she continued to sob, broken 'pleases' and 'I love you's falling from her lips. Branch felt like his entire heart and lungs were going to burst and he tried taking deep, gasping breaths to calm down. Poppy loved him? All his brain could do was repeat that over and over as he tried to process hearing those three little words. And she-she was still crying and he couldn't let that continue.

“Hey...” He said gently, carefully prying her arms away, which caused her to sob harder before he turned around and allowed her to cling to him again, hands clutching his shirt tightly as he wrapped his arms around her. “Hey, come on. It-It's okay. You can stop crying...” God, he hated it when she cried and she didn't seem to hear him either as she continued to cry into his chest. Branch carefully and slowly rubbed soothing circles on her back, trying to figure out something, anything, to make her stop crying. That's when it hit him, there was only one thing that could possibly get Poppy to stop and listen, the one thing he never allowed himself to do in front of another person. Something he had promised himself to never do where anyone could hear him.

He sang.

“You with the sad eyes... Don't be discouraged..” Branch held her close and rested his head on top of hers, letting his voice wash over them, “Oh, I realize, it's hard to take courage...In a world full people, you can lose sight of it all. The darkness inside you can make you feel so small...”

Poppy hiccuped in surprise, tears still flowing as she paused in her distress. Branch...Branch was singing? To her? She blinked more tears away as she sniffed and turned her head a little to listen to him. He really did have such a beautiful voice.

“Can't remember when I last saw you laughing. This world makes you crazy and you've taken all you can bear,” Branch felt her calm down but continued to sing, rocking them softly from side to side, “Just call me up, 'cause I'll always be there.” He pulled back just enough to gently tip her chin up so their eyes met, “And I see your true colors shining through, I see your true colors...” He paused and took a deep breath, heart beating rapidly in his chest, even if she did already know, “And that's why I love you.”

Poppy sniffled and wiped at her tears but smiled softly up at Branch, who was looking at her with such a caring look, love shining so clearly in his eyes it really was a wonder she had been as blind as she had. “I love you.” She blurted, unable and unwilling to stop herself, “And I'm sorry I was so, so stupid that I just didn't see it before! And-”

“Poppy.” Branch breathed, hand coming up to cup her cheek and gently brush away a stray tear. He stared at her for a moment, still having a little trouble believing her, before cracking a tiny smile and leaning his forehead against hers, “You're not stupid. You could never be.” He sighed, “I hid my feelings from you, I...I thought that was the only way. I'm too boring and paranoid and-and gray for someone as bright as yourself. I didn't think...”

“Didn't think I'd return your feelings.” She finished for him and he nodded against her head. Oh, her poor Branch. She really should have seen it sooner. “How long?”

“Hmm?”

“How...How long have you been...?” She had to know so she could start making up for all the time he spent thinking she'd never love him back.

“Hmm...Few years. I think honestly since we were kids but I didn't actually notice till sometime in high school. You were laughing about something, and...and I donno. I just realized I wanted to hear that laugh, see you smile and sharing that wonderful light you have for the rest of our lives. And then I realized you'd never return my feelings so I hid them and tried to push you farther away but someone was too damn stubborn to take a hint.” He tried to glare at her but it lacked any real heat.

She giggled, “It's because you were my best friend. I couldn't let you be unhappy.” She had realized that it was probably her feelings that had kept her from ever abandoning him. Not that she'd ever do that to a friend but Branch....Branch had always been special. “You're special to me, Branch. Always have been, I just...” She ducked her head down shyly, blush suddenly staining her cheeks, “I just now know why you're so special.” She glanced back up, “I've always loved you.”

Branch breathed another sigh, as unbelievable as it was to hear Poppy say she loved him, every time she did he felt lighter than he had in years. Nuzzling his nose against hers, letting actions lead him, he closed his eyes and softly said, “I love you too,” before he leaned in and kissed her.

Poppy gasped lightly as his lips touched hers before she sank into it, wrapping her arms around his neck and letting her eyes fall shut. This. This was how she thought a first kiss should feel like. It was soft and gentle but her heart was beating quickly and as Branch tilted his head just a little and deepened the kiss as he pulled her close, she felt a spark light and she didn't want him to stop. Eventually it did, the need for air pulling them apart but Poppy didn't let that stop her from smiling widely as she gasped. She giggled before it morphed into full blown laughter and she hugged Branch tightly, nuzzling against his shoulder. He stumbled lightly before holding onto Poppy tightly as he felt his own laughter bubbling out.

She pulled back, happiness overflowing as she grinned brightly at him, she was just so happy! “I love you~!”

Branch chuckled, shaking his head fondly at her, a smile happy smile of his own on his face, “I love you too.”

Poppy laughed again, feeling so much lighter than she had the last few weeks. No longer confused about her feelings for Creek, no longer worried about losing her best friend, she was happy and loved and she couldn't ask for more.

~*~*~*~*~*~

It was later, after the euphoria had died down and the two had talked about some important things, that the Snack Pack had come to check on Poppy. After watching the entire scene, Branch's confessions, Creek's confirmation that he was going to break up with Poppy, Poppy's punching and subsequent kicking the guru out of her life, they hadn't quite known what to do. Smidge had managed to pry herself away from the group to give Creek another good punch before telling him to get lost and it was after that the group of friends had wanted to go after the pinkette. Biggie had then suggested that they wait and give Poppy time to talk to Branch and it was only after getting a text from said friend did they come over to the apartment.

They came baring their traditional post break-up fair, take-out, ice cream and a few bottles of wine and were only mildly surprised to find Poppy and Branch curled up on the couch. Most of the surprise was mostly from finding Branch not completely embarrassed that Poppy had claimed his lap as her seat and was making no move to leave. There had been a tiny squabble over how he was going to eat with her in his lap afterwards Poppy agreed to sit next him until he was done. Everyone had gotten a summary of what happened, Poppy begging him to stay and their confessions with Poppy happily exclaiming he even sang to her so she'd stop crying. It was only after food, some laughter and Poppy reclaiming Branch's lap did the mood turn just a little somber as they all reflected about Creek.

Poppy admitted, with a little nudging from Branch, that yes she was still pretty upset over what Creek had said to her. To know he thought she was childish and naive hurt and it hurt even worse to know that the friend he had been was gone. And as the Pack all nodded and agreed, it was Branch who told them that it was okay to miss that version of him, the version that had once upon a time been their friends and that it was okay to be upset over the person he had become. He also assured Poppy that she wasn't childish or naive, she was vibrant and held more love for the world than anymore he had ever met and that made her so, so beautiful. She had blushed and as the Pack cooed at them and Branch's pretty words, his face had turned bright red before he hid it in Poppy's shoulder. Giggling, she asked her-no, their friends to not tease her new boyfriend too much as she ran a hand through his hair. That of course brought up the question by Cooper if they were in fact dating and Branch brought his face out of hiding long enough to make a sarcastic reply. That elected another round of giggles before the Snack Pack decided Poppy was in good enough hands to be left alone. They still had school in the next day after all.

Poppy cheerfully waved them all goodbye, promising they'd try again for a large group study sessions again but only after a long and large group hug, one she made sure to pull Branch into as well. Afterwards it was just the two of them and after the crazy, emotional roller coaster of a day they'd have, the pinkette claimed she just wanted to go to bed. Branch had chuckled, his own emotional exhaustion catching up on him and agreed, even it was still considered early. His new girlfriend, and didn't that just speed his heart rate up thinking of her like that, had snorted before grabbing his hand and dragging him halfway down the hall. It was then she paused and, uncharacteristically shy, asked him if he'd come cuddle with her. She didn't want to go to bed alone.

Blushing bright red and feeling another urge to run and deny her, Branch had stood his ground and nodded stiffly. He wasn't going to allow her to be alone if she didn't want to be.

Now, they were just laying on Poppy's bed, Branch carefully spooning her against him with his face buried in her hair and surrounded by her scent. As nerve wracking at this was, even if she did know his feelings now, Branch also felt an overwhelming sense of calmness that he didn't try to fight off. Holding Poppy close was all he ever dreamed of and he could do that now and, honestly, he was still having a little trouble believing it.

“Hey, Branch?” Poppy spoke up quietly.

“Hmm?” He hummed against her neck. He had thought she had already fallen asleep with how quiet she had been.

She took a moment to gather her thoughts before asking, “Are you okay with this?”

“'This' as in me cuddling you? Or 'this' as in Us?”

“Mm...both?”

He sighed and gave her a gentle squeeze before voicing his answer, “It's a little nerve wracking. I'm....I'm not use to this stuff.” He tugged her a little closer, “But...I really am willing to try. I can't promise I won't mess up or won't get annoyed at you anymore but I'm gonna stay right here for as long as you want me.”

She giggled softly, “No relationship is perfect, Branch. I know there will be times I'll probably drive you up the walls or vise versa but I know whatever happens...We'll have each other,” She carefully turned around so she could gaze into his eyes, “And I'm gonna want you here for a very long time. I love you and I truly don't want anyone else.”

Branch breathed out a deep sigh and nodded before carefully nudging his nose against hers, “I love you too.”

A sleepy giggle was his only reply before Poppy gently kissed him and cuddled up close with her arms wrapped around him, ready to fall asleep with his steady heartbeat in her ears. Branch weaved his fingers through her hair before placing a kiss on top of her head and easily falling asleep beside her.

~*~*~*~*~*~

ONE WEEK LATER

Morning, one week later, after much studying and plenty of exams, Poppy sat on the kitchen counter wearing one Branch's shirts -the very same she had claimed as her own- and her hair up in a messy bun. She was fiddling with her camera settings before she filmed a quick little update vlog for her viewers. The past few days had been so crazy with last minute cramming, work and trying to fit in a little bit of romance that Poppy had gone almost silent on all social media so she figured a quick little video was the perfect way to catch them all up. Happy with her camera set up, she pressed record and held it up with a big grin.

“Hey there, My Cupcakes~!” She greeted happily, “How are you all doing? I know I've been a little MIA this past week and that's because a lot has been going on.” She gave a little giggle before continuing, “Mostly it was university. Midterms are no fun, let me tell you. But there's also been a few more...personal changes happening. Nothing too...well I won't say major cause it is kind of major but some of it's good!” She took a deep breath, preparing herself to tell them all about what happened a week ago. “First off is...well...” Another sigh, it was still hard to think and talk about but she knew she could do it, “Creek and I broke up. Now I know that's gonna be a shock, believe me I'm still coming to terms with it...” She took a moment to glance to the side, trying to figure out a way to explain before just going for it, “But yeah...turns out he was cheating on me!” And wasn't that a shock to find out. They only found out because some of Bridget's classmates had told her they knew of a 'great way to de-stress' and when she had asked they had explained about how this masseur helped them all relax by giving them sexual release. Bridget had of course denied them, reminding them she had a loving boyfriend, but they had still recommended it before dropping Creek's name. Poppy tilted her head from side to side as she went on, “He also kind of admitted he was going to break up with after I slept with him...”

She took a breath before flashing another smile at the camera, “But it's okay! Really! Yeah...it still hurts to know that someone I cared for wasn't...who I thought they were but I've got the Snack Pack by my side so I'm alright. And please! Don't go commenting or starting anything on any of his social media, I know you all care but I just want to let this pass.” She sighed before swaying side to side, “And now for my other news. My really, really great, wonderfully fantastic news.” She bit her lip to try and contain the smile threatening to break free before giving up and grinning at the camera, “I have a new boyfriend~!” She giggled before getting a grip on herself to continue her explanation, “Now, I know, I know it's only been a week since my break-up with Creek and some of you might think it's too soon but...” Here she paused, twirling a stray lock of hair around a finger as she looked off camera, “Is it really too soon if I just realized I was in love with him for a lot longer than I noticed?” She giggled again, unable to stop herself, “And he loves me, you guys! And I can't tell you guys just how happy that makes me! I feel like I'm floating and I don't ever want to come down.” There was a snort somewhere off camera and Poppy flashed whoever it was snorting a look before she smirked and turned back to the camera, “And I can't wait to tell you all about the poetry he writes! It's so romantic~” She giggled when whoever made a growling like sound at her before hopping off the counter.

“Now, I'm sure you're all curious who it is that could possibly capture my heart.” She walked around the counter, keeping the camera at such an angle all anyone would see was her until she sat down on none other than Branch's lap, who sleepily glared at her before wrapping his arms around her waist and hiding his face in her neck. “Ta-dah~! Bet some of you didn't see that coming! And for those of who did...well you were right!” She giggled, ignoring the way Branch squeezed her closer, “I really can't tell you guys how happy we are. And yes! Mr. Grumpypants here has admitted he's happy!” Another giggle because she just couldn't stop, “So you'll be seeing a lot more Branch now, wither he likes it or not,” He snorted against her neck but otherwise didn't comment, “And well...I guess that's it!” She gave one last big grin to the camera, “Hope you all have an amazing day and stay sweet~!”

After closing off like she always did and turning off the camera, she'd post it soon, she laid it beside Branch's empty cup of coffee and settled into his embrace, “See, that wasn't so bad, was it?”

Branch grunted before lifting his face up and leveling what could almost be a pout at her, “You're not really going to include me in more of those things are you?” The few she did were torture enough.

“Oh, I am!” She said brightly, “As my boyfriend, it's your duty to appear in them and,” Here she shifted so she could hold his face in her hands, “I told you I was gonna show you off as much as I can. You're amazing and I want the world to know it. I want you to know it.”

Branch felt a blush crawl up his neck and cheeks before looking away. Poppy saying things like that, complements and praises, to him were still so new. Although he wasn't sure even when they weren't, that he still wouldn't blush and feel a weird sort of mix of embarrassment and pride.

“I also promise I won't actually tell anyone about your poetry yet. Not until you say I can.” She smiled softly, “We'll just keep what you've said and written between us.”

Branch nodded, a little too overwhelmed again for words before looking back at her. It was still hard to believe this beautiful, generous, perky and amazing woman was finally his. He had never thought it could be true but now it was. And she thought he was worth showing off and praising and constantly reminding him just how talented and attractive she found him until he believed her and-Branch sighed softly before leaning up and carefully kissing Poppy. Thinking could be a later thing, “I love you.”

She giggled and wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face in his soft hair,”I love you too~”

They stayed like that for a few quiet moments, both content just wrapped around each other. Branch nuzzled against her neck carefully while drawing nonsensical shapes with his thumbs where they rested on her waist. Poppy was happy to just be held by him, surrounded by his warmth and scent, not at all wanting to move. It was only then after a few calm minutes that Branch spoke up quietly, voice muffled slightly in her neck.

“...You're sure last night was okay?”

Poppy giggled gently into his hair, she should have seen that he'd ask about that sooner or later, “Yes, Branch.” Last night pent up frustration and hormones had finally taken control possibly sooner than either was expecting but Poppy hadn't really minded. She pulled back to hold Branch's face in her hands once more as she addressed him, “I meant what I said last night. It was more than okay. Sure, no first time is perfect but it worked out, yeah? I enjoyed it.”

Branch blushed and cast his gaze to the side, frowning slightly, “And it....wasn't too soon?” They had only been together for a week after all, he didn't want her to think that was all he had wanted. But finally being able to kiss Poppy, to hold her and make her sigh had well...done things to his already weak resistance against her.

“Branch,” She said, softly but firmly, making him look at her, “I told you last night it was okay to listen to your heart instead of your head for once and,” Here she gave soft huff of a giggle, blushing lightly herself, “I'll go at whatever pace you want. If you want to continue the pace from last night-Okay. Rather take it slow from now on and wait until the time is right to try again? That's okay too.” She reached up and started combing through his hair, “Whatever it is you want to do, I'll agree.” And she meant that, she'd gladly go however fast or slow he wanted, not wanting to push him into doing anything he wasn't ready to. She'd try to encourage him of course, on certain things, but she had learned after living together for the last couple months that she'd have to practice on her patience a lot more, especially if she wanted this to work. Which she wanted more than anything.

Branch sighed and nodded, still looking a little unsure but taking Poppy's words to heart. He hugged her close again, face once again cushioned against her neck, before suggesting softly, “Maybe...Maybe something a little in-between?” He wanted to wait a little longer to sleep with her again, romance her, prove he really was worthy of her and take her out on a real date before anything else happened.

“Like what?” She asked curiously.

“Like...” He gulped and was glad his face was hidden, this was just a little embarrassing to say out loud, “Like maybe...bed sharing?” God that sounded so ridiculous but Branch had discovered quickly just how easy it was to fall asleep with Poppy next to or in his arms. He really couldn't remember a time it had been that easy and...waking up next to her, to see those pretty amber eyes flutter open and for her to smile so softly at him, there was no way he could go back to sleeping alone.

Poppy giggled, unable to help herself, her Branch really was an adorable cutie, “Fine by me~” Plus she liked being able to cuddle up next to him, she loved her menagerie of stuffed animals but Branch was so much better at cuddling back.

Branch breathed a sigh of relief he hadn't realized he was holding, of course Poppy would agree, she loved being able to hug and cuddle, before he suddenly stood up, Poppy cradled in his arms. She laughed at the sudden change in position, holding on with her arms wrapped around his neck, “Where are we going?!”

“Back to bed.” He grumbled, about to take full advantage of being able to hold his girlfriend, “It's too damn early to be up.” Especially when they didn't have to be. She had pulled him out of bed, more or less, to film her little update and now that it was over, he was going to go sleep and taking her with him.

Poppy laughed but otherwise didn't argue, letting him cart her off back into her room, more than happy to allow him a few more hours of sleep cuddled up to her. She hugged him tightly, smile bright and cheerful, and thought life couldn't get more wonderful.

~*~*~*~*~*~

I told you it was a ride! It certainly was to write it at any rate XD Wow oh wow, lots of happened huh? Most of which Broppy happened~! Finally...I really can't tell you guys just how much I've been waiting to write most of this chapter, like I've had that confrontation scene in my head since I started planning this fic in January! (Also having buffer chapters has saved my butt on this, especially when I had writers block or didn't feel like writing XD)

Okay! So, few things to address, was Creek a little sudden with his break-up and Poppy a little OOC afterwards with her punch/kicking him out of her life, maybe but I was trying to slightly mirror the whole 'He's selling us out' scene in the movie and Poppy's upset so I think a little OOC-ness is expected (Also she did sort of try to strangle Creek in that scene so I think the punch was justified a little). For the confession scene-I meant for the afterwards to go a little differently (I did intend to actually write out what they talked about) but the muses took over so I thought just a little summary worked better. As when the Pack came over, They did apologize to Branch for being jerks/never giving him a chance really back when they were kids/in high school, something I meant to include but just never happened much was the Pack getting to know him a little as he became use to being around them (Also yes, Smidge did give the whole 'If you hurt her...' speech before they left).

And the One Week Later stuff, I debated putting it here or separate but decided I wanted it here cause I still have 2 more chapters to go cause while it does feel like an ending and I could leave I also had another idea I wanted to use as an epilogue sort of deal. And yes, they slept together already, those two have way too much sexual frustration between them that I figured it was inevitable but that's also why I added in their little convo about pace. And Okay! I think that's it for this Author's note XD Thank you all so, so much for all the wonderful love you've given this fic! All that's left now is the gratuitous fluff chapter (next) and the epilogue! Stay tuned!

True Colors- Dreamworks Trolls version

#Dreamworks Trolls #Branch #Poppy #Broppy #Fanfiction #Human AU #Modern AU #Roommate AU #dreamworkstrolls #Snack Pack

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coffeeandcalligraphy · 5 years ago

Text

Moth Work Intro + False Idol | Writing Update

Hey People of Earth!

Today I thought I’d do a writing update on a project I’ve mentioned a lot in my vlogs but haven’t mentioned as of yet on here! This is a personal ‘passion project’ that I’ve been picking away at since January and have recently taken on as my transition project from Rewired to my next book.

So yee! MOTH WORK (or ‘boys on a boat’ for those who keep up with the vlogs lols) has been my current project for the last few weeks since finishing REWIRED. I didn’t really mean to expand it as much as I have as it simply started off as a spinoff story of my boys Lonan and Harrison which I write every few months when I’m having a breakdown and need something to cheer me up. :-)

I’ve mentioned a few of these stories in the past (like Fishbowl and Mandarin), though this story is a bit different, as I’ve expanded it quite a lot more than I intended to! If you aren’t super caught up with Rewired, I’d definitely scroll through a few of my last updates so this one will make more sense!

What’s it about?

Moth Work is a FOSTERED spinoff story following Lonan and Harrison (dumb+dumber) at the peak of their relationship. I *was saying* that the plot went loosely as follows: after finding a photograph of a woman in Lonan’s father’s dark room, they set out to find her, HOWEVER, because I never stick to plans, I have yet to follow through with this main plot thread, lol. Vaguely, I’d just say the most important part of this story is their relationship at its most fragile because who is plot I don’t know her.

Moth Work follows the events after REWIRED, and is a bit of a bridge between it and the next book. This makes it kind of hard to explain because a) it’s in a different POV, and b) context, but hopefully that makes sense! In essence: Lonan + Harrison’s relationship is big sad and Harrison tries to make it less big sad and it gets even more big sad.

I’ll share a very quick profile of both of the boys so there’s some context for the following excerpts I’ll share!

Harrison

My boy

Generally very outgoing, tho around Lonan this fizzles. Only wants the best for Lonan despite their history. He’s the ‘main’ narrator of the piece (third limited to him though I’m guilty of head hopping lol), so the work has a softer tone than I’m used to. Though Harrison tries to be a Macho Man, around Lonan he’s most himself--mellow, a lil stupidly romantic, and vulnerable.

Lonan

My problematic son/probably should be cancelled

The “issue” in the relationship loool. He’s emotionally immature and lacks accountability, but because of his past, lacks the ability to recognize these faults and work on them. Because of this, he’s fundamentally stayed the same for the last few works he’s been in (if not gotten worse). Lonan requires a lot of emotional assistance, though he isn’t self-aware enough to recognize this. This is often the cause of much conflict.

Conception:

Like I mentioned, I often write short spinoff stories following these boys because it’s a safe happy place for when I’m feeling stressed. This is basically how this piece started, though I’ve continued it for different reasons which I’ll get into. I don’t remember how the first scene was brainstormed, but I do know when I started writing this a few months ago, I wanted it to be a lot longer than my previous stories--a place where I could just dump my writing, even when it wasn’t good. I think I did this to cope with the stress of my writing class honestly, lol, I think I needed a break from ‘serious’ writing AKA a place I could just goof off and have some fun.

The writing bit:

Writing this story has been a bit inconsistent. I’ve been drafting it in little pieces since the beginning of the year, and only recently picked it up as more of a ‘full-time’ work. This is subject to change depending on whether or not I get more of book 7 done. I’ve gone from writing 20 words a day to 0 to 1000--there’s really no consistency with the drafting process here.

I have recently decided that I’ll most likely expand this into either a novella or novel itself because there is literally so much tea left to explore and it’s surpassed 10k words. Drafting Moth Work has been so helpful in easing me back into the world of FOSTERED and piecing together the huge time gap from the end of book 6 to the start of book 7. I’ve been a bit anxious to really dive into book 7 for the fear of the unknown, so inching myself closer to that timeline through this project has been very helpful!

The editing bit:

I recently did an edit around the line level for this entire piece (it’s about 12k words right now) because a) it really needed it b) I was losing steam/starting to get embarrassed and c) I needed a refresher of what had happened because je suis tres forgetful. This edit made me feel so much better about the project. It initially started off as a work where the writing didn’t actually matter and this mentality was working until I got so embarrassed of the prose I found it difficult to read through old scenes to refresh myself and thus couldn’t productively draft.

This project isn’t written exactly in my usual style--it’s pretty stripped back and actually reminds me a lot of how my style would’ve been in book 3 had I been a better writer four years ago lol. I think the looser style works for the voice/the story itself but I def wouldn’t categorize this as litfic (what I usually write). Although the prose isn’t very complex, it took me a really long time to get comfortable enough to edit?? But once I got into the rhythm of it a few days ago, I completed the edit fairly quickly, and I’m 100% feeling better about the project overall! Though the prose is still not my top priority I’m not as embarrassed of it currently lols.

I also divided the project into chapters because it was getting pretty long to just be one mass of text. I currently have 3 chapters. This update will cover chapter 1.

Playlist:

Yo this is literally the best part of writing this project, lol, I get to listen to so much different music?? I’ve made a comprehensive playlist for this story with a character by character breakdown (if anyone wants to see that/highlights, let me know!). This playlist pulls from every song from my library, so we span genres and artists like crazy. Nothing But Thieves has been the primary artist for this story (specifically their self-titled album). These songs (all NBT oop) are the most relevant if you want to get the general tone lol (anything with a star has explicitly inspired the project):

Excuse Me*

Honey Whiskey*

Tempt You (Evocatio)*

If I Get High (II)

Gods

Lover, Please Stay*

I Was Just A Kid*

Get Better

Hell, Yeah*

Afterlife

Reset Me

Particles

Sorry

Number 13

Excerpts:

I don’t have *many* because prose hasn’t really been a top priority for this project, but I’ll try to include at least one per scene.

This is one of the opening paragraphs from chapter one which I’ve titled ‘False Idol’. In short, the chapter follows the boys first attempting to destroy the dark room and then getting distracted and eventually not pulling through after Harrison finds a picture of Ominous Lady.

The chapter’s chronology is wild so we can break it up as follows:

Scene A

The boys enter the dark room with the intention of burning it down

Harrison reaches for his lighter and drops it which prompts him to find the photograph of Ominous Lady

Him and Lonan mildly argue about Ominous Lady until Lonan takes it too seriously and throws a tantrum :-DD

Scene B

Not really a full scene, just a bridge between scene A and C.

Harrison has been waiting for Lonan to return to their campsite for the entire day and he decides to at the very last moment

“hey so i’m unable to apologize for anything but also! cigarette! let’s share it! lungs!”

Scene C

The boys exercising their canoeing skills

This leads us to our first “beat”.

Lonan interrupts Harrison’s peaceful evening by having a mild crisis

This takes place right after the events of Lolita, Lolita (chapter 16 of REWIRED). We then jump back to the fictive present.

This alternates like 5 more times lol then the chapter is done!

The following excerpt describes their entry into the dark room. Don’t know how smart it is to be smoking in a room full of highly flammable material but we out here.

I don’t think she’s particularly special but I also don’t hate her so!! hoping an aesthetic photo will make it read better :’)) I ! don’t ! think ! it does ! but !

Harrison shoulders the door first, traps it open with the clip of his boot. Dust and streaks of light rake behind him as he pushes through cardboard boxes, mountains of photo paper on the ground. Lonan follows silently, still wearing Harrison’s jacket. Trails of smoke from his cigarette catch in the negatives hanging by the clothespins, chemical peel between the layers of ink. In one hand he tends to his cigarette, and in the next, lugs in the canister of gasoline they found in the cabin’s cellar. As Harrison fumbles for his flashlight, Lonan sets it down by the table so it sloshes like the Pacific.

This is a bit of when Harrison finds the photograph of Ominous Lady:

He turns the photograph over, and shines the flashlight on it. It’s scratched and developed wrong, little bits of orange obscuring the woman’s face, but it’s very much a woman. A dark bob and bangs in her eyes, jewelry hanging from her septum. Sunshades enough to reflect the European street behind her. The discreet jet of ink on her skin, blues and greens peeking out from under her sleeve. Izzy, he recognizes. Lonan’s mother.

Nudging Lonan with an elbow, “I didn’t know your mom has tattoos.”

Lonan takes the photograph cautiously, holding it by the corners like it’ll burn him. His brow trembles, but it takes him only seconds to say, “That’s not my mom.” He takes the flashlight from Harrison and examines it closer, fingers nimble and tracing the edges. In the grey light of the dark room, he looks nullified. Just a monochromatic hum of chromosomes and skin.

that’s not my MOM

After the boys find the photograph, Lonan gets triggered at Harrison’s suggestion to find the woman (he presumes her to be someone involved with his father) and promptly has a tantrum and exits. This leads us into the next scene where the boys! actually! get! on! boat! In this scene Lonan tries to say sorry for his tantrum by offering Harrison a cigarette (lol) and because Harrison is hopelessly romantic and also hopelessly dumb, says yeeeees sir! They go for a canoe ride on the water. Thought it was going to be sweet, ended up being a shitstorm but!

This paragraph is kind of toast but:

The canoe isn’t hard to get into the water. After a few nudges from the dock into the slow dip of tide, it stabilizes easily. Harrison is convinced it will capsize but Lonan knows it won’t. They take one ore each, and ignore the life jackets at the back of the shed.

The moon is large and mesmerizing. As Harrison and Lonan take turns pushing the canoe into the water, mast first, then its entire belly, it colours them silver. Lonan’s protected the cigarette in the pocket of his shirt. Harrison stares at its faint outline stretched under the fabric. Lonan steps into the canoe first, rocking with the current, and extends a hand for Harrison. He pulls him in and they row until the cabin is the size of a fingernail, the wave steady and dense. Each cut of the paddle feels like plunging a scalpel into flesh and Harrison watches Lonan do it easily. In the distance, the cabin doesn’t look so menacing. Reeve has left the lamp on by the loft, and it glimmers back like an eyeball, effervescent and tiny. Nothing but a reflective penny in the distance.

Here’s some Harrison being lame:

The water laps at the base of the canoe, and Ris reaches over and touches it like it’s holy. He makes the sign of the cross and it feels perverse, cold water dripping from forehead to chin.

For a while it’s quiet. Just the distant hum of crickets, the slash of the paddle, and the off-chance flash of something in the distance; an animal, a flashlight. Ris tries not to think about Lonan’s dad, like a dead man slithering through the water, following their boat. He picks at a saltine, sucks it between his tongue meditatively. Against the sky, Lonan is backlit and lovely and flecks of his hair peek up from around the jacket’s collar. Harrison wonders if as a child, everyone said he looked just like his father.

On top of lacking accountability, Lonan is also a professional canoeist so he takes over while Harrison eats saltines and reminisces about an encounter they had weeks prior. This leads into the solid chunk of backstory that I weirdly jump in an out of for the entire chapter. :)

Backstory consists of drunk Lonan having a crisis while Harrison tries to have a peaceful evening of taping up his drawings to his bedroom ceiling. The following excerpt describes the moment right after Lonan enters the room.

Harrison’s lips secured around his cigarette, his hand mid-air with packing tape and line drawings of the moon. A tinny country song dribbled through the radio. The minute-meal he’d heat up in the microwave lying forgotten and cold on his desk. Harrison set the pile of drawings down and turned off the music.

“Emily left?” Lonan asked. He kept his face upward, stared clumsily at the ceiling. Harrison watched his eyes trace the new drawings, following the uncalculated pattern.

This paragraph is made up of 5 similes and this is the only reason I’m sharing it :)))):

Lonan has stopped paddling. The canoe sits in the middle of the lake, lifeless, like a bone in the water. He’s turned so Harrison can see him in profile, and Ris can’t tell if it’s relieving or worrying to see his face. Lonan’s jaw is taut, like there are words he wants to say there but can’t. Filling up the hollow bone. He blinks slowly, like he’s trying to re-centre himself, his chest quivering with breaths meant to steady him. The water laps at the base of the canoe, whirling. Dark hair tangles down his cheeks like the fingers of a poltergeist.

I think that’s a pretty good way to end this post lol! How many similes have you put in one paragraph? What’s your record lol this is probably mine!

Hope y’all enjoy the intro to MOTH WORK. I have two other chapters already written which I’ll update on in a separate post! For now I hope you like this more laid back project, let me know what you think!

---Rachel

#writing #writingupdates #writeblr #amwriting #writerblr #fostered #mothwork

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