#and sent his little brother to school without a mask while he was complaining about a sore throat

[pinkfey]

sometimes.. my in laws.. aggravate me..

[miraculouswolf99]

Shadow Fox

"Good morning, Adrien," Lyon greeted, walking up to the model outside the school.

"Hello, Lyon," Adrien smiled at his Greek friend.

"You waiting for someone," Lyon asked him.

"Would I sound too much like Cat Noir if I said you," Adrien smirked.

"Cat Noir's got nothing on you, Sunshine Boy," Lyon snickered.

"Ironic," Adrien thought.

"Hello, boys," Vallia approached them. "You two flirting with each other again?"

"Maybe," Adrien smirked.

"It's so obvious as well," Lyon shook his head. "How is it that so many people in this school still think Adrien is straight?"

"You were the one that pointed out their lack of common sense when we first got here, brother of mine," Vallia says.

"Oh, right," Lyon accepted her logic.

"At least Marinette was already dating Luka when you two started flirting in public like this," Vallia said.

"I was so blind to her crush," Adrien sighed. "I must have looked so insensitive to her."

"Adrien, crushes are pretty much a blind spot to all guys," Lyon tells him. "I know some girls back home had crushes on me that Vallia had to point out for me."

"It's true," Vallia giggled. "You can't exactly be rich, good-looking, and not expect people to get a crush on you."

"Celebrity crushes are the worst," Lyon shook his head.

"Don't I know it," Adrien out his head in his hands.

"Awe, poor kitty," Lyon playfully patted his head.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, wolfie," Adrien slapped his hand away lightly.

"You are so lucky that I don't have archery practice today," Lyon playfully glared. "Otherwise, you'd know the exact consequences of calling me wolfie."

"Oh, I almost forgot," Vallia says. "Have you guys seen the latest post on the Ladyblog?"

"Vallia, you know I do not care for blogs," Lyon reminds her. "Most people with blogs like that believe that it gives them actual rights as 'real' reporters. Please, most blogs are basically just wannabe reporters throwing around their opinions."

"You never hold back when stating your own opinion, do you," Adrien asked.

"Why should I," Lyon raised an eyebrow. "Free speech exists for a reason."

"Point made," Adrien shrugged.

"Take a look," Vallia showed them her phone.

New Lead On the Identity Of Ladybug was plastered as the lead story on Alya's blog. Adrien and Lyon looked at each other before returning to the story. It was some theory story that seemed to be more like a conspiracy theory as she compared old photos of Hippolyta, Joan of Arch, and some statue that she seemed to us an app to add ladybug style armor to as a basis for her theory that the current Ladybug was also a heroic person under the mask. She was guessing volunteer workers, teaching assistants, and any other female teenager that liked to help people.

"I thought Ladybug told her months ago to stop trying to find her identity," Lyon did not like what he was seeing.

"Did being akumatized into Lady Wifi not teach her anything," Adrien pinched the bridge of his nose.

"From what you guys told us, that was more Chloe's fault," Vallia reminds. "Yet Chloe didn't even have a reason until Alya went a little too far when she thought that brat of all people was Ladybug."

"May the gods help that girl," Lyon shook his head. "I have never been so happy that there is no god or goddess of blogs."

"Hephaestus is the god of technology," Vallia reminded.

"But a blog on its own is not technology," Lyon countered. "It may be created with technology, but that is not part of his domain. The internet is a thing all on its own."

"Maybe Marinette can help Alya by being the voice of reason," Adrien suggested. "She usually is."

"She shouldn't have to be," Lyon says.

"Alya, Ladybug has repeatedly told you not to look for her identity," they heard their favorite bluenette's voice.

"Speak of the devil," Adrien said. "Or rather, speak of the angel in this case."

"Relax, Marinette," they hear Alya's voice. "It's not like I gave any specific people to look at."

"Alya, you are endangering her family and friends by trying to figure out her identity and putting your 'clues' on the Ladyblog," Marinette says.

"Hawkmoth won't attack her family or friends," Alya waved her off.

The two girls approached the school, consumed by their conversation. They hardly noticed the other three walking up to them.

"What even makes you think that Hawkmoth wouldn't attack her family," Lyon asked. "There doesn't seem to be anything he wouldn't do."

"Hawkmoth did akumatize a baby," Vallia pointed out. "Poor little August."

"Well, Hawkmoth didn't attack Lila," Alya reasoned. "And if he didn't attack Laydybug's best friend, he wouldn't attack the rest of her friends or family."

"Ever consider that Hawkmoth didn't go after her because he knew she was lying," Lyon asked, in his scary calm voice.

"What is your problem with her," Alya glared at him. "What do you have against Lila to accuse her of lying without proof!?!"

"My proof is that she was stupid enough to broadcast her 'friendship' all over Paris on your blog," Lyon crossed his arms. "Anyone that publically says that they are best friends with a superhero is like asking for villains to attack them. It's pretty obvious she is claiming so to get attention."

"How dare you accuse Lila of that," Alya yelled at the Greek, not that he seemed to care. "She would never lie."

"Except that she has," Vallia says. "Pretty much since the day that she got here and every day since then."

The Greek twins then walked away without another word. That was another thing that Adrien liked about them. They took no nonsense from anyone and would tell you if you were doing something, or were about to do something, stupid.

And they certainly took no nonsense from Lila. But they especially did not after she told a lie about Clara Nightingale stealing some of her dance moves from her. It was well known, since Clara's last visit to Paris, that the pop star was very good friends with the twins so they automatically knew that was a lie. And they made their anger very well known. They didn't care if it got them some glares in return, but they always made people know that they believed that Lila is a liar. Which was true, but not everyone knew that.

"You can't say that those two are not blunt," Adrien commented to Marinette.

Marinette giggled in agreement.

The two walked into the school before Alya could go on another of her "defending Lila' rants. They got old very quickly.

It had just been the end of the school day when the Akuma Alarms started to go off. Lyon and Valiia did a disappearing act while Adrien and Marinette both made bad excuses in order to get away from everyone to transform.

"Tikki, spots on."

"Plagg, claws out."

"Frostbite, freeze over."

"Flutter, wings up."

Ladybug, Cat Noir, White Wolf, and Beautifly were soon all heading toward the newest villain that Hawkmoth created.

"What in the name of Zeus," Beautifly swore.

In front of the four heroes was a psychedelic killer clown. With the poofy red and orange jumpsuit, giant black shoes, red and orange clown/Santa hat, and purple skin, he looked like the long lost twin to the Ghost Clown from Scooby Doo. And he was also very unnerving to look at. His weapon seemed to be a giant clown horn.

"I have never liked clowns before, and this is not helping," White Wolf stated.

"You're afraid of clowns," Cat Noir raised an eyebrow under his mask.

"Not afraid of them, I just don't like them," White Wolf corrected. "I find them to be creepy and weird-looking."

"Looking at this guy, I am actually on Wolf's side for this one," Ladybug says. "Not that I am surprised that Hawkmoth made a clown akuma, at all."

"One was bound to show up eventually," Beautifly crossed her arms.

"Lucky us," White Wolf complained.

"I'm guessing he is either a birthday clown who got upset, or maybe a class clown that got in trouble for his jokes, or someone pranked with no sense of humor," Cat Noir guessed.

"Those are actually some really good guesses," Beautifly says.

"Fight enough akumas, you get good at figuring out what type of person they were under the mask," Cat Noir said.

"Good thing they don't have attached glamours like we do with our miraculous," White Wolf says. "That would make things a lot more difficult."

"Chloe's first time as a villain was certainly easy to figure out," Cat Noir said. "All that changed about her was putting her in a Ladybug suit with reversed colors. He was a lot more creative with Stormy Weather and Evillustrator."

"What else can you say about those with purple skin," Ladybug giggled.

"I may like the color, but purple skin is not something I would ever like to have," Beautifly says. "I'd look like a human lavender flower."

"He looks ridiculous I'll give him that," White Wolf looked at the clown.

"I am Jokester," the clown yelled. "If others can't appreciate my sense of humor, I will make them laugh."

"I think Cat Noir may be right about the prankster getting into trouble theory," White Wolf said.

"Finally, someone sees my genius," Cat Noir laughed.

Jokester brought out a cliche clown horn. He aimed it at the heroes.

"Heads up, guys," Beautifly warned.

She used her wings to fly up and out of the way. The other three jump out of range as the clown blown the horn. Out came a sound blast of yellow sound waves. While it missed the heroes, the sound did wash over some civilians that were farther back on the street from them. They all started laughing immediately.

"I am suddenly reminded of the Joker," White Wolf commented.

"Even with all the crime, I still actually have always wanted to go to Gotham," Cat Noir said.

"Don't let him hit you with that sound wave," Ladybug called to them.

"Where's the songbird miraculous when we need it," Beautifly tried to joke.

"We'll see how this plays out, Fly," White Wolf tells her.

They all dodged another sound blast sent their way. White Wolf landed on the roof of a nearby building. He notched an arrow in his bow, letting it fly at the akuma. The clown dodged the arrow, letting it freeze the ground where it hit.

"Anyone want to take a bet on whether the akuma is in the horn or not," Cat Noir calls out, dodging a blast sent his way.

"At least it isn't hidden on a ship like Captain Hardrock's was," Beautifly says.

"Please don't mention her," White Wolf requested. "My ears still have a slight ring to them from her sound cannons."

"Not the quietest akuma we've ever faced," Cat Noir agreed.

"Try and surround him," Ladybug ordered. "He might get confused and not know where to aim the horn."

"Good idea," Cat Noir agreed.

The four separated, going in different directions. White Wolf kept the most distance so that he could properly aim his arrows at the clown. Beautifly stayed off the ground, her wings fluttering so that she could easily fly out of the way. Ladybug and Cat Noir were on opposite sides of the clown, both with their weapons out and ready to strike. Altogether, they formed an X around the akuma.

"You should surrender," Ladybug tried talking to Jokester. "Whatever Hawkmoth is telling you is a lie. He can't offer you anything real."

But the signature butterfly outline appeared over the clown's eyes.

"Do not listen to this teenage heroine," Hawmoths tells the villain in his head. "She only wants to take away your new powers and prevent you from spreading laughter and fun. I can help you spread real fun all throughout Paris while she can not."

"I could not agree more, Hawkmoth," Jokester replied.

He aimed his horn directly at the ground. Beautifly had seen this before when an enemy would aim their weapon right at the ground.

"Get out of the way," she yelled.

She immediately flew up, further off the ground. The three heroes on the ground followed suit by jumping or using their weapons to get onto rooftops. Jokester blew the horn right at the ground. The sound wave came out like a sonic boom as it boomed out in all directions on the ground. A few more dozen people all started to laugh uncontrollably. Jokester shot into the air and started flying just like when Rose was Princess Frangrance doing the same thing with her perfume gun.

"I hate it when we have to chase them," Cat Noir complained. "Can't they ever make it easy for us."

"Trust me, if I had it my way, Hawkmoth's lair would have a giant Las Vegas sign on it with 'come arrest me' spelled out in neon," White Wolf tells him.

"This is why I like having wings," Beautifly giggled.

She took off, flying after him. The rest followed after her. White Wolf aimed another arrow at the clown, firing when they jumped to another roof. But Jokester managed to dodge it and who knows where the arrow landed after that.

"I need to practice my aiming while I am running more often," Wolf said.

"What I would give to be a flying cat," Cat Noir says.

"I will have to look to see if there is a jaquin miraculous," Beautifly giggles.

"A what," Ladybug asked.

The butterfly hero flew faster, getting in front of the clown. She launched her razor flower at him. Jokester was forced to head back to the ground. He landed on a random street somewhere by Le Grand Paris.

"I will make you, heroes, see the joy of laughter," Jokester yells.

"Laughter is overrated," Wolf stated, firing another arrow.

He blew his horn at the arrow, blocking and destroying the arrow. They all then jumped out of the way as the sound blast almost got to them after destroying the arrow.

"Even with four of us, he has us on the ropes," Beautifly says.

"If we end up laughing non-stop, we won't be able to call upon our power or detransform because we wouldn't be able to form words properly," Ladybug said.

"Even separately, the sound wave is too big," Cat Noir noticed. "He needs to be distracted away from us so we can get the akumatized object."

"So we need an allie," Wolf said. "The stag or python miraculous might be able to help us. Or maybe even the songbird."

"Sonic scream, sound shriek, or paralyzing," Beautifly listed the powers of the three miraculous. "Any of those could help us."

Ladybug was about to respond when she saw Alya off to the side. She was on her phone, as usual, most likely filming the fight for the Ladyblog. Her blog had recently opened up to Lyon and Vallia's homeland of Greece because of White Wolf and Beautifly joining the battle against Hawkmoth. Google translate was probably very useful to them.

"I know what to do," Ladybug says. "I'll be right back."

With that, she left. Cat Noir was the first to get what she was doing when he saw that Alya was there as well.

"We better handle the clown gone wild until she gets back," Wolf says.

They separated again, dodging more sound blasts.

Ladybug destransformed into Marinette before she headed into Master Fu's building. She had a feeling that he was expecting her, like always. How he did that was a little creepy, but what did she know about Guardians of the Miraculous.

"Master Fu," she greeted when she came in.

"Come on in, Marinette," Fu says.

"I need the fox miraculous," Marinette tells him. "The illusions it can create will be the best distraction for this akuma."

"Of course," Fu said.

He went over to his phonograph and punched in his code. The miracle box soon rose out of it. He picked up the box and put it in front of her.

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng, pick an ally you can trust to fight alongside you on this mission. Choose wisely; such powers are meant to serve the greater good. Once the mission is over you will retrieve the Miraculous from them," he tells her.

Marinette immediately picked up the foxtail necklace. But then she hesitated when she looked at it.

"Marinette," Wayzz asked, concerned.

"What is it, dear child," Fu asked her.

"You know that I usually give this to Rena Rouge, right," Marinette started.

"Yes. And if I am correct, she is your best friend, Alya, correct," Fu guessed.

"Yes, she is," Marinette didn't even try to lie. "But... you know that Alya also is the creator of the Ladyblog."

"I mean no offense, but blogs are still quite foreign to me," Fu admitted. "But I do understand what you are talking about."

"Alya is a good reporter," Marinette started. "But she sometimes does not know when to let a story go or if a story will have unexpected consequences. Alya has been trying to figure out my identity. She's almost been obsessed with finding it pretty much since Ladybug's first appearance. The search was what started the events that caused her to be akumatized. I have told her to stop, but she hasn't."

"And you are worried that Alya will find your identity if you continue giving her the fox miraculous," Fu guessed.

"No, I'm worried that she will put us in danger when she figures it out," Marinette says. "She keeps saying that the people deserve to know who I am, who all us heroes are, even when that puts us all on Hawkmoth's radar. She's convinced that he won't attack us because a liar has been telling her that she is 'Ladybug's' best friend and she believes her. She thinks that since Hawkmoth had not attacked 'Ladybug's best friend' that he will not attack Ladybug."

"I see," Fu says.

"I have even told her, as Ladybug, to stop looking for my identity," Marinette continued. "Multiple times, I add. But she is still looking. Alya is a great friend, but she tends to listen only when it is something she wants to hear. I am not sure if I can trust her enough with the fox anymore."

"Heroes are not always set in stone, Marinette," Fu tells her. "Not even the ladybug and black cat are only compatible with one person. I trust that if you know when there is a good fit for a temporary hero, then that person will indeed be a good one."

Marinette seemed to calm down after that. But that also slightly made her curious about who else would be compatible with her miraculous. When they did that accidental miraculous swap and she became Lady Noir, she and Mister Bug actually did pretty well. Even if they did not have much practice with the powers that they literally had for less than fifteen minutes.

She quickly left and transformed, jumping over rooftops. She had to think of someone that could be a good match for the fox miraculous. She knew that Alya loved being Rena Rouge, but this was also a chance for her to see that her actions had consequences. To teach her that there are some things that are not worth a story. Also, do not believe everything you hear. That second one was more a jab at Lila than anything else.

The more Ladybug thought about it, the more she was thinking of a personality that would match the fox and its powers. Alya was hard-headed, stubborn, and liked to charge in. That was not the type of personality that would match with subtle illusions and an animal that is known for being sneaky and quiet. A fox should be sneaky, know when to observe before taking action, and should also know what will work best when in the shadows.

And now that she really thought about it, there was one person she knew that would be a far better fit for the fox.

Ladybug landed right near a very familiar boat on the Seine. Her Ladybug luck must have been working because the exact person she needed was right on deck.

"Juleka," Ladybug called, jumping onto the boat.

"L...Ladybug," Juleka stuttered, shocked. "What are you doing here?"

"I need your help," Ladybug stated.

"M...My help," Juleka looked even more shocked. "What can I do? I'm not cut out to be a hero."

"You are more capable than you think, Juleka," Ladybug pulled out the box. "Juleka Couffaine, this is the miraculous of the fox, which grants the power of illusion. You will use it for the greater good. After the battle is over you must return the miraculous to me. Can I trust you?"

Juleka was a lot of things. She was shy, sweet, kind, had a good head on her shoulders, and had a dream to become a model. She never would have imagined anything like this ever happening to her.

"M...Me," she was beyond shocked at this point. "I...I'm no hero, Ladybug. And... what about Rena Rouge?"

"Rena has... lost my trust," Ladybug admitted. "She has been permanently retired and won't be returning."

"Oh," was all Juleka could say.

"Juleka, there is no bravery without fear," Ladybug tells the shy girl. "Being a hero does not mean being fearless and always jumping into danger without a second thought. It also means being careful and going in with a strategy. You are naturally quiet and observant, a perfect match for the fox miraculous."

"I'm not a hero, Ladybug," Juleka was still reluctant.

"We all have a hero inside of us, Juleka," Ladybug gave her a reassuring smile. "You do not need to be fearless to be a hero."

Juleka looked at the box that Ladybug was offering her again. She wanted to be confident, to be able to stand up to people if she has to, to put herself out there more. Now, she was being given that chance.

"Okay, Ladybug," she took the box and opened the lid.

A ball of light came out, flying around the goth girl. To her credit, she did not stare at the ball of light and exclaim "what is that thing" like Alya did.

"Hello, there," Trixx greeted, not showing how surprised he was at not seeing Alya.

"Rad," Juleka gasped.

"Not easily shook, is she," Trixx asked Ladybug.

"Guess with magical superheroes around, these things are being seen as more normal," Ladybug shrugged.

"Alright, then," Trixx turned back to Juleka. "My name's Trixx, and I will be your kwami."

"Kwami," Juleka was not as informed as Alya had been.

"I'm what gives my holders their powers," Trixx answered. "I am the kwami of illusion. To transform, you say 'Trixx, let's pounce.' Detransform, it's 'let's rest.' To call my power, play your flute, think the illusion you want, and say 'mirage."

Juleka put the necklace on, but she still looked nervous about doing this.

"You'll do great, Juleka," Ladybug smiled at her. "I know you will."

Juleka nodded. "Trixx, let's pounce."

Trixx was pulled into the necklace and Juleka transformed. Ladybug immediately noticed that her hero outfit was a lot different from Alya's.

For starters, her colors are midnight black and dark purple. Her torso was similar to Rena's but was dark purple where it was normally white and black where it would have been orange. But that was where the similarities ended. Over her torso clothing was a black leather jacket with streaks of purple on it. She also wore knee-high black boots that had no heel and matched the dark purple gloves on her hands. Behind her was a real fox tail instead of Rena's fabric one. The same difference was the real fox ears coming out of the top of her head. Her hair remained mostly the same but grew to where the tail started to come out of her. Over her eyes was a dark purple mask. Her flute also changed to purple and black and was strapped to her back.

"Wow," Ladybug gasped. "This might actually come in handy if we ever have another akuma at night to deal with. There would be plenty of shadows that you could blend into."

"This feels so awesome," Juleka looked at her costume.

"So, what will I call you," Ladybug asked.

"My name can be... Shadow Fox," Juleka chooses a hero identity.

"Cool," Ladybug smiled at her.

*****

Meanwhile, back at the battle, the three other heroes were trying their best to keep other civilians from becoming laughing messes. They already had to save Alya three times because of her need to film the fight even when it was a risk to her safety.

"Alya," Beautifly yelled in warning.

Make that four times.

The butterfly hero dived down and picked up the blogger. She just managed to fly out of reach of another sound blast from Jokester. She set Alya down on the roof of a building further from the fight.

"Hey, I need to be closer to the fight," Alya protested where she was put down. "I would never be able to get a proper video from here."

"Your life is not worth a simple video," Beautifly scolded. "Either stay away from the fight or just learn to dodge on your own. We can not keep saving you. It distracts us from defeating the akuma."

"I need this for my blog," Alya continued to protest.

"A blog post is not worth your life," Beautifly snapped at her.

She flew away before Alya could attempt to argue more with her. She saw Cat Noir and White Wolf standing on opposite sides of Jokester, hoping for at least one of them to get a hit in.

"Take this, Mr.Big-Nose," Cat Noir yelled, jumping at him while spinning his staff.

Jokester focused his attention on Cat Noir, raising his horn to make him laugh as well as blast him away. White Wolf fired an arrow when he was distracted. And this one finally met its mark. The arrow hit the horn and ice erupted around it, encasing his hand and the horn at the same time. That lead to the akum only being able to jump out of the way of Cat Noir's strike.

"Finally," Wolf says. "There is no worse feeling to an archer than constantly missing their target."

Cat Noir had to laugh at that, making the wolf hero playfully pout.

"Aw," Cat Noir looked at him. "A pouting wolf. How adorable."

"Call me adorable one more time and I will shove an arrow so far up your..." Wolf started.

"Don't want to be called adorable, then don't pout like that," Beautifly smirked, interrupting him.

"My quiver literally never runs out of arrows, you really want to tempt me," Wolf shakes his bow at them in a threatening manner.

"You're still cute, Wolfie," Cat Noir winked at him.

"Do not make me shoot you, Kitty," Wolf playfully threatened.

"You two are made for each other," Beautifly giggled.

"Am not," the two heroes could not hide their blushes.

"Someone needs to tell that Ladyblogger to take down that LadyNoir ship name," Beautifly giggled again. "Because that is obviously not happening."

Both male heroes were really going red, but their fun moment was ruined by Jokester.

"I will make you laugh if it is the last thing I do," he yelled.

"You'd think a clown would appreciate our senses of humor," Cat Noir commented.

The ice around the horn began to crack.

"Oh for the love of Hades," Wolf swore.

They all shot in different directions when the ice exploded with a sound blast that would have directly hit them.

"Looks like I need to layer on the ice," Wolf notched another arrow.

"Someone call for back-up," Ladybug's voice called.

Not even a second later, a black figure shot at Jokester and hit him with... was that a flute? The clown was knocked right into a nearby wall.

"That was the akuma I just hit, right," the figure asked, her voice telling them that she was female.

The rest of the team got their first real look at Shadow Fox.

"That is most definitely not Rena Rouge," Cat Noir immediately said.

"You can call me Shadow Fox, kitten," Shadow responded.

"This is an interesting development," Wolf commented.

"Indeed, it is," Beautifly agreed.

Alya, who had finally managed to get close to the fight again, was unbelievably shocked, not to mention angry.

"I'm Rena Rouge," she thought, angrily. "I was right here, why would Ladybug give someone else the fox miraculous. She doesn't even look like a fox."

The three did a quick look, up and down, of Shadow Fox. She was certainly a lot more different than Rena Rouge in terms of looks. And the way that she was able to just shoot at Jokester and nail like that meant that she was comfortable with being quiet even when attacking.

"That was a good hit," Wolf complimented. "Probably one of the few that have happened in this fight."

"Uh... thanks," Shadow said.

"I'm more happy about there now being three heroes with dark-colored outfits compared to the two with bright colors," Beautifly remarked. "We outnumber them, now."

"Finally," Cat Noir cheered in agreement.

"I resent both of you," Ladybug pointed at them, playfully glaring as well.

"At least the two of us stand out more," Wolf smirked.

Jokester than started to get up. He noticed that there were now five heroes against him instead of just the three he had been fighting.

"Oh, look," he gave them a creepy smile. "More people to join in my plan of spreading laughter. Goodie."

"This guy is really creepy," Shadow stated.

"See, she agrees with me," Wolf said.

They all dodged another sound blast.

"Okay, time to end this," Ladybug says. "Lucky Charm."

She threw her yo-yo into the air, calling whatever object that was going to appear. It came in a flash of light as usual and then fell into her hands.

"You have got to be kidding me," Beautifly said, looking at the object.

It was one of those ridiculous fake clown flowers. The ones with a small pump at the end of a tube to squirt water out of the flower.

"What in the world am I supposed to do this," Ladybug looked at it.

"You better figure it out quickly," Wolf called out to her.

He was running across rooftops along the street, continuously firing arrows at the demented clown. But none of the arrows met their mark because they were all destroyed by Jokester's sound blast.

"I'll try and give us some more help," Beautifly says. "Nature's Heart."

Her razor flower spun around her, landing on her hand in front of her. Out of the center of the flower appeared a blossom. This one was oddly known my Shadow Fox.

"That's a water lily," she said, making Beautifly look at her. "I grew up near the water, so I have a lot of aqua facts up my sleeves."

"Okay," Beautifly says. "Then I know exactly what this does. And it does make sense. Sound can not move through the water. Everyone out of the way!"

The butterfly hero took the flower and raised it in front of her. Jokester barely had time to look at her when a powerful torrent of water came shooting out of the flower. She loved her ability to call enchanted flowers, even if she never knew what she was going to get.

Jokester shot another sound blast, but the water was too powerful for it. The sound blast was now acting more like a shield as it tried to keep the water at bay. The heroes all stood on different roofs to avoid the torrent.

"I have never loved flowers more than right now," Cat Noir said.

"That's my partner for you," Wolf grinned.

Ladybug looked around, using her Ladybug vision to work out how to use what she had. Shadow Fox was the first to flash in her sight, then the water gun flower, then White Wolf's bow and arrows, and finally Cat Noir. She now had a plan.

"I can't hold this for much longer," Beautifly shouted.

Ladybug quickly made her way over to Shadow Fox.

"When Beautifly stops her attack, that is when you need to call your illusion," she tells her.

"But... what do I even create," Shadow asked, holding her flute tightly.

"Trust in yourself," Ladybug says. "You'll know what to do."

Shadow Fox nodded, holding her flute. Ladybug then went over to White Wolf and Cat Noir to explain their parts of the plan.

It was not long before the water stopped coming out of the lily that Beautifly was holding. She looked at it, frustrated for a second, before having to take off again as a sound blast nearly hit her. When Jokester went to fire his horn again, Shadow Fox put her flute to her lips and played the tune that activated her power.

"Mirage," she whispered, throwing the ball of light.

In a flash, there were many copies of the heroes along the rooftops. And no two groups were in the same positions, so Jokester could not work out which was which based on how they looked.

"NO," Jokester yelled, confused on where to fire.

Having been looking up, at all the copies, Jokester did not notice the flower that Ladybug had managed to sneak in front of him. When he stepped onto the pump, the flower squirted water right into his face, further distracting and confusing him.

Hidden in two different alleyways were Cat Noir and White Wolf as they waited to do their parts. When Jokester had his back to White Wolf as he was trying to blast all the copies while still trying to wipe the water off of his face and out of his eyes. The icy hero came out as quietly as he could, raising his notched arrow. Aiming as carefully as he could, he fired. The arrow sailed through the air, making contact close to the bottom of the horn, freezing it and knocking it out of Jokester's hand.

"My horn," he cried. "I need that to spread laughter."

Ladybug was quick to jump out of her hiding place and use her yo-yo to wrap around his legs and trip the villain.

"Cat Noir, now," Ladybug yelled.

"Cataclysm," the black cat called, his hand bubbling with black energy.

He jumped up, touching the frozen horn with his hand. The horn instantly turned to dust, falling into icy pieces. A black butterfly flew out of the remains.

"No more evil-doing for you, little akuma," Ladybug opened her yo-yo and threw it at the insect. "Time to de-evilize."

Ladybug released the butterfly, the creature now being white. She then threw the fake flower into the air, letting her Miraculous Cure sweep over the city. As the swarm of ladybugs vanished, three of the heroes started beeping because of the timers on their miraculous for using their powers. Ladybug and Shadow Fox were left with four minutes and Beautifly had three left. Cat Noir was probably close to having four minutes left but White Wolf did not use his power so he was not on a timer.

"LADYBUG," Alya shouted, running toward them.

"And... that is our cue to leave," Wolf stated. "I am not getting involved in this."

"Me neither," Beautifly agrees. "I'd rather fight the spirit of one of the furies."

The Greek heroes flew/ jumped away. Cat Noir then looked at Ladybug.

"I don't really know why she is angry, but I'm not getting involved in whatever happened that made her so mad," he tells her.

"Can I come with you," Shadow asked before he could leave. "I can hide and give you the miraculous so that you don't find out who I am."

"I'm cool with that," Cat Noir responded.

The two quickly left as well and Ladybug was left alone with the blogger.

"Yes, Alya," the hero knew that this conversation was going to happen.

"How... How... You replaced me," the Ladyblogger managed to get out. "I was right here, how could you replace me?!?"

"Because, Alya, you have lost my trust," Ladybug stated.

"Lost your trust? But I didn't do anything," Alya protested.

"Really? Because I recall telling you, multiple times, to stop trying to figure out my identity," Ladybug crossed her arms. "And yet you continue to try. I saw your latest blog post. That not only puts me in danger if your theory is even correct, but it also puts innocent girls in danger that anyone thinks could be me."

"The people deserve to know who is protecting them," Alya argued.

"And does that fact that my friends and family will be targeted by Hawkmoth mean nothing to you," Ladybug glared at her.

"Hawkmoth will not attack them," Alya tries to argue.

"And what reason do you have to think that," Ladybug was not going to back down. "Do you have him on speed-dial? Do you have a video of him saying that he would leave them alone? What proof do you have that he will not attack my family and friends?"

"Well, Lila is still..." Alya was interrupted.

"Her again," Ladybug shook her head. "I told that girl months ago to stop saying that she knew me and that we're friends. It was annoying then and it's annoying now."

Alya was undeniably shocked.

"But... she said..." Alya was interrupted again.

"Let me make one thing perfectly clear," Ladybug says. "The only way that me, Cat Noir, White Wolf, Beautifly, and any other hero in Paris knows Lila Rossi is when she has either been akumatized, been chased by an akuma, or has been the cause of one. Neither me, nor any other hero, is friends with her and she needs to stop lying by saying that she is."

"You're just saying that to protect her," Alya was in denial at this point.

"This is why you no longer will be given the fox miraculous," Ladybug remains glaring at her. "You are so in denial about the truth unless it suits you and what you believe. You go running head-first into danger, not caring about your safety or how it distracts me and the other heroes when we constantly need to save you. You also only ever publish what gets you more views on your blog. Lila Rossi's video, your theories about who I am, and I noticed that you still have not taken down that story you posted that accuses Cat Noir of stealing the Mona Lisa. That was a villain called Copycat, who was akumatized to look just like Cat Noir. We told everyone that, yet you still have not taken that article down or posted an apology to him."

"But... But... I..." Alya was speechless, for once.

"There is more to being a good journalist than clickbait articles," Ladybug got her yo-yo out again. "Looking for facts is also a big part of being a reporter. Maybe you need to think about that. Bug out."

Ladybug then swung away to retrieve the fox miraculous that Shadow Fox gave to Cat Noir.

[btsslowburnfic]

BTS Reacts: Visiting the Pumpkin Patch/Apple Orchard-Hyung Line

It’s Fall AF where I live. I don’t know if these are a thing in the rest of the world, but here in Midwest USA I’ve already been to two apple orchards and a pumpkin patch. Happy Fluffy Friday ^_^

-Jin- You were so excited. Chuseok had just ended and Jin still had 2 days off. You decided it was time to usher in the new season with a trip to the Apple Orchard. “Why don’t we just go to the grocery store and buy apples?” your boyfriend jokingly complained as the two of you drove out into the country. “It’s not the same! It’s about the experience.” you adjust your sunglasses as the car winds down a curvy road. “The experience of picking apples? Isn’t this just them getting free labor?” You roll your eyes. “Whatever. This place also has a concession stand, animals, and a giant slide and zipline.” Suddenly you have his interest. “Oh? Really?” “Yep. So much more than just picking apples.” you say as the car turns down the first dirt road to the orchard. It’s a weekday so it isn't too busy. You mask up and pay the nominal admission fee. “Oh my God, Jin LOOK THEY HAVE ALPACAS” you squeal as you rush over to the petting zoo area. Jin jogs over behind you, “Just like RJ. These must be his brothers, AJ and MJ.” You laugh as you dig through your bag for a coin. “And look,” you gesture to the machine with food in it, “We can feed them!!!!!” You twist your coin in and little pellets fall out the bottom. You walk over to the fence and place your palm flat for the animals to come over and eat. “So cool. I’ve never seen a real alpaca up close.” you marvel at their size as they head over. Jin snaps a picture of you feeding them and then has you take a picture of him with them to post on Weverse later. “I can’t believe there’s not an RJ in the car,” Jin laments his missed photo opportunity while posing with AJ and MJ.   “Perfect. Triplets.” you joke and hand him his phone back. “Alright, let’s wash our hands and pick some apples!” Jin groans, “They have bags of apples in the gift shop that someone else already picked.” “Oh my God are you still whining about apple picking?” you playfully shove him. “Fine. Let’s wash our hands and then do the zipline and then pick apples.” you amend your statement. He kisses your forehead. “Much better.”   The two of you scrub the alpaca saliva off and head up the hay stairs to the zipline. “Look how big the orchard is!” you exclaim from the top of the hay bales. Jin slowly walks up behind you. “Yeah and think. People already probably picked all the apples up front, we’d have to walk all the way over there,” he gestures unnecessarily with his long arms towards the back of the orchard, “just to find them.” “We CAME here to PICK APPLES,” you grit your teeth and try to look annoyed since at this point you knew he was just teasing you. He gets strapped into the zipline. “I’m just saying, it seems like a lot of work.” You roll your eyes at him, “Hey Jin, baby?” “What?”  he turns back from getting ready to slide down the cable and smiles at you. “I just think you look cute.” you answer and lean over to kiss him. And then shove him down the zipline. “Byyeeeeeeee!” you yell and wave as you hear him shrieking. The attendant looks at you quizzically. “He’s fine. He’s fine.” you assure them as they get you strapped in. You  jump off the platform and through the air. When you arrive at the other side you see Jin pouting which makes you start to laugh. You turn in your zipline gear and walk over to him. “What’s the matter, pretty pouty man?” you put your arms around him. “You shoved me down a zipline.” he whines. “Ahahaha I did.” You lean back to look at him, amused that he’s trying really hard to keep pouting. “It was so mean.” “It was. I am terrible. Can you ever forgive me?” you place your hands on his chest and look up at him. “Only if you don’t make me pick apples.” he says with a straight face. You scowl at him and pull away. You hear his trademark laugh following you down the hill.

-RM/Namjoon- “Pumpkin patch. Pumpkin patch. Pumpkin patch!” you start chanting as you walk over to your husband on the couch. “Is that what today is?” he pulls you down next to him and you snuggle into his side. “Joonie,” you whine, “you said if the weather was nice we would go.” “I’m just teasing baby, here,” he shows you on his phone where he’s been researching the ratings of the pumpkin patches in town. You loved how much research he always put into everything. “I’m so excited. I haven’t been to one in years.” you smile. “Did you pick one?” “Yep, and I charged the fancy camera so we can get some nice pictures today as well.” “You are the best!” you lean over and kiss him on the cheek. “Let me grab some boots out of the closet and then I’ll be ready to go.” You are surprised that one of the highest rated ones is only a few minutes outside the city. You drive the short distance and arrive at a beautiful farm sprinkled in red, yellow, and orange leaves. “Oh my God, this is beautiful.” you say as you exit the driver’s side. Namjoon already has the camera out and shoots some photos of the barn and trees. “I’m so glad you brought the camera,” you say as you nervously watch him handle the thousands-of-dollars camera. “But make sure you use the wrist or neck strap.” “Are you saying you don’t trust me to hold an expensive item without breaking it?” he pretends to act shocked. You smile and walk over. “I would never say that,” you place the strap around his wrist and laugh as you look up at him. “Never.” He laughs. “I totally would have. Or left it sitting somewhere. Thanks for talking me into taking today off.”  He takes you by the hand as the two of you head down to the farmhouse. e There is a small general store full of breads, james, hay bales, and scarecrows. Much fall. So knickknack. You walk over to the counter where a farmer is sorting produce, “Excuse me sir, which way to the pumpkin patch?” “Head out the back of the barn. You can either ride the wagon back there or walk.” The two of you exit the barn and find yourself in the middle of a group of about fifty small children and their chaperones. “Oh.” Namjoon says, his eyes involuntarily going wide. “It must be a school trip. That’s ok. We can walk back there, I think they’re waiting for the wagon.” The two of you ease your way through the tiny mob and start walking down the gravel. “Alright. We have to beat that wagon before the field has 50 fewer pumpkins,” you say as you pump your arms and channel your inner speed walker. “And get some pictures without random children in them,” he adds. By the time the two of you walk the Kilometer to the patch you two are slightly out of breath. “Alright. Let’s find the perfect pumpkin.” you say as you survey the patch. The two of you wander the fields scouting out the perfect size and color pumpkin. Namjoon takes some photos of the field and you. “Ok, time to trade,” you say, gesturing to the camera. “I don’t know.” he suddenly acts shy. “Oh come on, you have to. You’re wearing your plaid shirt, it’s like you purposefully dressed to be a pumpkin patch model.” you grin as you take the camera from him. You snap some photos of him and the rural landscape.  You hear the throttle of the tractor and a bunch of kid voices getting closer so the two of you each grab a pumpkin and start walking back to the farmhouse. The wagon of children all wave excitedly and point at the two of you and your pumpkins. Namjoon laughs and waves back with his free hand. “Did you have a good time?” he asks as the two of you enter the general store. “I did. I felt a little rushed because of the kids but that’s ok. It looks like they’re having fun.” You smile. “You’ll be such a great parent someday,” he smiles as he leans over to kiss you.

-Suga/Yoongi- “More coffee.” Yoongi’s gravely morning voice requests after you remind him it’s apple orchard day. He had gotten out of bed and was now doing a great impression of a rock as he sat at the kitchen table with his face in his hands. “Honey, they have cider at the orchard.” “Cider doesn’t have caffeine,” he responds. “Coffee.” You run your fingers through his hair and smile  “Fine, fine.” you walk over to the Nespresso and make a cup of coffee for him. You take the mug over and slide onto his lap. “I’d be careful if you want to make it to the apple orchard.” he growls into your ear and squeezes your waist. “Yoongi,” you giggle and stand up. “There’s time for that after the apple orchard.” you wink and walk over to your purse. “We need to leave here in 45 minutes.” “Why? Are we on a schedule?” “A little bit. We’re meeting up with Tae and Jimin.” “Oh yeah? Cool.” he monotonously responds as he continues to wake up more and more with each sip. -- It’s a beautiful fall day with a light breeze blowing and the sun shining. It’s perfect for what you have planned. The ride up was nice but quiet. You were super nervous about how the afternoon was going to go. "Are Tae and Jimin here yet?" Yoongi asks as he pulls into the parking lot. You check your messages. "Yep. They're already out in the orchard and say we should head out to meet them." you exit the car and wait for yoongi. The two of you hold hands as you look for the best way to get into the orchard. You weave in and out of the apple trees looking for your friends. “It’s so beautiful today.” he says quietly. “It really is. Do you remember the last time we came here?” He smiles, “Oh yep. I remember. Speaking of, do you have your epi-pen with you?” “Of course,” you pat your purse. Eventually you find where Tae and Jimin had set up. “What’s all this?” Yoongi gestured to the blanket and basket sitting in the clearing. “Tae and Jimin set this up, they went to the car and said to have a seat and wait for them.” “Are you sure this is their stuff?” he mumbles. “Yep. They sent me a picture,” you flash it to him. “Let’s go find them.” he starts to pull you the other direction. “No. We should really stay and wait for them. I don’t want to get lost.” you say as you head over to the large hounds tooth blanket and have a seat. “Since when are you worried about being lost? We wandered the streets of Dublin for hours.” “I just want to make sure we don’t miss our friends. Come sit with me,” you pat the  spot on the blanket carefully. Yoongi looks toward the entrance one more time and then gives in, coming over to sit next to you. You check your phone one more time. Satisfied, you slip it into your purse. You stiffen as a bee flies over to the blanket. “Aish, I got it.” He pulls his sleeve over his hand and swats it away. “If I see another one, we’re getting up and moving. Actually, an apple orchard was a terrible idea to come to with your allergy.” “I know, I know. I thought about that too but I wanted to come here today. I remember the last time we were here.” “Yeah, I thought you were going to die.” Yoongi says, trying to sound casual, but you can detect the slight shake in his voice. You shrug and take him by the hand, “But I didn’t. And that’s the day I knew that you were the one for me.” You lean over and kiss him gently on the lips. “You stayed calm and helped me inject myself and then took me to the hospital and stayed even though I kept begging you to just leave while delirious and crying.” He smiles shyly, “Yeah, it was what, like our second or third date? I called Namjoon to cancel going to practice and he yelled at me for even being out on a date and then I hung up on him.” “What? You never told me that before,” you exclaim. You had no idea you’d caused any drama. “I didn’t want to worry you.” he replies, gently pushing your hair behind your ear. “Well, that’s why I wanted to come back here today,” you begin as you grab a small box out of your purse. “I knew on that day that you would do anything to protect me and just how much you care about me even though it was so early in our relationship. I don’t deserve you, but if you’ll have me, I’d like to make forever official with you,” you open the box and present him with a small black band. “Are you proposing to me?” he asks quietly. “I’m trying to. Am I doing a bad job?” you ask nervously, suddenly worried he’s going to say ‘no.’ He smiles and takes the band out and looks at it.  “No. I’m just surprised. And happy.” he puts it on. “So….is that a yes?” you ask nervously. He looks up at you with wet eyes. “Of course.” he leans over and the two of you kiss, it slowly turns into a make-out session until you hear someone clear their throat. You pull away smiling and look over at Taehyung and Jimin. “They’re actually here?” he says surprised. “Congratulations!” Jimin yells and attacks Yoongi with a hug. “Did you get any pictures?” you ask Tae. “Oh yeah. Lots of them,” he smiles at you. “You did a great job planning this.” “You were all in on this!?” Yoongi exclaims, throwing Jimin off of him. “Yep! I wanted Taehyung to take pictures and Jimin wanted to join as well.” “Aish, I’m lucky to have such great friends,” he leans over and quietly in your ear, “and such a wonderful fiance.”

-JHope/Hoseok- Your boyfriend is sitting on the couch dragging his feet about going out today, "It's not a haunted corn maze, right?" Hoseok asks you for the 50th time with a disgusted look on his face. You let out a sigh and put your hands on his shoulders. "No babe it's just a normal corn maze where we wander around and try to get to the other side." "... I don't know." "I think you are emotionally scarred from Run BTS," you say as you press a kiss to the top of his head and move to sit next to him.  "We don't have to do the corn maze if you don't want to.”  You take his hand in yours. “Let's just go and pet the pumpkins. If we decide to do something else while we're there that's fine too." "OK sounds good. I saved some cool carvings on my phone," he pulls it out to show you a few intricate designs he's saved. "ooo very cool. We'll need at least 2 big pumpkins and a few medium. Are you ready?" you ask as you put your bag over your shoulder. He grabs a cap and follows you out the door. ------ The pumpkin patch is just outside the city and is famous for its corn maze. This year it is in the shape of an underwater scene with fish, whales, and dolphins. You point out the picture at the entrance to Hobi emphasizing the “family friendly” parts of the poster. “I’m not saying we have to. I’m just showing you what it looks like.” you emphasize as the two of you walk over to the barn area. There are chickens and horses lazily wandering around the yard. “Have you ever been to a farm before?” he asks you as you take photos of the animals. “No. Is it obvious?” you laugh. “I’ve seen horses before but not just like wandering around with chickens and stuff.” “You’re cold,” he states rather than asks. “Here,” he takes off his sweatshirt and hands it to you. “Now you’ll be cold.” you say as you put on the still-warm sweatshirt. You not-so-secretly loved taking your boyfriend’s hoodies. “I’m fine. Besides, if we walk through that giant maze I’m sure we’ll work up a sweat. And the sun is coming out.” he smiles at you. He just radiates happiness, it’s one of the things you love about him. “You’ll try the corn maze? Really?” you turn and face him, wrapping your now-warm body around him. “Yes, I’ll try it.” he kisses you on the tip of your nose. “I read and it says they have emergency exits if we need to leave.” You laugh, “Well hopefully we won’t have to use them, but it’s nice to have the option.” The two of you wander over to the sign marked “Entrance” and take a few pictures for posterity and then begin wandering around. You hit several dead ends and Hoseok flinches a few times turing around corners. “Babe are you still worried there are zombies in here?” you ask, trying not to laugh because you know even though it’s silly, he’s scared. “..No. Just making sure we don’t run into people. Alive or otherwise.” You laugh. “Hey, here’s one of the emergency exits, “you gesture to a sign above the dead end the two of you have just walked into. “No. Not yet. We’re not giving up.” his voice sounds determined. “We’re going to conquer this corn maze. Or at least try for another 30 minutes, I’m getting hungry.” he grins as you two double back. You set a timer on your phone but when it goes off the two of you have a feeling you are getting close to the exit because you have moved pretty far along the treeline. You had the wherewithal to take a photo of the maze back at the Pumpkin Patch entrance so you know the exit is on the North side of the maze. “I think this is it!” he yells excitedly, pulling you by the hand and breaking out into a run.  You turn one last corner and the two of you emerge victorious. He takes your hands and raises them above your head in true champion fashion.  You take a picture of your sweaty happy smiles in front of the exit sign. “I knew we could do it!” you exclaim and lean over to kiss him.  “Hey Hobi,” you say, catching your breath still. “Yeah?” “Let’s just eat food and get pumpkins from the farm store. I don’t want to hike to the back of the farm to the pumpkin patch.” “Oh thank God,” he says, “I thought I was going to have to beg you not to.”  he laughs. “Seriously. I want one of everything from the concession stand.” you say as the two of you walk back towards the farmhouse. “Ahaha me too. I love you.” “I love you too.”

[danniscure]

5 times Peter loved his and Harley’s height difference, and one time he really didn't.

Peter was talking to Tony in the break room, standing near the kitchen table while Harley walked in. he didn't notice Harley being there and continued talking about last night's mission, and Harley, being Harley, wanted some attention. so he stood behind peter, and rested his chin on peter's head, while positioning his elbows on peters shoulders. Peter flinched with surprise, then rolled his eyes and smiled. “hey, harls”. Harley smirked. “morning, darling”, said, pressing a kiss to Peter's cheek, then went to make coffee. Peter continued to tell tony about the mission, now smiling, while tony looked at them both, a smug look on his face.

Peter was standing in the hallway near their lockers, next to Mj, waiting for ned to arrive so they can all go to peter's house to work on a school project. “what's going on?” he heard Harley's voice, and said boyfriend placed his arm on peter's head, using him for support. “I AM NOT A SHELF for the 100th time!” peter said, smiling and shoving Harley's hand off of his head and Harley giggled. Mj answered that they're waiting for Ned to arrive to go to his house for a school project, and Peter asked him if he wanted to come too. Harley smiled and placed his arm back on Peter's head. “sure, shortie”. “hARLEY I SWEAR TO GOD-” he was cut off by Ned finally arriving. “thank god you're here, those love birds are making me sick” Mj said. Peter and Harley smiled at each other.

when he got the news, Harley broke down. they were in the middle of a mission when Karen told them Harley needed to get back to the tower immediately in Tony's orders. when they got there, Harley without his metal suit and Peter without his mask, Tony told Harley his mom passed away, back in Tennessee, and that Abby his sister is sent to the stark tower to be with him. Harley just stared at him- poker-faced. Peter looked at him in concern. “no” Harley said simply. Tony looked at him, grief and sympathy in his eyes. “no” Harley continued mumbling. “no, no. this isn't happening” he got up, Peter after him, grabbing his hand. “Harley..” he said quietly, tears already forming in his eyes. Harley looked at him. “it's okay to cry. you don't have anyone to be strong for right now. I'm not judging you, I know how that feels.” Harley just stared at him for a few seconds, then Peter pulled him into a hug. It was a small detail, and maybe it wasn't important at the moment, with everything that's happening, but when Harley hugged Peter, holding him tight, Peter's ear was placed right in front of Harley's heart. and so he hugged him tighter and listened to Harley's steady heartbeats.

Harley was talking to ned next to his locker, waiting for Peter, hands in his hoodie pockets. it was cold. suddenly he felt a pair of ice-cold hands hugging him from behind. “hey”, he said, turning around smiling. “continue, I'm not bothering” peter said lazily. Harley smiled again, grabbed Peters' hands and put them inside of his hoodie pocket- that way peter was hugging him. Peter smiled to himself, and rested his forehead on Harley's back, while he and Ned continued with their conversation.

one of Peter's favorite things to do was to steal Harley's clothes. anything that is in Harley's closet that isn't fancy- Peter steals. and Harley doesn't complain- Peter was so adorable in his hoodies, sweater paws and all- that Harley melted every time peter showed up in one of his sweaters or shirts. so when they had an avengers-only movie night at the tower one day, and Peter showed up in Harley's old green high school hoodie, looking so cute, Harley was so overwhelmed he couldn't take his hands off of peter the whole night.

+1. they were on a date at the park, and Harley saw a familiar face, so of course he went to say hi. The guy, looking about 30 years old, introduced himself to Peter, shaking his hand, while Harley told peter he used to be an intern at the stark tower. Peter shook his hand back, and the man asked “are you his little brother?”. It was quiet for a few seconds then Harley burst out laughing. “this is peter, my boyfriend.” the man's face turned red just like Peter's. “oh- sorry”. Harley continued laughing. “it's okay” and then looked at the time, apologized, and said they have to go.

Harley hasn't stopped bugging and teasing Peter with this for weeks.

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5+1 about their heights! by @lilacsandlilies4

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Tags: @lilacsandlilies4 @23-crackers-and-a-bit @transpeterp <3

[thestarkerisobvious]

Sixteen - The Masked Librarian

amazing art work by @starker-sorbet​  A snugglefic for @mrstarksbabyy​

Sixteen

1 The Masked Librarian

After his sixteenth birthday, Peter used his birthday money to buy several notebooks and spent the summer filling them up with the facts he had gleaned from Tony, along with the books he had gotten from the libraries.  For fear they would be found, he wrote a lie in bold marker on the covers:  

                                                Novel Ideas:  

                                              Ideas for a Novel

Putting a timeline together with the information he got from Tony was impossible.  Tony was far more concerned with his duties around the farm than who was actually ordering him around.  

Peter’s constant questions finally made it clear – Tony had never been terribly concerned with whom he was serving, as long as he was fed and had a job to do.  Who was the son, nephew or uncle or son-of-the-uncle of whom ultimately did not concern him.  The title of “Master” wasn’t even passed on directly from father to son in every case, although it was, Peter finally ascertained, only given to a male blood relative of the original Post homesteader.  There were other problems, too, with the things Peter was being told.  Tony had no interest in years or wars or anything in American history that Peter could plot along a timeline.  Peter quickly learned there was no point in asking “which war?”  Tony had never understood which wars were which, just that men sometimes left for them.  To Tony, all the wars were “The War.”  To further complicate things, Peter strongly suspected that New York City was referred to as “New Amsterdam” by the Post family long after it was really called something else.

What he could find in the libraries was sparse.  The best he could find was the same stories they had been told when they bought the house: that two Post brothers had come from Germany and married a woman who was related to the royal family in Portugal.  That the boys were always taught German in honor of the patriarchs and the girls Portuguese, for the same reason.  That a Post had been a famous hero in the Civil War until he died by Direct Encounter With A Cannonball.  No other details.

Until the 1920s.  That’s when things got interesting..  The Post Homestead, at one time, had been a type of artist colony, which was to say, the sprawling Post family were famous for inviting artists to live, sometimes for years, as guests in their multi-generation household.    This had started out as a series of artisans hired to tutor the multiple Post daughters.  Over the decades this had become a tiny thriving community.  Mostly painters and sculptors, according to the books, but there were musicians too.  This had caused a conflict between the Post family and the town – for a period of the time the Post Homestead had been bringing in jazz musicians at great expense, much to the delight of the tiny artistic community.  To the town at large, not so much.  (Those of the African American persuasion were welcomed to come and work in Devil’s Hollow, but not “let the sun set” upon them.  The Post Family apparently did not share those same reservations.)

What happened after that was hard to piece together.  Tony wasn’t around to ask, and even if he was, he might not have known the answer.  But the death of Jedediah Post certainly must have been a turning point. 

Or maybe it just seemed that way to Peter because that was the most newsworthy event he could find.  Jedediah Post was a man of considerable wealth, and left a great deal of it to the towns around him, as well as three different museums in New York City.  But none to Devil’s Hollow.  The amount of art the family had amassed was significant, including paintings, sculptures and something called “art deco” which, as far as Peter could tell, involved a lot of very fancy furniture.  The donations were large and it was easy to track down stories about them.  Some of the museums in New York City he had even been to, although he had never seen the art in question (he was more of a Science Exhibit man himself) but some Aunt May had seen. 

The breadth of the donations was breathtaking, but mostly Peter’s research turned up bitterness and resentment.  Jedediah Post had left nothing to the Devil’s Hollow library, nor the museum (there had been one in those days) nor the school.  Apparently After-You-Die Donations had been a local phenomenon in Devil’s Hollow, particularly from the Post family.  That ended, it appeared, with Jedediah. 

Was there a reason?  Did Jed Post attempt to create an artistic community at the Post Homestead, and resent the town’s undue influence on whom he was allowed to invite?  Or did he simply make more friends outside the boundaries of the town than in?  And was that why the sprawling Post family all relocated elsewhere?  Whatever had happened, sometime in between the 1930’s and the 40’s the last Post son was living there completely and utterly by himself. 

Was he hated by the townspeople because he was a hostile misanthrope, or did he become a hostile misanthrope BECAUSE he was hated by the townspeople?   Whatever had happened, the Post estate had gone from a busy, noisy, bustling place to a house with one resident.  

Evan Post.

Evan Post… and Tony.

When Peter wasn’t pouring over his books he was remembering what it was like to be wrapped up in the arms of the thing that lived under the bed.  Which reminded him of his promise to the thing that lived under his bed.  He took long walks daily, getting sunlight and climbing every available surface that looked climbable, doing all those things that he had been promised would make him “healthy.”  Exercise by itself was boring, but the further he could walk the more wildlife he could observe.  The higher he climbed, the same.  Aunt May started to call him “The Spider” as he came home daily reporting all the wildlife he had observed from dizzying heights.  The exercise did him good, it made him hungrier at night and soon he had grown several inches and put on more weight.  He admired himself in the bathroom mirror, he enjoyed standing on the scale.  He was proud of his new body.  

He couldn’t wait to show Tony.

The long walks into the forest and the many hours sitting in trees gave Peter time to think about what life had been like for his friend in the years between Jedediah and Evan Post.  Which led to even weightier thoughts about what life had been like for Tony in the years between life in the monastery and life with the stylite Simeon the Elder.

Primarily, Peter thought about Tony, and what Tony liked to eat.

In the monastery, it appeared Tony and the others (the ones he called “us”) were fed just like guard dogs.  Or more correctly, like hellhounds.  They were fed on cattle and “infernal vapors” and, on rare occasions, people.  All until he was sent to live with Simeon on a pillar where he learned how to feed entirely on feelings.

Peter went over it in his head many times, the things Tony had said about Simeon and his other monk-lover, the one he had left behind without a single thought.  Simeon he had loved, Peter was sure of it.  “I was his beloved,” Tony had said.  (He had also spoken about touching, about pretending to be shy, about needing to be ‘taught.’  Peter tried not to think about that, but he did.  He thought about it a lot.)  

It was true, Tony might have loved Simeon the same way he loved the fields of cattle being raised to feed him, but he loved the man nonetheless.  Spent 12 years with him on a pillar, when he was supposed to be convincing him to return to the monastery.  Protected his ability to ask questions. Took away his hurt and his desire to hurt himself.   Lived on that, and nothing but that, until the day he was forced to kill the man.  That was something he could not control, Peter was certain, any more than he could control being after “sent into the ground.”

The next thing he knew, he was working in the New World.  Was he fed with farm animals, too, working on the farm as he did?  The only thing Peter could think of was the roaring twenties and the artists that lived and created at the Post Homestead.  The layout of the little artist colony was easy to see from his vantage points in the tops of trees or in his hiding place in the empty barn.    Barns, silos, and animal stalls had been razed and almost a dozen cottage-like guest cottages built by Jedediah in his day, only to be raized to their foundations by Evan decades later.  Had Evan despised growing up in that cacophony, unable to find a quiet place to himself, destroying all vestiges of it in his old age?  Or had he treasured that life, growing up in the safety of his title as son of the lord of the manor, removing the artists village when he finally understood he would never see the likes of it again?  Had he hated people as an old man because he had hated people all his life?  Of had he considered the composers, painters and sculptures the ‘normal’ people, and hated the people of Devil’s Holler’ because they were anything but normal?

Even knowing what Evan Post had done, Peter could still sympathies.  He himself had to go to school with boys his age who complained that the “for’ners, n-words and queers” were taking over the country, while he sat in silence and day-dreamed about the day he could go to college in New York City and be surrounded by “for’ners, n-words and queers” again.

Peter tried to picture it, sitting up in a tree and observing the whole of the Post Homestead.  A little village of people, creating, despairing, hoping, disappointing, arguing, loving, scheming, fearing.  And Tony underneath it, grazing on it all.  Tony spoke of feeding from artists after the work was done, or else the work would never get finished.  Did he know it instinctively?  Or did he learn through trial and error?  How much art was never complete because he fed too soon?  It couldn’t have been much, the finished artworks that DID come from the Post Homestead were legion.  Did the artists even know they were feeding Tony their light?  Was it voluntary?  Mandatory?  Tony remembered a grandmother that called him “a musa,” The Muse.  Did they think Tony was the cause of the art that was produced in this place, or did they realize he was simply growing stronger from it?

And where did the money come from?  The Post Homestead was an actual farm, and then one day it wasn’t.  Were the artists all brought here because Jedediah Post was a very rich man, and knew what he wanted to spend his wealth upon art?  Or did Jedediah invest his money into feeding Tony, which in turn made him a very rich man?

And how difficult was it for Tony, feasting on the light of sculptors, painters and controversial Jazz musicians, to learn how to live on nothing but the hate and fear of Evan Post?  What did that turn him into?  Tony readily admitted that he had driven off everyone who had come to live in the Post Homestead before Peter’s family, driving them away because all he wanted to drink was fear.  Couldn’t stop seeking out fear, causing the fear, even when he realized his own greed was driving away his only source of food.

And he had tried to inspire fear in Peter and his little family of three, Peter remembered.  When his quiet family moved into the vast house they decided, that very first night, that there was a good reason why the Post Homestead was considered haunted.  Their quiet country home was anything but quiet. It wasn’t as noisy as their New York City apartment, of course, but still not quiet.  Not only did floors creak and doors slam in empty rooms, but entire wings groaned and floorboards squeaked in the exact rhythm of footsteps.  The wind howled under the porch like an angry monster.  The first night in their new home not a single member of the family slept a wink.

So, naturally, the little family sat at the breakfast table the next and formulated a plan – a research plan.  That very day they set out for the tiny town library, got library cards, and searched out books on architecture.  When the library proved lacking they drove to the next town and did the same.  Soon Peter had a pile of books to read and May and Ben set out to fix up their Still-Quieter-Than-New-York-City farmhouse.  Peter found the books fascinating, had read them to May as she worked in the kitchen or Ben as he worked on the fences, but when those two ran him off he mostly he found himself reading out loud to himself in his room.

And, just like that, the noises quieted down.

The wolves, too, that had howled with alarming frequency when they first arrived (alarming because they had been assured there were no wolves in the woods anymore) dried up the very weekend Peter had come home with an armload of books about canines.  At the time it seemed to Peter that he had superpowers.  Whatever alarming phenomenon their haunted house produced, Peter could make it go away just by researching it.  He joked about it with Aunt May as he read to her about plumbing at the breakfast table (the obvious reason for the growling sounds coming from the basement.)  She called him “The Masked Librarian.” 

Now, he realized, he had been doing something else entirely.  Tony had lived on a diet of fear.  But Peter was only providing Tony with questions, the joy of gaining new information, followed by more information.  The thing Tony called “light.” 

Sometimes Peter wondered if Tony would be happier in a household with more emotional displays – Peter knew that “light” was not simply the positive emotions.  In addition to fear and hate, Tony fed on anger, sorrow and righteous indignation just as well.  But Peter’s little family had certainly put Tony on a strict diet.  May was stubbornly, sometimes grimly, cheerful whereas Uncle Ben raised his voice so very rarely Peter could remember every single instant.  Peter was by far the most emotional of the trio, reading books about pollution that made him cry, about endangered animals and acid rain that made him so angry he felt like punching the walls.  Tony had requested all of those kinds of books, had requested laughter and tears and anger and questions. 

Had requested everything but fear.

He had described Peter as ‘fearless,’ and in many ways that was true.  Maybe Peter had inherited some stubborn, determined optimism from the same ancestor as Aunt May, or maybe he had learned it hanging onto her apron strings.  In any case when he had first discovered that there was a voice talking to him from under his bed, fearlessness and determination had certainly served him well.

But now that the thing that lived under his bed had a name and a backstory, Peter certainly felt some real fears creeping in.

Especially as the season that Tony had told him to wait for came creeping in, a sixteen-year-old Peter was aware of some budding feelings.  His body, he was told, would be changing.  He thought he was prepared for that.  But he was finding, much to his alarm, that his brain was changing too.  Watching the foxes chase rabbits from his perch high in a tree, or watching the owls devour their prey whole from his hiding place in the barn, Peter poked at those fears gingerly, teasing around the edges.

All his life, it seemed, pretending the fear wasn’t real had served him well.   Now he wasn’t so sure.  Normally, when Peter Parker was alarmed by something, he looked it up at the library.  But he wasn’t sure there were any books on this subject.

So he did the only think he could have done, he reviewed it in his brain.  Reviewed everything he knew about Tony.  Everything he knew about the thing that lived under his bed.

As he went over the story in his mind, he found himself with two things that he decided not to label ‘fears’ after all.  He decided it would be more expedient to label them ‘regrets.’

Alright, three.  Maybe four.

[rhub4rb]

Of Birds and Bugs

AO3

Ch.1 Ch.2 Ch.3 Ch.4 Ch.5 Ch.6 Ch.7

-_-_-_-

Gotham truly was a beautiful city.

Marinette had gotten a good look at it after she had transformed, flying up in the air and looking for a good place to detransform in, ending up in an alley somewhere.

Her Ladybug suit had changed after her debut as NeTi. Now, she had a black, long-sleeve cheongsam top, with a red sleeveless top that had a round neckline, dots placed a bit more strategically with one small at the top, one big in the middle, and another small one at the bottom front, where it stopped around her bellybutton.  It had two long coattails, going down to her knees. Her legs and stomach were completely black, save for the red soles on her shoes.

She had been quite happy to find that there was a hole in the middle of her back, where wings now resided on her bare skin.

After Marinette had detransformed, she had panicked when she realized she had forgotten her medical mask back in her hotel room. Tikki told Marinette to just put up her hood and then it would be hard to recognize her.

So, Marinette walked the dark streets of Gotham alone, and despite everything in her logical mind yelling that it wasn't safe, Marinette hadn't felt this relaxed in ages. Maybe it was the continuous sound of cars driving by, or the chatter of people walking down the streets.

Marinette, in all her loneliness, had taken to keeping her skylight open at night, focusing on the sound of people.

For some reason, it helped her breathe.

Of course, that came with its own set of dangers, namely Chat Noir, but Marinette had gotten good at waking up from the sense of him near.

It was nice that no one seemed to recognize her either. She knew that it was probably because of the dark and her hoodie dress, but it was still a nice little break.

Marinette let out a sigh, her shoulders slumping. She pulled out her phone, going wide-eyed as she saw what the time was.

"I should probably head back to the hotel..." She mumbled under her breath.

She looked around, before discreetly walking into an alley where she could transform. Marinette pulled on her oversized hoodie's neckline, Tikki sleeping in one of the inside pockets she had made.

Marinette was just about to tell Tikki that it was time to go, when she heard a thud on the roof of one of the buildings.

She let go of her neckline quickly, and looked up, only to see a boy's silhouette.

-

It was a standard patrol that night.

It had been pretty uneventful so far, in Damian's opinion, and he really wasn't in the mood to go around Gotham today.

For some weird reason, his father had thought it was a good idea to invite an entire class from France to visit Gotham, and Damian just knew that at least one of them would cause problems. He did not feel like babysitting a class full of foreigners that didn't speak English, no thank you.

Damian snapped out of his internal complaining however when he spotted a hooded figure walking into a dark alley. He felt suspicion crawl up his neck, and he quickly told the others that he was checking something out real quick.

When he landed on the roof of one of the buildings, the person quickly turned around to see where the noise came from.

Damian felt his breathing hitch when wide bluebell eyes met his.

In the girl's fast turn, her hood had fallen off, revealing midnight blue hair, hiding peach pink coloring.

"Hello..." She said faintly, and Damian noted a slight heating in his cheeks.

"You know, it's quite late for an attractive girl like yourself to be out. Especially in Gotham."

"O-oh!" The girl coughed, looking anywhere but at him. "I- uh, I got a bit lost. I've never been to Gotham before so..." she trailed off, her foot awkwardly kicking the ground.

Damian heard a slight french accent, and he wondered if she was part of the French class he had been complaining about all day.

"You're one of the heroes from here, right?" She looked up at him with her big eyes, and Damian hated how endearing it made her appear.

"Robin," he said curtly.

The girl smiled brightly at him, Damian cursing his heart for fluttering.

"My name's Marinette, I'm here with my class on a trip from France. It's an honor to meet you."

Her name sounded familiar to him, but he brushed it off. He had met so many people in his life already, he wouldn't be surprised if he'd met a Marinette before.

"Well Angel, how about I take you back to the hotel," he spoke before thinking.

Damian considered taking back the statement for a moment, but the way the girl's eyes lit up and her smile widened made him stop in his tracks.

"I mean, if it's not a bother then-"

"Of course not," Damian jumped down from the roof, and for the first time got a closer look at the girl's face.

He noticed the faint freckles peppering her cheeks, as well as the light blush that even touched her ears. Damian thought she looked familiar, but he shook the thought out of his head.

This was her first time in Gotham, so there was no reason for her to seem familiar to him.

She was pretty too, beautiful even. He felt as if he would remember if he had met her.

"So, Angel, are you ready?"

Her answering smile had his heart beating faster.

-

Marinette thought about Robin as she lied in her hotel bed, trying to fall asleep.

The heroes in Gotham were different to those in Paris.

Robin couldn't be much older than Marinette herself, and yet here he was fighting crime, even without a protective layer of magic to help him.

It was something that had always scared Marinette about the heroes without magic. They were just normal human beings, they weren't built for fighting the same way Marinette now was.

Of course, Marinette wasn't magic, at least not completely, but she still had magic that helped protect her, and that magic was powered by what was essentially the goddess of creation!

It was both inspiring and nerve-wracking at the same time.

Marinette let out a sigh.

She had woken up about an hour ago, having fallen out of the bed. Marinette stayed mostly quiet, not wanting to wake Tikki up at three in the morning, so instead, she had spent the early hours of the morning being on her phone.

Now an hour had gone by however, and Marinette was starting to feel both restless and bored.

She checked the time, deciding to take a shower. There was still a while before the class had to meet up, so she wasn't too worried about not making it in time. Truth be told, Marinette hadn't been late to school in a while. Now she always woke up early, having a quick one hour practice before getting ready to leave.

Of course, there were more enjoyable ways to wake up, and falling out of the bed was never really nice. Marinette was happy to say that it didn't happen too often however.

When she was done with her shower, Marinette started to get dressed, noticing her phone buzzing on the bed, stirring Tikki slightly.

Marinette went to turn it off when she read the messages that had been sent.

'Lila somehow managed to talk to Bustier into changing some plans'

The first text from Alix read, and Marinette's heart sunk.

'we're leaving early- Lila told Bustier she had informed you of the changes'

Panic took its place in Marinette's stomach.

'the bus leaves @8'

Marinette quickly looked at the time, and for a moment, she wanted nothing more than to throw her phone.

8:05

She took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves.

This was fine. She would just ask Claude, her bodyguard, to drive her there. He was going to come with her anyway for the tour anyway.

Marinette sighed, nudging Tikki awake.

"Time to wake up Tikki, Claude will drive us to the Wayne building."

"Wh- wha?"

Marinette just smiled at her drowsy kwami, before putting Tikki in her purse and putting on her black medical mask.

When she walked out of her room, she saw Claud stood ready for her outside of her door.

"I'm sorry to inform you that your class has already left," Claude said, wincing at his words.

"Yeah, I know, Alix texted me that Lila pulled some strings," Marinette grinned wrily, though Claude couldn't see it. "I don't know what strings she has to pull, but..." she shrugged.

Claude sighed, ruffling her hair and ignoring the indignant 'hey!'.

"Let's go Mari, I'm sure you don't want to be more late than you already are."

-

Dick was looking very forward to the french class arriving for the tour.

After Damian had gone slightly off route for last night's patrol, then saying that he would be back but then not showing up for an hour, it made his three brothers drill him about what happened.

It took a while, and a lot of prying, but Dick figured it out before the others did.

"So who's the girl?"

Damian had stiffened, and that was when Dick knew he had hit the mark.

The others had noticed too, and Jason had pounced immediately.

"A girl talked to Demon Spawn and didn't immediately run for the hills?" He asked in overdramatized shock. "This is a once in a lifetime chance! No way another girl will do that."

"Shut up, Todd," Damian grit out.

Dick would have felt bad for Damian,  if it weren't for the fact that he found it way too amusing.

"It's a statistical improbability!" Tim added.

"So, what is the unfortunate soul's name?" Jason asked, slinging his arm over Damian's shoulder.

Damian crinkled his nose in disdain, lifting Jason's arm off of his shoulder in disgust. Looking around the excited faces of his brothers, he let out a tired sigh and crossed his arms.

"Marinette," He grumbled out. "I didn't get her last name, but she's here with that french class or whatever."

There was quiet between the brothers for a bit before Dick finally asked.

"You mean Marinette like NeTi Marinette? Rock idol NeTi?" Dick squeaked out.

Damian thought about it a little before shrugging.

"I don't know, but I don't think so? Isn't her hair black or something?" When all of his brothers nodded, Damian shook his head. "Then it wasn't her. Some of her hair was dyed."

The brothers deflated, bummed at the missed opportunity.

Dick, Tim, and Jason were all big NeTi fans. Tim was the first one to start listening to his music. He had always been a big Jagged Stone fan, so when he found out that his favorite musician's "niece" was releasing music, he checked it out. Dick and Jason followed soon after, but Damian never really gave her music a try.

Something about her probably being a flake.

Still, despite the disappointment, Dick wanted a look at the girl who had somehow charmed his youngest brother. Which was why he was confused when the french class arrived, but no girl fitting the description Damian gave was there. After a quick headcount, Dick was quick to bring this to the teacher's attention.

"Mme. Bustier?" The teacher looked at him with a questioning gaze. "You seem to be missing a student."

Her eyes widened, and Dick got the sinking feeling that the teacher hadn't counted her students before leaving the hotel. Great.

"If you wouldn't mind, is it okay if I took attendance for a moment?"

Dick nodded, but Mme. Bustier got cut off before she even got the chance to start.

"Don't worry, that won't be necessary."

Dick looked towards the sound of his brother's voice, his eyes widening at the sight of his brother linking arms with a girl he could only assume was Marinette.

-

Damian wanted nothing more than to find Marinette the day after patrol.

He used the information that he had, which was her first name and the fact that she was part of the French class that would be touring Wayne Enterprises, to try and find her.

He would have tried to get more information on her, but Bruce had strictly told all of his sons that they were not allowed to research the class, for some stupid reason that he wouldn't tell.

He didn't understand why, and he was highly tempted to say screw the rules, but one stern look from Alfred stopped him.

Instead, he decided to go with his brother to give the tour, in hopes that he could meet the girl as a civilian.

He was quick to notice however, once the class arrived at the front doors where he stood, keeping an eye out for her, that she wasn't there.

His brows furrowed, and he looked around in confusion and counting the class.

She wasn't there.

Had she lied?

No, there was supposed to be one more student, Damian noted as he counted them all.

They didn't forget her, did they?

Damian cursed under his breath and walked out, ignoring his brother calling out to him, as he started heading towards the parking lot. If he was lucky, she would still be at her hotel, and he could run into her there.

He didn't get very far however, as almost as soon as he stepped foot into the parking lot, someone walked into him.

"Hey! Look where you're-"

"Oh my gosh, I am so sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going and then-"

Damian was just about to level a glare at the girl, when his eyes widened in recognition.

"-and my class sort of left me behind so I was in a bit of a hurry and-"

She was rambling, he realized, and he wondered briefly about whether or not she had taken a breath yet.

"It's okay," He finally cut her off. "You said your class left you behind?"

He looked her over, noting the black medical mask she was wearing, as well as a tall man in a suit standing not that far behind her, reminding Damian of a bodyguard.

"Yeah, they uh, apparently changed the time of the tour, and I wasn't informed about it, so..." She trailed off.

It angered Damian slightly. He didn't know her, sure, but Gotham wasn't a safe city to be in, especially alone. How the teacher allowed this to happen, he had no idea.

"Well, I happen to know the route the tour is going, I could show you to your class?" Damian asked.

Marinette looked behind her, and when the unknown man in a suit nodded, Marinette beamed at him.

"That would be wonderful, thank you!"

Damian looked at the guy with narrowed eyes before looking at the girl and offering his arm.

"If you don't mind me asking, who's your friend over there?" She stiffened slightly, before laughing awkwardly.

"He's uh... A type of chaperone?" Her eyes crinkled and she shrugged. It was hard to tell what she was thinking or feeling when half of her face was covered. "I'm Marinette, by the way. Nice to meet you," She smiled.

"Damian. It's nice to meet you too," Damian relaxed, easing into a small smile, and he started to lead the girl towards the irresponsible class. "So Angel, is it your first time in Gotham?"

He hadn't meant for the nickname he had given her the night before to slip, but it didn't seem she noticed, stuttering a response.

"Y-yeah. I only really travel to Asia when I go places..." She trailed off, looking thoughtful.

"Oh? Where have you been?"

And just like that, they fell into easy conversation.

At least, until they reached the class.

-_-_-_-

@ozmav @skyel0ve @kuroko26 @shizukiryuu @fangirl-food-feelings @driftingmoonlitpetals @spicybelladonna @thebookwormfairy @god-is-dead-and-so-am-i @melicmusicmagic @minightrose @graduatedmelon @awkwardturtlez @sizzling-fairy-oil @thornangelic727 @royalchaoticfangirl @vixen-uchiha @mewwitch @my-name-is-michell @imfreakingmagical @queen-of-the-trash-planet-tm @constancetruggle @kae690 @resignedcatservant @worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry @drama-queen-supreme @derpingrainbow @captainmac6 @k-rena-k @lunar-wolf-warrior @friedchickening @fandomfan315 @fanboy7794 @yin-390 @unholykrow @teresarosiadeviluke2112 @ayuchan07 @seraphichana @justanothersepticeyefan @politelyvicious @roseinbloom02 @uncompressed-boi @cadencehood @kaleigh-girlonfire

[cwmoonglum]

Sparky’s Dream

Mitch was devastated when his best friend Sparky died. He posted a short note on his VampireFreaks.com profile explaining what had happened. No, it hadn't been suicide. Sparky had been depressed, yes, but he'd died in a car accident. A perfectly mundane and unfair way to die. Sparky had been middlingly infamous amongst the goth and emo kids in their hometown. He had amazing hair; a perfect flat ironed black swoop, and the pale, almost girlish face of an elf prince. This and his habit of posting oblique references to self harm and teenage misery via the medium of rock lyrics attracted a certain sort of crowd. Mainly girls; boys less graced in their bone structure saw Sparky as an object of jealousy and contempt.

Somehow, Sparky's death started an alchemical reaction that transferred some measure of infatuation onto Mitch. Mitch did not look like a morose elven princeling. He looked more like Apple, his old English sheepdog. Both had an unkempt mop of hair, and the same bouncy energy. But with Sparky's death, Mitch was newly sad and apparently newly attractive. Girls talked to him on MSN Messenger. Ruth, who always used a picture of a Living Dead Doll as her avatar, told Mitch how much his friendship had meant to the often gloomy Sparky. “I saw him in town the week before the accident,” she said, “he was really, really sad as usual but he was so excited to talk about you Mitch. You were like a brother to him.” Mitch thanked her. “I miss him nearly as much as you do Mitch,” said Ruth, “we actually kissed that day, and I was hoping he'd ask me to be his girlfriend.”

Ruth was lying. I can state this unequivocally. Because Sparky had never met her in person. Because Sparky didn't exist.

Both Sparky and Mitch were fictions, fake accounts on VampireFreaks.com that my friend Josh and I maintained as a joke that got out of hand. He'd begun by griping about how pretty emo boys with straight hair and skinny jeans were more popular than he'd ever be. Sparky was his attempt to prove it. I improvised Mitch to give his creation a veneer of reality; a dumb show friendship so Sparky looked less obviously false. Their pictures were both grabbed off Google images, and while I can't say for certain I suspect the real people never met.

Josh used to lurk in sex chatrooms to bait paedophiles. He'd pretend to be a young girl or boy, draw people into conversation and then if they persisted in sending pornographic messages upon 'discovering' their chat partner's 'real age' he'd paste in a prepared text along the lines of, 'Please note: engaging with sexual relations with a minor is illegal under US law. This IP address 1XX.13.43X.1 has been logged by the FBI.' When the panicked person on the other end asked what was going on, he'd pretend not to have sent the message or to be unable to see it. Mostly they logged off, and Josh quickly got bored of the game. Sparky was a more involved project, and locating him in our hometown made it more interesting to him.

In our town, most of the alternative, goth and emo kids all hung around the same spot. So Sparky and Mitch had to talk about being there. This was easy enough. We were into rock music and skateboarding ourselves, so we knew people there. Friends without an online presence were useful, because they might have hung out with Sparky and Mitch. They wouldn't discredit things on the website, and it explained why there were no pictures with them. Moreover, because we were there ourselves we could have Sparky talk about the old drunk who glassed a kid for refusing him change, or the punks who fought a Burger King security guard. Observable things which had actually happened made these fake boys realer.

With this baseline established, it was easy to breathe life into Sparky by having him post morose nonsense on VampireFreaks.com on a semi-regular basis. Mitch didn't post as often, because we'd decided that he had a plethora of after school activities to keep him busy. Sparky, though, required a little more explanation. So we decided, irritated by the happy clappy Christian kids around us, that he was the atheist son of an intensely religious family. He was only allowed a limited number of hours online a week. This was a good choice, because it meant he had something to post about as well, “Great. My parents took my rock CDs away because they 'promote Satan.' I hate them.”

When he'd created his emo Frankenstein, Josh had been pretty certain that Sparky would prove his teenaged, misogynistic theory about girls liking pretty boys. And to a degree it did; Sparky's friend list rapidly swelled as emo kids were thirst trapped by the false princeling. But in reality Josh spent so much time maintaining Sparky that you might argue it was the mask's willingness to listen to and sympathise with people that made him so popular. Josh wouldn't bother listening to a girl complain about her looks beyond gruff reassurance that he thought she was 'fit.' Sparky, on the other hand presented what Josh regarded as a mocking, feminised ad lib on body shame and feeling worthless that people actually responded to.

More and more people wanted a piece of Sparky. And some offered up trinkets of personal information we were uncomfortable holding. So it was only a matter of time before the IRL problem became too big to avoid. So far, we'd fictionalised a number of visits to town that people had just missed Sparky and Mitch at. They lived far enough out into the countryside that it was a little difficult for them to visit all that often. And finally, Sparky had been grounded for a month. But that time was swiftly running out, and people were clamouring to see him.

I was getting bored with the game; it was cruel and had gotten way out of hand. So I left the account fallow for a week, and then another. Then Josh killed Sparky, and I moved to wrap things up. Mitch's family had to move to California, where his father had landed a job with Google. He was sad to say goodbye to everyone, but it felt less mean spirited than killing him off. I didn't like Mitch, but lots of people did apparently, despite never meeting him. Adolescence, loneliness and an internet connection are powerful things.

A few weeks after Mitch departed for California I was riding the bus home alone when I overheard a girl with blue hair talking to her New Rock-clad friend. “It's so sad, his best friend died and then his family moved him so far away.” Her friend murmured in agreement. Then the blue haired girl looked forlornly out the window, tears misting her gaze, “And the worst thing is, we had just started going out!”

[keichanz]

This Is Halloween

IT IS DONE. FINISHED. FINITO. COMPLETE. AND I AM SO

FUCKING

HAPPY YOU HAVE NOOOO IDEA.

moving on, i had a lot of fun writing this, and i had no idea so many people would enjoy the idea of writing little blurbs of the modern life of Inukag and their kiddos. also i’m surprised some people ship Izayoi and Raiden as hard as i do anD I’M SO INCREDIBLY HAPPY ABOUT THAT THEY ARE MY BABIES AND I LOVE THEM I WANT THEM TO BE HAPPY  

if some of you recognize the first half of this chapter and feel like you’ve read it before, it’s because you probably have. i posted the first half last year on Halloween and titled it “Haunted House” despite having not finished the series. I was originally going to just keep it as is, but then decided it wouldn’t be fair and anyway i wanted a proper ended for Izayoi and Rai, so i added onto it. i’m happy with how it turned out, despite it being a tad rushed because i just wanted this damn thing finished already lol.

anyway, thank you all for joining me on this adventure and for leaving all of your comments and reviews! i promise you i read all of your tags and reblogs and it truly does my heart good to know so many people enjoyed reading this story as much as i enjoyed writing it. ^_^

that’s enough rambling; ladies and gentlemen, without further ado, i present to you the last chapter of my series...

Spooktober Day 31: This Is Halloween 

Kagome had no idea what time it was when she turned over in bed with a grunt, her forehead scrunching into an irritated frown as she shifted into a more comfortable position then settled with a quiet sigh. Beside her Inuyasha sighed in his sleep and rolled up against her, his arm a pleasant warmth as it draped over her waist and he tucked his nose against the nape of her neck before going still once more.

She had no idea what had woken her up in the first place; snugly warm under the covers and cuddled against her husband quite nicely, Kagome should have been able to go back to sleep no problem but for some reason her mind was alert, refusing to give into the slumber creeping in on the edges, taunting her with sweet oblivion. The darkness of the room, Inuyasha’s steady breathing and the movement of his chest against her back should have been enough to lull her back to sleep, but for some reason her body would not give into her mind’s silent demands. It was as if her mind was subconsciously aware of something that her body was not and as such it would not be coaxed into that state of blessed ignorance.

Her frown deepened and she huffed quietly in annoyance; responding to her distress, even in his sleep, Inuyasha’s chest erupted with a soothing rumble and he maneuvered his arm beneath the blanket to reclaim its spot over her side and then press his hand against her bare belly. The familiar gesture sent warmth skittering across her skin and despite herself a fleeing, sleepy smile flickered at Kagome’s lips. It was one of his favorite things to do now that she was pregnant again and it didn’t surprise her at all that even in sleep he did it.

She went absolutely still, simply absorbing the feel of him against her, concentrating on his warmth, the sound of his even breathing, the pleasant roughness of his leg and chest hair against the smoothness of her skin, hoping to distract herself with the pleasing physical sensations enough to nod off again.

But no such luck; though she could feel the sleepiness pulling at the edges of her mind, it stubbornly refused to give in and Kagome’s frown returned, this time with a frustrated pout. Abruptly deciding she might as well see what time it was to gauge how much sleep she’d gotten thus far - and how much more she could sneak in - Kagome wrinkled her nose and cracked her eyes open just enough to peer at the blurry numbers on her alarm clock–

And screamed.

Inuyasha jolted awake with a startled gasp, shooting up in bed and blinking rapidly in order to clear his hazy vision as his mind struggled to come back online after very suddenly getting thrust into awareness.

“Huh–what–Kagome? What’s—?” Rubbing his eyes and shaking his head, Inuyasha turned his attention to his wife and found her sitting up in bed, clutching the blanket to her bare chest and staring wide-eyed at–

“Jesus! Fucking hell—!” Flailing in surprise, Inuyasha jerked back against the headboard in an instinctive reaction and slapped a hand against his chest over his rapidly beating heart.

“What the fuck–goddammit, Tai!”

Standing beside their bed, wearing his favorite Spiderman pajamas and the very detailed Halloween mask of the bloody skull of a skeleton that he’d begged his mother to buy for him at the store, their five year old said nothing as he peered at him through the meth openings of the eyes, looking every bit the spooky specter that he wanted to be for his favorite holiday.

Inuyasha and Kagome stared back, their eyes wide, wondering what the hell their son was doing standing at their bedside at five in the goddamn morning.

Tai was silent for another minute, before his slightly muffled voice reached their ears.

“…It’s Halloween.”

Then, as quietly as he’d apparently snuck into their room, the child slunk back out, leaving his parents in a state of “what the fuck just happened.”

A moment passed. Then their teenage daughter’s screech of, “Aaaahh! Ohmigod, Tai, you little freak! What are you doing?!” drifted down the hall and into their room. Tai’s gleeful cackling followed shortly thereafter and neither parent was surprised to hear Izayoi scramble out of bed and chase her laughing little brother though the house, tossing various threats of dismemberment and other creative jibes older sisters were known to torment their siblings with.

Finally over the initial shock, Kagome heaved a long sigh and slumped against the headboard while Inuyasha groaned and then slunk back under the covers with an annoyed grumble.

“Damn,” Kagome murmured and Inuyasha grunted. “Who the hell needs haunted houses and you wake up to that at five in the morning…”

A snort came from beneath the covers. “We can charge,” her husband opined, his voice gruff. “Pay for Izzy’s college tuition in a single night.”

Kagome snorted a laugh and slithered down to join her hanyou hubby under the covers. He slipped his arms around her waist and buried his face in her chest with a growling sigh and then they felt silent, wrapped in each other’s arms and listening to their children taunt and chase each other around the house in the wee hours of the morning.

“Inuyasha?” Kagome murmured a few moments later, drowsy, but unable to fall asleep as she distractedly rubbed her husband’s ears.

“Mm,” Inuyasha grunted, reveling in his wife’s blissful ministrations and struggling to stay awake to hear what she had to say.

“…You did buy all those Halloween decorations…” Her voice held an innocent lilt to it that had Inuyasha instantly grinning and his chest vibrating with a deep, husky chuckle.

“One condition,” he rumbled, his grin turning sly.

Kagome bit her lip to stifle her snickers. “And?”

“Tai and that damn mask are gonna be put to good use for waking us up at the ass crack of dawn and so’s Iz for saying she’s gonna rip off his arm and beat him with it.”

“Deal.”

“If you don’t stop fidgeting already, I’m gonna poke your eye and I won’t be sorry about it.”

“It feels weird.”

“I swear to god you’re the only girl I know of that complains about putting on makeup.”

“Bite me.”

“Hey, you’re the one who asked me for help, remember? So quit your whining and let me do this so you can impress your boyfriend. And stop glaring at me, it’s pinching your eyes and it’s gonna make me mess up and we’ll have to start all over again.”

“I hate you right now.”

“Love you too, cuz. Now stay still, will you? I’m almost done.”

Grumbling but because she’d rather not sit there for another half an hour while her cousin painted up her face to match her costume, Izayoi obliged and forced herself to remain still as Rin carefully added the finishing touches to her left eye. With her silver done and already donned in her costume, the only thing she had left to do was put on the hat after Rin was through and she was pretty anxious to see the complete look.

The party was set to begin in about twenty minutes or so and even from upstairs Izayoi could hear her mother order around her dad as they got everything ready. Her Aunt Sango and Uncle Miroku had arrived earlier to help as well and no doubt they were regretting that offer as Kagome flitted about agonizing over every little detail, stressing that it had to be perfect. She was pretty sure her mom had even put Tai to work, but last she knew it was something simple like preparing a cheese and cracker tray or picking up some of his toys to put away.

All in all Izayoi was glad she was pardoned from preparation duty so she could get ready. The instant they’d gotten home from school, she and Rin had bolted up the stairs to her room so they could change and prepare themselves, excited to wow their respective dates. They’d worked on Rin’s makeup first, Googling makeup tutorials and having fun experimenting with different shades and such. They settled on a simple design and coupled with the red wig and costume, Rin’s Sally looked positively stunning. Izayoi only hoped she’d look half as good as her best friend and cousin.

Then it was her turn, and by the time Izayoi was finishing styling her hair and changing into her costume, Rin had sat her down on the bed and set to work.

Now nearly thirty minutes later, Izayoi was starting to get antsy and a tad impatient. It really did feel weird to have makeup on. She’d never been one to care about her outward appearance and obsess over things other girls her age did. But still, she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t excited to see the result of actually putting thought into her appearance this time.

“Aaaand…done,” Rin finally announced and stepped back with a satisfied nod. Her smile was very proud and perhaps even a bit arrogant as she studied her handiwork. “Not half bad, if I do say so myself.”

With a muffled squeal of excitement Izayoi wasted no time in shooting up and darting over to the full-length mirror on her door. She took one look at her face and gasped, golden eyes going wide in absolute wonder.

“Oh my god, Rin,” she breathed as the aforementioned girl came strutting over to stand by her side, grinning widely as she slung an arm around her cousin’s shoulders. “This is…this is amazing. You’re amazing. I love it!”

“You’re welcome,” Rin said lightly and was promptly tackled by the enthusiastic half-demon in a hug a gratitude.

“Thank you!” Izayoi gushed and Rin’s half-hearted “Hey, watch the makeup!” didn’t even faze as she pulled back to admire herself once more in the mirror. “Rin, you are a goddess.”

“I know,” her cousin quipped but with a smile as she crossed the room the grab the last item to complete her look. “And now, the finishing touch.”

Beaming, Izayoi met her half-way and allowed her human cousin and best friend to carefully set the brown velvet hat on top of her head. Her ears flicked from the minor constriction against them, but it was tolerable and if it got to be too annoying she could just take it off for a while, so she paid it not mind.

“Perfecto,” Rin said just as the door to her room opened.

“How are you doing, girls? Almost done?” Kagome asked as she poked her head inside. Her eyes landed on her daughter and she gasped in utter delight, smiling broadly as she opened the door the rest of the way and stepped inside. Donned in a simple black long-sleeved shirt and black jeans, Kagome’s costume consisted of black cat ears and a tail with simple cat makeup on her face.

“Oh, Izzy, you look amazing,” she praised and the young half-demon beamed proudly. “And Rin, your Sally is spot on! I gotta say, your skills are stellar. The makeup looks like it was professionally done.”

Rin glowed at the praise and blushed, but her smile was very pleased. “Thanks, Auntie. It was easy, really. Just followed some YouTube tutorials. No biggie.” She shrugged, but it was obvious she really appreciated the compliment.

“Still,” Kagome said as she fished her phone from the pocket of her jeans, “well done. Alright, I have a picture of you two so I can show off to everybody at work. Say Happy Halloween, girls!”

With arms tossed over the others’ shoulders, the young cousins beamed and chorused, “Happy Halloween!”

Kagome snapped the picture, grinned in satisfaction, then beckoned them both over to her so show it to them and then quickly snap a picture of all three of them.

“Okay, the party’s about to start,” Kagome said after sending the photo to both her daughter and her husband. “Let’s get downstairs and show you two off!”

Giggling excitedly, the girls heeded the older woman’s words and scurried out of the bedroom, Kagome at their heels.

There were already a few guests milling about when they got downstairs, mainly people from Inuyasha and Kagome’s work, however a few family members had arrived as well. Rin happily waved to her parents from across the room and skipped over to greet them and to show off her own costume. Kagura had chosen a risqué witch costume while Sesshomaru merely had on a white t-shirt that said “This is my costume.”

Kagura gushed over the girls and praised her daughter’s makeup skills while Sesshomaru eyed his daughter’s costume for a bit before grunting in approval, satisfied that nothing inappropriate was showing. He nodded Izayoi’s way, approving her costume as well, and Izayoi knew it was just his way of showing his admiration so she merely beamed at him.

More people started arriving at the door and someone took it upon themselves to turn on some appropriately spooky music, but kept it at low volume in deference to the demons’ sensitive hearing. Pretty soon the dull roar of laughter and chatter filled the Taisho household as adults and children alike mingled and had a good time. Tai was running around with Sango’s and Miroku’s kids, wearing that bloody mask paired with the clothes he’d worn to school that morning. Whatever, as long as he was happy, is what Inuyasha had told his wife as she shook her head in exasperation.

Shippou and his parents were there, dressed as The Incredibles, and Kikyou along with her husband Suikotsu had arrived as Gambit and Rogue. Kouga and Ayame had opted for the Marvel route as well and showed up as Wolverine and Jean Grey. Daisuke was skulking about somewhere but he wasn’t dressed up, having been forced to accompany his parents.

Izayoi also spotted an Iron Man, the Joker, Penny Wise, various witches and princesses, characters from various horror movies, and even a toilet (???) and Kohaku and finally made an appearance making an excellent Jack from The Nightmare Before Christmas. He and Rin looked positively stunning together and many pictures had already been taken of them, however the one person Izayoi had been expecting to arrive with him, she still had seen neither hide nor hair of her crush.

Kohaku had waved off her inquiry about him, saying he just got held up and was probably on his way here right now, but Izayoi still couldn’t help but worry as anxiety gnawed at her tummy. Had he changed his mind? Oh god, what if he came to his senses and realized he could do much better than a silly little half-demon with a crush and an overprotective dad—

“Would you chill out?” Rin said, appearing at her side out of nowhere and thrusting a caramel apple in her cousin’s hand. “He’ll come, I’m sure of it. Kohaku said he just got held up.”

Worrying her bottom lip, Izayoi merely nodded and stared down at the dark screen of her phone. She’d refrained some blowing up his phone asking where he was because she didn’t want to be that girl, but she’d be lying if she said the thought wasn’t tempting. It was almost 6 pm and he still wasn’t there…what if something happened to him? Was he okay? Was he hurt? Oh god she needed to go and find him—

A pair of hands suddenly covered her eyes just as a familiar voice murmured behind her, “Guess who.”

Izayoi’s face split into the biggest smile Rin had ever seen and even through her makeup she could detect the pleased blush that colored the half-demon’s cheeks.

“Rai,” she whispered and the hands dropped, allowing her to spin around and lock eyes with her crush for the first time all night.

“I’m glad you made it,” she said and ignored Rin’s loud snort beside her. “I admit, I was…a little worried.” Rin snorted again and Izayoi not so subtly elbowed her cousin in the ribs.

Blue-green eyes glinted down at her but before Raiden could say anything Kohaku slung an arm around his neck with a jovial laugh and along with their friends started harassing him as boys often did. Raiden gave as good as he got, laughing with them and poking fun of their costumes while batting away the hands that poked at his own.

Izayoi waited patiently, amused, as Raiden fooled around with his friend and watched as he finally sent them off with high-fives and promises to track them down later. Rin dragged Kohaku off to do god knows what, sending her cousin a wink, and Izayoi blushed, but smiled in gratitude.

“So,” Raiden said at length and turned to face her fully, unabashedly looking her up and down to take in her costume. His face lit up in approval and he grinned, boldly reaching up to grab the trailing back of her hat and give it a gentle tug.

“You look…amazing, buttercup,” he complimented sincerely, enjoying the soft flush that painted her cheeks. “Did Rin do your makeup?” At her nod, he whistled low. “Nice. See? I told you we’d be the coolest couple here.”

He smirked and struck a pose, putting his hands on his hips and tossing his head as he puffed out his chest.

Izayoi laughed at how ridiculous he looked, her previous shyness evaporating under his easygoing air. What was it about him that made her feel so comfortable?

“You don’t look so bad yourself,” she praised, taking in his matching costume. It was simple, and yet complimented her as well as suited him perfectly. He made some modifications, such as ripping the knees of the trousers and shortening the sleeves of the shirt, but she had to admit, he looked positively dashing. She loved the shoulder piece and hat, and those combat boots? Oh, be still, my heart!

“Why thank you, m’lady,” he rumbled, smirking as he held out his arm. “Now let’s get this show on the road. Shall we, fair maiden?”

Grinning broadly, pleased as punch, Izayoi tucked her arm into his and replied smoothly, “We shall, my good man.”

It was just after 10 pm and the party was finally starting to wind down. It was mainly family and close friends that were sticking around, chatting pleasantly and even offering to help clean up, but Kagome dismissed their kindness with a smile and said she’d just do it tomorrow. Tai, tuckered out from all the fun, the copious amount of cookies and other food he’d consumed, and the various games he’d played, lie fast asleep in his father’s arms who sat in the recliner, feeling a mite winded himself.

The teenagers had claimed the kitchen as their domain, joking around and laughing together, but at a much calmer level now that the hype of the party had died. They munched absently on leftover cookies and other treats, plastic cups full of soda or cider littering the counter tops.

Leaning against the counter with Raiden at her side, Izayoi couldn’t remember having so much fun before. She and Raiden had flirted and teased each other all night long, even holding hands once and she’d managed to sneak in a kiss to his cheek once or twice when her parents weren’t looking. She was on cloud-nine, pumped full of sugar, cider, and so much junk food she should be sick, but yet she unable to stop smiling.

Best Halloween ever, Izayoi thought with a dreamy sigh and then suddenly her hand was encased in warmth and she blinked. Looking down, her eyes widened to find that Raiden had taken her hand in his and her face erupted in color when he laced their fingers together.

He squeezed, and she looked up, a question on her tongue, but he put a finger to his lips and tugged as he jerked her his head, a wordless inquiry to follow him as he gently led her toward the sliding glass doors. Izayoi was utterly helpless and allowed him to drag her away, biting her lip to contain her giggles as they sneaked out into the deck and into the cool night.

From his location in the armchair, Inuyasha’s brows snapped low over his eyes as he watched that boy lead his daughter outside away from his eyesight and a low growl rumbled in his throat. Oh hell no.

Tightening his hold on Tai, meaning to carefully lay him on the couch and follow after the two teens, Inuyasha moved to stand up, but a small hand on his shoulder gave him pause and he snapped his gaze to his wife who was looking toward the kitchen with a knowing smile.

He growled. “Kagome—”

“Leave them be, Inuyasha,” she murmured and shifted her hand to soothingly rub his ear. “She’ll be fine. I’ve been watching them all night; Raiden is a good boy with a good head on his shoulders, and you know your daughter. She’s smart, and we both know she can take care of herself. We need to trust her, okay?”

Inuyasha’s ears pinned down against his head and he winced, however he did grudgingly sink back into the chair. It was obvious he was fighting to keep himself from following after them, amber eyes zeroed in on the sliding doors he could see from where he sat, and Kagome smiled in understanding.

Perching herself on the arm of the chair, Kagome racked her fingers through his hair and quietly mused aloud, “Do you remember when we were that age, Yash?”

She purposely used the nickname she’d frequently called him while they were in high school and as she predicted, her husband’s gaze darted back to hers in surprise.

“We used to sneak off all the time,” she reminded him and watched the emotions flit across his face as he remembered their teenage years. Slowly his expression softened and a small smile lifted the corners of his mouth as he recalled their youth.

“We were young, and it was exciting,” Kagome continued, voice soft with fond recollection. “We broke the rules, caused mischief, didn’t care about anything but each other, and we had fun doing it. My high school years were some of the best years of my life, and it was because I had you to share them with me. Would you deny your daughter that same happiness, Yash?”

Inuyasha closed his eyes and sagged in defeat, releasing a drawn-out sigh of resignation. His wife, damn her, was right. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, his daughter was a teenager now, and as such she was nearing that stage in her life where she was going to act out and do what she wanted, regardless what he or her mother said. He just hoped to god she wouldn’t be as rebellious as he’d been, but like Kagome said, he had to trust her. He knew his babygirl, knew she would stay out of trouble.

Didn’t stop him from worrying, though. She was his only daughter, his little girl; of course he was going to worry. But it looked like he’d just have to do it from afar now and let her make her own mistakes so she could learn from them, as hard as that was going to be.

“No,” he finally allowed, shaking his head. “No, of course I wouldn’t. I just…” He sighed again and stared beseechingly up at his wife, brow knit into a slight frown of consternation. “This is gonna suck, isn’t it?”

Kagome’s smile was equal parts sympathetic and resigned. “Majorly.”

Inuyasha groaned.

“Well,” his wife piped up and he cracked an eye open. “At least your hair is already silver so you don’t have to worry about going gray prematurely.”

“Not helping, wench.”

Sitting on the wooden platform of the swing set, hidden from prying eyes with the waxing moon praying witness to their secret interlude. It was a chilly but clear night, but neither teen minded the cold, content to sit in the dark with the moon’s silver brilliance shining down on them and enjoy one another’s company.

Raiden had yet to release Izayoi’s hand and she wasn’t complaining at all. He was warm and smelled nice and Izayoi thought that maybe life couldn’t get any better right at that moment. She tried not to think about how mad her parents were going to be when they discovered she’d sneaked outside with a boy, and with Raiden there casting her tiny grins and squeezing her hand every so often, it wasn’t too hard.

“Sorry for stealing you away like this,” Raiden said, breaking the silence with a soft chuckle. “It was sort of a…spur of the moment thing. I hope you won’t get in trouble.”

Even if she did, it would be soo worth it. “It’s okay,” she said, smiling as a soft blush tinted her cheeks. “I don’t mind. And even if I do…” She shrugged and spoke her thoughts out loud, “It’d be worth it.”

Raiden grinned. “Yeah?”

“Oh yeah,” she returned and they shared a quiet laugh.

“I did sort of have a reason for bringing you out here,” he admitted a mite sheepishly, using his free hand to rub the back of his neck as he averted his gaze.

Izayoi tilted her head and regarded him curiously, a patient half-smile curling her lips upward.

“What’s that?” she asked lightly even as her heart pounded in her chest, not daring to hope…

“Uh, er, w-well,” he began, coughing into his hand, and Izayoi realized with slight astonishment that he was flustered. She’d never seen him be anything other than cool, calm, and confident, and she had to admit, she sort of liked it. It was adorable and he was actually blushing!

Fighting back a smile, Izayoi swallowed the giggle that bubbled up and waited for him to regain his bearings, if not a bit impatiently. She didn’t want to jump the gun of course, or jump to conclusions, but if he wanted to be alone to ask her something…

Sucking in a bracing breath, Raiden nodded to himself, hardened his resolved, and faced the pretty half-demon that he’d had a crush on for the better part of a year now. He gave her his best charming smile and enjoyed the becoming blush that stole across her cheeks.

Encouraged, he squeezed her hand and began, “Izayoi, I..uh…” He sighed, groaned, and then decided to just go for it.

“Ah, screw it. Izayoi Taisho, I like you,” he finally admitted and he could clearly hear the way her breath caught in her throat as her eyes widened. “And I, uh, I hope you like me too—”

“I do!” Izayoi blurted before promptly blushing so hard her face rivaled that of a tomato.

And just like that Raiden’s confidence was restored, the tension in his shoulders melting away and it was suddenly easier to breath. He grinned at her and squeezed her hand, shifting around and angling his body so he faced her.

“Yeah?” he said and though she refused to look him in the eye, Izayoi jerked her head in a curt nod and he felt like he could, like, lift a freaking house or something.

“Well then,” he started and reached over to gently tug on one of her braids to draw her attention. There was a pause, and then Izayoi slowly turned her head, pretty sunshine eyes locking with his blue-green ones.

“What do you say we go out this weekend? Just you and me, like a real date. Please say yes,” Raiden beseeched, his smile easy-going and entirely too charming for her little heart to handle.

Like she was going to say no? Heart pounding, face five different shades of red and her belly rioting with millions of butterflies, Izayoi allowed the utter delighted smile to surface on her face as her eyes lit up in absolute pleasure.

“Yes,” she whispered and had to laugh when Raiden made a fist and jerked his arm back with a hissed, “Score!”

Utterly elated, Izayoi resisted the urge to bounce up and down in exhalation as she confessed, “God, you have no idea how long I’ve wanted—”

Fleeing warmth and softness brushing against her lips so fast she thought she imagined it had Izayoi’s thoughts coming to a screeching halt. She gasped, hand flying up to flutter her fingertips across her lips and her eyes were very wide as Raiden pulled back to reveal a face that was nearly as red as hers.

“Sorry,” he muttered, wincing a little as he dropped his gaze. “I just…you just looked really cute, and I’ve kinda wanted to do that for a while, and well—”

Something warm and soft pressed against his cheek, close to his mouth, and Raiden sucked in a sharp breath as his heart stuttered in his chest. He swung wide eyes his crush’s way and watched as she bit her lip but didn’t avert her gaze, giving a shy but genuine smile that made him want to hug her and protect her at all costs.

While definitely not as brave as he’d been to kiss him on the lips, Izayoi couldn’t help but to return the affectionate gesture, both as a reassurance and because…well…he’d just looked too darn cute all flustered and blushing. She was still reeling from having gotten her very first kiss and her heart was pounding a mile a minute, but she could honestly say she didn’t regret it one single bit.

The two teenagers simply stared at one another for a silent minute, blinking and absorbing what had just happened. And then simultaneously they erupted into a quiet laughter, snickers and giggles echoing into the night. Feeling bold, Izayoi scooted closer to him and pressed her side against his; Raiden retaliated by removing his hand from hers and instead slinging his arm around her shoulders to tug her even closer.

“You wanna go inside?” he asked, frowning slightly as he rubbed his hand up and down her arm. Her skin was cold and he felt stupid for bringing her out here when it was so chilly out.

“Mmm…” Biting her lip, Izayoi glanced over her shoulder toward the deck and the sliding doors that led into the kitchen. She was somehow not at all surprised to find their friends pressed up against the glass, grinning from ear to ear as they spied on them. Rin, the brat, wasn’t even ashamed to be caught, waving at them from under Kohaku’s arm and Izayoi stuck her tongue out at her, though she smiled right after.

“On second thought,” Raiden drawled and a quick glance revealed he too was staring at their annoying friends, “maybe we could stay out here a little longer.”

“Sounds good to me,” she agreed, dismissing their friends and turning away just in time to miss the sight of her mother shooing away the teenagers crowded against the doors, shooting them a secret smile before walking away and dragging her protesting husband with her.

“Happy Halloween, buttercup,” Raiden murmured and dropped a kiss to her head, right between her adorable ears.

Sighing in utter contentment, warm despite the chill in the air and the happiest she could ever remember being, Izayoi smiled and dropped her head to rest on his shoulder, oblivious to everything but him.

“Happy Halloween, Raiden.”

a;kjfad i was in such a rush to get this done i forgot to add links to Izayoi’s makeup and costume, along with Raiden’s getup. whoops.

Izayoi’s Costume (though it’s more kid friendly in the fic of course)

Izayoi’s makeup

Raiden’s costume

[nataliedanovelist]

GF - Pranks

Summary: Dipper and Mabel got their fun-loving personalities from someone, and that someone got his fun-loving personality from someone else.

Author’s Note: Hey guys! Oh, boyohboyohboyohboyohBOY! I love this little fic and I’m so happy to post it here for you guys! Of course, this is heavily referencing F.R.I.E.N.D.S., specifically S7E16 "The One with the Truth About London", but I had this idea for a long time and am happy to finally throw it out into the world. I hope you guys like it! (and yes I gave I and jumped on the bandwagon on a certain headcanon)

~~~~~~~~~~

Stanford drummed his six fingers on the arm of the old plaid couch impatiently. While he sat on the right side of the couch, his four-year-old nephew sat on the left side, his little legs just barely passing the edge of the seat and his face just as bored and impatient as the college graduate’s.

Sherman’s son, Alex, had been born in the Fall of Stanford and Stanley’s senior year of high school. While the baby seemed to cry every time Stanford held him, Stanford painfully reminded himself that his twin had always been good with kids and would have probably handled this situation much better. Shermie and his wife both worked, and while their son was in preschool it worked out so that a parent was home when Alex was home, but now that summer was here, the boy was often sent to day-long visits with his grandparents. Ma loved having her grandson over, dotting on him, giving him plenty of snacks and playing games or watching TV with him, but the Pines family was out of groceries and so rather than take the four-year-old with her, Ma left Alex with Stanford. Stanford didn’t have a boiling hatred for children and he loved his nephew greatly, but he was socially awkward with kids and had no idea how to interact with them. Stanford glanced down at the boy and found his eyes glossy as he daydreamed. Stanford sighed quietly to himself. Part of the job description of an uncle was to always entertain his nieces and nephews. He had a chance to be the fun yet responsible adult. Once again Stanford was painfully reminded that Stanley had been amazing with their nephew and could keep him entertained with a shoe string if needed. Stanford was tempted to think of what Stanley would do if he was here, but that was out of the question, so instead he asked himself what would he do with anyone who was exceedingly bored. He would talk to them. Stanford cleared his throat. “So, um, Alex, are you excited that school is over?” He shrugged, still looking dead ahead. “It’s been kinda boring.” Stanford couldn’t argue with that. “Yes, I suppose so.” “Yeah, in school I pwayed with the other kids, but now there’s no kids t’pway with.” Stanford’s first question was why not play with his siblings, but then he was reminded of the struggles young only-children had. “Ah, I see. And you don’t have any brothers or sisters to play with, huh?” Stanford asked, and Alex shook his head. “Well, that’s probably for the best. You know, your father was your age when… when I came along, and all he did was complain about it.” Alex smiled and turned in his seat to look at his uncle a little bit better. “Really, why?” He asked with a smile, enjoying a little bit of gossip about his dad. Stanford smiled and said, “Well, I think a large amount of it was because we were nothing but trouble. As siblings will, we just tortured each other.” Stanford chuckled to himself as he could remember hiding in Sherman’s closet with Stanley, waiting to scare him with a clown-mask and a goblin-mask. “How’d you do that?” Alex asked. Stanford turned to properly face his nephew and he gave it some thought. “Well, there was a month-long period where your uncle repeated everything your father said. We would also hide and scare each other randomly. Oh! Once I switched the sugar for salt so Shermie put salt on his cereal.” Alex giggled and said, “That’s funny.” Stanford, encouraged, grinned. “Really? Uh... oh! This is a good one!” He rummaged through his pants-pockets for a quarter and in between the couch-cushions for a pencil. “You… you take a quarter, and use a pencil to blacken the edge… like this… and then you say to someone, ‘I bet you can’t roll this quarter from your forehead to your chin without it leaving your face’ and then when they do it, they will have a black line running right down the center of their face!” Alex laughed and asked, “Can I do it to you?” Stanford laughed, fullheartedly laughed, and said, “No, sorry, you will have to try it on someone else.” ~~~~~~~~~~ By the time Ma came back and had to take Alex home, he was actually sad to say goodbye to Fun Uncle Stanford and gave him a tight hug. Stanford was glad no one was home to see him smile like an idiot for an hour straight. The next day Ma was on the phone with a client and Pa was downstairs in the shop, so Stanford was sitting in the living room alone, reading a book, when the back door opened and closed. Stanford craned his neck to see the hallway behind him and he saw Sherman come into view, stern-looking with a black line down the center of his face. Stanford bit his lip. “We need to talk.” Sherman growled, resembling their father for a moment despite looking more like Ma with his narrower face and “beanpole” structure. “Uh, sure.” Stanford closed his book and stood up as his brother entered the room. “So,” Sherman crossed his arms over his chest. Stanford noticed his left foot was tapping on the floor rhythmically. That was not a good sign. “Alex learned a little trick from you.” Stanford smiled and pocketed his polydactyl hands in the pocket of his pants. “Right, the old…” “That’s right, my son put saran wrap over the toilet seat so that the pee goes everywhere!” Sherman snapped. Stanford actually had to cover his mouth with a hand to keep from snorting. He cleared his throat and croaked, “I’m really sorry about that.” “Really, Ford, I’d expect this kinda thing from Stan,” Sherman scolded and uncrossed his arms. “But you know how I feel about pranks! They’re stupid, they’re mean, and I don’t want my son doing that sort of thing!” “Oh, come now, Shermie,” Stanford eased, thinking his anger was a little too much for something so harmless. “Clear plastic wrap on the toilet, don’t you think that’s only a little bit funny?” “I was barefoot.” Stanford accidentally let a quick bark of a laugh escape his mouth before holding his breath. “Now, please Ford, tell me the toilet-prank was the only one you taught him, right?” Sherman asked. Stanford darted his eyes to the line on his brother’s face and debated on telling him, but it was just too easy to let it go. A nice little last-prank before going to Alex and talking to him about this. “Uh, y-yes. Absolutely.” Maybe it was because he was so used to all of the lying to come from Stanley, but Sherman actually believed Stanford and nodded and patted his shoulder. “Thanks. Sorry to leave in such a hurry, but I have a meeting I have to be in very soon.” Stanford suddenly regretted not telling Sherman about his black line and tried to stop him to tell him, but he was already gone and Stanford made no further attempt to tell him. He did, however, go to New York City to talk to his nephew. While he enjoyed being Fun Uncle Stanford, as Alex called him yesterday, he had sworn to himself when his nephew was born that he would be the responsible uncle (mostly since he knew he couldn’t count on his twin to be responsible for anyone or anything), and Stanford intended to keep that promise. So he took a subway to New York City and walked to the apartment building his older brother lived in, knowing that since Alex wasn’t with his grandparents he was at home with his mother. When Stanford knocked, Sherman’s wife, Daisy, opened the door and smiled. “Hi, Ford!” The dirty-blonde haired woman greeted and let the young man inside the very tidy apartment, a total opposite to the Pines’ flat above the pawn shop. “Shermie’s not here right now.” “Oh, I know, Daisy, I just… erm, thought I would pay a visit.” “Oh alright, would you like some coffee? I was about to make myself some.” Daisy offered as she walked into the kitchen, which was its own room unlike the Pines’ home that had one big room for a living room, kitchen, and dining room. “That would be great, thank you.” Stanford let her go and called as he sat in one of the matching armchairs in the living room. “So, where is Alex?” He jumped out of his chair when his nephew scared him from behind the chair and Stanford had to bite his lip to keep from yelling or swearing. He smiled and called back to Daisy, “Nevermind, I found him.” “Hi, Uncle Stanford!” “Alex, my boy,” Stanford greeted and sat the four-year-old on the armchair as he crouched to be eye-level. “While I’m very happy to see you, that little prank is exactly why I came to talk to you.” “Ford, do you want some sugar in your coffee?” Daisy called from the kitchen. Stanford opened his mouth to request a little bit of sugar, but then he remembered the whole sugar-and-salt prank he taught Alex and asked the boy, “Do I want sugar in my coffee?” Alex grinned and nodded, but Stanford could see the little lie in his eyes and decided to play it safe. “No, just come creamer would be great, thank you.” Stanford called to his sister-in-law and turned his attention back on his nephew. “Okay, now do you remember all those pranks I taught you yesterday?” “Y’remember all those pranks I taught you yesterday?” Alex repeated with a voice that mocked Stanford’s as he bounced in the armchair with glee. Stanford paused and then shook his head. “No, Alex, listen…” “No, Alex, listen.” “Don’t do that.” “Don’t do that.” “Alex, please, your father doesn’t like pranks.” Stanford tried to explain, but was interrupted. “Alex, please, your father doesn’t like pranks.” Franklin copied. Stanford stood up, his knees aching, and muttered, “Damn it.” Unfortunately, the boy heard that. “Damn it!” He yelled. That made Stanford’s eyes widened with horror and he fell to his knees. “No, no, no! Don’t say that!” He hissed, worried Daisy might have heard her four-year-old son swear. “Damn it!” “No, g-g-go back to repeating!” “Damn it!” “Not that kind of repeating!” “Damn it!” Stanford groaned and stood up to try to think, groaning, “Oh, crap.” “Oh, crap!” Alex cheered, happy to learn so many new words in one minute, meanwhile his uncle was growing pale. Stanford ran a six-fingered hand through his fluffy brown hair as he tried to think of what to do. Stanley might have been worse about swearing like a sailor, but he was much better about censoring himself around kids. One time, when Ma gave the twins the chore of taking the baby for a walk in the stroller, Stanley stumped his toe as they were coming home, and even though the baby was only two-months-old, he manage to yell something that wasn’t necessarily a swear. (Stanley’s eyes had landed on the waffle-sign next to their pawn shop and yelled, “Hot Belgian Waffles!”, a swear that would always remain Stanford’s favorite.) As much as it hurts, Stanford’s mind kept thinking of what his brother would have done. Stanley would have never been bored with Alex in the first place. They would have played football outside to get some fresh air, or he would have shoplifted two popsicles from the ice-cream truck, or he would have colored or played blocks with the four-year-old and claim his scribbles would give Van Gogh a run for his money. If thinking like Stanley would have saved him then, maybe it could save Stanford now. So he thought of what Stanley would have done in this situation. Then an idea came to him and his face lit up. Stanford pulled the coffee table closer to the armchair Alex sat on and had a long discussion with him. As he talked, he kept an ear out for Daisy and by the time he was finished it sounded (and smelled) like the coffee was nearly ready. “And so what have we agreed on?” “No more pranks.” Alex said. “Cross your heart?” Stanford asked and did it first, crossing his heart with his right hand and then holding it up. Alex nodded, crossed his heart, and then held up his hand. Stanford smiled and was about to thank his nephew for being cooperative, but then the boy got an idea and clapped his hand against his uncle’s. “High…” Alex then gasped, and got an even better idea. “High-six!” He cheered, missing the look on Stanford’s face. He was shaken to have someone give him a “high-six”. Alex was too little for Stanley to have taught him that (their nephew was only six-months-old that spring evening Stanley left home); that was something Alex came up on his own. He was a creative, sweet, go-with-the-flow child, one of the few people who never questioned or mocked Stanford for his extra fingers. To him, that’s just the way his Uncle Stanford was and he not only accepted it but loved it. Stanford was broken from his trance when his nephew held out his hand for something and even cleared his throat. “Oh, right!” Stanford reached into his pocket and pulled a five dollar bill out from his wallet and gave it to Alex, his fee for promising not to pull any more pranks. Alex grinned, took the money, and ran off with it. Stanford rolled his eyes and pocketed his wallet and stood up to join Daisy in the kitchen. Just then Sherman came home and was surprised to find his little brother in his living room. He still had the black line down his face. “Ford, what brings you here?” “I just came by to talk to Alex, that’s all.” Stanford said with a shrug and pocketed his hands in his pockets. Sherman gave him a deadly glare. “I swear, if you taught him any more…” “No, no, I actually had a talk with him and he promised not to pull pranks.” Stanford sighed and put a hand up to stop his brothers scolding. “Oh,” Sherman said and smiled. “Well, thank you.” “You’re welcome.” Stanford pocketed his exposed hand and added, “But just so you know, it was nice to be known as ‘Fun Uncle Stanford’ for a day.” He bit his tongue to keep from going on, but if Sherman didn’t know any better he would say Stanford was going to tell him how much he loved being known as fun to Alex. Sherman sighed, realizing that he may have taken this whole pranking-thing too seriously, and said slowly, “Look, Ford, I’m glad you two were bonding and having fun, I just…” “No, Shermie, it’s alright.” Stanford waved his brother’s explanation away. “He’s your son and you have more than a say in what he learns and doesn’t learn. All I’m going to remind you is that he is an only child. Somebody will have to teach him those kind of things so he doesn’t get creamed by the other kids. And, in retrospect, it’s not like I taught him anything an average four-year-old doesn’t either know or have thought of on his own.” “Damn it!” Stanford quickly looked at his watch and said as he left, “Oh, Moses, look at the time!” Sherman was rigid, it digesting that his brother quite possibly taught Alex a swear, and his temper snapped when Daisy walked in, saw her husband’s face, and asked, “Where did you get that big black line down the center of your face?” “STANFORD FILBRICK PINES!” Sherman yelled as he ran out the door to teach his little brother a lesson Pines-boxing-style. ~~~~~~~~~~ A few weeks later, only two weeks before Stanford was moving to Oregon for his new job, Sherman brought Alex into the pawn shop so Sherman could leave quicker through the front entrance, fully aware that Stanford was the only one home at the moment. “Again, I’m sorry to put you on the spot like this, but there is an issue down at the bank I have to take care of, and a certain someone asked for his Fun Uncle Stanford.” Stanford grinned and looked down at the boy who was holding his six-fingered hand and bouncing on the spot. “Oh, well we have fun together, don’t we Alex?” Alex, grinning ear-to-ear, nodded wildly. “Okay, I’ll be back at six.” Sherman said, patted Stanford’s shoulder, and turned to leave, but the younger brother laughed and shook his head. “No, wait, I’m sorry, my boy, I can’t let him go.” Stanford said to Alex, who pouted a little, making his bottom lip stick out. “Wait, what?” Sherman stood still as Stanford removed a piece of paper that read “poop” that had been tapped to Sherman’s back. “That’s fantastic.” He said sarcastically and scowled at his son. “What did we just finished talking about, Alex?” “What did we just finished talking about, Alex?” The boy mocked. “Alex,” Stanford said warningly, but Sherman cut him off. “That is it.” He growled and darted for his son, who let go of Stanford’s hand and ran around the shop, free to do so without the scolding of his Grandpa to not break anything. “Alex! Come here, little mister! You are in BIG trouble!” “Oh, come on!” Stanford called as Sherman chased Alex up the stairwell leading to the flat above the shop. “Shermie! Wait a minute!” Sherman and Alex disappeared into the hallway of nothing but stairs, and the next thing Stanford knew he heard yells and saw a big body fall down into the shop. Stanford yelled and jumped, holding his hair and freaking out for his brother’s safety, only to find that it was a dummy and Sherman and Alex were laughing in the middle of the stairs. Stanford glared daggers at them, but he decided he could let the prank go when he saw the way Alex was laughing and smiling and how he high-fived his father. ~~~~~~~~~~ Alex read his newspaper while his children ate their cereal with smug looks on their faces. Their mother had just entered the kitchen and was pouring herself some coffee. She was too sleepy to notice how odd it was that talkative-Mabel was silent and that Dipper was watching her so intensively instead of reading his book. Kristen grabbed the nearly-full coffee pot and a mug, poured herself some hot caffeinated drink, added sugar and powdered creamer, and gingerly took a sip as she leaned against the counter. As soon as the drink landed on her tongue she hurried to the sink and spat it out. “Ack! What the… Al!” Alex laughed with his kids as he put his paper down. Mabel even pounded her little fist on the table as she laughed at her mother’s reaction. Kristen tried to scowl scaringly, but it was hard when her whole family was so happy. “Very clever.” She said and got down the bag of sugar to fix herself a new cup of coffee. “That’s a good one.” “Yeah, Daddy!” The five-year-old girl cheered before popping a spoonful of cereal with milk into her mouth. “Where’d y’learn that stuff?” “My Uncle Stanford taught me when I was about your age.” Alex answered. He ignored the fact that he hadn’t seen the man who taught him that in years but saw his twin at a funeral and when Dipper and Mabel were born. “We have an Uncle Stanford?!” Mabel gasped happily. “Well, he’s my uncle, so that would make him your great-uncle.” Alex chuckled. “That’s even better! A greater uncle!” “He sounds like a lot of fun.” Dipper said. “When are we gonna see him?” Alex shrugged. Traditionally, he took his little family to his parents’ house for Thanksgiving and Grandma Pines would fly down to California for Hanukkah, but she was getting older and it was harder for her to travel. Stanford would answer any call he got from his nephew cheerful enough, but he had made no effort to see any family except when Alex invited him to that hospital in California, knowing he needed to be there more than anybody. Alex was “insightful” as his mother called it, and so he knew a good amount of what was going on and also knew how to leave what wasn’t his business alone but also help his family member. “Maybe I should call him and we can go up and visit him for the holidays. He lives up north and if we’re lucky we might get some snow.” Mabel gasped even bigger and louder. “SNOW! I wanna go see Uncle Stanford! I wanna go see Uncle Stanford!” “Alright, alright, Maple Leaf.” Alex said and ruffled her hair. “We’ll see what happens.”

[tobythewise]

Y’all are fantastic! I was sent 31 different prompts and wrote over 38k words for these. It was so fun and the reactions were great! Here’s the official Masterpost for them all. You can also search 1k celebration on my page :)

Dirty Dancing- Jace/Simon (Rated E)

“Oh god,” Jace whimpers as he looks right into his own face. The surface under his hands being a mirror. Jace sucks in a sharp breath as Simon’s hands find his ass. Jace clears his throat. “How do you wanna do this?” Simon smirks over Jace’s shoulder, the quirk of his lips undeniably sexy. “You know I love you, right?” When Jace nods, Simon adds, “I have every intention of fucking you like I don’t.”

Jeans and Flannels- Destiel (Rated M)

“I’m wearing jeans and a flannel, Cas. I didn’t realize that was a thing for you. Besides, it’s not like I meant to turn you on.” Castiel rolls his eyes, pointing an accusing finger at Dean. “It was not the flannel. It’s what you’re wearing under your jeans and you may not have meant to do it but it has happened nonetheless.”

Like I Don’t- Destiel (Rated E)

“You know I love you, right?” Dean says, his voice deep yet unwavering, completely steady while Castiel shudders and writhes, coming apart at his seams. “I have every intention of fucking you like I don’t.”

Playing Pretend- Dean/Benny (Rated E)

Dean’s walking through the abandoned alley, his spine straightening when he hears footsteps sound behind him. Dean picks up his pace, his belly warming with anticipation. Between one blink and another, Dean’s face presses into the cement building, a warm presence against his back. Hot breath tickles against his ear as a deep, husky voice whispers in his ear, “pretend you don’t like it.”

Enough- Magnus/Alec (Rated E)

"I had a nightmare about you, and I wanted to make sure you were alright."

Focus- Magnus/Alec (Rated E)

"Quiet or someone will hear you." and "Not until you beg."

‘We What?’- Raphael/Jace/Simon (Rated G)

“Don’t worry,” Raphael says, trying to give Jace a teasing smile that doesn’t quite meet his eyes. “I’m sure he’ll pick you.” “No way,” Jace argues straight away. “If he’s gonna pick one of us it’s gonna be you. You’re way nicer than me. I’m a huge asshole.” “You’re really not. Maybe at first but once someone gets to know you they’ll realize what a softie you secretly are.” “Oh my god, Raph! You can’t just go saying shit like that! I have a reputation to uphold!”

Raphael’s Dork- Raphael/Simon (Rated G)

“Despite what you think, I am completely capable of taking care of myself.” AND “You know, I didn’t ask for any of this. But do you know why I put up with it all? It’s because I love you."

Going Up- Magnus/Alec (Rated G)

The one where they get stuck in an elevator together and flirting ensues.

Medicine and Love Confessions- Destiel (Rated G)

Castiel takes care of his best friend, Dean, while he's sick. Love confessions ensue.

Letting It Slip- Destiel (Rated E)

Dean accidentally lets slip he's interested in calling Cas Daddy in bed and Castiel LOVES it wholeheartedly.

Angelic Captain America- Magnus/Alec (Rated T)

Magus takes care of Alec after he's injected with a serum during a hunt. Alec wakes up, having to learn to deal with the after-effects, which he learns, isn't all bad.

Don’t Cross A Lightwood-Bane- Gen (Rated G)

Max is kidnapped by Camille, who just wants some revenge on Magnus.

Marry Me- Derek/Stiles (Rated G)

Stiles saves Derek. Again. And it makes the alpha realize he doesn't wanna live another day without Stiles always by his side.

In More Than Name- Destiel (Rated E)

Dean Winchester and Castiel Novak are arranged to be married in order to bring together Heaven and Hell. But they both wish for this marriage to be more than a political treaty. When they get to their hotel room, they realize, maybe they truly are a 'match made in Heaven' when they see each other's soulmate marks.

Convincing Sammy- Destiel (Rated G)

Dean uses his best friend in order to convince his little brother he's NOT sad and lonely. But having Cas pressed up against him in a booth has his body responding in the most embarrassing way. Hopefully Cas doesn't notice...

Noone to Fight (But Someone to Love)- Simon/Jace (Rated E)

Simon comes home to find his pregnant mate nesting. Jace complains about having too much energy and nothing to do with it. Simon makes a sexy suggestion.

Spite Date- Destiel (Rated T)

Dean agrees to a blind date set up by Sam. It does not start as expected.

Arrangements- Magnus/Alec (Rated E)

Alec and Magnus' arrangement started about a year ago. They lived across the hall from each other, becoming quick friends. Their dating lives sucked so one drunken night, they decided to scratch each other’s itches. Whenever one of them needed some stress relief, the other would provide, no strings attached. Only, a few months in, Alec knew he was falling for Magnus. He desperately wants those strings and every time they sleep together is a struggle not to confess those feelings.

Drama Teachers are Dramatic- Magnus/Alec (Rated G)

Alec agrees to chaperone the high school prom with his drama teacher boyfriend. ‘Drama’ ensues. 

Mine and Only Mine- Destiel (Rated E)

Dean gets jealous when a stranger at the bar touches Cas. Dean marks Cas as his in the parking lot. Cas loves every second of it.

Let Me Take Care of You- Magnus/Alec (Rated E)

Alec gets himself a Sugar Daddy and through their arrangement, he finds out more about himself and slowly falls in love.

Relaxation- Sam/Gabriel/Rowena (Rated E)

“Are you alright, Darling?” Rowena asks, reaching forward and running her thumb over Gabriel’s cheek. Gabriel feels his walls coming down. He can be the prankster, the clown, the easygoing silly guy, but with these two, he doesn’t feel the need to put on that mask. “I’m alright. I’m just glad I’m home. It’s been a crazy week.” Sam kisses the back of his neck and his body shivers. “We know,” Sam whispers, his hot breath fanning over his ear. He can’t stop himself from squirming in Sam’s lap, groaning when he feels the hot press of Sam’s dick below him. “Since it’s Friday, we thought we’d help you decompress and take care of you.”

Be More Specific- Magnus/Alec (Rated E)

Alec doesn’t know what ‘Netflix n chill’ really means until Magnus spells it out for him. 

Nothing But the Truth- Jace/Simon (Rated G)

Jace is hit with a truth spell. Simon finds this hilarious until suddenly, it's less funny and more heartfelt.

Church is Alec’s Spirit Animal- Magnus/Alec (Rated G)

Alec follows a certain cat blog on Instagram. It makes him happy, okay?! Izzy finds out and messages said account. The rest is history.

In the Mirror- Magnus/Alec (Rated E)

"I want you to dominate me."

Working Together- Derek/Stiles (Rated G)

Stiles and Derek are trapped in a room together until they can figure out how to work together. Stiles uses this as an opportunity to air out the elephant in the room and finally get to the bottom of what's going on between them.

Truth or Dare- Dean/Benny/Cas (Rated E)

The one where Cas, Benny, and Dean finally get together during a tipsy game of Truth or Dare.

Black Widow’s Got Nothing on Magnus Bane- Magnus/Alec (Rated T)

Magnus is kidnapped. Magnus is also a BAMF. 

Kickstarting Labor- Destiel (Rated M)

Benny and Garth try to think of ideas to help a cranky Dean jump start his labor.

[jae-canikeepyou]

| dimples | j.jh

pairing: jaehyun x fem!reader genre: fluff + elite!au a/n: i wanted to try something new. idk if this is even good lolz. i went too extra with the names hahaha. you’ll know what i mean. ;) this is probably the longest i’ve written so far. enjoy reading~

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

“i don’t want to go!” you sighed onto your pillow as she opened the blinds of your window. the sunlight irritated you where it meant it was the morning of the formal event.

“whether you like it or not, you have to go as you are representing the company! you’re the director’s child!” your assistant, sua said so sternly, she had to pull the covers and shivers went down your spine.

“it’s cold! and it’s still early!” you gave a tantrum, your hands wandered the bed for the blanket fabric.

“c’mon get your bum off the bed! the makeover preparation takes longer than the travel time.” sua tapped your shoulders.

you sat up with no intentions of fixing your hair, eyes glared at your assistant. she crossed her arms seeing the state of you, not so lady-like for the only daughter of five.

“it’s a masquerade party for young adults, sons and daughters of the top companies will be there. and your brothers thought you needed a refresher from the hectic semester.” she held your hand to get off the bed.

a click of a tongue made sua think your brothers decided something without your consent, again. they knew you hadn’t been living the life of a normal college student. and of course, being an only daughter had people’s eyes on you since you had started to walk.

your four brothers were all working, handling different sections and departments of the company. the fourth brother being seven years older than you while the others before him were a year apart from each other. a huge age gap, so you were protected most of the time.

mistaken as your bodyguards throughout middle and high school, but really they planned to beat up any boy who attempted to approach you. as mentioned earlier, they were ‘protecting’ you, when you were currently eighteen.

“dance? oh it’s going to be so boring. i’d rather stay home and eat ice-cream.” you brushed your teeth.

“miss y/n, would you rather want your brothers be escorting and guarding you all night?” she asked, making your ears perk up at the possible actions your brothers might do.

“no thank you, sua. i’m old enough to be handling myself.” you slipped into your slippers.

sua opened the door and together you headed down to the kitchen where breakfast was ready. your groggy self walked lazily when your brother were all dressed up for work— suited up, strong perfume and permed hair. they saw you still in pj’s and chuckled at the fact you had no efforts in trying to be lady-like on normal basis, except for school and other meetings.

“our little sister seems to be excited for the dance tonight.” eunjae sipped his coffee, the oldest son.

“who said i was going?!” you spat as you raised and rested your legs onto your chair. “and for the record i know you’re the one who put my name onto the list.”

“well y/n, it’s a must for all sons and daughters of-”

“of the top leading companies of the country.” you cut him off as you completed his sentence.

“mother had prepared your outfit.” the second son seungjae added, as he fixed his tie.

“already?” you munched on your toast.

“i think it will look great on you, bub.” minjae rubbed your already messy hair.

“our y/n’s having her first formal dance~” hanjae lifted you from the chair, spinning you around while you kicked repetitively, hoping your fourth brother would bring you down.

“let go! i’ll puke on you! mleh-” you complained.

“not on my new suit y/n!” hanjae still spun until he passed your body to your father.

“father! tell them to stop messing around!” you pouted, your father pecked you on the forehead.

“well i agree with them! you missed the senior prom last year.” he laughed as he sat down. “all the more reason why they’re happy for you.”

“it’s not like it’s my wedding.” you rolled your eyes with arms crossed.

“hm they’ll be more happy by then!” he placed you down.

“father! you-” you balled your fists. your father made a face by which your brothers copied him. “urgh! i’m going back to my room!”

a gentle hand tapped on your shoulders, later wrapping around them. the soles of your feet went to a halt. the person who was stern yet lenient at the same time, your mother’s presence had always made you feel like a child again. “never mind them, my dear y/n. they don’t show it, but they love you lots.”

you sighed. your mother cupped your face to bring you a kiss on the forehead. “if they actually do they better stop treating me like i’m eight.”

“maybe we will treat you like eighteen when we see you in the gown.” they said simultaneously.

“whatever.”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

the night came quicker than most days and before you knew it, you were sitting in a limousine. your childhood friends had spotted your limo arriving late. they were gesturing you to come out and in for the queue. at the entrance, every attendee had their attire all in glamour, like always.

you rummaged the insides of your purse, looking for that one item— the mask. gladly the event was a masquerade party. not like you didn’t want anyone to recognize you. but as mentioned, eyes were on you, so you had a certain reputation to them.

you later stood with your childhood friends and giggled at their jokes they made. “y/n, glad you could make it this time.” mirae hugged your waist.

“ah well. what choice do i have when my brothers signed me up?” you puckered your lips.

jaehyun along with his friends sat at a table by the staircase, where young ladies soon came to his view. he saw a specific girl who wore a backless red mermaid gown. her hair bunned perfectly to one side where braids aligned with it. strands of curls dangled by her temples and her gold mask brought attention. the classical music had softened, bringing to a pause.

“what kind of party is this?” ten threw a menu page to the table. “i’m starting to get bored. entertainment needed.”

“regret coming here?” mark shrugged. ten mumbled about he could’ve stayed home for a movie marathon.

“got your eyes on anyone yet?” taeyong asked his friends.

“ladies here are all pretty tonight, even with masks.” johnny interrupted the boys, where he noticed jaehyun staring into space. he looked to where he was staring to, only to have his eyes at ladies on the top of the staircase.

jaehyun’s lips agape when you and your friends walked to the food table. he thought your golden mask brought out the light in your eyes, something he couldn’t look away from. when the dance floor slowly got occupied, he already knew who to dance with. the only thing was, how he would initiate.

his friends saw him not paying any attention to their conversation, let alone knowing that they were even with him. his bitten lips showed how nervous he was. by that johnny and the others knew, jaehyun found a crush. they nudged at each other, doing few rounds of rock paper scissors to see if the boy would get flustered when they brought it up.

mark licked his lips and shook his hands, as if he were to spar in a boxing arena. he walked to jaehyun and asked if he had eyes on someone. “bet you it’s one of them at the food table.”

jaehyun slightly flinched, not that mark had noticed. but his ears told him the answer. “i wanna dance with her.”

“then go.” johnny appeared from behind. “it’s the girl in red right? go get her before i do.” he teased.

mirae pulled your hands when the force made your legs walk to the dance floor. you insisted on stay at the food table, but she said it wasn’t the only thing you came here for. as you gave in, the music changed to a much slower pace. the couples around you had partners, and mirae later was asked by a guy to dance.

oh how you felt awkward and stupid at the same time standing there as you looked for way to exit. the crowd was getting closer and heck you felt dizzy at the movements even at dimmed lighting. “can i have this dance?” a boy asked and you turned around.

he looked decent, smart and boy his smile radiated sunshine even at night. his black mask appeared like universe where his eyes twinkled like stars. behind the mask you already knew he was that handsome. “is it alright?” he asked.

“oh.” you gasped. “of course it’s alright.”

he bowed and held your gloved hands, bringing your left to rest on his shoulders. “phew. i thought you would refuse.”

you smiled at his assumption. who would refuse to a gentleman anyway? “i would appear a snob if i do.”

“really?” he chuckled and his pearly whites made you feel.. giddy. “you’re too pretty to be a snob. but anyway, glad you didn’t refuse because i’ve been bombarded with asks for a dance by the ladies.”

you looked from left to right as you tried to spot the ladies he told you about. realizing this, he leaned in closer to where his lips were centimeters away from your ears. “at your 9 o’clock.” he whispered.

ladies of your age glared at you with daggers, like you have stolen their beloved. “i see. i could tell why they would ask you.”

he raised his brows in question to your statement. “i guess you’ve been quite the magnet in this event tonight.” your eyes shone that jaehyun stared at them.

his lips agape and he blinked his eyes several times like dust had entered them before he looked at you again. “there must be something wrong with my eyes.”

“i have some eye drops if you wa-” you were cut off despite showing a hint of worry.

“i can’t seem to take them off you.”

you jutted your lips, holding a smile where it definitely sent butterflies to your stomach. pick-up line huh, smooth. was he up for a battle? he was trying to flirt with you, and you weren’t the person to back down a battle.

he twirled you around and switched hand postures, still swaying and stepping to the ever slow rhythm. “i told you how you were quite a magnet tonight, right?”

“yes you did. what about it-” jaehyun asked, but you cut him off almost immediately.

“you sure are attracting me too.”

jaehyun’s small smile was enough for you to know he was hit by it. he tried to hold back a sloppy grin before eventually giving up. “that was good. but did you know that you owe me a drink?” he whispered into your ears again.

your slight giggle made jaehyun smile, the anticipation in you grew. “i dropped mine earlier when i saw you at the staircase.”

“oh wow.” you fanned yourself, true to the fact you did blush. “is it hot in here or is it you?”

“i guess it’s me.” his hands that held your waist went a little lower, pulling you closer from the actual distance.

“you’ve got a way with your words huh?” you smirked.

“i do, but yours pulled my heartstrings.” he leaned in to where he bent down, leveling his face to yours.

he kissed you on the cheek and you swore the butterflies inside fluttered more than usual. bold move, but little did you know he felt the same too.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

“so you just forgot after you passed out in the limo?” ayeon asked you, leaning onto her arm that supported her chin.

“i didn’t forget. why would i? i loved the feeling.” you hugged your pillow.

the sun wasn’t up yet and there you were with ayeon and mirae, they chose to sleep over at your place after you had shots of who knew how many. ayeon eyed you, still suspicious of your answer. “what? i really did.”

“ooh y/n’s in love.” mirae teased.

“what’s his name then?” ayeon asked, making you flinch and up on your toes.

“agh we were so busy flirting with pick-up lines that i forgot to ask!” you plopped onto your bed, whining like a child who’d want a giant lollipop.

huge laughter from the two made you feel unaccomplished, or maybe you were just overthinking. you wore you fluffy slippers as you went down the stairs for breakfast. they soon followed and continued to tease you.

“it’s okay if you don’t know his name!” mirae said. “you must remember how he looked like!”

“pfft. as if. we were wearing masks last night and y/n passed out before we all took off the masks at the end of the party.” ayeon laughed as she took a toast from the counter.

gosh they weren’t helping you at all.

“anything else you noticed about him? suit? facial features?” mirae asked.

that question alone made you wonder and thought hard to the point your head had already reached the surface of the table. you tried to remember. he had a black suit, red bow tie and brown hair. his smiles to your pick-up lines were the only ones stuck in your mind.

wait. there was something else.

“dimples..” you murmured.

“what?” they asked simultaneously.

“he had dimples! oh my gosh! he did!” you squealed and rushed up to your bedroom, typing away words at a social media platform under a hashtag of the event last night. maybe there had been photos of him that might’ve reveal his name.

the two puffed breaths as the entered your room. “you sure you can track this guy there?”

you scrolled down several images, columns of selfies and aesthetic areas of the event hall. none of them seemed to catch your eye, more of, he hadn’t popped up in any of the pictures you passed by. “nope.” you popped your lips. “help me here.”

“wow i’ve never seen y/n so interested besides studying and.. studying.” ayeon said, earning a hit on the head by you.

“let her be since she’s so into dimples.” mirae cackled, eyes following at the speed of your mouse scrolling. “stop! he’s the guy i danced with. his name’s johnny.” she pointed at the screen.

“okay, not what i was looking for..” your voice getting impatient.

“no but i remember he tagged along with dimples.” her tone convinced you. “check his profile.”

you did as you were told, and the words slowly came into you when you clicked onto a certain picture he was tagged in.

“jaehyun.” his name escaped your lips, sending the same fluttering butterflies into your stomach.

“hey, y/n.” mirae snapped her fingers in from of you. “did i tell you johnny and i exchanged numbers?”

you turned to her with flushed cheeks and you knew you wanted to meet dimples again.

“y/n’s crush’s name is jaehyun?” one of your brothers yelled from the hallway. “oh dudes you hear? he’s a ‘jae’!” “whoops aren’t all jae’s handsome?” “y/n! just so you know we’re lowkey implying we’re handsome too!” “we approve of him!”

“stop eavesdropping you twerps!” you yelled.

should you greet him with another pick-up line when you see him? who cares?

you knew you’ll meet jaehyun again.

a/n: yes lol i had to include this mood board just bc,, jaehyun looks hot *shys away* hahaha :p

[charmedtheselfproclaimedking]

Charmed Again: Season 3 (Charmed Fanfic) Master-List

Episode 6 - The Death of The Charmed Ones (International Fanworks Day Special)

Warnings: I don’t own the rights to any of the characters from the hit TV show “Charmed” or the storylines related to the show those rights belong to original creator Constance M Burge.

15+ Moderate/Graphic Displays of Violence, Sexual Innuendos, Witchcraft and Potentially Triggering Scenes.

Paul Halliwell was working late one night at Halliwell and Turner typing away on his laptop while sat behind his desk in his office when suddenly a picture of himself, Pan and Drake who was holding Lilah placed on his desk in a frame fell of the desk and smashed causing Paul to stand up from his chair and walk over to pick up the pieces of the broken frame only for the eldest Halliwell to be hit by a premonition.

In Paul’s premonition he saw Drake walking into the dining room of the Halliwell Manor looking alarmed as he saw the window in there smashed and covered with blood before turning to look at a table which was covered in broken glass from the window as Drake continued walking through the dining room only to break down in tears and horror when he oversaw Paul and Pan’s lifeless and bloody bodies laying on the floor of a blood soaked foyer before Paul’s horrifying premonition came to an end.

“Oh no this can’t be good.” Paul mumbled to himself before accidentally cutting his hand on a piece of glass from the broken photo frame he attempted to clean up as Raven knocked on the door before walking into Paul’s office.

“Ouch what happened in here? Pretty quiet for a demonic attack.” Raven joked before becoming alarmed by the look of horror on Paul’s face. “Paul what is it? Are you okay?”

“No, I don’t think I am or at least I don’t think I’m going to be.” Paul replied.

That same night Drake walked into the currently not ruined dining room of the Halliwell Manor wearing old pajamas and a face mask while chowing down on a tub of mint chocolate chip ice cream only to be left stunned to see Dermot sitting at the table clearly waiting to see him.

“What the bloody hell are you doing in my house?” Drake asked his boss before ripping his own face mask off causing him to let out of small scream of pain as he threw the remains of the face mask onto the dining table.

“I must admit despite the horrifying image in front of me the Halliwell Manor is even more stunning up close.” Dermot replied while snickering away at Drake’s current state.

“Yeah that didn’t answer my question buddy!” Drake snapped as he put his ice cream and spoon down on the dining table.

“I need you and the fellow charmed ones’ assistance with a certain situation I’ve found myself in so if you could hurry along, get changed and get the others I’d be very grateful.” Dermot told the Halliwell hybrid.

“Yeah you see the thing is my dad’s working late for the third night in a row and my aunt is currently on honeymoon with my best friend so if you’re looking for the charmed ones then I’m afraid your out of luck.” Drake took pleasure in telling his boss.

“And what about you? You don’t seem to be even remotely busy.” Dermot asked him.

“Not busy correct but also not interested in helping you with whatever dilemma you’ve got yourself into.” Drake made clear.

“Okay well that’s just rude and quite frankly unprofessional considering you’re a charmed one and the charmed ones are meant to help the innocent no matter what.” Dermot snapped at Drake as he stood up from his chair.

“Yeah that rule only applies to actual innocents and last time I checked the elders were far from innocent especially the one in front of me who very recently tried to get my dad’s girlfriend executed.” Drake replied before taking a deep sigh. “I’ll help you with whatever trouble you’ve got yourself into but only because if you wind up dead, I’ll be the number one suspect.”

“Drake this is serious I’ve received a very troubling and frankly rather terrifying letter placed on my desk within magic school.” Dermot informed Drake who instantly responded by laughing at the headmaster of magic school.

“I’m sure the person who wrote the letter was just expressing their hate without actually meaning to kill you.” Drake continued to laugh, clearly guilty of some letters himself.

“I’m not talking about your silly little passive aggressive bite me styled notes which are the weirdest form of flirting I’ve ever known I’m talking about actual terrifying death threats.” Dermot corrected him.

“Hey, they are way more sophisticated than bite me…” Drake tried to defend himself before going on to backtrack. “I mean you can’t prove those ones are from me!”

“Can we just try and pretend we’re adults for more than a second please?” Dermot asked him.

“You’re right I’ll go get changed and while I’m doing that you should probably write a really long list of all the people who would want you dead which let’s face it is going to take you longer than it’ll take me to get changed.” Drake replied.

“Please just be serious for a moment.” Dermot begged him.

“I was being deadly serious about that list.” Drake responded with a sinister smile.

“Well in that case nice pajamas Mr Black.” Dermot mocked him.

“Bite me!” Drake said before blinking out of sight.

The next morning Pan and Lacey woke up in bed together within a hotel located somewhere in London.

“I wish we could just stay here forever and pretend the rest of the world doesn’t exist.” Pan told Lacey before pulling her wife in towards her for a morning kiss. “See now this is the life Mrs Morgan-Halliwell.”

“I don’t think your brother would be too happy if we didn’t even return home before moving out Mrs Morgan-Halliwell.” Lacey joked. “In fact, I’m fairly certain he’d cast some spell forcing us to return to San Francisco whether we liked it or not.”

“True but we could always have fun staying put until that day came.” Pan replied with a playful smile until the two brides were left stunned when Raven shimmered her way into their hotel room.

“Okay I hate to be the girl to break up what looks like a very happy honeymoon, but Paul sent me here because he had a terrifying premonition and you need to come home right away.” Raven told them both as Pan and Lacey climbed out of their bed and put on hotel robes.

“Was it so difficult to ask my brother for a whole week to myself?” Pan asked Raven with a snarky attitude.

“Paul had a premonition of you and him dying.” Raven revealed to a stunned Pan as an equally stunned Lacey was left horrified.

“I’ll check with the elders and see what’s going on.” Lacey told Pan before kissing her wife on the cheek and orbing out of sight.

“I’m getting so sick of one of us always being in trouble swear to god demons need to learn when to take a holiday.” Pan snapped. “No offense Raven.”

“You could’ve knocked first Drake I could’ve been busy with a student or another member of the faculty.” Dermot complained after Drake stormed into his office and threw himself down on Dermot’s couch while Dermot sat behind his desk.

“You could’ve knocked before breaking into my house last night, but you didn’t so let’s not going around throwing stones now.” Drake replied to his boss. “So, I tried interrogating but then I was like Drake you stop being a detective for a reason so instead I decided to get some students onto casting an identity spell figured they may as well learn something new and it would save me time playing Clue-do with you.”

“No don’t get them doing that using the students as your lackeys is totally unacceptable not to mention dangerous I mean who knows if their even ready for that kind of spell.” Dermot argued with him.

“Okay chill Mr uptight I picked the best students if anything this spell is going to be easy play for them.” Drake told Dermot, not understanding why Dermot had such an issue.

“I demand that you stop the students casting this spell at one.” Dermot shouted at Drake as he stood up from behind his desk.

“Okay I’ve about had it with your attitude.” Drake snapped back as he stood up from the couch. “I’m trying to help you and yet you’re still being a total dick can’t you just say thank you for once in your life!”

“Okay thank you.” Dermot said reluctantly before taking a big sigh, clearly frustrated. “Please just stop the spell.”

“Why should I?” Drake questioned the headmaster.

“Because I’m the one who wrote the damn note.” Dermot admitted much to Drake’s fury.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Drake shouted before storming out of Dermot’s office as Dermot quickly chased after him.

“Drake just stop for a second and let me explain.” Dermot shouted at Drake causing the two of them to stop in the main hallway of magic school.

“I gave up my day off the first weekend in a while where Cindy has Lilah and I wasn’t working or doing charmed duties and I have to give that all up so you could play me like some fool.” Drake snapped at him.

“I wasn’t trying to make a fool out of you I just wanted to spend some time with you.” Dermot explained to Drake.

“More like you wanted to spend time moaning and complaining to me because for some reason you’ve got some issue with me!” Drake argued. “I don’t know what the hell your problem is but I’m getting really tired of it.”

“My problem is that you drive me crazy crazier than anyone I’ve ever met, and I’ve been around for centuries so that’s quite the achievement.” Dermot admitted as he walked closer towards Drake. “My problem is that you challenge everything I’ve ever believed in and yet despite how irritated and frustrated you make me I can’t seem to get you out of my mind!”

“Okay I’m sick of your constant…” Drake began to say before Dermot kissed him once again.

“I like you stupid!” Dermot declared before the two shared a look of longing for a moment before they began passionately kissing each other and tearing at each other’s clothes as they began crashing back towards Dermot’s office.

“You know after you filled me in on this whole premonition of me and Paul laying dead in this house everywhere, I go has got me jumping out my skin.” Pan told Raven as she walked into the kitchen of the Halliwell Manor to find Raven sat at the kitchen table drinking a glass of water. “That’s the first time I’ve ever saw you not drink wine don’t tell me this premonition has you scared sober.”

“Not exactly I know it’s not Paul’s first premonition in which one of you die he informed me of that not that we shouldn’t still worry of course but I have confidence you’ll kill whatever demon is coming like you three always do.” Raven replied to the newlywed Halliwell as Pan walked over and sat down next to her. “I’m sorry your honeymoon’s being ruined I guess it’s just a case of one nasty surprise after another.”

“Well if us dying hasn’t got you sober…” Pan began to say before looking at the glass of water and realizing what was up for herself. “Oh my god my brother’s done it again your knocked up aren’t you?”

“A girl restrains from drinking one occasion and you assume she’s pregnant?” Raven tried to deny for a moment before realizing she had to tell someone. “Okay I’m pregnant but trust me when I say I never planned any of this I mean it’s literally the worst possible timing.”

“This is great news!” Pan screeched as she stood up, pulling Raven up too and in for a hug. “I’m so thrilled I’m going to be an aunt again…Paul’s going to be a dad again…oh my god Drake’s going to be a brother.”

“Okay I’ve got to admit that is so not the reaction I was expecting although I think I’m happy by your response.” Raven replied. “I didn’t plan any of this and Paul and I haven’t even said we love each other yet.”

“Paul’s loved you since your first kiss he was your sucker the minute you laid those lips on him Missy you have nothing to worry about…unless you don’t love him?” Pan answered.

“I do love him of course I do…” Raven admitted. “I just wanted him to say he loved me without a baby making him biased. Don’t get me wrong I’ve always wanted to be a mum and start a family I just figured I’d do it the old-fashioned way I’m kind of an old-fashioned demon.”

“Listen Paul loves you and you love him there doesn’t have to be any complications if you don’t let there be.” Pan advised the baby mother of her future niece or nephew. “I’m just glad it’s you he knocked up instead of Lacey I mean the guy has previous with Eve.”

“Yeah I suppose this demonic pregnancy has nothing on that one.” Raven joked. “Are you sure everything’s going to be okay?”

“You mean after we stop Paul’s premonition from coming true and stop us all from dying?” Pan asked sarcastically before hugging Raven once more. “I’m just kidding we’ll kick this demon’s ass and then we’ll celebrate another baby in the Halliwell family! Don’t worry everything is going to be fine.”

Lacey orbed into Dermot’s office with Paul by her side after picking him up from work after her little visit to the elders proved unhelpful only for the two of them to be left shocked to see Drake popping up from behind his desk using a laptop to cover his naked body.

“Guys what are you doing in the headmaster’s office without knocking?” Drake asked them nervously.

“Why are you in the headmaster’s office naked?” Paul asked his son. “I mean I know you like to flaunt your body, but this is a school not to mention your boss’ office.”

“I’m trying this new fitness regime that’s really trendy right now besides this part of the school is closed so thought why not exercise naked.” Drake blatantly lied as Lacey noticed somebody’s else feet popping out from the end of the table.

“I’m guessing your in the boss’ office because he joined you for this little naked exercise?” Lacey teased her best friend before Dermot jumped up from behind the desk also very naked and using a stack of books to cover his modesty.

“Mr Halliwell it’s good to finally meet you!” Dermot greeted Drake’s father awkwardly. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Do you seriously have to sleep with all your bosses?” Lacey laughed at Drake while Paul rolled his eyes in disapproval of the situation, he had just found himself in.

“Drake we don’t really have time for you to seek out another wayward romance that’s never going to work out.” Paul told his son. “We need you back at the Manor now!”

“Hey!” Drake snapped at his father. “You barged in here this is on you not me besides who says this is even romance?”

“I don’t tend to make a habit out this.” A nervous and still very naked Dermot tried to make himself clear.

“To be fair Paul, your son’s been with demons and white lighter’s what an elder or two added to the list?” Lacey joked with her brother in law. “At least this one isn’t wiping his brain, trying to make him king of hell or using him to reunite with his own father.”

“I feel like we’re setting the standard real low for him.” Paul laughed with Lacey.

“Can you guys just get our of here already?” Drake begged them both.

“Very well kiss your boss goodbye and meet us back at the Manor.” Lacey replied as she grabbed a hold of Paul’s shoulder and the two of them orbed out of Dermot’s office.

“So, this isn’t a romance then?” Dermot awkwardly asked Drake.

“God knows.” Drake laughed to himself.

“Listen I’m telling you there is nothing to worry about.” Pan said as her and Raven walked into the dining room and sat down at the table. “We’re power of three whatever’s coming for us this time and then you can get straight to telling Paul the happy news.”

“Let’s just hope Paul takes this as well as you do.” Raven replied. “What if he doesn’t want another child? What if it hurts him too much to consider starting again with another baby after having to give up Drake when he was a baby?”

“That’s exactly why this is brilliant news look I wouldn’t change Drake for the world and neither would Paul but there’s not a day that goes by where Paul doesn’t regret raising Drake and now he finally gets a chance to be a father from the very beginning.” Pan told Raven, trying to reassure the demon. “It doesn’t mean he’s any less of a father to Drake or will be any less of a father to him when this one is born it just means he gets two children instead of one and trust me he’s going to be thrilled.”

“Thanks, you and Lacey are going to be wonderful mothers when the time comes.” Raven complimented the Halliwell witch. “You’ve made me feel so much more at ease.”

“I’m sorry I took my time turns out the elders were completely clueless about Paul’s premonition.” Lacey apologised after orbing into the dining room with Paul by her side.

“That’s okay I guess this just means holding tight till we work out more about who’s going to attack.” Pan said as she stood up from her chair and hugged her wife.

“Raven you’re still here!” Paul smiled as Raven stood up, walked over to her man and kissed him on the lips.

“I love you!” Raven declared to the eldest Halliwell.

“I love you too!” He replied.

“Listen Paul there’s something I need to tell you...” Raven began to say until suddenly a bullet pierced through the dining room window smashing the glass in the process as it headed for Pan’s direction who tried to freeze the bullet but her power’s failed on her as the bullet went straight through her forehead causing an instantly lifeless Pan to go flying backwards into the foyer of the Halliwell Manor as the three others screamed in horror.

“Pan!” Lacey frantically screamed as she rushed over to her wife, knelled and attempted to heal Pan only for her healing powers not to work much to Lacey’s horror as she continued screaming. “Heal...god damn it, powers don’t fail me now!”

Suddenly another bullet pierced through the kitchen window this time heading straight in Paul’s direction as he was hit in the chest and fell down into the foyer next to his lifeless sister as he looked over at Pan as Raven continued to scream in horror.

Lacey quickly and gently placed Pan down before moving over to Paul attempting to heal her brother in law only for her powers not to work once more.

“Quinn! Paige! Somebody please!” Lacey screamed as Raven rushed over to Paul grabbing a hold of his hand while Lacey stood up covered in both the blood of her wife and her wife’s brother as her look of heartbreak turned into a look of pure rage before she orbed away.

“Stay with me okay you’ve got to stay with me!” Raven cried frantically. “This can’t end like this we can’t end like this I love you Paul.”

“I love you too.” Paul replied before his eyes closed causing Raven to scream louder as she watched the man she loved died.

Meanwhile a grief stricken, and vengeful Lacey orbed herself outside of the dining room window in the back garden of the Halliwell Manor to find a woman dressed all in black holding a rifle that had clearly been used to kill Paul and Pan.

Before the assassin had any chance to shoot at her Lacey launched herself at the woman jumping onto her and causing them both to fall to the ground as Lacey began repeatedly punching the villainess in the face before picking her up and throwing her head against the dining room window completely smashing all of the glass in the process as a wounded and bloodied assassin fell to the ground.

Lacey walked over towards the rifle, picked it up and aimed it in the murderous woman’s direction before Raven shimmered herself into the garden to stand by Lacey’s side with her eyes still red raw and her body still trembling from just having watched Paul die.

“Lacey!” Raven screamed at the vengeful white lighter. “She’s human we can’t kill humans I know you want to and trust me so do I but killing her is not the answer.”

“Maybe not,” Replied a broken Lacey before she fired the gun several times at the assassin making bullet after bullet pierce the body of the woman who had killer her wife and her wife’s brother.

“What have you done?” Raven cried before a broken Lacey orbed away dark lighter style.

Drake blinked into the kitchen of the Halliwell Manor before walking into the dining room where he was instantly alarmed upon see the dining room window completely smashed with blood covered on what remained of the window before he turned to look at the dining table which was covered in broken glass from the window as Drake continued cautiously walking through the dining room only to let out a huge scream as he saw the lifeless and bloodied bodies of his father Drake and his aunt Pan as he quickly rushed over to his father and began sobbing uncontrollably as he picked his father up into his arms.

“No!” Drake screamed as he hugged into his father while shaking erratically back and forth. “This can’t be happening again! I can’t go through this again! Come on dad please just wake up please don’t leave me dad…please don’t leave me!”

Drake continued to sob and scream uncontrollably while hugging his father’s lifeless body tighter and tighter, accidentally covering himself in his father’s blood before a group of police burst in through the front door shouting “It’s the San Francisco Police please stand up and put your hands where we can see them.”

Non-corporeal versions of Pan and Paul suddenly appeared within the attic of the Halliwell Manor looking at each other with pure confusion in their eyes before a non-corporeal Piper Halliwell appeared in front of them as the two siblings instantly realized what had just happened.

“I’m sorry my beautiful grandchildren it’s never easy saying goodbye even if you are given time to do such.” Piper said to them both with tears in her eyes. “I thought I’d come here and guide you along the way to try and comfort you both as much as possible. Death kind of owed us all a favour.”

“I don’t want to go I was finally happy I finally got my son back and I found someone I really love.” Paul told his grandmother, pleading for his death not to be finale.

“I just got married we were going to have children together.” Pan cried. “All that can’t be over before it’s even begun.”

“I don’t want to leave them!” Paul cried while grabbing a hold of his sister’s hand.

“We never want to leave when our time comes and yet it still comes.” Piper admitted to them both.

“Are they going to be okay without us?” Pan asked her grandmother.

“No not for a really long time.” Piper cried. “But in time their going to be okay their going to be better than okay and their going to be stronger than ever because you both taught them how to be strong.”

“I can’t believe this is over.” Paul said with a broken look on his face as he and his sister began walking towards their grandmother.

“I know my darlings, but I promise you everything will make sense in time.” Piper cried as she hugged her grandchildren before all three of them disappeared.

[haouintheworld]

Prologue & Epilogue

OOC: Dropping mun’s first fanfiction in a decade featuring Judai and Johan before and after the events of Bonds Beyond Time. 

Pairing: Spiritshipping

Edit: Typos are fixed and now there are links in the text if you want know about more about Johan’s nightmares dreams and the mysterious mask, go follow @itsashowtime​ to learn more!

___________

The former Osiris Red student had been traveling the globe alone for almost a year now and had fallen out of touch with most of his schoolmates. He texted occasionally with O'Brien and Jim, mainly because they both felt the need to look after Judai as if he was their youngest brother. Asuka checked in once and a while, providing updates on her and Manjyome's lives. Kenzan texted when he could to update Judai on how quiet life had gotten at the Academy. Edo had badgered Judai into downloading Snapchat and they kept up with each other's adventures through brief pictures. The last Judai heard from Edo was a couple videos of Ryou moving in with him a few weeks prior. They'd made Judai laugh especially when he heard Sho complaining in the background. Despite Judai leaving without really saying goodbye, Johan had never drifted away. It was like Judai and Johan hadn't separated. Johan ensured they texted and called each other regularly while he was at university. Judai loved hearing about Johan's path to getting a degree in the history of dueling with a focus on ancient Rome. Apparently, his university had a acquired a few artifacts from an old nameless kingdom. They consisted of some golden braces and a gold-platinum sword which eerily matched this old mask Johan's family had kept for generations. 

Johan didn't mind staying up till odd hours just to talk depending on what time zone Judai was in. Judai didn't care about keeping odd hours either, especially if Johan needed to talk after a nightmare or a bad day. He'd found himself keeping a clock of Oslo's time zone on his home screen and sending postcards to Johan when he remembered to. 

Regardless of the miles between them, the connection he had with Johan only grew. Judai admitted to himself he missed his best friend more than anyone else. He'd said multiple times that he wished Johan could travel with him.

Judai shouldn't have been surprised with what happened in Venice. He traveled there following a lead about someone who'd stolen Ryou's Cyber End Dragon.

He'd just finished asking a batch of local workers if they had seen or heard of a mysterious masked stranger stealing Duel Monster cards. Then Johan called and after a few minutes of talking, Johan asked Judai to describe his surroundings. "Well if you'd just video call me, I could just show you." Judai pouted. "Judai, I told you my camera isn't working after I dropped it. Come on, I wanna hear about it." Johan dragged out the syllables in his name teasingly. Judai sighed, signalling that he agreed to humour his best friend. The giggle he heard from Johan made him smile involuntarily. "Well, I just walked out of a big library and behind me are two very tall columns with different statues on them... They both have wings?" Judai trailed off as his description of his surroundings turned into a question. Johan laughed, "You're the one who's there! And that big library is called the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana."   Judai smiled, he liked the sound of Johan's Italian. He noticed windy feedback on Johan's end. "Are you on your run or something?" Judai inquired, reminding himself how more than a few times they'd caught up while Johan was working out. "Yep, I called you right before I walked out of my place," Johan confirmed before adding, "now go on." Judai rolled his eyes, "There are plenty of tourists around and jeez these people like their fancy archways. I'll have to send you a picture." "Ha, please do. I love that there's all these religious details and then they just have four horses randomly on the centre arch." "I know, right?" Judai glanced up at them before asking, "Have you been here before?" "Not until today." Judai's brain didn't process that the source of Johan's voice had changed for a second. He'd opened his mouth to question his best friend and then his heart felt like it was going to burst out of his chest, his brain screaming at him to turn around. 

So he did.

And his heart soared.

"Johan."

"Judai." 

Closing the small distance between them, the two boys embraced each other. They both laughed joyfully, lost in their own little bubble. Judai even picked Johan up and twirled him around. They didn't realise the few kind looks they received from tourists and locals alike. Another couple was walking toward the water and looked knowingly at each other.

"What are you even- don't you have university or work?" Judai wondered, this was the last thing he'd expected to happen today. He was so thankful to see Johan in person instead of on a tiny screen! He was considerably taller than him now too! He held on to Johan's arms, not wanting to break their connection as if the bluenette would disappear. "I did this crazy thing called finishing a school year?" Johan teased before adding, "I was planning to come find you no matter where you were since I'd have the time. It's been too long and I... I really needed to see you." Judai smiled softly, he was so touched. He'd desperately missed having Johan by his side. As much as he appreciated Hane Kuriboh, his professor, Pharaoh, and the other duel spirits, Judai wanted to be with people that didn't exist on another plain of existence. Moreover, he missed getting lost in those emerald eyes. "I needed to see you too, Johan." Neither spoke for a beat, something unspoken shared between their souls. They were happy to just be in the moment with each other.  

Johan would've been the first to break the silence had not Ruby Carbuncle and Hane Kuriboh appeared angrily looking in the direction of a plaza. Swooping over their heads with a piercing metal screech, was a darkened version of Cyber End Dragon. Its tail running through the central part of the library Judai was just in. Everyone in the streets began screaming and sprinting in directions away from the dragon. Within seconds Judai and Johan had dropped their respective bags. They loaded and activated their duel disks in sync before calling out their ace monsters. "Let's go Elemental Hero Neos!" "Come on out, Rainbow Dragon!" The two monsters shimmered into existence, Judai tapped into the powers given to him by the Supreme King to materialise the monsters into real beings. 

Whoever was doing this had some serious power behind them.

Rainbow Dragon allowed Neos to fly near his head as the two sped towards Cyber End Dragon, their powers charging. However, before either could act, an unfamiliar pearly dragon appeared and rammed Rainbow Dragon into the ground in a flurry of stardust. The force sent Johan and Judai to the ground as Crystal Beasts and Elemental Heroes appeared around them.

"RAINBOW DRAGON!" Johan cried out. He pushed himself forcibly to his feet so he could run to his largest family member. Before he could sprint, Rainbow Dragon disappeared in a flash of light along with his respective card. The remaining dragons flew upwards and began circling the city. Neos barely had time to move out of danger's way and touched back down in the crater Rainbow Dragon was in.

"No... No. No! NO!" A chorus of denial sang from the Crystal Beasts and their Protector who fell to his knees. 

Amethyst Cat roared alongside with Topaz Tiger before lying around Johan. Ruby Carbuncle cried as she climbed into Johan’s arm and he cradled her. Emerald Tortoise settled himself next to Topaz before shrinking into his shell in an effort to hide his tears. Cobalt Eagle landed atop Emerald with a strained call. Sapphire Pegasus and Amber Mammoth flanked their family closely, both crestfallen. 

Judai watched the group mourn for a moment before moving to throw an arm around Johan. His best friend leaned into the touch and let his tears fall, his shoulders jerking. Judai had felt Rainbow Dragon disappear and couldn't sense him with any of his powers. He looked to his heroes and they shared looks of awe and disbelief. He could barely process what had just happened or how in the world something could defeat Rainbow Dragon that quickly. Where did the card go? Who was doing this and why?

A few minutes passed like this and Judai got the feeling there was more to Johan and his family's reaction. Something had been wrong as of late... Judai wondered if it related to the bad dreams Johan had that he hadn't even wanted to describe. Suddenly, Johan stood and turned, startling Judai and the duel spirits around them. "Sapphire. Cobalt. We're going up to get some answers. I’m not letting this happen again." His tone was firm as he made to mount Sapphire, Ruby hopping out of his arms and onto Sapphire's back. To Johan's shock Sapphire denied him, "You can't be reckless, we don't know what we're facing." "He's right," Amethyst chimed in, her voice painted with sadness, "we have to think about this." "We're not all being separated again." Amber added. Judai felt unknown guilt flood him at the idea of the Crystal Beasts being separated. Johan began to protest when Topaz growled back toward the sky. Everyone turned to witness a darkened Rainbow Dragon emerge from gathered clouds. A maniacal laugh echoed above. Emerald emerged, murmuring, "Judai Yuki..." His words carried more than a name. Emerald's tone and eyes asked Judai for an answer. For a hero.

Judai nodded and flashed a reassuring smile. “I'll bring Rainbow Dragon back! This guy won't know what hit him!”

Johan spun towards Judai, his face a conglomerate of incredulous, concerned anger.

“You're not going in there alone!”

Judai scoffed, rolling his eyes and taking a few backwards steps towards the chaos, “I won't be! I've got duel spirits too you know.”

“Judai! Whoever that is you can't duel them by yourself!”

“Watch me, Duel Academy prepared me for crises. Plus, if they're after rare spirits, you have to protect them and keep them away from the fight.” Judai motioned to the worried Crystal Beasts.

“Judai, I swear to- Fine! I'll use my Gem Knights then, that way their cards don't-”

"I CAN'T lose you again!" Judai implored and almost screamed, his eyes flashing gold. 

Johan looked taken aback, his eyes, red and glassy from crying, widened. Judai followed his impulse to close the distance between Johan and him. He took Johan's face in his hands and pressed their foreheads together. 

"Johan... You have to be safe, I can't duel, let alone think clearly at the thought of losing you, seeing you hurt like this..." Judai's eyes stared into Johan's emerald ones, willing him to understand.

Off in the distance, sounds of buildings crashing, dragon roars, and people screaming were heard. The two didn't have time to speak what their hearts yearned for.

Johan wrapped his arms around Judai's waist and squeezed him tight. They both shut their eyes for a beat.

“Go save Rainbow Dragon… and the world too while you're at it.” Johan relented, eliciting a chuckle from Judai.

“As you wish.” Judai joked, his eyes opening to see Johan's beautiful green eyes and a ghost of a smile. He was thankful to see those eyes.

“I'll wait for you here.” Johan loosened his grip so Judai could step away.

Judai smiled and made his “Gotcha” sign before sprinting towards the Piazza San Marco.

----

With a grin, Judai waved to Yusei as the latter started up his D-wheel and sped through a portal back to his time. Feeling the breeze pick up, Judai turned and observed his surroundings. He was back in Venice and the sun was setting, washing the buildings with shades of gold. His heart had settled after the intense duel with Paradox and once in a lifetime chance to tag duel with the King of Games. His smile wouldn't leave his face as he thought of all the incredible combos they pulled off to save their respective timelines. As Judai relived the duel, his thoughts were stolen by how Paradox had corrupted Rainbow Dragon also known as the reason Judai battled the villain in the first place. He pulled out his deck and flipped the top card. "It's good to see you, friend." Judai murmured to the card. He felt the dragon's gratitude channeled towards him before he heard what sounded like an ancient voice question him. "My protector, I am sure, is worried about both of us." The dragon ventured, echoing in his mind. At those words, Judai's heart started beating erratically and he clutched the cards in his hand tighter. Johan... With a quick movement, the cards were back in the deck box he kept clipped to his belt and Judai took off towards the place he'd last saw his best friend.

Gratefully, he admired how it seemed the destruction Paradox caused earlier disappeared because now he could appreciate the view. There weren’t many people lingering around. Judai wondered if anyone remembered how close they came to danger or if Time’s magic had interfered.

Either way, he could make out the silhouette of his best friend looking out over the water. Only Ruby sat on his shoulders now. Judai felt in his soul that he’d made this walk to Johan many times in this life and the one previous. He didn’t know very much about his past as the Supreme King besides the dreams he sometimes had. Once in a while, something might trigger a memory, but those moments were few and far between in this past year.

This was one of those moments. It was brief, but as the sunset shifted from golds to reds, Judai swore he saw Johan in glittering armour complete with a cape billowing in the wind.

As quick as it came, the illusion faded away as Ruby turned his way, alerting Johan of Judai’s return.

“What is it, Ruby?” Johan murmured, inclining his head towards her.

She chirped happily before disappearing to the plane duel spirits existed on. Judai assumed that’s where the other Crystal Beasts were along with his own duel spirits. He could hardly feel any of their presences, he wasn’t even sure Pharaoh was nearby?

They were purposefully leaving Judai alone with Johan.

Judai was good with that.

Johan turned to him, his eyes full of concern, doubt, hope, and something else Judai couldn’t decipher.

“Judai…”

Judai stopped an arm’s distance from Johan, trying his best to keep a straight face. Ultimately, he failed the second he reached back for his deck and pulled out Rainbow Dragon’s card. He smiled reassuringly and held it out for Johan.

“You did it!” Johan carefully took the card and held it to his heart. “I knew you would, but I was- we were all so worried, but when the buildings went back to normal I- How did you do it? What happened? I...I don’t know how to thank you.” Johan rushed through his words, his bright smile making Judai smile even bigger.

“It was no problem, I’d do anything for you!” Judai admitted happily as he watched Johan return the precious card to his deck. A dim rainbow halo emit briefly from the deck and the duelists knew things were back to normal.

They looked back at each other and laughed, pulling one another in for a victory hug. Johan’s arms wrapped around Judai’s neck while Judai’s went round Johan’s waist.

“You’re my best friend.” Johan said softly after a minute, making no move to end the embrace.

Judai responded by holding Johan a little tighter. His heartbeat pounded as something in his mind clicked into place. Judai couldn’t help but smile as he realised what he was about to do. This was something his heart and soul had known longer than his brain. Now, Judai wouldn’t let himself leave this spot without putting it into words.

“You’re mine…” Judai said finally, matching Johan’s tone. “Hey, I have an idea on how you could thank me.” He added playfully.

Johan pulled back and suspicion was etched on his face along with an unknowing smile. “What did you have in mind?”

Johan withdrew his arms from their hug only to have Judai take both of his hands into his. Judai loved seeing the blush which crept on Johan’s cheeks. Judai could feel his own cheeks burn at the what he was about to do.

“Just listen for a second, okay?” Judai asked.

Johan gave him a small nod. His emerald eyes were wide and his pupils dilated as he searched Judai’s face for a hint.

Taking a deep breath, Judai started, “I got to tag duel with Yugi Mutou and my new friend from the future Yusei against the jerk who stole Rainbow Dragon. It was incredible that we got to work together and meet up despite being from different times. Afterward we talked about how, somehow, we’d meet again because the friendship we made defies time.”

Johan reacted to everything Judai said and clearly had tons of questions from the way his jaw dropped. At the mention of defying time, Johan’s expression grew more serious, as if he was remembering something.

“And it’s just… such a cool thought that people can do that. No matter the adversity or what the world throws at us, people find their way back to each other.” Judai interlaced their fingers together at that and held his gaze on them.

“Johan, you’re… I’m sorry for yelling at you earlier, I realised in that moment… No I think I’ve known for a while that I… I’ve learned so much this past year being on my own. Most of all I learned how important you are to me. I care about everyone else from school too and our duel spirits. But you and I go through so much together and you’ve always been here for me even with continents and evil between us.”

Judai paused and looked back into Johan’s eyes, “I wish I had the words sooner and no matter what you say, I just hope you can let me stay in your life. I want to protect you and be by your side for as long as you’ll let me because... I’m in love with you. I have been a long time, so long that-”

“You don’t remember when you started?” Johan finished for Judai. The look on his face was one Judai will never forget because he knew that the love he felt for Johan was reflecting back at him. Their faces were a couple inches away.

Judai grinned, “Exactly...”

With that, they both leaned in and kissed each other tenderly. Johan disentangled one of his hands to cradle Judai’s face while Judai’s free hand found its way around Johan’s waist. They both smiled into their series of kisses, breathless and happy.

“I love you, Judai.”

“I love you too, Johan.”

[ryik-the-writer]

Fic: Babysitting Debacle

A03

Part of the Never Unwanted series

Gideon and his friends help him babysit his baby sister when things go...horribly wrong...from the perspectives of 14-year-olds at least.

Age of the kids: 14 years old

-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-

“It says to put it on with the balloons up front.” Neal read, still confused despite reading the directions on the diaper box. This was no job for an innocent fourteen-year old.

Gideon soothed his two-month old sister, trying to keep her pacified while he and the other two teenagers in the room tried to figure out how to change a diaper.

Why the hell had they’d volunteer to babysit while his parents went on their first date night since the baby was born?

Because they were damn fools, that’s why.

Neal and Robyn had been excellent surrogate siblings while Belle went through her unexpected pregnancy, picking up food craving items on their way from school, helping Gideon and his dad put the nursery together, and most importantly, catching Gideon when he fainted when Belle went into early labor (or “passed” out as Gideon had defended).

Now, they were responsible for the safety and well-being of that baby for at least two hours more.

All had been well for the earliest part of the night, fun even. They had given little Dante Colette Gold her bath, put her in a warm pair of pajamas with bunny ears, and even given her a bottle without much fuss. It wasn’t until the foul smell of a dirtied diaper filled the air that the teenagers discovered that babysitting was actually a very dangerous game.

And they were the pawns.

“There’s balloons on both sides!” Robyn protested, finally pulling out her cellphone to find a more visual solution to their problem. “Next time try to take notes Gideon.”

“Shove off.” Gideon hissed, bouncing his little sister. “I know how to do everything else.”

“Knock it off, both of you.” Neal ordered, picking up a diaper and examining it. “Does it really matter what direction we put it on?”

“Yeah, she could get a rash.” Gideon warned, shushing the baby as she got fussier.

“Okay, found one.” Robyn announced, turning her cellphone to the boys and baby girl. The teens watched as the instructor cleaned and rediapered the baby, smiling like the whole thing wasn’t gross and awkward.

“Go back about thirty seconds.” Neal requested.

“What didn’t you get?” Robyn miffed.

“How are we supposed to get…everything out?” Neal shivered, he and Robyn turning to Gideon once again.

Gideon honestly didn’t know. His parents handled all that. All he did was complain about the smell when he walked by the nursery.

“We have to figure something out. She’s at max capacity.” Gideon warned, carefully handing the baby over to a stiffened Robyn.

“Don’t you run!” Neal yelled, biting his lip when Dante began crying from the loud sound.

Gideon ran back in with a handful of yard masks from the garage and a pair of dish gloves from under the sink.

“Only one pair of gloves,” Gideon announced. “Who’s gonna do the deed?”

“Why are you even asking?” Robyn protested. “You’re her brother!”

“But you’re a girl!” Gideon fought back.

“He has a point.” Neal shrugged.

“I’m in a wheelchair!” Robyn exclaimed, pointing down at her legs with distaste. “Unless you really want a mess, you better get those damn gloves on!”

“Damn it!” Gideon howled, dulling his irritation so that he could carefully lay the baby out on the changing table. “Hand me the stupid gloves.”

Robyn and Neal exchanged a smirk before donning their masks, Neal helping Gideon undress Dante. Once the baby was down to her balloon-printed diaper, the moment of truth arrived and the teens stood clear.

“Okay, just…” Gideon fidgeted with Robyn’s phone as baby Dante became more agitated and uncomfortable. He carefully undid the stickers of the diaper, pulling it down slowly.

“Oh my gods no!” Neal gagged when the contents were revealed.

“You drop my phone in that so help me…” Robyn warned through her mask.

“Shut up and let me think.” Gideon gagged. “Neal, get her legs before she kicks shit everywhere.”

Neal hesitatingly obeyed, holding the baby’s tiny legs out of the way while holding his breath.

“Easy, easy now.” Neal whispered as Gideon slowly pulled the diaper out from other the baby.

“Shut up.”

“Oh my gods I think some just rolled out!” Robyn hollered.

“Ah where!” Gideon screamed, accidentally yanking the diaper the rest of the way and sending its contents flying.

“Oh…oh god.” Neal gagged.

“Don’t you dare.” Gideon warned.

Neal shook his head and ran over to the nearest bowl-like object to throw his stomach contents into.

“Oh my gods what is happening!” Gideon exclaimed as Neal threw up and Dante wailed.

Robyn tried awkwardly to comfort her from her chair but finally threw her hands up in the air when the baby continued to cry. Frustrated and disturbed, she reached up and pulled Gideon down to her level.

“Gideon, you have to make this stop.”

“I-I can’t.” Gideon stated as he looked back and forth between Neal and the baby. “I’m only supposed to use magic in life or death situations.”

Robyn grabbed Gideon by the ears and forced him closer.

“Your sister is pissing on the changing table and Neal is throwing his guts out!” she shrieked, shaking Gideon violently. “Use the magic Gideon!”

“Oh my GODS!” Gideon exclaimed before he summoned a great bout of magic. In the blink of an eye, the room was calm and clean, as was baby Dante and Neal.

“Oh god,” Neal gasped, scrubbing over his face. “I’m so sorry guys. I don’t know what that was.”

“That was you being a wuss.” Robyn sighed, tearing off her mask and wiping her forehead.

Gideon began redressing his sister, muttering apologies as she cooed comfortably.

“Don’t tell my parents about this, please?” Gideon begged has he cupped Dante’s small head.

“Would they really care if you used magic?” Neal inquired as he packed away the baby items.

“That’s not what I mean.” Gideon whispered as he laid Dante down in her crib. “I didn’t exactly give the best first impression when mum got pregnant. I don’t want them to think I’m rejecting the big-brother role again.”

“That was a year ago!” Robyn called from the adjacent bathroom where she was scrubbing her hands and arms furiously.

Gideon soothed his little sister as she tethered off to sleep, nodding for Neal to exit the room.

“You’ve been stressing about this since Aunt Belle’s second trimmest.” Neal laughed as he piggybacked Robyn down the stairs, Gideon just behind them with her wheelchair. “They don’t look at you any differently, any of us for that matter.”

“Why would we look at anyone any differently?”

The teens froze on the stairs, Neal nearly dropping Robyn from being startled by Mr. Gold’s voice.

“Um…” Gideon mumbled as his mother came in just behind her husband with a to-go container. “We were…uh talking about uh…”

“Our Halloween costumes!” Robyn stated.

The Gold parents exchanged amused looks.

“A little early to be thinking about Halloween, isn’t it?” Rumplestiltskin asked as he helped Gideon set up Robyn’s wheel chair.

“Just want to make a decision early.” Robyn said as she situated herself. “You know, supplies and all.”

“Of course.” Belle nodded. “But do try to go as something that doesn’t involve fake blood, okay?

“Yeah.” The teens agreed, the knots in their stomachs loosening.

“Well, I’d love to sit here all night, but I promised my dad I’d help him with the sheep before Monday.” Neal said after a moment of silence.

“Very well.” Rumplestiltskin nodded. “Is your father coming to pick you up or would you like a lift?”

“Nah, I’m meeting him at Granny’s.” Neal answered.

“My mom too.” Robyn added as she grabbed her backpack.

“Before you both go,” Belle smiled, holding out the container. “Remy gave us a few pieces of molten lava cake for you.”

“Sweet!” Gideon cheered. Chef Remy’s legendary lava cake was a once in a blue moon delicacy and was only available to those with a reservation at his restaurant.

Belle opened the container, revealing the overly chocolate treat and watched as the teens before her paled.

“Oh gods…” Neal gagged, images of diapers and baby excrements making his stomach turn.

Belle gasped as Neal made a mad dash to the kitchen sink.

Robyn and Gideon flinched as they heard Neal heave, their own stomachs turning.

“I…think we might need that ride Uncle Gold.” Robyn grimaced.

“I believe so as well.” Rumplestiltskin sighed, grabbing his keys from the bowl by the door (a Mother’s Day gift from Gideon from when he was five).

Robyn waited by the wheelchair ramp with Gideon while Rumplestiltskin started the car. A moment later Belle was ushering Neal onto the porch.

“Ugh, I’m sorry Aunt Belle, I don’t know what’s come over me.”

“Wuss.” Robyn fake-coughed, causing Gideon to snicker. Both the teen’s humor stilled when Belle sent a look their way.

“You’ll feel better after some rest.” Belle amended, sending Neal to the car.

“You coming, Gid?” Robyn inquired.

“Nah, I’m going to stay here and…recover.”

Robyn nodded and wheeled herself to the car.

Gideon and his mother waited until the Cadillac rolled off before they went inside, Belle immediately going upstairs to respond to Dante’s cries.

“Hello Rosie Posie.” Belle cooed. “Did you have a good day with your big siblings?”

Gideon leaned against the doorframe to watch his mother and sister. The lovely site was almost enough to make him forget about the literal shit day he had. Almost.

“So,” Belle said towards him as she laid Dante back in her crib. “What kind of spell did you use today Gideon?”

Gideon nearly fell over, floored by his mother’s knowledge of his little magical debacle.

“How did you…”

“I’m your mother, I know everything.” Belle said as she cranked Dante’s mobile. “That…and your father sensed it.”

Gideon groaned, his spine tingling as he sensed a lecture coming on.

Belle crossed her arms in a “mom pose” as Neal had coined it.

“Did something happen?”

“No!” Gideon insisted. “Just…we…” Gideon sighed. “I got a little overwhelmed…and I used a spell to calm things down.”

Belle nodded, biting her lip as she mused on Gideon’s response. Then she looked up and smiled at him.

“Okay.”

Gideon waited for her to continue, to remind him about the consequences of using magic, though she’d save the “price” bit for when his father returned. However, Belle was now focused on folding a basket of baby clothes.

“Are you disappointed?” Gideon asked, his stomach turning in anticipation.

Belle turned, her blue eyes softening.

“Oh honey, no.” Belle smiled, dropping a onesie to take her son’s hands. “Sweetheart, you’re old enough to know how and when to use your magic. Your father and I just like to be informed.”

Gideon nodded, barely rolling his eyes when she brushed his hair from his face.

“Now,” Belle said. “It’s getting late. Don’t forget to brush your teeth.”

“I know mom.” Gideon scoffed, leaving her to tend to his sister. He sighed as he got closer to his room, thankful that his mother had allowed him to spare the details of why he had needed the spell in the first place. He really did not want to think about the details.

As he changed into his pajamas, he mentally rejoiced on having both survived his first day of babysitting as well as getting away with casting his first unsupervised spell.

At least he was until he heard a shriek from Dante’s room.

“Gideon Gary Gold, why is there vomit in your sister’s baby basin!”

-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-

Note: Dante’s name = Everlasting

[keywestlou]

BORING NEWS TODAY

News today boring. Never thought I would say or write the statement.

I went through my usual news items to select topics for today’s blog. Nothing turned me on. Much news, all dull. I suspect it is because Trump is not dominating the news with his extravagant wild claims and thoughts.

Ergo, I do not want to bore you either. As a result today’s blog will have Day 12 of Greece the First Time and only a couple of items I thought might interest you.

Super Bowl! A big evening ahead.

I have learned in life that a good deed is generally repaid at some point. Even though the person performing the deed expects nothing in return.

Back in the late 1980s, I was Chairman of the Syracuse University Law school Board of Visitors. As such, I was in a position to extend many favors. And I did. The favors generally parents asking me to help get their children into law school or the University itself.

I was successful in each instance. Interestingly out of all I assisted in gaining admittance, only one did not make it. He flunked out.

There were a few instances where I did not know the parents. Whether I knew them or not, I would not offer assistance till I met with a student, reviewed his grades, etc.

I never met the parents of one student I now share with you.

The individual who handled my firm’s pension plan was a Utican and personal friend. He was big time in the pension field. For example, he represented the entire Buffalo Bills with regard to their pension plans.

He visited with me and asked if I could help in the following fashion. The Buffalo Bill’s Vice-President of Marketing had a younger brother who wanted to become an attorney. His college grades were very much on the low side. He also had a drug problem problem at one time.

I helped his brother. I think I talked with the older brother two times on the telephone.

The young man was admitted to Syracuse. Got through. Today is a partner in a major Buffalo law firm.

Beginning with the first Super Bowl game following my obtaining admittance for his brother, the Vice-President sent me two tickets every year to that year’s Super Bowl game. I don’t recall if Buffalo ever played in one.

Every year forever it seemed. The best seats!

My son and I used them every year. My recollection we attended 2 of the Supper Bowl games in New Orleans.

I assume my son now receives the tickets.

His thank you went a step further.

My oldest grandchild Sara graduated from college. She was interested in a marketing position. A request was made to the Vice-President who without an extra breath said don’t worry.

Sara immediately went to work for the Buffalo Bills in Marketing upon graduation. This was some time in the  early 1990s. She is still there.

One good deed deserves another is apparently true.

In glancing through today’s news, I only came up with one item I thought interesting. Concerns sex and coronavirus.

The police recently raided a sex orgy commonly known as a swingers property in the Town of Collegian outside Paris. I label the event a sex orgy because that it is how the newspaper article identified the event.

The party was in a warehouse. Eighty one adults of all ages involved.

All 81 were arrested.

A problem arose as to what the charge should be. A sex arrest apparently was considered too heavy.

Coronavirus was and still is a major problem in France. Curfew the evening of the party was 9 pm. The raid was at 11 pm. Each of the 81 was charged with violation of curfew. Each fined 135 euros.

I suspect many at the event were persons of prominence. Nine were lawmakers from other countries.

France is not alone in breaking curfew in such fashion. Belgium, also. In fact, Belgium has a reputation in Europe for sex parties which the French call “partouges.” Belgium apparently is the country to visit for a sex party.

A small party. Only 52. A birthday party.

The party was held in a town 2 minutes from the French border. The party house was located next to a COVID clinic.

I know nothing useless about the event. Who was present, charges if any, etc.

Brussels recently had a party also. This one limited to the male sex. Twenty five involved.

I know nothing about the arrests, charges, disposition of the cases, etc.

One thing the media did carry however is that one of the participants was an MEP member. Hungary’s Jozel Szajer. He was caught bare ass going out a back window. He resigned his official position a few days later bcause of “ill health.”

Coronavirus comes into play. I assume swingers do not wear masks and do social distance. Virus infections have to be off the wall.

Thus far, France has had 3.3 million cases of coronavirus. From that number, 78,000 have died.

Belgium has Europe’s worst COVID-19 infection rate. Note the use of the term “rate.” Additional information showed Belgium to have 720,000 cases with 21,000 dead.

I label these sex orgies/swinging parties pure insanity. These are the days when coronavirus is easily acquired. How can these people not consider the danger involved.

Recall when AIDS came upon the scene. Social sex suffered an immediate death.

I am certain the Super Bowl parties last night and tonight following the game in New Orleans will violate all protective rules. New Orleans a great party town at Super Bowl time. Remember, I was there twice.

Huge clubs. People dancing shoulder to shoulder. Bodies pressed  together at huge bars while people drank. Even the bathrooms a danger zone. Men and women facilitates meant nothing. Both sexes will fill the facilities together. Drugs will be rampant.

Louisiana’s numbers a month from now will be interesting. There has to be a significant rise in numbers of those infected. As will the communities from which persons came when their residents return home.

No one seems to care.

DAY 12…..Greece the First Time

Posted on June 8, 2012 by Key West Lou

I took a walk yesterday morning. Not sure why. I really did not need the exercise. With all the steps and hills here, I am exercising constantly.

I guess I was in the mood to explore.

I went to the donkey trail. The one I spoke about yesterday. Five hundred plus steps. Side of a mountain. This time I went close.

It stunk! Big time! Of donkey urine and shit! Who would want to ride a donkey surrounded by such a stench!

As I arrived at the start, I saw a bunch of women walking up the donkey path. Beside the donkey excretions, the path is loaded with all size rocks and dirt. Not the best place from my perspective to exercise.

As soon as they reached the top, the ladies turned around and started back down.

One of them did not. I went over to speak with her. What are you ladies doing? Turns out they exercise there every morning. They walk up and down the donkey path. How many times? Till we get tired! What about the stink? We try to stay ahead of it. Why do you do it? It is 2,000 feet up and 2,000 feet down. To keep thin. But you all look thin. Oh no, she said. Look at my belly. I eat too much and have to do this.

Female vanity!

As I was walking back to my cave accommodation along the road, a small car drove up fast. Parked on the side with the ass end of the vehicle butting out into a narrow heavily traveled road. The windows were closed. The driver got out and walked away. He obviously was looking for someone. Three or four minutes later he returned. With a wife or girl friend. Saw them come around the corner of a building. They got into the car and drove off. Sitting in the back in a car seat was a baby less than one year old.

I rented a car. Finally. Wanted to see more of the island.

A Fiat. Small. Clutch/shift. I learned on one so no problem.

I was off to Red Beach. To see the topless and totally bare women!

Santorini is a strange place to rent a car. The gas tank is empty when you pick the car up. The nearest gas station miles away. The rental place puts two liters of gasoline into the car. From two used water bottles. Then tells me it will get me to the gas station…..sometimes it is closed…..you may have a problem.

What the hell!

Off I went. As I drove, I thought what a thief. People return rented cars with gas left in the tank. He must be siphoning it out and reselling it to gas stations. After first filling some empty water bottles, of course.

I made it to the gas station. It was open.

Greek gas stations still pump your gas. They should for what it costs!

You buy by the euro. Big shot me asked for 30 euro. Gasoline is $12 American money a gallon here. Thirty euro got me 3 1/2 gallons. Not even a half a tank.

Gasoline is gold!

I will never complain in the US again about the price of gasoline. $4 a gallon would be considered a bargain, a steal, here.

My goal was Red Beach. The place for nudity.

I got lost of course. Finally found it by just driving roads that seemed to go in the direction I thought the beach was. A one half hour drive took me an hour and a half. Don’t say I should have looked at the signs. Good luck! The signs were all in Greek.

I did not mind. I got to see other parts of the island. No other part compares to Oia, I learned. Oia is heaven, not Santorini itself.

The roads suck. Driving an experience. Very narrow two lane roads. Curves frequently. Sharp curves. None gradual as in the US. The curves come up and are just there. Some very tight turns. Like the curve in a hairpin. Buses dominate. They drive 2 feet over into your lane. There is no parking on the roads. People park on the roads anyhow. Tightens the road up a bit.

All I could think of was Greece is a country that built the cave dwelling I am living in, Acropolis and the Parthenon. Why couldn’t it build better roads?

I finally ended up at Red Beach. When I stopped the car, I knew it had to be Red Beach. I was at the end of the island. The only place else I could drive was into the sea.

I had a little difficulty locating Red Beach itself. Had to walk up a relatively small mountain. Over a dirt rocky path. When I thought the water was feet away, it was not. I had merely reached the top of the knoll. As I looked down, I could see Red Beach about a quarter of a mile away.

Red Beach so called because it is lava created. A high black lava mountain surrounds it on three sides. A black beach. Black water. From the volcano eruption 3,500 years ago. Why called Red then? Because there are spottings of red on the mountain wall, beaches and in the water. Where it came from, what it is, I never found out.

My concern was how to get to the beach. Then I saw it. A narrow three foot path running around the center of the lava mountain. About mid way up. No wall. The lava mountain on one side of you and a sharp fall the other. Not for me. I opted to leave, never got to Red Beach itself. Never saw bare breasted or bare assed women. I did not care. My personal safety overcame my perversions. I am getting old.

I spent the balance of the afternoon sitting under an umbrella by the pool. Overlooking the Aegean Sea. The view spectacular.

In Key West, visitors are constantly told to walk down any street. Never know what will be found. A Seven Fish. Michael’s Restaurant. a coffee house. a corner store with great Cuban toast, a cute art gallery. Whatever.

I got off the beaten path last night. Walked down a side street. Actually an alley. I saw a bit of light in the distance. A bar, a restaurant? Down the alley I went. There it was. The Argonaut Restaurant. A taverna. Small.

A locals place. They all stared at this obvious tourist as I walked in.

A great place! The best food! Made a ton of new friends!

The tables were small carpenter work horses. A thick 4 inch slab of wood on top. Seats were small barrels with a pad to sit on.

I had a delicious sausage. Several meats. More about the sausage I cannot tell you. Fried potatoes and a salad. Stuffed wine leaves to start. Two gins. For desert that Greek specialty. I forget the name. Baklava, I think. A flaky cake buried in honey. Topped by a double espresso. The whole bill was 19 euros. About $24 American money.

I shall return!

I walked the marble walkway behind the cave apartments on the way home. The path runs on top of the caves. Great stores and restaurants along the way. It was 11 in the evening. My walk about 1/2 mile. I saw a total of 7 people.

There is no night life in Oia. At least not that I have discovered.

I spoke this morning with Nikos. Where were the people? A bad year so far, he said. People are not traveling. The economy once again. The euro problem.

Key West three years ago. But not as bad.

Another example of the poor economy. Having decided to leave Red Beach, I was thirsty. I saw a bar near where my car was parked. I walked over. What appeared to be the proprietor was seated on the porch. Water? No water. Soda. No soda. Beer? No beer. Gin? No gin. So the conversation went. I looked at him as if to say….Come on, this is a bar. He looked at me as if he could read my mind and said…..No business, out of business. He had owned and operated the place for 32 years. He had to recently close. The euro problem. No business.

I seem to make friends easily on this trip. I have a few coffee buddies. I stop by a small coffee place a couple of times a day to chat with them. We have arrived. We can understand each other. Though neither speaks the other’s language.

Santorini and the Greek Isles are mere dots on the map. Of no significant size. Perhaps of no significance. Its inhabitants simple folk. Have been here their whole lives as their ancestors before them. They do not know life as we do.

I had sensed that people here did not understand what a blog was. Even when explained, it was Greek to them. Christina the beauty parlor owner, Nikos the cave hotel owner. They smile and look at you blankly when you speak of blogs. The same reaction with my espresso drinking friends.

Most people here work to eat. What they earn goes for food and a roof over their heads. They know nothing of pensions. They will work till the day they die.

Different.

Enjoy your day!

BORING NEWS TODAY was originally published on Key West Lou

[god-wishes-he-was-me]

The Humble Adventure of Bitch & Boomer

{hi so during quarantine I had to write weekly journals for English class, and my relationship with my best friend started changing, causing me enough stress to ACTUALLY HAND THIS IN. So enjoy, I feel weird having three chapters typed up doing nothing so...have mercy I word vomited:/

Ps. All our cuss words are bleeped coz it was for school

Chapter One

On April 29th, 2020, Thalia's best friend of eleven years casually mentioned that he wanted to marry her.

Zach and Thalia had been buds since kindergarten. They'd never made any romantic confessions, except for the time Thalia wrote Zach a love note and gave it to him behind a dumpster in fourth grade. She's never been able to live that one down. They've both had feelings for eachother, but never at the same time, leaving them stuck in a vicious cycle of unrequited feelings.

The pair did have two lost years where Thalia couldn't talk to Zach without getting upset. She had left all of her toxic friends behind her and started all over in an effort to salvage her mental health. Zach was not a toxic friend however, he was just friends with the people that were unknowingly being damaging. Thalia had managed to have a pretty okay time with her new friends that were kinder, but after two years of not speaking Thalia didn't really have a say in whether or not they were friends. The two live really close to each other, and on Thalia's walk to school everyday she passed his house. Thirteen year old Zach waited outside every morning just to walk one block with her. That turned into walking home, hanging out during school and eventually helping each other through some pretty tough stuff.

Early in they're first year of highschool, Thalia's dad moved down the street from Zach's house. She went from staying every other weekend at her dad's to every other week, seeing Zach by chance and by choice.

Who would've thought they would have a Boy Next Door™ story?

Highschool brings the two closer than ever, walking to and from school with a longer commute, both almost failing math (well, he failed, Thalia barely made 60%) and became a dynamic duo in their school's cafeteria. Don't get me started on cafeteria, they go to school an hour early to cook and sell baked goods every morning, talking about anything and everything. Not to mention serving lunch twice a week.

Everything was right as rain for a while, keeping up the off and on pining and beating eachother up in the halls. Continuously rolling their eyes at their parents swearing they'll end up together while suppressing their real emotions. Then this little thing called Covid-19 came into the world.

Nothing like a global pandemic to force you into facing your feelings am I right?

One day, Thalia got a call from Zach, not out of the ordinary for them seeing as they do nothing but banter. In this call Zach complains about his mom (also not out of the ordinary) and segways into the dream he had the night before(Thalia regularly dreams about Zach. Romantic or not, he'd been a pretty common occurrence in her subconscious). Zach recounts his dream, that just happened to be about their wedding. This led to them planning their wedding. They talk about the music, and rings (tattoos instead, so they wouldn't wreck rings. Thalia gets a small band to ward off the creeps.), and even plan some food. The back of Thalia's mind consisted of what could only be described as "!!!!!!!!!!". Normally the phrase used was: "If we get married" (in a joking way) but as of recently it had changed to "when we get married". As if the two had accepted the eventuality of being together.

This understandably sent Thalia into a crisis. Never before had she said the words " I'm fine, everything is fine" more in her life.

During quarantine, Zach was the only person Thalia was allowed to see other than her immediate family. To clarify, she wasn't working, he wasn't working, they still kept they're circles as small as possible. All while following social distancing with others and wearing masks. This was a necessary interaction for Thalia and Zach's mental stability. One week alone in her house had Thalia going stir crazy, and had Zach getting in arguments with his parents. To sooth each other's impending breakdowns, they hung out with permission. Walking a block and a half to keep themselves sane. Thalia and Zach don't really function after being seperated for long periods of time.

Now where was I? Oh yeah, Thalia's brain was imploding.

The next day, Thalia asked Zach to go for a walk around Langford lake, figuring there, her best friend would make a move. No such thing happens.

They walk, throw rocks into the lake, and have a good bant. Thalia gives her friend many openings to make his move, but he doesn't take a single one. At one point Zach decides he's going to teach Thalia how to climb a tree (surprisingly easy for her to do, she just never got around to it). The two then spent a solid twenty minutes just looking at each other with expectant looks halfway up a tree.

On their walk home Thalia told Zach about her post secondary plans.

"I think I want to go to UBC for psychology and become a therapist."

Zach looked a bit taken aback, "how are you going to be a therapist on a farm in Ontario?"

"Since when am I going to live on a farm in Ontario?"

Zach proceeded to remind Thalia that his grandfather was leaving him a farm in Ontario, that's why Zach was getting a degree in agriculture. She knew all this of course, she just didn't realize she was coming along.

"We can get some chickens if you want", Zach offered, not acknowledging the weight of his suggestions.

"Sure! Can we work our way up to cows?" Thalia, a drama kid, is good at acting calm while panicking.

The pair planned their life together down to the type of truck and rocking chairs they'd use when making fun of teenagers in their old age.

"There ya go, life planned" Zach finished, patting Thalia on the back. Throughout this conversation Thalia couldn't help but quietly smile. She hadn't realized how much her friend had thought about their future.

Where their hangout usually would end (with Zach dropping Thalia off at her house and walking the rest of the block to his own), Zach asked Thalia to walk with him. She made zero hesitation to agree. Zach ran into his house, returning with donut money, his younger brother, and his dog Bug.

Bug barked at Thalia as usual, but the scruffy little brown and black mut barked slightly less than she had the time before. The group walked to Tim Hortons, chatting and horsing around as per usual. Zach made his way inside and returned with donuts (three for him one for Thalia). She caught him staring at her, smiling with a different light in his eyes. The energy between them was different than usual. There were unspoken things that needed to be said.

Thalia didn't finish her donut. She plopped the rest of her sour cream glaze into her friends mouth without hesitation from either party. They fed each other regularly, Zach putting a water bottle to her lips knowing she was thirsty without even looking. Thalia had a milkshake during a class they shared once, and Zach groaned.

"Ughaghherraaww",he leaned his head back, expelling the noise. Without a thought, Thalia passed her milkshake to Zach knowing that's what he wanted. It took a second for the pair to realize they had communicated abnormally. They were comfortable with one another, never running out of things to talk about.

When Thalia got home, she had a cinematic moment. Closing the door behind her, leaning against it and listening to the rattling of her heart slowly calm. Things were beginning to happen.