#and he's a liar and manipulator but he shows concern for you and joins you in your hobbies and befriends you

[voidfragments]

i should reread 000 now that i have a new captive audience (you guys) to hear all my insane ramblings about sarry/belisari

[oleander-nin]

Horrortober Day 5- Liar(Yandere Rise Leo x Reader)

A/N, not important: Any criticism is welcome, constructive or not. This is supposed to be a gender neutral reader, so if I screwed up somewhere, please tell me.

-Ollie

CW: Demonized self imagery, mirrors, kidnapping, mental breakdown, manipulation, lying, borderline isolation

Words: 1312

Summary: Leo promised he would take care of you. He said it wasn't safe anymore, and you believed him. Hook, line, and sinker.

The room is quiet. It always was once Leo was gone. The comic books he’d brought for this week were piled high in the corner, each having already been read. You shift in the bed, considering reading them all again. It had taken two days last time, but you weren’t sure you could. The words and colors blend together after so long, each character seeming the same as the last.

It also didn’t help with how jealous you were of them, seeing their adventures and travels making your stomach coil in knots. It had been eight months since the Kraang invasion, three months since Leo insisted the world was still rebuilding, still too dangerous for you to return. You shift the sheets over your body more, covering your entire person despite not being cold. The blanket was better than nothing while Leo was gone, his touch being the only interaction you’ve had since. Even his brothers had stayed away from you, leaving the room when you entered until you stopped leaving yourself. You could sometimes hear their whispers outside the subway car, muffled concerns and arguments being held just beyond your reach.

You were getting tired of Leo’s voice being the only one in your head. He had taken over your thoughts, your vision, your mind. He was all you thought of day in, day out. He was all you had.

Three months ago you would’ve gone on a walk in the park on a day like this. A day like this, where you feel so gloomy and down you can barely breathe. The outside may be bitter, but it was nice to hear the life around you and see the clouds in the sky. Was it raining? Snowing? Sunny? You weren’t sure. Leo didn’t talk about such things with you anymore. After all, it’s not like you would know.

The feeling of the sun on your skin and the smell of fresh rain had been forgotten, only small wisps of memory remained. You sometimes didn’t believe yourself when you tried to imagine it. Maybe the rain never smelled, and the sun never truly warmed your skin like you imagined. For all you knew, they were only dreams.

You missed going out with your friends or joining the boys down at Heuso’s. It was nicer then, simpler. Everything has its place, including you. You fit neatly into the slot of Leo’s best friend, and eventually his partner. It was a nice world to be in, nicer than the room you stayed in now.

You used to clean it everytime Leo left, trying to tidy up the space so Leo would have something nice to come back to. You still do sometimes, when you can get out of bed. It never was the same though. The metal walls never showed your reflection, and there was always a small damp smell in the air. You suspected there was a leak somewhere, or one of you had spilled something that had embedded itself into the train’s memory, but you weren’t sure. You could probably find it if you looked hard enough, but that was a job for another day. Or another week. Another month even. Just not today.

The airflow from the vent causes a slight ruffle from a blanket behind you, your dulled eyes peering over your shoulder. The blanket sways in the flow, a small flapping from the edges that reminds you of a bird. Or, well, you think it reminds you of a bird. You never could tell anymore.

You slowly peel the blankets off yourself, letting your feet press against the cold floor. A chill runs up your spine as you slowly stand, goosebumps appearing on the flesh of your arms and legs. You slowly creep towards the bird-like blanket, your fingers securing themselves around the soft material. It was a nice blanket, smooth under your fingers and cool to the touch. It was no wonder for its unusual coldness, as the vent was directly above it, a constant stream of air exhaled by the system.

You pull gently on the blanket, unsure what it covers. You were confident you once knew. Leo never messed with anything in the room, not unless he had you nodding along. It was nice, the way he let you do as you pleased despite it being his room. He was so kind to you, keeping you safe and warm and comfortable.

The blanket falls, revealing the liquidy glass of a mirror. You stare into it for a moment, your brain processing what it does but not who you were looking at. That couldn’t be you. Your face was deeply set, as if it had sunken in. Your skin looked sickly and had a soft sheen over the surface, like you had been preserved in wax. Your hands automatically reach to scratch at the  surface, disappointment shining in your eyes when it stays put. Your gaze continues to lower, horror and despair flooding your veins.

You had lost at least ten pounds, and looked like a complete mess. Your hair is brittle and no matter how much you quickly try to run your hands through it, it stays firmly knotted. Your face is creased and your clothes sag on you, even though you can clearly remember this exact pair being decently well fitted. You couldn’t take your eyes off the creases in your face, the bags under your eyes seeming deep enough to swim in.

A stark sob leaves you, the image breaking everything you had known. It was no wonder you had it covered. The thing it showed, the monster it held, it certainly wasn’t you. It couldn’t be. Right?

A loud crash sounds through the room and your fist stings as the blood drips down your arm. The mirror is shattered, but instead of taking the monster away, it only amplifies it. Millions of small images of the horror that was once you. Small cries turn into wails as you crumple to your knees. A door opens behind you, worried calls and shouts sounding just a few feet away, but you can’t hear them through your cries. The world had broken, and so had you.

Leo’s arms wrap around your shoulders, holding you gently as he starts to attempt at calming you down. Your body acts on reflex, clinging to the one thing you knew, the one solid in your sinking life.

“Please,” You sob, clinging onto him. Your hands can barely grip his shoulders, fingers slipping as you lean against him. You didn’t want to die, the image of yourself blowing away like dust in the wind. You were sure this meant the worst, that whatever infected the city Leo spoke so down on had gotten to you too. “Please, just let me go outside. Just once. I’m dying. Please. Can’t you see I’m dying?”

“You’re not dying honey,” He murmurs, kissing the crown of your head. His chin rests on your head as he pulls you into his lap, rocking you back and forth in his arms. “And you know I can’t do that. The invasion caused a lot of damage to the city. Once it’s repaired, I swear I’ll let you out. I don’t want you hurt, so you just gotta wait. It’s okay. I promise, it’ll be soon. I’ll take you out on a nice picnic and show you the stars. You just have to be patient.”

You nod, still crying as you bury your face into the crook of his neck. Leo smiles above you, his eyes twinkling with a malicious deviation. You bought it again, you always did. There was never an ounce of mistrust between the two of you. He sighs, sitting back as he continues to comfort you. You were too gullible, not to your own fault of course. Leo was always such a wonderful liar.

[lawliet-ryuzaki-ryuga]

Chapter 1

LawlietX Reader

word count: 3580

Topic: you’ve been brought in to the case from another institution similar to the Wammy’s House. Which was created by a friend of Watari.. It’s going to be a small story divided into chapters about how you and L form a friendship, which might grow into something else... 

P.s.: i never proof read this.. so i’m sorry guys

It was a cool day in Japan, I had just moved here to help with a case. I had heard of this Kira case and how One of the greatest detectives,L, was on this case.

Watari whom I met only once my whole life had contacted Elies, my suppose caregiver or instructor. He had requested I come in to join the case to find this Kira. It was clear that off the bat this individual had a God like complex, but the truth was they were simply a serial killer. Anyway; to say I’m nervous is an understatement, Elies has been talking my ear off telling me how I’ve prepared for this my whole life.

I suppose I have, not that I wished to do so.. but it was my gift and talent, and as Elies would say “ it would be a shame if you were to let it go to waste.” I had been part of Elies institution for as long as I can remember. I was given patterns, and images to constantly study, to analyze body language of the other kids in the institution. None of which ever happened in person, I stayed in my room and watched it all through a screen. Elies had said it will allow me to see the big picture, which I think was beneficial to some extent. We had just passed security and now headed towards the headquarters room itself. Watari greeted us at the entrance and walked us through the process. I do believe I was asked questions but my responses were simply forgotten, or maybe I never answered. Just as we were about to enter Watari stopped before us and said “ I believe you’ll be able to help, I’ve heard great things about you Y/N/N.” Without much of a response you simply nodded. Just as you walked in you were introduced.

“ I would like to introduce to you Y/N/N and Elies to the Task force team. Please let me know if there’s any concerns” Watari nods slightly before continuing his was out with Elies, leaving me.. Alone.

“ Hello Ms.Y/N/N it’s lovely to meet you and have you on the team! It will be great to have another pair of eyes and ears you can say! Oh.. and I’m Matsuda!” He extends his hand for me to shake

The man whom I’ve come to know as Matsuda, is an interesting man. It seems like he’s a very extroverted person, which is a liability in any case, but they are also the ones to make extreme choices and act out of impulse.. once again a liability, but can be used as bait if need be. With a brief look at the extended hand you stare, “ I don’t shake hands.” I walk away from the interaction and take a look around the office.

“ and why is that Ms.Y/N/N, perhaps you don’t trust us? Well.. i find that Odd considering you’re the one who’s new to this task force.” A calm monotonous voice speaks. I glance up to see that a man sitting in an odd position with his hands on his knees to be speaking . Hmm.. I wonder why he sits like that? It could be that it’s his protective stance, a natural instinct to want to protect one’s internal organs.. maybe it could be a behavior that brings comfort? No. With the way he leans forward to the screen.. as well as sucking his thumb so it seems.. that’s behavior of one thinking.. he sits that way to think and work.. odd way to sit, unless he’s been conditioned to sit that way to help with his thought process.

“ you can’t trust anyone, the world is filled with liars.. and liars are monsters who take form of a human, to manipulate.. so no I don’t trust anyone.” You spoke back in hopes he would turn around and show himself. But instead another voice speaks up, a voice that comes from a tall brown haired boy. “ we’ll I can assure you that none of us here are monsters, and I wouldn’t say a liar is a monster, sounds over dramatic to say that, given we have all lied at one point. we’re all here for one reason only.. and that’s to catch Kira!”

Interesting to see… a man who is quick to speak up to defend his friend/coworker, but it sounded more of trying to defend himself.. and who is ‘we’ I made it clear that I’m not a liar .. unless someone in this room is known for lying… Besides a person who lies a lot would be the first to say that “ everyone lies,” so who are you trying to convince? Me, someone you just met or the people around you that you’ve been possibly.. wait no, that you Have been deceiving.

“ I made my statement and I will stand by it, but giving that you folded your arms as soon as you began talking indicates that you’re defensive about this topic, for reasons I’m not sure why.. unless your threatened by me.. possibly afraid that I will catch you in a lie that you’re trying to hide? No that would be too easy for me to point out because I do not know you, but to the people you’ve been working with, they’re oblivious. So tell me why you decided to jump in when i mentioned being a monster?” I keep my eye contact on this young man.

“ Well you were calling him a monster, and i-”

“ No I said trust no one because liars are monsters, so I never said he lied nor did I ever call him directly a monster, I simply don’t trust him. Not to mention that Mr. Matsuda didn’t seem bothered by my comment, simply embarrassed. Yet.. Yet you seem to be bothered by such words, is it because you’re a monster.. and liar? Maybe it’s because you’re hiding something like a dark secret.. Go on, tell me.” 

I look around the room to see shocked faces, and that’s when the boy begins to speak again. “ I don’t know who you are or why you’re so defensive but I have nothing to hide, and if this is your way of saying that I’m Kira, I would stop while I’m ahead because I am not Kira!”

Not Kira? I never said anything about Kira, why bring him up.. I look around and see the slouched boy freeze in his seat, what is it? Is he thinking the same thing as I am.. 

“ Well considering I never brought up Kira, but you have related the topic of Kira to the topic of lying and a monster.. And the young man in the corner froze the moment you said you were “ not Kira” I’m going to make the assumption that you are a suspect to be Kira and in fact I have no doubt that you are him. You spoke too confidently on what it means to be a liar, and who can be considered a monster, making it where you feel like you have a say on who and what is bad.. Since Kira is all about removing evil in the world, it would make sense for Kira to also make judgment on who and what is considered bad.. Which is what you did exactly. I will now also stand by this statement, that you Are a monster and you are Kira.” 

You could hear gasps go all around the office, but a small chuckle coming from the slouched man, surprisingly it sounded very sweet and endearing..

“ I don’t think I have seen someone come to such a quick conclusion as I have. It's nice to see that I have someone on the same page as I am.” He turns around in his chair and I’m met with dark circles eyes, a somber look that paints his face. “ Oh and I’m L, but do request that you call me Ryuzaki for safety reasons.” 

“ It’s great to meet you, I’m Y/N but I go by Y/N/N for safety reasons. I look forward to solving this case along with you.” 

—--------------

It has been over 3 weeks that I have been helping with the case and just when we think we’ve gotten somewhere, everything is pushed back. Currently we have both Light and Misa in confinement 

“Y/N/N what do you think of this theory, Misa is deeply in love with Light.. Now I don't have much idea of what Love or emotions are to look like, but I do think that’s your field of study.. I think that Misa would do anything for light, even kill.. Now you already know my assumptions on Light and Misa being the real and second Kira… But do you really think that such powers could travel from person to person?” L speaks in his usual position with his eyesight on his tea cup, as he fills and adds his sugar.

“ Considering they were confined for such a period of time but the tapes both show the same reaction of “shock” it makes no sense… If they were both from the beginning saying they were not Kira, then why the sudden change in body language and awareness. Making me think that they were either being controlled and their memory was removed of them being kira, which explains the shock of their situations.. Or they both had it planned all along to act in the same manner.. Oh and by the way you're missing two more lumps of sugar, your tea won't be sweet enough.” I lean over and add the two extra sugar cubes and take the spoon that was set on the plate to stir the tea. 

L stares at me with a puzzled look and back at his tea with a slight nod, he takes a sip of his tea and gives a slight hum and smile in my direction. “ I see you’re very observant, and learned a bit about my sugar intake.”

I look at him with a blank stare of ‘are you serious’; “ well I know you put 8 cubes of sugar in your tea, 10 in your coffee. When you have a box of chocolates, you eat the chocolates that only have the ones that have no weird textures, such as anything that has nuts. When you have your cake you enjoy eating off the small whipped cream before taking a bite from your cake and leaving the strawberry for last. I have studied you enough to know you like the back of my hand.” 

“ I see.. Well I have studied you as well. I noticed that when you write notes you lean so close to the paper, like if you’re not close enough your thoughts won't transfer to the paper. You bounce your leg rather fast depending on if someone is saying something that alarming. When you sleep you curl up in a fetus position no matter where you are.. When no one is looking or paying attention, you tend to hug yourself.” His pupils enlarge as he stares, a hint of when you look at something you like or interests you.

“ Great points, but if you have no understanding of why a person acts a certain way, then that information is useless. Let's get back to the case, I think you should take them out of confinement and have chief plan out a murder situation where they both think they’re going to be executed but the chief plans on killing Light. If they are playing dumb with us, Misa loves light so much that she would kill light’s father, or light the real kira would have no problem of killing his own father.” It’s a long shot but I would like to see their reaction to such extreme measures

L has no issues and agrees with my plan, he goes and calls chief Yagami and tells him about the plan. Today is the day that we watch it all happen.

I’m sitting by L and watching the whole situation happen, to say that I’m nervous is an understatement. I sit in my chair with my knees to my chest as I wrap my arms around my legs, watching the screen like it’s an action film. 

“I’m going to kill you here and then kill myself” cheif Yagami speaks. You hear protests coming from Misa and Light. I watch the interaction and analyze every movement and word my brain goes into overdrive. Although I know what to expect and know that the gun is a blank, I still jump in my seat and reach for L’s  arm when it goes off. I sense L tense with contact making me pull away quick with a mouth full of apologies. 

“ It’s alright, it was a loud sound I suppose.” 

I nod and turn my head back to the screen, when I hear apologies coming from Light's father. I turn to tell L, “ well Chief is still alive so it clears them.. Not to mention their body language was very Sincere.. But somehow I can't help but question light.” 

“ I agree with you Y/N/N, he could have seen right through our plan.” 

L begins to address Amane then tells Light that they are to be together 24/7 until Kira is brought to justice. 

—-

Both Light and L have been handcuffed together, and we have miss Amane ask if L was on the “ other side of the fence.” At that comment I couldn't help but let out a small laugh, L turns to me and gives me a small glare. “ I told you I’m not doing this because I want to” L mumbles.

With a huff Amane starts asking how she’ll be going on dates with light if L is always around. L mentions how they could still go together, he’ll just be there. Amane is quick to disagree, “ well then we can go on double dates, you can bring Y/N/N and you can kiss her so you don’t have to watch Light and I kiss! Maybe then you won’t be such a pervert!I don’t even know you two and I already know you’re both weird, how come she hasn’t spoken a word! ” 

“Light please make Misa stop.” L asks with a desperate plea. 

Once Light shut Misa up, a thought came to mind.. Misa mentioned Love at first sight.. I tap L’s shoulder and lean into whisper “ If it’s love at first sight.. And it was in May 22, the same day the second kira mentioned they’d be there.. Isn’t it a bit weird that she just “ knew” it was him that would be her soulmate?” L nods and turns his head in my direction, our faces so close to one another. I feel my cheeks heat up as I look away and lean back. 

L brings up everything that I said and even asks how Misa would feel if light were Kira, and not to my surprise she still loved him.. In Fact she would love him even more.. And even try to help Kira, which would be light in the depiction that L played out. L lets out a hum… While you can tell that everyone in the room wishes they could kill Misa at that very moment, especially when she was just kind of cleared. L lets Misa know that her new manager will be Matsuda and will be following her around. 

She is quick to ask why that “ old” man was going to be her manager and why not me.. When I first heard that I was quick to jump in, “ because I will not have the Patience to listen to you nor will I want to listen to you complain. I have better things to do than watch over an individual who has 3 dancing brain cells to function.” 

Misa is quick to run towards me and slap me across my face, leaving me in shock. I Had never encountered violence.. I was always kept away from kids and others.. This case has exposed me to more human interaction than I have ever encountered in my whole life.. I look back at her with my hand over my cheek, and stare at her cheek.. I suppose eye for an eye, with one swift I grab her by her small pigtails and yank her towards me to only slap her back.  You could hear gasps go around the room. I am not sure why there were no gasps when she hit me.. Was I not supposed to hit her, maybe I was supposed to do a different move instead of slapping her?

She tries to lung at me but Light grabs her and Aizawa kicks her out..  Once everything was spoken about everyone leaves the room.. Well that is besides L and light. L turns to me and asks if I'm okay. “Yeah just stings, was i not supposed to hit her back? I saw a lot of kids when I was told to study and they would do that when they get hit.” Light turns to me with a questionable look. 

“ Why do you say that when you were told to study? Did you not interact with them?” 

“ I was never allowed to talk to the other children, Elies said I was different from the other kids.. And kids like me are meant to do more studying than playing.. So I was never allowed to play with the others, he was scared that they would ruin my greatness.So I don't know how to react to certain things, i was just taught to observe and understand actions, but I don't know how to act with others.” 

Light apologizes and avoids my eye contact after that. L asks watari to bring an ice pack and hands it to me to put against my cheek.

—------

It is the next day and we are sitting in the living room with Misa and I on one side of the table and L and light on the other side. Misa is going off about how this isn't fair and how she wants to be alone with Light.. L tells her to ignore us and asks for her cake. She says that cake makes her fat but L is quick with a come back and says that you don’t gain weight if you use your head. That just makes Misa fume, “ What is it with all of you thinking I’m stupid! And I’ll give you the cake if you let me and Light be alone!”

“ Even if we leave you two alone, we’re still going to be watching through the camera”

“ Y/N/N! CAN YOU TELL YOUR CREEPY BOYFRIEND TO STOP BEING A PERVERT!” Misa yells.

I look at her with a blank stare and look at the cake L was eyeing, I reach over and hand it to him. L gives me a slight smile as he begins to munch away at the cake.. Light speaks up and asks L on why we haven’t made much progress.. L goes over his whole speech on what I said was the case when they were confined… But ends his speech with not wanting to try so hard, and that there’s no reason to keep trying. Light gets up calls on Ryuzaki, L turns his head in his direction and the next thing I know L is being punched. Misa and i are quick to get up from our seats in shock! Since L and Light are tied together, L goes flying back and Light goes flying forward. Misa began screaming and steps over a cake, her worries now being that she stepped on a cake which ruined her socks. My attention going back to the boys when L kicks Light in return.. And did i just hear him say “ an eye for an eye my friend?” That’s what i said yesterday, so i wasn’t wrong for hitting Misa back! 

Light begins to accuse L of not being satisfied until he can prove that Light is Kira, which is true. I won’t be satisfied until Light admits that he was once and is Kira. Next thing we know Light punches L again and L goes for another kick. Somehow When Light wants to go for another punch, he elbows my eye. Which catches both of the boys' attention. Light begins to apologize but for some reason I acted before I thought and the next thing I knew I was punching Light across the face. This caught Misa’s attention and now she’s coming in my direction. I duck before she could hit me leaving her to trip over her own feet. I feel arms pull me away from her, I look back quickly ready to go for another hit when it's L.  Light grabs Misa before she can come for me again, though there isn’t much distance between L and Light, they both do their best to keep her and I apart. 

Soon later we hear the phone ring, L reaches over to grab the phone and answers all while still holding on to me just in case I runaway.. Once he hangs up Light asks what it was.. To which L says “Matsuda is acting stupid again.” Light not surprised and says it’s Matsuda’s speciality.. I look at L and Light telling them that Matsuda can hear them, to which both shrug. 

[raveneira]

What are your favourite ships from other animes you like ?

Oh I have a bunch, but I’ll try to name/show as many as I can think of

Fena x Yukimaru

Hanayashi

Haru x Futaba

Ash x Eiji 😭

Rebecca x Asta

YujiKiri, its canon idc.

Edwin, one of my fave OG pairs.

Kyoru

Kisa x Hiro...I just love them ok.

Gruvia

Hak x Yona

Yato x Hiyori

Saito x Louise

Eremin, controversial I know but its canon fars Im concerned, its way better than the actual canon thats for danm sure.

Banri x Linda, this should’ve been endgame idc what anyone says.

Haru x Ellie

Alice x Ryo

Sonamy

Zervis

Gochi

Yusuke x Keiko

Kaname x Sosuke

Ash x Serena

Jimmy x Rachel, yes I prefer their Americanized names lol

Darien x Serena, once again I prefer their Americanized names lol

Killgon, I dont actually SHIP it ship it but I definitely see the potential and I do believe Killua may have a slight crush on Gon, altho Im not sure if Gon reciprocates lol

Takaki x Ashton, LEAVE ME ALONE 😭

Mikazuki x Atra

Yamagi x Shino, LEAVE ME ALONE 😭

Inukag

Kohaku x Rin

Ritowa, I know this ones a bit controversial and I despise Yashahime but I do genuinely find their relationship cute and its possibly one of the few good parts of this god forsaken sequel. Of course I dont want them together currently because of the age gap, but Towa only has 4 years left till she turns 18 so as long as nothing serious happens between them till then Im totally for this ship. Atleast shes not a literal child he raised and is a teen old enough to atleast comprehend this sorta thing and know whats appropriate and what isnt.

Mikayuu...leave...leave me alone please 😭 Im still greiving

Karma x Nagisa, I dunno why I just always found them cute together

Asch x Natalia, they both lived happily ever after the end LEAVE ME ALONE!!!

JoshNeku, I cant fully explain why but I always really liked this messed up ship, theres so many layers and complexity to it that makes it so intriguing and conflicting to ship lol but overall I genuinely do believe Joshua cares for Neku and saw value in him in the end, not as just someone he manipulated in the game and gambled on, but genuinely sees him as a friend after witnessing him selflessly risk his life trusting Joshua when he had every reason to pull the trigger. To me I feel like these two have alot of unresolved issues they need to talk out but Joshua isnt willing to face Neku nor admit he actually cares and wants to be friends for whatever complicated reason he cant. But I believe if whatever wasnt holdin him back he would have joined Neku and the others and the two would’ve reconciled, which is mostly my basis for shipping it lol.

Sormik, its literally canon nobody can convince me otherwise, they have every bit of confirmation minus only an official statement sayin their endgame but honestly who needs that? anyone who’s played the game and watched the anime KNOWS these two are way more than friends and way more than brothers.

Kokichi x Shuichi, like JoshNeku this is a very complex and complicated ship, theres alot of flaws in it but also a ton of possibility. I feel like these two had a chance but missed it because Kokichi was such a constant liar and Shuichi never actually tried to understand him or give him the benefit of the doubt despite him trying to be a better detective, he failed to properly investigate Kokichi and get to the bottom of why he is the way he is and what his true motives were and instead rushed to assume the worst of him, doubting him till the very end. This ship is even more tragic than JoshNeku whereas Joshua and Neku ended up genuinely caring about eachother despite their messed up history, Shuichi completely gave up on Kokichi and vice versa, but you could tell the two did genuinely wanna get along with and get to know one another but simply couldnt because of the constant misunderstandings. Shuichi got impatient with Kokichi and gave up and Kokichi lost hope in befriending Shuichi and gave up on letting anyone in on his plans and resolved to die alone hated by everyone even the one person he had hoped would understand him. Their story is super tragic with so much untapped potential I cant help enjoying it. You could say Im over analyzing and sure maybe in a way I am but thats just how I see it.

Videl x Gohan, this one needs no explanation we all know this is one of the most healthiest if not THE healthiest non problematic ship in the entire DBZverse, its just so wholesom and pure theres really nothing bad to say about it. The one gripe I and many others have is Videl losing her drive as a fighter and retiring to being a housewife, not that being a housewife is bad its just given her potential beforehand and this being a shounen manga its not unusual for us to have expected more for her than just being a housewife. As for Gohan he is father and husband of the year, a million times better than his father was, this is why ppl need to stop sleepin on Chichi because she raised her son right, to be a real man and take care of his family. Gohan may be rusty and takin Ls now on the battlefield but atleast when he comes home he tends to his family instead of going to 10 different planets and mentors trying to get stronger while neglecting his wife and kid in the process.

Those are all the ships that comes to mind right now, sorry for giving so many but there are alot of ships I enjoy lol

[lastxviolet]

Madripoor is for Lovers (Zemo x F!Reader) - Ch. 3

Summary: Y/N is a SWORD agent recruited to help Sam and Bucky track down Karli and the super-soldiers. When Helmut Zemo joins the team, he takes a special interest in her. The friendly union is wrought for disaster, but then things take a turn for the worst when Y/N is taken as collateral. Will Zemo keep her forever? Does she even want to escape? And what happened in Madripoor that made the whole thing so complicated?

Warnings: 18+ / smut / oral sex / f receiving

https://archiveofourown.org/works/32878015/chapters/81589774

The hypnotic bass and Zemo's enthusiastic dance moves almost got you carried away. But over the bouncing crowd, you saw Sharon, Bucky, and Sam on the stairs, looking for you.

“Shit,” you mumbled, breaking the trance. “We gotta go.”

Zemo followed your line of sight and turned to lead you back to the group in silence. You try to hide the disappointment on your face.

“We found him,” Sharon yelled over the music upon your approach.

The five of you went over the plan for tomorrow back in Sharon’s suite. You doubted that even with your experience, you could’ve found Dr. Nagel without Sharon's help. In the states, it was easy to pick a needle out of a haystack, because you always knew what you were looking for. But here, everyone was a criminal. Uncharted territory where you had to find the sharpest needle amongst thousands.

“You good?”

Sam’s voice cut through your thoughts. You looked up and noticed the dissipating group. Sharon showed Bucky to his room, and Zemo sat with his eyes glued to a book on the couch. Only Sam remained standing in front of you, looking like he was about to pass out.

“I’m fine,” you assured him. “Go get some sleep. You look terrible.”

He chuckled and nodded in agreement. “We gotta get the hell out of here. Madripoor has aged me at least ten years.”

“Me too. I miss places where being a criminal makes you the odd one out, not the other way around.”

“Goody two-shoes,” he teased before turning to find his room.

Sharon waved him on from down the hall and they got back into it about her pardon and what she’d missed in the states.

Your attention shifted to the only other person in the room. Zemo’s eyes wasted no time abandoning his book and landing on you as soon as you were alone.

“The Odyssey,” you asked, pointing to his book. “I didn’t take you for someone who enjoys fiction.”

He smiled at the attention and made room for you on the couch.

“I often find that there are elements of truth in every fantasy. The human spirit is sometimes better examined by poets than by professors. This, for instance, is a brilliant study on heroes.”

“Hmm, studying heroes? An attempt to know thy enemy?”

He laughed and turned to you with his elbow up on the back of the couch, bringing him less than a foot away from your face. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw the lights down the hall go out. There were no interruptions, or easy outs, now. All that was left was you, and the only man who’d ever made you truly nervous.

“Y/N, if you were in Odysseus’s place, content and immortal, would you give it up to go back home?”

“You’re asking me if I’d abandon my legacy and family to shack up on an island with some mistress?”

He chuckled and nodded in approval. “Very wise. But what does he gain by leaving? Struggle? Hardship? Mortality?”

You tilted your head to match his. “Are you telling me that you’d stay on the island?”

His expression shifted for the first time since you’d stepped foot in Madripoor. The overconfident, smirking Baron dissolved into a man.

A man who hid the sense of riotousness that he carried with dramatic flair. A man whose charm and wit seemed fabricated.

This man now, fighting off sleepy eyes and grappling with the moral quandary posed, seemed burdened. You wondered if his quest for justice would ever get to be too much. After all the destruction he’d caused, could he still see himself as the exactor of fairness? Were the Avengers still his enemy? Were you?

“No,” he confessed looking down at the copy in his hands.

Your lips twitched but you didn’t smile. “You’d make the hard choice — the hero’s choice if it came down to it.”

He looked almost somber at your words and nodded.

“In another life…perhaps.”

His voice wavered, almost as if he regretted saying it out loud. The briefing that Sam and Bucky had given you about him flashed in your mind.

A hero's choice was the right thing to do; the hard thing to do. You knew that he was a soldier before everything happened. Just like you.

Was that not a hero’s choice?

He tore the Avengers apart in an attempt to stitch up his own heart. An eye for an eye. Avenging his country because its destruction had been glossed over by the world. His loss fueled his anger but he was more capable than most. A man without armor, or mystical abilities was able to wreak havoc on those who had wronged him.

Was that heroism?

If losing those you love didn’t permit revenge, you weren't sure what did.

He broke the silence by tapping his knuckle on the book.

“It is the perfect testament to the valiance of heroes,” he continued. "But, I must say that the wisest thing Odysseus did was marry his wife.”

You laughed and nodded, remembering how she saved the day. Without her, Odysseus’s homecoming would’ve been much more perilous for him.

“I often find that behind every great man is an even better woman.”

He smirked and didn’t miss a beat. “Like you with…your Avengers.”

“I stand beside them,” you corrected.

He raised an eyebrow and waved a hand. “Semantics."

You gave him an eye roll in return.

He smiled then, wider than you had ever seen. It almost made him seem shy. Perhaps it was because he was making a genuine point, masked in humor.

You were well aware of your importance to this mission and yet burdened by the fact that it didn’t make you a member of their special club. When this was all over, you wouldn’t be an Avenger, or anywhere close. You’d go back to S.W.O.R.D to wait until called upon again. It hadn’t occurred to you before, but there was a pang of sadness there where the thought rested. It’d be a mistake to let Zemo know but it seemed to be too late.

“You’re making fun of me.”

His hand brushed yours. “No. I am merely expressing my concerns about your allegiances.”

Still aware of the small amount of alcohol left in your system, you looked away from his quirked moving lips.

“Enlighten me, Baron. What wrong decisions do you think I’m making?”

Frozen in place, you let him brush his fingers along your wrist to your arm. He took his time, tracing patterns on your skin and inspecting his work with an unwavering gaze. Only when his thumb caressed your cheek, and his hand landed on your neck did he look you in the eyes again. The air in your lungs was gone and your body betrayed you with a furious eruption of butterflies.

“Living a hero’s life,” he said somber-eyed and serious.

Your heart rate quickened. As if you’d learned nothing in S.W.O.R.D about manipulation, you were back to watching his lips. They parted slightly, as if he had something else to say but thought better of it.

A hero.

You didn't feel like one.

A sidekick, maybe. But even then, no one knew your name. No one sang your praises at home or breathed a sigh of relief knowing you were out there in the world fighting evil. It seemed that the only one who thought of you as more than an assistant was Zemo.

Your heart felt heavy then. The two of you were impossible. An inconceivable pair brought together by chance.

But that didn’t make his dark eyes any less enticing or his words any less intoxicating.

That didn’t make you any further from his lips.

He was a breath away, but so was your own destruction.

In another life, the island might tempt you.

“Look,” you said glancing past him to find something to change the subject. “It’s a full moon.”

Without sparing him another glance, you crossed the floor in four quick steps to the large windows. Never one to give up easily, you heard him follow close behind.

He beat you there and pushed open the glass door before gesturing towards the balcony in silence.

You looked down at your feet until the skyline drew your eyes. The plan to diffuse the tension had not worked in the slightest. The moonlit balcony overlooking the beautiful city had only made it worse.

You heard him stop a few feet from you and then settle on the lone armchair. The reality of the situation hit you like a train. Away from the windows, you had privacy. This high up no one would see you and everyone else was in bed. You'd meant to creep out of the lion's den but instead, you'd locked yourself in.

“The moon is a friend for the lonesome to talk to,” Zemo mused from behind you.

“Carl Sanburg,” you confirmed, so he knew you didn't think he'd made it up.

Both of you were silent then. Swaying in the tension you'd built. Sanity pulling you back inside, inexplicable hope keeping you planted in place.

“Are you lonely, Baron?”

The words fell from your lips more delicate and intimate than you had meant them to. You let slip that you cared about his answer. That you might even care to cure him of the ailment.

“Me? No.”

You turned and scoffed.

“Liar. You were in a cell for years and you hardly talk to anyone now that you’re out.”

He leaned back in the chair, arms on either rest and a leg crossed with the ankle of his right knee. His demeanor was harmless in the same way that a predator poised to pounce was. Elegant, still, and ready for the kill.

“Not true,” he corrected. “I talk to you.”

“One person isn’t enough,” you said, taking a step closer.

Were you walking into disaster? Or being pulled? You couldn't tell the difference between his seduction and your own reckless desires any longer.

“The right person though…can be,” he half-whispered. “And you, Y/N, are more than I deserve.”

He gazed up at you from the chair. Kings throughout history, in war-won golden thrones and elegant capes, paled in comparisons to how regal he looked. Anointed with a crown of moonlight, ruling over whomever he pleased.

Your eyes widened with the admission. “Baron — ”

“Helmut, please.” He stood then and met you near the railing, his hand grazing your hip. “Only if for tonight.”

You shook your head, knowing this was a bad idea. His hand made its way to your waist regardless. He pulled you against his chest before searching your eyes for any signal that you were going to run. You knew he’d find nothing. You knew you mirrored his look of lust with blown pupils and flushed cheeks.

“Have I gone too far,” he whispered, bringing his other hand to brush loose hair behind your ear.

“No,” you sighed, letting him pull you closer and brush his lips to your cheek and jaw.

“Tell me if I do,” he whispered again before finally capturing your lips with his.

You uttered no complaints as his tentative kiss turned bruising and possessive. His arms wound around your waist, crushing you into him. But you needed to feel closer. He grunted as you sprung to action, flinging your arms around his neck, deepening the desperate kiss. He tasted like whiskey and something sweet. A cool breeze brushed against the exposed parts of your body. You let your hands wander beneath his coat, chasing warmth and proximity. He let you do as you please, only insisting that his lips stayed on yours.

You let out a whimper as his hand explored the front of your dress. He stopped to press his warm hand against your breast, before holding your face.

It was then that he pulled away, steadying your searching lips with a grip on your chin.

“Ich esse nicht,” he sighed, kissing a pattern to your ear. “Ich schlafe nicht, ich tue nichts anderes, als an dich zu denken.”

His teeth grazed your pulse point, leaving you gasping for air.

“I don’t speak German,” you managed to stutter out.

A hand slid up the back of your dress, gripping the zipper before undoing it in one swift motion and the fabric fell to the floor. The cool air seized your naked torso for only a moment before Zemo pressed himself against you again. The coat you’d complained about before, now provided warmth and security. You tipped your head back, almost over the edge of the balcony as he continued worshipping your neck and chest.

“I don’t eat, I don’t sleep,” he said between wet open-mouthed kisses on your breasts. His hot mouth left purple spots that cooled instantly in the chilly night air.

“I do nothing but think of you,” he finished before toying with your hardened nipple between his teeth.

You moaned then, louder than you should’ve, and let your eyes flutter open. The world was upside-down but you made no motion to move. You were making Madripoor proud by being pressed up against a balcony by an international criminal.

Utterly pleased with himself, Zemo raised his face back towards yours, leaning you both over the edge.

“Shhh liebling,” he cooed.

He pulled you back over, kissing your shoulder before removing his jacket and draping it over you. Each brush of his lips feeling more improper than the last.

“We would not want your friends to see you like this.”

In the next second, he swept you off of your feet and hoisted you into his strong arms. You watched the world sway around you and then settle when he placed you on the lounge chair, letting you get some warmth back from the coat and cushions.

He draped one of your legs over an armrest, exposing you to him except for a thin pair of underwear.

“Not with you spread open for me,” he growled. He towered over you for only a moment before kneeling between your legs. The man whose stature made him the tallest amongst giants; the most important in any room he chose, knelt before you.

“What would they say,” he mumbled in a trace. His hands gripped both of your thighs, causing an eruption of goosebumps across your whole body. “If they saw you like this, with me?”

He looked up at you then, raising an eyebrow, and tracing the inside of your thigh with his thumb.

You answered him breathlessly. “They’d tell you to stop.”

“And what would you say to that?”

His voice sent shockwaves through your system. Dark and sultry, with a hint of danger. You threw your head back again, barely able to keep a single thought straight. Your body shuddered but you couldn’t tell if it was from the cold or the need for his touch. When you looked back to him, he was surveying your body with the hunger of a starved wolf.

“Would you want me to stop?” His voice was gentle and sweet then, asking in earnest.

“Meine Liebe," he taunted you for consent as he flashed a smirk and pulled something from his pocket.

Cold metal grazed your thigh. A moan escaped your throat as he unsheathed a serrated knife and caressed your skin with the dull side.

“I wouldn’t want you to stop,” you gasped, almost vibrating with anticipation. “I don’t want you to stop — Helmut — please don’t stop.”

He chucked again, before focusing his attention on the area between your legs. You bucked slightly as the icy knife slid underneath the fabric. He made one strong slash upwards and you felt the fabric fall away from your wet core. One of his hands gripped your ass, but only for a second before he tore the rest of the fabric from your body.

“How could I ever withhold something from you, liebling?” His nose grazed your inner thigh, inching closer and closer to where you needed him most. It was only a moment before you felt his breath between your legs.

“How cruel it would be,” he growled. You moaned and slapped a hand over your mouth as he kissed your sensitive bundle of nerves. “To not give you everything.”

His tongue swirled against you in a tantalizing pattern, stroking you deliciously. He licked you methodically like he was reading the blueprint of your body right then and there. He held each thigh in a punishing grip, pressing you deeper into the cushions as he made a meal of you. The stars above your head blurred and the universe shifted.

If this was your destruction then it was illustrious. You'd do it over and over again until you landed in a cell right next to him.

“Helmut,” you whined with a heaving chest.

“Tell me what you want,” he mumbled between flicks of his tongue. “And it is yours.”

You would’ve begged him to let you cum but he beat you to it, making your back arch and mouth fall open in ecstasy. You trembled beneath him, over and over, but he didn’t let up. Your legs strained from being extended by his unflinching hands. You tried to stutter something out to him but no sound came except for content sighs and haphazard gasps. But his eyes remained closed regardless of the noise.

Without his mouth on you, he would’ve been mistakable for a good Christian, deep in prayer. Brow's furrowed in focus and devotion; lips moving in silent divine appeals. Only he could make you feel worthy of an alter. You couldn't picture anyone ever worshipping you in the same way again. It was his, you thought. I am his.

Lost in pleasure and shock, you reached up to run your nails against his scalp. Only then did he release you, and raise to meet your waiting lips as they trembled.

“You,” was all you could manage to whisper. “Only you.”

He pulled you from the seat, to wrap your legs around him. You brought your forehead to his and let him pepper you with chaste kisses.

“When I have you,” he said, before pulling the coat around you again. “It will be in a proper bed.”

You stared at him, confused and overwhelmed. The space between your legs ached with a longing to be filled but he let your legs fall away, and stood up.

“We can’t…I mean not now — they’ll hear.”

Zemo smiled and nodded while looking for something on the ground. After a moment of searching, he picked up the torn pieces of the red underwear you had been wearing. Before you could retrieve it, he pocketed the shorn fabric and stared you straight in the eyes.

“Worry not, Y/N,” he purred, reaching a hand out to help you up. “We have all the time in the world.”

[zukoszukhoes]

Don’t Speak- Part 3

Zuko x reader soulmate au

// warnings: violence and death

// read part 1 and part 2

"Get up." A voice snapped you out of your dreams. "Get up!" The voice yanked your covers off of you. "Get dressed, and quickly."

"Why?" You frowned, rubbing the sleep out of your eyes.

"Because," your mother said, throwing you a ceremonial robe. "The Fire Lord has requested your presence at the palace."

~~~

The carriage ride to the palace was... uncomfortable, to say the least.

Zuko would never say it out loud, but he was desperate for you to forgive him. Now that his father had requested to meet you- his son's soulmate- he was terrified of putting you off even more. His father was imposing and cruel, and Zuko knew it. He knew that seeing his father would only reaffirm everything you hated about the Fire Nation- and him. He couldn't figure out what to say to you on the ride to the palace, so the two of you sat in silence. That is, until you noticed Zuko staring at you.

"Stop staring at me," you snapped, crossing your arms. You'd been feeling jittery all day; you couldn't stop thinking about your impending meeting with the Firelord. What would you say? What would he say?

"Sorry." Zuko cleared his throat and looked out the window. You followed his line of sight, searching for something to distract yourself from your nerves. Rolling hills and flocks of koala-sheep passed by as the carriage bumbled along. Looking at the fields, you could forget for a moment who you were and where you were going.

"We're going to have to stop for the night," Zuko murmured absentmindedly, looking out at the setting sun. "I'll ask the driver to pull over."

"Pull over? Is there an inn nearby?" You frowned.

"We can't stay in an inn. It's too exposed. We'll set up our own campsite where it'll be easier for the guards to watch us."

Your face paled. "A campsite?'

Zuko smirked, raising an eyebrow. "What, you can't handle a little camping?"

You were the child of a government official with your own estate. You had never been camping in your life!

"Of course I can handle camping!" You lied. "I was just surprised that the crown prince of the Fire Nation would stoop to sleeping on the ground."

Zuko glanced at you. "You're a terrible liar, you know."

You glowered and crossed your arms. "And you're short."

"Hey!" Zuko cried.

Before you could respond, the carriage jolted to a stop. The driver came to the side of the carriage and opened the door. "We're setting up camp for the night. If you would please follow me to your tents." He gestured out.

Looking at the guards setting up tents and a campfire, you frowned. It was going to be a difficult night.

~~~

Shivering in your sleeping bag, you mentally cursed Zuko for making you sleep in a tent.

Needless to say, camping was turning out to really not be your thing.

First of all, it was freezing. You hadn't packed your cloak because it was summer- in the Fire Nation- and you'd naturally assumed you wouldn't need it. Then, Zuko had made fun of you because of said lack of coat, and you couldn't think of anything to make fun of him for. And lastly, your servants had forgotten to pack an extra tent, so you had to share with Zuko.

"Can you please stop moving so much?" Zuko grumbled suddenly, his voice heavy with sleep.

"I'm cold. Maybe I'd be able to fall asleep if you'd bothered to bring any extra blankets," You groused, curling up tighter in your sleeping bag.

"Maybe if you'd remembered to bring your cloak you wouldn't be so cold," Zuko retorted.

"It's the middle of summer!"

"So that means I'm responsible for reminding you it gets cold at night?"

You glowered at the darkness, annoyed that you couldn't think of anything to say in response. Zuko let out a sigh, and before you knew what was happening, an arm was around you pulling you back into a warm chest.

You lurched up, pushing the chest away. "What are you doing?" You hissed, glaring daggers at Zuko. Zuko reached up and grabbed your wrist, tugging you back into his chest. He wrapped his arms around you until you were fully encased- and totally stuck. You went rigid, your heartbeat skyrocketing at the proximity.

"You said you were cold," Zuko replied bluntly.

"Oh," you squeaked out, your cheeks going red. You certainly were feeling warmer; Zuko's body was like a furnace, enveloping you in a cocoon of warmth. You breathed in deeply, succumbing to his scent of cardamom and smoke. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Zuko murmured, his lips brushing your hair lightly. Tingles raced down your spine at the contact.

"Zuko?' You whispered quietly.

"Hmm?" Zuko hummed, already falling back asleep.

"Why are you being so nice to me?"

"Because," Zuko yawned. "I'm going to make things right between us."

You chuckled. "Is that so?"

Zuko nodded, bumping his nose against your forehead. "It is."

For a moment, you laid in Zuko's arms, letting his words sink in. Somehow, it was both infuriating and charming that Zuko was so determined to make things right with you- no matter how futile it may be. But, knowing what you did about Zuko, you couldn't say you were surprised; determination was in his blood.

"Zuko? Are you still awake?" You whispered.

You were met with nothing except for the quiet wisps of Zuko's breath over your face. With a quiet sigh, you settled in Zuko's grip. Before you knew it, fatigue pulled you into a deep cardomom-smoke-scented dream.

~~~

After being woken up the next morning by a very flustered guard, you journeyed for three more hours until you approached the imperial city. By the time you reached the palace, you were less concerned with meeting the Firelord and more concerned with getting something to eat. After 3 hours in a carriage, you were starving. But before you had the chance to get something to eat, a fire sage latched onto you and began to pull you towards the throne room.

"Come. There is no time to waste. The Firelord wants to see you immediately." He said, tugging you towards the inside of the palace.

Zuko's hand fell on the Fire Sage's wrist, stopping him in his tracks. "It's been a long journey. I'm sure my father can wait until y/n has had something to eat," Zuko said sternly.

The Fire Sage tightened his grip on your arm, looking at Zuko sternly. "The Firelord demands Mr/Miss L/n's presence."

Zuko glared back, tightening his grip on the sage's arm. "I already told you, y/n is hungry-"

"I'll meet with the Firelord." You cut Zuko off, giving him a pointed look. "There will be plenty of time to eat afterwards."

Zuko glowered at the Fire Sage, but let you leave nonetheless. The Fire Sage smirked and turned, beckoning you down the hallway. "Come. The Firelord does not tolerate tardiness."

Zuko shot you a worried glance, but you were already flanked by two guards, being ushered down the hall towards the throne room. You pushed your shoulders back, hoping to project an air of confidence. Everyone seemed terrified of the Firelord, but you were determined to remain composed. Really, how scary could he really be?

~~~ Very scary.

Thats how scary he could be.

You knelt before the Firelord's throne, sweat beading your brow from the inferno  blazing between yourself and the throne. Every breath you took seemed to echo painfully loud in the large throne room, which held nothing to dampen your sounds besides the large golden columns supporting the roof. There were no lights except for the Firelord's own fire, which burned so bright and high that you couldn't make out any of his features except for the whites of his eyes, narrowed and hardened as they inspected you. A shiver raced down your spine.

"So," the Firelord began, his voice a slow drawl. "This is my son's soulmate?" He paused for a moment, seeming to inspect you up and down. "I've heard quite a bit about you. Specifically, about your hatred of the Fire Nation. What's your name, traitor?"

A bead of sweat slipped down the back of your neck. "Y/n L/n," you replied, making sure to keep your voice even.

"Y/n L/n," Ozai repeated, your name sliding off of his tongue with a sneer. "Quite frankly, I'm unimpressed. Tell me, y/n, what makes you think you deserve to be here? Considering your past, I should have you banished for treason."

"I don't control fate, Firelord Ozai. I just follow it." The words tumbled out of your mouth before you could stop yourself.

The fire in front of the throne spiked. "You would do well to watch your tongue, child. Don't you know who you're speaking to?"

"I was only trying to say-"

"Silence!" The Firelord boomed, cutting you off. "I can see why you and my son are a match. You are both incapable of showing basic respect." He glared down at you, the flames burning so high they almost touched the ceiling. "I will not stand for this! I brought you here to see if you would be a good match for my son. But clearly you would only bring shame and humiliation to the Fire Nation were you ever to enter this family."

Your chest burned with anger. How dare he insult you like that? "I was never planning on joining the royal family, Your Highness-"

"Be quiet!" He snapped. "You have shown me nothing but disrespect since your arrival. First you refuse to meet with me, and now you disobey me! You're lucky I don't kill you where you stand." He leaned forward. "Because you are Prince Zuko's soulmate, I will spare you- but not without conditions. You will leave the palace immediately. And if you ever speak to my son again, I will not spare you a second time."

Your hands shook with anger. Ozai may have been the Firelord, but he had no right to tell you or Zuko who to love or what to do. You may not have wanted to be with Zuko, but you wouldn't stand by while he manipulated his own son's life.

"With all due respect, Firelord Ozai," you replied, blood boiling in your veins. "Your son wants me here. So I won't be leaving. Not until Zuko tells me to go. I appreciate your mercy, but Zuko is not a child- he doesn't need you deciding what is best for him anymore."

The Firelord gripped the sides of his throne so hard his knuckles turned white. His hands burned red with anger, heating up until the metal beneath them melted away. "Get out of my sight!" He roared.

You stood up and scurried out of the room as fast as you could, Ozai's anger echoing behind you. Once you left the room, your hands started to shake as the realization of what you'd just done washed over you.

You'd disrespected the Firelord. Oh, god, you'd disrespected the Firelord!

Your heart began to pound. What were you thinking? He was sure to kill you now! And what about Zuko-

You collided with a torso. A small "oof" escaped your lips and you toppled backwards, but before you could fall, a hand wrapped around your wrist and pulled you back up.

"Are you alright?" Zuko's golden eyes looked down at you with concern.

Great. Zuko. Just who you wanted to see.

"I'm fine," you lied, swallowing nervously.

Zuko narrowed his eyes and dropped your wrist. "You're a terrible liar." He repeated the words from the day before, but without any humor.

You glared. "I'm not lying. I'm fine."

"What happened with my father?" Zuko asked.

A fresh jolt of fear shot down your spine at the reminder of Ozai. An image of his hatred-filled sneer flashed in your mind. "Um... it was fine..."

Zuko cocked an eyebrow. "What did he say?"

"Um..." you began to sweat nervously. "He kind of told me to leave. And never come back. Or talk to you ever again."

"What?" Zuko's eyes widened.

You winced. "Look, I didn't mean for it to go the way it did, it just kind of happened-"

Zuko gripped your arm tightly. "You need to leave. Now."

"What?" You blanched. "Zuko, I'm not going to let him push me around-"

"You don't understand. You just put yourself in serious danger."

"I'm not going to let myself be bullied! I don't care if he's the Firelord- I'm staying." You ripped your wrist out of Zuko's grasp and crossed your arms. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to bed. I've had a long day."

"Y/n, wait-" Zuko reached for you, but you stepped away from his touch, sending him a scowl.

"Goodnight, Zuko." You stalked off to your room, blood boiling. And although you knew staying was the right thing to do (albeit the stupid thing to do), it didn’t stop you from praying to God that your conversation with the Firelord wouldn't come to haunt you the next day.

~~~

A boom woke you up from your slumber.

You bolted upright, heart beating fast. Something was wrong. The smell of smoke filled your nostrils and guards yelled outside. You ran to the window, following the commotion, and gasped at what you saw.

Oh no.

Opposite to your room, the roof of another room was completely caved in, with smoke bellowing out of a jagged hole. A fire raged in the windows. Guards frantically tried to calm the fire, some splashing buckets of water into the smoke and others waving large blankets to try and quell the flames, but it was no use.

"Idiot!" You heard one guard roar to the ones fanning the flames. "You're only making it worse!"

"Well, what else are we supposed to do?!" The other guard retorted angrily. As if the fire was listening to them, it roared up through the hole angrily, sending the soldiers stumbling back.

Suddenly, the doors to your room burst open. Two guards rushed in, brandishing swords.

"Sifu L/n! You need to come with us immediately! You aren't safe here!" One of the guards barked.

All of the blood drained from your face. "What?"

"Quickly, there's no time to waste-" the other guard started, but before she could finish, a hand reached out from behind the door and grabbed her. The guard let out a muffled scream, desperately reaching for her weapon. But before she could retaliate, her attacker pulled out their own knife and plunged it into the guard's side. The guard immediately crumpled to the floor, crimson blood seeping out onto the tiles.

You cried out in shock, stumbling against the windowsill. Your heart began to thump frantically in your chest. The guard- someone killed her-

What is going on?

The other guard leapt for the attacker with a roar. The attacker stepped aside and quickly punched the guard in the side of his head as he landed, sending the guard sprawling onto the floor. The attacker kicked the guard in the stomach, making him grunt in pain. The attacker raised his arm with the knife, preparing to strike-

"Stop it!" You cried, rushing over before you even realized what you were doing. You grabbed the attacker's arm. The attacker whirled to you, eyes burning bright with hatred. "Leave him alone!" You yelled.

The attacker sneered. "As you wish." And before you could register what was happening, the attacker twisted his arm out of your hand, spun, and stabbed the knife directly in your gut.

A scream clawed its way out of your throat, pain instantly blossoming where the knife was. Eyes wide with shock, you fell to your knees. Sound dulled around you, replaced by the dull throb of your blood surging around the knife. You barely registered the roar of the conflict outside of your window; all you could hear was the rush of blood to your ears.

Still sneering down at you, the attacker kicked you in the chest, sending you sprawling backwards. Your back hit the ground and you let out a scream, pain flooding your senses.

The attacker looked over you, his dark eyes glinting with malicious intent. "Next time, show your Firelord some respect." He hissed.

Somewhere in the back of your mind, you realized that Firelord Ozai had done this to you. He wanted you dead.

And he was going to get what he wanted.

The attacker reached down and pulled the knife from your abdomen. You let out a low moan, pain flooding your senses. The attacker raised the blood-covered knife, letting it shine in the light of the fire. "Say goodbye, Y/n L/n."

He brought his hand down, the knife headed straight for your heart-

A hand grabbed the attacker's wrist, holding it just inches away from your chest.

Zuko glared down at the attacker, eyes burning with fury. "Goodbye."

With a blast of fire, he kicked the attacker away, sending him flying across the room and into the wall. Flame shot across the room towards the attacker, the man jumping out of the way just in time before he could be burned. But Zuko was relentless, attacking the assassin again and again until he was cornered.

Zuko advanced on the attacker slowly, fire engulfing his fists. He raised his hand, preparing to strike-

The attacker punched him square in the jaw, sending Zuko tumbling back. Zuko swore, bringing his hand to his chin. The attacker ducked under Zuko's arm and ran to the door. He paused in the doorway, glancing at you. He smirked. "My work here is done." And then, as soon as he came, he was gone.

As if on cue, you coughed, blood trickling down your chin. Your legs started to tingle and the ceiling started to spin.

"Y/n!" Zuko cried. His face appeared above you, contorted with worry. He looked to your wound and went white as a sheet. "Don't worry... I'll get you help... I won't let you die!"

"Zuko..." you croaked. "It's... my fault... I'm sorry..."

"Stop. Stop it! It's not your fault. You're going to be fine!" He said, but the panic in his eyes betrayed his true feelings.

You reached out and grabbed his hand. Even if you were still dying, Zuko had saved you. Lying on the floor, knowing your life was in danger, you had a moment of clarity.

It was true that Zuko had done many bad things. But he'd helped you when you were in your hour of need. You could see now that you’d been judging Zuko two-dimensionally- seeing only his pain, and not his heart underneath. Looking into Zuko’s golden eyes, seeing his bright spirit and honorable soul, you realized you’d been wrong about him. Zuko wasn't a bad person; He was a good man. 

And another realization hit you: you didn't want to die without telling your soulmate that.

"Zuko... I... forgive you..." you rasped. "For everything..."

Zuko shook his head. "Stop apologizing. You have nothing to be sorry for. I was a horrible person-"

"You are a great person," you rushed out, more blood spilling over your lips. "I'm sorry... for what I said... I'm sorry... we don't have more time together..."

Zuko shook his head furiously. "No. No. You are not dying. We're going to have more time, y/n. It's not over..." But looking into your eyes, watching the light slowly fade, he realized he was wrong.

"Sing me... a song..." you smiled, reaching up for Zuko.

A tear spilled down Zuko's cheek and he nodded silently. He began to stroke your hair softly, a broken melody spilling from his lips:

Leaves from the vine

Falling so slow

Like fragile tiny shells

Drifting in the foam

Staring into Zuko's eyes, peace washed over you. Somewhere you were aware of a fire in your belly, but it didn't matter; the feel of Zuko's fingers brushing your head and his voice in your ear took away the pain.

Little soldier boy

Come marching home

Brave soldier boy

Comes marching home

A soft sigh escaped your lips and your eyes fluttered shut. Somewhere, a voice was asking you not to go, but it was too late; you were at peace, floating down a river into darkness until nothing hurt anymore.

Taglist:

@the-resident-demon @undiadeestos @svgakookie @bucky-blogs @394pitterpatterpotter394 @sifucuteness @riespage @lovelylahey @petcrpqrker @blue-and-yellow-jjk-pjm @starstrucknature @mayalovesyou @callums-keith @emogril @tomhollandsthirdwife @la-lay @bubblebars @celamoon @imamom-makingadifference @justab-eautifulmess @thyunnamed @revemixer @snickerdoodleeee @thatpeachybandgirl @witch-of-space-jams @seducethis72 @coldlilheart @aamcqueeny @cosmicqueenieb @i-am-not-a-thot @icareabouteverythxng @saaaasib @velveteencurls @whalerus @euphoricmads @count-thotticus @minninugget @creepytoes88 @dwkwardnesshabitat @fuckofflife69 @ask-veronica-sawyer-heathers @thenutellabreadsticks @coalsmind​ @yungisseesaw​ @littleladdty​ @youtxbemusic​

[nightwingshero]

WIP Tag

I was tagged by @minilev and @simonxriley, thank you!!!

Tagging: @strafethesesinners @water-writings @pen-in-hand @theknifegame @chyrstis @smithandrogers @lilwritingraven @chuckhansen @fadedjacket @geronimo-11 @scungilliwoman @shellibisshe @witchofinterest @witchesconstellation @aceghosts @archetypesinthefog and whoever wants to share!

So...my Far Cry 5 babes are coming back.

Wren’s first Baptism and, if you look closely, Randy’s cameo/debut. 

“Don’t kill her! John wants them alive, use the bliss bullets!” Bliss bullets? I pulled my pistol back out, taking aim from around the tree to return fire. I didn’t understand what they were talking about, all I knew was I needed to get the hell out of here, and quickly. I was outnumbered and injured, clearly at a disadvantage. I was trying to come up with a solution, anything, that would help me get out of this mess. A panic attack was beginning to work its way in, and I fought as hard as I could to keep from hyperventilating. I reloaded and my vision swam. Reds and greens becoming vibrant, making anything solid turn blurry. Small lights danced in my vision, I couldn’t tell if they were stars or lightening bugs, or something else entirely. Was I going blind? I began to feel tired, my body becoming heavy. I stumbled from my cover, my mind trying to tell me that that was a terrible idea, but I suddenly couldn’t remember why.

“Ow.” I said as I landed on my knees, my hands palm up as I began to attempt to study them. My body teetered off balance, and I tried to catch myself, rocks and twigs cutting into the very palms I was looking at merely seconds before. I heard cheering far away, but I couldn’t remember where I was or whom I was with. I finally collapsed, my body now too much to hold up. My arms and legs were jelly, my brain like static. My eye began to close as I felt hands lift me. I tried to reach for something before everything went completely black and I was gone.

 “This one?” a male voice echoed as I fought against heavy eyelids to see a blurred night sky. I saw a man in the corner of my eye with a wool sweater and messy hair, pointing to something on the ground.

“No. This one.” Another male voiced, his voice deep and well-spoken. Had it been any other situation, I would dare say it was soothing.

The scruffy man found his way to me, leaning over as he studied me with confusion. “Doesn’t seem very worthy.”

“It is not for us to judge.” The other man came into view, and he was much more put together than his companion. His dark hair was neat, and beard trimmed. He donned a trench coat, giving him an air of importance. “Deliver her unto the waters. The Cleansing begins tonight.” The grungy man reached for me just as I faded back to blackness.

The falling out with John that leads to the Atonement

“I warned you, Wren. I told—”

“Yeah, you told me to stay away. And maybe then it’ll keep the resistance from Jacob’s region, right? That’s what it’s all about, right?” I demanded as my heart tugged painfully. His brow furrowed and suddenly, just like that, I was looking at a mask.

“My brothers mean everything to me, Deputy. I’ll do anything for them.”

“Except open your heart, right?” I sneered as I ignored the jab that I felt at him using my title. “Joseph asked you to love, but you can’t, can you? That’s what he had said to you that night you almost drowned me. ‘You have to love them, John.’ How’s that going for you? How’s Hudson?” He said nothing for a moment, just stared at me. That only made it worse, my insecurities screaming at me, forcing my panic and anger to grow.

“She’s right where you left her.” He replied lowly and my breath staggered as I felt the preverbal punch in the gut. I clenched my fists as tears pooled in my eyes.

“Right. That’s on me. How stupid of me, right? It was so easy for you, wasn’t it?” His brow furrowed a bit before he hid his confusion once more, but it was enough to keep me going. “That’s all it was to you, some fucking game. The ultimate conquest. Get the Deputy to fall in your bed, make her fall for you while the resistance suffered for it. I should’ve fucking known better.” A flash of hurt crossed his features and my mouth went dry as I regretted it immediately. But he only just glared at me and took a step forward.

“What happens between my brothers and I is none of your concern. I wanted you to join—”

“Oh, right. How could I forget about that? Manipulating me by luring me into your fucking bed—”

“I didn’t hear you complaining!” he snapped.

“No, I suppose you didn’t because for once in my fucking life, I believed that someone could fucking love me!” I screamed. “I thought I finally found someone who didn’t ask me for anything, who didn’t want something from me. God, I was so fucking wrong! You’re just like them! You manipulated and lied to me to try and get me to join this stupid cult of yours, so your brother wouldn’t kick you out!”

“I have never lied to you!” he snapped, and he took another step forward as he pointed at me. “I may be a lot of things, but a liar is not one of them. And don’t you dare use Joseph against me. You don’t know anything—"

“Oh?” I laughed bitterly as I took a step forward, forcing him back a step. “I know that you’re scared, John. So fucking scared because Joseph tied our fates together, and I’m still running around causing hell. You were so scared that you fucked me, manipulated me, thinking that it would keep me on a leash, but guess what? It didn’t work, did it?! No! Your brother is fucking insane—" He caught me off by chuckling, dark and bitter. He looked at me with a twisted smirk, anger burning in his eyes. There was a darkness coiling, I could practically taste the wrath coming off him in waves, and I knew then that the line had been crossed.

“What if Joseph was right? Did you ever stop to think about that?” He taunted lowly. “Everyone thinks he’s crazy, but he’s not. Look around you, the world is on the brink. You can feel it in your bones. Look at the headlines. Look at who’s in charge!” he yelled suddenly, making me jump a bit. He grabbed his key, making a show of it. His knuckles turning white as he held it tightly, I thought for sure it would break. “You want this key because you think you’re saving people, but they’re already safe. We have a plan. You don’t understand. You don’t believe. You don’t CARE!” He screamed as he turned away from me, knocking a stack of files to the floor before placing his hands on his hips. His heavy breathing making his shoulders rise and fall rapidly. “So fucking wrathful, you’re looking for every reason to unleash it on anyone who gets a step too close. I don’t think you care about anything else. It doesn’t fucking matter to you, it never did. Our fates being tied…what consequences that come with it. You’d rather let it consume you, even after everything. You’d rather have the emptiness than…this…and that is disappointing.”

My heart broke, shattering into pieces as the silence hung heavy. I took a step back as the tears fell. I turned, grabbing my gear, and ran out the door. I fished out the keys from my pocket as I jumped into my jeep. My fingers shook as I fiddled with my seatbelt. I jumped as I heard the slam of my passenger door. Turning I saw Randy as he put his seatbelt on, giving me a quick nod once he was settled in. I wanted to ask but thought better of it. I just needed to get the fuck out of here. I started the car, put it in drive, and slammed on the gas. Something in me wanted nothing more than to turn around, to apologize. I wanted him, wanted to take it all back. Kiss him until we were both forgiven, everything forgotten. But I couldn’t. There was nothing to go back to.

“Deputy!” Jess called over the radio. “We’re heading to the Jessop Conservatory. You coming?” I looked at Randy and he looked back. John was expecting me to go to Jacob’s region. If he were to send anyone after me, he would send them there. For once, I was thankful for Jess’s timing. I sighed as I picked up the radio.

“Yeah, I’m coming.”

Wren’s fight with Faith

“He had to choose, you know. Between saving a Herald—the sister of the Baptist…or you. He chose you.” I turned back with eyes wide, and her tears finally fell. “I thought the Father was taking from me in the beginning, taking who I was away from me. But that wasn’t true. He was giving me the chance to help others the way he had helped me. He offered me salvation. And I want the same for you.” She tilted her head slightly. “I know you see John in the Bliss; I’ve known for a while.” She looked back over my shoulder once again. “If you kill me, Wren, you will have to kill the others because that’s how it has to be. There would be no going back, the choice would be made. It would hurt him; it would hurt John deeply and put things so far into motion that you won’t be able change it. You know this, don’t you?”

I look at the river, flowing swiftly and offering a soothing melody. “Yes,” I whispered. “I can feel it.”

“Which is why you’re standing here in front of me.” She whispered. “I know that you feel it, and we both know that Jacob would be next. Instead of just hurting one side, you will hurt both. You will ruin John, while destroying yourself in that process. One path will lead to John, the other to heartbreak. Is it worth it? Because if it is, continue. Kill me, I won’t fight you. But you can go back, it’s not too late. It’s not too late for both of you.”

[ladyanput]

Spots Drawn in Marker Pt.1

Based on the AU by @miraculous-of-salt

(I promise this isn't full on bashing.)

Marinette sighed ever so softly as she tapped her pencil against her sketchbook. Today was not seeming to be an inspirational day and she had a portfolio to finish by the end of the month. 

"And I just couldn't believe that Jagged's concert was almost cancelled. But he called me and I filled him with such inspiration and determination that he just couldn't help but rock out." Lila spoke in an airy, wistful tone that Marinette had no doubt she practiced to get just right. "He said I could even get VIP passes to his next show, thanks to what I did, as many as I want."

Well there goes any and all hope for any inspiration this morning. Lila just leeched any creativity out of any room she's in.

"Do you think I could get one?" Alya piped up, beaming over at Lila as she recorded the entire conversation. "I mean, since we're besties, I'd love an interview with Jagged. Lately he's been very tight lipped about a lot of things."

"Of course, Alya, anything for my second best friend!" Lila hugged the girl, beaming brightly as Alya began posting the recording on her blog.

Marinette merely rolled her eyes and settled back in her seat in the back of the class, going back to sketching her ideas for the morning. A beautiful scarf, maybe a nice warm sweater… Marinette was quickly lost in a world of design, a world she could have control of. It was something she had often turned to after Lila had caused her life to go spiralling into a pit where her friends brushed off her concerns for the lies of a shiny new toy.

Marinette was so caught up in her sketching, that she didn't notice when Miss Bustier came in, guiding along a girl who shared a wink with Lila. If only she had noticed.

"Class, we have a new student joining us today. This is Rébecca, she just transferred to our school today. I hope you will all give her a warm welcome." Bustier beamed at her class as many of her students mumbled clumsy, half-hearted hellos.

 Marinette glanced up from her sketchbook and took a good, long look at the new girl. She was tall, slim, with dark bluish-black hair that reached her shoulders. Marinette could tell by looking  at them that her clothes were Gabriel brand, the skinny jeans clinging to her long, long legs like a second skin, the leopard print top accentuating any curves the girl may have had. 

"It's a pleasure to meet you all. Lila has told me so much about you all!" Rébecca beamed at everyone, and that instantly made Marinette narrow her eyes a fraction, while Rébecca strode over to where Lila and Adrien sat, sending a flirty little smile to the model. "And I heard you're quite the helpful one, of course. I'm so glad you volunteered to show me around today."

Oh, that was it. Lila brought along a croney to try and manipulate Adrien some more, maybe help granduerize her stories. Well, this was certainly becoming a fun class. Marinette pressed her lips into a thin line as Rébecca sat down next to Adrien, causing the boy to be uncomfortably sandwiched between the two girls. It made Marinette's blood boil at how the two girls kept pawing at the model, who clearly wanted to get away, while Alya and the others just cooed and urged it on.

Honestly, this entire class has gone crazy.

Marinette made a move to go down there and get them to stop, but Adrien had looked back at her and given her a look that pleaded that she didn't. That's what he wanted, for her to sit down, shut up, and not cause trouble. It took everything in Marinette not to snap her pencil as Miss Bustier began to lesson.

…

Adrien didn't quite know how to feel about this new girl hanging off of his arm, seeming overly cuddly with him, fluttering her lashes and trying to get most of his attention.

"How exactly do you two know each other?" Alya had asked when she and Nino sat down with the duo and Lila. Lila had only perked up, and got a somewhat secretive smile on her face, while Rébecca let out a soft giggle.

“All I can say is, Alya, that Rébecca is my best friend.” Lila boasted, giving Alya an overly obvious wink. Alya stared at Lila, as if slowly digesting her words before her eyes lit up and her hand shot for her phone.

“You’re serious?!” Alya began to open an app on her phone, but Rébecca reached out a hand to stop her, then gave Adrien a pleading look.

“Adrien, I’m very parched. Do you think you could grab me a soda, please? I would greatly appreciate it.” She slid a hand slowly along his arm, giving him a smile then when their eyes met. 

Adrien opened his mouth, but then nodded and made his way to the lunch line, which had grown fairly sizable as lunch was halfway over.

“You’re Ladybug?!” Alya beamed as she reached out and took Rébecca’s hand, an eager gleam in her eyes. “I knew Marinette was wrong about everything! Can I see the earrings?”

Rébecca nodded and pulled aside her hair from her ear, showing off the black spotted red earring, making Alya practically squeal with delight. 

“I just want to say that I’m so honoured that you chose me to be Rena Rouge.” Alya took Rébecca’s hand, so awestruck that she missed the surprised look Lila and Rébecca exchanged. 

“Well it was Lila that gave me the glowing recommendation.” Rébecca grinned as Alya began practically bursting with excitement as she began dumping question after question on Rébecca, who answered every one with ease, puffing out her chest with pride. Nino even seemed to get into it, thanking her profusely for allowing him to become Carapace, thankful he was able to protect the people of Paris.

    All the while Marinette was seated on the other side of the cafeteria with Rose and Ivan, trying her hardest to design something new for Kitty Section’s concert in a month, completely unaware of the imposter across the room. She was merely smiling as she discussed with Rose the possibility of adding more sparkles to the outfits, while Ivan was increasingly pleading for them not to.

 “Oh come on, they won’t be that bad.” Marinette smirked up at her distressed classmate, playfully sticking out her tongue. “Maybe I’ll even make the costumes neon orange.”

“Don’t you dare..” Ivan growled softly, but any playful banter was cut short by an explosion nearby that shook the school. Many students let out surprised screams as trees seemed to burst from the floor out of nowhere. 

“Hello Paris, I am Dryad, prepare to start tossing away those construction sites you use as excuses to cut down my precious trees!” A voice called out, echoing across the area, and it was then a panic began. Students cried out and began running in various directions, as the branches stretched from the trees and began snatching up various people. 

Adrien ducked off into an alcove, and thinking the coast was clear, transformed and took off, completely unaware of Rébecca watching from around the corner, a stunned look on her face.

…

As soon as school was over, Marinette stretched and let out a soft groan. Her body felt so stiff from that akuma battle earlier, Dryad had been an eco-activist who had been angry that her favourite park had been dozed over to make room for a spa, so she had been an easy target for Hawkmoth.

“Mari, I have to tell you something.” Alya ran up beside her and grabbed her arm, stopping her friend in her tracks. Marinette gave her a smile, though silently wished she were heading home right now for a nap. She just felt so drained after the day, and she wanted to relax with a nice cup of hot cocoa and some cookies with Tikki. 

    “Oh, did you get a new scoop?” Marinette’s smile widened when she saw the eager look in Alya’s eyes, the slight bounce in her step. She knew right away that the young reporter had quite the story if she was stopping Marinette right outside of school. 

    “I sure did, and it’s all thanks to Lila.” Alya grinned, but it quickly dimmed when the smile fell from Marinette’s face. She then huffed and crossed her arms, cocking a hip. “Marinette, this jealous streak of yours is getting annoying.”

    “I’m not jealous, Alya, I’m just tired of you believing her lies, which are so obvious.” Marinette crossed her arms, her own annoyed expression matching Alya’s. 

    “God, I don’t know why I even try with you. You’ll see soon enough what a fool you’ve been, never giving Lila a single chance. When you see my interview tomorrow, you’ll be begging Lila for forgiveness.” Alya said this in the most confident tone she could ever have spoken, making Marinette’s frown then press into firm line. 

    “Alya-” Marinette’s words died as soon as Alya held up a hand and began storming away. The young girl felt a heavy weight in her heart as she watched her best friend walk away. Why did it feel like she was about to walk away from their friendship..?

Marinette shook her head. No, she wouldn't let it come to that! Whatever stunt Lila was trying to pull, it wasn't going to work, Mari refused to back down and let her win, because if Lila won, she'd oh make things worse. She's hurt Marinette's friends, keep using them like she had. And she might even get her hands on Adri-

Adrien. Oh no, that new girl was trying to sink her claws into Adrien too, wasn't she? It just hurt to think about how those two would try and manipulate Adrien. But he wouldn't fall for it right? He knew Lila was a liar, he wouldn't fall for any tricks..

Marinette made her way home, tightly gripping the straps of her backpack, an uneasy feeling rolling in her stomach.

…

Adrien frowned as he was dragged off by Rébecca, who was clutching his arm like a vice.

"Rébecca, what's this about? I have a modeling gig in a few hours, so I can't stay very long.." He tried to point out, stumbling slightly when she abruptly stopped and turned to him, realizing the two of them were in an empty classroom. "Rébecca, is something wrong?"

".. I can't believe it. My Kitty has been before me this whole time.." Rébecca blushed as she slid her hand down his arm, gripping his hand lightly. "I've been so blind."

"Wait, what are you talking about?" Adrien blinked in surprise as the girl set her other hand on his chest.

"Don't you recognize me, Chat? Don't you recognize your Ladybug?" She whispered, biting her lower lip. "I guess without the mask, I'm not so special anymore.."

Adrien felt his breath hitch at her words, his mind racing. No, she couldn't be.. Could she?

"I accidentally saw you detransform when I was trying to sneak back into school after our fight with Dryad. I'm sorry, but I thought since I knew, it was only fair to tell you.." She whispered, looking away as if in shame. Rébecca was internally thankful that Lila told her everything she needed to know about Adrien and the class, and was even more grateful she had given into Lila's silly little plan to try and trick the class more. Being Ladybug could be fun, afterall, she always wanted to be famous.

"What, no! M- my Lady, that's not true!" Adrien blurted out the words before he could stop himself, alarmed at the sight of the tears beginning to stream down her face.

"The.. the reason I've been rejecting you is because I've been in love with you, Adrien. And when I found out that you and Chat Noir were the same person, I just couldn't believe it, but it made so much sense" Rébecca leaned closer, their bodies pressing lightly together. "You're right, kitty, we are meant for each other, I was just simply blind to it.. Do you think I could get a second chance, please? I love you, Adrien."

Adrien was silent for the longest time, his mind trying to process all of this. This was Ladybug..? His heart began to pound as she poured her heart out to him, his hopes skyrocketing. She loved him, she really loved him! It felt like his dreams were coming true! Grinning, Adrien leaned close, their foreheads pressing lightly together as he tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear, eyeing her earring before chuckling.

"I love you too, my Lady. We're soulmates, something silly as a misunderstanding could never tear us apart." He murmured, and both of them leaned closer and shared a soft kiss, Rébecca practically preening as she ensnared the gullible model.

…

Marinette huffed softly as she stared at her essay. School had to be built to torture people, there was no way these institutes built up every person of every walk of life, because these essays and term papers were a pain in the butt.

"Tikki, I think my eyes are going to explode.." She groaned as she closed her eyes and rubbed them, feeling the beginnings of a migraine beginning to form.

"It's probably because you stayed up all night." Tikki scolded her, the alarm clock next to Marinette suddenly going off, making the girl jump in her seat.

"Oh no, I'm going to be a total zombie in school today.." Marinette groaned as she put her face in her hands. She hadn't even realized she had stayed up so late, but she had really wanted to finish this dark essay before it became a bigger problem than it was worth. She should have been more mindful.

It was then that her phone beeped. When she looked at the notification, she realized Alya had published that interview she had mentioned yesterday.

"Well, since I'm up on time, I can watch it while I get ready." Marinette shrugged and tapped on the video to play it, and began getting dressed.

Alya was seated in her room, beaming proudly as she sat between Lila and Rébecca.

"Hey guys, it's Alya your lovable Ladyblogger here. I'm here to give you guys the scoop of the century! Over the past year, you've all come to know my amazing best friend, Lila, and her amazing exploits!" Alya grinned as she wrapped an arm around Lila, giving her a quick side up before sitting up again. "Well, Lila has managed to convince someone very special to give me an interview at long last, without her mask."

Marinette watched as she brushed her teeth, raising a brow as she took in Alya's words.

"Everyone, I'd love you to meet our very own Ladybug, finally showing her face, right here, on my blog!" Alya grinned like a cat who had cream.

"I have to say, it's an honour to finally reveal myself to all of you, especially on one of the most important blogs ever. Without you, Alya, I think I'd be lost. You always do the best detective work, and give everyone the greatest stories." Rébecca praised, carefully stroking Alya's ego. "Lila finally convinced me to show myself to the world. You're right, Alya, the world has the right to know.'

Marinette felt the toothbrush drop from her mouth as she stared at her phone screen, the blood beginning to pound through her veins.

"Tikki.." She croaked out after she spit her toothpaste into the sink, her body beginning to tremble. "Oh God, Tikki, she's lying.. She's- she's claiming to be me!"

"Marinette, you need to calm down!" Tikki flew in front of her Chosen's face, panic making her gasp as she saw the tears beginning to well up in Marinette's eyes.

"Why would Alya do that?! I've told her time and time again that I want to keep my identity a secret! It's important to me, it keeps everyone I love out of danger, why would she do this?! Now Rébecca's family could be in danger!" Marinette pulled at her pigtails as her mind began to race.

"Marinette, please, calm down! Maybe you can tell Alya these things at school today! I'm sure she'll listen if you calmly explain these things to you, I'm sure she'll fix it." 

".." Marinette sniffled and wiped away the tears. "You're right, Tikki. Alya has to at least think this is strange, it would be out of character for Ladybug to suddenly out herself like that.."

…

But when Marinette got to school and tried to talk to Alya, the girl merely cut her off and gave her a glare.

"I told you that you'd regret it, Marinette. I told you to try, and look at how things are now, even Ladybug herself thinks you're being unreasonable!" Alya snapped, motioning to where Rébecca sat with Lila, the class all overjoyed to have their wonderful hero Ladybug in that very room! The sight made Marinette feel ill.

"But Alya, Ladybug is always saying how she wanted to keep her identity a secret. Why would she suddenly start exposing herself, while Hawkmoth and Mayura are still at large?" Marinette held out her hands, trying to get Alya to see some kind of reason.

"You know what? I can't believe you're being this selfish right now. Honestly, this is the biggest story I've ever released and you're trying to ruin it!" Alya threw her hands up, catching the attention of a few of their classmates.

"Alya, we're best friends! Please, I just-" Marinette began,but was cut off again by Alya jabbing Marinette in the chest with a finger.

"Exactly, which is why best friends call each other out when they're being unreasonable,when they're making a complete fool of themselves! Look at you, you aren't even looking at the facts, Marinette, this jealous vendetta you have us ridiculous!" Alya snapped, then turned on her heel and stormed away. Marinette was left standing by her desk, her stomach coiling into a nervous ball.

Adrien entered the class not long after, a wide smile on his face. Before he could say anything, he caught Rébecca's eye. The girl stopped talking and abruptly got to her feet and rushed over to him, wrapping her arms around his neck as the two shared a passionate kiss.

Marinette felt her heart fall to the floor and shatter.

"Whoa, dude, didn't you two just meet yesterday?" Nino looked confused, as did the rest of the class. Inside, Lila was seething with rage, but she maintained a small smile.

"It may seem like that, but.. We've known each other for so much longer. I've been in love with Ladybug ever since I first met her. And it turns out, she felt the same way." Adrien beamed, lovingly kissing Rébecca's cheek.

Marinette began running before she realized she was doing it. She ran passed Alya, who gave her a look that screamed 'you took too long to confess, this is what you get', a confused Adrien, and a grinning Rébecca. She ignored the shouts for her to come back as she ran and ran, the tears streaming from her eyes.

She didn't have the proof, because the last time she had outed a lie as Ladybug, it had had disastrous consequences. And nobody believes her! No one saw the truth!

Marinette ran from the school and kept running, her lungs soon burning, her muscles soon aching, before she found herself into one of the small parks, which was completely deserted.

Marinette fell to her knees beside one of the fountains, burying her head in her arms as she rested against the basin, crying so hard, she soon passed out.

[ruby-whistler]

Hey Red! Just wondering what you thoughts on the Syndicate lore were today!

It was so fascinating to see how distrustful c!Techno was of c!Quackity. He seemed to know that he wasn't all that he seemed, and almost knew that he was lying. His prison visit is going to be really interesting, but it's so hard for me to make theories regarding it because I honestly think anything could happen!

Of course, I'm kind of rooting for c!dream to join the Syndicate. I like the found family dynamic they've got going on, and currently they're staying out of everything. I think if there's any chance for c!dream to get his own personal redemption (not entirely sure I want him to have forgiveness from some of the characters) the Syndicate would be a nice place to do so.

ALSO c!niki lore! I follow a lot of Wilbur enthusiasts as well as Wilbur critical people, but I haven't seen as much Wilbur crit as I assumed there would be from Niki saying that she thought Wilbur was bad the whole time. Any current thoughts on c!wilbur's character in regard to c!niki or a redemption arc in general?

Honestly, at this point I'm just rooting for everyone to get a healing arc lmao. Give me my happy found family dynamics and I will be able to sleep well!

-🌹

hi, i apologize for the late reply!

i think it was very interesting to see the two interact at all. c!techno is very good at spotting when someone is bsing and he just immediately could tell something was off - as well as being smarter than to know anyone would change for the better in prison.

i think this is partially why he is so much of a danger to quackity. he sticks to his ideals, and he's right! so far i can only remember him being right. he's very rational and he will not be swayed by words.

c!techno believes in actions. it's not, "those who say they will hurt my friends" or "those who promise to show kindness".

he knows c!dream isn't responsible for all evil, because he's seen most of the evil on the smp come from government and corruption.

he knows c!dream isn't some monster but an ally because he's acted like an ally.

he knows c!quackity can't be trusted because he tried to murder him.

it's not assumption or hope or trust in others, it's knowledge that comes from experience. that's why i love his character so much.

I feel like the story is setting up a semi-sympathetic Techno. With him being suspicious of Quackity, his new found family in the Syndicate, and getting back from a long time alone, it really does feel like they're setting him up to be sympathetic towards c!dream. So do you think this will reflect in the prison visit? Do you think he'll go beyond the favor and maybe actually feel bad for him?

c!techno my beloved. that's all i'm gonna say. i have a lot of faith.

the syndicate redemption arc theory would be amazing, i agree. sadly, right now i think if that happened, c!wilbur would find him outside his house and go "it's free real estate!" because people basically just did his job for him, and oh boy. oh boy i am concerned about these two interacting. whatever happens they're gonna drag each other down, the two understimulated manipulative self-destructive bastards that they are.

I've honestly seen so many different perspectives, and I would love to hear one from someone very openly c!wilbur crit!

"c!wilbur was bad the whole time" hmm. was he a bad man? that depends on your definition of bad. /c

but no yeah c!wil was a liar who did bad things for his own benefit and didn't mind hurting others in the process, from the start, as far as i know. he's not a good person and he's hella flawed, but he's not some dangrous villain either. actually no scratch that the silver-tongued s-o-b is definitely a threat-

but yeah i... am not against him bettering himself at all! it doesn't seem to be heading to that (much like i wouldn't say a c!dream redemption arc was going to happen at the end of s2, that doesn't mean i think he's irredeemable ofc) but i'd love that for him.

and well, as for the people affected... c!nikki was hurt by him. other people were hurt by him. no one needs to interact with him, although they do deserve closure. he can heal with people he didn't hurt... after he decides to finally regret his actions, that is. and rn he seems to be going on another powertrip, which makes me concerned for everyone involved, including the man himself.

i actually didn't watch whatever nikki said btw. kinda swarmed w/ school rn, so i only heard stuff. a link to a clip would be appreciated.

but yeah c!wilbur getting a Healthy found family whom he doesn't use to perpetuate his agenda would be very poggers fkdhfdkh-

Also, do you think c!techno's disdain for the prison possibly stems from what c!tommy was like after exile?

ooo that's a good theory! might be. the man's good at noticing history repeating, if you know what i mean.

[sturchling]

A new girl shows up and takes Lila's spot but instead of lying she's actually does them but she's two face and tries Lila worse than Lila treats Marinette and Lila looses her followers whenever she tries the same tactics and up like Nettie(who switched classes) Lila for the first time is genuinely miserable like Mari for real ( will give u an idea 4 a sequel after this)

Here you go! Sorry it took longer than I would have like, but I had sudden job interview. Now that it is over, I had some time to write! :)

Hope you like it!

Lila was happy with how things were going in her life right now. The class was completely under her spell. They believed anything that she says and look at her like she hung the moon. She had succeeded in making that pathetic Marinette miserable. Marinette was so miserable she even switched classes. Sure, Adrien knows she is a liar. But Adrien can’t say anything, since Mr. Agreste has forbidden it. Yeah, life was going well for Lila. That was, until, Sadie arrived

 ----------------

It had been a normal weekend for Lila, she had been coming up with new stories to tell the class on Monday. She was sure these new stories would keep the class singing her praises for a while. As she walked towards class, she heard the class already chatting excitedly. It is common knowledge that Lila doesn’t like attention not being on her. So, she got ready to tell another story, to get the focus back on her where it belonged. Not like the class was talking about anything important, probably just talking about whatever stupid thing they had done that weekend. But just as Lila entered the classroom, a new lie on her tongue, when she noticed someone new.

  ----------------

The class was surrounding a girl that Lila didn’t recognize, and this girl was sitting in Lila’s seat. This girl had long black hair that reached to the base of her spine, and blue eyes. She was wearing a yellow floral sundress, with a black cardigan and black flats. Lila was furious seeing this strange girl sitting in her seat. Lila had worked hard to manipulate her way into that seat by Adrien, and she wasn’t just going to let it go. She sauntered up to the group, “Well, hello. Are you new?” Alya turned, now realizing that her bestie had arrived, “Oh, Lila! Good morning. This is Sadie, she just transferred here from America. Her dad is a marine and has been stationed to guard the American embassy here in Paris. She was just telling us about some of her adventures. Can you believe it, it sounds like you two have been running in the same circles!” That confused Lila, what did Alya mean by that? “What do you mean Alya?” “Well, Sadie was saying how she has also worked for several go-green organizations, and has also helped out a bunch of celebrities. She also knows a bunch of Hollywood actors, from when her dad was stationed in San Diego. She even has tinnitus like you, she and her dad were visiting a friend at an air force base and she got lost. She wandered to close to a plane and nobody noticed her so her hearing was damaged. That is why she is sitting up front too. You guys can be desk mates!” Lila paled at that. She had worked so hard to get a seat next to Adrien. “But Alya, what about Adrien? Where will he sit?” “Don’t worry Lila, Adrien was fine with the seat change since another student needed to sit up front. He will sit where Marinette used to, near Nathaniel.” Lila was fuming, but she couldn’t exactly do anything about it without looking bad. So, she just smiled and played along, sitting down in Adrien’s old spot.

  ----------------

The rest of the morning hadn’t gone any better for Lila. She had tried several times to get the attention back on her, but no matter what she did, the class only wanted to talk to and about Sadie. It was infuriating. Not even Lila’s new stories were enough to capture the class’ attention. Anytime Lila mentioned something she had done, Sadie had done it too, but bigger and better. Worse yet, is that Sadie appeared to be telling the truth. The go-green charities that she claimed to help start, all had official websites and awards and Sadie was always listed on those websites as a founding member. There were even videos of her at some of the award ceremonies. Sadie also had pictures with every single celebrity that Lila had also claimed to know.  And not just one picture, like they had just happened to meet by chance, but several pictures. Some looked like they had even been taken at parties. And when Mrs. Bustier had finally arrived, Sadie had an actual doctor’s note for the tinnitus. The little brat had been telling the truth all morning.

  ----------------

Lila hadn’t been this angry since Marinette had challenged her. This meant that Lila would have to go to war again. This Sadie girl seemed just like Marinette. Kind and sickeningly sweet. Lila thought this meant that Sadie would be just as easy to destroy, but she was very wrong. The next day, Lila cornered Sadie in the bathroom and threatened her. “I don’t like sharing the spotlight newbie. So, you are going to stop trying to hog all the attention. I worked hard to become the queen in this class, so you can either bow down or get out of the way. I already eliminated that Marinette girl and I can do the same to you too. The choice is yours, you can either give me back the attention I deserve or I can destroy you.” Sadie just smiled at Lila, but in a way that felt very threatening. “No, here is what is going to happen. Alya told me all about your stories and it is clear that you are lying. I am the real deal. The rest of the class already thinks I am a saint. You may have been the queen, but your reign is over. I am in charge now. If you tell the class anything about this conversation, or try and ‘destroy’ me I can promise you the only one that will be destroyed is you. I may seem nice, but I am not some push over, and I will not be dictated to by some liar who is so desperate for a cool life that she had to make one up. As far as I am concerned, we are enemies. I am going to make your life hell-” Sadie seemed to want to say more, but just then Rose poked her head into the bathroom and told them it was almost time for class. Sadie quickly wiped the glare from her face and smiled at Rose. “Thanks Rose, I’m coming. See you in a minute Lila.” With that Sadie walked out of the bathroom, chatting happily with Rose. Lila was shocked. She had thought that Sadie was a goodie-two-shoes, she hadn’t expected her to be so cold and hostile. If Sadie wanted to be enemies, then Lila was willing to play that game.

  ----------------

Despite Lila’s best efforts, nothing was working. Sadie had quickly become the class darling and everybody loved her, much to Lila’s annoyance. And what was worse was that Sadie had started tormenting Lila. Lila had never gone so far as to physically attack Marinette herself, but Sadie had no problem attacking Lila every time the two were alone together. So far, Sadie had tripped her close to a dozen times, trapped her in two closets, and had even spilled food all over her. But the class never saw any of this happen. Sadie was really good at finding just the right moment to strike. Lila had tried talking to the class several times, but they never believed her. “Oh Lila, Sadie wouldn’t do that.” “It must have been someone else.” “Maybe you just got confused.” Lila was at the end of her rope.

  ----------------

What was worse was anytime that Lila tried to talk to the class, Sadie started to poison the class against her. It started small, Sadie started asking the class, “How could Lila say I would do all those mean things? Did I do something wrong?” The class fell all over themselves to tell Sadie she hadn’t done anything. Then the class began to wonder why Lila was so insistent it was Sadie. When Lila didn’t stop trying to convince the class, Sadie continued her assault, both physically and socially. She was playing the long game with turning the class against Lila. It was so gradual it was hardly noticeable.

  ----------------

Eventually, when Lila still hadn’t gotten the message, Sadie pulled out the big guns. First, she started fulfilling the promises that Lila had made. She started introducing the class to celebrities in the field they each wanted to go into. She introduced Alya to people at the New York Times, Nathaniel to the editors at Marvel, and even helped Kitty Section get a meeting with some big-time music producer in LA. Then she started wondering aloud to the class why Lila hadn’t already done all this for them. When the grumblings in the class continued to grow, Sadie went for the killing blow. She accused Lila of attacking her. “Lila was so mad. She wanted to be the one to introduce you to all these people. She told me that if I keep doing this then she will make my life hell!” Sadie even threw in some realistic fake tears, not fake sobs like how Lila used to do. Now the whole class had turned against Lila.

  ----------------

Lila’s life had become miserable. She was the class outcast, the only time someone talked to her was to make rude comments or tell her off about ‘how she is treating Sadie’. Thankfully, her lies hadn’t been exposed yet, somehow. She was worried though. Sadie kept getting closer to exposing her with each day. In an attempt to stop that from happening, Lila stopped trying to go after Sadie. Sadie stopped going further with her stories about Lila, but she was still making Lila miserable. She kept tripping her and shoving her and now the rest of the class had joined in. Lila’s stuff was routinely destroyed to the point that Lila didn’t even bring anything she didn’t need to class anymore. Right now, Lila was on another ‘trip with her mother’ and skipping school. She had tried switching classes like that loser Marinette had, but her request was denied. All the other classes were full at the moment. She also tried to convince her mom to let her change schools entirely, but her mother didn’t want her to switch schools in the middle of the year. Lila was stuck and had lost all her power. She was no longer the queen of the class, but was treated more like a prisoner. Sadie had won the war.

[quicksilversquared]

Helpfulness with a Side of Spite

Superheroes are kind. Superheroes are patient. Superheroes are helpful.

....that doesn’t mean that superheroes can’t manipulate the situation, though. And they’ll do it with a smile on their face.

links in the reblog

Superheroes were, practically by definition, meant to be helpful.

Ladybug and Chat Noir helped all of Paris by fighting supervillains and restoring the city. They helped save lives and property alike if they happened to be nearby when a bus or news helicopter went out of control. They saved cats that were stuck up in trees and helped parents with young kids evacuate when there were akuma attacks nearby. They even helped out spoiled brats and snotty liars who were getting targeted, even if they definitely didn't deserve the help.

It was one of the reasons why they were so liked, really. Paris' superheroes weren't aloof or cold or focused only on their job and their job alone. They went out of their way to reach out and make sure that people were okay.

….but even the most patient of superheroes had their limits. There were only so many times that Ladybug could put up with Chloe's clinging and endless babble when, despite Chloe's assurances, she had definitely done something to tick the unfortunate akumatized person off and therefore entirely deserved to be the target of their ire. And really, trying to help Lila at all during akuma attacks was a waste of effort, since she seemed determined to fake injuries and try to distract them. But it was still expected that they at least try to help, because- well, they were superheroes.

Still, being a superhero didn't necessarily mean having superhuman patience. And even though it was still early in the morning- they hadn't even finished homeroom yet- Lila was already wearing Marinette's patience thin.

Really, it was an impressive accomplishment, considering that Lila was "out of town" on one of her mother's "trips" and therefore not even physically in the classroom. But she had video-called in first thing after homeroom started to give an overly saccharine-sweet "recounting" of what she had been up to the previous few days. This time she was calling from "the fjords of Finland, I wish you guys could be here because it is gorgeous!" and prattling on about some princess that she had supposedly met and was discussing charity work with.

Marinette could not envision anything being a bigger waste of time. They could be catching up on curriculum that had gotten behind because of akuma attacks, but nope, no such luck. Instead, they were listening to Lila's completely made-up and not at all relevant stories and wasting their entire homeroom period. Lila had been yammering on for over forty-five minutes now, and showed no sign of stopping.

(Also, Marinette had some serious questions about how Lila was supposedly getting enough internet to support the call while on a hill overlooking one of the most spectacular of the Finnish fjords, which was decidedly not close to any sort of civilization.)

At least Marinette had started bringing projects to school to work on during their calls with Lila. If they couldn't use their time productively for schoolwork during homeroom, then she would take the chance to get some of her other work done. Maybe Ms. Bustier frowned on it, but. Well. Marinette had more or less ceased to care. She had too much to get done to be too concerned with what did or didn't bother her teacher, particularly when what she was doing wasn't hurting anyone.

"So I'll be out for the rest of this week and maybe a couple days next week," Lila chirped at long last, beaming at them. "Depending on whether I can persuade Princess Sophia to join Prince Ali and I on our global campaign to end pollution! I'll keep you all updated!"

The entire class exploded with assurances, everyone hastening to tell Lila that they were sure that she would be able to get the princess to help, and how amazing it was that she was doing such great work, and how everybody was sure to pitch in and help her get caught back up on her schoolwork once she returned to Paris. Lila basked in the attention, gushing about how kind everyone was and how lucky she was to get placed in what had to be the world's nicest class.

Which of course meant a whole new round of people telling Lila that she was nice and kind and fantastic, too.

Barf.

Finally, finally, Lila signed off after another few rounds of back-and-forth gushing. Marinette let out a sigh of relief, plenty glad that she wouldn't have to listen to Lila's humble-bragging for another couple days. The far-fetched stories that Lila had been spinning- seriously, how were people believing that Lila had somehow saved a beloved prized cow herd with only the help of their traditional decorative cowbells- had been grating on her nerves.

Cows with decorate cowbells wasn't even a Finnish thing. Somehow, Lila (and everyone else in the class, with the sole exception of Adrien) had forgotten that that was a Swiss tradition.

It was probably too much to expect that Lila would actually pay any attention to details like that. For her, differences between countries and cultures were probably annoying little details that she didn't feel like bothering with.

"Well, we won't be doing anything as exciting as discussing anti-pollution plans with a princess today, but we do have plenty of other things to cover," Ms. Bustier announced as soon as the call ended, glancing up at the clock. "We're actually running a little behind schedule in Literature, so let's use the last, ah, three minutes of homeroom to try to get a bit of a head start so we won't have to have as much make-up homework this weekend!"

Marinette could only sigh and hope that the rest of the day wouldn't be so incredibly exasperating.

Because right now? She didn't feel like being very helpful at all.

  By the time news of an akuma out and about reached the school in the early afternoon, Marinette was almost relieved at the excuse to leave for a bit. It seemed like everywhere she turned, people were talking about Lila's latest so-called adventures- so much for not having to put up with it for at least a couple more days- and speculating about what new royal support might mean for Lila's campaign. And as if that wasn't bad enough, Ms. Bustier had pulled Marinette to the side between classes to tell her off for her obvious disinterest during Lila's video call, so Marinette's mood had slid even further downhill.

And now? Well, she was in the mood to work out some of her frustrations on Hawkmoth's latest minion.

But not too obviously, of course. People would wonder if they saw her punch an akuma's face in, just because she was pretending that it was Lila's. Besides, whoever was under the akumatization was a victim, as she and Chat Noir were always reminding the press and the people that akumas had targeted. They weren't in control of what they were doing.

(Well. Mostly. There had been some exceptions, largely consisting of Lila, but proving that enough to be able to persuade anyone in power was a bit difficult. On top of that, once the first accusation of on-purpose collusion with Hawkmoth stuck, then- well, it could easily turn into a slippery slope lined with baseless accusations from people out looking for revenge.)

Though to be fair, it honestly seemed as though this particular akuma completely deserved whatever beating Ladybug gave her. Best-Laid Plans seemed entirely entitled, screaming in fury whenever her "foolproof" plots to capture Ladybug and Chat Noir were defeated and yelling about how dare they not fall fire her traps, how dare they not believe whatever she said, how dare they laugh at how (laughably) easy and transparent her so-called complex plans to catch them were.

Honestly, she and Lila would probably get along fantastically. Both of them had some serious delusions of grandeur.

"I can't figure out how she thinks these things are foolproof and complex when she can't spend more than a couple minutes seeing them up," Chat Noir said as he yanked the side off of another "hidden" cage and chucked it off to the side so that it wouldn't pose them any danger. "They're impulsive and showy but lack any real substance."

Best-Laid Plans let out another screech of fury. "Stop making fun of them, they're foolproof!"

"Right, because even fools would be safe from them!" Ladybug yelled back. "Because they fool no one!"

"How dare you, I learned how to make traps from an expert in Bolivia! You're just getting lucky!"

"She does realize that claiming that doesn't somehow make it true, right?" Ladybug sighed, utterly exasperated. They had wasted half an hour already, and she really wasn't in the mood for another half hour of this nonsense. "Lucky Charm!"

A bottle of soap dropped into her hand. Ladybug sighed, then glanced around as she and Chat Noir sprinted after Best-Laid Plans. She was heading up, up, up the Eiffel Tower, fast but not fast enough to outrun the superheroes.

"There's another trap there," Chat Noir pointed out as they leapt up another level. "I bet she's planning on pushing us in."

An idea clicked in Ladybug's mind. Of course! "She's going to stop on the next platform- hit the soap bottle right at her as we pass, hard enough for it to split! And- now!"

It was practically a work of art, really. Ladybug tossed her Lucky Charm at Chat Noir, who hit it at just the right time. Sudsy pink soap sprayed across the platform, completely coating it. The split bottle and what little soap remained in it slammed into Best-Laid Plans' face, sending her staggering right into the slippery puddle of soap.

And she slid, cursing up a storm, right off the edge of the platform and neatly into the trap she had set up below.

"Well, would you look at that," Chat Noir said cheerfully as he and Ladybug swung down to land next to the soap-covered Best-Laid Plans. "Your traps can catch one person, at least! So they're not entirely fool-proofed after all."

Ladybug nearly choked on her laughter as she snagged Best-Laid Plans' cell phone, snapping it in half and catching the butterfly that fluttered free. The akuma only glared, furious but unable to do anything with the ropes of her trap twisted around her arms and keeping them bound.

Really, it was art.

After a moment's pause to appreciate the sight a little more, Ladybug snagged the remnants of the soap bottle with her yo-yo and tossed them into the air. "Miraculous Ladybug!"

The glittering swarm rushed around the city, wiping away all of the destroyed traps and putting things back to normal. Once everything else was fixed, the light swept around Best-Laid Plans and left a sulking Lila Rossi in her place.

Somehow, Ladybug was not entirely surprised.

"Surprise," Chat Noir sighed, rolling his eyes as he stepped up to her side. "Gee, and wasn't she meant to be out of the country right now?"

Deep in Ladybug's brain, there was a distinct aha as an idea was born, and Ladybug pounced on it. Pasting on her best friendly-helpful-neighborhood-superhero look, she approached Lila, who only looked more sour.

"You must have been really upset about whatever plans didn't quite work out!" Ladybug told her, trying her best to sound sympathetic instead of smug. "It's always disappointing when things don't work out the way we want them to, but it's rarely the end of the world!"

Chat Noir nodded seriously, only the twitching corners of his lips giving away the fact that he was maybe not quite as sincere as he was pretending to be. "Exactly! If we miss a movie, there's always another viewing. If we can't go out with friends, there's always another day. It's not worth getting too upset about, because then we miss out on other stuff. I'd say just let it go and move on with the rest of your day."

Lila looked mutinous. Ladybug had to assume that whatever plans had been foiled hadn't exactly been the sort that could just be picked up and done another day. "Uh-huh."

"Chat Noir is right," Ladybug said immediately in her perkiest voice, cheerfully ignoring Lila's deepening scowl. "It's best not to linger too much over plans that didn't work out and just go back to your normal day instead. In fact, to help you get back to your normal day, I'll even give you a free ride back to school, so you don't miss even more class! You're at Collège Françoise Dupont, right?"

Without waiting for an answer, Ladybug grabbed Lila and hoisted her over her shoulder before the other girl could realize what was going on and object. She and Chat Noir were usually more careful when carrying civilians- after all, the over the shoulder carry wasn't very comfortable- but she definitely wasn't keeping Lila in any position where she could make a grab for her earrings. "See you, Chat Noir!"

Chat Noir waved back, looking suspiciously like he was struggling to not double over laughing. "See you, Ladybug!"

With that, Ladybug was off, jumping off of the Eiffel Tower and letting herself do a free-fall for perhaps a little longer than she normally would before casting out her yo-yo and swinging at top speed towards the school.

She really couldn't tell if Lila's screaming was in fear or in anger.

It took almost no time at all for the school to draw near, and Ladybug did some hasty calculations to figure out where to go- her class should still be in Literature, though they would be switching pretty soon- before aiming right at the window Ms. Bustier had opened earlier in the day and dropping neatly in.

"Ta-da, back in class!" Ladybug announced cheerfully, dumping Lila back on her feet with perhaps a little more force than necessary. Lila staggered and nearly fell before catching herself. "And it looks like they managed to start up class again after you got akumatized! That's good, I know that sometimes after people get akumatized in school, the whole day just gets entirely disrupted. And I'm sure you wouldn't want to be the cause of your class falling behind on their work!" She sent the class a smile, then jumped straight back out the window with a wave. As soon as she did, the class exploded with noise, confusion clearly reigning supreme.

Ladybug only smiled.

  By the time Marinette slipped back into the classroom, there was such mayhem going on that no one noticed her come in. Lila had clearly tried to spin a new story to cover why Ladybug had brought her to class- and how she had gotten akumatized when she was meant to be several countries away- but this time, no one was buying it.

In fact, Marinette noticed as she slipped back to her seat, Mr. Damocles had already been called in and was currently punching a number into his phone. No doubt Lila's mom was being called now that there was solid evidence that that Lila had not been where she was supposed to be. It was definitely long overdue, honestly, but better late than not at all.

Adrien slid into his seat a minute later with a politely puzzled look on his face, apparently having missed the commotion with a poorly-timed bathroom visit. He caught sight of Marinette, pretty much the only other student still sitting in her spot, and raised a curious eyebrow.

"Lila got akumatized and Ladybug was being helpful and brought her back to class," Marinette whispered, unable to hide her grin. "And, well…"

"Now she's in trouble because clearly she wasn't in Finland," Adrien finished. He grinned back. "Somehow I suspect that Ladybug might have known that Lila hadn't been in class in the first place."

Marinette bit back a tart I don't know what you're talking about before she could give herself away. She wasn't sure why Adrien would suspect that Ladybug would know about Lila's lie about not being in the country, but- well, maybe it was because he had seen Ladybug call Lila out before, and it wasn't exactly normal for her and Chat Noir to return civilians to wherever they had been at the start of the fight.. They only did it for young kids, really, and only if they had enough time left before they detransformed.

So maybe she hadn't been very subtle, so sue her. But at least now Lila wouldn't be able to carry out whatever no doubt nefarious plan that she had been dreaming up. It had already then thwarted once, and Ladybug hadn't been about to let Lila take another swing at it, despite what she and Chat Noir had said about trying again.

"Hopefully she won't get akumatized again," Adrien added after a minute. Up in the front, Lila was in full meltdown mode, but no one seemed particularly inclined to comfort her. Mr. Damocles had clearly gotten through to Lila's mom and had retreated to the corner to try to hold a conversation uninterrupted by the commotion. "I mean, Ladybug and Chat Noir have already fought her today, I'm sure they don't want to again." He grimaced. "I'd hope that Hawkmoth would be tired of her by now, but considering how many times Mr. Pigeon has showed up, that….might be too much to hope for."

Marinette made a face at that. True, another Lila akumatization would be less than ideal, but on the bright side, if she got akumatized at school, then hopefully classes would be canceled for the afternoon and no one would notice her missing. Besides, well… "I'm sure they'd rather just deal with her being akumatized again today than being akumatized several dozen more times in the next couple months, because she is totally on track to do that."

"Ooh, good point."

"And honestly, if anyone is going to get akumatized today, I would guess that it would be one of our classmates," Marinette added, glancing around. People were clearly ticked off about the lies Lila had told, with all of the connections that she had promised and the "industry advice" that she had given people getting their hopes up. Now those hopes were dashed, and people had to come to terms with the fact that someone who they thought was a friend- a friend that they had gone out of their way to help more than a few times- had been outright lying to them to manipulate them. That had to stink, and she was sure that some people would be particularly upset. "Oh, poor Rose. She looks like she's about to cry."

"And Alya looks like she's about to commit a murder," Adrien added. There was an edge of laughter to his voice. "But she's still filming, at least."

Marinette looked and had to try not to laugh herself. It seemed like Alya was torn between chewing Lila out and getting her scoop, so she had combined the two in what could only be described as an accusatory interview given in a yell with less-than-flattering angles.

Well. Whatever made her feel better, she supposed.

"All right class, that's enough!" Ms. Bustier finally yelled over the noise. Mr. Damocles had clearly given up on making his phone call in the room and had fled. "Everyone, to your seats, we're going to continue class as normal until further notice- yes, that includes you too, Lila. Just borrow some paper and a pencil, since you didn't come prepared. And now, back to the lesson-"

Marinette exchanged a grin with Adrien as slowly, everyone filtered back to their seats. Most people were clearly in a state of shock still, but others were whispering, comparing stories and trying to figure out where they had missed the signs where things didn't quite line up. The gossip and speculation continued even as Ms. Bustier resolutely tried to forge on with her lesson, questions about what had happened reigning supreme.

The rest of the story came out less than an hour later, during an easily-overheard shouting match between Lila and her mom inside of Mr. Damocles' office.

As it turned out, Lila hadn't intended to get akumatized at all this time around. She had gotten so upset partway through the day because she had gotten an email- an email that should have been sent to her mom, but apparently the email on file was Lila's instead- that said that, given her test scores and the absolute piles of unreturned makeup work from during her trips, the school would not be able to approve any further travels for the rest of the school year and- even worse- she was in serious danger of having to repeat the grade. She had been furious- there was no real way for her to lie her way out of that- and, well, the rest was history.

And Lila was soon to be history, if Alix was to be believed. She had managed to keep hiding nearby after the rest of the class was busted for skipping class and eavesdropping, and had caught more of the fight. Lila's mom was removing her from Paris effective immediately- apparently she had a very strict aunt and uncle back in Italy who would be willing to take her until either Mrs. Rossi could be transferred to a different embassy or Hawkmoth was no longer an issue. In fact, because of Hawkmoth, Lila was going to be sent back to Italy that evening, before she could get akumatized again.

Marinette honestly couldn't be more relieved about that. Lila's akuma forms tended towards the difficult and more indirect than a lot of other akumas, and she got akumatized often. With her gone- and with the class relieved that Lila was getting properly punished for lying to them- the chance of more Lila-related akumas was steadily dropping.

"What I think is funny is that, if Ladybug hadn't done anything, Lila still wouldn't have lasted much longer," Marinette told Tikki as she headed home after school, completely unable to hide the spring in her step. "She wouldn't have been able to go on any more 'trips' and Mr. Damocles would definitely have to reach her mom about the whole being held back thing, so all of the lies would have come out. Ladybug just sped it up." She grinned. "And maybe it was a bit fun to see everyone's reactions." She paused. "...and maybe it was a bit fun to get my revenge, too."

Tikki giggled too, clearly amused. "I bet it was pretty funny to see everyone's faces! And at least now you don't have to worry about Lila anymore. I bet that people will forget about her pretty quickly once she's gone."

"I hope so." Marinette glanced back at the school before she stepped into the bakery. More people than normal were still lingering, no doubt gossiping about everything that had happened and trying to come to terms with the betrayal. Her class was resilient, though, and they would move on. Maybe there would be some lingering disappointment about the hopes and dreams they had pinned on Lila's lies, but it would fade with time.

After all, Lila Rossi wasn't worth their time or energy.

[halloweennut]

Break Up Blues

this has been sitting on my drive since August and I only just finished it. Oops. Anyway, post finale, Jitterbug leaving the Hotel and Big Mama. 

Breaking up with Big Mama and leaving the Nexxus Hotel had been one of the hardest things in Jitterbug’s life. But she had been done with the lies, the manipulation, the disregard for life...the fact that Big Mama was still in love with Lou Jitsu and the fact she was so alright with endangering so many lives. Jitterbug sang her last song and left, glaring at Big Mama as she did. It wasn’t until she was halfway downtown did she see the hotel crash. Her gut sank...but she knew everyone she was friends with would be okay. At least...Jitterbug hoped. Repo fortunately hadn’t been caught in the orb, being out of the city on a job, and was there when she knocked on the door to his trailer.  

“Have any room for a fly?” she asked. It was then and only then that tears sprung to her eyes, and Repo was quick to pull her in. 

“Aw fancywings, what happened?” he asked, carefully pushing her down onto a chair. “Who do I have to repo?” 

She told him everything, and made Repo promise not to do anything yet, not unless Big Mama tried anything. 

“At the very least,” Repo said. “You’re staying here until you’re back on your wings, got it? Once you’re all better, you can look into getting a job in the Hidden City or something.”

Jitterbug roughly wiped her cheek and faintly smiled. “Thank you, Repo.”

“Don’t mention. And don’t worry about rent, fancywings,” Repo said, reaching over for the phone receiver. “I own the place and I’m running off grid. City ain’t getting my money. You good with Italian? I don’t have enough groceries for two.”

“That’s perfect.” 

-

Two weeks later, there was another knock at Repo’s door. Repo rolled his eyes, and placed the shop paperwork down and walked over, opening the door. “This is private property and the shop’s closed. Beat it.”

“Rude!” Hypno said. The rest of their little league was with him. 

“Oh shit, sorry guys,” Repo said. “Uh, come in I guess?”

“Thanks mate,” Meatsweats replied, entering with the others. “I suppose you’re wondering why we’re here.”

“Well, yeah,” Repo shrugged. “You guys don’t exactly come over for tea and crumpets.”

“Considering the events a few weeks ago, we all decided that perhaps we should all get together more often,” Hypno explained. “You know, brotherly companionship, not knowing when we may be forced to fight death sports, that all.”

“Exactly!” Warren said. Repo hadn’t even noticed him, despite him being on Hypno’s shoulder. “Hypno almost died!”

“So did I!” 

“So did my brother!” 

Warren only shrugged. “I’m more concerned with him.”

“So what? You guys just came over to hang out in my house?” Repo asked. “If you haven’t noticed, it's a little cramped. And where’s Todd?”

“Todd wasn’t available,” Hypno replied. “And no, we actually were thinking something along the lines of-”

“Guys night!” Ben and Carl exclaimed, snapping their claws for emphasis. 

“And by guys night, we go out, raise some cain,” Meatsweats continued. “Eat, drink, be merry, steal and maim!”

“Come’on, Repo! What do you say?” Hypno asked. Repo shook his head.

“I don’t normally do that brand of skullduggery,” he replied. “Besides, I have a guest over, and I ain’t about to leave her alone.”

“Her?” Meatsweats raised a brow. “I hope we weren’t interrupting anything.”

“What?!” Repo sputtered. “No! She’s in a rough spot right now, and I’m doing her a solid.”

“Who are you even friends with besides us?” Warren asked incredulously. The answer came in the form of Jitterbug appearing, wordlessly walking by them to the fridge. She looked like hell in oversized pajamas and a pair of large headphones as she grabbed a carton of ice cream from the freezer, and high kicked the door closed before disappearing again. “Was that-”

“Yes.”

“Isn’t she in a relationship with the spider woman who kidnapped my Hypno and the rest of these people?”

“Was,” Repo explained. “Broke up with Big Mama because of everything and quit the Hotel. Y’know, before it got demolished.”

“Damn. At least she has good taste in ice cream,” Meatsweats nodded, much to the glare of everyone in the room. “What? It is sad about the situation, but she has taste that I can respect.” 

“She’s barely left the trailer save for that, other than job hunting in the mystic city,” Repo replied. “But the whole thing was a personal blow.” 

“Poor bug,” Ben said. 

“Why don’t we take her along with us?” Hypno said. “Gives all of us a night on the town, avoids the skullduggery you don’t usually do, and gets her to have some fun.” 

Repo considered it. It would be nice to take a break, and Jitterbug definitely needed a night out. “Sure, why not. But only minor, minor crime. ‘Ey Jitters!”

Jitterbug peeked out from the bedroom she had gone into, eyes going wide at the sight of everyone she had just avoided. “Oh! Yes?”

“Come’on fancywings, we’re all going for a night on the town,” Repo said. 

“I don’t know, Repo,” she looked unsure of herself. “I’m not sure-”

Jitterbug yelped as her hands were grabbed, pulling her out into the main room. “Hey! Don’t tug a girl around!”

“Sorry love, but we insist you join us all,” Meatsweats said. “Besides, you’ll class this little party up.” 

“It’ll be fun! We’ll paint the town red and all that,” Hypno encouraged, pulling a ring from his jacket and extending it. He held it over her head and dropped it. As it fell to the floor, Jitterbug found herself dolled up in one of her nicer dresses for going out, hair neat and make-up in order.  “What do you say? You’re already dressed for it.”

“No pressure, Jitterbug,” Repo said. “But it might be more fun than eating ice cream and calling romantic leads liars.” 

“Well...I am dressed for it. Hell, why not!” Jitterbug smiled. There was a group cheer as the group walked in the night, ready to take on the town. 

“So where first? High speed chase downtown? Breaking and entering? Maybe getting into that glitzy place uptown?” The Shell Brothers listed in tandem.

“Le Chateau Mure?” Meatsweats said. “Impossible. It takes months in advance to get in, and we don’t all have cloaking brooches.” 

“Oh, they’re mutant and yokai friendly,” Jitterbug said nonchalantly. “Big Mama and I...we used to go a lot.” 

“Then maybe we should-” Repo started, but Jitterbug continued.

“But they do know my face, and I doubt they would know about the breakup…,” Jitterbug said with a smirk. “This can be my severance package from the Hotel.”

“Oh that’s devilish,” Hypno said. “Let’s do it.” 

Jitterbug was right of course - the maitre d’ recognized her and showed the group to one of the nicest tables amongst the high standing yokai. It was by far the swankiest place Repo had been in besides the former Hotel Nexxus. A waiter dropped off a complimentary bottle of champagne, and Meatsweats took over pouring glasses for them. “Cheers everyone!”

“Cheers!”

Jitterbug sipped her glass, leaning back into the plush velvet of her seat, laughing along as her cohort for the night told stories and caught up on everything they’d miss since they all had last been together. It felt...normal after a few weeks of absolute chaos, and Jitterbug loved it. The champagne was refilled and an extra bottle - or two, or three - were stolen from the bar on their way out, heading towards another hotspot for the group. They walked or drove through New York, passing their pilfered bottles around save for the Meatsweats - alcohol didn’t have much effect on him anymore, and he was the one driving. With each new stop and block driven, Jitterbug felt herself grow lighter. 

“Are all your nights out like this?” she laughed at one point after a run-in with the turtles. They narrowly avoided a brawl with a promise to do something lowkey for a bit. 

“This is the first one,” Warren said. “So I think it’s a pretty good idea of how the rest will be, especially if you can get us into the Mur.”

“I think that might be the last time,” Jitterbug replied. “They’ll all find out soon enough about me and...her, so unless they hire me, I don’t think I’ll be able to get us back in.”

“There are worse places to work,” Hypno said, taking the last champagne bottle from the Shell Brothers. “Besides, that place has ambiance, and far better suited for your talents than the Hotel!”

“You’ve seen my shows?”

“A few, but Repo told us about them,” he replied. “Said you have a very nice voice and are good at dancing. You were being wasted working for that spider.”

“I suppose…,” Jitterbug said softly. 

“Speaking of singing, and since we have to be lowkey,” Ben started to say.

“Why not karaoke? They have a few joints around here and Long Island!” Carl finished. 

“We’re sticking to Manhattan,” Meatsweats said. “I am not wasting my time on the L.I.E.. And I agree to that!”

“You, karaoke?” Repo said. “That sounds a bit wild.”

“I’ll have you know I can sing! Back in my culinary school days, I was in an underground punk band and I was lead!” the former chef bragged. “Now we definitely must go, if only to show you all up!” 

The cashier at the karaoke bar barely batted an eye at them, only taking their payment and handing them the room key. “Bar and kitchen menu are next to the door, bathrooms down the hall.”

“Ah, New York, what a town,” Repo shrugged as they settled in their room. “No one really gives a shit, huh?”

“I cried in Port Authority once,” Carl said. “Literally no one looked at me.” 

“I stepped over a dead rat without blinking,” Warren added. “You know, back when I had legs.”

“I’m a giant pig who runs a food truck,” Meatsweats added, scrolling through the song list. “No doubt, most people in the city have seen weirder.”

“I know I have,” Jitterbug replied. “So Meatsweats, what song are you singing for us this evening?”

“Just wait and see,” he said, pressing a number into the keypad and hitting enter. A loud guitar riff began blaring from the monitor. “Watch and learn.” 

-

By the end of the night, not only had they all learned that Meatsweats could sing, but Jitterbug felt the lightest she had in a very long time. 

           "We have to do this again," Jitterbug happily proclaimed. "I haven't had this much fun in forever!"

           "Agreed," Hypno replied. "Next month sound good everyone?"

            There was a cheer around the van in agreement, even from Repo. Truthfully, he had only been part way into the festivities. He was more concerned about Jitterbug and how she fared. She wasn't a villain like they were, and leaving the Hotel had hurt her more than she let on. But yet, this was the most he had seen her be herself in weeks. A little night of mischief and minor crime and karaoke. 

"And you were worried they would be too much," Jitterbug laughed once they got home. "That was nice."

"Eh, they're an okay lot," Repo smirked. "I don't know about you, but I'm hitting the sack, fancywings. See ya' in the morning."

"Heh, night Bugboy." 

The next morning, Jitterbug was surprised to see two messages on her phone. One from Warren about doing brunch at some point as “us bug mutants have to stick together and all that” which she happily responded with a “yes.” The other was a voicemail from Le Chateau Mure: they had recently, as in the past twelve hours, discovered her real situation with the Hotel Nexxus and Big Mama. But instead of forcing the bill at her, there was instead a job offer for their lounge. 

She had never been so quick to say yes. Her first night singing a few days later had her little mutated cohort in the front row seats on a legitimate claim. She felt her brightest under their lights, happily singing and dancing with a few band members, some of which had followed her once they heard the news. Jitterbug felt herself for the first time in a long time. Not Anais, not the Jitterbug of the Hotel Nexxus on Big Mama’s arm and payroll, just Jitterbug. And she was happy. 

It didn’t take long for Big Mama to hear about Jitterbug’s new venue, and once she had healed enough to walk in on her own feet, secured her reservation. Not her usual table at Mur, no, but one in the back, out of sight from the stage and other patrons. No one was to serve her or offer her anything at the table until Jitterbug had finished her set. As soon as she bowed, all glitter, gold and song, Big Mama slipped away from the table. The bouncers parted from her with a glare, and she wove her way backstage until she came to Jitterbug’s dressing room. 

There was no pause in her hand as she knocked, once again hearing the bug’s voice ring out an allowance for entry. Big Mama opened the door as Jitterbug turned with a grin, and time paused for a moment. Jitterbug stood, her arms crossing over her middle. “I see you’re better now.”

“I see you have a new stagelly,” Big Mama replied. “You certainly owned it.” 

“That’s my job.” 

Silence fell. 

“Why are you here, Big Mama? Going to buy the place and start terrorizing New York for money?”

“Pfft, please. We both saw how that turned out,” Big Mama scoffed. “I lost my hotel and was hospitalized. Not to mention-”

“Not to mention Lou Jitsu almost got killed because of it,” 

“Bugaboo-”

Jitterbug held up a hand to stop her. “I’m not your bugaboo anymore. I can deal with you still having feelings for Lou. Hell, if you had spoken to me about it, I would have been fine with it. It’s Lou Jitsu. I had a crush on him and I barely swing that way. But it was the fact that you hid that from me. Hid how you treated him. How we never officially made anything...official, for us. And then everything that you did to the city…”

She pressed a hand to her forehead. “I can’t do that. Not anymore. I prefer this life now. Don’t get me wrong. I had fun. You gave me a start fresh out of my mutation. But that’s over now.”

“Then I suppose I have really nothing to discuss,” Big Mama replied. 

“I suppose not,” Jitterbug agreed. “I’m...I’m glad you’re better. I hope you enjoyed the show.”

She received no response. Big Mama had left as quickly as she came. Jitterbug decided that it was for the best not to draw anything out further. And yet, she still wore the silver dress she had received, all that time ago after her first show, glittering and proud, for the next set of the night.

[dreamingofscully]

MOMENTUM - CHAPTER 1

(READ CHAPTER 2)

Rating: Mature (ch 1), Explicit (ch 2) Length: ~12k words Classification: M/S RST, Angst, Post-Ep for En Ami and spoilers through Chimera and all things Summary: Scully’s choices lead to some unintended consequences for herself and her relationship with Mulder.

Thank you to my betas! @sarie-fairy​​ @scullyeffect​​ and @o6666666​​ for the machete betas and @suitablyaggrieved​​ @starbuckthirteen​​ and @unhappybrthday​​ for the feedback. Definitely could not have done it without you.

Tagging @today-in-fic and @kega-umi.

(Read on AO3)

*** FRIDAY SPENDER’S FORMER OFFICE

“He knows what that science is worth, how powerful it is....He'd let nothing stand in his way.”  - Mulder

“You may be right... but for a moment, I saw something else in him. A longing for something more than power. Maybe for something he could never have.” - Scully

Scully wishes she could claim possession, body-snatching or any sort of ridiculous idea besides the one that she simply did something stupid. Mulder stands in front of her, arms braced on the doorway, waiting for a reasonable explanation. Why did she believe Spender? Why is she trying to paint him in a more sympathetic light? She thought she was doing the right thing at the time, but looking back she can’t believe she was so foolish. The silence stretches between them, his eyes filling with disappointment as he turns and walks away, leaving her standing in the empty room. 

Looking for some tangible proof of Spender’s presence, she scans the room one last time. Wonders why she’s even bothering since proof won’t give her the answers she needs. All of their experiences with him showed that he was nothing more than a liar, manipulating people for his own personal gain and twisted pleasure. Scully’s smart but she’s never been good at deception. Why did she think she could out-wit the man whose entire life was built on lies? Finding nothing in the room to ease her conscience, she reluctantly follows Mulder to his car. 

The last time she could remember this amount of tension between them was when Scully had voiced her suspicions to Mulder about Diana. They never talked about the hurt they’d caused one another back then, but that was their usual M.O. - never speaking about what mattered. Getting back to the X-Files, the foundation of their partnership, repaired the damage they'd inflicted upon one another. Shortly afterwards, they took the next monumental step in their relationship, finally admitting the feelings they had for one another and becoming lovers. It made the issues they argued about seem unimportant, at the time.

Mulder drives her home without even sparing her a glance. His inattention is glaringly unfamiliar. A few times, Scully opens her mouth to say something but changes her mind, each justification sounding inadequate. She’s utterly disappointed in herself. 

Finally, he pulls up outside her door, leaving the motor running. Needing to say something before leaving she undoes her seatbelt and turns to face him.

“Mulder--”

“Not now, Scully. Just get out.” He doesn't meet her gaze. There’s tension in his shoulders, barely concealed rage simmering just under the surface.

Not moving, she steels herself for his anger. She still has some hope of reasoning with him but before she can say anything else, Mulder turns to look at her. Instead of fury, she sees pain and vulnerability and her heart clenches in her chest. He thinks she betrayed him and from the outside that’s exactly what it looks like, exactly what Spender intended. Was that another motive - to put a wedge between them? 

Suddenly he’s left the car and is walking around to her side. He wrenches open her door and waits impatiently for her to get out. As she exits the car and reaches for him, he avoids her touch and goes back to the driver's side like he’d drive away whether she shut the door or not.

“Mulder, I was wrong to go with Spender but I think that might be what he intended all along, to make you doubt me. Call me when you’re ready to talk. Just know I’m sorry, and I love you.”

Scully waits, hoping he'll turn towards her and acknowledge her words. 

“Shut the door.” He doesn’t spare her a glance.

When she closes the door between them, his car peels out of the parking lot, leaving Scully at the curb to watch Mulder drive out of sight. She doesn’t remember the walk to her apartment, her head filled with fury and regret.

*** MONDAY FBI HEADQUARTERS

Scully walks down the hallway to their office, her heels clicking in an urgent, staccato rhythm, mimicking her fluttering heartbeat. He hadn’t called over the weekend, and despite not knowing his state of mind, she’s eager to see him. While they don’t spend every day together, it was rare a day went by that they didn’t at least speak on the phone, talking about anything and nothing. She misses their connection in a way that makes her feel weak and unsure, a foreign and unwelcome sensation. Taking a deep breath, she brushes her sweaty hands on her skirt and prepares a hopefully normal-looking smile on her face as she opens the door. 

Instead of a brooding, grumpy partner, she finds an empty office.

There’s no note on either of their desks. She double checks the door for a message - nothing. Concerned, she boots up her computer and scans her email. Nothing. Her cell phone is charged and there were no messages on her answering machine, she triple-checked before she left that morning.

Even though her instincts scream at her that he might have gone and done something impulsive and stupid, Scully takes a few deep breaths and forces herself to trust him. Calling him will only piss him off even more if, as she suspects, he’s only trying to avoid her a little while longer. He’ll be here. She’ll give him thirty minutes.

The time seems to pass interminably. She’s constantly checking the clock and reopening her email. Wondering if the computer system is down, she’s about to call tech support when the new email icon pops up on her desktop. Her heart leaps in her chest and she’s irrationally angry when it’s not him. She tries to work away at the long list of things she means to do but never has the time for but her eyes keep wandering to the clock. The reports on her desk remain unopened.

Twenty-five minutes. That’s close enough. She calls his home, but he must have turned off his answering machine. And he doesn’t answer his cell. 

Panic sets in.

Not knowing what else to do, Scully dials the number for Skinner’s office, chewing on her lip while she waits to be connected.

“What is it, Agent Scully?” His irritation makes her more nervous than usual, reminding her of the many, many times Mulder did something to annoy him.

“Sir? I, um, wondered if you had any idea of Mulder’s whereabouts?”

Silence for a few beats.

“He’s in St. Louis, helping with a profile. Left yesterday night. You’re unaware of this, Agent Scully? I thought you went with him.”

Scully massages her forehead, suppressing a sigh. “No, I... um... had stuff to do here. He must have forgotten to let me know. Sorry for bothering you, sir.” 

Scully tries Mulder’s cell again but it disconnects after one ring. So, that’s how it's going to be. Annoyance begins to creep up at his avoidance, but she tamps it down. She’s more worried about the toll that profiling will take on him. Since she’s not his favorite person right now, she fears her presence would only distract him, making the process take longer rather than providing any help. If they needed a pathologist, Mulder knew where she was.

Straightening her back, Scully forces herself to concentrate and get back to work. It’ll be a long few days alone in their basement office, but perhaps she can take advantage of his absence and catch up on reports and paperwork. Calmed by the practicality of her thoughts, she dives into the neatly stacked piles of work on her desk, determined to put her emotions aside until she’s able to talk to Mulder about it. 

*** FRIDAY

The rest of the week passes incredibly slowly without Mulder there to keep her company. When Scully tries to find out any information on his profiling case, thinking she could help from a distance or find an excuse to join him out there, she’s rebuffed. She almost takes the rejection personally but dismisses the irrational thoughts - not everything is about her. 

The anger she feels towards Spender grows with each day of Mulder’s absence, each day he refuses her call. She knows that this entire charade was intended to not only help Spender acquire something dangerous but to create doubt in her partner’s head about her. Once he gets back, she’s sure things will be fine, but the work doesn’t hold her interest without him there to distract her from it.

Speaking of distractions... Scully reaches for the office phone and hits redial, reaches Mulder’s voicemail.

“Mulder, it’s me. I’m not going to apologize again, you’ve already heard all that. I still can’t give you a good explanation. Just… I guess I just saw an opportunity for something and decided to take a leap. I know it wasn’t the best time to do that but, there you have it. Call me. Please. I’m worried about you out there.”

Scully hangs up the phone, taps on the receiver. She hates not knowing, hates not being about to do something. Needing to do something, she picks up the phone and dials Skinner’s extension. 

A few perfunctory minutes of updates to him on her progress in the office over the past week and Scully gets to the real reason for her call. 

“Sir, I was hoping for an update on Mulder’s case in St. Louis?” She tries to sound casual and unconcerned.

In the momentary silence on the other end of the receiver, she imagines Skinner’s brows knitting together. She swears under her breath, sure he would find it unusual that she was asking him, rather than speaking to Mulder directly.

“Uh... I just spoke to Agent Mulder. He’s due back tomorrow.” A pause. “Is everything okay, Agent Scully? Is there a reason you haven’t spoken with him yourself?”

“No, not at all. I-- um...that’s all I needed from you. Goodbye, sir.” 

Tomorrow, then. Scully smiles softly, nodding to herself. He’ll be home and she can help him with whatever consequences arose from the case in St. Louis, relieved she can finally take action.

*** SATURDAY MULDER’S APARTMENT

The rumbling of thunder and flashes of lightning accompany Scully as she strides down the hallway to Mulder’s apartment, shaking droplets of water from her raincoat. The fading light bulbs and sparse indigo light from the window at the end of the hall paint everything in shadowy illumination reminiscent of evening, though it's midafternoon. She knocks on his door, biting her lower lip. Strangely nervous about seeing him after so long.

She hears the lock opening and suddenly he’s in front of her. He hasn’t opened the door completely but the few inches of Mulder that she sees causes her to smile foolishly. 

Oh, how I missed him. 

“Hey,” she says. Her delight spills out before she notices his appearance. He looks like he’s been to hell and back - he hasn’t shaved in at least a week and there's dark circles under his bloodshot eyes. 

“Oh, Mulder…” 

Scully reaches for him, but before she can get close he flinches and pulls away from her, still holding the door partially closed and blocking her entrance. She’s dismayed at his reaction but tells herself it’s not about her.

“Now isn’t a good time.” His voice is strained. “What are you doing here?”

“It’s been a week… I thought we could get dinner and… talk?” At his blank stare, she continues. “Are you ok?” She places a hand on the doorframe and checks him over more closely.  

“I don’t think you being here is a good idea,” he says, his gaze hardening under her inspection. 

Confused at his rejection, Scully takes a deep breath, trying to think of something to say to bridge the gap between them.

“Is this about Spender?”

Mulder’s eyes suddenly flare with unbridled fury. His jaw clenches and his grip on the door tightens. Scully’s not sure what’s worse, the intense anger or the emotionlessness. He stares past her into the hallway. 

“Why on earth would you bring him up, Scully?” He asks this quietly, but she feels the force of his anger with every syllable. 

“Mulder, I didn’t mean--”

"What didn't you mean?" Mulder interrupts, yanking the door open and leaning closer but further blocking her entrance. His entire body rigid. "To take off with a man who's lied and worked against us for years? Who gave you your disease, who took so many things from the both of us?”

"I told you why I went, what he told me." The reason sounds feeble as soon as she voices it, unprepared to defend herself. She’d come to support him in the aftermath of profiling a horrific case, only he seems more upset over her actions from a week ago. .

Mulder’s eyes flash at her again. "And look what it got you. Nothing. Less than nothing. I was so worried about you.” 

The care she tried to take when she left with Spender ended up being completely worthless. Of course Mulder worried about her. What he must have thought? 

He continues, hands gripping the doorframe. “He could have done anything he wanted and you played right into his hands. And I still don't understand. You've always been the one telling me not to trust others, then you take off with the worst sonofabitch--"

Sheets of rain pound against the window, and dangerous crashes of thunder punctuate Mulder’s furious words, cutting off the last part of his sentence. Scully tries to hold his gaze, to tell him with her eyes what she can’t seem to express with her words. She can’t stand how he’s looking at her any longer and glances out the window at the storm. 

Flashes of light illuminate the hallway as she turns back. Long shadows drape Mulder in half-light. His face is both dark and light at once and while she desperately tries to focus her thoughts into coherence, he’s sinking back into his darkened apartment.

"Mulder, I tried..." The rest of her words shrivel under the weight of her mistake. She didn’t need to repeat herself and he didn’t seem to want to accept, let alone believe, her motivations the first time. A week apart didn’t lessen his anger. Her chest tightens. "I don't know what else to say."

"I don't think I really know you." Mulder’s voice breaks, sharpness replaced by vulnerability.

The statement breaks her heart. She knows how much trust means to him, that for years now she’s been the only one he can count on, who never tried to manipulate him. She's always been his exception. He trusted her implicitly because she’s never had an agenda. Have her actions forced him to doubt her? 

He has no one else. Of course he would react this way. 

She composes herself before speaking again, feeling like she’s traveled back in time, needing to convince him that he could trust her again.

"You do know me. It was a mistake. A terrible mistake, but that's all it was. It's me." She longs to reach out and grab his hand to emphasize her point, but his earlier reaction makes her hesitant.

Mulder’s eyes close and his shoulders slump, weariness and defeat written on every inch of his frame. He inches the door shut, withdrawing from her completely. 

"Mulder, please…" She’s desperate but has no idea how to reach him, convince him her intentions were pure. It’s like the idea of her betrayal has buried itself so deeply within him there’s nothing she can do to convince him otherwise. 

“No. I can’t do this right now.” He pulls away, shutting the door firmly between them.

She hadn’t expected this. Needing some sort of connection no matter how tenuous, she reaches out and lays her hand on the door, the smooth wood-grain surface under her palm an ineffectual replacement. She stands there for longer than she should, her breath shallow, emotions swirling within her. 

A boom of thunder shocks her out of her bleak thoughts, forcing her hand from his door and her steps towards the elevator. She doesn’t think she’s ever seen him this mad at her for so long. She manages to get to her car and drive home, heedless of the rain soaking her to the skin.

*** MONDAY, THE FOLLOWING WEEK FBI HEADQUARTERS

Worried when Mulder’s late for work on Monday, Scully wonders if she’ll have a repeat of last week. When he shows up she’s relieved, despite his rumpled suit and tired eyes. Mulder is distant but at least they’re speaking to one another, giving Scully hope that they can fix whatever happened between them. 

They work separately on old case reports and Scully tries to take comfort in the routine. However, Mulder’s dark mood is a thick fog between them, making their progress feel sluggish and their attempts at communication heavy and awkward. She wishes she could give him some measure of solace, comb her fingers through his hair, hold him at night until he falls into an easy slumber. Guilt cuts through her concern, presses heavily on her chest. It was her own actions that placed her here, preventing her from being able to give him comfort.

Regardless, he's talking to her, which she takes as a step in the right direction.

The week passes and Scully’s optimism dwindles. She almost forgets about their estrangement until he shies away from her touch, doesn’t meet her gaze, and refuses to banter or joke and she's struck by the remoteness of his presence. It’s like she's been reduced to a tolerable acquaintance rather than his closest friend and lover. 

They’ve never been good at talking about personal things. Scully could probably recount on one hand the rare times they spoke openly about their relationship or feelings with one another. How can she start a conversation with him about when it’s just not something that they do?

Thoughts of her sister emerge more frequently. Scully misses her acutely, the pain of her death like a fresh wound. Was it this hard all those years ago? Missy was so good at knowing what to do when it came to people. Instead of speculating about what her sister would say, Scully embraces her strengths and gets back to work, what brought her and Mulder together in the first place. She takes some comfort in simply having him nearby, witnessing the brilliance of his mind. If they’ve taken a step back in their relationship, she can’t deny that she wouldn’t trade her partner for any other.

*** FRIDAY FBI HEADQUARTERS

“There’s been some tension between my partner and I this past week and I can’t figure out how to get past it. Or if we even can.” Scully chews on her bottom lip, finding it difficult to voice her concerns aloud.

Karen Kosseff, the FBI counselor she’s talked to off and on over the years, sits across from her in her small office. She’s silent, calmly waiting for her to continue.

Scully clears her throat. “I made a mistake, a pretty serious one, that might have made him question my loyalty.”

“Were you disloyal to him?”

“No, never." Scully answers immediately. “I did something reckless, something that made him worry about me. But now he’s just upset, won’t talk.”

“You’ve been partnered with Agent Mulder for…” Karen consults the file in front of her. “Seven years now? That’s quite a long time to be paired with someone. But you feel this is different than the usual ups and downs one would expect in such a long-term relationship?” 

“Before--” She interrupts herself before accidentally revealing too much. “We’ve had arguments before, but never anything that prevented us from continuing our work normally. Even if we don’t talk about it, we generally push on like nothing’s happened.”

“And do you think that’s an effective way to communicate?”

“Probably not.” Her mouth turns up in a self-deprecating smile. She’s always been comfortable with not talking, not revealing her innermost thoughts. It was always easier to keep things hidden, but she knows deep down that it’s always led to trouble. “But anything would be better than what’s going on now.”

“From our past meetings and from reading your file I can see you two have weathered a lot in the years you’ve been together. That can take a serious toll on anyone.” Karen’s compassionate voice always seems to seep through her walls. She forgets each time how easy it is to open up when she’s here.

“I know this. And I think maybe what we’re going through now might be a continuation of things we’ve been through. I just wish I knew what to do.” Scully’s voice cracks, she feels tears threatening. Bowing her head as she closes her eyes, she tries to remain in control for long enough to say everything she needs to.

“Is there something else bothering you?”

Scully whips her head up to look at Karen. How does she do that? “I, um… I can’t talk to him about this--” 

Karen tilts her head, waits.

“Something happened to me, when I… made my mistake. I don’t really know what. I’m scared to find out. But if I told him--” Scully breaks off to press a hand to her mouth, feeling hot tears spill out over her cheeks, but she forces herself to continue. “It would make what I did so much worse.”

Scully has tried not to think about what Spender did to her while she was unconscious. It was easier to be angry with Spender about the disc and his lies, to be concerned with Mulder’s feelings and how she could help him. 

Karen doesn’t speak for several minutes, offering Scully a box of tissues. Her voice is concerned when she breaks their silence. “What are you scared of, Dana?”

“Of the possibilities. Of the consequences of them. Maybe I’ve made more than one mistake. This is just the last one in a series, and I can’t go back to how it was before--”

Karen raises her eyebrows at her pause.

It was so difficult to separate herself from their new relationship, maybe that was one of the problems. Taking a deep breath, and changing the direction she’d been heading. “I think I always prided myself on acting as Mulder’s ballast, the person who grounds him. I feel like I’ve failed in that regard, and I think he sees it that way too. Maybe that’s what is most upsetting, not what I did but how outside of myself the mistake was.”

“Do you feel like he holds you to unreasonable standards?”

“I don’t think so.” Crumpling the tissue in her hands, breaking it off into little pieces, Scully sighs before continuing. “I think if I give him time, things will work out. Sometimes we take a while to get moving, so to speak.”

***

It’s not usually until much later that Scully feels better after a session with Karen. Uncomfortable truths come to the surface, harmful things she realizes she’s been doing and needs to change. Knowing and doing, though, are two entirely different things. Even if she knew how to get him to speak with her, she doesn’t know if she has the strength to open up to him, to tell him everything. 

Instead of worrying about what to do with Mulder, Scully dives into work with an obsessive meticulousness. Not only does she work on finishing case reports, she consults with other agents outside the X-Files on their cases and starts research on a new paper about a case from a few months back. Outside of work, she starts a new training regimen, hoping she’ll be marathon-ready if the opportunity ever arises. The addition of all of these activities leaves her exhausted at the end of each day, falling into a restless sleep late at night and waking just in time to start the next morning. 

Sometimes the flurry of her day isn’t enough to keep her mind from wandering before unconsciousness takes her. These nights are the hardest. Despite spending most of the day with Mulder, and even though they didn’t spend every night with each other before their falling-out, she’s lonely. When she misses the warmth and solidity of his body around hers, she’ll find momentary release from her recently retired vibrator. Pretending he's here, that he's touching her, that things are back to normal. After her orgasm she feels the emptiness of her bed even more acutely - it’s not his body or her pleasure that she misses most, but the intimacy of his presence.

Scully’s mood shifts after a few weeks of her busier schedule. She’s easily angered and it’s increasingly difficult to hide her emotions. The incessant cracking of Mulder’s sunflower seeds grates on her nerves and she finds herself leaving the office more frequently as well, refusing to take out her anger at its intended target. Skinner and the rest of the agents in the building avoid her whenever they hear the tell-tale sound of her strident heels in the halls. 

***

It’s been just over three weeks since Mulder’s return from St. Louis and four weeks since they’ve had a friendly conversation. Scully finds herself in the office alone, reviewing a forensics report for a fellow agent, a favor she’s been meaning to return. Mulder’s jacket sits on the back of his chair, empty seed shells littering the desk and the floor around it. He’s off doing God knows what and she doesn’t bother asking where he’s going anymore, since he only responds to her questions with single-syllable grunts. She’s irritated at Mulder’s presumption of her availability, and his continued neglect of their relationship. What relationship?

When the phone rings, she considers not answering. She’s uncomfortable with negligence of duty, no matter how small, compelling her to pick up after a respectable three rings. 

“What?”

“Er, Agent Scully, I was hoping to discuss the case reports you and Agent Mulder just turned in.” 

Scully bites the inside of her cheek and closes her eyes, attempting to keep her annoyance at bay. With the extra time she and Mulder seem to have nowadays, the reports are some of the most comprehensive ones they’ve ever turned in. She feels like this conversation is a giant waste of time, but Skinner’s her boss, so she suffers through his questions.

Scully hangs up the phone as Mulder enters their office reading a file, not acknowledging her presence. She studiously ignores his silence and goes back to her report.

Almost  an hour later, Scully looks up from her reading, surprised to find that so much time has passed. When she looks over at Mulder, she meets his gaze and blinks in surprise.

“Do you need something, Mulder?” Scully raises her eyebrows and feels her mouth start to twitch upwards in a smile. Warmth floods her chest at his unexpected attention.

Mulder shakes his head and reaches for a report, opening it and ignoring her.

Her anger spills out, and she doesn’t hold it back this time. “When are you going to stop punishing me?” 

“Once I feel you can be trusted to not run off with the next guy who promises you something.”

Scully’s eyebrows knit together and her mouth drops open in shock. Before she can respond, Mulder grabs his jacket and leaves without another word. Her hand rises to her mouth and she closes her eyes, feeling the force of his words like a punch to the gut.

He won’t even speak to me about what’s bothering him, yet feels the need to make condescending remarks? 

She stares at the office door, wishing he’d return so she could tell him where he could shove his idiotic petulance.

When he doesn’t come back, Scully finds it difficult to concentrate. She leaves early and heads to the gym for a punishing training session before heading home. Rewarding herself with a few glasses of wine and a decidedly non-romantic movie, she manages to sink into a dreamless sleep.

The next morning, Scully’s running late, dreading another confrontation but knowing she should say something. Mulder’s sitting at his desk with coffee for the both of them.

“I’m sorry for what I said yesterday, Scully.” 

She’s surprised at first, stares at him. He’s avoiding her gaze, buried in a report. As she waits for him to continue, he turns his chair around and sorts through some files behind his desk.

That’s it?

After he left the office yesterday, she was determined to finally speak frankly but after his weak apology she’s reluctant to cause another argument. 

A night of stewing in her anger left her emotionally drained and pessimistic about being able to work things out with him. Every time she tries to talk, her mouth goes dry and a weight presses heavily on her chest. 

Why is it so difficult to know what to say? 

Frustrated at her inability to express herself, she resumes work without another word. They exist in the same office, worlds apart.

*** WEDNESDAY, THE FOLLOWING WEEK ABANDONED WAREHOUSE SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON, DC

“Well, good work, Scully. I'll call you back later.” - Mulder

Scully rolls her shoulders and stands, irritated at his abrupt goodbye. The conclusion of the case re-energized her but now she feels exhaustion creeping back. Despite her tiredness, she can’t help thinking about Mulder and this damn surveillance. She feels abandoned. While she’s left to pursue something not even worth their time, he scampers off to investigate a real X-File on his own. Maybe he realizes he doesn’t actually need her after all.

They’d become automatons. Mulder doesn’t talk to her about any new cases, they just work on tying loose ends and finishing reports. She wonders if he disappears on weekends to investigate things on his own instead of calling and pestering her to join him. She regrets her feigned annoyance back then, that she never really told him how much their time together meant to her. 

Her shoulder twinges, sore from sitting too long. A tumultuous combination of anger and dread builds within her. Aside from the time she went to his apartment, or the time he told her off, he won’t talk about what happened and as the days pass it gets harder for her to confront him about it. She doesn’t know how to fix their relationship if he won’t even acknowledge its presence. It’s bewildering that he can give up on them so easily - all the things they’ve done for each other over the years and he can just cast her off? Maybe she had everything wrong from the beginning, that the intensity of her feelings for him have always been one-sided.

At home, Scully peels off her clothes and stands under the lash of a hot shower until her skin is pink and raw. Unbidden, the tears start to flow, merging with the sluice of water flowing over her body. She was so preoccupied with her rage that this new emotion takes her by surprise. She only notices it once the sobs cause her to double over as she struggles to contain them. 

The combination of steam and grief starts to make her feel dizzy. Stumbling out of the stall, she sits heavily on the floor, grabbing her towel and wrapping it around herself.

She doesn’t notice the cold air causing her to shiver violently. She’s oblivious to her wet hair plastered to her head and neck, thick droplets cascading to the floor and pooling underneath her, making a wet mess on the cold tiles. 

Her awareness consists only of the overwhelming grief and painful pressure of her hands pressing against her eyes in a futile attempt to stop the emotions overtaking her.

All this time… the idea that their relationship had meant nothing to him, even after everything he’s said and done. The hold he’s had over her for years, thinking that it was only a matter of time. Never that it would come to an end almost before it even began. All her fears and vulnerabilities she’s bottled up these past few weeks spill over, shaking her to her core. She recalls the nagging but easily-ignored feelings that their happiness couldn’t last. Those minor twinges and paranoid notions suddenly seem so undeniably monstrous and real.

She’s not sure how long she sits crumpled there on the floor. Her ass is numb and she’s shaking uncontrollably with the cold by the time she comes back to herself. She’s stiff from the awkward position she’s been sitting in and the tension of her emotional outburst. Drying herself off and slipping into warm flannel pajamas, she heads to her darkened bedroom. Her head hits the pillow and she envelopes herself underneath her quilt, her grief waning into bruising emptiness as she falls into an exhausted slumber.

***

Hours later, Mulder comes to her apartment and lets himself in, pausing at the doorway before heading to her bedroom. He stands at the end of the bed and stares at her sleeping form for several minutes, a bleak expression on his face. He moves closer, carefully tucking the blanket around her, brushing a trembling hand over her curling hair, gently kissing the patch of skin peeking out from the collar of her pajamas. Leaning towards her, he studies her sleeping form  for a few more minutes before leaving, regret and an awakened determination in his eyes.

END CHAPTER 1 ------- (READ CHAPTER 2)

[tvandenneagram]

Pretty Little Liars: Aria Montgomery - Type 4w3

Aria is creative, kind and sensitive. She is quirky with an unmistakably unique style and loves being unique.

At her best, Aria is a helpful and caring friend. She puts aside her own needs to help her friends and is well in tune with other’s feelings. Aria becomes more principled and approaches situations with a more objective stance. 

At her worst, Aria is manipulative and clingy. She is over attached to Ezra and neglects her friends for her relationship. Aria lets her emotions cloud her decision-making and will not think about the repercussions. She also joins the A-team because she was being blackmailed and felt she had no choice.

Aria is deeply emotional and this drives most of her decision-making. For example, she understands that it is wrong to date her English teacher, but because of the intense emotions she feels she has to pursue it. Aria feels her emotions deeply and will often journal to get her feelings out.

Aria is very creative and often uses artistic outlets like photography or drawing to channel this. She loves to see the beauty in the world and is interested in the arts, music and literature. Aria exhibits a somewhat ‘hipster’ vibe (especially in the earlier seasons) and is described as the ‘weird’ one in the group.

Aria is eccentric and bold in her fashion choices. She often uses this to project her unique self-image to the world. 4s enjoy standing out and being seen as ‘special’. Aria’s fashion choices, ebb and flow with the show but she always tries to express her individuality through her clothing choices.

4s tend to idealise romantic relationships and yearn to find the ideal partner. We see this in Aria, who immediately is smitten with Ezra upon meeting him. She thinks he is so cool and admires that he has the same ‘alternative’ taste in music as her. Aria feels like there is a connection there and that she has to pursue the relationship despite the obvious problems with it. She also doesn’t want to listen to any of the potential concerns her family and friends have about it because she thinks he is perfect. 

Aria shows her 3 wing, as she is more outgoing than a wing 5. Additionally, she is more concerned about what others think about her and image conscious than a wing 5.

Tri-type: 4w3 - 9w1 - 6w7

Some quotes to describe Aria’s motivations

“When you love someone, it's worth fighting for. No matter what the odds are.”

“Look, we’re here now, and it’s just the two of us, and it feels good. So let's not care together.”

“I don't give a damn what anyone else thinks.”

“I'm me because of what has happened, what I've done and because of who I love.”

“You're a freak and I love you.”

“I just want to lay in bed and listen to sad music all day”

“I’m just trying to figure out the way to say ‘Happy Birthday’ without the happy”

“The rest of you are gonna be waltzing off to sorority rush and I'm gonna be stuck picking up garbage in Rosewood. Yeah that'll be me, dodging A messages and wearing a big floppy hat to cover my bald spot.”

“Not really. We're still a freak show. Now, we're just a freak show in natural light.”

[im-up-to-no-good]

I solemnly swear ( Part 6 )

Summary: Y/N Potter is the twin-sister of James Potter and the current teacher for Care of Magical Creatures at Hogwarts during Harry's third year.

As the news of Sirius Black breaking out ouf Azkaban start to spread, her life is turned upside down as it gets harder and harder to keep their feelings for each other hidden in the dark.

What will happen when Harry finds out about his aunt's long kept secret?

A/N: I finally did it. I promise you won’t have to wait this long again for the next part, I’ll try my best to work on it soon! If you want to be part of the taglist, please feel free to tell me. I’ll be happy to add you!

I’d be glad if you leave some constructive criticism, thoughts, whatever you want to do, so I can improve my writing. Enjoy the new part!

Word count: 2376

________________

You tried your very best to ignore these last few minutes and your argument with Harry, but his last words just didn't seem to leave your mind.

Liar.

Traitor.

It was hard for you to repeat these things inside of your head but you knew pretty well that he had a point with that. You lied to him all those years. And you lied to yourself too even if you thought that your intentions were good. He had every right to be confused or mad because of you. In the end you kind of were the problem.

It didn't take long for you to leave Hogsmeade behind of yourself but with every minute passing it seemed as if it would get harder and harder for you to walk on the snowy pathway.

You tried your best to keep walking but within a short amount of time the whole weather changed completely as if someone suddenly pulled a lever. The sun disappeared behind a thick layer of clouds while everything around you went out of control. There were no longer snowflakes falling silently from the sky, but a storm that cut into your skin like cold little knives. The wind blew faster every second now and your feet could barely keep you on the ground. You kneeled down instinctively and tried to shield your eyes with one of your arms. You tried to concentrate to find a way out of this mess, unfortunately you could barely even see your own hand in front of you. Your gaze wandered around until you could finally make out a silhouette a bit away from you, but you couldn't quite identify what it was.

Not until a loud growl pervaded the storm.

Your eyes widened and you took out your wand immediately. You knew that sound and you knew what was going on, or at least you thought you did. You raised up your wand, looked at the sky and shouted.

"Finite Incantatem!"

As soon as these words left your mouth the storm seemed to fade away almost instantly. Everything went back to normal as if nothing happened in the first place. You let out a breath you didn't know you were holding and stood up again, your whole body slightly shaking from the cold consuming you. You looked around yourself until your eyes got stuck on the silhouette you saw just a few moments before. Now you could see it as clear as day and your grip on your wand tightened.

There he was.

Dirty and disheveled, hiding behind an animalistic mask. You stared into his eyes in pure shock and anger, but all you could see was pain and sadness looking back at you.

"Sirius.."

Your voice was barely above a whisper right now, but you were sure that he heard you loud and clear. He laid down on the ground carefully to show you that you didn't need to be scared of him, like he did the first time when you found out about his little secret, but you couldn't help the mistrust inside of yourself. And you were sure he could sense it as he lowered his head, followed by a silent whine.

You lowered your wand resistantly and slowly made one step into his direction, but as soon as you did so he jumped back onto his feet and ran away. You couldn't process what was happening until you heard a voice shouting your name behind of you.

You turned around to see McGonagall running into your direction, concern covering her whole face.

"Y/N! Y/N, dear, are you alright?"

You stared at Minerva as if she was a ghost and she understood immediately what was going on inside of your head. She swallowed hard before she patted you on the back and pulled you towards the carriage you were driving with earlier.

You sat down almost mindlessly, a blank look on your face. She covered your body with a blanket and took a seat across from you after that. You shook your head slowly and looked into her eyes. You didn't know how to talk about this situation. Maybe because you really didn't know what exactly was going on.

You knew for sure that someone used magic to manipulate the weather but for you it didn't appear as if Sirius was the one who put you in danger. Why would he stay there if he was the one responsible for this storm? It all just didn't make sense to you. And maybe this was the reason why you felt so helpless right know. You always knew an answer. You weren't the one to be speechless. But here you were, fighting to find the right words to say.

"Y/N, did you hear what I said?"

You shook your head apologetically before you looked into Minerva's worried eyes again.

"No, I'm sorry, I didn't. Would you mind repeating it?"

She forced a small smile and nodded shortly after.

"It seems as if someone tried to harm you on purpose today, Y/N. This storm appeared out of nowhere."

"And it was all confined to my whereabouts, right?"

She nodded simultaneously and continued talking.

"I'm certain we both know who tried to end what he began a long time ago."

"We don't know for sure Minerva. I can think of one or two other people out there who would love to see me injured or even worse."

"You have to take this matter seriously, there's nothing funny about what happened."

She put her hand on your shoulder and forced a smile again.

"I believe it's better now if you take a rest until we get back. You don't look too good, dear."

You wanted to disagree with her but you could feel how exhausted you were. You pulled the blanket closer to your body and closed your eyes for a short amount of time. Well, at least you thought so.

You woke up in your own bed again. Confusion spread on your face as you saw the time on the clock beside of you. It was almost midnight by now. You slowly sat up and shook your head in disbelief, how could you possibly fade out for so long?

Right as you wanted to stand up you felt a hand on your shoulder which gently pushed you down into a sitting position again.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Just now you finally noticed that Remus was standing right next to your bed. He was probably waiting the whole time for you to wake up.

"How long have you been here?"

He smiled at you before he gave an answer.

"Exactly for how long you've been asleep. I wanted to get an explanation from your own perspective, not from Minnie's."

You could see the concern in his eyes even if he tried to hide it behind a joke. You laid down on your bed again and gestured for him to join you. You both stared at the ceiling for another minute before you finally felt ready to summarize these happenings.

"Well, were do I start? Harry used the invisibility cloak to go to Hogsmeade today, even if I told him to stay here at Hogwarts. One thing led to another and he found out about Sirius."

You paused for a second before you found the words to continue.

"He ran into the woods afterwards and I followed straight after him. As soon as I finally caught up, he confronted me with all the things he heard during my conversation with Minerva and told me that he hates me for that."

Remus turned to look at you sadly but your gaze was still lingering on the ceiling.

"I ignored it as best as I could. I told him to go back to Hogwarts and started to make my way back on my own. I just needed to get my head clear. That's when the weather freaked out."

Now it was your turn to look at Remus who had a puzzled look on his face.

"The weather changed all of a sudden?"

"That's the part where all their precious theories begin."

You forced a laugh and Remus couldn't help but join in.

"Let me guess. Minerva is sure that Sirius is responsible for the things that happened to you but you still can't get yourself to believe the same?"

You nodded your head.

"At least he's not the only one out there who would know a charm like that."

"I know you still have hope that he is innocent, so I won't start an argument again. But please promise me one thing. Please don't underestimate him. You have to be more careful, Y/N."

You stared at him as his words slowly settled in, but a reassuring smile spread on your lips soon after that. You both sat up again and you hugged him.

"I know what I'm doing. I promise."

He let go of you and stood up again.

"You should go back to sleep, you still seem to be a little bit weak. I'll see you tomorrow morning."

"Good night, Remus."

He walked out of the room and closed the door quietly behind himself. You laid down again and closed your eyes, slowly falling back to sleep.

________________

"Come on Y/N/N, just one prank."

"Sirius, please, I'm trying to learn over here."

Sirius walked back and forth in front of your bed since about twenty minutes now, madly trying to get you out of your dorm room to prank the Slytherin's.

"Then you shouldn't have asked me to spend some time with you today."

You put your book down and stood up, leaning against the frame of your bed.

"I didn't. I said I'll try to learn for the test we'll write in less than a week and you just said no and followed me upstairs."

He opened his mouth to protest but the right words didn't seem to get out of it. And he knew it pretty well as a small superior smile slowly appeared on your face.

"I've won padfoot."

"I won't give up so easily, princess."

He walked past you and made himself comfortable on your bed while you were just standing there watching him.

"And you believe that this is helpful to convince me?"

You crossed your arms in front of your chest and sat down opposite him. He watched you carefully before he continued.

"I just need to distract you as long as I can until you don't want to look into this stupid book anymore."

He grinned victoriously but so did you too as you put out your wand.

"Accio."

He lost his grip on the book and you easily took it.

"Oh please, love. You had better ideas than that."

He looked at you dumbfounded as these words left your mouth but he found his cool manner back again real quick. He leaned forward and took your hand without any kind of hesitation.

"Y/N Euphemia Potter."

You squinted your eyes, not knowing what he was about to do now.

"I would be honored to have you as my loyal companion in this next prank. I'm sure I'll need your shining brilliance and lack of following the rules to get out of this succesfully."

He made a dramatic pause and stood up, you following suit as he still hold onto your hand.

"Will you join me, your majesty?"

You shook your head while holding back your laughter as he bowed in front of you.

"You're unbelievable."

He bit his bottom lip and waited for you to answer his question. You rolled your eyes and smiled.

"How could I possibly say no to that."

Now it was his turn to smile at you mischievously and he put one arm around your shoulder, pulling you closer to his side.

"Listen carefully my love, you will never ever hear another idea as good as this one."

You turned your head to look at him and waited for him to explain his plan but at the same time you heard the door open behind of you both.

"Y/N/N have you seen Padfoot by any chance?"

You both turned around as James walked into the room, followed by Remus and Peter. He stopped in his tracks as he saw Sirius’ arm around your shoulder.

"You're a little too close to my sister, mate."

Sirius let go of you almost instantly as if he got bitten by snake, but nevertheless succeeded to let it look casual. You looked down at the ground and smiled to yourself.

"We have a lot of work to do, let's go."

You made your way to the door and dragged Peter and James with you. Remus and Sirius still didn't leave their spot.

"What were you doing here, Padfoot? We've searched the whole school for you."

Remus crossed his arms in front of his chest and stared at Sirius, a slightly annoyed look on his face.

"Sorry Moony, I just needed to involve Y/N/N in our next prank, you're all going to love it!"

"Sure, that's all you wanted to do here, lovebird."

Sirius glared at Remus who couldn't help but smirk at his reaction.

"Are you out of your mind, she could hear you!"

But you were already walking down the stairs, oblivious to what was happening behind of yourself.

As you reached the common room you turned around to look at James.

"I still have one question before we can start this prank."

Remus and Sirius joined you three and waited for you to continue.

"Padfoot said I will never ever hear another idea as good as this one. So what exactly are we going to do?"

They all started to smile mischievously and you started to wonder if you really wanted to hear the plan. Sirius put his arm around your shoulder again, not minding James this time, and dragged you to the entrance of the common room.

"We'll start in the Slytherin common room."

"You don't say."

"Sh, don't Interrupt me."

You hold back a laugh and waited for him to end his little dramatic speech.

"And then we do nothing more than intervene a little in the weather."

taglist:  @frederikkeborup @puppetofyourdreams @avengersassemblee

[damienthepious]

idk idk idk i’m just doing my best

Going Through Changes, Ripping Out Pages (chapter 5)

[ch 1] [ch 2] [ch 3] [ch 4] [ao3] [ch 6] [ch 7] [ch 8] [ch 9] [ch 10] [???]

Fandom: The Penumbra Podcast

Relationship: Lord Arum/Sir Damien/Rilla

Characters: Lord Arum, Sir Damien, Rilla, The Keep

Additional Tags: Second Citadel, Lizard Kissin’ Tuesday, Established Relationship, (uhhhhh sorta), Amnesia, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, (WE WILL GET THERE…… EVENTUALLY)

Summary: Lord Arum wakes to discover that some things have changed while he slept. Namely, there is a human in his bed.

Chapter Summary: Just a moment to breathe together.

Chapter Notes: happy LKT! it's finally not death-grip hot today. i hope you're doing well <3

~

The Keep brings the pair of them to a familiar room, though not one that they would have expected. There are a lot of spaces in the Keep that don't have particular functions, exactly, since Arum isn't keen on categorization or organization, but this room he and Rilla have mostly taken to calling the study. It has a few books (far fewer than the scroll room), a couple soft seats (fewer than the dining room) and a window shaded by a thin, wide-leafed curtain of vines, and as they enter, the Keep drops another set of vines, lifting Rilla's instrument from beside the window and pressing it into her hands.

Rilla stares down, and Damien watches her swallow roughly as her hand wraps around the neck. It's a homemade thing, the same instrument that she engineered during her first stay within these walls, though it has been structurally bolstered and restrung and better tuned and painted with playful florals since that time. Rilla laughs, and it sounds nearly hollow, and the Keep's vines press the instrument more firmly into her grip.

"Keep," she says, her tone uncertain and worried, and the Keep warbles an urgent set of tones, pushing the instrument again before it releases it into her hands. "I'm… I'm not sure if-"

The Keep sings, then. Sings in words, the first line of a familiar song, and Rilla clutches the neck of the instrument tight enough that one of the strings makes a tight high noise against her fingernail.

"Oh," Damien says, catching the Keep's meaning, and it is so strange, he thinks, that such a sound can fill him with such warm memory and such sadness at the same moment. "Oh," he repeats breathlessly. "I see. You believe that he might… if he hears- you think the familiarity of the song, the association between it and us-"

"No. No, that's not going to work," Rilla says firmly, her eyes upturned vaguely in the direction of the Keep.

Damien sighs as the Keep exhales a wilted sort of song, but he can't deny that he agrees with his flower. Rilla winces, though, raising a hand to pat at the air consolingly.

"I mean- Keep, it's a really sweet idea, and the theory that he'll remember the song-" her voice goes strange and wobbly for a moment, and then she inhales and continues, "the theory that it would help him remember isn't without merit. Music has a lot of connection to memory, between repeated patterns of things like rhyme and rhythm and leitmotifs- but- but I don't think he's gonna take it very well if we try to like, perform a little three-creature concert for him, y'know?"

The Keep sings again, tentative but hopeful, and Rilla sighs.

"He'll think we're trying to manipulate him," she says quietly. "Technically, we would be. And- and he won't buy it if he can tell I'm not fully into it. I'm an awful liar- he can always tell if I'm putting on a face, and- and honestly? I just-" she folds her arms over her chest, looking down and to the side. "I just … I really don't feel like singing, right now."

Damien's heart pulls, caught in the tide of Rilla's ill-hidden sorrow. For its part, the Keep sings again, an understanding descent of notes, an obvious concession to Rilla's points.

"Why don't you play, just a little, my love?" Damien's keeps his voice low, and he brushes his hand over hers on the neck of her instrument. "And I will do the singing myself."

"Damien," she says, sounding tired and uncertain. "It isn't going to w-"

"Not," he clarifies, "for the sake of a solution, I mean. Simply for us. You have sung for my own comfort more times than I could possibly count. If it would bring you more distress, you need not play, but at least let me sing for you. Our Keep has made a lovely suggestion, and I should like, I think, to take some small measure of comfort where I can, and share it."

"Oh," Rilla says, blinking, and then she breathes a weak sort of laugh. "Oh, I mean… if you- if you want?"

Damien smiles, and it feels mostly genuine. They still have not come to any solutions, but surprising Rilla is delightful enough to warm him regardless. "I believe you are correct," he says, "that any attempts at artifice will only cause our lily to mistrust our intentions further. Perhaps we should attempt to show him your recordings, next. That seems an appropriate step. But currently, while he is… cooling off, as you put it, I think we should take a moment of our own. Settle our minds, comfort our souls." He squeezes her hand, ducking his head. "Will you let me sing for you?"

"Damien," she says, and her cheeks are dark as her lips tilt into a fond smile. She glances down to her instrument, and then she sighs, and sits, and lifts it to a proper playing position as she meets Damien's again. "I'll play. You can sing, if you really want to. But- but you don't have to sing for me, okay?"

"I know," he says, settling to sit beside her as her fingers dance across the frets, lazily adjusting the tuning. "But surely you know that I want to."

Her smile grows, and she plucks out a few unconnected chords. "Alright, alright," she says, voice warm, and then she bites her lip for a moment as her fingers move, as she strums through a few more experimental notes before she decides on something he can sing along with.

Another folk song, one without quite such a fraught connection to the four of them, this time. A song about warm rains and bolting for shelter, about closeness and laughter, about staying together in the hidden places, even after the storm passes by.

She is always so beautiful when she plays. She laughs, even, when the Keep begins to hum wordlessly along with Damien, and he nearly loses his thread when the combination of her talent and her joy threatens to overwhelm his heart. Eventually, on the final verse, she lets her own voice raise to join theirs, harmonizing until she strums the last chord.

Her smile tilts her lips, and her eyes sparkle between rueful and mischievous.

"Tactical and romantic," she murmurs, and Damien attempts to look innocent. "Okay, okay, I'm actually feeling a little better now. Happy?"

At the admission, Damien's shoulders relax, and he cannot help his own smile. "Absolutely delighted, my flower," he says, and then he leans closer, and Rilla breathes another small laugh as she lifts one hand away from the frets to cup his cheek, to pull him more decisively into the kiss.

Damien freezes when he hears the sharp inhale from the doorway, and he can feel the too-small reserves of comfort and warmth shrink within him. He can feel Rilla's frame stiffen beneath his hands as well, and he forces himself to pull back, to glance aside, to look where he knows he will see-

Arum leans on the doorframe, two hands clinging to the wood, his thin lips parted and his expression confused and open and raw. A moment after Damien looks towards him, though, he snaps his jaw shut again, forcing himself to look nearly blank.

Nearly. Damien knows him too well to be entirely fooled.

"How- how long were you-"

Rilla cuts herself off before she finishes the question, and Arum looks away with a throaty rumble, his tail flicking behind him.

"Long enough to know you were including my Keep in your little moment of bonding, which I do not appreciate in the-"

Arum cuts himself off as well, and Damien wonders for a strange moment if this is a very convoluted attempt at mocking, but the lizard's mouth twists into an uncomfortable line as he visibly struggles through some decision, his hands clenching and unclenching from tense fists as the rattle in his throat grows again.

Arum inhales, glances back behind himself for a moment, and then he seems to shake whatever thoughts he had been grappling, and he narrows his eyes at Rilla.

"You," he says, and Damien can see the way he is layering suspicion over his confusion now. "Rilla. You mentioned the Senate, when discussing how you claim we first came to… to know one another. What do you know of them?"

Rilla bites her lip, confused over this sudden return to interrogation. She furrows her brow as she meets Damien's eye for a moment, and he gives the shadow of a shrug, exactly as unsure about the monster's intent as Rilla herself is.

"Uh, only what you've told me?" she tilts her head, setting her instrument gingerly to the side of their seat and then crossing her arms over her chest as she thinks. "Which honestly isn't all that much. I don't think you really like talking about them? And as far as I know they haven't been much of a factor since the mess at Fort Terminus. They kinda-sorta run the show with the monsters in general, yeah? Mostly because they're powerful enough to just… do what they want, even if it infringes on what other monsters want."

Arum frowns, but despite his clear displeasure he nods. "That is not entirely inaccurate." He pauses, tension in his jaw before he continues, "and you are certain that I am… no longer in communication, then, with these beasts?"

Rilla's eyebrows shoot up, and Damien answers, "You have certainly not mentioned any correspondence, no. May I ask why this is a concern, currently?"

"Do you think they're involved?" Rilla asks, eager, and Arum's snout wrinkles.

"I cannot say for certain," he mutters, and then he bares his teeth uncomfortably, "and if I do not discuss them with you, I do not know how I could find out."

Damien turns that phrasing over in his head, and he is sure that he must have misheard for a moment, because he seems to be implying-

"Wait." Rilla shifts at his side, sitting straighter. "Wait. You're talking like- do you believe us?"

Arum stares at her for a moment, brow furrowed, and then he blinks quickly, hissing sharp and low.

Damien watches him hunch his shoulders, duck his head, hands flexing, and Damien does not know if his heart should swell or plummet. Arum did not even realize his own implication.

"I-" the monster stammers. "That is not-" he shakes his head, his frill fluttering with distress. "I do not-"

Damien stands, and Rilla stands a moment after, her hand at his elbow.

"Arum," Damien tries, and the monster snaps his jaw shut, glaring between the both of them for a long moment.

"… I do not know what to believe," he says slowly, eventually, and then he drops his eyes. "So … so perhaps you should continue attempting to prove your point. If- if you are so terribly certain that you are correct, if you believe you have some so-called evidence that may be so utterly compelling…" he trails off, exhales a slow sigh, and then gestures with a hand, prompting the Keep to form a doorway at his back. "I may have found some evidence of my own. Come. Convince me, and perhaps I will show you what I've found."

[->]