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louiseleblancdiggory · 4 years ago

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Halloween tales

31 Days of Spooktober

Day 12/31

-Present day-

Aelin laughed, resting her back against her husband’s shoulders.

It was Halloween night, and despite the fact that both of them maybe were too old for this, Aelin and Rowan were celebrating the night as they always had.

The movie was already set up on the television, and both were just going to the kitchen to grab the candy, popcorn and beers when they heard the front door opening and closing.

“Mom? Dad?” The unmistakable voice of their eldest son sounded through the house, and Aelin half turned her face to Rowan, raising an eyebrow.

“In the kitchen, Nino.” Rowan shouted back, hugging Aelin as they waited for Nino to come to them. It was surprising Nino was visiting them at that time at night, specially on Halloween night when he should be enjoying some party with his friends and fiancée.

The surprise only got bigger when they saw all of their kids walking in, none dressed up as anything or even hinting that they planned on celebrating Halloween. Aelin knew her kids well enough to know that they adored Halloween, so whatever this was, it was serious.

Rowan must have noticed too, because he hugged Aelin tighter. “What happened?”

Aurora and Kiara crossed their arms, and Theo simply rested against the fridge, looking at his older brother. Nino’s face was grave, and Aelin took a step forward, coming out of Rowan’s arms, to place her hands on Nino’s face. “What happened, baby?”

“Nino wants to talk.” Aurora explained.

“We gathered as much, Auro.” Rowan said, brows creasing as he looked at Aelin and Nino. “Specifying about what would be good, though.”

Nino sighed, forcing a smile to Aelin and then raising his eyes to Rowan. “Can we sit down?”

Aelin turned her head to stare at Rowan, brows high. None of them seemed hurt, but she couldn’t feel calm until she listened to what he wanted to say. Even after years being carefree and chill most of the time, Aelin had learned a long time ago that her kids’ wellbeing was a fast way to change that.

Rowan put his hands on Aelin’s hips, guiding her to the living room as their kids followed right behind them.

“Whatever it is, it’s gonna be ok.” Rowan whispered on her ear as they sat down on the love seat facing the bigger sofa. Nino was he first one to sit down, followed them by Aurora. Despite the few years in between them, the two had always been extremely close to each other. It was no surprise she was here to support him with whatever it was. Then, the twins sat down. Kiara was by Aurora’s side, Theo occupying the last seat on the sofa.

After a few moments of silence, Theo cleared his throat. “So, is anyone gonna say something and end the awkward?”

Kiara hit him in the back of the head, mumbling for him to shut up. If the situation was different, Aelin would have laughed. Nino had been a calm and easy to deal, and although Aurora was the most energetic, she wasn’t bad either. Kiara was more like Nino, delicate and calm, but Theo was just… Different. He was the troublemaker of the family, the one who always wanted the last say.

Too much like Aelin, Rowan would always say.

She’d always grin in return.

Nino sighed, placing his face on his hands before looking at his parents. “I’m engaged.”

Despite the situation, Rowan snorted. “Yeah, for seven months.”

Nino looked at his siblings, a pained expression overtaking his face when he looked back at his parents.

Aelin knew that, whatever he was about to say, he was afraid it would disappoint Rowan. She knew it from the instant he looked back at them and his eyes fell solely on her. Throughout his whole life, Nino had done everything to get Rowan proud. Rowan wasn’t by any means a harsh or mean father, and Aelin could count in one hand the amount of times Rowan raised his voice at the four sitting in front of her. Even though Rowan had been the absolute best father anyone could ask for Nino, there was still something in her son that made him want to be even better in his father’s eyes.

It’s not that Nino didn’t care about Aelin’s opinion. She knew that he loved her unconditionally, but with Rowan it was… different. And so when Nino couldn’t even bear to look at his dad, Aelin knew that he was either afraid or ashamed of what he was about to say. Judging by the way Rowan squeezed Aelin’s shoulder, he had also noticed.

“I don’t know if I want to. I don’t know if I want to be engaged.” Nino said quietly, bitting his lower lip. “I just…”

Aurora and Kiara looked at Nino with pity on their faces, but Theo was staring straight at Aelin and Rowan. He raised his eyebrows minimally, jaw clenching. He was the spitting image of Rowan, and so Aelin had seen that expression a million times already to understand that, whatever Nino was going through, wasn’t a thing of the moment. He had thought this through for a while now, and that’s probably why all his siblings already knew.

Probably why she and Rowan were learning about it.

“Nino.” Rowan’s voice was grave and quiet, but also holding the natural gentleness it always possessed when talking to the people he loved. “Why?”

Nino rubbed his face, groaning quietly before replying. “I don’t know. I just… I’m just different. Or maybe Phedre is different? I don’t fucking know. I loved her so much, but now it’s… boring. It’s not exciting. And I know she feels the same, and I don’t know what to do. I talked to Auro first, a few weeks ago. I was feeling strange for a while and I thought I should ask for second opinion.”

Aelin turned to her first daughter. “And what did you say?”

She shrugged. “I said that he should talk to Phedre. I never had this problem with Emerson, and I didn’t want to fuck it up. He said he had done that already and that she said everything was fine. So we talked to Theo and Kiara. As we all know, Theo has the sentiments of a rock and Kiara is the most emotional person ever,” Kiara narrowed her eyes at her older sister while Theo simply smiled. “So no one came up with a solution.”

“So why not ask to the fairytale come real couple?” Theo asked, but despite the words, there was no sarcasm on his voice. He could be different from his siblings, but Theo appreciated his parents’ love just as much as the other three. “The two of you are a match made in Heaven, happily married for almost thirty years now. Share the knowledge.”

Normally, Aelin would have said something sarcastic to that question that would have made her kids groan and Rowan roll his eyes. She didn’t know what to say to this specific situation, though. She never imagined that Nino would have this type of issue with Phedre. Both had been in love since high school, perfect for each other.

She was saved from saying anything when Rowan decided to answer. “That’s normal.”

Nino raised his head to his father. “It is?”

“Of course it is, Nino.” Aelin said, a smile on her face.

“But I don’t think I love her anymore. I don’t know what to do.”

There was a beat of silence before Rowan relaxed against the loveseat. “Me and your mother almost got divorced once.”

“What?” All four heads snapped to them, voices variating in volume and incredulity.

“When?”

“How?”

“Why?”

“The fuck?”

Aelin snorted, resting her back against Rowan’s chest. “Your father could have been more delicate about it, but yes, we almost got a divorce. I was even living with aunt Lysandra for a while. You were around two, Nino, and the rest wasn’t even born yet.”

“Why?” Was all Nino replied.

Rowan shrugged. “It got boring. I didn’t know if I loved her anymore, she didn’t know if she loved me anymore.”

“But you guys are married still.” Kiara said cautiously.

Both Aelin and Rowan smiled. “Yes.”

Theo adjusted himself on the sofa, a grin playing on his lips. “I feel a Halloween story coming. I wanted to be at a frat party right now, but I think hearing about my parents almost divorce will do.”

Rowan smirked at Theo, and Aelin winked. “It’s not a Halloween story.”

“If it’s told on Halloween, it’s a Halloween story.”

“You’re so annoying.”

“Mother and son through and through.” Rowan butted in.

“And the thought of mom and dad separated is scary enough to be a Halloween story.” Kiara sided with her twin.

Theo smiled smugly at his mom.

Rowan rolled his eyes. “But going back to your brother’s issue…”

“How did you fix it?” Nino asked almost disperately.

Aelin looked up at Rowan, eyebrows raised. He winked quickly at her, and both turned back to look at their kids.

“Well…”

——————

-Years before-

“And that should be all.” The divorce lawyer said, standing up. “So much easier dealing with a couple who doesn’t hate each other.”

Aelin tried to force a laugh out, but Rowan’s face didn’t change at all.

For a quick second, Aelin allowed herself to look at him, to look at the face of the man she had loved.

Rowan was breathtakingly beautiful. Defined jawline, high cheekbones and deep pine-green eyes, Aelin couldn’t deny that he was the most handsome man she had ever met. The only difference was that now he looked so cold, so distant. It was like when they had first met, but that had been years ago and Aelin didn’t know how to deal with his coldness anymore. He was still polite, still cordial but…

But he wasn’t the man she had married.

It was confusing, really. Both she and Rowan had come to an agreement regarding the separation. Things weren’t the same anymore, and stuff that usually made her heart beat faster was just pissing her off now. And she knew it was the same to him. They were getting the divorce because, it turns out, neither of them liked who they were anymore. Rowan couldn’t love the girl he had fallen in love with years before, and neither could Aelin. And yet, seeing this cold and detached Rowan made her want to punch a wall.

For the past month and a half, she had been trying to figure out her feelings. They hadn’t tried to fix anything, hadn’t tried to go to therapy together because there wasn’t anything broken in their relationship. It had just… died.

The man she thought she’d love forever just didn’t love her back. And so she stopped loving him too.

There wasn’t a specific moment, or a specific reason. Aelin didn’t hate Rowan, much less regretted him. To be honest, if it depended on her, they would have never fallen out of love.

But they had and now she was forced to hear a stupid divorce lawyer make jokes about something that was crushing her inside.

Aelin turned to Rowan giving him a polite smile. “How’s Nino?”

She had dropped off their son with him yesterday, and Nino was gonna spend the weekend with Rowan.

At the mention of their kid, Rowan smiled minimally. “Fine. I was thinking about taking him to see my mother tomorrow.”

Aelin maintained her polite smile as she got up. “That’s good.”

“Yeah.”

She internally counted to five, and when he didn’t add anything, she just gave a small wave and left.

Divorce was so exhausting.

Part of her wondered if she hated Rowan, everything wouldn’t be easier. But truth is, she didn’t and she also didn’t want to. She wanted to love him, and wanted for him to love her back. She wanted her perfect wedding back, but that was apparently out of the game.

There was also the fact that Aelin had a date.

The thought was so strange and foreign to her, that she didn’t really know what to think. Rowan had agreed that it was ok if they wanted to see other people while the divorce was happening, and the guy at the gallery seemed nice enough for her to accept having a coffee with him the following day. She was still thinking about it as she drove to Lysandra’s home.

It was strange, really, going through a divorce with the love of your life and having a date with a complete stranger at the same time. Aelin barely remembered what people were supposed to do in dates, and it was probably the fear of making an absolute fool of herself that made her go through her old college shit.

She had kept some journals throughout the four years she studied arts and human behavior, and so maybe something in there would give her an inkling in what to do tomorrow. For the past years, all her dates had been with the same guy.

She started looking through her shit, but quickly got lost in the memories. There were so many pictures that Aelin couldn’t help but take a moment and look at all of them. They were separated by categories. With the friend group, with her cousin, with Lysandra… and finally with Rowan. The pictures with Rowan were the thickest pile, and she set all the other ones down to take a look at them.

Rowan absolutely hated taking pictures, so Aelin let out a small laugh every time he looked absolutely pissed in the pictures. There was some of them in the sports games, a few from Halloween. A bunch from their spring breaks trips, the pictures of when they traveled together to Italy during junior year summer. Pictures of them in the lake house, Aelin wearing his enormous red hoodie while he hugged her from the back. Sitting around the fire during Christmas, kissing in New Year’s Eve, getting plastered on Saint Patrick’s. The pictures from her wedding day were the ones that shattered her heart, though. In none of them Rowan appeared anything other than beaming, always looking down at Aelin. Them dancing, cutting the cake, laughing, just hugging… The pictures then shifted for them in their first house, then pictures with Nino.

And then they stopped.

Because there was no more.

No more pictures.

For the first time since they mutually decided to get a divorce, Aelin felt a strong urge to cry. Her throat constricted and her eyes were watering uncontrollably. She had loved him so, so fucking much and it was over. And all she had were pictures.

Aelin wanted to love Rowan so bad. Sp, so bad. She wanted more pictures.

But there was no forcing love.

Not wanting to cry over something that was out of her control, Aelin put the pictures gently aside and picked up some of her old human behavior notebooks. Most of it were just notes almost impossible to read, drawings and scribbles around the pages, some sticky notes every now and then. Aelin smiled remembering her college years, how everything was so much easier.

She spent hours going over stuff she didn’t even remember she had learned, and when she picked up the last notebook, it was almost dinner time.

The last one had been for one of her favorite classes, and she could notice that just by how the handwriting was ten times better in this one. She read over the words carefully, taking her time to remember everything she shouldn’t have forgotten.

She closed the notebook, holding it forcefully as she got up.

As she grabbed her car keys.

As she left home.

——

“Ace?”

“You know what this is?” She raised her notebook, shaking it.

Rowan’s green eyes appeared confused after the glasses. “A notebook?”

“No shit, Sherlock.”

Rowan leaned against the doorway, rolling his eyes. “What’s on the notebook?”

Aelin felt suddenly nervous, and she dropped her hand, bitting her lower lip as she decided what she should do. “Can I come in?”

Rowan eyed her strangely before taking a step back, letting her enter what once had been her house. Rowan said she didn’t need to move out, that he could go somewhere else, but Lys had offered and she needed her best friend, not an empty home.

She looked around awkwardly, fidgeting with he notebook edges. “Is Nino sleeping?”

“Yeah.” Rowan said from behind her, voice low. “What happened, Ace?”

She sighed, walking to the couch. She sat down, crossing her legs and playing with the pants soft and loose fabric. She could feel her eyes watering, and when she looked up at Rowan, his expression immediately softened. He walked up to her, sitting down on the sofa. She shifted to stare at him, sniffing a little.

“I wanted to love you forever.”

“I know.” Rowan said, a sad smile on his face. “I wanted that too.”

“Did you know that most people fall out of love for the same reason they fall in love?” Aelin asked, closing her eyes when she felt Rowan’s thumb brushing away a tear. “That once you thought that me being carefree was cute, but now it’s just careless. That when I loved you for being always quiet, it just became hard to always guess what you were thinking.”

Rowan didn’t say anything, just stared at her. He didn’t take his hand from her face, and so Aelin continued.

“I don’t know. It’s kinda sad and tragic, isn’t it? Losing love because of the things that made you gain it. Sounds like a fucking cosmic joke.”

She laughed, but it wasn’t funny at all. Rowan’s face morphed into sadness. “Ace…”

“But,” she said, trying to give him a somewhat hopeful smile. “It got me thinking.”

Rowan adjusted himself on the couch, smiling softly at her. “Yeah? What?”

“It’s because people change. I’m not college Aelin anymore, so of course I don’t love exactly what she does.”

“And so I’m not college Rowan anymore?” He asked, trying to go along the lines of what she was saying even though he seemed kinda lost.

“Yeah, that’s why it doesn’t work. But…” She took a deep breath. “But we could try. I think love is a choice. I don’t think it’s absolutely out of our power, and I don’t want to lose you, Ro. I never wanted, and if I have to start it all over again, to love you all over again, then I’m willing to at least try. I can’t love what college Aelin loved, and you can’t love what college Rowan loved, but if we grow together, I think we can fall in love everyday with whoever we are then.”

Rowan sighed, passing an arm around Aelin’s shoulders and pulling her to his lap. Aelin curled herself into a ball, resting her face on the crook of his neck. Rowan petted her hair, resting his cheek on the top of her head. “I love you. It’s not like before, but a part of me will always love you.”

Aelin nodded, eyes watering again. “I know. I understand.”

Rowan kissed the top of her head, still playing with her hair. “If you want to try, I’ll try with you. For as long as you want to try, fireheart.”

Aelin sniffled loudly, smiling against Rowan’s skin. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” She could feel his smile on his voice. “I’ll always do anything for you, Ace. And if you want to stop the divorce and try to figure this all out, I’d be honored to fall in love with you everyday. Even though I just know some versions are gonna be a pain in my ass.”

Aelin laughed, raising her head. Aelin’s eyes were puffy, a few tears streaming down her cheeks. She loved Rowan, she really did. Although she didn’t like the relationship anymore, Rowan had been correct when he said a part of them would always be in love. And she didn’t hate that, instead she wanted to like the relationship again, wanted that blinding love again.

Aelin hesitant and tentatively stretched her face forward, pressing her lips softly against Rowan’s. He put some pressure back, hands softly cupping her face. The kiss was feather-light, but it calmed every single nerve inside her body that had been screaming for the past weeks.

Without opening her eyes, Aelin whispered against Rowan’s mouth. “Together, then?”

“Always. And to whatever end, fireheart.”

—————

-Present day-

“And then what?” Theo asked.

Aelin shrugged. “We fixed it.”

“But how?” Kiara pressed.

Rowan laughed, rubbing his thumb over Aelin’s shoulder blades. “There’s no how. It was natural. Your mom was right, for a marriage to work, you can’t hope love will last forever. It has ups and downs, and with time it becomes more ups than downs. A marriage is not without sacrifices, and we both did a bunch of them in the following months after the conversation. Both adapted to better fit the other one.”

“And it worked.” Aelin said, a beaming smile on her lips. “There’s no formula, it’s just what works best for you. And sometimes it won’t work, and that’s also alright because not all loves are meant to last forever. That doesn’t make them lesser or not important. It was important, it will always be important, but it’s over.”

Rowan smiled gently at Nino, holding his son’s gaze. “I’m proud of you. Many people wouldn’t recognize that there was something different, and they’d just keep forcing and forcing until it was so indifferent, it didn’t matter anymore. Acknowledging that there’s something wrong with a love you held so dear for so long is very brave, Nino. And if you fix it, or if you move on, nothing will change my opinion.”

“We love you, baby.” Aelin added, a mother smile on her face. “All of you.”

Nino tried to force a carefree smile, but Aelin could see his throat constricting and eyes watering. Theo also realized how close his brother was to crying, something Nino hated, and so he decided to be his natural self.

“So you two do have problems in paradise.” He said and Rowan jokingly sighed. “Was that a recurring thing?”

“Nah.” Aelin said, putting a hand on Rowan’s knee. “Only major issue. Everything after that was just stupid arguments, but nothing that came close to divorce.”

“Nice. If you two had divorced I wouldn’t be here and that’s a shame to the world.” Theo said, and Kiara snorted. He looked at his twin, grinning at her. “And my dear Kiara, too, of course.”

“If I knew your mother was gonna birth the devil’s spawn years later, maybe I would have divorced her.” Rowan said, eyes narrowed at Theo. Aelin pinched his knee.

Theo simply smirked. “A condom would have done the work, old man. And you love me.”

“Debatable.”

“Nah.”

“Theo’s ability to transform dad in a seven year old is baffling.” Aurora said, a hand rubbing Nino’s back, as she smiled at her father. “Embarrassing.”

Rowan shook his head, looking almost hurt that his daughter hadn’t taken his side. He looked down at Aelin, eyes narrowed. “This is all your fault, you know.”

She smiled, comfortably resting against his side and chest. “Yes, I do. You are very welcome, by the way.”

When Nino finally seemed to recompose himself, he looked at his parents, a weak smile on his face. “Thank you.”

Rowan smiled at him, and Aelin winked.

“You want to talk more about it, baby?”

Nino shook his head, smile becoming a little bigger. “I think the rest is something I need to deal with Phedre.”

Rowan nodded, but seconds later the whole cute moment was over.

“Now, everyone out.”

“Why?” Kiara and Aurora said in unison.

“Lovely to spend time with you two, too. I love these heartfelt moments.” Theo said and Nino grinned.

Aelin rolled her eyes. “We’re busy. Halloween marathon. Go do whatever is that you all do.”

Kiara and Theo got up immediately, faces almost shining. “Oh, my god. Does that mean you guys bought candy?”

Rowan sighed. “Yeah, but—“

“We’re staying!” Kiara said as she and Theo rushed to the kitchen. Despite their ages, the two sometimes acted like the kids they still were in their parents’ eyes.

Aelin snorted, looking at her two eldest. “You two staying?”

Aurora shrugged. “Yeah, why not?”

“Call Emerson, I miss her more than I usually miss you bunch.” Rowan said.

Aurora faked indignation. “I’m your daughter.”

“And?”

“You should miss your daughter companion more than you miss her girlfriend’s companion.”

“Emmy is nicer than you.” Aelin chimed in.

Aurora looked in between her parents, both biting their cheeks to keep a smile in. Aurora huffed, getting up. “I’m calling her, but after this you guys are prohibited to see her until you like me more.”

“So dramatic!” Aelin shouted as Aurora left the room. Nino and Rowan laughed softly before Aelin turned back to her son. “You could call Phedre.”

“And don’t act like it’s whatever if she comes or not.” Rowan said. “Say you want her to be here.”

Nino stared at Aelin and Rowan in silence for a few moments before nodding shallowly. “Yeah, I think I will.”

As one, Rowan and Aelin smiled.

A/N: This is somewhat in the lines of what one of my best friends have been begging me to do, so maybe this will make her calm the fuck down. I’ve had this idea on my mind for a while now and decided to finally write it. Hope you guys enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing!

Tags:

@in-love-with-caramel-macchiato @jlinez @courtofjurdan @aelinfeyreeleven945tbln @ladywitchling @lexflame @sleeping-and-books @annejulianneh111 @perseusannabeth @linshryver @mu-si-ca-l @camilamartinezdunne @dank-queen7 @minaidss @starborn-faerie-queen @booksofthemoon @loveofbooksandwine @jesstargaryenqueen @bluejaberry @multifandommessblog @yesdreamblog @superspiritfestival @ireallyshouldsleeprn @woollycat22 @julemmaes @claralady @abookishfreak @faerie-queen-fireheart @maastrash @morganofthewildfire @queen-of-glass @heirofthenightcourt @booksbqueen @heirofthrnightcourt004

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aaliyah-babe · 4 years ago

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The One With The Butt: Part One

pairings: eventual joey x reader, jamie x reader

authors note: i own nothing from friends, all credit goes to their respective owners. feedback is always appreciated!

feedback is the glue that holds my writing together!

you guys had gotten invited to the play that joey was in, you were sat next to pheobe on the end,

“oh look! look, there’s joeys picture! this is so exciting!” rachel squealed, showing you all joeys picture.

“you can always spot who’s never seen one of his plays before, notice no fear, no sense of impending doom...” chandler trailed off,

“the exclamation point in the titles scares me. you know, it’s not just freud, it’s freud!” pheobe exclaims, and you giggle at her.

the lights went down as you readied yourself for joeys plays, they weren’t all bad, but they weren’t all good, don’t get yourself wrong he was a good actor, he just chose the wrong stuff to act in.

“shh. the magic is about to happen!” ross shushed everyone

“well, eva,” you heard joey say with a german accent and you sighed, knowing it was gonna be another bust. “we’ve done some excellent work here,”

you looked at pheobe and she gave you the same look before you started giggling quietly, and ross gave you a warning look which made you stop.

“and i would have to say your problem is quite clear,” joey said before stopping. a piano intro started playing before joey got up from his seat and began singing, “all you want is a dinkle, what you envy’s a schwang! a thing through which you can tinkle, or play with or simply let hang,”

you looked at ross before whispering, “now can we laugh,” and he started chuckling aswell.

the play went on for what felt like hours, you had looked through the cast around five times, pheobe nudging you to look at joeys dancing and singing at times which made you both laugh quietly, before the show was finished.

everybody on the stage took a bow before you all got up and started clapping, yelling at the cast,

“yes! excellent!”

they walked off the stage as you all groaned, sitting back down,

“oh my god, that was nauseating,” you sighed into pheobes shoulder,

“i feel violated,” rachel agreed,

“did anybody else feel like they wanted to peel the skin off their body to have something else to do?” monica asked,

“ross, 10:00,” chandler nudged ross,

“i’d it? feels like 2:00,” ross groaned,

“no, 10:00,”

“what?”

“there’s a beautiful woman at 8, 9, 10:00!” chandler sighed which made you all look in his direction and see a very beautiful woman touching up her lipstick.

“wow she is pretty,” you agreed with chandler,

“she’s amazing! she makes the women i dream about look like short, fat, bald men,”

“well, go over to her. she’s not with anyone,” monica said to him,

“oh yeah, right. and what would my opening line be? “excuse me..” chandler said before blubbering words,

“oh come on! she’s a person, you can do it,” rachel encouraged,

“oh please could she be more out of my league? ross back me up here,” chandler patted ross on the back,

“he could never get a woman like that in a million years,” ross agreed,

“thank you,”

“oh, oh! but you know you always see these really beautiful women with these really nothing guys, you could be one of those guys!” pheobe encouraged him,

“oh yeah! come on chandler, do it!” you told him.

“you think?” he asked you all,

“oh yeah!”

“oh, god. i cant believe i’m even considering this. i’m very, very aware of my tongue,”

“come on!”

“here it goes,” chandler walked away and started talking to the woman,

he started saying a few things before he started walking back over,

“chandler?” the woman asked, making him go back over,

“wow, go chandler,” you nudged monica.

joey walked out and you all said hey.

“i didn’t know you could dance!” ross said,

everybody else said stuff to him about the play,

“was it good?” he asked, hopeful. your heart hurt for the boy.

everybody was silent before they all said the same things they did before.

“come on you guys, it wasn’t that bad, i was the lead! it was better than that thing with the trolls!” he argues,

“you’re right joey, you are, come here,” you hugged him,

“did you at least like it?” he asked, still hopeful,

“i’m not gonna lie to you joe. it wasn’t the best play,” his face fell, “but! you’re a good actor i just think your always going for the wrong roles!” you said and he smiled a little,

“thanks y/n/n,” he hugged you again, before letting you go not completely and just let his arm drape around your shoulder.

“she said yes! she said yes!” chandler ran over before turning to joey, “awful play man! woah!”

you rubbed joeys back, feeling bad for him a little.

“her names aurora and she’s italian and she pronounces my name “chand-ler,” “chand-ler,” he was proud of himself you could see, “i think i like it better that way- oh listen! the usher gave me this to give to you.” he gave joey a card.

“what is it?” rachel asked,

joey read the card as his face lit up, “estelle leonard talent agency, an agency left me its card!” he smiled,

“told you,” you whispered to him and he smiled at you.

“maybe they want to sign me!” he smiled happily,

“based on this play?” pheobe asked and joey frowned, “based on this play!”

you guys were hanging out at the coffee house and jamie had joined you, and once again joey distanced himself from you and him. what the hell was his problem? it pissed you off that your bestfriend clearly didn’t like your boyfriend and didn’t even try to hide it!

“hey, kids,” chandler walked in, after his date with aurora.

“hey, chandler,” jamie said to him,

“well this line is passion, and this is just a line,” phoebe read monica’s hand,

“wow i can’t believe i’ve been here seven seconds and you haven’t asked me about my date,” chandler said,

“how was your date chandler?” everybody asked,

“yeah, chand-ler?” monica said, making you smile.

“it was unbelievable! i’ve never met anyone like her. she’s had the most amazing life! she was in the israeli army...”

“luckily, none of the bullets hit the engine block. so, we made it to the border. but just barely and i... i’ve been talking about myself all night long, i’m sorry. what about you? tell me one of your stories!” aurora said to chandler, who smiled at the woman in front of him.

“alright, once.... once, i got on the subway, right? and it was at night and i rode it all the way to brooklyn, just for the hell of it,” he said which made aurora laugh and he smiled again,

“we talked till like 2:00,” chandler said, “it was this perfect evening... more or less,”

“all of the sudden we realise we’re in yemen!” aurora exclaims,

“i’m sorry we is?” chandler asked,

“we would be me and rick,” she answered,

“who’s rick?” joey asked,

“who’s rick?” chandler asked her,

“my husband,” she answered.

“ew,” everyone groaned for chandler,

“oh, so your divorced?” chandler asked,

“no,” she said,

“oh, i’m- i’m sorry your widowed... hopefully?” he asked again,

“no, i’m still married.”

“so uh, tell me. how do you think your husband would feel about you sitting here with me, sliding your foot so far up my pant leg you can count the change in my pocket?”

“don’t worry. i imagine he’d be okay with you because really with ethan,” she giggled,

“ethan? there’s an ethan?” chandler asked,

“ethan is my... boyfriend,” she answered

“what?!” everyone exclaimed.

“explain something to me. what kind of relationship do you imagine us having if you already have a husband and a boyfriend?” chandler asked,

“i suppose, mainly sexual,” she offers.

“huh,”

“aw, i’m sorry it didn’t work out,” monica apologised,

“what not work out? i’m seeing her again on thursday,” everyone looked at him confused, “didn’t you listen to the story?”

“didn’t you listen to the story?” you asked,

“yeah, this is twisted! how could you get involved with a woman like this?” monica asked,

“i had some trouble with it at first too, but the way i look at it, i get all of the good stuff, all the fun, all the talking, all the sex and none of the responsibility! i mean this is every guys fantasy,”

“that is not true,” phoebe said, “ross, jamie, is this your fantasy?”

“no,” they both said,

you smiled at your boyfriend before kissing his cheek, he looked at ross before they both nodded their heads, “yeah, it is,”

you glared at jamie.

“maybe somebody shouldn’t be with somebody then,” joey muttered but you heard him anyways, what is his deal? you were so going to talk to him after this.

“so you guys don’t mind going out with someone else, who’s going out with someone else?” monica asks.

“i couldn’t do it,” joey says,

“good for you, joe,” pheobe says to him,

“when i’m with a woman, i need to know that i’m going out with more people than she is,” that made you sigh,

“well, you know monogamy can be a tricky concept. i mean anthropologically speaking...” everybody pretended to sleep and fake snore as ross bored everyone,

“fine, fine. now you’ll never know,” he sighs,

“we’re kidding, go! tell us,” monica says,

“all right, there’s a theory put forth by richard leakey...” and there goes everybody snoring again,

let me know if you want to be mentioned in future taglists!

taglist: @zestygingergirl

#chandler bing #friends #friends series #joey tribbiani #monica geller #pheobe buffay #rachel green #ross geller #x reader #funny

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crazy-loca-blog · 4 years ago

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Personal thoughts on Open Heart, Third Year, Chapter 1

Note: As the title says, these are just personal opinions on Choices books and chapters. Of course, you may agree or disagree with them, I only use this platform to express my thoughts on what I read every week and what I’d like to see in the next chapters, because none of my friends play Choices so I have no one to comment the books with.

OMG, I didn’t expect this to be so long, I’m so sorry! I guess I was inspired…

I had planned to find some time to do this tomorrow, but I just can’t… because… book 3 is finally here and I can’t stop venting about it! And even though having my favorite people in this app back is making me really, really happy right now, writing about this is a bittersweet experience because we don’t know what will actually happen to this series after this book. So I think I’ll just enjoy the ride this time, because if this is the last book in the series, I want to feel happy about it and I want to keep the focus on the good things.

First of all, I have to admit I was scared. Yeah, I love romance books, but what makes Open Heart my favorite series is that the writers manage to balance both the medical cases and the leisure/romance/friends time pretty decently when compared to other books in the app. And I was scared to lose that hospital setting because it looked like everyone was looking for more romance and less medical stuff. So I’m glad that they managed to keep the balance in this chapter. Not only they found a way to include scenes with all our friends, but they also gave us equal time with the LIs, we got to work on a new case, and we were given some hints about the new dramas, so I’d say we got the full package, and I’m happy about it.

There is no doubt that the main focus of this chapter was the introduction to a new Edenbrook… and for me, this thing has the word “shady” written all over the place. I didn’t trust Leland Bloom in the past, and I certainly don’t trust him now. What worries me the most is that the only ones who seem to realize that something is suspicious are the MC (depending on your choices), Jackie and Ethan (and I have a feeling that Zaid might be questioning some stuff, too). And even though I’m waiting to see Naveen at some point of the book because I need to know what he thinks of all this (Ethan says the MC something about him in the pre-sex scene, but I think I need more info), I also think this chapter gave us some hints of the issues we might face in the future:

We all know Leland Bloom is not a doctor, he has no idea about medicine, but he still wants to run a hospital and do things his way. And that might explain the first “non-sense” of this book: Rafael being hired as physical therapist and Harper joining the diagnostics team. I know Raf has plenty of experience as an EMT and that will save him plenty of time in case he wants to study to become a therapist, BUT we all know that’s not enough… I mean, not even Raf thought he’d be getting the job! And then we have Harper, who is an amazing doctor… but she’s a surgeon. Even though she’s perfectly capable of doing research (do you remember Bryce looking for surgical options to save Ms. Martinez in Book 1 and Kyra in Book 2?), her main job is not to discover what’s wrong with people, but to fix what’s wrong with them. And I believe both of them performing jobs they have no experience with will only mean trouble in the future.

Leland also added some extra zeros to our paychecks, gave us a completely new doctors’ lounge and threw a party… of course, you can bet this is not for free. Just as the man tried to buy us at the end of book 2, he’s trying to buy the rest of the doctors, nurses and everyone else. The man needs to find a cure for him and his wife, so people getting all these high amounts of money will do anything he wants them to do. And I think the first one to fall for this will be Elijah (because Jackie already learned her lesson). He is so in love with research and all the new technology, and he sees so many new chances to discover things that will save people, that I wouldn’t be surprised if he finds himself agreeing to do things he normally wouldn’t do just to help Leland. So our boy must be protected at all costs.

Finally, we know that Leland is a business man, so he’ll be treating Edenbrook as a business, not as a hospital. And that got me thinking about the role of the patients in all this. Depending on your choices regarding Martha, she asks the MC about the cost of a full-body exam, and the MC tells her not to worry about it. What the MC forgot is that Edenbrook is under a completely different business model now, and that might mean trouble for future cases, as the patients might not be able to afford their treatments and they might feel forced to participate on researches to cover the expenses (like some kind of offer… “oh, but if you cannot afford the bill, then you may want to participate on a trial…”). After all, if Leland wants to make Edenbrook the best research institution, he needs to have not only personnel, he also needs patients subjects.

Besides all the Edenbrook drama, we had some nice quality time with our LIs, but the pre-sex scene with Rafael actually broke me, because it’s the kind of scene that we were all waiting to have, but not everyone will be able to see in their games. For the first time, the MC and Rafael took some time to remember Danny and Bobby, and to share their feelings about the accident in Book 2. It was a brief and very meaningful scene, but I think it deserved more than being seen only by people who are romancing him. I was also glad to discover that both Jackie and Ethan seem to be on the same page as the MC when it comes to having doubts about Leland Bloom (if you follow the route of being suspicious, of course), but I’m so disappointed with Bryce! I mean, what was that of not wanting to be seen with the MC? I swear that I read it and I felt the same heartache I felt when Ethan told the MC he didn’t know what was going to happen with their relationship after Edenbrook… that’s not OK Lahela, and you know it! You’ve been hooking up with the MC for over two years now, I demand answers! And yeah, I’m publicly rooting for Keiko to return and give him a piece of her mind.

As per our friends, it was so nice to see Sienna wanting to move on, but never in a million years would have thought that Ines has a girlfriend… after all these years rooting for Ines and Zaid to become a couple, and after all these years that this couple has been actually canon for most people, discovering that she’s actually a lesbian and that she has a girlfriend was something like “you have to be kidding me, right?”. Anyway, love is love and if she’s happy, we’re all happy… it was just funny to realize it after so long! Another one that got me a little worried is Aurora. Maybe it’s just my perception, but I felt like she didn’t give us anything new, like nothing happened to her… it’s like the writers put her in the chapter just because she had to appear in the book… or maybe she’ll have some more important role in future chapters? Like taking Baz’s place in the diagnostics team?

I seriously didn’t think about this until now. I don’t know if Baz leaving the diagnostics team surprises me (remember that in Book 2, Zaid got him his dream job), but the way he left the team was weird… and I have so many theories on my mind now. He was very explicit about leaving the team, not Edenbrook, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he actually got some lead role in some research team at Edenbrook (we know Elijah was given a chance to work on research, so Baz is probably on the same page). Or he might have been tempted by June and be leaving to Kenmore. I honestly have no idea… as I have no idea of who will be replacing him. I have two candidates, and both of them would definitely cause drama in the team: I already mentioned Aurora. Can you imagine Harper and Aurora working together? I can already feel the tension in that team. However, I’m taking a risk and I’m going to say that the new member of the diagnostics team will be Tobias Carrick. This was the only plot that wasn’t fully addressed in Book 2, and I wouldn’t be surprised if PB decides to rekindle this old feud to give it the proper closure it deserves.

Finally, I can’t help it… this topic needs to be addressed… if you’re romancing Ethan and you didn’t feel at least a little jealous about what we saw today between him and Harper, then you’re a liar. I stan Harper Emery, I love her and everything that she represents as a powerful, successful and independent woman, and there is no doubt that I would ship her and Ethan if my MC weren’t romancing him. But the truth is… my MC is romancing Ethan, and yes, I did feel jealous about them (and I felt so stupid! LOL!). However, I’m far from thinking that this will be a love triangle thing. This will be a strictly professional conflict (that may have some extra dialogs if you’re romancing Ethan). Why? First of all, the writers have to make this conflict work for everyone (and not only for Ethan stans), and second, because I think the writers are bringing back an old friend of our MC. And here is where I remember a moment during the first book where my favorite pep talker in the world (I’m talking to you, Bryce Lahela) said something about how the MC tends to doubt themselves… and this is exactly what I think this is all about. Harper’s presence will be bringing our MC’s doubts and lack of self-confidence back, and that’s it.

I’m not going to lie… everyone knows I’m super biased here and that I love this series to death, so it’s hard for me to find something I don’t like, especially in the first chapter, because everything is new and things aren’t quite developed yet. So what can I say? I can’t wait for next Friday to come fast!

#playchoices #choices stories you play #open heart #choices open heart #open heart choices #casey valentine #ethan ramsey #bryce lahela #rafael aveiro #jackie varma #aurora emery #sienna trinh #elijah green #harper emery #baz mirani #zaid mirani #ines delarosa #tobias carrick #leland bloom

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welllpthisishappening · 4 years ago

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Drew Stars Around My Scars

Hello, hey, hi there. It’s raining, I’ve already lost track of the number of times I’ve listened to Taylor Swift’s new album and haven’t written anything in weeks. Until now! Thanks, Taylor Swift. And @optomisticgirl who reblogged this post a few days ago from @initiala about how Killian holding Emma in 3x22 isn’t just that he’s trying to comfort her, but he’s trying to make sure she didn’t disappear.

Which, like...ok, cool. Anyway, I have thought about this for far too long now and started slamming on keys when the kittens weren’t sitting on my laptop and here’s like 4.1K that may or may not make sense, but at least includes some scathing opinions of Back to the Future. Also, thanks to @shireness-says for always being like...yeah, I want to read that.

-----

She sniffles.

She can’t seem to stop.

Tears stream down Emma’s face without much thought because thinking too much is a daunting obstacle that she can’t even begin to consider yet. Or ever. Definitely ever. Another sniffle, this one actually making her cough somehow, which is a bodily reaction she was not aware she was capable of.

Until right now.

When everything seems to be falling apart around her.

God, she hates time travel. And magic. And evil queens. And parents who can’t recognize her. She supposes she should give them a pass. For a variety of reasons, least of all the magic that’s cloaking both her and Kill—no, that’s not right. Hook. Captain Hook. He’s Captain Hook and she’s still not a princess, but the dancing was almost nice and he hadn’t even slowed down before he was drawing his sword and the jacket spin was something even her muddled thoughts have been able to cling to, so—

He’d held onto her while her mother burned. Tightly. Almost too much.

Emma nearly trips over a tree root.

“Shit,” she breathes, pressing the pads of her fingers into damp cheeks. Her dress is too long. Maybe she’ll mention that to Rumplestilskin later.

Once they get home.

Back to Storybrooke. Those are not interchangeable words. None of this is interchangeable.

Even the trees around Emma look different than the ones she only vaguely remembers from her last jaunt through the Enchanted Forest, taller and a little more imposing, like they’re also aware that she’s one good sniffle away from falling off the metaphorical edge.

Directly into a chasm without magic or parents and she didn’t even get to talk to Mary—

“Nope,” Emma says entirely to herself. So, it seems insanity is looming just a bit closer than she realized. “Not here.”

Or ever. There’s that phrase again. Two words, technically.

Two words probably don’t constitute a phrase.

What does she know, she didn’t graduate college. Or high school, technically.

“Literally,” Emma mumbles, and it’s almost impressive how that one word still manages to sound as loud as it does. As if it’s bouncing off the sides of those same tall and decidedly imposing trees. “Literally didn't graduate high school.”

Something snaps behind her.

There are far too many twigs on this forest floor.

Spinning on the balls of her feet, Emma’s hands fly up, only one of her wrists cracking in the process, and it’s difficult to make out the face moving towards her, but the set of his shoulders is exactly the same as always and that cannot possibly have any deeper meaning.

“Swan?” “God, fuck what are you—” Emma is out of breath. That’s absurd. And a rather unfair commentary on her lungs ability to function. She’s had something of a day, after all. Running a hand over her face, she does her best to retain her higher brain functions, but that’s admittedly difficult when there’s moonlight gleaming from the point of Killian’s sword.

Captain Hook.

Captain. Hook.

Maybe the state of her lungs is partially his fault. He really held on very tightly.

“What are you doing out here?” Emma manages to get out, once she’s taken another pitiful breath. She hopes her lips don’t start to chap. There’s probably not an easy remedy for that in the goddamn Enchanted Forest.

Hook gapes at her.

She grits her teeth. And regrets the state of her knees. They keep wobbling under her, traitors to her emotional cause and the state of several body parts aside from her obviously failing lungs. Whatever’s happening in the general vicinity of her heart seems unstable.

Erratic, even.

“Making sure you’re alright,” Hook says like it’s obvious, and it almost is. Almost. What another piece of garbage word. “You’ve been—” Shaking his head once, the ends of his hair don’t move as much as normal, and Emma flinches when he sheaths his sword. “I just wanted to make sure you were alright, that’s all.” Emma is going to lie. She is. Has every intention of letting the word fine pass through her lips, but those lips open without any sound coming out at all and Hook’s eyebrows jump.

“Thank you.” “Excuse me?” “Thank you,” Emma repeats, finally giving into the urge of her knees and, if nothing else, the length of this dress makes it easier to sit on one of these overly large tree roots. Hook’s eyebrows don’t move. “Should have, uh—should have mentioned that before, probably.” “Thanking me?” “What part of this is confusing for you?” “Quite a bit, in fact,” he admits, and he doesn’t sit, but he also doesn’t look away from her and Emma is pleasantly surprised to find she almost sort of likes it. Almost. Again.

Letting out a breath that she wishes sounded more like a laugh than it does, Emma’s tongue darts out. “Shit, that..well, that sucks, doesn’t it?” His eyes widen. “That’s not a euphemism,” Emma adds. “Just out of place slang.” “You might have to be more specific, love.”

“That’s fair. I—ok, stuff sucking is...well, it just means that stuff is...not great. Like right now, you know...things are—” She shrugs. And tries to smile. It fails spectacularly.

Emma sniffles again.

“Not great?” Hook ventures, and he has to readjust his sword to sit next to her.

“Less than ideal.”

“You’ve been gone for nearly half an hour. I was worried something had happened.” “Hence the sword.” “Never want to be too careful. And you’re—” “—At least capable of still punching people,” Emma argues, not sure why she’s doing that exactly, but it feels like a matter of pride at this point. She exhales loudly. “But, uh...it’s nice that you came out here. I’m sorry that you had to do that too.” They both hear the words for what they aren’t — vast and a little overwhelming, and time travel is so overrated. Emma can’t believe what a popular fictional trope it is. Snow White was never supposed to die. The ends of Hook’s lips twitch, but he doesn’t actually smile, and that’s actually nice and maybe that’s her biggest issue.

Everything about him has been so goddamn nice.

He was much better at dancing than she expected him to be.

And he keeps following her. She doesn’t mind that.

Might even—

No. Not now. Not yet. Or ever. Again. God.

“It’s not a problem, love.”

Emma swallows. Nods. Tries not to fall over that ledge. “I just...needed some time to think, I guess. Is that dramatic?” “No. And suggesting it sucks does have a certain charm to it.” “And you know all about charming, don’t you?” His left eyebrow arches. Some things never change, she supposes. Emma focuses on that. And not how she’s fairly certain she can feel waves of heat rolling off him, even with the few inches between them. Possibly a foot. She’s not great at estimating measurements.

Or much else, it seems.

That’s a far too depressing thought, though.

“I believe I’ll leave that particular moniker to others in the party,” Hook says softly, sitting down. “Would you like to talk about it?” “Which part?” “Dealer’s choice.” “That one crossed realms, huh?”

“Some sayings know no bounds,” Hook smirks, and whatever sound Emma makes at that is even closer to a laugh than the last one. She takes that as a positive. “None of this is your fault.” “Practice that a few more times and it might sound more legitimate.” “Swan, that’s—” “—No, no, no,” Emma objects, not standing up, but she shakes her head quickly enough that strands of hair slap at either one of her cheeks. A few of them stick there. Probably because of the tears she can’t seem to stop. “All of this is my fault. I—I should have waited for help with the portal and everything I’ve done here has only made it worse and—” Another sigh, dragging her hand over her cheek. “—Fuck Marty McFly. And Doc Brown. It was so weird that they were friends, why didn’t anyone ever explain that?” “Did they not?” “No, not once. We were just supposed to accept that Marty met some senior citizen inventor guy who was more than willing to steal dangerous chemicals—” “—And he wasn’t a wizard?” “No, he wasn’t a wizard. No magic in the real world.” Or me, Emma thinks bitterly, but that’s not going to help the situation anymore than her current rambling, and she can’t seem to stop rambling. “But Marty and Doc hung out all the time. And Jennifer didn’t even think it was weird.” “Who is Jennifer, exactly?” “Marty’s girlfriend, I guess, but it always seemed like they were just starting to date at the beginning of the movie and then they got married. Just like that. You think they went to the same college or something? Like once Marty left—shit I can’t remember the name of the town.” Hook hums, a sound Emma can’t actually cling to any more than she can hold the one positive thing that has happened to her in the last twenty-four hours in her hands. It is not lost on her that both of them have to do with the man sitting next to her.

Or how quickly his fingers keep fluttering over the hilt of his sword.

“How far do you think we are from Aurora and Philip’s...land?” Emma asks. “Is that the right way to say that? Did they have a land?” “I believe the word you’re looking for is kingdom.” “Oh, yeah, that makes sense. Should have known that.” “That’s not your fault either.” “You’re really harping.” “Playing a symphony, it seems.” She laughs. She does. It’s not that loud, and there’s a distinctly watery edge to it, the muscles in Emma’s face aching when she manages to smile, but she’s having a difficult time coming to terms with the dexterity of Killian’s eyebrows and her hand moves before she thinks about it.

The metal is cool under her skin, a smooth surface that she can drag her thumb across. Which is exactly what she does, an attempt to ground herself and remind her that she’s still here when she isn’t entirely positive she’s supposed to be.

Hook doesn’t move. Might not breathe, if the state state of his shoulders is any indication and Emma hadn’t realized she was in possession of so many opinions regarding Captain Hook’s shoulders. Or her ability to recognize them.

No matter what, it seems.

“While it may appear that I know everything—” “—Ok, I never said that.” Hook’s smirk grows more pronounced. “I was in Neverland for quite some time, and the boundaries of some of the Enchanted Forest kingdoms changed in the last hundred or so years. But,” he adds when Emma opens her mouth again, “we’re more than a stone’s throw from the land Aurora should be ruling. At least several days' travel.” “God, that’s confusing. And did all these kingdoms have separate laws and everything? Who came up with that? Seems like a garbage way to rule.” “I believe you’d have to file a complaint with several different monarchies for that, love.”

Emma scoffs. “It’s quieter here than it was in Neverland, though.” “Most places are.” “Colder too. I hate the cold. I’m always—can’t ever seem to get warm and my toes are always freezing, it’s...I’m a notorious blanket thief.” “Pirate of sorts, huh?” He grins as he says it and part of Emma wants to scream. Stand up and run, as fast as her feet and far-too-long hem allow. But that part is also smaller than usual, and she’s all too aware of the state her knees are in. “Something like that,” Emma agrees. “When I was a kid I used to live in this place. Snowed for months at a time and I—I hated it. Wanted to be anywhere else. Kept trying to find somewhere that was warm, sunny. Like that would chase away the shadows.” Hook is disarmingly quiet.

And Emma can’t shut up.

“But then I got some place where it never snows and it wasn’t what I thought it’d be. Dry heat, you know?” He shakes his head. That’s fair. Pirates with several-hundred years of experience under their belts should not be expected to understand meteorological cliches.

“Anyway,” Emma mumbles, “it wasn’t what I expected or thought was supposed to happen and—” She scrunches her nose. Hook waits. Presumably for the rest of the sentence, but it doesn’t come and she finds it difficult to breathe again when he starts talking.

“Sunlight always seemed better on the sea. Would reflect off the surf. Could see the entire horizon if you wanted to.” “And did you?” Hook nods. “As often as I could. Even when I was lad. My father used to bring my brother and I—” This might be their best and least organized conversation. Gritting his teeth, his shoulders shift when he inhales sharply. “These stars are different from Neverland’s.” “Really? Weird.” “Mmhm, made navigating something of a challenge.”

“But you’re here now, right?” “Presently, you mean?” Another head shake. More moving hair and unmoving fingers. Emma’s knuckles are white around the hook, holding it like a lifeline and she might have to spend the rest of her life thanking him for this.

It’s not as daunting a prospect as it should be.

“I mean past you is here,” Emma says, “in the Enchanted Forest. Doing pirate type things and offering Mary—” Her tongue gets in the way. As disgusting a thought as that is, Emma knows it’s better than thinking about what is actually happening, feeling as if her throat is collapsing in on itself while her heart does its best to beat its way out of her chest. “Shit.” Killian shuffles closer, not stopping until his knee bumps hers. “That happened from time to time. Leaving Neverland, doing jobs for—” “—Pan?” “Sometimes. He couldn't leave the island, you see. Not without losing the magic as well. Jolly’s crew was his only option. Although we always managed to stay here longer than he wanted us to.” “Well, pirates hate rules, don’t they?” “I believe that’s in the bylaws, aye.” She’s got absolutely no idea what sound that one is. Shaky and a little wobbly and some dark, half-forgotten part of Emma’s brain believes it’s drifting close to giggle territory. That can’t be right. She can’t giggle while she’s still crying.

The bylaws of the Universe probably frown on that.

“Is that how you wound up with Cora, then? Stuck around longer and got a good deal?” Nothing.

No answer. No jokes. Certainly nothing even remotely resembling a giggle.

Just the muscle in Hook’s temple, jumping rhythmically and consistently and Emma really does try to stay patient. Her sniffling makes that difficult.

“Something like that,” Killian repeats evasively, staring straight ahead like he can see through the trees. Maybe he can. What does Emma know. Some pirates probably have to have good eyesight. Make up for the eye patches and whatnot.

She nods. No one asked a question. “Ok.” “Ok?” “Ok,” Emma echoes, “you’re a real shit liar and I’m real great at telling when you’re lying, but—” “—Me specifically?” Yes. The answer is yes, but she doesn’t give voice to that either and maybe she should be writing all these things down. The things she’s not saying.

Should say.

Emma can’t believe she time traveled and didn’t even get to talk to her mother.

And that’s the first time she’s really allowed herself to think of Snow White as her mother.

“Super power,” Emma continues, waving her free hand towards her temple. Her other one is still clinging to his hook. “But that’s fine. You didn’t pry, so I won’t pry, I just—” Collapsing throats, she imagines, are supposed to hurt more than this does. This doesn’t hurt, per se, just feels passably uncomfortable, like there’s a wad of cotton in her mouth, making it difficult to say anything and Emma is so bad at saying anything, but Killian is staring at her and—

Killian.

She lets herself call him Killian. In her head, at least .

“I can’t come up with anything else to say except thank you,” Emma whispers.

“You don’t have to.” “Still.” “You’re welcome,” Killian says, and maybe words carry more weight in the past. By default.

“Can I ask you something, though?” He tenses. Noticeably. It’s another round of fair and understandable, Emma’s teeth finding her lower lip until she tastes blood. Another reminder that she’s still here. With her fingers wrapped around Captain Hook’s—

No, that’s not right. Captain Hook did not follow her into a time vortex. Or ask her to dance. Or wear the fuck out of that jacket. Although that last one could use a bit more work, at least when it comes to sentence structure.

The point still stands.

Captain Hook didn’t do any of that. Killian Jones did.

And he—

“When we were watching everything in the castle and Regina was you know…” Killian lips go thin. Emma might be staring at his lips. Past him had been a very good kisser as well. Maybe she’ll mention that at some point. After this. “Well, I just,” she stammers, “I was terrified, for my mom and my dad and even Ruby—God, is that her name here?” “Introduced herself as Red when Snow White sent her.” “Weird.” “Perhaps the best word for the entire situation.” “Or shitty.” “Aye that too,” he smiles, which is not weird. At least not as weird as it should be. “I wasn’t sure what was going to happen.” “Yeah, me neither,” Emma breathes, not exactly the explicit truth, but at least several steps without moving. “I—you have very strong arms.” “A compliment?” “An observation.” Killian chuckles, and this hair really is unfortunate. Normally, that one bit that Emma has come to regard as her own personal torture device would artfully fall across his forehead, a metaphorical arrow towards eyes that always seem to get brighter when they’re looking at her.

As they often are.

But while the hair is different, the distracting tendencies of his tongue are the same. The tip of it finds the corner of his mouth, a soft push on the inside of his cheek, and Emma’s not keeping a list — at least not acknowledging her want of a list — but the tongue thing is definitely one of Killian’s most telling tells.

Seriously, her sentence structure sucks.

“Although,” Emma adds, “it wasn’t that bad.” HIs tongue goes back in his mouth. She’s got to stop thinking about his tongue.

“No?” “No,” she says. “It was...nice.” So, off the top of her head, she needs to fix — sentences, her grasp of the English language, her tendency to repeat herself, and finding better adjectives for emotionally charged moments.

Possibly.

Emma still hasn’t called him Killian to his face, after all.

“What did you think was going to happen?” No tongue, but an obviously tight jaw makes Emma’s stomach jump into her still-collapsed throat. “Like I said, love. I wasn’t sure. Just wanted to make sure you’re alright.” The lie feels like it reaches out, smacks her across the face and then backhands her for good measure. It leaves Emma’s cheeks tingling and something tugs at the base of her spine. Not magic, because she still doesn’t have magic, but maybe magic adjacent, like a memory or hints of a dream that keep lingering at the edges of everything, and she promised.

She doesn’t push. She doesn’t prod.

She doesn’t pry.

And Killian has to move his sword again when he gets back to his feet. “We’ve got a fire going, if you’d like to warm up.” “Yeah, ok. Thanks.” Emma doesn’t let go of the hook, keeps her fingers curled around it as they move back through the trees and neither one of them stumble, a very small, but much needed victory because—

Well, everything kind of continues to suck.

At least for a little while.

Snow White isn’t dead, but she’s a bug, and then she’s not a bug and Emma has no idea where Ruby goes. She’s too busy worried about this nameless woman and wielding a branch gets her another laugh and a smile she’s going to think about for at least seventy-two hours straight. Then there are trolls, and tears of the less-pained variety. Rumplestilskin continues to be any forest’s biggest asshole, and there’s magic and another round of crying and—

Emma runs.

Sprinting across Storybrooke, she ignores the ringing phone in her pocket, determined to hug her parents and hold her kid with her own display of impressive upper body strength.

And it gets better, less suck-like, at least. Food and smiles and the way her mother’s hand feels when it rests on top of Emma’s.

Until she’s sitting — tucked into the corner of a booth with her own face staring at her from the pages of Henry’s storybook and Emma can’t quite recognize the person there. The happiness on her face feels like...well, a story. A good one, but something that she can’t believe was hers or is hers or could be hers and she’s got to add tenses to that list she only kind of remembers.

Glancing around, the muscles in her neck object to the stress she’s putting them under, because time travel is awful and exhaustion is starting to creep its way up her spine.

“Looking for someone?” her mother asks, and Emma’s lips pop.

That’s it.

She understands. Fucking goddamn finally.

Emma might nod. Or shake her head. It doesn’t really matter.

There are no words. No explanations. Just clamoring back to her feet, the bottoms of her boots sticking to the linoleum near the door because one of the dwarves definitely spilled punch at some point and—

His head snaps up as soon as the door closes behind her.

“So, do you think Rumplestilskin is right?” Emma asks, dropping into one of the wrought-iron chairs at the table Killian has commandeered. Pirate term. “I’m in the book now. He said everything, besides our little adventure, would go back to normal. Do you think that it is?”

“He’s right. Otherwise I’d remember that damned bar wench I kissed.” She smiles. Wide and honest and easier than anything has ever been. And Killian doesn’t flinch when she teases him, like that’s something Emma is allowed to do, but she figures once she uses his name and once they start making out like teenagers it’s fine, and this is her favorite kiss.

By far.

No sounds, no rum, nothing except the feel of his fingers in her hair and her knees bumping against his and she tries to claw her way into his space, a burst of colors behind her closed eyes that she knows is magic and him and them, a collective unit that—

“You came out here,” Killian murmurs, the words barely making their way through the haze of Emma’s post-makeout brain.

She bumps her nose against his. “Turnabout and all that. I...I didn’t want you to be by yourself. And I had a thought.” “Which was?” “Did you think I was going to disappear? When Regina tried to kill my mom. I—you said you didn’t know what would happen, but that wasn’t—” “—Super power, huh?” “Not cool to interrupt when I’m theorizing.” “Well, you don’t like being cool, do you, Swan?” Her smile is going to get stuck on her face. That’s...nice. “Was that what it was?” “The thought had crossed my mind, aye.” “Smart guy.” “High praise.” “I’m an official princess now. In the book and everything, so favors from me hold a certain weight, don’t you think?” He smirks. She tries to memorize it. Every shift of his mouth, the spark in his eye and slight scrunch of his nose, what might be a few freckles there or a trick of the dim lights above them.

Emma’s skin feels like it’s vibrating.

“Thank you.” “You don’t have to keep saying that, Swan.” “Yeah, I know, but—I didn’t think about disappearing, but I did think about wanting something to hold onto and that’s...thank you.”

It’s not enough. Not really, but even the concept of holding her tight enough to ensure that she didn’t disappear in some fairy tale realm is a lot for Emma to wrap her mind around, so she’s going to give herself a pass on this one.

And kiss him instead. Kissing Killian is quickly climbing to the top of a brand-new list of Emma’s favorite things. In every known realm. His tongue swipes her lips and she opens her mouth at the same time her eyes fall shut again, a tilt of her head and bump of their chins, and it’s not easy to deal with all of their assorted limbs at this angle, but that just ensures that this is a bit slower and softer and something that is, quite obviously, the start.

Because she came after him this time.

#cs ff #captain swan #cs fic #captain swan fic #captain swan ff #THANKS TAYLOR SWIFT

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sassyduckqueen · 4 years ago

Text

Miraculous: Rise of Anatis 39

Here's Ikari Gozen! I hope you guys like. I'm really happy with how it came out. Anyway, I thought I'd add a bit of context before I write heroes day, which I hope you guys are looking forward to. I know I am but I should warn you. It will be long. Unlike the previous 'season' finales, it wouldn't be split into two parts and it will also just be called Heroes day instead of Mayura or Catalyst. Also while it's on my mind, I should let you know until season 4 comes out, I will be doing OC Akumas after I've finished with the season 3 stuff. Once season 4 comes out, I will adapt the episodes in this so feel free to suggest OC akumas if you want. If I end up using them, you will get full credit for their existence :D

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Chapter Thirty-Nine: Ikari Gozen

"Hey buddies. As you know, friendship day is officially here," Mireille stated, on the tv as Marinette and the girls glanced at the TV in her room. Aurora was stood next to her and the two girls were smiling. Their friendship had come along way since Stormy Weather's first appearance. Marinette had seen them hanging out around school and had heard from Luka how they were in class. Aurora didn't actually blame Mireille for losing the contest and becoming Stormy Weather. As it turned out, the reason why was because the hose, Alec, had rubbed salt into the wound so to speak and had embarrassed her which in turn had upset her and caused her to become stormy weather but that was then and this is now. Now meant friendship day, an event Marinette was really excited for.

"Today, hundreds of amazing, new friendships will be created all over Paris," Aurora grinned, before turning to Mireille. "Right, Mireille?"

"You got it, Aurora," She smiled back at her before facing the camera. "Once again, buddies, you and your secret new friend... picked at random... will go on an exciting new journey across Paris, searching for a hidden celebrity,"

"And this time, our secret celebrity is none other then the muse of Gabriel Brand. The one and only Adrien Agreste!" Aurora declared, gesturing to him as the camera panned out to reveal him. He smiled and waved at the camera.

"Hello," He smiled, causing the girls to grin excitedly.

"This is gonna be great," Marinette grinned before her eyes went wide. "Oh no! What if I forgot to sign up like last year?!"

"Relax, girl," Alya grinned, taking out a pin and placing it on her jacket. "I know what you're like so as your amazing BFF I made sure to sign you up so everything is gonna be just fine,"

"Thank you, Alya," Marinette gasped, hugging her. Rose suddenly let out a squeal, causing everyone to look at the screen as she pointed at it excitedly.

"Here we go!!" She gasped as she clapped her hangs. "It's starting!!"

"Let me recap for our buddies here," Mireille stated, lifting a tablet that Adrien was holding. It had a red button on it. "When Adrien pushes this button, thousands of texts will be simultaneously sent all across Paris. In the message, you will find a first riddle to solve, which will eventually lead you to your new friend. Then together, you will attempt to solve more riddles which if done correctly will lead you straight to Adrien,"

"Right here in this super secret location where I'll be waiting for the lucky winners," Adrien declared, pointing at the camera before he held up the tablet as Mireille and Aurora joined him. "Ready?"

"Three! Two! One!" They counted down together before Adrien pressed the button, turning it green. "Go!!"

The girls all gasped as their phones vibrated, causing them to open the text. Alya was the first to rush off as reading hers and declaring where it would be. She wished everyone else luck and headed down the stairs. Rose was next, heading towards the zoo and was followed by Alix, who was going to the Louvre. Juleka mumbled before gasping and leaving shortly after Alix. Marinette looked down at hers and decided to read it out loud.

"With one turn of a handle, I can raise the level..." She muttered, frowning before sighing and slagging her shoulders. "What evil mind came up with this one?!"

She began to pace around her room as Plagg flew out of his hiding place.

"If you ask me, this game is a waste of time," He grinned, making her shake her head. "Unless your new friend will have cheese,"

"Plagg, I'm trying to work out the riddle," She muttered, shaking her head. "With one turn of a handle, I can raise the level... game shop maybe... or maybe it's something else... hmm... game shop does seem too obvious for the answer... oh..."

She took out her phone as it vibrated and saw Luka had sent her a video. She pressed play to watch it.

"Hey, Melody. Just wanted to wish you good luck in the friendship day game," He smiled as he was stood by the Seine. She smiled a little as she noticed the button on his jacket. He was playing the game too. "Just about to solve the riddle I got. Not sure if I'll win but this should be fun anyway. I hope you have fun too,"

The video stopped playing, making her smile before she went to make her own.

"Hey, Lu," She grinned, waving at the phone. "Just got my first riddle too. Honestly, can't wait to see who I met. Once I actually solve it that is. Mine's pretty difficu- ohhh! The Seine! Of course, water! That makes sense. I think I just solved it, thanks to you!! Thanks, Lu!! Good luck as well!!"

She stopped filming and sent the message before grabbing her purse and opening it for Plagg, who flew in.

"You solved it then?"

"Yup!" She grinned before running out the house and made her way to the Canal Saint-Martin. She grinned to herself when she got there, causing Plagg to poke his head out and look around. "Here we are! 'With one turn of a handle, I can raise the Level'... Ta da!! It's Canal Saint-Martin!! The water rises when the locks are open with the handle,"

"Meh..." Plagg shrugged, making her giggle.

"You're a little terror," She muttered, shaking her head before looking around. "Now, I just need to keep my eyes peeled. Hopefully, my new friend is here somewhere,"

"New friends are overrated," Plagg stated, causing her to shake her head. "Now if this was a game to find sweet, gooey cheese... then I'd play..."

"That's because you're basically a talking stomach," She smiled, gently patting his head. Plagg grinned and purred a little. "I'll get you some nice cheesy snacks when we've finished today,"

"I can't wait!" He grinned, making her smile a little as they looked around. He tapped her leg, making her look at him. "Isn't that Adrien's girlfriend, Kagami?"

She looked over and saw Kagami stood by a red car before it drove off. She was looking around like she was looking for someone. Marinette grinned and ran over as Plagg ducked into her purse.

"Kagami!!" She called out, making the girl look at her as she raced over. "Hey, I think you're my new friend,"

"So it would seem, Marinette," She replied before moving her mouth in a strange way that showed off her teeth. It unnerved Marinette slightly but she shook it off for now. "It is nice to see you again,"

"Likewise," She smiled as their phones vibrated. "Ooh, the next riddle!!"

She pressed the message, causing a new riddle to come up.

"Congratulations, you have located your game partner and who knows... maybe even a friend for life," The automated voice stated as the two girls looked at their phone. "You've just received the second riddle,"

"To get closer to your goal, you must explore farther and deeper," Marinette read out as Kagami made a thoughtful face. Marinette frowned a little. "Do you think it means to go onto the metro? That's underground so that counts as deeper right?"

"Hmm... no, explore farther and deeper means we have to go farther along the banks of the Seine, which is deeper then this canal," Kagami explained, causing Marinette to look at her with a little awe. That did make sense. "We'll probably have to fish for our next clue. Come on, Marinette, let's hurry up and win,"

"Ok," Marinette nodded, following her as she headed towards the Seine. Her phone vibrated twice, causing her to look at it and smile as she saw she got video messages from Alya and Luka. She opened Alya's first and smiled as she introduced Wayhem before pausing to do a reply.

"Hey, I've got Kagami for my friend. I'm really excited to get to know her," She smiled before sending it then opening Luka's.

"Look who I found," He smiled before moving the camera to Chloe who was looking at her nails. "Chloe decided to join in as well,"

"Is that to Marinette?" She asked, causing him to nod before she moved over and wave. "Hey, Marinette! Just so you know I may be nice now but I'm totally gonna win this! I mean we're gonna win this. Right, Luka?"

"We'll try but even if we don't win, we can still have fun," He grinned, causing her to roll her eyes but she was also smiling. "I hope you're having fun with your new friend, Melody,"

"Oh come on, you dork. We have to find the next clue," Chloe grinned as he waved at the camera before the video stopped. Marinette smiled and set up the camera again.

"Hey, Lu. I found my partner and it's Kagami. She's really smart and has solved the first clue already," She grinned before pointing at the camera. "And Chloe, it is totally on! Maybe the best girl win!"

She grinned and winked before sending the video before running to catch up with Kagami, who had found a magnet and fishing rod on one of the bridges.

"Look, we were right," Kagami stated as she step up the fishing rod, causing Marinette to blink in surprise. "We have to fish out the next clue using this fishing rod and magnet. Here,"

She grabbed Marinette and pulled her over, placing the fishing rod in her hands and securing her hands around. Marinette blinked and when with it as Kagami moved her so she was stood with the rod over the edge before she pushed it down.

"Now fish," She ordered, causing Marinette to blink and reel up the first item she got, which was a rusted whistle. She showed Kagami who pulled it off and threw it in the box. "Probably not the clue,"

Marinette nodded and lowered the magnet again, glancing to the side when she heard a phone notification. Kagami briefly looked at it before facing her again.

"Do you prefer to be known by your whole name or a nickname?" She asked before doing that weird thing with her mouth again, unsettling Marinette.

"Uh... by... my whole name..." She mumbled back, reeling the magnet back up. A rusted saucepan was connected to it. "Though Luka calls me melody and I don't mind that..."

"Thank you, Marinette," Kagami nodded, ignoring the comment about Luka's nickname for her. She looked at her phone again before facing Marinette again. "Uh... your hair is very shiny,"

She didn't the funny thing with her face again before taking the saucepan as Marinette looked at her with confusion and a little fear. Her comment made her wonder if her hair was greasy and gross, even though she took a shower earlier that morning.

"Uh... thank you?" She asked, unsure how to react to her comment. "Uh... your hair is not too bad either..."

Kagami threw the pan into the back and then looked at her phone again as Marinette threw the fishing line again. Marinette frowned a little and tried to glance over.

"What is your blood type?" Kagami asked before once again doing the strange action with her face. Marinette blinked, feeling really uncomfortable as she felt like that maybe Kagami was messing with her and teasing her.

"My blood type? I don't know..." She replied defensively as she glanced to the floor a little before frowning. "Are you messing with me?"

"No, not at all," Kagami replied in an emotionless way. "Everyone in Japan knows their blood type. It tells you who you are,"

She turned and faced the water as Marinette reeled in the line again.

"Mine's O," She continued, making Marinette look at her as she pulled up an old skate. "Which means I'm independent, optimistic, strong-willed and intuitive,"

Marinette frowned a little as she lowered the line again before noticing Kagami glance at her phone again. She tried to look over but Kagami faced her again with a serious expression.

"What's your favorite season?" She suddenly asked, making Marinette jump a little as she did the face action again.

"Summer, cause it's nice and hot... or spring! Because that's when Nature awakens," Marinette gasped a little excited. Kagami finally asked a question that was weird or invasive and was actually kind of normal. "Or maybe the Fall... the colors are so gorgeous at that time of year... but then again, winter inspires me so much,"

"You're indecisive, scattered brain and irresponsible. You have a split personality. Typical AB," Kagami stated, making Marinette frown before she did the strange movement with her face. Marinette went to say something but saw she was looking at her phone again before she looked back at her. "Let's say you found out about some special chocolate ice cream. You really want to try it but someone else gets there first. Do you... A) Steal it from them?"

Marinette gave her a confused and offended look.

"B) Get another type of chocolate ice cream even if it's not as good," She continued, confusing Marinette. "Or C) Never eat chocolate ice cream again?"

She moved her mouth again as Marinette blinked.

"Um I guess I would try another flavor?" She asked, making Kagami narrow her eyes again before she looked at her phone again. Marinette frowned deeply but felt something heavy on the wire. She reeled it up and grabbed the plot as Kagami looked back at her. "Would you like to grab an orange juice with me?"

"N-Now? I mean sure but we're in the middle of the game?" She gasped, making Kagami look at the pot in her hand. She took it out her hand and took out the bottle before placing the pan down before looking up at Marinette.

"The clue... you've done a great job fishing," She replied, giving her a creepy grin as she slowly patted her shoulder. Marinette wasn't sure how to react. "Congratulations, Marinette. First, we win then we get orange juice to celebrate,"

"Oh... right... that makes sense," Marinette nodded, following her as she walked off. The rest of the clue went on the lines of that. They would work together to find the clues but Kagami would ask strange questions and act weird. She would make strange faces and state Marinette's flaws, causing Marinette to frown and feel like Kagami didn't like her. She would also constantly look to her phone, like she was messaging someone and checking the time. It gave Marinette the impression that she didn't want to even be here, which made her wonder. If she didn't want to be in this game, why join? It made no sense. Marinette frowned to herself as they came to the next clue. She was sure that Kagami was messaging Adrien to laugh at her. Sure, they were solving the clues but Kagami clearly didn't like her or want to be friends so she had to be laughing at her. Her phone vibrated, causing her to look at it as Luka and Alya send her messages. She opened Luka's first.

"Well, maybe she is trying to get to know you," He replied, making her frown a little. "But if it's making you really that uncomfortable, you should tell her. I'm sure she would understand,"

She pressed record and held it up to her.

"I don't know, Lu," She sighed, looking down. "She keeps looking at her phone. I think she's texting Adrien and they're both probably laughing at me. Honestly, Lu, I don't think she likes me at all,"

She pressed end and send it before opening Alya's.

"Girl, don't let it get to you," She grinned as Wayhem grabbed the next clue. "Just focus on winning. After all, Adrien is the prize,"

Marinette let out a sigh before pressing the reply button and holding up the phone.

"Which is great but he won't notice me," She sighed. It's not like she could tell Alya that Kagami and Adrien were dating. She only knew that info as Lady Noir after all. "As soon as he sees her, he'll ignore me... they're really close and I think he likes her a lot... not that I blame him... she's pretty and smart,"

She sent the video before walking over a bench and sat down as Kagami read over the next challenge. She walked over to her, causing Marinette to look up at her.

"Trust challenge," She read out. "Exchange unlocked phones. Separate and take a selfie at different monuments, using each others' phones then regroup and take a selfie together like the true friends you've become. Once we've received the selfies, we'll send you a final text revealing where Adrien Agreste is hiding,"

She held out her phone, causing Marinette to glance at it.

"I don't know, Kagami..." She mumbled, causing Kagami to shake her head and take her phone before she pushed her own phone into Marinette's hand.

"You really are an indecisive girl," She declared before beginning to run off. She stopped and face Marinette again. "We'll meet back here once we're done. We're gonna win!"

With that, she ran off, leaving Marinette in the dust. She got up and made her way over some trees before sighing. Plagg poked his head out of her bag and looked up at her.

"If you're that bothered, why don't you just look through her phone?" He asked, making her look at him. "What? At least, that way you'll know for sure if she was laughing at you,"

"Plagg, the point of this excise is trust," She pointed out, making him grin.

"That trust is only broken if she knows you when through it," He pointed out, making her frown. "So have a sneak then take the selfie and meet back up with her. It's not like she's going to check for fingerprints,"

"I don't know," She mumbled, frowning. "It feels wrong..."

"So does her laughing at you," Plagg pointed out, making her frown even more. On one hand, it is wrong to going through her phone but on the other, this would allow her to know how much Kagami does dislike her. "What you got to lost, Dollface?"

She bit her lip and pressed the messages button, frown as she saw that Kagami only had messages from the contest. Thinking that maybe she managed to delete them before the phone swap, she checked her contacts. To her surprise, she only had her mother's contact in there, making her frown. She exited the contact list and swiped across the screen, finding another app. She didn't recognize it so she pressed on it and gasped, making Plagg look up at her.

"Oh, shoot," She gasped, placing her hand over her mouth. "This is what she was looking at all this time,"

"What is it?" He asked, making her show him. "30 tips for making friends..."

"That explains everything. Her strange behavior. Her weird questions. She was trying to be my friend," She gasped, looking down. "She wasn't messing with me at all. She was trying to get to know me and that weird thing she was doing with her mouth was her attempting to smile,"

"Well, at least, she wasn't laughing at you,"

"But now I feel so bad," She gasped, frowning before straightening up. "Maybe there is still time to fix this! We can win this and get orange juice together,"

"Eh... cheese is better..." Plagg replied, diving into her bag again as she ran towards the nearest monument which happened to be the Statue of King Louis XIV. She quickly took a selfie with the phone before running back to the bench that she would meet Kagami at. She frowned as she saw Kagami walking back over to her. She was frowning and handed her phone back to her, confusing Marinette.

"I guess I'm not worthy of our friendship," She stated, looking down before she began to walk away. "Our blood types must not be compatible,"

"Kagami, wait!" Marinette gasped, running after her. Kagami stopped and looked at her, frowning.

"I saw your friend's message. I didn't mean to but it played," She frowned, making Marinette frown. "She suggested that you should quit the game since you don't like me,"

"What?" She asked, confused before shaking her head. "Kagami, it's not that I don't like you. I thought you didn't like me,"

"It doesn't matter anyway," She mumbled, walking away again but before Marinette could chase after her, one of the phone's vibrated. She looked at it and noticed it was Kagami's mother. She pressed answer and held it to her ear.

"Hello?"

"Kagami! Where are you?!" Her mother shouted, making Marinette jump. "You were suppose to wait for me at home!"

"Um... Hello ma'am, I'm not Kagami actually," Marinette gasped, causing her to demand who she was and where Kagami was. Marinette jogged over to her as she called out to her, causing Kagami to look at her. "Um I'm a friend of Kagami's. I'm with her and can put her on the phone,"

"Kagami doesn't have any friends!" She growled, making Marinette frown as Kagami signaled to give her the phone. " "Why do you have her phone?"

"Oh, I can assume you, Ma'am, I am Kagami's friend," Marinette corrected, causing Kagami to look at her in surprise. "In fact, we teamed up for a game,"

"A game?!" She growled, making Marinette gasp. "But I fobade her!"

"G-Game? Did I say game? I meant a grab... uh... to grab..." She gasped. "I invited Kagami to grab an orange juice with me,"

Kagami's features softened as she watched Marinette try to calm down her mother. Even though she knew it wouldn't work, she appreciate the attempt.

"She'll be home soon I promise," She gasped as Kagami smiled. "I'll even walk her home myself,"

"Stop fooling around, young lady and put my daughter through!" Tomoe demanded, making Marinette frown even more. "I can assure you that Kagami will not be enjoying any glasses of-"

"Ma'am, please don't punish your daughter," She gasped as Tomoe went quiet. "Ma'am? Hello?"

Kagami frowned as Marinette glanced at her before Tomoe said something that send a shiver down her spine.

"With pleasure, Hawkmoth," She declared, causing Marinette to gasp. She quickly turned to Kagami and placed the phone in her hand before grabbing her hand and running.

"I'm so sorry, Kagami. I tried to smooth things over with your mum but now she's super angry and will be looking for you," She gasped as they ran. "We should hid somewhere far from here I think,"

She took her phone and activated the akuma alert app as they ran. Literally, minutes after, they heard distance screaming before a huge red centaur jumped towards them, causing them to go fly. Marinette wasted no time and pull Kagami to her feet before running as fast as they could.

"Kagami!" It screamed as it began to chase them, causing Kagami to gasp in shock and trip, letting go of Marinette's hand. "You disobeyed me! You'll never go out again!"

She went to reach for her but before she could, Marinette pushed her down before helping her back up and running behind the centaur. Kagami looked surprise but didn't complain as they ran. The centaur turned around and jumped, landing in front of them, causing both girls to scream and jump back as she reached for them again. She growled and stomped her feet, causing them to fall down and reached for them. However, a yoyo string wrapped around her hand as Anatis arrived, yanking it back so Kagami was far from her mother's grip. Marinette rushed over to her and helped her up as Anatis turned to them.

"Get away from here!" He shouted, jumping away from the centaur. Marinette nodded and ran with Kagami as Anatis kept her busy, throwing his yoyo at her. "You know today is suppose to be friendship day but if you ask me, you're going all the wrong way about it!"

"I don't need friends! I am Ikari Gozen! As elusive as the wind, as powerful as the flood and as swift as lightning!" Ikari Gozen screamed as he jumped up. However, she backhanded him, sending him flying and crashing into a statue but before he could get up, she grabbed him, causing him to struggle. Marinette gasped as the centaur opened her mouth and swallowed him. Her eyes widen as she called out for him but Kagami suddenly grabbed her arm and ran underneath her mother's legs and into the metro station, running down the stairs with her. She didn't stop until they were deep in the station, causing Marinette to gasp.

"Marinette, are you ok?" She asked, causing her to look at her.

"Anatis... he's..." She muttered, shaking her head. "Kagami, stay here,"

She turned on her heel to run but Kagami grabbed her arm.

"If you go out, you might get captured,"

"Someone needs to flag down Lady Noir," Marinette gasped, making Kagami frown but nod. "I promise I'll be careful but please stay here,"

She nodded and ran off. As soon as she was out of view from people, she opened her purse and Plagg flew out.

"Anatis has been captured!" She gasped, making him frown.

"We need to go to Master Fu right now," He declared, making her blink in surprise before she nodded. Anatis told her about him for this very reason. She slipped up from the stairs and saw Ikari Gozen looking around for Kagami. Seeing her chance, she made her way to a building and looked to Plagg.

"How do we get there?" She asked, making him frown. "Hey, I've only been there a couple of times and that was by rooftop,"

"Good point," Plagg stated before flying off. "Follow me!"

She nodded and ran after him, trying to go as fast as she could. Plagg did his best to get her there quickly as well, meaning they took what could be called an ally cat's route but it got them there. She rang the door bell and got buzzed in before she rushed up into Master Fu's shop. She knocked on the door and entered.

"Come in," He stated as she entered. "I expected you would- Marinette?"

"I'm sorry, Master Fu but the akuma Ikari Gozen has captured Anatis and Plagg said we should come here and I don't know what to do!" She gasped, tears in her eyes. She was afraid and worried for her partner. "What if she gets his miraculous and hurts him? Oh, god this is all my fault! I should have just tried to trust Kagami and-"

"Take deep breathes, Marinette," Master Fu stated, causing her to nod and breathe in as he got her to knee down. "All is not lost. You can save Anatis but you will need help,"

He walked over to the phonograph and took out the miracle box, placing it in front of her.

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng, choose an ally to fight along side you this mission," He declared, opening the miracle box, causing the draws to pop open. She gasped in amazement as she saw the miraculous, glancing at them. She knew what some of them did thanks to Anatis and their allies. He had also informed her about some of the abilities but she didn't know as much as he did. "Choose wisely. Such powers are meant to serve the greater good,"

"I need an experienced user... someone who can match Ikari Gozen's ability..." She muttered, frowning. "Someone as elusive as the wind, as powerful as the flood and as swift as lightning... oh... I know... but..."

"Trust your instincts, Marinette," Master Fu advised, making her look at him. "If they tell you that the miraculous you have in mind is the right one then choose it,"

"In that case," She smiled, picking up the dragon miraculous. "It's time for Ryuko to come out of retirement,"

"Ryuko is a good choice," Master Fu nodded. "I'm sure she will be a great help,"

"Thank you, Master Fu," She nodded, turning to leave but he got up and opened a draw before taking out a little hexagon shaped box and handing it to her. "Oh so that's where those are kept,"

She placed inside and put it in her purse before rushing out. As soon as she was in the allyway, she turned to Plagg.

"Time to find Kagami and rescue Annie," She grinned before holding out her hand and calling on the magic words. Once transformed into Lady Noir, she jumped up onto the rooftops and ran across to the metro where Kagami should be. She jumped down inside and rushed over, causing people to gasp and point. She saw Kagami sat on a bench, looking down. She ran over to her, causing her to jump up.

"Lady Noir," She gasped. "Anatis-"

"I know but we need to get you to a safety hiding place," She replied, grabbing her hand and running off with her. They moved up onto the street and looked around before rushing over to an allyway, causing Kagami to look around as Lady Noir faced her. "Sorry but as you know secret identities must be protected,"

"Secret identity? But I'm not Ryuko anyway," She stated before blinking as Lady Noir reached out into her pocket and took out the box. Kagami blinked in surprise as she stated at it. "Is that?"

"Yes. I need your help to save Anatis and what better way to hide Kagami then in plain sight," She replied, causing Kagami to nod. She opened the box, causing Longg to appear. He frowned and huffed, refusing to meet Kagami's eyes. "Uh... Longg, is it?"

"Yes, Miss Noir," He replied, looking around. "Where's the young master?"

"He's been captured by the akuma, " Lady Noir admitted, causing him to gasp. "Which is why I need you to put aside any hard feelings with Kagami,"

"Of course, Miss Noir," He nodded before turning to her. "Well, what are you waiting for, Tsurugi-san? You know the magic words,"

Kagami frowned but put the choke on as Lady Noir frowned.

"Longg, bring the storm!" Kagami declared, transforming into Ryuko before turning to Lady Noir and taking out her sword. "Thank you for the miraculous, Lady Noir but I'll take it from here. Stay behind as this is a personal matter between a mother and a daughter,"

"What?!" Lady Noir gasped as Ryuko jumped off. "Hey! That's not how this works!"

She jumped after her as Ryuko blindly attacked Ikari Gozen, making Lady Noir frown.

"God, she is so stubborn!" She growled as Ryuko clashed against her mother. She took a deep breathe and looked around as Ikari Gozen grabbed Ryuko. "What would Anatis do?"

"Wind dragon!" Ryuko called, transforming into her to escape her room before diving at her. "Lightning dragon!"

"What?! No!" Lady Noir called, jumping up and diving at her. She grabbed her before she could hit Ikari Gozen, causing both her and Ryuko to fall and roll behind a bus before dragging Ryuko to behind a wall as Ikari Gozen turned to look for Kagami. Ryuko pushed her away and growled.

"What the hell, Lady Noir?!" She gasped. "I was just able to defeat her!"

"No, you were about to put Annie in more danger then he's already in!" Lady Noir gasped, making Ryuko roll her eyes. She went to run off but Lady Noir snatched the choker off her, causing her to look at her with surprise as she transformed back. She narrowed her eyes and held out her hand.

"Give it back," She declared.

"No! You are going to listen to me for once!" Lady Noir growled as Longg nodded and glared at Kagami, who looked surprise at the harsh look she was getting. "I trusted you and you just run off without even listening to me! You just wasted two of your abilities and almost put Anatis' life in danger!"

"Oh, the suit would have-"

"That thing is made from metal and you were able to hit it with lightening! We don't know if the suit would protect him but that is not the point. The point is you are willing to put him in danger, despite the fact that he is the only person who can fix this!" She screamed, causing Kagami to blink in surprise. "You are reckless and impulsive! I didn't give you this to settle a score but to help me save my best friend and you just rush off!"

"Well, it's not like you have a plan,"

"Because I haven't had a chance to work one out!" She growled, making Kagami frown before she took a deep breathe. "I get that you want to save your mum but endangering everyone else is not the way to do it,"

Kagami sighed and looked down, clearly looking guilty. For a few minute, she was quiet as Lady Noir gave Longg some cheese to recharge.

"I behaved hastily and I have failed you and Anatis, Lady Noir," She muttered, causing Lady Noir to look towards her as she bowed towards her. "I am not worthy of the dragon or to fight by your side. I recommend that you find a new holder,"

"Kagami, listen to me. Been impulsive can be a good thing but you've gotten be clever and listen to other people. One of the things that makes me and Anatis such a good team is because we listen to each other and work as a team," She replied, causing Kagami to nod. "Yes, you've made mistakes but that's not a reason to give up fighting. You're a good match for the dragon, Kagami but we must work as a team. Only you can help me save your mother and Annie so please, work with me as my friend and ally,"

"Lady Noir..." She whispered before bowing again. "I have clearly misjudged you as I misjudged Anatis. I will follow your lead and help you in any way I can,"

"I'm glad," Lady Noir smiled. "Longg, you all charged?"

"Yes, I am," He replied, turning to Kagami, who looked guilty and like she wanted to say something. Lady Noir had a feeling she knew what.

"Longg..."

"We can talk after we've defeated the villain," He stated, making her nod and re-transformed. Lady Noir blinked in surprise as she looked at her. Like Aspik, Ryuko's outfit had changed but unlike Aspik's, the changes in hers were small and subtle. Her gloves were still the same length but one side had an upright triangle in gold whereas the other one was inverted. Her main outfit was the same but her right leg had a thigh high boot on with a gold trim and her leg had an ankle boot that turned into the dragon tail that wrapped up her leg and stomach. Her emblem was on her belt instead of the middle of her chest. She still had four horns but they were slightly different to the original ones. They had a black strip in the middle with two gold bands around them while the rest were red. Even her mask had changed. Originally it was most red with a bit of gold and black detail but now it was half black and half red with a gold trim. She looked over herself and smiled.

"Ready when you are, Lady Noir," She replied, getting a nod of Lady Noir before the two of them looked over at Ikari Gozen, who was tearing up buildings and crushing cars. The two heroines frowned as they moved back. "She's really on a war path. Do you have any ideas?"

"Well... I have an idea..." She mumbled, making Ryuko raise an eyebrow as she took out her baton and used it to call Anatis' yoyo. He answered, causing both girls to let out a sigh of relief. He was still transformed and ok.

"Is that Ryuko?" He asked with a slightly confused expression, causing Ryuko to wave a little.

"Sorry but you got captured and I had to do something..." She mumbled, looking down. Of course, he would be mad. "Don't be mad..."

"Mad? Why would I be mad?" He asked, generally confused before shaking his head. "Anyway, I'm glad to see you're ok. I was worried she had crushed you... though how did you know I was captured?"

"Uh... live streaming..."

"Yes, almost everyone is filming and there is a live feed on the ladyblog," Ryuko nodded, making him pull a thinking face before nodding. "Any idea where the akuma is?"

"I don't think it's anywhere inside her but she was holding a huge stick..."

"It's called a Bokken, Annie," Lady Noir giggled, making him roll his eyes in a playful manner.

"Anyway, I think that's where the akuma is... it seems to be the most logical place for it to land," He mumbled, making the two girls nod.

"I can destroy it but first we need to get you out of there," Lady Noir mumbled before looking back at him. "Have you summoned a lucky charm yet?"

"No, I didn't want to risk turning back into my civilian mode and risking Hawkmoth finding out who I am," He mumbled, looking worried. The two girls nodded. "But I'll get one now... hang on..."

The screen went dark as before he came back on.

"Bath bombs... I got bath bombs..." He mumbled, shaking his head as he showed them. Lady Noir covered her mouth as she tried not to giggle. Tikki had a weird sense of humor. He glared a little at Lady Noir before glancing around. "Nothing here is lighting up..."

"Bath bombs?" Ryuko asked as Lady Noir straightened up.

"Maybe Tikki is telling you to get a bath?" She asked, smirking a little. He rose an eyebrow at her, causing her to shrug a little. "Just saying..."

"Well... knowing Tikki it's a possibility but they're useless without water," He sighed, looking around. He was still trying to work out how to use them. "And this is a frigging car.... I'm sure of it so it's not going to have a water source in here,"

"Water..." Lady Noir muttered as she looked up at Ikari Gozen before glancing over at Ryuko. Her eyes went wide as an idea popped into her head. "Oooh... I know what we can do with those bath bombs! Annie, hold on tight! We're gonna get you out,"

"Alright," He grinned before she hung up and turned to Ryuko.

"What's the plan?"

"You're gonna get eaten!" Lady Noir grinned, making Ryuko frown. "Then once you're inside with Annie and the lucky charm, activate water dragon. It will flood her from the inside and-"

"Activate the bath bombs which should cause her to weaken!" Ryuko gasped, causing Lady Noir to grin. "Anatis can then escape, you can destroy her bokken and we save the day,"

"Exactly," She grinned as they looked at Ikari Gozen again. "Go full on attack but let her capture you,"

"Alright," Ryuko nodded before she rushed out and attacked Ikari Gozen, striking at her as Lady Noir pretended to sneak up on her. Ikari Gozen caught her and went to grab her, causing Ryuko to push her out of the way and get grabbed instead. She went a wink to Lady Noir before Ikari Gozen swallowed her and turned to Lady Noir.

"I guess I'm the Last hero standing," She grinned, taking out her baton and holding it like a sword.

"And you shall fall like the others," Ikari Gozen replied, charging at her while inside her, Ryuko landed on the seat next to Anatis, who rose an eyebrow at her as she grinned before she turned to him.

"Hold your breathe, bug boy," She grinned, making Anatis grin as he realized the plan. "Water Dragon!!"

She burst into water that began to fill up the area they were in and break down the bathbombs as Anatis grabbed the box that they came in and took a deep breathe before the water covered his head. He felt the akuma shake and jolt before, feeling the water move upwards as she gagged and puked up some of the water with him. He landed on the ground as Ikari Gozen fell onto her side before Lady Noir jumped over as he took the yo

"Cataclysm!" She shouted, slamming her hand onto the bokken, causing it to rush. He kicked it, releasing the butterfly and capturing it as Ryuko reformed from the water. He released the purified butterfly before he threw up the now wet box.

"Miraculous Ladybugs!" He shouted, causing it to burst into the magical swarm that flew around and fixed all of the damage that Ikari Gozen had done, causing both girls to let out a sigh of relief as Ikari Gozen turned back into Tomoe and her car. Anatis pointed at it as the door opened and Tomoe stepped out, leaning on her stick. "I knew it was a car!"

"What's happened to me? Where is Kagami?!" She gasped, causing Ryuko to walk over and take her hand, causing the blind woman to gasp.

"Your daughter is near by, Ma'am," She stated. "She'll be here soon,"

"Ryuko... time to go," Anatis declared before the three of them jumped up to the roofs and ran off. They jumped down into an allyway.

"Before I transform back... I need to talk to Longg..." Ryuko stated, causing Anatis and Lady Noir to nod and move away to her some privacy. She called off the transformation as Anatis leaned against the wall. Lady Noir played with her braid and bit her lip, causing him to look at her.

"Kitten?" He asked, causing her to look at him. "You ok?"

"I... I know you're probably mad at me for get-" She started but he chuckled a little and pushed himself off the wall before moving over to her as she looked up at him before he leaned down and gently pressed a soft kiss to her cheek. "Um..."

"That's for saving me, Kitten," He smiled, making her face exploding into red. "I'm not mad at all. What happened today is the exact reason why I revealed Master Fu's existence and location to you. I trusted you to save me and you did,"

"But I choose Ryuko..." She mumbled, looking down. "And we almost failed,"

"But you didn't," He mumbled, gently lifting her chin up. "I don't know how you nearly failed but what I do know is you overcame it and found a solution.... and it seemed that Ryuko has grown as a person too if her new costume is anything to go by. You made the right call, Kitten and I'm proud of you,"

"Annie," She gasped, hugging him. He chuckled a little before hugging her back as Kagami came back over with Longg. Lady Noir pulled away, looking at them. Kagami looked to Longg, who gave her a smile and a nod before she faced the two heroes and bowed to them, making them both blink.

"I apologize for my earlier behavior towards both of you. I was reckless and petty so I apologize..." She stated, making them blink before she straightened up. "And I thank you for giving me a chance to prove myself. As you know I am not one for many words but I tell you this. You have my allegiance, my respect and my trust. I understand that you might not be able to give me the same in return but I hope that I can continue to build a friendship with both of you. Should you ever need my help again, I will drop what ever I need to and help you as best I can,"

"Thank you, Ryuko... That means a lot," Anatis smiled before looking to Longg. "Have you two made your peace?"

"Yes but we have a long way to go, young master," Longg replied, causing Anatis to nod before Kagami took off the choker and handed it to him. However, he glanced at Lady Noir and smiled at her. Encouraged, she took the necklace and placed it back in the box.

"I should return to Mother and Marinette but thank you both," Kagami smiled before walking off. Anatis turned to Lady Noir as she held out the miraculous to him and gently pushed it towards her, making her blink at him.

"I think it will be ok to for you to return it,"

"But won't Master Fu be worried about you?"

"I'll drop by his later tonight. Besides..." He mumbled, pointing to his earrings that beeped. Her ring beeped as well, causing her to look down at it. They still had a couple of minutes left til they de-transform but not to get across to the other side of Paris. "Can't let the cat out of the bag just yet, Kitten,"

She nodded in agreement as he took out his yoyo and swung up to the roof. He smiled at her and saluted her before disappearing. She looked down at the miraculous before nodding and jumping up to the roof before running across it to get to Master Fu's. She jumped down and landed in an allyway, just as her transformation dropped. She caught Plagg and took out a chuck of cheese for him, causing him to happily dig into it as they headed into Master Fu's apartment. She knocked on the door and waited for permission to come in. Once he called out, she opened the door and entered, smiling at him as she saw he was making tea.

"Ah, Marinette, you have returned," He smiled, walking over to her and giving her a cup of tea. The smell of jasmine drifted up from it, making her smile before she gently blew on it and took a sip. It was the right amount of sweet for her, making her grin. "I take it the mission went well,"

"Yes, Master Fu," She nodded before taking another sip. She put it down for a second and took out the miraculous as Master Fu took out the miracle box and opened it. She put the dragon back and watched as he returned it. "Anatis said he would drop by later tonight but he thought I should be the one to bring it back to you. I hope you don't mind,"

"Not at all," He smiled, sipping the tea. "Did Kagami do well?"

"Well, there was a little hiccup at first but we took down Ikari Gozen with panache," She smiled, making him nod before her eyes went wide. "Kagami! Oh no! It's still friendship day! Sorry, Master, I have to go!"

She jumped up, making him smile. He had never meant anyone like Marinette or Luka. Both were perfect matches for their miraculous. He created his throat before she could leave, causing her to look back at him.

"You did very well today, Marinette," He smiled, making her smile before he walked over to her. "And should you need anything be it miraculous related or not, my door is always open to you as it is to Anatis,"

"Thank you, Master!" She gasped, bowing before rushing out. He chuckled as Wayzz came out.

"She is very energetic," He muttered, making the old man chuckle. "Do you think they realize they are made for each other?"

"Love is the biggest mystery of life," Master Fu mumbled, looking over at a picture of a young him and a beautiful woman. "But if they are destined for each other then even the oceans of time can not separate them,"

~One Month before Princess Justice~

"Sir?" Nathalie asked as she came into his office. She had been summoned by him, causing her to worry. Was her job at risk? Or was it good news? She knew he was actively searching for his wife since her disappearance. She couldn't help but hope that maybe he had found her but then she saw him stood in front of the portrait of Emile. The way he was stood wasn't a man who had finally found his wife back. She could practically feel the sorrow raiding in off him. "Sir, you called for me?"

"Nathalie, please close the door and lock it," He stated in his usual tone but usually he wasn't so secretive. She frowned a little but did as he asked. "Nathalie, I can trust you, can't I?"

"Of course, sir but can I ask what has brought this on?" She asked, confused as he turned around. Honestly, he looked tired and like he hadn't slept properly in ages. "Are you ok, sir?"

"Tell me... what are your thoughts on our local heroes?" He asked, confusing her.

"Well, sir, I'd say they are brave..." She replied, making him nod.

"And the man terrorizing Paris... what do you think of Hawkmoth?" He asked, making her frown. Why did he care what she thought of Hawkmoth?

"Well... he seems to be...." She muttered, thinking about this carefully. She didn't want to come across as a terrorist sympathizer because she wasn't. Not really. She just believed that he was a desperate man. Not that justified his actions but he never actually kills anyone and she had a feeling that he was doing this for a reason. However, she knows she could very much be wrong. Gabriel frowned, waiting for her answer. "He seems like to be a desperate man,"

"A desperate man?" He asked, getting a nod of her. "And why do you think that?"

"I'm not sure, sir," She replied, looking to the side. "It's just the impression I get from his actions. He seems so desperate to get the heroes' jewels that it makes me think he has a reason for it and I don't think it's too rule the world or anything. If he wanted to rule the world, why go after the miraculous when he could just make an akuma who will do the work for him? No, I think he is after something more personal then that and I think it's something he can't do himself.... but sir... how do you know he's called Hawkmoth? Not even the heroes or the police know that..."

"How insightful," Gabriel muttered, nodding before turning around. The statement confused Nathalie. "Nathalie, what I am able to show you must be kept secret no matter what,"

"Of course, sir," She nodded. He gestured to her, causing her to move and stand next to him before he pressed hidden buttons on the portrait. She gasped as the floor shook before they descended down into the floor. Her eyes widen as she saw the hidden garden underneath. She had no idea this place existed. It was beautiful yet strangely full of sorrow. Gabriel opened the door to the lift and stepped outside before offering her his hand. She took it and he helped in her into the garden. They walked over to a strange object in the middle of it.

"You are very resourceful and insightful woman, Nathalie," He stated, making her look at him. "I wish to share my burden with you,"

"B-Burden?"

"My wife..." He muttered, looking down. What did he mean? Her mind raced at possibilities. What if he killed his wife? What if he was about to kill her? This man could be a murderer! "My sweet Emile... she always wanted to live a full and exciting life.... so when we found the miraculous... she was overjoyed. She took the peafowl and I took the butterfly. Oh those days were glorious but then she got sick... it progressively got worst and worst to the point that even the doctors had no idea what was wrong... by all means she was healthy yet a mysterious illness swept over her, draining her... It was then I noticed the cracks on her miraculous and made the link. She had only gotten ill when she started to use the miraculous..."

"It made her sick?"

"Yes... and I searched for a cure but nothing I did helped," He sighed. "Then we learnt from the kwamis that they were other miraculous... in particular two that could merge together and grant a wish that could change the world... we were going to find a way to claim them but then-"

"She disappeared...." She muttered but he shook his head and pressed a button on the object, causing it to come to life and open up, revealing Emile laying inside of it. Nathalie gasped in shock as Gabriel pressed his hand on the glass. "I-is She..."

"Dead? No... she's in a coma..." He muttered, making her frown. Shouldn't she be in a hospital? "This chamber is a life support machine. It keeps her alive and breathing but she is stuck in a coma. This is why I have been creating akumas... if I can lure out the heroes who hold the earrings of the ladybug and the ring of the black cat, I can merge them and make a wish... but no matter how many akumas I create, the heroes I need don't turn up. Instead, I am forced to battle with those two fools, Ryuko and Aspik..."

"Y-you're the one making the villains..." She gasped, making him to look at her. "W-Why..."

"To bring her back to me and Adrien..." He gasped, desperately. "Nathalie, I know this is a lot to take in but I am trying to save my wife's life. No medicine or doctor can heal her and if I bring her to a hospital, they'll declare her dead but as long as I can get those items, I can bring her back. I need to bring her back!"

Nathalie looked at him and instead of seeing an evil villain, she saw a broken man.

"Gabriel... you love her that much?"

"Yes! I would do anything for her," He gasped, making her heart flutter a little. She couldn't help but admire him. He was so devoted to his wife that he was willing to brink her back from the brink of death. She walked over to him and took his hands, surprising him.

"I will do what I can to help you," She stated.

"Nathalie... I only need someone to understand my pain..." He gasped but she shook her head.

"Whatever you need I will do," She declared, looking at him with admiration. "I will do anything for you,"

"Thank you, Nathalie. You really are my trusted friend," He smiled before dismissing her. She walked back to the lift but she failed to notice the smirk that came onto Gabriel's face as soon as she walked away. She would be a perfect ally and never betray him. After all, he knew she was truly in love with him and when someone is truly in love, they just want the person of their affections to be happy no matter what.

~Two Hours After Ikari Gozen~

"Sir, are you ok?" Nathalie asked as Gabriel came up from his secret room. Nooroo was eating a snack and he looked annoyed. He waved his hand and sat down as Nathalie cleared her voice. "Ikari Gozen was the closest we've came to capturing Anatis. We would have succeed if Ryuko hadn't come out of retirement,"

"Yes, I am aware of that," He growled, making her frown a little. "Anatis has gained more allies. It's bad enough that he has Culpeo, Abeille and Leatherback on his side but now he has managed to repair relations with Ryuko and Aspik..."

"What do you want to do, sir?" She asked, making him glance at her.

"Tell me, how is Miss Rossi doing?" He asked, causing Nathalie to look on her tablet.

"She is still hiding away from the shame of her defeat," She muttered, typing. "She has been harboring her anger against Anatis for weeks and with heroes day coming, she will see the object of her hatred everywhere she goes. The mayor has already announced that Anatis and Lady Noir will be a theme on at least one of the floats during the heroes parade. Since she will be faced with his visage wherever she'll go, I predict her anger will reach devastating heights, meaning she will ripe for akumatization. We could bring back Volpina,"

"Interesting," He muttered, taking the tablet she had handed to him. "Heroes day hm? What better day then to claim their miraculous once and for all?"

"So we use Volpina,"

"Yes but she only has some much use," He replied, making her glance at him. "Nathalie, you said you would do anything for me? Does that still ring true?"

"Of course sir," She nodded, looking at him with a serious expression. "What do you need me to do?"

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

Next Chapter: https://ultra-sassyduck.tumblr.com/post/637807797675900929/miraculous-rise-of-anatis-40

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saneatsrice · 5 years ago

Text

choi san: loving the babysitter pt. 1

summary: san needs community service hours in order to keep his position on the school basketball team and y/n needs money to help pay off the debt left behind by her father, what are the odds of them starting a romantic journey at a daycare center?

pairing: basketball player! san x babysitter! reader

warning: none

author’s note: I came up with this idea through an AU generator because I was in a writing mood but had no clue what to write LOLL, let me know if you want this to be a series because I have a few ideas but I’m not sure if I should continue writing this. also, it’s currently unedited because I’m lazy and brain dead but I’ll fix it later I swear! please enjoy :))

word count: 6052

y/n has a lot of weight to carry over her shoulders for a high school student. throughout her high school journey, she has had to carry out countless part time jobs in order to help her mother pay off the debt her father had left behind after gambling away their life savings and then fleeing the country, causing the two women to work in order to stop it from growing. this year being her last year of high school, y/n has to think about her future and how she will be able to pay off the additional college tuition once she graduates this year and begins applying for grants and scholarships. however, after getting fired from her last job, finding a new job that is accepting of her schedule due to school is immensely difficult.

as she was giving up hope, y/n came across a sign as she was walking home from school that read treasure daycare and saw a sign on the window of the small building that said “looking for babysitters”.

y/n being desperate to help with the family income and building up a savings account for her college funds, she decided there wasn’t any harm in applying. as she look through the window to see if anyone was in the building, her eyes landed on three toddlers sitting on the fluffy carpet. there were two little boys who were playing with blocks and laughing every time they accidentally knocked down the structure. however, the third little boy was sitting alone on the edge of the carpet drawing little shapes into the floor. soon y/n’s eyes land on tall figure with brown hair and a puppy-like face. y/n recognized him as yunho from her economics class, a boy who always knew how to make everyone smile and laugh even when they are having a bad day. yunho waves from the inside and runs to the sliding door to open it for y/n to enter.

“hello y/n, what brings you here?” yunho asked while having that award winning smile on his face.

y/n smiles back at yunho and replies, “I saw that sign on the door and was wondering who should I talk to in order to apply for the job”.

yunho beckons the girl to come into the room and leaders her to the middle of the room. “you can sit there while I go get my manager” yunho says while pointing to a plastic, toddler sized chair which causes y/n to laugh and walk towards the tiny seat to rest. As yunho goes, into the back room, she sees the two boys who were previously playing with the blocks, run over to her full of energy.

“hi my name is wooyoung and this is my best friend yeosang”, the little boy with purple hair says with a smile on his face while intertwining his small chubby hand with the little brown haired boy next to him.

“hello, what is your name?” the brown haired boy asked while hiding behind his wooyoung which did not help him any as he was taller than wooyoung.

“my name is y/n and I hope I will be able to work here and get to know you two cuties” y/n replies with a smile on her face, wanting nothing more than to squish the two little boys’ cheeks due to their look of awestruck as they think about the potential of having another babysitter to play with.

soon yunho comes back into the room with an older man who has black hair following behind him looking as serious as ever. it honestly scared y/n a little bit along with wooyoung and yeosang as they ran to hide behind y/n’s side and hugged her on each side. the mysterious man realizes there are still children present and his eyes turn into a more gentle manner.

“i am sorry for scaring you kids, my name is park seonghwa, I am the manager at treasure daycare, I heard from yunho you wanted to apply for a job here, is that true?” seonghwa asked.

“yes, I was hoping to find a job to be able to sustain a family income in order to help my mom and college tuition is not getting any cheaper, so I am willing to take any job possible to help out my family” y/n replied while putting her arms around the two kids who have yet to let go of her.

“well I can see the kiddos have already taken a liking to you and yunho really took his time begging me to hire you while bragging about how responsible you are and all that positive stuff to me so you’re hired” seonghwa says chuckling once he sees yunho turn red and whining to him about how he wasn’t supposed to tell y/n that.

after y/n thanked him, seonghwa began explaining the expectations for the babysitting job along with giving y/n her schedule. he mentioned how there were only three kids that y/n would ever have to take care of and entertain.

y/n quickly warms up to wooyoung and yeosang on her first day as they drag her off to play with them immediate but continues to look at the third child and wonders why he never joins them to play games or why he sits on the far end of the table by himself away from the other kids. he only sticks to seonghwa who seems to be the only one who is capable of getting him out of his bubble.

after wooyoung and yeosang is picked up by wooyoung’s brother hongjoong who came after attending his afternoon class, y/n decided it was time to make an attempt to get closer to the unknown baby. as y/n approached the baby, he began to crawl away from her clutching onto his apple tightly as if he has been wanting to eat it but can’t bite through the hard shell.

“hey buddy, did you want me to cut the apple for you?” y/n asked after watching him struggle to break the apple in half for a few minutes.

the little boy nods and hands y/n the apple where she holds the apple in the middle and breaks it in half perfectly. the boy looks at her in awe and for the first time, she saw him smile as she hands him the apple for him to munch on.

“what is your name little boy?” y/n asks after she sees him happily take small bites out of the apple and smiles when he looks up at her with a shocked expression.

“jongho,” the little boy replies giving her a gummy smile after getting the attention he lacks outside of the daycare center, but that story is for another time.

after that encounter, jongho began to open up more to y/n and created a strong relationship with her as he began to babble and speak the few words he knew to communicate with her. she used her time at the center to be able to teach jongho more words, basic knowledge a toddler should know before hitting preschool, and how to find joy in little activities such as drawing, running around the playground, and even breaking apples in half because he seemed super excited every time y/n did it. although y/n still made the efforts to spend time with wooyoung and yeosang, she felt more drawn to jongho as she spent most of her time with him to make sure he never felt neglected or alone in the daycare center.

she began to notice how every time jongho’s brother came to pick him up, jongho’s smile would turn into a frown and his eyebrows become more knitted showing that he was irritated. y/n knew jongho’s brother from school as he was in her economics and english class and he is most well known for being the captain of Utopia High School basketball team. jongho’s brother was none other than the infamous choi san, who always had a cute eye smile around school that showcased his prominent dimples and his determination and serious face when he is on the court.

san never uttered a word to y/n whenever he came to pick up jongho. he would just grab the pen with an irritated look on his face, sign his name in order to check jongho out of the daycare, grab jongho’s stuff, and walk out the daycare center with jongho attempting to keep up with his brother’s much longer legs. however, before leaving the door, jongho never failed to give y/n a hug and dig his face into her shoulder when she lifted him up so she did not have to crouch to his height and strain her back.

everyday became a routine for y/n, she would always walk to school with her best friend mingi, who always made sure she had her breakfast and caught her up on notes that she may have missed due to stressing over her family situation. after school was over, she would walk to the treasure daycare and take care of the three toddlers she has created a soft spot for, especially jongho, and wait until all the kids are picked up by their guardian, and cleans and locks up the place with whoever seems to be working the same shift as her (most of the time it’s seonghwa).

y/n loves her job as she adores the three adorable children she gets to play and nurture as they grow older and socialize with her two fellow coworkers which she later learned are just softies despite their tall statures. y/n learned how seonghwa is currently attending Aurora University along with hongjoong and works in the daycare center in order to earn money to pay off his college debt. she learned how yunho was san’s best friend and would’ve played basketball with him if it did not involve so much aggression and violence and thus, his friendly giant nature was better served in the daycare center where he could earn his community service hours and play with kids who share the same happy-go-lucky personality he has. the babysitting trio begins to get to know each other better and establish strong friendships. little did they know, their trio would soon be gaining another person.

choi san spends all his time practicing basketball in order to improve his skills and due to the fact that he is a candidate for a basketball scholarship as aurora university, he does not want to lose the opportunity of obtaining it. all his time goes to practicing that he neglects his other scholarly requirements to graduate, specifically, community service hours. due to his lack of community service hours, the administration building asserts to san that if he cannot earn at least fifty hours by the time basketball season starts, they will take away his title as captain of the basketball team, which gives him a disadvantage in receiving his scholarship.

thinking quickly, he runs to find his best friend yunho on campus to seek advice on what he should do. he quickly spots the six foot giant about to exit the school gates and sprints to him, who stops abruptly after hearing loud footsteps and causes the basketball captain to run into his back.

“oh hey san, why are you on the floor? is it that comfy?” yunho asks with a goofy smile on his face while his best friend is fuming while rubbing his slightly red nose.

“who just stops in the middle of an entrance yunho?! anyways that’s not the point, the administration office just talked to me about lacking community service hours and told me if I don’t get fifty hours by the time basketball season starts, which is in three months, they’re going to take my captain title away from me. no captain title means bye bye scholarship, WHAT AM I GOING TO DO?!” san begins rambling and pulling at his hair without getting up from the ground.

“okay calm down, look, I think the babysitting center that I volunteer at still has one slot open where you can volunteer, it’s five days a week for like four maybe five hours. before you start worrying about your practice days, seonghwa is pretty lenient on shift hours. even with missing the few days basketball practice is on, it is enough to be able to get you to have an abundant amount of hours to clear fifty by the time the basketball season starts. plus after your shift, you can just pick up jongho afterwards and go straight home” yunho replies in the midst of san’s panic which causes san’s eyes to light up as he jumps up and koala hugs yunho, not caring about the weird stares he was getting from the other students who were leaving school.

“I have never loved your clumsy, giant self more than I do right now. what are we waiting for, let’s go to the daycare center” san says in an excited manner, while clinging onto yunho.

“uhh, can you get off me first?” yunho asks feeling uncomfortable after finally noticing the stares the pair were getting from their student body.

the two begin their walk to the daycare center and when the open the door, they see seonghwa attempting to clean up after wooyoung and yeosang who continue to get paint all over the table. however, san’s eyes immediately goes to the girl holding his little brother in her lap as he holds a blue color pencil in his left hand, drawing quietly.

y/n look up and asks, “are you here to pick up jongho already? you’re a lot earlier than usual.” all while tilting her head in a confused manner and holding the little boy who looks grumpy at the sight of his brother and turns to hold onto y/n’s neck, resting his head on her shoulder in a direction where he cannot see his brother.

“actually no, I was hoping there was another opening for the job here because I need a lot of community service hours for school”, san replies which caught seonghwa’s attention as he tosses the rag to yunho asking him to clean up the paint and pulls san to the back room to talk to him.

in the back room, seonghwa drags san to sit in a chair, his nurturing, child friend persona gone, as his face turns into one of a strict, militant leader. (I don’t know how to put links to gifs on tumblr but just imagine like wonderland seonghwa’s stage presence LOL).

“I understand how much basketball means to you, but i do not want you to neglect your duties at treasure daycare because of it. these kids are too pure for the world and deserves all the love and attention, if you can’t do that, you can find somewhere else to get your hours. these kids mean everything to me and if you as so much make them cry or put aside their feelings, I will not hesitate to fire you and hit you with my broom.” seonghwa says effectively scaring san as he hears him gulp his saliva nervously while nodding in a quick manner, wanting to go back out to main room as soon as possible.

seonghwa moves to walk back to the room where everyone else was and changes his face back to his motherly persona. he walks towards y/n and puts his arms out, signalling y/n to hand jongho over to him. obeying his command, y/n places jongho in his arms and in response, jongho wraps his arms around seonghwa.

“y/n, I need you to train the newbie. I would but there is just too much to clean around here and if it’s not spotless in the next hour I will lose my mind. this mess is not good for my mental state and makes me incapable of dealing with stupid people today so please handle the newbie for me” seonghwa commands while rubbing his temples.

y/n nods and gives jongho a kiss on the forehead before going to the back room to find san. she finds him except he looks like he’s seen a ghost. she then approaches him and taps his should which he in turns screams about how he understands and to not get the broom. y/n confused as ever begins by introducing herself.

“hello san, my name is y/n, you may or may not know me from your economics or english class but seonghwa wants me to train you for your job here”, y/n says while smiling at the boy who is finally regaining his sanity after his little outburst.

san reaches to shake her hand and then introduces himself, still recovering from the verbal beating he had gotten from seonghwa without y/n’s knowledge of what had occurred in the back room as of recently.

for the rest of the day y/n is describing the certain tasks that san will have to take on during his shift from washing the dirty dishes, setting up the cots for nap time, and playing with the three toddlers, much to jongho’s dismay. the more y/n was around san, the more she noticed how uninterested he was in working at the daycare center, as he was mostly staring out the window or the clock wondering when he can finally go home. seonghwa had asked y/n to lock up after she left as he had a night class today and yunho had taken the kids outside to watch the sunset and have a small picnic in the yard. as they were the only two in the room, she thought maybe conversing with him would make him feel more comfortable working at the daycare center.

“so I heard you’re really good at basketball, how’s that going?” y/n asked while smiling at the boy who had snapped out of his daze out the window.

“I could be at the basketball court right now instead of here with a bunch of children and dirty dishes” san mumbled which caused y/n to frown at his attitude.

“but looking past the dirty dishes, this place is amazing. they have the cutest kids who have the warmest hearts and brightest smiles. I am so thankful that seonghwa hired me as I got the opportunity to meet the sweetest kids and the most amazing coworkers”, y/n says optimistically, her resolve beginning to break after dealing with san for the past five hours.

“these kids wouldn’t know what working hard is like, I waste my time here doing everything for them instead of them learning to do it themselves” san mumbles in reply which is becomes y/n’s breaking point.

“that’s it. I am so fed up with your stupid grumpy attitude. I tried so hard to get you to warm up and make you enjoy your job. but you only think about yourself and what your interests are. can’t you be selfless for once in your damn life and think about someone other than yourself. you have no idea what it is like to work for the benefit of helping others as all you think about is your stupid basketball. you try having to work countless job to be able to provide for your family and paying of the debt your father created after he left your mom to deal with. that is the life I am trying to keep these kids from experiencing. if constantly babying them prevents them from going through what I had to as a child, I would sacrifice anything for them to never have to even see what that life is like” y/n says with a ferocity that san has never seen, it was incomparable to the most aggressive basketball players he’s seen. the difference was behind y/n’s eyes there was a hint of pain behind them.

y/n threw down the rag she was holding from cleaning the water around the sink and walked out the back room, as far from san as possible. she walked outside towards yunho and the kids with an irritated look on her face. jongho noticing her distress, waddles his way to her and hugs her legs as a way of comfort. y/n picks him up and hugs him, trying her hardest not to cry at the thought of jongho, wooyoung, and yeosang having to go through the experience she had as a child. yunho notices y/n on the verge of tears and begins worrying for her and asks, “y/n, are you feeling alright?”

y/n uses her arm that was not carrying jongho to wipe the tears borderline from falling from her eyes. “yes, I just got a little frustrated with san, training him made me a little stressed out” y/n replied feeling jongho tighten his grip on her at the mention of his brother’s name.

“san is really hard headed at times and doesn’t think about anything but basketball, but deep down, he’s super nice goofball who’s just buried under a lot of stress” yunho reasoned while cleaning up the paper plates and plastic utensils the kids had used to eat during their picnic.

y/n began patting jongho’s back as he was dosing of on her shoulder, nuzzling himself into the crook of her neck. she noticed someone was staring at her and looked towards the sliding door. she saw san standing by the window looking in her direction, specifically at his little brother asleep on her shoulder with a little drool sticking out of his mouth. he opened the sliding door and walked towards the pair. he noticed how his y/n’s face turned colder the closer he came towards her and his little brother. he sat down next to y/n as she tried to avoid eye contact with him as much as possible, turned her body away from the star basketball player, and clutched onto jongho tighter in order to comfort herself.

“listen y/n I’m sorry, I had no idea what you went through in your childhood years. I was being insensitive to your feelings and generosity while you were training me. I really appreciate you taking time out of playing with the kids to be able to make me a better worker. I also want to apologize for being so selfish and only thinking about my basketball career when I have three other children to care for now. I will try to be a better babysitter and take the workload off your shoulders and hopefully work my way up to being your friend eventually if you allow me to”, san said while pouting and looking down at the grass that suddenly seemed like the most interesting thing in the world.

y/n smiled and scooted closer to san. with her free hand that was not holding onto jongho, she put her hand on his should in order to comfort and coax him out of his guilt. “I understand how much basketball means to you and how passionate you are in pursuing your hobbies, I guess I forgot what it was like to enjoy your favorite activities and took it a little too hard on you. after my dad left, I had to give up drawing and art classes as it became too expensive for my mom to pay for. I guess I had to grow up a lot faster than the kids around me and I was never allowed to develop a passion that I could really enjoy. that’s why when I started working here, I wanted wooyoung, yeosang, and jongho to never have to grow up faster than they need to and find things they can enjoy for themselves, instead of having fate choose their paths for them,” y/n said sadly while looking at san, trying her hardest not to let any tears fall.

san closed the space between him and y/n and pulled her into a side hug as best he could as it was hard to due to the fact that he did not want to wake up his little brother that was in her other arm. when y/n was in san’s arms, she used her one arm to awkwardly pat his shoulder as a sign that she forgave him for his rotten attitude from earlier and acknowledges his attempt in comforting her. she leaned her head onto his shoulder and let her tears fall freely as she began having flashbacks of her father packing his suitcases and leaving her and her mother with a large amount of debt for the two to pay off.

san began noticing his sweater getting wet and hugged onto her tighter, letting her use his sweater as her personal tissue, not minding the amount of tears and snot that was being spilled on it. he began to rub her back and whispered the best comforting words he could as he has never been in a situation where he had to make a girl feel better since he has spent all his time playing basketball. the closest thing he’s had to a girlfriend was his basketball for christ sake. y/n began giggling at his efforts to get her stop crying and lifted her face for san to see her beautiful smile to which he returned with his closed eyed smiles that showed his adorable dimples.

in the distance however, yunho was holding wooyoung and yeosang in both his arms awkwardly, not knowing whether he should interrupt the potential romantic moment to tell them to go inside before they start getting mosquito bites or leave them alone to have their moment and take the other two boys inside before they freeze their little toddler bums off. he looked at wooyoung who was smiling at the scene in front of them and then looked at yeosang who was hiding his face in yunho’s hoodie afraid that he will see the two kiss, causing san catch cooties from y/n.

deciding to go with the poor boy hiding , he moves his face towards the mop of brown hair hiding in his hoodie he loudly whispers in his ear “is telling them to go inside the daycare center the move?” causing the little yeosang to lift his head to look at yunho in question.

wooyoung catching onto what yunho was saying immediately, decides to make an executive decision without consulting his fellow third wheelers by screaming, “SAN, Y/N, YUNHO THINKS THAT YOU SHOULD STOP SHARING COOTIES AND COME INSIDE BEFORE THE LITTLE BUGGIES GIVE YOU OUCHIES!!” leaving yunho to face palm and yeosang to follow yunho’s action only for him to whine when he hit his forehead a little too hard, causing yunho to move his hand to lightly rub the poor boy’s red spot on his forehead.

this made y/n and san turn their head towards the giant babysitter sitting on picnic blanket with the two toddlers on each thigh. wooyoung bouncing with a proud aura around him, thinking he was being a big boy and helping yunho take charge. while yeosang had little tears in his eyes as the impact of hitting his forehead too hard was finally setting in, making a stinging feeling spread through his head.

meanwhile, jongho wakes up from wooyoung’s loud voice and lets out a whine as he rubs the sleep from his eyes with his little chubby baby fists. his eyes land on y/n above him to which he readjusts his grip on her neck reaches up to kiss her cheek. he then turns to look next to y/n where he spots his brother with his arms around y/n. seeing this, jongho springs to action by reaching towards his brother and using his little hand to push his brother’s face away from y/n. due to the force of little jongho’s hands, san ended up falling backwards, his head landing into a puddle of mud. y/n cringed a little at the poor boy’s predicament while the other four boys began laughing pointing at san’s now muddy hair, with yunho laughing the loudest of the bunch.

y/n stood up with jongho in her arm and used her free arm to reach out and help san stand to his feet. as soon as san stood up, he could feel the muddy water slide down his sweater and small amounts of mud makes its way down his face. seeing the mud continue to travel all over san, yunho began laughing even louder and harder, adding in a couple of knee slaps.

“oh seonghwa is not going to be happy if you come into the center like that. he’ll go crazy in the morning when he sees how much mud you’ve brought into the center and dirtying his perfect white carpet,” y/n said, looking at the boy guiltily, while jongho who was facing away from his brother had a mischievous smile on his face as he leaned his cheek onto y/n’s shoulder.

once yunho calmed down from his laughing fit and wiped the tears forming in his eyes, he stood up with the two kids still in his arms and walked towards to daycare center to find some towels to help his best friend dry off and clean up at least a little bit before he went home.

as the three third wheelers made their way into the daycare center, san, y/n, and jongho were left outside. san and y/n continued to stare at each other, while jongho glared at his older brother for taking y/n’s attention away from him.

“I really appreciate you manning up and apologizing to me san, it was a really mature thing of you to do”, y/n says smiling in his direction causing san to smile back in return.

the three outside then hears footsteps approaching the daycare center. they look up and see hongjoong walking towards them, coming to pick up wooyoung and yeosang. as hongjoong got closer, he noticed san, began smiling, and running up to the boy until he notices the boy is covered in mud and cringes.

“hello san, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen you! hope the basketball team is doing well under your leadership.” hongjoong greets the muddy boy while smiling brightly.

hongjoong and san have been friends for years as hongjoong was the previous basketball team captain at Utopia High School before he graduated and passed on his legacy to san. san regularly goes to hongjoong to seek advice on certain problems that are plaguing his mind and take a toll on his mental state.

san smiles replies, “it’s been good, I’ve fallen behind on my community service hours so I am trying to catch up on them by working at the daycare center. if I don’t hit fifty hours in three months, they’re taking away my captain title”.

hongjoong nods in understanding and then waves at y/n and making small conversation with her as he looks in the window to see yunho helping wooyoung and yeosang pack their belongings into their backpack, getting ready to go home. soon, wooyoung and yeosang make their way outside towards hongjoong who gives them each a hug and holds their hand.

“give me second kiddos, I have to sign you both out and then we can head home” hongjoong says to the kids in a gentle manner as he makes his way towards the daycare center and grabs the pen yunho is holding to sign the binder.

hongjoong then gives the pen back to yunho and goes back to grab both wooyoung and yeosang’s hand once again and lead them to his car to drive them home. as yunho, y/n, san, and jongho watches hongjoong drive away from the daycare center, yunho throws a towel at san which he catches with ease, with yunho screaming at him to get as much mud off as possible before seonghwa kills all of them. rolling his eyes, san wipes as much of the mud off as possible until the pristine white towel was completely different shades of brown. y/n then grabs the towel from san and hands him jongho and goes into the daycare center to place the towel into the dirty hamper filled with dish rags and the kiddo’s dirty painting aprons.

san goes towards the door where yunho is waiting with the sign out binder with a pen, trying his best to hold in his laugh as the mud had dried up san’s hair to where it looks like dry ramen. san rolls his eyes and snatches the pen away from yunho and signs the sign out sheet next to jongho’s name. as soon as he is done signing, y/n comes out of the back room with her stuff, cheering about how she is ready to go home after a long day. yunho goes to turn off all the lights and makes sure the place is spotless clean to ensure that seonghwa will not scold them when he comes to open the daycare center the next day. after turning off the lights, the last remaining four humans at the daycare center leave the building and y/n uses the key seonghwa gave her to lock the front door and goes around the back to lock the back door as well.

“well, I’m going to head off first, I haven’t done the economics homework in the past week so I have a lot of catching up to do, see you tomorrow” yunho blurts out in the awkward silence and begins sprinting down the pavement towards the direction of his home causing san, y/n, and jongho to laugh at the boy.

san looks towards y/n with jongho in his arms and speaks up. “thank you for training me today y/n, even though I am probably the most difficult trainee you have ever had to deal with” he says while rubbing the back of his neck with jongho pouting as he wanted to be held by y/n.

“well considering you’re the only trainee I’ve had to train here, I would say you’re the best and worst trainee I’ve ever had to tolerate” y/n replies giggling.

jongho lets out a whine in san’s arms and attempts to reach for y/n to the best of his small body’s abilities. “hey jongho, what’s the matter with you, you’ve cuddled y/n enough for today, we have to go home for dinner before mom yells at us for being home late,” san scolds the boy causing him to whine louder.

y/n reaches for jongho to hold him and explains to san, “jongho has a somewhat ritual that he has to do before leaving the daycare center, where he always wants a hug from me before he leaves, no matter how late you two are running. I really don’t mind anyways since I love hugs and jongho just looks super happy after getting his hug” while rubbing jongho’s back to calm him down as jongho squeezes onto y/n tighter.

after their little hug, y/n hands jongho back to san where the three walks away from the daycare center and part ways to make their journey back to their respective homes.

as san is walking with jongho asleep in his arms towards their home, he begins thinking about how working at the daycare center may not be as bad as he originally thought, especially with his best friend yunho there to entertain him and y/n who could potential be a good friend of his if he plays his cards right. he felt as if y/n and him had some kind of connection on the grass and felt proud that he could comfort a girl that way crying after spending his whole life with a basketball as his soulmate. with all these thoughts running through his head, there was one big question that was plaguing his mind at that very moment:

did yunho really just cockblock me?

#ateez imagines #ateez scenarios #ateez #ateez san #choi san #san #ateez yeosang #ateez yunho #ateez jongho #ateez wooyoung #ateez mingi #ateez seonghwa #ateez hongjoong #atz imagines #atz scenarios

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bluepenguinstories · 4 years ago

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Remoras Full Chapter XXIII: You Are My Sunshine

I loved myself a good rumor, didn’t I?

At least that’s how I saw myself for as long as I could remember. Now, however, I think I was fine if I didn’t hear any other words of intrigue or mystique again. No utterances of possible supernatural activity. If there were to be gossip, I’d listen in, but not involve myself. It was strange to think that things have developed in such a way. How I came to develop in such a way was a mystery to me. One that I wasn’t keen on solving, either, but I just couldn’t pinpoint how or why it happened.

Sunny had gone to the hospital for a short bit. Her injuries weren’t too serious, and she got herself checked out right away. When she returned, she walked with crutches. It would have to be that way for a few days, it seemed. Not much longer than that, at least.

“I think I know what it’s like,” she confided to me upon her return. “When you suffer such a loss that it starts to put things into perspective and you wonder if you can go on with the way you’ve been living.”

When she relayed that to me, I had been at my desk and sipping a cup of Darjeeling tea with a lemon slice. After I gave a short nod and set my teacup down, I responded:

“Are you saying it’s like me with my hand?”

“Well, it could be similar.”

“Hm. I wonder.” My eyes seemed to look past her. Into nothing at all. “I’m not sure whether it was the injury or the recovery that did it for me. Then again, I may have already been this way before it all happened. There’s no telling, really.”

Then, as a form of reassurance, I smiled.

“But look at you: you’re tough. You’ll heal. Your injuries weren’t as bad as they could have been, and I’m sure if you still have the desire to, you can go right back to adventuring.”

“What about you?” She asked, concerned. As if there were any reason to be.

“Me? Adventuring was never my thing. What I like is spending time with you, but I don’t have to do that all the time, either. I’ve always preferred to watch, and if need be, talk things out with others. Work out a deal. What I want to do now is pretty clear to me: run the diner and have a steady base of customers. Listen to people’s problems. Be a humble bartender. Stuff like that.”

‘Stuff like that.’ Easier said than done.

“Still, I wonder who that person was,” she pondered, index finger and thumb on her chin, as if she were playing the part of a detective.

Yes. That was a mystery, wasn’t it? Another person, similar to Remora. So much so that said person would be mistaken for…

“Hm. Yes. I suppose we’ll have to ask Remora about that when she gets back.” After Sunny returned from her trip, Demetria left to investigate. ‘Why the sudden interest?’ I might have asked her, but then, the name Rhea had been mentioned enough times by now that she was like an elephant in the room, lingering (though I suppose a more apt description would be a ghost, whose name haunts each of us within the diner). If anyone bothered to explain to her just who she was, perhaps the curiosity wouldn’t have existed.

Soon after Demetria left, so too did Remora. Perhaps guilt over the fact that not one, but two people may be put in danger because of someone she knew, but never thought to tell us. If I were to try to see from her perspective, it would make sense not to, as she never had any reason to believe anyone else like her would pose a threat, let alone be in the same universe as her. Of course, she could have said something before Demetria left, to clear up any misconceptions, but she didn’t, and thus, it weighed on her.

...Of course, that was all speculation on my part. There was no way to tell what she was thinking unless I could see into her head. Even if she were to tell me her reasoning, there would be a context missing that made up a key element.

Before I could ponder any longer, I heard a loud slam coming from the front of the diner as the howl of the wind’s chill hummed through the air.

“Now I wonder who that could be,” I was resigned to ponder instead.

“I’ll go see! You can stay right there!” Sunny gave me a thumbs up.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea given your current condition?” I asked as my eyes darted between the two crutches she held onto.

In response, she lifted one arm and tapped me over the head with the crutch.

“This? It’s nothing. I’m still badass,” she declared, and with it, any sense of melancholy she held just a moment ago dissipated into the air.

As she got up, I heard a thunderous voice carry all the way to the back, which was quite a feat given how insulated the whole place was. Privacy was one of the few things I valued.

“WE’VE COME FOR FOOD!” Boomed an authoritative voice, both serious in the owner’s intent, and a sense of joviality thrown in. In short, it wasn’t anyone I recognized.

“Oh my...I know who this is…” Sunny murmured as she picked herself up and headed toward the door.

That piqued my interest. Someone boisterous like Sunny seemed like right up her alley. But that ‘oh my’ brought with it some doubt. If not for that, I would have thought, any friend of Sunny is a friend of mine.

An anxious breath, then I pushed myself away from my desk and shifted out of my seat. Along the way, I heard chatter from the front and much commotion. This time, however, none of it registered in my head. Then, upon opening the door to the front of the diner, I saw what the commotion was: seated in one of the booths was a red headed woman with long, messy hair, and her legs propped up on the table, crossed together. I noticed a smug smile situated on her face. Next to her were a couple of men and another red headed woman, but they stood off to the side and didn’t look like they wanted to bring much attention to themselves.

“Jeez, what happened to you, Sunny?” The smug one in the booth asked. “What happened to that tough gal who gave me a good beating?”

“Heh. I’m still badass,” Sunny reassured, just as she had to me, and then she lifted one crutch up and pretended to shoot it like it was a gun. “Bam! Bam!”

Sunny motioned over to the booth and I stepped forward once more.

“Get your feet off the table. This is a respectable establishment,” I commanded, my voice much more gruff than I would have expected from myself. In response, the smug looking woman turned to me and gave an annoyed grimace, but did as I said.

“Jeez, man. Don’t be such a buzzkill,” she retorted. Those words had no effect on me and I continued to stare down at her. Those people she surrounded herself with, her mannerisms, they all brought me to the realization that I had a pretty good idea who she was.

“You’re Aurora B, aren’t you?” I asked, plain. Almost rhetorical in nature.

“What’s it to you, old man?” She shot back. “Sheesh, what’s a woman gotta do to get some good food around here?”

“Place your order with me and I’ll have my head chef cook it for you. Is it fair to assume that you intend to pay?”

“Yeah, yeah,” she waved off, then turned her attention back to Sunny. “Seriously though, how’d you get in such a state?”

“Similar to what happened to you when you first came here: I fought someone I didn’t know and bit off more than I can chew. Honestly, I’m starting to wonder if I’ve still got it.”

“P’fft!” She spat. “C’mon. Arm wrestle me.”

I cleared my throat.

“Ahem. Are you going to order?” I interrupted.

“Oh. Yeah. I’ll have a stack of chocolate chip crepes with scrambled eggs on the side. What d’ya what, Russell? Stewie? Allison?”

The three leapt, as if they had zoned out until their names were spoken.

“Clam chowder and whiskey for me,” one of the men, a rather rugged looking one with hair seeming to cover every speck of his face.

“Uh, poutine? I think we’re in Canada?” The scrawnier man with stringy brown hair in a green shirt drawled.

Not exactly, but I can make it, I thought. However, I didn’t bother speaking such a detail. It seemed unnecessary to me.

“How about salamat, since I’m pretty sure we’re close to Siberia?” Raised the hand of the spunky woman with red, shoulder length hair, all curled inward.

Not a dish I’ve been asked to make, but I can make it. Just a porridge dish with horse fat, sweet cream, and fish. Shouldn’t be too hard.

“Very well. Seat yourselves. I’ll get your meals started.”

All that time and I forgot to actually hand menus out to them.

I’ll have to help out Tigershark with some of these dishes.

Before I departed, I watched as Aurora and Sunny arm wrestled, a one-sided struggle as Aurora clung with desperation as she tried to last for more than a few seconds. At last, she was bested.

“Aw, damn. I wanted her to win, but I didn’t wanna lose! Hey Russ, you arm wrestle her!”

The forlorn man with endless facial hair shrugged and took a seat next to Aurora. As far as I was concerned, it was a foregone conclusion that Sunny would win.

Once in the kitchen, I found Tigershark in her usual position: on top of a step stool stirring a large bowl. I glanced past her and noticed that the sink was clean and empty. Good.

“What’cha got?” I asked. She looked over and beamed at me, a grin from ear to ear.

“I’m making brownies!” She declared.

“Great. Do you think you can put that on hold for now so we can whip up a few meals for our guests?”

That excited her more. Just as it should have excited me to know that there were people to serve.

“Guests? Who?” She jumped up on her stool.

“Oh, just Aurora and a few members of her crew,” I shrugged, the information not of much interest to me, though I figured she must have encountered Aurora while I was in the hospital, just as Sunny and Demetria have.

“Ooh! Is Astraea there, too?” She pumped her fists and looked eager for me to say yes. Instead, I shook my head.

“I’m sorry, I don’t believe so,” I broke the news, which I was sure must have been disheartening. I even heard an “aww” once I gave her my answer, but it soon shifted to other excitement.

“I bet you’d love to meet her! She’s great!” Tigershark spoke with such a confidence that I had to believe her.

Would I? In a general sense, I suppose there are plenty of people I would love to meet, so long as they have something interesting to offer.

“Well,” I smiled. “I’m glad you think so.”

Together, we got to work as I walked her through the meals, the crepes and clam chowder being the easiest, as she had made them before. For the other two, though, it was much more of an involved collaboration, with us splitting the work.

Once it had all finished, I brought it out. Aurora was on the floor with her knees up, while her crew was seated at the booth behind Sunny.

“All right, you’ve beaten everyone here at arm wrestling, but we have yet to try leg wrestling! What do you say?” Aurora, seeming ever competitive, egged on.

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea, given the whole reason I’m on crutches is ‘cause I got stabbed in the knee,” Sunny replied while stifling back laughter.

I closed my eyes and shook my head, then turned to deliver the food first to her crew mates.

“Here you go. Hope you enjoy,” I spoke as I slid them their food, then added, “and make sure you pay for your meals.”

“Aurora’s footing the bill,” Russell, the rugged and grisly man grunted.

“Fine by me. So long as someone does,” I replied.

“For the record, I don’t have a lot of arm strength to begin with,” the freckled redhead informed me, then waved finger guns at me. Allison must’ve been her name. “Thanks for the meal, by the way!”

I had to hand it to her, out of all the foods that I could have been asked to make, I wasn’t expecting a dish typically served in Siberia.

Stewie sat slumped over, head hung at the end of the booth and with red eyes, he looked half asleep. When I slid his plate of poutine over, he gasped.

“It’s like...magic. Things happen, then I make an action,” his words were a yawned drawl.

“Don’t worry about him,” Allison assured me. “He’s just a little faded. He’ll eat up the whole plate in no time.”

Believe me, I wasn’t worried about that, I thought to reply, but didn’t.

“Thank you for letting me know,” I instead told her.

“No prob, chief!”

There was one more person to serve. I stopped and looked down at the ridiculous, but supposedly fearsome bandit.

“Get up off the floor. I’ve got your food,” I told her.

She scrambled up, a rather undignified stumble back into her seat, right across from Sunny.

“What’s up this guy’s butt?” Aurora complained to Sunny as she pointed her thumb at me.

“Nothing! And ‘this guy’ is my husband,” Sunny corrected.

“Not only that,” I added. “But I’m also the owner of this diner.”

“Real shit?” She looked at me, then back at Sunny. “What happened to the kid?”

“She’s been made the head chef,” I explained in Sunny’s stead.

“Bah. What a downgrade.”

“Considering who you are, I could force you to leave,” I reminded her.

“Chill, dude,” fear and concern in her voice as she tried to keep her composure. “I said I’d pay for the meals. You really need to lighten up.”

Escaped from me was a heavy sigh. If only you knew the irony of such a statement, was my initial thought before my thoughts then relented.

She’s right, though. I used to be much more relaxed and jovial than I am now. People like her I would have found amusing, not a nuisance. Why I’m not that way now, I don’t know.

Although it felt forced, I smiled.

“How about you and I cut a deal? I will allow you to come and go as you please with free meals for you and your crew. I will also look past any of the robberies you do. In turn, I want you to promote my restaurant wherever you go. Sound good?” Maybe it was that I too was rusty and far past my old ways, but I could still try and amuse myself.

“Or…” She rolled her eyes and looked away. “I could just shoot you and get my free meals that way.”

My smile grew. Oh, that confidence on her was admirable, if nothing else. I held up my prosthetic arm and began a boast of my own.

“Try it and my arm will deflect any shot you fire. It’s made of an impenetrable steel, impervious to bullets and explosives alike.”

She didn’t look convinced, so I pulled out a kitchen knife from my pocket and held it up to the index finger of my prosthetic arm. As I stared at her, a devilish look on my face, I made a slicing motion against the finger.

“See? Nothing. It’s that powerful.”

Dr. Cole-Slaw would kill me if she saw the trick I was pulling. I’m pretty sure this arm isn’t just some cheap plastic.

“All right, all right!” Genuine fear and concern showed on her face as her voice trembled. “It’s a deal! What gives, anyway, man?!”

“Loathe as I am to admit, but I appreciate hearing about the customer you brought in after you robbed the store he worked at. I want you to keep at it. Direct more customers my way.”

“OK...but wouldn’t the authorities kick down the door and be like ‘why was this robber telling people to go eat at your restaurant’?” She rebutted.

“If that happens, all I would have to do is tell them, ‘if a gang told people to go eat at McDonalds, do you really think McDonalds would be culpable just because that’s where that gang likes to eat? Or am I being targeted because I’m an independent business?’ But, I’m not worried about that. This is the middle of nowhere: there are no such authorities here.”

This time, a smug grin had torn its way across her face as well.

“Hell yeah. I like the way you think. All right, you got yourself a deal.”

I dug my hands into my pocket and hummed.

“Now, then. Enjoy your meal,” I concluded as I bade her and the members of her crew goodbye. As much as it still seemed to come natural to me, it felt quite the opposite. I needed to unwind. Such a simple deal and it just felt stale.

Once I made it back to the desk, I sunk my head down low.

I’m trying to build something. I just don’t know what.

It’s been that way for years. As far back as over a decade ago. Even when I had a thriving business, I continued to make deals left and right, and always made it seem like I was advancing toward something. Some may have suggested that I was building up an empire, but I never had any interest in such a thing. It was just as Remora had said; I did things just to do them. Just to amuse myself.

My mind drifted to about fifteen years ago, when Sunny still went on her adventures and I sought to broker a deal with a time-traveling mafia boss named Tony (or Antonio, as he prefers) Falsetto. He and his gang had some valuable services that I could utilize, so he often gave me jobs. However, during our first meeting, our relationship proved more contentious.

“What can you offer me?” He asked when I approached him.

“Whatever you need done,” I replied. As far as things went, I was about an all around jack-of-all-trades.

He was seated in a bean bag chair in the basement of his house (his base of operations), smoking a hash pipe as he stroked a pet iguana situated on his lap.

“I don’t need no handyman. I need someone who I can count on to fix my house,” he spoke in a grisly deadpan tone as he stamped out the ashes of his hash pipe.

I was about ready to open my mouth, explain to him the absurdity of his statement, when he looked up from his bean bag, his pudgy face turned to a nasty frown.

“There was a guy who I lent my services to – all was smooth in the beginning, but then he started missing his payments. Next thing I hear, he’s working for a business rival of mine who told him that his debts are forgiven. As if they get to make that call.”

I could already tell where he was going with all that. What would have been nice was if I managed to weave together some words.

“So you would like someone to convince him to pay off what he owes you, I take it?” I suggested. Not that I was some kinda fool, but I had to try my luck. That luck proved fruitless, as my suggestion was met by a fit of laughter from his associates in the room.

“You hear that, boys? This Patsy thinks I just wanna have a nice little chit-chat.”

He looked over at his audience while I just stood there, waiting to be addressed again.

“Listen, Ray. You seem like a nice guy. But this is business, and business is cutthroat. You gotta get your hands dirty sometimes. We’ve given him chances. Now that it’s come to this, the time for negotiations are over. Catch my drift?”

I pushed up my glasses but didn’t avert my gaze for even a second.

“I reckon I do,” I replied, flat in my delivery.

“If you ain’t up for the job, then I’ve got no use for you.”

Such an unsavory prospect, but when I wanted to secure a deal, I put my grievances aside.

“Oh, I’m up for it,” I smiled, my voice calm and breathy. “I know my way around a gun.”

Nerves in my hands flared, an odd detail for my memory to focus on, but one that I recall. Something I would have rather not done, but would accept, regardless. Such a burning sensation through me, yet I maintained my composure.

“Really now? ‘Cause you don’t strike me as a tough guy,” a smile peeked its way through his cracked lips.

Hands in my pockets, I shrugged.

“Don’t believe me? How about you accompany me to your target’s execution and see for yourself?” Once again, a suggestion which I was sure he was all but thrilled about.

He put his hands out in front of him and gave a sour expression as he shook his head, the cheeks on his face flapped about in a manner similar to raw chicken breasts.

“Forgive me for having trust issues, but how do I know you wouldn’t just take that opportunity to turn your gun against me?”

“Simple,” once again, a shrug. Nonchalant, almost absent-minded in my reply. “You’re more use to me alive than dead.”

Around the room came a hushed silence as all eyes turned to me. My heart rate remained normal, yet everyone else seemed to take upmost offense to my statement.

“You seem to be forgetting who holds the cards here,” Tony served to remind me, then tapped his hash pipe again against an ashtray. “Not to mention, if you’re good enough for the job, you wouldn’t need anyone to chaperon you.”

His dead stare pierced through my disinterested one. For far longer than necessary, a silence filled the room, then, without invitation, I broke the silence.

“That is true. I just figured I would offer some assurance, but either way, it’s no problem to me. Your call, Tony.”

“Very well. I’ll watch you. But I’ll bring a couple of my men as well, so try any funny business and there’ll be so many holes in your suede suit that no tailor can fix it.”

In his drawer, he reached for something. My first thought, I admit, was a pistol. Like he was ready to shoot me dead for my attitude. However, what he pulled out instead was a small box. He opened the box, which contained a plastic ring inside. Cherry flavored hard candy in the shape of a gemstone. I believe those things were called “Ring Pops.”

“As you know, loyalty is very important to me,” he explained as he fastened it upon his middle finger, then looked back up at me. “Now, kiss the ring.”

So the job went underway: I was crouched down on a rooftop, having taken cover behind a crate where I propped up a scoped rifle. Behind me stood Tony and his men. No pressure.

I focused on the scope and positioned the rifle downward where a bald man stood in front of a back alley doorway. From what I understood, the “rival business” had hired him as their personal bouncer. It pained me to think that soon the clean, beige metal doorway would soon have a streak of red spray paint. It pained me even more to think that I didn’t get a chance to work something out with the man I was about to execute. I could have met with him in private and said, “there’s a powerful gang that wants you dead, but if you pay me, I’ll escort you away from here where they can’t find you.” If I had done that, maybe Tony would have assumed that man was dead without me having to kill him.

Oh well. Live and learn. It wasn’t about a lack of experience, but just a lack of options; I had cornered myself in order to earn Tony’s trust, and there was no worming out of it.

So yes: I pulled the trigger. First came his body, knocked back like a ragdoll against the door as the shot rang. Then, he fell, and a streak of blood was left behind.

I huffed. Less of a sigh, it was either my first time or close to my first time having taken a life. My eyes stung to the point that it felt like someone had run a shard of glass against my eyelids. Nevertheless, I stood up and handed the gun back to Tony.

“I’m impressed. How’d you learn to shoot like that? Got military experience or something?” He asked, just as stunned as I felt, but for different reasons.

“I looked up tutorials online,” I replied. As far as I was concerned, he needed no explanation.

“Bullshit. How’d you get such a perfect shot, anyway, if you’re wearin’ glasses?”

“That’s what the glasses are there for,” as if it weren’t obvious.

Now imagine that, but played on repeat. Spread out over the course of a couple years. One more headshot in much the same manner. I packed the gun up. By that point, it no longer belonged to Tony, but me, but whenever possible, I tried to find reasons not to use it. As I looked below, the lifeless body sat and the image of them being knocked down was still burned in my mind.

I shook my head.

“I never get used to it,” I lamented.

“It’s not about getting used to it, it’s about doing what’s necessary,” Tony corrected.

“Is it necessary? To me it’s just a waste. People are far more useful alive than dead. There’s so much more worth in a human’s life, so much potential, all gone in an instant. You tell me that with your job, it’s not personal and it’s just business, but tell me: how much effort do you put in to work things out? Or do you just decide you don’t have the patience, or that they’ve betrayed your trust enough times that they have to go?”

He turned his head away and spat out some chewing tobacco. There was a small, pink glob which brought me to believe that he had also been chewing gum.

“If you want to do things your way, you shouldn’t be working with me,” he rasped.

We descended from the roof and headed back to his base of operations, a few of his guys behind me.

“Sorry, Tony. I just prefer to get things done with my words,” my reply was overdue, now it was more of a matter of fact statement. “I’m just more of a wise guy than a tough guy.”

He looked up at me, squinted, and growled.

“You’re a wise guy, eh? Well, I don’t need a wise guy, I need a tough guy.”

As large and heavy as his frame was, he was at least a head shorter than I. So Tony wanted a tough guy? Then I supposed I would put on a show. I grabbed him by the collar with a tight grip. He flailed about, but I lifted him high enough so that we met eye to eye. My eyes a fierce gaze. His, a fury, but a sliver of fear shone through as well. His men looked about ready to act.

“What’s the big idea?” He squeaked out his words as he squirmed. At last, after a few seconds, I smiled.

“Lighten up, will ya?” I spoke at last with a chuckle, then set him down and began to walk off. From my peripheral, I could tell how just how pissed he was as he stomped on the ground and made little squealing sounds.

“You know, one of these days, you might turn your back on someone, and they’ll shoot you right in the back!” He yelled. “What then?”

I turned my head, still smiling.

“Then I’ll lean over, pick it up, and say ‘hey, you dropped something’.”

In reality, if Remora had shot me in the back instead of the hand, I wouldn’t have gone through so much with her. My life would have been put to an end as well. Really, it was much better to be alive than dead, even with all the weight and pain that being alive can bring with it. But at the time, all those years ago, I must have felt I was invincible.

As it had been a couple of years after my first meeting with Tony, he and I were a little chummier, despite the tension which still arose. We both saw each other as reliable assets. By that point, I considered myself with the better end of the stick, as I had made deals all over, not just with Tony, and always managed to stay on top of any potential debts. Behind me was a tangled web made of steel twine where there was a myriad of figures who owed me favors. I never set a due date, never threatened, and in many cases, the things I offered others often seemed like they were getting the better deal.

Other changes had occurred as well: Sunny took a break from her usual adventuring and I wanted to make sure I had everything I needed to prepare for the upcoming development in my life. However, that particular night when I had just questioned Tony’s methods, I sat on a shelf with a wine bottle in my hand. Soon, that sit turned to a lay, as my legs slid down, with one leg hanging off from the shelf and dangled onto the floor.

“A whole bottle of wine? Really?” One of Tony’s men thought I was ridiculous, as the others cheered over beef stew and pancakes, served with glasses of champagne.

I took a large gulp, then a chug from the wine bottle, then waved it around, already in a sort of buzzed trance.

“It’s what the man wants,” Tony told his associates.

“But boss, you’re really gonna give him that whole thing after he just told you off?”

“That man has done more for me these past couple years than some of you chumps!” He pointed.

That hardly seems fair, I thought. I’m sure they all pulled their weight as well.

“Despite not being one of us, he’s family. I love him like a brother,” Tony went on. “Brothers, we fight sometimes, we have disagreements. But then we hug, we kiss, we sing the blues. Capisce?

I cackled an unbecoming laugh.

“You know what they say about wine, right?” I looked around the room. As I recall, everyone was somewhat of a blur.

“What?” One asked.

“It’s all just sour grapes anyway!” I howled with laughter, then covered my face as it soon turned to heavy breaths.

“You know…” I heaved out the words as if they were my last gasping breath. “My wife, Sunny, she’s six months pregnant. We got a kid on the way and everything. It’s exciting…”

I began to look inward, away from the rest of them, my arm still over my face and my face toward the wall.

“Damn it, Ray! What are you doing still helpin’ me out when you’re gonna have a kid to take care of? Let me tell you from experience: family’s the most important thing.”

“I had to ensure that I had all the resources I needed,” I explained, still just a little vague.

“Anything you needed, Ray, I would’ve given it to you. No questions asked. I thought we were close enough for you to know that.”

“Thank you, Tony. I think I’ll put all these deal makings behind me and settle down,” I should’ve told him. My reply instead was:

“Do you know how Sunny and I first met?” I asked, to no one at all and in response, no one answered. I started to sob, a total salt fountain which ran down my face. The sound I then made was between a laugh and a sob.

“...That’s the thing: I can’t remember,” I finished the punchline.

For the record, after I sobered up some, I had no problem recollecting how Sunny and I met, but the truth was, no one needed some elaborate story. It wasn’t some magical or even ridiculous thing. It was just mundane. Nothing worth mentioning.

Just a couple nights later, I was situated on the floor of the diner along with Sunny seated behind me. Back then, it was less common for the diner to lack customers, but I recall that particular night being relieved for it.

“You know, I think once Elodie is born, I’ll call it quits with making all these deals and settle down,” I told her as I took a puff from my joint.

“If that’s what you wanna do,” she replied.

“What about you? It’s not like you can go right back to adventuring as soon as she’s born,” I pointed out.

“Who says? I’ve always hated the notion that couples have to stop having fun once they have a kid,” she countered.

“Gonna carry her on your back while you go mountain climbing?” I posed the idea.

“Sure, why not?” Without hesitation came her reply, sounding enthusiastic at the very notion.

I took another puff.

“Neither of us are fit to be parents. What are we doing? Why did we agree this was a good idea?”

“Because it sounds like fun!” She answered with glee.

“I guess you’d be the judge, seeing as you’re the one that’s pregnant.”

I tried to imagine all the kicks and morning sickness and strange cravings. No idea how she came to find any of that fun, but to her it must have seemed like just another adventure.

“I’m fine if you want to go off and do your own thing,” I assured her. “I could stay and watch her. I think at least for the first year, it would be good for you to be there as well, but I trust your judgment.”

“You know, I know I shouldn’t, but I do. I worry about our future,” Sunny confided. “What with you saying you’re going to stay home all the time, I’m worried we’re going to live like our only function will be to take care of someone else, and I don’t know, that makes me feel like we’re getting old. I don’t just wanna resign myself to that.”

“Everyone ages,” I reminded her. “Even journeys have to come to an end. There’s a beauty to that, too, y’know?”

“What about us? Are we going to get old?”

I didn’t know why she was turning to me for wisdom, and I for one had none to offer. All I had were little quips.

“We’ll age like fine wine,” I told her.

It was hard to believe that so much time had passed. I leaned up from my desk and pulled out the photo gallery on my phone. While I scrolled through the sea of photos, I cycled through ones of Elodie. Both the ones from the six years that I had known her and a few from her year hears after that Violette had sent me. How I wish I had been there for all of those years. Although now I feel it was the right call, back during those first six years, it really seemed like I could commit to such a life.

Sure, there were all the challenges that came with parenting, and that went without saying. But I was patient. I had little trouble keeping my cool. Her cries and her anger could be louder than the howls of winter, but then her smiles and laughter made it all worth it. I’d draw and color with her, read her stories, show her how to cook. It felt great to be able to teach someone else things like that. Things other than schemes and dirty business. Sometimes I worry that I’ve been using Tigershark as a substitute to replace Elodie, which was just the thing I wanted to avoid, but at the same time, it was impossible to avoid the desire to keep a child safe and ensure their well being.

Maybe I missed my chance to reconnect with my daughter. Yes, there was the call at the hospital, but all signs pointed to that being way too little and way too late. Since then, nothing new. I’ve considered mailing her a gift or a card for her birthday, but nothing was planned.

In my mind was a “what if” where Elodie had continued to live with Sunny and I. What kind of bright person would she turn out to be? For that matter, I envisioned a thriving customer base where the diner was always busy. Food always coming and going. Maybe there wouldn’t have been a Tigershark, but she could have visited the diner from time to time with her parents, who were still alive and well. I would have gotten to meet her by another name and the three would be happy with each other. Or angry. But together, and that was the important thing.

...But all that was wishful thinking. I had to remind myself that.

After the decision to have Elodie live with Sunny’s sister, the diner grew quieter.

There were still customers, still the usual chatter, but it all sounded like the hums of elevator music. I had built six years of my life around trying to be a certain type of person, and now I couldn’t be that person anymore. What kind of person could I be, then? What was I to do? That answer didn’t quite come, though I tried to go on as owner of my diner, serving customers and being a friendly face. Sunny went back to going on her little adventures, searching for treasures and being away for months on end. It didn’t take her long after Elodie was gone. To her, she couldn’t just sit in regret, as she felt that wasn’t very productive. At least if negative feelings started to manifest, she could distract herself from them with travel. If that worked for her, great. As for me, I tried to return to my old life as well. It was all I could think to do.

I’d devise great plans, like the ales in the basement underneath the diner. Also underneath the diner, past the barrels of various liquors was a passageway which led to the airport. None of that existed until after Elodie’s departure. All of that either came from the money I had accrued from the deals I made, or a direct result of one. Not to mention the scam I pulled on that billionaire who gave away his private airline to me as well.

Much of it came to serve the purpose of the eventual request system which would come about. Inspired because of the various gossip I would catch while serving the patrons their meals. Sometimes it would just be rubbish about friends and lovers, but other times, there would be talks of unexplained and supernatural phenomenon. Soon a system came into place where I would offer to investigate such rumors and find explanations or solutions in exchange for large sums of money or other rewards.

Disregarding the logistics of how such a system functioned, if its purpose was for me to stave off boredom as well as gain resources, then it served its purposes. But despite all of that, things were different now and I didn’t know what made them different other than the fact that they were.

I got up out of my desk. All that dwelling sure did take a toll. No wonder Sunny preferred not to dwell on things. Sunny and exhaustion went together about as well as a penguin in an Egyptian pyramid.

Back at the front of the diner, the good ol’ Sunflower herself sat at the same booth I left her in. She looked out the window at the white, blanketed landscape with a smile on her face. As I approached the table to greet her, I noticed a note in crude handwriting written on a napkin as well as a stack of cash. I picked up the note and thought to myself, it makes sense that Aurora’s handwriting wouldn’t be very good, but I still appreciate the sentiment. On the note, it read:

“Chin up, Buttercup!

- Aurora B.”

“Was this addressed to you or I?” I asked Sunny, pointing at the note.

“You,” her voice soft and wispy. “I told her how you’ve been having a rough time since leaving the hospital and that you’re usually more relaxed.”

“Heh,” I smiled while pocketing the note and cash. “Maybe I misjudged her.”

“Nah,” she chuckled. “You judged her about right. She can be fun to be around, but also crude and boorish.”

That caused me to let out a little chuckle as well.

“You’re right: those kind of people can be fun. I have a feeling I’ll run into her again.”

Of course, it wouldn’t be right away. However, the door did open up as someone rushed in.

“Brr...so cold!” Demetria shifted into the diner, arms folded and giving off the appearance of a green popsicle.

“You’ve been here a while,” I pointed out to her.

“Doesn’t mean I’m used to it,” she complained.

Now that just leaves the other one. However, that may be a while later, as she took a plane after Demetria had already left.

Demetria took her seat at the booth with Sunny on the opposite end of the table.

“So, how’d it go?” Sunny asked.

“Not Rhea. Someone with purple hair,” Demetria answered.

I see. Well, I suppose purple is easy to mistake for blue in the moonlight. As for me, I’m done with looking for signs of life in the dead.

“I’m exhausted, mind if I lay my head here and rest?” She looked my way and asked me.

“There’s no customers around, feel free,” I gave her the approval, and that was all she needed to lower her head into her arms.

It wasn’t long after that Remora arrived. About an hour or so later, much sooner than expected. I spent my time cleaning around the dining area as a means to keep myself occupied, so I managed to look up and catch her as she walked in. She also shivered her way in and complained of the cold, but I knew that couldn’t be helped no matter the climate.

One thing which surprised me, though, was when she looked over and saw Demetria asleep at the booth.

“Aww,” she commented. “You know, I never noticed how cute she can be until recently.”

“Excuse me?” I blinked, surprised to hear such a thing from her.

“You know, like, objectively speaking,” she clarified, though to me, it didn’t clarify a thing.

“Objectively would mean that you find her as cute as some find babies cute, or puppies, or a cartoon character. Which, not everyone finds babies, puppies, or cartoons cute, so even then, it’s not objective.”

“I think puppies are objectively cute,” she countered. “But also she is objectively cute, to me.”

“Then that would be subjective,” I corrected. “Is there something going on?”

“It’s nothing,” she deflected.

“Are you sure?”

“It can’t be anything, so it’s nothing.”

“I see.” It sure didn’t seem like any sudden developments happened, but then again, I wasn’t around her all of the time to observe. Especially as of late, I haven’t been paying such close attention.

“Even if it is opinion and not fact, it is an honest opinion which I feel no harm in acknowledging,” she elaborated. Again, I wasn’t sure if it helped me understand.

“Would you like me to make you anything to eat?” I offered.

“Elk steak? I am a little hungry and I never realized how much things cost money when you don’t have money.”

“Sure thing.”

I got to work in the kitchen. Tigershark must have been in her room at that point. Doing what, I wasn’t sure. As I prepared the steak, I thought of the events which brought me to meeting Remora. How things have culminated all this time.

It was at the diner, just a couple years back, when I heard the name Rhea Flection. Tony was seated with his husband Al (short for Alphonse). In Tony’s hands was his favorite: Sloppy Joe pancakes. All that beefy mess and fluffy pancake on his face. It came as an insult to my cooking abilities, but I did like to put a smile on the face of an old friend. Al looked disgusted the whole time, but still listened with intent to what Tony had to say:

“You hear? People been sayin’ that Rhea might be alive after all. She probably is, too. Faked her death, I reckon. Thought she could evade judgment, but I haven’t forgotten the massacre she brought on my family. Reduced such a great empire to just a few people in the blink of an eye. That I cannot forgive. If I can kill her myself, get my revenge, restore honor to our family, I don’t know what I’d do. Throw a pizza party, maybe?”

I interrupted before Al could get a word in.

“What’s all this about, Tony?” I asked as I served him more water.

“You wouldn’t understand, Ray. It’s time travel stuff.”

“Try me. I’m down for some intrigue, all the same.”

“All right, here goes: so as you know, the Falsetto family used to be massive, until one day it wasn’t. This inter-dimensional contract killer was assigned to wipe out the entire family. Now, I get it, a job’s a job, but the massacre, my brothers, sisters, godfathers, all gone in a blink of an eye. Not too long ago, word got out that she died while assigned to take out a target placed by an inter-dimensional company called The Flashbulb. Don’t bother looking them up, they’re gone now. Weren’t all that noteworthy in the grand scheme of things, anyway. But now I’m told she’s alive, and up here, no less.”

“Would you like me to find out if the rumors are true?” I offered.

His eyes lit up.

“You would do that? For me? Of course you would, who am I kidding? Just don’t get any ideas and kill her yourself. Most of the times I’ve had you take out people, it was strictly business, but this is something I have to do myself. It’s personal. Understand? If you see her, let me know.”

I nodded. So far, I didn’t have very high expectations, but that would soon change.

“Do you have any information about her so I know what to look for?” I had to dig for a nugget of something, some kind of clue.

From out of his tuxedo, he pulled out an envelope with sheets of paper detailing her background and personality, along with pictures for reference.

“There’s also a file on her that The Flashbulb made, but it’s mostly rubbish. Reads more like a conversation two brothers have over coffee, dig?”

“Got it,” I replied.

Later that night, I looked through those papers and all of the things I read just intrigued me more. Down to her blunt nature, tendency to take things literally, and always feel cold no matter what, I couldn’t help but form an image of a complex, but overall marvelous person.

Sunny was around as well, so I showed the papers off to her as well.

“Look at this, Sunny: this is a rumor among rumors. She’s supposed to be dead in some city, but apparently she’s alive, and here, no less.”

Sunny, too, was excited.

“Hey, she sounds awesome! Just my type of gal! Maybe if you meet her, you can get her to help us with these requests. I’m sure she’d make quick work of them.”

Yes, that was a thought. Just the idea I had as well.

My obsession grew from there as I thought that meeting such a person was just the thing I needed to pull me out of my slump the past few years. I recall showing off such information to Cybele, which she zoned out from the entire time. Couldn’t say I blamed her. Then, there was my good friend, Dr. Shirley Cole.

“Look!” I pointed to the papers as I rushed into her office, the hospital at the time being a little more lively. Well, as lively as a place full of sick and injured people could get. “This is just the thing I need!”

I proceeded to explain what Tony had told me along with the contents of the papers and the intention to recruit her, if she existed. After I was done, Shirley gave her reply.

“So you’re obsessed with some woman? Aren’t you already married?” She questioned.

“That’s not it!” I exclaimed. “This is about a famed assassin! Well, obscure to most people, but famous in her own right!”

She shook her head.

“This obsession can’t be good for you. Take it from me, I used to have a celebrity crush on Danny DeVito when I was younger, but then after sending him thousands of fan letters he sent one back simply with the word ‘stop’. That’s when I knew I had taken it too far, so I had to dial back my love for Danny DeVito. But at the time, could you blame me? I mean, it’s Danny DeVito. I’m pretty sure most people have had a crush on Danny DeVito once or twice.”

I blinked as I tried to process the story she relayed to me.

“I don’t think anyone but you has had a crush on Danny DeVito,” I pointed out. “Anyway, no, it’s not a crush. I’m just imagining how exciting it could be.”

She waved her finger as she paced around the room.

“I would advise you not to pursue this. Even if such a person exists and you meet her, I doubt she would be pleased to be solicited by a stranger.”

“I don’t doubt it at all,” I replied. “I know she wouldn’t be pleased. That’s why I’ve implanted a chip which should help against her bullets, though it does make me feel a little numb at times.”

She just continued to wag her finger and shake her head.

“Ray, you’re worrying me. Please at the very least be careful.”

“I am careful! I’ve been in dangerous situations like this plenty of times!”

But when it came time to meet such a person, I wasn’t careful. Yes, I was prepared, but I just didn’t care. Even though I found what I thought I was looking for, it ended up not being what I expected, and more than that, I didn’t know how to feel about this Remora person. But now, after spending as much time around her as I have, I think I have grown to love her in much the same way I love Tony.

I’m sorry, Tony, but whether or not Remora was the one who was the cause of your misfortune, I cannot allow you to kill her. Nor would I want her to kill you.

When I brought out the steak, Demetria was awake and chatting with Remora.

“So, did you meet her?” Remora asked her.

“Yes. I think I understand you a little better now,” came Demetria’s reply. “But that said, whatever life you had in the past is irrelevant to me. What matters is the person I met.”

Remora nodded, almost seeming pleased, but added, “even so, my past informs who I am now.”

Dear lord, how I wish I had gotten the context, yet even then, I felt it better not to pry. The me of just a couple years ago would have been all too interested, but now I just wanted to want what I already had.

#remoras full #writing #stories #fiction #drama #flashback episode #ray sunshine #remora #mafia #ring pop #aurora #bandits #diner

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everyhowlmarksthedead · 4 years ago

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❛ DOUBLE DATE? ❜

with Ezekiel ‘EZ’ Reyes.

Request: This isn’t a Nestor one but how about one where I am friends with the guys in the MC I like EZ but I know he is hung up on Emily. I get a new best friend from work and talk about him all the time (he is gay) and EZ starts getting jealous and flips when I bring him with me to a club party. Ez gets angrier and angrier because we are hanging out dancing etc until bff husband comes to pick him up back early from a business trip.

BY @cherieann-2001

Warnings: none.

Word count: about 1.3k

Aurora says: this writing hasn't been edited, you may find some grammar mistakes, I'm sorry about that!

Gif credits: to the author

Masterlist.

You can subscribe to my broadcast list, to be notified whenever I post a writing!

“Why don't you have a date with him?”

The question makes you drown with a sip from your beer, frowning at EZ in front of you, inside the Mayans bar.

“Bring him tonight to the party”.

Narrowing your eyes, you notice the jealousy in his voice, raising your chin with a proud gesture. Nodding then, you take your phone to write to your partner in crime. He will be delighted to help you to make EZ's jealous stay at float.

You have chosen your best dress. A short one, over your knees, with fine stripes and a squared but pronounced neckline. Black, like your chunky heels. You're stunning, with your hair falling behind your shoulders and a light make up on point. Spreading on your neck the Hugo Boss perfume, you have a last look in the mirror. Simply perfect. Hearing the claxons sounding outside, you know that your best friend is already there.

Reaching the crowded yard, with a high five before joining the party, you walk through it holding his right arms with yours. Ezekiel didn't think that you could be capable of bringing him, but at least he knows how to behave, narrowing his hand as soon as your co-worker offers to him. And then, after introducing him to the crew, you walk to the bar to grab some beers. The mischief has begun.

You two dance too close. So close that there isn't any distance between both, drinking from the same bottle, laughing and feigning that you are flirting. What EZ doesn't know is the fact that your best friend is gay, and married. And even if you only have one hour to make him feel jealous, until he recognizes his feelings for you, it's more than enough. After this time, your friend has to drive to the airport in San Diego to pick up his husband, from a plane from New York where he has been attending a seminar.

Sideways, you can see Ezekiel serving drinks to the other Mayans, but feeling the burn inside his veins believing he has lost the boat straight to you. And you feel somewhat bad, but you have been throwing him indirects about what you feel for too long. So, this is the last option you have. And when you think that the plan can't work better, your partner in crime has a new idea.

“Ezekiel, right?” He asks walking towards the bar, leaning over it, while you feign to be talking with Coco. He knows what you are doing. “Give one more beer, please”.

He nods in silence, not falling into his taunting.

“She is beautiful, don't you think? Like an angel”. Your friend says then, trying to tease him.

“Yeah, she is”.

“I hope she's not single for much longer, you know what I mean”.

“Yeah, and I hope you don't hurt her”.

“Me? I couldn't, big guy”. He laughs, grabbing the drink, to give him his back.

Your friend blinks you an eye, putting an arm over your shoulders.

“Job done, sweetheart. I have to go, but, call me tomorrow if you're still alive. Did you see the size of his arms?”

Kissing the tip of your nose, he pokes it before leaving you there with Coco.

“Mami, you're gonna burn into hell”.

“Yes, probably. Who knows?”

The next part of the plan, and the final one, is play the innocent card. Ezekiel is pretty smart, but so predictable. Putting your dress on well, you go into the clubhouse. Your heels lead the way to the bathroom, getting locked inside it to retouch your makeup, taking your time. You're not in a hurry. Checking some emails on your phone, you try to desperate the prospect at the other side of the door. Being conscious that he is already waiting for an explanation. Keeping your stuff in the small bag, to hang it from a shoulder, you are about to walk outside of the bathroom when you almost collide with him.

“Jesus Christ, Zeke… You scared me!” That was a bad line, but effective.

“Yeah, sorry 'bout that”.

“Need something, ah?”

“Why the hell you brought your fuck boy to the party?”

“Sorry…?”

He doesn't repeat it again. Crossing your arms over your chest, you frown.

“You told me to bring him”.

“I wasn't being serious”.

“Why you care?”

“Mayans business, maybe? Do you think this is a disco club?”

Rolling your eyes, you place a hand on his abdomen to push him away, not letting him see that you're winning the game.

“Don't be a dick, Zeke. That's your brother's shit”.

“You are being a dick, not me. Bringing… this fucking guy here. What were you pretending?”

“Have a date?”

“With that guy? Nah. You're fucking kidding me. That's not your type”.

“Oh, wait. I didn't know that you know my type more than I do. Surprise me, oh, voice of wisdom”.

He doesn't reply, frowning and placing his hands on the folds of his kutte.

“Yeah, that's what I thought”.

Giving him your back, you continue checking your mails on your phone, while crossing the hallway to the living room of the clubhouse.

“I like you”. His voice sounds like a shy whisper, but the fact is that he has his eyes fixed on you. “You're not like… these girls walking around here all the time. You… are intelligent, you have… ambitions, inquisitiveness. And shit… Shit, you smell so good. Is like I have your smell stuck in my fucking lungs the whole day, just with smelling it once”.

His puppy eyes are melting your heart, seeing how he feels so miserable thinking he has lost you because of his incapacity of talking about the feelings he has for you.

“He looks like a good guy, but… if one day you need someone to break his legs, just call me”.

That makes you laugh, even if he's talking seriously. Taking some steps next to him, with your hands tangled behind your back, you lean forward a little.

“Do you wanna know something?” Waiting him for a nod, you take another step. “He is gay. And he's also happily married to another of my best friends”.

“Tell me you didn't play the fucking game of pu—”.

“I did, Zeke. See? You're not the smartest in this clubhouse”.

“So you ar—”.

“No, he's just my friend. But I was serious with the part of having a date. But my date is still working, so I have to wait for him”.

He just chuckles, with that kind of smile that could stop a damn world war.

“We're not having a date”. He says then, coming closer to you.

“Aren't we?”

“Not tonight. I don't want our first date to happen here”.

“Aw, look at you… The romantic Reyes”.

“More than my brother? Yeah”. He laughs this time, surrounding you with both arms as you place your hands on his chest. “If I see you again dancing too close with anyone, I'm gonna burn down this place”.

“That doesn't sound too bad… You will finish working sooner, then”.

Before you can continue talking, his lips are already pressing your with a gentle and lovely gesture, that gives you some nice chills down to your backbone. Raising your fingers to the back of his head, you deep your tongue in his mouth, to fight his, but taking your time to enjoy a kiss that you have been desiring for too long.

“Hey, boy sco—OH, SHIT, FINALLY”.

Turning at Angel, you find him freaking out. Hands on top of his head, widened eyes and his mouth dropping to the floor.

“DAMN, I THOUGHT IT WOULD NEVER HAPPEN”.

Now his hands go to cover his mouth, hiding a proud smile and making you laugh.

“Nah, whatever, I cover your ass at the bar”.

“Yeah, give me just two minutes more”.

He leaves you walking backwards, facing you and making some dirty gestures with his fingers, before pointing at his brother's arms to highlight their size.

“ANGEL!” You yell laughing, trying to hide against EZ's chest.

✨ Tag list:

@starrynite7114 @chibsytelford @dazzledamazon @mara-mpou @sammskellington @gemini0410 @1-800-imagines @briana-mishell24 @sassymox @aquamento @sadeyesgf @viviansafizada @samcrobae @jade770 @witchy-wish @rebel-without-cause-x @xx--day-dreamer--xx @spiced-reads @tita127 @ifoundmyhappythought @enamouravecleslivresetlechocolat @angelxshiba @destynelseclipsa @sheeshgivemeabreak @abbiesthings @knowles-morgan @lady-pswrld @minnicelli @marquelapage @bigcreatorwombatdreamer @jadesamhart @mycupoffanfiction @thesandbeneathmytoes @phoenixhalliwell @thewarriorprincessxo @sugary-x-sweet @multiyfandomgirl40 @imanerdychubbyqueen @iambabyharry @firebenderwolf @itsanofrommesir @noz4a2 @peaches007 @edonaspanca @irenne-stans @skyofficialxx @that-chick212

#mayans mc x reader #mayans mc imagine #mayans mc #mayans x reader #ez reyes x reader #ezekiel reyes #ez reyes #ezekiel reyes x reader

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miraculouscataclyyysm · 5 years ago

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Seating plan au part 6

Short update this time also For some reason, this part contains a lot of Felix/Adrian angst...I don’t know why but its there so enjoy

Link to part 5

Once they finally get together Mari is at the Agreste mansion a lot more (not counting the time she’s there for her internship) and because of this she realises things with Adrian and Felix are a lot worse than she first thought , so she comes up with a plan, she’s secretly trying to get felix and Adrian to sort out there issues with each other without forcing them to do anything they don’t wanna do so if she’s watching a film with Felix and Adrian is in the other room practising the piano she’ll ask him to join or if she’s playing video games in felix room while felix is reading she’ll Adrian if he wants a game, basically mari thinks if she makes it so they hangout more without forcing, it happens naturally, they’ll start to tolerate each other more....unfortunately Marinette is unaware the “issue” is onesided (felix, felix is the one with the issue) so Adrian is just happy to spend time with Marinette when he’s not chat noir and that he finaly gets to spend time with felix that Dosnt involves loud sighs and harsh words, felix, on the other hand, is hating that Adrian is taking away his Mari time, one night when Mari has gone home felix snaps and says “why do you always have to have everything? You just take and take, everything has to go your way? You get everything you want, Do you want to take Marinette from me now too?” “What are you talking about Felix?” “It’s my birthday all over again, you never listen to me, you didn’t listen to me then and your not listening now, stop, just stop, you always bulldoze over everything Adrian, just leave me and Marinette alone” the next day Felix and Adrian seemed even further apart *cue concerned Mari*

During a game of hide and seak while on patrol (it was a particularly quiet night) ladybug teams up with Renard Arctique (Fox Felix) to trick chat who is currently the seeker, so Felix creates an allusion of ladybug running in the opposite direction and then they both climb onto the roof of the louvre and slip behind a pillar (this is definitely not realistic, what so ever, so just pretend it is) it takes chat a good 10 minutes to realise what happened....wich unfair, teaming up has to be cheating right? Once he finds them though he’s hit with a massive wave of jealousy...that’s his lady, his lady laughing with that sly fox, she seems so comfortable with him, there taking like she talks to him, so he runs up and tags RA a bit too hard...and sins lb and ra were sitting on the side of the louvre ra might have fallen off...lucky He's in costume and manages to land gracefully, lb gives chat and earful but chat claims it was “an accident my lady, I guess I just don’t know my own strength” Felix grones “or don’t know your own idiocy”

stormy weather 2 starts the same, (apart from none of the Alya and Nino stuff because Mari and Alya arnt friends here so be still tales the homework to Adrian himself) Chloe is typical Chloe, Mari is leaving school with Alix and Felix when she sees this, she still steps in and offers to help her study but Chloe continues being Chloe and drops the most ironic line to come out of her mouth “once a villain always a villain” Felix and Alix start laughing because how could they not and Felix says “do you actually believe that Queen Wasp” Alix-“or do you prefer anti-bug?” During all this Mari misses Aurora leaving, she’s later akumatised as stormy weather

Marinette almost being Akumatised because of a photo Alya accidentally posts on the lady blog, all thanks to Lila naturally, the night before Lila sees Marinette and Chat noir walking together and snaps a pic, the pic is dark and you can’t see Marinette's face, only the back of her head, she though it had just the right amount of mystery to cause some much needed mayhem among her classmates (it was getting a bit to chummy for her liking) as the co-runner of the lady blog she logs Into the account and drafts a post with the pic claiming to have seen chat noir and LB on a date with LB out of costume, the next day while Alya is posting she clicks the draft and posts it assuming it was something she forgot to Post, caouse ensues, the class is split arguing over the fact Alya posted the photo, claiming it was an invasion of privacy on LB and Chats behalf, and the other praising Alya for discovering the truth about there relationship, Alya insists she doesn’t have a clue where the pic came from BUT it’s still proof of LB and Chats relationship, Mari is literally boiling over in her seat and snaps “you call that proof? Firstly it’s a total creeper shot, you should be ashamed of yourself, I mean you really posted that while claiming to love ladybug and have a single shred of journalistic integrity, secondly you can’t see the girls face, all you can see is Chat talking to someone who happens to have similar hair to ladybug, it could be anyone! That could literally just be chat talking to a civilian while out on patrol” cue a smug lila “anyone like you Marinette? You do look awfully similar to the girl in the photo” *cue Marinette internally screaming* the class breaks out into more arguments over the identity of the girl, an akuma flys in threw the window, heading straight for Mari but felix (without seeing the akuma, he just has impeccable timing) squeezes her hand under the table and says “don’t let lie-la get under your skin, she’s not worth taking up so much space in your brilliant head” the akuma dose a complete u turn and goes for Alya, lady WIFI 2.0 happens and she’s after the truth behind the photo, akuma battle happens and after the fight Alya asks chat about the photo, he tells her that the photo is a massive invasion of privacy, he was having a private conversation with a very good friend of his, the person he trust almost as much as LB, Alya apologises for posing it, she deletes the photo and then puts out a statement with a message from lb and chat asking people to respect there privacy, there still real people and can talk to whoever they want with or without the mask

On a very rare occasion that felix Dosnt feel the urge to shake Adrian until he shuts up (or passes out...whatever happens first) they practice music together, when they were kids Emile had them both pick an instrument to play, Felix wanted to lern the piano but Adrian always got what he wanted so felix ended up learning the violin, he ended up loving the violin though and he always enjoyed goofing off with Adrian during practice and making up songs woth him, that’s always been one of Adrians favourite parts of music practice too, actually getting to have fun with felix, spending time woth him without feeling like felix is just waiting for a chance to leave, like he hates having to be in the same room as him, so when felix askes him if he wants to practice together he jumps at the chance

Link to part 7

Tags-

@spicybelladonna @akana-sama

#seating plan au #miraculous ladybug #short update this time mainly because my dyslexia has been bad past few days and spell check only gets you so far #also i dont know why i put in that mich felix/adrian drama...defenetly wasnt influenced by the felix ep... Definitely not #miraculous tales of ladybug and cat noir #adrien agreste #marinette dupain cheng #felinette #felix agreste #ml felix #alya cesaire #lila rossi #chloe bourgeois

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aurora-daily · 5 years ago

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Nine Songs: AURORA

Interview by Thomas Harvey for The Line of Best Fit (May 30th, 2019).

Ahead of the release of her third album, Norway’s greatest pop export talks Thomas Harvey through the songs that have shaped her life and sound.

From a bustling city to the stillness of the forest; one of the first things that AURORA says to me is that as much as she loves music, she rarely listens to it. Instead it’s the sounds, sights and smells of the world that truly influence the Norwegian singer/songwriter.

Aurora Aksnes grew up without a television or radio. It’s not been the study of listening that’s carried her craft as a songwriter, rather the experiences and feelings she’s discovered and observed. Consequently, when we meet in London to talk about the songs that have made an impact on her, she references the memories attached to each of them, rather than musical influences.

AURORA feels it’s important to take solace in the finer details of a piece of music, as well as the core of good song-writing. Many of her selections are from timeless, legendary artists, unsurprisingly for a writer whose productions can often be modernised on songs like ‘Queendom’, from 2018’s Infections Of A Different Kind - Step 1, the follow up to her debut All My Demons Greeting Me As A Friend.

With the next chapter of the songwriters musical story arriving with A Different Kind Of Human - Step 2, AURORA explains how these nine songs have helped to shape her during the different periods of her life, from the feeling of kinship she felt with the audience at a Mastodon show at the age of eleven, to her honour in playing in the name of Leonard Cohen, to whom she paid tribute in a museum exhibition to his memory in Montreal

“Perfection is impossible” AURORA explains, an idea that’s an important reminder to herself when creating her music. Nonetheless, her relationship with music always stays with her as a friend.

youtube

“Rez” by Underworld

“I discovered this song and this band a year ago, quite randomly. I love going to rave parties alone and of course I don’t drink, because I don’t want to be vulnerable to an attack and get into any trouble. I don’t drink, but I stay safe and I just dance.

“I just really love to dance. It’s kind of like a workout for me, because I’m very energetic on stage. I was at a rave party in France on a boat and I heard this song and I had to ask someone ‘What song is this?’ and I found it later.

“Now I listen to it sometimes when I cook - everything techno is my cooking song. The last meal I was cooking and listening to it with was waffles I think. I have a new waffle maker and it can cook two waffles at a time.”

“Suzanne” by Leonard Cohen

“May he rest in peace, the lovely little angel. I love this song. Musically we only heard Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and Enya when I was a child, there was nothing else as we didn’t have a radio. I love Enya as well, especially the way she just stays the same and doesn’t change her sound. She knows what she’s here to do and she does it.

"This was one of the songs that I really loved when I was unable to understand what he was saying, because I didn’t know English then, or at least I didn’t know these lyrics yet, because they were so complicated. I ended up learning my English mainly from online gaming or computer games like World Of Warcraft.

youtube

“A Seated Night” by Moby

“This song was on my computer, by a mistake I think, and on our family computer. We had a computer much later on - before computers were normal to have in every house - and we didn’t have a radio or MTV when I was growing up.

“I didn’t discover music when I was a kid and I still don’t really, because I don’t have many music platforms on my phone, but ‘A Seated Night’ was randomly downloaded through LimeWire onto our computer and it was the first song that I discovered through technology.

“I really love Moby, although I haven’t dived deep into him yet. I love the choir and I think that’s why I fell in love with this song, it’s just so nice. I love arranging myself into a choir and I’ve used a real choir for my music, a gay choir from Norway called Faggots. They’re really good, they just sing like real people and are really talented, more than I ever knew before I was working with them.

“They’re on “It Happened Quiet” and “Churchyard” and they’re also on my new record, where you can hear them quite promptly. They’re gorgeous. Ever since I heard this song, it had always been my dream to have a choir on my record.”

“Tomorrow Never Knows” by The Beatles

“This was the first song where I really enjoyed some of the production stuff in it. I really love different cultures and I’m really into this kind of vibe. I really liked it when I was a kid, I heard it when I was a sixteen-year-old kid, not like four, I was a bit older.

“I found all my music through CD’s, even though there were other platforms, I was just really slow. We didn’t have stuff at home like a TV or radio, so I discovered this through a CD because I really liked the cover and that’s why I bought it, an LP actually, so old-fashioned! It was the second LP I ever bought for myself.

“The cover was really nice, and I just really liked it. And of course I knew about The Beatles, I knew that they were a big name, and I should listen to them and see if I like them or not. I just really realised that you can play along with things, and that’s when I became a producer.”

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“Born Slippy” by Underworld

“I was driving through Iceland listening to this song and it’s just really gorgeous. I think this is how people feel when they take drugs - they begin on this floating cloud and then it becomes a bit chaotic at the end.

“It sounds like they were on drugs when they made it, but it doesn’t make me sad when I think about it, there’s something with it, it’s positive without making me vomit, which I really enjoy. Sometimes happier music is hard to listen to, because you can question as to why you aren’t as happy as the people in the song, but I like this song.

“I discovered this song much later, after ‘Rez’. When I hear one song I don’t automatically go and find the whole album, I kind of stop and just have fun with that song for months - I get really patient with songs and I can listen to them for months. I saw that ‘Born Slippy’ was on the same album as ‘Rez’ and now of course I have the whole album and I have rave parties for myself, just me.

“I also love to listen to this song whilst I paint, when I paint something without meaning. I’m full of opposites or coherent contrasts, one day I like to be at rave parties and then I like to be in forests. I like to see what the world has to offer me.”

“American Beauty: Original Motion Picture Score” by Thomas Newman

“This is my alarm clock; I wake up to it every morning. It’s so brilliant because it begins with this... and then I listen to it when I read books on a loop and it’s enough for me. It’s all I need. I have like one song for every mood.

“I heard this way before I watched the movie American Beauty. It was many, many years ago and it was one of the first songs I had. I had an orange iPod which I got for Christmas and I only had this song on it for years. I still think if I went into that iPod now, this is the only song I would have on it. I haven’t had it for years though, and they were such nice colours.

“It’s good for walks in the forest, it’s like everything is still. Another is the Finding Nemo soundtrack which is also good for timeouts or when you go for walks. It’s really lovely.”

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“The Hunter” by Mastodon

“I really love heavy metal. I’m very open, so I don’t really care about genres and often with heavy metal I just like it. I was a huge fan of many heavy metal bands when I was a kid, the first concert I went to was Gojira and then Mastodon and then Slayer. I was eleven and I really loved it.

“None of my friends liked the music and so I remember feeling at home at the shows, because I met people who understood it. It’s so angry without being hostile if you really listen to it, but it can sound hostile to people who don’t understand it.

“This is quite a calm song by Mastodon. It’s a childhood memory, but a song that allowed me to discover Mastodon with a more melodic song than most heavy metal bands I knew. I saw them play two times actually.

“I try and turn what I love about heavy metal into something that more people can understand, like in songs like “Under The Water” and “The Seed”, the single I just released, is more heavy. I like the weight.”

“The Partisan” by Leonard Cohen

“I did this song for an installation at a museum in Montreal, I covered it in one of the rooms in his memory and it was really an honour. It was all of his life and achievements as pieces of art in the museum, and they asked artists to showcase his art so that people could see those that he influenced.

“I really love this song. I know that he speaks of the Second World War and I think that’s not often spoken about, considering how much pain it brought the world. Also, in art and music we don’t really paint or sing much about it but it’s important that people talk about it, because it’s something we carry on our shoulders and we did it to each other as a species.

“I think about it a lot, but it’s good to distance ourselves from the memory too. I have a few songs about the matter, though some are more obvious than others.”

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“Hide and Seek” by Imogen Heap

“This is a really sad song for me. I listened to it in a sad stage of my life, I could have gotten through without it, but it encouraged self-pity and staying in the sorrow, and I think that’s not always a bad thing. Sometimes you can stay for a while on things and cry and move on a bit later. I never listen to this song anymore because it reminds me of a sad time, but it’s still an important song to me.

“I like Imogen Heap as a producer. I like the vocoder on this, even though I think she’s using a different machine than the standard vocoder; I don’t really like the way a vocoder makes double voices sound so thin. If it sounds like I’m using a vocoder then I have always made it myself, but it’s a good balance here with this song. It works. I think vocoders are an ugly thing, but the way it’s executing its mission in this song is good.

“A Different Kind Of Human” is out now via Decca.

#aurora #aurora aksnes #interviews #step 2

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crazy-loca-blog · 4 years ago

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Personal thoughts on Open Heart Second Year, Chapter 19

Let’s see… how do I even begin with this? Oh yeah… I’m mad. It’s really hard to be mad at my favorite series, but I’m mad (but nope, it’s not because of what everyone has been complaining about in the last few hours… keep reading and you’ll find out). But let’s start with the good things that happened this week (because yeah, there were many good things that must be highlighted):

The Caroline Bloom case had some bittersweet effect on me. On one side, and I’ve said it before, she is a good woman, and she doesn’t deserve any of this. Her diagnosis was heartbreaking and it only followed the same path as most of our diagnosis throughout this book: terrible things happening to incredibly good people. On the other hand, we had our revenge… sweet, sweet revenge (at a terrible cost, of course!). When we treated Leland Bloom, the man literally bought a new kidney to keep living… and we were all mad at him because of this. Well, every decision we make must have a consequence (good or bad) at some point, and now we know how things ended for him. No one would have ever thought that saving him would mean “killing” the only thing that truly matters to him… his wife.

Also, even though I love the dynamic and the work ethic between the MC, Ethan and Baz (excuse me, but June who?), I’m beginning to wonder if we’ll see Baz in Book 3 or if he’ll keep working with us as he does in Book 2. You know, I really enjoy when the writers give us a chance to have diamond scenes with secondary characters that are loved by the readers, but I think that the scene with Zaid wasn’t there just by chance. Even since the beginning of the chapter we got plenty of information on Baz Mirani, like too much information for a single chapter. Now we know that Baz is a world-class immunologist, that he’s receiving an award that is attached to a job offer, and that he is more into research than into diagnosing people… so Zaid is probably the only reason why he hadn’t left Edenbrook yet. But overall, I loved helping them, not only because they are great characters, but also because now we know that Baz is the reason why Zaid became a doctor, and also because PB keeps teasing us with the type of relationship that Zaid and Ines have (just choose to help Zaid on his words choice and you’ll see). It was a great moment.

There is also this scene with Ethan… even though this is not a romance scene, I’m beginning to think that the OH writers might be reading some fan fictions during their free time, because this is something that Ethan stans have been asking and writing about for a while now. Overall the scene was nice, BUT the fact that some of the content in it is paywalled bothered me a little bit. In normal circumstances I wouldn’t mind about it, but after Louise got admitted at Edenbrook, Ethan’s issues with her became more visible to every player, not only for people who pay the diamond scenes. So even though there are some brilliant moments in it (not only we confirmed that, if you’re romancing him, Alan is the captain of that ship, but we can also tell the MC will be teasing him about his teddy bear FOREVER!), I have too many questions about how this scene went in different scenarios. I personally think I got the proper closure to his issues, he promised to visit his dad more often, the relationship between them seems to be fine now, and Ethan even told Alan that he would give his childhood pictures to Louise (I took the route to forgive her). But again, I’ve bought all of his diamond scenes and a lot of this stuff was already paywalled. But what happens if you took other routes? I mean, how do things go if you don’t forgive Louise? What if you don’t buy his diamond scenes at all? Don’t you feel like something was left there like “floating” and unsolved? Because it does feel weird to me.

And finally, we had this scene with our friends, which I liked it, but I didn’t love it… I would have expected to see them wrapping up things at Donahue’s after completing the bucket list. However, I’m very happy for all those people who wanted to romance Sienna, Aurora or Elijah… because I guess a kiss is better than nothing (?)

Anyway, I wanted to stop for a second to talk about Rafael. I want to dedicate a full paragraph just to him this time. Because there is something about him and his behavior… and I’m really sorry for Raf stans, but something is not looking good here. Even before the incident I had a bad feeling about him, and it has nothing to do with the idea of PB daring to kill him. He’s been a mess this whole book (and nope, I’m not talking about the writing). He rekindled a relationship with his ex that never felt right. He took a lot more risks than he used to do, to the point that he ended up being suspended. Then he quit a job he apparently loved. Then we had the incident, right before he moved to Brazil looking for a fresh start. After the incident, he decided to move to a new neighborhood, and last, but not least, we’ve discovered he’s not a fan of riding helicopters anymore (do you remember how excited he was about this in Book 1?). There is also what he said today and that got our MC thinking... and I think… guys, I think Raf has been going through some HUGE depression during the whole book, but it’s only being more evident now. He definitely needs further treatment, like ASAP. Also, and I know I’ve said it in the past, our MC and Raf really need to have some type of “heart to heart” conversation, a deep one, because in my mind, they need each other to find some real peace after all they went through together.

By now, I don’t even feel like talking about the LIs anymore but yes, I will do it, because even though I loved the night out scene with our gang in Chapter 18, now I’m guessing this could have messed things up with our LIs. In case you don’t know, that night out was supposed to be a “night date”. Maybe that night date was supposed to be the scene where we would have “the talk”. However, we didn’t have that date, we haven’t had “the talk” yet, Edenbrook closed its doors and we were left like… OK… so what’s happening with our personal lives now? I’m hoping to see them fixing this mess in Chapter 20, because right now it looks kind of ridiculous. The fact that our MC almost died should have changed the perspective of all relationships (or at least that’s how it looked like during the incident and after the funeral). After the gala, it looked like finally all the LIs were at the same level and ready to take the next step. Now I feel like we’re all right where we stood at the end of Book 1 (I can see Jackie, Raf and Bryce acting as if we were a hook up and Ethan pushing us away all over again). And as I said last week, maybe this uncertainty is due to the fact that we still don’t know where the MC will go or where our LIs will go, everything is kind of blurry for all of us. But again, that doesn’t mean we don’t want to know what’s happening with our personal lives. Are we breaking up? Are we going to try long distance? Are we moving to the same city? Again, I know in the end we’ll stay in Boston and everything will “go back to normal”, but as of this moment, Edenbrook is closed and we must leave, so it bothers me to see that this part of our story hasn’t been addressed yet. I don’t need our LIs to say those three words, I don’t need them to be exclusive, I don’t even need them to be official… I only need answers on how they’re going to face the future.

Well, if you’ve read all this non-sense I’ve been writing, this is probably where you wonder “why is she mad besides the obvious?”. And my dear people, this is where we go to the very last scene of the chapter. When I saw the limo and Leland talking to us, my first thought was “I really hope that Ethan is inside that limo too, because I don’t want my MC having to make these decisions by herself” (I play as a girl). But nope, he wasn’t there… and that’s where I got mad, really mad… at Leland Bloom. Of course Ethan wasn’t there because Leland knows that he would say “no” without even listening to him, and of course he would go directly to the MC because Leland knows that if there is one person that Ethan would listen to, that’s the MC. Also, why didn’t he just call the board, just like he did the very first time he needed our help? It’s not like he doesn’t know how to reach them. Why did he decide to go to a second year resident’s home instead? There is something so, so weird about this guys… I don’t believe in his reasons to reach the MC instead of people like Ethan, Naveen or the board. I have a gut feeling that we’re walking on thin ice here, especially because accepting Leland’s money means we’ll have to play by his rules in Book 3. And I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t expect to have a happy ending next chapter… I think we’ll have to deal with some huge cliffhanger instead.

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sher-soc-the-famder · 6 years ago

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Been thinking about a platonic LAMP soulmates AU lately, the type where when you meet a possible soulmate a mark appears that represents your relationship with them. The larger and more colorful the mark, the more important and impactful on your life they are. Soulmates can be platonic or romantic, but most people assume or hope for a romantic soulmate.

I just can’t decide if I want it to be a multichaptered fic, a long oneshot, or a shorter oneshot. But like!! (also help what is consistent tense)

Logan and Roman have known each other since elementary school. Roman’s first memory of Logan is being told that his drawing of a dog with wings was wrong “‘cause dogs don’t have wings.” Logan’s first memory of Roman is Roman picking up the nearest handful of play-doh and rubbing it into his hair in revenge

To say they had a rough start would be an understatement

The next couple of years they butted heads over every little thing, turned anything they did into a competition, and over all trying to prove to the other that they were the best. Roman excelled in the arts and sports. Logan completely crushed him when it came to academics

They didn’t truly click until the start of middle school. Roman got into a fight with some bullies because he was going to beat Logan fairly how dare you!! Logan found Roman reading The Odyssey and ended up in a friendly (if heated) discussion on the different forms of epic poetry

Nobody quite understood their friendship, seeing as it was composed of insults, competitions, and banter, but it worked for them.

“Gorgon” “Hellion, and you need to carry the x here, yes just like that” “Wait what were we on?” “I” “Imbecile?” “Juvenile”

Logan helped Roman with his homework without making Roman feel like an idiot or less for not understanding it. Roman helped Logan understand people and more often than not ended up at the principal's office fighting off Logan’s bullies.

(The bullies stopped by high school, but Roman still bristled at any perceived slight against his best friend)

Because best friends they became. If you wanted to find Logan, you looked from Roman and vice versa. Attached at the hips. Logan and Roman became Logan-and-Roman. You couldn’t get one without the other. Every sports game had a nerd reading in the back and every debate event had a theatre kid scrolling through his phone in the corner

So it was no surprise to anyone when the Marks appeared their freshman years, startlingly bright, covering Logan’s entire left arm and Roman’s right

A bright rainbow dragon curled around Logan’s arm, almost neon in its coloring. A bright golden crown adorned his shoulder, the dragon’s tail wrapping around it and leading down to the head that rested on the back of Logan’s hand, mouth opening up into bright red flames that wrapped around Logan's palm

Roman's arm portrayed a pouncing sphynx in brilliant blues and golds, reaching up towards an aurora against the night sky of dark purple and deep greens, the tail curling around his wrist and wings stretching wide and around his biceps until they met at the very tips

What no one expected was for Logan to start stubbornly wearing long sleeves, or Roman to start doodling on his other arm as if he could pretend that his new Mark could be disguised as simple art done in boredom

“I simply don’t see the point of society putting an emphasis on something that makes no sense. How is my body supposed to know if someone is going to be important to me in the future? How does the color pigment appear? And don’t get me started on the placements and the images, the emphasis on symbolism is simply absurd-”

“It’s restrictive!! So what if I have a Mark now?! It doesn’t change my relationship with Specs in the slightest! Not to mention the expectations over the years and the paperwork and all of the work work work work work. I don’t need a stupid tattoo to tell me who my best friend is!! I know it just fine by myself! None of the other gays will even look at me now it’s a CRIME-”

"And it doesn't match your aesthetic-" "IT DOESN'T MATCH MY LOOK IN THE SLIGHTEST!"

Roman gets Logan fingerless gloves for christmas. Logan gets Roman a bulk sized pack of color pens

They often get asked if they’re dating, to which the answer is no. One kids accused them of fucking and Logan couldn’t help but “Roman I would have put my book down if you had told me!” but the questions never seem to stop

Roman’s absolutely sick of it. Logan would please like to return to studying in peace.

AND THEN THERE’S MOXIETY

Patton and Virgil have known each other forever; Patton can’t remember a time that he didn’t know Virgil and adored him and followed him around like a lost puppy (or so he’s been told!) All Virgil remembers is a kind boy with a toothy grin offering to share the sandbox with him

Stuff of legends clearly

Patton was considered nice but weird in elementary school but it was alright!! He had a best friend already!! Virgil may have been quiet but he was super nice!! They colored together and Virgil made the coolest things!

Virgil had a friend. That meant he didn’t have to try to approach any of the other kids. Patton already did that for them. And yeah, they thought the two of them were a little weird but at least they didn’t pick on either of them

Patton followed Virgil and Virgil followed Patton. They had a couple of people they could spend time with but no one that they’d really classify as friends other than each other.

To be fair, no one else seemed to be able to read their moods like each other, or put up with Patton’s excited squeals, or Virgil’s constant need for reassurance, or the contrast of Patton being too excited and Virgil not caring in the slightest so long as Patton was happy

Patton was content with watching Virgil draw and pet dogs with his free time. Virgil made sure that he took care of himself! And Patton made sure Virgil smiled every once and awhile! It was nice!

Even if Virgil never quite believed him when Patton said that he wasn’t going anywhere! He wasn’t! Virgil was his best friend! Even when everyone else was talking about love and stuff!

Patton loved people! He just.. didn’t get what they meant about butterflies in his stomach or wanting to kiss someone! Well, he kissed Virgil on the forehead but Patton had a feeling that wasn’t what they were talking about. Virgil didn’t ask him about crushes or love or things like that, it made Patton feel warm and fuzzy inside

So the Marks were just like!! Making things official! Patton loved the way that it made Virgil relax, just a little bit, even if people started asking if they were dating

Patton talked his Gram-gram into getting an entire wardrobe of various backless shirts so that he could show off his Mark. The wolf that curled around a moon on the center of his back was awesome! Different shades of purple and silvers that practically glowed and Patton wanted everyone to see it

Virgil kept the blue panther that curled around his heart, front paws crossed over it like it wanted to protect him, close and private. The gradient of sky blue to black comforted him on bad days and the tail that swung around his waist felt like an eternal hug.The perfect reminder that Patton was never going to leave him.

At least when they moved to a new town and a new high school Patton and Virgil got to stick together, even if the new surge of questions about their relationship got annoying. Not that it would stop Patton from flopping into Virgil’s lap every chance he got.

Cuddles were the best!!

Patton meets Roman after school waiting for Virgil to finish talking to a teach about joining the art club and the two hit it off almost immediately

Logan runs into Virgil at the library, the later having accidentally taken Logan’s usual spot to study and the two end up sharing the space in comfortable silence

Roman bursting into Logan’s room asking for gloves to borrow to cover the new Mark on his left arm meant that Roman caught Logan looking for a turtleneck to cover the mark along his back and neck

Meanwhile Patton finds himself with the task of trying to talk the two around to the idea that having some Marks wasn’t a bad thing, or at least to help him convince Virgil that it didn’t mean they hated the anxious young man

At least High School wouldn’t be boring anymore?

And IDK that’s what I’ve got so far :p

#Sanders sides #LAMP #Soulmates AU #Virgil Sanders #Patton Sanders #Logan Sanders #Roman Sanders #Logince #Moxiety #Everything is platonic wheeeee #Lemme know what you think :p

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chasholidays · 6 years ago

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Hello and Happy Holidays! Would love to see an Alternate POV from Monty or Miller for "though it's always pricking me."

Original fic here!

When Monty heard that Dropship was going to be in town over the summer, he was not expecting that he, personally, would have much interaction with them. Everyone knows why they’re coming back, knows how Aurora Blake is doing (not well) and how much Bellamy cares about his family (a lot). The whole town is abuzz with the news in the way only small towns can be, and people who know that Bellamy was in school with Monty are definitely eager to hear all about him, but Monty knows he’s not going to be at the top of Bellamy’s list of people to see, nor should he be. If not for the band, Monty probably would have largely forgotten Bellamy existed. Bellamy might not have ever known Monty existed. Monty wouldn’t blame him if he didn’t.

Still, the whole thing is kind of exciting, in a silly way. Everyone at school who knows where he lives now also knows that he’s going to be in the same geographic location as Dropship, and odds aren’t bad that he’ll run into at least one of them. If it’s Bellamy, he’ll maybe have a conversation, and then he can ride that wave of coolness for at least a week and possibly longer.

It would be a pretty great way to start off senior year, and he sees no reason to set his expectations higher than that. Even that’s pretty optimistic.

Jasper, of course, is more optimistic.

“He’s going to be bored! You know he wants to hang out with us. We’re very lovable.”

“Speak for yourself,” Monroe says, and Monty frowns.

“Sorry, are you saying you’re not lovable? Are you negging yourself?”

She pauses, frowns at her beer. “Yeah, that didn’t really work. I’m just saying, the odds of Bellamy Blake even getting a Facebook invite, let alone responding to one, seem really low. Does he even have his own Facebook? Isn’t it just one of those celebrity profiles?”

“It probably couldn’t hurt,” Wells says, the voice of reason as always. “But if you send it and he doesn’t respond and doesn’t show up, you’ll never know if he saw it and decided not to come or never saw it or saw it and hates you and–”

Jasper holds up his hand. “Okay, okay. I get it. I will not invite Bellamy Blake to our weekly drinks, and none of us will ever be discovered as secret rock geniuses–”

“You definitely wouldn’t be,” Monty puts in.

“Just let the record show that I tried to make us rich and famous, and you guys were like, fuck that.”

“That’s exactly what happened,” says Harper, dry.

“It’s on the record,” Clarke adds. She’s been quiet, but she definitely had a crush on Bellamy back in high school, so she’s probably stressing more than the rest of them. If Monty’s high-school crush had disappeared off the face of the earth and then reemerged as the lead singer of a hit band, he’d also probably feel kind of weird about it. “This is the only bar in town, if they want to drink, this is it.”

Jasper raises his own glass. “Here’s hoping.”

Clarke smiles a small, private smile. “Yeah, here’s hoping.”

“Wouldn’t it make more sense if I didn’t come to this?” Nate asks. He’s not actually that opposed to going to the bar–Arcadia is not an exciting place, and anything that breaks up the monotony is good by him–but if he doesn’t put in at least a token protest, they’ll just assume he always wants to be sociable, and he’s got a reputation to maintain. If people start thinking he just enjoys doing things, he’s going to be on the hook to do things all the time.

“Why, because you suddenly don’t like drinking?” Bellamy asks. He’s been doing minute adjustments to his hairstyle for what feels like an hour, and Nate can admit he is curious about that one. Bellamy with an actual crush is new and different.

Or old and different, really. Apparently Bellamy’s been nursing this one for a long time.

“I can drink here, I don’t have to go to your shitty hometown bar.”

“You get to go to his shitty hometown bar,” Raven says. “How do you not see this for the opportunity it is? All of Bellamy’s high-school friends telling m us all the dirt they can remember? You know you want in on that.”

Nate sighs theatrically. “Fine. But if it sucks, I’m taking a taxi back and leaving you assholes.”

“You say that every time we go anywhere,” Bellamy says, finally finishing with his hair. “And you’ve never actually left us.”

“So far. There’s a first time for everything.”

The bar itself is nothing special, larger than their usual hangout in the city but otherwise unremarkable. Standard bar stuff, as far as Nate is concerned. It’s decently busy for a Friday night, but not packed, and it feels a little like a scene in a Western, when the outlaw walks into the saloon and and everyone stops talking and the piano stops playing. He doesn’t think everyone looks at them, but he feels conspicuous even before some scrawny white kid in goggles starts to call Bellamy.

Another kid, Asian and cute with short black hair and a stoner vibe, shuts him up before he gets it out, and Bellamy snorts, shakes his head.

“More friends?” Raven murmurs.

“Monty and Jasper. They’re probably about your speed, Miller.”

“Where’s your girl?”

“She’s not my–” Bellamy protests, but Raven takes over. “Cute blonde at the bar,” she says. “The one pretending not to look at us.”

“Cool.” He gives Bellamy a thump on the shoulder. “Good luck with that.”

The goggles kid–either Jasper or Monty–has calmed down by the time Nate makes it over to his table, and he manages a friendly, pretty normal smile. “Hi! We have a pitcher, want beer?”

The other kid, the cute stoner, adds, “It’s very shitty beer.”

“How old are you guys?” he asks, frowning. “There’s no way you get away with a fake ID in a town this small.”

“Oh ye of little faith,” says the goggles kid. “We’ve been successfully buying illegal booze since high school.”

“We’re twenty-one,” the other one supplies. He seems to be the straight man to his friend’s goofball, a dynamic Nate is used to. He doesn’t know a lot of goofballs, but for a gay guy he makes a pretty great straight man. “Two grades lower than Bellamy in high school. I’m Monty, and this is Jasper.”

“Nice to meet you guys. I’m Nate.”

Jasper frowns. “Everyone always calls you Miller.”

“Yeah, but it’s weird introducing yourself by last name.”

“Fair enough. You want our cheap beer or not?”

“Love some, thanks.” Monty pours and slides him one, and Nate takes a drink, making a face. “You weren’t kidding.”

“Of course we weren’t. Who lies about buying cheap beer?” Monty asks. “It’s Bud Lite, there’s a special for pitchers, and not all of us are famous rock stars. But if you want to get something better for the next round, we won’t say no.”

“How generous of you.” He takes a chug of the beer; the faster he drinks it, the less he has to taste. “So you’re in college, right?”

They are, rising seniors–Jasper at Oberlin and Monty at Cornell, which actually throws him a little. He knows most people don’t go to college with their high school friends, but something about how the two of them are together made him think they were always this joined at the hip.

“We’re planning to go to the same place once we graduate,” Jasper says, so at least there’s that. “Maybe move in together.”

“Jasper is hoping he’s going to have a serious girlfriend by then and he can move in with her instead of me.”

“The power of positive thinking, Monty! If I believe, it will happen. You should try it, you could get a girlfriend. Or a boyfriend!”

The addition comes in a hurried way that makes Nate assume it’s new and still not totally natural, but without any kind of judgement. Monty is newly out as queer and Jasper is still updating his perceptions, but he’s trying. That’s always nice.

And, well, interesting. Monty started off cute and keeps getting cuter.

“I think I’d have to do more than just believe to find a significant other,” Monty says, dry. “I’ve heard that it requires some bare minimum of effort.”

“Yeah, but believing is easy and it can’t hurt to try.” He turns his attention back to Nate, his gaze surprisingly sharp for how drunk he seems. “How’s dating as a celebrity? Weird?”

“I dont date much, but it probably would be weird. It’s always kind of–” He pauses, trying to figure out the right words. “I had a boyfriend when the band got big, and we tried to stay together, but it was just too complicated, you know? He was always kind of worried I was cheating on him when I was out of town.”

“That sucks,” says Monty.

“Were you cheating on him?” Jasper asks, and Monty elbows him. “What, I’m curious! He can tell us, we don’t know his ex.”

“If you cheated on your ex would you want to tell two random strangers in a bar?”

“It sounds better than telling friends or family.”

Nate has to smile. “I didn’t cheat on him. Bellamy’s really paranoid about this stuff, it rubs off. Not that I was ever tempted, but even after we broke up, he got in my head about people I slept with bragging to the Internet or something.”

“So you’re a rock star who doesn’t get laid?” Jasper asks, in the tones of a kid who just learned Santa isn’t real.

“I don’t usually hook up with civilians. Industry people, the ones who are more used to the lifestyle, that’s usually easier.” He shrugs. “I don’t worry they’re just doing it for a story to tell.”

“So you aren’t interested in sleeping with Jasper,” Monty supplies.

Nate snorts into his beer. “I didn’t think I was the uninterested party there.”

“I wouldn’t say I’m interested, but I’d definitely do it just so I could say I fucked a famous person. Honestly, I’d probably be over there trying to flirt with your drummer except that Wells already is and I’d feel like a terrible person.”

“You could go for Bellamy.”

“I don’t ever want to get on Clarke’s bad side. Wells I’d feel guilty, but Clarke would actually destroy my life.”

No wonder Bellamy likes her so much. “So I’m at the bottom of your Dropship hookup chart?” he asks Jasper. “Dude, come on.”

“Just practically speaking. I’m pretty straight, so Raven’s first, and I figure Bellamy and I have history, so–”

Monty snorts. “You barely talked to him in high school. Also I remember you in high school, I don’t think that’s really working in your favor. Jasper didn’t start developing muscle mass until college,” he adds, to Nate.

“This is Jasper with muscle mass?”

For a second, he’s worried he went too far, that the thoughtless quip actually hurt Jasper’s feelings and there will be a “Nathan Miller was super mean to me in a small-town dive bar” post doing the rounds on social media tomorrow, but then they both crack up.

“I’m secretly ripped!”

“You’re secretly less scrawny than you look,” says Monty. “Which is definitely an accomplishment, but less of one.”

“Screw you both,” he says, cheerful. His phone buzzes, and he checks it. “Literally screw you both, I’m leaving.”

“Did that girl text you back?”

“The power of positive thinking!”

“You’re going to miss out on the fancy beer Miller’s buying us,” says Monty.

“You can drink mine and tell me about it later.” He flashes Nate a smile. “Nice to meet you, hope we see you again, sorry not sorry I’m going on a date.”

Nate can’t argue with that. “Fair enough, have fun.”

“Thanks, you too!” He salutes, and then he’s gone, and Nate and Monty look at each other for an awkward second.

Nate breaks it. “So, next round. Is there an expensive beer you like?”

Monty’s face relaxes into a smile. “I think I can come up with something.”

I can’t believe you left me ALONE with NATHAN MILLER.

Monty sends the text while Miller–Nate, he can call Nathan Miller Nate–is in the bathroom, about an hour after Jasper leaves. Clarke is still talking to Bellamy and Wells is still talking to Raven, and it makes Monty feel weirdly paired off, even though he wasn’t trying and was definitely not prepared. He didn’t even do shots with Wells to get ready. He’s a little stoned and a little buzzed, but not enough of either and paranoid about getting worse. If he was drunk, he wouldn’t be thinking about it at all, but since he’s not drunk enough yet, he’s self-conscious about getting sloppy. It’s the actual worst.

yes it is amazing how good a friend I am, Jasper texts back. have fun!!!

If Monty had thought it was unlikely he’d see Bellamy, he had been unable to even comprehend seeing Nathan Miller. It was so outside of the realm of possibility that it wasn’t even worth thinking about, beyond unrealistic. If he had seen Miller, he’d thought that was all it would be, just admiring him from afar. He wasn’t supposed to be talking to him, getting a drink with him, hanging out with him like a normal person. Like those pictures of him in a mesh vest from some weird photoshoot last year hadn’t been the final straw that tipped Monty into identifying as bisexual.

The good news is that it’s not going that badly, but that’s bad news, at the same time. If he was an asshole who wasn’t giving Monty the time of day, it would be easy, one of those never-meet-your-heroes moments. Even if he’d just been friendly, it might not have been that bad. He could have been a perfectly nice guy with whom Monty had nothing in common, and they would have spent the evening making slightly stilted conversation before parting ways.

Instead, they’d gotten another round of drinks and Miller had asked if he was into video games and that was it. Monty had hesitantly offered that he was really into Fire Emblem right now, and Miller had apparently been playing it on the tour bus, and from there they branched out into favorite games, first gaming systems, upcoming releases they’re excited about. If Miller was just a guy he’d met here by chance–deeply unrealistic, as Monty is not the kind of person who meets new people at bars–he’d say they were hitting it off. He might be trying to flirt.

But Miller is Nate is Nathan Miller. He’s been profiled in Rolling Stone. He’s not quite a household name–that’s Bellamy, as the band’s front man–but if he said “I had drinks with the bass player for Dropship,” everyone would know what he was talking about, even his coding professor, who brags about not having learned anything about pop culture since 1989. People hear about Dropship just by being alive, and Monty doesn’t care that much about prestige, but this is going to be one hell of a what I did over the summer.

Assuming he tells anyone. Does bragging about getting drinks and talking about video games count as scuzzy? He doesn’t want to be one of those guys who takes advantage, who makes Miller feel like he can’t talk to civilians.

So when he gets back, Monty just asks. “So, can I tell my friends about this?”

“About what, exactly?”

“How Nathan Miller likes video games and drinks pretentious local IPAs.”

He snorts. “I talk about video games in like all my interviews, it’s not exactly a scoop.”

“You know what I mean.” But he raises his eyebrows like he doesn’t, forcing Monty to clarify, “I don’t want to be one of those people who just brags about–talking to you.”

It’s slightly awkward, both because it feels like he’s using “talking” as a euphemism and because he feels like he’s always slightly awkward, especially without Jasper, who tends to give him easy things to play off of. It had worried him, when he went off to college, that he’d never survive on his own, and he’s fine, has made plenty of friends, but then he’ll be back with Jasper and remember how much easier it feels, to be social with him.

Miller doesn’t seem to notice; he just smirks. “Nah, I love when people brag about talking to me. We can take some selfies if you want.”

“So when does it cross the line into bothering you?”

He drums his fingers on the table. “Good question. I think it’s more–just a vibe. It’s not hard to figure out the people who are just sucking up. Most people–even most super fans–are fine. Kind of nervous at first, but they just want to talk. I never mind people saying they met me. Except that it’s fucking surreal.”

Monty has to laugh. “Yeah, I bet.”

“You didn’t really seem that excited,” he observes, casual.

“I never seem like I’m showing that much emotion compared to Jasper. It’s kind of nice. Takes the pressure off.”

“You always get to be the cool one.”

“Or at least the calm one. It is pretty exciting,” he adds. “Meeting a celebrity.”

“You know Bellamy.”

“Not that well, like I said. And it’s not–” He glances towards the bar, Bellamy leaning into Clarke, the two of them in a world of their own, just like the old days. “I didn’t get to vote on his senior superlatives, but I would have said he was most likely to make it in show business. He’s got charisma. So it’s cool, but not much of a surprise.”

Nate nods. “Yeah, I remember when I first met him. I knew he was going to take me places.”

“You’re twenty-three, right?” he asks. “His age?”

“Yeah.”

He shakes his head. “I feel like you’re too young to be famous. I’m still worried about having a real job, and you’ve been making a living for years.”

“We got lucky,” says Nate. “Shit, so fucking lucky. We only had a few months of shitty gigs before someone decided we were the real deal. And it still took time for us to be able to quit our day jobs.”

“So your life is weird.”

“So weird.”

“Is it better or worse being way out here?”

He shrugs. “It’s different. Our profile is a lot higher. In New York, if someone sees me, they’re not sure it’s me. But everyone knows we’re here, everyone knows Bellamy, so there’s no question. But you’re also really paranoid about coming off weirdly, so–”

“So everyone’s like me.”

That makes him think. “Nah, not everyone is as cool as you are.”

The bar’s lighting is low enough that Monty doesn’t think the flush will be obvious. At least his voice is steady. “I didn’t think cool for rock stars involved playing a ton of video games.”

“You play good video games, so yeah. You’re cool.” He considers. “You said you didn’t have a PS4 yet, right?”

“Yeah.”

“You should stop by sometime and play,” he says. “Bellamy’s too bad at video games and Raven’s too good.”

Monty’s jaw doesn’t drop, but it’s close. “You want to play video games with me?”

“Why not?”

“I don’t know. Because you must have better people to play video games with?”

“What’s wrong with you?” He clucks his tongue. “Full disclosure? You’re cute and chill and I want to hang out with you more. You want to tell all your friends that you spent part of your summer vacation playing games and flirting with a guy in a band, I’m cool with that.”

The words come out easily, somehow. It doesn’t even make sense, he’s never smooth, but talking to Miller–to Nate, to this guy, who’s chill and down-to-earth and nice–is natural. They get along. “I don’t kiss and tell,” he says. “So if you ever want me to keep quiet, all you have to do is kiss me.”

Nate laughs. “Yeah? That doesn’t sound so bad.”

“I hope it’s not.”

“I hope so too. So, what are you doing tomorrow?”

Jasper is going to be the worst possible combination of smug and jealous, but he’ll live. He’s flirting with a cute boy who likes video games; it’s awesome. “Nothing so far.”

“Cool. I’ll figure out when my asshole bandmates aren’t around and give you a call.”

“You don’t have my number.”

“Not yet. But we’re not even done with our drinks. I’m not going anywhere yet.”

They have two more rounds and take the same taxi back. Nate gets dropped off first, takes a minute to study Monty’s face, lingering on his lips, before he says, “I’m not kissing you tonight.”

“No?”

“I want you to have a couple stories you can share.” But he does peck him on the cheek. “Night, Monty.”

He texts Jasper immediately. You’re never going to believe what happened.

The response takes a little longer; hopefully his night was good too. I’m the best friend in the entire universe?????

Honestly, Monty replies, smiling in the dark of the backseat, you just might be.

“So, it sounds like both your bandmates did pretty well for themselves in Arcadia,” the interviewer tells Nate, like he doesn’t know Bellamy and Raven have significant others now. He found out way before the media did. “Are you jealous?”

“Jealous of what, exactly?” he asks, with a shrug. “Wells isn’t my type. Clarke is even less my type. And don’t even start with Bellamy being my type.”

She laughs, apparently genuinely amused, which makes Nate like her more. Most of the questions reporters ask aren’t really their own fault, especially for shit like this. They’re doing rapid-fire press for a new single and everyone only has a few minutes. This website likes gossip, so the interviewer wants gossip. Nate doesn’t blame her.

“Trust me, even I’m getting tired of asking if you and Bellamy are secretly sleeping together. I was relieved I could stop asking about Bellamy and Raven. But is it tough? Being the last single member of the band? Does it get lonely?”

On the surface, the question is absurd. Bellamy and Raven are dating people, not off to war. He’s not alone. He’s not even single, although he hasn’t told anyone about Monty yet, not even his bandmates. They were fairly casual over the summer in Arcadia, didn’t even hook up very much. It was like having a friend with benefits, except the benefit rarely went farther than kissing. Nate didn’t mind, he liked the closeness of it, the intimacy, like getting close to Monty, but the last few months have been a weird sort of limbo, Monty at school, applying for jobs, figuring things out.

He is lonely, but not because he’s single and his friends aren’t. And Monty’s graduating next month, already has an apartment lined up in the city. Him and Jasper together, despite Monty having a boyfriend–they agreed they can work on cohabitation once they’ve been in the same place a little longer.

“I guess that’s not how it is for me. I don’t feel worse about being single when my friends aren’t? Maybe I will, I get why people do. But I like Clarke and Wells, so mostly I’ve got more friends. And they help out keeping an eye on Bellamy’s sister when we’re busy. Not to get too sappy, but mostly being in Arcadia means my family grew. Hard to be lonely when that happens.”

She looks dubious, for which Nate can’t blame her. If he didn’t have Monty, he doesn’t know what he’d say, but as it is, it’s pretty easy. Arcadia was good to him too, and his life is about to get better. Maybe he’ll do another interview with her, when everything is said and done and he and Monty have decided to go public. Let her know how he was really feeling.

For now, though, it’s just for him. Him and Monty, Jasper, the rest of the band. All the people who really matter.

“So, nothing big to report? No one special in your life?”

“Everyone in my life is special,” he says, with a shit-eating grin, and she laughs again.

“Of course, sorry. Anything else you’d like our readers to know?”

“I’m good,” he says, meaning it. “Great, even. No one has to worry about me.”

Once he’s out, he texts Monty: Ngl, I’m looking forward to telling people I’m kissing you.

I’m ready to brag whenever, Monty shoots back. Can’t wait to get all those dating a rockstar points. Finally, I’ll be cool.

Nate smiles. You’re the coolest, he says, and puts his phone in his pocket as he waits for Bellamy and Raven to finish up so they can leave. It’s not exactly the life he was expecting, not this time last year, not when he was in high school, not when he was a kid, deciding what he wanted to be when he grew up.

He never thought it could be this good, and in another month, it will be even better.

He’s got no complaints.

#camillegshotts

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makikoigami · 7 years ago

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[FIC] FINAL FANTASY XV - PROMPTIS WEEK DAY 4

Title: Faith In Me Day 4: Good Enough / Favorite Trope Rating: PG Wordcount: 2,179 Spoilers: Some for the end of the game Warnings: Dorky grown-up husbands. Disclaimer: I own nothing and I never played the game. Still, these guys happen to occupy my mind. Not my fault Summary: After King Noctis Lucis Caelum's speech on the day of the Light Festival, he and Prompto take a stroll around in civilian clothes and talk about a few things. Notes&Comments: Written for @promptisfanweek . When I first thought about this, I came up with the sentence "He was good enough for me" and that would have been too sad in either combination, so I didn't know what to do with this at first. Favorite Trope was fairly easy though, so that's what I went with. Some of the parts here mentioned will be cleared up a little more in tomorrow's submission though. ;D I also added in some of the other themes here, like 'realization', 'ten years later', 'fairy tale' and I don't know what, but this is for Favorite Trope: No one dies and they live happily ever after.

Prompto watched from the sidelines, two and a half steps behind his husband, eyes scanning over the crowd, both in fond appreciation for the masses that had gathered to hear their king's speech to start the festivities for the Light Festival, as well as in careful alertness. Sure, Noctis had worked hard to appeal to everyone, but there were always people who didn't like the government. Times were peaceful, but both the king as well as most people that were alive remembered a time when every step could have been your last, dangers lurking in the dark that was endless at that time. Thankfully a new generation was growing that knew nothing about these dangers. A generation that only knew peace between all lands of Eos.

He smiled, the weight of the the tattoo on his right wrist not so unbearable anymore. Sure, it's been ages since he had gotten closure on that one, most of the other poor clones dead by now, relieved from their suffering with the Starscrouge that had infected them with daemon blood to make them stronger. He was the only one left, because he was he was 'failure'.

His eyes fell to the back of Noctis' head, smiling fondly as Noctis' eyes roamed the masses with just as fond a smile. There were days when he hated getting out of the bed and do kingly stuff, but on days like these, when he could get to see the people of Eos, he looked the happiest Prompto had ever seen him.

Well, except for their wedding day, but that was a whole different situation and didn't count. That one had been special.

Prompto's smile grew into a grin when Noctis blew kisses to the crowd and they started cheering loudly. His husband, the king, was silly like that. But at least it meant that he was going to come back inside soon.

One last wave and Noctis turned around, stepping past the heavy doors back into the Citadel. Prompto made sure one last time that everything was okay before he turned around himself and followed his husband.

"Hm... I still can't decide what's better," he said, trying to lighten the mood between them.

"Hm? What do you mean? Tenebrae needed a new government, their-"

"Sleeping Beauty or Snow White," Prompto interrupted before Noctis could go on one of his political rants, the ones he had hated so much when his father had done them.

"Oh."

Prompto grinned.

"You're still thinking about that ? How long has it been?"

"It was in high school that you gave me the fairy tale collection, so it's been at least more than ten years, " Prompto supplied with a laugh, still grinning. "Which makes me lean towards Sleeping Beauty, because you were asleep for ten years. Thank god it wasn't one hundred, I'm pretty sure none of us would have been around then."

"Don't say such things," Noctis replied, his face turning into a pained mask. He still didn't like to think of the ten years that he had spent gathering magic and remembering.

"See, but I'm also thinking Snow White here, because you were trapped in the crystal, which was kind of like a glass coffin. Not that we built that for you-"

"So you're the seven dwarves now? You, Gladio, Ignis... that's just three?"

"But there's also Talcott, Aranea, and Cidney and, well, Cor, too. That's at least seven, but there are so many more people who you were this close to."

"I know," Noctis smiled, his hand reaching out to entwine their fingers as they walked down to the big hall with the remodeled throne room so that they could go outside and join the festivities soon. "But there's only you who knows all of me."

"Mhm... You see, that's what I kinda don't like about these fairy tales," Prompto said and tilted his head as he led them to the small dressing room nearby so that they could slip into civilian clothes. "Both Snow White and Aurora, they've been asleep and only woke up because of their true love's kiss, or rather, the kiss of some stranger. There are no records whatsoever that Snow White knew that prince before he came across her and the mourning dwarves. Same with Sleeping Beauty. Aurora and the castle's staff had been asleep for a hundred years, no one outside survived that, except for the witches who are immortal. And the prince was decidedly no immortal."

"You're irked because those were... blind dates?" Noctis asked, trying to wrap his head around his husband's rant.

"Yeah... Basically," Prompto sighed, shoulders slumping as he stopped walking and started to help Noctis out of his regal coat before he worked off his own heavy crownsguard coat. "I mean, it's romantic to think about meeting your soulmate like that, but... You got to know the guy you're marrying right? What if he turns out to be an asshole?"

"Guess you're more a fan of the 'friends to lovers' trope, huh?" Noctis teased, making sure to hang his jet black shirt so that it wouldn't get any more wrinkles. He cared about his own staff too much to cause them more trouble than he already was.

"You could say so. I mean, in the original version of Rapunzel, the prince came over many times and they spend a lot of time together. And the witch wouldn't have known if not for the fact that Rapunzel eventually gave birth to a baby. That was when she was enraged and blinded the prince so that he almost got lost on his way home to the castle from the hidden tower."

Noctis stopped moving, halfway into his t-shirt. Prompto's eyes fell to his scars, and while he was used to the sight of them, his eyes were always drawn to the large gash in the middle of his chest.

"I didn't know it was that harsh. The Disney version was... entirely different."

"That's not the first time. Fairy tales were originally scary stories to tell kids so that they behaved. Over the years, they were changed and romanticized... The versions in the book you gave me might not even be the originals, but they're the oldest versions that we know because some guys sat down and wrote them all up. Disney turned them into modern versions when they could, and, um, made them more... suitable for children?"

"Figures. Wouldn't want to take my kid to a fairy tale movie that's more like a horror movie," Noctis said and shivered. He still wasn't fond of those kinds of movies, even - or especially - after all that had happened to him.

"Tell me about it," Prompto sighed. Horror movies didn't scare him as much as they did when they were still teenagers, mostly because he knew that they were only movies. Reality had been much worse.

He found his new tank top - present from his husband! - and smiled sheepishly at the words on it, 'I'm with beardo '.

"Is it really okay if I wear this in public... with you?" He asked, rubbing the back of his head as he felt his cheeks heat up.

"Iggy hates it but I think it's perfect. Besides, I got this," Noctis said and put on the baseball hat that he liked to wear. His new favorite t-shirt read "King of Fishing" and whenever Noctis wore it, he had what Prompto liked to call his 'dad smile' on his face.

"Yeah... two dorky shirts for two dorks."

"Two royal dorks," Noctis smirked as he took Prompto's hand again and leaned in to steal a slow kiss that held a promise for more later.

"You know, I always thought Ugly Duckling was fitting for you... but I couldn't say it, because I didn't think you'd take it the right way. But... the transformation you made from elementary to high school was just stunning. Plus, ducklings are cute and with that tuft of hair you always looked like one," Noctis finally confessed, his own smile sheepish.

"You think so?" Prompto laughed. "Considering that swans are fierce beasts if they're angry with you and even Gladio fears them, I'll take that as a compliment."

"It is," Noctis smiled as they stepped outside and mingled with the crowd.

Their first goal was a food stall that sold 'Sunshine Pancakes', which was just a regular pancake with cabbage and an egg on top, but Prompto had come to love those and so they bought one to share at the booth before they continued on to walk hand in hand. They passed by a ferris wheel, but when Noctis spotted a fishing game, he made a beeline for it, pulling Prompto along.

The blond had heard someone talk about his arms, how they were jealous that the king had such a handsome husband, and that they were still together, after all these years. It was something that Prompto sometimes needed to stop to wrap his head around himself, and then he was usually overwhelmed with happiness.

"You know," Noctis said as he held onto a new, shining fishing rod he had just won by getting the high score at that fishin game, "if you asked me , I still prefer Eugene's sacrifice over all that romantic 'true love's kiss' stuff. At least he had been honest and told Rapunzel how he felt."

"...you really love Tangled, huh?" Prompto chuckled, watching Noctis' cheeks redden. "But yeah, that's... probably the one scene that we can relate to the most, huh? I mean... You know I sometimes have nightmares of you sitting on that throne, with your father's sword right through your body in all bloody goreyness and it's too late, all magic gone and even the Pheonix Downs I've saved up over the years couldn't help anymore."

"Prom..." Noctis squeezed his husband's hand.

"I... like to pretend it's been the kiss that woke you up - and that's what I'm telling the kids! They love it, you should see their faces! - but you and I know it's only been thanks to... to so many lucky coincidences... The sword missing your heart, wedged right between your ribs just to miss any and all vital organs, we coming up there before it was too late, Ignis healing you and me kissing you, all that together was good enough to bring you back to life," Prompto explained with a smile that reflected all of the wonder he always felt when he thought about what happened. "You being here is... Such a gift..."

"Being allowed to be here with you is more than I ever hoped for, to be honest," Noctis admitted with just the same wonder in his voice. "I've... When I said I had made my peace, back then, I meant it. I thought that was just... good enough. That I was good enough for... that. I didn't think that I could do much more in life than fulfill whatever destiny I was assigned to fulfill. There was... there was only one moment, when I wanted to do more, when I wanted to be that bigger person everyone always saw in me."

"Zegnautus Keep," Prompto breathed, staring at Noctis' cheeks that darkened as he tried to hide his face behind the cap. All these years that he had been king and it was still embarrassing to him to talk about his deepest feelings.

"I meant it when I said I wanted to break down the borders... Come together as one nation."

"I remember that," Prompto chuckled. "I was in such a bad shape then-"

"I know," Noctis said quickly, gaze hardening against his will.

"-but those words gave me new life. I was so proud of you... My heart skipped a beat or two and I felt light-headed-"

"I get it!" Noctis laughed. "No need to get overly dramatic on me. I know you had a crush on me back then."

"More than that," Prompto laughed. "I guess that was the moment when I realized I was so madly in love with you... but that could have been because you came to rescue me and I was so very thankful."

"Geez, good to know that you only married me because I saved you."

"Don't forget Eos. I also married you because you saved all of Eos and brought back the sun," Prompto smirked, not even missing a beat.

"Ass," Noctis snorted.

"You love my ass," Prompto retorted with a giddy giggle.

"That I do," Noctis joined the giggle with a boisterous laugh that had some heads turned at them. "And the rest of you as well."

"Me too. I love you so much, my king."

"Hm... I like the sound of that coming from you. Better than Snow White or Sleeping Beauty anyway," Noctis huffed. "Never liked that anyway, because it wasn't me."

"Oh? Well, I guess there are more times when I can call you 'my king', your majesty."

"Stop it," Noctis chuckled, but Prompto could see the tips of his ears turning red.

Oh, yeah, that was something he was going to try out later in bed.

Notes: They are wearing this at the end: Art by vaniracoke on twitter.

#promptisfanweek #promptisweek #noctis lucis caelum #prompto argentum #final fantasy xv #Makiko Igami's fanfiction

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