#Queenie doesn’t like things being done for her and she wants to hold it for him

[saytrrose]

So, for your interpretation of Queenie, what do you think she was like when she started going bonkers? What was it like between her and Kinger?

I think, to better describe and interpret her personality she’s an extremely independent individual.

Before she started to lose it, she was likely very straightforward too, not in like a bitch way? But in a “I can handle myself, I don’t need anyone doing things for me.” I still think she was kind, nice to people if they were nice to her but she could be a little judgemental at times. The type to judge a book by its cover but she wouldn’t voice it unless she deemed necessary.

Now with Kinger, I like to imagine Kinger fell, and he fell hard. Queenie however, she fell, and she was was in immense denial. I like to think they were both older of course, adults and single and not in relationships at their age for different reasons. Queenies case is that she was too independent, thought she didn’t need a partner and that ultimately made her lonely and miss out on relationships. It also is the reason they just seem so hard for her until Kinger came along.

Idk, to sum up how I perceive their relationship- picture them bickering over who’s going to open the door for one another.

[silvertonedwords]

Together

Or, a start on the After Wedding Thing. 

In which Tina is very, very done with waiting, and Newt doesn't mind at all. Set post film 3, so spoilers.

I’m planning to do much more of this, perhaps including backing up for a chapter or two, and certainly going past where this stops. But I thought we could all use this moment in our lives. I certainly can.

Read on a03.

“Hey, Newt?”

He spins to face her, his full attention on her in an instant. “Tina,” he says softly.

The room has mostly emptied, save for an oblivious Jacob and Queenie dancing happily in the opposite corner, and a few lingering guests. 

Tina swallows against the nerves. It is terrifying to feel so much, and it is also good. 

As at sea as she feels with all of this—love and relationships and intimacy and wanting and being wanted—Newt is an anchor.

Newt’s hand twitches as though he’s thought to touch her, then falls back to his side. Her eyes follow, and she feels the ghost of his touch on her waist. 

She reaches for the burst of determination that had led her here, an impulsive act grown of months of yearning that make it hardly impulsive at all. His gaze finds hers, and for a moment, words fail her. She wishes so much that she could touch this expression that takes her breath away, that it was hers to hold. “Where are you stayin’ ?” she asks.

His hands fumble where they rest on his knee, and he looks to the side. “Erm. I hadn’t really thought of that.”

She stills for an instant, grateful that they are in the same room, and then indignant that she has not already grasped for more. “Come on.” He looks up just as she takes his hand and pulls him to stand before her. Mercy his eyes are so beautiful in the flickering candlelight. She backs up on her toes and brings him with her, unwilling to turn away. 

His expression is difficult to read, but only because it seems so open and unquestioning. And so she does what she often has when the affection in his letters seems unfathomable. She thinks of it the other way around. And she knows that she would follow him—has followed him—anywhere he’d care to take her. 

They stop for his case and her coat, and slip out the back door as she’s buttoning it. He reclaims the hand that she holds out behind her without question.

They walk through New York in silence. Tina’s heart is pounding. And yet, she realizes, she is not afraid. Perhaps she’d always known she wouldn’t be, in the end. For how could she possibly be afraid when Newt’s hand is entwined with hers?

Her nerves are of excitement and anticipation. Of relief.

They tiptoe up her apartment stairs, and it is only as she closes the door behind them and switches on one light in the entryway that she turns to see his face. 

His hand remains in hers. He sweeps his thumb back and forth across the back of her hand, and her eyes flutter closed at how wonderful even that feels. She has been so alone, no matter what story she’s tried to tell herself. So alone. And wanting this so very much.

His expression is full of wonder. Parted lips and flushed cheeks and the look in his eyes that always makes her feel as though he’s pouring light into the cracks of any armor she’s tried to put up.

“Tina,” he whispers, bobbing his head to catch her gaze when it begins to fall. She has often conjured the sound in memory, but it is another thing to hear tonight in person: the reverent way he says her name, as though the word itself is precious to him.

What if she doesn’t—what if she doesn’t actually know how to do this?

What if she does? What if it has become as unalterable a part of her heart as loving Queenie and wielding her wand? What if, like his connection to creatures, his love for her has left a mark that has become part of who he is?

What if this thing between them, finally fully acknowledged, is wonderful and restoring and freeing and unrelenting and right?

(Isn’t it, she thinks, already all of those things and more.)

He sets down his case. The motion stretches their linked hands, but he does not let her go. The handle clicks as he releases it. He takes half a step closer, so that they are mere inches apart. Their joined hands float in the space between them. 

The unabashed trust she finds in his eyes almost brings tears to hers.

Perhaps, if she feels the contours of that look, she will understand.

Trembling, she lifts her free hand, and rests it softly against his face.

His eyelids flutter, and his shoulders lift and fall with an exhale that brushes across her arm.

Rapt as she is by every flicker in his expression, hers is suddenly as serious as it has ever been.

They inch closer. Both of them are shaking. But it doesn’t matter, or better, that is exactly how much it does. This is what she has wanted since Jacob told her he’d be coming tonight. Since a tender and far too brief goodbye at a portkey in London, which sustained her for so many months, so much radiating out below a slowly yielding surface. 

Since he fumbled with that newspaper in the records room, and called her middle-headed, and bungled his way into the Paris sewers. Since he tucked her hair behind her ear and offered to bring her his book. Since long before that, since he hid his face from her in the MACUSA cell, and caught her in his arms in the execution chamber, and pushed his case and his book into her hands.

They are both still shaking when their lips meet. 

She shudders at the first touch. His mouth is soft and still a little cold from their walk, and shifts as though he is too exhilarated to stay still. She feels like she is soaring, overwhelmed and eager for more. A barely-audible whimper falls from his lips, and his hand tightens around hers, and she moans softly and presses her hand more firmly into his cheek and jaw. 

He brings his free hand to sink into her hair just as her bottom lip pulls free from his.

She sucks in an astonished breath. Their foreheads tilt until almost touching, as though to scold them both for stopping. His jaw shifts beneath her hand, and she hears him wet his lips. 

His eyes are still closed when she opens hers and lifts her head enough for him to come into better focus. Her stomach flutters. He is—he is so extraordinary that she will never have the words. And she was right to think that none of it will ever be enough. Not the sound of his voice or the touch of his hand or the way his eyes see right past her armor when she least expects and most needs it. 

“Oh,” he rasps. He spreads his fingers against her scalp, and she leans ever so slightly into the touch.

“Is that a good thing?” she asks softly, allowing a tremulous smile to pull at her mouth, unembarrassed now by the quivering she hears in her low voice. She is teasing, and yet she is asking, and his touch anchors her as she waits for his response.

His darkened eyes open and land on hers. She could not look away, even if she wanted to.

He lifts his hand from her hand, only to settle it on her waist. His thumb sweeps along her ribs. He slides his hand twined into her hair back and back until it cups her neck, and draws her mouth back onto his.

Her lips part in surprise, but it takes her only a second to catch on; to hold his face between her hands, and kiss him back.

They are so evenly matched in height that her heels make her almost too tall, so she slips out of them, laughing against his lips when she stumbles and he catches her. It does not matter that neither of them knows what they are doing; they figure it out well enough. Their noses bump and his teeth catch on her lip and when their tongues meet she hums with pleasure and joy and thinks that she could happily stay here forever. His hair is soft and messy beneath her hands, and she feels every shift of his muscles under her touch, and of his scarred and calloused palm against the back of her neck. Their mouths coax and drag and caress slowly, as if they have all the time in the world. She tugs gently on his hair, and he moans against her lips, and so she does it again, and again, until his fingers dig into her ribs.

He pulls her even closer, wrapping his arm around her waist, and she arches into him until her breaths and his do not seem separate things. His chest is strong and warm, even through coats and suit jackets and shirts. With her stockinged feet bumping into his shoes, she tries to loop her arms more fully around his neck. 

And huffs in frustration when her stiff coat stops her.

“Newt,” she murmurs against him.

“Mm.”

She cups his jaw and reluctantly parts their lips.

His eyes fly open. He looks dazed, and then suddenly worried. 

She rushes to reassure. “No, no nothin’s wrong.” She smoothes his furrowed brow with one thumb, and skims the backs of her fingers across his even-messier-than-usual hair. “I just wanna get outta my coat.”

His shoulders sag with relief. 

He lifts his hand toward her collar a second later, then stops himself before he can reach her.

She covers his hand with hers midair. “Go on,” she says, moving her hand away. 

His eyes flick to hers, and then he looks down to his hands, as careful as if he were cradling a hatching in its shell. So careful, in fact, that she barely feels a touch, a mere whisper of fabric when each button comes undone. She settles a hand on his shoulder to steady herself, feeling his muscles shift, and reminds herself to breathe, and tries very hard not to combust. This should hardly feel more intimate than anything they’ve just done. But somehow it does.

The wooden floor is cool beneath her feet, and Newt’s hovering presence is warm.

She does not realize he has finished until he raises his head.

“Lift your arm.” His voice sounds as affected as she is. 

She moves her hand from his shoulder, feeling suddenly weightless with the shadows of his movements dancing across her closed eyes. He grasps one side of her coat collar. The back of his hand grazes the bare skin of her collarbone, and she bites her lip against her gasp. 

She might combust. 

He walks around her to slide her coat from each arm in turn.

She watches him return from hanging the coat on a hook a few feet away. She can almost see him, all those many months ago, lingering awkwardly by the door with hunched shoulders, with his hand halfway to the door handle. And she is once more overwhelmed by the magnitude of this moment.

Newt takes her hand. “You’re trembling.” He sounds so very worried. 

She watches as their fingers intertwine. “I know,” she whispers. 

He brings her hand to his lips and holds it there. 

She breathes shakily. Like Newt, then, with his back curled as she promised they wouldn’t poison him, she has always tried to look at the parts of the world that make sense to her, and turn away from anything that might suggest what she was missing. If she could feel that she didn’t want to fall in love, then why should it matter that no one was ever going to fall in love with her?

And then Newt had to blunder into her life and prove all of that wrong. 

She touches his face with a tender smile. “I’m alright.”

“Are you?” 

She nods. She’d thought it would feel as though her armor had broken to pieces around them. But instead, this evening has poured a different, better kind of armor into the cracks. One built on her knowledge that everything is breakable, and anything can be taken away, and her choice to open herself up anyway. She is forced to admit (again, always, whenever she allows herself to really see how he looks at her) that he does want her. That he is in love with her, too. That he wants what she has to give. 

She can do this, and it will always be worth it no matter what happens. 

These thoughts are overwhelming, but they are also beautiful, and they give her strength. 

He brushes his thumb beneath her eye, almost reverently. 

She all but falls into his arms. Without her coat, she can get her arms around his neck properly and tuck her face into his neck. His suit jacket is rough against the thinner fabric of her dress. For a moment, she wonders if this is too much for him. It is one thing to—to be so wrapped up in kissing, but she knows that Newt doesn’t often do hugs. 

The warmth of his hands hovers over her back, and she is just about to lift her head when he settles both of his hands on her waist and tucks his chin over her shoulder. 

She smiles into his neck. Even in his dress clothes, he smells like grass and dirt and rain and everything that reminds her of his case. What a lonely few months it’s been. He is safety, and comfort, and strength. 

She wonders why in Merlin’s name they haven’t done this before. “I’ve missed you,” she murmurs. “Your letters have—thank you for them.”

“They’ve been rather long.” His voice reverberates against her shoulder. 

She shakes her head. “They’ve been perfect.” 

His lips skim along her jaw, making her knees weak. He pushes and nudges his face into hers until he can reach to kiss her again. She sighs into his mouth and holds the back of his head to keep him there. 

One of his arms loops fully around her waist, and his other hand wanders up to twist into her hair. 

The kiss becomes softer, more gentle, a series of brief strokes. Somehow, it is no less aching, intense. 

She slides her hands around to his chest, melting at the almost imperceptible way he arches into her touch, and the encouraging groan that she feels more than hears beneath her hand. She pushes her hands beneath his jacket collar, feeling his shoulders shift as he coaxes each kiss from her like every second deserves its own reverent attention.

Once she has pushed his jacket around his shoulders, he moves his hands from her head and back so that she can remove it from his arms by feel. She laughs softly when he allows it to drop in a heap to the ground behind him. They momentarily break their kiss. 

His hands settle back on her hips, his fingers pressing into her skin. They feel even closer now. Their eyes catch in a blurry grasp, and steal her breath all over again. He bends to kiss her once, twice. Each touch is exquisite. 

She slides her hands up his arms to his shoulders, feeling the wrinkling fabric of his dress shirt and his warm skin beneath it as she goes. At first she only fingers his slightly-askew bowtie, and then she tugs on the ends until it comes free. His Adam’s apple bobs against the back of her fingers. She drags the tie from his shirt collar and lets it fall. 

Their lips part again, only for Newt to move his to her chin, and then her jaw, leaving a searing trail of kisses as she settles her hands back on his chest. He searches out her sensitive neck, and she whimpers and fists her hands in his shirt. She presses her eyes closed and her head falls and she is grateful when his arms loop around her waist to hold her upright. 

When she feels that she can hardly stand, she threads her hands into his hair to still him, only to return his touch with the press of her lips to his neck. His head leans into hers, and he hums with each sensation.

She can feel his trust in the way he relaxes against her. Oh, has she—has she really not said it yet? “Newt,” she says, tracing the shape of his ear with a careful thumb. She smiles at the shiver that ripples through him with her voice so close to his ear. “I love you.”

His hands fly to her hips and guide her back just enough that they can see each other. “I—“

She laughs affectionately, touching his eager, joyous smile. “Now you’re trembling,” she tells him gently. Such a weight has been lifted that it feels as though only Newt’s hands are keeping her anchored.

He nods. He lifts a deliberate, gentle hand to her face. His earnest gaze makes her shudder. He sweeps his thumb along her cheekbone, and returns her words with a tender voice. “I love you.”

She smiles broadly through the tears that fill her eyes.

He sighs and drops his forehead to hers. They stay like that in silence, with their hands soothing each others’ skin.

The clock behind them chimes midnight. Tina smiles to herself. A new day, indeed. “You have to check on everyone, don’t you?”

“Yes.” His forehead shifts against hers. “Come with me?”

Her heart lurches joyfully. “Give me a moment to change, and I’d love to.”

They linger for several seconds more, unwilling to part.

When she does lift her head at last, she truly notices for the first time his kiss-reddened lips and tangled hair and wrinkled shirt. She rather likes making a mess of him, she finds.

(She will find, when she looks into the mirror in a moment, that her once-glossy curls are a mess, her lipstick all but gone and her dress wrinkled everywhere. She rather likes when he makes a mess of her, too.)

“I’ll follow you in a few minutes,” she offers.

He nods, touching her smile one last time.

They share a final kiss. Another.

She squeezes his hand, and they remain joined until she has walked too far away for him to reach.

She looks back once as she opens the door to her room. He is still standing there with his eyes closed and an unguarded smile on his lips. His hand is stretched before him, curled into the shape it was when hers left it.

She smiles a private, delirious smile, and pushes her door shut behind her.

[statticscribbles]

Unrest

Summary: Harry Potter, Tina Goldstein/Reader; as political unrest in the No-Maj world grows; Tina worries it will spill over into the wizarding one 

@ara-a-bird

You’ve had a crush on Tina all throughout school. When you’d first shown up to Ilervmorny, nervous about being on your own, but a little surprised that Tina had reached out to you once you’d both been sorted into Thunderbird.

You’d been pretty inseparable while in school, happy to tag along with her and her sister. You’d gone over to their house a few times and they’d both been to yours.

As the years had progressed you’d gotten more and more nervous around Tina, trying your best to avoid thinking of the massive crush you have on her.

In your final year you decide that you’re tired of suffering in silence and at the urging of Queenie you manage to gain the courage to confess to Tina that you’ve had a crush on her and would like to go on a date; or at the very least remain friends if she was comfortable with that.

She agrees and your first date is actually breakfast before you both have job interviews with the MCUSA. You’re not surprised that Tina wants to be an auror, she seems to be a little surprised you want to work with the MCUSA, but you’re just happy to have a job that’s near to her.

She assures you that you’ll both go out to lunch like you always do, and after you finish your interview; it was in a different department; you’re delighted to find her waiting for you.

“Queenie told me there’s this wonderful deli nearby; we could grab a sandwich there.”

When she starts working at the MCUSA you worry she’ll stop getting lunches with you, although you’re working as a secretary for one of the other Auror’s you know it would look bad for her to be seen with you; if she ever wanted to advance in the MCUSA.

”Y/N what if…” Tina nods to the paper you’d gotten that day; you always enjoyed reading about the No-Maj world, but the headlines and smaller stories had been increasingly concerning; rotten trains of thought about blood purity, and being ‘better than’ that seemed to be drowning any common sense the No-Maj’s had left. You know Tina can defend herself but she was already on thin ice with a few minor infractions; if she used magic in front of a No-Maj she’d easily lose her wand and maybe her job.

“Y/N you know they No-Maj’s have their own group; they’ve been murdering people..” She sinks into your arms and you hold her, wishing you could just obliterate their want to hate so Tina wouldn’t have to worry. You know interfering with No-Maj business is frowned upon, and you don’t have the excuse of being an Auror to fall back on if something went wrong.

Tina’s been called into the office, you knew she’d used magic in front of a No-Maj; you knew why, that woman had beaten her son; you would have done exactly the same thing. To be fair you were half tempted to to track the boy down and take him into your home yourself.

She’s a little shaken when you make it into the office, she’s worriedly pacing in front of the doorway, you worry something incredibly bad has happened and in a way you’re right, she’s lost her auror privileges among other things she clearly doesn’t want talk about in the middle of the MCUSA.

“Tina, don’t worry it will be okay…”

“It will spread Y/N; you know it will, how long before witches and wizards start in on it; we already have issues with pureblood’s and-”

“Tina; you’re getting ahead of yourself.” You wrap your arms around her and let her snuggle into your shoulder slightly.

“Whatever is going to happen we’ll get through it together.” You smile and continue to hug her unaware that a young man is on a ship with a suitcase that’s going to turn you and Tina’s lives upside down.

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[arty-shadow-morningstar]

A Failed Betrothal (Part 3)

There were a lack of stuff to read so I posted this instead.

[Masterlist]

(Part 1)(Part 2)

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PART 3

The next day was weird to say the least for everyone but for Marinette, it was another can of worms that she wished she didn’t open. For one thing, Chat Noir’s feelings obsession for Ladybug switched from one black-haired girl to another which unfortunately was Ladybug’s civilian form. Which meant Marinette had to deal with Adrien’s Chat-Noir-level flirting and bad pick-up lines.

Perfect, just perfect.

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Everyone thought that a declaration speech of ‘being soulmates and the only one for him’ in front of the whole class from the ‘love of your life’ would warrant a ‘blushing to death and stammering’ or ‘outright fainting’. Not a facepalm, a groan, “Why me?” and a “I am sorry but NO. I don’t feel the same way about you”. Marinette vaguely wondered if there was some kind of rule for interesting events and confrontations to happen during lunch break while the class waits for Mme Bustier to start the lessons.

Marinette went to sit in her seat next to Chloe in the back row where she and her friends had been exiled to. The class was in stunned silence and questioning about whether or not they had fallen into an alternate universe or dreaming. Nathaniel and Alix tried to hide their snickers. Chloe just started outright laughing, turning very red in the face.

Marinette felt a nudge from Plagg in her bag. Looking down, she saw them holding up her phone to show Lila’s gaping face of horror with a wicked smug grin on their face. She looked through the photos to see everyone’s faces of confusion and shock at her rejection. Eyes wide and jaws dropped on the ground. Different shots of her classmates in the same state. She smirked and showed them to Chloe who calmed down enough, letting out the occasional giggles and took the phone with glee.

“Thank you, Plagg. Here you go.” she whispered, giving them a camembert macaron.(Tom had started experimenting with camembert in his recipes. Plagg is his first taste tester for all of them, making Tom one of Plagg’s favourite people.)

Adrien didn’t take the rejection very well.

“But we are meant to be. You are a designer and I am a model. Our partnership is the one to be envied by many for the ages.”

“And by that logic,” The designer turned to her main model for her MDC website, “Chloe, my love, will you be my one and only? For our love shines so bright ,paralleled only by a thousand suns.” Using the same voice Plagg does when they go on one of their love odes about camembert before losing her straight face and giggling.(Plagg doesn’t know whether to be offended or amused.)

Setting Chloe’s laughter off again. “Mariiiii,...stop….I can’t..*gasps*....I can’t…”

Nathaniel and Alix, finally lost control and joined Chloe in death by laughter. Adrien was flustered, turning red in the face either from anger, embarrassment or both.

“But Chloe isn’t a model.”

Marinette decided to put a stop to this, just on the off chance that Gabriel finally decides to akumatized his own son. She recomposed herself.

“She is the main model for my website and we have a partnership. You, however, work for your father. So does Miss Rossi. Does that sound like the partnership to be envied by many for the ages? Hmmm, Agreste? Anyways, like I said before, I have no interest in dating you.”

“Why not? We are friends and sometimes, friends like each other enough to date each other.” Adrien angrily asked.

“Because-”

“Because, Adrikins,” Chloe cuts in, “friends having to date because one of them is interested in something more makes no sense and is fucked-up. Marinette doesn’t owe you anything. Besides, she already has a long distance boyfriend who lives in America.”

“WHAT!?” Adrien shouted.

“What?!” The class had snapped out of their stupor. Since when had Marinette gotten over Adrien and had a boyfriend?

“What?” Marinette looked at Chloe with wide-eyes. Last she checked she was still single so what the hell was Chloe playing at. For Kwami’s sake, she hadn’t been on a date since the one with Luka which went awkwardly before they agreed that they think of each other as siblings and it will be best to stay that way.

Chloe gave her a look that said ‘I will explain later.’

“Oh yes, they met online a few months ago and now they are all lovey-dovey together. It’s just so ridiculous, so utterly ridiculous how disgustingly in love they are. They have video call dates at least once a week and somehow make it work despite the time differences. He once came all the way to Paris just to see her. He brought her some special flowers that apparently meant-”

Marinette slapped her hand over Chloe’s mouth. “Well, Chloe, Queenie, as much as I love you as my friend, you can stop gushing about my love life now. Because class is about to start.”

She said through gritted teeth as Mme Bustier finished taking her sweet time and walked in. Sadly, Alya wasn’t done with the conversation ,“Wait a minute, since when did Chloe and you become close enough that she is modeling for you? And a boyfriend? Why didn’t you tell me, Girl? I thought we were friends. What about Adrien, he just confessed to you and you had been crushing on him for so long” Many girls gasped, angry that Alya broke the unspoken girl code.

“You have a crush on me?” Adrien looked hopeful. Like a lost kitten that had been stuck in the rain, was let into someone’s home.

“I had a crush on you,” Marinette corrected him, emphasising on the past tense, “and Alya had no business of sharing that information to the entire world despite us not being friends anymore.” She glared at the journalist who at least looked ashamed.

“You wanted to date Kagami so I moved on.”

One of the reasons anyway. I found out that you were my partner who had no concept of boundaries. You are a coward who only wants to maintain the class peace at the price of my mental health, she thought.

“Instead of continuing to pursue you.” She hoped the ever dense and oblivious model would get the hint she gave him. Tikki ,just this once, Grant me that ladybug luck.

“And Mme Bustier, it is time to start the lessons, don’t you think? Instead of focusing on the class drama to gossip about later on.” Marinette glared at the teacher, reminding her to do her job.

“Oh. Right.” Mme Bustier tried to regain her ‘perfect teacher’ image after getting embarrassed at being caught, “Right. Class, turn to page-”

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As soon as the bell rang for the end of school, Marinette dragged Chloe all the way to her room. Alix and Nathaniel followed them because as far as they know, Marinette had no boyfriends and they were as curious to find out what scheme Chloe had cooked up this time. They were as complicated and crazy as Ladybug’s. No offense, Marinette.

“Okay, Queenie, you have to explain why I now have a devoted American boyfriend who I am so in love with.” Marinette crossed her arms with a frown aimed at Chloe. The kwamis got out of their respective hiding places and went to the tray of food set out for them.

The trapdoor to her room opened, revealing the rest of their friend group before Chloe said anything.

“Did we miss anything?” Kagami asked as Longg and Sass joined the other kwamis.

“Juleka said something about an American boyfriend and how he sounds so romantic. Does that have to do anything with the text Alix sent us to come here?” Luka added.

“To recap, Adrien made a love confession to Marinette,” Alix started, biting into some of the delicious pastries the Dupain-Chengs gave them, ”in front of the entire class after an entire day of flirting and bad pick-up lines.”

“Wow, even after having his memories erased of being Chat Noir, he is still after Ladybug.” Luka chuckled, with the others joining in.

Marinette whined, “It was easier when he was Chat Noir. But now as Adrien Agreste, teen heartthrob, it is going to be much more difficult to get into his thick head that I don’t see him that way and it is going to get harder, now that Alya outed my old crush to him.”

“Oof. Sucks to be you.”

“So, our Mari-bug rejected him. He threw a tantrum and sulked, so like Chat Noir, how did we not notice?,” Alix continued, “After demanding reasons why they can’t date, Chloe gave Marinette an American boyfriend who she was in a long-distance relationship with. Speaking of, why did you do that?”

“I have known Adrik- Adrien since we were in diapers and I know how that mangy cat works. He grew up on Disney and had all those fairytales stuffed into his head. If you had told him that you were just not interested in dating at the moment, it won’t work because he will try his hardest to ‘woo’ you, because he still has a chance. He won’t push his luck as much if you were off the market.” Chloe explained.

“I am sure that, judging by the fact that Chat Noir still tries to date Ladybug despite her saying she is in love with someone, Adrien might try to get more proof of this boyfriend to make sure Marinette is just not pretending to have one.” Kagami pointed out.

“Ahh, but luckily I have a back-up plan. I have a friend, Tim Drake. We met at a few galas when we were younger and kept in touch. He also owes me a favor.”

“I hope this Tim Drake is cute.”

“He is and he’s older than you by two years and,” Chloe typed something on her phone, “A fellow caffeine addict so you can bond over that. Here’s a picture of him and his brother.”

On her phone were two extremely attractive and fit young men dressed in expensive suits at what looked like a gala, the older one had a charming polite smile with bright blue eyes, looking somewhat interested at what someone off-screen was saying despite looking like he will fall over any moment. His brother, however, looked like he would rather be anywhere but where he was. He was tanned and had green eyes that promised murder for daring to even breathe in his direction. Marinette noticed that he looked a little familiar but she can’t place why.

“Tim is the one that looks like he hasn’t slept in days and that’s his brother Damian next to him.”

“Wait a minute. That’s Tim Drake and Damian Wayne. The sons of Bruce Wayne, the billionaire co-CEO of Wayne Industries, which Tim Drake is also co-CEO of.” Nathaniel said with wide eyes and looked at Chloe, “You are using your favor to give our Mari here a fake boyfriend.”

“Of course, only the best for our Mari-bug.”

“Chloe, no, he is probably busy as he is with running the company. No need to get him involved in petty teenage drama.” No matter how much she doesn’t want to date Adrien, bothering a busy guy to be her fake boyfriend is not worth it in Marinette’s opinion. Which, of course, gets overruled by the overprotectiveness of her friends.

“I, for one, think this is one of Chloe’s better plans.” Kagami commented, the others agreeing with her. Traitors.

“Hey!” Chloe exclaimed, an offended look on her face, “Anyways, I will call him later.”

“Children, you better go home now before your parents worry.” Sabine’s voice came from below, “Remember we are also going through some drills tonight so try not to be late.” Having a former assassin for a mother is handy when you want to train a team of teenage superheroes.

“Bye, guys. See you later.”

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

“Just because you have been trained since birth does not excuse you from the drills. You also need to get used to the black cat.” Lady Mǔ lǎohǔ reprimanded her with her arms crossed. When Ladybug started her new team, she was the first permanent member but as the team got bigger, she stepped back to be back-up and mentor for the team.

“Yes, Maman, I know but I am nearly finished with this commission. I will catch up with you later. Promise.” Marinette stretched, looking up from her latest project. Plagg was napping in the little basket she had made for all the kwamis to sleep in which fit all of them and had some extra space for Nooroo and Dusuu after they had been retrieved.

The reason she had Plagg instead of Tikki who was with Alix was because of the new tactic the Miraculous Team came up with. To keep the balance the Ladybug and Black Cat must be active at the same time but with Adrien gone, someone must wield the ring until a new permanent holder is found and it was not a good idea for both of them to be on the same person at the same time. The team decided to rotate using the earrings and ring between them with Marinette using other miraculouses when the others have them. It also had the added bonus of making it harder for Hawkmoth to find out who has them at any given time.

“See you later, 灵儿 (líng er, means intelligence). I will give you 15 minutes but that’s it. Don’t be late.” Sabine sighed and got out the skylight and went towards the safehouse where the Miraculous team met to get training. (It is one of Sabine’s emergency safehouse to use in times of emergency and it had the required space to train 6 teenagers. Chat Noir never came to training, lazy cat.)

Marinette never made it to the warehouse.

Because a few minutes after her mother left, the skylight opened to let in five figures dressed in dark colours to easily blend into the shadows like they were trained to be. Too bad they weren’t as quiet. Marinette immediately summoned a bo-staff to defend herself.

One of them lunged at her and she retaliated by hitting the end of her staff to their middle, coupled with a couple more blows and landed one that knocked them out. The others threw throwing stars which she dodged by jumping back. Which landed her to be trapped by the two assassins, whom she didn’t notice, had moved. She cursed in every language she knew as she struggled against them. It led to no avail as she was badly out-numbered. There was a prick on her head and her world went black.

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

Plagg awoke to a loud commotion. Irritated, they poked their head out to see their new temporary kit knocked out, tied up and hauled away. Recognizing the kidnappers as assassins of the League of Shadows, they scowled. Ra’s Al Ghul was going to pay.

Plagg may not act like it much but the black kwami was patient and smart. Smart enough to leave a note with an explanation somewhere visible with the messy aftermath of a fight before trailing the assassins. Oh, Roarr’s tiger was going to be pissed once she found out what happened. Wherever they were taking Marinette, it would be best to have a kwami of destruction to help her escape. The night made Plagg almost invisible and allowed to move unseen. They caught up easily and hid in their holder’s midnight hair. Now, their patience came into play. It was a matter of waiting for the right moment to pounce.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------Tag list: @alysrose-starchild, @buginetye, @lookatthestars1, @blackroserelina, @macncheesemonster, @mochinek0, @myazael, @tonicxworld, @thewitchwhowaited, @t1dwarrior-of-earth, @kissa-chan, @iwantasecretidentity, @theymakeupfairies, @user00000003, @woe-is-me0, @kashlyn, @mochegato,@moonlightstar64 , @greatcatblaze, @moongoddesskiana, @tazanna-blythe. @tonicxworld, @toodaloo-kangaroo, @frieddonutsweets, @local-witch-of-mn, @lady-bee-fechin, @iglowinggemma28, @indecisive-mess-named-me, @k-tea-and-coffee, @jayjayspixiepop

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(Part 4)

[classic80sand90smovieloves2]

Meeting and Dating Wade Walker

(Not my gif)(Requested by anonymous)

(As much as I love the vaccine scene in the movie, I tried my best to make a different “meeting” scenario)

- You and Crybaby meet at school. You’re not exactly a square or a drape, you mainly just keep to yourself which means that you both stand out yet are invisible at the same time.

- That’s the reason Crybaby never really noticed you before: he was more occupied with his gang; and occasionally fighting with the squares, to pay anyone else any mind.

- The thing about Crybaby is that he attaches himself to girls very quickly. He falls hard and fast for a multitude of reasons, all of which one can gather from his past. There’s this hole in his soul that he just keeps failing to fill …but then he sees you.

- You see, there’s this area of the school that only the drapes really go in. It’s the corridor that’s away from everything, where they put all the classrooms for the delinquents and those who don’t do their work.

- But your school doesn’t have separate teachers for every single class so when you need to talk to one of your teachers, you’re forced to go down that hall to do so. So go down there you did, and boy did people stare.

- As you’re walking; and feeling the gazes of people who aren’t too keen on you being there, you can’t help but take notice of the difference in a certain boys stare. While the others are borderline hostile, his is …beckoning, it’s like he’s calling you towards him. But that can’t be true, right?

- You quickly avert your eyes, gulp, and make your way into your teachers second classroom, trying your best to pay him and his gang no mind.

- Well, from then on, Wade Walker has his eyes set on you. You’ll find him watching you, staring from across parking lots, hallways, and lunchrooms. You would have assumed he was looking at something else had his gaze not been so intense and focused. You wondered if he was waiting for you to do something, or if he was giving you a warning; a promise that he was coming towards you soon.

- He finally does so after school one day. Like so many other days, you’d locked eyes as you walked down the front steps of the school. You’d contemplated just going up to him and finally saying hi, but you were brought out of the lure of his eyes by his gang sneering at everyone from beside him.

- That was when he decided to make his move; when he was sure that you liked him but just didn’t have the nerve to let him know yourself. He thought it was sweet; you were cute in a way that most drapes weren’t.

- As I mentioned before: people didn’t pay much attention to you so as you were going to begin your journey home, you got bumped into and subsequently ignored as your things went rocketing towards the ground.

- As you were knelt down, gathering your books, two scuffed up boots came into view and soon enough, Crybaby Walker had leant down and was handing you one in all his ever intense glory.

- You straightened up and took it from him, thanking him and shyly introducing yourself. By that point, the rest of his gang had made their way over and Wade told you his name before introducing the rest of them.

- He asked if you wanted to hang out with them, you told him that you had to get home before your parents worried, causing his gang to “ooo” at you. He didn’t pay them any mind and followed you as you slowly walked, offering you a ride home.

- Figuring that this was your chance, you gave him a smile and accepted, bringing a smile to his face as well. He slung an arm around your shoulder and nodded back at his hot rod, leading you along with him as he walked.

- You ended up in the back of the car, squished between Wanda and both Hatchet-face and Milton; Hatchet being on Milton's lap. Every now and again, you’d lock eyes with Crybaby in the mirror as he made conversation and a small smile would make its way to your face.

- He’d been telling you about the performance he was going to give that night just as he pulled up in front of your house. Right before your mother called you in, you’d leaned down to look through the window, telling him that you’d like to hear him sing sometime before thanking him for the ride and running inside.

- Boy, you should have seen how flustered you had him.

- The two of you have your first date later that day. You said you wanted to see him sing, didn’t you? Well, he rode his way right up to your house and knocked on your door, asking your mother if you were home.

- You peeked out from behind her and smiled at him before he explained that he wanted to take you out. With a little urging, you convinced her to let you go and soon enough you were hopping on his bike and gathering with the drapes to see him perform.

- The two of you share your first kiss that same night. He’d just finished performing and the two of you were stood a little ways from the party by his brand new bike. He’d led you over there and as you were talking and walking, he’d turned for a moment and pressed his lips to yours.

- He paused to see your reaction and when you didn’t react negatively, he gave you a little smirk and kissed you longer. After that, he may or may not have taken you to “makeout point”.

- And thus, you became the king’s queen.

- Crybaby can’t keep his hands off of you; he’s extremely affectionate and touchy with you no matter where you are.

- He’ll usually have one arm around Peppers shoulder and another around your waist/shoulder.

- Him pinching your cheeks, usually after you do or say something that he thinks is cute. Other times, he’ll just do it after you catch him watching you with this fond look on his face.

- Cheek kisses.

- Hard kisses.

- Making out and French kisses. Never done it before? That’s obviously not a problem.

- Being dipped into kisses.

- Him laying his head in your lap or resting his chin on your shoulder; depending on where you are and your stance on getting hair grease on your clothes.

- He usually won’t initiate cuddling himself but he’ll certainly let you snuggle into him and then slowly cuddle back himself. He sort of just doesn’t know how to express that he just wants to hold you so he lets you do it when you want it. 

- Orphans have special needs. No matter how much he’ll try to not admit it or how much he doesn’t think that he is, Crybaby is definitely touch starved. He just really needs your affection sometimes so please just be nice to this borderline traumatized boy. 

- He calls you a lot of pet names so I’ll just list a few: baby, sugar, little thing, queenie, kitten, honey, and angel, amongst others.

- Compliments. He thinks you’re the greatest and nothing can change his mind.

- Being sung to. Sometimes, he’ll just break out into song; usually love songs and usually with him bringing you into a little dance with him whenever you sort of give a giggle in response.

- Winking, teasing, and flirting. He’s damn good at making you flustered but you can make him just as flustered, just through different means.

- It’s surprisingly easy for you to turn him on; you do it without even meaning to, but at the same time, he still just thinks you’re the sweetest.

- Air kisses; you all know what I’m talking about. Some of the time he does it affectionately, other times he’ll do it sarcastically; all depends on the situation.

- Getting close to his sister and family; you’re always invited to come visit. Ramona probably embarrasses him by talking about what cute grandchildren the two of you would make. 

- His friends teasing the two of you. 

- Leaning against his car with him and his gang.

- Bridal carrying and getting thrown over his shoulder. He likes the little squeals and giggles that you make when he does it unexpectedly.

- Puppy dog eyes. Wade can convince you to do just about anything and it’s adorably frustrating.

- Having him occasionally check in and make sure you’re okay with things. You can always let him know that you don’t like something and he’ll stop it and/or bring you someplace else.

- Having to put up with Lenora. She’s constantly trying to cause problems between the two of you though her plots rarely ever manage to actually do anything.

- He always tries his best to impress you. His singing, his bike, his personality, his stories, whatever he thinks will interest you, he’ll use.

- I’m not gonna lie, he probably gets your name tattooed on him in one of those stereotypical red hearts.

- Wearing his jacket and/or getting your own shiny leather number.

- He loves being able to show you off and let everyone know that you’re together. He’s very proud of you so expect him to make your relationship obvious to everyone.

- Going to turkey point. Everyone there loves you, even if they don’t outwardly act like it all the time.

- Oftentimes, he’ll just show up at your house or wherever you are unannounced, just to see if you’re not busy and would like to come do something with him. He just likes seeing you, alright?

- Motorcycle rides. The two of you make quite an entrance when you’re arriving at places.

- Laying out under the stars together, though you’re probably more occupied with each other than looking at them.

- Drive-in movies.

- Sneaking out to see him, especially if your parents don't approve of him. 

- Washing his car and bike with him. The two of you usually end up having water fight; he’ll occasionally grab you and squeeze you against him before giving you a kiss while you both sit there slightly soaked. 

- Standing up for him. He’s all smiles whenever he listens to you tell someone off for talking bad about him.

- It doesn’t matter what it is, any punishment that you may have to receive, he’ll try and take it for you; even if why you’re being punished has nothing to do with him. He just can’t stand the thought of you having to suffer.

- He’s surprisingly well mannered and chivalrous for a drape. It may not be entirely authentic but he can certainly leave a good impression when he has to, like when he’s meeting your parents for instance.

- Even though he’s sort of a delinquent, Crybaby is still really sweet; and handsome, which is why your mother probably just can’t help but like him. He’s rough around the edges and wears ridiculous clothes but he’s nice. Your dad on the other hand....

- Since there’s always at least one girl trying to make it with him, he always reassures you that he doesn’t want anyone but you; and that’s the honest truth. Whenever he shoo’s someone off, he’ll turn to you and make sure you didn’t take their flirting too personal.

- Crybaby gets extremely jealous; especially when it comes to certain people like ex boyfriends or people who are obviously interested in you. He’ll always demand that you leave with him immediately; it’s the way he makes sure that you’ve chosen him and are sticking to your decision.

- He’s incredibly protective of you so expect him to jump to your defense and possibly; most likely, fight people over/for you.

- The two of you don’t really fight all too often; mainly because you understand him enough to know that it usually isn’t you that he’s actually upset with. When you do fight, he’ll usually have a bit of an outburst before calming down and trying his best to explain what’s got him so worked up.

- It’s easy to forgive him; especially when his sister tells you how he’s been moping around all day. He’ll approach you a bit hesitantly and ask if you can talk before telling you that he’s sorry and; usually, giving you a soft kiss on the cheek or forehead.

- Wade certainly isn’t scared of telling you he loves you; especially through song, so you’ll always know that he does.

- Even though it’s no secret that he adores you, he always gets sorta shy after he absentmindedly says things like “when we get married” or “when I have kids”.

[malloryslourd]

Madison Dating Goodeday’s Daughter

—————

Warnings: Some Strong Language, Mentions Of Alcohol Use, Suggestive Themes

—————

A/N: yea yea i did it😼 these are crazy long tho so... oops maybe

—————

before you two even get together there’s always a weird aura around the way you two act with each other

Madison still made her snarky comments but they were better categorized as backhanded compliments instead of her standard bitchy remarks

being raised by a Cordelia and Misty you were always taught to be as nice as possible, but the other girls notice you’re a lot nicer to Madison than anyone else

if you ever need to run an errand Madison volunteers to go with you

only to “get out of the house” tho

if you volunteer to do the dishes after dinner she conveniently will stay behind to help

if she needs help with a spell or class you’re always free to give help

it’s all just really convenient

one of those convenient nights when everyone’s already went to their own rooms and settled, you two were downstairs cleaning up the kitchen

Madison was making jokes about the other girls that you laughed at even tho they were a little rude

after a while the laughter and struggling to breathe at moments turns into a tense silence, the two of you sharing quick glances as you moved around the room

you’d finally stop to take a breath and look at her out of the corner of your eye

“You’ve been a lot nicer to me than usual, you know?”

Madison stopped cold, trying to think if it was that obvious that she had been

“I don’t... You...”

“It’s not a problem. Like, not to say you’ve been outstandingly mean to me. You’ve always been... nice”

you’d both fall quiet again, waiting for the other to continue on

“You’re easier to be nice to. You’re not like everybody else”

the conversation would end again, actually allowing for some cleaning to get done

after that you both hurried to finish and go your own way to your rooms

the convo had been awkward enough, there was no reason to continue it

the next day you talked to Mallory and Zoe about it

“I don’t know... it was just, like, weird to be honest”

Zoe would most def be like “Yeah it was weird because you’re in love with her”

#ZoeIsNoHelp

you kinda both distanced yourself from each other for a bit, neither of you wanting to be alone in a room with the other

it didn’t take long for another confrontation to take place

it would happen at a party thrown at the coven when Misty and Cordelia were away

after a few hours of music too loud to handle and few sips of whatever the hell Coco created in the kitchen, thoughts became words a lot easier

you and Madi ended up sitting next to each other on a couch, not saying anything at first

then you would turn to her, grabbing her arm and tilting your head while you waited for her to acknowledge you

“Why don’t you hate me?” “What?” “Why don’t you hate me like everyone else? What did I do?” “I... I don’t fucking know!”

you’d blink at each other

you weren’t satisfied with that answer and she knew that

“Not cool Madi” “You’re not cool” “Bullshit, you think I’m cool” “Yea, sure I do. I think you’re the goddamn coolest” “Because I am!” “Whatever” “If I wasn’t cool you wouldn’t like me as much as you do. Admit it!” “I don’t like you!”

it was definitely the drinks that had made that hurt a lot more than it should’ve

“But do you really? Like do you like me or what?” “I was joking. Of course I like you” “Not like that... Do you like me?”

she would go extremely quiet, thinking about that fact that maybe she DID like you

“I... I think” “The fuck is that supposed to mean?!” “I don’t fucking no!” “It’s a yes or no question Madi!” “Well then yeah, I like you! A lot!”

you’d let go of her arm slowly, both of you slightly leaning away from the other

“What the fuck am I doing?”

Madi would get up and hurry to the kitchen, you following her through the crowd of ppl

she leaned against the counter watching as you followed her in

you were pissed, what did that even mean

you’d start asking her what was wrong, saying that something was obviously keeping her from telling you the truth

after continuous “I don’t knows” and another cup of God knows what she would finally turn to you

“We can’t be together! Are you crazy?” “Why the fuck not?” “Are you serious? I literally have tried to kill your mother, very unsuccessfully! Everyone here hates me and everyone loves you! It just doesn’t make sense!”

you’d tell her it wasn’t true and shake your head

not everyone hated her, or at least in your mind, and if they did who really cared

“Well fuck them, I don’t care. If we like each other than so what? It doesn’t matter”

her face had somehow ended up in your hands and you both just stared at each other

after a very long discussion, interrupted by way too many drunk ppl, you both would somehow end up in your room, sitting on your bed, facing each other while holding hands and trying to figure out what the hell happened downstairs

you’d fall asleep taking about it, offering absolutely no help to clean after the party- very in character for Madison, very out of character for you

the relationship would be mostly secret from there

Queenie knows everything tho, she knows everything

it would be small changes around the house

the two of you sitting together for every meal, instead of Madi joining just a few errands it was almost all of them, you would go upstairs to go to bed at just around the same time

the girls put two and two together before Cordelia and Misty did

Zoe was $100 richer

Coco? not so much let’s just say that

they didn’t say anything, they knew it wasn’t their place

it was pretty easy for a while until there was a stupid slip up: Madi forgetting to lock your door after coming in to hang out with you

Misty would just walk in to the two of you laying on each other, one of your faces buried in the other’s neck

there was no getting out of it, she knew immediately- everything made sense at that moment

Misty and Cordelia are not the happiest about this relationship

you two were able to keep it secret for two months at the absolute most, but these women aren’t stupid

Cordelia is incredibly disappointed

Misty on the other hand is trying to figure out how long her prison sentence would be if she just so happened to kill someone

it would lead to a giant argument between the three of you, Madison secretly spectating from a bit of a distance to ensure her own safety

Cordelia would say something like “I’m over it, you two can’t be together”

the conversation wouldn’t end well

you’d end up walking out of the room to go rant to Madison or some of the other girls while absolutely fuming

you, Cordelia, and Misty would exchange very few words over the next two or three weeks, at least

Madi would be there to help with it tho

reassuring you that you did nothing wrong or everything would be okay

she would feel guilty, thinking about how she HAD done some pretty horrible things to them both in the past

but she was willing to fix that

your best interest was always Madison’s top priority

she wouldn’t want to ruin anything for you

so she would help you with whatever you needed- magic, chores, literally anything

you would insist it wasn’t necessary but that’s all she wanted to do

and plus it gave you both an excuse to be with each other more

the more time you two spent together the more considerate Madi became to everyone else

granted, everyone thought this was some type of prank or worse some type of sick trap, but it was nice (?)

Cordelia would notice it

the bitchy comments at dinner almost came to a stop(emphasis on the almost), she did what she had to around the house without having to be asked more than twice or so, and she stopped going out of her way to make ppl miserable

but she couldn’t help but notice you were a lot happier too

Misty on the other hand still thought this was all a coverup for some greater evil, or so she claimed

it wasn’t that she didn’t want to admit to the changes, she just didn’t want to admit to the causes of the changes

it did NOT make sense with her reality that her sweet baby was happy with someone so evil

Cordelia would be easier about it, there would be less times she would stop you going to Madi’s room or vice versa, she’d find herself smiling at the two of you getting along instead of being angry

Misty took a lot of convincing from Cordelia on the other hand

like multiple discussions before bed about how maybe they should cut Madison some slack

that girl was not having it at all

she comes around eventually

soon? no. but eventually? sure.

Madi might not be the best roommate to some of the girls but she’s genuinely a great partner

she always puts you first

no matter what

she likes to know that if there’s anything she can do to make you feel safe or loved, she’s doing it

if she’s not with you in person she texts you as often as she can without being annoying

study dates where you’re actually trying to help her but she’s on her phone the whole time or trying to convince you to give up

she’ll “accidentally” knock the book you’re reading off of the bed or out your hands

“Ugh, looks like we can’t do that anymore... Bummer”

you learn to just give up when she starts retaliating

she’ll sneak into your room after everyone goes to bed, greeting you with a quick kiss you both smile through

you only got caught once but Cordelia didn’t even care enough to say anything at the time, just a “don’t let it happen again” in the morning

it happened again

it’s literally most of the time just the two of you talking about whatever happened throughout the day or watching a movie and laughing at Madison making jokes about on of the actors

Madi is very physically affectionate, no matter where either of you are

she won’t admit it but she’s loves sweet soft kisses rather than a rough make out session- but only in private i feel??? she has a character to uphold outside of closed doors

you’ll be laying in bed and she’ll kiss your forehead and you cheek, smiling at you if you even try to act annoyed with her

the other girls are over the PDA... OVER IT

sometimes they can’t even go into the kitchen to get something to drink, it’s ridiculous

Misty is always disapproving of it, without fail

she’s so childish she would literally make gagging noises just seeing you two sit next to each other

she did that when Madison walked into a room before you two started dating but that’s not important

Madi is very much a Look-What-I-Have-And-You-Don’t type of person (always has been, always will be)

she loves to show you off

“So my girlfriend...” “Yeah my girlfriend...” “Did you see that my girlfriend...”

you would get embarrassed after so much of it, getting flustered everytime she would say “my” or “mine”

Madison lives a very expensive lifestyle, no surprise there, so she’s always buying you some type of gift

you come home and there would be a gift bag on your bed or she’ll text you telling you she had a surprise

she has trouble with saying what she means or being able to talk about how she feels so that’s one of her go-to’s when she can’t figure out how to say “I love you”

you try to tell her it’s not necessary but she doesn’t listen

the two of you could spend all day together and not get tired of the other

you find anything and everything to talk about

some conversations carry on for days sometimes

they’ll roll over right to the next morning without missing a beat

Madi loves to call you “Baby”, “Darling”, “Sweetheart”, and “Love”

the Madison-Calling-Her-SO-Mommy stuff started when she was drunk we don’t have time for that right now

anything that makes you feel special is okay with her

you call her “Sweetheart” and “Love” too, maybe “Babe” instead of “Baby”

with her being so possessive she would buy you a piece of jewelry with her initials on it

a ring, necklace, whatever it may be

and she would love to put it on for you

k, Madison loves a good hickey gotta admit

she has no shame in it either

she likes to both put them on someone and have them out on her

she wears hers a lot more proudly than you tho

the other girls make fun of you for it, saying it look like you got in a fight with someone

thankfully you’re able to hide them from Cordelia and Misty, and Madison is nice enough to make sure they don’t see hers

she notices that Misty is still hostile towards your relationship she would eventually take matters into her own hands

Madi would tell her that she knows her and Misty aren’t the best of friends but you made Madi happy and Madi made you happy and it still hurt you to see Misty so upset with you

Misty doesn’t know why hearing this from her made it anymore convincing than anyone else, but she would understand it now

Madison is always touching you to be honest

she’ll come up behind you and hug you from behind, kissing your shoulder and staying there without saying anything

she’d put her head in your lap and just start rambling about something that happened that day

“Are you ignoring me?” “Of course not” “What did I say?” “Something about... something” “ANYWAYS, back to what I was saying” “Great babe, yeah”

half of her twitter is dedicated to you let’s be real

Madison Montgomery Tweeted: My girlfriend is so much better than all of you :)

“Let’s go do something” “It’s 3 in the morning” “... So?”

driving around the city at night, listening to music and holding hands as you take random turns and streets neither of you had really ever been on

people telling you how much better Madison had been since you got together

going on date nights where the two of you argue over who’s gonna pay for thirty minutes

one of you ending up taking the card out of the others wallet before leaving the house

once both of you did this but you were able to come up with the cash together and a tip for the waiter after making them wait so long

Madi will walk into your room to find you studying or practicing your magic and go “Ugh, you and Zoe hang out too much”

she has the most embarrassing photo of you as he screensaver... like ma’am... this isn’t funny :|

the both of you have pictures with each other everywhere in you rooms

she doesn’t like to argue

she really does try her best to not upset you

so she learns how to be more open about her feelings instead of covering them up and acting as if nothing is bothering her

stargazing on nights neither of you can sleep

making sure to tell the other how much you love them at least once a day

[lady-literature]

A Miraculous DC Crossover

ALL RIGHT!!

I’ve been sucked into this unholy sub-fandom and I have thoughts okay? lots of them. Almost none are coherent and I don’t care. I have no plotline to write a fic but by the gods do I need to get out all my ideas.

Behold:

the Salttm

Lila, obviously. But she’s a petty nuisance at best, and an annoyingly competent akuma to fight at worst. manipulative, but not really dangerous ya feel?

Alya. which like, home girl probably doesn’t deserve but like,,, the drama??

CHLOE REDEMPTION YOU COWARDS

She and Marinette become surprisingly good friends (because I love that for both of them and you can pry it from me cold, dead hands)

Nettie-bug and Queenie

They pick on Adrien together

Mari’s friends Protection Squad That Don’t Take No Shit

Adrien

Chloe

NINO BITCH HE DESERVES MORE LOVE TBH

Alix?? Probably

Luka obvi

Felix (PV)?? Or does Marinette have enough emotionally constipated boys in her life?

(Answer: no. no she does not.)

Nath? He be a good fox tbh. creative and sneaky boi

Kagami!!! I love her

They’re all heroes because I say so.

Felix (Sparrow) is an honorary member even though he doesn’t have a miraculous

He handles PR and other background things along with Chloe

Joined up a few years back when Parisians were getting a bit too critical of the heroes

No Hawkmoth b/c fuck that guy

He existed, just not anymore. Bitch got yeeted

There’s other villains in town now. After Hawkmoth’s defeat other metas/supervillains looked at Paris and was just like, ‘free real estate?”

So now the Miraculous Team are Paris’ Actual Full-Time Hero TeamTM… yay.

Ladybug, Chat Noir, and Abielle (or like, Wasp/Yellow Jacket idk Chloe changes her name because ~identity stuff~) are the core three team. like, the wonder woman/batman/superman trio of the MTeam.

Nath is called Reynard Ambre b/c I love him

The public knows he exists but he’s never seen in battle and no pictures exist.

but there are plenty of instances where Paris knows he out mucking around because those akuma battles always get really weird.

Marinette be the guardian?

Guardian in training

Along with all the other holders b/c jesus. Give the girl a break.

Yeah. I like that Idea. All current holders are training to be guardians as well, but Mari’s going to step up as Guardian Supreme when Fu steps down.

Hero fashion!!!

The Miraculous Team is all decked out in their own merch like 24/7

Rarely is it thier own hero persona tho

Not because of like,,,, secrecy or anything. Just because they’re all nerds who love each other

Marinette is the lead producer of Miraculous Merchandise. It’s like,,, her BrandTM It was completely unintentional too

(Adrien and Chloe financially support her work tho. She designs, makes a prototype, and has her two blondes get others to replicate it)

Half of Paris is wearing her without knowing it

(Go MDC! get it girl!)

She totally makes Gotham inspired outfits because what else would she do????

Don’t get her wrong, most of Gotham’s fashion sense royally pisses her off but it’s fun and hey, supporting her fellow heroes ya know?

She wears a Robin hoodie after being officially acquainted with both Damian and Robin (separately of course)

Damian chokes on something, probably his own tongue.

It confuses Nettie. But then she thinks maybe he’s a fan too? She offers to make one for him but he steadfastly refuses much to his brothers’ amusement.

Might make a robin themed dress?? If so, she crosses paths with Robin when she does, thoroughly embarrassing her and almost sending poor Dami into a crisis.

Rogues Gallery

She makes a lot of designs off the rouges gallery because like, supporting people trying to get better??? also they’re some of the few who’s aesthetic aint shit?

She can’t make all of them because she ran out of time, so the rest get posited up on her Instagram and MDC blog (that’s run by Tikki mostly. She’s a great secretary and gets bored in Mari’s purse all the time)

Everyone is very flattered

Harley, if she ever finds it, immediately commission all pieces and wears them around Gotham don’t @ me

Daminette obvi

Marinette meets him and is just like ‘wow, you’re horrible. I want five’

Marinette, in the group chat later: so I met Kagami and Felix’s love child today

Kagami and Felix, seconds apart: I would never stoop so low

immediately after: Hey what the fuck? Rude

Nino: Nettie, dearest, sunshine, light of our collective lives and reason I breathe, what the fuck

Adrien: Kagami, my love, how could you? the Betrayal

Chloe: ew

Luka: Send pics or it didn’t happen

Nath: [insert the ‘right in front of my salad?’ meme]

Whenever they cross paths as Robin and Mari, he’ll just like,,, appear from nowhere hanging upside down spiderman style. Mari finds it endearing but she also wants him to stop scaring the shit out of her

Nicknames, because I have an unhealthy obsession with them, alright?

Misc Mari names: Bug, Bugaboo, Buginette, Madame President/Colonel (when the Team’s being cheeky), Princess, Marigold, Nettie (by like, Nino and Alix)

Jason calls her Pixie-pop

The bird boys call her Nightingale/Mockingbird in like, honor of her being a kickass civillian

Mari refers to them as ‘the flock’ (and bird-brains after getting to know them better)

Damian calls her: Starling, Habibti, ya qamar(my moon), malaki (angel), ya wardati(my flower) (b/c like, angel’s cute an all but I just think Damian’s way more dramatic than that tbh. he’d put thought into his nicknames)

Mari calls Damian: mon soleil (my sunshine) (because symmetry and also Mari thinks she’d hilarious), Birdie, petit oiseau/oisillon

I like the idea of Jagged being a native Gothamite tbh

it’s just so fun honestly???

He’s probably the reason the MTeam are in Gotham in the first place? maybe? anyway, the class is there, right? right. 

Kagami, Luka and Felix are all holding the fort down in Paris. Ain't no akumas but sometimes they need backup so when certain heroes need to disappear, Nath has Trixx set up an illusion of whichever one so they can slip away with the horse miraculous.

Mari’s the one who has to leave the most because she’s still Paris’ damage control, so like,,,,, ya know.

Mari doesn’t get left behind, at least not on the first day b/c come on people! She has plenty of friends in class watching out for her and a semi-competent teacher who does care even if she’s non-confrontational to a fault.

She does eventually become separated from the group. Half because of Lila and half because she’s always fucking late and got distracted.

She actually runs into one of the civilian batfam in the first place because the class was allowed an hour or so to wander around the shopping district or whatever to explore/buy things/get food. They just needed to return to the meetup spot at a certain time but Mari is like ten minutes away when it’s five minutes to the meetup

So she’s just… fucking booking it and completely takes out this trained vigilante without trying to.

Mari, as she’s groaning on the ground, tangled around a boy: By Kwamii, I thought my luck was supposed to be good Tikki.

That or like, the subway doors close before she can get on them and the rest of the class ends up ahead of her leaving her to get caught up on some bullshit in the next train or smth.

Oh, like. Of course it’s her train that gets held hostage. Wonderful.

(Later, Mari will rant at Tikki about her luck. A common conversation between the two tbh.)

This could be where she officially meets the Batfam as the Batfam. Or, like. A couple of em, at least.

Marinette getting serial adopted by the whole goddamn batfamily because i will die for this trope tbh i dont even care

The Robins nickname her Nightingale before they realize she’s Ladybug

They still call her that after but it’s not with the intention of making it her hero name anymore

Her and Alfred are def bros you don’t understand

Actually, Gina and Alfred are old friends. Mari totally knows Alfie before the bat fam and calls him Poppy/Pépé

which floors the batfam because what? Since when does that happen???

Alfred and Mari never, like, actually met in person before, but video chats exist and Gina def talks about the two to each other so it’s like they may as well know each other.

I also like the idea of Alfred being a former holder, probably the peacock. I would adore that

Just,,,, so many fun hero shenanigans

Yeah sure. The batfam are super detectives and have a history of figuring out people’s identities in no time at all. Whatever. Where’s the drama in that though? The showmanship?

Fuck canon, the Miraculous all have glamours because magic bitch and it plays fucking hell on the Batfam and all their shit

Every single Batfam member is simultaneously pulling their hair out because they don’t know who these heroes are???? Why can they figure them out?? Confusion???????

Miraculous team is just…. Straight up laughing at them. The poor dears.

That one gag where it’s a well-known secret that Mari has connections to every Parisian hero and is basically their own personal catering service/comfort place.

Also, it’s the worst kept secret in Paris that Mari is Multimouse

None of the MTeam have confirmed that rumour but they also don’t deny it.

they actually started the rumour. If all of Paris thinks Mari’s the mouse, a temporary hero, no one’s going to think she’s Ladybug/or that she’s an easy target to go after

chloe actually came up with that one

Mari meeting all of Damian’s ‘associates’ (ie pets)

She adores all of them and they her.

Especially GOLIATH, why isn’t he talked about more honestly???? He’s GREAT

She meets Goliath as Ladybug and Robin is just… so done with him??? You are supposed to be a fearsome beast and a professional why are you rolling over and expoSING YOUR STOMACH??? Meanwhile, Ladybug is just: Awww! Who’s a good boy? Who’s the best boy? You are! Look at how handsome you are! Cute widdle baby-

Miraculous Team hanging on the roof of their hotel kinda chilling

Maybe having a debate about doing some free-running/parkour?

Also maybe about whether or not they should be heroes while in Gotham

MT being like, why can’t we go and stop an armed robbery? we can help!

“Gotham already has very active heroes-”

“Vigilantes!”

“-whatever. I don’t want us stepping on any toes. This isn’t our terf and Batman’s known for being strict about Metas rolling around here.”

“We aren’t Metas though.”

“I don’t think he’ll enjoy splitting that particular hair, Nino. Just- not unless lives are at stake, okay? Emergencies only.”

“Yes, Colonel Ladybug.”

This debate most def gets crashed by batfam and confusion ensues upon both sides

batfam didn’t hear anything, they’re just really confused about these french kids hanging out on a roof in Gotham

Just.... yes. all of that. I have like, more but those are not organized or even remotely coherent. here you go! I might write for this but I already have other fics rn so... it wouldn’t be for a while. and as I said, I have no plot.

take this though, i guess. *throws confetti*

[mldrgrl]

Broken Things 12/24

by: mldrgrl Rating: varies by chapter, rated R overall See Chapter 1 for summary and notes

Fort Worth is not the city that Boston is, but it’s working it’s way up.  It’s bustling and busy and the first time he’d taken Jesse and Jimmy with him, Mulder had feared he may lose the brothers to the excitement of it all.  He was pleased to find out the pair were more like him and preferred a slower pace and less crowds.  He doesn’t have to worry about them gambling or picking fights or looking for any other kind of trouble.

The demonstration they give and the training they provide to the postal service is a success.  The horses are installed in their new home and position as a delivery team and Mulder will be bringing eight horses back to the ranch to train as a set of two teams.  He celebrates the job well done by giving Jesse and Jimmy an early bonus and sending the two off to do some sightseeing.  Deciding he’d like to do a bit of shopping himself, he sets out from their hotel to the city center.

For the last few weeks, Mulder has been making a mental list of the things he’d like to get for Katherine.  He doesn’t care if she protests, he has a mind to spoil her, and she’ll just have to get accustomed to being spoiled.  His first stop is a book shop where he inquires after the most current science journals and texts.  While browsing the bookshelves, he also finds a copy of The Taming of the Shrew and purchases it for a laugh.

The next stop he makes is to a rather impressive three-story building called The Martin-Brown Co.  It advertises clothing, dry goods, and other notions, which is exactly what he’s after.  He buys ten yards of a wool fabric dyed a shade of blue that reminds him of her eyes, two pairs of boots using a template he secretly traced of Katherine’s shoes for size, several pairs of stockings, a new shawl, an overcoat, and the valise he promised.  Everything is to be wrapped and sent to his hotel.

The last stop he makes is to a jeweler.  He would give Katherine his mother’s ring, were it not for the fact that it currently resides in a safe deposit box in Boston.  Even if it were in his possession, he has a feeling that Katherine would consider it too lavish and perhaps she would be right.  Though beautifully made with several square-cut diamonds, a working ranch would not be the best place to wear such a ring.

He wants to get something to symbolize the marriage though, not just for her, but for himself.  A simple gold band is easy enough to find for his own finger, but it’s tougher to pick just the right ring for his wife.  A very nice salesman assists him in trying to find the perfect piece.

“I want it to be nice,” he tells the associate.  “She’d probably like something plain, but I still think it should at least have a stone in it.  I also don’t want her to fret over it getting in the way of the household chores.”

“I think I can help you with that,” the man says.  He pulls out a tray of nice-looking bands, diamonds of various shapes and sizes twinkling from all of them, but still none of them seem quite right.

He looks through four trays of rings and has it narrowed between a gold band with a row of very small diamonds and pearls or a silver band with three one carat diamonds, when another ring catches his eye.

“What’s that stone?” he asks the clerk.

“That’s a sapphire.  Would you like to see it?”

“Yes.”

The man takes the ring of the tray and hands it to Mulder.  He inspects it carefully.  It’s a gold band with three stones inset in a row of small squares, like patchwork almost.  The middle stone is the sapphire, flanked on either side by two diamonds.  

“What do you call this design?” Mulder asks.

“In the middle where the sapphire sits is called a pinched square mount.  On either side of that is what’s called a diamond mount on a geometric plaque.  On the shoulder here you’ll see there’s criss-cross etching.”

“I think this might be the one.”

“An excellent choice.”

“Let me just...let me just look at them one last time and give me a minute to consider.”

“Take your time, Sir.”

Mulder puts the ring down and looks over the trays again, focusing on the three main contenders.  He has doubts about the three diamonds and so just looks to the sapphire and the diamonds and pearls.

“What is this?” he asks, pointing to a different ring that he seems to have missed in his earlier inspection, focused as he was on finding the perfect stone.  “Are those hands?  Holding a heart?”

“Yes, Sir.  It’s a claddagh ring.  It’s Irish.”

“Irish?”

“Yes, I can’t say I know the origins, but you’ll note the inside is stamped with what this type of ring is meant to symbolize.”

Mulder turns the ring around to read the inscription.  “Love.  Friendship.  Loyalty.”

“We have this one as well, if that doesn’t suit you.”  The clerk pulls out yet another tray and the same design of the ring Mulder is holding is etched into the interior of the band with loops around the band that look like infinity rings.

Mulder is torn.  He’s leaning towards the sapphire because the stone is gorgeous, but this claddagh ring seems more suitable, even if it’s not as elegant or flashy.  He’s not the one that will be wearing the ring though, Katherine is.  And he tries to think about it from her perspective.  He could probably buy three or four of these claddagh rings for the same price as the sapphire, but the value of the simpler ring feels immeasurably greater.

“That’s the one I want,” Mulder tells the clerk, nodding to the etched silver claddagh ring the man is holding.

“Very well.”

“And the gold band as well.  What type of boxes do you have?”

“Right this way.”

Mulder follows the clerk to the other side of the store where there is a case of boxes on display.  He selects a black box, oval-shaped, made of leather.  There’s a small gold latch at the front and a gilded border on the top of the case.  The interior is standard velvet and satin.

After Mulder leaves the jewelry store he heads back to the hotel.  The desk clerk informs him his packages have arrived and been taken to his room.  He closes himself in the room and looks at the items that are neatly placed onto his bed.  He takes the ring box out of his pocket and opens it up to look at it.

Diana comes to mind.  All these items he’s purchased would seem paltry to her.  He was always happy to lavish her back when they were courting, but she was never satisfied.  There was no such thing as too much for Diana and nothing was ever good enough.  Katherine is different and he needs to remember that.  He fears that Katherine will see all of this and be cross with him.  The perfect simplicity of the ring in his hand makes him realize that there is more to loving someone than purchasing trinkets.

Money is no object to him.  The ranch does well, but it’s not the source of his income, it’s the source of his joy and passion.  He doesn’t know with absolute certainty, but from what he does know of her, he feels that Katherine gets her joy from learning new things and from stimulating conversation.  Out of all the items packaged up on his bed, what she will probably be the most grateful for are the four issues of a magazine called Science: An Illustrated Journal and one called The Popular Science Monthly.

The ring and the books aside, he tells himself that the items he’s purchased are practical.  He hasn’t gotten anything she can’t use and what wouldn’t be considered unnecessary, but that’s not really the point.  

Well, he isn’t going to take the items back, so he packs each one up into the new valise and thinks that maybe it’s a good thing that at the very least, everything fits nicely into the travel bag.  He keeps her ring in his pocket though, along with the little pouch that holds his band.  He doesn’t want to wear his quite yet.  Not until she can put it on his finger for him.

↭

Katherine is setting out items onto the table in the kitchen to make a pie.  Mulder and Jesse and Jimmy are due back the next day and she’d like to have something nice to welcome them home with.  She’s just sat down to start peeling apples when she hears Queenie bark.

Over the last month, she’s grown accustomed to the sounds of the ranch, and in particular, the way that Queenie herds her flock of sheep.  Her bark is usually quick and no-nonsense.  This bark that she hears now raises the hairs at the back of her neck.  This bark is more like a snarl.  A warning.

Katherine jumps up from the table and hurries to the back door.  She sees Queenie by the pens, crouched low and backing away from something slowly.  The dog growls and snaps as she lunges forward and then retreats again.  Initially, Katherine can’t spot the threat, but then she sees it, black as midnight and sleek, slinking around the side of the corner pen with caution, but without hesitation.  She’s heard there were panthers in these parts, but never seen one.

Melvin is running from the bunkhouse, waving his arms and hollering.  Richard is behind him with a pistol.  She doesn’t spot Trevor, but now is the time that he’s usually watering the animals so he must be out there somewhere, trapped where he is.

“My God,” Katherine whispers before turning and running to the other side of the dogtrot.

There are four rifles hung on pegs in the middle of the wall and a cartridge belt hanging alongside them.  Mulder had told her before not to touch the firearms.  They’re always loaded, he’d said, just in case.  Leave them be.  Of course, he probably assumed she had no idea how to use one.  She grabs the cartridge belt and swings it over her left shoulder and then pulls down one of the rifles and holds it crosswise against her stomach and pointed to the ground as she runs back to the door, cocking the lever as she goes.

Without much thought beyond eliminating the threat, Katherine stands positioned in the doorway, a good fifty to sixty yards from the pens.  Melvin is whistling and hooting, trying to get the enormous cat’s attention.  All the animals are agitated.  The goats and sheep are bleating and the hogs are grunting.  The chicks are fluttering in the coop and clucking like crazy.

“Stay back!” Melvin yells at her.

“Don’t move,” she yells back, raising the butt of the rifle to her shoulder.  She cocks her head and closes her right eye, lining the cat up in her sights.  She’s not in a good position to shoot to kill, but she can definitely incapacitate if she aims right.

She has to do it quick.  The panther is stalking Queenie quietly, not at all threatened by the barking dog.  It’s not close enough to lunge, but it’s getting there.  “God, help me,” Katherine mutters, and then cocks the hammer and squeezes the trigger.  The recoil causes the butt to slam into her shoulder, as anticipated.  She winces, but doesn’t take her eyes off the panther.  It screams seconds after the discharge, baring its teeth as one of its front arms collapses.  She hit it in the shoulder, just as she’d aimed to.

There’s no time to waste.  She reaches up and grabs a cartridge off the belt over her shoulder and shoves it into the ejection port.  It’s cocked and reloaded in under ten seconds, but it feels like eternity.  The panther is now on the defensive, limping backwards and screeching as Queenie barks and takes small lunges towards it.  A frothy and red saliva starts to drip from its mouth.

Katherine keeps the rifle at her shoulder and the panther in her sights as she steps sideways to get behind Queenie.  She prays as she moves that the dog keeps its distance and she prays that the panther doesn’t charge forward with a surge of adrenaline.  Worst case scenario, she shoots the dog before the panther.  Best case scenario, she only has to kill one living creature today.

Queenie snaps viscously at the injured panther and it hisses in response.  As it raises its head and bares its teeth, Katherine fires once more, hitting it in the jugular.  The panther goes down without a whimper.  Queenie is still barking and snapping as Katherine lowers the gun.  She walks to the dog and pulls her back by the scruff to hold her in place.

Melvin comes running.  He’s puffing and sweating by the time he reaches her and grabs hold of Queenie as well as the dog twists and yelps to be set free.  Richard walks to the panther and crouches low over it, inspecting it from all angles.

“Where’s Trevor?” Katherine asks.

“I ain’t seen him.”

“Trevor!” Katherine calls.

“Go on,” Melvin says.  “I got Queenie.”

Katherine stands and scans the pens.  The animals are still agitated, running to and fro and loudly voicing their anxiety.  She spots Trevor crouched low behind the hog trough, trembling.  She sets the rifle up against the fence and climbs over into the hog pen and kneels down beside Trevor.  It’s obvious he’s wet himself and she puts a hand on his back to soothe him.

“It’s alright,” she tells him.  “It’s over.”

“I didn’t know what to do,” he tells her.  His voice is shaking right along with the rest of him.

“You did exactly as you were supposed to do, you kept yourself safe.”

“I saw him come down from that hill back yonder and I tried hollerin’, but nothing came out.  And then Queenie started kicking up a fuss and all I could think was that I got to hide.”

“You did good, Trevor.  Queenie’s worked up, but she’s alright.  Who knows what that panther would’ve done if it had spotted you.”

“You shot ‘em.”

“Yes, I did.”

“Where’d you learn to shoot like that?”

“My father taught me, when I was small.”

“I ain’t ever had a father.”

“I know, sweetheart.”

“You wasn’t scared?”

“I was terribly scared.”

“But, you didn’t look scared.”

“I had the advantage of being near to the rifles, knowing they were loaded, and knowing how to shoot.  If I had been in your position, I would have done exactly as you did.”

“My hands don’t want to seem to quit shakin’.”

“That’s alright, it’ll stop soon enough.  Let’s get you up and you run on to the bunkhouse and clean yourself up, alright?”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

“You bring your clothes on over to the laundry basket when you’re done and I’ll get a load done tonight.”

“Sorry to be so much trouble.”

“No trouble at all, sweetheart.”

Katherine helps Trevor stand and keeps a hand on his back.  He’s taller than her by about half a foot, but he seems small in this moment.  He is careful climbing the fence, still weak with fear.  She climbs over after him and takes up the rifle.  The cartridge belt is laying in the dirt.  She hadn’t noticed it had slipped from her shoulder.  She picks that up as well and waits until Trevor has started to weave his way to the bunkhouse to go over to where Melvin and Richard are hovering over the dead panther.

“I put Queenie up in the barn and give her some hamburger,” Melvin says.  “She’ll calm herself in due time.”

“When this story gets told,” Katherine says, trying to sound as serious and authoritative as she can.  “I’d like you to please do me a favor and make it very clear that Trevor was trapped where he was.  I know how boys are and the last thing Trevor needs is to be shamed for being afraid of a panther.”

“I’ll see to it,” Melvin says.

“We best get rid of the carcass before any scavengers come sniffing around,” Richard says.

“I’m going to see about the pie I was fixing.”  She turns to walk away and then stops.  “I take no pride or glory in killing that panther.  I did what had to be done.”

“You done good,” Melvin tells her.  

Katherine nods and returns to the house.  She dusts off the cartridge belt and hangs it back on the nail beside the rifles.  She loads a cartridge into the chamber, leaves it half-cocked, and puts it back in its place.  

[iamnotoriginalphil]

Foretold (Cordelia x Reader)

Synopsis: You suffer from prophetic dreams, and for years now a face has been haunting you. 

Words: 2.1k

Warnings: mentions of smut

**GIF not mine**

You hadn’t realised having prophetic dreams was weird for a very long time. You’d been having them for your entire life, assuming everyone did until you brought it up to a group of friends when you were in first grade. It resulted in all of them refusing to talk to you again. You’d learnt to keep quiet after that. Your parents had made you move schools to run from the rumours. You learnt to use those flashes of images to make your life a little better but to keep it quiet. No one needed to know the reason behind your luck.

Then on your 21st birthday you began to dream of a face with large brown eyes, long blonde hair, and pink lips just begging to be kissed. Every night the face would show up in your dreams, like a ghost haunting your unconscious. It was driving you crazy. All you wanted to know was a name. Or a time and place you would meet her.

Turning on the tv you never expected to see the same face on the big screen or the beautiful voice that was coming from it. It was like seeing the sun for the first time.

You didn’t even think about it. You just packed a bag and booked a trip to New Orleans. Miss Robichaux’s Academy had your name written all over it and you had to go confront your future. It helped that this whole thing probably meant you were a witch. They couldn’t turn you away, not with your gift and their promises.

The night before you showed up on their front door begging for help you had another dream of the blonde haired beauty. Only this time she was bare and you were kissing every inch of her, her hair fanned out on the pillow beneath her. You awoke panting, an insistent throbbing between your legs and a need for someone you’d never met building in you. You took a long cold shower before leaving the hotel.

You stood in line, slowly making your way up the sidewalk towards the giant white house standing with swaying trees. It was beautiful. You could see yourself living there. You really could. And you doubted half of the people in line were genuine, there to look at the spectacle rather than to learn.

Passing through the front door the heat of the day disappeared, replaced with cool air. You let out a long breath, wiping the sweat from your skin. You could feel the draw, wanting you to walk up those stairs, leading you towards your preordained fate. It was torture, waiting to be brought there.

And then there she was. Cordelia Foxxe, standing in front of you, smiling, holding out a hand to you. You hesitated, before shaking her hand, her warm skin soft under your touch. Her eyes widened as they unfocused. Her hand held on tight to you, almost too tight.

Her eyes focused again, a flush high on her cheeks. She let go of your hand, giving you a soft smile. You bit down on your lower lip, her eyes flicking down to it before up again.

“And what brings you to our school?” she asked.

“I have prophetic dreams,” you said, “I’ve had them my entire life. I’ve been seeing your face for years. Then I saw you on the news. It seemed like fate. Or prophetic dreams.”

“Oh.” Her eyes drifted over your shoulder.

“Is this a bad thing?” You were beginning to feel as if maybe the dreams had been telling you what to avoid.

“Of course not, sweetheart.” She reached out her hand to you again, “this sounds like the perfect place for you.”

She gave you a bright smile. You felt your own cheeks grow warm as her dark eyes sparkled and images from your dream ran through your head again. Her eyes darkened.

“When can you move in?”

You’d moved in that night. Since then, every night, you had dreams of the Supreme in various compromising positions, mostly of you between her thighs, her head thrown back, her fingers buried deep in your hair. It was making it difficult to look her in the eye. Which was difficult as she was taking you for one on one lessons as the only prophet in the coven.

It was hard to understand what you’d done to get her on her own so often. The longer you spent with her, the more you longed for her touch. The brush of her fingers along your shoulders, a comforting pat on the back, a cupped cheek. It sent you into a tizzy every time, causing more accidents than any other new recruit. Just meeting her warm gaze was enough for you to flush. But in the back of your mind you kept thinking about how all of this was forced upon you. With prophetic visions everything began to feel like fate, a winding road for you to follow with no chance of deviation. Your will was not your own, or at least that’s how it felt to you.

Hours and hours alone with her, encouraging words and soft laughs. Hands sure as they instructed you in witchcraft, building your gift into something you could have never ever imagined it. And through it all the yearning grew in you, as she became more than just the face from your dreams. Everything about her was calling to you. But you refused to give in. You wouldn’t do it just because you were told it would happen. You wanted it to be your choice, even if it was like torture being around her.

Sometimes the way she looked at you, you thought she might feel the same way.

Then one night it changed. You were in the greenhouse, a hazy quality around the edges, your fingers plunged deep in the dirt. Cordelia was talking to you, the gentle tinkle of glass telling you she was readying some kind of potion. You turned your head, watching her laugh. You let your eyes wander over her face, taking this moment to take in the beautiful view.

“And then Queenie stabbed herself in the thigh so we had to take Madison to the hospital for some stitches,” she said, “but with this we were able to avoid any scarring.”

She shook her hair back from her face and turned to you, bright smile and soft eyes. You held out the roots of the plant you had been digging up. She reached for it, her fingers brushing against yours. Your eyes met hers and she drew closer. She tucked a lock of your hair behind your ear.

“You never tell me what you dream,” she murmured, “do you not trust me?”

“Of course I do,” you said, tripping over your words to get them out as quickly as possible.

“You tell Zoe about your predictions, and she tells me,” she said, “is there a reason you don’t tell me yourself?”

“I-“ You licked your lips. Her eyes flicked down to them, darkening. “I didn’t think you wanted to hear about them.”

“I always want to hear what you have to say,” she said.

Her fingers slid up your arm, running over your skin. You looked down at them, watching them climb higher until they ran over your shoulders. You snapped your eyes up to hers again.

“Tell me to stop if you don’t want this,” she said as she drew closer.

“Please don’t stop,” you breathed.

Her lips pressed against yours, soft and hesitant. You wrapped your arm around her waist, pressing a hand to the small of her back, pulling her until she was flush against your body. Her tongue slipped into your mouth and you were sure you’d died and gone to heaven.

You woke up breathless.

You went about your day, finding yourself in the greenhouse with Cordelia. She was talking to you, your hands deep in dirt as you pulled out the roots for the salve you were being taught to make. She laughed, your eyes wandering over her face, so taken with her beauty.

And the sense of déjà vu.

She shook her hair back from her face and turned towards you. She reached out a hand to you and you passed over the roots, your fingers brushing against hers. You felt your cheeks warm up. Her eyes met yours and she drew closer.

“I had a dream last night,” you blurted out.

“Oh.” Her eyes lit up, “what happened in it?”

“Um,” you said, your eyes drifting to the side. She lifted your chin with a finger, directing your gaze back to hers.

“Tell me, sweetheart.”

You surged forward, pressing your lips to hers. She let out a surprised squeak. You drew back, putting distance between the two of you. She blinked.

“Sorry.”

You turned to flee but she caught your hand, spinning you back towards her. Your body crashed against hers and one of her hands tangled in your hair, guiding your lips back to hers. Her kiss was demanding, deep, turning your shame into a smouldering fire. You kissed her back like she was the air you needed.

She pressed a chaste kiss to your lips before she drew back. You whimpered but she chuckled, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear.

“Sweetheart, look at me.”

You opened your eyes. She was smiling, soft through kiss stung lips. Her fingers tangled through yours, tugging on your hand until you focused on her.

“Was that your dream?” she asked.

“Kind of,” you said, “I might have skipped a few steps.”

“A few steps?” she asked.

“Yeah like the step where I didn’t mention my dream and you kissed me first,” you said.

“I kissed you first, did I?” she asked.

“Maybe.”

She lifted your chin again, running her thumb over your lower lip. You shivered.

“I suppose if we’re confessing things then there’s something I should tell you,” she said.

“Are you about to tell me you have a secret wife?” you asked.

“No. This would be a terrible time to do that. I’d wait until we were at the alter. Much more dramatic,” she said, flashing a quick smile at you, “no I have to confess that the first time we met, while you shook my hand, I saw one of your dreams. At least I’m hoping it was one of your dreams. Otherwise I should be worried.”

“Oh no,” you mumbled.

“Because we were very naked and that mouth of yours was doing some very naughty things,” she said, swiping her thumb along your bottom lip again.

“Oh no,” you mumbled again.

“Not that I’m complaining because from the looks of it I was enjoying myself,” she said.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” you asked.

“I figured you’d come to me in your own time,” she said, “and if it was prophetic then it would happen eventually so we would have had to do something to end up there together.”

“And that doesn’t make you unhappy?” you asked, “you don’t feel as if your choice has been taken away from you?”

“I’m choosing you of my own free will,” she said, “because I like you and I think you’re beautiful.”

“But you’ve known since the beginning that we were always going to.” You flushed again, “fall into bed together.”

“The moment you walked in the door I wanted to,” she said, “I don’t think you know how much I want to fall into bed with you.”

“And you’re not worried that I’m doing this because I don’t have any free will?” you asked.

“You proved today right here that what you dream doesn’t always come to pass,” she said, “if this isn’t what you want just say the word and it won’t happen and we can forget it ever happened. Sweetheart, we’ll do whatever you want.”

“I want you. I want you so much sometimes it’s all I can think about,” you said, “which probably explains why my lessons aren’t going as well as they should.”

“We can work on that.”

She pulled you in for another kiss and you sunk into it. She curled an arm around your waist, keeping you pressed against her. You moaned into her mouth, needy and insistent. She nipped at your lower lip.

And you certainly fell into bed with her.

[highonchocolate]

Take Two: The Guardian in Gotham Chapter 13

First   Previous   Next   Ao3

“Now that we know you do not intend to attack or harm us, the next order of business is testing and understanding your powers” Diana said, starting off down the hallway. “Batman and Superman will go over the details with you.” 

She led them to a training room where Batman and Superman were already waiting. The five of them filed in after her, looking around and taking in the room. The design was more on the minimalistic side; consisting of plain white walls, void of decoration, with lights embedded into the ceiling. Training mats spread out over half the floor, with more stacked on one side. There were no windows, or glass, and the ceiling rose high above them, at least twenty feet up.

Superman cleared his throat, and their eyes snapped from the walls to him. 

“As Diana most likely told you, we are going to be assessing your powers today. What that means is, you will explain where they come from, as well as demonstrate how they work, if possible, so that we can better understand your abilities.” 

“That all sounds good, but how, exactly, do you want us to demonstrate our powers to you?” Ladybug asked, tilting her head curiously.

“Whatever way feels the most comfortable, as long as you cause no injury to others. And yes, death is considered an injury.”

They looked horrified. 

“We aren't going to kill anyone to demonstrate our skills!” Chat Noir exclaimed, staring at them with wide eyes.

“Well, some of our members didn't realize that when they were assessed.” Superman said, eyes darting away for a second. 

“You can begin now,” Batman growled from where he stood beside Superman, his imposing black silhouette looming over them.

Ladybug blinked up at him. “Uh, alright.” She took a deep breath, before beginning. 

“So, we get our powers from our Miraculi. Our Miraculi takes the form of jewelry, but the shape can change. The jewels are what stay the same, and they have gods bound to them. When we transform, the god that is bound to our jewel will fuse with it, and give us powers. These gods are called Kwamis, and they represent abstract concepts, which is what our powers are based off of.” 

“What kind of abstract concepts?” Superman asked curiously.

“Um, well my Kwami represents Destruction, and there are also Kwamis that represent things like Intuition, Subjection, Evolution...stuff like that.” Chat Noir answered, ticking off his fingers as he listed the examples.

“How many Miraculi are there?” Batman inquired, still looming. “And what concepts do your Miraculi represent?”

Ryuko met his face unflinchingly.

“My Miraculous represents Perfection, Viperion’s represents Intuition, Queen Bee’s represents Subjection, Chat Noir’s as you already know represents Destruction, and its counterpart, the Ladybug Miraculous, represents Creation.”

“They're stored in Miracle Boxes, and it's worth saying there are many of those, actually,” Viperion added, “But the one we have had nineteen Miraculi,” 

Batman nodded once, accepting the answer.

“You said had, past tense,” Diana noted, “What do you mean?”

“Hawkmoth and Mayura stole two Miraculi from the box, the Butterfly brooch, which represents Transmission, and the Peacock brooch, which represents the power of Emotion. They're literally the supervillains we fight, like, daily.” Queen Bee crossed her arms, looking at them incredulously. “How do you not know this? It's literally all over Parisian news when Akuma Attacks occur.” 

“We had it handled Queenie, and my Cure fixes all the damage anyway, so they probably didn't see it as a problem,” Ladybug countered. “Besides,” She glanced at the three older heroes, “You have to deal with stuff like alien invasions, and plots for world domination, not some dude who wants to make a wish.” 

 Viperion frowned. “It's more dangerous than that and you know it.” 

She shrugged, looking away. 

“While you are correct that we are busy, that still doesn't excuse that we let this slip our attention,” Superman said.

“Well you're helping us now, so I guess that counts for something,” Chat Noir offered, “And uh, if there aren't any more questions, we can demonstrate our powers now.”

“Go ahead.” Diana indicated the training mats, “Just remember, no injuries!” 

“Okay, so Ryuko, you can go first,” Ladybug turned to Queen Bee, “I know you've been working on recalling your Venom, but for now, just stun her when it's your turn, since she'll already be done demonstrating.”

They nodded, and Ryuko stepped forward, facing the older heroes, and inclined her head in a small bow. 

“I have the Miraculous of the Dragon, and it represents Perfection. It allows me to transform into three elements, wind, water and lighting.” She breathed deeply, planting her feet firmly on the ground.

“Wind Dragon!” 

She shifted into a gust of wind that blew around the room once, before reappearing where she had originally stood.

“Water Dragon!”

She became a stream of water that seeped through the cracks in the training mat into a puddle on the floor, before reappearing on the floor in front of the training mat. 

“Lightning Dragon!”

She turned into a crackling ball of electricity, hovering in midair for a moment, before reverting back to human, panting slightly.

Ladybug grabbed her forearm gently, “You need to recharge, and then sit down. You have food for Longg, right?”

“Yes, but I don’t know where I’m going to detransform and recharge,” She whispered.

“Just ask Diana if there’s a closet or something where you can detransform.” 

Ryuko nodded and walked over to Diana. They spoke quite for a couple moments, before Diana pointed to a door they hadn't noticed when they had arrived. She nodded and walked into the room beyond, as Chat Noir walked forward.

“My Miraculous is the Black Cat, and it represents Destruction. I have two powers, one that allows me to destroy anything I touch, and one that allows me to create corruption in something. I also have enhanced senses.”

Queen Bee sidled up next to Viperion. “Was there a script? I don’t remember there being a script?”

“I think he’s just going off what Ryuko said because she sounded distinguished.” He whispered back.

Chat Noir’s ear twitched, and he had to bite down on the inside of his cheek to hold in laughter.

“I’m not going to demonstrate my second power, though, it’s a bit more dangerous, in a way.” 

He raised one clawed hand before him, “Cataclysm!”

His hand began to seethe with a dark, black energy that had the older heroes falling into defensive positions.

“Can I use it on this?” He indicated a nearby metal bar with the other hand.

“Yes.” Batman nodded, observing intently. With the reassurance, he walked over to the beam and pressed a single claw to the shiny metal. Within seconds, it had corroded and rusted, disintegrating entirely. 

Superman raised his eyebrows. “Impressive.” 

“Heh. Thanks.” Chat Noir rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, stepping back and allowing Queen Bee to come forward. Ryuko walked over as well, standing a few feet away from the blonde heroine.

“I have the Bee Miraculous, which represents Subjection. It gives me the power to paralyze others. I’ll be demonstrating on Ryuko, since she has already demonstrated and recharged.”

Behind them, Chat Noir’s ring beeped once.

She reached down to the striped top, its cord looped around her waist, shouting “Venom!”

It began to pulse with magic in her hand, and she quickly flicked her wrist, sending it spinning at the dragon-themed heroine and catching her between the shoulder blades, leaving a small ring of black and gold. 

It's effects were instantaneous: she stiffened up, her limbs all locking in place. The only things moving were her eyes, and the slight rise and fall of her chest as she breathed.

“How long does the paralysis last?” Diana asked, studying Ryuko’s frozen form.

There were two beeps, one from Chat Noor and the other from Queen Bee.

“Until I detransform. But after we use our powers, we only have five minutes until our Kwamis are forced to drop our transformations,” Queen Bee explained. “That'll change once you become an adult, but for now the paralysis only lasts five minutes, max.”

“So after you use your power you have to end the fight within five minutes?” Superman clarified.

Viperion spoke up.

“Well, we can detransform, feed our Kwamis and transform again. And then we can use our powers again. It just takes a few minutes to do all that.”

“Hmm.” Batman’s face seemed thoughtful beneath his cowl.

Two more beeps echoed through the room..

Viperion stepped forward to the mat. Behind him, Ladybug was pushing Queen Bee and Chat Noir towards the door Ruyko had recharged behind, an insistent expression on her face.

“My Miraculous is the Snake, and it represents Intuition. It grants me the power to repeatedly go back a certain amount in time.” He paused as Ryuko unfroze and began to shake the stiffness out of her limbs. Queen Bee must have dropped her transformation. 

“I can't demonstrate it very well here, but in battle if things go wrong, I reset time and warn us before we make that mistake again.”

There was a flash of green and yellow light behind the door as they retransformed

“A useful power.” Batman commented, face unreadable. The other two heroes murmured in agreement, strange expressions on their faces.

He shrugged, faking nonchalance even as the memories of past Akumas turned disastrous flashed through his head. “It's a powerful blessing and a horrible curse.”

His bracelet beeped once, and he stepped away to recharge as Ladybug walked forward.

“I have the Ladybug Miraculous, which represents Creation. I have the power to summon a tool in battle that will help me win, and I can capture Akumas and repair any damage caused in a fight that Ladybug participated in with my Cure.”

“So if you are not part of the fight as Ladybug, you can’t fix the damage?” Diana asked.

“Yeah, basically.”  She frowned. “So even if I’m there as a civilian, if I can’t transform before the fight’s over, I can’t do anything to repair the damage.” 

There was a flash of blue, and Viperion walked back over to them, falling into line with the other members of his team behind her.

Shrugging, she gave the older heroes a small smile and grabbed the spotted crimson yoyo at her hip. “But I can now! Lucky Charm!” 

A ladybug-patterned keychain with ‘JL’ emblazoned on it fell into her outstretched palm. She threw it into the air, shouting “Miraculous Ladybug!”

With a whoosh of magic, pink glowing butterflies soared through the room, fixing the rusted beam, and even straightening things that had shifted slightly when Ryuko had called on Wind Dragon. The three older heroes' eyes widened at the display of power.

“That’s a very useful power.” Batman commented, eyeing them assessingly. “Now, we’d like to see your combat skills. Without your powers.” He turned on his heel and walked out the door. 

“Follow me.”

“Do you want us to detransform, or just not use our powers but keep our suits on?” Ryuko asked as they followed the three of them out of the room.

“What additional enhancements do your suits bring?” Batman countered, turning right and striding forward along another hallway.

“Uh, mine gives me night vision and they all give us better reflexes.” Chat Noir piped up from where he brought up the rear.

“Any weapons?” Diana asked.

“Well, I have a lyre.” Viperion offered.

“Do you hit people over the head with it when they get too close?” ” Superman asked as he walked beside them.

Viperion looked appalled. “Of course not! It’s a musical instrument! I would protect it with my life! You never damage your instrument!”

“Okay…” Superman said slowly, turning around and walking backwards so he could face all the Parisian heroes. “What about you all?”

“I have my yoyo, and it’s pretty much indestructible.” Ladybug pointed to the spotted weapon at her hip. “Actually, all our weapons are mainly indestructible. Perks of magic I guess.”

“Oh, and I have my baton!” Chat Noir lifted the weapon in question above his head enthusiastically.

“Spinning top for me.” Queen Bee shrugged and indicated the striped top at her waist.

“Do any of you have traditional weapons?” Diana asked, looking at them incredulously.

“I have my sabre.” Ryuko unsheathed the weapon in question, the light glinting off the unmarred metal.

“A sword.” Diana nodded, “I can work with that.”

“Alright, here we are.” Superman announced, throwing the door open. “Time for your combat skills to be tested!”

@laurcad123, @liquid-luck-00, @toodaloo-kangaroo, @stainedglassm

[sinner-as-saint]

Hi! So I saw that you write for Geralt, and I had this in mind: he gets called to a village where they say that there is something sinister lurking in the forest bc sometimes men and women who venture out come back deranged, like they want to go back into the forest no matter what, and they believe it's a monster, so Geralt goes to investigate and he stumbles across a cottage and when he enters he is surprised by how cozy it looks, but more specifically the reader who is (1/2)

(2/2) who is small and so innocent looking. So the reader is like, “I wondered why it took you so long to get here witcher’ and Geralt is like ”???“ bc how’s it possible that this innocent looking reader be the one who has caused all this mess right, so long story short the reader is like a succubus or some thing similar and like she seduced people and is dominant and shit, so she ties up Geralt and fucks his brains out, or maybe she teases him and doesn’t let him cum? Like there is many options

OKAY i love this 

Bottom!Geralt is so UGH!!! 

alright, so he is immediately mesmerized by you. Honestly, it only took a few seconds, or maybe less. But he surely was under your spell the moment he first saw you

this wasn’t what he expected, to be honest. When he received the message that a certain village needs his help, Geralt thought it might have been some horrible looking, Kikimora type of monster. 

he certainly didn’t expect a beautiful, beautiful young lady. Living all by herself in her cozy cottage in the middle of the woods; alone. How is she a threat? She doesn’t even look like a monster, Geralt thought, blinded by your beauty and charming smile. 

“I see you’re finally here, Witcher. What took you so long?” you asked, softly, innocently. For a moment there, Geralt felt like he could just melt upon hearing your smooth voice. So soft, and angelic. Yet it fueled the fire in his loins, he couldn’t help it.

“Who are you?” he asked, trying his hardest to get a grip on himself and focus on his job. But that was so hard to do, it was near impossible because there you were, standing just a couple feet away from him; wearing a gown with a dangerously low cleavage. And you weren’t even bothered with hiding your modesty; because he distracted him, you could easily see that. 

“I’m Y/N, and i assume the villagers sang my praises?” you teased, stepping closer to him. He wanted to take a step back, he so wanted to. But he couldn’t. Your scent, your hair, that look in your eyes, your smooth skin… it all pulled him in like a trance. 

Geralt scoffed quietly. “What you’re doing to these people, you need to stop it. Now. Or i will make you.” You got closer to him as he spoke, and touched his face gently. The fire inside him burned brighter. Hotter. He felt something grow inside him, a need. A desire perhaps. He tried to sound intimidating, but he failed. 

you chuckled. “Giving into your strongest, deepest desires is not a sin, Witcher. You know that, don’t you? Besides, what exactly it is that i’m doing?” You faked a pout and looked up at him, leaning closer to the tall man. 

“i don’t know.” he replied through gritted teeth, trying his best to control himself and trying his hardest not to lean into your touch. Your touch was warm, and cool at the same time. It calmed him down, but it also drove him crazy. 

“Well, you would like to find out, wouldn’t you?” the fire in him burnt brighter, and he could no longer hold back, he almost nodded at your question. You leaned in to kiss him, gently stroking his lips with yours and from then on, he was in a haze. As though drugged. 

next thing he knew was that he was following your orders like a lost puppy. Removing his heavy clothing upon your command, getting into your bed when your ordered, and surrendering. Completely. 

you had him bound and restrained. Hands tied to your bed post, above his head. And he lied there, without a single complain leaving his lips, his heartbeats racing, and his desire growing. 

“You know, when i heard the villagers were planning on calling for you to get rid of me, i thought you’d be a tough one to deal with.” you whispered in his ear, straddling him and kissing the side of his face gently. “But here you are, like a perfect little pet.” 

Geralt knew he should’ve tackled you to the ground and put an end to this, and save the village from your charms, because rumor was that once people met you; they were spell-bound. And they’d be ready to lay down their lives if you simply asked. Slowly, but surely, you could take over an entire village, and make people become your own personal little slaves in a matter of days. 

but Geralt was being treated like a toy in your hands, and he didn’t want it to stop. 

“Fuck…” he cussed in a quiet whimper as you slowly kissed your way down his body; down his neck, across his bare chest and all the way to his thick, erected cock. Without any warning, you took him into your mouth, all of him. And he moaned out loud, mindlessly. 

You took his cock deep into your mouth, then took it out and stroked it; watching him grunt and struggle against the ropes you tied him with. He would have easily freed himself if it wasn’t for your seductive magic. “Not so strong now, are we, Witcher?” you taunted and took him into your mouth again. 

Geralt nearly whined when you did so, he was getting desperate and your ability of bringing him right to the edge and mercilessly keeping him there for as long as you wished to was driving him insane. He knew this was wrong, and that he was falling right into your trap, but it felt so good. 

maybe he loses all self control the moment you sink down on him, your wet warmth wrapping all around him; making him cuss and groan. You lean in and caress his face, looking him deep in his golden eyes while you rocked your hips against his. “That feel good, hmm?” 

he’d nod, way too quickly. He was quite a sight; all big, and strong, and handsome but tied to your bed at your mercy. You chuckled and leaned in to bite his lip, tugging on it as you pulled away - surely making him lose his mind. 

you’d move against him perfectly, your walls gripping him tightly and making him get louder and louder each time. Maybe just when you’d feel him twitch inside you, you’d pull him out of you and watch him whine and smirk at his helplessness. 

“Getting greedy, are we?” you’d tease and smirk at how frustrated he was getting; grunting and moaning for you. 

at some point, he’d be nothing but a sweaty, moaning mess under you; messy hair, swollen lips, and a throbbing cock. But you wanted more, you wanted to hear him whine some more, you wanted to hear how desperate he could get. You needed to know that you had complete and utter control over the big, bad Witcher. 

maybe you’d tug on his hair, or maybe pull him closer by gripping his locket. “You’re gonna have to work for this, come on. Beg.” you’d whisper softly, lips hovering above his parted ones. Maybe you’d even kiss his open mouth carelessly. But he was ready to do anything for you. Absolutely anything. 

he couldn’t believe that someone so innocent looking, having such a spotless and angelic aura could make him beg in bed. But here you were, dominating him; making him whine and whimper for a brief touch from you. And oh did he beg. And whimpered, and whined. 

“Y/n… please.” perhaps his voice was low, barely even a whisper. But you heard it. His desperation was quite clear. 

and he was so sensitive, from all that teasing, that once you started riding him again; he would thrust his hips up trying to match your movements. But you’d mess with him even then, you’d slow down your pace whenever he got too excited, and you’d speed up when he least expected it. 

he’d get loud, very loud; growling each time you messed with him, and whining your name whenever you teased him for too long. You’d alternate between having him in your mouth and riding his cock, and there was nothing else he could focus on in that moment. 

at some point, you’d eventually give in; seeing he was physically worn out. And you’d fuck his brains out, making him cum in no time. Your walls clenching around him, gripping him and milking him perfectly. He was completely at your mercy, begging you to slow down when you kept riding his sensitive, throbbing cock even after he came. 

he’s breathing hard and fast after you’re done with him, trying his hardest to calm his racing heart while you still have him securely under your spell. You kiss his chest, murmuring how good he was and how much of perfect “play thing” he was. 

“Now, you’re gonna go out there, and tell them that i’m no threat. Because i’m not, am i?” you’d grip his jaw gently, and look deep into his eyes while you spoke. His hands were still tied, and sore and they were itching to just reach out and touch you. 

you’d kiss his parted lips while he nodded frantically. “No, you’re not.” And just like that, you had the Witcher under your charm as well. 

And he did go out there, and managed to make up some lie about you being nothing but an innocent girl living on her own. He convinced them that it was some other source of magic which was taking control over their people. And they were stupid enough to believe him. 

And so, you became his little secret. And kept working your magic on people doing what you did best. 

—

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[missgarnet]

Where We Stand

Pairing: Yoongi x Reader

Word count:5.7k

Genre: angst with fluff

Warnings: pregnancy, mentions of past miscarriage, blood and injury, Duchess Min and other characters from Stay,  I swear there’s a happy ending

Summary by @minjoonalist​: fluff, pain, almost pain, spain without the s' and fluff?

Link to ao3

Happy Birthday @sope-and-shine​ Belle, I love you! (also I’m sorry for not killing anyone off in this story, I just couldn’t) 

I also want to say thank you to @minjoonalist​ and @sope-and-shine​‘s Fae for reading through this to helping me edit and think of titles!

“How do I look darling?” you ask, slipping the thin dagger into the hidden slit in the corseted top of your dress.

The duke stepped closer to you and took in the reflection of the two of you together. You watched in the mirror as he swept your hair to the side and started to kiss you, his lips a gentle whisper against your neck. “You look… powerful. I’d have to be an imbecile to ignore that.”

“Is that it?”

You feel his lips forming a smirk against your skin, “Of course not, you’re stunning and you know it just as well as I do. How was I lucky enough to find a wife as brilliant and beautiful as you.” His hands find themselves at your waist, trailing back to play with the laces of your dress.

“Yoongi,” you laugh as you swat his hands away. “They just finished getting me all dressed up in this, I don’t want to call the maids back to retie this again.”

“I’m surprised you haven’t already, you normally make them redo this until it’s as tight as you can get and both of you are exhausted.” He wraps you in his arms again and turns the two of you to face the mirror, “unless you’re…”

He can feel the sharp breath you take, realizing he’d figured it out. “Please, don’t get excited, it's too early for that. I don’t want to tell anyone else just yet.”

“Who else knows?”

“My maid, she thought it was weird when I asked her to find dresses with a higher waistline. She figured it out pretty soon, and I politely asked her not to say anything just yet.”

“Mmhmm, and what do you mean by politely asking this time.”

“I may have… accidentally… threatened to have her tongue removed if she so much as hinted to it”

“You never cease to amaze me, my love.”

A sharp knock on the door interrupted the few moments of alone time you had left. The two of you rushed to finish getting dressed for the day, this meaning countless weapons being discreetly tucked away in the many hidden pockets of your clothing. It was an important day, and you made it a rule to be prepared for anything and everything that could go wrong. Today you had one mission and no one was going to get in your way, not even the king himself.

Looking back you should have said no when she asked you to walk her down the aisle. Traditionally she should have had a family member to give her away, but tradition be damned, if your best friend and closest ally wanted you by her side then nothing was getting in your way.

By the time you got there the poor dear was already panicking as she paced the floor of her dressing room. “What if I mess up or trip and the entire court starts making fun of me”

“I’ll give them something else to talk about.” You said, instinctively reaching toward your favourite dagger. It’s jeweled angel wings sitting at the very top of your gown, giving the appearance of a simple broach when tucked into it’s spot atop your corset.

“Y/N, no weapons. How many times do we have to say this, stabbing people doesn’t solve problems. It only creates more.”

You scoffed at her reply, knowing fully well that it was the first thought you had. “First of all, I wasn’t going to stab anyone… this time. Second, there’s no rule against blackmail or accidently sharing information that would draw far more attention to others.”

“I don’t know how you did this. You didn’t even know Yoongi when the two of you got married, I’ve known Tae far longer and I’m still way too nervous for all of this.”

“Are you kidding me?” You laughed, “I was a wreck on my wedding day. Hell, I practically had to be dragged down the aisle and I would have clawed my way out if I could. I wanted nothing to do with it, then again that wasn’t really up to me. Even afterwards I was still too nervous to actually talk to him, it was much easier to argue and plot all the ways I could get rid of him.”

“You were planning to divorce him?”

“Oh Queenie, divorce was mild compared to what I had in mind.” You smiled at the memories of when you first moved in with your husband. The two of you had barely spent a minute alone, and were at each other's throats any time you were in the same room. He expected someone docile, sweet, and a little fearful of him the way that almost everyone else was. What he hadn’t expected was to be matched with a wife even more stubborn and intimidating than he was, you had become the first true rivalry he had ever experienced and it was thrilling.

It didn’t help him to find out that he had met the only person with a reputation worse than his own among the court, nor that you had found ways to win over his entire staff in a matter of days. Despite being incredibly talented and an excellent asset to have on his side, Yoongi seemed determined to prove that he was still the one in charge for those first few months. Everyday was a competition and the two of you had engaged in a seemingly endless battle of bickering and petty vengeance against one another. Your favourite of these occurred after he made it a point of removing you from a meeting with the generals. He should have known better than to mess with someone who was feared by the court and adored by both his family and his staff.

That next morning as the sun began to rise Yoongi was nearly blinded by the amount of light pouring into his chambers, waking up to the smell of burnt fabric and charred toast. You could hardly contain your laughter when one of the staff recalled being called into the sight of him slipping on his robe only to find that the right sleeve had been completely torn off. Tears ran down your face as you heard about him storming around the room looking for something to wear to meet you at the breakfast table only to find most of his clothes had been sent off to the tailor to be altered or repaired in some way and he had been left with an assortment of mismatched clothing and heavy winter suits. That morning neither of you felt willing to give each other the satisfaction of reacting to the other’s actions. Showing weakness was to show defeat, and neither of you planned on losing. You couldn’t help but feel a sense of just pride as you watched your husband shift in his seat clearly displeased with the current state he was in, almost laughing as he hobbled in missing his left shoe.

You had almost missed the defeated sigh he gave as he took his seat across from you. If he were like any other man you knew, he’d have given you the outburst of rage that you had been preparing yourself for. Instead he had a rather gentle gaze as he met your eyes from across the table and spoke in a soft almost admiring tone, “We can’t keep doing this. I mean seriously, destroying my curtains, burning my breakfast, and ridding me of my entire wardrobe in one morning. And why? I’ve done nothing to offend you.”

The servants quickly began backing out of the room in anticipation of another argument between the two of you.  “Nothing? You really think you’ve nothing wrong?” The icy glare you were so determined to keep directed at him was the only thing holding tears of frustration at bay. But you refused to let him or anyone else see you crying. “Yoongi, you undermine me at every opportunity available, making sure that I have no say in what is going on around me. I have no family here, no friends, no allies on my side. Everything here is about you, while I am constantly pushed aside and belittled by even your guards and servants. I was one of the most brilliant women my age. I learned the arts of battle, bribery, and blackmail by the age of five, and perfected each of them by eleven. And the worst part is all of that is going to waste, I am wasting away and it is all your fault.”

“I’m sorry I had no clue. I just thought you’d want a break from having to fight all the time, I guess I should have noticed this was wrong when you seemed so determined to argue at every opportunity possible.

“You really are an idiot sometimes.”

He laughed at this, the two of you finally sharing a moment of understanding and bonding over as you later called it his very best moment of complete stupidity.

As you sat there recalling all of this your eyes began to water and you let out a quiet sniffle. The two of you had been through so much since then and with very limited exceptions you wouldn’t change a thing. You may not have had the best of beginnings with each other, but he’d done his best to make up for that every day that you’ve shared since then. The two of you still bickered, but it was more affectionate and caring now that you’d decided to save your fury to defend one another.

“Y/N are you crying?” your best friend placed her hand over yours in a comforting gesture.

“No, of course not.” You tried to dry your eyes, but the gesture was not as subtle as you had hoped. “Fine maybe a little. I think I’m just feeling sentimental, all this wedding stuff had me thinking about when Yoongi and I were newly married and the time we had our first good fight”

“You still haven’t told me what happened to the shoes, and everytime I tried to ask the staff they just got really quiet and seemed like they were too afraid to speak.”

“Well, I took all of his left shoes and I had one of my maids put a box outside his room. Then I took most of them and put them away in the box, and I sent the rest away to be burned.”

“You burned his shoes”

“Only the left ones, and only the pairs I didn’t like. Besides if I were to do that now there would have been a lot more of them being burned, I swear just the smell of that shoe polish is enough to make me sick nowadays. Then again there’s been a lot of things that do.”

“Are you, you know?” The young queen-to-be asked, doing her best to emphasize the implied meaning.

“Am I what,” you asked, a challenging tone in your voice. It was obvious she knew, but if she wanted to ask she would have to use her words.

She gives you a knowing smile and pulls you in for a hug, “Congratulations Y/N!”

“Oh, shut up” you laughed trying to hide how nervous you were feeling. Yes she was your best friend, but this pregnancy was news you didn’t want out to the public just yet. “Today is your day, I don’t want to take away from that.”

She rushes to the clock at this realizing the two of you were running horribly behind schedule. As you rush through the halls together, you do your best to pin her veil in place and keep the train of her dress from collecting dust and dirt from the floor. Both of you pause outside the closed doors grandly looming before you, your faces warm and nearly out of breath.

You begin the task of fixing her appearance one last time before everything starts changing again. She was always so small and quiet when you first met. You never thought such a timid young woman would come this far, but something about her just spoke of being so much more than just another commoner. And now here she was in the most delicate white gown with layers of chiffon carefully draped over each other and tiny sleeves resting just off of her shoulders, looking more composed and regal than anyone you’ve ever seen before. The light reflects against some of the crystals sewn into her veil almost creating a halo around her. The light airy dress looked stunning on her and seemed even brighter as the two of you stood side by side. All the intricate layering and the bright white of her dress contrasted beautifully against yours. It wasn’t your original plan but the midnight blue gown and it’s simple pattern seemed to exaggerate your figure in the best of ways. It’s plain bodice and jeweled collar drew attention up and away from the changes you were hoping to hide.

The doors are drawn open and the two of you take a sharp breath as you begin the long anticipated journey down the aisle. To anyone else she would seem calm and composed, but you knew better, “You know, I’ve still got the carriage waiting outside. Say the word and we’ll start running. I’ll even lead the horses myself if that’s what it takes.”

You can see the slight bounce of her shoulders as she begins silently laughing. Looking around you begin to hold on to faces in the crowd, doing your best to remember where everyone was seated to use for later. It was a shock to see Namjoon and his new bride so close to the front, you thought they’d be in the back where she’d be hidden away from the prying eyes of so many nobles. After all, their relationship had been quite a scandal and she was much too far along to hide anything. What didn’t surprise you was the look on Taehyung’s face when he saw you and his fiance nearing the altar. The two of them were stupidly in love with each other and you could see that from a mile away.

You found yourself rather exhausted after all the excitement from the queen’s wedding, deciding to take just a short break at home before involving yourself with any of the court’s drama for a while. It was meant to be just a week, maybe two at the most but as time went by it felt much better to be in the manor with Yoongi than anywhere else. The two of you were still bickering like any other day, but being at home gave you a space away from the rest of the court once you’d started showing. The two of you became cautiously excited about your future child, still too worried to be fully invested but getting closer as each week went by.

There had been a few rough times along the way, but everything had been going well for the most part. That little piece of hope growing each day was worth any of the worries and discomforts you were facing, even the morning sickness that lasted much longer than you would have preferred. You thought things were getting better until another worrisome incident took place.

“Yoongi,  I started bleeding this morning, and something feels very wrong.”

“Are you alright?” He shook his head realizing his mistake, “I’m sorry that’s a ridiculous question. What are you feeling, is there anything I can do?”

“I’m scared Yoongs, I don’t know what’s going on and I can’t tell if it’s normal or if it’s going poorly again. It can’t end like last time, I can’t lose another. I don’t know if there’s anything that can be done, I just don’t want to be alone.”

He crawled up into the oversized bed beside you, gently taking you in his arms as he brushed your hair aside. “I know there’s nothing you or I can do and it’s completely out of our control, but I want you to remember I’m here and I will always love you no matter what.”

The midwife had a sad smile when she entered the room. Mrs. Lee was one of the oldest staff members serving the Mins, having delivered you herself. It warmed her heart to see the two of you curled up together so caring and gentle for once. She had originally been hired to act as a wet nurse, but when your mother went into early labor the midwife had been by her side. You’d practically been raised by her along with a few other maids, so when you found out you were with child there was only one person you wanted to have with you.

Mrs. Lee had seen you grow from a small frail infant to a rather intelligent young woman, and knew almost all of the struggles you had faced along the way. It was always her that you went to with any problems whether it was scraped knees or scheming nobles. Your first pregnancy was rough to say the least, and she was there for all of it holding your hand when everything came to it’s heartbreaking end.

And here she is now, doing her best to keep you calm as she conducts her exam. You begin to shift as you feel another one of the pains you’d felt earlier. It wasn’t horrible, only strange and unpleasant. Yoongi presses his lips to your forehead while you begin to play with his hands to distract yourself. The two lay holding tight to one another as you wait for the midwife’s news. As she felt your stomach, Mrs. Lee paused for a moment furrowing her brow before suddenly bursting out in a smile unlike any other.

“Your Grace, I have good news and even better news. First off your child is in perfect health at the time being.”

You let out a heavy sigh of relief, both of you feeling as though a large weight had been lifted.

“Second is those little pains you were complaining about. It’s not something going wrong that feeling is from the baby kicking. A lot of mothers complain about it being an odd feeling, but it’s good and it means that the baby’s doing well.”

“They didn’t kick last time,” you whispered.

“I know Angel,” she explained. “But you’re much further along this time, and you seem much healthier. Having some spotting this late is a bit concerning, but so long as you start getting enough rest and I keep checking up on you, I don’t think we have anything we need to be too worried about. I’m going to head out now and give the two of you some space, but you can call for me at any time even if it’s something small.”

Mrs. Lee excused herself and quietly left the two of you on your own once more. Yoongi loosened his embrace and turned to face you, there were tears in his eyes and the biggest gummy smile he’s had. You take your hand and place his against your stomach where your unborn child kept kicking. The two of you sat in a comfortable silence for a while before he finally felt something, “They kicked! They actually-” He laughed and gave a joyful little sigh at this, “I love you so much Angel, you’re going to be an amazing mother.”

“I love you too Yoongs, I couldn’t do any of this without you. We’re going to be a great team, but I think our child is going to need a name pretty soon.”

Yoongi gave you an evil grin, “We should name her Yoonji”

“Absolutely not, I think I’m going to be sick,” you announced pressing your hand to your stomach. “We are not naming her after your sister, she’s too much of a b-”

“You can’t keep calling her a bitch, especially when we’re in front of others,” he tried to sound exasperated but the laughter that followed quickly put an end to that act.

You rolled your eyes at the ridiculous argument the two of you kept falling into, surely there were more important things than your opinions and not so backhanded comments about his sister. “Please be serious. If you could choose any name for our child, what would it be?”

“What about Aria for a girl’s name?”

You smile and take his hand in yours once more, “I think it’s beautiful, but we’re not going to need it. We are having a son.”

“My Love, I have no doubt that you know just about everything but we’re not going to find out until they’re here. There’s no way of being sure.”

“No, I’m absolutely sure. This child will be our first beautiful little boy, and I know I’m right. It’s a mother’s instinct and I’m never wrong.”

“Then what are you suggesting, since you’re never wrong.”

“What about Hyun-Su?”

“It’s perfect.”

You pull him closer and reach up to cup his face between your hands, “We’re going to be good at this, right? They’re going to turn out better than we did.”

“I hope so,” he turns his head slightly as he presses his lips to each of your palms. “Regardless they’re going to grow up knowing that they have two parents who will love and fight for them no matter what.”

The two of you stayed under the covers, wrapped in this moment of relief and utter bliss at knowing that your child would grow to be safe, healthy, and above all else loved. What you didn’t know was that this joy would be short lived as much grimmer news was always just around the corner. You had found out quite some time before Yoongi, receiving the letter from one of the associates you had within the court. Oftentimes it paid to have eyes and ears throughout the kingdom, but for possibly the first time you regretted having this knowledge. The letter shook in your hands as you considered your choices, you could send help but you knew there would be some kind of trap lying in wait. There was no way you would risk losing Yoongi to such an obvious scheme, even if it meant sacrificing someone else. Throwing the parchment into the fireplace you watched as all of it crumbled to ash.

The letters kept coming, this time from the Southern Kims themselves each one growing more desperate in their pleas for assistance. It would be one thing to send soldiers, but you knew Yoongi would try to go with and fight the second he heard that Seokjin was in danger. The Kims were kind and had been there for you and your husband every time you needed help, they deserved better and it broke your heart to turn them away knowing that they and their children were likely to die.

At first you just hid them in the pockets of your dress, but after one had nearly slipped out in front of Yoongi you had taken more precautions in hiding the precious information contained in the writing. It began with storing them under the dresser, and then in your pillowcase, burning them the second you had a chance. You had been pulling up the floorboards in search of a new hiding place when Yoongi finally found out. Pushing the envelope under your skirts you had tried to keep him from noticing anything amiss. Unfortunately your husband was more observant than you would like to give him credit for and he had known you long enough to know how you’d try to hide something.

“Yoongi, you can’t go. These aren’t just another group of ruthless barbarians stupid enough to slaughter their own men, they’ll know that you’re coming and they will plan for that.”

“I’ll meet with the generals before I go, we’ll come up with a plan. It will be alright, I promise.” He took your hand in his willing you both to believe the words he said.

You pulled away from him as you stood, “Very well, we can meet with the generals and send troops to help the Kims. However, you are staying here.”

“No, Jin might get on my nerves at times but he’s one of my closest friends. I’m not going to do nothing while he and his family are at risk.”

“What about our family? I know I didn’t want to get too excited about anything, but we don’t have very long until we’re parents ourselves.”

“I’ll be back before the baby comes, without so much as a scratch. I promise.”

“Please don’t. Don’t make promises that we both know aren’t guaranteed.” You took a shakey breath, “Yoongi, I rarely ask anything of you, but this time I am begging you please don’t go. I can’t lose you- we can’t lose you.”

He said something, but you could hardly process the words as his footsteps echoed across the floor, he left you with the hollow sound of your bedroom doors swinging shut behind him and a simple apology mumbled from behind the sealed doors.

You refused to sit and do nothing as your husband led himself to slaughter, if there was anyway to prevent his death you would find it. Collecting all the debts and favours owed to you by the less than upstanding members of the court was just the beginning. It took more bribing and blackmail than you had bargained for, but you got other nobles to send the reinforcements you needed. Lady Park had been all too cooperative after you happened to mention a certain nude portrait and it’s current whereabouts, she and her husband sent twice the guards you had asked for and even provided maps of the area. As for the others, some were less generous but were still eager to compensate you for information or silence in one way or another. The Northern Kims were unable to send any troops of their own. However, Namjoon’s young wife had provided a sizable amount of gold and information on a mercenary group that was up to the job. You had nothing to use against them and didn’t know of anything they were in need of, but for some reason she had given you help regardless. It was a small kindness, but a greatly appreciated one in your time of need.

Everything was in place and you’d given the go ahead for them to approach the men surrounding the Southern Palace, but you’d yet to hear back from any of your troops. All of this had been meant as a backup plan in case something went wrong, but as days turned into weeks Yoongi’s chances of success were growing smaller. You’d taken to pacing the halls at night as your due date drew nearer, he should have been back by now.

“Y/N, you have to rest. You're putting too much stress on your body and that’s not good for you or the baby,” Mrs. Lee warned as she pushed your hair away from your face.

“ Well... seeing as how he’s the one causing all of this, you can take that up with Yoongi once he’s back. Until then I’ll be up doing everything I can to make sure that he comes home in one piece.”

Mrs. Lee didn’t seem too fond of your reply and folded her arms across her chest, “I’ll be sure to mention that, but until then I want you to be resting as much as possible and taking care of yourself. So little miss, you will be in bed, eating three full meals a day, and you will not be fussing over all of this anymore. What’s done is done and all we can do is wait.”

One of the maids came knocking at your door, disturbing your mandated rest. Somehow you’d become even more confined to your room after the slight back pains you’d felt that morning. You’d been told to get your rest and avoid getting too worked up. Mrs. Lee would be furious if she found out, but she wasn’t the one in charge here and you had told them to wake you at any hour if they had news from your husband. The young girl had placed a small parcel before you and saw her way out as quietly as possible. You tore the small bow apart, unwrapping it as quickly as possible, tearing the paper piece by piece until you felt shredded wet fabric against your hands.

From the mess you were able to identify one of Yoongi’s jackets, torn to bits and coated in sweat from the battlefield. You’d grown used to seeing things like this, but what stopped you in your tracks were the warm heavily saturated stains of blood that had seeped into the cut fabric. He’d sent you these before, but never in this condition. The two of you had a running joke that he could damage any clothing or armor he wore in a fight, so long as he came home unharmed. But this didn’t seem like it came from someone else, if he had been wearing this then it had to be his blood. Picking up the paper, you looked again for a ransom note, a threatening letter, anything that would tell you that he was still alive, but there was nothing else. He was gone and there was nothing you could do about it.

You felt a sob forming as a different kind of pain tore through you. It was a kind of pressure that brought you to your knees, crying out as Mrs. Lee rushed to your side. She helped you to the edge of the bed, helping you to lay back as she wiped the tears from your eyes.

“It’s going to be alright Y/N, we’re gonna get through this.”

“I can’t- I can’t do this alone. I’m not ready.”

Mrs. Lee takes your hand and squeezes it in hers, “You’re not alone, I’m right here with you

“That’s not what I mean and you know it, he’s gone.”

“Now that’s enough of that, you need to save your energy. I was trying to keep you from going into labor this soon, but it looks like it’s about time to push.” You shook your head at Mrs. Lee’s words as you tried to delay the inevitable. As much as you attempted to stall your labor, your efforts had been in vain as you entered the hours of pushing. Your vision blurred from falling tears as you cried out for the one person who vowed to be by your side for moments like these, all the while knowing that he was never going to walk through that door again

“Angel, I’m here.” Yoongi’s voice called out as the doors were thrown open.

“You’re hurt,” you commented as you took his face between your hands. He had a large gash running down his face, the cut at first glance seeming to go through his eye as well. As you started to remove the blood it became clear that it had been a very narrow miss, but was deeper than you had hoped.

“It’s only a scratch.”

“Oh really, If that’s only a scratch then all this is but a stomach ache and I should be up and about in a few minutes at most.”

“That’s hardly a fair-” Unfortunately for Yoongi, whatever argument he had planned was soon cut off by your yelling at yet another contraction. He climbed into the bed behind you, holding your hand as you cursed him for putting you in your current position.

Whomever said that the pain of childbirth disappeared from one’s memory the second they held their child was horribly wrong, and you wanted nothing more than to personally stab that person in the stomach so that they could feel a fragment of everything you went through. And yet, when you looked at your newborn son it felt as though all that pain were worth it. Yoongi had somehow forgotten about all the horrible things you had called him during labor, or at least decided not to bring it up for a very long time. Your child had made an early and all too exciting entrance into the world, and all of you seemed to be recovering from this in one way or another.

Yoongi had been healing very well, but it became apparent that his wound would leave a scar. Not that you minded, he’d teased you about yours since the very first night the two of you had known each other intimately. Even now as you lie in bed he still traces the two lines on each side of your spine, pressing a kiss to each of the spots he claimed must have held the wings of an angel before you had fallen.

“I think we’ve earned ourselves at least a full day of napping.” Yoongi commented, already pulling the covers over the two of you.

“Just one?” You asked, “If you ask me I think we should try and break our old record and try for at least two and a half days of sleep.”

“When did we,” he paused as the memory dawned on him, “Are you talking about the New Year’s when we were snowed in with the Park family. I remember being in bed for most of that weekend, but I don’t recall much sleep going on at the time.”

“I was talking about after all of that, we ended up being so tired that we spent our last couple days asleep. We could have gotten a few more hours of rest if their staff hadn’t woken us up.”

“Well, there’s no one to bother us now. And our son is sound asleep, so I think we should be too.”

The two of you glanced at the tiny figure in the crib across from you, he looked so small and fragile but you had been relieved to know that he would continue to grow into a strong and healthy young boy. He was only a few days old and you were already starting to notice that he had formed his dad’s same habit of oversleeping, “Hey Yoongs, I’m happy he takes after you.”

[arty-shadow-morningstar]

A Failed Betrothal (6)

Here is a new chapter for you guys. I am terrible at writing feelings and this is my best shot.😅 Tell me what you think.

[Masterlist]

(PART 1)(PART 5)

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(Words in bold is French)

“Tch, Drake is going to be busy trying to find Hawkmoth. He can’t go around Paris, being Dupain-Cheng’s boyfriend. Besides, he can’t be a proper boyfriend even in his most lucid moments. I will be her boyfriend instead.”

Tim was glad he didn’t take a sip of his coffee when Damian volunteered to be Marinette’s boyfriend. But he still choked on air. Jason with his limited knowledge of french was confused. Damian didn’t do what he heard, right?

“No, you can’t. Chloe already told them about Tim. If I come in with a different boyfriend, they would get suspicious. We can work on Hawkmoth while we go on those dates. Besides, I thought you don’t like me. That’s not going to sell the image of a loving couple.” Marinette pointed out. (She also doesn’t want to do this fake-date thing. Not because she likes Damian and she had always been a goner for green eyes and totally would be date him if it weren’t for some stupid curse dictating her feelings for him and fake-dating him might get her catch feelings for him and she would get her heart broken when this is all over and she would stay single forever and be a lonely old lady with hamsters and cats for company.)

“Actually, Mari-bug, I only told the class how romantic your boyfriend is. I never told them what he looked like. Just in case, Timothy couldn’t make it. I have back-up favors to cash in.” Chloe explained.

Marinette didn’t even know why she was surprised at that, this was Chloe after all.

“You have more than one American boy around our age in your debt who you intend to be my boyfriend? Sounds like you, Queenie. So that also means that Damian doesn’t have to do it if he doesn’t want to.”

“My offer still stands. I will be your ‘boyfriend’ before I have to go back. I will be more understanding than those other American boys when you have to rush out for an attack. That is to assume that they can come here or agree. In our initial meeting, I didn’t like that weak girl act you put up. Recent events have made me realize that you are a much stronger person. (Careful Damian, that sounds like a compliment.) You are a decent partner to date.(Shit. Shit. Shit. That wasn’t a compliment, right?)”

Damian couldn’t see why Dupain-Cheng would refuse such a good deal. He supposed her feelings might be still hurt from his first impression of her. He would give her an apology when they are alone and away from his brothers who would make a big deal of it.

“Fine. At least, the curse will at least make this fake couple thing more believable.” grumbled Marinette. The light pink blush on her face is not because he said she was someone he would date.

Oh right, the curse. He swore internally, it had possessed him to be Dupain-Cheng’s boyfriend. He now would have to endure the hand-holding, kissing and staring into each other’s eyes, and try to resist the curse which will be much harder now. Somehow, he didn’t regret it a little bit. It sounds more bearable with him doing those things with her than her with Drake. This was just a mutual agreement to ward off her suitors and prove to her classmates that she was off the market.

Chloe clapped her hands,“If we have everything sorted out, you can start being a good boyfriend by walking Marinette to school today. We want to be on time now.”

The others started packing up their stuff or finished what they were eating. Marinette was dragged out of the bakery by an impatient Damian. Chloe and Alix picked up what Marinette left behind and followed out. The rest soon left right after, leaving the two boys in the bakery.

“Hey, Replacement, tell me if I am wrong but did Demon Spawn willingly ask a girl out?” Jason asked, stealing a croissant from Tim.

“Try making himself the perfect candidate to be her fake boyfriend out of many choices, including me, and get her to agree to it. Now he has to go on a few romantic dates with Marinette in order to ward off this really pushy guy in her class. Demon Spawn also has a crush on her and he’s in denial of it. We are not hallucinating either. I’ve checked.” Tim replied, sipping his coffee.

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“Damian. Let go. Hey, Wayne, are you listening to me? Let me go. This is not how you treat your significant other. And you are not even going in the right direction.” Marinette all but yelled at him.

He released his grip on her. “My apologies for manhandling you but I wanted to tell you this away from everybody else.”

“What?” She asked, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes.

I- This is a little difficult to say for me,” Damian started. (Why were his palms sweaty? It’s just an apology. He had done it before although it was mostly because Grayson told him what he did wrong and made him do it.) “But I am sorry for calling you weak, pathetic and every other bad thing I have said about you when you have shown that you are anything but those. I was mad at myself for being caught and took it out on you.”

Her glare softened.

“Apologies accepted. The school is this way.” She said with a smile and went towards the school. Damian walked by her side, his hands in his pockets.

Marinette looked at where his hands were, “If we are going to do this fake dating thing, I suggest we hold hands.”

Damian grabbed her hand and continued walking in silence. Her hands were so small and fitted perfectly in his. Oh God, it’s the curse again. Turning him into a sap. Do not think about her hands. And the fact that she took down a man twice her size with them which was an amazing sight to watch.

“Why are you so stiff? Loosen up a little. You are with the love of your life. Smile a little.”

Damian plastered on a fake smile, “Happy?”

“It looks fake. Being a model he will be able to tell.” Marinette remarked, “Are you sure you want to do this? We can still go get Tim to be my boyfriend.”

“I can do this. Drake wouldn’t be a better choice. It doesn’t help that you are relentlessly nit-picking me. Or are you that bad of a girlfriend?” Damian couldn’t help but sniped back. “Maybe that’s why Chat Noir left you.”

He found himself back against the world and her elbow at his neck. (He would forever deny that he liked it.)

“Look here, Wayne. You know nothing about me and you shouldn’t assume that you do. Chat Noir was revoked of his status as a hero for his behaviour. If you don’t act the part properly, I am going to have my former partner, who has absolutely no sense of boundaries, harassing me in my civilian life and I have already dealt enough of his advances to last a lifetime. I have given you so many chances to get out of this which you refused and yet, you are half-assing it. So are you in this 100 percent or not? Because I am at the end of my patience right now.”

“The boy who is obsessed with you is the former Chat Noir?”

“Yes, I will explain about that later but what’s your answer?”

“I will give it my best shot but I have never pretended to be in love.”

“Were you not taught in the League?”

“There were seduction tactics shown to members when they were old enough and I left them when I was 10 but I am not sure if those skills can be applied here.”(Slamming your opponent against the wall wasn’t one of them but she was doing a great job of it so far. No. No. No. He is not his father. This is different from whatever he has with Kyle.)

She released her hold on him and grabbed his hand, leading him towards her school.

“Well then, here are the basics. Everytime you look at me, just think of your favourite things to make your smile a little more genuine. Maybe call me by a pet name if you want. Keep your touch on me like you can’t keep your hands off of me and act really reluctant when you have to let go. You will only keep them my shoulders, arms, hands and waist or I will break your hand. I will do the same. If you are going to have to kiss me, give me a warning.” He looked into her blue eyes and nodded.

“Alright.”

“Oh. I almost forgot. In case they try to question our relationship. My favourite colour is red. My favourite song is ‘Fearless’ by Jagged Stone.(I love Taylor. Sue me) And we met online a few months ago. You came all the way to Paris to see me a month ago and asked me out. We will talk more that later. Oh, I also love designing and have dreams of being a famous fashion designer.-”

Marinette rambled on which Damian found a little endearing. He looked forward to knowing more about her. He added a few comments here or there about himself (because it was only fair.) and ways to improve their cover story about their relationship.

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

“We are nearly at school. Let’s start the act, Romeo.” Marinette whispered at him and looked at him with a bright smile that brought a tiny smile to his face. Okay, maybe he liked Marinette a little bit but that doesn’t mean he’s in love with her.

He moved her hand holding his to the crook of his elbow.

“Is this acceptable, my lady?”

She wrinkled her nose, (Adorable. No. Don’t go there) “This is fine. But can you not call me that? And princess too? I may have erased his memories as Chat Noir but it could be a trigger to bring them back.”

“Understandable. What about Malak?”

She blushed. Marinette had learned Arabic a while back and was very fluent in the language.

“It’s okay.” She said in a soft voice. She put her other hand on his bicep and leaned on his shoulder.

“You don’t look like a touchy-feely person so is this fine?”

“Yes.”

“Cool, let me tell you more about the atrocious lies that had passed her mouth.”

They walked into the school courtyard, arm-in-arm, for the entire school, especially Marinette’s class, to see. The perfect picture of a loving couple. Marinette’s blush from earlier was evident on her face, leaving no room for doubt about her new relationship status. (Many guys, gals and pals were upset over it.) As they both walked up the stairs, whispering and laughing about who knows what (gulliable and idiotic classmates they have to suffer learning with), two pairs of green eyes followed them.

In this case, the saying ‘green-eyed monsters’ was true. One was envious of the boy who held the girl he wanted in his arms and the other was envious of the attention the couple was receiving.

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

Damian escorted Marinette to her class. He gave her a kiss on her cheek and said, loud enough for the class to hear, “Bye, Malak. I will pick you up after school for our date.”

“B-bye, Damian.”

He took her hand, gave a kiss to the back of it and departed, leaving a very red-faced Marinette behind. The rest of the class parted the way as Damian walked past.

She rushed into her seat where Chloe sat beside it, grinning like a Cheshire Cat.

“Sooooo, Mari-bug, how was your date? You two rushed out of there so quickly and left your stuff behind. So eager to spend time with your boyfriend, eh? You enjoyed it very much by the looks of it.”

“Sorry about that, Chloe. Did you bring my bag and the cheese danishes?” Marinette tried to change the topic. And she also wanted to make sure a god of destruction doesn’t go hungry and angsty during school. “Yep, here you go,” Chloe said, handing Marinette her bag and a box of cheese-flavoured snacks for Plagg, “Your mom packed some for you.”

“Marinette. Where have you been the last two days? And you came back with a boy. I am honestly worried about your behaviour.” Lila played the concerned classmate wonderfully.

“Yeah, Marinette. This is a new low, even for you.” Alya added.

Marinette readied herself to tell the cover story Damian and her worked out on the way here.

“Lila, I appreciate your ‘concern’. But the last four days have been a little hard on me so excuse me if I am a little snappy today. You see, Damian disappeared and didn’t return home after school on Friday. So when he didn’t pick up for our weekly video call, I panicked and called his family and they told me what happened. They sent me a plane to get out of Paris so I can’t get akumatized.”

“Was that why you were gone on Saturday?” Chloe asked, playing along although she already knew why Marinette wasn’t in Paris the last four days.

“Yeah. Sorry for not telling you guys. It was sorta last minute. Thankfully, he wasn’t kidnapped actually. His biological mother picked him up but never told his father that she was taking him. I just came back last night. Dami followed me to make sure I am okay.”

“What a bunch of bullcrap.” Alya said, “I don’t believe you.”

Oh. The irony... “Alya, I don’t care if you do. My life is my own business. So keep your nosy nose out of it. Your opinions don’t matter to me anymore, stranger.” Marinette internally was tired of this silly routine and wanted this to end already.

Alya wanted to pick a fight with her over the smallest things she did for the past months. She wondered why her former best friend hated her this much.

“Lila told me that you were skipping school and you paid an actor to be your pretend boyfriend.”

Pretending to not hear what Alya said, Marinette turned towards Chloe, “Hey, you never told me about how you met Tim. I can’t believe that you two are friends.”

“We met at one of those charity galas-”

“Hey, we were talking to you.” Alya cut her off. To which Chloe glared at the ombre-haired girl.

“I thought our conversation was done. What else am I supposed to say?”

Marinette was frustrated and hid that fact well, showing any reaction would give the game away. If she had reacted, it would further fuel the fire of Alya’s self-righteousness, making her believe that Marinette was somehow guilty of what Lila told her about. Lila managed to turn nearly the entire class against her by appealing to their ‘hero’ side and outbursts from Marinette and the others made them more sure of themselves of being in the right. It was so deep-rooted that nothing would sway them to logical reasoning. Maybe except Phase 2. Phase 1 was made a little easier when Talia kidnapped her and made her miss a few days of school.

Phase 2 was to not acknowledge the lies or just appear uninterested. It would illustrate the point that people don’t have to listen to them if they don’t want to. If possible, sow little seeds of doubt to the ones Lila had a looser grip on. The more people they can slowly get on their side, the better.

Alya was confused, usually Marinette would throw a ‘temper tantrum’ about how she didn’t do that and Lila lied.“I-, you should-, You should apologize to Lila.”

Marinette raised an eyebrow, “For what this time?”

“For saying that she was lying.”

“Pray tell, when did in any of our conversations so far did I do that? I mean I don’t like the fact that she just accused me with little evidence of paying my someone to be my boyfriend but I am not going to fight with anyone over it. Maybe I did do that, Maybe I didn’t. Maybe there is a good reason I did those things. The thing is Lila should keep to her own business and I will keep to mine. And as should you. I know you are a reporter at heart but you should at the very least respect my privacy.”

Alya stayed silent, fuming. Everyone was looking at them now. She realized that the designer was right and if she pushed further, she would be the bad guy.

“I thought so. Now, go away. I have nothing else to say to you. Let Chloe finish her story of how she met Tim which you so rudely interrupted.”

“Who’s Tim?” Lila asked, wanting to know more about Marinette’s boyfriend to work on an angle to get him away from the ravenette.

“Mari-Bug’s boyfriend’s older brother. Now, shoo peasants, we are talking. Anyways, Mommy took me to when I was younger so I could mingle with all the other rich kids and get connections. Timothy was there and back then, he was still with the Drakes...”

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

Lila and Alya returned to their seats, both were visibly upset although Lila was seething inside. When Marinette was not at school for the last two days, the Italian thought that it was the last she had seen of her. Today, she showed up with a handsome boy on her arm and by the looks of his clothes, rich too. If she manages to get ‘Damian’ to break up with that pest and date her instead, then she would have a rich, handsome boyfriend devoted to her and that brat would be so heart-broken that an akuma so powerful would be made that even Ladybug won’t be able to defeat. A two for one deal. Lila started planning (scheming) to take her boyfriend away.

------

(Part 7)

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Edit: I am so sorry. I forget to add the taglist.

Tag list: @alysrose-starchild, @buginetye, @lookatthestars1, @blackroserelina, @macncheesemonster, @mochinek0, @myazael, @tonicxworld, @thewitchwhowaited, @t1dwarrior-of-earth, @kissa-chan, @iwantasecretidentity, @theymakeupfairies, @user00000003, @woe-is-me0, @kashlyn, @mochegato,@moonlightstar64 , @greatcatblaze, @moongoddesskiana, @tazanna-blythe. @tonicxworld, @toodaloo-kangaroo, @frieddonutsweets, @local-witch-of-mn, @lady-bee-fechin, @iglowinggemma28, @indecisive-mess-named-me, @k-tea-and-coffee, @jayjayspixiepop, @all-mights-asscheeks, @idk-j-go-with-it , @loysydark, @thenillabean, @lolieg, @zalladane, @silvergold-swirl, @henie04, @blueblossombliss, @khneltea, @mochegato, @itsmeevie01, @roguishredaxion, @alyssadeliv, @steph-hearthlight, @adrestar, @eliza-bich, @abrx2002, @hikari55ttva, @doglover82, @daminette5074, @moon5608,@justafanwarrior, @allis-sun, @animegirlweeb, @aespades, @corporeal-terrestrial, @mildlydeadly, @kanamexzeroyaoifangirl,

[muertawrites]

Two Halves - Chapter Seven (Zuko x Reader)

Part Six

Word Count: 3,000 (really? it seemed longer...)

Author’s Note: I decided to make this one cute because it’s been a hella weird week (year) and I needed some sweet Zuko lovin’ in my life. The only downside is that now I’m piney as fuck, but it’s fine because I’ve got spaghetti from my favorite Italian place in the fridge and comfort food fixes everything. I’d also like to use this time to admit that I’ve always thought King Kuei was cute, because clearly I have a thing for adorable dumbasses who live their lives in denial (shout out to Mark, my ex, fuck you and I hope you miss me every fucking day because we both know you loved me as much as I loved you but were too weak to just own up to your feelings because you’re a punkass little bitch boy ♥). King Kuei and reader are BFFs and that’s canon. 

I hope you’re all holding out okay and staying safe - PSA to wear a mask whenever you go out, make sure it covers both your mouth and nose at all times, wash your hands after being out in public, and stay the hell away from people outside your household. Do something nice for yourself today, you deserve it. I wish you all find a love someday who makes you feel as fluttery inside as these fics make me feel, and that they love you endlessly and fearlessly. I need to stop writing now, I’ve put myself in my feels. 

~ Muerta

Much to the dismay of the international affairs advisors, their opportunities for stalking you about your daily life are drastically cut short when Iroh announces he wants to return to Ba Sing Se. 

“I've been away from the Jasmine Dragon for too long,” he explains, breaking the news over dinner. “I miss her dearly and would like to be with her again.” 

“I should go back to the Earth Kingdom, too,” Toph speaks up. “The metal bending program will probably have to be rebuilt - the idiots I left in charge of it can barely bend rocks.” 

You and Zuko exchange amused looks, though the idea of being left totally alone with him - without the comfort of your mutual friends - makes you lightheaded. Having to go toe to toe with Advisor Qiang and his sketchy, passive aggressive behavior while also navigating a potentially deadly political climate? No sweat. Having to face your husband every day without the distraction of your friends and family to break the awkward tension? Horrifying, but in an exciting, slightly panicky way. 

“It would be a good idea to visit,” Zuko muses, “see how the city is rebuilding. Aang’s coming back in a week or two on his way to the Northern Air Temple, and I bet he’d give us a lift.” 

“Do the international affairs advisors have to come, too?” you ask. “I'm tired of their assistants taking notes on how I prefer to pour my own tea in the morning.” 

Zuko smirks, shaking his head. 

“I'm sending them to the Southern Tribe,” he tells you. “Hakoda’s hosting a summit for them to celebrate our union.” 

“You're finally getting your life changing field trip with Hothead!” Toph cheers, playfully jabbing her elbow into your arm. “Now we can start a club - Sokka really wants to get jackets.” 

As Appa glides through the air, you lean over the edge of his saddle, gazing out at the clouds as they pass. It’s your first time flying, and everything about it amazes and terrifies you - the miniscule landscape below, the shift of Appa’s massive body under his movement and breathing, the cold breeze kissing your cheeks and running its fingers through your hair, the way the sky is so much more vast than you ever could have imagined - it’s like you’ve fallen into a different world entirely. 

You reach down and stroke at Appa’s fur, earning an appreciative grunt from the bison. Aang turns back from his place at the reins to grin at you, much more excited about your first time in the air than you are. 

“What do you think?” he wonders cheerfully. 

“It's like sailing, but in a dream,” you reply. “The clouds remind me of glaciers back home.” 

“Makes you wish you were an air bender, doesn't it?” Aang chuckles. 

You laugh nervously, shaking your head. 

“No! I can't stop thinking about how long the fall is from up here!” 

Aang tosses his head back with laughter, the sound of his voice carried on the wind filling you with the feeling of walking through the threshold of the cottage you shared with Sokka and Katara as a child; neither of them are present, but having Aang nearby feels just as much like home. 

Across the saddle, Zuko smiles at you. You’re a few feet away from him, yet you still feel the warmth from his body as his eyes meet yours; his gaze is different somehow, as if he's seeing you for the first time. You blush, bashfully returning his grin. 

“Are you okay?” Toph asks beside you. She's clutching your hand, neither of you very fond of your height off the ground. “Your heart rate jumped.” 

“I'm fine,” you tell her. “I just looked down.” 

Ba Sing Se is larger than you ever thought a city could be. As you approach, you stare in awe at the epic sprawl of the place, each district looking like its own little country within a quilt of a continent. You've been to the North Pole before, having spent a year there after the war, but even the shock of seeing their massive skyline pales in comparison to just how huge the Earth Kingdom is. Zuko smirks at you, his arm wrapping around your shoulders. 

“Wait until you see it from the ground,” he teases. 

You’re even more amazed by the city as you view it from the palace. It sprawls in every direction, some of its buildings reaching as high as Appa can float; Iroh explains that it's a new concept designed by the most renowned Earth Kingdom architects, some of them planning towers that stretch one hundred stories. Everything about the place seems impossible. 

Inside the palace, King Kuei meets you in the entry hall, greeting Aang with a warm hug and Zuko with a firm handshake. 

“It's so good to see you all!” he exclaims. “It's been far too long. Tonight we’re having a party to celebrate your arrival, and to congratulate the newlyweds!” 

You smile, bowing low at the waist as you thank him. 

“My husband has told me of your hospitality,” you say. “It’s an honor to be celebrated by you.” 

When you straighten up, Kuei takes your hand and politely places his lips to the back of your palm, closing his other hand atop it. 

“And I've been told about your exquisite nerve,” he replies, lowering his voice as if sharing a secret. “Your bravery deserves to be celebrated.” 

After a tour of the palace, you and Zuko are led to your suite. The windows in both the sitting room and bedroom look out over an incredible view of the city, in which you can almost see as far as the eastern wall; you can hardly pull yourself away, leaving Zuko the task of inspecting the rooms to ensure everything is in order. 

“We have a problem,” he says, stepping out to where you perch by the sitting room window. “There's only one bed.” 

You snap your head to attention, fixing him with a quizzical expression. 

“... I mean, I guess that's normal,” you reply, piecing the situation together in your head. “We are married.” 

“Do you want me to request another room for myself?” Zuko asks. “I could get one of the bedrolls from Appa’s pack and sleep on the floor.”

You shake your head, pacing over to where he stands. 

“I trust you,” you tell him. “We have to get comfortable with each other at some point.” 

Zuko nods, blushing and unable to hold your gaze. 

“You're right,” he agrees. “I trust you, too.” 

You gently take his hand, causing him to shift his eyes back to yours; you smile, giving his palm a light squeeze. 

“Zuko, it’s okay,” you assure him. “Really. I’m okay with it.” 

Zuko nods again, reaching absently to brush a stray lock of hair behind your ear. 

“I just want you to feel safe,” he admits. “You’ve already got enough to worry about without… all of this.” 

You scoff, rolling your eyes as you smile at him. 

“All you’ve done since the day we met is protect me,” you remind him. “Sleeping with you is the last thing that could possibly worry me.” 

Zuko chuckles, leaning to press a chaste kiss to your forehead. 

“Don’t laugh at me,” he playfully scolds. “Or I’ll make you sleep on the bed roll.” 

You gasp, giggling as you push his shoulder. 

“I can’t believe my own husband would make me sleep on the floor,” you tease. “And in a strange city, no less! You’re so awful to me.” 

Zuko rolls his eyes, smirking as he bends and hooks his arms under your bum, lifting you up over his shoulder. You squeal, laughing as he carries you into the bedroom and flops you down on the mattress, jestfully smacking a pillow into your face. 

“Get changed, Queenie” he tells you, retreating into the sitting room before you can launch a counterattack. “The party’s in an hour.”

In the ballroom of the Earth King’s palace, it seems everyone in the city has turned out to celebrate your arrival. 

You sit in a throne beside Kuei’s, Zuko to your left and Aang to the Earth King’s right. Dignitaries from Kuei’s cabinet as well as various parts of the kingdom come to give their regards, all greeting you much more fondly than many of the guests at your wedding; Kuei is excited to introduce you to everyone, giving fervent, detailed descriptions of what each person does and launching you into long conversations with them. You don’t mind his enthusiasm, finding it endearing that he cares so much and so openly about the people who serve him. 

“Ah, here’s a very special guest!” Kuei announces, cheerfully clapping his hands. 

A woman approaches the throne, leading a large, furry animal up the steps towards you; its long claws and massive stature send a chill through you, but once you look into its beady little eyes and notice its round ears and bumbling demeanor, you’re enamored. 

“Is that a bear?” you ask, excitedly gripping Kuei’s sleeve. 

“Yes!” he cheers. “His name is Bosco; he’s a close friend of mine.” 

Bosco lets out a soft growl as Kuei scratches him under the chin, pulling the fuzzy giant into a tight hug. 

“He loves cuddles and blackberries,” Kuei tells you. “Don’t let his claws scare you - he’s a big softy.” 

One of the servers appears with a bowl of fresh fruit, setting it into your lap for you to share with your newest party guest. You carefully take a blackberry into your palm, holding it out for Bosco to sniff; his nose hovers above your fingers, letting out a few warm huffs of breath onto your skin before licking the berry up into his mouth. You turn to Kuei and give him a wide smile, gathering more berries into your hand for Bosco to eat. 

“I love him,” you tell your host. “He might be coming back to the Fire Nation with me.” 

Kuei laughs, giving Bosco a loving pat on the head as you continue to fatten him up, switching between feeding him and running your fingers through his thick coat, giggling when his tongue flops out to lick your cheek; you never expected an animal fabled to be so fearsome to turn out so sweet. 

Once the bowl of fruit is empty, Bosco settles onto the floor at the foot of Kuei’s throne, letting out a heavy yawn. Kuei reaches to scratch behind his ears, then stands, offering you his hand. 

“Would you like to dance?” he asks. “I heard you and the Avatar made quite the display at your wedding.” 

“We did!” Aang chimes in, also getting to his feet and sweeping Toph (who stands just to the side of the thrones, having declined the royal treatment for the evening) into his arms. “We were taught a few Earth Kingdom dances by your advisors, too!” 

Toph laughs as you’re both led onto the dancefloor, taking her position beside Aang. 

“And that’s why I call him Twinkle Toes,” she jokes. 

Kuei chuckles, taking you by the waist and starting the dance, twirling with you in an interlaced circle between Toph and Aang. You each pass from partner to partner, raising your hands to meet them together and spinning gracefully around each other before returning to the escort you  started with. Kuei’s arm skillfully finds your waist when he takes you back in, each of you facing the opposite direction with your sides pressed together, turning in a clockwise motion. He grins at you, and you can’t help but smile back. 

“You’re a natural!” he praises you. “I’m sorry I have two left feet.” 

You laugh, shaking your head. 

“Back home, they consider me clumsy,” you confess. “I used to step on my brother and sister’s toes when they tried to teach me to dance - I still do sometimes!” 

Kuei chortles, taking your hand in his and repeating the sequence of steps you just completed. You recite the ritual five times before the dance is over, ending with each of you bowing to each other with cheerful, elated smiles. Someone behind Kuei clears his throat, and he turns to find Zuko, his hand outstretched toward you. 

“You promised to teach me to dance,” he reminds you. 

You nod, a burning heat pinkening your cheeks as you take his hand. 

“I did,” you echo. “Thank you for the wonderful dance, your majesty.” 

Kuei smirks knowingly between the two of you, bowing before taking his leave. 

“The pleasure was all mine, my lady,” he says in parting. “It’s rare that I have such an excellent partner.” 

Zuko’s arm locks around your waist, skirting you to the edge of the dance floor where he stands stiffly, holding you in place in front of him. You let out a soft giggle, resting your hands on his chest. 

“I thought you didn’t want to learn how to dance with an audience?” you prod, starting to sway in time with the music. Zuko does the same, his body drifting along in sync with yours. 

“I wouldn’t enjoy the party if I sat through it,” he explains, trying and failing to sound nonchalant. You quirk a brow, grinning teasingly at him. 

“Sure,” you say. “It definitely didn’t have anything to do with me dancing so close with another man.” 

“Not at all,” Zuko replies. His hand at the small of your back clutches you a little tighter, giving himself away. “It looked like fun and I wanted to join in.” 

You roll your eyes, smirking as you take a step back from him, lacing your fingers with his. 

“Let’s find Aang,” you suggest. “He can help me teach you the dance we did at our wedding.” 

For the rest of the evening, you, Aang, Toph, and Zuko occupy a small corner of the dance floor, guiding the Firelord with the steps of your favorite traditional Water Tribe dance. He’s nervous, moving with rigid gestures and clearly unsure of what his body is supposed to do when set to music, but he tries, watching every move you make with rapt attention. By the end of the night he has the dance memorized, and you twirl in time with him as Aang cheers him on, Toph laughing beside him at the ridiculousness of the scene; Kuei even joins in, rousing Bosco from his nap and dancing with the bear on his two hind legs, sending the entire ballroom into gleeful fits. 

“You’re better at this than you think, you know,” you tell Zuko when you’re left alone, dancing with him much the same way you danced with the king earlier in the night. “I noticed at our wedding that you have great rhythm.” 

Zuko blushes, his lips curling into a timid smile. 

“I’m a fighter, not a dancer,” he says. 

“They’re not that different,” you shrug. “From what I’ve seen of fire bending, it’s a lot like dancing.” 

Zuko hums, gently turning you so that your chest is pressed against his, his hand resting firmly at your waist. 

“Maybe it’s the music lessons my mother forced me to take when I was a kid,” he muses. “Uncle still keeps asking me to play the tsungi horn for him when we’re together.” 

“You play the tsungi horn?” you exclaim, eyebrows raising in excitement. “You should play for both of us sometime!” 

Zuko groans, immediately switching the dance so he can pass you off to Aang. 

You lean against the sitting room in your guest suite, watching the lights of Ba Sing Se as they flicker with the movement of its people. The world looks dreamlike from where you sit, as if it's been turned upside down; a black expanse of sky hangs above a sea of stars, and you float between the two, dizzy with the surrealism. 

Zuko emerges from the bedroom, having changed into his pajamas after giving you the chance to do the same. He crosses the room to where you sit, resting a hand on your shoulder. 

“You coming to bed?” he asks. You nod, standing and following him back into the bedroom. 

Zuko allows you to slip between she sheets before him, giving you a few moments to get comfortable before crawling in beside you, keeping to his side of the bed. Even though the mattress is large enough to fit another couple between you, you can still feel the warmth of his skin spreading across the fabric below, feel the weight of his body sharing the same space as yours. Your heart flutters against your ribs, making your breathing shallow. 

“I had fun tonight,” Zuko whispers into the darkness around you. “Thank you for teaching me how to dance.” 

“I had fun, too,” you reply. “I can teach you the dance people do for Water Tribe weddings; I wish we could’ve done it at ours.” 

“I’d like that. I’m sorry we didn’t have much Water Tribe tradition when we got married… We should go back and have a ceremony there. I’d like to see you in a Water Tribe wedding gown.” 

A shiver runs through your veins, heating your skin as if a fire has been lit beneath it. You roll over to face him, making out his silhouette against the rest of the shadows in the room. 

“I’m glad you asked me to marry you,” you admit to him, the manic jitters in your chest rising to your throat. “I don’t think anyone else could treat me better.” 

Zuko reaches his hand towards you, finding yours beneath the blankets and curling his fingers with yours. For a moment you forget that your relationship was arranged, feeling as if you’re lovers instead of leaders, tasked with repairing a world that’s been shattered since long before you were born. 

“I’m glad you agreed,” Zuko answers. “I was afraid you’d hate my guts because I stalked your brother and sister for six months when we were teenagers.” 

You release a breath of laughter, the pressure in your body unraveling with it. Zuko’s thumb runs tenderly across your knuckles, and you forget that anyone else in the world exists except for the two of you. 

“Goodnight, Zuko,” you murmur. 

“Goodnight,” he hums back to you. “Sleep well.” 

You wake early in the morning with his arm draped over your waist, your head tucked under his chin with your cheek pressed to his chest. You drift back to sleep to his quiet, blissful snores, his heartbeat pulsing in time with your own.

📚 table of contents 📚

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[neon-writing-pot]

Marinette and her blog, The aftermath

Written while in the middle of waiting for my first ever mri, fucking terrified

Previous

The next day was just as chaotic as the first except it was so, so much dumber when Marinette had enough of holding the only brain cell of the class. She really didn’t expect it to spiral as much as it did but the recording that Nathaniel had made was worth it.

Lila’s newest claim was simple enough, Marigold had gotten sick and would be taking a day off to see her. Then it got out of hand. “Oh, Alya I’m so sorry but you can’t visit us since we’ll be on a date and I wouldn’t want her being embarrassed when she’s still getting used to herself!” Marinette couldn’t hold herself back, she was able to handle the ‘friends’ talk but that was to far.

“Oh and where the hell do you plan to have you’re date Marigold even though she doesn’t like you” Marinette hissed, leaning over her desk. Lila sent her a quick glare to her as Alya quickly came to her defence

“Girl shut up! We all know you have no idea who she is, you didn’t even know who Mari-gold was until yesterday so stop being an attention whore and give it up and let them be a cute couple.” Marinette visibly gagged as she mentioned them as a couple which alisated confused reactions from others.

“What about her only male crushes, or her very male person she had a date with, or maybe the fact she doesn’t state she’s bi?”

“W-well obviously s-she’s embarrassed!” Alya shouted resulting in a raised eyebrow from both Marinette and some of her older followers.

“Alya she uses tumblr, one of the most accepting sites for lgbt people (most of the time) why on tumblr would she not say that.” Chloe drawled gaining an approving smile, Nods came from fellow classmates as Alya began to grab at empty thoughts

“Because she wouldn’t want to swamp Lila with all the attention she had.”

“Then what about her very real boyfriend.” Alya blanched as shock flooded Lila, she’d only read her most recent post to get an idea of what to say, she never saw anything like that.

“Stop being so Biphobic Marinette we just want to be happy!” Alya hugged Lila as the situation slowly died. Sighing she turned to Nathaniel motioning for his phone.

“What are you doing?” Smirking she simply stared.

“Getting some quality content.”

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

She’d spent the next night drawing over every single one of her classmates faces for the only purpose, spite. If she had to deal with that then so would the whole internet along with the added bonus of allowing her and Nathaniel a full show of the chaos.

And it was glorious, both she and Nathaniel had come in early to see how others reacted the news. Chloe seemed oddly happy when she came in already watching the video three times over and silently messaged her thanks. Rose came in slowly hiding behind Juleka as they made their way forward, tears brimming on the edge of her eyes Rose murmured out an apology while Juleka comforted her, even for Marinette’s grudge of the class the two did nothing to harm her and tried their best to warn her of anything horrible the others would attempt and were the only ones she forgave.

Kim and Alix where next, Alix to stubborn to attempt an apology while Kim shuffled towards her in dismay. “Look I’m sorry ‘nette, I- uh never meant to hurt you and I was wondering if you could make a banner for next week” Marinette was nearly impressed by the idea that he had turned his apology into a request without knowing it but she was annoyed none the less.

“You just apologised to me, for purposely hurting and humiliating me and yet ask me, to my face if I would do something for someone I wouldn’t think of as a friend for free?” Kim lightly nodded as Marinette sighed eyes narrowing “Well Kong, find someone else who will do your dirty work for free.”

Most followed in a similar suit, a request hidden behind in an apology only done because someone with power had shown them they done wrong, all until Alya. Apparently the girl wasn’t as avid a fan other class members and had never watched the video. Her mood was bright and sunny as she came in only to have in rained on as she witnessed another student apologise to the new bully of the class. “What the heck are you doing?! Why would apologise to someone as horrible as her, she’s hurt Lila so much!” Alya shouted as Marinette rolled her eyes.

“Guess you haven’t seen the latest news Apple.” Alya froze, rage bubbling

“What- don’t you EVER compare me to that HALF ASSED excuse of a reporter, you don’t have the right Marinette with you being worse than Lily.” Marinette barely held back laughter as Alya insulted herself only stopping when the video was shoved in her face. Alya’s face turned from anger to disgust as she realised what was playing in front of her, who’s voice was screaming at her idol, her own. Paling she looked up and turned to Marinette, “You need to take this down.” Marinette blinked, once, twice and it was still the same thing, a demand.

“Of course-“ Alya cut her off with a smile

“Great now I was wondering if you could promote the Ladyblog a little bit, since we’re friends after all.” Marinette was appalled, hell she was ready to jump over her desk and tackle her if Nathaniel wasn’t holding her down.  So taking in a deep breathe she responded.

“Of course if you take down every video of or mentioning me from the ladyblog.” Alya once again paled, that was half her content- more than half even it would tank her blog and she wouldn’t be able to recover without Marinette.

“You have to be kidding me Mari, we made this together it would ruin all our hard work!” She pleaded, weary of worse to come.

“You ruining my work, harassing and teasing me then begging me to spare you from the internet isn’t helping you. So enjoy your tabloid and be glad no one knows your name.” Marinette hissed sitting down just as the door opened to a badly timed Lila.

“You have no idea how well my date with Marigold went so Alya want to-“ Alya stormed towards her red faced as Lila became confused. “Is something wrong bestie?”

“Yes, Lila there is!”

“Well then wh-“

“How could you lie to me! You ruined my blog, you ruined my chances at being a reporter. How dare you pretend to be friends with me while I hurt my friend.” Alya screamed into her face as Lila backed away.

“I swear I can explain!”

“You don’t have to! I already know you’re a two faced bitch so stop talking to me and my friends.” Storming she marched back to Marinette squeezing between her and Nathaniel. Furrowing her brow Marinette rose and stared down at Alya.

“What are you doing Alya?” Marinette questioned as Nathaniel stood next to her. Alya responded with a confused look and a statement.

“Sitting next to my best friend Mari, Nathaniel can sit next to Lila.” Nathaniel was offended by her statement as Marinette slowly shook her head

“Alya you’re not my friend.”

“What?! But I confronted Lila, told her off, stopped being her friend!”

“Yes, but you didn’t apologise, realise what you’ve done wrong  and doing just that won’t fix what you’ve done.” Sighing she looked to Chloe, Sabrina and Nathaniel. “I have real friends now Alya, hey support me, help me and don’t doubt me.” Alya looked down annoyed she’d made everything right, why couldn’t Marinette see that they were still friends, how could she just replace her first friend.

“B-but-“

“But nothing Alya and anyways me and my real friends have a reservation to get to so, carrot top, bob ross, queenie? Shall we go?” Marinette’s smile was sweet as ever as she and her friends left happy and laughing.

———

Lmao wrote this ages ago and forgot to post it 

Taglist: @luleck @schrodingers25 @magic-miraculous

[ahatintimestorybook]

Finding the Princess

Hello! I don’t know if anyone forgot about this AU, or not. I did for quite some time, but thanks to my friend @madeasubstitute who during our conversations of AHIT AU’s made me remember this AU and got me motivated to work on it again. Give her a big thank you and check out her fanfics because they deserve love!

Sorry for forgetting this AU for a while, been focused on my other big AU’s and well my mind is set to; make AU’s at any given time even at work (Which now I have a ton of AU’s)

Still, here is the next story of the AU!

Hope you enjoy it!!

A year has passed since Vanessa had disappeared, and since then Lucas has been searching everywhere for her. No matter where he went, no one had seen Vanessa; it was like the Queen had taken her somewhere never to be seen again. Lucas didn't want to give up and continued to look for Vanessa despite protest from Snatcher.

After another long day of searching, Lucas was just sitting on his couch staring at a photo of him and Vanessa at the park smiling and having fun on a date. He gave a sigh and held the photo close to his chest. “Where are you Vanessa?” Lucas whispered.

Snatcher peeked through the other room and sighed seeing Lucas still feeling down and went over to him. “So no luck finding your princess?” He asked. Lucas didn’t reply, which made Snatcher just roll his eyes. “Listen Luke, I know you want to find her, but you have to give up at some point.”

Lucas sighed and faced the ghost. “I can’t.” He replied. “I need to find her.”

Snatcher floated close to Lucas’s face, “And when you find her, what are you going to do next?” He asked. “The Queen has her wrapped under her finger, and your only option is to kill her!”

Those words made Lucas growl as she sat up and faced his ghostly partner. “How could you say that?! I don’t want to kill Vanessa!” He shouted.

“You only have one option Lucas, it's to let her roam free and kill as many people or have her dead so the Queen would find another host so you can kill them again!” Snatcher shouted back.

Lucas glared and got up from the couch. “That’s how it is?! I’m just going to keep killing people the Queen touches, so you can eat their souls?!” He asked. “Isn’t there another way to do this?!”

Snatcher sighed and shook his head. “I’m sorry Luke. I wish there was a way, but there isn’t.” He told him. Lucas stared at Snatcher in disbelief, was there no way to stop the Queen without killing any innocent humans.

“Please.” Lucas begged, surprising Snatcher. “Please don’t let me kill Vanessa! I love her.” He admitted, which surprised his ghost. “Let me find a way to stop the Queen and save her!”

The ghost stared at his partner’s eyes and saw hope and love in them. Throughout his existence, Snatcher never heard of someone wanting to stop the Queen by not killing her partner. Lucas cried and begged Snatcher for another way to save Vanessa, something he has done for quite some time now.

With a sigh, Snatcher looked up at Lucas. “You're not going to let this go, are you?” He asked. Lucas shook his head in reply. “I never had a partner like you before, Luke. If you do want to try saving Vanessa, then I guess let’s do it.”

Lucas blinked in surprise and then gave a wide smile. Snatcher saw the big smile on his human partner’s face, and had to remind his partner one last thing.

“However, if it doesn’t work. Your only option is to kill her.” Snatcher reminded him.

“Don’t worry Snatcher. I’m going to bring Vanessa back!” Lucas told him, ignoring the whole killing part. Snatcher sighed, but was glad to see Lucas was happy and no longer a mope.

He then gave the same proud smile and agreed with his human partner. “Then let’s do this!” He and Lucas gave each other a high five. Starting tomorrow, the two were going to hunt for Vanessa together!

The following day, Snatcher kept his promise with Lucas and decided to help him look for Vanessa. They decided to not look in town, but in the park where Lucas and Vanessa had their last fight. “Alright, this is the one place we hadn’t looked yet. She could be hiding here.” Snatcher explained.

“You sure?” Lucas asked.

“Well, you’ve been looking for her town after town, city after city. The park and forest areas are the only places we haven’t looked.” Snatcher explained.

With a sigh, Lucas held on to his bag that contained his cellphone and flashlight in case they decided to look up till midnight. “Then, let’s go.” He said, ready to go. “We’ll split up and cover more-”

“Woah! Woah! Woah there Lukey-boy!” Snatcher cut him off. “Split up? Really?” He asked. “You know that’s the quickest way to die?!”

Lucas chuckled. “Come on, you know that’s only in movies.”

Snatcher crossed his arms. “I’d lost six people, hunting for the Queen that way.”

Lucas chuckled again, this time nervously. “Well, I know this forest like the back of my hand I’m sure I’ll be-” Snatcher then cut him off again.

“One of them had their head popped off.”

This made Lucas give a sheepish smile and listen to his ghost partner. “Got it, we stick together.”

“Good.” Snatcher replied giving a smile, with that the two went through the forest to look for Vanessa. Behind them was two kids, Hailey and Timmy who were secretly following Lucas and Snatcher.

“Do we have to follow them?” Hailey asked.

“We have too.” Timmy replied. “We need to see what’s up with that man and his ghost.” He then kept walking, following where Snatcher and Lucas were going. Hailey rolled her eyes and gave a sigh before following her older brother into the woods.

Deep into the forest, Snatcher and Lucas looked all over for Vanessa, calling her name though Snatcher was calling the Queen’s name hoping to pick a fight with her. “Vanessa! Vanessa!” Lucas shouted. “Where are you Vanessa?”

“Hey queeny! You hurt my human, why don’t you show yourself you coward!” Snatcher shouted. However, the Queen was nowhere in sight. Snatcher sighed till he heard rustling in the bushes, he floated over to the bush and was ready to look who was there. As he got closer Lucas saw Snatcher looking into the bushes and followed his friend.

“Find anything?” Lucas asked.

“Someone is following us.” Snatcher replied. Lucas looked into the bushes and walked closer to it, he went to look through but saw there was nothing there.

He shrugged and kept on looking for Vanessa. “It was probably a bunny or some wild animal.” He told him. Snatcher turned back at the bush and shrugged following Lucas again.

The two didn’t look deep enough as Hailey and Timmy were hiding in another bush, or in Hailey’s case behind a tree. The siblings sighed seeing Lucas and his ghost friend leaving the scene. “That was a close one.” Hailey sighed.

“I’ll say.” Timmy replied. “Come on, we’ll lose them!” Timmy then came out of his hiding spot with Hailey following right behind him.

Hours had passed and Lucas nor Snatcher found no signs of Vanessa, leading to another dead end. It started to get late as the sun started to set. Lucas sighed seeing the two would have to give up for the night and head home. “Well, we checked and no sign of Vanessa anywhere.”

“I know. You tried.” Snatcher sighed as well. It was a quiet walk back home between the two of them. The only sounds were birds chirping and the rustling of bushes coming from Timmy and Hailey.

Lucas stopped and turned back, getting a sense that there was someone following them all day. “Alright, I know someone is following me. Show yourself! I won’t hurt you.” Lucas spoke up.

“He’d probably will!” Snatcher shouted. Lucas glared at his ghost partner. “What, no one can hear me.”

“Actually, we can.” Timmy revealed as he and his sister came up to Lucas and Snatcher, causing the two to scream.

“T-That’s not possible!” Snatcher shouted. “N-No one can see obligated ghosts unless they have one of their own!”

Hailey and Timmy looked at each other and back at Snatcher. “Well, we can.” Hailey replied.

Snatcher was panicking over this. He didn’t sense a single ghost from the two, so how come they can see him? He shook it off and glared at the two brats. “Don’t matter, Lucas!” Snatcher shouted. “Get your Poltergem and get those brats!”

Lucas stared at Snatcher in disbelief. “A-Are you crazy?!” He asked. “I’m not killing children for their souls!”

“Well I’m not being discovered by brats who don’t have ghosts themselves!” Snatcher shouted back.

“Ahem.” Hailey cleared her throat. “You try and kill us, and we’ll post this all over the internet.” She threatened holding up her cellphone, which was playing the video of the fight Snatcher, possessing Lucas’s body and the Queen possessing Vanessa’s body fighting each other. Lucas and Snatcher gasped seeing the entire fight caught on camera. This in turn brought back sad memories for Lucas, and how this fight was the last time he saw Vanessa.

Seeing his friend upset, Snatcher growled at the little girl. “You little brat.” He growled. “How could you hurt my buddy like this.” He turned towards Lucas, who was just watching the video and the memories of him and Vanessa played in his head. “Lucas, transform now!”

“Transform, and I’ll send!” Hailey threatened once again.

Lucas let out a yell and punched a tree shushing everyone. Hailey and Snatcher looked in shock and silence and Timmy quickly went to her sister and held her close to protect her before Lucas did anything to her. Lucas breathed heavily, calming down a bit. He looked up at Snatcher and Hailey silently staring at them.

Letting out a huge sigh, Lucas decided to speak to Snatcher first. “I’m not going to kill children over finding us out.” He told his ghost friend. Snatcher didn’t have time to react when Lucas faced the two kids and spoke up. “Who are you two, and why are you following us?”

Hailey put her phone down seeing Lucas wasn’t going to kill them and replied. “My name is Hailey and this is my older brother Timmy.” She answered. “We’d known about you when we saw your fight and caught it on video.”

“Why catch it on video?”

“We think you got possessed and we had to catch it on tape.” Timmy answered. “I love catching ghosts on camera and looking into the paranormal.”

Hailey then added on. “Which is para-not-normal to everyone, but to us it's para-so-normal.”

“Great ghost hunter kiddos.” Snatcher groaned rolling his eyes. Then the soul stealing ghost had a question for them. “So how can you see me?”

“Like we said, we just can.” Hailey repeated what she said earlier. “I don’t know either, but at least we know this man here,” she commented pointing at Lucas, “isn’t a crazy man.” Lucas took offense to that and gave a glare to the girl. Hailey replied, giving a cute little giggle.

However, Lucas couldn’t get mad at two kids and decided to take them home. “Well, since it’s getting late do you need help getting home?” He asked.

Timmy and Hailey went silent and turned away from Lucas and frowned. This made Lucas and Snatcher realize something happened to their parents. “Um we have no place to stay.” Hailey admitted.

“What happened to your parents?” Lucas asked.

“Murdered.” Timmy answered, turning away from the older man. “Someone murdered them.”

Lucas sighed and walked over to the kids and put a hand on their shoulder. “I’m terribly sorry.” He told them. Hailey and Timmy didn’t reply, they’ve replied to too many I’m sorrys already. “Do you at least have a place to stay? Or someone watching you?”

Timmy shook his head. “We still live in our house, just no one watches us.” He revealed.

“Well in case you need a place to stay. You two can stay with me.” Lucas offered.

“WHAT?!” Snatcher yelled as his eyes snapped open. He pulled Lucas from the kids and went up to his face. “Are you CRAZY?! You can’t just adopt these kids?!”

“Come on Snatcher, they have no parents and they live alone. If someone finds out they could be taken away and separated.” Lucas explained. Snatcher crossed his arms and turned away from his human partner and glared at the kids. Lucas sighed, and realized now he had to resort to bribery. “If you can agree with me on this, you can have half of my bacon sandwiches for a month!”

Snatcher’s eyes widened hearing the word bacon sandwich. “Make it two months!” He offered.

“Deal!” Lucas finalized.

“So you’ll allow us to stay with you?” Hailey asked. Lucas nodded.

Hailey then looked at her brother who didn’t seem to be bothered by it. “Fine by me.” Timmy replied. Hailey cheered excitedly that she’s going to be in a new home. However, Timmy pulled on her shirt, reminding her not to get too excited. “However, we are not going to move in tonight. Just give us time to think about it.”

Lucas gave a slow nod. “Understandable. Take all the time you need.” He told them.

“We will.” Hailey replied. “Now we will show you where our house is!”

Lucas giggled. “Alright, alright.” He and Snatcher then took the siblings home to their house with Hailey leading the way. Once the siblings made it home safely, Snatcher and Lucas got home themselves and passed out on the couch.

Far away in an abandoned manor, the Queen was looking out the window before turning to Vanessa who was sitting on her bed staring at a photo of her and Lucas. She floated over to her human and snarled at the photo of Lucas.

“When can I see him again?” Vanessa asked. The Queen’s eyes widen before giving a sigh and putting her hand on the young girl’s shoulder.

“Now, now Vanessa.” The Queen reassured her. “You know better, he’s with the enemy, you can’t see him, only killing him.”

Vanessa sighed, and moved away from her ghost partner. “I don’t want to kill him. I love him.” She admitted.

This ticked off the Queen, as she grabbed Vanessa’s shirt and pulled her close to her. “Listen here!” She shouted. “He doesn’t love you! He'll never love you! He’s Snatcher’s pet meaning he’ll kill you! Understand that!”

Vanessa whimpered and didn’t want to face the Queen’s icy glare. She didn’t want to believe any of it, Lucas loved her, and she loved him back. “What if he doesn’t?” She growled.

The Queen glared and pulled Vanessa closer to her. “You’ll see.” The Queen growled back. “And soon you’ll be in pain just like how it was with your mother.” Vanessa’s eyes widened as she let out a gasp.

Outside of Vanessa’s room a figure of a woman, as well as a floating pair of eyes listened in on the conversation. The duo’s main goal: To protect and serve Vanessa as well as the Queen from anyone who decides to harm them. Even Lucas and Snatcher.