#and thank you Mouse for keeping me company as I finished a majority of it via discord xD

[the-blind-geisha]

Commission for TangoMango16 on Instagram featuring Chris and their gijinka King Dedede having a blast at a party the king decided to throw!

Looks like he got lucky catching just a bit of a smile on Chris! 👀 I had an awesome time working on this! I love these two so much! 😭 💖 Thank you so much for commissioning me!

[ghostdrew22]

i am such a fucking sucker for the “hold my jaw with your hand and tilt my face upwards so that our eyes meet because i’m shorter and you’re taller and we can both feel the tension as you look down at my lips and then back up again quickly before the moment’s lost” cliches so can u maybe write something like that for Draco and Slytherin reader please

Five || Draco Malfoy

I REACHED 100 FOLLOWERS THE OTHER DAY (AND I FUCKING MISSED IT LIKE A DUMBASS BITCH BUT I’LL DO SOMETHING IF I GET TO 200) THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! <3

I did get a bit carried away with the banter but it’s only because I seriously love this trope and the build-up is the best part, anyway I hope you like it and  I hope the ending made you happy! <3

Thank you for this request, I honestly had so much fun writing it, it’s adorable!

Requested: Yes Pairing: Draco Malfoy x Slytherin!fem!reader Warnings: swearing and major cockblocking, I feel like it’s quite fluffy but if there’s anything you think I should add let me know <3 Summary: Y/N and Draco have been desperately trying to relieve the tension between them both but someone always has to get in the way.

WORDS : 1955

Fred Weasley is your best friend.

Fred Weasley is, also, a massive piece of shit.

Not that you don’t love him because of course you do, he is your best friend after all.  

Buuuut, that doesn’t mean he’s without his flaws. For example, he’s got a disgusting habit of getting in the way of your romantic endeavors, especially when they involve Draco Malfoy. And it’s not even because Fred’s into you, because he’s definitely not, but it gives him an odd sense of pleasure to watch your jaw clench when he interrupts one of you and Draco’s ‘moments’, as he likes to call them. It’s his hobby.

“Y/N…” Fred whines as he tugs on your right arm.

“No.”

“Please?” He pouts and you roll your eyes as you pry his hand off of your arm.

“No, I told you that I hate watching your practices.”

He gasps dramatically and places a hand on his heart. “Because you don’t love me?”

“Because it’s so bloody cold that I almost freeze my toes off every time.”

“You can wear my jumper.”

You narrow your eyes at him.

“And the Slytherins are practicing with us today.”

“I know, I am one dumbass.”

“So you’ll come?”

“No Fred, let it go for fucks sake.”

By now you ought to know that you can never win an argument with Fred Weasley, but it’s nice to pretend. After a further 5 minutes of arguing he’d somehow gotten you in his jumper, pulled you down toward the Quidditch pitch and left you sitting by the bleachers while he walked down to the field to join practice.

“Bloody hell.” You mutter to yourself as you watch the ginger skip down to join his teammates. You hear a chuckle erupt from your left and turn to find Draco approaching you.

“So we’re wearing Weasley’s clothes now?” Draco raises his eyebrows at you as he stops to stand right in front of you.

You laugh and shove his chest playfully. “We’re not doing anything but I’m relishing in the warmth of Fred’s jumper. Nothing warmer on planet earth.”

“My arms beg to differ.”

You laugh and shake your head. “You’re such a nonce, go practice.”

“I think I’d much rather stand here with you if I’m being honest.”

“I don’t blame you.” You shrug, “I can’t imagine anyone who’d prefer the company of a sweaty Quidditch team compared to me.”

“Cocky.”

“But with reason, no?” You raise your eyebrows with a playful smirk.

He doesn’t respond but instead clenches his jaw to wipe away the smile that was begging to surface.

When his eyes finally turn back to meet yours there’s an atmosphere of tension that envelopes you both once again. You can’t tell how long the two of you stand there staring into each other’s eyes, it could be seconds, minutes, hours. But it all fades away into nothing when his blue hues travel down to capture the sight of your lips, and you have to swallow hard to reconnect with planet earth again.

His fingers grace the space beneath your chin softly, pulling your face up so that he can stare directly down into your eyes because Merlin, he’s so tall. And you think that this is it, he’s going to kiss you, because why wouldn’t he when his lips are so close that you can practically feel the air expelling from his lungs coming into contact with your face.

His lips barely brush over your own when,

Fred fucking Weasley happens.

“Oi, Malfoy! We’re all waiting down here for you so that we can get started.”

You groan in frustration as Draco lets his hand fall and a heavy sigh escapes him.

“I’m coming.” He responds curtly, frustration clearly lacing his voice, and Fred resists the urge to smirk from behind you both - he fails.

“Hurry up then!” Fred responds and you send Draco an apologetic look.

“I hate him, I want you to know that I actually hate him.” Draco says simply.

You laugh and shake your head, “Go on.”

“Weasley:1 and Malfoy:0.” Fred says to Draco when he finally reaches the bottom of the stands.

“You’ve got a load more than 1 at this point.”

“I know but I like to refresh the score every week so that you feel the weight of my power, you know?”

Draco doesn’t respond.

But Fred does get a nice taste of grass when his face comes in contact with the ground because Draco tripped him.

“You git!” Fred exclaims as he jumps off the ground and starts to chase after Draco - who’s running off with a mischievous laugh and a glint in his eyes.

~~~

Blaise Zabini is Draco’s best friend.

Blaise Zabini, like Fred Weasley, is also a massive piece of shit.

“Y/N, please pass me that.” Draco mumbles as he stirs the cauldron. You oblige and grab what he was gesturing to before passing it to him. Your fingers run over each other for just a moment and you can’t help that small smile that finds its way onto your lips.

“We studying together after school today?”

Draco turns to you with an apologetic look and you sigh, “I’m so sorry Y/N, I’ve got detention.”

“What did you do to get detention this time?” You ask with a roll of your eyes and he gives you a sheepish smile.

“Promise you won’t be mad.”

“I’m already mad.”

“Y/N…” He whines and you roll your eyes again but sigh in agreement.

“Fine, I won’t get mad.”

“You know the flag pole out front?” He raises his eyebrows at you as he finishes up with the potion and sits comfortably in his seat beside you.

You nod hesitantly, “Yes…” 


“So, Blaise dared me to-“

“I thought we agreed that you wouldn’t take anymore of Blaise’s dares?” You raise your eyebrows.

“Okay, yes, but this one was too hard to resist. He looked at me like I wouldn’t do it!”

“You’re a pussy.”

“I guess I am what I eat.” He says with a smile and you feel the air leave your lungs.

You look up at him with the intention of clapping back with something smart. But how can you possibly say anything when he’s looking down at you like that.

Merlin, if this boy doesn’t kiss you-

“Sorry, don’t mind me, just passing through.” Blaise says as he steps in between you and Draco to grab your notebook off the table. You’d told him earlier that if he needed help then he could borrow your notes, but you hadn’t meant that he could borrow them right as you were about to get a kiss from the Slytherin Prince.

You peer your eyes at him and notice a faint smirk on his lips. oh. He was not just passing through, he was cockblocking and he was cockblocking you hard.

He turns to leave with your notes and, without even thinking, you and Draco both spread your legs out. Blaise, fixed intently on the writing in front of him, doesn’t notice what’s happening until he’s already halfway toward the ground.

In retrospect he had it coming. He’s been working with Fred for weeks now to keep you and Draco from finally locking lips. Was it objectively deserved? No. Did it feel good? Hell fucking yes.

But Snape seemed to think that it was out of order, and that was how you got yourself a front row seat in detention, next to Draco.

“I’m surprised Fred wasn’t in detention.” Draco mumbles as the two of you finally leave the detention classroom.

“He reserves Thursdays for detention.” You respond and Draco laughs. “To be honest, I was half-expecting Blaise.”

“Oh no way.” He shakes his head as the two of you walk down the hallway. “His mom will kill him, and me for that matter, if he gets another detention this year.” Draco adds with grimace.

“Why you?”

“I’m usually the one who ropes him into stupid shit.”

You giggle, “No surprise there.”

“Uncalled for!”

“Considering your track record it was 100% called for!” You exclaim as laughter continues to shake you about. You don’t even notice how far ahead of Draco you are, until he wraps his fingers around your wrist and pulls you back toward him.

Your face almost collides with his chest and you let out a yelp at the sudden movement. When you move your head up to look at him and ask him what he’s doing, you find that words escape you completely.

“Y/N.” Draco whispers as he brings his face down to yours.

“Draco.” You whisper back with an inquisitive smile.

“We’re alone.”

You turn your head a bit and observe that the hallway is, in fact, completely abandoned. “Holy shit, it seems like you’re right.”

He smiles down at you, “I’m tired of dancing around this, I want to kiss you.”

“Then do it.”

His lips are inches, inches, away from your own when some random first year stumbles into the hallway, whistling about like he’s auditioning to be fucking Mickey Mouse. You’re so frustrated that you don’t even know what you’re saying until the words have already left your mouth.

“If you do not leave right fucking now I will hex you so badly that your unborn grandchildren will feel it.”

The student’s eyes widen and they immediately turn back the way they came from.

“Well that was-“ Draco starts but you cut him off as you grasp the back of his neck and pull him down to kiss you.

Maybe all the tension was worth it, because wow.

Draco sighs happily against your lips as his hands find home on your waist. It’s almost too perfect, like the two of you are doing a dance that you’ve rehearsed over and over again. The kiss goes on for so long that you completely lose track of time, almost forgetting that you need oxygen to live.

But then, once again, Fred fucking Weasley happens.

Except for once, he’s too late.

“Oh for fucks sake, no!” Fred groans as he steps into the hallway and you grin as you pull apart from Draco to face him.

“Suck on that, Fred!” You exclaim as you stick your tongue out at him.

“Weasley:3. Malfoy:1.” Draco adds.

“Actually…” You start as you stare into Fred’s eyes and use your hand to bring Draco’s lips down to yours. “Malfoy:2.”

“3.” Draco adds as he pecks your lips again.

“4.” You smile widely.

“If you don’t stop I will dye both of your heads red.” Fred says with a playful glare.

“I say do it just for the hell of it.” Blaise shrugs as he joins the conversation from out of nowhere.

“That includes you Zabini.”

“What the fuck, why?” Blaise asks in disbelief and you and Draco struggle to hold in your laughs.

“You didn’t do your part in preventing this!”

“Excuse me but last time I checked this was a two man job!?”

“Well, thanks to this one man’s failure,” Fred starts as he pushes an accusatory finger into Blaise’s chest, “We all have to suffer the wrath of Draco and Y/N’s sappiness!”

“How was it my failure when it was your turn to watch them?”

Draco chuckles and your eyes immediately leave the two arguing boys to find Draco’s. He smiles goofily down at you and you smile back. “We should’ve picked nicer friends.”

“As if anyone else would put up with us.” You respond with a smirk and he nods.

“Fair.”

That familiar tension from before is back, except now with a hint of something else- assurance perhaps? The two of you stare into each other’s eyes for a while before those blue iris’s find the curvature of your lips again and you swallow hard with the growing anticipation.

“5?” He asks breathily and you merely grab the back of his neck to capture him in a kiss.

When you finally pull away all you whisper back is, “5.”

<~>

Everyday I wake up and wonder, why am I a dumbass bitch? University of Kent just offered me conditional acceptance but I don’t think they’re going to accept me because I have NOT met the conditions, and it’s literally just because I have one braincell that can’t do math.

Anway, if you have any feedback on whether I should do a fluff or angst sequel for ‘Falling Out Of Love With Astoria Greengrass’ then please let me know <3

love you all,

your favourite shitshow, jean <3

[teacupfulofstarshine]

LOVELY, DARK, AND DEEP CHAPTER 10

PLEASE HEED THE CONTENT WARNINGS!!! this chapter features Evil Scientist Lady and her Fucked Up WorldView a LOT, and there are also some Major Plot Events that involve Violence. i will put a summary in the end notes if you decide at any point that this particular chapter is too much - that's super valid! i will also mention here that no main characters are going to die in this story and no one dies in this chapter either.

huge huge thanks to @flamingfawkes for beta’ing!

CW: extreme disregard for human life, mentioned human and animal cruelty, toxic workplace environment, violence (both imagined and actual, mildly graphic), gun mention, minor blood, death threats, extremely unethical character, unethical science, stalking

chapter 1 // chapter 2 // chapter 3 // chapter 4 // chapter 5 // chapter 6 // chapter 7 // chapter 8 // chapter 9 // read it on ao3!

“This is the same result we’ve gotten the last twenty times -”

“I don’t care, Steven, run it again!”

Steven sighs, punching at the keyboard to run the statistical analysis sequence again. “This is ridiculous! I’ve run this sequence so many times it feels like my eyes are going to bleed. Why can’t we just turn in the results we have and -”

“Because she’ll behead us,” James snaps, “and then she’ll destroy our reputations and our families and they’ll get no severance. I have three young children at home, Steven, I need this money.” Steven softens a little, fingers running smoothly over the keys as he combs the data again. Next to him, James has a computer screen full of frame-by-frame stills of what little data they recovered from the probe before it was destroyed; Penny across the room is surrounded by ancient texts a mile high and at least three laptops.

“Why is she so interested in this, anyway?”

“It’s beyond me. Since when do we question the whims of what we’re told to do?”

Steven squints at the screen, pushing his chair back and rubbing at his eyes. “If I have to stare at these numbers for one more second, my brain is going to explode. I feel like my eyeballs are going to melt out of my skull. I wanna scream.”

James pulls up another image, staring at the blurry image of the merman before him. Steven pushes away from his own screen and squints at James’s. The merman in the photo looks young, not much older than his kid brother, but they don’t know anything about the lifespan of these creatures. He looks confused, squinting at the camera. As James flicks through the stills, the merman transitions from confused to angry to enraged, and then he attacks.

“He’s not happy about the camera.”

“Would you be happy about someone spying on you and your family?” James says, switching to the next still.

“I wouldn’t be happy if I thought someone was doing anything we do in this lab to me or my family.” James elbows Steven, but luckily no one else seems to have heard.

“This lab isn’t the most ethical place I’ve ever worked, but it pays the bills,” James mutters. “And we’re not even in the experimentation lab. We just do data analysis. We’re removed from the situation.”

Are we? Steven wonders. He sees James reach out and touch the framed picture of his daughters, and keeps his mouth shut. He turns back to his computer, watching the little spinning color wheel of his mouse as the program calculates the same numbers again and again. The results come up identical to the previous ones, and Steven clicks “Run Program” again wordlessly.

They work in silence for a while, the three of them, broken only by James’s muttering and the occasional thud of one of Penny’s books and the clicks of keyboards and mice. If they weren’t so reliant on technology, Steven thinks, there would be an enormous corkboard spanning three of the four walls, covered in pushpins and handwriting and red string connecting images. He debates actually building one, if only to increase the levity in the room, but decides against it.

He’s seen people punished or fired or who-knows-what-else for far less, after all.

Instead, after his program tells him for the twenty-third time that his results are the same (and didn’t someone say insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results?), Steven scrubs at his eyes with the heels of his palms and opens the data entry window. Maybe the problem with the results has to do with the entry of the data; did he input something wrong? It’s possible . . .

Here he goes again, he supposes. He stands up, stretches, and leans back to crack some vertebrae. “I’m gonna grab a coffee, take a short screen break, and go back to the beginning. Maybe there’s something in the input that I missed. You want anything?”

James groans, thunking his head against the desk. “I want something with enough caffeine to kill three elephants, please.” Steven nods, looking over at Penny. She shakes her head, and he heads for the shitty coffee machine a few doors down.

Several floors below, a young woman pulls her lab goggles up to rest on top of her head with her perfectly-pinned protocol-compliant bun. “The latest round of tests is completely done, ma’am. I think you’ll find the efficacy . . . striking.”

She takes the clipboard, glossy perfectly-painted nails pinching the sheets of thin paper and flicking between them. “I’m afraid I don’t do so well with the scientific side of things - Kathleen, was it? Explain this to me, would you?”

“Certainly, ma’am. As you know, the kill time for the most effective neurotoxin currently available, tetrodotoxin, varies from thirty minutes to four hours. Average time for symptoms to manifest is seventeen minutes, and from there the symptoms progress through tingling of the lips and tongue, headache, vomiting, muscle weakness, ataxia, et cetera. Death occurs as a result of respiratory or heart failure, and the poison is nearly undetectable if you do not specifically test for it.”

“The untraceability is a plus, but that is far too wide a range of times, and too slow a time even at its fastest.”

“Of course, ma’am, but as far as naturally-occurring marine poisons go - actually, as far as naturally-occurring poisons go, full stop - it is the most effective. Until now, that is.”

“Oh? What are your findings?”

“Which trials would you like to start with, ma’am?”

“The human trials, Kathleen. The only ones that matter. I hardly intend to go around killing mice and hoping that no one traces their deaths to a novel neurotoxin.” She laughs airily, and Kathleen nods along.

“Certainly, ma’am. The most recent data points indicate an average efficacy time of thirteen minutes for our compound neurotoxin, with a full range between nine and seventeen minutes passing before subject death. Subjects began to show symptoms around five minutes, give or take twenty-five seconds.”

“And those symptoms were?”

Kathleen flips through the document. “Seizures, vital organ failure, blindness, painful muscle spasms, suffocation from the inside out.”

She hums, tapping a manicured finger against the report. “Well, Kathleen, that is certainly impressive, especially for a preliminary human subject trial. These results . . . I must say, they are not nearly as disappointing as I anticipated when I came down here.”

“Ma’am?”

“How long have you worked for this company, Kathleen?”

“Almost five years, ma’am, but I’ve always been an assistant. This is my first time as lead researcher and biochemist on a project, ever since you . . . laid off the previous lead researcher.”

“Kathleen, let me be frank. These results are not what I hoped for. The efficacy time and symptom onset times are both far too long for my liking, and the range of efficacy time is too broad. By all accounts, I should consider this a failure.” Kathleen swallows, but remains poised. “However, you’ve managed to shave off a considerable amount of time from the tetrodotoxin readings. The range of symptom onset time is an acceptable breadth, and your results are far beyond anything your predecessor ever accomplished for me. This is truly impressive, all things considered.”

“Thank you, ma’am. How should I proceed?”

“I want the efficacy doubled - tripled - I want it upped by anywhere between four and five hundred percent. I want the pain increased, too. Feel free to increase your requests for test subjects, but get me the results I want. You said the original tetrodotoxin was untraceable?”

“That’s correct, ma’am.”

“Can you keep that feature intact?”

“As of right now, it is intact, ma’am. I will endeavor to keep it so in future experiments.”

“That’s what I like to hear. Welcome to your new position as head of this research division. Don’t let me down.” She holds out a slender hand, and Kathleen takes it, trying not to seem too eager.

“I won’t, ma’am.”

“How soon can you start this experiment up again?”

“The cleaners should be finished by tomorrow morning, ma’am, and I can tweak chemical formulas until then.”

“Excellent.” Her watch beeps, and she lifts it, pursing her bright lips as she examines the message she’s just received. “If you’ll excuse me, I have another matter to attend to. Someone will drop off your master access key for Lab Three within the hour.”

She steps into the elevator and lifts her watch up to her face, swiping through the messages from her secretary. One finger reaches out to press the button for the digital analysis labs floor, and the other taps away at her watch.

When she steps off the elevator, her secretary is waiting. “Ma’am.”

“What do they have for me?”

“Unclear. They said it was something they wanted to report directly to you and you alone, but it seems to be something big.”

“Hopefully it’s a big step in the right direction, or they’ll be taking a big step out of a job.” She relishes in the way the employees she passes all unfailingly flinch and then snap to perfect attention when they hear the sharp echo of her heels against the floor. She lifts her head and walks faster, striking the tiles with her heels like a gavel, sharp and precise against a judge’s desk.

The computer labs are disorganized when she enters, but there is a string of promising-looking numbers on the main display monitor. There is a woman surrounded by books and a man pulling up photos on his computer, and there is a third man standing in front of her like a toy soldier. She focuses on that one.

“I hear you have news for me? Make it swift, and make it good.”

He swallows, hard, and her eyes idly trace the line of his throat. If he disappoints her, perhaps she will drive her heel through it, to make an example of him. That would be far too messy; perhaps his dominant hand will do.

“I have narrowed down the location of the missing net, ma’am. I believe it to have washed up somewhere around these general GPS coordinates.” He fiddles with a remote in his hand, and the image on the screen changes. It shows an aerial satellite view of a secluded strip of beach, framed by rocky cliffs with larger rocks studded out into the open water. “It should have washed up somewhere in this one-point-three-seven-mile strip of beach. The whole area is property of one Doctor Thomas Sanders.”

She snarls. “That man. He won’t let us on that beach willingly until hell freezes over.”

The other man, the one scanning through photo stills and video footage, jumps up, knocking his chair backwards. “I found something!”

She turns towards him, and his excitement freezes and sputters into something much more controlled and terrified. “Show me.” He clicks something and pulls up video footage from one of their surveillance drones, zooming in on a particular patch of ocean along the stretch of Sanders’ beach. Her eyes widen when she sees what he’d noticed - a hump of red-and-white tail arcing above the waves before a pattern of ripples streaks off towards the cliff. He pauses the footage, rewinds it, uses a laser pointer to show an opening concealed in the cliff face.

“There’s some kind of grotto in there, hidden by the cliff. It’s on Sanders’ property, he has to know it’s there. And it looks like the merman from the destroyed drone knows it’s there too. Which means -”

“That must be where he’s keeping them.” Something burns in her chest, brilliant and terrifying and all-encapsulating, like wildfire. “We’ve found them, at long last.”

“What would you have me do?” her secretary asks. “I can arrange for a recovery squad at your earliest possible convenience, ma’am.”

“Assemble the squad, but do not have them move out. They will wait for my orders. When they go, you are to go with them.” Her secretary nods, once, sharp and sure. “Dispatch a crew to Lab One and clear it out. I want it prepped for containment, vivisection, chemical tests - the works. Get at least three tanks set up and one strap-down human table.”

“A human table, ma’am?”

“Yes. We have to deal with Sanders once and for all to ensure that he does not ruin any future experiments.”

“Will we be taking him as well?”

She hums thoughtfully. “No. Pull up the file we have on his known associate?”

A few swift clicks and flicks and a photo appears on the large screen: a young man with brown-and-purple hair, sleeves rolled up, carefully lowering a perfectly viable specimen into the ocean and letting it go, like some kind of fool. “His doctoral student, ma’am. The longest one he’s ever kept - this one has been with him a few years.”

“Excellent. When you raid the lab, take him.”

“Should we kill Sanders?”

“No. Rough him up a little, but leave him alive. Taking his protégé and leaving him alone, helpless to rescue him, will be the highest form of torture for such an insufferable person. The agony will eat him alive until his dying day.”

Her secretary nods, taking the notes down dutifully. The other employees look vaguely horrified, but she pays them no mind. No sacrifice is too great to be made in the name of progress, and anyone who thinks otherwise is a weakling who will never get anywhere in life.

She refuses to be one of those weaklings.

*~*~*~*~*

Logan wakes up confused.

He’s warm, warmer than he thinks he’s ever been in his whole life. When he stirs, he moves farther than he meant to - he must not be underwater. That’s enough to send a jolt of concern through his sleep-addled brain. Why isn’t he underwater? Why was he sleeping if he was above the surface? There’s no way his dad is here, and Roman hates surfacing, where are they? Where is he? But he’s so comfortable . . .

Someone shifts beside him, an arm draping across his waist, and Logan forces his eyes open. He shifts his lower half, confused when two things move instead of one, and there are layers upon layers of thin, flat, soft things wrapping around him. What is happening?

Slowly, slowly, his mind clears, and he remembers the events of last night. He grew legs - he was a human, once, before he was mer - he couldn’t sleep underwater with Dad and Roman - Virgil was teaching him to walk - Virgil put “clothes” on him - Virgil was embarrassed that he didn’t have those “clothes” on him - Virgil took him out of the lab to sleep - Virgil agreed to cuddle him since his pod couldn’t -

Logan feels the strange burning in his face again as he shifts. He can’t see well in this new human form, but when things are close enough to his face they’re relatively clear. And Virgil, still sleeping, is close enough that Logan can smell him - he smells like salt water mixed with something sharp and something sweet and something else that Logan can’t quite identify but finds addicting nonetheless. Sunlight streams in and pools around Virgil’s face, illuminating the tangled mess of hair spread around him and flopping into his face, the small puddle of water leaking out from his open mouth onto the soft thing he’s resting his head on, the way his chest moves slowly with every breath. His arm is wrapped around Logan, pulling him close. Logan thinks he might explode if he focuses on this any more, so he rolls from his side to his back as carefully as he can, not wanting to wake Virgil. Virgil tightens his arm around Logan and mutters something indecipherable in his sleep, but he doesn’t wake.

Rather than focusing on his very confusing feelings for the very pretty man next to him, Logan focuses on what he can see of the room around him. He makes a list in his mind of things that he plans to ask Virgil about later today, including:

1: There are many draws attached to the small, smooth cliffs surrounding them. How do they stay there?

2: There are lots of “clothes” scattered all around the floor, and there were several on the bed, too. Is that normal for humans?

3: Last night, Virgil did something that made the room light up with trapped sunlight! How did he do that?

4: How did Virgil get ice to stay in those big frozen sheets in such a warm place to let the sunlight in?

5: How did Virgil make ice into that weird shape that he filled with water and drank last night?

6: How did Virgil get the water to come into this place?

7: Do all humans have a specific area set aside for sleeping? Logan and his pod usually just sleep wherever they can, but Virgil seems to have this soft slab set aside with all of these soft things to be comfortable and sleep in every night. Is this a Human Thing or strictly a Virgil Thing?

Logan looks out through the sheet of ice that protects Virgil’s area from the outside and gasps. He can’t see well, but there’s a glittering expanse of blue that shifts and moves and oh, is that the ocean?

He’s spent his whole life (well, his whole remembered��life, anyways) in the ocean, and he’s seen some truly wondrous things. He travels around the world with his pod, he knows the ocean is big, but seeing it spread out like this is . . . awe-inspiring. Logan has never seen the ocean like this, and now that he has he doesn’t think he can ever not see it like this again. It’s like a perfect sheet of sea-glass, rippling and unbroken but dynamic in a way that he never really gets a sense of when he’s beneath it.

He knows that there are waves, of course. There are smaller swells out on the open ocean, and larger ones when the Second Goddess dips her fingers down from the Upper Ocean and swirls the storms to a thundering burst. There are waves along the shoreline, ones that he frolics in with Roman and batter him against the shoreline. There are waves created when he or his pod members surface. But watching the movement of the ocean from up here is . . .

Even with his imperfect vision, he is completely at a loss for words as he stares at the ocean.

Eventually, Virgil stirs next to him, and Logan turns away from the ocean to stare at him. Virgil is close to him, arms wrapped tightly around him, face pressed against him. Logan’s eyesight is not great, but Virgil is close enough that he can pick out little details of his face. There are brown face scales scattered all over him, but they seem to cluster on his nose and his cheeks. Logan has wanted to touch them for a substantial amount of time, and he can’t stop himself from gently settling the tips of his fingers over Virgil’s cheek.

His face doesn’t feel like Logan was expecting. The scales don’t give texture to his face the way that Logan’s do; the skin is smooth and flat. There are little bumps all over, but the brown scales aren’t raised off the skin like Logan expected. He lets his fingers trail along Virgil’s face. His bone structure seems to be exceedingly similar to Logan’s, at least in regards to his head. Logan’s finger rests gently on the curve of bone under Virgil’s eye, and Virgil exhales warm breath onto his palm.

Logan wonders what it would be like to have this for longer than just his recovery period. He wonders what it would be like to wake up next to Virgil all the time, to get to run his hands over Virgil’s face and arms and chest and examine the differences between their anatomy. He wonders what it would be like to learn to walk without falling over, and he feels a sharp, unexpected twinge in his chest as he realizes that getting better at walking means no more closeness to Virgil.

His chest feels strange, like there’s a school of small fish swarming around and tickling his insides and making him feel all foamy, like the froth churned up by a windswept sea. He feels like he does when he’s underwater - free, weightless, mobile, limited by nothing except his own imagination. He feels unstoppable.

Virgil makes a sudden, sharp inhale, blinking his eyes open slowly. Logan thinks that, perhaps, he might not appreciate being studied unknowingly - he hadn’t appreciated Virgil doing it, before he understood what was happening, when all he knew was the loss of his pod aching like a scraped-out seashell. As Virgil wakes up, Logan shifts, turning his gaze to the rest of the room.

Virgil makes a sleepy grumbling noise, opening one eye. Logan chances another quick glance at him, and when his eye slides open Logan is struck by its beauty. He doesn’t get much of a chance to admire it, however, before Virgil is jolting backwards like Logan’s struck him with lightning. Logan is confused, reaching out and gently touching his shoulder. “Virgil?”

“Wassat?! Wait . . . L’gan?”

“It is me,” Logan says softly. “Are - are you upset with me?”

Virgil yawns, jaw dropping to his chest, revealing a flash of teeth and a soft pink tongue. (Logan wants to lick it. Why does Logan want to lick it? Why is Logan thinking about Virgil’s tongue licking his tongue - why is Logan thinking about Virgil - what in the Seven Oceans is happening to him.) “Wh - no, no, ‘m okay, I just - woke up, forgot I had you with me, got confused about another person in my bed.” Before Logan can start to feel bad, Virgil adds, “S’okay if it’s you, though,” and the foamy, floaty feeling is back.

“Did you sleep well?”

Virgil laughs, low and rumbling, and Logan can feel it in his fingers where he touches Virgil’s skin. “I never sleep well.” He sits up, and the fabric of his pajamas shifts to let Logan see stretches of soft, supple skin that he usually doesn’t. Logan wants to touch it. He very determinedly keeps his hand on Virgil’s shoulder. “Gotta admit, though, last night was . . . better than usual.”

This appears to be the point where Virgil first notices their position - pressed together, arm slung over Logan, basically cuddling the way that Logan normally would with his pod. (No tangle with his pod has ever felt this . . . electric, this charged, this important to Logan before.) His face flares a brilliant red, and he shifts like he wants to move away but -

“I’m sorry,” Virgil says. “Am I making you uncomfortable?”

“No!” Logan blurts out. Virgil blinks at him a little, and maybe he was a little overly enthusiastic, but - “I sleep in a tangle with Dad and Roman all the time. I have extreme difficulty sleeping without contact with someone else. It . . . helped me greatly.”

“Oh,” Virgil says, face turning redder still, smiling shyly. “That - makes me feel better. Thanks, Lo.”

Logan smiles, and Virgil smiles too, reaching up to gently move a piece of hair away from his face. Logan thinks that, as far as deaths go, his chest exploding (which seems to be getting more and more likely every fifteen seconds he spends in Virgil’s presence, only accelerated by all this skin-on-skin contact they’re having right now) seems to be the most pleasurable.

Virgil opens his mouth to say something, but whatever it was is interrupted by a Ping! noise from across the room. “What is that?” Logan asks. Virgil, sadly, untangles himself from Logan and the blankets, sliding out of bed and heading over to one of the other structures in the room (what did he call it last night? Dex?) and picking up a flat glowing rectangle.

“Is everything alright?”

“What? Yeah, yeah, I - Thomas sent me a text, it’s a little weird.”

“What is a text?”

“It’s a kind of human messaging system, it allows us to communicate when we’re far away from each other.”

“Like a pod call?” “Kind of? I’ll explain more later, I promise, I just - I gotta go down to the lab real quick.”

“I’ll come with -”

“No!” Virgil snaps. Logan flinches, and Virgil softens, crossing the room and gently touching his shoulder. “Hey, no, Logan, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you. I just - this message, there’s something off. I think something might be wrong, and I don’t want to put you in any unnecessary danger. Just - wait here, okay? Wait in my room, where it’s safe. It’s probably nothing, he’s probably fine, but on the off chance that he’s not, I want you to stay hidden safely up here.”

Logan isn’t sure why this makes his face heat up slightly, but it does. “Okay. I accept your apology, and I . . . trust you.”

Virgil smiles, soft and heartwarming, and Logan is beginning to give more credence to his “chest explosion is fine, actually” theory. “Wait for me here, okay? I’ll be right back. I promise.”

He leaves, shutting the door firmly behind him, and the foamy feeling in Logan’s chest dissipates a little. He can’t quite put his finger on it, but there’s something . . . off. If Logan didn’t know better, he’d think that he was sensing a predator approaching.

But that can’t be right, he isn’t underwater. His danger senses are likely just overreacting to his disappointment at Virgil’s absence.

. . . Right?

*~*~*~*~*

Thomas is beginning to regret letting Roman and Patton (specifically, Roman) out of the large tank before finishing his first coffee of the morning.

“I want some!” Roman complains.

“Do you even know what it is?” Thomas says. Roman pouts sulkily at him.

“. . . No,” he mutters, rolling his eyes. Thomas gives him the deadpan, no-nonsense, I-am-your-direct-superior-take-the-damn-samples-Virgil stare that he has perfected over the past few years. Roman wilts a little more, and Thomas feels slightly bad.

“It’s called coffee,” he says. “It’s a hot drink that lots of people have in the morning. Some people drink it plain, and some people add things to it to change the way it tastes. It helps me wake up more and get focused to start my day, and sometimes I drink it late at night to help keep me awake.”

Roman looks less like a kicked puppy and more like Logan, eyes wide and curious. “I want some!”

Thomas, taking a sip of his own two-seconds-of-cream-five-cubes-of-sugar coffee, nearly spits it out. He looks at Roman, eyes the very sharp, very detachable, very toxic spines covering his body, and says, “No.”

Roman’s demeanor changes entirely, switching from “curious toddler” to “toddler about to throw a temper tantrum” in a heartbeat. “Why not?!”

“Because when people drink coffee without being used to it, sometimes it makes them a little crazy.”

“I’m not crazy!”

“Do I need to recount to you how many times you’ve threatened me and my assistant since we met you?” Thomas says, raising an eyebrow. “I’m not giving you coffee until I know I can trust you not to stab me with your poisonous spines that cover your entire body and can be fired at people.”

Roman pouts more, dropping under the water and letting out a gratingly harmonious string of mer that Thomas is pretty sure translates to Roman bitching about the coffee situation to his dad. Based on the pattern of Patton’s response, he’s pretty sure Patton is laughing at Roman.

More sulky chalkboard-violin music, and then Roman resurfaces grumpily. “Dad agrees with you and says no consuming strange human foods.”

“Did he laugh at you?”

Roman squints suspiciously at him. “You can’t speak our language.”

“Yeah, but I know what it sounds like when a dad laughs at his kid.” Roman, continuing to pout, sinks back into the tank, presumably to sulk some more. Thomas takes another very long sip of coffee that is definitely too hot for his mouth and turns back to his desk.

Virgil should definitely be awake and in the lab at this point. The samples he’s supposed to be analyzing are sitting in their little tubes, each neatly labelled with locations and dates and times and what, specifically, Virgil is supposed to be looking for. Thomas considers going upstairs and waking up Virgil, who’s almost never been late for work in this way, but he decides against it. Virgil is upstairs with Logan, and Thomas knows that there’s something building between them. He’s not sure how advisable that something is, but he trusts Virgil to make his own decisions.

Besides, he could probably use some practice. His water sample analysis skills are pretty rusty, he’s had Virgil doing them for years. “Virgil, you owe me big time for what I’m doing for you.” He carefully shifts the samples over to his own desk, slides his earbuds in, picks up a pipette, and gets to work analyzing the bacterial and algal concentrations for any abnormalities.

Thomas accomplishes about forty-five minutes’ worth of work before Roman interrupts him by flicking water at him and soaking the back of his neck. “Hey!”

“I tried your name, but your little ear bug things were keeping you from hearing me,” Roman says smugly. Thomas, not for the first time, considers retreating to the closet and throwing beakers until he feels better.

“Can I help you?”

“Dad wants to go hunting and bring back breakfast, but we can’t leave without you.”

“Are you not going hunting?”

“I’m going to stay here and observe you,” Roman says.

Thomas blinks. “Do I . . . need observing?”

“How do I know you won’t sell us out to your little human friends the second you get a chance? If I’m here, I can stop you. Plus, what if you do something to Logan while we’re not here to protect him? No, no, I’m staying right where I am and you can’t make me leave.” His spines ripple; Thomas steps closer to a whiteboard in case he needs to duck.

“I’m not going to do that, and I don’t want you to stab me.”

“Still! I’m staying here! Also, Dad’s bigger than me, and he’s a better hunter cause he’s faster and he’s been hunting longer.

“Does he need something to help him carry all those fish?” Thomas asks. Roman opens his mouth like he’s going to say something snarky, pauses, and stops.

“I . . . usually we just eat what we catch when we catch it. We make a pile of prey and take turns guarding it while the other two hunt. Then we make a sacrifice to the Seven Mother Goddesses and eat what’s left.”

After some debate, Thomas is able to fashion a sling of sorts from some waterproof tarps and leftover anchor rope to tie around Patton’s body. “You can put the fish in this pouch and carry them back here. Will you be able to navigate your way back to the grotto?”

“He will,” Roman says. “Dad knows more about the ocean than any human possibly could.” Another discordant song from the tank, chastising, and Roman huffs. “Dad wants me to reassure you that he’ll be fine.”

Patton settles into the mobile tank easily, and Thomas gets him down to the grotto leading towards the sea. “When you come back, let out one of your pod calls and Virgil or I will come and collect you and your catch. Take as much time as you need, okay?”

Patton reaches up and gently pats Thomas’s arm with one large, damp hand, and Thomas takes that to mean an agreement. “Alright, off you go.” There’s a whoosh and a rush of water as it flows from the tank into the grotto in a clean arc, carrying Patton with it. Thomas waits for a moment, letting Patton disappear into the open ocean, before returning to the laboratory.

Roman, for the most part, ignores Thomas. He asks the occasional question, which Thomas tries to answer in a way that he’ll understand, and leans over the edge of his touch tank, eyes guarded. Every time Thomas sneaks a glance, when he thinks Roman isn’t looking, his expression is wide-eyed and wondrous, like Logan’s usually are, but the moment he realizes Thomas is watching him his entire face closes up like a clamshell.

Thomas wonders what it’ll take to get Roman to trust him, trust Virgil, trust any human. Granted, he doesn’t know Roman’s history with humans, but he and Patton are both fairly scarred, and Thomas might not know the whole story but he’d bet a not-insignificant amount of his monthly income that the giant starburst scar taking up the majority of Patton’s chest isn’t the result of a clash with a marine creature.

He works quietly, fielding the occasional question, keeping one ear on the grotto tunnel for Patton’s return. He’s not sure how long he expected Patton to be gone, but he hears movement in the grotto tunnel far sooner than he’d expected.

“Thomas, what’s -”

“Shhhh,” Thomas says. He stands up, pushing away from his desk, but before he can say anything else, there’s a flood of movement coming from the tunnel. Bodies pour into the lab, swift and strong and carrying weapons that they immediately train on Thomas and Roman.

“What is this?” Roman snaps, bristling. He sounds betrayed, like he thinks Thomas is behind this. Thomas picks up a heavy glass beaker, fully prepared to shatter it upside someone’s skull if necessary, but something heavy and hard strikes the back of his skull and he feels his knees crumple. Roman cries out, and Thomas struggles to push himself up. A hand fists itself in his hair and yanks him upright, sharply. Thomas exhales sharply through his teeth, but before he can start struggling, something cool and round rests against the back of his neck, shutting him up and shutting his brain down.

Roman is puffed up like a hedgehog, apparently fully prepared to defend Thomas despite his strong and inherent mistrust. Before he can begin to attack, Thomas hears the click-click-click of shoes on the hard stone floor. Whoever’s holding his head yanks him back again, and he is forced to watch as a woman walks into his laboratory.

(It sounds like the beginning of a bad joke - a sick, horrible, twisted joke.)

She has black heels, black tights, a black pencil skirt, a black blazer, and a blood-red blouse. Her hair is scraped back into a tight bun, pulled so taut it must hurt, and is held in place with a pitch black stick. She carries a - clipboard? tablet? Unclear - held against her chest, and there’s a sleek silver weapon in her right hand.

“The one from the video?” she asks.

“Affirmative, ma’am,” says the person holding Thomas’s head. The woman nods, lifting her weapon, and fires at Roman. Thomas tries to scream a warning, earning himself another painful yank from his captor, but the projectile lodges itself in Roman’s shoulder anyway.

It isn’t a bullet, but something that looks like a small syringe. Roman swats it out of his shoulder, swaying a little, but it doesn’t stop him from swiping at the - mercenary, they must be - who tries to grab him with his elbow spines. The woman frowns, lifts the weapon - some kind of tranquilizer gun? - and fires again.

Roman screams, inhuman and animal, and tears the newest dart from his arm, throwing himself out of his tank and clinging to the nearest mercenary. His teeth tear into the man’s shoulder, spines piercing through his camouflage clothing and flooding him with neurotoxin. The man collapses against the concrete, alive but unconscious, and Roman snarls at the next man as though daring him to approach. He sways, weakened but awake, and bares his teeth.

“Of course,” the woman says, tapping something on her tablet. “His naturally produced neurotoxin must be providing him with some level of natural resistance. Unexpected, but not a limitation.”

It takes three more tranquilizer darts before Roman finally slumps down into his tank, unconscious. The mercenaries look hesitant to approach him, but the woman reaches for her tablet and they scramble to action at once.

“No - no, stop, let him go, he’s not an animal for you to cart off to your lab -” Thomas starts. The man holding him knees him sharply in the back and he cries out, coughing.

They wrap Roman in thick leather bands, roughly shoving his spines flat and binding them against his skin so that he can’t attack them again. The woman nods, once, short and sharp, and they drag Roman away, letting his head bang mercilessly on the ground. Thomas catches a glimpse of a logo - emblazoned on the back of the jackets, on the back of the woman’s tablet, on the side of her tranquilizer gun - and commits it to memory. He’s going to need it, if he gets out of here alive.

“- your phone,” the woman says, and oh, when did she get in front of him.

“My what?”

His mouth runs dry as she places the tranquilizer gun under his chin, barrel pressing against his throat, and tips his chin up. “I said, give me your phone.”

Thomas blinks. “My - the desk. It’s on the desk.”

She sets her tablet down, picks up his phone, and shoves it in his face. “Open it.”

“I - wh -”

“Unlock your phone, Dr. Sanders. Must I repeat myself a third time?” She rolls her eyes. “Doctorates are wasted on people like you.”

Thomas numbly punches in his passcode, and she swipes through to his messages app, frowning before turning the screen towards his face to reveal a message thread with Virgil. “Is this your assistant?”

Thomas glares at her, he’s not going to give her what she wants, he’s not going to just give her Virgil but then the - gun, it must be a gun, what else would they be holding against his neck like this - pushes into him harder, and it’s probably bruising, and he can’t get himself killed here because then he definitely won’t be able to take care of Virgil and -

“Yes,” Thomas says, hating himself for giving in so easily. “What do you -”

She turns away from him, nails clicking against his phone screen as she sends a text message - to Virgil, presumably, and that makes his heart sink like a stone - before dropping it on the floor and stepping on it to shatter it. “I have a message for you.”

“A - what?”

“Did they really hit you that hard, or were you this stupid before we came here?” she says coldly, picking up the tablet again and tapping at the screen. Thomas groans as the man yanks him to his feet, shoving him onto his chair and pulling a roll of duct tape out of one of his multiple pants pockets. He tapes Thomas’s wrists and ankles to the chair, keeping his weapon trained on Thomas’s temple at all times, before pressing it roughly against his head and gripping his hair again.

The woman sets the tablet on his lab table, and the screen flickers to life, and then there’s a woman in front of a dark black backdrop, smiling at him like a cat who’s caught a canary. “Thomas Sanders. How long I’ve waited for this day.”

Thomas recognizes her. He knows he recognizes her. She used to be his classmate, before . . .

His head hurts, so badly that he can barely keep his eyes open, and the memory slips away. “You . . . why are you doing this?”

“Why? Because I am a real scientist, unlike you. You refuse to do what is necessary, what must be done for the progression of the species. The sacrifice of some worthless animals is necessary for humanity to reach its zenith. You would really hinder the entire human race for the preservation of lower life forms?”

“Wh - I -”

“You think that ‘preserving the ecosystem’ and ‘keeping animals alive’ makes you a good scientist, but it makes you weak. You are weak, Thomas Sanders, and if the world was left in the hands of people like you, the human race as we know it would die out in a few centuries. Fortunately, there are people like me, who understand what must be done.”

“Caring about other people and things - it doesn’t - it doesn’t make you weak,” Thomas says, chest heaving, and the woman just laughs.

“One of many logical fallacies to which you subscribe, Thomas. They really gave you a doctorate? Of course caring makes you weak. All emotions make you weak. They corrupt your data and make your experiments worthless. You must be ruthless. You must be willing to do whatever it takes to pursue your goals and achieve the height of success. But no.” She rolls her eyes, face hardening, twirling a pen in her fingers. “You insist on ethics and principles and letting emotions cloud your judgement, and that makes you a failure as a scientist. It makes you weak. Your attachments will be your downfall.”

Thomas’s eyes slide shut, head pounding, and the man behind him yanks at his hair so sharply that he knows some has been ripped out. He forces his eyes open in time to see a smile slide across the woman’s face like a knife, teeth gleaming white as sun-bleached bone.

“You won’t - get away with this,” Thomas manages. He grinds his teeth together and curls his hands into fists, digging his nails into his palms to keep himself awake. “If you leave me alive -” Thomas, stop talking, why are you reminding her that she has the option to fucking kill you “- I will not rest until I find you. I’ll - you can’t -”

“You’ll what, Thomas? If you call the police, you’ll expose those creatures you’re so intent on protecting to the world. Are you really willing to take that chance?” Before Thomas can even begin formulating a response, she steamrolls him. “It doesn’t matter. Even if you were, I’m going to take some . . . insurance, shall we say.”

“Why not just kill me?” Thomas spits. Excellent idea, Doc, poke the murderous lady with a stick like a god damn hornet’s nest, the tiny Virgil in his brain hisses. Her smile, somehow, only widens, and that’s . . . that can’t be good, can it? Smiles are supposed to be good! They’re supposed to make you happy, but all Thomas feels is creeping dread and pain, so much pain, and -

Yeah. He’s . . . pretty sure he has a concussion.

“Because if I kill you, you get to take the easy way out. Your suffering will end. But unlike you, I don’t put limits on my science. I know how to cause you the maximum amount of pain.”

Thomas eyes the toxin gun, but the on-screen woman just laughs. “Not yet, Thomas. We need something from you, first.”

“You already took Roman,” Thomas says. “What more can you possibly take from me?”

“You named it? You’re even weaker than I thought.”

“He told me his name, he’s not an it, he’s not a thing for you to play with and - and I -”

There’s a strange sinking feeling in Thomas’s chest as the woman onscreen laughs. “I knew you were emotional, Thomas, but I can’t believe this! It looks like I’ll have more hanging over your head than you thought.”

“You -”

“Say, Tommy-boy, have you heard from your precious little assistant recently?”

Thomas’s entire body flushes ice-cold and then white-hot, immediately struggling against his duct tape bindings despite the man tearing at his hair and shoving the gun into his neck and snapping at him to shut up, shut up, shut the fuck up before I do something we’re both gonna regret -

“Don’t you touch him!” Thomas snaps. “If you hurt him, I swear to God -”

“You’re not in a position to be making demands, and if you don’t calm down, I’ll paint your boring little lab bright red.” Thomas freezes, holding his entire body tensed like electricity is running through his blood.

There are footsteps on the stairs. “Doc? I got your text, what’s -”

“Virgil, run!” Thomas chokes. Virgil comes around the corner, holding his phone, staring at the screen in confusion. He looks up, eyes widening in horror as he takes in the scene.

“You know what to do,” the woman onscreen says. The other woman lifts her tranquilizer gun, and Thomas is sure that he’s screaming, his mouth is open and sound is coming out but his blood is rushing through his ears and his heart is pounding like waves against a boat in rough sea and he can’t - he can’t -

Virgil turns to run, but the tranquilizer dart hits in him the back of the neck and he collapses like a sack of bricks. The woman lowers her gun and jerks her head at the two remaining conscious, unoccupied mercenaries, who step forward and grab Virgil.

“Let him go!” Thomas screams, and his throat feels raw and his chest feels raw and his wrists are rubbed raw and his soul feels hollow and raw, like he’s been scraped out with a jagged piece of metal and only an empty shell remains. Virgil’s head lolls against his chest as they drag him down the grotto tunnel, and Thomas struggles and screams and stares after them until Virgil is out of sight.

His face is damp, and his eyes are burning, and he isn’t sure if it’s blood from his head wound or tears or some strange, morbid mixture of both.

“The greatest torture of which I can conceive,” the woman onscreen says, and it takes him a moment to realize that oh, she’s talking to me, “is to leave you alive, knowing that your precious little protégé is with me, and that there is nothing you can do about it.” She leans forward, and any trace of a smile is gone. “If you try to come after me, I will kill him. If you call the authorities, I will kill him. I already found you, Thomas. Don’t think I’m not watching. If I catch so much as a whiff of you planning something, his blood will be on your hands. Do you understand me?”

Thomas, numb and shocked, can’t even respond. “Knock him out and bring the specimens back to me,” the woman onscreen says.

“Yes, ma’am.”

He doesn’t even feel the tranquilizer dart hit his neck, but he welcomes the sweeping darkness.

(Summary: Evil Scientist Lady has been spying on Thomas and she finds the entrance to the grotto where our mer friends have been hiding. She sends her assistant and several armed thugs to invade the lab, they drug Roman with tranquilizers and kidnap him. Thomas gets knocked around a lot and is mocked for being an ethical scientist and caring about people by Evil Scientist Lady and she gloats at him through Evil Facetime before kidnapping Virgil in the same way they did Roman, knocking Thomas unconscious, and leaving him tied to his lab chair. During this whole scene, Patton is out in the open ocean hunting and Logan is safely hidden in Virgil's room.)

[yostresswritinggirl]

hello, i love your writin'!! seriously, it's so cool to read and im just ajdhsish and this is the first thing- second thing, would you be comfortable with writin' albedo x gn reader (headcanons are cool yknow!) who dislikes goin' outside alone? like, they worry that somethin' bad will happen to them or are a bit scared of doin' things that might go wrong around people, so they prefer goin' outside with someone? (they also want to get rid of their fears but have no ideas how) i will understand if you don't want to so dw!! 👉👈

First thing, thank you so much for requesting! This took a while, I'm so sorryy! This was supposed to come out yesterday but I got sick and barely had the brainpower to even stand :(( feels better now tho so yey? And yess ahhh thank you for your kind words, you guys have been wonderful too, give yourself some credit too!

This is the last Albedo request in the inbox and woohoo, we ended this streak in one of the hard prompts I've come by so far ahaha

I'm not sure if I interpreted anon right but this shall be a fic as originally requested? I'm apologizing in advance because I don't think I've captured this scenario well enough hehe,,, but I hope you still enjoy this!

Keep Me Intertwined

Albedo with a gn!reader that's scared of going out alone (Mild Social Phobia?)

Albedo is a genuis, everybody knows that, even beyond the walls of Mondstadt. Praised and sought out by scholars to ask for his wisdom and a majority of the time they receive their desired enlightenment.

Indeed, the Kreideprinz is a genuis even if he says otherwise, but he's a genuis in the art of Kemia. And only that. Truth be told there are a lot of things he lacks when it comes to knowledge, as his focus is only in the science he wants to explore. Beyond that, he comes close to a child's understanding of the world.

When he bumped into you when he was strolling through the stalls during a market fair of travelling merchants, he'd thought it would be something he can shrug off easily, but as he moves his head to look at the perpetrator he'd hear a squeak of a "sorry" and a running figure. What?

Albedo silently pats himself down as he continues to watch as the silhouette disappears farther, with a calculating gaze to memorize all their features for... future references.

After he made sure it wasn't a thief that bumped to him to pickpocket, he immediately moves on without another thought.

"Ah, you're the one from the marketplace yesterday." In all honesty, your second meeting was quicker to come than he expected, and at the most curious location of all places. In the Knights of Favonius HQ. How had he not heard or seen of you before?

Your shoulders tense at the sound before you even closed the door of which you came from. This was a room he's never seen anyone use, he realized. Was this where you've been residing all this time? What an oversight on his part but it seems that you two share the common practice of barely leaving your quarters.

When you turned around, behind those surprised eyes lies a gentleness of relief he has not seen a mixture of in the ones he'd observed before. "O-Oh, Chief Alchemist! I'm really sorry about that, I was- I'm really sorry!" He hums in contemplation before shaking his head, assuring you it was a matter that caused no harm.

There was more to it, but his thoughts are distracted with his current task at hand, and with a short goodbye he made his way out down the hall where the stairs resides.

His heavy boots clap on the carpeted floor...

Paired with shuffling light ones to try and match his stride.

Huh? "Are you perhaps going outside?" He confirms with a soft yes as he continues his walk. What are you implying? "Is it okay if I join your company? I uhm also need to get some stuff from outside." He just nods, not one for small talk or questioning. It's nothing much to think about really—

Your loose and subtle grip around the chains hanging by his coat seem to ground him from his musings as you two traverse through Mondstadt in a normal gait. He tries not to think about it too much, but the way you look around with unease when you near other people or your desperate strides to stay a respectable distance to him were things he observed during the walk. Albedo was no man of science focusing on human personality and it bothers him.

It was like a game of cat and mouse between you two running errands, he'll detour to the side and you'll follow him, and if you need to drop by to a building then he'll have to follow you.

And he doesn't know why. Is it because of his mannerism towards taking care of Klee? Or his feeling of responsibility for bringing you along?

During this whole ordeal the Chief Alchemist has brought himself a bright idea (it is not) and went into his scientific mode. He watches you talk to one of the citizens about a commission you had finished yesterday and after confirming your undivided attention, he quietly slips away from the area to visit the Alchemy stall where Timaeus would surely be working on.

It took about an hour before he was allowed to use the table, because Timaeus took so long working on his forgery. Goodness that man needs to work on his studies more.

Ah, speaking of— Albedo realized he'd just up and left you for an hour. Without a second thought he retraced his steps to where he had last seen you. Surely you would have gone off to do your own thing, probably finished up your errands by now and had gone back to the Knights headquarters.

An unmoving force made him tumble forward as his coat seemed to have been caught. If you were there, it would be a sight to see, a rare moment of the Kreideprinz so uncomposed and shocked as he catches himself with a sputter. What the hell? His head snaps to look over his shoulder at such incredible speed, you'd thought it really would have snapped—

The clutch on his chain accessory tightens. With your head down low he couldn't see what expression you were, but your tense shoulders shake with a tremor similar to that of an on-going earthquake. His guilt was more obvious as your knuckles turn white from the deadly grip.

"Albedo-!" You exclaimed in what seems to be a cross between a whine and a whimper. "You disappeared, I couldn't- I couldn't leave..."

He hides a sigh as you refuse to look up to show your face. And in a comforting manner he has 'mastered' with a certain someone, he gently pries off your tight grip (with some urging pats to get you to loosen) before interlocking your fingers with his gloved ones. And he smiles as genuinely as he can, "I'm sorry, I won't do it again. Are you done here? It's almost night, we should get moving."

Your nod of agreement was a breath of fresh air to him.

▰▱▰▱▰▱▰▱▰▱▰▱▰▱

Days after that were pretty much as uneventful as uneventful it could be for Albedo's lifestyle.

Holed up in his laboratory for days without rest like the madman he is. Master's alembic and grounds of scarlet quartz able to keep his mind occupied to not wonder. Hyperfocused, no one has seen him out, only Sucrose dropping by with an 'assistant pass' despite the experiment on-going sign hanging by his doorknob.

When he finally stepped out to the hallway, three days already passed. The door behind him clicks as it locks, a sound that echoed with the door four rooms apart to his.

Kaeya looks up from your doorknob when he noticed the approaching silhouette. "Oh, Chief Alchemist? Finally came out of your cave." He quipped as he leans his shoulder against your room's door, visible eyebrow raising slightly after noticing the fleeting gaze Albedo passed at the door.

"Cavalry Captain, good evening. What were you doing there?" Straight to the point.

The taller man's eyebrow rose higher before he composed his amusement. "I didn't expect you to be into rumors, Albedo." The Alchemist's brows furrows in response. "No harm done, worry not. I just accompanied them on their trip outside before retreating for the night."

Humming to himself, Albedo's eyes wonder back to your doorknob before it was protectively shielded by the man's... white fur cloak?

"I also heard you left them alone when you two were out. I didn't expect you to be such a cruel man, amping up their fear after the progress they've made." Fear? Progress? More questions swirled within the genius' mind the more he talked with this.

Kaeya had noticed his faraway look and pieced together the context. Finally, he offered to explain the background of the issue and Albedo was ecstatic to listen in, a first with the blunette.

"Do you understand it now?"

"Mhm."

"Then I'll leave them to your care, I'm sure your genius mind can come up with something."

"Huh?"

And thus you find yourself standing at the bottom steps of the Ordo Favonius HQ the next morning, hand in hand with the Chief Alchemist you've last seen four days ago. Doesn't he have better things to do? No, he reasoned the solution he worked on will take two days to formulate the desired sediment, and so he has that timeframe free for the taking.

You would have been confused and wary he'd abandon you again—

Were you not forced to listen to the two dummies talk about YOU right outside your ROOM.

"You uhm, you don't have to hold my hand during this whole trip, Master Albedo."

"Albedo." He corrected. "And this is necessary, much more convenient and predictable than pulling on my chains really." A touch of a blush framed your cheeks with embarrassment.

"I have nothing in my itinerary today, so feel free to tug me along. It is, after all, the most I can do for what happened."

Despite the rough texture from the long use, the leathered hand in yours brought about more comfort than you would have thought.

Bonus:

The solar isotoma sparkled in pure golden beauty in front of you, but it didn't prevent the anxiety bubbling inside as you watch Albedo hop over the ledge with the help of his geo construct. "What- what are you doing?"

"Experiment. I'll be up in the roof looking over you so you'll know I'm still here, if it makes a difference if your company is far from arms length or not." He replied as he casually hopped over to the roof of a housing unit.

"Albedooo!"

I didn't get to capture all the aspects of the request that I wanted to focus on ahhhhh, I got so conscious of the length I had to stop it! Still ack I hope I captured his personality and context well— and I'm sorry if I amped up the fear more than you gave, I'm not really sure how bad it was supposed to be skskskks

But hey, this being the last Albedo req in my inbox, I am now free from this man *happy sigh* //:Albedo smut leading the leaderboard for the followers event looms over from behind:// *sweats*

[terrific-togekiss]

What if there was a Walt Disney Fighting Game? [Video Game Concept]

Note: I am well aware, that Disney would probably never say yes in a million years to this idea. Taking their beloved, child friendly characters and having them fight?!

OH THE HORROR?!

I am also aware there have been concepts for this in the past.

Final Fantasy Dissidia was supposed to be a Kingdom Hearts fighting game, but Nomura felt uncomfortable portraying Disney characters in such a violent atmosphere.

And there are sketches of what a Walt Disney fighting game could've been, inspired by Super Smash Bros, before it was canceled. It would've focused on more violent characters such as Gaston, Beast, Ursula, Captain Hook, Captain Silver and the Horned King. But the idea was dropped.

Here's the link.

This entire post is just building and putting together what a Disney fighting game would look like to me, if one came out in today's world. It's all merely speculation and ideas that's been in the back of my head for awhile.

(Special thanks to @mayflower-gal for helping me set this up. 😁)

Anyways, let's get started!

Part 1: The Plot

For the plot, I believe it would have to be something simple, since this an idea for a first game. It's the start of a potentially huge franchise, so I wanna keep it not only simple, but an aspect that helps kick off the potential series. And pull in many fans, old and new of Disney.

Let's take into account one thing: what's a recurring theme across various Disney movies (and overall media)?

Is it the lovable, comic relief sidekick that makes audiences laugh? Is it the songs that kids find themselves singing, long after the tale is done and the curtain has closed? Is it perhaps, the clever celebrity choices for important side characters?

No, It's the one defining aspect that draws in audiences, both new and old, bringing you to fall in love with the characters as the story is told:

Wishes.

Pinocchio wishes to be a real boy. Beast and all his servants wish to be human again. Tiana wishes to have her own restaurant. Ariel wishes to see the world beyond the sea.

Everyone wishes for something more in their life and have dreams that they wish come true.

What if all those wishes were counted? Collected?

Watched over. Much like a parent to their children. Or a teacher to their students.

Found engaging. Found entertaining. Found comforting. Found peaceful. Found introspective.

Looked at with childlike wonder and glee when accomplished.

But frowned on when those wish for selfish desires. And an even deeper disappointment at those very same inhuman desires, coming true.

Good and bad exists inside every person, it's just a matter of what one chooses to act on and stand by at the end of the day.

What someone wishes for is reflective of that.

Now imagine that same being coming to life and wrecking havoc across the Disney universe. Judging for themself, if any of these colorful, imaginative characters, truly deserve their...

Happily,

Ever

After.

Yep, the main plot of the story mode is all the various Disney characters literally fighting for wishes and dreams to come true...

against the LITERAL embodiment of wishing upon a star.

Each playable character having their own unique ending.

Some endings being repeats of your favorite Disney movies, with some minor changes to acknowledge the game's plot. While others are original due to the wide cast of characters that are available, besides your favorite Disney Heroes.

For example, you beat the story mode as say, Pinocchio, he wishes to be a real boy.

I know it sounds very redundant since a majority of these things already happen in the Disney movies, but I feel as though relieving them would be fun. In addition to some original ones that didn't happen with either the villains or less major characters.

It's only the hypothetical first game and I wanted start with something simple, that fans could easily get into. More complex plots, with more character interactions should be saved for any possible sequels.

Part 2: The Gameplay

The game would be your typical 2D fighting game. You have,

Combos exclusive to every character that requires practice.

Playstyles that make each character feel unique.

Special moves for each character to get the upper hand and the main focus in besting your opponent in 1 VS 1 matches.

Of course, there's dialogue before fights in the character intros. With so many to pick from, it had to be put in somewhere.

It resembles 2D fighting games that you've all no doubt heard of, such as Marvel VS Capcom or Street Fighter.

But what would a Disney fighting game have to offer on the table, in order to survive the overall video game market?

It would have to be something unique and a feature that not only gives it originality, but a chance to stand out with so much creativity and innovation. Practically begging fans for more.

Which is why I present to you: Disney Songs.

Or as this game prompt will call them: Musical Finales.

The highlight of many Disney movies and overall media, the music is what leaves a lasting impression on many audiences. Which is not surprising, since Disney is mostly a musical. At least in terms of most of their films.

With so many iconic songs from throughout the company's history, of course I'll be squeezing them somehow!

Each character has a music meter, that can only be filled up with how the player times and follows the beat of the character they play as. Follow the rhythm and beat of a character, and it will fill up quicker. Get cut off by the opponent and it doesn't fill up.

That beat being the music of the stage each player fights on, by attacking to the music and the same time. Think of it like the Sound Battles mechanic in Mother 3.

Every character has four different kinds of attacks: Neutral, Musical, Wonderful and Special.

Neutral Attacks are normal attacks that are mostly used to set up combos.

Musical Attacks are attacks that deal more impact, when timed with the music of the stage.

Wonderful Attacks can be seen as character oriented attacks, that embody the personality and charm of the character you play as. And can be used to entertain the audience. We'll get into that later.

Special Attacks are unique finisher moves that require a separate meter to be filled up, as with most fighting games.

Now what happens when the music meter is full? A Disney Song starts playing of course!

Say you filled up Cinderella's music meter for example, then "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo" starts playing, granting some unique abilities for Cinderella.

Each song would grant different outcomes and bonuses for the various characters. They're not Special Attacks, as that's already a separate mechanic already.

For example, "Part of Your World" starts playing if you're playing as Ariel, filling up the stage with water and slowing down the opponent, giving Ariel a chance to either take advantage of that, bump items into them or create big waves of water.

But what happens if BOTH characters trigger the music meter at the same time?!

Well, that's where this gimmick becomes a fight for which song keeps on playing!

Both songs would start playing, both at the same time and volume. Except, both characters have to compete to see which is stronger.

This is done by the two characters fighting, before triggering a rhythm game between the two. Once one is the victor, the other song fades, while the other stays playing. Doubling the duration of that character's Musical Finale.

Another mechanic is the Entertainment Meter. Every level you fight on has one, that determines which fighter the audience likes more. Via Wonderful attacks, you can charm the audience into supporting you more. This activates things like getting healing items or stat boosts in power and speed. Some of your favorite Disney sidekicks even provide aid from the audience!

It's almost like watching a Disney movie live and being able to interact with the story!

Or the battle system in Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door.

I feel as though this is the best way of keeping the game interesting, giving it an identity of its own and still embodying that magic people will grow to love. It can also lead to some entertaining interactions in the background or foreground of a stage, as the music meter also brings in characters that would not be playable, but support playable characters nonetheless. Like Flounder and Sebastian.

Of course, either feature could be turned off if you're not a fan of that sort of thing, but that's a given.

Part 3: The Stages

With many Disney movies pick from, it's no wonder there's plenty of choices to pick from. Since this is the first game, I chose to focus more on the movies. Here's my take.

Steamboat (Mickey Mouse cartoons)

Duckberg (Ducktales)

Spoonerville (A Goofy Movie)

Dwarven Forest (Snow White and the Seven Dwarves)

Wonderland (Alice in Wonderland)

Monstro (Pinocchio)

The Prince's Ball (Cinderella)

Neverland (Peter Pan)

Forbidden Mountains (Sleeping Beauty)

The Coliseum (Hercules)

Andy's Room (Toy Story)

Elsa's Ice Castle (Frozen)

San Fransokyo Institute of Technology (Big Hero 6)

Atlantica (The Little Mermaid)

House of Mouse (House of Mouse)

The West Wing (Beauty and the Beast)

Cave of Wonders (Aladdin)

Pride Rock (The Lion King)

Ant Island (A Bug's Life)

Tamatoa's Trove (Moana)

Hawaii (Lilo and Stitch)

Headquarters (Inside Out)

Mor'du's Ruins (Brave)

Big Ben (The Great Mouse Detective)

Notre Dame (The Hunchback of Notre Dame)

Merlin's Cottage (Sword in the Stone)

Emperor's Palace (Mulan)

The Great Before (Soul)

Todayland (Meet The Robinsons)

Paradise Falls (Up)

Zootopia (Zootopia)

Monsters Inc (Monsters Inc)

Nomanisan Island (The Incredibles)

The Bayou (The Princess and the Frog)

Atlantis (Atlantis: The Lost Empire)

Halloweentown (The Nightmare Before Christmas)

Oakey Oaks (Chicken Little)

Spirit Mountain (Brother Bear)

Sherwood Forest (Robin Hood)

Treasure Planet (Treasure Planet)

Horned King's Castle (The Black Cauldron)

The Secret Lab (The Emperor's New Groove)

Bald Mountain (Fantasia)

The Grid (Tron)

World's End (Pirates of the Caribbean)

Radiator Springs (Cars)

Grandmother Willow's Forest (Pocahontas)

East High School (High School Musical)

The Axiom (WALL-E)

Regent's Park (101 Dalmatians)

New Mushroom Town High School (Onward)

Happily Ever After Castle (Walt Disney Opening)

Part 4: The Roster

The bread and butter of many fighting games, the roster is no doubt one I had a bit of trouble putting together. With so many characters from over the years, it's no surprise. But since this is the outline of a possible first game, here's my interpretation.

Also, the cast is big to avoid being too barren or dull.

And because I had a lot of fun putting it all together.

Mickey Mouse (Mickey Mouse): The all around character of the game, he mostly fights by a series of cartoonish tricks, magic tricks and his paintbrush from Epic Mickey. His Special Attack would have him break the fourth wall like and rewind the fight like an old film projector in reverse. Except he heals, while the opponent receives twice the damage. His Musical Finale "Sorcerer's Apprentice" has him use Yensid's Sorcerer hat to its fullest and give his overall moveset more flashes to distract the opponent and slow them down.

Donald Duck (Donald Duck): Everyone's favorite, greedy mallard and the world's angriest duck. Donald would fight mainly with toon force, his fists, his bad luck and his anger. The more damage he takes, the angrier he gets. His Special Attack would have him don the Duck Avenger persona from his PK days and use a series of superhero gadgets to finish the opponent. His Musical Finale "The Three Caballeros" trades his anger for Jose Carioca and Panchito Pistoles showing up, making him happy. As they hurt the opponent, each time they hit Donald, to keep him happy.

Goofy (Goofy): Everyone's favorite Disney dad, Goofy joins the fight as not the brightest but with the biggest heart. He has toon force to aid him in some unconventional ways. His Special Attack would have him become Super Goof from his older days. His Musical Finale "Eye To Eye" would restore health everytime he dodges an attack, with a dancing flair to it.

Snow White (Snow White and the Seven Dwarves): The first Disney Princess, Snow White makes her debut and she's not alone. The Seven Dwarves direct most of her attacks, such as tossing rocks, mining tools as weapons and even just grabbing the opponent and tossing them. Snow White herself can sing and command woodland animals to tie up opponents or just fight to defend her. Her Special Attack would have the Dwarves try to roll a boulder, only for lightning to strike on the opponent and the boulder as extra damage. Her Musical Finale "Whistle While You Work" will call on a huge number of forest animals, as they tidy up the stage and Snow White, slowly replenishing her health and slowing down the opponent.

Pinocchio (Pinocchio): Don't lie in his presence, as that nose is not only for show. Pinocchio fights mostly by using his nose as a staff, the Blue Fairy bringing other toys to life to aid him and Jiminy Cricket distracting the opponent with music. Pinocchio's Special Attack would have him wish upon a star and turn himself into a real boy, as the opponent is turned into a puppet and loses damage as a result. Pinocchio's Musical Finale "I've Got No Strings" would cover the stage in thin lines used for puppets: if the opponent touches one, their frozen briefly. If a projectile attack hits, the same happens.

Cinderella (Cinderella): The bell of the ball and someone whom never gives up on kindness, Cinderella will use the dance moves she showed off at the ball for her moveset, having a dancing and musical feel to how she plays and flashy dances to win against the the opponent. With her Fairy Godmother using her magic to help her, such as flashes of light. Her Special Attack would have the clock strike midnight and she leaves behind her glass slipper: once the opponent touches it they get weighed down by a giant magic dress. Cinderella's Musical Finale "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo" would have the Fairy Godmother cast a series of spells over the stage, as a new carriage pops up every time Cinderella pulls off a combo. The carriages run over the opponent and can even carry Cinderella to safety.

Peter Pan (Peter Pan): Leader of the Lost Boys and Captain Hook's second biggest pain in the butt, Peter Pan and Tinkerbell are here. Peter Pan has a pocket knife with him and Tinker Bell's pixie dust for aerial attacks. His Special Attack would have him toss a bunch of gold on the opponent, as the rest of the Lost Boys tackles them and beats them up for the treasures. His Musical Finale "You Can Fly" would create a trail of pixie dust behind him, that randomly causes the opponent to either jump too high or too low.

Captain Hook (Peter Pan): Keep all 'ticks' and 'tocks' away from this pirate! Captain Hook has a wide array of hooks to switch between, a flintlock pistol and his sword to win the battle. His Special Attack would have him run away from the Tick-Tock the Crocodile, as said crocodile attacks the opponent instead of Hook. His Musical Finale "A Pirate's Life/Elegant Captain Hook" would call his ship the Jolly Rodger onto the stage, as the pirates on the ship occasionally throw knives at the opponent and shoot at them, everytime Hook is caught in a combo and can't escape.

Aurora (Sleeping Beauty): Aurora, sleeping beauty herself, is doing anything but sleep and her guardians are making sure of that! Her attacks has the Good Fairies use their magic in numerous ways, such as moving objects, animating objects and even petrification. Her Special Attack has Prince Philip show up with the Sword of Truth and the Shield of Virtue, to deal heavy damage on the opponent. Her Musical Finale "Once Upon A Dream" boosts her stats everytime she's hit.

Maleficent (Sleeping Beauty): The Mistress of all Evil, Maleficent uses a wide array of magic powers from cursed, throny vines, to her iconic green fires, she's one tough fighter from a distance. Her Special Attack would have her turn into a dragon and breath fire down on the opponent. Her Musical Finale "Once Upon A Dream" would have her make the opponent more drowsy, each time they hit her, until falling asleep, unless they keep moving.

Robin Hood (Robin Hood): The sly fox of England and one talented theif, this fox focuses on disguises, archery, swordsmanship and woodsmanship to make his way. His Special Attack would have authorities show up to arrest him, as they rain down arrows on the opponent in the process. His Musical Finale "Running Through The Forest" would allow him to dodge all attacks, without needing to hit the controls or input buttons.

Basil of Baker Street (The Great Mouse Detective): World's greatest detective! At least in the mouse world that is. Basil would investigate the stage of the fight, much like a crime scene and even pick up clues that double as weapons, such as a propeller or a mouse trap. His Special Attack would have him investigate a crime scene that hurt the opponent, before pushing them aside as 'worthless' evidence. His Musical Finale "Let Me Be Good To You" would have him require no further evidence and counter each hit with a deduction on his opponent's crime and even stop them from performing combos. Doing damage in the process.

Professor Ratigan (The Great Mouse Detective): Never call him a rat. Ever. This crime boss of the miniature crime world be no stranger to fist fights and gleefully take a swing at your demise, whether it's his fists, cane or traps. If not him, then his minions are more than happy to drown some orphans! His Special Attack would have him call his pet cat, Felicia to devour the opponent. His Musical Finale "The World's Greatest Criminal Mind" would give him more durability to hits, more destruction to the stage and traps cover more range on the stage.

Ariel (The Little Mermaid): Princess of the Sea, everyone's favorite mermaid is ready to explore beyond the sea. Armed with her father's trident, some amazing swimming skills and various sea animals at her command, she's more than ready. Her Special Attack would have her conjure a giant wave, that also covers the opponent in sea creatures. Her Musical Finale "Part Of Your World" fills the stage with water and can have Ariel bump floating objects into the opponent.

Ursula (The Little Mermaid): The last sea witch you would want to cross paths with, Ursula has eels to do her biding, poisonous ink clouds and even thunderclouds. Her Special Attack would have her turn giant via King Triton's trident and use the added power to attack the opponent. Her Musical Finale "Poor Unfortunate Souls" has her disguise herself as the opponent and slowly regain health from all souls being eaten by her. As a bonus, if she's infront of a mirror that's on the stage, her reflection will be her true form.

Belle (Beauty and the Beast): My, quite an odd girl, reading books and getting on the field of battle?! Belle's entire moveset would revolve around books; not magic books, just books on the rest of the cast and fairytales overall. She would be able to switch between each of these books and use what she's learned from them. For Example, 'Romeo and Juliet' gives Belle immunity to stat changes and rose themed weapons that hurt the opponent, like throwing weapons. 'Aladdin' gives her a magic ring that can conjure up magic smoke, furniture on the foe and teleport her. 'Jack and the Beanstalk' plants vines that can raise her up or entangle the foe. There's more books at her disposal, but that's just the general idea. Her Special Attack has her father ride in on his invention, chopping up an entire forest until the opponent is covered and crushed by chopped up logs. Her Musical Finale "Tale As Old As Time" gives her the power to 'skip' a fairytale, turning each of her attacks into the endings from the books. For example, 'Aladdin' would trap the opponent in an oil lamp, leaving room for her to attack.

Beast (Beauty and the Beast): The poor and cruel prince, turned into a monster as evil as the one in his heart. Beast has his boost in strength from his beastly form and claws to defeat the opponent. The curse not only affected him: his servants are by his side. Lumiere can incinerate the opponent or plant fires on the ground, Cogsworth can distract them with timed clock sounds, Mrs. Potts can spill tea to slip up the opponent, Chip will knock over bookshelves and Wardrobe can block attacks. His Special Attack would turn the opponent into a piece of furniture, leaving them open for attacks: each opponent having a different transformation. His Musical Finale "Be Our Guest" would have every attack with one of his servants, also heal Beast in addition to hurting the opponent.

Gaston (Beauty and the Beast): Nooo oooone's slick as Gaston! Quick as Gaston! No one's neck is as incredibly thick as Gaston! He's especially good at combo breaking! Boy what a guy that Gaston! Gaston has his inconic blunderbass and his fists, along with a bow and quiver and a hunting knife to deal with an opponent, almost as if they were an animal he's hunting. His Special Attack would have an angry mob charge at the opponent and beat them up. His Musical Finale "Gaston" gives him a strength boost, everytime he pulls off a combo successfully.

Aladdin (Aladdin): Everyone's favorite street rat and theif, he's not alone on the field of battle as Abu and Genie are here to help him. Abu can cling to the opponent and hit them repeatedly, Magic Carpet can be used for aerial attacks, Aladdin has a sword that he 'borrowed' from a guard and Genie can shape-shift in a variety of ways to best the opponent. Aladdin's Special Attack would have Genie distract the opponent, as Aladdin steals something off them and uses it to beat them. Aladdin's Music Finale "Friend Like Me" would have Genie grant a wish, each time Aladdin gets a combo, such as a stat boosts and healing.

Jasmine (Aladdin): The sultan's own daughter that would rather be anything than a prize to be given away. She has learned self defense skills, her father's guards and her pet tiger Rajah in her moveset. Her Special Attack would have the guards arrest the opponent and toss them into prison, as they struggle to escape and take damage. Her Musical Finale "A Whole New World" has one the Seven Wonders of the world occasionally pop up in the background to hurt the opponent, as the fight goes on.

Jafar (Aladdin): The Sultan's Royal vizer of Agrabah and one whom believes he should rule Agrabah. Jafar has his magic staff to hypnotize and cast spells onto his foe. Occasionally tapping into the phenenomal, Cosmic power of his Genie form to do some real damage. And Iago is here as well... mostly to complain. His Special Attack would have him become an all powerful Genie and Iago wishing for ways to 'hurt' (not kill) the opponent. His Musical Finale "You're Only Second Rate" would boost all of his stats and attacks, except he can't KO the opponent until the Musical Finale is done.

Simba (The Lion King): King of the Pride Rock and son of Mufasa, the Lion King himself is more than prepared with his claws and iconic roar. His roar can even control the weather to strike lightning and cause windstorms. His Special Attack would have him call on the spirit of his father, Mufasa, as the two of them roar at the opponent. His Musical Finale "Circle Of Life" will have him remember, how we are all connected and draw on the life-force of nature, slowly healing him and giving his roars more range.

Scar (The Lion King): Mufasa's little brother and King after his timely demise, Scar has his claws and his hyenas to make short work of his foe as if their nothing more than a light snack. His Special Attack would toss the opponent of a cliff, into a Wildebeest stampede just like in the movie. As a bonus, he would say 'long live the king's son' if Simba is the opponent. His Musical Finale "Be Prepared" has him do damage without needing to attack the opponent and just walking into the opponent.

Pocahontas (Pocahontas): Daughter of Chief Powhatan, this Disney Princess has the skills necessary in order to survive and win. Her Special Attack would have her people come in to fight alongside her and best the opponent. Her Musical Finale "Colors Of The Wind" gives her attacks more launching power and each dodge she does generates winds that hurt the foe.

Governor John Ratcliffe (Pocahontas): The main villain of Pocahontas, this greedy scoundrel will do anything to claim what he believes is rightfully his. He has a sword and uses his position of power to call his men into the fray. His Special Attack would have his men charge like in the movie at the opponent. His Musical Finale "Mine, Mine, Mine" prevents the opponent from interrupting his attacks and tripping over any gold sticking out of the ground.

Quasimodo (The Hunchback Of Notre Dame): The hunchback of notre Dame himself and quite the sweetheart, he just wishes to see the outside world. His job as the ringer of the bells comes in handy to stun them, swing bells at them, his talented acrobatic skills and surprising strength. His Special Attack would have him reenact the Festival of Fools and have the opponent be caught up in all the chaos. His Musical Finale "Out There" turns all of his bell attacks, into soothing sounds, that heals him.

Esmeralda (The Hunchback Of Notre Dame): An outcasts, like many other outcasts of Notre Dame, she's picked up on a multitude of tricks to evade capture. Such as illusionary tricks to trick opponents and various circus acts from the Festival of Fools. Her Special Attack has Phoebus teleport out of a field of smoke and beat the opponent. Her Musical Finale "God Help The Outcasts" plants multiple pillars of light over the stage, that burn the opponent and heal Esmeralda.

Judge Claude Frollo (The Hunchback Of Notre Dame): Someone whom believes only he can purge the world of evil and that all he does is for the greater good. Frollo, due to his old age mostly uses his sword, his horse and his 'fears' to end the opponent. Those 'fears' being cloaked figures that defend Frollo and burn the sins of his opponent. His Special Attack burns the stage, with the opponent caught up in the flames being tied to a stake. His Musical Finale "Hellfire" burns the opponent every time they hit and touch Frollo.

Arthur (Sword in the Stone): The rightful king of England, proven by pulling the sword in the stone, Arthur is ready to be king. Merlin's apprentice is armed with the sword of legend: Excalibur and his mentor Merlin is there to provide some magic aid by turning Arthur into various animals and predict the opponents attacks with foresight. Arthur's Special Attack has Merlin turn into a germ to infect the opponent. Arthur's Musical Finale "Higitus Figitus" grants Arthur increased weight, almost as if he's the sword in the stone and making him harder to launch and knock away.

Hercules (Hercules): The son of the Greek God Zeus, Hercules goes to prove himself as a true hero and this brawl may be his greatest trial yet. With his power as a Greek God, granting him immeasurable strength, agility and endurance. And his pet Pegasus shows up for aerial attacks. His Special Attack has his father Zeus come in and hurl his thunderbolt at the opponent. His Musical Finale "Zero To Hero" increases his durability each time he pulls off a combo, making him immune to attacks at times.

Hades (Hercules): Greek God of the underworld and lord of the dead, Hades will claim victory. In addition to mastery of fire and smoke, Hades can shift between generally calm and collected, to angered and enraged, which affects the range and power of his attacks. Pain and Panic also shapeshift to provide some help. His Special Attack has the Titans show up and attack the opponent. His Musical Finale "My Town" floods the stage withdead souls that slowly deplete the health of the opponent.

Mr. Incredible (The Incredibles): One of the greatest superheroes whom ever lived, in spite of an unneeded early retirement from the government. Robert "Bob" Parr, known to the public as Mr. Incredible, has his moveset revolve around his superstrength and invulnerability, also being able to use the environment to his advantage like uprooting trees. His Special Attack calls in the rest of The Incredibles; Dash, Violet, Elastigirl and Jack-Jack to help take down the opponent as a family. His Musical Finale "The Incredibles" has his attacks all release shock waves that occasionally make debris hit the opponent, like it's the intensity of a comic book.

Syndrome (The Incredibles): You better catch him while be monologues as he does not play around! The wannabe superhero uses zero point energy to toss the opponent and send objects flying their way. His Special Attack calls in the Omnidroid to make short work of the opponent. His Musical Finale "Kronos Unveiled" forces the opponent to not stand still for too long or repeat the same attacks, or else the Omnidroid will fire lasers at them almost as if their being analyzed.

Mulan (Mulan): From lying to save her father's life, to saving all of China to joining other famous Disney heroes on the field of battle, Mulan has been through a lot. She has a sword, fireworks, a staff and a fan to best her foes. Mushu tags along, spitting fireballs at the opponent and tricking them into attacking smoke illusions that resemble Mulan. Her Special Attack has fireworks hit a snowy mountain, crushing the opponent under an avalanche. Her Musical Finale "Reflections" has Mulan disguise herself and blend in a crowd that slowly came onto the battlefield. The opponent attacking a random person will have them retaliate and hurt them.

Jack Skellington (The Nightmare Before Christmas): The pumpkin king and the patron of Halloween, his title comes with a wide array of pumpkin bombs, a flexible and detachable skeleton body. His Special Attack would have him trap the opponent in a series of giant pumpkin bombs, before his pet dog Zero lights them up. His Musical Finale "This Is Halloween" plants a series of tricks and treats all over the stage: treats for Jack that heals him and tricks that leave the opponent in a scared state. They take more damage while scared.

Oogie Boogie (The Nightmare Before Christmas): A literal burlap sack of nothing but bugs, Oogie Boogie has those very same bugs come out and harm the opponent. From spiders that tangle them up, to tarantulas that poison them to flies that hoist them up, he's as gross as sounds. His Special Attack would have him inhale the opponent and let his bugs do the work. His Musical Finale "Oogie Boogie's Song" increases his luck of landing higher damage, by also hitting a dice on the stage.

Tarzan (Tarzan): A man raised by apes, Tarzan has the strength to even keep up with apes and survive in the forest. In addition to his amazing strength, Tarzan can also swing from vines, use his impressive smell and hearing to counter attacks and a spear. His Special Attack has him command an army of apes to beat up the opponent. His Musical Finale "Son Of Man" puts fruits on the trees he swings from that he can heal himself with: since the opponent is not Tarzan the same fruits either poison them or make them dizzy.

Yzma and Kronk (The Emperor's New Groove): The former advisor of Emperor Kuzco and her most loyal henchman. Kronk does the fighting with his astounding strength and Yzma will be in the background, occasionally throwing potions on the opponent. Kronk will pull the lever, that will do a variety of things such as drop a bust of Yzma, a giant rock, a vase, etc. Their Special Attack has Yzma yell 'PULL THE LEVER KRONK!' sending the opponent and Yzma down a trap door to below the stage. Leaving it up to interpretation what happens, as Yzma casually walks back to the stage with a crocodile biting her leg. Their Musical Finale "Snuff Out The Light" replaces Yzma's potions with singing that prevents the health bar from going any lower.

Milo J. Thatch (Atlantis: The Lost Empire): An orphan that grew up to be quite the cartographer to even finding the lost city of Atlantis. Since he's not much of a fighter, the friends he made on the trip will do the fighting for him. Vinny plants explosions, Mole digs holes and attacks from the ground, Sweet heals Milo and boosts his durability, Audrey sends vehicles at the opponent and Cookie leaves food for people to trip over. He's even picked up on some Atlantean magic from Kida. His Special Attack has him pilot an Atlantean cruiser, shooting lasers at the opponent. His Musical Finale "Where The Dream Takes You" reverse the opponents controls, every time Milo lands a hit, almost as if their lost without a map.

Kida Nedakh (Atlantis: The Lost Empire): Princess of Atlantis and the current Queen, Kids is armed with a spear and a connection to the Heart of Atlantis, granting her forcefields and runes that dish out the ancient city's might. Her Special Attack summons a giant tsunami with the opponent being hit as Atlantis sinks. Her Musical Finale "Kida Returns" has the stage covered in runes, as the guardians of Atlantis will hit the opponent if they step on a rune.

Stitch (Lilo and Stitch): Experiment 626, also known as Stitch is an alien that befriended the kind-hearted Lilo Pelaki. Stitch is indestructible, has four plasma blasters, can roll up into a ball and lift up to 3000 times his own weight. His Special Attack calls in his cousins to each hit the opponent once, before Stitch himself smacks them with a car. His Musical Finale "Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride" doubles the strength of any attacks timed with the music.

Captain Jack Sparrow (Pirates of the Caribbean): Captain Jack Sparrow comes to the battle with his signature sword, musket and flintlock pistol. His Special Attack has the Black Pearl ram the opponent and shoot cannonballs at the opponent. His Musical Finale "He's A Pirate" makes him impossible to KO, he can still take damage though.

Sulley and Mike Wazowski (Monsters Inc): The dynamic duo and best friends, Sully and Mike fight with the former scaring the opponent and the latter being pulled from the background, used as a ball to hit opponents. The more combos they land, the more scare is generated as energy: this energy being used to power machines to attack the opponent. Their Special Attack has the stage be overloaded with scare energy, to the point of canisters bouncing all over the stage and hitting the opponent, much like in Monsters University. Their Musical Finale "If I Didn't Have You" makes the opponent laugh each time they hit Sulley, generating energy and leaving them open to attack.

Jim Hawkins (Treasure Planet): Jim Hawkins, someone with the 'makings of greatness' according to Captain Silver has a chance to prove that here. With his solar surfer to pull off some amazing tricks, a knife and a blaster, he can hold his own just fine. His Special Attack would simply be Treasure Planet blowing up, with the opponent caught in the explosion, as he flies away on a ship. His Musical Finale "I'm Still Here" gives him the markings of greatness, in the form of stat boosts everytime he pulls off a trick on his solar surfer.

Captain John Silver (Treasure Planet): The fearsome pirate cyborg and only real father figure to Jim Hawkins, Captain Silver is ready to use those pirate skills from over the years to claim his treasure. As a cyborg, he has a wide selection of tools and weapons, such as lasers, a cybernetic eye, guns, a sword, a cleaver, a battering ram, the list goes on. His Special Attack has the opponent fly into space, while he leaves on a pirate ship. His Musical Finale "I'm Still Here" fills the stage with comets that can freeze the opponent if they come into contact with them and increases the strength of Silver's lasers if they pass through.

Merida (Brave): The Scottish princess and daughter of Queen Elinor and King Fergus, enters the battle with her archery skills and swordsmanship to win the fight. Her Special Attack has her ride in on her horse Angus, delivering a series of arrows to finish off the opponent. Her Musical Finale "Touch The Sky" makes all her arrows hit the opponent, without fail.

Kenai and Koda (Brother Bear): The bear brothers, one born a bear and the other cursed to turn into a bear. Kenai and Koda fight as a team of bears from claws to wilderness skills they picked up. Even the Great Spirits watch over and protect them, by influencing nature to protect the brothers. Their Special Attack has the spirits of Sitka and Koda's mother come in to protect them and deal with the enemy. Their Musical Finale "On My Way" increases the range of their block, with the Great Spirits protecting them.

Tiana and Naveen (The Princess and the Frog): A hardworker that believes the only way you can make it in the world, is through hardwork. Even if that meant kissing a frog. Tiana has a wide assortment of cooking utensils to win. With Naveen distracting them with singing and dancing. They can switch to being frogs, where they use their tongues to tangle up the opponent and hop off lily pads. Their Special Attack has Mama Odie turn the opponent into a series of animals, before sending them away with her Voodoo magic. Their Musical Finale "Almost There" gives Tiana a golden glow that greatly increases the range of their attacks and distracts the opponent with golden glows.

Dr. Facilier (The Princess and the Frog): The Shadow Man himself and one whom turned Naveen into a frog, Dr. Facilier fights with his cane, Voodoo magic, shadows and spell casting. His Special Attack has him pull the opponent into a deal, as their dragged down by the Voodoo Spirits. His Musical Finale "Friends On The Other Side" let's him take a gaze into the opponent's future, turning all of his attacks into counters, if they hit the same time as the opponent's attacks.

Rapunzel (Tangled): The lost princess of the Kingdom of Corona, blessed with magic hair and has quite the efficient frying pan. Her hair can not only heal herself a bit, but can be swung from, tie up the opponent and makes for a surprising whip. Her Special Attack has Flynn and Maximus ride in, with Rapunzel hitching a ride, as the three take down the opponent. Her Musical Finale "I See The Light" fills up the stage with lanterns, that can blind the opponent if they touch any.

Hiro and Baymax (Big Hero 6): The child genius and the helper robot turned fighter have become quite the crime fighting duo, that honor Tadashi's wish of wanting to help people. Baymax does the fighting, with Hiro on his back, such as martial arts, rocket fist, an energy blade and sonic blaster. Their Special Attack calls in the rest of the Big Hero 6, as they teamup and take down the opponent. Their Musical Finale "Immortals" assuming they get the rights to the song has Baymax dodge every attack that comes, without needing to move the controller and slowly heal up.

Judy Hopps (Zootopia): A young bunny from Bunnyburrow that came to Zootopia to pursue her dreams of being cop and help people. Her bunny physiology grants her enhanced hearing, quick agility, high jumping and she has trained herself to take down foes much bigger than her. Her Special Attack has her do her job as a cop and arrest the opponent, with the entire police force joining in to help. Her Musical Finale "Try Everything" plants tourist attractions all over the stage, that can hurt the opponent and heal Judy.

Elsa (Frozen): The Queen of Arendelle and the Ice Queen herself, forced to conceal don't feel, don't let them know. But she'll be doing anything but that here! Elsa has ice powers to freeze the opponent, create pillars of ice, ice slides, ice skates etc. Her Special Attack calls in Marshmallow to deal with the opponent. Her Musical Finale "Let It Go" allows her ice powers to come to life and aid her in battle.

Moana (Moana): Moana of Motuni, whom has sailed the sea to return the Heart of Te Fiti with Maui. She has a harpoon and an oar, along with the ocean helping her and watching over her. Her Special Attack returns the Heart of Te Fiti to Te Fiti, whom fully heals Moana, temporarily boosting her attack. Moana's Musical Finale "How Far I'll Go" covers the stage in water that has boats to hit the opponent and granting Moana faster speed.

Maui (Moana): The Maori Demigod of the wind and sea, with quite the number of feats from over the years. With his magic fish hook, he can shapeshift into a number of animals, his most common being a hawk. His Special Attack being lassoing the sun into the opponent. His Musical Finale "You're Welcome" makes all damage to Maui, take longer to leave an impact.

And that's that. A LOT longer than I thought it would be. Now your probably thinking, what about all the other Disney media? It's an idea for the first game, so other characters (Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Scrooge McDuck, Goliath, Kim Possible, etc.) would appear in a potential sequel.

Or DLC, since every game these days has it.

Thanks so much for reading all this and taking the time to do! I would love to hear some thoughts and feedback! I had a blast making all this and would like to see if you're interested in hearing more video game ideas.

[artificialqueens]

Galactica, Chapter 61 (Group Fic) - TheDane/Veronica

A/N: Click here if you’re looking for previous chapters (or here if you’d rather read on AO3). 💫

Last Chapter: Violet opened up, Alaska chickened out, and Courtney finally had her date with Bianca.

This Chapter: Trixie widens his search for Aiden’s replacement, and Courtney gets a taste of the good life.

***

Courtney doodled absentmindedly on her notepad during Miss Fame’s Monday conference call. She was getting an update from the company that ran her European stores, and discussing the upcoming marketing plan with Alyssa. Courtney knew that she was only there in case Miss Fame wanted to add anyone to the line; since Ivy and Laganja were both on the call, she didn’t really need to be paying attention. She probably should’ve been anyway, but this was a case where a little negligence would be forgiven.

Which was good, because she couldn’t stop her mind from wandering, daydreaming about how wonderful the weekend had been with Bianca. Adore had come over on Sunday for dinner, after which Courtney almost went home, but Bianca pulled her in for an embrace and insisted that she stay another night. When she’d worried about not having any appropriate work clothes, Bianca promised to find her something from her own closet, even excited at the notion of styling her for the office.

At first, Courtney was a bit concerned about whether the thigh-high black boots were too hookerish, but Bianca was adamant that they were fashion - and she should know, right? At least her luxurious knit dress was in Fame’s approved color palette, so she was pretty sure she wouldn’t get scolded like the time she dared to wear a lime green top.

She looked down at her notebook, realizing that it was absolutely covered in hearts, and quickly flipped the page, embarrassed.

She clicked on her mouse, waking up the computer to check her emails. If she was gonna space out, she may as well make at least a halfhearted attempt at productivity. She saw that there were a few unread DMs and clicked on the window.

ROXY: Package here for you

ROXY: A big-ass box from Neiman Marcus

ROXY: From the Marie Claire messenger again

ROXY: You gonna tell me who you’re dating over there now?

COURTNEY: LOL, sorry. It’s brand new, I don’t think we’re ready to go public

ROXY: Bitch it’s just me, I can keep a secret

COURTNEY: Since when?????

ROXY: Since always!!

COURTNEY: On Friday, you told me that Jaida is getting IVF and Alyssa’s son is in rehab again

ROXY: Yeah and yet you tell me NOTHING

COURTNEY: LOL. Okay well when we’re telling people, I’ll tell you first. Deal?

ROXY: WHATEVER

*

ROXY: Another major delivery came for Fame’s asst from MC today

SHANNEL: OMG. BDR just came into Nina’s office in the weirdest mood. She was all smiley and she approved this dumb spread that Nina’s been pitching for 3 months.

ROXY: 21 year old pussy is good for the soul

SHANNEL: APPARENTLY

*

The second she could get up, Courtney raced to reception to grab the package, wondering what it could be. They’d put together a bunch of outfits with the stylist this weekend, most of which were still at Bianca’s--except for her ensemble for the party tomorrow, which was hanging in a garment bag on the coat rack, partially covered by Courtney’s jacket so as not to be too conspicuous.

When Roxy said “a big-ass box,” she wasn’t lying. Courtney’s eyes widened as she spotted the box, quickly taking it back to her own office, peeking inside while Fame was occupied with Raja. She pulled out the note first.

Stay warm. XX, B PS Don’t worry, the fur is faux

Extra curious now, Courtney reached into the box, lifting the tissue paper to see what was inside and finally just pulling it out--a beautiful, full-length, raspberry-colored winter coat with a fur-trimmed hood. Her eyes nearly bulged out of her head as the utter extravagance of it all.

COURTNEY: OMG Bianca!

BIANCA: Do you like it?

COURTNEY: It’s beautiful! But it’s way too much. You’re spoiling me.

BIANCA: Get used to it ;)

Courtney smiled to herself, hiding the box under the table and standing to try on the coat, positively glowing with happiness. She glanced at herself in the mirror that Fame kept by the door for “last looks,” and saw that it fit her perfectly, even across her narrow shoulders, almost as if it was tailored to her body. Which...now that she thought about it, the stylist on Saturday had taken her measurements, so maybe it was.

Just then, the door to Fame’s office opened and Raja stepped out. Courtney whirled around, a guilty expression on her face.

“Oh are...are you done? I was, um...just going to get Miss Fame another coffee.”

“Yeah, we’re done for now, you should probably stick around. Nice coat,” Raja said, brushing past her on her way out. “I’ll be back at 2 to finish. Make sure she’s fed.”

“Okay, thank-” Courtney began, finishing with “-you,” just as Raja breezed from the room.

Courtney slowly removed her new coat, hanging it carefully on the rack before heading into Miss Fame’s office to ask what she wanted for lunch.

***

Bob closed the door to Trixie’s office behind him, making a beeline towards the coffee machine. It was mid afternoon, and while there still was a bit of a home stretch to go before the holiday break, the tough decisions ahead were out of his hands.

“All I’m saying Chachki,” Jovan smiled, the man leaning against the wall. He was wearing orange trumpet pants and a blue fuzzy sweater. “Is that I can totally bedazzle your crutches.”

“What an amazing offer,” Violet drawled, her tone completely dry.

“Hey guys!” Bob grinned, sliding in next to Maxwell, his boyfriend handing the cup he had just poured. “What are we talking about?”

“The Christmas Party,” Maxwell smiled, looking up at Bob who gave him a quick peck. He was wearing a pink shirt, the cotton stretched across his chest, the khakis he wore all year looking delicious on his pert little ass.

“Right!” Bob took a sip. The Galactica Christmas Party was one of the biggest fashion events in December, Miss Fame always going all out. Bob had heard rumors around town that there’d be gigantic ice sculptures, but Roxy had told him she had seen order confirmations for a forest of Christmas trees.

Some called him and Roxy the office gossip sluts, and if the name fit, Bob wasn’t going to complain.

“I haven’t decided what I’m wearing yet.” Violet was sitting on a chair, her curled hair fastened with a golden clip, her skirt just above her knees. “This is the first time I’m not going as Fame’s assistant and I don’t have to match her or blend into the background.”

That made sense, Bob really noticing how Violet’s wardrobe had shifted from the uptight prissy bitch who had first entered their floor, more color and sharp cuts showing up in Violet’s clothes as she got to express herself more and more.

“But since there’s a good chance she’ll actually look at me since I’m going with Sutan, I have to stay on theme without being flashy or cheap or one of the million other things she refuses to accept.”

“The bedazzling offer still stands,” Jovan smiled, taking the last bite of his afternoon muffin, and Violet rolled her eyes.

“How did you two meet anyway?” Maxwell took a sip of his coffee. “You and Sutan I mean.”

Bob perked up immediately, his stomach doing a happy flip.

“Oh?” Violet looked surprised, like she genuinely hadn’t expected them to be interested. “You want to hear about that?”

“Yes!” Bob grinned. “Yes yes yes yes.”

He and Maxwell had been discussing how to get Violet to spill the dirt the entire week, and now, the chance was finally here.

“Well.” Violet paused, tapping her fingers on the table, like she was trying to decide if she should share, and Bob was about to burst with curiosity.

“Spill it!”

“He bought me a drink at the Vogue Fashion Fund, and asked me on a date a few days later.”

Bob waited for a beat, but Violet was simply smiling.

“What?! That’s it?!”

Of all the things Bob had imagined, this was by far the most disappointing answer.

“Pretty much.” Violet shrugged, taking a sip of her coffee with a glint in her eyes.

***

IVY: okay so you know i hate gossip

ROXY: Oh yeah me too gurl

IVY: lol

IVY: No really

ROXY: Yeah yeah whatcha got?

IVY: The dress Courtney’s wearing today?

ROXY: Oh yeah, she’s really upping her game

IVY: Well...it’s familiar…

ROXY: Oh yeah?

IVY: I asked Laganja to run some photos. Here’s BDR at last year’s Monsoon Foundation Charity Luncheon

[Picture: Bianca wearing the dress]

ROXY: BITCH!!!!!!!!111

***

“So yeah, these are the ones I like...what do you think?” Trixie asked, chewing nervously on the inside of his cheek. “I really need to find someone that Fame will love, she was so annoyed at the last batch.”

As Pearl picked up one of the portfolios to glance through it, she couldn’t help but notice how rough her friend looked, like he hadn’t slept in a week. He probably hadn’t, she realized, the tension in the apartment so thick you could cut it with a knife. She’d been trying to give them both space, but maybe that wasn’t a good idea.

“So, um…” She looked through the first portfolio and then picked up the next one, pausing on pages she found interesting. “Is everything okay? How are you?”

“Uhh…” Trixie scratched his head, then finally said, “It’s been a hard week.”

“I’m sorry, man.”

“It’s okay,” Trixie sighed. “We’ve got our- She’s got an appointment with a doctor tomorrow. So I guess, after that, we’ll know for sure.”

“Right.”

He didn’t seem to want to talk about it any more, so Pearl dropped the subject for the moment. She pointed to one of the photos, a stunning blue piece with dramatic shoulders, exactly the type of shapes to which Fame was generally drawn.

“This is amazing.”

“Yeah, right? She seems super talented, although I worry that she’s only been out of school for less than a year. A little green, a little…” Trixie sighed again, “Over-confident sounds mean, but…over-confident.”

“Have you spoken to all of them yet?”

“Yeah, Rita checked all their references and I had Skype interviews with all the top candidates this morning. We’re trying to move quickly, I really need to get the ball rolling before we shut down for the holidays. And with the added bonus of getting them a visa...it could be a mess. Anyway, these are the very best, but I don’t want to put them in front of Fame unless they’re actually gonna impress her.”

“Uh huh. One question though…”

“Sure.”

“Are you looking for another sociopath, or are we moving in a new direction?” Pearl asked, a teasing smirk on her face.

“You’re hilarious,” Trixie deadpanned.

“I know.” Pearl tapped on the folder, saying, “I think this one is special. There’s a lot of range, and new ideas, but very classic and chic at the same time.”

***

“Ho...ly shit…” Bianca said, the door to her town car open, watching Courtney twirl in her new coat, then open it to give her a peek at the sexy sequined mini-dress underneath. Bianca pulled her into the car, giggling, a hand immediately sliding up her bare thigh.

She was mildly surprised when her fingers came into contact with soft cotton instead of the sexy lace she’d been wearing.

“Wow, these feel...breathable.”

Courtney laughed. “Yeah, well, I’m out of fancy underwear until my next trip to the laundromat. Sorry about it.”

“Nah, I like them. Reminds me of college.” She flashed a grin at Courtney, who was now straddling her on the leather seat, arms around her neck.

“Yeah?” Courtney tilted her head, teasingly evading a kiss as Bianca chased her lips.

“Mmm…” Bianca’s fingers slipped into the panties, squeezing her ass.

“I like this, too…” Bianca’s own coat was unbuttoned since the driver had the heat on full blast, and Courtney ran her thumb along the neckline of her blazer. “You look so sexy…”

Bianca said nothing, just gave her a wicked smirk, lips finally coming into contact with her neck, lingering there, hot breath against her pulse point making her whimper.

“We should probably wait until after the-” Courtney inhaled sharply, clutching Bianca’s shoulders. “-after the party.”

“Alright, alright…” Bianca acquiesced, pressing a soft kiss to her lips and removing her hands. “I can be good if you can.”

“Debatable,” Courtney responded, her eyes flashing with a naughty glint as she sat down beside Bianca, snuggling up against her.

“It’ll be a fun little experiment.”

***

Violet was standing in Sutan’s closet in her pajamas, flipping through her clothes, her lip between her teeth.

None of it looked right, and Violet had given up on even trying on the dress she had originally gotten to go as Fame’s assistant, the skirt's mermaid cut making it impossible to move in with her crutches.

If her foot hadn’t been broken, she would have trawled her preferred vintage shops weeks ago, or would even have made a dress herself, but the party was in two days, and because of Bianca’s birthday, she couldn’t even empty her savings account to get a dress that could live up to the expectations of a Galactica party.

She was completely, and utterly, fucked.

“Fuck,” Violet sighed, dumping down in the arm chair Sutan had been sweet enough to move to his closet so she could sit.

“Violet? Are you okay?”

Violet cursed to herself, Sutan naturally catching her at a moment where it absolutely did not suit her.

“I’m okay!”

But of course, it wasn’t in Sutan’s nature to leave her alone, her boyfriends head poking through the door seconds later, a concerned expression on his dumb face.

“What’s gotten into you?” Sutan was fresh from the shower, his black and grey hair in an unstyled cloud around his head.

“You’re going to laugh.” Violet crossed her arms, the annoyance still under her skin, rolling around her body.

“Try me.” Sutan stepped inside, a towel wrapped around his hips, his hand holding it in place.

“I don’t have anything to wear.”

Sutan snorted, and Violet pointed at him.

“See!” She exclaimed. “Don’t make fun of me!”

“Okay, okay, I admit that wasn’t my greatest moment,” Sutan chuckled, giving her a quick apology kiss, Violet sinking back into the chair as he walked over to his dresser. “but the good news is that your problem is easily fixable.”

“I can’t just go out and buy a new dress.” Violet tried not to roll her eyes, tried not to make this a fight, but it was like Sutan had decided to press every single button she had. “I can’t afford it.”

Sure, she had gotten a pay bump after moving to design, but she had already used her December budget on Christmas gifts for everyone, actually spending the day with people so much more expensive than what she usually did, which was a movie on her ancient laptop and wine by herself.

“Who says you have to pay for it?” Sutan pulled a pair of pajama pants out, throwing his towel to the side, now naked which would have been weird if Violet hadn’t been used to years of dressing rooms. “I’m planning on getting a new suit anyway,” Sutan balanced on one leg, pulling the pants on, “and the shoppers at Barney’s are great at what they do.”

“Are you serious?”

“What makes you think I’m not?”  Violet watched as Sutan pulled a t-shirt on too, running a hand through the hair Violet knew he’d struggle to style in the morning, but that he was also done dealing with it for the night.

“I don’t want your money.” Violet sighed, sitting up in the chair, Sutan finally ready for bed.

She liked staying with Sutan, she really did, the man kinder and more generous than Violet could ever have imagined, but she was also longing to go back to her own place, to have her own space and to spend time completely alone.

She knew her apartment wasn’t much, that it didn’t have air condition or an elevator, that she didn’t have a memory foam mattress or a dishwasher or a housekeeper that came to clean, but it was hers.

Violet knew a psychiatrist would probably consider her need for independence a flaw, something she should work on, but she didn’t want to rely on anyone ever, not even Sutan.

“I can figure it out.”

“Oh that, I don’t doubt,” Sutan smiled, holding a hand out to help Violet out of the chair. “But there is a difference,” Sutan pulled, his hand finding her hip as soon as she was upright. “Between being prideful and being stubborn, lovely eyes.”

Violet shot him a look, and Sutan laughed, giving her nose a quick kiss.

“I’m offering to buy you dresses, not a penthouse.”

Violet opened her mouth to protest, but for once, Sutan was faster.

“You’re going to several parties for my sake. Let me spend money on you.” Sutan rubbed his thumb up and down, gently caressing Violet’s hip. “Please?”

“I’ll consider it.”

***

Being at this elite music industry party with Bianca was thrilling, and Courtney was on cloud nine. She was beside herself with excitement when she got to meet Charlie Hides, unable to stop herself from gushing about her work on Tove Lo’s album.

“Well thank you, darling,” Charlie said.

“Courtney’s a singer too,” Bianca added, and Charlie’s face perked up a bit.

“Oh yeah?”

“Well, aspiring,” Courtney couldn’t help admitting, immediately kicking herself for her inability to fake it.

“She’s incredibly talented,” Bianca said, a hand touching Courtney’s elbow, grounding her.

“You should send me your demo,” Charlie said, picking up two glasses of champagne from a passing tray and handing them over.

“Really? Thank you so much!” Courtney exclaimed, momentarily forgetting that she didn’t have a demo.

“Sure thing,” Charlie said with a grin, before excusing herself to greet another guest. Before she left, she gave Bianca a hug, muttering, “Very cute, B.”

After she walked away, Bianca turned to Courtney with a smirk. “She’s subtle, huh?”

“I think I’m gonna pass out,” Courtney said, and Bianca squeezed her hand.

“You’ll be fine. You’re doing great,” she assured her. “I see another producer I know, let’s say hello. Olivia!”

She waved across the party to a beautiful Black woman with the most fabulous hair Courtney had ever seen in her life. The woman looked up, sending Bianca a beaming smile as she crossed the room to greet her.

“Bianca!”

“Hey Liv, I haven’t seen you in forever!” Bianca said, giving her a hug.

“I know! I’ve been in L.A. for most of the year. Just decided to come back to New York in time for this delightful gray sleet we’ve been having,” Olivia said, that dazzling smile softening her words.

Bianca laughed, turning to Courtney.

“Court, Olivia Lux is an awesome producer. Liv, this my friend Courtney. She’s a singer.”

“Hi!” Courtney prepared for a handshake or some air kisses, only to be swept up into a warm hug. “So nice to meet you!”

“Charlie wants to hear a demo, but she hasn’t gotten the chance to record anything yet,” Bianca said. “Any chance you’re free? Or are you still booked up solid until the end of days?”

“No, I’ve got some time in January. What kind of music do you do, sweetie?” Olivia asked, turning to Courtney with that lovely smile.

“Um… Well, I guess it’s kind of like… Pop, but kind of folk?” Courtney said, trying to think on her feet.  “Like Joni Mitchell meets Kylie Minogue?”

“Sounds absolutely glorious!” Olivia said, and Courtney felt her confidence grow. “I know what it’s like when you’re starting out. That shit is terrifying.”

“I’m gonna go grab us some drinks…You two have fun,” Bianca said, leaving Courtney Olivia to talk shop.

After a couple of minutes, Courtney found herself feeling like she was with an old friend. She was just so warm and open, telling Courtney about her own career as first a recording artist, then a producer and composer, making her feel completely at ease--and shockingly interested in Courtney’s own musical taste. When Bianca returned with three cocktails, Olivia put an arm around Courtney and told her, “I’m in love with your friend.”

“Oh yeah?” Bianca said, amused. She handed them both drinks, adding, “Glad you guys are getting along.”

“Getting along? We’re gonna elope,” Olivia said, and Courtney giggled, smiling brightly, happy to have found someone so kind and down to earth.

“Mazel Tov,” said Bianca, giving Courtney a wink.

“Seriously though,” Olivia said, turning to flash Courtney that megawatt smile again. “Why don’t you hit me up and we’ll arrange for you to come into the studio?”

“That would be amazing!” said Courtney. She was so happy, she had to fight an urge to kiss the bottom of Olivia’s glittery heels.

“Perfect!” Olivia said, leaving them both with another round of hugs.

“That went well,” Bianca said, smirking at Courtney over the top of her glass.

“Yeah!”

“Come on, I want you to meet my friend Derrick. She’s a choreographer…”

Later, after about the 20th intro, Courtney began to catch on to a troubling pattern.

“Hey guys! This is my friend Courtney…”

“Meet my friend Courtney…”

“Courtney’s a friend of my sister.”

Friend, friend, friend...

At no point, to anyone, did Bianca say (or even imply) that there was something going on between them-- and Courtney wasn’t sure what to make of it. It wasn’t like she expected for Bianca to call her “my girlfriend.”

They hadn’t had that conversation, and something told Courtney that after tonight, it was a long way off.

She tried to put it right out of her head, though, and focus on the positive. She was at a great party, meeting a ton of music industry professionals, and yeah, maybe Bianca called her “friend” about 800 times, but friends were good, right? Especially considering how much Bianca loved her friends.

She continued to enjoy herself, greeting people, trying her best to learn their names, and just being grateful that Bianca had even brought her through the door. So what if she didn’t want people to know about their relationship? Or if this was just a casual fling for her? She was still doing more for Courtney and being more supportive than anyone she’d ever known.

It was close to 2 am when Bianca put a hand on her lower back and leaned in close--the most intimate gesture since they’d walked in the door.

“You ready to take off?” Bianca whispered.

“Sure,” Courtney said, slightly relieved since she could feel her own energy fading, and knew that making it to work by 7:45 the next day would be a struggle.

They said goodbye to Charlie and grabbed their coats, making their way downstairs to the waiting towncar. It wasn’t until they were on their way that Courtney really let everything hit her, tears welling up in her eyes.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I…” Courtney swallowed.

Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.

“You sure about that? What’s wrong?”

Courtney shook her head vigorously as traitorous tears slipped down her cheek. “Nothing’s wrong, everything’s perfect.” She wiped her face, disgusted with herself.

“Then why are you crying, angel?”

“Because…” Courtney squeezed her eyes shut,  positive that she was about to ruin everything. “Because you’re just…making all my dreams come true.”

“Okay. Yeah, I can see how that would be upsetting.”

“No, it’s just…I'm scared, that it’s all gonna disappear,” Courtney said, now unable to hold back the river of tears. “You’re gonna get bored, or meet someone else, and I…I’m falling for you so hard and I know it’s too fast and I-”

“Hey, look at me.”

Courtney turned to her, eyes liquid, sniffling.

“I have been having…the best time with you,” she said, taking one of Courtney’s hands in both of hers. “And I know that it’s still new, but I said that I’d help you with your career and I will. No matter what happens with us. I promise. And I don’t break promises. Okay?”

Courtney nodded slightly, then asked, “Why don’t you want people to know about us? Are you ashamed? Are you just...already looking for a way out?”

“What?”

“You just kept introducing me as your ‘friend’ all night, and I just thought that it meant you don’t care about us, or that-”

“No! I dunno, I guess we haven’t really talked about labels, and I wanted to make sure everyone took you seriously,” Bianca said. “Took your talent seriously.”

“Oh.” Courtney sniffled, feeling a little stupid for letting her insecurites get the better of her.

“Also…you know, a lot of the people there were…mutual friends of…”

“Of?”

Bianca sighed slightly, a sheepish smile on her face, then said, “I guess it’s time to come clean to Fame and Raja, huh?”

“Really?” Courtney looked at her with surprise.

“Well, yeah. I don’t want us to feel like we’re sneaking around. That shit gets old real fast.” Bianca kissed the back of her hand. “I’ve been selfish, I was trying to do this without getting them annoyed at me, but…It’s not worth it if it makes you feel like I don’t care. Because I do.”

Courtney bit her lip, feeling like she might burst into tears again, but this time from joy. She took a deep breath, trying to get her racing heart to calm down.

“When do you want to tell them?”

“Well…the Galactica party’s on Thursday. Wanna be my date?” Bianca asked, a sly smile deepening her dimples.

Of course, they’d both been planning to go to the party, but Courtney had resigned herself to the idea that they’d be there separately. She’d even asked Tati to come as her plus one, not believing for a second that going with Bianca was a possibility. After all, it was so soon.

“That’s in two days!” Courtney exclaimed, eyes wide.

“Yeah… Does that work for you?”

For a second, Courtney felt almost dizzy, imagining walking into the party on Bianca’s arm. There was no way in hell that it wouldn’t cause a stir...but the idea of everyone seeing them together, while a bit frightening, was also terribly exciting.

“Okay. Yeah, that sounds...perfect,” she said, eyes shining happily.

“Okay then,” Bianca said softly, pressing a kiss to Courtney’s cheek.

[katsukikitten]

Going down?

NSFW BBS

To say you were the luckiest and yet most unlucky person in the world would be an understatement.

You were a living, breathing contradiction considering the quirk you have and where you've ended up.

Most people are envious, even jealous of the position you have.

A secretary to both of the top two number one heroes!

You were lucky, your little meek self landed the spot wholly by accident.

On a train ride bumping into the Director of the agency by mere fucking chance, agitating your already hyper active quirk.

For a moment time slows, you do not have much time to inform him of what is happening.

The train doors will be shutting soon, sealing his fate and losing out on something big.

Detrimental to the company even.

"Oh um, excuse me sir." You stammer, lowly enough that he does not hear you, "Sir?"

You breathe in deeply trying once more as his fingers fly across the lit glass in his hands.

"S...sir?" He is too distracted by whomever is on the other side to notice you.

In your mind's eye you see the train director reaching for the button for the doors. Anxiety rips through your body only to be out won by your fear.

Fear of small mistakes leading to much bigger disasters.

"SIR! YOU'RE ON THE TRAIN HOME! YOU NEED TO BE ON TRAIN D OR YOU'LL MISS THE MEETING YOU'VE FORGOTTEN!" You huff, hands shaking as the man stares down at you with a mix of horror and awe.

All before he grips onto your wrist dragging you along with him.

And that's how you became secretary to Midoriya Izuku and Bakugou Katsuki.

Better known as Deku and Ground Zero.

One made your life heavenly, touching them, seeing them and the details of their work and interpersonal lives was easy. The fact that you had a crush on them made it even better.

While the other, well the other made your life a living hell. Considered you too meek and seemed to hate your guts with a burning intensity that rivaled the heated gaze in his eyes.

Again you were the luckiest and yet most unlucky person alive.

You stare at the screen as your quirk has you hyper fixated on the janitor's next few hours of possible futures and unnecessary details of his life all because he brushed your fingers while passing you something you've dropped.

"Y/N." Deku calls softly and you cannot hear him, "Y/N."

He steps towards your desk just outside of the two opposing offices, leaning closer to you.

"Y/N." It comes out like liquid honey, and your gut flutters. You flush bright red as you blink furiously.

"I.. I'm sorry. Oh! Izuku-sama you need to be leaving in the next five minutes or you'll be late for your..." You struggle when you see it.

The beautiful woman with short chesnut hair sitting in a chair at an upscale restaurant in a deep pink dress.

Showing off her curves and her breasts in a tasteful manner.

Your heart sinks to your stomach like a brick, weighing heavy as you realize what is happening and suddenly you are crushed

The word date cannot escape your lips so you clear your throat.

"Your day is free tomorrow until 4pm and nothing extra will come up." You add instead and he nods.

"Thank you Y/N." He smiles sweetly before beginning to leave, "Don't stay too late okay?"

"Oh and um Izuku-sama...."

"Yes?" He stops turning back to face you. He did not mind you looking into his personal life.

Or at least never said anything agaisnt it.

"Please be sure to charge your phone on the way there. Other wise it will die and you won't be able to capture a special moment." You say softly, unable to keep eye contact with those shining emeralds.

It hurt too much to.

You could have kept it to yourself, or forced yourself not to look like you have to do with thathot head but...but if his phone would have died..

He would be missing the picture that would lead to them dating.

"Thanks Y/N." He says smiling so brightly before turning on his heel.

All the while you try to forget about the kiss they share after their failed selfie.

He leaves without another word and you stare after him longingly.

That is before your quirk pulls you to the only other body on the floor.

He'll be running out of coffee soon and he will be angry, distracted even to have to leave his desk when he is finally making some progress on his paper work.

The coffee pot in the break room is finishing up at the perfect time thanks to the director's secretary. You pull out Bakugou's second favorite mug from your desk and stand.

Before stopping as you relive a memory.

"Quit using your quirk to spy on me."

His snarl so dark and upsetting that you could no longer attend the hero ceremony.

You begin to pack your things instead. Bakugou won't be in a good mood for the rest of the evening on top of that nothing is happening and even if something was he wouldn't want your help anyway.

You hesitate, only for a moment, maybe he would want that cup of coffee. You stare at the mug as if it would have answers but it would never know.

Just like you wouldn't, unless you touched him.

And he would never allow that.

So you shrug your purse higher on your shoulder before heading to the elevator.

Your press the button and count loudly in your head to help calm your nerves.

Inanimate objects are almost as difficult as people if you don't touch the right part of them.

You know at some point this thing is going to break down and get stuck between floors.

You just don't know when.

Why not take the stairs?

Well the stairs had a worse outcome.

"It's only possibilities Maybe futures."

You try to remind yourself.

What you dont remind yourself of is your 95% accuracy rate.

The elevator dings pulling you to the here and now.

You step into the shiny death trap with smooth tiles and walls that reflect your fearful face.

Bland music takes up the space in the background as your eyes fly over the seemingly endless buttons.

You hit G and the elevator dings again before shuttering as the doors begin to close.

They never get the chance to close, instead a toned forearm is hit by the two sheets of steel before the safety feature forces the doors back open.

You freeze like a mouse caught by two shining eyes in the dark.

Burning red eyes.

"Tch." He sucks his teeth as he steps in, standing to the far side of the elevator.

You look at him expectedly, waiting for an answer on the floor he needs and when none is given you assume he is leaving for the day too.

The elevator begins its descent to the safety of the garage.

But not quickly enough.

Numbers flash on a panel with an annoying ding that inturpts the flat music, your eyes stare at the white digits watching them shrink.

As you feel yourself shrink as you always do beneath that gaze. The details of his life creep in first and you try your best to focus on something else.

Izuku comes to mind and with it, wonder on how he date is going, your heart pulls harshly on the muscles in your chest.

The failed selfie is happening right now and they should be kissing soon.

You hold onto your purse tighter and the digits read 22.

Suddenly the descending box of steel groans before jerking causing you to lose your balance.

You begin to fall towards the middle of the elevator, of course you couldn't have fallen towards the damn railings less than three inches from you.

You just had to fall to be met face first with cold harsh tile. You squeeze your eyes shut for impact but mostly so you cannot read the disappointment in the ash blonde's face.

But the cold slap never comes, instead a warm, almost comforting touch holds you. Callused hands wrapped around your bare shoulders as they right you to your feet.

The possible futures flood in along with the details of his last 24 hours.

First comes the past, he smells of perfume, floral with hints of amber, lipstick stains on his throat and collar. Before anger ignites in your belly, half your own from anyone "marking" Bakugou and the other half is his. Katsuki yells at this mystery woman, he spies a text from another man on her phone. The present begins to overwrite the past his phone is sitting in his office on his desk. He has unintentionally forgotten it, leading you to remember that yours is still locked in your top drawer.

Lastly comes the future, your breath begins to hitch as it unfolds, and your premonition from when you first started almost a year ago is finally coming true.

"THE ELEVATOR IS GOING TO STOP!" You grip onto strong forearms as you scream. Nails biting into toned flesh as tears begin to prick your eyes.

"Wha..what?" Is all Bakugou gets out before the machine comes to a grinding halt.

Fear seizes your very bones while rage grips the blonde's.

"What the fuck?!" He snarls, "Did you know this was going to happen the whole fucking time? You let me on here anyway?"

"N..no." Fat tears begin to drip down reddened cheeks, "It was just because we touched."

His fingers squeeze tighter on your shoulders as he watches the tears cascade down. You see a few more seconds into the future before he let's go.

"Fuck." He hisses. A series of explosions erupt busting out one of the lights and something in the corner.

"P...please be careful, you've destroyed the camera. I..its close to the electrical panel." You speak to the floor loudly and he turns his ire onto you

"Be careful?! You're the seer why didnt you tell anyone about the elevator? Or tell me not to get on?" He invades tour space spiking your panic. His agitation over the situation is amplified as it is mixed with a conflicting feeling that has pulled has his gut for majority of this year.

"BECAUSE YOU WONT ALLOW ME TO SEE YOU!" You huff and as quickly as that rage came it melts away. Leaving you a mess of impossibly fatter and bigger tears.

You bend over slightly, losing your breath to panic as you gasp for air.

Bakugou damns himself as he looks over you.

He always seems to make you uneasy or upset, he could live with those emotions considering that's how most people felt around him.

But to watch you cry has knives plunging into his Godly abs.

"Oi..." He says softly and when you do not move he comes closer.

"Oi." He tries again, righting you once more as he rubs a deadly hand on your shoulder.

His skin is electrifying, sending a shudder through your body that you must suppress. He's close enough that you can smell the sweet smell of burnt sugar that seems to cling to his skin. You dare meet his heated gaze from beneath long lashes only to be surprised.

His eyes are far from carrying the weight from annoyance or anger as you thought them to be.

No they hold something else for once.

Concern.

You swallow thickly as your chin is lifted before a padded thumb swipes at a tear.

Your breathing hitches harshly.

"No need to cry okay. I'm sorry I yelled that was an asshole thing to do." His other hand continues its soothing cirlce, "Why don't you take a deep breath with me?"

He breathes in deeply through his nose, eyes expecting you to mimic and you do.

He holds it for just a moment before letting his diaphragm push the air naturally from his mouth.

After a few times your head feels a bit clearer and Bakugou takes notice as your cheeks are no longer flush.

"Now what will be easier to see my future or the elevators?" He asks softly and his manner throws you off.

You had heard rumors of his cruelty when it came to inconvenience, some dating back to before he was a pro.

Not to mention you had witnessed it first hand, so to see those normally hash scarlet red eyes softened for you has your stomach doing flips.

"Ummm..." You gulp, fearful to answer but by lying will that make it worse.

After a few brief seconds you choose to tell the truth with a heavy heart, wholly expecting a violent reaction.

"You..." A breath of a word as Bakugou purses his lips for a fraction of a second.

He liked his privacy bit not being stuck in this tin can would be worth violating it.

"Alright. Then see our way out of here little Oracle." You blush from his nonchalant tone and the use of the nickname.

Little did he know you had once picked that out to be your hero name.

But dreams die as we get older.

Especially if one doesn't feed them.

You look into the future a few minutes, hoping you'll see whatever will lead you to freedom.

But you see something else instead, it pulls your stomach lower heating your core a bit.

The blood rushes to your face as Bakugou scrunches his own.

"I..." You are suddenly hyper aware of the proximity the two of you share.

Of his warm hand resting on your bare shoulder, of the closeness of his face and the gentle touch of his fingers. He gives a look as if to say go on, you look down as you speak again.

"B..Bakugou-sama, I think my quirk might be acting up. I may be seeing the implausible possibility..." Eyes squeezed shut as you expect an explosion.

But it never comes.

"What do you mean? I've heard your information is always good, little Oracle." His thumb swipes at another stray tear, "What did you see?"

Cheeks burn impossibly hotter as you look again only to receive the same result.

Truly truly implausible.

He tilts your face to his and his gaze is too much.

"I...ummm....we....yo..you kiss me." You bite your lip as you speak and the action fills Bakugou with desire, more than he's ever possessed for you before.

And always more than what he's felt for another woman.

You being able to see some of that no matter how slim the chances of him acting on the feeling is the MAIN reason he actively "hated" and avoided you.

But to feel your smooth skin beneath his rough palms, to smell your sweet mango perfume and to hear your adorable voice fill up the space that only posses the two of you becomes too much.

Too quickly.

Katsuki pushes you against the wall, the railing bites into your back but it goes unnoticed as your eyes flutter.

Dominat tongue swirling around your own has your core molten.

Had you like Bakugou?

Had you ever been attracted to him?

The answer was yes and had always been yes. You just tried to make it easier on yourself, hoping that devloping a crush on kind Deku would eventually push your feelings for the hot head to the background.

It worked. But only if the emerald haired man was around.

When he wasn't your mind always floated to the hot head.

He rips the buttons from your blouse and you gasp with both pleasure and concern.

He reads you like a book as he pulls the fabric open to look at you in all your glory, even pulling the scratched white fabric from your black skirt.

"You said I took out the camera right?" He drinks you in before his mouth finds a sweet spot on your throat, "Don't worry I'll give you my jacket when I'm through with you, my little Oracle."

You swoon, knees becoming weak from such little contact. His mouth works wonders as he un hooks your bra, pulling it and your shirt from your chest. Greedily lapping at your perked nipples. A moan escapes you then, further encouraging his advancement to which you wouldn't dream oppose.

Not with how good you feel now. Soon his hands find your hips as he crushes his lips to yours, pulling the bottom of your skirt up over your thick thighs and ass before letting it stay at your natural waist.

"Are you wet for me?" He asks by way of permission.

To which you surprise both of yall with your answer.

"Go and find out."

Katsuki gives you a deadly smile as your face deepens in hue. His fingers snake slowly down your chest, teasing when he gets close to the hem before sliding over your laced underwear.

You watch as his eyes flutter slightly before a groan escapes his kissable lips, you clench at the sound.

"You're soaking through your underwear." He voice drips with desire by your ear, "Does the director know how naughty you are?"

He leaves a trail of kisses before biting down on your neck, fingers still relishing the feeling of soaked fabric.

"Does he know that you're wet for one of your bosses?" He begins pressing against your throbbing button through the thin fabric. You buck your hips agaisnt his touch and moan when he chuckles darkly.

"I didn't hear an answer, baby girl." Your mouth moves without thought as he presses harder.

"N..no. No one knows."

"And who are you wet for?" His other hand is preoccupied with your breasts. Tweaking the nipples pushing you closer to a surprisingly close edge. His strong hand moves away from your needy nipple to find your throat.

He applies the right amount of pressure that your breathing becomes labored.

"Y..you Bakugou-sama!" You squirm, wanting, needing to be touched by the man before you.

"That's my good girl." He slips his fingers past your underwear finding the swollen bud he was teasing, swirling two fingers as his palm presses down on your mound.

You're moaning loudly, uncaring if anyone will hear as his fingers work you over like magic. His grip tightening just enough as you get closer and closer.

Finally your vision blurs in your peripheral before his husky voice is back at your ear.

"Just one more thing, do you see yourself getting fucked little oracle?"

You do not need to look into the future to answer

"Yes...yes Bakugou-sama." With a deadly smirk he sends you over the edge, not letting up as your crescendo once, twice, three times from his fingers alone. You see stars as your body convulses beneath his touch, voice caught in your throat as you shudder.

Your knees become weak as he slowly eases away after teasing at a hint that a fourth time could have been coaxed from you.

He holds you steady kissing you sweetly on the lips. He gives you a moment as you lean on him before you're flipped around.

You stare at your reflection. Hair disheveled, falling from its normally tight bun, breasts exposed as you're bent over and lips tinted with the best of red hues.

Red eyes admire you as he unbuckles his pants.

"You're such a gorgeous mess. And who are you a mess for?" He asks, placing your hands onto the railing.

"Y..you." Breath fogs your slightly distorted reflection and he smiles.

"God damn right." He purrs in your ear, pressing himself against you and you moan, "Hold on tight, it's going to be a bumpy ride."

You wiggle your hips, pressing your ass as close to him as you can before he grabs onto you with a bruising grip.

He eases himself in slowly, keeping you from pushing agaisnt him until he's filled you completely. He stays still for a moment and the feeling of fullness alome has you squirming, begging for more.

"Pl..please Bakugou-sama. Please..." He grabs a fist full of your hair, pulling your face to meet his reflection.

"Please what?" He grins devilishly and you cannot fathom how he holds back so well. You feel him twitch within you, your eyes roll for a moment before you answer him.

"Please just fuck me and fill me. Please please Bakugou-sama." You cry out trying your best to rock against him, hoping his one hand would not be enough to stop any friction from happening.

But some how it is.

"Now be a good seer and watch how well you take my cock baby girl." He purrs, pulling harder on your hair until you meet your gaze.

He begins to pound into you, hard and fast. The sound of your meeting bodies echoes off the four walls and for once you cannot see anything.

Because you cannot focus on anything aside from the feeling of aggressive thrusts and the ash blonde reflection. He grunts as he looks you over. Your skirt makes your ass seem bigger than what it is and you're so wet you make a delectable sound with each withdraw not to mention your thighs are beginning to dew.

The sensation, sound, and sight of you being so pleased and submissive for him begins to make Bakugou spiral.

And it shows with each thrust as it gets harder, faster, and sloppier.

He fucks you with enough force that the metal box begins to rock.

Your eyes flutter as you begin to climb again, feeling him getting closer and closer himself before he hits you just right as he groans out a delightful "fuck"

You scream, gripping onto him in pulses before he loses himself. Burying himself deep within you with a satisfied growl.

You both still for a moment before he withdrawals. His seed spills from you making him want to fuck you again.

But instead he moves your underwear back into place, smooths your skirt back down your hips and ass before pulling up his own pants.

He turns you around, peppering your dazed face with kisses before he sheds his jacket and places it on you.

Zipping it up to your throat. He pulls you into him and you note the heavy smell of his caramel sweat. You kiss his neck tenderly causing a rumble to emit from him.

"Are you okay little one?" He asks softly, "Was I too rough? Too much?"

"No...perfect." You snuggle into him and he holds you for a moment. Your nose brushes against his exposed throat before you see it.

"Oh!" You push away from him enough to see his face before you blush deeply.

The elevator whirls back to life, the ding of floors pulls you back into reality and for a moment you think it a dream.

You expect him to shove you away now that he is done, especially so since that the moment of an almost claustrophobic disaster no longer hands over your heads.

But the look of hated annoyance does not return to his eyes as he gazes down at you.

If anything he looks at you softly expectant of an answer before it dawns on him.

"Oh." He says with a deadly smirk, "Was fucking the only way to fix it?"

You laugh nervously before admitting.

"I never looked past that kiss. I.."

He kisses you softly again before a final ding rings out and the two of you are met with the cool summer air of the parking garage.

"Hmmm I think I saw something." He smirks and you look puzzled, the world only slowly beginning to beg for your attention.

"W..what did you see Bakugou-sama?" You ask timidly as he pulls you out of the sinful box. Guiding you to his black motorcycle. You stop to blink over the bike, trying hard to see whatever he could be alluding to without allowing yourself his future out of habit.

"I see you calling me Katuski over dinner." He smiles as he places his only helmet on your head before his powerful leg swings over the body of the bike.

You stare down dumbfounded, dazed over everything that has happened in the last hour and a half.

When you do not move he pets the seat behind him.

"Coming to make my prediction true little oracle?" You nod swiftly pulling up your skirt enough to straddle the bike. You delicately wrap your arms around a muscled torso.

"Hold on tight." He says, squeezing your hand before the bike roars to life, "Its going to be a bumpy ride."

[slashermom]

Goomba, I will not be cucked!! I must have a follow-up to your Collector x killer!Reader HCs!!! How does it turn into a relationship?? What happens when Asa finds out they are the killer he’s been looking for?!?! Inquiring minds need to know!!!

And the adventure continues...

Part 1 :)

It wasn’t long for you to become the center of attention to the small group of professors, PhDs, and students in the entomology program.

You had told the department you were conducting research on behalf of Dr. Connery. Who was supposed to be here but allegedly fallen ill.

A man Asa had met on a few occasions at the yearly conventions and when their paths crossed while doing research.

Asa wasn’t sure what got under his skin about you.

You were courteous and polite, albeit a bit too sure of yourself but you were careful not to step on Asa’s feet.

But besides this sting he felt in his mind when he saw you, Asa didn’t immediately find anything interesting about you. Other, more important things were preoccupying his headspace.

There had been two other murders in the weeks following the package that was left in his office. Both of which seemed closer to the university.

You were closing in on him.

These two murders were also particularly violent. Were you angry with him for not acknowledging you? Or maybe you were putting these people on such a beautifully vulgar display for him?

The more he loose ends he tried to tie up the more seemed to fall into his lap.

As he went about his days, Asa began to notice your presence become more prevalent in the department. Everywhere he turned, you were making waves in one way or another.

You often had a group of eager students hovering around you when you were conducting research. Something Asa wouldn’t have tolerated for a second. He thought it was silly and disruptive but you enjoyed the company of the students. They were also great to weasel information out of.

As you were putting on a pair of gloves a student made an off-hand comment that Dr. Emory is often referred to as being the curmudgeon of the entomology department.

You laughed and agreed with the nickname. But as if right on a cue, Asa entered the research lab to go over his own hypothesis as you were about to begin talking to the group of students about Heliconius butterflies.

You two established eye contact for a second and you took in how different his eyes looked. You could hide a million different things in those eyes. But unfortunately for him, you knew just where to look.

Asa quickly moved his eyes away from yours as if he could tell you were looking through his façade  and looked over your shoulder at the students. You smirked to yourself and began speaking.

“Let me simplify things before we really dig deep. You know how there’s always that one really pushy guy or that one overzealous girl at the bar who just won’t leave you the hell alone?”

Asa watched as students nod and smile among themselves with a tightening in his chest.

“What if you could somehow advertise or wear something that said you were off-limits and will screw up their whole night if they try anything funny and still look good while doing it?”

The group leaned forward as you pulled a glass display box forward with a smile on your face.

“Well, that’s what these little guys do best.”

You went into detail about the different colors and patterns the Heliconius butterflies sport; adding your own twist to keep the audience engaged.

Finally finishing up with the last small details of your own study you promised the group that if they come back tomorrow you would talk to them about their evolution and genetics as well as what your research has found.

The pupils began to trickle out of the bright room one after another leaving him to study you as you tucked all the display cases back into their rightful spots with care.

Something was gnawing at Asa.

He didn’t really care that the students seemed to be enjoying the labs and their work way more with you around.

Or that you got along well with other staff in the department and seemed to engage in meaningful/academically challenging conversations with just about everyone.

It was the power you held over everyone in a room without even trying.

You had them wrapped around your finger and you knew it too.

And it burned him.

He quickly scooted out of the room before you had the chance to strike up a conversation with him. He had some thinking to do.

Asa’s head seemed to be awfully full these days. Too many questions and not enough answers.

With his own collecting being put on hold, the unknown serial killer hot on his trail, and now you taking over a section of his mind - Asa was going feral.

Later on that day, he caught you leaning against the frame of an office door talking to a clearly distressed student. Nodding as she frantically explains her situation and her troubles.

Everything about your posture and what words he could make out screamed overcompensated sympathy. The emotions you were pushing never reached your eyes and Asa took note of it.

The young woman’s shoulders finally relaxed and she thanked you before she saw Asa staring at the two of and hurrying out.

“Office hours are used to help students with their academics. Not their emotional turmoil.”

“Mind your business, Bug Boy.” You scoffed at the older man before brushing past him.

He could smell your shampoo as you walked away from him without bothering to spare him another moment of your attention.

He was surprised at the amount of restraint it took for him not to grab you by the back of your shirt and make you realize your not the only one in this building with a lust for power and control.

As he stood in the hallway thinking about that interaction, something felt extremely off. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but his gut was screaming at him.

He’ll have to engage with you up closer.

He waited until the next day and knew he could find you puttering about the lab with a bunch of sad excuses for entomology majors.

Asa hovered in the doorway as your voice filtered into his ears. He took note of how you maneuvered your way around tables and counters. Obsidian eyes lingering on your hips and as you unknowingly backed up towards him as you talked.

You were in your element and he couldn’t resist interjecting into your impromptu lesson about Heliconius’ genetic pathways. He wanted to see you flustered.

“But even so, wouldn’t co-mimetic Heliconius butterflies species be generated by similar adjustments to the same pathways?” He stepped deeper into the room as you whipped around to see who had interrupted. Asa watched you falter for a second and a smile threatened to creep on to his face. It took only a second for you to regain composure.

“You would think so, but no. After removing a specific gene in all three co-mimetic pairs they had dramatically different wing coloring and pattern.” You explained as you picked up a packet of paper and rounded the table to get closer to him.

“Which supports that even vastly different pathways can lead to the same wing pattern.” You now stood completely in front of him. Even though you were a good deal shorter than him, you talked and acted like you were the biggest in the room.

“Read the paperwork. It all checks out.” You held out a gloved hand with a neat packet of paper for the older man to take. Asa felt his upper lip twitch as his glasses slid down the bridge of his nose.

He took the packet away from you as you turned back to the group and continued on like he wasn’t even there to begin with.

Asa read and reread your notes several times before grinding his teeth together.

You were right.

You were right and if there’s anything that Asa Emory hates most in the world it’s to be wrong.

He set the packet down and left the room to go get some work done lick his wounds.

It wouldn’t be later that day when everyone was getting ready to head out when he would stumble into you again. You were making a cup of coffee before leaving and smiled when you saw him enter the lounge out of the corner of your eye.

After letting him stare at your back for a good minute, you turned to face the older man. You could see a conflict running it’s course through his mind and just couldn’t help yourself.

“Something bothering you, Dr. Emory? I’m sorry but office hours are not to be used for emotional tur-“

You weren’t able to finish your snide remark before weighty hands found purchase in your waist and forcefully backed you up against the counter.

A pair of dominating lips finding yours in a matter of seconds as he pushed more of his weight up against you. A guttural sound escaped the man as you reciprocated the action.

Not only was it an act of physical intimidation but also one of pure primal need.

Your hand slid behind his coat and pressed a warm hand against the muscle hidden underneath his dress shirt. His skin tingled where ever you ran your digits and Asa found himself seeking out more of your affection.

Squeezing your hips tightly in hopes that the skin will bruise and become discolored, that you’ll be forced to remember he did this to you.

He was the first to pull away. Eyes flicking down to your lips then back up to yours. You took a moment before you fully opened them and a grin carved its way on to your glistening lips.

And in that moment Asa wanted nothing more than to fuck the smugness out of you on the entomology lounge counter.

You were driving him absolutely mad. In more ways the one.

But he doesn’t know that yet.

From that point forward, your relationship was less of a cat and mouse game and more of a dance.

You often sat in his office and went over different hypotheses and data. Enjoying the challenge each of you presented to one another.

He’s began the action of hovering directly behind you while you work. Just to remind he has you beat when it came to the physical department.

You would just brush up against him in the right places and remind him that you weren’t scared of him.

This relationship was working out quite nicely but your brain was nagging at you.

Your whole reason for being here was to understand Asa, study his habits, and then remove him from your list of problems.

Not fuck him.

But you weren’t complaining. Frankly, you enjoyed his company more than you thought you ever would.

You wondered how long you could keep this going until he found out who you were.

Quite some time you wagered.

But the sadistic killer in Asa had other ideas.

As he organizing things on his desk he caught a glimpse of your handwriting and a wave of realization washed over him.

Rummaging through the contents of his desk he pulled out the small note card that he had received with the package all those weeks ago.

Asa put the two pieces of writing together and it clicked.

You were the one.

Strange enough, Asa found that he was more angry with himself for not realizing sooner than he was at you for lying to him.

Well, this is quite the development. He now had some decisions to make.

He’s wasn’t gonna kill you. No, that would be such a waste of a raw ferocity and intelligence.

Plus, the fun had only just begun between you two.

Asa’s gonna keep this little discovery to himself. Gonna let this dance you two have going continue.

But now he’s gonna lead it and he can’t wait to watch you fall.

[dawnie1988]

Summary: So many thoughts can crop up when one is trying to make an important decision. For Birdie, it’s bringing up all the regrets she has in regards to the way she has chosen to live her life. Or, in which fear and complacency can be a slippery, downward slope.

Words: 4,656 

Pairings: Platonic Dean x OFC (not actually named after sir jensen’s pup, just a name i’ve always liked)

Tags: Angst, One Sided Pining, Pity Parties and More Taylor Swift Song References Than Would Have Been Deemed Necessary

A/N: This is my entry for Sabrina’s - @winchesterxfamilybusiness​ - Make Me Swoon 250 Followers Writing Challenge. I can say with much certainty there will be no swooning going on here though. My prompt was:  “If I knew it was going to hurt this much I wish I never laid eyes on him.”

Big, big thanks and love to the ever amazing @there-must-be-a-lock​ for taking the time to go over this and doing some big time beta work, not only saving any potential readers a nightmare load of grammar errors but also for the many helpful tips and suggestions along the way and helping to shape this into a more manageable and thought out piece. Seriously, this thing was nearly 10,000 words of nonsense before she started dusting her magic over it. You’re incredible, and I adore you 😘

=======

Athens, Ohio - 2011

- can i come by?

The text had come in about an hour ago, just as Birdie was ushering the last patron out for the night. She didn’t have the time - or the emotional strength - to deal with it at the moment, so she did what she did best: ignored it.

She took her time wiping down the counters and table tops, washing out all the glasses and drying them with care. She stacked all the chairs on top of the tables, took out the garbage and emptied out the cash tills, counting and recording that night’s take. She finished up her nightly routine by double checking that all doors and windows were locked and secured before turning off the lights and making her way up the old creaky staircase to her loft above the bar.

After allowing herself several moments in the shower to wash the day off, Birdie slid into some soft sweats and an old Mickey Mouse sleep shirt. She grabbed an apple to munch on, as well as the stack of papers. She needed to make a decision, and was quickly running out of time to do so. 

She settled into her favorite overstuffed chair by the window that overlooked the city, enjoying the peaceful quiet of the night, before skimming through the contract in her hands for what felt like the hundredth time.

A month ago, a lawyer had come into the place (Jacob something or another the Third) inquiring about buying the bar from her. He worked for some mid size fast food chain that was looking to expand. She had scoffed at the idea in the beginning, told him she wasn’t interested, but he was a persistent little weasel, that was for sure. He kept in touch and eventually got her to the stage of accepting the very contract she held in her hands to look over. 

It was a fair offer. In fact, it was more than fair, which had made her leery at first that she was getting screwed somewhere. But she had visited three separate lawyers, and after combing through it, they all agreed there were no secret loopholes, just a company who badly wanted a specific location and were willing to pay extra to get it.

Jacob what’s-his-name would eventually call back, giving her a whole speech about how he could appreciate what a tough decision this must all be for her, but that they would need an answer by the end of the month or else the company would officially be withdrawing their offer.

She had two days left and was nowhere closer to a final answer than she was when he first brought the proposition to her. Every time she felt like she was leaning one way, a new thought would crop up that would have her tilting the other way. On the one hand, this was a lot of money they were talking about. If she wasn’t responsible for this place any more, maybe she could finally take a chance on the little flower boutique she had silently dreamed about owning since she was a teenager. Every time she started thinking like that though, she would immediately start spiraling down the rabbit hole of how this bar was her home.

Except… was it really? Was it honestly her home, or just a place where she worked and lived? How much of it all was just the obligation she felt to her Uncle to keep the place going?

It was never meant to be a permanent thing. She had just graduated college with her MBA, the only thing she ever did in her life that she was truly proud of, the only thing that required hard work that she ever stuck through and completed. The courses were grueling, but she pushed through, mostly motivated by her father insisting she’d never last. Well, she had shown him. 

She refused to end up like him; it was what fueled her through it all. Her dad had gone bankrupt three times, every time he tried, and ultimately failed, at a new business venture. 

And not only did she complete the courses and graduate, but she ended up Valedictorian of her class at Ohio University.

She had been undecided on where she wanted to work afterwards, still riding the high of actually earning her degree and halfheartedly submitting résumés just for the hell of it and to get some feelers out. It was her Uncle Grant who stepped in to help out while she worked on getting a real game plan together.

He was the original owner of this bar, a decent sized roadside style place in the city. From the outside it wasn’t the kind of place that really grabbed your attention, but it always supported a large gathering of misfits. 

The deal was pretty simple in nature. He was sixty-one, with two bum knees from a nasty motorcycle accident five years prior. It should have killed him and almost did. It was getting increasingly harder for him to take care of the place, despite his little staff of two, and retirement was looking more and more like a better idea. But he was dead set against the idea of selling the place. So, he presented her with the prospect of taking over the majority of the office and business side of things.

“Put that fancy degree of yours to good use.”

That’s what he had said. And of course he would need her to pitch in with the more physical, daily tasks that came with running the place. For that, she could stay in the small loft above the bar. Plus he even supplied her with a small salary, just enough that she could take care of necessities. All under the table, of course. He was very against mixing family and taxes. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to get her by until she moved onto her next phase in life. 

It was a pretty sweet deal. What was not to like?

Except, her next phase of life never really came.

She found more and more things that she quite enjoyed about running the bar. The mundane practices were almost like a form of meditation for her: preparing things every morning to be ready to open by 4:00pm, and tedious office work. It lulled her into a sense of security, that one thing she always needed to have in her life in order to function like a real adult. Sure, her Uncle’s name was still on everything, but for all intents and purposes the place was hers. And when he died in 2007 from liver failure, it became hers entirely. She never knew he had a will, let alone that he intended to leave the place to her. 

It was now her name on the lease, and her responsibility to make every call and decision.

She never meant to stay forever, but she became seduced by the comfort of knowing what to expect. Year after year passed and it became easier to stay with the known than to venture out, to try something new just to fail, to crash and burn. Then she’d have to come crawling back to all the jeers about Miss Smarty Pants thinking she was too good to stay here.

Birdie took a deep breath and held it for a few seconds before blowing it out slowly, trying to calm her racing mind. As her thoughts started wandering in circles again, so did her eyes as they landed on her phone she had tossed on the side table when she first came up.

- can i come by?

Such a simple sounding question. It should have an equally simple yes or no answer, but it wasn’t simple. Nothing about Dean Winchester — about her and Dean Winchester, to be precise — was simple. 

Their history began nearly ten years ago and all the dirty, dark secrets she had learned about him since only complicated things more.

She was still just getting her feet wet working for her Uncle when this boy came strutting into the place: young, oh so tall, with a pair of enchanting jade green eyes, a smile she was sure could charm the pants off of just about anybody, and a whole lot of arrogance. 

The cocksure attitude, like the world was his oyster, was enough to keep her from transforming into a drooling, giddy mess. She managed to ask him his order without making a fool of herself.

There was some minor chit chat while she fetched his first beer of the night. She had definitely never seen him around before so she hit him with her standard ‘coming or going? business or pleasure?’ questions. It would take years for her to peel back the many layers that made up one Dean Winchester and learn the true nature of his illustrious family business and what he actually did for a living.

They kept in touch through it all, good, bad, and the ugly, and he was her truest constant in life, after the bar of course. It was during his last visit, however, that things changed drastically and for the worse. At a time when he needed a friend the most, she had ruined it by putting him in jail for something he didn’t do. All because of her history of backing out.

=======

2010

Birdie was awoken in the middle of the night by the all too familiar rumble of the Impala. Groggily, she stumbled out of bed and over to the window to take a peek outside. She was already making her way downstairs when his first knock came, so much softer than usual. The moment she unlocked and opened the door and got her first good look at him, even bathed in the night’s shadows, she could see how utterly broken he looked, how close he was to cracking.

In that moment she just knew. He didn’t need to speak a single word.

They had finally won the war, on their own terms, but it had cost them dearly. It had cost him Sam and she didn’t know how, or if, he ever would be able to recover from it.

She grabbed his hand gently and pulled him in before relocking the door. As she turned back around she saw that he was still just standing there, at a loss. With a hand on his back, she guided him over to the bar where she fully enabled him to drink his sorrows down. Or try to numb them up some, at the very least. 

One of the very first things Birdie had ever learned about him was that he wasn’t the fondest of talking out his feelings, and it was always best not to push and just to let him open up on his own time. So she didn’t try to talk him through things, didn’t try to recite lovely sounding messages of time will heal and Sam was in a beautiful, peaceful place now, that he had single handedly raised the world’s greatest hero never known. She just continued to let him drink in peace and kept a hold of his hand. And when she reached the point that she could no longer refrain from hugging him, she allowed him to hold onto her like a lifeline, even when it felt like she could feel every bit of his broken heart in that crushing hold.

“I’m so, so sorry,” she whispered the soft apology several times, alternating between kissing his temple and running gentle fingers through his hair. His grip tightened every time the words passed her lips.

She eventually got him dragged up to her loft with her.He lay down while she settled in behind him, playing the role of big spoon, continuing to hold him as tightly as she could, as he ultimately gave in to his tears and anguish. He held her left hand tightly in his own over his heart and she placed her forehead between his shoulder blades, silently crying along with him.

As morning came around, when they finally decided their grumbling tummies needed to be attended to, he held her in place a moment longer, bringing their still joined hands up to his lips to breathe a kiss over her knuckles before releasing it.

It was a quiet affair, their usual eggs, bacon, toast and coffee combo being picked at and pushed around by both, forcing small bites down here and there. 

“So,” Birdie ventured out hesitantly. “What…what now?”

She gave a wince at how casual the words came out, but it went unnoticed by Dean as he was still staring intently at his plate.

After several moments of near suffocating silence for Birdie, he finally answered.

“Gonna head to Lisa’s.”

Birdie suddenly felt like time had frozen. 

“…Lisa?”

“Yeah, the one with the kid I told you about before. In Michigan.”

There was nothing but silence for a few moments. Dean finally looked up at Birdie to see the slack-jawed expression on her face.

His own face drew up in confusion. “What?”

She tried to get her mouth working, but her tongue felt so heavy now, trying to block the onslaught of words that wanted to come spilling out.

“I…” She paused to clear the forming lump at the back of her throat. “Why are you going there?”

Dean tilted his head slightly and cleared his throat before answering.“Sam.”

Birdie raised a questioning brow, urging him to elaborate, even though he was clearly uncomfortable. She wasn’t feeling very concerned about his comfort level at the moment.

“I…promised Sam that when all this was over, that I’d walk away, try to live a normal life for once.”

It was like the air had been physically pulled from her lungs.

She wasn’t sure what she had been expecting, but it wasn’t that. It wasn’t spending such a painfully raw and intimate night together just for him to hit the road to another woman the moment he had a chance. But then, what did it matter? He wasn’t hers, she certainly wasn’t his, they had never had that sort of relationship or even discussed the possibility of one. She knew it wasn’t fair, to harbor any bad feelings or ill will towards him when she never once tried to divulge the deeper feelings and emotions she had developed towards him over the years. Why should he be blamed for something he never had any knowledge over?

“It ain’t like I got any place else to go.”

That one sentence snapped something inside of her that was long out of her control before she had time to try to reign it in.

“Here!” she all but shouted, slamming her hands down on the counter and actually causing him to flinch. “You idiot, you could have stayed here!”

He held his hands up, almost as if to placate the raging storm of emotions that seemed to be building within her. With his chin dipped down so he could capture her line of sight fully, he slowly asked the one question he was unaware would send everything into a full on tail spin.

“Why would I stay here?”

She threw her hands up in exasperation, “For me!” she let out in what could only be described as a cross between a grunt and a sob. She turned away from him when it all dawned on him and the realization hit. 

Years and years of feelings pushed aside and pining from afar, revealed in two simple words. She wiped angrily at her face when she felt the wet trails beginning to track down her face. “You would stay for me,” she concluded, not able to face him fully in her ultimate admittance.

The ensuing silence was near deafening, the loudest she had ever heard in her life.

Of all the ways for this to have come out in the open, why did it have to come out like this? Every beat of silence, every second that went by that wasn’t filled with the sound of his gravelly voice, was all the confirmation she needed: she had been right to stay silent all these years. 

And yet, there was still that glimmer of hope that had been buried down deep within her. The hope that one day this would happen unexpectedly, except in that version it would be like the movies. He would make some overly grand gesture of kissing her silly before informing her that he was just as crazy about her as she was about him, at which point they would laugh at how stupid they had been for wasting so much time, before vowing to make up for it every day for the rest of their lives together.

But this was no movie. It wasn’t a fairytale in disguise, she wasn’t the princess he would sweep off her feet and lead her up the stairwell, and she would be getting no happily ever after. There was no changing this ending.

“Bird, I…" 

She raised her eyes slightly, watching his reflection in the mirror behind the bar and admiring, even now, how beautiful he looked. The early morning shadows peeking through the covered windows were dancing across his face in a near mesmerizing fashion.

He looked utterly lost again. "I never knew…”

Birdie had to close her eyes against the sting of fresh tears building up, not able to stand the shame and self loathing she could already detect in his voice. He was putting this on himself. Classic Dean. He saw her hurting and instantly took ownership of it. She hated that. She hated that he was blaming himself for the mess she had caused. 

It was bad enough this was happening at all, but how selfish could she be for letting it play out now? After everything he had just lost, she was fulfilling her duty to him as a friend by pulling the rug out from under him, making him feel guilty for something that (by her own design) he knew nothing about? What kind of friend was that? She wasn’t worth any more grief than what he was already dealing with.

“You should go,” she mumbled.

He was running a hand over his face when her words halted his movements completely. "What?”

“You should go,” she sniffed, attempting to gather herself as she busied her hands, getting out the little bowls from under the counter that would later be filled with nuts and pretzels. “You’ve got a pretty decent drive ahead of you,” she continued, as she then stacked up their dirty plates. “If you leave now you should be there in time for dinner without even having to break the speed limit. Maybe you can even find a nice scenic route to help decompress…”

She had nearly made it to the kitchen when he cut off her path, taking the plates from her and placing them out of the way before laying his hands on her shoulders to keep her in place.

“No Birdie, we…we can talk, we should talk, and…”

This time she stopped him by placing a hand over one of his.

“No, Dean, really. You should go. It’s fine.” She did her best to keep her tone light, to smile as best as she could, even though it felt more and more like she was about to crumble. 

He grabbed her chin then, forcing her head up so she would have no choice but to actually look at him. She could see on his face that she was nowhere close to coming off as ‘ok’ and she scolded herself for it, wishing she could be as good as he was when it came to turning off the emotional switch. She looked him in the eye, shrugging it all off with an air of 'what can you do?’.

“It’s fine. Go. Go do something for yourself for once. Take a break big guy, you earned it.” He still looked torn, like he wanted to stay and fix things, or like he felt like he should stay. She gave him a wobbly smile. “Please.”

She gave an internal sigh of relief when she saw the resignation finally color his features. He didn’t try to say anything else; they both knew it was a moot point. Instead he pulled her in close, in one of his patented bear hugs that she always cherished so much. They were always like a cocoon of warmth and safety and everything good. Birdie could physically feel him trying to transfer all of his own feelings through that one hug. To let her know how much he truly loved and cared for her, even if it may not have been in the same vein as her.

When he eventually pulled away, he left a lingering kiss on her forehead before backing away and slowly making his way to the door.

Birdie’s mind whirled the whole time.

Don’t go. Stay with me. Pick me. Turn around.

The closer he got to the door the heavier her chest felt. Could she really just let him leave like this? Why couldn’t she ask him to choose her now? Why couldn’t she ask him to try to make things work with her? Why shouldn’t she?

This is a mistake. Don’t let him go. Don’t let him leave like this.

Just as his hand was on the doorknob, her voice broke out to stop him.

“Dean.”

He turned around, waiting to hear what she had to say. And the words were right there on the tip of her tongue, ready to be let free, when suddenly she thought of Sam. That’s why Dean was doing this, to fulfil some sort of dying wish to his baby brother, and that’s what stopped her. Who was she to try to infringe on something like that?

No one. She was no one.

“…drive safe.”

Something unclear settled in his eyes. He dropped his head momentarily before throwing her a weak smile and walking out the door.

The sound of the Impala’s engine starting and fading away would haunt her for a long time to come.

=======

That had been roughly a year ago. A long, lonely year filled with the occasional call to catch up. Her unintended declaration may not have ruined their friendship, but it certainly changed it. Now here she was, mind bouncing back and forth between the documents in her lap and the phone in her hands, trying to decide what to do. 

But she already knew what she was going to do. There was a part of her, subconsciously, that knew from the very beginning what she would do in regards to both situations. 

She would fold. She always did. 

She always put the bar first and she always put off taking a chance in any aspect of her life. She was a creature of habit. It was simply easier to go the path of least resistance, because the idea of failing or losing something was far too terrifying. She’d rather sleepwalk her way through a life that was comfortable enough than risk not having the security of a roof over her head. She wasn’t brave enough to really take a chance in any area of her life. 

It didn’t make the regret and longing hurt any less, though. 

The worst part of it was that it wasn’t even that hard of a fix. It wasn’t as if she was in her twilight years, too old to start over… not even close. It just always came back to the fact that she was too much of a chickenshit. 

Her parents’ mistakes and failures had ingrained a fear of uncertainty within her, as if it was printed in her very DNA. She knew that was why she clung so desperately to the guaranteed security of Dean’s friendship and why she always bailed at the last minute when it came to taking a chance on her own dreams. She needed that safety net of a sure thing after watching her mom and dad fall without one so many times. 

Plus there was the obligation side of things. That was something Dean had always understood. Even when he would try to encourage her to do something that would truly make her happy, he still empathized with the idea of feeling like you had to stick with and honor your family. They were peas in a pod in that sense. Her uncle had generously given her this place, all so she would be set in life and so he could keep his beloved bar in the family. Wouldn’t it be ungrateful of her to sell it off now herself? To her, it felt like a slap in the face. One she didn’t have the heart to make.

She glanced around her little loft, eyes falling on the corkboard that was filled with postcards Dean had sent her from every city and town he visited. They were all the standard ‘Greetings From..’ type that you could pick up at any local gas station. She tried to imagine not being there and she couldn’t. She couldn’t imagine not hearing that creaky sound of the old stairs as she walked up and down them each day. She couldn’t imagine not being able to observe the vast amount of colorful characters she met while working. It may not have been the life she wanted or would have chosen, but it wasn’t a bad one by any means.

As her uncle would always say, why fix what isn’t broken? 

But maybe it wasn’t about fixing things, maybe it was about enhancing them. Once more her thoughts drifted to Dean. She’d bet he was still up. She wondered if he ever did this: perched himself in a chair somewhere by a window where he could look out over the night sky, thinking about her in some way like she always seemed to be doing. 

Maybe she shouldn’t answer this time. Maybe it was time to give up the ruse of being fine with the way things were. She’d come close once, a drunken night with her mom that loosened her lips just a little too much.

“If I knew it was going to hurt this much I wish I never laid eyes on him.”

That’s what she had said, but as much as Birdie wished it was the case, it simply wasn’t true. She didn’t understand it, how compelling he could be. How his smile could light up your world for a while, how he could make you feel like you were the most important thing when he gave you his undivided attention. How she could tell him absolutely anything, regardless of how silly or stupid she felt about it, and he would still make her feel like the old cardigan that nobody else wanted but that he still appreciated. Or how his very existence made her feel whole, somehow, even if it wasn’t in the way she truly desired. She didn’t understand it, but she knew she needed it as much as she needed this bar.

The sudden beep of a new message alert brought her back to the real world. She lifted her phone again to look at the screen.

- Bird, please

He rarely called her Bird. 

She had learned over the years it was like a safe word of sorts for him. If he called her Bird, it was his way of sending out the S.O.S and asking for help. It meant he really needed her. And wasn’t that what friends were for? Wasn’t that what she had been telling him for ten years now? If he ever needed anything, just call.

This was him calling.

Birdie rose from her chair and headed to her dining area, tossing the contract in the garbage bin before typing out a quick message.

- i’ll leave the light on for ya

[husky-twst-and-obeyme]

A Maid in service (Husky x Barbatos)

(This WAS gonna be MC x Barbatos but Im Barbatos trash atm  XD but i will make a MC x Barbatos in the near future hopefully! He needs more love uwu ) I’m putting a tab in case i make this too long XD and if you wish to image yourself as Husky that’s fine  ^^ 

Warning: some cursing , slightly suggestive 

Word Count: 2,600 words

It was an absolute disaster. The Prince, Diavolo , was giving me a tour of the castle as well as with Mammon, he was mainly there to keep an eye on me. We entered a room that mainly consisted of Vases, they were all beautiful and VERY fragile.

Then i noticed Mammon eyeing some of them “Don’t even think about it, Mammon”

“ay just relax, i ain’t gonna do anything!”

“yeah sure, you said that the last time too and ended up with “unknown jewelry” “

He scoffs as he rolled his eyes at me. I payed no mind to him but literally the second i turned away i heard something get picked up and an immediate crash....I slowly turn around and there i see Mammon with a vase in shards right in front of him.

“Mammon!”

“I didn’t mean to drop it!”

“What was that ?” Diavolo came towards us along with Barbatos 

Mammon Froze “shit!”

Then Diavolo looked at the broken vase. His face was blank but it slowly morphed into a displeased look. I mean i can’t blame him, that vase must of been worth a fortune , which is why Mammon tried to take it...UGH why couldn’t someone like Satan or Beel just came with me instead !?

“Mammon...” Diavolo’s voice was low 

“eep!” Mammon sounded like a mouse 

“could you explain what happened here? I’d love an explanation. “ 

I looked over and Mammon was basically shivering and at a lost of words, I’d be the same too since Dia shut off his friendly tone. I had to think of something quick , He was already in debt and it would be much worst if he were to try and pay of Diavolo , he might as well just give him his credit card! which would never happen but then i spoke out without hesitation or thought

“I-It was me! “

The three looked at me surprised 

Diavolo raised a brow “it was you Husky? “

Shit! I probably should of said something else...can’t turn back now..”Y-yes...I wanted to admire it but I thought i saw something on the vase,....I tried to wipe it off but i accidentally pushed it! “ God I hope that’s somewhat believable

The Prince was silent for a second and then sighed “ you humans can be so  clumsy some times” Good, he bought it but i knew i was still gonna be punished ..

“Even if it was by accident, I still can’t let go you lightly , Husky. You need to be punished “

I gulped 

“I was thinking of making you pay for it yourself but...maybe you can work for it “

“huh?? work for it? “ 

“yes, you can work as a maid here in the castle until you’ve paid off the debt for the vase “

I froze in shock , a-a maid!? hell no! I’ll never hear the end of it from the brothers! God, this sucks so much! but ..it’s slightly better then using my own money i guess..?

“Y-yes sir..” I regrettably said 

“Perfect! You’ll work everyday after school until 9 PM , If there are days you wish off, i will allow it but each day off is a day lost. So choose wisely. Barbatos will also be able to help you if you have any troubles, so don’t be afraid to ask! “

Barbatos has been silent and has a somewhat concerned expression , probably pitying me

I agreed to the terms. After the Tour was over , Barbatos handed me my maid uniform , which luckily was a traditional maid outfit with a long skirt. On our way home, i made sure to give Mammon an earful , i was probably worst then Lucifer at this time. He kept apologizing and said i’d probably look great in the outfit. The second he said that I knocked him on his ass. Now I just have to mentally prepare myself for my first day as a maid tomorrow 

I was so anxious when i got home , i got myself dressed and before i left , I was stopped by Lucifer. He already gave me a lecture for breaking something in the castle , what’s it gonna be now..?

“If you need help with your studies, please talk to me. You’ll be busy as a maid and it might not give you enough study time.”

“oh..sure, thanks “

He nods “ Barbatos should be on his way to get you soon “ 

“? he’s picking me up? I thought i had to walk there” 

“just be grateful that Diavolo is making you walk to the castle from here..” 

He had a point.. the Castle wasn’t too far but it was far enough for a long walk. I waited outside and soon a carriage came by. The door opened and Barbatos came out 

“Good Evening Miss Husky.” He held the door open for me

“Good Evening..” I walked inside and he close the door after he entered and then we were on our way to the castle.

 It was Quiet for the majority of the ride.It somewhat made me uncomfortable especially since it was Barbatos. Not that he’s bad, I’m just not familiar with him is all. I guess i will be soon since I’ll be basically helping him with chores and such.

“How are you this evening?” He asked suddenly

I got a little shook but i quickly responded “I’m f-fine! Just  a little nervous “

“I assume you’ve never done anything like this before? “ he gave a light smile 

“no ..not really, I mean the closest thing to this is cleaning for my Grandma but it was mainly to help her since she didn’t have enough energy..”

“just like how Mammon broke the Vase and you took the blame? “

!! What?..how did he...how does he know that? I kinda panicked for a second but started questioning it. If he knew, why didn’t he say anything before? Why did he let this happen? 

“..If you knew..why didn’t you say anything? “

“well My lord would of gravely punished Mammon ..not just paying him back. He would of given him something then death since he’s attempted to steal so many times...but if you took the blame, he would be fine and you’d basically get  a slap on the head “

huh..so in other words, he wished not see Mammon punished because of his stupidity. I dunno how it works for punishing them but he gave me chills when he mentioned worst then death, i can’t even image that..We finally arrive at the castle 

“so..does Diavolo know? “

“no. If i were , you’d both be punished , you wouldn’t like that know would you? “

I only did this ti protect Mammon, so i guess i do..All I do is nod and head our way in. My first day wasn’t so bad expect with some of the staff trying to get under my skin..They were rude and some of them shamed me for being a human and being totally reckless. It really brought my mood down. It was recovered when  i was in the kitchen. Barbatos was already there making desserts. I Heard from Beel that he makes the best food in all three realms, As much as I was curious, i had to get back to work but He stopped me 

“Hello Husky” 

“oh!..Hey Barbatos”

“Would you mind helping me with the batter? I need to get these ready soon and extra hands would be nice “

“oh, of course” I set my cleaning stuff down and helped

I have baking experience before, I lived with my grandma for a while and i would always bake sweets with her , so this wasn’t really foreign to me Besides some the ingredients. Barbatos took notice how i didn’t struggle 

“you have a thing for baking as well? “

“not really. Im just used to it from when i lived with my Grandma. We mainly made Cookies and brownies” 

“interesting. maybe you could show me some recipes from the human world , I’d love to try some recipes with you” He looked cheerful and smiled 

He ..actually looked really cute when he smiled, the more i see it , i blushed slightly 

After making some of the batter and letting them bake, I noticed that took up some time 

“oh no! I better-” but then my arm was grabbed 

“My lord doesn’t mind you being here as long as you’re at least working” he reassured me , he could see i was stressed 

“oh ..well...I can stay as long as needed. “ i said firmly 

“good, i actually wanted you as a taste tester as well.”

“huh? but how would i know if it’s good or not? “ I said that since the ingredients in Devildoom are so unique and who knows what devil’s taste are like to what’s good or not.

“oh , don’t worry, i actually have a bit of human ingredients here, i was hoping to make some cakes , maybe some brownies as well, perhaps? “ 

Just the sound of hearing human world cake or brownies sounded good and if his skills are as good as people say they are, i can’t wait! 

“Sure, maybe we can make a 2 layer cake? “ 

He agreed and soon we started making a cherry maraschino cake , he didn’t struggle much , it was only the ingredients that he wasn’t used to. It was so funny to see him try a maraschino cherry, his face made many different reactions since it was a flavor that blasted when it touched your tongue. I explained that these were mainly used in alcoholic drinks or be turned into candy. He was quite interested and curious to learn more about certain ingredients as well 

“Hey, shouldn’t these other desserts -”

“oh the second we finished, they were headed to the dining hall. I don’t need to deliver them myself , all we had to do is get them done” 

“oh good, I was scared of taking up too much of your time..” 

he smiled “don’t worry about that, I rather enjoy your company “ that really made me blush. It felt nice to be wanted especially since i came here, I’ve been treated like a burden, intentional or not, it was nice that that one person outside of the brothers likes me.

We continued to bake , after the cake was done, it tasted so magical! The sweetness of the cherries and how soft the cake felt! No wonder he was the best, i should save a piece for beel since he liked human world food too! Then i noticed that Barbatos stared at me

“hm..? is something wrong ?” he made me a little worried 

Then, he got close to my face. Oh my god- what is he doing then..he kissed my cheek 

*Husky.exe has stopped working* 

Did..did he really just..KISS MY CHEEK- WHAT- WHY-

I was so flustered and blushed i couldn’t even speak and he just chuckled , thank you so much for laughing at my tomato looking self.  

“My apologies, you had cake on your face “

YOU COULD OF JUST TOLD ME “No no it’s fine!” 

“I couldn’t help myself..I was curious what you’d taste like..~ “ 

All i did was stood there, mentally freaking out , how do i respond to that!? more important why do i like it!? quick say something!

“w-why you know that if you actually kissed me..?”

His eye widened in surprise but then He smirked “oh?~”

why.did.i. just. say. THAT- what was i thinking?! I quickly looked around for an excuse to leave and i noticed the time, it was closing to 9. Thank god! 

“oh would you look at the time! I have to get ready to go ! “ Then i quickly left before he could get a word in. 

I finished up anything that i could do quickly and headed to the entrance but was stopped by Diavolo

“Husky!”

“! H-hello your highness” 

“ I heard you helped Barbatos with the sweets today ! You made the sweet hell chocolate cake right? “

I nod and he lightens up “It was amazing! I had no idea you were so skilled in baking! you must bake some more when you can! “

“Im glad you ! It kinda makes me happy to bake..it kinda reminds me of home.”

“well you have permission to help Barbatos again if he asks, you two can discuss it on the carriage”

“huh what do you-” then i stopped. FUCK- i forgot he’s the one who brought me here, so of course he’d be the one to take me home. Diavolo looks at me confused and i reassure him that i was fine, he waved me me off and I saw Barbatos near the carriage . I felt nervous about this time , would it be silent like before ..I’m not sure what will happen. I enter and he soon joins me but,,he sits next to me this time. The first time he sat across, i guess he’s more comfortable with me but that doesn’t change what happened between us. 

“How was your first day?” he asked, not looking at me 

“It was fine. for the most part “ 

“oh? why most? “

“...it’s not too much, just some of the staff gave me a little bit of a hard time.”

“...” 

His silence is kinda giving me chills with his face looking a little pissed 

“L-like i said it was fine mostly! It was better with you! “ I halted at that sentence , shit! that was suppose to be internal- 

His face soften after hearing that and he looked directly at me “That’s nice...you made my day as well.” 

My heart skipped a beat, my face really blushed , it was too noticeable, Barbatos took note of that , he seemed to be closer now. 

“you know..I could bake with you everyday if you want..~ Diavolo wouldn’t mind..~” 

The Idea was innocent but his tone wasn’t , Im sure he’d really want to bake with me but Im sure he has other intentions now after that kiss. Did he feel like this before that..? It’ been 3 months since I've been here. Then I noticed how we’re basically close to being face to face , he had his finger and thumb under my chin 

“h-huh-” then he lightly kissed me “ hm!”As much as it was too much..i didn’t want him to stop either.

He stops “ I hope we’ll have more interesting days like this in the future~ “

Before i could say anything else, the carriage stops. We’re back at the House of Lamentation, Barbatos gets up and opens the door for me “you should get going “ he smiled 

I was still for a moment but then  i got up and left the carriage , before i went inside , he grabbed my hand and gentle kissed the top of it. I was even redder then  i was. 

“Have a good day, My Lady~” he closed the carriage when he entered back 

My heart was beating so hard the rest of the night and i couldn’t stop thinking about what happen...did i really like Barbatos..? It was so hard to deny it  and just thinking about him made me blush. I got into my room and got changed into comfy causal cloths and laid flat on my bed , and hoped to relax. Now I’m excited to see him again...

(I hope you guys enjoy this! I had fun doing it! Suggest som stuff if you want something like this in the future!)

[zedpercyfan]

The Sirens of Cerulean | Part One

A City in the Fog

A thick fog was out one cold late afternoon along the Cerulean coast; it hung and swirled.  One of Cerulean City’s oldest structures, an ancient white lighthouse, stood atop a cliff, standing as a guardian to guide ships away from the perils of the rocks below.

Tracey Sketchit was the lighthouse’s current keeper, the original one having retired some years back, leaving the position open. Tracey had been without much of a consistent job and took it since the pay was so good, plus it came with housing attached.  There was also plenty of Pokémon that passed, and the occasional wandering Trainer that could keep him company or let him draw them and their Pokémon, a favorite pastime of his.

The black-haired man sighed, it was afternoon and he was bored as he finished sipping his tea.  He grabbed his sketchbook, wandered upstairs and went outside to the balcony – the wind rustled his clothes and hair as he stood.  “Right, anything that wants to be drawn…?” he thought aloud.  Some migrating Wingull roosted nearby amongst the usual coast residents of Pidgeys, its evolutions, and the local Corsolas, Poliwags, and others that lived there. Tracey smiled, and began to scribble away as his Marill joined alongside him.

He continued his penmanship until a low, soft, feminine voice was heard, a kind of singing.  Tracey’s hand stopped, and rested the thick book against the wet, rusted railing.  He scratched his chin thoughtfully whilst Marill blinked in wonderment, her mouth agape. He pointed a finger toward the ocean. “Y’know,” said Tracey.  “I really do think that they’re out there.”  Marill looked over, eyebrow raised.  “Well, you know what I mean.”  He leaned in and whispered.  “Come on…I know that you can feel their presence as well…”

He did not get an answer, as Marill was looking out towards the fog covered ocean where the voice could be heard.  Tracey looked down, only to see that down below, the Pokémon looked the exact same way.  The man blinked but said nothing.  He just followed their gaze and remained silent as they all peered into the wispy soup.

OoOoO

Later that afternoon, a young man of about his mid-twenties came slowly trudging along the dirt path from the nearby forest. With a Pikachu resting on his shoulder, the man walked with a carefree nature, his black shirt and pants were simple, but what was most strange of all was that he had a dark blue coat – almost like a cape – on him for warmth.

He seemed to wander aimlessly till he heard a sultry sound, it carried along the breeze.  It was delicate yet packed a pleasant spine chilling evocation with it. “Wow, that’s some voice,” he said, mildly awed.  He looked to his Pikachu.  “What do you say, buddy?  Shall we follow this strange but alluring voice?”

“Pi Pikachu!” squeaked the mouse in agreement. Ash hummed in agreement.

He followed against the sea breeze till he reached the water – his feet stopping as soon as he felt rock beneath him.  He looked out across the rocks where the sea met land.  “So this is Cerulean City?” he said.  “Well, the air is salty enough for it.”  He shivered in the breeze and began to notice that the light was fading.  “Almost nightfall…can’t stay out here. Brr…”  Pikachu whimpered and buried himself in his Master’s cloak.  He looked around and saw the giant lighthouse to his left, behind it stood the city itself.  Slowly and carefully, he began to trudge toward it.

A short walk later he reached the city and found his way to an inn.  A rather shabby looking place built out of grey stone.  The raven haired man wandered in and tapped the bell for service. “Coming!” a voice yelled.  A girl who looked barely past nineteen came sprinting from a room behind the counter before she nearly impaled herself on the wooden desk; her hands saved her as they reached out to stop her from the accident. She had dark blue hair which flowed all over her face from the inertia.

“Careful,” chuckled the traveler.  “It’s not a race.”

“Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind,” said the girl as she pushed her hair back into place behind her ears.  “Right…welcome to the Cerulean Playhouse Inn, I’m your host, Dawn Berlitz!  How may I help you today?”

“Cerulean…P-playhouse…Inn…?  Eh?”

“Pi pika…”

“Cerulean Playhouse Inn,” repeated Dawn.  “This was once the site of an old theater, some of the old framework was used to create this place a hundred years ago.  As a gesture of hospitality, I love to entertain the guests daily with a Pokémon performance.  You know, like a Pokémon Contest.”

“Ah, I see, sounds great,” the man said.

“Good to hear!” chirped Dawn with a sway of her head. “Anyways, what’s your need here?”

“I’d like a room, stay time indeterminate,” he said. “I’m Ash by the way, Ash Ketchum.”

“Ash Ketchum,” repeated Dawn as she scribbled his name down.  “Um, why ‘indeterminate’?”  Ash flinched.

“Just trust me.  I’m a little in the dark on the matter myself.”

“I think I get it…” said Dawn with a nervous chuckle.  They continued the paperwork and Dawn soon finished up.  “Right,” she said, holding a hand out to the doorway on her left, “if you’ll just follow me sir, we’ll be at your room.”

Ash followed her, but just as Dawn began to go up the stairs, a man with blond hair suddenly stomped into view on the upstairs landing and looked down at Ash grimly.  “Hey, what’s the big idea?!” he shouted.  Dawn pinched the bridge of her nose in annoyance.

“Barry, he’s a customer, he’s not here to steal your glory as a Pokémon trainer or…”

“Oh yeah!?  Well, if he is after my glory then I’m tripling his fine!”

Ash blinked.  “Triple my fine?  I’m broke enough as it is…”

“Oh no, Mr. Black Hair show off!  You’re not stealing any of my glory.  Me and Empoleon shall crush you, and—”

“Barry!” shouted Dawn.  “As if anything like that has to do with anything!”

“Oh yes it does!” replied Barry with an accusatory finger.  He slammed the railing with both of his hands, fumes practically roaring from his nostrils.  “You listen here, tough guy!  This establishment has tons of trainers staying here overnight every day! They’re in, they’re out.  Take the hint!  We don’t have the room to house some dude who says he doesn’t know how long he’ll be here!  Honestly…!” And he stormed off.

Dawn gritted her teeth.  “Ignore him,” she said as looked back at him.  Ash could only grimace at her unsubtle twitching eyebrow. He could only imagine that what that ‘Barry’ had said wasn’t close to the tip of Dawn’s iceberg.

“R-right…”

Dawn said no more on the matter and lead – with noticeable irritation – Ash into his assigned room.  She was about to leave when…

“Excuse, Dawn?” began Ash.  “But may I ask a question of you?”

“Sure thing – what do you need to know?”

“Well, to start.  How long have you been here?”

“For over half of my life,” replied Dawn.  “My Mother and I moved here from the Sinnoh region to have a fresher start.”

“I see.  Then tell me – what do you know of the Cerulean Sirens?”

Dawn’s originally polite countenance fell to an uncertain one.  “The Sirens…?” she muttered.  “Not sure in all honesty.  But every time a major fog comes rolling in we hear these strange sounds coming from the ocean.  There have been rumors, you see, about how the Sirens use the fog to sneak about and intermingle with us humans once we’ve gone and lost ourselves in the soup.”

“Yeah, it would seem right for them given their descriptions,” said Ash.  “But, tell me, do you believe they exist?”

The bluenette tapped her chin in thought.  “I guess.  Though I’d much rather meet one than go on believing simple fishermen’s tales.”

Ash nodded.  “Just curious,” he added, by way of deflecting any questions about why he had asked.  “Good night.”

“Good night,” said Dawn with a bow.  She turned back and closed his door.  Once Ash was sure she was out of earshot, he walked to the window and opened it.  For the second time that evening, a strange melody filled the air – soft yet powerful, calming yet unnerving.

OoOoO

It won’t lift for anytime soon it seems, thought Tracey as he stared in boredom out of the observation window the tune the only thing keeping him amused – he then blew the foghorn once again before stepping out to the balcony.  When he did he heard strange splashing sounds from below. He scanned the area but saw nothing. Must be a Pokémon…

It was only the fog that covered the mysterious singer…

Beneath the fog and cold waves a few figures swam up to the surface and looked around.  Soon enough they heard the same low song that Ash and Tracey were listening to, they nodded to each other before diving back under the water.

Deep in the water some few miles away from Cerulean they approached a strange civilization made of stone bricks.  The two figures swam towards the largest building, protected by two other figures holding tridents, one of whom gave the scouts a stern look before nodding.  Inside, the scouts approached a brown-haired figure whose tail flicked back and forth, arms crossed in front of his chest in impatience.

“We overheard the enemy singing out again,” said one, “and as usual, it was directed toward the ape primitives.”

The brown hair figure’s frown deepened. “Ever the persistent ones, those harpies,” he sneered.  “I swear, when we’re done we won’t ever have to hear our vocals ever directed at those despicable apes ever again!”

OoOoO

“ ‘Well why shouldn’t we?!’ is what we’re obviously yelling to them,” huffed a pink-haired figure.  She was talking to another one with blue hair, who was sitting next to one with orange hair.  “They deserve it, the bratty troublemakers.”

“It’s all changed since our old ruler passed away,” the orange head said with a sigh.  “Speaking on the topic of ‘why shouldn’t we’ – where’s Daisy?”

“You called?” said the woman in question.  A beautiful blond woman swam elegantly in, her appearance above all else being even more beautiful than her three sisters’. But to call them just humans would be inaccurate – they were Sirens, or to put more simply with terms associated with fantasy, mermaids.

“Yes actually,” put in Lily, the pink-haired one. “We were actually wondering where in you’d gone.”

Daisy swam up the table they were sitting around and grabbed a piece of coral and took a bite out of it.  “Just out singing,” she said nonchalantly.

“Singing where?” asked Violet, the blue-haired one.

“Y’know, out on the ocean,” replied Daisy as she avoided eye contact.  She began chewing more on her food, this time far more aggressively.

“You were out singing for that lighthouse guy, weren’t you?” said Lily finally.  Daisy choked on a piece of the coral fruit.  “Knew it!” she sang victoriously, pumping a fist into the water.

“That’s dangerous, you know,” said Misty, the orange-haired, and youngest of the four sisters.  “You’re lucky the fogs about.  Why do you risk yourself so much just to sing for a guy?”

Daisy recovered from her cough.  “You wouldn’t understand, Misty,” she said.

“I think I understand that we’re in enough hot water as it is with the rest of our kind!”

“But,” said Violet pointedly, “you did join us willingly in our stand against Rudy when he became ruler.”

“Y-yes, I did,” said Misty.  She looked to Daisy.  “I’m just worried about your safety.  Not because of the humans but just in case any of Rudy’s thugs goes and finds you.”

“Ha ha!  Misty, you worry too much,” said Daisy.  “Those silly Sirens wouldn’t go near the human’s settlement unless they were ordered to, and we’re settled too close to them to make threatening us an impossible reality.”

“The pure amount of phobia they have is as sensible as staring into the sun,” Misty muttered.  She then yawned.  “Well, I’m tired, so I’ll be going to sleep.  Come along, Goldeen.  Night all.” Her Pokémon partner opened her eyes and quickly swam after her short-haired mistress.  Daisy watched her disappear into the cave.

“I think,” she said to no one in particularly, “that that girl could do with something new in her life.”

OoOoO

“It’s quite easy, Dawn,” grumbled Barry as they walked through the hallways.  “Just go up to him, say ‘Thank you for your partro-patro…PATRONAGE, at Cerulean Playhouse Inn, but we only do one-night stays, so please have yourself a good stay in this city, and get out!’  It’s easy!”

“Oh cool off,” sneered Dawn.  “What’s the harm in him staying for more than one night?”

“It’s the principle,” said Barry pompously. “We serve travelers, not tourists.”

“Ash is hardly a tourist,” said Dawn evenly.

“Oh, taking his side now are we?”

“Not even close.  I just don’t think that there is any harm in letting him stay. Besides, it’s hardly written down that we only serve for one night here.”

Barry didn’t immediately reply, he stuffed his hands into his pockets and turned towards another corridor.  He huffed heavily.  “You’re the one defending him.”

“Only because he’s a nice man, unlike you!  Your antagonism to him last night was hardly warranted.”

“Oh just do what you want,” sighed Barry, walking away.

“Honestly,” said Dawn aside before looking in Barry’s direction.  “I swear, I could make a living out of dealing with stubborn men like you!”

Just up above, Ash had finished getting ready for his day, in his hand was a strange book, the condition of its binding suggested it was of elderly age.  With the book safely in his arms, and Pikachu on the opposite shoulder, he arrived at the top of the second floor landing in time to hear the last part of Dawn and Barry’s spat.

“Ugh!” shouted Dawn in frustration.  “Stubborn brat, he should be thankful I even give him as many chances to keep working here as I do!”

“Hah!” said Ash suddenly.  Dawn blinked in surprise and whirled round to see Ash beginning to go down the stairs.  “Tell us how you really feel.”

Dawn sighed.  “He’s only in it for the money, and his work effort is subpar, but he’s a decent hustle in the case of ruffians showing up.”  She paused and noticed the strange book.  “Oh, what’s that about?”

“This?  Ah, just some research I plan on looking into.”

“Is it to do with Sirens?”

“Um – er – well…” Ash slowly crept up to Dawn and leaned in.  “Well, yes, it does actually.”

“Wow!  Really?! Or are you just pulling an elaborate prank because you think of me as someone who’d believe anything?!”

“What?  No, no, no, not at all!” cried Ash in alarm as he stepped back.

Dawn quickly calmed down.  Ash could only marvel at the wonder of a woman’s mood swings. “All right then – prove you’re actually on to something.”

Ash sighed and beckoned her closer.  He then held out a hand and it began to glow in a blue color in a shape that Dawn could only describe as a ball, then, he made it disappear.  Before she could speak, he spoke up.  “I’m an Aura user,” he said in a hushed tone.  “The society I belong to recently has felt some strange spikes and stagnations coming from this area.  However, we really don’t know what’s causing them since those signals are coming from way out on the ocean.  What we suspect is that the rumors going around about the actual existence of the Sirens might just be true.”

“So…they might actually exist?”

“Might is an accurate word for this situation,” he replied.  “The legends spoke of them being able to harness a great power and channel it through various methods with their advanced technology that’s incomparable to our very own.  But…” he added with uncertainty, “again, we just don’t have any confirmation.”

Dawn mulled the situation over, all of the info she got was quite shocking to her and she was struggling to comprehend it all, but he said it all with such conviction that she fully believed it. “So, what you’re saying is, is that there appears to be trouble, but it’s only a theory?”

“Yeah, it’s only an idea.  I have no idea until I finally know what’s happening.”

“Wait though!” said Dawn as realization came to her. “If we’re in danger, shouldn’t the citizens know about it…?”

“Shh!  Shh!” said Ash sharply.  He brought a finger to Dawn’s lips.  “As I said, it’s just an idea.  No one else can know why I’m here, at least not until I know exactly what’s going on here. Dawn,” he added quietly.  “Can I trust you to not say a word about this anyone else?  Extra people knowing what’s happening might cause more trouble than necessary.” Dawn’s eyes widened, Ash didn’t seem to be playing light anymore, his look was extremely serious – whatever it was that he was looking into, it wasn’t a dead end.  She nodded affirmatively.  “Good.” Ash smiled, and then quickly took his leave into the misty city.

OoOoO

“…Wake up!  Wake up!” came a prattling voice on the other end of her seaweed curtain. Misty groaned and got up from the shell that was her bed.

“What do you need, Daisy?” she asked sleepily.

“It’s already eight o’clock actually!” said Daisy cheerily.  “So, like, it’s you who should’ve been up a while ago missy.  Anyways…!”  Daisy then invited herself into her sister’s room.  “I was, like, thinking that you could do with a routine change, so come with me!”

“Go with you where…?”

“Oh, just around the reef.  It’s been too long since we’ve spent time together – you really got to wonder where time flies.”

“That time took flight as a result of you disappearing of somewhere quite regularly recently…” said Misty sarcastically.

“Oh lighten up,” sang Daisy, and swam off with Misty reluctantly following.

Along the waves, Daisy saw a male Siren swimming a few yards away from where she and Misty were travelling.  The male frowned when he saw the two approaching.  “And just where are you two ladies off to at this hour?” he asked cautiously.

“Morning to you too, Sean,” replied Daisy crisply.

“You’ve got some nerve being snippy,” grumbled Sean. “You’re the ones who went and defected – your pitiful resistance group lives pathetically.  Honestly, your opinions are all insane.”

“I don’t recall asking for your opinions at all,” answered Daisy.  “I’ll ask when I want an idiot’s position.”  And she quickly swam off.

“Nicely handled,” praised Misty when they were out of earshot.

“You get used to it when you’re on the defending side,” said Daisy with a smile.  “Anyways, this is your surprise.”  She pointed towards the surface of the ocean, though the light looked more fractured than usual.

“Huh, a storm might be passing by,” observed Misty.

“Yeah, I felt it in the waves,” added Daisy. “But all the same, you’ll really like what I’m about to show you.”  Before Misty could voice an opinion, Daisy grabbed her by the wrist and pull her up to the surface, the area they were was covered with rocks, one of which the blond rested herself against.

“Ugh!  The surface?” coughed Misty.  “What is it from here that you’d want me to see?”

“Take a look.”  The orange head opened her eyes and gazed upwards to what Daisy had been pointing to and gasped.  It was the lighthouse, standing tall and somewhat menacingly over the washed clifftops and swirling fog.

“The lighthouse?!” she spluttered.  “Wait a minute, what are you showing me a human structure for?”

“One – I think it’s beautiful, two – you’ve never seen it yourself before, and three – take a look up there…” said Daisy, whose tone went surprisingly soft on her third statement.

“What am I looking for?”

Her older sister pointed a finger at the male figure with black hair atop the balcony.  “Him,” she said dreamily.  “Oh…what a looker that one is.  His name is Tracey.  I’ve been observing his movements for a while recently.”

“So this is where you’ve been off to all this time?”

“Yeah, it’s quite out of the way from Rudy and his goons, and no one else really passes through here except for Pokémon, so I can observe him in peace.”  Misty blinked, clearly not understanding.  “I think he’s sweet,” went on Daisy.  “You know what he does aside from keeping that light going?  He watches the Pokémon, closely at that, he even draws them in that weird book of his…”

“Draws?”

“Yes.  He talks often to that Marill of his, they seem awfully close.  He calls himself a Pokémon Watcher, which I think has to do with that drawing habit of his.  Whatever drawing means, it seems similar to our photos back home.  So I think it’s just an archaic version of that – even if it does seem like a lot of work for something we could do in seconds.  So primitive!  Although…I wish I could get the chance to see his work up close, just to know what it’s like.”

Misty gulped.  “You wouldn’t risk approaching him, would you?”

“What, are you suddenly as afraid of the humans as the rest of those ‘Magikarp’ we call our kind as well?”

“N-no…” said Misty quietly as she sunk under the water, her sister following.  “I’m just scared for your sakes.”

Daisy smiled gently at her little sister. “Don’t worry, Misty, I’ve been careful, and if my observations are anything to go by, he’s curious about us as well.  Well,” she added with a mischievous snicker, “mostly in me, that is.  I am the one who has been singing for him recently. Ooh!  I know, I could sing right now actually.”  Daisy immediately popped her head out the water.  Misty didn’t know why, but in reflex she dove further down into the water.

She watched as Daisy began to sing.  They were both so preoccupied that failed to notice that Misty’s Goldeen was beginning to panic.  The nearby weeds were swaying furiously, and the Pokémon began to scatter – the girls were oblivious to it.

OoOoO

Ash made his way through the fog, all the areas closest to the water in town was packed with people either at market or fishing. He wanted to begin his search by investigating places where he had heard the strange song being sung the night before. The book told him that often with Sirens the first sign of them being about would be fog.  Deducing from that, he decided to head back to the lighthouse where the fog had first begun to appear and where the voice originated.

He stepped cautiously through before stepping up to the door and rapped loudly.  “Ahoy!  Ahoy, Keeper! Anybody home?!” he yelled.

Tracey was just putting some finishing touches on a drawing of his when Ash’s loud knocks disturbed him, luckily, he didn’t ruin his own work.  “Who the devil could that be?” he said in surprise.

“Marill, mar?”

Tracey didn’t give in a second thought and hurried downstairs where he found Ash.  Tracey couldn’t help but of him as a strange man.

“Ah, hello Keeper,” said Ash as he let himself into the building.  “Hope you don’t mind; could do with getting out of the winds.”

“Mm, those winds are bit fierce,” said Tracey. “But anyways, who are you and what do you want?  Almost no one from Cerulean visits the lighthouse, except Mrs. Meyers to deliver me bread.”

“Well, I’m not from around here, I’m a traveler,” said Ash as he aired out his coat.  “I’m Ash, Ash Ketchum.”

“Sketchit, Tracey Sketchit.”

“A pleasure, Tracey, and sorry for the intrusion but I’ve come to ask something of you.”

Tracey raised an eyebrow.  “About what?”

“Heard any…strange songs lately?”

“Oh, well yes I have,” said Tracey, shocked yet pleased at having someone aside from his Pokémon to talk to about the strange occurrences.  “It happens almost every day actually.  Just…comes randomly, fog or not.  Whoever she is, she has a fantastic voice.”

“I can imagine,” said Ash grinning.  “I overheard the tune when I passed by last night. Tell me, do you think it’s a Siren?”

Tracey was astonished!  “Y-you believe they exist?”

“Well, do you?” asked Ash.  “You’re the one hearing these miraculous songs.”

“I know, and I do believe in them,” answered Tracey confidently.  “Well, see I want to.  Thing is though, I’ve never seen one.”

“Mmm,” muttered Ash in agreement.  Just then the two men both heard a familiar, and spine-chillingly, but calming, female voice – it was the mysterious singer.

“Speak of the Devil…” said Tracey.

“Yeah,” replied Ash.  “Think it’s a Siren?”

Tracey seemed unsure, he shook his head to get the doubt out before a more confident looked came to him.  “What else is there to explain why those songs keep coming from the ocean?” he said

His visitor only shrugged, before a sight from the window caught his eye.  “Well, who knows?  Perhaps it’s just our minds playing tricks on us.  But oh man, look at that.”

Coming in from the sea were huge rolling waves. “Uh oh,” said Tracey, though he sounded calmer than he should have.  “Better keep an eye out – there could be fishermen out on the bay, I only hope they aren’t getting caught in that, or our singer!”  Before Ash could speak, Tracey dashed back upstairs.  Ash grimaced as he heard the waves.

“Come on,” he said to Pikachu, and dashed out the door.  A freak wind passed through, blowing up sea water and tiny pebbles, the waves crashing fiercely against the rocks.  Ash heard a high-pitched scream suddenly and followed it.  “Don’t worry!  I’m coming!”

OoOoO

Misty was panicked as the icy water swirled around her – she couldn’t navigate through all the confusion.  Suddenly, she hit a rock face; she thought for a moment that it was a cliff and that she was safe.  She held Goldeen and breathed a sigh of relief, then suddenly a large wave came and Misty shrieked as the force hit her and pushed her up the slick rock, she dragged over the jagged structure, her nerves firing off as the feeling of pain coursed through her.  She landed tail first into the hard rock surface on the other side.  “Ow!” she wailed loudly.

She took in her surroundings as soon as the chaos stopped – there was only enough water to submerge her bottom half, leaving her torso exposed to the earth.  “Oh no,” she gasped.  She had been forced into a tiny cove, the rock she fell in from being too big to climb. Her tail was bruised and she saw it was beginning to swell – she winced at the sight.  She was worried – she was stranded!

Her heart rate began to go up.  She was trapped, alone, in plain sight and with Daisy nowhere in sight.  “Oh Goldeen,” she whispered in fright.  “What if a human finds me…?”  She had heard rumors that humans destroyed what they knew nothing about.

Ash jogged as quickly and as safely as he could over the dangerous terrain, whoever was in trouble needed to get out of the storm and fast.  Wind and rain buffeted him.  He hurried around the stones before halting with a loud screech of his heels.

Splashing before him in a pool of water was a figure that looked like a girl in a swimsuit, her hair orange went only as far as her shoulders.  But most shocking for him of all was…

“A…tail?” he said aloud.  It was large, green, made of scales, and pretty.

Misty squirmed round and stared in fright, any cry for help was lost in her throat like a cornered Pokémon.

Ash found his voice.  “You…” he began.  “You’re a Siren, right?”

[yxppeo]

rest

pairing: chan x reader

genre: fluff

au: cafe, college

warning: none

summary: rest was not in this boy’s vocabulary

a/n: reposted from my old blog!

you were an employee at the cafe near your university

let’s call it the district cafe

chessy huh

after your classes, you immediately clocked in and worked until 8 with small breaks to get some homework done

you would sometimes work overtime and on holidays as well

needed that extra cash cuz you’re a broke bitch lmao

many people thought working at a place where you would see your peers might be embarrassing for them

thinking that they’ll be teased for working at a small cafe

but you were different

you would see many familiar faces from uni that would greet you with smiles as they ordered their coffees and pastries

they wouldn’t have to look at your name tag to know who you were

“hey y/n! can i get the caramel macchiato and a strawberry shortcake?”

“of course!” you smiled back, punching in the order

your manager was happy to have you as an employee

seeing that you were the only reason people still come to the cafe

you were the nicest cafe worker they would have ever met, and would come back for more

no matter how busy the cafe got, you still had a smile on your face

you knew a lot of your regular’s orders, and would have it ready as soon as they walked in

“hello y/n, can i have-”

“matcha frappe with cheesecake? already done.” you interrupted, winking at them

they would stare at you with awe as they paid for the food, giving you a very generous tip

one friday night, the cafe was running a little slow

there was no one at the cafe

which was weird because fridays were usually the busiest

but maybe because it’s the fifa world cup playing on tv, people stayed inside all day munching on nachos and screaming at the screen

you didn’t mind it though

there were times you needed peace and quiet

especially when you needed to clean up the tables

you looked at the clock

“4 more hours until closing.” you said to yourself

“hey y/n, you should go home, it’s pretty slow.” your manager said, catching your attention

you noticed she was wrapped up in her coat with her bag over her shoulder

ready to go home

“why? we’re open for another four hours.”

“fifa’s on and south korea is playing their first game.”

you looked at your manager

“hey, how about you go home and watch the game? i’ll stay here until closing.” you proposed

“really? you’re willing to do that?” she said, looking at you in shock

you nodded, giving her a smile

“yes, now go home and relax!” you said as you lightly pushed her towards the entrance

“you’re definitely getting a raise next week.” she laughed as she walked through the door, making you smile as you shook your head

you sat down behind the counter in silence

pulling out your laptop as you powered it on, wanting to get some homework done

ten minutes passed by as the bell on the entrance door rang

pulling you away from your studies, you stood up to see the person approaching you

you don’t recognize him, but you still smiled as you greeted him

“welcome to the district cafe, how may i help you?”

he looked at you, smiling before ordering

“he’s attractive.” you thought to yourself, noticing his cute nose and dimples that were prominent on his face

“i’ll just have an americano.” he said as he brought his wallet out

“okay, one americano for?” you trailed

“chan.” he answered

“right, an americano for chan coming right up.” you softly said as he smiled at you

chan sat down at a table, pulling out his laptop and headphones

plugging it in the jack and placing the headphones on his head

you delicately made the americano to perfection

you would usually call his name out to tell him his order was ready

but since it was just the two of you

you decided to leave the counter and give it to him personally

he looked at you, giving you a thanks before averting his attention back to his laptop

an hour later, you noticed chan was blankly staring at his screen, his mouth slowly open

he would drop his head a few times before jumping up and putting his attention back on the screen

you chuckled to yourself as you got up to make another drink for him

you walked up to him and gave him the drink

he looked at you with worried eyes

“uh, i’m sorry, i don’t have enough money for another one.”

you smiled

“don’t worry. it’s on the house. i noticed you were getting a little tired.” you said, sliding the drink towards him

he thanked you again

you took your laptop from the counter and sat across from chan

“do you mind if i sit here?” you asked

he shook his head

“nah, not at all, it’d be nice to have some company.” he said, giving you a small smile

which made your heart do a little flip

for the next hour, you typed away on your laptop as you flipped through your notebook as chan clicked and dragged his mouse, occasionally hitting a few keys

as soon as you were done, you looked at chan

he noticed eyes looking at him, so he looked up, locking eyes with you

he slid his headphones off

your eyes widened

“sorry to bother you, but i’m just curious, what are you working on?” you said, immediately becoming shy

he chuckled

“it’s fine. i was just working on a song. i’m a music production major.” he said, scratching the back of his neck

“can i listen? uh, that’s if you’re okay with that.” you blushed

“you’re in luck, i just finished!” he beamed, gesturing you to sit next to him

“wow his smile makes him even cuter.” you thought to yourself

you got up and took a sit next to him as he slid over to give you room

you looked at his laptop, looking at the different audio clips that were stacked on top of each other

you put the headphones on as you pressed play

listening to the music, you enjoyed the instrumentals as you bobbed your head to the beat

then you heard a voice singing

it sounded angelic, soothing really

“is that you singing? it’s beautiful.” you admitted, making chan blush a little as he smiled

the song ended, and you were left in amazement

“that was spectacular chan!” you told him

“really? thank you so much.”

and for the rest of the night you and chan got to know each other more

telling him about your major and whatnot

the both of you had laughs

he even offered to help you clean up

and even though you tried to refuse

his cute begging suddenly became your weakness as you gave in

you had a great time with chan

until it was closing time

“thank you for keeping me company while i worked.” chan said

“it was nothing.” you smiled as you slung your backpack over your shoulders as you closed the cafe

ever since that night, chan would come into the cafe and worked on his music until it was closing time

and you would do your homework with him

getting up on rare occasions whenever a customer or two walked in

there would also be times where you would have to wake chan up

telling him to go home and rest

but he was stubborn, telling you he’s going to keep working until the cafe closed

and you can’t really fight this cute guy

nor your rapidly beating heart

not only did chan become a regular

but he became a good friend

a few weeks later, the fifa world cup ended

which means the district cafe became busier

but it didn’t stop chan from walking in and ordering his usual americano and sitting down to work

he would notice how you would smile to every customer as you talked to them

and your small conversations with them

chan though you were cute and kind

and developed a huge crush on you

one day, you were working and before chan came in around his usual time, you had a customer who was friends with him

“vanilla bean latte for jisung!” you called out

jisung approached the counter, grabbing his drink

“thank you..” he said before looking at your name tag

“y/n - wait! you’re y/n?!” he exclaimed

“y-yes?” you responded, feeling a little nervous

“i’m friends with chan, and boy does he talk about you a lot.”

“he does?” you blushed

“yeah! he keeps talking about this cute cafe worker that he’s practically whipped for. no wonder his lyrics have been so sappy lately.”

“he likes me?” you asked him

“big time. anyways i’ve got to go, it was nice meeting you y/n.” he waved, leaving the cafe

as if he didn’t just expose his best friend

you blushed at the thought of chan liking you

you went through the rest of your shift with an extra bright smile of your face

chan walked in, which made your heart go !!!!

“hey y/n!” he smiled

which made you smile

“hey chan, let me guess, americano?”

he nodded as he placed the usual five dollar bill in front of you

as you entered his order, you looked at him

noticing the dark circles around his eyes

“chan, when’s the last time you’ve slept?” you said, catching his attention

he looked at you

“how long ago was january?”

you looked at him with wide eyes

“bang chan!” you said as you got started on his drink

“oops?” he nervously chuckled

“seriously, you need to rest. how could i have not known you haven’t been sleeping after you leave the cafe?” you said as you placed the lid on the cup, giving it to him

hours passed by as the cafe slowed down to the point where no one was coming in

and yet there chan was, sitting on his laptop

you sighed as you went into the back to grab your things

until you heard a loud thump

you quickly walked to the front to see chan’s head on top of the table

“oh my god.” you said, running towards him and taking the seat next to him

you shook chan a few times

“wake up! bang chan!”

he managed to lift his head up and leaned onto you

placing his head on your shoulder while asleep

your eyes widened as you felt his heavy head relax onto you

then you heard muttering

you turned your head to see bang chan slightly open his mouth

“y/n...y/n...why do you have to be so pretty?”

you almost choked on your own spit

“y/n, don’t smile at that handsome guy, smile only at me.” he softly said, sounding jealous

which made you smile to yourself

“shut up jisung, i’m not whipped for y/n. it’s not my fault i like her so much.”

you sighed

it was almost closing time

and you had to go home

“bang chan!” you yelled in his ear

scaring him as he jumped

“i’m awake!”

you shook your head

“how long was i out?” he asked

you smirked

“long enough to talk about your feelings for me in your sleep.” you said

making chan’s eyes pop out of his head

“what?! uh, y/n, i can explain-” he started

you interrupted him by planting your lips on top of his

chan melted into the kiss, smiling as he kissed you back

you pulled back

“don’t worry chan, i like you too - a lot actually.”

“you do?”

“yes you dummy. now can we get up because it’s closing time.”

chan looked outside the windows to see it filled with darkness

“only if i can crash at your dorm.”

“of course, let’s go so you can sleep.” you demanded

“yes ma’am.” he said as he got up, planting another kiss on your lips

“oh, and chan?”

“yeah?”

“you taste like americano.”

[lionspridetingz]

Nobody to Somebody - Trent Alexander-Arnold

This is so long overdue it's not even funny. Thank you for being so patient with me, the past couple weeks have been hectic and I was also having major writer's block. Love you all xx

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

Chapter Eight 

Your day went by, as usual, your classes becoming quite long as you kept checking the time to start your countdown of when you would see Trent again. Texts flowing back and forth between the two of you as you rambled how boring your classes were and how his teammates bugged him to find out what had happened on your date the previous night. The more you both chatted away, the more you felt as if you had known the guy longer than what it actually was.

When you finally finished with your day you headed to your dorm quickly to get some assignments done ahead of your plans for later on in the evening. You smiled at the thought of seeing him again, the need to be near him was starting to take over you. You decided to leave the door unlocked and send him a quick text to him before settling in your desk chair and beginning your school work.

Hey, come meet me at my dorm when you get here. Doing some school work before tonight xx

Too focused on the screen and notebook in front of you, the buzz coming from your phone didn’t faze you for a second, just assuming that he had replied.

The once blank pages in your notebook seemed to be filled very quickly as you wrote keywords and phrases from the chapter you were reading on your computer screen, some highlighted lines to remember the more important parts for your exam review coming up later on in the week. You had never been more determined to finish your work, you hadn’t even checked the time. Soon enough you were broken from your studious trance when a knock on the door came and slightly interrupted your train of thought. Finally checking the time, you knew the only person who could be at the door is the one who’s invaded your thoughts the whole day.

“Doors unlocked.” You yelled before focusing back on the last page in front of you.

You heard the door open and close with footsteps coming up behind you.

“Almost forgot what floor you were on, the security guard kept giving me weird looks when they buzzed the door open for me.” He laughed as he came up behind you and wrapped his arms around your shoulders and give you a light kiss on your cheek. Your blush evident and distracting as you decided to turn your chair around to face him and give him a hug. “God I missed this.” He breathed hugging you tightly making you giggle.

“I think I’ve turned you soft.” You smirked as you continued to hug.

“I don’t think its a bad thing.” He said as he leaned in closer to you but before your lips could touch your door opened again to see your friend walk in looking down at her phone.

“Care to tell me why your door is unlocked? What time is he pi-“ she stopped when she decided to look up at you both standing very close to each other. “Oh I see, well don’t mind me, I’m just gonna leave you to it,” she said walking back out as both you and Trent started laughing hysterically.

“Alright let me just put my stuff away and set my computer to charge and we can head out.” He nodded as you headed back to your desk to tidy up. He started looking around your small dorm room while taking in all your little decorations that showed what you liked. He started looking at your board with pictures of you back home, with childhood friends and your family, some from vacations you had gone on or from big milestones in your life.

“Look how little and cute you were here, how old were you?” He pointed out a picture of you and your mom when you were about 5 or 6. You walked over to him to look at it.

“I think probably 5 or 6, and I’ll have you know I’m just as cute as I was back then.”

“Hmmm, you sure about tha’?” He teased and you hit smacked him lightly in the chest. “I’m kidding, you do look different though, much more beautiful now.”

“Stop you’re making me blush!” You said moving away from him to grab your phone and wallet. “Let's just go before you continue to look at more pictures.” You smiled grabbing his hand trying to drag him away from the pictures and towards your door.

“Alright alright let’s go”

You finally made it to the hallway and headed down the building to walk to his car, his hand intertwined with yours the entire time.

Once in the car, he started off to his house, and as you were talking about how your speech went, your phone buzzed in your lap.

I saw you lovebirds holding hands, have fun tonight xx

You chuckled as you showed Trent the text and he smiled. “She really keeps her tabs on you.” He laughed as you rolled your eyes.

“You should’ve seen her today, kept asking for more details on the date after I had told her three times already. Said she didn’t want to miss any details.” You laughed.

“I had only told two of the guys about you and that we were going on a date, but when I got to training everybody seemed to know about it.”

“Damn I guess I’m quite popular there then?” You smirked raising your eyebrow towards him.

“Yeah even the gaffer knows about you.” your eyes went wide went he said that. “He expects to meet you eventually, well my whole team does.”

“That’s a lot of people I have to meet, I haven’t even met your family yet.”

“Don’t worry everybody is gonna adore you, you’ll meet them soon don’t you fret.” He winked

“Wait am I gonna meet them now at your house because if I am I might jump out of this car, I’m not dressed decent enough for that encounter, I’m in school clothes.” You rambled and he saw how distressed you were so he grabbed your hand and squeezed it slightly to calm you down.

“They won’t be at the house don’t worry, they all went out. I asked them to leave so you can come over for a movie date.” He said as we pulled up to his driveway. You gasped at the sight of his house. It was beautiful, to say the least.

When you both got out of the car, you couldn’t help but stare at the house in front of you. He laughed as he grabbed your hand and started guiding you to the front door. Once inside your mouth couldn’t stay closed, the inside of the house was as beautiful as the outside, very neat for a house that has three boys running around it all the time. The decorations all matched with amazing furniture, even a giant pool table near the living room.

“Your house makes my little dorm room feel like a mouse hole.” You laughed as you both walked towards the big grey couch and plopped right next to him as he smiled at you.

“Nahhh your dorm room is well cute, has all your little decorative touches, it shows what you like.” You rolled your eyes as you slightly blush. “Why are you blushing?” He smirked scooting closer to you and playing with your fingers.

“I don’t know!!” You exclaimed throwing your head back embarrassed “Every time you make a comment I can’t help it, you make me nervous.”

He just laughed and pulled you close to him. The warmth that exuded from his body felt nice and you could definitely get used to being all cuddled up to him like this.

“Do you want to order something and watch a movie?” He asked looking down at you as you raised your head from his chest to look back at him.

“That’s fine, order what you like.” You shrugged.

“Nah you pick.” He persisted.

“I’m not good with picking food, just order anything and I’ll pick the movie?” You suggested as you detangled from him so he can get up and head to the kitchen to order the food and you can find a movie.

“Fine, but are you sure you don’t want anything specific?” He asked standing at the kitchen island.

“Yes now order something.” You laughed “Where do I find the movies?”

He walked back over to show you where to go on the remote to find a movie. You scrolled through the movies and found a classic, My Best Friend’s Wedding. When he came back he looked at the screen and smiled.

“My mom loves that movie, never seen it though.” He said plopping back onto the couch, you sat next to him and looked at him with wide eyes.

“Your mom and I would be really good friends then, I grew up watching this movie.”

“My mom loves Julia Roberts,” he said laughing “always talks about how lucky she was to do so many movies with a bunch of famous male actors.”

“Well she’s not wrong, starring with Hugh Grant and Richard Gere seems like a dream to me.” You joked pressing play on the movie.

“Hugh Grant huh?” He smirked poking your side making you giggle.

“He’s quite the gentleman, maybe you should take some notes.” You teased

“Ha ha very funny.”

You both chatted as the movie went on, as he made fun of you at times when you knew some lines by memory. Eventually, you had to pause the movie because there was a knock at the door signaling the food had arrived.

Trent got up and ran to the door before you can reach for your wallet and pay for part of the bill. He came walking back in with a pizza box sticking his tongue out at you as you huffed.

“Don’t tell the gaffer I’m eating this, breaking the rules for ya.” He winked and it was your turn to stick your tongue out at him.

You both started eating and continued talking while the movie was on in the background, just enjoying you each other’s company.

“Hold up you have sauce on the side of your face.” You said pointing as he tried to lick it off with his tongue, making you laugh as he couldn’t reach it. You picked up a napkin and kneeled in front of him wiping the sauce from his face, making yours inches away from his. He leaned in and kissed you. Your hand dropping the napkin and placing it under his jaw and he gripped your waist. Eventually, he moved you back to lay you down on the couch, hovering over you he smiled and captured your lips again with his own. Your hands made their way into his hair as his tongue swiped across your bottom lip, hands on your sides, food and movie long forgotten as you continued kissing. He pulled away to let you both breathe and just looked at you in your eyes and continued to smile.

“Wow.” Was all you can let out as he chuckled.

“So…” he started

“So…” you replied smiling slightly.

“can I ask you to be my girlfriend now?” He smirked and your smile beamed nodding your head as he started kissing all over your face making you giggle, and finally kissing your lips once more.

So enamored by each other, you both didn’t hear the front door open and his family arrives. The only thing that grabbed your guys’ attention was his mom’s voice.

“Is that My Bestfriend’s Wedding on?” She asked aloud as both his brothers walked into the living room to see you both jump apart from each other. Both of them cackling as you started to fix yourself glaring at your now boyfriend, him mouthing a ‘sorry’ before shrugging.

“What are you two boys laughing at- oh I didn’t know you still had company over, we didn’t interrupt anything did we?” His mom started apologizing as you both shook your head profusely. His brothers still laughing like crazy as Trent glared at them to stop seeing you were starting to feel embarrassed.

You stood up from the couch and stood near Trent still unsure of what to do in this situation. His mom was smiling at the two of you with his dad at her side. Trent decided to step up and say something.

“Ma, this is the girl I was telling you about, my girlfriend.” He smiled back at you nervously reaching out to grab your hand and bring you towards his parents.

“Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Alexander-Arnold, it’s really nice to meet you.” You said going to shake his mom’s hand as she reached for it and pulled you into a huge laughing.

“Please darling, don’t have to be so formal call us Dianne and Michael. We’ve heard so much about you,” She started as she let you go and you greeted his dad with a hug as well. “you're even more beautiful than what Trent described you to us.” You blushed at that and you looked towards Trent who was also blushing mad.

“These are my brothers Tyler and Marcell.” He motioned to the boys who had similar features to Trent. You went over to them as they both pulled you into hugs.

“So you’re the girl T hasn’t shut up about, blink twice if your being held against your will.” Tyler joked and made you laugh.

“Yeah Trent how did you find a pretty girl like this,” Marcell commented as Trent glared at him to stop.

“Alright, boys let’s leave them to continue their date.” Dianne smiled as she tried getting the boys to leave you both alone.

“Actually it’s getting late, I should head back to campus before it gets too late.” You smiled as Trent just nodded.

“Alright well, I’m sure we’ll see you again soon.” She came over and hugged you as his dad and brother waved at you before heading upstairs. “You’ll drive her back I’m assuming?” She asked Trent and he nodded.

You said bye to her again and headed outside with Trent. Comfortable silence between the two of you as you entered the car.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t know they were gonna be home so early.” He apologized as you grabbed his hand and kissed the back of it calming him down.

“It’s fine really, I was gonna have to meet them eventually, we just got it out of the way quicker than I thought.” You giggled.

You both chatted the whole way back to campus and you told him to just drop you off in front of your building as he should get back home soon since he had early morning training.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to walk you to your room?” He asked for what seemed like the 100th time.

“I’m sure, now you should head home.” You replied giving him a quick kiss ready to hop out but he grabbed your arm and kissed you again, more passionately this time. You broke the kiss smiling.

“You really need to go now.” You said pushing his lips away as he pouted mumbling a ‘fine’ making you giggle.

“Goodnight beautiful” he winked as you closed the door and rolled down the window

“goodnight T” you smiled walking towards the buildings front door, waving one more time as you entered the building.

The whole ride back home Trent couldn’t wipe the smile off his face. Thinking about the way your lips felt on his, or the way you smile and blush when he compliments you. He was completely infatuated with you and couldn’t wait to see you again.

When he reached his house he jogged upstairs and into his room, getting ready for bed. Before he set off to sleep, he saw his phone light up with a text and what he read couldn’t help but make the smile from earlier come back.

I had an amazing time with you! Goodnight boyfriend ;) xx

[eldritchsurveys]

646.

How are you doing today? >> Could be better, could be worse. I’m still a bit depressed but I’m hoping it’ll even out. The Inworlders have been very helpful.

What was the best thing that happened to you today? >> Er... I mean, nothing. Nothing much has happened at all.

Which cell phone network are you on? >> Boost Mobile.

Do you like the smell of cinnamon? >> Sure.

What was the last book you've read? >> The last book I finished was a reread of PZB’s Lost Souls. I’m working on Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood right now.

Are you hungry right now? >> No.

What was the last thing you've had to drink? >> Water.

How often do you visit this website? >> This website? Daily. Bzoink? Whenever I need a new survey to take (not that I always find one, mind you. Bzoink is very hit or miss with a marked emphasis on “miss”.)

Do you like frogs? >> I mean... not particularly? They’re cool sometimes, I guess. Mostly they’re just... there.

Are you afraid of dying? >> Sometimes.

Do you like bananas? >> I hate bananas.

Name a movie that you hate. >> I didn’t like Meet the Spartans. That whole genre of movie should have stopped at Scary Movie.

Do you like the show American Dad? >> No. Maybe I just don’t get it.

What TV show do you miss the most that's no longer on TV? >> Galavant.

Are you currently fighting with someone right now? >> No.

Is your life full of drama? >> It really isn’t.

How long can you hold your breath underwater >> I don’t know.

Where's the last place you've been to out of state? >> Houston, Texas.

Have you ever been kissed in the rain? >> Probably.

What letter does your last name start with. >> D.

What are you listening to right now? >> Nothing.

Have you ever had a pet that died? >> Wasn’t my pet, per se. Vlad had a cat die whlie I was living there, and Sparrow’s cat died this past October.

Would you rather use a trackpad or a mouse? >> Depends on what I’m doing. For just using the internet or whatever my trackpad works fine, but when I’m gaming I obviously need a mouse.

Do you consider yourself politically intelligent? >> No.

Have you ever done any volunteer work? >> No.

Do you like the Beatles? >> No.

Is it night time where you're at right now? >> No, it’s early afternoon.

Do you like steak? >> No.

Do you eat healthy? >> I just eat, man. Whatever.

How often do you work out? >> I don’t.

What was the best gift you've ever received? >> *shrug*

Have you ever participated in a spelling bee? >> Yeah. When I was in fourth grade, I won the spelling bee in my school, so I was supposed to go on to regionals -- but apparently, fourth-graders were too young to go to regionals. I was the first fourth-grader to win in the school bee’s history so they’d never had to deal with that. My father raised a big stink about it because he said that if fourth-graders aren’t eligible for regionals, they shouldn’t have been allowed to participate in the school bee in the first place. Somehow this conflict was so interesting to people (or my father’s just such an adept big-stink-raiser, which is most likely) that it ended up in the newspaper and on the evening news. ...And no, I personally did not fucking care either way. This was just one more example of adults placing undue importance on something that did not matter to me and never would matter in the grand scheme of my life, and just shoving me into a spotlight regardless of my feelings. Also, fuck spelling bees as a concept anyway.

If you could have one wish right now, what would it be? >> ---

Do you owe anyone an apology right now? >> No.

Are you the jealous type of person? >> No.

Have you ever tried doing yoga? >> Yeah. It doesn’t quite agree with me, unless I’m just doing the wrong kind or something.

Do you like getting massages? >> Me? The person who hates being touched? Hmm...

Would you rather be too hot or too cold? >> I’d just rather not be in any kind of extreme weather condition, thanks.

Are you good at telling jokes? >> No.

When was the last time you've attended a sleepover? >> ---

Tell me one of your pet peeves. >> I’d rather not.

Do you wear glasses? >> No.

Do you like to keep your nails painted? >> No.

Have you ever had a pedicure? >> Probably, a long time ago.

What is your favorite smell? >> ---

Do you like the TV show Full House? >> Never watched it, not interested.

Would you rather listen to country music or rap music? >> I like both, so.

Are you a Duck Dynasty fan? >> No.

Have you graduated high school yet? >> Yeah.

What kind of person were you in middle school? >> I don’t know. Probably a socially maladjusted one doing its best.

Do you have any major regrets in your life? >> Meh.

Have you ever thought about running away? >> Yeah.

Do you like pixie sticks? >> Not so much anymore. But there’s still some kind of fun novelty about them, despite the fact that I don’t really want to pour pure sugar down my gullet.

Do you like French toast? >> I like it a certain way.

Are you a fast typer? >> Yes.

Are you good at doing math in your head? >> Some math.

Have you ever played with Silly Putty? >> Not to my recollection, but maybe.

Do you take in a lot of caffeine daily? >> No. Caffeine fucks with me too much.

Do you like watching Football? >> No.

What language do you wish you could speak? >> ---

Do you know a lot about history? >> Not a lot, no.

If we could travel back in time, where would you travel to? >> ---

Would you ever consider joining the military? >> I would literally rather die.

Do you think women should be allowed to have abortions? >> Yes.

Are you a cigarette smoker? >> Not usually.

Have you ever done something you didn't want to just to look cool? >> No.

Do you like zombie movies? >> Not usually. Shaun of the Dead and Zombieland were fun, though.

Have you seen The Hunger Games? >> No, but I’ve read them. I don’t like the casting choices in the movies so I don’t know if I’ll bother watching them.

Do you have a favorite piece of clothing? >> No.

Do you own any Uggs? >> No.

Are you wearing any rings on your fingers? >> Not right now.

Name a TV show that you absolutely can't stand. >> Meh.

Do you have any unusual talents? >> I don’t have any talents, usual or otherwise.

Do you look like your age? >> I don’t know what the fuck I look like age-wise and I don’t care.

Do you feel confident in a bathing suit? >> No, I don’t like bathing suits at all.

Do you do a lot of online shopping? >> Not a lot.

Do you like the Harry Potter films? >> Some of them.

Do you judge people based on their sexual orientation? >> No.

Have you ever been told you had an accent? >> I mean, probably.

Have you ever ridden an elephant? >> No.

Are you allergic to pollen? >> No.

Have you ever eaten sushi? If so, do you like it? >> Yes, and I like it fine.

Are you a fan of anime? >> Sure. Not every single one in existence, obviously, but there are plenty I enjoy.

Would you rather play Xbox or Playstation? >> PlayStation seems to have more games I like. But I actually prefer PC gaming.

Are you a big fan of seafood? >> Yes.

What kind of food are you craving right now? >> None, I’m not hungry.

Are you currently in a relationship? If not, are you happy being single? >> I am in relationships.

Do you depend on others for happiness? >> Obviously. People made the video games I play, after all. Just as an example. Also, since I’m not a complete hermit, obviously I keep company with other people for some reason...

Do you like to go fishing? >> Never been, probably wouldn’t care for it. Even video-game fishing is the worst.

Are you a fast runner? >> I don’t know.

Have you ever worked at a fast food place? >> No.

What's on your mind right now? >> The answers I’m giving to these questions.

Are you texting anyone as you're taking this survey? >> No.

Have you ever had a nasty rumor spread about you? >> Probably.

Have you ever sent someone sexual pictures of yourself? >> No.

Do you like who you are on the inside or the outside more? >> ...

Are you good at drawing? >> No.

Do you know how to dance? >> I don’t dance as a matter of skill, I dance as a matter of enjoyment.

What's your favorite reality TV show? >> ---

Do you think Kim Kardashian deserves to be famous? >> I literally do not care.

Are you excited for Christmas this year? >> It’s January, I’m not thinking about Christmas.

Do you celebrate Halloween? >> Not really. What would I even do? Most of the time we just help pass out candy at the Wayland house and that’s good enough for me tbh.

Have you ever had a concussion? >> No.

Do you pretend to be someone you're not? >> No.

Do you listen to heavy metal music? >> Yeah.

Were you sad when Michael Jackson died? >> No.

Do you have more upper or lower body strength? >> I don’t know.

Have you ever been in a tanning bed? >> No.

Do you like hot tubs? >> No. The only time I got into a hot tub I thought I was going to pass out and die. That is definitely not for me.

Do you know anyone who is battling cancer? >> No.

Have you ever donated money to a charity? >> No.

Do you get bored easily? >> Sometimes.

Have you ever peed your pants in public? >> Yeah.

Are you afraid of roller coasters? >> No.

Are you good at doing tongue twisters? >> I don’t know, moderately?

What was the last movie you've seen in theatres? >> Jojo Rabbit.

Have you ever been to a drive-in movie? >> No.

Are you good at doing fractions? >> Probably not. Luckily, I don’t usually have to do them.

What is your favorite holiday? >> Christmas.

Do you prefer Apple or Android? >> Android.

Would you rather have a tablet or a computer? >> A computer. I like having a full keyboard and more robust hardware.

Do you like things that are touch screen? >> Not really, but they can be convenient.

What age did you have your first kiss at? >> ---

Do you regret losing your virginity to whoever you lost it to? >> ---

Do you have a good relationship with your mother? >> I don’t have a relationship with my mother.

Do you like the color lime green? >> It’s okay. In moderation.

What are your plans for tomorrow? >> I have no plans for tomorrow aside from the weekly Cafe Boba thing.

Would you rather wear jeans or yoga pants? >> Sweatpants.

Do you like your clothes to be baggy and comfortable or tight and revealing >> A little baggy and comfortable. I definitely don’t want anything “revealed”.

Do you wish you could change something about your hair? >> No.

Have you ever gotten a makeover? >> Yeah, at a Lord and Taylor’s counter when I was seventeen, for prom. Ugh.

Do you get mad easily? >> Not unless I’m depressed.

Have you ever punched someone in the face? >> No.

Do you think the minions from Despicable Me are cute? >> I really don’t.

Did you have a Gameboy as a child? >> No.

Would you rather have chocolate or gummy worms? >> Gummy worms. Sour, please.

What are your favorite pizza toppings? >> Pepperoni and various vegetables.

Have you ever auditioned for a talent competition? >> No.

Do you make good sandwiches? >> They’re good enough for me.

Would you rather get high or get drunk? >> ---

Have you ever failed a drug test? >> No.

Do you like the Silent Hill movies? >> I liked the first one.

What movie scared you the most out of any other movies? >> ---

Tell me something you've been made fun of for in the past. >> Having big eyes.

What is one thing you need to work on to make yourself a better person? >> ---

Do you support war? >> No. It doesn’t need my support, though. It will always prevail.

[the-silentium]

Wait for me to come home Pt.2

Summary: Eddie keeps his promise and takes the reader on a date.

Part 1.

Pairing: Eddie Brock x Reader , Venom x Reader

Warning: Fluff

Words: 2880 words

A/N: Well, I wish you enjoy this one as much as the others ! Thanks for all your support guys ! Friday couldn’t be any longer. At first, couldn’t stop yourself from glancing at the clock of your office every five minutes. It takes you a good hour to stop doing that and finally get to work. You check your emails and get the order of the day. Your small company is affiliated with a famous journal in San Francisco, the Silentium Loquitur, that order photos to join their articles. The CEO was a good friend of your parents so you nearly grew up being in his house or having him at your dinner table. Your parents were proud of your work at school and showed him your portfolio. When you got out of college, he proposed you a place in his company, which you refused, wanting to explore the world, see all it had to offer you and wanting to know as much art as you could before settling down.

You had a wonderful time exploring the different types of arts, trying different techniques and meeting new people. In the end, you returned home, rented a small bachelor, worked for Silentium Loquitur for 5 years before creating your own business in a small local downtown. It started very slowly, but sure enough, your work was recognized and you now have a bunch of contracts. Your partnership with the SL journal has been a good push in the beginning. You made the majority of their photos, which permitted you over time to catch some good shots and now your name is recognized in the world of photography.

The activation of your screensaver gets you out of your thoughts. You reach for the mouse and finally read your photo subject of the day. A new art gallery dedicated to street art opens its doors this weekend and I think that it can interest you. Show the world how beautiful it is.  - Sam. You smile, excitement flowing through you. Sam is the manager of the visual department and you became good friend with him back in your year in the journal. You let Sam know that you will gladly do it and get the jacket that was inconveniently forgotten last night by a handsome not-so-stranger-anymore guy. You put it on, give it a good sniff to remember his smell and then you start your day, as happy as you have ever been.

—————————————————————-

Eddie is pacing his apartment, feeling as nervous as he has ever been. He never felt like this before ! He is so excited and happy, but afraid and nervous at the same time. He watches himself again in the mirror of his bedroom. He wanted to be casual, but not too much. He put some clean dark jeans on and a navy blue button-up shirt. He searched his jacket but eventually, remembered that he didn’t take it back from you.

“Eddie, we have to go if we don’t want to be late.“ Venoms says poking his head from Eddie’s shoulder.

“Yeah.“ Eddie passes a hand on his face, trying to relax.“Thanks for the reminder.“

Venom disappears into his body and Eddie put his old leather jacket on. He grabs his keys and helmet, and take off to your apartment. During the ride, he can’t think of something else than his plan for the date. He wants it to be perfect. He is so wrapped up in his thoughts that he doesn’t see that he got to your neighborhood.

“Eddie, you will miss her house.“ Venom says in his head, getting Eddie to focus again.

“Right. Thanks Ve.“

He stops in front of the building, gets off his bike and goes to the front door. He opens it and waits in front of the apartment indicator board. He finds your name on the list and takes a deep breath before pushing the button next to your name.

“Yes?“ came your voice. He felt nervous again.

“Hi Y/N, it’s Eddie.“

“Eddie ! Come on in !“ you say and Eddie hears a buzzing.

He grabs the door that leads him to the stairs and goes to your level. In front of your door, he doesn’t have to knock that you already open the door. His breath is taken away by your look. You wear a F/C knee-length sundress with black flat shoes but what makes his heart goes faster is your radiant smile.

“Hey.“ you say, feeling self-conscious under his stare.

Realizing it, Eddie clears his throat and return your smile. “You look absolutely stunning Y/N.“

You bite your lip, thanking him and returning the compliment.

“What’s the plan of the day then ?“ You really looked excited for this day and it relaxed him. You were looking forward to a day with him and he would not let you down on that. He had planned an entire day with you and luckily for him, the weather was on his side.

“It’s a surprise. You have nothing to take with you, except for your camera.“

Your curiosity just got up a notch, he could see it in your eyes. You get back inside, searching for your camera, while he takes a look of your apartment. Definitely not like his. Your bachelor was well decorated with drawings, paintings and photos, but the space was well organized that it wasn’t suffocating.

“Oh and I wanted to return you this.“ you say getting out of a room and holding out his jacket, the camera case in your other hand.

“Put it on. You will need it.“ Eddie replies.

You frown and put your head on the side a little. Eddie finds that extremely cute and wants to see it more often. When he says nothing more, you put it on and he stretches his hand to you. You take it without hesitation and close your door, following him. He likes the feeling of your hand in his. The warm, the softness, he reluctantly lets it go when you get to his bike. He gives you his helmet, put the rope of your camera case around his neck and gets on. When you finish attaching the gear, you get behind him, wrapping your arms around his waist. Eddie takes a deep breath and takes off. He is excited about this date and he can feel Venom in the back of his mind, purring a little, as excited as him.

—————————————————————-

The ride isn’t too long so don’t have much time to enjoy having your arms around the waist of your date. Wow, your date. Now that you think about it, it’s been a while since you got one. Your head was always in the clouds or your attention was concentrated on some photo subjects. You find it funny how you fell so easily for that guy back at the bar. You weren’t not that kind of person, but you guess that it was meant to be. In life, nothing happens for anything sweetie. You never really believed in your father moto before, but maybe, just maybe, it was really meant to be.

Eddie comes to a stop in front of a nice little park. You get up and remove the helmet, giving it to Eddie when he finally gets off his bike.

“So, mind telling me the plans of the day ?“ you balance yourself on your feet while analyzing your environment. You already came here before in winter to ice skate.

“If I tell you, I would ruin the surprise.“ he replies with this smile that doesn’t stop to make the butterflies in your stomach go wild.

You take his stretched hand and you both start to walk into the park. You feel like Eddie have somewhere in mind so you follow his lead.

“So, you are not just a photographer ?“

Your gaze meets his and you feel the heat rising to your cheeks.“Well, the photography is the only thing a do professionally. The others are just very frequent hobbies. But yeah, I like to play guitar and piano, sometimes I sing, I draw and paint. That’s it.“ You say chuckling to his surprised expression.

“Wow, you really are multi-talented“ You blush and put your attention on the trees surrounding you.

“Thanks. I started doing arts when I was young. I was always bored and had a lot of energy to give. My parents noticed that I was focussed on the little things of life and so they introduced me to drawing. They bought me a drawing beginner kit and I started to draw. I think that it took only a week for me to use all the papers I could find in the house and start to draw on the walls.“ you laugh along with Eddie. “After that, they introduced me to a bunch of other types of art and I chose my favorites. I studied art in College and went into a backpack trip around the world to discover new arts.“ You return your attention to Eddie and he looks impressed.

You both continue to talk about your hobbies and profession. After some time, you get to the other side of the park, where is situated a little restaurant with a nice terrace. Eddie leads you inside and the waitress shows you your table. Eddie reserved a place at the end of the terrace, where a majestic tree makes some shadow for you. Eddie being the perfect gentlemen pulls the chair for you and takes a sit in front of you. The diner goes well, with every minute passing, you know that you will need another date with him.

“Sometimes I can’t control it you know. Like when I was asked to do a good interview with the Life Foundation and did the total opposite. I knew they were hiding something and I just couldn’t let it go. Even now I don’t know if it was worth it. I lost everything I had after that.“ You frown. You know that he lost his job because of the Life Foundation, but journalism isn’t your big interest, you thought that he had bounced and got a new job elsewhere.

“Their loss. If they would have lifted their noses from their benefits for a moment, they would have known that they had one of the best journalists of our time. I know a journal that doesn’t fear to talk about anything. There is no taboo, just true information. I could talk to them about you searching for a job.“ Eddie’s eyes widen and you think that you overstepped some line. “Only if you want, I’m not forcing anything. Just proposing...“

He takes your hand over the table and gives you a radiant smile. “Only if you don’t mind doing it.“

“I wouldn’t have proposed it if I did.“ you chuckle.

“Thanks Y/N. I don’t know how I could repay you for that.“

“Get that job and gives to the population some shocking interviews, then we will be quits.“ you retire your hand from his and stretches it for a handshake.

Eddie laughs and shakes your hand.

After dinner, you return slowly to the bike, and Eddie takes you out of town. The ride is a bit long, but you don’t mind. You enjoy being close to Eddie and you watch the beautiful landscape of the countryside. After an hour or so, you finally come to a stop. There is nothing at the horizon, just you both. Eddie leads you to a hill where you see a picnic blanket with a basket on it.

You are totally impressed. You stop in your tracks, admiring the effort. There they are again, the butterflies. When Eddie realizes that you stopped following him, he looks back to you and smiles at your expression. He is proud, you can tell. You walk to him and take his hand to finally get to the blanket. He finally gives you your camera, and you understand why. The landscape is breathtaking. You just want to know how it looks at sunset.

You took some shots. “Wow, Eddie. It’s wonderful here. I like it. Thanks.“ You meet his blue gaze, full of affection.

“You’re welcome. I’m glad you like it.“

You decide to take some shots of him and you both start talking again. It amazes you how much you like talking to him. At a time, you decide to go for a little exploration with him and when you start feeling hungry, you return to the blanket and discover what he had planned.

“Sandwiches ?” You tilt your head to the side, a smile on your face, amused.

“Yeah.. sorry for that. I'm not that good of a cook and I.. well..yeah.” He blushes.

You understand. He has been without a job for 6 months ! Your bank account would be low too if you were at his place. To think that he put a lot of money into this date made you sad. He paid for the dinner, put extra gas in his bike to be able to take you out of town, buy stuff to be able to cook for you and what else you don't know ! You know he probably wanted to impress you, which worked, but he could have done that thousands time simpler because you realize it right now… What makes this day special...

“Eddie. Sandwiches are perfect. You know, you could have got me the moon or a single flower picked on the road and it wouldn't have changed anything about this day.” You take his hand in yours and bite your lip a bit. “You know, Eddie Brock, you just made me live the best day of my life and what make this day my favorite is because I got to pass it with you.” You pause, frowning. “And because you seem to know what my favorite brand of chocolate is.” You say, looking into the basket and pointing to the chocolate bar in it.

Eddie burst into a fit of laughter before wrapping your waist in his arms. He looks into your eyes and you lost yourself in his blue gaze. He put a strand of hair behind your ear and let his hand at the back of your neck.

“Can’t you stop of being perfect ?” He whispers, a smile at the corner of his lips.

At this moment, you really think he will kiss you. Like, he is slowly getting closer to you and all, but something past the collar of his shirt gets your attention. It's like a dark fine stripe, like a vein, but with the sun getting lower at the horizon, it could have been a game of light. You frown and try to touch it, but there is nothing there. You probably imagined it. Your eyes return to Eddie's and you think you see a small second of fear in them before he clenches his jaw and separates himself from you. Damn. You just kill the moment.

Or so you thought. Because in fact, Venom was as eager as Eddie to touch you that he slides past Eddie's order to not show himself in any way and tried to get a glimpse of your delicate skin.

You sit on the blanket and start eating your sandwiches which were good by the way, something that you don't miss to tell the cook. Right after, you found yourself cuddling the right side of the most handsome guy in the world, a hand on his chest, his head on yours watching the sun continues its descent. No one talks, just enjoy the moment. Then, when there is no light in the sky anymore, you spot something on the corner of your eyes. Your eyes widen and your excitement kicks in. Fireflies. A whole bunch. You get up on your elbow and grab your camera.

“I didn't saw those little guys in years !” You tell him, truly happy.

Eddie follows your line of sight and smile. How to better end a date but with fireflies ? Then, a tiny flash catches his attention. You caught a photo of him watching the bugs and it was perfect. When his gaze is on the objective, you take another one. Well. You have to change your computer wallpaper now. You put your camera aside and return in his arms. He wraps you tight and when you lift your head to meet take a look at him, he doesn't lose a second.

His lips meet yours and you melt into his touch. You can fully feel the affection into the kiss and it makes you grab his shirt tighter. After some seconds, you see a faint flash behind your eyelids and you broke the kiss to investigate. Your camera is pointing at you in Eddie's hand. He passes it to you and you go to the gallery. There is your first kiss picture. Not perfectly framed, but perfect nonetheless.

“Can you send me that one ? I will definitely need it if I want to survive a day without seeing you.”

You chuckle, kissing him again. You pass the night in each other arms, stargazing. At some point, you started to feel tired so Eddie takes you home. Little do you know that you weren't gripping onto Eddie's jacket for the whole ride back to your house, but some black symbiote that was happy to feel your touch on him.

[agustdef]

Here & Now - Chapter 11

Pairing: Yoongi x OC

Genre: Fluff; Chill romance

Word Count: 1,885

Warning: None.

Banner Marker: @dee-ehn​

The moment the clicking sound started up again I slapped my hand against my table, gaining everyone's attention. My eyes narrowed on Lexi, the reason for my sudden annoyance.

"Click it again, Lexi. Do it," I challenged.

Lexi dropped the pen the moment the words left my mouth. Her eyes went wide as she stared back at me, the rest of her body frozen. When she finally glanced around the others were also glaring at her, all of us tired of her incessant noise making. She took a chunk of her curly do and used it to cover her face, probably out of embarrassment.

Why she was clicking a pen, no one knew. She wasn't even using it, all her edits were being done via her laptop.

"And I think that means it's time for a break," Alex said, breaking the silence.

Everyone finished what they were working on and then there was a series of cracking bones. It sounded horrid, but it felt so good.

My brain felt like mush as I took a moment away from the chapter I was writing, but I knew it wouldn't last for long. It had just been some time since I'd been able to sit in an environment where everyone was working and I felt like trash if I wasn't productive like them. That was the purpose of our monthly meet-ups. Be around people we like and get work done. Any work. Though most were writing and revising things.

"Can I just burn the whole draft and hope that from its ashes a better one will emerge?" Max asked.

Goodness, how I wished that writing worked like that.

"If you manage to figure out which kind of magic allows for that please share with the group," said Spencer, whose voice was muffled by his hands.

Alex, who'd disappeared after announcing break, returned with everyone's chosen beverage. When she sat down my hot chocolate I almost downed half the drink before I felt the burn. I needed the placebo effect it had on me and my energy levels.

"Or you could write it and stop switching to that secret tab for that convention you keep saying you're not going to," Alex said.

Max gasped, hand against their chest in a dramatic fashion. It got a laugh out of everyone. We knew they'd been doing that for weeks now, claiming that they couldn't spend any more money and it was a waste. Yet, if you ever glanced at their screen the webpage would be right there, the mouse hovering over the buy tickets button.

"At least I wasn't switching between my draft and six other tabs, like someone I know." Max's gaze fell on me.

I scoffed, waving them off. "I was working thank you very much. I had some writing stuff to do and then some work stuff came to mind. I am allowed to multi-task."

"You had two docs of writing open and one weird looking program open, which I assume was for music. So, what was the second doc for, Kennie? Do share?" Max leaned in closer as they spoke, trying to peek at my screen.

Using my hand I pushed their face away and then darkened my screen so they couldn't see. "Nothing for any of you to know about. When it's time you'll know. I don't need y'all hyping me up and then I end up getting hyper-focused on it. I'm enjoying the carefree nature of writing it without pressure."

"And you don't want Ara to find out," Lexi added.

"And I don't want Ara to find out. So silence all of you." Even though I spoke to the group my gaze fell on Alex.

Her brow raised as she stared me down. "Why? What did I do?"

"You ratted on me last time when she asked you, don't think I forgot."

Like a fish her mouth opened and closed, her face screwing up as she became flustered by my words. I could even see a hint of red peeking underneath her brown skin.

"I... What? Do you expect me to lie to our precious agent? I could never lie to Ara. She's too precious. I refuse this. This is slander," she managed to choke out.

My eyes narrowed on her, though she no longer met them. She was avoiding them and every time she did look into them she quickly looked away.

Leaning in close I made sure she was looking directly at my face. "You sold me out for food."

Again she didn't seem to know what to say, but then she just shrugged. Dropping all attempts to make herself seem pure.

Lexi, Max, and Spencer just watched us and laughed. And then we all just sat in silence for a while, no one interacting unless to show someone a thing on their phone or to ask a random question that just popped into their head.

It was nice.

"I start work again tomorrow," Spencer huffed.

In the corner of my eye, I saw Lexi suddenly sit up. "Didn't your vacation just start?"

He shook his head. "It's already been a week, they go by so quickly. I feel like I just started to relax."

"The one time I got to take a two-week vacation was glorious. I miss working at that company," Max said, joining in on the vacation sadness.

"What are vacations?" Alex asked.

"Seconded," I said.

Without having to look up I knew they were all staring me down.

Max smacked their lips. "Um, ma'am you take them frequently. What do you mean?"

I rolled my eyes and turned my head towards the group. "Ma'am, I haven't had one in months. A few off days do not count."

They were silent and then Max gasped, looking at me with wide eyes. "Wait. Was your birthday the last vacation you had?"

Nodding my head I sat back and released a deep sigh. I didn't mind my constant working, because I had a flexible schedule and off days, but when I sat and thought about it a vacation would have been awesome.

"You need to get it together," Spencer said, while the others hummed in agreement.

Before we could go any further though my phone rang and though the immediate urge was to silence it, the ringer belonged to Marcus. So, sighing I picked it up and answered.

"Hello?"

"Hey. Sorry, Ken, I know now is supposed to be your creative outlet time or whatever it is you called that thing," Marcus rushed out.

"It's fine. We're on a break. What's up?"

"I know we aren't meeting for another round of offer eliminations for a few days, but I wanted to let you know that I got another revised contract for Def Jam, though they haven't made many changes." He didn't sound too enthused about it.

"Okay, just email it to me and I look over it again. I feel like I know what they gave in on and what they're going to ignore."

He sighed. "You're probably thinking the right things."

A small laugh escaped me. I'd shed some of my stress over the decision and found amusement in the way some of the labels were handling my acquirement. Most had no problem giving into my major concerns, but some of them just refused to budge; which made things easier.

"Was that it?" I asked just as my laptop notified me he'd sent it.

"Yeah. Wait, no. Did you finish going over the BigHit contract? I know it was a shock, but I'd prefer we get back to them sooner rather than later. I know I said we have time, but not that much time. It would be best to get it to them quickly so they can give it back."

For a second I froze. I'd had the contract for well over a week and for the last few days had been avoiding it. I couldn't explain why, but I chalked it up to the fear of change and left it at that.

"I..." I paused, chewing on my lip. "I, um finished it two days ago."

"Really?" Marcus asked, sounding shocked.

"Yeah."

There was a brief moment of silence and then I could hear him release a deep exhale. The man knew how to read me. "What's wrong with it?"

I glanced around the coffee shop, avoiding the eyes of my friends who were engaged in their own conversations. Looking at one of them always made me want to spill my guts out and I needn't do that.

But life didn't work how we wanted and Alex raised her brow at me as she stared into my soul and I broke.

I pushed back a stray strand of hair from an attempt at a braided crown and sighed.

"Nothing. Nothing is wrong with it. Well, okay. There are things wrong with it, but they're small things. Most of it is great and some of it beyond what I would ask in respects to my pay and control over projects outside of the company. Like too good. Like someone has been relaying some of my issues with the other offers to their legal team, and I've only complained to you, Hals, Yoongi with Joon in the room and my mother. And I wouldn't put it past 3 of those people. Or they're magic," I rambled.

"Or, perhaps - going to pitch a wild idea here so be ready - they see your worth and would appreciate working with you," Marcus reasoned.

I knew I was being a tad outlandish with that second claim, but my mind sometimes worked in weird things. Especially things that felt too good to be true and the offer was peak too good to be true.

"Send me the revisions and I'll look them over. And if you want we can go over it together before I send it in. You know I want you to make the best choices for you and if talking it through is necessary we can. I don't want you overthinking and regretting choices later."

Marcus was annoying as hell, but a freaking angel. He knew me well enough to know that sometimes I needed to be coddled. But he also knew when I needed a kick in the ass and how to do it while keeping things professional. Honestly, his professional agent side differed greatly from his personal life chaoticness.

Taking a deep breath I nodded. "Uh, do you have time tomorrow? I should be less weird then and we can do the usual quick run-through before you send it off."

"Yeah. Just email me the attachment and give me time before 2:00 pm for us to meet."

"Okay. Thank you, Marcus. I'll get that right over to you."

"Later," he said and hung up.

Without wasting time I pulled it together, got the email ready, checked my calendar and told him an 11:00 am meeting would work before sending it off.

I went to put down my phone and rejoin the group talking, but then it vibrated. The lock screen showed it was a message from Yoongi in the group chat with Joon.

Why are there pictures of my hands in here? Is this normal? Do you two have this fetish too?

I laughed so hard I snorted.