#but it doesn’t make the manner of his goodbye any less kind of terrible

[valyrfia]

WELL!

[troublesometrollhunters]

~ Douxie is a lowly street urchin. He's the lowest class you can get and he's barely considered a person none the less a commoner. He has no place being near the castle or being offered by the Merlin to learn magic at the side of Morgana. He doesn't fit into the world of Nobility surrounding Camelot or the Royal Court. And yet as Merlin puts his hand on the young boys shoulder leading him to the castle as he holds a sleeping Archie close, Douxies never felt more at home.

~ When Douxie meets you it's love at first sight. You just looked so healthy and clean and kind. Almost angelic. With rosy cheeks and a bright smile he couldn't help but stare at you as your mom talked to Merlin about something. You were in the most beautiful clothes he'd ever seen and your hair was recently brushed and done. He swallows trying to find his words but you don't seem to mind as you fill the silence with your sweet voice. Archie stirs in his arms and as you leave with your mom waving a goodbye Archie gives him a knowing look as Merlin smacks his head.

~ "Absolutely not Hisirdoux." Merlin is firm on that point. Douxie is allowed many freedoms now that he lives in the castle but there are also many new rules. One of them is that he apprentally is not to talk with the Nobel he met his first day as Merlins apprentice. Or any Nobles he meets unless he is with Merlin and they address him first. His rank may be higher now that he is Merlins apprentice but it will never be high enough to truly intrest someone of your stature or decorum. At least that's what Merlin tells him.

~ So of course he may not be able to "talk" to you but Archie can. So the ten year old Douxie comes up with a plan! While he's working besides Merlin he sends Archie off too learn more about you. The familiar seeing Douxies interest in you is quit keen on gaining knowledge for his young master. So the cat sneaks off to ask you some questions.

~ Your alone in your room studying when he finds you. You're reading and when he appears your eager to pet him. I mean he is a small fluffy cat. However when he speaks you seem hesitant to talk back at first, afraid that a fae is tricking you or you might get cursed. But a talking cat is so exciting and he seems very well mannered so you end up answering all his questions in exhange for some of your own. When Archie comes back that night Douxie learns everything about you Archie had learned. Apprentally you're the child of a Dutchess or perhaps a distant cousin of King Arthur but whoever you are Archie confirms you're way out of Douxies league. That in no way stops them however.

~ Merlin said Douxie is not to court you. But he isn't intrested in marriage (yet) he only wants your hand in friendship. After all your his age and you live in the castle and you seem super nice. He may be a middle class mage but he does live in the castle which means little Douxie often has free riegn of it. He's worried about guards spotting him near your room so he sends Archie too you with questions he has. Sometimes he's brave and he'll catch glimpses of you throughout the castle. He always gets a dopey smile on his face after he's seen you.

~ One day as he sits at his desk looking at the window waiting for Archie to come and tell him more about you he gets a surprise. His face lights up seeing his familiar and he notices something in the cats mouth. Archie smiles as he hands over a letter.

'Hisirdoux I've heard a lot about you from your familiar. Archie says you should give him more treats for his troubles and I agree he's a good cat who often visits me when I am lonely.

My name is (Y/N) and although we haven't formally met and talked alone I remember you. Merlins apprentice learning magic! That must be so exciting! Much better than my dull tasks in the court! I am always with escort or guard or parent otherwise I assure you we would've met and talked again. I often catch you in the corner of my eye and it always bring a smile to my face. You seem very kind and many of my friends sadly are not. So I have come up with a plan. For now I can not meet you in person but someday soon I will find a way.

Until then lets write letters. It'll be an adventure.

- Love (Y/N)

~ Archie doesn't mind being a messanger. He finds your friendship with Doxuie endearing and soon comes to care for you as much as the boy. Douxie immediately gets excited at the idea of writing you a letter and responds as soon as he finsihes reading yours.

~ Dear (Y/N),

Merlin said I'm not supposed to talk to you but he never said I couldn't write too you! You're brilliant for thinking of this and I don't listen to everything he says anyways. Merlin is a great teacher and I am grateful to him but he is also a hard enforcer. Learning magic under him is difficult and I do a lot more cleaning than actual magic.

But that's okay! I enjoy working under him. What must your life be like I wonder? A Royal in the Court? What do you do? What are you Royal duties? I mostly mop, sweep, and write endless hours of boring homework nothing exciting like this!

P.S I gave Archie lots of pets and treats just like you asked!

- Your friend Hisirdoux Casperan

~ Soon starts a game of back and forth. Every night or every other night you write letters to him and he writes back. You exchange smiles in the hall and nod at each other in passing. It's the biggest secret either of you have ever had and sometimes it takes everything not to giggle at the sight of each other. You may not be able to hang out properly but as you begin to get to know each other more intimately Hisirdoux takes more risks too see you and you in turn do the same.

~ A year goes by and Douxie starts adding in small things to your letters. He loves giving you little gifts and trying to catch a reaction in the hallway, as dangerous as it might be, he loves seeing your smile whenever you receive something. Pressed flowers, poetry he read in old books, and knick nacks he found in town being some of his favorites to give you. In turn you give him sweets, books you like to read, small sketches, interesting facts from your studies, pretty crystals, and anything else you think he'll enjoy.

~ As teenager's Archie had been your letterman for years. Acting as a middle ground since it was almost impossible to meet alone. You and Hisirdoux had become closer despite not being able to meet in person much and as you both were given more freedom as you got older you found ways to meet and talk, Archie acting as a look out as you snuck moments alone.

~ You both find out the castle has secret passages throughout the walls when your about 13. Douxie and you are now able to meet in secret and have free reign of the castle at night when everyone is asleep. Some nights you both sneak into the kitchens stealing tarts and other sweets, other nights you spend in the library reading together into the early hours of the morning, and other nights are spent wandering the castle learning all it's secrets. Sometimes you even sneak to the roof or observatory and stare out at the stars talking about your dreams and what you wish to be and do.

~ As he becomes better at music he finds himself sitting beneath your rooms balcony or practicing outside your room so you can hear his music. You only encourage his craft and your encouragement makes his heart soar. He loves singing silly ballads to you and has even snuck in some romantic lyrics.

~ He loves showing off his magic. He's so proud of his craft and he's proud of how your eyes light up when you watch him do a spell. He enjoys watching your reactions as he casts his latest mark and often does spells he probably shouldn't to try and impress you. His favorite trick is summoning a flower and tucking it behind your ear. Your blush is always so pretty as he places it for you.

~ He sneaks into your library or places you go throughout the day to leave you things to find. Pressed flowers became a common occurrence in your books, or bits of a song he'd wrote slip into your school notes. Sometimes drawings and other small assorted things will appear through out the day as you do your duties as well. Unknown to Casperan you keep everything he gives you in a box under your bed in your room. All the letters he's written to you are safely tucked away in a large hollow book you made.

~ It becomes easier for him to sneak into your room or you to sneak into his as you get older. There are secret tunnels in the castle walls you use to meet up.

~ As you grow older you know your hand will soon be given to some other Nobel family but you dream of a life with Douxie. One where you could be yourself and you could live a life of love, magic, and adventure. He made you happy and although it wasn't practical you often daydreamed of running away together or becoming a mage yourself just so you could marry him.

~ One night when Archie goes to check up on you and say goodnight he runs back to Hisirdoux worried. Apprentally the ball of furr had heard you crying and ran back to tell young Casperan. He of course ran to your room doing his best not to be seen. You were waiting for Archie to come say goodnight but you'd fallen asleep and then woken from a terrible nightmare. Your door opens and looking up you sniffle and stare at Casperan with scared eyes. He lays next to you and you lean against him closing your eyes and taking in his comfort. Holding you close he uses his magic to play you a song staying with you until you drift asleep.

~ You're both more than friends. You both know it but neither of you have admitted it. The Royal Court would never allow you to love each other. You could never be married officially and eventually you'd be forced into a loveless life with someone else. However tension is rising in Camelot and things are changing. Magic may soon be banned and with it Douxies passion. You're idea to run away becomes more and more appealing as the world around you slowly dissolves into choas.

~ One night while everyone was asleep you sneak into his room. Shaking him awake you put a finger to your mouth and drag the sleepy boy to the stables. Under the moonlight you both ride out of Camelot to spend one night together. One night where you can just be who you both are. You explain your plan. What you should do and although Douxie does not want to leave he agrees it's unsafe.

~ You pack. You know you can't take much but you've arranged for a carriage with two horses so you and Douxie can at least start with something. All your jewellery and valuables along with pouches full of gold, silver, and copper from the Royal Treasury are put into a large satchel you hide under your bed. You pack a few of your least fancy dresses and steal pants from the stable boy. All of your favorite books, drawing supplies, and poems are shoved into a different satchel. You hide the hollow book of letters and all the gifts Hisirdoux wrote you in the stable and you prepare to leave.

~ Packing the carriage late at night under the stars Douxie and Archie meet you. Douxie has a satchel full of potions, a purse full of magic scrolls and books no one will miss, the letters you wrote him, and his lute. He also grabbed dried meat from the kitchen, biscuits, and canteens of water.

"Love are you sure?" He's so tender so soft and so full of love. You know this is meant to be.

"Without you Douxie life is not worth living. You love me not for my riches. Not for looks. Not for my status but for me. No matter what happens I love you."

~ That's all Douxie needs to hear before he takes the reigns and you both leave. Fleeing your life from Camelot and going on a new adventure. One of adventure, magic, and love. You know things will never be the same but that's alright. You have him, he has you, and you both had Archie. As you flee under the stars avoiding trolls and traveling several towns over you know this is meant to be.

(Comments and feedback appreciated :D)

[lettrespromises]

KUROO, AKAASHI AND ATSUMU - TAKE MY HEART WITH YOU.

@luveranime​ wrote : ❝ Heyyy! Could you do one where kuroo and akaashi and atsumu are leaving to another country for volleyball purposes and they have to say goodbye to their s/o?🥺🥺 ❞ A.N :  ❝ Dear reader,  this is my first request and i’m nervous as heck, i’m trying really hard not to scream right now. anywhoopsie! i tried to make these both sad and fluffy because all my posts are kind of angsty and i don’t want to be pinned as a heartbreaker. i had so much fun writing this so thank you so much for requesting, sending lots of love and kisses your way! mwah!  Sincerely yours, Nikki ❞ Genre: Kinda sad, kinda fluffy. Warnings: Bits of crying, mentions of sex but no actual smut (post time-skip for Atsumu).

Kuroo is the type of person who gets emotionally attached slowly, but once he’s attached to you, there’s no going back. His passion is unmatched (yes I may be writing this because he’s a scorpio and so am I), meaning that he will pour every ounce of love he possesses into your relationship.

He loves hard and will always put you before anything else. As a matter of fact, you were the one who had to force him to go abroad to study new volleyball techniques and come back as a better, more experienced player.

It took forever to convince him though. He felt guilty for leaving you behind and as stated before, you come before anything else, including volleyball. (Lucky you, he’s putting his first love after you.)

As much as he is excited to meet new players, learn new ways to be a more efficient middleblocker and discover a new country, his excitation counterbalances with the thought of leaving you. He’s both looking forward and dreading leaving Japan, and you in the process. 

The latter causes him to lack slumber, he has terrible insomnias because his emotions are tearing him apart. Thankfully, you’re here to whisper sweet nothings to him and secure him in your embrace to make him fall back asleep (although, the few nights leading to his departure often result in him squeezing the life out of you when you’re sleeping, send help.)

The atmosphere of the ride to the airport is very close to pure denial. You’re both singing until ripping your vocal cords, his palm has found a permanent place upon your thigh, sometimes he squeezes your flesh to print this sensation into his head because deep down he knows this is the last time he gets to see you and touch you before a long time.

At the airport, you’re the kind of cliché couple to melt into each other’s embrace amidst comforting silence. You both feel like you’re all alone in the airport, like there’s nobody else there.

Your hands grip his Nekoma jacket hard, as if your life was depending on it, but after all, you just needed to keep this feeling with you at all costs- the feeling of your boyfriend’s toned arms around your waist, squeezing you like there’s no tomorrow while you keep your eyes shut.

Kuroo, on the other one hand, runs his digits through your hair in a comforting manner and delivers occasional pecks on the crown of your hair. 

However, you both know it’s time (although you might have been trying to purposefully make Kuroo miss his flight), which results in Kuroo saying “Kitten, I know it’s hard but I have to go now.”, cue your cute self looking at him with pleading eyes. “Don’t give me this look, baby, I hate this as much as you do.”

He envelops your cheeks with both of his gigantic palms and presses one final kiss upon your lips, it’s everything you wanted and represented Kuroo so well- passionate, caring, both soft and rough on the edges. His thumbs wipe away the tears crashing down on your cheeks, once he pulls away due to the lack of oxygen, he doesn’t miss to slap your butt because... Kuroo...

Upon leaving, he puts his Nekoma jacket upon your shoulders while flashing you his toothiest smile : “I’ve always thought you rocked it better than me, kitten.” 

As he makes his way to the main hall, he looks back at you and mouths a very touching “I love you, I’ll be back to you soon.” and blows a kiss your way, you stare at him and squeeze his jacket against your chest, at least you have a new cuddle buddy as a replacement.

Ahh, Akaashi, or as I like to call him: agASHEHHHH.

It’s safe to say that he is the polar opposite of Kuroo regarding display of affection. Love with Akaashi echoes to comfortable silence, but that certainly does not mean he wouldn’t get the moon for you if you asked.

Akaashi becomes unconsciously a bit more distant and a bit more silent the week leading up to his departure. He thinks that gradually separating himself from you will hurt you less once he’s gone, he just wants his absence to cause you as little pain as possible.

You, on the other one hand, get quite frustrated with this semi-silent treatment. He doesn’t come at your place as often, he cuts the conversations short and says he’s too busy with Bokuto-san to hang out with you. 

The truth of the matter is, he’s hurting so much from the inside, and this idea of his is just eating him alive. It eats him alive because you’re away, and he’s the one blocking you off. He absolutely hates the way he’s acting.

Hence why, the day before of his departure, he crashes at your place with takeout, a bouquet of everlasting flowers and all the good stuff to have the perfect movie night.

Needless to say, you’re shocked once you see him and all these things he brought specifically for you. He takes time to carefully explain why he chose to bring you all of this: he ordered this peculiar takeout because it’s your favorite, he got you this bouquet of everlasting flowers so you can have a permanent proof of his love for you and the full ‘movie night’ equipment to light up the mood of this fatidical night.

Although he doesn’t really initiate any kind of affectionate touches, this night is the total opposite- he delivers pecks everywhere on your face, envelops you safely into his embrace, plays with your hair while you’re watching the movie and whispers a few “I love you so much.” in the crook of your neck.

Eventually, you both fall asleep and he carries you bridal style to your bed where you both spend the night together, comforted by each other’s embrace.

Akaashi insisted on going to the airport alone, the will to cause you as little as possible still embedded in his brain. Thus, he leaves you while you’re sleeping and admires you one last time before delivering a sweet peck on your forehead and whispers “I’ll be back before you can say it, dove.”

Once you wake up, you pat the other half of your bed only to realize you’re alone and Akaashi has already left. However, there’s a curious bag next to your bed. As you open it up, you realize it’s filled with Akaashi’s clothing and his signature smell is locked in within the fabric, there are also a bunch of neatly handwritten notes for each day he’s gonna be without you. All of them are reminders of your qualities, how much he loves you and memories of your dates with polaroid pictures.

 Upon seeing all these precious things specially prepared for you, you go back to sleep, hugging his pillow close to your chest with a soft smile on your face, Akaashi’s favorite smile.

Oh well, now this is a wild one.

Dating a professional volleyball has its pros and cons, and needless to say, the biggest disadvantage of dating Atsumu is how often he needs to go abroad to play against a foreign team. 

Now, of course you’re his number one fan and rightfully so and Atsumu asks you to come with him all the time but you can’t just leave your professional life aside, hence why it’s always bittersweet when he has to leave.

However, if it’s bittersweet to you, to Atsumu, it’s the best occasion to tease the hell out of you because you pout every time he brings up the fact he has to travel to another country. Cue the inevitable “Aw, is somebody gonna miss me or what?” and the obvious wink sent your way.

Teasing you is a way to make you crack a smile or laugh, which indirectly makes you forget about his trip for work or at least it makes it less painful because you’ve been laughing so much with your boyfriend. And to Atsumu, it’s the perfect way to capture a few candid pictures of your beautiful grin so he can admire them all once he’s far away from you.

Now, I hate to state the obvious but when I said that Atsumu is a wild one... I meant it. Hence why the night before his departure, he always makes sure to please you in bed and make you scream him name, because God knows when he will be able to do it again and hear such a sinful melody coming out of your mouth.

He does insist on you coming to the airport with him, and there again, he’s a wild one : Atsumu has no shame in making out with you right there, right now in the airport in front of the incredulous looks of the passengers around you.

He won’t hesitate and honestly has no shame regarding public display of affection : open mouthed kisses, trails of kisses left on your neck, a hand adventuring on your derrière, hell, even hickeys if he’s feeling like it.

Atsumu takes pride in leaving a few love bites, it’s a literal physical reminder that even though he’s not here with you, you know who you belong to. And nothing makes him smile more than imagining you staring at your reflection in the mirror once the bruises have healed up.

Nonetheless, the full make out session is broken by none other than the MSBY Black Jackal team’s obvious coughs, you know, a way to say “Hey, lovebirds, we don’t actually want to assist to the creation of a baby live in an airport and we kinda have to go.”

Both you and Atsumu know it’s time to part ways... But not before he plants a series of kisses on your plump lips and whisper a succession of “I love you so much, babygirl” or other “I’m gonna miss you so much, you have no idea”, orrrrr “You drive me crazy, baby.” and eventually the obvious “I can’t wait to make you walk weird for three days straight once I come back, princess.”

Eventually, you wave at Atsumu with a shy grin plastered upon your face, now that everything he said to you has sunk in, in return, he blows an obnoxious kiss your way. 

Once he returns to the team, Kiyoomi keeps his distance, even more so than usual because, I quote, “Do you have any idea of how many bacterias are shared in a kiss, Miya? 80 millions, which gives me 80 millions to stay away from you.” cue Atsumu replying with a smirk “I don’t regret a single one of these bacterias you’re talking about, totally worth it.”

[streets-in-paradise]

Family Matters

Troy (2004) reader insert fanfiction - Part 5

The option to vinculate links on words is not working right now for me, i don’t know why. I will add the links to the previous parts later. For now, all can be found in the Troy (2004) tag of my blog. 

Word Count: 2.858

Characters: Agamemnon, Menelaus, Achilles, Myceneaean Princess Reader. 

Relationships: Family relationships of the House of Atreus, Agamemnon and Achilles’ rivality. 

Warnings: Agamemnon and Menelaus being dickheads, hints of casual sexism. 

Summary: Agamemnon finds out about his daugther’s new friendship and his brother tries to stop him from making a big deal about it. 

Disclaimers: As i explained before, i try to follow Troy’s characterizations of most of the characters as much as i can. The Atrides are going to be douchebags because that’s how the movie portrays them. I just discovered i have lots of fun writing about this two scumbags, this was super fun to write. I felt them like the fun kind of scumbags while doing this. 

Tags: @yerevasunclair​ @hrisity12​ 

Thanks for reading!! 

Once the celebrations concluded and the guests started to return to their homelands the princess of Mycenae begged her father to let her stay in Sparta for a longer while instead of returning with him to their kingdom. Agamemnon didn't find major inconvenients on her request. He seemed pretty pleased with the image of family unity that the friendship of his daughter and his sister in law was reflecting. As long as Menelaus could be able to keep her under his watch and bring her back when she would wish it, he didn't have issues against it. For once, he didn't have anything to criticize. 

They discussed the topic early because she wanted to make sure of having enough time to convince him in the case of getting a straight negatory as first reply. She did it shortly before saying goodbye to Odysseus and Penelope, so she would be able to count with her biggest supporters in case of need. Before leaving, the king of Ithaca reminded her in a teasing tone to keep going with the good behaviour. The queen showed her gratitude for the help she was providing to her cousin. She hugged both of them with a great amount of enthusiasm and love. 

The situation became more complicated a short while after. Achilles was leaving the same day, joining his friend in the first stages of his travel. Without any consideration and staying true to his carefree style, he personally greeted the princess in front of her father. 

It was then when the king found out about their meeting. 

" Odysseus introduced us." she tried to excuse herself after seeing the horrified expression in her father's face. Achilles was trying to act in a cautious way because he didn't want to upset her, but the gesture was enough to make Agamemnon's blood boil and it was visible in his reaction. " It was just a formal introduction, very brief."  she lied. 

" I imagined it was a possibility. I wonder why I wasn't informed about it?"  the king recrimined her, looking at her with a deadly serious stare. 

" We didn't consider it necessary. " Achilles added. " As she said, it was very brief. Although, i felt i needed to approach her for a proper goodbye." 

" Since when do you have good manners? You are a killer beast." 

" I can be nicer when i want to be." 

Anticipating a new fight, she interrupted them in an attempt to calm them down. 

" There is no need for hostilities." 

" I didn't give you permission to speak." her father shut her up.

" You should, your rulership would be more stable if you listened to her from time to time. She is very clever and she loves her country. She told me some very interesting things about it, her eloquence makes you feel curious. She does a better job than you in selling off your unity ideal. I have the feeling that she could rule the country better than you. '' Achilles mocked him. 

She wished she could laugh openly at the comment. 

" Like if you knew anything about rulership. You are nothing more than an insolent soldier!!!"  Agamemnon replied, emphasizing the last sentence.

Before the argument could start to escalate they were interrupted by Menelaus. She felt relieved because all the work would not rely on Odysseus again. 

" What's the problem, brother? He is just teasing you." the spartan king commented in a relaxed tone. " Great joke, very appropriate. Polite but innocent. I'm not entirely sure of which one of you is supposed to insult more."  

" Why would it be insulting to me? " she asked, trying to hide her annoyance. 

" Because it is so irrelevant that it's funny. '' Menelaus started to laugh." If he truly wanted to compliment you he should have said something about your face or your hair, he could have praised anything else instead of your talent with words. You are not a diplomat, you are a young princess. That's not how you talk to a girl, that's how you close a negotiation. If all he has to say about you is that you talk a lot then he doesn't have anything too valuable. If I was your father I would be very calm about it. " 

" To praise a woman's intelligence is like to value a bird for its feet, absolutely pointless." Agamemnon added. " I must assume he is in the mood for strange jokes. " 

" Take it as you prefer, but I wasn't talking to you. "  the warrior replied, as sharply as usual.

The girl felt touched by his implícit defense. 

" It was an honour and a pleasure to meet you. I wish you good luck and a safefull return to your home." 

" You don't need to worry for him, darling. Danger itself is afraid of him. " Menelaus joked , interrupting them again. 

" I'm as used to danger as your uncle is to chaze girls young enough to be your cousins. " 

Instead of taking him seriously, the king of Sparta laughed again.

" You are a madman, but you never fail to amuse me. I think that the real reason why you two don't get along is because my brother doesn't get your sense of humour. He is a very serious man, always has been. " 

His niece was very happy because she guessed Achilles said that sharp commentary as a hint for her. From the many they had over the week, at least he remembered their deepest conversation. He took the bother of acting as her voice, saying to Menelaus at least a bit of everything she wished she could yell at him. It was a beautiful, kind gesture, more than she ever expected of him. 

She would have shown herself in absolute awe if it wasn't for the rampant rage she felt after witnessing her uncle laughing at something that would have enraged him if it would have been said by her. Pretending to keep engaged in the conversation, she defended Agamemnon. She hated to do it, but it was necessary to look less partial. 

" The weight of the crown makes him more wary but he has his moments."  

" It is the first reasonable thing i heard from you so far." he replied, with a bit of sarcasm." Go with your aunt... NOW!!" 

The young lady obeyed because she had no other choice. Without daring to emit a single sound, her gaze followed Achilles's one last time in a silent goodbye. He smiled at her with the same intention.

 She had to stand a long nagging session afterwards. Once the public gaze was no longer a concern Agammenon was free to show all his disgust and disappointment, threatening about how he was going to drag her back to Mycenae and lock her in the palace until she learned how to behave. 

She barely listened to him, her focus was almost entirely centered in her happy thoughts about Achilles. She was thinking of his beautiful blue eyes, his sweet smile, how much she enjoyed his company and how amazing he was for defending her in front of the biggest authorities of the place. He was so subtle that neither Agamemnon or Menelaus noticed anything. It felt like a last secret gift from him, something only them understood. 

Nothing else  mattered anymore. Not in a hopeless way but in a happy one instead. She was there pretending to care while keeping the happiness in her mind. It was the strangest and most amazing sensation. 

Her uncle was trying to defend her, but that didn't matter as well. She knew he was doing it for his own selfish reasons. He needed her there so she could stay to keep Helen calm, helping her to adapt and teaching her to ignore how much she hated him. She was going to use him for her own reasons as well, making him believe she was helping him when in fact her only objective was to protect Helen from him.

" Look at how happy she is. I can't be more pleased, I would love to have her around some more time" Menelaus was claiming. 

" SHE SHAMED ME!!! DO YOU WANT TO PRAISE HER FOR WHAT SHE DID TO ME ??"  his brother complained, yelling annoyingly.  

" Achilles was going to find another way to laugh one way or another. That's how he is, you don't need to punish her for it. " 

" Can you stop protecting her? We always face the same situation. She does something wrong and you want me to ignore it. Why was she talking to Achilles in the first place???" 

" Because we were in a party, a place where it is expected for you to meet people, and we were introduced to each other? "  she answered, trying to reflect some logic. 

" An introduction shouldn't last more than the time and words required to say your name and rank." 

" I wanted to make you look good in front of him. As you always say, I'm representing you. You wouldn't have liked me to act rude, you say it looks terrible in a woman. Some casual talk is needed to keep the appearances. He is important to you, I needed to keep him happy. " she defended herself. 

" Circunstancies force me to need of him, he is not important. You don't have to make him feel important. It is the worst thing you can do. Do you have any idea of how hard it is for me to deal with his ridículous pretensions???? "

" You didn't give me proper instructions on what to do. I had to guess and I did what i would had done in any formal meeting. "

" YOU TREATED HIM LIKE A KING!! He is nothing but a soldier!! You don't owe him any sort of formality, kindness or attention. He is nothing to you, NOTHING!" Agamemnon  emphasized.

Menelaus did his best to soften his speech. 

" What your father tries to say is that he thinks a soldier, despite his fame and recognition, doesn't deserve the same treatment you would give to a royal. A lady of your position shouldn't bother with him, not even regarding positive impressions. That kind of behaviour, even with good intentions on your part, feeds his idea of considering himself higher and greater than his general and king. "  he explained to her in a condescending way, like if she was completely ignorant on the matter. " You can't treat him like you would treat Odysseus. It feeds his ego and that makes things harder for your father.”

" I just tried to be nice. I heard he is a bad tempered hero who gets easily offended. " she fakely apologised. 

Menelaus was smiling at her with his usual enthusiasm. It hurted her a bit to not be able to correspond it but, in her cheerful state, fake it was easier than ever. 

" I know, you did good." he praised her." It's not your fault, you weren't sure of how to react.  Nobody prepared you for it." 

" NOW IT IS MY FAULT??? WHY DID YOU HAD TO INVITE HIM???"  Agamemnon complained, hysterically. 

" Have you seen my wife? She is the prettiest thing i have ever seen. I wanted her to be seen by everyone, you can't blame me. I bet not even Achilles himself had a woman as beautiful as mine. I had to ask him myself." 

" Did you actually ask him? His niece questioned him, laughing a bit and hiding her awkward reaction. Something of that did make her laugh for sure. Both kings were talking of Achilles like if he was a nobody that didn't matter, yet Menelaus had the need of proving himself in front of him. He made him come to his wedding so he could satisfy his masculine needs using Helen as a symbol. He wanted to show off to a godlike handsome man desired by many women that he got a particularly splendid woman he could only be able to dream of having. She was very amused while hearing his response. 

" Sure i did. He had to recognize I was right. There is no woman on this lands as gorgeous as mine. We may have our differences but nobody denies that. It's the only fact every greek agrees with. " 

" A good symbol of unity, the best idea you came up with lately. " she added, keeping the facade of cheerful approbation. 

" You always get me so quickly. That's my girl!!" he replied, hugging her sideways.

" I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR PRETTY WIFE, MENELAUS! THAT'S NOT THE POINT NOW!!" Agamemnon kept shouting. 

" Brother, you know i follow and support all your choices but you don't need to question her now. She had good intentions. " 

" Intentions don't justify terrible results. MY DAUGHTER , OF ALL PRINCESSES, WAS THE ONE TREATING HIM WITH HONOURS!! " 

" I already told you i'm sorry. What do you want me to do? Insult him the next time I see him?" she joked, fed up of his stupidity. 

"Let's hope there will be no next time. " her father assured her. " I try very hard to gradually trust you in the spaces a woman of your age should start attending. I know it is important but you keep bringing me more headaches. You are my daughter, ACT AS SUCH!" 

" Ajax says I'm lovely." she excused herself. 

" I CAN'T GET YOU MARRIED TO A BRUTE FROM AN INSIGNIFICANT KINGDOM!!" 

That was all he seemed to care about, his only obligation as a father. She was so relaxed that she barely cared about the mention of that delicate issue. Her good mood was a good push to keep inventing excuses to delay the talk.

" You have plenty of time to think about it but the world is not going to be conquered by itself. Soon you will rule every corner, being crowned as the greatest emperor of our history. I will be swimming in a sea of suitors, maybe even bigger than Helen's. This little incident will feel funny, we will be so powerful that men would embarrass themselves in front of me to get my approbation regardless of my behaviour. "

" Did you hear that? She is proud of you" Menelaus teased. 

" Of course i am. My dear father is the greatest conqueror this world has ever seen. Free cities tremble to the mention of his name. " she exaggerated to flatter him. As always, she was going to get what she wanted with lies. " I know some people like to spread lies and exaggerations claiming that you would be nothing without Achilles but the truth is that he would be nothing without you. You made him who he is, that ungrateful bastard is becoming a legend because he is fighting for you."  She said exactly what he wanted to hear, knowing she would get a positive response. 

" That's what i always say but nobody listens!! Nestor and Odysseus expect me to stand back and accept his pressures, your uncle thinks everything is a joke. That man doesn't respect me, he never listens to me! He is a threat to my position as commander of the army, I can't allow him to do as he pleases. What kind of example is that to other soldiers? To the kings whose armies are under my command???" 

" A seed of rebellion, you can't hold a weapon you can't control. That's why you do your best to keep him at bay. " she reassured him. " I'm sorry if my intervention ruins your plans. I tried to be a pleasant company to show off and make you proud. "  

Agamemnon was backing off slowly. He never used to make his changes of mind evident. She noticed it because his expression, still severe, didn't show the same rage anymore. 

" I can let it pass... for now,"  he sentenced. 

She gave him her sweetest fake smile, pleased with the outcome of her manipulation. 

" You are the best." 

" Don't make me regret it. " 

" You never asked how the meeting with Achilles felt for me. '' she reminded him, trying to stay on his good side. " He is the most insufferable vain man I have ever met. He thinks he is the best thing that happened to mankind since the flame of Prometheus. I don't know how you stand him. I deceived him because making him feel important was all I could do to keep him calmed. " 

Her lie amused both kings and they laughed in approbation. 

The young lady considered the discussion concluded in her favour. Explicit recognition was impossible, but she read it in their attitudes. Usually, hostilities ceasing and the matter being dismissed was the clearest sign. Disengaging was their way of losing without admitting it. They simply changed the subject and continued as always. She didn't even need to ask again if she could stay in Sparta, the agreement was implicit between both brothers. 

She left the family meeting with airs of triumph, secure of her possibilities. She managed to deceive Agamemnon and Menelaus at the same time. Her ability to fake was intact after all. As she handled both sons of Atreus at once, she started to feel perfectly capable to keep doing it with just one of them for the sake of Helen's wellbeing.

[rqgnarok]

in the face of death - derek hale

fandom: teen wolf

words: 1765

warnings: talk of blood and violence, death, teen wolf spoilers, if you haven’t finished the series? werewolf!female!reader

summary: derek faces the anuk-ite and the confrontations opens up old wounds that never really healed.

author’s note below.

“Derek?”

Derek turns around, a feeling not quite like panic but awareness of the danger he’s in making goosebumps erupt through his skin and the hairs at the back of his neck to stand, his eyes closing quickly when Lydia’s warning from earlier echoes in his head: shut your eyes!

“Derek,” he frowns, because he knows it’s not her, is completely aware that (Y/N) left for Gerard’s armory with Lydia and Stiles, but it is her voice. He spent years familiarizing himself with the tone and pitch, tattooing it to his memory at first unwillingly, but then welcoming the knowledge of how (Y/N) sounded like when she was in danger, when she was frustrated or angry at him, when she was in mourning or in love. 

It was only a part of what it meant to fall for someone like (Y/F/N), and now he knows her well enough to understand that it's not her, talking to him and walking from the end of the hallway, nearing him with careful, calculated steps.

Still, he tightens his jaw and draws his claws out because knowing isn’t enough. Derek’s been away from home for too long, not as long as he expected but definitely long enough for him to miss her terribly. Their lousy goodbye in the middle of the fucking desert left a lot to desire; if he could turn back time he would’ve kissed her straight on the mouth instead of dodging her sad eyes and closing his own to press a rough, long kiss to the crown of her head.

“Derek, it’s okay,” the voice calls for him, he can hear it closerclosercloser, but he can’t move, can’t turn around, he’s not sure that if he does he’ll fight the shapeshifter off of him or fall straight into its game. He panics, for a moment, wonders if the reason why the Anuk-Ite is so good at pretending to be (Y/N) is because he’s already got to her before Scott could fix any of this, even before Gerard’s hunters had a chance to fight her first. 

A shiver, his fingers tremble at how bad he’s tensing them, his jaw and shoulders ache. 

“It’s over,” it tries to win him over, and the soft fingers clutching his right shoulder catch him off guard even if they shouldn’t. And, damn it, it has got (Y/N)’s touch down to a T, too, skin perfect despite the fights and battles she’s gotten into, a werewolf’s healing nature erasing any physical scar she might’ve acquired during their suicidal-like stunts to save the town from the supernatural and vice versa. 

But Derek knows none of them have gotten out of them truly intact, is more than aware of those wounds hidden deep inside their minds and not so easy to notice, impossible to really truly heal from them completely.

It takes Derek a moment too long to shift away from the hold and he knows, he knows he’s trapped, done for, as good as dead as Peter, who was waiting for him, Scott and Malia at the entrance of the school, features forever caught off guard and set in stone if they don’t fix this soon. “It’s okay, you can look now.”

“You’re not real,” he bites back, turning around suddenly and throwing a punch so blind not because his eyes are closed but because Derek’s always been weak when it comes to her, and since he came back they’ve barely shared a couple of stolen looks before Scott sent them all on different ways. As he faces Death right now Derek can only think I hope she knows how I feel. He hopes that those looks conveyed everything he was trying to say, the I’m sorry I left, I still love you, I don’t think I ever stopped missing you-

“I’m right here,” there’s a smile in those words, Derek’s been away for a while but he remembers what it looks like and how it tastes, and the memory of (Y/N) grinning sleepily back at him as the sun rises through the windows of his loft, eyes soft and happy and Derek’s sure hand on the small of her back as if that simple touch could protect her of every evil in Gerard Argent’s bestiary. is the only thing keeping him from opening his eyes and surrendering.The moment he does the memory fades, left behind on the back of his eyelids and forgotten as he’s turned into stone. “I’m here, Derek, and so are you, you came home. I didn’t think you would.”

His tightly shut eyes soften almost involuntarily, there’s nostalgia and residual hurt from when he drove away and left her standing outside the abandoned church, and this is the kind of reprimand he expected to be thrown at him when he came back, yet it still feels like a sucker punch to the stomach. He momentarily forgets this isn’t the girl he left behind and lets himself be swallowed by the guilt of his actions. 

When he first came back to Beacon Hills after the fire he realized that he wasn’t the best at running away, and the second time he left he expected to be better at it, except now he’s got something to run to rather than away from, and that’s how he realizes, he was always meant to end up here: in the middle of a war he’s been fighting his entire life for just being what he was born as, but willing to give his life to it if it means (Y/N) won’t have to live with the repercussions of their kind.

“But you did, you’re here,” she coos, soft and somehow incredibly personal. It’s not everybody (Y/F/N) doesn’t acknowledge with an almost harsh sarcasm Derek’s sure she got from hanging out with Stiles too much. There’s a hand reaching for one of his own and it's amazing how quickly the claws draw back, he lets it be held despite knowing better. “You came back, that’s all that matters to me. Derek, please, open your eyes.”

He shakes his head almost imperceptibly, even when she guides his hand to rest on top of her heart, feeling it beat underneath his fingertips and being too unfocused, blindsided to realize that he can’t actually hear it, a sound he’s learned to identify as easily as her voice. 

No, for now, he trusts his touch, his fingers as they follow the path to her face through her collarbones and the slope of her neck, sighing out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding in since he decided to drive back to Beacon Hills as (Y/N) leans into his touch, the weight familiar against his palm.

“We can skip town,” she suggests, light and hopeful with an underlining of satisfaction as he remains putty in her grip. Derek’s too enamoured to notice, resolve weakened by the presence of the shapeshifter that’s been haunting his hometown and his traitorous heart, which insists on focusing on literally anything but the matter at hand. “Get in your car, drive to wherever the hell we want. You always wanted a home away from the city, we can do that. I wanna go with you, Derek, please let me go with you.”

I’d take you anywhere he admits to himself, a fact he wasn’t ready to acknowledge a year and a half ago. It had taken him less than an hour into his drive to realize how true it was, but at the time he was convinced that it was the right thing to do, letting her go and trusting she’d be safer with a pack that had people like Scott McCall and Stiles Stilinski in it. However blind their optimism and suicidal their plans could be they were good kids, and were certainly better at protecting the people they cared about than Derek had been his whole life. 

“Please, don’t leave me behind again.”

“I wouldn’t-”

“Then look at me,” she insists, and the air reeks of something Derek can’t recognize, at least nothing he relates to (Y/N) at all, and that should be one of the many warning signs he should’ve taken into consideration to realize that he’s letting his guard down so quickly it’s so fucking stupid. There’s a hand in his hair, slowing down to settle at the back of his neck. “Please, Derek, don’t leave me, look at me-”

“I-”

“Why won’t you look at me?” she covers his hand with her own, and the intensity of her grip along with the fire in her voice is what makes him pull away, too out of character and out of place for the Anuk-Ite to keep the charade any longer, to pretend it’s something, someone it’s not. Derek takes his hand back with a harshness to his movements, his claws back in display and fangs ready to fight his way out of it. 

Its voice, shaky with a fury that does not belong to (Y/N) and never has in the years Derek has known her, breaks the spell, and if he weren’t in so much fucking trouble, the born werewolf would laugh. The Anuk-Ite’s greatest advantage in a fight has just become its downfall, unable to perfectly recreate the only person Derek knows better than he knows himself. 

After all these years sometimes he fears he’s forgotten the voices of those he lost in the fire, their mannerisms and their familiar expressions. If it weren’t for his mother’s visits in his dreams, his family’s eyes and manners alive in Cora’s and Peter’s faces, he would’ve. 

But there’s no way he’d forget her, he knew it the first time after he spent the whole afternoon with her in a injured daze with a wolfsbane bullet deep inside his arm, he knew it when he left her behind in that desert with the taste of salty, bloody skin imprinted on his mouth, still tingling as he drove away and watched her through the rearview mirror until (Y/N) became nothing more than something else he’d left behind in Beacon Hills. 

And he knows it now, as he opens his eyes, helpless, aware that the last thing he is going to see is the one monster he couldn’t save his hometown from. His thoughts blur together into a senseless babble inside his head, I hope they make it out, Scott, does he have enough time, please, take care of her for me, tell her I’m sorry, tell (Y/N) I love-

He gives into the darkness.

-

i wrote this like seven months ago and just wrote a quick ending so i could upload something, mostly cause its been over a year since i have written anything, let alone completed it and i’m still working on the requests you have been sending out.

its been a long year with a horrible writers block but i kinda do like this, so here it is, for you. i hope you like it. i also have a vague idea for a scott piece i wanna write but im not sure i will, lmao, tho writing for teen wolf is really, really easy for me, idk why. anyways, whatever.

stay home and stay safe.

- e.

[hello-im-not-a-possum]

heres a Hell's Studio fic idea for ya, both Sammy and Snowflake end up sharing Snowflakes body for a week due to a pipe bursting and covering the two in ink

Poor Sam can never catch a break, can he?

Was it mentioned before that the Ink just loved to fuck around with the Music Director? Because it just really loved messing around with the guy. Maybe he had the funniest reactions in its mind, maybe the bitter bully of magic art supplies thought of the man as someone who needed to be taken down a peg or two, or maybe it was just that the music department had the worst pipe setup in the entire studio, thus making it the hot-spot area for magic ink related mishaps and had also made Sammy the most common victim of those said mishaps not out of spite, but sheer coincidence as he was simply almost always in that constantly-flooding area.

You can't exactly sound sane when you're constantly complaining about getting wet while you live in the splash zone.

But whatever the case may be, a solid 90% of the shenanigans that the ink had in store for someone usually fell on Sammy’s head. And some days it felt like the stuff only bothered to mess with others if it meant that could mess with the irate musician at the same time.

Today started off fairly normal for the studio and its residents; same bustling rhythm of a symphony of pencils, same small talk chats in the break room, same ...workplace accidents.

Snowflake was trying to fish a mouse out of a crack in the wall for curiosity's sake when Sammy heard the tell-tale groan of a pipe about to burst coming from within the deep hole in the wall. A groan that if years of working in this inky studio hell had taught him anything, was going to be a particularly bad break.

Acting on instinct, the musician grabbed the imp and pulled him away from the crack but it was too late, the pipe burst over both of them, making the little demon flop down into a large inky pool.

"Not again!"

Sammy sighed to himself as he shook off the access ink and noticed that his surroundings were much taller than they usually were. God there were days where he wondered why he didn't just quit and looked for a quieter and less stressful job that DIDN'T involve losing his humanity and peace of mind every other week. The music director reached out to where he swore Snowflake was, only for his hand to touch nothing but ink.

That was... concerning to say the least. Sammy swore that he held on tight to the little guy and didn't dare let go, he had to be somewhere in the pile of magical gunk.

"Don't panic Sammy, the ink wouldn't bring someone to life only to melt them away after a few weeks, right?"

And yet, the more he looked around, the more it seemed like that there was only one person in the ink pile. And the more the musician had felt a large pit of dread churn in his stomach.

"SNOWFLAKE?! SNOWFLAKE, WHERE ARE YOU?!"

The music director frantically dug through globs upon globs of ink, internally praying that the imp was simply shrunken to six inches like others had been instead of melted away only to find nothing but ink, ink, and more ink. The man's panic-clouded mind did not register the fact that he his hands had the same gloves as the little demon did. Or maybe it did, but the man decided to focus on the more important part of the situation; the missing toon child.

"Oh god... Oh god, what am I going to tell Wally?!"

"Mr. Sammy?"

Snowflake's voice called out, jolting the musician with a mixture of relief and that slightly annoyed feeling people get when it turns out that they were panicking over nothing.

"Snowflake! Where are you? Why did you stay quiet when I called out for you?"

"I-I thought I was looking for you! Where did you go?"

"Where did 'I' go?" Sammy parroted as he frowned and searched. "I'm right here..."

The man's voice trailed off as he finally fished something out of the ink pile: his own, heavily ink-stained empty clothes.

"SAMMY?! What happened to you?!"

Snowflake called out in worry as he looked over the empty outfit while Sammy just looked at the clothes in annoyance.

"That &#^$ing ink again..."

Who was controlling the body now? Either both of them or one of them, but neither of them could give a straight answer as the Sammy-possessed Snowflake marched on down to Joey's office, climbed on top of the other chair, paused for a moment as the body couldn't decide whether to gently place the clothes on the animator's desk or to slam them into it and wound up just dropping them on it instead.

"Snowflake my boy!" Joey greeted in his usual chipper tone. "What brings you to my office today?"

"M-Mr. Drew, I.. Sammy is.. Sammy and I got caught in the ink and then-" The little demon stiffened for a bit and a frown crossed his features, while his voice did not change, his tone and mannerisms certainly did. "I'm stuck inside Wally's kid's body, and both of us want me out of it."

"Okay! Don't worry, I know exactly how to fix this and it'll only take a jiffy!"

Joey retrieved several ritualistic items while humming to himself, but when he reached into his desk drawer he froze up for a second then started frantically rifling through it.

"O-oh! Oh dear... Um.. Excuse me for a minute."

He walked out of the room and dialed up a number on the phone, the pair of souls stuck in one form crept up to the door and put his ear against the door, only managing to get one half of the conversation.

"Hello? Yes, it's me again. Do you have any 'scones' in stock?"

"A week?! Are you sure?!"

"No, I don't doubt it..."

"Yes, yes, of course, I understand."

"...But how do I break it to them that they're stuck like that for until Monday?"

"Well, yes, this does happen often... But it's not like I WANT it to!"

"You know how magic gets!"

"Thank you, I'll see you Sunday night then. Goodbye."

As Joey hung up, Snowflake zipped back to where he was sitting earlier. The man walked back into his office, sighed, and shook his head before sheepishly looking up at Snowflake and Sammy.

"I'm sorry you two but I'm afraid I have bad news; I'm missing a key ingredient for the reversal spell and I can't get it until Monday."

The demon's head clonked down on the desk, letting out the longest, most tired sounding muffled scream that Joey had ever heard, clearly from the music director. Don't get him wrong, he loved kids and wouldn't mind spending the week with Snowflake under non-magic-ink related circumstances. But he wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea of being a kid again himself and also possessing somebody against both of their wills for any amount of time.

"Now ...Sammy..? There no need to worry, we've been through this before."

"He knows, he's just upset because aside from the weirdness of this, he and Susie were planning a date night on Friday and now they're gonna have to reschedule it again."

'He didn't need to know that!' Sammy mentally hissed.

"Nevermind, they weren't planning a date in the first place."

Sammy internally facepalmed.

"Terribly sorry to hear that then." Joey fidgeted with his tie nervously. "...I'll give you the paid leave while you're like this."

"Thanks, Joey."

---------------------------------------------------------

Wally wasn't quite sure if he should laugh, cry, or do both when he brought Snowflake and Sammy home.

The Janitor was used to weird stuff by now, heck, most of the time it felt like something crazy and magical happened every week. But there's 'the ink turned every piece of furnature in the building into cake' weird and then there was 'the guy who's technically your boss is possessing your son and now the power dynamic is weird.' weird.

Both of them seemed quiet, which was normal for Snowflake but slightly concerning for Sammy. Wally half expected to hear a long rant about 'the &$@#ing ink that should NOT be magical, seriously, who in their right mind pumps a studio full of MAGIC INK?!' or at least something that indicated that the music director was in there.

"So uh... how ya feelin' about the whole 'body sharin' thing champ?"

"It's kinda like sharing a room with somebody who doesn't want to be in it in the first place and also it's like having a bunch of songs stuck in your head that you want to listen to so that they can get unstuck except the songs technically don't exist yet."

"Okay, and what about you, Sam? you've been pretty quiet."

"How do I usually feel about these kind of things, Wally?"

"Fair point."

As Wally and Snowflake talked to each other, Sammy wondered if he was going to be staying at Wally's place throughout the week, or switching days between his own place and Wally's. Either way, it felt like this was going to be a very long week.

[starlightsearches]

Hi there can I please request a Hux x nurse!reader? I just rlly want a lot of fluff bcs I recently rewatched TROS and I felt sad again bcs of hux's fate. Thanks owo

For Good Luck

Of course! IDK if this is as fluffy as you wanted, but I kind of ran with it, and I think that the ending is nice and soft! Hope you like it 😊

Requests are closed for now, but will be opening again very soon ✨

Armitage Hux x Nurse! Reader

Warnings: Language, an injury and some medical care including needles!

“He’s asked for you again,” Tayan says in a sing-song voice, and you look away from him to hide your reaction. It’s no secret—to you or anyone else working in the medbay—that the general prefers you over the others. The real secret is why he prefers you, which is something you’re not really sure about either.

“What’s he here for?” you ask, leaning over the workstation to get a look at the report on the data pad, but he hides it from your view.

“Split lip and a bruised ego,” Tayan says with a shit-eating grin, “do you think you can kiss it better?” He bats his eyelashes in mock innocence, and you shove him in the shoulder, rolling your eyes. You’ve told him before—sworn on your life—that it wasn’t like that, had never even come close to that, and he still wouldn’t believe you. Not that the truth is any more believable.

“How’d it happen?” you ask, changing the subject, still trying to peek at the screen.

“Haven’t you heard?” he says, waggling his eyebrows at you. Tayan, you’ve learned since joining the Finalizer crew, is a terrible gossip. Those words come out of his mouth about as often as he breathes. Only half the information he imparts is actually true, but you don’t hold it against him. It is, after all, very entertaining.

“The Resistance escaped.” His expression darkens, any trace of laughter gone, an unfamiliar hardness set in his eyes.

“Holy shit,” you whisper, “are you serious?” He doesn’t have to respond. Not even Tayan would joke about something like that.

“The Supreme Leader was livid when he found out,” he continues, expression still grave, “I heard from Mina on the bridge that he threw the general into a wall.”

“Damn,” there’s not much else to say, and your heart breaks for the general, but you hope Tayan won’t see that as silence falls over the two of you for a moment, thinking about what might happen next. It’s times like this that make you grateful you’re not the one in charge.

“I guess the general’s been summoned to the Supremacy,” Tayan continues lightly, restored to his normal self, “but he had to say goodbye to his girlfriend first.” He drags the word girlfriend out like a little boy, and needles you in the side with his elbow when he says it. You flinch away from him, stifling a laugh. A comment like that doesn’t deserve a response, but you sink to his level anyway, flashing him a rude gesture before heading down to the exam rooms.

The prickling excitement begins at the base of your neck, and you force yourself to tamp it down. This is no time for flirting; obviously the general would be upset, and you’d have to be mindful of that. The flirting was mostly one-sided anyways, but occasionally you’d get a glimpse of something different, something softer. You lived for those glimpses.

When you first began working as a medbay attendant on the Finalizer, the general was essentially a myth. You never saw him, but you heard enough from the others to know that he didn’t like the medbay, and any time he was forced to come, well . . . everyone had a horror story, it seemed, and they all loved repeating them when shifts got slow. Personally, you had a hard time believing that the general could really be that bad, but that didn’t mean you had been excited when that asshole, Dr. Hebbit, had told you that it was your turn to perform the general’s quarterly check-up.

You had been certain that the others were playing a joke on you after the appointment. The general had been a model patient; the check up went smoothly as he obliged each of your requests without a word. When you finished, he had left with a curt nod, and that was it. The other medbay attendants had lost their shit when you told them that nothing had happened. Everyone had their own theory why the general hadn’t lashed out at you, but Tayan’s line of thinking had definitely been the most popular. Against your will, a little blossom of hope sprung up in your chest. 

Things only got stranger. After that first meeting, the general was in and out of the medbay on a regular basis, always for minor complaints, and always when you were working. You tried not to think too much of it, but that didn’t stop you from lighting up every time you heard that he needed your help.

And then once, just as you were cleaning up, you felt him behind you. Every part of you was on high alert, addicted to the tension but forced to ignore it as you washed your hands. 

“Thank you for your service today,” he said, and one of his hands came forward—still without touching you—fingering a tendril of hair that had slipped out from where you had secured it. He placed it back behind your ear, and you shuddered, tempted to lean back into him—so that you could feel him there, so you would be sure you weren’t hallucinating. And then he was gone. 

Moments like that happened a few more times, and every time they occupied an even larger part of your mind. It was enough to drive you insane, but no matter how much you wanted it, nothing more had happened. That didn’t stop you from imagining what it would be like. 

You clear your mind as you enter the exam room, and there’s a stab of pain in your chest when you see him. He’s never looked this small before, his shoulders slumped as he studies the floor, but you clear your throat to announce your arrival, and his posture straightens.

“Hello General,” you say, adopting your typical bedside manner, “I’m here to take a look at your injury.” He nods, watching you with careful eyes as you scrub your hands and then put on a pair of exam gloves. There’s already a supply tray set up by the exam table, and you glance over it quickly, checking to make sure that you have everything that you’ll need. Once you’re sure that it’s all in order, you can get started.

“I’ll need to take a closer look,” you say, gently taking the general’s jaw into your hands with a glass-delicate grip, and he opens his mouth obediently so that you can see the wound. It’s a small gash on the inner corner of his mouth, dripping a steady stream of blood down his chin and onto his neck, and you catch yourself thinking about cleaning it off with your tongue.

Gross, you scold yourself, rolling your eyes, heat rising in your cheeks. That needs to stop.

“Something wrong?” the general asks, the muscles of his jaw flexing under your hands, and you stiffen in surprise.

“No, sir,” the words come out rushed, and you look away, hoping he can’t tell how embarrassed you are, “just something in my eye.” It’s a weak excuse, but he doesn’t question it, and you grab a wipe, clearing off the blood with gentle precision. He smells like mint, and antiseptic, and the coppery sting of blood—none of which you particularly like—but now you think it might be your new favorite combination. 

“The good news is that it's relatively small,” you continue, applying a little pressure to the wound to staunch the flow of blood, “but the bad news is that you’ll probably need at least one stitch to keep it closed. I’d use bacta, but I don’t think it will work very well in such a moist environment.” You cringe inwardly; it’s strange to talk about the general’s mouth, especially when you have a finger inside of it, but if he’s bothered, it doesn’t show. And if he likes it, that doesn’t really show either. 

“I can get a doctor to do it, if you’d prefer,” you offer, out of habit. You’d given plenty of stitches working the medbay, but most people were a little less trusting when you had a needle in their face. Still, the sharp sting of jealousy bites at your heart. You’d come to think of the general as your patient, and you’re not really interested in sharing.

“That’s not necessary,” he says, and you relax only for a moment before you’re tense again at the thought of getting that much closer to the general’s mouth.

“This will hurt,” you say, and the general nods. "Do you want anything for the pain?" Another shake of the head, and you thread the needle.

He shivers when you turn back, glancing at the needle out of the corner of his eye, but you don't think it's from fear. Gently, and with more feeling than you’d like, you stroke your thumb over his bottom lip, and they part once again. You get closer, adjusting yourself between the general’s legs so that you can have a better view of the area. It’s not strictly necessary, but it does improve your view just enough to be worth it.

You hold the general’s lip down with one hand, and approach with the needle in the other. Just as you’re about to break the surface of the skin, he stops you, gripping your wrist with one gloved hand. You practically jump out of your skin, the movement startles you so badly, and it’s only by sheer luck that you keep hold of the needle. He studies the inside of your arm, completely ignoring the confusion in your expression, and thumbs the edge of your glove away, exposing the veins right at the bend where your wrist meets your hand. He pulls your wrist closer, like he’s going to bite you, but instead he presses his soft lips to the exposed area, and your vision blurs around the edges. The blood rushes from your head, and your pulse explodes under the contact. Your knees threaten to buckle underneath you when you feel the faintest trace of his tongue run over your skin, but he grips your wrist more tightly, holding you up. 

Your face is on fire when he finally returns your gaze, and although his expression is calm and untroubled, there’s a blaze beneath it. He wants you. He’s made that perfectly clear.

“For good luck,” he says, releasing his grip, and you’re shaking, your mind gone hazy from the unexpected turn of events. How’re you going to pull a needle through his skin now? You close your eyes and take a few grounding breaths, waiting for the blood to return to your normally-steady fingers, but it’s difficult when you’re still thinking about his mouth.

By some miracle, you’re able to gain control once again with a superhuman amount of determination and the strict directive to avoid eye contact at all costs. Once you’ve accomplished that, the actual stitching is fairly easy, and you tie it off with a quick flourish.

“All done,” you say, dropping the needle on the tray and removing your gloves. Even though your hands are steady, your voice still shakes, and you’re not ready to look at him just yet. “Just make sure you don’t smile for a few days.” He snorts in response as he stands, and you scold yourself. Of course he wouldn’t be smiling. Not where he was going.

Thinking about it again brings the feeling of a knife blade to your heart. He would be leaving, this is the last time you’d see him in a long time, maybe forever. Another stab of pain arrives; that was why he finally made his desires clear. He knew this was his last chance.

“General, wait-” you call out, but to your surprise, he hasn’t left yet. In fact, he’s still right behind you, like he was waiting for this moment. The determination you had moments ago withers slightly and you find yourself looking up through your eyelashes, suddenly shy.

“Yes?” he asks, like he always knew you’d end up here, and you raise your hand, emboldened, fitting it behind his neck.

“For good luck,” you whisper, closing the gap. You press your lips gently to his, hoping to preserve the stitch, but the general doesn’t seem to care about that as he holds your face in both his hands, hunger apparent in every movement, need laid out before you. You know the stitch has to be pulling at the tissue, threatening to pop, and you taste the blood as his tongue meets yours, but all of it is so far outside your realm of concern right now. He’s kissing you back. Finally.

You part from him, reluctantly, as he pulls away from you, hoping for just one moment more. You know you’re doe-eyed when he looks at you, already cursing the heat in your cheeks, wishing you could be less-obviously enamored. Hating how much you care. The general looks indifferent, to your disappointment, there’s no trace of his visit to the medbay visible at all. Like you never existed. Moments ago you were rippling with happiness and now you’re left empty.

“I’m leaving for the Supremacy,” General Hux says, adjusting the perfect fit of his uniform, and you nod quickly. The sooner he leaves, the better. You don’t want him to see you cry. The traitorous tears come anyways, and you turn away from him, clearing off the supply tray and hoping he won’t notice. The act works so well, you almost don’t hear his next words. “I’d like for you to come with me, transfer to the medbay there.” You look at him again in surprise, and you see it: the softness he had only barely begun to show, there in full force.

“Do you anticipate needing much medical care, General?” You’re not sure if you mean it as a joke or if you’re searching for some kind of validation, but either way the general doesn’t laugh. No, instead he steps closer once again, tilting your gaze to meet his with a hand on your chin.

“No,” he says, “I just don’t want to go alone.” The reason doesn’t matter. You already know you’ll follow him anywhere.

[imagineofallkindsxxx]

Eternal Flame- Part 6/?

No Need to be a Show Off

Summary: 'You never know whats in a persons heart until you truly know them' - Belle French, Once Upon a Time

Singing. Thats all what Alexandra Gilbert has cared about since she was young and all she would care about until she met him.

With Alexandra fighting vampires, werewolves and all between she may do a thing she vowed never to do, fall in love.

And to think it all started with a walk in the woods...

Needless to say history was a tad awkward after Rebekah made an appearance. I mean Elena and Bonnie were glaring at Rebekah throughout the entire period, not to mention the presence of Stefan, me giving James a kick and quietly reprimanding every time he attempts to stare at Rebekah like the creep he is. Nevertheless, I continued to listen to Mr Saltzman or Ric as he insists on me calling him. He is kind and has been looking after me and my siblings after the passing of Jenna and I respect and care for him.

After fifty minutes of being taught about Native Americans and wondering why I decided to take AP history for a subject when its genuinely the most mind numbing subjects, the bell finally rang which was the indication to pack up before going to the next class.

"Your homework for tomorrow is to read pages 14-20" Mr Saltzman said, at least its just reading knowing other teachers it’ll be full on essays. I sighed along with most of the class before going to our next class. James is in English while I'm in Chem, shame would love to see James and Mr Jones in the same room after yesterdays prank. I bid James goodbye before splitting up, I saw my twin up ahead and ran up as quick as I could in these shoes.

"Elena, care to tell me what the hell is going on? Why's Stefan here and not eating some sorority girl?" Confused at how my sisters boyfriend has chosen to spend his time at school. Her doe eyes look at me nudging me into the side of the corridor hoping less people will hear her.

"Its Klaus" I look at her to elaborate on it "He's told Stefan to watch his ‘new asset' so he’s here acting like he’s some control freak bodyguard" rolling her eyes 

"Dick" I said plainly starting to walk with her

"Who? Klaus or Stefan?"

"Do I have to pick?" She laughed before stopping in front of her biology classroom

"This is me, talk later?" she questioned making me give her a strained smile. Honestly sometimes when alone we can get along its just when everyone else is there to complicate the matters. When I say everyone else I really just mean the Salvatore brothers.

I head along two more classes before hitting my chemistry class, looking around the class to see who would be the best person to be partners with for the year. That’s the one good thing about Jones is that he doesn’t believe in seating plans because 'its your fault if you fail." I searched the class then saw a shade of familiar blonde hair in a French plait with an empty seat, I race towards the blonde.

"Ashleigh Jackson." I said grinning at my best girl friend making her look up from the notebook she was most likely doodling on.

"Alexandra Gilbert" she exclaimed before giving me a hug before the teacher came into class. "I haven’t seen you for ever! How have you been?"

"I've been good, I've just been so busy, remember that program I decided to enter? Took up most of my time." I told her referring to the programme which helped children with hearing impairments with learning to play instruments or singing. "What about you though? How's Dylan?" I asked about her dick of a boyfriend but with the shift in her demeanour makes me wish I didn't.

"Me and Dylan broke up a few weeks ago." I looked at her in sympathy feeling horrible about asking but makes me pull my arm around her shoulder knowing that although I thought he was a terrible person Ash still loved him.

"Well... I guess this calls for a girl night. Popcorn. Cringey rom coms. Vodka." This made her laugh a little giving me a smile but before she could say anything Mr. Jones walked in to class.

"Welcome to AP chemistry. This is going to be a difficult and long lesson for not just you but me also." he starts off with making me roll my eyes at the asshole of  teacher we are going to be forced to listen to for the rest of the year "Can any one tell me what empirical formula is?" Knowing what it is I wrote it down on my notebook while Ash put her hand up slowly.

"Miss Jackson"

"Is it the simplest ratio of molecules making up a compound?"

"Are you asking or telling me miss Jackson?"

"I'm telling you" she said with confidence.

"What is Coulombs Law?" He asked moving on from Ash, no one dared to put their hand up, to end this torture I put my hand up .

"Miss Gilbert?"

"Coulombs Law is the amount of energy that an electron has depends on its distance from the nucleus of an atom. It has the formula e=k(q1*q20)/r." I told him in the most confident manner.

"Correct. There’s no need to be a show off Miss Gilbert" He replied making me go scarlet learning that its more torturous answering his questions rather than the silence that issues when he asks one.

This continued for the next 10 minutes, the class answering questions then getting berated by the man supposedly supporting us.

Once he finished with his power trip he handed out work sheet. I looked over it and saw it was a five double paged work sheet. Making me wonder if this man should be a teacher at all.

"This is a worksheet so I can see your knowledge and capabilities. If you are below 70% correct you will be dropped from this class. You will get today and tomorrow to finish. You may begin. In complete silence." 70% is this guy mental? He hasn’t even began teaching and already judging us, pathetic. But we all done as he said and began the lengthy work sheet until the bell rang. He then took the work sheets back in while all of us rushed out of the class after packing up our stuff.

Once outside me and Ash began to talk once again.

"God I hate him." I said "'No need to be a show off'" I  mimicked his annoyingly monotone voice making Ash laugh.

"'Are you asking or telling me Miss Jackson?' I don't know am I asking or telling you to go and slam your head against the lockers?" she said rolling her eyes making her grin when I gave a huge laugh.

"Ashleigh Jackson" I 'reprimanded'

"What? Makes a change from being you." God I love this girl she makes me forget the while Stefan/Klaus/Original/Dopelganger thing for a while.

"I have to get to class, talk at lunch so we can organise that girls night?" I questioned leaving her seeing her nod with a smile.

I walked into math and saw a hero haired vampire sitting in the middle of the class where I used to sit last year. I sat down next to him looking straight ahead.

"I think your in the wrong class, Elena is in French." I told him in a 'could care less that a hungry, ripper, free of humanity vampire is sitting next t me in my math class' tone but with my voice higher pitch and heart rate increasing I doubt he bought it.

"You see I would agree with you if I didn’t compel Kyle- you know Kyle, right? Anyway to look after her while I watch over you." He informed me of the compulsion of a class mate and borderline stalker tendencies.

"Me? Why?" I questioned doubting he’ll answer.

"Dunno, all I know is Klaus told me to look after 'The Gilbert twins' I didn't question it, don't really care to be honest" Making me roll my eyes. Klaus told him to watch over me? Why? I'm not a walking blood bank for his hybrids like Elena or his newly undaggered and potentially dangerous little sister, so why? Before I could attempt to question him albeit doubting I’d get any answers the teacher came in and started to give us a recap of what we would have done just before the start of summer. Mr Gold was always a decent teacher.

I tried to listen and take notes but it was difficult putting the question of Klaus interesting to the side and focusing on algebra. Before I knew it the bell rang. I stood up and got my stiff before rushing towards the door but got pulled back by the youngest Salvatore.

"What’s the rush Little Gilbert? You need to relax, be like me! That is what you told Elena earlier right?" he sarcastically questioned making me glare and get in his face.

"Yeah right after I told her to dump your ass and be like you 'don't care about anything'." Pulling my arm out of his grip and walking past the classes not missing Ric looking over worriedly giving me a look but I just nodded that I’m fine.

I walked into the class next to Rics my second favourite class. AP American Government and Politics. Its a big jump from music but its just something I get also helps to stop being treated like a child at functions when your able to talk about political situations, knowing more than the person your talking to.

I sat in the middle of the class not knowing any of the people in the class due to me being the only person in both supernatural and human groups whose remotely interested in politics well that was until a blonde original surprisingly walked into the class looking around to find a seat before sitting to at the front of the class unaware of my presence.

In front of me and the rest of the classes desks were a piece of paper listed 'Curricular Requirements' with the syllabus on it, while all of us were reading it another blonde came into the class however this was expected as it was Miss Gold and what the students have gathered is the cousin to my math teacher.

"Hello class, its lovely to see you all after the long break but I hope your ready to learn. For all those new faces let me introduce myself. I'm Miss Gold and I'm going to be your Advance Placement Government and Politics teacher. To start off I have given you all the syllabus and curriculum requirements for this year. I am going to start from the top down so be ready to learn about the foundations of American democracy." she told us writing on the board before turning to the class with a reassuring smile "now before I begin I just want to tell you all that there are no silly or stupid questions in this class and if you don't understand something let me know. Also, if any of you need anything or need to talk my door is always open." She told us, god she is basically the opposite of Mr Jones. So refreshing. 

"Right we are going to do a recap from last year. What is the different structures of local, state and federal governments?" Waiting a minute to pick someone "Courtney" Courtney gave a swift and correct answer to the question Miss Gold asked.

"What is one of the founding principles that guided the establishment of the United States Government?" she looked around the sea of hands brief her eyes connected with Rebekah’s "I'm sorry I don’t know your name, miss..."

"Rebekah Mikaelson"

"Well Rebekah you may answer" she knew exactly what to say due to the fact how she probably knew the founding fathers and the principles they decided to use.

After the little quiz she decided to tell the class an overview of what the school year entails in a more detailed manner yet her soothing vice managed to calm the classes anxiety of the seemingly difficult year ahead. Although I was listening and taking notes my mind was still on how Stefan was told to 'watch over the Gilbert twins'. It was confusing how I had to be 'looked after' by a blood thirsty vampire for a reason the he isn’t aware of. Wonderful.

All I know now is that its lunch and that means music studio I go. Just as I was about to leave the cafeteria after picking up some lunch I saw Rebekah sitting their surprisingly alone. I would expect her to be swarmed by people but she was just alone looking down at her 'lunch'. I looked around before walking over to the blonde where she looked up at me.

"Hey, are you waiting on anyone?" I asked kindly as possible

"No. why?" Having a suspicious look on her face after hearing my friends talk about her in an unpleasant way and most likel not very subtly.

"Well I was just wondering if you wanted to come and sit with my friends?" I offered wondering if it was a good idea or not, my sister would kill me but honestly I can empathise with Rebekah, I was her in first day freshman year before I headed to music and met the three most important boys in my life- including Jeremy at this moment- and had a group that would last forever.

Rebekah smiled at me before nodding taking up my offer. I told her to follow me walking out of the cafeteria and down the hall to the music studio Mr Curtis lets us use at lunch and after school.

I heard the boys before I saw them meaning Rebekah probably heard them way back.

"-insane?! That is the worst song to pick!" I heard Sam yell, I stopped in my tracks making Rebekah stop and gave me a look of confusion.

"I'm mentally preparing myself to deal with an arguing group of men like children" this made Rebekah laugh a little bit

"No 'Gives You Hell' is a way better option than 'So Am I'!" Mark yelled

"There’s no way in hell am playing that song when-" I walked in at that moment partially regretting bringing Rebekah along to see this mess of a class.

"Thank God voice of reason is here!" He yelled up to the sky "What’s the best: 'Gives You Hell', 'So Am I' or 'Monster'?" I looked at them confused

"I thought we agreed on 'Mr Brightside' then 'Don't Speak' during the summer?" They all started at me for a few seconds taking in what I just said before remembering the conversation in the park where we picked the first two songs to sing when we perform at the Grille.

"Oh yeah."

"Forgot about that"

"Who's this?" Mark asked confused why their was a blonde in the room

"This is Rebekah. She's new and alone so I invited her to practice." I off handedly said

"Oh your in history with us!" James yelled

"Indoor voices Jamie" Sam reprimanded him making James throw a  drum stick hitting him on the head making us laugh.

"Sorry about them. They’re literally children." I apologized for their behaviour watching them fight over the thrown drumstick while me and Rebekah ate our lunch.

"I grew up with five brothers, I'm used to it." Making me laugh. Five brothers. I only know about Klaus and Elijah. I dread to think there three more Klaus's come out of the woodwork.

"Are you boys done yet?" I asked over the nose giving them a look "We have a guest" making them look down like I was their mother giving them a row.

"He started it" Mark pointed to James.

"You litt-"

"Enough!" I point to Mark "Guitar" then Sam “Bass" and finally James "Drums. Now." Making them grumble before getting their instruments. "You don't mind us playing do you?" I ask Rebekah, she shook her head.

"Not at all, just wondering what type of music you play" she smiled sitting down on a chair we use occasionally. I stood on the stage before we began to play. Over and over again.

"...Cause I'm Mr Brightside" I finished.

"That was really good. You all have a gift. Especially you Alexandra"

"oooooh Alexandra" James said in a tone making Rebekah look confused as I attempted to hit him over the head

"She hates being called Alexandra" Sam filled in as I continued to try and hit him with his own drum stick. I composed myself before turning towards my new friend?

"Please call me Andie. Or Alex. Up to you really, just not Alexandra"

"As long as you call my Bex" she mirrored the smile on my face.

The bell rang before we had a chance to practice again only thing was that I had music and then a free. So just down the hall.

"What class are you going to?" she asked me, hoping her newly made friend was in the same class as her.

"Music. You?" getting my stuff together to walk down two class rooms.

"Math" I gave her a small smile.

"We'll be here until half four if you want to come along?"

"Thank you for the offer Andie but I'm trying out for cheer."

"Another blonde intelligent cheerleader, with any luck you’ll replace Jackson" I heard Sam say while walking past us making me hit him on back of the head "Nice to meet you Bex"

"Was a pleasure Bekah" Mark told her with a smile while walking by but James had to take it further by giving her a piece of paper.

"Call me Bex, love to get to know you more" giving her a wink

"Don't be a creep. Leave the poor girl be" giving him a glare then a push.

"In all serious here is my number" I gave her my number to put in her new phone "Text if you need anything" she gave me a grateful smile almost as if she was shocked at the kindness given to her by someone. "Enjoy math"

"I will she laughed as we split ways."

As we head into music where we saw Mr Curtis.

"Ah wonderful the whole band is here" making me smile at him. After the class filled he started to teach as it was a double everyone got bored except 'the teachers pet’s as everyone called us but we took it as a compliment. Just cause they don't understand the art of music like we do doesn’t mean they have to be a dick about it.

He told us to split into four and discuss a piece of music which would resonate with what he was talking about so we spoke about Mozart’s Requiem and how it relates to the music notes that we had to discuss.

Honestly the entire class went like that as Mr Curtis let us do anything for the second period as long as it had to do with playing or discussing music in some sort of fashion. This was usually the time we discussed original songs and what we would sing next week at the Grille. Today we were writing our last verse of our original song we are hoping to perform one day.

"Well what’s going on in this group?" Mr Curtis asked looking over our piece of paper "Original song?" we nodded bashfully.

"We have the bass and drum beat, most of the lyrics and just have to do the guitar solo." I told him which he smiled at seeing our appreciation and enthusiasm about music and making it, you can see it in his eyes that he has faith in us.

"Good luck. I better be the first one to hear it." he told us.

After half hour of that the bell rang insinuating that it was class over luckily for me it’s my last class of the day. The other three not so much.

"I hate you so fucking much.” Mark said the three boys jealous of how my last period was a free.

"Tough luck Mark, enjoy history" making him glare the boys leaving me. I decided to go to the bleachers and study a bit for the rest of the Chem test tomorrow.

"Alex!" I heard looking around I saw a cheerleader trying to get my attention seeing it was Caroline. I grabbed my stuff and stalked towards Caroline wondering what was wrong. I give her a look asking her to explain why she shouted my name.

"Were you hanging out with Rebekah today?!" she asked although she seemed to already know the answer.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Why? She's an evil slutty Original."

"Caroline!" I exclaimed "She's not a slut or evil she’s a lonely girl wanting the high school experience. give her a break." I walked away to the far away end of the bleachers not wanting to hear anymore 'warnings' about Rebekah. I studied well tried to anyway my mind still angry at how Caroline and the rest of the group only see black and white. they have to know there is a grey part. After studying for a good 20 minutes I felt someone sit next to me. I looked over to see the ‘evil slut’ herself.

“I take it from you not being in class you have a ‘free’? I believe that is what they are called?” I smiled a bit thinking about the lack of knowledge Rebekah has on 21st century slang.

“Yeah, it’s called a free. I come up here to study, its quiet and relaxing. What’s your excuse?”

“I’m going to try out for cheer. I better go. Something tells me I do not want to keep Caroline Forbes waiting.” I gave a laugh at the way she spoke out the baby vampire she could probably kill in a millisecond. "That was sarcasm by the way" I shake my head and chuckle a little.

“I’ll see you later. Good luck.” The bell rang two or three minutes after she left however, I waited a bit for students to leave or head to practice before heading back in to practice some more when. I walked by the girls trying out and shouted

“Good luck girls” walking back into school music room to practice with the boys. Hopefully it will be productive?

*************************************************

I'm missing the bonfire for this. One of the best parties of the year I mean Ash helped organize it and I’m missing it because of an annoying humanity-less vampire is running around town.

"I'll lure Stefan away from the bonfire. then when he's distracted..." Elena began to explain the plan as a whole with Alaric finishing.

"I’ll shoot him"

"Can't Bonnie just ju-ju him or something?" Damon suggested annoyingly.

"Yes great idea Damon. Lets get the witch to bail you and your brother out the hundredth time." I sarcastically replied thinking that they rely too much on the magic that Bonnie holds and it always end up with her hurt. Does he care? Absolutely not he’s Damon Salvatore after all. He glares at me intensely as I matched his expression.

"I'm trying to keep Bonnie out of this. I don't trust Stefan won't hurt her. Caroline are you covered?" my sister agreed making Damon remove his eyes from me and land on my sisters. Caroline answered my sisters question.

"Yes! I will make sure that the old Forbes jail cell is prepped and ready."

"We're forgetting a key player here. Rebekah?" this making me roll my eyes "Wherever Stefan goes, the blonde ponytail tends to follow." It would be Damon who made this remark I mean after all he’s perfect.

"Which is why it’s your job to keep her away" Elena tells Damon him having the easiest roll in this plan.

"How?!? She's an Original. Last time I checked, we're out of daggers." he complained, shocker.

"So preoccupy her with your charm" Elena told him, I’m not entirely sure if it was a joke or not.

"Might have better luck finding the dagger."

"What charm?" me and Ric both answered

"Are you ever not going to be mad at me for a day?" Damon asked both of us

"Doubtful"

"Unlikely"

Then right at that moment the newest hybrid came in late looking around like everything was just fine.

"Sorry I'm late. What's going on?" He asked the group.

"We need you to raid your mom's vervain supply. Enough to keep Stefan down for a while." Elena told him which to be fair was a good idea but Tyler didn’t think so.

"You can't do that to Stefan" He said looking confused and borderline angry at the group.

"Why not?" Caroline asked her hybrid boyfriend wondering what was with the new attitude.

"Ty he’s out of his mind he needs our help aka the vervain"

"Trust me Tyler, it's in his best interest" Me and Elena tried to convince him to help.

"But its not in Klaus's" He defended making me cock my head.

"But Klaus is the bad guy, Tyler. You know, why are you acting like some freaky, hybrid, slave minion" Caroline questioned her boyfriends behaviour. Slave? Could that mean?

"Uh-oh" I heard looking up it was Damon who was looking at Tyler suspiciously, I looked at the Salvatore and said

"He isn't?" narrowing my eyes as he made a look like 'looks like it Hun'

"What?" Ric questioned both the Gilbert and Salvatore being on the same page for once which was terrifying itself.

"Klaus made me who I am Caroline. I owe him everything." Tyler said once again defending Klaus

"Oh boy"

"He is"

"Okay can we cool it with the commentary, please." giving both of us a look.

"What's going on?" Elena questions wanting to be in the know of Tylers 'condition' but  before anything else can be said Damon grabs a vervain dart from Rics desk with no one else noticing.

"I'm just going to go." He tried to escape and probably go to tell his master so  as he starts to walk towards the door Damon vampire runs towards the young hybrids and injects him with the vervain dart making Tyler collapse.

"What are you doing?!?" Caroline exclaimed both shocked and angry.

"He's been sired." Damon vaguely explained the condition of the Lockwood.

"What?" Ric asks wanting clarification of what that means.

"Sired, he feels loyal to Klaus because Klaus's blood created him" I explained briefly.

"Loyal how?" Elena wanted more information on how Tyler is going to act.

"He'll seek acceptance from his master." I began with Damon finishing

"Its really rare. maybe not so much in hybrids"

"How do I fix him?" Caroline asks us, I smile sympathetically.

"Get a new boyfriend" Making eveyone in the room act in some sort of negative way towards him.

When we begin to set the plan into motion Damon grabs a hold of my arm.

"I swear the next Salvatore to grab me is going to get a pencil to the eye." he let go after I said that.

"How did you know about the sire bond?" I cocked my head furrowing my eyebrows

"I don't know."

I walked into the bonfire seeing Ash socialising, I gave her a little smile and wave before going over to Sam.

"I'm bored" he told me when I reached him "entertain me".

"I'm not a circus act Sam."

"You look like one" I gave him a look making him smile.

"I'm going somewhere I won’t be verbally abused."

"Where? You don't have any other friends" I narrowed my eyes grabbing his drink and downing it before shoving it back in his hand.

I walked over to the beer tap and got my own drink before settling my eyes on the annoying vampire and the blonde original. I have no idea how but he is actually managing to somehow charm Rebekah? Such an unusual concept. But just as I was about to stop stalking them and see if Ash is free it started to get interesting with Rebekah standing up speaking with Damon also standing before Rebekah stabs Damon in the stomach with a sit causing him to sit back down. The scene playing in front of me makes me laugh a little.

I walk around trying to find someone to socialise with and saw Sam, James and Mark sitting around.

"I'm bored as hell" Mark started

"No 'Hello Andie. How have you been?'" I said sarcastically

"I don’t particularly care though."

"Charming"

"Do you want to leave" James asked

"I've not drunk anything. Parents would kill me. I can drive?" all four of us agreed that leaving the party would be much more beneficial to our mental health.

"I'm telling you I reckon I have a chance with that Rebekah" James said making all of us laugh

"And I reckon your dr-" I started before stopping by falling over seeing blurry images of my friends making out bits and pieces. The back of my head throbbing I saw Sam and James running to get help at least that’s what I think they were doing.

My eyes were fluttering shut, I’m feeling really tired but I got slapped.

"No, don't you dare all asleep you still owe me ten bucks for that cinema ticket I paid for. You are not dying. You hear me!" I tried to keep my eyes open but they just closed. This is it I’m going to die. I felt Mark doing CPR while yelling something then all of a sudden I felt some metallic tasting liquid go down my throat making me open my eyes fully trying to pull away from the wrist of Damon Salvatore.

"Thank you" I muttered in begrudged gratitude.

"What!?" was the next think I heard.

"You were dead and now your..."

"I'm so confused what just happened?"

"Are they on vervain?" I heard Damon whisper in my ear while helping me up. I shook my head.

He walked over to the three if them

"You saw nothing. you four were bored at the party and decided to leave early. Alex didn’t fall, I didn’t feed her my blood, the four of you just left." he compelled making me look away from the three of them, feeling bad for taking away their memories.

"Hey Damon, what are you doing here?" James asked dubiously knowing my dislike for the vampire.

"I'm going to take Alex home to her sister. Lets go Alex" he pulled me away I stopped him and looked at my friends.

“I'll see you in homeroom tomorrow.” With a smile watching them walk away after saying goodbye.

He sped me to the Salvatore boarding house. The last time I was here I nearly died lets hope its not a repeat. I saw Elena and she looked smoky? And had a burn on her cheek?

"I've got cream for that burn mark. come with me" he beckons my sister to follow making me look at them curiously.

I sat on the couch closing my eyes not wanting to go anywhere near Damon’s room especially with Elena in it. I heard a noise, opening my eyes and looked up to see Ric.

"Where’s Elena?"

I pointed upstairs closing my eyes again before saying Damons room. After a few seconds Ric appeared with Elena.

"C'mon Alex time to go."

Three of us left the boarding house in a car that I didn't know making me question who owns this vehicle. Ric saw my confusion at the new car.

"My car got blown up." Not exactly the best explanation but the best they had so far

"Quite an eventful party"

*************************************************

A/N: This was huge but I thought I'd split it into two parts, the episode and the Rebekah/Ashleigh/band part.

Next chapter is the dynamic between Alex and Caroline which will be updated tomorrow

Also anything to do with the chemistry and/or politics classes came off the internet so if it's incorrect sorry.

Hope you enjoyed reading.

Any British slang, spelling or grammar problems let me know.

Please comment any positive or negative feedback

Thanks for reading Lovelies xxx

[miss-noo-na]

At Your Service (Wonho Smut)

Title: At Your Service

Featuring: Wonho (Monsta X x Reader)

POV: Third

Rating: NC-17

Summary: As a stylist’s assistant your job is rarely exciting, except for this day of course.

Note: This scenario was a commission! You can get your own commissioned piece, check out my profile for more info!

You would think being an on-set stylist’s assistant would be exciting work. Getting to interact with celebrities, play with pretty clothes, overhear enticing gossip, maybe even get invited to a swanky business party now and then.

Realistically, it was less than glamorous 98% of the time, and she should know. She had gotten the job by chance, not that she hadn’t worked for it, but most of these sorts of opportunities came from knowing someone who knew someone who was related to someone. Such was the case here and now.

A typical day meant picking up piles of clothes worn for a couple minutes and then tossed on the floor of the studio. It meant sweeping up pounds of glitter, ribbons, or other types of debris. It meant applying all manner of strange liquids to people’s skin for sheen and shine, or holding their hair up, or leaning against something uncomfortably to make a prop or set piece look better. It could be grueling work at times, and it wasn’t unusual for her to come home sticky and sore. 

When she walked through the door that morning, she expected another long day of tedious activities, but blinked rapidly when she set her eyes on him.

They had worked together before, many times in fact. His group was a repeat customer of their photography services and she had always been put on his shoots for some reason. If you saw him, you would think this wasn’t a bad thing, but she swallowed hard on the dry lump building up in her throat when he smiled at her.

See, as intimate as her job could sometimes be, she was terribly awkward, especially around such beautiful people. She had learned to keep quiet, lest she say something silly in such a compromising position. She preferred to be thought of as another prop, just a figure on the side there for support. It worked out usually, the models were so in their head about getting the right looks and poses that they didn’t even glance at her, much less talk to her.

Wonho was chatty, though, and friendly, too. He was kind to staff and liked to greet everybody, and thank everybody before he left. The first time he made eye contact with her and asked her name she almost thought he could see through her and was talking to someone else.

Worse yet, the more she worked with him the friendlier he became, until he had built up a report of actually flirting with her. She was in denial about it at first, there was no way he was actually meaning to say things so suggestively or give her those coy looks, but it became painstakingly obvious and her denial turned into brushing the whole thing off as a joke. Photoshoots were long and boring, he just needed something to do, he had to put all that cheeky energy somewhere.

He waved to her from across the room as they were getting the scene set up, drapey white pieces of fabric and cool toned furniture, simple but elegant. She waved back sheepishly and hurried off to her station.

“Here you go,” The stylist handed her a bottle as soon as she entered the room. She looked down at it.

“What’s this for?”

The stylist laughed. “Are you new here? You know what baby oil is for.”

She definitely did, and now her lungs felt tight as she gripped the bottle in her hand.

“He just finished make-up so he should be ready to go.”

She walked back onto set and saw him talking with the director and photographer, showing him where they wanted him to sit and stand and he nodded along as he listened intently. They left him then, off to fiddle with their equipment.

“What have you got for me today?” He asked as she approached, and she half-smiled as she waved the baby oil, not making eye contact.

“Oh, this should be fun.” He said as he started to undo his button down shirt. He was, obviously, very comfortable with his body and that somehow made it worse.

He pulled the shirt open as far as he could and stood in front of her, looking down with a “go head” kind of motion. She poured some of the thick liquid into her palm and rubbed her hands together so it wasn’t cold, then gingerly touched the center of his chest, swiping at the skin with just her fingertips.

He looked down at her feather-light touches. “You’re barely putting any on me.”

“Are you some kind of baby oil expert?” She mumbled, and he laughed, his eyes creasing adorably. 

“Well, kind of.” He said, then took her by the wrist and pressed her palm into his chest. “You really have to get a lot on there, it’ll absorb pretty fast.”

Despite herself, her cheeks flushed and her whole face felt hot as soon as the expanse of her hand came into contact with his chest. Even just feeling this small section of his body she could tell he was strong and soft at the same time and that made many a thing run through her mind. She very quickly started to apply the oil again, focusing on her task to keep the dirty thoughts at bay.

Once she got all the visible parts covered, she flipped the cap closed, gave him a bashful nod and left. She could see him from the corner of her eye the entire way, and his little grin reeked of mischief. 

After they got some shots, and she spent her time hiding in the make-up area, she was called back in. Now his shirt was totally gone, and they needed her to finish up the job. It was clear that she was the only person who felt weird about this, and that made her realize how silly she was being. She sucked it up, reminded herself and that this was a job, and put her professionals cap on.

She wasn't as stingy with the oil this time, making sure she coated him front to back, but she did so in long, hard motions, making sure he and everyone else knew she meant business only, even if in the back of her mind she thought of how the curves in his muscles felt under her hands.

The shoot went on and she was distracted by other menial tasks, which she thanked her lucky stars for. When things started to wind down, she began packing up. She wasn’t going anywhere, she always had to stay later than anyone else, but she also made to make sure the rest of the crew’s things were in order.

Per usual, the others filtered out one by one, thanking her for her time and reminding her to lock up when she left. She waved at each of them, and only vaguely thought of how she hadn’t seen Wonho yet. Usually the artist was the first to slip away, so maybe he had already gone home. She felt a twinge of disappointment that he hadn’t said goodbye to her.

She grabbed a nearby broom and started sweeping the floor once the last person had left, humming idly to herself as she did so. As she turned, she almost jumped out of her skin when she saw Wonho standing in one of the doorways.

“Why are you still here?” She asked, trying to regain her composure.

“I like to make sure everyone is taken care of before I leave.” He said, and it sounded genuine, but also like there was something else underneath the intent.

“I’m good.” She gave a little half-wave as she started sweeping again.

“You know you’re the only assistant who doesn’t look me in the eye.” He laughed as he walked closer.

“Are you afraid of me or something?” Suddenly he was so close, and she faltered in her motions.

“No.” She stated firmly, but didn’t elaborate. 

“I was starting to worry you didn’t like me or something.” He half-smiled as he rubbed his neck, and he looked boyish and almost shy.

“I just like to focus on the work.”

“I know, I’ve been trying to send you all these signals and I can’t even get you to notice one of them.”

She blinked up at him, gripping the broom tight in her sweaty palms. “Pardon?”

“I thought about asking for your number like 10 times but I always chickened out, so I thought I’d take a different approach.”

Before she could ask what he meant, he leaned forward. “A more...proactive approach.” He took the broom out of her hands and moved it aside.

She swallowed hard as she peered up into his clear, asking eyes. They were both stuck in limbo, unsure of what the other was going to do next, or wanted to do next. 

“Can I just kiss you?” He breathed out in a frustrated sigh.

Her eyes went wide but also she found herself nodding, feeling like she was in some kind of dream, yet not wanting to miss the chance in case it were all real.

He cupped the side of her face and pulled her into him, planting his lips on hers gently but insistently. Her eyes fluttered shut and her mind raced to all the things that had led up to this moment. If those little interactions, comments, looks, had been signals all this time, she really was blind as a bat. 

The kiss deepened on both ends of its own accord, as the realization of what was happening sunk in for them both and they were suddenly aware of how much they had been craving one another in secret. Sure, she didn’t know him intimately, they had only interacted in a work setting, but the attraction and the chemistry was undeniable and she wasn’t about to pass it up.

His hands fell down to her hips and he tugged her close, front to front, and she raised her own to rest on his arms. They were getting wrapped up in each other and she didn’t know where it could go from here, but she had a few ideas.

He moved her toward the couch, which for prop furniture was surprisingly comfortable as she fell into it. Their kiss only broke for a second before he was bringing her back, deeper this time, his tongue tentatively exploring her mouth. They pushed and pulled to find the right balance until she was straddling his lap and he was slipping his hand up inside her shirt. 

His mouth moved to her neck and he breathed hot against her skin, panting and grabbing at her in a way that made her heart race. She wanted so much and yet felt the need to pull back, refrain from the passion clouding her mind. 

“I don’t think we should-”

“I know,”

His tone indicated he had the exact same apprehensions. As much as they wanted each other, there was a level of unfamiliarity. Yet, neither one of them wanted to just stop.

Suddenly, he fell away from her, off the couch and onto the floor. To her surprise he started to tug at her jeans.

“Can I at least taste you?”

How could she say no? In fact, a rush of arousal poured through her just at the words, and she faintly nodded as she helped him remove the bottom half of her clothing. He gave her a sly look as he rolled the fabric down and off her legs, along with her underwear, then tugged her toward the edge of the couch. She looked up at the ceiling and felt flush, both from anticipation and a hint of shyness. It had been awhile since she’d done this with anyone, and being exposed to the harsh lighting of the studio was making her anxiety spike. 

He kissed up her inner thighs and stroked his hands around her hips. When he found her center he was feather-light at first, before diving in to press his tongue flat against her clit, making her back twitch and a small “ah” sound to leave her without her control. He smirked at the reaction, watching her face as he languidly circled her flesh, applying pressure and concentrating on the most important areas. She thought her nerves might make it too difficult to concentrate on the pleasure, but it was having the opposite effect, she gripped the couch as her pleasure was mounting quicker and quicker. 

He moved away slightly at one point, the pressuring decreasing and making her wanton for more, pressing her hips toward his face and one hand falling to his head. When he realized what she wanted, he sank himself further between her legs, his whole mouth consuming what it could, tongue working in a steady back and forth stroke over her clit. She gripped his hair tight into her fist, not really meaning to but also unable to stop it as her back arched and her release flowed through her without warning. She had never came that fast in all her life.

Wonho heaved a breath as he sat up on his knees, looking down at the spent mess he had made of her and obviously feeling proud of himself, but there was something else there. It was dark behind his usually innocent eyes, a hunger she could feel too and suddenly all that trepidation from before had gone out the window. 

She pulled her legs back and her bottom lip under her teeth, giving him confirmation that she was ready if he was, and he didn’t need to be told twice. He undid his slacks and pulled his already pulsing cock from its confines and sat up, pressing his hips toward her. He paused one last time, now looming over her, his hand grabbed the back of the couch. He looked so imposing and large hovering over her like this but it only turned  her on more. 

“Are you sure?”

She felt the head swipe over her entrance, wetting the tip, and suppressed a moan in her chest, nodding. “Yes, please.”

The please left her throat whiny and desperate and it sent a shot of arousal through him as he sank himself inside her, slowly but deliberately, wanting them both to feel every inch. 

She was tight in a way that indicated she hadn’t done this in awhile, and it took a moment to accommodate him. He was mindful of this as he eased himself back and forth, and she felt herself melting under his careful ministrations.  The pace, the building tension, the way she stretched around his girth, it was only making it harder not to scream out every obscenity that came into her mind as she gripped the edges of the couch for dear life.

He picked up the pace once they were both comfortable, aided by how wet she had gotten from earlier. Her shirt was pushed up, her bottoms and shoes on the floor around them, while now his pants were slacking around his hips and the gauzy shirt from the shoot was only opened at the top. They were both a haphazard mess but clearly didn’t care, especially when she reached up to pull on the shirt and pop half the buttons off, knowing she was going to have to personally replace them.

But she had to feel more of him, get his skin back under her hands like earlier in the day, only this time revel in how he felt, soft and hard at the same time, smooth as his heart pounded under her touch. 

He fought to keep his eyes open, creasing closed now and again, a look of pleasing agony etched across his pretty features. He breathed heavy with small sounds and grunts leaving his plush parted lips, and now he used his grip on the back of the couch to slam his hips forward into her, the sound of him hitting the back of her thighs echoing in the studio along with their labored breaths and frantic moans. 

The more she tried to focus on what was happening the more unreal it felt, so she surrendered to the hazy bliss that took over her mind. It was all mounting again, only this time he was right there with her, and he bowed forward as he tried to work them both through it. 

“Ah- I’m-” He tried to breathe out but he was stopped by a hiss as his closer angle brought him in deeper. The fact she had wrapped her knees around hips and bore down on him didn’t help. 

“Me too” She said as she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him once more, feeling something electric shoot down her spine when he moaned into her mouth. 

Without a need to warn or say anything else she felt herself coming undone, and he was following close behind, his thrusts becoming stilted, pressing himself as far forward and as deep as he could with every push. His forehead fell against hers as he released everything he had inside her, just as the last throbs of her orgasm were subsiding, leaving marks on the back of his neck.

They both fought to catch their breath as he giggled, planting a kiss on her forehead before pushing himself back up and carefully removing himself. They were both a wreck, hot pink twinging his cheeks as he tried to clean them both up. He pulled his pants up and scurried to the bathroom to bring her something, and they both laughed awkwardly to ease any tension.

“You think you could come to my next shoot?” He half-joked, “I could use your...services...again.” He attempted a cheesy joke and cringed at himself halfway through, instantly regretting it. She laughed and pulled herself to sit up on the couch and put her pants back on.

“I mean I could always give you my personal line. You know...for services?” She made her own lame joke, hoping it made him feel less mortified. 

He smiled warmly, “I would like that.”

[pandawritespoorly]

With Time: Chapter 38 - It’s Not Defamation If It’s True

Author’s Note: Who's ready for Gabriel getting his comeuppance?!?!?!

Settle down children, excitement and righteous fury is no excuse to forget your manners. Now get your snacks and get comfortable.

I hope you enjoy!

Chapter Summary: Gabriel underestimates the power of teenagers who care for their friend.

Edit: Whoops! I didn't check my comments in the doc! Strong language warning! "fucking"

First | Previous | Next

Marinette knows it’s spring because she wakes up easily. It’s always easier to wake up during spring, and, given her energy, it can be harder to rest.

She suspects Tikki is already up, enjoying the sun on the balcony. At the thought, the girl scrambles to get ready so she can enjoy the weather.

She’s done in record time, grabbing her phone as she joins Tikki.

 Kid Mime: good morning my faithful fair funny fast fancy festive fizzy funky friends

 Melodie: ‘Fizzy’?

 Kid Mime: i ran out of f adjectives

 Felix: You already had seven without that one.

 The Mom Friend: i think you did great

The Mom Friend 10/10 wood read again

 Kid Mime: yay!!

 Patisserie Princess: hiiiiii!!!!!!!

 Kid Mime: wats this????

Kid Mime: mari up??

 Melodie: With time to text too!

 Patisserie Princess: yep

Patisserie Princess: its spring!!!!!

 The Mom Friend: any of ur flowers blooming yet

 Patisserie Princess: not yet

Patisserie Princess: but soon. i can feel it

 Felix: That will certainly be exciting.

 Patisserie Princess: it will be!!!!!!!

Patisserie Princess: (◕ᴗ◕✿)

Patisserie Princess: k im heading out now!!!!!!!

 Kid Mime: byeeeeeeee!!!!!!

 Melodie: See you soon!

“Alright, let’s go, Tikki!” Marinette hops up from her chair, giving Tikki a moment to hide in her purse before hurrying downstairs. She shouts goodbye to her parents as she heads to school.

It’s so sunny, and she’s smiling wide. Today is a good day.

She arrives at school in what must be record time. She spots Allan and Claude walking into the building together and joins them.

“Hi!!!” Marinette chirps.

“Hey, ‘Nette. Good to see you so early,” Allan greets her.

Claude throws their arms in the air. “Marinette! Our sunshine has arrived!!”

“Adrien is our sunshine,” she corrects.

“Hmm.” Claude pretends to think this over. “This is a conundrum.”

“You’re a star,” Allan suggests.

“Yes!! Perfect!”

“You guys are stars too!!” Marinette smiles.

Claude strikes a DramaticPose™. “Well, of course I’m a star!”

Allan and Marinette clap appropriately. A few nearby students join in. Claude bows several times.

“Thank you, thank you!”

Marinette throws a flower at him. “Bravo!”

Claude gasps, clutching the flower to his chest. “The fair maiden has chosen me! I have been awarded a flower from our fair lady!”

Marinette curtsies. “‘Tis no trouble to me, my knight.”

“Shall I escort you and your companion to your court?”

“It would be very kind of you sir, I am expecting company from neighboring kingdoms.”

“Then we shall depart at once!”

With Allan and Marinette snickering, Claude leads the pair to the library where Felix and Allegra are calmly sitting at a table.

“Her royal highness, Our Star has arrived! Her meeting place is quieter than the courtyard, so we shall withhold the fanfare! Trumpets on standby!”

The librarian shoots him a grateful look, and Marinette can hear Allegra and Felix sigh in unison at Claude’s antics. Allegra shuts her book and turns. Allan and Marinette are both struggling to muffle their laughter. Claude has a flower behind his ear and leads the two to the table.

“Greetings fair lady Allegra and lord Felix of kingdoms Coudriet and Voclain! I am delighted to inform you that we have been blessed with the presence of Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng and Monsieur Poirot!”

Allegra and Felix clap quietly.

“So what brought this on?” Felix queries.

“Marinette gave me a flower!” Claude chirps.

“You look great, Claude. Very cute.” Allegra smiles.

“Thanks! I’m gorgeous!” Claude pretends to flip his hair.

“Oh for sure,” Allan agrees. “Model material over here.”

---

The group is on their way out of school when Marinette gets a call. They slow down so she can talk and walk easier.

“Hello?”

They hear shouting on the other end.

“Well, I’m not opposed, but weren’t we-”

The person on the other end interrupts her.

“He is? Well- What do you mean he’s at school?!”

She pauses.

“Since yesterday? Excuse me, but he wasn’t also working?! Ohhh, he’s a dead man,” she growls. “Does he think-?!”

A sharp retort from the other end.

“It was rhetorical, and you didn’t let me finish.” Marinette rolls her eyes.

More talking on the other end, then the call ends.

“‘Just get over here now’” Marinette mimics, then deadpans, “Thanks for the suggestion, I was planning on touring France first.”

“What’s going on?” Claude asks.

Marinette wrinkles her nose, frowning. “That was Chloe, she says we’re doing it now.”

“Like, now? Weren’t we going to like… finalize things?” Allan asks.

“Oh heck yeah! Finally! That man is going down!” Allegra cheers.

“What happened?” Felix frowns.

Claude looks concerned. “Is Adrien okay?”

“No. He’s been crazy sick since yesterday, and Gabriel is making him go about as usual because he’s trying to get as much stuff out as he can to recover from all the backlash recently. We’re stopping by Dupont to bring him to the bakery, then we’re going to call in some favors a little earlier than anticipated.”

“I wish I could punch him. I wish I could punch him multiple times,” Allegra mutters.

---

Marinette leads them up the stairs of Dupont, and though she’s been attending a different school for the majority of the year, everyone there knows to stay out of her way with that look in her eyes.

She’s on the warpath.

At the library, she finds Chloe and Sabrina, with a very tired Adrien who is sleeping on his textbook.

He’s pale, and his face is flushed. He looks shaky and weak, and Marinette’s heart sinks at her kitty in such a state. She goes up to him, crouching beside his chair and running her fingers through his hair.

His eyes open and he squints at her through his half-open lids, his eyes glazed over.

“Hi.”

“Hey,” she whispers. “Want to go home?”

He nods, barely with her, and she runs her fingers through his hair a little more. His eyes slip closed again. She can hear her friends talking behind her, but that doesn’t matter at the moment. He’s purring, but it’s very quiet, and if she didn’t know better, she’d pass it off as just weird breathing from being so sick.

Keeping one hand in his hair, she stands and turns to her friends. “We’re taking him home now, then we can start finishing this.”

They nod, and Allan speaks up, “Who can carry him?”

Marinette just picks him up, which they all accept as an answer. She frowns. “He shouldn’t be this light.”

“Fucking Gabriel,” Allegra and Chloe mutter.

As she carries him outside, she sees Nino give her a relieved smile. He and Adrien may not hang out much anymore, but he still cares about the model.

When they arrive in the designer’s room, Marinette places him gently on the chaise, settling a blanket over him and sitting in front of him.

Chloe pulls down the sheet from Marinette’s ceiling. It’s covered in various sticky notes and lists. There’s phone numbers scattered about, with lines connecting them to other places. A checklist occupies the corner, with various things marked off, all are connected to some other part of the organized mess.

It’s impressive it all fits.

“Felix, Chloe, if either of you need to step out to speak with the lawyers, then go ahead. Sabrina-”

The other girl smiles, waving her off. “I’m already looking it over.”

“Great, thank you,” Marinette nods.

“I can call about the apartment,” Allegra volunteers.

“Good idea. Then I guess-”

Claude puts a hand on her shoulder. “Mari, it’s okay. We know what to do, you can just take care of Adrien right now.”

She sighs, smiling gratefully, and nodding, turning to Adrien. She tunes out the rest of the room, eyes only for her partner. She sees worried green eyes peering out from his overshirt, and waves at the Kwami subtly. The God simply nods at her and burrows closer to his Chosen.

Putting a hand to his forehead, she confirms that he definitely has a fever. She heads to the kitchen, finding the thermometer, and grabbing a glass of water in case he wants it.

Her room is a busy center for the various plans going on, as everyone assigns themselves tasks to complete to get as much done as quickly as they can. The noise level still manages to remain low, as everyone is aware of the model resting.

“Hey,” Marinette whispers, brushing Adrien’s hair out of his face. “Can I get your temperature quick?”

He manages a nod.

She frowns at the number displayed. “Definitely a fever.”

Adrien hums.

“I’d offer you water, but you probably just want to go back to sleep, huh?”

He slow blinks at her, and she smiles softly, returning the look and squeezing his hand quickly while he continues to sleep. She turns around, sitting against the chaise again.

Marinette gets out a laptop, typing furiously as she gets to work as well, emailing the journalists that Nadja had mentioned to her.

 Hello! You seem as though you’re a reputable reporter who can help me out! I hate to see people getting away with terrible things, and given the current state of the Agreste brand, this seems like a good time to bring this to light. Attached to this email, you’ll find…

 Greetings! I trust you’ll respect my wish to remain anonymous. I understand you specialize in exposés…

 I have attached some stories to this email that did not receive the attention they should have. I believe that this could be a good time for a journalist such as yourself to bring them back to light, so that this may receive the attention it deserves…

 I’d like to remain anonymous, but I thought you’d be interested…

 The Gabriel brand has a history of covering up less than flattering stories, but…

 The designer emails tens of reporters, all about a variety of things that Gabriel’s lawyers had gone to great lengths to keep from reaching the mainstream media. The stories range from everything to the treatment of their workers to claims of art theft, to suspicious movement of money, and more. She contacted people from all over, bloggers, to journalists to news anchors, and more than a few people outside of Paris and even France.

She emailed people mentioned in articles, encouraging them to speak out again. She went to relevant online forums and anonymously mentioned that now would be a good time for the brand’s darker secrets to come to like, if anyone was so inclined, and linked to several other news outlets that would likely take the stories.

She sent a variety of emails to big names in the fashion world, feigning hesitance to purchase from them, given their closeness to someone like Gabriel, who is currently so negatively viewed.

The best part is that all the things she’d mentioned were already true. She and her friends had spent weeks looking for the stories and the interviews that had been ignored and conveniently ‘lost’.  They were going to find even more, but even if they’re doing this early, internet sleuths will be entirely capable of finding it themselves, which will only lead to further waves.

Marinette was sure to ask for anonymity, or even encourage them to not mention her at all. She used different emails and forms of contact, using different styles of writing and, when contacting someone in a different language, she used different levels of fluency in the language. The people she contacted had little to no connections to each other, and she sent a few emails out on various delays.

Even if people suspected one person had been behind all of these reports coming out at once, they wouldn’t be able to tie it back to her, if they even thought that a group of teenagers could be responsible in the first place. Not that this is defamation.

No, that would imply that all of this is made up - and it’s all very, very true.

Gabriel doesn’t stand a chance.

---

Eventually, the others go home. Marinette had made a call to Nathalie to convince (read: threaten) her into letting Adrien have a sleepover. The woman had the nerve to argue that Adrien ‘is sick and needs to be under proper care’.

As if.

His proper care is never in the hands of Nathalie and Gabriel, no, Marinette is more than willing to take care of him.

He’d slept for most of the day. Even with everyone using her room as a headquarters for both Operation Emancipate Adrien and Operation Gabriel Takedown (it’s just more fun to have names, and it makes it feel a little less sad), he’d been dead to the world. She’s eaten dinner, so now she doesn’t really have much else to do.

Why not email some more people?

She’s in the middle of tracking down an article that could be useful when a hand reaches past her and shuts her laptop.

“Mari. Take a break.”

She turns to see a very tired Adrien awake once more, who is attempting to look reprimanding.

“I don’t need a break! I’m just-”

“Shhhhh.” He puts a finger over her mouth. “Don’t give m’ dumb dad all y’ur energy. Do something fun.”

“I’m not giving him all my energy. I’m just making sure he won’t have anything left to stand on. He’s gotten away with how he’s treated you for too long!” She argues.

“By wasting all your en’rgy on him. You guys have done plenty, don’ worry. Jus’... tell me how your garden’s doin’.”

Her face lights up at the question, and she excitedly describes to him how she has not one, not two, but three new sprouts, and how this plant is already blooming, and how that plant is doing so much better since she figured out that it wasn’t getting as much sun as she thought.

She rambles on and on, and he sinks back against the lounge, watching her happily update him on the state of one of her hobbies.

He loves seeing her smile.

He doesn’t realize he’s purring until she gives him a soft smile, just for him, that warms his heart. She starts scratching his head and continues to inform him about how different bugs are actually beneficial to gardens and different natural ways to keep unwanted bugs off plants without harming the plant or the good bugs.

He just lets her talk. His head still hurts, and he’s most certainly still sick, but this? This is nice.

Marinette notices that Adrien’s kitty kisses are beginning to give way to him struggling to keep his eyes open.

“Sleepy, Kitty?”

He hums.

“I’ll let you sleep.”

He reaches out to her slightly.

“Oh, alright. I guess.”

Feigning annoyance, she moves to sit with him on the chaise, hugging him close as he gets comfortable with the new arrangement. With a giant kitten sleeping and purring next to (and partially on) her, it isn’t long before she drifts off to sleep herself.

---

Author’s Note: So how was that? We'll be seeing it finally come to a close in chapter 40 (It's literally titled emancipation), but that focuses more on Adrien settling in to his new life.

I finished writing the last chapters last night. I'm still in shock I think, just a bit. I'll probably write a goodbye to this fic (because I'm sappy like that), then I can get started on all the events that I didn't write that I've promised to write for you guys. I know I promised Tikki and Plagg's talk after the reveal, as well as at least two or three other things, and, of course, Alya's (and Nino's) apologies to Adrien. I can't remember which events I promised, so please do let me know. (I think I have a few comments of a me listing them, so I may stalk through the comment section).

I know you all want the results to the survey, so you can find those here! (Another reminder that if you're here early, the link won't be there yet and you'll need to refresh the page 💕). I have a survey question that I really like, so after all the chapters I'll give it a one-shot all its own and, yes, it will have a survey that you guys can answer too. The next Dumb Debate will be in chapter 41, in case you were wondering. It's a fun one too.

Another thing to mention now that the story is wrapping up, I've saved scenes that I had to scrap or that went under intense rewrites so for those interested in seeing some deleted scenes, I'll post those the same day as the last chapter (which is an epilogue, and therefore shorter) to give you some extra content then.

Wow, it's weird that we're so close to the end.

Thank you all so much for reading!! Comments and kudos are my lifeblood and I cannot find enough ways to say thank you! Or if you're reading on tumblr, likes and reblogs (or asks, I never really get any) also make my day! Lovely to 'see' you guys and I hope you all have a wonderful day!

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[goldenkamuyhunting]

Quick outline of the changes in Golden Kamuy Vol 20

Here is a general outline of the more relevant changes that take place in Vol 20 compared to the magazine. Note that as usual I won’t dig into minor changes unless they seem to be relevant for the plot or characterization (or I really like them).

We spend a moment on the cover, which sees the return of Sugimoto on it.

Sugimoto has appeared already on two covers in the past. I tend to think the next one will be Asirpa, Tsurumi will appear on the one of Vol 23 and Ogata on the one of Vol 27 as in the past they rotated in a regular manner.

Said this I also expect Golden Kamuy to end with Vol 28, in short to have as many volumes as the chapter of Matthew’s gospel... though this might be just me. Honestly, if this were to be wrong, I don’t expect it to go past 29/30 volumes. Considering the magazine version is already at vol 23 we’re getting close to the end... ;_;

It’s also worth to mention that the backcover this time doesn’t have JUST Asirpa like the previous Sugimoto cover but Asirpa AND Ogata, Ogata taking Asirpa away from Sugimoto, in a clear reference to what happened in Vol 19... although during it Ogata was a lot less calm and confident than he looks in this cover, as if this scenewas seen in Sugimoto’s vision... and it’s worth to mention in the cover Sugimoto is trying to pull out his bayonet to likely kill Ogata with it, as he had attempted to do in their first meeting and as he likely considered to do in the hospital when he learnt Ogata would die.

We then move to the colour page.

It’s no new illustration, it was the cover for chap 205, ‘Cinematograph’ which will be in the next volume. Not one of my fave covers but it can be fitting considering the plot of the last chapters of this volume.

The downside of it is that we lose the colour cover of chap 193. I wonder if Noda will use it later.

It’s worth to note though how Noda drew for chap 193 a new black and white cover.

Always in regard to covers, the cover of chap 191 now is used as background for the summary.

As usual the volume presents a cute summary.

And now let’s talk of extra pages and panels which are added to the story.

Same as in past volumes the new pages seems to have the purpose to expand scenes that already were in  the magazine version so we can better understand what’s going on.

Note I’m not going to add them all but only those which are plot relevant (or that I particularly like).

Let’s start with chap 191.

Maybe nobody noticed it but volume pages are longer. This allows us to better see Shiraishi’s expression as he buries Kiro.

Asirpa’s expression as Shiraishi says Kiro was too serious for his own good is also redrawn (and they added some background behind Tanigaki, Koito and Tsukishima).

Tanigaki’s dialogue line about Inkarmat reporting how Kiro told her Wilk had changed is cut as Noda had added some panels in the past volume with Sugimoto telling this to Asirpa.

This allows Noda to expand the scene in which Sugimoto tells Asirpa Nopperabou told him he didn’t kill the Ainu, to which she replies ‘really?’ when in the magazine version she just looked down sadly.

Noda shortened the scene in which Sofia unbury Kiro to say her goodbye to him to add one in which she joins her men, even though it was too late to save Kiro.

It should hurt her horribly.

We go on. At Noboribetsu Noda added a Kikuta panel with the man saying something. No idea what but I love Kikuta so enjoy him.

We go to Chap 192.

The inside of the ryv is now more detailed and Ogata looks a little better... as in his bandages seem cleaner than in the volume version. Also Noda gave him a fur cover which matches with the one has in the othe scenes.

Sure the cloth placed against his eye is still not perfectly clean but the one in the magazine seemed much dirtier.

On the opposite side Tsukishima looks worse, his lips chapped now.

Noda expanded Sugimoto’s reply to Asirpa’s question ‘what are you going to do, Sugimoto? Will you cooperate with Tsurumi?’

We jump to chap 193.

As said before the color cover is removed and Noda drew a black and white new cover for the chapter.

When Kikuta notices the man with the eyepatch, the guy looks much worse than in the magazine and Ariko doesn’t turn toward him as well but looks at Kikuta. Noda also changed a little Kikuta’s expression in the following panel.

Ah, it’s not really relevant but Noda changed a little how one of Toni Anji’s men look so as to help differentiate him from Toni Anji’s other man. I’m not going to post all the scenes in which he looks different but here you can get a glimpse of him and compare him with how he previously looked in the magazine.

Noda took better care of Ariko’s mother, drawing her in action instead than still as a statue.

(and yeah you also get a glimpse of Kikuta as he says ‘the sound of geta’ as Noda redraw him)

Noda also made more clear how Kikuta removed the eyepatch (you can now see him moving something above his left eye and said eye widening and also being visible although Kikuta’s face is darkened when Toni shoots him) and Noda also drew better Toni shooting at Kikuta.

Let’s go to chap 194.

A lot more fog is added in almost all the scenes better showing how it was hard to see something in it for Kikuta and Co. No idea why but the Nikaido panels have now him looking in the opposite direction and there are minor redrawing here and there.

Overall though there is no terribly relevant change.

Chap 195 presents only one small yet relevant change.

In it it’s Ariko who volunteers to go after Toni while Kikuta remains with Usami, when in the magazine version it was Kikuta who told Ariko to go after him.

To chap 196 we go.

Ogata is confirmed to look as bad as in the magazine version in this chapter, as to imply his conditions has worsened quite a bit.

There are some minor redrawings here and there but nothing terribly relevant (still enjoy Kikuta looking more awesome... yes, if you hadn’t figured it out yet I’m partial to him).

And now we reach Chap 197 and things turn interesting.

While Asirpa remains very distressed at the idea Ogata might die...

... and we have no explanation whatsoever regarding to the Russian doctor’s odd behaviour, we get a lot of changes in regard to how  Koito and Tsurumi’s first meeting went because the volume version changed it A LOT. Not only Tsurumi’s face isn’t kept in the dark for as long as it was in the magazine but Koito definitely isn’t the well mannered kid we met in the volume version but a real bonbon, spoiled, bossy and angry, much more fitting of the personality he’ll have as an adult. Tsurumi also will show here he’s not going to let a young boy bully him.

Again Noda have someone slap some sense into someone else.

While the scene can look violent it’s clearly for Koito it was catartic. He knew he was acting like an asshole and he likely did so because he wanted to draw attention on himself but, as he says also in the magazine version, his father won’t scold him. So fundamentally Tsurumi hitting him for his bad behaviour gave him the attention he wanted and makes tematically sense with how he pointed out his father didn’t scold him.

After that fight Tsurumi’s kindness also likely made more of an impression on Koito.

It’s also worth to mention Tsurumi is freakingly strong. Remember how Ogata warned Sugimoto he shouldn’t try to block Koito’s first strike, the info box informing us it should be dodged at any cost? Well, Tsurumi blocks it with his arm and breaks Koito’s ‘sword’ (actually the cane of a poor man Koito took using his status).

So we move to chap 198.

The panels post Koito’s kidnapping are expanded. Now it’s more obvious Koito’s tricycle is in front of the consulate. Many panels are also expanded but, overall, I couldn’t detect relevant changes.

So we reach Chap 199.

The whole run in the tricycle is expanded, the chase between the Kidnapper (Kikuta) and the duo Tsurumi/Koito senior is now longer and Tsurumi gets to show off more and even express his Tsurumisexuality on two women passing by.

The destruction of the tricycle is now in a spread page, Koito senior calling for his son in another, below him the background of the Goryokaku.

And so we reach the last chapter of the volume, chap 200.

Interesting enough Noda removed Tsukishima leaving the room when they hear Koito senior calling for Koito making the scene entirely a Koito-Ogata one.

Tsukishima will remain present, we can see his hat when Ogata ties Koito, meaning he heard Ogata saying Барчонок ‘Barchonok’ (ボンボンが ‘Bonbon ga’ "pampered little rich boy’“).

This means it was clearly Tsurumi the one who knocked out Koito senior, showing us again how Tsurumi is actually quite strong but this also tells us that when Koito will mention the word Барчонок ‘Barchonok’ Tsukishima probably felt very, very uncomfortable about it as he might have understood from whom Koito might have heard it... while in the magazine version Tsukishima knew nothing about it and Koito could hope Tsukishima was actually the kidnapped who used it (unlikely, not only it’s Ogata the one with a bruised nose but ‘black hat’ was shorter than ‘white fedora’ and a much better fighter, all things that match with Tsukishima).

By the way, not only Ogata’s nose is confirmed to remain bruised (so yes, it was him the one who rubbed Koito’s back) but now we can see the number on their shoulders, which in the volume version wasn’t clearly visible although the bands showing their ranks still aren’t present.

It’s also worth to mention Noda expanded the meeting between Tsurumi, Koito and Koito senior when Koito has enrolled in the army.

No idea why they say but they discuss again how Koito was saved. I’ll say Tsurumi succesfully has managed to make Koito senior feel in debt.

Ogata’s escape is also expanded, with Sugimoto trying to shoot at him more than once. None of the shoots is remotely close to the horse as Sugimoto was clearly aiming above it, to Ogata. Not that he gets him.

Koito is shown coming out of the hospital on unsteady legs as Sugimoto wishes for Ogata to come back so he can fucking kill him though his gaze here is a little more normal.

In short Ogata didn’t put Koito completely out of service but, between the blow at his head and Ogata’s kick Koito was definitely not in his best shape.

As far as I’m involved the worst part is that nothing is explained about the Russian doctor who first didn’t want to have anything to do with them as his hospital was full, then realized they were Japanese and was threatened by Sugimoto into going with them EVEN THOUGH HIS HOSPITAL WAS FULL AND HE CLEARLY WAS BUSY, and once he sees the poor shape Ogata is in, decides to bring him to his hospital going so far as arguing with them, even though before being threatened he didn’t want to help them.

Then he perfectly smoothly acts as if Ogata is about to die, not even a drop of sweat on his face, before we discover that it’s highly possible he was being threatened by Ogata? That or there’s more and we hadn’t been told yet?

Hard to say, it’s possible Noda just wants to handwave this but really, it’s weird and it’s not addressed at all.

Anyway the volume ends here.

Ariko and Kikuta do the thanks.

...and the spoiler for the next volume is the cover of chap 210. I’ll be evil and let you check which one it is if you don’t remember it. :P

Anyway that’s all. I recommend everyone to get the volume as, as usual, it’s much better than the magazine version.

[veliseraptor]

it’s that time again, by which I mean ‘the time when I’m going to be on a bus for several hours tomorrow and like using that as writing time, so I’m going to do a 150 words meme because it’s usually good for me’ so - send me up to three numbers and I will write 150 words in that fic

included in this list is my original project because I want to stop being scared of it. there are twelve projects to choose from for this round.

1. Kazem probed his teeth with his tongue to see if any had come loose, though it was perhaps a moot point. The state of his teeth wouldn’t matter much if he was dead. They all seemed to be more or less in place, though, to his relief; foolish vanity, maybe, but then he didn’t have much but his vanity left.

“What do you want me to say,” he ground out. “Am I meant to deny it?”

She snarled. “You could try.” 

“So you can kick me again? No, thank you.” Kazem closed his eyes. “If you are going to kill me, would you mind getting it over with? I don’t have anything to say to you.”  (the ex villain project)

2. “Steve,” he said. “Give me some credit for knowing you, and being able to see when something ails you more than just weariness.”

Steve’s jaw worked. “If Loki won’t-”

“Loki won’t speak to me,” Thor interrupted. “He’s been avoiding me for the past two days. He is very good at it.” 

Steve hesitated, but he shook his head again. “I’m sorry,” he said, and really did sound it. “But it’s not...my place.” He paused, and then said, “don’t,” and then stopped.

“Don’t what?” Thor prompted.

“Don’t...push him too hard,” Steve said, after a few seconds of silence. “He’s not...he’s been through a lot.” Norns, he sounded so miserable. (The Road Not Taken)

3. Lymond stirred to somewhat regrettable consciousness but did not immediately stir, the eyes remaining half-closed. He rallied defenses left in disarray, and his companion, graciously, allowed it.

“Luminibus servabant atque in statione manebant. My Panoptes. Have you found your observation edifying?” (et ipsi sunt jacula)

4. He slid his fingers into my hair then and pulled my head back until my neck hurt and said, “do you know what I am going to do to you now, darling?”

I swallowed and shook my head.

“It is an old piece of magic,” Malkar said, and his voice was like velvet, but velvet with a knife under it or something, and I’d’ve sworn I could feel it all the way down in my bones. “It is called the obligation d’sang. Do you know what that means?”

I shook my head again.

“It is also known as the binding-by-blood,” Malkar said, still in that voice, and he let me go and stood up. “You are my student now, Felix. Do you know what that makes me?” (Pygmalion)

5. “If you don’t want me here, I needn’t stay,” he said sharply. “I only thought to update you on the state of affairs-”

“Loki,” she said, and he cut off. Tense, she observed, and there was a new wariness - or an old wariness returned. A sense of something ever so slightly gone awry, though she still couldn’t quite pin down what it was. “I didn’t say that I didn’t want you here. Why are you trying to run?”

“I am not–” Loki hissed. His jaw tightened and he let out a slow breath. “It hasn’t been the best of months. That is all.” 

“It makes me nervous when you’re cryptic.” 

He flashed her a brittle smile. “Good. It’ll keep you on your toes.” (Persecution)

6. “Is there anyone else you trust?” 

Valkyrie? Not entirely. Heimdall? With Asgard’s best interests, yes; with himself, no. Frigga, once, but she’d been gone for years. “No.” 

Rogers’ expression softened, the corner of his mouth tugging briefly downward. “That sounds incredibly lonely.”

Loki’s teeth clicked together and he almost flinched. “I endure,” he said coldly, and started walking. 

“I’m just saying,” Rogers said. “Maybe it doesn’t need to be like that. You could at least try having a little faith in other people.”

“I could,” Loki said, “but I’d rather not. Given my status, it would be a quick way to get myself killed.” (the first steps stumbling forward)

7. He could feel Loki’s stare on his back as he strode out, his mind already whirling. He knew this was, practically speaking, a terrible idea. His friends would certainly think so. Somewhere in his head Clint was shouting at him about dangerous and insane and he’ll do anything to get any kind of power he can, but...they’d find some other way of containing Loki. Something that wasn’t this, because there had to be another way. The geas wasn’t really about containment, after all. It was about torture. 

Steve grabbed a large pad of paper and a pen off his desk, took a deep breath, squared his shoulders, and headed back to Loki’s rooms, feeling a little like he was going into battle. He supposed that after a manner of speaking he was. 

He knocked on the door and waited, again, for Loki to open it. He hadn’t quite managed to wipe the confusion off his face, at least not completely. 

“What…”

Steve held up the pad of paper. “We,” he said, “are going to do some brainstorming.” (Tear My Castle Down)

8. Sometimes, Steve had thought, handling Loki was a bit like battlefield tactics. For better results when it went well, though, and fewer casualties if it went badly. Usually just Loki’s disappearance for a day or two before he came slinking warily back, an apology on his tongue and braced for rejection. (The Closing Ring)

9. “I don’t understand,” he said blurrily, “why you won’t just - finish it.” 

“I told you-”

‘I don’t mean...killing me,” Loki said. “I mean - breaking me. You could. It wouldn’t be hard. Why don’t you?” 

She was silent. Loki counted five breaths before she said, “let’s table that for when you’re not quite so out of it.”

Tell me now, he wanted to insist, I need to know, but he was still having a hard time talking and he was afraid if he argued with her she would leave, and he didn’t want to be alone right now. He didn’t know what he would do if he were, and didn’t want to know. (Perception)

10. He knew where he needed to go. Where the power was. Where the power was, he could steal some for himself. Perhaps, depending on what this Grandmaster was like, more than some. With power came safety, and with safety came the opportunity to gain a foothold. And then…

And then what? Will you stay here for the rest of your life, safely hidden, far from Asgard and your thrice-damned adoptive sister?

The answer that occurred to him was bleak: where else are you going to go? (the rapture of that cruelty)

11. “Loki admires you,” Frigga said. “He looks to you and sees a role model.”

Hela blinked. “Is that so,” she said. 

“Yes,” Frigga said. “You are his older sister. You are powerful, strong, fearless. Sure of yourself. Of course he admires you. Thor does as well, though he does not want to admit it. That is something you can throw away if you wish, but you might remember that even a Queen does not rule truly alone.”

Hela smoothed out her expression, hoping her surprise was hidden. Frigga spoke as though she expected Hela to rule. As though she did not intend to try to push her aside in favor of her own child. There was all likelihood it was a ploy, of course, but it was still...interesting. 

Then again, Frigga was not the kind to make her animosity obvious, or her plans transparent. (swords into plowshares)

12. “Fighting over what?” 

“Long story,” Steve said. He didn’t particularly want to try explaining twentieth-century politics to an alien. Loki had enough trouble with some aspects of modern democracy, and he’d been living here for almost a century. “Regardless, I thought he was in trouble. He wasn’t, but I guess I got his attention because he kept dropping by.” 

He could see Thor thinking back. “He never said anything.”

There were several biting things Steve thought of to say, but he held them back and just shrugged. 

“And...eventually he came to stay?” Thor shifted. “Did he tell you why?” 

“Yes,” Steve said. “He said it was because he would be killed if anyone found out he was a - Jotun. He was just going to say goodbye. I asked him to stay.” He wanted to say he was terrified and miserable and sick with it, but he’d only be saying it to hurt. (Thunderstorms)

[thanzag]

a visitor

takes place after part one, part two, and part three fic masterlist here

also, find this now on ao3! here

zagreus catches a break.

When the sun takes its place behind the horizon, Zagreus finds himself a place off the beaten path to settle in for the night. Can Nyx feel him when he’s swathed in darkness here? It feels like she can, but that might be a symptom of missing her terribly.

Seeing Meg was good for him. Even if he’s still sore and aching and very slowly healing — he hasn’t made even half the progress he normally does, after the fight with the other Furies — it was some comfort to hear her voice. And he is healing. It’s difficult to walk, some, but he’s not bleeding any longer, and that’s a small blessing.

Speaking of blessings...

He’s never prayed to anyone before. But he’s going to follow Meg’s advice, because she knows things he doesn’t, and he does not want to fight her sisters again. Doesn’t want to chance it.

He finds an outcropping of rocks that block the wind and clears away the snow in a half-circle so that he has somewhere mostly dry to sit. He’s finding that he has all sorts of opinions about things he likes and doesn’t like about the surface. Cold, wet pants are at the top of the ‘no’ list, so far.

(The top of the ‘yes’ list is, currently, the smell of the air in the morning.)

He takes a seat, leaning Stygius against the rock at his back, and he starts… trying to pray.

Goddess Athena, please grant me your aid. Or — your time? I’ve made it to the surface but my father has sent the Furies after me. I am on my way to Athens, but —

He loses his train of thought at the sound of something making noise in the trees — some kind of animal.

Ugh. Try again.

Lady Athena, please hear my prayer. I seek your guidance and assistance in freeing myself from the torment of the Furies. Hades has sent them after me now that I have made my way out of the Underworld. I hurry to Athens, but I hope that you might be able to lend me your assistance once more.

Maybe that will do? The wind is all he can hear, now, and there is no sign that she has heard his plea. Maybe he needs to find a temple, and pray to her there. Or contact one of her priestesses?

Gods, this is more difficult than he expected. But he can’t fight off the Furies again, so he’s going to have to figure it out.

He tilts his head back and opens his eyes, looking up at the stars. The night sky brings him peace, and he could use something to battle the frustration in his chest.

There’s a rustling sound, close, and even as he turns his head to look he is reaching for his sword.

It’s —

“Thanatos?!” He’s mirroring Zagreus’ position on the ground, legs folded beneath him. His hood is down, his scythe is nowhere to be seen, and he is just… staring.

“Zagreus,” he answers, nodding his head minutely, and every tightly-wound nerve in Zagreus��� chest loosens, instantly.

Zagreus leaps for the him without thinking, wrapping his arms around Than’s neck and holding back only so they don’t both hit the ground. Than makes a grunting noise but catches him all the same. Zagreus has never felt so free.

“I won’t ask you if you’ve missed me,” Than dryly says next to his ear, cool hands pressing against his back, his bare shoulder. “I’m sorry I wasn’t able to come when you called.”

“Of course I missed you!” Zagreus disentangles himself reluctantly, but he wants to be able to see his friend’s face. “Being out… having made it out — it’s great. But I missed you, and everyone else, a lot.” He sighs. “I didn’t expect to.”

“Well, I’m here now,” Than offers, shrugging one shoulder. He shifts, a little, on the bare ground.

“How — how long are you able to be here?” Zagreus feels energized, too big for his skin. His blood is thrumming.

“Don’t worry about it,” is all that Than says, which… Zagreus should have expected that response. “What is your plan?”

From anyone else it would be a non-sequitur, but Thanatos has always been picky about details. He’s brilliant, that way. It’s not a surprise, at least, for him to ask.

The wind is blowing through Than’s hair, and maybe it doesn’t bother him, but it’s bothering Zagreus to see it — to know the cold bite of it — and he shifts over some to make space.

“Come sit next to me, and I’ll tell you?” he suggests, patting the empty patch of ground, and Than just… does. It’s gratifying.

“I’m on my way to Athens, hopefully,” he starts, looking over in the direction he’s pretty sure is East. Without the sun in the sky, he struggles to tell. “And then, after that, Olympus.”

Than hums. “Why Athens first?”

“I — had a run in with the Furies today,” he admits. Rolls his shoulder. “Meg let me get away — don’t tell anyone else that — and she told me to… go to Athens. To find something called an Areopagus?” Sharing it makes it feel more and less real, all at once. He doesn’t think she would lie to him, but there is no way it will be easy.

Then again, it’s not like anything thus far has been easy, either, and that hasn’t stopped him yet.

“She wants you to have a trial?”

“I — I guess? She didn’t give me a lot of details.”

“It’s happened once before,” Than offers. Zagreus is having a very hard time not staring at him, and presses their shoulders together instead. In camaraderie. “The Goddess Athena presided over a trial and ultimately pardoned the mortal Orestes for the crime of killing his mother. Prior to that, the Furies spent a long while tormenting him. I believe it was a complicated trial, though I only know that from Megaera complaining about it at the time.”

“Do you think…” He glances at Than’s face and finds that the other man is looking at him already, yellow eyes luminescent in the mostly-darkness. The half moon is the only source of light overhead. “Do you think that they will pardon me?”

“I would hope so. You deserve it, anyway.” He looks away, and Zagreus watches his hand clench on empty air. “It goes against most of the rules, for you to leave the Underworld, yes, but that is not why the Furies have been sent after you.”

“Right. Filial betrayal.” Zagreus snorts.

“Either way, if Athena presides over your trial, it will be fair.”

“Right…” Talking about it is a big reminder that he still hasn’t heard back from her, that his prayer probably didn’t work. Would Than know anything about praying to the Olympic gods?

Before he can ask, Than shifts, stands. “I have to go,” he says, and something twinges in Zagreus’ chest. It feels like it has been no time at all that they have been here talking together.

But Zagreus knows, too, of Than’s dedication to his work.

He expects the other man to — to disappear immediately, like he always does, but Thanatos subverts that expectation. Instead, he continues to stand there at Zagreus’ side, looking down at him.

“Aren’t you going to give me a proper farewell?” Thanatos asks dryly, still watching him, and Zagreus scrambles to his feet. He feels off-kilter. Their normal goodbyes are just Than, disappearing into thin air.

“Proper farewell?” he asks, thinking back on the manners that Nyx taught him, an eternity ago. If Thanatos wants him to be polite, he will. He can do that, probably.

“Tch,” Than tuts, and then —

He reaches out and pulls Zagreus into a hug.

It’s more even than their last one, and Zagreus feels soothed all over by Than’s touch. It’s a reassurance, a comfort. Than always seems to know what he needs.

It takes real effort not to hold on too tightly, to cling. He doesn’t want to be alone again when Than leaves, but — this is the consequence, a consequence, of his actions. He knew it was going to be difficult when he decided to leave, even though he maybe hadn’t expected this.

He’s got to be strong.

“Fare well, Than,” he says, pressed nearly cheek-to-cheek with the other man. When he finally gives up and pulls away, he finds him to be wearing an unreadable expression.

“I will come back when I can,” he says, eyes on Zagreus’ face. “Be safe, Zagreus.”

He disappears, then, somewhere in the middle of “I will.”

Alone again, Zagreus sinks back to the ground.

It takes a long time for his mind to stop whirling away, but eventually he does find rest.

[vore-scientist]

Good Intentions (In Which There Are Thieves)

[M/m safe, soft GT vore]

A (mini) Tale of the Mystic Woods

Yonah (the “evil” giant wizard) deals with thieves on a regular basis. They are rather a nuisance but they do taste good!

Almost every encounter with a thief follows a pattern: 1) Thief breaks in to the tower. 2) Yonah catches and eats the thief. 3) Yonah releases the thief and if they accept it, gives them some money for their trouble.

“In Which There are Thieves” is a collection of short stories that all follow that pattern, but each encounter is unique!

Content warnings: the vore is soft and safe but VERY unwilling and it’s Yonah’s job to be the big bad giant so expect fearplay. And the thieves don’t know that he plans to let them live. (Especially when he tells them the opposite)

Note: this encounter takes place before Sophia comes to live with Yonah

This fun short was inspired by this ask:

“Fee Fi Fo Fum, I smell the blood of the human kind. It matters not the things you stole, I’ll capture you and swallow you whole!”

/Great/, thought Sparrow. He was already captured so that only left being eaten. He thought this was supposed to be the lair of an evil wizard who worked for the king! A king’s secret wizard must have loads of shit worth multiple fortunes! He had not expected this wizard to also be a giant. He had not come prepared to fight a giant! And thus, he had been captured. Rather quickly too. 

The giant had him in a tight grip, large brown hungry eyes fixed on him. It had taken his sword, his dagger, even his mother’s pocket knife! That was an heirloom. Sitting in this giant’s lair it wouldn’t get handed down to anyone and since he was about to die he dearly wished to still have it on him for his trip to the next world. 

“Now you see what happens to petty thieves!” it growled with delight. 

“I am no petty thief, Giant,” Sparrow spat, “I am a hero! I steal from the rich to give to the poor! You have no business eating me.”

The giant cocked his head at him with unnerving quizzical innocence which rapidly contorted into mischief. Sparrow didn’t like it, not one bit. Especially not when it laughed and licked it’s lips. 

“Wonderful! Then your next and final act of charity will be to fill my poor belly!” it pat it’s stomach in a horrible childish manner. 

The next thing Sparrow knew he was in it’s mouth. He thought for SURE he would be bitten in half. Whatever strange breed of giant this was, it was too small to swallow a person whole. At least that would be a quicker death than the agonizing drawn out demise to be found inside it’s stomach. 

He just wished it would get it over with!!! The giant’s teeth dug into his ribs as it held him ⅓ the way in its mouth, the massive tongue familiarizing itself with Sparrow’s texture and taste. The slobber was thick and warm and he tried not to breath. UGH he got the giant’s spit in his mouth!!!

The hum of giant’s delight at his flavor buzzed around him, adding to the humiliation. 

What was going on? Gravity shifted and he was upside-down! The jaws loosened and he slid back at the same he was pushed by the tongue and pulled by the muscles into the giant’s throat. 

No way. No! 

The hot rubbery flesh enveloped him completely. With his heart pounding and his breathing rapid he feared he would pass out. No not feared. Hoped. Death by suffocation was much preferable to… digestion. 

Seemed like he didn’t even have that amount of good fortune however.

His feet were still in the giants mouth! It had taken off his shoes and the tongue tickled but Sparrow did not laugh. For pounding against his head, against his heart, was the beat of the giant’s as he slowly inched past the powerful organ. 

There was a strong swallow and a deep breath from the giant as Sparrow’s body entered it in its entirety. 

In the same moment his hands passed through a much rougher section of flesh into a void. Then his head did the same and he instinctively drew breath and then gagged. There was air in stomach but it was noxious. 

The stomach. 

The giant’s body forced his own into the space which stretched to hold all of him but it was a tight fit. He was really crammed in there. While he could kick out he couldn’t put much power behind it, and with the slick walls he couldn’t maintain any outstretched position for longer than a second. 

Time didn’t slow down, if anything it sped up. His impending death drawing closer with every beat of his racing heart. 

“Enjoying your stay? I am. It’s a pity it won’t be a long one.” The giant’s voice thundered around him. 

“Bastard! I’m a HERO! I’m supposed to defeat evildoers such as you! How did you beat me! This isn’t how it works!”

The laughter of the giant shook him violently, rattling his brain. 

“Good does not always triumph over evil,” came the venomous reply. 

“You could have at least bitten my head off or something! I don’t want to suffer in here!”

There was a jolting chuckle. 

“But I would miss out on all of your wonderful struggling! And who said anything about suffering? I certainly didn’t!”

There was a pronounced pressure on Sparrow’s side. The giant’s fingers most likely. It clearly wanted to enjoy every bit of his slow and painful death. 

“So, my tasty little hero, you ready to say goodbye?”

WhAT? Sparrow flailed and the giant laughed again. He barely felt any tingling in his skin! Was the giant about to do something terrible? 

The pressure increased from all sides and Sparrow screamed. The walls got angry and convulsed, rolling him around until.

He was forced… back the way he came. 

So shocked he froze and let it happen. He could not believe it was actually happening! The  retching sounds which normally might cause himself to retch were like an angelic choir as with each one he traveled up the giant’s esophagus. 

Still hot and muggy the breath of air he gulped in when his head emerged into the giant’s mouth was the best he’d ever had. It was a breath of life! 

His wits miraculously back to him he opened his eyes, extended an arm to grasp at the giant’s front teeth to yank himself forward. 

The giant choked in surprise but helped out by pinching his sides and pulled him the rest of the way out. He was tossed unceremoniously onto the bench. Right next to his things. 

Sword in hand he stood up, slipping only slightly on the spit and mucus that pooled at his feet. 

“Stay back giant! Or I’ll-”

“Do what, exactly?” The giant was wiping its mouth on a long sleeve grinning. “Get eaten by me again?”

He raised the sword in a fighting stance. The giant frowned. 

“Wow are you stupid? I’m letting you go! Unless you think we have unfinished business. You’re welcome to give this another try. But I warn you, the second trip down my gullet is one way. Are these poor you speak of worth the risk?”  

Sparrow said nothing, his mind was racing in a white void 

“Go on. I’d love to have another taste.” The eyes of the giant flared bright orange for a second. 

Sparrow lowered the sword but did not sheath it. He cautiously gathered up the rest of his things. Shoes, knife, pocket knife, bag, gear harness. It all squelched against his foul smelling soaked through clothes. The giant watched him, the gaze no less hungry than before. By some miracle he had been shown mercy, but he didn’t know if it would last very long. 

The giant’s unnerving kindness extended to carrying him from the desk to the windowsill so he could climb down. He took one last glance at the window, The giant was leaning out the window, head in it’s elbows. Not looking down, but looking out into the forest. 

Before he left the giant warned him not to disturb the garden. OR ELSE. and Sparrow was not about to disregard the one who would happily gobble him up again. So he ran into the woods. 

Once he felt a safe distance away, and made it to a cheerfully babbling brook, he sat down to wash up. 

He opened his bag to get out a bar of soap but found something else. Something that had not been there before. A large brown sack tied with a string. Had the giant put it there? 

From simply picking it up he knew it to be full of coins. Opening it revealed them to be gold. 

And there was a note. Surely this couldn’t be the giant’s doing. The note was so small and oh-

It unfolded and unfolded. 

“If this money doesn’t make it to the poor, I will know and I will find you. 

-PS, you were delicious P;”

He could have done without that post-script, especially that little drawing. What a complete wacko. Most evil wizards were. 

Thankfully, Sparrow was true to his word! This money would be put to good use. 

No need to worry about being hunted down by a giant wizard. 

Right?

[Thanks for reading! PLEASE REBLOG! I CRAVE FEEDBACK]

[for more mystic woods go to vore-scientist.tumblr.com/tagged/+mystic+woods+story or search ‘mystic woods story’ on my blog! I’ll have a tag for thief stories soon. probably “MW Thieves”]

[vagrantblvrd]

you mentioned an angstier version of your selkie au before. i'd love to see what you meant by that

!!! Okay, so.

I did some ~research into selkie lore while I was writing the first two chapters of The Manner of Things (...which I will get back to One Day, I swear) and came across this whole Thing about male selkies I’d never heard about before?

SO. The ~angsty version was going to be a play on that where Ryan had swung a favor or just me bending the rules a bit where Ryan was able to take on his human form for seven days every seven years. (Because handwavy plots reasons.)

In that time the main fic happens – Michael meets this idiot and doesn’t realize he’s a selkie and there are shenanigans in which Michael ~falls in love and vice versa. More shenanigans in which Adventure happens – typical FAHC AU shooty-shoots and car chases and other close calls and y’know, life-affirming kissing. (Gavin and Jeremy being giving Michael and Ryan shit/being suspicious of this asshole flirting with their BFF, that kind of thing.)

But then!

Ryan’s human!time is up and he has to leave and Michael is like “Wait, what?” because he was just starting to tolerate the asshole, really, and NOT feeling like his heart is being ripped in two and suchlike.

Ryan’s like, the first time in his life he regrets having to leave (idk, maybe he’s super Old or had some ~youthful indiscretions before Michael, I hadn’t quite figured it out.) and he gives him something to remember him by.

It’s kind of. He doesn’t tell Michael he’s got a Plan in case things don’t pan out, but he has a Plan. (Sea witches or regular witches, or something where he can take on his human form whenever, because handwavy plot reasons, idk.)

Jeremy is well aware Ryan has a Plan and keeps quiet because it’s risky and all that and goddamn Ryan’s an idiot, but he’s never seen him like this over anyone and he likes Michael and all that.

So, you know. Battle Buddies or whatever.

And then!

Michael doesn’t turn into a grieving widower after Ryan...leaves.

No, he just turns into a sad sack of shit who makes the mistake of letting Gavin call the shots for a while because he can’t be bothered to give a fuck. (Trusts Gavin not to get them into shit they can’t handle because he’s not that stupid.)

Oh, Michael makes a decent showing of being a functional human being for a while there. Takes jobs of his own and puts any fuckers looking to challenge his new-found reputation or give Gavin grief he doesn’t deserve, but other than that?

Cannot be fucking bothered.

And to Gavin’s credit, he does a stellar job of handling the rest for the two of them.

Picks and chooses the jobs they take on so they climb the ladder bit by bit until they get caught up in a mess not of their making.

Some assholes making a power grab and the two of them caught in the middle, meant to be scapegoats and they need to get out of Los Santos for a while.

So.

“You know, Michael,” Gavin says, bag of frozen peas doing fuck all as he holds it to the black eye he’s sure to have by now. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen Dan. Care to come with me?”

Like it’s any kind of question, and Michael’s heard a lot about Gavin’s Dan, so.

They go all the way to England while they want for things to cool down in Los Santos. (Michael gets the feeling Gavin’s got ulterior motives about heading there that has a lot to do with Michael’s sad sack life at the time, but he doesn’t bring it up and neither does Gavin.)

And anyway, anyway, Gavin’s been in the US for a while now, fucker deserves this.

Michael get to meet Dan and is honestly a little surprised to discover the asshole is exactly what he pictured whenever Gavin brought him up, told stories about him and the shit the two of them used to get into.

Big, lovable goofball with a startling love of explosives and the proper application of same, and Gavin laughs himself sick while Michael and Dan bond over this shared interest.

Dan is thrilled to teach Michael all about the shit he learned in the military, big boyish grin of delight when they go to some empty field or quarry to test something out. Helps pull Michael out of the funk he’s been in, laughing and giddy with excitement when the local authorities ccomes to check things out and they run the hell away like dumb kids.

Michael feels a little self-conscious when he shares the shit he picked up mostly through trial and error,   self-taught and all that, but Dan is just. He doesn’t judge Michael, even as he offers up a better way of doing a thing every so often, one that won’t (literally) blow up in Michael’s face if he gets the math wrong or whatever, and Michael relaxes when he realizes Dan isn’t like the assholes who taught Michael a few things about their ~craft way back in the day and they get along even better after that to Gavin’s satisfaction.

They’re staying at an old farmhouse in the middle of nowhere, something, something, something, belonged to Dan’s grandparents before they handed it over to him and moved to the city or somewhere that would be less work for them.

A fair amount of land to stretch out in, no neighbors close enough to worry about (most of) the commotion they’re making out there. (Gavin picking up sniping again - “It was a bit of a hobby,” he says, damn near hitting the center of the targets every fucking time. “Reckon it might come in handy one day.”Michael shrugs and takes his turn. Not as good as Gavin or Dan, but he gets better. Figures Gavin’s got a point about it coming in handy even if he is pretty shit at it. (He’s not, really, and both Gavin and Dan tell him so but he just shrugs it off so they let it go for the moment.)

Michael spends a lot of nights up on the roof of the farmhouse when he can’t sleep, gets used to the sight of Gavin or Dan or both of them climbing up there to join him. Sometimes they’ll bring a case of beer up with them and they’ll just.

Sit up there on the roof far enough away from all their troubles for them to matter, the sky spread out above them and enjoy the chance to not think for a little bit.

Eventually Dan heads out on a job, first sign their little vacation is winding down. (It’s been months, of course it is.)

Gavin gets the two of them a car, tells Michael it’s high time for a road trip and whatever else bullshit is  bouncing around in that head of his.

It’s a shitty little car that shudders alarmingly when they go over fifty and runs out of gas on them twice before they hit the ocean. This lonely strip of water on an empty beach, rocks and ocean spray and this tight feeling in Michael’s chest he doesn’t want to give name to.

Gavin putters about the little shack he rented for them, leaves Michael alone when he goes for a walks along the beach at sunrise and again as the sun’s setting. (Like some grieving widow from a Victorian romance novel waiting for her husband to return from the sea, and Michael hates that he does it, thinking about it like that, but doesn’t know how else he should think about it.)

Gavin never says a goddamned word about it, doesn’t raise an eyebrow when Michael comes back to their shack – it’s really more of a cottage, all nice and quaint and darling – after one his walks.

Sometimes he feels lighter after them, sometimes he’s dark and broody like a storm brewing off the coast.

And Gavin, alright.

Gavin just looks up from his laptop – keeping in touch with Dan, the million and one contacts he seems to have every-fucking-where or playing fucking Minesweeper, who the hell knows – and smiles at Michael.

Asks him what he wants to eat, like he’s going to cook anything himself.

Gavin’s not terrible in the kitchen, but he just kind of puts whatever together, and Michael knows, okay. Knows part of the reason Gavin asks is to annoy Michael into cooking for them, or at least supervise Gavin in the whole cooking endeavor so they don’t just have cold beans for dinner. (Again.)

(Sometimes dinner turns out inedible, sometimes Gavin can’t be bothered and canned beans are hard to fuck up unless you really try.)

Whatever.

Gavin offers to cook and he either makes them something halfway decent, or just the thought of it riles Michael up enough to do the cooking for them or have Gavin act as his assistant.

The rest of the time Gavin’s content to let Michael do his own thing, figure out his life on his own while he’s just.

Around.

Makes friends with the cats that run around – there are boats out here, fishermen and whatever else and cats seem to go along with that. (Michael loses track of how many cats Gavin befriends because there always seems to be a different one.)

He listens when Michael opens up a little, sits there with one of the dumb cats and listens without judging him. Chimes in with a word or two there, some dumb little joke or something quiet and heartfelt that chokes Michael up. Has him reaching out to pet the idiot cat rubbing up against his calf because he doesn’t have words to respond just yet.

They stay there in that little cottage for a while longer, until Michael gets his shit sorted out, finds his words.

He still goes for his walks, but they feel different, that heartache easing up with each one. Still there, but he can breathe around it now, thinks he’ll be okay. (Seven years, right? He can do that.)

Gavin gets word that things have settled down in Los Santos and mentions it to Michael, offhand little comment over dinner one night.

Doesn’t want to push, since Michael seems to be doing better, but Michael insisted he tell him whenever that happened when they set out on this vacation of their.

Michael thinks about it for a bit, goes out for one of his walks and stares out at the ocean for a long, long time.

“Yeah, okay,” he says, when heads back to the cottage. “It’s about time we went back.”

So they head back to Los Santos – stop in to say goodbye to Dan who’s back from his job first, though. (Have one hell of a sendoff the night before, because Dan got his hands on some grade A explosives and Michael is in heaven.)

When they get back to Los Santos Michael goes looking for his own jobs again, and Gavin goes back to being the piece of shit he loves to be. (To be fair, he never actually stopped, just. Something.)

A few months after they re-establish themselves in Los Santos an old friend of Gavin’s comes to town.

This asshole with a ridiculous mustache and this look in his eye that spells trouble – more so when he hires both of them for what has to the most goddamn ridiculous heist anyone’s ever thought of.

Twirls that mustache of his like an old-timey villain as he tells them he’s got beef with the Corpirate, came all the way to Los Santos to end it. (Brought his buddy Jack with him to boot.)Geoff tells them the Corpirate will never know what hit him, and given the absurd plan he lets them in on, he’s absolutely right.

Geoff does some recruiting, gets Ray on board and sweet-talks some lower level Roosters into moving out to Los Santos and it’s an ugly, messy affair, but by the end of it the Corpirate’s dead and they’re divvying up the loot they grabbed in the aftermath.

Michael’s checking out Geoff’s shiny new penthouse when Gavin calls him over.

The table he’s sitting at is covered in files and the like, Gavin’s old laptop whirring away as it does...something, Michael doesn’t know.

Michael’s instantly suspicious because Gavin has this look on his face like he’s expecting to get yelled at for something or other.

And Gavin, okay.

Slides this glossy glamour shot of an ocean front house. Big beautiful thing, classy as hell, and Michael thinks he recognizes the area. Somewhere outside Los Santos just off the coastal highway, maybe?

Gotta be worth a few million for the land alone, and Michael listens as Gavin launches into spiel like he’s trying to sell Michael on the place.

No need to worry about property tax with Gavin and Matt around, and anything else would more than be covered by Michael’s cut, not to mention all the godawful “art pieces” around the place he could sell off if he wanted. The cars in the garage that aren’t quite Michael’s taste but go with the beachside property and Gavin is really, really working hard to sell Michael on the place.

“Geoff gave us first pick,” Gavin says as he winds down on his sales pitch, nervous, twitchy little smile like he’s not sure if Michael’s going to be mad at him for meddling or whatever. “Figured you might be interested in this one?”

Michael’s hit with a sudden swell of affection for Gavin, this little idiot who waited until it was the two of  them in the penthouse to show him this.

“Yeah?” he asks and sits down and tugs the folder about the beach house closer and flips through it, flashing Gavin a smile that has the moron smiling back.

Michael’s not really processing the information in the file, a rundown of the property and amenities and the like, his attention keeps being drawn back to the photos included in the file. The glamour shot Gavin first showed him.

The house is on a gorgeous stretch of private beach. Remote enough he won’t have to worry about nosy neighbors. Fair distance from Los Santos, but they’re all set up for life after taking the Corpirate down and even though Geoff hinted at future heists, they’re a ways down the road.

And...if Michael's being honest with himself he’s tired of fighting to stay afloat in Los Santos. Tired of taking shitty jobs and working for assholes to get by, doesn’t feel that itch to prove himself the way he used to.Thinks it would be nice to just. To just be for a little while (Knows if he does get restless, Gavin will always have something for them to do.)

“Michael?”

Michael looks up, feeling too fucking vulnerable by far, but this is Gavin, and he’s always been safe.

“You sure you’re not interested in this place?” he asks, tries to make it a joke, but there’s too much want in him to pull it off effectively.

And Gavin, brash, reckless idiot Gavin laughs, this quiet little thing as he does something on his laptop.

“No,” he says, warm and fond. “Too peaceful for my tastes.”

Michael snorts, because he can see another glamour shot of some property by Gavin’s elbow. Shiny building down by Del Perro Pier and a little closer to Gavin’s speed than a remote beach house.

Looks back at the files in front of him, that stupid glamour shot and tries not to smile like an idiot as he pictures living there like it’s just that easy.

Hears the shutter sound of Gavin’s phone as the idiot snaps a picture of him and knows he failed on the not looking like an idiot part.

No worry though, because Gavin lets out this little yelp and laughs like an idiot when Michael tackles him trying to wrestle his phone away, and it’s good, it’s all good.

========

Geoff thinks Michael has a thing for the ocean and all things nautical when he finds out Michael claimed the beach house, and Michael doesn’t have the heart to tell him the reason behind his choice. (Guy just gets so excited they’ve got something in common that isn’t crime-related and he’d hate to break his heat. Plus, he’s not entirely wrong.)

Goes along with it when Geoff invites him out on the Corpirate’s old yacht to share stories and shit. Offers to teach Michael how to sail – the Corpirate left behind a lot of shit for them to claim, and the guy loves his boats and ships and whatever the fuck else.

Michael doesn’t quite have the knack for sailing, but Geoff’s patient and a decent teacher and with the way the guy plans heists there’s no knowing when all that information might come in handy. (And you know. He likes Geoff, doesn’t mind the chance to have some one-on-one time with his boss/friend.)

After he gets settled into the beach house he invites the others out for barbecues and other shindigs every so often. Nurses a beer while Geoff commandeers the grill as Jack fondly heckles him.

Chases that idiot Gavin along the beach and does his best to dodge after the fucker kicks water at Michael when he catches him staring out at the ocean a little long.

They get caught up in shoving matches. Try to dunk each other, dragging themselves up on the sand laughing like idiots and the last of the weight pressing down on Michael's chest left behind somewhere along the way.

Some time later Geoff announces another heist he has planned. Some bastard who gave the Roosters a run for their money back in the day with a grudge against Geoff. (Common theme that must have something to do with Geoff’s sparkling personality.)

Tells them he’s bringing in some hired muscle for it because they were spread too thin when they tackled the Corpirate and he’d rather they not have (quite so many) close calls this time around.

Michael doesn’t really think much of the whole hired muscle thing at the time, at least until the day he walks into the penthouse and Gavin is beside himself with nerves. Stupid fucking sunglasses on his face and this grin fighting to get out like he can’t decide if he wants to run and hide or fucking who knows anymore?

So, you know.

Michael’s understandably wary when he heads into the conference room since Geoff called him there to go over things for the heist and sees why Gavin’s freaking out.

“Oh, Michael,” Geoff says, little furrow between his eyes as he looks up from the conversation he’s having with one of the hired guns. “You’re early.”

Michael shrugs, attention all for the asshole in the skull mask and his buddy in eye-searing colors.

Pair of goddamn clowns, really.

“Gav said it was urgent,” he says, which is paraphrasing things a bit since Gavin’s text was a string of incomprehensible gibberish and a smiley face emoji tacked on for whatever reason.

Geoff nods like yes, okay, perfectly understandable, and Michael -

Michael stands still as the asshole in the mask and his brightly colored buddy go off to handle whatever  job Geoff has for them. (Heart doing fucking somersaults in his chest when the guy slants a look at him in passing, this slight hesitation before he leaves the room.)

“Michael?” Geoff asks warily, because yeah, yeah.

The fucking Vagabond and Rimmy Tim are back in town and are apparently working for the Fakes, no big deal.

========

The job Geoff has for Michael dovetails nicely into the job he sent the Vagabond and Rimmy Tim on and they end up down by the docks again.

Also, shot goes wrong in spectacular ways because not only is this Los Santos, but they’re all part of the Fake AH Crew by now and it’s almost a requirement.“Oh, hey,” Michael says, dragging Ryan out of the water, heart in his throat as the idiot pulls his mask off. “Fancy meeting you here.”

Ryan grins up at him, the lines of his face paint starting to smudge, but something about it seems less angry than what Michael remembers, and maybe that means something.

“Hi, Michael.”

========

There’s a wooden pier on Michael’s property that goes out over the water and a perfect place to bask in the sun on a lazy day. Watch Ryan swim around, sleek form darting beneath the waves and playing peekaboo with curious dolphins and other sea life.

Fucker always, always has to be an asshole when he gets close to the pier and splash Michael, weird little laugh as he ducks under the water to avoid retaliation. When he pulls himself out of the water onto the pier next to Michael and shakes off excess water and he trades his seal form for his human one and lays down next to Michael.

“Hey, Michael,” Ryan says, soft and fond, sweet as anything and Michael’s heart too full for his chest as he leans over him for a kiss.

========

(Later on Ryan explains what the hell he was doing all this time – not quite seven years since they saw each other last, so Michael’s still having a little trouble processing the fact Ryan’s here and you know, human. (Looking.)Tells him all about (okay, mostly about because there are some details Michael’s better off not knowing, a few he can’t share with humans or there will be trouble, that kind of thing) his Quest to be able to take on his human form when he wants to.Bargains made, deals struck, that kind of thing. Tasks he was given to prove how serious he was about the whole deal because wow, not an easy thing to undertake? But he did it. Jeremy wasn’t there for all of it, but he knows how hard Ryan worked for it. Tells Michael he better fucking appreciate it like a good Battle Buddy, because someone has to make sure he knows and it sure hell won’t be lovesick idiot Ryan. And Michael is like. He gets it, and appreciates what Ryan did and Jeremy for sticking by him and it’s just. A lot, okay.And then you know, the Battle Buddies join the crew full time and it’s all chaotic shenanigans all over the place and all that.)

[bronzeflower]

Small Talk-Coin

Also on ao3

Day 4: Opportunity/Chance/Risk

-----

~Caffeine, small talk

Wait out the plastic weather

Mmhmm, uh uh, discussing current events~

Hizashi sat across from an extraordinarily hot man that asked him on a date to a coffee shop. Hizashi could hardly believe it, especially given how stand-offish the man was when Hizashi first started talking to him.

"It's pretty rainy out, isn't it?" Hizashi said, feeling the sweat on his palms as he took a sip of the coffee he got, and that's when the floodgates opened. "You know, Earth isn't the only planet to have rain. Well, it's pretty much the only planet that actually rains water-water is pretty much exclusive to Earth, unless you count the frozen water on planets like Venus and Mars. There's also frozen water on the moons of planets, but that's pretty much exclusive to moons near the gas giant planets. Actually, both Neptune and Uranus are said to have water-though it's apparently supercritical, which I think basically means that it flows, like, really, really fast. But, yeah, rain-you know it rains diamonds on both Neptune and Saturn? And then Venus rains sulfuric acid. Oh! You know how Jupiter's Great Red Spot is because of a giant storm? Well, there's something similar on Saturn called the Great White Spot, which is the area of a huge storm that has so much lightning that the area looks white from space. Actually, the planets in general have a lot of storms. But, you know, weather doesn't just happen on the main planets-it also happens on moons, like Saturn's moon, Titan? It rains methane there, to the point where it actually heavily mimics the water cycle here on Earth, and..."

It then dawned on Hizashi that he was probably talking way, way too much. He paused and looked towards his date-Shouta, who was staring attentively at Hizashi.

"Uh..." Hizashi found that he was much too embarrassed to keep rambling on about the weather in outer space.

"Aren't you an English teacher?" Shouta asked.

"Oh! Yeah! I am," Hizashi grinned sheepishly. "But I talk a lot with some of the other teachers, and the Astronomy teacher, Mx. Thirteen, has been rambling about the weather on other planets and moons lately-I think they’re mostly just trying to get their lesson plan together, and they feel a lot more confident about it when they've hashed out the information to someone who doesn't really know anything about what they're talking about. I honestly can get that-it's pretty difficult to make sure that the material you give is going to be understood. It just so happens that I've retained some of the information regarding his lesson plans, so I guess it's kind of been of the brain lately.”

~I'll take my time

I'm not the forward thinker

You read my mind

Better to leave it unsaid

Why can't I leave it unsaid?~

Shouta managed to ask out the incredibly attractive teacher who was his co-worker and who taught his son. While Shouta was somewhat resistant to do so, Hitoshi insisted, citing that he couldn't stand the two ogling each other every time they saw each other.

Shouta found a coffee shop to be a simple, nice first date that they could go on to actually talk to each other outside of a work environment, and Shouta was starting to get the suspicion that Hizashi had a tendency to ramble when he was nervous.

Now, Shouta didn't really have any problem with the amount Hizashi was talking. In fact, it was very soothing to listen to-Hizashi had a very nice voice.

What Shouta did have a problem with is that he didn't want Hizashi to be so nervous on this date. It was supposed to be causal, nice, and low-pressure, and Hizashi looked like he was in a place that was excruciatingly formal, terrible, and high-pressure.

It was the exact opposite of the atmosphere Shouta had wanted for their date.

But how to get Hizashi to relax?

~You know I talk too much

Honey, come put your lips on mine and shut me up

We could blame it all on human nature

Stay cool, it's just a kiss

Oh, why you gotta be so talkative?

I talk too much, we talk too much~

"Ah, but I'm sure there's some stuff you want to talk about too," Hizashi interrupted his own train of thought after realizing that he was probably talking about himself a little too much. "You teach history and government, right?"

"Yeah, I do," Shouta answered.

"What's it like teaching that?" Hizashi questioned. "English has a tendency to be pretty subjective, especially when we're analyzing English literature in the more advanced courses. I guess history and government is a bit more concrete, yeah?"

"People often think that, but history and government are often more subjective than most might think," Shouta started, practically going into teacher mode. "In history, we have to use documents and stories and artifacts to tell us what happened. It's simple enough to talk about history that was ten or twenty years ago because nowadays we tend to write things down. It gets a bit muddier when it comes to thousands of years ago, where the only records we have are things that were left. However, even written history often has a bias, which can call into question the validity of a source, but, if it's the only source available to us, it can be difficult to eliminate that bias. There's also the issue of what events occurred to lead to other events. It's not always easy to tell what caused what, and there's always going to be more than one reason for an event happening. And we have similar problems with government and learning about how the government functions. There's a difference between how it's meant to function and how it actually functions. I often find that government is less a class about how the government works and more about how to participate in politics in a well-educated manner."

Now it was Shouta's turn to become embarrassed by how much he spoke. He looked down at his coffee cup.

"...Sorry, I don't usually talk that much."

~You know my type

Tightrope across the table

Mmhmm, uh huh

I can't keep holding my breath~

"No, no! It's fine. I did ask about it, after all," Hizashi grinned. Shouta might also be a nervous rambler, huh. "I can't say that I know too much about history or government other than the basics, not that I didn't pay attention in class, it's just been so long since I learned it that most of the details are kind of fuzzy. And, from what you say, it seems like the curriculum is different nowadays, so, even if I did remember everything from those classes, I'm not sure how much of the information is accurate anymore."

"Well, some things stay the same," Shouta admitted. "At this point, it's mostly going to be more minor details that we've corrected. And then, at least in the classes I teach, there's more of an emphasis on critical thinking skills and getting the students to form their own opinions about things. They're at that age where they're starting to actually think more about their political views, and I want them to come to rational decisions about what they believe in instead of simply parroting their parents.

"English is kind of similar in that regard," Hizashi responded. "At least the English literature course, and the other literature courses, as well. They're meant to teach students to analyze words. In those classes, they learn how to find the bias, the reason behind the bias, and how that bias can affect the way a piece of literature is read. So, in a way, it's teaching the kids to find bias in news articles and think critically about the way the information is presented."

~New wave, no time

Red velvet under pressure

Blah blah, green eyes

I never leave it unsaid

Why can't I leave it unsaid?~

Holy shit, Shouta was pretty sure he was in love.

"That's always a useful skill in this day and age," Shouta said without really thinking, his thoughts suddenly drifting elsewhere. Hizashi, almost sensing the drift in conversation, changed the subject completely.

"I guess we might be talking about work a bit too much. It kind of seems a little silly to go out to coffee so that we can talk outside of work and then talk about nothing except work, right? There's some kind of irony in that, I know. I could talk about some music I recently found! I don't know really know what your tastes in music are, but I've been listening to a band called Coin, and-"

Hizashi voice really was soothing. It was nice to listen to, like wind chimes on the front porch. Shouta knows he should probably be paying actual attention to what Hizashi is saying, but he's started to get lost in those emerald eyes, and Shouta is sorely tempted to kiss him.

~You know I talk too much

Honey, come put your lips on mine and shut me up

We could blame it all on human nature

Stay cool, it's just a kiss

Oh, why you gotta be so talkative?

I talk too much, we talk too much~

Would that be okay? They are on a date-it's not necessarily completely out of the question, but Shouta wondered if he would be overstepping his boundaries somewhat.

Or were kisses more reserved for when Shouta walked Hizashi back to his apartment as a goodbye?

Shouta barely registered saying something in response to Hizashi. He wasn't quite sure what he was saying, but he was pretty sure that they were words.

~Silence is golden, and you've got my hopes up

We talk too much

No hesitation, what are we waiting for?

We talk too much~

Eventually, the date ended, and Shouta did indeed walk Hizashi back to his apartment.

Hizashi started rambling again, clearly out of nervousness, which honestly didn’t weigh too well on Shouta’s conscious.

So Shouta did what he wanted to do for pretty much the whole date and kissed Hizashi.

~You know I talk too much (too much)

Honey, come put your lips on mine

And shut me up (shut me up)

We could blame it all on human nature

Stay cool, it's just a kiss

Oh, why you gotta be so talkative?

I talk too much, we talk too much~

Hizashi leaned back into the kiss, and, when they parted, they were both somewhat dazed.

At least they didn’t feel nervous anymore.