#and the thought of rivals!marvin saying 'a bastard is what you are' in response to something aysxdcfvgbfd

[crowned-ladybug]

Cover of Darkness

God titles are still not a Good Thing huh but turns out actually talking English all day is doing Wonders for my failing language skills. It kills my good ideas bc I’m tired as Shit from all the sightseeing, but writing? Going good!

I’m so happy

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OC blog is @menagerie-of-morons

Setting: Rivals AU

Characters: Jackie, Marvin

Ship: Marvin/Jackie

Word count: 2.3k

Warnings: none!

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“Why the Fuck is it so cold?!” Jackie curses to no one but himself, voice hushed as he resorts to talking out loud in his hopelessness, like the walls could hear his frustration and offer him an extra blanket. Which they obivously won’t do, he’s not sure if even Marvin’s magic could make them do that, in all honesty.

Why is it so cold, really? Did the heating break? Does this weird patchwork of a magic house just absorb and distribute heat weirdly and unfairly? Did an ice monster sneak into his room when he wasn’t looking?

The answer is, of course, that with some storms and a cold front rolling in, the temperature has dropped significantly, but he’s still been sleeping in the same clothes and under the same blanket as during a heatwave. He was even foolish enough to leave his window open for a while before going to sleep.

But right now, Jackie doesn’t care about boring things like logic. The only thing he cares about is that he’s Cold and he doesn’t enjoy it one bit.

He runs through his options in his head. He has no idea where the thicker blankets are put away for the summer and he definitely doesn’t feel like going on an expedition at 2 o’clock in the morning. If they’re in the attic, it’s even worse, he doesn’t want to know what the attic is like at night. A warm drink is out of the picture too, it feels like way too much effort right now and it’d only keep him warm for a bit anyway. He last saw the heating pad, which is pretty small anyway, in Anraí’s room, so that’s a no too.

The idea he lands on in the end is a pretty shitty one too, but it’ll have to do – use someone as a space heater. It’s shitty because he doesn’t like waking people up from their comfortable sleep, but…Marvin does owe him one for saving his ass last time they were out on a mission together. He can pay that debt with cuddles.

He wraps his blanket around his shoulders like a cloak and bunches it against his chest from both sides to keep it from dragging on the ground too much. For a moment he considers bringing his pillow too, but decides Marvin’s own giant one and the fact that his head might not wind up on a pillow anyway should suffice. And so, he sets out on his quest for not freezing his toes off while he sleeps.

He hisses through his teeth when his bare feet touch the cold tiles of the corridor outside his room. He tiptoes not because it’d make him any more quiet, but to keep as much of his skin off the tiles as possible. He’d fly, but with how clumsy he is, he’d probably bonk into twenty things on the way and eventually wake the whole house.

He shivers.

He feels like it’s a little excessive, but he can’t really tell his body to just stop doing it. He stills for a moment to let a big one run through him, then moves on.

Marvin’s door is shut but not locked, and this time he gets lucky and the handle doesn’t make any noise. Sometimes it clatters like a menace, and that’d be pretty detrimental to his stealth mission for cuddles right now.

As expected, the room is dark (and the window is closed, sensibly), and Marvin is nothing but a dark lump on the bed. Jackie wouldn’t be able to tell where his head is if it weren’t for his hair splayed out around him, covering most of his pillow and catching the moonlight streaming in from the window.

He wants to run his hands through it.

(He also wonders how Marvin can sleep with the moon shining right on his pillow, no doubt on its way to his face, but that thought is a little less romantic.)

He’d be a fool to hope for a sneaky entrace beyond what he’s managed so far – there’s no way he could worm his way under the blanket and snuggle up without waking Marvin in the process. Maybe if he just wanted to lie down near him he wouldn’t notice the dip in the mattress, but that’d do fuck all for Jackie’s current need for warmth. It however would make for an interesting experiment though to find out how Marvin would react to him having teleported into his bed during the night.

The door slips shut behind him without a sound.

Him sitting on the bed doesn’t wake Marvin. He decides to do this the merciful and polite way anyway, and instead of letting him wake up whenever he accidentally kicks him in the shin trying to get comfortable, he reaches out to shake his shoulder gently.

Then again.

Finally, Marvin stirs, groaning quietly and some of his hair draping over his face as he looks around. His tired, barely open eyes finally find Jackie, and something flashes in them after his brain catches up. He tenses ever so slightly, so subtle Jackie is sure he wouldn’t be able to tell if he didn’t know Marvin like the back of his hand by now. He feels it more than sees it.

“Is everything alright?”

“Yeah,” he smiles, small and reassuring, he hopes. He also hopes the moonlight is bright enough to make his features actually readable. “I was just cold.”

Marvin groans again, this time longer and more dramatic, and rolls back into the position he had been sleeping in. He’s very clearly unhappy with being woken up, now that he knows it wasn’t for an emergency. “And waking me up was your brilliant solution to that, huh?”

Jackie tries to defend himself, though he knows a sleepy Marvin isn’t the best partner for discussions. “Look, I’m tired, I’m not exactly a genius right now!”

“A bastard is what you are,” Marvin mumbles into his pillow.

Jackie scrunches up his nose, pretending to be hurt by that comment. It’s a shame Marvin doesn’t get to see his grimace, truly. “Shut up! I came here to cuddle, not to be insulted.”

“Sure then, go ahead,” Marvin says, voice still slightly slurred from his cheek being pressed into his pillow, but the only movement he makes is a shrug. Jackie’s pretty sure even his eyes are shut at this point.

He bunches up his blanket more on his lap, then starts untangling it and trying to figure out which ends are the shorter ones. He gives Marvin a displeased look as he finally shakes the whole bundle loose and tries to line it up right. “Wow, how cooperative.”

Again, Marvin doesn’t move an inch. “Listen, you got the consent. Doesn’t mean I’m gonna move.”

Jackie just sighs and rolls his eyes. Sometimes Marvin will be complaining and very near begging up a storm, tugging on Jackie until he surrenders himself as a teddy bear to get cuddled and kissed and squished to both their hearts’ content. Other times he’s just a tired, uncooperative lump.

Tonight is, obviously, the latter.

Jackie lies down on the wall side of the bed, kicking Marvin’s blanket out of the way as he goes, not wanting to lie on it and get it stuck and uncomfortable. He needs to get close to get warm anyway. Eventually he manages to worm his way not only under both blankets, but into Marvin’s arms as well.

At least that makes Marvin move finally, curling closer with lazy movements like he’s not even thinking about it, his arm around Jackie settling into a more comfortable position. Jackie stares up at him for a moment, though he doesn’t see much with the moonlight bright behind Marvin’s head, just the messy strands of his hair lit up like a makeshift halo around him. Still, it’s pretty, and maybe even more importantly, familiar.

He stares for a long moment, and he can just about make out Marvin’s closed eyes, lashes dark against his cheeks. Not being seen makes staring a hell of a lot easier.

He feels warmth slowly, lazily creeping under his skin. Not just from the closeness and being under two blankets, no, this is magic, familiar and comforting and belonging to Marvin. An act of concern and protectiveness, stemming from trauma but grown into a comfortable and comforting habit for the both of them.

Jackie inches closer, halting for a moment before he presses his face against Marvin’s neck. It’s warm, it’s sweet and affectionate and just a normal thing that happens during cuddling. He honestly means no malice by it.

So it really surprises him when Marvin tenses and squeaks, jerking away.

“How dare you!” Marvin hisses from a little farther away now, wide eyes gleaming in the moonlight before they narrow accusingly. He’s already worried he woke up the house with his squeaking, so he keeps his voice low, just in case he hasn’t. Jackie doesn’t react, and his tired brain searches hopelessly for whatever he’s done wrong. “Is your face made of ice cubes or something?!”

Oh.

Jackie snorts. “Fuck. I forgot that, I’m sorry.”

“Oh, sure you are. Gremlin,” he sinks back into his pillow where he is, which Jackie is honestly quite unhappy about. What happened to the agreed-upon cuddles? “Horrible gremlin, waking me up at fuck off hours in the morning, sneaking into my bed, freezing my neck…”

“I said I’m sorry!” Jackie laughs, trying his best to be quiet. He’d normally consider cutting off the stream of complaints by shoving his cold hands (he’s very much aware of those) under Marvin’s shirt, but now he’s just tired and cold and wants his cuddles as soon as possible.

“Prove it,” Marvin snaps back without hesitation, because challenge and rivalry are just as much in his blood as being a grumpy bitch in the middle of the night is.

Jackie pushes himself up to one elbow, leaning a little closer, and he sighs. “That is the dumbest fucking response you could’ve come up with for this.”

And before Marvin could try to argue, he closes the remaining distance between them (which is really not that much anyway) and kisses him. Well, at first it’s less of a kiss and more of just him smooshing his face against Marvin’s trying to find his lips, but the effort and the intent are there. It doesn’t take him long to get it right anyway, at least not with Marvin recognising that he’s not just being affectionately headbutted and instead cooperating.

And when one of Jackie’s hands finds the back of his head and combs through his hair, he just about melts.

One of the big pros of a sleepy Marvin: it’s pretty easy to un-grump him, if you know how. And Jackie definitely does.

“Fine,” Marvin breathes once they’re done kissing, which doesn’t take that long anyway. He’s definitely too tired to actually be a good kisser right now, and he can’t just let Jackie do all the work. He keeps his eyes shut, because he wouldn’t be able to see fuck all if he opened them anyway, and nudges his head forward until his forehead presses against Jackie’s. “I’ll forgive you.”

Jackie huffs a laugh, and their noses bump together. “Would you cuddle me then already? ‘Cause I’m still cold.”

“Sure. You can be very convincing when you try.”

Jackie laughs, but doesn’t say anything. He pushes himself up to sit with a parting kiss to Marvin’s forehead, which is awfully nice of him, actually. He makes quick work of arranging the blankets over the two of them again, as Marvin watches him work through tired, squinted eyes.

When he sinks back down, he immediately finds his place in Marvin’s arms. And the familiar warmth is there again.

“I won’t do that again tonight, with your neck, I promise,” he hums, smiling in a way that is very obvious in his voice. “Though I gotta say, you probably warmed up my face pretty well.”

Marvin yawns into his pillow. Jackie can feel the way his whole body tenses and relaxes with it.

“I doubt it,” he mumbles, clearly slipping closer to sleep with every word. “Wasn’t my best work, definitely. Gotta try again tomorrow and see.”

“Wow,” Jackie laughs. Marvin has never been as smooth with words as he seems to think (he’s much better at everything else that goes into flirting, really), but his sleepy stumbling is definitely just a whole new level of dorky. Endearing too though, he’s gotta admit.

He settles comfortably for the night, careful to keep his face away from any skin this time.

“Goodnight.”

The arm around his waist flexes for a moment, tugging him a little closer, as if there’s much closer he can be. Marvin sighs, sleepy. “Goodnight, love.”

Love. That’s not a pet name Jackie hears often. Marvin has more to his words than he likes to admit, and one example of that is how he addresses Jackie. Some terms of endearment are common and casual and not always reserved to romantic relations either with him. Others – sweetheart, love, treasure…they mean a lot more. They’re heavier, full of love and honesty. Vulnerable too, in a way, and that’s something Marvin very rarely allows himself to show.

Jackie’s learned to recognise them long ago.

He smiles, knowing not to mention the word but cherish it anyway. He sinks into a comfortable sleep after not long at all, and he doesn’t feel cold for the rest of the night.

[misssophiachase]

Set It Up – A kinda but not really Klaroline Fusion (like all my different fusions)

Caroline Forbes and Klaus Mikaeslon are working as assistants to the most demanding, rival NBA bosses in New York. From Macy’s to Madison Square Garden to the MGM Grand in Las Vegas can they stop bickering long enough to come together to make their lives easier?

All I do is Win

151 W 34th Street, New York, NY 

"Before you say anything,” he offered, holding his hand up to silence her. “He actually tried to fire a mailman today.” 

He being Mason Lockwood, the Brooklyn Nets owner. He was also notorious for being an arrogant, demanding bastard and then some. 

“And?”

“Mailmen work for the U.S. government!"

“Oh boo hoo, I don’t care, Mikaelson,” she replied gruffly, equally not caring but also knowing it was true and his boss was an ass. 

“Says the girl whose boss could give Cruella De Ville a run for her money.” He wasn’t wrong. New York Knicks boss Katherine Pierce was fierce, feisty and a real bitch at the best and worst of times.

“Exactly why I’m here to claim my blender that you have your grubby paws all over. I called earlier and put it on hold,” Caroline demanded, exhausted from the trek to Macy’s Department Store noticing he was already clutching it possessively.   

She took a few seconds to admire that his thieving ass was sort of attractive in that fitted, grey suit even if he didn’t know his proper place.

Five days ago she didn’t even know him but Klaus Mikaelson had made both an immediate and lasting impression on her, and it wasn’t a good one. She had always welcomed competition but his good looks were kind of messing with her resolve. 

Bastard.

She had no intention of letting him win.

Ever.

“But your name isn’t on it,” he shot back, refusing to relinquish her property. 

“Now, that’s extremely mature,” she scowled. “If I don’t get this exact gift for the Warner wedding my boss is going to kill me.” 

Yes, to some it was just your run-of-the-mill gadget that mixed ingredients together. But this wasn’t just any blender. This was the newest, state of the art Vitamix Blender that retailed at a jaw dropping $1198.

It also happened to be the last one left in Manhattan, Caroline knew given just how many stores she’d called in vain. She just hoped the Warners were grateful, if she managed to steal it from his greedy clutches of course.

“My boss will too given it’s a gift for his only sister’s birthday,” he shot back. “If you think I’m going to give up this blender without a fight you’re sorely mistaken.” 

Okay, maybe she had forgotten in her haste to put it on hold, oops, but Klaus didn’t have to know that.

“Only because you got caught out breaking the rules because I already put this on hold,” she bluffed, refusing to let him win.

“Okay fine, what do you want?” 

“I thought I made myself pretty clear, Mikaelson,” she growled, gesturing towards the blender.  

“What else do you want besides this blender?” 

They both held each other’s gaze for a full thirty seconds before each finally responded their resolve unflinching. 

“Disney on Ice tickets. I hear that the Under the Sea Christmas Spectacular is a huge hit in your borough.”  Brooklyn was most definitely a bad word she could never utter.  

“Seriously? That’s really what you want?”

“Deathly,” she hit back, rolling her eyes as she did it. “Surely you would have some contacts, you know if you’re actually a good assistant.” 

“Because I’m sure Katherine Pierce would love to watch a singing crab and one memory-less fish,” he scoffed. 

“She may be the Ice Queen but she also has thirteen impossible and incessant nieces and nephews. And last time I checked all fish were memory-less.”

“Well, then you’ve never met my Marvin.” Caroline was trying to ignore just how adorable he looked defending his goldfish one dimple at a time.  “Even so those tickets will cost me more than this blender.”

“Okay, so how about I sweeten the deal with some boxing tickets?”

“Not sure the local boxing round robin is his speed, love, so that’s a definite no.”

“Well, I suppose it’s your loss,” she drawled. “Hand over my blender then, Mikaelson.”

“You’re going to have to make me,” he replied jokingly. 

“Real mature,” Caroline reiterated, surprising him and plucking it from his grasp. She couldn’t miss the way his hand felt brushing against hers as she did. “I hope I never have to see your smug ass again.” She stalked away, hips swaying in her wake.

“Until I have to explain the missing blender,” he called out in frustration by way of response. 

“Because I’m sure a missing blender is going to be your biggest problem given you turned down Pacquiao vs Broner ringside seats in Vegas.”  

She made a mental note in her head. Caroline Forbes 1 - Klaus Mikaelson 0. Suddenly her hellish life as an assistant wasn't so bad if he was suffering too.

4 Pennsylvania Plaza, New York, NY 

Klaus Mikaelson was the type to hold grudges. It started when he was six years-old and his younger brother Kol stole his favourite toy and it had only grown stronger and more spiteful in the years afterward. 

Caroline Forbes was going to pay. Mainly because his boss hadn’t let him forget how pathetic he was to lose the blender he wanted to ‘a girl’ as he emphasised in air quotes. Klaus was far from chauvinistic and his boss was obviously still living in the dark ages. 

Caroline wasn’t just ‘a girl’ she was a pain in his ass and Klaus planned to bring her down and it didn’t hurt that it was her home game either. 

Rivals the Knicks and Nets were squaring off at Madison Square Garden and he’d been plotting his revenge ever since their last meeting. Sure, she was kind of gorgeous with those blonde waves and crystal, blue eyes but she was also his devious competition. And she was unrelenting. He had to beat her at her own game and he’d found the perfect way to do it.

“Glutton for punishment hey?” 

“Excuse me?” He shot back from their neighbouring, courtside seats. The pre-game arrangements were well underway. “Last time I checked the Nets and their staff have every right to be here, even if it is on enemy territory.”

“Unfortunately, yes,” she growled. “But it’s nice to know you are going down tonight.”

“Have you seen the ladder, Forbes?”

“You are one game ahead, after tonight that won’t be the case,” she scoffed. Klaus took a moment to peruse her outfit before arguing back. Even in her hideous blue and orange jersey she couldn’t help but look stunning. He decided to put it down to the fact her floral perfume was infiltrating his nostrils and messing with his composure. 

“Wanna make a bet?”

“I’m pretty good at those but if you’re game.”

“Oh I’m game,” he smirked. “The Nets win you get me those ringside seats in Vegas. And by seats, I’m going to need eight.”

“Wow, someone is wishful thinking, but yeah sure, not that you’re going to win,” she scoffed. “I cannot wait to witness the annihilation, Mikaelson.” 

Klaus didn’t even respond, just sent her a teasing glance and made his way to the changerooms to finalise everything. He had a good feeling that his team were going to take the win and Klaus would be on the way to Vegas for the big fight at the MGM Grand. His boss would forget that bloody blender ever existed. 

“In your face, Forbes,” Klaus celebrated hours later as the Nets crowd at Madison Square Garden continued to chant well after the final buzzer. She was shocked to say the least, still cute in defeat but he’d never admit it aloud.  

“This is all your fault,” she snarled. “You cheated.”

“Last time I checked I wasn’t on the court.”

“Yeah probably a good thing, you’d never actually keep up, lazy bones,” she snorted. “How about that whole surprise pre-game show where number one Nets fans Beyonce and Jay-Z just decided to belt out the Star Spangled Banner from their seats?”

“I had nothing to do with that,” he lied.

“You are the worst liar,” she huffed. “You know just how well it would be received and in turn boost team morale.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he bluffed. “The best team on the day won.”

“You are unbelievable,” she scowled. “Must really be desperate given just how much your job depends on it.”

“Is that what you say to make your situation better?” He shot back. “Didn’t think you’d stoop that low, oh hang on that whole blender situation was exactly that.”

“I guess I’m desperate,” she murmured, Klaus couldn’t miss the way her expression seemed so defeated all of a sudden. “My college loans are looming and I may have been a little dishonest under pressure because my boss wants to fire me all the time.”

“Story of my life too believe it or not,” he offered. “If only they could get on with their lives and not focus on every little thing that we do.”

“Hang on,” she murmured. “That might not be the worst idea you ever had, Mikaelson. How about we set them up together?”

“Mason and Katherine? That’s just a recipe for disaster. That much combined combustible energy cannot be safe.”

“Exactly why we have to do it,” she murmured, raising her eyebrows.

“So, I suppose I’ll see you in Vegas then?”

“If you’re lucky,” she chuckled, but given her tone Klaus knew she’d be there no matter what.  

MGM Grand, 3799 S Las Vegas Blvd Las Vegas, NV

“Okay, I sent the fruit basket to her room.”

“Aren’t you a romantic,” she drawled teasingly, barely looking up from her magazine on the bed as he entered. Klaus Mikaelson was the last person she expected to organise that. As much as she was attracted to him, Caroline was seeing no similar interests besides setting up their bosses. 

“Please don’t ever call me that. But, last time I checked you’d done absolutely nothing,” Klaus shot back. “And I won the last bet and everything. Time to show you care, Forbes.”

“Like sending an identical one hour massage voucher to both his and her rooms for the same time in the hotel spa?”

“I suppose that’s okay,” he mumbled.

“Why do I get the impression that you don’t like ideas coming from anyone but yourself?”

“Well...”

“It must be all that ego,” she groaned. 

“You really do hate me,” he asked incredulously, it was unusual for any female to think badly of him let alone abuse him incessantly. 

“For the most part.”

“Wow, aren’t you sweet,” he drawled. “So what are we supposed to do to pass the time?”

“Get your mind out of the gutter,” Caroline shot back. “How about something more intellectual?”

“Wow. Finally something we have in common,” he smirked triumphantly, as she produced a chess board. 

“I happened to be chess champion five years running in High School.”

“Well, don’t want all those potential but ignorant suitors knowing that fact,” he chuckled, sending a stray dimple her way. Caroline tried to pretend that it didn’t affect her but everything inside was telling her that it did. 

And she was scared of the foreign feelings it had caused.

But in true Caroline fashion she decided to push it aside so she could beat him at chess then deal with the consequences that were threatening to derail her feelings later. She didn’t get that chance though. In fact she was in a more vulnerable position than expected. 

“Check Mate,” he murmured, sweeping his queen across the board to take her king. 

She was stunned at first mainly because she never lost. Ever. But he seemed to know her and rather than unsettling her it was weirdly okay.

Bastard.

“We have a boxing match to get to,” she responded mechanically. His hand grabbed hers immediately, the warmth spreading through her body. “Need to keep an eye on our bosses after all.”

“Or we could do something else?” He offered, squeezing her hand affectionately. “My siblings are in town tonight but I’m going to warn you they are...”

“Nick’s Fans?” She asked. “I’ve certainly experienced them and worse.”

“You have no idea, in fact I think they’d be perfect company for Katherine and Mason.”

“Why do I get the feeling you don’t care if you lose your job right now?”

“Well, if you knew my brother Kol and his big mouth,” he teased. “But if you’d rather...”

“No, I’m starting to really like your brother Kol.”

“Well. then you’re really going to like my sister Rebekah,” he chuckled. “How about we explore Vegas some more? See what fun we can get up to?”

“I suppose it can’t hurt, right?” Caroline replied.

Famous last words.