#Nathaniel is so petty he absolutely would

[nobodysdaydreams]

I know they’re probably gonna make Nathaniel and Nicholas’ sister a legit supervillain, but honestly Nathaniel is such a drama king that “we have a sister. And she is not as nice as I am” could mean anything from “she’s a legit threat who took my son and plans to kill us all” to “I found out she was the woman who gave the institute a bad review one year and I’m still not over it. I need to join the society to get revenge.”

[psalacanthea]

Reforged in Dragon’s Fire- 16

Happy Valentine’s Day! Have some bickering in the Blackmarsh.  From the Howe x Cousland Dragon Age Awakening fic.  Old secrets, old fears, and a definitely very grown up, not at all childish fit of pique. 

...

As Nathaniel rubbed at his eyes and tried to suppress his suddenly nasty mood, the cat decided it was a fine time to try and hop up onto his lap.  Small white-toed feet planted on his knee, claws digging into his armor.  He reached down and unlatched them, and then pushed the orange feline away and back down to the ground with a small, but firm nudge.

“Go away,” he said to the cat.

“Never trust someone who dislikes animals,” Anders said, and then rolled his eyes as Nathaniel pushed the cat away with the side of his foot.  “People who kick cats always get their comeuppance. I’d be wary.  I once watched a cat murder Templars for that very crime.”

Usually Anders’ lies were more believable than that.

“I did not kick him, and I don’t dislike them, I just–” Don’t appreciate being used as a substitute for a dog, his mind finished.  Nathaniel sighed, well aware he was being petty.  His shoulder ached, from sleeping in armor and unaccustomed strain.  It stretched painfully as he grabbed his elbow and pulled on it slowly.  “I am not pleasant company right now.”

“Woke up on the wrong side of the bed?”  Anders guessed.

Nathaniel stared at the fire, slowly rotating his shoulder.  “That’s…putting it mildly.”

“Are you still that worried about the ghost stories?”

“I was never worried about the ghost stories.”

But it was a ghost he was troubled by.

The ghost of his brother.

He only recognized then with his mind caught up to the moment, and with that haunting word to orient himself, that it was his brother he was thinking of.  A complicated morass, guilt and confusion, thoughts that told him it was his duty to protect his younger brother.  Give in to him.

Give him what he wanted.

Yes, he was dead, and there was no reason for him to feel so– but Nathaniel felt like a traitor, a betrayer, and even worse…as if he was hurting his little brother.

And the guilt was compounded by the secret he held.

That day, at the port, in Highever.  The day Phoebe had bullied her way into walking him to his ship, and he’d lied to her twice.  One by telling her the wrong time for his departure, and one for the lie of omission.  The secret he’d carried for so long, the one thing that would have absolutely destroyed her– and he couldn’t bear to be the one to tell her.

The truth about Thomas.

[altruistic-meme]

AFTG fic recs

Hi all! I just wanted to share some of my all-time favorite fanfics for aftg, for no real reason other than I want more people to read them and send their love to the authors :) 

Under a readmore because it got. A little long. But please enjoy!

WIPs

Dangerous Habits by LovelyLittleGrim ( @lovelylittlegrim )

Andrew has run into problems while on undercover jobs before. None of those problems were anything like the troublesome runaway that is one Nathaniel Wesninski

Aka: the fic where Andrew is undercover as a hitman for hire and Neil is the guy who hires him. Things get complicated from there.

Undercover Andrew? BAMF Neil? Hitman AU?? Absolutely. I’m in love. The story is just *chef kisses*

Chapters: 8/9

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Graphic depictions of violence, past rape/non-con, Drake Spear (who is his own warning), Butcher Neil, 

--

Negotiations by elesary ( @elesary )

This is what Andrew Minyard knows: his brother is dead, killed by a petty Raven prince who has never learned to keep his hands off of Andrew's things. His brother's daughters are his responsibility, a job that is made infinitely harder when their shitty grandparents want custody. Nathaniel Wesninski is a liar, but he might be the only way to avenge Aaron and protect his nieces. All Andrew has to do is watch Nathaniels - Neil's- back as he carves out his own life and identity from everyone who thinks they own him.

Andrew has always been good at upholding his end of the bargain, has he finally found someone willing to uphold theirs?

This fic has got me fucked up, honestly. I’m emotional over it. It’s fantastic.

Chapters: 11/?

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: Graphic depictions of violence, attempted sexual assault, Butcher Neil,

--

the upper hand by plantelty ( @plantelty  )

Shortly after losing his mother, Neil arrives in the small town of Palmetto, South Carolina, alone in the world and with an impossible plan to carry through.

At the age of eighteen, Andrew ends up helping a boy stage his own death.

-

Just two fucked up boys learning to trust each other during the course of a summer, but also: multiple references to songs, twinyard angst (Nicky tries his best), The Plotting of Neil Josten's Gruesome Demise, and shit hitting the fan in a variety of ugly ways!

The cliffhanger has got me on the edge of my seat, but it is 100% worth the read and the wait for the last chapter!! 

Chapters: 10/11

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Canon typical violence, 

--

The Butcher’s House by Fire_Bear ( @fire-bear )

Andrew thought something was odd with the house the Foxes had to move into after their Athletes' House had been burnt down. He just wasn't prepared for what was actually wrong with it.

For this was a house full of monsters.

Ghost story! Ghost story! Ghost story! I literally think about this fic every other day, it’s fantastic. 

Chapters: 6/?

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

Warnings: character death (major or minor is unclear), injuries, 

--

Promise of an Unbroken Boy by elesary ( @elesary​ )

Neil is caught by the police with Mary's burning body and is sent to juvie in Oakland where he is assigned to share a cell with one Andrew Doe, who promises him Exy, if only Neil will tell him all of his secrets. With no access to tinted contacts and hair dye, he agrees, it's only a matter of time until he's killed after all. What does he have to lose?

But Andrew's found someone who knows what a promise means, and he'll be damned if he lets that go without a fight.

Ngl this is definitely in my very top favorites -- I LOVE the idea of Neil and Andrew meeting pre-series, and this fic just BLEW my expectations for that plotline out of the waters

Chapters: 14/?

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: Graphic depictions of violence, Underage, attempted rape/non-con, canon-typical violence, 

~~~~~~~~~

Complete

The Nameless Monster by kanekicure ( @kanekicure )

Nathaniel Wesninski wants nothing more than to see his father dead and buried. But when his father promises him the title of The Butcher, Nathaniel quickly realizes that his destiny of following in his father's footsteps is closer than ever before.

So of course, when he gets forced to go undercover for the Baltimore police, he starts seeing what living could truly be.

-

Andrew Minyard is a newly recruited police officer for the worst precinct in Baltimore, who is dedicated on hunting down the notorious Butcher and his unnamed underling. But when Neil Josten is thrown into his midst as his civilian consultant; he starts to realize some things don't quite appear as they seem.

I love the story telling -- the secret identities, the plotting, everything.

Chapters: 14/14

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Graphic depictions of violence, Butcher Neil, implied/referenced rape/non-con, implied/referenced child abuse, implied/referenced slef-harm (I believe there is a scene that is somewhat detailed on this subject), some characters also get drugged at one point, 

-- 

that’s just something people say by nanatsuyu ( @theoctopusnods )

Neil makes the mistake of stealing the wrong car. Andrew makes the mistake of offering a ride to a liar. They both make the mistake of turning the whole affair into a road trip ‘home.’

Gonna be honest; the summary does not give a big idea as to what is in store and i am SO GLAD I gave this one a try so i’m telling you that you will be too

Chapters: 24/24

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

Warnings: implied/referenced child abuse, panic attacks (somewhat grahic descriptions of)

--

The Story After You by kanekicure ( @kanekicure )

Andrew Minyard does not understand how Riko Moriyama landed Neil Wesninski.

How the snot-nosed, small dick, rich brat, second son of the Moriyama family who also just so happened to own the largest EXY gear and merchandiser company in the world “RAVEN” - had landed smart mouthed, quick witted, stupidly blue eyed Wesninski, was beyond him. Well, unless Wesninski was a gold digger, but Andrew doubted it.

-

Or; how Andrew Minyard says he doesn't get into messy situations, until he meets Neil and suddenly he is in the most messiest possible situation ever imagined in his life - oh and also, he might be becoming a homewrecker.

Ok I am behind bc I haven’t read the final chapter of this but!! I love the story, it’s very emotional and moving, and I love the characterization in it.

Chapters: 10/10

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Abusive Riko/Neil, abusive relationship, implied/referenced rape/non-con, implied/reference child abuse, implied/referenced self-harm, graphic depictions of violence, some descriptions of injuries/scarring, 

-- 

This Complicated Life by 5a5b5p5 ( @andrewsbutterflyknife )

“This is exactly why I don’t want you and Andrew to meet,” Aaron says grumpily. “You two would get along far too well.”

Neil grins. “I just like pissing you off,” he says, “It’s not my fault your brother does such a good job at it.”

—

Neil doesn’t expect much from his Sophomore year of college, but when he becomes a waiter at the Palmetto Bistro, his life gets a whole lot more interesting. As it turns out, maintaining friendships new and old as well as navigating an interesting relationship with the head chef of the restaurant—who just so happens to be his best friend’s twin brother—is a lot more complicated than he’d thought it would be.

A much more light-hearted fic than most of the others! Includes a secret relationship, and also chef Andrew >>

Chapters: 10/10

Rating: Mature

Warnings: 

--

When I Fade, Keep Me in Your Memory by demesh 

Neil Josten has a secret: he can flicker out of existence.

He can vanish with the turn of a thought; click his fingers, and suddenly he’s not there anymore. Invisible and untouchable, he becomes a living ghost.

Having promised his mother never to let his ability go, Neil teeters the line between faded and real, a person and an echo. He can’t risk getting hurt.

But then, one day, someone sees him when they shouldn’t be able to.

 A (flower-shop) AU about how a faded and lonely Neil finds it in him to become someone real.

Another fic that I need to catch up on ;; but anyway it’s amazing and I love Neil’s ability in it, it’s so well explained and well-written about

Chapters: 12/12

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

Warnings: mentions of past abuse, panic attacks

--

12 Ways to Woo a Minyard by NikNak22 ( @knickknacksandallthat )

Neil is a math nerd who, by a stroke of dumb luck, falls into a group of friends that are the closest thing to family he’s ever had. So, when he tells them about his new mysterious crush, he shouldn’t be surprised how immediately they come up with a plan to help win them over. One they insist that if Neil follows it, he’ll have them falling for him in no time. But things don’t always go to plan – or do they?

Nicky wants to set him up with someone else. Matt and Jeremy are confused but supportive. Allison and Seth offer lewd suggestions, while Dan does her best to keep everyone in line. Jean and Renee know something, Aaron doesn’t really care, and Kevin just wants Neil to join the lacrosse team.

But one thing’s for certain – whether Neil’s successful or not, everyone’s got money riding on this.

The romance-trope-filled fanfic of my dreams. Sometimes you just need a fic of pure joy -- this is that fic. 

Chapters: 14/14

Rating: Mature

Warnings: 

--

finders keepers by moonix ( @annawrites ​ )

Andrew meets Nathaniel through a scavenger hunt app. As their team takes part in a hunt that sends each of them to creepy, abandoned places alone to solve clues and gain points, Andrew and Nathaniel begin a little treasure hunt of their own. The anonymity of getting to know each other in small increments, never meeting face-to-face, allows them a level of intimacy neither are used to. Meanwhile Renee’s friend Neil is acting weird whenever Andrew shows up…

This was one of the first fics I read for aftg!! And BOY what a great start!! All of the little pieces and parts that work together, and just the scavenger hunt itself is fantastic! (I also REALLY wanna know if there is an app like this out there because I would be down to do that)

Chapters: 8/8

Rating: Mature

Warnings: (these all come from the author:) “mentions of historical abuse in a mental asylum, mentions of suicide, mentions of murder and kidnapping, morbid facts, creepy abandoned places including a haunted house at a theme park with disturbing rooms, special appearance of a creepy clown doll, fatphobia and some introspection on body image/complicated relationship with food, mention of self harm scars”

-----

Scared to Live (But I’m Scared to Die) by Major_816 ( @major816 )

Neil Josten goes to the Nest for Andrew, but he stays for a lot more.

~

"I'm sorry Coach," he muttered.

"For what kid?" Wymack shifted. "You've got to give me something to work with here."

Wymack watched the thin traces of sorrow as paper exchanged hands and he was looking down at a contract with the Edgar Allan Raven's.

"I signed them Coach, I'm sorry."

~

The one where Neil doesn't come back from Winter Break.

It is VERY dark, and is one of very few fics that I have actually been almost unable to read one of the scenes, so DEFINITELY pay attention to the warnings -- both these, and the ones provided for each individual chapter. I did go through the fic to collect as many warnings as I could find in the chapter warnings, but be sure to take care of yourself.

Chapters: 36/36

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: rape/non-con elements, implied/referenced rape/non-con, discussions of rape/non-con, canon-typical violence, graphic descritions, physical abuse, panic attacks, descriptions of injuries (often graphic), psychological warfare, dissociating, psychological torture, physical torture, use of knives, alcoholism/alcohol abuse, pain-induced delirium, rape/non-con, emotional self-separation, suicidal ideation/thoughts of suicide, emotional distress (which sums up the whole fic and also me while reading it), handcuffs/chains used as restraints, referenced/implied abuse towards animals, vomitting, begging, excessive use of painkillers, drowning, waterboarding, physical restraint, mutilation of an animal, mild hallucinations, non-con drugging, sleep deprivation, starvation, humiliation, the Butcher, 

Also one of the first fics I read and 100% my absolute favorite fic!!! Which is adfjhsd a little worrying, considering, but it is what it is. Anyway. This fic absolutely wrecked me, and while it is technically complete, there is a sequel in the works! So! But I am so so excited for the sequel, and I am working on rereading this. It’s amazing. 1000/10.

[aparecium-rp]

ABOUT:

Character name: Marlene McKinnon Age & Birthday: 21 & April 27th Gender & Pronouns: Cis-female & She/Her Occupation: Auror Blood status: Pureblood Previous house: Gryffindor Affiliation: Order of the Phoenix Face claim: Kiana Madeira

BIOGRAPHY:

Marlene McKinnon grew up in a loud household. If it wasn’t her older brother and three younger sisters running through the halls, then it was her cousins screaming that they didn’t get an equal share of the ice cream. Family was everything to the McKinnons and Marlene’s childhood was damn near perfect in her eyes. Being less than two years younger than her brother, the two were incredibly close. Marlene was always ready to partake in any shenanigans he might be cooking up and they often came home with broken bones and scraped knees. His friends were her friends and vice versa, with the distance between them growing only slightly when they were both at school. As a child, she was obsessed with the stars and loved roaming around their country home late at night harassing the local fauna. Everything was an adventure to young Marlene and all she ever dreamed of was growing up to be someone epic. She wanted to travel, fall in love, change the world. Everything for her was big, and bold, and dramatic, and she could not be tamed.

At Hogwarts, Marlene was an absolute menace. If she could cause a scene in any classroom then she would and she was always ready to defy authority. All she ever wanted was to have fun, and she wanted the people around her to have fun too. Never one to take life too seriously, Marlene was always ready to provide her professors with a giant squid sized migraine, party until dawn, and even flirt with the likes of the Slytherins- just to see how much she could rile them up. She was the life of every party, a class clown, a thrill seeker. Marlene backed down from no dare or challenge, whether it be her pride or anger driving her. What most infuriated her professors, however, was that Marlene McKinnon was an exceptionally bright student, but for some reason she had gotten it into her head that being smart wasn’t cool. When the sorting hat suggested that she would make a fine addition to Ravenclaw, Marlene very nearly tossed the thing across the room. She made school look effortless as she breezed through almost every class, but the truth was that every night she would be awake cramming for every test or studying what she had covered in that day’s lessons and hoping no other student would wander into the common room and catch her. It was exhausting, and silly, and Marlene could only keep it up so long until she was finally outed as a bookworm- shockingly not as mortifying as she had expected.

During her final year, the entire world came crashing down around the McKinnons. Unknown to Marlene, her parents and brother, Nathaniel, were members of a secret order; a society founded by Albus Dumbledore to oppose Lord Voldemort and the Death Eaters. Up until then, she had been under the impression that her parents were simply investigators for the Ministry of Magic- essentially desk jobs where they analysed information for petty crimes- little did she know that while she was studying for her N.E.W.T.’s, they were out on missions and fighting in a war that she was all but oblivious to. It was Dumbledore himself that woke her one night to inform her of the attack. The McKinnons had been tracking the movements of Fenrir Greyback and his werewolves when her father had been called away for a more pressing mission, leaving her mother and Nathaniel alone. They were only supposed to be gathering information and neither of them had been ready for the attack. Nathaniel tried his best to protect their mother, but he was only nineteen years old and, at the time, inexperienced on the battlefield. Meredith McKinnon was admitted to St. Mungo’s and, a month later, found herself howling at the moon.

The events following the attack were devastating for the McKinnon family. Their father became obsessed with finding the wolf who turned his wife, leading him directly into an early grave. Their mother withdrew entirely from the Wizarding World, finding it too difficult to live there with her affliction- now working an office job in the Muggle World and rarely seeing her family as she struggles to get her life under control. Nathaniel was forced to become a father figure to his four little sisters, two of which hadn’t even started at Hogwarts yet. Marlene tried to help him out as much as she could, but her auror training had taken over her life. They had their father’s brothers and their mother’s sister, but for the most part it was just the two of them trying to keep their family afloat. After losing their dad, Nathaniel had taken a step back from the Order of the Phoenix, but Marlene couldn’t stay away from it once she knew of its existence. The more she tried to ignore the war, the more the weight of it crushed her. She had to do something. This is not the future she dreamed of and she refuses to live in this world.

OOC INFO:

Played by: Kayleigh Time Zone: GMT

[sugarcubetikki]

Marinette Isn’t A Mary Sue.

At least a half of her salters constantly complain about how Marinette’s a Mary Sue and use this as a reason to justify their hate of her character (Ironically, the other half keeps complaining about how her flaws are really really bad). There are a number of so-called “justifiable reasons” on why she’s a Mary Sue. And I’ll just say that I don’t agree with any of them. These reasons can range from “absolute nonsense. are you even watching the show?” to “I can see why you’d think that but you’re ignoring this aspect.” I’ll be breaking down each and every claim that I know of to tell you why exactly I disagree.

Marinette never faces the consequences of her mistakes

This is one of the reasons I downright disagree with and think is absolute nonsense. Marinette is very fallible. The show has portrayed that on multiple occasions. When she makes a mistake, she always faces the consequences and she tries to fix it. That element to her character is what makes her a great role model and it builds up majority of her character arc. I’m not sure what the salters who say this are exactly thinking, but it looks like they really need to re-watch the show. 

I’ll give you a fine example. Ikari Gozen is one of my favourite exhibits of her fixing her mistake. She judged Kagami too quick. Based on some presumptions she had on her personality, her feelings towards Adrien and her own jealousy, she judged her intentions too quick and made some really bad choices that episode by trying to sabotage her. In the first half of the episode, a lot of us were quite irritated by Marinette’s behaviour, we genuinely felt bad for Kagami. Which is quite surprising as Kagami is an over-hated character and Marinette is the popular protagonist. But no. The show painted the first half in such a manner that we’d feel sorry for Kagami and reprimand Marinette’s actions. The show itself acknowledged that Marinette was on the wrong side in that moment. That she wasn’t perfect, she was in the wrong. Until Marinette finds out that Kagami had genuine intentions, that she only wanted to be friends with her, she feels bad. She feels really bad with the way she treated her previously. And she realises that her unfriendly treatment could potentially lead to Kagami getting hurt, and yes, it did happen. Kagami did get hurt. And Marinette almost lost the chance of becoming friends with Kagami in that moment.  And she would have to live with that guilt for some time if her mother hadn’t called. When her mother called, Marinette stepped up and took the opportunity to prove to Kagami that she was a good friend. That she was sorry. And did want to be friends with her. She made a mistake, faces the consequences and steps up to fix them. The way her relationship with Kagami changes in the course of episodes is a really good example that tells us Marinette is fallible.

Marinette has way too many talents and achievements 

Okay. This one is somewhat reasonable and I can see where people are coming from here. However, I still don’t think it accounts for her being a Mary Sue. Here’s why. In Miraculous World, not going to lie, everyone is pretty talented, they’ve all made crazy achievements. Do I need to list now? 

Alya runs a famous blog: The Ladyblog. She even earned an interview with Nadia Chamack. Nino is a DJ. He appeared on a show and won! Marc and Nathaniel write/illustrate and publish comics! Ivan, Luka, Juleka and Rose are in a band: Kitty Section. They played live on TV! Adrien’s a teen model, multilingual, pianist, has great physical skills due to fencing and basketball. Even Lila has decent modelling skills, she works for Gabriel now. Kagami is an excellent fencer. That comes from the idea that she’s from a prestigious family world-renowned for fencing. Marinette is pretty close with Jagged because she designed his #1 album for him. Also, she won the contest for Gabriel and was recognised by Audrey Bourgeois. Max literally built a super-intelligent robot with emotions and everything. 

So, what does that mean? They’re all Mary Sues and Gary Stu’s. No! We need to remind ourselves that this a kids show and there’s the aspect of encouraging kids to believe in working on their own talents, so they’re encouraged to do anything and push ahead for their dreams. Plus, it doesn’t portray that their talents come naturally, it shows that they work for them and developed these talents through practice. 

Clumsiness and stuttering are Mary Sue traits

First of all, not every character that has these traits is a Mary Sue. It always depends on how these traits are represented. Her stuttering isn’t just there for no reason. It’s meant to display her difficulty with expressing her own feelings. We’ve had episodes with Marinette saying how it’s difficult for her to say what she feels. Episodes! And it isn’t just a meaningless detail. It represents her fear. Her fear of rejection. Her fear of being in a relationship and things going wrong. Her fear of many things. Her fear is the reason why she hesitates. Why she stutters. And it tells us that fear is completely natural. Fear in love is something that’s natural.  

I'm so tired of not being able to just tell him how I feel! But I'm so scared, Tikki, always so scared he'll reject me.

What if he tells me that he loves me? Or that he doesn't love me? Or that he likes me, but not in that way -

Yeah. Don’t you dare tell me that this fear isn’t depicted in the show. It’s blatantly obvious.

As for her clumsiness, it represents her nervousness. It comes in the form of her fear to mess up. She’s clumsy when she’s nervous. And thus she’s afraid she can mess up due to that clumsiness and nervousness. In the Origins, her insecurity, her nervousness was all displayed in the form of her clumsiness, and she knows she displays her nervousness through clumsiness And she was afraid that her clumsiness could mess things up. That’s why she believed she was disaster-prone. And incapable of being a superhero. Because she was nervous and scared. 

She gets too much screen-time

This one I really don’t get. How is having more screen time making her a Mary Sue? She’s the main protagonist. Of course, she’s going to get a lot of screen-time. Her endearing personality and active lifestyle molds the storyline of the show. She’s easy to follow along. If you’re comparing her to Adrien, I’ll say that...Adrien’s a mysterious and sheltered character. Giving him too much screen-time can get boring because he’s stuck at home all the time. We can focus on his family mystery but if the show does it too much, it ruins the mystery aspect of it. I adore Adrien getting screen-time with episodes focused around him too but I’m not going to expect him to get as much as screen-time as Marinette because his character is different, and him getting as much screen-time as her doesn’t work for the style and demographic. And claiming that she’s Mary Sue because of more screen-time is stupidity.

Encouraged jealousy and despising other girls around her crush is a Mary Sue quality

Firstly, the show never encourages Marinette’s jealousy. It doesn’t encourage it. Plus, she’s not jealous in every situation. Only in specific situation when she thinks there’s something off about the person like Chloe and Lila. In Volpina, Marinette had realised she had gone overboard with calling out Lila. And she did face consequences for it. Her akumatization. And she did try to fix her mistake in the end by apologising for overreacting. Lila was the one who turned her away that time. As for Kagami, her jealousy arc changed based on her attitudes about Kagami. During Frozer, she wasn’t jealous per say, upset but not jealous. Frozer made Marinette and Kagami misunderstand each other, that’s why they’re quite petty towards one and other for the next few episodes. In Animaestro, I don’t think Marinette would’ve been that petty if it weren’t for Chloe. But yeah, that episode isn’t one of her best moments. I’m not a fan of it either. In Ikari Gozen, these misunderstandings were cleared and so were the issues from Animaestro, and it’s fine now. On a overall, I don’t believe Marinette would get jealous around everyone. At least, not in a way where she would try to stop them from getting close to Adrien all the time. It depends on the person and situation. 

---

In conclusion, Marinette isn’t a Mary Sue. She’s fallible, has flaws, fears and works for her achievements. And that’s on point. 

[thatasianstereotype]

Fuck. I’m Gay.

I’ve been reading a lot of ml salt fics lately (mainly @unmaskedagain which is a literal goldmine of saltiness). And getting into the Damienette ship. Marinette really does deserves better (Fuck Canon) but so does Adrien. He is not a “sidekick”. Chat Noir and Ladybug are partners = equals. So I decided why not write a fic where Adrien gets his own happy ending in the form of a grumpy assassin-turned-vigilante that loves animals more than people. 

Somewhat of a crack writing where creative liberties were definitely taken. 

.

.

.

Lila Rossi is a bitch and everyone knew it. Well, by everyone, Adrien means himself, his good-amazing-make-pastries-for-him friend Marinette, his maybe-not-really-sure friend Chloe and his-not-that-close-really-classmate Nathaniel. 

Yeah. It was a small number. 

But Lila is still a bitch. 

Anyway, Lila’s lies and manipulations have disturbed the status quo and not in a good way. She ended up making the majority of the class fawn over her like she was a perfect goddess and not a pompous-temperamental-hormonal teenager. Teenagers were prone to be gullible; he can understand his classmates being inclined to believe her. But this was utterly ridiculous (man, Chloe is rubbing off on him). No. You know what’s even more ridiculous? Ms. Bustier letting Lila get away with it. She doesn’t even stop the class mistreating Marinette who claimed she was a bully just because of you know who - Fucking Lila Rossi. The audacity of that bitch and her bitchy followers, am I right? 

Growing up he watched the tv shows and the animes. High schools always had their drama but he thought that was to get some plot going on. He didn’t think it was an actual thing that happens in real life. But he was proven wrong. Françoise Dupont High School had their drama and it was way worse than what he watched on screen. 

The worst part was that he couldn’t get away from Lila. Or he’ll be pulled from school (Fuck you Dad). He had to sit next to that bitch and listen to her drone on and on about things they both knew she didn’t do, about things she promised to do for her ever gullible followers friends. And couldn’t say anything against it if he wanted to stay in school. But even his discreet questioning didn’t do that much. It got some of the class to think something’s possibly fishy with her stories but not enough to think Lila was evil. So he just gave up. Because what was even the point? 

He was distancing himself from Alya and Nino. He couldn’t really be friends with people who thought Lila held the sun and moon. They didn’t hang out as much as they used to and he made excuses when they did invite him to stuff. Lately, he was making outrageous excuses - like he had to take his cat to the vet even though he didn’t have a cat - to see if they caught on. They didn’t. It was fun but he didn’t know whether to feel happy or sad about that. But feeling sad-depressed-pain over it was a bitch so he decided to take his victories as they come. 

Chloe had left the school earlier on. Her mom wanted to spend one-on-one time with her daughter (Yeah, Audrey is better at being a mother here). She was completely out of this drama mess. And Nathaniel kept his head down to not paint a target on himself. 

His only consolation and ally in this whole mess was Marinette. His darling angel. His sunshine incarnate. His own goddess (not like that bitch Lila let’s get one thing straight). 

When he was feeling overwhelmed (which was a lot), he spent it at her house. They spent it discussing fashion, trash talking Liar-la and the sheep class, playing video games, and making/eating the best baked goods in all of Paris. If he wasn’t at his photo shoots or at school, he was at her house. And with how often they spent time with each other, it wasn’t long before they accidentally revealed their alter egos to each other. 

(The class’ Everyday Ladybug was actually Ladybug. How amazing is that! Isn’t Marinette the absolute coolest?!) 

Since they outed themselves to each other, they had to give up their miraculous. And new heroes had to be chosen. As the guardian, Marinette decided to give the Ladybug miraculous to herself and the Cat one to Adrien. And make them the superheros of Paris. 

(Just when he thought that Marinette couldn’t get any cooler) 

They both collectively decided that being friends were for the best and put away their obsession crush over the other far far away. Now they were best friends-almost siblings. Oh who was he kidding? He was an honorary Dupain-Cheng. Marinette and her parents said so. And who was he to deny the goddess? 

All was well. 

Until he met this gorgeous boy with raven black hair and piercing green eyes that made him question everything in life. 

Like fuck. His life wasn’t hard enough already? 

.

It was a slow patrol. Just stopped a few petty crimes. No akuma tonight. He wasn’t really expecting much to happen.

Mari said patrolling regularly gives citizens a sense of security and it helps if one of them were on scene if an akuma does appear. 

He didn’t mind. He loved running on the rooftops and feeling the wind in his face. After some time, he stopped and stood on top of one of the tallest buildings. Just soaking the view. The peace and serenity of it all. Seeing the glowing lights of his beloved city. Seeing the Eiffel Tower standing tall and proud. 

(Forget school. Forget Liar-la and her hoard of bitches) 

This was his city. This was why he fights Hawk Moth with Ladybug. They had something precious to protect. 

He was done patrolling the regular routes and all his schoolwork was already finished. He could go to sleep but he didn’t feel that tired. And he really didn’t want to go back home. Mari shared her theory on his dad being Hawk Moth. She had really good reasons and a plethora of proof. If they could switch miraculous, why couldn’t he and Mayura - most likely Nathalie? Which would explain how Gabriel got akumatized.

After all her support with dealing with Lila, he was way more inclined to believe her even without the evidence. But those things just made him more wary of his dad. And he wasn’t too stoked on spending more time than what he can get away with with the guy. Because his dad being Hawk Moth explains why he wants Lila (his strongest supporter - Chameleon and Oni-chan, anyone?) close and makes Adrien play nice with her. And anyone who enables Lila’s bitchiness is on his enemy list. 

Anyway, he was out here to enjoy the good mood not think about evil bitches and evil dads. So he sat himself down and enjoyed the sights. It was more calming than you would think. 

He heard cars blaring and even a dog barking. The slight breeze felt nice. The moon was pretty bright tonight. The stars too. There was a lone couple walking through the park. There was also another teen in black running on rooftops a few buildings away. 

Wait. 

What? 

He blinked and looked again. Huh, there was another teen in black running on rooftops. And it was not a hallucination. 

What the actual fuck?

He was instantly on his feet, baton already in hand as he raced across the roof to reach said stranger. 

“Hey!” 

But because he was the lucky owner of the unlucky miraculous, the moment he said that, the guy was about to jump off a building to presumably roll onto the next one like Chat was watching him do beforehand. But his call made him lose focus and Chat watched horrified as the guy slipped and started falling into the alley. 

Oh fuck! Mari was going to fucking kill this dumbass kitty!

He hoped to everything that Mari thinks is holy that he makes it in time. Extending his baton, he used it as a huge Pogo stick to basically catapult himself towards the stranger and wrapped his arms around him as he braced himself for the full weight of hitting the gravel at this height and speed. But he wasn’t that that concerned. His suit protected him from the majority of the injuries that would’ve occurred if he wasn’t wearing it. It hurt but it isn’t as bad as it could’ve been. Remember earlier? He takes his victories as they come. 

This was not the smartest of ideas, he’ll admit. Mari had the brains to be honest. But it wasn’t bad if he say so. And he does say so. 

He rolled over and immediately looked over the stranger that was remarkably unharmed in this whole mess. 

And oh.

Oh.

The stranger was taller than he was with a lithe and lean frame. He had raven black hair that complimented his tanned skin and gorgeous green eyes that pierced through him, making his heart do funny things. 

He was not expecting him to look as hot as he did. He wore a simply black t-shirt and jeans but he looked like a fucking Adonis, what the fuck.  Even the moon shone down on him, highlighting his handsome features even more.  

He shook himself of those thoughts and focused on what was more important. “I’m so sorry. Are you alright?” 

He was rudely pushed away, but he didn’t take offense. He did cause the guy to fall after all. 

“Do not touch me.” (What kind of accent is that?) “I’m fine. You are truly a moronic imbecile of the highest accord to yell like that. And what are you even supposed to be? Some kind of knock-off Catwoman?” 

At that, Chat looked at Hot-And-Sexy weird. “Are you new here? I’m the superhero Chat Noir. I protect Paris with Ladybug.”

“You’re joking.”

“I know I come off as the goofy hero because I make purr-fect puns all the time but I’m not joking about this.” 

He took out his phone to show the foreign (since he’s obviously not a Parisian) stranger the akuma attacks and Ladybug and Chat Noir being a dynamic duo, saving Paris and beating Hawk Moth. Ok, he showed the stranger a lot of stuff. Sue him. He gets to brag about his Princess. And himself too.

“I never heard about this before.” Hot-And-Sexy (he has got to come up with a better name) said afterward. “3 years this has been going on? Why didn’t you ask for help from the Justice League or other superheros?” 

Chat shrugged. “We tried. But they said we’re obviously pulling a prank and making this all up. So we stopped asking for help.”

For some reason this made Hot-And-Sexy angry. “They ignored your plea for help and left you to fight for yourselves?”

“Pretty much, yea.” 

“You and Ladybug are children.” 

“Excuse me? Are you doubting our ability to protect our city?" He was not apologetic at the sharp edge his voice took. Forget looking hot. How dare he? The audacity really. 

Hot-And-Sexy shook his head. “I’m not. I know some child superheroes who are adequate at their jobs and a few who are remarkable like Robin in Gotham. But the majority of them had adult mentors to guide them. From what you’ve shown me, you and Ladybug had no one. You were left alone to fend for yourself with essentially no help.” 

He never thought of it that way. But hearing it like that made him think: Fuck Adults Who Chose Children to Fight Their War For Them and Fuck Hawk Moth For Putting Them In This Position In The First Place. 

You know what. Just to clear all his bases - Fuck Everyone But The Dupain-Chengs. 

Chat couldn’t help but shrug, not quite knowing what to say to that. “Life is a bitch, I’ve come to find out. But enough of that. Why were you running on rooftops anyway?”

“It calms me down.”

Relatable. 

“Is...Is your tail moving?” 

“Huh?” He looked behind him to see his tail was indeed moving lazily. “Yeah. I’m called Chat Noir for a reason.”

“May I touch them?” Chat was used to people (usually kids) pulling on his tail to see if it was real (It was). And it really hurts because they usually rough. Not that he blames them. Kids don’t know any better. Still, he usually says no when people ask. 

But Hot-And-Sexy had such a sincere expression that he said yes. To his surprise and delight, Hot-And-Sexy was extremely gentle (Can this guy be anymore perfect?) and it felt nice to be petted like that. Curse his touch-starvation (again Fuck you Dad).

Hot-And-Sexy was apparently fascinated by his ears and tail. 

“Are you a meta?” He noticed how Hot-And-Sexy’s voice turned softer and fonder (or was he imagining that?).

“Nah. I’m fully human. I just got powers to transform into this.” He looked down at his phone seeing that the time was nearing 2 am.

“Have you suffered any injuries from your stupid stunt?” 

“Hmm?” Chat looked back at him before gesturing to his body. “Don’t worry. I may not look like it but I can take it.”

He can practically feel Hot-And-Sexy rolling his eyes. “What an utter dolt.” 

But there wasn’t any heat behind it so he didn’t take it to heart. 

“Thanks, babe.” 

“That was an insult.”

“And I’m taking it like a compliment.”

Chat stood up and stretched his limbs. Hot-And-Sexy doing the same but dusting off his clothes instead.

“So, uh, need any help getting home?”

“I am perfectly capable of finding my own way, thanks.” 

“Ok. Have a nice night.” He was about to leave when he was caught off guard by Hot-And-Sexy staring at him for a good few seconds, making his limbs freeze in place at the heavy attention.

Before he said. “You should try contacting the Batfamily in Gotham about Hawk Moth. They’re used to dealing with weird things. I’m sure they won’t turn you or Ladybug away.” 

Chat was a bit distracted by how intensely those green eyes focused on him, making his heart beat faster and his cheeks turn a vibrant red. 

He was so screwed. 

He used his baton to shoot himself up so he can run on rooftops, hurrying to the Dupain-Cheng bakery. 

.

“Mari! I think I’m gay!”

“It’s 2 in the morning, Chaton. Go to sleep and we’ll talk about it in the morning.” 

.

After a good night’s rest (and thank everything that was right in the world that today was a weekend), Adrien told Mari all about Hot-And-Sexy. And yes, he did call the stranger that out loud. His everything-that-actually-matters sister simply took it in stride after giggling a bit. They spent the majority of the day discussing emotions and everything that came with that bundle. 

Before he finally came to a conclusion. 

He is definitely gay (He liked girls but not like like them). And most definitely had a crush on Hot-And-Sexy with the pretty green eyes. 

Good news: He is no longer having a sexuality crisis. 

Bad news: He is going through an emotional crisis. 

Like dealing with these feelings that is making his stomach flip flop over and over again? The only one he ever had to deal with was the one he had on Ladybug and that (he talked with Mari about it months before. She was amazing with these emotional matters) was more of a hero-worship crush than anything really romantic. 

And his crush on Hot-And-Sexy was so much more. 

.

So it’s been about 2 weeks since he encountered Hot-And-Sexy. And he still haven’t figured out what else to call him. But the nickname was growing on him. 

(He also told Mari about asking the Batfam for help but she was a bit apprehensive after the disastrous attempts of convincing the Justice League. He shrugged, trusting her opinion and left it at that) 

Anyway, Lila was being her usual bitchy self. Father was being non-existent like always. Mari was his only source of sanity at school. And Hawk Moth was being a bitch. 

Because of course, the day before they have a huge test, he decides to akumatize someone (in this case, a businessman who was really unhappy with getting fired) and cut in on study time. And this akuma took a while to defeat. Guess he drew a lot of strength from his burning hatred of the failings of the corporate world. 

And just yesterday, a teenager who was upset at being grounded got akumatized and terrorized the city for 3 hours before Ladybug could purify her. It did however confirmed her fears. Hawk Moth was getting stronger. It took longer to defeat his monsters. They needed to find him and ended this fast. 

Adrien landed on Mari’s balcony and slipped in her room, crashing on her big comfy bed, de-transforming on the spot. Plagg sleepily floating and laying next to him on the pillow. He was so tired. And photo shoots and school drama were not helping things.

.

For the record, he was not at all expecting to see Hot-And-Sexy in a bookstore of all places. 

He was so engrossed in looking through the latest Boku no Hero Academia manga (can’t wait until Season 5 comes out) that when someone touched his shoulder, he was not proud to admit he squeaked a bit.

He turned around and his eyes widened his surprise. 

“Hot-And-Sexy!” 

It was indeed the Adonis Adrien had a huge crush on. Today he was wearing a white t-shirt paired with a blue denim jacket and black ripped jeans. Wow. He really can make anything look hot.

No. Bad Adrien. Don’t let him know you actually have a crush on him.

And oh fuck. Hot-And-Sexy was staring at the blonde and Adrien tried not to let himself get flustered. He has a very intense stare. For all he knew, Hot-And-Sexy stares at everyone like that.

Calm the fuck down, heart. You too brain.

He raised a handsome eyebrow in amusement. “Excuse me?”

Adrien felt himself burn with embarrassment, his face turning bright scarlet. No wonder he was fit for the unlucky miraculous or was this just a side-effect? Note to self, ask Mari about this later. 

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t get your name last time. And I just started calling you that in my head. Cause you’re really hot and you have pretty eyes.”

Fuck mouth! Why won’t you stop talking! Please for the love of everything that makes Mari a BAMF stop. Stop digging further into the hole of embarrassment! Abort mission! Abort!

“When did we meet?”

At that, he blink a few times. Oh fuck. He was not Superhero Chat Noir. He was Civilian Adrien Agreste. Mari was definitely murdering his dumbass tonight. Lightning please strike him down right now. Where was an unlucky lightning strike when you need it?

After a few seconds of his horrified silence, Hot-And-Sexy chuckled (he had such a nice laugh). “You are extremely lucky I already figured out your alter ego beforehand, Chaton.”

Before Adrien could even unwrap that statement, he held out a hand and had a dangerously sexy smirk on his face. “My name is Damian Wayne. Would you care to get a cup of coffee with me?”

And Adrien nodded his head, not trusting himself to speak. He can deal with the superhero thing later when he can think straight (hah!) and is not distracted by Damian’s beautiful smile and alluring green eyes and perfect everything.

.

Guess what?

Ya Boi got game.

(At least, he likes to think he does)

After a successful coffee date (was it a date? Please let it be a date), they exchanged numbers (cue internal squealing) and met up a few times afterward to hang out.

Apparently, Dami was here on business to deal with something for Wayne Enterprises.

“Aren’t you 17?”

“Father believes in preparing us when we’re young.”

Dami was amazingly sweet. Arrogant and pretentious with a stick up his ass but sweet. He treats stray animals with such reverence that Adrien’s heart melt every time he sees it.

It was an added bonus when Damian scorned Lila with cruel words and disgusted looks when she tried to cut in Adrien and Dami’s date(?)/meetup(?)/spending-time-together event.

She cried and whined afterwards and Adrien has to endure his father’s lecture. But it was totally worth it.

Oh yeah. Mari was not pleased that he accidentally outed himself to a civilian. But nothing that a couple of sad kitty eyes can’t fix.

“You are so lucky you’re cute, kitty-cat.” Mari grumbled but she was smiling. “I just need to have a good talk with him on the importance of secrecy.”

.

That day Damian Wayne learned to fear a certain Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

.

It was 2 weeks later when Adrien woke up to a package next to his futon in Mari’s room. When he opened it, he saw the Butterfly and Peacock miraculous inside.

There was a card beneath it. And in beautiful cursive script read: 

I dearly hope you enjoy my courting gift, mon amour. Allow me the honor to formally ask you out on a date. I look forward to hearing favorably from you soon.

- Damian Wayne

He couldn’t believe it.

“Mari! Damian likes me back!”

“Chaton, I swear. It is 2 in the morning.”

Next

[hawthxrnerps]

{So, this is a wanted plots post, I’ll probably add to it over time but here is some stuff I’d like for most if not all muses}:

Primary:

Robert:

 A polyamory plot involving Robert and Gabriel, these two have been friends for well over twenty years and they often meet and share drinks and talks. Gabriel is Robert’s closest friend and if he was going to share a lover with anyone, it’d be him. Maybe they’re a Prince or other royal from another Kingdom that just happened to be sent over during one of Gabriel’s visits to Robert, and the three are sat on Roberts balcony or in the castle gardens talking and sharing drinks before things take a heated turn. Maybe it’s from a joke about Robert’s retirement from being a King and people calling him old. 

Eurion:

Always used to getting what he wants, Eurion found himself enamoured with someone that it might not be socially ‘acceptable’ for him to want. Maybe they’re a thief, assassin, or some kind of supernatural creature like werewolf or what not. Some things have been said between them here and there but nothing had happened until Eurion finds his way into their chambers and waits naked for their return. 

Jinse:

Being the new King is a hard job for Jinse, and he’d caused some ruckus among the court due to switching out and around all of his Father’s advisers and other people he employed for people of his own choosing instead of just dealing with what was left for him. Among them is a fellow noble and the pair have been sleeping together on the side for some time, but then said noble approaches Jinse with an idea, they wed. They marry and Jinse won’t be constantly hounded by offers of marriage from people he doesn’t know. Maybe it’s an open marriage, with the two sleeping with each other and sometimes other people, sometimes even sharing the same person or people. 

Rok:

Rok is a rare half-elf that doesn’t feel welcome among humans or elves, so he found a new place to call him in the way of always being on the move and never settling down. But maybe along the way he had recruited someone who wanted to help him hunt monsters and save villages? This person can be non-human or whatever. But things had turned steamy between the pair one night at a camp fire while they had finished bathing in a lake. Rok is a power bottom to the core, so a sub-top for him.        

Garrot:

A new warrior, or mage, joined the mercenary troop and Garrot finds himself interested in things they can do...in many ways of the word. The spark is quick and fast between the pair, and it soon becomes a partnership of them leading the mercenary troop together, each offering advice that maybe the other couldn’t. 

Franchis:

   A mage with a thing for non-humans, maybe Franchis becomes entangled with a werewolf, or orc, or anything creature like. Two options: Maybe they’re also a mage and they can bond over spells and books, or they’re a typical warrior and the pair make a deadly fighting duo who fuck a lot. 

Aarush:

Only valuing strength, Aarush likes it when people can prove themselves in any way of the word. Maybe someone comes to Sunwalker isle, wanting to be a part of the famous warriors that defeated a Demon King and they must prove themselves to the general. The two spar, with them being possibly evenly matched, Aarush accepts them then eventually approaches them in their chamber. He offered them a proposition, which they are free to ignore. He very much enjoyed their training and expresses his desire to fuck them. 

Gale:

 Threesome. Greedy pirate captain brings either two whores or just two younger men who seek travel on his ship, they’re called to the Captain’s quarters and Gale offers them a chance. If they want to, they can let him fuck them and they can stay in the captain’s quarters, or they can return back below deck with the rest of the crew and its never brought up again. 

Dorrian:

Feeling stuck with being unable to master a specific spell, he seeks out other highly trained mages for advice. But being a Necromancer, he’s often turned away or insulted, when he meets someone else who offers to share their knowledge. Feelings grow and a kiss is shared over a dusty old book. 

Uruk:

An envoy sent to the Orc settlement, Uruk welcomes them with open arms and offers to try and make their stay as pleasant as possible. Then later that day, this person approaches Uruk while he is bathing and things happen from there. 

Fletcher + Nathaniel:

Polyamory, Fletcher and Nathaniel always worked closely together for many years now, the two do almost everything together. Including men, maybe a strapping strong knight, or smart mage comes to Faelignum for a visit and is seduced by the Fae King and Prince. They would have to be vers, since fletcher is a bottom and Nathaniel is vers. 

Bader:

Someone from his old life finally figured out where ‘Coster’ had went, Coster was his alias when he was living among the humans as a petty thief before being called to return and take over the Throne of the Night Folk. Maybe they had started a relationship, only for Bader to vanish and return to his ‘real life’. They track him down and want answers, but the spark hasn’t fizzled out, they seek to repair their relationship and want to find out who he really is. 

Riel:

Riel is against arranged marriage, constantly turning down suitors and omega’s who wish to marry the Werewolf King. When a muse is sent to try and entice him, he falls for the bait, but still refuses marriage. He says he would like to be with them, but on their own terms and not what others want for them. 

Laurence:

An omega wolf who is loyal to King Riel, most of his time is spent around the castle. But he’s more than just the hand of the king, he’s the personal assassin and executioner of Riel. Always keeping things a secret from others, Laurence’s love life is shrouded in mystery. Perhaps he has has been spending time with someone in secret, meeting in discreet locations or maybe they’re an outsider to the Kingdom. 

Garland:

A shape-shifter who is more often than not, scared for his life. Upon being ambushed by bandits he is rescued by someone and taken in, they think he is just a simple peasant who was injured but he becomes attached to their company and eventually reveals the truth. But they accept him and they live together, maybe out in the woods, peacefully where no one can hear them fuck. 

Kharron:

Alone after being revived from the dead a few hundred years after his death, he feels lost. But then he surprisingly encounters an old flame, not realising at the time they were an immortal of sorts, he stays with them to try and ease into this world he knows nothing about. The flame is rekindled. 

Maxwell:

He’s a young, bratty novice mage who loves to be spanked and fucked roughly. Maybe he gets his wish when he’s sent as a messenger to a foreign Kingdom, where he catches the eye of either a King, Knight, royal or noble and they indulge in his fantasy's. 

Szu-Ku:

An arranged marriage, someone is sent to Dynasty Kingdom as a political envoy and they get along well with Szu-Ku. They slept together a few times and they become a confidant of the King, then they propose the offer to Szu-Ku. The pair get married and they can secure / bring in larger amounts of funds from their home kingdom to help with the rebuilding effort. Szu-Ku agrees. 

Secondary:

Paul Rovia / Jesus:

Surviving is hard, and even harder doing it alone. Someone is brought into the group after being found, and there is an instant connection between the two. Why waste time and hide it when you could die at any time?

Dr.Thorn:

Leading a supervillain team is hard, as well as being the CEO of Falcon Industries. While using his real name, Marcus, he hired a new assistant who seems very eager to please their new boss. 

Tyler:

Goofing around during guard duty, Tyler just loves to spend his time with his face in the pillow and getting fucked. Maybe it’s someone who indulges him repeatedly. 

Chameleon:

Being a cameraman during the day, using it as a cover to hide his super powers, he gets hired by someone who is doing a one man ‘show’ and Clancy finds himself a little too distracted. Eventually the person notices, and finding Clancy attractive, invites him to make it a ‘proper show’.   

Axel:

Before the end of the world, they were dating. But then everything went to shit, zombies everywhere and you didn’t know who was dead or not. But then by absolute chance, they encounter each other again. Maybe assuming one is an intruder, they meet again with their guns pointed at one each other before they recognise the other person. 

Steven:

A twink top who likes to fuck daddy bottoms, it can be anything from his friend’s dad, to the hot guy next door or his attractive professor. 

Rick:

When Rick became separated from his group for a few days, he encountered someone else. They stick together, having to share warmth or something for a night and then one night it turns into something more. A kiss, then the offer to help each other forget the hell-hole world they’re in. Rick brings them back to Alexandria and they continue what they had. 

[nobodyfamousposts]

Lila voices her concern that Marinette may be working for Hawkmoth, Felix over hearing and saying that would be impossible. Lila claims Marinette's kindness could just be an act, but Felix says it's not because Marinette is kind, but because she's too smart to be working with Hawkmoth. If Hawkmoth had Marinette on his side, he would have the miraculous by now.

I was going to do salt for this–had it saved for the longest time. But meh, gonna do crack because why not?

“I’m telling you, it’s suspicious!” Lila insisted.

“It really isn’t.” Felix spoke up dryly, only to be ignored.

“We can’t rule out the possibility.” She continued.

Nino frowned, eyebrow raised. “Sorry, Lila, I just can’t see Mari working with Hawk Moth.”

“Are you calling me a liar?” She asked, teary-eyed.

“Of course not!” He insisted. “But it’s Marinette. She wouldn’t do something like that.”

“But what if you don’t know the real her?” Lila turned to his girlfriend. “Alya, you’re a reporter AND her best friend! Surely you’ve seen some of Marinette’s crazier antics!”

“Oh definitely.” Alya agreed, remembering the time when she caught Marinette hyped up on coffee and energy drinks after apparently having been unable to sleep for three days straight due to the constant akuma attacks and how in her sleep-deprived state seemed rather intent on making a voodoo doll of Hawk Moth to stab the hell out of in petty vengeance before Alya and Sabine had to team up just to try and coax her to bed.

“That’s why I’m absolutely certain she’d NEVER work with Hawk Moth.”

Yeah, hatred didn’t get more clear than that.

“But she’s never been akumatized! It’s like Hawk Moth knows something!”

“Probably that if she DID get akumatized, he’d be her first target.” Alya responded. “Trust me, Marinette hates the guy.” Scarily so. Some days, Alya was actually glad that her crush on Adrien dominated her focus.

“But what if that’s just a trick to keep people from suspecting her?” Lila replied. “After all, with how sweet she tends to act, who would think Marinette Dupain-Cheng was working with a terrorist?”

The rest of the class looked uncertain.

Felix finally had enough and promptly closed his book.

“I think you’re failing to realize just WHY that is nonsense.”

Lila turned on him, raising an eyebrow in challenge. “Oh?”

“It is impossible that Marinette could be assisting Hawk Moth.”

“And why is that?” She sneered. “Because she’s ‘too nice’? Her kindness could all just be an act, you know.”

Several of the classmates seemed to bristle at that.

“No.” Felix replied simply.

“It’s because Hawk Moth is an idiot.”

That gave everyone pause.

“What?”

“His akumas are atrocious.” Felix explained. “Their powers are arbitrary and often ill suited to the single task they have been given. They have the attention span of toddlers and inability to think or plan. And that’s not even getting into their outfits, which look like 90’s off brand reject toys—something a designer like Marinette would NEVER allow if she had any say in the matter.”

Lila frowned, confused. “What’s your point?”

He simply glared, annoyed and bored and overall looking like this was a complete waste of his time. “My point is that Marinette Dupain-Cheng is creative and logical. IF she was truly working with Hawk Moth, we wouldn’t even be here discussing it because she would have WON by now. And even that would be a big IF since there is a greater likelihood that he would be the one holding their operation back and she would have taken over for herself by now.”

“Hawk-Mari…” Nino whispered.

“That sounds awesome, now that I think about it.” Kim grinned. “Hawk Moth ousted by his teenage apprentice.”

“Sounds kind of interesting, actually.” Nathaniel mused, wondering about such a twist for the comic.

Adrien in the meantime had a strange thought of a hot Hawk Moth Marinette offering him power to escape his father and found himself flushing. No, bad Chat. That is not hot.

The room broke up into chatter among the students as they discussed the impossibility of Marinette being evil or the possibilities if she were.

Marinette didn’t understand why everyone suddenly got quiet when she entered the room, why Lila looked so vexed, or why Felix was smirking.

Or why Adrien was blushing and avoiding her gaze.

[fuckingdeadbutroyal]

Jasonette July- Soulmate AU- Part 2

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 -

“How long has this been going on?”, Damians voice was flat. An outsider would maybe even perceive it as bored, but his brothers heard him. Damian Wayne was horrified. “Five and a half days now, to be precise. We have heard of the earthquake but we didn’t know about the metas. That’s why we’re here, save the citizens and catch the-” “How did we not know of any metas in Paris? Why are we only coming to help them now? Look at this place!”, Nightwing interrupted his father, in Jasons opinion rightfully so. Paris was not what he remembered from the posters and booklets he had seen. The city could have lost WW2 and even then it would probably look better than it currently did. “That’s international matters, we’re not even meant to be here but it got out of control so I asked Red Robin to investigate. Now stop complaining and start working.”, Bruce scolded his adoptives and, leaving no room for further interruption, began giving out orders. Dick, Jason, Stephanie and Damian were on citizen-saving duty, while Tim stayed at the manor and guided them per earpiece. Bruce, Cass, Duke and Barbara were on metawatch™, meant to collect more information on the cause of destruction, aswell as the heroes Tim had mentioned in his report. One final tech-check later the formerly crowded rooftop was deserted and Paris had a new crew of support in form of bat-themed vigilantes.

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

Jason felt...sad. Deeply, desperatly heartbroken. He remembers feeling that way when he first discovered his fathers lack of avenging the death of his second son. But now? Of course, the sight he was currently enduring was horrific. He was sorry it had to come to this, frustrated his hands just weren’t enough to help every Parisian in pain. But that desperation? His inhumane tiredness? The way his whole body just felt numb, as if he were in so much pain his senses just wouldn’t- no couldn’t keep up? He knew it was out of place, his brothers were okay after all. Even Dick, the most emotional one out of his siblings, was much more focused than Jason. He knew it had to do with his soulmate, at least he guessed as much. The thought of them being somewhere in this city, hiding in one of those hyper-secure shelters he had seen while rummaging through the collapsed buildings and pulling out everyone he could find...it was unnerving. Though somehow he knew that that wasn’t the case. 

Upon first taking in the sight of Paris’ ruins Red Hood just knew where he was and what streets he was aiming for. He knew where the shelters were, could guide the civilians towards them and even recognized some of the buidings, even though there was nothing left but dust and dirt. Jason had a gut feeling telling him that all those things weren’t actually his knowledge. It had to be his soulmates. They knew everything he needed to know about the city, they recognized it from above. But one piece of information, which now that Timmy has properly updated them about Paris’ situation should have been absolutely unavoidable, was missing. What do those shelters look like from the inside? 

Why doesn’t his soulmate know?

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

Marinette was on autopilot. It has been four days since her parents death. She hasn’t slept, hasn’t eaten and hasn’t stopped moving. Chat has already collapsed twice, which ended up with her carrying him to one of their recharging-shelters in the water and spending ungodly amounts of time trying to find food and water for him aswell as holding him in place while he slept, hoping to avoid his otherwise certain death by drowning. “What a sad end it would be”, the girl thought to herself, “all that effort, all that pain, and we could just loose it all to a petty accident. Not that there is much left to save...”

She wasn’t going to admit it out loud, but Ladybug, the hero and saviour of Paris, did no longer care about winning. She didn’t think of saving those people who were praying in her name, praying to her. She didn’t believe in god and oh Kwami did she not believe in herself. What she did believe in, though, was revenge. She wanted to kill that dusty bitch, even if it was the last thing she would do. Ladybug didn’t care about the victim. She knew for herself that if she were the one who did this to her beloved City of Love, she could no longer live with herself. She wanted to kill the akuma and even though a voice deep inside her was telling her otherwise, trying to stop her and arguing that this was not what her parents would have wanted, Marinette did not care. She was going to free the petite akuma and then tear it apart with her very own teeth. And guess who’s next? “That’s right, I’m coming for your ass, Shitmoth.”

Her voice woke the boy next to her. She hasn’t even realised how her train of thought has surfaced into the real world until Plagg, who was sleeping on the blondes stomach, started grumbling in despleasure about how his pillow shouldn’t be moving. Adrien sat up, not meeting Ladybugs eyes as he took the cheese she was handing him and giving it to the suddenly awake and alert Kwami who, as always, swallowed it whole. It was kind of nice, reassuring, watching him do something Adrien has formerly perceived as highly annoying. Back then, before “The End of the World”, as he now called it, has fallen from the sky. Or rather dug it’s way out from six feet under, since the main cause of destruction were the earthquakes. Destruction. Thinking of it made Adriens gag-reflexes act up. He hated this akuma. Not only for the obvious reasons. No, Adrien hated how useless he himself felt because of it. Why should he cataclysm something while he’s trying to stop Dirtface from doing so? It was highly contraproductive and Chat could not stand it. It was like watching the person you hate most, fan-girl about something you love. Kind of ruins the experience. Adrien didn’t know if he could use his power the way he did before, ever again. The only upside to it was, that he didn’t have to recharge as often and was therefore capable of protecting his partner whenever she had to hide. 

As long as he didn’t fucking collapse from exhaustion, of course.

“I fainted again, didn’t I?”, he asked, shame crawling into his every pore. He was hoping to avoid that. The first time already came at the price of his identity, though luckily Ladybug has been quick enough to hide him before anyone else could catch a glimpse. Adrien wasn’t aware of it, but once Mari managed to securely position him on one of the upside-down-boats benches, she fell into a hysterical fit of laughter. She cried, she felt as if she were about to choke, as if she were about to finally explode into all those shattered pieces her heart now consisted of. Her laughter, though, showed none of these emotions. An outsider would be afraid to come near her, her parents would not be able to recognize her, she herself would have been disturbed by that sight. If the Joker were there to see it, he would have had to give his crown to her, for her laugh was scarier than any Jokers could ever be. 

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

Marinette just nodded and waited for Chat to suit back up. She didn’t think of his collapses as embarassing. Instead, Ladybug was highly impressed by his skill and endurance. She knew he didn’t have the luxury of someone taking the hit for her, sleeping and eating instead of her. For so long Mari has been trying to convice herself that she realy was, just like Adrien, just like Chat, alone. She wanted to believe that her soulmate was dead, wanted to live and not give a damn about that extra source of pain, which is the only thing she has ever thought of, when it came to feeling any kind of relationship towards her bonded. How could she love what brings her torture? How could she want to love the pain? Now though, with death being all around her, no-one she could turn to and time playing against her...Marinette was relying on them. She would not be able to surive this without her soulmate sleeping instead of her, would have probably fallen to the hands of malnutrition, if it weren’t for them feeding her through that inexplicable bond between their souls. 

Adrien did not have that. He was born without a soulmate, which wasn’t anything unusual. After all, more than half of the worlds population were either born without a soulmate or simply existed during a different century than their significant others. 

Just like Nino, just like Chloe, just like Nathaniel, Kagami and Luka: Adrien isn’t going to stay by Ladybugs side forever. She knew that now. That was okay, though. Because now she was certain of one thing. Her soulmate was alive and, according to her intensifying tiredness as well as that energizing tingling keeping her body up and working, they were on their way to save her.

That carries a tiny problem though.

She had to avoid getting help. She wouldn’t let it happen again.

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

HI! First of: Thank you so much for the amazing feedback, I am so fucking grateful you have no idea (or you do? idk. THANK YOU ILY)

This story has gotten much longer than I had planned but tbh I love it. There’s a part 3 and probably a part 4 coming, Though I’ll post it tomorrow ‘cause I gotta write it and like, live life a bit.

Critique and any kind of feedback is very welcome!

I will most probably continue Jasonette July, this is so much more fun than I expected. So see you tomorrow \o/

Thanks for reading^^

P.S.: There's finally some proper Jasonette on the horizon☄

[giggle-me-this]

I want the K - from Penny ;)

# ??? (idk ok it's a kiss)

In what might be viewed as an unexpected turn of events, Nathaniel Preston Pinnock found himself mixing up a round of flaming shots behind a makeshift bar, for a whole messy fuckload of werewolves.

It was Helle Hawkins’ birthday, and somehow she managed to convince Nate and Fish to close up the bar where they all worked for one night, and instead spend one raucous evening playing bartender at her birthday party on Hawkins Territory. Quite a few hedge wix from the safehouse and the bar had shown up to celebrate, and there were so many werewolves and halfbreeds from so many different clans, that Nate didn’t even bother trying to keep track of them all.

And everyone was lit.

And not just in the sense that they were all piss drunk and fucked up on assorted recreational drugs—though they were absolutely that. But the sky was dark—a New Moon—and so in addition to a truly massive bonfire at the center of the festivities, all the revelers were also decked out in glowing neon warpaint streaked in artful patterns over their exposed skin and through their tangled hair, and Nate had been charming all the drinks he served to be luminescent in some pretty way, utilizing some flashy hedge handiwork he’d been experimenting with at the Free Trader Beowulf safehouse as of late.

He was in the midst of some playful banter with his favorite Hawkins—the always enjoyable Penny—while he poured sparkling tonic water in a glass over the blonde’s preferred Dragon’s Gin and ice cubes that glowed in the dark, when Penny—not for the first (or the second, or even the fifth…) time—glanced over at a stunning woman with long black hair and an hourglass figure, who was carrying on with some other woman around the bonfire, very much in plain sight. Penny glowered and snatched up the fresh cocktail with barely enough time for Nate to drop a torn mint leaf into it, grumbling before she downed half of it in one gulp.

Nate smirked with wry sympathy and said, “Friend of yours?”

Penny snorted and said, “Headache, more like…”

Nate, having nothing if not a wealth of experience in dealing with petty sometimes-lovers making a gaudy display of your jealousy, advised the Hawkins, “You’re not doing yourself any favors by watching her every move like that. You’re playing right into her hand…”

To which the Hawkins gave Nate a look and said, “Wouldn’t you, if it were her?”

Nate chuckled and shrugged, conceding; Penny’s ex-whatever was a looker.

Still, he felt some solidarity with Penny and her situation. So, figuring he was due for a break anyway, Nate motioned for Fish to cover him for a few minutes, then wiped his hands on the barmop and walked over to stand in front of Penny. He held his hand out toward her and said, “Well, looks like we’ll just have to call her bet, then.”

The blonde looked at Nate’s hand and then up at him quizzically, and Nate returned to her a look that said, trust me—I know what the fuck I’m doing, here.

And then she grinned, flashing her white incisors as she picked up on the game. She took his hand, and the unlikely pairing of the roguish wizard playboy from the cover of Witch Weekly and the halfbreed wolf riot-girl danced like they had no fucking business being able to dance, for everyone to see. And people watched.

Somewhere in the heat and the show of it all, they must have gotten carried away, too—because Nate very suddenly became aware that he was holding Penny up with her back against a thick tree, her legs around his waist and their mouths pressed together. She tasted earthy and cool, like a moonlit forest spring.

Nate moved his lips to her ear and laughed drunkenly against the shell of it, then said in a low tone, “I think we got the point across…”

Penny laughed, a husky and enticing sound, and her eyes sparkled with the reflection of smeared glowing paint on her face. She leaned her head back against the tree trunk, some blond strands snagging against the rough bark as she shook it disbelievingly. “You’ve got a death wish, pretty-boy Pinnock…the look on Joey’s face! She might actually kill you, I hope you know…”

Nate shrugged, arrogant and nonchalant. “Please, Penn…” He eased back and helped return Penny to an upright standing position, then reached into his pocket and pulled out a round vial full of a vibrant yellow dust: crushed up Evening Primrose, which werewolves were allergic to; his pocket Ace, if he’d needed a defense boost. “…I’m charitable—not suicidal.”

Penny laughed again, and shoved Nate hard on the shoulder. As they made their way back to the bar for Nate to resume his post, she added, pensive yet wry, “I think it’s only right to tell you that I would have much preferred your sister.”

Nate smirked knowingly, and with total sincerity he replied, “I think you’ll find her to be very much obliged.”

[botherkupo]

I’ll Be Your (Wing)Man - 4

Summary: When Chat Noir finds Marinette sighing over her failed love life, he decides to help her get the boy of her dreams. Nothing can go wrong here. Absolutely nothing.

(read on FFN or Ao3 -- penname is Boogum. Links will be put up in reblog)

@arisu-artnfics​ Hope you enjoy the final chapter!

4:  The Prince and his Princess

"You alright, bro?" Nino asks.

Adrien slumps into his chair, burying his face in his arms. "I'm an idiot."

"Huh?"

"I found out who Marinette li—"

The classroom door opens and Marinette and Alya enter, followed by Nathaniel. Adrien goes quiet. The girls take their seats and greet them. Or at least Alya does. Marinette bites her lip and shoots glances at him over the top of her bag, which she has yet to put on the floor. His stomach flutters.

"Goomdorningdrin," she squeaks. Red spills over her cheeks like bright dye. "I-I mean good moaning. No! Morning. Good morning, Adrien!"

He smiles, as he always does, because the way she trips through conversation with him is as endearing as ever. But he also wants to bash his head against his desk. He really is such an idiot. It's so obvious now that she likes him. She had told him—or at least Chat Noir—that she gets tongue-tied around her crush. She had told him about the failed confession attempts.

How had he missed it?

How had he ever taken her words at face value when she claimed she didn't have feelings for him or that she was just a fan of fashion?

"Good morning, Marinette," he says, warm and wanting to put her at ease. He knows how much distress he unintentionally causes her.

A fresh wave of colour blooms on her face and her lips curve, dreamy and wide.

Adorable. She's so adorable.

Kim approaches their desks. "Hi, Marinette," he says with a wave and a cheery smile. "Do you wanna—"

"No," Adrien blurts.

Everyone stares at him.

Heat grazes Adrien's cheeks and he sinks more into his chair. "I, er … don't mind me. Just thinking out loud."

"Okay," Kim says, shrugging off the matter with a grin. "So, Marinette, there's this movie coming out on Friday and I …"

Adrien faces the front as Kim asks Marinette out. The tips of his ears are hot. He really needs to get a grip. It's not his place to reject boys for her, even if she does like him. Even if he is the idiot who nudged Kim into pursuing her. Though Adrien does take petty pleasure when he hears her apologise and say she can't go to the movies.

Still, he really needs to get a grip.

oOo

The akuma strikes while Adrien is researching in the library. Someone must have ticked off the librarian, as suddenly students are turning into stone statues. He doesn't hesitate to transform and rescue a trapped Marinette, scooping her up into his arms bridal-style and earning a small yelp from her.

"Chat Noir," she says, looking up at him with wide blue eyes. "What are you doing here?"

He grins. "It's kind of my job."

"I know that, but how did you get here so—"

A beam of light almost hits them.

"And now we run," he says, clutching her tighter and dashing for the door. "Don't worry, I won't let you become a statuenette."

She lets out a strangled laugh and presses her face into his chest, relaxing into his hold. His heart thumps faster. Being professional is so much harder now. She's warm and soft in his arms. Temptingly so. Her scent is a teasing bouquet that wraps around him like a breath of spring. And she likes him. That's the thing he can never forget. This beautiful, amazing girl likes him.

Would it be so bad to admit he likes her too?

Yes, he swore his heart would always belong to Ladybug. He still loves his partner, but what he feels for Marinette is just as real. It whispers to him through his jumping pulse and the skipping flutters of his heart. Whispers unshakeable truth.

"I think you can put me down now," Marinette says, once they reach the courtyard.

His arms tighten instinctively around her. The akuma has been left far behind. He needs to let her go, but his arms refuse to obey.

"Er, Chat?"

Right.

He sets her on her feet and sweeps into a flourishing bow. "You're safe, Princess."

She giggles, eyes lighting up in that lovely way that makes him think of bluebell sunshine. "Thank you."

"What, no kiss?"

The words are out before he can stop them.

She blinks.

Heat crawls all over his face. Why had he said that? What is wrong with him?

A smile curves her lips and she steps forward. "Thank you, Chat Noir." She leans up on her tiptoes and kisses his cheek.

His jaw drops, even as his skin tingles with the imprint of her lips.

"Now go stop that akuma," she says.

His heartbeat stumbles clumsily. "Y-yeah. I'll go do that."

Oh, he is such a goner.

oOo

"Good job," Ladybug says, holding out her fist.

He bumps his fist to hers, as is their usual routine. Both their miraculouses give a beep.

"I'd better go," she says.

"Wait."

She raises her eyebrows questioningly. Of course that's when he realises he has no idea what he wants to say.

"Chat, I really have to—"

"I know, I know. I'm sorry. I just …"

A hint of concern creeps into her eyes. "What? Is everything okay?"

His gaze travels over her face, taking in her mask, the colour of her eyes, her lips. So familiar, so similar. It still throws him how much Ladybug and Marinette are alike.

She tilts her head. "What is it?"

"I like someone else."

"Oh." She sounds surprised. Her little nose scrunch isn't the most positive reaction either. "I see."

"I mean you'll always be my lady, but you … you don't feel that way about me, right?"

"Right."

"Right," he echoes. It shouldn't hurt so much, but the rejection is still a punch to the heart. "So, this is good then."

"If that's what you think. I mean it seems kind of sudden. Just two days ago you were swearing your undying love for me."

His lips purse. "Are you accusing me of being fickle?"

"No. I'm just pointing out the facts."

"I'll have you know that Ma—that she's a really good friend of mine. I've had feelings for her for a long time. I just didn't realise it until I tried to be her secret wingman."

A blink. "Wait, what?"

"What?"

Beep.

They both ignore the warning sound.

"Did you … did you just say you were her secret wingman?"

He rubs the base of his neck, cheeks heating. "Yeah. I, um, wanted to make her happy, you know? She was really down over this boy she likes, so I thought I'd help her out. Turns out I'm the boy she likes."

Ladybug makes an odd, choking sound.

"You okay?" he asks in alarm.

Her eyes are wide like saucers and she wobbles on her feet. "Adrien?"

He freezes from head to toe.

"It is you, isn't it?" she says, taking a shaky step closer. "You're Adrien."

"N-no, I—"

"Oh my gosh!" She makes panicked, dance-like motions with her hands, touching her head and cheeks. "You're Adri—"

He surges forward and clamps his hand over her mouth. Her eyes bulge.

"Sorry," he says. "I just don't really want you shouting that to all of Paris."

She blinks at him.

"Can I remove my hand now?"

A nod.

He carefully pulls his hand away.

She lets out a breath and colour spills over her cheeks, almost matching her suit.

"How did you figure out it's me?" he asks.

A half-hysterical laugh is dragged out of her.

"What?" he says, a bit offended. Was he really that obvious?

"Chat, you were my secret wingman."

His jaw drops. "Wait—"

The final beep on their miraculouses goes off. Neither makes an effort to run. They're already out of sight from public view, so they simply stand there and stare at each other as their suits fade away in bursts of colour. She bites her lip, smiling shyly. Same pigtails, same freckled cheeks, same blue eyes.

Marinette. Of course Ladybug is Marinette. Of course he would fall for this amazing girl twice.

"Um, hi," she says.

"Hi."

Her blush darkens and she tucks a strand of hair behind her hair.

Adorable. She's so—

"Finally!" Plagg declares. "Thought this love drama would never end. Hey, kid, where's my cheese?"

"Plagg," Tikki scolds. "Can't you see they're trying to have a moment?"

"So? They can keep having their moment after I get my cheese."

Adrien presses his hands to his hot face. This is so embarrassing. Fortunately, after suitable kwami sustenance is handed over, Tikki drags Plagg off to eat with her and give them some proper privacy.

"Sorry about that," Adrien murmurs. "Plagg is … Plagg."

Marinette giggles. "I can see that."

They stare at each other. His heart pounds faster and faster. It's like there's a fluttering song humming through his blood, urging him to close the distance between them. So he does. She moistens her lips, tilting her head back to meet his gaze. The scent of spring flowers, subtler now that his senses aren't heightened by the power of the miraculous, tugs him the last step closer. His fingers brush hers.

"I really like you," he says softly.

Fresh colour blooms on her cheeks. "I really like you too."

Insecurity has him search her eyes. "Then this doesn't change anything for you?"

"What do mean?"

"Me. That I'm Chat Noir."

"Oh, Adrien, no." She runs the pad of her thumb along his cheek, right where the black mask would cover. "It doesn't change a thing. In fact, I … I'm relieved."

"Relieved?"

She ducks her head, her blush deepening to ripe plum. "I think I've liked you for a while. Chat Noir you, I mean. I just … didn't want to admit it."

"Oh."

She sneaks a glance at him from under her lashes. It's utterly adorable and he can't help but lean forward, resting his forehead against hers. Their breath intermingles. His heart drums and he nuzzles her a little as he holds her gaze.

"May I kiss you?" he whispers.

She nods.

He tilts his head and brushes his lips against hers, soft and sweet. They linger like that before they pull back.

"Looks like the third time really is the charm," he says.

"Huh?"

"I forgot our last two kisses."

A smile peeps out on her face. "You dork."

He grins even as she kisses him again, pulling him into her arms. This suits him just fine.

[loyally-unfaithful]

—; but “sentimental boy” is my nom de plume

word count: 1916

pairing: connor/gn!reader

genre: slight fluff; hurt no comfort

summary: it has been a year after the android revolution. humans and android alike settled down, an olive branch was offered as a sign of reconciliation. with newfound peace came along newfound love, and many open roads to choose from. this was no different for the rk800—connor. surprisingly or unsurprisingly, he decided to continue working at the dpd, this time as a bonafide detective. but he has also accepted the thrilling uncertainty of life that deviancy has brought; the same strings that brought his lover in his life.the same ones he hated and cursed, the same fates who ripped it all away.

a/n: everytime i convince myself i came out of my dbh hyperfixation i just look at connor and i become lovesick again.

gosh i know i should be finishing my other fic or work on the prologue script for my vn, but,,,,,,, i just had a sudden hankering for connor angst,,,,

written during a sleep deprivation induced moment of epiphany,,,,, (purple prose cuz im extra af uwu)

I’ve never written angst before so i’d love to hear your thoughts on it

maybe if you asked him one year ago whether he’d consider returning someone’s feelings, romantic feelings, he’d reply to you with a placid smile and a polite « i’m sorry, i wasn’t programmed to reciprocate romantic interest. ». he remembered that he’d sneer at them internally. now thinking about it, long before he questioned his obedience towards her, he already showed signs of deviancy.

you did what you were designed to do.

memories from his past would still torment him erratically, doubts would resurface on particularly dark days. but you were the light that cut through that haze. this wasn’t a “fake deviancy”. it couldn’t have been. not when he is holding your body so close to his, warmth radiating off of each other, two heartbeats—similar, but different—thrumming together. all the softly whispered and adoringly announced « i love you »’s; all the quick and coveted pecks and all the feverish and passionate kisses. no, he was alive, he was sure of it—alive and absolutely enamoured by you. all semblance of doubt ebbed away when you entered his life.

whenever he’s around you, he feels more alive: you make him feel everything, all the little precious things. tenderness and adoration when he shares tranquil mornings with you. he feels more alive when he’s with you, all the little habits and routines too endearing: the sweet post-it notes scattered over your shared flat; scribbled upon it are encouraging words or sweet nothings. conflicting work schedules meant that moments spent together were scarce, but that made them even more valuable and coveted. captivation, was another emotion that he felt around you. your mannerism, your dreams and interests, your physical attributes and quality of voice. logically speaking, you were just another human, insignificant in the grand scheme of things. you’d live and then one day, you’d die. as if you never really existed. but he wasn’t being logical. how could he be? when you were right there in front of him? you made him irrational, and he found that new aspect in life thrilling. confusing at first, but exciting. he was eternally grateful that you let him experience all these beautiful emotions with you. he was grateful that you allowed him in your short journey that you called life.

he was happy, absolutely content, with his shared life with you. you were both in perfect places in your respective lives: you both had a stable job, loving family backing you up, and a fulfilling love life. what seemed to be a mismatched couple at first turned to be 2 pieces of the same puzzle finally finding their place. life for the both of you couldn’t be better.

but along with the many exquisite moment that your romantic endeavours brought you, the android didn’t only taste the sweet delicacies of life; no matter how idyllic a moment may be, there were times when he had to taste the astringent and sour desserts life offered.

anger. that was an emotion that he felt. but that’s not accurate, no… it was frustration and shock and betrayal, all the unsavoury feelings in the world. perhaps it was due to his inexperience, maybe his lack of exposure to these negative sentiments, that caused him to snap the way he did. to hurt you the way he did. but it happened and there was no turning back the clock.

no matter how much he begged and cried for it.

he was proud that you got the job offer in canada, he really was. and he, like any other caring boyfriend would, offered to accompany you there, an offer which you gladly accepted. that was the plan. but plans were difficult to follow. crime waits for no man, working for the law meant that connor must always be available for duty. no excuses, he was an android. but connor wasn’t just a simple android detective, no, he had a much more important role: he was the link, the messenger, between jericho and the police force. he was the crucial communication between the two forces. so when jericho contacted him about threats of anti-android attacks, he had to make an appearance at their base. the meeting coincided with the day you were meant to travel to canada. it was a simple trip really. it only took a few hours by train, stay in canada for 2 days (it was the weekend), and then return back to detroit, probably arriving in the late afternoons to their home.

but you were looking forwards to traveling with your wonderful partner after « [we] spent so much time apart ». the day he told you the urgent change of plans, connor was tired, overwhelmed. you were frustrated and expectant. a fight was bound to have erupted. accusatory statements, along the lines of: « you don’t actually care about me! it’s all about work and work and work! » and « i can’t believe how selfish you’re being right now! » in between shouting and yelling and frustration and anger and contempt–

you both went to bed exhausted but spiteful, still not forgiving each other. in hindsight, he felt so utterly pathetic, so unbelievably childish, for being that cruel, and uncaring. he didn’t want to be like him again. so many glares and insults were thrown at each other, tears threatened to spill, LED flashed and shone a true red, doors were slammed. he felt awful, plain and simple. you both lied in the same bed, under the same cover. so close yet so excruciatingly far apart. back facing the other���s, no one said a word.

you woke up before him. bitter and unhappy. no morning kisses, no whispered « i love you » to wake your other half. you wordlessly got yourself ready, grabbed your bag and quietly snuck out. no post it notes were left. no sweet promises or encouraging words. you could do this work trip without him. you were independent. you didn’t need a tin can to chaperone you everywhere. so you left. plain and simple. gone. since you woke up and left earlier than planned, you boarded an earlier train. how lovely and convenient. the carriages were mostly filled with androids. perhaps they were trying to immigrate to canada like the others. who knows. you paid no mind and absentmindedly scrolled through your phone, obsessively checking your messages to see if connor realised. to see if he apologised. because frankly, at that point you were tired of being mad and just wanted to spend the day in his arms. but prideful and petty as you were, you weren’t willing to apologise and admit your mistakes first.

connor roused from stasis a few moments afterward, less bitter and more regretful. he wished to right his wrongs but the normally warm presence beside him was not there. his system was slowly booting back up when his audio sensor picked up an incessant ringing from the living room. he jolted up and rushed out to pick up the ringing phone call and waited for the other side to speak up.

the room was so utterly quiet, a silence so suffocating engulfed the room, that you could hear a pin drop. the voice on the other side asked whether this was indeed your house and that he was indeed connor anderson. he swallowed dryly and answered with a soft, « yes ». running a quick check in his database, he matches the caller’s voice with a certain nathaniel edwards. first responder. he allowed his HUD to display the news. if androids could get pale, have all their blood drain from their faces, his would have certainly done so. he stood, rigid and motionless, consumed by shock and horror.

the news and the first responder’s words blended into one as he gripped the phone tighter: « this morning, at 7:48 am the train from detroit to toronto was caught in a devastating turn of events: the train soon caught in fire and exploded as it made its way over the border. it has been confirmed that there has been 0 survivors. it is unclear whether this was an unfortunate accident or the result of anti-android terrorism. »

the other person’s voice poured through the speaker but he wasn’t listening. he stared blankly in front of him. no way, he thought, it couldn’t have been… the only sign that the android was registering the other man’s input was the now constant red LED.

« sir? sir. i’m sorry to bring this— – no, this isn’t right… you must have the wrong number, he interrupted. there were probably others with your name… maybe they were mistaken... – sir that’s not possible, w— – you must have gotten the wrong house… not… it-it couldn’t have been…» but he knew how improbable it was that they got the wrong number. he was built to be logical, to believe statistics. the statistics told him you were dead. long gone. he hoped and prayed that you stayed back, didn’t get on the earlier train. the statistics told him you did.

he choked out a response, quiet and defeated. you were gone. he’d never get to see you again. « i… i’m sorry… i-i don’t understand… – we tried our best to find them sir, but… the fire was too severe… if we gain any new developm— – you didn’t save them. »

still in a daze, he must have hung up on the poor man and unceremoniously dropped the phone. its clatter the only sound in this deafening silence. the reality of it all comes crashing through and he collapsed, ugly sobs escaping him as the denial faded away to make way for the pure and unfiltered grief. he felt lost. for the first time in a long while since amanda he felt so utterly and completely lost. no more shining beacon during his dark and stormy nights. no more valued affection and coveted kisses. no more notes and no more smile to come home to.

he laughed bitterly, devoid of any humour. it was funny, just how cruel the fates were: made human life so fleeting. lachesisonly gave them such a short eternity. and when he thought you both found your missing halves, bound to another by an invisible string, atropos cuts it. a small snippet that is so easily ripped away from you. he belonged with you, he felt at peace with you. he was able to be what he struggled to be for the majority of his miserable and artificial existence. with you, he was able to be happy.

but now he’ll have to get used to not coming home to a warm embrace. he’ll have to get used to going into stasis alone, in the cold bed. he’ll have to get used to his aching heart being greeted by an empty house. every cold and lonely  nights. it’s ridiculous how human he felt because of you. and he was both thankful and spiteful for it.

sadness and bitter regret ripped through him when he remembered that he didn’t  share goodbyes before he left. he remembered how he couldn’t have apologised to you and tenderly held you. he regretted not being able to tell you how much he loved you and how much you meant to him for the last time. ra9 only knows the things he’d do and the things he’d sacrifice, just to have you in his arms again.

instead he was faced with the bitter reminder that the last thing he’s ever said to you, your last memory of him, was a contemptuous and scornful « i wished i never met you ».

like my work? consider buying me a coffee // checking out my masterlist | links can be found on my desc

[finallyaniguana]

Watch The Eyes: a tour of revelation [12]

[11]    masterpost     ao3     [13]

Dick was looking at his watch at quarter past eight, standing outside of the classes hotel. The bus was due to leave at 8:30 am for a tour of WE staring at 9:15 am. The manor was very quiet that morning. Usually Damian was up and ready to go talking to Alfred in the kitchen but he must have missed him.

Tim was business as usual though. Wandering zombie like towards the coffee pot. They had tried to get him to stop his incredible caffeine intake a few times and everytime they realized just how inventive and sneaky he could be. Taking it directly out of his hand may lead to all the files being remotely deleted off your phone. Or just plain being punched in the neck (he was aiming for your face but he can't see without that caffeine). He was very clever at getting what he wanted. No wonder Bruce trusted him to act as CEO despite his age.

But Dick was the most personable out of all of Bruce's children. So here he was ready to lead this tour rather than an actual WE tour guide. It was important to Bruce that they be directly involved with the class they were sponsoring rather than just being a distant benefactor.

Not that Dick minded. He loved to spend time at home with his family and if that meant leading some teenagers around for a fee days, so be it.

He could see Caline in the lobby of the hotel, obviously waiting on the students to be finished with their complementary breakfast. They started to arrive in the lobby one after another some looking more awake than others. The Italian girl he remembered from yesterday was hanging tightly to the arm of a bespectacled girl with curly auburn hair. He saw that she looked a little worried. She suddenly turned to the one clinging to her arm. She said something he couldn't hear and the girl released her. The girl turned and ran to the elevator, going up. About ten minutes later, she came back with a dark haired girl, looking a tad bit disheveled, but ready to go.

Satisfied that she had everyone, Mlle. Bustier waved an arm and directed the class outside. They all followed, the afformentioned girl reclaimed her position clinging to her friend, all but shoving the other out of the way.

Dick shook his head at the sight. He remembered high school.

Caline smiled at the sight of their tour guide waiting outside for them.

"Okay, Max, Alix, Kim, Lila, Nino, Adrien, Sabrina, Mylene, Chloe, Juleka, Ivan, Nathaniel, Rose, Alya and... oh, what happened to Marinette?" she frowned.

A few of the students looked around at each other. Clearly they didn't see her. The blond boy looked like he was about to go back in to look for her when she made her appearance.

"Right here Mlle. Bustier! Sorry, I dropped my purse in the lobby," she looked apologetic.

The teacher gave a small chuckle before finally facing Richard with a smile.

"That's everyone!"

"Great! Now if we can all get on the bus, we'll head over for our tour of Wayne Enterprises," he said.

The students boarded, some more excited than others. Rose was bouncing in her seat. She and Juleka sat behind Lila and Alya. Lila was taking this time to fill the sweet girl's head with more lies about her supposed influential soulmate. With continued glances over at Richard, she started her story.

"I was texting my dear Damian all night, so I'm so sorry if I fall asleep in the seat Alya!" Lila said sweetly.

"That's okay! I can't blame you for wanting to talk to your soulmate," Alya assured.

"He invited me over tonight for dinner! I can't wait to see him after all this time," she stared dreamily out the window.

Marinette tried to hide her gag. Luckily only Alix noticed who in turn had to hide her smirk behind her fist. Kim, sitting next to Alix, noticed and gave her a sharp poke to the side, which of course started a poke war. Marinette rolled her eyes at her friend's competitive nature.

"We may just have to forgo our deal to wait until we graduate. Thank you all for being so supportive of me," Lila started to tear up, despite her dry eyes.

"I can't believe you're soulmates with Damian Wayne!" Rose exclaimed.

That got Dick's attention. How would she have figured out his identity so quickly? He gave a small glance back at the girl who spoke. She was quite short with blonde hair and blue eyes. He gathered that Damian's soulmate had blue eyes. But this girl wasn't the one claiming the bond and she seemed pretty attached to the tall girl she was sitting next to. So Dick looked to the seat in front of her to the girl with the glasses and the one that was hanging on her. Neither of them had blue eyes. He turned back around, disappointed and hoping he wouldn't have to confront the girl about her extravagant lie.

'Would it be petty to call out a child?' he thought. 'She'll be joining Damian's year tomorrow. If I don't say anything, he definitely will. Oo, maybe I should intervene before he does?'

Dick ultimately decided to monitor quietly and unless she said something that put a bad light on anyone in his family, he wouldn't say anything. He frowned to himself.

Finally the bus arrived at WE, pulling up to the side walk. He led everyone inside and checked in at the main desk, collecting a pass that would allow him to show the children different and more exclusive wings of the building. He brought up a bright smile he first directed at the teacher, who returned his smile, before turning and facing the teenagers in front of him. Their chatter died out slowly.

"I hope you all wore comfortable shoes for walking. At the end of the tour you will be given a pass for a complementary lunch. Alright! Let's get started."

Before Richard could even take the first step of the tour, his phone started to ring. He pulled it out of his pocket and frowned. Eyes lighting up with recognition, he swiped to answer.

"Baby Bird?"

Marinette choked and whipped her head around to face the tour guide. She couldn't hear what "Baby Bird" was saying but Richard looked absolutely bewildered before starting to smile.

"Sure, but why not ask Alfred?- How you getting there?- Okay, I'll give them a call and let B know."

He shook his head as he put his phone back in his pocket.

"Sorry everyone! My little brother woke up late this morning. I'm going to give his school a call real quick."

He took a few steps away to make his call while Marinette strained to hear what he was saying over her pounding heart. When that failed she tried to read his lips. A skill she did not have.

'So they are brothers. Wait, no. Come on, Marinette. What is the chance of it being that easy?'

Marinette slumped down next to Adrien who tapped her shoulder, concerned.

She tried to give him a reassuring smile but she could tell it fell short. He gave her a suspicious smile in return.

Richard soon returned from his call and beckoned for them to follow him. From the lobby and ground floor, he told them about the history of the company. They got to learn a bit about Bruce Wayne's parents and the branches of the company they were a big part of or that were dedicated in their names. It was all very interesting and normally Mari would be listening with rapt attention. But she was distracted, paying too much attention to the speaker himself than the words he was saying.

Eventually she had to stop denying the obvious. She didn't spend more than fifteen minutes in Nightwing's company. But he was unmistakable. The easy way he moved, the tone and timbre of his voice. This man fought crime at night. Their tour guide midnights as a vigilante. When she came to that conclusion, she spent the rest of the tour looking anywhere but his face.

'Richard. Richard what?'

It seemed her new goal of the day was to figure that out.

By the time they got to the cafeteria for lunch, Marinette had learned practically nothing about the Wayne building or the company. Her classmates were filing in past their guide who was passing off little slips of blue paper. She internally cringed. As she passed by and gingerly took her paper from his hands he said,

"Show these to the cashier after getting your food. Okay, everyone! I'll be nearby if anyone has follow up questions. Don't hesitate to ask."

Adrien grabbed her shoulder lightly. She jumped and looked at her friend.

"Come on, let's go get something to eat. I know you missed breakfast," he smiled.

Her face flushed at the memory. Her phone decided enough was enough and died halfway through the night. So no alarm and Marinette did not have the forethought to schedule a wake up call the the front desk. So she slept straight through Mlle. Bustier knocking on everyone's doors due to her late night. It wasn't until Alya finally arrived, banging on the door that she actually became aware of her surroundings. She had to rush to get ready, barely having time to brush her hair. She had to tie up her hair on the bus. It was good that she had laid out her outfit the night before or she would have been in an even worse time crunch.

They made their way through the line, following Nino's footsteps, who was following Alya's steps in turn. Once they had turned in their lunch tickets and sat down Marinette started to look around for their teacher. She was hoping Mlle Bustier could tell her a bit more about Richard without being obvious. She finally spotted her over by the register, where she had just finished walking through the line. Marinette stood.

"Mari?"

She looked down at Adrien's questioning eyes. Giving him a weak smile, she patted his shoulder.

"I'll be right back."

Mlle. Bustier chose to sit at the edge of the room so she could keep an eye on as many of her kids as possible. She saw Marinette coming and she lifted her face to greet the class president.

"Yes, Marinette? Do you need something?" she asked pleasantly.

"I just have a quick question?"

"Was that a question?" Caline asked.

Marinette backpedaled and shook her head.

"No, no... that wasn't it."

"Okay, then what is it?"

"I was just wondering..." she trailed off, only continuing when the teacher raised an eyebrow at her deflective tone. "if you knew Monsieur Richard's last name?"

Blinking in confusion, she stared at the girl standing before her. Eventually she shook her head.

"I met him at the same time you did. You'll have to ask him."

Marinette cursed mentally. Looks like if she wanted answers she'd have to be direct. Something she was not good at. (Something her soulmate was very good at.)

"Well. Thank you anyway." she looked back at the far table she left Adrien at.

He waved.

She did not wave back.

Instead she continued scanning the room for Richard. He was seated a few tables away from Lila's little group. That was where Alya and Nino ended up as well, but her eyes just skipped over them in favor of the suspected vigilante.

A wave of calm confidence and what felt almost like anger came over her and she marched toward him. Lila noticed her walk and followed her gaze to the Wayne employee who was sitting next to a younger man, a laptop open in front of him. Her eyes narrowed imperceptibly.

When Marinette finally passed by, she loudly began to spin a new lie, or a continuation of an older lie. When the shorter girl kept walking, paying no attention to the liar, her eyes narrowed further. The girls sitting around her pleaded for her to keep talking so she did, putting Dupain-Cheng on the back burner.

Dick looked up, startled, when one of the girls from the tour group planted her feet right next to him at his table. Tim barely glanced over from his precious coffee.

He looked at her stony expression, kind of nervous. He had no idea what he did wrong.

"I have a question," she said in English.

Her voice did not match her expression. It was soft and he got the impression she rarely had negative things to say. The French accent certainly helped her case.

"Yes, Miss...?"

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng," she supplied.

Tim finally decided to start paying attention.

"The class president?" he asked blearily.

"Oui- I mean, yes."

Dick called back her attention with a head bob.

"What is your question?" he asked.

Tim leaned in a bit to hear over the din of the cafeteria. Her face steeled and her took a deep breath.

"What is your last name?"

He looked a bit reluctant to say, more surprised than anything else, but she did not waver.

"Grayson," he said at last.

Her expression tinged with surprise before she nodded.

"The eldest," was all she said before she thanked him with a sweetness that came out of nowhere and walking away.

"What was that about?" Tim asked around a sip of his coffee.

Dick gave a small shrug before looking down at his food. So she knew his name. He only hoped this revelation did not cause any waves of students suddenly excited to talk to him. He wasn't that worried about it. He was used to attention because of the Wayne influence. But the girl did not gravitate toward the big group of students a few tables down. Instead she walked further down, sitting next to the blond boy who looked at her expectantly. She waved him off.

"Almost reminded you of someone right up until the end, wouldn't you say?"

"What?" Dick looked at his younger brother.

Tim rolled his eyes and knocked back the rest of his drink.

"By the way, Damian's soulmate must be a great influence on him already."

"What makes you say that?"

"He said please. Twice."

Tim stared down at his empty cup. A few beats of silence passed and he smiled like someone just let him in on an inside joke. He stood up quickly and Dick jolted with surprise.

"I have an idea," Tim said before grabbing his laptop and heading out of the room.

Well okay then.

taglist: (CLOSED)

@vixen-uchiha @worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry @violatiger8 @mochinek0 @constancetruggle @yamadochie @seraphichana @captainmac6 @nataladriana9 @iggy-of-fans @riarkle-felinettelove @luciferge @mystery-5-5 @mellownieice @northernbluetongue @imanerddealwith @ayuchan07 @poshplumcot @annabellabrookes @legendaryneckjudgestudent @chez-pezeater @friedchickening @da-tasuky @crazylittlemunchkin @g-arya @i-like-fairytail-and-stuff @witchbitch1998  @theatreandcomicfreak @lysslovsanime @zalladane @tbehartoo @goggles-mcgee @tumbling-down-hills-and-stuff @kanamexzeroyaoifangirl @melicmusicmagic @ladybug-182 @chaosace @mariae2900 @vivilakitty @xxmadamjinxx @akbtch @7701deathlyhalfbloodprincess @elspethshadow @danielslilangel @tinyterror333 @maynora @anjuschiffer @creator-josie @thecatnipmademedoit @jessigurl-design @allolale @caffeine-theory @zerotosiki @draco-kasai @schrodingers25 @cassiejaydee @synnesstra @oscarwilde-hellyeah @valeks-princess @winter-gardenflower @novicevoice @cadencehood @sassy-spocko @rogueptoridactyl @dast218 @kae690 @thequestionablyhuman @18-fandoms-unite-08 @beaversuenightly @graduatedmelon @dur55 @gaylord1027 @fertileleaf @bamagirl513 @kurogaya913 @littleblue5mcdork @completelypeccable @sassydepression @resignedcatservant @batmans-attic @linnyalou @shreky-boi @actual-disaster-human @kandi-pie @gingersnapnoir @disneyfoxuniverse @souleateralicestein @crazyrandomrebel @chocolatecatstheron @mooshoon @emjrabbitwolf @loysydark @ethelphantom @felicityroth @lordsmeldingtonthethird @mjisntme @the7dreadlysins @marinettepotterandplagg @kand-roo @lunar-wolf-warrior @rydellakurancarson @mindfulmagics @thebookish3lf @dawnwave16

[mcheang]

How about a sequel to Volpina reverse crush AU where Lila is jealous of Mari and tries to sabotage her but fails cuz everyones on Maris side. Mari(gently) confronts her Lila snaps at her Alay records livesteam all H word breaks loose 4 lila even worse

Fighting a losing battle

Volpina reverse crush AU sequel

Lila is a class pariah at first, until she makes a heartwrenching apology that fools the soft-hearted suckers like Rose and Marinette. They do invite her to eat with them but the rest of the class is more leery of her apology, knowing that Lila only cares about herself if she just tosses others’ belongings into the trash. But out of respect to their friends, they let Lila sit with them and just ignore her.

Lila tries to cozy up to Adrien but he avoids her like the plague. The only reason she gets close enough is because he is trying to get Marinette away from her.

It is absolutely sickening to watch Adrien fawn over Marinette. He keeps close by so he can be ready to catch her should she fall. He keeps calling her by that overly sweet pet name Princess.

What makes it infuriating is that Marinette is utterly oblivious to Adrien’s flirting. Seriousy, all those offers out to restaurants and cafes, unnecessary drives to her home, and hand kisses!

A gorgeous specimen like Adrien is wasted on the imbecile that is Marinette.

Maybe if Adrien could realize that, his heart would move on. First she had to get into the Friend zone before that could happen.

Lila asks Marinette how she can befriend Adrien. Marinette suggests a video game party. Yeah, the only reason Adrien acknowledges Lila is because Marinette pleaded for him to give her a second chance. How could he say no to those baby blue eyes? Adrien doesn’t want to look bad in front of his crush. Understandable.

Once Lila is sure Adrien is alright with being friends with her (he isn’t. she makes him feel uncomfortable) she proceeds to sabotage Marinette.

1. Steal Marinette’s planner so all her fundraising and class trip plans are ruined. Fail: Alya has a back up copy

2. Humiliate Marinette by putting exploding paint in her locker. Fail: Adrien offers Marinette his outer jacket and the girls help Marinette clean up.

3. Steal Marinette’s sketchbook so she can’t complete her commissions in time. Fail: Marinette’s tears end up with Adrien asking Markov to check the security feed. Lila has to hastily plant the evidence in front of Nathaniel so he can announce he found the sketchbook before she is exposed.

4. Frame Marinette of cheating and theft (she can’t push Marinette into someone else because she is known for clumsiness and Lila can’t pretend to be pushed because of her record). Fail: The test answers were stolen after it was over and the lockers are unlocked. The stolen item was Rose’s perfume but she believes in Marinette.

Marinette is curious about why these horrible things keep happening to her. Markov hacks the security feed and exposes Lila.

Upset, Marinette confronts Lila. She denies it at first before finally showing her true colours.

“It’s about time you realized it. For the class president, you don’t really know your classmates as well as you should.”

Marinette was baffled. “But why? I’ve been nothing but nice to you.”

Lila scoffed. “Nice? What can I do with nice? The entire class looks up to you as this amazing designer. Celebrities endorse you. Paris’ cutest boy looks at you like you’re an angel descended from Heaven. Yet you do absolutely nothing to take advantage of all that. Their admiration is wasted on someone so obtuse!”

Marinette paused. “So you’re just jealous of me?”

That simple, gentle accusation got to Lila. How dare Marinette reduce her, the pretty and silver tongued Italian, to nothing more than a petty, jealous girl?

Lila lunged at Marinette and there was a brief tussle as Marinette tried to get the crazy girl off her.

“That’s enough Lila!”

The girls paused, looking up to see Alya walk around the corner, her phone recording everything.

Footsteps were heard running towards them.

“Get off Marinette. Now.” Alya commanded.

Lila slowly obeyed, her eyes trained on the phone.

Alya noticed and gave a wink. “It’s been livestreaming.”

Lila wanted to shriek with rage.

“Marinette!” The cry came from Adrien as he rushed to help Marinette up, pushing Lila away from her.

Marinette assured the model. “I’m alright.”

Adrien gently stroked the scratches on her neck. “No, you’re not,” he said softly and sadly.

The class gathered around them, some glaring at Lila, others fussing over Marinette.

“What the hell, Lila?”

“Come on, Marinette, let’s take you to the nurse.”

“I’m not even surprised. We all knew she was a lying fox.”

“Don’t drag foxes into this. Rena Rouge’s name doesn’t deserved to be besmirched by this wannabe.”

“Careful, don’t trip.”

Alya: You’re coming with me to the principal’s office now.

Lila is expelled for assaulting and bullying a classmate.

She stews over her defeat, imagining Adrien catering to Marinette’s every need. Oh come on. All she did was inflict a few scratches.

To make matters worse, Alya had been live-streaming on her blog. Mrs Rossi is struggling to find any respectable school in Paris that would take her in.

She can’t. Lila is infamous throughout Paris, especially after Nadja reported on Alya’s video, and Jagged Stone himself blacklisted Lila to his global fan club. Even Adrien’s fans have gotten in on the fun.

The only options are for Lila to either be sent to live with her strict grandparents in their obscure hometown of nowhere, or go to a correcting school for delinquents.

Does it matter what school she goes to? Thanks to Jagged, there will always be someone at whatever school who knows who she is and will have the proof to back it up. At least with her Mother, Lila has more freedom.

Lila’s Mother is fired because her parenting of Lila, and even ends up being akumatized, not that Hawkmoth hadn’t been sending akumas after the outraged classmates and Lila herself before that. It was Gabriel who sent a charge against Lila for sexual harassing his Son. He got quite a few akumas over that.

Mrs Rossi decides to move them back to her parents’ home after all. They can’t stay in Paris and there is no more reason to now that she is unemployed.

Lila’s life in Italy is miserable because now her guardians have every excuse to invade her privacy. They call her every hour, call her Teachers daily, and even check her email and internet history! Lila’s sleep is interrupted as her guardians have taken it in turns to check that Lila is asleep every hour of the early morning. Don’t they have a life of their own?

Everybody at her new school mocks her. A few kind ones offer to be her Friend but Lila’s tearful acceptance was treated with skepticism by the cruel majority. No one wants to listen to Lila. She is nobody and she is unheard. It is like she is not even there.

At home she is given attention she does not want. At school, nobody gives her the attention she needs to cause drama. What a paradox

Note: Marinette had asked Adrien if he had a crush on her. Adrien lies and says he is just in awe of her designing ability. While Marinette is not happy there are so many akumas, she is thrilled to be able to spend more time with Chat Noir.

[degenerate-perturbation]

Chapters: 24/38 Fandom: Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening, Dragon Age II Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Female Amell/Female Surana Characters: Female Amell, Female Surana, Anders, Velanna, Nathaniel Howe, Oghren (Dragon Age), Justice (Dragon Age), Sigrun (Dragon Age), Varric Tethras, Isabela (Dragon Age), Male Hawke (Dragon Age) Additional Tags: Established Relationship, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Self-Harm, Blood Magic, Prostitution, Drowning, Wilderness Survival, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better Series: Part 2 of void and light, blood and spirit Summary: Amell and Surana are out of the Circle, and are now free to build a life together. But when the prison doors fly open, what do you have in common with the one shackled next to you, save for the chains that bound you both?

Loriel had not expected to miss Avernus quite so much.

Months went by without word from him. First few enough for her not to notice, and then too many for her to ignore. A dozen times over the past months she had thought to write him, and then decided that no, she didn’t need to after all, but she couldn’t pretend that forever.

It was her own petty, childish pride, then and now. She had fought him just to prove that she’d win, and writing him now would be admitting that she needed his counsel. Which she did

She still wasn’t going to do it.

More than the man himself she missed his knowledge and experience. And if not that, then at least someone to report her findings to. Someone who would care if she didn’t get anything done, and who would care about what she had to say about it. And yes, perhaps that amounted to missing the man himself, too.

The worst of it was that her work had stalled without him. Her rigor and meticulous care wasn’t enough anymore, and she was no closer to cracking open the crystal and finding the Architect than she’d been any time before. She began to lose whole days to restless pacing, to picking up books and putting them down again, to feeling her eyes move across pages and absorbing absolutely nothing. She had not thought that the loss of a sporadic correspondence partner would undo her so badly.

The work had to continue. 

Had she been a spirit mage, she would have had options—spirits of knowledge weren’t that uncommon. The Chantry did not teach its prisoners to speak to them, but a powerful spirit mage could have managed it. The Dalish did so, and so did the Alemarri. Spirit lore was something that might have been available to her, when she was eighteen or twenty and still fresh.

But she had bathed too long in her own blood, and her connection to the Fade had rotted. So it would have to be a demon, and she would have to bind it.

For all her transgressions, Loriel did not make binding demons a habit. Less out of any unwillingness to transgress—what sacred rule had she not already broken?—than a sense of calculated risk. Any imperfection in the binding, and the demon was out, ready to turn its wroth on the first target it could get its hands on—generally, the mage who had bound it.

It was a bad idea, she knew that going in. She would do it anyway.

That did not mean she would be stupid. She did her due diligence. She read up, poring over every scrap of demon lore in her library. Abelard’s Index of Foulest Daymons was particularly helpful. She had borrowed the tome from Avernus and only vaguely intended to return it, and now it seemed like she wouldn’t have to. It was a murderously heavy text, listing every type and subtype and sub-sub-and-so-on-type of demon known to exist, their names and habits, their foibles and tricks, how best to bind one, and what one might ply it with. Better yet, Abelard had lived in Tevinter during the Steel age, and his text was unsullied with Chantry prejudices.

She practiced first. When finally it came time to summon something, she spent hours carefully inscribing the binding circle—with far more care than what she intended to summon really warranted. She started with wisps and wraiths, half-formed blobs of Fade-stuff still waiting to become, lashing them to her will and releasing them again. When she could do this as easy as breathing, she moved on to demons of hunger. Hunger was something she no longer felt, and could not be tempted by, though hunger demons were more likely to try and eat her than to tempt her. 

Next she tried Rage and Desire, creatures of things she had felt once, but hadn’t for months and years. If Rage might still bring heat to her blood, if only in the form of intense irritation, Desire offered nothing she’d ever take. Loriel had no fear of Desire. She’d already had the thing she most greatly desired, had it, and thrown it away—on purpose. Nothing else in this world existed that Loriel could be said to desire.

Sloth she avoided. Sloth—Torpor—was the only one demon who had ever gotten the better of her, who she hadn’t defeated herself. It was too great a risk, that she’d lie down and sleep until the end of the world, given half a demon-shaped excuse.

These lesser demons, though, would be of no use to her. What she needed was knowledge, and what that meant something like Pride.

Abelard’s Index was not very reliable for lesser demons who had since returned to the Fade-sea and reformed. It listed appearances they no longer wore, personalities they had long shed, even if their basic natures would reform. But for powerful demons who had amassed centuries of memory—just the one she would need—Abelard was perfect. She read and reread the relevant heading, squinting at the antiquated Tevene. Vainglory, Audacity, Superbia, Narcissus—no, not quite, no, and no. Demons that dealt with forbidden things—Censorus, Proscripta, Obscurus, Taboo—no, not that one, not this one neither. Then she saw the subheading—Daymons of Knoweledge.

Demons of knowledge came in all manner of forms—she paused for a time on Secerne, who collected secrets. It dealt only with knowledge that no-one else knew. Tempting—but such a creature would hardly be likely to give its secrets up and render them useless to itself. A blood mage could bind a demon and constraint it, but to compel it was pointless—you’d probably just end up destroying it, and if you were after knowledge, what good was that? No, once bound, the demon would have to be dealt with the old fashioned way.

Revelatus traded desired knowledge for undesired knowledge. It would tell you anything you wanted to know, and then something you didn’t want to know—the worst thing your lover had ever thought of you, how happy you might have been if you had just chosen differently, what was really in your sausage. Countless men had been driven mad by this one, Abelard warned. Loriel decided not to test her luck.

Finally she settled on a demon called Veritas, who spoke only truths. It was an ancient creature of malice and cunning, but it would tell her the truth, and for that Loriel would give anything.

tck

There came a point where even she could not justify dithering any longer. Weeks had passed since she had decided she would bind a demon. On the chosen day, she made all her preparations, triple-checked her summoning circle, cast spell after protective spell. Finally she could find no more excuses to delay—she spilled her blood and spoke the words.

The air itself seemed to part, and a greenish miasma spilled forth from the crack. A shape was being pulled through, too big for such a modest aperture, yet somehow, terribly, emerging. Reality bulged and bent, and finally, a demon climbed out.

It was smaller than other Pride demons, shaped something like a bear and something like a lion, though in place of claws or talons, it had clever human fingers. Its face was covered with a golden mask, shaped into the form of a human face. Its hide was pitch black, and every inch of it covered with blinking, roving eyes.  It raised its head, as though to sniff the air, and bent to examine its new situation, noting the summoning circle, the runes of binding and restraint. 

“Hello,” said Loriel. “Might you confirm your name?”

The thousand eyes blinked all at once. “I am Veritas, he who knows ten thousand truths.” Its voice came through as though from far away, echoing around the chamber.

“Ten thousand only?”

“No, far more! Many, many more! I know more truths than there are stars in your sky, more truths than there are grains of sand in your deserts, more truths than the number of breaths you will take—”

“That is more than ten thousand.”

“That I know ten thousand truths was not a lie.”

“Oh, I see. You’re one of those demons of knowledge.”

She had succeeded in offending it. “What do you mean by that?”

“You speak only in riddles and technical truths. You say things that are true by letter only, and lies by implication. Disappointing,” said Loriel, pouring unimpressed into her voice.

It scowled around the room—or seemed to. She could not see its face behind the golden mask. “Why can I not see you, little mageling? Where are you?”

Invisibly, Loriel produced a faint crescent of a smile. “I am here in this room with you, Veritas.” Her voice echoed through the chamber as she spoke, seeming to come from everywhere and nowhere at once. The demon’s ears twitched, and only then did Loriel realize that even telling it that she was there in the room with it was more than she meant to say.

“So you are, mageling, so you are. Why have you summoned me?”

“Why do mages ever summon you? I seek knowledge you might have.”

“Why should I tell you anything I know, when you have dragged me so rudely from my home?”

“I will make it worth your while, Veritas. I offer knowledge in exchange for knowledge.”

Veritas laughed. It was a horrible sound, like broken glass. Loriel didn’t dare speak. “Little mageling, you know nothing I do not. I have sought out truths for centuries, bent only upon knowing, and you, little girl, whose lifetime is as a mayfly’s breath to a being like myself—you presume to offer me knowledge? You presume to know something I do not?”

Loriel let the echo of the last word fade, then said calmly, “What is my name?”

No answer.

“So you do not know it,” Loriel said. “And I am forced to conclude, Veritas, that I do know some things that you do not.”

The demon paced inside its narrow circle on all fours. “Aren’t you a darling little pedant! Very well, I’ll take your deal, but I will take it on my terms. You may ask me one question, but first, you must tell me something I do not know. Do not lie! If you answer falsely, I shall know, and I shall devour your heart.”

An empty threat. Veritas was bound. It was subject to her will. It couldn’t get out if it wanted to—or else what was the point of blood magic binding? She was perfectly safe. It was bluffing—

...No, it wasn’t. Of course not. The demon of truth could not bluff. If Veritas bluffed it would no longer be Veritas. I shall devour your heart. Not a promise or a threat, but a statement of fact.

“Very well,” Loriel said steadily. “I shall speak truly.”

“What,” grinned the demon, “is the full, entire, and complete name by which you are called?”

She should have seen that coming. “My name is Loriel Surana.” 

Loriel was common enough for elves. And Surana was not even her family name; it was just what all elves were called in the Circle. Elves had no family names.

“Loriel Surana,” said Veritas, tasting it, savoring it. “Loriel Surana, Loriel Surana...yes, I know of you.”

She was so startled that the question came out unbidden: “What do you mean?”

“Your name floats upon the Fade like a dying leaf upon the breeze! One who often walks free along its emerald waters has called and called it, lacquered it with misery and love, twisted it with hatred and longing. Your name forms an island of despair and desire; tempests that will not calm; storms that will not pass. Yes, what a name!”

“I see,” Loriel said neutrally. Whatever bloomed in her to hear that, she stoppered it at once. “I answered your question, demon, so here is mine—”

“Ah, ah, ah!” The demon waggled a finger not-quite-at her. “You already asked your question. You asked me what I meant. Now it is my turn again. Where in this room are you right now?”

“I am standing in the northeastern corner of this chamber,” Loriel answered, and slowly, on magically silenced feet, moved to the southeastern corner instead.

“No fair,” the demon complained. “I did not know which way was northeast.”

“Oh? Then my mistake. But I answered your question, so here is mine. Where is the ancient darkspawn being known to many as the Architect?”

“The Architect is underground,” the demon said sulkily.

Loriel felt a vein throb in her forehead. “I could have told you that.” 

“Then you should have asked a better question,” sniffed the demon. “Now it is my turn—”

“No,” Loriel interrupted. “No, it isn’t. I didn’t say I would answer any question you asked. I agreed that I would tell you something you did not know. You have just told me you do not know which way is northeast, so I will tell you—it is the direction of the corner where the empty pouch of lyrium powder lies. Here is my second question: what is the cure for the Blight?”

“Why—blood, of course.” The demon smiled with hidden teeth. “It is always in the blood. That was a dirty trick you played, Loriel Surana, but no dirtier than mine, so I will forgive you, this time. Here is the next thing that I do not know and that I would have you tell me.” The demon smiled wider, showing teeth. “What do you love most in all the world?”

“Well?” said the demon, when she had been silent too long. “Will you answer, Loriel Surana? Or will you let me go?”

“I will answer.” And she answered, truly: “Nothing. What I love most in all the world is nothing.”

“How interesting. Yes, very interesting...you are a pleasing little mageling. I think I like you after all. Well, Loriel Surana? It is your turn. Speak!”

“I’m thinking,” said Loriel, and finally settled on: “What concrete set of actions should I take next—immediately after ending this conversation—that, of all possible actions, would take me the further along my goal of discovering the cure for the Calling?”

Veritas grinned wider still, its face little more than teeth. “Take a man infected with the Blight, and find a way to take it out of him. A man, and not a rat. But why waste your time with me asking me that which you already know?”

Loriel exhaled through her nose. “Thank you, Veritas. You may go now.” 

The demon’s grin was all that remained of it as it disappeared back into the Fade, making no attempt at all to remain within the waking world. Loriel was alone, the floor littered with truths both new and old.

“Shit,” she muttered finally.

tck

It had been a mistake to summon the demon. She was no good at dealing with creatures of the Fade. When Loriel had been small and scared and helpless she’d had a silver tongue, been so adept and turning minds to her advantage using nothing but her words. Not it seemed she had forgotten entirely how to deal with a mind she could not break and twist and bend. 

All she had succeeded in doing was in giving an ancient, powerful demon tools to hurt her with, and what had she learned? Nothing she didn’t already know. Stupid. Careless. Idiot.

“Warden Pollard has begun to hear the Call.”

Loriel had been half-listening to Brigit’s report; now she startled to full attention, rattling her morning tea in its cup. “What?” Brigit repeated herself. “Warden Pollard...who is he?”

Warden Pollard was Orlesian. He had transferred from under Warden-Commander Clarel some years ago. He had served well, saved three of his comrades in a raid, and fought with a pike. He had been a Warden for only thirteen years. This was early, but not unheard-of.

“Where is he?”

“The chapel. He prays for his soul. He intends to visit his mother in Velun before heading to the Deep Roads.”

“I would like to speak with him in private.” She said it so quickly as to be unseemly. But Brigit only nodded and moved to acquiesce.

When her office door opened and Brigit admitted him, Loriel couldn’t help but think he didn’t look much like a dying man. Perhaps he was pale, perhaps a sheen of sweat stood out on his skin, but she didn’t know him. For all she knew, he always looked like that. 

Only when traces of discomfort began to appear on his face did Loriel realize she had been staring at him silently for far too long.

“Commander,” he said awkwardly, still with the traces of an Orlesian accent. He’d never met her before. Was he one of the ones not quite aware that she still lived, and still ruled? “I’m honored.”

“Do not be,” she said flatly. “How is it?”

How are you feeling might have been more appropriate. But it would have rung false. 

“Not so bad, yet. I knew it was coming. I accept it.” He paused. “Is there some manner of ceremony?”

Loriel had no idea. There probably was. She had never cared to find out, never cared to make sure that her wardens had a good sendoff. “If you wish it. But that is not why I wanted to speak with you. Can you get more specific?”

A flash of confusion.

“About how it is.”

Pollard looked even less comfortable. “I’ve had nightmares, ser.”

“Different from the usual?”

“Yes.” 

“Can you tell me more?”

“With respect, ser, I’d rather not.”

Her mouth set. “Please,” she said, and there was the power of blood in her voice, and not a trace of a request. “Tell me more.”

Pollard’s eyes went foggy and distant. When he spoke, he sounded oddly flat. “The nightmares were only the beginning. Now when I sleep, I hear the most beautiful voice. Like my mother calling me home. And when I awake, I want nothing more than to hear that voice again. I can hear it now, just barely. And a strange music in my ears.”

“What kind of music?”

“Bells. Like chantry bells, calling me to prayer. Ugly and beautiful at once.”

“Is it anything like lyrium song?”

His brow knit. “Yes. Not unlike lyrium song. But different. Richer and darker. I can almost pick out voices in it, but never what they say.”

She took out a notebook, her shorthand flying across the page. “What do you see? In the dreams?”

“Darkspawn. All gathered together in the biggest chamber I have ever seen. It’s dark, but I can see perfectly. They’re darkspawn, but they do not seem ugly. At the center sits a beautiful figure, bathed in gold, smiling. They welcome me home. I’m glad to be there.”

“When did this start?”

“Three weeks ago I first heard the voice in my dreams. 

“Any physical effects?”

“My skin is hot. The sun hurts my eyes, even on cloudy days.  I feel stronger now than I have ever been, even stronger than I was as a young man.”

“Anything else?”

“I hope not to be alive by the time there is anything else.”

Loriel finished transcribing. “One last thing. Come here. Roll up your sleeve; give me your arm.”

Pollard obeyed. He did not protest, did not react at all, when she took some of his blood. It glinted darkly in the glass vials she had fetched for this purpose, easily a few shades too dark. She stared at it for a few seconds. There was the Blight itself.

She took a few vials. Enough so he wouldn’t notice, later, and closed the wound she’d made with a clumsy burst of creation magic. The vials went into a wooden box inscribed with a rune of entropic suspension—blood spoiled so soon after it left the body.

Frustration overwhelmed her, that all she had was a few vials of blood and a brief coercive interview. Imagine all she might have learned if she could watch as he succumbed to the Taint, hear in his own words what was happening to him. He was going to die anyway—this way he might help save the lives of countless other Wardens, who could object to that? She could just—

No. Velanna had been wrong. She cared about the Wardens, of course she did, why else do all this? She would not subject an innocent man to such a fate. She was better than Avernus.

Pollard blinked as she released his mind, but if he was aware of the lost time he did not show it. She thanked him for his service and assured him that his family would be taken care of. He thanked her in turn, and departed as quickly as was seemly. She watched him go with only the smallest burst of dark regret.

[ashintheairlikesnow]

A Little Brother’s Warning: Ryan Michaelson

This was a request from @burtlederp! Hope it’s what you were looking to read :)

Tagging the Danny crew: @bleeding-demon-teeth, @spiffythespook, @finder-of-rings, @whumpywhumper, @pumpkinthefangirl, @special-spicy-chicken, @whale-whumps

CW: Not much. Some reference to the events of So Broken and Not Broken, so you’ll need to read those before it makes much sense, probably. Discussion of violence.

"The American healthcare system can stop panicking now," Ryan Michaelson announces as he pulls aside the hospital bed's curtain with a flourish and holds up the small, surprisingly heavy black rectangle in his free hand. "The money is here."

Then he pauses, making a face at what he sees.

“You’re definitely not my brother.”

“N-No, thank God,” Nate replies, voice dry as a desert. He’s sitting with his legs hanging off the edge of the bed and still has his jeans on from earlier, although Ryan notes with a lurch in his stomach that he can see dark spatters of blood soaked into them. Instead of a shirt he’s wearing one of those tie-in-the-back hospital gowns, pale blue and printed with tiny little flowers. “We can’t all h-h-have the misfortune.”

“I think you mean the epic good luck, thanks... besides, your weird-ass relationship with my brother would be much creepier.” Ryan recovers easily from the moment of surprise - expecting to see his tall, long-limbed brother and a shock of red hair and instead getting the shorter, more muscular, dark-haired Nate Vandrum.

“In, indeed.” Nate sighs and looks down at his hands. They’re heavily bandaged, the both of them, and Ryan swallows a little. “D-D-Danny is g-getting… he needed st-stitches on one of th-the cuts. He’ll b-b-be back in a bit.”

"And you?"

Nate shrugs. "I c-cut one hand. My b-b-bad hand is b… bruised, m-m-mostly, but I scraped the kn-knuckles, so they wrapped it up, t-too."

Ryan fights a sense of nervousness at walking into a place where Danny should be and finding him not there, shaking that off quickly enough as he pulls up one of those awful hospital chairs, designed to look like they’re padded but it still feels like you’re sitting on bumpy stone nothing anyway.

The last time he was in a hospital, Danny had pneumonia and it had been an absolute nightmare trying to deal with his terrors and trauma while Nate huddled in the waiting room, rubbing his hands together, utterly unable to do a fucking thing until Danny was sedated.

This time, Ryan walked into a room to find Nate Vandrum the patient, sitting perfectly still in a way that unsettles him. It makes him think of those nature documentaries with predators that just lie in wait. Nate is calm, placid even, his green eyes dark and fathomless.

Somehow, Ryan feels even less prepared for this.

He drops into the chair, reaching up to rub the back of his neck. “So… on the phone, uh, you said you guys got attacked by someone? You weren’t… super up for giving me details at the time, so…”

Nate rolls his eyes - just barely - and Ryan fights a smile at the simple sign that he’s human. There are days Nate Vandrum feels more like a bit of stone or a robot following his brother around the world. “I w-w-was busy,” He says, not quite flat.

“Are you busy now?” He keeps the irritation out of his voice… but only just.

Nate glances down and over at him, and then sighs. His fingers twitch where they stick out from the bandages and he winces, a little. “I g-g-guess not. Someone… t-triggered Danny, at th-th-the bookstore.”

Ryan nods, slowly, hands folded over his stomach where he slumps gracefully into the chair - or at least does the best he can to slump, as the chair’s hard wooden back and awful pastel padded backing fights him every step of the way. “He triggers a lot. Less often now, and I don’t think at the bookstore in forever…”

“N-No, Michaelson,” Nate says, shaking his head. Ryan looks back up at him, noticing for maybe the first time how tired Nate looks. There are shadows under his eyes, around the bottoms of his cheekbones. He looks older than he is, and Ryan’s mocked him for it relentlessly before even knowing that he shouldn’t, but he can’t see anything to mock in that face right now. “This g-guy… triggered him on p-purpose.”

Ryan feels his heart still, for just a second, before it beats again. “On purpose? What… what do you mean, on purpose?”

Nate slumps over a little, shoulders hunching, resting his elbows on his thighs. “His n-n-name-... the guy th-that hurt D-Danny… is C-C-Connor M… Manning. He’s a p-prison guard at… at B-B-... at his p-p-prison.” He swallows, rubs at his face with one hand, and Ryan understands all at once - like cold water washing down his back - just why Nate looks so old sometimes.

It’d age anyone fast, to keep so much locked inside themselves for so long.

“Did he… he drove all this way?” Ryan’s voice drops into something closer to a whisper. “Just to, to get Danny fucked up? Did that-... that motherfucker tell him to?”

There is a rage that stirs in him at the thought, the buried anger that usually only comes out when he’s blackout drunk. He feels it inside him, pressing against the confines of his skin. His left hip starts to warm up oddly, like someone is holding a heating pad to it for too long.

“I d-d-don’t know y-yet. The cops t-t-took him in. Danny was s-s-sitting on a couch, I just… I just w-walked away for a second, Michaelson, it’s… just a second.” There was guilt on Nate’s face and in his voice, and some petty childish little voice in Ryan wanted to snap back you shouldn’t have, what were you thinking but the thing was… that was his mother’s voice. That was how she talked to Danny, about Ryan.

And he’d be damned if he was going to turn into Corrine today.

“I know,” He says instead and his voice is softer than he even meant it to be, and Nate looks up, surprised, to meet his eyes.

Honey-colored eyes (where are you from? Well-meaning people used to ask, and when Ryan would say Northern California, just like you they’d snort and then ask, with an awful subtle emphasis, no, no, where is your family from?) meet the dark, deep green.

Nate looks at him, a little stunned, and then his eyes drop back to his bandaged hands. “H-he, uh. Melody came and g-g-got me-”

“Melody? Oh, the one with pink hair. I like her. She’s an absolute doll. I went on a few dates with her a couple months back, but then, you know, Remy and I started talking more and…” He trails off. Nate’s face hasn’t changed, but somehow… Ryan catches himself anyway. “Sorry. You keep talking. I want to know.”

“Right. I d-d-don’t know what h-happened, and D-Danny’s not talking, or doesn’t kn-know… I’m not s-s-sure which. M-Melody told me Danny had l-left with some… some g-g-guy, and he looked… empty.”

Ryan nods, slowly. It’s his turn to look down at his hands. He knows the exact look Nate is describing - the vacancy in Danny’s face when he’s lost in the woods, every expression an effort laced with terrified resignation. Hunched over, making himself small, covering the parts he thinks will be hurt next. “Good of her to get you,” He offers, and Nate nods slowly.

“Right. I th-thanked her, I just-”

“I’ll thank her, too,” Ryan says, not quite a whisper.

“Good. She c-c-came with me, and we were looking ar, around but I c-c-couldn’t-... I was, was so s-s-sure for a second that I’d l-l-luh…” Nate’s voice began to shake and he puts his hands up over his face, hissing through his teeth at the pain, but he doesn’t drop them, he only presses harder, until he can calm his voice.

Ryan only watches.

“I was s-sure I’d l-lost him,” Nate finally finishes. “That we w-w-wouldn’t find him, that someone had t-t-taken him but without m-me this time, I c-couldn’t be th-there to help h-him survive it…”

Ryan swallows, hard, and sits slowly forward. When he reaches out to put a hand to Nate’s knee, the older man jumps, dropping his hands to stare wide-eyed at Ryan. “Hey. I, uh. I know what it’s like to lose him. I get you.”

Nate nods, very slowly, and then says, “When I f-f-found him, M-Manning was… c-c-cutting his, ah, B-Bram’s name for him into his st-stomach.”

Red.

The heat in his hip again, the bristling, boiling, coiled-up anger that Ryan wants so badly to find some outlet for. He can feel the hissing of it in the back of his mind, the simple fact that he could have ended that asshole that had hurt his brother, if it weren’t for the sense of being constricted, held in, trapped in some way he couldn’t name. By obligation, maybe, by who he was. Even if he deserved it, a Michaelson committing cold-blooded murder…  “He was what?”

Nate stares at him. “Cutting h-his… p-puppy name into him. D-Danny was… he was in th-th-the woods. He, he was… Red.”

“That… that motherfucking son of a goddamn bitch.” Ryan takes in a deep, shaking breath, aware as he does that he can hear his own voice like it’s echoing around inside his skull.

There’s a long silence before Nate’s eyes begin to widen. “R-Ryan?”

Ryan can see every detail in his skin, every single pore, the individual black hairs on his head - hints of gray, here and there, just like Danny has a little silver. They said it was from the stress, the trauma, the years of it.

Ryan can feel, he can hear the song of blood rushing through Nate’s veins as his heart speeds up, begins to pound. He’s just so fucking alive, Nathaniel John Vandrum is so alive, and suddenly Ryan thinks that most people are just so small.

So small and so full of rivers of blood and they can lie circles around the green green land but they age fast and die in the end.

Where the fuck did that thought come from?

Nate ducks his head, looks at Ryan through his hair, the way he does when he’s frightened and trying to appease - what Ryan thinks of as his Looking at Denner face. His voice shakes again, and he’s so human. “Ryan, please let go of me-... your, your eyes-”

Ryan blinks and looks down to realize he has his hand closed around Nate’s bad knee so tightly his fingernails are digging in and fuck, he needs to clip them like yesterday, they’re nearly long enough to go right through the heavy denim fabric.

He yanks his hand back quickly. “Shit, Nate, I’m sorry, I… I just-... he was cutting Red into him?”

Nate nods, silent, his eyes moving from Ryan’s face to his hands and back to his face again. There’s a wary nervousness on his face that hadn’t been there before, and he shakes himself all over. “I s-s-saw him and I asked him what he was d-d-doing and th… the next thing I know, I’m b-b-beating the d-d-daylights out of him and D-D-Danny was t-t-telling me to, to stop.”

Ryan considers this, trying to press back his anger. Someone had hurt Danny… again. Life kept kicking his older brother while he was down, again and again, and Ryan only ever stood by and watched, absolutely unable to do a damn thing. He’s been complicit in every single awful thing his mother and father had ever done, he couldn’t help when Danny went missing, he had to stand in a different room while Danny filmed his testimony because it hurt, so badly, to not be able to help.

And now… this.

In this case, he’d been at the gym when Danny was triggered and absconded with, he’d been on a fucking weight machine because it was fucking arms day when some asshole was cutting his brother up, carving that motherfucker’s stupid fucking dog name into him-

“R-R-Ryan… please, your, y-y-your eyes,” Nate says, very low, the soft submissive voice he’d only used once with Ryan before, when Ryan’s hands were about to go around his neck and Nate had started seeing things, hallucinating him as Denner and his stupid dead sister.

Nate, hands bloody and bandaged from beating the shit out of someone who had hurt Danny, is scared of him.

Ryan snaps himself out of it, pressing one hand lightly on his hip. He can’t remember exactly when it started, but he ached there all the time now when he got really, really angry… Maybe just a blood pressure thing.

“Y-your eyes g-glow when you’re ah, angry,” Nate whispers, and Ryan blinks at him. He feels a little worn out, all of a sudden, and slumps back the way he had been before.

“What?” He rubs at his temple with the palm of one hand, a headache starting to inch its way in. Dehydrated, he thinks - he hadn’t had enough water today, and he’d been at the gym when he got the call and probably hasn’t had anything since...

“Y-y-your eyes gl… glowed… You g-g-glow when you’re ah, angry. Just l-like him.”

“No, I don’t.” Ryan frowns, unsettled by the open fear in Nate’s face. Scared of him - and, no matter what he felt about Nate, he didn’t want the older man to be scared of him. “Look, you’re seeing shit, like you said. You had a freakout, you did a really good thing, you’re just coming down from it. Danny sees shit all the fucking time.”

“I’m n-not Danny,” Nate says, but he looks uncertain, now. Second-guessing himself. “I t-t-take my pills, I see Dr. Rosa, I haven’t h-had a visual one s-s-since…”

“Doesn’t mean you won’t have one today. When’s the last time someone actually attacked Danny?”

Nate doesn’t answer, but his green eyes have turned inward, and Ryan sighs, wondering how long he’ll have to sit with his brother’s boyfriend pretending to get along. There’s a long silence punctuated only by the ticking of a clock hanging off the wall over by the hospital room’s TV. Ryan can hear nurses chatting down the hall, the squeaky sound of someone rolling an IV with a bad wheel.

Somewhere, they are sewing his brother up - and Ryan quirks a hint of a bitter smile. “Hey, I should tell you something, Vandrum.”

Nate rakes a hand back through his hair - then hisses at the flash of pain.

Ryan barely hides his laugh. “Oh, no, you won’t have access to your all-time favorite nervous habit. You’re going to be a fucking mess, huh?”

Nate drops his hand, slowly, and glances down at Ryan with that same unsettled expression. Any other day, he’d snap back, have some retort, and they’d both leave feeling like they either won or at least held up their end of things fairly well.

Today…

Ryan eventually sighs. “Hey. Look. Before I’m any more of an asshole than I already am-”

“Too late,” Nate says dryly, miraculously without stuttering through the words.

“Ha ha, you’re hilarious.” Ryan rolls his eyes, and Nate cracks a smile - faint and barely there, but he sees it. Both of them slowly begin to relax. “I wanted to say… um… thanks. For going after him, for… for stopping the guy. For busting the shit out of your already-busted hand to defend my brother. All of it. I’m.. sorry I wasn’t there, to back you up.”

“You’re s-s-sorry you weren’t th-there? On our d-d-date with us?” Nate raises an eyebrow - just the one, all by itself, and it’s a skill Ryan would kill to master.

“... fuck off, you know what I mean. At least you admit you’re dating now, you gave him a ring and still didn’t admit-”

“I l-love him.” Nate cut him off, voice suddenly firm and stronger than it had been before. “Ah. We s-said it today... I l-love him.”

Ryan is silent, staring at him, and then says in a low voice, “Well I should fucking hope so, Vandrum, because otherwise you’ve been mooching off my brother’s total adoration for you for a year now. Why are you telling me something I already know?”

“Y-you knew?”

“Of course I knew. I can read people, my brother best of all, and he was in love with you a long time before I had to look at your fucking face every day while I’m trying to eat breakfast.” Ryan sighs and pulls his credit card back out, fiddles with it. It’s plain black, with the faintest shimmer if you turn it the right way under the light. He’d been so proud of himself when Dad gave him his first card attached to the family account.

What’s… what’s the limit on this, Dad?

The limit is ‘don’t do anything stupid’.

The silence draws out between them, but it’s a little more companionable than it had been before. Finally, Nate shifts around a little, and Ryan glances over at him, then at the TV, playing some kind of mindless house-hunting show. I think the last time I was in a hospital and someone wasn’t watching HGTV I was ten and it was when Danny fell out of the tree.

“Look…” Ryan clears his throat when his voice catches, tries again. “Look. I want to say something to you about this bullshit you have going with my brother. You buying him that ring, and all that.”

Nate looks at him, and something in his jaw sets. “I w-w-won’t apologize for the r-ring, Michaelson. He d-d-deserves something to r, remind him.”

Looking at Nate’s face, Ryan is reminded of the cold, hostile mask he had worn at trial, self-protective, an attempt to keep Abraham Denner from seeing him get upset. Nate had said more than once Denner fed on it, and Ryan had to admit, he did seem to leave every day energized when everyone else was exhausted. 

“I’m not asking you to apologize for the ring, jackass. I wanted to say…” He flips the card over, looks at his name printed on the back. “I just… don’t fuck it up.”

“What?” Nate blinks - this is clearly not what he expects to hear.

“Don’t fuck it up. My brother’s whole life, everyone around him wants somebody else more than him… except for me, I guess. He’s my only brother and the only one I want, anyway. But… everybody else. Mom, Dad, his boyfriends in high school and college… everyone decides they want someone else, and they fuck right off, and the universe kicks my brother in the balls once again.”

“M-Michaelson, I don’t intend-”

“Shut up and listen. I get that you two… that you figured each other out or something, up there.” Ryan waves one hand in the air, as though Canada were a mile in the air instead of several hundred miles north. “I get it. But he’s my big brother, and he’s kind of my little brother, too, now, after everything that happened to him…” He swallows, and leans forward, catching Nate’s eyes and holding them.

“Vandrum, if you fuck this up - if you hurt him, if you add one more kick to the balls for my big and little brother… please trust me that some asshole in an alley is the least of your problems. If you break his heart, I will fucking murder you.”

Nate stares at him, and then starts to laugh, leaning slowly over. He has a low, deep laugh that breaks out of him, as though he works so hard to keep it inside that he’s sort of forgotten the sound. “I h-h-haven’t been given this s-speech since I was, ah, y-y-younger than y-you. And last t-time it was his father, and h-he had a sh, shotgun.”

“I don’t have guns - not on me, anyway - but I do have the amazing superpower of being a little brother who waited four fucking years to see Danny smile again.” Ryan shrugs, holding his hands out with palms to the ceiling in a ‘what can you do’ gesture. “I mean it, Vandrum. Thanks for saving him today, and… for saving him before, too, I guess. But if you fuck up and hurt him, I will definitely make your death slow and painful.”

Nate smiles at him, the scar at one corner of his mouth pulling it just slightly to the side. After a second he holds out one bandaged hand, leaning over, and Ryan meets it - not shaking, he’s too hurt for that. They touch palms, a bare brush of fingers, and call that enough. “Deal.”

“I will murder you.”

“G-Got it.”

“Very, very slowly.”

“Y-Yes, you s-s-said that.”

“With a really confusing murder weapon so the cops never know what killed you.”

“Right.”

They sit there smiling at each other until Danny comes back, pushed in a wheelchair that he looks almost comically too tall to actually sit in.

Ryan turns to look at his brother, relieved just to see the clear blue eyes. The scarring around his face, his neck, his hands and arms… all of it to Ryan is just part of who Danny is, now. He never bats an eyelash at it, it all means Danny lived, that he came home.

Nate Vandrum set a fire - and Nate Vandrum beat a guy half to death in an alleyway - and Ryan had to admit… he was maybe 10% less of an asshole than Ryan told everyone he was.

“Hey, Ryan,” Danny says, with a lopsided smile. “You came to drive us home?”

“I came to pay your medical bills, you doof.” Ryan says, rolling his eyes. Then he looks up at the nurse, flashing her his most brilliant smile. She blushes, just a little, and he reads across her face an easy enough story of how quickly she would give him her number if he asked.

Too bad, he thinks. Remy’s been calling again, and… he’ll skip the opportunity, this time. Maybe next time, though.

“Is there someone from billing I could talk to?” Ryan asks her, and watches her tuck a bit of hair behind her ear with a smile.

“You’re his brother?” She asks, head tilting his slightly.

Ryan laughs. “Yes. I’m Ryan Michaelson. I’m also the money.”