#but afterwards people started shouting in the group chat

[exopelagic]

I need to go to bed I’m just gonna shout a lil

[desideriumwriter]

Anyone But You | Chapter 8

Chapter Summary - Reader makes friends, witnesses the twins failed attempt of putting their names in the goblet, and ends up in a pantry with Fred.

Pairing - Fred Weasley x Fem!Gryffindor!Reader

Category - enemies to lovers

Word Count - 2.0k

Series Masterlist | F.W Masterlist | Previous | Next | Navi

The days had been going by quickly into your sixth year. The cold fall weather had snuck in and things were going smoother than you expected. 

You’d become good friends with Katie and Angelina (though you wanted to gag whenever she started talking about the twins,), Cedric wasn’t constantly ditching you to chase after Cho, and that bloody cast on your arm was finally gone.

Yesterday the other schools had arrived before the Welcoming Feast. All the boys had their eyes locked on the blue uniformed Beauxbatons girls, while the girls swooned over the Durmstrang boys.

It was Halloween on a Saturday, you would’ve been sleeping in late, but you and Katie promised to go with Angelina to put her name in the Goblet. 

There were already a good amount of people wandering around the Great Hall by the time you got down there, some eating breakfast and some chatting. Katie and you stood back as Angelina dropped her name in, giving her little cheers and applauds as she grinned.

Afterwards, you all went up to the end of the table where most were sitting. Katie asked if anyone had put their names in yet.

“Apparently most of the Durmstrang boys, I’ve only seen one person from here do it, and it was some bloke from Slytherin.” Dean told the table, getting reactions of disgust.

“Well, Angelina just put her name in!” You added in. Everyone turned to look at the chaser.

“Really?” Ron said, an impressed look on his face. 

“Mhm!” Angelina gave a nervous smile, “I just turned seventeen last week.” The group cheered and swiveled in their seats.

"I'm so glad someone from Gryffindor's entering," Hermione looked up, "I really hope you get it, Angelina!" She gave a genuine smile.

Laughter emerged from the entrance of the hall. You turned to see the twins running in, each of them holding up a small potion.

“We’ve done it!” George exclaimed.

“Cooked it up just now!” Fred added on.

“A aging potion!-“

“Just to get us a few months older!”

They high fived students in the crowd that was beginning to assemble around them. Cheering and praising the ginger boys.

They hopped up onto a wooden bench together, shaking up their potions and linked arms.

“Ready Fred?”

“Ready George!” 

“Bottoms up!” They said in unison, popping the corks off the small glass tubes and knocking the liquid back into their mouths.

The room was silent as the boys jumped over the line. You were shocked that it actually worked, so was Hermione, and everyone else in the room. There was a few seconds of complete silence before applause started.

It was silent again as everyone watched them take their pieces of parchment out, carefully dropping them into the blue flames. The room began to cheer and applaud, the twins high fived each other, letting out yells of triumph until it was turned to yells of fear once they were suddenly catapulted away from the Goblet.

They both flew right over the crowd surrounding them and landed ten feet away onto the stone floor. They groaned in pain as they sat up. 

Long white hair and beards sprouted from their faces, they both touched their heads and looked at each other in shock.

“You said!” Fred began.

“You said!” George pointed at his brother, then tackled him, knocking him back down to the ground.

“Yeah, you want a piece of me?” George shouted as they began to roll around wrestling on the floor.

This immediately got another crowd around them, kids began to laugh and chant for them to fight.

“Get off! Or I’ll tear your ears off!” Fred grunted.

You couldn’t hold in your laughter at their childishness and continuous insults being thrown at each other. Eventually, you joined in on the chanting encouraging them to continue on fighting.

⋆⋆⋆

“Dragons?” You retorted a bit too loudly. Cedric's eyes went wide like yours, shushing you.

The both of you weren’t supposed to be outside your common rooms. It was nearing midnight and you would’ve never come out this late, but Cedric had sent you an owl, his message looked frantically scribbled down.

Now you stood with him in the kitchen corridors, right outside the Hufflepuff common room entrance.

“Yeah. They’ve got one for each person.”

“What? I don’t- How do you know? They said they wouldn’t tell what the first task was?” You stammered.

“Harry told me, he saw them. The task is to get past them somehow. That’s all I know.” Cedric sighed, running a hair through his hair.

“Cedric, the first task is tomorrow evening!” He shushed you again when your voice echoed throughout the empty corridor. You muttered a small apology and then rubbed your face with your hands.

“Can’t you back out?” They can’t force you to go through with this, right?” You already knew the answer, there was no turning back once your name was chosen, but you didn’t like the idea of your bestfriend going head to head with a dragon.

“What?” He breathed out, “I’m not going to quit! Do you realize how’d that make me look when half of the school is rooting for me?”

“It’d save your life!” You remarked, crossing your arms over your chest.

“I’d look like a coward!” He gawked out. “Listen, I’m sure there will be…precautions so no serious harm is done.” He regained his composure and sighed once again. “Surely they’ll let us use magic, they didn’t weigh our wands for nothing.

“Yeah, but I really don’t like this…” You muttered, staring at your slippers. “It’s dangerous and..what if something goes wrong?” You said hastily, Cedric put a hand on your shoulder, getting you to bring your eyes back to his.

“I’ll be fine, now you go get back to your dorm before Filch comes around.” He let out a breathy laugh, patting you on the shoulder. “Get some sleep, alright?”

“You too, big day tomorrow.” You smiled, both turning to get back to your dorms.

You were quiet as you snuck through the kitchen corridor, casting lumos and using your wand as a dim flashlight. You continued to replay the conversation in your head, you didn’t understand how Cedric could be so calm about it.

“Dragons..” You mumbled to yourself, shuddering at the thought of being face to face with one.

“Sounds like nasty business.” A muffled voice came from the side of you, you pointed your wand to see him sitting on one of the tables, a small plate of scones sat next to him, a half eaten one in his hand.

You let out more of a sigh than a breath of relief at the sight of him. Why is he everywhere?

“The beard’s gone.” You mindlessly stated, looking at his bare face. This is the first time you’ve seen him since he got sent to the hospital wing for a little while after his potion backfired.

“Yep, I've been shaved clean.” Fred said as he took a bite of the scone, “Decided to get myself a celebratory midnight snack.” He raised it up in the air proudly. “Take one for yourself!” He said, picking one off the plate and tossing it to you. Instead of being able to catch it, the pastry hit a very messy and unsteady stack of metal bowls on the counter behind you, causing them to come crashing down.

This just caused a domino effect of bowls falling all over the counter and onto the floor, knocking some plates down as well and causing them to shatter on the floor. The array of loud noises made your eyes flutter with each bang and boom.

Once the 10 second lasting chaos was over, you covered your mouth with both of your hands in shock, turning to Fred with wide eyes. His jaw had dropped too, but you could see the way the ends of his mouth began to curve upwards, this only boiled your blood. 

You were going to tell him off for being the most childish, reckless, dumbass boy you’ve ever-

“Who’s there?” The raspy voice of Filch called out from further down, your head whipped to the direction you could hear the quick patter of footsteps coming towards you.

Soon enough Fred’s hands were grabbing onto your arms, pulling you into a pantry, saying a quick spell that restacked all the bowls and fixed the broken plates, then shut the door. 

The pantry was incredibly small. Fred and you stood facing towards each other, you could still see very faintly his face in dark space, your chests were nearly touching as the both of you breathed heavily. It felt strange, it wasn’t a bad strange. It was just…strange.

“Your cast's gone.” He whispered, his hand was still holding yours. You weren’t holding his, nor were you paying attention to what he was saying, too focused on the thought of getting caught by Filch.

His hold on your hand was loose, it was gentle. He rubbed his thumb back and forth over the back of your hand, he did it so smoothly, so sweetly, it felt almost soothing. But, you’d never admit that.

“You’ve got really soft skin.” He thought out loud, it took you a second to actually realize what he just said.

“What?” You stared at him, a door slammed open in the kitchen before Fred could say anything, he just put a finger over his lips, signaling you to shush.

You both waited and watched as a small slit of warm light passed through the doors cracks. Filch muttered something about ghosts then left, listening as the old lantern he always carried swung as he walked off.

You let out a breath of relief once any sign of him was gone. 

“I’m always saving you from some trouble.” Fred broke the silence, you hated how you could still see that cocky grin on his face. 

“You’re always getting me in it.” You seethed, ripping your hand out of his grasp and pushing out the door. Fred followed.

“How is it my fault? I’m not the reason you’re down here in the first place.”

True. But if he was able to not be the loudest and cause messes everywhere he went maybe you would’ve never been nearly caught.

“What’d you come down here for anyways?” Fred questioned as he leaned against the wooden table he was originally on. You were a bit hesitant to answer, hoping you wouldn’t make anything look suspicious between Cedric and you.

“Cedric needed to talk to me.” You shrugged, not missing how Fred's face twisted at Cedric being mentioned. You narrowed your eyes at his reaction.

“Oh come on, he’s not all that bad. You’re just still sour about losing to him in last year's match.” You let out an amused laugh, you were just teasing him, giving him a taste of his own medicine. But when Fred scoffed and crossed his arms over his chest, it seemed as if he was still hung up on that.

Was he really?

“You’re not…” You began to grin in disbelief, “You’re still mad about that?” Fred tried to mutter out a ‘no’ in response but you just chuckled at it.

“He offered a rematch! Practically begged for one! You know that!” You gawked at him, you knew Fred wasn’t actually upset at Cedric, he was upset that Gryffindor lost cause Cedric grabbed the snitch that time.

“Yeah I know…whatever, what’s little loverboy Cedric got you down here at this time of night for?” You rolled your eyes at the nickname.

“None of your business.” You copied his pose, crossing your arms over your chest.

“Was he telling you about the dragons?” He smirked, your face dropped, now looking at him in shock.

“How did you…” You trailed off, he did hear you mumbling originally, maybe he just connected the dots. Maybe he was listening in on your conversation with Cedric. Maybe-

“You’re not very good at whispering.” He said with a blank face. You closed your eyes and let out a heavy breath, drowning in embarrassment.

“Don’t be so hard on yourself. I’ve known for weeks.” Your eyes shot open, you looked straight at him. Fred already knew what you were about to ask, your baffled expression already said enough.

“How?”

“You think they can bring giant fire breathing creatures here and expect George and me not to find out? Especially when they had my older brother bring them here?”

tell me what you thought! or ask tba to the taglist for this series! <3

TAGLIST: @sublimepenguinpeach-blog @five-seconds-flat @nal-leo-17 @rhunew @albertdabuttler @weak-aesthetic @whotfskai @m00nymarauder @miaandthediamonds @hpstuff244444 @tarzanathetumblingwarrior @isabellavolere @navs-bhat @honeybee240

[mitamicah]

Gig repport: Restaurant Backas, Vantaa July 3 2024

Here follows my experiences with Käärijä (and HUGO) at Restaurant Backas, Vantaa on July 3 2024.

It was also the day of the (main part of) kääryle summer camp organized by @bisonaari - thank you so much for a great event <33

Given I couldn’t sleep and lived only 10 minutes on foot from the venue I went there early to hang out with the queue. The queueing was very laid back – gave me the biggest Joker Out in Malmö vibes (big compliment btw since that is my favourite Joker Out gig I’ve been to so far). @j-restlessgeek joined the queue at 9 and @jaarijani at 12; the three of us then headed to the Käärijä mural to meet up with the rest of the summer camp, take group pictures and go to the local library for a “picnic” (it was raining). The picnic was peak coziness with trying out snacks from everybody’s homecountries, writing in each other’s fanzines/books/clothes. It was amazing meeting old friends (like @carpblu and @formulalakana – the Berlin trio back together <3) and great folks I have not been able to meet irl yet like @tuherrus and @icbimakb.  

My low number in the queue gave me my first real barricade spot at a käärijä concert, although I felt a bit bad at times running away from the spot to talk with other fans and to chat with Häärijä, Tiia and Jesse asking them to write on my shirt (wore a big white tee asking people to write stupid stuff on it). The first thing I noticed when meeting häärijä was him having the @kaarijazineofficial in his hand, so I blurted out: “OMG YOU HAVE THE ZINE!!! I DREW YOU!” which earned me a smile from the boy.

Me and Häärijä:

After two hours of bonding the first of two artists went on stage; HUGO and his band. I didn’t know his music but I vibed.

Inbetween HUGO’s set and Käärijä we were given chips by the security (which I’ve never experienced before at a concert) and we were sharing snacks we’d been allowed inside even with the ‘no food’ rule set by the venue.

Jesse arrived and did his little show taping down the setlist, and Skull managed to glance Paidaton Riehuja on the set. Then we saw Mikke and his gf/wife and child arrive where I turned into the annoying fan looking at Mikke and then pointing at a sticker for him to come and get it.  At the end he shook his head, light heartedly called me crazy and grabbed the sticker.

In my opinion this set turned into the best Käärijä one I’ve witnessed yet: he played all the big hits (Huhhahhei, Rouska, Viulunkeili, Välikoulema, Kot Kot, Cha Cha Cha) but also some deeper cuts (Paidaton Riehuja, Klo 23) and doing it all being the biggest sunshine and yapping very humbly about his experiences growing up in Vantaa among other things thanking a PE teacher from 6th grade for believing in him and also later jokingly saying a nearby seagull flying close to the stage was lucky to get a free concert. Jere even shouted me out twice first noticing my Danish flag and that my hair was cut like “his old hair”, and the second time calling me “Denmark Guy” when pointing out my Bulbasaur cap. The second time I didn’t know what to even say so I started “Are You”ing him, which he responded to (!!!) before seemingly starting daydreaming for a second before asking the crowd who’d go to Ruisrock (subtle).

After the show I stayed around determined to get the setlist using my somewhat-tall privilege to get it. Me and Cass fanboyed over seeing a truck with the licence plate ‘TRAFFIC’ on it at the bottom of the page (this together with Häärijä writing ‘Häärijä Hojan Hoost’ on my shirt made us very sus). While walking around giving my last stickers away I met with my fellow dane @solsortemor that gave me a lovely custom bracelet and showed me the video she’d taken of one of the banters I’d gotten with Käärijä. She’d later drive me back to the Airbnb so I could get her the bracelet I’d made for her. Being curious however I went back to Backas afterwards to see if the crowd in front of the gate was still there (they weren’t so I figured neither was Jere). Then I took advantage of Alepa being open 24/7 (I already miss this!) and bought myself some breakfast till the next day before going home and being too hyped to sleep for hours.

Trinkets from the show v

Official tour shirt, Book with messages from @smimon @tuherrus @j-restlessgeek @follivora @wednesdayday @king-krisu and @bisonaari

Quebec mascot magnet, Canada postcard, KSC bracelet and bracelet clip from @bisonaari

Two stickers from @smimon

Cornpea John sticker from @omppupiiras

Personalized Häärijä bracelet + Morgan bracelet from @carpblu

Ihan Sama, Bojan Titanic and Paidaton Riehuja bracelet from @formulalakana

Honorary Pöyhönen and spiked bracelet from @j-restlessgeek

Green Lantern Guy bracelet from @solsortemor

KSC bracelet from @teal-skull

Strength tarot card from @tuherrus

Cat drawing w. message from @katinkulta

Pokemon card I'd found on the road (as you do)

Tequila bracelet (forgotten from whom)

The setlist (!!!)

Traffik bracelet, Kris and Eevee stickers from @jaarijani

Wisconsin postcard from @clovermoonspell

[coldfanbou]

Old Friends Come Back

So this is an epilogue piece for the University Secrets series. I was just having some fun with this piece. Uh, there's some cheating and a little rough sex involved. Please enjoy.

Length 2.5K

Umji X Mreader

Previous Part

It had been seven years since you had all graduated from the university. The group, for the most part, had gone its separate ways. Beyond your graduation, you and SinB had stuck together and gotten married. Yerin was always around, too, being your friend as well as an outlet for sexual frustration. You and SinB would often have her over for a threesome, though sometimes it would just be sessions between you and her. From what you had heard, the others had gotten married too, and it would be the first time you'd see them since graduation. You, SinB, and Yerin chatted as you prepared for the reunion. "Do you think we'll see the others? It's been so long, and I want to see them again."

"I'd really rather just stay in than go to this reunion."

"Don't be like that. Come on, SinB, tell him."

"It’s going to be fun; we'll get to see all our old classmates," SinB said as she attached her earrings. "Besides, Yerin's right. What if we do see the others?"

"SinB, it's not like we can exactly talk about what we did during our years there. They're married now, remember?"

"Spoilsport." Yerin retorted, sticking her tongue out at you. 

"SinB, remind me to punish Yerin next time."

"I'll write it down. What punishment?"

"Bondage and the sex machine"

"Hey! No, I just stuck my tongue out at you."

"Let's vote on it then. All in favor?" You and SinB both raise your hands. "The Yeas have it."

"This is totally unfair! You always side with him, SinB."

"I do not; it's only when he wants to punish you."

"Fine, but can I at least choose the size of the dildo? The last one made my ass sore."

"SinB?"

"Denied; I get to choose."

"You heard the lady, Yerin." Yerin audibly groans and throws herself on your bed.

"Not fair at all." 

"Is everyone ready?" The ladies give you a nod, and the three of you leave your home to drive to the campus. Bright lights adorn the entry bridge. The large concrete slab with the name of your university is lit up. As you drive in, SinB and Yerin point to all the things that have changed and the spots where they had strong memories. You follow the sign telling you where to park and eventually find a parking spot in the crowded lot. "Looks like a lot of people came."

"More of a chance that they came then!" Yerin shouted as she got out of the car and stretched. 

"I still wouldn't be so sure."

"Honey, let her dream," SinB said as she smacked your shoulders. 

"Yeah, let me dream! …wait a second." SinB starts running off, Yerin following right behind her. "You don't believe me either! Get back here, don't make me look like an idiot!" You chuckle to yourself, seeing how the two are so playful with one another. Starting a slow jog to keep up with them, you look at long halls. The old concrete arches are still the same as when you first met and fucked SinB. You say as much when you catch up to SinB and Yerin.

"Oh my god, who would've thought all this would've happened from me bumping into you," SinB said as she rolled her eyes.

"SinB, it was so much more than that. You were such a bad person back then."

"I was not!"

"Right, right, oh mighty queen bee SinB" You and Yerin feign bowing.

"Okay, maybe I was a little bit of a bad person." She said while pinching her finger and thumb together to insinuate she was just the tiniest bit of a bad person back then. "But, I think it all worked out in the end. I have you after all." SinB reached her hand out and held yours.

"Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!" Yerin cheered on.

"Yerin, be quiet." You kiss SinB on the cheek as she says that. She blushes afterward, not expecting you to go through with it. 

"Come on; we're nearly at the library." You said as you led the way 

"Speaking of the library, a weird place to hold a reunion, don't you think?" Yerin asked.

"Yeah, a little, but it makes sense when you have a first floor that's mostly open space."

"Yeah, I guess so. I would've liked it to be at a hotel, though."

"Yeah, that would've been nice," SinB said. Arriving at the library, you see the greeting committee taking names at the entrance. Once you're finally inside, you see nearly the entire class showed up. "Yerin, get us a table in the far right part; there aren't many people there."

"On it, you guys get me something to drink and make it strong!" Yerin yelled as she made her way across the library lobby. You and SinB head to the impromptu bar that the school had set up to get some drinks. You look around as your waiting, trying to spot anyone you recognize. When you fail to, you turn back to the bar and grab your drinks as they come.

 "Do you see any of them, SinB?"

"Not one."

"Alright, let's head back to Yerin." Yerin waves you over from a distance as she spots you from afar.

"Did you see them?"

"Nope, not one." 

"Hmmm, well, they'll be here eventually. I just know it." Yerin says with some confidence in her words. Much of the night is spent at the table chatting amongst each other, with the occasional break when another classmate would momentarily intrude. 

"I'll go get us another drink." You tell the ladies as you walk off back to the bar. You spot a certain former student union member wearing a short gold dress. Umji is standing at the bar getting herself a drink when you come up behind her and pat her head. As she turns her head, her eyes go wide with shock.

"Mast-! I-I mean, it's you." Umji says as she catches herself nearly referring to you as master. The name she called you for your years together. "W-what are you doing here?" 

"Getting a drink, Umji. How have you been? I hear you're married."

"T-that's right, I am. I've been doing well since graduation. I've ended up working in finance." As Umji continues to speak, you get a message from SinB.

"Is that Umji?" You send a quick yes as a reply. From a distance, you see Yerin and SinB running over.

"So, how have things gone for you?" Umji asked.

"They've gone pretty well, I'd say. Yerin and I are still friends, and I married SinB."

"You married SinB!?" She asks in complete shock.

"Yeah, why don't you ask her yourself?" You reply as you point behind her. As Umji turns around, she's met by two grinning faces; SinB and Yerin give her a big hug. They squeeze the smaller woman with all their might.

"Umji! It's been so long! How have you been?" Yerin asks in a near scream. As Umji gives the same response she gave you, Yerin asks a follow-up question. "Where's your husband?"

"Oh, he's at home; he didn't want to come. I'm a little sad, but what can you do?"

"That’s awful; he didn't want to come with you?"

"No, he's just sitting at home," Umji said as she looked to the floor, a solemn lol on her face.

"Join us, Umji; we'll make sure you have a great time tonight."

A gentle smile forms on Umji's face, and she agrees to join your table. As you all move back and ask each other for more details, the topic turns to graduation, with Umji saying, "Yeah, after graduation, it was a little tough being away from the master-" Umji pauses as she realizes what she said. 

Yerin is the first to jump on this Freudian slip "Master? It looks like you're still a part of the group, aren't you?"

"No! I'm not; it's just that I'm so used to calling him that. I'm not part of the group anymore."

"Really? Don't you want to fuck him again? Don't you remember how good it felt to have his cock tear you apart? I know the feeling so well. We have sex so often. Don't you want to be a part of that?"

"Ignore her, Umji," you tell her. "She's already had quite a few drinks."

"It’s fine." She says quietly. SinB catches your gaze before motioning to look at your phone. There you see a message from SinB that says to fuck Umji. You just nod your head.

"Hey, Umji, I want to talk to you for a second. Let's go somewhere quieter." 

"Yeah, sure." She says plainly. You take Umji up to the second floor, away from everyone else. At a secluded corner, Umji speaks up before you have the chance to. "I'm sorry for calling you master earlier; it's just a habit."

You push Umji against the wall and tower over her "Are you saying I'm not your master?" You tilt her head back with one arm while the other moves to her side. "I'm still your master, Umji." As you get closer to Umji, she squirms. It’s like she’s fighting with herself; there’s no doubt in your mind that Umji still remembers what it was like being fucked by you. With both hands on her hips, you get beside her ear and whisper, "Isn't that right, Umji? You won't say no to your master, right?"

As you pulled away from her, your hands leaving her body, she held them in place. "You're my master; I'm yours to use." 

Moving your hands to her ass and squeezing it, you say, "That's a good cumdump." A soft whine escapes Umji as you remind her of her position.

"M-more, please, I want more." 

"Oh? You want more?" You slip your hand under Umji's dress, rubbing her pussy through her panties. Umji's moans grow louder as she holds onto you for support. "I'll give you everything you want, Umji; just say the words. I want to hear you say those two words."

"Fuck me, please." 

"Good girl," you whisper. "I'm going to need you to get me nice and wet, Umji." She kneels in front of you as you pull your cock out. Umji is mesmerized by it, staring at your cock for a moment before finally taking it in her hand. Umji's small soft hands start to stroke your cock as her mouth slowly opens. "Go ahead, Umji, taste it." Umji hesitantly licks the head of your cock. As more memories of her time as your cumdump come back to her, she starts to take more of your cock into her mouth. You compliment her on her skill "Fuck, Umji. You haven't forgotten how to suck my cock, but let's see if you can still handle it all." You place your hand on the back of Umji's head and force her forward; she gags initially but quickly becomes used to your cock as it hits the back of her throat. You moan Umji's name as you use her throat for pleasure. At the same time, Umji furiously fingered herself, her fingers becoming drenched as she shoved them deep into her pussy. Satisfied with Umji's performance, you slow down and eventually pull out of her completely. Umji grabs your cock as it leaves her mouth and gives it a sloppy kiss.

Through ragged pants, Umji mumbles, "I have to make sure your cock gets a goodbye kiss." You pull Umji onto her feet. Raising one of her legs onto your shoulder, you tease her pussy with your cock. The head rubs against her lips, leaving Umji a whimpering mess. "Don't tease me! Put it in!" At her behest, you slam your cock into Umji, forcing her tight pussy to take it all in. "Oh fuck! You're so big, master! Your cock is going to break me!"

"What would your husband think? Here you are getting fucked like the cumdump you are."

"I don’t care; he could never make me cum anyway. You ruined my body; your cock is the only one for me." Umji says before you start your thrusts. "Your cock is the best master, fuck me harder!" She yelled as you began to move.

You lift Umji's other leg onto your shoulder, carrying her now. You impale Umji on your cock with every thrust. "Why don't you leave him then? Come back to us." 

"I…don't… know," Umji says in between long moans. You press Umji against the wall, allowing you to put more force into your thrusts. 

"Let me give you a reason, Umji." You said as you began to pound her body relentlessly.

"Oh fuck! I'm cumming! I'm-" Umji holds onto you tightly as she cums. Her petite body shakes in your arms. Despite having just cum, you continue abusing her pussy. Umji's moans grow weaker as her voice grows tired.

"Don't you want this every day Umji? Don't you want to be able to cum again?"

"F…fuck me more, more."  

"Of course, Umji. I'm not even close to done." You use Umji's weight to drive your cock deep into her pussy, hitting her womb each time. "Maybe I'll leave you with a little present, Umji. What would your husband think when you come home pregnant?"

Umji has little visible reaction. Simply muttering, "cum inside, make me yours again." Her words drive you to start thrusting faster. 

"I'll give you just what you want, Umji." As your orgasm approaches, your cock begins to throb inside of Umji. 

Knowing that you're cumming, Umji moans, "cum inside me, fill my pussy, master!" You drive your cock up to her womb and release your baby batter, flooding her with it. Umji's walls clench around your cock, trying to keep your cum inside. You let go of Umji's leg slowly, letting her down and pulling your cock out. As Umji falls to the floor, she reaches out for your cock. Her tongue lazily sticking out, she shoves your cock into her mouth. You moan her name as her tongue swirls around your cock. She pushes herself until she's pressed up against your pelvis; with her lips wrapped tightly around your cock she slowly pulls back, taking all of your cum and her nectar with her. Umji opens her mouth so you can see it full of cum before drinking it all. "Did I do a good job, master?"

"You did great, Umji. But what do you say? Will you join SinB and Yerin again?"

In a cum drunk voice, Umji mumbles, "Of course! I can't live without my master's cum." Umji rubs her face with your cock. "This cock is too good to leave again. I'm not going home."

A sinister smile forms on your face, "why don't we go tell SinB and Yerin the good news?" You help Umji up, and she leans on your arm as you make your way back, cum slowly dripping down her thigh. As you return, you get a message from SinB with a picture of a few familiar faces.

"Guess who we found."

[theenemyod]

Non magic au (special first gen).

Constantine sat down on his bed in his bedroom, letting his face relax for the first time in hours. It ached. Any convincing emotions are hard to express when he didn't actually feel them. He didn't feel anything at the moment. Though that wasn't anything new.

After a few minutes of this he got up, tying his hair back quickly and taking the dumb school uniform tie off. He didn't really care about whether he had the tie on or off but everyone else took theirs off when they got back so he did the same. And he hated the feeling of his hair touching his neck but for whatever reason he'd always get dresscoded for wearing it in a ponytail or bun, and he didn't want it cutting. So he dealt with it. He'd looked through the entire rulebook and couldn't find anything against it but the teachers didn't accept that.

He sighed and quickly checked his phone before anything else. Jericho and Declan were talking in the group chat. He read the messages for a few minutes. They were texting during class earlier. Jericho knew he could get in trouble for that, right? He didn't know about Declan. Declan and his sister Sarah went to a different school from them, their parents couldn't pay for it like Constantine and Jericho's could. Constantine didn't know much about them, at one point Jericho just befriended them and he was dragged along in whatever they were doing and that was that. He didn't like them that much but they were Jericho's friends and they made him happy and that was that.

It's not like Constantine didn't have his own friends. He had Alastair, who he definitely enjoyed the company of more than Sarah or Declan. He didn't know if what he felt was how friendship worked, but Alastair felt like far more of a safe person to be around. At least, someone who wouldn't call him boring when he got nervous about risking something illegal or mimic his expression when he went numb again. Constantine could pull off acting normal easily but it was tiring eventually.

He realised he'd been lost in thought for a good few minutes and shut his phone, remembering what he was up for. He had stuff to do, right. Homework, chores, then he could do his own things. The chalkboard on his dresser had his chores for today listed in bullet points in his mother's neat, cursive handwriting. Walk Kit, put the dark laundry in the washing machine, and put back the clean dishes. That wouldn't be too hard.

It seemed easiest to start with laundry. He left his room to grab the basket from the closet under the stairs. The house felt weirdly quiet, though that might just be because father is still at work. Almost immediately his dog -- a very large husky named Kitten, who he normally just called Kit -- ran towards him and headbutted him. He grinned slightly and petted her on the nose.

"Good girl." He muttered absent mindedly while grabbing the basket. He'll walk Kit once he's finished with everything else.

Only half paying attention, he took all the dark clothes from his own laundry basket and put them in the one he's carrying. Then from his parents room -- his mother is out again. Then he knocked on Jericho's bedroom door.

"What?" Jericho shouted. "I'm busy."

"I'm getting the laundry can I come in?" Constantine yelled back.

"Sure." Jericho sounded irritated. Constantine knew Jericho preferred being left alone after school. He didn't like seeing other people, he had enough of that in school he didn't need to afterwards too. Constantine barely even looked at him. He missed when they were close. But they grew up.

He always knew it'd never last forever. But he didn't realise how temporary it was. They're twins, and throughout their entire childhood they were always known for being inseparable and "never seeing one without the other". Why did it change?

They didn't speak to eachother though. Constantine just shoved the dark clothes in the basket and left. He was thankful for the numb episode for once, he didn't have the time to process what emotions that'd usually give him.

He put the clothes in the machine, shoved everything needed in and turned it on.

Task one done. Just two more to go. And walking Kit is fun.

It felt like he was just going through what he had to do currently with no reason or feeling to it. He hated being numb like this. But it was probably better than whatever emotions he'd have to deal with if he wasn't. He took a deep breath, trying to ground himself back to reality.

Next task. Just put the clean dishes away. That would take ten minutes at most.

Easy. The movements of his arms were slightly calming. Physical sensations helped make up for the lack of emotions currently. Plates in this pile bowls nest to them cups on the other shelf cutlery in this draw with knives in this bit and forks in this and this type of spoon here and the other type of spoon there and the other type of knives in this bit and why the fuck this their a cheese grater in the cutlery draw?

Whatever. He was done now.

"Kitten!" He shouted the dog, who immediately ran over to him and licked him. He attached the lead to her collar and petted her between the ears. "Good girl."

Constantine shoved on his shoes and at a glance out the window his coat as well, putting a ball in one pocket.

Outside was quite cold in the late autumn, with orange and yellow and brown leaves on the ground that Kit seemed very intrigued by. The sun is far too bright for Constantine but he tried to ignore it.

Kit barked. Constantine looked up to see what got her attention.

A person. Definitely a person. Curly black hair, wearing a red coat and the same school uniform as Constantine underneath with leather gloves -- shit that's Alastair. Constantine couldn't help but smile. Alastair was definitely his best friend. He associated him with warmth and comfort like the feeling of a fireplace in winter or the taste of good hot chocolate or--

He realised he hadn't said anything, he'd just been staring awkwardly.

"Connie!" Alastair grinned, running over to him.

"Al," Constantine smiled back, though he was struggling with emotions again. He put one hand on Alastair's shoulder, trying to register his feelings before he acted on them. Alastair was his best friend. Nothing more complicated than that.

Constantine didn't want anything more complicated than that. He was okay with his life how it is, maybe it's not the very best and there were some things he'd change if he could, but it was okay anyways. He didn't want to complicate things.

That's why he didn't tell his parents about Jericho's new things, why only two people in the world know about his occasional numbness and why everything he's interested in stayed between him and his notebooks (and Alastair if he was willing to listen).

Because he didn't want a more complicated life.

"Are you okay?" Alastair brushed Constantine's hair out of his eyes with his hand. Constantine felt his face heat up slightly.

"Yeah, fine. Sorry." Constantine muttered. "Just having a... Day. I don't know." He struggled to put his feelings into words.

Alastair nodded as if he understood. "It's okay. What're you doing anyways?"

"Just walking Kit."

"Can I come with you?" Alastair asked. He sounded quite hopeful.

"Sure."

Alastair grinned and took his free hand. Constantine went red and looked away.

No. He didn't feel. No complicating this with stupid feelings.

He tried to calm his breathing and started to walk again.

[squadron-goals]

Summer 1916

14.7.16

At 2:30 in the morning I slept rather fitfully, I heard quite a racket outside. In a moment, the inevitable Paulicke rushed into the room and shouted: "Gas attack!” I grabbed my standby can and put on my boots. Vogel, who shares my dugout, couldn't find his gas mask because he had left it somewhere. He danced (Me, bad guy that I am, secretly gloated) from one corner of the dugout to the other shouting, "Oh my God, my gas mask, my gas mask." The first smells of hydrogen sulphide, which suggested phosgene gases, were already wafting through the door. I claimed to already have great trepidation. Vogel built a smouldering fire, sat behind it with a whining expression and sucked on a three-layer cartridge at the top of his lungs. In addition, the 23.5s from last night were banging around in the area, as well as bullets of all kinds. This got on his nerves again, he disappeared into a tunnel entrance and lit a fire there, but soon reappeared half-smoked. I increased his fear by saying: "What if we have to go to the front and you without a gas mask!” -- Finally he ran to the staff quarters to look for a gas mask. When the fire died down, I lay down again.

27.7.16

In the south, especially from the Douchy-Bienvillers road, the English fired bottle mines. Our artillery responded with shell bursts that it was a real pleasure to see the black, yellow and white clouds. By the way, I'm getting in holiday spirit now. But you don't know whether you might not think back later on this rough life among men with a feeling: Yes, life was rough then, but consecrated to a firm purpose and carefree. War also has its peaceful moods. Tonight, for example, the sounds of an ocarina flow softly into the mild air from a dugout and hardly a rifle shot disturbs the mood. Leaning against the trench wall, a pipe in his mouth, someone is dreaming of something here, a group is sitting there chatting about this and that. Everything is simple and natural. In any case, this time is better for those who survive it than if they had spent night after night bumming around in smelly pubs and strolling through the big city streets with their hats crooked on their heads and easy women on their arms. In the evening the company commander came to my dugout for a little chat. Yes, there are very pleasant moments in war.

28.7.16

I gathered people together for a patrol today. In the evening, the platoon leader from the 6th who relieved me, Lieutenant Brauns, came to my shelter for dinner with various good things. He wished me “a shot in the neck and stomach.” The English machine guns were firing until 11 a.m. At 11:30, Lieutenant Jünger, Ensign Wohlgemut, Private Bartels and Private Birkner climbed over the wire with a loud groan and stalked towards the English trench.

We were sitting halfway between both trenches when we heard a clicking of wire. Immediately afterwards the same noise sounded very close in front of us and we saw the inevitable dark figures. They disappeared and we crawled closer to a number of figures in front of the English trench. We had already gotten pretty close when the old figures appeared again and seemed to want to get in front of their wire. At the same moment we discovered an insulated conductor wire in front of us. I considered this discovery to be very important and commissioned Wohlgemut to cut off one end of it. While he was still struggling with his cigar scissors, the guys climbed over the wire and started cutting with wire scissors etc. 7 m in front of us. This had to be exploited. "Wohlgemut, hand grenade in between!" (I said this almost inaudibly because I had had enough from the previous patrol.). Rtch! He pulled the safety off and I had the feeling you get when something is absolutely unstoppable. In a very flat arc Wohlgemut threw the hand grenade after the guys. They didn't hear it fall. One second, but what a second that was - - - - - - Boom! A flash of lightning that illuminates tumbling figures. At the same moment I jumped up and with the attacking roar: "You are prisoners" I rushed against the guys. A wild scene now unfolded in a split second. I shoot my gun right in a guy's face. He fell with a hideous scream. To my left, Wohlgemut unloaded his pistol. Private Bartels threw a hand grenade between us at the wrong time, so that by a miracle we remained unhurt. That confused the whole thing. But what was even worse was that after the first shot the magazine popped out of my pistol. It was like a nightmare. I shot and shot, not a single bullet left the barrel, I tore open the chamber door, nothing helped. At the same time, to our left, an M.G. started. Unfortunately there was nothing left but an immediate retreat. I stopped again and fired my pistol at a figure following me. This time it was fortunate that no shot was fired, because it was Private Bartels. Wohlgemut shouted next to me: "Where is the fourth?" "Here he comes!" "Back quick quick!" We quickly made our way to the German trench via mine funnels and shell holes. In front of our wire the bullets hit so hard that I jumped into a filled mine hole that was full of water and blocked by wire. After about 20 minutes, I climbed over our wire with my pants in ruins and jumped into the ditch, greeted happily by our people. Wohlgemut and Bartels were already there, and after a quarter of an hour Birkner also appeared. The people said that they had heard the scuffle very well with all the orders and all the shouting and shooting and were already ready to support us with hand grenades. This is the third patrol I've made to capture a prisoner, but now I know about this too and I'll do it when I go out again. The participants all said that it had been a nice patrol. The main points on which I will make the next patrol are as follows: 1. Only the best people, the more the better. 10 men are not too many. 2. Very precise instruction and encouragement to the people in the resting place. Awakening the sense of sport. 3. Instruct each man what to do, e.g.: You seven kill everyone except the Englishman furthest to the right, who I will take prisoner with the three others. 4. Take a man with you who can speak English. 5. Only the best hand grenades, ball hand grenades from the “Wilhelm” brand 6. Weapons for close combat such as clubs, rubber clubs, sharpened spades. 7. Shortly before the attack, put white bandages around your arm. 8. Every man must know that only great courage can get him out of trouble, so: Parole Blücher!

[dissonantharmony]

that time c!eret got c!techno to kill c!george

(an entire infodump abt c!royalduo on november 16 because someone accidentally got my brain started and now it’s GOING)

ok so THIS LITTLE SHIT

<- pictured: eret wearing the most shit-eating grins you will ever see

THIS LITTLE SHIT, after the november 16th battle, ended up in a conversation with the badlands, who were under the impression eret was still king. when dream joins the conversation and they find out the truth, sam and dream start squaring up to fight. eret, seeing he seems to have people on his side, messages technoblade—you know, the guy who helped blow up a country like an hour ago?

and eret says this.

You whisper to Technoblade: want to join another overthrowing party?

You whisper to Technoblade: Think it could be fun :)

Technoblade whispers to you: perhaps

You whisper to Technoblade: George has claimed he’s the king of Dream SMP, so we want to kick him out

this was at about 1:39:54 in this vod. at 1:43:00, when the group enters the holy land, techno joins the call.

Techno: Someone’s doing a—a king thing here?

Eret: Yeah I was hoping you could come help, just do another, like overthrow party? That’d be great.

Bad (overlapping): So, Techno—

Techno: Alright. Who wants to overthrow George?

Eret: Yep.

Dream: [laughing]

Sam: [overlapping, indistinguishable] —all of the Badlands. Do you wanna overthrow George, Techno?

Dream: The thing is, there’s no overthrowing of George because it’s like, the land that he owns—he doesn’t own anything. The only reason he’s called king is just for… formalities.

Techno: Well, you know what? Let’s stop him before he gets land.

Eret: [above overlapping voices] Yeah, great idea! let’s do that! Great idea!

[Eret and Techno start yelling about content and audience retention.]

after this, the focus shifts to sam and dream’s fight for a while save for a brief skirmish at 1:46:27, when george steps out of the holy land on accident and eret starts shouting that he’s outside, but techno can’t get to george before george gets back inside the boundary.

at 1:47:43 techno and eret quote the beginning of the soup store video. not relevant i just thought it was important.

after a very long fight and a very long conversation about the badlands and george refusing to give them land, the group heads to the castle and eret messages techno again at 2:05:40.

You whisper to Technoblade: George left the safe zone

You whisper to Technoblade: At castle if you’re still on board

at 2:07:30, techno arrives and attacks george. he drives george towards eret, who actually attempts to get the final hit on george, but is both a millisecond too late and missed by a few pixels.

big f, eret. you tried.

after george is killed, eret cheers for techno and celebrates with the rest of the badlands.

(interestingly, when eret tries to sit on the throne after this, dream comes up and crits them multiple times with his axe to get them off.)

afterwards, once everyone disperses from the castle, eret destroys her throne and herobrine shrine and runs, eventually joining techno and phil’s vc at 2:17:25 and going to techno’s river base. they have a very awkward but friendly chat, which i really recommend listening to because it is both very fun and has quite a few jokes about the lore lol.

aaand that concludes the powerpoint presentation. in conclusion stan royalduo /j

[broadstbroskis]

no better company than you | nathan mackinnon

a/n: alright, i’m rolling in late for @antoineroussel oussel summer exchange (thank you love, for running such a lovely exchange again, it was wonderful and i’m glad i was able to particiapte) and i’m very sorry for the lateness! i had the pleasure of writing for the lovely @ghstandpucks​ 💜 again, i am SO sorry about the wait but i hope you enjoy this! 

word count: 3.2k

-----

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry I’m late!” You slide into the booth and throw your bag down next to you, hoping to god you don’t look as frazzled as you feel; this restaurant is far too nice.

Nate just smiles at your words, too familiar with your family by now to know that you’re always running 5-10 minutes behind. He’s ordered a bottle of wine- a nice rosé, fitting for the beautiful end of summer day- and had already started pouring a matching glass for you the second you started sitting down. “How’d the interview go?”

You bite your lip. “Eh.” 

“I’m sure it went better than you think.” Nate says encouragingly. “You’re too hard on yourself. All three of you are.”

And well, that’s not a lie. Your siblings were just as critical of themselves as you were. Sid was famously known for it and Taylor, your twin, was as bad as you. But…

“Listen to you!” You laugh at him. Nate’s just as bad as the three of you. A mini-Sid in many ways, to many people in your hometown.

But that was in Canada. This was Denver. And here, Nate was cool. Laid-back. Lowkey. Everything a professional athlete should be. Nobody knew about what a dork he really was, except his teammates.

And now, maybe you too, if all went well with this job interview.

“Don’t know what you’re talking about.” Nate says, looking at his menu to feign ignorance.

You giggle, pulling your own up toward your face. “Sure, buddy.”

It’s not often that you and Nate spend time one on one like this, even if you see him all the time over the summer. He’s usually with your brother when you see him, politely trying to decline your mom’s invites to dinner or already hanging at Sid’s house when you invite yourself over to your brother’s house for pool or lake time. Usually time one on one with Nate like this is brief, usually like in passing while he’s waiting for Sid in the kitchen while you’re eating.

It’s nice. Nate’s funnier than people give him credit for and it’s easy to relax into dinner and conversation, to forget about the anxiety from your interview as you chat about what’s new for both of you and gossip about people you both know.

By the time he drops you off at your hotel, it’s late and you’re too tired (and maybe just on the right side of tipsy) to even worry about the interview. You just barely change into pajamas, run through your nightly routine, and climb into bed, before shutting the lights off. It feels like you’re asleep before your head even hits the pillow. 

In the morning, you’re awoken by the sound of your phone ringing, and it takes a second for you to place the sound, but when you do you pounce on it, recognizing the local area code immediately. “Good morning.” You say, trying your hardest not to sound like you woke up literally thirty seconds ago.

It’s human resources, from the job you interviewed for yesterday.

You got it.

-----

“Ew, no!” Your dad holds his hands up innocently, when you rush over to stop him from unpacking a box. “Why would you put that there?”

“Hey, sweetie, maybe it’s time for a break.” Your mom says gently, exchanging a look with your dad, who nods his agreement enthusiastically.

Which is fair. You’d just about almost taken his fingers off just because you didn’t like where he was unpacking colanders. 

“Dinner!’” Your dad latches onto immediately. “Nate offered to take us all out tonight, I’ll let him know we’re ready.”

“Ready?” You frown, looking down at your workout shorts and baggy t-shirt.

“We’ll be ready in an hour.” He amends, already texting Nate.

Nate knocks on the door to the new condo you’re renting an hour and fifteen minutes later, sheepishly grinning when your dad tells him that you and your mom still need a few minutes. “Thought I had my timing perfect.”

Your dad snorts. “Oh buddy. Keep dreaming.”

He’s not too off on his timing, but unfortunately for Nate, you don’t have too much else going for you in your condo yet. Your dad had gotten your TV all set up, but in addition to the TV and living room furniture, you haven’t gotten much else, and that includes food and beverages. So the two of them sit in mostly silence while they wait another few minutes for you and your mom to finish getting ready. 

“I told you that you should have just met us there.” You tell Nate, as he trips on a box on his way out the door.

“Oh, so this wasn’t deliberate sabotage?” He deadpans.

“You caught me. Just trying to keep you around the city full time until I have time to make better friends.”

Nate laughs, as the two of you follow your parents out the door. “Be nicer to me or I won’t introduce you to my friends.”

“Who said I want to be friends with your friends?”

“Children.” Your mom turns to look back at you and Nate smiles at her innocently, but it’s been a while since that’s fooled her. “Do we need to stay home?”

It serves to get the two of you moving, even as you laugh at her joke. Nate drives you to another one of his favorite restaurants, and dinner flies by, with Nate insisting on picking up the tab, even when your dad tries to fight him on it. 

It’s started to cool down a little by the time you’re walking back toward the car, Nate and your dad still fake-fighting about paying for dinner, and you find yourself not realizing you’re smiling at the two of them as you walk behind them until your mom bumps your shoulder. “A few hours off for dinner with some good company was just what you needed.” She says.

And even though the smile on her face seems too knowing, you’re too tired to ask about it right now, so you just nod in agreement. “Yeah, this was nice.” You smile back at her.

-----

Mel Landeskog pokes her head around the corner and you wave at her, trying to catch her attention. “Jesus Christ.” She shakes her head. “I didn’t think he was serious.”

“I mean.” You bite your lip. “I did have to work today.”

“I would have picked you up!” She shakes her head, muttering under her breath, and you know Nate’s going to get an earful from her later. “But no, no. That dumbass just let you come all the way over here by yourself. Sends me a text to come meet you by the door. All casual.”

“I mean.” You send her a look. “Did you expect anything different from Nate?”

It’s the way she looks at you and sets her face that almost has you nervous for Nate. You’ve known Mel for a long time now, but really, you don’t know her from more than just years of NHL events. “I do now.” She says.

You hope Nate knew what he was getting himself into sending Mel a text to come find you earlier.  

Once she leads you up into the box with some of the wives and kids, she’s back to smiling and laughing, making introductions all around. The mood all around is light and easy, everyone excited for the home opener of the season, and happy to be back with everyone again. 

It’s fun to be back in this atmosphere. Hockey’s been a part of your life for so long and there’s truly nothing like the energy of the first game of the season. You feed off the energy, catching up with some familiar faces and chatting with all the other girls, probably too excited when they invite you to a girl’s night later in the week, but it feels good to have plans that don’t involve trying to invite yourself to Nate’s when you’re bored.

“Hey, good job tonight.” You nudge him afterwards, catching up with him in the family room.

He laughs, pulling you in for a hug. “A little different than what you were used to?”

“It lived up to the hype, I guess.”

“I’ll turn you from a Pens fan.” Nate promises. 

It’s your turn to laugh. “Feel Sid’s wrath.”

“What’s he going to do? Check me into the boards? Bring it.”

Nate’s been hanging out with your brother and your family for years now, so he should really know better by now. “Okay, buddy.” You pat his shoulder patronizingly. “Sure.”

“I could take him.” Nate insists. 

“Throw hands. Next game. I dare you.” 

He side-eyes you, because you both know that’s not going to happen and it’s only a minute before you’re both laughing. 

“I better see you on Friday!” Ashley Kadri shouts out to you as she’s walking past with Naz and Naylah, interrupting your laughter. “No excuses!”

“I’ll be there!” You call back. “Promise!”

When you look back, Nate’s pouting-exaggerated, albeit, but pouting. “Are you ditching me this Friday?”

“Yup. Found better company.”

“How dare you?” He cries. “There is no better company.”

“Well.” You shrug. “I’ll know for sure after happy hour on Friday.”

“Find your own ride home.” Nate says and then he starts speed walking away from you at an absurd speed.

“Nate!” You protest, jogging to catch up and he finally slows down enough for you to catch up when you round the corner, bumping your shoulder right back when you purposely bump into him in retaliation.

-----

No one lets loose like a group of moms when they’ve got a night without their kids.

Someone has mentioned this to you before, at a bachelorette party or a wedding or something, but you don’t think you’ve ever seen it really in action before until this happy hour. 

“If the waitress comes back, order me another drink!” Kerry calls, before running off to the bathroom.

The waitress nods at her, before addressing the rest of you. “Another round?”

“Oh, please!” Mel nods quickly and repeatedly.

“Can we get a few more orders of mozzarella sticks too, please?” You look down at the empty plates in front of you. “And maybe some nachos too?”

“Yes!” Jackie lights up across from you. “Great call!”

It pretty much only goes downhill from there and by the end of the night, both Mel and Ashley are crying for reasons no one is sure of entirely and you’re pretty grateful to see Nate among the group of husbands and boyfriends to come to pick up all their girlfriends.

So grateful you scream his name the second you see him. “Nate!”

He winces, trying to pull his ear away from you, but he’s laughing. “Guess you had a good time, huh?”

“Uh huh!” You nod enthusiastically, not realizing how loud you are until he winces again.

Nate laughs. “Alright, I think it’s time to go home.”

You gasp loudly. “I can’t leave my new friends!”

“Your new friends are all leaving you!”

You frown, but look around and realize he’s right. Naz has already sneakily pulled Ashley out of the bar and Gabe and Erik were collecting Mel and Jackie’s things. “Oh.”

“Oh?” Nate parrots. “Come on, get your stuff, crazy girl.”

“Hey!” You protest, grabbing your purse. “I am the least crazy person in my family.”

“I hate to break it to you.” Nate says, as he guides you into standing. “But that’s not saying much.”

He’s right, but you bump him with your shoulder anyway as you walk past. That’s about sibling honor and shit.

Nate parked too far away and by the time you reach his car, you’re leaning on him, the adrenaline from hanging out with friends wearing off quickly. Nate’s nice about it, guiding you to his car and then helping you into his front seat before heading around to the driver’s side. 

“You guys had a fun time then?” Nate says, once he’s started driving and you’re half asleep leaning against the window. “Looks like it at least.”

“Yeah.” You nod sleepily. “But you were right.”

He chuckles. “About what?”

“There’s no better company than you.”

-----

Nate becomes pretty clingy after that night, texting and facetiming whenever he’s out of town, and stopping by pretty much anytime he’s got a free minute. It quickly becomes something you look forward to, missing his visits when he’s out of town and looking forward to his calls, smiling when his texts come in and breaking up your work day. And it isn’t long before you realize that you’re being just the same. Sending him messages before and after games. Inviting yourself over for dinner and making Nate cheat on his diet.

In a blessed move from the NHL scheduling department, Sid and the rest of the Pens are scheduled to arrive in town on a Friday morning and aren’t leaving until the end of the weekend. 

They have a practice scheduled for early afternoon, which is perfect for you to wrap up your work day before heading over to watch the end.

Geno lights up when he sees you watching from the glass, the first person to acknowledge you, and skating over in the middle of the drill, leaving behind two shocked linemates. “Mini!” He shouts cheerfully, even as you roll your eyes at your least favorite nickname. All because you happen to be the shortest of your siblings. “Great to see you.”

“You too, Geno.” You smile warmly at him, a little annoyed that you can’t get a giant bear hug from your favorite pseudo-older brother right away. “But I don’t think a few other people feel the same right now.” You jerk your chin back over his shoulder. 

He turns his head quickly but then looks back. “Psh. They’ll get over it.”

You bust out laughing, which is right about when your brother comes over, and in classic Sid fashion, is all about hockey. “Stop being a distraction.”

“I was minding my own business until Geno came over here!” You protest, even as Geno starts laughing and Sid eyes you skeptically. 

“Why don’t I believe that one?” Sid says dryly and sure, maybe you were making faces at some of the guys you knew well as they were passing you, but you weren’t actively being a distraction.

“That’s your prerogative.” You tell Sid, who shakes his head and pulls Geno back for the remainder of practice. 

Practice doesn’t last for too much longer and you spend a few minutes chatting with the coaching staff while you wait for Sid to change. But he and Geno finally come out of the locker room and you stop mid-sentence to throw yourself at your brother.

Sid’s laughing and so are you, but both of you start laughing even harder when Geno pulls you both into his arms. “Two of my favorite people!”

“Taylor’s going to be so offended.” Kris grins, watching the three of you amused.

“Taylor?” You grin back at him, going for a hug once Geno releases you. “How about his wife and kid?”

“Those are my other favorite people.” Geno reasons.

“Now I’m offended.” Kappy deadpans.

“You’re not even close.” Geno grins, roughing his hair.

Kappy tries to get him right back, but Geno just swats his hand away and then Sid’s shaking his head, like this is just the same shit, different day. “Look what you did.”

You grin, leaning against him. “Not sorry. I’ve missed this entertainment.”

Sid shakes his head. “Then you can round them up for dinner.”

You do. Easily.

Nate had suggested one of the team’s favorite restaurants and you’re happy to see that he’d accepted your invitation to join everyone, even if he rolls in a little late. You’re deep into Kris’ camera roll, looking at pictures of his kids and catching up on stories that you haven’t heard about them recently, so you don’t even notice he’s arrived and said hello already until he blows on the back of your neck.

You jump. “What the hell?”

Nate’s grinning. “Hey.”

You shake your head at him and bump your shoulders against him. “Hey.” You mimic and then turn right back to Kris.

But your shoulder stays leaning on Nate, and it remains there comfortably all night.

-----

Sid’s a little cranky when you first meet him for breakfast the morning after the game and you’re sure it has everything to do with the last minute turnover that cost them the game (and bragging rights over Nate this summer, which is really what he’s probably cranky about).

He gets over it pretty quickly though, and soon the two of you are laughing and talking, catching up about your family and your lives.

“-and I even love my office, the vibes are just great!”

Sid shakes his head. “Vibes.”

You grin. You know he hates that word. “Good vibes.” You confirm.

“So you’re liking Denver?”

“Love it.” You confirm, smiling.

“Meeting good people?”

You eye him skeptically. “Yes dad. I already said my coworkers are great and I’ve been hanging out with Nate and his friends a lot too. It’s good”

“Geno thinks there’s something going on between you and Nate.” Sid says casually.

The jump of your heart is far from casual. “Oh yeah?”

Sid eyes you but his response to that is surprising. “You know if there was something going on between you and Nate that would be okay?” He pauses, watching you again, but your face is completely neutral, purposely not moving. “Right?”

“You know if there was something going on between me and Nate that your opinion wouldn’t matter at all, right?”

He grins, laughing as he nods, but after he takes a bite of pancakes he says, “To you, yeah. To him, it does.”

“Why?” You blurt out, giving yourself away before you can stop yourself.

But Sid doesn’t say anything to that. He grins again and then changes the subject entirely.

-----

You only make it about a day before you’re knocking on Nate’s door, pretty forcefully.

“What’s up?” He swings the door open, with a frown. “You okay?”

“Does what my brother thinks really matter to you that much?” You blurt out. It’s been bothering you ever since Sid mentioned it at breakfast. That you lasted this long was probably a miracle.

Nate blushes and your jaw drops. “It-”

“Oh my god.” You grin delightedly. “Come on, really?”

“That’s not-” He blows out a frustrated sigh. “You’re really going to make me say it?”

You nod, but you’re pretty sure he’s not going to get far into what he’s going to say.

He sighs again. “It’s not about, like, his approval, or shit. It’s just- he’s important to you. So obviously he’s important to me-”

You kiss him. 

“You know that you don’t even have to worry about that, right?” At some point, you’d slid one hand to his hip and the other arm around his neck, and the hand there plays with the hair at the nape of his neck. 

“I’ll argue about that with you later.” Nate says impatiently and so you’re laughing when he kisses you again.

[marvelouspeterparker]

all worth it

pairing: tom holland x interviewer!reader

summary: tom is an actor, doing interviews is a part of his job. but there’s just something about you that makes him feel like the stress that comes with press tours and interviews is all worth it.

warnings: none, just fluff

notes: literally got this idea from looking at an onward interview gif (the one where he recites the lines from back to the future, iykyk) also imagine the pandemic never happened in this jfskgh

so tom loves his job, obviously

he gets to be his number one favorite superhero, make people happy, do what he loves, and more

but that doesn’t mean that there are no downsides to his career

there is actually a lot of stress that comes with being in the limelight and that includes people constantly watching your every move, being critiqued, questioned and put on the spot

and the perfect time for all this to occur? during interviews

now some of the time, interviews are nice, sometimes they’re even fun

but unfortunately a lot of the time, the same questions are asked in each and every one, one after the other, for hours on end and it honestly gets very boring and very draining very fast

so to be quite frank, he wasn’t expecting much when he walked into the next room for his last interview of the day

but when you walked in, he couldn’t help but perk up a bit

you were pretty and you seemed very nice as well, greeting everyone, including the crew as you made your way over to tom, jacob and zendaya

some of the interviewers would just walk straight to their seat and start the questions almost immediately, no warmth in their manners––but you, you were different

you shook each of their hands, smiling wide as you said hello

you couldn’t really contain your enthusiasm, you were a big marvel fan, and a fan of each of them, so you couldn’t tame your smile even if you wanted to

your energy was infectious and tom was more than grateful for it

when you reached him, he looked into your eyes deeply and you had to snap out of your daze before you made a fool of yourself

‘hello darling’ he licked his lips as he looked up at you, a gracious smile on his face and you blinked a couple times before responding

‘hi it’s––so nice to meet you, i’m a big fan.’ you turned to look at the others, ‘of all of you, really.’ 

they all ‘aww’ed and accepted your compliments, thanking you as you took your seat

when you were given the green light to start, you gave a curt nod to the crew behind the cameras and started right away

you were professional and good at your job, making the cast feel welcome and at ease after a long day of work

you told jokes, asked interesting questions that others hadn’t and since you were a marvel fan, you were able to ask specific questions that showed your genuine interest in the comics, the films, the plots and more

tom could feel himself getting more comfortable as the interview went on and the smile never left his face throughout the entire thing

when it ended and they turned the cameras off, you all felt a bit disappointed that you would have to say goodbye so soon, you were all having a good time and genuinely laughing so hard that your cheeks hurt 

you thanked them all for their time and jacob was quick to wave you off

‘no thank you––i think we can all agree that we saved the best for last today.’ he looked to his friends and they nodded along

zendaya chimed in ‘for real, this was fun.’

you smiled, honored that you managed to make their day a little better and tom spoke up quietly, making you turn to look at him

‘yeah this, this was really great. thank you y/n.’

you could feel your cheeks heating up but you nodded, smiling as you tried your best to calm your raging heartbeat ‘my pleasure’

tom would have loved to speak with you more afterwards honestly, but unfortunately as soon as he exited the room, he and his friends were being ushered towards the next location for the day, preparing for the long week they still had ahead of them

though you had hoped to see more of tom, you only had one interview with him, so you wouldn’t be seeing him any time soon

or so you thought, anyway

your boss surprised you with a chance to go to the premiere, and interview some of the cast and other actors on the red carpet of course (since you were there for work)

you honestly thought that if tom did see you, he would only give you a small wave, maybe a slight head nod at best since you’d already interviewed him, but to your surprise, when he saw you, he smiled immediately and made his way over to you, swerving away from his entourage (which consisted of his brothers, assistant, and others you didn’t recognize)

‘hi love, how are you?’ 

his eyes were shining under the bright lights on the carpet and there were hundreds of shouts and conversations going on around you, but he somehow managed to make you focus only on him, from his voice and presence alone

‘good! how are you? you excited? nervous?’

he laughed, tilting his head, ‘both, but you know, i’m really proud of this film and i’m ready for people to see it’

you didn’t have much time to talk since there were plenty of other interviewers, journalists and on top of that he had to take pictures so you wished him good luck and he thanked you genuinely

‘i have to run, but be sure to tell me what you think of the movie afterwards, yeah? i know you’re a marvel fan, wanna see if it lives up to your standards’ he winked and you stuttered for a bit, agreeing as he walked off 

you were shocked that he wanted to hear your opinion, but granted there was a camera on you both, which you might have forgotten about while you were talking

but you couldn’t help but think, was that flirting? does he really want to know what i think?

you tried to push the butterflies down and focus on the film as you watched and honestly, it was easy to forget about everything else once you looked at the screen

the film, the plot, tom––everything was so captivating and entertaining, you couldn’t look away even if you tried

it wasn’t until after the film had ended, and you’d stayed for both end credit scenes that you realized you had no way of contacting tom

surely he would have things to do after this, after parties maybe? so you most likely wouldn’t see him outside

and it’s not like he followed you on instagram––he probably wouldn’t even see your dm if you sent one

as you were on your way out, thinking about all this, you felt a hand tap your shoulder and you turned, a smile on your face

but soon realizing it wasn’t who you’d hoped, you tried to not let the disappointment show on your face but as you looked clearly, you realized the man looked familiar

‘hi’ he smiled, ‘i’m tom’s assistant’ you nodded, greeting him a little confused

‘tom’ he started, pulling a piece of paper out of his pocket, ‘wanted me to give you this’ he handed you the paper and you opened it, feeling your stomach jump when you realized a number was scribbled on it, signed -tom ;)

without even realizing, you stared at the ink on the paper for a few seconds silently before his assistant snapped you out of it

‘he wanted you to know that he’s not a dick and he would have come if he could’

you laughed and looked up at him

‘honestly he felt really bad he couldn’t come himself, trust me.’

you nodded and put the paper in your bag, ‘thank you, i’ll be sure to use this’ you smiled

he smiled too, ‘tom hopes you will’ 

you had a feeling that tom would be busy that night, and probably hungover the next morning, so you waited a couple of days before contacting him

and during those two days, tom was honestly freaking out inside...and outside

were you not interested? was he too forward? did he do something wrong? did you get the wrong idea of him?

he was even texting harrison, jacob and zendaya about it in their group chat

tom: i’m an idiot aren’t i

zendaya: yeah but we already knew that

tom: 😑

harrison: i’m sure she’ll text you, maybe she’s just busy

jacob: yeah man, you’re a total catch

jacob: and anyway if she doesn’t want you, i’ll have you 😏

tom: thanks babe 😘

zendaya: i’m just gonna go––

tom: but anyway, i don’t think i’ll ever shoot my shot ever again because this is just embarrassing

not even a full minute passed before the he send the next text 

tom: nevermind she just texted me

tom almost dropped his phone when he saw the message pop up

maybe: y/n: hi tom! this is y/n :) i’m free to give you my thoughts on the movie when you are

you felt like you were going to be sick when you hit send on the message––you didn’t want to bother him, it’d been several days, what if he changed his mind? 

and you––nevermind he responded immediately

tom: hi darling :) i’m glad you used my number 

tom: i’m free to talk now actually, we could facetime if that’s easier? only if you want, of course

you paused when you read his text, luckily you had showered and gotten dressed today so you didn’t look a mess but you opened the camera just to check if you looked alright

were you really about to facetime tom holland?

when you finished fixing your hair, smoothing down your eyebrows and licking your lips, you swallowed your nerves and replied

y/n: sure, i’d like that

he took a deep breath and hit the call button, eagerly waiting for it to connect when you answered

when you both came into view, you smiled, greeting each other shyly

‘was a little worried when you didn’t call me that night’ he admitted sheepishly

your brows raised, surprised ‘oh i just––i assumed you would have been busy you know, after parties and all that’ you laughed and he joined you, a small smile on his face

‘darling even if you called me during the party, i would have left just to talk to you––missed hearing your voice honestly’ 

when you paused to answer a blush coated his cheeks and you couldn’t help but think how cute he looked

‘sorry was that lame?’ he laughed nervously and you shook your head, biting your lip to suppress your smile

‘no––that was, really sweet actually. i––like talking to you too, it’s really nice’ 

soon you get to talking about the actual movie and you couldn’t stop the praises from flowing

‘honestly it was incredible tom, you were incredible, i loved it’

‘thank you love, i’m really glad you enjoyed it, i was hoping you would.’

and the way that tom smiled bashfully and blushed, even pointing the camera away from his face to hide at one point had you swooning more than ever

after that, you and tom texted here and there, sometimes even facetiming, and he wouldn’t hesitate to compare you to his other interviewers and even tell you about it

‘had an interview today, can’t even compare it to yours, love’ 

you just rolled your eyes, a smile on your face ‘oh shut up, tom’ 

you talk often but due to both of your busy schedules, months go by before you see each other again

you run into him at red carpets for other marvel movies, and there’s never a dull moment between the two of you

‘‘there’s my favorite interviewer’ his smile was wide as he walked up to you. ‘you excited for this one?’

you scoffed, fully having a conversation with tom as though you weren’t on camera ‘of course i am, it looks amazing’

‘even better than my movies?’

you raised your hands in surrender, ‘legally, i can’t answer that’

he put a hand to his chest, acting dramatically offended ‘wow well, i guess it’s time for me to go then’

‘at least save me a seat?’ you joked

‘you know i will’ he smirked

by the time ‘the devil all the time’ press came about, you hadn’t told tom that you were assigned to interview him, honestly it was a last minute schedule change 

honestly, he’d gotten good at hiding his bad moods from the public, but you’d known him for enough time now to be able to see when he wasn’t at his 100%

which is why you could see him visibly brighten up when he walked into the room and saw you

‘what are you doing here?’ he asked, clearly (pleasantly) surprised as he hugged you 

‘uh, my job?’ you joked, ‘you didn’t actually think i only interviewed for the mcu did you?’

he blushed, ‘well i uh––no, obviously not’ he said unconvincingly but you brushed him aside as you got ready for the interview

once you started, tom couldn’t help but smile as he watched you, you were just really good at your job and he enjoyed being with you, even when it was for work

‘so obviously audiences are used to seeing you as peter parker, a rather lighthearted character, despite all the hardships he’s had to face––would you say approaching a character as dark as this was challenging in any way? mentally, emotionally, or just in regards to the fact that the public would be seeing a new, more sinister, villainous side to you?’

‘i mean it was a little daunting, definitely. but i was excited to sort of branch out mentally and challenge myself emotionally for this role––the story was fascinating to me and i was just so proud to be a part of this project, i tried not to think of any downsides.’ 

he paused and licked his lips, a glint in his eyes. ‘and honestly, we all have a little bit of a dark side, don’t we?’ 

you paused. of all times to flirt––

‘well hopefully not to the same extent of your character,’ you joked and thankfully the conversation smoothly transitioned elsewhere

now the fans took notice of your bond with tom

they noticed that tom seemed to smile the brightest and laugh the loudest during your interviews, even jumping into other conversations and answers to questions that were directed to his costars

there were dozens of videos, hundreds of edits––

‘tom falling for his interviewer for 9 minutes straight’

and you’d seen them––it was sort of impossible for you to not

you’d been tagged in so many of them, even your friends sent them to you

i mean you weren’t blind, tom was attractive and he did make your heart flutter but you assumed that he didn’t want a relationship since his career was only progressing, skyrocketing either––it would probably be difficult to maintain a solid relationship, or maybe he just wasn’t interested in you so you said nothing

it wasn’t until he had a break from filming that he asked you to hangout, and still you thought nothing of it, until he asked what time he should pick you up

you paused, and he even thought that you froze when really you were just processing what he said

‘like a––date?’ you asked hesitantly

he smiled, scratching the back of his head nervously, ‘yeah? yeah i––like a date.’

you smiled, ‘i would love to tom. but aren’t you worried about pictures spreading online? headlines and all that? i wouldn’t want to add any more stress––’

‘i promise love,’ he interrupted your worried rant, ‘you make it all worth it.’

[twotapbuz]

The leader and a body guard(Rin x reader)

(Sorry this took so long, school sucked all of my motivation away. You can find the rest of the series here: Eloni )

warning: violence, slight angst with a happy ending

Sometime after the rock revolution, Neon J decided to leave for a 3-week vacation

This meant that you and your coworkers would need to report to Rin

The first couple of days were difficult because Rin didn’t seem to care about the reports and would flirt with whoever was giving him the report

It wasn’t till week two that things began to spiral

1010 had been in the middle of a performance when a fight broke out in the crowd

You jumped out of where you were standing to help control the crowd

You assessed the damage after everything calmed down

The venue + stage was partially destroyed, Purl-Hew lost his glasses and an eye, Haym lost an arm, Zimelu and Eloni’s faces were cracked, and Rin was missing

Rin was missing

This was bad news as the factory still hadn’t been repaired yet which meant that he couldn’t be brought back until Neon J came back

And if Neon J found out that you lost a member of 1010, you and your co-workers would be fired

So your group split into two parts, one half would take Zimelu, Haym, Purl- Hew, and Eloni back to Barraca Mansion while the other half would search for Rin

You were placed into the latter

It had been nearly an hour since Rin was discovered missing and there still was no sign of him. You were definitely going to get fired. While the concert was in Cast Tech, you along with several others were sent to search Metro Division in case he simply went back to Baraca Mansion without telling anyone. You were about to head back when you heard the sound of crashing metal. 

“Hello, is anyone there?” You didn’t mean to say anything, but you were caught off guard. Against your better judgment, you began to walk towards that alley. You were desperate to find him after all.

“Stay back! RETREAT!” shouted a panicked autotuned voice. It was Rin.

“Rin? Is that you? Are you ok?” you rushed down the alley to find Rin hiding next to a dumpster.

“Don’t look at me!” Rin was trying to cover the right side of his face with his arm.

“What? Are you alright?”

“Y-yeah! Do not worry about me, I’ll make it back fine,” Rin tried to stand up, still covering his face, but immediately fell back down because his leg was missing.

“Look… everyone’s worried about you and you won’t be able to make it back by yourself with that leg,” you gestured at Rin’s broken leg. Please let me help you, I know some shortcuts.” You offered your arm. Rin hesitantly lifted his hand for his face and grabbed your hand for support. The metal that covered the right side of her face was gone, revealing the damaged hardware underneath.

You involuntarily flinched, he may not have been human, but it was still pretty jarring to look at something that looked like a person who was missing part of their face. Rin also flinched, covering his missing face with both of his hands now.

“I’m so sorry about that”, you rubbed your neck, “I just… well I didn’t expect the injury to be that bad.”

“You aren’t going to scream, are you?

“What? No, I'm very sorry about that. Besides I’ve seen way worse” you joked, trying to release the tension. Rin hesitantly uncovered his face once again and grabbed your hand and pulled himself up. The two of you dodged the groups of people walking through Metro Divison.

As the two of you were walking through, you couldn’t help but wonder about Rin’s reaction when it suddenly hit you, 1010 got severely injured during the rock revolution. One of these injuries included all of them losing their faceplates. Their fans unsurprisingly freaked out which caused 1010 to explode due to some protocol Neon J must’ve implemented. Your heart sank when you realized Rin’s reaction wasn’t because he was worried about his image, but he was scared of you screaming and what would follow afterward.

——————

After that incident, Rin seemed to act differently towards you. He took you more seriously and listened to your reports

Even after Neón J came back, Rin still came to you for your reports

Probably just practice for when Neón j retires, you thought

As the weeks passed, the time spent on the casual chats you had increased to the point you’d forgot to give him the actual report several times

“And that’s how we got Quienne and Bebe.” Rin had just finished telling you the story of how they got their cats by Haym and Eloni smuggling them in through a box. This was one of many of the 'behind the scenes stories' that Rin had told you. While they didn’t act that much different when they weren’t on camera or in front of a crowd, it was nice to be trusted enough to hear about their personal lives.

“So what about you?”

“Hm?”

“Do you have any good stories? I don’t think it’s fair if I tell all of my secrets after all~.” Rin teased

“Well, I do have one. I was at a dance audition and waiting for my turn to perform and this dude that was performing was pretty much a circus act. He was doing all these frontflips and backflips and it was just crazy. Wish I had recorded it.”

“You used to be a performer? How come you stopped?” Rin curiously asked.

“Nah, I never made it past the first round of auditions. I didn't really mind since I only entered to support a friend.” You sipped on your coffee

“That’s a shame.” Rin paused for a moment. “You know I could always offer you lessons.”

 “that's really nice, but I’ll have to decline. No amount of practice can fix these two left feet.” You looked at the clock, realizing half an hour had passed. You quickly said your goodbye and left to avoid getting into trouble. Rin watched your back as he left, unsure why he couldn’t take his eyes off you.

——————

Rin was walking to his dressing room when he saw you walking alongside several other security staff. As rude as it sounded, Rin normally wouldn’t think twice about the people he worked with. Most staff would either quit from being harassed by crazy 1010 fans or get fired for secretly being 1010 fans who used the job to get access to 1010 content, or worse, 1010 themselves. Rin shuddered as memories of one of the many incidents came back. Rin could count on both of his hands the amount of current staff that has been working for over a year and you were one of them. Rin began to think about the early part of his career when he and his family would actively engage with the staff, talking about both of their personal lives and inviting them over to hang out in the mansion. He and his brothers stopped interacting with the staff after the high turnover started. What was the point of talking with them if they were going to quit and avoid 1010 like the plague or get fired and be avoided by 1010 like the plague. He was glad that he could talk to you. He also liked the sound of your voice and how your eyes sparkled brighter than the LEDs that lit up him and his brothers. Rin blushed at the last thoughts. The sound of your voice and the sparkle of your eyes? It’s not like he was in love with you or anything. He was technically your boss and your relationship was completely professional. Yeah, your interactions were one of his favorite parts of his day and your smile would always brighten his day, but even if he was in love with you(which he is not) there’s still the challenge of gaining the approval of his family and having to deal with his fan’s harassment. He couldn’t let you go through that. Though Rin couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to talk with you outside of work…even go on a couple dates… maybe he was in love afterall.

——————

You walked past Rin and smiled. Despite your attempts, you fell for Rin's charm just like his fans did and it took you no time to notice this. You knew you were never going to say anything, afterall, everyone knows the rule about not dating coworkers and Rin can choose practically anyone, why would he pick you?

——————

It was the first concert after the rock revolution

The fans were extra antsy due to the lack of content, so it was all hands on deck

You were positioned on the front of the stage

This concert was no different than the previous ones, 1010 were performing, a couple of their fans attempted to jump on the stage, and you could barely hear your own thoughts over the mix of music and cheering. Suddenly both of those stopped. You looked at the stage and so 1010 standing still in mid-performance. You were told about this situation during training: it was either a malfunction or a hacking. You prayed that it wasn’t the latter. 1010 suddenly began to move in sync, but it was different from their normal in sync movement. You saw two fans get tackled to the ground as a red saw blade passed them at what would’ve been chest height. Your radio buzzed loudly as you were given your new orders:

“Get everyone out of there.”

It was chaos as you rushed around to get everyone out of the venue. Those with superhuman abilities(pyrokinesis, levitation, etc) stayed behind to prevent 1010 from leaving the venue. Despite not having any abilities, you stayed behind too. You were running around in the back looking for anyone who still might be there when the rubble from an explosion behind you knocked you to the ground. You quickly got up and saw Rin towering over Neon J. Without thinking, you quickly grabbed a nearby pipe that came from the newly busted wall and smashed it over Rin’s head. This managed to stop his attack, but it also brought his attention to you. He suddenly ran towards you, grabbed you, and threw you against the wall. Your consciousness began to fade in and out as your head collided with the wall. You saw Rin approaching you, then darkness, Rin raising his arm to strike, darkness again, Rin being pulled away by Neón J, darkness again, the inside of an ambulance, and then nothing.

——————

You woke up in a hospital room. Your eyes scanned the room: on your right was a monitor accompanied by an IV drip. On your left was a small table with flowers, a get-well balloon, a couple cards, and a Rin with a worried face sitting on one of the chairs of the room. Rin noticed you were awake and quickly rushed before stopping unsure of what to do.

“Y/N” Rin said, unsure of what to do or say

“Rin”

“Y/N… I’m so sorry about what happened- I didn’t want to-I couldn’t stop- if there’s anything I can do to make it up to you-” Rin began to stutter out of guilt. He kept making sentences but giving up on them and starting new ones.

“Rin, please” Rin paused and looked at you. “It’s not your fault, I know you would never do this” the two of you sat in silence for what felt like an eternity before you continued, “You know... if the offers still up… I’d be happy to accept those dance lessons when I get discharged." Rin began to smile

“Yeah, the offers still up”

——————

Neon J walked through the hospital’s halls. For the past two weeks, he had been personally escorting Rin to your hospital room. He knew Rin felt responsible for your injuries so he didn’t object to this despite the possible security risks(he couldn't keep his boys locked up). He had heard from Rin that you had woken up and he was glad that you were ok, but he had to cut your visitor time short due to an interview that all 1010 members must be present for. He walked into your room to find the two of you sleeping with Rin’s head on your lap. 

“It’ll be fine if Rin misses one interview.” Neon J thought as he closed the door. He also began to wonder how long it will be before Rin introduces you officially to the family.

[tazatouille]

this is how the story goes

word count: 4249

warnings: mentions of death, disassociation, alcoholism and small mention of toxic masculinity

ao3 link

summary: In which Fabian deals with the fact that he doesn't always have to be the hero.

“Let me read to you tonight, my darling.” Mama says to him, holding out her hand. Fabian, being the small boy he is, lets out a giggle and runs over to her, taking it excitedly. She smiles down at him and he sees his own dimples on her cheeks. Fabian can’t help but think that she must be the most beautiful lady to ever live, because of course that would be his Mama. Her silver hair falls like waves down her shoulders and he wonders if one day his hair will grow as long as hers. 

She leads him to their library, hoisting him up briefly so he can pick out a book. He can’t quite read all the titles yet, so he picks the one he can reach, which is a small picture book. Mama brings him close to her chest, holding him with one arm. “Ah, that’s a fine choice, Fabian.”

“What’s it about, Mama?” He asks her, letting her flip the book over in his hands. 

“Hmm… let’s see.” She says softly. “It looks like you’ve picked an Elven tale tonight, one about a handsome adventurer who sails the seas in search of a great sea monster.” 

“That sounds like Papa!” This earns a laugh from his mother, who kisses him on the cheek.

“It does, doesn’t it?” Mama lets go of the book, letting Fabian press it to his chest. Then she carries him out of the library and towards the stairs. “It’s time to get you to bed now, Fabian.”

---

Fabian recalls that day as one of the last days that his Mama ever read to him before bed.

But that was alright, because he’s been fine with that for a while now. He knew even then when little boys grow up, their mamas don’t read them to bed anymore. 

When Fabian gets up for school that morning, he sees her when he glances out his window. Cathilda is patiently watering the rose bushes as she always does in the mornings and Mama is sitting in one of her kimonos, beautiful as always, but carrying with her the heavy weight of time. Time that has caused bags to form under her eyes, her frame to grow thinner and dull her eyes each passing day. Time that has aged her, with every sip of wine she takes from the glass in her hand. 

He turns away from the window.

Fabian’s morning routine is easy. It’s about a half hour of dancing, then he takes a cold shower to wake himself up. Usually, he would go straight to training afterwards, but his Mama has allowed him this single day without morning training. He takes another hour to do his hair and then his makeup. It’s nothing too fancy, just a bit of eyeliner and the tiniest amount of concealer. If it was too heavy, he would sweat it off during practice and Fabian Aramais Seacaster does not let his makeup run.

By the time Fabian heads downstairs, Cathilda is now cooking in the kitchen. She’s humming an old sea shanty, one that she’s sung for him time and time again as a child. When he walks by, he hums along with her, dancing around her to grab his green smoothie.

“Good morning, Master Fabian!” Cathilda greets him, shaking the frying pan. “Do you mind taking this plate to yer mother? She’s waitin' in the dining room.” 

“Good morning, Cathilda!” Fabian says proudly, placing a kiss on her cheek. “Of course, I can.” He scoops the plate up off the counter, carrying it to the dining room. Mama sits at the head of the table, where Papa used to sit. To her right is none other than Gilear, thankfully not in his father's robes again. Fabian tries hard not to fling the dish right at his head and keeps his shoulders up.

"Oh Fabian, my baby boy, how are you this morning? Off to that little adventuring academy again are we?" Mama says, nurturing a glass in her hand. 

"Morning Mama," Fabian greets, setting her plate in front of her. Mama puts down her drink to lovingly pinch his cheeks. He laughs, hoping she doesn't notice when he slides it further away. "I believe me and the boys are going to meet at Basrar's this morning before school, since we aren't training today."

"We stop training for one day and you're already eating ice cream for breakfast? Whatever will we do with you?" Mama teases with a wave of her hand. He takes the seat to her left, purposely not making eye contact with Gilear.

Here's the thing about Gilear. He may be the Chosen One, something that Fabian is willing to admit and even defend, however, Gilear is still Gilear, and Gilear is a sad, pathetic little man who did not deserve his Mama.

Fabian could admit that his Mama and Gilear did have some similarities, as they seem to be both inept at the simplest of tasks. That being said, Hallariel Seacaster was an accomplished and renowned fencer, who dashingly took his father's own eye. Gilear Faeth was an ex-diplomat who couldn't get the yogurt stains out of his shirt even with the highest levels of magic money could provide.

This isn’t how the story is supposed to go. After Fabian heroically killed his own father, his mother was supposed to find another adventurous and even in some ways, more deserving man. In the story, Mama does not end up with a man like Gilear, but with a man far better than maybe even his father ever was. Or perhaps, she remains a widow, vowing never to remarry because her love for her deceased husband is so strong.

And in the story, Fabian is supposed to feel proud for killing his father, laying the final blow that his Papa craved so adamantly. But all Fabian is left with is a vacancy, the same vacancy that still rests in his mother's heart. 

At times, it almost feels hereditary.

He stares down at his smoothie and thinks he hears Gilear say something to him, but it goes unaddressed. 

Fabian thought it would get easier after sophomore year. Seeing his Papa was a treat, surely. Knowing his father is having such a good time in Hell helps him sleep a little easier, but it’s not enough to snuff out the flames of guilt that still burn in his chest.

Ever since his Papa died, his mother used the sensory deprivation egg less and less. To Fabian’s surprise, it was his mother’s decision, with Cathilda helping her steadily ease out of it. Cathilda told him that if they were able to get her out of the egg, they might be able to move onto her sobriety. He still holds onto that hope, even on the harder days when his mother can only greet him after school and then retire to her room soon after. 

“You know she loves you with all her heart, Master Fabian.” Cathilda said to him one night. “People are complicated, ya see… Just because she’s struggling doesn’t mean she loves you any less.” 

Fabian comes back to reality when he hears his mother’s laughter. He downs the rest of his smoothie, a little too warm now, to distract himself. He pulls out his crystal to check the Boyz’ group chat. “Well Mama, I think I’ll be off!” Fabian says, getting up from his chair. 

“Off already, darling?” Mama asks him, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear. She’s barely touched her food. “Come here.” 

He leans down and lets her place a kiss on his cheek. “You have a good day, my boy.” She tells him. 

“Of course, Mama.” Fabian smiles at her, then nods his head. “Gilear.”

Gilear nods back. “I wish you a good day, Fabian.” 

He walks out of the dining room, giving Cathilda a wave before heading towards the front door.

“Hangman,” Fabian thinks. “Ready for the day?”

He hears the purr of the engine start up as soon as he closes his front door. “I am ready for anything, sire. Where shall we go?”

“Head to the Ball’s apartment. I’m picking him up this morning.”

“Hangman...” Fabian warns, watching him roll out of the garage in front of him. The Hangman revs in response. “We are picking up the Ball.” 

“Master, I remind you that the Ball no longer needs a ride to school.”

Fabian is sure if the Hangman could, it would sigh in disappointment. “Of course, sire.” He leans slightly to let him climb on. Then, Fabian revs the engine himself and tears down the street towards Strongtower Luxury Apartments. 

---

“Fabian, for the last time.” Riz starts, walking out of the apartment building. “I’m never gonna get enough driving hours if you keep giving me rides to school.”

Riz lost his hat after sophomore year, and thank goodness because Fabian didn’t have the heart to tell him it wasn’t going to work forever. He wouldn’t admit it to Riz, but he was quite fond of the way his hair fell. It seemed impossible to Fabian that Riz didn’t style it in any way, but one day while they were hanging out, Fabian spotted a bottle of all in one shampoo and conditioner and chucked it into the garbage can.  

Fabian laughs, putting a hand on his chest. “As if you would prefer to drive your mother’s car over a ride on the Hangman?” The Hangman revs underneath him for emphasis. He can see the smile creeping on Riz’s lips, so he keeps going. “Besides, everyone lies about their driving hours anyway. Who has the time to drive a whole forty hours both night and day? I certainly don’t.”

Riz looks like he’s about to protest, but instead his face spreads into a big smile. Fabian pats the Hangman’s seat victoriously. “Come on, The Ball. To Basrar’s.” 

With a roll of his eyes, Riz climbs onto the Hangman, situating his briefcase against his chest. Then, his arms wrap around Fabian’s torso tightly. “You aren’t always gonna be around to give me rides, you know. I should-- uh, probably learn how to drive at some point.” He says. It’s supposed to be casual, but in reality, Riz just dropped a whale sized weight on Fabian’s chest. It threatens to leave him breathless and not in a good way. 

Fabian revs the engine instead, letting the purr drown out his thoughts. “Don’t say stuff like that, Riz.” He says under his breath, before taking off down the road. He isn’t going to start thinking about this right now.

They are almost to Basrar’s when Riz shouts over the wind, “Oh hey, Fabian! Do you want to come over to the office after practice?” 

Fabian smiles. “Cracking another case, The Ball?” 

“You know it!” Fabian can practically hear the smile in his voice. “I always need someone to hold my string.”

Fabian feels the laughter bubble from his chest. “Yes, one of my many talents. Fabian Aramais Seacaster, holder of string!”

“It’s extremely crucial to my casework!” Riz adds. “I couldn’t solve them without it!”

Fabian feels Riz’s arms tighten around him and he lets out another laugh, pulling into Basrar’s. 

---

They walk into the cool air of the shop and see Gorgug sitting at a booth in the corner. He waves to them as they approach.

“Hey guys!” Gorgug greets, giving them a toothy grin. He’s hunching over, like always, with a pink milkshake in his hand. He always ordered strawberry with extra whipped cream.

“Hey Gorgug!” Riz greets, letting Fabian take the window seat. “Dude, I gotta tell you about this show I’ve been watching. It’s awesome.” 

“Oh yeah?” Gorgug says, sipping his milkshake. “Zelda’s been looking for more shows to watch, cause you know, all her parents watch is like those crazy reality TV shows.”

Fabian watches as Basrar floats over to their table. “Boys! Good to see you, and so early in the morning too. What can I get you?” 

Riz orders a weird concoction of chocolate mint, coffee, and pistachio ice cream topped with gummy bears and chocolate drizzle. Fabian never understood why the gummy bears had to be added to it, something that Riz no doubt picked up from Fig. The gummy bears become hard as rocks because the ice cream makes them too cold, but he’s been friends with Riz long enough to know he would eat almost anything. And so, Fabian orders a simple banana split with caramel sauce.   

By the time their ice cream gets here, Riz is already waist deep in the intricate world building of the tv show he’s been watching. The thing about Riz is that whenever he got really excited about something, he’d explain it so fast he’d have to keep back tracking and then return to his previous thought. It could get a bit confusing at times, but the Bad Kidz, at least Fabian, didn’t mind. They just made sure to ask a lot of questions. 

"Here's the real catch, though. It wasn't the butler, but it was actually--" Riz gets cut off by his crystal ringtone buzz loudly on the table. He grabs it immediately and presses it to his ear. A few moments pass before he says, "Mom? What's going on?"

Fabian immediately sits up straighter before Riz holds his hand out. "I'll be right back." He mouths to them, scooting out of the booth. Fabian watches as he walks out of Basrar's.

Gorgug plays with the straw of his milkshake for a moment."So… how are you and Aelwyn doing?" He asks innocently, because Gorgug would never ask a question he didn't want the answer to. Fabian suddenly feels a little sick, putting his spoon down.

"It-- uh, well--" Fabian is tripping over himself now. He hates when he gets like this. His thoughts race through his head and try to force themselves out his mouth all at once before he can even think of what to say.

"I--I get it, if that's like--" Gorgug stumbles a bit. "Too private or something, I just, you know, was wondering."

"No, no, it's fine, Gorgug. We just… broke up a few weeks ago."

"Oh." He says simply. "Why didn't you…"

"Say anything?" Fabian finishes for him. "I guess it was somewhat embarrassing."

"Embarrassing? Did she break up with you?" 

Fabian shrugs. "No, it was more mutual, if anything." He starts playing with his ice cream now, getting spoonfuls of caramel sauce and pouring it back into the bowl over and over again.

"Then why would you be embarrassed?" Gorgug presses. "I mean, my parents would say that's pretty mature."

"It just wasn't what I-- We? Expected it to be." Fabian admits. It feels weird to say it out loud after it's been rattling in his head for weeks. "I guess, maybe I expected it to be like you and Zelda. Two matches made in nerd heaven." 

"You know, not every relationship is gonna be perfect, Fabian." Gorgug reminds him. "Zelda and I get along great, sure, but that doesn't mean I don't fuck up every now and then or that I never get upset with her." He shrugs. "But that's a part of like, I don't know, loving someone. You guys kinda just get to figure stuff out together." 

"I guess Aelwyn and I never really tried figuring anything out together."

"Maybe you just expected too much from each other." Gorgug shrugs again. "Cause, you can't only love the best version of someone, you know?" 

Fabian opens his mouth to speak, but before he can, the front door jingles and Riz makes his way back to the booth.

"Sorry about that guys." Riz says, sitting back in the booth next to Fabian. "My mom needed to know where I put the law books I borrowed from her last weekend. Where was I?"

Gorgug responds, but not before casting a reassuring glance at Fabian. "Uh… I think you were about to tell us who the killer was, right?" 

Fabian can't tell if Riz notices and adds, "Oh yes, something about how it wasn't the butler?"

"Right, right!" He says excitedly. "Okay, so…"

He continues telling them about the tv show, which Fabian doesn’t mean to tune out of, but he can’t stop himself from thinking about Aelwyn. 

Their breakup had been mutual. They quickly realized that they simply weren’t compatible with one another. Fabian wishes he didn’t take it hard, but Aelwyn was technically the first girlfriend he ever had, and his first kiss.

Fabian was supposed to go straight to Fallinel, take on the Elven army and break Aelwyn out of imprisonment in a feat of gorgeous heroism. Which, if you left some parts out and moved a few things around, he did, technically. But then Aelwyn was supposed to be so impressed with his prowess that they would start dating, eventually get married out on the sea and then have beautiful children, born out of both Aelwyn and his exceptional talents. 

At least, that’s what he told himself. 

But when they actually got together, Fabian realized that he didn’t understand Aelwyn at all, and she didn’t understand him. They had both been through copious amounts of stress during sophomore year, with Aelwyn having to adjust to a new life without her parents, and Fabian having to grapple with the events of Leviathan and his own residual fears. It was just too much for them to sort out together, too many parts of themselves that they didn’t understand, so how could they ask the other to?

“You have this version of me built in your head, Fabian.” Aelwyn said to him. “Maybe, before all of this, I could have been that person for you. But, I’m not even sure who I am right now.” 

And he agreed with her, and that was that. 

Their crystals all buzz on their table, and Fabian reaches over to check the message.

figgy pudding: Hey losers, where you guys at? 

He types back. 

fabian: Basrar’s, be there soon.

“I guess that’s our cue, huh.” Gorgug says, gathering the dishes onto the table, like he always does. “Make sure to text me the name of that show, Riz, so I won't forget.”  

“Will do.” Riz replies, already sending the text to Gorgug. He gets up from the booth to let Fabian out and turns to him. “You ready to go?”

From the way Riz is looking at him, he can’t help but feel like he’s asking a different question, but he brushes past it. “Yeah, of course.” 

---

"Is something wrong?" Riz asks that night, because Riz is too perceptive for his own good and Fabian acknowledges that he hasn't said a word to him in over 10 minutes. “You were kinda acting weird today.” 

"Hm? Oh it's nothing, The Ball. Don't worry about it. What were you saying?" Fabian replies, sitting up a little straighter. 

They are sitting in Riz's office, with it's stale mugs of coffee and scattered evidence. If this was anyone else's office, Fabian would hate being here. Sometimes, Riz is so deep in a mystery it becomes cramped with case files and boxes, but it always feels good to be in a space that is truly lived in. It’s nothing like home, and maybe that’s why Fabian likes it. 

"You can talk to me, you know." Riz says, taking the red string Fabian's been playing with out of his hands. He pins a photo up on his corkboard.

Fabian doesn't respond. He knows he should, but at this moment, talking to his best friend seems like one of the hardest things he can do.

Riz notices this, and looks at him. "I know how you get. We don't have to talk about it." He runs a hand through his hair. "You, uh-- wanna watch a movie, maybe?"

Fabian blinks at him for a moment before replying, "You want to take a break?"

Riz laughs at that. "Come on, Fabian. I'm not that bad."

Fabian scoffs. "Please, you almost missed homecoming because you were here piecing together your clues." He gestures to the corkboard.

"And then I closed that case the same weekend." Riz says proudly, puffing up his chest a bit. 

Fabian smiles, then makes the mistake of looking down at the floor beneath them. He runs his fingers over the scratch marks carved into the wood. 

He tried to call and Riz didn’t pick up. Riz never ever misses his calls and his ringer is always on, so why wasn’t he--

Riz’s eyes go from soft to panicked almost immediately. “Hey, don’t do that.” He tells Fabian, pushing his hands away from the floor. “I, uh-- still need to get someone to fix those.”

“I could get someone to do it.” Fabian says immediately. Riz shakes his head.

“You know I wouldn’t let you.” 

“But I could.” 

“Fabian, it wasn’t your fault.” 

And when Riz says this, Fabian lets out a breath of air. 

Because he knows, deep down, the situation with Riz last year wasn’t his fault. But maybe if he had been a better friend and called more, or came around the office more, or had just been there when it happened... then Riz wouldn’t have to pay someone to replace his floorboards. Maybe, he wouldn’t have such a hard time looking at himself in the mirror.

“You aren’t the only one who fails, Fabian.” Riz continues, seemingly reading his thoughts. He sighs. “Y--You do this thing where you think you are the only person in the world who can do anything. The only person who can save the princess in the tower, the only person who can kill your father’s rival, like you are trying to hold the whole world up on your shoulders because you are Fabian Aramais Seacaster. And I get it, you know? I’ve had some pretty big shoes to fill myself.” He lets out a short laugh. “But, you don’t have to… prove yourself to me. Or to-- uh, anyone, really.”

“Riz, I--” Fabian’s words fail him, because figuring things out was always Riz’s job. He knows he will pay to get Riz’s floors done, because maybe Fabian didn’t have to prove himself to anyone, but as well as being a Seacaster, he was also Riz Gukgak’s best friend, and that he needed people to know. 

“It’s okay, Fabian, really it is.” Riz says, interrupting him. “I’m not gonna lie, you haven’t always been-- uh, a perfect friend. I know I haven’t either.” He shrugs. “But you always try to be, and that means more to me than you probably know.” 

Fabian reaches over and pulls Riz into the tightest hug he’s given since he got out of the Forest of the Nightmare King. He feels Riz tense up at first, but then his arms wrap around his neck. 

“You are my best friend.” Fabian says into Riz’s shirt, because if he doesn’t say this now the flames that stir inside his chest will burn the words to ash before they reach his mouth. It was easier to say when Riz wasn’t staring back at him, picking him apart. A habit that Riz could never shake, but sometimes, Fabian welcomed it. He didn’t have to say much, because Riz always just seemed to understand. 

Fabian has never had a best friend before. His family sailed so often when he was younger that it was hard to make friends with any of the kids. He was constantly being pulled out of school and thrown into the next. Every time he did so he would play his little charade of being Fabian Aramais Seacaster, impressing the children in his class, and then his family set sail once again.

Near the end of freshman year, Riz pulled Fabian aside to thank him for the briefcase and the business cards. Fabian had brushed it off, saying it wasn’t that big of a deal, but it took him hours to hand write all those business cards. Something that, to this day, Fabian still hasn’t told Riz. 

After that, Riz never stopped calling him his best friend, and Fabian quickly realized that Riz is one of the only people who had ever really tried to be his friend. He denied it at first, but eventually he came to accept it as a fact. 

And maybe it was the same for Riz too. Like Fabian, he didn’t like talking about personal issues. It wasn’t until sophomore year when Riz was finally able to talk about his dad in front of everyone. And much like Fabian and his own charade, he much preferred his role as a detective versus a teenage boy trying to figure the world out. 

But that was just it, wasn’t it? Because maybe, they could be two teenage boys trying to figure out the world together. 

And so, Fabian may not write his name upon the world. Every living being in Spyre may not know the name Fabian Aramais Seacaster, but he is okay with this. 

Because Fabian doesn’t always need to be the hero, the knight who saves the princess, or the son who kills his father’s rival. Because even when he’s not the hero, there are people who still love him. And to be a part of a story that continues to write itself, that is bigger than his own, with Riz and the rest of the Bad Kidz?

Fabian couldn’t think of anything else he would rather do. 

[thefanficmonster]

You Never Notice

Sykkuno x Reader (Female)

Warnings: None

Genre: Fluff

Summary: The center of someone’s world is never aware of their importance even when everyone else is in the know. People are hard to understand, no denying, but if we all spilled our truth like how Y/N admitted her feelings to Sykkuno, mutual understanding would be achieved a lot more easily. JK, she needed an eternity and maybe a thousand pushes. What’s important is the result though, right?

Requested by Anon. You are my first Sykkuno request and I wish I could thank you with a tag. Instead, I’m gonna thank you with a fic in which I put my all. Thank you for the request, hope the final product doesn’t let you down. 🥰

Here we go again. Sykkuno’s love life is brought up. This time it’s more frustrating cause I can’t shout how wrong he is about himself and the effect he has on the people around him. He has no room to speak, he hasn’t experienced what I have - one of your best friends living in your head rent-free because you’re just that whipped by them. That’s right kids, some of us never grow past the middle school crushes - they are a constant for some. That can be a good or a bad thing, it completely depends on how you view it.

Currently, him and Rae are addressing some dating rumors that started spreading about them earlier this week while Felix, Sean and I are kicking each other’s butts in Party Animals. We’re not all playing together, actually, we were all playing different games when we hopped into the call and just grouped together after playing solo got boring. Rae and Sykkuno are playing Among Us on a random server, her being the only person who’s streaming right now. She said she just wanted to clear up the dating rumors cause they were annoying to see popping up on her feed on every social media platform she’s active on.

“It’s ridiculous, really. People just look for online personalities to put in imaginary relationships. Are they that bored? I know quarantine is getting to everyone, but damn“ Rae says, laughing a bit to take the edge off her words but I know she’s bothered by this ordeal more than she’s letting on. I know how much it bothers her when people ship random youtubers and streamers together, even when she’s not involved. 

And I agree. Ever since I started streaming I’ve been shipped with my friends left and right. First Corpse, then Dave, Joel...you name them. It gets kinda gross cause these people are legit like siblings to me. Unlike Rae, though, I don’t waste my breath trying to clear those ‘talks of the net’ up. I don’t know if it’s for better of for worse that I remain silent on the issue when I’m involved but am willing to stand up for my friends when they find themselves in a similar situation. Some people think the reason I don’t share my thoughts is because the rumors are true, but the hint is most often taken, resulting in the ship ending. Well, that ship ending, there’s always a new one popping up. As Rae said, it’s ridiculous.

“Why does everyone think I am ever dating anyone? I’ve already commented on this: no one would date me.“ Sykkuno says through a sigh-like laugh.

“Why are you so sure?“ I blurt out without as much as a second thought

My eyes widen just a bit, just a bit. I’m not too surprised with myself. I am slowly losing control of my raging emotions and I’m afraid of what I’ll turn into when all my restraints snap. A mess, that’s the most likely answer.

“Well....“ Sykkuno trails off, clearly more than a little nervous, “I don’t have a girlfriend right now, and I haven’t had one in a while...Nor has a girl shown any interest to be more than friends with me in what feels like forever.“

“I’m sure you just don’t notice the hints girls drop. We can be pretty subtle.“ I try to sound as nonchalant as possible while I’m still in my panicked animal mode. And by animal I mean a cub. A scared cub that is now showing confidence but will run and hide right afterwards. I silently thank the universe that I’m not streaming right now. I can feel the heat on my neck and cheeks which is pure embarrassment and would have been more than evident on-camera.

“Yeah Y/N’s right, Sykkuno. Girls can be very subtle, but they will always let you know if they like you, even through the smallest of gestures. You gotta keep your eyes open.“ Rae backs me up reassuringly.

“Guys never notice anything.“ I say, rolling my eyes. I feel the pressure lessen thanks to Rae’s involvement in the conversation.

“That’s not true.“ Sean protests, “We pay close attention, especially to girls we are attracted to.“

“Yeah!“ Sykkuno pipes in again, “I’m pretty sure I would notice if a girl was dropping signals that she likes me.“

Now that stings. That legit makes me wince and cringe as though his voice delivered an actual physical hit to my chest and stomach. It’s really unpleasant, painful even.

“You never notice.“ There’s something about this triple opportunity - proving him wrong that he’d catch onto a girl’s signals; proving him wrong that girls aren’t attracted to him; coming clean about the biggest emotional struggle I’ve experienced in recent years; - that snaps my last emotional restraints. I will totally regret this later, but after the regret comes the relief which is 100% worth it. 

“What?“ He sounds very puzzled. I can just about imagine him frowning as he tries to wrap his brain around something even I can’t wrap mine around.

“You say you’d notice a girl’s hints of attraction. OK.“ I nonchalantly throw Felix off the submarine in Party Animals while I keep talking, “Would you notice if a girl purposely doesn’t kill you in Among Us when she’s impostor? Or would you notice that a girl always sends you links to videos she finds funny? Or that she always shares music and movie recommendations with you and you only?“ 

Dead silence ensues. I feel like they have all glitched, considering Sean didn’t even try to put up a fight when I lifted him and threw him in the ocean as I previously did with Felix’s avatar.

Maybe I was a tad too specific and made the whole situation hit a little too close to home for me. 

Sykkuno and I have become really close friends and we chat and play games regularly. As I mentioned, I give him movie and music recommendations and I only recently started acknowledging the fact that I’ve never killed him in Among Us. Natural instinct I guess. In fact, I feel the need for vengeance when he’s killed. I refuse to even vote for him unless it’s absolutely necessary.

Now that I think about it, it’s not his fault he has no clue. I just don’t know how to properly drop hints.  

“Um...I mean, I guess I would notice but I’d never think they are that type of hints.“ He finally replies.

On point there, dear. On damn point.

“What does it take for you to be convinced that a girl is into you?“ Who cares that a bunch of people are about to witness this outpour? It’ll make it more real, yes, but it will also help me believe that it happened so I don’t try to crawl back to the point where return is an option. No return now. You’ve already passed two thirds of the way. The last one will set you and your mind free. 

“The only way I can be sure is if she tells me, really.“ He sounds so nervous and shy, like he’s trying to draw as little attention as possible.

He doesn’t have to worry. I’m about to pull all the attention on me.

“Well in that case....you leave me no other choice.“ My screen displays me as the winner of this round of Party Animals - an easy one considering my friends are glitched in real life. “I like you, Sykkuno. I like you a lot. And I know you will see it from every context except the one its meant to be in so I’ll be even more head-on - I’ve liked you, as more than a friend for quite some time now, but buddy, you can be sooo oblivious sometimes. Anyway...“ Here’s that regret I was talking about, it’s already creeping in. “Don’t feel the need to say it back. I don’t wanna hear it if you don’t mean it. And Rae,“ I can’t help but laugh at the thought, “Sorry for making your chat go crazy. Peace!“

And I disconnect from the Discord call.

“See? That wasn’t so hard, was it?“ I say out loud, staring at my desktop. “The cat’s out of the bag and you can move on now.“

I push myself to get some work done in order to get my mind off the mess I’ve created. I’m afraid of thinking about it, I know I’ll get too upset to do anything with the rest of my day if I do.

Suddenly, just as I’m about to open my email, my phone chimes. My brain doesn’t bother to stop my arm from automatically reaching out and checking the notification. A message.

From Sykkuno.

~ I knew you didn’t suggest me ‘My Best Friend’s Wedding’ for no reason

Me ~ So...?

~ So, I’m not the only oblivious one here, Y/N

Me ~ Wait WHAT?

~ ‘Nick And Norah’s Infinite Playlist’?

Me ~ Oooohhhh...I see

It takes him a few seconds to reply, the bubble with the three bouncing dots popping up and disappearing a few times now. I just now feel my heart banging against the inside of my ribcage, my pulse echoing in my ears.

He did seem a little too eager for me to watch that movie...

~ So, movie date?

I laugh, wholeheartedly and honestly. Genuine joy running through my veins.

Me ~ So it is.

The grin that is now decorating my features promises to stay there for the rest of the day. I bite my bottom lip at the thought that pops into my head.

Me ~ Phew, I can stop sparing you in Among Us from now on

He sends me three cry-laughing emojis in return, but I don’t need those. I can just imagine him laughing as he usually does with one hand covering his mouth. And here I thought my grin couldn’t grow wider.

 Imagining him happy makes me smile. His happiness makes me happy. He makes me happy.

Even better...

I think the feeling’s mutual.

[spotofimagines]

Rivals Last ~ Jadon Sancho

A/N: So I had this in my drafts before he signed with man united but that's fine, we move, we adapt. A third piece for the @footballffbarbiex summer challenge. Hope you enjoy it :)

Warnings: none - reader is female

Summary: You love both your brothers dearly, but being in the football world with them can make some things a little complicated.

gif by @archivesbvb - gif by @ermuellert - gif by @italynt

Being a footballer meant living in a special world. Being in a footballing family meant living in a special world too. Being the younger sister of Lucas and Theo Hernandez meant living in a really special world. But nobody told you just how crazy it would be for all three of those things to apply to you.

You truly love watching your older brothers play football. They teach you something new during every match you see; even though you play as a striker, their movements and handling of the ball always inspire you to play better. After all, it was their defensive skills that helped you become a good goal scorer growing up since they never let a tackle go unchallenged in the park and you had to find out how to manoeuvre around them. A lot easier said than done.

Currently Lucas is signed with Bayern Munich. In his time there so far, he has learnt the heritage, history, and importance of wearing the badge and defending its honour in every match they play, especially derbies. Having supported Lucas, it quickly became easy for you to support Bayern Munich too and celebrate their victories like it was your own team. You'd always managed to do it with the clubs both your brothers played for, letting the atmosphere of the fanbase carry you away.

You have just finished your second season in England with Manchester City women's team. You'd settled in nicely now, having learnt a lot of the English language and culture already. The experience was made so much easier because of the help given by your welcoming teammates and the staff that translated things into French and Spanish during your first months there.

Fans were a little disappointed during the 2019 summer transfer window when it was confirmed all three Hernandez siblings would be leaving Spain to play separately in England, Germany and Italy, joking that no one could know what might happen with you all so far away. However, to you, it made things easier, as Lucas and Theo would stop making so many awful jokes about each other's clubs, only to join forces to diss your club even more afterward. Now the only connection you have to the clubs you all play for is the want for your sibling to win with them. And it is a great feeling. A welcome change of pace.

But no new change to your life felt as good as your blossoming "relationship", situationship, whatevership, you have with Jadon Sancho.

It all started with you flirting back and forth on social media, which turned itself into countless hours of DMs no one else could see. You congratulated his goals and he congratulated your wins. All the light-hearted teasing and the warm-hearted compliments stayed in your own little bubble. The only thing peeking out was your silly inside rule that if you were going to comment on a post, it had to be emojis only, stretching to a few words if you really couldn't help yourself - but it would earn you taunts from the other for the rest of the night.

Some eagle-eyed fans noticed how you'd been liking each other's posts every time they appeared for a while now, but it just added to the fun and thrill you got from flirting with him so much.

You weren't meant to be forming a bond with Jadon. He played for your brother’s rival. He was supposed to be the enemy. Someone you should dislike with a snap of your fingers. Certainly not a boy to fall for like you have.

You couldn't help yourself. Lucas and Theo had helped you since you moved to England by being the steady rocks they always were, cheering you on from afar. Your new teammates had helped you since you moved to England by introducing fun things for you all to do together and taking you under their wings. But Jadon had helped you in a different kind of way. He gave you a new kind of comfort and reassurance when you talked. He became someone to turn to with all your interesting news and your curious problems. He told you the good places to visit around the city that he remembered from his time there and taught you English slang to make your teammates laugh. You spoke three languages to varying degrees now, and you'd managed to pick up more German vicariously through Lucas in two years faster than Jadon had done living in Germany in four years, so you'd clue him into rude German phrases you had asked Lucas about, alongside the French and Spanish swear words he used more often than English ones now when you text. 

Even though a language barrier comes up once in a while, you have both learnt behaviours from each other and crave the contact you share. Jadon was starting to drop everything to send replies to you, a change his teammates have noticed and jokingly mock him for. Little did they know the unknown girl they joke he is smitten over is the sister of their rival.

Theo is the one in your family you usually tell about the boys you go out with; boyfriends and dates have been shared with him since you were 13 and doting on your first crush. He does the same with his girlfriends; asking advice and telling you more than you need to know at times. So, when you all went home for a bit of family time around Christmas, nothing could stop him from noticing the tell-tale signs that you had something going on. He already figured out through persistence that it was another player you were getting involved with, and his insistent questioning hasn't stopped in his search for who the player is.

But you keep it hidden from Lucas, and you don't know when you'll tell him. He has been your protector since you were kids, comforting you on sad nights when no one else was there, teaching you little secrets about how to navigate through the world, he even punched a boy who teased you once at school. The idea of telling him you were chatting romantically to another player would be trouble enough, but telling him it was a Dortmund player might just end up in another schoolground incident. You hadn't wanted Theo to know for fear he'd go dishing your dirt to Lucas, but he discovered it on his own and there was nothing you could do.

Who knows what might become of this thing you have with Jadon, and lord knows your eldest brother owns a hard as nails death stare that just might do Jadon in, but for now you actually quite like having the secret. A little mystery tucked away up your sleeve.

The rush you always get when Lucas calls your phone as you're typing a text to the Englishman,  feeling as though the first words from the other end will be shouts of how he knows everything and he'll never speak to you again for keeping it a secret, fills you with dread at times. But it never is the reason he calls, and it turns out he is just making plans or has something funny to tell you. But the way your heart thumps as you go back to texting Jadon, that is part of the chase you have to admit you enjoy.

Hardcore fans online have noticed the past few months that when you do interviews in English, the odd slang term comes up during jokes - terms you hadn't used before and stem more from London boroughs than northen towns - so speculation of how you'd learnt these things easily coincided with dating rumors.

Lucas had seen the speculation online; seen fans trying to put your interactions with the Dortmund player together through both your instagram stories and comments and the tweets you both had liked about the other. Lucas had even grown suspicious of the little questions you asked him about Germany, German phrases and his lifestyle there, not knowing why you would need nor want to know those things. But Lucas doesn't believe it. He knows that you know better to mix with a Dortmund boy.

Sometimes an older brother just doesn't get it quite right…

Soon, the chance will come to really see if your connection is something you can build on. Jadon's new signing with Manchester United has been confirmed and he will be moving back to England. It is a great opportunity to get to see him more often, rather than the odd rendezvous point or clandestine trip during small breaks in the season. You'll spend more time face to face instead of over the phone. You'll get to wake up in his bed and him in yours, without needing to sneak away from hotel rooms afterwards. You'll maybe even get to go on a proper date, just the two of you, where you can flirt across the table your joined hands rest upon. Hanging out with Jadon won't be the first time you've spent time together in person. However, getting a full day with only the two of you where you won't have to pretend you hardly know who he is, and you won't have to pretend your eyes aren't meeting across the group of people you're in - it fills your stomach with knots and butterflies.

A certain pressure has fallen off you now Jadon has no growing rivalry with Lucas, but not completely. You won't be able to take back the way their teams made the other feel in the past, but the fact there won't be more of it next season comforts you a little. The biggest thing that will hold you back from going public before the new season starts will be the media, but that is an issue you can't even begin to worry about yet. You are too caught up in the excitement of being in the same town as Jadon to care. Rumours are spinning crazier than ever about you two as some of your liked tweets about his move got reposted by sports pages and fan blogs - now joking about him being your rival instead of your brother's - and yet it didn't stop you, no longer all that bothered about keeping a low profile now you both will be living away from Lucas. If he gets mad, all he will be able to do is shout down the phone, and whilst you never want that to happen, you know the time to flourish with Jadon and capitalise on the foundation you have already built is better than ever, brothers be damned.

There are big changes coming for the both of you, yet one thing will remain the same no matter the outcome of your relationship. You can't quite stop being football rivals.

[miraculouscontent]

what happened with optigami??

Ugh happened.

- Episode begins with Nathalie in bed with a screen in front of her, and Gabriel sitting next to her and watching. It's explained to the audience through Nathalie what she and Gabriel have been up to since "Miracle Queen," since they learned the heroes' identities. The screen shows each hero and their civilian self, and Nathalie created a sentimonster called Optigami (a mechanical butterfly - think Tippi from Super Paper Mario but edgy) with eyes that can appear on the wings that can possess any object and record what it sees, transmitting it back to Nathalie's screen) to reveal Ladybug's secrets. Optigami stalked the civilians, but they were just teenagers who "spent their time at school or activities outside of it" (thanks, Captain Obvious).

- It's said that Ladybug still entrusts the civilians with miraculouses, but has rules to prevent them from discovering her identity (Wayzz is also shown on camera despite kwami not being visible via technology; magic, I guess???). Optigami has tried to follow Ladybug, but hasn't managed to catch her. Nathalie considers the sentimonster useless, but Gabriel has an idea, pointing out the vulnerability of civilians returning the miraculouses and suggesting Optigami hide there. Gabriel makes a plan for all the holders to appear and to have a supervillain that Ladybug will need another hero to beat.

- Cut to Audrey shouting at someone about glitter when she gets a call from Gabriel, who talks about a fashion icon award from her magazine that she should give to his son. Audrey agrees to send invitations right away.

- Marinette is shown in her room, staring at her invitation with a big smile because Adrien is on it. Alya explains to the kwami that everyone is invited to the event where Adrien will get an award and that's why Marinette has been frozen staring at the invite for the past ten minutes. The kwami talk about being invited too since "everyone" is invited, and Marinette snaps out of her trance to deny them; no owner, no trips. Trixx argues that he can go because he has Alya, but Marinette reminds him that she (Marinette) has the miraculous. Trixx tells her to give Alya the fox permanently. Alya agrees with this decision, especially now that she knows she's Ladybug, but Marinette insists that it's too risky and that one of the rules she's sticking to is to not give out any miraculouses. Trixx turns away in a huff, arms crossed, while Alya assures that it's fine because it's Marinette's decision and they have to leave now anyway. Marinette snaps back into her fawning state, staring at the invitation again.

- The students show up at the event, specifically Marinette (the only one who makes no sense), Adrien (who's there for the award), Alya (Rena Rouge), Nino (Carapace), Kagami (Ryuko), Luka (Viperion), Kim (Roi Singe), and Max (Pegase). No other students showed up. While they're heading for the elevator, Nino and Alya are doing something on a tablet and do a special high-five in celebration. Kim also uses the stairs instead of the elevator, insisting he'll be faster and telling Max to time him. After he charges up, Alya slides up to Marinette and talks about the elevator being perfect to get close to her "secret crush." Marinette, who was literally fine a second ago, starts freaking out at the idea of her and Adrien accidentally touching, bracing herself against the elevator's frame when Alya tries to forcefully shove her inside. The elevator closes without her and Marinette sighs, telling Alya that she doesn't want to rush it.

- People are starting to sit down for the event and Alya and Nino are doing their high-five again (which Marinette smiles sadly at). Audrey is impatient and demands to start filming, but Alec isn't back yet. Meanwhile, Optigami flies in and goes into an Adrien picture to hide, which makes Nathalie's screen light up on top of her bed. Nathalie informs Shadow Moth via earpiece that Optigami is in place.

- Alec is in the restroom playing on his phone. Shadow Moth places an amok in his staff and makes a sentimonster that looks exactly like Alec. The real Alec comes out and is confused, then cowers at Shadow Moth and the sentimonster Alec. SentiAlec leaves the restroom, showing over-dramatic flair as he jumps on stage. A few people are thrown off, but Audrey doesn't care and just wants to get started.

- The filming officially begins and everyone is shown watching the event. SentiAlec is barely into his introduction before he starts openly trashing Audrey (such as calling her outdated), which shocks Audrey and briefly makes Chloe laugh until Chloe catches Audrey glaring at her. SentiAlec adds a comment about the award ceremony being rigged, then isn't phased when Audrey starts to say he's fired. He finishes the line for her in a question tone, saying it's too late anyway as Audrey has already made a fool of herself. Audrey, ashamed and humiliated, then gets akumatized by an akuma Shadow Moth sends.

- At the appearance of Style Queen, Marinette and Alya give each other a look. Alya whispers to Nino that they should prepare in case Ladybug needs them, so the two slip off while Marinette goes in the other direction. SentiAlec still insults Style Queen, then flees when Style Queen tries to shoot him, managing to escape. Style Queen goes to shoot Adrien, but her arm is cut by a chair that Kagami throws. Kagami yells at Adrien to run and Adrien stands there and cries out, "Kagami, no!" Style Queen then fires at Kagami, turning her into glitter, and only then do Adrien and Chloe bail. Nathalie then informs Shadow Moth that Kagami (Ryuko) has been eliminated, and Shadow Moth says that they need to find the others before Ladybug arrives. Optigami flies out of the Adrien picture to go searching.

- Adrien manages to slip into an elevator to transform, but before he can, Marinette slips into the same one to transform, both stopping and Marinette having to make an excuse for saying "Tik--". Adrien presses a button and claims he was about to get help and Marinette says he's wonderful, though corrects it to "brave." The elevator doors close and Marinette says that Ladybug will come while Adrien says that Chat Noir will come too, though they both look away nervously afterwards.

- Chloe, meanwhile, pops out from behind a table to tell Style Queen where Alec went. Style Queen reminds Chloe that she'd laughed at her, then goes to shoot her. Chloe uses Zoe as a shield, but the shot causes Chloe to turn into glitter anyway, just alongside Zoe instead of Chloe alone. Nathalie informs Shadow Moth that Chloe is eliminated, then tells Optigami to find the others.

- Max is leading people downstairs to the nearest exit. Nathalie sees it through Optigami and informs Shadow Moth, who informs Style Queen, who makes a tornado of glitter to surround the building, turning the building itself glitter-encrusted with Style Queen's mug on top. This movement apparently knocks out the elevator's power, which sends Adrien and Marinette stumbling to the floor. The people that Max had been trying to lead out are approached by Style Queen, who shoots all of them. Max is eliminated.

- Both Adrien and Marinette try to reach for the elevator's buttons at the same time, their hands touching. Marinette apologizes sheepishly, then tries one of the buttons, but to no avail. They try to pull open the door, but it doesn't work. Marinette is sure that Chat Noir will save them, and Chat Noir agrees nervously, but also brings up Ladybug as an option. Marinette then texts Alya to tell her that she's stuck in an elevator. Alya texts back to ask if she's with Adrien, adding a wink emoji. Marinette responds that--yes, she is, and Alya becomes nervous.

- At the same time, Nino gets a text from Adrien that he's stuck in an elevator with Marinette. Nino thinks it's cool and Alya laughs nervously, pretending to agree. Alya asks Marinette over text how she's going to make this work, and Marinette says that she has a plan but needs to be alone. Alya tries to split from Nino, insisting that she'll give Ladybug a signal that they're there, but Nino wants to go with her. Alya insists, saying that it'll be better that they not get shot as a group, but Nino gives her the lovey dovey eyes and says that he won't let her do it by herself. Alya relents, but says that she has to go somewhere first ("if you know what I mean"), kissing Nino's cheek and then running off.

- SentiAlec returns and Shadow Moth gets rid of him. The real Alec escapes and smacktalks Shadow Moth when he's out of earshot, but Style Queen promptly shoots him. Shadow Moth then tells Style Queen that people are trying to escape into the events, so Style Queen turns into glitter and goes through, finding Luka (who's leading Mayhem carefully through the vents) and turning both of them to glitter, eliminating Luka Couffaine. This leaves three left: Kim, Alya, and Nino.

- Marinette calls the kwami using her phone, as there's a mini cell phone inside the Miracle Box. They all answer at once, which shocks Marinette as she throws the phone in shock, embarrassing her in front of Adrien asks who it is and Marinette makes a hurried excuse about talking to the fire department. She proceeds to act like she's really talking to said department, explaining the situation. Longg says that they're on their way and Marinette hurries to reject the idea, arguing that "helicopters (flying) are bad for the environment." She suggests "riding a horse" instead, and her voice is heard through the elevator and Style Queen picks it up, following after the voice. Optigami also possesses the elevator and spots Adrien and Marinette, with Marinette still repeating the horse comment, which finally makes the kwami realize that she means Kaalki. She's huffy about it, claiming that she's a noble steed - not a horse - and Marinette must mean Fluff. Sass agrees, as apparently horses and rabbits had a common ancestor. Fluff cheerfully talks about going to prehistory and Marinette shouts to deny it, grinning weakly at Adrien for how ridiculous she must sound. Adrien then notices the pair of eyes watching them and ushers Marinette away, shushing her. Marinette notices what Adrien does and ends the call.

- Style Queen opens the elevator doors and looks down at the elevator shaft to where Marinette and Adrien are. Marinette touches her miraculous anxiously and Adrien stares at his ring, internally debating with himself. They both turn at the same time, saying they have something to tell the other, but Nathalie notes that Optigami is only seeing Adrien together with Marinette, who isn't on their list. Shadow Moth discourages Style Queen from going after the elevator and Optigami leaves.

- Adrien sighs in relief, then asks Marinette what she wanted to tell him. Marinette insists it's nothing, asking what he wanted to say, and Adrien claims that he was just wondering what the eyes were. Marinette says she doesn't know, but that they should stay hiding and she'll text Alya to get help. Kim, meanwhile, has just gotten up the stairway, asking if he's won, and Style Queen happens to be right there, shooting him on the spot and eliminating him.

- Marinette sends Alya the kwamis' number and Alya calls it, hearing Trixx complaining on the other line about how Marinette should've let him come. At the same time, Alya gets a call from Nino that she has to reject, which worries Nino enough for him to try and slip up. Optigami happens to be in the extremely specific room and spot to see Nino, which Nathalie informs Shadow Moth of. Style Queen swoops by, turning Nino to glitter, and Shadow Moth gets an idea, making a SentiNino to lure out Alya.

- Alya is running down the stairs when she hears Nino calling her. At the same time, Kaalki pops in through a portal and encourages Alya to jump through. Alya runs in and the portal closes behind her, then she asks Kaalki about kwami using their powers without a holder and that leading to chaos. Kaalki insists that she never causes chaos - only contributes to the extraordinary - and the scene jumpcuts to the Eiffel Tower in the desert.

- Alya gets a text from Marinette, telling her to bring the bee miraculous. Alya taps in the code for the Miracle Box, then takes out the fox and bee. She transforms into Rena Rouge and makes an illusion of Ladybug to keep Style Queen busy, but hesitates as she looks back at the Miracle Box. She pulls out the turtle and Longg questions if Marinette asked her to do that, to which Alya insists that it's a precaution. Kaalki makes another portal and Rena runs through with both Kaalki and Ladybug, the scene jumpcutting to a gate-esque monument on the moon.

- Rena and Ladybug split up, but Rena stops when she hears Nino calling her. Optigami possesses the wall as Rena runs up to "Nino" (SentiNino) and shushes him. Nathalie informs Shadow Moth that Alya is already transformed and has a kwami with her, which shocks Shadow Moth (idk why Shadow Moth can't see that since it's his sentimonster but I've also given up on making sense of this episode at this point).

- Rena gives SentiNino the turtle miraculous. Shadow Moth, through SentiNino, asks why he's receiving it from Rena, and Rena explains that she's doing it for Ladybug while Ladybug defeats Shadow Moth. She tells SentiNino to transform and help her, then runs off. Nathalie mutters about how the only people who've given out miraculouses before were Ladybug and Chat Noir until now, and Shadow Moth deduces that Alya isn't an ordinary holder. Either way, he's not concerned about their plan, having SentiNino transform using the turtle. Optigami merges with the miraculous as well and SentiCarapace runs off.

- SentiCarapace enters the room where MirageLadybug is fighting Style Queen. Shadow Moth monologues (through SentiCarapace for some reason but no one can hear him anyway I guess) a bit about his victory and Ladybug having no idea what's about to happen, and then the scene cuts to Rena Rouge entering the elevator Adrien and Marinette are in via Kaalki.

- Rena Rouge explains that Ladybug sent her, then has Kaalki make another portal. Rena takes Adrien first, which allows Marinette to be alone. Tikki congratulates her on the idea and Marinette thanks her before transforming. Rena Rouge, meanwhile, drops Adrien off on a rooftop and tells him that she'll come back for him later. After she's gone, Adrien talks to Plagg about it being hard to get back into the building. Plagg suggests they go home and Adrien insists they can't yet. He transforms.

- Rena re-enters the elevator through another portal, promptly high-fiving Ladybug. Rena and Kaalki boast about the great job they've done, and Ladybug nervously asks how many times Kaalki's used her power. Kaalki admits she's used it a couple of times and Ladybug laments all the catastrophes that must've happened. The scene jumpcuts to a trail sinking into the ocean and a skyscraper sinking into a volcano, plus many more objects on the moon.

- Ladybug says that they can't waste more time. She puts on the bee and unifies, then the scene jumpcuts to the two suddenly in the room where Style Queen is fighting MirageLadybug. LadyBee congratulates Rena on her good job, then notices SentiCarapace on the other side of the room. She looks confused and Rena sheepishly suggests that they can never have enough help. LadyBee squints at her, but admits that she was right and Carapace will be very helpful. Rena slumps in relief.

- LadyBee spawns Lucky Charm and gets a compact mirror (same lucky charm as in "Pixelator," for reference). However, she doesn't notice anything inherently useful, and notes that she can defeat Style Queen without her lucky charm. She shrugs it off, since it doesn't matter how they defeat Style Queen, and just tells Rena to end her illusion. Rena has MirageLadybug hide behind a table, which Style Queen shoots and groans as she realize that Ladybug isn’t there.

- LadyBee goes up behind SentiCarapace, surprising him as she tells him that she needs him to protect her. Shadow Moth has SentiCarapace agree, then monologues to himself and "talks to LadyBee" (not really, he's just being a weirdo) about how he won't tell Style Queen anything and how nothing will stop him from winning.

- LadyBee goes in to attack Style Queen with Venom, ducking under tables and doing various maneuvers before jumping up in the air. Style Queen fires, but SentiCarapace protects her with Shellter long enough for LadyBee to fall within range. SentiCarapace drops Shellter just in time for LadyBee to stab Style Queen. She divides Pollen away, then breaks the objects and purifies the akuma. Style Queen de-akumatizes and Audrey looks at Ladybug, confused. Chat Noir is outside, about to Cataclysm the building, when the glitter effect vanished. Puzzled, Chat Noir awkwardly opens the door and runs inside.

- Audrey echoes Chloe's "ridiculous, utterly ridiculous" line as she walks off, and Ladybug sneaks the magical charm onto Audrey's hat. Chat Noir arrives at the scene and sees Ladybug, Rena, and Carapace, asking how they got in. Kaalki greets him and Ladybug apologizes, saying that she would've gotten him had she known his identity. He's not bothered and takes the opportunity to flirt. She banters back, then has to leave to get Rena's and Carapace's miraculouses. She tells Chat Noir to wait there, which he does.

- The three go to the roof and Rena comments on how easy it was to defeat Style Queen. Shadow Moth, through SentiCarapace, says that it's because she has good partners. They fist-bump, at which point Carapace and Rena de-transform. The two return their miraculouses and Ladybug notes that she didn't have to use her Lucky Charm, still finding it weird as she usually manages to defeat the villain with it. Shadow Moth, meanwhile, is ready for his place to go down.

- Ladybug presumes that she just needs the lucky charm to fix everything, then turns around while staring at the open compact mirror. Through the mirror, she sees Alya offer SentiNino a high-five, which he looks put off by before giving her a regular high-five in return (no, Alya doesn't react to this). Ladybug remembers their secret high-five from earlier, then turns and suddenly says that they have to be even more careful from now on. She reminds them that Shadow Moth knows the identity of some of the holders and is obviously using that information. She asks if that's right, getting in SentiNino's face and calling him Shadow Moth. She apologizes to Alya and explains that the Nino in front of them is a sentimonster. Nathalie insists that it's impossible for Ladybug to know and Shadow Moth wonders how she found out.

- Alya staggers back and collapses to her knees in shock, and Ladybug hurries off the room to yoyo herself into the room where Chat Noir is, where he's found eating a cookie. Ladybug tells him to detroy the object in her hand, but Chat notes that it's a miraculous. She tells him to trust her and Chat destroys it (since he never used his still-ready Cataclysm from earlier), which Optigami is forced out of. Nathalie gets a strong headache from this and Shadow Moth punches a restroom door in anger, monologuing about how he'll win one day and that SentiNino isn't needed anymore. He snaps his fingers and both SentiNino and Optigami disappear.

- Ladybug uses Miraculous Ladybug then, which fixes everything including the miraculous (weirdly, they only show Max and Kagami being restored; screw Luka and Kim I guess??). Nino also shows up on the roof to see Alya (no, I don't know how he knew she was there) to hug her, and Alya smiles before hugging back.

- Chat Noir and Ladybug hop a large distance away and Chat asks her how she knew there was a sentimonster in the miraculous. Ladybug thanks her lucky charm for it and says that it always shows her the right way (*shudders at "Chat Blanc" flashbacks*) even though she was briefly led astray. Chat Noir just hums in serious thought.

- Later, in Marinette's room, Alya laments that Shadow Moth almost demasked Ladybug because of her. She also admits that she shouldn't have taken Nino's miraculous. Marinette says that she's right - she did make a mistake - which is why she has to make a difficult decision. She tells Alya that the most important thing is to learn from one's mistakes, and thus she herself learned that she needs an ally to replace her if something ever happens. She takes Alya's hand, then puts the fox miraculous inside, closing Alya's fingers over it as she tells Alya to keep the miraculous with her at all times. Marinette adds that she'll also tell Alya everything she knows, and the two hug as Trixx brags to the other kwami that he's always right even when he's not.

- The episode seems to end at first, but then there’s a post-endcard scene where Gabriel sits on Nathalie’s bed and admits that they don’t know their enemies as well as they think. He notes that Alya seems to have a special position now that Ladybug is guardian, and talks about getting to know her better. The episode ends there.

[nobodyfamousposts]

BURN THE WITCH!   Part 7

Trigger warning for attempted burning, attempted murder due to the aforementioned burning, and talk of stalking.

______________________________

The old pictures of witch burnings and those who conduct them were far from imposing figures. Some nowadays would insist it amounted to people in funny hats, and had difficulty taking them seriously. They certainly didn’t seem scary.

Similarly, Rose Lavillant was far from an imposing figure. She stood shorter than almost everyone in the class and didn’t have a mean bone in her body. She was more likely to break down in tears before she would so much as raise her voice at anyone, regardless of the reason. She was one whom the word “scary” didn’t even seem to be a word in the dictionary for.

But seeing Rose standing there in full Witch Hunting regalia was quite possibly one of the most terrifying things Lila had ever seen.

“Lila Rossi! Welcome to the party!”

Lila drew back—or she tried to, at least, only to end up bumping into Chat. The hero promptly grabbed hold of her wrists, effectively keeping her in place and cutting off any avenue of escape as Witch Hunter continued to approach.

“Chat Noir!” Lila hissed. “You’re supposed to be a hero! So do the ‘hero thing’ and either get me out of here or let me go!”

“So you can try to get Ladybug killed again?” He sneered, looking more disgusted and angry than she’d ever seen him. “Not a chance.”

She gaped.

“You can’t be serious!” He couldn’t be! That buffoon was never serious!

Except the way he was glaring at her looked…very serious indeed.

“You’ve evaded consequences long enough, Lila. And like your lies, these things build up over time.”

“Right you are, Chat Noir!” Witch Hunter exclaimed gleefully as she came to a stop only a couple feet away.

“And eventually, they build up so much that there’s really only one result.” Witch Hunter continued, smirking at Lila.

“…You end up on top?” Lila asked hopefully.

That got a bitter laugh.

“You only win so long, Lila. Then people have enough. And aaaall the people you trampled over on your way up will be there to drag you down.” Witch hunter almost seemed to twirl her closed scroll. “Down, down, down…until your final, well deserved end.” She finished, stepping aside and directing Lila’s attention to the pyre that was waiting for her.

“Tie her up!”

_____________________

Well, the one good thing about finally being alone was that she was able to transform in peace. Despite Tikki’s protests. Which sounded like whining more than anything.

The petty, childish part of her wanted to hold that over Tikki once things returned to normal. Moral Tikki, Kwami of Creation, steadfast voice of goodness and order, whining like a child not getting an extra cookie.

Hey, she’d have to take whatever humor she could get at this point before she would be forced to charge yet again into the insanity.

Since Lila was with Chat Noir and possibly safe for now (though with Lila involved, anything could have happened in the span of a few minutes), Marinette decided to try and locate the akuma. If she could find out where it was, she could plan.

She moved to the rooftops for a better view. There was no smoke yet—always a good sign. And the streets around her were still mostly devoid of people. But she could hear some commotion from a distance away. Following it, she noticed that it was growing louder the closer she got to the Eiffel Tower.

As were lights.

And party streamers.

And people. Whom were acting like they were simply going to a festival.

That was odd. 

If the Tower was being used as a safe area, then why were people setting up this way? This wasn’t safe, it was extravagant and frivolous. It was bound to get the akuma’s attention.

There were kiosks, tents, a pyre, carnival games, food stands—back up, what was that?

…

Sure enough, looking back, she noticed a central area of the festivities specifically arranged in a rather distressing manner to create what was unmistakably a pyre reminiscent of what was used during historical witch burnings.

At least now she knew where Rose probably was. And where they intended to take Lila to.

“So this is where they’re going to try and burn Lila?”

Wait...

Chat had told her to go to the Tower. He’d said it was where everyone would be.

She groaned as realization hit her.

“He’s affected too.”

Because of course he is!

Why else would he direct Marinette there? He probably wanted her to make it to the “show”. He had been trying to be helpful so Marinette wouldn’t miss out. And he had helped…just not the way he probably intended.

Because now Ladybug knew just what her obstacles would be. She would have to deal with Witch Hunter and finding her akuma—as well as the crowds including her own partner that would no doubt not take kindly to her interference—all while trying to protect Lila. The girl who hated Ladybug so much that she would willingly work with a supervillain regularly attacking the city just to ensure that Ladybug is destroyed regardless of whose hands it happens by or what would happen afterwards.

Even if it was in Lila’s own interests and meant the difference between her own life and death, Ladybug couldn’t trust that she wouldn’t do something to sabotage any efforts to save her if it meant that Lila could take Ladybug down as well. So she couldn’t even count on Lila in this instance to simply stay out of the way.

Chat was affected. Master Fu was affected. Most of Paris was affected. Her own kwami was affected. It was down to her.

She was alone.

“Ladybug.”

Well...not completely alone.

At her side, Longg looked up to her.

“Whatever you decide to do, I will aid you.” He promised her.

That…

That really helped to hear. It was nice to be supported in a way that DIDN’T involve allowing murder. Just having one person backing her to do what she knew she should really helped.

She smiled in relief.

“Thank you, Longg.”

_____________________

It was a rather lovely gathering, all things considered. People simply going about festivities without a care, looking at food, playing games, buying souvenirs. The Mayor gave a speech. It was a nice speech, even. Yes, everyone seemed to be having a lot of fun and just a grand old time this beautiful sunny day.

Except for Lila, who was glaring pettily from the pole she was now tied to.

She was rather vexed about the entire matter. Possibly because she couldn’t join them. But more likely because the festival in question was solely dedicated to her humiliation and theoretical demise. Not that they’d follow through with it, of course, because certainly Hawk Moth wouldn’t let Rose actually hurt her, but still! It was the principle of the thing!

She had wanted to be the center of attention, but not like THIS!

“Enjoying yourself, Lila?” Witch Hunter asked sweetly as she secured the final knot.

“Okay, you’ve had your fun.” Lila growled with a glare at the smug akuma. “But don’t you have a job to do?”

Witch Hunter grinned. “I’m already doing it!”

“No!” She shouted, stomping her foot—or at least as much as the ropes would let her. “Your job is to take the Miraculous! Remember? Ladybug and Chat Noir? The heroes? Your enemies?”

The akuma shrugged in response. “Yeah, but who knows where they are or how much time it would take to find them?”

“He’s right there!” Lila exclaimed angrily, nodding her head in the direction of Chat, who was indeed only twenty feet away. “He’s not even doing anything useful!”

Chat Noir, for his part, was cheerfully engaging with a group of children. Unconcerned with Lila now that she was caught, he was instead focused on using his claws to whittle a number of sticks to fine points, much to the awe of his juvenile audience. 

"Marshmallow, marshmallow! How fluffy you could be! So near a flame, let's see how toasted you could be!"

Lila watched the scene in initial confusion until he started poking a large marshmallow on the end of each stick, much to the glee of the children and some sickening realization for Lila.

“Here you go!” He said as he cheerfully handed each stick to one of the kids.

“Yay!”

“Thank you!”

“Mallow!”

“Can I eat it now?” One asked, eyeing the puffy treat hungrily.

“If you do, you won’t be able to toast it.” Chat replied. “We still have to get the fire going. It won’t be long now.” And here he gave a side-eyed smirk to Lila.

…Yep. Realization and dread was setting in.

“You can’t be serious! You’re actually going to burn me?” She demanded of the akuma.

“Well, yeah, that’s the plan.” Witch Hunter responded as she went to grab two containers of lighter fluid. “I haven’t made it a secret, you know.”

“But you can’t!” Lila shouted, horrified.

“Sure, I can! There’s plenty of wood to keep the fire well fed. Plus my torch is magical, so—”

“Hawk Moth wouldn’t allow it! You said it yourself, I’ve been helping him! So that makes us on the same side!”

“Were you on my side when you stole from me? When you lied to me? Used me?” Witch Hunter questioned with a look of disgust. “Tell me, Lila, when did this supposed camaraderie between us suddenly start to matter to you?”

Lila scoffed. “I got you power, didn’t I? Now look at you! All of Paris is under your sway! Even the heroes are willing to follow you into whatever silly good acts you’re interested in. You could just tell them to hand you the Miraculous and they probably would! With that, you could have the power to do any of the goody-goody things you want.”

“I DIDN’T WANT POWER!” Witch Hunter shouted. “I WANTED A FRIEND!”

“And we were friends.” Lila replied, unimpressed. “As you were helping me, adoring me, doing so many favors on my behalf…” She smiled. “That’s just what ‘friends’ do.”

It’s what they were supposed to do.

After all, a “friend” was just a label for people who could do things for you.

And wasn’t she a wonderful person for letting them? For allowing them to be useful?

It was just the way the world worked.

Whose fault was it really if Rose didn’t like her place in it after all?

Witch Hunter looked at Lila in disgust. As did Chat Noir and a number of those nearby. 

“So you just use people? That’s what a friend is to you? Someone to use?”

Lila shrugged. “Everyone uses someone. Even Hawk Moth is using you for the Miraculous.” Her eyes narrowed. “Which are supposed to be your goal”

Of course. Because let’s not forget who was really in charge here. Not the pitiful little akuma in front of her, but the man behind the mask—so to speak.

Lila had done her part. More than done her part by this point given how far this akuma had gotten compared to any other before. He certainly wouldn’t have made an akuma this powerful without her help.

“So Hawk Moth!” Lila hissed. “Hurry up and order your akuma to do its job!”

Witch Hunter appeared to be seething before the glowing mask formed, indicating Hawk Moth communicating to his minion. Good. She was learning her place then. Likely being told to focus on finding Ladybug and to leave Lila be. She finally felt herself relax in relief.

Of course, she wouldn’t mind playing the damsel in distress. Well, she would mind actually, since it would leave her tied to the pole to keep up appearances, but if it meant drawing in and finally crushing Ladybug once and for all, it would be a small price to pay.

There was a long silence. Lila waited, feeling smug. Her confidence only grew when the akuma regained focus and turned to her.

“Ah yes.” Witch Hunter drawled with a dark smile. “Hawk Moth has a message for you.”

A message? Lila frowned. His message should be to his akuma, ordering his minion to let her go! What could he want to say to her?

“Hawk Moth thanks you for your assistance.”

With a smirk, Witch Hunter leaned forward so she was eye to eye with Lila.

“But your services are no longer necessary.”

Lila froze in shock.

“What?”

She tsked at the other girl. “You have a talent for manipulation, sure. But you waste it on big gambles that ultimately have little payoff even if they do work out in your favor. You lack subtlety and you try to reach too far. All too soon, you’ve overreached and now look at you.”

Witch Hunter spoke, and with her candid way of speaking and impassive stare, it was difficult to tell if it was Witch Hunter or Hawk Moth himself speaking. She had a feeling though…the strange sense that she was hearing Hawk Moth’s words as if from him directly.

“Your true nature has been revealed. The heroes have already long since known not to trust you, and now that the entirety of Paris is aware of your actions as well, your ability to influence and manipulate…your one worthwhile trait…is worthless.”

Lila gaped, uncomprehending. Because this…he wasn’t saying what she thought he was saying, was he?

“What did you expect would happen once you were caught? Nobody will trust you now. Everyone knows what you’ve done. What you intended to do. Who will fall for your lies now? And even Hawk Moth isn’t about to go out of his way to help someone who has fallen so far.”

“You can’t do this!” Lila shouted. “We are partners! You need me!”

“It would appear that you have overestimated your value and the nature of this relationship.” Witch Hunter replied, sounding far too old to simply be the akuma speaking. “A partnership requires equal footing, and you appear to have lost yours. Over some extra play money, no less.”

He/she sighed. “And your reveal didn’t even generate enough emotional turmoil for another mass akumatization. Though I suppose you deserve credit for this masterwork of an akuma. But between the two of you…well, it is no contest. And I am not about to risk one tool to try and save another that no longer functions.”

Witch Hunter giggled at Lila’s dumbfounded expression.

She leaned in close, speaking in barely a whisper.

“Don’t look so shocked, Lila? A tool is only useful as long as it can be used. But I’m sure you already know all about that.”

She sneered.

“Friend.”

Hearing that word, said in that way, being used against her for once made her go cold. As her label for “people who were useful to her” was turned around on her, she got a feeling for the first time just what her former “friends” had probably felt.

It was the use of that word which really made the situation hit home. At this moment she realized that this was real. This was happening. And unlike any other situation—whether before, after, or during the akuma attacks—this was one time when her charm would not be able to get her out of it.

The akuma didn’t just want to get rid of her as an obstacle like Oni-chan had. She flat out wanted Lila burned.

The entire city was backing her. Her classmates. Their families. And Chat Noir—one of the city’s heroes had helped to trap her.

Hawk Moth was not going to risk losing such a powerful akuma simply to protect one girl. Especially not one he no longer saw a use in.

This was it.

She was really going to die here.

And this time, no amount of lies, promises, or words would save her.

It was only once Witch Hunter put her torch to the pyre and the sounds and smell of the first bits of wood starting to catch aflame that Lila snapped out of it. Only to be greeted with the cheers of the crowd, all of whom were watching her execution with eager eyes. many were holding up their phones to record the moment for history. And one particularly brazen citizen had chosen to get a head start on the marshmallow roasting and held their treat on a stick over the flames that were starting to catch on the wood around her and creeping ever inward.

“Don’t worry, Lila! The smoke inhalation will kill you before the flames do.” Witch Hunter said with a smile. “That’s not to say you won’t be burned or suffer pain first, of course. But still, small mercies, I guess?”

Lila opened her mouth to respond, but couldn’t speak.

There were no words she could say.

So she simply screamed instead.

Loudly.

Senselessly.

Begging without words for something—anything to help her.

And at that moment, as if by a miracle, it began to rain.

___________________________

By all appearances, it wasn’t a natural rainfall—given the clear skies with nary a cloud in sight. Or the sudden wall of water that washed through the area and took out all torches. Though it could be argued that Longg was the original source of storms and weather to begin with, and thus any rain caused by himself or his power were indeed natural.

But that’s just semantics.

The point was that it WAS raining. On a cloudless day. Conveniently falling solely within the single area around the base of the Eiffel Tower that made up the whole of this “Witch Burning Festival”.

And most importantly, on the pyre that Lila herself was tied to, getting her wet and dousing the flames that threatened to engulf her.

A number among the mob responded as many people do in a flash downpour and immediately sought shelter from the sudden and inexplicable rainstorm. Chat, not being one for water, hissed and bounded away somewhere higher up and out of the splash zone. Alya, ever the reporter, dashed to a barrier to protect herself from the worst of the wave and continued to film the scene, grateful that her phone had a water-proof casing so as to not be damaged.

Witch Hunter, however, stood her ground. After her initial confusion at the unexpected storm, she realized quickly enough what had to be the cause and glared at the sudden accumulating mass of water with clenched fists and gritted teeth. “Ladybug!” She bit out with all the savagery of someone who had just literally had someone rain on their parade.

Because who else could it be?

___________________________

“You know the plan?” She asked her companion a few minutes previously.

“Yes. It should work. The water power will last until you fully reform, and even then you will not lose my power until you have used all three of the elemental abilities.”

Good to know. It seemed rather unfair given that she and Chat could only use one ability one time before their timers started, but for now, she would take it.

“Okay, then I can just wash out the square, douse the fire and any fire-causing sources, and dampen the wood enough that it can’t be lit again. Then focus on Witch Hunter.” She started pacing as she thought.

Longg nodded. “From what you have said, it seems Witch Hunter lacks much else in the way of offensive abilities. The other two elements may be useful, but shouldn’t be necessary.”

That was good to know. Longg was apparently quite the strategist, it seemed. It helped her to relax knowing she had someone on her side to work with.

A pause.

But just in case…

“You’re not going to advocate for her murder, are you?” She asked warily.

Better to make sure, after all.

The kwami tilted his head in curiosity.

“I do not know this Lila Rossi or what would warrant her to be set on fire. We couldn’t hear anything when we were within the box.” He assured her.

Oh. Well, that was a relief.

“But I can encourage you if you want me to.”

“No, thank you!”

___________________________

Lila spluttered as the wall of water splashed her. It was cold. It was wet. And while it did save her from the fire, it just put her back in the state of being drenched after she had already mostly dried off from an hour before.

The water coalesced into a singular form and rapidly regained color and flesh to reveal Dragonbug. She appeared tense and much like Witch Hunter, ready for a fight.

“M’lady! You made it!” Chat cheered before frowning, a bit put off. “Though we could have done without the water show…”

“My marshmallow...” One particularly unhappy civilian mourned.

“Ladybug!” Lila shrieked. Though it was hard to tell if she was actually glad to see her or not. “You did that on purpose!”

Not glad to see her then.

Regardless, Ladybug stayed silent, not denying it.

Okay, it was petty of her. But come on, after everything she had done today, she’d earned this.

“Why are you protecting her?” Witch Hunter shouted, waving her now doused torch in anger. “Do you even know what she’s done?”

“That doesn’t mean she should be lit on fire!” Ladybug countered.

“Sure, it does!” Chat Noir exclaimed from his position. “Like the old rhyme: Liar, liar, pants on fire.”

“That’s right!” Came a shout.

“Burn the witch!” Came another.

“AVENGE MY MARSHMALLOW!”

Ladybug groaned. Right, right. You couldn’t argue with an angry mob. It was a waste of time and only made them angrier.

“Chat!” She groaned. “You’re a hero! This isn’t what heroes do!”

But he remained firm. “Ladybug, I don’t want to fight you. But Lila is only getting what’s coming to her. She’s helped Hawk Moth. She’s hurt my friends. She tried to get you killed!”

He clenched his fists in anger.

She started in surprise. She knew these things, yes. But she hadn’t realized just how much her partner had been affected as well.

It was no wonder he fell to Witch Hunter.

“She fooled me, too.” He growled, bitter in his admission. “I trusted her so many times and only got burned. Even when you warned me, I didn’t listen and people only got hurt because of it. And still I gave her second chance after second chance and I’m tired of it!”

Even under the effects of Witch Hunter’s influence, she could hear the raw hurt and anger. As kind and trusting as Chat could be, he had negative feelings as well—she knew that better than anyone. He hid them, but they were there.

And right now…

She could tell that this was really how he felt.

“Chat…” She started.

“I won’t fight you, my lady.” He told her, backing away. “I just want to see justice done and the removal of a threat.”

Well, she supposed that was the best she could hope for.

“Shouldn’t you be untying me now?” Lila demanded in annoyance as she wiggled at her post.

Unfortunately, Lila had chosen a rather inopportune time to remind everyone she was still there.

If the situation were different and Lila was almost literally ANYONE ELSE, Ladybug may have considered it. But the fire was stopped and Lila was safe, if only for the moment. Attempting to directly rescue the girl would only leave herself vulnerable to the akuma and open to further sabotage from Lila.

She had to focus and deal with the akuma now.

“Rose, this isn’t like you!” It was fruitless and she knew it, but she still had to try to get her friend to see reason.

But it was clear the girl was too angry and the akuma was having none of it.

“She doesn’t deserve protection!” Witch Hunter snapped, holding out her scroll and letting it unfurl.

Realizing what she was about to do, Ladybug charged.

“Lila stole the book from Mr. Agreste and nearly caused Adrien to be taken out of school!”

She knew that, she thought as she ducked a punch.

“Lila was hiding in Paris for months while pretending to have been traveling around the world!”

She knew that as well. Another punch dodged.

“Lila helped Hawk Moth as Volpina on Heroes Day!”

And that. She tried to make a grab for the scroll but missed.

“She manipulated her way into Adrien Agreste’s house!”

That too. She jumped back several feet when the akuma made a counterattack.

“She framed Marinette and got her expelled!”

She was Marinette and she knew that.

At this point, even with the reminders of all of Lila’s past misdeeds being brought up, Ladybug couldn’t find it in herself to be angry. She wasn’t even surprised at any of the claims.

Was there really anything Lila had done that she didn’t already know about? Or that she didn’t already believe Lila to be capable of?

“C’mon, Ladybug!” Chat called out to her imploringly. “You already know how bad Lila is. Can’t we just get rid of her and save Paris the trouble?”

“It’s only justice!” Witch Hunter shouted, pointing to Lila.

Lila, for her part, tried to shrink back as far as the pole and her bindings would allow.

“That’s not justice, Rose. That’s just revenge.” Ladybug replied, in perhaps the first true bit of feeling she’s had since this battle started. “If we let someone suffer just because we didn’t like them, could we really be called heroes?”

“SHE HURT ME!” Witch Hunter shrieked. “She LIED to me! She TRICKED me! SHE USED ME!”

“That makes her a monster. But you’re not one, Rose!”

“Hey!” Lila shouted, indignant. “I’M the victim, here!”

Witch Hunter spun on Lila in a rage. “I have your crimes right here, Lila Rossi! You’re the furthest thing from a victim and any court would agree with me.” She smirked, shaking her scroll. “That’s why MY court is the only one that matters right now! And you’ll see that soon enough!”

She spun back to Ladybug with a dark gleam in her eyes before she looked down to the scroll and began reading again. Much more quickly this time.

“Lila tried to sacrifice Marinette as a distraction to save herself! Lila lied to Chris about inventing Freestyle Crash! Lila made a deal with Oni-chan to get her to try and kill Ladybug!”

Ladybug’s eyes widened.

She hadn’t known about that. It didn’t surprise her that Lila would do that, but it was something she hadn’t known.

Okay, she had to take out that scroll before Witch Hunter could find something that WOULD upset her.

“LUCKY CHARM!”

In a swirl of magic, an item formed and dropped into her hands.

“Lighter fluid?” She gaped.

‘Dammit, Tikki!’

“Looks like even the Lucky Charm agrees, m’lady!” Chat called to her, being absolutely NO help whatsoever!

Ladybug felt her eye twitch.

Though at least he wasn’t trying to fight her either, which was a nice change of pace from the other times he’d been put under an akuma’s influence. But still!

“Lila has been acting as a spy for Gabriel Agreste! She’s been using this connection to try and gain influence over Adrien!”

FOCUS!

Ladybug looked around for anything the Lucky Charm could be used with. Because there had to be SOMETHING she could use it for.

Something that DIDN’T involve lighting Lila on fire!

“She’s kept the school from reaching her mother about her absences!”

Think!

“She’s lied to her mother about the school being closed!”

Think!

“She’s lied to her mother about akuma attacks! She claimed that Ladybug and Chat Noir were too incompetent to deal with them and let them run wild for months!”

She felt a flare of indignation at the lie regarding her capability, but forced herself to squash it quickly with the memory of how Lila had tried to disparage her superhero self to Adrien previously. If she could put down a hero she was supposedly “friends” with to a cute boy to make herself look better, it stood to reason she would insult Ladybug in other ways to other unsuspecting people. So no, Ladybug couldn’t be outraged.

Chat, however, was. “Hey!” He snapped, sending Lila a glare. Lila for her part merely looked away with a dark mutter.

Witch Hunter continued. “She’s lied about being Adrien Agreste’s girlfriend!”

Ladybug’s vision seemed to narrow down on Witch Hunter’s scroll.

…..it couldn’t be that easy, could it?

“She was willingly akumatized! TWICE!”

Screw it.

“She’s a liar! She’s evil! She’s horrible!” Witch Hunter shouted, growing only more frustrated angry. “SO WHY DO YOU KEEP PROTECTING HER?!

Good question. There’s no single clear answer, but it was a good question.

And in the midst of Rose’s growing fury, she was caught up in her own feelings that she had stopped really paying attention to her surroundings.

Taking advantage of the akuma’s distraction, Ladybug threw out her yoyo, wrapping it around her.

“Hey!” Witch Hunter cried out as her arms were pulled towards her body in an awkward angle that left the scroll in easy grabbing range.

Ladybug lunged and within seconds, had grabbed her arm that held the scroll with one hand and pulled the scroll from her grip with the other. She didn’t want to risk splashing Rose, after all. With Witch Hunter tied up and unable to stop her, she poured the lighter fluid on the scroll. And then—

“Lightning Dragon!”

It was only her hand that was covered with electricity. She didn’t need too much power. Just enough to create a few sparks. And when those sparks hit the scroll where the fluid had soaked through…

It only took a couple of seconds

“NO!” The akuma shouted as the scroll caught aflame.

And as the scroll started to burn, a black butterfly escaped.

Ladybug didn’t even bother with her normal catchphrase as she simply caught and purified the akuma. After everything that had happened, she just wanted this day to be OVER.

She breathed a sigh of relief as the butterfly was released—now pure white—and Witch Hunter changed back into a confused Rose.

“MIRACULOUS LADYBUG!”

The flash of light and loveliness of ladybugs brought with them a sense of relief to Marinette. All signs of the festival were cleaned away. What few people remained were looking around in confusion, as if unaware of what they had just previously been attempting to do. The stand and pyre Lila had been trapped on vanished. Lila herself was sent sprawling to the ground with a loud “oof!” in an act that may have been just a little petty on the part of the Cure.

Not that Ladybug was going to complain.

The Cure seemed to finish with Ladybug herself, which hopefully meant that Tikki would be back to normal once she detransformed. Though she wasn’t in a position to check just yet. She had a few other things to attend to first.

One of which being the liar herself.

Now free of her bindings and no longer under attack from an akuma or angry mob, Lila seemed much more confident—if not still somewhat shaken. She took to brushing herself off and trying to straighten her still damp and disorderly hair.

Lila sniffed and glared at the heroine.

“Here to lecture me again?”

She wanted to.

Oh, how she wanted to.

There was so much she wanted to say to the lying little witch. And after the day she had, she really wanted nothing more than to just full on RANT at her. As Marinette or Ladybug. Or both. She probably had two or three more good rants in her before Hawk Moth could scrounge up another akuma to target her. She could air some of those well-warranted grievances.

Except…

“No.”

Lila raised an eyebrow at that. “What?”

"No. I'm not going to lecture you. It'd simply be a waste of time at this point. Because if after everything that's happened today none of that has gotten through to you, then there's clearly nothing I could say that would."

She blinked. “So…you’re giving up?”

Ladybug leaned over Lila, looking…much more fearsome than the other girl had ever seen her. More than she had ever appeared to anyone.

“Let’s make something clear, Lila. I know you are a horrible person. I am fully aware that there are no lows you wouldn’t sink to. I know you’ve worked with Hawk Moth of your own free will and the only reason I’m not going to police and having you escorted from the city is simply that I don’t yet have proof you wouldn’t lie your way around and quite frankly, I trust you less out of my sight.”

Lila backed away.

“What…what are you saying?”

The hero clapped her hands together, looking eerily cheerful. “I’m saying that you and I are going to be spending much more time together! I will be watching you every day of your stay here in Paris. I know you’re connected to Hawk Moth, after all, so that’s all the more reason to keep you around.” Ladybug smiled. “Just think about it. I’m going to be aware of you at all times. When an akuma shows up, you’ll be the first person I’m looking for. If anything goes wrong, you will be the one I’ll know to be in the middle of it. Where you go, who you interact with, anything you do…I’m going to be right there.”

Ladybug’s grin was practically feral.

“You, Lila Rossi, are going to be my new. Special. Friend.”

Lila blanched, her eyes wide. “Y-you can’t do that! That’s stalking! I’ll—I’ll tell everyone you’re harassing me!”

Ladybug laughed. “Oh, Lila…”

She leaned forward and wrapped an arm around the liar’s shoulders.

“You said it yourself in your interview, remember? As far as anyone else is concerned, I’m only spending time with my best friend.” She said, poking Lila in the cheek as she reminded her of her own words.

Lila paled.

With her arm still around Lila to keep her from trying to pull away, Ladybug shrugged and gestured with the other arm. “And sure, you could admit to everyone that our friendship was a lie. But that would require you to admit that you DID lie. And which of those stories sound more realistic, do you think? That teen model Lila Rossi is being stalked by a superhero after she lied about being that hero’s best friend? Or that Ladybug is keeping a protective watch over a civilian who was foolish enough to claim a connection to her so that said civilian doesn’t herself get killed by a supervillain?”

She gave Lila a deadpan stare.

“After all, given what happened today, it doesn’t look like you’re Hawk Moth’s favorite accomplice anymore. There’s no telling how much you know…or what he could do to make sure you can’t reveal how much you know.”

Ladybug tried not to take satisfaction in the fact that Lila was starting to tremble.

“But I guess that’s what happens when you work with criminals for petty reasons.” She shrugged before smiling broadly. “That’s why it’s such a good thing that I will be going well out of my way to protect you. From anything. Ever.”

“But—”

She continued to gush. “And if that protection involves hunting you down during every akuma attack—or anything that I even suspect could become an akuma attack to get you out of the way…well, I'm just making sure my DEAR FRIEND Lila is safe. Sure, I tend to be in a rush, so I might be a little rough when I find a good hiding place for you...."

Ladybug tapped her chin thoughtfully.

“How do you feel about closets? Lockers? The sewer? Maybe another dip in the Seine since you seemed to handle it so well this time? Just to make really sure?”

Lila’s look of sheer disgust was all the answer she needed.

“Whether it’s an akuma attack or a squirrel, I promise to keep you safe. Day and night. Anywhere you go. For as long as this threat to you persists.” She swore, admiring Lila’s expression of growing anger.

“How about it, ‘Bestie’?” She finished with a giggle, drawing Lila even closer to her and tapping Lila’s nose. Perhaps she was enjoying this too much?

Still, this finally seemed to be enough for Lila as she slapped Ladybug’s hand away and shoved out of her grip.

“You don’t scare me!” She shouted this, but her voice quivered and her hands were shaking. “I’ll tell everyone! I’ll turn everyone against you! I’ll make you sorry!”

“There are so many reasons that would be a bad idea, the least of which being that you’ll open yourself up to an attack by Hawk Moth. But well, if you want to try it anyway, by all means go ahead!” Ladybug chirped. “I mean, really…”

Her eyes narrowed as she gave a rather evil smile.

“Who’ll even believe you?”

Lila gave a rather high pitched screech before storming off.

Ladybug smiled brightly as she waved. “Ciao! See you later, Lila!” She kept it up for a few more seconds until Lila was well out of earshot, at which point she immediately dropped the facade and glowered at the girl’s retreating back. “And it’ll be all too soon.”

“Ladybug?”

Oh right! She forgot for a moment there were still others.

She turned to see a worried-looking Chat.

“Did we…?”

She shook her head and he seemed to slump in relief.

“Oh. Good. That’s…that’s good.”

Yeah. She didn’t want to consider how Chat or anyone else would react if they learned they had killed someone.

A sniffle drew the attention of both to a particularly upset Rose. She appeared to be a mix of sad and horrified. Tears were spilling and she appeared a mess.

“I’m…so sorry!” She sobbed, rubbing at her eyes helplessly.

“It’s not your fault, Rose.” Ladybug rested a hand on her shoulder. “You were upset and you had every right to be.”

But Rose shook her head insistently. “No! If I hadn’t believed her…if I had just checked with Prince Ali first, none of this would have happened! And now…” She gave a sob. “Ali hates me! And so many people were lied to! They’ll be disappointed and their money was stolen and it’s all my fault!”

“You didn’t know.” Chat told her. “You thought you were doing the right thing.”

Rose sniffed. “But what seemed like the right thing really wasn’t.”

Something about that made Chat wince. “Yeah…”

“You can’t change what happened, but you can take steps from here.” Ladybug told her. She drew back from Rose and tapped her chin, thinking for a moment.

An idea struck and she snapped her fingers. “Since this was for a charity, didn’t you keep a ledger of the funds you received?”

Chat brightened. “Hey, yeah! You can use that log to note how much was stolen and take it to the proper authorities. That way, you can try to get the funds back.”

Rose seemed to calm as she considered the idea. She sniffed and wiped away a few tears.

“It’s worth a try. Thank you.” She gave a weak smile. “It doesn’t fix everything, but it’s at least an option.”

“You’re a wonderful person, Rose. Don’t let this change that.”

Rose smiled back at her. And for a moment, it truly felt like everything would be all right.

Then her earring gave a final beep and her transformation gave out.

Rose squeaked in shock and covered her eyes. Chat, for his part, spun around in an attempt not to see. It was heartwarming that they were so considerate of Ladybug’s privacy. Even Tikki gave a little gasp once she was free and flew to hide behind her. Fortunately, to her relief as she patted herself down in a panic, it was only her Ladybug transformation that had given out. The Dragon Miraculous was still very much activated and in effect.

“I’m okay. Sorry to worry you.”

Chat took a glance over his shoulder and gave a smile. “Perhaps we should cat-ch up another time.”

Talking was indeed not a free action. And while she had dealt with the akuma fairly quickly, she had spent a little too much time dealing with Lila.

….still worth it, though.

“Bug out!” She called as she took off.

_____________________

The Dragon Miraculous was different than what she was used to. The Ladybug Miraculous in combination with it had mitigated some of the differences, but they were still there. And now it was even more pronounced with her other transformation gone. It felt heavier. Her movements seemed more forceful. And there was an undercurrent of some feeling reminiscent of static that seemed to cling to her. Plus, she was without her yoyo, so traveling took a bit longer.

Once she had made it back to the bakery and was sure she was out of sight of everyone, she hopped over to her balcony and back into the safety of her room.

She waited for a minute, listening carefully to make sure no one would catch her. Then she sighed in relief and detransformed, leaving just Marinette with two kwamis in her room.

“Thank you, Longg.”

The Dragon gave a simple bow. “It was my honor.”

“I’ll make sure to return you to Master Fu later.” She promised him as she took off the choker and put it back in his box.

“Then until we meet again…” He said in farewell before disappearing.

Leaving her alone with Tikki.

Dead silence followed. Neither seemed willing to speak. What could she even say after what she did?

‘I’m sorry?’

But she wasn’t. 

‘I was wrong?’

But she had only spoken the truth.

‘I shouldn’t have done that?’

But she…she didn’t regret it.

She should regret it. She knew she should. It was mean and cruel of her and she knew she shouldn’t have let her anger get the best of her…

And yet…

She’d just wanted to air her grievances for once.

…but she’s Ladybug.

Ladybug has to be the bigger person.

Ladybug has to do the right thing.

Always.

She sighed. “Tikki—”

“I’m sorry, Marinette.”

That wasn’t expected.

“Wait—what?” She gaped.

“I’m sorry.” Tikki repeated. She was floating in front of her, but appeared so weighted down. She had never seen the ancient being look so sad.

“What’s going on, Tikki?” Marinette held her hands out in front of her, allowing Tikki a place to perch. The kwami accepted the offer and the comfort that came with it, nuzzling into Marinette’s thumb.

“I meant what I said before.” Tikki told her. Which…was an answer without actually answering anything.

“Before?”

Tikki seemed to slump in on herself. “You have every right to feel angry.”

Wait…wait…wasn’t that…?

Marinette gasped. “You remember?”

Tikki nodded, looking miserable. “It’s blurry at times. I remember being angry. I remember why. I remember some of the things I said…”

Marinette looked away, fumbling for something to say or some way to respond to that revelation. “W-well…I mean…it wasn’t really you—”

“It was.” Tikki admitted.

“I’m sure you didn’t mean it—”

“I did.”

Marinette tensed.

“Please don’t tell me you still want me to light Lila on fire.”

She just couldn’t deal with anything else at this point! She just couldn’t!

Fortunately, Tikki looked horrified at that. “What?! No!”

"Maybe a teensy bit? You know, liar liar pants on fire?"

“NO!”

She sighed in relief. “Oh, good.”

Honestly, she’d had more than enough of that. It was like the world was telling her it was okay when she knew it wasn’t. And with every stunt Lila pulled and each person who tried to reassure her that Lila’s reign was over and she would finally be getting some comeuppance…

It was everything she’d been wanting to hear. Everything she had wanted to have happen. But it was all taken to such an extreme and it was only happening at all because of an akuma, so she couldn’t even feel relieved or vindicated because it didn’t feel real.

It wasn’t fair.

It was hardly simple temptation. It was like the world was trying to tell her to take what she wanted in the worst way she could and that nobody had to know. Or care.

But she would.

And while she certainly wasn’t inclined to go along with it, Marinette was just…tired by the end.

Exhausted, actually.

Not because she was tempted, but because she was just done with having to be the responsible one in the situation where everyone seemed intent on pushing her to do the wrong thing.

“Marinette?”

Tikki’s concern broke her out of her thoughts. The little kwami was looking up at her in worry, her little hands resting on Marinette’s thumb.

“I’m fine, Tikki.”

Tikki, for her part, only gave a small smile.

“I’m really proud of you for how you handled today.”

How could Tikki say that? She let her anger take over. She used the opportunity to truly let loose her feelings against Lila. And yes, she had been needlessly petty in some of her responses. She wasted time yelling at Lila as Marinette, which allowed Chat to find them and take Lila to the mob—not that they had known he was one of them at the time, but still! And then as Ladybug, she had wasted more time with Lila to the point her timer had run out and her transformation had dropped when she finally tried to comfort Rose.

Marinette winced. Those…weren’t really things to be proud of. “I yelled at Lila. Twice.”

“But you helped her more times.” Tikki countered. “Even when you didn’t have to. And Lila getting caught in the end was on her. From the sounds of it, she had multiple chances for safety and ended up losing them all because she kept trying to lie and hurt people instead.”

Well, that wasn’t untrue. How much of this could have been resolved so much faster if Lila had just stayed in the closet where Marinette put her? Or if she hadn’t tried to manipulate Luka and Anarka? Or if she hadn’t tried to betray Marinette to the mob? Or if she just didn’t lie about the charity in the first place?

Yeah, there was a lot of things that Lila had done to kind of bring misfortune upon herself.

“But it’s still my fault Lila was like this in the first place. I called her out as Ladybug the first day I met her because I was angry with her lying about being my friend to get close to people only to turn around and badmouth me to make herself look better.”

Which, looking back, probably hadn’t been that big of a deal. Surely no one would have thought less of Ladybug regardless of what Lila claimed—especially for a supposed “famous hero” like Volpina was supposed to be when she’d never even been heard of before. If anything, maybe this claim would have led a hero-fanatic like Alya to look into things and discover Lila was lying sooner?

Tikki frowned. “What Lila did wasn’t your fault!”

Marinette covered her face with her other hand. “But I embarrassed her in front of Adrien! No wonder she hates me!”

Tikki wasn’t having it though. “She embarrassed herself because she lied and was caught. And it would have been worse and more embarrassing if it had gone on longer.”

“If I had just kept my mouth shut…”

“Would it have really changed anything?” Tikki asked.

That…made her look up in surprise. “Well, she wouldn’t have a grudge against Ladybug.”

“Not calling her out then might have prevented her from considering Ladybug an enemy, but it wouldn’t have stopped her from lying and using people.” Tikki reasoned. “And it wouldn’t have stopped her from helping Hawk Moth if she thought he could give her something she wanted.”

True…Lila had agreed to work with Hawk Moth for revenge against Ladybug. But even if she hadn’t made herself a focus of Lila’s anger, sooner or later, someone was bound to call Lila out on her lies. And once Lila felt slighted, she would no doubt target them as she had Ladybug and Marinette.

She closed her eyes and took a breath as the realization really took hold.

The only one responsible for Lila’s actions was Lila. She chose to lie. She chose to do things that hurt people. And if this entire day should have taught Marinette anything, it’s that doing nothing and letting Lila continue only caused more harm in the long run.

After all, Rose hadn’t done anything but believe in Lila and try to help her. And yet she was still hurt. Even more than Marinette had been as either herself or Ladybug.

“And how long would it have taken, do you think, for Lila to covet the Miraculous for herself regardless?” Tikki asked. “You had something she didn’t. She was already using and trying to undermine Ladybug to promote herself before even meeting you. She was already pretending to have a Miraculous before she even knew what they were or what they could fully do. Do you really think that she wouldn’t have decided to work against you anyway simply because Ladybug had something she didn’t?”

“But…” Marinette seemed to struggle for a moment. Because it couldn’t just not be her fault at all. She had upset Lila and caused her to target her in the first place—on both sides of the mask. “I still could have done better. You always push me for that.”

Even if Lila was in the wrong, that didn’t make what Marinette did right.

Tikki tilted her head, looking up at her human.

“I expect the best from you because I know you’re a wonderful Ladybug. I hold you to higher standards than anyone else because I care about you so much. But sometimes…the expectation and burden can be too much. And I know I haven’t always been the most supportive of you.”

Marinette jumped at that. “What? What are you talking about? Of course you have!”

Tikki shook her head. “There were times when I’d admonish you for doing the wrong thing, but I didn’t really tell you what the right thing was because I expected you to be able to figure it out and do it on your own.” She gave a little bitter laugh. “I somehow expected you to automatically know what I wanted and blamed you when you didn’t meet my expectations…”

Oh come on. Marinette gave a little laugh. Now Tikki was just being silly. “No, you haven’t. When did you ever—”

“Like with the school picture when you tried to help Juleka? Or the lie you told on Heroes Day? What about when you were almost akumatized after being expelled? Marinette, something terrible had just happened to you and you had every right to be upset! But instead of comforting you when you needed it—especially when it seemed like everyone else was against you—all I did was lecture you for how you were feeling!” Tikki wilted at the reminder. “I disapproved, but I didn’t really help you. I didn’t really support you the way you needed.”

She looked up at Marinette, her eyes big and teary. And somehow so old.

“I forget sometimes just how young you are. And that you’re just as capable of making mistakes.”

“But Tikki, I have made some bad choices.” Marinette stammered. “I’ve been selfish and acted rashly. I’ve done things because I was angry or jealous.”

“You’re not blameless for your choices.” Tikki agreed. “But you’re also not responsible for everyone else’s. You’re not wrong for feeling upset when you’re being hurt.”

She hugged Marinette’s thumb.

“And I’m sorry for making you feel like you were.”

It was like a huge weight came crashing down.

No, rather that a weight she was carrying was finally loosened and falling from her shoulders.

It…

Was this…really the first time anyone had supported her like this?

When was the last time someone had validated her feelings?

She had been Ladybug for over a year now. In all that time, it had become ingrained in her that she had to be perfect. That she couldn’t make mistakes. That anything she did could mean the end of the world—literally, in the case of the future she narrowly avoided with Chat Blanc.

People needed her.

Paris needed her.

She couldn’t afford to make mistakes.

That was why any mistake she did make—or even the actions of others seemed to weigh so heavily on her.

She had to be Ladybug. She had to be the final line of defense in facing any akuma. She had to be incorruptible lest she risk irreparable harm. But she also had to be Marinette, who also had to be there for her friends and make them happy and be Class Rep and fix their problems and protect people from Chloe or Lila or akumas. She had to be responsible and fix her mistakes and apologize and make things up to other people regardless of what she did or what they did. But she also had to be the support for Master Fu and learn what he knew as the Guardian in case anything happened to him and…

Wow. That was a lot.

That was…that was more than she’d realized.

She started to feel her eyes well up. But she couldn’t let them free. Because that meant she was…because what if…because Hawk Moth could…?

A tap to her head drew her gaze to her kwami.

“I’ll protect you.” Tikki promised, giving a kiss to Marinette’s forehead.

“So please…be honest with me.”

It wasn’t the first time Marinette had let herself cry.

But it was the first time she truly felt safe to.

[nriacc]

Nothing Revealed in a Common Crisis ~ Teaser

Here’s a teaser of Part 1 of NRIACC ~ Only Ones Who Know. 

Word Count: 2.5k

A/N: You all finally get the teaser ahhhhh!!! We are so excited to finally start sharing content with you! We would love to hear what you think of it so far once you’ve read the teaser and we’d love to hear your theories on what you think is going to happen. Really hope you all enjoy and thank you for reading x

Part 1 will be out in full, May 21st 2021

An @imagine-that-100​ and @ghostlightqueen​ collaboration.

| N’s Masterlist | Dot’s Masterlist | Series Masterlist (Coming Soon) |

~*~*~*~ July 2003 ~*~*~*~

“Excuse me, can you pull over please?” You ask loudly after practically leaning over Alex who sat directly behind the driver of the black taxi.

The driver nods his head and begins to reduce his speed after you asked him that through the perspex that separated him from the rest of you.

“Thank you,” You tell the driver, before getting out of Alex’s personal space and sitting back down next to the disgusting couple that were getting off beside you.

Thank god you weren’t too far away from home now.

Alex asks you with wide eyes, “Why’d you do that? What’s happening?”

You look at the brunette who looked like he felt more uncomfortable about being seated backwards than Matt getting off with the random girl beside you.

Alex was meant to be staying at Matt’s house tonight after their gig and the night out you’d had afterwards. But in the pub Matt had gotten lucky and the girl wanted to go home with him.

You living two roads away from Matt Helders meant that you always shared taxis home with him but tonight was just insufferable. And you weren't going to let Alex suffer through it once you parted ways, either.

“You’re staying at mine. I’m not leaving you with that,” You inform Alex, looking over to Matt sticking his tongue down the random girl's throat.

The more you looked at Matthew and the blonde the more you wanted to jump out of the moving vehicle. Hands were beginning to roam now, too, and you didn’t want to be in their vicinity any longer.

It would be very unfair of you to leave Alex in their presence. Especially when you had your whole house to yourself and you were only round the corner from where he was originally meant to be staying.

“What about your Mum?” Alex asks, concern on his face as the taxi slows.

“She’s away for the weekend so it’s fine. House is empty,” You assure him as you open the door once the red light has gone off.

Both you and Alex get out of the taxi but before you close the door you pull a £10 note out of your pocket for your share of the taxi fare.

“Matt, you’re disgusting but here’s a tenner,” You say throwing the money at him.

Matt nods at you when he takes a quick break from the blonde. You shake your head at him trying not to smile at the cocky bastard.

You hear Alex tell the driver, “Then to the original address please mate” when you close the black door.

You’re more than thankful to see the taxi drive away. You didn’t want to endure anymore of that disgusting PDA.

Both you and Alex breathe a sigh of relief when you’re just in each other’s presence again. You’re glad to see the taxi’s lights disappear from sight down the long road.

“They’re vile,” Alex sighs before lighting up a cigarette.

“I was ready to jump out the taxi but the red light were on,” You tell him truthfully with a little chuckle.

You both walk in silence for a few minutes, just smoking and both reminiscing about the night you’d just had.

Alex and the lads had a gig in a venue in town where your friendship group had all gone to support him. You were always really close with them all, your little group always meeting up after high school and now most days after college.

But now it was summer and the group could meet up more often which was great. And whilst you were still in Sheffield, you would be making the most of every group event.

So when Matt suggested going out on the pull to a club after the gig, you were all up for it. However, the night didn’t go to plan.

You were in the queue for the club for about half an hour and then when half of you got in, the bouncers stopped Alex and asked for his ID.

This obviously put an end to that idea because most of you were all 17 except for Nick and Jamie. So it was lucky that those of you who got in actually did.

But once one of you had been stopped you all didn’t have a chance then. Alex tried to back chat the bouncers which didn’t really go down well, so you ended up shouting everyone back outside.

You didn’t abandon your mates. If one of you couldn’t get in, you all wouldn’t be going in.

Alex was pissed off about it for a while until you all found a bar that was known for not IDing people to go in that wasn’t too far away. So his mood thankfully picked up when you all got there.

However it seemed like he was a bit down as you walked down the long roads towards your house.

So as you stubbed your cigarette bud out, you questioned him, “What’s up?”

“Nothing,” Alex shook his head, stuffing his hands in his zip up hoodies pockets after throwing what little was left of his fag to the ground.

You didn’t believe him for a second, but you only called him out again on it when he kicked a stone along the pavement in a huff.

“Alex, I’m being serious, what’s up?” You ask again, noting that his shoulders were hunched to.

He tried to brush you off again, this time saying, “Nothing, I don’t wanna talk about it.”

“You know you can talk to me about anything you want, right?” You feel the need to remind him.

You’d known him since you were 3. If you desperately needed someone to turn to and the girls weren’t around Alex would more than likely be your go to.

“Not this,” Alex shakes his head, still not looking at you.

“It can’t be that bad,” You tell him.

Alex just shakes his head again, really not wanting to get into it with you because he didn’t think you’d understand. So this time he changes his answer to, “It’s not bad, it’s just embarrassing.”

“More embarrassing than when I wet myself in primary school and you never let me forget about it?” You shake your head.

Alex laughs a little at that, finally looking toward you when he says, “Because it was funny.”

“I was five years old Alex, give me a fucking break,” You chuckle, attempting to defend yourself.

Both of you laugh at the memory of him bringing it up countless times over the years. He was such a teasing friend but you’d known him since you were toddlers so you would let him off.

You had enough embarrassing stories of him that you could bring up if you needed too.

“Come on,” You try again, “What’s up?”

This time you seem to get somewhere because Alex tells you, “I really just feel like shit.”

“Why?” You ask, sticking your bottom lip out a little. “I thought you had a good night?”

“I mean yeah sure, I had a good night with you, but that’s not what I mean,” Alex tells you, and when you don’t reply he looked round at you noticing you were waiting for him to continue.

He sighs when he just gives in and tells you, “I just mean I was hoping to get off with that girl in that green dress but it didn’t happen.”

Ah, you understood now.

“Didn’t get a pull, again,” Alex scorns himself before once again kicking the stone on the ground a lot harder this time.  

You watched as it clattered it’s way down the darkened pavements and you nod understanding his words.

“Oh, yeah, I know what you mean,” You tell him honestly. “I was gutted about that too, that guy in that leather jacket was fit.”

Fit was the highest compliment you northerners would give people. You weren’t meaning it in an athletic sense but if you deemed someone as fit that meant that you found them very attractive.

Alex nods processing your words. He vaguely remembered you chatting to a guy in a leather jacket in the bar. But he’d had a few drinks since then so his memory was a tad hazy.

After a few seconds of silence between you, Alex just sighs, telling you his full truth, “I just feel like I’m behind...”

“You know what I mean... Like everyone else either goes home with someone or pulls them and does stuff in the club,” Alex lists off thinking back to previous nights out.

You nod, “Yeah and I hate it.”

“I hate it, too,” Alex agrees.

A thought whirls around your mind for a few moments, before you actually grow the balls to say it out loud, “I hate that I’m still a virgin.”

“Same.” Alex says in what seems like relief that you’d said it too.

Your friendship group was a close one. You all knew who’d been sleeping with who and who's single and who’s done things and who hadn’t.

It wasn’t a surprise to either of you what you were hearing the other say out loud.

If anything though it got a weight off both your chests.

“You know like I just don’t want the first time something happens to be someone fingering me in a club or something,” You laugh a little as you turn the corner onto another long road.

“Yeah, I get that,” Alex nods chuckling too.

Some of the stories that your friends told in the place you all went out was truly mental. But gossip was gossip and it spread like wildfire.

Alex continues showing his understanding with, “Like, you’re not necessarily after being in a relationship or whatever but you at least don’t want it to be a randomer.”

“Literally,” You nod, “I’m glad you get it.”

“Well you know... The same things go through my mind,” Alex tells you.

He’s just glad he’s not the only one feeling a bit left behind.

“What, getting fingered in a club?” You ask him playfully with a little laugh.

“Fuck off,” Alex laughs and nudges you to the side.  

You both laugh for a second and once you’re next to him again he continues, “I just mean like I wanna just get things out of the way... Like I don’t want it to mean nothing, but I also don’t want to be completely shit at everything if I’m doing it with someone who I’m going to be in a relationship with.”

“Oh my god that’s literally it, isn’t it?” You nod, “Like I just feel like after the first times’ done and dusted, I could be a little slag then if I wanted to be... Because then I wouldn’t be scared of some wanker taking my virginity just to then fuck off.”

“Literally,” Alex smiles at you, understanding completely.  

“Have you done anything?” You ask him after a few moments of silence. The only round to be heard was your footsteps.  

“No,” Alex shakes his head before asking, “Have you?”

“No,” You offer him a sad smile.

Alex returns yours with his own and you both just walk down the road in a comfortable silence for a minute. You’re about 5 minutes away from your house now.

“I feel like you could write a sad song about us,” You say not wanting to get lost in your thoughts again.

“I wouldn’t wanna broadcast our lives like that,” Alex chuckles a tad, shaking his mop of brown hair.

You grin at him, “Very considerate of you.”

“Well you know, I’m a nice guy,” Alex smiles, his chocolate eyes looking at you.

You smile, “I know you are.”

“Gentleman really,” Alex adds in jest which makes you laugh.

“Pushing the boat out a bit there Al,” You chuckle before you both share a laugh.

A silence falls between you then as you both continue to walk down the road. Thoughts start forming in your mind then, you never really were a fan of silence because it gave you a chance to overthink and create some crazy ideas.

You then walk silently faster before turning towards him and stopping in front of him.

Alex stops walking too and looks at you curiously.

“What’s up?” He asks with a raised eyebrow.

“Can I kiss you?” You ask after building up a little confidence.

Alex’s frowns a little, “What?”

Where was this coming from?

“Can I kiss you... Like properly?” You ask, confidence shooting way down though when you see your friend is not so keen on the idea.

“Erm...” Alex trails off looking at you like you’ve gone mad.

Then you feel a bit stupid.

You shake your head, starting to turn back to start walking towards your house again. As you do, you begin to backtrack, “Just ignore me, I don’t know what I’m thin-“

Alex’s hand then grabs your wrist and whips you back around to face him. The brunette then takes a step towards you, cups the back of your neck, and attaches his lips to yours.

You’re a bit taken aback by his actions, despite you asking for it. But you quickly relax into the gesture.

Your hand that landed on his chest after him pulling you back around clutched at his hoodie as you got your bearings with each other. You bring your hand up to lace into his hair and as you do that Alex deepens the kiss.

He was almost hesitant at first when his tongue connected with yours. But after a second you both got more confident with it.

The night was a humid one so it meant that when the kiss started heating the both of you up, it got you both really hot and bothered. He was a really good kisser, something that you’d never really given much thought to before.

But as he was kissing you, you felt a giddy nervousness in your stomach. Something that made you crave him more.

And Alex seemed just as keen on you too, he was pulling you close to him. With one hand around your waist and the other still cupping your neck, keeping you in place.

His lips were soft against your own yet they moved at an increasing pace which you happily tried to keep up with. It was like you were both catching up for a night of failed attempts at a pull.

But you were finally getting it now. Your tongues were moving against each other’s in a way that screamed for the other to continue and never break apart.

When Alex’s fingers dig into your hips you pull the tiniest bit tighter on his hair as you hum into the kiss. You were really enjoying it, completely invested in it and his hold on you felt possessive in the best way.

It was like you were both kissing each other that frantically to make up for the lost time you’d had at the pub.

The kiss only stops because you’re startled away from each other by a car razzing it’s way down the street. The exhaust had obviously been tampered with to make it sound much louder than it was.

You pulled away a little shocked that you’d both just pulled each other like that in front of some random house around the corner from yours. You could hear the car that had just made you both jump over the sound of your own rapid heartbeat.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A/N: AHHHH WHAT DID YOU THINK?!?!?!?! What do you think is going to happen???? Apologies for no Matty yet but he comes into it a little later. Don’t worry though, the whole story is equally balanced out. Really hope you all enjoyed it, can’t wait for you to read the full part on May 21st. 

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