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jlalafics · 3 years

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"The Long Weekend"-Part One

Happy belated birthday @keelaree!

Hope you enjoy this first part. Thank you for being such a wonderful part of my writing life, and an even better friend. Can't wait till we can reunite in SF, so we can tea time together and eat soup dumplings.

Love you!

Summary: Two assistants who barely tolerate each other. One snowy cabin. One very long weekend.

Oh, and one bed.

-----

“I’m making the turn now, Haymitch,” Peeta told his boss as he navigated the icy road. “Should have everything prepped and ready by the time you and Effie arrive.”

“Thanks,” Haymitch replied over the speakerphone. “I should tell you that I did ask for someone to help you out. Someone who knows Effie better than I do sometimes—”

Peeta slowed his car as he spotted the cozy cabin in front of him. However, he grimaced seeing the red Jeep already parked on its side.

“You didn’t.”

“Peeta, Katniss knows Effie very well,” his boss said calmly. “Just like you know me. I know that you two don’t get along—”

“Understatement of the year,” Peeta replied as he parked roughly.

“This is important. I’m proposing to Effie and I want it to be perfect,” Haymitch explained. “Katniss knows all the foods she likes to eat, and how to decorate the place to make it comfortable yet romantic. Effie and I are finishing up our meeting with Mr. Snow then we’ll be making our way up to the cabin for the holiday weekend. I’ll call you when we’re on our way so you and Katniss can take off—that is if you haven’t murdered one another by then.”

“I’m only doing this because I’m your assistant,” he called out.

“You could at least like me!” Haymitch joked. “I pay you an obscene amount for an assistant.”

“Katniss probably gets paid more.”

“Well, she picks up tampons for Effie without being asked so probably.”

“Everything will be ready by the time you get here,” Peeta promised. “And I’m doing this because I like and respect you.”

“Thank you, Peeta. Call you soon.”

++++++

Peeta Mellark sighed as he stepped out of his car, bags in hand. The snowy wind picked up and he wrapped his parka tighter around himself before rushing up to the porch. It was getting worse up here, and he hoped that the soon-to-be engaged couple would make it safely.

Getting out the key that Haymitch lent him, Peeta unlocked the door and quickly stepped in to keep the cold air from entering with him.

“Oh, you’re finally here.” Katniss Everdeen sailed into the room, placing a charcuterie board on the coffee table in the center of the sitting room. “I thought you died or something.”

Peeta gave her a wry smile, placing the bags on the floor before shaking off his parka and hanging it on the hook by the door.

“Thought or hoped?” He searched his bag before pulling out the champagne that Haymitch asked along with the two glasses. Going to the table, Peeta placed them on the table before going back to the bag for the champagne bucket. “Is there ice?”

“The fridge has an ice machine,” Katniss informed him tersely, nodding her head towards the left. “I’ve already gotten their dinner started.”

“Not surprised.” Peeta walked into the kitchen, heading to the stainless-steel fridge. “You’re so anal that you’ve probably carved those little radish flowers for garnish.”

“They’re in the fridge so they’ll be fresh.”

Peeta wasn’t sure why they didn’t get along.

For one, Katniss was admittedly attractive with her long dark, and almond-shaped grey eyes. The first time he saw his stomach had definitely done a little flip. She had been walking alongside Effie, notebook in hand, wearing a fitted black dress with a peter pan collar and paying scant attention to anything else around her.

She literally knocked him to the ground.

Katniss had apologized, holding out her hand to help him up.

And Peeta had fucking tingled at her touch.

Over the next few days as he learned the ropes of being Haymitch Abernathy’s assistant, Peeta noticed her across the hall. Effie Trinket’s office was directly adjacent to his boss’ and Katniss’ desk was in the same spot as his.

She kept her head down, never acknowledging him, so wrapped up in her work or answering her phone.

So, Peeta asked around.

“She’s an ice queen,” Cato, who was in Marketing, informed him. “Never wants to hang out with anyone or even join in during happy hour. It’s important here to form relationships with everyone. Panem Industries is all about workplace harmony and Katniss embodies none of that.”

“Yeah, she’s snooty, too,” Clove from IT added. “I once asked her something about her family and she replied that it was none of my business. Like I was just trying to get to know her!”

“Wow. I guess if Katniss is that much of a head case, then I shouldn’t bother to ask her for help,” he told the two.

After that, during any interaction, she treated him indifferently…cold even. Peeta couldn’t help but be disappointed that Cato and Clove’s words were true.

And that was the end of his fascination with Katniss Everdeen.

“You want to get out here and help me or was the ice machine too hard for you to maneuver?” Katniss suddenly called out.

Peeta quickly filled the bucket and stepped out.

Katniss was bent over the couch, arranging the pillows, and he felt a heat rush through his skin.

There was also the slight twinge in his crotch at seeing a firm apple-bottom in tight ski pants.

It seemed that Katniss Everdeen had a bigger effect on him than he realized.

++++++

Peeta Mellark had a huge effect on her.

Katniss struggled to keep the heat off her cheeks as she fixed the pillows that she bought for the cabin. Effie loved those cheesy sayings, so she went on Etsy and ordered custom-made pillows with her favorite quotes.

No one should spend so much time arranging pillows, but Katniss could feel his stare on her. It made her nervous…and tingly.

However, these feelings didn’t belong—especially in a work situation and she needed this job.

Taking a breath, Katniss turned…to find Peeta right behind her.

He jumped back, startled by her abrupt movements.

Whoa—was he checking her out?

“Why were you so close?” she blurted out.

“Sorry. It looked like you were confused about how pillows worked,” he replied, rolling his eyes. “You were there for a millennium.”

“Funny.” She sighed at the amusement in his gorgeous blue eyes—stop it!—and steeled her expression. “Do you think you could help me set up this romantic dinner for our bosses instead of standing there like an ass-licker?”

“You mean asshole.”

“I stand by my words,” Katniss replied and was surprised when he chuckled, his eyes crinkling as he did. She couldn’t help but let her mouth rise. “The table is in that closet next to the door. I got some table linens from a vintage shop that Effie likes last week.”

“Wow, you’re really on top of it,” Peeta remarked, going to the closet. “How do you have time for a life?”

She didn’t.

As in, Katniss didn’t have a life.

She had work, she had a home, but a social life was non-existent. Katniss knew what everyone said about her; that she was cold and distant, never wanting to be part of the team. It never bothered her because she did have her reasons.

So, she was surprised at how hurt she was when she heard Peeta call her a headcase.

Katniss hadn’t meant to eavesdrop, only passing the breakroom to get to the copy machine. However, she stopped at the mention of her name.

Cato’s words were no surprise, though he failed to mention that her iciness was due to him inappropriately putting his arm around her and telling her that they should get to know each other on a personal level. Katniss also didn’t trust Clove for shit; she was the office gossip.

It hit hard to know that the one person who had made her tingle was so easily influenced by two douchebags.

Katniss had decided, then and there, that if Peeta didn’t see past her exterior, then he must be like the rest of them.

“I’m very organized,” she replied. It came out harder than she intended. “I have to be.”

Peeta had already set up the table in front of the fireplace.

“Well, it’s in your favor,” he told her. “You’re a good assistant.”

Katniss looked up in surprise. “You think I’m a good assistant?”

Peeta snorted. “Like you didn’t know it—where are the tablecloths?”

She handed him a beautiful fuchsia tablecloth followed by a cream lace one.

“Fuchsia first then layer it with the lace,” she told him. “I always hope I am. Effie is a great boss and she’s so supportive about work-and-homelife balance. I want to make sure this is all perfect for her.”

Katniss helped Peeta straighten the cloth, smoothing it down and making sure that there were no wrinkles. They settled into a light conversation about working with their respective bosses while setting the rest of the table. While Peeta worked on the place settings, he told her about how he admired Haymitch’s down-to-earth attitude despite being one of the most successful people in the company.

She arranged the florals in the center of the table while telling him how she had worked two jobs prior to getting this one.

“I was a waitress and housekeeper before this,” she revealed. “I was working a crazy lunch rush when I met Effie. We got to talking because she noticed how I met her coffee exactly the way she liked it despite my ragged expression—her words not mine. Effie kept on coming in, and a month after we met, she offered me the assistant job. Said she like my gumption.”

“That’s really cool,” Peeta said. He set down one of the forks he was cleaning and met her eyes. “You know, this is the first time we’ve really talked. I kind of believed you thought of me as your enemy.”

“I thought the same thing.” Katniss placed a folded napkin on the plate in front of her. “You called me a head case.”

His blue eyes widened, shocked at her words. Slowly, she could see in his eyes, the memory of his words.

“I didn’t know you heard that,” he said quietly. “I didn’t mean it and I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine!” Katniss stood up abruptly. The pain of his words churned in her stomach. “I know that everyone talks about me. In my defense, Cato was completely inappropriate when we first met. I thought acting like a bitch would stave him off. Clove has no filter—”

Peeta’s brows furrowed at her sudden coldness.

“I realize that now—one year later…is that why you completely ignore me? Why you act like the sight of me makes you sick?”

“I do not!” Katniss cried out into the room. “You avoid me at all costs!”

“Because the one time that I attempted to ask you a question—you brushed me aside!” he shouted. “If you had bothered to talk to me, I wouldn’t have believed what people said in the first place—” Peeta’s phone rang, and he quickly picked up, seeing his boss’ face on his screen. “Haymitch? You on your way? What? No, I haven’t looked outside—”

Katniss rushed to one of the front windows, pulling back the curtain.

White everywhere.

She couldn’t even see her car and it was bright fucking red!

“They’re not coming.”

Turning, Katniss found Peeta putting his phone in his pocket as he approached.

“The snowstorm came unexpectedly, and the roads are blocked. They’re staying at Effie’s to wait it out while we…are stuck here until it passes.”

++++++

The good thing was that the house was fully equipped. Food was stocked in the fridge since the couple had planned to stay for the long weekend. Both he and Katniss had even brought Haymitch and Effie’s luggage so there had clothing.

“Well, dinner must be ready,” Katniss informed him with a sigh. “If you want to get more comfortable, you can probably change to something of Haymitch’s. I have a call to make before my phone dies and then I’ll pull the food out of the oven.”

Peeta nodded numbly, grabbing Haymitch's duffle and going to the opposite open door where the bedroom was. He tossed the bag on the bed—

The one bed.

Turning, he rushed out of the room to look for his female counterpart. “Katniss!” He found the sitting room empty and headed into the kitchen.

“Yes, I’ll be fine,” she spoke quietly into the phone. “Just be nice to Johanna, okay? I’ll be home soon.” Her voice sounded completely different, light and happy—even affectionate. “I love you, too. Good night.”

He knocked on the archway and she turned to him.

“We have a problem,” he told her. “There’s only one bed.”

“And the couch is really just a loveseat,” Katniss mused as she pulled the food—steak with roasted asparagus and potatoes. Her expression was pained, and she blew out a breath. “I don’t really want to think about this right now. Why don’t we just eat?”

Peeta quickly nodded in agreement, rushing to the sitting room, and grabbing their plates.

“Why don’t you let me set this up?” he told her, seeing how frazzled she seemed. “Have a seat. Open the champagne—”

Katniss laughed and the sound of her lightened the load on his chest.

“You trying to get me drunk, Mellark?”

Peeta smirked. “If it makes you like me, then yes.”

“Fine, fine…” Katniss sauntered off towards the doorway. She stopped at the archway and their eyes met. Her gaze was nervous, but he could see the warmth in her greys. “You’re not my enemy, Peeta. And…I like you more than you think.”

Katniss disappeared, but not before he spied the blush on her cheeks.

Peeta felt another twinge. This time—in his chest.

++++++

Instead of sitting at the table, Katniss grabbed Effie’s luggage, a classic Louis Vuitton that cost more than her old Jeep, and brought it to the bedroom.

The one bedroom. With the one bed.

A sudden image of herself spooned contentedly against Peeta in that very bed rose in her mind—

“Stop tripping off him!” she chided herself.

Distractedly, Katniss opened the bag, sorting for something remotely comfortable in her boss’ luggage. However, it looked like Effie was expecting some sort of kinky weekend. The only sleepwear she had was a tiny red number that Katniss would probably bust out of; Effie was a tiny but fierce woman.

Maybe she could borrow something from Haymitch’s pile—

“Katniss?”

“I’m coming!” she called out before stuffing Effie’s lingerie back into the back.

Walking back into the room, Katniss saw that Peeta had already placed the plates on the table. He stood waiting for her, looking obnoxiously handsome as he had the day they met.

That first time, she had knocked him to the ground so caught up in following with Effie’s rapid pace. When Katniss held out her hand to him, she was caught up in the open smile he gave her. Then it was the gold waves along his forehead, which Katniss desperately wanted to brush back and the blue of his eyes—they had a tinge of grey in them.

For a moment, she was just a girl, and he was just a boy. Peeta didn’t know anything about the rumors of her iciness or how someone like her, with no college degree, managed to get a position like hers.

In that moment, Katniss was pure.

“You alright?” Peeta asked, interrupting her moment down memory lane.

“Yes.” She let him help her into her seat. “I was just thinking about something.”

“Was it the one bed thing?” he joked. “I’m fine with sleeping on the floor—”

Katniss held her hand up. “Let’s be grownups. It’s a big bed and we can put a pillow between us.”

“Very to the point,” Peeta replied, holding up his champagne glass. “To being grown-ups.”

“To being grown-ups.” She clinked her glass to his and took a full gulp. The liquid bubbled through her, making her laugh. “Wow, that’s some good shit.”

Peeta guffawed. “We’re going to have some fun.”

END OF PART ONE

#Happy birthday keelaree!#The Long Weekend #Everlark #everlark fanfiction #there was only one bed

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angelsfalling16 · 3 years

Note

From that quote-prompt list...

Have you done "I'm not leaving you here"?

Been needing some angst. XD

💜

Thanks for the prompt! <3 Sorry it took me so long to complete it; I wanted to make it a little bit longer and make it part of my 20fk series. I hope you like it! Also, I just saw that it was your birthday yesterday, so happy belated birthday!! :)

You can also read this on ao3

---

Baz

Simon gets called out at the beginning of class to go on a secret mission for the Mage, and even though it has happened before, it seems to irritate me more today. Why does Simon keep allowing the Mage to use him as his pawn?

He is more than a bomb that the Mage can point at one of his many enemies and allow to go off. He’s a person, a boy, and he doesn’t deserve to be treated like this, like he’s expendable. I don’t understand how I am the only one who sees this. Surely, even Penny would be wary of this. But I guess no one is willing to go up against the Mage like that. (Except maybe Fiona.)

One of these days, he is going to get himself killed, and I will not sit idly by and watch that happen. I have to make Simon see that he’s being used, that he doesn’t have to keep doing this. As soon as this class lets out, I take off in search of Simon. Maybe if I’m lucky, I’ll be able to catch up with him before he gets too far away.

He isn’t in our room, but his scent is strong here, which means he was here not long ago. I rush over to the window and look out of it over the grounds to see if I can see him walking away, but he isn’t there. I’ll have to cast a spell then.

It works instantly, and I can feel Simon. He’s close. The spell starts to pull me towards him, and I take off out of our room, practically flying down the steps. I’m not sure my feet even touch the ground, but I don’t have time to stop and think about that because I have to reach Simon before it’s too late.

The spell is leading me towards the gates. I’m not sure how I’ll be able to get through with one of the Mage’s gates standing guard, but I will do whatever it takes, including spelling the idiot out of my way if I have to.

I don’t have to worry about that, though, because there’s no one there.

That’s strange, I think. There has been someone standing there every day since eighth year began, so something must have happened if the station has been abandoned.

I slow as I reach the gates to open them, and I take a moment to recast the spell to strengthen. It feels like I’m close to him, but it doesn’t feel like Simon has moved any farther away since I initially cast the spell. If there was a threat this close to the school, you would think that the Mage would have raised some kind of alarm, but he doesn’t even have anyone at the gate. It just goes to show how terrible he is at his job.

I continue to follow the pull of the spell, and it brings me to the road, then across it, then to the woods on the other side.

I can hear some sort of commotion now, and I pick up my pace. I have to help Simon. He probably won’t want it, but that’s too bad. I would die a thousand times over in order to protect him. I will not let him die if there is any way that I can prevent it.

When I reach Simon, there is no sign of the Mage of any of his men. It appears like they abandoned him here to handle this threat on his own. It’s unbelievable.

Simon is being surrounded by dozens of goblins, all of whom are vying for his head. He is doing his best to fight them off with his sword, but it isn’t enough. He’s fighting a losing battle.

One of the goblins has managed to get behind him and has a knife raised over him, ready to attack. Before I even have time to think about it, I have summoned a ball of fire in my hand, and I send it soaring in the goblin’s direction. It makes a contact, and with nothing more than a shriek, the goblin catches fire then disintegrates into ash.

Simon spins around to see what happened, and he’s understandably shocked to see me. “Baz?”

“Watch out!” I shout, rushing forward to cast a spell at a goblin that lunged at Simon as soon as he turned his back.

I keep casting spells and sending fire at the remaining goblins, and once Simon recovers from his shock, he turns to fight with me, swinging his sword wildly about, beheading one gobbling after another. He’s brilliant at it, and I almost wish I could stop and watch him in action.

We fight side by side, killing goblin after goblin, but our efforts seem futile because the goblins just keep coming at us, spilling through the trees on all sides, forcing Simon and I to stand back to back. It doesn’t look like we’re going to make it out of here alive, but we can’t give up.

One of the goblins manages to knock my wand from my hand, and I curse under my breath. I can summon my fire without it, but as the goblins close in on us and I start to grow tired from so much use of magic, I’m not sure how longer I can keep doing it.

The goblins manage to get a few good hits and cuts on us, and the smell of Simon’s blood forces my fangs to push through my gums. I could bite them, but goblins are foul and bitter tasting beings. Plus, it would leave me open to attacks from the others if I got distracted by one of them.

“You should go,” I hear Simon say behind me.

“What?”

“You’re stronger than I am. You’ll be able to make it out of here alive. Just go!”

“I’m not leaving you here! You will never be able to defeat them all on your own.”

He’s quite for a moment, and I hear a demon cry out as Simon stabs at the same time that I shoot some more fire at the ones in front of me. It’s getting harder to summon it; my magic is starting to run low. But I won’t run. I won’t leave Simon behind. I could never live with myself if I left him here to die.

“We just have to keep fighting. Someone will come help us eventually.” I don’t even believe it as I say it.

“Who? No one even knows we’re here.”

“What?! I thought the Mage sent you here.”

“He did, but he said that he had a more pressing matter to attend to. There were only a few goblins at the time, and this is my responsibility. It’s me they’re after. Which is why you should go. It’s not you they want. They’ll probably just let you leave.”

If I make it out of this alive, I am going to murder the Mage.

“I’m not leaving you!” I repeat. I look around for my wand, but I don’t see it. The next flame I summon is barely more than an ember, and it only injures the goblin in front of me, rather than killing it.

“I’m sorry, Baz!” Simon shouts, and the tone in his voice worries me.

“Why are you sorry?” I shout back, whirling around to see what he’s about to do.

That’s when everything goes black.

***

When I come to, all I see is trees.

With a groan, I force myself to sit up. There is a pounding in my head, but most of my other injuries have already started to heal. I look around and am relieved to find that Simon is lying beside,

“What happened?” I asked. “The last thing I remember is you apologizing.”

“I went off,” he says, grimacing like he hates to admit it. “I tried not to because I was worried that you would get hurt. That wouldn’t have been a problem if you had run like I told you.”

“I couldn’t leave you there!” I say, angry because he actually believes that I could just abandon him like that.

“Why not?”

“Because I--.” I cut myself off before I can finish that sentence.

“You…what?”

“Nothing. I just didn’t want you to die, alright?” I look away, but then a thought occurs to me. “Why did you care whether or not you hurt me?”

“If you died because of me, I would have a lot worse problems than a horde of goblins attacking me,” he says, but the blush on his face tells a different story.

He’s right, though. If I had died, Simon would have instantly moved to the top of Fiona’s list, right above the Mage, who is coincidentally now at the top of my own list.

“Look,” Simon says, “none of this matters. We made it out alive. Now, we can go back to trying to kill each other instead of nearly getting killed by other things.”

“I don’t want to kill you,” I mutter under my breath as I push myself to my feet, but somehow, Simon hears me.

“What?”

“It’s nothing.” I start to walk away from him, back in the direction of Watford, but Simon stops me by grabbing my arm and pulling me around to face him.

“Baz…. Why did you come out here? Why did you try to help me fight the goblins when you could have let them kill me and been rid of me for good?”

“Because I don’t want you to die,” I hiss. “I actually care about whether you live or not. Unlike the Mage.”

He makes a face at that last remark but apparently decides to ignore it for now.

We’re standing barely a foot apart, and his hand is still on my arm. I could turn and run from him, but instead, I allow him to pull me closer. Because I’m weak.

“For what it’s worth, I don’t want you to die either.”

My breath catches, and my heart skips a beat. I know that it doesn’t necessarily mean that he likes me, but it’s progress. It’s better than him hating me.

He gives my arm another tug, and we’re so close now that I have to tilt my head down to look at him. He brings a hand up to rest gently on my cheek, and I can’t help the sigh that escapes me at his touch. I lean down until our noses brush but stop there, meeting his eyes. The world seems to have disappeared around us, and it’s just him and me.

Whatever happens next could change things forever. I just wish I knew what he was thinking.

“Can I kiss you?” He asks, and then I know exactly what he’s thinking.

“Yes,” I breathe.

Then he kisses me.

It’s soft yet passionate, fast but gentle. His lips part around mine in a sigh, and it is the best thing that I have felt. I feel like I’m flying for the second time today, and I wonder at how Simon can make me feel like this. Like nothing else in the world matters, which feels so true.

I love Simon. He is the most important thing in my life, and I will never let anything bad happen to him for as long as I can help it. I will keep loving him and protecting him until the day I die.

#snowbaz #snowbaz fic #simon snow #baz pitch #carry on #wayward son #any way the wind blows #the simon snow trilogy #rainbow rowell #20fk #my writing #i apologize for any mistakes #i only did light editing #i should probably get a beta at some point #lol

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taliaquinn · 4 years

Text

Why Me!? Chapter 19

Authors Note: Hiya peeps and geeks, I finally published chapter 19. I hope you Peeps like it. Dont forget to reblog, comment and like!! (They make me happy)

“Think about it, why would she want to talk to you,” Chloe mumbled struggling to shake off the sleepiness “Right now she only sees you as the boy who refused to stand up for her, Against the girl that threatened her in the bathroom”.

Adrien was silent at the other end of the phone. “She told you about Lila threatening her in the bathroom?” Nonono. That was the worst thing that could happen. Now rumors are going to spread.

Chloe could only scoff in response. She knew exactly what Adrien was worrying about.

“Pfft uh yeah, Mari told us everything, gotta say Adrien I wasn't that surprised when she told us, Kagami on the other hand….”

“SHE TOLD KAGAMI!?!?!?” Adrien shouted upset. Upset at Marinette for telling everyone, even Kagami. He’s noticed that Kagamis been blowing him off and sometimes even downright refusing to talk to him at social events they both attend.

Marinette told Kagami and Chloe everything about Lila, Adrien, and Alya when she called them a week ago. Chloe's heart broke at hearing the girl sob. Kagami was enraged, in fact, that was what spurred her into starting to plot revenge. Karma would wreak havoc on everyone who dared hurt the bluenette

“Yes Adrien Kagami Knows and before you go off and get all flustered, No we haven't spread rumors or told anyone. At Marinette's insistence." She spat. Adrien didn't deserve to be protected. But poor Marinette still refused to take any drastic actions.

“Thank you, Chloe” The Model still had the nerve to thank her and ignore Marinette's kind act. She's had enough. Sitting up straighter in bed Chloe opened her laptop and started typing an email to Marinette.

“You know who else she’s been helping Adrikins?” she said in a honey-laced voice, sickeningly sweet.

This familiar voice caused a sense of growing dread in Adrien's stomach. He wasn't talking to P. M Chloe aka “Post Marinette” Chloe anymore, he was talking to the old Chloe Bourgeois, and Plagg help him if he somehow pissed her off. Swallowing down the sense of dread he asked.

“Who?”

“Nino, you remember him right? The guy you claimed was your best friend? But then again you turned your back on him, that seems to be a trend with you these days”

Nino. Of course, he remembered about Nino. Nino called him tearfully seeking comfort from his best friend after his breakup with Alya. Adrien could only weakly offer some comfort. HEY! He was dealing with his own stuff. Ladybug stole Plagg from him. He wasn’t Chat Noir anymore. Also, he didn't want to get dragged into the conflict. Plus he thought that Nino was overreacting. Alya deserved a second chance. Right?

“W-we’re still best friends” he stuttered out. Nino has Marinette's number!? That's great he can get her number from him!!!!

“Hmmph yeah sure whatever helps you sleep at night.” Chloe had the right to speak her mind. She was tired and grumpy. A deadly combination. If she had eye bags in the morning because of him she was going to block the boy,

“I'm beginning to think that you’re new bestie is Lila” she mentioned

“That's ridiculous, we're just friends”

Chloe scoffed. “Your standards for friends are ridiculously low. But whatever apparently sleazy Liars are your type”

Adrien was starting to get upset at all these sly remarks he was getting from Chloe. He called her for comfort. Who did she think she was? If he wanted sly comments he would have called Marinette, but he still didn't have her number. Wait a minute. She's been talking to Nino!!! He could just call Nino and get her Number from him!!! He didn't need Chloe!

“Fine Chloe, you know what? turns out I don’t even need your help anymore,” He said smug, happy to have the upper hand. To be honest he half expected Chloe to beg him to not hang up on her.

“Why even bother calling me then?” that....was not the response he was expecting. Fine, it was probably all an act.

“I needed Marinette's number but then I realized that my bro Nino probably has it, so yeah I don’t need your help”

“But he b-” Ha now she was going to beg him not to hang upon him. Well, he wasn't going to give her the chance.

“Goodbye Chloe”

Hanging up he quickly tried to call Nino. After only receiving a dial tone, he shot him a few texts, expecting Nino to respond quickly. He always has.

After receiving none Adrien couldn’t help but be slightly annoyed. Nino probably forgot to charge his phone due to him still being sad over the breakup. This is why Adrien needs to convince Nino to get back together with Alya. He was a mess without her! His phone suddenly binged. Quickly checking, he was disappointed to see it was Chloe. Probably to try and get back on his good side. Ha.

Queen Bee: Nino told me to tell you that he is uh not in “The mood to deal with you and your b.s” tonight.

What!? No Chloe was obviously lying in some weird attempt at getting Payback. Adrien NEEDED to talk to Nino right now because Adrien was going to the states for some gala for the weekend!

Adrikins: Chloe stop fooling around

Queen Bee: Trust me I'm not kidding around, I'm here trying to get some sleep and instead I'm serving as Nino's secretary apparently

Queen Bee: Leave him alone, if you had listened to me earlier you would have realized that Nino added your number to a nice Lil ol place known as the ~block list~

Adrikins: CHLOE YOU HAVE TO TALK TO HIM PLEASE DON'T LET HIM DO IT.

Queen Bee: hmmm let me think about it

At that Adrien let out a sigh of Relief, Chloe will talk some sense into Nino and everything will be back to normal between him and Nino. Even Marinette once he got her number from Nino!!

Queen Bee: I thought about it

Hope bloomed in Adrien's Chest, everything is finally going to be back to normal again!!

Queen Bee: N o

Queen Bee: You’re getting muted for the rest of the night, consider that payback for waking me up so early, I have a trip this weekend. I need all my beauty sleep, you should consider learning about it

Wait a minute if she is going where Adrien thinks she is then there's hope for him after all!!!

Queen Bee: Toodles~

Adrikins: Wait a minute where are you going this weekend

Queen Bee: None of your business

Wayne Manor Gotham, USA 8:00 a.m

“Marinette, I’m just happy you managed to leave that toxic situation before it got worse,” Dick said as he engulfed Marinette in a hug, although not as strong since his ribs were still in pain. Dick slightly grimaced in anticipation of the humongous lecture he was going to get from Bruce later.

“Trust him, Mari, here in Gotham I always see..” Jason trailed off at Dicks pointed look “I mean WE always see....uh in the news how those situations escalate quickly," Yowch talk about a blunder. He still needed to get used to having a sibling who wasnt involved in the nightly adventures. "only not everyone is lucky enough to have Batman swoop in and save the day” Jason quickly added. He threw a prayer of thanks that his adorable baby sister was now safe in Gotham, well as safe as Gotham gets anyways.

Dick racked his brain looking for something to cheer up his little sister in his arms. For once his big brother instincts were being slightly overwhelmed. All of his siblings have gone through awful stuff. This isn't the first, and he doubts it's going to be the last time that he's been there to comfort one of his siblings, or friends for god's sake.

“Wait!!! Dick, doesn't Bruce have that trip in a few days?” Jason piped up.

Oh, Crap. Dick almost forgot about that. Oh god, he couldn’t possibly subject Mari to that disaster….on the other hand it WOULD be a good distraction for her. Hmmm.

“Fine, Mari, pack your bags, You’re not even going to school yet so you won't miss anything,” Dick announced.

“Pack my bags?” Marinette couldn't help but get a bad feeling at the sight of Dicks smirk.

“Yeah no, you’re right. Don't pack your bags make your dad pay for new clothes.” Jason teased. It's what he always did. Billionaire Brucie wouldn't even gawk at the price of a new pair of jeans. Heck, He was paying for his New Truck!!!

“Wait where are we even going?” She asked slightly disturbed at the sight of Dicks growing grin.

“New York City”

Authors Message: I hope you guys enjoyed todays chaoter. Next chapter some new characters are going to enter the fray. Can you take a guess as to who they may be ;) Also Happy Belated Birthday to Our Beloved Timothy Jackson Drake Fun fact I was listening to Hamilton was writing this chapter and its given me the idea to possibly create a Hamilton AU involving the Batfam and slight Adrinette, What do you guys think?

Taglist:

@purplesundaze @silvergold-swirl @k-poplunardreams @pepelachanel @laurcad123 @maribat-is-lifeblood @kass-is-weird @another-fan-of-anotherplan @damianette-is-life @amayakans @parallelparabox @miukiiu @valeks-princess @toodaloo-kangaroo @vixen-uchiha @thezestywalru @dreamykitty25 @pirats-pizzacanninibles @mochinek0 @shamefullove @mochegato @souleateralicestein @thestressmademedoit @throneoffirebreathingbitchqueen @aestheticnpoetic @mysupporthyperfixations @itsmeevie01

#miraculous ladybug #mlb au #maribat #Marinette deserves better #dick grayson #Tim Drake #bruce wayne #Damian Wayne #jason todd #class salt #b!dbwm2020

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ladylynse · 4 years

Text

A belated happy birthday to @bibliophilea.

Forewarning: All Dipper knew was that there was something buried in some special thermos behind the shack; all Danny knew was that he had no idea how he’d gotten here. Inspired by this artwork by @hashtag-art

Part 3 [FF | AO3] (previous)

-|-

“Okay,” Danny said to himself once he was back in the forest and sitting on a springy bed of moss. He ran a hand through his hair. “They know. Or at least they practically know, because there’s no way they bought that.” That was a problem. Not them finding out the truth, exactly, unless it meant they played that card and trapped him again. (He’d really have to figure out how to prevent that from happening again. His parents didn’t believe in non-ghostly magic, but Vlad would have a field day if he realized that had actually worked.)

Thing was, though, if what he’d done had really been enough, if he’d somehow managed to do whatever Clockwork had wanted, Danny would be on his way home right now.

But he wasn’t, which meant he hadn’t.

And he couldn’t exactly time travel without help, so it’s not like he had an alternate route home.

That probably meant that they hadn’t believed his warning, either. He’d have to figure out how to convince them, assuming he could talk to them without them trying to exorcise him or something. Unless exorcism would send him to the Ghost Zone? He’d be a lot more willing to let that happen if he knew that for sure; it beat waiting around for a natural portal or risk getting caught by Vlad if he tried to sneak into one of the ones he’d built over the years.

Unfortunately, given some of the things Danny had seen in the past, he wasn’t going to bet that exorcism wouldn’t equate to destruction.

Especially in a place that gave off such skin-crawling vibes—seriously, what was wrong with that place?

Well.

Real magic, apparently. Somewhere. Buried within all the scams.

Buried.

Like his thermos had been buried.

What else was buried, then?

Danny slumped back against a tree, absently flicked an ant off his knee, and stared upward at the branches. “I have to go back, don’t I?”

No one answered, which was probably a good thing. It was too much to hope that Clockwork would come back so soon. Especially when he was set on ‘not interfering’ while interfering as much as possible through Danny.

Mabel and Dipper’s magic, whatever sort it was, worked better on him when he was Phantom. His best defense was staying as Fenton. Even if he couldn’t resist whatever they tried next forever, it would buy him time, and that might be all he needed.

It would be nice to think that they wouldn’t be plotting something at this exact moment, but he knew better than to engage in such wishful thinking—at least out loud—when magic was involved.

“I’ll just stay invisible until I can figure this out,” he muttered.

The forest seemed to swallow his words.

This whole place was weird.

The sooner he could get out of here, the better.

XXXXXX

“Are you sure about this?”

Dipper didn’t bother to look up from his reading. “The journal hasn’t been wrong before. I’ve just been wrong when interpreting it. If he’s a ghost, those runes should keep him from harming us.” He made a vague gesture at the walls of their room, which he and Mabel had carefully covered in chalk runes. Not as permanent as he’d like, but a lot easier to get rid of in a pinch if someone came poking around.

Or, more to the point, if something turned out to be the wrong rune or drawn incorrectly and having a meaning that was extremely counterproductive.

“Should.” Mabel’s voice was flat. “Can’t you be more confident than that?”

“I’m starting to wonder if he’s really a phantom, whatever he says,” Dipper explained as he sat up. “He doesn’t have their distinctive piercings, and he didn’t try to hurt me, even though I summoned him. Which means he’s either a category ten ghost or he’s not really a ghost at all.”

“But you summoned him,” she said, “and he was trapped in the circle.”

“That might just be what he wants us to think.”

“So what, then? Oracle? Because of the prophecy?”

Dipper grimaced. “Only if we’re lucky.” He turned the journal around to show her what he was looking at.

“Some kind of demon? You think Danny’s possessed by him?”

“He did say something about interdimensional travel,” Dipper said defensively. “You don’t need to say that like it’s impossible. And that would merit the author’s warning.”

“So would a category ten ghost, and a ghost could possess someone as easily as a demon.”

“I guess.”

He’d tried not to grumble it, but Mabel slid down beside him and leaned against his bed as well. “It’s okay not to know something, bro-bro.”

“I know,” he said, flipping through the journal again to see if he could find something else that might be relevant, “but if I mess this up, things could get bad fast.”

“Maybe we should tell the others, then. At least Grunkle Stan.”

“But then we’d have to tell him everything, and….” And he didn’t want to tell them about the journal yet, not even Grunkle Stan. He just…didn’t. It would feel too much like admitting defeat. What if he wasn’t even allowed to keep the journal?

Mabel hummed in agreement, stayed silent for about three seconds, and then asked, “What if he’s right?”

“Grunkle Stan? About what?”

“No, Phantom. The warning. What if he’s right? What if he is an oracle, or a messenger for an oracle, or something like that?”

Dipper scowled. “Anyone with actual foresight would know that saying something the way he did is just going to make people more determined, not less.”

“Maybe that’s the whole point.”

Dipper glanced at her. “What do you mean?”

“Maybe the point isn’t to warn us off.”

“Really? That’s what it sounded like to me. He kept telling us to stop.”

“But that’s not the actual message he gave us. If you stay on this road, you’ll find yourself on a path you can’t turn away from. That just means if we keep going, we won’t be able to stop later. It doesn’t necessarily mean we have to stop now. Stopping now was just what he thought we should do.”

She had a point. If he really was just a messenger, he wouldn’t necessarily know the true meaning of the message. And if he was wrong? About them needing to stop? Then that had to mean— “It’s forewarning. So we’ll be better prepared for whatever’s coming. Whatever has to come.”

Assuming Mabel wasn’t wrong about that, that changed things.

Phantom might not be an enemy. Danny might not be a conduit or something like that. And the journal’s warning….

But maybe it hadn’t been a warning. It had been in a different hand than the rest of the journal. A special thermos to contain the messenger until it was time for the message to be heard….

“I hope you’re right,” Dipper said.

“But in case I’m not, we still have to do all of this.” She nodded at the chalked runes. “These will stop ghosts and demons?”

“It’s every protection rune I’ve found in here,” Dipper said, lifting the journal a few inches for emphasis. “I’m hoping none of them cancel each other out.”

Mabel snorted. “I’m surprised you didn’t do that weeks ago.”

“I’ve been practicing drawing them,” Dipper admitted. “In the dirt. With a stick. I didn’t want to risk getting something wrong when it mattered. I’m not as good at freehanding as you are without practice.”

“That’s just because you spend more time reading than drawing and crafting.” Mabel climbed to her feet. “You can keep looking through the journal. I’m going downstairs to wait for Danny.”

“You think that’s how he’ll come back? After that story he fed you about his family before running out?”

Mabel smirked. “I’m pretty sure he’s figured out we don’t trust Phantom. Trying to convince us to trust Danny is his best bet.”

“But we’re not going to trust him.” Not liking the look on Mabel’s face, Dipper added a pointed, “Right?”

“I like to hear people out.”

“Mabel!”

“What? He was kinda cute.”

Dipper groaned. “For all we know, he’s as real a person as Norman was.”

She just shrugged. “Summer romances are all about risk-taking and mysteries. It’s part of the thrill.”

“But this is serious!”

“And I’ll help you with all the serious stuff once you figure out what preparations we need to actually make. Just like I helped you draw all this. Doesn’t mean I can’t have fun in the meantime.”

She wasn’t going to listen to him, was she? “Just be careful, okay?”

“I’ll be as careful as I ever am,” she promised before slipping out of the room, and he bit back the urge to yell at her that that wasn’t careful at all. Her definition of careful had nearly ended with her as queen of the gnomes.

But she had helped him with this, and she’d help him in the future, and she really did hate all the research, and that was his favourite part.

He just wished she’d give up the idea of having a wonderful summer romance with any boy who came near the Mystery Shack. It would make his life a lot easier. But that’s what siblings did. They made things harder.

And, usually, they made things worth the effort.

With any luck, that would hold true this time.

XXXXXXX

Danny had absolutely no idea what the siblings—twins?—had up their sleeves, nor how fast they could pull something together, but judging by the magic circle, it would be faster than he’d like.

He knew blood blossoms weren’t the only things that fell under traditional methods of ghost hunting. His parents relied on technology, using their inventions before anything else, and Vlad (and therefore Valerie) was little different. Even Technus and Skulker used it. Danny was getting pretty good at dodging anything Tucker couldn’t just hack, but magic? He barely dealt with that outside of Desiree. He knew next to nothing.

That didn’t make him feel any better about going back to the Mystery Shack.

It didn’t keep him from going, either.

The place wasn’t closed, but it was empty—or, at least, it was as empty as it had been earlier. He would’ve been better off if there had been a crowd. No crowd meant no hope of distraction. He could try being his own distraction, of course—knock a few things around with well-placed ectoblasts, since attempts to duplicate himself would probably end badly with how he felt right now—but the truth was, he didn’t know if that would help.

If the adults bought into the whole magic thing as much as the kids, doing something like that would draw more attention to himself, not less. It was more likely to be recognized for what it was: something unnatural. And for all that this place was clearly set up like some sort of scam, it…. It wasn’t all a scam. He’d felt that much before. He was sure it hadn’t just been the beginnings of that magic circle.

He could still feel it now, hovering where he was underneath a window. Something that made his skin crawl. Something that had his arms covered in goosebumps. Something…something that felt achingly familiar but made him want to run away at the same time.

Or maybe that was just whatever the others had already done.

Or what he was supposed to be warning them away from.

It would’ve been nice if Clockwork could’ve given him some straight answers for once.

Danny put one hand on the sun-warmed side of the shack. Nothing happened, so he tried to phase through the wall. Tried being the operative word, as it didn’t work. He scowled and pushed harder, to no avail. He even tried the windowpane in case glass reacted differently than wood. It didn’t.

It figured.

These guys would find a way to make the entire place phase-proof without coating it in anti-ecto goo.

“Why can’t just one thing be easy for me, huh?” Danny muttered. Clockwork didn’t answer, of course; he was probably back in his tower watching through a portal, sure that everything was going the way he thought it should.

Fine. Whatever. He’d do what he could, even if that meant taking more risks than he’d like in a place like this. Anything to get back home.

Still, what he was doing wasn’t the smartest. Even by Tucker’s terms, it would be a fairly bad idea. Danny knew that even as he circled the shack, looking for an open window that didn’t exist. Everything was closed. Most likely, if anything had been open, the others had closed it. Since phasing wasn’t an option, he’d have to go through a door. Maybe the back door was still open? If Mabel hadn’t locked it behind him….

Danny peeked through the screen on the back door. He couldn’t see anyone, but there wasn’t a full view. He turned the handle slowly, easing the (thankfully unlocked) door open and slipping inside, closing it just as silently. He half-expected to come face-to-face with someone, but the kitchen was empty.

Small mercies.

Danny hesitated, trying to figure out where he should start his search when he wasn’t entirely sure what he was looking for. Did these people hide stuff in plain sight, or was he better off digging through closets and the basement and the attic? Except the room he’d been in with the other kids had pretty much been the attic, or at least some kind of attic room or loft—is that what a loft was?—and he wasn’t sure if this place had a basement, but…

Danny slowly stepped onto the floor, holding his breath as he let it take his full weight. Flying in human form got exhausting after a while. He tried to go intangible and keep going, hoping to slip right through the floor, just in case he wasn’t prevented from that now that he was inside, but his shoes stayed firmly on the wood beneath them.

Fine.

Old fashioned way it was, then.

It’s not like he really expected anything else.

Besides, this place was the Mystery Shack. It had to have secrets. And, well, clearly these people were prepared for the supernatural. Announcing his presence wouldn’t necessarily win him any favours, but maybe he could be his own distraction if he did it in a more old-fashioned way instead of trying to fool them like he had earlier.

Knocking on walls should still help him find hollow spots—hiding spots, for whatever information had to be hidden around here to merit Clockwork’s interference—and they shouldn’t expect anything less from a ghost. Judging from the junk for sale in the gift shop, the head guy would probably use the excuse of calling this place haunted to up his prices anyway. Danny might be doing them a favour.

It wasn’t very subtle, and it meant completely abandoning any hope of coming out of this unnoticed, but it was also very unlikely that he wasn’t expected. He knew that. It was too much to hope for that they weren’t expecting him, especially considering he couldn’t phase through any of the walls. That wasn’t a coincidence.

He just hoped he was right about them not being able to do as much to him as long as he didn’t go ghost, even though he was using his ghost powers.

XXXXXX

Wendy didn’t pay attention to the floor creaking at first.

She didn’t pay attention to the odd knocking sound, either.

At least, not until she realized it was moving and coming far too regularly, too rhythmically, to be something Soos was tinkering with while they didn’t have any customers.

But that’s what made the floorboards creaking wrong, too. No customers. She knew the squeaky floorboards in this place. They all did. They all also avoided them now, more from habit formed by annoyance than anything else. But the last customer to come in had been that kid, and according to Mabel, he was long gone.

Wendy popped the bubble she’d been blowing but didn’t look up from her magazine. Instead, she listened while pretending to read, scanning the page to keep up appearances but not taking in any of the words.

The floorboards shouldn’t be creaking, and there shouldn’t be any weird knocking. Tap tap tap. Tap. Tap tap. Tap tap tap. It definitely wasn’t a woodpecker, even if that might be a seemingly logical conclusion from some city slicker who knew nothing about Gravity Falls. Someone—something—was inside the Mystery Shack. And if it was supposed to be tapping out Morse code, well, it wasn’t being rapped out by someone who had a concept of long and short; the pauses were too inconsistent, even if the reoccurrence was not.

Wendy flicked her eyes to Mabel, who’d come downstairs to borrow one of Wendy’s old magazines and was sitting up on a stool in the corner. She was still humming to herself. Either she hadn’t noticed or she was doing exactly what Wendy was and pretending.

Wendy sighed. Sometimes, she was really not paid enough. Still, this was a good job on the whole. Plenty of time to read and just enough of the inexplicable to keep things interesting. About par for the Mystery Shack, really.

“Hey, Mabel, what’s your brother up to?”

“Reading,” she answered without looking up. “Boring stuff.” She folded open the magazine and turned it around, showing off a bright advertisement for perfumes. “Do you mind if I cut this up for my scrapbook? I like the flowers.”

“Go wild,” Wendy said. Mabel chirped her thanks, but Wendy was still listening to the tapping and the occasional floorboard creak. Whatever it was was coming closer.

She checked her watch; almost closing, but Stan was probably still in town, looking after…something. Wendy didn’t ask anymore. Stan had had that look in his eye recently, been in a sort of mood where he answered questions with a joke, and she hadn’t bothered trying to get anything out of him. He’d fill her in if she needed to know. She knew Soos had gone into the hardware store earlier, too—something about wiring disappearing again—but she was pretty sure she’d seen him in the yard not that long ago. He had to be back, anyway. Stan wouldn’t have left without having him fill in as Mr. Mystery should any tourists swing by.

Not that she needed either of them to deal with this for her, but it’s not like this was an infestation of raccoons. She wouldn’t mind a bit of backup if she found herself dealing with something from the side of Gravity Falls that most people ignored. Or tried to ignore, anyway. Sometimes, it really wanted to be known.

This…might be one of those times. Which might mean she wouldn’t have a choice about giving Dipper and Mabel a crash course in whatever they wound up facing. The truth of it, not whatever stories she knew Dipper tried chasing; however much he seemed to be trying to keep that from her, it’s not like she never heard him whispering to Soos or Mabel. Trouble was, Soos and Mabel being who they were, she wasn’t sure how much of those whispers were truth….

She could remember being as ignorant of all of this as they had been at the start of the summer, as they might still be aside from an encounter or two, but that was before she started working at the Mystery Shack and realized her dad’s ulterior motive for all those survival lessons.

She was pretty sure her dad didn’t believe in any of the stories people told. As far as she could tell, most people didn’t. Urban legends were just urban legends, and a good campfire story was just a good campfire story. If anyone had a particularly good one, well, then it might be deemed something on par with what Old Man McGucket might tell. It was weird, though. People would tell those stories, and then they’d never mention them again, even when offered the perfect circumstances for call-backs. It was like they’d just put it out of their mind completely.

Still, no longer mentioning something and not admitting to even entertaining the idea that there was a modicum of truth in any of those stories didn’t mean people didn’t prepare, even if it was mostly unconsciously.

And even though Stan laughed it off, even though she usually laughed it off, it hadn’t taken the haunting at the convenience store to open her eyes to the fact that there was more going on in Gravity Falls than anyone admitted.

Whatever. Mabel and Dipper were going to find out sooner or later that Gravity Falls wasn’t the sleepy little town it appeared to be—assuming their run-in with the ghosts at the old convenience store hadn’t already done that. Honestly, even she’d thought ghosts were just stories before that one; she’d figured all the real stuff was the sort that was much less popular. Who would’ve thought it was all real?

The door separating the gift shop from the main Mystery Shack showroom creaked open.

Mabel, having torn the page from the magazine, was back to humming to herself and didn’t look up from her reading.

Wendy reached below the counter, trying to figure out what in their eclectic emergency supply would actually be useful in this situation, and settled on the baking soda box that was supposed to be placed in various nooks and crannies to keep the place from smelling too musty when it rained.

There was no tapping, but she heard a floorboard creak. The one by the vending machine, if she had to guess.

“Screw it,” she muttered. She tore the cardboard on the top of the baking soda box and flung the contents in the general direction of the vending machine. For the briefest moment, she saw a humanoid outline in the dust, and then it was gone.

“Wendy?”

Mabel’s voice wasn’t scared, exactly. Nor did it sound like she thought Wendy was crazy. But it was still too cautious for Wendy’s liking.

“What are you doing?”

“Summer dusting,” Wendy deadpanned. “It’s like spring cleaning. This helps you spot all the places you need to dust.” Mabel’s face told her she clearly didn’t buy that, but Wendy didn’t care. She just smirked and added, “Go grab your brother and run outside and help Soos gather some wood. We should roast marshmallows tonight.”

Mabel stared at her for a beat longer before she squealed, “I love roasting marshmallows! It’s fun to catch them on fire and watch Dipper’s face. He hates that. He wants his to be this perfect golden brown, but it’s not done till it’s crispy.” Grinning, she slipped off the stool and out of the room.

Wendy turned her gaze back in the direction of the vending machine. “What the hell are you?” she hissed. “And what are you doing here?”

Something shifted, and she could see the faint impression of footprints in the thin dusting of baking soda.

And then she blinked and saw the kid from earlier standing there.

“This isn’t what it looks like,” he said. “I swear.”

Right. Like she was going to buy that.

“I mean it,” he insisted, probably reading her expression. “I… There’s something wrong with this place, okay? I need to figure out what it is. I…. It’s the only way I’m going to get home.”

There was a thump from upstairs. She had to deal with this fast. “What are you?” she repeated.

“Stuck,” the kid said. “And not a threat to you. Honest. Unless you’re, like, secretly planning to eat the kids who live here or something.”

Well, it’s not like she expected straight answers from something that no doubt loved to trick humans.

“Get out.”

“But—”

“Out!” she jabbed her hand towards the front door. “Now. I’ll know if you try to come back.”

“Not necessarily,” the kid muttered, not quite quietly enough that she couldn’t hear him, whatever he might think.

He vanished again.

No more footprints appeared in the white dusting the floor, but she heard that tapping again.

And then she heard the sound change.

It wasn’t the rap of knuckles against solid wood. There was something hollow, something hidden, something—

Footsteps coming down the stairs.

Mabel and Dipper.

She lunged for a rag beneath the counter and wiped it across the countertop, pretending to be cleaning. When they waved as they ran out the door, she offered a weak smile.

No more knocking.

No more footprints.

Man, sometimes she really wasn’t paid enough for this.

XXXX

Okay, that had not gone as well as Danny had hoped.

Fine, he’d been stupid. Revealing himself had been stupid. He shouldn’t have expected help. Clearly, these people were not here to help him. That would have been too easy.

But at least whatever they’d done to the shack itself to make it phase-proof didn’t extend to its contents. He hadn’t been too hopeful when he’d tried to stick his arm into the vending machine, but once it had worked, well, of course he’d gone right in and tried to keep going. The fact that there really was a hidden passageway behind it was an unexpected bonus. He’d been half expecting a hidden door that would have been just as effective at barring his way as every other wall in this place.

Danny dropped his invisibility and intangibility once on the other side, but he kept floating as he held up a hand and let a ghost ray illuminate the passage. There was a faint light coming from below him, but it wasn’t enough to light his way by itself. Rickety stairs led downwards, the angle steeper than any stairs he’d come across before. This place really did have secrets. Maybe the Mystery Shack wasn’t a total scam after all.

The stairs didn’t seem terribly dusty. Despite creaking under his weight, they held when he stood on them, so he crept downwards.

When he reached the floor, it was just the landing for an elevator. A lone light bulb shone overhead. He pressed the elevator button and waited for it to come up, shifting from foot to foot. Just how deep were the secrets of this place buried that they needed an elevator?

Three floors down, apparently, which might explain why it was so dark when the elevator doors opened.

Danny could hear the low hum of machinery even before he stepped out of the elevator, which made it immediately evident why Clockwork had put him up to this.

This place didn’t only have a creepy hidden room, it had a creepy basement lab. Because, naturally, basements were where creepy secret labs were kept.

He kept walking, calling up a ghost ray again to light up what the various computer screens and blinking lights couldn’t.

Despite having more construction tools and computer screens than beakers or Erlenmeyer flasks, this lab came complete with what looked suspiciously like a nearly finished ghost portal. This one was at least ten feet above the floor, set in some kind of reverse triangle mounting, but it was definitely a portal. Which meant these guys had magic and technology on their side. Perfect. This couldn’t get any worse. This couldn’t—

Danny frowned and walked forward, letting the ghost ray burn a little brighter to give him some more light. That book by the control panel looked like what the kid had had. Danny still didn’t recognize the handwriting—not another novel by Freakshow, thankfully—but those were definitely blueprints to a portal. Incomplete blueprints, but still blueprints. And the portal in front of him was a heck of a lot more complete than the drawings on the page, which was not a good sign in his book.

“Maybe this is what’s going to go wrong,” Danny whispered. “Maybe Clockwork wants me to prevent another accident.” Though, considering no one had stopped what had happened with him or Vlad, that struck him as unlikely. But an unstable portal could lead to a giant explosion, and—

The room flooded with light from overhead, and Danny jumped even as the buzzing of electricity filled his ears.

“I’m not going to let you destroy everything I’ve spent the last thirty years building,” a voice behind him growled, and he turned just in time to see the net flying towards him.

(next)

#danny phantom #gravity falls #phantom falls #crossover #fanfiction #danny fenton #mabel pines #dipper pines #wendy corduroy #my writing #ladylynse #dp snippet #gf snippet #crossover snippet #snippets #some year I will finish this fic

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ninzied · 4 years

Photo

things you said with too many miles between us

happy belated birthday to my dear cherished friend @redbelles. i am eternally grateful for your wit, wisdom, and way with words. please accept this humble fic offering as a token of ALL MY LOVE for you :)

[ao3]

The moment Frank crosses the bridge back into the city, he wonders if he’s made a mistake.

Everything suddenly feels too close – the buildings, the view, the vague smell of garbage polluting the truck cabin. He rolls up the windows and cranks the AC instead. He reaches for the volume next, to drown out as much of the street sounds as he can.

He misses the fresh, clean air of the mountains, all that wide open space on the road with nothing else between him and the horizon.

There’s not enough room here, for him and his thoughts. Not enough time for them, either; when he’d been driving with no destination in mind, his thoughts had been prone to wandering, too, and it was fine if they returned with no answer, because there was always more time to work them through.

He could feel the longing more acutely then, but at least he could also feel free to hope.

Here, the city feels too impatient for that: the stop-start of it all, the pressure to keep shifting gears that seems to close in on him from every side. As he maneuvers his way through the rest of the city, he thinks about all that sky still behind him, endless, and blue, and beckoning him to turn around.

And then he thinks about what brought him back, and drives on.

…

Frank does a double take when he sees Amy waiting for him on the steps of Curtis’s trailer. She vaults up with an ear-to-ear grin as the truck rolls to a stop out front.

He closes the door and says, “How did you know?”

“I could just tell.” She skips up to the truck, and flashes a couple of postcards from the inner part of her jacket at him. There’s Mt. Rushmore on one of them, the St. Louis arch on the other. “You were starting to sound a little homesick.”

Frank shakes his head. “Curt told you, didn’t he.”

“Yeah, maybe.” She shifts her weight from one foot to the other. And then she bursts out, sounding smug, “But also, the dates on these, look – you weren’t heading west, you were going the opposite. Clearly you were making your way back to something.”

Frank grabs up his bag from the cargo bed of the truck, slinging it over his shoulder. “Okay, detective. C’mere.”

She jumps up at him with a crushing bear hug, and he can’t help but smile before pulling away. “Yeah, I missed you too.”

“You get some good thinking done out there?”

He pulls a noncommittal face. “Sure.”

“Great. Can’t wait to hear all about it.” She’s beaming at him, and that’s not really something he knows how to say no to. “I was gonna meet up with some friends for dinner, but I was thinking I could help you unpack until then?”

“You have friends?” He grunts as she jams her fist in his shoulder.

“Got at least one right here,” she says. “Sorry to be the one to break it to you.”

…

“It’s spring break, anyway, so it was a good excuse to make some of them drive up here with me.” Amy’s cross-legged on one of the chairs, munching on snacks she’d found in the cupboard that Curt must have left there for Frank.

“Spring break, huh? Shouldn’t you be on a beach somewhere instead?”

Amy gives him a look. “Dive school, remember? That’s all we do all day. Be on the beach.” She holds out a bag of chips to him, and he sets his duffel aside.

“Let me guess – guns, guns, more guns. And a steady rotation of the same three black hoodies.” She gives one of the side pockets a playful little nudge, and a corner of cardstock pokes out of the zipper.

“What’s this?” Amy asks, reaching in and pulling out a frayed stack of postcards. Before Frank has a chance to say anything, she’s already plucking the rubber band off. It’s cracked in the middle, and falls to the floor in one long broken strand. “Jeez. That thing is almost as ancient as you are.”

“Hey. Quit that.” He makes a move for the cards, but she’s shooting onto her feet with a speed that would probably make him proud under any other circumstances. “Hand ’em over, all right?”

“Just a sec.”

She starts thumbing through the cards like a kid who’s just been trick-or-treating, taking stock of all her spoils.

“I’m serious. Hey.”

But the amusement has already faded from her expression, and then she’s clearing her throat and carefully realigning the cards, like they’re something sacred that she knows she had no right to see.

She doesn’t resist him when he takes the cards back, tucking them carefully into his bag.

“Frank…” She shakes her head, baffled, and when he glances back over she looks genuinely upset with him. “Why didn’t you send those?”

“Wasn’t the point of writing them.”

“I’m sorry,” she says. “But just to clarify. You wrote those freaking beautiful, heartfelt little notes, specifically to just…keep them all to yourself?” She throws her hands up in the air with abject confusion. Words seem to fail her momentarily, which suits Frank just fine.

He turns away, unpacking the rest of his things. He’s checking the status of the fridge next when she starts in again.

“Wait, hang on.”

Frank cracks open a cold beer, and sends a silent thank you to Curt for looking out. He sinks into one of the chairs by the table as Amy rounds on him accusingly.

“Are you telling me that that day in the hospital – was that seriously the last time you spoke to her?”

“Wasn’t telling you anything.”

“Nice,” says Amy. “Okay. Sure. Do that thing where you push people away. That’s obviously been working so well for you.”

“Maybe I was just keeping a diary.” He shrugs, ignoring the dig. “Pretty sure people are allowed to do shit like that when they travel.”

Amy is unimpressed. “Is your diary also named Karen? Because that would really be some coincidence.”

“Look, I didn’t write them to be read – by her, or by anyone.” His tone is harder than he meant for it to be, and he catches Amy wince a little in his periphery.

“I’m sorry,” she says. “I shouldn’t have pried.”

“’S’okay,” he tells her. “It’s done.”

She comes over to sit next to him. He chugs down some more of his beer, and they’re both silent for a while.

“You kept them, though,” Amy finally insists quietly to him. “That means something.”

“Yeah,” says Frank. No point in denying it.

“And for what it’s worth,” Amy tells him, “she looks at you the same way.”

“That was a long time ago,” says Frank, getting up to go scrounge for anything resembling real food. “Tell me about these ‘friends’ of yours. The one who drove you all the way up here – he been treating you right?”

“How did you even—” Amy protests, and Frank swats away the bag of cookies she lobs at his head.

…

After Amy’s gone to meet up with her friends, Frank finds his phone and, for the tenth time that week, hovers over Karen’s number before setting it back down.

Everything he’s come here to tell her – she deserves to hear it from him in person. But calling her, if she even picks up, feels like cornering her into something she has every right to say no to, and at the very least think about before she says yes.

He picks up his phone again.

Hey, he types into the screen. It’s me. I’m back in town. Would like to see you, if you would be okay with that.

He texts her the address, and reaches for another beer.

Karen’s response comes a few hours later:

Didn’t realize you had left again.

And then, after ten long and excruciating seconds:

I can come by around 3 tomorrow.

Okay, he texts back, and leaves it at that. …

He hears her car pull up just before 3 the next afternoon.

He meets her outside, waiting for her to step out. She’s shielding her eyes from the sun, so he doesn’t get a good look at her face right away. She’s dressed in dark denim, and a sweater made out of some soft-looking material.

The image stirs up a strange, almost painful sensation in his chest. He realizes he’s never seen her not dressed up for work before. He’s never seen her as this. Just Karen.

“Hey,” he says, approaching as she does. They end up meeting somewhere in the middle, standing awkwardly together in that gravel lot. “Thanks for coming.”

“Sure.” Karen gives him a small smile. “You look good, Frank.”

“Yeah?” he says. “You too.”

He’s about to invite her inside when she slips her hand into her bag, and then she’s holding something out to him. “Here. I wanted to return these.”

He looks down.

“Christ,” he says, feeling like the wind’s been knocked out of him.

She has a small handful of his postcards – whatever Amy must have thought she could get away with stealing out of his bag when he wasn’t looking.

He recognizes the one on top. It was the last card he’d written to her – with a picture of some woods up in Oregon, where he’d been hiking when he realized he had it all wrong.

“Not sure you meant for them to get sent.”

“No,” says Frank, swallowing. They’re dated, but he’d never bothered to stamp or address any of them, only starting them each with a single, scrawled Dear Karen. “No, but they’re yours.”

She turns the cards over in her hand. “Heard your song on the radio as I drove here,” she reads aloud. She flips to another one. “This coffee could give that other place a run for its money.”

He grimaces to hear his words out in the open like this. But she’s gentle with them, and with each postcard too, grasping them delicately at the edges as if they might crumple with too much pressure.

“I’ve been thinking about what you said,” she reads on the back of a card he’d grabbed from the souvenir shop at some grungy Seattle motel. “About how we’re all just trying not to be lonely. To be honest, I think about it all the time.”

There’s a slight hitch in her voice at the end, and he finds himself swaying forward a little, remembering where he had been the night that he wrote it. How he’d almost picked up the phone and called her. How his throat had closed up at the thought, and everything he would’ve said ended up on a stack of cards at the bottom of his bag instead.

“Are there more of these?” Karen asks.

Frank nods. “They’re not – I mean, some of them are just – like the one about the coffee. Pretty meaningless.”

She’s looking at him like they’re anything but. “Could I see them?”

“You can have them.” He doesn’t know how to take his eyes off of her. “You can have all of them.”

Karen traces a finger over the Oregon woods before turning the postcard around. “Wish you were here.” She seems to keep her gaze trained purposely down as she asks him, “Did you mean that, Frank?”

Something breaks inside him at the question. He ducks his head to catch her eye, lifting a knuckle to ghost over her chin. “I did,” he says, hoarse but resolved. “Still do.”

Karen’s quiet for a moment as she regards him, like she’s coming to a decision of her own. “Okay,” she says finally. “So let’s go.”

He thinks he couldn’t have heard her right.

But as he’s standing there, feeling overcome, she’s already halfway to her car. Frank watches, dumbfounded, as she pulls a bag out from behind one of the seats and closes the door behind her.

“You’re serious,” he says. “You don’t have work?”

It’s everything he hadn’t even thought he could hope for, but he doesn’t want this disrupting her life either, taking her away from all the things that matter to her.

“I think Matt and Foggy can agree that I’m long overdue for a vacation.” She walks back up to him, but his expression seems to make her pause. “If that’s all right with you.”

“God, yes.” Frank moves closer before stopping himself. Steady, he thinks. There’s no need to rush anything. They have time. They have time. “That’s what I came here to tell you I wanted.”

She’s the first to reach out and touch him, just a brush of her palm to his chest. It’s brief, but gentle to go with her tone as she teases him ever so lightly, “Looks like you already did.”

“Looks like,” says Frank, and he could just stand here all day, with the soft way she’s gazing at him right now. “So we’re doing this.”

“Looks like,” says Karen, and he looks away, smiling.

“I’ll get my things.” But he’s loath to move away from her, and after a split second’s hesitation he leans in and lets his forehead rest against hers. Karen’s hands come up to his shoulders, and everything else stands still for a moment. “Remind me to send Amy a postcard when we get there.”

She makes a small humming sound. “And where is this ‘there’ going to be?”

“Anywhere,” he says. “So long as you’re there, doesn’t matter.”

“Mm. I like that.” Karen pulls back and looks a little slyly at him. “Think that could go on a card somewhere too.”

Frank shakes his head as she laughs and goes to toss her bag into his truck.

#kastle #kastle ff #kastlenetwork #kastledaily

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seasonofthegeek · 5 years

Text

This drabble is dedicated to @secretagentspydetectiveninja to say HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY month! I hope your December was full of the loveliest things. :D

___

“Okay, pros and cons of all the places we looked at today.” Nathaniel scrolled through the listings he and Alix had visited to find a place they could move into together. “The loft was amazing, but the only bathroom facility was a single toilet in the middle of the room with no walls or anything around it.”

“But the place was huge and cheap, and we could put a shower curtain or something around the toilet,” Alix said. “We could never afford anywhere else that big.”

“Because there was a single toilet in the middle of the room,” he reiterated. “No sink, no kitchen, nowhere to do our clothes. Just one single toilet in the middle of a big open room.”

“We could totally skate in there.”

“It’s like I’m not even talking.”

Alix blew out a puff of air, her bangs lifting slightly from the action. “Fine, fine, Nath. Which one did you like?”

“I liked the loft but the cost just doesn’t seem worth it after we have to add in all the other stuff we need.”

“Agreed, I guess.”

“There was that place on the edge of town. The neighborhood seemed a little rough.”

Alix knocked her shoulder against his. “Don’t worry, I’d protect you.”

Nathaniel laughed and shook his head. “It’s in our budget, but the commute is going to be more than either of us wanted.”

“And the other places are higher than we were wanting to pay, right?”

“Not by much but yeah.”

“Hmmm.” She tapped her chin thoughtfully. “What if we got another roommate?”

Nathaniel grimaced. “Who were you thinking?”

“You don’t have to look so scared.”

“I’m too familiar with you to not be scared.”

She shook her head, grinning. “I’ve got a few names in my head. I’ll poke around and see if any of them are available. You’ll just have to trust me.”

“Terrifying.”

“Hey, when have I ever steered you wrong?”

Nathaniel chuckled. “Do you want me to list all the times out now or write them down for you to read later?”

“It’s like you’re not even honored to be my best friend.”

Buy me a cherry coke?

#museum brotp #alix kubdel #nathaniel kurtzberg #miraculous ladybug

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anistarrose · 5 years

Text

When the Truth Comes Out (GF One-Shot)

Summary: A tale of two old men who are horrible at phone calls, and their long-estranged brother.

Word count: ~1000

Warnings: none

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19702060

I realized I haven’t written any standalone GF oneshots in a while, so I decided to return with an idea that I’ve had stuck in my head for a few months now. (And yes, I realize this is my third fic spread across two different fandoms with a Touch-Tone Telephone reference for a title. It’s just a bop, okay?)

***

An unusual sight played out early one morning in the Mystery Shack: Stan and Ford were both pacing in circles around a table in the living room, upon which a telephone rested. Somehow, the phone exuded a more intimidating aura than nearly any of the monsters either twin had fought throughout their long lives.

“It’s not that I’m not happy to talk to him again,” said Ford as he continued to pace, arms crossed behind his back. “It’s just… trying to explain the whole situation…”

“Well, you can at least take comfort in knowing he’ll be more pissed at me,” Stan replied.

“But I get phone call anxiety.”

“Oh, is that what that’s called? ‘Cause so do I.”

“Wait, really?” Ford stopped pacing, and Stan nearly bumped into him. “Have you always? I didn’t realize…”

“You know what, forget it,” Stan told him. “Why don’t you just flip a coin?”

“Fine.” Ford rummaged through his pockets. “Heads or tails?”

“Tails never fails me.”

Ford finally procured a coin, took a look at it, and frowned. “Oops, this isn’t from our dimension. Alien emperor, or eldritch rune?”

“I’ll take the alien, thanks.”

Ford flipped the coin, caught it, and grimaced as he looked at the result. “Shit.”

“Oh, thank god.” Stan placed his hands on Ford’s shoulders, and gently pushed him towards the phone. “Don’t stress about it. I’ll be right here by your side the whole time, listening awkwardly and cringing when we inevitably get cussed out.”

“You always know what to say,” Ford shot back dryly. With noticeable hesitation, and a lot more double-checking of the number than was required, he dialed the phone.

Shermie, always an early riser, picked up just after the first ring. “Morning, Ford! How’s it going over there?” he asked cheerfully.

Ford didn’t say anything, just stared off into the distance with his mouth hanging agape.

“You there, Ford? Did caller ID lie to me? I swear, I can usually wrap my mind around all the newfangled technology right away, but I’ve always been just lost when it comes to phones…”

“No, it’s me,” Ford finally replied. “Sorry, I just… it’s good to hear your voice again, Shermie.”

“Yeah, I could say the same to you. Thanks for actually calling for once, by the way! Is it so I can wish the twins a happy birthday?”

“Uh, no, actually. They’re not awake, though if you want I guess I can relay birthday messages once they wake up.”

“He can wish us a belated happy birthday, though,” Stan whispered, elbowing Ford.

“Then why did you call — hey, is someone else with you? Who’s that?”

“Uh, about that… that’s why I’m calling, actually.” Ford took a deep breath. “Are you sitting down?”

“Of course! I’m at my kitchen table with the morning newspaper and a coffee. Why do I need to be sitting, Stanford?”

Stan elbowed Ford, and hissed: “Just tell him already. Rip that bandage off.”

“Fine, okay,” Ford whispered back. Raising his voice, he continued:

“Sherman, I know this is going to sound absurd, but… Stanley’s not dead.”

Silence.

“And he’s in the room with me.”

Stan leaned in close to the phone. “Hey, Sherm, it’s me! Your fugitive ghost brother!”

The phone made a horrible hissing sound, which Ford could only assume was the result of Shermie spitting coffee all over his end of the line.

“In what world did you think that would help to break the news gently?!” he groaned.

“Look, how many times does a normal person have to reintroduce themselves to relatives who thought they died at thirty in a car crash? Not often, so excuse me for wanting to make it memorable!”

“Fuck you, Stan.”

“You fucking bastard!” agreed Shermie. “Where were you all those years? And why did it never occur to you to come by and visit?”

“Well, about that…” Stan began. “I kind of, uh… actually visited you a couple times.”

“He stole my identity,” Ford clarified. “And honestly? I think we all should have seen it coming.”

“So… you two… fuckers,” Shermie muttered, “faked Stan’s death together and spent three decades pretending to be the same person? Why the fuck would you —”

“Uh, not quite,” Ford cut in. “I had a… research associate who turned out to have ulterior motives for helping me, and dealing with that issue kept me far away from home for a very long time. While in the meantime, Stanley stole my name and house, which I’ve since forgiven him for — mostly. I’m still trying to understand how he got me banned from airplanes.”

Shermie was quiet for a moment. “That’s not even close to the whole story, is it?” he finally asked.

“No, but it’s the closest to the whole story that you’re going to get over a phone line that the government is undoubtedly monitoring,” Ford told him.

“Oh, of course! That’s not worrying at all,” Shermie groaned, but Ford made out a faint sniffling sound on the other end of the line. “I want both of you to get your asses down here for a visit soon. And when you’re here, I want you to tell me everything.”

Ford and Stan exchanged a look, as Ford covered up the phone’s mouthpiece.

“He deserves to know,” Ford admitted.

“Yeah, telling him is the least we can do,” Stan agreed.

“Okay,” Ford said, raising the phone up to his head again. “We’ll stop by in early September to give you the full story.”

“You’d better,” Shermie shot back. “Hey, wait. You guys are… good, right?”

“Pardon?”

“He means we’re not angry with each other anymore,” Stan explained. “Yeah, Shermie. We’re good.”

“It’s about time,” Shermie told him. “Finally beat the world record for longest petty grudge ever held, eh?”

“Watch it, Shermie, because I’m one more smartass comment away from starting a new petty argument with you,” Ford joked, and Stan barked out a laugh.

“I missed this! We haven’t gotten to banter like this in so long!”

“We really haven’t, have we?” Even over the phone, the smile in Shermie’s voice came through loud and clear. “I’m glad you two are both alright.”

***

(Thanks for reading, feedback/reblogs are appreciated as always!)

#gravity falls #stanley pines #stanford pines #shermie pines #rosalia writes fic

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hope-for-olicity · 5 years

Text

Leaves of Change 3/?

Felicity Smoak returns to her small hometown of Silver Lake just in time for the Harvest Fest, she came home to get grounding and figure out what she wants to do next the last thing she expected was that she’d want to stay.

Happy Belated Birthday to my dear friend @stephswims! This one is for you! Thanks so much to @mel-loves-all for the truly stunning edit. Also full disclosure, I’m Canadian so Thanksgiving will be October.

Each chapter will follow a Fictober prompt, I can’t guarantee that I’ll post daily like last year but I will post regularly. I hope you enjoy. This and all other chapters of the story are also available on AO3.

3. Now? Now you listen to me?

Previous chapter:

“I’m single.”

“Oh.” Felicity was more than a little shocked by that one. They were both quiet for a moment when Felicity heard a slow song begin playing inside. It’s now or never she thought, “Would you like to dance?”

“Yes,” Oliver didn’t even think it through. Felicity Smoak asked him to dance. He was going to dance. He hated dancing but dancing with Felicity…

“Okay.”

Felicity smiled at him almost shyly. He took her small hand and led her inside, straight to the dance floor. She slipped into his arms, fitting to him perfectly. He resisted the urge to pull her closer but he so wanted to.

As they swayed to an old Sarah McLachlan song, Oliver became even more aware Felicity was no longer the tiny girl from high school, she was a grown woman with amazing curves. He longed to run his hand down her side but it was far too soon for that. Instead, he tried very hard to stay in the moment as he knew this was a moment he would never forget.

~~~~~

Oh my God! I’m dancing with Oliver Queen. Felicity really couldn’t believe this was happening. She’d pinch herself but she didn’t want to take her hands of Oliver’s amazing shoulders. Everything about this man was amazing. She sighed.

“Everything okay? I didn’t step on your foot, did I?”

Felicity pulled back to look up at Oliver’s chiselled jaw. Was he always this tall? She was short but STILL. “Oh no, I was just..thinking how glad I am that I came tonight. And preparing myself for Caitlin’s I told you so.” She turned her head so he wouldn’t see her blush.

“I told you so?”

“Well, she teased me saying I was coming to find you when I went outside and now here I am.”

“Dancing with me.” Oliver smiled down at her.

Felicity couldn’t hide her grin. “Maybe it’s worth the I told you so. It really was nice running into you again, Oliver.”

“Well, I almost didn’t come. Changed my mind at the last moment when it was decided that the staff from my school were all going. I’m so glad I came, even though I’m sure I’ll get razzed about it tomorrow.” Oliver chuckled.

“I’m sure you dance with lots of pretty ladies. I suspect you are Silver Lake’s most eligible bachelor.” Felicity teased.

“Try only bachelor. Well, only bachelor in his thirties. There are a few single women but I’ve decided to focus on my career for now. I’m just out to wow my students these days.”

“I’m sure you do!” Felicity slowly slid her hands down from Oliver’s shoulders to his broad chest. “The song is over.”

“Yes, it is.”

Neither of them moved from the dance floor for a moment. However, soon they had no choice as people joined the floor for the fast song that began to play.

“Can I get you a drink?” Oliver nodded toward the refreshment table.

“Yes, let’s go see what’s available.” Felicity walked toward the refreshment table feeling Oliver walking closely behind her. She liked the feeling of having him that close by. Almost like he was protecting her, even if she didn’t need protection, it was just nice.

“So you found her,” Donna smiled up at Oliver.

“You knew I would.” Oliver gave her an oh shucks kind of look.

“I’m right here.” Felicity grimaced. She had momentary amnesia that their mothers were at the refreshment table. All she could hope was her mother would not embarrass her. “How about some warm apple cider? Do you have cinnamon sticks too?”

“Of course we do! Coming right up, sweetheart.” Donna turned to pour her daughter’s drink.

“It’s nice to see you, Felicity. Your mother is so proud of your accomplishments. She is so happy to have you home and it seems she isn’t the only one.” Moira glances at her son. “I thought you didn’t dance?”

“You said when a pretty girl asks you to dance you always say yes.”

“Now? Now you listen to me?” Moira chuckles, turns to Felicity, “not that I didn’t want him to dance with you but he never listens to me.”

Felicity felt all warm inside. Oliver didn’t dance and yet he’d danced with her. If she were by herself she would definitely do a happy dance.

~~~~~

Oliver couldn’t tell from Felicity’s reaction what she thought of the whole teasing mother thing. Both their mothers could be a bit much. As soon as they got their drinks, Oliver turned to Felicity. “Did you get your fifty-fifty tickets?”

“Yes, Caitlin made sure we got them as soon as we arrived.” Felicity took a sip of her drink. “Oh my! This is spiked! By my own mother!” She shook her head.

Oliver chuckled, he quickly took a sip of his. “Mine has no alcohol if you’d like to switch?”

“No, I’m alright. It was just unexpected. My mom knows I’m not driving, so I guess she thought a little liquid courage wouldn’t hurt.”

“I hope you don’t need courage to hang out with me?” As soon as Oliver asked, he worried he said too much. “Forget it, you don’t need to answer that.”

“No, I want to.” Felicity grabbed his hand. “The truth is I would have needed the courage to approach you first. I’m kind of surprised you remember me. But now, being with you is like coming home. I feel comfortable, so no courage needed, you know?”

“I do know. I like hanging out with you, Felicity.” He rubbed his thumb on the back of her hand.

~~~~~

I shiver ran up Felicity spine as Oliver stroked her hand. If he can do that with a finger on her hand, she was in trouble. She’d always liked Oliver but this could become more than a schoolgirl crush.

“There you are! I was about to send out a search party.” Caitlin exclaimed in an almost mocking tone using her hands.

Oliver chuckled. “Sorry, I’ve been kind of hoarding your friend. Nice to see you again, Caitlin.”

“Mr. Queen,” Caitlin smiled. “You are making quite an impression on my Steph. Apparently you are going to let her decorate? She’s very excited but I’m not sure you realize what you are getting into!”

“I’m glad she’s excited. I could decorate myself but I like to have the kids help with their artwork and things, it is our classroom after all.”

Felicity watched the light spark in Oliver’s eyes as he talked about his work. It warmed her heart, she was so glad he found happiness. In an odd way, it kind of gave her hope that she might too.

“Felicity, I’m going to go announce the fifty-fifty winner, then Ronnie and I might head out. This does not mean you need to call it a night.” Caitlin gave her friend an encouraging look as she walked toward the stage.

“She’s never been subtle,” Felicity said beneath her breath.

“I can give you a ride home if you like, I’m not drinking.”

“I’d better head out with Caitlin and Ronnie, they are going right past my Mom’s place anyway. Don’t want to inconvenience you.”

“No problem. I hope to see you around soon…”

Oliver was cut off by Caitlin announcing it was time for the draw. Everyone began pulling out their tickets in anticipation.

“567456” Caitlin read out the winning ticket number.

Felicity stared at her ticket, she won. “Oliver,” she said softly. “I think I won.”

“567456” Caitlin read again.

Oliver looked down at the ticket Felicity held out for him to see. “We have a winner over here!”

“Yes!!!!” Felicity began jumping up and down with excitement. Without thinking she jumped into Oliver’s arms giving him a hug. “I WON!!”

“I know, congratulations! Go claim your prize!”

“I never win! I feel so lucky!!” Felicity walked up the stage to claim her prize.

~~~~~

As Oliver watched Felicity walk toward Caitlin he knew he was the lucky one. The luckiest guy in the world because Felicity was back in his life. Right then and there he decided to woo her, one day she would be his wife.

Thanks so much for reading! Tagging a few people. Please let me know if you would like to be tagged or untagged.

@memcjo @stephswims @it-was-a-red-heeler @cruzrogue @mel-loves-all @tdgal1 @vaelisamaza @onceuponarrow @msbeccieboo @lucyyh @julieofrandomfandoms @morganashimi83

#Leaves of Change #olicity fanfiction #alternate universe #oliver x felicity #fictober19 #MyFanfic

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weewxtch · 4 years

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they say it’s your birthday [16.4.79]

Lily stared at the sickeningly sweet kitten on the card on the shop counter. It peered back at her with a single, seemingly judgmental eye. It was carrying magenta slippers, she hadn’t noticed that on the first look.

Sweet, suffering Christ.

Lily braced her hands on the counter, leaning towards the bored witch on the other side to impress upon on her the critical import of this purchase. “And you’re completely, entirely sure this is the only belated birthday card you have in stock.”

The witch rolled her eyes along with a well-timed snap of her Droobles gum. Lily held her breath.

“Let me check one more time,” the cashier finally sighed.

Lily let out a relieved breath in a rush. “Thank you so much, I really apprec–”

“It’s the only one,” the witch said immediately.

Lily blinked. “You didn’t go anywhere. You didn’t even look under the counter.”

“I always got top marks in divination. Guess I just knew.”

“I really don’t think it would be such an inconvenience to just–”

“You know you don’t have to be a seer to keep track of dates, don’t you? You can use a calendar. If you did that you wouldn’t have to buy shitty greeting cards.”

Lily was rendered momentarily speechless. “I’ll have you know I own a day planner,” she sniped after collecting her jaw from the floor.

“I bet that gets all the blokes really hot,” the witch said with an impassive sneer, “that’ll be ten sickles, seventeen knuts.”

If she had been less hungover and more indignant, Lily would have taken the time to explain that she didn’t have a schedule because it was sexy she did it because it was practical. And on that note, there were probably plenty of blokes who found organized women sexy, not that she cared, but what certainly wasn’t sexy was a terrible customer service and a horrendous attitude (not that it mattered).

Instead, she paid and left with a pounding headache, raging embarrassment and her shitty greeting card.

After snagging a cup of much needed coffee from the dingy cafe two doors down, she dropped herself onto a bench to begin the arduous process of actually writing a message in the card. It was so, so tempting to toss the wretched thing into the bin. She could easily add it to the mountain of things left unsaid between her and James, it would help balance out the heaviness of all the words she said that she probably shouldn’t have.

The weight of guilt was heavier, however, and there was nothing like being colossally hungover to encourage reflection on one’s poor decisions. She had looked James in the eye on his own birthday and effectively given him a two finger salute. It wasn’t just inconsiderate, it was completely thoughtless and particularly heartless considering she had been dismissive in front of Dorcas. She might not like him (after all, she thought bitterly, it’s not like we’re friends) but she hadn’t wanted to spoil his day. She had tried to extend an olive twig yesterday evening, and at this point was more like straw, but it still felt like it mattered.

Pen in hand, she stared at the empty, white interior of the card. Starting with his name was easy enough.

Potter,

No. Well, yes. But in this case no.

James,

I’m sorry I

Too pathetic.

Hoping you had a good

She knew he had a good birthday. She was unknowingly there. It was better to just poke fun at herself, not make a big deal of it all. That would help dampen the drama of the night before too, wouldn’t it?

I stuck my foot in things, didn’t I? Better late than never! God, it was so cheesy it made her nauseous, or maybe that was just the ghost of drinks past making sure she hadn��t forgotten her string of shots.

The front of the card mentioned birthday wishes. Unless she wanted to sound like her nan and say she wished him “a day filled with joy and laughter” she had to come up with something less generic.

What did she wish?

She wished she hadn’t be rude to James on his birthday. She wished someone had told her earlier it was James’ birthday. She wished she had listened better when Dorcas had pointed it out at the last minute, and she wished she had placed less primacy on her own feelings. She couldn’t bring herself to wish Dorcas and James weren’t together in the first place, not when they made each other happy. She did wish James was less tactless and more self-aware

None of that was very appropriate for a “Happy Birthday, I’m Sorry I Went to Your Party Without Realizing it was Your Party” card.

Happy (belated) birthday! Wishing you a year filled with joy and laughter.

Love always,

Definitely no.

Sincerely,

Was she writing a professor?

Best,

Lily

She slipped the card into its magenta envelope with a grimace. It would have to do. It was as she wrote James’ first and last name on the back of the envelope that she came to a sudden realization.

“Buggering–”

A woman strolling by with her daughter shot her a dirty look and Lily quickly cut herself off. “Lovely weather we’re having,” she supplemented instead with a weak smile.

With the woman out of earshot, Lily dropped her head into her hands, rubbing at her temples.

She had to go back into the shop and speak to the cashier again to post the damn thing.

#*drabble

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deadpooly · 5 years

Text

Iron Man Bingo 2019

My second fill of many more that will be coming pretty fast.

Characters: Tony Stark, Peter Parker, Shuri

2 weeks ago

“So kid, your birthday is coming up.” Tony said casually picking up a socket wrench and flipping it in his hand before going back to messing around with the inside of a car. “Got any ideas for it?”

“Not really, probably gonna stay home with May or go to Ned’s house.” Peter replied scribbling down an answer for an equation on his homework. “What about you.” he said without thinking and Tony just laughed at him. “I mean no, um I didn't mean to say that.” Peter grimaced. “Force of habit.”

“So was your answer legitimate or was it just a force of habit as well?” he asked Peter still smiling from Peter’s mess up and the kid was still blushing and bent over his homework.

“Yes?” the boy looked at Tony who was still bent halfway into the car fixing the transmission and taking out the car battery. “Wait what day is it?”

“July 26th” he said standing up straight and tossing the wrench onto the table nearby. “And in case you don't remember your birthday is on Decembrurary 14th” he joked and he walked over the tool table and looked through them to find the tool he was looking for.

“That doesn't sound right.” Peter replied and pushed his chair away from the desk, since it was on wheels he rolled over to the car and was looking at it. “I'm pretty sure its in August.”

“Yes it is,” Tony fondly rolled his eyes. “And I asked what you’re gonna do on your birthday, I was thinking I could throw you a big party. You know the usual, get you a dirt flavored cake, rent a few alpacas, dump a bucket of frogs on you and hope you don't swallow any.”

“Sounds like fun Mr. Stark.” Peter smiled back at him.

1 week ago

“Okay Fri, the kid knows to be here for his small party, but what should I get him?” he addressed his AI hoping she would give him a helpful response. “Or should I just throw a bunch of cash on him so he can choose a gift himself? That usually seems to do the trick.”

Tony was searching statistics on what teenagers like to possibly help him choose a gift for Peter. He honestly doesn't want to mess this up because the kid deserves the entire world and this would be the first birthday of hopefully many more he would get to spend with him.

“If I may sir, but Peter seems to really be into memes and up to date trends.” Friday suggested. “There are a few that were and are trending today that he may like.”

“Oh yeah? Like what?” Tony asked now interested to see what a meme is.

“A current trend seems to have a shirt that says “Creeper, aw man.” That he may like that has been trending with a music video sir.”

“I don't say this often but I am really confused.” he blinked up at the ceiling and dragged a hand down his face in frustration.”

“There is also a very popular meme to storm Area 51. However I believe it to be a bluff and that you will be able to handle that when the problem comes.” and that got Tony’s attention really fast.

“Has the kid been participating in this meme?” Tony asked and when Friday replied with a ‘yes’ then he decided he should probably keep an eye on the trends Peter follows.

Now

“It’s been like two hours, where is the kid Fri?” Tony asked, pacing around the main room. There was a Spider-Man cake and a few gifts left around from Pepper and Rhodey and a small banner that said “Happy Birthday Peter!” and the usual decorations.

“I could attempt to contact Mrs. Parker if you would like?” Friday answered and Tony waved her off.

Peter was supposed to be here, he specifically arranged a lab day on his birthday, and told Peter he would get him a cake and invite some people. Peter said he would be there on his birthday, and Tony assumed that Peter would of course remember that. However, here was Tony shaking his head and taking out his phone.

He found the kid’s contact and clicked on it and waited for the line to connect.

buzz

“Hey Mr. Stark, what’s poppin’?” Peter’s voice filled through the phone.

“First off, please don't say that again.” Tony shook his head and sat down at the table where the cake was sitting. “Secondly, where are you right now?”

“Oh, im in Wakanda!” Peter said cheerfully and Tony’s jaw dropped. “I got in touch with Shuri,”

“Shit.” Tony quietly muttered.

“And I went over to visit for a week!” Peter finished. “We started working on this really cool thing tha- aw fuck, I cant believe you’ve done this.” he said halfway through the sentence before he was cut off with a rather loud ‘whack’.

“You can't tell people what we are working on idiot!” ah yes, that was Shuri, with her young voice and thick accent.

“Peter did you just curse?” Tony asked incredulously bringing the subject back to whatever Peter just said in a horrible British accent.

“Sorry Mr. Stark, I had to do it for the vine.” he replied sheepishly and he could hear Shuri laughing in the background.

“Anyways, do you know what today is?” the older man asked the boy.

“August 7th? I have only counted six days since I have been here.”

“August 10th actually. Ring any bells? How long have you been awake?” he questioned the young boy.

“I have went to bed six times?” Peter said through the phone, Tony could tell he went back to working on whatever he was doing before he answered the phone. “Wait, did you say the 10th?”

“Yup.”

“Oh, shit! Mr. Stark im so sorry! I lost track of time and then we found a breakthrough in the technology and I forgot about my birthday and the days-”

“You forgot your birthday?” Shuri’s voice came back and she started laughing loudly in the background. “That is awesome!”

“Well, I just realized that my birthday is the same day I was born…” Peter started in a weird voice before Shuri yelled in and finished the vine

“Life is crazy!” and the two were back to laughing with Tony still listening to the conversation.

“I mean, it's still your birthday if you manage to make it back in time”

“Oh right, sorry Mr. Stark! I’ll figure something out, I promise!”

“Alright kid, see you soon.” Tony said before he clicked the end call button and started laughing at the kid and his antics. “This didn't go as planned.” he said to himself before he went down to the lab to mess around.

The Next Day

“Sir, Peter has arrived and is approaching your lab.”

“Kay, just let him in.” he told his AI, and a few seconds later the lab doors were being opened and Peter was slowly walking in.

“Hey, Mr. Stark.” the boy said, fiddling with his jacket sleeves walking closer to Tony’s desk. “How’s it going?”

“Come on kid,” Tony just laughed and stood up to walk over to Peter’s side. He pulled places his arm over his shoulders and began to guide them to the main room upstairs. The walk was short and the elevator was quick and then another turn around a corner and Peter’s birthday setup came into view. “Happy belated birthday I guess.”

“You didn't have to do this Mr Stark.” Peter said with a smile on his face. “Wow, look at that, a Spider-Man cake.” he laughed.

“Oh, it's nothing. Besides kid, you deserve it. Happy, Pepper, Rhodey and even Nat left a few gifts on the table for you whenever you are ready to open them and then I thought we could go do something fun.

Peter just smiled as he looked at the big banner, rather large cake, pile of gifts and red and blue streamers and he wanted to cry. Of course he always had very nice birthdays with May, but this meant a lot because it was Tony and the fact that a man as busy as him remembered.

“Thank you Mr. Stark. This means a lot to me, really.” Peter said as he gave Tony a long hug.

Tony smiled and replied something to Peter as he ruffled the boys hair and he also pulled out a letter envelope and held it out for Peter.

“The others are on their way, they should be here in a few minutes to have cake and celebrate since they couldn't do that yesterday.” Tony started and Peter ducked his head with an embarrassed blush. “But for now, why don't you open up the card and see what I got you?” he suggested. Peter just looked at the envelope and smiled.

“Wow, you really didn't have to get me anything, the cake and decorations and the fact you remembered my birthday is enough Mr. Stark.” Peter told Tony as he started to carefully open the envelope with an appreciative smile on his face.

“Nonsense, you deserve the world kid.” he ruffled Peter’s hair again. “Now I really struggled with what to get you but the little stunt that delayed plans yesterday gave me some time to think and...” Tony watched Peter’s face looking for a reaction. “Something wrong?”

“Holy shit.” was all Peter said, reading the papers that were inside the envelope. “What the- Ned’s not gonna believe this.”

“So is it good?” Tony asked, his brain processing a hundred thought a second on whether he liked it or not.

“Mr. Stark.” Peter hesitantly said.

“Yes Mr. Parker.”

“Did you actually give me joint ownership of Area 51?” he asked staring at Tony.

“Um yes.”

“Holy shit, this is the best day of my life wow thank you so much Mr. Stark, this is awesome because now I don't have to wait until September to storm it and I can basically go there without being shot and oh my god, Ned’s not gonna believe this- wait.” Peter stopped his rambling. “How did you do this?”

“Peter, you do know that I own Area 51, right?”

“Not anymore!” Peter said laughing and running off with the paper to go get his phone from his backpack that sits in the lab.

“That, definitely didn't go to plan.” Tony said with a laugh, shaking his head.

#ironmanbingo3000 #ironmanbingo2019 #tony stark #peter parker #shuri #gen z peter parker #area 51 #vines #iron dad #spider son #birthdays #spiderman

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oumiyuki · 5 years

Text

Blankets and Hugs for a Bad Day

Summary: Bad days. Days where you can’t seem to do anything no matter how hard you try happens. And that day was happening for Honoka today. But the day isn’t entirely bad when Kotori arrives to do what she can to bring some cheer in Honoka’s day.

Pairing: HonoKoto

Words: 1644

Read me at fanfiction.net or AO3 too~ :)

Author Notes

May you enjoy... :”)

Honoka sits near the corner of the room on the cold floor, back against the wall and knees close to her chest as she curls up close to herself. A frown and a set line was her only expression as she blinks every now and then, eyebrows furrowing and unfurrowing.

It’s not that she wants to be this way. Or to feel this way. No one ever wants this. But this emotion of helplessness plagued the gingerhead today. Honoka sighs loudly. Moving her hands in front of her to see how empty it is and she clenches it with a grimace.

“Ugghh…” Honoka shakes her head back and forth at all this negativity circulating around her. It’s almost like the negativity was manifesting into a monster that was tangible all around her, making her incapable of doing anything.

She got up in the morning and before she could get a good breakfast in, she found herself trapped in a heavy atmosphere that was most probably made up by her own mind or some higher power deciding she’d be the only one to feel it. As her sister and parents had no issue continuing their day like every other day with smiles.

Honoka sighs and scratches her head a little out of frustration then, and couldn’t quite enjoy breakfast despite it being her favourite strawberry jam bread.

She then tried to get in the mood of running which she likes to do as self-practice over the weekend since a Muse performance was coming up. But…just picking out her training clothes to change into got her annoyed for no particular reason and she slumps on her desk in the middle of her room.

“Why…” Honoka tries to stretch it away. Tries to jump up and down. Tries to get some good music on; maybe A-RISE’s songs could get her remembering why she wants to work so hard and why she’s enjoying being a school idol.

…

It didn’t help.

Honoka groans and tries for listening to their own songs. When even that didn’t help, she tries searching for an appropriately sad or scream-out-loud songs to help her embody the mood and maybe dispel it while she was at it.

Honoka didn’t really like the heavily dramatic and angsty songs…The gingerhead plucks her earpiece out roughly and throws it aside. She slumps the ground feeling so, so helpless.

“I hate this…” Honoka rubs at her eyes, the frustration of wanting to do something, anything – be it dance or sing or run or maybe even math! Yet being unable to no matter how she tries to.

Putting on her running shoes doesn’t make her excited, somehow her brain would switch from “I want to run” to “Why run?” and she’d shrug off her shoes and head back up to her room.

She’d try to do some dance moves in the space of her own room but taking even the first step or lifting her hands in the first pose gets her feeling heavy like lead, and she drops to the floor again.

After doing all she could to get into a mood of productivity but failing every single time, Honoka just…gave up. What else could she do? The day was nearing its end and she still can’t get anything done no matter how hard she tries.

The fact that her math homework was open on her desk with her pen, showing her attempt at even math proved a lot.

Her groans and frustrations did not go unnoticed, however, as when Yukiho returned from hanging out with Arisa, she got worried that her sister was being so uncharacteristically quiet.

And when she peeked into Honoka’s room to see her curled up at a corner of the room; the gloomy mood channelling off the gingerhead, Yukiho steps inside, a tad apprehensively but she was worried.

“Onee-chan..? Are you alright..?” The redhead closes the door behind her softly.

“Unn… …” Honoka grunts, barely looking over, as she couldn’t bring out a friendly expression and she doesn’t want to make her sister upset.

Yukiho walks closer to get a better look at her older sister, hoping she might catch her small smile and maybe return one.

Honoka looks over and looks away with a long sigh. “Yukiho…today is a bad day, okay? I just can’t do anything right…I’m not good at anything-”

“That’s not true-”

“It is! I try and try and try but nothing is working out!” Honoka got exasperated and she drops her hands to the floor before feeling guilty about lashing out like that. “Sorry. I just…leave me alone, okay? Nothing is going right for me today…”

Yukiho nods. “Everyone gets days like this, onee-chan…I’ll…see you later…”

The redhead exits the room and lets out a sigh of her own. She never liked it when her older sister isn’t full of energy and positivity. She takes out her phone and dialled a number for someone she knew could let her sister feel better.

Hurried steps echoes from outside Homura and a slightly out of breath Kotori enter the shop-house. “E-Excuse my intrusion…”

Yukiho turns away from the counter where she was waiting for her sister’s best friend cum girlfriend to arrive; she was the one who called for the ash-brunette to come over, so she figured even though Kotori knows this place like her own home, it’s respect to greet Kotori in.

“Thank you for coming over.” Yukiho nods as Kotori catches her breath.

“Of course I would, Yukiho-chan…” Kotori doesn’t waste a second as her eyes stray to the second floor. “Honoka-chan is..?”

“Upstairs. Yeah.” Yukiho lowers her gaze as the image of Honoka being so dejected and lifeless was brought to mind. “I hope you can help her.”

Kotori smiles reassuringly. “I’ll do everything I can to help Honoka-chan.”

Yukiho smiles in return. “Good.”

The ash-brunette gives another nod as she hurries up the stairs and to her girlfriend’s room.

“Honoka-chan.” Kotori calls gently as she knocks, enters and closes the room door behind her.

Honoka looks up surprised at the appearance of the ash-brunette, she opens her mouth then closes it. She can make an intelligent guess that her sister was the one to have called Kotori over despite it being nine in the night. “Mm…”

Kotori looks on with understanding eyes. Her girlfriend didn’t feel like speaking much tonight; so it’s up to Kotori to feel in. “Yukiho-chan told me it’s an emergency…”

The ash-brunette fished for a reaction; and she did get a twitch from Honoka and a frown that wasn’t one that looked like self-depreciation and more of one that was “Yukiho, you didn’t have to say it that way”.

Kotori smiles a tiny smile. “Honoka-chan~”

Honoka doesn’t react to Kotori’s coo for her attention. Stubbornly trying to keep to herself. On one hand, she was worried she’d do the same thing she did to Yukiho to Kotori. On another hand, she just felt like she doesn’t deserve a sweet, loving girlfriend at the moment when she feels so pathetic and annoyed at life.

Kotori purposefully climbs onto Honoka’s bed noisily, shifting the blankets and shuffling against the covers, and then patting the pillows. “Honoka-chan~”

The gingerhead had a hard time actively ignoring her favourite voice so she looks up and her eyebrows couldn’t help but unfurrow as she saw her girlfriend in her bed, under her blanket, looking at her with a soft smile.

“Here, let’s share the blanket, Honoka-chan~” Kotori giggles lightly, and patting the space beside her. A saved spot just for Honoka.

Honoka presses her lips together to stop a smile. “That’s my blanket, Kotori-chan.”

Kotori laughs but in that sweet, gentle way that makes Honoka’s heart swell. “I’m in it first~ So I get invitation rights, Honoka-chan~”

“What’s that supposed to be…” Honoka’s lips pull upwards just a little and she blinks a soft gaze toward the ash-brunette.”

“It means I get to ask Honoka-chan to come to join me in it~” Kotori sings as she lifts the blanket up to show how there’s that vacant space she wants her girlfriend to be in.

Honoka tries to stay on the floor but her stubbornness caves in a minute and she moves to get up, a bit slowly from sitting really long on the floor. “I’ve been on the ground for really long though…”

“It doesn’t matter. I’ll warm you right up, Honoka-chan~” Kotori reaches over to hug Honoka closer to her the moment the gingerhead was in bed.

“Kotori-chan…”

Kotori smiles and pulls Honoka’s head to lie on her shoulder. “I’m here, Honoka-chan…”

Honoka closes her eyes as she relaxes in Kotori’s embrace. “Mm…”

“You don’t have to do anything but hug me now, Honoka-chan…” Kotori daringly declares as she rubs reassuring circles on her girlfriend’s back.

Honoka hums softly as she wraps her arms around Kotori and nuzzling closer. “Thank you, Kotori-chan…”

Kotori’s smile pulls higher as she presses a kiss to Honoka’s head. “Anytime, Honoka-chan~”

“Mm…~” Honoka hugs Kotori tighter, feeling like she really doesn’t have to anything and it’s alright. No, that’s not it. She’s doing something. Kotori said to hug her and she’s hugging her. She successfully did something today.

Honoka smiles and moves her arms around Kotori’s back to around her girlfriend’s waist. “Kotori-chan…~”

“Let’s sleep together tonight, Honoka-chan~” Kotori giggles, clearly happy at the idea.

Honoka’s body vibrates in a chuckle of agreement. “Mm, let’s do that.”

Kotori moved so that Honoka will get in a good lying down position with her, snuggled close and feeling at ease, the blanket pulled over the both of them warmly.

Honoka does her job in embracing Kotori lovingly as she was held lovingly too; knowing that one day of feeling crappy wasn’t all that bad when she now has Kotori with her. Making everything better. Honoka smiles in her sleep tonight, comfy in Kotori’s arms.

Author Notes

Hey…This was how I felt yesterday…OxO

But things got better eventually when I chose to just sleep despite it being relatively early in the night.

So! Happy Belated Birthday, Kotori. >x< I’m sorry for a late story and it being not as fluffy as always too! But I’ll write more for you, Kotori~ You deserve more fluffy Honoka times~ hehe~ ^w^

And to all who read this, thanks for reading it! I hope y’all liked it ^w^

Leave a comment if you like~ :D (Honoka is being healed by Kotori at the moment, and if she gets to see your comments when she wakes, she’d be real happy too XD Which would make Kotori super happy too~ :D)

See you~ Chun chun!

#kotohono #honokoto #kousaka honoka #minami kotori #kousaka yukiho #love live!#love live! school idol project #fanfic #fanfiction #romance #yukiho is an awesome younger sister #and kotori is an awesome and sweet and loving girlfriend #cheer up fic

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wonderlustlucas · 6 years

Text

for science - na jaemin

⇢ prompt Standing beside him not as his best friend but as his girlfriend is a whole extra level in Hell. ⇢ pairing jaemin x female reader ⇢ word count 2k ⇢ genre fluff ⇢ warnings as requested, mega fluff overload. you may get a cavity. you’ve been warned ⇢ summary “request for another jaemin fic!! Fluff overload”—request ; fake dating ; friends to lovers ⇢ a/n i rlly only wrote this cuz i wanted to call this level 100 thot gay. happy belated birthday my love, i adore you endlessly❥

“You told them I’m your what?”

Sensing your sudden terror from the moment he parked and refused to unlock the doors, Jaemin winces at your alarmed tone, fiddling with the cuffs of his dress shirt as a sort of recalibration.

“Na Jaemin—”

“I know, I know! I’m sorry—it wasn’t my plan, I swear,” Jaemin sputters, reluctantly raising his gaze to finally meet your own distressed grimace. “Then why did you tell your whole family I’m your girlfriend, Jaemin? How am I supposed to go about this night pretending?”

Ignoring the pain in his heart that results from your piercing words, ignoring the utter disbelief that hardens your features, ignoring the urge to reach out to smooth over the stressed crease on your forehead, Jaemin gulps, “Before I came to get you, my cousins were giving me shit about not dating anyone and—and then I thought of you, and it was fine at first. But my Aunt overheard me and then it got back to my Mom and I had to make up a bunch of shit.”

Sighing at last, you decide it’s better to accept it as it is—one night pretending to be dating the boy you’ve been madly in love with for years was better than nothing, right? “I’m sorry,” Jaemin adds breathlessly, you would have missed it if the vehicle’s engine was still running, a heartbeat later you reach over, cupping his hand between your own and stroking his knuckles with your thumb.

“Don’t be sorry, Nana. I was just… surprised.”

“You’re not mad?”

Heart positively melting from the fretful façade he bears, sparkling eyes now dull and petal lips scarlet from biting, you smile tenderly before, “No, I’m not mad, silly goose. So, how about you tell me how we started dating?”

With a shaky laugh, he explains, “Back in July, when we went to Donghyuck’s graduation party. I said we accidentally kissed and then I asked you out.”

Focusing more on the way his fingers gradually began to intertwine with your own rather than listening to his pathetic excuse of a story, you too let out a mesmerized sigh, shaking your head to clear your brain of all the daydreams you have spent conjuring up moments like these, “O-Okay. Yeah, that sounds good. Didn’t your parents ask why you didn’t tell them?”

Jaemin shrugs, “I said I didn’t want to deal with all their questions and was waiting for tonight.”

“Well, I guess that works. Should we go in? Aren’t they waiting for us?” Nodding towards the restaurant, resembling a mansion more than anything else, tan stucco walls illuminated primrose with gold encrusted barn lights spaced between the floor-to-ceiling windows, you wonder, momentarily, why Jaemin’s parents would ever choose to have his birthday dinner at such an upscale place knowing he would be so much more content with something simpler. “Unfortunately,” Jaemin sighs, when his hand finally slips out from your own you have to take a moment to regulate your heartbeat before following him out.

Scampering to catch up with him and grumbling at the added difficulty walking in heels creates, you are simply trying to adjust the hem of your dress to an appropriate length when Jaemin grunts, curling his arm around your waist, “What are you huffing and puffing about? You look perfect.”

Unless an angel from heaven fluttered down, swept up your jaw, and placed it back onto its hinges, you truly have no idea how you manage to shut your mouth after having it hang open for such an embarrassingly long eternity, nearly choking on your suddenly desert dry vocal cords because oh God his arm is around your waist and oh God he smells good and did he just say you look perfect?

You clear your throat, “Wow, you’re gay. Just making sure, was that boyfriend Jaemin or my normal Jaemin?”

“Boyfriend Jaemin could always be your normal Jaemin, you know,” he winks—the sucker winks—but withdraws from you to swing open one side of the majestically tall oak door and nodding for you to enter first, leaving you to wallow in your pool of self-pity and near-death reality alone. Luckily, he follows after you not a second later, hand instead targeting your own instead of your waist and oh is his heart beating just as erratically as yours.

Leaning in, petal soft lips brushing the shell of your ear, Jaemin whispers, “We should probably hold hands. For science.”

Swallowing the saliva that ceases to exist, you look to the strawberry blonde to catch his prize-winning smile. Is he glowing or is it just the lights in this place?

With your brain displaying a system failure, you only grant him a timid nod and follow his lead to the front desk, where he greets the hostess with a softer smile and after giving her his name, you continue to walk further into the dining room. With walls varying between amber paint and warm red brick, you conclude this will most certainly be the only time you’ll be dining at such a restaurant, judging by the long, gold and oak tables adorned with cream lace table runners, colossal vases stocked with red roses, and rinky-dink dishes served on what looks like the finest of china.

“This is… extravagant,” you mutter, turning to the boy beside you. He seems to mirror your own expression, eyes full of wonder and irises reflecting gold, you subconsciously lean into him because that’s just how it is with Jaemin.

“Yeah, they really went all out for me.”

Debating on whether to reply with something along the lines of him ‘being worth it,’ you bite your tongue at the missed opportunity when, after what felt like a lifetime walking with Jaemin’s hand in yours, the hostess stops before the designated table. “Jaemin, ___!” Exclaims his mother, a spitting image of him when she beams the same starring smile and suddenly all eyes are on you, soaking in the image of standing beside Jaemin not as his best friend but as his girlfriend.

“Hello,” he greets, nodding to his family with a gentle smile as he tugs you to the remaining two seats—of course you would be late with Jaemin to his own birthday dinner—and, heart fluttering like bird’s wings when he pulls out the cushioned beige chair, you smile gratefully to him and settle into the seat.

Lucky for your awkward ass, the elongated table is the shape of an oval, and you find yourself at the curved corner, Jaemin next to you at the head, and his Aunt beside you. You’re not even finished familiarizing yourself with the members of Jaemin’s family when your seat is being tugged—oh, you jolt in surprise, turning to him with wide eyes as he fixes your chair until it is hardly half an arm's length away from his.

“Did you just—”

“Yes,” he purrs, smirking smugly and reaching for your napkin, you watch with a mind devoid of any rational thought as he flattens it over your thighs. “What’s up with you?” You hiss, startlingly aware of his family staring at the two of your like a cheetah waiting greedily to chase its prey. “Nothing,” he smiles, the corner of his mouth twitching into a threatening smirk but he hides it by bringing a prefilled glass of water to his lips, you watch, anticipating, as he takes a sip for him to add, “sorry, babe, am I boyfriending wrong?”

“Stop,” you whine, wrinkling your nose to play off your humiliation as repulsion. Did he just call you babe?

“You’re cute when you’re blushing.”

“I’m not even blushing.”

“Yes, you are. You’re smiling at the table,” he giggles—what a child—and pokes your warm cheek with his index finger, “don’t lie.”

“Na Jaemin, if you don’t stop harassing me, I will have no choice but to shove this fork up your ass,” you warn, gripping said weapon and waving it in his face. He pouts, reaching for the utensil and placing it back with your other silverware, “That’s not nice. I’m just being sweet to the love of my life.”

Heart hammering against a glass ribcage, your brain once again glitches for the umpteenth time tonight, “You don’t have to fake this when no one is listening, you know.” Jaemin huffs and rolls his eyes in order to buy some time, his confession, everything he has always wanted to say, is right there, lingering on the tip of his tongue but, as usual, something always seems to get in the way of his thought process.

“Sir, what will you have to drink?”

You watch, stifling a laugh as Jaemin jumps in surprise, sputtering for words and you almost take pity on him if it were not for the unhealthy beating of your heart as a result of his words. “Uh, c-chocolate milk, please.”

“And for you, miss?”

“Chocolate milk, too.”

“You did that on purpose,” Jaemin snorts once the waiter moves along, flipping over his menu and you gape, ready to smack the sly grin off his face no matter how unacceptably gorgeous the warm glow of the lamps make him.

“What? What’d I do?”

“Order the same thing as me on my birthday,” he smirks, scanning over the laminated paper and ignoring your annoyance like nobody’s business. “Excuse me, sir. Am I not allowed to have the same drink as you?” Snorting, you finally look to your own menu, picking at the hem of your dress because why does he have to be so infuriating?

“Yo,” he bugs you not a heartbeat later, digging his elbow into your side, “my Mom wants to take a picture.”

“Oh! Sure,” sitting up, you first reach up to fix a stray strand of his hair before leaning impossibly closer, shoulder against his chest and presenting your best smile as she taps her phone screen. “Ma, make sure you get this one,” Jaemin pipes up, pushing you off from his chest only to twist you to face him, you giggle at his mindless manhandling, allowing him to lay your hair however he likes.

“What are we doing? Goofy pic?” You ask, reeling him back after his meticulous fixing. When he does not answer, you tilt your head curiously, unable to read his expression but then he’s leaning closer and oh.

His lips taste and feel just as chapped as they look, although you cannot think of any feeling better than them pressed to your own, breathing him into your lungs like a starved man, and wow this is so much better than all the hours you have spent imagining this. The warmth of his tongue just barely brushes your own when you pull back, no matter how much it pains you to do so but now is not the time to shove your tongue down his throat, nerves burning a fire under your skin.

“You stopped,” Jaemin whispers, warm breath fanning over your cheeks when he leans his forehead against yours. “Believe me, buddy, I wanted that kiss to be more than a peck, too. But I don’t want your family to judge,” you chuckle breathlessly, itching to kiss him again but what was that?

“Buddy?”

You sigh, “Nana, I don’t know what to call you after that,” Jaemin sucks in a sharp breath at this, finally fluttering open his eyelids to gaze upon you with all the adoration in the world as you go on, “that was more than pretending, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah,” he hums, scanning over your features for any sign of doubt before, “I don’t know how to ask out my best friend.”

“Do you just want to skip all that talking nonsense and just go right to the dating part?”

“Yeah, I like the sound of that. I think we’ve done a pretty good job so far,” Jaemin smiles softly, pressing an angel soft peck to the corner of your mouth before pulling away with yet another grin brighter than the sun itself and oh my you could get used to this.

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ap93mcu · 6 years

Text

A little birthday blurb..

Hello all!! I have been MIA because of work but I have been casually lurking. Awhile back @avenirectioner asked me to write a blurb. It took me forever but happy belated birthday and I hope you love it!!!

Pairing: Tom Holland x Reader

Warning: I like to say fuck, a lot.

Word Count: 1,281

Today was your birthday and you had been waiting for the past three hours for Tom Holland to call you. Your boyfriend, at least for the time being. Two ignored calls and three ignored texts made your emotions scan from angry to worried and back to angry again. This was so unlike him. Pacing around your kitchen you reached into your back pocket to call the only other person who may have seen or heard from him.

“Happy birthday!” Harrison screamed into the phone and you felt the corners of your mouth tug into a smile. You could hear pots and pans clanking around in the background and you could only assume he was up to another one of his cooking escapades. Quickly remembering why, you called, your smile dropped

“Thank you. He forgot, didn’t he?” You squeezed the bridge of your nose hopes of releasing the stress so it wouldn’t fall from your eyes. You spent an hour and a half on your makeup and you weren’t going to let this ruin your face.

“You haven’t heard from him? No, no. He didn’t forget. Tom has just been in meetings all day. I told him to call you so you wouldn’t be worried.” Although something in Harrison’s tone had you concerned. He seemed frantic like he was hiding something. You knew Tom didn’t have any meetings. When you spoke to him last night, he said he was free after 2 p.m. London time and that he was all yours. He planned on watching Netflix with you via Facetime. It wasn’t ideal and it wasn’t what either of you wanted but considering you didn’t have any vacation time at work and he was filming there wasn’t much of a choice for you guys. This would be the closest you could get for a date night.

“No, I haven’t heard from him and he didn’t mention anything last night. I guess I’ll just sit and wait. Thanks, Haz.” You sighed. You were starting to think the worst. Was there someone else? Was he in an accident? You just wanted some sort of confirmation that he was alive and once you got that you would work on your plan to kick his ass.

“Hey, he loves you. I am sure he’s just stuck somewhere. He will call you as soon as he can, love. By the way, I have the best present waiting for you when you decide to finally come and see us in London.” He laughed as you scoffed at him.

“Goodbye Harrison.” You smiled again and hung up the phone. Harrison sure knew how to make a girl feel better, for the moment at least.

-------

*This is your caption speaking. We have finally reached our destination. It is currently 9 PM and it is a breezy 55 degrees in the city. Sorry for the delay. We appreciate you flying with Delta*

Tom was the first one off the plane. Casually late, as always, but this time he had a special woman waiting on him. It was her birthday and he hadn’t spoken to her all day. There was a delay on his connecting flight due to weather and his phone had been stuck on airplane mode for the better part of the day. He ran to baggage claim and no sooner did he take his phone off airplane mode did Harrison’s name flash on his screen.

“Impeccable timing you have.” Tom amusingly put his ear buds in and answered the phone. He heard Haz let out one “Ha” on the other end.

“She’s gonna kill you mate. Me too, do you know how hard it is for me to lie? Did you just land? Ah fuck…” Haz mumbled on the other line which made Tom let out a groan.

“Please do not burn our building down while I am gone, yeah? I did. We were delayed. I am calling for an Uber to her apartment as we speak. She’s going to have to wait a little while longer. I don’t want to give this away.”

“Alright well, you better hurry up. She’s already called me wondering where you are. I’m getting off here so I don’t “burn our building down,” alright? Bye.” Harrison mocked Tom and hung up before he could rebuttal.

“I’m on my way, Beautiful.” Tom mumbled to himself as the Uber pulled up to the pick-up spot at the airport.

------

9:23. Your birthday was almost over and you could only imagine that so was your relationship. He had ignored you all day. He hadn’t opened a single message. Your hair was thrown up in a messy bun and you could only imagine what your face looked like from crying. This had to of been one of the worst birthday’s you had ever experienced. You contemplated calling your best friend and seeing if you could still take her up on that offer of drinks at the local arcade bar. Instead you started another episode of Daredevil and took another bite of your have melted ice cream. As good as Daredevil and rocky road are you couldn’t believe this is how you were starting off another year on Earth.

*Knock*Knock*

You quickly jumped and pulled the blanket closer to you. You weren’t expecting anyone and right now you really didn’t want to be around people. You grumbled and sat your pint of ice cream on the table in front of you. Reaching up to the top of your head you quickly pulled your messy bun out. You walked into the walkway near your front door and grimaced at the sight looking back at you in the mirror. You face was a lost cause but you might be able to salvage your hair. You quickly ran your fingers through it and flipped it both ways before setting your sights back onto a bun.

*Knock*Knock* *Knock*Knock*Knock*

“One second!” You yelled in the direction of the door and threw your hair backup into a messy bun. At least you looked a little less homeless than before. You walked over to the door and slowly turned the handle. You gasped when you saw Tom standing on the other side with what looked like a dozen sunflowers in his hands. You threw your arms around him and buried your face into the side of his neck. The force of you latching onto him made him drop his bags and the sunflowers. He laughed and wrapped his arms tightly around you.

“I heard you thought I had forgotten about you, darling” He kissed the top of your head and took in the scent of your floral shampoo. God, he missed this, “My flight got delayed and its just been hell getting here but I am here. I wouldn’t miss your birthday. You pulled away and placed both of your hands on his cheeks before placing your lips on his. He smiled into your kiss and pulled to tighter to his body.

“I thought of every horrible outcome. I can’t believe you are here.” You whispered against his lips.

“That sounds like you,” Tom kissed your forehead and finally pulled away from you. Your body instantly feeling cold. It had been so long since you had seen him in person and now that he was finally here you didn’t want to leave his embrace.

“Well Thomas, it is officially 9:30 so you have the next two and a half hours to make up for the last twenty-oneish.” You bent down to grab the sunflowers and grabbed his hand with your free one. Tom reached down to grab his bag in the other hand and nodded his head towards the door.

“Lead the way, my love.”

Tagging my love @notimeforthemessenger because she’s my #1 fan.

#tom holland #tom holland x reader #tom holland blurb #tom holland imagine #tom holland x you

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furashuban · 6 years

Text

Reforming

A fic that i made for @wwater-witch‘s birthday. But I’m only posting it now because emotional stress and school kept getting in the way. Still, Belated Happy Birthday...! it’s probably not my best work and i hope you like my gift to you ^-^ I love you a lot

Pairing: Lapidot

Words: 3.2K

Summary: Lapis becomes the first one to regenerate after she and Peridot get poofed from battle.

Neither Greg nor Bismuth could begin to believe that they actually saw Steven give out a distress call through an overripe watermelon…In fact, saying it out loud would make anyone think that they were pretty insane. And yet there he was before, relieved yet in anguish while arriving on Lion’s back. There was so little yet so much to process when the watermelon Steven began to scribble around the sand, but the two understood what he was going through back in Homeworld. A promise was made to the expiring fruit physique that help was on the way soon and everything will be okay!

“Jeez, Greg, I knew he was a Diamond but…I didn’t expect he could actually do something like that…” Bismuth articulated, standing next to the already deceased watermelon.

“To be honest, I’m just as shocked as you are.” Greg replies while facing away from the fruit corpse. “…And he probably does that like, every day maybe…”

The distress message on the sand was still legible for Bismuth to look at one more time. The context that the Crystal Gems were up against serious threats crossed over her mind, inevitably sparking a blaze to make them fight again. “Well then. I guess there’s no time to waste.” She says. “Looks like Homeworld has a thing for minding their own bismuth if Steven had to come all the way back here…And if it’s a fight they want, it’s a fight they’ll get!”

“Aw heck yeah! But…I don’t think going up against another fifty-foot tall empress on your own will do the trick, Bismuth…” Greg says.

And quite frankly, he was right. Thinking about sending backup was not as easy as SAYING that there would be after seeing Steven fade away…It needed sheer strategy to travel all the way to another planet and become have the strength of an entire army to take on an actual one. Luckily, Bismuth was a skilled warrior, ready to put herself into another battle like last time. Unluckily, she was really just one gem……

“Hmm…..if only one of them could have been left behind to…..” Bismuth was whispering, suddenly that one articulation made her realize... “YEAH, THAT’S IT!”

…. ….. ….. ….. ….. ….. ….. …..

The blacksmith went inside the house…well, at least what was left of the house on the temple. The living room was nearly completed from being patched up from the Diamonds’ wreckage as only a sofa, coffee table and a busted staircase still intact. Bismuth stopped in that room, only to see Pumpkin lying down on the couch next to a fort made of a few small pillows on the sofa.

“Still in there, huh?” Bismuth inquires. A melancholy purr was given as a reply. She sighed while finding her own seat next to the pillow fort. “I think it’s pretty neat. Gotta protect the two somehow while I’m working…”

Alas, she completely dismantles the fort so that Pumpkin could see what was left of her parents. She barks to the sight of Lapis and Peridot’s gems side by side. Bismuth congratulated herself briefly every day for making sure that the two gems were still in one piece. And at this time, she gave her felicitations for the eighth day in a row. Lapis and Peridot were one of a kind when she first witnessed them during battle. She could hardly pay attention to her strength when she saw Peridot unveil her metal powers combined with her recklessness, and she flinched more than twice seeing Lapis use the ocean to chain up and seize Blue Diamond. The two gems were utterly perfect for a battle!

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen gems take this long to regenerate after fight, it’s driving me nuts…” Bismuth says. “And RIGHT when Steven needs us the most, they’re STILL not out yet! What’s going on in---“

Literally out of the blue, Lapis’ gem began to glow brightly and levitate off the couch. Pumpkin barked repeatedly to the strange yet magical display of a tear-drop shaped stone slowly taking its physique. Bismuth also gawked above the room, her eyes were widened as if her wish had been answered from a shooting star. “Well speak of the stars…….” She utters. Even the intensifying frequency of a gem reforming emitted out of Lapis. Before long, a glowing mannequin with coarse hair springs out. The light from the illuminous physique took seconds to finally flash out until Lapis’ body was formed. Her golden slippers gently touch the floor boards and stood affirmed without moving a muscle yet.

“Um…Rise and shine…” Bismuth utters.

Her voice captures her attention and makes her turn her head around. The glimpse of the blacksmith’s familiar face during the Diamond invasion made her breathe heavily from panic. It reminded her of her reason to regenerate…To protect the Crystal Gems…Her water wings sprung out of her gem, forming two giant fists as she exclaims. Bismuth becomes daunted by her behavior and stands right up on her feet.

“The Diamonds! Where are they now?!” Lapis says loudly. “I’m not finished with them yet! I’ll show them what happens when they hurt Steven and Peridot!!!” she yells. The larger gem approaches in front of her and waves her hands around to signal that everything was okay. But Lapis persisted to let her rampant emotions flow through her veins. “Come on! We still have time to show them what we got!” she exclaims…But just before she could attack anything or even head outside to look for the Diamonds, Pumpkin rushes up to the blue gem and tugs onto their legs. Huh…this was different for Bismuth to see all of a sudden. Did she always wear pants prior to their last battle…?

Pumpkin’s petite and worrying barks as her tiny arms seized onto Lapis’ leg caught the ocean gem’s attention. Her eyes widen and her grimace disappears nearly right away, together with withdrawing her water fists back to her gemstone. She turns around for her eyes to look back on the Pumpkin dog’s alarmed expression. Pumpkin would never show up in the midst of an impending danger. And taking the time to properly breathe for only one moment and let the yelping sink in, Lapis’ rage was out of her. She was in the house, noises from outside was unperceivable, and she was safe.

The blue gem kneels down. “Pumpkin…” she says softly, laying her hand onto the sentient fruit’s forehead. “Oh stars, I’m so sorry. You know I would never scare you on purpose…” she pauses to perceive the continuous sobbing of her frantic child. “Don’t worry, I’m home now, aren’t I…?”

Hesitance was the only thing that could cross through Pumpkin’s mind at first to be into contact with Lapis. But the familiar sense of her hand tussling onto his head made her remember who her parent was. Subsequently, her frantically shut eyes open up to see the softest grin on the ocean gem’s expression. She lets out a bark, later jumping onto Lapis’ body to lick her face continuously. Cheerful giggling began to resonate in the living room as the blue-haired gem is bumped down and fails to control the glee of Pumpkin’s kisses. She begged to stop for a moment, but Pumpkin was too overjoyed to listen as she finally saw her mother back from regeneration.

Bismuth simply watches them with total forbearance. The look on Lapis’ face was not present when she first got to see her. She could see her giggle all day and be amused by it, but like before, there was no time for that.

“Alright, alright, get off her now would ya.” She says approaching Pumpkin and patting them out of Lapis’ chest. “I hate breaking up a sweet reunion but, I’m afraid we haven’t been acquainted yet…” and in all seriousness, who knows what Steven could be going through at this time.

She gives out her immense hand for Lapis to grab onto and be pulled up by, nearly intimidating the blue gem at first. “Wow, you sure have a knack for being all caught up in your emotions there.”

Lapis giggles awkwardly. “I guess.” She replies. “Say uh....do I…know you already or…?”

“The name’s Bismuth! One of the original Crystal Gems!” the blacksmith says gleefully as she initiates a handshake. “And you ma’am must be…”

“Lapis. Lapis Lazuli.” She replies. “It’s an honor to meet you, I guess.”

“Honor’s all mine.” She says softly, letting go of her hand. “Huh, so you’re Lapis Lazuli…Well look at ya! It’s no wonder Peridot’s been so moody about you after we first met!” she lets out a chuckle.

Lapis felt rather complimented for a moment. That is until she recalled what happened prior to her poofing. “Wait…where is Peridot…?”

Bismuth reverts back to being solemn in her expression. “Oh, right.” She says. “It’s ashamed that you guys didn’t really come out at the same time, huh…”

Both of the gems look back onto the sofa to see the lonely green gem surrounded by petite cushions. Lapis’ pupils shrunk and hauled a gasp of panic. She hurries to kneel onto the floor and pick up Peridot’s gem with her hands trembling out of nowhere. “Oh gosh…Yellow hurt us…And I let it happen…” she says. “I could have regenerated in time to punish her for this…Peridot, I’m so sorry.”

The rainbow haired gem sat back down on the sofa and grasped Lapis’ shoulder for comfort. She hears the ocean gem utter again with her head sinking, pressing the gem onto her forehead and her eyes shut close. “I didn’t mean to fail you again.” Lapis said softly.

“Heya c’mon…don’t worry, she’ll be fine.” She says. “I mean, yeah she’s taking a lot of time in there but, who knows? Probably just picking out a new dress or something.”

But the blue gem barely listens. “I hope the other gems aren’t in the same shoes right now...”

…Better time than ever, she supposed. Her hand withdraws to cross her fingers manneredly, preparing to break the news in the briefest way possible to an already alarmed gem.

“Okay…let’s talk bismuth, Lapis Lazuli…” she says. “The Diamonds are crazy strong. One zap from Yellow Diamond and you’ll have a hard time trying to come back out in a day, even if you tried…Secondly, Steven tamed the diamonds pretty well after you and Peri there poofed. And this might sound crazy but, it’s been a long week since they went on this mission to Homeworld but some serious bismuth happened with the gems. So it’s up to us to help them out.”

As if worrying about Peridot’s condition wasn’t already alarming, Lapis tried not to process Bismuth’s news so heavily. She knew her own strength, and she convinced herself that she was primed enough to go to Homeworld and beat up anybody hurting Steven again. “In that case, I’m willing to join in on saving them…again.” She says. “But we’re obviously not leaving without Peridot. We’re gonna need her. At least I need her…”

It was hard trying to get her eyes off of Peridot’s gem in her hand. Even if Bismuth could raise more points to excuse her ordeals, the guilt of being too neglectful of her former roommate during her arrival was slowly suffocating her. She thought she would have known better than to let the smaller gem stand up first against Yellow Diamond after the first battle. She thought she had already discarded all of her anguish onto anything after her time on the moon. The ocean gem heaved a deep sigh, tightening her grip onto Peridot’s gem. She wished she could have been the one to regenerate last.

“Bismuth,” she says. “I hope you don’t mind this but, I think I want to be left alone with Peridot for a while…”

Thankfully, the blacksmith did not question her command so briskly. “It’s fine, I gotcha.” She says. “The house isn’t going to fix itself either anyway. C’mon Pumpkin, we’ll come back in a bit.”

“No, wait. Pumpkin should stay.” Lapis insists. “If Peridot’s going to wake up later, I want her to be reunited with…” her statement cuts off, hesitating to finish without breaking a tear. “…her family...”

….. …… …… …… …… …… ……..

The sofa was still integral as Peridot’s gem continued to lay lifelessly, surrounded by a sleeping Pumpkin and Lapis sitting down with her legs crossed. Her patience could reach its limits any time now. The sun had already set and the sound of Bismuth smacking her shapeshifted-hammer onto piles of wood was fairly nerve-racking. Her hands travel through her coarse hair, grumbling with ever-growing dismay in her tone. She didn’t want to have one more glimpse of the green gem next to her, but it was all she could do. She hoped that at least SOONER OR LATER, the green hue will resonate out of it…

“Peridot…?” she says. “I don’t what’s going on in there, or if you can hear me, but I just want you to know that…I missed you a lot.”

Her hand reaches for the green gem once more and nests Peridot on her palms. A grin stretches over her face, trying to imagine looking at Peridot’s eyes through her visors instead. She imagined having to feel the blonde gem’s tiny hands intertwining through hers and bringing her nearer for an embrace.

“I have a lot to tell about how outer space and the moon were like…” she says and raises her head up on the busted ceiling. “You and Pumpkin should’ve seen it…it was boring, quiet, and awful lot of stars for me to fly through. It would have been nice to enjoy that freedom if…if it wasn’t so lonely…”

Her smile completely fades when she envisions every frantic expression on the green gem that she has seen before. More decisively, the ones that she caused for her to have. She swore that this would be the last time she would have to turn back to looking at Peridot’s gem. If she had to, she wanted her to be the only thing her vision would lock onto until she regenerates. “…I shouldn’t have left if I knew I was just going to come back to fight…” she says. “Now our barn is gone, Steven’s house is destroyed…And he and the others are counting on us to save them in Homeworld. I can’t deal with all this alone, Peridot. I need you out of there so I can embrace you the way I wanted to do when I arrived…”

Lapis didn’t think that far ahead about what would happen when Peridot finished regenerating. Would the two be euphoric to see each other? Will disappointment resonate out of Peridot for Lapis to be ashamed by? Predicting their future was somehow more painful than sitting around waiting for it to happen, and the ocean gem could feel every bit of that pain growing over her mind.

“Please, I just want my Peri back…” she says before bringing the gem closer to her face. A soft kiss lingers on Peridot for well over a second. But to her surprise, it didn’t do the trick…She finally puts the gem back around the couch pillows and in front of Pumpkin, willing to wait by means of a nap. She lies down on her side and attempts to get comfortable on the sofa. It didn’t feel the same as slumbering on a hammock, but it was the one thing she could tolerate for the time being.

“I love you.” She utters one last time.

….. …… …… ……. …… ……..

Midnight hours had finally struck. The blue gem was out cold from her nap, making the whole barn family asleep in one setting. At least, it stayed that way for as long as it had to.

Peridot’s gem began to glow brightly in light green hue. The instances from when Bismuth got to see Lapis reform was repeating up to this point. Her gem ascended off of its surface and upsurge the physique of a person slouching forward. Before long, Peridot stopped radiating light, revealing her intensely changed look. Pumpkin wakes up to her reformation and peeps at the small gem standing on the couch cushions. She immediately gets up and barks loudly at her to grab her attention.

“…Pumpkin?” the blonde gem inquires. The orange dog jumps high up for Peridot to catch her safely and receive continual licks from her. “D’aww. What are ya doing here…? I’m supposed to be fighting off the Diamonds right----“

Finding herself in Steven’s living room caught her off guard. She lets Pumpkin bounce back to the floor for her to route everything correctly. She gets off the couch and heads to the center of the house. No fighting seemed to be happening out on the beach. If anything, she felt bad that it looked she just missed out on a fight…The shock from Yellow Diamond gave her the mood to retaliate even more and she wasn’t going to miss her shot one more time.

“Hello…?!” she exclaims. “Steven?! Amethyst?! Where is everybody? I thought the Cluster destroyed the house…”

As luck may have it, the ocean gem stirs awake. Her hands rub her eyes at the same time of getting up. She didn’t expect that anything could have woken her up, but her vision began to clear forward. A familiar voice was perceived. “…Lapis?” she hears. She felt her chest explode, a sensation that made her want to cry. It couldn’t be…She gawks over the kitchen to see the petite gem standing still and staring back at her.

“Woah…Lapis.” Peridot says exhilarated. “You…you look…amazing.”

All she could feel apart from astonishment was being perplexed to Lapis slowly walking towards her. Suddenly, Lapis wraps her around in an embrace, the warmth of her arms causes the petite gem to hug back and close her eyes as they both cosset to their feel. The feeling was so lost but still very much at home with. Peridot breaks a tear before her old roommate does. She couldn’t believe this was happening so precipitously.

“You’re okay…” Lapis says softly.

“And you’re here…” Peridot retorts.

They both pull back but still remained grasping on each other. Lapis wipes Peridot’s tear dripping down her grin, as the blonde gem runs her hand through her check and up to her hair. It didn’t take long for their eyes to lock onto one another and feel their eyes water from overwhelm. Peridot inches closer, slowly pressing her lips onto Lapis’. The ocean gem immediately submits and lets their kiss last for a minute turning into an eternity. The feel of both their caress made the two glow a darker shade of blue and green and harder for them to breathe. All their regrets and confusion were set aside to bring back what it was like to have each other face to face, before everything went down for the worse.

Their heads bump gently once they let go. They take a moment to sit down so they could calmly acknowledge their presence. Pumpkin then rushes towards their laps and nests herself on her newly reformed parents. They both lay their hands on top of her, chuckling out of pure relief that it only took a quick moment to reunite their whole family.

“Lapis…we missed you so much.”

“I did too…”

#steven universe #lapidot #fanfiction #my works #lapis lazuli #peridot #pumpkin #bismuth #greg #su #post to ao3 or let it stay here?

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seasonofthegeek · 5 years

Text

No Other Choice, Part 1

This story is dedicated to @cheeseeatingtrashmonster and @miraculouspaon to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY month! I feel like we’ve formed a special Nelix club and I’m so glad we all love these two ridiculous characters so much!

This is going to be a longer fic based on a drabble I wrote a year or so ago so this first part is just a freshened up version of that and I should have new content in the second chapter posted later today. :D

Part 1:

“I’m getting it removed. I suppose you have a right to know.”

Before Nino had the chance to look up at the owner of the voice, a stack of books dropped onto the table where he sat, barely missing his brand-new headphones he’d been mysteriously gifted only the day before. He grabbed them quickly and scowled up at the person responsible for their almost demise when his heart leapt into his throat. Felix Agreste glared at him as he stood on the opposite side of the table, his chin lifted defiantly.

“I don’t need a soulmate and I certainly don’t want a soulmate. The only reason I’m telling you is because I need you to sign these.” He dropped a packet of paper across the table, just beyond his books. “I’ve flagged each place you need to sign or initial. It should be simple enough for you to understand. Please don’t make a mistake. It was a headache getting a copy of the form.”

Nino looked at the papers and then back up at Felix. “What the hell are you talking about, Sir Scowls-A-Lot? What are these?”

Felix’s brow furrowed. “You’re my soulmate and I don’t want a soulmate so I need you to relinquish your claim. What do you not understand about that?”

“The part where you’re my soulmate.” Nino grimaced as if the words tasted sour. “There must be some mistake.”

“Alas, I was hopeful at first too. There’s no mistake, except on the cosmic scale. We’ve been registered since birth.”

“You’re almost two years older than me; that’s not how it works.”

“Twisted, isn’t it? Do you own a pen? These aren’t going to sign themselves.”

Nino brought the document closer with a frown. “Can you try to act like a human being for a second and explain this to me?”

Felix sighed heavily and glanced around the university courtyard before pulling the other iron chair away from the table. The legs protested loudly against the cobblestone and pink bloomed on Felix’s cheeks as he slumped down in it sullenly. “You understand that this whole soulmate fascination that our society has created is completely false and inaccurate, right?”

“You should be careful who you say that around.”

“I’m saying it to you,” Felix shot back. “Are you going to turn me in for brainwashing or something?”

“No, but…” Nino shrugged but still glanced around uneasily. “I guess it all seems a little too…neat and tidy.”

“Except it isn’t. We still have adultery and murders of passion and unsanctioned pregnancies. All the stuff they were trying to get rid of by implementing this moronic program decades ago is still here. Probably even worse if I cared enough to go through the statistics.” Felix leaned forward and rested his forearms on the table. “Not only that, but they only call it the soulmate program to make it sound romantic. Parents are the ones who decide what kind of person to pair you with when you’re born and if they don’t decide, the government does.”

“But some soulmates fall in love,” Nino argued. “Most do.”

“Well, if you thought you were stuck with one person for the rest of your life for legal reasons and most likely had no other options, wouldn’t you try to make the best of it?”

“You aren’t.”

“Yes, that’s why I said you and not me,” Felix clarified. “I was able to get the file my father filled out when requesting my soulmate the day I was born. Would you like to know what it said?”

Nino had a feeling he very much did not want to know what it said from the angry, pained look that leaked from Felix’s eyes but he gave a stiff nod.

“A male soulmate so biological reproduction wouldn’t be possible. His first request.”

Nino paled. “Oh, I…I’m sorry. That’s…if you aren’t….you could still try to adopt or–”

“I don’t want to be a father,” he snapped. “But that’s what this all is, isn’t it? I’m apparently gay because my father said I should be. Adrien’s straight because that’s what dear old dad chose for him so he can carry on the Agreste line with his own little brat when the times comes. Nevermind how either of us feels in the matter.”

“I can sign–”

“I’m not finished,” Felix interjected. “He also requested I be paired with someone at least a year younger from a lower income home, preferably a government-chosen male. Would you like to know why?”

“Even if I say no, are you going to tell me anyway?” Nino regretted the question as soon as the words left his lips. Felix’s mouth snapped closed and an invisible wall slid between them.

“If you’ll just sign where I’ve marked.”

“I’m sorry. Please tell me why your father is an even bigger asshole than I already thought he was.”

The hint of a small smile flickered across Felix’s lips and was just as quickly gone. “My mother was my father’s soulmate and he hated her for it. Or maybe she hated him. I’ll never really know. When she had me, he wanted to make sure I was the end of that line. Gabriel grew up poor and inherited my mother’s family’s money with her death. I guess he wanted a fresh start as if the Agrestes have been old money all along.” His voice was quiet as he spoke. “My mother died giving birth to me. It freed my father to move on. He met Emilie and married her immediately when her soulmate mysteriously disappeared. He chose her and he chose to have Adrien. I was just a mistake he hopes will fall off the family tree soon.”

“You aren’t a mistake. No one is a mistake.”

“Nino, I’m well aware of what people think of me. You don’t even like me. I’m not someone who needs his hand held and told he’s special. I know what I am.”

“Adrien loves you.”

“Adrien loves everyone,” he replied flippantly. “But since he is one of the few sincere people in this world, I’ll take it.” He studied Nino for a moment. “Have you never wondered who your soulmate was?”

“I’ve asked before but my parents never wanted to talk about it. I thought maybe they were embarrassed. I know they couldn’t afford one of the big agencies when I was born but most people seem so happy with who they have. I guess I just thought…”

“You thought you’d be happy too,” Felix finished.

“It sounds naïve, I know.”

“That’s because it is.”

“How did you find out about all of this anyway?”

“I turned twenty-one last week and my official records were released to me.”

“Oh. Happy Belated Birthday then.”

“I don’t celebrate my birthday,” Felix muttered. “What would be the point?”

“Why someone younger?”

“What?”

“Why did Gabriel specify someone younger than you?” Nino asked.

Felix frowned. “It’s just a theory but I think so I would be forced into finding a way to support my soulmate until he was old enough to have his files released and then I would be legally stuck.”

“Manipulative.”

“My father’s forte.”

“Does he know it’s me? You know he hates me, right?”

Another flicker of a smile touched Felix’s lips. “The thought of staying with you for that reason alone was tempting but no, I don’t believe he knows. Honestly, I’m not sure he cares.”

“You know I think Gabriel is the worst but that seems cold, even for him.”

Felix sat back in his chair. “I think…I think that perhaps to the rest of the world, my father isn’t so bad a person. He dotes on Emilie and Adrien, though his affection for Adrien has lessened over the years for his own unfathomable reasons.” He looked down at his hands. “But I’m something that reminds him that his perfect life isn’t real. He was forced into a marriage he didn’t want and fathered a child he didn’t want. The marriage is over and his wife buried, but I’m still here. I’m the reminder of where he came from and he hates me for it. I’m not even sure I blame him.”

“Dude, he really needs a therapist.”

A bark of surprised laughter passed Felix’s lips. “Don’t we all.”

Nino looked down at the papers. “What happens to us if we sign this?”

“You’re still young enough to be up for reassignment. Things happen, people die. I’m sure there are people your age, men and women, who are hoping to get a new soulmate before they’re legal. I assume you would be paired off with one of them.”

“And what about you?”

“I suppose I’ll be a social pariah but that’s nothing I can’t handle. I’m not the first person to relinquish my soulmate claim, though they do make it infuriatingly difficult.”

Nino nodded thoughtfully. “I guess I never gave much thought to if my soulmate disliked me enough to legally null our pairing.”

“This isn’t about you, Lahiffe.”

“I mean, it kinda is.”

Felix huffed. “No, it’s about me.”

“Not according to these papers, it isn’t. It’s about both of us.”

“You can’t honestly think this is a good idea. You don’t like me and if you’re thinking about my family money, my father has already given me my trust and sent me on my way. It won’t last long once I pay the fee for breaking this claim and find a place to live.”

“Gabriel kicked you out?”

“For my own well-being, naturally,” Felix replied dryly. “I’m fine.”

“Where are you staying?”

“You’re not signing these today, are you?”

“It’s kind of a lot to dump on me when I was just sitting here before my next class, thinking the weirdest thing to happen this week was getting these from a secret admirer.” Nino picked up the headphones and held them aloft. “They’ve been on my wishlist forever but they’re hella expensive. I already interrogated Adrien and he swears it wasn’t him.”

Felix flushed. “They’re from me. It seemed right to at least gift you something you would enjoy before I did this.”

Nino blinked, looking back down at the headphones. “How did you know I wanted them?”

“Because I pay attention.”

“You have to order them overseas.”

“Yes.”

“But you just got your soulmate file last week. That wouldn’t have been enough time to order them and get them here.” Nino continued to talk as a theory unfolded in his mind. “You already knew I was your soulmate. You were just waiting for the paperwork to be released.”

Felix sat back in his chair stiffly. “You’re smarter than most people give you credit for.”

“I know.”

“It isn’t personal, this decision,” he said quietly. “I’ve been watching you since I found out a couple of years ago by paying off the right clerk. You’re a wonderful person and if I could–”

“If you would,” Nino interjected.

Felix scowled. “You don’t want me either so don’t pretend to be the hurt party here.”

“I didn’t know what I wanted for lunch today, Felix.”

“What’s that mean?”

“Exactly what it means. I didn’t know what I wanted for lunch when I went into the cafeteria but then I saw my options and I’m happy with what I had.”

“So I’m a cafeteria option?”

Nino sat on the edge of his seat, leaning forward slightly. “Where are you staying?”

All the fight seemed to leak out of Felix and he deflated, sagging in the chair. “A hostel five stops away. I’ve been lucky enough to have my own room and moving furniture in front of the door at night has deterred hopeful looters.”

“Do you have anything there?”

“Do I look like a fool? Most of my things are in a storage building. I slept there the first night, but the manager made me leave.”

Nino stood. “Come on then.”

“What?”

“Take me to your storage unit. We’ll get anything you need immediately and move it into my studio.”

“That tiny place above your family’s restaurant?”

“Are you really going to be a picky homeless guy, Felix?” Nino shot back, amusement twinkling in his eyes. “I moved in last year after I got it cleaned out and half of it is still storage and yeah, it’s cramped, but there’s space for you if you want it.”

“Just sign the papers, Nino. Please.”

“No. Give me a year.”

“Why, so I’ll fall in love with you? Surely you aren’t so idiotic.”

“I have a year and a few months until I’m twenty-one, right? Let’s take a year and see if we can figure things out. We both know it’ll be easier if we don’t rock the boat.”

“And if you realize two days in that you can’t stand me?” Felix challenged.

“Then in a year, I’ll sign your papers and still have time to be reassigned.”

“Do you even like men?”

“I don’t think gender has much to do with anything.”

Felix scowled. “You’re impossible.”

“And you’re like an angry kitten, lots of hissing but no real danger.”

“This is not a good start,” Felix growled.

Nino held up his hands. “You’re right. I’m sorry. Now, really, let’s go get your stuff.” For a tense moment, he thought perhaps Felix wouldn’t comply with his request and then the other man was standing and adjusting the strap of his messenger bag.

“Fine. Lead the way.”

Buy me a cherry coke?

#nelix #nino lahiffe #felix agreste #miraculous ladybug #soulmate au

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