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sunjaesol · 4 years ago

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clandestine meetings and longing stares

juke secret dating au | title: illicit affairs // taylor swift | a middle of the night scribble

When twelve year old Julie Molina got a stern talk from her father that she wasn't allowed to date until college, the tween had no qualms with it. The only boy she's ever liked had been Sokka from Avatar and that was it. Real boys didn't interest her.

Until she turned sixteen and caught sight of Luke Patterson.

In the years between, she had small crushes here and there. Lance, Nick, Noah. None, however, competed with storm that erupted in her stomach each time Luke smiled at her - her heart in a constant frenzy.

It was the beginning of junior year when he randomly sat next to her in music class and brought out all the bravado. It shouldn't have been cute. Julie should've rolled her eyes, dismissed his cute smirk, but she simply couldn't. The shimmering green of his eyes and the nice laugh was too alluring, too attractive. Soon enough, Julie was crushing on him hard. Which was fortunate, since he very much liked her as well, something he never hid from her.

("Watch out, Julie," he joked during one of their first conversations. "The charm is gonna make you get a crush on me!")

Luke kissed her two weeks after, chastely and secretly under the bleachers. Her infatuated mind forgot in that moment how she wasn't even allowed to look at a guy and eagerly kissed him back. It had been her first kiss and wow - what a perfect one at that.

A beat later, she realised her mistake and told him about her dad's stupid rule. His face had crashed for all of ten seconds when a mischievous grin crawled on his lips (an expression that would get her into serious trouble one day) and said: "Why tell him?"

Had it been any other boy, she would've shaken her head and regret kissing him. But this was Luke. She really liked Luke. The idea of not being with him, of not seeing where this could go, was a greater fear than her father's disappointment. In response, she snatched him back into a kiss he all too hungrily went along with.

Rule #1: Don't date! Broken, busted, thrown out the window with a smile.

It started off easy. At school, no one had to worry. She sat with him at lunch and let herself be coaxed under the bleachers and snuggled into his embrace at the end of the day. On the parking lot, she could pretend she was simply saying goodbye to her boyfriend and not going home to lie in her dad's face about why she was so overly chipper all of a sudden.

(Luke made her so ridiculously happy it was unfair. Each time he surprised her with a hug, her feet lifted from the ground; each time they kissed, his thumbs grazed her cheeks like she was a precious gem; each time she came up with a clever lyric, he gave her the toothiest grin and called her all the cute nicknames he could think of. Boss, baby, babe, Lyric Queen.)

God, she was complete mush for this boy. Sometimes she wondered if she was doing enough, not quite matching his overt display of affection, but she knew she must be doing something right if he never stopped smiling when she talked. That his eyes held a certain softness, timidness, reserved for her only.

They outgrew school quickly. Both wanted to go on dates without raising suspicion, Luke wanted to come over and just be with her without causing havoc.

"Why does the rule exist anyway?", he asked at the end of a cool December day.

Julie toyed with the lapels of his red shacket. "It's dumb. I mean, I get it, but it's dumb." Sighing, she explained his reasoning. "He wants me to fully focus on school so that I can get into a good college. Once I secured that, then I'm allowed to have fun."

Luke frowned. "I- I guess I kind of get it."

Her eyes rolled teasingly. "You don't even want to go to college."

"Correction: I wanna go to frat parties and have the college experience-"

"Without the classes part," she deadpanned. His face fell flat, a giggle of her own following.

His frown returned, a look she hated seeing. "You don't think he'll… I don't know, let go of that rule when he sees we're good?" His calloused hands slipped from her waist to softly cradle her face. Julie sighed, leaning into the touch. Resisting Luke and everything he did was hard. A smile twitched on his lips. "Would be pretty dope to come through the front door and kiss my girlfriend."

Her heart clenched at his confession. It would be amazing, but it sounded so unbelievable that it could easily be taken as a joke. Dad would go absolutely insane if she pulled something like that. Hey dad! Don't mind me as I jump into the arms of my boyfriend and he kisses me like a heartthrob from the movies!

She should've known Luke would try something. His impulsivity was an admirable trait, she found, though the pebbles hitting her window past midnight have her such a fright that she cursed for a beat how one track minded he could be. Until she caught sight of him. Eyes twinkling in the moonlight, a wide smile, his casual stance. He pointed at her and she nodded, grabbing her phone to text him there was a ladder by the garage.

Quiet like a ghost and quick like a fox, Luke snuck into her room, feet falling onto the floor with a soft thud.

Butterflies raged in her stomach. Her secret boyfriend was here, in her room, right now, with her father sleeping just down the hall.

"What're you doing here?", she whispered, already breathless from having him near.

His nose scrunched up. "Trying to be romantic. Should I have called you first?"

She shook her head. "It's fine. Maybe next time. It's-" Her arms slung around his shoulders, heart hammering a mile a minute. Her pyjamas were nothing special, an oversized pullover and sweatshorts, but it felt oddly intimate to be so cozy together. His own faded t-shirt was from a zoo in Oregon and his sweatpants softer than any of the ones she owned. Julie almost asked to borrow them, if it wasn't for his lips to swallow the words with a warm kiss.

Her fingers slipped into his hair. Yeah. This was better than talking.

It soon became routine. Every other week, Luke would text her a moon emoji and then climb into her room around midnight. They'd kiss and cuddle, Luke often leaving by five am and then making a whole show at school as if he hadn't seen her. Julie thought it was cute. If she could, she'd return the favour and go to his place, but Luke assured her she did not want that and, consequently, her father would just know. Unfortunately, she didn't have Luke's agility like some parkour champ.

"Trust me, Jules, I don't mind," he told her at lunch while stealing a cherry tomato. "I like sneaking in."

Alex shot him a look. "You like feeling like the main character of a movie, that's what."

"You brainwashed me with romcoms, so it's your fault, dude,' Luke retorted, grinning when the blonde flipped him off.

They got cocky though. Julie knew her dad would be gone during the day for a photography gig in Santa Monica, all the way on the other side of Los Angeles. It was the perfect excuse to get Luke over. Excited, Julie opened the front door for him with a flourish and did a silly courtesy.

"Your first time using my door," she teased. "Must feel special."

His cocky nod made her roll her eyes. "Super special," he replied gravely, playing along. "She's been begging for me."

Her expression turned sour. "I haven't been begging for you."

His smirk widened, tugging on a curl as he slipped past her. "Was I talking about you?"

He didn't, but he did start making out with her the second they were in the safety of her bedroom, so she knew there wasn't much competition.

That afternoon, they successfully avoided her dad's wrath and felt arrogantly confident about it. It made them daring. Pushing the limits, how far could they go, how blatant could they be before he knew? It was almost a game, the thrill part of the insane attraction she felt each time he snuck in.

His strong arms were wrapped around her as she straddled his waist, kissing him. Every touch was languid and intentional, a searing passion that rippled her skin and left her mind empty. Kissing Luke always put her in a dreamy, blissful haze. Her fingers clawed at his shirt and he shrugged it off in one fluid motion, pulling her back in. His skin was warm, hers to explore. Julie grinned into the kiss. His fingers toyed with the hem of her top.

"Julie?"

They froze. Her dad. Other side of the door. Shit. Shit, shit, shit. As quietly as possible, the girl hoisted herself from his lap and motioned at her closet.

"Julie?" The door handle began to shake.

Her voice squeaked. "Just a second!" Luke tiptoes into her closet, Julie kicking his shirt under her bed as she ran to the door. Her flushed cheeks would be a dead giveaway had her father ever doubt her trust. Fortunately, Julie Molina was in the eyes of her family a perfect good girl.

(The guy hiding in her closet would whisper something else in her ear.)

"Why is your door locked?" Dad frowned. "You never lock your door."

Julie shrugged, innocence leaking from her tone. "I can't have some privacy?"

"Of course, Julie," he said, though his lips were pressed into a thin smile. This clearly wasn't the last time they'd talk about it. "I'm going to the store. Do you need something?"

"No, thanks," she rushed. "Anything else?"

"Uh, no. Don't lock yourself in, hm?" It was said as a joke, his brows lifted, but both she and her father knew he meant it. No more locking doors. Shit.

When the front door fell shut and the car rumbled into the street, Luke reappeared with a careful smile.

Julie sighed. "That… was close. Maybe we should stop hanging out right after school. I didn't even hear him coming up the stairs."

"Damn, Jules!” Peppering two kisses on her forehead, it did little to relief her stress. “Now that's an ego booster."

"I'm serious!" She huffed. "I hate this. I hate the rule and I hate that I'm making you put up with it."

"Hey, hey," he soothed. "It's shitty, yeah, but you're not making me do anything." Nodding at her lips, he added: "Your smile is already…"

The smile bloomed on its own accord when he trailed off, edging closer. "What?"

That little shake of his head almost made her kiss him, but she wanted to know what he was going to say, why his lips were parted in that wonderstruck expression. When nothing came, a curious hum rumbled in her throat as she placed her chin on his chest.

He relented, tapping a finger against her cheek. “Your smile is already making me do dumb stuff.”

Oh, God. If he was going to continue saying things like that, she might actually fall in love with him. Back when Julie and Flynn were still obsessed with those relationship quizzes in magazines, she always claimed she’d like guys that weren’t so smooth with their words. She thought it meant they were players. But Luke never half-assed anything.

Her head tilted, amused. “Do you always have words ready?”

“Zero words, Jules,” he quipped. “Ever.”

Yeah, she might actually love him.

Public dates became a thing after that conversation. She simply couldn’t let him get away because of some rule, even if he claimed he wouldn’t. Eats & Beats was a cute, little café in the heart of Los Feliz with live music and amazing lattes; it was also their regular spot. They’d settle themselves into a booth, share a baked good (“If we’re trying the carrot cake now, we’re doing the pastel de nata next week.” “Deal.”) and talk for hours. Sometimes, when either was tinkering on a song, they’d work on it together.

One leg overlapped his, his fingers drawing pictures on her knee. The booth with the suede red couches and the scratching of a star in the wood was their safe haven.

“Mh, no,” she swallowed the piece of muffin. “That’s such an ugly word, don’t use that.”

He grinned, shoulders nudging as a tease. “Drencher not doing it for you?”

A laugh bubbled up, kissing his cheek. “Just use ‘rain’, you dork!”

“Dork?”, he mocked, getting in her face.

“Yeah.” Her nose brushed his. “Dork.”

“You are a dork.”

“That’s the best you’ve got, Patterson?”

Luke smirked, eyes flicking across her frame. “Want me to show you my best, Molina?”

She pushed his face away, a blush creeping up her cheekbones. They haven’t done it yet, but whenever he got like this, she felt her entire skin heat up at the mere idea. A part of her wanted to take that step, but she felt bad doing it if her dad or tía didn’t know. Knowing that they wouldn’t support her for as long as the rule existed, made her settle with that heat for a little longer. Her leg slipped from his and turned back to his songbook.

“So-”

“Julie?”

The couple looked up, once more paralysed as her dad’s familiar voice called her name. Why was he literally everywhere?! His tall figure stood in front of their booth, his hat shrouding the grimace on his face as his scrutinising eyes flitted between them. Oh, God. Did he know? Did he see? How much did he see? Did he see Luke checking her out? Mortification didn’t even come close to what she felt.

“Dad!” Her pressed smile hopefully looked relaxed to him. Her dad had moments of obliviousness; she might be able to save this. “What- hi, I didn’t know you had a booking here.”

His suspicion didn’t waver. “Yeah, honey, for the Rodriguez’ - I told you last night. Was just getting, ah, coffee.” He nodded at Luke. “Who’s this?”

My boyfriend. The one I’m falling for. The boy I’ve been hiding for months. “This is Luke, he’s one of my classmates.” The way his arm tensed at the label made her ache, but she had to truck on. “We’re working on a song.”

If he didn’t believe her, she just hurt her boyfriend for no reason. It did the trick though. Her father’s face mellowed, noticing the scribbles in the tattered book. “You’re working on a song?”

“Yeah. It’s really getting along.” Her finger tapped against his thigh. “Right, Luke?”

He perked up, a cough following as he straightened his attitude. This really was not the way she wanted them to meet. “Uh, yeah.” His hand stuck out. “Hi, mister Molina.”

Dad shook it with a smile, fully relaxed now. “Ray. Nice to meet you.” The barista called out his name. “See you at home, Julie. Don’t stay out long, yeah?”

Her smile twitched and crashed the second he turned around, grabbed his coffee and closed the glass door. She groaned, dropping her head on his shoulder. “I’m so sorry.”

“I gotta be honest,” he whispered. “That hurt.”

“I’m sorry.”

Luke sighed. “I was okay being a secret before, but…”

She coaxed his jaw, needing him to look at her. “It’ll hurt more if I tell him and forces me to break up with you.”

For a moment, silence sunk onto the table, wedging itself like thick smoke between her and Luke. He seemed pensive, the green of his eyes peering. Suddenly, they lit up. “But wait, aren’t you getting your results? Early admission?”

She sagged in her seat, pouting. “If UCLA wants me.”

“They will,” he smiled. His arms wrapped around her. “Of course, they will. And if you get in, he can’t be mad that you’re dating me, right?”

Hope tinged her chest. She hasn’t considered that. She’s been so focused on Luke and trying to keep it hidden, that everything college-related went over her head. The letters and essays and interviews happened before she and Luke got serious, so with her being on that pink cloud ever since, school stress has been locked away. Why bother mulling over UCLA when she could be having fun with Luke?

If she locked in UCLA… then Luke might be right. And if not UCLA, then she’d hear of USC and NYU next year. (If they were even still together by the time those letters got in the mail.)

“You might’ve found the loophole,” she teased, hoping to lift the tension. And then she uttered out her biggest fear: “But if you haven’t… will you stay?”

His kiss answered her, soft and sweet and with a hint of blueberry muffin. A grin bloomed on her lips, burrowing her face in his shoulder. She felt it. That overflowing, unbridled adoration overwhelming her all at once. Julie loved him. It was April fourteenth and it only took her six months but Julie loved Luke. They stayed in the booth until they had to go home.

Her phone was mocking her. Luke and her were in her car, stagnant, as both stared at the white screen. Every few minutes, she refreshed it, yet no email came. Gah! Couldn’t colleges just send the email when they said they would? What was taking so long? Did that mean she didn’t get in? Was this a bad sign? It helped having Luke there, easing the rising stress that clenched her ribcage, but she wouldn’t be fully okay until that freaking email come through.

As if sensing her thoughts, he drummed against the dashboard. “It’s gonna be cool. You look great in blue and gold, you gotta get in.”

She giggled, nerves lacing her tone. “Imagine if that’s how you got in. You’d get into USC then.”

“Are you saying I look hot in red?”, he teased.

“You know you- oh my God!” She lurched for her phone as a new email pinged in, heartbeat stuttering in her ears. Frozen, her thumb hovered over the fated email. This would change everything - for better or for worse. She knew she should focus on the fact that it would determine where she’d go to college, but all she could think about was Luke, Luke, Luke. Was it selfish to care more about junior prom then UCLA? At this very moment, she thought it was completely justified.

She shook her head. “I can’t. I can’t do it. You open it.”

His brows raised. “You sure?”

“Yeah-” She stuffed the phone in his hand and put her trembling ones on her lap. “-do it for me.”

Luke took a deep breath. Julie shut her eyes. Please. Please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please accept her. Please let her be with Luke.

Ten seconds passed. His voice gave nothing away. “Julie?”

“Just rip the band-aid off,” she choked out.

A familiar, calloused hand softly grabbed hers. Her eyes cracked open. Luke had the biggest smile on his face and it made her heart pop out of her chest. She bit down on her lip, fighting off a grin. “Don’t play with me.”

“I’m not,” he sang, reaching across the console to show her phone. You got accepted! blinked in bold, black letters. “You’re UCLA bound, baby!”

Euphoria burst out. Julie squealed, throwing her arms around his neck and pulled him in for a searing kiss. She got in! She fucking got into college! A great one at that! Another Molina was going for gold!

And it might even get her to date Luke without secrecy. God, she hoped this was enough. She wanted to do everything with him. All the time, the entire time. Flynn has called them clingy, but Julie just wanted to get rid of the anxiety of her dad finding out. To finally relax and be fully with him.

Her head tilted, bashful. “Is it crazy to say that I might be in love with you?”

He dropped her phone in the cupholder and peppered another kiss on her mouth. “No. That’s good.” His thumb traced her bottom lip, eyes glittering with adoration. “Cause I’m pretty sure I’m in love with you too.”

She pecked his thumb, giddy. “Fuck it. Let’s tell my dad right now. About UCLA and you.”

He smiled. “You sure?”

“One hundred percent.”

Storming inside the house, the couple made a beeline to her dad’s office, his hand in hers.

“Dad!”, she called out, door slamming open. Her startled father perked up in his seat, his wide eyes going from Julie to Luke right behind her. “I got into UCLA!”

Ray sprung up, cheering. “Mija-!”

“And I’m dating Luke!”, she yelled after. “And that’s okay, cause I got in, so you don’t have to worry about the rule anymore! So... ” She put her foot down, awkwardness creeping in her tone. “Yeah!”

Flabbergasted, dad faltered and let the cheers die in his throat. Luke came to stand next to her, squeezing her hand. Slowly, he nodded. “Ah… so that time in Eats & Beats-”

“A date,” she admitted. “And I’m sorry I went behind your back, papa, but I… really care about Luke. And we figured that if I got in, you’d stop enforcing the dating rule.”

His grap became even tighter. “I, uh, really care about her too,” Luke mustered. “Sorry that we kept it a secret.”

Ray sighed, propping his head in his hands and scrubbing the confusion away with his palms. The pair shot each other a look. He wasn’t mad, she deduced, so that was a good sign at least. Finally, dad moved again and gave her a tight hug. Her confidence grew, hugging him back and withholding a cry of victory.

He pulled back, crossing his arms with a hint of amusement. “Well… the rule clearly didn’t work, but you seem happy and you- you did actually get in, right?”

She laughed, nodding, and showed the confirmation email. His smile grew. “Then I guess,” he trailed, “you’re allowed. To date. But no funny business!”

Julie quickly nodded, grabbing back onto Luke’s arm and jostling him in excitement. Luke bounced on his heels, trying to temper it but failing miserably. She thanked her dad, promised him they’d celebrate her acceptance later tonight and rushed back out with Luke. Dad yelled something about establishing new rules, but both gleefully ignored it. Once in her bedroom, he snatched her into a tight embrace, kissing her full on the lips. Julie whooped against his mouth and danced between his arms. This might be the best day of her life! Luke was her real real real boyfriend!

“You heard your dad, Jules,” he teased. “No funny business.”

She pouted, faux-peeved. “You won’t get to climb through my window again.”

“Won’t have to hide in cars anymore.”

“Won’t have to say you’re just my classmate.”

Luke dragged them onto her bed, laying side by side. “I can take you to junior prom.”

She kissed him with a giggle. “You’re taking me to prom?”

“Hell yeah, I am!”, he bellowed, drumming his fingers against her hips. “Let your dad take pictures of us and everything.”

She scrunched her nose. “Let’s maybe not push him just yet.”

“Yeah,” he exhaled, humming in agreement. “You’re probably right.”

Luke did that her to junior prom, to homecoming, to senior prom, called her hot in blue and gold and vetoed no when she begged him for a bright, blue velour couch for their first apartment. When someone asked her father what it was like, seeing his daughter find the one at sixteen, he had to admit with embarrassment red on his cheeks that it all flew under his radar.

That it all started with sneaky bleacher kisses and a hopeful heart.

@blush-and-books @ourstarscollided @sophiphi @bluefirewrites @willexx @unsaid-emily

#can you tell i'm not american? because i can lol sorry for any inaccuracies regarding school #juke #jatp fanfiction #julie and the phantoms #otp: i think we make each other better

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2-cute-4-school · 4 years ago

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𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐬𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐨

pairing: Lee Donghyuck x gn!Reader

genre: fluff, a small part of angst but all ends well ;)

word count: 2.4K words

a/n: my part of the christmas collab called ‘The Triangle That Defines Our Existence’, hosted by the lovely, amazing, incredibly talented, the sweetest human being who deserved the entire world @dearncityy (ღˇ◡ˇ)♥, thank you for allowing me to be part of this (੭ु｡╹▿╹｡)੭ु⁾⁾ ᶦ'ˡˡ ᵐᶦˢˢ ᵘ ᵃ ˡᵒᵗ ᶦᶠ ᵘ ᵈᵉᶜᶦᵈᵉ ᵗᵒ ᶜˡᵒˢᵉ ʸᵒᵘʳ ᵇˡᵒᵍ ᵉᵛᵉⁿ ᵗʰᵒᵘᵍʰ ʷᵉ ᵇᵃʳᵉˡʸ ᵍᵒᵗ ᵗᵒ ᶦⁿᵗᵉʳᵃᶜᵗ

my masterlist | event’s masterlist!!!!

You know how souls are connected? How soulmates are created from the stardust of the same explosion, traveling for millions of years through time and space just to end up meeting in the same coffee shop down the road over a spilled latte after living thousands of miles away for their entire lives? How oceans and mountains, galaxies and dimensions, hate and love tear them apart but this small string, thinner than a strand of hair, but stronger than an entire army brings them back together? How fate works?

Do you think snowflakes miss each other? Born from the same cloud, fluffy and blue, the interest of any curious child’s eyes and just the stretch of an arm away, almost like-

“The blue one, please!”

“Can I get the blue?”

The owner of the candy floss shop stared flabbergasted at the pair of you, hands stretched towards him with bills clutched in-between your fingers.

“I’m sorry but it seems like there is only one left and we’re out of blue colorant.”

At the newfound information, the boy beside you turned to you abruptly, cheeks flushed and determined shiny eyes.

“I believe I was here first, so I should be the one to get it.”

“Excuse me but you believe wrong, if anything, I asked for it first.”

You both scoffed in disbelief and carried on arguing as the owner watched with apologetic eyes while a line of equally impatient children accompanied by their parents whined for their own sweet treat.

“So therefore, as I have stated in my previous point of my thesis, I-”

“Move, we’ve been waiting here for 5 minutes already-”

Your new archnemesis turned to the kid behind him who dared interrupt his essay with burning eyes which might have just melted the frozen snot peeking from the child’s nostrils.

“Shut up, you bogey-eater garden dwarf! Learn how to respect your elders! You should- Hey!”

As you could tell the child’s mother’s eyes bulging out of their sockets and the choice of words directed towards her son, you quickly shoved the money in the owner’s hands, grabbed the stick of the blue candy floss with one hand, using the other one to drag the boy away from the commotion he himself caused before he lost an ear to the mom’s fury.

“Hey! Hey, you thief! How dare you-”

“Oh shut that trap for once, better thank me for dragging you away before that mother pulled a Van Gogh on you.”

He dusted himself off once you let go as if filth has touched him and you heavily debated just slamming the entire sticky candy on top of his head, but you decided against it. You worked to hard for it just to waste it on a head that didn’t even deserve it.

“This isn’t over, I still want that candy floss.”

“Let’s just share.”

He looked like he wanted to protest but he most likely couldn’t come with a better idea so he just sighed and shrugged dismissively. You both settled down on a bench on the side of the Christmas-decorated street and didn’t waste a second to dig into the cloud of sweetness.

“So... should I ask for the name of the person I fought tooth and bone for blue candy floss?”

“You want to go back and ask that kid? I’m not sure you’ll get out alive.”

You nudged his arm with your elbow and you both broke into smiles. He turned to look at you and you met his honey filled eyes, colorful lights dancing in them and it seemed like entire galaxies were celebrating the upcoming holiday too.

“Donghyuck. Friends call me Hyuck or Haechan. So you can call me Donghyuck.”

You deadpanned, but it only made him giggle louder. His nose was even more flushed than his cheeks and you couldn’t help but admire the way the rosy pink blended in with the natural tan of his skin. The corners of his eyes crinkled as he scrunched his nose mid laugh and you could understand why universes decided to reside in him.

“I hope you choke on candy floss.”

He only laughed harder and if Christmas was a laugh, it would have been Donghyuck’s, pure and hopeful.

“But what is my knight’s in shining armor’s name?”

“It’s Y/N. So you can’t call me. Ever.”

Despite your threatening tone, his smile didn’t lose its brightness. If anything, it shone brighter, lights and colors and happiness playing along his features and you couldn’t help but think that the moles on his face created constellations with the stars in his eyes. You saw art in what others saw as incident.

Donghyuck’s eyes widened as he stared at you, an exaggerated gasp leaving his lips before he exclaimed.

“A snowflake! It’s snowing! It’s snowing on Christmas Eve!”

“What? Where?”

“It’s on your nose!”

Your eyes crossed as you tried to catch sight of the small ounce of snow that settled on the tip of your nose. Donghyuck stared smugly as you turned accusingly and pointed a finger at him.

“You’re making fun of me!”

“I’m not! It really is-”

Before he could finish his sentence, you jumped in your seat.

“Donghyuck, one landed on your nose too! It’s there! It’s really snowing!”

And sure enough, one white traveller after another found their ways down in a whirlwind, waltzing on the last steps to their final destination in the eyes of thousands of admirers.

“Now we have matching snowflakes!”

Donghyuck laughed fondly at your excited tone, watching your enraptured eyes light up like a child’s and he thought that he might have found his Polaris. Right under his nose, he had found the brightest star in his sky.

“Yeah, do you think they were competing for candy floss too?”

“Maybe they confused it with their home. Don’t you think it resembles a cloud in this lighting? Maybe they thought they have found their way back home.” You pondered for a while, before grinning. “Mine won anyway.”

“Pffft, mine must have been confused by yours. How could you confuse candy floss for a cloud?”

You just shrugged, munching on the last bit of the sweet treat.

“Oh, Y/N, how much was it? Let me pay for my half.”

You thrust your phone in his directions, cheeks flushed less from the cold and more from the embarrassment of your next words. Donghyuck watched as you fidgeted in your place, his own expectant excitement building up inside of him as he accepted your phone gingerly.

“The cost is your phone number and a promise to share candy floss again. Only if you want to of course, don’t feel obligated to-”

“Let’s confuse snowflakes again, maybe it’ll snow again. My treat.”

You both smiled so largely your cheeks hurt the entire night.

~~~~

Your snowflakes decided to travel together on that fated day so you and Donghyuck decided to take their example. You stuck together and time didn’t seem to pass in the same way it used to. A year turned into a month, a month into a week, a week into a day and this day into a second. A second spent together. A second you cherished more than entire years. The second Donghyuck decided you put the moon and stars in the sky, or rather the single sparkly star on top of his Christmas tree.

“Stick that fucking star on that branch or I swear it’s either you’re taking a dive into the floor or my back will crack so loud your grandkids feel shivers down their own spine!”

“I’m obviously trying, Donghyuck! The branch is too thick, it won’t fit-”

“That’s what she said- oof!”

You made sure to dig your heel into his ribs hard enough to shut him up.

“Don’t you dare taint this holy evening with your bull!”

He grumbled under his breath but didn’t retort anything and struggled obediently to hold you up for long enough for you to put the finishing touch to his, no, both of yours’ Christmas tree: a silver, shining star.

“I told you it would be easier if we simply used a ladder, but nooo.”

“Where is the romance in that?”

“And where is the romance in me cracking your back and possibly falling on top of this tree?”

Your boyfriend groaned at your smart reply, tapping your thigh impatiently.

“Finally! You can put me down, the asshole has saddled up!”

“Never phrase it like that again please.”

After you were lowered, you both stepped back to admire the piece of art that stole- Donghyuck gasped softly once he took a look at the clock hung on the wall. Four hours?! How could that be possible, it only felt like... a second.

He turned to watch you instead of the overflowing tree, ornated in tinsel and lights. You glowed so much more than any view in this world in Donghyuck’s eyes. His Polaris indeed. No matter how lost he would ever be in life, tangled in his own mind, struggling against his own, one look at his brightest star and he’d find his way back to you through the darkest of nights. He deemed it only right for his guiding star to hang the star on top of your tree as if you hung it in a once starless night once he turned off the lights in the room.

Donghyuck thought that maybe he could live in an eternity in a single day with you.

“Ah, it snowed so much outside. It looks so fluffy, I have to!”

“What, no Y’N, wait!”

Before Donghyuck could even react, you sprung away from him, clumsily slipping on some shoes and running outside in only your sleepwear. Your boyfriend ran after you, gathering your jacket before joining you in the snow. He found you a few steps away from the entrance, crouched before a mound of fresh snow, digging your already reddening hands into it and spreading it around to form drawings and words. He sighed as he laid your jacket over your shoulders and crouched beside you.

“Don’t be so reckless, you’ll catch a cold like this.”

“Look who’s talking” you shot him a pointed look “where’s your own jacket if you’re so worried about colds?”

He spluttered for a moment, realising he forgot his own jacket in his rush to make sure you wouldn’t suffer too much because of the cold.

“I need no jacket. Jackets are for weaklings.”

You rolled your eyes, focusing back on the snow gathered in your hands.

“I feel bad for the snowflakes. They left their home, maybe they were even separated from their loved ones on the way down here. I bet they miss them. But they are trapped here once they landed. If only they would have the chance to fly for a little longer and search for them.”

You threw it in front of you, watching as it spread all around you, floating elegantly in a dance of their own before regaining their place on the spotless white dessert. Donghyuck watched you with curious eyes.

“I feel so bad for them I almost want to take them into my own home and care for them and love them-”

“But they’d melt.”

“Huh?”

“The snowflakes would melt. It’s not the right kind of home for them. Love isn’t always what they need, sometimes it consumes you little by little, it reduces you to nothing.”

“I’d rather melt into nothingness if it meant I felt even a second of pure love.”

‘That’s Y/N for you indeed’ Donghyuck could only shake his head as a small, content smile settled on his face. He scooped a little bit of snow into his cupped palms and brought it close to his lips. You shrieked.

“Don’t eat it! I get it, I won’t bring snow into the house!’“

He laughed so joyfully the shy moon cowered behind clouds at his beauty.

“I’m not planning on eating it, dumbass.”

“Then?”

“I’m wishing upon snowflakes?”

“Maybe we should head inside, maybe you have a fever.”

“Shut up, I’m not delusional. There are no dandelions during winter and snowflakes are our thing anyway, right? So let’s wish upon a snowflake instead of dandelions this time.”

He didn’t wait for you to react before he blew harshly into his palms, sending the small pile of snow flying out of his hands. Donghyuck could only think of a single thing while watching the swirl of the freed snow dancing in the dimly lit street in front of the house.

I wish for you to be my north star, to keep guiding me home to you.

~~~~

But sometimes it gets foggy. And sometimes you lose your way.

Donghyuck stared at his own reflection in the silver globe. He looked anything but Christmas-y. There was no twinkle in his eye, dull orbs gazing back at him almost condescendingly.

He’s always been a spitfire, a follower of his own fate that he made by his own hands. He swore to never let a flame touch, but promises are meant to be broken and his love, too burning hot, consumed you just like warmth consumed the snow. You slipped through his fingers just like snowflakes get separated in the harsh wind.

And Donghyuck was sure that if snowflakes could feel, they would be the most pitiful. A separation so sudden, so forceful, one that leaves you desperate to turn back time even for just a second. To watch them for longer. To hold on tighter.

‘Lee Donghyuck, you dumbass’

He sighs as he lowers the globe, putting it back into the box that would soon go into the basement where it resides for most of the year. One goodbye after another. Undecorating and storing away the once lively Christmas tree felt even more melancholic than usual, because while it meant a ‘see you later’ to the brightness of his house, he might have lost his chance at even saying a proper ‘please let me see you again’ to the brightness of his soul.

He looked up, catching sight of the lonely star sitting atop of the tree, the only decoration left. So far out of reach.

‘Feels so wrong to search for a stool for that after so long. Also feels wrong for me to be the one to take it off. I got too used to you.’

‘Too empty, where are your ridiculous decorations?’

‘Too blank, where are your rainbow vomit Christmas sweaters?’

‘ Too quiet, where are your late carols?’

‘...Where are you?’

Donghyuck had to shake himself out of his zoned out state, looking out the window at the lights still hung around his porch. He should remove those too. He stepped outside, being immediately enveloped by the winter winds blowing around the freshly laid out snow.

‘It snowed a lot this year. Where are your snow-angels?’

Donghyuck touched the scarf wrapped around his neck. The one he searched for for hours just to find it laid around the ‘neck’ of the snowman you both built earlier that day. Despite his scolding, he couldn’t help but think that who needs presents when his biggest blessing is smiling so purely right in front of him?

‘Are you building snowmen away from me now? Are you using someone else’s scarf now?’

His face contorted into a grimace. He grabbed two fistfuls of fresh snow, throwing them into the wind, watching them meddle amongst themselves

‘You talked all that shit about giving them a second chance to find their loved ones after a storm, to find their soulmates once again. So where are you?’

‘Why don’t you give me another chance to find you too?’

Donghyuck watched helplessly as the snow settled down once again. What if soulmates get lost forever? What if they don’t meet again? He crouched in the middle of the alley to his house. The same one you walked on and away from him.

A lonely snowflake landed on his hand, as if to prove Donghyuck a point. He couldn’t help but chuckle sarcastically, pain lacing his usually bright tone.

‘Are you feeling it too, buddy? Are you alone too?’

‘How about you, my love? Where are you, Y/N?’

Another snowflake slowly descended right by the one already settled on his hand. Destined together, by the hands of fate, by each other’s hand, by time itself.

‘Ah, found your soulmate, have you?’

‘Where has mine gone?’

A crunch resonated in Donghyuck’s ears, right in front of him. So close.

“Sorry for the wait.”

His head snapped up. Did heartbreak cause illusions? Did desperation cause hearings? No, while his brain took its time comprehending, his heart knew instantly. It recognized its owner.

“It got confused and a little scared on the way here, but it finally found its way back home.”

You were home. At home in his arms, nestled in his embrace, face buried in his chest, right above his erratic heartbeat.

“You know, late comers have to pay for the wasted time.”

“Oh, is that so? How much is it?”

“Just a lifetime spent together.”

Donghyuck’s eyes sparkled again.

~~~~

You still haven’t decided what takes the crown as the best replica of the fluffy clouds traveling lazily across the sky. You stick another piece of baby blue cotton candy in your own mouth while internally debating between the two choices. The floss of sweetness you had the luxury to eat at the moment or-

A whine interrupted you. Your head snapped to the side just to meet a pair of puppy eyes staring back at you, waiting for acknowledgement.

“Hyuckie too~”

“Maybe Hyuckie should have bought his own then.”

Despite your seemingly annoyed retort and the roll of your eyes, you still offered him a piece of cotton candy, one that he didn’t hesitate to snatch right from your hand the moment it was presented in front of his lips.

You stared adoringly at your boyfriend as he munched satisfied on the sweet and you could barely suppress the need to run your fingers through his soft locks, bury your hand into your own warm, lavender-smelling cloud.

“I’m getting flashbacks from our first meeting.”

You snapped out of your haze, redirecting your attention to Donghyuck’s words.

“Huh?”

“It’s the same bench. When you stole my cotton candy and then offered to share it with me oh so kindly-”

“I paid for it! And saved you too for the sake of it!”

“And then trapped me with you in order to repay you.”

You slapped his arm, watching fondly as he dissolved in a fit of giggles. You both knew he didn’t mean it, he spent countless hours thanking the world and you for bringing you two together and allowing him happiness. You sighed a bit melancholic, only just realising that he was right, this was the same bench you ate your first candy floss together. Same place, same people, same surroundings, different circumstances.

“It feels like an eternity ago.”

“And at the same times it feels like only yesterday.”

A beat of silence passed before Donghyuck spoke again, quieter, more careful, almost timidly.

“I’m scared too sometimes.”

You leaned into him, nuzzling your cheek against his shoulder. He brought the hand that wasn’t holding your waist already up to your face, cupping your cheek delicately and caressing it with his thumb. His snowflake finally had a soulmate.

“Why?”

He bumped his nose against yours, leaning his forehead against yours. He had you, under his fingertips, breaths mingled, hearts beating together.

“What if it’s over before we realise?”

You hummed softly, your lips brushing against his as you murmured your next words, a secret shared between lovers

“Doesn’t matter. Time is nothing with you, an irrelevant notion meant to hurry us when all we want to do is linger a second more. For you and me, there’s no end and no beginning.”

And sure enough, here you were. Two snowflakes, vulnerable and in passing, sharing a cloud and a timeless bond.

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aalissy · 4 years ago

Text

Cosplay

Day 22 is doneeee!! And it’s finally a full identity reveal haha. I hope you guys liked this lil chapter <3. Now I need to find another way to stay up for the episode later tonight haha. Feel free to rant with me about it if you’re also up :)

AO3

“Hello there, my purrince.” Marinette purred as soon as he poked his head down her trapdoor. Chat’s mouth fell wide open once he saw her and he tumbled ungracefully down onto her bed. Her cute giggle filled his ears and he immediately sat straight up, unable to keep his eyes from roving up and down her outfit.

She was in a costume that looked almost exactly like his. The only main difference was that her accents were blue, matching with the deep, sapphire blue of her eyes. Her hair was also different, wrapped up in a braid instead of her usual pigtails. His heart thumped loudly in his chest as he attempted to give her a weak smile, feeling slightly woozy.

A smirk lit up Marinette’s face as she gazed up at him with a look of pure mischief. “Are you checking meowt, kitty?”

Instantly, Chat cleared his throat, his cheeks tinged a light pink. Trying to shake off his embarrassment, he slid his own Cheshire cat smile onto his face, making his way down her ladder to stand next to her. He then bowed, swiping her hand up in his as he brushed a gentle kiss on it. “I was indeed my purrincess. You look pawsitively furtastic tonight.”

Marinette giggled even as a blush spread across her face. She snatched her hand back quickly, though, pushing his nose away as a brush of familiarity swept through him. Where had he experienced that before? Blinking as he tried to recall an old memory, he almost missed her speech.

“Thank you, my purrince. I made it for a convention I’m going to later. I’m glad you like it.” She beamed at him, causing his heart to flutter in his chest.

Chat shook his head once quickly, trying to brush away the odd feeling. Focusing on her words, he gave her a proud smile. “You made that yourself? Marinette, it’s pawsitively amazing. And, I must say, you play the part purrfectly. Where were you hiding all these puns?” He shot her a quick wink.

“What can I say... I learned from the best,” Marinette said, leaning in to flick his bell as her smirk widened.

He gulped quietly, his eyes glancing down to stare at her lips once unthinkingly. It would be so easy to just... No, what was he thinking!? Marinette was one of his best friends. He couldn’t be thinking about her like that. It must be because of the costume. She was acting a little too much like Ladynoire. Hang on...

A small frown furrowed between his brows as he stared down at her. After a few moments of silence, her smirk froze on her face and she tilted her head at him in confusion. “Kitty, is something wrong? You look worried.”

Chat’s frown deepened as that brush of familiarity hit him once again. It felt like he was on the verge of making a giant discovery but he just couldn’t connect the final dots. After a few more moments of awkward silence, he shook his head once forcefully. Giving her a small smile, he said, “Sorry, purrincess... I got lost in thought for a bit there.”

Marinette threw her head back in a laugh before she nudged his shoulder lightly. “Got a little distracted by my costume then, huh, my purrince?”

She really needed to stop calling him that. Especially with how familiar the nickname seemed to be coming from her lips. Trying to calm his once again racing heartbeat, Chat answered, “Purrhaps I did. It does look rather amazing on you after all.”

She flushed again before giving him a proud smile, flicking her hair as she preened in front of him. “I must admit I like being Chat Noir. I wonder if I’d be able to cataclysm as well as you too.”

Once again he frowned, watching the braid swing behind her lightly. It was all so familiar. The words. The puns. The hair. The outfit. Could it really be true...?

Shifting lightly, Chat eventually murmured, “I think you’d be pawsitively brilliant at everything, M’Ladynoire.”

He stiffened once briefly as he searched her eyes for some sign of familiarity. If she didn’t respond, he’d just laugh it off and race home an embarrassed mess. But... if it was true, he’d have a hard time ever letting her go again.

Marinette simply giggled, tapping his nose playfully as she said, “How sweet of you, Bugaboy.”

They both seemed to recognize what exactly she just said at the same time, their eyes practically popping out of their sockets. Immediately, Marinette tried to backtrack, waving her hands in the air as she rushed out, “I-I mean, my purrince. Bugaboy doesn’t make any sense because, well, you’re a cat... not a bug.” She chuckled nervously, tapping her index fingers together as her gaze refused to land on him.

Meanwhile, Chat was over the moon. He was right all along. Marinette and his lady were one and the same. There was just one problem... how on earth was he meant to woo her now? If Ladybug was out of his league, then Marinette was even more so. But now wasn’t the time to think about that. His lady was waiting for him to say something.

Unable to stop the wide smile from stretching across his face, Chat said, “Can’t I be your purrince and your Bugaboy at the same time. After all, they are both me, right m’lady?”

Marinette clenched her eyes shut once before burying her head in her hands. “This cosplay was silly anyway. I never should have dressed up as you. You know we’re not supposed to know who the other is.”

“Hey, hey,” he immediately reached out, pulling her hands away from her face as he squeezed them gently. “This isn’t your fault, all right? We were bound to figure it out at some point. Besides, now that you’re the guardian you should have someone you trust to watch your back.”

Her gaze softened before she slowly nodded her head. “Thanks, mon Chaton.”

Chat’s heart tripped in his chest as butterflies roared to life in his stomach. Giving her a small smile, he then nodded down at his ring. “Would you like to know...?”

Marinette’s mouth fell open as she recognized what he was asking. Then she snapped it closed, gnawing on her lower lip as she gazed up at him. “I-I really shouldn’t...”

“You can trust me,” he squeezed her hands again. “Purromise. I’ll make certain that nothing bad happens, Marinette.”

After a few moments where he eagerly awaited her response, she eventually nodded her head. “Alright, kitty, I trust you. And, it’s only fair if we both know who the other is.”

Sucking in a deep breath of courage, Chat called off his transformation, “Plagg, claws in.”

In a flash of green light, he stood before her as Adrien, their fingers still entwined together. Giving her a shy, crooked smile, he asked, “Is this okay?”

Marinette gasped, yanking one of her hands from his grasp to slap it onto her agape mouth. He was stunned into silence and, after what seemed like hours, she eventually pointed a shaky finger at him. “Y-you can’t be...”

Wincing slightly at her reaction, he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “I-I’m sorry, Mar-”

Before he could finish his next words, she had already wrapped him up in a tight hug. She squeezed him to her almost desperately and Adrien instantly found himself holding onto her just as tightly.

He then just barely managed to catch her murmur into his shoulder, “So much... so much makes sense now.”

“Yeah?” he chuckled, looking down at the top of her head fondly. “I feel the same.”

Marinette pulled back to send him a bright beam as she spoke happily, “I love you too, kitty. I’m sorry it took me so long but I was so distracted by-”

This time, he cut her off. Except he did it by crashing their lips together. Shivers racing down his spine at her confession of love. Could he really be this lucky? Marinette squeaked once lightly before sinking into his embrace, running her fingers through his hair as Adrien deepened their kiss. He really was lucky. He had managed to find his lady and somehow woo her all at the same time. Everything was just perfect.

#marichatmay2021 #marichat #marichatmay #miraculous #miraculous ladybug #identity reveal #reveal #ml #mlb #marichat reveal

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starr-fall-knight-rise · 5 years ago

Text

Humans are Space Orcs,, “The Promise.”

A continuation in the Burg war arc. I especially like where the last part is leading me, super excited to write the next one.

She could hear the sound of jets overhead, a distant roaring that turned into a scream and then back to a roar as the sleek alien crafts cut overhead. She had landed by shuttle with a group of marines not a few minutes ago, and had already taken over command. As chief weapons officer aboard ship she saw it as her duty to prepare them for battle.

Off the books she was also an unofficial officer, but in charge of the Delta units (Drev) and the marines. Out of everyone on the ship she may have been second in line , behind her brother, regarding combat experience, but she did know more about human/other relations and their equipment.

Even so, she brought Cannon with her to supervise and give his advice as they went along. His mechanical leg brace clicked and hissed as they hurried through their makeshift FOB. They were about half a mile outside the city, with Rundi, Tesraki, and Humans landing continuously to augment their troops. The fighting in orbit had drawn to a close with the Gromm retreating to the edge of the system.

Their job wasn’t to cripple the GA fleet though. Their job had been to simply breach the nexus and get one or two ships down onto the home planet where they would be in range of the Gromm capital City. They had done what they had come to do and so withdrew, it wouldn't matter if they managed to cripple the fleet, if they could just appear wherever they wanted without intervention by any other species.

On the ground, the Gromm forces had been mobilized, but looking over the state of their troops, sunny had to admit that she was not particularly impressed. Their understanding of war was rudimentary at best, and their physical constitutions were hardly conducive to war. The Gromm were a sort of gelatinous slime-covered species that required a lot of water to maintain their homeostasis, so their ability for drawn-out conflicts was sketchy.

The roaring of another jet thundered overhead, and Sunny lifted her head towards the sky. The F-90 darkfire roared past them low and on the right. The pilot was taking it risky and cutting very low along the ground, less than a hundred feet, but as they did gunfire and missiles streaked away and forward completely annihilating an entire row of advancing burg forces, just let loose from the amber dome that now covered their original ship.

The jet banked low and to the left, cutting around the side, chased by drones on at least two sides as it tried to find a weakness in the outer shell of the dome. A single missile was fired, and Sunny watched in great interest as the projectile shot forward and then rammed into the shield.

A bright, amber circle erupted from the point of impact causing waves of power to pulse out in ripples.

The missile itself exploded on impact sending shrapnel out and away from the dome giving the pilot just moments for a tight roll.

The maneuver was so fast, that the following burg drones either didn’t have the time or the skill to respond, and both fell to the ground in wave of crashing heat.

Sunny smiled to herself, as much as a Drev could smile.

Despite being a human she was pretty sure that Adam had been born to fly. Perhaps whatever deity or spirit had made him hadn’t given him wings knowing specifically what kind of power he would possess if that was the case.

The jet pulled in a slow parabola around the opposite side of the dome and then came shooting back towards them.

Anti Air artillery took out any of the burg ships that dare venture to far into the friendly zone, and so the commander made it away scott free from harm.

How did she know it was Adam?

She could just feel it.

Also 110% because he was totally the best pilot up there, and the maneuvers he had pulled made that pretty clear. The jet circled once, then twice before slowing, landing deftly on a major piece of infrastructure, now abandoned by all nonessential gromm travelers. Sunny and Cannon jogged across their little base and approached the slowly rolling jet.

A few of the marines had taken it upon themselves to clear a space for incoming aircraft, and though they weren’t exactly trained in such things, they were smart enough to get the ball rolling bringing the commander to a stop just off the roadway.

Now that the burg had pulled back and were keeping a tight defense around their dome, the other jets had pulled away as well, and a few came in to land.

The canopy of the et opened just as sunny and Cannon were approaching, and she watched as the commander slipped from the front seat easily sliding down the ladder that had been provided. His companion was somewhat less steady on his feet wobbling down the ladder and then awkwardly tipping onto one knee as he hit the ground

The commander turned to face them, still wearing his helmet but allowing the oxygen mask to hang to one side as he absently adjusted the hooks and harness on the rest of his flight suit.

“Casualty report?”

All business, just like their military leaders back home.

The facial expression he wore, at first, seemed distinctly not-Adam jaw set lips pulled into a hard line head held high eyes hard, but the closer she looked into the single nonmechanical green eye the more she sensed her friend in there.

“Counting all the casualties from the Esperanca, pilots, and ground forces around 211 fatalities and another 100 injuries at least half of those being serious.

Sunny watched carefully, saw as the corner of the man’s mouth twitched, watched the fiery spark in his remaining eye flicker and dim a bit. Though he didn’t show it, not in any meaningful way, Sunny knew him well enough to know the agony those words must have caused him, an internal pain that would be building up in him for a long while silently festering on his insides.

Adam was an amazing soldier.

But he wasn’t meant for war.

He had too much of a heart for it.

“First thing’s first, I want a triage tent set up for our wounded. Get Krill to wherever the most medical action is and make sure he stays there to help. The second place gets doctor Katie, and so on and so forth using all the available medical staff we have on hand. Someone get a message to Conn, and have him come down here. If we can get him close enough to one of these, we may be able to learn about troop movements. Sunny, I want you to make a call to the GA and get in contact with the Drev representative, the burg command ship is pretty large and recruit McCaster, quick thinker as he is, managed to do a scan of the ship as we passed. Looks like they tried to cram an entire army into that thing. I thought I got a good hit on them earlier, but that is less than a fraction of what is inside, and that isn't including artillery, ground vehicles, and drones. I’m hoping the Drev will be willing to help us win a war.”

“If there is one thing you can count on my species to do, it is to fight in a war.” Sunny said

He nodded his head sharply, “In the meantime, I want to take the lull and set up the camp in the most efficient way possible, I want Artillery and ground forces spread out to greatest feasibility without compromising the line. I want to make sure they can’t take us out with one lucky shot. I want snipers on the ridges over there and there, and I want at least two jetts, drones or UFOs patrolling the sky at all times. See if we can't call into the GA and get ourselves some kind of shield, or the Gromm city for that matter. Just as many shields as possible.” He pulled off the helmet tucking it under one arm as he began to walk, “If anyone knows absolutely anything about the Gromm shield, I want to know about it. How do they go in, how do they go out, how long can it last, and how much firepower do I have to hit it with before it disrupts, or if there IS any firepower than can handle it.”

“We already have our people on it, sir.”

This was another voice sunny didn’t recognize, and the group of them turned around to see another human jogging up fro the interior of the camp.

“Sorry sir, I couldn’t help but overhearing. I was supposed to bring the news to you anyway. We have GA members that say they are familiar with the technology. It’s an energy shield that is designed to incorporate the kinetic energy of a projectile into its own power output. The more we hit it, the stronger it is going to get until there is no way to breach it.

“Than what the hell are we supposed to do.”

“That’s just it sir, the design is great in theory, but the way it is made, it wouldn’t allow anyone in or out, and that tends to include air particles as well. If you stayed there long enough you would suffocate, so they need holes large enough for ventilation and for their people and weapons to go in and out. Inside the shield they have collapsible portals that can be opened or closed fro both the inside or the outside.”

“So, theoretically if we were to get close enough, we could just walk right in.”

“Precisely sir, though that would reduce us to close quarters combat on their turf without the assistance of air support also leaving you trapped in an area with alien ship that contains a few thousand or more burg soldiers just raving for blood.”

The commander sighed, “Just excellent.”

The man nodded and stepped away,

However, the commander held up a hand to stop him, “Tell your scientists to take a look into whatever other technology they might have. I want to know everything we can before we begin a ground assault. Preferably I want them to come to us, and I want to thin out their lines before they show up.”

“Yes, sir.” The man hurried off leaving Sunny and the Commander to walk together through their little base and towards the operations tent where, seemingly all the officers had agreed to set up camp.

They allotted as the commander entered placing his flight helmet on the makeshift table and turning to his officers.

“Tell me everything we know, and lay it out for me as we know it. Don’t leave anything out.”

The man started with the casualty report and losses. Sunny glanced at Adam, who, again made sure to show no signs of how the news affected him.

“Based on the calculations sent from your scan sir, we reasonably estimate a body count somewhere in five thousand just on that ship alone. Judging from early estimates of casualties based on volume and square space. Maybe 200 of those 5,000 dead. As far as their artillery goes they seem to have one artillery unit per every 100 individuals giving us 50 units five of them having been destroyed out of the ten that were originally deployed. We do not think that this ship is meant to make it out of this alive. Clearly, we are under the impression their job is to get in and get the information by whatever means necessary.” He pointed out towards the looming burg ship, “Everyone on that ship is likely to have been put on a suicide mission. They will have no fear and no qualms about what they are doing. Their best bet is to do one mass attack and push forward through our lines. If they do that, there is no way that we can stop them other than with mass casualties.”

There was silence around the tent.

“What you’re saying is, we have no chance of stopping them?”

“Realistically, commander, not if they are doing what I think they are going to do. They don’t care about the civilians in the city, and they don’t care about us. If they attack all at once we WILL be overwhelmed, and we will be overwhelmed quickly. They will make it into the city, and they will have the warp codes before we can do anything about it. Once those codes are in their hands they will have the ability to attack any target in the known universe within reason. Of course earth, the GA the Tesraki and the Rundi will be difficult targets owing to our defense systems, but other more rudimentary planets will not be so lucky. The Tvek, dead, the Finnari, dead, the Celzex, dead, the Drev, dead…. He paused and looked to sunny and Cannon, you get the picture.”

“We can’t let them get that far.” The commander mumbled.

“No, we can’t. It will, likely, take them a day or two to organize an advance at that scale. So they are vulnerable from now until nearing the beginning of the attack.

“What are our options?’

“Well, the one good thing about being inside that dome is that they are cramped together in such a tight space that any chain explosion could potentially annihilate them all in one go. Though whoever went in would have to be fast, agile, good at close combat, and almost indestructible.”

The commander sighed looking up at the tent ceiling with a sick expression on his face, “So we have less than two days to come up with a crack team of demolition experts who are fast, agile, and trained in close combat to go in there on a suicide mission and blow up the dome before the burg can mobilize enough troops to wipe us all out, and cause mayhem across the galaxy.”

“Not entirely so, sir. We have access to GA shield technology, so you would have that added protection.”

The commander paused staring out at the field of combat eye burning with the pain of a difficult decision, “If we don’t do this, the entire universe is in danger. I cant believe someone didn’t notice this massive security breach. Giving the groom access to all those condones i none space was foolhardy at best and criminally negligent at worst, and now I have one day to come up with an idea to-” He paused

And in him sunny saw something.

The fire flared again though his face contorted for a microsecond into a mask of absolute agony, sadness and disgust. He shook himself, “I need to make a call. I think I have an idea.”

He turned around to march off, “Lieutenant, take command.”

“Yes sir.”

Sunny followed after him, catching up halfway to a shuttle catching his arm with one of her four.

“Adam, are you ok? What’s wrong.”

He jerked his arm away from her, and she stepped back in surprise caught off guard.

He turned to look at her and his expression softened, “I’m sorry, I just. I have to do something that…. I don’t want to do.”

“What?”

“I can’t tell you.”

She was confused now, “Why not!”

The pain in his expression was only growing more palpable, “Because you would never let me if you knew.”

“Shouldn't I just stop you anyway then?”

His expression was now one of open pain, “Sunny, don’t talk me out of it because I WILL take you up on it, but you have to trust this is the only way.”

“I’m sure you're just exaggerating.”

“Maybe I am.” the man whispered, “But it’s the only solution I have.”

She growled in frustration, “Then just tell me, and we can talk it out together! I can help.

He looked away, “I can’t trust you not to be biased.”

She crossed her arms, “And you can?”

“Sunny, this is going to happen whether you agree or not. So which side do you want to be on?”

They locked eyes, and despite his words of harshness she saw no malice in his face, and to her surprise she could see that.

He was afraid.

Where once pain had covered up fear, she could see it rearing its ugly head.

His cheek twitched.

“Please.” He was begging now, and it made her sick to watch.

It hurt.

“Adam… I, whatever it is you don’t have to do it alone.”

He looked at her with a steady expression, “Do you promise?”

She nodded.

“I promise.”

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agrestebug · 5 years ago

Text

Marichat May 2020

Hey everyone! I found the BEST artwork that perfectly fits my story for this day of Marichat May so I HAD to post it! Here’s the fic, but I’ll leave a link to the artwork too! { https://pg-arttoons.tumblr.com/post/623662454271082496/can-i-interest-anyone-in-some-angst } @pg-arttoons you are amazingly talented!!

Enjoy!

Day 7 - Adrien Posters

Marinette hummed happily to herself as she tied the last small knot. She smiled brightly and held up the little pink heart pillow, turning in her chair to show it to her, "It's all done Tikki!"

Tikki flew up to the pillow and smiled brightly, "Oh thank you Marinette, it looks great!"

She headed up her ladder to her bed, Tikki flying up next to her. They found a cozy spot for Tikki's new bed on the small alcove above Marinette's bed, nodding at each other in agreement that it was the perfect spot.

Marinette heard shuffling from above her and went still, looking at Tikki worriedly. They both stayed quiet, listening past the sounds of the heavy rain pounding against the roof.

The shuffling happened again and Marinette moved instantly, going up to her skylight. There is only one person ridiculous enough to be out during a storm like this, and even then, she didn't think he was THIS ridiculous. Glad to see he can still prove me wrong. She thought wryly.

She cracked the skylight and saw him sitting on all fours in the pouring rain. His eyes were closed, his face angled up towards the sky.

"Chat Noir it is nearly midnight, have you lost your mind!?" Marinette told him in exasperated concern.

He barely flinched, looking over at her slowly, "Maybe."

She glared at him before she realized what she was seeing. Something was wrong. She sighed heavily and held her hand out to him, "Come on you."

He hesitated, but then put his hand in hers, letting her pull him down into the room. "Stay put." She ordered with a stern glare. He nodded in silence, barely noticing her leave the room. His eyes were staring unfocused at the ground at his feet; his father's angry yells echoing in his mind.

His father never failed to tell him when he was disappointed in him, but this was the first time his father had ever actually raised his voice in anger at him. For something that he had no control over at that. His harsh words were like a knife through the heart, a fresh stab with every word thrown at him.

A puddle of water was starting to collect on her floor as it dripped from every part of him, his hair sopping wet and sticking to the back of his neck as more cold water trickled down his back. He barely felt it.

"I can't believe you Chat." Marinette's voice cut through his thoughts as she threw a fluffy pink towel over his head. She instantly started rubbing the towel through his hair, "Not only is it cold out, but it is raining to boot. You are completely soaked through." She carefully wiped the water from his face, shaking her head, "You are going to catch a chill, or worse catch a cold." She started wiping the water from his suit, "Are you listening to me kitty?"

He gave the slightest nod, and she huffed slightly, "Of all the ridiculous things you have ever done, this one just may top the cake." She knelt down and cleaned up the water that had collected at his feet, his voice coming out hoarsely, "Sorry."

She barely looked up at him, "It's just water, it's fine." His ears flicked as he heard a ding and Marinette popped up. Heading back out of the room, she told him without looking back, "Stay."

Again he didn't move, but she came back rather quickly, another towel in her hand. She placed the towel over his head, his body beginning to shake as the pleasant warmth seeped into him. "I knew that was going to happen." She muttered, rubbing the warm towel through his hair again as he mumbled it again sheepishly, "Sorry."

She wrapped the still warm towel over his shoulder, shaking her head, "You don't have to apologize."

He held the warm towel in place, feeling his teeth chattering. She stared at him for a minute before her eyes softened, her shoulder's slumping. The frustration in her voice is completely gone, and she asked gently, "What happened?"

He looked away from her in shame, "Nothing."

Her hand went straight to her hip, but she didn't say anything. When he stayed silent, she told him in that same gentle voice, almost like she was trying not to startle him, "Talk to me kitty."

"It's personal." He admitted shivering.

"Tell me anyways." She said concerned, "I know something must have happened. You were sitting out in the middle of a storm, in the middle of the night. Of all the places you could have gone, you came here."

"I, didn't really have anywhere else to go." He admitted quietly, avoiding her gaze. Her face fell, hearing the truth of his words and feeling them twist her heart. She wrapped her arms around him tightly without another word, her natural warmth already making him feel better.

"I'll always be here for you Kitty, whenever you need me." She pulled back just enough to look at him, "If you don't want to talk about it, I won't push you, but if you want to I'm here." She cupped the side of his face softly, "And next time, don't just sit out in the rain okay?"

He nodded, "Promise. I know it's late but, do you mind if I just, hang out here with you for a little while?"

She smiled, "All night if you need to."

He gave her a weak smile. This was why he had come here. He could always count on her to light up the dark.

His gaze traveled to her wall as she moved over to her desk, seeing dozens of clippings from magazines, all of him. Well, Adrien-him.

He tried to not so subtly change the subject, "You must really admire Gabriel Agreste's work." He moved closer to the wall, feeling a smile trying to come out before it fell. Marinette had told him herself that she admired his father's brand. That's all this was.

"Yeah." Marinette said simply, watching Chat Noir staring at the wall of Adrien posters. "I actually know him, Adrien Agreste I mean."

Chat turned to look at her, forcing a smile as his shaking finally started to subside, "Is he as fabulous in person as the magazines make him out to be? Or just a spoiled rich kid who can't do anything right?"

She glared at him, "Neither."

He was a bit taken back by her hard tone, asking truly curious, "Then how do you see him?" Maybe he could figure out why she acted so differently around him than around her other friends.

He saw a slight blush on her cheeks, "He is the sweetest guy you will ever meet. He's unbelievably kind, and incredibly smart." She started to smile, "He works so hard all the time, sometimes I can't believe all the things he does in one day. Piano lessons, learning Chinese, fencing! All of that on top of being an amazing model AND going to school. He makes straight A's!" She started smiling brighter, "He amazes me. He does all of that, and somehow, he stays standing."

She started to frown, "Everyone sees that famous part of him, and our friends see all that he does, but sometimes I feel like I'm the only one who see's how tired he really is. I know it can't be easy for him to be run ragged that way, but day in and day out, he does it with a smile. He has a big heart, and tries to see the best in people, even in the ones who don't deserve it."

He noticed her shoulder's slump and felt his throat tighten even more, feeling the sting in his eyes. He couldn't believe that THIS is how Marinette saw him. All this time, he thought she didn't like him, and she actually...SAW him.

He cleared his throat, trying to sound light, "He must mean a lot to you."

She nodded, looking over at her wall where the posters were, "I would do anything for him, anything. Even if he never returns my feelings."

Chat asked shakily, "You, love him, don't you?"

She looked back at him with a sad smile, "With every fiber of my being."

"Does he know?" He asked already knowing the answer, but Chat wouldn't. She shook her head sadly, "I've tried to tell him, for almost a year, but something always goes wrong." She fiddled with the end of her shirt, "Besides, he'll never notice someone like me. I can't even begin to measure up to him so I don't know why I ever thought he would see me as someone who could be more than a friend."

"How could you think that?" he asked instantly, seeing her eyes widen, "You are Marinette Dupain-Cheng."

She let out a short laugh, "You act like that means something."

"It means everything." He told her without missing a beat, "You are creative and talented, and are always helping people even if it means going out of your way to do it."

She smiled at him, "You're sweet Kitty, but I always knew it was a long shot. I'm lucky that he even considers me a friend, especially considering how totally inept I am around him. Constantly embarrassing myself, falling over my own feet, even getting tongue-tied to the point where I can't even tell him good morning."

So that explains it, he thought. "He can't be that intimidating can he?"

She shook her head, "He doesn't intimidate me in the way you are thinking. It's," she hesitated slightly, "the feelings he gives me. They overwhelm me, in the best way. Those feelings warm me up from the inside out, and put butterflies in my stomach. Seeing him happy, that's what makes me happy, and all I want to do is find a way to make sure that smile never leaves his face."

She smiled shyly, tears in her eyes, "That would be enough for me, just knowing that he is happy. Really, truly happy. To see his genuine smile light up his eyes everyday. I'd stay his friend forever even if it meant watching him find true happiness with someone else."

He didn't know when he had moved across the room towards her. He didn't remember feeling the tears falling from his eyes. He didn't even remember making the conscious choice to hold her tightly to his chest. But he had, they still were, and he was.

His arms tightened further, nuzzling his face into her shoulder, "He's the one who doesn't deserve someone like you princess. You are far, far too good for him."

She wrapped her arms around him, keeping her face buried in his chest without a word. He slowly loosened his grip on her, asking as he stared into her glossy eyes, "Princess, why don't you tell him all of this? Maybe, maybe this is the kind of thing someone like him needs to hear."

"I don't want to tell him." She admitted, his arms dropping from around her as she said it longingly, "I want to show him."

He frowned confused but she explained on her own, "I want to be able to walk up to him and hold his hand so that he knows he isn't alone. I want to hug him so that he knows what it feels like to be comforted when he is sad, or feel safe when he's scared. I want to be able to smile at him so that he see's how happy he makes me just by being himself. I want him to know, just by looking into my eyes, how much I really, truly love him."

He felt his heart swell ten times over. He had always had somewhat of a, refused-to-blatantly-say-it-out-loud-unless-he-was-denying-it, crush on Marinette.

But in a matter of mere minutes, she was proving just how much of those feelings he was actually pushing down.

"Of all the people in the world you could love this way, why him?" He asked, feeling breathless.

Her response came the second their eyes met, saying it like it should explain everything, "Because it's him."

There was a large crash of thunder as a bright strike of lightning illuminated her room, and that was the moment it happened. It was those three simple words from her that broke through his denial to the truth.

I'm in love with her. I'm in love with Marinette.

Thanks for reading!

#miraculoustalesofladybugandcatnoir #marichat #a little angsty #but...fluff!#itsagrestebug #marichatmay2020 #pg-arttoons #match made in heaven

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dammitadolfnomorecake · 5 years ago

Text

Once Bitten, Twice Stupid prt.26

Lance kicking himself. He’d gone and called Keith “a snack”. The stupid hunter had looked so awkward that he couldn’t help it, it’d slipped out and now he couldn’t take it back. Lance was now left with the hope there’d be a tragic mine accident and the earth would swallow up his stupid body. Sure, Keith was unfairly handsome, but those moments did not exist. Not at all. Those moments didn’t exist because he most certainly was not being won over by Keith’s easiness now they weren’t fighting over him being turned. Groaning to himself, he dragged himself out of the bronco, not blaming Keith for the way he’d leapt out as soon as he could. He’d known the man for like two weeks. His judgment was clouded by Keith being everything he wasn’t... Oh, lord. He was pathetic. This always happened. Someone showed the vaguest niceness and bam, he was an idiot.

Heading to the back of the bronco, Lance grabbed the the coil of rope and the shovel. The flashlights were for Keith’s benifit, seeing he could see in the dark and all. He wanted to say something, but whatever he said might just turn into him word vomiting out something worse. Setting his jaw, Lance started walking to where the entrance had been shown on the map. Stupid Pidge. All he’d done was care about her. Now she was planning on doing something dangerous and his undead arse had to make sure nothing bad happened.

Having been left behind, Keith jogged to catch up with him

“Do you know where the entrance is?”

“Yeah”

“Vampire memory again?”

“Something like that. You were supposed to stay at the car”

“What if something happened to you?”

“You could pack up, take Blue and head to Coran’s. I’m sure you’d be sent back out into the field and forget all about me”

Keith let out a groan of frustration

“Will you stop that?”

“What?”

“Thinking this is easy for me”

What did Keith have to worry about? His target would be dead, or at least immobilised. It’d be job over and goodbye Platt in the process

“I never said it was. I was simply expressing that my death would be inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. You’re not coming in the mine”

“If we can even get into it”

“I’m sure the council would take care of the entrance, otherwise with all the nosy tourists an accident would have happened by now”

“But they might not have. You can’t go in there alone”

“Umm. I’m dead. Nothing’s going to make me more deader than I already am”

Keith huffed

“Fine. But if you die then I have to explain that to Shiro”

“Let him use the house. Hell, Matt can just live there”

“That’s not funny”

Lance shrugged. Keith was doing that thing where he sounded like he cared again, and Lance only had so much people power left

“Who said I was trying to be?”

“It’s not. So don’t joke about that”

They fell into an awkward silence. Lance guessing Keith was now thinking about Adam again. He’d gone and put his foot in that. Reaching the entrance to the mine, there was dirt built up at the bottom of an iron door. The padlock had seized into the latch holder, but a solid tug by even a human would have seen to that

“So this is it?”

“Yep. It’s definitely not made sturdy enough to keep a determined gremlin out. Here, take the shovel, we won’t need it yet. It looks like the door opens inwards”

“Is that another vampire thing?”

“It’s a hinge thing”

Keith let out a soft “oh” that Lance knew he wasn’t meant to hear. Passing over the shovel, he decided to pass the hunter the rope too

“If I get into trouble, you leave. Don’t try to help me. I can survive more than you can”

“Then don’t get into trouble”

Accidentally using too much force, the ancient padlock all but crumbled in Lance’s hand. Lance shaking off the debris in annoyance

“Did you mean to do that?”

“Nope”

“Look, this seems really dangerous. For all we know, Hunk might have talked Pidge out of this”

“Hunk would have given it his best shot, but Pidge never gives up on anything. She’s fierce and she’s brave. Sometimes she acts before she thinks, meaning though she’d never set out to cause trouble, it finds her anyway”

“I noticed that”

“It’s hard not to. The only things she fears is drunks and the world running out of coffee. Wait here while I check the entrance out”

The door groaned on it’s hinges, Lance using his strength to convince it swing open. Dust billowing out as the dirt floor was disturbed. Coughing, Lance covered his mouth. The place smelt of dampness and dirt, not a healthy combination for human lungs. Stepping through the doorway, his eyes fell on the entrance put a few metres ahead. That was good. Hunk would never want to climb down there, his best friend was smart like that. Walking over to the remains of the ladder, the bottom of the pit was annoyingly dry. The ladder only missing half a dozen steps, but the edges seemed sturdy enough to repel down

“Keith, stay there. I’m going down”

“What?! No”

“I’ll be fine”

“Wait...”

“See you soon”

Swinging himself over and onto the ladder, it groaned under his weight. His sense of self preservation was kicking in, around about the same time the ladder was kicking out...? Missing the step, he found it in time for the ladder to snap, Lance falling the last half a dozen metres to the floor where he landed squarely on his back. Fuck. That hurt like a mother trucker

“Lance!”

“I’m okay!”

Just winded, sore, and regretful of his actions. At the top of the tunnel came the light of a flashlight

“Lance?!”

“I’m fine!”

“What happened?”

“Ladder snapped! Dude, relax!”

“You’re stuck!”

“I’m not stuck. I brought rope for a reason”

Lance huffed to himself, knowing Keith couldn’t hear him

“Lance?!”

“I’m fine! Stay up there!”

Regretfully, Lance pealed himself up off the floor, dusting himself off the best he could, unappreciative of the cobwebs hanging on. Ugh. He couldn’t even bill someone for the damage to his clothes because he was the idiot responsible. Turning away from the remains of the ladder, Lance eyed the dark path ahead of him, his skin bursting out in goosebumps. This was a god awful idea

“Lance?!”

Lance closed his eyes, reminding himself not to snap at Keith

“Wait there! I’ll be right back!”

The mine was in bad shape. Parts of it were indeed starting to collapse. Wood beams had split, while their metal replacements were rusting through uselessly. There was the smell of death, but he hadn’t seen anything yet. Feeling a spider running up his arm, Lance flicked it away. The place was icky. He wanted his pyjamas and his glass of wine. Pidge was lucky he loved her. Following the main tunnel, it slowly sloped downwards, the temperature dropping as he walked. In the distance the silence was beginning to be filled with the sound of water dripping and something moving. Fan-fucking-tastic. There was nothing rad about this at all. It was all sucking balls, until it wasn’t.

The end of the mine had flooded. A natural spring lapped at the edge of where the tunnel would have continued further before reaching it. Wading into the frigid water to pass the curve in the wall, his eyes widened as the room turned into a cavern. Okay. This was really fucking cool. He’d missed the turn for wherever the town tunnels connected to the mine, but this was definitely interesting. Somewhere out there he could hear what he assumed to be Keith. Keith was definitely missing out on this. Hidden away from the world, the cavern hadn’t been disturbed in so long that it’d reclaimed its natural beauty. Small bioluminescent something or other grew along the far wall. Fish were actually living down here, their movements making the barest of ripples. From a sniff he could tell the water was fresh, with salt traces from the ground.

“Holy fuck”

Struck by the beauty, he’d let himself tune out. Keith nearly blinding him as he shone the torch across the darkness

“This is awesome”

“I told you to stay up there”

“You stopped responding. I tied the rope off of to the front of your car and rappelled down”

Lance cursed buying 50 metres of rope. At the time he hadn’t known what he was going to use all of it for, but he was sure having more than he needed was better

“That’s not safe. What if you’d fallen? Or gotten lost?”

“I followed your tracks. This place is amazing”

“Yeah... I bet no one’s been down here in decades. Did you bring your camera?”

“How did you know?”

“Lucky guess. Can you see across the water? There’s something glowing on the other side”

“Gimme a sec”

Turning his camera on, Keith used it to do what his eyes couldn’t

“Wow... I’ve never seen anything like it”

“There’s fish down here too”

“For real?”

“Yep. We must have missed the turn off”

“I’m kind of glad we did. Would you have told me about this place?”

“Would you have believed me if I had?”

“Probably not... I’m not going to hurt anything by taking photos, will I?”

Lance shrugged

“I don’t see how. There’s bats here, but I don’t think you’re going to summon a lake monster”

“The exist?”

Keith sounded concerned, again, Lance shrugged

“No clue. Why don’t you tell me?”

“I don’t really know... I mean, if vampires can exist, they can too. There’s a theory that as humans were evolving not all stayed on land, like how whales used to be land animals, they moved to the sea and mermaids evolved”

“I’m pretty sure mermaids don’t exist”

“I think it’s one of those things we’ll never know. How’s the water?”

“Gross. The bottom of the pool is clay. I’m pretty sure my sneakers are ruined”

“No normal person just wades out into a potentially contaminated body of water”

“I thought the tunnel continued... it looks like maybe it does over where it’s all glowy, but that’s about it for foot exploring. I think once we’re done, I should collapse the tunnel down closer to the entrance. A place like this shouldn’t be spoilt with too many visitors”

“You’re right about that. Want a hand out?”

“Nah, I’m just gonna chill. Get it, because the water is so cold...”

“You deserve to stay in there for that. I’m going film first, this thing isn’t bad in night mode”

“Go for your life. I’m happy enough watching the view”

Keith really seemed into what he was doing with his camera. Lance wading back to the closest bit of dry land. His shoes felt soggy, water spurting out the holes for his laces when he stepped down hard. Swapping to camera mode, Keith started snapping, Lance hearing the twittering and flapping of wings

“Fuck! We have to go!”

“What...”

“Bats! Run!”

Keith ran, Lance close behind him. The colony of bats hot on their trail as they followed the tunnel. There had to be an opening somewhere if bats were able to get in and out. Unable to outrun them, Lance pushed Keith down, shielding him as the shrieking animals passed over head. Within a matter of moments, they’d passed over head, Lance rolling of Keith to flop on his back. Though it wasn’t really funny, he found himself starting to laugh

“Lance?”

“We fucking legged it... I think they’re pissed...”

Laughing harder, Lance covered his face

“... oh my god... we must have looked so stupid”

Beside him, Keith started to laugh

“I had no idea what to do”

“Neither did I! They didn’t get you, did they?”

“No... did they get you?”

Lance’s laughter started to die down

“Nah... god... we’re losers...”

“There was dozens of them”

“I know... fuck... I needed that. Are you sure you’re okay?”

Lance turned his head to face Keith, Keith already looking towards him. The flashlight trapped between the hunter and the dirt, with his camera held protectively close. Keith probably couldn’t see him very well, but Lance could see everything. Keith looked genuinely relaxed and not like a man who’d upset a colony of bats

“I’m fine. We should get moving”

“Yeah. Who would have thunk there’d be bats in a cave?”

“Someone smarter than us”

“Rude. Alright, come on, you still need to climb up a rope”

Lance helped Keith up, he didn’t smell blood but the hunter might be bruised come tomorrow. Falling into step, the walk back was taken at a slower pace. This time Lance paused to examine each branching tunnel entrance

“This place would be pretty cool to sus out”

“I thought we were doing this for Pidge”

“We are. I mean, I was. You’re the one who followed me down. It’s just kind of cool that years ago people worked these tunnels. The put all this hard work into something they believed in. You know?”

“I’m pretty sure they were only down here for money”

Lance pouted as he crossed his arms

“Spoil sport”

“Takes one to know one”

“Don’t you think it’s cool? They didn’t have a plan, all they had was blind faith and strength and they made this happen”

“Maybe a bit... it’s hard to imagine the feelings. People died down here working side by side with the same people for probably years. They all made this happen”

“You sound nostalgic”

Maybe a little. In Platt life moved so fast. So many people no longer cared about things they couldn’t see on their screens

“If you’re asking whether I would have made a good miner, I totally would have rocked a pick axe”

“Because you’ve got rocks in your head”

Lance kind of felt a tad proud Keith was teasing him. He’d really come out of his shell

“I’ll have you know my head is filled with cat memes and bad music”

“That sounds about right. You don’t act like any lawyer I’ve ever met”

“That’s because Mami raised me right. A guy could spend a lifetime exploring this place”

“Are you giving up being a domesticated hermit to go full hermit down here?”

“Maybe? Maybe I’ll do some mining and strike some gold down ‘ere”

Lance’s attempt at an accent was so horrible he ended up laughing at himself. Keith’s disgusted face only made things funnier

“Whatever that was, don’t do it again”

“Yessir. I’m just a poor miner boy, never even played the banjo. Papa said I got rocks in my head, but jokes on him, he’s got rocks in his bed”

Keith let out a laugh, shaking his head as he did. Lance having to look away because he found himself enjoying the sight too much

“Oh, god. That was even worse”

“Come on then, mister big bad hunter. What can you do?”

“Not that. I’ll leave that to you”

“Spoilsport”

“That’s my middle name”

Reaching the rope, Lance stared up at it. That was going to be a hell of a climb for Keith

“Will you be alright climbing?”

“I just have to make it up to the ladder. I’ve climbed bigger things than this”

“Right, well, when you get up, get yourself away from the entrance. I’m going to knock a couple of beams out. Gravity will do the rest”

“What about the door?”

“I’ll call the council in the morning and tell them I found it how it is. They’ll be forced to fix it”

“You don’t need a hand?”

“Nah, I’ve got this. I’ll pretend I’m punching you”

“Thanks. See you top side”

Being the worrier he was, Lance made sure Keith was at the top before walking down the tunnel a bit. The wood was so old that he didn’t need much force to splinter it... it kindly deciding he needed splinters in return for the punch. Breaking through the sides of four supports, he started jogging when he heard the ground start to creak. Definitely time to get out and get home.

Lance was already starting the engine by the time they heard the crash. Dust pouring out of the mine as they both watched from the bronco

“Well that’s done”

“Yep”

“Time to head home?”

“Yep. On it”

It was no good. He was having too much fun hanging out with Keith. He didn’t care that his shoes were still gross, or that he was messing up his rubber car mats. He’d had fun. Actual fun where he hadn’t had to hide away that part of himself.

#once bitten twice stupid #oncebittentwicestupid #klance #mpreg #voltron #ashratherose

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tinydooms · 5 years ago

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Hi. I just love your stories. They are very well written and I can actually imagine the characters doing that. Can you write a story on Evy coming back to library and arranging it after Imhotep's death and Rick helping her out with that. I always wondered about that but couldn't find anything written in it.

Thank you! I’m so glad you like my stories; that is the best compliment a writer can get! I’ve had a go at your prompt. It turned out rather longer than I’d anticipated. I hope you like it!

A Bit of a Mess in the Library

Cairo, November 1922

“Wow!”

“Oh, please don’t,” Evie said crossly, unpinning her hat and tossing it down on a table. “I told you it was bad.”

Rick stood in the doorway, eyes wide as he stared around the wreckage of the library. “You told me you made a ‘huge mess’. This is a lot more than a huge mess!”

Evie sighed. In her absence, Mohammed, Abdul, and Bob had at least righted the bookshelves, all eighteen of them, but the books and papers and periodicals themselves were still scattered willy-nilly around the room. In a way it was a blessing--any attempt by an untrained layperson would make even more a hash of the categories and alphabetization--but it was also a damned nuisance. Looking at it with fresh eyes, she could see why Dr. Bey had simply locked the doors in her absence and cursed her for breathing.

It was Evie’s first day back at work after their misadventure at Hamunaptra. Rick had offered to walk her to work, ambling along beside her as they took the tram out of Zamalek into the center of Cairo and walked the last few streets to the Museum of Antiquities. He was looking quite dashing, if Evie thought so herself, in a suit of soft dark blue twill and a brown homburg and Evie was proud to have him on her arm. Still, she had felt a twinge of worry as she unlocked the library door. She had warned Rick about the mess, but seeing it now and seeing his wide eyes, shame flooded her and she turned away.

“Hey,” Rick said, putting a hand on her shoulder. “It’s not broken beyond repair, right? We can fix it.”

“Yes,” Evie said forlornly. “But one does feel a real prat for causing this in the first place.”

“How did you do it?”

Evie pointed to the ladder on the floor under the books and narrated her attempts at shelving, her thoughtless accident. Rick listened, biting his lip, his face going through a series of extortions. When she finished, he gave a great shout of laughter and put his hands on her shoulders.

“Evelyn Carnahan,” he said, grinning, “you are a firecracker.”

He kissed her forehead and Evie relaxed, grinning sheepishly.

“I suppose that’s one word for it. Anyway, you mustn’t tell Professor and Mrs. Emerson what happened.”

“Of course not.” Rick shrugged his jacket off and slung it over the back of a chair. “We’ll let them think the mob got to it.”

“Oh God, can you imagine?” Evie shuddered. She knew what happened to libraries when angry people got to them.

“Yeah.” Rick shook his head, rolling up his sleeves. Really, he had wonderful forearms, and such lovely hands. Evie almost didn’t hear his next question. “Where should we begin?”

“Um.” She looked around. “The A’s, I suppose. Yes, the A’s. Let’s start by just putting the books on the shelves in their appropriate sections. If you see anything that looks bent or damaged, put it on the table.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

They set to work, hefting books up into the shelves, working by author and subject. Really, it wasn’t difficult work, just time consuming and quite labor intensive. Evie watched Rick out of the corner of her eye as he slotted books back into the heavy oak shelves. He handled them gently, respectfully, occasionally pausing to read a title or look at the cover. It still amazed Evie that he was here at all, that he liked her--loved her--well enough to stay; that he was happy to take direction from her and content to work alongside her. The work went so much faster with two hands.

“Were you going to do all of this yourself?” Rick asked after a while.

Evie, halfway up the bookshelf on the step ladder, leaned down to take a couple of books from him. “Ideally I have assistants, but they’ve all swanned off to Luxor to see Howard Carter’s new find. I may ask Mrs. Emerson if she knows anyone willing to help. She knows everyone.”

“She’s the acting director’s wife, right?” That was the other thing about Rick that still amazed Evie: he listened to what she said and remembered it.

“That’s right; Amelia P. Emerson. She’s very efficient; she’s the one who helped us the most after my parents--well. In any case, she’ll likely be able to rustle up some help.”

Rick smiled up at her. “Can she rustle up some sliding ladders that we can bolt to the shelves? It’s no wonder that everything fell over if you’re only using a sliding ladder to reach the high shelves. You should at least have an A-frame.”

“I’ll put it on my list,” Evie said, smiling.

After a while they stopped for tea, made in the kettle in Evie’s tiny cupboard of an office. They had made good progress, finishing up the A’s and B’s, heading onto the C’s. Still, it would take at least a week to get everything off of the floor, and longer to reorganize and alphabetize. Rick leaned his elbows on the table as Evie spoke, scribbling notes on a pad of paper.

“--and I’ll need to have a look at the card catalogue while I’m at it; it was due for an update even before all this,” she finished. She rubbed her brow between the eyes. “Oh dear, it’s all too much, isn't it? I can do it, but it will take forever.”

Rick spun the pad of paper around. “The way I see it, we need at least six other guys helping us, maybe eight. It took the two of us about an hour to re-shelve one side, right? So if we have five teams of two, including us, working to stick everything back into place, we could feasibly have everything put away by the end of the week. And then you get some actual librarians in, some assistants, and work your magic putting everything in order.”

Evie looked at the paper. Rick had drawn a small diagram of the bookshelves, and the teams at each. A little of her overwhelm subsided. His plan was very pragmatic. Then his words registered--including us--and she looked up at him.

“Do you mean to say that you want to come every day and help me with this?”

Surprise passed over Rick’s face. “Yeah, if you want me to. I’ve never worked in a library but I’m pretty good at cleaning up.”

“You darling!” Evie said. “May I kiss you?”

For a little while they were quiet, nuzzling each other, Evie’s arms around Rick’s neck. Really, he was the loveliest man, the most attentive, the nicest--

“Evelyn?” came a voice from the library proper, and they parted, reluctantly.

“Here I am,” Evie called, straightening her collar as she went back out into the disheveled space.

Mrs. Emerson stood in the doorway, looking about her with no small degree of amazement. In her seventies, she had thick grey hair and a permanent sun-tan, rewards of a life spent excavating alongside her husband. Evie had idolized her as a child; now, Mrs. Emerson’s respect and lifelong support were deeply cherished.

“Good Gad, my dear, what happened in here? It looks as though someone knocked the whole thing down! I warned Dr. Bey that he needed different bookshelves and sturdier ladders.”

“Er,” said Evie, astonished. “I’m afraid that’s almost exactly what happened.”

Mrs. Emerson shook her head. “Curse it; we must order in some rolling ladders.”

“That’s what I said,” Rick said.

The two women looked at him, standing there in the doorway to Evie’s office, his shirtsleeves rolled up, the very picture of manly beauty. Mrs. Emerson’s eyebrows rose; she darted a curious glance at Evie.

“I don’t believe I know you, Mr…?”

“This is Rick O’Connell,” Evie hastened to introduce him. “He was our guide out to Hamunaptra and now he’s...now--”

How did she describe Rick to someone like Mrs. Emerson, who was well-known to be both fiercely feminist and entirely devoted to her husband? Lover was not the right word for that proud Victorian, nor was it the correct term, yet boyfriend seemed so casual.

“I’m Evelyn’s assistant,” Rick said. “Can I offer you some tea, Mrs. Emerson?”

Mrs. Emerson looked between the two of them, her gaze turning humorous. “Thank you, Mr. O’Connell. Their guide out to Hamunaptra, were you? And did you find anything?”

Evie and Rick glanced at each other. “Yes,” Evie said, “rather too much, I’m afraid.”

Mrs. Emerson looked them over again. “I will take that cup of tea, Mr. O’Connell. Evelyn, you both must come along to Emerson and tell us everything. I suspect there’s more of a story here than just a messy library.”

“It’s a hell of a story,” Rick said.

“They usually are,” Mrs. Emerson said wryly. “I have some experience in that field, as Evelyn can tell you. Come along, now, both of you.”

In the end it took a month to clean up the library, even with the assistants that Evie brought on to help. Rick turned out to be a marvelous assistant, helping wherever he was needed, never complaining, always making some kind of conversation to make Evie laugh even if they stayed long past museum hours writing new cards for the catalogue. And if he proposed marriage one evening over cups of tea and ginger biscuits, well, the reader knows what Evie’s answer was.

#asks #prompts #The Mummy #Rick and Evie #Amelia Peabody #my fanfics

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sxveme-2 · 4 years ago

Text

hidden // din djarin

description: the life of nobility wasn't one for everyone. some would rather duck under the shadows around them, especially after a great betrayal to the name of a planet. but despite being hidden, not everyone can avoid the blinding lights of danger. whether it be those after those who had escaped, or the poor bounty hunter who ended up picking her up. both with a large bounty on their heads. follow Cloak as she lives the days as an escaped noble, hiding from the eyes of serenno after the fall of count dooku, shacking up with one of the most sought after child and the mandalorian unfortunate enough to have a big heart.

Chapter two: the one with her new job

warnings: swearing

words: 3016

"shining light, come see me." her mother cooed, beckoning the young girl towards her bed in the large and grand room around her. her voice was weak and cracked halfway through, the effects of her illness continuing to push through the inevitable strength the queen had.

the young ten year old pushed off of the chair where she sat, reading a classic serennian tale to her mother. shutting the leather bound book, she hopped off of her tufted chair and walked towards the woman. her deep blue gown shifted around her gently, tickling at her bare ankles as she took a seat on the satin comforter that covered her mothers weak and failing body. those cold hands found themselves on the supple and tanned hands of the queens sole child. they were skeletal like, and she felt sick just thinking about it.

"can I ask a favour of you?" the dying woman whispered out, eyes fluttering shut before being forced open once more. those same eyes that reflected in the youngers head.

"of course mama." she whispered, eyes watering at the state of the woman she idolized.

"I need you to take care of the children in the galaxy, when I am gone." the cooed, voice falling weaker with each syllable, "you are always so great with them."

"mama don't say that, you'll be okay. father has the best doc- "

"don't play the fool, my shining light," the queen laughed weakly, "I grow weaker with each breath. you mustn't let your ideals blind the reality of the situation. it will only hurt more if you do so. I need you to promise this for me though...please."

"I promise mama." she whispered back, watching the light in her mothers eyes fail to exist as her own name fell from the queens lips for the last time.

-----

"I don't do being a nanny." she stated, going to turn away.

a part of her longed to take the job. to fulfill a promise she made more than a decade ago to a dying woman. a dying icon. but she couldn't bare to do it. she knew that if she took the job that the death would be true, that she fulfilled the dying wish of her. reliving the light draining from her eyes. hearing her name spoken from loved lips the last time. it killed a part of her every time she took the job to watch the children of the town. but those were children of her area, and were at most two days. this...this was a full time job. along with healing and caring for the hunk of metal that had dropped into the hanger that same day.

a tug on her cloak turned her back around.

"Cloak you're stuck in a rut here. I can't stand seeing you wake up and wander the sand dunes everyday searching for something you won't find here. out there, out in the galaxy, you can. and you will." peli stated, "I won't let you turn this down. I just won't."

"who said I even agreed?" that same robotic like voice called from beside her.

"I did," peli scoffed, "because you trust my judgement. Cloak here is an amazing healer and amazing with kids. you can't keep bringing him with you on missions. you're taking her." the mechanic concluded, dusting her hands off.

"...how much would I have to pay her?" the man asked.

she stared at him with eyebrows furrowed and nose creased. she didn't want the job...no, that's not true. she wanted the job. she didn't want the commitment. it was too long for her. because she'd be fulfilling that damn promise. the promise of a dead queen. eighteen years later or not, she had yet to come to terms with the loss. because it was after that loss that her entire life fell down a hill. it ate her alive everyday, knowing there must have been something she could do to stop it. but there wasn't. as far as she knew, the death was caused by an illness naturally, no foul play involved. but her heart didn't believe it, it didn't make sense. not with how fast her father married another and began another family.

"substantial, maybe even a bit handsomely. when I tell you she's the best, I mean it. no one would be able to come within an inch of the little guy without meeting the maker." peli chuckled, turning her attention back to her, "you're going, Cloak. would you rather die on this desert like the rest of us?"

"yes."

"oh don't be like that. you're taking it. now come, let's pack you up."

-----

she could have just refused. hopped on her speeder with reddan and sped off across the planet and found some town to plant her roots. or be killed by tusken raiders. either worked for her. but instead, she found herself lugging a bag onto a newly some-what repaired razor crest alongside a mandalorian and a little green child. with a new title to her name. caregiver. she was now in charge of keeping the child alive alongside mando. someone who she already disliked a bit anyways. he was too...she wasn't sure. she just knew it wasn't him she was doing this for. she took the job, or was forced into taking it, mostly because she could just tell the kid would be better off. but also, she could hear her mother reaming her from the other side. despite her convincing herself she would never fulfill the promise, she had already. sort of. with the children of tatooine. but she knew the risks of expanding off of tatooine, and letting herself be known elsewhere in the world.

"this place is a mess." she muttered, dropping her bag and looking around the ship, "I may very well be a blessing for you."

"not if you keep talking, you won't be." he scoffed, walking past her and up a ladder towards what she could assume was the cockpit.

she watched as he walked up. hearing the door to the cockpit shut, she ducked into the refresher. pulling off the large hood of her cloak and ditching the goggles, she let out a satisfying breath as her mask fell from her face. chocolate brown hair fell into her eyes as she stared at the small mirror in front of her. she saw the dead queens reflection in her own, her mother. the two looked so much alike. hazel eyes with a dominant hue of green. a perfectly swooped nose. cupids bow lips that were full and plump. her own were chapped and rough now, from five years of hiding underneath a mask on a dry planet. her high cheekbones sat perfectly under her eyes. whenever she saw them she remembered how clearly she could see her mothers on the final days of her life.

she hated her face for those very reasons.

her mother was the best person she had ever known. she was kind and caring, stern but nurturing. she cared for her more than her father ever had. the queen would read her to sleep every night, even when she became ill. she would wander into her mothers chambers and sleep with her many nights, especially near the end. her mother was unable to walk most of the time, so she simply was read to sleep in her bed. it wasn't like her father would wind up in it anyways. on her mothers final day, she read to her the entire day. feeling as though she needed it more.

a day didn't go by where she didn't miss her. the warm smile. the soft touches. the hugs. the tea parties. the soft singing voice. her kind words. everything. everything about the queen made her heart break. because she knew she'd never be that person to someone. a family wasn't anywhere in her sights. she could barely look at herself in the mirror, let alone fall in love with someone enough to raise a family. she didn't need to be that person. she'd rather be the lone caretaker and runaway. not having any real identity or attachment to someone.

"if you're done in there. I'll show you where you'll sleep." mando called through the steel door between them.

sliding her mask on over her mouth and nose and over her forehead, and returning her goggles to her forehead, she slid the navy blue cloak along her arms and pinned it in the front, pulling the hood over her head before sliding open the door to reveal the warrior. nodding quickly, the two made their way around a few boxes to a tiny cot she would be sleeping on.

"mind if I hang a curtain up around it." she stated, not waiting for an answer as she hooked a spare piece of fabric onto a few chains and attached it to a pipe above the bed, "don't need you creeping around."

"don't flatter yourself." he grumbled, crossing his arms, "we're heading to nevarro. there's only so much peli could do. though if you had actually helped maybe there could've been more done."

"alright buckethead let's not get ahead of ourselves." she muttered, bending down and picking up the child, "does this thing have a name?"

"grogu. and he's not a thing."

"...well then what is he?"

"I don't know." he concluded, before walking back up the ladder. leaving her alone with the small creature she was now tasked to look after.

dropping her head down, her eyes caught those large brown ones of the child. a smile broke out on her face as he showed his small teeth in a wide grin. she had to admit, he was really cute, and very loveable already. the way he would tilt his head or make small noises at her. how his sack like clothing covered his miniature body. her heart melted a bit each time he would coo at her and smile. until he would go and grab at her mask, like in that instance.

"okay kid, you're cute but we've got to work on boundries."

-----

"ever been here?" mando asked as the razor crest touched down on the planet.

readjusting the dark blue material of her cloak, she glanced over at him from underneath her goggles, "no. and please don't try to be friendly. I know you don't want me as much as I don't want to be here."

"just making conversation," he muttered, opening up the hatch, "if you don't want to be here why'd you take the job?"

picking up grogu and tucking him into her arm, she let out a forced chuckle, "I guess I just had a promise to fulfill."

without another word, the two walked from the ship out into the heat of nevarro. it was true, had never been to the planet. she had been to many places all across the galaxy, being who she was and all. she visited lesser planets to listen to her father and his wife make false promises, all while their children and her would stand by idly. she would often find herself wandering off from the family and giving loose credits to the young children and told them stories. those were her favourite memories, where she was alone and had the resources to give to those who never had enough, while she had plenty.

the two stepped down onto the dark ground, and the young child in her arms cooed. she smiled gently under her mask as they walked forward, readjusting the beige sack on her shoulder with the child's things. she wasn't sure what he exactly needed other than food, and that she could have just left on the ship or purchased something for him. but alas, mando had handed it to her so she didn't argue...he was sort of her boss now. despite the fact she will most likely not be listening to most of the things he told her to do. worst comes to worst, he drops her back off at tatooine.

"look who it is." a woman's voice called as they continued walking forward, "nice to see you again, mando. who's this?"

"hello cara," he returned, before glancing down at the girl carrying the kid, "this is um...I actually don't, know her name."

"Cloak." she stepped in, reaching her free hand forward, "just call me Cloak. nice to meet you." she introduced, shaking the woman's hand.

she lowered her eyes slightly at the woman before her. her voice seemed familiar, something that she could have sworn she had heard before. wracking her mind, she wasn't sure where but everything about her seemed so familiar. nothing seemed to pop up, but the words she spoke and the way she held herself as well as her stature was something that she knew. back on her home planet she had had stormtroopers at her home, due to threats and different things. and the tattoo on cara's arm gave her clue to her past. there had to be some co-relation...but she supposed right now wasn't the time for her to dive deep into her own past.

"nice to meet you, Cloak." she smiled, nodding down at the child she was carrying, "so are you this little guys new mom or something?"

"caretaker." mando stated, brushing past the two and walking further into the town that laid ahead of the group.

letting out a sigh, she nodded and looked up at the taller woman, "yes. I'm here to take care of the child and make sure he doesn't get himself killed, I supposed." she hummed, readjusting the child.

"it's nice to see he's gotten help, come on. let's let the mechanics finish up the job." cara hummed, gesturing for her to follow along as they walked behind the man,"...so you two like a thing or am I reading the tension wrong?"

a small cringe flexed on her face at the idea of anyone reading them anything like a couple or something like that. the two had only really known each other for a day or so. and the only reason either agreed was because both trusted peli's judgement and her own deep and philosophical growth within. there was nothing romantic and she was almost repulsed at the idea of ever being romantic with him. she wasn't a fan of his pompous attitude and she was sure he wasn't a fan of not knowing what she looked like as a security measure. she was sure if there were anyway, he would scan every record in the galaxy to learn who she was. however...she would do anything in the galaxy to ensure he never did.

"no," she stated simply, "no nothing of the sorts. I don't enjoy sitting in the same room with him for more than a few minutes at a time." she shrugged, glancing to the side at the woman.

"I see," cara nodded, "kid seems to like you. that's what's most important to him." the brunette chuckled, "though we won't stray too far for the first while. that kid is the most important thing to him."

she nodded and looked down at the little wrinkled green kid in her arms. she smiled softly under her mask, running her gloved thumb gently over his forehead and chuckling at the little noises he made. the way he would grab at her finger and smile whenever the two locked eyes. but he had yet to get over his habit of trying to grab at her mask and she figured he never would. she would have preferred that he grabbed at her hood instead, seeing as that was simply an extra precaution to hide her identity. he was one hundred percent taking over her heart, and she knew she had already become attached to the child. but the man that came with him? she wasn't entirely sure yet.

she recalled how she was with her own half brother. the two seemed similar. there was a large age gap between her and the young boy that her father created with the witch of a woman she called her step-mother. both were very grabby and smiley, and were able to brighten the room or galaxy with simply a smile. nodine was his name. she loved him very much, and a part of her wondered how someone like her younger brother had come from people such as her father and step mother, let alone related to the monster that was her half sister. the venom that now seeped through the veins of her old family was only slightly cured by that bright smile and kind words of nodine. he was the one thing that made her second guess her fleeing from her home planet. she pondered taking him with her, but she knew it would be no life for a kid like him. he deserved a life of stability and comfort. maybe that was another reason she found herself inclined to take the job with mando and grogu.

"well I promise I'll take good care of him. I do quite enjoy children." she stated simply, readjusting her position holding the child once more.

"he definitely seems like he likes you." cara stated, "now c'mon. why don't we get you and the little guy something to eat hm?"

nodding along, the two continued walking along closely to mando, only to find themselves paused right out front of a stall where mando was meeting with another man. he was taller and had a seemingly warm smile. she was slightly hesitant, for the air around the two men seemed a bit tense as they spoke in a hushed tone. glancing over at cara once more, she noticed the girl had wandered forward to the group. yet hadn't invited her. as much as she wanted to walk forward and join the trio as well, she figured it wasn't exactly her place. sighing softly, she bounced the young child her arms, glancing down at a bit of fruit at another one of the stalls. only to be interrupted by the large man of metal.

"we have a job here."

#the mandalorian #the mandalorian spoilers #din djarin #baby yoda #grogu #original female character #oc #enemies to lovers #star wars #star wars fanfic #fanfiction #the mandalorian fanfic #mandalorian fanfiction #din dijarin fanfic

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writingsbychlo · 5 years ago

Text

heart under construction (04)

word count; 5063

summary; sam attends the welcome evening event with his family, and finally gets to see you in yrou element, which doens’t do anything to quell the growing affections he has for you.

notes; I do feature @moongoddesskiana and @dylinski in this part, plus a big thank you so @fan-child for checking this part when I was worried it was too much fluff to be acceptable.

warnings; none, but, get yourself ready for the next part.

Sam could already hear the joyous screaming from crowds of kids before the door was open, and he tugged nervously at the sleeves of the dress shirt he wore, tugging it down over his wrists and scratching at the back of his hand through his anxiety. He resisted the urge to adjust the royal blue tie that was sitting around his neck, loose and gentle on his neck, in the perfect Windsor knot that Jake had fixed for him moments ago.

Something about not allowing him to go in there with a tie that looks like Alice tied it.

Pushing the doors open, the muffled sounds of screaming kids were honed and sharpened as the happy wails drifted out into the cool air of the night from which they had arrived, and Sam felt his eyes widen as he looked at just how busy the event was as he peered into the main event hall through the glass windows on the doors as their group lingered in the lobby. There had to be over one hundred kids here, their parents all vying to get them one of the twenty spots you actually had available.

Alice was squirming in her father’s arms, Roger lowering her to the ground as he adjusted the plastic crown sitting in her hair before making a move to dash off into the crowd, Sam diving forward in just enough time to grab her little hand, pulling her to a halt before she could disappear and get lost in a group of other Tangled-obsessed little girls. “It’s.. a lot busier than I expected it to be.”

Sam turned, swallowing thickly and nodding to his brother, his eyes scanning over the groups of people he saw milling about, and he was glad he’d settled on a suit, both Roger and Jake matching him, as well as the majority of the other men he could see. With a wide smile, a smaller lady with a sweeping green gown hanging from her shoulders made her way around the desk, a clipboard held in her hands. “You must be Mr Taylor, right?”

“Yes.”

“Huh?”

“That’s me.”

The three men all looked between each other bewildered for a second, a laugh escaping the lady in the green dress as she wiggled her fingers at Alice, the girl squealing in excitement and burying her face into Sam’s thigh shyly, but he could still hear and feel the muffled laughs she was letting out. “We’re.. um, we’re all Taylor. We’re the Taylors. Hi.” Sam rolled his eyes at himself for his awkward mumbling, reaching his hand out to the woman as she simply smiled, shaking his hand before moving along to his brother and his brother-in-law.

“Okay, well, my name is Kiana. To the adults, anyway. I’m one of the teaching assistants, for the nursery. I have some forms I need the dads to fill out, and I have a name badge for all of you!” Jake rubbed his hands together, nodding enthusiastically as she handed over a sheet of hand-written name tags.

“Mine has a smiley face on it.” Roger mumbled happily, the teacher, ‘Kiana’, laughing a little as she signed them in on the computer behind the desk.

“(Y/N) wrote them all. She told me to look out for you, said it would be hard to miss you guys.” Sam’s brows rose, and he absentmindedly leaned down and scooped his niece onto his arms, balancing her on his side as she toyed with the lapels on his jacket in her boredom. “She had a packet of information for you, actually.. hold on.”

While the woman fluttered around the desk in search of the package they had been left, Sam turned to his family, his jaw barely having opened before Jake was giving him a cheeky grin, nodding his head. “We’ve got the forms. Go find your girl.”

“She’s not my girl.” He mumbled, cheeks flushing red and Roger slapped at his husband’s chest, ignoring Jake’sprotests about how he was only teasing as he let Alice slide back tot he floor, her hands gripping his as she dug her heels into the floor and tried to pull him away toward the main room.

“Not yet she’s not. If you match your tie to her dress, she’s your girl. It's basic rules.” Jake shrugged, and Roger scoffed, rolling his eyes as Sam finally indulged the little girl and let her pull him along towards the party.

“Your tie matches my suit?”

“Roger, we’re married.” He chuckled, his brother’s sigh being the last thing he heard before he was pulling open the main doors, the loud beats of child-friendly pop - some kind of Disney song, he was sure - taking over his mind as he looked around. Flashing disco lights danced off of the walls, ridiculous patterns to create the atmosphere for the kids as a clear dance floor was set up in the middle of the room.

The tiles on the floor were also flashing up, some black and some lighting up white as toddlers jumped up and down and wore themselves out. On the left side of the room, tables covered with neat tablecloths lined the space, parents sitting and standing around them, socialising and getting to know one another, a small bar tucked away behind the adult section to serve them all. More tables were sitting along the right side, but on that side was activities, craft tables, games like twister and giant snakes and ladders, all kinds of things to entertain the kids.

In the middle of the room, you were standing, talking to a range of children as you falsely gasped and giggled, the group around you all looking up at you with pure joy as they shared their stories with you, little hands flying around and gesturing wildly. Alice had seemingly spotted you soon, because she tore her hand from his, moving at lightning speed across the room as she ducked and weaved through the legs of those standing around her. With a curse under his breath, Sam made attempts to follow, trying to navigate through the crowds as he watched her throw herself with force into your legs, your body rocking to the side as you gasped, looking down at her before letting a wide smile break out on your face.

He lost sight of you for a moment as you sucked down, and when he finally cleared the groups to stand before you, he saw you holding the girl gently as her little arms wrapped around your neck, squeezing you tightly. When she realised you, she was quick to introduce herself to the crowd of infants you had been talking to, the group hitting it off instantly and you beamed at her as you rose back to your feet.

Your gaze ragged along his suit, from his toes to his chest and finally up to his eyes, your lips split in one of the biggest smiles he had ever seen you give off. “You came!”

“I promised I would. I wanted to, here I am.” Sam held his arms out, adding flair to his statement and you smiled, moving towards him and wrapping your arms around his neck, holding him tightly as his own hands moved to slide along your lower back carefully, one resting above the other as he held you close to him. Twisting his head, he nuzzled his nose into the space between your neck and your shoulder, sighing happily at the little giggle you let out, twisting in his arms as his scruff tickled your skin. “You look amazing.”

His words were muffled as he spoke them into your skin, your body shivering under his touch a little as he did, and you pulled back just far enough for him to look down at you. “What?”

“I said you look amazing.” His eyes darted up, taking in the crown that was sitting slightly off place on your head, the shiny plastic twinkling under the flashing coloured lights. “Your majesty.” With an over-dramatic flourish, he took your hand in his, pressing his lips to your knuckles and adding a wink, your laugh sounding out loudly around the two of you.

You shook your head your eyes closing as you dipped forward, your forehead pressing to his cheek as you body still shook wit your residual giggles, and he chose instead to smooth his hand up and down your back comfortingly as he thought about just how nice it felt to have you curled into his side. “So, let’s take Alice to the craft table? I bet she’d love to make a macaroni necklace.”

At the mere mention of it, the girl had turned back to them, her eyes wide and her smile shining as she bounced up and down excitedly, glancing around as she located her dads, walking through the main doors and holding onto a thick brown envelope, the teaching assistant from behind the desk still chatting to them as their daughter sped away to them, yelling about the pasta accessories she wanted to make.

Once Sam had laid his eyes on you, there was no way he was going to be dragged from your side. He’d started the night respectfully lingering by your side, his hand daring to come out to sit on your lower back the moment you had told him that you needed to mingle, but that he was welcome to come with you. He was astounded by the simple way in which you could flow between conversation with so many people, changing between important political chat to funny childhood stories, and the way you seemed to captivate everyone you spoke to.

He had heard almost all of these stories before, and yet, he couldn’t help but listen with avid attention every time you began a new spiel to enthral the possible parents around you. You had ended up allowing him to weave his fingers through yours when a particularly big group had begun asking him questions, and your thumb running slowly over his knuckles had grounded him enough to be able to actually enjoy the conversation.

Now, you were leaning against his side, his arm wrapped securely around his waist as his fingertips rubbing slow circles onto your waist as you stuck to the conversation, his eyes fixed on you as he took in everything about the moment, from the way you would smile when listening to others to the way you would light up when adding a point of your own.

As the hours had passed, the original loud and screaming hype of the kids had quieted as they settled themselves into their activities, still loud as they danced and played but no longer rowdy, the music changing to something slower as the evening progressed. He glanced away, looking over his niece as she bounced happily in Jake’s lap, and he hummed under his breath, watching as Roger dug through his pockets to find a snack for her, the three of them sitting together in their own little world.

Turning back to you, Sam couldn't help himself from leaning forward, his nose brushing against your cheekbone as he kissed your cheek gently, the long kiss stretching out before he pressed another brief kiss to your skin, pulling back as you turned to look at him.

“What was that for?”

“No reason.” He smiled, and you rolled your eyes fondly at him, glancing back to the group before you for a second before you leaned over him, kissing at his cheek in return and he beamed, pulling you a little closer as your side pressed up against his, your own arm coming up around his waist. “You want to dance, sweetheart?”

You merely nodded at him, and his arms slipped down to guide you onto the dancefloor, his arms circling your waist, and bringing you close to him, your eyes finding his as you shot him a sly wink while looping your arms around your waist and falling into a subtle way with him, his eyes focusing on his feet as he watched his movements. “Do you know how to dance, Sam?”

“Uh, kind of. I didn’t think that far when I asked you to dance. Shit.” He stepped forward carefully, and you giggled, your hands dropping down to adjust his grip, sliding his hands up from your waist to adjust them sitting on your back and hips, before you stepped closer, chest to chest with him, your arms tightening around his neck as his cheek rested against yours.

“How about we just sway?”

He nodded but still felt heat rise to his cheeks as he looked down at you, humming along to the music under your breath, clutched carefully in his arms, and he swallowed thickly as thoughts about just how well you fit into his arms began to flood his mind once again, and his time, he didn’t even bother to chase them away.

Instead, he let his mind run wild.

He pictured himself at this event next year, being here by your side as your significant other and not as a relative of a possible student. He pictured driving you home at the end of the night, listening to you talk about how well it had gone before the two of you collapsed into bed beside one another and he got to hold you.

He was thinking about how nice it would be to dance with you in other scenarios, too. He couldn’t help it. He’d seen how good you were with Alice, he could clearly picture the three of you dancing to silly pop songs in the car as you drove along. He could see the two of you jamming out as you painted the walls of a house or grinding together slowly in a dimly lit club or bar. He even let his mind wander as far as to picture that maybe the next time the two of you slow-danced together, your dress might be white and you might have a shiny ring on your finger that he’d put there.

He wasn’t quite so scared of these thoughts anymore, because no matter how hard his heart was beating in his chest, and how much the ‘fight or flight’ instinct was kicking up, he’d never felt more at home and at ease than when he was in your arms.

You felt like home, you felt like everything he wanted and needed.

He didn’t quite feel so hollow and lost when you were together, because suddenly it was like everything was pointing toward you, it didn’t seem blurry like you were the only thing in his world but instead, you brought everything else into focus. You made it all a little less manic and crazy, you made him understand his place in the world again.

He wasn’t quite so scared anymore, because the fear wasn’t of being with you, but of being without you.

Pushing his face into your neck, he hid his smile from you and the world, his stubble tickling along your neck as he pressed a light kiss to your exposed shoulder, before snapping back to the present when he felt a small tugging on the leg of his suit pants. “Sammy, I wan’ dance!”

You cooed at the girl at his feet, and he chuckled down at the girl, his arms tightening around you for a second as you giggled in his arms, squirming slightly to be released. “Go hang out with your niece, we can dance some more later if you’re up for it.”

“Promise?” You beamed at him, scoffing fondly as you nodded and he dipped his head down, pressing a wet kiss to your cheek before pulling away and holding his hands out to the little girl, her tiny hands sliding into his as he twirled her away onto the dancefloor, spinning her in little circles as he hunched over to reach her a little. He could feel her watching on as he lifted her up to balance on his toes so he could dance her around in funny movements, her loud and squealing laughter making his heart soar.

Alice’s little hands grasped at his jacket, tugging on it as he bounced on his feet, spinning her around in circles, dipping her down and lifting her up into the air as the songs played, his heart racing and her little body shaking as she giggled loudly. He’d lost count of how many songs had played, but for once in his life, he had nowhere else to be, nowhere better to be and nobody else to be with.

Everybody that mattered to him was right here.

Roger and Jake were filling out forms and smiling together at the table, caught up in their own little world as they mumbled comforting words about their beautiful daughter to one another. Alice was looking nursery school in the whites of the eyes and seemed to have befriended every child in the room, and won the hearts of every adult, and Sam just knew she would be a popular and well-loved little girl.

And you; you were chatting to random families, casting him glances every now and then as you sent him shy smiles, the kind of smiles that made his face split in a grin and his heart want to beat out of his chest. By the time Alice had worn herself - and mostly Sam - out, you were leaning against the bar, the room having emptied out a little and the yawning girl he’d been dancing with was now trailing her way over to her dads to snooze on one of their shoulders, and Sam made his way over to you as you excused yourself from the conversation you’d been having.

With a hand on either side of your waist, he supported himself on the bar, his heart racing as he panted a little, a coy smile on his lips as you chuckled at him, the girl having danced with him to so many songs that Sam felt like he’d worked a full day in the August heat. “You’re mighty touchy tonight. Almost clingy.”

His jaw dropped, pausing in his movements to kiss at your cheek and he shot you a small glare, bumping your nose with his spitefully as he pulled back. Retracting his hands from your sides, he crossed them over his chest, putting a fake pout on his face. “Well, I was going to buy you a drink, but now I feel sorta’ insulted.”

He sighed over dramatically as you gasped, and he turned his head away from you as you slung your arms around his neck, pulling yourself as close to him as you could with his arms still folded over his chest. “No, I never said it was a bad thing!”

He continued to ignore you, your little whines only entertaining him, and his resolve toward the act was quickly being diminished as you huffed, staring at him as he glanced out at the dancefloor.

“Stoooop ignoring me! Wasn’t it you that said you wanted to be around me? I guess I could leave again..”

Your arms started to leave him gently and he let out a low growl, his arms flying around your waist as you squealed twisting in his arms to face away from him as you busied yourself by looking at the gin selection that they had on offer. “You’re guilt-tripping me! No fair!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, I’m looking at the gin.” You mumbled, and it was his turn to let out a little grumble as he rested his chin on your shoulder.

“How about I buy you a drink, and I keep hugging you, and you never leave again, hm?”

“I think I could work with that.” You conceded, and he hummed happily, his fingers smoothing circles onto your hips as you both waited for your turn to be served.

“So, I was thinking.”

“That sounds dangerous.” You teased, and he scoffed at your statement, rolling his eyes and pinching at your waist through your dress in retaliation for your comment.

“The house is almost done, and I was thinking, I want to furnish the house. It would look better, and I have so many ideas about how it should look now that I think I just have to decorate it myself so I know that it’s.. perfect.” He let out a little sigh as he thought about the home, and you dragged your fingers along his forearm, humming as you listened, your head twisting so you could look over your shoulder to talk to him.

“Sounds.. good. You’re really invested in this house, huh?”

“Yeah, I mean, it’s my house! I just want it to be perfect, and you helped make it perfect so far, so I was thinking maybe you’d want to come with me to go furniture shopping?” You beamed at him, your face lighting up at the statement he nudged the tip of his nose against yours once again.

“I’d love that.”

You didn’t pull away, instead, you returned the gesture, the tip of your nose brushing his as your breath fanned across his face, and he dipped his tongue out to lick his lips, brushing against yours as he did and he was sure his heart stopped for a moment as he got the briefest taste of what it would be like to kiss you.

Sam was far too caught up in the moment and the way it felt like a second nature to hold you so tightly in his arms to pay attention to the room around him, nevermind the bartender with blue hair making her way along toward the pair of you.

“Hi, I’m Sarah, what can I get you toni- oh, my God! Sam, hi!”

Her customer service personality suddenly slipped away as a dazzling smile pulled on her face and she leaned her elbows on the bar, his eyes widening as he looked at the woman before him, to the woman in his arms, and back. His throat was dry, and he felt you cough awkwardly in his arms as you stood up straight, shuffling in his grasp a little as you patted on his forearm and his inner-voice was chanting ‘no, no, no, no!’ as he felt the bubble he’d so carefully crafted around the two of you threatening to pop.

“You never called me back, you look good, really good. I always told you that you’d look good if you grew your facial hair out a little more, and boy, was I right. Look at you.” She all but purred the words, his body stiffening as he licked over his lips, trying to work out what to say. “Is this your girlfriend? Did you finally settle down, the infamously popular Sam Taylor was finally won over?”

“Ye-”

“I’m running the event, my name is (Y/N).” He snapped his jaw shut, dread filling him as you shook hands with the girl on the other side of the bar.

“Oh, hey! You’re the chick that hired us! I want you to know, we were all so grateful for the overtime opportunities, and tips have been amazing, thank you so much!” You simply smiled politely, the same look that flooded his veins with anxiety as you gave her a basic response to her fawning. “What can I get you to drink?”

“You know, I actually have some parents I need to catch before they leave. Why don’t I let you two catch up?” He ducked his head to kiss your cheek, and you patted his chest, pulling away and letting him barely brush his lips to your cheek as you slipped away into the crowds, and he could scarcely acknowledge the fingers poking at his arm as he watched you go, disappearing from his sight.

“So, how’ve you been, hot stuff?”

“What?” He snapped back, looking at the woman before him as she chewed her gum, giving him a wink as she giggled, repeating her question and he swallowed thickly, putting on a polite smile. “It’s been good. I bought a house.”

“For you and that chick?” She jutted her chin out in the direction you had gone, and he glanced over his shoulder, smiling happily as he watched you greet two mothers with a son.

“Eh, well no. The house was for me, it was a flip project, but you know..”

“You’re sorta’, kinda’, picturing the two of you spending lazy Sunday mornings in it and decorating a Christmas tree and all that lovey-dovey stuff?” She let out a wistful sigh, balancing her chin on her hands and fluttering her eyelashes as she teased him a little.

“Worse. I’m picturing carrying her over the doorstep like it’s 1919, and little feet pattering on the kitchen tiles on rushed school mornings.” He sighed, letting out grumbles as he popped his elbow on the bar, balancing his chin on his fist as the girl before him laughed at him, moving around the bar as she grabbed a glass, tilting it under the lager pump and twisting the lever.

“It’s nice to see. When you had that thing with me, you were seeing like three other girls and wouldn’t even give me your phone number because you were so scared of commitment. What happened there?” She grinned, and placed the beer he was so fond of down in front of him, before him as she rang up the total.

“I don’t know. I mean, one day she’s the cute nursery-school teacher I bumped into and suddenly I can’t live without her, she makes my day brighter.” Taking a swig of his beer, he licked the froth from his upper lip and shook his head, looking out at the crown that was building around you as you answered questions for new parents.

“That’s sweet.”

“So is she.” He mumbled, leaning against the counter and choosing to continue watching you, giving you his full attention and leaning against the bar as he had his drink. He didn’t want to interrupt you while you were in your element. Behind him, Sarah took up chatting, sucking him into conversation the second he turned back around and he found his glass draining as he listened politely to her ramblings.

He hadn't realised just how long he had been standing there, until his glass was empty, and his brother was tapping him on the arm, Alice with her head on his shoulder and she snoozed quietly, his own brother looking exhausted and he noticed just how empty the room had become.

“Man, you looked like you were having a great chat so I thought I’d give you a few more minutes but we really need to go now, Roger is practically asleep, Alice needs her bed.” Jake shrugged, and Sam’s eyes widened.

“How many minutes did you give me?”

“Uh.. like thirty, maybe?” Sam felt nausea twisting at his gut, he felt like he’d been talking to her for ten minutes perhaps, not forty-five, and his eyes flicked around the room to find you, unable to see you anywhere and he cursed under his breath. “Look, man, time to go. Come on.”

Sam sighed, nodding in agreement and taking his niece from his brother's arms as he balanced her against his chest holding her securely as his heart sunk, and he trailed after the two men before him as they gathered their things and headed for the main door. Slipping out into the cold night, he made his way across the parking lot and hushed the sleeping toddler in his arms when she stirred, dipping down to tuck her into her car seat as he tried not to wake her.

He adjusted her head to the side so that she was comfortable, making sure she was properly buckled in before rounding the car and climbing in on her other side. He could feel his brother’s gaze on him in the rearview mirror, and he purposefully ignored the gaze, until they were pulling out onto the road and Roger snickered under his breath as Sam’s cheeks heated.

“Shut up, I know, alright? I know.”

“We didn’t say anything!” Roger grinned cheekily at him, turning in his seat to face him as Sam pouted.

“Yeah! But, I thought you ‘didn’t want to settle down’ and that she ‘wasn’t your type’.” Jake pulled a voice, which Sam supposed was supposed to be an interpretation of him, but his eyebrows only furrowed as he glared at the back of his brother's head while the man continued to watch the road.

“Well, that was before I started picturing us living in that big house together and making breakfast, or slow-dancing at our damn wedding.” Letting out a huff at the words, he bit at the inside of his cheek to stop himself from smiling as the images came flooding back to his mind once again.

His phone buzzed in his pocket, and he pulled it out, Tinder sending him notifications and his thumb hovered over the screen, instead of tapping the app to open it he held his thumb down on it, clicking the ‘X’ on the corner. Confirming the deletion of the app, it disappeared from his home screen, and Sam felt like a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders as it went.

“So, why don’t you tell her?”

“Because I got caught up at the bar for almost an hour when I was supposed to be buying her a drink, and then I left without saying goodbye. She’s probably super mad at me, again, it’s like I cannot stop fucking up and I-”

[Unknown Number] me, u, ikea, and lunch in the cafe?

“-nevermind.” He couldn't stop the smile on his face, his fingers moving swiftly over the screen as he added you to his contacts and typed out a reply.

does sunday work for u?

He ignored Jake and Roger mumbling about him in the front seat, his cheeks aching from the smile on his face as words like ‘lovestruck’ and ‘idiot’ flew around him in the car from quiet mumbles. He adjusted himself in his seat, a hand rubbing at his jaw as he watched the three little dots on his screen dance up and down as you responded.

[cutie ❤️] it’s a date.

#sam taylor #sam taylor amazing stories #dylan obrien sam taylor #sam taylor x reader #sam taylor/reader #amazing stories #dylan obrien amazing stories #dylan o'brien amazing stories #dylan obrien #dylan obrien x reader #dylan obrien/reader #dylan o'brien #dylan o'brien x reader #dylan o'brien/reader #heart under construction #HUC

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slamsams-blog · 5 years ago

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A View To A Kill - #24WeeksofBond

This week’s feature is 1985′s “A View To A Kill”. This would be Roger Moore’s 7th and final Bond performance, and judging by Moore’s appearance in this film, it really was for the best. Man, am I torn with this one. I know as a self-proclaimed “Bond Expert” I should hate this movie...take a look at any Bond ranking blog out there and you’ll find the usual suspects rounding out the bottom 5, this film included. While it definitely has its faults (no pun intended), there is just something so unique and charming about this Bond adventure. Maybe it’s the horses, maybe it’s the unforgettable May Day character, maybe it’s the Christopher Walken effect, or maybe it’s the way Bond cooks up a killer Quiche...whatever it is, I just can’t help but enjoy myself when I watch this movie.

It all starts with a fun ski chase scene where Bond is out trying to find the body of a missing 003...he finds him and discovers a microchip in his locket. He must have been on the hunt for Zorin before Bond took over. Not sure, I may have missed it, but eventually the ski chase scene boils down and Bond picks up a board from his snow mobile that got shot down. This leads to “California Girls” playing while Bond snow boards his way out of a pickle. Watching this now - it’s utterly ridiculous and doesn’t quite fit the vibe of the rest of the scene, but when I watched this as a teenager, I absolutely LOVED it and it still brings me back to when I was a kid watching these Bond films for the first time.

We are then treated to a bad ass tune by Duran Duran. This song is one of my favorites. When I think of this movie, 2 things pop into my head right away: that California girls scene, and the Duran Duran song. So far this movie is hitting on all cylinders.

But before we go on with the plot...let’s talk about the elephant in the room, shall we? Bond is so uncomfortably old in this movie. It’s a shame really, this movie has a wonderful plot with amazing characters, incredible action, and a killer score, but the only thing a lot of people take away from it is how old Moore is. I don’t blame them, Moore is definitely a week past the sell by date here and he is still managing to get intimate with a few women. Eh, I really hate to say it, but it was a different time I guess. If Roger Moore had been a little younger or if Dalton had taken over this one...I think this movie would be towards the top of Bond lists everywhere.

Onto the plot...

It turns out this microchip is a copy of a Zorin Microchip that are designed to withstand a nuclear blast. So Bond is set to find Max Zorin (Christopher Walken) and see if there is anything suspicious. Well turns out his horses are really good...that’s enough to get a green light from her majesties secret service. Bond goes to meet some weirdo at the Eifel Tower to talk all things Zorin, but the weirdo gets killed by a poison butterfly toy. That’s funny to write. Anyways, now Bond is really on a mission...

The movie continues with Bond going under cover as a super rich and bossy horse buyer with another man from MI6 who is a horse expert. This part of the movie is just light hearted and fun. We see Bond bossing “Tibbit” around and schmoozing other party folk, and getting to know all the evil bad guys along the way. This is where we find out that Zorin inserts these microchips into the horse for an added boost during races.

Not only do we get to admire some beautiful horses, but we also get our first glimpse at Stacy Sutton (Tanya Roberts) who will go on later to be Bond’s helping force in taking Zorin down. She is seemingly getting a big pay off, for what? We don’t know yet. But instead of Bond getting information from her, how Bond usually does, in a steamy hotel on a moonlit night. Bond finds himself in bed with May Day, and the audience finds themselves uncomfortable with seeing old Moore naked in bed with naked Grace Jones.

Yeah....soooo anyways....

Like with most Bond movies, the plot always starts out rather simple but ends up being something bigger. Yes, Zorin is cheating to win these horse races, by steroids and microchip injection...but then we also find out that Zorin is an ex-KGB who is now doing his own thing. And apparently that thing is to destroy Silicon Valley, taking control of the microchip industry. We never really find out why he needs this, other than having a monopoly. But, why do you want a monopoly on the microchip business? Seems rather lame in my opinion, but it’s Zorin, and he’s got his reasons.

We really don’t deserve a Christopher Walken here, but we get him and its wonderful. Here is something I’ve never picked up before...apparently the old evil guy Hans Glaub was a nazi scientist who experimented with steroids in pregnant women in the concentration camps. The women who gave birth, gave birth to kids with extremely high IQ’s but were psycho paths, leading Bond to suspect Zorin was a product of that. NEVER KNEW THAT BACKSTORY UNTIL TONIGHT! CRAZY!

Well that definitely explains Walken’s performance. Christopher Walken does a fantastic job of playing an extremely charming, highly popular public figure, but also a completely sadistic, ruthless killer who finds killing people “neat”.

On top of having Christopher Walken and Grace Jones as the evil tandem, we get to witness some wonderfully absurd action. We have a Horse riding obstacle course that Bond must complete with 10 guys trying to knock him off; we have a Fire truck chase scene with Bond hanging on the ladder as it’s swinging through on coming traffic; and of course, the final boss battle on top of the Golden Gate Bridge. Some pretty awesome stuff here...but man is Roger Moore old.

Not only is this Roger Moore’s last Bond movie, it’s also the swan song for the best Moneypenny ever...Lois Maxwell - who had served as the Bond flirting secretary to M since the very first Bond movie. Lois had a wonderful career in the Bond series, but she too was getting old. It only seemed fitting that she and Moore go out at the same time to bring in some young blood.

Despite Moore’s age, and yes I know I’m beating a dead horse (that was an intended pun), but this movie does all it can to make up for it. There are so many memorable scenes in this film where I simply cannot in good conscious give this movie a bad review. I would definitely put this movie in a solid place in the middle of the pack, but not bottom 5, I mean come on, Christopher Walken alone moves the movie up 6 spots.

This really was fun to watch tonight. What did you all think? Let me know!

Reviews from Friends:

Dan Perch

Bond as St. John Smythe has to be my favorite fake name😂 Walken and Grace Jones were such a cool team to watch!

My Mom

Omg Sam this was the best bond movie and a fantastic write up on your blog. I laughed so hard at your commentary. You have the makings of a professional critic. You just have to fix that “anyways” habit. I can now see how you boys got addicted to Bond. I would put this brisk and boisterous film way up near the top. My gosh you should at the very least give it another half star. I loved it.

Andrew Albertsen

This was always one of my favorites

Jake Benrud

I had some of the same thoughts about this movie! "California Girls"? Really? I also don't think that Bond's knees could take those jumps at his age. It does make it kind of a fun scene though. I have had the "A View to a Kill" song stuck in my head all week. It's one of my favorite Bond songs as well. I also enjoyed the twang of the electric guitar with the 80's version of James Bond Theme song in the action sequences. Grace Jones as May Day was great. It was kind of funny to see the death by the poison butterfly on a fishing pole. I must have missed the connection on how the Nazi scientist who did experiments with steroids in pregnant women ended up being a father-figure to Zorin. Also, how did he become a KGB agent if he was the product of a Nazi experiment? I guess he could have jumped ship to the next "evil empire." Walken played the part well. I liked his laugh just before plummeting to his death.

24 Weeks of Bond will return next Monday with -

Goldeneye

#24WeeksofBond #roger moore #christopher walken #a view to a kill #james bond #grace jones

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justlookatthosesausages · 6 years ago

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Angry prompt: Anna travels back in time and meets a scared Kid!Elsa of about 10.

Instinctively, Anna immediately knew that she had time traveled. She could feel something was odd. Something in the air. The way the castle was so silent. In this summer time, usually, she could hear the rumble of the servants walking around, being busy with tasks, or hear the voices coming from the sailors of the fjord by the open windows, or from the village. And the guards who would casually chat while walking down the corridors. And the giggles of Olaf. And so much more. But now, it was completely silent. It sounded like it was a calm winter night at 3 in the morning, nevertheless the sun was up and warm. What was going on?

With a frown, Anna kept pacing through the castle, entering some rooms one after one, and her worried expression got even bigger when she saw how sad every room looked like. Life had left home… She understood that it was due to the new staff not being hired yet. She remembered how silent it was back when she was alone.

“This may seem crazy, but I definitely time traveled.” Murmured Anna, closing another room with a shiver at how gloomy it was.

That shiver suddenly made her realize something, and it impacted her like a punch in the stomach.

“Elsa.”

Her eyes widened. “…Elsa.” She repeated, this time higher.

“ELSA!” She nearly screamed, her voice powered by both panic, adrenalin, and delight to know that she was able to change things.

The Princess looked around, trying to locate herself, and she knew where to go to knock to the right door. Anna ran through the whole floor, taking shortcuts, so fast that she tripped on the corner of a carpet in a living room.

“Goddamnit”, she swore, standing up again after nearly hitting her head on the parquet. “I’m glad they changed this carpet since. I kept stumbling on it when I was younger.”

She smiled internally thinking that tripping on it with an adult body was the proof that it was the carpet’s fault and not hers, proving a point, though she was focused on Elsa again. As she was about to step out of the room, she suddenly heard voices, and hurried back inside. Anna hid against the wall as two servants passed, and spied on them through the thin opening. She recognized one of the two as Gerda, and she was at least 10 years younger.

Something turned in Anna’s stomach. First of all, it was the ultimate proof that her theory was right: she did time traveled. Second of all… How old was Elsa going to be? If she even let her in…

Anna crossed her fingers, and made the promise to herself to only ask once, and if the young Elsa refuses to open the door, she would let her be. She knew her sister by heart now since the Great Thaw, and Elsa certainly wouldn’t appreciate to be forced to do something.

Once she was sure that the two servants walked away, she checked left and right in the corridor and hurried to the room on the other side, which was the library. It was a place she knew by heart, and a perfect shortcut to the west aisle where Elsa’s bedroom was. Plus, there was zero risk of coming across servants, soldiers or anyone, and even her own young self, if that awkward situation came to happen. She knew that by a sunny day like this one, she was in the garden rolling in the grass.

With a sigh, Anna entered, and closed the door behind her. She walked to the other door when she unexpectedly heard a noise.

She ducked behind a shelf and peeked through the books to see on the other side. Two aisles further, she saw that someone was reading, sit on the floor, and the ruffling noise of a turned page came again. It was obvious that the person was clueless of her presence, and Anna considered the idea of immediately getting away by the door she came in.

Then she heard a sniffing.

Her heart froze in her chest.

Her eyes went wide, and she slowly turned her head around to watch one more time. She couldn’t see well with the books and the distance, but the person was very small, and had platinum blond hair for sure. Now Anna’s entire body felt like stopping. And she was so shocked that she didn’t pay attention to the way her knee was pushing a big book down. It made a huge noise hitting the floor, and Anna was so clumsy trying to stop it that several other books went down, making a loud mess.

“Wh-Who’s there?” Jumped a young Elsa, suddenly standing up.

Anna gulped.

“Who’s there?” Asked Elsa again, now more firmly. She was scared, but so upset that someone spied on her, that she had gained confidence. In other circumstances, it would have made Anna smile. However, she was now wincing, with eyes round.

“Nobody?” She was stupid enough to answer, and immediately facepalmed.

The young Elsa frowned and slowly walked around the aisle.

“This is not funny”, she muttered.

‘I know’, thought Anna with a sigh. She looked through her fingers and her blood turned when she realized that Elsa was walking closer and about to see her face. Changing the future was a really bad idea, on second thought. She stepped back, making sure to stay in the blind spot.

“Don’t come any closer!” Exclaimed Anna, as a warning.

She realized how bad that sounded, but couldn’t add anything or she was going to be busted. Her eyes clenched shut. There was a silence.

“…You’re right…” Murmured Elsa, and Anna heard on the creaking parquet that she was turning around and going back to her pile of books. She sat down on the floor again. “…I’m too dangerous. It’s better if you keep your distance.”

Anna’s eyes opened briskly, and she masked a gasp behind her palms. A tear rolled on her cheek, and she bit through a sob to not make any sound. How did she dare. How did she even dare. Yet she didn’t have the choice. And she hadn’t even seen her face…

The redhead kneeled again, spying through the rare slits of the library and looking at the sad little girl. She was so young… Anna could only see the back of Elsa’s head and a bit of her pale face, a part of her blue dress, and tiny, tiny little hands turning the pages of what looked like a geometry book. Another detail that would have made Anna smile if her hands weren’t covered with white gloves. She had to hold another sob and it formed a painful ball in her throat, her vision getting blurred with new tears. She wiped them, and the rustling of her sleeves must have been noisy, because the young Elsa turned her face a bit.

“It’s Kai who send you, isn’t it?” She asked, with a small but firm voice. “I’m still not hungry. You can tell him I’m sorry for skipping lunch.”

Anna didn’t know what to respond. And Elsa probably was waiting for an answer. Now it was time to think before talking.

“I… Uhm… I’ll tell him.”

“Okay”, simply said Elsa, and her weak voice was both due to emotion and distraction due to her reading.

Another silence passed, and Anna was paralyzed. Elsa sniffed again. Never in a long while had Anna wanted to tackle her sister into a hug so bad, but she knew it would scare Elsa to death. She gulped.

“Are you okay?”

Elsa jumped. “You’re still here?”

“Yes, sorry. I’m just… Checking on you. Are you alright?”

The young child didn’t know what to answer. “It’s okay. I’m just… Sad. I need some time to be alone.”

“I understand.” Immediately said Anna.

The redhead bit her lip thinking this wasn’t going to make things better. “Do you mind if I stay, though? Just for a little while. I promise I won’t get closer.”

A silence passed, and surprisingly, Elsa nodded with an approving ‘hmm’. Anna blinked through new tears and slowly sat on the floor, her back against the wall. Now what was between the two sisters was two aisles of books and ten to fifteen years of age. The only sounds heard in the room was the sniffing of Elsa and the pages turned. She looked fascinated by what she was reading, thought Anna, and she was glad that Elsa found a passion for architecture so early. It also was chasing her sadness away, and it was excellent news.

“Interesting book, isn’t it?” She asked in a soft voice.

Elsa was surprised by that intervention, but clenched the book with her gloves fingers. “Yes. I know it by heart. I like it a lot. Symmetry.”

That’s all she said, too shy to actually have a chat, but it was amazing to Anna’s ears anyway.

“Did you read the one with the triangles?”

The young blonde lifted her head, apparently delighted by the suggestion. “There’s one with triangles?!”

Anna smiled for the first time, and it was because Elsa’s happy voice was soothing to the heart. “Yeah, it’s somewhere in the same collection, I think it’s…”

She stood up and look, and saw a green book with golden letters on the top shelf. “…At the top of the aisle. Crap.”

Elsa lifted her eyes. “It’s too high for me. And I’m not good with the ladder. I’m afraid to fall.”

Anna had a think. “Hey, close your eyes, okay? Just for a minute.”

“What? Why?”

“Trust me.”

For some reason, Elsa gained confidence in her, and did as said. Now she was standing still, eyes closed, and Anna quickly walked to the aisle, picked up the book, and was about to put it in Elsa’s hands.

Her heart dropped into her soul, though a giant smile stretched her lips. Young Elsa was really cute, with her closed eyes and lifted face, chin up, hair bright in the light, and Anna couldn’t help but notice the fatigue on her face. Now that she was so close, she wanted to cuddle and tell her that everything was going to be alright. Yet she was wise and kept her distance. She clenched her hands on the book, and looked at Elsa one last time.

“Don’t open your eyes until I tell you, okay?”

“Hmm-hmm”, said Elsa, and a little smile appeared on her face.

It was enough to make Anna beam, and she put the book in her hands. Slowly, she stepped backwards to the door, and started to go out. With one last smile, she looked at her baby sister before closing the door.

“You can open your eyes now, Elsa.”

The young child blinked, looking around, and stared at the big book filled with new geometry drawings and theories. She smiled widely and lifted her head.

“Thank you!”

However, the person was gone. Elsa was confused, but eventually sat down, and started to read.

#l-egionaire #asks #frozen prompts #listen: i nearly cried typing this drabble #so if you felt your heart split it half #it's totally share by yours truly #i'm shacking #frozen drabbles #frozen fanfics #frozen #snow sisters #young elsa #time travel au #tt au #frozen time travel au

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misterewrites · 6 years ago

Text

Jack’s Annoyingly Insightful Mall Trip

Hello everyone, Mr.E here with a fun little story. Working hard to get back into to writing and today I am happy to bring you a little nova story! YAY! been forever. So I have to make this quick because it’s late but basically my good friend deth @marionette-j2x asked me for a little oneshot story and here it is.

So basically a kinda noncanon story that is set a few months after the last major story arc of Nova vs. Jack is searching for a new bowtie in the one place he hates the most: the mall. During his search, he runs into a familiar blue haired maid and makes a deal in exchange to save his beloved accessory.

That’s it for me for now. I am a bit rusty but I hope you enjoy the story. Also slight nova spoilers. Jelina everyone’s favorite blue haired maid belongs to my good friend deth @marionette-j2x and Jack is mine. Have an amazing week and I’ll see you all soon!

Jack mumbled unhappily to himself as he wandered the Echo Creek Mall alone, the handful of people scattered about really highlighting the vast emptiness of the building.

Normally Jack wouldn’t have come at all on a Monday but with his mother currently overseas and the need for a new bowtie imminent, he had no choice to but brave the sea of similar stores trying to sell him the same thing.

He had been hoping his two best friends would have been able to join him on this trip but naturally the two were quick to play their excuses: Nova was supposedly forced to go to Mewni with her mother and Connor claimed that he was currently trying to prevent roombas from escaping into the outside world.

Jack scoffed in disbelief “They’re vacuum cleaners. Of course they don’t have any natural predators”

Jack stopped mid-step once he remembered what exactly Connor’s parents did for a living.

“Oh that’s actually terrifying.”

He shook his head, trying to clear the thought away as he resumed his search.

His eyes lazily glanced from storefront to storefront, each increasingly less appealing than the last.

A sigh escaped his lips as Jack rubbed the now empty space where his beloved bowtie once was. He felt so off without his signature accessory but nothing could be done about it. It was torn and Jack’s years of ignoring his mother trying to teach him how to maintain and fix various fabrics had gotten back at the magician at least.

Not that he would ever admit that.

Jack scratched his cheek mindlessly, trying his best to stay focus on the task but between the fact that he didn’t really want to be here especially alone and that none of the bowties he had seen so far really spoke to him, he really just wanted to go home and risk heading to the monthly magician’s meeting tie less.

“Ugggggggggggggh” Jack whined “Whyyyyyy is this so annoyingly hard? Why can’t it be like those cartoons where the character wanders around for like a second and then the perfect bowtie is just there, gleaming brightly within some unrealistic angelic glow, beckoning them to buy them. Probably at an insanely high price for comedic effect.” Jack gave a playful shrug “Thank Hades I’m rich annnnnd I’m talking to myself. Yeah, time to go.”

He pivoted on his feet, turning towards entrance when he was blinded by a harsh light. He covered his eyes, hissing furiously.

“Whoops” a voice called out “Sorry about that. Let me just put the cover back on annnnnd...”

The lights dimmed as Jack rubbed his eyes. He squinted carefully at the man putting the plastic covering back onto the overhead lights.

“Sorry kid!” The janitor apologized while he climbed down the ladder “I forget how bright these bulbs are.”

Jack groaned, absolutely done with this entire trip when he spotted a familiar person.

His eyes narrowed, unable to keep the glare out of his gaze as she came strolling into the mall.

Jack ducked behind a nearby trash can, squatting low to make sure Jelina didn’t see him.

His mind raced with suspicious thoughts: Though Star and the council had cleared Kim and his maids several months ago citing some sort of mind control played a part in Nova’s abduction, Jack was naturally less inclined to trust them. Especially with the whole shooting a rocket at him and his favorite human.

Might’ve made it a bit personal to him.

Just a little.

If Jack didn’t know better (Which, luckily, he did) he would’ve guessed she was a simple, slightly robotic looking human just exploring the mall. She was dressed far more casually than the last time the two meet: A blue blouse with black undershirt, dark blue demi jeans and flipflops though she still kept her hair up in her buns with her two headphone..antennas? Were they antennas or…

“Focus Jack!” the magician scolded himself.

He expected Kim and her sisters to come walking in after her but aside from checking her comically large purse for a moment and quizzically staring at her surroundings, no one came and Jelina tentatively began walking towards the center of the mall.

Jack rose to full height, still openly glaring. She had to be up to something! She was a demon lord’s maid and Jack knew first hand the only reason demons come to Earth was because they’re bored. He should know that’s why he lived here.

“Hey kid.” The janitor asked with a hint of concern “Are...are you okay? You’re still squinting. I-I can get you some eye drops if you need them.”

“I’m fine” Jack growled

“…..okay.”

Jack bolted, quickly closing the gap between him and Jelina. He was going to find out what evil deed she was up to, no matter how long it took!

10 minutes later

“Ugggggggggggggh” Jack whined, trying his best to prevent boredom from overtaking his resolve as he hid against a wall.

Jelina was a very uninteresting subject to follow. So far she wandered aimlessly, taking a second to look at a store or vendor booth before timidly shuffling to another location. Once or twice she would take a step forward towards entering a place before changing her mind and altering course. The only thing that seemed to really catch her attention were some stuff animals at a toy store but even that wasn’t enough to lure her within. Jack was starting to suspect she knew someone was tailing her and was trying to bore them into leaving. That was the only explanation he could think of about her strange actions though he was fairly certain she wasn’t aware of who was on her trail.

“Hello Mr. Ordonia”

Jack jumped back startled, wincing in pain when the back of his skull slammed into the wall behind him.

“Oww! Son of...” He grimaced.

Jelina’s face was indifferent though Jack could see the subtle crook of a smile.

“I am sorry if I startled you” She spoke neutrally “It was not my intention.”

“Sure” Jack replied sarcastically “How did you even know I was here?”

Jelina gestured to her headphones “I heard you talking to yourself about me. I suspect you assume I am for some sinister purpose. I can assure you I am simply a tourist today.”

“A tourist? To Earth?” Jack rose an eyebrow “No demon is that bored!”

“Good thing I am a cyborg.” Jelina answered. Jack could hear the sass behind those words.

“Let’s say I believe you.” Jack began.

“You clearly don’t.”

Jack ignored her “Why the mall? This place isn’t even exciting during peak hours. Pretty strange place to pick on your day off. If it is your day off!”

Jack gave an accusatory point with his finger but Jelina just nodded “Yes it is in fact my day off.”

Jack’s finger dropped as he tried to process this information “I...but...”

“To speed this along, my lord, my sisters and I are currently under probation. After being monitored for several months along with full cooperation, the council has agreed to lift the dimensional travel ban under the condition we do not cause further trouble. Master Kim felt terrible about the situation we accidentally were dragged into and gave us each a day off.”

“So where are your sisters?” Jack eyed the surroundings carefully, half expecting them to jump out in an ambush.

Jelina took a deep breath “While I am grateful and respect the lord of the manor, I am afraid we would return to a pile of ash if we left Master Kim unattended for a day.

Jack laughed “Hahah that’s funny. Demon lords are so helpless.”

“Like you?”

Jack huffed causing Jelina to grin mischievously

“So let me guess, it’s your turn and you decided to come to a mall?”

“Of course.”

“Why?”

It was subtle but there was a shift in Jelina’s stance. What was once indifference was now guarded though timid.

“I am afraid to admit to you that I do not leave the house often.”

“No kidding” Jack smirked.

It was Jelina’s turn to glare “Well in any case I decided my first trip onto Earth should be the mall. It is such staple of many movies it seemed a perfect first choice.”

“Riiiiiight okay I’m going to go now. Bye!”

“Wait.”

Jack paused, surprised at the softness in the maid’s voice.

“I...” Jelina gulped nervously “I...don’t know how this works….”

“The mall? It’s not….” Jack caught the embarrassed blush on her cheeks “...always easy to navigate the first time.”

Jack let out a sigh “Okay, look if I help you through the mall, can you do me a favor?”

“Oh?” Jelina tiled her head quizzically “I admit I wasn’t expecting that to be honest but I suppose if it’s within my power and reasonable.”

“You’re a maid, right?”

“You know this Mr. Ordonia.”

Jack narrowed his eyes at the smiling Jelina “Call me Jack. Anyway, I take it you have someone who maintains Kim’s clothing? Like a tailor?”

Jelina nodded in agreement “Yes. Do you need something made or repaired?”

“Yeaaaah. If I show you around the mall, will you have them fix my bowtie?”

“That seems fair though you may have to wait a while for the tailor to perform their work.”

“That’s fine, better than wandering this hellscape for a replacement. Alright, where do you want to go first?”

_____________________________________________

“Sooooo” Jack gestured halfheartedly to the loose circle of various food booths “This is the food court where there is a court..of food.”

Jelina’s blue eyes sparkled with excitement “Interesting though I imagine this must be difficult for someone particularly indecisive. I am surprised the Underworld hasn’t adopted this as a form of torture.”

“Oh I’m sure my father is working on it” Jack murmured unhappily.

Jelina glanced at the half demon out of the corner of her eye but decided it was best to say nothing.

“Do you think we can try one?”

“Umm yeah...sure. What are you feeling? Burger? Chicken bowl? Pizza?”

“…..”

Jack rose an eyebrow as Jelina stood there, eyes darting back and forth between the various options.

“You trying to pick?”

“Yes”

“Indecisive, are we?”

Jelina’s indifferent face broke into a surprisingly cute pout that caught Jack completely unaware.

“No, I am calculating the best choice for a meal.”

“Yeah, I’m not buying that.”

“That is because you suck Jack.”

Jelina giggled playfully, breaking into a sprint as Jack gave chase.

______________________________________________________

Jack lazily tossed a fry into his mouth as Jelina cheerfully finished up her burger.

“I think I want to go here” Jelina gestured to a storefront, making her way within with Jack close behind.

“There seems to be a theme here.” Jelina thought out while she took in the various clothing options and designs “Are you sure a demon didn’t create a mall?”

Jack shrugged “Who knows but either way they were clearly some sort of evil.”

Jelina pursed her lips, eyes scanning the room as she wandered about.

Jack rolled his eyes, batting at various articles of clothing out of boredom. Just pat that, move this, touch this jacket for a while because the fabric felt nice.

“Jack?”

Jack snapped out of his thought, dropping the jacket sleeve as Jelina stared at him curiously.

“Are you alright? You weren’t talking about yourself so I assumed you had been arrested for shoplifting.”

“Ha ha. Shows what you know, I wouldn’t have been caught.” Jack beamed with pride.

“And you’re proud of this?”

Jack grumbled “You are just the worst….”

“Anyway” Jelina continued “I managed to find some clothes my sisters would love.”

Jack glanced over the articles of clothing and scoffed, snatching them from Jelina’s grip and shoving them onto the clearance rack.

“Hey! I was going to buy those!” Jelina angrily shouted, reaching for the discarded clothing only to have Jack stop her with an outstretched hand.

“No you’re not. That brand is my mom’s chief rival. You don’t want that trash.”

“I will not conform to your biases Jack. If I wish to buy these items, I will.”

“Fine but you’re going to have to have your tailor stitch holes and tears by next week assuming if they even last that long. The fabric is cheap, the sewing shoddy and it’s overpriced.”

Jelina rose an eyebrow “and I’m supposed to believe you?”

Jack waved his hand dismissively as he made his way out of the store “What do I care? It’s your money you’re wasting. My mom’s a lot of things but at least she takes pride in her work.”

Jelina thoughtfully watched the retreating figure of the magician.

Jack fumed on the outside bench, hands cradling his head while he murmured to himself “I really shouldn’t have said anything. What does it even matter? I don’t care. Why should I care what she spends her money on?”

What was he even doing? This was the same person that tried to blow him apart half a year ago and while she ultimately helped and even saved his life, it was less of being a good person and more to save her master. He should just go home and accept that his bowtie was dead and there was nothing to do but give it a proper viking funeral.

Jack went silent as he heard the clack, clack, clack of Jelina’s flip flops approaching.

“I take it your mother is a fashion designer?”

Jack scoffed “What gave it away?”

“Since you convinced me not to buy second rate clothing that my sisters would’ve adored, can you help me find your mother’s brand? And for your sake, they better be as cute as the ones I found.”

“….Fine but only because my mom would kill me if I didn’t at least try to push a sale.”

Jelina gave Jack a gentle smile.

Jack coughed awkwardly as he stood up.

______________________________________________

“So does Master Kim not give you ice cream or do you not know what it is?” Jack teased as the two patiently waited in the line.

Well Jelina was waiting patiently, Jack had his arm crossed, tapping his foot in an annoying fashion.

“Of course I know what ice cream is Jack” Jelina shot back “But this would be the first time in a long time that I wouldn’t have to fight off my sisters for such a treat.”

“Why don’t you all just buy your own?”

“We do. We really just love ice cream.”

“I can strangely relate. I too usually am trying steal ice cream from my friends.”

“I cannot see why Connor puts up with your antics”

“Probably my charm and good grace.”

“It’s certainly not for you humor that’s for sure.”

Jack mumbled under his breath while Jelina gave a crooked smirk. He opened his mouth retort when he caught sight of the headphones covering her ears. She had been wearing them all day. He assumed that it was a personal preference but in this moment, he couldn’t help but recall her words earlier. She was a cyborg which meant she possessed robotic parts intermixed within her human body.

Did Kim do this to her? Was it to save her life or maybe to ruin it? Demons weren’t exactly known for their kindness and that thought made Jack squirm uneasily.

“Stop staring Jack. It’s quite rude and for you, that’s saying something.”

Jack snapped out of it, trying to ignore the icy glance the blue haired maid was sending his way.

“I wasn’t staring, I was thinking.”

Jelina’s eyes widened in surprise “That explains the smoke coming out of your ears. Must be overworking your poor brain.”

“More like underworking.”

“That’s not a word.”

“And you’re not even human!”

Jack hadn’t meant to snap. He didn’t even know why he responded so poorly. It wasn’t anger. It wasn’t even embarrassment. Maybe some part of him realized how much fun he was having with a near stranger. Maybe he was scared of being lured into a false sense of security, of being set up for some malicious or ill intent. Maybe it was because how easy it was to be so comfortable Jelina that threw him off. He had only met her twice and he already felt like he knew her his entire life. A strange and foreign connection that formed far more quickly than he expected. Someone as sassy and witty as him that he didn’t mind spending time with.

There was a thick pause as the words tumbled out of Jack’s mouth. If Jelina was hurt or shocked by his response, she didn’t show it but Jack could feel her attitude shift, a distance that wasn’t there before suddenly grew once more.

Jelina sighed “I am human. Just not completely. Was that what you were thinking of?”

“I...”

“Everyone does” Jelina spoke softly “Sooner or later they noticed my antennas or my headphones or the camera lens in my eyes.”

Jack was confused “Wait, there’s camera lens in your...”

“And they always think how human I must really be” Jelina pushed on “I am very human Mr. Ordonia.”

“Wait, that’s not what I...”

“I think I should go.” there was a finality in her voice that made Jack fidget guiltily.

She turned to him, shook his hand politely and gave a little nod “Thank you for your time”

“Hey wait a minute” Jack growled “I wasn’t thinking about how human you are. I was thinking….”

Jelina was unconvinced “You do not have to lie to me Mr. Ordonia. I know it is your prefer method of avoiding responsibility but I can assure you I am used such responses.”

“Fine” Jack huffed “Fine, what do I care? Just...fine!”

Jack stomped off, unable to control his rage despite his best efforts.

This is why he didn’t help people. This is why he hated the mall and this is why he was just going to go straight home.

____________________________________________________

He hadn’t. Guilt set in shortly after and when he returned to fix his mistakes like Connor taught him, Jelina was nowhere to be seen.

Many people who knew Jack would assume by performing this bare minimum effort to apologize he would clear his conscience and was now able to go home.

But those who truly knew him knew what he was about to do, driven by deep seated moral code he pretended he didn’t have.

He searched the mall. The second floor, the various stores, the court of food, even asking people to check the bathrooms for him. Seconds into minutes into an hour and still he searched.

He nearly gave up and took the weight of his guilt home with him until he heard the scuffling of sneakers across the sleek mall floor somewhere close by. Jack may have been a subpar student with an attention span of a rodent when forced to deal with things he’d rather not but that didn’t mean he was some simpleton.

That particular squeak was caused when someone was putting all their weight down on the balls of their feet, usually in order to brace for impact or preparing to lunge at someone.

Jack rounded the corner to a group of older teens, hands clenched into fists and snarling at Jelina who stood in front a younger girl who clutched at the blue haired maid’s bag fearfully.

“We just wanted the money she owed us” One of the boys shouted, eyes narrowing in righteous fury.

“Stop lying” Jelina scoffed “I know a bully when I see one. You will leave this poor girl alone.”

The trio laughed “Or what?”

“You really don’t want to know” Jack spoke up without warning.

The tap on his shoulder caused one of the bullies to whirl around in surprise, fist raised but Jack had flicked his nose, sending the unprepared bully staggering backwards.

“You best be off and mind your own business.” The leader spoke up, eyes shifting warily between Jelina and Jack on either side of him.

“Bold words for someone whose on fire.”

“What?”

Before anyone realized what was going on, the teen who stumbled over Jack’s sneak attack spontaneously caught ablaze, flame burning the fabric for a moment as smoke rose upwards. An alarm blared while the sprinklers sprung to life, dousing the flame and bullies into a soppy wet mess. They shouted obscene curse words as they bolted past the lazy magician, tripping and flailing of over the slippy wet floor, the yells of the security guard trailing close behind the trio as they attempted to escape.

Jelina sighed in relief before glancing at the little girl “Are you safe?”

She nodded happily “Thank you!” and she launched herself into Jelina’s arm, wrapping the maid in a tight hug before leaving to search for her mother.

Jelina smiled warmly at the act but when she glanced back, Jack was nowhere to be seen.

Jelina raced down the hallway as quickly as she could only to find Jack casually leaning against the wall, grinning mischievously at the sight of the bullies being hauled away by mall security for setting a fire.

Jelina stood there awkwardly, unsure what to say to the demonic prince. While she no doubt could’ve handled those punks with no issues, she was grateful she didn’t have to wipe blood from her knuckles.

“You’re welcome.”

Jack’s soft voice surprised Jelina.

“I could’ve handled it myself but thank you all the same”

Jack stretched his arms “I know but I figured this was better than you getting in trouble with the council. Wouldn’t want you to be stuck at home for another god knows how many months.”

Jelina hadn’t thought of that. Had she picked the fight with the bullies, even in self defense and defense of another, it was entirely possible the council would’ve viewed it as causing trouble and forced her under harsh monitoring.

“….Thank you Jack.”

Jack grinned impishly “There’s the real one. Well since that concludes our business together.”

Jack pushed off the wall, turning away towards the exit when a hand gripped his shoulder gently.

“Jack….what were you thinking when you were lost in thought?”

“Oh now you believe me.” Jack raised an eyebrow.

Jelina pulled back her hand “You did set someone on fire for me after presumably looking to apologize. It’s only fair I hear what lie you came up with.”

“I never apologize” Jack exclaimed before glancing away “But I have to admit when I really thought about your….cyborgness...”

“Not a word.” Jelina cut in.

“Not caring” Jack continued “I wasn’t thinking if you were human because you clearly are. Like duh. I was thinking did Kim save you or did he do that to you. Demon lords aren’t exactly known….”

“For their kindness” Jelina finished “That is a fair question. I am not used to someone who understands the inter workings of demonic culture so intimately.”

“Yeah me either.”

Jelina paused for a moment, collecting her thoughts and deciding on how best to answer the question “Yes Master Kim did perform the operation on me though it was to save my life and the lives of my sisters. We owe him so much and he has always been kind to us. That’s why we refused to leave his side even when he was clearly not himself.”

“And why you were willing to free me and Connor.” Jack filled in.

Jelina nodded in agreement “You were our best hope….I am sorry I assumed poorly of you. Despite this last hour, I had fun today.”

“Well I didn’t”

Jelina’s face fell “Oh….I...”

“But” Jack rubbed his neck timidly “That’s my fault. I was so caught up in your angle and what you were planning that I pretty much was on guard about everything. When I finally actually stopped and looked at you, thinking about what you’ve been through….well I dunno I guess I wasn’t liking the fact you weren’t as bad as I thought you were. Even if you are really annoying.”

Jelina stifled a chuckle “Just because I do not think poorly of you does not mean you are not irritating.”

“Look, about the bowtie….”

“Oh right” Jelina snapped fingers “Do you have it on you? Given how far you were willing to go just to repair it, I suspect you do.”

“Yes” Jack began slowly “But given how much trouble I almost got you in, it’s okay if...”

“Hand it over Hellspawn.”

Jack wasn’t sure how to feel about the sudden name calling, no matter how accurate, and decided perhaps it was best to just to give her the bowtie. He fished it gingerly out of his pocket and carefully handed it over. It didn’t really matter, the tailor must’ve been back in the Underworld and lord knows how long it took them to fix tears on fabrics. It was only fair that he wait however long it took.

Jelina studied the rip on the strap cautiously as she fished out a small square kit from her purse. She pulled out a sewing needle and thread and before Jack could mutter a single confused curse, she began stitching the beloved bowtie back together, her work fast, efficient and effortlessly. Less than a minute later, the repair work was complete and Jack held his precious bowtie in his hand good as new.

“Thank you for a wonderful day Jack.” Jelina politely bowed and quickly strolled away.

“You are the literal worst maidy!” Jack called out, no real bite to his insult.

Jelina simply smiled to herself, humming softly as she made her way back home.

#nova vs drabble #Jack Ordonia Lucitor #Jelina #OCS!#my story #deth ocs

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winryofresembool · 6 years ago

Text

Edwin week, day 7: Promise

Summary: Ed brings Winry a special gift from Creta (and may also attempt to ask a question). (Part 2/2)

A/N: here is the second part to the fic I started yesterday! <- Go read it first if you haven’t, as this will make more sense after that. This is my last post for the Edwin week (;_____;) this year so I’d like to thank the mods for organizing this event, and everyone for the amazing contributions! ♥ It’s been a real blast, and I hope to see you guys again next year! But now, enjoy this, and don’t forget to review!

@503week

AO3

Words: 1900+

Genre: floof

Warnings: Ed’s language

The day of Winry’s homecoming started surprisingly smoothly. When she exited the train, Ed was at the platform waiting for her, with a small bouquet of flowers he had picked on his way to the station in his hands. Al had once again insisted that’s what he should do, especially after what had happened to his automail. That way he could most likely protect himself from Winry’s wrath for a moment longer.

Winry was all smiles when she spotted her fiancé’s (she wasn’t sure what name to use) golden hair among the crowd. As she got closer, she noticed he had flowers in his hands, and her happiness changed into confusion. Since when was Ed so considerate that he’d even bring flowers? She got a strong suspicion that Ed had some ulterior motive, because the Ed she knew wasn’t usually that thoughtful. Of course it was possible, she thought, that Al was behind it… She decided to not question it as she finally reached her destination and gave Ed a warm hug.

“Hi! I wasn’t expecting to see you here!” she greeted him when they separated, Ed offering to carry her bag.

“Of course I came! You’re… I mean, that old hag would have made me wash two months’ worth of laundry if I had stayed in the house,” Ed claimed. “She’s still doting on Al; he only has to peel a couple of potatoes for the stew…”

“Right,” Winry snickered, seeing right through him. The blush on his face told her that was actually not the reason why he was there.

“Uh, these are for you,” he pushed the bouquet in Winry’s hands awkwardly.

“Aw, thank you, Ed! They look nice.” She buried her face into them for a moment, taking in their nice scent.

“That was nothing… So, how was your trip?” he asked quickly before Winry could think of some other way to make him blush.

“It was good! I am so close to getting my official automail mechanic license now! Mr. Garfiel still wants me to write a final analysis on the use of different metals in automail limbs, but that’s easy for me, I have years of practice on… why are you looking at me like that?” Winry asked when she saw Ed stare at him weirdly.

“No reason… I had just forgotten how passionate you get about mechanical limbs,” Ed grinned, making Winry glare at him angrily. “Sorry, sorry. Please, go on! You were about to say something about that analysis…” Ed had realized that the longer he let her rant, the less likely she was to pay attention to his slight limping, but there was something else too; he actually found himself interested in what she had to say.

“You were actually listening?” Winry asked with surprise.

“Why do you sound so surprised, I always listen…” Ed retorted.

“Yeah, right. Well, anyway… As you know, some metals are lighter and thus more comfortable for the user to wear, while…”

Winry continued her ranting happily all the way to the Rockbell house, while Ed made an occasional short comment. He sighed of relief when they made it inside the house without her noticing his issue at all.

…

Later that afternoon, it seemed it would start raining soon, and a neighbor of the Rockbells came to ask if someone would be willing to fix a hole on the roof of his sheep barn before that. He would have done it himself, but his back had been acting up a lot recently, and he didn’t think he’d be able to climb on the roof in that condition. Ed volunteered, happy about an excuse to get away from Winry’s knowing look for a moment.

In about 15 minutes, Ed managed to get the roof fixed with no problems. However, things took a turn for worse when he was trying to come down the ladder. It had gotten slippery in the rain, and unfortunately for Ed, he was wearing a shoe only on his real leg because he hadn’t bothered to put the other one on for such a short period of time. The combination of smooth, wet wood and a metal leg turned out to be dangerous for Ed, who could only scream when he slipped on the ladder and fell several meters before hitting the ground. Thankfully, there was nothing sharp under him, so his real limbs got off with relatively little damage… but he wasn’t so lucky with his automail. It got big dents on the surface, and based on the weird feeling on his leg, Ed was worried the wiring had gotten damaged too. Winry would definitely kill him now…

“Are you alright?” the neighbor asked him worriedly when he saw Ed lying on the ground helplessly.

“I… think so,” Ed lied, cringing as he tried to put on some weight on his automail leg.

“You don’t look OK… Let me take you home with my horse,” the man offered. “You are lucky that you have two medical experts living under the same roof with you… They will surely be able to check you up.”

“Lucky… or doomed.” Ed mumbled under his breath as he sat down on the carriage that took him back home.

…

“What happened?” Al yelped immediately when he saw Ed’s condition.

“I just fell from the ladder a couple of meters… The damn automail made me slip. But don’t worry about it… I have been in much…”

“Brother!” Al stopped him angrily. “I don’t care if you have fought Homunculi and gotten me back from the gate! You should be more careful. That could have ended badly.”

“Al, relax… I swear I’m OK, I just…”

Ed didn’t get to finish his sentence because a young woman’s voice said quietly:

“Edward…”

The blood seemed to escape Ed’s brain when he saw the sadness in Winry’s eyes. She had of course seen that the automail she had built with love was hanging from its port in an awkward position, and the skin of his arms was scraped badly.

“Win, please, let me explain…”

“What is there to explain? That you are the most reckless, irresponsible…” At that point Winry’s voice got so high pitched that Ed couldn’t figure out what else she said. She swept the corners of her eyes with her hands and ran back inside without looking back again. To Ed, that reaction was far worse than if she just started yelling at him.

“What the fuck was that about? Shouldn’t she be happy that I didn’t break my neck or something? Does she only care about her automail?!” Ed asked, kicking the ground with frustration.

“Brother…” Al said calmly. “I really don’t think she was upset about the automail this time, no matter what she says. She must have heard what happened to you and she simply freaked out.”

“Yeah but why?”

“Edward,” Al said seriously (Ed noticed that he used his full first name instead of the usual ‘brother), “you asked her to become your wife, and you still don’t understand how she’s feeling? Imagine how you’d react if Winry fell the same way you did and hurt herself in the process? Possibly because of your automail?”

“Oh,” Ed finally understood Al’s point. “I guess I really messed up. Again…”

“But it was an accident!” Al reminded him. “Just go tell her you are alright. I’m sure she will want to fix that automail of yours.”

“Fine.” Ed gritted his teeth. “Uh, can you help me out a bit? It’s a bit hard to walk with this…” He pointed at his automail.

Al helped Ed inside and upstairs where Winry’s room was but left him alone as Ed braced himself to knock on her door.

“Winry…” Ed said tentatively.

No response.

“Winry, I’m coming in.”

When he opened the door, he was surprised to see Winry working on a blueprint at her desk.

“What are you doing?” he asked, just to say something. He had never been good at this kind of stuff.

“Drawing an automail leg blueprint for an idiot who can’t take care of it,” she said without lifting her gaze from her paper once.

“About what you may have heard outside…” Ed said hesitantly, “I never meant it was your automail’s fault I fell. In fact, it has saved me from more accidents that you know…”

“I know, Ed,” Winry sighed. Her voice had already lost most of its earlier edge. “I just… freaked out.” Just like Al had suspected, Ed thought.

“But I’m OK, I swear. Aside from a couple of scratches…” Ed showed her his arms.

“I know,” Winry repeated. “It’s just, worrying is in my nature; I spent years worrying about you guys, and when you came back, I thought you guys were finally safe… and then incidents like this happen… And I feel it’s my fault…”

“Okay, first of all, it’s definitely not your fault. I was being clumsy, OK? Second of all, I’m sorry. I really should take better care of my automail.” He tried to lighten the mood a bit by saying: “If this is how you react to a little scratch, it’s a good thing you don’t know about my shark fight…” “Your what?” Anger flashed in Winry’s eyes again, and Ed realized he had made a mistake again.

“Eh…” he rubbed his neck. “We just did a little fishing, that’s all…”

“Let’s get back to that topic later,” Winry decided to give up on trying to understand Ed. “Now, let me see your automail.”

Ed sat down on Winry’s bed and Winry lifted his automail leg on her lap. She removed some of the metal plates to see if the wiring was damaged, and that’s when her mouth went into a widest ‘O’ Ed had ever seen on her face. He had forgotten what was inside the leg.

The ring.

“Ed… what is this?” She took the necklace with the ring out of there and dangled it in her hand.

“Oh fuck, I forgot…” Ed cursed, slamming a hand against his face. “This is not how I was supposed to give it to you…” “Could you please explain a bit further?” Winry asked, even though she had an idea about what he meant. Her face turned a shade redder.

“I was…” Damn it, why did he always have to get so flustered in her company, Ed cursed in his head, “… Well, remember when I was leaving to Creta a year ago and we were at the railway station?”

“How could I forget that?” Winry asked. They had… they had promised each other to spend the rest of their lives together, after all…

“Yeah, well, anyway…” Ed stuttered. “I realized I never gave you a ring… uh, as a proof of my promise… So… this is kinda it… Winry… are you still willing to give those 85%... or how much you want… of your life to me?”

There was a long silence.

“Of course I am, you silly!” she finally exclaimed and forgot all about the automail when she threw herself at him, making him fall on the bed. The hug lasted pretty long, and when they finally pulled apart, Ed offered to put the necklace on her.

“I think it suits you,” he said, admiring the smooth surface of the golden ring.

“Thank you,” Winry beamed, and leaned to kiss him on the lips. “It’s beautiful. Now, how about we take care of your bruises?” She pulled some disinfectant and bandages from her drawer and started cleaning Ed’s wounds.

“So, I’m more important than that automail, after all?” Ed asked smugly.

“Of course you are, you dumbo. One question, though: was it already broken when I came here?”

“Let’s... talk about that some other time,” Ed said and pulled her for another kiss. She didn’t complain.

#503week #edwin #edxwin #winry rockbell #edward elric #fullmetal alchemist #my fics

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harley-sunday · 6 years ago

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The Draw (06)

Summary: The whirlwind starts at the 2018 ACE Comic Con in Phoenix but you’re not sure where it will end...

Pairing: Sebastian Stan x reader

Warnings: Language

Word count: 3403

AN: It’s not all fun and games, but it will lead to better things, promise. Let me know what you think of this one! I don’t have a taglist, but if you follow Harley Sunday x Sebastian Stan you should see any update I post.

Masterlist

“I have two questions,” you say after taking a bite of the pistachio macron you’ve just snatched out of the picnic basket, rolling your eyes at how good it tastes, trying to keep yourself from actually moaning. You want to follow up with a sip of wine, because the white he’s chosen goes amazingly with all the food, but you find your glass empty.

“Just two?” he asks, interrupting your musings, popping the last of his sandwich into his mouth.

“For now,” you add as an afterthought. You’ve kicked off your sneakers not long after you finished the first bottle of wine and your legs are now tucked underneath you, as you sit sideways, facing Sebastian, who’s on the other side of the picnic basket. “One; where are we even going?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” he teases, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips, raising his eyebrows before he throws you a wink.

You just stare at him, not saying anything, knowing he’ll give in eventually, only because you’ve used the same tactic on Nathan numerous times.

“Ok, you’re a little scary when you do that,” he mutters quietly, before he clears his throat. “We’re just going to go around Santa Barbara Island and then head back to the harbor,” he looks at his watch, “should take us another three hours or so.” He grins then, “Unless you want to kick it up a notch and see what this baby can do,” patting the pillow beside him.

“Oh, I’m good, thank you,” you quickly reply, knowing from past experience that that’ll only make you seasick and you’ll end up hurling over the railing. It’s not something you want him to see on your first date, per se. If this even is a first date, you ponder then, not sure there’ll ever be a second either.

“So what’s your second question?” He says as he pulls up a new, chilled bottle of wine from somewhere underneath him and holds it up to you, awaiting your nod before he fills up your glass.

You study him for a second before you continue, “Why the boat?”

He chuckles, putting the bottle back before running a hand through his hair, “Because it get us away from the paparazzi?”

“Hmm, I suppose,” you say, even though you’re surprised to hear him answer with a question. You keep looking at him, tilting your head ever so slightly which he takes as his cue to come up with something else.

“Because it gives us some privacy?” he tries again, drawing out the words.

You smile, waving your hand dismissively, “Sure, let’s just forget about Captain Peterson and Shawn the deckhand,” you shrug, “it’s like they’re not even here anyway.”

He grins then, “Because I like showing off,”

It’s not a question this time and you laugh, “Ah, there it is.”

He holds up his hands as if to defend himself, “Hey, I am not above trying to pull all the stops when I have some serious making up to do, alright?” He leans in, whispering then, “Is it working?”

“Meh,” you shrug, trying your best to look unimpressed but failing, so you smile and playfully smack his arm, “Are you kidding me? This is amazing!”

“Ow!” he exclaims at the same time, holding on to his arm with his other hand, feigning hurt.

“Oh come on,” you scoff, shaking your head, but you feel a little guilty because Nathan always tells you that you actually hit people pretty hard when you do that and so you hand him a pistachio macron as a sort of peace offering.

Not long after deckhand Shawn makes an appearance, informing you that you’ve just rounded Santa Barbara Island and are now on your way back to Marina Del Rey and expected to get there in about two hours.

You unfold your legs from underneath you, a little stiff from having sat in the same position for most of the trip, and a little cold from sitting still for so long. You stand up and try to get the blood flowing again, grabbing your blazer from where it’s draped over the pillows before you put it on. Sebastian looks at you curiously as you pass him, making your way around the small top deck, and you throw him a wink, “Thirteen was twenty one years ago, remember? I just need to walk around for a bit and-”

“So basically you’re an old woman,” he grins, throwing back your own words at you, “If that wasn’t the kettle calling the pot black earlier today.”

You throw him a look, shaking your head ever so slightly, pursing your lips together to keep from taking his bait, instead glancing at the island you’re leaving behind, impressed by its cliffs and how wild it looks. Your eyes travel across the horizon, spotting a few sailing boats in the distance, but other than those it’s pretty quiet. Must be because you’re quite far out, you muse, even though you have no idea how far removed from the coast you actually are.

You simply nod when Sebastian asks you if you’ve had enough to eat and if you’d like a coffee, and watch him as he starts neatly packing the leftovers into the picnic basket. He stands up too then and grabs a hold of the basket before he walks past you and climbs down the ladder. You sit down again, in a corner this time so you can stretch out your legs on the seat cushions in front of you, and let your mind wander for a bit, thinking back to everything’s that happened since you’ve arrived in L.A.

A smile plays on your lips as you remember your time spent with Julie, reminding yourself to send her a message to see if you can grab a bite to eat somewhere tomorrow or the day after, because you really took a liking to her. You also remind yourself that you have to go to the art gallery, having decided that you want to buy the painting you put on hold. Your smile grows wider when you think back to seeing Infinity War, Sebastian seated next to you as you were engrossed in the movie. A frown then, as you try to skip over the after party debacle, wishing things would have gone differently that night, although if they had, you reason, you might not have ended up here.

“Where’s your head at?”

You look up, pulled out of your thoughts by his voice, and smile when you see him step off the ladder, holding two cups of steaming coffee. You take the one he hands you, mouthing a quiet, “Thank you,” and watch him as he sits down next to you, his legs outstretched in front of him, his arm brushing against yours whenever he moves. You fold your hands around the cup and hug it to your chest, before you answer his question honestly, “Just thinking about these crazy past couple of days.”

“Hmm,”

“And how I have to remember to go buy a painting tomorrow.” You chuckle, “The painting’s called ‘Tomorrow’ actually.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” you nod enthusiastically. “You should see it, it’s, God, I don’t even know how to explain it, it’s like this confetti of colors and swirls of happiness that just puts a smile on your face every time you look at it.” You smile, “It’s something to remember this weekend by, I guess.”

“Yeah?” He grins, “so this is a confetti of colors?”

“No, that was my dress,” you say dryly. “Today is one of the swirls of happiness.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” you confirm. “I’d never thought I’d end up spending the day on a boat with you-”

“Hey, obviously this was my plan all along. I just forgot to mention it in my emails,” he says with a grin, making you laugh.

You’re curious if he has anything else planned after you return to shore, but don’t want to ask, afraid it’ll make you sound like you are expecting more. So instead you keep silent and let yourself just enjoy the moment, savoring both the view and the company, the steady hum of the boat’s engine as some sort of weird background music to this afternoon. Lauren would be proud of you, not trying to change the past or worrying about the future, but instead living in the ‘here and now’, like she taught you to do after you broke up with Mark. You smile when you think of your best friend and all the things you have to tell her when you get back home.

Home.

You sigh quietly when you remember that you’re flying home on Wednesday, that all this will just be a memory then.

Sebastian nudges you gently then, pulling you out of your thoughts, “You ok?”

You nod, “Yeah.”

He studies you, forehead creasing as if he’s not sure you’re telling the truth, but he doesn’t say anything.

You’re about to reassure him that you really are fine when you feel a sharp pain on the side of your head and it only seems to get worse, like someone’s keeps hitting you with a hammer in the same spot over and over again. You flinch, muttering a quiet, “Fuck,” as your hand shoots up and rubs your left temple, trying to get rid of the pain.

“You ok?” Sebastian asks again, but this time he sounds worried, turning towards you, his hand on your arm as concern flashes in his eyes.

“I don’t know,” you answer truthfully. You close your eyes for a second and take a deep breath, your fingers stilled against your skin. The pain subsides then and you frown, before you slowly open your eyes, preparing for another wave of pain, but nothing comes and you just shake your head.

“What happened?”

You turn towards him and shrug, “I don’t know, I,” you let out a shaky breath, “I just felt this sharp pain and then just as sudden it was gone.” You see it does nothing to rid him of his concern and so you offer, “Maybe it was the wine, or being out in the sun all afternoon,”

He nods, “Maybe,” but doesn’t seem convinced, still looking at you like you could break at any minute, his eyes dark and a frown across his forehead.

His hand’s still on your arm so you gently pat it with yours, “I’m fine, really,” because you are, even though your voice is a little strained and high-pitched. You try again, “I’m fine,” but it comes out even worse and you giggle then because it reminds you of something.

Sebastian just looks at you like you’ve lost it, eyebrows knitted together in confusion as you double over from laughing.

You hold out your hand to him as you try to catch your breath, the other one drying the tears that have sprung to your eyes. “I sound like Ross,” you cackle, unable to control your laughter. “Totally fine,” you croak out in between fits of laughter, trying to do your best impression, “I don’t know why it’s coming out all loud and squeaky, ‘cause really,” you look at Sebastian, one eyebrow raised in anticipation, not sure if he knows what’s going on.

“I’m fine,” he finishes in a low voice, laughing now too, shaking his head, muttering a quiet, “Jesus.”

“I’m sorry,” you grin, having calmed down a little even though your eyes are still watery, “I‘m sorry, I just heard myself and wow, I-”

“You know what? I’ll cook!” Sebastian exclaims then, in the same high-pitched voice you used earlier, continuing where the scene left off.

“Ok, that’s weird,” you reply, quoting Joey, knowing this episode by heart only because you and Lauren used to watch Friends all the time back in college.

“Weird, what? What’s weird?” Sebastian ads. He’s turned sideways so he’s facing you, a mischievous look on his face, eyes sparkling, “The only thing weird would be if someone didn’t like Mexican food, because I’m making-”

“Fajitas!” you both yell, mimicking Ross’ angry tone of voice at the end of that scene.

You’re holding onto your stomach again then, laughing so hard the tears are actually rolling down your cheeks now.

“I can’t believe you watched Friends,” you say a little while later, after you’ve both calmed down enough to be able to talk again.

He nods, “Oh, are you kidding me? We’d just moved to the States when it came out and I’d watch it every chance I got, hoping it would help me improve my English.” He chuckles then, “God, for the longest time I actually thought that a ‘moo point’ really was a thing, told everyone it didn’t matter because it was just a cow’s opinion.”

“Oh no,”

“Hmm,” he nods, scrunching up his nose, “Almost as bad as using “How you doin?” as a pick-up line until I was well into college.”

You pat his arm, “You poor thing,” but can’t help but snicker at his confessions.

It’s then Shawn pops up on the ladder, informing you that you’re almost at the harbor again.

You sit up and take in your surroundings, surprised you can already see the beach from here. There are more boats surrounding you now and you even see a couple of people on paddle boards in the distance.

“Alright,” Sebastian says with a mischievous grin, “almost time for the next part.”

“There’s a next part?”

“Of course,” he says, acting offended that you would even think otherwise. “Unless of course this is enough making up for you, I mean-”

“Oh, no, no, no,” you quickly say, “I mean, obviously you are doing a great job so far, but you know,” you shrug innocently, “there’s always room for improvement.”

He just shakes his head, pursing his lips together, not taking the bait.

You watch then as Captain Peterson maneuvers the boat into the harbor, almost effortlessly coming to a stop next to the dock you left off from earlier today before Shawn hops onto the dock to tie the boat to the cleats. Looking around to see if you haven’t left anything behind, you grab your purse and follow Sebastian down the ladder to the main deck, thanking the Captain and Shawn for today.

Sebastian holds out his hand to you, nodding towards the dock, “Come on,”

You take his hand and let him help you onto the platform, your legs a little wobbly after being on a boat for so long. You take one last look at the boat before you come up with an idea and let go of his hand so you can pull up your phone from out of your purse. You look at him with a smile, “Just one picture? For my wall?”

“Definitely,”he nods, smiling, and stands next to you, both your backs towards the boat.

You unlock your phone and frown when you see you’ve missed some calls from your parents, but not really thinking about it any further when you open your camera app and put it on front facing camera, trying to angle it so you can fit both Sebastian, you and the boat in one frame. You see him looking a little to the left of your phone, a confused look plastered on his face, and you decide to look in the same direction, but with a smile, before you press the shutter button.

The result is amazing and you can’t help but laugh at how it turned out, knowing you have another great addition to your wall. You follow Sebastian onto the pathway, your phone still in your hands because something about the missed calls is bothering you. “Hey Sebastian,” you start, your voice a little unsteady, “is it ok if I call my parents real quick? I’ve got a couple of missed calls and I just want to make sure everything’s alright.”

“Yeah, sure.” He nods towards the gate that’s about ten feet from you, “I’ll just wait over there, ok?”

You nod, already unlocking your phone and finding their number in your contact list. Holding the phone to your ear you are met with the dial tone, and you start to get a little nervous when you get their voicemail. You hang up and scroll through your list to your Dad’s cell phone number, hitting the dial button with a heavy feeling in your chest, your eyes landing on Sebastian, who gives you a reassuring smile.

It’s your mother who answers, “Oh, sweetie,”

You hear some ruffling in the background and she’s rambling then, not really making any sense, but you pick up the words hospital and car accident and it’s like something’s tugging on your heart.

“Mom?” you try, but she’s not listening, instead you hear her talk to your father, who tells her to give him the phone. “Dad?”

“It’s Nathan, darling,” your father says. He was never a man of many words, but giving you this little information is absurd, even for him.

“What? What do you mean? What’s happened?” You start pacing, unable to keep still, your feet kicking at the little pebbles that are scattered across the pathway.

“They got into a car accident-”

“Who did?”

“You need to let me finish, darling,” your father says sternly. He clear his throat, “Nathan and Sarah and Jake were on their way home from dinner with us and they got into an accident.”

You gasp then, covering your mouth with your hand as a sob threatens to escape you. A chorus of please let them be fine, please let them be fine, running through your mind.

“Jake and Sarah are relatively fine, just in shock really,” he continues but you can hear him trail off, and wish he would just tell you, but then you hear him sigh and you know you are going to dread his next words.

“But you know Nathan, never wearing a seat belt,” he scoffs.

“Dad, just tell me,” you plead, because it’s obviously bad and you don’t really see the point of drawing this out any longer than necessary.

“He uh, he hit his head pretty hard, darling,” he says, his voice softer now, “the doctors are talking about a subdural hema-something, I don’t know. Apparently they’re going to have to drill a hole in his skull to drain the blood.”

“Oh,” your voice is thin and you are trying your hardest not to cry, because you don’t want your parents having to worry about you too, “When are they going to do that?”

You hear your father relay your question back to your mother before he gets back to you, “As soon as possible,”

“Ok,” you say again, mind going a hundred miles an hour. Your trying to form some rational thoughts, “Ok. Are you at Carolinas?” It’s the biggest hospital of the city and closest to your parents, so it was a safe bet that that’s where they’ve taken Nathan.

“Yeah.” You hear your father tell your mother that everything’s going to be alright, but his voice is shaky, like he doesn’t quite believe himself, and your heart goes out to them.

“Ok, Dad?”

“Yes, darling?”

“I’m going to see what flight I can get on and I’ll let you know, ok?” you rub your forehead, “I’ll be there in a couple of hours.”

“Ok,”

“Are you allowed to see Nathan?”

“Uh, yeah, they let us go in, Sarah’s with him now,” your father answers calmly, but you can’t help but wonder how he’s keeping up.

“Ok, will you please tell him I’m on my way?”

“He can’t hear us, darling.”

“I know, Dad,” your voice is soft, “will you please tell him anyway?”

“I will.” He clears his throat. “You be careful ok?”

“I will. I’ll text you when I know more, ok?” You cross your fingers then, “It’s going to be ok, Dad.”

“I sure hope so, darling.” He says before he tells you he loves you and hangs up the phone.

“Jesus,” you mutter quietly, but it must have been loud enough for Sebastian to hear because he turns towards you, a worried look on his face. You walk towards him and take a few deep breaths, trying to calm yourself, but failing, your voice shaky when you explain, “My brother’s uh,” another breath, “he’s had an accident.” You look up at him, “I have to go home.”

#The Draw #Sebastian Stan x reader #Harley Sunday x Sebastian Stan #Sebastian Stan Imagine

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frickfracksnatchisback · 6 years ago

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A Rookie Mistake (Part 2)

It took about two or three hours for Balthazar to reach the nearest train station. He knew that there was one a couple of miles near the town of Sand n’ Sails by looking at his map. The walk there was long and hard, but he had finally managed to make it to the train station and board the train that passed down there regularly.

He was now on the train, shuffling a pack of cards he found laying in the booth that he was now sitting in. He sat there dealing cards to himself, as the train continued rattling down the tracks to his destination. The train’s conductor was a very...interesting person who talked louder than he should have and lead Balthazar to his seat. And the staff (who were also passengers somehow) consisted mostly of owls who were much too shy and awkward to look at anyone directly.

Honestly, they were staring to get on his nerves.

“Who’s the new guy?” one of the owls quietly piped up at a table across from his booth. There were only four of them at the table, just talking to each other.

“I don’t know. He handed the Conductor a bunch of Pons to take him to a ‘special destination’. Can you believe it?” another owl informed the other. It was hard to tell which one exactly, they all seemed to have the same voice.

“Oh man. I was hoped to get to work on time today...” a third muttered sadly.

“A ‘special destination’? What the peck does that even mean?” the forth questioned.

“I can heard every word your saying by the way.” Balthazar stopped dealing out cards to glare at the four owls accusingly. They all jumped in their seats in unison and grabbed the menus on the table to hide their faces. Balthazar simply shook his head and look out of the window next to his booth. He watched as the cacti and sand dunes were being passed by the speed of the train. He had never really gotten out of the town much. At least, not like this in a very long time.

The train came to a sudden stop as the Conductor’s voice came out of a hidden speaker.

“Sorry about the undesignated stop everyone! This’ll only be a few teeny tiny minutes and the we’ll be right back on schedule!” the Conductor said over the speaker. A few of the owls groaned and sighed at the news. “IF YE PECKNECKS ARE GONNA WHINE ABOUT IT, YE CAN ALL GET OFF AT THIS HERE STOP!” the speaker screeched in protest as the owls put their hands over their ears to block out the awful shouting.

The door swung open as the Conductor came through the front door and walked over to the booth that Balthazar was sitting in. “Follow me laddie! I’ll lead ya to the back of the train!” the Conductor said while motioning with his hand for Balthazar to come along. Balthazar cleaned up the cards by putting them back into their box, and quickly followed the Conductor out of the parlor. Balthazar really didn’t see the need to be escorted to the back of the train, but he followed anyway. They both went through the two ending train cars, a car with study and a tank car, all the way to the caboose.

They were now outside at the very back of the train. The sun was still glaring down, but less so now that they were more at the edge of the desert. Balthazar walked over to the short ladder at the edge of the caboose, only to find the Conductor in the way of his path. “Hold on a sec there laddie, ye still haven’t paid the toll.” the old bird smiled at him while holding out a hand, expecting payment. Balthazar looked down at the Conductor’s hand and gave a look of disapproval.

“I thought I already paid you when I got on the train.” Balthazar said firmly, recalling the ridiculous amount of Pons it took to board the train and to reserve the booth in the parlor. The Conductor simply laughed at his response.

“Oh no, I think you’re mistaken young lad! That was only the admission fee! You’ll need to pay a little extra before I can let ye offa me train.” the Conductor chuckled. “I’m just chargin’ ya an extra fee since this isn’t a designated stop and whatnot so...would ye kindly?” the Conductor finished explaining as he thrust his hand in Balthazar’s direction once more.

Balthazar’s eyes thinned as he glared down at the bird. “And what if I don’t want to?” Balthazar said as he tried to intimidate the Conductor. The Conductor, however, wasn't fazed in the slightest.

“Well then I ain’t movin’ until ye do!” the Conductor’s smiled had faded away and he now looked very annoyed. “Ya gonna pay the fee or not lad?! I can stand here all day if ye want to be stubborn!” he yelled back while stomping his feet on the ground.

Balthazar thought about pushing the old bird aside so he could stop wasting his time. He was much taller and it didn’t really seem like a fair fight. But there was something about the Conductor’s temper and behavior that struck him as someone he really didn’t want to get in a fight with. Besides, that would waste even more of his time and he really wasn’t in the mood to deal with this right now.

Instead, Balthazar grumbled and pulled out his money bag so he could shove a handful of Pons into the Conductor’s open hand. The Conductor’s smile reappeared as he stuffed the Pons into his coat pocket. He moved out of the way and presented it with a bow in a snobby gesture. “Why, thank ye kind sir! After ye, please, I insist!” the Conductor said with a massive amount of sarcasm in his voice. Balthazar ignored his tone, and jumped off of the caboose instead of using the ladder.

“Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a demon I need to hunt down.” Balthazar said back at the Conductor once he landed on the ground. The Conductor pulled a puzzled expression and then started to snicker a bit.

“Ehehehe-oh! Ah mean uh-sure thing laddie! You go fer it!” the Conductor laughed to himself as Balthazar began to walk away from the train at a fast pace. The Conductor shook his head as Balthazar stormed off and went over to the back door of the train. “Ah swear, these passengers are getting crazier every day.” the Conductor said to himself as he went back inside.

***

Balthazar was already making his way to the entrance of Subcon Forest. He could see that it wouldn’t take him too long of a walk to reach the forest. But even from where he was, he could already see the massively tall trees that seemed to stretch to the sky. There were strange dark clouds that floated overhead of the trees as if an invisible force-field was keeping them only in the forest’s boundaries. He suspected that it was some sort of magic or perhaps an illusion.

After walking a few miles, he finally made it to the mouth of the forest. Before going in, he looked upon the entrance with slight fascination and cautiousness. The trees looked even taller than they had before and it was extremely dark inside. So dark in fact, that when Balthazar squinted his eyes to try and see deep in the forest he still could only see darkness. But once he looked closer...he saw a few faintly glowing lights. He could also hear strange noises coming from inside the forest in whispers, like something inside was calling out to him. He checked himself to see if he had all of the equipment necessary to take on whatever ghost would pop out at any moment once he went into the dark. He was satisfied and felt like he was prepared; he then took his first few steps into the forest.

He was startled by the sudden and abrupt change of atmosphere and lighting. Somehow, it was now nighttime with the sliver moonlight shining above him. It was also colder now with a slight chill in the air and a very brief gust of wind every few minutes. It was strange, odd, and definitely paranormal. There was certainly no doubt that magic was being used to turn the forest into an eternal night. The trees were dead with purple bark, holes and cracks, and luminescent mushrooms growing on the branches or at the bottom of the trees. Some of the trees were even lucky enough to have crimson leaves growing on their skinny branches. There were tiny, golden lights like fireflies that seemed to float in the air all on their own. And as he kept walking on the bare dirt path, he felt like he had discovered a fantastical enchanted forest.

If that enchanted forest had millions of ghosts crawling inside it that is.

Despite the forest first appearance, which was most certainly magical, there was also something that seemed...off. He could almost feel a ghostly presence from the cold temperature and the stillness in the air. And if he strained hard enough he could hear the whispering now, louder this time, calling out to him. He couldn’t tell if it was just his imagination, but Balthazar could almost swear that he could see thousands of yellow eyes peering at him from the holes in the trees It almost felt like someone, or something, was watching him.

He then heard a rustling of leaves and quickly turned toward the noise. A bush with purple leaves shook violently from behind the trees. Balthazar quickly put himself into a defensive stance for whatever was about to come out of the bush. His stance lost some of it’s edge as he saw glowing from the dark was a large, yellow light.

Is that someone holding a lantern? Am I not the only alive person in this forest? Balthazar thought to himself in wild curiosity. Suddenly, the lantern blinked and came bursting out of the bush.

Balthazar quickly jumped back and saw that the “lantern” was actually a tiny person wearing a tiny purple robe. The robe was tattered at the bottom with the large hood obscuring the person’s face. Actually, he didn’t think that the person even had a face. The glowing light that he mistook for a lantern shone out from the hood like a giant eye staring back at him.

The little person began dusting off purple leaves from the bush it jumped out of. Balthazar was slightly amazed but kept his ground. It must be a ghost trying to trick me into thinking it’s harmless. Balthazar thought while watching the small person. He reached into the pocket of his robe to grab a charm to protect himself. If it lived in this forest, then that meant it was far from harmless.

“Back off.” Balthazar said in a deep voice while pointing at the person with his finger. It looked up at him and cocked it’s head to the side in confusion. “Don’t you make another move or so help me I’ll-” Balthazar tried to threaten the small person. But before he could finish, the small person giggled and ran quickly past him. “What the-hey! Come back here!” He yelled as he hastily made chase and ran into the trees. But the small person was fast and had already gotten a head start.

***

Balthazar had been trying his best to keep up with it. For such a small person, it sure was a fast runner! As he ran past the trees he realized that he was slowly beginning to lose track of it. He stopped running and looked side to side. “Where the heck...did it go?” he said while trying to catch his breath. He heard a loud whistle from behind him and turn to see the small person waving at him.

“Hey hey! Over here new guy!” the small person taunted Balthazar. It then turned around and disappeared into the trees.

“Why you little midget!” Balthazar chased the small person in the direction it had went. After going through a few trees he came across a clearing, the little person was there waiting for him. It stood there with a...well, not really a smirk, but it sort of looked like it was smiling in a smug way.

“Come on new guy! Come and get me!” the small person beckoned at him with his hand, pulling him into and obvious trap.

It was apparently not-so-obvious for him, however.

Balthazar blindly ran toward the small person in an attempt to grab it. He yelped in surprise as big, purple, and thorny vines erupted from the ground. They enclosed him into a circle with no way out as the little person laughed and ran away.

“Get back here! I’m not done with you yet!” Balthazar yelled furiously as he saw the little person escaping. He gave up soon though, as he realized that there was no way that he could get out of this entanglement of vines.

Dang it! I can’t believe I fell into such a stupid trap! he thought, annoyed at himself at his stupidity. How am I going to get myself out of this one? he thought to himself while trying to think of ways to escape his thorny prison.

He then heard a noise from deep within the forest.

Thump thump

The ground shook beneath him. He turned to try and locate where the noise was coming from.

Thump thump

The ground shook again, harder this time. Balthazar saw a flock of black birds emerging from the trees, eager to get away from whatever beast was making the terrible vibrations.

THUMP THUMP

Balthazar struggled to keep his balance after the third set of thumps. He began to panic, whatever was made those sounds was big and it was starting to get closer.

The vines retreated into the ground and Balthazar watched as magic seemed to turn his surroundings into a ghastly purple realm. Dark clouds of a deep purple circled the sky with bolts of lighting and thunder booming overhead. He was standing on a glowing, light purple platform made of what he assumed was spiritual magic. Instead of forest trees, the purple background seemed to be made of what looked to be...faces?! Yes, crying faces of poor souls were floating in the air in the distance, away the platform he was standing on. He could scarcely hear their ghostly wails of distress over the occasional rattling thunder.

And then he screamed as a glowing yellow face with a wide grin met his gaze.

He nearly jumped out of his skin as he fell flat on his back. He manage to sit himself up straight and looked up to see a very big, very tall, and very familiar-looking creature.

“AHHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!” the creature cackled loudly, throwing it’s hands up in the air. Balthazar quickly cupped his hands over his ears. It’s voice was booming and echoed throughout the whole area. And boy, was it loud!

“FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!!!” the creature continued in it’s unbearably loud voice. Balthazar didn’t seem to noticed, as he was too busy trying to protect his hearing even though he wished that he was capable of becoming deaf for a short period.

“You’ve really done it this time! You dare to enter my forest? You dare to...huh?” Snatcher stopped introducing himself to see that his newly caught victim wasn’t even paying attention. Instead, he was closing his eyes and covering his ears.

“Hey buddy, don’t be rude when someone’s trying to terrify you.” Snatcher leaned down and snapped his fingers near Balthazar’s head. Balthazar opened his eyes and looked up to see Snatcher looking back at him with and annoyed expression.

The creature was a lot more...goofy-looking than Balthazar expected. While it was rather big, it’s arms were gangly and it’s snake-like body was curved at an odd angle making it look slightly ridiculous. What made the creature look even more ridiculous was the fact that it had it’s arms crossed, as if it was waiting impatiently to continue their conversation. Balthazar slowly removed his hands from his ears and the creature smiled back at him in appreciation.

“Much better! Now, where were we?” the creature’s smile was more silly than evil, almost welcoming in a way. Balthazar stopped looking at the creature in awe and suddenly remembered what he was supposed to be doing. He scrambled to his feet, less gracefully than he would have liked, and made a defensive pose.

“Enough! I, Balthazar, will vanquish you and restore my father’s name as a mighty hunter of the paranormal!” Balthazar yelled triumphantly holding out a sword that he had pulled from the sheath under his robe. The creature seemed surprise and it’s smile faded.

And then it started to laugh at him.

Snatcher laughed loud and hard as his victim stood there, pointing a sword in his direction. Was this guy serious? Did he really think that he could “vanquish” an all powerful spirit with nothing but a hunk of metal on a stick? Snatcher held his sides, he hadn’t laughed like this in ages!

Balthazar’s stone cold stare dropped and he lowered his sword. The creature was laughing so hard now, that it was having mad giggling fits in between bursts of laughter. “Hey! Stop laughing! You think that this is funny?!” Balthazar was becoming agitated at this creature’s childish antics.

“I...I think that it’s hilarious! Ha ha ha!” Snatcher couldn’t help himself, it was just too funny not to laugh! He finally manged to stop and collect himself. “I’m sorry, but that was priceless! Have you ever considered becoming a comedian?” Snatcher stifled a giggle as Balthazar growled under his breath.

“I don’t see what’s so amusing about me threatening to kill you.” Balthazar was now holding his sword to his side and tapping his foot angrily. He wanted to be taken seriously, not have a little friendly chit-chat with a demon.

“Oh! Well, I don’t know! Let’s see...” Snatcher was fully aware that he was being annoying. He was trying his best to see how long this guy would last. “One, you think that a simple little sword like that is going to kill me. That’s adorable!” Snatcher was now counting the reasons on his clawed fingers, one at a time.

“It’s an enchanted sword!” Balthazar raised it again to try to look intimidating. Snatcher just ignored him and kept going.

“Two, nobody dresses in old rags like that anymore.” Snatcher sneered as he quickly grabbed Balthazar by the hood of his robe and lifted him off the ground. Balthazar yelped in surprise and tried to hack and slash at Snatcher’s arm with his sword. The metal of course, fazed right through him with every cut not damaging him in the slightest. Balthazar was in disbelief and let his sword drop to the ground with a resounding clank. He then started to shake and squirm in Snatcher’s grasp, eager to escape.

“Three, what on earth is a “hunter of the paranormal”? That can’t be a real job description!” Snatcher continued as Balthazar kept struggling to be released.

“Let me go you foul beast!” Balthazar yelled in furiously.

“You’re rather rude, aren’t you?” Snatcher said as he let go of Balthazar’s hood and let him fall to the ground. Balthazar hit the ground with a thud and groaned as he pushed himself back up. The fall hadn’t been major, but he had still managed to hit his head a little during the impact.

“And four, what did you say your name was again?” Snatcher asked, ignoring Balthazar’s fall. Balthazar was on his knees as he looked back at Snatcher, shooting daggers in his direction. Snatcher didn’t seem to care.

“My name is Balthazar.” he grumbled as he dusted himself up and got to his feet. Snatcher snickered and put a hand over his mouth. “What now?!” Balthazar was really starting to hate this demon.

“Balthazar? What kind of a name is that?” Snatcher snickered louder this time, but then cleared his throat as to try and keep his composure. He couldn’t stop himself from smiling though, as Balthazar gave him a hateful glare.

“It is the name my father gave to me, you murdering demon!” Balthazar was absolutely livid now. He wasn’t about to let some low-life demon mock the name his father had given him. He grabbed his sword off the ground and starting to run toward Snatcher. Snatcher put his hand in front of Balthazar, forcing him to stop him in his tracks.

“Wait, wait, wait. Hold on a second. Murdering demon? Are you sure you’re not confusing me with someone else?” Snatcher asked, confused as to who this guy was talking about. Sure, he may have taken one or two hundred souls, but he was no demon. Balthazar scowled and pushed Snatcher's hand away.

“Are you or are you not the demon of the Subcon Forest?” Balthazar stated, using his sword to point at Snatcher accusingly.

“It’s rude to point. And to answer your question, no, I’m not a demon.” Snatcher said as he lowered Balthazar’s sword with a single talon. “Although, I am flattered that you would think so highly of me!” Snatcher put a hand to his chest to signify pride. Balthazar just stood there, dumbfounded. How could this creature not be a demon and yet take so many souls?

“If you’re not a demon, then who are you?” Balthazar questioned. Snatcher looked back down at him and flashed a wicked grin.

“Finally! Some manners!” Snatcher said in a delighted tone and then cleared his throat.

“I’m Snatcher, the snatcher of souls. I take the souls of whatever fool is unlucky enough to find their way here.” Snatcher’s tone had become more threatening with his gaze more ominous as he towered over Balthazar. “And guess who just happens to be standing in my forest as of right now?” Balthazar shrunk back as he was covered by Snatcher’s shadow. He now looked exactly like the illustration that he had found in his father’s journal. A long serpentine body, slender arms that ended in clawed hands, an evil smile with slanted eyes.

Balthazar backed away and quickly regained his courage. “I’m not scared of you! I will avenge my father’s death or I’ll die trying to find him!” Balthazar stood up, pretending to not be intimidated by Snatcher’s piercing gaze. Snatcher looked back at him, surprise a little bit by his actions.

“What’s your father’s first and last name?” Snatcher asked, breaking the tense atmosphere.

“What?” Balthazar was confused. He was prepared for a fight, not a question.

“I said, what’s your father’s first and last name?” Snatcher asked again, he was more focused in an answer to his question that than fighting.

“Why do you need to know? It’s none of your business.” Balthazar thought that Snatcher was trying to distract him so he could gain the upper hand.

“Because I might just know where he is.”

Balthazar was shocked, was he being serious? “You’re joking right?” Balthazar smiled bitterly, but then his smiled faded when Snatcher shook his head. Snatcher then snapped his fingers and in a cloud of purple smoke, a large stack of papers appeared floating in the air. Snatcher grabbed the stack of old, tattered papers and then turned to look at Balthazar.

“I keep the names of almost everyone who’s been in my forest. If you tell me your father’s name, well...we might be able to strike ourselves a deal!” Snatcher was quite ecstatic when mentioning the word “deal”. Balthazar was immediately wary, but Snatcher’s words manage to entice him.

“His name is Drexel Lancaster.” Balthazar hesitated a moment before finally telling him his father’s name. Snatcher then began to sift through the stack of paper in his hand at lighting speed.

“Of course, of course! Can’t have a weird first name without a matching set!” Snatcher laughed at his own joke despite Balthazar’s annoyance. “Let’s see now… Nope. Not it. Defiantly not.” Balthazar watched Snatcher in amazement, as the papers that Snatcher has no use for floated into their own separate stack. “No, no, no-Aha! Here it is!” Snatcher’s shouted joyously, causing Balthazar to startle a bit. Snatcher snapped his fingers again and the stack of discarded papers disappeared in another could of smoke. Snatcher snapped his finger a third time and pointed at the paper. The paper then floated down toward Balthazar and he carefully held it in his hands.

The paper was actually a very ancient-looking contract. The paper was yellow with age and had decorative boarders along the corners of the paper. At the bottom was a purple wax stamp with Snatcher’s grinning face melded into it. And right next to the stamp was a signature line...with his father’s own signature written in ink.

He couldn’t believe what he was seeing in front of his eyes. Seeing his father’s cursive reminded him of how long he had spent searching for him and how long he missed living without him. The signature was enough proof to convince him that his father was still out there! And more importantly, still alive!

“Where is he now?! I have to find him as soon as possible!” Balthazar exclaimed, he didn’t even bother reading the rest of the contract. He didn’t care about whatever else was written on it, the only thing he cared about was his father’s signature.

“Hold on a moment! I can’t just go ahead and give you that information right away! After all...” Snatcher snapped his fingers once more and another contract appeared in front of Balthazar. “...You still haven’t signed yet!” Snatcher finished speaking as a feather quill appeared in Balthazar’s hand. Balthazar picked up the new contract in his hands a left the other one suspended in the air. The signature line on the new contract was empty, waiting for someone’s name to be written down. Balthazar looked back at the line and then back at the quill in his hand.

He knew exactly what he had to do.

“Go ahead. Sign the paper...” Snatcher voice had returned to being dark and ominous, but Balthazar didn’t seem to notice. He was already scribbling down his name onto the contract, not caring to read the bottom text or any of the text. And after he finished jotting down his signature...

The contract and quill erupted into blue flames in his hands.

Blue flames appeared to ignite all around the platform that he and Snatcher were standing on. Balthazar screamed as strange, purple chains came out of the ground and wrapped tightly around his body. Chains with shackles automatically clamped down around his wrists and pulled him violently to the ground, forcing him onto his knees. He cried out in pain and struggled to break free of his prison, but the chains just seemed to wrap tighter making him gasp for air.

Snatcher eyes were slanted and watched as Balthazar kept struggling and struggling, but to no avail. “You’re so quick to take action and jump to conclusions. Like father like son, I suppose.” Snatcher smiled as he found Balthazar’s desperate attempts to escape amusing. “Did you honestly think that I would just tell you were your father was after you threaten to kill me?” Snatcher’s expression grew cold as he came closer to Balthazar, who stopped wriggling in the chains to look up a him.

“I trusted you.” Balthazar eyes started to tear up. He didn’t want to die, not yet.

“It isn’t my fault that you made the same mistake that your father did.” Snatcher smiled, showing no empathy whatsoever. “But hey! Look on the bright side! At least you’ll finally get to reunite with him!” Snatcher said as he slowly pointed a talon in Balthazar’s direction.

Purple lighting struck Balthazar a first, a second, and a then third time causing him to scream in agony. His screams slowly died out as he felt his life essence slipping, floating away from him. The world around him faded to black as Snatcher cackled maniacally. He was being surrounded by darkness…

And then there was nothing.

Nothing but the sound of someone calling out to him.

It was his father’s voice.

He had finally found him, at last.

***

A Few Years Later

Hat Kid was very excited to be visiting Sand n’ Sails in order to do some light shopping. The Conductor was nice enough to let her off as close to the place as he could. She thanked him and managed to make the rest of the way on her scooter. With the sun shining on her face and the wind in her hair, what a time to be alive!

The town was more lively that she could have ever expected. The townspeople were very nice and welcomed her with open arms and friendly faces. The marketplace was even more fun, with many interesting items that she could buy with the Pons she had on her person (she had a lot of them since the Mafia in Mafia Town wouldn’t sell her anything no matter how hard she asked). She met a really nice cactus person named Prickly, who gave her a cute sun hat accessory as a free gift.

She was now leaving the marketplace with as many bags as she could carry in her tiny arms. She sprinted down the stone path, her feet making pleasant little tapping sounds. She was just about ready to go home when she came across an old, run-down house that stood out from the others. The house was not well-kept at all and looked like nobody had lived in it for years. The stone walls were cracked, the black tinted windows were broken, and the wooden roof was caving in and rotting away. There were cobwebs and broken nails above the door frame, as if someone had hung things there long ago but torn them down afterwards. There were strange, glowing symbols carved into the wooden door that seemed to be fading away with age.

“Are your parentsss looking to buy a houssse little girl?” a strange voice behind Hat Kid said making her turn around quickly in surprise. A cobra person dressed in traditional attire appeared from and alleyway and slithered in Hat Kid’s direction.

“My apologiesss. I did not mean to ssstartle you, little one.” the cobra person bowed it’s head. “Allow me to introduce my ssself. I am Ssslinky Ssscaleshedder, the Sssand n’ Sssails realtor.” Slinky moved his tail in Hat Kid’s direction. She smiled and shook his tail with her free hand, which was the closest way of shaking hands with a snake.

“If you are looking to buy a house, I wouldn’t chossse that one if I were you. The owner disssapeared a long time ago.” Slinky pointed his tail at the abandoned house. Hat Kid turned to look back at the house and then cocked her head in question.

“Hmm? You want to know who usssed to live there?” Slinky said and Hat Kid nodded in agreement. “Oh, well I don’t really know to be honessst. He was alwaysss sssuch a quiet fellow, he kept mostly to himssself.” Slinky couldn’t really shrug since he had no shoulders, but if he did he would have. “There are rumorsss that he wasss a performer of witchcraft, but that’sss jussst nonsenssse. I asssure you that no sssuch thing existsss.” Slinky smiled, showing off the two small fangs at the front of his teeth. Hat Kid nodded and giggled awkwardly, a little intimidated by Slinky’s sharp teeth.

“Ssso...interesssted in buying a houssse?” Slinky asked. Hat Kid shook her head lightly, she really didn’t want to disappoint the guy but she already had a perfectly good spaceship home. “Oh, very well then. Hope to sssee you sssoon...” and with that Slinky slithered away across the path.

Hat Kid waved goodbye at Slinky and then looked back at the old house. It made her wonder...what happened to that guy? Maybe he just went on a really long vacation? Then again, people don’t usually leave their house in ruins when going on vacation. Just looking at the house’s condition was starting to give her the creeps. She then realized that she needed to get back home. She stopped staring at the old house and continued to walk along the stone path toward the town’s exit.

And the house stood there, unloved and unkempt. It’s owner would never return and no one would even know that he went missing. Instead, the house would probably be demolished and, after a few years, a new house would be made on top of the rubble. But for now the house just stood there and Balthazar would slowly be forgotten, along with all of Snatcher’s other victims who were unfortunate enough to make the same mistake that he did. Snatcher didn’t know this, but every person who would have their soul taken from him were all learning the same moral lesson. The same cruel lesson that Vanessa taught him many years ago when she locked him away in the basement...

Not all stories have happy endings.

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