#but the Hot As Hell squad are like the celebrities everyone is like 'yeah no objectively they are hot'

[dizzyrobinsims]

...I should make a post of my game’s certified hotties.

[navalcriminalimagines]

Birthday girl

I can't believe I did that, but here we are. This fits the "Multiple partners/gangbang" square from the Summer Bingo. With our favorite boys; Mike, Rafael, Sonny & Mike.

Words count: 3,9k

Warnings: Gangbang, p in v, creampie, spanking (slightly)

Sorry if there's any typos...

@thatesqcrush

You had a lot of hopes for your 30th birthday. Not just for the celebration itself but also in general. You thought that by now, you would be in a serious relationship, maybe with a kid or two, or at least planning on having one. You had many things you wanted to do before you were 30, but now that you think about it, you didn’t do much of those things. You’re actually far from it.

It just hurts to see people around you having their life together. Your best friend is married to a lovely man, she has a two year old boy and is pregnant with a second and she owns her business. Your sister - older than you - is traveling all around the world with her husband and their dog. And everytime you meet with your mother, it’s like she has to put pressure where it hurts. Every single time.

The only thing you can’t complain about is your job, and the people you work with. Being a detective at SVU is hard, it’s challenging, but you wouldn’t change it for the world. And you have the most amazing squad with you. Also, the most handsome men you ever met. Seriously. Mike, Sonny, Rafael, Nick. How could you not like your job when you see those faces 24/7?

You had expectations for your celebration party. You invited the squad to a beach house that you rented. They became your family, they are the ones you want to celebrate with. But little by little, it was falling apart. First, Amanda had to cancel since her sister is in town, and everyone knows Kim is a handful. Then, it was Liv turn. The day before, Noah got sick, so she decided to stay at home with him. That’s fair, Noah’s health first. And last but not least, your best friend and her husband canceled too. “No one to take care of the kid,” apparently. Is that what it is to have kids? Not having fun anymore? Cause if that’s it, maybe you don’t want one.

So, in the end, it’s just you and the boys. Not that you mind that thought at all.

You left early in the morning with Sonny. He offered to help you prepare the house, and go grocery shopping. “How’s the birthday girl?” he asked, gently as always.

“Kinda upset that everyone canceled. But I won’t let this ruin my day!”

“You’ll have fun anyway. We planned a few things with the guys,” he teased.

You spent the entire day annoying Sonny so he would talk. But he didn’t say a damn thing. Whatever they have prepared, you have no clue. It does stress you out a little but one thing is sure; you can trust them with your life.

Everything was ready when Mike, Nick and Rafael arrived. When Sonny opened the door to them, their arms were full. You saw booze, food, and gifts. Way too many gifts for one person. “What the hell is all of that?” you exclaimed when they dropped everything on the floor, in the living area.

“Everything we need to celebrate your 30th birthday. You will remember this weekend,” Mike said with a huge grin on his face. He walked up to you and hugged you softly. “Happy birthday Y/N,” he kissed your forehead.

Nick and Rafael did the same as Mike. Then, they quickly put their stuff in the bedrooms, before joining you and Sonny on the terrace, facing the ocean. The weather wasn’t the best, but you couldn’t care less.

“One rule for this weekend; not shop talk,” Nick warned and everyone agreed with it.

The evening started pretty smoothly. You were having drinks, eating the apéritif you and Sonny prepared earlier and chatting about nothing and everything. At some point, Rafael came back with a bottle of champagne and poured everyone a glass. “To our amazing Y/N,” he said, holding his glass in the air. “You probably have no idea what you mean to all of us and that’s actually what makes you even more lovable. We care about you more than you know. Happy birthday, querida,” he smiled and toast with you.

You looked at Rafael with puppy eyes. He and the three others know you’re not used to being praised like this, even though you deserve any less.

“This is nice! Mike, your turn,”

The sergeant obliged. He stood up and cleared his throat, “Everyone knows that me joining SVU was my dad’s idea, but honestly, I can’t thank him enough for making me. Cause now you’re in my life and girl, you won’t get rid of me. I can’t imagine my life without you, Y/N,” he paused, “and without those idiots either, but that’s not their birthdays,”

“You said it anyway,” Nick teased Mike.

“Shut up, Nick! Let him finish,” you elbowed Nick.

“Well, I was done actually. Happy birthday, honey,” he bent over to kiss your cheek and then toasted with you.

“I love you,” you mouthed to him. “Nick, now you can talk,” you were excited about this. The past weeks before your birthday hadn’t been easy, you overthink a lot about your life. You actually cried yourself to sleep the night before, but none of them know. Their words make you feel much better. You’re lucky to have them.

“Thank you, Ma’am,” he said before standing up, “We didn’t start on the right foot, you and me, probably because you never chewed your words with me and I hated it. But you were right on most of the things you ever told me. You’re - without a shadow of a doubt - the best friend I ever had. I can’t wait for us to fight like cats and dogs at the nursery home. Feliz cumpleaños, cariño,” he smiled at you and extended his glass so you could toast together, “Also, you’re hot as hell,”

It was an understatement to be honest, but Nick added this comment because he saw the tears forming in your eyes and he refused to see you cry on your birthday, because of something he said. Fortunately, it worked and you laughed instead of crying. “He’s right,” Rafael added with a wink. Of course, none of them missed how your cheeks turned bright red, even if you tried to play it cool.

“I guess it’s my turn now,” Sonny spoke and stood up. But he stayed silent for a moment, “What they said,” he simply said before sitting again.

Mike, Nick and Rafael immediately started to playfully boo him, “You suck man!” Nick exclaimed.

“You usually can’t shut up and now, that’s all you have to say?” Rafael teased him.

“Y/N should have the right to punish you,” Mike added.

“Oh yes, please! Can I punish you?” you eagerly asked.

“Oh honey,” Rafael grabbed your attention, “you don’t ask someone if you can punish them. You just do it,”

“I know, Rafi. But he’s a good catholic boy, remember? We can’t have him running out of the house, praying for our souls,”

“Y/N. You know Sonny is worse then all of us reunited,” Rafael said this so casually, he didn’t realize how it sounded.

“Dominick Carisi, you’re such a liar!” Mike shouted, “you told me you and Raf didn’t hook up!”

“Yeah well, about that? I lied,”

Sonny and Rafael exchanged sweet looks, while you were silently drinking your glass of champagne.. “Are you two dating or something?” Nick asked.

Rafael was about to say something, but Mike stood up in one quick motion and shouted even louder, “Oh my god!” The four of you looked at him, “I think what you should be asking, Nick, is if the three of them are a thing!”

One thing you hate about Mike is how he can read you like an open book. It was hard to hide from him, the night you had with Sonny and Rafael a few months ago. Now, there was no point to lie.

“I can’t believe you three hook up and didn’t say a damn thing,” Nick said.

“To be honest, I’m more offended about not being invited,” Mike added.

That’s how the night took a very different turn.

*****

“I think all the attention should be on the birthday girl,” Rafael said as he was unbuttoning his shirt. You and Sonny were kissing on one side of the couch while Mike and Nick were making out on the other side.

“Raf is right. To be fair, we have an entire weekend in this house,” Mike added.

In a matter of seconds, you were standing in the middle of the master bedroom, with the four men around you. “Mike and Nick need to know the safe word.” Rafael commented, and Sonny took his tongue out of your month to let you speak.

“Armadillo,” you said.

You can’t even begin to describe how you feel about all of this. Those four men just for you? All of their attention on you? That thought only could make cum on the spot. You had to remember the ground rules you had with Sonny and Rafael a few months ago, and the first one is not to overthink. You all know you can trust one another. You’re more safe with those four guys than with one single random guy.

Once the safe word was known to everyone, Sonny remained kissing you. You immediately granted access to his tongue, it was sloppy but passionate. Meanwhile, you felt a pair of hands taking off your top and another one taking care of your pants. “Matching underwear,” Mike commented, as he was the one staring, “You hoped for this, didn’t you?” You smiled against Sonny. You didn’t hope for a gangbang, but yes, you did hope to get lucky. But this was better than anything you hoped for.

“Of course, she did,” you heard Nick’s voice coming from behind you. He gently unhook your bra, freeing your tits and he didn’t waste a second before playing with them. Your nipples were already hard, craving for attention. “She knew she could have any of us,”

“Oh Nick, that’s worse than that. She knew she could have the four of us,” Rafael added, as one of his hands slided in your panties, feeling how hot and wet you were. “Guys, she is dripping,” he let the others know, and he gently started to tease your clit with his thumb.

As Sonny kept kissing you, Nick kept playing with your tits, and Rafael kept teasing your drenched entrance, Mike got undressed. You saw him from the corner of your eyes, and your attention quickly fell on his rock hard erection. He smiled when he noticed where you were looking and started to stroke himself. You locked eyes with him while tentatively trying to touch one of the guy's cock. Your hand landed on Sonny’s crotch and he groaned at the sensation, even through the fabric of his jeans. But Rafael used his free hand to grab your wrist. “Such a needy cock slut,” he said, right next to your ear.

“Maybe Sonny should replace his tongue with his cock,” Nick offered and he felt you nodding. So Sonny stopped kissing you, he briefly took a look at your swollen lips, and your naked body being taken care of by Rafael and Nick.

“Well, Mike, get closer,” Sonny said as he undressed himself, “She loves having two cocks in her mouth. Am I right, Y/N?”

Everything that was happening was too much, you struggled to find your words, so you nodded. But it wasn’t enough for them. “You want to hear you say it,” Mike said after he finally got closer to you.

“I--I want your cocks--” you moaned as Rafael finally entered your core with one finger, “in my month,” you moaned even more when Nick pinched both of your nipples, just enough to make it hurt, “All of them,” you finally added.

To make sure Rafael and Nick could still work on your body, Mike and Sonny stood up on the edge of the bed. Your face was right at their crotch. You took one cock in each hand, gently stroking them, “I think Mike should be first. I already know how your mouth feels,” you agreed and focused on Mike’s cock, but with your other hand still stroking Sonny’s. You softly licked the head, tasting the precum coming out, before taking him in your mouth. Mike let out a huge groan at the feeling, “Man, when was the last time you had a blowjob?” Nick joked.

“Way too long,” he managed to say.

You have to admit, it’s hard to give a good blowjob to a man, while two others are worshipping your body. But Rafael decided to withdraw his hand from your panties and quickly after, you felt a cold breeze as Nick’s hands and body drift away from you. “Don’t forget about Sonny, babygirl,” you heard from the other side of the room.

Your jaw is going to be sore as fuck in the morning as you opened your mouth as much as you could, to take both Sonny’s and Mike’s cocks in. Obviously, they can’t both fit in but it is mostly about playing with the heads and your tongue.

You jolted when you felt a very warm body against your back. You recognized Rafael’s smell. He was fully naked. He held your hips strongly, sliding his hard cock in your panties and stroking it against your ass. You felt his hot breath in your neck before he planted a few wet kisses there.

Your face was a mess. It was a mix of saliva and precum from both men. Your pussy was a mess too. You were so wet, you could feel it on your thighs. You kept sucking Sonny and Mike for a short moment before they made you stop. Mike got down from the bed and kissed you deeply, enjoying the mixture that was there.

Someone finally took your panties off, you don’t know who and you couldn’t care less. You were desperate to be fucked.

*****

The first to get inside you was Nick. You were lying on the bed, a complete mess already, and Nick got on top of you. He gently kissed you, teased your entrance for a short moment before sinking inside your pussy in a slow motion. “Fuck, you’re so tight,” he groaned as he bottomed out. He started to thrust you, slow and deep at first.

The sounds you were making were such a turn on to the four men. As Nick was fucking you good, you had no idea where Mike, Sonny and Rafael were, until you felt someone climbing on the bed. When you opened your eyes, you saw Rafael’s face above you and his cock was a few inches from your mouth. “Open that pretty mouth for me,” he said and you obliged. As Nick was fucking your pussy, Rafael was facefucking you. And this was a lot to handle. It didn’t take long for you to feel your orgasm coming up. Your cries were muffled by Rafael’s thick cock as you came, and it brought him an overwhelming sensation that made him groan hard. “Such a good girl, creaming my cock like this,” Nick said. He wasn’t far from coming either. He buried his face in your neck, and he felt your nails crashing on his skull. It took a few more thrusts before he loaded his hot cum inside you, crying out your name.

He stayed on top of you for a moment before pulling out, at the same time Rafael stopped facefucking you and you cried at the emptiness.

“Someone doesn’t like to feel empty?” It was Sonny who talked. He was sitting next to you and he pushed two fingers inside your pussy, taking Nick’s cum back where it belonged. Your body arched at the feeling and you moaned deeply. “So worked up already. But we’re not done with you,”

“You better not,” you laughed.

“Oh, she’s teasing!” Mike exclaimed. “Babygirl, when we're done with you, you won’t be able to sit for weeks. Everyone at the precinct will wonder what happened during the weekend,” he kissed you while Sonny added a third finger inside your core. You felt a second orgams building inside your belly.

“You better not come on Sonny’s fingers,” Rafael warned you, “You’re only allowed to come on our cocks,” you found him in the room and locked eyes with him.

You knew from his expression what he was waiting for, “Yes, sir,” you agreed.

“That’s our good girl,”

Then it was Sonny’s. The man has a soft spot for a good doggy style, so he ordered you to get on all fours and you obeyed. He stroked his cock between your ass cheeks for a moment before sliding inside you so easily. “God, you take us so well, baby,” he said as he started to thrust. He was faster than Nick, and you know from experience that Sonny has incredible stamina. He can rock inside you hard and fast for a long moment.

“You feel so good inside me,” you moaned, “Fuck, Sonny! Yes!”

“That’s right, take that cock, doll,” he said, slamming harder.

As you grabbed the sheets into your fists, you felt someone crawling under you. It was Nick. He laid down and brought your mouth to his in an eager kiss. Sonny kept fucking you, his hands were strongly holding your hips, so you understood it was someone else that spank you. Mike or Rafael, you didn’t know - although, you had an idea; Rafael does love to spank you - and you cried inside Nick’s mouth. Then you felt someone grabbing your arms to lock them in your back. Nick held you close against him, stroking your hair as your second orgasm hit you hard.

Feeling your pussy clenching around his cock, and hearing you cursing non sense, sent Sonny over the edge. He almost collapsed on you as he came deep inside you.

You felt the emptiness when Sonny took his cock out of you but it was quickly filled by someone’s fingers. You were just a pile of lambs on Nick, but you jolted when one of them curled two fingers inside your pussy. “You love that, don’t you? Nick’s and Sonny’s cum mixing inside you,” You don’t know if that’s Rafael that is fingering you but he’s the one talking. You were still catching your breath when the fingers were replaced by a cock teasing your entrance.

“Do you want to keep going, babygirl? We can st--”

“I didn’t say the word, did I, Mike?” you shot.

“Right. Then it’s my turn to fill that pussy,” he didn’t give you the time to answer, he shoved his cock inside your cunt.

“Oh fuck! Mike, yes!”” you cried.

Nick stayed under you as Mike fucked you hard. Mike’s short nails scratched your back as he went in and out of you. He withdrew completely before sinking back and bottoming down. He did that a few times, enjoying your noises every time he hit your sweet spot. “Damn, that pussy is so perfect,” he growled.

“It was made for us,” Sonny said.

On your left, you saw Rafael standing there, stroking his cock as he watched Mike fucking you. You extended your hand to replace his and he let you. “You can’t get enough,” he teased you.

“Never,” you grinned.

Mike grabbed your hair in his fist, bringing your back to his chest. That new angle almost sent you over the edge again. “Holy shit, this feels amazing,” you breathed out. You didn’t notice the look Rafael and Sonny exchanged. You sloppily kept stroking Rafael, while Sonny’s hand found its way to your clit. Mike had to hold you close to him as a third orgasm arrived.

Nick was still laying on the bed, an arm under his head. “This is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen in my life. It’s like my very own porn movie,”

“Get ready to take a new part in it,” Sonny winked at him.

“Working on it,” he said, stroking his semi hard cock.

Sonny chuckled before burying his face in your chest. He sucked on your nipples, and kept playing with your clit. “Jesus, fuck! I--I’m--coming,” you managed to say as your third orgasm hit. You held onto Sonny’s shoulder for dear life, Mike was slamming so hard and fast inside you, chasing his own orgasm. He bit your shoulder as he emptied himself deep inside you, adding his semence to Sonny’s and Nick’s.

You collapsed in Sonny’s arms and he gently laid you on the bed, next to Nick. Mike was catching his breath on the edge of the bed. “Water,” you managed to say.

Not that it mattered, but Nick seems to be the best for the aftercare. He gently stroked your hair, and planted sweet kisses all over your face. Sonny came back with water for everyone. All of this is more than amazing, this can’t be compared to anything you ever experienced before but you gladly enjoyed the water break.

As you were sitting on the bed, Rafael grabbed your face to kiss you. It was soft, almost loving. Your hands traveled his hairy chest as you granted access to his tongue. You fell on your back, taking him with you. “You okay?” he whispered.

“Never better. Fuck me, Raf,”

On the other side of the bed, Nick chuckled. “Three cocks, three orgasms and she is still asking for it. You’re such a pretty slut, Y/N, aren't you?”

“I’m your slut. To the four of you,” you smiled at him.

Rafael teased your entrance with his cock as he was kissing and nipping your neck. Your pussy was a wet and sticky mess. The other men fucked you open, Rafael slided inside you so easily. To be honest, he wasn’t far from coming already after everything he witnessed and you wrapped him so perfectly, it was overwhelming.

You moaned loudly in his ear, your nails digging in his skull. As he thrusted into you, he couldn’t help but to slap your thigh, since he can’t reach your ass for a proper spank. But you could reach his, so you returned the favor. It took him by surprise, so did the growl he let out. “Someone likes to be spank,” Sonny commented, before duplicating your action on Rafael’s ass.

Another spank, but this time from Mike. And one from Nick. You loved having all the attention from the guys, but you have to admit that this brings something else to you. Hopefully this will be repeated before you go back to New York, but this time, this will be an orgy, instead of a gangbang.

You bit Rafael’s bottom lip, as he thrusted fast and hard inside you. “Give it to me, Raf. I need you to cum inside me, just like them,” he crashed his lips on yours, as a hand traveled between the two of you to play with your clit. You were oversensitive, and exhausted, you weren’t sure you could have a fourth orgasm before it hit you. You wrapped your arms around Rafael’s neck, “That’s right, babygirl, let it go. Cum on my cock,” he said in your ear, huskily.

That was exactly what you needed to cum one more time. Rafael’s thrusts became sloppy as he chased his relief. Finally, he added his liquid to the mixture and collapsed on you.

*****

“I have to admit, I’m so glad everyone else canceled,” you confessed, laying like a sea star on the bed. Obviously, the four men agreed with you.

“Happy birthday, Y/N,” they all said at the same time.

Best fucking birthday ever.

[thatguywiththefaceog]

Smutember 2022 Seven Minutes in Heaven

A few weeks before the Horde sends out the newly graduated cadets, they drink and play a game.

Written for @smutember requested by anon

This story is for adults only. All characters are over 18. NSFW under the cut.

“We did it!” Kyle shouted. The squad had graduated. Everyone had passed basic training, even Kyle. The members of the Horde were celebrating in their quarters. Catra had smuggled beers for everyone to drink.  

Adora took a swig. It was the most disgusting thing she ever tasted. Lonnie was trying to talk with her. “So I hear that Shadow Weaver’s looking to make you a Force Captain.”  

“Hmmm.” Adora took another sip. She did not want to have this conversation.

Rogelio growled. “Hell Yeah Rogelio!” shouted Catra. “Spin the bottle! Spin the bottle!”

“Spin the what?” asked Adora, slightly drunk. Soon everyone was sitting in a circle with an empty bottle in the center.

"Adora, you go first."

Adora, who was slightly drunk, said, "Ah okay." The bottle spun around and around until it stopped, pointing to Catra.

"Ooh, go Catra you won." Adora turned to Lonnie. “What did she win?”

“You Adora.”

“What?”

“No, no, no.” Catra shook her head. “It’s not pointing at me. It’s pointing at Kyle.”

“No, it’s pointing to you.”

Before either Adora or Catra could say anything, the group shoved them both into a closet. Catra’s head was swimming. She had a few more drinks than Adora and of harder stuff.

“Catra, why are we in a closet?”

Man, Adora was so straight laced. She didn’t understand anything. “It’s seven minutes in heaven Adora. We’re supposed to make out.”

Adora blushed. “Like kiss? I’ve never kissed before.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, that’s dumb. You’re super pretty. You should have been kissed a bunch.” Catra blushed when she realized what she said.  Damn it, why did Adora have to be so close.

“Oh, thanks. What about you? Have any tips?” Catra turned away, blushing through her fur. “Oh, Catra, have you never been kissed too?”

“Shut up,” Catra hissed.

“Well, we can kiss now.”

Catra’s heart skipped a beat. Adora’s face was getting closer to hers. Damn, damn, damn. Their lips met. They could taste each other's drinks on their breaths. Adora was getting hot downstairs. Catra could smell. Head foggy from drunkenness, Catra’s hand went into Adora’s pants. Her fingers ment a bush of dirty blonde hair. She was surprised. Surely miss clean cut would have kept her downstairs neat and tidy.

Catra found her prize, her furry fingers pushed into Adora’s pussy. She gasped at these new sensations. Catra took Adora’s hand and shoved it down her own pants. Catra guided her fingers into her own hungry sex, when Adora began clumsly started fingering the magicat.

They took turns kissing and painting. Soon both girls would cum. When Rogelio opened the door, Catra and Adora with a mess of sweat and juices. As they wandered out of the closet, neither girl would remember this night at all. All they would recall was a hushed ‘I love you.’ Neither knew who said it.

[mink-place]

La Squadra's costumes (and more) for halloween!

Since it's halloween, I thought of writing this, btw my birthday is near!

Risotto Nero

I think that he doesn't really celebrates halloween, so he goes dressed as alway, maybe with some paint face if Melone can convince him.

He is most likely to watch from afar to La Squadra being chaotic and getting lot of candies.

Has a dead face on, most people thing he is scary (and also think that his “contact lenses” are really cool)

If he's feeling really bored he may scare people using his stand ability to turn him invisible.

Prosciutto

You cannot get him on a halloween costume, he's not a kid anymore, he doesn't want to look ridiculous.

Yeah, but he still helps Pesci to dress up.

He's going to scold him for being such a kid, but he isn't going to stop him from dressinh up.

If Pesci's too nervous to ask for candies, he's the one to ask for them.

Everyone thinks that his normal clothes are his costume, like, he's dressed like a drag mafia queen? Idk

Will keep away from the chaos that the other make.

Pesci

He's excited to go out on halloween, he likes to dress as the same every halloween, a fisher man.

Likes to go to trick or treat, and actually gets lots of candies, even if he's an adult.

Shares his candies with Prosciutto, but most of the time, Prosciutto declined them since he doesn't have a big sweet tooth.

Has a sparkle in his eyes everytime he looks at the decoration on the city and all the people dressed on their costumes.

He's very happy :D

Formaggio

He dresses like strange things, cheese or maybe like those costumes of sumo, gorilla, or even as real life persons, but like a messed up version.

Likes to go out and scare children with Illuso, and also go to shops to treat or trick.

It's the main object of the chaos, since he keeps annoying Ghiaccio for looking like Dexter.

His favourite part of halloween are thw halloween parties, even if he wasn't asked to came over, he'll just get in.

Probably ends all drunk being dragged by Risotto to go back to the base.

Illuso

He takes halloween as an excuse to annoy kids and scare them, he's such an amazing person lol

He dresses as himself, he doesn't need a costume to scare persons! But maybe, he'll put on a mask.

As part of the chaos, he's annoying the hell outta everyone using Man In The Mirror.

Ghiaccio

He doesn't like halloween, but Melone insisted on him giving it a try.

Which wasn't that bad, he likes to get candies even if he doesn't eat it later, he just keeps them or gives them to Pesci.

Probably will end up angry because of a shenanigan of Illuso and Formaggio, and thst will cause a bigger disaster where he ends up destroying things.

He goes to calm down on the base before anyone else.

His night ends with him covered in a fluffy blanket with hot chocolate and a drama serie on the TV.

Melone

He LOVES halloween, when he was a kid he didn't had a chance to really enjoy it since he spent most of his time on home with his grandma.

So this is the perfect opportunity! He'll dress up as a scientific, but with really short clothes.

He loves kids, so he's likely to give candies instead of going to trick or treat, even if most of the kids doesn't take his candies because of their parents.

Melone is surrounded by the chaos Formaggio and Illuso make, but he doesn't really care.

He's happy to be celebrating this with his squad!

Bonus: Sorbet and Gelato

They both aren't too interested in halloween, they prefer to cuddle on home while watching horror movies and laughing at how stupid are most characters.

Sometimes they go out just to lure persons, kidnap and torture them, but that's if they're too bored.

They don't go out with the squad, they stay home doing whatever they want, like painting each other nails...

[sugar-petals]

hey angel (m)

♡  sub!felix + reader 

↳ The JYP Halloween party is ditched on short notice. That means: You have a down-to-celebrate boyfriend in full angel costume on your hands.

words. 5k 

tags. domestic au, finger sucking, hickeys, latex, corruption kink, fingering, vaginal sex, footjob, harnesses, cunnilingus, kitten antics, edging, aftercare 

★⎡CARO’S NOTE⎦› here goes the cutie on duty 👼

genre. domestic + smut/crack

„So sorry mate,“ Bang Chan’s voice resounds through the speaker. „I thought it could work but… We can’t celebrate tonight. Really sorry, Felix. Changbin and I already got dressed up too, but, you know things got shut down. JYP won’t let us with the Corona rules and stuff.“

„Oh no…“

„Yeah, man. Looks like we’ll have to do it next year.“

„You even prepared the food already, right?“

„We’re handing it out to staff and eat it at home. I know, it sucks. I spent half the morning in the kitchen. I can like keep the pumpkin cookies so you can eat them tomorrow after practice or so.“

„I feel so sorry Chan… and thank you.“

„I’ll be calling Hyunjin and Han now as well. Really sorry we’re cancelling short notice. I hope you’re still having a nice evening bro. Maybe we can make it happen for Christmas.“

„Okay. Cheers mate.“

„Yeah, cheers.“

Felix puts his phone down looking more than deflated in his angel costume, puffs out a big sigh. You can tell he really looked forward to this. Just an hour before, you bothered to sew the wings in place rather than rely on the wobbly back-pack like construction that came with it. 

They’re firmly attached to his white top now, and all for nothing. He glued them together by himself with a pack of synthetic feathers ordered on Etsy for a ridiculous shipping cost, along with a little halo that he clipped into his hair. Which, because maybe it really does sense his mood, dangles low and even a bit lopsided over his head.

„It’s the party of the year,“ Felix flops down on the living room couch. “I can’t believe this.“

You sit down opposite to him, starting to clean off the table where masses of cosmetic products and leftover feathers have piles up.

„Next time, Lixie. We can keep the costume. Poor Chan, he organized the living shit out of everything.“

„I’ll just go and shower, get this off, and stuff,“ he points at his face. Felix applied his own makeup with a little help from you here and there, including some golden sparkles. Just yesterday, he bleached his hair. It’s sculpted down to every strand with hair spray now. Felix unties his sneakers with the little gold stars on. Just before he starts plucking off his halo, you get an idea, pick up your phone from the table.

„Wait— Let’s at least make some pictures with your phone, you put so much effort in this. You look so cute. The fans might want to see it as well.“

„Oh! You’re right,“ Felix stops right in his tracks. „For Instagram.“

After tightening his sneakers again and you making sure the halo sights right, Felix walks around your flat in search for a nice backdrop. You follow, quickly flipping through some filters to try, and adjusting the flash on the camera.

After posing at the fridge — strange idea — and in the bathroom turns out a little awkward as well, you decide that such an elaborate costume needs a themed background, and only the bedroom offers just that. You recently changed the duvet to sky blue sheets with clouds on them. The overall interior is mostly clean white as well, with some thrifted vintage furniture. Fairy lights, heavy curtains, a wooden ceiling. Perfect.

„We’ll caption it as… post your own stay-at-home costume, something like that,“ Felix plops down on the bed, acting as if he just took a seat on the cloud in the very middle.

„Sounds pretty good,“ you press release, and the first picture pops up on your screen. „Can you turn a little towards the light? That the sparkles are showing.“

„Yay, I love the sparkles!“

„Just like this, just like this. Don’t move. The sparkles!“

A five-picture series of more snapshots ensues, with you adjusting Felix’s face a few times by hand, even, turning his chin by sheer millimeters to find the perfect angle. He’s stunning.

„I have another idea.“

„Oh?“

„I remember what I wore for Halloween three years ago. The costume must be somewhere. I think it fits together with yours.“

„What, oh wow?“

„What was it again, wait…“

You already begin to sort through your wardrobe, checking each hanger, each drawer, end up where you store your socks, and finally pull out a larger plastic zip bag from the very depths of all that chaos. There it is. Nice.

„Lix, if you’d turn around for me, please.“

He immediately does. Blushing.

„Thank you, angel.“

You pull off your sweat pants, your grey shirt, socks, your bra. Time to dress up. Only your simple black panties stay on. On goes a pair of scarlet stockings, snug and high. Then, a dark red latex skirt that goes in big circles and flounces, down to the mid-thigh. 

Added: A tight sleeveless peplum top that admittedly… and deliberately squeezes your boobs a little. Not too much. More important is that your nipples are showing right through, and the cleavage is sweeping, every demon would be salivating at your feet. If an angel does: Remains to be tested.

Around your waist and chest and over your shoulder goes a black harness, pulling everything together. Some very pointed, glossy pumps with thin heels complete the costume. They’re not crafted to be walked on in the very least, their balance is terrible. You’re planning something else with them. Cherry on top: Devil horn headband. Really curved and pointy, too. Can’t go wrong. You click your tongue and take a spin. The skirt flares out perfectly. Ready to go.

„Felix, time to turn around.“

He does. You can tell he didn’t cheat.

„You’re, you’re so hot in this,“ Felix buries his face right in the comfort of his sweater paws, hoping they would not give away his embarrassed little face. But — his voice does, effortlessly so.

„Come on, have a look at me. Real closely, angel, come. You’re allowed to.“

Felix gazes through his fingers with what sounds like a little meep! in a much more high-pitched tone than his usual speaking range. He’s cute.

„Hey pum’kin. Miss Lucifer speaking. Where’s the barbecue?“

Felix and you recently agreed that hell must be one big and extremely hot cave where everyone’s grilling and having a good time. Australia, essentially.

„Welp!“

„Damn right. Infiltrating God’s realm one cloud at a time. Any last words?“

„It’s so intimidating!“

Felix digs himself into a mountain of pillows on the bed, with only his eyes and nose peeking out. You shrug, adjust your horns.

„Hm. Time for my first satanic act I guess.“

„Oh no!“

„Wait just one minute, be a sweet and patient boy.“

You leave Yongbok confused given that you’re quick to hurry to the kitchen. However, what you return with puts a giggle on his lips right away.

„Boom. It is served.“

„Yes, yes, please!“

Poufy black cocoa cupcakes. The ones with the cute little ghost frosting on it, and the melted chocolate inside. Felix finds them irresistable since the last Halloween party, to the point where you bake them mid-July. The current set of cupcakes was meant to be a contribution to Bang Chan’s eerie and delectable buffet. As for now, they’re in deep need of someone hungry since you made a lot of them, assuming a post-workout Changbin would devour at least five or more.

„Good move,“ he admits, a little shaky, and you proceed to tray the cupcakes on the bed — stuffing Felix for a solid ten minutes until there’s chocolate all over his face. What you’ll be quick to confess is that you’ve been deliberately messy feeding him, with all the crumbs in particular.

„Spoiled honey bun,“ you plant a kiss on top of his head.

„These taste so good, I swear.“

Next up is Felix who has to carefully maneuver the sweet treats into your mouth without spoiling your outfit.

„If you get crumbs into my cleavage, I can’t put your face in there later you know.“

Fierce nodding.

„That’s the spirit.“

Under your eagle eyes, he proves to be an obedient little cherub doing his job pretty well. The cakes are delicious in how spongy they are, and the liquid chocolate warms up so well on the tongue, it melts even more. You’re more than pleased and have Felix store away the remaining four pieces only after quite a while.

„I’ll have them for Brekkie, woo!“ is what he’s fast to proclaim, and you agree he’ll need them the next morning. Once you’re done with him, that’s gonna count as a hangover even Chan’s wildest party couldn’t give him.

„We’re talking dinner first, Felix.“

At this point, all the sugar is kicking in. Or it’s the chocolate being some kind of aphrodisiac. Whatever, could be either, you’re feeling like you’re up there at the ceiling, and you’re not the only one. Felix coming back to the bedroom so bouncy and cutieful just gets you even more in the mood.

You sit at the edge of the bed, slanting backward just a little. „You look like you need some more corruption, I won’t lie,“ you pat your lap, beckoning. He can ditch wifi because this is his favorite hot spot waiting for him. Felix sits down looking tiny as ever, eyes full of anticipation and his pants full of… big fat late night erection.

„I don’t mind at all, Miss. I don’t, oh my god…“ he mumbles into his nonexistent Aussie trucker beard, and you’re clear that whatever the skirt did to him, his brain must be doing kangaroo somersaults right now. In the meantime, something very eager is poking right at your lower belly. Captain Boomerang already came fully armed tonight and the Suicide Squad isn’t even anywhere near to be seen.

„Oh hey hey, cupcake. Getting really big there,“ you wipe at the curled little corners of his mouth. Some crumbs come off. His lips already twitch the way you know they want to do naughty things on you. He doesn’t seem to notice. Autopilot Felix has already taken over.

„Don’t hurry with it,“ he stares, mouth half-open, but his little grinds prove him a dirty — in an entirely direct sense — fucking liar. Like he’s literally rubbing himself against your stomach.

„Boy oh boy. You’re not even trying.“

„I’m fucked!“ is what Felix soon realizes with the daggers you’re shooting at him through your hopefully very satanic-looking eyes right now. Alongside catching up with his darn hips doing their own thing.

„You are.“

„I’m sorry for grinding, God help me!“

„He won’t. Cuz I’m here on your cloud. Cue stage number two of my demonic plan. Safeword?“

„It’s chocolate!“

„Mh. Good pick.“

The rest as usual. Tapping the thigh, yellow for pause, towels plus water ready, and always double-checking the lube in case of Jisung putting a glass of vegemite under your bed as his latest practical joke. Yes, it happened. It’s a whole new level of demonic. On the other hand: perhaps Felix’ ass could’ve actually handled it, Made in Australia it is. 

„Let’s go honey angel,“ you curl at his hair with a little finger just to tease him a little more. The answer is a little meow, at this point Felix’ communication skills have simplified to kitten vocabulary which always happens when he is nervous and looking forward to something.

Next thing poor Felix knows, his face has entered the scorching satanic abyss that is your cleavage. Literally, you’re burning up. It’s fucking October and Felix has you breaking a sweat from all your horniness (literally, your horns are just that chic) already. Twice the reason to punish the shit out of him. If that can be considered anything near a punishment.

A shower of various „Mh— nh!“ and mewling noises comes to rain down on you while Felix face takes a trip down mammary lane, and that, too, is literal. He’s salivating. So much about rain. Actually, great lubrication. Felix always does things best by instinct.

„Yes, good boy. Great job.“

Now that his mouth is wet already, you’re unceremonious about shoving your fingers right down his throat after he resurfaces. Blushed, hard, and ready to choke himself since he’s already running short on breath. It doesn’t take long until he’s gagging himself stupid and the sparkles under his eyes start running.

„Pretty, pretty,“ you lean down a little, kissing his nose. „Give me all you got.“

„Gh—gch—“

The answer is as slobbery and unintelligible as can be. To a normal human, at least. You’re a demonic top. That automatically means having an Ivy League major in gag noise translation.

„Oh yes, I know,“ you stroke his hair, using your free hand that usually rests at the back of his neck. „Talk to me about it. Exactly what I was thinking. Do go on.“

And he does, louder than ever. If there’s one satisfying sound, it’s this, that heavenly deep voice doing all kinds of nasty acrobatics is making you go crazy. That Felix is absolutely close to cumming in his angel pants is very much clear to you given how the veins and muscles on his neck are having a chaotic Halloween party on their own.

Which includes his tongue taking turns on your two fingers as well. And a wide-eyed Felix struggling, swallowing, holding on to your shoulders with his little feet twitching in their sneakers. Like mad… and you love it. But also — hopelessly sucking and moaning and slurping and squealing until his neck has way too much saliva on it for you not to make it your next target. Felix is so good at this. Way too good.

„Looks delicious,“ you lean in, your hair tickles his ears. And now, you’re busy nibbling, biting a little… and most importantly, giving Felix a wet hickey that will send his makeup artist — my God, you really torture the unsuspecting man almost weekly — into a meltdown. Rowdy and unholy is the look you’re going for.

In the meantime, Felix is still wrapped up trying to hit your fingers at the back of his throat. If his cute bouncy run and rude boner moment didn’t turn you on already, now you would be. The way he’s just sucking in his own spit makes you realize that you won’t ever need a fire brigade for your flat.

You emerge from his neck and raise your brows. Felix is just hard-wired to impress. „Just how much saliva can you produce!“

„Ch… Mnh— Nh…“

Hitting some more complex syntax and consonants there, is he.

„Oh, I get it now. You stayed hydrated during the day. Thanks for explaining, mate. That’s the secret.“

Whether that’s perfectly scientifically correct down to the enzyme theory and shit neither of you can google right now. At least you know that you’re both drenched on either end so that’s that.

Once Felix is so horny from deepthroating your damn hand that he has pull off and yellow-word, you’re already prepared for introducing a new position which you can prepare while he’s gathering himself and wiping off his chin. You hand him a second towel for his neck, and present him a little hand mirror to see how the hickey turned out.

„It’s shaped like, hm,“ he pants, words still slurring a little. „I dunno! It’s really cute!“

„Let me see… No doubt that’s a rice cake hickey. That’s the shape.“

„You’re right!“

And off he goes snapping a selfie with it while you get comfortable on your back, cleaning your own fingers.

„Just don’t upload that one to Insta instead of the cloud shots, we’re not gonna survive another Manager call at 1:15 AM.“

„Can I use your phone for it? That’s where it’s supposed to be on, anyway.“

Felix giggles a little. That cute brat. Always knowing how it’s done.

„Sure babe!“

And voilà, Felix is already occupied setting a good view of his new rice cake-shaped friend as your phone background. Good thing, helps his erection cool down a little, he was about to blow up his poor white pants. The acceptable unfair feat being that he’s just riling you up even more like that on the other hand.

„If you come to mommy now,“ you wriggle one foot in the air, the other splayed on the duvet, knee slightly bent. „Rubbing her pussy and doing your thing, you know how it goes.“

„Angel duties calling! What am I doing!“

At the speed of sound, Felix stores your phone back on the bedside table and crawls over in an instant. He props his chin on your abdomen and blinks.

„Sorry Ma’am. At your service. Never wanna keep you waiting.“

A big smile rouses his cheeks, and you boop them from either side. His peach fuzz is so soft and his eyes are so beautifully dark. You don’t waste any time keeping your skirt down for any longer. Another blink and Felix is already pawing — well, kneading and caressing technically — between your legs. He’s visibly understanding just how wet the whole finger sucking circus has left you now.

„What if I used my heels on your cock, boo. Still no cumming. Just my heels and my lil’ prince.“

Satanic plan stage number three. Felix has gotten to savor it last Christmas and for his birthday, and some time around the holidays in summer.

„I love it yay!“ Felix claps his hands. Baby, baby.

„C’mere then. Just keep on rubbing.“

His arms are fairly long enough. While you’re dragging the slender heels of either shoe right across the outlines on his crotch, Felix, eyes loosely closed, maintains a steady rhythm on your clit with three fingers lined up on the fabric of your panties.

„Oh fucking hell, Felix, shit—“

Whenever you masturbate, that alone would never do. You’d get frustrated after a while. Need more stimulation. But when Felix is on angel duty to keep your pussy soaked, it doesn’t need much to make your clit throb, even with your underwear still on. Guess that God’s little helpers know how to work their magic to make your head spin.

He’s hitting the right spot, with the right moves, and his other hand doesn’t miss out on a single opportunity to stroke at both the in- and outside of your thighs. The touch is so subtle, you twitch. Felix strokes on, delirious himself. His eyelids flutter.

„Fuck…“

Despite the little pause from earlier taking out most of his tension, your heels leave Felix with pants that are even more bulged out. That’s making it easy to direct your feet to jerk up and down at either side. You’d never know either of you would be so into this. Foot fetish and all.

Once he’s edged you to the point of moans, last thing you properly remember is calling it quits with the panties and telling him to line himself up. The heels kicked off, the skirt still on, you decide that unpacking your Halloween treat has been long overdue. You slide his pants down, roll down a pink condom, and grab his cock at the base to glide it all over your wet lips.

„Lix, come fuck me. You got me all horny. Satan is recruiting.“

„With me it’s not sinning,“ he smiles, brighter than the sun and you do right along. It’d be hard not to. Felix truly has the innocence of a virgin, the subtle confidence of an intermediate, the caution of a pro, and the kindness of a real veteran.

„You’re right about that Felix,“ you say, prop your entrance at the very tip, let the wetness do its job. „Come kiss your honey girl.“

And he does. Entering you with care for the right angle, letting your hip do the rest. What’s been circling and sucking your fingers so deliciously is now doing a hot job teasing and pleasing your tongue all over. His lips are amazingly soft and plump, they open so gently and feel electric on yours. A gentle squeeze around your left breast sparks a moan into the kiss from you. It’s Felix massaging your breasts while deepening his penetration, and you can tell the vegemite can stay under the bed today. You can tell Felix is getting more than flustered knowing it was all him who made you this dripping wet.

Even his dick seems to blush in sync. It’s fucking pink and red. Oh wait, that’s the condom. But knowing him and from your viewpoint, it’s still more flushed than before, no kidding. Faithfully pumping in and out of you at its full length now. You wrap your legs around his waist, the thrusts become deeper, shorter, parting you open much more, and filling you out so properly.

„So good. Right there, angel. Just right there. I’m loving that.“

Felix has a great dick. Best handy size, the girth’s comfortable, all nice and bendy, virtually no curve, you can always gyrate on it in any way and even take a complete 180 if you go from cowgirl to reverse (which you’d be doing right now but he’d crush his wings if he were on his back like that so no). Cherry on top, compact but soft balls that don’t steal the show but still do the trick during doggy. They’re whipping up the best cum in the world, so.

The slow kissing goes on and on and Felix tries to walk the tightrope of neither letting your pussy lips suck the orgasm out of him, nor making you cream his cock with shaky legs from all that gorgeous sloppy friction, and the kissing, and his sweet cherry shampoo scent that has your brain in absolute limbo.

With everything hanging by a thread like that, every kiss becomes special and full of a suspense that makes your lips tremble — either set, and Felix can hardly bear it himself.

His little halo is dangling back and forth, and you can tell by his face that all that thrusting has him in serious trouble. And you? Are fucking leaking and groaning, and that little shallow series of first contractions before your orgasm is already preparing you.

The sugar high from the cupcakes is fading, but your adrenaline is sure to replace it. You just want Felix to fuck you more and rock against him, and hold his head, and kiss him. God, his mouth is so warm and inviting, tastes so good like cocoa.

The pace joins yours without any effort, it adapts when your rhythm changes, and it stabilizes everything when you’re currently riding the high of his cock really filling you out so you can clench your muscles around him, feel him and tell him just you wait, I’ll milk you. He’s such a good kisser. You can feel all of your wetness running down your ass like it’s Christmas.

„Felix, I’m overflowing.“

„I’m so sorry,“ he whines into the kiss. „I’ll be washing the sheets.“

„Listen, baby,“ you break the tongue-on-tongue, „you doing laundry is really sexy. But the overflow is the best part. Just look what you’re doing to my body.“

You could ravage him on the spot. He’d probably lose it and cum in two seconds. Holding yourself before the edge is so tough right now.

„Shit… yellow again. Need a moment.“

Felix has to resort to a bit of cockwarming, and you use the little break to rid yourself off the harness. It’s not perfectly comfortable when you’re lying down. You’re about to fling it off the bed that Felix asks to wear it. Oh. Very well. It actually goes as a nice contrast on his white top, and the straps make it easy to adjust to him. And he wants it to sit on him really tightly. Oh again.

You realize—

On you, it’s only a fashion piece. Something random that came with the costume.

On him: It’s kinky.

„Hey hey. You look sexy, pum’kin,“ you pat at his chest. „Look at your waist, wow.“

Your sweet boy. It’s like it’s made for him. So cinched and the exact opposite of his costume. He’s a corrupted, dirty angel now, it’s perfect. With his pink neck and all sweaty face, and his little puppy gaze that will haunt you in your sex dreams because it literally just gets into your pants so much. Oh god, you just wanna cum. You have to distract yourself with chaste images of Felix washing the dishes or writing grocery lists with little hearts and emojis on them but that just makes it five times worse.

The way he puts the harness on with his dick inside you is so mouthwatering and cumworthy, you can’t wait to resume and switch your own brains off on that angel cock. Once Felix is ready to exit phase yellow and resume the session, your hands magically gravitate towards the straps of the harness at this waist.

„Can I?“

„M—hm!“

You have the time of your life grabbing and guiding him by the harness, controlling every thrust. Felix clenches up his teeth from how lavishly his cock is squeezing into your pussy.

„Oh babe,“ you groan out. „Fuck me, fuck me, fuck me. Come on, angel.“

He’s not going to take it much longer. Felix is tensing all over, neck to the knees, it’s a huge shock wave in the making. That climax is going to be like a fucking punch into outer space.

„I’m really at my limit, I’m, I’m…!“

„Cum for me, angel,“ you reach to his neck to bring his lips down again. Your mouths going into shaky contact brings a big soaring moan with it.

„Ahn—!“

You lock lips, his face scrunches up, and you can tell that cum worth of three orgasms is currently pooling into the condom. You don’t belong to the mile high club, but going by how far up this feels, you might as well be. Those sweet shivers. And the little whines. It’s all too much for him, this one got him bad. Felix cumming is like the angels really are singing. With bells and harps and all that shit at once.

After pulling out, the ruined condom goes off lightning fast. Felix’ cock gets some much-needed cooling, but his face is on heavy duty. How he does it after almost getting his lights turned off, it’s a mystery, it must have been six whole loads he shot into you. You’d already be collapsing in his shoes. Felix still being able to put his mouth to work is an act of divine intervention. Honestly though, it doesn’t even take half a minute. Sloppy head from Felix is cryptonite, your stamina comes tumbling down. His tongue just knocks you out with an overwhelming rush of pleasure.

“Oh— yes...”

What is gravity? You don’t know what north and south mean anymore. He laps and sucks you through your high and your legs give up their soldier service. All you see it fluffy blonde strands of hair peeking from below your skirt, a glimpse of the harness, the rest is heavy growling and swearing from all of the contractions and Felix getting raw and dirty Down Under with no fears, literally none, to bury his face and move it around and let his tongue loose. Time and again Felix shows you he’s a swallower. Satanic agenda: success.

For tonight, your pussy will be nothing but glitter, cum, and spit. Swollen like crazy, properly fucked, and tipped to the absolute limit. Felix keeps on slicking up his face completely, and then brings you into the afterglow with his fingers. One at a time, barely adding stimulation. Just fetching you where you are and climbing down. Looks like you’ll share the cupcakes, this is a couple hangover in the making. In Felix’ case in particular. It’s like he signed up for testing a mad scientist’s latest designer drug.

„Wow wow… So you served me choco cupcakes and God’s menu,“ is the last thing he can say in his delirium before falling over. He’s so fucked out and went so wild on eating you, a part of the harness came off. Thank god his nose is so small, all that swiping could’ve broken the bridge and whatnot. And his lips, they’re twice as plump. You really have to compliment in on what his mouth has done today because that was some champ shit.

You’re both buffering on the sheets for a solid five minutes until you roll to the side. Towel… water… forehead kisses. Yes, forehead kisses most importantly. After gathering yourself a little, you pamper Felix into a heart rate around 90 rather than 120. And with the onset of exhaustion for the two of you, that’s not too hard after some minutes passing. Whispering sweet nothings and praise is all you do up until 2 AM and after. Felix is somewhere between worlds, one foot in the door of the dreamland, the other soaking up the care and the intoxicating, thick scent of the room that has a lot of cherry shampoo in it.

At some point. You loosen the harness, pull off his shirt with the wings attached. The halo you unsuccessfully try to spot in his hair. Turns out: It flew off. Felix really must’ve made Satan proud if it fell down just like that. Good job. Felix has earned a title of being a dirty angel now, and by the way he’s chugging water now, a wet one on top of that.

Five tons of spit, six, seven, who knows how many he’s afforded for today. A head pat is not enough, it has to be several, and Felix passes out onto the pillows. As good as you can, you wipe him down, bin the condom, get off his shoes and his half-pulled down trousers. After staggering to the bathroom, your skirt and peplum shirt follows, the stockings stay on, they’re cozy as hell. Last but not least, you remove your devil horns. It feels like they granted you the most unknown demonic powers.

Next time Felix is on his way to making you cum again, you’ll be wearing them, and you’ll last the way you did tonight. Meanwhile, Bang Chan is blowing up your phone because Felix pressed send by accident earlier, but you don’t notice. It just keeps on vibrating on the bedstand and Chris will have to riddle over the rice cake selfie for the rest of November.

Felix dozes with an angelic little smile on his lips and puffs his cheeks in his sleep, his makeup wiped and his hair truly messy. Instagram can wait. Maybe you’ll get to brush your teeth a little later, it usually takes some time until you wake up again and topple to the sink. You huddle together, tuck your sweet baby pum’kin into his second favorite spot at your chest. Ah, the glory of Felix little spooning.

As the last signature, you nibble at his ear, call him your cutie pie, and switch the lights off. You have to listen closely but if you do, it’s like Felix is purring in his sleep. Whatever your own dreamland is planning to launch on you tonight, you’re looking forward to it.

© 2017-2020 submissive-bangtan. all rights reserved. reposts, modifications and translations are prohibited. character depictions are fictional & for entertainment purposes only.

PS — oh, my good ole fellas, a last cursed disclaimer. i must insist on the following for obvious reasons. vegemite makes for some terrible strap lube okay 😂🇦🇺

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RWBY Volume 7 Review

Two weeks out from Volume 8 and I finally cared enough to write this. Go team I guess. 

Part of it came down to my feelings on Volume 7. It’s a complicated season that’s made me realize a lot of my overall feelings on RWBY as a series, particularly a lot of the less flattering feelings. Volume 7 is just... frustrating in general, as for all the good that it does have, and it does have a lot of great elements to it, it’s let down by a frustrating script and writing choices that feel distinctly amateurish, especially as the series moves on and gets better and better looking each year. There’s elements and kernals here of great character writing, season-wide arcs that land in a really good way and get me emotionally invested in the characters. But on the other... Ren only has two hundred words the entire season and you can tell! 

Volume 7 is a season of dizzying highs, some of the best moments of the entire franchise... and some of the series lows. It’s a season where there’s no production reason for its shortcomings... it just comes down to an awkward script that focuses on the wrong elements far too often. Let’s talk about that. In a very long and drawn out manner.

Thanks to @jamesbranwen​, @h-e-m-o-goblin​ and @retro-riffraff​ for help with GIFs and consultation on this review.

1) The Good Stuff!

A) Atlas is very pretty!

I cannot stress enough how on a set level, Volume 7 is leaps and bounds above the other seasons in sheer environmental detail and setting dressing. Mantle has a great atmosphere with its New York influences, the smog covered backgrounds and oppressive streets and alleys. Ironwood’s office which is deliberately designed to evoke astronomy themes to represent James’ love for the stars. The cold oppressive atmosphere of the Schnee Manor and how Jacques has begun warping it to glorify him with only lip service paid to Nicholas in public. Penguins! 

There’s a lot of great set design work that went into this season and the crew deserve props for it. Genuinely. 

B) Ironwood’s arc is the best character arc in the entire franchise

Yeah just wearing my heart on my sleeve there, I fucking love Ironwood and his character arc here in Volume 7 is the best written arc of the show. I simp for the tin man who just wants to do the right thing. This one season of content is better than a lot of the series-wide material being honest. I went back to James’s big volumes in the last month to rewatch the show and it’s interesting to see the early seeds in retrospect for where his arc goes. His need to protect everyone he can and the brutish measures he considers necessary for such an act, his conflicting loyalties towards Ozpin that manifest in both frustration at Oz’s seeming apathy to the growing conflict, but also desperate desire for validation from Ozpin that what’s he doing is the right call. After the Mistral seasons set up James as going off the deep end following Volume 3, having him open the season with an earnest smile, an immediate apology for the team’s arrest and trusting them with his plans for Amity and Salem is a jarring but pleasant surprise. He’s not been slacking off, he’s been trying to keep the world together in the way he thinks is best. He lets his guard down around the heroes and we see the good man underneath, which makes the moments where he raises his walls hurt all the more. While Em and Merc are still probably my favorite characters period, James is absolutely my favorite character in Volume 7 and Top 5 favorite characters series-wide. I’m very eager to see where he goes from here. He also rocks the beard and fixed his T-Rex arms so James came out of the washing machine that is Volume 7′s costume design. He truly is the Best Boi, and I cannot give Jason Rose enough credit for his performance this year. He hit every note of Ironwood’s character perfectly and I wish the fandom would give him more credit for giving James as much life as he does.

Oh, and as the obligatory comment on mlm rep that I am known for getting obsessively weird anon hate over: IronQrow hug nearly had me crying on a convention floor from how goddamn soft it was. Remember conventions? Ah good times.

This just... hits me... ya know? Seeing him lower his guard so much to come in for a hug just shows how isolated he’s let himself become to let himself have this moment of contact... Godamnit James. Also this is the second time after Martial Arcs that two guys hug and I really liked their ship for the following hiatus. 

C) Soft Qrow hours are nice

Qrow’s a good guy, he went through a lot of bad stuff in Volume 6 but now he’s on the other side and purged his voice of the demon within. I think Volume 7 was a very good year for Qrow overall. It was great to see him interacting with more characters his age and lowering his own guard. His moments of letting the facade drop around James and Clover especially are great expansion for his character. Jason Liebritch hit the ground running as Qrow and gave him a far more dynamic range than I think Vic could. While I wish Qrow going off alcohol had been given more of a focus as it’s kind of done off-handedly that he’s gone cold turkey and otherwise doesn’t get brought up barring his revulsion at the wine in the Schnee Manor, he overall had a great year. And trust me I’ll get to the fights later, I have a lot more I can say about the bird boi there. 

D) I liked the Ace Ops! 

I was ambivilent towards the Ace Ops on first watching. They’re kinda underdeveloped in the context of the season at large and most people immediately pegged them as a miniboss squad/fodder for Salem to kill. But in rewatch they do still get to shine, if not as brightly. They’re very enjoyable. Clover especially is just really fun in retrospect, I love cocky fighters in general, and he was infectiously enjoyable (I’ve already covered the FG stuff in the past, not doing it again). Marrow came a close second because... well it’s Marrow, he is The Best Boi. Harriet got points for being a punchgirl which is always cool, I liked how her Semblance was shown and being cocky while being able to back it up is always a win. Elm and Vine are tied for dead last, I like the body diversity Elm introduces with her muscles and Vine... existed... but overall I think with the time they had, they did get to establish themselves well. I wish I could say that about their relationship with Team RWBYORNJ but this is the Nice Section so we’ll leave it there for now.

This is one of the best shots of the entire season. I adore it. God I like the Teryx design.

E) God the villains rocked this year! 

I am a villain whore. I own that. I will embrace that monkier. But when they’re as cool as this, I feel validated in this Chilli’s tonight. Watts and Tyrian really make the season shine and don’t have a dud scene all season. They have great chemistry together, shining bright in even the weakest or most mediocre episodes. Watts went from “Oh yeah you exist” tier to “Oh yeah you rule” tier. His vendetta against Ironwood feels so real and pre-established, even though this season is the first time it’s ever come up. Watts just ozzes style in everything he does. The animators bring him to life and make every step, every flick of his twist and even just how he moves his eyes all bleed contempt. He’s such a rat and I love him! Chris Sabat finally gets to stretch his wings after a few years playing Watts as just Evil Scientist Guy, and he makes the most of it. 

And Tyrian remains an absolute treat. He didn’t get much in V6 but here he takes center stage with Watts and also gets so much impact because of it. All the little twitches, and tilting of his heads, and dramatic gestures, he’s still just so goddamn cool to watch and we even get a little backstory of him. I know he’s irredeemable. But I just want to watch Tyrian kill people and scream. Like hot damn his line “THE GRIMM SHOULD HAVE DESTROYED OUR ENEMIES, NOT MADE THEM FRIENDS!” is so fucking raw. He’s having fun destablizing a nation with his boyfriend! 

“You want more chaos than a Grimm invasion?” “If anyone on Remannt can do it, wouldn’t it be you?” There is no heterosexual explanation for how these two look at each other and yes this is me outing myself as a Nuts and Volts fan.

Watts and Tyrian really do become the absolute highlights of the season alongside James. They have a great dynamic and even during their more slower moments there’s so much care and thought put into their every mannerism. Animators, seriously, great job, I love what you did. And their fights... we’ll get there. But they’re so goddamn good. 

Look they even run the same! They’re soulmates! 

Honorary mention to Salem by the way. She’s only in two scenes but her presence is felt throughout Ironwood’s arc and his growing fear of her and she damn well delivers when she shows up. That shot of her arriving in person is a killer shot to end on as well.

Oh and I guess Cinder and Neo exist don’t they? Eh, we’ll come back to them. 

F) Oscar got a character arc!

Finally! He did it! He got an arc that began, continued and ended all onscreen! It only took four tries! 

But yeah Oscar had a really good set of scenes in Volume 7. I like him being the first to confront Ruby on the Ironwood lie, bringing up the hypocrisy after their condemning of Ozpin just last season. I like him having a more forward role (outside of not getting to be part of the celebration in episode 4 what the hell guys), and that he’s the big link between RWBY and Ironwood was a great call. Having Ozpin shelved for one more season so Oscar can take center-stage was an inspired choice. I love his dynamic with Ironwood, and how James closing himself off emotionally gets reflected in how he begins slipping in how he refers to Oscar, starting off as treating him and Oz as separate, ending with him gunning Oscar down as he doesn’t care anymore to differentiate the two.

My big issues with Oscar’s arc are that I’m first of all annoyed at the lack of followup on the Oscar stuff from V6, I’m still waiting for Qrow to apologize for punching Oscar guys! I also really wish Neo’s first attack wasn’t offscreen. CRWBY’s cliffhanger fetish meant I got to break out the Offscreen Pine jokes again. And of course, the Neo hallway punch was a bit bullshit.

G) (Most of) The fights are amazing

There’s no punchline. These fights are great, two of them are in my Top 10 Series Wide fights list and at least the duds aren’t Volume 5 bad.

If you’d told me before Volume 7 that Watts would get an extended firefight with James, I’d have felt that a bit cheap as Watts to me doesn’t feel like a fighter, more a planner who hides behind armies of mechanical soldiers. But damn if they didn’t sell me on Watts “You’ve yeed your last haw” Watts whipping out a Glock just to spite James. 

This is another one of my favorite shots in the entire series.

Ironwood vs Watts is potentially my favorite fight in the entire series, and if it’s not, it’s easy Top 3 alongside Yang vs Mercury and Pyrrha vs CRDL/Mercury. It makes great use of Amity in the abandoned gravity biome meant for SSSN vs JNPR, with Ironwood and Watts deftly moving around in a manner that very easily could have been difficult to track with the constantly shifting gravity, but the crew do their best to keep it coherent as to who’s where. The credits showed their dedication also stretched into visual continuity, as James and Arthur’s route throughout the Arena was carefully considered so they’d loop around organically. 

This is what I mean when I say the crew went above and beyond to keep things clean.

Ironwood vs Watts could have easily failed to impress, given its lack of choreography on the level the series usually does, but the team’s efforts went instead into showing a situation that lets Watts get a dragged out battle: James wins whenever he closes the distance here, so Arthur’s constantly on the run and being forced to tamper with the arena. Great camerawork, a GOD TIER song from Caleb Hyles that I’m still listening to today, and two characters with a fantastic history coming to blows makes for easily the best fight of the season and a series-wide highlight. Watching it develop from storyboards, to mocap, to animations and the full version is a delight to see. This is what CRWBY can do when everything comes togehter. The orchestra’s all tuned. It’s a goddamn symphony.

THIS is my favorite shot of the season.

Tyrian also gets to shine with his two battles this year. His alley fight with Qrow, Robyn and Clover is short but sweet, the corvid and the scorpion especially trading brutal blows in the cramped space. Qrow goes full Devil May Cry with his style-switching here, Harbinger being swapped between sword, tonfa and gun forms freely alongside Qrow applying The Power of Punching. His 1v1v1 with Clover and Qrow though is the true highlight of the season in terms of choreography. It’s lighting-fast, and has some impeccable shot work. Qrow gets to use his scythe with deliberate nods to the Red Trailer, Clover gets to shut up everyone who doubted his weapon, and Tyrian is just along for the ride and he makes the most of it. It’s frentic, it’s heart-pounding, it’s everything a fight should be. 

Honorary mentions as well go to Ace Ops vs the Geist, which is just really fun and has a great backing music choice, the opening battle with Sabre having Ruby’s obligatory ten seconds of fighting that come at the start of every new era of the series, and the Ace Ops vs RWBY fight which has some good choreo in places.

H) Winter and Penny have good chemistry

I don’t have a ton to add here, I just like their dynamic and how they advance each other’s arcs. It’s nice writing. I also like Winter apologizing to Penny when she’s angry at Jacques and takes it out on Penny by accident with the “You wouldn’t understand” line.

Penny as a Maiden is a nice idea, I think her new design is cute. Penny says trans rights.

Those are a lot of my favorite things about Volume 7. It’s a killer season when it’s firing on all cylinders but unfortunately... it often misfires in frustrating ways, many of which are unfortunately due to core emblematic problems with the series that won’t go away.

2) The Bad Stuff

A) The costumes

It’s been a over year. It’s low hanging fruit. I don’t care. Most of them are still not good and they’re ludicrously over-designed.

Blake’s in a fetish suit and I wonder how she even goes to the bathroom. Weiss just looks like an abino Sabre alt, Yang is what a Halloween costume site would describe as “Sexy UPS Driver,” (why does she have a thigh window) Ruby... looks fine, it’s one of her better costumes. Jaune’s hair is silly, Ren’s model has lost some muscle definition and he looks like an e-boy, Nora’s costume really doesn’t fit the Atlas visual design and looks like a rejected Kingdom Hearts costume. Cinder’s is too black and I actually can’t track her in darker scenes because of it (which is kinda bad during... a fight scene... where I need to know where she is...), Neo looks like a Ren Fair cosplayer doing a bit for her OnlyFans, Winter’s is anatomically weird with super skinny arms and legs, and Blake’s hair is a fucking hate crime. 

Qrow’s is one I liked at first but in retrospect it does feel like a downgrade. To quote @h-e-m-o-goblin​ from a Discord chat:

in a show like rwby, where color is such a vital defining aspect of every character, a cohesive colorscheme goes a long way. qrow's original outfit works great in this regard. neutral tones. greys, whites, and blacks, with red accents that pop against the otherwise sparse color. it's good! it's distinctive! it doesn't feel cluttered and it doesn't look like a clown vomited on him! the subdued colors really lend themselves to the grey, cynical energy qrow seems to carry with him. a literal lack of color in his life. the outfit itself feels like something he would wear; a combination of "clearly trying to look cool" and "a little disheveled and laid back." the design breathes, it isn't cluttered. let's contrast this with his vol 7 outfit. a lot of outfits in vol 7 suffer from this problem, but first and foremost it doesn't look like something he would wear. where his old outfit had a casual feel to it, his new look feels like someone dressed him up for a family christmas dinner. it's too... tidy. now of course you could argue this is him "cleaning up his life," but i dont feel like you have to sacrifice his own personal style in order to convey that. if that's really what they were going for, they easily could have just, oh i dont know, given him a cape that isn't tattered???

remember how i said qrow's original outfit really made his colors pop? how less is more when it comes to having a character with a specific color theme? vol 7 butchered that. we suddenly have articles of clothes that are tinted with greenish blue tones, browns, and with gold trim? on TOP of the old colors he already had in his design. it's muddy. it's ugly. the burgundy vest is fine, if they wanted to work more color into his outfit they should have done it that way throughout, shades of grey and different tones of RED. his COLOR. it just feels like they tacked so much on there without a second thought and i really think he deserves better. its just. such a mess.

The ones I did like were Watts’ new coat (I like the puffy hood), Penny’s is fine, the Ace Ops look great, Ironwood’s new outfit is stellar (those last six are great examples of how to do a lot with just primary colors of white and red), Neon’s Jolyne cosplay is cute and Flynt is slick. Otherwise, Volume 7 feels like it’s taken a lot of the wrong lessons from the costume design of the earlier seasons. Less is often more but now it feels like they have a pathological aversion to empty space on the costumes, leading them to feel like... costume vomit for lack of a better word. I didn’t love the Mistral outfits, but their modifications at least were carried by how many of them called back to the Fall of Beacon and emphasized the themes of loss in Volume 4. The new Atlas outfits... don’t have that shared theme. It feels like a hodgepodge of different design influences without trying to find a way to unify them. It’s like putting Baki the Grappler beside My Little Pony, they just fail to mesh.

Also for fuck’s sake already CRWBY just give the girls muscles already.

2) JNR suck and Ren’s arc is glorified character assassination

I don’t love JNR. They’re fine, but the show has arguably not needed them for a while and while I’ve liked them all at different points, it’s never been adoration outside of Ren in Volume 4. I was cool with the idea of them staying in Argus to help cover Mistral after its Huntsmen were wiped out, and Volume 7 has... made me wish they did that.

Jaune is just comic relief, and it kinda blows for later reasons but the big one is that he’s just not very funny. His big role in Volume 7 is basically to crosswalk some kids so we can have a joke scene during the Mantle Battle where Jaune uses his tactical genius to teach people to walk in single file. I feel like at this point Miles is just actively trying to kill Jaune’s fandom out of spite for how badly Jaundice was received. He’s never allowed to be cool or try and redeem himself. His hatedom aren’t going to stop hating Jaune because he gets more comedy guys. They’re going to stop when you write Jaune well. It’s a bummer he got some genuinely great upgrades for his sword and shield and never gets to use them outside of the opening. 

Nora exists. She got a surprising amount of focus this season in that she got focus of any kind. I liked her confronting Ironwood over his choking of Mantle because we know she was once the kind of person Ironwood would have been stifling. I like her being the one to realize the loophole in Jinn’s “You can’t” line. I don’t like much else about Nora this year, or at least the Nora the writing team are pushing. She’s not funny like Jaune but Nora just absorbs so much screentime in the first half with her constant shrieking. Sam Ireland has good range but making Nora into Discount Harley Quinn is pushing her out of it. She sounds shrill, making Nora sound like she has no heart outside of the election rally. A shrill voice is one thing. A shrill voice that never lands a single joke? Yeah that character is tainted by association. 

And Ren... oh God Ren what happened to you.

The Volume 7 commentary confirmed a suspicion of mine that Ren’s arc was heavily cut down from what was planned. Even watching V7 I could tell his arc was bare-bones at best, and it’s downright character assassination in places. Why is he suddenly so cold to Nora? Why is he now so obsessed with training? Why does he side with Ironwood for all of... one line which is this last between episodes 7 and 11. Ren only has two hundred words of dialoge in Volume 7 and they feel so weird in places. Ren goes from seemingly disliking Nora, to kissing her, to never referencing the kiss, to partaking in the Worst Scene Of The Season, all with no consistency. It’s not even threadbare. Ren’s arc just has no connecting tissue for so much of it! It’s insane how badly Ren was hurt by this, and I shudder to wonder how bad his Volume 8 arc will be because you know that was one of the first plotlines they cut down on when they inevitably overreached again. 

I don’t know how they made Renora kissing feel unearned? But by God they found a way with how much of a trainwreck Ren’s writing is in regards to tainting this. 

If Ironwood is an example of RWBY doing character writing well, Ren is the mirror image of how badly they can do. JNR really suffered from Volume 7 (also fun fact, Ren has about 200 words of dialogue? Ironwood has 4400). Maybe not to the level of irredeemable dislike? But very close to being on the same tier as Cinder of “Just go away already.”  I’m not looking forward to their content in Volume 8. 

3) RWBY themselves are poorly handled in Volume 7

It’s unfortunate that the actual title characters of the series are also some of this season’s weaker links. RWBY feel... superfluous to this season in a way they’ve never felt before. It’s baffling how much of the season doesn’t change if you just don’t include them, and apparently Volume 7′s first draft? Was even worse.

The commentary says that many of the RWBY moments were added later in production. Stuff like Ruby and Renora at the rally, Blake and Yang’s talk with Robyn and Ruby and Qrow’s chat were all either added in near the end of the writing or were “low priority” enough that they could have been cut which is... veyr alarming that’s stuff even the main protags have to worry about! 

Ruby feels half-baked. I was looking forward to her in V7 after how V6 gave her a more dynamic personality and the focus she got in Brunswick, and having Penny’s return had me interested in seeing Ruby grapple with her emotions about it. She watched Penny die, how would it influence her to see Penny back and OK? Good question, we never get to see it. Ruby’s just OK with Penny’s return, the one time they touch on it Penny immediately glosses over it. Ruby just goes back to her old happy go lucky persona where any and all negative emotions are immediately forced down instead of confronting them and growing from them. I’m getting a little tired of Ruby bottling her grief and being teased about finally getting her snapping like a Twix Bar. We finally got her crying and it lasted all of ten seconds. And it doesn’t help that Ruby’s still getting shafted for fights. Her scythe choreography has no excuse being as flacid as it is now after Qrow vs Clover showed they can do scythe fighting! Why is Ruby being upstaged by (let’s be real) a supporting character! Why is she being limited to ten seconds of good combat then nothing for the rest of the season outside of flimsily swinging it or shooting. It’s disappointing, especially after how good V6 Ruby was.

I swear, Gravity’s not just my favorite episode of the season just because Ruby finally cries in it.

Weiss was kinda just done dirty though. At least Ruby has a good outfit. Weiss confronting her father has been a long standing plot thread for the series, it’s been Weiss’s Big Thing since the White Trailer. And when Jacques finally appears, he’s very... bland. He’s just evil corporate dude who exists less as an obstacle for Weiss and more just a roadblock for the plot through the election. Weiss finally gets a chance to take her father down and work to redeem her family name... but instead of earning said victory and it being treated with the same gravitas and emotional weight as Blake defeating Adam... Weiss has her victory handed to her. And it’s played for comedy by her abusrdly attractive mother. 

Listen, I like I Willow Schnee. I think she’s a fascinating character and I like the idea of a person who is aware of the harm they’ve done by accident but is too broken to fix the issues she accidentally left. I love her calling Weiss out on her treatment of Whitley. But she is absolutely a Deus Ex Machina that exists to get Jacques out of the plot as fast as possible. You mean to tell me Hackerman Watts never once made sure Jacques had hidden cameras? Or that none of the staff found Willow’s cameras and reported them under the assumption they were White Fang spies? It’s so... convenient. It’s handing Weiss her victory on an unearned platter. Which sucks. I was really looking forward to Weiss beating Jacques. Instead she just gets given the plot device while JNR engage in the Worst Scene of The Season in that Whitley food stunt.

Me whenever I’m asked to rewatch Cordially Invited

Blake and Yang have much the same problems, in they never separate. I know they’re going to be together. I know CRWBY are making it canon (get it over with already). I still would like Yang and Blake to have individual character scenes. I’d like Blake and Marrow to talk about being a Faunus Huntsman in Atlas (another thing that got cut thanks to Robyn Hill). I want Yang and Ironwood to discuss their PTSD and have Yang thank Ironwood for his trust in her that he commissioned the arm despite Yang attacking Mercury. I want Blake to be well animated in fight scenes so she’s doing more than just jobbing so Yang looks better. I want Yang to stop hogging all the good Team RWBY choeography. I want them to interact with other characters and continue to grow instead of feeling like two halves of one character. And no, making a meta joke of how Blake and Yang don’t talk to other people doesn’t make it OK. It just means you’re self aware about your own faults. 

(Also give Yang better merch or quit the favoritism. If you’re gonna milk her, put effort into it beyond crapply overpriced flannel. RT’s merch store is actively making me hate Yang.)

Team RWBY’s biggest contribution to the season is the Ironwood Lie which is... a can of worms. They certainly had a point in withholding some of the bigger truths from James but I feel by Pomp and Cirumstance he’d proven himself truthwrothy enough to warrant being told the truth about Salem. But then when he’s finally told the truth, it’s offscreen’d and the consequence isn’t “Why didn’t you tell me earlier” but “Fucking Ozpin man.” Gravity has it bite them in the ass, but it’s more an accessory to Yang and Blake telling Robyn about the Amity tower. I wish more had been done with the team disagreeing on whether the lie was a good choice or not, maybe have Yang be hardline against it due to her own “No more lies and half truths” policy instead of... having Yang tell more lies and half truths (Commentary confirms she never told Ruby and Weiss about the Robyn stuff BTW). But that’s a wider problem where RWBY aren’t allowed to disagree beyond surface level “I don’t know if this is the right call” dialogue. There’s never a threat of one of them cracking and just spilling the beans to James, everyone just blindly trusts Ruby and Qrow tells the audience “No this is different from when Ozpin lied. Trust us.” 

This is the most RWBY get for content in the season finale: Ruby just nuking Cinder with no difficulty after having trouble with the eyes three episodes ago. Kinda lame tbh.

Team RWBY are just disappointing in Volume 7. They’re not given good animation, their story roles are largely insignificant, the impact of their roles on the story is threadbare and... well most of their costumes suck don’t @ me even CRWBY have admitted Blake and Weiss’s haircuts looked bad. It’s a whole barrage of a letdown for the main girls. And it’s really sad that the best scenes of the season... are usually the ones where RWBY are nowhere in sight.

Why the hell didn’t Yang get to keep the sunglasses come on guys. One job.

4) Robyn, the election plot, and the Happy Huntresses

Oh God, Robyn Hill is... not great. I could and likely will write a full meta on her character and how they bungled it but I’ll just be blunt here: I don’t like her design, the colors don’t mesh well, he head’s too small, Christina Vee is sleeping through the role and her weapon’s lame. Introducing her in a scene where she threatens to attack our heroes, and her agents are actively sneaking up on them to do it, is not a great first impression for a hometown hero. And that the commentary thinks she’s meant to be the hero in that scene is... staggering. 

RWBY’s greatest threat yet is a wine mom Karen and her Home Owners Association army. 

The election plot is less a misfire and more the engine just exploding. There’s so little good content between when it’s introduced and concluded, with it usually being individual scenes that are more good in spite of their connection to the plot (such as Tyrian’s massacre). It drags in pacing, going on for nearly half the season between episodes 5 and 10, and it purely exists as a roadblock to keep RWBY spinning their wheels while Watts and Tyrian keep going with the main plot. I don’t know why CRWBY went for this plot. They could have easily had something else fill the gap that also allowed for a lot of the character beats (such as Marrow and Blake’s talk and Ren’s entire arc) to shine, or at least condensed it to the important elements instead of letting it become bloated. It ends in such an unsatisfying way where Willow just shows up and goes “We have four episode left, here’s the plot device to beat Jacques, get back ot the main plot.” If they wanted to do the election plot, the best route would have been to give Volume 7 more episodes or stretch out its events to two seasons, but neither is realistically possible while RWBY lives off the teat of AT&T. 

Jacques and Robyn are just boring. Evil corporate man and a lame adaptation of Robyn Hood who only has fans because of thirst who also like downplaying Robyn making a racist remark at Marrow (to say nothing of that weird subsection of Robyn fans who make her a Fox Faunus who cut her tail off to join Atlas Academy which is... certainly a creative choice especially when Marrow and Neon are punching holes in that angsty BS backstory). They can’t carry this plot and the artifical attempts to make it seem more exciting with the two cliffhaners ending on Mantle under riot or Grimm attack are laughably cut short by the next episode in each case opening the morning after. On binge watch it becomes weirdly funny more than anything and that’s not a good reaction. The dual cliffhangers being cheaply resolved is a short but succint example of V7′s pacing issues, and they almost always loop around to the election plot being too bloated, slow and just boring.

Also the Happy Huntresses are just... lame. I like their Semblances but that’s it. Fiona’s OK because she gets some screentime but May’s just “the surly one” and Joanna doesn’t even get her Semblance or much dialogue (oh wow she really is just a female Sage Ayana isn’t she). Robyn should not have been leading the HH and running for Council. That’s really stupid. And kind of wrong. Having May or Fiona be running instead while Robyn leads the team in relief efforts would have been better and could have split the focus more effeciently instead of leaving May and especially Joanna feelng like roster padding. There’s also some delicious irony in the show trying to frame the HH as the resistance fighting for the people and representing individuality, only for them all to have the same boring outfit and weapons (I think even the exact same model just with different sizes) while the Ace Ops are meant to be the military drones who are “Just following orders,” only for them to be more racially diverse, more diverse body-type-wise, and have more unique weapons. It’s another one of those odd creative dissconnects between what the writers wanted and what the artists/animation teams chose to do. 

The election plot is overall toxin for Volume 7, and Robyn in my opinion, has one of the worst introductory scenes of any character in the franchise (and CRWBY have tacitly admitted that V7 had a character they were surprised at how controversial they were, which has to be Robyn). In a year where they were already juggling so much content and characters, adding in this bloated subplot was something I don’t think anyone wanted, especially now that we know we lost so much content on the sacrificial altar for this. It’s a black mark on the season and I don’t really care for the return of the Happy Huntresses or Robyn in Volume 8. None of them are interesting enough to care for outside of meta reasons like “cute.” 

Also fuck you Fiona, can’t believe you got a shirt before Ironwood. 

5) Cinder and Neo sure exist

To be fair, this is one of Cinder’s best years, easily her best since Volume 3 but that’s more because Cinder in the Mistral era was crap. (And if I wanna be cruel, because Cinder wasn’t in two thirds of the season)Her fans were finally vindicated after years of telling anyone who dunked on Cinder that “nooooo she has a super covert backstory that’s gonna be amazing when it’s revealed! You’ll see!” And well they finally got it. All of one line during a fight about how Cinder “refuses to starve.” 

It’s still something so I guess we have to take it. Seriously... how do we still not have Cinder’s backstory. 

There’s just not a ton to say about Cinder and Neo in V7 barring I that don’t think they needed to be here. They feel very superfluous and just here to have a big boss fight in Cinder’s case alongside continuing her streak of ending the odd numbered seasons fighting a female side character... which for me became an exercise in tyring to find during Cinder during the damn fight.

And this is why when most people saw Cinder’s V6 outfit they went “It’s gonna be hard to see her in darker environments,” then were vindicated when it became legit difficult to see Cinder in this scene. God if they at least just made the inside of the cape red it’d be easier.

Neo is Neo, which means she makes funny faces and mocks Cinder (I like that), but she doesn’t get a super good fight which uh... we’ll get to. I’m interested to see her finally exploding at Cinder and going for a backstab, but really Neo in V7 was kinda hit hard by the double whammy of the Oscar Hallway Punch and how humiliating ORNJ vs Neo was for ORNJ. Cinder’s definitely had far worse years and after how aimless she was in Mistral this feels like a sep in the right direction, but at this point CRWBY just need to shut up and tell us her deal. It’s been seven years guys. Come on. At least make her interesting if she’s gonna say around. They’ve had worse years, but unfortunately Cinder and Neo’s role in the finale leads into...

6) Some of the fights weren’t good

I wanna be clear, I like most of Volume 7′s fights. It’s just a bummer the worst ones are back and back and make up a chunk of the finale. ORNJ vs Neo is just crap. It’s the worst fight since the Battle of Haven. There’s nothing else I can say, it’s poorly animated, paced, choreographed and written. JNR especially are made to look like complete jokes after they spent all season training, to the point where it looks like V2 Yang could solo V7 JNR after this. Oscar I expect this from because he’s not allowed to have fun stuff onscreen after accidentally stealing the Haven budget for his fight with Hazel, but JNR were just done dirty. There were ways to make the fight work in a way where Neo still won but JNR looked good. They went for the worst possible outcome that just leaves Neo looking like she got fan-wanked and JNR looking like they’re just not allowed to be cool due to Miles’ spite at the Jaune-Self Insert stuff (and that’s not even getting into JNR being forced to run from lame rent a cops who can’t even handle a single Grimm). Cinder vs Winter and Penny isn’t much better, with her dark outfit making it very hard to track the fight because she blends into the background too well. It’s not a great showing for Winter or Penny given their earlier feats but, hey, some random female character had to fight Cinder in this odd numbered volume, carrying on Glynda, Pyrrha and Raven’s tradition. It’s at least better than ORNJ vs Neo, but that’s really not saying anything. At least Cinder’s VA work isn’t too bad this time but this fight commits the cardinal sin of a finale fight: It’s just not super interesting because we know Cinder can’t kill both Winter and Penny and she’s not becoming a Maiden, while Winter’s been too blatantly set up so it has to be Penny.

RWBY vs the Ace Ops also gets a dishonorable mention due to the choreography on display here... and the lack of it for Weiss, Blake and Ruby. Ruby never once swings Crescent Rose the entire fight and is just reduced to getting the tar kicked out of her by Harriet. Weiss barely gets to use her sword and largely just sticks to her summoning and glyphs which makes for a very visually uninteresting fighting style at the best of times. Blake just swings around and gets caught by the bad guys so Yang is motivated to fight stronger. She never dual wields (again) and her best moves are just setting up Yang to do all the hard work while Yang gets to personally KO two of the Ace Ops. There’s a lot that can be said about whether or nor RWBY earn the win, but while the animation team try to sell the Ace Ops landing heavy hits, having only Blake’s Aura even flicker really undercuts the idea from the commentary that this wasn’t meant to be a stomp for RWBY and they had to work together and be in synch to win.

Which is why Yang solos two of the Ace Ops whle Blake plays support, Weiss beats Marrow alone and then kill steals Harriet from Ruby, all while the song playing is an extended diss track from RWBY to the Ace Ops about how badass they are now, and the commentary itself says the Ace Ops are hard carried by Clover’s Semblance (because you gotta love basically saying four POC were only competent because a white guy led them, and then have them lose because said white guy wasn’t around to carry them!). Great job guys, you really sold it.

And talking of Clover, I feel it worth mentioning Qrow vs Clover vs Tyrian. It’s animation wise near perfect, but unfortunately I do feel it would be remiss to not mention that I feel the writing really has to bend over backwards to justify this fight. A lot of it is stuff I would say in that hypothetical Robyn essay, but I feel Robyn, Qrow and Clover all have to become massive idiots for this specific sequence of events to occur, and for Clover especially every retroactive attempt to explain why he prioritized Qrow over Tyrian just sounds more and more desperate. Between the references to MCU Captain America (a person whose entire arc is about learning when it’s OK to defy bad orders) or the attempt in the commentary to say “Oh Clover thought it would be easier to take out Tyrian alone instead of Qrow,” none of them land and just further drive home how much the plot had to stretch and reach to get that moment of Tyrian killing Clover. I like the fight. But I hate the road the show took to get there.

Some of the misc fights are also weak like ORNJ vs FNKI and elements of the Mantle Grimm battle, but those are the big offenders. Otherwise, again, the fights are largely good. 

7) The soundtrack wasn’t... great

I mean the vocal songs only, don’t crucify me. Trust Love is just lamer Let’s Just Live/Triumph, Celebrate and Let’s Get Real are so boring I thought they were the same song until the OST dropped, Brand New Day is boringly peppy and Jeff’s vocals are dreadful. I completely forgot Touch the Sky until I was checking the tracklist to make sure I didn’t forget any songs. War has good singers but tries to sell the RWBY-Ace Ops bond as way deeper than it was. The lack of a villain song did really sting though, those are always the highlights.

There are good songs. I really like Fear, I feel it encapsulates the themes of the volume well and serves as a good condemnation of Ironwod’s mentality. Until The End is finally the Ruby song I’ve waited for since Red Like Roses 2 and I enjoy that she got a melancholic song, and Hero is easily, hands down, best track of the record and probably best RWBY track, full stop. Caleb killed it, I loved the second verse, opening opera was strong, guitar riffs were a plenty. Stellar work all around for that one.

The OST has great work from Jeff and Alex as usual, but the Jeff and Casey songs are really starting to lose their appeal. Going for a peppy feel this year didn’t help cover the cracks that are beginning to show with RWBY’s vocal songs (especially Jeff’s vocal range), and while a few standouts remain such as Fear and Hero, they are the slim minority in an otherwise very boring vocal tracklist that barely scrapes above Volume 5 for weakest set yet.

8) It wasn’t as funny as it thought it was

Comedy is subjective but man a lot of these jokes didn’t land. RWBY really needs to realize that does work in traditional 2D does not translate into 3D and just comes off as making official reaction GIFs for your Twitter account. Making characters SUDDENY SCREAM LOUDLY is not good banter. Please stop making Nora into Harley Quinn. Marrow was probably the most consistently funny character but that was it. Also I dunno why CRWBY thought Forrest was funny or what the deal was with that FRWBY crap. 

“Honorary” mention to the JNR food scene in Cordially Invited which is genuinely one of the worst scenes in the entire show and I hope whoever animated it has their save files deleted for a game where they were about to beat the final boss. Nothing sums up JNR’s pointlessness in the series more perfectly than this.

C) Conclusion

See what I mean about Volume 7 being frustrating? 

It’s weird that I overal think of Volume 7 as a mid-tier volume. There’s so much here I genuinely adore, with some of the best stuff to do with the show coming out of this season (barring lame, overpriced merch that feels like clothing gacha), but simultaneously the whole thing is let down by outside circumstances that unfortunately are ones the show can’t ever really recover from. Put bluntly, Volume 7 is the most technically proficient season of the show with the best lighting, backdrops, (some of the) character models, etc. CRWBY definitely didn’t slack off this year, but the problem isn't with them. It’s with the writing. A wider reaching problem is just that Miles and Kerry can’t really improve to the level that the series now requires. Eddy and Kiersei’s first season could have gone far worse, but it definitely was notable whenever they took over. Volume 7’s core problems are fourfold: The comedy is terrible and none of the jokes really land, the season focuses on the wrong plots and gives them too much effort, too many episodes are spent building up to new plots only for them to be weakly resolved (especially the Mantle Riot/Grimm attacks that are shoved off-screen), and the character bloat strikes hard here and leaves a lot of the cast feeling like dead weight. CRWBY don’t need more writers. They need more editors willing to tell the team what has to go instead of them hemming and hawing themselves on if they if they can include a plotline. The election never should have gotten past its first draft, there was too much already in this season before adding that.

When this is an unironic shot in your series... you’ve got character bloat issues.

At this point, I think JNR need to go. The show had no idea what to do with them throughout the season, leading to Jaune just being comic relief while Ren and Nora became characters I actively dislike. Renora was the easiest ship in the show to land, and they still managed to blow the engines and ram at least three icebergs just to prove that RWBY can’t romance to save its life. Team RWBY themselves are little better, with Ruby’s feelings about Penny’s return being shelved, Weiss’s victory against Jacques feeling un-earned and undercut by comedy, while Yang and Blake are benched for the volume and become a singular entity with how tied at the hip they are. Maria basically yeeted herself out of the show and I didn’t notice, Pietro is just a death flag, and while the Ace Ops had a good intro, it was undercooked by how they had to play the villain role to give RWBY something to do in the final hours. Cinder and Neo didn’t need to be here. Robyn had one of the worst introductions for a character I’ve ever seen, I never enjoyed her moments and it genuinely feels like she only has a fandom because RWBY’s community are in fact that desperate. 

On the brighter side, Ironwood’s arc is fucking perfect and Jason Rose deserves all the love. Great fight, great song, great design, love the beard, it was a perfect downfall for Volume 7’s true protagonist. Qrow had a fun volume and I loved his dynamic with Clover (I don’t see the ship stuff but that’s more because I’m an IronQrow main so my blinders were on). Clover was also way cooler than I remembered. His fights stood out but the guy’s just really cool at the end of the day, with Chris doing great work as a VA. Oscar even managed to do stuff this year which was a shock and a half, but a welcome shock and a half. I didn’t mention it, but the Ozpin fear monologue is one of my favorite scenes in the entire show and it and the Ironwood/Oscar confrontation in the vault save the finale. And of course, Watts and Tyrian were the MVPs. I don’t have a bad word about either of them, they fucking nailed their roles and I can’t wait to see them again. 

And that’s kind of what I mean when I say Volume 7 flummoxes me. It’s frustrating at times with how it handles seemingly easy tasks and drops the ball. Renora went from “everyone liked that” to wondering how badly Ren’s stuff got butchered for him to be the way he is. RWBY themselves could be almost entirely cut and so little would change, and the fact that the finale basically hinges its entire emotional stakes on Winter, Penny and Oscar is a staggering call. And it really feels like the season was compressed beyond necessity because they decided going in that Volume 7 had to end on Salem’s arrival. There’s two volumes worth of material here, and maybe it would have been best to have broken up these events. Volume 7 does too much in too little time, and RWBY especially suffered from it. But when it works… it’s good. Never close to the highs of Volumes 6 or 3, but there’s genuinely good material here. The fights are mostly getting better with far less missteps than previously, the acting (mostly) continues to improve and it’s obvious that RWBY is a very good looking show at this point. Ironwood’s arc is franchise-wide highs, I loved Clover, and Marrow remains the best boi. But it’s frustrating that despite all the tech advances Volume 7 has made, it still makes such threadbare, rookie writing mistakes in cast management, comedy and character arcs. I’m glad Miles and Kerry finally realized that they needed more writers, but it won’t mean anything if the show just continues to circle the drain on the core mistakes it’s been making since 2013. Volume 7 has good in it. But I can see where it could have been great.

Thanks for reading, stan IronQrow and please get Whitley a therapist.

And for the love of God already make an Ironwood vs Watts shirt! 

[that-good-trash]

Trust Me 2

Part 1

Shinsou x reader / Sero x reader

Word count: 6.5k

Warnings: Manipulation, angst, obsession, hurt/comfort, happy ending.

Summary: Shinso saved you from your ex but what if he isn’t the prince he claims to be; your just a damsel in another dragons lair. When will you learn who you can truly trust and be strong enough to save yourself. 

Authors note: I got caught up writing a second part to my fanfic Trust me. I just couldn’t stop thinking about it. Sero is literally my comfort character so how could I not write about him. As always enjoy.

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It’s funny how a few months or a year can change one’s life. When you close your eyes sometimes you can still imagine the feeling of Bakugou’s arms around you. You can still smell the laundry soap he used when he’d wash the clothes on his days off. When the stars twinkle sometimes you could imagine the first night you both went out and he held you under them. When you saw young couples holding hands shyly you couldn’t help but replace them with you and him. He wasn’t one for PDA, but he did do little things to remind you he cared even while surrounded by people. He’d move hair out of your eyes, pull you along by your arm when you were walking to ‘slow’, and he’d put his jacket over you even when it wasn’t cold. These were things that you couldn’t let go even as you moved on in life. It wasn’t like you yearned for him, you just wish things ended better, that you could forgive him completely, but he hurt you. Showing up at your wedding made you believe that he wanted to wish you the best of luck. You were happy to see him but when you were dancing with your husband you couldn’t help but catch a broken look falling upon your ex’s face. You believed he was sad to let you go, regretful even. You had no clue what had transpired between him and Shinso. You were left living in ignorant bliss. No idea that both men had hurt/ manipulated you in some way. But they loved you! But they want what’s best for you! In the end that’s all that should matter right.

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

“Y/n, where are you?” You turned from your spot on your apartment balcony. The glass in your hands was gently placed on the small marble table before you opened the glass door. The curtains were pushed by the outdoor breeze allowing your husband to find you. You smiled at him, but it didn’t reach your eyes and he caught that. His duffle bag was discarded onto the ground before his arms wrapped around your waist. He looked down at you waiting for you to look him in the eyes. When you did, he knew that you had been overthinking. It was something you had been doing a lot recently. You kissed his nose earning a smile from him. “What’s wrong kitten?”

“Just thinking about stuff.” You buried your head into his chest letting your eyes close while listening to his heartbeat. His right hand moved upward, rubbing comforting circles into your back. There were times when he just had to let you feel your emotions. If he tried to stop, you from being sad every time then you’d suffocate under false comfort. He wanted you to mourn your previous life, but he also wanted you to celebrate your current one. He gave you time and he was slightly hoping you’d have moved on by now. Hell, you were married, working, and given anything if you asked. The thing was though that you felt no need to ask. You were still independent. You worked your own hours, even if they clashed with Shinso’s. If you needed anything you got it for yourself. Shinso knew this was how you were and yet he still went out of his way to buy you things as well. He would buy you flowers that held different meanings, he’d buy you candy if it seemed like you needed a sweet pick me up, he showered you in terms of endearment so why did you still stand on the balcony looking out at the stars like you were thinking of someone else. Why did you have to think of Bakugou even though he made sure the bridges were burned. “Kitten, we should get out of town for a while. Take a few days off and go to the beach or maybe a hot spring. I think we deserve that.”

He knew that you would pull away from him and you did. You had turned out of his arms and wrapped your own around yourself. You stood in the open balcony door letting the cold evening air brush past you. You knew that there was no argument to be had against a vacation. You did deserve one. You also felt bad because you had been distant from him. Shinso wrapped his arms around you again. His finger linking around your middle. He let his chin fall onto your shoulder. “We don’t have to go.”

“I’ll go. I want to go. Let’s take a vacation. Just the two of us.” You turned around and wrapped your arms around him returning his loving embrace. You smiled at him hoping this would be enough. You just wanted to stop overthinking the past and neglecting your present relationship. Shinso kissed your forehead before closing the door. Even though the breeze was no longer able to reach you, you still felt slightly cold.

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

“AWWW look at this picture Y/n you posted!” Mina thrusted her phone over the table she was sitting at with the rest of the squad. Jiro rolled her eyes pushing the phone back down on the table. Kirishima had a tight-lipped smile as he watched Bakugou tense up. Mina ignored the angry blonde’s reaction while laughing when Kaminari lifted his phone revealing you in a robe. You and Shinso had been away at a hot spring. Everyone had been happy to hear the two of you were finally doing a couple’s retreats. Everyone minus Bakugou and… Sero? Bakugou was irritated every time Shinso was mentioned. Ever since the wedding he tried to figure out a way to get you back but that was easier said than done. Every time he tried to see you Shinso magically appeared to make him go away. He found himself yearning for a time before he fucked everything up. He cried for days after you got married. Kirishima had been there for him but he was neutral. Kirishima loved his best friend but he also cared deeply about you as well. Watching his friend feel so much pain hurt but he also knew that you were the true victim. You deserved happiness. Bakugou was convinced that he could remind you that you both could be happy. He needed to tell you that he never cheated and that Shinso manipulated the two of you. While Bakugou was convinced that he could win you back someone else was convinced that you needed to escape both men in your life; Sero.

Sero had been your best friend since forever. He had been the person that skipped classes with you, someone who always knew how to make you laugh, he was the person that knew everything about you without you having to say it. You and Sero had grown as students and eventually heroes. You were both friends prior to meeting Shinso and also before you ever considered dating Bakugou. You are held so near and dear to his heart. When you first started dating Bakugou he made sure that you understood that you didn’t have to take Bakugou’s shitty attitude. You had laughed but Sero was truly hoping you would never give your happiness up for someone who didn’t deserve it. You did exactly what he was worried you would do. There had been more than one occasion that Sero had to pick up a drunk Bakugou after you called worried about his whereabouts. Kirishima would have to hold Sero back as profanities and insults flung out of his enraged lips. No matter how much he yelled, or what he said Bakugou would just smugly take it or yell back; At the end of the night alcohol would make Bakugou forget the words Sero spoke leaving himself without a lesson learned. Sero never tried to get you to leave Bakugou because he believed that you should make your own decisions. He didn’t want to be like other guys; possessive and toxic. he was there when you needed him, and he was there when you didn’t. If you need space, you could have it without even asking. Sero liked Bakugou as a friend but as your boyfriend he thought he was garbage. Sero also thought that Shinso was shady. He liked him back at UA because he was hard working and a genuinely good guy to you but after graduating, he seemed to get a little obsessive. Any party you attended Shinso was there, any time you went out Shinso just happened to run into you, and anytime you were at work his own patrols would overlap your own. Shinso always found a way to see you or have you thinking about him. Sero was the only person who thought it was suspicious that everything happened in Shinso’s favor. Shinso had originally denied the invite to the party like you had. Except they expected you after you told them you were coming, and he never changed his mind vocally. Shinso arrived without anyone’s knowledge. The moment he planted seeds of doubt in your mind Sero knew that he had ulterior motives. He wished he had followed you home and maybe he could have saved you from Shinso’s entrapment. He was at a loss for words when you started dating him, when he heard about the jumbotron interview confession. He knew that somehow this all had to be planned but no one believed him. Mina told him he was paranoid and Kirishima told him it was all fate and coincidence.

“Sero what is up with you lately. You’ve been so quiet. What happened to you!” Kaminari had leaned over laying his whole arms weight across Sero’s shoulder. Sero just rolled his eyes at his friend’s antics. He had been getting that a lot since he had been gloomy and ditching out on group activities. “Yeah Sero what the heck have you been up too.”

“I’ve been busy unlike you idiotas.” Mina, Kaminari, and Kirishima were smiling while Jiro and Bakugou just rolled their eyes. Jiro had heard from Momo that Sero had been asking around about Shinso. She knew that he was missing events because of his inquiring. She just didn’t understand why. Bakugou was now curious after hearing that Sero had been MIA. He didn’t notice since he himself kept blowing off his friends. He knew that Sero never turned people down for a hang out so now he was interested on what was going on. “You’re an idiot too. Now tell us fucker. What the hell has you so busy?”

“Oh, you of all people have no right to act all high and mighty demanding answers from me. You never even hung out with us before the breakup so really, I could be asking you the same thing. What has you so busy? Some puta keeping your dick wet.” Sero was the least confrontational person in the group so hearing him snap had everyone’s face frozen in shock; especially Bakugou’s. Kirishima was the first person to finally move and that was to hold Bakugou down. Bakugou realized what was said and he was quick to sit up only for Kirishima to hold him back down. The blaze behind Bakugou’s eyes burned with hatred for the tape hero. Sero was unfazed by the look and instead gave Bakugou a look of disinterest followed by disgust. Mina looked around at her friends hoping that this hang out wasn’t completely ruined. It could have been saved had it not been for the mass notification sounds that went across the table. Everyone had gotten a text from you which everyone was quick to read. Mina squealed when she read that you were on your way back to town. Kaminari had looked beyond his phone and directly at his bestie. Sero ignored the text instead getting up and leaving. He ignored his friends calling for him. He didn’t want to pretend that you were happy because when he looked at pictures of you, he could see underneath the mask. You kept placing masks over the old broken ones and he wished you would remove them all. You should have taken time for yourself after breaking up with Bakugou, but you threw yourself into the Shinso relationship never giving yourself time to heal by yourself. He read the text before privately messaging you to meet up.

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Sero was wearing a yellow and black stripped sweater along with a beanie. He knew that you would easily spot him in the get up since they were his hero colors. He waited for you outside a bakery that you loved bringing him too. It was a special place for the two of you. When he had texted, you he didn’t expect a response to quickly. You told him that you’d see him the next day. Here he was a day later waiting with bated breath. It was a breezy cooler afternoon which was literally perfect for eating warm baked goods and drinking hot chocolate. Sero looked down at his phone once more before feeling the presence of someone in front of him. He smiled and looked up. “Y/N! I’m so hap… Shinso.”

“Hello Sero, Y/n is tired from the trip so she couldn’t make it.” Shinso was smiling but his eyes held some danger that Sero was highly aware of. He looked around before looking back down at him phone. A sigh escaped because he felt like an idiot. He never thought that Shinso would read your text and show up instead. He should have known. “What are you doing here Shinso.”

“I just wanted to know what was so important that you messaged her to hang out alone, for a personal conversation. I just wanted to see if anything was wrong. I can tell Y/n when I get back if you have something important to tell her.” Sero clenched his jaw is anger. Shinso not once stopped smiling. He was playing Sero and he knew that Sero was aware of this. It was like he was testing him. Sero wanted to call him out but that would just cause issues. This did however add to his collection of reasons he didn’t like or trust Shinso anymore. Shinso showed up like he owned you. “Shinso, I know you mean well but I asked Y/n to meet me. I don’t owe you an explanation on why I asked her to see me. You are acting a little possessive. I know she’s your wife, but she is my best friend.”

Both boys stared each other down. Shinso was still smiling but it had faltered. Sero waited for a response but Shinso was at a loss for words. He hadn’t expected this from quiet Sero. A cough from a bakery employee brough both boys’ attention away from one another.

“Um sorry to interrupt Mr. Cellophane but I know you and y/hero/n always come in here, so I assumed when I saw you that she was meeting up with you. I went ahead and packaged her favorites, but it seems like I was wrong. Do you think you can give this to her?” The shy employee held out a cute box that held your usual desserts. Sero went to grab it but Shinso was faster. He took the box and smiled at the confused boy. “Don’t worry. I’m her husband so I’ll give them to her.”

“Oh, okay. Thanks.” Shinso nodded before turning back to Sero. With this stranger near them they couldn’t really continue a tense conversation. Shinso waved goodbye before leaving the way he came. The boy next to Sero coughed awkwardly again before making eye contact with Sero. “Excuse me but that guy was kind of an asshole.”

“Kind of?” Sero and the boy shared a laugh before Sero thanked him and left. While Sero walked away he swore to himself that he would prove that Shinso was just as bad for you as Bakugou if not ten times worse.

“Hitoshi where did you go?” You turned away from the laundry you had been folding when the front door opened. A giggle slipped out when Shinso kissed you before a box was placed in your hands. Your eyes widened when you saw what it was. “I was out getting you some desserts. I heard these are you favorites.”

“Yeah, they are.” Shinso took your reaction as happiness but in reality, your eyes had narrowed, and your smile twitched downward. He didn’t notice since he left the room. You set the box on the counter and backed up. You pulled out your phone and went to your messages. Sero’s last message was before your vacation. You knew for a fact that Shinso had no idea about that bakery. Only you and Sero went there together so unless Sero told him about it, which was highly unlikely, Shinso was lying. You quickly sent a text to Sero before deleting it.

[Hey, thanks for the desserts. I miss you. Hang out at second secret hang out tomorrow.]

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

Shinso kissed you goodbye as he left to work. You let out a sigh of relief before getting ready for your hangout with Sero. It felt wrong hiding like this from your own husband, but something was off about him. Ever since you got married, he seemed a little too involved in your life. Like he needed to go everywhere and know everything about you. Once you were ready you shot Sero a text and left the apartment. It was a nice day, a cool breeze made you glad that you wore a sweater. While you walked you smiled to yourself enjoying the walk alone. As you walked you looked up and the world seemed to stop. Just down the sidewalk waiting at a crosswalk was Bakugou. You found yourself walking before briskly jogging toward him. Before Bakugou could move, your hand gripped his arm. He spun around so fast with irritation on his face. The irritation dissipated completely when he realized it was you. A soft smile, one you had missed, appeared. “It’s been awhile, Bakugou.”

“Too long.” Bakugou moved to the side to allow you to stand next to him as he continued to walk across the street. You were quick to take up that spot. He wasn’t in his hero uniform and if anything, he was in a slightly shitty disguise. A long sleeve shirt that hugged his muscles so you could see even through the fabric their definition. A UA cap tried to hide his recognizable blonde spiky hair. You could see him, which made you wonder if anyone else saw passed the disguise. Since no one had stopped him yet you were relieved. It had been so long it would be upsetting to have some fan ruin this reunion. “Haven’t seen you in a while.”

“I’ve been busy.” Bakugou looked at you skeptically. He knew you were a pro hero too but that didn’t take up all your free time. He could tell by the way your shoulders dropped and how you looked at the ground as you walked that there was more to it. You looked tired, mentally and physically. Bakugou grabbed your hand and pulled you inside a small shop. You could smell coffee and matcha. It wasn’t a coffee shop, but it did serve coffee. He ordered himself a coffee and a tea for you. “I don’t know what you are going through Y/n but I need you to know that you don’t have to pretend with me. If you’re fucking tired than say it. If somethings bothering, you than don’t act like you are fine.”

Anyone would take what Bakugou said offensively but you couldn’t. He said it with no malice. He meant it, he was concerned for your wellbeing and the weird part was that he hadn’t been the only one with concerns for you. Sero, Mina, Uraraka, and even Midoriya had commented on your faltering happiness. Bakugou thrust your tea into your hands and you were grateful it was small since you wanted to get food with Sero. “Thank you Bakugou. I guess I haven’t been feeling myself lately. I just feel like I haven’t gotten the chance to do stuff without Shinso around.”

“Yeah I kind of noticed since all your social media is covered in posts and pictures of you both. I’ve been waiting for this honeymoon state to end but it seems to go on and on.” He laughed but you didn’t. He was right again. Everything revolved around Shinso and you. You couldn’t do anything or go anywhere without him being involved. Bakugou may have neglected you but at least he gave you space. You had been allowed to live your own life; up till those last few months. Maybe it was you? Maybe you were cursed? Or maybe you were buying too much into things. “Bakugou, he just gets lonely without me.”

“So do I but you don’t see me stalking you.” Bakugou hadn’t meant the words to freely fall passed him lips. His eyes widened with realization and fear of how you would react. Your checks heated up before you awkwardly coughed into your hand. Bakugou cursed under his breath. You were saved by the sound of your text tone. Sero was waiting. “Sorry Bakugou but I got to go. Thank you for talking, and for the tea.”

“I wasn’t joking, I do miss you Y/n.” You stared at Bakugou; his eyes reflected sorrow. He truly looked lonely, but you couldn’t fix that. He did the damage that pushed you away. You wondered why he was so lonely if he had HER to keep him company. The thought of the other girl, that didn’t actually exist, made you lose any sympathy you had for your ex. “Must be hard to miss me with your other girlfriend around. Unless she left you too.”

It was truly a low blow, but you couldn’t stop yourself from saying it. You didn’t even give him a chance to react. You left before regret could wash over you. Bakugou slammed his fist into the wall after throwing his coffee away. He couldn’t believe that you still thought he had cheated. He shouldn’t have thought different since Shinso wouldn’t want you knowing the truth. Bakugou wanted to run after you but just like months ago, he didn’t.

As Bakugou faded into the back of your mind Seri took over your thoughts. Excitement overcame you as the meeting place came into view. There standing in front of a floral shop was the man himself. Sero turned around a huge smile plastered across his own face. You ran straight into his arms and felt him lift you before the world spun. A laugh slipped out and by the time your feet reached the ground again you were giggling like a schoolgirl. Sero didn’t want to let you go. His hands held onto your own. Both your arms swinging with the others. “God its so good to see you.”

“I missed you Sero.” Anyone watched would think the two of you were a reuniting couple. The shear love shared between the two of you was overwhelming too the public eye. A few passerby’s cooed at your PDA. Sero let go of one of your hands but still held the other as the two of you started walking. “I’m glad you enjoyed the desserts.”

“About them…” Sero noticed how tense you got and watched your face. You looked like you wanted to ask him something. He squeezed your hand trying to cox the question from you. “Shinso gave them too me. He claimed he got them for me when I already knew that he couldn’t have known that I liked them. Only you know that I love those desserts Why would he lie.”

“Because that’s what liars do.” Sero hadn’t meant to say it out loud. Your eye had widened before you stopped walking. Sero cursed himself hoping you wouldn’t flip out on him. He dared make eye contact but instead of seeing anger he saw pain. He saw a whirlpool of emotions; doubt and sorrow swirled behind your eyes. “What are you talking about Sero.”

“I don’t want to do the same shit Bakugou and Shinso have done but I need you to know I think he’s got some hidden baggage. I think he’s hiding stuff from you.” You could have argued or defended Shinsou, but you found you couldn’t speak. The words died on your tongue because no matter how much you loved Shinso you knew that there was something off. Sero was shocked to see your eyes fill with tears. You looked tired and overwhelmed. His arms were around you in an instant. You felt safe but that still didn’t make these awful thoughts and feelings go away. “Sero, I’m afraid that I’ve made a mistake.”

“People make mistakes Y/n, it’s what makes us human. If anything, I think someone else made a mistake and you’re the one suffering because of it.” Sero always knew what to say to you. He was always good at comforting you when difficult situations arose. You clung to him wishing that Shinso wasn’t hiding things, that Bakugou hadn’t hurt you, that you were strong enough to stop guys from using you. Sero didn’t use you. Why couldn’t everyone be like Sero. “What should I do Sero.”

“You have to figure that out. If you want support, you always have me. I don’t want to push the idea that Shinso is a bad guy, but the truth is out there, Y/n. You just need to know where to look. Have you wondered why Shinso showed up to the party’s that you attended, how he happened to see Bakugou supposedly cheating?” The sentence that stuck out to you the most was the one about Bakugou cheating. “What do you mean supposedly?”

Sero realized that he just made things worse. He had done his research, investigated the lies and truths. He had proof that both guys were guilty and innocent in their own way. He could tell you all of this, but he needed you to figure it out on your own. At the same time though you did deserve some truth. “That night at the party, when you went home, and everything went to hell. Shinso told you he saw Bakugou at a restaurant with some girl and you believed him since he said it after Kirishima told you that Bakugou hadn’t been at work. Well I did some research and found out that Bakugou had been out with his mom that night. She had been sick, and he was taking care of her. He had left the agency in the afternoon and from what I understand after a drunk night of moping he told me that his phone had died after his last call with you. He was tired and upset about his mom and when you accused him, he flipped under the stress. I am not defending Bakugou’s shitty behavior, but mi corazón he’s no cheater and Shinso knew that.”

You stood there listening while everything processed. Bakugou had lied to you, why? He hurt you knowing that he was innocent. Why didn’t he just tell you the truth himself. Why did Shinso lie about seeing Bakugou. What else was a lie. You looked at Sero when his hand cupped your cheek. “No more talk about them. Right now, is our time.”

“Yeah, our time.” You returned the smile he gave you despite the hurricane of thoughts conflicting inside your mind. The moment you had the chance you were going to do some research of your own.”

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

A week had gone by and you had found yourself down a rabbit hole. You had found out plenty of information that made you realize that Shinso was doing more than just lying. He had been stalking you. The receptionist at your agency told you that he would come by every time you worked to check to see if you were there. You found out that on your days off Shinso memorized your scheduling and would make sure his patrols would have him in the same area so he could keep an eye on you. Shinso was also keeping tabs on your texts which you checked by planting a fake chat and seeing how he would act later when you left your phone alone in the same room as him. You had been correct. Later he was acting annoyed obviously falling for your fake text trick. The more you found out the less time you spent with your husband. When night would fall and his arms held you captive against his body, you felt insecure; unsafe. How could you have been so blind? Shinso was also starting to notice you were withdrawn when it came to him. You lacked the usual happiness. Your smile faltered and your touches were quick, no longer lingering. Shinso had slowly become suspicious of your behavior. He watched you more carefully. He couldn’t have you slipping away after fighting so hard to get you.

“Y/n.” You looked up when the interviewer spoke your name. She was smiling at you as she walked out from a restricted entrance. You had called the station that had broadcast Shinso’s confession to ask them about it. The woman who had interviewed your husband was excited to see you. She held onto your hands talking a mile and minute about wanting an interview with you. “I promise you an interview but only if you can tell me about the confession.”

“Oh honey, so romantic. He is truly a charmer. All of us at the station swooned when he told us his idea.” You raised a brow. Confusion was etched onto your features. You had thought that his confession was a fated one. That it just happened to come on at the right time. “What idea?”

“Oh, he came in here telling us that he wanted to confess his love to you. We decided that we would set it up like an interview where we were pushing to know about his love life, which he followed up with the confession. He gave us a time to play it and even an area in which he wanted the broadcast to show. He said that you would see it exactly when he needed you too. It made all of us tear up. Truly a love that so many don’t get a chance at.” The woman was smiling at you, but you couldn’t smile back. How could you when you just found out that the thing that brought you and Shinso together was all a part of elaborate plan you had no idea about. You backed up and turned around leaving her confused. You bolted out of the building and ran. How the hell were you supposed to go home after finding this out. You wanted to find an empty field and scream. There were no empty fields so the closest alleyway would have to work. You collapsed against the dirty cold wall of the alley. You cried and screamed until you felt your chest cave in. You had nothing left in you as you fell to your knees. Your hands slammed into the hard concrete beneath you. Twice, how could this happen twice. First Bakugou broke your heart on purpose and then Shinso broke it on accident. What if Bakugou was manipulated as well. What if your previous relationship could have worked out but Shinso made sure it didn’t. You felt like you didn’t know who you could trust. You stumbled out of the alley before you ran into someone. You apologized before the person asked if you were okay. You knew that your red swollen eyes would make anyone concerned. “I’m fine.”

“Are you sure… Wait, I recognize you.” You wiped your eyes before looking at the man. He was smiling gently at you before pointing at your ring finger. “I’m glad to see that it worked out. I know that gentleman was so nervous about proposing to you. I see you are both married now.”

Here we go, you were expecting another reveal. Had Shinso planned the engagement way before you even got together as well. At this point nothing could shock you. The man nodded and looked into your eyes. “It was nice meeting you Mrs. Bakugou.”

The man walked right passed you leaving you more broken than before. His words echoed over and over as you slowly started walking again. Mrs. Bakugou. That meant Bakugou had planned to propose. All the previous moments the two of you shared flooded your mind. You cried again this time not caring who saw. You sobbed wishing that you could go back in time. You looked at the ring on your finger and decided that something needed to be done. You pulled out your phone and texted Shinso to meet you that evening at a specific spot. You also sent the same text to Bakugou.

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

Bakugou hoped to god that the text was a good thing. Maybe you realized that you loved him still. Maybe you were giving him a second chance. He wanted so badly to hold you in his arms again. To tell you that he loved you. He wanted to be able to finally use the engagement ring he bought for you the month you left. This needed you back in his life. While Bakugou headed up the stairs of the meeting building Shinso was a few floors ahead. He was wondering what you could possibly want that you needed to meet on the roof of a building. He hoped you were okay. You had been acting weird and avoiding him, so he was hoping that you were doing this to apologize or make up for it. He headed up there none the wiser to the true plan.

You stood with your hands against the cold bricks the kept you from falling over the edge of the building. This location meant something too you. It was the building that you first watched a hero arrest a villain when you were a child. You knew at that moment that you wanted to be a hero. Now you were living a drama show kind of life. You felt more greys anatomy than you did heroes. Now you were waiting to save yourself from two bad guys.

“Y/n.”

“Y/n?”

Bakugou and Shinso stared at each other before looking at you. You turned around facing the confused men. They needed answers and they weren’t going to be the ones they wanted to hear. You smiled sadly before looking up into the night sky. “I called you both here because there is so much to say that I want you both to hear.”

“Y/n what the hell is.”

“No interruptions. I’m going to say what I need to say and you’re going to listen.”

Both men shared a look before nodding at you. You nodded back glad there was no resistance from either of them. A deep breath and you let it all out. You told them everything you had learned. You told Bakugou how you found out he wasn’t cheating, how he planned to propose to you. You told him that you knew about him taking care of his mom. You turned your attention to Shinso and that’s when angry came out; betrayal. You wanted so badly to hit him. He took a step back when your venomous words stung him. You told him everything you found out. You didn’t speak like they were theories. You told him like these things happened because they did. You left him no room to argue their legitimacy. You knew with each word that he was getting more and more afraid. He was sinking back with fear that you unraveled his lies. You finally finished yelling, letting your hands fall onto your knees. You were heavily breathing while the frustrated tears fell. Both guys moved toward you cautiously, reaching forward to comfort you. Bakugou glared at Shinso smacking the lavender haired boys arm away from you. “Haven’t you caused her enough pain. Your quirk suits a manipulative piece of shit like yourself.”

“Your one to talk bastard. You beat down her like you beat down villains. You like neglecting and hurting girls don’t you. You should be behind bars you maniac.” Bakugou and Shinso never made it to your side before they started attacking one another. You watched with annoyance as Bakugou landed a punch to Shinso’s right cheek. Shinso was quick to return the hit with a fierce punch of his own. Both men yelled out insults and blame but not once took the blame themselves. You ran forward to shove them away from one another. That was a terrible choice since they accidently swung at you in the heat of the moment. Both men’s hits were harsh enough to send you over the edge of the building. The screaming that escaped their lips mixed and echoed down the streets. They rushed over to the edge afraid of what they would see, in hopes that maybe they could save you. Instead of a gruesome seen they saw you tucked away safely in Cellophanes arms. He had his tape holding the two of them in the air. They couldn’t see Sero’s face, but they knew he was furious. They were truly lucky that Sero had been patrolling this area.

After you were all on solid ground and in a safer area Sero had made sure that the two men knew how stupid they had been, and you made sure that they knew that you were done with both of them. Shinso begged and pleaded, even getting on his knees in hopes that you would forgive him. You didn’t. You knew that you would be better off without them. Shinso didn’t want to let you go but he knew you were serious. You had given him back the ring and told him you’d be filing for a divorce. He wanted to tell you no, he wanted to make you stay but he couldn’t. He had been caught and any further excuses or manipulations would be fuel to the fire he set. Bakugou wanted so badly to go back to when you both loved each other but he was aware that you couldn’t do that. He let you go with a hug. He wished you luck and hoped the next person would finally be the one that you deserved. He still loved you but sometimes love can hurt. You needed a painless love.

“You will be okay Y/n.”

“I know.” You leaned your head against Sero’s shoulder. His arm wrapped around your side in a comforting way. You felt so many things that night. Sorrow, regret, heartbreak, freedom, and love. You loved yourself for deciding that you didn’t need them. You had the freedom to decide what to do now. You looked up at Sero and decided that this was perfect. He never forced any decision on you so taking that freedom you moved away and grabbed his arm. “Sero Hanta would you please accompany me on a date to our favorite bakery.”

“Mi amor, I’d like nothing more.”

[barbasbodaciousbeard]

If You Love Someone, Let Them Go: Part 7

Summary: Since starting with SVU, Sonny hadn’t kept much terribly close to the chest. The squad knew about his family, growing up on Staten Island, the classes at Fordam. What was hidden was why he didn’t date. Sonny Carisi was also separated from his childhood sweetheart, a separation neither ever took to divorce. They had the same haunts. They’d grown up neighbors. Their paths crossed every few months, and divorce talks would turn into reminiscing would turn into a night spent together, sometimes sex sometimes just talking until the early morning. It always ended with one of them waking up alone however. How will that change when the squad finds out?

Pairings: Sonny Carisi x Original Character

1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6

May 2015

“Dominick, where’s the box with my shoes?” Victoria called, stepping over the piles in the apartment they’d consolidated into over the last month and a half. Both their leases were ending, so they decided to go ahead and overlap their leases with a new place for a month. They needed to start fresh, and neither of them wanted to do that in the solitary spaces they’d inhabited without the other. She was nervous now, however, because Olivia had extended Carisi’s invitation to celebrate Noah’s adoption to her as well. It struck her that she was the only SVU spouse, so it might just be the group that spent every day and lots of long nights together and her, someone suddenly thrust into their world. That meant she was exceptionally nervous as she got ready; meeting them on their turf felt more serious than being at Bella’s wedding. Everyone had dispersed within hours there.

“Kitchen counter. Got mixed up for the pots and pans in our room somehow,” he called, and she could tell he was brushing his teeth. She stepped over the not yet assembled shelves she’d gotten, digging each chunky heel from the cardboard box. The wedding heels had been hard on her because the brides wanted stilettos. These she could walk in all day, and she liked reaching Sonny’s shoulder. She went to the bathroom, leaning on the door frame as she watched him style his hair, the tip of his tongue between his front teeth. He caught her eye on the mirror, and his mouth shifted to a grin as he shot her a wink.

“Lookin’ hot, Mrs. Carisi.”

“Why thank you,” she grinned, striking a playful pose. “You look pretty hot yourself.”

“You just like these shirts on me.”

“And your ass in those khakis.” 

She felt triumphant as his cheeks turned pink, grabbing her purse and fixing her lipstick. Soon enough, they were knocking on Olivia’s door, and Sonny pressed a kiss by her ear. 

“You’ll be fine,” he whispered, straightening up as Olivia opened the door.

“Carisi, Victoria, come on in,” she smiled, and Victoria couldn’t help but grin at the sight of the little boy on her hip, putting the gift bag on the counter. 

“It’s so great to see you again. We brought a present for you two. Wine for mama and a toy for Noah.”

“You didn’t have to do that.”

“It’s a celebration,” she smiled, and Sonny watched fondly as Victoria made faces at Noah, who squealed with delight. 

“Carisi,” Barba nodded, scotch in hand as the detective opened a beer. “Things seem to be good?”

“Yeah. We’re unpacking the new place.”

“I’m sure it’s a delight.”

“Tor’s back home. Of course it is.”

“Can I give you one piece of advice, if you still want to be an attorney?”

“If you’re going to say ‘don’t’ again-”

“I’m feeling sentimental on this, the celebration of Noah’s adoption.”

“Go on then.”

“You’ve expressed an interest in the DA’s office. Prosecution. It’s all the pain from SVU, plus you have to be the bad guy and demand proof. You’ve hated my guts more than a few times, no?”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t fuck up again. You’ll need that anchor. I have had two opportunities. One ended up with the friend. The other I drove away trying to keep secrets and seem tough.”

“Liv rat me out?”

“On accident at the wedding. But only because she knew I’d understand. Being able to talk to her will be what keeps you sane during some of those trials.”

“You know, cousin Tony is a real good listener and seemed real into you.”

“He is quite the listener and is quite into me. Now, shut up before you ruin my good mood.”

“There’s the Barba I’m used to.” A roll of the attorney’s eyes told him whatever sentimentality he was going to be at the receiving end of was over, and Sonny felt confident that when he asked to shadow him later, Barba wouldn’t be as put out as he pretended. When he looked back to Olivia, Victoria was chatting happily with a glass of wine in hand. He was excited he still got to make an introduction between Fin and Victoria. It was nice to be able to say This is my wife, Victoria without having to eventually explain they didn’t live together. When he heard a knock, he moved to her side, anticipating his entrance. Once he’d greeted Olivia and Noah, Sonny was pleased with the look on his face. As the detective who’d been there the longest, Sonny found himself caring what Fin thought, and Fin seemed to be forming his opinion.

“Fin! I want ya t’meet my wife, Victoria,” he said happily, arm slung over her shoulder. She extended a hand, which Fin shook gladly.

“It’s nice to meet you! I’ve heard so much!”

“Nice to meet you too. Your husband ain’t shut up about you in weeks. Once he started-”

“He’s pretty sappy?”

“So you been putting up with him a decade?”

“I mean technically my whole life. We grew up next door to each other.”

“I hear I gotta come to a bakery in Brooklyn now.”

“Oh yeah. You got any favorites? Tell me, and I’ll send a preview with Dom next week.”

“I’m pretty traditional.”

“You want brownies, cookies, or cake?”

“Cookies.”

“Deal. Sonny’ll have you a batch Monday.”

“I like her, Carisi,” Fin said, clapping a hand on the younger detective’s shoulder before going to get his drink and greet Barba.

“It’s not fair. You can make cookies and everyone instantly likes you.”

“You seen your goofy grin? You don’t even have to talk to be likable.”

She was rewarded with a kiss to the temple and the aforementioned grin. Soon enough, Amaro and Rollins were there, and Barba poured the pricey champagne he’d brought to toast. Everyone finally got comfortable after that, Sonny settled on the arm of the couch beside Victoria, and Noah was teetering around the coffee table. Victoria was happy to babble to him, and he could see she felt proud when Noah decided to climb onto her lap. God, she was going to be a good mom if they ever stabilized. Couples therapy would start soon. They’d always said when he finished school, and that would actually be happening the next year. Maybe if they were doing well they could have their own baby. All of his sisters were pregnant or already had kids, and fatherhood had been Sonny’s dream.

 As Noah leaned into Victoria, he looked up at Sonny, who was happy to wave down at him. It seemed Lucy liked getting a break to talk to the adults, and he could see the look on Olivia’s face watching Noah. She liked seeing the boy bond with the family she’d made through work. He probably owed a lot of the growth that got him Victoria back to her. The squad was a family with Olivia as their matriarch, and he’d felt safe enough to verbalize his feelings in the first days with her team, when he still had the moustache Victoria had recently informed him really was awful when he tried to defend it. 

“I can take him if you need me to, Victoria. He’s out,” she said from her spot beside Barba. 

“It’s fine. He’s so cuddly.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yeah. Long as Sonny doesn’t mind getting me a glass of wine.”

“On it, doll,” he grinned, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. Victoria had always loved when their nieces fell asleep on her like this when they were babies. Mia had been the first one, and they took to each other quickly, even if Victoria had been the neighbor kid at the time. They hadn’t broached kids again, and frankly she was afraid of the prospect, but she’d wanted to have kids with Sonny since they got married. Logically, she knew they had to wait until the time was right. Originally, that was just when he finished school, but now they had to play it by ear again. Either way, she was going to savor the smell of baby as Noah slept with his cheek pressed against her shoulder. She wasn’t as good at the play as Sonny was; every child he encountered bonded with him easily, something that had to be helpful in his job. Victoria was good at cuddling and nurturing though. When the first members of the team trickled out, she settled Noah in his mother’s arms and gave her the best hug she could. 

“Thanks for including me. I’m so happy for you, Olivia.”

“Thanks for coming. Noah loves you. Mind being added to the babysitter list?”

“I am honored.” Sonny led her out, hand on the small of her back and a crooked smile plastered across his face. Everyone loved her, like he knew they would. How could someone not? It was near dinner, so without checking, he led the way to a sushi bar near Olivia’s. As he guided her in, she looked up at him with her brow furrowed.

“Dinner date?” He was proud to see her cheeks turn pink.

“I’d like that. You been spoiling me lately.”

“I just been acting like I should. You been pretty damn good to me too.”

“Wanna get saki?”

“Are trying to get me drunk?”

“You only have to go in tomorrow if there’s an emergency.”

“Saki it is.” 

“I was thinking I might plan us a trip in November.”

“Yeah? Could be fun.”

“Any place you wanna go? You’ll be who we’re celebrating.”

“Oh?” he asked, brow lifted as he smiled at her. 

“Dirty thirty.” 

“Dirty thirty? Really Tor?”

“It’ll be fun.”

“I was thinking about New Orleans next year. Could be fun near the holidays instead. Do something bigger for our anniversary.”

“I like the way you think. Plus, July is hot as hell. I’ll tell you the dates when I know.”

“I can’t wait. I’m glad we’ll be together over the holidays.”

“I’m glad we’ll be together on our anniversary. We missed two.”

“One,” he said, puzzled before he winced. “Wait no, you’re right. I was being a bad husband.”

“Nah, you weren’t doing well,” she assured him, hand on his thigh. 

“Ninth, we’re staying here. Tenth, we’re going big.”

“Deal. I love you, Tor.”

“And I love you.”

“You were real good with Noah.”

“He’s such a cuddly boy.”

“I told Lieu I gotta hang out with him sometimes. The girl gene runs real strong with the Carisis. Four nieces, no nephews? And then non Carisi niece on her way from Rollins.”

“Only two have been born. Mom thought I was going to be a boy.”

“True. Fingers crossed. Or maybe we’ll have a boy.”

“Dom-”

“I ain’t saying tomorrow. I’m just saying therapy is going good, we’re doing good, couples therapy is soon, and I bet we have a kid in before I’m forty.” She laughed, kissing him softly. “I think it’ll be sooner than that. Maybe in like three?”

“Even better. I can’t wait to feel our baby kick one day. Know they’re there. It’ll happen when we’re ready. Not a minute sooner. God’s got a plan.” 

“We just gotta be careful, okay? I want to try to not get pregnant for a while.”

“I know, Tor.”

“Don’t get testy. I wanna make sure we’re ready.”

“I know. Just- seeing you with Noah and Jessie? Set off the ‘I want kids’ bell stronger than last time.”

“Me too. Every time I see you hold the kids.”

“We gotta baby sit more to tide me over.”

“I got a feeling I’ll be getting calls from Liv. You make that clear to Amanda. Then soon enough? Gina’s almost due. Then Bella.”

“True,” he smiled softly. “If we wait they get to be the only Carisi baby that year. Even more attention.”

“You’ll spoil them rotten.”

“That’s my job.”

“We get the day tomorrow, unless somethin’ happens.”

“We do. I gotta go to the bakery for a couple hours at least to help train the newest hire. Margy picked good, but they’re taking weekends for me.”

“I’m really excited about that. I think it’ll be good now that it’s an option.”

“Me too. We both get to be in case of emergency for the most part.”

“Yeah. Liv will rotate all of us taking a Saturday.”

“I guess I’ll just have to find somebody’s baby to play with,” she teased, poking his side and he grinned. 

“Y’know, I think we ought to start practicin’ when we go home, doll.”

“Read my mind, Sonny.”

Tag List: @cycat4077​ @fear-less-write-more​

[tobesoadores]

Chicago

In which Derek is arrested for crimes he didn’t commit and his girlfriend, Lennon, learns about his past

Masterlist: x

Derek and his girlfriend, Lennon, were sitting on the sofa after dinner. His mother went above and beyond with the meal, regardless of the fact that it was her birthday. Derek wanted the most important women in his life to meet and that’s why bringing his girlfriend along on the home visit worked out so well. His sisters were coming back, too. They all loved her. No one expected Derek to find someone who would be the complete opposite of him yet remain ever so amazing. The man adored the way in which they interacted, it felt easy, practically natural for them to bond. He couldn’t have asked for a better experience. They dined and conversed and it tired everyone out. Sarah and Desiree hit the bed quite early on, both of them being fairly exhausted from not only travelling but also from previously working full days at their jobs. Fran, their mother, was overjoyed by the company she had and celebrating tired her out. That left the lovebirds alone with each other.

“You were right,” she told him after a while of simply gazing at his side profile. The stern jaw, smooth skin, perfectly curled ear and narrow nose, always managed to make her get lost in her own world. Morgan was used to it, he loved it, in fact. He noticed her staring but didn’t mention it as he watched the TV with a beer in his right hand, his left resting on her knee. She pulled her legs to her chest as she sat with her feet tucked under his left thigh. Derek faced the television and she faced the cabinet on the right.

Turning to face her, he hummed, “Yeah? About what?”

“Your family,” she smiled sheepishly, making him grin even bigger. At first, she had her doubts, genuine insecurity nipping at her insides when Derek brought the topic up between them. Although the two had been dating for almost six months now, she still found it to be early to meet the parents. Then again, much like Morgan, she never had a proper relationship before him. They were both new to this, so, their approaches to milestones like this were going to be different to what she’d heard. With that being said, she felt this meeting went wonderfully, so much better than her mind could’ve ever imagined it.

“Wanna tell me how you came to that conclusion?” he raised his eyebrow, hooking his finger under hers until they linked and he gave it a gentle squeeze.

“They’re amazing which I didn’t doubt but you know how unsure I was about their opinion on me,” Lennon admitted, even though Derek knew this and tried to change her mind on multiple occasions. No matter how many times he’d mention that his sisters and mother were ecstatic to meet her, it didn’t change anything. He knew it wouldn’t, not until they actually met. “I think they like me.”

“See?” he chuckled, placing his left arm over her legs, the underside of his arm on her stomach as he leaned closer. “I told you, baby. Not one thing to dislike about you.”

“I’m sure there’s plenty,” she rolled her eyes, finding his compliment to be a little blown out of the park.

“Nah-ah, none of that,” he denied. Reaching his arm out, he could cup her chin to bring her face closer, connecting their lips in a soft kiss that made her sigh against him. Morgan couldn’t hold his smile back, breaking the gesture almost immediately. Her little sounds drove him crazy and if they weren’t in his mother’s home, tangled on her couch, he would’ve made sure to listen to his girlfriend all night long. “You’re everything, you hear me? Funny. Loving. Kind. Smart. Compassionate. A little crazy,” he broke a smile and she blushed. Whenever he’d tell her these things—and it happened often—she didn’t know how to take it so she sat there, cheeks burning, ears prickling, and let him tell her. She liked the sound of those words from his mouth, they were powerful coming from him, seeing as he truly meant each and every one of them. “But that’s how I like ‘em,” he added, making her chuckle.

This time, she initiated the kiss. Moving around, Derek settled between her legs and she wrapped them around his waist. He hoisted them upwards and encouraged her, simply because he enjoyed their closeness, the warmth and weight of her against his body. Pushing his hands under her, he held her as she connected her arms around his neck. Their mouths linked until he swept his tongue across her bottom lip, inviting a gentle sigh out of her throat that allowed him to deepen the kiss. She moaned into his mouth as their tongues touched, tangled and hot, yet still innocent and soft. Neither of them was looking for sex, it was a pure moment between them, where kissing meant more than anything else in that moment.

Derek broke apart to catch his breath, his eyes already set on his girl. He couldn’t even look away from her for longer than needed, much more preferring his attention focused on her than anyone or anything else. He loved the way her eyes fluttered open, oh so innocent to what they may find once fully aware of her surroundings. The earthy, brown buttons felt like dark holes at times, a path to get lost in forever. He loved her eyes because they watched him and loved him, where her words couldn’t possibly explain her feelings for him, they did the job.

He pulled his right hand from under her and traced his index finger down the bridge of her nose. Intently, she watched him, never taking her pretty eyes off of him. Derek swam in the attention, the care that those irises radiated.

“Derek?”

“Sounds like music to my ears,” he flirted with her because he knew she’d giggle and feel flustered, then proceed to try and play off the way his words made her feel. Six months and he knew her better than she knew herself. Granted, the fact that he read people and their behaviour for a living played into his pocket, he was sure he could’ve done well without that advantage, too.

“Stop it, I’m trying to be romantic,” she swatted at his chest then placed her soft hand on the side of his neck. Derek rolled his lips in his mouth, wetting both of them soon after. “You no longer need to win me over. I’m yours, aren’t I?”

“What’you talking about, woman?” he laughed. “Of course, I gotta win you over. Just because we’re together, doesn’t mean I stop being a gentleman.”

“Okay, whatever,” she sighed.

He leaned down and kissed her lips. “What were you going to say?”

“Huh?” she furrowed her brows.

“Before. You said my name. What’s next?”

“Oh, right,” she smiled, making him lose his breath and his heart miss a beat. God damn it, baby. He thought. Still giving me the butterflies. “I just wanted to say that—,” much to his dismay, she stopped midsentence. Interrupted by loud knocks on the front door, they both whipped their heads in that direction. “Who’s that?”

“Sarah probably ordered some food,” he sighed, getting off of his girl as he pushed his weight into his left arm, pressing himself up by using the back of the couch. “There’s this milkshake place, they do delivery all night.”

“Oh,” she breathed. Then feet padding against the steps could be heard, rushing, before Derek and Lennon saw Sarah slide across the floor in her socks, planting her hands on the door. All three of them laughing, the woman looked in the peep hole but even without saying much, it was easy to tell her milkshake wasn’t on the other side of the door.

“What’s wrong?” Derek asked his sister as he got up properly, his girl going right after him.

“Why is the, um, police here?” she asked, gulping as she furrowed her brows while her brother stepped beside her.

“Huh?” he looked at her confused, looking through the tiny glass. “What the hell?”

His girlfriend stepped closer to Sarah to see, only to be welcomed by four men, two dressed in police uniform, the other two casually. One of them was on the bulkier side, no tie and loose shirt worn under a brown blazer, the other skinny, slightly smaller in height and bald. He wore a tie, tightened till he couldn’t breathe, black blazer and matching trousers. His hands were on his waist, a scowl on everyone’s face.

“Gordinski?” Derek asked with one hand on the door handle still. He was confused, Lennon could tell, and it made her nervous. If he had no idea why the police were here, then it couldn’t have been good. She knew Derek used to work for the Chicago Police Department, but that was more focused on bomb squad than anything else. To her knowledge, anyway.

“You armed?” the bald man asked, almost expecting an answer but never making it clear. He seemed sure of himself and it made Lennon worried. She wasn’t sure why they asked that because it wasn’t like Derek was a threat to anyone.

“Excuse me?” Morgan asked as though he didn’t hear it right.

With an attitude, the bigger man asked, “Are you wearing a gun?”

“What’s going on?” Lennon asked at last, not being able to stand the situation anymore. Derek didn’t take his eyes off of the police but he reached backwards and grabbed her hand, squeezing it gently as his way of reassuring her.

“No,” he gave the answer. Then added, “Not right now.”

That was all it took for the bald man—she didn’t know his name and she wasn’t too bothered by this—to reach for his handcuffs while he said, “Then turn around,” in a sure, authoritative tone, the metal clinking as he grasped it in his hand. Lennon was about to say something when Sarah took a hold of her other hand, making her look at the sister and she shook her head.

Derek scoffed, looking from one of the officers to the other as he eventually pressed, “This ‘some kinda sick joke, right?”

“Don’t make us get physical,” the bigger man said in a cocky tone and Lennon wanted to speak up. Who were these men trying to arrest her boyfriend? He barely made it back home to celebrate his mother’s birthday and on the night of, the police show up? This had to be a joke. “It’ll only make it worse for your family.”

The last sentence made him look back at his mother, his sisters, his girlfriend. In the process, somehow, he let go of Lennon’s hand and he didn’t manage to notice it. Rubbing his ring finger against his thumb, his lips slightly parted, he felt his heartbeat increase as his eyes met hers. She was worried about him and he knew but there wasn’t anything he could do.

“You’re under arrest, Derek.”

/

Lennon paced. Up and down. Up and down. She didn’t know what happened. Well, she did—the police came, cuffed Derek and they drove off. Most likely to the police station. The man he addressed as Gordinski seemed rather proud of himself for getting that done, only making her blood pressure rise and her hands ball into tight fists.

That was last night. It was the morning now but nothing has changed. Derek was still not back.

“Hey, sit,” Desiree called to her when she couldn’t take Len’s moving anymore. She was stressed and angry and nervous and nothing was going to help her calm down. Derek was arrested and he stated he didn’t want anyone going to the station after them. It pissed Lennon off, it made her feel like he was hiding something and she hated the thought. Derek never lied to her, not to her knowledge, anyway, and she would’ve preferred if he didn’t start doing that now.

“I don’t get it,” she shook her head, searching through her thoughts as though she’d be able to find an explanation for what was happening. “What did he do?”

“Lennon, I’m sure it’s a misunderstanding,” Sarah sighed as she sat down at the table. The girlfriend furrowed her brows, now officially confused. Who arrests someone based on a misunderstanding? “Gordinski always had it out for my brother. Anything he can pin on him, he will.”

Before she could’ve answered, there was a knock at the door and Fran was the first to reach it. Opening it, Lennon found out a little later, it revealed the same bald man from before and two familiar faces. Spencer Reid and the new addition to the team, Emily Prentiss. She sighed, feeling slightly more relieved, knowing that his colleagues were here, hopefully to get this shit sorted. If Lennon had to go there herself and sort that detective out—it shocked her to find out the man’s position within the department—then it wasn’t going to go down pretty or quietly.

“Spencer, is he okay?” she asked immediately, without any welcoming or catching up. She had to know.

“Yeah, he is being interrogated right now, or was, when we left,” he responded honestly. While she knew Derek could handle questions thrown at him because he was much harsher when he was in position of power, it didn’t make her feel better to know he was cornered and blamed for something, whatever it was, he didn’t do.

“He wouldn’t let us go there with him,” his mother added, shaking her head as she sat on the chair, Desiree standing behind her, hands on her shoulders. They were all worried for him.

“He’s fine. Our boss is with him,” Emily added in a reassuring tone, glancing at everyone in order to make sure she was heard. If Aaron Hotchner was with him, he had to be in good hands. He would do everything in his power to get Morgan out of there, she knew it.

Then, in a very annoyed tone, knowing that the bald man was there to hear, Sarah directed her words at Emily and Spencer, “Did he tell you Gordinski’s been harassing him since he was a kid?”

“Why’s that?” Spencer questioned, intrigued. Lennon noticed the bald man’s posture change at that, rubbing his eyebrows with his hand. He disagreed with Sarah’s comment.

“Well, you’d have to ask that bastard,” Sarah said, making Lennon scoff. She had a couple of ideas as to why he had it out for her boyfriend.

“Oh, Sarah,” Fran said in an alerted, surprised tone since an official was standing in the room. Multiple officials, but the man with CPD threw the mother off more.

Standing up for her sister, Desiree said, “It’s true, mum.”

“Sure, it is,” the man behind Emily said, fingers on his lip while the other rested on his waist. Lennon scowled, though expected him to defend his boss.

Before Lennon could have said anything—she had too much she wanted to put out there—Sarah interrupted, “What are you even doing in my mother’s house?”

“They asked me.”

“Not really,” Spencer added, making Len chuckle under her breath as their eyes met for a short second. The two of them got along well.

Emily then spoke to the man and told him to cool off. It was better that way, than if Lennon had to interfere. All those built up emotions she stuffed down inside of her were begging to show but she couldn’t go crazy in front of Derek’s family and colleagues. It wouldn’t have been appropriate, no matter how much she hated the situation.

“I don’t understand how they could think he did this,” Fran spoke, putting one of Len’s thoughts into words. Truth be told, she was busy setting the man in the suit on fire in her brain. He was the one to cuff Derek last night and had almost a smirk on his face while doing so.

The rage she felt inside of her was getting to her head. She no longer participated in the conversation between the sisters, mother and FBI agents. She could not focus on what was being said. The only thing that made sense to her was to get up and go to the station. Why didn’t Derek want them there? She wanted to be there. She needed to be there to support him. Waiting around all day was not going to do it for her.

/

“Where is he?” she barely caught her breath before her eyes found JJ, a phone pressed to her ear. The blonde woman turned around in an instant and Lennon, standing under the arch of the main room inside the station, repeated her question. “Where is Derek?”

“Lennon,” she called her name, excusing herself from the call right after. She pressed a button and slid the phone in her pocket. “He’s fine. Come, sit.”

“Where is he?” she questioned again, ignoring what she told her. She didn’t want to sit down. She didn’t want to know if he was fine. Of course, he was fine! Derek was always fine.

“He’s not here,” JJ answered eventually.

“What?” she spat, looking around frantically. She only saw local police officers, no one else. Spencer was still at the house, Emily was gone when she left, Aaron must’ve been off somewhere else and she assumed that Jason was with him. That left JJ here alone. “What do you mean he’s not here?”

“The door was left unlocked and no one kept an eye on him. He found the opportunity and snuck out.”

“Did he say where he was going? Is he on his way home?” she asked.

“No one knew he left until an officer checked on the room,” JJ told her and that’s when Lennon decided to sit down. Burying her face in her hands, she couldn’t believe this was happening. She didn’t sleep the whole night because she had no idea what was happening with her boyfriend and now that she was here and ready to see him, he was gone. She’d never been to Chicago and it was never a topic between them that Derek talked about in detail, so she had no idea where he could’ve gone.

“Derek snuck out and no one noticed,” she repeated the words, laughing at the end because that was the most ridiculous thing she’d ever heard. A 6 feet tall man managed to sneak out of a police station. The past however many hours have been the most hilarious to ever have happened to her. She was sure of it.

JJ’s phone rang. She excused herself as she said ‘Hotch’ but the rest was unclear. Lennon prayed it was about her boyfriend as she sat on the chair, elbow rested on the table. Her chin sat in the palm of her hand, fingers over her mouth and touching her nose. Her right leg bounced up and down which she didn’t even notice until she stopped. Curling her fingers inwards, she bit down on her nails, watching as the blonde agent walked back to her.

“Hotch—Aaron, is on his way here to pick you up. They found Derek.”

“How does he know I’m here? And where is he? Is he okay?” Lennon asked immediately. The phrase ‘they found Derek’ could mean a lot of things and the worst of those came to her mind.

“All you need to know is that you’ll see him soon and he’s fine,” she repeated with reassuring eyes and a gentle touch to her shoulder. JJ wanted nothing more than to soothe the woman because she knew she loved Derek. That was precisely why she knew Lennon wouldn’t stop asking around and stressing until the two were together. “Let’s go.”

Stepping outside, the familiar black SUV stopped just as the door closed behind her. The window rolled down, revealing Aaron, who told both women to get inside. JJ declined and said she needed to take care of paperwork and she’ll gather their belongings so they’re ready to leave when everything is settled. None of that mattered to Lennon. She wanted to be there, wherever they were going, already. Jason asked if she was okay and if she needed anything but she only responded with one worded answers, a yes then a no. The two agents at the front glanced at each other and left it at that.

The journey to the location was fast and quiet. Lennon focused on the cars passing, the trees melting, the lights blurring together. Almost there. She knew Derek would be okay but she couldn’t be sure. Her heart couldn’t be sure until she held him.

When the SUV stopped, she threw the door open. She saw police cars outside and officers standing by. Locals. They watched, observed what was going on. It was the youth centre, she realised, the one that Fran spoke about before Emily left. It only came back to her in short flashes, she didn’t remember the exact conversation just a man’s name—Carl. Carl and him helping Morgan in the past.

“Ma’am, you cannot go in there,” the officer stepped in front of her, making her settle back into reality. All shaken up by what was happening, she lived inside her head, barely speaking. To her, it made sense to want to burst in there and drag Derek out so they could go back home.

“Why? What is going on?” she asked the only question she could but like before, she never got an answer that fulfilled her expectations. Feeling stupid for repeating the same damn sentence all day, she couldn’t help it.

Aaron and Jason walked up to her, asking the same question. The officer explained that Detective Gordinski and Detective Dennison—so that was the bald man’s name—were in there already, waiting for a confession from Carl Buford regarding the murders of all those innocent boys. Lennon gasped, suddenly realising what was happening. They framed Derek for murders when the person who committed these crimes was someone who people trusted and looked up to. She listened in on Hotch and Gideon’s conversation from time to time on the way, she knew bits and pieces but nothing specific.

“Come on,” Aaron nodded towards the door, urging Lennon to follow him. Jason stepped behind her to keep her going. She could hear people arguing—Derek, was arguing with someone. Lennon gasped and stopped in her tracks, afraid of what she might find. “You okay?”

“I—,” she began but stopped, when Morgan’s broken voice filled the air. Loud.

“They’re not lies! You did the same thing to me,” he shouted in a hoarse voice, so deeply filled with emotion that his girlfriend couldn’t stop the tears that prickled at her eyes. She felt them burn and her lips parted at the realisation.

“I did nothing to you. Or James,” another man spoke, his words carried out in a deep tone.

“One by one, they’re going to pile up, until there’s so many accusations you can’t say that they’re all lies!”

“Do you have any idea, how many kids I’ve helped get out of this neighbourhood, hm? How many lives I’ve provided?” the man, whom she believed to be Carl Buford, tried to make a point, but began to get and sound upset once he realised Derek wasn’t seeing it his way. “Look at you… you’d probably be dead by now.”

Then, not expecting it to happen again, she heard her boyfriend speak, pain shooting through each of his words as he asked, “Yeah, well, it wasn’t for free, was it?”

“I pulled you out of the gutter.”

“I’ve pulled myself out of the gutter! All the way to the FBI. I did that!” Derek exclaimed.

“You’re saying I had nothing to do with making you who you are?”

“No, Carl… actually, I’m saying you have everything to do with making me who I am,” Lennon wasn’t sure when she let her tears flow free but from one moment to another, they began wetting her cheeks and she wasn’t sure if it was from the pain that Derek’s voice carried that nipped at her heart or from the relief that he was standing up for himself and he was physically fine. “Because of you, I’m somebody who gets to spend the rest of his life making sure guys like you go down.”

“Look… Derek… I never hurt you. You could’ve said no.”

That. That comment was the one that set her off. She gasped and stumbled back. She didn’t know why it hit her so hard and she didn’t care. Her heart was aching and it was aching bad.

“You’re under arrest, Carl,” said Gordinski. That let Lennon know that maybe, he was capable of doing his job and arresting the people he should be arresting.

“I’ve helped a lot of kids,” he tried to argue.

“Let’s go.”

“The neighbourhood won’t be the same without me. It’s gonna be worse—without the centre.”

So then, Derek said, “Somebody will keep this centre running. The neighbourhood will. I will.”

“Wait… wait,” Carl struggled, trying to shake the hands of the detectives off of him. “Derek, isn’t there something you can do for me?”

“You go to hell,” he spat, watching as they took him away. His eyes locked back onto Gordinski, who said nothing to him. Their eye contact remained until the man was out of the room and that’s when Lennon pushed past Aaron.

“Derek,” she called for him, arms reaching to the front with tears down her cheeks.

“Baby,” he breathed, bringing her close to him and hugging her like his life depended on it. Hiding her face in the crook of his neck, she sobbed, and he tightened his arms around her body. One of his hands crawled into her hair, holding the back of her head as the other one remained on her waist. Being surrounded by his warmth and smell, Lennon’s heart could finally rest. “Sh, sh, sh, it’s okay. I’m okay.”

“I’m sorry… god, I’m so sorry. I’m sorry,” she repeated as she clung to him, refusing to let go or loosen her hold. Almost a whole day without him, not knowing what was happening, yet it felt like weeks she could barely get through.

“Lennon, baby girl, look at me,” he tried to pry her off of him but it turned out to be a struggle. He chuckled under his breath but he finally got her to look at him. Raising his hands, he wiped her cheeks and caressed them with his thumbs. Derek sniffled as the tears in her eyes made him get a little emotional. “There’s nothing for you to be sorry for. Nothing.”

“You didn’t deserve that, any of it.”

“I know, baby. But it’s over. It’s done. He’s never gonna hurt anyone, ever again,” he reassured her and it made her feel guilty because she should’ve been the one to say that. She did the only thing she could do in that moment. Rolling onto her tiptoes, she held his face and kissed him. Lennon didn’t care who saw. She needed to kiss him for herself and for him. She needed to be close to him.

“I love you,” she told him, interrupting the kiss to whisper the words onto his lips. Derek nudged his nose against hers, feeling her tears still. “That’s what I wanted to tell you last night. I love you, Derek Morgan.”

“I love you more, baby,” he said with closed eyes and their foreheads touching. He brought her closer for one more hug, wanting to feel her against him. “Let’s get out of here, hm?”

Lennon nodded, sniffling as she let go of him, only to grasp his hand, her fingers slotting between his. Gideon and Hotch were no longer in the doorway which surprised Lennon but she was glad they didn’t witness that moment between them.

She was exhausted, emotionally and mentally, and all she wanted was a bed and her man in it to hold and kiss goodnight. Yeah. That sounded like the most perfect dream.

[wheresmynaya]

Lost in the Lights Ch.3 | Brittana

Aaand we’re back to the usual weekly routine! Thank you for all the luv, I appreciate it so much you have no idea. 

Available on ff.net (x) ao3 (x) 

By early October, Brittany has finally adapted to her busy schedule. With Autumn settling in, the mornings are a lot cooler but Brittany finds the crisp air refreshing when she’s out on her daily runs before class. Winters in Florida weren’t really all that cold, so this is all new to her.

Brittany takes it in stride though; in fact, she’s interested to see how the colder weather will impact her playing when it comes to Game Days. So far, the team is 5-0 now with just five more games left of the regular season. Everyone on the team is feeling good about their current standings, but Brittany knows it’s wise not to let it get to their heads.

Cockiness doesn’t mesh well with an undefeated record. She knows that one from experience.

Brittany’s in the locker room just after practice one Wednesday and she’s a hot, sweaty mess. Her hair is sure to be all over the place, but she’s too tired to care about appearances after such a grueling session. All she wants is a shower and to be able to scrub the dirt and dust caked on her arms and shins. Maybe a nice face mask too? She’ll wait until she’s home for that one though.

“Woah,” Santana gasps when she rounds the wall of lockers designated for the Cheerios and nearly runs into Brittany. She eyes her up and down and smirks, “You look like you’ve been rolling around in mud.”

Brittany chuckles at her comment. Since Santana’s surprise visit a couple weeks ago, things between them have been a lot better. They actually talk and sometimes they even walk together to their last class if Brittany gets to her locker in time. It’s a nice change and it makes her school days a whole lot easier.

“Yeah, these new drills Coach Beiste has us doing are intense,” Brittany sighs but a happy smile soon graces her lips, “I didn’t expect to see you here still.”

“Me neither,” Santana groans, “Coach Sylvester wants Quinn and I to hang back and help come up with routines for Homecoming Week.”

“Is it that time already?” Brittany wonders aloud, “That would explain the extra drills.”

“Yeah, it’s next week,” Santana answers, “It’s one of the most busiest times for the squad. Honestly, Spirit Week should be renamed Hell Week because that’s where I’d rather be than to deal with all this extra work.”

“The perks of being Co-Captain,” Brittany teases before she asks, “Is it really that bad?”

“Small town high schools go apeshit over events like this,” Santana explains, “You’ll see. Quinn and I have to start campaigning for Homecoming Court as well, it’s kind of mandatory for us. I’m sure you’ll probably get roped into something too being that you’re the quarterback and all.”

“I hope not,” Brittany scrunches her nose, “I hate the extra attention when I’m not on the field. It’s super weird being treated like some kind of celebrity.”

Santana smiles apologetically and echoes Brittany’s earlier words, “The perks of being QB.”

Brittany grumbles through her pout. It makes Santana’s smile soften.

“Well, I’ll let you get cleaned up,” Santana says and shakes her phone, “Quinn’s finally back from our coffee run so I better go meet her.”

“Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow then!” Brittany waves as they go their separate ways.  

\\

When Friday comes around, the Titans are more amped up than ever. The guys are dressed in their jeans and jerseys and strut around the school like they own it. Brittany wears her jersey as well seeing that it’s tradition on Game Days, but she starts to notice the annoyed glares they get from some of the other teams.

More importantly, the Hockey team.

There was once instance where Brittany, Mike and Sam were talking by Sam’s locker when a couple guys from the Hockey team walked by. Brittany instantly felt the tension as the two teams exchanged glares.

“The hell you looking at?” Sam growled to Brittany’s surprise. She hadn’t ever heard him take a tone like that when it wasn’t being directed at Dave or Azimio.

Mike stood up a little straighter too and balled his fists.

The tallest one just laughed as he shook his head at them, “Couple of sell-outs.”

Brittany’s brow knitted; what’s that suppose to mean?

“Fuck you, Rick,” Sam scoffed, “At least we know what it’s like to win.”

“Right. You’re winners now that you’ve got a girl on the team,” Rick teased, “Fucking stupid.”

Brittany felt like she should say something, but she just griped the straps of her bookbag tighter until her knuckles whitened.

Rick looked to Brittany, “At least those gay ass tights finally work in someone’s favor.”

“Get out of here, man!” Mike ordered as he took a step forward and shoved at Rick’s shoulder.

Rick stumbled back and held up his hands although the sly smirk was still there. He gave Brittany a wink then motioned for his guys to keep walking.

Suddenly Brittany felt a little gross. She’s no stranger to those kind of comments too, but they’ve never lost their effect on making her feel sexualized. That might be one of the worst drawbacks to having so much emphasis on her being a female on a boys’ team.

“Don’t worry about them,” Mike said with a nudge to Brittany’s arm, “They’ve always been jealous of us even when we weren’t winning.”

“Hockey sucks,” Sam added, “That’s why. No one ever goes to their games.”

Brittany just nodded and pasted on a smile. She saw Santana down the other end of the hall walking towards her with Quinn and soon her smile turned genuine. Santana hadn’t looked her way yet, so Brittany just watched as those around her just stared like she was the hottest girl in school.

Brittany kind of agreed with that sentiment.

Sam and Mike noticed her leering and began to smirk when they realized who Brittany was looking at. When Santana and Quinn got closer, Sam and Mike glanced over at Brittany again to see if she was still staring.

They chuckled when they found that she was.

“Hey Pierce,” Santana smirked as she admired Brittany in her jersey and tight blue jeans. Maybe she kind of had a thing for a girl in uniform, but who didn’t?

“Hi Santana,” Brittany grinned.

Sam and Mike looked between themselves to see if they were invisible. That could be the only reason why Santana skipped greeting them.

Quinn chuckled and acknowledged the guys, “Hey boys.” Her eyes lingered longer on Mike than Sam before she averted her gaze to Brittany, “Hey Brittany.”

Upon hearing her name, Brittany blinked out of her staring contest with Santana and smiled in response. They haven’t actually met officially yet, but Santana talked about her enough for Brittany feel like she knew her.

“Hi,” Brittany greeted.

They five of them plummeted into an semi-awkward silence that was only broken up by Sam saying, “Well…this is awkward.”

Fortunately though, that was enough to have everyone laughing and the awkwardness wore away just as the bell rang out. Brittany’s next class was with Mike so she turned him and nodded.

“We should get going,” She said as she gave a last fleeting glance to Santana and smiled,  “I’ll see you later.”

“Later,” Santana smiled back before turning to Quinn. The smile fell as she hardened, “Let’s go.”

Quinn nodded and together they continued their walk down the hall with their heads held high, their expressions only a couple of top bitches could wear.

Sam just looked between the duos and frowned, “Guess I’ll just walk by myself to class.”

\\

By Lunch, Brittany’s sitting with Kurt, Tina and Mercedes at their usual table but today Brittany feels like she’s being stared at. Actually, she always gets stared at for her table choice but she doesn’t get what the big deal is.

Kurt, Tina and Mercedes are going on about an upcoming performance they’re planning with some of the other members of their club. Brittany can tell they’re excited about it as they reel off potential song choices.

“It’s going to have to get the approval from Rachel,” Kurt complains, “With her being the self-proclaimed Team Leader and all. I have no idea how Mr. Schue let her get away with that one.”

“Rachel can kiss my ass,” Mercedes waves off, “If she has us singing Barbra again, I’m going to riot.”

“I agree,” Kurt nods, “There’s just a time and a place for showtunes and I don’t think a school dance is one of them.”

“Definitely not,” Tina says, “Artie said he wants to do Miguel.”

“He would,” Mercedes laughs, “I can see it though; white boy could probably pull it off.”

Everyone at the table laughs, even Brittany although she’s barely following along. She hasn’t met a Rachel or Artie, but she knows who Mr. Schue is so she’s not super lost.

“Sorry Britt,” Kurt smiles apologetically, “We shouldn’t make you feel left out by talking about all of this Glee Club stuff around you.”

Brittany just shrugs, “I don’t mind it. It’s kind of nice hearing about something other than football and schoolwork so don’t mind me.”

“Would you…ever consider joining?” Tina wonders.

Mercedes and Kurt are surprised by the question but await Brittany’s answer anxiously.

“It sounds fun, but I just don’t have the time for it,” Brittany answers easily, “Plus I can’t really sing so I’m probably doing you a favor.”

Everyone can understand Brittany’s reasoning, so they don’t press any further. Instead, they go back to tossing out different ideas for a set list. It’s kind of cool listening along, but then Puck and Finn approach her and the mood changes. Brittany only know they’ve walked up because everyone at the table instantly silences.

“We’ve saved you a seat at our table,” Puck says.

Mercedes, Kurt and Tina glance between him and Brittany like they’ve just settled in for a show.

“Thanks but I like sitting here,” Brittany answers politely then turns back to her friends. She feels them still lingering behind her though.

Puck scowls and looks to Finn who’s staring at her like she just spoke in another language.

“Look, you don’t have to perform this kind of community service by sitting with these losers,” Puck tries again, “You’ve already proved that you’re cool.”

That comment has Brittany feeling hot.

The worst thing anyone can do is make fun of her friends and even if she doesn’t hang around them as much as Sam and Mike, Kurt and Mercedes were some of the firsts to treat her with kindness when she arrived to McKinley. That doesn’t get forgotten just because she’s higher up than them on this imaginary McKinley food chain.

“Don’t call my friends losers,” Brittany warns. The politeness is still there but it’s wearing down.

Puck just shakes his head and looks to Finn, “You tell her, man.”

“Britt, you can’t sit with them,” Finn says sternly. There’s an edge to his voice, like he’s trying to simplify it for her, “Titans sit with Titans.”

“I don’t see you saving a seat for Kurt too,” Brittany challenges. She can see they’re starting to gain an audience – even Santana and Quinn watch from their assigned table – but she doesn’t waver on her stance.

“It’s different for him. You’re the quarterback. There are certain things you just can’t do. One of them being this,” Finn explains with the wave of his hand at the table, “Quit making things difficult.”

“I’m not doing anything,” Brittany snaps as she goes to stand this time and all heads turn to watch. She keeps her chin raised though Finn towers over her. She’s not going to get pushed around over something so ridiculous, “If Kurt can’t sit with the rest of the team then neither will I.”

Finn just presses his lips tightly together in a grimace while Puck stares at her in disbelief.

“You’re not Team Captain anymore, Finn, and one of these days you’re going to finally understand that the way things are done here aren’t right,” Brittany explains, “And if I have to be the one to teach you that, then so be it. I’m already schooling you on the field. I don’t mind the extra work.”

Finn scoffs at that but Puck looks a little impressed.

“Damn,” Puck smirks and glances to his side at Finn, “She might have bigger balls than you.”

Finn ignores him though.

“Whatever then,” Finn huffs, “Don’t come running to us when this backfires on you.”

“Don’t worry,” Brittany smiles sweetly, “I won’t.”

When she sits back down, Kurt’s jaw is dropped.

“That was amazing,” He applauds.

Brittany just shrugs, “I hate the double-standards at this school, almost as much as I hate bullies.”

“Well there’s a ton of them here,” Mercedes jokes before giving Brittany an approving nod, “That was pretty cool though. Don’t think I’ve ever seen Finn so tripped up.”

Brittany smiles at the compliments but she hates confrontation so the conversation doesn’t sit well with her. She knows it’s impossible to breeze through high school without a ruffling some feathers, doesn’t mean she likes to do it on purpose. She’s just not one to sit idly by either.

Brittany goes back to her lunch and tries to push away how Finn’s warning lingers in the back of her mind.

\\

By Game Time, the Titans take the field with the most energy that Brittany’s seen yet. They’ve gained quite a crowd despite it being an Away game for the them. Now that they’re on this historical winning streak, it that adds to the team’s eagerness to play and the spectators eagerness to watch.

Not to mention that this game happens to be against their biggest rivals: the Carmel High Camels.

The school has dominated across the board in all aspects, so – before Brittany’s arrival – the Titans never stood a chance. That doesn’t stop the rivalry from being any less intense. The teams’ hatred for each other runs deep, but the Titans feel revived this season because now they’ve got Brittany and Brittany’s a gun in the pocket.

Or so that’s what all the guys have been saying. Brittany tries to keep a level-head though.

She has watched the tapes of their past games against Carmel, she can see why they’re the top team to beat. The Camels are a well-oiled machine with a current standing of 5-0 as well. Their defense has been known to get aggressive when it comes to applying pressure on the QB, so Brittany’s going to have to rely heavily on her O-Line for protection.

They’ve done pretty well thus far in doing that, but Brittany knows anything can happen. The other team can just as easily find a weak point and there goes their winning streak.

Brittany shakes out her arms to loosen up and wonders if she’s being realistic here or if she’s still letting Finn and the Hockey guys get in her head. She can’t decide, so she glances up at the stands for a distraction and finds her mom and brother waving at her.

Pete’s holding up a sign he made and it has Brittany smiling at all the colors he decided to use. She gives them a wave too before she’s putting on her helmet and jogging out to join the ref and the other team’s nominated player to perform the coin toss.

When the other team wins and decides to be on the receiving end, Brittany gets a funny feeling in the pit of her stomach.

\\

The Titans are dealt their first serious blow of the season.

It’s the worse game Brittany’s played yet. Not that her performance was specifically bad, she just wasn’t prepared for the Camel’s intense man-to-man coverage which made it extremely difficult for her receivers to get open.

She also can’t believe they lost to a school that has a camel as their mascot, so weird.

The Titans had to rely on their still-developing run game which – to be put simply – sucked majorly. Puckerman was wrapped up every single time and Brittany could see that he was starting to let his emotions get to him. She tried to remind him to use that for the next play, but by then she had lost a lot of the guys’ to their rivalry.

At one point in the third quarter, the teams were a taunt away from an all-out brawl.

The Titans were just a couple yards away from the end zone – the closest they’ve been able to get all game – but Carmel High’s defense was nearly impenetrable. Even Brittany was beginning to get frustrated, but she couldn’t succumb to her emotions too.

At least one person on the team still had to keep a level head.

It was fourth down and her head was telling her to bring out Special Teams and go for a field goal. It would at least get 3 points on the board where they currently had none, but Brittany didn’t want to give up all their hard work that drive just to get a field goal.

It was a tough decision, but she decided they should go for it. Half the team looked at her like she was crazy, the other half just wanted to rip the Camels apart. Even Coach Beiste was in her ear asking if Brittany was sure that’s the route she wanted to take.

Brittany was certain she could get in there. All she needed was for her O-Line to make a small break so that she could dive in. It was a risky call, but she hoped that Carmel High was too focused on her passing game to think she’d ever go for a sneak.

And they were; Brittany was able to push in over the top for the touchdown. Unfortunately though, that would be the only one the Titans would get all game.

The Camels end the Titans winning streak: 23-7.

\\\\\

When the final whistle was blown, Santana watched Brittany pull off her helmet to reveal a disappointed frown. It had been a rough game by the looks of it, but she was no stranger to how intense games against Carmel High could be. Puck’s been ejected from at least two games for swinging on one of the other guys so that should tell you that it’s never pretty.

Brittany must’ve not known that though and Santana hates how the blonde sulks to the sidelines in defeat. She doesn’t get why she’s beating herself up, Brittany was the only one that scored!

“They look so crushed,” Quinn mumbled as they watched the rest of the team walk off the field battered and bruised.  

“Yeah,” Santana breathed out.

She kept her eyes on Brittany while Coach Beiste pulled her aside to talk. Slowly, the anguish on Brittany’s face started to morph. It wasn’t so much the disappointment and defeat anymore, but instead determination.

Santana wondered what the coach was saying to her that could bring on such change.

“Hope the guys don’t give her a hard time,” Quinn says when she notices Santana watching Brittany.

Santana crinkles her nose at the thought and scoffs, “They should be used to losing to Carmel by now. It’s not her fault they couldn’t get their shit together. She’s the only one that freaking scored anyway!”

Quinn just smirks at how riled up Santana gets and replies, “I guess we’ll just have to see what it’s like on Monday.”

“Yeah. I guess so,” Santana nods and tears her gaze away from Brittany to glance at Quinn, “You still coming over tomorrow? These posters aren’t going to make themselves.”

“I’ll bring my hot glue gun,” Quinn teases before they join the rest of the squad in packing up.

\\

When it comes to Homecoming Court campaigns, Santana and Quinn are veterans. Quinn’s been doing competitions and pageants like this a lot longer – probably since Quinn was born if she’s being honest – so Santana’s pretty grateful to have learned so much from her over the years. Although they’re best friends, when it comes to Homecoming there’s nothing like a little friendly competition to keep things interesting.

They’re two of the most popular girls in school so the race tends to be pretty close, but Santana wonders if that’ll be the same this time considering how things went down last year. Santana’s reputation and status as one of the HBICs of the school really took a hit and she has had a difficult time moving forward like nothing happened.

It’s hard to forget and she wonders if it’s the same for everyone else too. She’s heard the whispers about her, but Brittany’s arrival has drowned them out. For now. Who knows when they’ll turn a critical eye back on her?

It’s not a concern Santana voices to her best friend though, so it eats away at her and whispers words of doubt while they begin campaign planning.

\\

Santana and Quinn are in the living room at the Lopez residence with all of their poster-making supplies spread out between them. They’re working away busily with some music in the background when Hector makes his way downstairs.

“Hi girls,” He greets as he slips into his jacket. Santana looks up and notices he’s dressed for work.

“Hi Mr. Lopez,” Quinn greets with a polite smile.

“You’re going to work?” Santana asks looking somewhat dejected. She thought he was off.

“I got called in. Nightshift today,” Hector confirms, “Your mom should be getting home soon though and I think she picked up something for dinner. What are you girls up to?”

Hector comes around the couch to put his shoes on, carefully moving so he doesn’t step on anything important.

“Just Homecoming stuff,” Santana answers with a shrug, trying to mask her disappointment. It’s not like they were meant to hang out or anything, but she has been noticing that he keeps his distance when it’s just them. Maybe she’s looking too far into it, but it seems like he can’t be bothered to be around her while Maribel’s away.

Or maybe he just doesn’t want to and that’s what makes Santana feel even worse. She used to be such a daddy’s girl before last year. She hastes how much everything’s changed.

“Santana and I are campaigning for Homecoming Queen,” Quinn adds when she sees Santana getting wrapped up in her thoughts.

“Ah yes, that’s right! You two always compete against each other,” Hector chuckles, “It’s good that you’re still so involved in extracurriculars, Santana.”

At the sound of her name, Santana looks up and for the first time in awhile she sees a proud smile on her dad’s face. It instantly makes her feel lighter.

“It’ll look good on your college applications,” He adds.

“I know,” Santana answers. It’s hard for her not to feel a little relieved by his encouraging words. She craves his approval, why? She has no idea.

Hector gives her a resolute nod and looks to Quinn, “My girl is going to make a great doctor one day.”

Santana’s once again pleasantly surprised by her dad’s words even if she doesn’t agree with them. My girl; she can’t remember the last time he said that. Maybe he really is starting to see that nothing’s changed, that she’s still the same person she was before it all went to shit?

“Of course,” Quinn smiles back. Santana can tell she’s faking it and she’s grateful for that.

“Well, keep up the good work!” He applauds and pushes to stand, “I’ll see you tomorrow, Santana. Good day, Quinn.”

When Hector leaves for work, Quinn throws a wad of construction paper at Santana. The brunette scoffs and looks up.

“I can’t believe you still haven’t told him you’re undecided,” Quinn says.

Santana looks to her in disbelief, “Are you kidding? That was the longest he’s ever spoken to me without my mom being there. It wasn’t until just recently that he could look me in the eye again. No way I’m going to tell the truth now.”

Quinn purses her lips. She knows very little of Santana’s dynamic with her parents, but like her own she knows most of it is all for show. Families like theirs are usually only concerned with one thing and one thing only: their reputation.

“I’m going to drag this out for as long as I can,” Santana tells Quinn before she’s going back to her arts and crafts.

Quinn just sighs, “That can’t possibly end well.”

Santana doesn’t even look up, “I’ll take my chances.”

\\

Awhile later, Santana and Quinn are nearly finished with their posters. They’ve gone with three variations of posters that they can hang around school on Monday and they’re pretty pleased with their work.

Like Hector said, Maribel comes home a short while later with take out and there’s enough for Quinn too so the three of them have dinner together on the couch while watching tv – something they wouldn’t dare do if her dad was around.

They’re talking about their Homecoming campaigns with Maribel when Santana accidentally brings up Brittany.

“You’ve never mentioned a Brittany before,” Maribel states as she turns away from the tv to Santana, looking as interested as ever.

Santana wants to kick herself for the slip up, but she does her best to deflect with a shrug, “She’s new to McKinley.”

She doesn’t know why she makes a point to leave out that Brittany’s also the Titans’ new QB and she feels a little disappointed in herself that she does.

“I’ve heard she might run,” Quinn adds with her eyes on the tv screen still.

Santana had a feeling Brittany might get talked into it, but she didn’t think she’d actually do it. She surprisingly has mixed feelings about it. She needs the win to solidify her reputation, but she doubts she’ll stand a chance against Brittany.

There’s also the small chance that Brittany’s only being nominated as a joke. Santana knows how the people of McKinley act and it’s not usually out of kindness.

Santana shakes her head, “No way. She hates the limelight.”

Quinn quirks a brow as she turns to Santana, “What would you know?”

“We talk sometimes,” Santana shrugs again casually. Quinn and Maribel eye her for more information, “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

Quinn begins to smirk, “You talk, huh?”

Santana flinches and glances to her mom out of reflex but Maribel’s too swept up in watching tv again to notice.

“We have class together,” Santana explains, “She sits right next to me. We’re bound to talk at some point. Don’t make it weird.”

“I wouldn’t if you didn’t bring her up so often,” Quinn replies. She laughs when Santana rolls her eyes at her, “What? I think it would be nice for you to have another friend besides me.”

“I have other friends,” Santana argues but even she knows that’s a lie.

“You have many acquaintances,” Quinn corrects, “You don’t consider any of them friends.”

Maribel chimes in next now that the show’s on commercial, “I wouldn’t mind you making another friend, mija. You can never have too many.”

Santana fights another eye roll because of course her mom would say that. Santana doesn’t say anything in response – she doesn’t know how to tell her that being friends with another girl isn’t as easy as it use to be, not to mention that girl being Brittany.

She doubts Maribel would understand, so Santana just goes back to watching tv until her mom excuses herself for the night.

\\

It’s not until Quinn’s sure that they’re alone that she brings up the topic again.

“I just think you two would really hit it off,” Quinn reasons.

“So we’re not talking about friendship anymore?” Santana asks sarcastically.

“I mean, it could start off that way?” Quinn shrugs, “Like you said, you already share a class together. Plus I’ve seen you two talk by your lockers. Not to mention the way I witnessed you check her out the other day in the hall.”

Santana whirls on Quinn with wide eyes, “You didn’t witness shit.”

“I disagree.”

“I don’t know how when you were too busy checking out Boy Chang.”

Quinn’s jaw drops, “I-I wasn’t.”

Santana smirks upon seeing the blonde’s cheeks flush, “Sure Q. How is Mike anyway? You two done side-stepping around the obvious yet?”

“Don’t try to deflect,” Quinn says pointedly, “This isn’t about me. We’re talking about you.”

Santana just grumbles at her best friend’s persistence. She’s starting to feel like the walls are closing in on her or something, “There’s nothing to talk about.”

“Uh yeah there is. Brittany’s perf – “

“Can you stop?” Santana finally insists.

Quinn looks taken aback but she doesn’t say anything. Santana just feels like she’s about to crumble apart. She hates that feeling, it seemed like she was stuck in it for all of last year. So when she feels it creeping in again, it puts her on edge.

“I’m not ready for that,” Santana admits softly. Her gaze averts to her hands wringing themselves out in her lap, “She’s too…I don’t know. I just can’t. I can’t do it yet, okay?”

Quinn softens as she watches Santana shrink in on herself. She scoots closer to her, “Baby steps at least? All joking aside, I really do think she’d be good for you. I mean, how many other people at this school can you relate to? There’s Kurt, but he doesn’t really count. Does he?”

Santana knows she means because he’s a guy and agrees, “No, I guess he doesn’t.”

“And then there’s Berry…” Quinn jokes, “But I doubt you’re going to want to make nice with her after all of these years.”

Santana cringes, “Definitely not. She’d probably make me sing a homoerotic song with her or some bullshit that would have me running back in the closet.”

“Exactly. So I think you should try it with Brittany,” Quinn suggests lightly, “She seems sweet, relatively normal. I can see the appeal, you know? There’s something about her, it’s refreshing. She isn’t like everyone else in this town.”

Santana can’t help but smile.

“You’re right,” Santana says, “She’s better.”

“So you’re gonna try?” Quinn questions.

Santana fakes an eye-roll, “Maybe but don’t meddle, alright? I know how you thrive off of other people’s drama.”

Quinn doesn’t even mind the jab and goes to pull Santana in for a tight hug. Santana pretends she hates it, but after so many years of friendship they both know she doesn’t.

\\\\\

By Monday, Brittany has somewhat prepared herself for the criticism she’s bound to hear about Friday night’s game. Coach Beiste’s encouraging words after the game really helped break up the haze of disappointment, but there was something that stood out to her during their short talk.

“They’re going to give you a lot of grief after this. A loss to Carmel is always a hard pill to swallow, but stand tall. Don’t let these guys walk all over you,” Coach Beiste said, “You’re a great Team Captain, Pierce. You’ve helped improve the team so much already, keep that up. Set the example for these guys, it’s a good one to follow.”

She spent the entire weekend trying to get right with the loss and focus on how she was personally going to improve moving forward. She wanted to set the right kind of example for the guys, she wanted to leave McKinley better than she found it.

Still, no matter what kind of preparations she did, that nervous feeling still lingered.

There was tension everywhere: between the Titans and Carmel High, the Titans and the Hockey guys, the Titans and Brittany. Then she has Coach Beiste in her ear basically saying she needs to girl up if she wants to continue gaining the team’s respect.

It was a lot for Brittany to deal with.

She knew that being Team Captain meant that she had additional responsibilities, but she had very little experience when it came to all of this casual hatred. Sure, at her old school there were other teams that they wanted to beat but it wasn’t ever this intense.

But, Brittany loves a challenge so she’s determined to keep at this until she gets it. Moving forward, she was more determined than ever to win the next time the Titans and the Camels crossed paths.

So when Brittany arrives at school, she holds her head high and braces herself for whatever may come.

\\

Surprisingly, no one approaches Brittany about the loss. In fact, everyone’s mostly swept up in the excitement of the first day of Spirit Week – which Brittany totally forgot about. Dressed in her jeans and blouse, Brittany sticks out like a sore thumb in a sea of students still in their pajamas.

But at least the weird looks are because of her attire and not about the game. She thinks she can handle that and heads over to her locker. There, she finds Santana applying lip gloss in the tiny mirror she has stuck to the inside of her locker door.

“Hey,” Brittany greets as she starts to put in her combo.

Santana glances at her through the corner of her mirror and spins. Her greeting dies when she sees what the blonde is wearing, “Didn’t know you were the type that slept in jeans, Pierce.”

Brittany smirks at the teasing tone, “Didn’t know you kept that uniform on all hours of the day either.”

“I don’t,” Santana answers in a tone Brittany isn’t familiar with. It has her peeking around her locker door to see if she can read what it might mean instead, but Santana’s expression changes to one of annoyance, “Coach doesn’t let the Cheerios participate in Pajama Day.”

Brittany frowns, “Why not? Aren’t you guys meant to be the most enthusiastic about it all?”

“I’m sure there’s some batshit crazy reason that makes zero sense,” Santana shrugs as she closes her locker, “Anyway, I can’t be late today so I’ll see you later.”

“Sure,” Brittany smiles, “I’ll see you later.”

When Santana sends a glance over her shoulder, Brittany thinks that maybe today will be a good one after all.

\\

Brittany makes it to the end of the school day without a single incident.

No random interviews from JBI, the Hockey guys don’t show their faces, and the guys on the football team leave her alone at lunch. It’s oddly normal for a Monday after a loss, but Brittany doesn’t complain.

It’s not until after football practice that things start to change.

“I’ve noticed you don’t have any posters up,” Kurt says. Coach Beiste has just dismissed the team after a post-practice huddle.

“Posters for what?” Brittany wonders as she watches Coach Beiste and her assistant head for their office. She has a feeling that she knows what Kurt’s hinting at, but she plays coy.

“For Homecoming, obviously,” Kurt chuckles, “You’re a shoe in.”

Brittany shakes her head, “Yeah. I don’t really care about that stuff.”

Kurt looks shocked as he trails after Brittany towards the water station, “Well you should, it’s like on of the two biggest events at McKinley. The other being Prom, of course, but that’s months away.”

Brittany sips her water slowly before shaking her head again, “I just don’t have the time.”

“What if I made up something for you?”

Brittany’s surprised by his persistence, “Oh no, you don’t have to.”

“I want to,” Kurt offered. He glanced around at the guys grabbing water too and pulled Brittany to move further away from them, “I really admire you.”

Brittany’s flattered, but she stays silent as she crumples the paper cup and tosses in the trash before moving to get her duffle bag from the sideline.

“It’s usually a popularity contests between the Cheerios and jocks, but I think it would be a nice change to have someone like you win,” Kurt continues, “You’re the kind of representation people like us need.”

Brittany glances up, “People like us?”

“You know…” Kurt nods to her keychain.

Suddenly the dots are connecting for Brittany and she lets out a long sigh, “You know Kurt, I’m  a lot more than my sexuality.”

“I know that,” Kurt replies and he looks genuine about it, “I know, but there are people in this school that are still afraid to be themselves and you’re obviously not like that. You just live in your truth and it’s truly inspiring. I didn’t think Lima would see the day to be honest, but you came in like a breath of fresh air.”

Again, Brittany feels her cheeks heating up at the compliment. She doesn’t see herself in the same light at all. She’s just Brittany. She goes through day treating people with kindness and tries to do what she thinks is right just like anyone else. She really isn’t that much different.

“I don’t know what it was like at your old school, but we’re just not there yet. People are as ignorant as ever here,” Kurt tells her and Brittany can immediately sense the frustration and hurt. He tries to mask it though, “Just the other day, Karofsky slushied me for wearing an ascot.”

Brittany stiffened, “He did what?”  

Kurt eyed Brittany’s confusion and matched it, “Slushied me? It was actually pretty upsetting, that ascot was designer and the red dye completely ruined it.”

Brittany was still hung up on the fact that Kurt had a slushie thrown at him. She stood, her brows furrowing. She started to feel hot all over as Kurt continued to talk.

“Is that not something that happens where you came from?” He asks. Brittany shakes her head, “It happens all the time here. Most of the guys on the team have done it aside from like Sam, Mike and Matt.”

“Are you serious?” Brittany realizes the feeling is anger and it starts to consume her.

Kurt looks uncertain, “Yeah? They usually go after people they consider beneath them but I think it really just depends on their mood that day. If you even look at someone on the team wrong, you’re probably getting slushied. It’s happened to me so many times. Karofsky’s probably the worst one.”

“Fuck that,” Brittany snaps and storms straight over to Dave. He’s mingling with Azimio and some of the other guys on her O-Line when Brittany gives him a shove without thinking, “Hey!”

He barely moves but she’s gained everyone’s attention now and they all rush over.

“Woah!” The guys around him holler. Brittany doesn’t pay them any attention, she just keeps her eyes narrowed.

Karofsky looks her up and down, “What’s got your panties in a knot?”

“Must be a mood swing,” Azimio laughs.

Brittany ignores him, “Actually it’s the fact that my Right Guard thinks it okay to bully people.”

Dave’s brows shoot up, “What now?”

“Britt,” Kurt pleads from behind her, “Don’t. It’s fine.”

“No Kurt, it isn’t fine,” Brittany says firmly before she’s glaring at Dave, “It’s fucking ridiculous.” She looks around at the guys that have gathered around and targets each of them, “What’s wrong with you people? Kurt is your teammate!”

She sees Mike and Sam exchange a confused glance along with Finn. Puck’s smirking and Matt just stares blankly at the others around him. Everyone’s trying to fill in the blanks here.  

“I’ve never met so many who are just blatantly ignorant,” Brittany snaps. She’s so fired up now, “It shouldn’t matter what anyone’s labels are, if they’re on this team you’re meant to have their back. That’s just common sense, human decency!”

Azimio scoffs, “Listen, he’s – “

“No, you listen,” Brittany growls as she steps up to him and pokes at his chest. She turns her glare onto everyone else, “You all listen. Kurt made it on this team – same as everyone else here – and you’ll treat him with some respect!”

“Is this about the slushies?” Finn mumbles through his dopey confusion.

Brittany looks at him in disbelief before turning to Mike, “How long has this been a thing?”

Mike goes to answer but Finn cuts him off, “Forever.”

“Slushie facials are like tradition,” Puck adds. He still has on that cocky smirk, “It’s how we uphold our badass reps.” He goes to high five the guy next to him while others on the team nod in agreement.

Brittany frowns at him – at them all, “Well not anymore. There’s nothing badass about being an asshole.”

Puck’s smirk drops; the rest of the team looks surprised by Brittany words too.

“It’s mean, it’s bullying and I’m not going to stand for it as long as I’m QB,” She says firmly.

“But that’s how it has always been,” Finn challenges, “You can’t just go changing tradition just because you don’t like it.”

Brittany wants to laugh. She wants to smack him upside the head and shake some sense into him but she’s not the violent type – not usually. If anything, she’s disappointed that someone so deluded has been in charge of leading a team for so long.

“Watch me,” Brittany threatens. She stands tall and keeps her eyes narrowed on him, “Just because something’s always been done one way doesn’t make it right. I’m not going to lead a team full of close-minded Neanderthals to a Championship victory.”

Puck scoffs, “You really want to talk about victories after the last game?”

Brittany quirks a brow, “Tell me, Puckerman, who was it again that put a touchdown on the board? The only one of the entire game?”

She can hear Sam snickering from beside her at the sight of Puck looking dumbfounded.

“That’s what I thought,” Brittany smirks before she’s eyeing everyone else again, “I’m glad we lost, maybe it’ll knock you all off your high horses.” She can see the eye rolls she gets for that comment but she stands her ground, “There’s nothing worse than an overly-confident team and that’s exactly what was happening here. You all let it get to your heads and it cost us the game.”

“That’s bullshit,” Karofsky waves off, “What would she know?”

“A lot, apparently,” Brittany argues, “I’ve won a Championship title already. Hell, I’ve won two!”

“Shit, really?” Matt’s impressed, but Azimio shoves at him to shut up.

“Yeah, so this is nothing new to me,” Brittany adds, “But for all of you – seniors without a single playoff appearance let alone a victory – you’re going to want to straighten up if you want me to stay.”

“I can’t believe we’re letting a girl lead us,” Azimio complains, “What is the world coming to?”

Sam looks puzzled, “Dude. Coach Beiste is a girl.”

“Shut up, Evans,” Karofsky orders, “You know what he meant.”

“This girl doesn’t have to lead you,” Brittany replies as she steps up to Azimio, “I’m more than happy to hand all of this over to Finn, you can let him be in charge again. I guarantee you that he’s not taking this team to the top, but if you’re fine being losers then that’s cool.”

Half of the team glance to Finn and it looks like they can’t help but to agree with Brittany. He’s had three years to prove himself and he’s gotten nowhere. Brittany broke the losing streak in her very first appearance as a Titan and it wasn’t even a regular season game yet, so what does that say?

“No more slushie facials or whatever you call it. Like I said, I’m not going to lead a team of close-minded bullies to the Championship game. You’re free to go if you don’t like that decision,” Brittany tells them without any room for argument then looks directly at Karofsky and Azimio, “I’m sure Coach wouldn’t mind losing the dead weight. So, who wants to go?”

Azimio rolls his eyes but relents, “Nah. I’m staying, I want to win.”

Karofsky looks furious still, but he relents as well with just a single nod to show Brittany he agrees with Azimio. The rest of the team nod too.

“Great,” Brittany gives the team a proud smile, “Glad we’re all on the same page now. See you tomorrow for practice.”

She walks off the field without another word while the team is still reeling behind her.

\\

Tuesday morning starts off just the same as the morning before except this time she sees that the hallways have been covered in Homecoming Court campaign posters. Or maybe she was too lost in her thoughts yesterday to notice. The only people Brittany recognizes though are: Santana, Quinn and that guy Rick.

Brittany rolls her eyes at the last one; who would ever vote for that dickhead?

When Brittany gets to her locker, she finds that she has beaten Santana this time around. She’s busy trying to organize her books in her bag when she sees crisp white tennis shoes appear next to her.

“Nice shirt,” Santana compliments, “See you finally decided to participate and show some school spirit.”

Brittany blushes but tries to recover by giving back a little sarcasm, “Tie Dye Tuesday? How could I resist? It’s so original.”

Santana rolls her eyes though she smiles brightly. Brittany grins too and takes in the tie dye shirt Santana has on made up of red and black. Her eyes dip lower to find that Santana’s still wearing her Cheerios skirt underneath and it has her shaking her head.

“You really wear that uniform 24/7,” Brittany notes with a chuckle, “Do you ever take it off?”

“Nope,” Santana jokes, “It’s like a second skin to me now.”

“Gross,” Brittany scrunches her nose at the image before changing the subject, “I like your Homecoming Court posters by the way.”

“Thanks,” Santana smiles, “Nominations aren’t officially out yet, but Quinn and I are always on the ballot. Might as well get a head start.”

Brittany nods, “Well you’ve got my vote.”

“So I heard you threatened the entire football team yesterday,” Santana says instead of thanking her again.

Brittany bites her lip but she’s glad the locker door hides her from Santana for the moment, “News really does travel fast around here.”

“Not much usually happens,” Santana replies, “You’re really shaking things up.”

“Yeah, well…” Brittany sighs as she closes her locker, “It wasn’t really a threat. I just don’t like bullies.”

“I should watch out then,” Santana says as she closes her locker too. The way she’s smirking at Brittany has the blonde feeling drawn in.

“Why?” Brittany finds herself asking, “Are you a bully?”

“That’s what they say,” Santana lifts her shoulder casually before she’s batting her long lashes up at Brittany, “You gonna threaten me too?”

Brittany finds herself laughing; she can’t imagine threatening Santana.

“I don’t think I need to,” Brittany tells her behind a small smile, “You’re smart; you know what’s right and what isn’t.”

Santana just tilts her head to the side and stares. Her expression is hard to read, but there’s a hint of a smile there so Brittany knows she hasn’t crossed a line or said something wrong.

“I’ll see you later, Pierce,” Santana says just as the bell rings.

And just like always, Brittany nods and watches Santana disappear down the hall – a sea of students parting just for her.

\\

By the end of the day, Brittany sits next to Santana in their final class listening to the afternoon announcements. It’s almost time for them to announce the nominations for Homecoming Court and Brittany can just feel the anticipation radiating off of Santana.

She looks a little nervous too which confuses Brittany. Earlier Santana said that she and Quinn always get nominated; why would she be worried now?

Still, Brittany doodles away in her notebook while Coach Sylvester starts to read off the names.

“Votes will be counted on the night of the Homecoming Dance by a team of respected officials so don’t even think about trying to vote twice. All illegal ballots will be tossed,” Coach Sylvester explains stiffly, “Here are the nominations for Homecoming Queen: Missy Gunderson, Quinn Fabray and Santana Lopez.”

Brittany glances to her side to see the proud smile Santana tries to keep hidden.

“Congrats,” Brittany whispers to her.

“Thanks,” Santana whispers back before turning to face the board again, “Hopefully guys from the Titans get nominated too. No way I’m going with a Puck Head.”

Brittany nods; if anyone on the team is worthy enough to be nominated she’d pick Mike or Sam or Kurt but that might be a little bias since they’re her friends.

“No surprises there,” Coach Sylvester grumbles, “And finally the nominations for Homecoming King are as follows: Rick Nelson, Scott Cooper and Brittany S. Pierce…wait, how does that work?”

Brittany’s eyes go wide upon hearing her name – after the loss the Titans sustained on Friday, after her hard stance on slushie facials, after her lack of self-promotion…she still gets nominated? It doesn’t make any sense.

She doesn’t even hear the rest of the announcements – she’s that surprised.

“This has got to be a mistake,” Brittany murmurs out of disbelief.

“Perks of being the quarterback,” Santana says, “You were bound to get roped into something.”

[sambergscott]

you’re a light in the dark

post-7x06 // Jake and Amy (and me) dealing. 

Her parents had eight kids. She has a million nieces and nephews and a million more cousins. Jake’s dad seemingly made babies in every major airline hub in North America. And yet, for some reason, this isn’t happening for them.

The first couple of months, they don’t think anything of it. Trying to make a baby is fun and magical and neither of them are gonna complain about having more sex.

She consults the baby binder a little more as time goes on and her period arrives on the twenty fifth of each month like clockwork. They throw out their favourite take out menus, start eating healthier and run together every morning before work.

They also buy a new couch and a family friendly mid-size sedan and the cutest baby Adidas Superstars she’s ever seen, because they’re convinced that they’ll be pregnant before they know it and Amy Santiago is nothing if not prepared.

They schedule sexy times and foreplay and fantasise about what their baby will be like in their post-sex haze.

When that doesn’t work, they try The Jake Way: a super sexy mission to rescue her husband from kidnappers ending in a super sexy Airbnb tryst.

Still, the pregnancy test comes back negative.

As the leaves turn from green to amber and the air cools, forcing Amy to get out their winter coats and turn their apartment heating up to high, she starts to worry. They’re doing everything right, they’re taking the vitamins, eating healthy, having sex all the time. There must be a reason why it isn’t working.

After watching an episode of Friends on their new couch -- The One With The Fertility Test -- she decides to book them a doctor’s appointment.

“As a precaution,” she tells her husband when he furrows his brow in concern.

“Uh, OK, yeah, sure,” he agrees, pausing the episode.

She phones the doctor, books the first available appointment (Monday at 2.15 pm) and adds it to their joint calendar. “Snuggle with me?” She asks once he has accepted her invite.

“C’mere.” He pulls her into his arms and holds her tight as she cries into his shirt.

They don’t watch any more Friends. It hurts too much, seeing her favourite fictional couple going through the same heartbreak as them. They don’t watch much TV at all, not even Die Hard. The trailer for the new Babies documentary starts playing as she flicks through Netflix one night while Jake is working late and she almost breaks the TV with the way she throws the remote across the room.

The doctor’s appointment rolls round and they’re both nervous as hell.

They booked the entire day off work as advised by the kind receptionist on the phone, who warned them that they would be extremely emotional both before and after. Booking the day off was an ordeal in itself when Terry wrongfully assumed they were getting a sonogram. There was a crushing feeling in Amy’s chest listening to her husband explain that no, they’re not pregnant, not yet.

Not yet.

They hold hands tightly as they wait for the doctor to call them in. Jake bounces his leg, Amy chews her lower lip, they both try not to cry when another couple walks in with a baby in one of those carriers that all the cool dads seem to wear. Jake’s been eyeing them up online for months. If John Legend can rock the baby carrier look, so can he.

“Why are they at the fertility clinic when they’ve already made one?” Amy mutters darkly.

The doctor says their names before Jake can respond.

He squeezes Amy’s hand as they follow the doctor to her room, a silent reminder that they’re in this together.

They have to explain the issue -- how long they’ve been trying, whether Amy has suffered any previous miscarriages, what their lifestyles are like. It’s a little embarrassing, going into the specifics of their sex life, but it’s all for a good cause. The best cause. Creating a new little life, a baby just like the dozens of pictures of success stories on the walls, Santiago-Peralta stylez.

“You’re doing everything I would usually recommend to my patients,” she says and despite herself, Amy’s lips twitch into a tiny smile. She knew her research was thorough. “Sometimes your body takes time to adjust to coming off birth control or reacts badly to stress. Sometimes it just takes a while and there’s no real reason why. We’ll take some samples from you both, but my advice is to just keep doing what you are.”

The tests come back negative, which should be good news, but it just sucks even more.

If there’s nothing wrong with them then why can’t they get pregnant?!

As they grapple with their situation, it seems like everyone around them is getting pregnant. Celebrities on Instagram. A couple of Amy’s uniformed officers. Santiago cousin after Santiago cousin. Hitchcock and that Russian chick with the missing tooth.

She tries to be happy for them, she really does, the façade crumbling as soon as she’s alone with Jake and sobbing into his shirt again.

They get hammered at Hitchcock’s wedding and attempt to have sex in the bathroom, alley and supply closet at work before giving up and just having sex in their own apartment, in their own bed. It’s not as crazy as Hitchcock’s story, but it’s still pretty hot and the sex is as stupid good as it’s always been.

She really thinks it’s worked this time. She’s got the sickness, the sore boobs, her period is late...

Jake runs to the store to get a new pregnancy test and a cute onesie he saw and just had to buy. They’re both positively vibrating as she chugs a litre of water, pees on the stick and sets the timer on her phone.

It’s second nature to them now, waiting for the test to say Pregnant.

Amy paces the width of the bathroom.

Jake twists his wedding ring on his finger.

They share apprehensive smiles.

When the timer finally goes off, Amy picks up the test, feeling hopeful for the first time in months.

Her face falls. “Negative.”

“We’ll try again next month,” he promises as she throws it into the trash. She is so sick of hearing next month, next month, next month. She wants a baby now.

Which is why the decision to stop trying is so painful.

She doesn’t want to stop. All she wants is to see Jake holding a baby -- their baby. But nothing is working and the last six months have been so difficult, a literal rollercoaster of excitement, disappointment, excitement, disappointment. And Amy has never liked rollercoasters.

She feels guilty, like it’s her fault they haven’t got pregnant yet, like she’s just bad at making babies. She confides in Rosa about it and she knows Jake talks to Charles, their friends both coming to the conclusion that as much as they want this for them too (and Charles really, really does), they’re clearly exhausted and sad and stressed and maybe taking a break would be a good thing.

So she tells Jake she’s done trying.

It’s hard enough to walk away from him, from their dream of having a family, and even harder to go to Hitchcock’s party and pretend like everything’s fine when it’s not fine. Everything is garbage, just like Holt said at Captain Dozerman’s funeral.

But then Jake joins her at the bar with a slice of cake with a heart on top and is all sweet and understanding and the best husband she could have possibly asked for. He tells her that they’re already a family and whether the universe wants them to be just a two or a whole squad of Peraltas, he’ll be happy either way.

“I love you,” she says after he finishes his speech.

“I love you,” he responds.

They lean in for a kiss. It starts off sweet, gentle, heating up when she realises just how much she’s missed this, kissing him without the constant pressure of needing to conceive. It feels nice.

“Should we go?”

“Yes,” he answers immediately, without question.

They use their final pregnancy test a couple of weeks later. It’s still negative, but it doesn’t feel like the end of the world anymore. They’ve taken down the command center, getting their living room back, their morning and evening routines are so much shorter now they’re not taking all the vitamins and sex is considerably more enjoyable. Sure, they still want kids one day -- they both smile wistfully every time they pass a stroller in the street and volunteer for regular babysitting duties -- and when the universe finally grants them a beautiful baby of their own, they will no doubt be the happiest parents this side of the East River, but for right now they’re OK, just the two of them, their little family, their own slice of perfection.

[novannna]

Perfect Imperfection’s Chapter 1

An Au where Nova never joined the Anarchists, instead she and Evie were adopted by Hugh and Simon.  Adrian blamed the Renegades for his mothers death, and he ran away to be raised by the Anarchists.  Nova and Adrian have switched places.  It starts at the beginning of Renegades.  

Let me know what you think!!!!(And if I should keep working on it)

Word count:2326

Ch.1 

Adrian watched the parade procession inch along, a sneer pasted on his face.  The streets were full of foolish people, idiots who put their fate in the hands of the Renegades.  The loud band marched along, and a chorus of boos and insults reached Adrians ears.  The villains' floats had arrived.  Grotesque imitations of fallen anarchists graced the floats.  Adrian felt offended as he watched the spectators hurl insults and rotten food at the actors upon the vehicles.  While he personally had not known those anarchists well, it still stung watching people hate them so violently.  They didn’t know anything.  

“And so it begins,” Ingrid's dry voice crackled through his earpiece.  

“Let them laugh.  They won’t be laughing for much longer.   Sketch, are you in position?” Phobia asked.  

“Yeah.  I just need to know which rooftop you want me on.”

“The council hasn’t left the warehouse yet.  I will alert you once they do.”  

Adrian glanced back at the parade.  His lip twitched.  “How do people put so much trust in the Renegades?  It's repulsive.”  His lip twitched.

Ingrid snickered.  “Easy.  They’re all idiots.  Just blend in.  Remember your training.”

“I know,” Adrian sighed.  “But much more of this, and I might puke!”  

“Remember the mission, Sketch.  We have too much to lose if this goes wrong,” Phobia said.  

“Is that…”  Oh my holy bomb squad, they have a Queen Bee this year.”  Adrian glanced up.  Sure enough, a woman dressed in a sleazy sequined dress and an enormous blonde wig stood on the float.  She clutched a large stuffed bumble bee to her chest and was wailing about something.  Wet mascara ran down her cheeks.  

“That isn’t far off,” Adrian snickered.  “It's a pretty damn good impression.”  

“I can’t wait to tell Honey,” said Ingrid.  “We should be recording this.”  

“Are you offended they don’t have a Detonator?” He asked.  

“Well, I am now,” she responded.  

Just then, a loud crashing sound came from the parade.  Adrian glanced up to see Ace Anarchy emerge from Merchant tower, cackling.  The actor wore the same costume as Ace, as well as the familiar helmet.  

Adrian felt rage rush through him, and he bit down a snarl.  

“Relax Sketch.  We’re doing this for him, remember?” Ingrid said.  

“Right.  For him.”  

A body crashed into Adrian, and he tripped forwards.  A number of heads glanced towards him, and he cringed down.  

“Watch where you're going,” he told the person.  A small girl wearing a Dread Warden mask looked up at him.  He righted her up, and she muttered sorry, then raced away.  Adrian turned back to the parade.   

“What was that, Sketch?”  Ingrid asked.  He didn’t respond.  In the corner of his eye, Adrian saw the girl crash into someone else.  Instead of correcting her, the girl tackled her and put her into a headlock.  She dragged her, kicking and screaming to Adrian.  

Give it back,” she said.  The girl had short black hair and electric blue eyes.  Her voice had a slight rasp to it.  

“Put me down!  Let me go!”  The little girl yelled.  

Adian looked around to see a number of people watching them, concerned.  That wasn’t good.  “What are you doing?   Put her down!”  He tried to quell the panic rising up.  The girl smiled at Adrian, and he felt his mouth go dry.  His heart thumped loudly in his chest.  

“All right, Evie.  You’ve got three seconds to hand it over before I report you.  And I know you don’t want that,” She said in a patronizing tone.  The girl scowled fiercely.  

“I hate you.”  She dropped something into the other girls palm.  

“I’ll see you later.”  She let the thief go.  “And if I hear from anyone that you’ve been stealing, you’ll be in so much trouble.”  The girl stuck out her tongue, then darted off.  

“Here you are,” the girl said to Adrian.  He warily extended his hand.  She dropped a small golden locket into his palm.  His hand went to the space on his neck where it usually hung.  

“What?  How did she get that?”  He asked, reaching around his neck.  

“Sketch, what's happening?”  Ingrid's voice asked in his ear.  He ignored it.  

“Do you want help with that?”  The girl asked.  “Here, let me.”  Before he could respond, she was already clipping it around his neck.  

“Uh, thanks,” Adrian said.  

“No problem.”  the girl winced.  “Shit!  The clasp is broken.  Evie, you’re in so much trouble!”

Adrian reached for it back, but the girl stopped him.  “It's okay, I can fix it.”

“No, you don’t understand, it's my moms.  You can’t..it's not-” He started, but the girl shushed him.  

“No, don’t worry.”  She slipped something out of her pocket.  She bent her head over the necklace, her bangs hiding her face.  She stood back up and presented Adrian the necklace, the clasp fully fixed.  It even looked the same.  

“How did you do that?” Adrian asked, impressed.  

“A new tool I designed.  It can scan an object and replicate whatever part is missing.”  She smiled proudly.  “It’s still a prototype, but it works pretty damned well.”  Before Adrian could stop her, she clasped the necklace around his neck.  The locket was a familiar weight against his neck, and he relaxed slightly.  

“Adrian, are you compromised?” Ingrid’s voice barked into his ear.  He winced.  

The girl was saying something, but Adrian didn’t hear her. A bout of cheers and clapping surged through the crowd.  

“Looks like the councils here.”

Adrian nodded.  “Looks like it.”  He tried his hardest to keep the distaste out of his voice.  

“Sketch, west station,” Phobias voice said in his ear.   

Adrian snapped to attention.  “On it.”  He turned around and started to jog away.�� 

“Your welcome,” the girl called out after him.  He ignored her.  Someone shoved a flyer into his hand and he crumpled it into a ball and stuffed it into his pocket without bothering to look at it.  He ducked into an alleyway and grabbed his backpack from behind the dumpster.  

“Sketch, what is your status?”  Phobia asked.  

“Grabbing my stuff.  I’ll be up on the roof in a minute.”

“Hurry.  You have a superhero to kill.”  

---

Nova watched her dads wave at the cheering fans and smiled.  It felt good to be able to celebrate something for the first time in a while.  For the first time in what felt like forever, Nova was happy.  Most people had finally stopped treating her like some pariah, just because she was related to Ace Anarchy.  Her family was happy, so she was happy.  And she had a lot of new tech that was successful. 

Although, she was absolutely pissed at Evie.  Why the hell did her sister have to go around, stealing from everyone.  She didn’t need the money, she did it for the fun of it. Nova scowled thinking about it.  Oh she was going to have some serious words with her.  Her mind wandered back to the boy from earlier.  The one with the locket.  He had seemed so nervous and twitchy.  He reminded Nova of a dog a little.  Sweet, but hesitant.  Nova smiled thinking about him.

The happiness turned to chaos in seconds.  Nova watched a bullet whiz through the air, heading right toward her dad.  Nova held her breath as it snapped against his metal skin, a hair's breadth from his eye. The council snapped to attention, commanding the crowd to remain calm, telling them that everything was fine.  Nova could see a small dark form on the rooftop, a swarm of monarch butterflies hovering around it. Her wristband buzzed.  A message from Oscar to the team.  

Sketch spotted on top of buildings across from the parade.  Red Assassin, Monarch and I are engaging.  Back up may be needed.  

Nova grinned, despite the chaos surrounding.  A perfect opportunity to test her new tech.  A compact suit with several added benefits.  She ducked into a nearby ally.  She zipped her jacket up all the way and pulled the hood over her head.  It hissed and the fabric pulled back, revealing metal underneath.  The metal slid along her body on invisible hinges, moving until it completely enveloped her.  A visor covered her face, darkening the world around her slightly.  A bright red R was emblazoned on the chest.  

Nova bounced up and down gently.  She went almost five feet into the air, and came down without a sound.  

“Anti-gravity works,” she said to herself.  “What else does?”  She held out her fist and squeezed her hand tight.  Flames roared out, turning an old crate to ashe.  

“Fire works.”  She looked down at the metal covering her hand.  “And not even scorch marks.  Yay!”  Nova grinned behind her mask.  She bent down, then leapt upwards.  The suit carried her all the way to the rooftop where she rolled to a halt.  Nova backed up a tiny bit, then started to run.  She gathered enough momentum to jump across the gap between buildings.  

She let out a whoop.  

“Hell yeah!” she screamed.  It felt almost as if she was flying.  She jumped across rooftops to the building she could see her team fighting Sketch on.  Nova landed in front of him.  She looked around to see Ruby crumpled in a heap on the ground.  Danna stood not too far away with blood covering her leg.  

“You must be new around here,” Sketch said.  

She tilted her head.  “I’ve been around long enough to know who you are.. Sketch.”  

He smiled up at her behind his mask.  “Should I be flattered?”

A loud cackling blasted through the air and both Nova and Sketch turned to look for its source.  

“What is that idiot doing here?”  Sketch grimaced.  A hot air balloon floated through the streets, the bright green anarchist ‘A’ painted on it.  The Puppeteer stood in the basket, his head tilted back.  He let out another bout of manic laughter, his crazy orange hair tangling around his head.  

“Oh reeeenegades,” he sang.  “Doesn’t anyone want to play with me?”  Screams echoed from far below.  “Eeny, meeny,miny...mo!”  Golden strings cascaded down from his fingertips.  Nova knew that several innocent children had just been possessed by the Puppeteers' powers.

“Tag!  You’re it!”  He screamed.  “Friends of yours?” He asked Sketch.  

Sketch looked at Nova.  “Not really.”  He threw something at Nova and it expanded midair.  A net wrapped itself around her, pinning her limbs to her body.  “Nice to meet you,” he said, and started to jog away.  Nova snarled.  

“Not so fast.”  She wrapped her fist around the rope and it began to burn away, the acrid smell of smoke filling the air.  

“Another fire elemental.  How quaint.  Not exactly a rare breed, but it's hard to criticise a classic.”  

Nova snarled and launched herself at him.  Her suit carried her all the way to him.  He backed away, surprised.  “You can’t escape me, Sketch.  I’m taking you into custody and you will answer for your crimes.”  

“Lovely as that sounds, I actually had other plans for the afternoon.”  A shadow passed over them and Nova looked up to see butterflies converging into Monarch.  

“Who are you?” she asked Nova.  

“I am the Sentinel,” she responded, puffing her chest out a tiny bit.  

Sketch burst out laughing.  “Seriously?”  Nova felt slightly insulted by his reaction.   She had thought it sounded like a cool name.  

“Friends of yours?”  Danna asked.  

“I’m really not that friendly,” Sketch responded.  “Beside’s, she’s wearing your trademark.”  Danna glared suspiciously at Nova.  

Sketch lashed out at Danna with a red knife, one Ruby must have made.  Danna turned into butterflies before he could hurt her, only losing a single butterfly.  Nova lunged forwards and wrapped her arms tightly around Sketch.  He tried to get free, but Nova was too strong.  He shoved them both backwards and they tumbled off the roof and landed on another one.  Nova winced as she fell onto a small fountain, stone cracking beneath their weight.  

“Hey Sentinel,” Sketch said.  Nova turned towards him, and he drove Ruby’s knife into her shoulder.  She roared with pain and held out her fist, too mad to think before she blasted him with fire.  He ducked and the flames went right over him and struck, to Nova’s horror, a large cluster of orange and black butterflies.  She heard a scream of pain and watched the insects merge into Danna.  Her uniform was blackened from ribs to her hip. 

“Monarch?” A voice asked.  Nova looked over to see Oscar pull himself onto the roof.  

“Help her,” Nova screamed.  

“Who the hell are you?” he yelled back.  

Nova ignored him and turned back to Sketch.  He was running towards the edge of the roof, trying to get to the Puppeteers balloon.

“You have a tagalong,” the Puppeteer said to Sketch.  Nova reached him and wrapped her fingers around his throat.  

“You tried to assassinate Captain Chromium,” she growled. “Why?  Who put you up to it?  What else are they planning?”  She was completely filled up with rage.  

“You Renegades sure ask a lot of questions.” he said.  

“You better answer them,” Nova snarled.  

“You think I’m afraid of a pompous neophyte in a toy suit? He asked incredulously.  

“Neophyte?”  She asked.  

He sighed.  “It means amatuer.  You're obviously new to this game.”  Nova’s fingers loosened slightly. 

“I know what it-- argh!”  She stomped her foot. “Look, I don’t really care whether or not you’re afraid of me, but I’m willing to bet you're at least a little bit afraid of dying, like we all are.”  She tightened her fingers.  

He wheezed slightly.  “You know what they say… one cannot be brave who has no fear.”  Nova started, giving him enough time to wiggle free.  He brought his fist around and struck Nova in the head.  The impact knocked her down and her vision dimmed.  She blinked once.. Twice.. The third time though, her eyes stayed shut.  

[biconicfinn]

Hi shakthi! what do you feel about royalty/ fairytale au's? The idea of any variations of prince!Magnus au always gets me. -luxxmagnus

I LOVE THEM SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!! i love royalty au when it’s set in a diff universe and i dont always go for modern royalty, but a few of them i’ve read are well done so it’s really dependent on the way it’s written! but i’ve got a few must haves for a royalty au that get me like 😍 

sorry this is messy and all over the place sgkagbkdag

MAGICAL PRINCE MAGNUS AHHHHHHHH okay so obviously prince magnus>>>> because the aesthetic of prince magnus in fancy clothes, with an intricate crown and beautiful jewellery!!! also it means we can get courtship! and political intrigue! he still has magic because i say so!! also because magnus is so perfect he’d be the type of prince with a great relationship with his people so we’d get magnus being the sweetheart he is! also prince magnus overthrowing his father, the tyrannical king asmodeus????? UGH PERFECTION!!!!!! also i’d like to think that after asmodeus is overthrown, magnus still is not yet of age to be crowned king so ragnor (his older cousin, and no dont ask how they’re related) is the regent but really magnus has a lot of input in the ruling and ragnor is there as more of a formality and an advisor to magnus? cat, raphael, and dot are also members of the royal court and are magnus’ closest advisors and they have their own little family you know? also magnus’ mom died of a sickness when magnus was young and it was tragic and he was really broken by it because he loved his mother so much. so asmodeus tries to raise magnus to be the perfect weapon but thanks to his heart of gold and his found family, he doesn’t become the monster his father says he is. he wants to lead his kingdom to greatness, and do his best to help his people recover from asmodeus’ rule and move forward. 

WARRIOR PRINCE ALEC HELL YEAH so with alec i like the idea of him being the crown prince of a neighbouring kingdom and he and magnus meet and it’s like Instant Sparks and they fall in love at first sight, as they tend to do, and it’s amazing. alec would be the prince who has a reputation of being stoic and cold and closed off but he’s just under the weight of all the expectations you know? plus i feel like his kingdom would be a kingdom of warriors and so he’s also excellent in combat and gets a reputation as an amazing archer and strategist. and it’s hard to please the lightwood parents who are forever comparing alec to jace and belittling him, and it’s tough but he does it for izzy and max, so they don’t take the pain. (alec lightwood is the best big brother ever). and he’s got all these ideas to open up idris and form proper alliances with the neighbouring kingdoms, to unify and bring peace to his people.  

FANCY ROYAL BALL FOR LIKE SOMEONE’S ENGAGEMENT IDK IT’S NOT RELEVANT BUT THAT IS WHERE MALEC MEET it’s the 18th birthday of idk clary who’s a princess of some other kingdom idk it’s not relevant the exact occasion and the only thing that matter is this is where all the romance get set up! so it’s a big diplomatic thing and the leader and/or their heirs are expected to attend and magnus goes to represent edom with the immortal squad, and alec is there with izzy (and jace but they just ignore him after he runs after some poor girl to dance wth her). alec exchanges pleasantries with a few of the other guests but he’s not really there for gossip, trying to discuss alliances and trade agreements. magnus is asked to dance by many suitors, but he’s not looking to start a relationship nor to fuel the rumour mill so he politely declines and carries on mingling and soon enough the two princes meet and it’s like magic. magnus makes a terribly cheesy pun in response to a stranger at the bar’s sarcastic retort at some pompous duke and oh no he’s hot!!!! they both smile and introduce themselves with a distinct lack of effortless flair for magnus, or the calm composure typical of alec. they get to talking and it’s easy to see that neither of them have experienced this kind or ease and comforting familiarity when talking to someone outside of their inner circles. 

whilst magnus and alec are falling in love over the course of a conversation, there is some hilarious shenanigans as maia, raphael, meliorn, and simon find themselves tangled in a love quadrangle as they all feel so drawn to one another, taking turns to dance with one another before retreating to their friend groups to be like “they are all so beautiful and sweet and kind please help!!!!” and so ensues one of the most elaborate slow burn romances the royal courts have seen in ages (the betting pool is also exceptionally large and is won by meliorn who with raphael, started more than half the rumours in order to stir the pot and collect the winnings and spoil their partners). 

so anyway back to malec, they talk and have a few drinks and all is well and good and still pretty calm until alec picks up the way magnus is swaying to the music and tapping his feet to the beat, so alec asks magnus to dance and leads him to the dancefloor where they dance the night away, alec more than happy to twirl magnus around the dancefloor and make him giggle and blush, showing him off to everyone else. realising that they’ve attracted quite a fair bit of attention, they decide to steal away to an empty garden and continue dancing in the moonlight, the night is pure and utter perfection, and they part somewhat reluctantly, wanting to spend more time with one another, but also eager for the next day where they have agree to spend the day together. alec steels himself to press a brief, sweet, chaste kiss to magnus’ cheek before leaving to escort a tired and tipsy isabelle back to their guest chambers. magnus is left blushing, hand pressed to his cheek where alec’s warm lips pressed a gentle kiss that gave him butterflies.

oh my god this is not what i set out to write im in too deep now kdsbvfvasjbvjsav sorry may

COURTSHIP!!!! i desperately need courtship rituals!! like alec sending magnus elaborate flower arrangements with sweet, affectionate messages in flower language, magnus sending alec charmed tokens like a simple necklace or leather bracelet that has protective and healing spells woven into it!! them sending love letter to one another! they spend a lot of time together at social events and at “diplomacy meetings” where yes, they do discuss trade and alliances and what not but also it’s an excuse for them to spend at least a week with one another in either kingdom and they go on picnic dates on palace grounds, sneak out of their rooms at night to stargaze, wander through towns and eat street food (and alec always buys magnus little gifts and tokens that remind him of his love) and they train together, teaching each other the fighting styles of their respective kingdoms, and yes, there is a gratuitous alec teaching magnus archery scene because im fucking weak!!! and alec likes to hang out in the royal apothecary in edom and watch magnus make a whole bunch of cool potions, invent spells, and write magical theory. magnus in turn, is very fond of going to the training sessions of idris’ elite warriors–the shadowhunters, to watch alec obliterate a whole bunch of soldiers at various combat skills. 

BATTLE COUPLE!!!!!! so they’re together for months and all is good but then valentine happens and has been getting his forces gathered during this whole thing and even before it (im just stupid and forgot to mention it sdkfvbabhvjabv) and anyway he attacks!! and the crown princes of idris and edom unite, together with the other young royals from the neighbouring kingdoms and their armies to defeat valentine. and the two of them are damn near impossible to beat, alec with his honed-from-birth warrior skills, and magnus with his proficiency in both magical and non-magical combat. and it goes well at first but then the tides turn and they have to split up and they part and it’s this moment of “i don’t know if we’ll survive this” and they almost go tosay i love you but then alec is like “i’ll tell you when we survive this, so please come back to me, and i’ll come back to you” and they’re both crying a little but they share one last kiss before separating.

the battle ends and they’re desperate to find each other, tearing through the battlefield to find their love. and they finally see each other and run into each other’s arms, both looking a little worse for wear, and they pull away from the embrace long enough for alec to blurt out “i love you” with so much conviction and surety that magnus subconsciously shakes his head, disbelieving that someone could love him of all people, before confessing his own love for alec. they kiss and it feels like relief and home and hope. 

IDK HOW TO DESCRIBE BUT THE THING WHERE THEY’RE A DISGUSTINGLY CUTE COUPLE AND THEY’RE BASICALLY ENGAGED BUT NOTHING OFFICIAL

so they recover from the battle and they mourn their fallen, celebrate their victories, and bring justice to the invaders. this young generation of leaders more or less formally ascends to power and usher in a new era of peace, collaboration, and unity (the fact that there are so many inter-kingdom royal romances certainly doesn’t hurt the alliance)

in this time of peace, cat and dot get married and adopt madzie, the polycule are living their best lives, and izzy gets together with clary. 

magnus and alec continue their courtship for a couple more years until they both turn of age to be crowned kings. alec plans an elaborate proposal that sweeps magnus off his feet and just a month after their respective coronations, they marry and their kingdoms are merged as one. and they all lived happily ever after

[blackhakumen]

Mini Fanfic #420: Certified Moms' GroupChat (Super Smash Bros Ultimate)

Certified Mommies' GroupChat

Samus: Ok. So this might be the dumbest question I'm gonna ask....But does anyone else feel like crying again after that wholesome party our kids thrown for us?

Peach: OMG YES!!! I've never cried so hard with that much JOY before!!

Daisy: Me neither, cuz. The way Pitty went up on the stage and told us how much he and the other kids here love and appreciate us, without even having a written speech LITERALLY got me in full force! Like.......HOT DAMN that was a good cry!! :'D

Rosalina: It was a wonderful celebration for all of us. I'm just so blessed to have them in our lives.

Peach: Me toooo~ I love each and everyone of our babies so much! Speaking of which....I got something precious to show you ladies today!

Samus: Lay it on us, princess.

Peach: Uploaded PreciousFamilyCuddleTime .JPEG

Daisy: AWWWWWWWWWW!!~

Rosalina: So Precious....

Peach: I knooow, right?!~ I cried so much earlier today that I made Mario and the kids worried lol. Even my precious Ultimate Lifeform was Worried about meeee!~ I'm soooo happy right now that I just can't!!!~

Samus: That's really cute and all....but you ain't the only one who's having a Cuddly moment right now.

Samus: Uploaded TheCuddleSquad .JPEG

Peach: Oh my goodness that is soooo adorable!!~

Samus: Lol Yeah. Kirby and My Little Partner been with me back when we were all crying our all out over Pit's speech. And they never left my side ever since.

Daisy: Too Precious for words, Sammy....

Samus: Will you ever stop calling me that?

Daisy: Never! :p

Rosalina: Uploaded WholesomeCuddlesandSnuggles JPEG.

Peach: Awwww!~

Daisy: Awwwwww!~

Samus: Wow even Rosie having a Cuddle Squad of here own lol.

Rosalina: It's true. Ryu and the children we're all Worried about my well being ever since the Mother's Day Celebration Party. So they were all so kind enough to keep me company. I'm really glad Lucas, Ness, and Ashley came back home here safe and sound.

Peach: Me too. I missed them sooo much earlier today, but I'm really proud of Lucas for being brave enough visiting his mother's grave. And I'm proud of the other two for staying by his side as well.

Daisy: Tell me about it. That kid....He really been through a lot, hasn't he?

Samus: Yeah....But I'm really glad he's doing much better now.

Rosalina: Us too, Sammy.

Samus: Seriously?

Rosalina: Yes :)

Daisy: See? Even Rosie likes the nickname.

Samus: Whatever.....

Daisy: Anywho....I wish I have a Family to Cuddle with, but Luigi and Yoshi went out to grocery store a couple of minutes ago. So I'm all alone now :((((

Peach: Awww.... I'm sorry, Daisy.

Daisy: Eh it's fine. Weegie told me he and our baby boi will me give me lots of cuddles once they get back. So I honestly can't wait! :D

Samus: Of course Luigi gonna give you some Cuddle Time. Like, has there ever been a day that he doesn't?

Daisy: Other than the time him, Mario, and Peach went to a Fancy Haunted Hotel for the entire week, my man NEVER forgets our Daily Cuddles~

Rosalina: That's because he loves you very much.

Daisy: I Knooooooow!~ And I love him too!~ So Frickin' Much, People!!~

Peach: We know, sweetheart. Calm down lol.

Samus: Okay, Seriously, Does anyone here agrees that this is best Mother's Day any of us had this year?

Peach: Oh Absolutely!~

Rosalina: Of Course.

Daisy: Hell Yeah! It was amazing!

Peach: And so beautiful that I might cry again :'D

Palutena Joins the Chat

Palutena: Hey, Ladies.

Peach: Hello, Palutena. How are you this evening?

Palutena: Amazing. And I have a special guest with me~

Bayonetta Joins the Chat

Bayonetta: Why Hello, My Girlfriends~

Peach: Bayonetta!!~

Daisy: Yo! Welcome back!

Samus: The hell you been all day lol

Bayonetta: Oh nothing special. Just came back from a date with my darling little Joker.

Daisy: Oh yeah...I forgot you told us Ren was taking you out today! How was it?

Bayonetta: Absolutely Wonderful, Darling! We both had so much fun with one another. He even took me to this stunning Restaurant from a across the street. And I CANNOT express how happy I am to tell you all the Wonderful News today.

Samus: "Wonderful News"...............No.....

Bayonetta: That's right, my dear Sammy. It's finally happening!~

Samus: Holy Shit..........

Daisy: What? What is it?

Samus: Ladies, I think Bayonetta is saying here is that Ren has accepted their proposal of adopting him officially.

Peach: OH MYYYYY!~

Rosalina: Oh my goodness!

Daisy: OH MY GOD!! SERIOUSLY?!!!

Palutena: Yep!~ As of today, our Renny is going to be Officially joining our family!~ :D

Peach: Oh my Goodness that is WONDERFUL NEW!~ I'm SOOOO HAPPY FOR YOU TWO!!~

Bayonetta: Us too!~ I've cried more than twice today and they're ALL Tears of Undying Joy!~

Palutena: Also......

Palutena: Uploaded HappyCuddlyFamily .JPEG

Samus: My God.....Does the Preciousness EVER ends?!

Peach: Never in a Million Years, Sammy!~

Samus: You too?!

Peach: Yes! It's cute and I already Love it.

Samus: I swear, you people are impossible sometimes.....

Bayonetta: And yet you love us all the same~

Samus: True. You all are like the a huge family I never thought I wanted until now.

Daisy: Awww~ You do loves us!~

Samus: Guess I do lol

Peach: I Love Everyone of You with All my Heart!

Samus: Us too, Princess. Us too.

Daisy: Happy Mother's Day, Everyone!! :D

@keyenuta

@cyber-wildcat

@26shann

@chompycroc

@albion-93

@princeoflions123

@ink-correctsmashbrosbloo

@gengar-sans

@luigifan00001

[kpopfanfictrash]

DRAFT 1 (SCENE 17) of The Art of More.

Author’s Note: I received a request to share portions of my first draft versus my final and discuss the changes I made and why. I’m willing to do this (*swallows nervously*) but PLEASE do not reblog these first draft posts. They are not intended to be spread on their own. If you do reblog, I will request you take it down.

Below the cut is the first draft of the beginning of the final scene, after the entire situation with Rosenbarr has been wrapped up.

Two days later, word broke on campus.

It took you all of Sunday to sort through all the information you had, come up with a cohesive narrative and work with Seokjin's Uncle to turn it into the police. At the same time, you sent it to various news publications, since who knew how long it would take the police to actually get Rosenbarr fired.

The result of this was, by the time your practice Monday night rolled around, everyone on campus knew what had transpired. They did not know your or Jungkook's roles in it, but the admissions scandal at your University had formally broke. By dinnertime, the University had formally terminated Rosenbarr's contract while they worked with the police to appropriately investigate.  

You, Seokjin, Jungkook and Gina celebrated when you sent over the file, but then you needed to prepare statements for the University, give corroborating stories to the police and by the time practice Monday night rolled around, you felt you had barely had time to breathe, let alone properly celebrate.

Flipping your phone over again in your hand, you tried not to look at it for his texts. Him, meaning Jungkook, who had texted you often since the plan in the restaurant, but never about anything more than that.

He talked in the group chat, was polite and friendly to your responses, but that was it. Nothing more. You were beginning to wonder if you had imagined the exchange at the party, if maybe you had drunkenly kissed someone else, and not Jungkook.

"No," Gina had said Monday night at dinner when you asked, not bothering to close her mouth as she chewed. "You definitely kissed Jungkook at the party. Like, mouths open and everything. Seokjin can confirm."

"Yep." Seokjin had nodded. "And if you didn't kiss Jungkook, then you kissed someone who looked an awful lot like him."

So, that was out, then.

You had kissed Jungkook at the party, he had admitted he liked you, then the whole thing with Rosenbarr had happened and... nothing. Not a word. Frustrated, you flipped your phone once again.

"Alright," you said, glancing up at the clock. Only five minutes left until the end of the practice. "Why don't we end it here for the night?"

The rest of your squad came to a stop, ceasing their chatter to look at you, wide-eyed. Never in the history of your time as dance captain had you ever ended practice early. Feeling their gazes on you, you fought not to look down.

"Are you... okay, Y/N?" asked Aubre, re-tying her hair.

"Yes. Why?"

"Um, no reason." She glanced at the rest of the team. "That sounds great, yeah. Let's leave a little bit early."

The rest of them shrugged and started to scatter, picking up water bottles to chug extra hydration. You joined them at the bags, still clearly distracted as you pulled on your coat. All of a sudden, you stopped.

This was stupid. Jungkook had told you he liked you. A statement you had squarely rejected and so, while you might no longer be enemies, it was somewhat ridiculous to expect him to make the next move.

This was what had gotten you into trouble freshman year. You had assumed Jungkook stood up when in actuality, he had a valid excuse. Rather than talk to him, you had made a rash decision and paid for it dearly. Two years had passed and, rather than be friends or possibly even more, you had been uncertain enemies.

Like hell were you going to make that same mistake again. Tossing a cap on your head, you narrowed your gaze and gripped your keys in your fist.

"See you all at practice tomorrow!" you said, the first member of the team to breeze out the door.

As soon as you reached the parking lot, you launched yourself into your car and sat there for a moment, heart pounding as your hands grasped the steering wheel. Taking a deep breathe, you willed your stomach to stop flipping for a second so you could stop being a baby and tell Jungkook how you felt.

While this didn't entirely work, it at least steadied your hands enough to pull from the spot. As you drove towards Jungkook's apartment complex, panic and anxiety began to seep into your mind.

Maybe the reason he was being friendly was because that really was how he felt. Maybe Jungkook was done with your hot and cold ways and truly didn't care enough to reiterate his feelings again. Maybe you were the fool now, making the relationship between you into something it wasn't.

As soon as you thought this, you shook your head and kept driving. Even if you were a fool, that wasn't something to be ashamed of.

Before you knew it, you had reached Jungkook's apartment. Parking in the spot outside his building, you climbed from your car to hesitate on the curb. Calling him seemed weird, but showing up at his door might be even weirder.

Your decision was made when a guy paused as he entered, spotting you standing there on the pavement. "Lose your key fob?" he called, and you made your decision.

"Yes!" you said, tucking your practice bag closer to hurry across the pavement. "Sorry."

"S'alright," the guy said, holding the door open to let you through.

Once he was gone, you turned to the left and began retracing your steps from last week. Strange, that the last time you were here was only a week ago. It seemed several lifetimes had passed by then.

You climbed the steps two at a time, making your way to the third (?) floor and tentatively making your way to his door. Jungkook's apartment was plain, nothing remarkable apart from a plain, straw map which said welcome outside his front door.

A front door which swung open as soon as you arrived.

"Oh!" A girl jumped back in surprise, hand flying up to her throat. "Oh my gosh, you scared me!"

"I - oh," you said, blinking and unsure how to proceed.

[talpup]

Light In the Darkness: 15

Please remember this fic is rated mature and has warnings of violence, abuse, sexual tension, eventual sexual behavior, and other possible triggers.

***If you prefer reading off AO3 here’s the link for that: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20887595/chapters/54018274

Part II

Chapter 15

It was two weeks after the Magic Knights Entrance Exams and much to Yami’s chagrin Bronn’s hateful focus hadn’t moved on to the newest Black Bulls member. Sure the Vice Captain cuffed the new recruit on the back of the neck and gave the lad a hard time but Yami still got the brunt of it all. He supposed it was a good thing. Yami doubted the young Possession Mage could’ve handled more abuse. Fresh from his Grimoire Acceptance Ceremony, Bran was small even for a boy of fifteen and far too polite and unsure of himself to survive much of anything in Yami’s eyes. Which meant only one thing. The boy needed toughening up.

“Uh. Mister Yami. Sir.” Bran panted stopping in front of him as he entered the dining hall.

“It’s just Yami, boy.” Tobin called from his seat at the table.

“Let the boy speak.” Yami hushed liking the sound of ‘mister’ before his name.

“What would you like on your plate, sir?” Bran questioned.

Yami looked at the other members of the Black Bulls seated around the dining table wondering what was going on.

Venice and Tobin laughed while Teris and Abril appeared none too pleased. Gendry, as usual, seem oblivious to it all.

“Bran has been told of the house rule that all first year recruits cater to their senior members during their chore week of cooking.” Olsen informed smiling.

That explained Abril and Teris’ ill humor, neither liked to see the small getting picked on. Toyed with, that was well and good, but picked on was a completely different matter.

Yami was tempted to give the boy his order, till he saw Teris watching him and thought better of it. She had been somewhat distant of late, going out with Venice and not inviting him. His birthday was in two days and he didn’t want to do anything the further their separation. Before her slight withdrawal from him, Yami had hoped to get his first kiss from her as a birthday present to himself. It had been a year since they had met, nearly destroying the arena and killing everyone in it when they had battled during their own Entrance Exams, he thought he had been more then patient in denying or being interrupted from having a taste of her lips.

Yami grabbed the plate from Bran and told. “They’re having one over on you kid.”

“Come on Yami!” Tobin complained. “The least you could’ve done was wait till he got me seconds.”

“You’re no fun.” Olsen remarked shaking his head.

Without a word of apology Yami made for the serving table. Seeing burnt bacon and biscuits he cried. “Who cooked?”

Chewing Tobin answered. “The kid.”

Yami looked at Abril. “Wasn’t it your week to cook?”

Abril gave a guilty glance at Bran.

“And you had the nerve to look offended at the others making him serve.” Yami accused.

“Shame Abril.” Tobin scolded. “Taking advantage of the new recruit. Bran. Serve yourself and come sit by me. I’ll protect you from these sharks.”

“Weren’t you just complaining that Yami ruined your tricking Bran into fetching you a second serving?” Olsen remarked.

“Shut up.” Tobin snapped. “It was your idea.”

Olsen laughed. “I know. I’m brilliant.”

Teris watched Yami as he served. Venice leaned over and whispered. “Are we going out perusing again today?”

Teris nodded.

“Have any clearer idea what you want to get him?” Venice questioned.

Teris shook her head. It wasn’t that Yami was difficult to please. He’d likely be happy that she remembered his birthday let alone gone through the trouble of getting him a gift. But this was the first time she would celebrate his birth with him, last years having gone by with little fanfare as they were simply trying to survive Greywright’s training. This would also be the first thing she would ever get for him. It had to be perfect.

Yami took his usual place across from Teris and stared.

“What?” Teris asked cocking her head slightly.

“Nothing.” Yami said wondering why he had taught her how to read and dampen her Ki. Now, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get a clear reading of her, if he could read her at all.

She returned to her breakfast.

“What are you doing today?” Yami asked picking up a charred piece of bacon and letting it drop back onto his plate in disgust.

“Unless a mission comes up. Going to Castle City with Venice.” Teris answered.

“Can I come?”

“To Castle City? Why?” Teris asked.

“Why not. You’ll be there.” Yami watched her carefully wondering if it was something he had done. Or maybe something he hadn’t done. Why were girls so difficult. Couldn’t she just tell him? He’d apologized. They’d move on. Things would go back to normal. He didn’t like it when she pulled away from him.

“Don’t you have a new beast to train?” Teris reminded.

“Mooshu.” Yami smiled thinking of the long haired mess that he had saved from a boar trap. After her subdued behavior as he had nursed her back to health Mooshu had surprised him by reverting back to her wild aggression once released into the training pen.

“Ungrateful creature.” Yami muttered. Looking at Teris he said. “You keep saying you’re going to let me introduce you to her.”

Teris pushed away her plate. “I know. Maybe tomorrow.”

“What about today?” Yami tried. “Before we had out to Castle City. Pilfer misses you.” So do I, he thought.

“Not this time, Yami. Sorry.” Teris’ heart broke to see the confused disappointment in his eyes. “But I’ll go out to the pens with you tomorrow to visit Pilfer and meet Mooshu. I promise.”

Yami held her gaze a moment before looking down at his food as he moved it about the plate with a fork. The stuff wasn’t even worthy of feeding his wolves.

“That reminds me.” Tobin said putting a hand on Bran’s back. “You have to feed the beasts in the pens outside.”

“No he doesn’t.” Yami rumbled. He leaned forward so he and Bran could see each other over Tobin. “You don’t go near the pens without unless I take you.” He looked at Tobin making a noise. “What do you want? To see the kid ripped to shreds and eaten.

“I never would’ve of let him do it.” Tobin assured. “I just wanted to see boys reaction.”

“That was cruel.” Venice said shaking her head.

“Too far.” Olsen agreed. “I don’t even go near those things.”

“It was a joke.” Tobin persisted.

“I don’t remember you all giving Yami and I such a hard time when we first arrived.” Teris commented.

“That’s because you two were imposing. Olsen said. “In a good way, my lovely. Well, mostly good.”

“Imposing?” Teris questioned. “After what happened at the Entrance Exam and all that followed I was scared out of my wits.”

“And so were we.” Venice said looking at her. “Of the both of you and what you might inadvertently do to us if we messed with you.”

“Nearly destroying part of a city, possibly killing countless people, and wrecking the dining hall has it’s perks.” Tobin said giving her a nod. “That, and after the beating this one got from Bronn his second night here.” He said jutting a chin at Yami. “We figured it’d be best to let you two be.”

“I guess our difficulties were good for something.” Teris said giving Yami a small smile.

“They were good for more than that.” Yami told her. “They brought us together. Made us inseparable.

“Well, I wouldn’t say inseparable. Venice countered. “You two don’t bathe, sleep, or poo together.”

“You should be grateful for that, Teris.” Tobin told her. “I’ve had the unlucky displeasure of entering the stall after that one and let me tell you. Somethings the nose can’t forget no matter how hard it tries.”

“You’re weak.” Yami said almost proudly as he looked at Tobin out of the corner of his eye.

“Speaking of--”

“Shit?” Venice asked smiling playfully at Olsen.

“ --bathing.” Olsen went on dryly. “Did anyone ever find out why Captain Mereoleona didn’t host her usual excursion to the Lava Springs after the Star Awards?”

“Her what?” Teris asked.

“No.” Venice answered Olsen. To Teris she said. “Ever since Mereoleona became Captain of the Crimson Lions she’s hosted a massive multi-squad trip to an active volcano the day after the Star Awards.”

“Sounds like fun.” Teris enthused sarcastically.

“Oh, it’s hell getting up there,” Venice admitted. “But once you reach the top and nightfall's, the lava stops and a hot springs is revealed.”

“So you and Yami may eventually add bathing to your list of inseparable activities. Tobin teased grinning at Yami as he elbowed him in the ribs.

Yami stared at his friend unamused.

“The bathing is separate. Olsen hushed. “Though last time, I believe a couple boys got caught trying to look over to the girls side. Maybe that’s why there wasn’t one this time.”

“And after the springs we’d trek back down the mountain, a lot easier without the lava and all.” Venice added. “I don’t know who the house belongs to but it sure is nice.”

“Sounds like you’re talking about the Vermilion's Summer Cabin,” Teris said.

“You call that place a cabin?” Abril blinked. “Just when I nearly forgot you’re a royal you say something like that.”

“So you have been up to the springs,” Tobin said.

“At night.” Teris nodded. “Never traveled up there during the day. That’s when the volcano’s active.” She turned to Venice. “What’d you all do at the cabin?”

“A party of course,” Venice said. “Food--”

“Lots of food,” Olsen nodded.

“--and games. It didn’t end till everyone fell asleep.”

“Everyone slept at the Vermilion's cabin?” Teris inquired doubtfully. The place might’ve be overly large to be called a cabin but it certainly didn’t have enough bedrooms, let alone beds, for a full squad of Magic Knights never mind multiple.

Venice nodded. “Yeah. We pretty much slept wherever we found or fell.”

“Boys and girls together?” Teris questioned glancing at Yami.

“Oh, the Captains were always around and made their presence felt.” Olsen assured. “Not to mention the upstairs, where I can only assume the bedrooms are, was cordoned off.

“And if you got caught trying to seek off upstairs, like this one couple did once--” Venice audibly blew out her cheeks, eyes wide.

“And was this again?” Yami asked.

Tobin smiled. “Interested in adding bathing and sleeping together to your list of--”

“Stop talking before I make you.” Yami warned.

Tobin’s words died on his lips.

“For the two years I’ve gone it’s been the day after the Star Awards Festival,” Venice answered.

“Always been then since she started doing it.” Olsen put in. “I wonder why she didn’t do it this year.”

“What are you looser talking about?” Bronn asked entering.

“The yearly trip to the Lava Springs,” Venice called.

“Do you know why Captain Leona didn’t host one this year?” Olsen questioned the Vice Captain.

“Who knows why that She-Lion does or doesn’t do anything,” Bronn said. “Who burned breakfast!”

Gendry lifted an arm pointing down at Abril’s head.

“I didn’t burn nothing.” Abril said giving Gendry a shove.

“Well it’s your week to cook so who else could’ve done it?” Bronn accused. “Did little people sneak in while you were stacking the plates and burn it all for you?”

“No.” Abril snipped. “Bran did.”

“Bran snuck into the kitchen while your back was turned and burnt the food?” Bronn questioned in disbelief.

“No,” Abril said. “Bran did the cooking.”

Bronn eyed her sternly. “Having a bit of fun with the new recruit are you.”

“Just a bit,” Abril admitted. “It’s not like I told him it was his job to serve our plates or tend to Yami’s beasts.”

Bronn smirked in amusement as he scanned the usual suspects. “Who told the kid that?”

Olsen and Tobin pointed at each other.

Bronn huffed. “I wouldn’t mind my breakfast being served and brought to me.”

“Right!” Olsen agreed.

“But not this kindling.” Bronn tossed the serving spoon back down. “Well. I guess I’ll surprise Gilly by bringing some sweet breads to our date later this afternoon. Anyone want a come with me to Castle City? You can’t hang around me, mind.”

“Who’d want to,’ Abril muttered.

“I heard that.” Bronn snapped.

“We’ll go.” Venice said jumping up.

“If you don’t mind.” Teris said wiping her hands before taking her and Venice’s plates to the cleaning station where she scrapped the remaining food into the slop bucket and stacked the plates.

As much as Yami wanted to join them, no matter what Teris had said, he had to tend to Pilfer and Mooshu. Pilfer had reached a point where he could be trusted around others. Gendry had gladly looked after the Saber Wolf on occasion. But Mooshu was a ways from that, and even if he asked Gendry to leave her in her pen and simply toss her food in, it would only derail whatever trust he had earned from her. Maybe in a week or so that would change, but for now he had to be the one looking after Mooshu.

Yami watched Teris as she and Venice followed Bronn through the gateway without a glance back at him.

“What did you do this time?” Olsen asked as the portal closed.

Yami glared at him.

“I mean Teris hasn’t ignored you like that since the night of the Star Awards when she found out you lied to her.” Olsen went on.

“She’s not ignoring me and I didn’t lie to her.” Yami grumbled.

“You kinda did and it kinda looks like she is.” Olsen challenged.

Yami stood and made his way to the side door that led down half a level to the kitchens.

“You forgot to clear your area.” Olsen called after him pointing at the untouched plate Yami had served.

“That’s what new recruits are for.” Yami shot back before disappearing down the stairs/.

Olsen turned to Bran. “You heard him.”

15.2

Nozel’s younger sister was in Castle City for some three day long, young noble ladies activity and, despite the Silver Eagles base not being in Castle City, his father had commanded him to take a day to escort her around. Though the Silva’s, like the Vermilion's had a residence on the royals grounds beside the Kings own castle, until of she had received her grimoire, Nebra was not allow off the castle grounds without escort.

“Might we go into that shop on the corner,” Nebra asked. “Lady Neyres had the most lovely gloves on yesterday and said she got them from there.”

“Neyres was at this suction?” Nozel questioned looking down at his sister. Though he hadn’t seen the fellow royal or Margery, for that matter, the last couple of days he had thought nothing of it; he was just grateful to the blessed silence and their absence, especially where Margery was concerned.

“Of course,” Nebra giggled. “She is a royal. All royal and noble young ladies were invited. Expected, in fact.”

Nozel looked down at her a moment then away. Careful to keep his tone conversational he asked. “Did you see Teris there?”

“No.” Nebra shook her head. “And father had encouraged me to speak with her.”

“Why?” Nozel wondered certain he knew. No doubt Nebra was expected to give their father a full report of Nozel’s own activities and behavior as well.

Nebra shrugged a shoulder. “I suppose because she will one day be my sister-in-law.” She looked up at her brother. “I know you will do whatever father commands but how do you feel about eventually wedding the Lady Teris?”

Mindful of his tone and expression Nozel responded. “I don’t feel anything about it.”

“How can that be?”

“Our families have intended for us to wed since I was Noelle’s age,” he said. The mention of his youngest sister’s age reminded him that it also been four years since their mother’s death birthing the good for nothing child. He slowly blinked away the painful memory. “I suppose you could say I don’t remember a time when Teris wasn’t intended to be my bride.”

“But she’s so--”

Nozel looked sternly down at her. “What?”

“Unorthodoxed.” Nebra said carefully. “Take this event for instance. I already told you all the royal and noble ladies were invited but what I didn’t say was that this was Lady Teris’ third year being absent.”

“And?”

“And,” Nebra stressed, “if you don’t show for three years in a row you are dropped from the Young Ladies Social and Finishing League.”

Nozel blinked at the name of the group wondering a moment who had come up the thing.

“It is the dream of every young lady to receive their acceptance letter into the league on their tenth birthday,” Nebra went on. “I remember the fuss I made in the weeks leading up to the first meeting I would attend at my area Chapter.”

“Lady Teris is hardly a giddy ten year old,” Nozel reminded.

“No, but she is a royal lady of sixteen who’s name has now been stricken from the Leagues ledgers and barred from any and all League activities and functions, including Chapter meetings,” Nebra informed. “It’s unheard of. Up until her nineteenth birthday, even Lady Mereoleona attended this annual event every two years so she wouldn’t be dropped from the rolls.”

Nozel realized why his father had encouraged Nebra to speak with Teris at the event. It was more then simply keeping tabs on her activities and behavior. Nozel had no doubt that Lord Silva was much more aware of the politics surrounding how the noble women functioned themselves and that Teris had been in jeopardy of being cast out.

“Teris is a Magic Knight.” Nozel said at length. “Those duties far precede that of some ladies league.”

“But there were lots of royal and noble ladies present who are Magic Knights,” Nebra told.

“It’s possible there was a mission making her absence unavoidable.”

“Unavoidable or not the League won’t rescind their decision,” Nebra said.

“It doesn’t matter what your League does.” Nozel said opening the door to the shop she had asked to visit. “Upholding the honor and duty of being a Magic Knight will cover any blot this strickening might cause.”

If she’s on a mission, Nebra thought entering the boutique.

“Teris,” Venice whined. “We’ve looked at nearly every store in Castle City. If you can’t find something for him here you won’t find it anywhere.”

“Come on, Venice. Think of it as a mission,” Teris cajoled. “Besides, I thought you loved shopping.”

“For myself,” Venice clarified. “Not burly, mopping boys who are easy to please where you’re concerned. Want to make him happy? Spend the day with him. Even just a few minutes will do, bad as he has it for you. You know he thinks you’re mad at him.”

“Stop it.” Teris hushed blushing.

“I mean, did you see his face when you told him he couldn’t come? My heart just about broke for him.” Venice went on as she picked up ridicule looking it over.

Yami’s light brown eyes filled with questioning disappointment replayed in her mind giving Teris pause. She shook her head. “He’ll get over it. I just have to find him the perfect gift.”

“I suppose she was on a mission. Of sorts.” Nebra breathed softly as her brother allowed the closed the door behind them.

Nozel cursed his acquiescence to his sisters request certain that everything she heard and continued to hear would be relayed to their father. He was wondering how to go about getting her out of the shop without being overly obvious about what he was trying to do when the store attendant greeted them. “Welcome. Looking for anything in particular or just wanting to browse?”

Nebra began telling the woman what she was looking for while Nozel stayed by the door listening to Teris and Venice.

“What about that pen?” Venice asked pointing.

“What’s Yami going to do with a pen?” Teris bitingly asked.

“Write you love letters.” Venice teased.

The right side of Nozel’s jaw muscles began to spasm in complaint of his clenched teeth. As if there had been much doubt to begin with, he thought sullenly. She’s looking for a gift of that foreigner.

“Venice this is serious.” Teris told. “His birthday is in two days. If I don’t find the perfect gift today I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

“Go shopping tomorrow.” Venice shrugged setting down to purse wondering when she’d have need to carry such a fancy bag.

“I can’t,” Teris said. “I already promised him that I’d visit Pilfer and meet Mooshu.”

“That won’t take all day.” Venice said picking and holding up a hair clasp, looking at herself in a mirror. “I don’t know why you bother pretending to like those creatures when you can barely tolerate his human friend, Jack”

Teris gave a disgusted shiver. “Please don’t say that creeps name.”

“It’s not as if Yami’s interest in you is dependent on your interest in his creatures.” Venice turned to her still holding the beret to her hair. “Do you think this brings out the color of my eyes?”

“I don’t pretend to like Pilfer,” Teris said. “He’s a good Saber Wolf.” She picked up a different clasp and held it out to her friend. “Try this one.”

“Good at eating moderately large creatures in a single sitting and slobbering everywhere.” Venice said taking the beret and turning to the mirror. “I guess I can see why you don’t have to pretend to like it. It’s not all that different from Yami.”

“Funny.” Teris said her tone and expression making it obvious it she found it otherwise.

“I swear if he comes in one more time tracking mud, grim, and that things slimy drool all over the clean floor on my mop week...”

“You actually mop on your mop week?” Teris asked in surprise.

“Yeah.” Venice answered slowly. “Don’t you?”

Teris shook her head. “I don’t think anyone does.”

“You mean I’ve been the only one cleaning those floors?” Venice exclaimed. “No wonder they’re filthy by the time my week comes around. And here I thought we lived with a pack of pigs.”

“That’s still a high possibility given Bronn, Tobin, and Abril,” Teris said.

“Mother of all mana,” Venice cursed. “I’m gonna have a word with everyone when we return. You can count on--”

“And how are you ladies getting on?” The stores Clerk asked her smile a bit forced. “Still doing alright? Sure I can’t assist you with anything?”

Venice turned prepared to tell the woman that if she was needed they would call her when she saw Nozel standing in the doorway. “Mother of--”

“I got it!” Teris enthused oblivious of the Clerk or Venice’s curse. She rushed to the back counter. Grabbing a quill she began to draw on a piece of paper, slapping the bell for assistance.

“I guess you can be of assistance.” Venice smiled tightly at the Clerk still eyeing Nozel.

A Leather Smith passed through the doorway that led from a workshop behind and waited.

Teris finished scribbling and turned the paper to the Smith saying a few words. Nozel watched them go back a forth a bit before the Smith took the quill from Teris and drew on the paper. He turned the sheet to her and she looked it over appearing more pleased than before. They conversed further before the Smith wrote up a slip with her order and passed it to her. Teris said a few more words before turning.

“Venice! I--” Teris fell silent upon seeing Nozel. Her eyes widened wondering just how long he had been there. She tried to recall what she and Venice had said and then got angry at herself for worrying. Teris made her way to her friend and Nozel but was halted a few steps short by yet another surprise.

“Lady Teris.” Nebra greeted making her way to her brother from the side counter. “If this isn’t a pleasant surprise.”

“A surprise indeed,” Teris said. “What brings you to Castle City Nebra?”

“The Annual Young Ladies Social and Finishing League function of course,” Nebra said. “I must say many, including myself, were sorry to see you missed it.”

“I’ve been busy.” Teris said not caring about the younger girls judgment laced comment.

“So it would appear,” Nebra smiled. “A birthday gift. Forgive me. I couldn’t help but overhear.”

Teris glanced at Nozel knowing he had heard enough. “Please give the ladies of the League my regards. Teris told Nebra. “I will leave you to your shopping.”

“Oh, but I’m done,” Nebra smiled. “I hope you don’t mind brother but I had them send you the bill. You know how father can be about my purchases. And isn’t nearly time for our luncheon with Lord Fuegoleon and Lady Mereoleona. Why don’t you and your friend join us?” She finished turning to Teris.

Seeing this as her chance to question the Crimson Lions Captain about the Lava Springs bash Venice, without thinking, said. “I could eat.”

Teris turned slowly to her friend. “What?”

Realizing she had put her friend in an unwanted position Venice nevertheless doubled down saying. “You ordered your gift and, despite my admit arguments against it, you and Nozel are speaking again.”

Nebra looked at her brother. “She makes it sound as if you and Teris had a falling out.”

Nozel eyes slid down to his sister. “Don’t be silly, Nebra.”

“Yami--” Teris began.

“Yami lied,” Venice reminded. “He made us all play down his injuries so he could get you to speak to Nozel again. Don’t ask me why.” She breathed under her breath.

Nozel blinked eyes snapped to Venice. The foreigner had been telling the truth that night, Nozel thought in wonder. Why would he do such a thing? It couldn’t simply be for the reasons he had claimed. No one was that confident or stupid.

“What’s done it done.” Teris said grating once again at the thought of Yami’s deception.

“So you should be fine joining your fellow royals for lunch,” Venice said. “Come on.” She whined when Teris merely stared at her. “I wanna ask Mereoleona about the Lava Springs.”

“That’s what this is about?” Teris asked in disbelief.

“Please!”

“Venice.”

“Yes, Teris.” Venice said in her sweetest voice as she batted her eyes innocently at her friend.

Teris growled a sigh and shook her head. She turned to the female Clerk pointing to the hair clasp Venice still held. “Add that to my bill. I’ll pay for it when the belt is delivered on the seventeenth.”

“Of course Lady Nova.” The Clerk nodded. “Thank you for your patronage. Lord and Lady Silva. Thank you. Please come again.”

“A belt!” Venice said as she followed Teris through the door Nozel held for them. “After weeks of fretting and countless shops. You get him a belt.”

Nozel ground his teeth forcing himself to take a calming breath. He turned as Nebra passed and asked out of curiosity and desire to silence Venice’s talk of the foreigner. “Where’s your purchase?”

Nebra held up her hands wiggling her fingers. “I’m wearing it silly.”

“Are those the gloves you saw Neyres wearing?” He asked as the four of them made their way down the sidewalk.

“Not the exact same.” Nebra said noticing how her brother made certain he was beside Teris and walked to the right of her shielding her from the street. From behind the older royals Nebra went on. “That would be embarrassing for the both of us. But I am pleased.”

“Good,” Nozel replied. They walked down the block in silence before asked, loud enough for Teris to hear but not the others. “It’s been a while since we’ve last spoken.”

“A month at most.” Teris put in.

Nearly two Nozel thought. “How are you?” He asked fighting the urge to look at her.

“Same as I ever was. And you?”

“Hopeful of a promotion.” Nozel said trying not to sound overly boastful even though his intention was to impress her.

“And what are you ranked now?” Teris asked even though she knew. “Junior Magic Knight Second Class?”

“First,” Nozel told.

“So this would make you an Intermediate Magic Knight and so soon after your first year.”

Nozel fought down the smile that threatened at her mildly impressed tone.

“I wish you the best of luck,” she said.

Nozel turned.

“Don’t look so surprised.” Teris said giving a huffing laugh. “I’ve never wished you ill. Well. After your unprovoked attack, that turns out nearly killed Yami by the way, I did a lot more than wish you ill but we’re past that. Aren’t we?”

“I would hope so.” Nozel said wishing he had channeled just a little more mana into the attack and been rid of the foreigner for good. “But I feel I must say.” He looked at her and sighed. “That was a rough day for all of us. Tensions were high and--”

“Nozel. Don’t.”

He paused glancing uncomfortably away at her stern expression praying he hadn’t messed things up and made her mad at him all over again.

“Don’t bring up what’s been buried.” Teris said her tone almost pleading. “It’s done. We’re fine.”

“I’m glad.” Nozel said giving her a small, hesitant smile. “As friends we should be able to work through anything.”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Teris said. “Friends.” She shook her head giving a small somewhat forced chuckle of amusement. “And people say you don’t have a sense of humor.” She patted his shoulder. “You’re funny Nozel.”

Nozel didn’t know what was more painful, her words or the absence of her touch as she let her hand slide off him. Unable to look at her, he gathered himself and asked. “What would you call us--”

“And we thought we would have to wait.” Mereoleona called upon seeing them. She slapped her brother on the back. “I told you we should come straight here.”

“That would have made them early and us on time.” Fuegoleon said looking back at her.

“Leon. Manners. A gentleman never keeps a lady waiting. And Nozel has brought three of them. What a pleasant surprise.” Mereoleona moved to Teris giving her a hug. “I haven’t seen you in ages.”

“I know.” Teris smiled returning the hug.

“It’s been a week.” Fuegoleon told watching the two of them.

“Nine days. But who’s counting,” Teris said.

“You. Obviously.” Nozel said looking at her coolly.

“Venice,” Mereoleona smiled patting the girl on the head. “It’s good to see you as well. We could’ve used your mirror magic on our last mission. Right Leon?”

“We managed just fine.” Fuegoleon said, his pride not letting him admit that another squads member would have been helpful.

“And Nebra,” Mereoleona smiled. “Aren’t you growing up fast. Shall we go inside and sit.”

Seated and ordered Mereoleona asked. “So, how did you two girls enjoy the Ladies League bash?”

“Immensely.” Nebra answered from her brothers right. She looked over to Teris who was seated to on Nozel’s left.

Mereoleona took her cousins silence as displeasure of the events goings on. “I know.” She said to Teris. “Having to go to such things was never my cup of tea either. Most girls can’t wait till their tenth birthday to be accepted into the League. I couldn’t wait till my twentieth to be done with it all. Always found it funny how a gathering of supposedly polite young ladies can, and usually was, anything but polite.”

“I didn’t go,” Teris told.

“I’ve been there too,” Mereoleona nodded. “Skipped two years out of every three.” She held up a finger. “Don’t get any ideas, your father or Fyntch wouldn’t approve.”

“This was my third absence.” Teris informed the realization of what she had done hitting her in full. Not that she would have done anything different.

“Oh,” Mereoleona blinked. Recovering she said. “And I thought myself a fearless rebel of expectation. You’re putting me to shame. Was Fyntch aware? What am I saying. Of course your brother wasn’t. He would have likely left your father to drag you to the Leagues event. Was Julius? No. I’m wrong again. That man is too focused on making sure his dream of getting to the top of the Magic Knights is achieved to pay care to such things.” She crossed her arms and sat back shaking her head.

Teris could hardly look the Crimson Lions Captain in the eye out of fear and shame.

“What are we going to do with you girl?”

“I don’t know,” Teris mumbled.

“Well,” Mereoleona sighed smacking the table with a palm. “It can’t be helped now. The Mistress’ of the League are an unforgiving bunch. Even if you had been on a mission, or your death bed for that matter, they wouldn’t retract your strickening.”

“I don’t want s retraction.” Teris told softly barely managing to glance at Mereoleona.

“You say that now,” Mereoleona said. “Look at you. You can’t even look at me. How are you going to fair when faced with your Lord Father and Fyntch? You’ll be singing a different tune when next you see them I’m telling you now.” Mereoleona watched her wondering how the girl could be so fierce and yet so fragile. She wanted and hoped for the best for her young cousin, having felt a comradery with her since the first time she had seen an eight year old Teris refuse to sit side saddle while on a hunt. But, only time would tell if she grew up to be her own person and a force to be reckoned with or broken into subservience by her brother, Fyntch, and marriage into the Silva family. “Let me know if Fyntch goes too hard on you. I’ll do what I can to soften the blow.”

“You don’t have to do that, Leona,” Teris said.

“You’re right. I don’t. And it’ll likely cause me a bit of trouble in doing so,” Mereoleona admitted. “But you bucked the system and did your own thing. And that has earned my respect.”

Their food arrived and with it, Teris thanked, a change in subject.

“I hear you’re close to a promotion.” Mereoleona said looking at Nozel.

“That is my hope.” Nozel affirmed.

The Crimson Lions Captain looked at her brother. “Better step it up Leon. Your rival’s about to out rank you.”

“I’m not that far from a promotion myself,” Fuegoleon told.

“Not as close as he is.” Mereoleona teased. “Then again, Teris has you both beat as she’s closer yet.”

The two boys looked at Teris in surprise.

“Isn’t that so.” Mereoleona smiled, the famously pointed Vermilion incisors glinting in the light.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Nozel asked feeling a fool for his boasting, then wondering if that had been her intention.

Teris shrugged ill at easy under Nozel’s intense gaze. “I don’t know. I didn’t want to make a deal of it.”

“But you’ll be stepping up to Intermediate Magic Knight.” Mereoleona said picking up her drink as if in toast. “Kind of a big deal.”

“It’s not like I’d be stepping up to be Knights Commander,” Teris said.

“No.” Mereoleona laughed choking on her plum juice. “You’ve got quite a ways to go for that promotion. And I think Greywright would have a thing or two to say about it since he shows no signs of stepping down.”

“It’s funny how you and Yami get the same promotions at the same time.” Venice said then shrugged. “But I guess that’s to be expected since you two are always going out and getting into trouble together.”

Teris could have ground Venice’s foot into the floor under the table if she had been seated beside her. Instead she was stuck between Nozel and Fuegoleon and Venice tucked safely between the two Crimson Lions. If only Fuegoleon hadn’t been such a gentleman and pulled Venice’s chair out, or Nozel for that matter having pulling at chair out for her when Nebra had already claimed the space between him and Mereoleona.

“You should be thankful.” Mereoleona told Venice. “By all appearances, it’s because of them that the Black Bulls are doing so well.”

“They’ll still be ranked last.” Fuegoleon huffed. He looked to Teris. “What possessed you to choose to join the Black Bulls when you have such dreams as becoming Knights Commander eludes me to this day.”

“It’s because if she manages to become a candidate for the role having come from such a squad there’s nothing anyone could do.” Mereoleona said, kindly not finishing with, to take it from her. “Am I right?”

Teris gave a small nod.

“You think no one understands you,” Mereoleona said. “But I do.”

Yami understands me, Teris thought. Maybe that was why she was so drawn to him. He knew who she was and accepted her as that person without showing the faintest hint in wanting to steer or change her.

Having an idea Mereoleona turned to Nozel. “Promise me something.”

“If I am able.” Nozel said blue eyes flicking up to her.

“At the next Silva, Nova gathering when they invariably try to coerced Teris into meeting their expectations and do their will. Do or say something on her behalf. If you’re going to be her husband she’s going need your support and protection. Unless you plan on attempting to break her spirit. So, why get some much needed practice and start now with this one thing. I can all but guarantee you that doing so will earn you earn trust and goodwill. Neither of those unwanted things in a marriage.”

The thought of speaking against his father scared him but not half as much as the thought of Teris finally showing some goodwill and trust enticed him. Nozel inclined his head.

Teris watched Mereoleona in disbelief. Hadn’t her cousin just announced that she understood her? Before she could find her voice to rebut such a thing Venice spoke.

“Speaking of gatherings. What happened to this years trip to the Lava Springs?” Venice asked none to subtlety changing the subject. “And will there be one next year?”

Mereoleona darkened as she recalled seeing Bronn at the Star Awards with his arm wrapped around a girl. She had later learned the girl was a Healing Mage named Gilly and that the two had in fact been on a date, and were still dating.

Thankful for the change in subject Teris left her rebuttal unsaid adding. “Venice, Olsen, and Tobin were talking about it at breakfast this morning. I can’t believe Uncle Leonidas lets you use your family's summer cabin to host what sounded like a pretty rowdy Magic Knights party.”

Mereoleona forced the image of Bronn with another girl out of her mind and nodded. “It can get rather rowdy. But as long as none of you kiddies go upstairs or get into his liquor stores, father doesn’t mind.” To Venice she said. “You enjoy fighting up the volcano. Do you?”

“I enjoyed the hot springs and party after,” Venice said.

Mereoleona laughed.

“Will there be one next year?” Venice asked again.

Mereoleona thought of her jealousy towards Gilly and anger at Bronn which had been the reasons she hadn’t called the gathering; which was always last minute even though it had turned into an annual event. She forced another toothy smile. “Just try to stop it,” she said.

Thank you to those who have left hearts.  And a VERY special thank you to those who have left comments or re-blogged.  They really mean a lot.

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