#and you know i bet at the back of his mind he thinks that Catherine would NEVER have betrayed him and Willis would have loved him no matter

[cynassa]

Hey hey what if I told you that Jason throwing himself on Sheila to save her against the bomb right after she betrayed "Robin-him" to the Joker ... is the SAME STORY as Jason throwing himself in front of Zur-en-Arrh to save Bruce right after he forcibly injected Jason and tried to kill off "Red Hood"

[celticcrossanon]

“I see two rumours going around on this topic: one is that Meghan has absconded with pieces of Princess Diana’s jewellery and refuses to return them, the other that Meghan has absconded with Jewellery that belongs to the crown, and refuses to return them (this latter rumour has identified the missing jewellery as the pieces Meghan wore to her reception, apparently per a royal dresser who has now retired). I don’t know if either, both, or none of these rumours are true”

Hello! The only jewels from the royal vault Meghan has worn is the Queen Mary bandeau tiara and the ‘bloody’ earrings (technically as a gift from a head of state they figure as crown property, with the receiver entitled to wear them during their lifetime). To her wedding reception she only wore the cartier earrings (not royal property) and the aquamarine ring. The 'lost’ pair of earrings or better one earring missing came from her attending the Italian wedding of one of her friends. However, those earring were not royal, but said to have been borrowed (this is what I remember). So there could have been a mix of these stories. However, the 'kept’ item could have been the 'bloody’ earrings. She might have refused to give them back following the backlash and taken them to the US even if asked to return them to the royal vault. I wonder if she has kept them and if yes, if she has turned them into something else and then sold them. There’s also the pearl necklace she received as a diplomatic gift while on the oceania tour. That is undoubtly the monarch’s property. Could she have refused to give it back when they moved to the US?

So my theory on this matter has 3 option:

- the diplomatic gift (pearl necklace). This is the most problematic. I think Fiji gifted the necklace if I remember well and if they host a visit for Fiji they might have to exhibit the necklace or one royal could wear it. Even though, I don’t see it as something they usually do. They usually show the gifts exchanged throughout the years but it’s different items and not jewelry. 

- wedding gift from a diplomat (the 'bloody’ earrings). I don’t see the Royal Family pursuing legal action as 1. It was a wedding gift so she can keep it until married to Harry. 2. It’s a controversial gift so she took it off their hands

- the aquamarine ring (it could be that the stone was an official present to Diana as P/ssoW so as all gifts from diplomats they were reserved to William and he just lent it to Harry, but was never returned)

On the latter, I don’t see William minding that much about it to start a legal fight to have it back. The most valuable and cherished ring from his mom is safely guarded on Catherine’s finger.

Can’t wait for the reading and see what’s going to come out! 😊😘

*

Hi Nonny,

Thank you for setting that out so clearly. I would not be surprised at all if Meghan had refused to return borrowed jewellery to the Royal Vault, although I would expect someone to come and collect it from her if that was the case. 

I loved that necklace from Fiji. I adore pearls and that was beautiful. However, I don’t think that Meghan cares for pearls, so I can’t see her asking to keep it for herself. It’s the same with the lovely carved green stone pendant she received as a diplomatic gift in NZ - it is beautiful, but not something I think Meghan would make an effort to keep (not enough bling for her). I could be wrong, of course - these are just my ideas.

AFAIK, the aquamarine ring was Princess Diana’s personal property, and so the most logical assumption ids that it was a gift to Meghan from Harry from his part of his mother’s jewellery. That leaves the ‘bloody diamond’ earrings are the best bet for jewellery that was loaned to her that she kept. 

I think I am going to have to do multiple readings on this topic, as there is so much to ask about. :)

[amplifyme]

These episodes were magnificent. Wow, wow, wow.

Chimes At Midnight: 

Diana escaping and getting out of dodge (and shoving the driver aside and having to think in the tollbooth-- you’re right, she is chatty once she’s not so locked in her head) but having to surrender was an grippingly incredible segment. Vincent’s dreams and describing Diana to Father (did he have a brief “is this a rebound???” fear on his face or was that just me? It was probably just me XDD)-- her incredible mind, her uniqueness, that she truly understands… oh BOY am I liking where this is going. (Loosely quoted) “She won’t betray Catherine’s memory” is the best setup to a second romance. Also, Father waiting for Vincent to come to him instead of going to Vincent constantly is character growth, I think; and his advice is more understanding and careful and empathetic… more hopeful, really. Gabriel having Diana brought to Vincent’s son’s room is a powerfully manipulative move (and very reminiscent of Cookie in Nan’s AWTN entrusting her with Vincent’s baby No. 2) “There’s nothing unusual there.” “I don’t think he looks anything like you.” “Precisely.” Gabriel always one step ahead, getting an intelligent woman to come exactly to his point while thinking she’s skirting another one. Magnificent writing. THE BABY’S DYING???????????????? (VINCENT’S DREAM.) Gabriel wanting Vincent to save his son is a fascinating dynamic. Diana noticing his shoes (correction: floor tile), hmm. The Helpers and Father and Diana and the pipes (and Father hopes she’s a friend.) Vincent struggling over the news about his son and realizing the truth about their connection and the visions. Diana struggling because they both know Gabriel will kill Vincent and Vincent is willing if it will save his son. Diana talking about the future instead of letting Vincent wrap everything up in a thank you, and him promising to come to her when it’s all done. “Be careful” and letting him go without a fuss (WHAT A STEP UP FROM CATHERINE.) Darted and chained and caged… juuuuuuuuuuust like that episode from S1. Diana sketching Gabriel’s shoe (correction: floor tile) at the booth until she gets an idea and starts to track him. Gabriel just watching Vincent struggle-- transfusion won’t work (iiiiiiiiiiiiiiinteresting.) “Prove him wrong.” (There are just some things you can’t win, that you are incapable of winning, no matter how hard you want to, Gabriel.) Vincent talking to Gabriel through the cameras. “He is beautiful” look at that baby! That is a baby that gets it. (Also, perfect baby casting.) An aside: Vincent’s empathy is mentioned as starting to return, ooooooooooooh. 

Invictus: 

Favorite episode. Hands down. Diana calling Joe. Gabriel taunting Vincent with “Julian”, talking about generations and writing their names (Snow theme coming back) in blood. Standoff in Vincent’s cell and the baby crying more at being separated. The waking nightmares and Gabriel observing Vincent and asking if he sleeps. No transfusion, Gabriel disappointed in his doctor, the baby getting stronger. Bet Gabriel is going to keep Vincent around as the baby touchstone for the rest of Vincent’s life. Buster going straight for Gabriel’s throat. Gabriel throwing out the ring as yet another life on Vincent’s hands (and he can’t verify with a bond so doubly mind-twisting.) Father and his taxi driver posse coming to grab Diana off the street, giving her the backstory, recruiting her to help, Father is going to give Diana Cathy’s gun, FATHER IS GOING TO GIVE DIANA CATHY’S GUN, FATHER IS GOING TO GIVE DIANA CATHY’S GUN, I KNOW WHERE THIS GOES. JAMIE! Full circle from The Outsiders to now amazing. Gabriel and Vincent’s conversation through the cameras. “‘Death shall have no dominion’…. She knew it, even at the end.” Joe loses Diana twice and he’s not happy. HERE COMES FATHER (in his tux.) Floor tile and not shoes, got it (going to correct the above.) Father just wheeling out the Catherine trump card because it will always work. “We could have been great friends. Fire.” WELP, Vincent didn’t flinch; and I shouldn’t be laughing at Gabriel’s antics but they’re clinically theatrical rather than theatrically dramatic (Paracelsus) and I really, really like his style. “Kingdom of shadows”, “It’s our kingdom, remember.” The irony, of course, is that Vincent embodies the aspects of humanity that are worth living for while Gabriel represents a willful desire to toss away those aspects and embrace what he thinks are primal, animalistic. The greater irony, of course, is that Gabriel can’t win on either ground: he can’t beat Vincent on either level because he is deficient of the qualities that make him anything other than a bad man. Ah yes, bringing back the introduction to Gabriel at that other funeral: boys watching their fathers die-- but not pulling the trigger, hoping Vincent will do it himself (Paracelsus but hands off.) Watching through this and jotting my notes down, I am amazed at how many turns Gabriel takes-- I can’t predict him. “He’s going to kill himself”, “No, he won’t die. Death has no meaning for him.” “The only thing he’s afraid of is himself” and “Don’t.” Gabriel seeking control by destroying the qualities Vincent has that are superior to his. Ouroboros, eyyyyyyyy. The ring and veritas and ouroboros, cool stuff. Gabriel’s men tracking Diana through Joe and Joe being led straight to the museum by the posse Below. Diana set up a trap knowing the police were compromised and Joe would have been toast otherwise. Joe just lets the dinosaur thing go (letting Diana have her mysteries now that he trusts her again.) Gabriel switching the tapes from blood, murder, and death to the baby-- “I know how to be merciful.” Gabriel trying to grandstand on “I owe you a life” then twisting the discussion around on the baby’s beauty and leading right up to Catherine’s death. “I’m sorry about Catherine.” WHAT GAME YA PLAYIN’, GABRIEL. “We all make mistakes.” Setting up the doctor’s death, of course-- “Life for a life.” The Paracelsus games are back; but Vincent already lost “everything” but still has something to gain. Also, Gabriel’s demonic face is… incredible work.  

“No.” And Gabriel’s stumped expression. And the doctor died anyway: “I always pay my debts.” Wanting Vincent to kill off the doctor for him-- a life for a life-- is just the mark of how little lack of… anything he has. A life for a life should be on the other person’s terms, not his own. Excellently written. Gabriel becoming obsessed with Vincent while Diana saves Joe’s backside AGAIN is a great back and forth dynamic. “Which of you is the captive here?” (Vincent knowing Gabriel’s name and Gabriel knowing Vincent’s and that ouroboros Gabriel is trying to connect the two of them with, interesting.) Pope just LEFT, done (great speech he missed out on, though. But words are only so useful when you have the time to luxuriate over them.) Father and Diana making battle plans, I love this so much. The police moving in and Diana moving Below (and the practicality of Father warning about rust dust.) Gabriel antsy because his words have lost power and Vincent calls him on it and Gabriel doesn’t like it. Gabriel calling upon destiny to justify his actions and connections and “prove” his likeness to Vincent, and Vincent disproving the destiny Gabriel foists upon him because of the bond Gabriel can’t break no matter how many words or theories he spins. Gabriel talking to anyone who will listen because he has begun losing people who will. “I believe in the power of love….” Nurse leaving so she doesn’t have to see the baby’s death and Gabriel STILL takes me by surprise. Hurry up, Diana. HERE is the one thing that is the same for Gabriel and Vincent: “Perfection must be cherished”-- that pedestalized effect, except Gabriel wants to pin his butterflies in a preservation glass while Vincent wants to watch them float freely, happily around him. KILL HIM DIANA. DO IT, DIANA. NAN SAID YOU DID. DO IT. VINCENT’S FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. YES! DIANA ROBBED GABRIEL FROM THE SATISFACTION OF DEATH ON “HIS” TERMS. YES. YES. YES. (*Ahem*-- ot a bit excited there.) “Your child is crying” and “what kind of a father” all perfectly culminate here, the setup and payoff-- perfection. Diana keeping Vincent grounded by talking so Buster doesn’t pop out is also perfection (even more so because I know she’s going to be an avenging angel.) “Father’s waiting”, perfection, too. Gabriel taunting Diana by using her name to gloat with some false sense of victory on his part; and Diana deciding to "lose" this battle with morality/ethics to win the war. “Not this time, Gabriel. This is Catherine Chandler’s gun.” Perfection. Father waiting and Vincent coming back from exile and Father meeting the baby (who continues to be adorable, of course), AND VINCENT’S FACE AND FATHER’S HAND AND VINCENT’S HAND AND BOTH OF THEM NOW "FULLY" FATHERS and the Naming ceremony and (of course I knew this part because of AWTN) naming him Jacob… I feel something lodged in my throat, gotta clear it a bit, *ahem*. FATHER’S FACE IS TOO HAPPY I CAN’T LOOK AT IT DIRECTLY. Catherine’s face there for a frame. PERFECTION. JUST. INCREDIBLE. 

Hands down, Invictus is the best episode by far. And there’s still two episodes left, wow. 

I gotta tell you, I giggled my way through your entire post. Just because I remember that feeling of giddiness watching these two episodes when they first aired.

Let's discuss!

Diana escaping and getting out of dodge

Girlfriend knows how to take care of herself. A damsel in distress she's not.

Vincent’s dreams and describing Diana to Father (did he have a brief “is this a rebound???” fear on his face or was that just me? It was probably just me XDD)

What I saw on his face was more like "A woman?? Oh, dear God, not another one!" 🤣🤣🤣 But by the time he and Diana are in that cab on the way to Gabe's, she's more than earned his respect. Not to compare unfairly, but it took Cathy a lot longer than that to earn it.

“She won’t betray Catherine’s memory” is the best setup to a second romance.

Isn't it, though?? I love how the writer's room made sure there was a thread running throughout the arc of Diana having great respect and reverence for what Vincent and Catherine shared.

Diana noticing his shoes (correction: floor tile)

Don't feel bad. A lot of folks couldn't figure out why she'd be looking at his shoes until she was in the phone booth sketching the pattern of the floor tile.

Diana talking about the future instead of letting Vincent wrap everything up in a thank you, and him promising to come to her when it’s all done. “Be careful” and letting him go without a fuss (WHAT A STEP UP FROM CATHERINE.)

Nothing to add to this. *chef's kiss*

transfusion won’t work (iiiiiiiiiiiiiiinteresting.)

It's already been established that Vincent's blood type is unique and any transfusion would kill him. Jacob's is the same. I love how Nan elaborated on this in AWTN 3 when Vincent is shot by Lena's husband and we find out Father has been taking blood from V every month to store for emergencies and would be doing the same for Jacob when he was old enough.

An aside: Vincent’s empathy is mentioned as starting to return, ooooooooooooh. 

I think he started to get it back when Jacob was born. It's just not fully back yet, the way he's used to it being, so he may not be recognizing the way it's manifesting itself right now - showing up at the park threshold just as Diana was attacked was not a coincidence. Somehow he knew, even if he didn't realize it.

Oh, my beloved Invictus...

Bet Gabriel is going to keep Vincent around as the baby touchstone for the rest of Vincent’s life.

I'm pretty sure that was his intent once he realized it was Vincent's bond with the child that saved his life. And in if that's the case, Gabriel would want to mold V into the kind of man he wants him to be, just as he wanted to do with the child.

Buster going straight for Gabriel’s throat.

Gonna have to disagree here. That was 100% Vincent. Truthfully, by this time in the arc, there's not a lot of Buster left, at least not in the way he was earlier set up as somehow separate from Vincent. V absolutely had Gabe's number by this point and just wants him dead.

Gabriel throwing out the ring as yet another life on Vincent’s hands (and he can’t verify with a bond so doubly mind-twisting.)

Going to disagree again here. I'm pretty sure when Gabe first tossed the ring on the floor and told him D was dead, V believed it. But I'm convinced as soon as he picked up and held that ring, he knew she was still alive. Especially in the later scene when he's rolling it between thumb and forefinger and he kind of tosses it up and catches it in his fist. Look at his face. He knows she's alive. Like I said, he's on to Gabe by now. "You're the only monster here."

Father is going to give Diana Cathy’s gun, FATHER IS GOING TO GIVE DIANA CATHY’S GUN, FATHER IS GOING TO GIVE DIANA CATHY’S GUN, I KNOW WHERE THIS GOES.

😁😁😁

The irony, of course, is that Vincent embodies the aspects of humanity that are worth living for while Gabriel represents a willful desire to toss away those aspects and embrace what he thinks are primal, animalistic. The greater irony, of course, is that Gabriel can’t win on either ground: he can’t beat Vincent on either level because he is deficient of the qualities that make him anything other than a bad man.

This is perfection. Thank you.

“No.” And Gabriel’s stumped expression. And the doctor died anyway: “I always pay my debts.” Wanting Vincent to kill off the doctor for him-- a life for a life-- is just the mark of how little lack of… anything he has.

Not gonna lie, this is another moment where I stand up and cheer for Vincent. He so badly wanted to kill the doctor, but the best part of who he is knows that he can't - not unless he's willing to become Gabe's weapon. It's just such a transformative moment for Vincent. He's finally achieved a firm grip on Buster.

KILL HIM DIANA. DO IT, DIANA. NAN SAID YOU DID. DO IT. VINCENT’S FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. YES! DIANA ROBBED GABRIEL FROM THE SATISFACTION OF DEATH ON “HIS” TERMS. YES. YES. YES. (*Ahem*-- ot a bit excited there.) “Your child is crying” and “what kind of a father” all perfectly culminate here, the setup and payoff-- perfection. Diana keeping Vincent grounded by talking so Buster doesn’t pop out is also perfection (even more so because I know she’s going to be an avenging angel.)

Again, that's not Buster in that nursery, that's Vincent. And, yes, he's killing mad. But Buster wouldn't have let a little thing like Diana yelling his name stop him. But Vincent the man would respond to her voice. Vincent the man remembers what she said to him in that alley, asking him what kind of father he wants his son to have. Another transformative moment for him.

Re: Diana killing Gabe. GRRM really, really wanted to write an ep. focusing on the ramifications of that and how it might affect her going forward. Sadly, he didn't get the chance to do it. I mean, she absolutely did the right thing for the right reasons, but she still killed an unarmed man and she has her own sense of morality to deal with there - as a human being and as a cop.

AND VINCENT’S FACE AND FATHER’S HAND AND VINCENT’S HAND AND BOTH OF THEM NOW "FULLY" FATHERS

Wasn't that a lovely moment? Vincent is just beaming!

Touching on the darkness in everyone for a moment here, i have to admit there's nothing more satisfyingly to me than those few seconds when Vincent bursts through that nursery door and just swats the hell out of Gabe, causing him to twirl around until he smacks into the door and goes down. I have (and will continue to) watch those few seconds on a loop. Never get tired of it. What does that say about me? 🤣

Oh, and can I add that I love that by the time Diana avenges Cathy's death, she looks like she's been through the spin cycle of a washing machine more than a few times? I just adore her.

The final two episodes are something of a reset. We get a hint of what the show might've become going forward. It's much quieter than the baby arc but is still important as we see Vincent begin to rebuild his life, and how and where Diana will fit into that. It's actually a two-parter. If I had to reduce it to a single theme, I would say it's very much a story of second chances - for several characters.

I look forward to seeing you through to the end. Then you can go back and do it all again, whenever you want to. Because while all stories may end, we can always read (or watch) them again. ❤️

P.S. I managed to get all 3 books of AWTN posted on AO3. So you can revisit those, too.

[detectiveichijouji]

Case 19 - A wannabe Taichi?! The jealous kid

[AO3 version]

He was kinda afraid yet curious about what would happen if all Seven Deadly Sins were gathered. What was that purpose…? And the Halloween festival at Amanogawa High was… That same weekend.

“... Only Envy is left… Yet we don’t know why that Impmon and those other ‘pals’ want those…”

“Ah, I think Taichi-san will come to see us!” “Really? He’s been too busy lately…” “Hikari-chan, don’t you want to prank your brother this year?” “Hmm… What should we do this year??” “I don’t think it’s a good idea…” “Daisuke-kun, we know you want to prank him~” “M-me!? No!! I don’t! T-Takeru, why would we do that!?” “Well, maybe we can prank Yamato instead.” “Yamato-san is scary! Hikari-chan you don’t agree with that, right?” “Hmm… What if we prank both??” “.................... H-Hikari-chan… 💦”

“... Hmm… I wonder if…”

“HEY, NOEL!” Daisuke approached with a grin and gave the boy a pat in the back.

“GUH!” and Noel got caught off guard, almost losing his balance and falling on the floor.

“A-ah, sorry…!!” Daisuke babbled awkwardly.

“I-it’s okay…” the blonde boy said, smiling at him, “You three are excited for the Halloween festival…?”

“Yeah! Now that Takeru’s back… We can all enjoy it together!!”

“Oh… So, the others will come…”

“Yep! I think even our seniors will come too! But they’re busy peeps… But it would’ve been cool if they came!”

“Oh, you mean… Yagami Taichi-san’s group…?”

“Oh? I bet you heard about them from Catherine!” Patamon butted him, “Right?”

“Catherine… Y-yeah, I did…!”

Takeru blinked, why did he sound like he didn’t know Catherine…? -- and thought.

“Aah… I didn’t find anyone to play with today…” the eyepatched Impmon sighed, “Geez, those humans and digimon are no fun!”

Suddenly, they saw one of those oldest Chosen Children dealing with a legit 11 year old child.

“Please teach me!” the kid said, “I’ve been looking up to you, I wanna be cool like you Yagami Taichi-san!!”

“Uhh, I… I don’t know?? The last time I was given that responsibility I ended up blowing it up…??” Taichi blinked, “Uhh, Agumon can you handle this for me?? I need to… work.”

“H-huh!?” Agumon tilted his head, not sure what to say to either of those humans.

“W-will Agumon train me!?”

“Taichi, I…”

“Please Agumon,” Taichi begged his digimon, “Just a little… Until I come back.”

“But…”

“A-Agumon, I will obey every command from you!” the kid bowed his head.

“Aaah, Taichi--” But Taichi left, and Agumon was left behind with the kid. It’s weird how Taichi has been acting a little strange lately… Is it what they call ‘being an adult’?? But he felt Taichi not wanting to deal with that little kid was off.

“What should I do…” Agumon frowned.

“So, what should we do first?” the boy asked, excited.

“Uhhh… Um, what’s your name again?”

“Taisuke, Kamiya Taisuke. I’ll be 11 years old in two months,” he introduced himself, “And I’m going to be cool like Yagami Taichi-san!”

The kid carried a Botamon plush, possibly made-or-bought by his parents. Agumon had been unsure what to do right now. He should’ve been used to it, since Daisuke was kinda like that as a kid…

“Um, alright…” Agumon scratched the top of his head, “Taichi said to keep watching you until he’s back so… Let’s play something while we wait for him…?”

“Ooh!! Nice idea, teach Agumon!” Taisuke nodded excitedly, “The arcade has the best ways to improve your mind and stamina!”

“No, I mean just playing to distract oursel--”

“LET’S GO!!” and he left.

“A-ah… Um, W-wait for me!!” Agumon went after the kid, but then he just witnessed Taisuke stopping and talking with a hooded digimon, “Huh??”

“I know you envy those people with digimon, especially the one you admire the most” the mysterious digimon said, “Say, would you like to use that envious heart to achieve your dream?”

“T-that’s bad!” Agumon muttered to himself, “I have to warn Taichi--”But it was too late. Taisuke accepted a forbidden Digimental fragment and used it on the plush… Which evolved into a BlackAgumon.

After school time… The Take-Dai-Hika trio was leaving on the way home when they found Agumon running in their direction, desperately. 

“Hikariiiiiiiiiiiiiiii, Daisukeeeeee, Takeruuuuuuuuuuuuu!!”

“Huh? Agumon?” the kids and their digimon exclaimed.

“Big trouble!!” he stopped in front of them, exhausted, “A kid named Taisuke got one of those strange shards you were talking about!”

“W-what!?” Daisuke exclaimed.

“Taisuke-kun?” Hikari frowned.

“Do you know him, Hikari-chan?” Takeru asked.

“Yeah, he’s a kid wanting Taichi to pick him as a student…” Tailmon shrugged.

“Like someone else used to do” Patamon smiled, Daisuke blushed.

“I-it was a long time ago…!!” Then he looked at Agumon, “Where’s him? Which digimon did he evolve into??”

“He didn’t, he…”

“SPITFIRE!!”

Agumon and the group dodges from a fireball shot by BlackAgumon, who was in front of Taisuke. The kid pouted, “Ow, stop running away and fight me!!”

“I don’t want to fight you!!” Agumon shouted, “You shouldn’t use that shard on you--”

“Shut up! You’re such a coward! Face me! I will show you I can be a Chosen Child too!!”

“Hey, kid” Daisuke stared at him, clenching his fist, “If you wanna fight someone… Do not use dirty tricks like those shards! Give it to us, now… Before your digimon runs amok!”

“Do you think I will fall for it? BlackAgumon is fine, Now… Fight me.”

“Alright… V-mon!” Daisuke cracked his knuckles, “We will have to take it by force!”

“Got it!” and V-mon ran towards BlackAgumon, “BOOM BOOM PUNCH!!”

That opponent was fast and dodged V-mon’s punches. BlackAgumon then shot another fireball against V-mon. Luckily, V-mon managed to hop to the side, escaping from the fireball.

“They’re fast…!” Takeru exclaimed.

“W-what!?” Daisuke squinted his eyes, meanwhile the kid was grinning. This made Daisuke feel more irritated.

“Hehehe!!” Taisuke laughed, “Now, BlackAgumon!!”

BlackAgumon moved too fast for V-mon’s speed, and he got hit by a flurry of kicks. V-mon couldn’t escape or block them all, so he got hit!! Then, BlackAgumon used an uppercut on V-mon and finished with a fireball. V-mon was hit and thrown closer to Daisuke and the group.

“V-MON!!” the 02 trio, their mons and Agumon screamed in shock.

“Gah… ack…” V-mon fainted. Daisuke went to him and took the poor digimon from the ground, helding him in his arms.

“V-mon, a-are you… Are you okay?? Talk to mee, V-mon!!”

“Tsk, So this is the legendary Motomiya Daisuke’s power?” the kid scoffed.

“Y-YOU! LITTLE--!!” Daisuke was furious, but Takeru put a hand on his shoulder, making him look back and then the blonde boy shook his head.

“Now, Agumon… Will you fight or run away like a coward?”

“We won’t allow you to keep harassing Agumon or Daisuke-kun like this!” Hikari snapped, then she took her D-3, “Light Digimental Up!”

“Oh, I know what you mean…!” Takeru nodded, and took this digivice as well, “Hope Digimental Up!”

Both Tailmon and Patamon Armor-evolved into Nefertimon and Pegasusmon respectively. Then they used their combined technique to form a net of golden strings and catch Taisuke and BlackAgumon. Then, the kids and Agumon mounted on the armor digimon and left, taking V-mon to Joe.

“Ghn!!” Taisuke growled, “COME BACK HERE, YOU BULLIES!!”

Someone appeared in front of the kid and the digimon. It was… Noel.

“H-hey, mister can you help us?”

“...”

Joe treated V-mon’s wounds, and he opened his slowly, regaining consciousness and glancing at the humans and their digimon around him.

“V-mon!!”

“Uugh, what happened?” the blue digimon was hug by Daisuke tightly, “O-ouch, Daisuke--”

“You only got obliterated by another Agumon,” Patamon said, but he wasn’t joking. He was quite worried, “Are you okay now?”

“Uh… A bit…” Daisuke let him go, and he then looked at the group “Daisuke… Everyone… That digimon….”

“Is not a digimon,” Agumon finished V-mon’s line.

“H-how??” Daisuke blinked.

“It’s a plush turned into a digimon!”

“Like a Dark Tower digimon?” Takeru asked rhetorically, “Then it wouldn’t be hard to undo the spell…”

“Taisuke has the fragment…” Agumon frowned, “I remember seeing it turn into a fake digivice… Since he got it, he started challenging me… He changed drastically from the boy we know…”

“Envy, hmm??” Noel’s right eye was not covered by his bangs this time, “Interesting that they picked someone closer to Yagami siblings… Kamiya Taisuke. You’re the son of one of the Yagami siblings’ cousins, am I correct?”

“A-ah…!! H-how do you know--”

“You just confirmed it.”

“W-what!? H-hey, please mister, help me out…!!”

“If you gently hand the shard you have to me, maybe?”

“If I do that I won’t be a Chosen Child anymore!!”

“Then good luck trying to get out of there.”

“W-wait I… I will give you the shard!”

“Very well, so… un, deux, trois~” he snapped his fingers. Espimon came and removed the net over them, “Now hand me the fragment, please?”

“Ah, thinking about it I won’t!” and he put his tongue out, “BYEE!!” he and BlackAgumon ran away.

Noel watched the boy running away, with a throbbing "cross popping" vein in his head.

“He… he fooled you, didn’t he?” Espimon commented awkwardly.

“... Well, it doesn’t matter. This only makes things even more interesting.”

“Y-you can’t be serious…!” she babbled.

Taisuke and BlackAgumon kept running through the streets, until he accidentally bumped into Ken.

“Ack!” the little child shouted, “Hey, look where you’re goin-- Oh!!”

“Hm?” Ken blinked, “It was you who came running into my direction…”

“You… Fight me! Fight me now!”

“I don’t think we should fight because of that…” Wormmon panicked.

“It doesn’t matter, I have to fight the Chosen Children if I want to be one!

“Isn’t this the kid Daisuke-san told us to look for?” Wormmon asked Ken, who nodded in response.

“Wow, I’m getting famous! People are hearing about me now!!”

“Look, I agree with Wormmon and we don’t need to fight,” Ken said gently, “You’re in real danger if you keep using that shard. Please, let me have it.”

“Ugh, you’re also after my digivice!?” Taisuke pouted, “I won’t give it in! Bye--” But when he started to run, Wormmon used his Sticky Net ability to pull him back, like a yo-yo “EEK!!”

“Sorry, but we can let you take any risks” Ken said seriously, he tried being reasonable with the kid again, “Please, hand me it.”

“NO!” The shard-digivice started to shine, and BlackAgumon evolved into MetalGreymon (Virus). It tried to attack Ken, but Wormmon jumped in front of his partner and evolved into Stingmon. 

Stingmon took Ken and dodged the attack. MetalGreymon caught the kid and flew away.

“... I have bad memories about that digimon” Ken sighed, it was like watching a phantom of his past being revived.

Ken warned the group about what happened and they felt it would be even harder to stop Taisuke now. V-mon was hurt, but maybe Patamon and Tailmon could solve it…? Miyako started using the power of the internet and social media to locate MetalGreymon.

The group were sure he was after Agumon and, to some extent, Taichi. Hikari didn’t want her brother to get hurt, so she decided they had advantage in hands if they used Angewomon.

“I found them!!” Miyako said on the phone, “They’re in the deck area.”

Hikari, Takeru, Ken and Iori went there instead. Daisuke stayed in the university hospital with V-mon and Agumon. Maybe… Just those four can be enough. Miyako was working as their navigator through phone calls and messages.

“Taisuke-kun! Please stop!” Hikari begged politely, “This will hurt you if it goes out of control!!”

“NO!” the kid pouted, “I WON’T GIVE IT IN, THIS IS MY DIGIVICE AND MY DIGIMON!!”

“He’s not a real digimon!” Takeru shouted, “That MetalGreymon is just a puppet!”

“HOW DARE YOU…!! MetalGreymon… Get ’em all!!”

“Takeru” / “Hikari” / “Iori” the digimon looked at their partners. Stingmon was also ready to rumble. 

“Right!” the kids nodded, and then got their D-3 digivices.

The digimon evolved (and super-evolved, in Tailmon’s case) to their adult (and perfect) forms. MetalGreymon attacked, releasing his Giga Destroyer missiles against them, but Angemon and Angewomon destroyed them with Heaven’s Knuckle and Holy Arrow techniques. Ankylomon and Stingmon tried a melee attack, by using Tail Hammer and Spiking Finish at the opponent, but MetalGreymon kept being faster than a normal digimon… perhaps because of it being basically a plush come to life.

“It’s not working…!!” Takeru gasped.

“HA, are you losers ready to give up??” Taisuke smirked, “Me digimon is stronger and faster than yours--”

Suddenly faster than the naked eye got the shard-digivice from the boy’s hand. Yes, it was him… Arsenemon.

“GAH! MY DIGIVICE!!” Taisuke panicked, “H-HOW DID YOU--”

“Oeil de Chat” he snapped his fingers and a small black cat with green eyes magically popped in front Taisuke’s face. The cat’s eyes met with Taisuke’s and suddenly the boy fell asleep in Asrenemon’s arms.

“What did you do!?” Angewomon flew in his direction, but the burglar just gently put the child in her arms, “H-huh…??”

“He’s asleep,” he said nonchalantly, “Now it’s your chance to beat MetalGreymon. I suggest using your holy powers on it, that plush might be too precious for him to get permanently destroyed.”

“... Why are you helping us again?” 

“Why wouldn’t I help you? Think about it being a trade-off for this little piece here.”

“Did he…” Ankylomon looked at Iori and the others.

“I think he did indeed…” Iori, blinked. When he looked at Hikari, she was definitely giving that digimon a deadly stare.

“What?!” Angewomon also stared at him under her helmet.

“Au revoir ~” and then he just vanished before Angewomon could even strangle him.

“W-well… Angemon, can you turn MetalGreymon into a plush again…?” Takeru tried to change the subject.

Angemon super-evolved into HolyAngemon and used his sacred powers on the plush, which also stopped moving the moment Taisuke fell asleep. And thus, the MetalGreymon enemy turned back into a tiny Botamon plush.

“It was a bad choice,” the eyepatched Impmon pouted, “We should’ve caught that tall guy called Yagami Taichi instead!” and then he left… only to accidentally find Noel on the way “Gah?! A human--”

“What you’re doing is unforgivable” he said, staring at the small digimon with his green eyes, “Consider it a warning: If you mess with any of those Chosen Children again, or anyone closer to them…”

“Oh what? What will a human like you do?”

“... You might not want to know,” and then he left.

While returning home, Ken and Stingmon just caught (by sheer accident) that scene, but… There was something else they caught…

Noel had been tossing something to air and catching it. Something shiny… Was that one of the forbidden Digimental shards?

“... I need to talk to Takeru-kun about something.” Ken told Stingmon, “Please, take me to his building.”

“Alright.”

What would it be…?

[thegeminisage]

THE FINAL FRONTIER breakdown

as always my first impressions were typed hastily and in shorthand w typos on my phone and i am translating them to proper readable language

opening scene was very reminiscent of mad max and the sound effects made me think of sybok as darth vader, lol. when i realized he was vulcan i knew exactly who he had to be

the first mind meld scene was like. weirdly sexual. that share your pain thing also reminded me so much of sound of my voice lol

cathy's reaction to the names in the credits: sighing heavily on seeing william shatner's name. no reaction to leonard nimoy's name. delight at seeing deforest kelley.

second scene of the movie i watched while blinded by tears because spock was there. to be fair to me i had been primed by the world's longest rock climbing scene ever in which i glorified in the sheer fact that i was NOT watching tng. i needed this so much. my reward for finishing most of the first two seasons which is some of the worst tv i have ever watched in my entire life.

cat lady with three tits. bill shatner is a fucking freak

every time there's a woman catherine and i have a bit where we gasp and go, in shock, a woman! but when it's a romunlan woman we really are shocked every single time. just like in the enterprise incident, so true

uhura is still super mega fucking hot in these movies btw. she's so beautiful. it's very cute that she's with scotty i guess (and i was really surprised!! i guess this explains why i see them as a side pairing in fics so often) but she could be marrying ME instead

thrilled to learn that bones can cook and that spock is. willing to sample his beans, as it were

i loved the whole camping scene. i understand the Plot of this movie is bad but the character scenes were some of the best in all 5 movies and indeed the entire tos series. like this is the most married those 3 old men have EVER been. "we don't have families but we have each other" THEY WERE LITERALLY DOING THE GAY FOUND FAMILY ON ACCIDENT. HOW DID WILLIAM SHATNER WRITE THIS???

"i've always known i'll die alone" is maybe the worst thing kirk has ever said or will ever say and i don't want to talk about it.

my one point of complaint is "marsh melon" or whatever spock said. it was cute but i know his ass read and pronounced it alone in his quarters like 700 times first. it's like when you make castiel not know what an egg is. maybe he was being silly on purpose to amuse kirk and bones <3

LOVED their singing. i didn't think they'd actually do it but they did. times were different back then

bones was in fine form in this movie. he had a lot to complain about but he also jumped to spock's defense at least once that i remember right off hand. i swear he just gets progressively better with each season/movie the way uhura just keeps getting hotter. some things truly do get better with age ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

i loved how when spock had some distress re: potentially recognizing sybok they all had to go in their little longue and have a heart to heart together with him. i don't think this movie ever left anyone out - even in the voyage home, which i LOVE, bones was left out of the kirk-and-spock duo. but almost every single scene they had involved all three of them. truly a win for the throuple enjoyers <3

really mixed feelings about naked uhurua. i'm glad she got to sing her little song. and she is, again, extremely hot. AND i love when she gets to surprprise people even though nothing will ever beat her telling that little ensign to get in the fucking closet. but how could they DOOO that to her william shatner IS going to hell

"hold your horse captain" made me chuckle. also, can you vulcan nerve pinch a fucking HORSE?? i guess you can now. i bet they had to train those horses so well. how often do you see a fucking HORSE play dead

when sybok was like "well spock what do you have to say" and spock, outnumbered 100 to 1, guns pointed at him, obviously in deep turmoil, was silent and expressionless for 5000 years and then replied with "you are are under arrest." KING shit

sorry to be like this but spock with a gun was fucking awesome. i'm glad he didn't shoot his bro but still.

the three of them truly bickered like an old married throuple in the brig. bones coming to spock's defense was so funny he's like fine to gang up on spock until he realizes kirk is genuinely upset and then he switches sides because they're only supposed to gang up on him for fun

"STAND BACK" i knew those idiots weren't going to get the morse code in time and it was still funny. same with scotty like "i know this ship like the back of my hand! [BONK]" anyway he totally came in clutch i love him sm

i don't remember why i wrote "bones is so frail and waiflike" because we said it about 7000 times during this film but it's true

spock's rocket shoes saving the day nearly made me cry again except i got jerked out of it by my SHEER ECSTATIC GLEE that he got to take both kirk and bones ently in his arms while carrying them around. wow <3 love wins <3

"the people of your world once believed it was flat but columbus proved it was round" bitch the fuck he did. i'm blaming william shatner for that one. who knew that in 2023 they would still fucking think the earth was flat

the whole thing with bones's dad was fucking brutal. normally we talk through everything but we were dead silent for that bit. even though i knew what was gonna happen my jaw was on the fucking ground

spock's little baby vulcan ears...wait hold on

LOOK AT HIM!!!

that birth looked brutal. for once i'm giving aos some credit whatever they had going on looked much nicer. sarek seemed less disgusted too. maybe this was just spock's imagination he was like yeah my dad took one look at me when i popped out of the womb and diagnosed me with human cuz i was crying lmao

the second half of this movie was where the plot started getting dicey for me. i didn't really care what was going on before now bc i was having fun but when they started talking about the great barrier i got confused. i thought that was on the outside of the galaxy? and i thought at the center of the galaxy was some fucking anomaly and the devil lived there. cuz that was in the animated series. i know. i watched the whole thing.

like we get there and everyones like wow its so beautiful! like no offense cool rocks bro but ??? there's literally nothing there

the big ribcage rocks popping up out of the ground gave us a laugh. at first were like: hopeful: tentacles? no. just spikes. this place is not a place of honor etc

god as a giant inverted face over white light who shot lasers out of his eyes was the stupidest fucking thing i have ever seen in my life. i laughed so hard. i do love though that kirk is apparently an atheist who enjoys backtalking god. he talked to god the way he talks to computers when he's trying to suicide-bait them

i wish we had gotten some explanation of what that actually was? and why everyone thought it was god? but whatever. apparently this movie was also trying to say something about cults but it didn't. again, whatever, i was mostly having fun with whatever was going on so i didn't care but the plot was really very very bad

at one point in my hysterics i typed "LMAO GOD'S GONNA FUCK THE SHIP" as in "and make jim jealous because that's what he wants to do" but i don't remember why so i'll just leave it as the mystery that it is.

spock's little "get ahold of yourself" when bones started being frantic about jim being al;one down there after the two of them got beamed up. lol.

spock's little "damn you, sir" 🥰

metal as hell and also anime as hell that they killed god. what a ride that was. first i thought kirk was gonna do it. then i thought the klingons did it. then it was SPOCK that did it. i could not have asked for a better outcome

"not in front of the klingons" i finally have context for this. i had seen snatches of it in gifs and videos but it was even gayer than i imagined. WILLIAM SHATNER WROTE THIS???

genuinely in SHOCK they ended it with them camping again. i was like if they start singing i am Going to scream. and you know what they did?? yes. yes. yes.

i don't understand why everyone hates this movie. like, yes, the plot was bad near the end. the villain was bad. the stuff about god being In Your Heart was lame af. but the character moments were PERFECT and the movie was extremely funny and everyone was very charming. it boggles the mind that it almost meant there was no sixth movie. like it wasn't perfect but it had so many redeeming qualities!!

that said. i did watch it after some of the worst tng i have Ever seen AND on the same day i watched into darkness so maybe that has something to do with it lmao

[butchcraftwrites]

Rhea for the ask game but assuming someone else sent her do Catherine 👀 (or both)

You have been beat! But I can still do Cathy <333

First impression: I think my word for word reaction upon seeing her was "WOAH that is a dyke."

Impression now: Oh Cathy, you fucking simp. You precious, single minded child. You one brain cell with nothing else to rub against it. You wondrous shimbo. You tall muscular lesbian dream. I adore you. Who watching you from afar couldn't adore you. You are so lovable and wild and I Love You.

That aside, even though she Can Be Dumb As All Fuck, I love how introspective she is. It's interesting to me that, even though she is from House Charon, it's mentioned in the game that not a lot of people know about her past. Cathy just... doesn't talk about the things that matter. But she has to think about them, and often. In her supports with Ashe, she plays it off with an air of humor, but she still feels very self-deprecating about betraying his brother, Christophe. It's interesting to see her try to shift the focus of her guilt onto Ashe, as he is younger and more volatile, but you can bet your ass that Catherine wanted to be beaten the fuck up specifically by someone wanting revenge for Christophe, just to quiet her conscience. What other things plague her, on a regular basis, that she refuses to talk about? How did the Tragedy of Duscar affect her, when her distant family and loved ones were massacred? The game only gives us a shallow glimpse into Catherine's psyche, and I think it was purposely done.

Favorite moment: Literally anytime she reminds someone that Rhea once pet her hair.

Idea for a story: I actually have a WIP that's almost complete about her attempting to come to terms with betraying Christophe. It was actually the first fanfic I attempted to write in years. I... should really finish that.

Unpopular opinion: Her supports with Alois are her best supports. Change my mind.

Favorite relationship: Okay, hear me out, yes she should 100% be with Shamir. That is the healthiest option. That is how she will be her happiest. That being said her one sided pining of Rhea is adorable and I want her to be in that purgatory hell forever.

Favorite headcanon: Anytime she does anything well, she's like "Maybe Rhea will <s>feed me her blood</s> pet my hair again!" And depending on how overworked or drunk she is, it could be any little thing. She did a good stacking of some logs. She assisted in ANOTHER training. She ate all of her vegetables. She stumbled back to the correct dorm this time.

[hekate1308]

Fictober #20, I Saw Your Eyes Light Up

Prompt: I Saw Your Eyes Light Up

Fandom: Death In Paradise

Pairing: Camille Bordey/Richard Poole

He cannot begin to express what a feeling it is to be back in London again. There is finally proper tea around every corner, as opposed to just one place on an entire island that serves it (not that he would ever say so out loud on saint Marie, catherine must never know), it rains (real rain, cold, wet, terrible rain) and he can walk down the streets without being assaulted by colours everywhere (although eh will admit that he doesn’t mind the colours too much, all things considered. They are… well, they liven up a place, he is ready to admit that if only to himself).

Although at the same time… something is missing, and he just can’t put his finger on it, which frustrates him because it’s basically his job to do just that.

He’ll figure it out eventually, he tells himself, because he always does. He doesn’t mention it to anyone, of course, because it is ridiculous.

Plus, it’s not like anyone could actually help him in this regard (or so he thinks). After all, he doesn’t really have friends (if he doesn’t count Camille and his team on Saint Marie) and when it comes to his parents.. well… they are not.. that close (like Camille and Catherine, for example). And he’s not in the habit of making small talk anyway (although dad called him a chatterbox not long ago because he was describing the market on the island and got carried away).

But really, if he were to review his stay in London so far, eh would say that all has been going rather well. The lats few days especially, when he was wrapping everything up and working through when he can return to Saint maire, which will be in five days time, not that he is counting.

And then Mum jumps on him the second he enters their house, telling him she’s made tea, and at first he doesn’t understand why she seems so eager, and then –

“So you say Saint Marie is lovely at this time of the year?”

“Hot. As always”.

She tuts. “I bet your colleagues don’t mind it.”

“They grew up there” he explains. “They’re used to it. And Camille specially –“ And then he’s off explaining again that she is after him to install an A/C, but that it would be a waste in his shack.

After he falls silent, Mum seems to think about something or other, so he searches fort a topic of conversation and has started asking after old Mrs. Webster from next door, when –

“I saw your eyes light up” his mother then declares in one of those non-sequiturs she loves, and Richar is once again lost.

“I beg your pardon?”

She shakes her head. “When you mentioned Camille. I saw your eyes light up.”

“I – what does that even mean?” Eyes do not light up. He is aware it’s used metaphorically, of course, but even so, he could never quite understand what people meant by it.

She gives him a look he remembers from his teen years when he dared try and smoke cigarettes in his room – alright, one cigarette, one afternoon, and that expression put a stop to it immediately. But he’s no longer a child, so –

“Tell me more about Camille” she then demands, and he can’t really say anything against that because she is his second in command, and he likes to imagine a friend, even if he would dispute the fact as he did already once before when she seemed to suggest such.

Ade so, he talks about Camille and how she made him agree to small talk in the mornings and spending time at la Kaz after the day is done and that she likes to show up and drag him out of his “monastic cell” as she insists on calling it and that he usually goes with her because it’s easier… undoubtedly Mum, who has always appreciated her own company too, otherwise she would hardly have married his father, who can be even more silent than Richard on any given occasion, will understand that it can be frustrating for him –

But for some reason, she just keeps smiling, and he keeps talking and…

He forces himself to stop because certainly no one should know this much about a colleague, but Mum simply smiles again and pats his hand. “I’m sure your differences are not all that great, dearest. It will all work out.”

He’s not quite sure what she means, but instead focuses back on what he has to pack.

Mum will tell him, she usually does.

As she indeed does, five years later when she convinces Dad to move to Saint Marie once and for all so they can watch their grandchildren grow up, Camille more than happy to help her parents-in-law settle in.

[fireemblems24]

Dimitri's Supports

I have waited FOREVER for this. Let's go. And I decided to put my patience to the test, saving Dedue for last.

Since it's Dimitri and I love him, and like Dedue who I also love, he's the only one unlocking all his A-Supports, I'm going to blog all my reactions to them like I did with Dedue. Part of me wishes I thought of this for the other characters, but honestly it would've taken forever lol. Plus Dimitri and Dedue get special treatment because I said so.

Raphael

Starting off with something light hearted, I hope. I do wonder if I'm going to regret not saving this one for the inevitably heavy-handed stuff coming later.

I'm seriously betting this is a support you're supposed to get in part 1 lol. Dimitri sounds young (or maybe I'm just haven't heard non-growl part 2 Dimitri enough yet?)

Dimitri's training made Raphael think he was dying lol. Dimitri's strength is really meme tier.

I need fanart of Dimitri and Chrom co-miserating their mishandled strength breaking something. And Lucina.

Lamo, Raphael has never felt a cramp before. Lucky bastard.

Raphael is a sweetie, going to apologize to his muscles. I really wish they gave him something else to talk about other than muscles and food. Not everyone needs Dimitri tier development, but I think I'd like Raphael a lot more if he just got a smidge more depth.

Got to say, it's a bit jarring to go from "moments away from a suicide charge in the rain" to "lol, Raphael, it's muscle pain." As glad as I am that I got this support, I do think some should've been locked to part 1.

And this isn't just for Dimitri's development. I also saw Marianne and Raphael's B before this support and she reverted back to her part 1 self too.

Catherine

Maybe it's just me, but he does sound a bit older.

OMG - Dimitri's back. 😭😭😭

Sorry, it didn't really hit in that first one since that seemed like a part 1 support.

Oh, cool! I was wondering if anyone would bring up Catherine returning to Faerghus. My bets is she's too loyal to Rhea. (I guessed right)

Catherine be simpin. That's ok, I get it.

So it's not because Catherine dislikes Dimitri, or that she's absolutely needed to rule House Charon, so I think Dimitri just likes her. She's cool though. I get it.

Lamo, she told him he'd better get his sleep like he's a kid.

Curious how the A+ support will play out.

Mercedes

Team Mom's support!

Oh, no, this one's taking a serious turn isn't it? But their initial supports were so light and cute.

Mercedes just told Dimitri that he's kind to a fault. Somehow I know he's going to deny that.

Annnnnd I'm right 😭😭😭He's still calling himself a killer and disgusting monster 😭😭😭

OK - so THIS seems perfectly in tone with his recent character development. But it's so sad hearing him still talk about himself that way.

Mercedes is such a therapist. I can't. She's too pure. But savage. I saw that Lorenz support.

"I am scared . . . so scared that I will forget their faces." 😭😭😭😭😭😭 Dimitri why????

Mercedes telling Dimitri to live in the present. Her supports are always so good. I legit think she's easily a top 10 favorite in this game.

Wow, Dimitri saying if someone told him that 5 years ago, he'd be different. DID NO ONE EVER GIVE HIM ANY HELP AT ALL???

I love how she's talking to him as a classmate, and equal, and not talking up to him. He's always wanted that.

Dimitri's never given his own dreams any thought 😭😭😭He really was just 100% living for other people most of the time. 😭😭😭

Awww MERCEDES, I can't. She says she just wants to keep being his friend. This is so damn sweet. And heavy. But still sweet.

It just hits super hard knowing how badly Dimitri just wanted friends in part 1. And looking back, Mercedes and Sylvain were really the only two who were pretty casual with him.

Aww, yeah, Mercedes not putting up with the bullshit, Dimitri. Telling him to quit the self-deprecation! God, I love her.

Oh, God, they both said the old FE code for "we're married" i.e. I want to "stay by your side."

Ok, @garlandgerard, I totally get why you ship this. Mercedes loves to nurture people, and Dimitri's emotionally needy, so they match pretty well. She also didn't put up with the constant self-put-downs, but stayed gentle about it. And they talked like equals too, like friends, which is what Dimitri always wanted. It's all very sweet.

Annette

Yeah, see, this one starts off with "your highness," but Mercedes it was just Dimitri. No hate for Annette. She's my girl.

These two always give me sibling vibes.

Haha, Annette "I thought I already knew you, but I'm not sure I really do." Hmmmm wonder what Dimitri did that made her think that maybe there's parts of him she didn't know. No. idea.

Hey, Annette, no one blames you for not knowing what to say to Dimitri when they reunited lol.

Annette too pure too, wanting to cheer Dimitri up with his favorite food.

Her not knowing what he likes to eat is 100% that moment when you realize you don't know someone's favorite color.

HOW can Dimitri have no strong feelings about food. I'm having pizza right now. Let me tell you, I have strong feelings about some food.

I love how easily Dimitri deflected from talking about himself lol.

Awwww, Annette wants to live with her family again. I'll make that happen, Annette. Don't worry.

Haha, they're conspiring together behind Gilbert's back.

They still have an A+ support, which is weird, because that seemed pretty well ended? Like I see why Catherine's needed more, but not this one. Still, not going to say no. I like their dynamic.

Ingrid

OCF they're training. God I love all the Faerghus childhood group though.

Oh, fuck, here comes Glenn again. My heart's not ready for this with Rodrigue dead. Poor Felix.

Ingrid being Dimitri's knight 😊😊😊 as it should be.

Haha, Dimitri asks her for an interpretation. Just make her your knight.

Glad he hasn't started saying "I'm not worthy!" Because right now it's about Ingrid's feelings.

Wow, there, Ingrid. "However you please, Your Highness." That . . . that sounds like an invitation. To "staying by your side."

Dimitri laughed. 😊😊😊

Oh, God, this is so cute. His pause asking her to support and defend him as his knight. 😊😊😊 OMG. I'm not sure that's all she had in mind though, good Sir, have you LOOKED in the mirror?

Seriously though, Ingrid's just surrounded by studs, isn't she?

Oh, God, I'm right. She didn't just mean knight. But Dimitri's too dense in that area to notice. She crushing hard. Girl, I get you.

She blushing, saying "for the Kingdom," naw, she just like him. Me too, Ingrid. Me too.

Dimitri always makes people promise not to die on him. It's so sad considering . . .

Flayn

With Flayn it's always a toss up. Sometimes things are super light hearted, and other times it's way heavy.

On a random note, does no one wonder why Flayn hasn't aged a day in 5 years?

Flayn having nightmares. Not allowed. I bet it's fucking Jeritza's fault. I'm glad you get to rip him a new one so many times in this game.

Why is Flayn apologizing?? She's never done a thing wrong in her life.

Right, Flayn's other support with Dimitri was pretty heavy. And it started so funny with him stomaching her food.

Oh, good grief, what's he apologizing for? Ok - so Dimitri did do some things wrong. But not to Flayn.

He lied. Let me guess. Her food actually sucks.

Aw, got it. He went right to the meal. Is he really going to come out and say, well it actually sucked 😂

WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK

WHAT ABOUT ALL THOSE MEALS???? AND THE TEA an embarrassing amount of tea.

Wait. He can't taste ANYTHING??? Like. How? Did he hide that????

Ok - I need to look at his team and dining dialogue.

OMG. He really never says a word about how anything tastes? He always just talks about smells????

OMG. How did I NOT NOTICE. I've taken Dimitri to dinner a million times. And tea timed him too many times to admit too.

AND I NEVER NOTICED HE NEVER ONCE SAID HOW ANYTHING TASTED. HOW.

OMG that support with Annette hits different now 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

OMG and Dedue's support with Flayn hits different now. Since he wanted to badly to find food Dimitri loves 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Does Dedue know? Is that why he's so dedicated to cooking??

Can I headcannon that?

OMG, I feel so awful about that jab about pizza. Dimitri CAN'T TASTE pizza or anything 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Please someone tell me there isn't any more "this awful thing also happened to Dimitri and he's failed to tell you" like learning he almost fucking died at Duscur. And now this. Dimitri needs to learn how to fucking complain.

The writers are so fucking mean to Dimitri. OMG. OMG, how am I supposed to take him to dinner and tea now, knowing this?

Why does everything hit so differently now? And so many Blue Lions supports are about food - but Dimitri can't relate

😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

This game needs to stop bullying Dimitri.

But like, God, can you imagine? Not tasting anything? I'd starve. I'd actually starve. I never really get hungry. I really would starve.

On the flip side, he's good for Flayn then, since someone can eat her cooking I guess.

"I was just saying what I thought you would want to hear . . ." Dimitri - a summary.

Naw, that's a kind lie. That kind of lie doesn't really hurt anyone.

Oh - dear God. Flayn. Stop. No sampling pungent food.

Oh, she blushing. Dimitri got her blushing

Please tell me in their paired ending Dimitri gets his taste back.

Oh, there's an A+, does he taste something. Please tell me he tastes something.

This support though. It wasn't really one on my radar but

😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Gilbert

Oh, man, this one right after Flayn's. God, I'm going to need the Alois one after this. Gilbert and Dimitri are two of the most somber characters in the franchise.

And I haven't forgotten that heartbreaking B support.

Haha Lambert sucked at lying too. Dimitri too pure. Weirdly, despite everything, it's still pretty true.

Oh, shit, oh shit, we're back to Dimitri's demand that Gilbert kill him. I'm betting you usually get that in part 2.

God, imagine seeing Dimitri recover only to see him beg for death again 😭😭😭😭😭😭

I need alcohol.

I need the Alois support.

OMG, shit, Dimitri. No. Don't. Stop.

Like, I know Gilbert won't really kill him, but damn. This support is heavy.

No, Dimitri, no Gilbert is not cruel for not killing you. God.

Oh, not sure about this. I get what Gilbert's going at here, but telling Dimitri that he's not allowed to die because he's got a duty is . . . I think Rodrigue's and Mercedes' live for what you want/the present is a LOT healthier.

At the same time, this is a pretty effective way to make sure Dimitri won't go and try this again, because he really takes duty seriously.

Dimitri doesn't wish to die? 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Oh, thank God.

"Many times I have felt that I cannot afford to die . . . But this was the first time I truly feared the prospect." 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

"Is it really right for me to live?" Oh, dear God. I'm so soft for Dimitri. I can't.

Gilbert answered that one right. 100%.

Damn, these supports.

Alois

OK. I need this one. I really need this one.

I really hope Alois' inspiration is bad puns. I need bad puns right now.

Pretty sure this is a part 1 support though. I love how Alois, not Dimitri, is leading this. And that the person the Kingdom NEEDS is running around and getting attacked by monsters lol

Ok, bad puns. Bring them.

There we go. Thank you, thank you, Alois.

OMG no one's laughing 😂😂😂

Dimitri's laughing 😭😭😭😭😭😭

That's it. This is always getting saved for part 2. I need to hear part 2 Dimitri laugh.

I'm also so glad someone finds Alois funny. Dimitri and Petra need to start a club.

OMG I love the two other confused soldiers. I needed this 😂😂😂

Marianne

These two were so sweet in their C and B supports.

I swear I'm going to end up shipping Dimitri with everyone. Except maybe Annette, no hate, they just seem so much like brother and sister to me.

And Felix x Annette 100%

Survivor's Guilt - the pairing. Both wondering why they survived 😭😭😭

"There are so many others who are much more deserving of life . . ." - who said it? Marianne or Dimitri?

These two just understand how each other feels so well. It hits so different compared to Marianne's other romantic possible supports where they just try to make her smile.

Instead these two take comfort in finding someone who understands how they feel so well and feel relieved they can share that with someone.

Haha - "I must go on living. I cannot give in to death so readily." This coming right after his support with Gilbert. Good job, Gilbert.

They've both had it so rough 😭😭😭😭😭😭

"There is no need to force yourself to smile as your soul bleeds." Dimitri always gives such good advice that he never follows.

Aww, now at least it's getting cute instead of just heavy. Marianne laughed too 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Yesss, Girl, preach. I got a little sick of her other supports all being "cheer up!" Like I know it's all in good faith, but I'm so glad this chain exists. It just hits different.

Dimitri doesn't think he's strong enough to live his life. 😭😭😭 this game. I swear.

ohhhh - ohhh, Dimitri blushing now. And all she needed to say was they've been brought closer together. Congrats Marianne!

OHHHH tables have been turned. Now someone's making Dimitri promise he needs to live!

"I don't know what I'd do with myself if we lost you . . ."

"I promise to the goddess of Fodlan that I will never give you cause for despair."

OMG these two are being so sweet, I can't. 😭😭😭😊😊😊

Felix

Oh, boy, here we go. This should be . . . interesting.

Oh, we're starting off good I see. Felix telling Dimitri he needs to answer quickly or get cut in half 😔Felix. No.

Dimitri sounds so somber 😭

Dimitri admitting both are him - the vengeful "boar" and the friendly good person. And this is why I love him.

Dimitri feels the need to shoulder all the regret the dead feel, please don't. They wouldn't want that 😭😭😭😭😭

"The dead won't acknowledge your loyalty, they don't care." - Felix not wrong there.

I partly agree with the idea Dimitri is "serving his own ego" by claiming he's acting for the dead. I think it's a bit more complicated than that, but I think that's part of it.

Felix saying some good stuff here about the dead being dead and the living being living.

"If you keep stringing gravestones around your neck, you'll snap." - Felix, I don't know if you noticed but . . . uh . . . he sort of did.

Felix telling Dimitri to become a grave keeper is a bit funny. Not going to lie.

"I'm not immune to emotion you know." - just tsunderes things

Aw, Felix is upset his father died 😭😭 after all that shit-talking about Rodrigue 😭😭

Wish Felix didn't cut Dimitri off when he said "more than anyone you-" (care about other people, unless he joins CF and just kills everyone)

Oh, God, Felix is such a tsundere. "I couldn't stand the pathetic look on your face. That's all." Sure, Felix.

Kinda wish these two had an A+ though. Seems like there's more to do than the A+ with Annette and Flayn.

Really curious to see what their paired ending is like after that. Seems they're still learning to learn about each other. Well, Felix is. Dimitri didn't seem too upset lol.

Dedue

Ok guys. Here we go. I can't believe I managed to wait for this for last. Everyone hyped this one, so let's hope.

Really? We open with Dimitri having scars on his back? 😭

From 9 years ago? So scars from Duscur then?

Images of shirtless Dimitri now. though Not bad images.

He got scars protecting Dedue?

"It makes me think that is was worthwhile that someone like me survived." 😭😭😭 he's talking about protecting Dedue? 😭😭😭

😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

"But I saved someone - saved you. That and that alone has been my crutch." 😭😭😭😭😭

I always knew these two were co-dependent.

Dimitri really out here saying that saving Dedue helped him "justify" surviving. 😭😭😭😊😊😊

OMG THAT'S THEIR STORY

OMG, poor Dedue. And Dimitri 😭😭😭did he literally "take a bullet" to save Dedue 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 and still has scars? No wonder Dedue's so loyal. Some kid he didn't know did that. That's one hell of an introduction.

And picturing little Dedue just resigned and angry and waiting to die and just 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Oh, Dedue, you've repaid that debt ten-fold I'm sure.

Ahaha, Dimitri's doing the "you'd better accept your worth!" discussion this time lol.

Dear God these two. Now Dimitri's bringing up that Dedue busted him out of the jail.

I swear, these two have more of a plot off screen than some routes do on screen.

And now picturing Dimitri resigned and just ready to die. And then Dedue busts in. 😭😭😭

"That was nothing more than my duty as your vassal." Stop that Dedue. Dimitri doesn't want you to be his vassal. He wants more.

Holy shit.

"You are irreplaceable. Cherished." 😭😭😭😊😊😊😭😭😭😊😊😊😭😭😭😊😊😊😭😭😭😊😊😊

Not to be that person - but I tell all my "friends" that.

Yes, Dedue, stop saying insisting you're just a "vassal" - that's a worse joke than Alois' puns from earlier.

"Please . . . do not look at me that way." What way, like you're about to make Dimitri cry, or like . . .

"You promised me you would build a Kingdom that is proud to boast of Duscur blood." - shit, man, these two. I just . . .

OMG so much emotion from Dedue. The only time I ever heard that before was in VW when he learned Dimitri died. But let's not remember that right now 😭😭😭😭😭😭

Oh shit. He called him "Dimitri." 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊

And it made him blush.

OMG.

Guys, these two.

Aww, Dimitri looks so surprised. 😊😊😊😊😊😊

Oh, these two are so soft for each other. I can't. I just can't.

"To be your friend . . . is what I have always wanted." You're going to get it.

Man, I feel almost guilty S-Supporting Dimitri. He needs to pair up with Dedue pronto.

Dimitri sounds chocked up. OMG.

"So please call upon me when you walk alone at night." Ok. Dedue. Ok. Yes. Guys. This is all very straight.

I'm not saying it's - you know - cannon, but there's some big feels here.

Oh, Dimitri, stop it. You like Dedue's overprotectiveness. Don't lie.

Man, you guys were so right. Dimitri really just came out and said Dedue was "cherished" and "irreplaceable." Like, I'm not making this stuff up. And Dedue blushing hardcore just saying Dimitri's name.

They're both just so soft. I can't. I literally cannot. This support was gold. It was worth all they hype.

And learning more about how they meant. Dimitri really taking a bullet for Dedue there. I just . . .

I just want all the happiness for both of them. They're really something special towards each other. Like I legitimately think this is one of the most two-way loyal relationships in the whole franchise, and definitely the tightest bond in this game.

Like in past games you had Seth for Ephraim and Erikia and Soren for Ike and it's not like Ike, Ephraim and Erikia and etc don't care, but it wasn't the same level, you know? But this is such a two way street.

And I'm so weak for bodyguard with a crush. Like Seth/Eirika? Yes. Geoffrey/Elincia? 100%. Riza/Roy (Fullmetal Alchemist) there again. I'm sure there's more, but those are my top ones. Even Merlin/Arthur sort of counts even if Arthur doesn't know Merlin's his bodyguard lol.

I need to read fanfic for these two. I really don't want to spoil anything, but I'm dying. They're both just so sweet, and I just really love their dynamic. I really want to do a write up on it once I get to the end of the game.

[scuttle-buttle]

Chapter 19

WC: 739

Rated: E

Chapter Tags: domestic fluff, implied sexual activities, mentions of alcohol use, angst, oh no

A/N: So I mentioned before that I didn't want to include the accident at Nurburgring because it’s a really heavy topic and I'm not sure it's one I can do justice. I've taken liberties with the timeline and essentially kinda meshed the ‘75 and ‘76 seasons/film plot.

Several months pass by in a blur. You and Niki have developed a sort of routine. Go to work during the day, telephone calls in the evening, see each other at least once during the week, and the scheduled grand prix races every few weekends. Things have settled between Niki and James for the time. After the steam Niki let off that day in the Ferrari garage, not that you were complaining about that performance, he’d moved past the situation. Things were really, really good.

June and July went quickly. The sticky heat of the late August air made your shirt cling to your back uncomfortably. It was race day. James had asked you to accompany him once again to a grand prix; this time in Austria. “I’m going to beat him on his own turf - I’ll need you there when I do,” he’d told you. And that was how you found yourself in the McLaren camp.

Not letting the opportunity go to waste, Niki had asked you to join him in Vienna in the days leading up to the race. He showed you the city, taking you to some of his favorite places. You kept a low profile. The large sun hat and oversized glasses hid your features, his dark aviators and baseball cap covered his signature curls. Thankfully you only ran into a few that recognized him. You were even able to practice a little bit of your German while there, much to Niki’s amusement each time he corrected you.

James’ car was finally sorted out after the grand prix at London. He had been steadily catching up to Niki since. When placing bets between the two it really was a gamble as to which would come out on top. You were almost bored with it. Looking at the clock on the desk you see there is still another hour before drivers need to be in position.

Frowning, you glance around McLaren. Champagne is flowing, as usual. James is busy chatting up with some chick in the corner, no doubt schmoozing her in hopes that she’ll go home with him after the race. Rolling your eyes, you decide to sneak away. Niki won’t mind if I take 5 minutes to come and wish him luck, you think.

Finding Ferrari is easy. You don’t want to linger in the open too long in fear that someone will recognize you as Hunt’s sister. Opening the door to Niki’s trailer you shut it quickly behind you.

Outside, Niki is bent over a desk studying the track layout for the nth time going over his strategy. His lips are pursed as he memorizes where the trouble spots will likely occur. “Ay, Niki. Hai un visitatore,” Andre called out to him, pointing to the trailer. Looking up, he sees a flash of color as the door to his trailer closes.

Abandoning the map he goes to his trailer. You sit on the bed and smile at him.

“Catherine?”

“I just wanted to wish you luck before the race.”

“Luck has-”

“-Nothing to do with it, I know,” you finish for him with a smirk.

Niki hums as he stands in front of you. Your hands clutch at the front of his bright red coveralls. “Did anyone see you come?”

“I don’t think so, I was careful.”

“Good.” He bends at the waist to meet your lips with his own. The kiss is chaste - you know how he gets before races. His concentration needs to be on par, as few distractions as possible. In fact, you are pleasantly surprised he’s entertaining you at all right now. Likely because I never get to come watch for him.

The two of you spend a quiet moment together. Finally Niki sighs “I need to get back out there.” You nod.

You both have become so accustomed to little domestic things that couples do that neither of you think twice before Niki opens and holds the door for you, offering his hand as you take the steps.

In hindsight, you should’ve thought to be more conscious of where you were. You should’ve remembered that somewhere outside that little trailer was your older brother. Your older brother that was the biggest rival to your boyfriend. Your older brother that forbid you from talking to Niki months ago. You thought you were being careful.

Not careful enough.

The next thing you know James and Niki are on the ground.

Tag list: @ay0nha @apparrio @livvyshmiv @fictionlandslanddreams @vinylrosess @typical-bistander @ntlmundy @mymagicsuitcase @anteroom-of-death @somethingthatsaysbubbles @lieutenantn @multiversemarielle @trashbin2 @whatawildone @metalbreakfast @laura-naruto-fan1998

[bluesylveon2]

My My, I Could Never Let You Go

Summary: Sasha Zoe just wants her dad to walk her down the aisle. There is only one problem: she doesn't know who her dad is! Sasha invites 3 men in hopes of finding out which one is her father. What could possibly go wrong?

Pairings: Levi x Hange, Sasha x Niccolo, and other background relationships

Disclaimer: This is a Levihan Mamma Mia au. This fanfic is inspired by Mamma Mia which is directed by Phyllida Loyd, written by Catherine Johnson, and uses music from the pop group ABBA. Attack on Titan is a manga/anime series written by Hajime Isayama and published by Kondasha

A/N:  I created the 2/3 of the chapter to answer this question I had from the movie: "How did Sky know where to find Sophie?" I hope you all enjoy the "Lay All Your Love On Me scene" ;) I also have a Eremika scene after reading ch 139 Thank you for following me! I’m almost at 100 followers, which I never thought I would get when I made an account. This may not the best, but I am learning as I go! 😁

Edit: I recommend listening to the Mamma Mia movie version of Lay All Your Love On Me! It will help when you read the guy’s performance

Need to catch up? Catch up here!

Ch 7: Lay All Your Love On Me

If someone were to ask how Niccolo's day went: normal would be an understatement. 

The stage was all set. The only thing missing was the star of the show (aka his fiance, Sasha). Niccolo was happy with the way everything turned out. It took a lot of her friends and locals to agree on it and perfect it. Now he just needs to pick up Sasha from the hotel and show her the surprise before she leaves for her bachelorette party. 

If only she would pick up her phone first. Niccolo decided to check the hotel first since she frequents there the most. 

It's simple. It's quick. It's just one task! What could possibly go wrong?

---

At the hotel

"So I'm thinking, what if we locked Eren and Mikasa in a room together and let them out after they confess?" Historia was pacing around the kitchen while going over her matchmaking plans with Hitch. Her white sundress swayed around as she walked. Meanwhile, Hitch was leaning on the counter and was eating an apple. She wore a green romper. Her green eyes followed Historia’s pacing. 

It’s been over an hour since the girls spread out around the island acting as lookouts for Niccolo. Hitch and Historia decided to pair up and stay in the hotel just in case Niccolo comes back. Historia also took the liberty to get Sasha’s phone she left in her room, turn it off, and hide it in case Niccolo decides to spam her with phone calls. 

Hitch swallows the food in her mouth and shakes her head in disapproval. "Bad idea. Remember what happened with Armin the last time I tried to throw them in a locked room together. I doubt Mikasa would appreciate it if something happened to her precious Eren.” 

Historia hums in agreement and stops pacing. She begins to panic. Well, there goes her plan. Now she needs to come up with something else before tomorrow. Now, what is she supposed to do? Those two have liked each other for God knows how long except them! Honestly, it was kind of annoying watching whatever dance they were dancing. If only Ymir were here to help. She would actually push them into a closet and expect something to happen. 

Pushing them together. huh…

Hitch noticed the mischievous gleam in Historia’s eyes. It seems Ymir has been influencing her lately. 

“What are you thinking about, Historia?” she asks curiously.

Historia sways slightly from her spot. “What if we try to get them together at the reception. You know? We push them to dance.”

Hitch contemplates it and sets her apple down on the counter. That could work, maybe something earlier in the day could be a better option though. 

“What if we invite the guys to go with us to the beach tomorrow? We can even get two birds with one stone!”

Historia gasps. “That’s perfect!” She walks over to Hitch and raises her hand up for a high five. “I’m so excited! Mikasa and Hanami better thank us at their weddings!” she huffs with triumph.

Hitch laughs and high fives Historia. It seems like Ymir has definitely influenced Historia after all.

Historia rubs her hands together with excitement. This plan they come up with will be executed flawlessly. She (and everyone in their group) are tired of watching those four dancing around. 

“Now I think Hanami does not need much pushing from us. She just needs to stop what she’s doing for once and look at her surroundings.”

Hitch nods in agreement. “I agree. That girl is going to find something new to do once the wedding is over. She needs time to herself too.”

“Exactly! Now, this is what I’ve been thinking about. When-” Historia was interrupted by the door opening. Niccolo walks into the kitchen with a huge grin on his face.

“Historia? Hitch? Have you seen Sasha? I’ve been looking for her, and she’s not picking up her phone.”

Both girls shook their heads simultaneously. They did their best to look natural and convince Niccolo they haven’t seen her recently. 

“No. Sasha was heading to Finikas with Annie and Mina,” Historia says. She wasn’t technically lying. Annie and Mina did go to Finikas, just without Sasha. 

“Your best bet is to head there,” Hitch adds while shrugging her shoulders and feigning innocence.

Niccolo sighs. He can understand why Sasha would not be at the hotel since it’s already the afternoon. Knowing her, she could still be devouring a feast as he speaks. 

“Thank you for letting me know. I have to find her right away.” He waves at the girls goodbye and heads back into town towards the restaurant. Hopefully, she is still with Annie and Mina. 

Historia and Hitch watch as Niccolo runs off. Hitch could already tell what Historia was thinking and pulled out her phone. “I’m on it,” she says and texts the group chat that Niccolo was on the move. 

Historia sighs with relief after Hitch hit send. “Let’s go over our plans now. We’re running out of time.” 

---

Somewhere in town

Being friends with one of the island’s popular residents has its perks. The locals know who you are, and you can get great deals or free food. Sometimes, the fame even spreads to the resident’s friend group. 

So when the owners of Finikas set up a huge surprise lunch for the daughter of the island’s sweetheart, they were expecting Sasha to be there. The only problem was that she was busy at the moment. The owners found Sasha’s friends heading back from the pier expecting Sasha to be within the group. They were sad after they noticed Sasha’s absence in the group, so Mina (bless her heart) decided to step up; so the food does not go to waste. She even asked Annie to accompany her because she is the closest to her, leading up to now.

Annie and Mina were walking through the streets of Kalokairi to head back to the hotel. Their stomachs were so full that anyone could see their bellies sticking out through their blouses. They even had to loosen their shorts a bit to accommodate the amount of food they ate. The girls decided to walk back to the hotel to burn off the food and take a nap before the bachelorette party.

“Next time, let’s get Sasha to eat the food for us to make up for today,” Mina complains as she rubs her full stomach. The owners were so grateful for Annie and Mina that they decided to make them another feast for the two when they get married. They appreciated the thought, but who knows after today. There were many meat items out. It was definitely made for Sasha.

Annie only nods and rubs her stomach. This was the most food she’s eaten in her life, and she could feel the sleep entering her body.

Mina glances at Annie as she walks. “Thank you for eating that last slice of baklava. Any more for me and I would’ve blown up!” she takes her hands off her stomach and pushes it away from her body to mimic an explosion. 

Annie weakly waves her off. “It’s ok. I don’t mind eating it.”

“Thank goodness for your sweet tooth.” Mina jokes and Annie actually laughs at it. They continue walking in silence. Annie looks over at Mina to find her looking deep in thought.

“Something on your mind?” 

“Do you know what the guys are doing? They have been really busy since we left to meet up with Historia and Mikasa.”

Annie shrugs her shoulders. “Who knows? All I know is that it’s a surprise for Sasha and only Hanami knows what’s going on.” Even Armin never told her specifically what was going on or why only Hanami is aware. He did mention to her how it was going to be memorable and most likely make her laugh. 

Mina looks at her with shock. She was unaware of the surprise at all. “Does anyone else know about it?”

Both girls laugh. Annie and Mina are close, and Mina considers herself lucky for befriending Annie when they met. She remembers how Annie intimidated her at first impressions.

Speaking of their friends. What was the status of the other girls and Niccolo?

“Hey, Annie.” 

Annie hums in response. “Is there any news on the girls about Niccolo’s whereabouts?” The girls had split up after Sasha went with her dads. As far as Annie and Mina know, they have no idea where Niccolo was. They had muted their phones earlier to focus on the multiple plates of food in front of them.

Annie takes her phone out of her shorts pocket, and Mina does the same. They turn it on and swipe their screens to open the group chat. Suddenly, both girls froze, and their faces contoured in shock as they read the message.

Hitch: Niccolo is heading your way! I repeat, Niccolo is heading your way!!!

Oh no.

“Annie! Mina! I need your help!”

Their eyes widen with shock. What were the odds that Niccolo would suddenly show up now?

Niccolo runs up to the girls and stops to catch his breath. Annie and Mina could tell that he ran there based on the sheen of sweat on his face. 

“Have you seen Sasha? Hitch and Historia told me she was here with you.”

Mina (fake) gasps. “You just missed her. She’s heading to Limnonari beach with Hanami.” She looks away and shakes her head to show fake disappointment.

Niccolo sighs and rubs his temples. A crease started to form between his eyebrows. This is the second time today! She eats a huge feast and then goes swimming after? On the other side of the island too! As if any of that makes sense. 

“Thank you. Let me know if you see her around.”

Annie smiles and waves him off. “Will do.” 

Niccolo smiles back and runs off in the direction of the beach. Both girls let out a breath of relief and start walking back to the hotel again.

“I’m ready for a nap,” Annie complains after everything that occurred today.

Mina nods her head in agreement. You and me both, Annie.

---

A different part of town

Meanwhile, Mikasa and Eren were getting dinner together, sharing stories, and catching up after not seeing each other for almost a year now. Both of them have been busy since they graduated high school. Mikasa with her modeling career and Eren was studying for med school. Mikasa wore a light pink sundress, flip flops, and had sunglasses resting on top of her head. The male, Eren, wore more casual clothing compared to Mikasa. He had on a tank top, cargo shorts, and sandals on his feet. 

Mikasa and Hanami paired up together after Annie and Mina left the group. The two were strolling through town when they ran into Eren who was about to get dinner. Hanami, not wanting to third wheel and to give the two some privacy, excused herself by claiming something about how Connie needed her to help with some stuff and ran off to find him (but not before giving her a thumbs up before leaving). Thus leading up to now. Mikasa and Eren were spending some alone time together. 

Mikasa stared at Eren’s features. His face had matured and looked more defined. His hair was much longer now, and he even tied it up in a man bun. Mikasa noticed the many glances from the girls passing by their table. They were looking at him. (Can she blame them, though? He really is handsome in her eyes.) Yet, despite the stares, his eyes remained on her. All of his attention was on her. 

Mikasa listened as Eren told his story. He talked about how his parents were doing well over in Japan and even promised to bring back some stuff for Mikasa. She misses them dearly and even sees them as her own parents.

Eren’s parents have done so much for her ever since Mikasa has arrived on the island. More than her real family really. The last she heard from her great aunt, Kiyomi Azumabito, was a few months ago when she congratulated Mikasa on her latest modelling gig. She even offered to make Mikasa a dress for Sasha’s wedding to which Mikasa refused but thanked her for the offer anyway. 

Mikasa misses Grisha and Carla Jaeger dearly and even sees them as her own parents. She hopes to see them again when they get back from their trip. The Jaeger family were always there to support her and make her comfortable when she had no one. 

Who knows? Maybe there was a chance for her to become Mikasa Jaeger one day. 

“Is there something on my face?” Eren asks with genuine concern. 

“No! You look good! No, wait. I mean the food looks good. Sorry, it's just been so long since we've last seen each other.” Mikasa exclaims, hoping Eren did not take her staring in a different context.

“I agree.” Eren nods his head. “You look like a goddess now and could probably make Aphrodite jealous. Are you sure you’re not running for the next Miss Universe?” he replies nonchalantly.

Mikasa blushes. Who is this Eren and what happened to Eren she knew before? He was never this bold! 

Eren laughs at her response. He thinks it is really cute, but he won't voice that yet.

“Now that you mention it...I’ve considered it. I think Historia has a better shot of being Miss Universe though.” 

Eren shakes his head. Historia is a good candidate, yes, but Mikasa could steal the spotlight too. “Mikasa. I’m sure the judges would be blown away by you if you try. Even Historia would support you if you win or lose. Actually, everyone on the island will support you. You're the personification of inspiration for others.”

He leans forward and gives her a goofy grin. “I’ll be there as your number one supporter no matter what you choose. I know you are for me, and that’s how I’m going through college now.” 

Mikasa looks away from Eren's eyes. She was still blushing from earlier. He can’t do something like that without expecting her to blush. She needs to change topics quick. 

“Oh, thank goodness I ran into you, Mikasa! Have you seen Sasha? I checked the hotel and Finikas, and she was not there.” 

Mikasa was unsure if she should be happy or not. On one hand, she doesn’t have to worry about Eren praising her. On the other hand, Niccolo is here. 

(Mikasa would have known earlier had she not silenced her phone from the constant messages in the group chat)

Mikasa knew she had to come up with something fast. All Niccolo knows is that Sasha ate a huge feast and is heading to the beach. Like that was the best excuse the girls can come up with.

“She passed by me earlier on my way here, but now she’s gone. You see..” She briefly glances over at Eren who was watching her expectantly. He was curious about what Mikasa would do since he did not see Sasha when he ran into Mikasa. She looks into Niccolo’s eyes with a serious expression. 

“She ripped a huge fart earlier and ran off to the bathroom with Hanami. That’s what happens when you eat a huge feast for lunch, you know. She would’ve told you earlier, their phones died. They were so excited by me and Historia’s arrival to think about charging it.” she says while trying to shrug it off. In reality, Mikasa was internally panicking. She prayed that Niccolo didn't run into Connie on his way here. Would Niccolo really believe that his fiance had to go to the bathroom after eating so much? Mikasa has seen Sasha eat so much back in high school, and she was fine! 

Mikasa was also cringing on the inside. She had to pull a tactic only one of Sasha’s potential fathers (who Mikasa also prays is not related to) would do. The man told Hange poop jokes for crying out loud!

Unknowingly to Mikasa, Eren had to cover his mouth with his hand to hide his smirk. He was trying his best not to laugh out loud and ruin whatever Mikasa was trying to get at. He wanted to see how all of this would play out. 

Niccolo just stares at Mikasa. He does have to agree that Sasha was really excited about for her friend’s arrival. In his opinion, Mikasa is the one who would tell you the truth. He tries to make sense of everything in his head.

“Wait. So you’re telling me that Sasha went to Finikas with Annie and Mina, met up with Hanami to go to the beach, both of their phones died, they ran into you on the way there, and are now in the bathroom?”

“Yes, Niccolo,” Mikasa points off in the direction to a random bathroom she can think of that’s at least far away from here. 

Niccolo looks over in the direction to where Mikasa was pointing to and debates if he should interrogate her any further. While Mikasa is the one who would tell you the answer straight up, she is also very intimidating. To be honest, Niccolo would rather not get hit with any MMA moves from someone who is also a model. He’s going to have to trust her although the story he got was kind of ridiculous. 

Eren, watching the whole thing, now leans forward with interest and continues hiding his smile behind his hand. He tried his best to not laugh or show any indication he was just as long as Niccolo or Mikasa didn’t look at him closely. 

Niccolo sighs. He made up his mind already. “Alright. I will head over and check up on Sasha. I'll make sure she’s ok.”

“Thank you, Niccolo.” 

Niccolo nods in response and heads over to wherever Sasha was. 

Once Niccolo was out of sight, Eren burst into laughter. It shocked Mikasa and anyone nearby. (including those girls who were checking him out). He leaned back in his chair and almost fell over had he not grabbed the table on time to steady himself. 

“Oh, Mikasa,” Eren laughs as he wipes away a tear. “I don’t know what’s going on, but it’s a good thing I didn’t say anything. You really know how to make my day.”

Mikasa does not reply and turns red for the third time that day.

---

Meanwhile, Niccolo does not get too far when he receives a text from Marlowe. 

Marlowe: Sasha is near Kastani Beach

What is going on? Niccolo thought after he read the text. He starts heading towards the beach. Looks like he has to take a detour. 

---

Present

Sasha glances over behind Niccolo's shoulder. There was a lifejacket laying on the sand. 

She pulls her head away from Niccolo but keeps one arm around his body. She uses her free arm to point at the lifejacket behind him.

"What's the life jacket for?" 

Niccolo briefly glances at it and laughs. His eyes were filled with mirth before looking down to meet Sasha's brown eyes. 

"It's for my stag do remember?" Sasha wanted to slap herself. How could Sasha forget! She's been so busy with her big surprise that it briefly slipped her mind. Then again, who knows what Hanami and Jean have in store for the both of them. 

Niccolo lets go of Sasha. He turns away from her and walks only a few feet away towards some rocks. “You know, they say a stag do is my last night of freedom.” He stops and turns to her with a smirk on his face.

Sasha rolls her eyes and crosses her arms. “Oh really?” she challenges with a smirk on her face.

Niccolo turns around fully to face Sasha again and begins walking back to her. “Some people see it that way.” he holds his arms up in front of him for reassurance. 

“But for me…” He puts his left hand on Sasha’s shoulders and picks up one of her hands with his right. “It is the last night before the greatest adventure of my life. You.” he finishes with a kiss on her knuckles with the hand he was holding.

Sasha pulls away with a blush and laughs. She considers herself lucky to get the chance to marry such a wonderful and charming man tomorrow. Sasha had made up her mind already after thinking about her girl talk earlier that day. She is going to tell Niccolo about her fathers.

“Hey…” she begins and catches Niccolo’s attention. “You know how I said I wanted to find my father-”

“Sasha, we’ve been over this a million times.” He says while placing his hands on her shoulders and looking deep into her eyes. “You don't need a father, you have a family.” 

“And you’ll never leave me right?” Sasha asks with her hands on her hips. She was praying Niccolo won't leave after the big reveal, which she might have to push back to tomorrow. 

“Are you kidding me? You have turned my world upside down.”

Sasha smirks. Now, this is something she wants to hear for herself. “How so?” 

Niccolo laughs and pulls Sasha closer to his body. She wraps her arms around his waist in response. He might as well feed Sasha’s ego based on the look on her face. 

“Well...there was that moment we first met. When I heard you praise my food, it hit me like I was a sitting duck. I knew at that moment that I was already falling for you.”

Sasha laughs giddily at Niccolo’s words. She starts to sway a bit and looks into Niccolo’s green eyes. 

“Can I tell you something, Niccolo?” 

He nods in response while keeping eye contact with Sasha. “Sometimes I feel a bit of fear when I don’t have you near. What did you do to me?”

Niccolo leans down slightly and rubs his nose gently against Sasha’s. He rests his forehead against Sasha’s and takes a deep breath.

“There’s something I need to tell you.” Sasha looks at him curiously. 

“I am actually Eros and I shot an arrow through your heart, so that’s why you fell for me.” 

“Shut up!” Sasha laughs and pulls away from Niccolo. She lightly punches his arm.

Niccolo laughs along with Sasha while silently thanking her for not punching him hard. He has no idea where her strength even came from. Maybe she got it from Hange?

He reaches forward and pulls Sasha, who is still laughing. back to him.

“Remember that time when you met my parents in Italy, and we went fishing?”

How could she forget? It was the first time she ever went fishing with a trident. 

“How can I?” Sasha replies. She pulls one arm away and starts flexing it to show off her muscles to Niccolo. “I caught the biggest marlin out there!”

Niccolo laughs and gently grabs Sasha’s hand to stop her from showing off. He moves his hand to grab her hand and the other to cup her cheek. 

“I know,” he says gently. “You even gave me a victory kiss after. You should have seen the other guy's faces. They were either impressed or jealous because I managed to have a talented girlfriend like you. I was starting to get jealous of all the attention you got.”

He looks at her with love and begins leaning in. Sasha, as much as she would love to kiss him right then and there, gently pushes him away. Normally, she would kiss Niccolo when he praises her, but she wasn’t giving in just yet. 

“I know. I would too.” She says cockily and leans very close to Niccolo. Her lips were only a centimeter away from his but not enough to actually kiss him. She wanted him to keep feeding her ego for a few more minutes.

“What else do you think about me?”

---

“Do you see anything yet?” Jean asks Connie. Connie held up binoculars with a strap wrapped around his neck to watch the couple on the beach (totally not in a creepy way).

“No, They’re just talking,” Connie replies, not taking his eyes off the binoculars.

Jean groans. They have been in the water since Sasha made it to shore to meet up with Niccolo. You see, the guys had come together to get Sasha a wedding gift. They wanted to get her something unique. Something big because it was either go big or go home for them. 

All of the guys, except for Marco and Niccolo - for obvious reasons, had rowed together on a small boat close to where Sasha and Niccolo were. They were far enough to not be seen (and hopefully heard). They got out of the boat, jumped in the water, and hid so the only visible part was chest up. 

Their plan was to wait for Niccolo to give the signal before running up to the couple. Who knows how long that would take? The couple was busying frolicking on the beach that a few guys (mostly Connie) were beginning to doubt if Niccolo knew to give the signal.

Connie continues watching the couple. Jean stood on his left followed by Armin and Eren. Marlow stood on Connie's right side. 

Connie watches the couple get really close doing anything but kissing. There was one moment where Niccolo started to lean in, but Sasha pushed him away. Actually, it happened twice. During the second time, it was Sasha leaning it for a kiss...and then she pulled away again. 

“Jean, I swear. If we have to watch those do anything but first base, I’m going to strangle you right here! I don’t care if we are in the water.”

Jean rolls his eyes. Honestly, he has no idea when Niccolo is going to lean down and finally kiss Sasha already. 

“Niccolo is not going to do that!” He says with exasperation. At least Jean hopes so. Niccolo doesn’t go anywhere past kissing Sasha. Especially out in public and in front of her guy friends who see Sasha as a sister. “We’re all here to beat him up even if he tries.”

“I hope so,” Connie says and continues watching.

“I don’t think Niccolo is a guy to do that in a public area,” Marlowe adds. 

Jean nods in agreement. Niccolo respects Sasha enough to beat up anyone who talks trash or hurts her.

Eren, on the other hand, was confused. He looks over at Armin who was busy watching the couple as well. “Hey, Armin. Why would Sasha and Niccolo play baseball on the beach? The sand is not a good field to play on anyway.” 

Armin looks away from the beach and sighs. He places a hand on Eren’s shoulder and looks over at him with a hint of concern on his face. “I’ll tell you about it later, Eren.”

Eren smiles and looks back at the couple. Armin takes his hand off Eren’s shoulder and turns back to keep an eye on the couple. For a guy like Eren who looks like he’s a player and has multiple girls throwing themselves at him, he’s an oblivious guy when it comes to relationships. Especially when it comes to a raven-haired female Armin has been secretly rooting Eren to date since high school. 

They all watch as Niccolo and Sasha flirt on the beach. Niccolo was on his knees in the sand, and Sasha was slowly crawling towards him. She leans close to him, and he holds her waist to keep her steady. His hands move up towards Sasha’s shoulders, and he lays her down on the sand. He leans in close to her face and kisses her.

Connie, seeing the signal, tosses his binoculars aside, so it hits his chest. 

“Move out, soldiers!” he orders but not loud enough for the couple to hear them.

“This isn’t a war,” Marlowe says, but it goes past Connie’s ears. Connie lets out a war cry and starts running towards the shore. The guys could only watch and follow him as they went into “battle.” 

---

Sasha is normally good at hearing something far away. There have been a few instances where it wasn't the case. For example, when she injures her head or gets sick. Other than that, her hearing is really good except for now.

She was laying on the sand with Niccolo on top of her after she was satisfied with the amount of praise she got today. She finally gave in and stopped the back and forth between the two. Niccolo leans forward to kiss her. 

Sasha felt butterflies in her stomach. She was about to get married, her father is here, and she’s here spending some time with her fiancé. It was a perfect day for her, and she didn’t want it to end. Now, imagine her shock when she hears a war cry coming from the sea, and someone steals Niccolo away from her body. She watches three of her guy friends (Marlowe, Jean, and Connie) pull her fiancé towards the nearby pier. Eren and Armin pick her off the sand and sit her down on a nearby rock.

“Here you go, princess. Enjoy the show.” Eren says with a cheeky grin. He and Armin run off to meet the others once Sasha has settled down and is comfortable on her “throne.” Sasha looks up at the pier. Everyone, except Connie and Marco (who was the only guy missing from the group), stood patiently on the pier. A young boy (she thinks his name is Falco, a boy who recently moved to the island) runs in holding a Bluetooth speaker and a microphone in each hand. He hands the items to Connie before running off to the side. Connie turns the devices on and checks the mic. He places the speaker on the sand near the edge of the pier and speaks into the mic once he is satisfied with the sound.

“Ladies and-”

“Sasha is the only one here!” Armin yells from the back.

“Right! Thank you, Armin!” Connie calls back. 

Sasha quickly glances around the beach. Technically she is not alone since Falco would be present too, but it seems that the boy was missing. It was like he flew in and out undetected. Connie clears his throat before speaking again.

“Ladies. I hope you are having a wonderful day today because it is about to get better!” He walks towards Sasha and opens his left arm back towards the guys.

“As you know, Sasha. You have the best guy friends any girl can ask for. We’re here for you through thick and thin. We are the best support anyone can ask for, and we make you happy. Any girl is lucky to have a group of guys like us ” he brags.

The guys sweat dropped. They wouldn’t be surprised if Connie’s head suddenly grew large with the amount of bragging he was doing.  

“We cannot thank you enough, so…” his tone becomes sincere and walks back towards the pier and the speaker, “the guys have come up with the best wedding gift any girl can ask for. We know this is one of your favorite songs too. And so. Without further ado…”

The guys start posing from their spots. They looked ridiculous in Sasha’s eyes. 

“This is for you, Sasha Zoe! We present to you: Lay All Your Love On Me!” 

Connie hands Niccolo the mic so he can turn on his phone before pocketing it. The music starts playing through the speaker. 

Niccolo begins singing the first few verses of the song to Sasha. Meanwhile, the guys were not only singing but acting as background dancers instead. They would add their voices to add some harmony for some lines. 

Sasha was touched when Niccolo sang to her. She knows he has a good singing voice, but this was the first time he ever serenaded her. The guys in the background singers/dancers were just the icing on the cake. She couldn’t help but smile like a lovesick fool. She wonders if her mom was ever serenaded like this before. 

Niccolo walks up to Sasha while singing the song. He holds one of her hands tenderly and looks deep into her light brown eyes. He sings his heart out to her, and Sasha begins to tear up. How in the world did she find such a great guy like Niccolo? He truly is irreplaceable, and she loves him for that. 

As Niccolo finishes singing the third verse to Sasha, she could hear the sound of a jet ski heading in her direction. Niccolo, after hearing the jet skis as well, lets go of her hand and throws the mic over to Connie who catches it. It would help Sasha hear the guys singing the pre-chorus. 

He leaves to continue on with the rest of the plan. Meanwhile, Sasha watches her friends singing and dancing to the final refrain of the song. The guys stood side by side and were singing and dancing at the same time. This time the dancing was freestyle instead of choreography. 

Sasha laughs as her friends dance to the song. She could at least tell that they were trying for her. Jean and Eren made it seem like the dance was a competition between the two. They were trying to outdo each other by doing “dance moves” such as flexing and handstands. Armin was slightly red while dancing, but Sasha could tell he was trying his best. Marlowe was also trying his best but looked a bit stiff with his moves. On the other hand, Connie was also doing ridiculous dance moves (not as bad as Eren and Jean) and danced so dramatically that Sasha was unsure if he was trying to be the star of the show. He even hooked his arms around Armin and Marlowe and started front kicking. Poor Armin and Marlowe tried their best. Jean and Eren continued competing. Overall, they all looked ridiculous, but Sasha found it endearing. A whole performance just for her! Imagine what they would do when the other girls in the group get married!

As the others sang the final notes, Eren suddenly does a cartwheel (Sasha still does not know why Eren would consider adding it to his “dance.”) and causes chaos to erupt. He accidentally bumps into Jean and knocks him over. Jean falls and bumps into Armin, who is still linking arms with Connie, creating a domino effect causing the two (plus Marlowe) to fall in the water. Jean watches with horror as they fall. Eren, proclaiming himself as the winner of their dance-off, pushes Jean into the water before jumping in himself. 

Meanwhile, Marco enters the scene leading Niccolo’s stag party on jet skis with enough space for the other guys. Even Falco was there with his brother, Colt. Both of them had the biggest smiles on their faces. It seems like the rest of the guys (minus Falco because he is still young) are here to pick up everyone else for the bachelor party. They were hooting and hollering from their jet skis. 

Armin and Marlowe swam towards the nearest jet skis and hopped on. Jean and Eren were busy trying to drown each other in the sea about who won their competition until Marco had to step in and stop them. Connie, who didn’t join just yet, turns to Sasha (who is still laughing at everything) and brings his hands up around his mouth to amplify his voice. 

“Thank you for watching! We’re only available on Fridays! He laughs and swims away to the nearest et ski so he can join the rest of the guys. The stag party left into the sunset once everyone was settled.

Sasha continues to laugh until she hears some footsteps running in her direction. She turns just in time to see her friends running towards her, now changed into party clothes. Suddenly, Mikasa and Annie were on either side of her and carried Sasha off of her rock. Annie lets Sasha go once she is on the ground, and Mikasa moves to pick Sasha up in bridal style. The group begins running back inland.

Sasha turns to Hanami. She was the closest one near Mikasa. Hanami, noticing Sasha’s stare, turns to her and smirks.

“C’mon princess,” she says while using the same nickname Eren used on her earlier. “You have a bachelorette party to attend to.”

©: This is where I insert all rights reserved stuff. This story belongs to me. Do not modify or republish

What did you think? Btw the Eren I have in this the S1-S3 and junior high. He doesn't have a reason to be depressed, hence this OOC version I have. (Actually, I apologize if anyone is OOC)

Any get where I got the marlin fishing in Italy from haha? (The fish is actually a Mediterranean Spearfish, which is a type of marlin common in Italy.)

Kastani beach is the actual beach some scenes in Mamma Mia was filmed at. Additionally, Finikas is a real restaurant in Skopelos.

Most of this chapter takes place from 2 pm - 6 pm. 6 is when Sasha and her dads leave and run into Niccolo around that hour. She goes to her bachelorette party after 8.

The guys actually practiced their performance twice. One time alone and the second with Hanami as stand-in Sasha. Jean and Eren cooperated during them, and Niccolo only sang in front of her.

So how's everyone after ch 139? It was a bittersweet ending for me. I'm both happy and sad.

[andrewmoocow]

Steven Universe Alternate Future chapter 28: Fusion Frenzy (originally published on October 4, 2021)

AN: It's fusion time everyone! Last time, Black Rutile initiated Phase 2 of her new plan to eradicate her enemies by interrupting the President's emergency address and now, she's on her way to Beach City as we speak to begin Phase 3. Can the Crystal Gems stop this monster and save both Steven & the Earth? Find out today on Steven Universe Alternate Future!

Synopsis: Bluebird Azurite, Black Rutile & White Topaz return to capture Steven.

Cast:

Zach Callison as Monster Steven, Watermelon Stevens

Estelle as Garnet

Michaela Dietz as Amethyst

Deedee Magno-Hall as Pearl, Volleyball, Mega Pearl

Grace Rolek as Connie/Future Connie

Tom Scharpling as Greg

Shelby Rabara as Peridot/Future Peridot

Jennifer Paz as Lapis

Uzo Aduba as Bismuth/Future Bismuth

Kimberly Brooks as Jasper

Noël Wells as Black Rutile/Future Black Rutile

Lauren Ash as White Topaz

Della Saba as Aquamarine

Charlyne Yi as Eyeball

Larissa Gallagher as Bluebird Azurite

Patti LuPone as Yellow Diamond

Lisa Hannigan as Blue Diamond

Christine Ebersole as White Diamond

Sarah Stiles as Spinel

Aparna Nancherla as Lemon Jade

Erica Luttrell as Future Sapphire

Lin-Manuel Miranda as President Eduardo Suarez

Wendie Malick as Vice President Theresa Maxwell

GZA as Major General Wade Grant

Aimee Mann as Opal

Billie Eilish as Turquoise

Esme Bianco as Malachite

Catherine Tate as Lepidolite

Toks Olagundoye as Nanafua

--

Closed off from the chaos outside, Jasper remained curled up in the bathtub, sobbing quietly over being rejected by her Diamond, over how nothing seemed to go right for her on Earth, and how she'd rather have gone back to Homeworld with the Diamonds rather than stay with all the other healed Gems. However, her misery wouldn't last any longer.

"Can you keep it down?! I'm trying to mope!" Jasper bellowed before she finally burst from the bathroom and marched on outside as she heard roaring from the beach. However, what she saw was a shocking sight. "What is that?"

"Is that you Jasper?" Lapis exclaimed as she hovered over to her orange frenemy. "Where have you been this whole time, you'd be pretty useful here but it seems like you don't want to!"

"I was busy being depressed, brat." Jasper snarled at Lapis. "Depressed over how my Diamond left me again. Now where is he? I want to give him a piece of my mind!"

"Funny you should mention that," Peridot replied loudly. "That monster thing is Steven!"

"You're kidding!" Jasper replied before she began sounding more insecure. "Please tell me you're kidding and that this isn't all my fault because he shattered me, I'm begging you guys!"

"Are you okay?" Pearl asked the big Quartz as Lapis brought Jasper over to the Gems. "You're sounding a bit more frantic than usual."

"Sorry," Jasper began, cringing at the thought of apologizing for something she did. "I just think this might be my fault, since because of me he went mad with power and shattered me."

"It's not your fault Jasper," Garnet said comfortingly. "I think we all might be to blame here. But it could be worse." The fusion followed up by kissing Jasper on the forehead, much to her disgust.

"Ew, what did you do to me?!" Jasper yelped in disgust as she harshly rubbed at her forehead before her vision began to distort. "Wait, what's-"

--

What Jasper then saw was not a beautiful seaside where a monster stormed about, but the remnants of Little Homeworld, now reduced to ruins in the middle of a desolate wasteland. As far as she could see, no life could be seen for miles, all except for a ragtag band of survivors finding their way in this apocalyptic future.

"Any sign of He Who Must Not Be Named yet?" the possible future version of Peridot, easily distinguished from her regular self through wearing Pearl's blazer, asked a young adult version of Connie.

"No, thankfully." Connie said as she looked through the skies with her binoculars. "But we gotta move at some point, he could be here at any moment now!"

"No, I say we stay and fight!" Bismuth declared. "I don't care if that's still Steven, you all seen what he did to our friends!" she added despondently. "Ruby, Amethyst, Pearl, Lapis, they're all gone now, all thanks to him!"

"Bismuth, you're being irrational." Sapphire calmed the blacksmith down. "But I do agree, there's no future I see where we calm Steven down and rebuild society."

"Well, let him come." Peridot stated tiredly. "Anything to be with Lapis again. I'm just so tired of fighting."

As the surviving Crystal Gems bowed their heads in shame of how powerless they were to save their loved ones, a hoarse, piercing laugh rang out, causing the four to take up arms against whatever foe crossed their path. That foe in question turned out to be Black Rutile, now without her cape and her visor showed many visible cracks.

"Ah, yes." Black Rutile said as her laughing turned into smirking. "Tired of something you barely even did to begin with. Maybe if you two weren't tossed to the side after the Cluster and reduced to a comic relief role, that little witch could've stood a better chance."

"Be very careful with what you say next." Connie threatened the Rutile by pointing her sword straight at her gem.

"Oh come now Mama-Say-Mama-Sah-Warren, I've lost people too." Black Rutile grinned while lowering the sword. "I've lost people too. Heck, you saw how Steven killed my old gang, and now he's after me too for all I've done."

"Well frankly, you had it coming for all that." Bismuth responded before turning her finger into a spike. "Now pipe down while I smash you to pieces."

"Bismuth, stop." Connie advised Bismuth. "I think she might be our best chance at surviving yet."

"Are you serious?!" Peridot shrieked in defiance. "It's all because of her that Steven went nuts, shattered Jasper, and then started rampaging across the planet and maybe beyond! All our friends and family are dead because of Black Rutile, and you think she might help us?!"

"We kept you around despite being a Homeworld loyalist." Sapphire told Peridot.

"So anyways, you might be our best chance at stopping Steven." Connie said to Black Rutile before sticking her hand out. "You in?"

"I'm going to assume that if I don't play by your rules, I'll pay with my life?" Black Rutile asked as she shook the human's hand.

"You bet." Connie answered. "When I found White Topaz before Steven shattered her, she begged me, with her last words that when I'd kill you, and make no mistake I will kill you, I'll give you the slowest and most painful death I can offer. And if you try and run away, I'm going to honor that promise."

As the handshake broke, Black Rutile was left completely speechless at both Connie's death threat and her late bodyguard having the audacity to wish death upon her. Before long, her silence was broken by another bout of maniacal laughter at Connie's expense. "Honor? Really kid?" Black Rutile declared. "You know we live in a society, or at least what's left of one, where honor is but a distant memory."

"You talk too much, you know that?" Sapphire snarked before she received another future vision, one that might spell their doom. "My stars, he's coming!"

While Connie, Peridot, Bismuth, and Sapphire prepared for the fight of their lives, Black Rutile looked up at the pink-colored sonic boom in the sky and laughed as a pink glowing figure landed on the ground in front of the rebels, the resulting impact causing more destruction to Little Homeworld.

Connie pointed her sword at their opponent, and her face softened upon discovering who it was. A pink, gargoyle-like monster whose size was equal to Bismuth's with massive horns on his head, scars on his chest forming a star, and a pink gem on his stomach.

"Steven?"

--

"So all that could've happened, because of me?" Jasper despaired as she was returned to the present day before dropping to her knees. "You were right, I am nothing but trouble."

"Okay, maybe you are, but you can still change." Amethyst rejected Jasper's notion. "And you can start by helping us stop him!" She then pointed to the pink monster, who took one look at Jasper and began to run away from her, no doubt the Steven inside it afraid to see Jasper again after killing her.

"Hey, get back here!" Jasper yelled as Steven tried to run straight towards Beach City.

"It's gonna smash Beach City!" Amethyst yelled. "We gotta stop him!" Without even a chance to be asked, Lapis summoned a water rope that she used to lasso Steven and drag him away from Beach City.

"So, is there any way to fix him?" Jasper asked.

"None that we know of so far." Garnet replied. "Not even the Diamonds could solve this problem."

"And now, I don't think there's anything we can do." Pearl declared.

"Anything, except surrender." Black Rutile declared as she, White Topaz, Aquamarine, and Eyeball dropped down from and stood before the group with an army of robots behind them. "Oh look, everyone is here! We got the insipid oppressors, their mindless sheep, and the sorry excuses for monarchs!"

"What's your game Black Rutile?" White Diamond angrily asked her former subordinate.

"It's quite simple really." Black Rutile replied. "Thanks to yours truly, all of you are now enemies of humanity for allowing this to happen!" She pointed at Steven. "And not just your little monster problem, but for all the horrible things you've done to this planet! And all while you were too busy crying like babies for the brat."

"Yeesh, someone likes to talk." Spinel murmured.

"Zip it, playmate!" Aquamarine declared. "Once all of you are out of the way, our master shall claim this galaxy as her own!"

"And maybe become one of the great Universal Lords!" Eyeball added.

--

All across the world, riots began breaking out over Black Rutile's broadcast. Picket signs were made, effigies were burned, and calls were made to eliminate the Crystal Gems' threat to humanity, even though not a single one of them knew of their existence before today.

In Washington, Theresa was showing Suarez a livestream on her phone of a group of people in Russia cursing in their native language of how the Gems deprived them of their ancestors' native land, leaving the president more depressed over the incident just as Wade strolled into the Oval Office.

"I just got off the phone with Prime Minister Sorayama." Major General Grant said. "He's saying the cabinet of Japan is ready to launch everything they've got against the monster and the Crystal Gems. They just need you to give the okay."

"No, we are not nuking anything!" Eduardo screamed, making the vice president and the major general jump a bit. "I know the Gems are good, kind people, but is it really true they're responsible for all that? And who's this Pink Diamond anyway?"

"I know they're your friends Mr. President, but what friends places the world in danger so many times, the only one to address that is another member of their species?" Grant asked. "It's your choice, sir. Your friends or your country?"

"He raises a pretty good point, sir." Theresa stated. "What's it gonna be?"

After wiping a few tears from his eyes, Eduardo turned to face the window behind him and made his decision. "Major General, tell Japan to call off the attack. Because we're doing it ourselves."

--

Back in Beach City, Black Rutile continued her speech to the Gems. "Look at all of this." She declared. "This is the chaos I've wanted to engender for so long. I wanted to build a new Homeworld order where you failed, but you chose Steven over your own people just because he's family." As Black Rutile continued speaking, she could feel her sanity begin to teeter off the edge more and more. "My purpose was to fight for the Gems, that is the sole purpose I was given. And now, I barely have any people left. That is what you have taken from me. That is what you have taken from EVERYONE!"

"That is where you're wrong!" Pearl boasted in reply. "You may think you're a misunderstood hero, but you're not! You're nothing more than a sociopathic, bloviating monster who only thinks that she's doing what's best for everyone! As actual heroes, we'll fight to stop you till our last breath, because we are the Crystal Gems and we'll always save the day!"

With that, Pearl took Amethyst's hand and the two merged into Opal, who pulled out her bow and fired an arrow at Black Rutile, who only moved her head an inch to the right to dodge it.

"Oh, fusions, eh?" Black Rutile snickered. "I guess we should even the odds then." She then turned to White Topaz. "Topaz, to me!"

"Right away my Rutile." White Topaz sadly complied and fused with Black Rutile to once again form Lepidolite.

"BEHOLD PEONS!" Lepidolite declared bombastically. "THE UNPARALLELED, UNIMAGINABLY ALMIGHTY LEPIDOLITE HAS FINALLY RETURNED!"

"Oh geez, she can fuse too?" Lapis snarled before turning to Jasper. "Hey Jasper, wanna join in?"

"Whatever." Jasper said and the two formed into the turquoise and gold-colored Malachite.

"Well, you know what to do Eyeball." Aquamarine said as she took the Ruby's hand and twirled in place before they formed Bluebird Azurite and unsheathed her ice cutlass & a flaming saber.

"Gems, now!" Garnet gave the order to attack and led the charge against the four rebels. However, Greg was feeling a little left out.

"Uh, what about me?" Greg asked as the battle began. "If only I could still make Steg." However, Greg quickly saw Lion rising beneath him and making the father ride on his back. "Oh, well that should suffice." Greg smiled before he made Lion gallop into combat. "WOLVERINES!"

--

Lepidolite roared as she threw a punch at Malachite, who caught it in one of her hands and fought back by launching a geyser at Lepidolite's face, sending her flying towards Peridot, who sent Bismuth soaring before the rainbow Gem smacked Lepidolite into the sand with her hammer.

"Feeling a little outmatched?" Malachite boasted with her arms folded.

"Child's play!" Lepidolite growled while summoning her claws and slashing Malachite in the torso. However, Malachite quickly grabbed Lepidolite by the arms and summoned Jasper's crash helmet to give her a nasty headbutt. "Topaz, what are you doing?" the Black Rutile half of Lepidolite asked. "Pull your weight and help me here!"

"But it's the four of us against all the Crystal Gems, the Diamonds, and even a Spinel!" the White Topaz half replied as Malachite began punching Lepidolite at rapid speed. "We're so outmatched here, let's just un-fuse and surrender so we won't have to risk our lives against such an unfair numbers advantage."

"Oh shut up!" Black Rutile yelled before Lepidolite received another punch to the face. However, Lepidolite just as quickly stabbed Malachite with her claws and slowly dragged them up her torso up to her face, hitting both Lapis & Jasper's gems and causing them to un-fuse.

"I got you guys!" Greg shouted as Lion leaped up and he caught the two Gems on his back. Lion then followed up with a roar aimed straight at Bluebird while she was fighting Opal, who was sent flying towards Spinel.

"Comin' at ya!" Spinel exclaimed before she began dribbling Bluebird like a basketball and flung her at some of Black Rutile's robot minions, who were firing at the Diamonds.

"Well, at least we tried with Malachite." Lapis said while getting up before she turned to Peridot. "Hey Peridot, wanna give it a shot!"

"Gladly!" Peridot exclaimed and raced over to her bestie.

"Wait, what?" Jasper asked as she watched her former cohorts fuse into Turquoise. "Since when can you do that?!"

"Don't ask, just fight!" Turquoise declared while forming a set of three swords out of liquid metal from the air to use, two in her hands and one between her teeth.

"Right." Jasper agreed as she prepared to charge. "Let's kill her properly this time."

--

Amid the chaos, Volleyball and Lemon Jade were left trying to escape harm with no idea what to do in battle, as they had never engaged in combat before.

"What are we going to do?!" Lemon Jade yelled while shaking Pink Pearl in her hands.

"I have no idea!" Volleyball replied. "I did fuse before, but it wasn't really for fighting an enemy." That was when she got an idea. "Wait, hold on!"

Volleyball ran towards Opal, who was busy shooting down Black Rutile's robots with her arrows when she felt something pulling down at her drape. "Oh, do you need something Volleyball?"

"Can I fuse with you Pearl so I can protect Jade?" Volleyball asked Opal.

"In the middle of something, but that's a definite possibility." Opal replied, unaware of the robot that was now hovering behind her.

"TARGET OPAL CONFIRMED. COMMENCE UN-FUSING." The robot droned and sent out an electric shock that forced Opal back into Pearl & Amethyst.

"Well ain't that a coincidence." Amethyst snarked as the two Pearls fused into Mega Pearl. "It's like she planned for this!"

"She planned for everything Amethyst." Mega Pearl responded before slashing away at robots that were cornering Lemon Jade.

--

Meanwhile, Turquoise was engaged in a swordfight against Bluebird Azurite, her metal katanas against Bluebird's ice and fire swords. "This is what you get for taking Steven and causing Lapis to leave me!" Turquoise yelled as she tried to stab Bluebird in any opening she could find.

"Oh, did kidnapping Steven hurt you that much?" Bluebird snickered. "I wouldn't have guessed judging by how you never show up." The smaller fusion quickly disarmed Turquoise and prepared to go in for the kill, but she had another thing coming.

"Got this from a manga." Turquoise grinned cheekily while cupping all four of her hands to her side and sticking them out, launching a torrent of water at Bluebird's face.

As for the Diamonds, they were busy protecting Steven from the robots by swatting them away. "These things are multiplying by the second!" Blue said while smashing drones to the ground so that the surviving Watermelon Stevens could dismantle them. "We have to get Steven somewhere safe so we can calm him down!"

"Everyone's trying their hardest, but Black Rutile just keeps coming back up." Yellow replied.

"Don't despair, we can win this!" White added, confident that they could still win the day somehow when she spotted something in the distance. "Wait, what are those?”

--

"Get a move on everyone, we're wasting daylight here!" Wade Grant barked to his men from his Humvee as the US Army advanced towards Beach City. As their goal was only to capture the Crystal Gems, they didn't need massive tanks, only jeeps, armored vans, and helicopters to get the job done. As the seaside town grew closer and closer, some of the army men felt the need to converse among themselves.

"So, do you think it might be sexist to capture a bunch of alien women?" one of the soldiers driving an armored van asked his companion.

"I'm not sure." The other soldier replied. "From what I've heard, they only look like women. They kinda don't have any gender since they're like, holograms projected by rocks. Holograms that happen to look female."

"Yeah but are there male Gems out there somewhere?" the first soldier continued. "How do they even procreate, if possible?"

"Beats me, they don't look like they have the goods, if you catch my drift." The second soldier wiggled his eyebrows. "Y'know, nudge nudge, wink wink, say no more!"

"Yes, I catch your drift, no need to reference old-timey British comedy." The first soldier groaned before turning on the radio. "Sir, we're nearing Beach City. Permission to be the first to step out?"

"Permission granted Private Eric." Wade accepted over the radio as the two soldiers' van rolled up to Beach City, where its citizens were already evacuating.

"Excuse me, we'd like a word with the mayor of this town." Private Eric said as he and his partner stepped out.

"That's me, Mayor Pizza." Nanafua declared as she walked up to the pair. "Now what brings the military here?"

"We're on official business here Mayor Pizza." Eric stated. "Are you aware you have been housing aliens that have been threatening your planet regularly?"

"Oh, the Gems? They're pretty harmless." Nanafua laughed. "Though that giant monster is a bit concerning."

"Everyone step aside, Black Rutile has convinced us those Gems need to be placed under arrest." Wade stepped forward and prepared a special anti-Gem weapon made from the remains of the Destiny Destroyer. "We won't use lethal force against you all, but we strongly urge you to let us through if you want your planet to live."

The armed forces began marching towards the pink monster menacing Beach City as the townsfolk nervously stepped aside to allow them to pass. Though they treasured the Gems, they couldn't bear to be victims of yet another incident relating to them.

--

"Get back here!" Lepidolite roared as she chased Connie around and clashed her claws with the girl's sword. "Don't think you've won yet just because you've trained with that rotten Pearl!"

"That's what you think!" Connie yelled before she slashed at Lepidolite's arm, causing the fusion to yell.

"How can we be hurt just like that?!" the Black Rutile half of Lepidolite muttered before looking accusingly at no one in particular while beginning to destabilize. "Seriously Topaz, why can't you contribute?!"

"Seriously, can't you read my lips?!" White Topaz yelled. "I want out!" Suddenly, the two Gems split apart and fell to the ground. Black Rutile fell face-first and spat out some sand before glaring daggers at her bodyguard.

"Does it look like I care?" Black Rutile said. "Besides, we should be getting some back up real soon."

"Wait, back up?" Mega Pearl wondered before she got shot down by a weapon resembling a Gem Destabilizer and forced back into Pearl & Volleyball.

"Fan out, take down anything with a star!" Wade Grant gave out orders while his men zapped the Crystal Gems with their Destabilizer-like weapons, managing to take down Turquoise, Garnet, Amethyst, Bismuth, and Jasper before forcing them into a truck.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Jasper roared as she was herded like cattle into the truck with the other Gems.

"You're finally getting the Earth justice you deserve." Black Rutile declared smugly. "When this planet's government learned of your exploits, the leader tried to make an address that I hacked into and used to expose you to the world. Hope you enjoy confinement!"

"You won't get away with this!" Pearl yelled rebelliously before she, Volleyball, and one of the Watermelon Stevens were forced into the truck as two of the soldiers looked up at Steven and the Diamonds.

"What do we do with them?" Private Eric wondered.

"No need, I got this." Black Rutile bragged, taking Aquamarine's wand and using it to imprison the three Diamonds in a forcefield.

"Hey, you let them go!" Spinel yelled before she found herself getting trapped in the bubble as well, along with Lemon Jade.

"Uh, what is going on?" Greg asked before the major general walked up to him.

"There is no need to panic sir, we are simply following orders." Wade answered calmly. "Alright, move out! We're bringing them to Area 42!"

"Area 42?!" Connie exclaimed. "What are you going to do with them there?!"

"Just gonna ask some questions followed by deciding their fates, no big." Wade responded as he hopped into his Humvee and drove off while turning on his radio. "Gems have been captured, I repeat, Gems have been captured. Requesting a lift to Area 42 in Calivada, over."

As the military drove away with the Gems in tow, Bluebird Azurite picked up Black Rutile & White Topaz before she flew them away from the beach, the combined weight of the Diamonds, Steven, Spinel, and Lemon Jade in the bubble having no effect on her.

"So Crystal Gems," Black Rutile laughed evilly. "Who are you going to believe in now?!"

--

With the Crystal Gems in government custody, Black Rutile is just a few steps closer to victory. But what plans does she have in store for the Diamonds, what fate shall await the Crystal Gems at Area 42, and do White Topaz's loyalties still lie with Black Rutile? You're just gonna have to wait and see.

[crayonwriting]

02 - Here We Go Again

Summary: Maiko just wanted her good ol’ dad to walk her down the aisle. So, she invited the three men from your past in hopes of meeting him. The only problem was, which one of them is it?

Pairings: Oikawa Tooru x Reader, Bokuto Koutarou x Reader, Kuroo Tetsurou x Reader

Disclaimer: This is based on the movie directed by Phyllida Loyd and written by Catherine Johnson which is inspired by the music of the pop group ABBA.

catch up here!

"My, my, my! Look who we have here!" You put your hands on your waist, beaming at the end of the dock were your friends, Yoshiko—the wealthiest in your group with a very kind heart—and Rika—the noisiest, smallest, and a wisecracking author.

The two, who had just arrived, screamed loudly and ran up to you. You met them halfway,  slamming into them in a tight hug. You haven't seen them for years! If you could remember, Maiko was only at least ten years old when they last visited. 

A lot of people getting off of the ferry stared at your group but none of you paid them any heed. You turned to Yoshiko and grinned wide.

“You look amazing, Yoshiko!” You glanced down at her chest which made you stifle a laugh. It was obvious that she had some ‘enhancements’ done to that area. “These are new though. Where’d you get them, huh?” You playfully lay your hands on them, making Yoshiko squeal and jokingly swat your hands away.

“Where else than husband number three!” Rika cheered, laughing loudly.

—

Maiko placed the final pin onto Nana’s bridesmaid's dress for the final adjustments. The three of them were in front of the mirror to see how the dresses looked like when worn. Maiko had found these dresses for sale when she was out with Minoru on the mainland.

“Maiko-chan these are so pretty! I can’t wait to see your dress!” Eri gushed, twirling around in her own dress. Maiko sighed with a dreamy smile.

“I’m gonna have the perfect wedding, with my father to give me away.” She muttered, dreamily.

“Well, I hope the church has a wide aisle,” Nana remarked. Maiko scoffed, pulling at her friend’s hair playfully. 

“I’ll know which one it is when I see them.” Maiko defended.

Just then the door opened and Minoru entered. Nana and Eri greeted him, missing their other friend as well. Minoru chuckled tackling both girls into a hug, making them land on the bed.

“There are pins on the dresses! Please be careful!” Maiko warned, looking at them amused. When they all pulled away, Nana and Eri posed playfully.

“So, how do we look?” Nana asked. Minoru whistled and smiled.

“Wow. You guys look amazing!” He turned to his fiancee, pulling her in by the waist.  “But this one, right here, is gonna be the most beautiful around.” Nana and Eri teased the two of them; Maiko could only blush. She leaned in and pecked Minoru’s lips. 

“What are you doing here?”

“Came to pick up a few props for my bachelor party tomorrow.” He went to the closet and plucked out his needed items—a cowboy hat and his swimming trunks. 

Maiko was amused.

—

“Heave-ho, maties!” Bokuto shouted into the winds. All the while, Kuroo was struggling to re-tie one of the sails that was blown out by the wind, while Oikawa was doing his best to not to get thrown off the boat as he tried cranking one of the cables.

—

You, Yoshiko and Rika rode on your truck to get to the villa. Once there, Minoru was already walking towards you. You waved him over.

“Minoru! Meet these hitchhikers I found at the docks!” Your insult was met by a loud ‘hey!’ and a ‘hitchhikers, my ass!’. You just laughed. You pointed your thumb towards Minoru. “He’s the leading man at the party.” Minoru just bowed at them. He walked closer.

“You must be Rika-san?”

“That’s me.” Rika reached over and gave Minoru a firm hug. He asked her how she’s been, to which she answered with a smile and an ‘I’m doing good.’ Minoru looked behind her.

“And you must be Yoshiko-san. I’ve heard so much about you.”

“Mhmm.” Yoshiko hummed, hugging Minoru in greeting. “All bad, I hope.” The boy just laughed lightheartedly.

“And they’re all true.” You quipped. Minoru saw you struggling with your guests’ luggages and proceeded to help you get them down from the truck.

—

The three of them all sat near the back of the boat where Bokuto was steering. Oikawa sat beside him, staring at Bokuto’s side profile. 

“I think I know who you are.” Oikawa tilted his head. “You’re Bokuto Koutarou. Ace of the MSBY Black Jackals team in Japan.”

“Yep. That’s me.” Bokuto grinned.

“You retired three years ago. Why?”

Bokuto just shrugged. “I love volleyball. I’ll never stop loving volleyball. But...something just clicked one day and I knew I had to go.” He glanced at Oikawa who looked like he was in deep thought. “What about you? Are you a player as well?”

“Yeah. Argentina.”

“Ever thought of quitting?” The suggestion made Oikawa shake his head vigorously. 

“You’re a close friend of Y/N?” Kuroo asked from the sides. Bokuto’s shoulders slumped in the slightest. 

“No. I haven’t heard from her for...twenty years, I think?”

Kuroo was surprised. “Really?”

“Yeah, and then this invite,” he pulled out the invitation from his pockets, waving it in front of them. “Out of the blue.”

“It’s the same for me.” Oikawa mumbled.

—

“Rika-obaasan!” Maiko shouted from the window on the second floor of the villa. The three women had just arrived by the entrance where Maiko was waiting. She disappeared inside the room and ran down the stairs to them.

“Maiko-chan has grown so beautiful!” Yoshiko gushed, breathing a little heavily as the trek up the villa’s entrance was a tad bit high. Rika held her arms out to catch Maiko in her arms. You smiled at the scene proud of how well you’ve done with Maiko.

“Maiko-chan! You get more beautiful everytime I see you!” Rika held Maiko’s face in both of her hands rubbing at her flushed cheeks. The younger woman shook her head. “You do!” Rika persisted.

“I bet you don’t remember me.” Yoshiko called out beside you.

“Not with all that plastic surgery.” Rika muttered under her breath. Maiko just smiled at the familiar banter between her aunts. She ran to Yoshiko, bringing her into a tight hug as well. 

“Of course I remember you, Yoshiko-obaasan! You haven’t changed at all.” 

“I’m so happy for you.” Yoshiko said when they pulled away. Seeing your daughter interact with your best friends made you feel a warm weight on your chest. You couldn’t help yourself so you pulled your daughter towards your embrace, hugging her from behind. 

“My baby, all grown up; her whole life ahead of her.” Maiko just laughed at your words as she struggled to get out of your hold.

“I’m just getting married, okaa-san! I’m not going to be a miko!” ” She exclaimed. She then led the three of you to the back of the villa. Yoshiko and Rika shared amused faces. Maiko showed the same fiery attitude you had during your younger days.

“Just like her okaa-san.” Rika slung an arm around your shoulders, following your daughter’s trail. 

“If she was like me, she wouldn’t be getting married at twenty.”

“Or married at all.” Yoshiko added.

The villa that you owned consisted of small clusters of buildings designed in Cycladic architecture, capturing the beauty of the small island. The small archway, where you just passed through on the side of the main building, led you to a small alley full of locals selling various produce. Somehow, small  parts of the town had merged with the hotel space and you didn’t mind.

“I haven’t put the laundry down before you came!” You panicked, in the slightest, picking up a nearby basket and shoving all the washed sheets and blankets in it. As you hastily tried to tidy up, Maiko walked over to you. She took the basket from you gently with a knowing look. 

You had promised her that you won’t be working too much on her wedding preparations, seeing as only a few will attend. And Maiko has seen you work so hard for the hotel—for her—and the least she could do is make you relax, especially now that your friends are here.

Minoru appeared with two glasses of ice cold water which she gave to your two guests. Rika and Yoshiko took a few sips and for some reason—they didn’t know if it was just their thirst or exhaustion—the water tasted sweeter than normal and more refreshing. Minoru noticed the change in their expressions. A smug smile appeared on his face.

“Good, right?” The women could only nod in silence. Maiko stood beside him intertwining their hands. Minoru continued. “I’m actually designing a website that would showcase everything about Kalokairi. I just think this place has so much potential. But no one knows we’re here.” He glanced at Maiko, pecking her forehead, affectionately. “After that, with proper marketing and advertisements, people will come flooding in.”

Maiko grinned, proud at her fiance. “We just want this to be the ultimate romantic destination. They did say that this was once the site of Aphrodite’s fountain. The Goddess of Love. And if you drank the water,” she gestured to the glasses they held, “You’re supposed to find true love and perfect happiness.”

“Can I take home a bucket of this?” Rika asked. 

—

You entered a small house—still a part of the hotel—which was reserved for VIP customers...if you had them. Rika and Yoshiko immediately admired the simplicity and beauty of it. As they looked around Yoshiko removed her expensive coat and sunglasses, placing them atop the small coffee table.

“I thought you didn’t want a lot of tourists over here?” She asked. You were going about the small space, fixing things that weren’t even misplaced or broken. 

“I don’t want, like, boats filled with tourists. Just...a few more would be nice.” You opened the bathroom door and suddenly remembered the plumbing issue you've been having for a few weeks now. You turned to your friends. “Now, the toilet is…if it doesn’t flush right away, just go,” you made a motion with your hands, “And come back in a while and it should be fine.” Rika and Yoshiko just looked at each other.

You dismissed their looks with a shaky laugh. “Sorry. Nothing really works around here. Hell, I think I’m the only one working around here!” You paced around the room. “I’ve been running this hotel for fifteen years and I’ve never had a day off!” It was starting to feel a little hot inside so you pushed open the nearby window, letting some fresh air in. 

One of the shutters suddenly broke off and fell, almost hitting a passerby who had just bought onions from a seller. You peered down at them, face apologetic. The locals who were within the area stared up at you with blank expressions. They were used to the occasional bang and clang of your hotel falling apart at the seams.

“I’m sorry!” You shouted over. You sighed loudly, turning back to the room. “Where’s a rich guy when you need one?!” You said, exasperated. Your two friends just raised an eyebrow at each other, following you out. 

You went down the steps to retrieve the fallen shutter. The small alley where it fell was filled with local Greek people who hounded you to buy their goods. You recognize some of them who’d offered to help around the hotel and were now asking for payment for their services.

You just nodded robotically, mumbling that you’d pay them soon once you get the money. If you get the money. Yoshiko and Rika did their best to catch up with you. You picked up the shutter. Going around the corner, you stopped by a white door. You twisted the knob firmly before it fell off. Yoshiko winced, realizing how you meant that nothing works here literally.

“If I had a rich man, I’d be able to fix this whole place.” You then scoffed. “If I married a rich man, I’d never work it all!”

Pushing the door a little, it opened. You checked in on the kitchens where your cooks, who were previously sitting down by the table resting, scrambled to get back to their preparations. You eyed them warily. You went inside and got an old bottle of wine you’ve been saving for special occasions. You handed it over to Yoshiko.

“It’s hard to find a rich man to marry.” Yoshiko accepted the bottle, reading the label.

“Easy for you to say, Yoshiko. You’re practically born rich.” Rika countered with a small chuckle.

You just sniggered and shook your head. They kept following as you went around the whole place, conversing with one of your employees, talking about various repairs that needed to be done and due payments to be made. They also followed you into a small shed where you pulled out your tool belt. You buckled it around your waist, picking up a drill as well. 

Your friends could not believe the sight. Never had they imagined your life to turn out like this. Sure, they kept in touch from time to time but they didn’t know that you needed all the help you could get. You stopped in your tracks, feeling their gazes on you.

Turning back around, you just flashed them a smile, grabbing the wine bottle.

“C’mon, let’s go have some fun.”

—

Maiko was lifting some boxes of decorated napkins to help set up the reception area. Just as she was outside the villa, she spotted three tall men curiously looking around. She felt her heart leap to her throat. Could this be…?

“Hi.” She croaked out. The men looked at her. Maiko’s palms were starting to sweat so she kept them in closed fists. “May I help you?”

“Hey there! We’re here for the wedding!” Bokuto’s voice was loud. “I’m Bokuto Koutarou.”

“Oikawa Tooru.” The man beside Bokuto piped up.

“Kuroo Tetsurou.” The other one stated. He eyed Maiko up and down, noticing the bewildered look on her face. 

Inside Maiko’s mind, she wanted to scream in confusion. She was pretty sure that when her father showed up, she’ll know which one it is—call it instinct if you will. But right now, with all three of them right in front of her, she was more puzzled than ever.

“Were you expecting us?” Kuroo asked.

It took a while for Maiko to respond. She did her best to hide her confusion with a beaming smile. “Oh my god, yes!” She said, relief echoed in her voice. It doesn’t matter that she can’t tell which right now. What matters is they’re here and once she gets them alone or spends a short while with them, she’ll know. Right? 

Kuroo squinted his eyes and tilted his head. He pointed a finger to Maiko. “You’re not, Y/N’s daughter are you?” He asked the question which nagged at his mind ever since receiving the invitation. If this girl was your daughter, then that would mean you’re married. But then again, the girl had the same surname as you...would that mean the opposite thing?

Maiko blushed slightly and bowed her head, indicating that she is your daughter. Bokuto stepped closer, removing his sunglasses.

“That’s why you look familiar. You look just like her.” Bokuto ransacked his mind, trying to remember the name on the invitation. “You’re Meiko, right?

“It’s Maiko.”

“Ah, my bad.” He scratched the back of his head. “I used to have a great aunt living on the mainland. Her name was Meiko.” Maiko was about to say something in response but Oikawa cut her off.

“Is it okay if you show us to our rooms? I’d like to get settled in before we see your okaa-san.”He said. He had been getting nervous ever since they’d arrived at the small island. He wanted to see you so badly but he also wanted to put himself together first because he knows that he’d be a mess in front of you.

“Oh! Yes, of course! You can meet her….but, uhm….,” Maiko panicked. She hadn’t thought about where they’d stay. She didn’t want you to know that your exes are here; not until she figures out who her father is. Suddenly, she knew the perfect place they can stay, hidden and away from the villa. “Uh, come this way please.”

tags: @yikes-buddy / @ushi-please / @melodiamore / @akaashi-todoroki / @honeymoneyy / @minty-mangos-world / @ochabby / @paettonissahotcheeto / @chrisrue15 / @cottage-babe2 / @tsukkx / @yashinosakura / @coconut-dreamz / @roseestuosity / @youstydiaa / @shiningstar-byulxx​

a/n: chapter two it is! this was hella long. 2.6k words i think? i also feel that this was all over the place, switching from one group to another. and i’m so, so, sorry if it confused you! i’m confused as well anyways i originally planned to write 2 chapters then do a double posting, but seeing as it’s a certain owl’s birthday today, i just had to post today. 

happy birthday bokuto koutarou! i love you marry me pls

again, i apologize for the errors (grammar, punctuations, story flow) and thank you so much for all the support!

[spine-buster]

The President Wears Prada (William Nylander) | Chapter 12

A/N: Thank you all so much for the positive feedback on the last chapter despite very minimal Willy/Aberdeen interaction.  This chapter and the ones coming will definitely make up for it.

December 15th, 2019

Aberdeen Bloom was trying to get into the biggest gated house she’d ever seen in her life.  

She’d taken an Uber up to the Bridle Path, the exclusive street in Toronto filled with massive mansions the size of her high school with their own private gates and tennis courts and and pools and indoor pools and indoor basketball courts and bowling alleys and wine cellars and all the other frivolous things rich people could build in their houses.  She bet each one even had a heated driveway so that nobody in the house had to wake up at the crack of dawn to shovel.  The Uber driver had already driven away, not even bothering to wait to see if she got in safely, so she hoped to be let in soon.  

“Name, please?” a loud voice asked through the intercom-or-whatever-it-was system these rich people had for their house.  She bet they probably had cameras too and saw her impatiently waiting outside.  

“Aberdeen Bloom.”

“Abba-what?”

She rolled her eyes.  “Aberdeen Bloom,” she enunciated more clearly.  “Brendan Shanahan’s personal assistant.”  She was starting to get annoyed that she had to attach that caveat for anybody in the hockey world or the rich people world to take her seriously.  

The gate buzzed open, and Aberdeen walked quickly towards the front entrance, about the ring the doorbell before it opened magically for her.  A butler.  A butler opened the door for her and greeted her, offering to take her coat and letting her know she could keep her shoes on.  There were waiters and waitresses carrying around plates of expensive looking hors d’oeuvres and others carrying around flutes of champagne.  There was a giant, giant Christmas tree in the – the foyer?  The reception hall?  What did rich people call these things? – decorated with expensive looking ornaments, ribbons, and what Aberdeen thought had to be Swarovski crystals.  It had to be at least 15 or 20 feet high.  It was a far cry from her family’s Christmas tree, which was decorated with all the homemade ornaments she, Siena, and Camden had made throughout their years in school.  She almost felt like she was in the Eaton Centre.  There were even boxes upon boxes of presents underneath it, all wrapped with the same wrapping paper and with giant nametags.  Jolly Christmas carols were being played through some sort of speaker.  

She couldn’t believe rich people lived like this.  She couldn’t believe she was in a house on the Bridle Path with these rich people.  What had her life become?

“Aberdeen!” she heard her name being called.  She looked to her side to see Brendan approaching her, leaving his wife speaking to whoever they were speaking to for a quick second.  “So nice to see you!  You look lovely as always.”

“Oh, thanks Brendan.”

“Come with me,” he said, guiding her towards the people he was speaking to.  “Aberdeen, I want you to meet Dani Reiss, whose house we’re in.  Dani’s the CEO of Canada Goose.  Dani, this is my executive assistant, Aberdeen Bloom.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Aberdeen,” he said as they shook hands.  Aberdeen was hyperaware of his handshake and the fact that she was shaking hands with yet another billionaire.  She truly, truly couldn’t understand what her life had become.  She wished Siena or Kasha were here to do all the talking.  They were much better at it than she was, she thought.  “How are you enjoying working for the Toronto Maple Leafs?”

Aberdeen chuckled nervously.  She wondered if he really cared, but then remembered that they were having their Christmas party at his house, and he’d gone through all this trouble to keep them entertained, so he probably did.  “Oh, it’s amazing!  A bit hectic at times, but overall it’s been a great experience so far.  Everyone’s just been so great and welcoming – you wouldn’t even know that I didn’t watch hockey before I got the job.”

That led to a chuckle amongst Brendan, Catherine, and Dani.  “I bet a million people would kill for your job,” Dani commented through his laugh.

There it was again.  That thing everybody said to her when they learned what her job was.  She’d heard it for months now, since her first day on the job, and it was becoming abundantly clear with each passing day that it was something many people coveted.  “I know, sir.  I’m very lucky to have it and to work with such an incredible team.”

Out of the corner of her eye she could see Brendan smile.  Dani was already smiling at her.  “Well Aberdeen, mi casa es su casa!  Feel free to take a wander, grab some drinks, and enjoy the food!”

She thanked them as they left her there, walking towards another group with Leanne Hederson.  Aberdeen walked further into the foyer where the giant Christmas tree was, admiring it for a moment before looking around to see if she could see anybody she recognized.  She knew that, at this point, she could walk up to any member of the team or the administration and join in on their conversation, but the setting was slightly different than what she was used to (at the offices, of course) and it made her a bit nervous.  

“Brendan girl?”

Aberdeen visibly cringed.  She looked to her side to see her absolute favourite person in the whole entire world, Ethan Baker, walking over to her with a drink in his hands.  “Why are you here?”

She rolled her eyes at him.  He did this at every event they attended, as if she wasn’t allowed to be there.  “You constantly forget we work for the same team,” she said.

“Yeah, except one of our jobs is more important than the other,” he quipped.  She felt like punching him right then and there until she remembered this was a Christmas party at a billionaire’s mansion and it was socially frowned upon to start fights at parties.  “I didn’t know assistants were allowed to these things.”

“Peter’s here.”

“Doesn’t that mean you two should be helping the waiters?”

Aberdeen’s jaw dropped.  “What is your problem?” she demanded.  

“Aw, come on, I’m just ribbing you.”

“You know, just because I got the job over you—”

“—Cause you look really hot in those pants, Brendan girl.”

She stopped.  She was shocked at what he’d just said.  It had to be because he was already drunk.  She couldn’t think of another plausible expectation.  She couldn’t believe how hot and cold he was at these sorts of events, remembering what he was like at the Major Donor Gala.  “Besides,” she said through gritted teeth, “being a waiter isn’t something to be frowned upon.  A lot of my friends waited their way through university.”

“And you didn’t be a waitress or hostess?  With the way you look, you would have gotten really good tips.”

She felt like spiders were crawling underneath her skin.  She thought back to that day where she let him get in her head – when he’d called her a piggy for warming up a burrito.  “Are you trying to flirt with me?  Because you’re failing miserably.”

“I’m trying to—”

“Aberdeen!”

She looked to her side to see an excited looking Bee McTavish making a beeline towards her.  Bee somewhat-stared, somewhat-glared at Ethan as she hooked her arm with Aberdeen’s.  “You don’t mind if I steal her, do you?  A bunch of her friends are just over there,” she nodded her head towards a group that included Jason and Jennifer Spezza, Morgan, and John and Aryne Tavares. 

“I’m her friend,” Ethan quipped, smiling.

“I’m sure,” Bee nodded her head, grimacing every so slightly.  “Have a good night,” she dismissed him before tugging on Aberdeen’s arm and leading her in the opposite direction.  “God, that guy is such a skeeze,” she whispered to Aberdeen.

“Yeah.”

“Does he work here?”

“Tech and video playback,” Aberdeen informed her.

“Well, you’re with us now,” Bee smiled as she brought Aberdeen into the fold of the group.  

Aberdeen greeted and hugged everyone before noticing Will at the tail end.  She gave him a quick hug and a – God he smelled impeccable – and a cordial ‘Nice to see you!’ before he settled into his usual William behaviour.  “What do you think?” he asked.

She knew he was waiting for one of her famous retorts.  She took another look at his look: blonde hair, navy blue up top and an actual pair of burnt orange pants.  She wondered if his fashionable status edged on the side of completely insane.  Everything was tailored to perfection, and nothing was wrinkled or anything like that, but she couldn’t get over the orange pants.  “You look like Sailor Venus.”

Everybody burst out into laughter.  Even William smiled from ear to ear.  “Alright alright, very funny Aberdeen.”

“You know I’m right.”

The group talked about their Christmas plans.  This was Aryne and John’s first Christmas with baby Jace, so it was going to be extremely special for them.  Morgan’s parents and brother were flying in from Vancouver to spend time with him and Bee.  It was also Jason and Jennifer’s first Christmas in Toronto with their four girls – even though Jason was from here – so that was another special event that they’d be hosting at their house.  William would probably be Skyping with his family in Sweden, having his own version of a family Christmas.  It was unfortunate that whatever plans the boys had with their families would have to be cut short slightly because they had a game in New Jersey on the 27th, and it was even more unfortunate that because of a game in Minnesota, they’d all be away from their families on New Year’s – Aberdeen included.  It was the first time she would be out of Toronto for New Year’s, and not spending the night with her family or out with her friends.  

Jason and Jennifer ended up giving Aberdeen a tour of the parts of the house they’d already explored, with William following behind them somewhat lazily.  She saw Ethan at one point and could feel him staring at her.  There were a couple of different food stations, and she picked up some sushi and other appetizers on the way around.  The house was expansive, and again, she couldn’t believe rich people lived like this.  She could only imagine what the bedrooms looked like, or the basement, where she was sure there were ridiculous things like a bowling alley, or a 10,000 bottle wine cellar, or a home theatre.  

Dani Reiss ended up calling Jason and Jennifer over, so Aberdeen found herself alone with William.  William seemed to enjoy the situation, as he always did – the smirk on his face revealing all – but when Aberdeen looked past him, she saw Ethan staring at her again, pretending to talk to his colleague who worked in tech and video playback.  She bit her lip nervously.  She knew she couldn’t let him get to her, but he already had once before and it almost cost her the job she had – the one he so desperately wanted.  She couldn’t let him keep doing this to her.  She needed to be strong.  She needed to be—  

“Aberdeen.”

William’s stern voice broke her out of her trance.  “What?”

“Did you hear anything I just said about how nice you look?”

“N—N—Yeah…yeah yeah, thanks,” she said absent-mindedly.  

That wasn’t a normal reaction from her at all whenever he complimented her looks.  Usually it was an eye-roll and a ‘stop it!’.  William discreetly looked over his shoulder to where she was looking.  He saw Ethan look away once he caught him.  He whipped his head back towards her.  “Is he messing with you?” William asked, his voice low.

“What?  No no,” Aberdeen shook her head quickly.  “Don’t worry about it—”

“Aberdeen, if he’s messing with you, I’ll fucking kill him—”

“Will, no,” she stressed.  “Just leave it alone.”

“Is he bothering you?”

“No.”

“What was he saying to you earlier?”

“Nothing,” she said.  There was no way she was going to tell him.  “Just…just stupid stuff.  Work stuff.  It was honestly nothing.”

“You’d tell me, right?” William said.  He’d asked that question before.  She couldn’t discern his tone of voice but by the way he was looking at her she knew he was dead serious and knew there was at least a hint of worry.  “You’d tell me if he said something, right?  If he made you feel uncomfortable?  Because I’ve already tried to talk to Babs about it, and I know he’s gone now but I have no problem speaking to someone on your behalf if you’re too scared to.”

She felt like telling him.  She really did.  But she couldn’t – not now, at the Christmas party, and not ever, because it was something she needed to deal with on her own.  Somehow, at least.  She didn’t know how she was going to deal with it, only that she had to.  So instead, Aberdeen shook her head.  “It’s fine, Will.  Don’t worry.  And yes.  I’d tell you.”

So it was a little white lie.  Who hadn’t told a little white lie in their life?

William visibly relaxed at her words.  He finished his drink and placed it on the tray of a passing server.  “You ready to go outside?”

“Outside?” Aberdeen looked at Will strangely.  “It’s the middle of December.  We’re staying inside, thank you very much.”

“Nooooo no no no no,” he chuckled and shook his head.  He went to grab her hand but then remembered where he was, pulling it back towards his body.  “Come on.  Come with me.  You’re in for the surprise of your life.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Hey Aberdeen!  Willy!  You coming or what?” Jennifer Spezza called out as she waved them down from the sliding doors leading to the backyard.  “Come on!  It’s time to skate!”

Aberdeen threw William a confused look.  “Skate?”

They made their way towards the door, and when Aberdeen stepped through the threshold, she couldn’t believe what she saw: an entire skating rink – boards and everything – where she presumed Dani’s tennis court was, where some people were already skating.  There were lights, people were laughing, and there was even a whole skate rental helping out.  There were even fucking portable heaters.  Again, she couldn’t believe rich people lived like this.  She couldn’t believe that Dani would offer up his house, hire all the waiting staff, hire the catering staff, buy all those gifts, flood an entire portion of his backyard, and put up a skating rink so he could give the Maple Leafs a Christmas party.  Those closer she walked to the rink with William, Jason, and Jennifer, the more she couldn’t believe it.  

“What size are you, miss?”

“Uh, I’m a seven in regular shoes…” she said, not knowing if that made a difference.  The person turned around to look for skates, and Aberdeen turned towards William.  “I’m…I’m not good at skating at all.”

“You don’t have to be,” he smiled.  “You’ve got a team full of hockey players to help you along, minskatt.”

“No no.  I’m not just, like, saying that to be cute or whatever,” she said.  She needed to make that abundantly clear because she was sure she was going to make a complete ass of herself.  “I’m not good at skating.  I don’t even know how to tie them up properly.”

“Again, you have a whole hockey team at your disposal,” William said with a giggle in his voice.  When the skates were handed over, Jason took them before Aberdeen could.  “You gonna lace her up?” William asked him.

“I’ve got it,” Jason nodded his head.  “Aberdeen, go sit on the bench.  And give me your right foot.”

Aberdeen felt powerless as she did as she was told.  Jason shoved the skate onto her foot and kept it between his legs to tighten them and lace them up.  Jennifer put on her own skates right beside her, and William was on her other side doing the same.  “I feel like one of your children,” Aberdeen joked to them.

Jason smiled.  “You’re practically the same age as Sophia.”

“Am not!” Aberdeen protested.  “Sophia was born in 2010!”

“Yeah, and you’re born in 98.  I’m born in 83.  There’s fifteen years between you and I, but only twelve between you and Sophia,” Jason said.

“It’s practically the same thing!”

“No.  You’re a baby,” Jason chuckled.  “The both of you,” he nodded his head towards William, “are babies.”

Once her skates and helmet were fully on, and tight enough so her ankles weren’t moving so they wouldn’t snap in half, Aberdeen wobbled her way over towards the ice rink.  She looked out onto the ice and saw Bee skating, screaming as she slipped and fell right into Frederik Andersen’s arms.  The both of them laughed heartily as he held on to her like a knight in shining armour would catch his princess.  Morgan called out to them in a joking manner, feigning disgust and annoyance.

“Aberdeen?” she heard William’s soft voice.  Jason and Jennifer were already on the ice.  She hadn’t even seen them get on.  She had taken a while to psych herself up, apparently.  “You okay?”

“I’m just being an idiot,” she shook her head, embarrassed.

“You’re not being an idiot, minskatt.”

“Says the guy who was in skates before he was in shoes with soles,” she tried to joke.  “I work for a hockey team and I don’t even know how to skate well.”

Aberdeen watched as William extended his head.  “Come on,” he said.  “I’ll teach you.”

“Will—”

“Think of it this way,” he began.  “If you fall and crack your head open, you’ll probably suffer memory loss and forget who I am.”

Aberdeen snorted and laughed out loud.  She needed to hand it to William – he knew how to calm her down and diffuse any stress.  “You’re the worst, Will,” she chuckled out.

“I know I am.  Now come on.”

Aberdeen took his hand and stepped onto the ice gingerly.  William pulled her away from the edge of the rink slowly.  “Okay, bend your knees,” he began.  “You can’t skate with tight legs.”

For an almost embarrassingly long time, William taught Aberdeen the basic ins and outs of skating.  He was patient with her as he skated back and forth with her, pushing and pulling her along.  He’d grab her if she tripped, wrapped his arms around her if she almost slipped and fell, and tried to make her laugh as much as possible.  Jason would join in sometimes, holding her other hand as he and William pulled her along.  Jennifer and Bee acted like her own personal cheerleaders.  Eventually, she got the hang of it, able to skate around without having her hands out to balance her and with the ability to turn along the edges.  Morgan skated by and joked she was going to replace William on the line with John.  The smile on her face and giggle in her voice could light up the night sky.

For William, it was the best part of the night by far.

***

Brendan was so happy that everybody was having fun; so happy to see the smiles on people’s faces as they skated around the rink, running into each other like bumper cars and taking group pictures.  He loved seeing the comradery of his team outside the rink – the comradery of his entire organization outside of the offices.  The Christmas party was a huge success, and he couldn’t be happier.  

As he leaned his forearms down against the boards outside the rink, he watched everybody having a good time.  A few of the players skated by to have a quick chat.  Auston came first, then Jason and Freddie Gauthier together.  

“What a great party!” William smiled as he skated up to him, looking out at everyone having fun on the ice.  

Brendan nodded his head.  “We’re lucky Dani invited us and did all this for us.  Much better than some stuffy dinner, I think.”

“Definitely,” William agreed, nodding his head.  

Brendan nodded his head too, following William’s line of sight.  Aberdeen was posing with Bee McTavish, Aryne Tavares, and Courtney Muzzin.  Brendan smiled.  “Be careful, William.”

William’s brows furrowed at his words as he turned to look at him.  “Sir?”

“She can’t do anything with you until she leaves,” Brendan said, standing upright.  “And you can’t do anything with her.”

[greytoiletpaper]

Out on Allen Street, it’s 7 in the Morning

Set in the same-ish Street Siblings universe as First Contact by @cryptids-and-muses and @a-sketchy-character @streetsiblings (they’re awesome), I present my own built-on concept. It’s a bit angstier but sue me I’m an angst ball

AO3 | Deluge

Chapter 1: Drizzle

Jason Todd loved the rain. He remembered it pattering on the roof as he dozed off into the night, curled up with Sparky. Times spent splashing in puddles. Drawing a rare smile from Catherine as bright as the morning sun. Days without Willis, his head stuck in a worn copy of Huckleberry Finn and the ambience set only by the rain as it tracked ran down the window he leant on.

It was raining when Jason woke to his mother’s lax corpse, ears drowning out every sound except the rain’s as it plinked in time with the droplets that dripped down her arm.

--

In front of her, Faizul’s corpse is still. So still that Cassandra Cain can almost block out how the man’s body only radiated pain and fear and agony so strong-and-she-did-that-with-her-hands-her-hands-so-red-and-.

But she can’t, her head is still drowning in the memory, and all she can think about is the fear emptiness that settles in her body. Her gift to understand movement as if it were a language, she learns, is nothing more than a curse when Death comes by her hand. She wrings her red fist, as tainted as her soul because of what she had done. She looks away.

Father David has his arms outstretched, a smile so sharp and so bright that if he were any other man, she would have thought he was proud. He is, but underneath, Cassandra can see nothing but sick and profound glee at what she can do. The decision is easy.

As Cassandra springs out the window, its hinges blew wide open, her father David keeled over, the sky crackles and runs with the long red rivulets off her arms.

--

Now, five months later, Jason ducks his head under the fire escape in an empty alley, the rain in a duet with the nightlife of Gotham. He allows himself some respite as it steadily washes the grime off his surroundings, a pleasant ratatatata above the ambient din that is the dark of Gotham. He is so tired, but he’ll have to move soon if he wants to stay out of sight of kidnappers and killers and whatever else haunts the shadows of Gotham.

A howl slices through the Gotham night as some mug gets his face slammed into a wall. Jason knows this because he can see it right now as the same mook gets decked by a – a girl. Anyone on the streets knows that girls can hold their own but seeing some thirty-something-year-old man get his ass handed to him by a pixie of a girl – he thinks she’s his age, somehow – is something else. Seriously, the guy looks terrified out of his mind as he runs with his tail between his legs after a particularly nasty hit to his crotch.

As if sensing his gaze, the girl snaps her head to him, locking him in place.

“Uh… Hi?” Jason raises his hand in an awkward wave which the girl mimics, albeit a bit stilted, her head on a tilt. The silence between the two of them stretches until the girl seems to see something in him and nods. Out of ideas, Jason digs around his bag and produces a fresh enough apple.

“I’m Jason.” He points to himself.

A beat, and then the girl repeats the gesture.

“Cuh, cuh, cuh,” She struggles with the words, her forehead pinched. “Cuh, ah, ssss.”

“Cass?” The girl nods again, this time rigorously. Unsure of himself, Jason raises the apple to her. “Well, nice to meet you, Cass. You hungry?”

Cass grins, her eyes twinkling as she bites into the apple. Around them, the rain lessens. Just a little.

--

She watches two of her most precious children draw closer, children who will laugh and cry and burn for her love. Gotham watches them come, raises her arms, and weeps with her joy.

“Jason and Cassandra against the world,” Is what Gotham would have said if she had a voice. For years, the city is content to watch her children. She observes Jason and Cassandra as they starve, as they fight, as they grow. On one night, the weather nothing but pluvial, she witnesses them come across the strange car in the alleyway owned by her first child. On that night, she watches as the Dark Knight comes across her most perfect pair of children.

--

“Cassandra,” She looks up at the man they had been living under for the past two months, Bruce. She makes no answer, only staring blankly at him–they were betting on seeing how long it took for the man to get uncomfortable when she does that–who stares back. He continues as if they had not been staring for a full minute, which is not to Cass’ benefit. “Do you know where Jason is?”

Cass, willing to keep trying, keeps her gaze unrepentant. Under her scrutiny, the Dark Knight’s demeanour finally cracks a little. Internally, Cass is ecstatic, but she still really wants to milk it as she keeps up the act.

“Someone call for me?” Jay comes down the stairs. Finally, Cass can break her façade.

“Good morning, slob.” The slob, honest to god, freezes.

“No,” He grinds out of his teeth.

“Yes,” Cass gives him a crooked smile. “slob.”

“Am I missing something here?” Bruce is frowning. Oh right, he was ignorant to their scheme.

“Slob,” Cass repeats with feeling and delights at Jay’s fuming. “S-L-O-B. It means Stupid-Loser-Of-Bets,” She looks Jay dead in the eye again and calls him by the name.

Bruce frowned even further (his body projects such honest confusion that Cass almost laughs). “I was not aware you two had made a bet.”

“A bet I lost because of you, old man!” Jay pipes up, suddenly fuming at Bruce. “You’re Batman, and you can’t even keep from cracking when some girl stares at you for longer than a minute?”

Cass does not hold in her laughter anymore, something she broadcasts to all gathered. Bruce sighs, but at least he waits for her to calm down before he gets to his point.

“Regardless… I need you two to come with me to my office,” As the man leaves, the two share a glance.

“You gonna go after him?”

“You first, slob,” Jay grumbles the entire way to the office, where Bruce waves them in.

For a few seconds, the man awkwardly shifts before he pulls a sheaf of papers from behind his desk.

“I… I quite enjoy having the two of you here. With me,” Bruce admits, looking both of them in the eyes. He takes a deep breath. “I do not want to force this on either of you, but I would love to have you here with me for longer.”

“Permanently, even.”

Bruce lays out the papers on the desk, ‘Adoption Applications’ printed at the top. The letters draw a sharp breath from Jay, and Cass is confident enough with reading to understand what it means.

“Yes,” They both say immediately, and Bruce’s face goes softer than either have ever seen it.

When he asks for their surnames, Cass thinks about saying Cain. Instead, she says Todd.

Shyly, her russet orbs meet his azure ones expecting anger, but everything about Jason only projects love and acceptance. Her grin, something she had not got right yet, is almost identical to the one her brother wears.

“Always wanted a sister. Can’t do much better than you, eh, Cass?”

“Yes Jay,” she pauses. “slob.”

Outside, the sky is open in a light drizzle.

--

If there is anyone in the Waynes that Jason thinks is his favourite, it would be Alfred. An opinion he thinks Cass would be hard-pressed to disagree with. Of course, Cass is still in awe about the fact that Bruce Wayne is Batman (and isn’t that just fucking crazy), so it’s understandable. Conversely, Jason still remembers his first memory of the butler, a kind smile and welcoming arms that promised care for both of them.

“Master Jason,” The boy had looked up to see a crinkle in Alfred’s eyes that he had only ever seen from Catherine. The butler continued, somehow even softer than his usual. “Would you like me to fix that for you?”

Alfred gestured to Jason’s battered copy of Huckleberry Finn that he had cradled self-consciously to his chest. He refused, unsure why the butler seemed to be delighted to see Jason in the way only Cass and his Mom did. But there is something so trustworthy about the man that part of Jason is sure Alfred would do things like that no matter what he asked. So, automatic favourite.

--

Their older brother, Dick (“Aptly nicknamed,” Jay mutters under his breath.), yells whenever he comes to the manor. Most of his visits tend to cycle between him screaming at Bruce or yelling about them. He does make an effort to be a little quieter when he’s talking about the latter. Although, he still looks at Jay with an indecipherable mixture of emotions in his eyes. A pool caught between anger and something unknown to them. It’s not something that upsets Cass, but it puts both of them off, nonetheless.

On the other hand, Barbara is a little more forward in her dislike of the new kids. More often than not, her ire seems aimed at Cass specifically. Privately, Cass thinks Barbara was still angry about Bruce taking her role as Batgirl and giving it to Cass. But, she can see how every time the older girl gets less hostile, another part of her body was long past the role anyway. So, she doesn’t hold it against Oracle.

--

“C’mon Cass, repeat after me,” Jason waves the pages in Cass’ face, which elicits a giggle from his sister. Her giggling unbalances the both of them, so they have to waste another couple of minutes to make themselves comfortable again.

“What’s the use you learning to do right when it’s troublesome to do right and ain’t no trouble to do wrong, and the wages is just the same?”

Cass repeats the words, but she struggles at ‘troublesome’, so Jason repeats it for her. Silence, and then.

“What mean?” He thinks she isn’t asking about the word.

“Well, Mom used to say that it was just that. It might be harder to do the right thing, but it’d be better since you at least did it properly,” Satisfied, his sister merely nods and tries the words again. This time, she only takes three tries until she gets ‘troublesome’ right.

“I think she would have liked you,” He murmurs between phrases and instantly regrets it when Cass’ head turns to him so sharply she jostles him. He is about to brush it off when she nods her head shyly, snuggling closer to Jason.

He thinks, as they keep reading, that things are going to turn out alright. He has Robin now, and Robin gives him magic. Not only that but he’s also got Cass as Batgirl. Sure, she has that weird stitch mask covering her face, but it’s so fitting that he cannot imagine Cass with any other kind of costume. He knows her, and she knows him. For years she has been the sister he never knew he needed.

Together, Jason muses, they’re going to shake the whole damn world.

--

Whether they're from the Justice League or otherwise, everyone is always ready with a snide comment directed towards them. Or, more specifically, Jason. They use words and insults that don’t make sense to her, but she can see them affect her brother. When she asks, all he does is brush her off with lies and platitudes that they both know are fake. It isn’t until Troia huffs and says something that has waves of hurt rolling off Jason’s body that Cass decides she’s had enough.

“Honestly, I can’t believe you’d think you’d ever be like – ow!” Troia, poise flooded with nothing but condescension (she’s too angry to be elated at remembering a word Jason taught her) that Cass quickly corrects with a sharp jab. Like a deer in headlights, she turns and somehow has the gall to look indignant (another word). “Who did – Batgirl?”

“What, are you doing?” Troia fucking blinks. “Why are you treating my brother like this?”

She doesn’t even look guilty.

“Oh, don’t worry about all that. I don’t think it’s anything you’d understand anyway,”

She bends down towards her, apparently not noticing how still she is. Anyone who knows anything about Cassandra Todd knows her stillness means Death. Evidently, Troia is an exception. She's the only one in the room that's relaxed.

“Some people are simply born for this role. No street rat can ever hope to achieve that.”

Cassandra moves before anyone even blinks, her arms a flurry of jabs and punches and vicious kicks as she catches Troia off guard. Even when she finally regains her footing, the Amazon doesn't stand a sliver of a chance as Cassandra lays into her.

A block from Troia awards a savage stomp on her shin. A punch ducked under and followed through into a sequence of blows to the Amazon’s chest. When Troia grips her lasso and tries to restrain Cassandra, the girl only slinks her way past and wrestles it from her hands. Quickly and efficiently, she wraps it around the Amazon’s waist and pulls. For someone so small, Cassandra manages to lift Troia with the lasso with enough strength that when she releases it, the Amazon goes flying into a pillar in the Watchtower with a sharp crack.

Cass picks up her brother and shields him from the Leaguers, indifferent to their shocked and judgemental eyes.

The message is clear.

Even though they’re lost in a veritable sea of people, it still ends up being just the two of them, and Cass is more than okay with that.

Next chapter

[6rookie-writer0110]

I have the Godfather on VHS

Nick Stokes x Male Reader

Request- Nick Stokes x male reader. You’re a new transfer csi to the lab and catch feelings for Nick.

You woke up late and you rushed to get dressed fast. You thought you put the correct alarm but you accidentally put for seven pm. You rushed out of the apartment but you went to the coffee shop to buy something quick for breakfast. Once you got your coffee and muffin walked straight to the door, but someone bumped into you. Your shirt got ruined and he starts to apologize.

”I am so sorry,” He said.

”It’s okay! I-I have to go!” You said and rushed out of the cafe shop.

He watched you walk away.

”Sorry!” He yelled.

You didn't hear him and you straight to your job. You met your boss Gil and you tried to hide the coffee stain but it was very noticeable.

”Rough morning,” You said.

”I have a shirt and you can keep it. Change fast and I will introduce you to everyone” Gil said.

”Thank you so much,” You said.

Gil gave you a grey shirt and you changed in the bathroom. Then Gil starts to give you a tour of the building and took you to the lab. He introduced you to everyone who he works.

”We are already met,” Nick said.

”Really?” Gil asked.

”Yeah um... He kinda ruined my shirt at the cafe shop” You shyly said.

Nick nods.

”It wasn't on purpose,” Nick said.

”Ah. This is Y/N and he is the new Crime Scene Investigator” Gil said.

”That’s great,” Nick said and smiled.

Everyone has been called to go to a crime scene. It's brutal, three dead bodies, blood everywhere, missing limbs and strange item on the table. You and Nick start to take pictures of the crime scene.

”I think we are searching for two people,” You said.

”What makes you say that?” Nick asked.

”That guy over there is six feet and I'm guessing two hundred something pound. One guy couldn't do all of this because he could have easily beat up the suspect. Well, I would have done it if was his height and weight” You said.

”Y/N is correct there were two suspects. There are footprints in the backyard” Greg said.

”Good job,” Gil told you.

✧ ✯ ✧ ✯

Time went by you start to get along with everyone. You and Nick work together in the lab and on crime scenes. You started to develop feelings for him, his smile is your weakness.

You are working late and you are alone in the lab. Nick came back with hot meals and he thought you left hours ago.

”I thought you went home,” Nick said.

You shake your head.

”No. Just doing work. What about you? I thought you left” You said.

”Same, I'm doing work but I went to get something to eat. Won't your partner get mad?” Nick said.

”I’m single,” You said.

”Good to know,” Nick said.

”Why?” You asked.

”Do you like Italian food? It's still hot and enough for both of us” Nick said.

”Sure,” You said.

You and Nick start to eat together.

---

Nick is doing work with Warrick and Greg. Both can definitely see that Nick likes you because of the way he looks at you.

”Nick, you know that Y/N is single,” Greg said.

”How do you know that?” Nick asked.

” It's obvious you like him. Plus, I asked how was his Valentine’s Day weekend and he said he hates Valentine's Day. And he told me he is single” Greg said.

”So Nick, are you going to ask him out?” Warrick asked.

”You two are noisy,” Nick said and left.

Greg and Warrick laughed.

”I bet you ten dollars he will say no to Nick,” Warrick said.

Greg laughed.

”Easy money. I will bet that he will say yes to Nick” Greg said.

✧ ✯ ✧ ✯

Time has been going by and Nick is starting to get to know you better. Sometimes, Nick would bring you coffee or lunch. You and Nick got to know each other in the lab.

Before entering the lab, Nick quickly fixed his shirt and hair. When Nick is around you that's when you feel nervous.

”Hey Y/N, I was wondering maybe we can um- Maybe you want coffee?” Nick said

”I already had too much caffeine,” You said.

”Oh-”

Catherine walked in and she wanted the reports from another case. Nick was going to ask you out but got nervous when you smiled.

It's late and you walked into the parking lot and went to the bus stop. Nick pulled up

”Why are you waiting for the bus? The bus won't come within three hours” Nick said.

”I don't have a car,” You said.

”Get in, Y/N,” Nick said.

”Nick, you don't have to,” You said.

”Y/N I don't mind giving you ride every day. I will be okay picking you up every morning and taking you home. I meant, get in” Nick said.

You get in the car and you told him the address.

”Thank you, Nick,” You said.

”Don’t mention it” Nick said.

Every day Nick has been picking you up for work and taking you home.

✧ ✯ ✧ ✯

~~Time Skip~~

You live alone in a small apartment and your place has to be fumigated. Nick helped you pack some stuff before the terminator comes over.

You and Nick have been dating for two years now. At first, the relationship was a secret but Warrick and Catherine were the first two to find out. But they are very supportive of the relationship.

”Y/N, you can stay with me,” Nick said.

”Are you sure? The longest I stayed at your place was the weekend” You said.

”I know, but I mean it. Babe, Boulder City is far from work and my place. I don't want to force you to stay with me” Nick said.

He has his arms around you and you start to think.

”I will call my sister and tell her change of plans. I will stay with you” You said.

He smiled and he starts to kiss you.

At Nick’s apartment, he starts to make space for you. He is happy that you will be staying with him. You come out of the shower and you are wearing Nick’s shirt. He comes home with take-out food and beer.

”You look really good with my shirt on,” Nick said.

He kissed your cheek.

”You always tell me that,” You said.

” It's true. Let's eat” Nick said.

After eating dinner, Nick changed his clothes then you cuddle with him.

Nick really likes waking up next to you. You snuggle on him and his arm around you tightens. Nick likes to sleep shirtless and he has some chest hair.

[lalahbug]

My One and Only - Levi x Reader

Fandom: Attack on Titan Word Count: 1,057

My Masterlist

Warnings/disclaim: general Soulmate AU, also modern AU This soulmate AU is:  You stop aging at a certain age until you meet your soulmate and grow old together. In my thing of this. You’ll know it’s your soulmate because after you meet and touch. You’ll get a hot flash.

Author’s Note: Originally posted on DeviantArt, under the same username, on 02/26/2017. Revamped/edited in 2020.

___ is a blank for your name/oc/whatever you prefer Written in 1st Person, Levi’s POV

Line/header is to separate paragraphs to indicate time skips, as Tumblr hates my formatting.

Story under cut

          “I’ve been alive for almost a century. I don’t think I’ll ever find my soulmate,” I mumbled bitterly while taking a sip of my tea. My long term friend Erwin, who I had only met 20 years ago, recently found his soulmate, he was asking me to be his best man.

          “It could be, your soulmate died somehow before meeting you, now you have to wait until they reincarnate.”

          “They better fucking hurry up.”

          “Have you ever thought about why we stop aging at only 25?”

          “Not really. I don’t think about my soulmate anymore. I stopped about 50 years ago.”

          “I bet no one believes that you’re so old and so short.”

          I gave Erwin one of my deadliest of glares. “Not my fucking fault you’re a fucking giant. At least my eyebrows are normal.”

          “Okay, okay,” he gave a hearty chuckle. “So what’s your answer?”

          I glanced at him then to my tea. “Sure, why not? I’ll be your shitty best man.”

          These dress rehearsals were going to be the death of me. They dragged on for so fucking long. The dumbass giggling bridesmaids didn’t help either. One only seemed composed, I thanked her in my mind.

          “Hey, would you like a water?” The quiet girl of the pack of hyenas offered me a bottle.

          “Sure, thanks.” I was careful not to touch her. I didn’t need the small heartache I knew I would face when I felt nothing from touching her.

          “Sure thing. See you tomorrow and at the wedding, I have to leave early today, bye!” She gave me a cute smile and wave before going over to Catherine, giving her a goodbye hug.

          I watched her exit as I opened my bottle of water.

          “I now, pronounce you husband and wife,” the priest declared. “You may now kiss the bride.”

          Catherine leaped into Erwin’s arms and kissed him deeply, a small applause sounded at their kiss. I clicked my tongue before looking away.

          God this is so sappy, I need a drink, where’s the bar?

          I wandered around until I found where I could drown my annoyance in booze. Good thing I couldn't get drunk. Because I would be drinking in the corner alone for as long as possible.

          “Hey, Shorty,” Erwin’s new wife bubbled next to me.

          “What do you want?”

          “I want to thank you for coming. It means a lot to Erwin to have his best friend here.” I clicked my tongue in response. “Also I have a really sweet girl I want you to meet.”

          “What’s the fucking point?”

          “Well, she’s a close friend to me. So you’re bound to see her again, might as well get to know her now. Especially while you’re all cleaned up, make a good impression.”

          “Why the fuck should I care about impressing anyone?”

          “Come on!” Catherine dragged me over to the main table, where Erwin was still seated.

          I noticed the girl Catherine was talking about. She was one of the bride maids, the beautiful one who handed me a bottle of water before, but I won’t waste my time on anyone but my soulmate, if I ever find them.

          “___!” Catherine called out, who then looked away from the other girl she was talking to and giving a soft wave to me and the shit-head dragging me. “This is Levi!” she pushed me over to ___, which made me growl a bit.

          “Don’t fucking push me.”

          “Well grumpy-gills, this is ___ she’ll be turning 25 in a few months.”

          “Hello, it’s nice to meet you, ya know formally,” she stuck out her hand, offering to handshake. I used to dread these, always waiting for that hot flash, but it never happened. I stared at her hand. She raised an eyebrow at me, keeping her hand extended. It was tradition to shake hands with everyone, to find your soulmate faster.

          “Hey, nice to meet you brat.” I gripped her hand, for a quick handshake.

          The fire that coursed throughout me, said otherwise. I could feel my breathing pick up, my heart thundering in my chest. I pulled her from her seat to face me, she was exactly my height, a small mental note I took before I pulled her into a tight hug.

          “You have no idea how long I’ve been looking for you, you shitty brat,” I whispered, as she clung onto the back of my suit. I almost didn’t notice the silence around us, I didn’t really care. I did, however, want this to be more private than how public it was right now.

          “Levi, I take it, you’ve found her finally?” Erwin smiled at us clinging to each other while wrapping an arm around Catherine.

          I nodded slightly before pulling back from ___. She gave me a soft smile.

          “So I guess this means we’re dating now?”

          “No.” her brow knitted together, she was confused, some hurt was creepy onto her soft features as well.

          “W-why not? We’re soulmates aren’t we?” I sighed and grabbed her hand, pulling her away from everyone, no one needed to be around for this. Everyone else seemed really confused too. I’ve been waiting for over 7 decades, they wouldn’t understand. But my soulmate, ___, she would.

          “Look,” I started holding her hands tightly. “I’ve been alone for almost a century, expecting your fucking ass for way too long. You’re lucky I am in good health and no one wanted to kill me. Or else you'd have to face the same fate as me.”

          “What does this have to do with you refusing to date me? That should be even more of a reason to be together like we’re meant to!”

          “It’s not enough!” I snapped a bit at her ridicule. “It’s not enough, we’re getting married, very soon. We’re engaged, it’s the only way you can make this up to me." ___ started giggling, I would have found this cute if I didn't just tell her something so serious. “What the fuck are you laughing at, you shit?” I growled at her.

          Her giggles soon stopped and felt her lips press gingerly against mine which seemed entirely too short. “I’d be happy to marry my one and only.” I pressed my forehead to hers, my heart raced as I now pictured the life I had given up on long ago, I smiled.