#because it means they KNOW exactly what this is amd what happened here and yet they wrote it this way regardless

[robbyykeene]

And once again we are left with Robby Keene, the eternal scapegoat of Cobra Kai. They blame Robby for Johnny continually abandoning him, they blame Robby for not trusting Daniel after being thrown out, they blame Robby for joining Cobra Kai when he literally had nowhere else to go, they blame Robby for Kenny’s descent to the dark side, they unilaterally blame Robby for underperforming at the tournament when everyone else was too, and now they blame Robby for his own sexual assault. What the fuck.

[weebsinstash]

Kinda obsessed with the idea of a reader pregnant with Lucifer's kid and just he's really into it and wants to get married while the readers there being like damn I just wanted the bragging rights of saying I fucked the king of hell and now I have to be married to him !?!

Reader: ugh oh my god that dick was so fucking good, thanks Lucifer

Lucifer, currently painting sigils with his own blood on your tummy: oh my god, no, I know, right, it was amazing, I had an amazing time

Reader: hey uhhhhhhh by the way, what are you

Lucifer, taking a break from speaking ancient Latin incantations: oh hey, no don't worry about it it's totally cool I'm just, doing a thing here

Reader watching the very foundation of Hell shake around them like an earthquake as all the candles in the room burn higher and the unseen spirits of the damned sing comgratulatory praises for their dark lord: you know this kiiiiiiiiinda feels like you miiiiiight be doing something kinda sinister and magic-y right now

Lucifer, watching his symbol appear on your belly: whaaaaaaaaat, no, that's crazy! It's just a little.... surprise! Nothing to worry about! So hey also completely unrelated but I kind of need to splash some of this goat's blood on you--

I feel like sleeping or even FLIRTING with Lucifer is the ultimate case of fuck around and find out because at the very least you have an all powerful clingy depressed obsessive boyfriend in THE DEVIL and at his very worst you have you know THE DEVIL, treating you as his equal half, wanting all to bow before you, worship you, erecting churches with stained glass telling the Epic Tale of how you two fell in love, wanting you draped in fineries, at his side at all times, having only the best

I just feel like... he's one of those yandere that really could take you 0 to 100. You fuck the guy ONCE as like a drunken one night stand, a real "fuck it why not maybe it'll be fun" kinda romp, and then he's making plans behind your back about marriage because, well, he just loves you so much already that he can't see doing anything else! 🥰 like can you imagine going from getting cream pied to like only a week later some church is getting constructing with like biblical art of "oh how the king of hell met another and fell in love" and it's foretelling some epic saga that hasn't even. Happened yet. Like imagine the whiplash of finding out the guy you casually fucked is dedicating buildings to. A story of. How he impregnated and married you and you guys "lived happily ever after" and you still barely know him

I like the contrasting options of Lucifer intentionally impregnating you vs unintentionally because THE VISUAL of like. He's just nutted and you're laying there amd he looks down and suddenly there's this little glowing moving picture on your skin of a snake twining around, circling, becoming an apple with a heart or some-- this is a real specific genre of fetish I'm discussing here ok we don't need to like exactly describe whatever magical mark of pregnancy the devil gives you fjdnfjf. But the apple appears and he's blinking at it and, finally, it clicks, and he's all "BABY! B-BABY! IT'S A BABY HHHOHHHHH MY GOD" and he's like EXCITED but also just like. Do you think he'd get a little biblical drooling about 'your womb being blessed' or some shit. Your absolute fucking LUCK OR LACK THEFEOF if Lucifer turned out to ACCIDENTALLY BE CORRECT and you kind of WERE created to be his wife or end up with him, like GOD is up there, "yeah Luci I threw you a bone, enjoy it 👍" like SHIT the one time you ARE cosmically fated to have a mate and it's AFTER YOU DIE? It's also LUCIFER MORNINGSTAR???

I feel like, genuinely the only way Lucifer would mistreat the Reader is completely unintentionally, like he has a bout of depression and neglects you a little, or he becomes socially withdrawn and you think he doesn't like you but really he's just feeling sad or working on something that's really important to him. I mean. This is BESIDES the possibility of confinement but that's for your protection and it's not like you're in PRISON. This guy is clearly packed with goofy loving positive energy. He'll be taking you to the circus and to musicals with his daughter like you've always been a member of the family, getting you your own special throne to sit beside his own. He's having audience with like some wretched soul, there are flames, he's being TERRIFYING, telling them how they've betrayed him and he's going to tear their soul to pieces and sentencs them to eternal suffering, and then he turns to you, "I'm sorry am I making it too hot in here shnookums 🥰 I don't wanna make you and our lil hellion uncomfy 🥰" like.... truly, you got yourself a man that can do both

[theflyingfeeling]

hi hi hellooo! Aleksi's remix of Let Me Down Slowly came up on my youtube recs and it instantly reminded me of your amazing fic and I knoooooooooow I said it a million times but thank you so much for writing it and sharing it, it's so fucking good!!!!!!! 💖💘💖💕💖💖💘

now imagine, pining-idiots-that-haven't-realized-they-are-in-love Allu and Olli are probably enjoying their well deserved breaks from all the stuff they did in 2023 (and most likely with their partners by their side), but I like to imagine that they still make some time for at least one video call once a week, or that they exchange dumb texts daily because they miss each other so much 🥺💕

maybe Olli grabs his guitar one night and comes up with some beautiful riff that he sends to Allu, but this time Aleksi decides that they have to finish it together side by side (clearly an excuse to see Olli again because oooops, he realized he has Feelings™ for his friend and bandmate) and well, Olli had to travel to Helsinki anyway (to make sure the new posters were shipped correctly, or to sign a legal document or some made up bullshit), soooo why not stay at his just-a-friend-i-swear's place for a few days?

they would have the Moment Of Realization late at night, around 2AM when Allu is finally done with the remix and Olli is already asleep on the couch (is he really asleep, though? or just enjoying the moment with his eyes closed?). Allu would not resist the temptation of brushing a curl off Olli's beautiful face, and maybe caressing one of his cheeks while he can, not forseeing that Olli would be very much awake, so now they're both holding their breaths and staring at each other with so much love 💖💕💘

maybe they finally dare to get closer and share a shy little kiss after all those years of pining, or maybe they feel like they can't do it, not while they still have a significant other, and leave the studio confused and unsure of what to do next 🥰

anyways, it's already late over here and I used my last braincell to daydream about this 😅 have a lovely lovely day 💖💕💘💖💕💘

OH MY GOD???!!?!?!??!?! 😭😭😭😭😭

this made my stomach do the thing because akdjshfksjfdkf I've honestly spent the entire Christmas break thinking about the two of them constantly checking their phones and not really understanding why they feel so disappointed when there's no new text from the other or why they feel a pang of jealousy when the other posts a holiday greeting in the group chat (=a selfie with their gf with a cheesy Christmassy/NYE edit and a text "Happy Holidays from us!")

amd aaaahhhh imagine soft Olli playing softly on his soft guitar AND THINKING OF ALLU THE WHOLE TIME DJDHFGFFJFF I meaaaaan may I remind y'all that yet again this is not just something the delulu made up but instead it's something that actually for real happened with the Let Me Down remix 😭 obviously we don't know if Olli had the riff ready and Allu just happened to need one and it came up in a conversation, or if Allu asked him to make him one, or if Olli just sent the riff to Allu who was so inspired (and in love (with the riff! or at least that's what he convinced himself then)) that he made an entire remix based off it 🥺 my point here is that it's TOO EASY to imagine them doing exactly what you just derscribed 🤧💕

and yeah, I have also been imagining their first kiss and how terrifying it would be for the both of them 😭 I mean, I want to assume that the "deep talks" they've had over a glass of wine or a bottle of Mountain Dew (again, something we know for certain they done, not just something the delulu has decided is canon!!) they have also discussed sex and/or sexuality and came out as bi to each other, so it's not the fact they're both dudes and about to kiss each other that's messing with their heads rather than the fact they're both in relationships skgjdjfksjfsjfjdjf fuck why am I so invested in this 😩

bonus points indeed if they only ALMOST kiss before they snap out of it and aaaaaaaaaa poor confused boys!! because this whole time they've been like "I don't actually like him that way, and even if I did nothing could ever happen because we're friends and co-workers and he's taken" but then they realise they were having an undeniable Moment(tm) and the other was actually about to kiss them back too so they're like ???????????????? oh god 😭

thanks for this, I feel so validated once again 🙈

[panthera-tigris-venenata]

🍒🍌🍐🫐

I would like to know your opinions on these in the fruit emoji thing you reposted ☺️

🍒 What’s your favorite character dynamic to write? (Can be romantic or platonic, specific or general!)

I love writing siblings relationships! You know, that kind of relationship that is simultaneously "my siblings//cousins are the most annoying people I have ever known" and "I'd go to war for them".

...Yeah, specifically the Hook siblings.

They are very chaotic and I like that.

And for romantic relationships, my favourite is Harry Hook and Uma. I mean, look at them.

🍌 In your opinion, what’s the funniest joke/reference/pun you’ve made in a fic?

...I don't know? I genuinely don't know. I'm not sure how funny my works are.

Sure, I write them by going „Oh, you know what would be hilarious -“ but an actual joke? That does not involve at least 400 words of setting the situation?

No idea.

Either way, I'm gonna find some sentences//quotes to post here, because why not:

[CJ, spotting a snake in her hair:]

Unfortunately, it has no original ideas, nor anything interesting to say.

It only hisses. Ssshame.

CJ hisses back at it.

...Yeah, generally anything CJ does. Like these instances she got lost while trying to narrate:

The princess and Carlos are in this Selfies class, alright? The teacher's Mother Gothel, apparently, and joke's on them, she's a terrible teacher.

On the other hand, she doesn't care for anything other than herself happening in the classroom, and me and Freddie always take full advantage of it. Sometimes, we ask Ginny to hold a separate lesson while her mother is teaching: Ginny stands right beside her, actually telling us stuff, like chemistry and so, and have you guys known that if you add potassium into water, it will catch on fire? It's really cool, really, she showed us, too! The curtains caught on fire, but it was alright. The anti-fire-anti-fun system went off and the water poured down and it made even bigger flames until there was no more potassium and it absolutely doused Mother Gothel's curls in water and smoke and that's when she noticed that we haven't been paying attention to her at all.

Isn't that hilarious?

She is a disaster. And I better shut up about her.

The whole idea of the Hook siblings trying to (and failing to) narrate the plot of Descendants sounds utterly hysterical to me though.

But, yeah, I have no idea how funny are my ideas to other people.

🍐 Is there anything in canon that you absolutely hate and love to fix in fics? A wrong choice made, a fuck-up in characterization, a misunderstanding never cleared up, a conversation never shown onscreen, etc…

Rise timeline!

It's wrong!!

I mean, yeah, the plot with the trident can have rights I suppose (if only because Arabella deserves a corruption arc), but the race for Lost Revenge?

Yeah, no. No way in hell Uma got that kind of loyalty in just a few months.

I'm moving that back to when she was like twelve or so, which has the added bonus of maling Uma's and Mal's rivalry both more petty and more dangerous. You know, fun things.

🫐 What’s your favorite underrated thing in your fandom? (A ship that only you seem to write for, a character there’s almost no fics about, a trope that criminally hasn’t been written yet, etc.)

Not exactly a ship, but generally CJ dynamic with Mal.

Imagine the chaos, pretty please, especially when we take into consideration:

Their combined lack of survival instinct

The bloody mess it creates with Harry any time they cooperate (which is why they cooperate in the first place. CJ wants to irritate her brother and Mal wants to piss of Uma, even in this really round about way.)

Then generally siblings relationships. Hooks, Faciliers, Jay and Jade, de Vil cousins. Mal amd Hadie, which is very optional. Just saying.

Also Ben, Audrey, or Lonnie spending time with the pirates. Lonnie in particular deserves to meet the Lost Revenge crew and Harriet's crew too.

Also. The sheer chaos it would throw into Auradon high society scene and media :)

[milkacchan]

Request for anon: Hi!!!! i love our writing and i just knew you could do this! Could you do one with a father Aizawa and a gender nuetral chil reader, who is jealous of Midoriya. Because when Midoriya harnesses his quirk Aizawa be happy dadzawa but when the reader was like 6 or 7 and harnessed theirs he said like " Work harder." Or the world won't want a weak hero and stuff and thats why they hate Midoriya and stuff? IT IS SOO FINE OF YOU CANT!! THANKS <3

•Midoriya is nice.

• He's /so/ fucking nice

• He has a nice smile

• His freckles are nice

• His attitude is great

• He goes out of his way to make sure people are okay

• Which makes it worse and pisses you off more.

• You've been jealous of him for awhile- please he's the center of attention for everyone

• But that isn't your problem

• He's the center of attention for your own dad.

• At least it seemed that way.

• Shota Aizawa, your father, was a teacher at U.A.

• He was bound to get attached to students, that's what teachers are supposed to do

• But..it felt like you were on the back burner and not enough

• when you develop your quirk, you dad gives you a speech

• You're first sucess with your quirk, your father tells you to work harder

• And that's all it ever is

• "work harder"

• "you should be farther along by now,"

• "this isn't a joke, why are you treating it that way?"

• there wasn't a good job or a congrats or praise

• But there was with midoryia

• who got all of it.

• he got good jobs and impresseds

• He got way to go kid and that was smart

• At the beginning of the year you liked him

• He was friendly and funny and he seemed like a cool dude

• He was a cool dude and you hated him- yourself even more for that

• You couldn't ever hate him, not truly.

• Not even when your father praised him, took him under his wing, focused on him

• Even shinsou- you didn't hate him. You were great friends with him.

• But Midoriya irked you, even if you couldn't find it in you to talk behind his back or fuck him over

• Your jealousy for the boy only grew as your fathers praise to him grew and his words to you grew distanced.

• And yet you still thrived for the man's approval

• You wanted to be recognized

• You wanted validation

• You wanted praise and approval.

• You wanted love.

• You stopped speaking to Midoriya, completely. The poor boy didn't deserve a blow up from you, it wasn't his fault.

• Contact to him stopped. His conversation muted unless it was to the class Group Chat

• Your seat? Unfortunately still near him, was no longer an issue if you just ignored his presence

• If your group was hanging put with him that day, you'd skip with some dumb homework excuse.

• No one said anything

• Aside from shinsou that is.

• The smart-ass always had something to say

• "You can't just ignore your problems forever."

"I'm not, till talking to you."

"Funny. But seriously. He's going to question it if he hasn't already. Word gets around.."

• In all seriousness, shinsous worried. He's really worried.

• He's watching you distance yourself from people, from midoryia- hell the only reason the two of you still talk on a daily basis is because he forces it.

• You don't mind, of course, he know that. You did the same to him when his mental health had declined.

• But he sees you're doing it for validation

• Amd he knows Aizawas words aren't malicious. You're his kid, he's worried and wants you to survive over anyone else.

• Doesn't mean how he's going about it is right.

• and it isn't long before you start taking physical training to the max too.

• After class you train for hours until dinner.

• Sometines you miss it; sometimes you don't get home until much later.

• One day in particular though, you start training on a Saturday morning

• He tells you to be smart, keep hydrated and take breaks before he leaves for the day

• Only to come back at dusk to you still training

• "Quirks are currency shinsou,"

"That doesnt-"

"I have to get stronger, no one's going to want a weak hero"

"Y/N please- you've been out here all day. It's hot and muggy and you've barley eaten anything. You need breaks. You can't be a strong pro hero if you die of heat exhaustion." He takes your arm and pulled it down from the punching bag. "You're worrying me."

"I'm not strong enough," you mumble. "Dads right,"

• Eventually Midoriya starts to question why you're ignoring him

• He doesn't think he's done anything wrong

• Maybe he said the wrong thing? But what even is the wrong thing? What could he have said?

• After one particularly rough morning, you're struggling with something

• You're already pissed and ready for the day to be over.

• And it's only 10 in the fucking morning

• And Midoriya, desperate to heal what he once had with a friend (you), walks over to help

"Hey," he starts. "You look like you need some help?"

You pause, glancing in his direction for only a moment. "Go sit down," You mutter.

"I just want to help-"

"I don't need your fucking help. You are the LAST thing I need," you snap. "Who the fuck would /ever/ need you?" You grab your bag and shove him back, leaving the classroom.

The class quiets.

• Midoriya didn't deserve it, no. You knew that.

• You also knew that you weren't in the place to go back to school, so you didn't.

• You took the day off, wandering the streets of your prefecture

• Shinsous blowing up your phone

• Katsuki is too.

• Katsukis upset, you would be too if someone spoke to your friend that way

• Everyone else is too on edge to text you, they're worried though.

• Of course, they go to Aizawa.

• They tell him what happened and how you've been acting

• And he nods quietly and says he'll take care of it.

• Shinsou finally finds you at the Cafe you frequent and he quietly sits across from you

• "you should be in school," you mumble

"So should you."

It's quiet for a few moments before you speak again. "I think I'm going to leave U.A. Mom lives in Miyagi, they've got some nice highschools there. I talked to her over the phone last night."

"What? What no, you can't?"

"Why not, Hitoshi?"

"Because you're a hero-"

"I'm not. I'm not a fucking hero. I haven't made any successes while I've been here, I haven't developed anything, Dad was right."

"You dad was wrong. He's wrong. He's- He's worried one day you're not going to come home. Or when you do you won't be in one piece, so he's pushing you and pushing you," he took your hand gently. "You're strong. You're going to be a great hero. You've already accomplished more than you know."

"I blew up at Midoriya today," you slide him your drink and he takes a sip.

"I know." He nods. "But that's okay, we can deal with it later." He squeezed your hand.

"Yeah, later,"

• It's very much later by the time you reach your dorm.

• The day Shinsou moved to the 1A dorms was the day you'd rejoice

• Your bag is tossed to the side and you make your way to the kitchen and freeze.

• Aizawa is sitting at the table, facing you.

"Your friends are worried about you,"

Yous scoff. "Yeah I'm sure they are."

"Midoryias worried about you."

"I really don't care."

"You shouldn't have snapped at him." Aizawa sighs.

"Thats-" you take a deep breath. Of course he only cared about Midoriya. "Typical." You move to the fridge to get something to drink.

"I..apologize," he begins. "'It's come to my attention that I haven't exactly been the best father to you since your mother left,"

"You think?" You muttered.

"I'm worried. I'm scared."

You look up at him.

"The world is cruel. And I've lost so many students to hero work in the years I've taught, I wouldn't be able to handle it if I lost you to. But it seems I'm already down the path." He stood up and walked over to you. "You're my kid, I love you more than the moon and the stars, I want you to stay safe. Above everyone else, above all else, I want you to come home." He kisses your forehead.

"It'd be nice to get a good job every once in awhile. Everyone else does." You mutter, looking down.

"You are doing great, you know. I don't say it nearly enough but you impress me everyday."

• It's...a little awkward after that, neither of you know how to process emotion so after two days you just pretend like it never happened

• You quietly apologize to Midoriya and wall away before he can respond before pretending like that didn't happen either

• You're not expecting him to want to be your friend

• But he's very adamant on texting you, inviting you out, walking with you you to class

• 1A becomes whole again

• But Shota does ease up, you get the good jobs, the praise, the validation

• And you eat it up to be frank, you fucking love it.

[bunnyinthestars]

Adrien is definitely gonna take Emilie’s place in a coma (A Theory)

Yeah so I mean the title of this is exactly what I’m pretty sure is gonna happen. This is because there has been a huge load of foreshadowing and some other subtler reasons I will be going over in this post. Of course, there’s always a chance it won’t happen, but if it didn’t I think I’d be pretty surprised considering just the amount of evidence thats going into this.

(Also sorry ahead of time for the structure of this, I tried to structure this based on my specific reasons for this theory but I kind of went off on tangents in some places and in others I use ideas that I assume come with the theory and don’t necessarily fit into any specific reason (like Emilie coming back to life and what would happen there, why Adrien and not Nathalie, and loosely how theyd get Adrien out of the coma), although I mosty stick to the structure I still want to add this disclaimer just so you’re aware that I wrote this in one go at midnight (also wait right now its 12:10am it is now ten minutes into my birthday??? ok ignoring that))

I dont know man. Just consider what I have to say. Or dont. I will be listing my reasons starting now.

1. Imagery of Adrien being in comatose state/ in a coffin-like thing.

This is surprisingly common??? Off the top of my head I can think of Style Queen and Riposte (I believe) which involve this. In Style Queen, Audrey in the form of her akumatized self had essentially kidnapped Adrien and put him in this gold/glass coffin thing that disintegrated the longer it remained untouched. The other one is Riposte, where Ladybug hides Adrien in that big sarcophogus in the Louvre (he didn’t stay in it but still the imagery is there.)

I also just remembered in Chameleon when Lila took Adrien’s form he was asleep/in a comatose state in that locker and Plagg was like “aw man am I gonna have to kiss him.....” but then Adrien wakes up because Lila stole someone else’s form

EDIT: another instance of Adrien/Chat Noir being shoved into a sarcophagus (besides Riposte) is in Pharaoh in season 1

So yes there is definitely a good number of foreshadowing for this. I might take this further and say if Adrien were to go comatose and be in the coffin Emilie was in then Felix might replace him for some amount of time?? Like impersonate him amd stuff?? Just because there’s lots of stuff in the show with impersonation I feel like it could work aNYWAY BACK TO THE EVIDENCE I KNOW ITS A TANGENT

2. Possible evidence foreshadowing Emilie *inadvertantly* killing (not killing but making comatose you get it) Adrien

This one is not as strong as the first but its worth considering. I was googling the word “mayura” just out of curiosity a while back and basically its a peacock in Hindu stories (like peacocks are a kinda revered animal) and I just initially found a couple websites that said that the mayura has been depicted eating a snake as a symbol of the cycle of time (you dont have to read this part in parenthesis, its just kind of a tangent: the cycle of time as known in Hinduism is another aspect of Hinduism directly referenced in the show: the horse/space miraculous kwami Kaalki’s name is a reference to the prophecied tenth avatar/reincarnation of the god Vishnu, and he is referenced in the Kalachakra tantra which is basically a Hindu book about the cycle of time. Keep in mind I got all this from wikipedia and other internet websites, I do not practice Hinduism and I dont directly know anybody who does, so if any of this is wrong pls lmk because there is surprisingly not a lot of information on the internet about it from what I could tell)

So anyways yes peacock (mayura) eating snake representing the cycle of time. Both Luka and Adrien are represented in the show as the snake, but ultimately I think the snake here represents Adrien just because it makes more sense (Snake Noir, future Alix’s tattoo depicts a snake to be Adrien and is meant to represent Adrinette, Adrien just has some shifty stuff going on with the snake in general etc) and thus, if Gabriel manages to actually get the ladybug and black cat miraculouses and make the wish to bring Emilie to life, then this “mayura” analogy (assuming Emilie as the mayura in this scenario) would make sense if her life brought upon Adrien losing his.

The reason I dont think it would refer to Nathalie even though her official name is Mayura is for pretty much two sub-reasons. The first is that I think she is going to die before this wish happens. I know, its a kids show, whatever, but consider it. The Agreste/Graham de Vanily family has a trend of having opposite names [I am so sorry I literally first heard this from a tumblr user but I cannot remember who I just remember they had made a string of theories on why Emilie Agreste will not be who she seems to be so credit to them I did not discover that] for example the name Gabriel means hero/angel, Felix means happy/fortunate, Adrien means dark, etc, and Nathalie Sancoeur means “birthday (of Christ)” and “heartless” respectively. We already know she is not heartless but rather full of heart because she has fallen in love with Gabriel. So then,,,,,,,,,, the opposite of birth is death. She’s already shown to be pretty sick too despite the peacock miraculous having been “fixed” (as of the New York special being the most recent piece of content). I’m sorry guys I do not make the rules

stop why his face look like that though

The second part of why I think this is a little stupid but. The original art released by Jeremy Zag for Mayura does not look like Nathalie. Plus this art was only released under the name of “the Peacock” (originally Le Paon in French) so it might not actually be the Mayura we know as of now. Now, theoretically, it could be that they had made this art before they knew they wanted Nathalie to be Mayura or just as art depicting what Emilie would have been like as the peacock miraculous holder, and it could literally just be Nathalie. When you compare the images, though, the original Mayura art looks far more like Emilie and a lot less like Nathalie. Yes I am aware this is stupid just know this is only a minor point

I dont know man those faces do not look the same to me and the original Mayura definitely had Emilie’s eye shape and face shape in mind. They might’ve changed it after making the concept art but my point still stands

Ok next reasoning

Again not a very strong point but sometimes dialogue just implies things in Miraculous and I can think of a very specific quote that would fit this happening, and there are probably more that I just dont know to look for since I dont have this whole show memorized

So the quote is from Startrain after Gabriel loses control of the akuma then learns about the Startrain having been akumatized with Adrien on board, and he says “hoping that my enemies will save my son..... how ironic.” When I first heard this quote I really, really felt like it was foreshadowing something just based on his tone and the way this new idea was being introduced of him having to be on the same side as Ladynug and Chat Noir for once, even if it was just temporary. This quote absolutely is indicative to me of a future event in which he’ll have to work with his “enemies” to save his son. A situation in which Adrien is in comatose would perfectly align with this. At least for how I would predict the show would make it, Gabriel would have to turn away from Emilie (who represents the past for him, and this action would therefore represent moving on) and join forces with Ladybug/Marinette, his “enemy”, to save Adrien.

Onto the last reason!

Emilie is probably definitely coming back. Which means someone’s going into a coma in her place.

I mean come on it would be so anticlimactic if they just caught Gabe before he fulfilled his wish. Plus with the way they are outlining Emilie to be this perfect golden being is definitely because its going to far contrast with how she will actually turn out. This doesnt really support the Adrien thing in particular but honestly it would also be anticlimactic of the coma was for anyone else. If it was Nathalie, then yeah itd suck for Adrien I guess but like???? Doesn’t really connect the plots as much. Whereas if its Adrien, that brings Marinette into it, that gives her a powerful as heck conflict. Im guessing they would also somehow resolve his coma with “the power of love” mentioned in the theme song, just because of the foreshadowing with like waking someone up with a true love’s kiss (think Plagg in Chameleon, I guess the rose in Style Queen, maybe Alya’s story to Manom in Stormy Weather if we’re strecthing it....)

TL;DR: Adrien is probably gonna go comatose (like Emilie did) at some point because its been pretty foreshadowed (think Style Queen, Riposte, and even Chameleon), because of the legend surrounding the Hindu “mayura” peacock eating a snake representing time (wow that was not a sentence ok then), because Gabriel has previously foreshadowed having to work with his enemies to save his son, and also just because it would be super awesome and allow each character involved to have a pretty fulfilling conflict and arc.

(all images from the miraculous ladybug wiki excluding the piece of art depicting the mayura which is from murugan.org)

I hope however took the time to read this post enjoyed this theory, sometimes I have really random yet detailed theories regarding this show and I wanted to share this one because if I’m right then this will be proof I had predicted it, also you guys could possibly elaborate on it. I’m all for friendly discussions folks fr

If this doesn’t end up happening the theory is still awesome and they should have done it, and if it does my ego will probably expand and hopefully they will make it as awesome as it seems like it would be. Sorry if the structure of this post is not great, but thank you for reading. I appreciate you, have a wonderful week :)

[themadauthorshatter]

Creative wave. And things are picking up

Red School AU/UA Headcanons/Story Arc 2 PART 2!!!!!!!!!

We pick up where we left off with Cal, confused and worried by the exchange between Mare and his father, looking between Mare as she leaves and Tiberias, who's looking back at his people as they wave goodbye.

A lot look sad, but a lot more look like they're trying to hide a smirk.

It gives Cal a sick feeling in his stomach.

Tibe notices and asks if he's alright, since he's been a little off his game for a while.

Cal turns to him with a smile and says he's just nervous because if maguc really does exist in wherever they're going, he's more concerned about being pulled underwater by a leviathan than a war.

Tibe chuckles and admits that that's one of the least of his concerns.

Cal joins him on the upper deck and the two watch the people as the boat departs, Cal sighing and hoping this goes smoothly and quickly.

He's clearly never been in a YA book series.😑

Regardless, Tibe echoes with, "Let's hope so." or "One can hope."

Now, I know what you're thinking, "OP, where's Maven? He disappeared with Elara, sure, but where is he?"

Well, we cut to their conversation, more specifically Maven as he fights a gag as the ship starts moving. Elara asks him if he's alright, and is going to be alright, and he groans he'll be fine. He then asks if she has any plans for when they arrive to they're destination.

Elara corrects him if they arrive, all things considered, but no there isn't exactly a plan.

After somer silence, Maven starts to sort of shuffle in his seat and avoid his mother's eyes, cursing himself mentally as he asks her if they really have to go through with their plan.

Elara proceeds to hold Maven's hand and remind him of how his father ignored him for Cal, kept Cal in his heart when he wouldn't allow the same for Maven. Cal's foolish, suffering from big-heart-with-feelings syndrome and tunnel vision, hardly seeing options that deliver the best results. Maven, however, doesn't have that problem. He'd rather avoid conflict and war by any means, for the most part, and is clever enough to get out of tight situations. Cal only sees a way through an obstacle, not around, over, or under like Maven.

With both her hands wrapped around one of Maven's, she assures him it is for those reasons he would make a much better King than Cal.

He nods and asks, if they continue forward, what will happen to Cal and Mare. Sure they might cause a few problems, but maybe an 'accident' can happen if/when they reach the Endless Woods, one where they accidentally lose them in the woods and SGE, maybe throw them down a well or to a dragon and say, 'c'est la vie, shit happens,' so Maven can step up. If not that, have Cal be proven unworthy for the throne and have Maven be the King.

Elara admits he's got some really good ideas, but if Cal and Mare are still alive, the mistake of letting them live will come back to bite them. As fun as it would be to shame Tibe, for putting Cal on a pedestal, and Cal, because he's the crown prince and gets nothing but Tibe's good graces, it's better that they eliminate the possibility of having Cal and Mare coming back to take the throne.

Regardless, Elara assures Maven that if he can't get his hands dirty, she'll gladly do it for him. A gift from mother to son, as she wants no th hing but the best for her boy.

With that conversation done, Elara stands and tells Maven they're needed on the deck, to show the Red villagers they're powerful because it's the idea that scares people more than the real thing.

Maven nods and says he'll be out in a second, as he wants to make a grand entrance.

Elara smile-smirks at this and hugs him before leaving.

Once she's gone, though, Maven sits back down and sighs, rubbing his face and messing up his hair; between the two of them, he might need his mother to be the one to get their hands dirty. All he needs to do is be stoic and play the right part.

But what part am I playing when I'm with them? He asks himself as he gets up and fixes his hair. Have I even been acting since Mare came here? Maven sighs and leaves the room, making that grand entrance, like he said he would.

He looks back at Elara and then to Cal, the two brothers sharing a nervous smile between them.

One thing is certain: in the end, none of it will even matter. But what will matter? And what is the ending for all of us?

CUT TO THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL!!!

In the Theater of Tales, the students are filing in and taking their seats.

We find a very fidgety Sophie as she wonders why they're assembled in the first place. With a gasp amd squeal, she wonders if the 'mistake' made on Day 1 is finally being fixed, so she can go in Good and Agatha can be in Evil.

Hester sighs that she wishes, because she and Anadil sure as hell will, if Sophie doesn't shut up, though Anadil wants her gone more because of an 'accident' in the dorm that left her rats pink. Sophie snaps she apologized for that, as the three should've left the room, if they didn't want any highlights.

Hester mutters that it's no wonder Good hasn't taken her, and even hopes that the assembly is a public 'expelltion,' so Sophie can leave and never come back.

Dot, however, simply replies that it's probably not for a transfer, but it might be about something else. Anadil and Hester ask what, but Dot shrugs, because it was called by order of the School Master himself.

Sophie isn't paying attention at all, because she's staring at Tedros as he walks in, talking and laughong with a couple of his friends as they take their seats.

They're equally confused about the emergency meeting, but, hey, whatever gets them out of their boring classes, right?

Beatrix spots him and waves from him to sit next to her, but Tedros sits behind Agatha and comments to her that he's never seen the students so chatty of whispery with each other since the fiasco with Agatha and Sophie claiming to see the School Master.

Agatha chides, as a semi-joke, that she wasn't joking about that, but if he wants to keep feeding that fluffy hair of his rather than his brain, that's fine by her.

Tedros laughs and does a mini hair flip, asking if she really thinks it's that fluffy, which makes Agatha giggle a little bit.

Now, from her stand point, Sophie notices this exchange and tries to see more and get Agatha's attention.

All that happens instead is Brone and Mona sitting down and blocking her view. She still tries to look and asks for them to sit elsewhere and Brone responds by getting comfortable whole Mona mirrors Sophie's actions, just to get under her skin.

Back with Tagatha- I mean, Tedros AND Agatha(sorry about that, my hand,uh,... slipped😶), they spot Sophie trying to spot them and Tedros glares at her, before dipping until his chin's resting on the back of Agatha's seat.

Agatha sits back as well and asks if he's still mad about the Trial and what led up to it.

"Define 'mad,'" Tedros grumbles, asking that if the person who promised to help, but left her alone to practically die, would she still want anything to do with said person?

Agatha has no response.

Good thing, too, because as the lrofessors take their places on their respective sides, above, the windows shoot open and doves and butterflies swoop in and circle the center of the stage, between the professors, who all cover their eyes as blinding white fills where the animals are circling, though Sader just smiles and laughs("Oh, this is FINALLY getting interesting!"). The animals fade from the gound up to reveal a man in a silver cloak, his robes white and his suit and boots black, wearing Good, Evil, and the Moral Grey that binds the two. He's also wearing a mask, one that's also silver, but one half is black while the other is white. They can, mostly, see his eyes though, for easier non-verbal communication for us and them.

Yes. This is the School Master, who we the audience know as Rhian; if this was a real thing, we wouldn't know yet, I'm just saying it niw because it's easier that way, and it's less tedious.

All students and the professors gasp, maybe we even see Espada look over at a disappointed Sader, about to ask why he's not surprised, before quickly remembering he's blind as hell and looks back at Rhian.

Tedros is especially flabbergasted, skack jawed as Agatha groans about how she liked what he'd worn before, an a grey and white robe with no shoes.

No one says a word, which is good because Rhian has a very, very, very, VERY important announcement to make:

The royal family of Norta is on their way, at this moment, as he speaks. The King is coming, the Queen is coming, both Princes are coming, and their betrotheds are coming, so everyone needs to behave themselves. That means no pranks, no missing classes, no slacking with hygiene(a stupid rule, but necessary because first impressions are everything and the literal King is coming, so they'd better make it count), no silly rivalries, and, most if all, they must show the unity and balance between Good and Evil, show that, yes they are opposites, but yhere are always two halves to a coin, two halves to a story. What better way to prove that than with the students cooperating.

For now, they'll have to forget who takes the next win in the Circus of Talents or the next fairytale, because fighting will do nothing to help them find peace with the new comers.

The students look each other over and silently agree; even villains know to leave a good impression.

Hester and Anadil are especially reluctant, but Dot tells them that things have been getting boring and these visitors will be a fresh change of pace from what they're used to, seeing as Sophie and Agatha are kind of old news now. She gives Sophie a quick 'no offense' and asks if she's at least got the basic idea of what she's trying to say.

Too bad Sophie tuned out at 'Princes,' which means her dream has come true: Cal and Maven are coming and can whisk her away from Gavaldon and the School for Evil. If this was a graphic novel, we'd see her monologue and smile up at a dream/vision of Cal sweeping her up in his arms as the two hug, both smiling and happy and dressed in white for a wedding, flowersand eose petals surrounding the frame with bells in the background. Her hands are wringed together, a tear's in her eye, and she can barely contain her excitement.

This thought is quite literally popped by Dot, who asks if Sophie's even listening at this point, or heard what Rhian said about them being on their best behavior.

Even though she's upset, Sophie nods, saying she'll be so good, Good itself will look Evil.

As the students file out- Sophie sprinting out to clean up and re-familiarize herself on her makeup and lotions- Agatha is still reeling from Rhian's words, stopping in the clearing on the way back to class to get her thoughts together.

Cal, Maven, and Mare are coming to the SGE. She NEVER thought she'd be able to see or meet them, but she is.

It settles in Agatha that she's going to meet them and cries tears of joy, more than excited to meet who she's been writing to for a month or so, maybeca little less.

CUT BACK TO THE SILVERS AS THEY SAIL!

Good news: They're getting closer to their destination. Bad news: it's storming outside.

The High House children, Mare, Cal, and Maven are all hanging out together because they're bored with a capital B. Ptolemus and Cal are arm wrestling with Olliver reffing, Sonya's doing a cat's cradle, Elane's taking a nap, and Evangeline, Mare, and Maven are playing Poker; they're going easy on Mare because she doesn't know how to play, though Evangeline's so bored she can't tease her for it.

The ship rocks and Sonya stops a vase from falling, Cal gets the leg up he needs on Ptolemus, and Maven holds down the deck of cards as Evangeline groans that this is a long ass trip.

As he shakes out his arm, Cal tells Evangeline it could be anywhere between a week to ten days, so long as they follow the path the School Master gave them.

Evangeline raises an eyebrow at this and stands up, asking Cal if he really believes this school of fairytales exists.

Cal admits that it's kind of late to be asking as he and Ptolemus switch arms and go again.

Ptolemus tells Evangeline to relax and try to enjoy herself; they'll be on the ship for a little while and can't afford to tear each other apart.

Sonya sighs and sets down her cat's cradle, stating that this whole thing is probably just a ploy made by the Lakelanders to invade Norta. It was an attempt made before, so she wouldn't be surprised if it happened again.

As he and Mare set up checkers, Maven states Norta should be fine. Tibe, Elara, Lucas, and Ptolemus are gone, but Volo and the rest of House Samos, House Osanos, House Merandus, and the other High Houses are still there, so they should be okay to leave for a little while. And they're sending telegrams to the Summer Palace and White Fire Palace, to fool the Lakelanders, in case they intercept their messages to compromise them.

After a few minutes of silence, brought to you by Evangeline joining Elane in that nap, Cal and Ptolemus on their feet as they arm wrestle, even throwing jabs at each other, Olliver and Sonya having a staring contest, and Mare and Maven playing checkers for some snacks.

This should all be more strategic-training stuff, but tge idea of these noble and royal kids being normal teenagers is just too gold for me.

Mare and Maven eventually give up checkers to watch Cal arm wrestle for his life, Evangeline and Elane waking to watch as wellwith Sonya and Olliver joining in and they all take they're sides: Maven, Mare, and Olliver bet on Cal winning as Evangeline, Sonya, and Elane bet on Ptolemus.

They're all bored, it's 7pm, they have a week together, so they might as well.

Caught in the fun, Cal and Ptolemus take their coats off, so they still have their shirts on, and psyche themselves and each other up.

What does the winner get? Well, the original prize was slapping the loser in the face, but Cal doesn't want Ptolemus to throw him overboard and Ptolemus, even though he's kicked Cal's ass before, isn't comfortable with slapping the crown prince in the face, so they considered the winner could PUNCH the loser in the face, but decided that was also a bad idea, so the winner just gets bragging rights. And has to do 35 pushups.

Lame prize, but everyone agrees.

The two sit down and join hands before Evangeline slaps a metal band around their hands and in the crooks of their elbows, which keeps them to the table, so they don't cheat, and Maven holds their fists in the middle of the table, fake reffing and saying he wants a clean match, so no roid rage from Ptolemus and no spontaneous combustion from Cal. The two glare each other down, fighting ring style, and then Cal sicks his tongue out just to be a dick.

Then they go at it, arm wrestling as hard as they can with their respective teams cheering them on, a little quietly though, because people might be sleeping.

There's jabs thrown, name calling, and maybe the hint of below the belt, but Cal manages to best the berserker, with the jab of, "If I was still General of the Shadow Legion, I'd make you mop floors for a week," to which Ptolemus replies, "Bite me," and Cal owns him by asking him how he won so many fights against Ptolemus in training.

The two are freed and shake hands, the teams applauding for the show.

I know this part is kinda filler, but it's fun and sillyness for teenagers who are usually not too happy with each other, let them have this moment.

Also, TIME FOR A TIME JUMP MONTAGE BETWEEN THE SGE CREW AND THE RED QUEEN CREW!

We see Hester and Anadil yell at an oblivious Sophie as she does her hair and makeup while they hold the brightly colored rats, who are now wearing bows. Cut to Mare watching the sun rise with Cal and Maven behind her, secretly high fiving at a job well done of cheering her up. Cut back to the school as Agatha organizes her room and tidies up(FIRST. IMPRESSIONS.) Beatrix and other Evergirls watch with a freaked out look, but leave when she looks over at them. Cut back the RQ cast with Tibe checking in on the captain of the ship to see they're going the right way. How do they know where they're going? Rhian sent a Stymph to guide them. All they need to do is keep it in their sight, and they'll reach the SGE in no time. Speaking of the SGE, cut to Tedros practicing some sword tricks and finishing with an introduction of himself. He asks Agatha, Tristan, and Chaddick how that was and the boys say he looked impressive, very flashy. They leave and Agatha asks if "flashy" is what Tedros wants the Silvers to see, if he wants them to see the Prince of Camelot with the arrogance of a pecock and the best at the sword, or the real Tedros, who's probavly just as scared and nervous as they are. Tedros admits he wants to be both, but admits that sometimes there can't be a 'both.' Agatha suggests he just flip the sword in his hand rather than go all out, so he can leave an impression, but still show he's someone important that's worth knowing. He thanks her and she leaves, Tedros smiling as she leaves. Cut to Maven, who's looking over a Pro and Con list and is obviously stressing over it because as much as he loves his mother and the idea of being King, he also loves Cal and Mare, so he's in a stalemate with himself. Cut to Anadil as she pets one of her rats as the other two rest on her shoulders, all three with black fur again. Cut to Evangeline and Ptolemus making sure their metal 'armor' resrs well on their bodies, forearm for Evangeline and ankles for Ptolemus. Cut to Agatha trying to doll up, but failing, which is overseen by Kiko, Beatrix, Millicent and Reena, who meet her eyes and pull her into the girl's Groom Room, where we get a match cut from Reena wiping the makeup off Agatha's face to a Red maid applying Mare's 'Silver' makeup as she reads the note Agatha sent. She accidentally papercuts herself and the calore brothers and Evangeline notice. As Maven distracts her, Cal quickly patches up Mare as a small bit of blood leaves her finger. He also hands her some gloves he found and tells her to keep them on until the cut heals. Evangeline asks if she's okay, faking it muchly, but Mare says she just scared herself. Cut to Kiko helping Agatha with her curtsey and Sophie rehearsing for when she meets Cal. Tedros is doing his own rehearsing, in the form of juggling his sword, sheathing it, and then extending a hand to introduce himself. He ultimately decides to lose the sword juggling and just go for a head bow and a hand shake. Cut to another storm with Maven and Cal giving Mare half-scared, 'sorry' smiles as she glares at them; they both saw some rocks and thought it was a cracken or leviathan. They didn't attack it, but they did scream and it woke her up.

Cut to the courtyard at the SGE, with the Evers and Nevers lined up and both are looking spick and span, even though they're all tired because it's an hour past dawn.

Sophie is giddy as hell, possibly being the only one in the Never line who's actually excited to be awake. Hester and Anadil sarcastically wonder why as Dot struggles to stat awake; Anadil's allowing her to lean on her for the time being until the Silvers arrive.

Tedros sighs and tries not to mess up his hair or fidget, because etiquette, when he spots Agatha, who's pretty as a picture and makes staring forward hard for all the students, even Sophie, who notices Tedros staring and scoffs, "She's not THAT pretty," with a flip of her hair.

Tedros compliments her and Agatha says it was Kiko's idea and Beatrix and her friends helped, because being friends with Sophie obviously taught her shit.

They take their places and watch the entrnce of the school, wondering when the Silvers will arrive. Tedros anickers that Sophie apparently can't wait, and assures Agatha they'll arrive safely. From what Cal said in his letters, that he's a soldier, they should be okay.

Funny he says that because carriages drawn by horses pull up.

Guess who's inside in groups of two? 😁🤩😃

The Evergirls all squeal, though Sophie gets hella excited for Agatha, who's trying to keep it together.

AND SO ARRIVE THE ROYAL FAMILY AND A COUPLE GUESTS LED BY TIBERIAS AND ELARA!!!!!

The students all bow and Rhian makes his entrance, with flare and pizazz, because pageantry.

From her place beside Maven, Mare chuckles, "Show off." before they start approaching.

Sophie spots Cal, and ignores Evangeline on his arm, and waves at him, even though he's in stoic, soldier, prince mode.

He catches her, because she's waving, but looks back at where they're walking, just giving a glimpse because HE'S NETROTHED TO EVANGELINE.

"You saw that girl? The one waving?" Maven murmurs.

Cal remains silent, but gives the slightest hint if a nod.

"That one's Soohie. Apparently she thinks she's supposed to be in the school where the other princes and princesses are."

The party stops in front of Rhian, who's looking absolutely incredible in his suit and cloak and mask.

It unsettles just about everyone, but Rhian bows and magucs a bouquet of navy, silver, and white roses for Elara.

"Your Majesties, welcome to the School for Good and Evil."

They all exchange greetings, though Rhian takes a second to look at Mare, noting hiw she's the only one in gloves and looks paler than the rest, almost... cakey. (Hmmmmmm?)

Regardless, he has the Silver party escorted to their rooms, Professor Dovey escorting the girls, Espada escorting the boys, and Rhian leading Tibe and Elara, hopin they don't mind if he asks a few questions.

Tibe agrees, as long as he can ask his own questions as well.

They leave and Rgian tells the students to return to their schedules and basically keep doing what they're doing, and to leave the party alone because they've had a long travel and need to rest.

He leaves with Tibe and Elara, and all the students instantly start talking, excited, giddy, and possibly in over their heads. Especially Sophie, who frets that Cal didn't see her in her refurbished Never dress that took her all week to make.

Agatha is only enamored want knows that after lessons, she's finding one of the gurls and talking to her, consequences be damned because if they travelled all the way from Norta to the Endless Woods, then there's a chance they can take her and Sophie back to Gavaldon.

Sophie, however, has a different objective, and its name is Tiberias Calore VII.

[sons-of-the-morning-star]

This is part 2 of Chapter/Episode 1.

If you haven't read part 1, you can read it here:

I will do a recap when I get to Chapter/Episode 2; best to start off the first episode or chapter with a bang, am I right?😉

With that out of the way, let's continue!!!

Crowley joins Lucius in drinking before he starts explaining:

"My friend and I have this kid we've been watching over for a while. He's... different, like you amd that photographer guy I talked to earlier."

Lucius nods and writes Crowley a message. 'You want me to join you two as you "watch over" him?'

Crowley shakes his head and rests one leg iver the other. "Oh, no. No, no, no. Not exactly, at least."

Lucius raises an eyebrow. 'Not exactly?'

The doorbell rings and Lucius answers to get a warm, loving, brotherly embrace from Damien...

Through a quarterback level tackle. That sends Lucius to the floor and gasping for air both because he got the wind knocked out of him, and because Damien has his hands on Lucius's throat.

"You son of a bitch!" Damien screams. "Killing criminals isn't enough already!? You just had to take it to another level!? You couldn't help yourself, could you!?"

Lucius uses his telekinesis to throw Damien off of him, thankfully not breaking anything, and into a wall, kicking him pretty weakly because of that tackle.

The expression on Lucius's face doesn't say 'I had nothing to do with any of that,' it ACTUALLY says, 'YOU MADE ME CONCUSS, YOU ASS!'

"Boys, boys," Crowley chides as he watches and finishes his drink. "Don't play rough in the house OR swear in front of me."

Damien stands up, but Lucius backs away, making very weak gestures that finally mean something when he points to his eyes, then a window. He doesn't know a lot of sign yet, but he is learning.

'Stalker.'

"I don't stalk you, Senator Wagner." Damien says that part in a very mocking way, which does not sit well with Lucius.

"Before you two tear each other apart," Crowley calls, "mind if I remind you that you don't have a choice?"

Lucius folds his arms and raises an eyebrow. 'What if I don't?'

Crowley shouts, "AZIRAPHALE!" and dices to the ground.

Our angel friend comes out from behind a wall and holds a cross in his hand, right way up.

Even though it's far away, it still has "bad" effects on Lucius, making him groan and fall to the ground. Imagine if you had one of those headaches that don't hurt, but make your head feel heavy and weird, like you need to sleep, BUT IT'S IN YOUR ENTIRE BODY.

Damien has a similar reaction as Aziraphale steps closer.

"So sorry, boys, but you need to listen!"

"Like I said earlier," Crowley cuts in, "it takes a demon to know a demon. The same goes for you two and your brothers."

Lucius coughs and nods his head, agreeing with what the pair are saying as long as they put the cross away.

Aziraphale puts it down and nods back. "Good. Thank you. He'll be here tomorrow."

With a nod, both Aziraphale and Crowley leave, Crowley leaving them some custady papers.

Once the two are a good distance away, Damien speaks up, though neither he or Lucius stand; an angel wielding a cross is enough to weaken them ten fold.

"Congratulations. You're a father."

Lucius pulls himself up and smacks Damien before standing up.

I should probably mention that Lucius's house is bigger than we're first seeing. I kinda forgot to mention this in part 1, but Lucius lives in a multi leveled house. There have been instances of "co-workers" needing to stat the night so they don't get into ant accidents, die, or get arrested. Co-workers like political allies that were not brainwashed and anyone in Lucius's party with a good political rank.

Back to the story, Lucius throws away the empty bottle Crowley had and puts his back in the fridge before starting a pot of coffee.

Damien joins him in the kitchen and leans against the counter.

"So, we have brothers to look after."

Lucius groans and shrugs as he nods. 'Seems like it.'

"I already have an apartment, by the way."

'Then live there. Just don't squat here with our so-called brother.'

Damien narrows his eyes. "I have some bad news, then. I can't exactly afford to have an emergency flight back home. And I can't bail on my company when they want to know what Future Senator of the United States has planned once he's in office."

Lucius leans and tips his head back as he groans, rolling his eyes.

"How do you like tricking all those people, huh? About killing and manipulating anyone in your way? Doesn't it bother you?"

Lucius eyes Damien and then holds his hands out before writing a message.

'Pretty good if they deserve it.'

The two stare each other down before Lucius sighs.

Note here, whenever Lucius "talks" just assume the more cohesive sentences are either written out or a gesture that's easy to read, while ones that are chunkier are his signing. Like, 'I don't think that's a good idea to do,' is his writing or gesturing, while 'not good,' is his signing.

Back to Lucius. 'Fine. You can stay for the night. Don't get comfortable here.'

"Trust me, I won't."

With one last good night glare, the two part ways, Lucius in his own room and Damien on the couch.

CUT TO THE NEXT MORNING!!!

Lucius is in his office building doing some work, a little cranky from having to share his house with Damien.

He isn't exactly busy long, because he gets a knock on his door.

"Mr. Wagner? You have some visitors who really want to see you."

Lucius nods and waves his hand in a gesture of, 'Fine, fine, fine. Just let them in.'

In walk three boys, two more grown up and one adolescent with a dog. The two young men from the interview, but Lucius has never seen the red haired/brown haired child with them.

Adam looks very upset, like he's been crying a lot, and Jack keeps ruffling his hair and giving him side-hugs.

"Mr. Lucius Wagner, I'm Jack," says the taller brunette as he gestures to himeslf before waving to the blond, "this is Michael," he says before side-hugging Adam again, "And this is Adam."

"Jack Kline, Michael Langdon, and Adam Young," Michael snaps. "We're the three boys you have custody over, the ones given to you by the demon Crawley."

"Crowley," Adam barks. "His name is Crowley."

Lucius's eye twitches. 'There's THREE of you?'

Jack tilts his head. "You didn't read those custody papers all the way, did you?" He tilts his head back and chuckles as Lucius digs in his briefcase for the custody papers. "There's fine print. There's always fine print. Dean was never good with that either."

Lucius doesn't repeat Dean's mistake again and reads the papers thoroughly enough to see that, yes, he is now the legal guardian of Adam, Jack, and Michael.

AND HE IS THE GUARDIAN PARTNER OF DAMIEN.

The sight of those words make Lucius slam down the papers and dial his phone.

Michael rolls his eyes as Adam takes a seat, Dog hopping up to comfort his master.

"Told you he wouldn't take it well."

Jack shrugs, a small smile on his face. "I think he's taking it just fine."

Lucius snaps his fingers and points between Jack and his phone.

"See? He wants me to talk to our brother for him!"

Lucius lets out a, "TSS! TSS!" and holds up a note. 'READ THESE OUT LOUD INTO THE DAMN PHONE!!!'

"You should watch your language in front of a near teenage boy."

"JUST TALK!" Michael yells as Lucius slams his fist and phone against the table, the speaker on.

Jack shakes his head and mutters, "Such a poor example we're all setting." As the phone is anwered by Damien.

"Yes, brother dear?"

"Hello, Damien! Nice to finally talk to you!"

Lucius holds up a piece of paper for Jack to read.

"Oh! Lucius wants me to tell you, 'I am not your partner,' in all capital letters and with an exclamation point."

From where he is, Damien chuckles and shrugs. "Well, that was the agreement with us and Aziraphale and Crowley. We can't back out unless we want to get baptized."

Lucius scribbles another message for Jack to read.

"He wrote, 'They said there'd only be one brother,' and one is in all capital letters."

"They said brothers-suh. With an S at the end. And we can't orphan the other two."

Lucius gives Jack a look that says, 'No, this isn't happening!' and groans loudly as he smashes his head into his desk.

"See you guys back home!" Damien laughs before hanging up.

Everyone is in silence as Lucius groans as he hids his head against his desk.

Jack looks at Adam as he hugs Dog close to him and then to Lucius, who holds his head down with his hands.

"I'd say that went well."

Cut to when Lucius's day is over and he's walking with Michael, Jack, Adam, and Dog behind him, specifically in that order as Jack keeps quacking and saying the three of them are Lucius's and Damien's ducklings.

A figure watches them walk, though he smiles as they get to the parking garage.

"Nicely done, you two," he admits. "Good luck, Senator Lucius."

Lucius turns his head as Aziraphale waves at him.

Aziraphale looks to see another angel watching the brothers as they drive away and bristles.

Cut to Lucius in the car, Michael in shotgun and Jack, Adam, and Dog in the backseat.

"Look at us. A family, at last. Isn't this nice?" Jack asks as he looks to each of his brothers and holds Adam's hand.

"Ladies and gentlemen, place your bets," Michael states matter-of-factly. "Five sons of the devil, but one throne that needs an ass to polish it." He and Lucius exchange glares, both their eyes going black for Michael and red for Lucius. "Wonder who'll win?"

Adam looks to them both, annoyed. "No one's fighting for anything."

Both Lucius and Michael turn to Adam, who holds on to Jack and Dog tighter.

"I want to go home."

Jack nods. "Adam's right. Let's all go home."

Lucius starts the car and leaves the parking garage, turning on the radio to get a LITERAL SHOCK.

"Michael, that was rude."

Jack and Michael glare at each other as Lucius gets the news bulletin that shocks him worse than what Michael gave him:

"We interrupt this broadcast to give you incredible news! England and the southwestern states have miraculously been restored!"

Lucius and Michael both stare wide eyed at each other and the radio as Jack sighs and hugs Adam.

Back with Aziraphale, our angel friend has just arrived on the roof of the parking garage, where we find the angel waiting for him.

Or rather, FALLEN angel.

"I hope you don't intend on ruining this for them."

"After what that little brat did to the armageddon!?" Gabriel shouts. "Almost a millennium of preparation for nothing, but you and that demon to frolic around and watch that kid like a lamb, and you still call yourself an angel!?"

Aziraphale straightens himself and stares Gabriel in the eyes. "I'm more of angel than ypu, apparently."

Before Gabriel can snap back, Aziraphale continues.

"It is The Almighty's plan for them to be together. Throne or not, they will not leave each other."

Gabriel recomposes himself and glares at Aziraphale with narrow eyes. "You're really that sure?"

"Absolutely," Aziraphale replies with a nod.

Gabriel smirks and turns his heel. "We'll see about that."

Aziraphale watches Gabriel fly away with grey wings, as opposed to the white ones he used to have, and turns his head to watch Damien get in his own car and drive back to Lucius's house; his company heard a rumor and want him to investigate personally.

AND THAT'S IT FOR PART 2!!!!!

Tension, tension, tension already, am I right!?

I'll be back with Chapter/Episode 2 possibly sometime after the holidays, since we are leaving off on a pretty big note here.

I really hope you enjoyed Chapter/Episode 1, stay safe, and HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!!

[you-are-worth-the-wait]

you know that i think about you a lot and i know things are tough and complicated there.  i am constantly trying to make sense of things there even though i know i don’t have the full picture.  all i have to go off of is what i know as far as what i’ve learned about you, the bits and pieces you let me see every now and then, what you tell me from time to time, and trying my best to read you and possibly everything i can based on nonverbals.  which a lot of the times may seem far off since my “nonverbals” come from words on a screen and the occasional convos i have with you over the phone.  if i’m mistaken or way off base, i do apologize.  like i said, i’m trying to make sense of things based off of those things.  but this is kind of what i’ve seen/am seeing, up to now.

i think about the dynamic between you two, your dynamic for yourself, and the dynamic between us. Truth...I think the dynamic between the two of you is...and please don’t hate me if I am wrong and feel free to tell me off that I’m wrong because it really is difficult to get a feel for things when I prolly only know about 15% of everything that is going on. Or I could know 85%. I mean, I don’t know what you hold back. I just know what you tell me. But what I gather, the dynamic isn’t “genuine”. when it came to what is going on now, in the beginning, it was shyt amd understandable. He was hurt and angry and took it out on you. You felt guilty and felt you deserved everything that was given to you. You folks see-sawed back and forth from good and bad times but it was still really bad and the mental and emotional state you were in didn’t make things easier. Even though you were trying so hard to “make it up to him”, you were trying to do the things to try and “salvage” things yet, majority of the time it still came down to you and me talking. You were telling me the things you couldn’t tell him. Even though you were doing it for the “sanctity”, it was me that you felt you could open up to in order to keep things together. You confided and communicated with me about the lack of communication with him. Even though yes, you and he were physically there, I was the one who you came to to help keep you together and to keep going. I know you beat yourself up but I also know he had a role in that too in making you feel less than yourself and making you question yourself. I know he tore you down and he crossed so many lines in getting you to the lowest of your lows but I also know he did play a part in helping you up too. i know you had some “okay” moments and strides but I sometimes wonder who helped you out more, me or him? 

Now I wonder about the state/dynamic you two are in now after all this time. I know it’s not bad but I also know it’s not good.  my interpretation is that it is 40% bad, 50% neutral, and 10% good.  i could be off on that.  but i feel like you would gladly take and accept the neutral in order to keep the peace.  but that’s not how a relationship should be.  i know that’s not what you want.  you try to explain and “give him allowances” for his approach to things and how you justify his words and actions you but you know i don’t agree with the explanation and rationale at times.  i know that there is way more going on between you two and i get guess my way around it with so many angles but it’s not fair to you and him to speak on something that i may know nothing or have no clue as to what i am talking about.  for that reason, i try not to be as harsh and rash as i know i can be.  when it comes to you, you know i’m going to fight and support you to lengths and at the costs of others.  i.e. that one coworker at the jail that made you uncomfortable.  i may seem “harmless” as that guy with lisp said that he wasn’t worried about me but trust me, if/when it comes to protecting you and making sure you are safe, i know the lengths i’m willing to go to make sure you are safe.  i did check in on him once and awhile too to make sure that he remembered what i said.  i guess it did kinda work against you/us when he didn’t necessarily want to take the chance of working with you or covering for you since he prolly wanted to make sure to keep his distance...*shrug* *ws*

As for you, I think you are “a lot” better than before. I can’t really say that the exact word is “good” but I know it’s a lot better from your lowest lows. I told you that I even felt some semblance of “your self” here and there but I can still tell things are “not good”. Here’s the thing. I’m happy and proud to see the strides you’ve made for yourself and I can tell you are trying to do the same for the relationship but I feel like it’s almost gotten to the same dynamic you had before but in a trickier and way worse situation. It almost feels like you two are exactly where you started again before i came into the picture. you already had a bad dynamic between you two to where you both were moving at your own paces, possibly in different directions, and just completely not on the same wavelength.  i would venture to guess that you were ready and wanted to move forward but you either couldn’t or didn’t know how.  fast forward past that phase, where i come into the picture, you and me happening, the ultimatum, you being at your lowest lows, you still reaching out and confiding in me even though you are not supposed to, going through therapy, to right now.  you have come a long way and i feel that there are days where you are possibly “okay” and ready to move forward again but he’s “holding you back”, again, and it’s in worse situation. It’s like your “life together, the house, the misstep with the car purchase, his judgment, his priorities” that had you just being complacent with where you were back then, I feel you kind of are at the impasse again. I know you are not “all good” but there’s a part of me that feels like you are seeing things a little clearer now but he’s not on the same page again and you are back to that situation where you want to move forward but you can’t because of him, and I’m wondering if your lack of motivation or conviction to move forward is again tied to “waiting for him” again. I feel like you are ready to try to take those next couple steps for yourself and you are trying to do it together but since you aren’t on the same page again, you may be holding yourself back and I’m wondering if that may be preventing you from trying to move forward to be yourself again. Like, I know you weren’t happy back then and I know you aren’t happy now. I know you wanted to move forward back then too but you couldn’t so you kinda “settled”. Now, coming back from your lows when you felt like you were reduced to a hollow shell of a person and of your true self, I feel that even you know you’ve made a lot of big steps to even get to where you are now. It’s not exactly how I thought it would happen but I do like the fact that you have regained your sense of individuality and have been truthful to yourself in knowing that you do want more for yourself. I thought if we both continued on the path we had together, you would have realized it too on your own.  time didn’t give you that chance. It sucks that you had to get beaten down the way you did and had to go through all the “bad” and therapy in order to find a “safe place” to where you could find a way for your own voice, mind, and heart to be heard. But it’s like you are finally allowing yourself to see a future, options, and opportunities that I always saw was there for you. I saw that when we first started getting to know each other and I meant it when I first said you could do so much. You were either too timid, scared, or humble to allow yourself to see it. I think it’s possible that all the rejections when you first were trying to get a job as a nurse possibly messed with your psyche a bit. Totally understandable.  you are an amazing nurse and a valuable asset that any company, facility, or team would be lucky to have.  but more so, you are an amazing person and as harsh as this may sound, without him, i feel you could be in an “okay” place in your life considering how he tore you down and continues to do so yet you are able to find your own voice and mind a little at a time.

Considering all that though, I think you are overcompensating again and it’s possible that your readiness to move forward and his unwillingness or inability to do so has you in that state where you want to be happy but the situation you are in isn’t allowing that, so you are kinda left in a state of “should I move forward? I want to...but I can’t. Should I feel bad that I am ready to move forward again but I can’t? I know I want more but will I get that here? I also know that what I want, I may/will not find it here. I’ve seen what’s out there and I want that. The question is, how do I move forward when I feel like I can’t?” I think that’s where you are at now. It’s a different mind set from before. I think before you wanted to move forward “together” but he prevented that in some way in where you two were just not even close to being on the same wavelength.  so since you couldn’t move forward “together”, you accepted it, and made do the best way you could because you still wanted to be “together” somehow. Now, it’s the same thing but in a way worse dynamic and i don’t even know if you are on the same plane to say you arent on the same wavelength.  it’s gotten to the point where you two aren’t even on the same axis/plane anymore.  you still want to move forward “together” but your/the individual resolve of the drive is strong/stronger than before. You still have the same drive/desire, I believe in wanting to move forward “together” but now that you realize you aren’t moving forward, your individual self doesn’t want to accept that this time around.  the resolve of the “singular/individual (you)” drive is moving forward and trying to figure out how to get what it wants and is almost as if it’s trying to drag/urge forward the “together (you and him)” drive but it’s just so toxic and discombobulated. Before I think you knew what was out there but because you were limited due to “not moving forward”, you may have taken the attitude of “it will happen when it happens”. As opposed to now, you still have the same drive, you still know what’s out there, but now you want to move forward and are realizing that you actually have the ability to do so.  you bought a house on your own.  you realize that you do have dreams, wants, a drive, and aspirations of more.  so now you have a different attitude, despite the fact that he is still holding you back and even bringing you down, your attitude is now “I want to make it happen...how do I make it happen?” And that’s where your heart, mind, and decisions are at and are torn. You now have a better understanding of what’s out there and a better/clearer idea of what you want and don’t want for yourself as a whole, individually and with someone, that’s the given. That’s where I see you growing into now. I think the “where/how do you get it” is the unspoken thing that you need to maybe figure out.  but the bigger question is “who do i want to get it with” is what you have to figure out and learning how to accept it for him, for others, but mainly for yourself.  i think those are the biggest challenges/obstacles/questions you are dealing with and will need to confront and that is what is causing you the majority of the hardships that you are going through.

Or I could be completely wrong...*sigh* I mean, this is what I am coming up with based on words on a screen. Maybe I’m reading everything completely wrong. Maybe my “hopefulness” is clouding my judgment and the reality of things? That’s why I do wish we could just talk the way we used to. These one-way convos and convos in my head that I have with you doesnt even come close to speaking with you which makes knowing what you are really thinking/feeling difficult. Trust me Love, when I saw I want to know what’s going on or what’s on your mind, I am sincere in every way possible. And even if you told me, “I don’t know”, if that’s where you truly are at or all you are willing to share with me, that’s fine too. 

tangent and side note...they took my LPN from my team to help out at the main hospital.  so basically, now i’m functioning as the LPN and RN of the team.  i just saw a glimpse of my workload for the rest of this year and it is not looking promising.  it’s weird because i would have thought they would have had one of the veteran people take on this responsibility because now i’m having all the other RNs teaching me the LPN duties and i’m taking that RN away from what they are doing.  i’m scared that if i keep asking and pulling them away from what they are doing they may be less inclined to help me down the line.  it sucks because, yes, i prolly should know some of these things by now but i don’t learn or know what needs to be done until the situation arises.  so yeah, it’s been humbling, difficult, and trying, and my LPN is detailed for another month.  it feels great that i feel like i’m learning new things and figuring out how things need to be done.  i just don’t like the initial feeling of where they say, “you don’t know how to do this?”, and then feel like a charity case when they show me what to do.  there are so many RNs with so many perceptions, so many approaches, different teaching styles, and attitudes.  you’d think i’d stick to someone for consistency but again, it’s who i can get out of necessity because i need to get it done and the “regular” people i’d ask are busy because i’m not pulling them away from their own things that take priority over mine.  this whole COVID thing and outsourcing of resources couldnt have come at a worse time for me.  

lighter side...i have a decent sense of character?  sounds like a good thing so i’ll take it :P

curious...that post about “talk stuff out...seeing things from their perspective”.  is that something you are getting from him?  wanting from him?  because i feel that that post kind of sums up how most of our “arguments/misunderstandings” work out.  during serious and light hearted times.  like when we’ve had our major arguments/misunderstandings and when one of us “leaves” hurt, invalidated, misunderstood, or burdensome to the other based on broken convos through here and real time.  all it really took was a moment to take a step back, allow the other person to explain themselves or figure out together where the misunderstanding may have occurred, and to realize that we are better off figuring and resolving it together instead of dismissing it.  what i do like about how we go about things though is that neither one of us “too proud” to not say “sorry” if one of us may be in the wrong.  i don’t like when arguments escalate and never end because someone isn’t willing to admit they were in the wrong when they were clearly in the wrong.  pride prevents them from doing so and it just makes things worse.  but i do like how we are able to resolve our tough times, and we’ve had some of them.  i am grateful that they haven’t been anything that we couldn’t handle and it’s what makes me confident in future conflicts.  like i said, i am curious as to how a major one would play out but i’m not purposely going to make it happen just to satisfy that curiosity.  it even happens with our funny/fun arguments like with the apple or the pear.  it’s a joking thing but we still find a way to figure it out.  i like how you and i just...work.

we making that cookie? :P

and yes...goofiness in all shapes and forms at any moment does make any moment that much better.  especially during intimate moments where we are able to go from 60 to 0 because of some ridiculousness that ends up making both of us laugh and then going straight to 100 without skipping a beat because the random silliness is just so refreshing and makes me realize why i love you and it just spills into the physical aspect.  your smile and laughter is as beautiful as it is sexy :)

[jonny-versace]

Hey! I kinda stumbled into your post about The Magicians and, as someone who a) is also interested in fandom culture and b) was an active member of The Magicians fandom during its highest (and lowest) points, I thought I'd share some of the context revolving around the shipping controversy.

So, during the first two seasons, the central m/f ship clearly seems like endgame, with no big hints about the main character being anything but straight. Sure, because the protagonist's best friend is a queer man who has a crush on him, and there are the usual queerbaty lines here and there, they were a big ship among the fandom, but nothing more. Until season 3 came along, and had something of a bottle episode, where the two get stranded in the past together and are explicitly in a romantic relationship. After they return, both kinda acknowledge the fact, but The Plot comes knocking. Shippers became more numerous, and some people started speculating that they could be a viable ship, but most of the fandom took it as a nod from the writers and a self-contained story that wouldn't come back.

All the while, the show's social media accounts hyped up this pairing more than any other, and made frequent remarks suggesting more canon recognition. Virtually every week you'd find a tweet, a poster, and so on, that egged people on. And by this point, the showrunners had the audience's trust due to their handling of other topics. There were more POC than usual for TV, the main character's chronic depression was an ongoing struggle, things like addiction and trauma were handled in believable ways. By having a self-described "depressed supernerd", who is comfortable with being bi/ pan, and storylines that catered to a queer neurodivergent audience, during three years they grew and grew in popularity and as a safe space for exactly these groups. I was one of those: I'm a historian, and pretty used to consuming media critically; I wasn't a teenager who's never seen herself represented, but an adult who got used to looking for good representation when I want to find it, or just watching things with no expectations for the fun of it, and at most dissecting the "what ifs". This show stroke me as the former, and became the relaxing and understanding queer space I ran into after a very long week. And there were A LOT of people in a similar situation.

Then came Season 4, and that's when things got tricky. Because you see, for three years they told us this show was clever, and it turned out to actually be; that this was a subversive and complex story being told in an absurdist way, and all that came to fruition. So when, with this season, there was both a flashback confirming that the main character wanted to persue a romantic relationship with his best friend, like in the past, but got turned down, and a very final break up between him and the girl who seemed like endgame for the first seasons, shipping went from "cool but unlikely pairing" to "damn, that's a great subversion of queerbaiting!". And their social media, trailers, released images and so on confirmed that to the audience (the tweet I recall better had the main m/f pairing, with a closed book, and was captioned with something on the lines of "a chapter ends so that another can begin"). The protagonist spent the entire season trying to rescue the guy he'd confessed feelings for. In a moment where they'd have to establish his identity, the frase said by said guy was the same reference used to talk about the bottle episode multiple times before. The nature of their relationship having changed is acknowledged by another character. At the end of the day, it seemed like a clearly confirmed fact.

And that's when the protagonist dies. There's a lot more ugliness around his death and how it was handled by the script, or how the showrunners pat themselves in the back. But it suffices to say that when an audience is mostly composed of "queer depressed supernerds", killing off the person who represented how someone like this could not only survive, but thrive, is more than a little traumatic. And doing so without ever giving the oh-so-central amd hyped up m/m relationship any ending, good or bad, makes it all seem both pointless and mean spirited.

Sorry about the gigantic text; this was such a unique fandom response and situation that I'm still quite fascinated by it (something like the near perfect creation and corruption of a vulnerable community's safe space). I don't know if you care about it, but just in case this interests you as well, now you have a summary.

hi hello! first, thanks for the extremely thoughtful post, it was interesting (I don't explicitly remember what I said in my post but I very much do remember being fascinated by the fall out of what the show did at the time) (I swear I'll finish pick it from S2 one day, though I'll admit I personally found season one a bit of a slog).

I remember reading enough posts from people on here and articles on sites like io9 to agree that what they did re killing off the bipolar I believe? lead and framing it as a noble sacrifice or something was in extremely poor taste, and I sympathise(d) with all the people who could relate to him and their grief coz like you said, even from my outsider perspective it seemed very ugly on the part of the show.

as far as the ship part of the conversation goes, I'm still largely ignorant of that from a first hand experience pov. but generally speaking, for me, I was and still am fascinated by what these (often lower budget, American CW/syfy etc) shows do to kinda stoke or fan fandom expectations/wants vs what fandoms do to themselves to set themselves up for a fall (canon vs fanon basically). in other words, how much a show queerbaits its audience vs how much the audience queerbaits itself, if that makes sense. not at all saying that's what happened in your fandom, again I haven't yet seen enough of the show to form an opinion on the ship aspect, but really just generally with those kind of shows (Supernatural being the big one recently, that Roswell show, even Teen Wolf going way back).

I usually find myself coming to the conclusion that like most things it's not a black and white issue, and that there's a certain amount of "blame" for lack of a better word on both sides. but again that's usually an observation from me as like a satellite to these shows and fandoms, not really valid in many senses, just something that eases the itchy part of my brain that's super intrigued when these fandom dramas explode as they're prone to do.

but no, I deffo do care in a larger sense so thanks so much! I'll deffo save this in case I ever get around to finishing the show for myself

[astras-world]

Rich kid! Peter Stark Au

Warning: Smut, swearing, jewelry fetish (?), dom! Peter parker slight bdsm (bondage) orgasm denial, over stimulation, bullying

Requested: No. Please do send in requests.

Pairing: Peter Stark x Reader

Summary: Peter gets fed up with the bullying then reveals a fantasy.

(Also why is this scene so hot? Like??? It's illegal to look hot that much okay Tom?)

Peter would never be one to show off his wealth, he was humble, a trait his father was proud of yet confused by.

All his life Peter had every thing he could ever want and need and Tony made sure he was well loved as well and yet Peter didn't like showing off or even making it known that he was rich but there would be times when Tony knew the Kid felt a little more confident than other days it usually happens when something good happens like when the two of you started dating, the next day Peter wore a limited editon Gucci jacket he was aware of the stares and he loved it.

Peter usually doesn't splurge but whenever he gets the chance to give you something he would always go all out.

His first gift to you was 3 months after you started dating, he'd gotten you a diamond ring and you stared at him in shock

'Peter, I love you with all my heart but I really don't think we're ready for that" you say nervously

"What?" He looks at you confused then looks at the ring again and realization dawns on his face and he laughs

"oh baby, I'm not proposing" he chuckles slipping the ring on your ring finger

"Not yet at least. This is a promise ring" He smiles at you.

"A promise ring? Peter this must have cost you millions how much even is this?" you were scared to even find out the numbers behind the expensive ring sitting on your finger

"Babe, don't worry about it, this is nothing. I only want the best for my girl." He smiles at you and as much as you want to melt right there you were still concerned about him spending so much money on you.

"Baby, really it's no problem, please just accept it?"

After that the gifts seem to only go up in price from dresses to shoes and bags and the only time he gave you a gift that was below thousands of dollars was a photo album that he put together of his favorite pictures of you since he loved to take pictures and he made a scrapbook out of it and gifted it to you on your birthday.

Today was one of the days when Peter felt a little confident, you knew because he used his favorite Balenciaga shoes and you can smell his favorite Valentino fragrance on him. He greeted you with a kiss as he walked up to you a smile never leaving his face

"Well hello sunshine, what's got you in such a good mood?" You greeted smiling widely at him

"Nothing, I just finally finished the project I was working on down at the lab" He answers smiling even wider than earlier

He always felt a little more confident whenever he finishes a project, he feels accomplished and thus trigger his 'Stark!' side.

"Well congratulations, tiger. I'm very happy for you." you said smiling brightly at him

He takes your hand in his and your knuckles before walking you to your class. He waves as you go in and heads to his class

You meet again later at lunch where you eat with him, ned and mj at your usual spot. You were all discussing plans of going to Peter's place for a movie night in the coming weekend when Flash walks up to your table

"Sup Penis?" He says with a smirk

"What do you want, Flash?" Peter replies flatly

"Well I just wanted to say hello to lovely (y/n) over here" He says eyeing you.

"Well you've said it, can you go now?" You ask sharply

"No need to get riled up princess, hey give me a call when Penis over here can't satisfy you anymore" He says teasingly

"No thanks, I'm sure a chipmunk could satisfy me better that you can ever satisfy any girl on this planet' You smiled fakely

"What the fuck did you sa-" Flash grabs your arm and Peter immediately grabs his arm and twists it

"Grab my girl again and you won't have an arm next time" Peter says darkly

"Whatever, Penis. Everybody knows your 'Balenciaga' shoes are fake anyway." Flash pulls his arm away and huffs in irritaion

"You mean like all your 'designer clothes?" Peter fires back quickly. "impressive though maybe next time cut off the tag that says poshmark, yeah?" He says with a hint of amusement

Flash gets flustered by the remark and stomps away.

"God, when will he ever leave us alone?" you say rolling your eyes.

You continue the rest of the day without any more interruptions but Peter seems a little off ever since the encounter in the cafeteria so you when you get to his place like you usually do you decide to drag him up his room and confront him

"okay what's up?" you ask as you lock the door to his room and sit down next to him on his bed

"it's nothing babe, just tired" he smiles a forced smile at you and he knew you weren't convinced.

"Peter? Honest answer?" You ask once again raising your eyebrows at him

"I just... thought about what Flash said earlier." he admits

"Which one?" you ask

"The one where I uhm- don't satisfy you" He answers slowly and his face flushed of embarrassment his eyes not meeting yours as he was obviously shy about the subject.

Peter was always shy around talking about sex but he listened to what you said you liked and tried to implement it to your sex life as much as he could, he never really told you any fantasies or fetishes and kinks. He was incredibly shy when during your first time but he was amazing.

"Aw baby," you laugh at him amused making his face flushed more "you've done nothing but satisfy me both on and off the bed, okay? You always do." you say sincerely cupping his face with your hand and making him look up at you.

"What I'm more worried about is if I'm satisfying you" you say

"What? Of course you do, baby." He says looking up at you confused

"Well you never really tell me what you like, what turns you on and such" you say shrugging

"Well, you turn me on baby, everything you do turns me on" He says holding your face and swiping gently on your cheek.

"So no fetishes, kinks, fantasies?" you ask

"Well.." he leads on

"so there is! Mr. Peter Stark has a kink!" you chuckle throwing your hands up in success "What is it babe?" you ask smiling

"it's weird really, it's fine if we don't do it, it's okay, we don't have to" Peter rambles.

"Baby, it's fine. tell me please?" you say pouting.

"fine its uh- umh- it's more of a fantasy I guess?" he stutters as he starts and you hum telling him to continue

"uhm I wanna fuck you while you're wearing diamonds and heels and nothing else." he says shyly expecting you to reject the idea

This shocks you a bit but then you remember all the times he's given you diamond accessories and how happy he was but also nervous when you wear them, it turned him on seeing you wear expensive things he buys you.

"uhm- well I don't exactly have your gifts on me right now?" you say still a little shocked.

"wait, your want to do it?" he asks surprised

"well yeah, it actually sounds really hot amd I'd love to do it with you but i don't have your gifts on me right now." you say

"uhm- well there's an uhm box in my closet filled with those kind of things if you really want?" he says nervously, your breath hitches

"you keep a box full of diamonds in case i agree with your fantasy?" you ask

"Well, kinda? I was planning on giving you those things anyway but uhm you found out" he says swallowing nervously.

"okay, let me get changed and-" you start but Peter cuts you off, "actually uhm, can I- can I do it?" Peter asks shyly a tone of hopefulness in his voice

"do what?" you ask confused

"Can I uhm- put it on you?" he requests his face heating up and you can't help but smile at how cute he looks

"okay babe, do what you want with me" you say smiling and stand up.

Peter starts to undress you as soon as he hears your approval his hands fumbling with your shirt, you lift your hands to let him take it off revealing your belly button peircing. Next was your pants, he unbuttones your jeans and slides the zipper down he slips it off your body leaving your underwear, he takes off your bra next leaving you practically naked. He steps back and stares at you

"you look beautiful baby." he leans in and kisses you on the lips "I'll get the things go sit on the bed" he says and goes to his walk in closet,

he's gone for a couple of minutes before returning with a big box he opens it and everything sparkles in your eyes. Every piece looks amazingly beautiful and crazy expensive. He reaches for the shoes first.

He kneels in front of you and slips the heels on your feet leaving kisses as he does next he pulled out two thick diamond bracelets and clasps it around both of your wrists followed by several thin diamond rings slipping them through your fingers he kisses the back of your hand after. He pulls out a thick diamond chocker and kisses your neck before clasping it around your neck and then the final piece is a diamond chain bra, it covers nothing but it's surprisingly more comfortable than you thought it would be.

He steps back to look at his handy work he gulps visibly "fuck baby girl, you look better than I thought you would." he says breathless

You feel shy all of a sudden, you weren't used to having billions of dollars in your body but you certainly loved Peter's reaction to it.

"Go lie down baby girl" Peter instructs and you comply you lie down flatly in the bed looking at the mirror on the top of his bedroom and you see how sexy you look with all of Peter's jewels on and you gasp slightly at the sight.

Peter notices your reaction. "You look perfect don't you, baby?" you look back at him and he's putting on his web shooters "Why are you wearing those? You asked him confused

"you'll find out soon, love" he smiles gently at you. "Karen, do not disturb protocol, please" He orderes to the AI

"Do not disturb protocol enabled." Karen replies

Peter walks up to you and lies on top of you using his arms to lift him up away from your face so he doesn't crush you. He then kisses you hungrily you kiss him back with the same force, one of his hands go down between you two and plays with your clit through the fabric of your underwear.

You gasp lightly at the contact. He stops kissing you and put your hands up above your head and shoots webs making your hand stick to the head board

"As much as I love your hands, I wanna be in control tonight love" He says lust clear in his eyes, be takes off your underwear and he kisses you again an continues to play with you clit

"So wet, love" Peter comments pulling away from your lips

"All for you" you sigh as the pressure inside you builds up as he plays with you. He pulls away from your lips and licks one thing of your nipples that were sticking out from the bra, he pushes a single digit inside you and you arch your back in pleasure

"Baby please," you whine wanting more than his fingers. "Be patient, love" He replies pushing another digit in and curling his fingers in a 'come here' motion you gasp in delight as he finger fucks you and you feel yourself so close to your orgasm

"Baby, I'm close fuck" you pant and he pulls his fingers out in an instant "Peter, what?" you asked him in outrage, Peter never denied you of your orgasm cause he loves the face you make when you do. He stands up and slips a sleeping mask over your eyes and slips your underwear back on.

He simply smiles at you and stands up "I think that's enough for now, baby" he says walking towards his bathroom

"What?? Peter you can't be serious? At least get me out of here! I swear to god Peter Stark if you leave me like this you're not allowed to touch me for the rest of the year!" you shout at him as he enters the bathroom

He looks back at you and smiles "I'll take my chances, love" he winks and closes the door. You let out a frustrated growl cause you can't even touch yourself and as much as you pull at your wrist, the web won't come off.

You silently curse Peter in your head while glaring at the bathroom door when you suddenly feel vibrations coming from your underwear then you hear the shower start to run.

"Peter Stark, you little shit" you mutter unbelievably. You feel the intensity increasing and you can't help but whimper helplessly.

Within minutes you're trembling from the violent orgasm that hit you and you had an inkling feeling that it wouldn't be you're last

By the time that you heard Peter got out of the bathroom you were a whimpering mess after your third orgasm tears were streaming down your face

"Peter, please" you begged. Peter lifted the sleeping mask off your face and immediately an apoligetic look us written all over his face "shh baby, I got you. I'm sorry, love." He apologized over and over as he slipped the underwear off you and desolved the web in your arms

"I'm sorry baby," he says holding you close to him "I took it too far, I'm sorry, baby" he whispered

"hey, it's okay, Peter. I like this side of you" You explain your voice soft

"but I took it too far" He whispers in your ear

"I could've asked you to stop it, I liked it, Peter. But I'd like it better if you'd fuck me." you say against his neck

"you sure, babe?" He asked, a concerned look on his face

"Please, Peter. I need to feel you inside me" you beg quietly

And just like that a fire sparked in his eyes spreading your legs apart and before you could process it, Peter is thrusting himself inside you. You moan out loud and arch your back from the sudden pleasure spreading throughout your body, you hear him silently curse and he began slowly thrusting in and out of you

The slow pace was familiar to the both of you and while you usually didn't mind it you need more of him

"Faster, Peter" you whimper between moans. Peter obeyed your requests and quickened the pace, your head hitting against his headboard and left you a moaning mess, scratching his back.

One of his hands went to your clit, increasing the pleasure you've been feeling nearly sending you over the edge

"Fuck Peter, I'm coming" you moan "Hold it for me, baby" he says breathlessly his thrusts becoming sloppy

"Baby, please I need to cum, please let me cum" you whine against his skin "wait for me baby" he commands softly continuing to drive you insane till he feels himself coming close

"okay, love cum for me" as if on queue, you tremble against him as he thrusts into you riding out your high and he comes inside you filling you to the brim.

He lies down panting beside you, holding you close to him and kissing your forehead.

"Thank you, baby." he mutters against your head. You look up to him confusion on your face "What for, bub?" you ask him

"For letting me do this with you." he kisses you in the lips. You hum in approval

"it's nothing, baby. I enjoyed it. Didn't know you had this side of you though" you chuckle against his lips and sending him a wink

"Well I couldn't let you have all the fun, now can I princess?" He laughs.

"Fair point" you smile to him

"Let me take care of you, princess he says standing up and removing the jewelry from your body and picking you up towards the bathroom.

Safe to say that wasn't the last time that you saw that side of Peter Stark

[struwwelzeter]

Why do you think Richard would be a nightmare client please? And do you think Till would be one too?

Oh, because he’s hands down the person that goes «It doesn’t feel right, this is not what I asked for ☹️» and then can’t tell me why in a way that I can fix it.

So, I’m gonna elaborate on that because it does tie into the Zoran thing and I am in the mood to blab about my work. Sorry, this got long. I’m a graphic designer/art director, aka the person that makes logos and designs event posters and such. I mainly work in culture (museums/exhibitions) at the moment, but I have done a few record packagings in the past and musicians generally are the worst clients, followed only by painters/sculpturers/other artiststs. It’s understandable and not really their fault and they are precious babies that need to be protected at all costs, but oh man.

The thing is, someone who just poured their heart and soul and failed relationships and personal nightmares into a record for the past 5 years and now needs a cover for it has a completely different level of investment into how things should be than let’s say a dentist who needs a new logo. They often have a very, very strong idea about how things should be but can’t at all articulate it because it’s so deep set into their soul and if they could articulate it they wouldn’t be coming to me in the first place, they’d just do it themselves. We all know Richie is a little control freak that needs things to be just so, and that’s just a very tough crowd to please because a design school education doesn’t come with a manual on how to read minds, particularly ones that don’t even know what they want.

If someone like that comes to me, I know I’ll be working unpaid overtime. I’d always make sure to give him a few extra (small, like a changed font or different color) variants even if that’s not part of the agreed upon comission (usually I’d bill more the more variants I offer to choose from) to reassure him there’s still alot of options we haven’t tried yet and to make him feel in control and show that I’ll try whatever I can to make it right. I’d try to talk to him more than other clients and get him to talk about stuff he visually likes more to get an idea about what exactly he means if he says stuff like «I want it to look clean» because surprise, surprise, not everyone means the same when they say that they just think they do. I’d probably make more time for revisions because we’ll need them, I’d have him come over for an afternoon and work with him live, infront of my monitor to test different things and see what speaks to him.

This is broad generalisation, but: The thing is, if I have an investment banker come in and ask for all that extra service, I’d be able to bill every last second of that and the dude wouldn’t feel ripped off. With artists you can’t do that. They’re used to creativity being something you can’t measure that way, they’re used to work themselves with very little monetary compensation for what they do (even someone as successful as Richard feels that. There is interview evidence.) They will feel like things become morally compromised when every tiny little thing I do becomes a question of budget first. They’ll feel taken advantage off alot quicker. That’s why especially with clients like this, you respect budgets out of principle. Mainly because the average musician or photographer isn’t a multi platinum selling big shot, but also because they’re sensitive about it morally. Being a designer is weird because artist people will see you as one of them, and business people will too, and you better be able to wear both hats. In other words, with artists, as a general blanket statement, I’ll take alot more shit and a lot less pay to get to the end of it if I want the thing to work out. That’s the nightmare part because walking on eggshells isn’t fun.

The fun bit is the part where you manage to bring someone’s heart out in the open and make it visible. One of my first paied projects was an editorial piece for a fashion designer. It was everything I described above, but when we nailed it she sat crying next to my desk. You can’t measure that shit in money anyway. I remember Richard saying in an interview that the title A Million Degrees came up while he was working with the graphic designer on it, and that, that right there is what you’re shooting for. You’ll want to help someone express themselves. It’s beautiful, pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. AMD was designed by Dirk Rudolph, one of the indusyry greats and who’s worked with him for years. I’m not surprised it worked out that way.

The point is, offering creative work as a service takes a truckload of empathy. Nobody talks about this when you start art school, but it’s one of the most empathetic and human connection based professions out there if you want to do it really well. You need to know and understand who you’re working with. The job is to make somone elses vision look it’s absolute best and shine and speak to the people it’s intended to speak to in the way the creator has invisioned it. That’s a big, big ask. You’re always translating in languages only one person speaks.

The problem is, that most of the people who became creators are pushed into offering it as a service for monetary/capitalism reasons and they want their own ego in it too because they never signed up for this shit where you give up your own vision and make it all about someone elses. It sucks and it’s unfair, because someone like Zoran would be worlds better and happier if he could just do whatever he pleases. He can’t tho, because he’s selling a service, and someone who buys a service expects a service. And that’s the part that always leads to problems, unless the chemistry works out really well. It bothers me a little when I see it happen like that tho. Because he basically says «forget about what we agreed, here’s MY thing.» and that’s just ... I don’t know, it’s just very much against my own work ethic I guess.

As far as Till goes, I think he’s pretty excitable and easy to please because he’ll just enjoy seeing it come to life. I also think that with someone like Zoran who he considers a friend he’ll be “whatever” about money, because he can afford it and probably doesn’t feel it’s worth quarreling over. Freedom, etc. Lucky as hell landing a client like that.

[ofcupidslove]

𝑐𝑢𝑝𝑖𝑑'𝑠 𝑑𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑙.

SUMMARY: Following the events of Aamon’s banishment, Cupid finds Bells at their lowest. Still reeling from the painful reminder of their own banishment from Heaven, Bells has a hard time coming to terms with what happened to Aamon. But with Cupid and Charlie’s help, Belphegor finds themselves on the mend as they process what exactly occurred that night at Lux Nightclub.  TRIGGERS: Suicidal ideations, Murder mentions, Violence mentions, Depression, Mental Illness, A lotta angst all around WRITTEN WITH: @ofhellsbells​, @ofdeathstouch​

BELPHEGOR: Usually, when Belphegor felt sad or depressed, they slept. It never usually mattered where since they could sleep just about anywhere despite how uncomfortable it was. Their home was one of the most comfortable places they knew, but right now, even that couldn't get them to sleep. Belphegor had been awake since even before what happened at Lux, but it was the events that occurred there that kept him awake now. He didn't need to sleep or even close his eyes to know the nightmares that stirred in his head. He sat in the middle of the floor of his appartment, seeing visions of the past on his walls. Family turned against each other, killed each other, and then split apart. Then the vision shifted, and Belphegor watched as the two halves of the family fractured further, breaking into pieces more and more until everyone was all alone. That's how it will always be, the void told them. You will be alone as long as you're alive. “Shut up!” Belphegor cried out at himself, believing the void's voice to be just his own thoughts. He hit the palms of his hands against the sides of his head. It did nothing to stop the thoughts that plagued him. It's their fault you're like this. They started the war. They got your brother killed. Everything you lost is because of them. Being a part of that family is meaningless. Being a part of this life is meaningless. Belphegor was dangerously close to the edge. Their void had nearly consumed them except for that one sliver of them that miraculously held on. For whatever reason, they couldn't take the final step that the void wanted them to take just yet. Something held them back, and whether

CUPID: She wasn't sure what she felt anymore. When Michael had informed her about what happened at Lux she initially felt rage. She knew some kind of meeting was about to go down, Bells had mentioned it to her when they met up at the botanical gardens, but she had no idea the meeting was going to be that. She understood why Aamon had to be banished. Cupid wasn't going to ague that he didn't deserve it, but she didn't understand why Bells had to watch. Her anger turned to sadness as she watched the events of the aftermath unfold around her. Unpredictable weather patterns, sixteen car pile up outside of Lux, increased amount of suicide attempts within the radius of Lux. It was a short burst, but it was clear to see just how much this had affected Bells. What if I lose them for good this time? What if the void wins? This had been the most distraught she'd seen Bells in a long time and she couldn't help but think those thoughts. She didn't want to lose her best friend. Michael had demanded, ordered, commanded that she stay back for a few days and let herself and Belphegor cool off. She couldn't calm Bells down if she was elevated herself. At the time, she hated Michael for that but she knew he was right. So, when she calmed down enough, she made her way up to Bells room. Cupid couldn't see the wardings around the room but she could feel their presence. She knew they kept Bells powers contained to that room. Cupid knocked on the door and hoped against all hope that her friend would answer back. "Bells, it's me. It's Cupid. Are you in there?"

BELPHEGOR: When he heard her voice, there was silence for a long moment afterwards. He didn't know how to react to her being there. On the one hand, she was usually great to have around when he felt down, which was often, but on the other hand, Belphegor felt like Cupid also had a hand in what happened at Lux despite the fact that she hadn't been there. Aside from War, Aamon, and himself, Cupid was the only one who knew what had happened at the gala. Aamon and Belphegor had no reason to tell anyone what happened, and even if War had wanted to stir up trouble for Aamon, she'd been stuck in Belphegor's dumpster with no will to do anything during that time. Cupid, on the other hand, worked for Michael. It seemed most likely that she told him what happened and made Aamon's sentence even worse. Belphegor felt upset with her as a result too, like she was in on it with the rest of them. Deep down though, Belphegor didn't want to lose Cupid with the rest of them. They'd lost enough already, amd they still liked knowing she was nearby. He moved towards the door. His hand hovered over the door handle for a second before he remembered that opening it would put her in pain. Would she tell the others that he hurt her if he did that? Would she try to get him banished just like Aamon? He dropped his hand to his side and sat down, leaning his back against the door. “I'm here. What do you want?” he said, dark bitterness creeping into his voice.

CUPID: The silence was deafening and for a moment Cupid worried Bells might not answer the door. Bells anger was sometimes as big as their sadness and Cupid knew they would be upset with her. She hadn't told Michael anything the Archangel hadn't already surmised. Cupid unfortunately had a very readable face and Michael had gotten good at asking yes or no questions that she didn't even need to answer. He could gauge the answer just by the look on her face. It wasn't fair and she'd been practicing her poker face in front of the mirror but it didn't matter. She simply wasn't good at it. Cupid placed a hand on one of the door panels hoping to feel Bells on the other side but she felt nothing save for the wardings. Her lower lip trembled slightly but she took a deep breath and composed herself. She was about to turn away when she heard his voice. A lightness filled her chest. He sounded angry, but he was talking. She was just happy to hear the sound of his voice. "I wanted to check in on you," she replied, her voice full of hope despite herself. "I'm sorry about what happened to Aamon. How are you holding up?"

BELPHEGOR: He was angry for a number of reasons. Right now, his angry thoughts were centered around Cupid. He wasn't just mad at her because he thought she told Michael about what happened with Aamon. He was also mad because he thought that if Michael had any inkling whatsoever that Cupid knew something, he probably would have forced her to tell the truth. He didn't know if Michael would've hurt her to get that truth, but the thought of it alone made Belphegor even angrier. He couldn't trust what Michael said anymore, so he didn't feel like he knew who the archangel was anymore or what he might do. “Did you? Or did MiChAeL tell you to check up on me?” he asked, his words laced with venom as he said the archangel's name. “Does he think I'm going to hurt people, so he needed you to come spy on me? Is he looking for an excuse to send another demon back to Hell?” Belphegor didn't normally refer to themself or their siblings as demons. They were still archangels in his eyes, just fallen, but right now he felt like that's all Michael and the other archangels and angels that still operated in heaven would ever see them as. They were a band of monsters and disappointments that just needed to be hidden away from the view of humanity. “Well, I'm not hurting anyone right now, so he can go fuck himself!” He practically shouted the last part, as if Michael might be nearby, listening in to the conversation. “Are you?” he asked, drawing the conversation back to her. He didn't know if he could trust anyone at this point, even her, to tell the truth. “You and Aamon hated each other. Why would you give a shit over what happened to him?” Belphegor felt like he might've been the only one that actually cared that Aamon was gone.

“I'm fine.” It was a lie of course. Belphegor was the worst they had been in a long time. They didn't usually lie about how they felt. There usually wasn't a point to lie about it, especially to Cupid, who they felt they could open their whole heart to normally. Everyone else was lying now though, so why shouldn't he?

CUPID: His tone was harsh and biting, but she had to remind herself this wasn't Belphegor, this was the void. Her friend was buried deep in there somewhere and she was going to find him. Maybe she would only be successful for a few hours before the void tugged him back, but that was better than nothing. "Michael didn't send me, but he is worried about you," she replied as she took a seat on the ground beside the door. "He doesn't think you'll hurt people. Not intentionally like Aamon did." It hurt her to hear him refer to himself as a demon. She flinched a little as she heard him raise his voice. "If it makes you feel better, I told him pretty much the same thing a few nights ago. He didn't send me away to Heaven," she pointed out. The likelihood that Cupid would get sent to Heaven was small because Michael didn't like doing those sorts of things. Cupid knew the connection would likely escape Belphegor, but they would get it eventually. She could sense the distrust in her voice and it stung. She never lied to Belphegor. Not just because she had a terrible poker face but because she never felt the need to. "Aamon and I had our differences," she replied. It wasn't exactly a secret that Cups and Aamon did not get along. "He was mean but that's because he's broken. Some breaks you can see like when you break a bone, but his breaks...those happened in his heart and his mind. He was reckless, Bells. More reckless than you and I have ever seen him before. I think he wanted to get caught. You warned him about being careful and he didn't listen because he didn't want to listen." She shook her head when he replied he was fine. "I don't need to see you to know that's not true. We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, but I'm here and I'm not going anywhere. I brought my sleeping bag and my favorite pillow. Charlie said she'd bring me a pizza later. I can't come in because you're really strong right now, but I'm here."

BELPHEGOR: He didn't know if he could trust that. Cupid might not have been a great liar, but Belphegor didn't even trust himself at this point to be able to know for sure if anyone was lying to him. Besides, even if Cupid wasn't lying, it didn't mean that Michael told her the truth. Belphegor didn't doubt that Michael knew how to get Cupid to do something without even telling her to do it. Cupid was good, better than most other people and most other angels and archangels at least. It was easy to encourage her to do something if it would help someone or make them happier. "Why should I believe anything about what he thinks? He's already lied enough." Michael wasn't worried about Belphegor, not in the way that Cupid seemed to imply anyways. Belphegor had seen the way Michael had acted that night at Lux. He didn't spread out his wings in defense of everyone there because he was worried about Belphegor. He'd been worried about all the people that Belphegor's powers could hurt. He hadn't asked Belphegor to try to understand because he cared about how they felt. He just wanted to keep Belphegor calm, so they wouldn't hurt anyone. It hadn't worked that night. Everyone that came in the vicinity of Belphegor that night ached with them. Some even died as a result. They probably deserved death as much as Belphegor did. Would it really have been wrong of Michael to think that Belphegor would hurt people? "You yelled at Michael too?" he asked quietly after taking a moment to realize what she was saying. "Why did you do that?" He couldn't think of any kind of reason for her to be mad at Michael recently, not like Belphegor was. Even so, sending someone to Heaven wasn't as much of a punishment as it was to send someone to Hell. Belphegor might have gotten used to Hell enough to call it home, but they had always longed to be back in heaven. "I think you getting sent to Heaven would've been a bigger punishment for me than it would be for you. I'd miss you."

"We're not broken!" Belphegor snapped, hitting his hand on the wall. It shuddered slightly, but the sigils held it together. "He's not broken," Belphegor corrected himself, but his connection to Aamon was obvious. Belphegor related to Aamon in the way that everyone only seemed to see them in one way. They looked at Aamon with disdain, and they looked at Belphegor with pity. They both hurt and dealt with it differently, but they weren't broken. Belphegor didn't like the term broken. It made them sound weak and helpless, and they were both far from it. They just needed some help sometimes, just like everyone else did. "Maybe he's just mean because that's all anyone else has shown him. And now, he's back in Hell, where he'll only be exposed to more hate and anger." Belphegor let their head fall back against the door. "He didn't want to get caught. He just didn't care that he did. He told me not to trust Michael, and he was right. That meeting proved it, even at the cost of his banishment." Tears spilled out of Belphegor's eyes. "He wouldn't have had to if I had just believed him in the first place." His expression hardened as Cupid called him out on his lie. "Then why did you bother asking if you already knew the answer? I'm guessing Michael already told you everything that happened, probably twisted in some way to make it seem like he was doing something heroic instead of the crimes they actually committed, just like the war." It had been like the war in more ways than one, but Belphegor really didn't want to go through being villainized because of something like this again. He sighed. "Why are you here? Why do you want to be around me? I'm not good like you are. I'm . . . I can't even stay in the same room as you because I'd hurt you."

CUPID: "You don't have to take my word for it," she replied as she took a seat down by the door. She knew that with Belphegor actions spoke louder than words. Cupid could try her best to explain Michael's intentions to Bells until she was blue in the face, but Bells wouldn't understand until they saw it for themselves. Hell, even after seeing it, there was still a chance that the void would twist the situation into something negative again. "But if there's one thing I do know it's love. And I can see that your siblings love you a lot. They love Aamon too, but loving someone doesn't give them a free pass to do terrible things to other people that you love," she replied. "Aamon didn't just hurt a magician you never met and a hitman you don't care about. He hurt me and he hurt Charlie too." Cupid wasn't an archangel, but she was still older than a lot of the other angels in Heaven. After the creation of the Archangels, the angels of love and death were created. She supposed that's why she and Azrael didn't take the Archangel's crap like the other angels did. They were almost as old as the Archangels themselves. "I yelled at Michael because I was upset. I knew he and Lucifer were going to have a meeting, but I didn't know that was going to happen." While she agreed with Michael and Lucifer with regard to punishing Aamon, they didn't need to be so severe about it. Granted, she knew any punishment of Aamon would've upset Bells, but this one in particular opened old wounds. Michael and Lucifer knew that much too given how many precautions they'd taken to ensure the safety of everyone at the meeting. "Heaven isn't home, Bells. It hasn't been for a long time." Michael never doubted Cupid's allegiance to Heaven, but he knew how she felt about returning there. She'd largely avoided the place unless she was summoned up there by one of the Archangels. "Home isn't heaven or hell, it's you." She could even make Hell feel like home as long as Bells was there with her.

Cupid jumped back a little as Bells slammed their fists into the wall. She could hear the plaster breaking, but the warding stayed in place. “He’s hurt and he’s let that hurt fester and fester until it became venom that he can throw at people. Those people don’t even need to be mean to him. They just need to be an inconvenience. You know Aamon and I don’t get along, but Bells I’ve never been mean to him.” Sure, Cupid had been somewhat of a foil to Aamon’s cruelty, but she was never mean to him. Even during the gala, her primary job had been setting the crowd down. She never went directly after the Demon Prince. “But he still hurt me. And Charlie? You know she doesn’t work for Heaven or Hell. She was doing her job and when she wouldn’t do what he wanted, he hurt her too. He was reckless, Bells.” She could hear Bells crying now and it broke her heart. Aamon had gotten exactly what he wanted with his escalating behavior. He’d created a rift between the sibling again. “Bells this wasn’t your fault,” she reassured him. Her expression softened as he challenged her. “I’m here because I care about you. I’d like to think if the tables were turned and I was the one hurt, you’d do the same for me because that’s what friends do for each other,” she replied. “You were there for me when Aamon hurt me and now I’m here for you. Michael didn’t tell me much. I didn’t really give him a chance to get a word in edge wise between my colorful language and threats to make his love life miserable, so how about you tell me what happened?” she suggested.

BELPHEGOR: "It's not your word that I'm struggling to believe," he clarified. He believed that she believed what she was saying. He might've been doubting the truth from almost everyone, but it was hard not to trust her for long periods of time. "Just theirs." Michael had fought against them once, which was already hard enough, but the fact that Belphegor had forgiven him after he apologized only for the same thing to happen again just made it ten times worse. It wasn't easy forgiving him, and they didn't know if they would be able to forgive him again this time. Even his anger towards Lucifer wasn't as bad compared to how it was with Michael, and Lucifer was the one who actually banished Aamon in the first place. Of course, Lucifer, unlike Michael, was there for Belphegor a lot through the bad times. He did a lot for them, and Belphegor felt like it was more Michael's fault that Lucifer had to do anything to punish Aamon in the first place. That didn't absolve Lucifer of the anger Belphegor felt towards him and what he did. It just turned part of that anger towards Michael. "And we both know I'm pretty lacking in that subject." Belphegor's inability to understand love made it harder for him to see the ways in which the people around him cared for and loved him, and it made it easier for the void to make Belphegor feel even more alone in the world even when he was around people who loved him. "Right," Belphegor could agree with that much, though he didn't catch what she was trying to say exactly. "That's why I'm not giving them a free pass for banishing Aamon." He didn't think he'd given Aamon a free pass either exactly for what happened with Cupid. Belphegor hurt Aamon's friend too after all. "Charlie?" he asked, turning to face the door as if he might see her through it. "What do you mean he hurt Charlie too?"

In an odd way, it warmed Belphegor's heart to hear that Cupid had been upset about what happened with Aamon too. He felt a little less like it was just him against the rest of the world. "I think literally everyone in that room knew exactly what was going to happen except for me." Most of the time, Belphegor didn't mind to be out of the loop on what happened in their meetings, but it was different when they were banishing one of their siblings. The void's grip on Belphegor loosened just slightly as Cupid explained her version of home. Belphegor felt his chest lighten, and he smiled just a little. "Really?" he asked, a choked up laugh escaping him. "I guess that makes sense, because I relate home to you too." There was no real chance for him to return to Heaven, and while Hell was better for Belphegor since he could rule over his own kingdom, it was still Hell. Cupid, unlike both places, made Belphegor feel safe and comfortable, and even happier sometimes. He wondered if that was one of those love things she often told him about. Now wasn't the time to ask about that though. He could accept that Aamon was hurt. They all were. "No one really ever taught us how to deal with this kind of pain." Before the fall, they weren't really exposed to it, so it was no wonder that none of them really seemed to handle things correctly. Any kind of good example they might have had was gone from their lives. It didn't excuse their behavior really, but Belphegor felt like maybe if people just handled them differently, things wouldn't end up so bad. "Expecting the worst of someone is still pretty mean," he pointed out. Cupid and Belphegor might not have been especially mean exactly when they stopped Aamon from hurting that crowd, but they'd only followed him and War because they thought the pair was going to do something bad. Cupid's thoughts had been right of course, but it didn't just cancel out that she thought Aamon was going to cause trouble without evidence.

"I guess I just didn't know all of the things he was doing wrong." He wrapped his arms around his legs and rested his head on his knees. It was one thing for Aamon to hurt some random magician, especially if he knew it would make Michael mad. After what happened at Lux, Belphegor could understand the urge to want to get back at him, but he didn't need to go after Charlie. If Aamon were still here, Belphegor would've told him off for it. He wouldn't have tried to get him banished either because unlike some people, he wasn't like his father. Cupid's words were reassuring. It almost felt like she was holding him close just from her tone alone. He closed his eyes and just tried to imagine her there in the room with him. "Maybe not completely, but I could've done something." He sighed. "Of course I would." He said, lifting his head up. "I'll always be there for you as long as I'm alive," he promised her. He couldn't promise to always be there. Even archangels could die, and unlike some people, he didn't want to make a promise he might break. Belphegor bit his lip, struggling to figure out how much he could say without completely breaking down again. The wardings in his room would keep her safe from his powers, but they didn't protect her from what he might say. Some of it might not have even been true just because it was how Belphegor saw it all. "Lucifer locked us all in a room at Lux. Aamon told me that he forgave me for snapping at him at the gala because we're family." If only the rest of their family could have seen things the same way. "Lucifer put some pictures on the table. I thought they might've . . . I don't know. It's stupid." Belphegor was so dumb to think any of their family get-togethers could ever be anything but a bad experience. "Lucifer said it was a trial, but it was pretty obvious after that that everything had already been decided. He was just using Aamon as an example to try to keep the rest of us in line."

"Lucifer said that Aamon was accused of killing some magician, putting a hit on Zatanna's old boyfriend who conveniently isn't even around now, and . . . for what happened with you." He paused for a long moment before he decided to just blatantly ask her, "Did you tell them?"

CUPID: Sometimes she wished she was as powerful as the Archangels. If she were, she could extend her power to get Belphegor to see what she saw when she took the time to analyze the connections between others. But alas she couldn’t make them see love the way she saw it. “Michael knows he’s got a lot of work ahead of him,” she replied softly. Love came in colors for Cupid. Storge, or familial love, was a beautiful sunflower yellow color. Michael aura shone yellow like sunshine when he spoke about his siblings, both the Archangels and the Demon Princes. He loved them and Cupid firmly believed he wasn’t going to give up on them. “I’m not saying you have to forgive him, but when things are a little calmer, will you at least give him a chance to explain himself?” she asked. She smiled softly when he said understanding love wasn’t his strong suit. She knew that well enough given how long she’d loved him without him seeing it. She knew he loved her too and that was all that mattered to her. Some days, she thought it might be better he didn’t fully comprehend the way she loved him. If either of them ever acted on it, Cupid would lose her grace. She danced a fine line now as it were. “You’ve made progress, Bells,” she reassured him. Forgiving Michael the first time around had been progress. He’d taken a step toward healing the hurt the war had left behind. The banishment was a hiccup in that progress but she wanted to believe they would get back on track again one day. Not for Michael’s sake but for Belphegor’s sake. Forgiving one another was an important step in healing the hurt left behind by an unloving and vengeful Father. She was sure God would never acknowledge the wrongs he committed, but Michael was bigger than that. Michael knew his hubris and he owned up to it.

She could hear concern in his voice when he asked what Aamon had done to Charlie. “Charlie was the magician’s assigned reaper. When Aamon killed her, Charlie showed up to collect the soul and take her to Heaven. Aamon demanded that Charlie take the soul to his Kingdom in Hell. When Charlie refused, he pushed his power into her like he did to me. Except she’s not an angel, she’s just a transformed human soul.” Charlie’s hand had been bandaged up the last time Cupid saw her. She was having a hard time healing from where Aamon pushed his power into her. “The man that killed Charlie, her ex-fiancé, is in Aamon’s kingdom too. He threatened to release him if she didn’t do as he said. He’s playing a dangerous game, Bells. It’s one thing to indirectly have a go at Michael, but you know how Azrael feels about their reapers.” Banishment was mild compared to soul starvation. Azrael couldn’t necessarily kill an Archangel, but she could starve them of power by ferrying souls elsewhere.

“I’m sorry they made you go in there blind. I didn’t know they were going to do that either,” Cupid acknowledged. She knew most of the time Bells didn’t mind being left out of things, but they could’ve prepared them better for this. The others all had a few days to mentally prepare for this, but for Bells it was entirely new. Sure, any way the Archangels did it, Bells would’ve been upset. But the outpouring of emotion might not have been as big if they prepped her. She also knew there was a risk that if Bells knew before hand, they would tell Aamon, but Cupid was pretty sure even Aamon knew what the meeting was going to be about. He’d crafted things to play out this way after all. She felt her heart flutter despite herself when Bells mentioned that he related home to her. She knew this, of course, but it felt good to hear. It was like his way of saying I love you even if he didn’t know it. “How we relate home to each other, that’s how Michael, Levi, and Lucifer relate home too,” she explained. “Zatanna, Rachel, and Chloe are the people that make the feel the most at home.” “This is all new to everyone,” she nodded. She couldn’t remember the last time this many Archangels and Demon Princes were in one city trying to live cohesively. They largely avoided each other because it was easier. Although coming together like this had been difficult for them, it was progress. There was communication, granted not very good communication, but at least they were talking to one another. That was one of the first steps to healing. “In my defense, history has taught me a few lessons about Aamon.” Had Aamon left the gala on his own, Cupid would’ve let him be. But he left with War. History had shown that he and War were very bad for each other. “It’s not that I don’t trust Aamon, I just don’t trust him with War. Some people bring out the worst in each other.”

She felt herself relax a little as Bells tone became softer and less angry. Cupid nodded when Bells said he felt like he could’ve done something. She knew what that felt like. She’d spent many nights wondering how different things could’ve been if she’d just told Lucifer about Aamon and War leaving together instead of following them. Lucifer might’ve intervened. She’d seen the King of Hell talk his brother down before. Maybe he could’ve talked Aamon down from not just the rioting, but the planned homicide too. If Aamon had just stayed away from the magician he would still be allowed on earth. Lucifer was fine with the Princes causing havoc just about anywhere else except New York. “We can’t change what happened, but we can ensure it doesn’t happen again,” Cupid offered. She didn’t think anyone would step out of line again, but if they did, they could intervene before it got this bad again.

She felt herself choke up a little when he said that he would always be there for her. “I know you will, Bells,” she replied, fighting back the intense emotions that waved through her. “Even when I do stupid shit like pick fights with people who are bigger than me.” She had no doubt that he would try to always be there for her. Bells never told Cupid no; he always backed her up. She worried sometimes that the void would take him from her. She didn’t like sleeping when she knew Bells was upset because she was plagued by nightmares of finding he’d plunged his Archangel blade into his chest and just ended it. She couldn’t imagine her life without them. What became of love when all hope was lost? Cupid knew if the void took Bells it would take her heart too. She nodded as she listened to Bells describe what had gone down at the meeting from his own point of view. “They asked,” she acknowledged. Both Lucifer and Michael had come around asking. “I didn’t give them much, but it you know my face…I can’t do the poker face thing that Michael does. They were across the street when it all went down. Aamon and War’s powers were strong that night, your power left a mark on the crowd and the nearby buildings, and traces of my magic were found among the crowd. It wasn’t hard for them to put two and two together. Michael told me not to do it again. I think—I think he wanted to give me a hug but he’s not good with emotion.” Michael had just come back from the crime scene when he questioned Cupid about the gala. She knew the memory of Tracy’s body was fresh on his mind and he knew what Aamon could’ve done to Cupid if Bells hadn’t been there. “He was glad you were there to keep me safe from Aamon.”

BELPHEGOR: He scoffed. Michael having a lot of work ahead of him was an understatement. Even without having to work on fixing the mistakes he made in the past, he still had a lot of work ruling over Heaven. Somehow, he couldn’t see Michael wanting to prioritize the former at all. Logically, it made more sense for Michael to focus on Heaven’s problems than on Hell’s anyways, regardless of the fact that Hell consisted of so many of his siblings. Right now, Belphegor didn’t want to so much as see Michael, let alone talk to him, but it was obvious that Cupid knew that. Belphegor didn’t know if things would really get calmer. The Void was the largest it had been in a while. It was loud and painful, reminding him of the pain he’d been through before because of Michael and his armies. Staying calm long enough to talk to him wouldn’t be easy anytime soon. “Maybe,” he said, not wanting to go so far as to promise he’d give him that chance, but maybe was on the table at least. “Maybe he can wait as long as Aamon has to.” Belphegor didn’t know if they would actually stick to that. They doubted their absence in Michael’s life would make a difference anyways, but spite was a powerful thing.

“Not enough,” he sighed. It didn’t matter whether that was referring to understanding love or to the progress he had made with Michael. Neither of them were enough. He didn’t understand love enough to be able to really carry on conversations about it well with Cupid. He imagined that his lack of understanding was probably annoying to her, but for whatever reason, she still tried with him. She didn’t give up. It was kind of inspiring, especially when he dealt with the weight of wanting to just give up all the time. The progress he’d made with Michael wasn’t enough as evidenced by the step they took backwards. It felt like that progress not only didn’t even matter anymore, but it also made things feel even worse than before. It was hard to even think about trusting him anymore when that trust had been so deeply broken all over again. It was fresh, and it was painful. It wasn’t going to heal easily.

Belphegor bit his lip, holding in a breath while Cupid explained what had happened to Charlie. If he bit any harder, he might’ve drawn blood. Thinking about Aamon doing something like that to Charlie hurt nearly as bad and set his heart racing nearly as much as it had when Aamon was hurting Cupid. The difference was that Belphegor wasn’t there to help her like he did with Cupid, and she would’ve needed that help even more than Cupid had. Charlie was Belphegor’s favorite reaper. She seemed to understand him better than even Cupid at times to the point where it felt like she read his mind sometimes. That level of understanding allowed her to help him in some of his darkest times, and although she wasn’t an archangel, he still regarded her as family, even going so far as to use her last name sometimes. Like Lucifer had been before Aamon’s banishment, Charlie was someone who Belphegor looked up to. Knowing that Aamon had hurt her made him want to stick around her even more, both to ensure her safety and because it would help him learn how to be more like her. It would be better to be more like her and less like Lucifer currently was anyways. She wasn’t a complete wreck like he was now. “You said Charlie was going to come with pizza, right?” he asked hopefully. He’d talked with her before after his fight with War, but he’d been too focused on his own problems to notice if she’d been hurt or not. He wasn’t a good friend, but he wanted to do better. He wanted to at least hear her voice to know she was okay. He probably couldn’t even do anything for her at this point besides just assuring her that he’d be there for her. He couldn’t exactly leave this room without hurting someone. It was probably his own selfish needs that made him want to see her safe and unharmed anyways.

Regardless, Cupid was right that banishment was mild compared to what Azrael could’ve done in retaliation, but that didn’t exactly make him feel better about the fact that Aamon had to be banished at all. Just because there were worse options didn’t mean there weren’t still better options too. “Do you think he’ll try to take it out on her once he gets back?” Belphegor asked nervously. He didn’t want his brother to hurt any more of his friends, but at least he’d have a long time to try to talk him out of it if it came down to it. There was a broken piece of furniture on the ground, a small piece of wood. Belphegor picked it up and started to draw patterns in the debris that resulted from his explosion of power the night of the banishment. “I felt . . . lonely. Everyone knew but me, and I was so alone. The outside of me felt like it was on fire, but inside, it was so cold. Now, it’s just empty. Nothing.” Even when he shouted and got angry, it just felt like there was nothing inside of him. An absence of heat. An absence of cold. He could drown in the amount of nothing he was filled with. Cupid was his only lifeline right now. There was a door between them, but even so, she made him feel less lonely. “I can’t imagine any of them could make my brothers feel the way I do when I’m with you. I’ve known you almost my whole life. None of them could ever understand what my brothers and I have been through like you do. You being around for so long has helped shape me into who I am. I’m better than I could’ve been because of you. How could they possibly feel something like that with such short lifespans?” Admittedly, Cupid had always felt like home to Belphegor, but it still seemed different to him. She was more special than to be compared to anyone else.

Setting the piece of wood down, Belphegor leaned back against the door. “I thought he was happier with her.” To Belphegor, who struggled against his own depression, happiness was important, and he wanted his brothers to all find happiness. He thought for a moment, frowning as thoughts crossed his mind. “And we should keep people apart if they bring out the worst in each other?” he asked. He felt like a lot of his siblings seemed to be with people who brought out the worst in them if they were willing to banish their own family for them, but most of them seemed to make them happy too. It was confusing. Lucifer and Chloe had looked happy together at the gala, but at Lux, she seemed to want nothing to do with him. Belphegor felt the same way currently. He couldn’t blame her for not wanting to have anything to do with Lucifer, but he thought that people who loved each other were supposed to stick together. She didn’t seem too happy about him anymore. He didn’t really see what happened with Zatanna or Rachel after he ran out, but he doubted they were all that happy either. After all, Zatanna had to have seen how Michael was a liar and an asshole, and Rachel, well, there actually wasn’t much bad he could say about her relationship with Levi. He was still sure there’d be something wrong there though. How could there not be something wrong when you were dating an archangel. They all had issues. “I think I bring out the worst in myself,” he admitted. His own thoughts seemed to hurt him the most. “But I think you bring out whatever good I have in me. I guess that’s the best in me.”

Belphegor turned around and let his forehead press against the door. “How do we ensure that?” he asked quietly, thinking more about preventing the banishment than he did about the events that might lead up to it. He felt like if they banished anyone else at this point, it would be him. He’d snapped at all of them after all. Maybe they’d be looking for an excuse to banish him, even if Cupid had already told him that they weren’t. “Are you okay?” He asked, concerned as he heard her choking up. He stood up, trying to look through the door’s peephole to see if she was alright, but she was too low for him to see her. He couldn’t really do anything for her if she was actually in trouble anyways. His powers would’ve probably hurt her more than if he’d just left her alone. “Well, if you tried to pick fights with people who are smaller than you, you’d have a pretty limited selection, and then we wouldn’t have nearly as many adventures together.” It wasn’t really meant to come out as a joke, but it ended up sounding like one. He didn’t mind that she picked fights. “But I’ll be glad to be by your side no matter who you pick fights with.” He couldn’t say that they’d always win those fights, but it was better than being alone through it. “They’re jerks,” he stated bluntly, feeling like it wasn’t fair of them to take advantage of the fact that Cupid couldn’t lie very well. Belphegor huffed as she told him how glad Michael was that he had kept her safe. “I did it for you, not for him.”

CUPID: She nodded slowly as Bells said that they were maybe open to talking to Michael in the future. She would take maybe. It was better than no. “That’s a good place to start,” she replied. She wasn’t so much concerned that Bells wanted Michael’s punishment to last as long as Aamon’s. She knew Bells didn’t have it in them to hold a grudge for that long, particularly being in the same city as Michael. It was a lot of effort to stay angry for 3 millennia. They would be angry for maybe the next 100 or 200 years but that was a blink of an eye for entities that lived for thousands and thousands of years. “We’ll cross that bridge when you’re ready,” she promised. She would be there to help them bridge the gap. “As long as you’re still here with me it’s always enough, Bells,” she replied reassuringly. While they might’ve thought their lack of understanding regarding Cupid’s domain was annoying to her, she found it endearing. Each time they made small progresses in understanding love the way she saw it, she felt a sense of pride and accomplishment in Bells. Whether they saw it or not, they had made progress in understanding love. Once upon a time, Bells wasn’t even able to verbalize how Cupid made them feel, but now? They were able to equate her with the feeling of home. She was someone that made them feel safe and secure. Whether Bells knew it or not, that was what love felt like.

She could hear the concern in Belphegor’s voice as they asked about Charlie. Bells, Cupid, and Charlie were like the three amigos. They sometimes joked about being Charlie’s Angels. Cupid knew they cared a great deal about the reaper. Although Belphegor could forgive Aamon for what he’d done to Zatanna’s people, it was harder for them to forgive Aamon for having hurt a friend close to them. Especially someone like Charlie. She never carried an ounce of judgement toward anyone, not even Aamon. On the contrary, prior to this she and Aamon had a pretty solid relationship. His kingdom carried the soul of the man that killed Charlie and he’d seen to it that that man was punished accordingly. But then Charlie became an inconvenience to him. And he did what he always did when someone inconvenienced him, he threatened and harmed her. “She’ll be here after work,” Cupid nodded. “I talked to her on the phone before coming here. She sounded okay,” she reassured Bells. “She said Lucifer healed the damage Aamon did to her and he’s having Will transferred to another kingdom so that Aamon can’t send him after Charlie.” She bit her lip and pondered Bells question for a moment. Did she think Aamon would retaliate against Charlie after his punishment was over? “I would hope 3 thousand years is a long enough time out for him to cool down. It would be unwise for him to try to harm her or any one of the reapers again.” Cupid knew that if Aamon went after Charlie again, it wouldn’t be to threaten her. It would be to kill her.

Her heart ached for Bells when they said that the banishment made them feel so alone and out of the loop and now they felt empty. Cupid wanted to hold them and make them feel whole again. For a moment, her hand hovered on the door handle as she debated opening the door and walking in, but her hand dropped when she realized how selfish that was. If Belphegor’s powers unintentionally hurt her, they would have to live with that. She couldn’t do that to them. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be there, but I’m here now and I’m not going anywhere,” she promised. “You don’t have to feel alone again. I’ll stay here as long as you want me here.” She felt her breath hitch as Bells described how they felt about her. It was moments like this where she thought that maybe, just maybe, they were getting it. “They don’t have the kind of time that we have and they likely never will,” Cupid acknowledged. “But that doesn’t mean they don’t love each other just as fiercely as we do. There’s a reason God created me and Azrael after he made you guys. Death reminds people why it’s important to have love in their lives. Just because those loved ones will eventually die doesn’t make them any less important to you. Even death doesn’t stop love.”

She leaned her head against the door and for a moment she thought she could feel Belphegor right beside her. She knew the sigils prevented that, but it didn’t matter. Somewhere deep down she knew Belphegor was leaning in the same spot where her head rested now. “Aamon projects happiness well, but I don’t think he’s truly been happy since he was cast out of Heaven,” she replied. “Certain people have brought him temporary happiness, but nothing ever sticks. That’s not to say people aren’t allowed to be unhappy at given points in their relationship, but usually when they are unhappy the person that they identify as their home is able to bring them out of that. With Aamon...he’s never found that person.” She felt bad for Aamon in a way. He was an angel without a home. The figurative hole in his chest was almost as big as Belphegor’s void, but Belphegor had Cupid to keep it at bay. Aamon didn’t have anyone. He didn’t have a home. Cupid closed her eyes, her fingers tracing the features of Belphegor’s face on the door from memory. “It won’t be easy,” she agreed when they asked her how they could keep this from happening again. “If we see something, we need to say something. Either to each other or to one of your brothers. Aamon was escalating long before he hurt me at the gala and long before he killed that girl at the pub. You tried to warn him at the gala not to be so reckless, but he didn’t listen. We’ll just have to keep an eye out and make sure the others don’t follow in his footsteps.”

She wiped the tears from her face and took a deep breath before answering Bells. “I’m okay. I just get sad sometimes and scared that I’m going to lose you, but if you promise you’ll be here then I believe you.” And she did believe them. She had to believe them because she couldn’t live with the alternative. She couldn’t live with the idea of the void winning and taking them from her. She laughed despite herself when they called her short. “You’re right. If I fought people my own size, I might be limited to just fifth graders and leprechauns. Neither of which are worth the energy. I’m just happy to have you in my corner.” She smiled and shook her head when Bells called Michael and Lucifer jerks. “They’re...complicated. I don’t envy either of them. I have my duties to Heaven and humanity and you have your duties to Hell, but that pales in comparison to what they have on their plates. They’re doing the best that they can and sometimes they mess up. No one really left an instruction manual for this sort of thing.”

BELPHEGOR: He didn’t really consider it that much of a starting point. It was only plans for maybe having a starting point and that was it, but it was as much as he could do right now. Everything was still so fresh in his head now, and realistically, once some time passed, whether it was a few days, a few years, or a few centuries, it would be harder for Belphegor to hold that kind of grudge. It especially made it harder to hold a grudge when the person was around more. In Hell, they didn’t see much of Michael, and while Belphegor didn’t often seek him out up here either, the chances of seeing him here were bigger. The more they saw him, the harder it would be to stay mad. No matter how much Belphegor might have argued that they wanted to be alone sometimes when they were sad, they actually just craved company and to be loved. Their powers made that difficult though. Anyone who was around them when they were sad risked being hurt. Being alone wasn’t so much as a preference as it was a necessity, and they hated it. Cupid’s words had a way of softening everything, no matter what it was, and this time wasn’t any different. Although it didn’t fix everything, it made things easier to deal with. The weight in their chest felt a little lighter with her words of reassurance, and Belphegor could almost believe that what she said was the truth. Maybe she was right. “Maybe it is.” Maybe it would always be enough for her as long as he was still here with her, and maybe, the same was true in regards to him too. After all, if she hadn’t come here, Belphegor surely would have spiralled deeper and deeper within their own head. The Void would’ve spoken dark truths and painful lies, twisting them in any way to make Belphegor just give up. They might have won if Cupid hadn’t shown up.

It was a relief to hear that Charlie would be coming here, and even more so to hear that Lucifer had healed her and that Charlie tormentor wouldn’t be in Aamon’s hands to be able to hurt her again. It didn’t completely redeem Lucifer of the anger and hurt Belphegor felt towards him, but it helped. The only issue was knowing that even when Charlie came, Belphegor couldn’t really see her. Just like Cupid, she would’ve had to remain outside the door just so their powers wouldn’t hurt her. She’d been hurt by Aamon enough, and seeing her after knowing that would probably put Belphegor in tears again. It wasn’t a good environment for her, even if Belphegor longed to see his friend okay again. “Will you give her a hug for me when she gets here?” he asked, since he couldn’t do that himself. Belphegor frowned, hearing Cupid’s explanation for why she thought Aamon wouldn’t go after her after the banishment ended. Although Belphegor had been upset about such a long punishment for Aamon, in the end, a thousand years could pass quickly, and Aamon was the type to hold a grudge. It’s not like all their siblings had completely forgiven Michael, and they doubted that any of them could forgive their father. Belphegor himself probably wasn’t even capable of it, but Aamon really didn’t forgive and forget easily. “It wasn’t exactly wise for him to hurt her in the first place either,” they muttered. “I’m not putting anything past him.” Belphegor still loved their brother. They would’ve done a lot to protect him from harm or from getting in trouble, but Charlie was just as important, if not more so. When the time would come for Aamon’s banishment to end, Belphegor would do everything within their power to protect Charlie from him.

“It’s a good thing you weren’t there,” Belphegor reassured her. No matter how they had felt, how lonely and broken and scared, if Cupid had been there, they would’ve hurt her. It would’ve made things worse. Belphegor would’ve felt so guilty, and they wouldn’t have been able to forgive themself. Cupid might not even be here now if she’d been in that room with them. Maybe she wouldn’t have been upset with Belphegor, but she would’ve needed more time to recover from it. Belphegor probably wouldn’t have even answered the door if she did come. It was just better overall that she wasn’t there, just so she could be here now to make things just a little bit better. They wanted to believe her, that they didn’t have to be alone again, but the voice in their head told them otherwise. That’s a lie, it said. She can’t stay here with you forever, even if she wanted to. You’ll always end up alone. Belphegor sighed, knowing that that voice was right. Cupid had her duties, and in the end Belphegor was just a fallen angel. She was important to the world, and Belphegor would just weigh her down. “I’ll always want you here,” they admitted. They were just selfish enough not to push her away. They wanted to keep her close for as long as they could.

“That sucks for them then,” they shrugged, not really caring much about the lifespan of humans. They really didn’t think those people could truly understand. Of course, Belphegor himself didn’t fully understand, but that was different. It was better for him to not understand. If he did, everything would hurt just a little more knowing that his own love would only bring about more pain both for himself and for Cupid. Sometimes it was better to be in the dark. “I try not to think about Dad’s reasonings anymore.” They shook their head. They didn’t want to think about why God did anything when one of the biggest things he did was leave them behind after sending them all to Hell, and with him gone, Belphegor and his siblings had no chance to come back home. “But I’m glad he made you regardless. I still don’t really get what you mean though,” they admitted. How could death not stop love? They even had it in their wedding stuff they made. Til Death do us part and all that. Belphegor nodded, not that Cupid could see it. “Me too,” they agreed. There had been times where they thought they were about to achieve happiness, but then that voice in their head always stepped in to remind them how pointless trying to reach happiness was. It wouldn’t last. They were just faking being happy to make everyone else happy. How could they be happy when others were suffering. Those kinds of thoughts always plagued them, and they could never be rid of them, but Cupid sounded like exactly the kind of person she was describing. “He’s never had a you then?” he asked, trying his best to understand. “Do you think that’s why he doesn’t like you? Because he’s never found someone like you for himself?”

Belphegor laid down completely, back against the floor. It was just easier like this. They just closed their eyes and listened to the sound of her voice. They didn’t really like that kind of idea. It was one thing to watch out for what their brothers were doing, but they worried that saying something would just get them in more trouble. “If I tell on them, then it’ll be my fault for whatever they get punished with.” Belphegor wasn’t a snitch. Belphegor understood that feeling. They were almost always sad and scared of losing the people they cared about, most of all Cupid. While their brothers couldn’t exactly escape their bond, Cupid worked for Heaven. There was always the chance that she realized how stupid it was to put in so much effort for Belphegor. Belphegor was grateful that she hadn’t realized that yet. “You’re not going to lose me,” they reassured her again. “I promise.” They couldn’t imagine choosing to be away from her anyways. “Charlie would be in that number too, and me sometimes if you want to fight us.” Belphegor couldn’t imagine actually fighting Cupid. Even during the war, Belphegor was pretty sure Michael and Lucifer made sure that they were never on the battlefield against each other. At most, they might’ve practiced fighting together. “Complicated doesn’t mean they’re any less of assholes,” Belphegor grumbled. They could stick their complicated up a sheep’s anus for all they cared. “Having a hard job doesn’t just automatically excuse what they do. We didn’t forgive dad, and now they’re acting just like him. Maybe they’ll just bail on us too.”

CUPID: She smiled to herself when she heard a familiar lightness in Belphegor’s voice again. The sorrow wasn’t completely gone and it wouldn’t be for quite some time. Grief was a spectrum. Bells would cycle between being okay and being triggered for the next few weeks, but they were resilient. And they had Cupid by their side. She couldn’t fix Aamon being gone, but she could at least be there for Bells so that they didn’t have to go through those feelings alone. She could hear the concern in Belphegor’s voice for Charlie. It warmed her heart to see them care so fiercely for someone. Bells was full of love even if they didn’t fully understand it. “Of course, I’ll give her some extra hugs for you. You’ll be able to see her in a couple days,” she reassured Bells. “It’ll get better, it always does. It just takes time. Lucky for us though we have all the time in the world.” Even if they couldn’t physically see Bells face-to-face, Cupid and Charlie wouldn’t let them feel alone. Someone would always be by the door until Bells felt that it was safe enough for them to leave the apartment.

Cupid nodded when Bells replied that they wouldn’t put it past Aamon to come after Charlie when he was released. Truth be told, she wouldn’t either. While she was proud of Charlie for standing up for herself, she’d made a powerful enemy in Aamon. “I’m sure when he’s released it’ll be like a probation type thing,” she replied. All eyes would be on the Demon Prince to make sure that he doesn’t retaliate. “You should probably stay away from Hell in the mean time. I dunno how accurate this is, but word around angel radio is that he’s making things tense down there.” She was thankful that Bells kingdom was at least far away from Aamon’s, but she didn’t want Bells to get dragged into anything. They were vulnerable and easily swayed when they were emotional like this and Aamon knew how to manipulate that to his advantage. It wouldn’t take much for him to spark the fire of anger and resentment that Bells carried toward the others in their current mental state.

She swallowed hard when Bells said that it was better she hadn’t been at the banishment. They weren’t wrong, but she still felt guilty about it. She wasn’t strong like the others. She couldn’t be in the room when Belphegor had those kinds of meltdowns because there was a greater chance that she would get hurt. But she could at least be there in the aftermath. That’s where they needed her the most anyway. She couldn’t have changed the outcome had she been at Lux. Aamon was going to be banished and there was nothing anyone could do about it. Cupid being there wouldn’t have changed the outcome. She smiled softly when Bells said that they would always want her here. “It’s nice to feel wanted,” she replied. She didn’t always feel wanted in Heaven. Sometimes, she felt like she was the problem child. There were so many rules and some of the angels were so uptight. She didn’t feel that way around Belphegor. They were always happy to see her. “You know I always want you here too. Things feel less scary and overwhelming when you’re around.”

She chuckled to herself when Bells retorted that they didn’t much care for the life span of humans. “Oh, come on now. There are plenty of humans that have been important to you. You remember Poe and Van Gogh. Oh! And Tennyson. I liked Tennyson.” The poet had written an entire ode to his lover whom death had taken. It was a beautiful ballot to both life and death. “When they passed away it was sad, yes, but it didn’t stop the love you had for them. Death can physically separate people but it can’t take away that feeling.” Sometimes the fact that love continued on even after death caused a great deal of grief and pain, but that didn’t mean that loving something that can die is a regrettable thing. Belgirel was gone, but she knew Belphegor never regretted a single moment of loving them even if it made accepting their death harder. “I think that’s a part of the reason Aamon doesn’t like me, but not the whole.” Cupid could admit that she pushed Aamon sometimes and that he found her annoying, but that wasn’t the only reason he held so much resentment toward her. “I think I sometimes remind him too much of Belgirel,” she admitted. Belgirel and Cupid were both had a sort of reckless optimism about them. “And when I do, it brings up all the old feelings for him again. And then he reacts how he always reacts when he feels something. He gets angry.”

Cupid knew Belphegor didn’t like the idea of telling on his siblings and she wasn’t going to force their hand. The others would find out eventually on their own. It was hard to keep secrets in that circle. The fact that the Empty managed to stay between Lucifer, Michael, Azrael, and herself alone was a miracle. “Honestly if the others get as obviously reckless as Aamon they won’t need anyone telling on them, but hopefully we get to them first before they escalate to that level.” She smiled and eased up against the door as Bells reassured her that she wouldn’t lose them. “I would never want to fight you and Charlie,” Cupid laughed. “I don’t think I have it in me.” She was glad they’d never crossed paths on the battlefield during the war. She could never turn her arrows in such a way to hurt Bells. “You’re right, it doesn’t absolve Michael or Lucifer of wrongdoing. But they are doing the best that they can, Bells. Sometimes they make mistakes but they care about people more than God ever did. For better or for worse, neither Michael or Lucifer are going to abandon ship anytime soon."

BELPHEGOR: “At least twelve hugs,” they told her. They felt like Charlie deserved a lot more hugs than that, but twelve was a good minimum of hugs that Belphegor would’ve given her themselves if they could. They didn’t want to wait a couple days to see Cupid and Charlie. For beings like them, time went by so fast anyways, but thinking about waiting was awful. They hated that they had to wait. They hated that they were like this, that just existing was dangerous to the people they cared about. What if it didn’t get better this time? What if they were stuck like this forever, just wrapped up in their own pain and self-loathing, never able to leave this room for fear of putting people like Cupid and Charlie in pain? “I don’t want it to take all the time in the world though,” they whimpered. “I just want it to stop.” You could make it stop, the Void whispered to them. Just one swift motion, and all of this could stop. You wouldn’t have to worry about your powers hurting Cupid or Charlie. You wouldn’t have to worry about anything. Your brothers couldn’t hurt you or send you away. You’d just cease to be. For a long moment, Belphegor considered that. It was incredibly tempting, and one of their blades was nearby, just in reach to where they could use it now if they wanted to. They barely would’ve even needed to lift a finger, and it would’ve been over, but as much as that might’ve made things easier for them, they’d told Cupid they wouldn’t leave her. They couldn’t break a promise like that, so they ignored those thoughts, pushing the blade away with their foot.

They sighed. “Maybe I can talk to him about it.” Even if Aamon was on probation after he was allowed out of Hell, Belphegor didn’t want to risk that he might still hold something against Charlie. They’d even offer up one of their favorite pillows if it meant that Charlie would be left alone. “Why would I need to stay away from Hell?” they asked. Even if Aamon was creating problems for the others, they didn’t think he’d do anything to them that would really be a problem. Aamon had told them that he wasn’t mad at them before he’d been banished. The way she said that it was nice to feel wanted was confusing. They knew that some of the other angels didn’t always approve of the things she did, especially the fact that she spent so much time with Belphegor, but they couldn’t imagine her not being wanted. Uriel and Raphael’s opinions were outliers and should’ve never been counted. Everyone wanted Cupid around. She was fun and happy and made you feel good about yourself even when you were at your worst. She did everything she could to keep everyone happy, even people she didn’t necessarily like sometimes. “Who wouldn’t want you?” they asked sincerely. “You’re amazing.” They didn’t actually know she always wanted them here, but it was nice to hear. It helped push some of the Void’s words back even more. “Only when I’m not like this,” they retorted. If it was overwhelming for Belphegor, they could only imagine how that might have affected Cupid. How many things did they do that must have terrified her or overwhelmed her whether it was because she was scared of Bells or scared for them?

“Yeah, some of them were important to me, but then they died, and it felt pointless. You blink and they stub their toe and fall off a cliff or something.” It was hard to feel connections to humans when you knew that they wouldn’t last. Belphegor had liked some of them a lot, and they’d been sad to see some of them go, though a lot of them ended up in Hell anyways. Those ones were nicer because Belphegor could still see them. The ones they like they tried to get transferred to their own kingdom, where they treated them well. “It didn’t stop how I felt about them, but it did make it feel wasted.” It had been a long time since Belphegor actually felt connected to another human like that, and part of that was just because they’d gotten tired of putting in the effort only to lose them. She was right that they didn’t really regret loving them though, but it was easier to pretend like they just wasted their time instead of thinking about the fact that they missed their old friends. Belphegor frowned when Cupid brought up Belgirel. They could understand why Aamon might’ve been reminded of him through her. Belphegor was often reminded of him too by her presence, only it had the opposite effect on them. Instead of feeling angry at old feelings, they felt warm and comforted by her presence. The only times they didn’t feel those ways was when Cupid was in danger and they panicked about losing someone so close to them again like they had at the night of that gala. “We all miss him,” Belphegor said quietly, believing themselves to be the one who missed him most, “but it’s no reason for him to hate you. He should just be glad you’re still around and make sure you do stay around.” They didn’t like to think of any of their other siblings doing what Aamon did. They didn’t want to have to go through any of this again. They didn’t know if they could. The thought of it alone made them feel weighed down and panicked. “I hope it doesn’t come to that.” They sighed.

“Me either,” Belphegor agreed. The only way they would’ve been able to harm Cupid was if something possessed their body. They couldn’t imagine it. Doing something like that would’ve broken them. “Wow, so they care about people more than the guy who never cared about any of us at all. Good for them. Really showing some initiative there,” they spoke bitterly. “How do you know they won’t?”

CUPID: "Twelve hugs it is then," she smiled. "Now are those to be doled out consecutively or at random?" She wanted to make sure she got the request down to the right specifications since it was important to Bells. "It won't be like this forever," Cupid promised. And it was true. This wasn't the first time Bells felt wounded like this, but they always bounced back. "Things will get better." They would get worse again too and then better. Such was the flow of life. This was just another hiccup, but it didn't have to last forever. She heard the sliding of a blade on the ground and sat up sharply. Her breath quickened and her chest ached but then she realized the blade was being pushed away from them not toward them. Cupid eased back against the door. "If you go to talk to him just...be careful, okay?" Aamon wasn't in a good spot right now. He was lethal; so was Belphegor technically, but Aamon was lethal in a different way. He was causing a ruckus in hell. And he didn't know about the void. Intentionally or unintentionally, there was a chance some of his actions down there could tip Bells over the line. She smiled when they said she was always wanted and welcomed. She could probably name a handful of people who disagreed, but that didn't matter as long as Bells wanted her around. "I'll always want you," she insisted. "Even when you're like this. Especially when you're like this." Moments like this were moments when they needed each other the most. While Cupid was the more optimistic of the two, that didn't mean she didn't get sad sometimes and need comfort too. Her sadness wasn't as deadly as Belphegor's but it put people, mostly humans, at risk sometimes. It created apathy among them which fueled destruction. Belphegor was the only one who understood Cupid when she was sad and stormy like that. It was rare that she got like that, but it happened every so often.

Cupid nodded in understanding when Bells said loving humans sometimes felt pointless to them. "Tis a fearful thing to love what death can touch. A fearful thing to love, to hope, to dream, to be –" she recited. Truthfully, most of the humans they loved ended up in Hell where Cupid wasn't allowed to follow. For her, the goodbyes were finite. She had to make peace with never seeing them again, but that didn't mean she loved them any less. "Love is never wasted, but it does make grieving harder. The time they gave us, although very little in the end, was time well spent." They had nothing better to do at the time anyway than love the humans that inspired them. "We do all miss him," she agreed. "Just in different ways, I suppose." Would they ever find a way to cope with it? Maybe not. It wasn't just the loss of Belgirel, but also the heaviness of war and the sting of rejection from a Father that never cared about them. That loss compounded so many feelings. While she didn't agree with the way Aamon handled it; she understood. But understanding it didn't mean she would ever condone it. As Bells said, it was no reason to be filled with such hate at all the wrong people. She could understand Bell's indifference for Michael and Lucifer now, but she still believed in the two. Someone had to. "I have faith in them," she nodded staunchly. "Whether they prove me right or wrong remains to be seen, but I want to believe that they want to do better." She could hear the clicking of light feet on the floor up ahead and smiled. "Don't look now but I think our pizza is here. And Charlie too," she grinned. She poked her head out a little and saw Charlie coming up the staircase. "Olly Olly Oxen Free!" she called out.

CHARLIE: She didn't need Michael or Lucifer to tell her how bad things had gotten. She could see it, feel it. Over the last few days the void had been massive. The destruction after Lux alone kept the reapers busy for several days. Charlie could understand Bells sadness. Aamon was their brother and the whole banishment very much felt like a casting out similar to what God had done to them. But brother or not Aamon was not above reprimand. He stepped too far out of line and Charlie had the bruises to show for it. Lucifer had healed a majority of the damage; all that was left now was some discoloration on her wrist that would go away with time. She smiled when she heard Cupid call for her. "Oy oy oy!" Charlie called back. Cupid sounded like she was in good spirits which was a good sign. A happy Cupid meant that Bells was on the mend. The reaper turned the corner to find Cupid sitting outside of the door to Belphegor's apartment. She was wrapped in a variety of blankets. "I see you've made yourself comfortable." She grinned as she took a seat beside the angel. She placed the pizza box down and smiled before knocking on the door lightly. "How you doing, Bells?"

BELPHEGOR: "Consecutively," Belphegor nodded. They wanted the hugs to be as soon as possible since they'd gone so long without knowing about what had happened to her. "Until the next thing comes along," they pointed out. It seemed like something always came along that had them in positions like this, having to lock themselves away to keep the others safe from their meltdowns. No one else had this problem. Just them. They wished they could just stop it from happening again. "Okay?" they rose a brow. They didn't understand why they would need to be careful. Aamon wouldn't hurt them. He was their brother, and even if he was upset with Lucifer, Belphegor couldn't imagine him taking it out on them. "Why?" Wanting Belphegor around, especially when they were like this, made no sense. It couldn't benefit Cupid in any way. Belphegor knew it benefited them, but they couldn't see how it was good for her. "That doesn't make it easier," they pointed out. Most of the people that Belphegor liked were people that Cupid liked too. They tended to all spend time together, so regardless of where they went after they died, it was a loss to all of them. It wasn't the same, and Belphegor always felt sad when they lost someone because of it. "You have faith in everyone, Cupid," they pointed out. She always had a strong belief in just about everyone. She even believed in Aamon probably more than she should've. The frowned when she said that Charlie and the pizza were here. "I can't look," they pointed out. "There's a door here." There was a peephole in it, but it didn't give them much range to see out of it. "Still can't come out," they answered, which said about enough of their situation. Even if they'd worked through some of their problems, they still weren't feeling well enough to come out without endangering people. "Are you okay? Cupid told me what happened. I'm sorry. I didn't know." 

CUPID: "Consecutively it is then," she smiled and nodded. That much she could do. "And when the next thing comes along I'll still be here," she promised. She would always be there. "It's not the ideal sleepover, but it's better than nothing." She could hear their confusion when she told them to be careful around Aamon. Bells often underestimated what Aamon was capable of because they were family, but if Aamon ever found out about the void he wouldn't hesitate to use it to his advantage. Their confusion was even more genuine when they asked Cupid why she would want to be around them, especially when they were like this. "Because you're my best friend and I love you. You wouldn't give up on me if I was in the pits," she pointed out. It didn't happen as often that she would get sad, but Cupid had her moments. And Bells stuck them through with her. Cupid smiled and fluffed her pillows and blanket as Charlie came into view. "What can I say? I'm here for the long haul," she nodded before standing up. She took the pizza out of Charlie's hands and placed it gingerly down before hugging the reaper a consecutive twelve times. She made sure to do it within view of the peep hole so Bells could see. "Those were from Bells," she replied as she took a seat back down on the ground and patted a spot beside her for Charlie to sit down too.

CHARLIE: She smiled as Cupid doled out twelve consecutive hugs from Belphegor. "Thank you, Bells," she smiled. "I have full faith that you'll be able to come out and hug us very soon," she nodded. Cupid was good at talking Bells down. They were already less agitated and angry than the housekeeping demons reported earlier. That didn't mean that Bells was anywhere near forgiving anyone, but at least they would be able to leave the confines of their room within the week if they continued to de-escalate like this. "I'm alright," Charlie promised them and it was the truth. She was feeling a lot better since Lucifer healed the damage Aamon did. "Some slight bruising but it will go away with time." She stood for a moment in view of the peephole so Bells would know that she wasn't lying. She was doing a lot better. She wasn't going to doddle on what Aamon did to her, she wasn't going to give him that kind of power over her. After a moment, she took a seat beside Cupid and threw one of the blankets over herself. This wasn't how she initially imagined their sleepover would go, but they always knew how to make the best out of a crappy situation. "So, what did I miss?" she grinned as she opened the pizza box and took a slice. 

BELPHEGOR: It was weird to Belphegor that Cupid was so willing to stay by their side through all of this. Even with them being best friends, even with Belphegor ready to do the same for her, it seemed so strange. Why go through all the trouble for one person? "But when you're feeling down, it doesn't put me in danger like it does for you when I'm sad." It wouldn't have made a difference really if she did put them in danger. Belphegor would've still been there for her, but still, what she did for them said a lot more than anything Belphegor could do for her.

They smiled as Cupid stood up and hugged Charlie twelve times. A lot of people would've considered the request ridiculous, but Cupid always handled these things well. "I'd hug you myself if I could," they told her through the door. They looked carefully through the peephole to see if there really were still injuries, but it wasn't easy to see through that. It was still good enough for them, so they sat down against the door, grabbing one of their own blankets and wrapping it around themselves. "Not much. Cupid's just been trying to get me to calm down and forgive Michael and Lucifer." They weren't going to, but Cupid had tried her best.

CUPID: "No, it doesn't," she agreed. Sometimes she was glad for that. Sometimes her own sadness got so big that she worried if others could feel it they would get consumed by it too. Humans sometimes felt Cupid's sadness. It made them incredibly apathetic toward each other. Cupid never intended to do things like that, but that was simply the effect her sadness had on people. Bells sadness did that too, only it was amplified tenfold because they were stronger than cupid. "But I like having you here when I'm sad. You make it better." People often thought Bells and Cupid's relationship amounted to nothing but Cupid trying to fix Bells when they felt sad, but people didn't take into account how many times Bells picked Cupid up when she was feeling sad. They were too sides of the same coin and they needed each other. She smiled and shrugged, taking a slice of pizza and mouthing the words I tried to Charlie when Bells told her what they'd been talking about. Forgiving Michael and Lucifer was still a long ways away, but at least Bells was calmer now. That's all that mattered to Cupid.

CHARLIE: "You'll get to hug me very soon," she replied. "I can feel it in my bones." They were doing better than when they'd initially left Lux. The reapers were still cleaning up from that mess of suicides and car accidents. She couldn't help but laugh a little when Bells explained what she'd missed. Based on the tone of their voice, they were nowhere near forgiving either Michael or Lucifer, but it appeared Cupid made a valent effort to open them up to the possibility of forgiveness. "Sounds like I didn't miss much then," she joked and winked at Cupid as she made herself comfortable beside the angel. As much as talking about the issue helped, so did distractions. They couldn't exactly watch tv together like this so Charlie pulled out a couple books from her backpack. "I brought some stories to help pass the time," she smiled. She had a collection of both Cupid and Belphegor's favorite tales. "Any particular requests?"

BELPHEGOR: “I like being there when you're sad too.” Whenever they got to he there for her when she was sad, they felt like things were less one-sided. They liked being the person she leaned on too. “So do you have a hug tingle now too?” they asked Charlie, aiming for a joking tone,but it fell flat because they didn't believe her. “Did you bring any Shakespeare?” they asked hopefully. They'd always liked him as much as his writing, and he'd written a few things based on them.

CUPID: She smiled when Bells agreed that they liked being there for her. They couldn't always be there for her when she was sad because sometimes she had to keep her sad a secret. Sometimes she was sad because of the void and she couldn't tell them. And the fact that she couldn't tell them made that sadness worse sometimes, but she reminded herself it won't always be like this. "Shakespeare is nice," Cupid agreed as Charlie pulled out a few books. "If you see him in hell tell him I said hi," she grinned and got comfortable. This wasn't the ideal sleepover they wanted, but it was better than nothing.

CHARLIE: "A hug tingle?" she chuckled. "Only when there is a great need. Us reapers are an intuitive bunch." It helped that they could hear the void most of the time too, so they knew what Belphegor was thinking better than most people. "Ah, Mr. William Shakespeare. The only William I'll accept. Let's see..." she laid out the books. "From Shakespeare we have A Midsummer's Night Dream or Romeo and Juliet. Any preferences?"

BELPHEGOR: Belphegor could believe it. Charlie was always really good at guessing what they were thinking and knew how to respond to it accordingly. Belphegor made themselves more comfortable, propping their head up with a pillow while they cuddled a different one, and Charlie listed their options out to them. "Romeo and Juliet." They could relate Romeo and Juliet's friendship to the one they had with Cupid. Parts of the story made them sad and upset. They didn't like that the two friends had to die, but they could relate to the way they weren't allowed to be too close without their families judging them for it.

CUPID: She grabbed another pizza slice and nodded in agreement when Bells suggested Romeo and Juliet. "I like that one," she smiled. It was tragedy and comedy and romance all in one. Cupid could sympathize with the main protagonists and the way they had to keep their love a secret. For a long time after the war, Cupid still had to sneak about to see Bells. Until one day she just stopped caring about who caught on. To her dismay, Bells seemed to be the only one who didn't catch on, but she was sure they would get there eventually. There was no reason to rush that. They were immortal after all.

CHARLIE: She smiled to herself. She had a feeling they would both pick Romeo and Juliet. The story seemed to resonate with both of them even though it ended tragically for the two main characters. She hoped, when William wrote it, he wasn't alluding to a tragic ending for Cupid and Belphegor. There were reapers who believed Shakespeare possessed a bit of the shining in him. He could sense things, but he could rarely make sense of them. Charlie was too young to have known Shakespeare when he was alive, but running into him in hell she could believe he might've been more intuitive than most in his waking life. "Romeo and Juliet it is then," she smiled, placing the other books in her bag. She made herself comfortable and began reading aloud from the book.

BELPHEGOR: They listened quietly as Charlie read the story, letting themselves relax more. They still didn't feel like everything was resolved for them. The relationship they'd had with their family had fractured, and it would just take some time to heal. Even if Belphegor was upset with them now, they couldn't hold grudges for long. If they were able to forgive Michael for what he'd done before, this wasn't even nearly as bad. It'd be okay in the end. Belphegor had to hope for as much as they drifted off to sleep.

[missbrunettebarbie]

So, I decided I would also publish a few chapters of my newest fic here. Enjoy!

Your heart's desire

Summary:

Regulus Black betrays the Dark Lord and lives to tell the tale.

Years later a strange boy appers out of nowhere claiming to be the son of James Potter and Regulus' own wife. Life as a former Death Eater just became complicated

Chapter 1: The traitor

It was a rare sight to see Albus Dumbledore going into shock. The defeater of Grindelwand, Master of the Elder Wand, Supreme Mugwamp, Chief Warlock and Headmaster of Hogwarts was a hard person to surprise. Yet, now he look like he might have a heart attack.

“Voldemort made a Horcrux?!”

The last word was almost spat out, like a curse. The boy that was facing the venerable wizard nodded. He was young, too young to have such a haunted gaze and so many lines on his face. But like many that were caught in Voldemort’s war, Regulus had grown up fast.

“Oh, I am quite sure he made several Horcruxes. The Dark Lord will want to have as many safety nets as possible.”

The boy fell silent again waiting for a response that would not come. Albus looked deeply troubled by these news. Luckily, his companions weren’t as well informed about the Dark Arts, so the idea of Horcruxes didn’t alarm them at all.

“Right. And you claim have one of these Hor-things, little brother?”

The speaker was another young boy, almost a man, who looked very similar to Regulus. Perhaps the biggest difference between them were Sirius’ muggle clothes and the hateful look on his face.

Sirius didn’t believe for a second his brother’s claims. Regulus could have not turned on the Dark Lord. Not when he had always been following mummy around, got into Slytherin and even took the Dark Mark. Regulus was the perfect pureblood, and Sirius hated him for it.

When the letter first came to the Potters’ house, he had assumed his little brother was laying a trap for him.

Come to the Leaky Cauldron. I have important thing to discuss with you. My allegiances may be changing

As if Sirius would truly believe that. Sadly, Albus had insisted they go and find put what Regulus wanted, though the man had been far more cautious back than. But ever since Regulus had told him Kreacher’s tale (Kreachers?! Honestly, if there was anyone Sirius would trust less than Regulus, it was the mad House Elf), Albus seemed to lose all his common sense, trusting every single word that came out of the Death Eater’s mouth.

“I do not claim to have it, merely that I know what it is and where it is.” Regulus clarified, with a glare at the other Black. Then, turning to Dumbledore: “We must find it and destroy it now. I am sure the Dark Lord will soon find out about my betrayal.”

“No doubt, you want some assurances about your safety when that happens”

Finally, Dumbledore seemed to remember who he was talking to. Regulus just looked at him with a straight face:

“Can you blame me for wanting to live, Headmaster?”

“No, I cannot, my boy. I have to confess, I have never imagined you of all people would turn against the Pureblood ideaology”

“You think I care about useless Pureblood propaganda when Voldemort had the temerity to create a Horcrux? You know what this means, Proffesor. He is truly….truly a monster”

Sirius Black and James Potter snorted at the rather late realization, but Dumbledore only nodded as if Regulus made perfect sense.

“Indeed, it seems we have a common enemy, Regulus Black. So I must ask you: are you willing to oppose Voldemort and risk your life and the lives of all who you love in the process?”

“My life has been hanging by a thread since the day I took the Dark Mark. As for the people I love, well, I only really care about Kreacher right now.”

Sirius groaned at the mention of the hated creature, while James snickered at the idea of a Death Eater caring about a House Elf.

“In this case, Mr Black, let us talk about this…. Locket”

Regulus nodded and started to explain everything he knew. Which wasn’t much. From Kreacher’s knowledge and the Dark Lord’s occasional ramblings he had deduced that Voldemort had turned Slytherin’s locket into a Horcrux. He also knew that whatever potion was there to protect it must be something extremely dangerous, maybe even deathly. He had entertained the idea of going into the cave himself and drinking the potion, but that meant he would most likely day. And even more, he will die before the locket could be destroyed which meant such a sacrifice would be most likely for nothing. He could give the locket to Kreacher, but who could say the foul object won’t try to harm the House Elf?

Sadly, his only option was trusting Albus Dumbledore and his merry band of do-gooders. Do-gooders that included Sirius and James freaking Potter.

Regulus liked to think he was above school grudges, but he would not hesitate for a second to curse the man that had led his friends into playing pranks on Slytherin House for seven years. If there was one good thing in being a Death Eater was being able to curse anyone you wanted without worrying to much about consequences (unless the person you wanted to hex was a more influential Death Eater than you, of course). Alas, it seemed he will have to tolerate James Potter for the time being.

For his part, Albus Dumbledore wasn’t very happy with this turn of events. Of course, the fact they finally had a lead to destroying Tom once and for all filled him with joy. Joy that was overshadowed by he knowledge that his former student has fallen so deep into the Dark Arts he used one of humanity’s worst creations to preserve his life. There was also the matter of Regulus Black. The boy seemed genuine and his information was invaluable, but Albus still couldn’t banish the uneasy sensation he felt at the thought of fully trusting this person who had been raised to believe in the superiority of his blood, who had spent seven years with Slytherins who had filled his head with nonsense about Tom’ greatness and who, after graduating, had pledged himself to Britain’s worst Dark Lord. There was also the matter that he was a Black. Yes, it was hypocritical considering Sirius was a Black as well, but Albus had seen Sirius reject all of his family’s teaching ever since he was sorted into Gryffindor. On the other hand, Regulus had actively embraced them. Until now, when he conveniently switched sides and brought with him the means of Voldemort’s demise. Could it be a trap? Could Tom be cunning enough to try and trick them like this? To what end? And why use Regulus? Because he had thought Sirius would trust his brother? In that case, Tom would have miscalculated. Sirius distrusted him more than anyone else. Maybe Riddle had thought Albus will offer a second chance to a young boy more readily than to a grown wizard?

There were too many questions and their time was too short. In the unlikely case the young Black was telling the truth they needed to act now. The Horcrux must be found as soon as possible. Yet, he could not forget the like hood of a trap.

“Alright, Mister Black, let’s assume I believe you and I am willing to offer my protection. You do understand you will have to tell me exactly where the Horcrux can be found. After that, you will come with me to the Order of the Phoenix’ headquarters – I assume you know what the Order is from your master – and tell us everything you know.”

“No.”

The firm word was so surprising that Potter and the older Black gasped and even Dumbledore’s eyes widen in surprise.

“You, Death Eater scum, have the temerity to..”

“Enough, James. Let’s hear him out”

Regulus took a deep breath. It was clear that he did not found it easy to oppose the great Albus Dumbledore. In his own way, the headmaster was as frightening as the Dark Lord. Yet, he had already chosen to stand against one, he will not let himself be bullied by another.

“Let’s make something clear, Dumbledore, I had once decided to join an illegal organization and follow blindly the orders of a very powerful, but slightly mad wizard, and as a result I have no intention of doing it again. I am not one of your Gryffindors who you can order around like a puppy…”

“Why, you liitle shit..”

Regulus paid no mind to either the interruption or the insult.

“…. nor am I a Ravenclaw or a Hufflepuff who’s willing to work for you for a greater cause amd as such will excuse you a great many things. I am a Slytherin, one that has already defied the Dark Lord. I refuse to trade him for you, Professor. I will fight against him and as such I will fight by your side, but do not think me another puppet. So, I will not tell you where the Horcrux is. I will show you. I want to be there when it is destroyed once and for all. After that…. We’ll see.”

If the older man was insulted by his harsh words he did not show it, he just nodded.

“I suppose I can agree with these terms. However, it will not be just the two of us that go to retrieve the Horcrux, we will be accompanied by a number of trusted people. And Kreacher.”

At the House Elf’s name both James and Sirius looked confused, while Regulus fought down the urge to swear. While asking for Kreacher to come with them was a rational demand as the elf was the only one who had entered the cave beforehand it was also a strategic move. Dumbledore did not trust Regulus and needed insurance it was not a trap. It did seem like the old man believed him when he had said Kreacher was the only creature he still loved. Sadly, the former Death Eater had no choice but to agree.

“One more thing, Mister Black.”

“Oh?”

The young man struggled to keep his face a mask of politeness, but it all fell apart at Dumbledore’s next question:

“Have you ever killed anyone?”

“Yes.”

He was proud of how steady his voice came. Meanwhile, Sirius and James were getting angry again and started pointing their wands at him. Reg fought the urge to do the same. He had too many unpleasant memories of being hexed by the Marauders at Hogwarts. He forced himself to not think about it.

“I killed two muggles. Mother and daughter two months ago.”

“You, bastard! How could you do something like that?!”

“Oh, shut up, Sirius. You tried to kill a classmate at he age of fifteen!”

“How… how do you know that? Did Snivellus..”

“Sirius” Albus tried to silence the Gryffindor. They could not afford to lose track of their objective. “Excuse me, Mr. Black, but I fell to see how your brother’s sins absolve your own.

This sobered Regulus.

“They do not. I know it does not mean much, but I did not want to kill them. The other Death Eater, they were torturing them. It was… horrible. I don’t even know why they were in the Dark Lord’s house but they were screaming and …”

And the woman kept begging me to help her daughter. I should have tried something, anything but I was too much of a coward.

“… and I killed them to end their suffering.”

He searched the faces of the first three who he had ever heard this confession. Potter looked disturbed, Sirius a bit mollified while Dumbledore betrayed no emotion. Just like the Dark Lord, indeed.

“I see. How did Voldemort react to your act of mercy?”

“I lied to him and told him that I thought any kind of attention given to Muggles is a waste of a wizard’s time. He seemed to believe me.”

Ironically, the other three did not seem as convinced. But Regulus has had enough chit-chat.

“Well, Albus” he used the Headmaster’s first name on purpose “if there is nothing else, I would like if we start our Horcrux hunt.”

“Yes, I believe that will be best”

[simpinforyoongi]

Shameless ~

Yoongi x reader

Pairing: Yoongi x reader

Genre: Angst, (a lot of it)

Warnings: none

Summary: After coming back from Yoongi's studio heartbroken, you decide to scribble your thoughts down on paper, like you've done so many times. What you didn't know was how that little poem would led to your worst heartbreak yet.

Note: Heyy guys! So i just wanted to say that this one is heavily inspired by @krreader 's fic Jealousy and you can treat it like a sequel to hers (but mine ends in angst too and I've changed a few things up). Like you wouldn't believe how much i cried when i read hers amd i just couldn't not write it!! AnYWaYS, enjoy!!

• • • • • • •

"Can i go? "

"Go wherever you want hyung, why are you asking me??" Namjoon answered as he put on his winter boots to prevent the cold chilly November winds from freezing his feet.

"No i meant...I want to go..to her.." Yoongi's voice was unnaturally small and feeble, contradicting his usual deep tone.

Namjoon jerked up, standing straight suddenly.

"But hyu-"

"Please Namjoon, I know you care deeply for her, and don't want her to get hurt anymore because of me but I just.."

Namjoon instantly started shaking his head no,

"No no hyung, go, all that happened, i know you didn't mean it to." He gave the older man a small smile "I'll let her know."

"NO! No, she, " Yoongi said with wide eyes, "She won't even open the door if she knows it's me."

"Oh right haha lol ok uh.. I won't call her then" Namjoon says fidgeting awkwardly, almost wanting to say something, but when he saw Yoongi looking at the door with a certain amount of longing, mixed with regret, guilt, fear and everything in between, he decided it was worth a shot.

"Hyung, i know you love her," They held eye contact and Namjoon continued, "and if I'm not wrong, she loves you too. And she's been hurting, for long, just like you and even longer, actually. I know I'm younger than you, but i gotta say this. don't fuck it up."

Namjoon looked down for a moment before looking back up with a sincere smile, "Best of luck! Fighting!" and with that, Yoongi left for your apartment without any bodyguards, without anything at all because that was a risk he had to take.

---

You were still in bed, Namjoon had called earlier saying he's coming, and to be honest you actually wanted him to come. You needed someone to talk to, and he was the best person for that. You were completely undercovers, and came out only when it became too difficult to breathe in the carbon dioxide that gathered inside your little blanket-bubble.

It had been two weeks since the breakup, and you had even visited them in the meantime because you were strong, and knew how to keep your emotions in control when in front of others, despite the fact that you were about to breakdown any moment. You had cooped yourself up in your little apartment for way too long and your loving friends, aka members of Bangtan had dragged you back to their apartment, even though they knew it was dangerous considering the fact that the cause of all your pain was right there. But there wasn't much they could do and places they could go because, well, they're like only the biggest boy group on Earth. So you went there, insisting you were fine.

But you weren't.

Realllyy weren't.

But once the question left his lips, you knew it was over for you. This, this facáde was instantly crushed when he asked the question.

You had been playing "Truth and Dare" because no matter how sucky you were feeling, you just couldn't seem to say no to the three pairs of puppy eyes that you received. And that landed you in a somewhat boring, somewhat funny game of Truth and Dare, and even though he was there, you seemed to have fun until he asked you that question.

"Do you love someone else now?" and it was something you never in a million years had expected.

So you sat there, completely dumbfounded, much like the rest of the group, at the question that had left Yoongi's lips. And you just, couldn't do anything.

But shortly, anger bubbled up inside you.

How dare he accuse you of loving someone else when you were literally on the verge of just ripping your heart out? How dare he accuse you like that when he was the one who broke up with you? How dare he ask you that when he hadn't even given you enough time to speak before he started yelling at you that day?? How dare he??

"How dare you?" And that's all that seemed to leave your mouth before you stood up and stumbled out of the dorm with everyone except him calling after you.

Another tear escaped as you remembered the happenings of the day. But before you could wail in your sorrow any more, a bell rung throughout your apartment.

You stood up and walked to the door with tears still decorating your cheeks,

Finally Joon is here.

You felt like you could breath better for a second but all wind was knocked from your lungs when your eyes landed upon the face that stood in front of you.

Yoongi..

With a black mask and cap, and covered completely in winter clothes, there he stood in all his wintery glory, and you still knew it was him despite only his eyes being visible, that too, partly visible.

You felt your heart constrict and your rib cage felt too small now. A brand new bolt of pain jolted up your sides, almost as if physical, and striked your heart with such force you wouldn't be surprised if you had a heart attack then and there. But you didn't, you stood there, watching him, and he stood there ,watching you.

It wasn't until you shivered from the cold winds hitting your body which was bare of any winter clothing, that you jumped back into reality.

"Do you mind if I..." He trailed off, but you moved aside letting him in. He had expected a much harsher reaction, after all, he did throw some extremelt hurtful and lewd accusations at you that day. But he was grateful you didn't close the door in his face, or throw the little dried up potted plant at him. He took that as a good sign, but with you, everything wasn't as simple.

He took off his coat and hung them on the rack beside the shoe cabinet, before pulling off his boots and keeping them aside. Then he followed you into the living room.

"Coffee??" You questioned while preparing some. He wasn't sure if he wanted one, he opened and closed his mouth for a few seconds, and finally settled on a yes.

A few beats passed in complete silence, before you joined him and handed him a simple black coffee and took a seat on the single sofa opposing him.

Another few moments passed

"You still remember," he said motioning to the coffee in his hands

"It's not that hard to remember two ingredients, Suga. Besides, it's been just two weeks."

His heart shattered when you said that, firstly, on hearing 'Suga' instead of the usual 'Yoongs' or 'Yoongles' that you called him, especially because you knew he pretended to hate, but actually loved it. Hell he would've been more happy to be addressed by his full name, Min Yoongi, rather than Suga. And secondly, because of the small and almost inaudible, crack that he heard in your voice towards the end of the sentence.

You still didn't know why exactly you were so calm and not driving him out of your home. It was as if everything stopped mattering for a moment

"Two weeks. Yea," he finally spoke, eyes not quite meeting yours.

A few moments passed in complete and utter silence.

"I didn't know you wrote lyrics too." Ah yes, the song that Namjoon was producing, you had helped him with the lyrics. Not as much as helped actually, you had just randomly written some words and sentences and somehow he noticed it. He said it fit perfectly with the previous verse he had written and asked if he could use the whole poem in his song. You were completely flabbergasted and thought he was kidding, or perhaps pitying you, but after a lot of convincing, he told you he wasn't. And you told him he could, that's why you were in the professional studio in the first place. Another reason why Yoongi misunderstood you, but it was in no way Namjoon's fault. And Yoongi knew that.

"I didn't. It was supposed to be a poem. He saw it by accident." You yourself were pretty surprised at how calm you were.

"But.. I thought i read all your poems..?" his voice had a questioning tone to it.

"You did.. It was recent.." It indeed was recent. Painfully recent. You had written it just the night before, after coming back from Yoongi's studio without even talking to him properly, because he had, and i quote "a shitton of work to do" . Shit ton of work, with her. That completely broke your heart into a million pieces. You thought it couldn't break any further but you were terribly wrong. That was when you wrote it.

The poem was about, well, you guessed it, heartbreak; loneliness. Something about empty bed sides, lost warmth, tear streaked pillows, you couldn't fully remember. Your mind had been hanging like a 2005 Dell Laptop because of all the crying.

"When?"

"That night after i came back from your studio." You smiled a little, even if your insides were aching, "speaking of that, hows the production going?"

"Oh it's.. going well I suppose." He looked immensely intrigued by his cup of coffee,

You again smiled.

"Yea, you looked...quite happy." You took a sip of your own coffee, before looking out the window. Frosty winds were blowing, it was getting darker by the minute. It looked...serene.

But Yoongi was having none of this serenity,

"Happy? What...do you mean?" His voice had a sudden change of colour. But this question had your heart clenching and unclenching at a rapid, unhealthy rate.

"You and Suran." You finally croaked out, "You looked happy..with her. It was.. a sight for sore eyes, really." Earlier, whenever you even remotely thought about this, your eyes turned to waterfalls, but now, they seemed dry of any excessive moisture.

Yoongi was dumbfounded. He and Suran?

"What do you mean me and Suran? I'm just helping her!" He semi-yelled, but you didn't flinch like you did last time.

"I know that."

"But what did you mean by happy... wait...did you think we...oh my god." He slumped down back to his seat, coffee long forgotten on the coffee table.

"Y/n why didn't you tell me that?? Why didn't you tell me what you were feeling?? Why di-"

"I DID!!" You finally broke and yelled out with tears streaming down your eyes for the umpteenth time that day.

"I did tell you!!! I texted you a thousand times!! But you didn't read any of those. I called you a thousand times but i was always directed to voicemail. And the times that you did actually listen to me you had the same excuse every time. 'Im just helping her.' I know that Yoongi, I freaking.know. But what do you expect me to think when you cancelled evey date the past three months?? When the smile that you usually had when you were with me, could only be seen when you were with her?? When the way that you looked at her, the way that you smiled at her, the way that you admired every little thing she did completely resembled the way only a lover would. What did you expect me to do, when i felt like you were her mentor, her idol, her Min yoongi, not my...not my..." You couldn't finish the sentence before you completely bursted out in tears.

And as you sobbed uncontrollably, Yoongi was left to think about what you had said. And as he recalled everything he realized that none of your words were wrong.

The fact that he had ignored you so freaking much despite you being so patient with him hit him like a truck and he started spiralling into a dark deep hole of guilt and regret when you suddenly-

"Leave."

He was shocked back to his senses.

"Y/n wha-"

"I said. Leave. " You said as you stood up on lightly trembling feet and started walking towards the door.

"Y/n just listen to me give me a chance to expl-"

"Did YOU give me a chance to fuckin' explain??!! Did you even let me SPEAK when i was begging in front of you to calm down?! No. So leave."

Your heart was pounding at such an extreme rate that you feared he'd hear it and realize, that he was still your weakness. And you couldn't let that happen.

"Suga. I'm asking you to leave." With a shaking hand you opened the door and stood aside.

"Y/n please jus-"

"Are you that shameless?!"

That effectively shut him up. Just as you expected. As he finally left with a wounded heart, you slammed the door and slid down to the floor, trembling with quiet sobs.

"Are you that shameless?? That you finally resorted to seducing one of my brothers?? What else did you do huh y/n? Did you try your luck with Jungkook too?? Oh and what about Taehyung?!"

"Hyung it isn't what it looks like. Just listen to-" Namjoon spoke, trying to calm him down but to no avail.

"Namjoon just...just stay out of it. I just can't believe she'd do this to me. I can't freaking believe she'd cheat on me with yo-"

"Yoongi stop it!" You yelled while crying as you stood in front of the man you loved and who apparently loved you too.

"Why y/n? Why should i stop?? Just so you can go behind my back again? Just so you can break my heart again? Just so tha-"

"Can you pleeasee just let me speak Yoongi. I was here because -"

"Enough! Enough of your lies! I really can't believe you out of all people would do this to me. We're done y/n. We're freaking done." And with that, he stomped out of the studio, leaving you a crying, heartbroken mess.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

[aka-indulgence]

Why Oh Why

Woops, got sick from lack of sleep and made the wonderful decision to go to work on a cold, autumn, rainy morning… and now that I get the chance to sleep my body’s just… up kfjdks

sorry bout any typos if they are any -u-

Summary: You can’t sleep… And Sans’ not leaving you alone like that.

You groaned.

You’ve slept a grand total of 1 and a half hours today- sleeping at sunrise and waking up soon after. You had work that day, after all.

And while you were there… Good lord you were tired. So ungodly tired- you fell asleep while you had one of those sessions where a boss would come in front of everyone to teach a business strategy- which, honestly was quite helpful but… Not with your state of mind like that today. You fell asleep for god’s sake- that barely happens with you. It was only 15 minutes or so but still. Rare.

You were lucky you went to a forgiving workplace because oh man- you had started to dream while Mr. Camber was explaining about persuasion and succession and pizza and beds… Wait.

There you went again, your mind felt like it was more of a… Weird malleable goop instead of the solid mass of brain it was.

Coming home you feel that sleep deprived mind struggling to keep up with the wind brushing your face as you cycled home- wishing you were driving instead. The autumn winds had seeped through the fabric of your clothes and with your heating up body, that was anything but pleasant.

When you got home you found that Sans hadn’t turned home yet, so you took a quick hot shower and quickly changed into your nughtwear, eating carbonara pasta at the table when Sans came home from his work at… The hotdog stand?

“end of the day… i gotta get my rewards.” he’d explain.

“baby, you practically didn’t sleep yesterday. let’s go to bed soon, ok?”

You’d agreed, you had been wanting to sleep since the moment you cracked your eyes open from the blarring alarm that summoned you to work… How you wish you’d have called sick today. Sans had told you you should just call… And you did promise him you would… But your weak mentality had stopped you from pressing that call button after you pressed the contact on your phone… And you’d hastily rushed to work.

Without eating or even cleaning up your face…

Needless to say, you were happy to be back on your bed with your skeleton snug beside you, giving you a goodnight kiss and settling beside you. You had smiled, snuggled next to him and…

… here you were, about an hour since you’d gotten to bed, watching the clock of your phone and groaning as the seconds ticked by and your sleep deprived mind making your mood go all the more worse.

You’re goddamned tired, exhausted, and aching al pver from the weird position you’d slep the morning earlier- but your body was just. Not. Going to sleep.

What the hell- I’m in bed with Sans what’s wrong with me?!

… and while you were at work, where you needed to keep your eyes opened, you felt like you coul sleep if you’d just close your eyes for a quarter of a minute. And now- why can’t you switch the two with each other?! You wanted that head drooping-heavy eyelid sleepiness you had this afternoon. You hated thinking of tomorrow and the fact you’re going to sleep less than what you wanted to- namely 12 hours if you could. It wasn’t healthy but it was just one night and you really felt you needed something like that for now…. while you saw the hour ticking past 9 PM… 10 PM… 11…

Argh… it was still a weekday tomorrow… please PLEASE let me sleep.

You sighed for the 10th time after checking your phone for… anything, you weren’t even sure what, peeling the covers off you a little and turning over to-

“Gah-!”

… Sans was awake. His white lights trained on the ceiling, arm folded on top of the covers. He didn’t even make a sign that he’d noticed you like that.

“… Sans?”

“yeah sweetie?” He raised his brows little, still looking at the ceiling.

“… Why are you awake?”

“why are you awake, love?” He finally took his eyelights away from the ceiling to give you a gentle,, loving look. “thought i told you you should sleep earlier… after that stunt you pulled behind me.”

“I… I’m sorry, I got nervous ok??” You argued, even if you inew he’d win mst of the arguments when he thought it came to your health. “You remember when they didn’t let me take a sick day off last spring.”

“that was last spring, (y/n). and you’ve called in sick to work after and before that, without problems, right?”

… well yeah, but-

“I’m scared if… he ’s going to answer the phone though.”

Sans’ soft grin twisted at the notion of him… a crab monster named Red Claw (wow, how creative!) That’d always be hard on you, pushing you around when he had more work and not holding back when he had an ‘opinion’ to tell you- often gicing some racist remarks to you.

Now Sans understands the tiny albeit uncomfortable rift that settles between humans and monsters- most of everyone doesn’t feel it but some people do… and Sans has gotta be honest, humans have done some pretty shit things…

But at least, don’t look for trouble when there isn’t one. You were a sensitive, soft little human that never had anything against his kind- even when Sans had been hesitant to get to know humans- and you, more.

“ah, is he bothering you again, baby?” San asked, though the both of you were pretty sure of what he was planning to do, “because i’m going to have a little… talk with him if he is.”

“W-waight,” you fussed as soon as you heard the words leave his mouth, “You’re not going to do anything to him, right?”

“what do you mean, sweetie?” Sans lidded his sockets as he looked up again, the image of Claws appearing in his mind’s eye and a dangerous look on his face “i said i’m just gonna… talk with him. nothing more, nothing less.”

Hm… you knew Sans was twisting around his intentions but… you couldn’t exactly stop him. He’d always think you as one of his top priorities.

“if you’re nervous of calling work, i’ll do it for you, love, if it makes anything easier for you.”

“What- Sans you don’t have to di that-”

“-oh fuck it, i’m just gonna do it. (y/n), you’re not going to work tomorrow. you got it?”

“Wh-huh-”

You felt a blip in your hand, like a bit of untouchable gel enclosing around it and- your phone was in his hand.

“W- Sans give it back!”

“nope.”

“Saaaaaaans!”

“not happening.” He made it a point to tuck your phone somewhere behind him, out of reach from you.

“Sans, why?”

“because you slept only an hour today, love, and right now i can see you’re having trouble sleeping, and i’m not letting insomnia and work mess your health up.”

'I- uh- grh.“ You slumped your hands in defeat in frontof you. "Fine, Sans.”

“now that’s my good girl, hm?” Sans lifted a brow at you a he fixed the covers arouns, turning his body o he was facing you, leaning his skull on one of his hands, elbow propped on the bed.

“'Good girl’, yeah yeah…” you mumbled, turning to him and crossing your arms in mock anger, looking away from him. He’d open his arms out at you, making grabby motions.

“c'mon.” He said in a whisper, eyesocets lidded at you. God.. he looks so handsome (And sexy???) like that.

You sometimes really want to slap him across the cheekbone when he looked so smug like that, like you would listen to him amd 'give it’ to him…

… but unfortunately (fortunately) for you, tonight you wanted to be held by your skeletal husband and lulled to sleep.

You scooted closer to him until his arms reached you and pulled you closer to his chest, touching with yours, and aking your heart amd his soul hum in unison. You put your hands over to his back and hugged him more as well.

Phalanges had automatically settled in your hair, brushing it soothingly as he gave you a quick kiss in the cheek, then on the mouth.

“now you’re caged, baby, you din’t have a choice but to stay here with your skeleton in the closet all day tomorrow.” He teased playfully, chuckling a little.

“Oh no, ah- Sans! But what if I et better by tomorrow morning?”

“mmm…” Sans feigned thoughtfullness, putting a hand on his chin and tapping on it with a phalange. “no. you’ve worked hard enough, love, it’s time for you to get some good fucking rest.”

“Hngh…” you groaned, then sighed, burying your face in your chest. “I don’t know how this all will help me sleep now, though.”

“Also- how’re you awake, Sans? You always sleep so fast- anytime, anywhere!”

“true,” Sans confirmed. “but i’m not leaving my favorite human alone in the dark of the night like that. i don’t like seeing you stressed like that, you get me? i wanted to wait unil you’d fall asleep.”

“Ah-” you blushed, for a second. Before you started again “Oh Sans- I didn’t mean to keep you up! You don’t have to wait for me, Sans…”

“oh but (y/n)-” he put a hand on your cheek;, stroking it a bit. “you know when i get to spend more time for you is treasure to me, baby.”

…

How did you find a man for you so smooth like thst?!

“Arggsg-” you jerked a bit, Sans chuckling at you. “Ok ok ok, enough, I’m going to sleep now.”

“go ahead, be my guest.” He nudged your hesd with his skull. “you know i’ll be hear if you meed anything.”

“Thanks, Sans,” you said as you felt that oh so familiar drag of your eyelids drawing close. “I’ll just… go now, then…”

…

With Sans just brushing your hair and rubbing your back soothingly like that, your souls so close and combining their hums together in harmony like that, sleep had claimed you quickly.

Sans sighed, giving you a kiss on the crown and letting his eyesockets closed, happy you were sleeping relaxed tonight.

“i love you, (y/n).”