#and tomorrow when me and my dad go out he's going to bee like ah you probably stayed up too late again huh

[catt-crossing]

love working a 10 hour shift and then immediately having to go and clean for another two hours cus my dad just. does not clean his home!

[kursed-curtain]

A Buzzy Day (And A Bit Of Melissophobia)

A Bee Boy/Dad No.1 fic

Sequel to a ficlet that @captmickey made

(Also on AO3!)

-+-

"And then Prince Bee-gonia knelt in front of King Beezle, who said," No.1 cleared his throat and spoke in an exaggerated, goofy accent that always made Graham giggle, "'You have proven yourself to be worthy of the throne. Don the honeycomb crown and rule over the kingdom even better than I have.' But when…"

No.1 looked over the book and at Graham - who was fast asleep already, curled up with his bee plush and squeezing its hand. Smiling, No.1 blew out the lights and closed the book.

Waiting at the door stood No.2. 

No.1 smirked. "So, how was my performance?"

No.2 clapped slowly, but quietly so as to not wake the child. "Encore, wow, you should go on tour," he said, his tone dry. "My head hurts just thinking about it."

No.1 started speaking in his King Beezle voice again, "If you like it so much, maybe I should do it more often. All the time, even!" His voice cracked and he was forced to quit the accent. "Although doing it for too long does hurt the vocal cords."

"Your buzzing is the most bearable," No.2 chuckled, "Besides, I thought you had a deathly fear of bees."

"I was exaggerating when I said it was deathly. I have a normal, rational fear of bees."

"Uh huh," No.2 started making his way down the hall. "And a normal, rational fear includes yelling and trying to swat at bees with a sword."

"I thought we made a deal to never speak of that again?"

"I never promised anything."

Silence from the opposition. No.2 rolled his eyes. "Are you afraid of the bees from the book, though?"

"Of course not," Scoffing, No.1 elbowed No.2. "The bees in the book are illustrated as fluffy balls with little faces. They have the same appeal as a rabbit. Additionally, unlike their real-life counterparts, these bees know manners and personal space."

No2 hummed. "Well, the little lad adores bees whether they're real or fake. Food for thought."

"The boy is fascinated with the idea." No.1 looked back, seeing Graham's bedroom door shrink as they walked away. "Has he ever seen a real bee? Maybe he doesn't know what he's actually getting himself into. We should fix that."

"...You know what? We should." No2 put his hands on his hips. "Then it's settled. Tomorrow, I'll show you both everything there is to know about real bees."

"That is not what I-" No.1 huffed, "Fine. You are not changing my view on the creatures, though."

"We'll see."

-+-

(There was a quiet tap tap on the door to the barracks. No.1 answered, realizing it was Graham - tears left over from crying.

"What happened?" No.1 rubbed Graham's back, massaging it.

Graham sniffled, "I- I had a bad dream. They took me away… And you didn't hear."

No.1 shook his head, then brought Graham into a hug. "I'm sorry I wasn't in the room to help. That is why you have Benson, right? To protect you when I'm not around." 

"I…" Graham broke into tears again. "I can't find Benny."

That explains it. "Come along. I'll help you."

The two headed back to Graham's bedroom. The bedsheets were a mess and the pillows were strewn across the floor. It must have been a terrible nightmare.

No.1 checked under the pillows, under the blanket, and eventually under the bed.

He pulled out a cylindrical plush bee, with a small smile sewn into it. Graham rushed to No.1's side and snatched up the stuffed animal, hugging it tight. 

"Benny says bzz bzzz!" Graham raised out the plush for No.1 to 'listen.' No.1 had told Graham he was a bee whisperer, or at least could understand what Benny was saying.

No.1 cupped his ear. "Ah, yes, that means, 'I'm very happy to have found you again.'" 

Graham giggled. "I'm happy too! I'm sorry I didn't see you."

"Ben says that it's alright," No.1 put a hand on Graham's shoulder, "But you have to look around more carefully and not panic."

Graham nodded, giving Benny one more squeeze.

They fixed up Graham's bed together, with Graham helping to pick up and fluff all the pillows, while No.1 tucked in the sheets.

"Ready for bed?" No.1 pat Graham's head.

Graham looked to the window and jumped at the rattling from the storm outside. He mumbled, "Can we sleep in your bed?"

It's less of a bed, but it's more space than offering to sleep on the couch. Plus, the boy looked like he needed it. "Of course." 

No.1 carried Graham and Benson back to the guard barracks. 

"Number Two has something in store for both of us, I've heard." No.1 brushed back Graham's curls. 

He expected Graham to be excited, but Graham was already nodding off.

Careful not to wake his fellow guards or the young boy, No.1 tucked Graham into bed, then he slipped himself under the covers too. He faced the blank, dull wall, the sheer boredom of it all setting him off to sleep.

Just before he could, though, No.1 felt two small hands grip him, with one draping over his side and holding tight to Benson's floppy body.

And his dreams flooded with color.)

-+-

Right after breakfast, No.2 brought Graham and No.1 to the small garden behind the castle. It was a little reserved space where No.2 grew his own food. The place was well-kept too, alive with an appetizing color, the place glittering green after last night's showers. No.2 set Graham down, letting him run around and have Benny smell the flowering fruits.

"Where's your demonstration, hm?" No.1 crossed his arms.

No.2 scratched his face. "I don't exactly remember…" 

"What do you mean you don't remember?"

"Eh, I spotted the hive near my garden a few days back, but I don't exactly remember where-"

A high pitched yelp burst from the direction of the strawberry plants. Both guards rushed to find Graham, frozen in place, with a bee on his nose.

This sent No.1 into a panic.

"We have to get that thing off right now." No.1 ordered through gritted teeth.

No.2 held No.1 back. "Leave it be."

"I can't just do that, he's going to get injured and it'll be my-"

A quick elbow to the ribs was enough to snap some sense into No.1.

The bee buzzed off as fast as it came, leaving Graham still stunned.

No.1 knelt at Graham's side. "Are you alright? Did you get hurt? Can you hear me?"

Graham simply stood there, gripping Benny, absolutely starstruck. 

"Woah."

No.1 pulled Graham into a hug. 

"...Are you alright?" No.1 looked Graham in the eyes.

Graham nodded fervently. "I… I got to see a real bee up close. I love it!"

That just left No.1 even more frazzled.

No.2 knelt next to them, giving a knowing side-eye to No.1. "Tell us what you saw, lad."

"It had small legs, and a fluffy body, and… I could see the stripes on its rear really well," Graham babbled.

"That's a honeybee, then!" A voice called from behind. 

The three of them turned to see Larry and Kyle marching up to them. Larry grinned, "They're the best with pollinating the imported plants we get in Daventry."

Graham made grabby hands towards the duo. "Uncle Larry and Uncle Kyle!" 

"Good morning, you two." No.1 stood, stiff-spined, when he saw Kyle and Larry, "What brings you here?"

Kyle started off. "Well, we were out on patrol as usual-" 

"When we heard the buzz about a beehive behind the castle-" Larry added.

"So we followed all the clamor-"

"And now we're here!" 

Larry tapped Kyle on the head with a small tube. Kyle nodded at the signal, kneeling down so Larry could unfold his cane and step off. 

"It's a much smaller hive, so that means they're a new batch of bees," Larry rambled, "They found a good source of food, and that nook in the tree, and set their home up here."

Graham 'flew' Benny around to mimic what Larry was talking about, letting Benny fly around the garden.

Kyle hoisted up Graham onto his shoulder, then let Larry continue, "We best stay back here and simply watch. Bees sting when they feel threatened. Let the worker bees do their stuff."

"Workie bees?" Graham perked up.

"Bee hives are kind of like a kingdom! You have workers, guards, bees to take care of children, and even a queen." 

"Oohh… queen bee!"

"Exactly!" Larry chuckled.

No.1 approached with a finger and thumb to his chin. "Where is this knowledge coming from? I just want to… verify the sources."

"Source? Well, sir, I hope personal experience counts," Larry gives a quick salute, "My family owned a beehive to help with my pa's flowers."

"Owned?" No.1 and Graham blurted in unison - with No.1 in fear and Graham in awe.

Kyle grinned, "That sounds great! I wish I got free hon-"

No.1 put a finger to his lips. "Don't give the boy any ideas."

Kyle mimed zipping his lips and throwing away the key. Larry winked and Kyle's face turned red.

"I think I should build a beehive here, after I've done a bit of research. It would be beneficial to the garden - and maybe Mister Bee-Swatter needs some exposure therapy."

No.1 scowled. Larry adjusted his armor, "I would be glad to assist if need be!"

Graham squealed, flailing his legs and buzzing with glee.

"See, sir? The boy loves the idea~" Kyle singsongs, bouncing Graham slightly.

No.1 opened his mouth to speak but all that came out was flabbergasted gibberish.

"He's not in charge of what we do with the area anyways," No.2 turns his attention to Kyle, Larry, and Graham, "We'd have to consult the king about that."

Graham made grabby hands towards No.2. "King!"

Larry made the mistake of making eye contact with a speechless, practically pissed off No.1. "You know what? Let's go now, like now now." Larry tapped the back of No.2's leg with his cane, Kyle put Graham into No.2's arms, then both made a run for it.

And No.1 just watched them walk away with a new grand scheme.

[holylulusworld]

His mistake

Summary: Jealousy doesn’t suit him.

Pairing: Ex!Andy Barber x Ex!wife Reader

Warnings: angst, mentions of a divorce/breakup, jealous Andy, strong-headed reader, fighting, bad behaviour in front of kids, daddy Andy

Divider by @firefly-graphics

The room is filled with music, happy voices, and the laughter of children. Still, Andy cannot smile or be happy. Not even at his twin’s birthday.

He’s looking your way, inhaling sharply as a man tries to chat you up. Andy knows he’s got no right to be jealous. It was him telling you things won’t work out, and that he wants to try getting back with his ex to raise their son together.

That was, of course, before he got to know that you are having his baby. Andy believed you are not ready to have a family with him. Now he knows better.

After he realized his mistake, and things didn’t work out with Laurie, he tried to win you over again. But stubborn as you are, he didn’t get a second chance. You won’t let him fool you again.

Now, three years later he can only stand on the sideline while you chuckle at something the man said. You smile softly and offer a slice of cake to one of the single dads at the birthday party of your children.

“This is a birthday party for kids,” Andy mutters under his breath. He looks your way again, sighs, and looks away.

Andy closes his eyes for a moment to get the images of you with some other guy out of his head, but the anger won’t fade. No. There is this angry little man in his head telling him to go over there and get you back.

Your voice, so soft, fills his ears as you talk to the man. Andy cannot help it. He watches you and that stranger talk. He clenches his jaw and swallows thickly as you finally look his way.

“You okay over there?” one of your neighbors asks Andy. “You look like you are about to rip someone’s head off.” He chuckles. “Ah, I see. You finally know what I’m talking about when I see my ex with her new boy toy. Now that the twins are getting older, your wife will go back to dating.”

“Not now, Gary,” Andy grits out. You turned around to talk to another man, and now, his blood is boiling. If Andy doesn’t watch out, he’ll break the phone in his hands into two halves.

“I’m telling you, man, it’s hard. Imagine she fucks one of those suburban dads,” Gary shudders. “Your ex is a beautiful and sexy woman. No wonder all of them are lusting over here. Everyone but me. I respect you too much, Andy.”

“Thanks, I guess,” your ex-husband huffs. It’s worse enough he must watch random guys hit on you. Now your neighbor wants to give him advice on coping with the unavoidable.

“Daddy!!! DADDY!” your twins run toward their father. He chuckles and picks them up, still, his eyes are glued to you and the next father chatting you up. You look like a queen bee surrounded by drones wanting to impress you. “We want cake! We want cake!”

“How about we go over there and ask your mom for some cake?” Andy smirks. He knows you won’t ignore your children.

“Mommy!” Andy Jacob calls for you. He whines as you take too long for his liking. “Mommy,” your daughter joins her brother. She’s calling for you, holding out one chubby hand.

“Aw, my babies,” you leave the man’s side, promising to talk to them later. “Look at you two.” You coo. “You have grown so much.”

“Mommy, we want cake,” your son sniffles. “Can we eat cake with daddy and you? Please. I wanna have some cake.”

“You’ll get some cake, Babyboy,” you gently run one hand over your son’s head. “If your daddy wants to join us, he’s welcome to sit at our special table.”

“The birthday table,” your daughter happily babbles. She cups Andy’s face and looks up at him with doe eyes. “Daddy, will you make us pancakes in the morning? Please?”

“Your dad needs to work tomorrow,” you softly say. “He doesn’t have the time to make us breakfast. Your daddy has a lot on his plate.”

“My family is more important than work,” Andy grumbles as you walk toward the table. “I told you so more than once.”

“Says the man who never makes it to a doctor’s appointment or a play date with their friends. It’s a wonder you came in time to celebrate their third birthday. Work always comes first to you.”

You help your twin sit on the chairs before you pull your ex-husband aside. You don’t want your children to hear their parents fight.

“It’s all I got left,” he doesn’t want to argue today. It’s partially true. After Laurie and he didn’t work out, and you refused to take him back, all he got left was his career. “I only get to see them when it’s my weekend. You won’t let me…”

“Do you really want to fight right now, Andy?” you give him a warning glare. “If I may remind you, this is all your fault. You left me for your ex and filed for divorce. I wanted nothing more than having a family with you.”

“Every time we fight you bring Laurie up again,” Andy grits out. “I tried anything to make you see that I only love you, and the kids. It was a stupid mistake. I don’t expect you to forgive me, but don’t act like you only think about our children while you shamelessly flirt with all the dads at our babies' birthday party.”

“How dare you!” you wrap your hand around Andy’s wrist to drag him out of the living room. “I was simply talking to our guests. And yes, they were all men. I’m sorry if you feel threatened by men being nice to me.”

“You almost pounced on one of them,” he bites back. All damns break and Andy can’t stop the words before he spats them at you.

“I’m a woman and didn’t have sex for the better of three years as I was busy raising our children alone,” you yell. “Excuse me if I have needs too. Maybe I want to feel desired after giving birth to our twins.”

“I told you that I want to do more. You won’t let me,” he argues. “I’m telling you all the time that you look beautiful, and that you are the only woman I want.”

“Why did you leave me for your ex then?” you cock your head. “Huh? Cat got your tongue Mr. Super-lawyer.”

“Y/N, can we just not fight right now?”

“You started this,” you talk about. You sigh and cover your eyes with one hand.

“Listen…I’m sorry. Can we go out there, eat cake and act like you don’t hate me?” Andy asks. “Please.”

“Give me a minute,” you sniff.

Andy reluctantly leaves you alone as you take a few deep breaths. You will go back to the birthday party, make your kids happy, and pretend he didn’t just hurt you all over again…

Tags in reblog.

[whisker-biscuit]

The Birds, The Bees, and The Bottles

Fandom: Psychonauts

Rating: T for mild language and discussions of underage drinking

Summary: Two teens are caught trying to sneak into a bar. Bob finally has a conversation he’s held off for far too long.

Because herbaphony is not the only thing that runs in the Zanotto family.

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

Bob’s phone rang at two in the morning. Judging by the jolly ringtone of Helmut singing Strawberry Fields Forever, it was his personal phone instead of his work one, and that was the real tip off to things being very, very wrong.

He woke up and groggily pulled out of his still-slumbering-husband’s arms to answer the little thing going off on his nightstand.

“H’lo?”

“Bob!” Truman’s voice came out far too loud for the time of night, and far too stressed. “Bob, I’m so sorry to wake you, but something happened with Lili. I need you to pick her up for me, please.”

The older man sat up, much more awake as worry and fear immediately rolled in his gut. Helmut finally began to stir beside him, sensing his partner’s agitation.

“Truman, what’s going on? Pick Lili up from where?”

“The city’s police precinct on Abbey Avenue. She – she called me, but I’m out of state and I wouldn’t get there for hours at least even if I left this instant. She’s not in danger!” He added hastily, hearing the concern before Bob could even voice it mentally. “She didn’t get hurt! She’s just…”

The way he tapered off, the way he hesitated, said more than words could.

“She just got herself into some trouble, and she needs someone to go get her.”

Helmut was sitting up now, and Bob felt the question cross their mental link.

 What happened?

 Truman needs me to pick Lili up from the police station.

“I’m up, I’m on my way right now,” He responded to his nephew verbally, heaving himself out of bed. His husband followed suit despite still looking extremely puzzled, bless him.

“Thank you so much, Bob. I’ll make it up to you as soon as I can, I promise.”

“Don’t worry about it.” The older man waved a dismissive hand even though Truman wasn’t there to see it. “Family is s’pposed to do that for each other anyway.”

“Did I hear that right? Our peppy petunia had a run-in with the law?” Helmut asked as soon as his partner hung up. He paused, and in a lower tone – “she didn’t kill anyone, did she?”

“I don’t think it’s that serious,” Bob said, pulling a coat on over his sleep shirt. “But something tells me we still have a few things to worry about. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“Ohohoh, no, don’t even think about hoofin’ it without me. We both know I’m the better driver.”

“Neither of us are very good drivers, Helmut.”

“Exactly! That little bit makes all the difference!”

The herbophanist sighed, charmed despite himself and the situation. “Alright, alright. Let’s not keep her waiting.”

The police precinct was nearly dead at this time of night. While it would’ve felt eerie to anyone else, Bob was grateful for the lack of people, and not just because he was still an introvert of the highest degree.

Two teenagers awaited them in the lobby, sitting on a bench together. One was hunched over and burning a hole in the ground with his downcast eyes. The other sat straight up, defiant, holding a glaring contest with the officer standing over them. When Bob entered the room first and met his great-niece’s eyes, her self-assuredness wavered for a brief moment. She hid the slip-up behind a wall of indifference.

“Lili,” he said softly. Then, just as softly but with a gruff tinge of surprise; “Razputin.”

There was no accusation in his voice, but the former scowled harder and the latter looked like he wanted to employ his invisibility. Bob studied them both a moment before his husband appeared and broke the tension with his mere presence.

“We’re here to bust you out, kiddos!” He announced with spread arms, cheerfully ignoring the looks he received from every person in the room.

“Are you Truman Zanotto?” Asked the officer who finally broke his gaze away from Lili to give them a disapproving once-over.

“No, I’m uh, I’m Bob Zanotto, and this is Helmut,” came the awkward reply. “Truman called me to pick Lili up. She’s my great-niece.”

A few seconds of silence passed as the officer made no move to do anything with that information. Bob cleared his throat.

“We’re, uh, listed in her emergency contacts for school?”

“I see. If you can just fill out some paperwork first, we can release her into your custody.”

The herbophanist watched the way Raz seemed to sink further in his seat at the mention of family contacts. The Aquatos were also out of state right now too, if he remembered correctly. Perfect timing for two minors getting up to mischief.

Well, up until they were actually caught.

“And…Razputin, too?” He asked, catching the teen’s startled gaze and giving him the mental equivalent of a thumbs-up.

The officer raised a brow. “Is he related to you, too?”

“Well, uh –”

“Yep!” Helmut interrupted, strolling right up to Raz and giving him a merry clap on the back. The teen had a physique comparable to most adult Olympic athletes, but even he nearly toppled forward from the force of such a big man. “He’s my third cousin, twice removed. Big family. Very close. Holidays are an experience, lemme tell ya!”

“Fine,” the officer pinched the bridge of his nose. “Fine, okay, I’ll make sure he gets cleared for release too. I’ll be right back.”

He stalked off, muttering something about it ‘being too damn early for this’, and the older couple turned to face Raz and Lili. Helmut steepled his fingers together to rest against his mustache.

“So! Now that Officer Spoil-Sport is gone, are we allowed to know what heinous crime has been committed in the night by my favorite pair of mischief-makers?”

The two glanced at each other. Raz was the one to break their silence.

“We, uh…got caught sneaking into a bar.”

Cold heat rushed through Bob’s core. Helmut blinked once, twice, then let out a boisterous chuckle.

“That’s it? Jesus! From the way you two were acting I thought you’d robbed the First National Bank.”

“…Helmut.” His husband murmured. The psi-king lost his mirth as he caught Bob’s eye.

“Ah…w-well, y’know, while I’m certainly glad we won’t hear about a righteous homicide in the news tomorrow, forgery ain’t exactly a humble hobby either.”

“It was just two IDs,” Lili muttered under her breath. “Not a big deal.”

The ice in her great-uncle’s heart turned frigid, but before he or Helmut could say anything to that, the officer was back. He shoved a handful of forms under Bob’s nose and the herbophanist fumbled to grab them before they all tumbled to the floor.

“Uh, uh, thank you.”

“Alright, we’re putting the pause on this conversation to make you free citizens again, but don’t think that means we’re done with it.” The Psi-King gave the teens the sternest look he could manage. “As soon as we get in the car, you two will have a lot of explaining to do.”

“O-Okay.”

“Uh-huh.”

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

No one spoke a word as they got in the car and started the drive back.

Raz seemed content to continue his efforts to blend in with the background of his seat, still not meeting anyone’s eyes, and Lili stared out the window with her chin in her hand, leaning against the car’s backdoor and letting the lights of the city bathe her in neon sickness.

Helmut, bless his soul, dutifully kept the radio going while he drove, changing the station to something more mellow whenever a song started getting a little too upbeat for the collective mood of the vehicle. Bob sat in the passenger side with his arms folded awkwardly. His brain was buzzing, dreading the inevitable conversation he needed to have with his great-niece and trying to figure out how he was going to go about it.

It surprised them all when Raz spoke over the music.

“It was my idea.”

The two adults glanced at each other, then through the rearview mirror at the fidgeting teen.

“Your idea to go looking for a drink? Or to sneak into a bar to do it?” Helmut asked, turning off the radio.

“Both.”

He still wasn’t meeting their eyes. Bob sighed through his nose.

“I don’t believe you.”

Razputin’s head finally snapped up to stare at him in shock for the fast call on his bluff. “I’m telling the truth!”

“I think you’re only telling part of it, kid.”

“No! I’m telling all of it.”

“Razpu-”

“Oh, come off it, Raz,” Lili snapped a little too loud, making the whole car jump. “Quit trying to take the fall for me. It was my idea to try the stupid fake ID thing, okay? Happy now?”

“Wh – uh, who said anything about being happy about it?” Helmut asked, legitimately confused.

“Look. Neither of us had anything to do tonight, and we were bored, so Raz suggested getting a drink somewhere, but Adam and Lizzie are out of town so we couldn’t ask them.” She crossed her arms and spoke without any inflection. “So, we went out but no one would let us do anything cause we’re minors. I thought that was stupid, because we’re agents same as any of you, so I came up with the sneaking-in part. We only got caught cause one of the bartenders recognized Raz from a show.”

There were a lot of loaded things to parse through from that explanation, but Bob’s mind stalled on one particular detail.

“Adam and Lizzie give you two alcohol?”

“Not…often,” Raz admitted. “Just once or twice, when we asked.”

“Do you mean like, a literal once or twice, or a…an estimated once or twice?”

“Did Dad put you up to this?” Lili shot back. “It was just a few times, like he said. What’s with the inquisition?”

“…Lili –”

 “Raz.”

“Okay!” Helmut proclaimed as he slapped his hand against the steering wheel in boisterous aggression. “Who wants some ice cream?”

Everyone stared at him, dumbfounded.

“Cause I’m really feeling some chocolate-vanilla swirl right now. Basic bitch style. Right? Who’s with me?”

Silence.

“Great! Look at that, open Dairy King right there, better take advantage of this opportunity before it slips through our fingers like the melting ice cream we’re all gonna have in about five minutes!”

The psi-king swung into the parking lot in a frenzy and herded the car crew inside before any of them could come out of their shock long enough to protest. It was only as Bob was staring up at fifteen flavors of oversaturated sugary goodness that he realized what had just happened.

He couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief over his husband’s diversion. The tension that had been boiling over was cooled significantly by the sudden non-sequitur, and while the teens were rather half-hearted about picking out their sweet treats, there was no longer a risk of an explosion happening.

Metaphorically and literally.

Helmut caught his spouse’s eye with a meaningful look at Lili the moment all of them had their orders in hand, then slung his arm around Razputin’s shoulders and steered him away. “C���mon my lad! Nothing like the cool night air of three in the morning to keep your Hurricane ™ properly chilled!”

The poor boy had no choice but to let himself be pulled outside, leaving the two Zanottos standing awkwardly in the dingy restaurant. Bob gave a nervous scratch at his chin under his beard.

“How about we, uh, find a seat somewhere?”

Lili couldn’t fully cross her arms while holding ice cream, but she did a good job of making it work anyway. “Sure.”

They sat in a booth in the farthest corner from the front counter. Both great-niece and great-uncle stared at their respective sweet treats as if they could teleport them out of this situation. Bob glanced out the window and saw Helmut and Raz standing outside of the car. The former was on one knee with his hand on the teen’s shoulder, speaking earnestly but inaudibly, and the latter was scuffing the toe of his sneaker against the asphalt.

“Are you going to lecture me?” Lili finally cut through the silence.

Bob turned back to her. “No. Not really.”

“No?” She broke her gaze away from her ice cream just a little bit, eyeing him with surprise. “Then why did Helmut take Raz and leave us alone?”

She was so perceptive, so smart. And yet, still so young.

“Well, I… I still want to talk to you about what happened. I’m just not very, good, at this kind of thing.” He took his spoon and absentmindedly began drawing a flower in his soft-serve. “You already know what you did wasn’t a good idea, right? So I don’t think a lecture would help things any on that front.”

She didn’t respond. He continued.

“It’s less about the fake ID and more…the reasons you made the fake ID. Does that make sense?”

“I guess so, but I know what I’m doing, Uncle Bob. I’m not going to drink irresponsibly.”

The herbophanist shook his head. “But you’ll do irresponsible things to be able to drink in the first place.”

“That’s not –” Lili didn’t have a good rebuttal. She folded her arms and grumpily started eating her cherry chocolate delight. “Whatever. It’s two different things, anyway.”

Against his better judgement, Bob began picking at his own food as he thought about how best to bring the subject back up without making the teen defensive again. Spoons clicking against teeth was the only sound between them for a solid minute.

Finally, an epiphany.

“Did Truman ever…tell you anything, about your great-grandma?”

The girl paused with a bite halfway up to her mouth. She frowned, confused. “Grandma Tia? Not much. Just that she died when he was a baby.”

“Yeah. Yeah, she did.” He ran a tired hand over his face. The ache in his heart might have long-since healed into a scar, but that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt when pressed. “She passed away when I was nineteen. The doctors told me it was liver failure.”

He didn’t have to say anything else. Lili’s mouth thinned and she put her spoon down, uncomfortable.

“When I…found out the reason behind her death, I was horrified by it. It didn’t make sense to me why she would willingly do something that hurt her so badly, especially when I was right there to love her and help her. It felt like a betrayal that she never got help or made herself stop. I was…disgusted by the mere thought of doing anything like that.”

Bob took a moment to breathe and wipe his eyes. He wasn’t crying, but better safe than sorry.

“It sounds pretty hypocritical when I say it now, doesn’t it?”

His great-niece only gave him a hesitant look.

“Anyway, uh, where was I…” He worried his lip. “Oh, right. I told myself that I’d never touch the stuff after that. I was angry at what she’d done, and I was determined not to have the same ‘weakness’, so to speak. As you know, it, uh, it didn’t last long. I was at a college party barely a year later when I was invited by some friends to drink with them. I didn’t make human friends very easily back then – actually, I still don’t – so I was a little desperate to keep them. It turned out to be pretty hard whiskey, so I got hammered.”

The man leaned back in his seat, staring at the patterns in the booth table.

“Back then, no one really knew how alcoholism could run in a family. Everyone thought it was a personal choice to keep drinking. It wasn’t even classified as an addiction yet. So I didn’t know how susceptible I was, or how careful I had to be. I’d spend months not having a single drink, thinking I was fine and could handle myself, and then I’d get plastered for a week at parties and bars and God knows what else, and it would take me even longer to get myself to stop again. It was like that even when I was with Ford and his gang. It wasn’t until I started dating Helmut that I started trying to change those habits. I’d never met anyone who loved me so unconditionally that I wanted to be a better person for them, until him. And it worked for a while.

“Well, barring our wedding, of course. I got shitfaced at the reception. It was embarrassing afterwards, but Helmut told me it made our cake-eating ceremony a hell of a great time.”

Lili snorted, and it was accompanied by a tiny upturn of her lips. Then it dropped as her expression became solemn. “And then…everything with Maligula happened, right?”

“Yeah. I think you know the rest of that story.”

“Uh-huh.”

Great-niece and great-uncle sat together for a while, just thinking about it all.

“I know I have to be more careful drinking than a lot of people, Uncle Bob,” Lili finally said at length. “My dad warned me about it when I was old enough to ask.”

“Truman is a good dad,” he murmured in response.

“The best dad.”

“Definitely the best dad.”

More silence.

“I didn’t mean to worry you and him,” she continued. “Or scare you. I know it was dumb to do what we did tonight.”

Bob looked at her, and she gave a conceding sigh.

“Okay, it was dumb to do a lot of what we’ve been doing with this stuff. That doesn’t mean I’m not being careful.”

“Kid, it’s not always just a matter of being careful. I thought I was being careful. I thought that for years and years, and when I finally realized I wasn’t, I convinced myself I could stop any time I wanted to, and kept up the same patterns anyway. That’s what I’m trying to get you to understand. I just don’t want you to make the same mistakes I did. I’m just worried about you.”

Lili closed her eyes with a grimace. “I know. I’m sorry, Uncle Bob.”

“Hey, kiddo, look at me.” He waited until she did so. “I’m not mad at you. I’m not disappointed, either. That’s your dad’s job. I get it, is what I’m saying. It gives you a buzz, and it’s fun and exciting, and you just wanted to have a good time with your, uh…”

Bob leaned in a bit, and dropped his voice to a stage whisper.

“Is Raz still your boyfriend?”

“Wha –” her cheeks went red. “Yes, he is!”

“Alright, sorry, I’m just always out of the loop. No one ever tells me when these things change or not. Anyway,” he continued before she could get brighter than the cherries in her ice cream. “I’m just saying that you gotta be more than careful with this kind of thing. Everyone should be, really, but especially people like us. Plants aren’t the only thing that runs in the Zanotto family, unfortunately, so we just have to be aware of it and act accordingly.”

The teen turned this over in her mind. He could practically see the gears moving. When she looked at him again, it was with a slow, contemplative nod.

“No more late-night bar-hopping?” Her great-uncle asked.

“No more late-night bar-hopping.” She answered, sincere.

“Good.” He looked outside. Helmut and Raz were both lying on the front of the car, pointing out stars to each other. The sight made him smile. “Come on, we’ll work on that whole thing about Adam and Lizzie giving you alcohol another time, when it’s not three in the morning. For now, let’s rejoin our boys again and go get some rest, okay?”

“Okay.” Lili slid out of the booth and tentatively took her family member’s hand. His fingers squeezed hers in reassurance. “And...thanks, Uncle Bob.”

“Well, what can I say. Us weird Zanotto plant people hafta look out for each other, right?”

“Right.”

They walked out together, hand-in-hand.

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

A/N: I knew from promotional material that we'd be going into the mind of someone struggling with alcoholism, but Bob's Bottles punched me hard in the gut. It's probably my favorite mind in the game, both because it's visually gorgeous and because it hit a little close to home with some of the themes, like generational alcoholism and how the addiction can make someone a shell of themselves.

I wrote half of this three weeks ago and then found myself really struggling to finish it because it brought up a lot of old feelings I thought I'd sorted through a long time ago.

Psychonauts, man.

[not-the-teen-witch]

Daddy Issues Lucius Malfoy x Daughter! Reader

Tiktok has done its magic and my obsession with Lucius Malfoy has sparked. Or it might just be my daddy issues acting up again, who know lol. Anyways, reader is Draco’s twin, a Gryffindor, and is basically the Sirius Black of the Malfoy family. She/her pronouns used. No warnings. Though you should know this is my first fanfic after going MIA on Wattpad and Quotev for a few years whoopsies.

Takes place over the course of first year. Listen to “Daddy Issues” by the Neighbourhood while reading to set the mood. 

I might make this into a multiple part story. But not follow the scenes strictly, just random drabbles here and there?? Idk, hopefully this won’t flop lol.

Daddy Issues

You ask me what I'm thinking about I'll tell you that I'm thinking about Whatever you're thinking about Tell me something that I'll forget And you might have to tell me again It's crazy what you'll do for a friend

“Now, Y/N. Just like your brother did it. Just run straight through that brick wall, and you’ve made.” Your mother, Narcissa, says gently patting you on the back to motivate you.

You bit your lips to hide your nerves. Straight through it, huh? Oh, merlin. What if it decides I’m not good enough for it. I’ll surely make a fool out of myself. 

You grip tightly around your trolley, “Are you sur-”

“We don’t have all day now, darling. The train leaves at eleven, sharp. Enough twisting with your thumbs and get a move on.” Your father cuts you off. 

You grimace. Your relationship with your father, the oh so great Lucius Malfoy, wasn’t the best, at least at the moment. Don’t get it wrong, you’re his precious baby girl, the absolute apple of his eye, but you have a few, in his words, tweaks in your personality that his purist mindset just did not share.  

Go ahead and cry, little girl Nobody does it like you do I know how much it matters to you I know that you got daddy issues And if you were my little girl I'd do whatever I could do I'd run away and hide with you I love that you got daddy issues And I do too

It began when you received your Hogwarts letter on your 11th birthday earlier that summer.

“Dad! I got my letter!” You say, racing down the steps of the Malfoy Manner to see your father.

He replies from his study room with a, “Don’t run, you’ll fall, Y/N.”

You roll your eyes, always so overprotective. When you reach him you wave the letter in front of him, “Look! I finally got it!”

He stops reading his book and looks up, all while shifting from his area on the velvet green armchair to make room for you. You immediately take a seat in the small space. 

“Let’s see what we have here now, shall?” You nod your head at him as he opens the letter. “Ah yes, Hogwarts. Truly shocking how they want someone with the likes of you on their grounds.”

He has a twinkly in his eye when he says this. You know he’s joking though, that’s just the interactions between you two. 

You grab his face with your hands to get his attention, “Are you going to miss me?”

“Miss you? My own and only daughter who wakes up every morning with a mission to have my hair turn grey early. Miss you, you say?”

“Dad,” you groan.

He hides a smirk, “Happy birthday, my dear. You’ll make a wonderful Slytherin and teach those mudbloods who’s in charge.” 

About that..... “Dad, no.” 

“Pardon?” 

“Stop that, don’t call them mudbloods. And what makes you so sure I’ll be put in Slytherin?”

“Ha,” he lets out a bark of laughter. “There’s never been a Malfoy that fit in any other house. That’s absurd.” 

I tried to write your name in the rain But the rain never came So I made with the sun The shame always comes at the worst time

You look down.

“Y/N.” You look back at your father. 

His grey eyes that mirror yours perfectly, look at you coldly “Don’t bring shame to the Malfoy family. Remember that.” 

You ask me what I'm thinking about I'll tell you that I'm thinking about Whatever you're thinking about Tell me something that I'll forget And you might have to tell me again It's crazy what you'll do for a friend

“Make me proud.” Your father says, right before you enter the train. 

He flashes you one of his rare, genuine smiles and kisses you on the forehead. 

You heard him, Y/N. Make father proud. 

Go ahead and cry, little girl Nobody does it like you do I know how much it matters to you

You find the first empty compartment you see on the train. Your brother already went off with some of the other pureblood children. And you’re not exactly fond of them. 

There’s a boy with glasses and another with red hair when you enter. 

“Ehm, hi...” You awkwardly say. 

The boy with glasses smiles at you. “Hi there.” 

“Would it be alright if I sat here?” 

“Sure, take a seat.” 

I know that you got daddy issues And if you were my little girl I'd do whatever I could do I'd run away and hide with you I love that you got daddy issues

You learn the two boys you sat with were Harry Potter and a Weasley named Ron. They were charming, although you were sure your father would disagree. Luckily you didn’t tell them your last name. Who knows what outburst that’d cause from the redhead. 

You stand next to them as students get called up to get sorted.

Your stomach feels like it’s being shaken by mountain trolls and you try to control your breathing.

“GRYFFINDOR”

“RAVENCLAW” 

“HUFFLEPUFF” 

The sorting hat continues to call out the names of the houses as the students go up, one by one. 

Your twin gets called. 

Just as Draco takes a seat, the hat doesn’t even touch his head when it yells-

“SLYTHERIN” 

Draco has a look of pride on his face. Typical. 

“As expected,” mutters Ron to you and Harry. 

“Y/N Malfoy” 

Oh dear. Your turn.

“ -wait you’re his twin?” Harry look sat you confused.

You see your twin brother flash you a thumbs up.

You ignore them both and step forward. 

“Another Malfoy I see. But you’re more interesting than the rest. Unexpected. Ambitious? Yes, very much so but there’s also bravery. Lots of it too.” The sorting hat says.

No! You’re yelling in your head. Bravery? That’s Gryffindor. Please no. Father would disown me. 

“Slytherin then? No, no no. Tell daddy he’s in for a surprise because Slytherin not fit for you. You fit in-” 

“GRYFFINDOR!” The hat exclaims.

The whole hall murmurs. “A Malfoy? Not in Slytherin?” “Gryffindor? Merlin, someone alert the Daily Prophet.” 

You get nudged towards the Gryffindor table, slowly you make your way.

 You hear a voice, “Well Fred, you know what this means.”

“I sure do, George.”

“WE GOT A MALFOY! WE GOT A MALFOY!” They chant and slowly the rest of the table begins to cheer loudly. The Slytherin’s table watches in awe. 

Your brother refuses to make eye contact with you. Your stomach drop at that.

I keep on tryin' to let you go I'm dyin' to let you know How I'm getting on I didn't cry when you left at first But now that you're dead, it hurts This time, I gotta know Where did my daddy go?

“First years! Follow me!” 

You begin to line up with the other first years. You stand near Ron and Harry. Ron gives you a suspicious look.

“I’m sorry.” You blurt out. “I should have told you I’m a Malfoy.”

“You really shou-” Ron begins to say.

“No, it’s alright.” Says Harry. “You had your reasonings. Besides the point” he give Ron a sharp look, “You’re in Gryffindor now, that’s all that matters.”

“All that matters?” Uh oh, it’s your brother. “Wait until father hears about this. He’ll be mortified. You can kiss your spot on the family tree goodbye Y/N.” He looks disgusted at you.

“Leave her alone!” A first year girl with puffy hair and large teeth says. 

“And what are you going to do about it, mudblood.”

That sits off a rage off anger in you. 

“Oh shut it you prick!” Your brother looks at you, shocked. “I’ve had enough with your bigotry. Go ahead, tell father. We all know how much you want to be his favorite child, you kiss up!” You let out a angry sigh at that. 

“Well then, keep an eye out for a letter tomorrow morning by him. How does a Howler sound?” 

The girl with the puffy hair grabs your arm. “Come on”

“You know, I think you and I will get along just great.” 

I'm not entirely here Half of me has disappeared

It had been a few days since the sorting ceremony. Classes were already in full swing. 

You became very close friends with Hermione Granger, the girl who helped you out when your brother was acting like a complete, wild ferret. However, you and her got along quite well. You two had similar interests and were very dedicated in your classes. Granted you knew a bit more than her since you were taught were carefully by your father.

Speaking of father, you haven’t heard from him yet. But there’s no doubt in your mind that Draco hasn’t sent a letter yet. 

You shake out of your thought and make your way to the great hall. You spot the Weasleys and Harry and make a bee-line to them. 

“Hey there, mate!” One of the twins nod in your direction. 

“No mail yet?” You immediately ask the lot.

“Blimey, at least eat something first before you start interrogating us.” Ron mumbles, his cheeks filled with food. 

Harry shakes his head, “Not yet, expecting a letter?” 

“You could say that.” You groan.

You grab a piece of toast and spread butter over it when you hear the sounds of the owls flying into the great hall. You quickly scan them over, keeping your eyes peeled for any Malfoy family owls.

You look over to your twin, an owl drops a package of goodies. Must be from mother, you think bitterly in your head. You didn’t get a package. 

The thought makes your stomach drop. They must know then.

“Huh, would you look at that. It’s a howler!” Percy Weasley points out.

The twins glace at you.

“Y/N....” One of the twins begin to say.

The howler drops right in front of you. Oh grandfather Abraxas, please help me.

In fancy calligraphy that you recognize very well, the name Lucius Malfoy is written. 

“So... are you going to open that?” George asks with an eyebrow raised.

“The longer you wait, the louder it’ll be. But hey this is Lucius Malfoy so you don’t really have much luck any way.” Fred jokes, trying to lighten the mood. 

You hands shake as you hold it, “Should- should i open it?” 

“It’s going to burst any second, no need for that.” Harry look bewildered.

“Oh to hell with it.“ You open the letter. 

“Y/N NARCISSA MALFOY!” Your father’s voice booms, the great hall quiets down to listen in. “A GRYFFINDOR?? NEVER IN THE MALFOY FAMILY NAME HAS THIS HAPPENED BEFORE. A BLOOD TRAITOR IS WHAT YOU ARE. IT DISGUSTS ME TO CALL YOU A CHILD OF MINE.”

Your face turns an unnatural shade of red but the howler continues in a calmer voice. “My own child, my little girl. Tarnishing the family name like this. Absurd. Don’t even think about coming home this winter. And enjoying the company of Mudbloods and other blood traitors? Tsk, a shame. Such a great shame. Don’t bother sending any letters, they will immediately be discarded of.” 

The letter explodes and the only evidence that it even happened it the looks of pity you getting from the three other houses. The Slytherin table is bursting with laughter. 

“Ignore them Y/N. Not worth your time. The Slytherin gits and your father. If you could even call a man like that a dad.” Ron shakes his head.

You catch your brother’s eyes, he has a soft, sad look but quickly switches when he catches you looking. 

“Did you bloody hear that? I could never be such an embarrassment to the wizarding name.” Your brother boasts. 

Your friends try to divert your attention but all you can think of is your dad. 

No. Don’t be sad Y/N, you say to yourself. You’re meant to be a Gryffindor, and you’ll prove daddy wrong. Right? You’re a Malfoy after all. 

Go ahead and cry, little girl Nobody does it like you do I know how much it matters to you I know that you got daddy issues

[theonlygamergost]

Gestures are louder than words - Fd!au

This fanfiction is based on the Family Dynamic au made by @antarctic-bay if you would like to know more, go check them out!!!

Also please bear in mind that the things written in this might not be canon!

Of course, this fic was grammatically corrected by the amazing @im-default

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To get a better context, read this first, if you don't want to, have a quick summary :)

Tommy comes back home in a very bad mood, Wilbur and Phil are concerned but end up making the situation worse, but Techno knows how to make Tommy talk : ASL (American sign language.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Warnings! Bullying, repressed anger, yelling, angst, hoo boy angst, crying, angst with a good ending, fluff and brother bonding moment :)

(The cursive and bold words are meant to be when they speak in gestures)

Enjoy~

“Ah, welcome back Tommy!” The inviting smell coming from whatever Phil was cooking welcomed him in just like his brother, both of which reminded him of his oopsie: He arrived home late.

Well… Phil did end his shift early, but arriving home after him for all of the brothers meant “they stayed out too late” since he always arrived home deep into the night.

“T-thanks...” Tommy sighed, Wilbur was on the counter, too absorbed into his algebra problems to notice him. Techno was nowhere to be seen but he wasn’t surprised, his door was closed so…you could imagine where he was, hint: when he wasn’t home his room’s door was open.

Closing himself in his room, he allowed his back to slide down the door until he sat on the floor, bringing his knees to his chest and squeezing them tight.

He wasn’t sad, he wasn’t crying, he was simply angry, hoo boy he was angry.

Taking a deep breath, he got up and sat at his desk, grabbing a notebook out of his backpack.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“You go around with a plushie? Pff, what a child…” Tubbo reached out for his bee plushie “Give me Spins back!”, needlessly since another bully pushed him on the ground.

“Aw~ the doggy wants his toy?”

“Give. It. Back.” Tommy appeared behind the bullies, shoving one of them onto the ground.

“Oh my… the Ally of Justice, The Protector of the Weak!” one mocked him.

As a punch was about to hit the bully’s face, a teacher arrived and stopped both of them, blaming it more on Tommy than the real bully, sending them both home.

~~~~~~~~~~~

The music from his headphones brought him back to reality, scribbling down words for his English homework, god he was pissed.

How dare they bully Tubbo! And for his plushie Spins! Of course, he had already made a plan on how to get back at them, no one messes with his best friend without paying for it, yet he still couldn’t see that situation as a win for the bullies.

The teacher always saw him as the one at fault, he was the “Black Sheep” of the Pandel brothers, the disgrace of the fami-

A knock interrupted his train of thoughts, “Dinner is ready! Come wash your hands, you gremlin” came from behind the door, a distant “That’s kinda mean Will” accompanied it.

He sat at the table, one of the chairs was empty: Techno was missing, but what’s new? It was his habit to skip dinner, Tommy wondered if he would have skipped tonight’s one too.

“Techno! Food’s ready, come eat!” Phil half-shouted while serving the food, all of them stood quietly waiting for the response.

…

“Techno?” Phil took off the potholders and peeked into his room, a muffled “Kinda busy right now, I’ll come at the table in a minute” came his response.

Phil’s cuisine had always been better than restaurant’s in Tommy’s eyes, and the omelette with bacon and cheese he had prepared today was just like everything else he cooked: amazing.

Tommy once asked Phil where he had learned how to cook so well, his response was a simple “Mom and dad were both very good at cooking, you’d also be surprised how much you can learn from watching videos” kinda cliche, but fair enough.

“How was your day at school boys?” Phil asked after swallowing down a bite, Tommy gestured at Will to go first.

“All and all, my day went pretty well. Had a test but it was quite easy, Nikki and I also went to a bar and chatted ‘till it was time to go back, pretty chill day.” Wilbur nodded at his own thoughts and drank some water, then both of them looked at Tommy.

“What” He stared back, eyes flickering between the two brothers.

“So? How was your day?” Will encouraged him to talk, Tommy rolled his eyes. “Nothin’ special” he started, ”The history teacher scolded me for chewing a gum in class and…” after a deep breath and a couple of thoughts processed, “N-nothing else happened.” he decided to stay quiet. He couldn’t be bothered to explain the whole thing to them, especially since Phil could scold him for punching that dick-bag in the face, that would just put him in an even worse mood.

But of course, his brothers wouldn’t let that slide.

“Are you sure that’s all it happened? You don’t look like someone who had a “Nothing special” kinda day.” Will had always been curious, maybe too curious at times, Phil also nodded: They weren’t blind, they could see that Tommy wasn’t in a good mood.

“Oh come on Will, I was the one who lived my day, I’m telling you, nothing special happened!” Techno emerged from his room and grabbed a plate, no one really noticed him though. Tommy shoved a bite in his mouth to avoid saying more than he should.

“I know we are being kinda pushy Tommy but-” “Yes!!! You are being very pushy Phil!!!” At this point, he couldn’t hold it in, he wasn’t mad at them… but the rage he had suppressed before to avoid making a scene at school had to get out somehow.

“We are just worried about you Tommy! Show some appreciation!” Will stood up for Phil: the brothers didn’t like it when someone yelled at or didn’t treat their older brother well, many times Tommy had done what Wilbur was doing, but his mind wasn’t calm enough to think right now.

“Oh?! Worried?! For me?! If you would really be worried you would just LEAVE ME BE!!!” He turned around and slammed as hard as he could the door shut, the noise echoed through the Pandel house, then silence.

Tommy took his pillow and started punching it, letting the anger and tension out, after a couple of swings, he threw it to the other side of the room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The rest of the Pandel brothers ate in silence, each of them absorbed into their own thoughts about the same topic: Tommy.

“So…Who is gonna go talk to him?” Wilbur broke the silence. “It’s better if no one goes talk to him right now, you heard him, he wants to be left alone.” Will looked at Phil “But we can’t leave him in that state! We have to-!” the older one finished his sentence “Help him, I know, but talking to him now will only make things worse, so let’s wait until he comes out” He stood up and grabbed Tommy’s plate, Phil moved what he left into a small container. “And if someone should talk to him” He opened the fridge, “It should be Techno, he has more chances of talking to him without an immediate rejection” Wilbur stared at the food in his plate in defeat, Techno simply nodded and ate the last bite of omelette: He even might have an idea on how to approach him.

~~~~~~~~~

Tommy left his room as Techno entered his, to put up his plan he had to stay in the living room, so that’s what he was going to do.

He grabbed what he needed to study and sat at the very end of the counter, immediately focusing on the textbook in front of him.

After Tommy looked at Techno weird since he rarely studied in the living room, he opened the fridge and grabbed a glass, filled it with milk, and went back to the sofa where he had dropped off his switch, sitting down and plugging in the earphones, he started playing “Breath of the Wild”. Tubbo had already finished it and Tommy wanted to try it out, being too broke to buy it, Tubbo lent his out of pity.

“Techno can you help me with this?” Will approached the counter with his textbook in hand, the pen in the other hand was busy scratching his head “I keep getting the wrong result and I don’t know-”

“No” He replied without taking his eyes off of his textbook, “Awww come on! I need to do this for tomorrow!” Techno sighed and patted the seat next to his, closing his homework to make room for Wilbur’s.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Almost an hour had passed and Techno had both helped Wilbur, who was now doing other work next to him and had finished his own stuff, he stretched his arms and back gaining a smile from Phil who was also working on his old pc.

After pouring a glass of milk for the rest of the brothers, including himself, he drank it all down and flopped on the sofa right in front of Tommy, who looked up to see why the seat had moved and then went back to his game.

Techno sat in a more comfortable position and started to tap on Tommy’s leg with his foot to grab his attention.

At first, all he got was some annoyed sounds, then his legs were pushing him away, and finally, he got his attention.

“What?!” He barked, eyes fixed on his smirking face. For any other person, Techno simply started waving his hands around while mouthing words, but for Tommy that was way more, that was Sign language.

What are you doing? Tommy rolled his eyes and placed his Switch on his lap, I don’t want to talk right now, Techno snickered, As if you have a choice. The younger one sighed.

At the start of the year, Tommy wasn’t doing so good with grades, his problem was that he couldn’t remember anything no matter how hard he tried. Yet Techno had noticed how he could remember fighting moves (taught to him by Deo) and other stuff pretty easily, his solution? Sign language.

The sentences were very short to gesture and way easier to remember, like that, Tommy’s grades went up in no time.

As a consequence, Techno and Tommy were the only one in the house that knew how to talk in ASl (American Sign Language), so of course, they used it to share secrets or just to annoy Wilbur since he couldn’t understand.

They also used it to talk in the cafeteria to either insult each other without getting scolded or to have a normal conversation. It was their own special way of communicating and bonding over stuff.

I know that Will and Phil bothered you about your mood, but you seriously need to let it out, his body got stiff as a self-defence mechanism, Unless you want to become a ticking time-bomb and explode near someone you care about... again.

Tommy’s eyes widened at the flashback of him shouting at Deo for something he hadn’t done came back, he was so mad he insulted his dear friend heavily, it took him an entire week to make the guilt go away and another two weeks to muster up the courage he needed to talk to him again. Deo forgave him but… to this day, Tommy still hadn’t forgiven himself.

After a minute of zoning out, he started gesturing and mouthing again:

Two students started making fun of Tubbo and I intervened, I punched one of them but… Techno’s arms were crossed as he was reading what Tommy was saying, Let me guess Wilbur looked up from his textbook and saw Techno gesturing, he wanted to yell at them to use their voices so bad… but he had to endure it this time… for Tommy’s sake.

A teacher walked in just as you punched him, blamed it on you, and sent you both home? Tommy looked at the console in his lap and slowly nodded, Techno sighed and patted the empty space next to him, smiling at the blonde boy.

Tommy crawled to the spot and hugged Techno, who just embraced him tightly while caressing his back in comfort, and the bomb, slowly defused itself: Tommy started sobbing, letting his emotions out.

“I’ll help you avenge him tomorrow” Techno whispered just before grabbing a blanket and wrapping it around the both of them, “We’ll make them pay, I promise Tommy” Tommy nodded and got even closer to Techno.

A shaky “T-thank you…” was all that came out of Tommy’s mouth before more sobs took over.

Will, who saw the whole scene, shook Phils arm lightly, pointing at the younger brothers.

He smiled at them and looked back at Wilbur, who leaned to whisper in his ear “Let them be” to then pat his shoulder.

Wilbur looked back at Techno and Tommy and smiled too.  

[thr-333]

Mismatch- Part 3

Bio Dad Bruce Wayne Month 2020

Ah Irony, I trust this wont be the last I’m seeing of you

First < Previous > Next

----

‘Sorry, Nino told Adrien that you guys said to go ahead!?’ Chloe explained.

“Looks like Liela’s at it again,” Marion tells Marinette.

“Of course she is,” Marinette was already hailing a cab

‘Lila must have told Alya who told Nino or something’ Marion responds.

'I am so sorry we’ll come back to get you’  

‘Dont worry bout it we’re getting a cab’

‘Dont let kags kill anyone’ He adds

‘No promises’

Marinette grabs Marion by the arm, dragging him over to a cab. Just as she's about to climb in someone grabs her, arm pulling her away. Reflexes kick in and she makes a jab at their stomach. They block her punch, but let go of her arm. Marinette looks up to see a black haired blue eyed boy who couldn't be any older than them.

“This isn’t a real cab,” He explains quickly, taking his phone out to snap a picture of the stunned driver.

“Oh? Oh!” Marinette processes, realising she just tried to punch him for helping her, “I am so sorry!”

“It’s ok, good reflexes,” He compliments, they step away from the cab as it speeds away, “I’m Tim,”

“Marinette,” She shakes his offered hand, “This is Marion,”

“Hi, thanks for that,” Marion nods towards where the ‘taxi’ was, “How could you tell?”

“You live around here long enough you learn to spot them,” Tim answers, “are you two french?”

“Yep,” Marinette chirped, “We’re on a class trip,”

“Where’s your class?” Tim frowns looking around.

“Ummm… they kinda….” Marinette looked down at her shoes.

“Left us,” Marion finishes for her.

“They left you? In Gotham?” Tim asks, the twins nod avoiding eye contact.

“Where are you staying? I’ll drive you there,” Tim decides.

“You don’t have to do that!” Marinette gestures wildly, wide eyed.

“We’ll be fine on our own,” Marion adds, because yes they did almost get in a fake cab, but it wasn't as if they couldn't have dealt with it.

“It’s all right,” Tim tells them, scanning the cars around, “Look my rides here,”

The twins turn to see a limo pull up, a well dressed driver steps out of the vehicle.

“Good Evening Master Tim, how was your trip?” He asks, taking Tim’s bag.

“It was fine Alfred,” Tim says, “would you mind if we dropped these two off at their hotel?”

“Not at all, Master Tim, I am Alfred Pennyworth,” Alfred greets the twins, “May I ask your names,”

“Uh, Marion, and this is Marinette,” Marion replies, “You really don’t have to, we’ll be fine,”

“It’s no trouble at all,” He tells them, “Where are you staying?”

“Wayne hotel,” Marinette goes to grab her bags to find them gone, turning to see Alfred already placing it in the trunk.

“Witchcraft,” Marion whispers to her, Marinette nods. She always made sure to at least be touching her backpack, as it held the Miracle box.

“Come in,” Tim offers, already sitting in the Limo.

The twins concede climbing in after Tim a little awkwardly. He had somehow gotten ahold of a travel cup and was holding it like a lifeline.

“I’m surprised you're staying at the Wayne hotel for a class trip,” Tim takes a gulp of the probably scalding hot coffee.

“Marinette submitted an amazing essay to the Wayne Foundation and won the trip for the whole class,” Marion dodges her kick, Tim hides his smirk behind his cup.

"We submitted an essay,” Marinette corrects, glaring at Marion for shaking his head.

“Thank you for the ride,” Marion changes the topic.

“No problem, I really don’t mind, the longer I stay away from the manor the better,” Tim replies sleepily.

“Why's that?” Marinette questions, concern written all over her face.

“Loud, too many siblings” Tim quickly clarified, “I need more time with my coffee before I deal with them,”

“I think I can relate,” Marion mutters, ignoring Marinette's look, “How many siblings do you have?”

“Officially? Thr-Two brothers,”

“Unofficially?” Marinette prods.

“Feels like half of Gotham most the time,” Tim sighs, making them chuckle.

“You two must be twins?” Tim guesses.

“Unfortunately,” Marinette sighs.

“You love me,” Marion scoffs.

“Unfortunately,” Marinette repeats, Tim cracks a smile.

“If it's any consolation you seem to get on much better than I do with my siblings,” Tim takes another long sip from his coffee.

“If it’s any consolation we’re always fighting,” Marion parrots, sharing a knowing glance with Marinette. Fighting? Yes. Fighting each other? Only when Chat Noir gets brainwashed.

“So what are you looking forward to in Gotham?” Tim asks.

“Lots of things,” Marinette and Marion start to tell Tim all about their(civilian) plans. Tim suggests places every now and then, he points out the hotel as they start to get closer.

“Ah!” Marinette exclaims, turning to Marion, “We were meant to check in as a class, will they even let us in?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure they do,” Tim assures them. When they pull up at the hotel Alfred opens the door and Tim gets out with them.

“Thank you so much,” Marinette takes her bags from Alfred, giving him a smile.

“You’re welcome Miss,” Alfred smiles back.

Marion also gives his thanks and they follow Tim into the building. Marinette admires the architecture, brainstorming ideas for designs. Perhaps she can make improvements to the outfits they’ll be using at the concert. Tim goes straight to the front desk and explains the situation. The receptionists hands over the room keys, telling them their classmates had already grouped up, three to a room.

“That was surprisingly easy,” Marion muses, as they walk towards the elevator, “Thank you,”

“My pleasure,” Tim answers easily, as they step into the elevator, “I must be off,”

They give their goodbyes, letting the doors close as Tim walks away.

“He was nice,” Marinette hums in agreement.

“Hopefully there's more people in Gotham like him,” They step out of the elevator.

“There will be,” Marion assures, “Meet back here when they go to sleep?”

“No, I’ll text you when everyones asleep and you can teleport in,” Marion nods, both know Kaalki won’t be impressed.

They go their separate ways. Marinette knocked on the room door that was opened a few moments later by Kagami.

“I am sorry,” Kagami immediately apologizes, “I should have known better and asked you myself,”

“Don’t worry, we’re fine,” Marinette gives the girl a hug, rolling her suitcase into the room.

“Marinette, you need to see this place, although it’s as good as daddys hotel,” Chloe grabs her by the arm. Leading her through the well furnished and decorated living room with a kitchenette to the side.

“You do live in the penthouse suite,” Marinette looked out the floor to ceiling window, displaying the view of the city, itching to grab her sketchbook.

“True, but they didn’t put me in the penthouse, so it's their loss,” Chloe guides her to a room with a large bed, bedside tables with flowers on them and a mirrored closet door. “This is yours,”

Marinette went to grab her suitcase only to see Kagami behind them with it. She thanked her and got settled in. Once she was unpacked they sat together in the living room to talk about tomorrow.

“You’d better not go wandering off, Gotham is dangerous,” Chloe wagged her finger at Marinette.

“And you’re going to protect me?” Marinette threw a couch cushion at her.

“Well, duh, I was Queen Bee,” Chloe bragged, catching the cushion and throwing it right back.

“For, like, month, years ago,” Marinette caught the pillow, sending it to Kagami, “Weren’t you replaced with Bumble Bee?”

“It was a mutual decision,” Chloe caught the pillow that Kagami hesitantly threw to her.

“Right,” Marinette said in a disbelieving tone, knowing full well that Bumble Bee was just Chloe’s new alias. “I think I’d rather stick with Kagami,”

“Rude,” Chloe threw the pillow at her.

“Didn’t we all agree Kagami was as good as any bodyguard?” Marinette asks, throwing the pillow to said girl.

“Excuse you, we said she was better than any bodyguard,” Both gave her inquisitive looks, “What? I’m just stating facts!”

“Of course,” Marinette caught the pillow, still smiling.

“I am!”

“I believe you,” Marinette threw the pillow back at her.

“No you don’t!” Chloe throws the pillow forcefully at her.

“Whatever gave you that idea?” Marinette chucks the pillow to Kagami.

“You’re infuriating Dupain-cheng,” Chloe huffs, catching the pillow from Kagami.

“I can show you some… moves,” Kagami hesitantly speaks up, as Chloe throws the pillow at Marinette, “For self defence,”

“Sure,” Marinette puts the pillow down, standing up with Kagami.

They spent the next half hour with Kagami instructing Marinette on basic fencing moves. With the cardboard wrapping of the now empty Toblerone block.

“Where is she going to get a sword?” Chloe was scrolling through her phone, “Unless you want her to carry that around everywhere,”

“What do you suggest?” Kagami challenges defensively.

“Like this,” Chloe takes over, showing both Marinette and Kagami how to break out of certain holds to get their arm free or how to disarm an opponent.

“Where did you learn this?” Marinette watches as Kagami practices the motions of disarming Chloe's hairbrush gun.

“I told you, I was Queen Bee and I took that job seriously,” Chloe drops the hairbrush, Kagami kicking it away.

“Didn’t you tell all of Paris your identity and then send a train out of control,” Kagami asks, retrieving the hairbrush.

“I was young and naive,” Chloe sighs dramatically, had to her forehead.

“Three years ago?” Marinette stands up to try and disarm Chloe now.

“Four actually,”

“Oh, my mistake,” Marinette rolls her eyes trying not to disarm Chloe too quickly.

They carry on a little longer before Marinette sends them to bed.

“We have an early day tomorrow, we don’t want to be late,” She pushes Chloe towards her room.

“Coming from you? That’s rich,” Chloe laughs.

“Whatever, go to sleep,” Marinette closes the door on Chloe's protests.

“Goodnight Marinette,” Kagami nods, walking to her room without a fuss.

Marinette goes to her room, firing Marion a text.

“Alright dude,” Nino turns to Marion, “I’m with Alya, we all know who Adrien has a crush on-”

“Everyone!?” Adrien sits up from where he’s lying on the couch.

“Yes, everyone,” Nino deadpans.

“What about Marinette?” Adrien turns pleading eyes to Marion.

“Oh not Marinette, she's as clueless as you,”

“What’s that meant to mean?” Adrien frowns defensively.

“Anyway,” Nino interrupts, “Dude, who do you have a crush on?”

“Ummmm,” Marion shifts uncomfortably from where he’s perched on the couches arm rest, “... It’s sort of a celebrity crush,”

“Oh? who?” apparently that was not the answer that would make him lose interest.

“It’s not really important, not like anything could happen,” Marion looks at Adrien for help, but he seems just as curious as Nino.

“Just tell us,” Nino pushes.

“It’s a hero,” Marion immediately realises that just got them more interested. “... From Gotham,”

“Batman?” Adrien guesses.

“No!” Marion shouts, “No! He’s old enough to be my dad, geez,”

“Alright, alright, who is it?” Nino placates leaning forward on his arm chair.

“..... Red hood,”

“Isn’t he a rouge?” Adrien asks.

“No!.... Maybe, he’s still a hero ok?” Marion curls up defensively.

“Why do you like him?” Adrien is grinning, shifting closer to Marion.

“I don’t know,” Marion rolls off the armrest, onto the couch next to him.

“You have to like something,” Nino gets up to sit on his other side.

“I don’t know, maybe because he looks good in his suit?!” Marion shouts.

“You’re not that shallow,” Adrien pokes him in the stomach.

“Ugh, fine,” Marion relents, “He works with Batman right?”

They both nod.

“He’s just so unlike everyone else he works with, I just kinda…. admire how he can just be…. be himself.” Marion curls up under his friend's stares.

“You’ve put a lot of thought into this,” Adrien teases, Marion huffs.

“He does look good in his suit though,”

“Wait a minute, is this why you always wear that MDC outfit?” Nino is clearly holding back laughter.

“No!” Marion bushes at the memory.

They were doing a practice interview about his newest song. Marinette had designed his outfit based on Red Hood's. It was something he had endured endless teasing over as he insisted everything had to be perfect, not that the great MDC would make anything less.

“Were there any problems that arose from the design MDC?” The interview asked, moving onto the outfit choice.

“We had some minor disagreements about the hood,” Marinette gestured to the outfit Marion was wearing. A red hoodie underneath a faux leather jacket(not that you could tell) on the back there were flying red bats embroidered up the side. He was wearing a black domino mask with red detailing in place of the helmet. It was the outfit they chose to alter into their vigilante costumes.

“She was getting very frustrated over it,” Marion teased, “I told her it didn’t need one,”

“His name is Red Hood! Why doesn't he wear a Hood? Robin wears a hood,”

“He looks cool without it,” Marion defended.

“You’re just saying that, cause you have a crush on him,” Marinette teased in a sing-song voice.

“MD!” He shouted, pulling the hood up to hide his blush, MDC laughing at him, he groaned. “Please tell me the cameras aren't rolling,”

“Don’t worry, nothing we say is being recorded,” The interviewer was luckily professional enough to not laugh, but was certainly amused, “I take it we will be omitting that from the real interview?”

“Yes!”

Unfortunately for him one of the staff members had been secretly recording. They leaked the footage online, getting fired, but not sparing MCD from the whole world finding out. The fanbase had been going crazy ever since they announced their concert in Gotham. Many imagining meet-cute moments or theorising that they were already dating. He shakes his head at the memory.

“I just think it looks cool,” He comes back to the present.

“Because it’s based on your crush?” Adrien teases.

“Nope, you don’t get to tease me about this, I haven't seen you not wearing something Marinette made you in years,” Marion cuts Adrien off with a raised eyebrow, looking down at his Ladybug onesie Marinette made him.

“Fine,” Adrien turns to Nino, “It’s up to you now,”

“Has Marinette made you anything Red Hood related?” Nino grins.

“Nooooo,” Marion moans, draping over the couch.

“Do you have a onesie based on him as well?” Marion finds his saving grace when his pocket buzzes.

“Stooooooooop,”

“Never this is too good,” Nino teases, “Did you bring it with you?”

“That's enough for tonight!” Marion claps his hands, standing up.

“Awwwww,” They both moan in unison.

“Nope! I don’t have to put myself through this, goodnight to you,” Marion walks straight to his room before they can protest further.

He locks the door behind him. Plagg and Kaalki are in the room chatting, they fly over to Marion.

“You ready to go Kaalki?”

“I am not meant to be used for something as trivial as a taxi,” The Kwami complains.

“We just need to grab out suits, this will be the only night, I promise,” The Kwami gives him a nod, “Kaalki full gallop,”

He transforms and opens a portal into Marinette's room.

“Ready Bug?” He asks, stepping into the room. He opens another portal to their room in Paris.

“Of course,” They step through the portal, followed by their Kwami’s, into their room as quietly as possible.

Marion drops his Marinette pulls out their costumes from the closet. They were disguised to look like regular clothing, but could be altered to quickly change.

“I don’t know how you talked me into this,” Marinette takes the hoodie he usually wears, reaching under a secret fold and unzips the hood.

“Come on bug, our hero-selves cant be seen in Gotham, and you know full well we wouldn't stand aside if someone was getting hurt in front of us,” Marion takes the body of the hoodie from her, flipping it inside out to the black side.

“True, but why do we have to do nightly patrols?” Marinette finishes pulling on her leggings, flipping her usual white jumper with a cherry blossom pattern inside out to the same red shade as the hood.

“It would look pretty suspicious if we just showed up when our class was in danger, now wouldn’t it,” Marion fasten the yellow belt around his waist, slipping his baton into the holster and pulls on his on his boots, hopping slightly.

“I think you just want to be a vigilante,” Marinette takes his Red Hood jacket, flipping it inside out to black with yellow trim.

“Well, it’s exciting isn’t it?” Marion takes what would usually be Mainette's skirt, flipping the pink inside out to the green and unzipping it along a black line, “We get to test out our skills without miraculous, and we don't have the fate of the city resting on our shoulders,”

“You could a least try to take it seriously,” Marinette flips her beanie inside out to the black side. Pulling it on after the severed hood, lining the holes up with her eyes and pulling the hood up.

“I am taking this very seriously,” Marion says with the biggest grin. Taking Marinette's infinity scarf, running his hands across it to find the secret fold. Flipping it inside out to a green with yellow and black trim. He pulls it over his head, yellow stripe to his hairline.

“Whatever," Marinette fastens her holster with a baton around her left leg. They both pull on their black gloves. "Lets go,”

Marion transforms back and opens a portal to a rooftop far away from the hotel. They take off across the roofs, using their batons to pole vault across alleys, to land on roofs and fire escapes. As they race, taunting each other, they survey the streets below. Marinette stops, crouching down as Marion catches up. A young woman was being chased by two thugs.

“Let’s go,” She whispers, using the fire escape as a firemans pole. Marion follows suit.

They land in the alley as the girl gets backed up against a wall, clutching her purse. She looks straight at them, Marion gestures her to stay quiet as they sneak up behind the thugs. Marinette takes the one on the right, as he lines up behind the left one. Marinette attacks first hitting the right one over the head with her baton.

“What the-” Marion cuts the left one off by sweeping his legs with his baton, sending him crashing to the ground. He pins them down, tying his wrist together with one hand, “You little fuc-”

Marion stuffs the mans own hat in his mouth. He then ties the crooks legs together for good measure. He looks over to Marinette, her thug unconscious, she was comforting the victim, offering her a cookie from a hidden pocket.

“Thank you,” She takes the cookie hesitantly.

“Not a problem,” Marinette gives her a winning smile.

“Wow, this is really good,” She mumbles, with her mouth full, “Um, who are you,”

“Don't worry about that,” Marion slings his arm around Marinette, "We're just your friendly neighbourhood strays,"

“Ignore him,” Marinette pushes his arm off her, “Do you want us to walk you home?”

“Uh- yeah, thanks,”

“I love your outfit by the way,” Marinette tells her, as they leave the alley way. Marion walks behind calling the police to come pick up the thugs, explaining what happened.

“Hey, can I get your number so the police can get your statement later?” Marion interrupts, as they follow the girl to her apartment.

“Of course,” He hands over the phone, letting her hang up.

“I haven’t seen you around before,” She hands back the phone, Marion walking on her other side.

“We’re new to town,” Marion smiles at her.

“I can tell,” They both give her inquisitive looks, “You’ve smiled more in the last five minutes than most Gothamites do their whole lives,”

“You’re exaggerating,” Marinette chuckles.

“I’m serious, you’re going to blind someone,” She laughs with them.

They walk her to her apartment, holding polite conversation the whole way.

“This is it,” She announces, “Thanks again,”

“No problem,” They both say, turning to leave.

“Wait…. Um,” They both stop looking back at her holding her phone, “Can I get a picture?”

“Of course,” Marion bounces over to her, Marinette taking the other side.

They give the same big smiles they do as Ladybug and Chat Noir. Marion throwing up bunny ears behind Marinette's head. They say goodbye and run off to find someone else to help.

“Whatcha doing Tim?” Dick looks over his shoulder, still in his Nightwing costume fresh from patrol.

“I ran into some French students who were left behind by their class at the airport,” Tim scrolls through a word document, complete with pictures of smiling teens doing a mixture of charity work and sports among other activities. “They won the Martha Wayne educational trip, I was just looking through their entry,”

“They got left behind, in Gotham?”

“That’s what I said! I actually caught them just before they got in a faux taxi,” Tim reaches the end of the rather long essay.

“They could have been mugged, or kidnapped!” Dick slams his hands down on the desk.

“I know , Dick,” Tim rubs his face, “The worst part is they didn’t seem at all surprised about it either,”

Dick leaves Tim to his work to change, muttering to himself.

“Is everything alright, Master Dick?” Alfred appears with food for after patrol.

“What if it happens again?” Dick asks.

“I assume you’re referring to the lovely twins Master Tim met at the airport?” Alfred nods knowingly, Dick nods back. “Well hopefully something similar doesn't happen tomorrow for their tour of Wayne Tower,”

“.... Alfred can you place me in charge of the tour?”

“Consider it done, Master Dick,” Alfred leaves him to get changed.

He finishes changing into regular clothes as the Batmobile pulls in. Batman and Robin exiting.

“We need to discuss security measures for the upcoming concert,” Batman tells the room, they gather around,

“MCD is known for his advocacy of superheroes, so we can expect a few villains to make trouble,” Tim pulls up a picture of MCD with MDC as they walk down the red carpet for some event.

Dick is amused that the picture he pulled up had them in Batman and Robin themed outfits. MDC wearing a beautiful black dress with the bat symbol subtly incorporated into the bodice. Her dress trailed behind in sharp points like Batman’s cape. MCD was wearing a suit with a red shirt, his tie green and some yellow detailing.

“You are going to be professional aren't you?” Damian gives them both pointed looks.

“Whatever are you talking about?” Dick asks innocently.

“You two are always jabbering on about these two,” Robin glares.

“We do not-oh that reminds me, if we’re going to be guarding this event we have to invite Jason,” Dick addresses Bruce.

“He is worse than you two, going on about that interview,” Damian must be rolling his eyes under the domino mask.

“Come on little D. how often does your celebrity crush like you back?” Dick smiles, remembering the night Jason called him yelling in excitement telling him about the leaked footage. He had also asked him to get Tim to find out who leaked the footage and have them fired.

“I don’t know and I don’t care,”

“As for actual security measures,” Batman redirects the conversation.

“Master Jason has arrived,” Alfred reports, coming to stand with them.

“Speak of the devil,” Tim mutters.

“BRUCE YOU MOTHERFUCKER,”Jason bursts into the bat cave, “I need to know these things!”

“We were just talking about the concert,” Dick tells him.

“What? No! Why didn’t you tell me you adopted more!” He yells at Bruce. “I need to know when you’re planning to traumatise more kids!”

“Jason what are you talking about,” Bruce only lets a hint of irritation into his voice.

“THis,” Jason slams down his phone to a screenshot of a tweet. It showed a picture of a boy and girl, both with black hair and blue eyes, following Tim into a limo. Written underneath was;

Wayne Twins? How long has Bruce Wayne been keeping them from Gotham? Are they adopted? Or could the Family resemblance be more than coincidence?

#wayne twins #Bruce Wayne's secret children #aren’t they just adorable

“What is this?” Bruce asks Tim.

“They’re the one who won the Martha Wayne educational trip, their class left them at the airport, I gave them a ride,” Tim briefly explained, noticeably omitting the taxi part.

“Wait so you didn’t adopt them?” Jason picks his phone back up.

“No, Jason, I didn’t,” Jason’s eyes narrow.

“... Are you going to?”

“... No, I’m not,”

“Keep an eye out,” Jason not at all subtly whispers to Dick, “He hesitated,”

“What are we going to do?” Damian cuts their growing argument off.

“We could release a statement?” Tim suggests.

“Drawing attention to it will only fuel the flames, let’s just let it die out,” Bruce decides, getting nods of agreement.

“By the way Jason, we were talking about security measures for the MCD concert,” Dick changes the topic.

“Without me!?”

They go back to making security plans for the concert, including Jason.

“I think we should have someone inside,” Jason looks over the blueprint of the venue.

“Of course you do,” Damian remarks snidely

“You little-”

“Bruce!” Superman's face pops up on the main computer, “You can’t just take in new kids without warning!”

“They aren’t my children,” Bruce clenches his fists, “The pictures with Tim are taken out of context,”

“What? I’m talking about the new Robins-,”

“THE NEW WHAT!” Jason and Damian shout at the same time.

“What are you talking about?” Bruce probably asking that question more times today than he would like.

“Uh, this,” A picture is sent through a screenshot of another tweet that was steadily becoming viral.

The picture had two teens in masks on either side of a civilian, giving the biggest smiles that had probably ever grace Gotham. The boy giving the girl bunny ears. Underneath was written:

Almost got mugged tonight and was saved by these two. Didn't tell me their names. They kinda look like Robin right? Also they gave me a cookie? It was actually good too.

#new Robins #Robin #Batfam #OMG their smile are pure sunshine #send help I might be blind

[olivia200312]

Stressed Leader~ RID2015! Optimus x Human! Reader (Lemon) (1/2)

Plot: Optimus arrives back at the base after a big fire rescue mission. He's stressed out due to a lot of work that Y/N decided to relax him~ ;)

This is a lemon! Believe it or not, I came across LITERALLY an NSFW comic of Charbee (Bee x Charlie) of YoukaiYume. I'm not lying! If you want to see the small comic, go to Twitter and look for YoukaiYume. I'm following her since she's an amazing artist! Now, I'm not gonna show the comic since I might get complaints so go to Twitter. After I saw it, I got an inspiration (I'm 17, so keep that in mind). I will change the one-shot here a tiny bit. Enjoy!

Head area:

Brain: Processor / Brain Module

Head: Helm

Face: Face plate

Ears: Audio receptors / Receptor Orifice / Audials

Nose: Enstril / Olfactory Sensor

Eye brow: Optical Ridge

Eyes: Optics

Mouth: Intake

Lips: Dermas

Teeth: Denta/Dentas

Tongue: Glossa

Chest area:

Chest: Chassis / Thoraxal Cavity

Back: Hexa-Lateral Scapula

Spine: Bipedalism cord / Back Strut

Chest and back armour:

Chest plate

Back plate

Mid-section plating

Neck guard

Side plating

Arm area:

Arms: Arms / Restarlueus

Forearms: Bitarlueus

Hands: Servos

Fingers: Digits

Arm armour:

Gantlets

Shoulder pads

Arm guard

Lower area:

Pelvis: Pelvis

Butt: Aft / Skid-Plate

Thighs: Tibulen

Calves: Cadulen

Feet: Pedes - the high heel bits are called Struts or Heel Struts.

Lower armour:

Skirt plates

Aft plate / Skid plate

Thigh guard

Ankle guard

General/Internal components:

Muscles: Cables / Pistons - It depends on the area in question.

Veins: Fual lines

Stomach: Tanks

Lungs: Vents - used to stop the con/bot from over heating.

Heart: Spark

Tattoos: D-con/A-bot Insignias and the lark

T-Cog: The thing that allows all Cybertronians to transform, be that their arms or their whole body.

Bonus:

Penis: Spike

Vagina: Valve

Body: Frame

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

Today was a stressful day for Optimus Prime, the leader of the Autobots. He apparently got a report that there was a big fire very close to the scrapyard! Optimus got PANICKED. Like, really panicked! His wife, Y/N Prime, was at the scrapyard together with Russel and Denzel! Russel is a small boy while his dad is Denzel. They're good friends with the bots and Y/N. 

Y/N was a young beautiful woman that was married to a mighty handsome leader. They've been together for YEARS! They met each other in Jasper Nevada. The team was known as Team Prime at the time. Very good old times... sometimes sad, depressing, and anger. But mostly were good! The leader and the human fell in love with each other immediately. It was like love at first sight. Romantic, right? 

Now, Optimus doesn't know yet that Y/N, Denzel, and Russel were brought to safety in time. Denzel decided to keep an eye on the bots and wait for their return to tell the news. Russel is a very deep sleep in a bedroom while Y/N took a shower and washed her body. Her hair was 100% fine, so no worries. She wore a loose F/C shirt and... sexy lace panties from Victoria's Secret. The panties were dark blue and red, matching Optimus' colors of his plates (or armor). She decided to wear like why not? But also to secretly tease her husband... 

You may be wondering where they all were now during this whole fire incident? They're at the secret base. No, not from TFP but the base was also kinda like a big massive house! It had to be big because the bots can turn small. Correction: they're close to normal human's height. But they're a tiny bit taller. Surprise, right? But there was also a garage so they can easily get in. A military garage. Y/N and Optimus shared a big bedroom. It also meant that their bed was big too! Y/N was right now sleeping on it, covers not over her.

Optimus transformed along with Bumblebee and his team. He turned towards them. "You all did a good job, today. The Rescue Bots will take care of the problem."

"So, that's all for today?" Sideswipe asked.

"Yes, that's all for today," Bumblebee answered his teammate.

Optimus was about to respond until Denzel opened the door fast with a cup of hot coffee in his hand. "You guys are alright!"

"Are you all alright? Where's Y/N?" Optimus asked worriedly.

"We all are alright. Your wife is sleeping," Denzel said with a smile.

Optimus nodded. He calmed down since his wife was alright. But he's very stressed. He turned to face his team. "I wish you all a good recharge." He immediately walked off. 

"I bet that Optimus was eager to see his wife," Sideswipe smirked.

"I think so too,"  Strongarm said with a smile.

Bumblebee only shook his helm with a smile while rolling his optics. "As Optimus said, get some recharge."

In the bedroom~

Y/N was peacefully sleeping since she's exhausted due to the fire incident. When the Autobots got informed, they immediately contacted the Rescue Bots too and explained everything. Heatwave (he's my favorite bot of the Rescue Bots Academy show) and others arrived fast as they could. They took care of the fire while the Autobots went to find out how the fire started. It was a beautiful day, but it was not a very hot day! The Autobots found the answer fast how it happened. The Decepticons. Apparently, they were trying to kill Y/N, Russel, and Denzel! Let me tell you, Optimus was SUPER mad! Not only him but others too! But the Prime didn't want to lose his wife! Once the Autobots caught some Decepticons, Optimus ripped their sparks out. Man, the whole team didn't saw him THAT mad!

Optimus turned himself small and entered the bedroom quietly. He smiled softly once he saw his wife sleeping peacefully. But he then looks at her body. Her curvy, sexy body. He felt himself getting hard behind the panel cover. He especially has now lust in his optics once he saw the lace panties that matched his colors. He's stressed and he needs to relax.

"Mmmm..." Y/N moaned softly as she felt Optimus gently rubbing her head that moved to her hip, slightly under her loose shirt.

"Hey, sweetspark," Optimus said softly, yet stressed.

Y/N could hear it in his voicebox how stressed he was. She looks over her shoulder and met his gentle yet lust optics. She knew what he wanted. But she decided to play first by teasing him. "You're late, handsome."

He then nuzzled his helm in the crook of her warm, soft neck while his servo was rubbing her hip, seductively. "I apologize, my love."

She then moved so that she was laying on her back with Optimus on top of her. His servo was still on her hip. "You can make it up to me by taking me, Prime. I know that you're stressed.~" She smirked.

Optimus smirked back while his servo went under her panties to rub her clit, causing Y/N to jolt and moan. "A-Ah, Opti- Hphm.~" She got kissed deeply by her lovely handsome husband.

Slowly, her clothes came off so that she's fully naked under Optimus. He couldn't hold it back anymore that his spike broke free. He and Y/N parted from the kiss panting as Y/N gently pushed his spike towards her entrance. "Take me.~"

Optimus smirked.

"Gladly." He then slammed into her, causing her to scream in pleasure as the Prime grunted.

"Y-You're so big and hard!" Y/N moaned.

"You're so slagging wet and tight.~" Optimus grunted and moaned as well. "I want to stay forever inside of you, my dear.~"

Y/N moaned as she enjoyed every second of him, her husband slamming into her each time. He hit her G-spot each time that she saw stars and she even had hearts formed in her eyes! Optimus saw that he chuckled while smirking. His stress was slowly washing away as he's enjoying this sex each second.

"Ahhhh!~" 

"My dear, y-you're so tight!"

"I-I'm cumming!"

"Cum.~"

Y/N moaned loudly as she came together with her lover. His transfluid was warm and sticky that she sighed in bliss. Optimus buried his helm into her neck again and he stayed inside of her for a minute. Y/N wrapped her arms around his neck while stroking the back of his helm. When Optimus pulled out, he gently laid his body on top of Y/N, snuggling into her warm soft body. They fell asleep together.

    Enjoy this smut! Since Christmas is coming, I hope that everyone had a wonderful life and were good :). I'll start tomorrow on the Christmas one-shot here and a chapter in My Mates. 

[scribble-blog]

Black Cats and Robinettes part 3!!!!

Part 1   Part 2

“No.”

Marinette eyed her brother balefully, even as she stuck another pin into the sleeve she was working on. “I don’t see how this is any of your business.”

“You’re my little sister,” Dick lamented. “I feel that it is completely my business to veto your budding love life.”

“The love life you know of,” Marinette muttered, ignoring Dick’s yelp as she stuck him with a pin. “Can you leave it be?”

“Can you leave him be?” Dick mocked her, rubbing the spot where she’d pricked him. 

“We’ve got more important things,” Marinette directed him to move, having him spin as her keen eyes watched. He did some light stretches to test the fabric, and she nodded. “Like, I don’t know, that hero Dad wants us to meet with?” 

“Hero schmero,” Dick grinned. “What are the volatile superhero politics of a different country compared to the love life of Gotham’s sunshine princess? And what are you going to have Alfred cook up to woo him tomorrow night?”

“Had it not been for the laws of this land, I would have slaughtered you,” She scowled, punching him. He just laughed in return.

———

Damian was not sitting on his bed mooning over Marinette Wayne.

No, Damian was staring out his window and mooning over Marinette Wayne. It was a small difference but it mattered, mostly because if he hadn’t been staring at the cloud cloaked sky and wondering if she had been flirting with him the rest of the day after her masterful takedown of Lila that had left the girl sobbing. She’d invited Adrien and Chloé, and him he supposed, to dine with her family the next night. She’d actually tried to include him in what could clearly have just been time for her to spend with her friends. 

What did it mean??

Staring out the window was nice, a sobering reminder that even if anything could come from this, Marinette Wayne was still the rich, beautiful, girl who was regarded as the Princess of Gotham. And he lived in Paris. 

And speaking of Paris, he caught the familiar movement of a red and a yellow suit, moving over the rooftops.

He couldn’t stop himself from standing up, a small intake of breath his only outward sign of surprise. Ladybug and Queen Bee? He watched them, spots and stripes, dart over a roof break, the streetlight filtering up and leaving them in stark definition. 

“Plagg,” Damian said, and the Kwami looked up from where he had retreated when it seemed clear that he was just going to pine over a girl for the whole evening. “Do you know why Ladybug and Queen Bee are here?”

“Why should I know that?” Plagg snacked on another piece of Camembert. Damian made a face, incredibly glad he’d started putting Camembert in double ziplock bags to keep from smelling like it constantly. “I’m your kwami, not theirs.”

“Claws out, Plagg.”

It was a simple matter to climb out of the window, and throw himself to the rooftops using the staff. 

He spotted them immediately, the familiar joking and banter that Queen Bee and Ladybug exhibited during battles easy to hear. But now, with them here, he honestly would have felt stupid if he hadn’t already known that there was magic that kept any casual comparisons from revealing their identities.

Of course, it was Adrien and Chloe. Of course it was his two friends. Out of all of the idiots in Paris, it had to be his two idiots who ran around in magical spandex fighting monsters with him.

There wasn’t any other explanation for why they would be in Gotham of all places. And if they were using the Horse Miraculous to return to Paris for akumas-

Damian scowled. And now they were going on a joy run around a city they had no business being in? If anyone else was able to make these connections like him-

“So,” a voice behind him interrupted his train of thought. “Are you just an opportunist in a cat costume trying to meddle in the Bat’s affairs? An amateur wannabe hero? Should I let Catwoman know she’s got a copycat running around Gotham?”

Damian spun. Behind him was a girl, shorter than him despite the clear platforms on the boots, dark green mask glinting in the low evening light.

“I thought capelets were out of fashion,” Damian said dumbly. The girl smirked at him.

“Well,” she shrugged, “It’s part of the Robin ensemble. And I sure as hell wasn’t going to deal with a full cape.” Her pose never faltered from battle-ready, despite her easy tone. “Now what’s a boy like you doing in a place like this?”

Damian spluttered. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me,” She nodded towards where Ladybug and Queen Bee had been, stepping forward, into his space. “You were following the two Parisian heroes. Don’t argue, I caught you at it. What do you want with them, catboy?”

Damian wished very desperately that his mask could keep him from blushing. Was there something wrong with him today? First Marinette Wayne, and now Robin? Batman’s partner? Why was he noticing how cute she was when he’d been pining after Marinette earlier? Was there something wrong with him?

“Well?” Robin challenged.

“I’m Chat Noir,” He started babbling. “I’m their partner too, but I didn’t know they were here in Gotham, and I’d prefer they didn’t-”

“Find out?” Robin grinned, backing away a step. “You scared they’ll be upset for the misunderstanding?”

Damian fought the urge to squirm under the blank white eyes of her mask. What to tell her? “They don’t know who I am, and I’d really rather not have to deal with revealing myself tonight.”

She leaned away, taken aback. “You don’t know who each other are? How do you get anything done?”

Damian laughed. “Honestly, we don’t. I’m thinking that’s probably why they’re here, isn’t it? To ask you and your group for help. That’s how you knew they were Parisian. They’re here to meet you.”

She finally dropped from her fighting-ready pose, tilting her head as she looked at him. “You’re pretty sharp. I wish I could trust you.”

And then she swung, and Damian jumped back automatically. She had a staff, an extendable one, and she knew how to use it. Before she could make another move, Damian swung himself out over the open street, dropping until his staff caught him, carrying him to the next rooftop over. 

“I don’t want to fight you!” He yelled back at her. He could practically see the way she rolled her eyes. Honestly, if this had happened to him back in Paris, he couldn’t say he’d be any less suspicious than she was, but it was still annoying him that she couldn’t just take his word for it.

Which meant that he had three options, he reasoned as they stood off against each other, the river of traffic between and far below them. He could try to fight her and possibly incur the wrath of the rest of Gotham’s vigilantes, which, no. He could try to run away and transform back, and give up this whole outing before making his way back to the hotel. Or he could go after Chloe and Adrien, possibly reveal himself and them to the vigilantes they were meeting with, but prove to Robin that he really wasn’t just some masked asshole making the best of the rooftops that night.

He wanted to groan as he watched her pull out a grappling gun. And he decided that sometimes, retreat really was the better part of valor.

He leapt for the next rooftop, only to have her swing in front of him. He tried to course correct, but she managed to block him, leaving him lunging for the next roof. 

He swerved the second he landed, immediately jumping again. He had super strength! It shouldn’t be hard to out distance her!

Except that whenever he thought he’d managed to get out of her sight, she’d corner him again.

Finally, he realized mid leap that she wasn’t trying to catch him. In fact, she was barey trying to chase him.

No, she was corralling him somewhere. He sprang from the edge, to another, and found out where she’d been forcing him.

“Chat?” 

“Chat?!”

Ladybug and Queen Bee were waiting there, along with two other masked individuals. Damian didn’t scowl when he heard Robin’s landing behind him, but it was a close thing.

“Oh my god,” one of the others whispered. “We have to tell Catwoman. It’s fucking genetic.”

“Shhhh,” the taller hushed. “Robin. I take it this is Chat Noir?”

“Yes,” Ladybug answered for him, green eyes burning into his. “Glad you made it, Chat.”

Ah. Okay. Damian could put off talking to them until later then. Thank god. But he turned back to Robin, one brow raised. “Good enough for you?”

“Oh,” Robin grinned, and despite being named for a bird, she looked like the cat that caught the canary. “What do you think we are? I’ve known you weren’t lying the whole time. Welcome to Gotham, Chat Noir.”

Her teasing smile made his heart stutter. He might honestly have gone a bit weak in the knees.

Gotham was trying to kill him, he realized. And it’s chosen method was flirty dark-haired girls who were out of his league and far more trouble than he thought.

TAGLIST:

@silverwhiteraven

@ash-amg  @vixen-uchiha @redscarlet95 @dramatic-squirrel @athena452 @novaloptr @bee-wrecker @constancetruggle @pr-y-sha

@thestressmademedoit @noirdots @ranger-gothamite @the-fair-maiden-of-fandom @zalladane  @mewwitch @mochegato @justafanwarrior @catcusxx @indecisive-mess-named-me @resignedcatservant @marinettepotterandplagg @myazael @mochinek0 @shizukiryuu @fancandi @fusser90 @loveswifi @gm-nasai @peachedpocky @danielslilangel @whatthefox22 @jardimazul @ladybug-182 @schrodingers25 @karategirl119 @smolplantmum @maribat-is-lifeblood @thebookwormfairy @sassakitty @area51qt @worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry @amayakans @dast218 @myvividreams @dorkus-minimus @alexandriamw @elmokingkong @tis-i-beanbandit

[the-and-sign-anon]

Cozy Evening

Pairing: Poe Dameron x reader

Word count: 1,062

Masterlist

“Y/N, sweetheart, are you comfy?”

“Mm… yeah.” Poe readjusted the blanket over you both once he’d set the mugs of hot chocolate on the coffee table while Bee was fast asleep on the floor in front of the fire.

Despite getting to spend the week with your brother, dad, and boyfriend, you felt drained and worn out. You had been chasing after Kevin and Bee all day while Poe helped your dad get his car ready for the drive to the nearby Christmas tree farm. You laughed and had fun and you felt so good; so why did you feel so terrible now? Your dad put Kevin to bed and told you both to make sure the fire was put out before going to bed himself.

“How was working with my dad today? He wasn’t too hard on you, was he?”

“It was great, actually.” Poe chuckled, and you could feel it rumble though his chest as you curled into him. “The car is so old, he should really just get a new one, but I wasn’t about to tell him that. It was nice to work on the car, and he kept both of us pretty entertained with stories about you and your brother growing up.”

“Oh, no. Which stories did he tell?”

“Ah, nothing bad. I learned that the stain on the front seat is from when your brother stole a kid’s cookies from school and threw up.” You groaned softly at the memory, but he continued, “I also learned that the dent in the front bumper came from when your dad took you driving for the first time. Apparently, you hit a tree?”

“The tree hit me.” You lifted your head up to protest, but you knew your dad wouldn’t have tried to make it sound worse than it was.

“Either way, Y/N, it was really nice to hear him tell me this stuff. It helped me feel like a part of the family.”

“Aw, good. You are a part of my family. Bee is too.” You both glanced down to the slumbering retriever with small smiles on your faces.

Poe couldn’t have been happier in that moment. The woman he loved was curled up next to him, his faithful dog was sleeping in front of the crackling fire, and he had the feeling he was on your dad’s good side; or at least he was on his way there. He knew you weren’t feeling right, though. He could always tell.

“So. What’s on your mind?”

“I’m not sure…” You knew he was happy, so you didn’t want to bring him down with your mood, but you also knew he wouldn’t give up. “I just don’t feel right. I know it doesn’t make any sense; I had a great day, I got to be with my brother and dad and both of you. I don’t get what could make me feel this way.”

“It’s okay to feel like that.” Poe gave you an encouraging smile before tucking your head under his chin. “Sometimes everything can be going right, but you just feel off. I’ve had some days like that myself. If you try to rationalize it, you’ll just drive yourself crazy thinking about it and make yourself feel worse. For now, just let me know what I can do to help.”

You sat for a minute in quiet contemplation while Poe held you close in his arms. He was thinking of what he could do tomorrow to help brighten your mood, hoping that your brother’s antics might help. Maybe Bee could snuggle with you when you went to bed instead of staying with him.

“You could hand me my hot chocolate. And maybe you could sing my favorite Christmas song before bed.” You smiled softly at him as he handed you the mug and chuckled again at your second suggestion.

“Are you sure you want my awful voice to butcher your favorite song? I don’t want to ruin Winter Wonderland for you forever.”

“I’m sure.” You whispered over the rim of your snowflake mug with a tiny smile. He knew you loved hearing him sing, but he always felt a little nervous about it.

“Alright. You asked for it. But we’re going to bed soon so you can get your rest. Your dad said we’re getting the tree tomorrow and I’m supposed to expect a long hike to find the right one. Apparently Kevin is willing to walk five miles or more to find one?”

“Yeah, dad usually sends me back for the truck while he cuts it down so I can get as close as possible to make it a shorter walk back. Now, sing for me and I promise I’ll go to bed.”

You snuggled in closer one last time as Poe started to sing. He really made every hard night worth it and you couldn’t wait to spend Christmas with him too.

“Sleigh bells ring, are you listening? In the lane, snow is glistening. A beautiful sight, we’re happy tonight,”

“Walking in a winter wonderland.” You finished the line with him as he nudged you to stand up.

As your dear boyfriend kept singing softly, you folded up the blanket and returned it to the basket full of other blankets to be used tomorrow. Bee slowly woke up and padded after you as you continued to the kitchen to wash out the mugs and set them in the sink. When Poe turned off the last few lights, you showed him to the guest room so he could go to bed.

“When it snows, ain’t it thrilling? When your nose gets a chilling?”

“Bee, go with Poe.” You tried to direct the retriever into the dark room, but he wouldn’t follow. Poe finished the song as you waved a hand at the sleepy pup.

“Y/N, I think he wants to go with you for tonight. He knows you need him.”

“Thank you, Poe. And thank you too, Bee.”

With one last hug and kiss to your forehead, Poe went to bed and let you lead his fluffy companion down the hall to your own room. While he wished he could make your sad feeling go away with enough holiday cheer, he knew all he could do to help was be there to comfort you with your family. So that was exactly what he’d do.

[spine-buster]

The President Wears Prada (William Nylander) | Chapter 6

A/N: Thanks for all the love.  Black Lives Matter.  I stand with those who are actively dismantling racist attitudes, behaviours, and systems, and want to remind you that you are always welcome on my blog.

October 31st, 2019

Aberdeen Bloom was dressing up.

Her hair, long and wavy and a bit frizzy on its own (thanks dad) was now teased, crimped, and made purposely frizzy.  She outfitted herself in a blazer embroidered with poppies, leaves, and other floral insignia, a pair of 1970s style black pants, and a ridiculously ruffled shirt.  She looked over at Kasha, whose own hair was curled and crimped then teased, a pair of skin tight light wash jeans, a plain tank top, and a Japanese cherry blossom-printed kimono-style cardigan left loose but tied around her waist.

They were Jimmy Page and Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin.  And they were going to the Leafs’ Halloween party willingly dressed like this.

The purchase of the exact replica blazer embroidered with the poppies was probably one of the most ludicrous purchases Aberdeen had made in her life, but she now had a Halloween costume for life.  It wasn’t exactly her parents’ proudest moment, but they made explicitly clear growing up that any money she made was her money and she was free to do with it whatever she wanted.  Did that mean buy an exact replica Jimmy Page blazer?  Probably not.  But Aberdeen didn’t hear it that way.  All she had to do for the rest of her life was find a friend or partner (or three friends or partners) to be the rest of the band.  That proved harder than she thought.  

“I can’t believe you’re bringing me to a party with the Toronto Maple Leafs,” Kasha said as she layered some mascara onto her lashes in front of the full-length mirror in her room.  

“I can’t believe you agreed,” Aberdeen said, applying her own mascara as she sat on the floor in front of the same mirror.  

“Hey, I only agreed for an hour,” Kasha reminded her.  “Then Evan’s picking me up and we’re going to his friend’s house party.”

Aberdeen didn’t want to think about the fact that Kasha would have to leave her alone with the Leafs after only an hour.  She should be thankful that Kasha was coming in the first place.  “What does Evan think of your costume?”

Kasha chuckled slightly.  “He dressed up as John Bonham.  Fake moustache and everything.”

Aberdeen swooned.  “That boy is in love with you,” she said.  Kasha stayed silent.  “But why doesn’t anybody ever want to be John Paul Jones?”

“Oh, one of his friends is being John Paul Jones.”

Aberdeen almost poked her eye out with her mascara wand.  “Okay, can I come to your party instead?  You guys obviously need a guitarist.”

“Um, no.  It’s not every day that someone gets invited to a Leafs party,” Kasha said, a devilish look on her face.  “Besides, I bet Will is looking forward to seeing you.”

Now Aberdeen rolled her eyes.  “Stop.”

“No way.  Do you know what he’s dressing up as?”

“No idea.”

“Maybe he’ll dress up as John Paul Jones.  He’s definitely got the hair for it.”

Aberdeen laughed.  “I don’t think he even knows who Led Zeppelin is.”

“I barely know who Led Zeppelin is,” Kasha quipped, making Aberdeen laugh.  “The only reason I know is because of you and your dad.”

“And thank God for that.”

***

“Aberdeen!  You made it!” Travis Dermott greeted her at the door dressed up in a unicorn onesie.  He didn’t move to hug her but he gave her a very obvious up-down to take in her costume.  “Are you supposed to be the seventies?” he asked.

“Jimmy Page,” she pointed at herself, then moved to point to Kasha, “and Robert Plant.  From Led Zeppelin.”

“Well, rock on baby,” he smiled.  “And this is…?”

“This is Kasha, my roommate.  Kasha, this is Travis Dermott.”

He led them further inside the venue, The Burroughes, before introducing them to his girlfriend, Kat, dressed in a matching unicorn onesie.  Zach Hyman came up to them as well, introducing his wife Alannah.  They were dressed up as characters from Stranger Things, which Kasha got a kick out of.  Morgan and Bee came to say hi too – Bee was dressed up like Bruce Springsteen, and Morgan as Courtney Cox from the ‘Dancing in the Dark’ music video.  Aberdeen got a kick out of that.  

“Where’s Jason?” she asked Morgan as he led them to the bar, looking around for him.  He was the one who invited her to be here, after all.  She thought he’d be running up to her to say hello.

“Jason’s trick-or-treating with his kids.  Where else would he be?”

Her face dropped.  That little bastard.  He invited her to the Halloween party and then didn’t even bother to show up.  She thought for sure he’d take delight in watching her squirm the whole night and interact awkwardly with the team.  “Oh, that’s nice.  He was the one who invited me.”

Morgan smiled.  “He was the messenger,” he said, almost underneath his breath.  She saw Bee try to discreetly elbow him.

“What does that mean?”

“What are you ladies having to drink?” Bee asked, changing the subject completely.  “Everything’s on the house.”

Aberdeen ordered a gin and tonic while Kasha ordered a Tom Collins.  A few more of the guys and their girlfriends came up to say hi, confused by their costumes until she explained them.  Their costumes were much cuter, much more couple-y, like Alex Kerfoot and his girlfriend, who dressed up as Curious George and The Man in the Yellow Hat, or Mitch Marner and his girlfriend Steph, who dressed up as Fred and Daphne from Scooby Doo.  Even Nic Petan and Frederick Gauthier dressed up as Holmes and Watson.  Bee soon started chatting up with Kasha, which left Aberdeen sipping on her drink and vulnerable to Auston Matthews seeing her approaching her.

“I must say, I think you’re the only person in the world who would get invited to the Leafs’ Halloween party and not dress up in something provocative,” Auston said, a drink already in his hand.

She knew Auston was Auston, but she still rolled her eyes.  “I work with you people.  We have to see each other tomorrow.”

“And you’re not trying to impress anybody?”

“No!”  It was the most ridiculous notion in the world.  Most of them were married or in long-term relationships.  Plus, she was an employee.  Did he not read the MLSE Employee Handbook?  “In case you forgot I work for Brendan Shanahan.  You know, the president?”

“Whatever,” he rolled his eyes playfully at her.  “What are you supposed to be, anyway?”

“I’m Jimmy Page,” she said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.  It should have been, since he was dressed up as Freddie Mercury.  She assumed he would know his rock stars if he dressed up like Freddie Mercury.  

“Who’s that?”

“Led Zep—you know what, never mind,” she shook her head, trying not to laugh.  “Maybe I should have dressed up like Justin Bieber.  Then you’d know.”

“Is there something going on between you and Willy?” he asked suddenly.  

Aberdeen practically spit out her drink.  Was he already drunk?  “No,” she said firmly.  “Why would you think that?”

“I don’t know,” Auston shrugged his shoulders.  “He’s always just kinda looking at you.  And when Kappy hit you in the face with the soccer ball…he was so red afterwards from being so angry I thought he was gonna murder Kappy.”

Aberdeen got defensive.  She couldn’t help it.  “Well, there’s nothing going on.  I don’t know why you would even think that.”

“I think he’s got the hots for you,” he tried to provoke her.  

“Oh, shut it, Auston,” she said.  “You’re just trying to get a rise out of me.  I’m just trying to do my job here.  What Willy does or does not feel is none of my business.”

As if on cue, William appeared behind Auston, dressed as Batman.  So stereotypical.  She wondered who was his Robin.  For a brief second, she wondered if he brought a girl.  “What’s none of your business?” he asked, throwing an arm around Auston but looking directly at her.

“What Kyle Dubas’s coffee order is,” Aberdeen thought on her feet, answering quickly.  “He’s got Peter for that.  Although I think he’s partial to a latte.”

She could see William giving her an up-down and briefly got self-conscious.  “Are you a rock star or something?”

“Jimmy Page.”

“Who’s that?”

Aberdeen rolled her eyes as Auston laughed out loud, turning to walk away to find someone better to talk to.  She felt a rush of blood flood her cheeks as William continued to look at her.  Kasha was still talking with Bee, and she wished to God either one of them would pull her into their conversation.  But they didn’t.  So she was stuck with William.  “Who’s your Robin?”

“Would have liked it to be you, but it’s Rasmus,” he said.  It made her head spin.  “Who’s your…I don’t know, partner?”

“Kasha, my roommate,” she pointed quickly to her.  “She’s Robert Plant.  The lead singer.”

“You got my texts that day, right?” he asked, changing the subject quickly like Auston had.

She gulped.  “Yeah.”

“Why didn’t you text me back?”

“Did I have to?” she asked.

William shrugged his shoulders.  “Would have been nice.”

“How’d you even get my number?” she asked.

He smiled.  “Don’t worry about it.”  He looked down at her drink.  “Cucumber mule?”

“Gin and tonic.”

“Ah, that’s right,” he smiled.  “You’re more of a gin girl, right minskatt?”

Her heart fluttered in her chest at those words.  My treasure.  My treasure.  She’d told Kasha about it and Kasha almost teared up.  “Don’t call me that.”

“Don’t call you that?”

“At least not here.  Not in front of everybody.”

“So I can call you that when we’re alone?” he countered.

He was really dead set on making her heart fluttered out of her chest.  “When are we ever alone?” she asked, looking around the room at the team that surrounded them.

“We can find time,” he said.  “At least I will.”

“Aberdeeeeeeeeen!” she finally heard Kasha’s voice call out her name, tugging on the elbow of her blazer.  “Aberdeen, you have to see how cute Bee’s cat Bruce is!  Oh my God, he and Minerva can be best friends!”  When Kasha noticed Aberdeen wasn’t moving, too busy staring at William still, she looked at him.  He looked just as she remembered him from that night in June.  Blonde hair, blue eyes.  A total dreamboat.  A total hottie.  What she should have done is pat Aberdeen on the back for landing him.  “Hi, I’m Kasha,” she extended her hand to shake his.  “I’m Aberdeen’s roommate and best friend.”

“Nice to meet you Kasha,” he shook her hand, taking his eyes off Aberdeen momentarily.  “So, roommates, huh?”

“Mhm,” Kasha looked at him knowingly.  

“Here’s Bruce!” Bee intervened, bringing her phone up to Aberdeen’s face.  “Kasha tells me you have a grey ragdoll?  That is adorable.”

***

Kasha was too good a girl to break her promise to Evan, so over an hour into the party, she told Aberdeen he was here and she had to leave.  They had spent the first half of their time talking to William, who wouldn’t leave Aberdeen’s side, and the second half talking to Bee, Aryne, and Alannah.  But even when it was just the girls laughing and giggling, ordering drink after drink, whenever Aberdeen’s eyes left any of the women’s, she found William somewhere in the room staring at her.  

As Kasha hugged Aberdeen goodbye, Kasha held her in place to whisper in her ear.  “Okay, but listen.  He’s so sweet.  And he said he wants you, Aberdeen.”  When she pulled away, her eyes flashed and she nodded slightly, signalling that William was probably coming back.

“Kasha, don’t leave.”

“Evan’s waiting.”

“Kasha, if he’s coming, please don’t leave.”

“Leaving so soon?” Aberdeen heard William’s voice asked as he saw the two girls hugging.  

“My boyfriend is here to pick me up.  I’m going to another party,” she informed him.

“Boyfriend?  Auston’s gonna be heartbroken,” he smiled as he hugged her goodbye.

“Tell Auston there’s no way he’s getting near her,” Aberdeen said immediately, skeeving at the thought of Auston hooking up with Kasha.  Kasha would never, but still.  There was only one fuck up that was going to hook up with a Maple Leaf, and that was Aberdeen.

“I’m sure I’ll be seeing you sometime soon,” William said to Kasha as they let go of their hug.  Kasha raised her eyebrows at Aberdeen when she heard William’s words before turning on her heels and walking through the door.  

When Aberdeen turned around, she saw Kasperi and his girlfriend Saylor, dressed as what looked like the twins from The Shining, approaching her and William.  For a guy who apparently wanted alone time with her, tonight or otherwise, it looked like William wasn’t going to get it.  “You must be Aberdeen,” Saylor said, smiling at her.  “I’m Saylor.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Aberdeen shook her hand politely, but smiled awkwardly.  

Saylor grabbed her hand, leading her towards the bar.  “We have so much to talk about.”

“We do?”

“Did you know my boyfriend and Will used to be roommates?  Oh my God, it was a disaster.”

Saylor liked to talk.  Aberdeen didn’t know whether to chalk it up to the fact that she was a bit drunk or that she just had a lot of information and gossip to tell, but she did about 95% of the talking throughout their “conversation”.  Aberdeen would nod her head and laugh along at the stories Saylor would tell, but at the end of the day, they were just stories Kasperi told her of when he and Will lived together when they were like, nineteen.  She wasn’t around then, and so these were just second-hand accounts.  

It was 12:30 in the morning before Saylor stopped talking, and Aberdeen was finally able to realize she was tired and wanted to go home.   Everybody was quick to take the group picture, and when they finished, she began saying goodbye to everybody.  John and Aryne first, then Morgan and Bee, and then she saw that William was watching her give goodbye hugs and waves.  

He made a beeline towards her, like if he didn’t get to her quick enough, she would disappear into thin air.  “Are you leaving?” he asked.

“Yeah.  I’m exhausted.  Listening to Saylor took a lot out of me.”

“Can I walk you home?” William asked, his tone hinting on the side of desperate.

“Unnecessary.”

“Why not?”

“It’s only a twenty minute walk away,” Aberdeen explained.

“Are you joking?  All the more reason,” he defied her.

“Will.”

“It’s late at night, it’s dark, and there are drunk people everywhere from Halloween parties—”

“—William—”

“—Who knows if one of them will scare you or throw up on you or God knows what on the way home…I wouldn’t feel right knowing you’re out there walking alone and—”

“If I say yes will you shut up?”

William smiled.  Aberdeen rolled her eyes.  “Let’s go.”

They left the The Burroughes rather inconspicuously, beginning their walk along Queen Street.  If it was any other night, of course, they would have looked ridiculous – Robert Plant and Batman walking along the street together – but tonight nobody even gave them a second look.  William kept looking over at her, though.  The only pair of eyes on her.  

“So, you and Kasperi used to live together?” she asked, trying not to feel awkward with his eyes on her as they walked down the street.  

“Yeah,” William nodded his head.  “He’s actually one of my best friends because of it.”

“Does he know?”

“No,” he answered automatically, shaking his head.  “The only person that knows is my brother.  I told you I wouldn’t tell anybody on the team.  I don’t break my promises.”  He was so soft spoken that Aberdeen felt bad for insinuating she wanted him to shut up not even five minutes ago.  “Do any of your friends know?”

“Well, Kasha knows.  She is my roommate,” she said, suddenly nervous.  “And I told my sister Siena.”

“Are you guys close?” he asked.

Aberdeen nodded.  “Kasha’s one of my best friends but Siena is my sister and my best friend.  She’s the person I’m closest with in the whole world,” Aberdeen explained.  “I know I can tell her anything.  And I mean anything.”

“Sounds like me and my brother,” William smiled slightly.  “He’s the person I trust most in the world.”

“Yeah.  That’s Siena for me too.”

There was a moment of silence between them before William spoke up again.  “I mean what I say, you know.  I’m not going to tell a soul.”

“I believe you, Will,” she said, well, because she did.  When she really thought about it, he gave her no reason to think otherwise.  If he wanted to be vindictive, he would have told the entire team already, maybe even spoke to Brendan about it.  But he didn’t.  

“Why do you call me Will?” he asked.

“That’s how you introduced yourself to me,” she said.

“But you hear everyone else calls me Willy.”

“So?  You introduced yourself to me as Will.”

He smiled at her again.  “I like it.  I like it a lot.”

She blushed again.  She wished they had taken the streetcar because she didn’t want keep blushing in front of him because of his cute, stupid, adorable, dumb one-liners that made her swoon and his cute, stupid, adorable, dumb smile that made her swoon even harder.  “So your brother.  What does he do?” she asked.

“He plays hockey too.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah,” he giggled.  He thought she would have googled him by now.  “He plays for Chicago.”

“That’s pretty cool.  And then?  I remember Kasperi mentioning in Newfoundland there’s three others or something?”

“There’s three girls after us,” he explained, loving that she remembered that from all the way back in September.  “And my older half-sister before me.  So it’s Michelle, me, Alex, Jacqueline, Stephanie, and Daniella.”

“Oh my God, there’s six of you?” she asked.  William nodded.  “God bless your parents,” she said, causing him to giggle again.  

There was another moment of silence.  Aberdeen didn’t know if it was her or William that had slowed down the walking pace, but she noticed.  She wasn’t going as fast as she usually did.  God, it was probably him.  He clearly wanted to spend time with her.  He left his entire team to walk her home (in a Batman costume) and now he wanted to elongate the experience as much as possible, regardless of how ridiculous they looked.  He wanted to spend time with her.  He found time and got her alone, like he said he would.

“Has Ethan done anything else I should yell at him for?” William suddenly asked, taking Aberdeen away from her thoughts.    

“No no, don’t worry about it,” she said, shaking her head.  He’d made some comments here and there, but again, she wasn’t going to let William know about it.  The most annoying was that he kept referring to her as Girl Friday instead of her name.

“I told Mike about it, thinking that he’d say something to Brendan,” he explained.  “He decided not to.  But I can go to him if you want.”

“It’s fine Will, don’t worry,” she continued to shake her head.  The absolute last thing she wanted to do was cause a ruckus with an established member of staff.  “I know I’m like, the rookie around the office, and he’s just trying to test me.  I get it.”

“That doesn’t make it right,” Will said strongly.  “He still shouldn’t be doing that.  Rookie or not.”

Aberdeen bit her lip.  Clearly Will had a protective side that she hadn’t seen yet, and was only getting a small glimpse of now.  “Did you get hazed when you joined the team?” she asked.  

“If you count paying for an entire team’s meals and bar tab, then yeah.  But that’s the extent of it nowadays.  Harmless stuff,” he said.  “Anything worse is just bullshit.  Plus the media would pick up on it and it would become a shitshow.”

“Brendan tells me the media in Toronto is ridiculous,” she said.  

“They are.”

He didn’t say anything else.  Clearly, he didn’t want to talk about it.  Maybe something had happened to him in the past and that’s why he didn’t like them.  She didn’t really read about what they said about the team – she left that to Brendan.  When she got home from work, she didn’t really want to think about work.  She never googled articles about the team or anything like that.  She wanted to keep that portion of her life separate from the one she lived outside of work.  

She changed the subject, bringing it back to hockey and playing with Alex as they continued their walk home.  He was much more upbeat talking about his close relationships with his siblings, particularly Alex.  The endearing smile on his face couldn’t be missed – he clearly loved his family.  When she spoke about Siena and Camden, there was a similar endearing smile on her face, too – one that William wished would never fade.  He heard about the shenanigans she and Siena would get into as young kids, and she even recounted the day she went to the hospital to see Camden for the first time.  She and Siena had to end up sharing a room so the baby could get his own.  

Sometimes, their hands would brush against each other’s, and William would feel a jolt of electricity surging through his body.  

They stopped outside her condo building.  His smile was still on his face, as was hers.  Their walk was nice.  Their talk was really nice.  Aberdeen held her breath.  She didn’t expect to enjoy it so much.  She looked him in the eye, and suddenly, her word vomit got the best of her.  “You don’t regret that night, do you?” she asked before she even thought about what she was saying, or its implications.

“God no,” William said in less than a millisecond.  The notion was absurd to him.  “No.  Never.  Why would you even ask that, minskatt?”

She couldn’t think for a moment because he said that name.  Again.  “I don’t know…I just…”

He purposely reached forward slightly to brush his fingers against hers, like he was going to hold her hand.  He could hear the breath hitch in her throat.  “Don’t ever think that again,” he told her.  

Aberdeen didn’t say anything.  She couldn’t say anything.  All she could do was look into his eyes.  She was doing that a lot lately, apparently.

Then he moved closer.

And closer.

And looked down at her lips.

And licked his.

And then he leaned forward.  

“Will…” she whispered, moving back slightly.  He looked her in the eye.  “We can’t, Will.”

He bit his lip, sighing.  “I’m sorry.  I know.  Fuck, I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright.”

“You just…I can’t help myself sometimes when I’m around you,” he confessed. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Exactly what you think it means,” he said, cocking his head to the side.

Aberdeen could only handle so much of William making her heart flutter in one night.  She felt like she was going to develop heart palpitations if she stayed any longer.  “I’m gonna go upstairs.”

“Aberdeen…” he said longingly.  

“Goodnight,” she said, turning away from him.

“Aberdeeeeeeen…”

“Goodnight Willy,” she said as she looked at him over her shoulder, walking into her condo building.  

William stood outside, watching until she disappeared down the hallway towards the elevators.  He brought his fingers up to his lips, rubbing them gently as he chuckled to himself, turning on his heels as he walked down the street.  

[mcheang]

Chloe actually uses her brain

Miraculer alternate ending

“Weren’t you with Ladybug yesterday?” Lila looked confused.

“Of course Ladybug was with me yesterday! Because Sabrina got akumatized! So either you’re lying or your magic dance summons an akuma.”

Lila sweatdropped. Chloe chooses to use her brain now?

Lila put a hand on her heart and feigned shock. “I’m not lying! But maybe the magic dance was only meant for me after all. Ladybug only showed it to me.”

Chloe cocked her hip. “Ah yes. Your utterly ridiculous dance. Tell you what. If your dance really works, why don’t you show it to us all now and summon Ladybug.”

Lila flushed. “You know exactly why i perform that dance in private, Chloe!”

Chloe gave a fake yawn. “What’s the point of boasting about your connection with Ladybug when you don’t have any proof? At least people have seen Ladybug visit my roof when I use my Bee signal. But you? Ladybug has never visited you in public. And I highly doubt she thinks such a charitable person as yourself is worthy of a miraculous. You’re no Rena Rouge. You’re just a wannabe fox heroine.”

Lila’s face grew redder. “How dare you? After I tried to help you?”

Chloe raised her eyebrow. “I know you’re from Greece (if Chloe can confuse Asian cultures, why not Greek and Roman?), but your French can’t be that bad. You didn’t help me. You sabotaged me. And rest assured, I intend to return the favour. Sabrina told me your Mother works for the Italian embassy, doesn’t she? I think I’ll ask Dad to invite them all for a nice dinner and she can tell the whole tale about how Ladybug saved you.”

Lila panicked. Her Mother cannot get involved, everything will be ruined if she does. Quickly composing her face, Lila shrugged it off. “If you please. But she’ll just confirm whatever I’ve been saying.”

Chloe smirked. “We’ll see.”

And she walked off, unwilling to let the liar get the last word. Sabrina followed, not giving Lila another glance.

Lila stewed. She had to change Chloe’s mind. But how?

Sabrina!

Later in the morning, once Chloe had gone to the bathroom during a class break, Lila approached Sabrina. “Hey, Sabrina.”

Sabrina jumped, looking nervous to see Lila close by. Chloe would not like to see her BFF talking to the girl who humiliated her.

Lila saw this and was just as eager to make this quick before Chloe returned. Feigning a carefree attitude, Lila asked what Sabrina was doing that afternoon.

Sabrina frowned. “I’ll be helping Chloe prepare the dinner arrangements. After that, I’ll help Chloe prepare for the dinner.”

Lila gasped. “You mean you don’t even get to attend?”

Sabrina shook her head.

Lila put on an apologetic face. “I’m so sorry, Sabrina. I didn’t mean to ruin your afternoon with my advice. I wish there was something I could do.”

Sabrina gave Lila a look. “Well, you could actually perform the dance in public, say during lunch time? If Ladybug shows up just for you and Chloe sees it, she’ll have to admit you’re telling the truth.”

Lila just smiled at Sabrina, promising nothing.

For the rest of the morning, Lila was frantically trying to attract an akuma. Her own alarm and panic was not enough.

Lila told Rose a lie that Prince Ali has a fiancée and she was one of the first to know. Rose was disappointed but not surprised. She knew she hardly had a chance with Prince Ali romantically. They hardly saw each other. Juleka was happy to cheer Rose up.

Lila asked Mylene how her tree planting event had gone. Lila sympathizes that Ivan lied to Mylene rather than trusted her with the truth. Did he think Mylene wouldn’t understand? Mylene admits she had been upset with her Boyfriend but they had already hashed it out.

Lila can’t put her frame/accuse-Marinette plan into action yet. There isn’t a test at the moment.

Lila tries to rub it in Max’s face that he got beaten by Marinette. But Alix jumps into their conversation and admits it’s nice to have another female winner in an event stereotyped for males. Max doesn’t dare argue in the face of that statement.

And Lunch has arrived. Coincidentally, an akuma appeared on the other side of the city. Sabrina gave Lila another look, silently promising that one way or another Chloe will avenge herself.

(Now, in case you’re wondering, Lila wanted the akuma for herself, to become Volpina and cast an illusion of Ladybug again. But too late)

Lila tries to get her Mother to stay at home by feigning to be grievously ill enough to be sent to the hospital.

The Doctors will immediately point out Lila has no broken bones, but Lila forces herself to vomit in class and claims this was a regular occurrence ever since she decided to go on a diet. She had even suffered hair loss.

“Is that the excuse for your hair-don’t?” mocked Chloe.

Lila’s Mother does make an appearance at the hospital but the Doctors are baffled because Lila looks perfectly healthy.

Lila’s excuse: makeup

In any case, the blood work needs some time to be finished. The doctor’s advice was to just let Lila try to eat dinner and sleep early. (I’m just basing off what I read in Kitchen Princess volume 2)

Sadly, Lila’s Mother won’t stay even if her Daughter is suspected to have an eating disorder. She asked their neighbour to look after Lila while she attends a mandatory dinner.

Lila wants to scream. If her plan had failed, she would have tried something else to sabotage the dinner (set off the fire alarm) but she can’t leave under the neighbour’s watchful eye.

So while Chloe asked Mrs Rossi her opinion of Ladybug, Lila did have one bit of good news.

The doctor had suggested feeding Lila what she liked to eat. Knowing she will be grounded very soon, Lila indulges herself on lasagne and rich chocolate cake.

She goes to sleep and pretends to continue so when her Mother slams the door open.

After dismissing the neighbour and thanking her, Mrs Rossi checks on Lila to see if she was indeed asleep before deciding their confrontation could wait till morning.

That dinner was the most humiliating event Mrs Rossi could remember. Not only was she the only one to believe Ladybug was incompetent; but the Parisians had been insulted that she had badmouthed their heroine. Their offended faces turned to incredulity when they heard her faulty evidence from her own Daughter. Then that Chloe girl told her that her own Daughter was said to have been saved by Ladybug and that they were BFFs. After that there came the theory that Lila was playing truant since the school hadn’t shut down, as Chloe could very well attest to.

The next morning, Lila tries to delay the inevitable by feigning exhaustion. Her Mother strangely lets it go as she announces she is off to work.

Lila tries to suppress the hope that maybe something went wrong with Chloe’s plan, like she couldn’t attend because she had another appointment.

The reason behind Mrs Rossi’s departure is because she wants all the facts before she confronts her daughter. She had called an emergency meeting with the principal and Ms Bustier. Imagine her shock and sadness to learn her daughter changed her parental contact information and her excuse for truancy. Mrs Rossi clears up the matter for the faculty and all agree Lila will be in massive trouble. Detention sounds like a lenient punishment for forging signatures and email fraud. But Lila’s truancy means she will have to stay back a year. She won’t graduate with the class.

Meanwhile, at class, Chloe boasts about Lila’s true nature with video evidence. Let’s just say the class are upset to learn that their friend had called Ladybug useless. Alya is shocked and Lila’s phone is exploding with texts demanding explanations and pleading for it not to be true.

Lila reads it all but doesn’t answer. Her whole world is crumbling before her eyes. Why hasn’t an akuma come for her then?

The akuma wasn’t attracted by Lila’s dull acceptance and rage, her emotions weren’t as strong when she knew this was coming.

No, the akuma was attracted towards sweet, innocent Rose, most sensitive of the girls. Because Lila’s betrayal really stung her.

Alya apologized to Marinette for not believing her. It makes the whole class realize Lila had been taking advantage of them, and makes them recall their discussions with her yesterday. Had Lila been intentionally trying to upset them?

Going further back, they analyse everything Lila had told them. Promises she had not yet fulfilled. Her implication that Ladybug doesn’t care about the earth. Yeah, the class idolizes Ladybug and while they didn’t really believe Ladybug was apathetic about the earth’s issues, they had dismissed it back then. Now, they are furious, especially since a lot of them have become heroes.

In all the chaos, Rose becomes akumatizes into Princess Fragrance. She will hold Lila on trial, and then decide her punishment. Luckily, Adrien and Marinette led the charge out of the class once they saw Rose transform.

Rose is stopped before she reaches Lila but her akumatization and reason for it make the news.

Before the day is over, when Mrs Rossi returns to work, she is told she has been called back to Italy because she had been sacked/demoted for her incompetence, ignorance and for humiliating the Italian embassy.

As Mrs Rossi packs her things (one of them a tiny plant), her despair, shame and rage against her Daughter summons a second akuma. She turns into Mother Nature.

If Lila was the bad seed, Mrs Rossi was the one who watered the tree. Mother Nature’s powers allow her to prove she can raise beautiful things.

She is defeated.

Mrs Rossi accepts her punishment and prepares to move back to Italy.

Lila is still staying in Paris. Her Father had been in another city but is also still a diplomat stationed in France. He will take over his wife’s station. Mrs Rossi can’t look after Lila and find a new job at the same time.

In addition to her school punishments, Lila will be getting a nanny, no allowance, grounded. Mrs Rossi knows Lila will face worse punishments once she returns to school tomorrow since the doctor confirmed Lila was fine. (Medical fees paid over nothing irked Mrs Rossi further)

At school, Lila is left to sit alone. Nathaniel decided to sit next to Ivan since he needs some closure.

Thanks to Marinette insisting the class not get worked up over Lila, the class ignores her but Lila notices she is glared at on her way to her desk.

Marinette and Alya throw a party for Chloe, under the excuse that it is to celebrate her time as Queen Bee now that she is retired. Alya had wanted to honor Marinette too but Marinette declines because she doesn’t need to be the center of attention.

Chloe was annoyed by the reminder that she can no longer be a hero but basks in everyone’s thanks for exposing that liar.

Adrien can’t argue because he has just learnt how much Lila had intentionally tried to hurt their class, and Chloe needs to be cheered up after Miraculer. Like after Oniichan, Adrien avoids Lila when she tries to hurt the people he loves. (Seriously the boy needs to stand up for the love of his life. Lila has badmouthed Ladybug in front of Adrien several times, and he has not defended her. Even after Oniichan, he still greets Lila cordially in Miraculer! Argh! 😠 also...why leave Ladybug alone with Lila when she was clearly fine?!)

Lila can’t even summon an akuma when her round-the-clock Nanny stays outside the classroom door and is there to walk her home for lunch. It’s a shame, because she really could have used an akuma after seeing the party. But her nanny was instructed to keep akumas away since Lila had been akumatized at least twice.

With the class ignoring her, Lila has no chance to make new ‘friends’ or get her old ones back. Not when she has to return home immediately for lunch or when school ends. Even during group projects, Lila has to communicate from home.

The class makes their hatred of Lila known in gym.

Oh, and now that Lila had been publicly announced a liar, Gabriel has no use for her. He doesn’t reach out to her anymore and Lila knows she has been fired.

Lila’s stay in Paris is assuredly miserable. And to think she had done all this because she wanted Adrien all to herself and tried to humiliate the competition.

[accioharry]

unsaid emily: rewritten (ch.1) | read on ao3

Her mom made the photo album, documenting Luke’s life until his death the first week after he died before she changed her mind and threw it in the attic with everything else. Knowing the recent pictures would be at the back, she flipped to the end, and her breath hitched in her throat.

On the page was a taped in picture of Emmi on her fourth birthday, sitting on the shoulders of her long-dead brother, Luke Patterson.

The same boy currently standing in Julie’s studio.

What if Unsaid Emily wasn't about Luke's mom, but his little sister he left behind when he ran away from home? Twelve years after his death, Luke comes face to face with his younger sister, Emmi, who isn't ready to forgive her older brother for abandoning her. JATP AU// boys died in 2008, not 1995. 

Emmi was exhausted.

Her alarm didn’t go off, making her almost late for school. She was lucky that Julie always walked to school with her, if it wasn’t for her best friend hitting her with a pillow, she’d sleep until noon.

She stood at her locker, fumbling with the lock that never seemed to open when she felt her two best friends appear on either side of her. “

Hey, underachiever!” Flynn nudged her, while Julie echoed with “Hey disappointment!” on her other side.

If a teacher heard them, they’d get a lecture about respecting other students, but are you really best friends if you don’t greet each other with an insult?

Emmi laughed, finally yanking her locker open. “Are we ready for class?” She looked between the two girls before she and Flynn looked over at Julie.

Music used to be the three girls’ favorite class, but after Julie lost her mom a little over a year ago, things had changed. Gone was their usual singing to and from school and jamming in Rose Molina’s studio, but instead, Emmi longing to go back into the room she nearly called home for the entirety of her friendship with Julie.

She never could explain her attachment to the studio in the back of the Molina garage. A lot of things in there were old, stuffed in boxes and bags in the loft that was there when the family moved in before Julie was even born. Rose caught Emmi looking through the loft when she was ten, and even though Emmi was terrified her best friend’s mom would be upset, she wasn’t. She never told her where the things came from, but never questioned it when Emmi would find an old drumstick to twirl or a worn-out band t-shirt to wear when she would get her own clothes dirty after playing outside with Julie. She loved that studio so much, and when Julie told her they couldn’t go in there after Rose had died, Emmi felt as though a part of her was missing, but she could never explain it.

“Do you know what you’re going to sing?” Flynn asked Julie, but Julie shook her head. The girls hated that the school had given her an ultimatum, to sing again or be thrown out of the program. They were pushing Julie when she wasn’t even close to being ready, and it made Emmi angry every time she thought about it. Her hand twirled the guitar pick that hung around her neck, if she was old enough to remember when her brother died, she might have felt the same way about music.

“I’ll know in the moment,” Julie shrugged, eyes flickering to Emmi’s hand on the guitar pick. “His birthday is soon, isn’t it?”

“Yup, Mom is making the cake like she does every year,” Emmi tucked the pick under her shirt. “She doesn’t talk about him, just puts the cake in front of me to blow out the candles, puts his stocking up for Christmas, and that’s it.”

“I’m sorry,” Flynn muttered. “I know this time of year is hard to be at home,” she smiled at Emmi reassuringly.

“I mean it when I say I’m fine, I was a kid when he died. I don’t remember him, I barely got to look at his pictures before Mom stuffed them in the attic with the rest of his stuff.” She shook her head, turning her attention back to Julie. “Enough about me, it’s not important.”

Before she could get another word out, the sound of heels hitting the tile floor made her groan internally, rolling her eyes. The three of them turned to see Carrie Wilson, their school’s queen bee, strutting to them, her boyfriend (and Julie’s long term crush) trailing behind her.

“Girls!” She squealed, a fake smile etched onto her face.

“Carrie,” Emmi jokingly twirled a piece of her brown hair around her fingers. “What can we do for you on this beautiful day?” She could hear Flynn and Julie snickering behind her.

“Always such a sweetheart, Emmi!” Carrie grinned, but Emmi saw right through it. “My group is performing at the spirit rally tomorrow!” She handed Emmi a flyer, the words “DIRTY CANDY” written in big letters across the top. “I’m sure you guys have nothing better to do,” she smiled at Flynn.

“Oh my gosh, Carrie thanks!” Flynn put on her sweetest, most annoying voice. “It’s not like it’s a required part of our school day and any of us have a choice!”

“Oh my gosh Flynn,” Carrie mocked back, “don’t bother coming!”

“Did she miss the part where you said it was a required school event? Emmi leaned over and whispered in Flynn’s ear, but Julie elbowed her in the side. “Ow!”

The three of them waited until Carrie had focused her attention on another student before they turned to each other.

“Please tell me we’re over Nick,” Emmi groaned. “All he does is follow Carrie like a lost puppy!”

“A cute lost puppy,” Julie sighed dreamily but snapped out of it when the bell rang. “Okay, guess it’s time for class.”

“You got this Jules,” Emmi smiled, “I know you do!”

-----

Emmi’s worst fear came true: Julie didn’t sing.

She and Flynn had followed their friend out of class, finding her crying on the stairwell. Anything and everything that had to do with music made Julie upset, and Emmi could only sympathize, watching her parents go through the same thing when her brother died twelve years prior when Emmi was only four. She couldn’t remember what he looked like, but she remembered not understanding what happened. One second he was hugging her, telling her he needed to go on his own but would always come home, and then a police officer was holding her mom as she sobbed, three weeks later. Christmas was never the same after that, none of it was.

Her parents had packed up his room and taken down all of his pictures within the first month, and it was only when Emmi was six her Dad took her up to the attic without her Mom knowing, to show her some things that used to belong to her brother. That’s where she found the guitar pick her father put on a necklace for her, and she’s never taken it off since. Her mom obviously knew about it, but she never said anything. It was an unspoken thing, the only token Emmi got to have of the brother she couldn't remember.

Flynn had a student council meeting after school, so Emmi walked home with Julie. Her parents worked late, so she often ate dinner with Julie and her family, which she loved. Even though Julie’s loss was still an open wound, she thought her family handled it ten times better than her parents did. Her brother was a forbidden topic at home, but at Julie’s house, her mom was everywhere, just as she should be.

She was sitting at the table working on a pre-calculus problem when Ray, Julie’s dad, came into the room.

“Ah, two of my favorite girls!” He smiled. “Flynn at student council?”

Julie nodded, her Dad pulling up a chair to sit next to them at the table.

“What’s up?” Julie asked, a nervous tone in her voice. Emmi bit her lip, she knew Julie was terrified of her Dad finding out she was kicked out of the music program, and frankly she hoped the ground would swallow her before she had to witness that conversation.

“Well, I got some news today,” he started, and Emmi really wished the ground would take her at any moment. Julie stiffened.

“From my realtor friend,” he continued, and both girls sighed with relief. If Ray noticed, he didn’t say anything.

“He said if we’re serious about selling the house, then we need to take pictures for when we list it on the market.”

Julie nodded in understanding, and Emmi squirmed in her seat. Julie wanted to move away, and no one, not even Emmi and Flynn, could talk her out of it. The way Ray and Carlos would willingly move their entire life to help Julie heal made Emmi once again jealous, her parents doing nothing but closing the door to her brother’s empty room before it became Emmi’s playroom a couple of years later.

“But,” Ray continued, “I was thinking you could tackle Mom’s studio?”

Emmi looked at her best friend, Julie’s eyes already filling with tears. “It’s okay if you’re not ready,” he placed a comforting hand on his daughter’s shoulder. “Carlos and I, we wouldn’t know where to begin.”

“It’s okay, I’ll do it.” Julie shrugged. Her eyes met Emmi’s, who cleared her throat.

“I’ll help,” she offered, and Ray smiled at the two of them.

“Great! Now I’m already late for Carlos’s game, where are my keys?” He stood up to look.

“Under the mail,” Julie and Emmi said at the same time, before Ray laughed, taking his keys and heading out the door.

“Jules,” Emmi muttered, not wanting to hurt her friend. “Are you sure?”

“I mean we’re moving, right? Got to face it sometime,” Julie shrugged, but Emmi knew that was the end of the conversation.

----

Walking to the studio felt like a movie, Emmi thought. It was dark by the time Julie had the courage to walk down the steps that were all too familiar, but like Emmi promised, she wouldn’t do it alone.

“I’m right here,” she told Julie. “Anytime you want to leave, we leave.”

“Okay,” Julie sniffled, and with one hand held tightly by Emmi’s, she pushed the doors to the studio open. She let go of Emmi to walk over to turn on the lights, and Emmi gasped as she saw the familiar fairy lights turn on around her, dropping her backpack on the ground. Julie walked around slowly, her hand running over the familiar grand piano that was covered by a white sheet, before she yanked it off, coughing with the dust.

Emmi found the ladder to the loft, smiling when she heard the familiar creak of the steps underneath her feet as she climbed. The drumsticks were right where she left them the last time she was here, and she didn’t hesitate to grab them. She never played drums or any instrument for that matter, but she always had fun twirling them around in her hands. Her feet dangled off the side as she rummaged through one of the dark bags left up here, but nothing stood out to her.

“Em! I found something,” Julie called, and Emmi rushed down the ladder and over to her best friend. “I didn’t know Mom had this CD?”

Emmi took it from Julie, flipping it over to look at the tracklist. “Sunset Curve?” She muttered to herself. “Why…why does that sound familiar?”

“It doesn’t sound familiar to me,” Julie shrugged. “Should we play it while we look around?” Emmi nodded, putting the CD in the player before pressing play. A guitar riff filled the room, and Emmi found herself captivated by it, almost as if she knew it.

She definitely knew that riff, but she couldn’t figure out where she heard it from. “Jules, I know this song—” she started to say over the music, but a loud screeching noise, almost as though someone was yelling, filled the room, forcing the girls to cover their ears.

Emmi blinked, and all of a sudden three teenage boys had appeared out of nowhere, falling onto the floor, groaning as they hit the ground. The music stopped in the background.

The girls stood frozen, watching the boys stand up, shaking the dust off their clothes.

“Woah,” the boy in the middle said, “how did we get back here?”

Emmi screamed.

[worryinglyinnocent]

Fic: Haven (18/50)

Summary: They say Resembool is a haven, and they’re right. Lush pastures, quaint country town, farmers’ markets on Saturdays: a bucolic paradise.

But it’s more than that. Resembool is a haven for the runaways, the deserters, the people who don’t want to be found…

The Resembool community knows there’s something odd about Hohenheim, but they’re not going to let that stop them helping him out. This is Resembool after all, a place where no one has to hide and neighbours help neighbours, be they building a fence, chasing a sheep, or trying to save the country from an evil they inadvertently helped release centuries ago…

Or: A series of slices of life in an AU in which Hohenheim never leaves, and several broken state alchemists find hope and home in Resembool.

Rated: T

==

Haven

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [AO3]

Summary: Trisha realises that her sons are growing up, which leads to some very awkward conversations.

Characters: The Elric family, the Rockbell family

Pairings: Trisha/Hohenheim (Yuriy/Sarah in the background)

==

“Mom, where do we come from?”

“Pardon?”

“Me and Al. Where did we come from?”

“How do you mean, honey? You come from Amestris, like me. This is where you were born. Your dad comes from Xerxes.”

“I know that.” Ed gives an exasperated sigh. “I mean before we were born. Winry says we came from the stars and that a stork brought us to earth.”

Oh. So that’s what he means. Not where he comes from per se, but where babies come from in general. 

Are he and Al old enough for her to be having that conversation with them?

“Tommy at school says babies grow under cabbage leaves,” Al adds. “But I checked all our cabbages and I couldn’t find any.”

“There aren’t any babies under our cabbages, I can assure you of that.” Trisha looks to Van in desperation, but he’s wearing the same ‘rabbit faced with a fox’ expression that she knows she is.

“Babies grow in their mom’s tummy,” Van says eventually. 

“Huh.” Ed stares very hard at Trisha’s midsection. “How did we fit in there?”

“You were a lot smaller at the time,” Trisha points out. “And I stretched quite a lot.”

“Huh.” There’s silence for a moment and Ed goes back to staring at his plate rather than staring at his mother, and for a few minutes, Trisha dares to hope that the conversation is closed. Unfortunately, she and Van raised two scientists and they’re not going to be happy until they have the answers they want. 

“How did we get there in the first place?” Ed asks eventually.

Trisha exchanges another ‘how are we having this conversation at the dinner table with no prior warning?’ look with Van. 

“Erm, that’s what Dad’s for,” Trisha says quickly. Van glares at her with the same ferocity that Ed glares at his milk as the boys look to him innocently for an explanation.

I hate you, he mouths. 

“I don’t think this is a conversation for the kitchen table,” he says. “We’ll talk about it tomorrow. Once Mom and I have had a very long discussion. And possibly roped in Aunt Sarah and Uncle Yuriy.”

For all he’s usually extremely mild, Van’s tone brooks no arguments and the boys accept it easily, the talk moving to other subjects until the meal is finished and they get down from the table. 

Van groans and faceplants into the scrubbed wood. 

“Why?”

“It was going to happen sooner or later.” Trisha resists the urge to join him in his very close contemplation of the table. 

“Why couldn’t it have been later rather than sooner?”

“I maintain that’s your fault.”

Van looks at her indignantly. “How on earth is it my fault?”

“You’re the reason we have two such incredibly precocious children.”

“Their ability to do alchemy and read Ancient Xerxian has absolutely nothing to do with them asking about the birds and the fleas.”

“Bees.”

“What?”

“It’s birds and bees, not birds and fleas.”

“Right.”

There’s a long silence, both of them trying to find a way out of this that doesn’t involve actually discussing the situation. 

“What do we do now, then?”

“I think your idea of roping in Sarah and Yuriy is probably a good one. Maybe Winry’s been asking the same questions. We can get them all together in one room in one go and maybe the ordeal won’t be as nightmarish as we think it might be.”

“And they say I’m the one who lives in cloud cuckoo land all the time. You’re kidding yourself if you think this is ever going to be anything other than awkward.”

“I have hope.” If there’s one thing that Trisha is never short of, it’s hope. 

X

The next day, Trisha’s hope is not buoyed up by Sarah bursting out laughing when she tells her the tale of what went on over dinner. 

“Sorry, I’m just imagining the look on Hohenheim’s face. It must have been priceless.”

“It was, but that’s kind of beside the point. I have the unfortunate situation of having a family of scientists and if I don’t give them answers, you can bet they’ll go looking for them. Not that any of Van’s books contain anything that will help them, so they might be there a while, but time is still ticking and I think they ought to learn these things from parents rather than anywhere else.”

“Are you saying there’s no such thing as erotic alchemy?”

“If there is, Van’s been keeping it very secret for the entirety of our relationship.”

“Ask him. You never know what you might be missing out on.”

“I am not bringing alchemy into our bedroom. I have enough trouble getting him to leave it alone and come to bed as it is, and this is all beside the point, Sarah!”

“All right, all right, I’m sorry. I’m having way too much fun with this.”

“I’ll say. Have you got any ideas?”

“Nope. None at all. I’m trying to remember the discussion I had with my own parents but to be honest I think I must have blocked it from memory.”

“Same.” Trisha sighs. “Do you think they’re old enough?”

Sarah nods. “Yes, I think so. And you’re right, we might as well get all three of them together.” She pauses for a long time. “It just goes to show the mundaneness of everyday life. Your husband is immortal and pretty much on a one man mission to save the world as we know it from imminent destruction and yet you still have to worry about giving your kids The Talk.” Suddenly she bursts out laughing again. “You know, I think I got most of my education from trashy romance novels. Heaving bosoms and quivering thighs, that kind of thing.”

Trisha snorts. “Yeah, I know the type. Then you get to the real thing and it’s nothing like the books, and you can’t decide whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing.”

“It’s a good thing. I’m a doctor. I know that heaving bosoms aren’t usually healthy.”

“I think this is going to be one of those occasions where I walk straight back out of the kitchen and pretend I never heard any of that.” Yuriy is halfway out of the door again when Sarah calls him back. 

“Wait, wait. We were talking seriously about things before you came in.”

“We were?”

“Yes, we were. We were talking about giving the kids The Talk. Ed and Al have been expressing an interest in learning where babies come from.”

“Ah.” Yuriy sits down at the table with them. “Right. I see.” 

There’s a long silence and then Yuriy gets up again. “If I have to be here then Hohenheim does too; he’s not getting out of this.”

Half an hour later, all four of them are sitting around the Rockbell kitchen table whilst the three kids play in the garden and Pinako watches them all from the doorway with barely concealed amusement. 

“For two doctors, a farm girl and an immortal who’s seen everything, you aren’t half squeamish about the topic,” she remarks. 

Yuriy and Sarah protest that it’s a sensitive subject that requires deliberation, Trisha protests that animal husbandry is very different, and Van protests that he definitely has not seen everything.

“Well, before you resume your debate as to the best way to go about this, I’ll draw your attention to the kitchen window.”

They all look out into the garden, where the three children are staring open-mouthed at the field next door, where a particularly virile ram has decided that now is the time to vigorously perpetuate its species.

Trisha just groans and resists the urge to faceplant into a kitchen table for the second time in two days. Yuriy does not resist the urge. Sarah is back to giggling, and Van appears to be trying to reach a higher plane of existence. 

“Granny…” Winry comes to the door. “What are the sheep doing?”

“Mom, if you answer that I will kill you,” Yuriy mutters, muffled by the table. 

Pinako just rolls her eyes and shepherds her granddaughter out of the house again. “Winry, I think it’s time you and Ed and Al learned where babies come from, and since the thought of telling you seems to have made your parents short circuit, I suppose the task falls to me…”

Trisha supposes she should be grateful that the talk is out of her hands.

She’s absolutely not grateful when Ed asks questions about the circumstances of his birth the entire way home. 

“Does it hurt?” 

“Which part?”

“Any of it.” 

“It hurts when the baby comes out.”

“Huh.” There’s silence for a while and Trisha dares to hope she’s past the worst. “I’m glad I don’t have to have babies.” Another pause. “I hope Winry never has to have any.”

Al agrees wholeheartedly, and Trisha catches Van’s eye. He smiles. Things could have been an awful lot worse, after all. He finds her hand and she goes up on her toes to kiss him. 

“Are you making us a sister?” 

They break apart to see Ed standing with hands on hips, watching them.

Trisha can only sigh. It’s going to be a long evening.

[andyet-here-we-are]

I Would Get Into Millions of Accidents Just to See You, Chapter 2 (aka Nurse Geralt AU)

(ao3: x

Chapter 1 Tumblr Link: x )

Geralt is not someone who is an active social media user. He has never been.

Hell, he wouldn’t even use WhatsApp if he didn’t have to.

He thinks that apps like this make people so accessible, and leaves little privacy, and ironically, despite it’s called “social media” it makes people less social. He has lost count of how many times he has seen a group of friends sitting somewhere and scrolling through some apps on their phone or something instead of talking to each other.

Of course, it depends on one’s use, but from what he can tell, whenever you’re online, people tend to think that you have all the time in the world.

So no, thank you very much. He likes his privacy.

Whenever he says that “Social media is for people who don’t have nothing better and important to do,” Ciri just gives him The Look ™ and says: “Okay, boomer.”

He has no idea what the hell it’s supposed to mean, but he is sure it’s not something good.

Once Ciri had downloaded some dating app on his phone without his permission while he was sleeping his ass off after a very tiring night shift. That little match-maker of a girl.

And not only that, but also she had said: “I texted some of the users for you! The ones I thought you might like. One of them seemed nice, I like her energy. So, anyway, long story short, you have a date this weekend. You can thank me later.”

“Excuse me, you did what?!”

Needless to say, Ciri wasn’t allowed to use the internet for three days after that.

“I just want you to be happy,”  on the third day, Ciri had said out of the blue while they were reading I, Robot together —they were both into sci-fi, and reading was a great escape from thinking about all the things going on in life.

“You deserve love. Everyone does. Your whole life is nothing but me and your job, and… You deserve happiness, dad. You deserve love.”

“Come here,” Geralt had said, opening his arms wide for her to embrace him, which Ciri had applied.

“I am happy, pumpkin.”

“You could be happier… If there was someone you loved and dated—”

“Ciri, look. Love is… A beautiful thing.” he started ‘Even though it can be hurtful,’ was left unsaid.

“But love doesn’t necessarily mean the affection between a couple. It doesn’t just mean romantic love. Love can be in many forms, shapes, and different ways. Love of self, of animals, of nature, friends, family… We experience love every day when you think about it. You can find it in everything.  Even in a slice of homemade pie that Mrs. April brought us today.”

“I love pie! But dad, I doubt that if a slice of pie can tell you that you look lovely today. A cutie-pie on the other hand—”

“Ciri, have you been even listening to me?”

“…and a pie can’t run their fingers through your hair-”

Geralt sighs, “Why am I even trying?”

“Deep down you know I’m right. Dad… How about you just… give her a chance? For me? Just see how it goes?”

"Is it gonna make you happy if I do that?”

“So happy!”

“And you’re not gonna do something like that ever again.”

“Promise!”

“Not downloading stupid apps on my phone, and not trying to set me up.”

“You got it, Cap!”

Geralt had met with that woman, and they just didn’t click.

True to her word, Ciri never has done something like that again.

***

Geralt is not someone who likes social media.

But there he is, looking at the musician’s posts instead of sleeping—even though he has to get up early as always tomorrow—scrolling through the app, and feeling like a high school girl with a stupid crush.

He reads every little caption the musician had written.

Surprisingly- well, maybe not so surprisingly- his songs aren’t the only thing he posts about.

He posts about random things; sometimes it’s a pretty flower he came across this morning, sometimes it’s a kitten, a book he is currently reading, food recipes, his drawings, things like that.

His account seems like just his personality.

Filled with all the beautiful colors in the word. Filled with joy, and every little thing he shares feels so sincere. Personal.

[I tried that recipe @Brianricci has sent me and it still feels like there are fireworks in my stomach, so here’s a little drawing for you my life-saver pasta-mate.]

That one makes Geralt smile. Reminds him of that day.

***

“I have something for you, Mr. Should Have Been A Model But Became A Nurse For Some Reason. Not that I’m complaining, for the record. The only thing I have complaints about is your hospital’s awful food. So awful that it should be illegal. A sin, even. You’re sinning whenever you guys force people to eat that food. I can only imagine your staff’s weekly confessing: ‘Forgive me father for I’ve sinned.’

‘What’s wrong, immortal one? What did you do?’

‘Oh, father, even bathing myself in holy water can’t cleanse me from my sins! I made my patient eat that awful food, I had to, father! I had to! I had no choice! But I have faith that I can change that one day!’

‘Faith becomes you. Stay with it. Keep fighting the good fight with all thy might.’

God help him this man is so ridiculous.

“Why are you suddenly Anthony Hopkins from The Rite?”

“Eh, just felt like it,” Jaskier shrugs “Your jello is pretty good though, so, good deed point. And your nurses aren’t half bad either, so I heard.”

Jaskier winks at him.

The audacity of that man.

“Anyway! As I was saying, I have something for you—”

“I have something for you, too, Mr. Pankratz,” Geralt says. He has a good guess about what Jaskier has for him.

A drawing of a flower.

He had heard the staff talking about how the pretty patient in room 242 has been giving flower drawings to pretty much everyone while he was walking around.

“Why thank you, you shouldn’t have! You brought some wine for me or something? For the celebration for my third week here? You’re so kind, my good sir.”

“It’s your medicines.”

“…ever the heartbreaker. I take back everything I said. You’re the devil in disguise.”

After Geralt gives him his medicines, Jaskier pulls a scratch book under his pillow and carefully tears a page from it. He gives it to Geralt.

“I thought I was the devil in disguise?” The nurse says as he takes the drawing from him “Are you sure that you should give demons a flower draw—”

Geralt can’t finish his sentence.

Because what he is looking at certainly is not a flower drawing.

It’s a man who holds a syringe in his hand with a kind smile on his face, and the syringe is filled with cute little hearts.

It’s him.

There’s a giant cactus standing behind him for some reason Geralt finds it hard to understand why.

He has seen the other drawings, and they are nothing like this one. This one looks like Jaskier has tried his hardest to make it perfect. Put everything in it. It’s perfect and detailed as if he had drawn it while looking at Geralt. It also seems familiar for some reason.

“—in conclusion, devils are fallen angels, so…” Geralt hears Jaskier talking.

Yet he is too busy to say something as he keeps looking at the drawing in his hands.

“Ooops, did I go too far with the hearts?”

“Hm.”

“Geralt? Say something, please? Oh God, I broke my nurse. They’re sooo gonna sue me. And I don’t think I can afford a good lawyer, I’ll rot in jails, I’m too young to rot in jails, I can’t be someone’s bitch, I’m not even—”

“May I ask why is there a cactus standing behind me?”

“A comment! Phew! Finally! Well, that would be because you’re just like a cactus.”

Geralt raises an eyebrow.

“Better than being a weed, Dandelion.”

Jaskier holds his hand to his chest and gasps, feigning offense.

“Words hurt, Geralt. Words hurt.

I meant it as, like, let’s face it, you’re kinda prickly on the outside sometimes, but soft on the inside? A cactus in the desert.”

Geralt sighs.

“And now you imply that my hospital is a desert. How nice. What’s next?”

“You don’t like it?”

“It’s okay.”

It’s obviously more than okay, but teasing with the young man is fun, and everyone needs some fun in their lives once in a while.

“If you don’t appreciate my drawing just give it back,” Jaskier makes grabby hands as he pouts like a little kid that just dropped his ice cream,  “I’m pretty sure it’ll look good on my fridge anyway. No trouble for me.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“Try me.”

“I’m not giving this back. Too late, you should’ve thought that before you gave it to me. Can’t take it back now.”

“If you don’t say something nice about my spectacular drawing you can be sure that I’m gonna take it back from your hands even if that means putting up a fight.”

“How bold of you to think that you’re in a condition to put up a fight.”

“You’d be surprised. And if I can’t, your other nurse friends and your fellow patients can do it for me. I haven’t been handing out flower drawings for nothing all day.”

“And you say I am the devil in disguise.”

“I never said I was an angel, have I? Seriously though, you have ten seconds to pay a compliment to my drawing. Ten—”

“ ‘Okay’ was a compliment.”

“I beg to differ, since when ‘okay’ is a compliment? Say that to the Italian chef in Mamma Mia when he asks how is the pasta and see if he takes ‘okay’ as a compliment and doesn’t pour half-full pasta plate over your head, and ruin your favorite bee shirt. Also, nine.”

“That was oddly specific. Did that happen to you?”

“Eight, I have no idea what you’re talking about, I was just being hypothetical. Seven, six—”

“I bet he wouldn’t threaten me with taking my meal back if I did at least.”

“Sev— wait a second I was counting backwards, weren’t I? Where were we? Five!”

“Man, you’re really no good at math.”

“Wanna know what I’m good at? Many things, and fighting happens to be one of them. Four, ” Jaskier attempts to get up from the bed, somehow forgetting about his broken leg for a split second and swears: “Ah, cock!”

Geralt barely holds back a laugh at that one.

“Careful.”

“I can still verbally fight you.”

“You’ve been already doing that for the last five minutes.”

“…three.”

“You never give up, do you?” Geralt rolls his eyes with a smile, “It’s a good drawing. I really like it.”

Another lie.

He doesn’t just like it, he loves it.

But even saying that he likes it is enough to make Jaskier beam at him.

“You gave everyone a flower drawing,” he points out  “but I get a cactus and a drawing of myself, why is that? It must have taken some time to draw this.”

“A special drawing for a special nurse.” Not making eye contact, Jaskier says so softly that Geralt nearly misses it. “Yeah, it sure took some time to draw it, and my schedule was so full because of all the crazy hospital parties you guys keep throwing that I could hardly find the time, but eh, I managed somehow.”

“Sucks that they never invite me to that parties,” the nurse jokes back. “Seriously though, thank you. I appreciate it.”            

“I’d like to draw something for Ciri, too. But I’m saving it for later when I can meet her. You didn’t tell her that I’m here, right?”

“She doesn’t know.”

“Good! Keep it that way.”

***

Smiling at the memory, Geralt rises from his bed to take the drawing from his bedside drawer. No, of course he doesn’t look at it every day, what are you talking about?

If he hadn’t promised Jaskier that he wouldn’t let Ciri know until these two can meet in person, this drawing would be on his wall already.

Maybe next to Ciri’s painting of a white wolf.

He had considered doing so but then decided that it would be wise if he didn’t. No doubt Ciri would figure out it was Jaskier’s drawing as soon as she would see it. It was signed by him, after all. Not that Ciri couldn’t figure it out without the signature.

“What the hell, Geralt” The nurse snorts to himself and runs a hand over his face as he imagines his room filled with the drawings of his daughter, and Jaskier’s. “What are you gonna dream about next? Ciri being a flower girl at your wedding?”

Fuck.

He is totally dreaming about it now.

God, it’s crazy how much he misses him, even though he doesn’t really know him.

Ciri already is crazy about Jaskier, and Geralt looks forward to them to meet, to see how Ciri is going to react when she sees him. He feels like the two would talk non-stop, and he would just listen to them talking about God knows what.

He would have no problem with that; in fact.

“I’ll give him a call tomorrow,” he thinks.

He wants to see Jaskier again.

(Thanks for reading! Sorry for the lack of Jaskier in this chapter, but it was like:

-So, it’s time for you to meet Ciri! 

-Hah, well, I love her, but I don’t think so. Not yet. 

-But Ciri- 

-You can have me as a Flashback Guest in this chapter, nothing more. 

-But my plan wasn’t like this. 

-Too bad, I’m my own character.

Let me know what you think please. Have a good day everyone ~ 💛)

[moonnightyoongi]

yours | mark

love me like im never gonna leave, love me like im yours

word count: 2k

genre: angst (mainly), fluff, swearing (tehe)

a/n: just can’t stop thinkin of mark

based off the song yours | alina baraz

It had happened more than once, in fact you were definitely somewhere in the double digits but you couldn’t stop. Everything about him was intoxicating, the way he looked at you and the way he smiled at you, the smirk he had on his face when he would open the door to you - it was cocky and even though you hated it nothing could make you turn around and go back home. His voice was smooth and no matter what you asked him he never stuttered, there was a simple answer to everything. 

Except one question.

“What is this?”

You had asked him one night and you swear every single bit of colour he had in his body drained and he was left with his mouth open, small stutters coming out. You looked at him and realised what it was and what it always would be… sex. There was no hope of anything progressing past it so you simply shut your feelings off and continued to fuck him.

“Are you leaving?” He asks as you rolled out of the bed.

“Of course,” you reply searching for your dress, “I gotta get back to the wedding.”

“You already left, why do you need to go back?”

“Because my sister is so drunk she won’t remember giving me the go ahead to leave. Besides I have four missed calls from my mum and I don’t think using the excuse that I’m looking at her and waving is going to work at 1am.”

“Just stay here.”

“Why would I do that? I got a room in a 5 star hotel and a massage booked in the morning,” you frown.

“I want you to stay,” he says.

“Well I want a 5 star hotel room and a massage,” you fire back. His smile falls for a second before he looks out the window.

“Can I come with you?” He asks.

“I specifically remember you saying you never want to meet a family member or be my date to my sisters wedding,” you reply.

“I don’t, I wanna have sex in a 5 star hotel room,” he smirks. You look at him and roll your eyes, he was always so good at getting what he wanted out of you, you would move heaven and earth for him if he asked.

“Get dressed,” you sigh.

“Shall I put on my best trench coat?” He jokes.

“It’s cold, you won’t have a penis left if you do.”

He falls silent and looks at you, blinking harshly, “You’re so crude sometimes.”

“Oh sorry, do you not like hearing about how your penis will shrivel up from the cold temperature?”

He laughs, “Sweatpants it is.””

“Jeans, it’s a 5 star hotel Mark. You can’t stroll in wearing sweatpants.”

“Oh, its the brush your hair before going down to breakfast kinda vibe?” He asks.

“Brush your teeth too,” you reply.

“Can’t have orange juice then.”

“It’s the price you pay to not be judged by Gary, 55, on a business trip.”

“Where do you get these names from?” He asks laughing and throwing on a clean t-shirt.

“They just come to me,” you reply, “Zip up my dress.”

“It’s a very pretty dress,” he says walking over to you, “Floor length gowns suit you.”

“I’m just glad she let me get a navy dress and not that God awful pink dress,” you tell him. You shudder at the thought of the dress, it was a bright pink that made your eyes sore, even the thought of it irritated your eyes again. Of course, it nearly was the dress you had to wear because the meter of the groom thought you looked absolutely delightful ‘like a strawberry cheesecake’. Last time you checked you weren’t a fucking dessert. 

Mark’s hand touched the bottom of your back as you moved your hair out the way to avoid it getting caught in the zipper (again). His touch was soft, like he was afraid he would break you (or the zipper). Zipping it up slowly, he paused halfway through - letting out a sigh.

“Ah yes, do take your time Mark, there’s only a 55 year old woman waiting to chop my balls off,” you say. He lets out a laugh and you feel his breath on your shoulders causing you to shiver, even his light touch was enough to drive you mad. All you wanted was him to be yours.

“Done,” he says obviously coming out of his trance and finishing your zipper quickly.

“Let’s go,” you tell him, “Uber’s nearly here.”

<—>

She was like a dog to a bone, as soon as the Uber pulled up in front of the hotel she was rushing down the stairs ready to pounce on you. Until she saw Mark get out of the car with you.

“Who is this?” Your mum asks surprised.

“My friend Mark,” you reply with an awkward smile. She stares at him before putting her hand out for him to shake.

“Nice to meet you.”

“You too,” he smiles.

“Where the fuck have you been?” She snaps looking at you, clearly breaking out of her Mark trance.

“With Mark, he needed me,” you say. It was partly true, he had needed you - just a different kind of need.

“I had locked myself out,” he says, “My roommates are all out and not answering their phones.”

“We tried to get in through an open window but he nearly dropped me,” you lie.

“That’s so you, even when you’re not the one navigating you get lost.”

“What?” You ask confused.

“Who knows, I asked your father to get me vodka and he got me whiskey. It’s my nonsense drink,” she dismisses, “He’s useless, all men are. Your poor sister, her husband is the worst. He tripped over a table cloth today, how could he miss it? The floor is brown and the cloth was fucking white, not to mention there was also a table underneath it.”

“Go to bed mum,” you cut in.

“Is Mark staying with you?” She asks.

“Yes.”

“You know the rules.”

“I can’t leave the door of the room open, anyone could come in.”

“Leave the bathroom door open,” she says turning on her heel.

“Wh-,” Mark begins.

You shake your head and cut him off, “Don’t question it, she’ll start another conversation that’ll last another 10 minutes and I haven’t got it in me to de-code her.”

“Are you the same on whiskey?” Mark asks as you both walk up the steps of the hotel.

“Gin!” Your mother shouts, “Gin is her mumbling drink. On her birthday last year she started to recite the whole script from the film The Bee Movie. I don’t know know where she learnt it, we were always such Shrek people.”

“What is going on?” Mark asks, eyes raised.

“Don’t ask,” you reply, “Where’s your room mum? We’ll walk you.’

“Don’t be silly, there’s your father. FATHER!” She shouts, “Wait he’s not my father, MICK!”

“Who the fuck is Mick?” You ask her, “Dad! Take her, she’s driving me insane.”

You walk her over to him and he smiles weakly, “She’s been watching a lot of shows lately, Mick is one of the characters.”

“You hope,” you smile before walking back over to Mark, “Let’s get to the room quick, she might start reciting Shrek.”

“Donkey!” You hear her shout as you run up the staircase to the floor you were on.

“It’s begun,” you say looking at him. He laughs loudly as you walk down the hallway to the room you would be staying in. 

“Fancy,” he says kicking off his shoes and unbuttoning his jeans. He looked around intently while all you could do was stare at him, he looked beautiful even with his messy hair and tired eyes. Part of you was so glad he asked if he could come, you didn’t want to leave him - well, ever.

“What are you thinking about?” He asks snapping you out of your daydream.

“My mum,” you lie.

“She’s really funny.”

“Lucky for you she’s so drunk she won’t remember she met you tomorrow,” you say throwing the room key on the desk.

“I don’t mind if she does,” he says walking into the room.

You smile awkwardly once more and lean against the desk, unsure of what move to make. You normally knew what you were going to do when you saw Mark - but this felt like alien territory. Would you lie next to him? Turn the TV on and watch shitty morning television shows? Or would you simply sleep 2 feet apart?

“Come here,” Mark says putting his hands out for you to take.

“What do you want?” You ask accepting them and letting him pull you towards him.

“What are you really thinking?”

“About what to do.”

“We could just relax and watch TV, order some room service?”

“That sounds really nice,” you smile.

<—>

Less than hour later you both sat on the bed eating ribs and watching some stupid quiz show. Everyone answer you shouted was wrong of course, how did people know these things? How didn’t you know these things? 

Times like this felt nice, it was just you two doing normal things together. It wasn’t some quick hook up then ended with you leaving after it was done and feeling shit as you walked out the door, him not even batting an eyelid at you.

“How do people know these things?” Mark asks.

“That’s what I was thinking,” you reply throwing the rib bone on the plate and sighing, “I ate too much.”

“You don’t need to get back into the dress, you’ll be fine.”

“I’ll be bloated for my massage tomorrow.”

“She’ll deflate you,” he jokes.

“He’ll,” you correct.

“A male massage therapist, lucky you.”

“Hm, he’ll apply more pressure,” you say lying down and rubbing your eyes.

“Can I admit something to you?” He asks.

“You always wanted to be a massage therapist?” You joke.

“No,” he laughs moving to lie down next to you, “I really enjoy your company.”

“I bet you do.”

“No, I mean your company. Like that night we played games and the winner got oral,” he says, “I like doing those things with you.”

“Cause’ you always win and get oral,” you tell him. 

He looks at you seriously before looking down, “Yeah, because I always win.”

You almost didn’t believe him till the smirk reappeared on his face seconds later, “Wanna play a game?”

“Goodnight Mark,” you groan turning over.

“Goodnight Y/N,” he whispers.

You never wanted it to be morning. You wanted to stay in this moment with him. You wanted to feel his body heat next to you forever, you wanted to stay up late doing stupid mundane things with him.

You wanted him to be yours.

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