#actually full offence since she won

[rotten-flesh-n-bones]

How was BEJBA higher than Croatia... have you all lost your fucking minds...

[bookishofalder]

Just Breathe

Pairing: Adam Driver X Reader (GN!Reader)

A/N-In this fic, AD is single. Inspired by my own love for makeup and the alternate life I’d have enjoyed as a film makeup artist. I also think this ended up with the reader being gender neutral!

Warnings: Mutual pinning. Kissing. Caffeine addiction.

——————

You took a long, deep breath, focusing on clearing your mind and settling yourself into professional mode. This was a routine, which used to simply be automatic for you, until you started working this new movie trilogy and your world flipped.

Just breathe.

You had been ecstatic when you got the call-key makeup artist for the new Star Wars movies! It was an absolute dream come true, after years working hard as a makeup artist for smaller films and television shows, building your experience. Now you were the lead, which meant you were going to be working with main character actors, a chance to really prove yourself, under the direction of the production designer. You would get to design concepts for their appearances and execute the approved designs.

And not to mention, you were a huge Star Wars geek, having grown up watching the films with your dad, who was an original geek. You would watch them every year on his birthday together, a tradition that you carried out regardless of where in the world you were working from on set, you would stay up all night and video call him while watching, if you had to. You never missed a single year.

But now, it was years later and you were working on set of the final instalment, which was bittersweet in so many ways. You just needed to breath.

Because since day one of production on these movies, you’ve been in love with the lead actor, and it’s been chipping away at your soul. Because it’s one thing to imagine being with someone unattainable for fun, but when you spend a lot of time in that persons presence and over time realize how perfect they are to you, it can drive you up the wall.

Adam Driver was kind, funny and serious. He and you hit it off really well when you met, he was always keen to hear your thoughts on his characters appearance, and he’d even asked you recently to join him on the next press tour as his stylist and makeup artist. That in itself was an amazing opportunity, one that would continue to launch your career into orbit. You adored working with him, and spent a lot of your down time missing him, his corny jokes and soft looks and overall presence. Because that man took up a lot of space, which seemed to affect you in many ways, all good.

You felt like that character in Love Actually, played by Laura Linney, who was in love with Carl. Except, you were sure you hid it well, and you were always the most professional colleague. However, pining over a celebrity felt too ridiculous, too common, and you were hard on yourself constantly for it. You convinced yourself every morning that it was simply a crush, one that would fade if you kept yourself focused and reminded yourself daily of the type of person he could date, if he wanted to.

Yet, here you were, needing to breath, because he was on his way to the makeup trailer for end of day cleanup and you needed to get your head in the game, figuratively shoving your feelings down. Daisy had finished and left already, while your makeup assistant Bailey was hurrying about tidying the trailer, avoiding your station, and moving some of the equipment into the storage area. Soft classical music was playing on the Bluetooth speakers, and the smell of peppermint tea you had brewed was calming you somewhat.

Glancing in the mirror, you adjusted your hair, smoothed down your apron and internally chastised yourself for bothering to check. Setting down your tea, you looked over your set up, ensuring you had everything needed, though end of day was always the easier part on this set for you. You didn’t exactly envy the hard work that the SFX make up team had on both sides of the day, but you were always beyond impressed with their beautiful work.

The door to the trailer opened and immediately, you felt his presence. Adam stepped inside, wearing a hoodie and sweatpants, his hair and face still fully set to Kylo Ren’s appearance, which always made you smile, as the contrast was hilarious.

“Evening, y/n, Bailey.” He said, nodding to you both before sitting down heavily into his chair. He smiled at you warmly, looking tired. You quickly set a headband on his head, pushing all the hair from his face carefully.

“How are you, Adam?” You briefly met his soft eyes, which were fixed on your own. If you didn’t spend so much timing beating yourself up for liking him, you might have noticed his eyes often following you, or his soft smiles, or the way he sometimes stiffened when your hands ran through his hair or down his face as you worked on him.

But you never did seem to notice. “I’m good, tired today, this week’s caught up with me.” He rumbled. You hoped he couldn’t hear your heart rate pick up every time he spoke. Although, it had been like this for years and he hadn’t complained yet. Or he’d grown used to it. ‘Shut up, brain’, you thought.

“I’m not surprised, after the fiftieth take of this scene I got tired watching you!” It was true too, having to be on set at all times during filming meant a lot of time spent watching the actors at work, and since Adam insisted on doing his own stunts, a lot of the scenes he was in were physically gruelling. You didn’t know how he did it, and despite his words you knew if he was called back to set for any retakes, he’d spring from the chair full of energy and ready to work.

His dedication was an astounding trait that impressed you from the start, never wavering. His serious, hardworking personality only had you falling harder.

He chuckled at your words, his eyes closing automatically as you spritzed his face with a gentle solution you liked for removing the prosthetic scar. He kept them closed as you worked, peeling off the wound with delicate fingers. You didn’t know that he kept them closed because when you were really focused on something, you bit your lip in a way that made his blood warm, in a way that gave him trouble with tearing his gaze away.

“I saw Bailey sneak you a latte, though, which I’m pretty sure means I’ve won our bet.” Your hands stilled at his words, and he peaked up at you, a devilish grin quickly spreading across his face freckled, handsome face.

You faked offence, scoffing “I don’t know what you mean, it was decaf.” Adam gave a bark of a laugh at your lie, shaking his head.

“Just admit it, you’re a caffeine addict.” He’d been teasing you for years for constantly having caffeinated beverages within reach, and you’d recently, stupidly, agreed to a bet where you would stick to one a day for a month. If you won, he had to forever leave you alone about it, and if he won he could continue to tease you for infinity.

“I believe the terms of our bet allowed for one slip up, actually.” You pouted, jutting your chin out slightly. You continued working, getting his skin cleaned and recovered from the makeup, pretending to be unbothered by the fact that he had noticed Bailey sneak you the latte on set. And you tried not to overthink why he would have been looking at you in the first place.

Adam considered your words for a moment, “Yes,” he said slowly, “But today is only day two of this bet, and you’ve already slipped up.” You were smiling now, the joy evident in his tone was contagious. Still, you rolled your eyes.

“I’m only human, you know, but I am competitive.” You hoped you sounded convincing. You weren’t sure you cared about winning the bet, really.

He continued to grin at you, but made no response. You settled into a comfortable silence together as you made your way through the end of day skin care routine you developed for Adam during the first movie. You had one for each of the main actors, and they’d all impressed you with their dedication in following them. You weren’t good at giving yourself credit, though. Everyone knew a skin care routine curated by you was priceless.

“You need me to stick around, y/n?” Bailey asked, popping out from the back of the trailer where the storage area was. She gave you a pointed look, which you promptly ignored.

“No, go on ahead and start your weekend, Bailey, I’m almost done here, thank you.”

“Night, Bailey!” Adam waved. Bailey bid them both goodnight and left, leaving you alone with Adam. You cursed yourself, feeling foolish. You meant to be genuinely nice to Bailey, who worked hard and deserved the break, but usually you kept her around at times like this to ensure you weren’t left alone with the object of your daydreams. When no one else was around, you had no witnesses to any comments that Adam made that you might consider flirtatious. And while you assumed handsome celebrities like him would probably inherently flirt with others as second nature, you never understood why he would flirt with you. It confused you entirely.

You felt your nerves suddenly rear up, and your hands shook very slightly as you removed the calming sheet mask you had placed on Adam. His eyes followed your hands, but he said nothing. You’d been alone plenty of times before, but every time you would turn into a nervous, silly mess, overanalyzing every comment he made and every word you managed to sputter.

You didn’t know it, but Adam always wished for more time alone with you. He knew you well, and could recognize your nerves and always wondered why being alone with him made you nervous. He hoped it was because you liked him, but he was helpless at flirting, and didn’t know how let you know how he felt. He didn’t want to overstep, or make you uncomfortable. You were both technically working, and he felt you probably had much more appealing options for partners outside of work.

Tonight, though, for the first time, you were both exhausted, under caffeinated and, though neither of you would openly admit it, lonely. Years of longing the other, feeling hopeful, was going to catch up to you both tonight.

“Okay, head froward for me please,” He complied, and you expertly ran your hands into his hair, pulling smoothing serum through the thick locks with gentle care. As you focused, applying liberal amounts, you noticed Adam’s hands clench the chairs arms. “Is that okay?” You worried you’d hurt him.

He tilted his head back and met your eyes. He was so tall that even sitting in his makeup chair, his eyes were level with yours. It was nice not needing to adjust his seat, as you needed to do constantly for most of the actors, but it also meant a lot of time face to face, learning to read one another. Your hands were still in his hair. Somewhere in the back of your mind, a voice of reason was telling you to calmly remove your hands and step back. But the look he was giving you had you frozen to the spot. You’d never read that expression on his face before, his eyes were dark, serious.

His eyes searched yours for a moment longer, “Yeah, y/n.” His voice came out quiet, soft. You think maybe your heart would stop working, because he wasn’t looking away. You couldn’t understand his expression, he seemed to be searching for something in your own.

Finally, you managed to pull your gaze away. Quickly removing your hands, you stepped back, smoothing down your apron nervously, “I-I mean, you’re all set, Adam, unless you need anything else from me?” Why was your voice so quiet? And your face, it felt hot.

You needed to get out of this trailer, away from this man-he was having such a strong affect on you. You rationalized that it was simply because you were tired, you really had cut down significantly on caffeine and this was the result, your sleepiness was lowering your defences and he was noticing you were acting strange. That was all it was.

Adam stood, frowning slightly, but didn’t move away from you. Now, he was right in front of you and you had to tilt your head back just to see beyond his chest. You glanced up at him, and his eyes seemed to soften.

“You’ve really been cutting back on coffee, haven’t you?”

You nodded, “Told you, I’m competitive.” Your voice was breathy, like you’d been running. What the hell was wrong with you, you wondered.

Adam smiled, “I know, I love that about you.” You thought maybe you were now hearing things, and simply stared up at him in surprise, his words genuine, warm.

“Thank-um, thank you, Adam, that means a lot, coming from you.” Now, you were basically whispering. Yet your voice sounded much too loud.

He tilted his head, took a careful step closer, the gap between you nearly gone now. His overall hugeness as he stood over you made you feel safe, and a jolt ran through to your core. “I love a lot of things about you, y/n. Like, how you’re face gives what you’re thinking away, if the person knows you well enough, and you know that about yourself so you try to hide it. You look away, before someone reads you-but I’ve gotten pretty good at catching your expressions,” The low timbre of his voice was doing things to you, and you couldn’t look away from Adam now, “And right now, I think I do know what you’re thinking. Can I test my theory?”

He was asking permission, for what you didn’t know, but at this point you’d have given it no matter what. So you nodded, “S-sure.” You saw the look in his eyes shift, his gaze moving to your lips.

Despite noticing this, it still caught you entirely off guard when Adam leaned down, his hands moving to your face, gently, and caught your lips with his own. So off guard, that you immediately moaned in surprise. You felt Adam freeze, and wondered if you’d messed up, but before you could open your eyes to check, he pressed you against the wall behind you and resumed kissing you with renewed fervour. You felt yourself returning the kiss, mirroring his movements, entirely caught up in him. His tongue ran across your lips and you parted them, allowing him to taste you as he deepened the kiss.

And you tasted him, his breath minty and overwhelmingly him, you felt drunk, dizzy. You moaned again, and he pulled away, still holding your face, “Sweetheart, you have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that.” He breathed, his pupils blown, face flushed. His gaze was intensely affectionate.

You had to catch your breath, “I didn’t think...I’m just a makeup artist, Adam, I-“

But he cut you off, shaking his head, “Don’t do that, how do you not realize how amazing you are, y/n? You take my breath away every time I see you, and it’s not just because you’re beautiful,” He punctuated his words with a peppering of kiss along your cheeks, “It’s how funny you are, how hardworking, your talent and vision, the way you take care of me and the others, how kind and sweet and goofy you are-I’ve been in love with you for a long time, for a million different reasons.”

Tears threatened at his words, and you had to work to blink them back, “I think I’m dreaming.” You breathed, feeling silly, but he grinned, and shook his head. You returned the smile, gazing up at Adam in wonder, before reaching up with both hands to caress his face, the gesture so much more intimate than it had been when you worked on his skin. His eyes closed briefly, but opened again when you spoke, “I love you too, you know, always have.”

In an instant, his lips were on yours again, this time the intensity was burning, smouldering. Entirely too much and yet no where near enough. You pushed your hands into his hair and he groaned against you, his hands gripping your face and it felt like you couldn’t get close enough to him. He dropped one hand to your waist, pulling your body flush to his, then slid his other into your hair. You weren’t sure how long you stayed like this, fully ablaze in each others arms, but you never wanted it to stop.

When you did break apart, breathless and flushed, Adam was the first to speak, his deep voice sending shivers down your spine, “Would you like to come over to my hotel?”

You nodded, still standing close against him, “I’d really love that.” And you leaned up, on your tip toes, to plant a chaste kiss on his nose, unable to stop smiling.

Adam hugged you close again, planting a few affectionate kisses to your cheeks and hair, before stepping back, watching you as you gathered your things quickly. He took your bag from you as you pulled off your apron and threw on your coat, and you followed him out, feeling giddy.

“We might have to end our bet, by the way.” Adam held open the passenger door for you, when you reached his car, and watched your confusion at his words.

“Why’s that?”

He leaned down, his eyes dark in a way that had you mesmerized, “You’re going to need a lot of caffeine when I’m done with you, sweetheart.” He murmured softly, his voice laced with cheek, and yet you shivered.

You met his gaze, grinning, while internally you had to remind yourself to breath.

Just breath.

[testingcheats0n]

Chapter 5

Okayyyyyy??

We got ourselves a myth chapter? It's just myths for worldbuilding and/or just a dream~? Earth, moon, sun. Pretty standart creation myth ig Oceans, seas, lakes rivers... please don't tell me that they'll list every single rock and bush that Gea- I uh I mean mother earth- has ever farted out. Author-nim-noona-san-sama I beg 😫 Tolkien during the Valaquenta would never.

Oho wait- incest in my creation myth? More likely than I thought.

"U-UwU what are you doing step-Uranus?"

"Hahaha! I'll show you why they call me that!"

Bruh. Bruuuh~ they snubbed my boy Prometheus?! -100 points author-nim my entire blog is named after that chad, you can't rip off the greeks and get rid of big chief the fire stealer.

"WhY dID yOU mAKe TheSE?!"Fuck you fuck you fuck you we were Prometheus' pride and joy fuck you he defied god for us he would never create us for a dick-measuring competition. Fuck you. He's better than all of you put together. Fuck the Gea rip-off and fuck Uranus.

"She gave them fire to make them warm :v" Fuck off.

"They were ungrateful." Double fuck off. This mother earth creature sounds like an abusive parent.

Ah haha...

/nm...

:)

Ah so even the "new" gods are some version of the greek myths :/ hm.

Magus should go eat dirt and die actually. "The rest of the civilized world- aka my kingdom- has changed the name of the country, so the country should accept it."

Magus can go wank himself over his superiority in private thanks 🙄 I'm sure there's an old tome somewhere in his office just waiting for it.

Magus: don't get offended, but your mother was a stupid uneducated peasant- that is also a filthy dirty immigrant- and I know better than her, so you should be ashamed of ever mentioning her filthy uneducated lies. But no offence :)

I want him to get mauled by a bear :D

"Haha your mother is dead, isn't that embarassing?" Cake eater, like danish in a donut shop. Do people like him? Does he have fans or anything? What a piece of crap. I officially hate him.

Anyway. Gen's full name is Eugenides, that's cool af.

By the way. The fact that olives for brains went for the offensive, by attacking Gen's mother, his lineage and using his grief against him and trying to humiliate him for having a dead mother (all ad hominems for a simple myth) proves that Gen and his mother are right. Magus is just a pussy with an ego the size of his dick. X X S!

"Eugenides was the god of thieves- we're all named after him." Now that's cool. So it's like a title of a sort, apart from the "King's Thief" one. That's interesting af. Gen told me a piece of worldbuilding in a single sentence that grabbed my attention faster than olives for brains' entire monologue could.

Imagine being so empty that your biggest accomplishment in a week is making fun of a kid's dead mother. Imagine. Mf was strutting the next day, wtf is actually wrong with him?

I hope he gets brained by a stray rock. Wouldn't that be a shame.

Magus' poor planing vs Gen's inexistent thieving skills

FIGHT!

Magus won...

Old fart wouldn't know manipulation if it hit him.

Ambiades once again proves me right. He's smart, and he's using magus for his knowledge. Speaking about successful manipulation 🙄

Okay so. It's not necessary for an heir to be good at arms. But. It's useful and the skill in battle demands respect and better control. So Sophos should at least try to learn both academics and fighting. He actually kinda reminds me of Samwell Tarly from asoiaf. He's kinda gentle and only wants to learn. His father has other plans.

Then we have this magus, Sophos, Ambiades trio. Ambiades is better at academics, but is obviously there not to learn (and if he does it's more political things) while Sophos is just there to learn period. It should be the other way around tbh... If I were Ambiades I would be striving for a position as a magus at court since his title isn't that impressive- possibly even working on substituting olives for brains if the king has a son, but if I were Sophos I would be squeezing magus' knowledge on politics and the king for all it's worth. It's like learning from experience AND spying for info.

Thieving IS hereditary. That's fascinating! I hope his mother was called Eugenia, it would be awesome.

Sophos: so your father didn't go for milk and didn't come back? Wow your mother is not a slut and you're not a bastard? :o

You gotta love this.

Gen has an older brother who is a soldier, and another who is a watchmaker- he's also called Stenides. Hmmm...

Well, Gen is probably a momma's boy.

Oh he also has sisters. They're... housewifes... sure. The fantastic sexism was sparse so author-nim had to compensate somehow ig.

I just hope to god they're also thieves or something like that.

Alright. This is impressive, I can imagine the terrain perfectly with only a description from the text. Very few books can do that especially with fantasy, and I feel like more writers should strive for writing like such. That said, I would kill for a map just to see that weird ass river that is everywhere.

Attolia >>> Sulnas (Sunas? Solnas? I'm sorry commenter who told me the correct spelling) got it

Okay. I'm sorry but I have to confess I got spoiled when I checked Ambiades' wiki. I kinda sorta know he's not who he says he is. It's obvious with the way he knows so much about Attolia and doesn't care about other places' flora/ecosystem. It's as if he knows it from experience and not from a desire to learn.

Awww Sophos looks up to Ambiades that's adorable.

Wtf mother earth is a dick lmao. She's still mad that humans aren't paying attention to her, so childish. Whatever, the myth was beautiful even if it made 0 sense at the end.

[loki-lover84]

Season 01 Episode 02: “Valiant”

Things in Camelot had become rather hectic recently, everyone was making preparations for the upcoming tournament. All the castle’s staff were in overworking mode to make sure all the rooms were appropriate for the challengers stay and that the halls were decorated in a tasteful fashion. I always looked forward to tournaments it was just something new that was going on in Camelot that brought the kingdom together, plus it took Uther’s mind of executing people for a while he became a whole other person whenever an event like this came around, it makes me wish they took place every week.

Brenna had been teasing me at every given opportunity constantly mentioning Merlin to me whenever she could, to be fair though at this point it was just becoming annoying though sometimes she’d just randomly say his name to see if I was paying attention to her. I’m still not completely sure how or why I’d become infatuated with a guy I hardly knew but I guess that’s life sometimes though. I’d seen him around the castle, never talking to him, just seeing him run around trying to do Arthur’s demands for the day. As for Guinevere I’d hardly spoken to her because if she wasn’t with Morgana she’d be with Merlin, she didn’t talk to Brenna or I since Merlin became Arthur’s manservant. I could hardly be surprised though, the pair of them did have an instant connection.

Brenna and I watched on from a distance as Arthur attempted to train with Merlin, I say attempted to he would’ve found a tree to be more challenging than Merlin. We couldn’t hide our amusement as Arthur essentially played with Merlin occasionally hitting his sword against Merlin’s helmet disorientating the poor lad before we became bored and decided to help the others with the preparations.

Today’s the first day of the tournament, Brenna of course did all she could to make me look as stunning as she was capable of, especially because I’d be on full display seated next to Uther much like my sister. Morgana was of course on Uther’s right accompanied by Guinevere and I was on his left accompanied by Brenna. Because of all the effort Brenna does to make me look the part I could hardly pass up the opportunity to do the same for her, particularly for such an event in front of many bachelors.

We watched as the knight’s came forward into the arena for Uther’s speech.

“Knight’s of the realm, it’s a great honour to welcome you to the tournament in Camelot. Over the next three days, you will come to put your bravery to the test, you skills as warriors and, of course, challenge the reigning champion, my son, Prince Arthur. Only one can have the honour of being crowned champion, and he will receive a prize of 1,000 gold pieces.” The crowd gasps and begins to murmur whilst a knight in yellow eyes up the chest. “It is in combat that we learn a knight’s true nature, whether he is indeed a warrior or a coward. The tournament begins!” Uther declares as he raises his fist and the crowd cheers.

I was as the yellow knight flashes my twin a charming look which she immediately responds to flashing him a smile whilst locking her gorgeous green eyes onto his I think blue ones, I honestly can’t tell from where I’m sitting. The knight’s disband leaving Arthur, Uther and one other knight in the arena Uther clasps on to Arthur and whispers something to him but from Arthur’s reaction he clearly hadn’t wished him luck. Two guards approached and took their capes and handed them their shields as they prepared themselves for the duel. A flash of concern appeared on Uther’s face once they started, he clearly didn’t have enough faith in Arthur, but he’d trained with me and Morgana whilst we grew up, Uther had nothing to fear Arthur was Camelot’s best knight. A few moments later after elbowing the other knight in the face knocking him to the ground the crowd began to cheer as Arthur removed his helmet to bathe in his victory. He’d advanced to the next round. After Arthur’s fight the knight in yellow took on his opponent succeeding greatly without breaking a sweat, he too removed his helmet a cocky grin on his face as he oozed arrogance. The next knight fought against another with two swords and no shield which was intriguing, he was clearly more confident with his blades on offence than having a shield for defence. As the day went on the fights lasted longer, the participants were sloppier in some of their moves I couldn’t blame them they’ve been in armour all day and the weather was rather warm, there was only a couple of rounds left before the first day of the tournament would come to an end.

Now that the fighting was over Uther, Morgana and I needed to prepare to individually congratulate each knight that had advanced to day two of the tournament. We lined up side by side Uther first, my sister in the middle with Gwen behind her and finally myself and Brenna unfortunately Brenna had to actually stand behind me for this part but I honestly don’t think she minded. The knight in yellow was first and Morgana couldn’t fight the flustered grin on her face which caused Gwen, Brenna and I to laugh slightly.

“Knight Valiant of the Western Isles, my Lord.” He introduced to Uther.

Valiant seriously, that’s his actually name? I highly doubt it.

“I saw you fighting today. You have a very aggressive style.”

“As my Lord said, “To lose is to be disgraced.”” Valiant quoted to Uther.

“I couldn’t agree more.” Uther replied causing me to roll my eyes. “Knight Valiant, may I present the Lady Morgana and her sister the Lady Y/n, my wards.”

Valiant’s eyes never left my sister’s as her bowed and kissed her hand which was a little creepy to watch but it happened.

“My Lady.”

“I saw you competing today.” Morgana said adding a more ladylike softness to her voice.

“I saw you watching.” Valiant replied causing a light blush to creep upon my sister’s cheeks.

“I understand the champion escorts my Lady to the feast.” He says glancing at Arthur.

“That’s correct.”

“And I will give everything to win that tournament.” Valiant boldly charmed which again caused me to roll my eyes before he turned to me. “My Lady.” He bowed kissing the back of my hand.

I never liked that tradition I know it’s a display of politeness and respect but, the last thing I actually want is a built up amount of saliva on the back of my hand from various men kissing it. Thankfully Valiant didn’t say anything further to me but he strutted away with a smug smile on his face as my twin eyed him up. Before the next knight approached us it was the same thing over and over again until it was Arthur’s turn.

“Arthur.” Uther said.

“Father.” Arthur replied as he bowed before moving over to my sister and myself.

“They all seem rather impressed by the knight Valiant.” Morgana said a playful smile on her face.

“They’re not the only ones.” Arthur stated clearly irritated.

“Not jealous, are you?” I teased which resulted in me getting a glare from Arthur.

“I don’t see there’s anything to be jealous of.” Arthur replied haughtily to Morgana making her glare at him as he walked away.

“Could Arthur be any more annoying?” Morgana complained to us.

“Oh my dear sister I’m pretty sure we both know from firsthand experience he could.” I replied causing Brenna a Gwen to laugh.

“True.” Morgana replied before saying, “I so hope knight Valiant wins the tournament.”

“You don’t really mean that.” Gwen chimed as Morgana turned her full attention to her.

“Yes.  I do.” She responded.

After dealing with a couple of knights we went our separate ways to retire for the evening.

The second day of the tournament had begun, each battle lasting longer that yesterdays as they were all further driven now that they had advanced and were closer to winning. Valiant was up against a knight in purple, he’d introduced himself to me at the reception but there was so many names to try to remember, their fight was exciting and I was rooting for the purple knight when Valiant tripped him up and got on top of him shield pressing down against his before he punched the knight and won the match. The purple knight lay on the ground almost as if he were lifeless, that was when I saw Gaius staggering into the arena with his satchel of medical supplies. The tournament continued until more challengers were eliminated.

Brenna and I decided that we’d pay a visit to Valiant’s opponent and see if we could help Gaius in any way. We walked through the maze like halls of the castle before reaching the Physician’s Quarters were I once again bumped into a rather determined Merlin.

“Sorry about that my Lady, I had something on my mind and wasn’t watching where I was going.” Merlin said his eyes hard.

“No it’s alright, no harm done.” I replied before Merlin walked away.

“You two are useless.” Brenna laughed before we entered Gaius’s room.

“Is he going to be okay?” I asked looking at the unconscious sweating knight.

“I’m afraid I’m not sure, it seems he was bitten by a snake Lady Y/n.”

Gaius, please just call me Y/n I’ve known you my entire life it feels wrong.” I answered. “A snake but there wasn’t any snakes around were there?” I asked getting back to the matter at hand.

“No, Y/n as far as I’m aware.” Gaius responded.

“But he was fine whilst he was fighting Valiant so there must’ve been one.” Brenna chimed.

Valiant, his shield has three snakes on. He couldn’t have used magic could he? I honestly expected more from a sorcerer.

“Sorry Gaius I have to check something.” I dismissed myself as I hurried Valiant’s chambers running straight into a horrified Merlin.

Merlin wasted no time in grabbing my hand and dragging me behind him as we ran and hid Merlin’s hand was on my mouth before I could ask him any questions, moments later an angry Valiant strode in his blade ready as Merlin hid us behind a wall. Eventually Valiant left  and Merlin removed his hand.

“What is going on?” I demanded glaring at Merlin for abducting me for a second time.

“I think Valiant’s using magic to win the tournament, his shield seems to be enchanted.” Merlin spoke urgently.

“What?”

“The snakes on his shield are real, he fed one a live mouse.” Okay that’s a bit gross.

“I knew there was something off about that guy!” I hissed as Merlin began dragging me off again. “Where are we going?”

“We need to tell Gaius.”  With that we made our way back to the Physician.

“I’ve just seen one of the snakes in Valiant’s shield come alive. He’s using magic.” Merlin announced my hand still in his.

“Are you sure?” Gaius asked looking up at us.

“The snake ate a mouse one swallow, straight down.” Merlin insisted. “Ewan was fighting Valiant when he collapsed. It must’ve been one of the snakes from the shield.

“I have to tell Arthur.” I spoke as I turned to leave as Merlin’s hand released mine.

“Is there any chance you might be mistaken? Y/n what did you see?” Gaius asked.

“I didn’t actually see anything but, I suspected it and from Valiant’s response he’s definitely hiding something he doesn’t want anyone to know about.” I deduced.

“Yes Gaius, I know magic when I see it.” Merlin responded.

What does he mean by that?

“Perhaps.”

“Have you any proof?” Brenna finally spoke.

“Don’t you believe me?” Merlin asked.

“I dare say we all believe you.”

“I fear you’ll land yourself in trouble. How would you explain that you were in Valiant’s chambers?” Gaius asked.

“What does that matter?” Merlin snapped. “He’s using magic to cheat in the tournament!”

“You can’t accuse a knight of using magic without proof, the King wouldn’t accept the word of a servant over that of a knight.” Brenna spoke honestly.

“So what I say doesn’t count for anything?”

“It counts for very little as far as the King’s concerned that’s how it is.” I sigh.

An agitated Merlin leaves for his room as Brenna and I too leave Gaius alone for the night.

The next day Arthur’s first opponent is a bear of a man just seeing him instils fear in my sister and I.

“You’re not worried, are you?” I overhear Gwen ask my clearly anxious sister.

“No.” Comes her short reply as she fidgets with her hands.

The crowd let’s out numerous cheers as Arthur dodges all of his challengers attacks before catching him off guard and knocking him to the ground as everyone releases a final cheer for Arthur. Next up was the cheating Valiant that fights dirty and aggressively to get himself a brutal win. The final fight will be between Arthur and Valiant, what if he uses his snakes against him a kills him?

“We have to do something.” I whisper urgently to Brenna, “He can’t fight Arthur tomorrow, he needs to be exposed for using magic.” I hated to say it but this time the magic was being manipulated for evil. Brenna nodded her head agreeing with me, we just weren’t sure of what we could do.

That evening all the knights were set to have drinks with Uther so I knew Valiant’s shield was unattended, maybe if I could get it to Gaius we could figure something out. As I approached his chambers Merlin once again ran into me only this time he had something in one of his hands and yet again his other grabbed mine and we fled from Valiant’s chambers.

“Merlin we’ve got to stop meeting like this.” I laugh slightly out of breath as we run to Gaius.

“At least you can’t say we have dull moments.” He replied as we entered Gaius’s chambers.

Merlin handed the thing to Gaius, it was the head of a green and yellow snake. Not really what I was expecting but it was better than nothing. Gaius extracted some of the snakes venom.

“I’ll get started preparing the antidote.”

“I’m going to tell Arthur.” Merlin declared.

“You’ll need this.” Gaius throws the snake head to Merlin. “And, Merlin, what you did was very brave.”

With a proud smile he left to find Arthur bringing me with him. Together we walked side by side through the castle to get to Arthur’s chambers.

“You know he’ll try to belittle you don’t you? About the snake head.”

“Yeah, something I’ll get used to though I suppose.” Merlin replied there was a comfortable silence before he continued. “When you first introduced yourself to me, why did you lie?”

“I didn’t, my name is Y/n and I do sometimes help around the castle. I like helping with the cooking the washing and the odd jobs, not so much the cleaning though. I like to help out around here I don’t want to be known as Lady Y/n one of King Uther’s wards who floats around and makes the servants and the maids do everything.”

“Seems fair, why did-“ Merlin began.

“Oh look we’re here. Hey Arthur open up!” I called knocking on his chamber doors which he begrudgingly opened.

Merlin explained everything to Arthur.

“You? You chopped its head off?” Arthur asked thinking Merlin was lying as he ate his food.

“Ewan was bitten by a snake from the shield when he was fighting Valiant. Talk to Gaius, you can see the puncture wounds from where it bit him. Ewan was beating him, he had to cheat.” Merlin spoke.

“Valiant wouldn’t dare use magic in Camelot.” Arthur answered.

“Ewan was pinned under Valiant’s shield, no one could see it bite him.”

“I don’t like the guy but, that doesn’t mean he’s cheating.” Arthur said as he stood up.

“Gaius is preparing an antidote to the snake venom. When Ewan’s conscious, he’ll tell you what happened.” I said trying to win Arthur over.

“If you fight Valiant in the final, he’ll use the shield it’s the only way he can beat you. Look at it!” Merlin says picking up the snakes head, “Have you seen any snakes like this in Camelot?”

Arthur takes the head from Merlin and begins to examine it.

“I know I’m just a servant and my word doesn’t count for anything. I wouldn’t lie to you.” Merlin’s sincerity pulls at my heart strings.

“I want you to swear to me, both of you that what you’re telling me is true.” Arthur say seriously as he looks at us.

“I swear it’s true.” Merlin and I say.

“Then I believe you.” Arthur decides, making Merlin smile.

“Thank you Arthur.” I say hugging him which he half-heartedly returns.

I leave Arthur’s chambers and make my way to my own leaving Merlin with him.

The next day Valiant is marched to the throne room accompanied by some guards, my eyes meet Merlin’s and Arthur’s as I wait anxiously for the truth to come out.

“Y/n relax, everything will work out the way it’s supposed to.” Brenna whispered reassuringly to me a comforting smile on her face.

“Why have you summoned the court?” Uther asks unimpressed as he marches past Arthur.

“I believe knight Valiant is using a magic shield to cheat in the tournament.” Arthur sates.

Morgana and Guinevere exchange a worried glance before glancing at me.

“Valiant what do you have to say to this?”

“My Lord this is ridiculous. I would never use magic. Does your son have any evidence to support this outrageous accusation?” Valiant dismisses.

“Do you have evidence?”

“I do.” Arthur turns to Merlin signalling for him to bring forth the snake’s head to Uther.

Uther spends some time examining it.

“Let me see the shield.”

“Don’t let him get too close.” Merlin says to Arthur as the shield is brought forward.

“Be careful my Lord.” Arthur says drawing his sword and aiming it at the shield.

“Merlin.” Gaius whispers capturing Merlin and Arthur’s attention as well as my own.

“We need Ewan. Find out what’s happening.” Arthur says to Merlin.

“As you can see my Lord it’s just an ordinary shield.” Valiant says with fake innocence.

My heart begins to pound, Uther isn’t going to believe us, it’s all going wrong.

“Y/n deep breaths, calm down.” Brenna whispers her striking blue eyes resting on my fearful e/c ones.

“He’s not going to let everyone see the snakes come alive.” Arthur says.

“Then how am I to know that what you say is true?” Uther argues.

“Don’t you trust your own son?” I snap glaring at Uther.

“Silence!” Uther hisses his bone chilling glare landing on me.

“I have a witness.” Arthur says. “Knight Ewan was bitten by one of the snakes from the shield. Its venom made him grievously ill. However, he’s received an antidote. He will confirm that Knight Valiant is using magic.” He continues as Merlin and Gaius exchange worried whispers.

“Where is this witness?” Uther asks clearly unconvinced.

“He…should be here.” Arthur says turning to Merlin causing everyone to look at him, “Where’s Ewan?”

“He’s dead.” Merlin replies.

Oh no, not good this very not good.

“I’m waiting!” Uther yells startling some members of the court, the silence deafening as Arthur solemnly turns back to Uther.

“I’m afraid the witness id dead.” Arthur eventually speaks.

“So you have no proof to support these allegations? Have you seen Valiant using magic?”

“No.” Uther turns away from Arthur in his disappointment. “But my servant fought-“

“Your servant? You make these outrageous accusations against a knight on the word of your servant?” Uther seethes as Valiant shakes his head, a head I wouldn’t mind having the honour of chopping off.

“I believe he’s telling the truth.” Arthur defends.

“As do I!” I say earning a glare from Uther.

“Have you seen Knight Valiant using magic then Y/n?” Uther asks his tone hostile.

“Not exactly but-“I began.

“Then your view does not matter.”

“My Lord, am I really to be judged on hearsay from a boy?” Valiant says moving to stand next to Uther.

“I’ve seen those snakes come alive.” Merlin eagerly states coming forward.

“How dare you interrupt?! Guards.” My heart pounds as the guards come forward to arrest Merlin They force him halfway down the throne room when.

“My Lord…” Valiant speaks.

“Wait.” Uther orders.

“I’m sure he was merely mistaken. I wouldn’t want him punished on my account.” The deceitful two faced snake says.

“You see? This is how a true knight behaves, with gallantry and honour.”

“My Lord, if your son made these accusations because he’s afraid to fight me, then I will graciously accept his withdrawal.” Arthur’s face hardens at Valiant’s insinuation.

“Is this true? Do you wish to withdraw from the tournament?” Uther asks an underlying threat to his voice.

“No!”

“What am I to make of these allegations?” We all stand in silence, I glance around the room my eyes eventually landing on a restrained anxious Merlin, an uncertain Morgana, an agitated Uther before landing upon a broken Arthur.

“Obviously there has been a misunderstanding. I withdraw the allegation against Knight Valiant. Please accept my apology.” Arthur bows his head.

“Accepted.” Valiant replies as Uther frowns at Arthur.

Arthur storms out not wishing to remain any longer as Merlin shrugs the guards off to follow him, he glares at Valiant before his eyes meet Gaius to exchange a look and finally they lock with mine he expresses sympathy in response to my worried look. I wanted to go after them and check on Arthur, I knew his pride would be destroyed as well as his trust and faith in Merlin however one look at Uther and I knew if I were to follow he’d probably lock me up again for the night. I could never quite work out why he hated me so much but doted on my twin I know I defy him when I believe what he’s doing to be wrong but Morgana does too.

After apologizing to Valiant for Arthur’s behaviour the rest of the court left but, I knew I’d be too late Arthur would’ve already fired Merlin and there would be very little I could do to persuade him to reinstate him. Brenna remained by my side through everything she held a weak smile and kept repeating that justice would be served, that Valiant’s secret would be revealed before any harm could come to Arthur, I can’t really believe what she’s saying however there’s so much confidence behind her words it’s very hard to not have faith that the truth will come out. As we stalked the corridors near the courtyard sat with his head down on the steps was Merlin, he looked frustrated, anxious and dejected. Brenna and I made our way across the courtyard but Guinevere got there first she was already sat beside him allowing him to confide in her before he smiled stood up and picked up a decorative statue of a hound before saying something else to Gwen, she nodded and hurried off to get something after a few moments, she came back with a wheel barrow and Merlin placed the statue in it wheeling it off to presumably his room leaving Gwen alone.

“Gwen, are you okay?” I asked approaching her, she looked at me a bewildered like expression on her face.

“Oh yes, I’m perfectly fine but I can’t say the same for Merlin, he’s acting rather weird.”

“He’s always; acting weird he just is weird. I’m sure he’ll be fine.” Brenna said a smile on her face.

“Do you need some assistance with some of your chores? We’re free to help, I know that since the tournament some people have fallen behind and I was just wondering-“ I began to offer.

“If it’s not too much hassle, I did fall slightly behind with all the distractions and happenings going on as of recent.”

“We’re more than happy to help out a friend.” I smiled sweetly at her as I all three of us spent the remainder of the day laughing, talking and doing chores together.

Today was the day we’d all been dreading, the day Arthur took on Pompous Prat. I’d met up with my sister who claimed to have had a vicious nightmare showing Valiant triumphing over Arthur and presumably killing him. I knew that such an occurrence must’ve ruined her whereas my feelings for Arthur were purely familial hers were deeper, more passionate. We made our way to Arthur’s chambers the sight of someone else helping Arthur into his armour wasn’t pleasant, it was wrong, it should be Merlin but I knew it wouldn’t be. At a wave of Morgana’s hand the servant dismissed himself and Morgana took his place.

“Let me.” She spoke softly to Arthur as she began to adjust his straps, Arthur gazed at her slightly confused, “We used to help our father with his armour.” She said before he needed to ask.

I grabbed his helmet for him as Morgana made him comfortable and secure before handing it over to him.

“Thanks.” Arthur said as he looked between us and began to leave.

“Arthur.” Morgana called causing him to halt, “Be careful.” There was a couple of seconds of silence as they gazed at one another.

“See you at the feast.” Arthur eventually said before he left.

“He’ll be fine, it’s Arthur after all he’s too stubborn to allow himself to be beaten.” I said as I gave my sister a reassure hug.

Arm in arm we walked out the stands to take our respective seats for the finally battle in the tournament, meeting Brenna and Guinevere on the way. I saw how worried Morgana was and gave her a final hug telling her again how no one could beat Arthur other than us, earning a small smile from her and an encouraging nod before the fight commenced. The duel had begun and thankfully so far each move had be clean as the pair put on a show for all in Camelot to witness. Arthur eventually knocked Valiant’s helmet off and the crowd became uncertain or at least until Arthur removed his own in order to even out their chances causing the crowd to cheer enthusiastically. The excitement soon went once Valiant knocked Arthur to the ground and stepped on his shield to prevent his defence, I wanted nothing more than to get into the arena and help Arthur but Arthur wouldn’t want me to even if I could. Thankfully, Arthur was able to roll out from under Valiant’s strike having to abandon his shield in the process, if he was to fight with honour than Valiant too should’ve discarded his shield but he didn’t and used it to his advantage. He pressed Arthur against one of the walls where my eyes ended up landing on Merlin who was nearby behind the wall near it, next thing I knew Arthur had been able to get them back into the arena but, I watched with curiosity and intrigue as Merlin held out his hand and his mouth moved as if to chant something prior to the crowds shocked gasps as two snakes slithered out of Valiant’s shield.

“He is using magic.” Uther said as he stood up.

“Now they see you for what you really are.” Arthur panted as Valiant let out a breathless chuckle.

“Kill him!” Valiant commanded as the snakes climbed out of the shield hissing and snapping their jaws at Arthur.

“Arthur!” Morgan called grabbing Uther’s sword and chucking it to him so he was no longer defenceless.

Instantly both of the snakes were beheaded as they fell limp and lifeless but Valiant still remained, he charged at Arthur but Arthur quickly got the upper-hand disarming Valiant before stabbing him.

“Looks like I’ll be going to the feast after all.” Arthur whispered as Valiant let out an agonized grunt and falling to the ground.

I saw Morgan, Gwen and Uther all visibly relax Uther actually let out a sigh of relief as Arthur bathed once again in his victory before confidently leaving the arena and pushing on Merlin’s shoulder in a friendly way.

“I told you everything would work out, that justice will be served.” Brenna said a wide smile on her face as we continued our applause.

“Aye, that you did. I glad you never lost faith.” I smile back at my friend, she’d probably never know how much I deeply appreciated her and our friendship but I’ll continue to try to every day.

We all left together Uther overjoyed at Arthur’s success especially against a magic user he was the happiest and proudest I’d seen him in quite some time, it was reassuring seeing him like this it proved he isn’t always completely heartless despite him being like that most of the time he wasn’t fully a monster. Morgana, Gwen, Uther, Brenna and myself walked our separate ways each doing so to prepare for the feast tonight of which Arthur would have the honour of accompanying my twin who’d of course somehow end up looking more stunning than she did daily, in that spirit I too was done up for the occasion so as to look like I belonged and could play my part in this kingdom.

“My honourable guests, I give you Prince Arthur, your champion.” Uther announced as the great hall erupted with an applause upon Arthur’s entrance.

Arthur held his arm out to Morgana as the pair made their way across the room to the head table. Stopping just to the side as they walked up the make shift aisle the pair began to talk before Morgana stormed over to Gwen. Merlin had for once approached me in a formal situation but before he could say anything Arthur came over to us.

“Can you believe Morgana? She says she saved me. Like I needed any help.” He began to rant.

“Yeah well if she hadn’t have passed you that sword I was going to climb into that arena and kill Valiant myself for what he tried to do.” I said honestly to him, in response he playfully glared at me prior to focusing on Merlin.

“I wanted to say I made a mistake. It was unfair to sack you.” Arthur apologized causing Merlin to smile.

“No, don’t worry about it. Buy me a drink and call it even.” Merlin replied making me smile.

“Um…I can’t really be seen to be buying drinks for my servant.” Arthur said making me eye roll and Merlin feel a little embarrassed.

“Your servant?” Merlin chimed, “You sacked me.”

“Now I’m rehiring you. My chambers are a complete mess, my clothes need washing, my armour needs repairing, my boots need cleaning, my dogs need exercising, my fireplace needs sweeping, my bed needs changing and someone needs to muck out my stables.” Arthur finally finishes as Merlin gives him a weak look as Arthur walks away to enjoy the rest of the evening that is in his honour.

“I don’t know why you look so defeated.” I whispered earning confused look from Merlin, “I mean you could always use your magic to speed up the process.”

“Yeah I-wait what!?” Merlin said his eyes widening with shock as he pulled me to a secluded section of the room.

“I saw you, today. See Arthur thinks he was fine by himself, Morgana believes she saved him but, I think you and I both know that you prevented his inevitable fate.” Merlin was silent I think he was trying to come up with a lie but, I know what I saw. “I’d like to thank you, Arthur’s like a brother to me if something happened to him I don’t know what I’d do, I’m glad you’re looking out for him.” I leant up and kissed his cheek before leaving him behind, I had to my cheeks were bright red and my heart was pounding out of my chest I don’t think I could’ve been with him much longer.

[michaelkorsborsastelle]

every monied nike sb rpm skate backpack man in the free states to attend the New Orleans slave

The Frey men wore the badge of the two towers, those from White Harbor displayed merman and trident. It was made in the darkest ages of the world, before the light of the gospel had dawned. Recently, the company tried to collect again, and told the victim to file a police report to contest the charges. And if such was his duty, is it not equally the duty of every monied nike sb rpm skate backpack man in the free states to attend the New Orleans slave-mart with the same benevolent purpose in view? It seems to me that to purchase a slave with the purpose of saving him from a hard and cruel fate, and without any view to emancipation, is itself a good action. You admit Ser Osney Kettleblack was your lover, and Ser Osney insists that he smothered my predecessor at your behest. Cersei could hear Unella writing behind her. Oh well. Meantime, great organic influences in church and state are, much against their wishes, neutralizing their influence against slavery,—sometimes even arraying it in its favor. Poor Natasha! What it must have cost her to comfort this boy, to bend over him, listen to his confession and invent the fable of their speedy marriage to comfort the naive egoist. When the cooks found him outside the kitchens, buried up to his neck in a snowdrift, both dick and man were blue from cold.. Yet the only coffee on offer is instant Nescaf. Even though you will find several other items available in the market and some of them are less pricey compared to the Coach handbags, they do not match the standard, efficiency, and durability of the branded items. Hopefully one day it can expand in a meaningful way into China which will certainly goose earnings.. Those two will make rangers yet. Meereen’s queen must be a lady of triciclo usato milano Old Ghis.” Brown Ben Plumm, the captain of the Second Sons, had put it more succinctly. She still clung to the hope that someone would come after her. “Inkpots, show him to the wagons. There was an actual push for them to move to Sacramento. Force and violence was the order of the day, and the Christianity of the savage northern tribes, who at this time became masters of Europe, was mingled with the barbarities of their ancient heathenism. There have been a score of them. While slaves turned the hand-mill they were generally chained, and had a broad wooden collar, to prevent them from eating the grain. Arm in arm, the bride and he passed through an arched stone door, as wisps of fog stirred round their legs. Melony, she thought. Consider well, then, that if you lose your souls by leading idle, wicked lives here, you have got nothing by it sellerie moto strasbourg in this world, and you have lost your all in the next. Drink it down, Nursey, that shitwater squirting from your arse needs michael kors borsa stelle to be replaced. His axe was shivering her shield, cracking the wood on the downswing, tearing off long pale splinters when he wrenched it back. His voice rang harsh, with none of Melisandre’s music. It was believed that he was the principal offender, and he was found adidas personalised shoes to be more obdurate and contumacious than Lewis zapatillas skechers decathlon had been in reference to the offence. Rowand about Maria; left the house; it was on the 6th January last,—the day before the inquest; knew the slave before, sandalias de esparto mujer but had never attended her.. Not so the whole men. It was the best purse since the Belk.. What is it we’re doing? Heavens, is it possible that when a man’s absolutely set upon his duty he shouldn’t have the brains and the courage to do it? You must help us, anyway; you’re our friend. .. They know how much women desire the purses so they keep their prices low. No website is perfect. He could hear the rain falling outside, drumming against the bricks.. His small dark wife, Ysilla, took no notice. The Tickler hung on the wall as well, the black holes that were his eyes swimming with malice. “More ships will come. “The tale you tell is one we all gucci sandale plastique have fekete táska női heard, as full of lies as a pudding’s full of

raisins. But now I’m going back to her.”. Nuremburg could only assign death. At that time they had listened in the most complacent manner to the announcement that the reign of slavery was near its close, because they had not the slightest idea that the language meant anything; and they were utterly confounded by this practical application of it. Tumco Lho. If you feel that the balance of the bag adidas goalkeeper jersey is turned off, or something suspicious looks, then you probably have a fake bag. I frowned myself, and once I did not speak to her for a whole day, but next day I felt ashamed. Brown stubble covered his cheeks and chin. 1) Torben Grael won 5 medals (2 gold, 1 silver, 2 bronze) in sailing. We kill men, but we do not presume to judge them. Its Metallic silver leather trim gives a dressy finish. 'She should be able to take it to the gym, to work, wear it at the weekend'. “You want proof, treacherous man. At the gate, Haldon said something to the serjeant of guards, and a runner was sent off to find a captain. “I know what you are. All of them, as you can see right here, even though it a different color, it's leather and it says "COACH" on the outside. Everything turned inside out and upside down, and Bran found himself back inside his own skin, half-buried in the snow.

[killrockabill]

azula redemptive

so this isnt a full redemption more of a setting her on the path. azula is a character i kind of identify with. i grew up in a chaotic environment and learned to “play the game” manipulate lie and occasionally throw people under the bus. at first it was just a way to get through life but then it kinda just became who i was. i have gone to counseling etc but still occasionally wonder if my feelings are real or if theyre just what theyre supposed to be. i was lucky to have people in my life. my uncle irohs but she didnt seem to. here it is.

Azula was never the type for brooding, that was more zuzu’s territory. Tonight was different. She was tired. It had been a few years since the avatar ended one hundred year war.  she had barely kept track of the actual amount of time. In the time since however; she had not grown complacent. she couldn’t. 

Zuzu had become the fire lord and seemed to be decent enough at it. At least he was capable of not destroying the fire nation with incompetence. While they were never close there was a hint of something in her that could almost be considered pride. No. Pride was the wrong word the feeling was more that of acknowledgment. He and the avatar won and that was the end of that story. 

For a time azula was unsure of her place in the universe. She had lived her life to be the true heir, to be ozai. He was a wrathful and petty god and she was his disciple. 

“ Why was that again?” She pondered. “Well what else could i be? Zuzu?” She knew she was smarter than that.

Zuko was soft and too stupid to play the game, so she used him. Every misstep, every weakness was a way to save herself from being him. Did she ever feel bad about it? Perhaps a long time ago, not that it mattered. You do something long enough you get used to it and when you get good at it you start to enjoy it. Every maneuver, every manipulation was a victory and nobody played the game like her. 

“My shadow lord” a shaky voice called from behind. The cult of ozai must have sent him. They had been useful to be sure, but she hated that name. It reminded her of the darkness within her, the same darkness her mother saw. 

“Yes?” Azula spoke finally in an exasperated tone. “What is it? i have no use of any of you right now.”

“F-forgive me. I-I have come to warn you.” he stuttered as though he were shaken by the earth itself. 

“You? Warn me? I may not be the fire lord anymore, but i am still one of the most powerful firebenders of this generation. What could be coming that I need worry?!” That was a bit more intense than she intended, but anyone who knew her knew it was her default state.

“N-nothing that i'm sure you cannot handle, b-but as your loyal servant it’s my duty. The ozai followers t-they doubt your intentions. They believe you don't intend to restore ozai to power.”

That was a fair thought seeing as she had no intention of restoring ozai to power. She had used them to challenge zuko and make him grow into the strong leader the fire nation needed. He was soft on enemies, azula being a perfect example, and not wary of friends that could turn on him as they do. 

“Hmph, well I suppose i owe you thanks. Tonight you will leave and discard any sign of joining the movement. Live a life well or not it doesn't matter to me” she hated being in debt to someone. Azula could manage some over privileged fanatics, but knowing she’ll have to get her hands a bit dirty is nice.

“M-my lady i-i-i apologize i meant no offense.  please i-“ 

Azula cut him off. “ you misunderstand. Tonight there’s going to be a … discussion, between the rest of the group. Take this and go do whatever it is you people do.” She flipped a gold piece. She couldn't be bothered to remember if he was one of the wealthy members and what's one gold piece. It was his duty to her to report and that should be rewarded. Flies and honey; perhaps if she did that back then those two. NO we are not going there azula scolded herself. Focus.

The man was still sitting there mouth agape like a fool. Was he processing what just happened? Regretting exposing his comrades? If he betrays her and lets them know she's coming she will live up to the darkness that earned her the title shadow lord. 

“I don’t know what you are waiting for, but go. I have an appointment.”  Azula walked past him. Ordinarily any threat of a stanger betraying her and leading her to a trap would be subdued by their fear of her. Azula learned that was not a guarantee the hard way. Her shoulder aches like an old woman from ty lee’s strike. That wasn’t what azula had heard about chi blocking, but maybe this hit was deeper. 

“FOCUS” azula chided herself “her of all people.  Yes, I did use fear to keep them in line but I was good to her. I tried at least. There weren’t many who’s tears could get to me. Fuck, enough. You need to deal with these fools”

Azula had reached the door to where the cult of ozai held their meeting. A Modest wooded shack near where Azula was. It benefited them to be out of the way and not get attention. Azula paused and thought “alright put on the scary eyes” before making her entrance. You could hear the conversation screech to a halt.

“My lady! Welcome, what brings you? New plans rid us of your brother?” One finally broke the silence. The fool that was their leader before azula had seized control. 

The gaul to pretend like they werent just talking about turning on her. Did they know who they were dealing with? She was no longer princess azula daughter of ozai; she was the god now. 

“Its come to my attention that some of us feel breaking my father, ozai out of prison. Let me clear ozai was a fool who bit off more than he could chew trying to conquer the world. He’s weak now spoiled by everyone's fear of him he lost to a child.”

“You speak out of turn little girl. You wouldn’t be so brave as to say that in his presence!” One of them burst out. 

“Ah, yes the withered old man that has been in shackles for how many years?” Azula genuinely could not remember anymore. “I am a prodigy trained by the finest benders this nation has to offer. The bender that conquered ba sing se. Even with his bending he lost to an avatar that I beat. “ 

Azula wasn’t bragging. This was the fight. Subduing them without having to lift a finger. What happens when azula needs to lift a finger? Well, let's say azula would oblige in earnest. She could tell most of them had already seemed to understand. Any of them try something it’ll end one way. She’d won the fight before they could even try; perhaps she should write a book azula mused. “Azulas art of war”. 

The only one not to flinch was their leader. His smile from when he greeted her did not waiver. He must have something in mind, as he would have no way of defeating her in single combat.

“My princess, perhaps you’re right there is something unclear about our partnership.” He started, as calm as can be. “ you are a talented bender to be sure, but without your father’s backing you’re simply an unstable little girl. Your usefulness is only in name and furthering our reputation.” 

Usefulness? This commoner did not just reference her as a prop in their machinations. This was when azula began to get heated, literally. Around her the air began to warm until the air around her blurred like that of the air around an open flame. The room had become unbearably hot for the others, but azula the dragon she was, could handle much more.

Azula let out a sigh. “Unstable?!? Lets be clear you work for me! Not the other way around. I have seen and done more in life let alone for the fire nation than you will in what is about to become a shortened life!” 

Parts of azula began to catch fire as her rage seethed. Zuzu may have been a lame turtle duck of a brother, but he did show her the usefulness of adapting different bending styles. The fire on her crawled across her body into a sphere in her hands. Though the leader had prepared for a direct strike; azula had something else prepared. She slammed her hand on the floor and allowed the fire ball to be pressed on the ground exploding out in a circle around her. 

The cabin had caught fire and many of the cultists were sent flying into the walls and scattered like the insects they were. Azula had practiced that move for some time and understood why strong earth benders would use an impact like strike like that. It was an effective way to combine offence and defense, and not to mention oddly satisfying. 

Azula may have been willing to kill if necessary but leaving them broken was the better choice. She snuffed out the fire leaving the smoke cloud to cover her exit. That should be a clear message to anyone. Princess azula is done.

Fire lord zuko did not need his shadow lord anymore. Azula hated to admit zuko had become a passable fire lord. The land prospered, and while zuko is about peace hes is firmer on asserting influence in world. The fire nation is still a force to be reckoned with and she was as influential in it as the avatar or that slob of an uncle. There wasn’t much to do here. Azula wasnt sure what the next move was, but there were things that needed to be drawn before action could be taken. 

The palace at the fire nation capital. It was much like she remembered less a gaudy statue of her father. The way the paths lead by lantern fire flowed like a living flame. It was soft enough to have a cozy warmth like that of the hearth. If she missed anything the most of the old princess lifebit was how home loosened tension. This unfortunately was not a vacation.

Her brother liked to sit near the water where the woman and him sat. Only two kyoshi to guard him, I suppose if azula was an average attacker that would do. Azula could already feel the exhaustion this is going to come from this

She waited seated at the spot he typically stops at. 

“AZULA” ah that raspy broody voice is never, not funny. He growls like a cub caught without a mother. “What are you doing here?! Trying to cause more trouble for me to clean up? Trying to take the throne?

“Oh zuzu all I’m doing is sitting here. Come I wish to speak to you, as civilly as possible. I’ll even allow one of your fangirls chi block my arms.

A laugh broke the tension “that's even funnier the second time around azula” that cheery pitch could only be one person. Azula perked up in her seat.

“Ty lee, im glad you’re here too. Wait that sounded ominous. I mean the sight of you is pleasant.” Not exactly how she thought things would go they were supposed to be separate. “Well that’s best anyway it’d make the noodle arm treatment feel less awkward when it’s someone you know.” 

“Hey that makes this easy”  with two jabs azulas arms and therefore lightning wre off the table.  “I just want you to know. I am still scared of you, but that fear makes me want to stop it.”

“Ah-um ty lee… i don’t expect you to and ill understand if you say no but i'd like to speak with you after.” Azulas voice was gentle when it reached ty lee.

Ty lee paused to glance back. She was shaken at the thought. Of course she would be what else should she be? Happy? She said it herself she was scared of azula and you cant have friends with that or they betray you. 

“Lets try this one first.”

Azula was impressed at how ty lee could not only give a non answer and still leave someone hopeful. After the war, thinking through things during training sessions, azula had a new perspective on ty lee. Azula never doubted her prowess for a second, but being such a skilled people reader and least suspect of manipulation. She was everything azula was not and then some. Where azula scanned for weakness ty lee scanned the person. Where azula would use fear to bend to her will ty lee was playing the long game with positive reinforcement. Azula needed her to know that and more.

“There.” Zuko barked. “Now state your business.”

“Zuzu, you’re not meant for impressions, that was the worst ‘father’ i've ever heard. I'm leaving the capital and maybe even the fire nation. “

“Why?” Zuko was confused, what would be her next move. other nations aren’t helpless and its not like Zuko would leave them to her.

“What is there for me here? Zuko, youre the fire lord ive made my peace with that. You were too soft when you first got the throne, and while not all of my actions were always so benevolent; after a while it was about keeping you on alert dealing with the changing world. Making sure you had fangs. Father, ozai, had beat you to submission for so long and only at the end of the war did you begin standing.

“You think you were helping me? Training me in some insane way?!” Azula knew he’d be this way.

“Heavy lies the crown on the head of the ruler zuko. I should know i had it for a couple hours and lost my mind.” Azula chuckled at the memory. A foolish child who had nobody left to manipulate and nobody she trusted, of course shed crack. “You don't have to believe me. Im not sure I believe me. If i couldn't be the fire lord, I'd help mold him, I thought. You're still too soft with other nations in my opinion but you can manage. You’ve proven that.”

“And why tell me instead of just going?” Zuko had began to calm down, perhaps the avatar was rubbing off on him.

“The very reason i had to have my arms chi blocked. You fear me. Sure, you could fend me off with your friends but you know i am not something you would want to face. Now you know you dont have to look over your shoulder, at least not for me.”

“You expect me to believe that?” Zuko lowered his tone. If azula were plotting it could’ve worked here.

“No. I expect the next few weeks you’ll be on high alert. You’ll be upping security in cities and in constant communication with smaller settlements. Most importantly, you will be training. You Want to know that if we cross blazes, you will win. That is why i am leaving that response to an unseen threat? Exactly as a fire lord should be.” He won't look at it practically, at this point what is there for azula to be here. the only reason to keep this up is to take that throne, the one that broke her, it may be rightfully hers but she was not rightfully its. It was owed to her but she was not owed to it.

“Listen zuko, we’ve both seen ozai for what he is. The man who needed his teenage daughter to take ba sing se because he never could. The shortest reigning fire lord who faced an avatar that had only one year of training on the day he was at his peak. He called you a loser, and always asserted dominance because that was the only way to get people to not see the pathetic incompetent man with good enough luck to have me. Looking at you now he missed an opportunity at a useful tool.”

“People aren’t tools azula.” The father talk began to itch at zukos emotional scabs. 

“That was the way of the house, and you never learned that. You were too blind or stupid to think ‘whats the right answer’. That is why i was favored. Not luck, i played the game. Not unlike my friend ty lee, there did with me. She saw me.” It appears that azula had some scabs still too. She felt like her skin was raw and each word was hard to spit out.

“It doesnt matter” she took a breath “it would shame the fire nation anyway having to change leaders every few years. Just take my words and do what you will with them.”  Azula was done, this had already been more a spectacle than she cared for. 

“Ok, now what you stroll out the front door? We should take you in. That’d interrupt your trip. What now?”

“Oh zuzu, you are so on guard still. Good. I’ve an exit lined up out if the way so nobody questions my presence. If you take me in? Why? So i can escape THEN leave? Just extra steps. I dont mind waiting however. I think we both got something from this conversation.”

The air was warm. Unseasonably warm, its him. Azula wondered if this was coincidence or if he made hes own version of her technique. Now azula was tense. Impressive brother, but these are your options. 

Finally, a high pitched intervention. “Uhum, fire lord zuko she also wanted to have a talk with me too. Maybe while you think about what to do with her I can see what she wants to say.” 

“Are you sure? If she tries something.” Big brother of the year hm. Hopefully mai watches her back azula mused. 

“Zuko im a big girl. Plus you’ll be in holler distance. Just keep an eye out.” Ty lee turned to azula. “Im going to sit next to you now, and if you try to bend at me or kick me i will be very upset.” There it was. Azula looked in awe at how she managed to channel a determined child while making it clear there will be consequences for any transgressions. Azula truly was a fool like her father before her, failing to see what’s right in front of her.

“Hi azula. You wanted to talk?” She tried to keep the pep but ty lee couldn’t help but be nervous. Azula was one Of the most dangerous people in the fire nation. 

“I did. Thank you. Even though you know there’s a chance i could actually be up to something leading to you or something or someone you care about because all youve ever seen from me is wrath. So, thank you.”

“Ppft, im sorry azula I really am and you’re right i wasnt sure but that awkward rambling reminded me of that day at the beach.”

“ARE YOU MOCKING ME?! I came here and let you chi block me. Do yoy you know what this feels like? Limp noodles where my arms should be.”

“No, no, azula i swear it just shows there's still some of the good in you. Your aura is less vlack more a...deep watertribe navy blue. Theres also the temper still i see” ty lee tried not to give azula a reason to get heated. 

“Oh. I see. Well regardless of the context tgat was rude”

“Yes it was, sorry.” She gave azula the eyes that always got to her. 

“Its fine. I may have also been a tiny bit intense there.” Azula hated this. She was a prodigy. Which meant apologies and social interaction were unnecessary. 

“Ok. Lets try again. ‘Now state your business’” imitating zukos growl of a voice. It got a genuine laugh iut of azula. It had been a while since she laughed at all. 

“How do you do that? Just lull people into a state of placation and lowering their guards.” Azula regrouped.

“Its not a trick like you said. Well, mostly not. I do watch people and learn what i can, but its so i dont do anything to start upsetting people. And the rest is just i have a calming aura” 

“So you’re just a pure sweet roll in this terrible world?” Azula was proud. She made a quip that didnt sound threatening. That practice wasnt for nothing at least.

“I dont know about that. All I do know is that if we try the world doesn’t have to be terrible.  You’ve changed azula. I can see it. Not just your aura either. You meant at least half of what you said i can feel it.”

“Half? That's more generous than i would be in your shoes. I appreciate that and would love to girl talk i think time’s coming so ill jump to it. I want you to know the same as zuzu. I dont have plans for revenge for the prison. I also wanted to say… im sorry. You may have noticed my opinion of my father has changed and as his heir, his duplicate its making me think i need to redefine me. Clearly our way didnt work. I held you and mai by a leash and when it came down to it who do you side with the leash wearer or holder. I’m sorry it happened that way and what it’s probably done since, but there it is. 

Ty lee remained silent.

“I don’t expect you to forgive me or even believe me. I just thought, you of all people deserved that much even from a monster like me.” The silence coming from ty lee was worse than any words she could have said. Each second of waiting for any kind of reply was tourture. Ty lee was never the silent type, so as expected she probably won’t accept it. That's fine azula didnt need her to; she didn’t need her or anyone for that matter. Beasts dont always have packs, especially the most vicious ones. 

Ty lee stood up and took a few paces. Azula watched and simply thought ‘there she goes. She may be giving azula an out as a courtesy, ehich is more than she expected.

“You're not a monster.”  Ty lee's silence finally broke. Her tone was quiet and somber. 

“Youre not a good person. Youre Probably one of the worst friends I’ve had, but we were friends. I dont know how much to believe you, but you’ve apologized for hurting my feelings before in more casual moments. The time away may be good for you. I tell you what, I’ll accept your apology for the both of us. I’ll know i gave you one last shred of trust and if how things ended truly bothered you it can stop now.”

Azula was stunned. She shouldn’t have been. That reaction was as textbook as azula threatening a subordinate. Azula should be a little more at peace now, but she isnt. It hurts. Here was a kind strong woman who managed to make something of herself and azula was nothing anymore. A vagrant who couldn’t do what she was raised to do for a few hours. Kindness and compassion were underused thongs for azula but clearly they’re good for something. 

“Ty lee” azula choked on the words. How pathetic. How embarrassing. On the verge of tears because she was not a monster to ty lee. 

“ thank you ty lee. I didnt and still don’t deserve your friendship, but i think you did something to me. I dont know what, but something. You may go if you wish. I think i want to wait and see what zuko has to say”

“I’ll put in a good word for you. You called him ‘zuko’ most of the time you talked to him. You're a bit confusing right now but I think that might be a good thing.”

“Ha, oh ty lee you have too much faith in people. I could still be the monster in your closet. Don't ever change that.” Azula needed everything in her to not cry, not in front of them. Not again. Never again

Ty lee turned back to face azula. “And you have too little faith. That's ok though, i may not need to change but I really hope you are.” She smile md at azula. It was a soft smile like the glow of a candle in the night and just as warm. How she could manage a real smile towards azula was beyond her. It was beautiful and it had a way of crushing azula. 

Ty lee was gone. Not far, as zuko still had to be in the garden somewhere. Azula was glad for that she could breath and focus on the next hurdle. Getting out with noodle arms would be difficult but not impossible. They were so put at ease about the arms they didnt think of any attacks she could do with her legs. If it came down to it she would set enough of a blaze to keep them occupied and run to her escape location. 

Zuko and the others returned. He had a stoney look on his face more grim than broody. Azula cant be surprised its bad news, but it was less than ideal. Ty lee stood next to him. Had she kept her word and gave her a chance? Or was that just to encourage me to stay. She had been bitten once and was twice as shy nowadays.

“Ty lee mentioned your talk went well. Im glad you didnt try to kick or bite her.”

“Zuzu, what do you take me for a platypus bear or something?”

“Or something” zuko remarked. It was a fair enough jab azula decided. 

“She told me you seem lost in the world. If this is true, we can help. Theres the beach house so you dont have to interact with people unless you want to. We can get you treated like someone in our family should be. You can help us do good for a change.”

“Where do you people get this faith?! I do not intend on being a ward or high end prisoner. I do not belong here, and cannot promise you I’ll be what you want. For all we know i'll turn on you like i have a dozen times over.” Azula could not tell if he really was that foolish or if she should be offended at the patronizing proposition. “No, if im to become something, someone, else it has to be away from here.

Zuko stood silent for a moment. “Very well, but i want you to know that any action against a fire nation citizen is an action on me. the way you and i have been going for years seems to only have one end so i hope you mean all of this. You may go on the condition a kyoshi warrior shadows you for a while.”

“The ones in the elaborate dresses, white, make up and golden fans? Im sure theyll be like a shadow in the night. Though I suppose it could be worse. If i get left alone they will be left alone, just so we’re clear.” Azula hated being followed, but if its just for a while she can put up with it. 

“They’ll watch and see if you're just up to old tricks. You'll get a head start and they'll catch up so you won't be sure they are present. If they determine youre no longer a threat they will leave you.”

“Interesting proposal Zuko spoken like a benevolent leader. I accept.” Azula stood up, and was a little off balance because of the arms but they began to come back to her. “I… suppose that's it then brother. I’ll do you a favor and make it so my way in cannot be used again. We may not see eachother again, so farewell. remember, you are the dragon not some toothless herbivore. Dont embarrass us.” There was an awkward melancholy to azulas voice. They were never siblings in the traditional sense and she did try to kill him. A lot. Still, it’ll be sad to not get under his skin anymore even just a little. 

“Goodbye azula. I hope you find whatever you’re looking for. If all of this is true my offer will stand.” 

Azula had nothing to say. She couldn’t. She fully intends to be gone, and yet he leaves the door open? It’s embarrassing, its offensive, and somehow its cruel. Azula living the rest of her days in a place designed to make her complacent? No. She may not want the throne but she will not be a pet.” 

Azula nodded and walked away. He was as good a brother as you could get in this family and she was as bad a sister as you could get in this family. That bridge is burned whether he realizes or not. 

Now all that was left for azula was to decide where to go. That entire exchange left her raw and exhausted. Zuko may have had a point, the beach wasn’t far and a small coma would be nice. A stop off there get some nation neutral clothes and see where the wind take her. It was as good a plan as any for now. 

When she finally reached the shore and looked up the stairs to the childhood beach house the exhaustion set in. How long had it been since she slept? More than 24 hours to be sure. Azula dropped to her knees and felt the sand beneath her. Soft, like ty lee's smile. 

“No.” Azula dismissed. Now was not the time to reminisce. This sand was once a rock. It could have been a rock that punctured war ships sinking them to their doom, or a smaller rock cutting the food of an unwitting beach goers foot. Azula was that rock. Was she being worn down into sand? Was that ok? Everything in this world wears down, so why not her? If she could be half of what this sand was, pleasant soft and comforting perhaps that wouldn't be so bad.

[battlemaiden13]

Back on the MHA/UT crossovers but with new monsters to ask about. I forget on how you feel about responding with Asgore and Toriel, so please feel free to skip them if you want to. I would like to go back to what started this whole thing off, the monsters meeting their anti-hero soul mate during a failed attack with a group of villains. -1st 1/2-

Roulette -He uses your failed attack as a means to gain support with the humans you’ve held hostage. He easily manages to take out the other members of the gang you were with, his teleportation making it an incredible fast job. When he gets to you, he doesn’t so much attack you but does give you a warning that if he sees you doing something like this again, it will be your last time. Honestly he just doesn’t want you to be a bad person. He feels that if his soulmate is a bad person then it would mean his fears are true, that he is also a villain. 

Sniper -He actually ends up saving your life. He doesn’t know why he is so drawn to you at first but just knows that he has to help you. So he does and as he’s doing that he figures out that you are his soulmate. Lucky he was in work mode so he doesn’t have time to become a bubbling mess and actually appears super cool in front of you. Well before you make your own escape that is. It is some time before you see the super suave skeleton once again. 

Don G -He had found the attack to be just a simple inconvenience until you showed up and it became a full on annoyance. No offence to you but he was just trying to do a simple errand. It wasn’t even meant to be that big of a deal and for once it wasn’t illegal and now he had to get away from the police and the metahumans and honestly you were making it hard for him to concentrate. He managed to get away with you only ever catching a glimpse of him. 

Colt -He has no right to be mad at you for any of this, hell he’s worse than you because he will actually kill people, and yet here he is mad at you. It’s not really the fact that you won’t kill people, it's more the fact that you’re involved in this world at all. He’s sort of a closet romantic and always believed that his soul mate, if he was lucky enough to have one, would be just a regular person. Someone normal that he could come home to and just forget all about anything that has to do with work. He decides to just ignore you for as long as possible. 

Musket -This was not what he was expecting at all. Like not even close. He knew that he had to get out of the building but like hell he was leaving without that box you were holding. It was the whole reason he had come here in the first place. He’d deal with the police later for right now the two of you ended up in a battle which he won, due to the fact that he cheated by flustering you. A feat you didn’t think possible. From that day on the two of you have a kind of flirty relationship where it’s a big will they won’t they kind of deal. 

Mafiafell Gaster (I don’t have a nickname for him XD) -You may not have the want or ability to kill people but he certainly does and he is not above throwing you under the bus for a dramatic escape. In this case a single shot to your leg is enough to allow his escape. It’s nothing personal and the wound is nothing to serious as to kill you, just enough to slow you down. Soul mate or not nothing is getting in the way of him achieving his goal. Although you being his soulmate does save your life on more occasions than this one. 

Underfell Asgore -Ever since the monster emerged the King here has been trying to be an example to all monsters that violence should not be the way. You being here is making that very difficult for him right now. All his instincts are screaming at him that he needs to protect you but that would destroy the image of monsters he has worked so hard to make. His instincts get the better of him and he ends up saving your ass, even though you really didn’t need it, and he manages to do it without killing anyone. Of course the media will spin a different story, but as long as you get away safe it is just a minor inconvenience. 

Swapfell Toriel  -As the reigning monarch it is her duty to ensure the monster's reputation is never tarnished beyond repair. Instead of joining in any battle or rushing to your aid, she will just go along with it. Only attacking those humans who touch her. She does however offer you encouraging words even though it is clear she won’t help you out. She doesn’t seem phased in the slightest about you being an anti hero.

[saiilorstars]

Rise Up

Ch.3: Lonesome Rogues

Previous Story: It Had To Be You || Current Masterlist

Pairings: Barry Allen x Female OC

Chapter Summary: The Snarts have made their way back to STAR Labs only this time they're in need of help.

Pronunciation of OC: Bell-en. The last syllable has an emphasis so it’s not pronounced like ‘Helen’ would be.

Taglist: @ocfairygodmother @anotherunreadblog​

Maritza Palayta knew by now not to expect many visits for her, from anyone. She counted herself lucky if Belén decided to stop by once a month. Having her mother sitting in front of her now was something beyond shocking.

"Mom?" the word tumbled from Maritza's mouth before she could even finished thinking.

Veronica stood on the other side of the glass, her facial features not as readable as they once were. She didn't know what to make of her eldest daughter now. She'd been there for Maritza's sentencing, head held high but nothing but disapproving of Maritza. Never in Veronica's mind did she ever consider her daughter becoming a metahuman and much less a criminal.

"I didn't expect you to visit me..." Maritza said after a minute of awkward silence. "At all."

"Should I?" Veronica's tone was cold, but Maritza knew she deserved it. In her mother's perspective, she ruined their reputation in the police department both in Central City and in Starling City.

"I don't know," Maritza answered honestly. "I don't let Axel visit, and I'm lucky if Belén decides to give me the time of day, so...to what do I owe this visit?"

Veronica closed her eyes, sighing. "If you haven't seen Belén already, I think you know what my situation is right now..."

"Ah," Maritza slightly raised her head. "Are you still bothering Belén about my son's custody? You know I left instructions, written out legally, of who I wanted to look after my son, right?"

"Maritza, we both know that Belén is neither ready nor has the means to sustain herself and a child," Veronica remained adamant in that aspect. She viewed this as logically as she could and it was the simple truth. On her own, Belén was able to pay for herself and do her own things, but having a child was something completely life-changing. "You and I, we had our children at a decent age. At a time where we were physically, emotionally and economically ready to care for a child."

"Well, one of us was," Maritza corrected coldly. "Because I may have gone down the wrong path, killed people, but I was always there for my son no matter what. Can you say the same? Where the hell were you?"

"I accept my faults," Veronica lowered her gaze, surprising Maritza for a second there. She'd never won a small disagreement like that, ever. "And after seeing how each of my children have ended up...I realize I should've been there more. It's why I want to try and get close to Belén."

"Your words are nice but your actions say something else," Maritza sighed. "You want Belén, fine, but on your terms and that's not going to work, Mom. And that's the problem. Mom, I love you, I really do. In your own way I know you love us back but you are making the biggest mistake of your life. You lost Dad, Rayan, me...do you really want to lose Belén too?" Maritza so desired for her mother to see the errors she was making. She would want nothing more than the last remaining family of hers to be together.

Veronica swallowed hard and looked down. "I am trying-"

"No, you're fighting," Maritza corrected her softly. "Mom-" she laughed softly, "-stop fighting and help Belén instead. You think it doesn't kill me to know she's struggling because she has to raise my son? I wish nothing more than to change what I did, but I can't. But you...you still have a chance to mend your errors. You want to have a relationship with Belén? Prove to her that you are committed to seeing her perspective for once."

Maritza hoped her mother would heed her words because she was sure if Veronica kept going forth with her plan, Belén would never forgive her.

~ 0 ~

"So my mother has filed for custody of Axel," Belén sighed as she explained to Barry. The two were sitting on the steps of her front porch. Little by little, they had scooted closer to each other. "Like, she actually filed for it. I thought she was angry and bluffing but she wasn't. And you know she did it because I said 'no' to going back with her to Star City."

Barry was honestly shocked to hear what Veronica did. He never had the pleasure of meeting her and actually talking with her in a full conversation, but this was enough to put her on his bad list. "I'm so sorry Belén..."

Belén sighed and glanced at him with a sad smile. "I'm sorry too. I didn't mean to spread my depressive news to you."

Barry smiled back for a moment before assuring her everything was fine. He'd come by with the intention of asking her to lunch since they still hadn't had the chance of going on a date since their break up. But as soon as he'd taken a look at her face - which was after asking her to lunch - he saw something was wrong. And boy was he right.

He took her hand and gave it a gentle kiss. "We'll figure something out, Bells."

"C'mon. I'm 26 I don't know the first clue about being a pseudo-mother to a four year old. I'm selling my childhood house to keep up with bills. Maybe, on some level, my mom's right to file for custody..."

"You're doing everything you can, and you know what? If your mother is truly concerned then maybe she could help instead of doing...this!" Barry couldn't help the anger lacing his words the more he thought about Veronica's actions. "If she wants to fight, then let's make sure our fight is a damn good one."

Belén was smiling softly, and he had no idea why. The way he'd automatically joined her side with 'our fight' made her feel...warm. She missed that. A lot. "I'm glad you're around again."

The smile that came to Barry's face was automatic. His hand gripped hers and there was a moment where he thought he couldn't ever let go of her hand. "So am I."

"And...I'm sorry about the whole...date thing...I'm-"

"-I get it Bells," Barry reassured her again. "We can go another time."

"Are you sure?" Belén asked, still mighty guilty. It'd been some time since they technically were trying to be together again and it was rather hard to do when there were no dates involved.

"Yes! C'mon," Barry stood up and, with his hand still holding hers, made her get up as well. "Let's go to STAR Labs. Cisco might be done with the breach search, remember? Portals into another world might be something fun to see, you know..."

Belén dramatically sighed. "For nerds, I guess." Barry deadpanned her until she laughed. "Alright, let's go see this breach thing. I need to pick up Axel anyways."

~0~

Indeed Cisco had finished with the breach search and found quite more than he would've thought. Down in the basement of STAR Labs gathered the group save for Stein, Iris and Joe to look at the biggest breach of them all...which turned out to be out of 53 in the entire city. It resembled a blue, moving blob suspended in air over a small platform.

"Pretty amazing, isn't it?" Cisco couldn't stop looking at the breach.

"It looks like a blob," Belén crinkled her nose. Cisco immediately shot her a look of offence for diminishing the breach's worth.

"Still can't believe what I'm looking at," Jay admitted.

"52 breaches in Central City, and the biggest one just happens to be in our basement," Caitlin remarked, totally unsurprised by the turn of events.

"We need a name for it," Cisco popped a finger in the air.

"It's not a pet, dude," Barry's words meant nothing for Cisco who was already on a brainstorming path.

"No," professor Stein walked in carrying a squared monitor hanging on a strap, "It's a wormhole."

Caitlin immediately turned for the man. "Professor Stein, what are you doing? Your blood pressure is 147 over 82! You could pass out again."

Stein didn't look the least bit worried over his condition despite the fact he had collapsed a few days ago while giving the group a lecture. "Oh, it's merely a few points above the 140 average for someone my age. Besides, I have some ideas I would like to contribute to this discussion, Dr. Snow."

"And I want to hear them. This isn't just a wormhole. It's my way home," Jay reminded them all. "Back to Earth Two."

"Jay, you really think that we can use this as some kind of bridge from your world to ours?" asked Barry.

"Zoom uses the breaches. Why can't we?"

"We don't know how. Everything I put through just bounces back," Cisco sighed.

Axel, who had been left sitting at a nearby desk looked up from his drawings he was working on. "Can we throw more things!?" he excitedly asked.

Not even waiting for the answer, he grabbed his crayon box and hopped off his chair to run for the breach. He and Cisco had taken turns throwing things into the breach earlier to see if they would come back and he was mighty disappointed when Caitlin came in to tell them not to do it anymore. He liked seeing everything they threw be bounced back at them.

"Cisco!" Belén exclaimed as the boy made a beeline for the breach, his arm already raised to throw the crayon box.

"Got him!" Cisco snagged Axel of his feet as he passed by him.

"Aw," Axel frowned. Everyone laughed at the young boy.

"I can't believe you," Belén shook her head at Cisco for yet again teaching something wrong to her nephew.

"If Zoom's using these breaches to transport people from Earth Two, maybe it takes a speedster," Barry suddenly theorized and gave a smirk.

"Barry don't-" Belén didn't get to finish when he sped out of the room. "He wouldn't…" she dared to think that Barry wouldn't be that impulsive.

But...Jay knew better. "Yeah, he is," he answered with eyes shut.

A second later, Barry sped into the room straight for the breach only to be thrown backwards. He landed in a small roll on the floor and groaned. "Maybe I'm not fast enough."

This time it was only Axel who burst into laughter. "Boom! Barry went boom!"

"Yeah!" Cisco gave him a high-five, missing Barry throwing them a mini-glare as he got back on his feet.

"I don't believe your speed is the entirety of the issue, Barry. It might be the breach's stability or lack thereof," Stein hypothesized more correctly.

"He's right," Jay nodded. "We need to think of the breach as a door, and on Earth Two, there's another door. In between, we have a hallway, but the hallway's constantly shifting, twisting, collapsing upon itself. And the doors keep moving with it."

"So we stabilize the door, we stabilize the hallway," Cisco understood the idea.

"And then I can jump through it," Barry beamed.

"Exactly, it would serve as a kind of cannon," Jay smiled but no one like Cisco.

"A speed cannon. Mm. We should hang out more," Cisco pointed at him, making the others laugh.

"Alright," Stein cut into the laughter. "No more tests today. All of you are leaving now, as am I. Cherish the gift of youth as I will go cherish my much needed nap." He motioned the entire group to get going. "Clarissa's already on her way to pick me up. Why not go get some coffee?"

"That is a fantastic idea!" Cisco agreed, already rubbing his hands together at the thought of some sweet coffee. "Jitters anyone?"

"You paying?" Belén teased.

"Can I get some chocolate milk?" Axel rushed up to Belén with his own hands put together. When Belén saw that she sighed do deeply.

"You have got to stop spending so much time with Cisco, buddy."

The others snickered while Cisco let out a mighty offended gasp with a hand over his chest.

~0~

Iris joined the group for some midday coffee and was excited to hear about the breach discovery, though not so much after she learned there 53 in their city. While Barry went to get their coffee, the others remained at the table chatting. Belén, however, was pulled away from the conversation when her phone started ringing. Seeing it was her mother calling, she dumped her phone into her purse and decided to go help Barry bring back their drinks.

"Need some help?" she asked him.

"Still waiting," Barry motioned to the barista running behind the counter. "You okay?" he noticed her anxious expression.

"Yeah," she said a bit too fast to be convincing. "Mom's calling and all."

"And you're not going to answer?"

"Not if I don't trust myself not to shout."

Barry thought that was fair enough. He pressed a kiss to her temple and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, bringing her closer to him. Belén smiled to herself and got to thinking about the fact they hadn't really kissed either.

What kind of getting-back-together is this? Belén wondered if Barry had thought about it too. If he had, then he was being really good about it.

"Order 20!" A barista slid a coffee on the counter then hurried to continue with other orders.

A blonde woman leaned on the couple's side to reach for her drink then offered a shy smile at them once they could see her clearly. Only a couple days were needed to learn that Patty Spivot was a shy woman.

"Hey guys," she greeted with a wave of her free hand. She seemed far more cheery than when they first met her (separately). It stemmed from the fact she was finally on the metahuman task force at the precinct.

"Hey, Patty," Barry greeted. He looked down at Belén and realized he never introduced them, not that they didn't know each other already. "Oh, this is-"

Belén chuckled and lowered his gesturing hand before he could finish. "We already know each other, don't we?" she looked at Patty who laughed as well.

"Yeah, she's the one that gave me the advice to continue hassling Joe for a spot on the task force."

"I've been meaning to congratulate you, actually," Belén said. "Barry told me Joe let you in. I'm sure you'll be great."

Patty sheepishly smiling. "I'm hoping." Her smile sort of faltered when she noticed Belén's injured arm was...no longer injured. "Sorry, um...how's your arm?"

"Hm?" Belén quickly looked at her perfect arms. Her metahuman abilities kicked in and aided her in healing quicker than a normal human.

"Oh, um, it's fine. It's still a little sore but since the bullet didn't actually hit my arm it healed quicker," Belén cleared her throat and looked at the counter that was being filled with their drinks. Patty seemed to buy it since she gave an 'oh' and smiled about it.

As Barry tried gathering all of the, together, Belén laughed and decided to help. "Bells, it's hot," he said and then motioned to her hands.

"Oh shut up," she playfully rolled her eyes and took at two cups. She glanced back at Patty who was taking a sip of her coffee. "Do you want to have some coffee with us?"

Patty's eyes snapped back to the two. "Hm? Oh, no thanks," she shook her head. "I was stopping here on my way to work. Another day? I owe you for your help."

"Sure," Belén beamed at the idea.

"Great," Patty stepped aside to let the two get on with their coffee.

"C'mon," Belén led Barry away. "I like her."

"I do too. She's lively and she knows her way around a crime scene," Barry said, missing Belén's sarcastic glance.

"Hmm, young, pretty, blonde and a nerd? Should I be worried?"

"Wh-what!?" At that point he nearly did dropped the cups in his hands. "I-I no! That's...that's not at all what I meant, Bells!"

Belén laughed as they approached their table.

"What's with you two?" Iris eyed them.

"Oh, nothing, just teasing Barry on his new girlfriend," Belén said calmly as she took her seat next to Axel.

"She's not-" Barry began rather adamantly before he realized this was just another play of hers. He sighed and shook his head. "That's not funny," he pointed at her with a stern finger.

"Seems pretty funny from my end," she said slyly and picked up her coffee.

"Hey, you guys think Professor Stein is okay, right?" Caitlin didn't even pick up her own cup before thinking yet again on Professor Stein. "I mean, Clarissa would call if there was anything wrong."

"Yeah, of course," Barry said to her, but apparently it wasn't enough to convince her.

She grabbed her phone and started getting up. "All right. I'm just gonna call and check in. I'll be back."

"Uh- I don't see that call going well," Cisco said right before he started imitating Stein. "Young lady, these repeated intrusions are interrupting what should be a speedy recov-" but in the midst of his mockery he bumped into a passing brunette woman. "Oh, I'm so sorry."

The brunette looked up and revealed herself as Lisa Snart who answered in her usual flirty tone. "Don't apologize. You can bump into me any day, Cisco."

"Lisa Snart," Cisco's eyes widened.

"Oh, hell no," Belén said outright annoyed. Meanwhile, Barry tried hiding behind his coffee cup.

"You here to double-cross us again, or are you and your big bro holding up coffee shops now?" asked Cisco.

"Auntie Belén," Axel once again tugged on her good arm. "Who's she?"

"Someone who needs to go," Belén answered loudly for Lisa to get the point. "I would think you and your brother would stay away from places where there's children present."

Lisa didn't respond in her usual snarky tone. "I need your help," she said instead.

"In your dreams, Sister Cold," Cisco nearly laughed.

"I think her brain was finally frozen," Belén stared at the woman. "You do realize we could call in the Flash and the Azalea at any moment, right?"

Lisa nodded. "Call him. I know you two have a thing, so call him."

Barry nearly choked on his coffee while Belén gaped. Iris just smirked - she kinda liked this Lisa Snart.

"Unbelievable," Belén looked away, her face rather warm. "Was it that obvious?"

Her response was a very loud scoff from Iris.

Cisco had been studying Lisa in the meanwhile and had noticed something was just off with her. There was an actual shred of fear sitting in her eyes, and...concern? Was that even possible in a Snart?

"You really want us to call then," he said in realization.

"I need their help too," Lisa confessed. "My brother's been kidnapped."

~ 0 ~

Of course very curious to see what Lisa meant, the group took her back to STAR Labs to get the full story. However, both Belén and Barry made the excuse they had to go take Axel somewhere else - they may have forgotten their excuse as soon as Lisa was gone with Caitlin and Cisco. Instead, they let Iris take Axel and the two beat the trio to STAR Labs to get changed.

"I saw it happen," Lisa swore. She stood in the middle of the cortex, explaining her situation to the group before they would send her off. "Last night, Lenny, me, and Mick were knocking over the cashier's cage at Central City Racetrack-"

"Does it physically pain your family not to rob people?" Belén blamed herself for being so surprised when she knew she was dealing with a family of criminals.

Lisa rolled her eyes. "I never finished the job. After Mick torched through the side entrance, I looked back for Lenny and saw him getting thrown into the back of a van."

"And why didn't you and Mick follow?" asked Barry.

"I would have. Someone hit me from behind and knocked me out," Lisa gestured to her head. "When I came to, Lenny was gone, and Mick already made off with the cash."

"How do we know this isn't some kind of a trap?" Cisco logically wondered.

"If Lenny wanted Flash dead, he would have let Mardon, Simmons, and Bivolo take that honor, remember?"

"Yeah, I remember," Barry mumbled, thinking of it as yet another logical reason not to help them again.

"Good. Then you'll also recall that you owe Lenny a favor for saving your life. Time to make good on that debt."

"Even if we wanted to help, how are we supposed to find him?" Barry asked honestly.

Cisco turned on his feet and walked for the desk. "Not a problem. See, when I rebuilt the cold gun, I didn't have time to place a tracker on it, so I devised a method of locating it by borrowing some military technology." He started typing on the computer. "See, the gun works the same as thermal imaging, only instead of infrared heat signatures, it's looking for ultraviolet cold signatures. Whoa, look at that. The gun's UV thermal reading was last picked up at 5th and Hoyt eight minutes ago."

"All right. Let's see if you're a liar," Barry said to Lisa before speeding out.

"I'm not," Lisa argued but he had already left.

"That's debatable," Belén said under her breath, but not as quiet as she thought because Lisa had heard perfectly.

As it turned out, Cisco was right on where to find Snart. However, they did not account for Snart being with his father. As a result, Barry ended up being nearly frozen to death. Thanks to Cisco's new addition to the suit, the ice melted into nothing and he was able to return to STAR Labs where he had half a mind to tell Lisa Snart off.

"So your brother was not kidnapped. He was pulling a job with your father," he sourly informed Lisa upon arriving.

Lisa was nothing but confused. "What? No, Lenny would never do that."

"Oh, just like he would never try and kill The Flash with his cold gun?" Belén pretended to think. "Do you know your brother?"

Lisa still couldn't get over the confusion. It was the first clue that perhaps she wasn't lying to them. "Are you sure it was my dad?"

Cisco pulled up a reference file of her father. Caitlin walked over to the computer hanging on the wall. "That's him. Lewis Snart. Convicted of larceny, armed robbery, aggravated assault, assault with a deadly weapon."

"You have to believe me," Lisa pleaded. "Lenny would never work with him," she then added, like it was a secret no one in the room knew, "He's a bad guy."

"Did you miss the memo or something?" Belén honestly wondered if Lisa was just pretending she and her family weren't criminals. She was aware she was being ruder than usual but when it came to the Snarts she had no control.

"Why should we trust anything you say?" Caitlin crossed her arms.

Lisa stared at them a minute and then pulled on her jacket and blouse's collar to reveal a long scar running around the side of her neck. "I didn't get this scar being a criminal. I got it being a daughter," she mumbled and walked away.

The others, feeling a bit guilty, meant to follow her and get her back when Cisco stopped them. "Let me go. I got this," he made a gesture and left the room.

"I have to get to work," Belén knew she couldn't last long in the same room as a Snart. She was going to crack. "Every time I see a Snart all I think of is my sister's secret. Maybe the Azalea can take a rain check here."

"Don't worry," Barry said, understanding this wasn't one of her best moments. "We'll call you if something comes up."

Belén thanked him for it and took her leave. However when Barry got to thinking what she was planning on doing at work, he followed her out to the elevators.

"Uh, Bells, hold on a minute," his call stopped her in time. "About that article you, Linda and Iris are doing..."

Belén nodded, already knowing where this was going. She'd talked to him and the others about what they were doing and needless to say he was a little concerned with her decision.

"Barry, it'll be fine," she tried to say but he just couldn't agree so easily.

"I just don't think it's a good idea looking at where we are right now," he sighed. "You wanting to be the Azalea isn't the problem here, you know..."

"I do," Belén agreed, crossing her arms. "But if I live my life in fear because someone from another world decided to hunt me down...I'll never be happy."

"Datura is hunting you down for whatever reason and you letting the city know that the Azalea is alive might just give her more fuel to hurt you."

"Either way, Barry, she's coming to hurt me," Belén stepped closer to him, putting on her best encouraging smile for him. "Might as well let her know who she's dealing with."

Barry's lips briefly quirked into a smile. He loved hearing her so brave and sure of herself. He didn't want to be the reason it disappeared, but he just wished he could stop worrying so much.

~ 0 ~

Belén met with Linda to look over their almost finished draft. Since it was Iris' day off, they wanted to have everything finished for tomorrow so they could just give it another proofread and turn it in.

"This is really good," Linda said after reading some of Belén's lines. "Your perspective on the Azalea's disappearance is really interesting."

"Thanks," Belén felt a little ridiculous for taking a comment about a piece she did about herself. "I just think the city should wonder if this woman was away for so long then maybe it's for a big reason."

"I think they'll believe it," Linda said with absolute certainty. "And you know what, maybe reading this might encourage the Azalea to come back."

Belén smiled at their draft. "I think so."

"Belén?"

Belén inwardly groaned when she heard her mother's voice. "Mom," she turned away from her desk to find Veronica approaching her. "Seriously? You can't do this at my job-"

But Veronica calmly raised a hand to stop her. "I'm not here to argue. I want to talk. For real."

Admittedly this did stump Belén for a minute. Her mother seemed calm, calmer than any time she'd seen her as of late.

"You can talk in the conference room," Linda suggested, nodding her head towards the empty room behind her. "No one will bother you there."

"Thank you," Veronica told her before walking towards the room, leaving not much of a choice for Belén.

"I'll be back soon," Belén promised Linda then followed her mother. She closed the glass doors and readied herself for whatever her mother threw at her.

"Bells, your mother's here…" Caitlin's eyes were widened as a gesture that she was pretty nervous of Veronica's appearance.

"Belén, please. I have a proposition," Veronica came out with it in one go, however Belén had a different idea of what she meant by a proposition.

"If it's me and Axel getting out of the city then you can forget-"

"I want to stay," Veronica surprised Belén so much that for the next minute Veronica had free range in the conversation to say what she needed to. "I've been going wrong about this, and I get it, and I'm sorry. I'm just...I've lost my kids, and not just from the divorce, but from life. Rayan's gone, Maritza's gone, even David's gone. And I thought that staying away was the best thing. I've always done better when I'm alone..."

"How'd that work out for you this time?" Belén crossed her arms, unable to keep her resentment at bay. "Because for us it didn't go too well."

"I was wrong," Veronica knew those three words would become part of her daily vocabulary. "I have never been very good at expressing my feelings and when I do they're always in the wrong manner. But you just have to know that I do love you, okay? You're my daughter, how could I not?"

"I have never doubted that," Belén said quietly, shifting on her feet. "But you have never, ever, tried to see things from another person's perspective. Everything always has to be your way or it just blows up."

"I know, I see that now," Veronica nodded her head. "That's why I want to stay here in the city, and change, so that I can be that mother you need. I know things will never be perfect, but I want to try."

"You say that now but by Sunday you'll be back to your regular self," Belén remarked.

"Not this time. I mean it. I already made calls to SCPD to transfer here."

Belén's eyes widened. "You...you did that?"

"Mhm. I'm hoping to get transferred here, at the CCPD. And look," Veronica went back to her purse where she pulled out a manila folder, "this is something else I think could be good for both of us." She walked up to Belén and held out the folder.

Eyes glued on her mother, Belén took the folder and opened it up. She skimmed a couple of lines which resulted in a contract...and proposition?

"What the hell is this?" she looked up.

"I want to buy the house off you," Veronica declared. Belén's mouth fell open once again. "It's clear you and I can't live together, and maybe it's for the best now. You're a young woman who, as you've said, is trying to make her life now. You're selling the house and I would like to buy it."

Belén's eyes nearly popped out from her head from how wide they were.

"And-" Veronica continued with a gesture that Belén should keep looking through the papers, "-I want you to sign Axel's custody over to me, but-" she raised a finger when she saw Belén opening her mouth to argue, "-with conditions. I honestly don't think you are ready to take on the responsibility of a child. It's not that I think you are incapable. I just think you're too young for this."

"I am-"

"Belén please just stop being stubborn and view things logically for a moment," Veronica pleaded. Belén snapped shut the folder but adhered to the request. "You're at the starting point of your life. You just had an accident, your job is barely beginning, and I even hear you're starting a relationship again, and all that gets complicated when you have a child to look after. Tell me you haven't gone crazy looking for babysitters? Axel goes to school now and that can't be easy when it's only three hours a day. Plus, I can't imagine the sleepless nights you've had trying to look after him. He's four and he doesn't have his mother anymore. I know you're trying, but...it has to be hard for you, right?"

Belén bit her lip, her initial annoyance subsiding when she got to thinking. Of course there'd been days where she just couldn't find someone to look after Axel while she went to train for the aerial show or even just to go to work. There were sleepless nights that often had her nearly falling asleep at work. Then there were moments that she just didn't know how to talk to Axel, especially when he asked about Maritza.

"I'm not trying to take Axel away from you. On the contrary, I want to stay here in the city, live in the old house with Axel where you and I can make plans to see each other more often. I'm going to get old eventually," Veronica smiled lightly, "And when that time comes, you'll probably have a family of your own and then you'll know how to care for Axel and your children. It'll be your decision to have them."

Belén re-opened the folder to look things over again. Her mind was fumbling with different ideas but they were all screaming at her to agree. This was the closest thing her mother had ever done to benefit her and Belén couldn't find it in her to disagree when her mother seemed to be honest. Because in the end, she did love her mom and she did want to form some sort of relationship before it was too late.

~ 0 ~

Returning to STAR Labs (as the Azalea), Belén came to quite a sight. Lisa was sitting on a stool with Barry and Caitlin, the former as the Flash and holding some sort of whirring device in front of Lisa's neck.

"What in the hell is going on here?" Belén walked over to them.

"There's a bomb inside Lisa's that her father put," Caitlin responded then moved on to tell Barry, "Once you hold it steady with the magnet, I can surgically excise it."

Cisco came running into the room shouting for them to stop. "Put the magnet down! This is a really concentrated bomb. It's gonna combust if it's exposed to magnetic friction and an oxidant."

Caitlin and Barry retracted one large step away from Lisa who shared the same confused face as Belén.

"In English please?" Belén asked them.

"Air. Uh, the bomb will explode if it comes in contact with air," Barry replied.

"Scientific minds. Can we confer, please?" Cisco motioned to be followed into a side room.

"Yeah, I'm not scientific but I don't want to be near her," Belén mumbled and flashed an apologetic smile at Lisa. "This time no offence."

For once Lisa smiled back.

"What if Flash speed extracts it?" Caitlin wondered once they were in a separate room.

"Nope, it's too risky," Cisco shook his head. "I'm gonna find a way to get it out. I just need a little time."

"But you could lose track of Snart and his dad," Belén pointed out.

"I wish we knew what he was gonna steal next and when," Barry said, thinking. It only took a moment for an idea to pop into his head. "Maybe I can get them to tell me. Their tech guy is dead, so I'm betting they're gonna need a new one. I should infiltrate Lewis' crew."

Belén burst into a fit of laughter but abruptly stopped when she met Barry's offended face. "Oh, you weren't kidding?"

"No, I wasn't," Barry frowned.

"You're gonna pretend to be a criminal?" even Caitlin was surprised of the idea.

"How hard can it be?" Barry shrugged, not thinking about it too much.

"How do I say it nicely…?" Belén mumbled, thinking for a minute before coming up with, "...you're kind of a dork."

Barry tilted his head at her. Was this the best she could come up with? And she was trying to be nice. "Well, as long as you're being nice."

Belén smiled. "You know I mean that affectionately, but...you just have a thing about you that screams…"

"Nerd?" Cisco finished, or blurted.

Belén laughed again. "That's the word!"

Barry shook his head at them. "Thanks guys, really."

"Oh, c'mon," Belén couldn't stop laughing however and so Barry left the room before they added more to his apparent persona.

~0~

"He actually went through with it," Belén couldn't say she was surprised Barry went through with his idea to pretend to be a criminal and tag along with Snart and his dad.

Caitlin laughed as the two walked for the cortex holding respective cups of coffee in their hands. "I think he might have done it just to prove us wrong."

When the two women returned to the cortex Cisco had devised a new way to retrieve the bomb from inside Lisa. He had fashioned a gun-like device with a fitted clear tube sticking above from it.

"What exactly are you gonna do to me with that thing?" Lisa hadn't stopped staring at the big gun she knew was going to be aimed at her pretty soon.

"Operating pressure on this is over 1,000 PSI. This will easily suck the micro-bomb out of your neck and into the barrel of this with one high-powered sho," Cisco tapped the top of the gun. "There is one slight risk."

"Besides shooting a high-powered weapon directly against my neck? "

"The gun does use compressed air," Cisco admitted and looked at the other two women.

Lisa reached a hand on his arm and softly said. "I trust you, Cisco."

"Maybe that's one thing we have in common," Belén smiled at Cisco. "Do your thing. But, uh...we'll be over here," she gestured to herself, Axel and Caitlin.

Cisco nodded a thanks and moved a bit to the side to finish the last bit of the gun. Almost at the same time, Belén's cellphone went off. She took it and walked to the side to take Iris' call, not that she had much of a conversation since Iris was in a fit.

"Bells? I need you!" Iris blurted frantically, worrying Belén she was in trouble.

"What? What is it!?"

"It's just...my dad told me that...that my Mom was actually alive and-"

"He what?" Belén's mouth fell open. "She's...like...breathing-alive?"

"Oh yeah, the whole thing. Please, I just...I really need someone I can talk to with 'mom problems'. Didn't even know I could have those," she mumbled in the end.

"Y-yeah, don't worry. Are you home?"

"Yes."

"Okay, I'll be right over," Belén promised and hung up. "I have to go but I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Is everything alright?" Caitlin asked once she detected something was off in Belén's tone.

"Yeah, um...I hope," Belén pushed herself up from her chair. "I'll be back later, promise."

"We'll handle things," Caitlin assured.

Belén thanked her once more and hurried to find Iris. Like the woman had said, Iris was sitting at home completely alone. She had Axel coloring at the dining table actually quiet. She had pulled up several of her old albums that happened to contain some of her mother's pictures. It was all completely crazy to her. First, she thought her mother was dead and now apparently Francine was more than alive. But then...her father told her that Francine was dying. How was she supposed to think when there was all that behind it?

She nearly jumped from the couch when she heard someone knocking. She opened it up and was relieved to find Belén on the other side. "Thanks for coming, Bells."

"Yeah, of course," Belén walked in but not before giving her a hug. "I can't believe your mom's alive."

"Me neither," Iris said and closed the door. "I didn't have anyone to talk to about this. I mean, I tried getting through to Barry but he wasn't answering-"

"Oh, he's off being a criminal," Belén waved that off and headed into the living room. Iris made a face behind but filed that under 'ask later'.

"Bells, I'm so confused. I saw her today," Iris stopped by the couch, allowing Belén to sit down first. Belén reached for an open photo album with a picture of a baby Iris and her mother. "Like...she was there, and…" Iris shook her head, still unable to believe it.

"How is she?" Belén thought to ask.

"She's...put together," Iris took a seat beside her. "My Dad said that...she used to be a drug addict. She was put together and I told her...to go away. That's what I said to her."

"I think that's completely understandable. I mean, if she left…"

"Oh, she left," Iris said with a bit of resentment in her tone. "She just got up and left and then suddenly decided she wanted to see me again." But even then Iris knew that wasn't the complete truth. "She's...sick. That's what she told my dad. But...I don't know if I can believe her. She's made my dad lie this whole time who knows what comes out of her mouth now."

"Well, you're a reporter, research her," Belén instructed. "You're the daughter of a cop, and a badass of a reporter. This is your perfect talent. Use it."

"And if it turns out to be true?" Iris asked quietly. "If my mom...is dying...what do I do?"

"I can't tell you what to do," Belén shook her head. "I mean, you see the problems I'm having with my own mother, but if Francine came back at this moment...she probably wanted to make amends before she…" made a gesture and sighed. "But you have to be really committed. You can't do it out of guilt. It's okay if you don't want to know her because the truth of the matter is, while biologically she's your mother...she was never A a mother to you. I think she would understand that."

Iris nodded. "Yeah," she mumbled.

Belén stared at her for a minute before reaching over and hugging her again. "Come here!" Iris smiled as she was rocked a bit by the woman. "If you want we could research together."

Iris truly thought about it for a minute but went against it in the end. "I need to do it alone. But thank you so much."

"Don't worry, I understand," Belén nodded her head. "But you also need to understand that I'm gonna hug you for five more minutes."

Iris laughed.

~ 0 ~

At one point in the heist he was being forced to pull, Barry wondered how he would rub it in Belén's face that his plan had gone right so far. She thought he was too dorky to actually play off being a trained techy criminal. She so owed him, that much he knew.

Now as the Flash, he appeared to Snart and his father right at the end of their heist, ready to stop them. Both of them were getting ready to leave the vault with all the diamonds they found.

"Only place you're going is back to Iron Heights, Lewis," Barry spat at the older man he really disliked, and not just because he had shot him five minutes ago.

Snart raised his cold gun at Barry but did not shoot. Lewis, on the other hand, just smiled. "Ah, you wanna bet?"

That was the question wasn't it? Barry raised a hand to his earpod. "Do I wanna bet?

"Do not bet!" he immediately heard Cisco's shout. "Give me a minute."

"Tell me this, what kind of man puts a bomb in his own daughter?" Barry started to ask, hoping Cisco wouldn't be too long.

"A very rich man," Lewis smirked. "Shoot him, son." But as Snart failed to do so, Lewis pulled out a small, silver device that Barry assumed was the controller of the bomb inside Lisa. "Kill him or you'll never see your sister alive."

Barry wondered how this could play out where both he and Lisa got out alive. Thankfully, he didn't have to think for too long before he heard Cisco's 'okay'.

"Lisa's safe," he told Snart. Almost on reflex, Snart redirected his cold gun at his father and shot him square in the chest.

Lewis fell on his knees with nearly his entire body covered in ice. "You're working with The Flash? I thought you hated him?"

"Not as much as I... hate you," Snart responded, almost trembling from the hatred he felt for the man now dead on the floor.

Barry cautiously moved up to Snart and gently pulled the cold gun from his hands - to which the other man didn't even fight for. "Lisa was safe. Why did you do that?"

Snart looked up with cold eyes. "He broke my sister's heart. Only fair I break his."

~0~

With the Snarts' dilemma finished - however badly it was - the rest of the team called it a day. Belén hadn't stopped by STAR Labs anymore due to the time, so she left Iris' place with Axel and returned home. She put Axel to bed, with the promise that things would be looking better for them now. He was certainly excited to learn his grandmother would be staying in the city. His excitement deterred his sleep but eventually, after two or three bedtime stories, Belén got him to fall asleep.

She had to admit, the idea of having her mother around - on good terms - was something that made her smile.

Her thoughts about the new arrangement were interrupted when she found her dining table decorated with candles and dinner she'd most certainly hadn't cooked. (She may or may not have bought Axel take out and called it dinner).

"This is a surprise," she admitted when she saw Barry standing next to the table. He was holding one azalea in his hand and was wearing a nice outfit.

"The many perks of being a speedster means I can basically be a ninja," Barry smirked which just made her laugh. He moved up to her and held the azalea out for her. "I know we didn't have a chance for a nice date outside and I know it's just harder for you right now, so...I thought maybe a house-date might work better."

"House date," Belén repeated with a soft chuckle. "Thank you for that." She took her azalea from his hand and gave it a sniff. "And thank you for my flower. My deadly, poisonous flower."

"Yeah, keep that away from Axel..."

Belén playfully rolled her eyes and gazed at the dinner table. "Thank you for this. All of it. I really love it. I'm just sad I'm not better dressed."

"What are you talking about? You're looking lovely as usual," Barry dramatically gestured at her.

"Barry, stop," Belén laughed but Barry continued on with his compliments, from her hair to her shoes. Eventually she managed to quiet him down only to keep Axel from waking up.

The two sat close to each other at the table and started on their dinner. It was from the same restaurant they visited on their first date.

"Good points, Mr. Allen," Belén pointed her fork at Barry. "Only this time I'm not going to spit anything out."

Barry nearly laughed when he remembered her spitting out a spicy meal she'd ordered on their first date. "I thought it was cute."

"It was awful. I'm surprised you didn't walk out there and then," Belén reached for a sip of her drink.

"Why would I? You were gorgeous then, and now I know you're the best thing that could ever happen to me."

Belén lowered her fork for a moment to smile at him. "You're smooth tonight. Thanks."

"I'm just glad you're smiling again," Barry passed a finger under her chin, widening her smile.

It was then that Belén realized she hadn't told him about her mother's latest visit that day. "My mom stopped by again..."

"Oh, Belén..." Barry figured Veronica pushed her again and was prepared to comfort her.

"No! Um...things actually got better," Belén felt weird just saying that sentence about her mother. She was so used to always having problems with Veronica. "She um, she...she made a proposition. She's buying the house from me. She's going to live here, actually, with Axel."

"She still made you give up custody?"

"No, uuh...I agreed," Belén nodded. She drew in a big breath before explaining her reasoning. "I love my nephew, I do, but I'm fully aware that I'm not ready to take care of him nor any child for that matter. I'm trying my best but if things keep going the way the were...I'm going to drown, Barry. I'm just...I'm not ready for it and I just want Axel to be okay..."

Barry set his hands on her shoulders to keep her from going into a long ramble that would eventually turn her face purple due to lack of oxygen. "I get it. You don't need to explain it to me."

"I don't want you to think I'm giving him up like if he were nothing."

"I would never think that. I've seen firsthand how much you love him. If you're making this choice it's because you're sure Axel is going to be okay. He's going to be good."

"I think he will be," Belén said with absolute certainty. "Mom's transferring to the precinct so she'll be around. Who knows, maybe this is our chance at actually having a relationship."

"I'm really happy for you, Bells," Barry said, taking his hands off her shoulders. "I'm glad Veronica finally came to her senses."

"Well..." Belén cleared her throat. Barry noticed her shifting on her chair and wondered what else she had to say. "She didn't come up with it entirely on her own. Maritza...actually inspired her." Barry's eyebrows raised together in shock. "I know," Belén chuckled lightly. "I was just as surprised as you were. Mom told me she visited Maritza and that Maritza basically called her out on everything."

"I mean...that was..." Barry couldn't even find the proper words to commend Maritza for her actions. It certainly brought a lot of happiness for Belén and that made him see Maritza in a new light.

"I'm thankful," Belén bit her lip nervously. "I'm basically getting a second chance with my Mom thanks to Maritza."

"I'm happy for you, a lot," Barry smiled.

Belén stared at him for a minute with a soft smile. "Yeah, things are finally getting better for me."

She got up from her chair and surprised Barry by sitting on his lap. She looped an arm around his neck and pressed her lips to his for a kiss. It was a much awaited kiss that was filled with feelings - some of those feelings were from the very day they'd broken up. Barry wrapped an arm of his around Belén's waist, keeping her steady as well keeping her close to his body. His free hand came to rest on her cheek and repeatedly stroked circles over her skin with his thumb.

They remained like that for a couple minutes until they felt their feelings for each other had been rekindled.

They gazed at each other with the same dazed smiles until someone spoke up.

"I need more dates like this," Belén spoke for the two of them.

Barry thought the same thing and went ahead and kissed her again.

Dinner was pushed back for a couple minutes.

[dreamofkpop]

Christmas shopping

Stray Kids 10th member AU

Charlie x Jaemin 

Requested by anon // requests are open!! (I’m so sorry that this took like 50 years to get around to :/) (also sorry for the ending, it’s pretty crap)

(gif not mine! full credit to owner!)

~

December 19th

12:05 PM

“Finally ready to go?” Jaemin asked the second Charlie stepped out of the door, earning an immediate eye roll from the girl, 

As she locked the door she replied. “Be quiet, you made me rush to get ready” 

Jaemin gasped and slapped his hand over his chest, feigning offence. “I did no such thing!”

“Yes you did, idiot, now shall we go or stand here until we turn into icicles?” She turned down the hall and began walking, Jaemin jogging to catch up to her. 

They made small talk as they walked down the stairs and out if the building, catching up on what had been going on in each other’s lives in the past week. 

Stepping out onto the pavement a gust of cold wind suddenly blew past making them both shiver and as if his mind was on autopilot, Jaemin reached over and grabbed one of Charlies hands in his own and held it tightly, lacing their fingers together. 

“Have you gotten all your gifts yet?” Jaemin casually asked as he tugged Charlie in the direction of their destination, blocking out the busy streets around them. 

Charlie shook her head, her recently dyed hair flowing freely as she’d not been bothered to tie it up. “Almost! I’ve still got to get presents for Minho and Rose, still have no clue what she wants for Christmas though. Have you?” She looked up at him, her hair obscuring her vision as the wind blew past once again. 

Before Charlie could move her free hand from the warmth of her pocket Jaemins hand has already reached up as he carefully pushed her hair out of her face,  tucking the strands behind her ear. 

“There you go, there’s that beautiful face” He teased, a cheeky smile adorning his lips. 

*click* *click* *click*

Charlie ignored the faint clicks coming from behind them and playfully punched him in the arm, mentally thanking the weather for making her cheeks red already. “Shut up you cheeseball, just answer the question!” 

“Oh, right! Yeah, I’ve got...most things sorted...most” He hesitated, tilting his head to the side. 

“Sure, okay, i’ll take your word for it” She snorted. 

Jaemin huffed and pouted at the lack of trust Charlie had in him, making her laugh. She reached up and gently pinched one of his puffed out cheeks, the coldness of her fingers made him jump and reel back in surprise. 

“Why are your hands so cold?!” He exclaimed. “You need to get a pair of gloves!” 

“I think i’ll be fine” Charlie shrugged, looking away from him and out to the street. “Where are we going anyway?” 

He glanced down at her for a second before looking back up and pointing towards a shop in the distance, the familiar sign barely visible over the sea of people. 

“I know you haven’t eaten anything yet so we’re getting lunch then we’re going shopping- basically just spending the day together” 

Charlie pushed the irrelevant thoughts to the back of her head and smiled as she leaned her head on his shoulder. “Thank you Jaem” 

“Thanks aren’t necessary, I’m allowed to treat my best friend aren’t it?” He questioned as they came to a crossing, a smile also pulling on his lips. 

*click* *click*

~

They sat across from each other in a booth, the warm restaurant lit up with single lightbulbs dangling from the ceiling. 

Charlie’s eyes scanned over the menu and she had to stop herself from groaning. ‘This all sounds so delicious...but i’m supposed to be on that stupid diet...’ She thought as she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and gnawed at it. 

“What’s that look for?” Jaemin suddenly asked. 

As she looked up, something caught her attention in the corner of her eye. Through the slightly fogged up glass it looked like someone had a camera pointed directly at them from across the street, she shook off the sudden uncertainty and looked over at Jaemin.

“Huh? It’s nothing don’t worry” She shook her head and nervously toyed with the corner of the menu. 

Jaemin sighed and cocked his head to the side, leaning closer. “No. I know that look, what’s wrong?” 

‘I hate lying to him...’ She thought, unintentionally gripping the menu tighter. “It’s nothing Jaemin, I’m fine” 

He shook his head again and leaned on his elbows with a huff. “We’ve been friends since we were like 5, i can tell when you’re lying and when something’s wrong with you. Now come on, what’s wrong?” 

With a defeated groan Charlie dropped her head, her forehead smacking against the wooden table beneath her. “I’m so hungry, but i’m meant to be on a stupid diet” 

Tutting, Jaemin placed his hand on her head and gently messed with the curls of her hair. “For what reason? You know you don’t have to diet, i keep telling you this” 

*click* *click* *click*

The faint camera clicks that kept coming back went unnoticed by the two.

“Well not everyone is as sweet as you Nana, the stylists think i could be “better looking physically”” She raised her hand and did quotation marks before dropping them back onto the table. 

“Until what? You’re a skeleton? No way, not on my watch” He gently placed his hands on Charlie’s shoulders and pushed her up until she sat up straight, an upset frown still etched onto her face. 

Jaemin picked up the menu and opened it. “You are going to eat as much as you want, okay? Then we’re gonna go and do something to make you smile again because seeing you frown is the one thing i don’t want to see. Alright?” 

~

1: 54 PM

“I feel like I’m being paranoid..” Charlie said, looking around the massive shopping center. 

Jaemin tore his eyes from a shop window and looked down at her. “Why?” 

Her grip on his upper arm tightened slightly. “I keep hearing a camera shutter, i don’t whether i’m going crazy or just being idiotic” 

“I’m pretty sure it’s nothing, we’re in the middle of a busy city people area always taking pictures of something, don’t stress yourself out over it” He gently patted her hand that rested on his arm before walking again. 

They continued to walk around, looking in shop windows but not actually going into any. That was, until they passed by store that immediately caught Charlie’s attention. 

A book shop. 

Charlie’s feet stopped before the building causing Jaemin to stop as well. “What is it?” He leaned down and asked, 

“Book shop, i’m going in” 

Without waiting for a reply she dropped her hand from his arm and wandered into the shop, the interior having a stark contrast to the rest of the shopping centre. 

“I have never met a bigger bookworm than you, i swear you would live in a library if you could” Jaemin huffed as he followed her into the shop, his eyes widening at the sheer amount of books. 

Charlie ignored him and walked further into the shop towards the shelves, a chuckle came from the older woman at the counter who watched them. “Hard to get someone’s attention when they’re surrounded by the things they love” 

“Tell me about it...” Jaemin trailed off, glancing at the owner, a small chuckle at the end of his sentence. 

“You two seem like a sweet couple” The woman said, catching Jaemin’s attention. 

He shook his head. “No..we’re not dating, as nice as that would be, she’s practically my sister” 

“That’s a shame, the two of you would be good together” 

Before Jaemin could reply Charlie hopped over with a book in her palm and a smile on her face. “Look at this!” She held the book out to him. 

Taking the book from her, he read over the title. “The Call of the Wild...sounds good” He nodded and handed her the book.

Charlie nodded. “I’m gonna buy it” 

After paying for the novel and earning some sweet remarks from the shop owner the two walked out. As the continued down the floor, Jaemin’s hand immediately met hers and their fingers laced, his lips unconsciously pulling up into a smile when she leaned into his side. 

*click* *click* 

at some point they’d passed and ended up in the arcade, spending way too much money on the games. they both stood in front of different versions of the same game, competing against each other to see who could get a higher score.

“Ah nonono-WHAT” Charlie exclaimed as the balls she threw kept missing the 1000 points section and rolling down into the hundreds. “This game is rigged” 

“Nope, you’re just terrible at throwing!” Jaemin laughed, watching the final points tally once the game had finished.

Charlie’s screen displayed 1,849 points while Jaemin’s had 2,325 points.

He cheered, jumping in a circle as the tickets slowly came out of the machine, pilling at the floor. Charlie huffed and picked hers up, folding them equally before stuffing the into her pocket. 

“I won~ oh yeah oh yeah i won~” Jaemin did a small victory dance as he collected his tickets and stood back up, 

Charlie pouted. “Stop showing off Mr. I’m-perfect-at-everything” 

Jaemin threw his arm around her shoulder as they walked around to another machine, the DDR machine. “I’m not perfect at anything, i’m just good in a lot of things” 

“We’re both dancers, we should be good at this, right?” He questioned as they both stepped onto the machine. 

Charlie scoffed. “Speak for yourself Jaem, i’m about to beat you at this so hard!”

He turned to her with a raised eyebrow. “Oh really? You’re on” 

Charlie had picked a fast song, saying they should ‘challenge their abilities’ but she was quickly regretting that decision. the song was way too difficult. 

Once it was over they collapsed with sighs. “Oh thank god finally! it’s over!” Charlie cheered, watching the points tally up as she leaned back against the pink barrier. 

“HA HA TOLD YA I’D WIN!!!” She cheered as her screen displayed a glorious 3 thousand ish points while Jaemin’s was somewhere on the 2 thousands. 

Jaemin huffed and sat down on the edge of the machine, pulling the plastic bottle of water he’d bought earlier from his pocket. “You’re always dancing, you’ve got better stamina than me” 

Charlie laughed as she sat beside him and put her head on his shoulder. “Dude I’ve just come off a twisted ankle, i shouldn’t even be playing DDR” 

“Are you hungry? Cause i’m getting hungry” Jaemin changed the subject, looking down at Charlie.

She nodded. “Yeah lowkey, i kinda want churros” 

“Let’s go get churros then” 

After obtaining their churros and walking around the store a little more the pair ended up on the top floor in the home section of a store, Jaemin dragging Charlie over to the candles the first chance she had.

“I think you’re addicted...” She said, munching on the chocolate dipped pastry as she watched her bestfriend stick his nose into various different candles and with his nose still pressed into a jar containing a light blue candle Jaemin turned his head and glared at her.

He kept his eyes on the display in front of him and muttered. “At least i’m not a book worm”

“Hey!” She defended and whacked him in the arm. “Being a bookworm isn’t a bad thing! It’s beneficial” 

As he stood to his full height and wrapped his arm around Charlie’s shoulders, Jaemin snickered. “Alright, whatever you say” 

*click* *click* *click*

The sounds that had been following them all day finally caught Jaemin’s attention. Attempting not to make it too obvious, he turned his head slightly towards the source of the sound and glance out of the corner of his eyes. 

Noticing the source of the noise, he swiftly rolled his eyes and looked ahead once more, his arm purposely tightening over Charlie’s shoulders as they continued to walk. 

Charlie suddenly yawned, her head resting against his shoulder. 

“Tired?” Jaemin asked, looking down at her briefly. She nodded. “Wanna go get some coffee?” 

She picked her head up off of his shoulder and shook it. “Later, i’ve still got to find something for Rosé” She lifted her arm that had a plastic bag looped around it containing the gift she’d bought for Minho earlier. 

“Right, so where do you wanna go?” 

Not long after they ended up in a perfume shop. Charlie moved away from Jaemin and over to one of the many glass cabinets, her eyes scanning over the different bottled. 

“You seem to know exactly what you’re looking for” Jaemin chuckled as he joined her side, copying how she was leaning against the counter. 

“Mhm” Charlie hummed. “Last time me and her came in her she had almost bought that-” she pointed at a bottle on one of the top shelves “-but ended up not, so i’m getting it” 

“i thought you were all about personalised gifts?” 

Charlie snorted. “For birthdays maybe, not Christmas” She quickly waved over one of the workers behind the counter, the woman scurrying over. 

“How may i help?” 

“Could i get that please?” She pointed up at the perfume. “Yes, the blue one” 

While Charlie spoke with the woman and went over to the till to pay, Jaemin wandered out of the store, his eyes scanning his surroundings. 

~ 

“Thank you” Charlie had said politely as the woman handed her the bag. “Hey Jaem we can-” She turned around, said boy nowhere in sight. “Oh god where’s he got to?” 

She hurried out of the store, pulling her backpack around to carefully stuff the gift inside. Her head snapped both ways, searching for a familiar head of pink hair. 

“This kid is gonna be the death of me” She huffed and dug her phone out from her pocket, immediately finding his contact and hitting call. As it rang she turned left and began walking

ring..

ring..

ri- “hello?” 

“Na Jaemin, where did you run off to?” 

He chuckled. “Turn around, idiot” Then the call dropped. 

Charlie spun on her heels and he was there, a tray with two coffee cups balanced in his hand and a plastic bag hanging off his arm. “Could’ve told me where you were going, dumbass” 

“hey, d’you want to coffee or not? I’ll go back” He threatened, pulling the tray back. 

“no no no, don’t do that, i was joking” She rushed over to him, Jaemin laughed and handed her one of the cups, throwing the tray in a nearby bin. “thank you nana~” Charlie sang and leaned up, kissing his cheek gently before taking a sip of her coffee.

clicking her phone back on, she looked at the clock at the top of the screen. ‘3:49 PM’ was displayed across the screen.

“It’s not even that late, what should we do?” She asked, looking up at the boy beside her. 

Jaemin thought for a moment, carefully sipping his drink. “Oh how about this, there’s a sweet shop by the entrance that’s closing down meaning everything’s on sale. We should go buy a bunch of snacks then go back to my dorm and watch movies” 

“I think that’s the best thing you’ve said all day, come on” She grabbed his hand and pulled him along. 

“Hey! I take offence to that!”

[lockdownuk]

Lockdown Diary Part 6

A personal account during the lockdown in the UK due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

23/03/2020 8:30pm Boris Johnson, UK Prime Minister, gives a live address to the nation to, effectively, put the country on lockdown to stem the spread of the deadly coronavirus strain, Covid-19.

Many of us have been self-isolating for days but this latest development within the UK in reaction to the pandemic feels very serious and very scary. I decided to keep a simple diary and where better but online.

Day 151: Great hour or so last night around Foggy’s. When I got home I watched World War Z and some stand up by Nate Bargatze and drank and smoked loads. Today, I got up just before 2pm and felt soooo unmotivated. I was going to have a day of doing fuck all but had a change of heart around 7pm so did my stair climb then walked for over an hour (7km) and got home at 9:30pm!

Day 152: Typing on day 153. I popped up and saw Foggy last night. One of the reasons was I wanted to take him a beer to say thanks for looking over my mitigation statement for my impending court hearing for speeding. He liked what i wrote but has given me some key amendments. Basically free solictor advice and I am very grateful. While there he hit me with the news that Ham’s sister, Preeya, has died (last Friday 14th August) from Covid 19. To say i was gobsmacked is an understatement. She was 49. The family could only talk to her over a loud speaker and had to say good bye that way as her life support was swithced off. Fucking hell, it’s terrible. And, what makes it worse, is how complacent I have become about the disease while it’s causing so much tragedy. As I said to Foggy, it’s important to renew our efforts in combatting this disease so that Preeya’s death at least means we learn. I also feel guilty for not realising that many people have passed like this - just because I (sort of) knew Preeya doesn’t mean I shouldn’t feel any less sorry for the dozens of people dying and many more affected everyday. My emotions are in turmoil and yet I’m not directly affected.

Day 153: Typing this on day 154. Gone midday before I woke up. Beers in the evening and watched Den of Thieves. Great film.

Day 154: Woke up at 2:37 pm FFS. Just done a walk and I feel like shit (booze induced).

Day 155: Went to bed at about 4am yesterday but was up at 10am today so, usual Monday correction of sleep patterns. Two long walks today plus a little housekeeping on photos, sharing to the Oundle chatter group, so, quite constructive. Hoir chat with dad plus a chat with a recruitment agemt about a helpdesk manager role in Peterborough.

Day 156: Typing on Day 157. I saw Karen sitting with TTP (and two others I couldn’t make out) at the T&K on my second walk. Why does that piss me off so much? I am being like Jack in Midnight Run. I need to let go.

I am also getting wound up with Tumblr - I can only make entries on this diary blog on the PC - when I try on the Android or Apple apps, they pop up with ‘post too long’. Trying getting info from Tumblr’s online help on that though - fucking not happening. I think I might move this to a Google Blog...it’s not like anyone else reads it. I’m not sure I’d want that - it’s far more a private diary now rather than the cute ‘blog’ idea it started out as. It is now a disciplinary exercise more than anything.

Day 158: Feeling less sorry for myself now. It’s 10pm and I am having a midweek beer as I wait for tea to cook.

Day 159: Decided I will split this diary into 30 day sections to appease Tumblr. My second walk today was at 8pm ‘cos it was pissing down from about 4pm ‘til 7:30pm...very dark and so wet. Home by 9.15pm.

Day 160: I went shopping in Corby (Tesco and Asda) - I only really went so I could get blue eggs. £75 on booze! I was going up to Fog’s tonight but at around 6pm it started to piss down. So, I shall drink at home. It’s 9.15pm, I think it’s going to get messy.

Day 161: Not sure when I wnet to bed last night but I didn’t get up until 2pm. Nice long walk (9km) in the rain!

Banners and Sam G went to London to have a few with Andy P. I’m a little flabbergasted, it’s like there’s no Covid19 all a sudden.

Day 162: Bank holiday Sunday so I am having a beer or two. Tea’s cooking, gonna watch The Accountant on BBC1 at 10.30pm. Today I got up at 1.55pm and managed to have a shower and be downstairs to see the start of the Belgian GP. Hamilton won, pretty easily. I then did my stair climb and a 9.8km (6 mile) walk.

Last night I watched a rather quirky, entertaining comic horror film called Ready or Not and then Ricky Gervais - Fame. That’s the tour I saw him live after seeing Henman’s final tennis match at the Davis Cup at Wimbledon. Bloody funny - the recording could even be the show Karen and I were at. Bed at around 5am, hence not egtting up ‘til way past midday!

Day 163: Bank Holiday Monday, just like a Sunday. I am making this entry on my phone as I'm now able to due to breaking up the diary blog into 30 day sections.

Molly's Game, a film I've tried to rewatch several times but it's never been free, is on BBC2 tonight. I'm recording it right now but actually watching Seinfeld from the start on All4. The first couple of episodes are a bit ropey if truth be told. Luckily, I know it improves.

Day 164: Managed to get hold of Michelle via her daughter Daisy to place a nice big order for C. Just as well ‘cos Tim’s ignoring me!

Rang and spoke with Barry Haddon today to check he’s OK.

Day 165: Picked up C from Michelle’s in Yarwell. While there I was mauled by her over friendly Staffordshirebull terrier getting bit on the thigh. Twice in six months I’ve been bitten by dogs.

Karen WhatsApp’d to see if I’d seen Miley Cyrus on the Live Lounge!

Day 166: Forgot to say that yesterday, I also bumped into and chatted with Pete Gilder. We mainly talked about (getting caught) speeding.

Today I did over 22k steps and I am fucked. 

I replied to an email from Shirley at work HR. After the furloughed staff call on Thursday, which I didn’t attend, they want us to cash in some (more) hoilday, which is fine by me, but I have also asked if we are any clearer as to what happens on 1st October, when the rentention scheme ends. I await her reply.

Day 167: Another 20k stpes today. Just 24k needed to have completed 1m steps since the start of July.

It’s Friday, about 9.45pm. I’m going to watch Molly’s Game and have a few beers.

Day 168: Got up at just before 2pm. It’s now 10.15pm and I am just having my first beer, Today was a lazyish day, completed 12k steps.

Day 169: Completed the 1m steps with 24 days to spare. Woohoo. Now, I am unsure whether to reduce the walking I have got so used to doing? I think I might keep up an average of 11k steps a day which is all I would have needed to accomplish to reack 1m in 3 months.

I’m pleased I did it today since I :went to bed a nearly 5am this morning!

Day 170: Actually typing this on day 171. Feels weird having done the 1m steps, almost like I’ve nothing to do. However, I am of course going to keep walking but not quite as hard/much. I did feel liek I was walking myself into the ground all in the name of finishiong the task ASAP. So, today I only had one walk, did 11,5k.

Yesterday’s Italian GP was a cracker. Hamilton had a penalty and ikt ended up with Gasly winning. Full of incident including a red flag so the race ‘restarted’.

I completely forgot ot make this entry on the correct day?

Day 171: I have decided to press on with the walking - not quite so urgently as before - to see what I can achieve steps-wise in 3 months. So, today, an unusually hot day for September, I did 18k steps plus cleaned the bathroom, hoovered my room and stairs and hallway. I am fucked!

Today I have bought a set of smart scales and a new pair of Skechers. The Skechers were almost free (£69 reduced to £30ish which I had in Paypal) and the scales were £20. Still, I shouldn’t. I don’t know what will happen at the end of October when the CJRS ends plus I don’t know what punsihment will be dished out, any day now, for the speeding offence! Fuck it!

Day 172: An eventful day. Boris has restricted gatherings to no more than 6 people and will use ‘Covid Marshalls’ to police this. It’s causing a stir amongst the online community. I have set up accounts with Gurushots and Picfair to showcase my snaps. The latter offers the opportunity to sell them. I watched Anchorman 2. It was pretty good. I also postd on the Oundle chatter group about walking in front of a car the other day - the driver, a yound lady, was enchanting the way she just smiled and let me pass - I used it as an opportunity to ask about George Higgins saving a child from near death at the hands of a lorry, the post about which has disappeared.

Day 173: Lots have seen my post re: my car incident but the bait hasn’t been taken.

Sarah Haines made a nice comment about my photo posts on the Oundle Chatter group also saying that she doesn’t know me but, it turns out she does. She is James Watson’s ex from when I first moved to Oundle so we caught up on Messenger.

Rachel Harris posted a meme slating Boris about the fact we were all encouraged to go out and about (inclding the Eat Out to Help Out scheme) and now we are being sent back to ‘our room’. Some of the comments continue to slate the government. I couldn’t resist commenting that, had the royal ‘we’ maintined social distancing and remembered there’s a fucking pandemic, perhaps we might not be under impending severe lockdown, as it now looks like. I also mentioned photos I have seen (one posted by Rach herslf) whereby you could be mistaken for thinking that there isn’t a pandemic. I have finished the comment with a line about we can only blame ourselves, not the hapless government! I wonder what reaction that will get!

Day 174: Scales were delivered today. If they are accurate I am a little over 11 stones, from 12st 7lbs before lockdown. Can’t quite believe it. I have a yearly diabetic review with Lynne in October so i can check then. If the scales are wrong, I’ll be livid on 2 scores!

Friday night beers as I type. Been looking forward to them since last Saturday!

Day 175: I do not trust the new scales. I get a different reading each time I step on them and by 10-12 lbs. Fucking things. Boots arrived today - they’re going back as well. Footy season started today. Posh lost away to Acrrington Stanley. “Who are they?”

Day 176: The GP was reflagged again today (a new track at Tuscany. A red flag two races on the trot is most unusual. Hamilton won.

Day 177: I managed to get the scales working. I’m pretty much the same weight I was prior to ld (about 12.5 st). This leads me to believe that if I wasn’t doing all the walking I am, I would be as fat as a fucking house. On that note, Google Fit is playing up. It loses the step and heart point count for each walk (although the workouts retain the route map info) Wtf?

I think K and TTP might be a thing from a post I saw on FB whereby some chap (who I don’t know) commented on TTP’s post that it was nice to see him and K. Kinda gutted if it is true but I shouldn’t be. That’s all I will say on here.

Day 178: Jim contacted me today to let me know he’s leaving RCI. He was quite secretive about why and what’s going on but, there it is. He went on to say that HR will be contacting me shortly to call me back from furlough. Sueanne is taking over as team leader but that’s temporary. and that they will most likely promote from within. I struggling to think what it would be like if Mark was boss! The way RCI are and how disjointed it is with Jim as boss, I shan’t take it as read until HR do contact me. Also, I dunno how I feel about it...I have got so used to not working. But, and it’s a big but, I doubt I’ll have a job after the retention scheme finishes so, if this does pan out, it’s good. I’ll be back to job hunting while in a job, as per before the pandemic.

Also, I received an email letting me know the punishment for my speeding offence was 6 points and a £233 fine, plus costs (£90) and victim support (£34), £357 in total. More than I expected. But, no ban, so I’ll suck it up. 

Day 179: Having midweek beers. I'm in that sort of mood.

Day 180: I WhatsApp’d Jim to let him know HR haven’t contacted me. His garbled response went from telling to give them a shout and let them know he is leaving, to which I asked ‘don’t they know?’, he then said hold fire (on Sueanne’s instruction) and she has said for me to sit tight and then, finally, that HR will contact me! Fuck knows what’s going on! I had a diabetic review with Lynne today. When you go to the surgery you have to let in, which I was by Keren. It was nice to see and chat with her. She is back with Ronnie which was news to me. Then Lynne came and got me. It was nice to see and chat with her also. She weighed me and I’m 12st 3lb. Apparently in Jan last year I was over 13st!

[hms-chill]

prompt for rwrb! established relationship + hogwarts au where henry is a quidditch captain and alex is the commentator for the game :)

Hello! I’m so sorry this took ages, but I’m (hopefully) back to writing things! Life was hectic for a bit there!

Also, I’m really sorry, but I’m not totally comfortable writing a Hogwarts AU. I haven’t read the books, and I worry that I would unknowingly perpetuate Rowling’s problematic views. This isn’t to say there aren’t good Hogwarts AUs (there are, I’ve read them and they’re great!), only that I am unfortunately not the person to write them. So, instead, here’s a high school baseball AU that hopefully gets to the heart of what you were hoping for!

“You’re a Catch(er)”

“It’s a fine afternoon out on the baseball fields today, folks, sunny and hot but that’s just what we’d expect. And while the rest of us are trying to cool down, our varsity Trojan baseball team is warming up on the field. I’m Alex C-D, and I’ll be bringing you all the most important info during this game, along with my good pal Nora H. The district insisted she join me in the box today, since apparently, I need, quote unquote, ‘supervision’ to keep me from getting, quote unquote, ‘distracted’.”

“I’m here to keep him from spending too much time talking about his boyfriend,” Nora says, leaning into her mic and rolling her eyes. 

“Which is unfair, really, because I spend the perfect amount of time talking about everyone. It’s not my fault that a certain gorgeous, kind, talented, sexy catcher just so happens to be involved in every play. It’s not my fault that he spends so much time squatting, and we get a great view of his--”

Nora presses a button to take them off the air, and the radio broadcast goes to a commercial while music plays over the stands. Alex grins at her and leans back in his chair, stretching a bit and glancing out over the crowd. He’s just out of reach of the rolled up scorebook she’s trying to hit him with, and they both know it. 

It’s not a bad turnout today, despite the heat. Alex sees his sister, June, and Henry’s sister Bea in the crowd. He waves, but he’s looking past them and out to the field itself before he can really stop himself. Almost automatically, he finds himself looking for sandy hair, and he’s got a wink and a wave for his boyfriend. Henry waves back, rolling his eyes a bit as Alex grins. 

Their ad break ends, and Nora starts to read off different players’ stats. Alex keeps quite until she gets to Henry, and just before she moves on from him, Alex ads, “He’s also got the highest number of announcer boyfriends on the team, that’s right folks. Henry Fox, the most beautiful man alive, number four on the field but number one in my heart.”

Nora ignores him, but he knows how this goes. She’ll be professional and serious the first few innings, after which she’ll realize that there are times when baseball is, quite possibly, the most boring sport in existence. She’ll be down to his level of shenanigans by the fourth inning at the latest. 

The first inning is slow. Alex gets in a good “Who’s on First?” reference while Nora’s introducing the team, but it drags, and he can tell she’s getting just as bored as he is, even with her spreadsheets and scorecards to keep her company. So, when the they finally get their third out and while the visitors are warming up, Alex says, “Tell y’all what. We’re off to a bit of a slow start today; send us your best jokes. Tweet ‘em, message us on something, send carrier pigeons if you have one. We’ll read some on air between innings, and if anyone makes Nora spit out a mouthful of water I’ll buy you a candy bar or something. Now we’re up for the bottom of the first, score is 2-0 Lightning, but that’s just because our Trojans haven’t had a go yet. First up is Basil Watton, with a batting average that Nora’s about to tell you, because I just dropped math.” 

“It’s 0.28; I can read numbers. First pitch is a strike, and on the second, he’s connected! That’ll be a single for Watton, folks! Now we’ve got Dorian Hallward, with a batting average of 0.30.” 

“Just remember, folks, Henry Fox is up fifth, so stay tuned. And Pez is seventh, so you’ve got him to look forward to, too.” And so the game goes. Henry gets a double, knocking in two runs, and Alex nearly cheers over the next batter. Pez gets Henry in with a single, and they end the inning 2-4. 

Alex reads off a few baseball jokes that people have tweeted them between innings, making sure Nora’s got a mouthful of water before each one, but none make her spit before they go to a commercial or music break. In the next inning, they get to see Henry throw for an out at second, whipping the baseball over Pez and halfway across the field. Nora cuts the power to Alex’s mic, but he’s cheering so loudly he can still be heard faintly over hers.

Henry gets out his next at bat, but he gets someone in, and that’s enough for Alex. By the third inning, Nora is pretty clearly losing interest in being professional. When Alex slips her a note offering to get them popcorn at the next commercial break, she nods furiously as she reads batting averages. He gets them both bags of popcorn and some m&ms to mix in from the concession stand as soon as he can, and they spend the fourth inning stuffing popcorn and candy into their mouths while the other’s talking. By the end of the inning, they’re trying to catch each other with full mouths, making a game of it along with the baseball they’re reporting on. Still, Alex makes time to let everyone know that, when Henry takes the catcher’s mask off as the teams switch positions, his matted down hair looks very, very sexy.

In the fifth inning, with two outs on the board, Henry steals home for a run that could put them in the lead. His helmet is knocked off as he slides, and Alex leads the crowd in holding their breath as the umpire dusts off the plate, trying to make sure Henry’s touched it. There’s a tense moment, then the umpire’s arms are out to his side, and Alex is cheering over his announcement of “Safe!”. Henry pops up and jogs to get his helmet, blowing a kiss to the press box as he does. Alex makes a sound that is not entirely human as Nora unplugs his mic for the rest of the inning. It’s probably for the best. 

The other team pulls ahead in the sixth, but not by too much. Alex is back by the end of the inning to lead everyone in the classic baseball seventh inning stretch. It’s a tradition he’s brought to school games, and even some of  the team warming up get into it, fitting toe touches and hamstring stretches in between warm up throws. As Henry walks out to squat behind the plate, he does a toe touch. The view from the press box is stunning. 

Alex keeps it together. Mostly. 

Despite their stretching, the seventh inning isn’t great. The other team pulls ahead again, and it drags, a series of foul balls and single hits making an already painful inning worse. Alex tries reading jokes to keep people entertained, but Nora doesn’t laugh hard enough to spit, and the crowd is losing energy. When the teams swap, Alex plays the most exciting song they have while Nora crunches numbers. 

“We can definitely come back, it’s just... the bottom of the lineup’s got to start performing for us.”

Alex nods, glad their mics are off. The break ends, and they’re in the bottom of the seventh, starting near the bottom of their lineup. These hitters are the ones who struggle a bit, who are better for their defence than their offence. The first baseman and shortstop are the seventh and eighth positions, and third base is ninth. But to Alex’s surprise, they all make it on base. It’s with the bases loaded that Basil Watton hits a double, knocking two in and making sure everyone knows they’re still fighting for a win. 

The home team takes the lead in the bottom of the eighth, and they go into the ninth with a one point lead, cautiously hopeful. If they can hold this lead and get three outs, they won’t play the bottom of the ninth, and they’ll have won the game. 

The first out comes from a ball hit straight to Pez, who passes it to first. The runner never stood a chance. 

The bases are loaded when it happens. Two strikes, and Pez pitches. The batter connects just a second too late, just a fraction too low. The ball flies straight up, and the batter takes off running. Henry’s helmet is off, and Alex breaks his trance to lean toward the microphone. 

“And it’s up-- this could be out number two folks, Fox has his helmet off, he’s going for it, we can see his sexy tired concentrating face, and he’s caught it! that’s out number two! And the runner on third is trying to steal. He looked back, but the second base runner is there; he’s got to go. He’s sliding, but Henry’s got his glove down. All eyes on the umpire, and... He is OUT! Ladies and gents, both and neither, that is out number three! That’s game, folks! Whoooo!”

“Stay tuned next for our team interviews, but for now, enjoy this last word from our sponsors.” Nora takes them to a commercial break, and Alex is out the door with their portable mic, running to the field to give Henry a massive hug. They’ll get pizza with the team now, and then Henry will be all his. They’ll get to celebrate an amazing game, and he’ll get to spend time with the star of the show.

Notes:

I’m so sorry this took ages! Life, fam. 

Anyway, some notes on positions:

Henry as catcher, because they’re relatively easy to overlook, but they’re super important to the team and actually call the shots from behind the plate. This seemed like something Henry would really enjoy, since he’s pretty cognitive and a good leader, but he doesn’t love the spotlight.

Pez as pitcher, because he does love the spotlight. The book mentioned that he sort of absorbs attention, which felt right for a pitcher. 

Nora as a scorekeeper, because stats! Our gal loves stats; baseball is perfect for her. It’s like... all stats. 

[besidemethewholedamntime]

until i knew you

For @huntxngbxrd - I hope you have the bestest day that you deserve for being the bestest bean! ily so much <3

Summary: 

"He asks her to marry him again in the same breath that she tells him that she’s pregnant. Hunter’s jaw hangs open, his eyes wide, and Bobbi launches into a not-very-well-pre-prepared speech about how she knows that it’s a shock, and she knows it’s not exactly ideal timing but they’ll be fine because they’re together and together they can handle everything and they love each other." Bobbi and Hunter make a baby, and a pretty good one at that. AU family feels.

{Read on Ao3}

or read below :)

He asks her to marry him again in the same breath that she tells him that she’s pregnant.

Hunter’s jaw hangs open, his eyes wide, and Bobbi launches into a not-very-well-pre-prepared speech about how she knows that it’s a shock, and she knows it’s not exactly ideal timing but they’ll be fine because they’re together and together they can handle everything and they love each other.

She breaks off when she’s only really a third of the way through because she looks at Hunter’s face, his hands holding out the engagement ring she once threw in his face years ago, that are stock still, and haven’t moved in the past five minutes.

“Hunter?” She says, snapping her fingers in front of his unblinking eyes. “You doing okay there, buddy?”

“Just… um…” he opens and closes his mouth several times, imitating a fish perfectly. “Bloody hell.”

“I know it’s a bit scary,” she begins, moving towards him slowly. “But we can do this.”

His demeanour morphs and, withdrawing the hand holding the ring, this bright and brilliant smile lights up his whole face. “Well, duh, of course we can. You and me, Bob, can do anything.”

It’s a relief. Not that she was ever worried, of course, because she knows Lance Hunter like she knows her own mind, but still, it’s a relief nonetheless, and probably accounts for why she’s a little bit breathless and uncharacteristically quiet when she takes his hands in hers.

“Yeah? You mean that?”

“Of course, I do, or has baby-brain got to you already?” His grin is the only reason she resists from punching him in the arm.

“I’m glad to hear that,” she tells him. “I’m really glad to hear it.”

“At least you’ll have to say yes to my proposal now.” He laughs, holding out the ring which she allows him to slide onto her finger without protest. “Can’t have grandma Hunter thinking her precious Lance is bringing a baby into this world out of wedlock.”

Bobbi laughs and this time does punch him playfully in the arm. She is happy though, incredibly so. To have a child with, and be married once again to this man that the universe has inexplicably gifted to her as her soulmate is completely unbelievable but truly, everything she’s ever wanted.

-x-

“No offence, but I think she’s cuter than you.”

“None taken.” Bobbi leans her head back against the too-thin hospital pillow, not caring that she can still feel the bedframe through it. She’s exhausted in the most delightful way, too tired to do anything except lie back and stare at her husband cradling their hour-old daughter in his arms.

“Like bloody well cuter. I can’t take my eyes off her.” He doesn’t look away from their baby as he says this, but she knows the expression on his face. It’s one she’s never seen before, but had recognised it instantly for what it was the moment it appeared. That look of undeniable and unconditional love, the feeling of knowing someone completely even though you’ve just met them. The way that they have your entire heart, body, and soul, and that you know, without a second’s hesitation, that you’d die for them, kill anyone who harmed them.

“Don’t worry,” she murmurs, sleep pulling at her eyelids but she battles it off, not wanting to miss a moment. “I wouldn’t expect you to.”

He does look at her, then, eyes filled with tears and this stupid grin on his face like he’s just won the lottery. “You did bloody amazing, love. I am so proud of you.”

His words bring tears to her eyes. Stupid hormones. She closes her eyes briefly so he doesn’t see – she wants this moment to last forever if she can make it. “I’d do it all over again. She was worth it.”

“She’s worth every decision I’ve ever made,” he says, and Bobbi doesn’t think he’s speaking to her anymore, or even their daughter. Perhaps to the universe. To let it know that he’s made his peace with everything that brought this child to him.

“Yeah,” she softly agrees. “Mine, too.”

“We’ll need to think of a name, you know. Baby girl’s cute and all, but I don’t think my nan would like it if it was her actual name.”

Bobbi chuckles gently, still a bit too sore to give the full laugh. “Since when do we care about what your grandma thinks?”

“Since always I’ll have you know, Bobbi. I’m her favourite.”

“Must not have a lot of good options to choose from then.” She sticks her tongue out at the indignation on his face. “But you’re right. Baby girl only works until you’re three days old, then the cuteness wears off.”

“Please, her cuteness will never wear off, will it?” He coos at the baby who sleeps on soundly in his arms. “You take after your old dad like that. The Hunter charm never fades.”

Bobbi could certainly think of a few times where ‘the Hunter charm’ did indeed wear off, and wear off for a while, but now is not the time to mention it. Not when he looks so happy. “Sure, whatever you want to believe.”

She’s so tired now. Given permission, knowing her daughter is in safe hands (the safest she can imagine), she could gladly fall asleep. It’s only the thought that, if she does, in the middle of a conversation about their baby’s name, Hunter might take it upon himself to give her the craziest name he could think of, just because he could and she wasn’t there to stop him. And while Bobbi likes to think he wouldn’t do that, she’s honestly just not sure.

In the end they discuss it for a quick ten minutes, but she falls asleep in the middle of debating Lucy and Delilah. When she wakes up in the morning, she notices that her daughter’s cot has a little name badge now stuck to it, but the writing’s too small to read what it says. Oh, if he’s done it then she’s actually going to kill him. It’s been less than twenty four hours, for goodness sake, and he honestly only had the one job and that was to not do a damn thing!

The man himself strolls into the room, looking suspiciously fresh for someone who supposedly slept on the floor in a sleeping bag. He’s whistling a tune as he comes to kiss her on the forehead, and it’s with remarkable restraint that she doesn’t reach out and squeeze a hand around his throat.

“I notice the cot has a name badge, now,” she says icily.

His expression doesn’t change; he still looks as calm and collected, as content with the world, as he did when he walked in. She wants him to feel real fear, because if their baby daughter is called something like Calamari just because he thought it was funny then his death is going to be slow and painful indeed.

“Yeah. I thought I’d pick one for you, you know, seeing as you were so tired last night and all that. Just cut right to it.”

“And what, God help you, did you choose?”

“Sophie. It’s what you wanted, wasn’t it?”

It was, actually. It had been the name she’d been thinking about for her daughter before she was even thinking of children. There had been a point, though, where she’d never thought it was going to happen and so she’d buried it, deep, and never thought of it again.

She forgot she told him. She forgot that he would remember.

“It was,” she says softly, looking at her sleeping Sophie in her cot. She aches to hold her but she doesn’t want to wake her, so she hugs her brilliant husband instead.

“Have a little faith in me, sweetheart,” he laughs into her shoulder, and she hugs him tighter in response.

-x-

“Alright!” Bobbi booms, shutting the front door so hard that it rattles the entire house. “Who broke Mrs. Bishop’s window?

She walks into the living room to find her husband and four-year-old daughter sitting at the coffee table, teacups filled with orange juice and a plate of biscuits in front of them. Both have a pirate’s eyepatch on their left eye, a feather boa around their necks, and SHIELD hats (they had to take some swag when they were disavowed) on their heads.

“Wasn’t us, love.” Hunter says innocently, holding a teapot in his hand. “We’re having a tea party.”

“Daddy said biscuits were okay before dinner,” Sophie chimes in.

“Snitch,” Hunter tells her.

“Biscuits aren’t the issue here, you two.” She feels as though she has two children sometimes. “Who broke the window? I’ve just had an earful from Mrs. Bishop and she’s very upset.”

“Ugh, that old bat’s always upset about something,” Hunter moans, pouring some more orange juice into his teacup.

“Well I’d be upset, too, if our window was just broken by a ball that looks suspiciously like the one we had in our backyard this morning.”

“The boys from next door stole it,” Sophie tells her, the one visible eye wide with excitement at the drama. “Me and Daddy saw them and he shouted at them but they wouldn’t give it back.”

Oh. Bobbi calms down considerably, especially because now they don’t have to fork out for a new window and the ‘distress damages’ Mrs Bishop had hinted at, also.

“So, you see, Bob, we were just here having an excellent tea party, no window-breaking whatsoever. Tell her it was those little horrors from next door and that she can’t be accusing a respectable family like us of such nonsense.” He swishes the end of the feather boa over his neck and grins at her. “Now come and have a seat.”

“I can’t,” she says apologetically, thinking of the million things she has to do.

“Oh please, please, please,” Sophie begs her, hopping up and down in her chair. Her smile is so like her father’s that sometimes it takes Bobbi’s breath away. A smile she would die for, she knows that for sure.

“Yeah, love, come on. Have a seat, take a biscuit and some orange juice and relax.” Hunter blows her a kiss and hands her a spare eyepatch.

-x-

“Barbara Morse, you cannot phone the school just to make sure that our daughter has not been swallowed up by a giant sea-monster that has appeared from nowhere and has disappeared to depths unknown.”

She huffs, both at the use of her name and his blatant over exaggeration. “I was just going to make sure that she was doing okay, but thanks for that, Lance Hunter, because now I’m actually worried that she’s been swallowed up by a giant sea-monster that has appeared from nowhere and has disappeared to depths unknown!”

It’s silly, Bobbi knows it is. Millions of children, all over the world, start school and don’t get swallowed up by sea-monsters. They come home with rosy cheeks splattered with paint and grinning with the biggest smiles their parents have seen on them. They make friends, they make fun, and they become even more themselves.

Except it also means they’re growing up, that they’re on that path – albeit a long one – to becoming adults and that one day her precious Sophie, who still needs her to turn on the bathroom light and who can’t quite figure out how to tie her shoelaces just yet, will no longer need her parents the way she does now.

It’s silly, for children aren’t permanent things and were never supposed to be, but Bobbi can’t help the lump in her throat when she thinks of the inevitable future that now seems to be coming at her a lot faster than she once thought it was.

And it’s even sillier, because out of the two of them she’s not really the emotional one, and yet here she is, teary eyed at the thought that her daughter might even be enjoying school, while Hunter stands on the other side of the kitchen, seemingly unaffected by the whole thing.

He had been a bit tearful earlier, when Sophie had run up to him asking if he thought she looked smart in her new outfit, with her new schoolbag and her hair done just so. Bobbi heard him blow his nose in the bathroom.

“You can’t phone them, Bob,” he tells her again, firmly.

She knows but also, she doesn’t. She’s a mother. It’s well within her right.

“I don’t see why not. Just a quick phone call is all. Just to make sure she’s settled,” she pleads with her husband. “Please.”

Hunter comes around to stand in front of her, taking her hands in his. “You can’t phone them,” he says again, looking her straight in the eye. “Because ten minutes ago I just did.”

“You’re amazing sometimes, you know that?” She kisses him, thinking she has never loved him as much as she does right now.

“Only sometimes?” He scoffs, but then he chuckles and smiles that grin that intensifies and also eases her ache for Sophie just a little. “I know.”

-x-

“I still vote for suing them, or at least putting toilet roll all over that instructor’s house.”

“Hunter, we can’t do that. Plenty of kids will break their legs at karate. We signed the insurance papers.”

“It’s because of that instructor’s bloody incompetence that my precious Sophie will have her leg in a cast for the next six weeks, Bob! I can’t believe you’re willing to stand for this.”

“I’m not standing for anything. I’m just saying that we can’t do that.”

“What? You have a better idea?”

“Yes, actually, I do.”

“Whoah! Oh, damn, Bobbi, I like it. Let me get my balaclava and I’ll get you in the car in twenty minutes.”

-x-

“I don’t know whether to mention the fact I was in the SAS, or that I was a mercenary for hire first.” Hunter looks over at her. “What do you think?”

“Mercenary for hire. Kid’s probably never heard of the SAS.”

Hunter nods in assent but mumbles ‘bloody Americans’ under his breath.

Sophie’s brining her boyfriend to meet her parents for the first time. Understandably, she hasn’t told them much about this young man she’s been dating for the past two months and so, understandably, Hunter and Bobbi have been wondering about what to say (and quite possibly do) should this kid turn out to be less than ideal for their daughter.

“I think you should bring the batons out, sweetheart. Just leave them lying on the table and the kid’s bound to notice them.”

“I feel like it’s not subtle enough. We don’t want to be downright terrifying on the first go.”

“Hmm…” Hunter drums his fingers on the kitchen table they sit at. “How about we put them on the wall? We make it look like an ornament, right? And then I make some off-handed comments during dinner about how great you are with them. We suitably terrify him so that he doesn’t muck around with our daughter, but not so that he’s scarred for life?”

Bobbi considers it. It would certainly work. She never thought they’d be the type of parents to be scheming this way, but anything for their child. It brings out the best and worst in them, sometimes, their protective instincts.

“Yeah, okay. Add it to the list.”

-x-

“I still can’t believe she’s gone.”

Bobbi doesn’t say anything, can’t, because now that it’s night time and she’s lying in their bed in their suddenly very empty house in Hunter’s arms she’s suddenly got tears choking her.

She thought she was fine. It was Hunter who cried, earlier. Hunter, who, when they were putting boxes into Sophie’s car (“I can go myself, guys. Seriously. I’ll be fine.”) had had to excuse himself for a whole thirty-minutes to go cry in the bathroom. Hunter, who, when Sophie had driven away to uni, had gone up to the attic and spent the next three hours weeping over baby toys and baby pictures and the feather boas that they had once worn to their tea parties that happened what feels like a lifetime ago.

“What are we going to do now?”

“She’s an adult,” Bobbi manages to choke out, sounding very unlike herself. “We have to let her be one.”

“Stupid kids,” Hunter moans into her shoulder. “They’re all cute and they make you love them and then they just grow up and leave.”

“It’s what they do.” She tries to be diplomatic but she’s rather inclined to agree with him. Kids are stupid, but she loves hers to pieces. “We did it at one point.”

“Oh my God.”

“Exactly.”

It seems to have gone too quickly, these past eighteen years that they’ve nurtured this little person so she can grow and go into the world as her own big person. Sophie is their entire world, all squished into this blonde-haired, sparkly-eyed, dazzling grin-bearing human. To think that they’ve entered this new stage, where the entire dynamic between them has now changed, is more than she can bear.

“I’m going to miss her. A lot.”

“Me too,” Bobbi agrees, feeling the lump come back. “But she’s following her dream and living her life and that’s what we raised her to do.”

“Maybe we did it a little too well. Going to university hundreds of miles way was not what we thought of.”

“We raised her to make her own decisions,” Bobbi says firmly, trying to convince both Hunter and herself. “This was her decision and it was a good one.”

Hunter pulls her tighter to him. “We made a good one.”

She should have put some tissues in her pillow because at this rate it’ll be sopping wet all night. “The best.”

Things fall silent for a bit, and Bobbi, after consoling herself with the knowledge that Sophie said she’d phone tomorrow, almost manages to fall asleep.

Then Hunter taps her not-so-gently and whispers insistently in her ear, “and you remembered to put the panic button in her bag, show her how to use it and all that?”

She smiles into the dark. Well, they couldn’t be entirely normal parents. After all, they’re Bobbi and Hunter. Normal is never something they’ve aspired to be. “You know it.”

He sags against her, visibly relieved. “That’s my girl.”

[a-dakhtar]

(same anon as dark souls, hope i can prompt twice) i also distinctly remember a post about altean!lance being alfor's brother. *puppy dog eyes* please?

> prompt rules: here

> prompt 1 / prompt 2

prompt 3: heavy the cosmos (pt. 1)

note: this grew to be too long anon so i’ve split it. that being said, i have no idea why it grew too long, and now i am greatly concerned. 

-

“You look… just like my younger brother did,” King Alfor murmured, his piercing blue eyes stuttering away from Lance’s face. “It is… rather disconcerting.”

“Oh,” Lance replied lamely, not sure how exactly to take that. “Sorry, I guess?”

The king – Allura’s dad, who’d died ten thousand years ago but had his memories saved as an AI – quickly said, “No, no! Nothing to be sorry for, young one. I was merely taken aback by it. Please, come closer.”

Hesitantly, not sure of his welcome despite the invitation, Lance crept into the room he’d seen Allura hole up in for hours on end, the curiousness that had brought him here fuelling him on. The tall man gestured him closer, as if he were a frightened cat, the kind smile he wore soothing whatever misgivings Lance might have had.

“I don’t think we’ve met before,” the king murmured, once Lance was standing almost in front of him. “I am Alfor. And you are?”

Lance stuffed his hands in his pockets, shoulders hunching as he realised he had no idea what to do now that he’d gotten to this point. Allura was going to be so angry with him for invading her privacy, holy crow. “Lance,” he introduced himself anyway, eyes drifting over to the field of flowers that surrounded them. “This is a pretty cool place.”

“Indeed,” Alfor smiled, looking around himself fondly. “I would bring Allura here whenever I could steal away some free time. Her mother used to love it here too.”

Allura’s mom? Lance wanted to ask, so bad, but he knew he’d already crossed a line coming in here, he couldn’t- “What was her mom like?” Quiznak.

Alfor laughed, a boisterous noise that brought a reluctant smile to Lance’s lips. “Oh by the stars,” the Altean gasped, wiping at an eye theatrically, “She was every bit the varka she was anointed as, loud and bright and so very brave. I-” he halted, mirth fading to a quiet melancholy, a quiet nostalgia that brought to light the wrinkles Lance hadn’t noticed before. “She was a remarkable woman, and I was a lucky man to call her my wife.”

Meaning she’d probably died. Sometime before Alfor had. Before Allura and Coran had been cryogenically frozen for ten thousand years.

God, Lance was an idiot.

“But none of that,” Alfor dismissed, waving a hand in the air to brush it off. “You are one of the new paladins, are you not, young Lance? May I ask which lion you pilot?”

Lance perked up at that, always willing to talk about his amazing blue lion, and proudly said, “The greatest lion of all, of course. The Blue Lion!”

(warmth fondness pride my paladin my paladin my paladi-)

Alfor let loose the same laugh as before, quickly defending himself at Lance’s offence with, “I’m not laughing at you, young one! No, it’s just- your predecessor had said the exact same thing before, many times! Ah, Blue truly knows how to choose her paladins!”

Blue rolled in fondness, pawing at Lance from her place at the back of his mind. He pawed back, or at least tried to, still unused to whatever bond it was they shared, still unused to having a sentient, robotic, space ship lion choose him, of all people.

A table materialised in front of them, a little round thing with fancy detailing like the kind his mama bought from antique stores. Two chairs accompanied it, fazing in like a cool glitch, equally detailed, and Alfor gestured at him to take a seat while he did so himself.

“I would be pleased to hear more of how you came to be here, Lance,” the king said warmly, eyes crinkling at the edges, “If you are free and have the time?”

He probably didn’t. Allura was probably calling for them all, demanding they train. Or maybe Coran was searching for him to help clean the cryopods. Or-

-the flowers swayed in the computer generated wind, Alfor’s hair glitched, ever so slightly, and blue trilled at him mournfully, at the remains of a king long dead revived by the press of a button.

“Sure,” Lance said carefully, sitting down on the offered chair and ignoring the happy look that crossed Alfor’s face. “But you gotta tell me about this other blue paladin guy, sounds like a genius to me.”

Alfor laughed, leaning in as Lance settled, and promised, “Oh, I will.”

#

“And then Shiro remembered this dude he fought in the arena with who had the exact same weapon and how he defeated him, and bam!” Lance narrated, miming Voltron’s counterstrike. “We won!”

Alfor dutifully clapped, expression clearly showing he was impressed. “This… robeast-” he stumbled over the word, “-sounds like a ferocious enemy. It is most impressive you were able to stay on equal ground with it, let alone defeat it. Your team is young, Lance, but gifted.”

Preening at the praise, Lance nodded, finally taking his seat again from where he’d been pacing, too caught up in bringing Alfor up to speed on what had happened since he’d last snuck in.

This had become something of a habit, stealing away from the group to have a few minutes with Alfor, making sure it was after Allura had come and gone to avoid running into her.

He felt bad about it, kinda, since this was her dad, and Lance absolutely knew he would’ve been jealous (and pissed) if someone had been doing the same with something that belonged to him.

But he also felt bad at the idea of… not coming here. At the idea of leaving Alfor behind in this huge field of pretty flowers with nobody but Allura for company. Sure, Alfor wasn’t actually a person, wasn’t actually the Alfor Allura and Coran knew. Sure, he was just memories and alien tech working to formulate what Alfor statistically would have said and in what tone and with what face, but…

… Still.

So Lance kept coming, time and time again. Kept an eye out for Allura and her long hair leaving the room, kept an eye out for just how much heartache she carried that day and her expressions; that little twist of her lips, the way her shoulders seemed lighter yet somehow heavier, the stronger voice she ordered them in – it all meant she’d visited Alfor.

And so Lance would visit after.

“You sure it’s okay for me to be here?” He asked anyway, fidgeting on the chair (and how exactly did the room materialise a chair?) as Alfor took a dainty sip of his fake tea.

“Of course,” Alfor replied with a smile, expression kind and welcoming. “I doubt I’m of much help, since you and your team seem to be outpacing myself and my own by lightyears, but I’m here anyway. And if nothing else…” The King paused, smile turning helpless, almost embarrassed. “I do enjoy your presence, Lance. I’ll be happy to have you for as long as it takes for you to get bored of this old man’s tales.”

Lance’s own lips pulled up into a grin, helpless in their joy, as he leaned forward and happily said, “No way, man! Your stories are great! Okay, so,” he threw himself back into his seat, determination furrowing his eyebrows. “I’ll keep coming. But if the others find out and they get pissed at me you gotta protect me, alright?”

Alfor’s snorted, amusement visible as he stroked his beard. “Hmmm… Let me think on it.”

Lance’s indignant squawk had him laughing.

#

The party had still been going strong when Lance had left it, struggling to keep himself in check and not bawl his eyes out like a little kid.

Coran sucked at comforting people, long arms struggling to eat up the distance the holomap spun through to reach the tiny planet known as Earth, showing the full breadth of distance between them.

So far away.

… But at least still there.

At least Earth was still there, Lance realised guiltily, taking in Coran’s heartbroken expression and misty eyes. At least he could still go there, right now even, if he wanted to leave the entire universe to the hands of the Galra. At least he knew his mom, his dad, his brothers and sisters and nieces and nephews were still all right.

Coran didn’t have that. Allura didn’t have that.

“But none of that, my boy.” Coran loudly said, slapping his hands against his thighs as he stood up. “We’ll get you home in a right tick! Just as soon as we defeat the Galra.”

Right.

He just had to stay strong till then.

He took Coran’s offered hand, squeaking a little as the Altean easily hoisted him up, and moved to follow. A tiny metallic whoosh whoosh noise hailed the arrival of Rover, the little triangle robot thing Pidge had suddenly popped up with one day, and Lance gave a distracted greeting to the thing as he followed Coran back to the festivities.

He wondered if Pidge would get him one of his own, if he asked nicely. Colour code the green light to blue and name it Estella, maybe. He glanced back at Rover, noticing again that it’s little beep boop’s were really cute, and-

Hang on.

He looked away, into the hallway, down the other end, Coran the only other soul present. He looked back, at Rover, the little machine floating genially towards the crystal, and-

“Wait, where’s-”

beep boop beep boop beep beep

beEP BEEEP-

“CORAN!”

#

“-y prince!” Steel in his hands, cold and metal- “Inhale, exhale,”

the stars were beautiful tonight, “-re you flirting with me, my lord?”

bayard in his hands, cold and metal- “ackshot, just like always”

umbasa, swirling up above, the constellation hidden in the cosmos, hidden in- 

“this isn’t right, alf-” but nobody listening. superstition, traditionalist, stuck on the words and lapels of his late mother, “don’t-”

quintessance. blue lion. other lions. “voltron.”

a woman’s face, red diafra’s under her eyes, red quintessance in her soul, and thirst drowning her whole-

umbasa. umbasa. umbasa.

a familiar voice, calling his name, “Lance?”

that wasn’t his name.

(that was his name.)

purple, alarms, a familiar, weary face with a scar across the bridge of his nose-

and bright yellow eyes belonging to a man that gripped his shoulder tight and said, “I’ll bring him back to you, every single time.”

ALaddoLrLance (who?) felt his lips pulling into a smile, trust and-

“what are you doing?”

“the quintessance-”

wrong, wroNG, WRONG- screaming, who was- Shiro? Shiro was screaming? W h y wouldn’t they listen to him he had to open his eyes and focus down the sight, align the target, pull back and inhale, and with the exhale, shoot.

bullseye.

“we do make a good team,” Lance murmured, the red armour holding him up squeezing him closer, holding him tight. “You guys make a good team!”

Red and blue, Alfor and Blaytz, pausing in their bickering to look at him, smiling.

HoNEggARvaR pleading with him, “my Prince no, we cannot stop, plEaSe-”

Lance woke up gasping.

[blazeperalta]

Hindsight 20/20

A week after Jake leaves for his undercover mission, Amy can't help but vent to her colleagues about how a certain someone's feelings have left her questioning everything.

I wanted to contribute something to this super creative fandom. I have no idea if it’s any good but I had fun writing it. Hopefully someone else enjoys it! :) https://archiveofourown.org/works/19192810 (AO3 link)

Amy Santiago has always prided herself on being good at keeping secrets.

It’s probably a skill that comes with being one of eight siblings, and the only girl at that, because keeping secrets about one brother from another was just a part of growing up. Keeping secrets from her parents was a big no-no. And her teachers. And her Captains, obviously. But anyone that is not keeping a secret from a superior has every reason to expect said secret to be well and truly safe.

Which is why it’s such a surprise when one week after Jake left for his undercover mission, she spills her heart out to Rosa, Boyle and Gina about something she thought would be just as much of a shock to them as it was to her.

Apparently not.

The precinct’s been feeling off for the last week. As annoying and obnoxious as Peralta was (is, she reminds herself), his voice and his bets and his antics and his general being just brought a specific type of energy to the Nine-Nine. She’s experienced the lull on the very limited times he’s taken a sick day in the last 3 years she’s known him, not to mention the short time he just had off after getting suspended. But back then she’d always known he’d be back. Now he’s working with the freaking Mafia. It’s a big deal and she’s happy for him of course and when she first found out about it all she could really think about was the amount of bragging she’d have to put up with when he gets back. But after her conversation with him right before he left, all she can do now is worry about him.

If something bad goes down.

Evidently, the rest of the squad feel the same way because after a full Jake-less week at work they all agree for a few drinks at Shaw’s to get drunk and vent any worries that comes with one of your colleagues getting fake-fired and going undercover with a strict ‘no contact’ rule and hanging out with a bunch of criminals that can kill him at any second and oh God she suddenly can’t breathe again.

So she’s been sitting there pretty numb ever since they’ve arrived and has been silently sipping on her beer. She also knows Teddy’s been texting her asking if she’s still heading over to his apartment tonight but she can't bring herself to text back. Which is wrong, she's aware, but she’s enjoying half-listing to the conversation the others are having about Jake (they haven’t really expressed any worries since they got here - it’s mainly just reminiscing about the ridiculous things he did before he left).

But then Holt goes home to his husband, Terry to his family, Hitchcock and Scully to whatever it is that Hitchcock and Scully do, and Amy still can’t bring herself to go to Teddy’s. Out of guilt she sends him a quick text saying she doesn’t feel well after drinks and is heading to her own place. Teddy of course texts back with an “I understand. Feel better” and it only makes her feel worse for lying to her perfect boyfriend.

“You’re being quiet, Santiago”. Rosa’s abrupt voice snaps her out of her own thoughts and she glances up from her phone.

“Sorry,” Amy replies.

“That wasn’t a complaint”.

Amy looks around the table at the remaining members of the squad and is suddenly mindful of the fact that they all look concerned for her. It puts her at ease slightly. These people will understand what she’s going through. Holt and Terry care a great deal about Jake. She knows they see him as a son, whether they want to or not, but at the end of the day they both have a spouse - someone else to vent to. And she doesn’t feel like this is something she can vent to Teddy about

Gina of all people gives her a sympathetic look. “Ames, Jake leaving sucks balls but we’re all here for the same reason.”

“Yeah, I don’t know who I am without Jake!” Charles is heading towards hysteria again. She’s seen it a lot from him this past week. “I need a shoulder to cry on! And because I don't have Jake’s broad shoulders, you three are going to have to do!”.

Rosa pipes in again, this time in a softer voice. Well, as soft as Rosa can sound anyway. “Yeah. Look, as much as I hate…feelings. The last thing I want is for you to have a breakdown in the middle of work because you haven't dealt with what’s going on. So suck it up, man.”

Amy risks another glance at her colleagues. Gina wasn’t supposed to find out about the undercover mission but somehow figured it out anyway. She's Jake's oldest friend -known him since they were children and she stood up for him when one of the other kids stole his inhaler - Gina knew him too well to think he cut her out of his life just because he got fired. Rosa was Jake’s closest friend in the Academy; both brilliant at the time but not nearly as brilliant as they are now, and Amy knows her friendship is a big reason why Jake made it through. Charles became like Jake's brother when they were both already detectives. He always thought the world of Jake, and Amy suspects that feeling has since become mutual.

They were all Jake’s partners in some way, shape or form throughout all the most important moments in his life. And they’ve lost him for an undisclosed amount of time too. Now Amy’s definitely feeling brave.

She exhales, dragging out the pause for as long as possible. “Right before Jake left…he told me something that kind of threw me.”

She expects them to jump in - as the Nine-Nine is known to do - but they all just stare at her, eyebrows raised and drinks on the table.

“He told me he liked me. Romantic-stylez”

Rosa’s face doesn't give much away but Amy thinks she sees her eyes widen a fraction. Gina silently sips her wine while giving Amy a knowing look. And Charles—

“HE TOLD YOU??”

All of a sudden, Amy’s jaw drops. So much for being numb. “You knew?”

“Of course I knew! Who do you think urged him to ask you out?”

“He didn’t ask me out”

“Oh, my sweet naive Amy. You have no idea what you have put that boy through in the last few months.”

The words exchanged with Charles has left Amy pretty much speechless. Here she’s been feeling bad because she thought she was spilling this big secret that was supposed to be between her and Jake. Apparently Charles already knows, and Jake tried to ask her out?

Rosa and Gina were watching the whole interaction while casually sipping on their respective drinks and enjoying the free show. It piques her interest.

“Did you guys know?”

At that, Gina finally puts her glass down and licks the last remaining drops of red wine off her lips.

“No offence ‘cause you're a good detective, but I think you're the only one who didn’t, boo.”

“Wait, so he told everyone except me?”

“He didn't have to. I think the only person he actually told was Ter-bear. Everyone else kind of figured it out.”

Rosa, never one to skirt around a subject, asks the question that has been on Amy’s mind for the last seven days, “You really didn’t know?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean Gina’s right, you’re a good Detective. And Jake’s been openly flirting with you since you started working with him.”

“Okay, that’s not fair. Jake and I never even got along when I first started at the Nine-Nine, and there’s a difference between flirting and bickering. He's like that with everyone.”

Rose scoffs, “he’s not like that with me.”

“Or me.”

“Or me”, Charles sounds sad for some reason.

“Look”, Rosa continues, “Don’t worry about it too much. I’ve known Jake a long time and he’s never going to do something to make you feel uncomfortable. If he does, tell me and I’ll kick his ass."

“No, you’re right. I’m not worried about that.”

“Then what’s wrong?”

“I don’t know, I’m just shocked. How long has he even felt this way?”

“Longer than he realised,” Charles butts in, “but he didn’t admit it until you ran into Teddy at Tactical Village."

Everyone gives him a look.

“Oh, was that a rhetorical question?”

“Yep,” says Rosa.

“Dammit!”

“So what exactly did he tell you?” Amy never took Rosa as the type that was invested in her friends’ personal lives, but maybe she cares more than she normally lets on.

“He saw me and walked over and made a joke. Normal Jake stuff at first. Then he suddenly seemed nervous so I asked what was wrong. He said he knows I’m with Teddy and he didn’t want to be a jerk but that he wished something had happened between us…romantically. And that he would be pissed at himself if he hadn’t told me and something bad happens while he’s undercover.”

She’s paraphrasing like she hasn’t had every single word he said memorised verbatim from the second they crossed his lips.

“What happened after that?” Charles asks with freakin’ tears in his eyes as if he’s just watched the cheesiest proposal video on YouTube.

“He just left. Didn’t even give me a chance to respond.”

“Well what would you have said, girl?” Asks Gina.

“I don’t know”, Amy admits. “I was so shocked. I always thought the teasing and banter were just some sort of competitive part of his personality. Now I can’t help but think of every interaction we’ve had ever since I’ve met him and pick it apart. I mean this is Jake Peralta we’re talking about! I didn’t know he had feelings!”

This time, it’s her turn to be the recipient of judging looks.

“You know what I mean.”

“Amy,” Charles sincerely looks at her, “I honestly think he’s the greatest person who ever lived. But Jake’s never been great at emotions. I had to basically spell it out for him that night he won the bet and took you out on that date.”

“Yeah”, Gina quips “If the blatant flirting wasn’t enough of a clue, fake-proposing to you and spending a fortune that he didn’t have on a bet where his prize was literally a date with you kind of gave it away.”

“Oh, God”. She spreads her arms out on the sticky table that must not have been cleaned all day, getting whatever alcohol has accumulated since on her fancy new blouse, and lets her head fall onto them.

The relief team. She knew he turned down the relief team. She remembered thinking it was weird at the time, and he never brought it back up which was even weirder. She remembers how upset he got when she told him she might be moving to Major Crimes. She remembers that he framed a picture of the two of them and put it next to his desk. She remembers that he wrote her a recommendation letter. She remembers it still goes on the good date list and it sucks a little less when I get to do it with you and you look great.

And now that she thinks back, maybe he did look a little bummed when she told him she was going out with Teddy and when she told him she’s going away for the weekend with Teddy and when she said she wanted to take a dance class with Teddy. She’s thinking back to every interaction she’s had with Jake in the last few months and hates herself for it. She knows she shouldn’t. She hasn’t done anything wrong, point blank. But Jake’s her partner. Her friend. The person that makes her laugh more than anyone in the world (though she wouldn’t admit it) and she hates that she hurt him - intentionally or not. Jake having feelings for her is the last thing she wants, but it’s also surely the last thing he wants too. It’s inconvenient and messy and things will probably be awkward when he gets back. And she knows it’s a long wait until then.

“I juuuu vaa to tallll to hii abooo id n i cannn”

“What?” Rosa sounds annoyed. “Get your head off the table”.

Amy shoots her head back up. She looks pained; her brow’s furrowed and her frown prominent.

“I just want to talk to him about it and I can’t.”

It’s normal for Gina to give her a look of pity, but Charles? She’s feeling really pathetic right now. Rosa’s face remains indecipherable but Amy knows.

“I guess I’m also pretty mad at him for dropping this bomb on me when he knew he was leaving.”

“I get that.” Rosa admits, “Jake could have handled this better. But I think if he wasn’t going undercover, he would have taken this secret to his grave. At least as long as you’re with Teddy. The undercover thing was probably the push he needed. It sucks for you, but people do crazy shit when the stakes are high.”

“Okay, it wasn’t like an admission of love or anything, it was admitting to a crush. He’ll probably come back with a girlfriend having forgotten all about it.”

There’s that look of pity again.

And when he eventually comes back six months later and she tells him she's still with Teddy, he tries to take back what he said. Which hurts her feelings for some reason. But he gives her that look. She knows that look now; recognises it from the other times she mentioned her boyfriend. Hindsight 20/20 and all that. Later that same day he takes it back again and tells her he meant it and he still does, but he respects her relationship with Teddy.

It’s frustrating and infuriating and it confuses her to no end. It takes an undercover mission and a further six months away from everything he knows for Jake to fully admit his feelings.

It takes Amy a lot more than that to admit hers.

[pinksausageduo]

lai guanlin|enemies to lovers

member: lai guanlin genre: fluffy summary: school au! enemies to lovers au! when you save your brother’s all time basketball rival lai guanlin getting beat up by your brother’s teammates, even if you did think he was an asshole, will sparks fly in more ways than one? requested: yes enemies to lovers series: bae jinyoung | ong seongwoo | park jihoon | kim jaehwan | lai guanlin | ha sungwoon | hwang minhyun | yoon jisung

your older brother seongwoo was team captain star of the school’s basketball team

guanlin was team captain star of the RIVALLING school’s basketball team

from the first game the two played against each other

they hated each other just because neither could beat each other

you just didn’t get it

they could of just been friendly rivals but noooo 

you were “supposed” to hate guanlin with a burning passion

like your brother did

you’ve always thought that was bullshit 

but you ended up hating him anyways

you always thought to meet someone before judging them

which is what you did with guanlin and you thought he wouldn’t be an asshole 

but he really was one

you remember your only and hopefully LAST interaction with him

it was right after a game your brother’s team won 

guanlin’s team got badly defeated 

because guanlin sprained his ankle start of the game 

it was his fault though 

he made a ridiculous and reckless pass in between a much smaller opponent’s legs while going full speed  

tried to crouch while running and his ankle got twisted instead 

after the game he was sitting on the bleachers when everyone left

you had to come back because you forgot your bag

once you got your bag you saw him 

he looked devastated with his head in his hands

you were concerned so you went up to him

“hey, you okay?” you asked worried

he looked up to you and his eyes sharpened like daggers and you were shocked at how hostile he was

“looking to shove the win in my face aren’t you” he said bitterly

“no just making sure you were alright” you said slightly pissed off at his rude attitude

“no offence, but can you just please fuck off and not pretend like you actually care about me” he said exasperated like he was talking to a 4 year old child

you were really pissed by then 

all you were trying to do was be polite and he was being an absolute dick

“no offence, but you’re a fucking asshole” you say coldly with your voice dripping in sarcasm

you walked out of there and slammed the door shut making guanlin wince and groan

you were right he WAS being an asshole

but he really couldn’t help it

he did a stupid ass move in the basketball game spraining his ankle causing his team to lose

AND his coach shouted at him for at least 20 minutes

then his teammates and coach blamed him for losing since he was always a key member in their plays/strategies

and no more basketball for a few weeks 

worst bit of all he found his girlfriend and one of his teammates getting it on in the locker room 

obviously he broke up with her but it still hurt

and now he hated himself more because a really sweet and pretty girl asked if he was okay

even if she was his rival’s sister

and he was a complete asshole to her 

he’ll probably won’t get another chance to apologise anytime soon

and he was right he didn’t get a chance until a few months later

it was a few days after a basketball game

your school’s team vs guanlin’s team

guanlin’s team won by a landslide 

because your brother got hurt

he was trying to block a ball that guanlin was slam dunking

his hand hit the hoop bending it right back

dislocating his wrist

some of his team mates thought guanlin purposefully did that

by your brother reassured them it was his fault

you caught the eye of guanlin many times at that game

no matter how much you “hated” him 

you couldn’t deny

he was gorgeous 

and for some weird reason you could not keep your eyes off him

you definitely didn’t realise but he’d steal glances of you any chance he got

he hated himself even more for being such an asshole seeing you again

one time he got so caught up in his thoughts and staring at you he completely missed a pass

luckily his team ended up winning 

but he couldn’t help but think about you 

anyways 

it was late around 10:30

and you were walking back home 

you were hungry and tired from studying in the library till then

you were walking through a deserted park 

it was one of the safest routes back home 

plus your family knew you were going to really late because of studying

suddenly you caught a glimpse of two guys beating up a guy 

not even caring you were smaller than all three of them

you sprinted towards them 

your anger exploded as you saw your school basketball varsity jackets

“WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU TWO ARE DOING?!!”

you scream

your eyes meet the ones of aiden and clark, two of the team members of your brother’s team

their eyes widen as they see you

uncertainty flashes through them 

but then their arrogant smirks were back

“sweetheart, he injured your brother and made us lose, so we’re teaching him a lesson, now run along” clark said sickly sweet

your eyes flitter to the groaning guy

it was guanlin

no matter how much he was an asshole he definitely did not deserve this

your heart ached seeing his bruised lip and him clutching his stomach in pain

you hardened your resolve

if the assholes wanted to play 

you’ll play

“and if i don’t” you challenged with a smirk of your own 

“well LITTLE girl, we’ll then have you begging to stop, how does that sound?” aiden said cruely 

you became bloody livid at that statement 

you kicked aiden then clark in the crotch 

then stomped on aiden’s cause of what he said 

they instantly fell to the ground groaning in pain 

you said in the same sickly sweet voice that clark did 

“now listen here BOYS, if you even laid a hand on me, my brother will make sure you wouldn’t see tomorrow’s sunrise” you threatened

you continued “guanlin did nothing at that game, my brother admitted it was his fault, and now if i told my brother that you beat guanlin up because you two were sore losers. THEN threatened me. he would ruin your lives, tell coach and you guys would get expelled”

their eyes widened in fear at your words

you continued still standing over them 

“now if you leave now you guys have a chance to only be on probation on the basketball team. now the amount of seconds it takes for you to get out of my sight is the amount of months you’ll be on probation.” you ended with a dark smile 

they looked at you incredulously but fearfully then you started counting and they started sprinting

“1, 2, 3-” you counted until they were far enough 

then you completely dropped the tough act 

and rushed to guanlin 

“are you okay? come on let’s get you to a bench” you say worried 

he just nods 

as he leans on you and you two walk to a bench 

“you’re one hell of a scary girl you know that” he said chucking

“they were beating you up” you reasoned

“thank you, really” he said sincerely as you two got to a bench

you smiled sweetly at him “don’t worry about it”

luckily for guanlin you had a first aid kit because of your brother’s injury

your mum insisted for you to take one

“where did you get hit?” you asked softly 

“torso, my lip, my shins and my knuckles are swollen and bleeding” he said

“may i?”  you ask gesturing to his jumper 

he nodded a slight blush gracing his cheeks

your heart started to speed up as you lifted his shirt up

you grimace as you see a huge purple bruise 

but the sight of his toned torso you couldn’t help but blush

quickly putting some bruise cream on it and then a bandage

you did the same for his shins

then you disinfected his knuckles and wiped the dried blood and dirt away 

as you were wrapping them bandages 

guanlin apologetically said “i’m sorry for being such an asshole the first time we met, i was in a shitty mood, my coach and teamates blamed me for the loss, and i found out my girlfriend was cheating on me with a teammate”

you were relieved he wasn’t actually a shitty person

“it’s okay but if you’re an asshole again i will not hesitate to injure your manhood” you jokingly threatened with a hint of truth

“duly noted” he gulped and agreed

“by the way, i’m lai guanlin” he said so smoothly making you want to swoon

“i’m y/l/n, y/n and i’m going to pretend i don’t know your name from the amount of grumbling my brother has done” you say sweetly with a hint of humour 

both of you chuckled but before either of you could say anything your stomach grumbled

guanlin laughed at you while you blushed

“since you did save me, i think owe you something to eat, what do you say?” he asked sweetly

you were really hungry and you weren’t going to pass up free food

especially with a cute guy

that you like

“that’d be great but you’re okay enough to walk?” you said gratefully 

“i’m okay don’t worry about me” guanlin replied with a sweet gummy smile

and your heart could not help but melt at the sight of it

“okay if you’re sure” you say sitting up and lending him a hand to get up from the bench 

he quickly grabbed it 

the moment you were holding hands your heart fluttered

it just felt right 

disappointedly you tried to pull away

but guanlin wouldn’t let you

not meeting your eye while you could clearly see his pink cheeks 

making you smile at how adorable he was

“what do you want to eat?” he asked still not letting go of your hand

“fried chicken or pizza” you said still feeling all warm and soft with the feeling of your hand in his

he smiled brightly at your choices “let’s get fried chicken tonight” he said

you raised your eyebrow and asked teasingly “so there’s gonna be a second time?”

guanlin went instantly red “if you’d like?” he said hesitantly and hopefully

“that’d be great” you said beaming 

he then gave you another one of his gummy smiles making you feel even more soft

you two quickly got to the fried chicken shop 

still holding hands 

and talking, joking and laughing the whole way

you two quickly ordered and started digging in as the food came out

but there was one moment which made your heart basically stop

guanlin told you “you have some sauce there” he said motioning the side of your lip

“here?” you asked while trying to wipe the sauce away

guanlin chuckled at your attempts and in the end reached across the table to your surprise

“no here” he whispered as he quickly swiped a finger from the bottom of your lip to the corner

you were ruby red from the small action and your heart was running a million miles an hour

with guanlin also slightly blushing

and from that moment on you couldn’t help yourself but wonder what it would be like to kiss guanlin

the night passed on quickly 

being with guanlin was so much fun and he was such a gentleman 

guanlin insisted on walking you home 

holding hands with constant talking 

time flied by 

the chemistry between you two was unbelievable you never felt this comfortable romantically about anyone 

when you were with him everything felt right 

he even offered his basketball varsity jacket when you said you were cold

and not listening to any of your refusals he insisted on you wearing it

you did in the end 

“you look so much cuter in my varsity jacket than your brothers” he said with a smirk as you finally put the jacket on 

your heart fluttered at the cute comment but you couldn’t help but tease

“who said it was my brothers?” 

instead of getting flustered like you hoped 

guanlin just smirked and said to you instead

“because it has your brother’s number on the back”

“oh” you said embarrassed with a blush cursing yourself for being so stupid

before you could say anything else your brother came rushing out of your house which you two just arrived at

“y/n do you know what time it is?!!!” he exclaimed

“uh 12?” you suggested hesitantly knowing you were going to be in trouble

“ITS BLOODY 2AM” he shouted clearly pissed off

before you could try to defend yourself

guanlin cut in “sorry it’s my fault”

“why the hell are you hanging out with my sister” seongwoo said dangerously low

you knew you had to step in before seongwoo went wayyyy into overly protective mode

“seongwoo calm down, it was because of your lackeys, clark and aiden, they were on the process of beating guanlin up because of yesterday’s game, i interfered, they ended up running away. afterwards since i was really hungry guanlin treated me to fried chicken” you quickly said giving a brief summary

your brother sighed and all the anger left him, he quickly hugged you tight and whispered “don’t scare me like that ever again okay?” 

“i won’t” you said with a smile 

he then turned to guanlin and said to him apologetically “i really am sorry about them i’ll have them kicked out of the team, thanks for quenching y/n ever thirst for hunger and bringing her back safely” 

you gave a whack of seongwoo’s head for his jab at you

seongwoo just smirked at you

“it’s okay your sister came in all badass and scary before they could do any damage and she patched me up afterwards. she’s brilliant” guanlin sincerely said 

making you blush bright red 

seongwoo’s eyes flittered from you to guanlin back and forth

and then eyed your still intertwined hands

he sighed cursing his karma 

and said to both of you

“if you guys want to be friends, friends with benefits, dating, blah blah blah you have my permission it’s the least i can do for what happened today”

“wha-wai-no me and guanlin aren’t” you spluttered frantically 

“well do you want to be?” seongwoo said with the cheekiest smile

you instantly blushed and you knew the answer to that 

you didn’t notice but guanlin was blushing too 

seongwoo trying not to be too overprotective and a good brother said to guanlin

“be good to my sister, not concerning basketball, you’re a good guy, but if you hurt her remotely i will hurt you” seongwoo warned 

before ending on a teasing note “say your goodnights lovebirds” 

quickly going back into the house leaving you two alone 

“sorry about that” you said apologetically

“he’s just being a good brother don’t worry about it” guanlin dismissed

guanlin took a step closer to you making your heart speed up

he asked you softly “what are we y/n?” 

“the more important question is what do you want us to be?” you countered

“i want us to be us, i don’t care about labels, but i do know i like you” he says while closing the gap between you two

with you centimetres away from him 

you with a racing heart whispered to him 

“then let’s be us” 

before you know it guanlin softly pressed his lips on your

his hands snaked to your hips pressing you against him lightly making sure you were as close as possible

you with one hand on the back of his neck and one hand on his cheek deepened the kiss

the kiss was passionate, feisty and enticing 

and the moment you two broke apart 

both of you couldn’t help but kiss each other again

again and again

lol i should stop here

after finally breaking apart 

breathless but faces still centimetres away from each other

guanlin had the sweetest gummy smile on his face

“goodnight guanlin sweet dreams” you finally say sweetly after a comfortable silence

“night sweetheart” guanlin said in the most heart melting tone giving you a forehead kiss 

just as you were about to head to your house

you feel arms wrapped around your waist and you instantly couldn’t help but smile

guanlin whispered gently into your ear “remember i don’t care about labels but when you’re ready and if you want me to be your boyfriend give me the word and i’ll be yours”

you melted at his words and turned around him to give a quick peck on the cheek and told him sweetly 

“i’ll remember that” 

and a few weeks after

he was yours 

and 

you were his

IM LATE IK this series is really progressing slowly also imma try to get jisung heirs out by tomorrow or the day after but tbh just tryna get jisung, seongwoo heirs all done by daniel’s birthday. since i have some soulmate angst planned for daniel. BUT I HOPE YALL LIKED THIS. it was unrealistic asf but isn’t all my scenarios lmao. as always please give me feedback!!!

enemies to lovers series: bae jinyoung | ong seongwoo | park jihoon | kim jaehwan | lai guanlin | ha sungwoon | hwang minhyun | yoon jisung

[darquedeath4444]

First Time to See the World

Chapter SIXTEEN

The next battle, between Rock Lee and Sabaku no Gaara, was soon called out. The two made their way down to the battle field, and the match began.

Sakura had heard rumors of both. Lee was Neji's teammate and a Taijutsu specialist. He couldn't mold chakra.

Gaara was, well, Gaara. She remembered how he had come to her hospital room when she was still out and had sealed up Kubikirobocho's scratches. She had wondered, more than once, if this was a sign of respect. He had killed before, or had at least injured enough that his sand smelled of the blood he had drawn from his opponents.

When the battle started, it had seemed like Gaara would win. His sand was both an offence and a defense. Of course, people almost always seemed to think that the louder, more flashier jutsu were more powerful.

What they had forgotten, however, was the Gaara didn't have his shield up 24/7. It detected danger, then it moved accordingly. Even the sand needed the time to form the defense. If one was fast enough, they could attack before the shield completely formed.

And Lee was one of the very few people in the world who were fast enough.

Gaara had a lot of talent.

Lee, apparently, had none. But he had hard work and preparation, and he proved that sometimes, born talent wasn't enough.

In the end, Gaara finally caught the Taijutsu user with a well placed trap and knock him out. However, Sakura could see that the Suna nin hadn't expected Lee to put up such a fight.

Had she not just witnessed it, she too, would have seen her Kekkei Genkai as a line between victory and loss. She glanced down at her hands, where she could see her bones shifting beneath her skin as though it was feeling her itch to fight.

She wondered how far she could have gone if her bones were not the way they were.

The next battle was between Temari, Gaara's sister, and Shikamaru.

The Nara complained about it until Naruto knocked him over the balcony, where he landed in a heap on the floor. Temari jumped over the edge and waited patiently for the Nara to drag himself to his feet.

The battle that followed might have been dull to some. It was part the Nara laziness and part Temari’s caution that everything Shikamaru was doing might be a trap. Still, Sakura had fought in more fights and faced off against more skilled shinobi in her life as a missing nin than most of her peers, and she knew skill, talent and power when she saw it. 

Sakura decided that if this was the average skill of the Genin of the Shinobi Nations, maybe things weren't so bad.

She would never admit it, thought.

Shikamaru drove Temari into a very well concealed trap, and then promptly gave up.

Sakura heard protests form his teammates and friends, but she knew what he had done. If this had been a real battle, he would have won. He proved that he was Chunin material. The rest was the well known Nara laziness.

However, she noticed a few things too. Shikamaru's attacks were mostly based on his knowledge, intelligence, and patience. It could be said that Temari was a good opponent for him, because she was a long range fighter. If his opponent had been a Taijutsu user, like Lee or even her, he wouldn't have lasted that long. 

Shikamaru needed time to plan. He was good at stalling, but Taijutsu users knew to end battles as quickly as possible.

Strategy was important, Sakura knew that, but sometimes, speed was superior. If an opponent got to you before you could lay a trap, or even come up with a plan, it was all over.

The last battle of the first round was between Temari and Sasuke.

Naruto demanded that he win, and that they would all make Chunin together. Kakashi just smiled and Itachi nodded encouragingly at him when he turned towards where his family was seated in a group.

Sakura nudged him, and didn't meet his eyes when he looked at her.

He allowed a smirk of confidence to appear on his face and jumped over the balcony with ease. After all, he had a huge advantage in this battle.

Temari was a Wind user and from what he had seen, a damn good one. However, the fire techniques the Uchiha clan were well known for had, of course, been passed down to Sasuke. His fire would easily consume Temari's wind and turn it against her. 

Still, he knew overconfidence was not the way to go, and with that thought, he glanced back at Sakura again. After all, he had seen how even the strongest could fall. 

The pair started the fight by throwing long ranges ninjutsu around, trying to gauge the skill level of the other. Temari was the first to reveal another part of her arsenal, and Sasuke found out that the huge fan strapped to her back was not a mere ornament.

Deciding that he could return the courtesy of revelation, he skidded to a halt. His eyes flickered to crimson, glowing brightly even while the rest of his figure was hidden by the dust conjured up by Temari's fan.

His vision instantly became sharper, and the dust, which did not contain chakra like Sakura’s mist hiding technique had, did not obscure his vision. He countered every single one of Temari's techniques with his own fire techniques. Thanks to his Sharingan, he could see exactly when she executed hers and matched the timing with his, taking full advantage of the wind to make his fires bigger. A few times, Temari had attempted to put the fire out with a huge gust of wind, but had given up, having to resort to jumping and dodging.

Sasuke's flames greedily ate up the oxygen Temari's wind sent towards it, turning the battle field red. Hungry flames lapped at the feet of the two competitors. Sasuke looked right at home, while Temari had her fan brandished in front of her, breathing heavily.

As a long range fighter used to overwhelming their opponent from a distance, Temari's stamina ran out long before Sasuke's did. There was also the fact that she had played cat and mouse with Shikamaru in her previous match, and it wasn't long before Sasuke just appeared behind her, out of no where, and the match was over.

The competitors were given an hour to rest before the next battles. The pairings would be announced in half an hour.

Naruto dragged his teammates into a empty room he had found and made them sit. "Okay. Since all three of us are still in, and there are four people doing the fighting, two of us will be fighting each other."

Sasuke and Sakura began clapping at the same time.

"Wow. you actually realized," Sasuke smirked.

"Wha- Of course! I'm actually smart!"

Sakura smiled. "It would be better if you showed this smart side of yours more often."

"Not you too, Sakura-chan!" Naruto pouted.

"The other person will be fighting that Gaara kid," Sasuke said. "He might actually be a threat."

"That sand of his might be a problem," Sakura agreed.

Naruto glanced between them. "You guys-"

The two of them fixed him with a look.

Naruto shrugged. "Nothing."

The sound of static filled the room, coming from the speakers set up in every room. "The pairings of the next battle have been decided."

Team Seven looked up.

Chapter SEVENTEEN>

<Chapter FIFTEEN

Chapter List