#cheating on his wife kind of thing just to give a vague idea
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gaytobymeres ¡ 1 year ago
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Aw man
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kutputli ¡ 2 years ago
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Extremely unfair that I sit down with pen and paper to take notes and the episode doesn’t feature My Main Man! In true fandom fashion, I will none the less proceed to make my episode reaction post all about him...
I foresee that the giant expanded cast of regulars is going to trip us up often with these either or situations - I deeply resent being made to choose between Nate and Trent. (HI TRENT!!! My favourite little smirky shit with the HAIR. You can vaguely saunter downwards on my screen any time you want, I have missed you!)
Look, Roy and Trent are my two blorbos, and getting extended interaction with them, and backstory, and deep nonverbal communication of various emotions was just delightful. And because we weren’t shown a pin, I am going to headcanon that Roy can burst balloons with his bare hands, like the animal he is. James Lance is clearly having the time of his life leaning into the comic elements of his character, and I love how ridiculous he lets him be.
Speaking of unexpected backstory... Rebecca was a bartender?! Where the fuck did that come from? She clearly and canonically comes from money. I thought she might have been a business manager of some kind, associated with Richmond, which is how she met Rupert, but this makes her qualifications to run (not just own) a football club all the more shaky. Also now she’s established that she was willing to help Rupert cheat on his wife... I have no idea why she would then be so shocked that she was in turn cheated on. And I’m sure Rupert used the same tactics with his bartender affair that he got Leslie to help him with later, so again, just how deluded has Rebecca been?
But since I’m talking about Rebecca anyway, let me drag this back to Nate, and how difficult it is to watch a show that attempts both comedy and pathos. Because it gives me whiplash being told to selectively suspend my disbelief for some situations and not for others. It’s like when you watch slapstick comedy - you know its ok to laugh at the pie in the face because EVERYONE is going to end up with that pie, and there is the shared trust that no one is actually hurt. But if a theatrical play has a haha pie moment with one character, and then flips to another where someone stumbles and then starts crying from the pain, I’m going to feel like shit for having been primed to laugh at what I thought I was told was a pratfall.
Rebecca, more than any other character on the show, has being shown doing things that get excused because of her position as beautiful, white, girlboss. Back in season 1, she walked into the locker room without knocking, surprising two players with their pants down (in contrast to Keeley, who we see asking for consent to enter right in the first episode). And now - she literally committed sexual harassment.
Bit ironic given the current British transphobic scaremongering around bathrooms, but yeah, stalking someone into a bathroom of the opposite gender and getting close to them while they are urinating, then literally negging them and mocking the smell of their urine is - sexual harassment.
And being asked to let it go because Zava seems fine with it is like letting go of Nate kissing Keeley because she said it was ok afterwards. I have been on the fence about whether to think of that as sexual harassment or not because ‘kissing someone without explicit verbal permission’ is one of those highly cultural context dependant gestures that sometimes people are happy about, and sometimes are genuinely ok writing off as an innocent misread of body language. But I certainly haven’t just laughed it off, and the show has shown Nate to have agonised about his offence afterwards. Will Rebecca even spare a second thought to the gravity of all her wrongdoings?
I have more to say, but I need to do a rewatch with subtitles on to catch all the dialogues I missed. (Is it me, or did Jamie’s accent suddenly become, like his hair, even weirder?)
Meanwhile to conclude with our regular spot of shallow aesthetic appreciation - how happy I was to see the Hot Photographer Lady from Keeley’s Vogue shoot back! Her name is Janette and she’s played by the radiant Miranda Shamiso, And I love her.
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Dare I give in to my brainrot and give you Siegfried for the character ask?
Is that cheating?
If it is, please wax poetic about what you think of Kijyo Koyo.
No, I don't consider this cheating, lol
Favorite thing about them:
He's a very dependable man, willing to help even when there's no reward in it for him. While he does have his faults (he can't help everyone/not able to those who need it, he's oblivious as to how much others really care about him, etc.), these aren't faults that I have a problem with. He's also very knowledgeable on tactics for the battlefield and he knows what kinds of food would be easy to bring with.
And then, of course, how adorably dorky he gets when he's in his Summer costume. Like, he genuinely thinks that glasses increases intelligence! It doesn't work like that as someone who has to wear glasses, but he's so earnest about it that I forgive him. It also helps that he does look good in them, too.
Least favorite thing about them:
WHEN WILL HE HAVE A MY ROOM LINE FOR HIS WIFE?!
The small rewrite from Kriemhild's profile saying that Hagen helped Siegfried in his planned death/assisted suicide, just so Kriemhild and Brunhild wouldn't go to war. On one hand, we all know that Siegfried will give up his life without a second thought for the greater good (like saving Sieg's life in Apocrypha, for example), but on the other hand, why is he iffy around people being behind his back and around bodies of water? I'm no psychologist or anything of the sort, but it just ticks me off.
Favorite line:
His Bond 5 line. ಼⁠_⁠಼
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OTP:
For het ships, Siegfried x Jalter, and for slash ships, either Siegfried x Karna or Georgios (and either version of Guda/Ritsuka).
BroTP:
Siegfried and Sieg.
NoTP:
Okay, so despite the fact that I've sort of vague posted it before on my grievances concerning how Siegfried's and Kriemhild's relationship is handled, it's not my NoTP! (I'm just... heavily disappointed.)
I only have like, two that I consider my NoTP's, those being Siegfried x Sieg (even if the fandom didn't consider them father and son, it still feels wrong) and Siegfried x Summer/Saber Hokusai (Summer Hokusai didn't really... come across as "this character is 18" to me with how she acts, so the scene in Summer 4 where Guda and co. are entering Summer Melt's casino rubbed me the wrong way).
Random Headcanon:
This is inspired from a post that I one time saw in regards to his random "in the sky" appearance during the second Halloween event (can't remember if it was on here or somewhere else), but he makes a good DM.
Unpopular Opinion:
I'm probably the most controversial FGO Tumblr user for saying this, but Siegfried's and Kriemhild's relationship is really boring, since on Kriemhild's end, it's just her being a sort of discount version of her VA's current most popular role, and not anything original to the relationship (I could actually delve into why this pisses me off so much on a later post, I just gotta get myself mad enough to really do it).
Song I associate with them:
... I Need A Hero, specifically the Shrek 2 version (I will not apologize).
Favorite picture of them:
For official art, it'll be the Prince of Slayer CE (you have no idea how much time it took to choose just one piece of official artwork, either for Apocrypha or FGO).
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For fanart/fan made art, instead of listing one (let's be honest I wouldn't be able to, lol), I'll list my favorite Siegfried fan artist from pixiv (mine), although sadly they've seem to moved on from Fate, since the last piece of art they've did was on March 1st, 2022. :(
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meganelixabethh ¡ 1 year ago
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full disclosure, i’m not arguing here, but you’ve made decent points and i wanna discuss them. firstly, he do be stressed and tired and i appreciate that, but in my mind it’s like a ‘so is everyone’ situation and it feels like his comment was a very sharp stick he poked her with to be mean rather than her words which felt more snappy idk i might just be a person who gets snappy rather than mean when tired and i internalise that’s more acceptable. I also think, because he was eow apprentice himself, he *does* kind of have a vague idea her job is not the easiest with the supreme custodian and whatnot but i can see how he also might not.
we’re onto a biggie now SILAS’ JOB MAKES NO SENSE AND YOU SHOULD SAY IT. the only way i’ve been able to consolidate it in my head is to think of the wizard tower ordinary wizards as like ‘high class important wizards’ whereas silas is kind of more like ‘handy man odd job wizard’ who just kind of gets called out to sort problems. so my interpretation is that silas has been to the wizard tower in the last 10 years, but not often like maybe once a year to do something not otherwise covered by the wizards living there. i think the wizards living there are mainly responsible for keeping the tower running (?🤷‍♀️) so like yeah he might not have known how bad it was specifically, but he did know how bad the supreme custodian was Generally. On Endor, I don’t think he understood how Marcia was having to confront the fact her (potentially) only friend had laid down her life to protect what she and Marcia had built, but I think it’s reasonable to assume she would be upset by the death of someone she worked closely with (which you would with a deputy).
I fully had not thought about the supreme custodian propaganda about her this is such a good point! we know this man hates women so he probably would have been vile about her and Sally doesn’t seem to like her that much either you’re totally right. whatever you do don’t think about sally mullin thinking marcia is terrible because of propaganda and then actually meets her and she is incredibly generous towards her and saves her life. whatever you do don’t imagine sally mullin stood in the middle of her burned down cafe looking down at the KeepSafe in her palm thinking how she got marcia wrong all this time (i’m thinking about it and now i want to cryyyyyyyy)
On giving Jenna to a woman he didn’t entirely trust; Marcia gave Jenna to him, she clearly put her trust in him and he Did Not Return The Favour. Maybe her dramatic appearance from the shadows and her ‘tell no one you found her’ line didn’t hit home, but it def felt like she was trusting him with a secret. leaving his wife and kids would have been really hard you just have a straight up point i cannot réfute there. and the rubbish chute did happen to him too but i hc marcia as autistic so the reason i put that in her like Trauma List™️ is because she was just having a sensory nightmare. i had absolutely forgotten about the cheating thing i have been sent into ORBIT remembering that moment imma put that in both their columns cause he was accused of cheating but she was accused of leaving her high powered position to run away with him too💀💀
Jenna might be killed is also a big one for me and this was a point i had but i actually decided to leave out because i felt it was a bit incoherent with the post generally, but the one thing that silas has in this situation, that marcia doesn’t, is marcia herself. silas gave jenna to marcia to look after and, when he came to find them, she was safe, warm, she had new, dry socks on, she wasn’t hysterical or unsafe at all and it was him who let the assassin in so marcia was actually doing a good job of protecting her. marcia then saves jenna several times, she moves hell and high water (or mist and projection) to keep her safe and silas sees all of this. and yeah he’s her dad he’s gonna have dad fear that’s fair, but when the chips are down, he knows he can turn to marcia, ask her to fix it, and not only can she, but she will. marcia might not have dad fear, but she knows that she’s it as far as jenna protection goes. she knows the one spell she asked silas to do didn’t happen and that, when it comes down to it, she’s pretty much the only substantial obstacle between whatever is threatening jenna at that moment, and her death. and that’s gotta fuck with you
i am gonna round off on a point for silas though: he did stay silent when marcia was magyking the heck out of that problem because he knew she needed to concentrate, and he did say he had a begrudging respect for her. side note: now i know marcia grew up with a band of travelling wizards, im surprised she’s never been on a boat.
I know Silas is a fan fav; but at the beginning of Magyk I HATE this man. During the assassination attempt and subsequent fleeing I think you could reasonably argue that Marcia is having the worst time of anyone in the party (if she is second to anyone it’s Sep, and even then it’s close). This woman has relived the worst day of her life, gotten stinky and slimy (and we all know she’s ND so that would be hell) and then harnessed so much magyk she almost ceased to be a human while everyone acted like she was doing nothing that hard at all, in order to save everyone’s lives for a SECOND time in this sequence of events (and don’t forget in all of this she also managed to save Sally Mullin too).
Then, just as she thought they might be safe for a bit (it’s midnight on this beach and she was awoken very early by alther if you recall from the Scene of Hair Curlers™️, so she’s probably creeping up on 20 hours of being awake) Alther comes and tells her 1) the one terrible thing she thought she’d done enough to stop happening had, in fact, happened. 2) the only person we hear Marcia mention with any kind of positive attitude; and by extension, someone she could trust, is dead. 3) that person was murdered as a direct result of number 1. 4) Not only has this insane sociopath that would very much like her dead not only invaded her place of work, that clearly makes up part of her identity, but also 5) moved into her HOME (siri play my tears ricochet by taylor swift) which is an absolute violation.
The Very Short List of people Marcia trusts and cares about gets another person on it murdered, and Marcia does not have the time to mourn her AT ALL because she knows she needs to focus on how she can undo this mess without causing the death of a ten year old girl. And what does Silas say? ‘The custodians are simply a load of thugs any *decent* ExtraOrdinary Wizard would have seen off years ago’. Be so fucking real right now. Fuck you man. She saved your sorry arse TWICE. She kept you and your family alive for TEN YEARS. SHES THE ONLY REASON YOU DIDN’T WATCH YOUR TEN Y/O KID GET VIOLENTLY MURDERED. SIT TF DOWN.
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slasherscream ¡ 3 years ago
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Hello. Ok I must say I've spent the last 3 days on your blog just reading and reading. Your Billy x reader x Stu give me life!my god it's so good ♥♥♥ Would it be ok to make a request? I was thinking about a scenario where Billy's cheating dad brings home a little girl and he's like "yo, so this is your new sister Billy" and at first Billy is being Billy and hates her guts but Stu is kind to her and as time passes all three become small cute murder family... just an idea...
A/N: this idea is so good. i changed it a bit but here it goes-
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Billy’s father has had it coming for a nice long while. He was a shitty man, a shitty father, and an even shittier husband. If Billy looks at the man for too long it makes him physically sick. Needless to say, he’s been living off of borrowed time.
It would have looked suspicious if the man died right after the Woodsboro massacre. So Billy waited, impatiently. He started dating Stu, finished senior year, and the two went off to a community college together (they’d spent so many months planning the murders that they’d accidentally let university applications fall through the cracks).
The years go by quickly. A murder here, another one there, figuring out what four year college to go to. Getting jobs. With real adult life creeping in Billy had almost forgotten about his old man entirely. Almost.
The man has awful timing. He calls Billy up, out of the blue. They hadn’t talked since the day Billy moved out. Frankly, he doesn’t even know how his father got his number. He doesn’t remember giving it to the bastard. He invites Billy home for Thanksgiving and Billy thinks what a perfect early Christmas gift to himself. Dear ol’ Dad’s head on a spike. Then he tells Billy he wants him to meet his new wife and step-kid. Wants his whole family together.
Billy doesn’t know how he manages to act like a normal, vaguely irritated son for the rest of the phone call. Inside he’s white hot rage. The first thing he does when he hangs up the phone is shatter it. The whole apartment becomes a particularly fragile punching bag. When Stu gets home he looks at the destruction with bewilderment, and can only ask, “Did we get robbed man?”
Woodsboro is going to see another violent, tragic murder. That’s for sure.
Stepping into his childhood home for the first time in years makes him sick. Billy swears he can still smell his Mother’s perfume in the air, but he turns the corner and there’s another woman cooking and prancing around in her fucking kitchen like she owns the place.
Billy can’t wait to string her up by her intestines. To choke her with them. He’ll kill her first and make his father watch the entire thing. But however painful the step-whore’s death will be, Billy will make his father’s twenty times worse. That will be for his mother. 
Deciding he won’t be the only one pissed off this week, he brings along Stu for the family reunion. Maybe it was a little vindictive of him to ask Stu to marry him so they’d be engaged in time for the get together. But he was gonna get around to it anyways, eventually. Besides, Stu had laughed his ass off about it.
You don’t come downstairs when they first arrive and Billy wants to roll his eyes at your Mother telling him “she’s not usually like this, honest-” as if he could give a shit.
They’re not planning on killing you. They haven’t killed any kids yet, and even though Billy thinks about it- thinks about how much it would hurt your Mom to make her watch you die - the thought of killing you makes him uncomfortable. You’re just a kid. Not your fault your Mother is a whore and your new Step-Dad is a piece of shit. He’ll just make sure to psychologically torture her in some other way to make up for it.
When you slink your way downstairs in that petulant way that only kids can, Billy starts to rethink that not killing you thing. You spend all of dinner not saying two words to him, but you’ve got the nerve to scowl at him the entire time like he’s intruding in your house and you’re wondering when he’s gonna leave. Or die.
Knowing that appearance is everything, Billy makes sure to publicly bond with your mother. He goes grocery shopping with her. They get lunch. Anything to sell the image of a perfect family. Anything to alleviate suspicion when she winds up dead, alongside her new husband. Stu stays behind and babysits you.
At first you’re resentful of being watched at all. But Stu has a way with kids, his energy so much like one that it’s hard for them to hate him. In just a few days you’re thicker than thieves. So you start telling him things.
I hate playing family. / Mom only ever pays attention to me when people are around. / They’re always gone. / I think they both wish it was just them, that I wasn’t here-
Stu might not be the most empathetic person around (obviously) but something about the things you tell him makes him feel for you. You’ve got a sad little orphan Annie thing going on. Stu doesn’t know why he tells Billy that he thinks he should spend time with you, but he does. Billy, obtuse, thinks it’s to sell the lie better. So he takes you out to some shitty diner for a special “brother/sister” breakfast.
You moped in the car, you stomped your way into the restaurant, and you slouch in your chair when you’re seated. When he asks you if you want crayons to color with, you instantly know that he’s mocking you and "subtly” knock over your water, hoping to wet him. It doesn’t work, but he admires your spitefulness.
You only sit in silence pushing your food around for a bit before you break. “Your Dad sucks. I hate him.” Billy doesn’t stop to think about how he’s talking to a child before he says, “I’m sure he hates you too.” You don’t start crying big alligator tears, like he thought you would. He was already preparing for it, thinking about how he was going to have to bribe you with ice cream or something to stop you from crying. Instead you sink further into your seat, like you want to melt there, “He doesn’t hate me. He just wishes I wasn’t around.... neither of them want me around.”
Billy sits shell-shocked for a minute. Frankly, he’s never talked to a kid this long. He doesn’t remember how old you are but he doesn’t even think you’re eleven yet. He wonders what the hell the both of your parents are doing behind closed doors to make you feel that way. He knew his father was lousy, he’d already grown up with him. But your Mother had seemed normal. A little fake, but normal.
“What do you mean by that?” So you tell him. The way you told Stu. About the neglect. The long hours alone. By the end of it your little hands are balled into fists and your food is ice cold. The entire time Billy sat quiet. At the end you regret telling him anything. Just because he’s getting married to Stu doesn’t mean he’s nice like Stu. He’s probably just like his Dad.
You start to turn to the window, ready to ignore him until he decides to take you both home. You turn back around when he says, “Your Mom fucking sucks.”
You blink up at him, wide-eyed. You’re shocked he took you seriously. “Yeah, she does.” You finish eating your breakfast quietly but neither of you leave the diner feeling the way you did when you came in.
Thanksgiving passes by uneventfully. Billy and Stu are invited back for Christmas break by your Mother and they accept the invitation. Stu gives you both of their numbers and ruffles your hair, telling you not to be a stranger. Billy stands so stiffly while you say goodbye that you extend your hand for a handshake, not wanting to put either of you through an awkward goodbye hug. He laughs and tells you to take care of yourself.
When they come back for Christmas you’re actually outside to greet them when their car pulls up. You tell them about school. About the things you’ve been doing since you last saw them. About how you managed to watch some of the horror movies Stu snuck you, and you didn’t even have to sleep with the light on afterwards. They sit through it all dutifully and maybe even with amusement. You’re not the same withdrawn kid you were when they first met you, that’s for sure.
Billy is a little miserable , spending the holiday at home. He remembers all the traditions he used to do with his Mom. Putting up the Christmas tree. The lights. Burning cookies and icing them anyway, then trying again until they got it right.
He’s surprised at how the house isn’t decorated and you tell him your Mom isn’t very festive. He tells you your Mom can kick rocks, and hauls all the old Christmas stuff out of the garage and attic. You spend the weekend putting everything up together, you, Billy and Stu. Focusing on trying to give you a good Christmas actually distracts him from the way he misses his Mom.
He doesn’t realize it until it’s Christmas Eve and neither of your parents is in sight. You’re curled up on one side of him, and Stu is on the other. The house smells overwhelmingly of pine scented air freshener, and Frosty the Snowman is playing on the TV. You’re making an excellent case on why Frosty should actually count as a horror movie, and Stu is laughing but trying to argue with you about it anyway. He realizes this is the best Christmas he’s had in awhile.
The three of you fall asleep on the couch together. Billy wakes up a few hours later when your parents come stumbling in, drunk and shushing each other too loudly. It pisses him off, thinking about how they’d have probably gone out on the town and left you alone even if he and Stu weren’t there to stay with you. He wonders just how many times you’re left alone in this house that was too big and lonely for him even when he was a teenager, let alone a fucking kid.
He goes to put out a glass of milk for “Santa” along with the cookies when he runs into your drunk Mother in the kitchen, opening another bottle of wine like his Dad and her aren’t wasted enough.
“Thanks for looking after the kid this week. I know she can be a lot.” The words make him stop cold and he looks behind her, to the drawer that the knives are kept in and almost says fuck it. If the miserable bitch hadn’t wanted to be a Mother this badly she should have kept her legs closed.
“Yeah, no problem.” He has to leave before he fucks up the whole plan and kills her too early. 
He doesn’t wake you up so you can go up to bed on your own. For some reason he thinks about the last time he ever got carried up to bed and picks you up and takes you there himself. He remembers the feeling of waking up, drowsy but safe on his Mother’s shoulder. Of being tucked in, and then waking up in bed later, only vaguely aware that someone else put you there. He was younger than you are now, that last time. But he doesn’t think it matters that much. He doesn’t think you’ve ever gotten cared for like that before. That you were ever made to feel as loved as he was by his Mother. And that’s even with the fact that she up and left one day without a word. At least when she was around she was there.
So he puts you into bed, and tucks you under the covers, and sits beside you for awhile, just staring. He looks up when he feels like he’s being watched, only to find Stu in the doorway staring at him. They go to bed and don’t say a word to one another about it.
They get married in the Spring and you’re the ring bearer. You walk down the aisle ahead of Stu with a big grin on your face. You’re also Billy’s “best-man”. He’s not close to very many people, besides Stu, who he’s marrying. He wasn’t gonna have one at all but then he thought of you, and figured you’d get a kick out of him asking, at the very least. You looked like he’d given you a lottery ticket and hugged him so tight he was impressed. You were the guest screaming the loudest when they kissed and it made them laugh so hard they had to stop.
Summer hits and that’s when it’s going to finally happen. They come to Woodsboro to spend the summer. It’s to help with appearances, sure, but they’re actually looking forward to seeing you. They take you camping. You stay up all night watching movies. You drag them up onto the roof to look at the stars and it makes Billy smile, thinking about all the times he used to do it when he was a kid. His Mom would always yell at him, telling him he’d break his neck one day. You point to a place on the roof where he’d carved his name and he rolls his eyes when he sees that you crossed out his name and carved yours over it.
The weeks go quickly and before they know it it’s time to don their old costumes. Billy’s not as excited as he thought he was going to be. He doesn’t know why he’s starting to get second thoughts, he hates his Dad and despises your Mother even more. Until Stu asks him, hesitantly, “What’s gonna happen to Y/N?”
And there it goes. The reason his stomach’s been twisted up into knots. He doesn’t know what’s going to happen to you. It’s too late to back out of it now. His father’s been had this coming, and your Mother is as shitty as she can be without outright forgetting to feed you or keep the lights on. But what about the aftermath? Are you gonna get carted off by the state? Or shipped away to some distant relative who couldn’t give a shit about you? The thought makes him sick, but he doesn’t want to admit it. All he does is snap back at Stu, “Who gives a shit.”
Stu walks out and doesn’t come back till the next day.
They kill them and it’s their best work. They’ve had plenty of practice over the years. There’s crying, begging, pleading. They draw it out for a long time. At the end of it Billy’s father is whimpering, staring at the mangled corpse of his second wife and asking why. So Billy takes off his mask and tells him why.
They sneak back into the vacation home they’re renting and you’re just where they left you. Tucked in and sleeping soundly. Billy falls asleep with a smile on his face. Stu gets up twice in the night, restless. Each time he winds up outside your door.
A day later an officer shows up at your door, hat in his hands, and tells you that something awful has happened. Billy pretends to be shocked. Stu closes his eyes and tries not to think of how you’re definitely eavesdropping, too impatient for them to come and tell you what’s going on after the cop leaves.
Billy goes to identify the bodies and can’t help but think it is kind of hard to recognize them. If there’s anything he and Stu are good at it’s this.
He feels a lot less smug when he gets home and you’re sobbing your eyes out, clinging to Stu like he’s a lifeline. The moment he sits down next to you you throw yourself at him and he’s surprised at how quickly he wraps his arms around you. At the way he rocks you back and forth and tries his best to soothe you.
“What’s gonna happen to me, Billy?” You wail, helpless in the way only a kid can be. And Stu is looking at him over your shoulder and before he knows it he’s opened his mouth and said, “Nothing’s gonna happen to you. You’re my sister/brother. We’re family. We’re going to take care of you.” It doesn’t make you stop crying but he keeps saying it, over and over. You’re gonna be okay. Nothing’s ever going to happen to you. We’ll take care of you, we promise.
You’re better off with him and Stu anyways.
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thecarnivorousmuffinmeta ¡ 4 years ago
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What do you think would happen if one of the Cullens realized they might also be "in love" with Bella during Twilight along side Ed. Mates be damned (not like their marriages are gonna last anyway), and everyone's on the table (just 1 love rival, not at the same time buuuuut could you imagine the chaos? *cough*). The usual Bella eaten/killed by Eddy boi is def on the table obvie, but like do you think there's a chance he might concede to one of his family (or just any other alternatives)? -Sw
Oh boy.
Why I Don’t Think This Is a Possibility
That said, I have to caveat that I don’t think this is a very likely path (sorry, I cannot resist).
It’s true I don’t think any of the Cullen relationships will last in the long term, but I also don’t think they’re inclined to cheat on one another or fall apart at a moment’s notice. They’ve made it this long, several decades, but more, none of them realizes anything is lacking from their respective relationship. 
Carlisle and Esme are very devoted to one another and don’t realize they have fundamentally conflicting values. Jasper and Alice think they fulfil each other’s needs and don’t realize that they share nothing in common. Rosalie and Emmett’s is the healthiest relationship in the house but don’t see their major issues (Emmett doesn’t really support or understand Rosalie and Rosalie loves Emmett mostly for his love of her).
My point being, none of them are going to realize it’s not working out anytime soon. They’re going to need a catalyst, and per the end of Twilight, one is coming. Either a confrontation with the Volturi occurs, Renesmee decides to leave, the Cullen lifestyle changes, or things with Bella go awry. It can be any number of things, and it will happen given time, but at the start of Twilight we haven’t hit that point yet.
There’s also the fact that of the Cullens, only Edward would do this nonsense, and even for him it takes Bella’s delicious blood to grab his attention. When she was an ordinary human, he was not interested in the slightest, not even in her gift.
Each of the Cullens (Sans Alice and Esme) is completely baffled by Edward’s emotional whiplash and attachment to this human girl he doesn’t even know. Bella only becomes a vague concept to them when she enters as a serious fixture in Edward’s life, but even then, they really don’t know what to think.
No one in the family will do what Edward did in Twilight. Look at this girl they don’t even know and say “Ah, yes, I’m in love.” 
Now, that out of the way, let’s play ball.
Alice
This actually will work out shockingly well if only because I suspect Alice will come up with the pragmatic solution of “sharing”.
First, Alice is by far the closest Cullen member to Edward. He holds her in high esteem, feels a strong sense of kinship with her, actually confides in her, and sees her as a very close friend. Edward looks up to Carlisle and adores Esme, but it’s not the same.
If Alice sees herself as getting together with Bella I don’t think she’d see this as mutually exclusive to Edward having Bella. Alice cares deeply for Edward’s happiness, far more than she does Bella’s general existence, and I think the idea of entering a joint marriage with Edward and Bella would be very appealing to her.
She’d have to ease Edward into it, of course, as he’d balk at the very idea of it, but I think he’d see it as a strengthening of his and Alice’s relationship as well as having the wonderful Bella. Better yet, Alice can be physical with Bella while Edward can go compose music about their love.
As it is this... This is kind of what happens in canon.
Alice tells Edward that not only is he in love with Bella, but that Bella is going to be her best friend, so he better not muck it up. She has to ease him into the idea of being in love with Bella throughout the first part of Twilight. Then, when the relationship is solidified, Alice is right there introducing herself as Bella’s new BFF. Bella’s friendship with Alice throughout the series is extremely homoerotic and I imagine it remains so after Breaking Dawn.
Edward is very pleased that Bella counts Alice as her best friend, Alice being far and away his favorite sibling and the one he approves of Bella spending time with (generally, when she’s not foiling his schemes). 
I don’t think Alice and Bella will ever have sex, per se, but I imagine they remain quite physical with each other and Edward looks on with approval thinking to himself that this is how all female friendships should be.
And if Jasper has the nagging suspicion his wife is cheating on him then he’s not functioning quite well enough to put it into words just yet.
Carlisle
Edward would lose his mind.
First, Edward is very into Carlisle, and for all he insists his feelings are filial they sound remarkably romantic. I’d drop a quote, but it’s pretty much every time Edward thinks of Carlisle in Midnight Sun. More than that, Carlisle is the man Edward aspires to be, someone he sees as profoundly more good than he could ever hope to be.
Edward projects a very similar personality onto Bella herself.
So, I imagine if Carlisle sits Edward down and says, “Actually, Edward, I have fallen in love with this Bella” Edward feels very conflicting things all at once.
On the one hand, this means Esme/Carlisle is collapsing. Edward personally brought those two together and adores the idea of their relationship. Their relationship is what he hopes his and Bella’s will look like and is to him the married ideal of a perfect Mother and a perfect Father.
Carlisle/Esme alone falling apart would give him a complete existential crisis. That’s not allowed to happen. 
And then that Carlisle wants Bella Swan for himself?! Edward would be faced with the immediate,horrifying, thought that for all Carlisle is a vampire he would be the perfect man for saint like Bella. Carlisle and Bella deserve one another, would be perfect together, and Edward should not begrudge them that.
On the other hand, Edward himself is in love with Bella, and while he thought he could nobly leave her, now he has to nobly stand to the side and watch as Carlsile and her marry. It’d be a very romantic and tragic thing to do, but there’s leaving Bella to her human life, and then watching her up front for the rest of eternity while bitterly hiding his feelings.
More, Carlisle will turn her. If Bella is his true love, then there’s no question of that. Edward’s seen where this goes with Emmett. He will destroy Bella Swan to be with her forever, and Edward will have to live with the shell of Bella Swan staring back at him, fucking his father, forever.
I imagine Edward desperately pretends to concede to Carlisle, to be happy for the pair of them, but as things progress and Bella’s permanent position in the family looks more and more likely, he loses his mind. He’ll snap and there is no telling what he might do.
My money’s on him mercy killing Bella while she’s still human behind Carlisle’s back. He’s sobbing while he does it, but he just can’t let Bella be tarnished by vampirism, and now he will carry this tragic, terrible, secret for the rest of time.
Whether Carlisle was going to turn her or not is up to debate. Given he turned none after Emmett, I think he learned his lesson from Rosalie and would be more than willing to let Bella go, even if he loves her, should it mean he would not force something she does not want and does not understand upon her.
That said, I think he’d never tell Edward his feelings for Bella, as that would ruin Edward’s fledgling relationship with the girl. This is Edward’s first brush with love and seems to be the only romantic love he’ll ever have. Edward has been so miserable for so long that Carlisle would easily give up his own happiness for Edward.
So, more likely, Twilight would happen anyway and Carlisle would spend the entire time being utterly miserable and pretending he’s perfectly fine. LOOK HOW HAPPY HE IS, ESME.
Emmett
Edward tattles to Rosalie immediately.
He loves Emmett, but he knows Emmett can’t possibly be serious about this, and more, fundamentally doesn’t understand how wonderful and amazing Bella is. He wants to turn her into a vampire, clearly, Emmett doesn’t know what’s best for the girl.
More, a man who would so easily break his marriage vows (even to Rosalie), does not deserve Bella Swan.
Edward watches Rosalie and Emmett’s marriage utterly disintegrate with a juice box filled with mountain lion blood and swoops in on Bella while Emmett is thoroughly distracted. Edward then gaslights Bella into believing Emmett is dangerous and despises her, making Emmett the new and improved Jasper.
Esme
Esme would never tell Edward or likely even realize her feelings for Bella herself. If she did though, she would give up the possibility of a future with Bella Swan in a heartbeat for Edward’s happiness, which means everything to her.
Esme will have no regrets, won’t even smile sadly at Bella, because she has Carlsile as her consolation prize and she gets to see the joy in both Bell and Edward’s faces which is far more important than having Bella to herself.
Esme would live vicariously through Bella and Edward’s relationship as well as the very existence of Renesmee.
Like Alice, this is one of those things that’s pretty much canon. I won’t say anything for Esme’s feelings, it’s more that Esme ships Bella with Edward (and mostly because Edward himself comes to obsess over her), but she does seem to vicariously get her joy through their nuclear family within the Cullen family.
Esme is a very strange person.
Jasper
Edward would attempt to murder Jasper or at least severely injure him. Jasper would be the ultimate threat to Bella, not even a man unworthy of her but not a man at all, and exactly what Edward needs to protect Bella against.
Alice tries to stop the fight, to no avail, and Edward will ultimately lose (despite all his confidence). I imagine Jasper doesn’t kill him, but tears apart his limbs, and uses Edward’s lack of mobility to kidnap and then turn Bella.
Bella has no idea what’s happening and the next thing she knows she’s a vampire and Jasper is telling her they have to leave the area (as he must now leave the coven).
Edward tries to track them down for the rest of eternity. He will get vengeance upon Jasper and save Bella this terrible demonic existence forced upon her. Of course, he ends up lost in Rio.
Rosalie
Edward would tell her that her feelings cannot possibly be real. Bella is a woman. More, Rosalie is unworthy of Bella in every possible regard, even more so than Edward himself.
Basically, Edward would lay into Rosalie in a way that he never has before with all of his venom. He will do everything he can to sabotage Bella’s opinion of Rosalie before Rosalie can even get a word in edgewise. He is successful at it due to Bella’s perilously low self esteem (much the reason he was successful with this endeavor in canon).
Rosalie and Edward get in a vicious fight and I imagine Rosalie eventually confronts Bella, making an opportunity to do so, and both warns her away from Edward, tells her everything, and offers to turn her despite Rosalie’s own mixed experiences.
Rosalie and Edward probably then fight and it quickly turns into something that’s very serious. If Edward wins, he murders Rosalie in the heat of the moment, and then leaves the coven in horror over what Carlisle must think of him now. If Rosalie wins... I don’t think she will, she cares for Edward far too much and would never truly be able to aim to kill or maim.
Edward disappears, drowning in his self hatred, and returns to find Bella Swan at some later date unable to resist the call of her scent. Depending where she is in her life, he likely murders her human husband if she has one and dvours her, as Alice prophesied so long ago.
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lubdubsworld ¡ 4 years ago
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Better Man. ( Taehyung x OC)
Chapter 1    Chapter 2
Rated 18 +
Post Divorce, Getting Back Together, Second chances, Angst.
Chapter 3 ~ The problem with marriage is this  : it isn’t worth the pain of divorce. 
Denial isn’t healthy.
 But sometimes it helps you stay sane , at least long enough to get your act together. When you’re in denial, you kind of keep yourself together a bit. You process things a bit more slowly. Take your time examining the facts. 
It helps you make a delayed but possibly more informed decision.
 Impulsive decisions never end well.
 So it’s good to stew in denial for a while ( a short while) and then slowly begin processing what happened, think about it, think how its gonna affect you and then make a choice. 
Unfortunately for Taehyung and I... I wasn’t in denial. 
Maybe I should have been.
 The time between Taehyung turning up drunk and the me leaving the house was less than twelve hours. Taehyung showed up drunk and I just told him I was leaving. That we needed a break and I didn’t know when I’d be back. 
Terrible choice.
 In the first twelve hours, the hurt is so potent and strong , the wound so raw and fresh that you can’t think beyond the pain . Your instinct is to repay the pain, to retaliate and make the other party feel exactly what you’re feeling. So you think of the thing that would hurt them the most and you go ahead and do it. 
Like move out of your shared home of eight years, take away the son he adored and possibly rip the ground right out from under his feet. 
And then after the first twelve hours, reason begins to catch up. 
I had wanted to go back. 
I had wanted to go back to him but I was scared. 
Scared that I was being weak.
 That if I didn’t stick to the choice I made, Taehyung would forever see me as a pushover. That he would take it as some sick permission to do it all over again. That he’d just think I was too weak to walk out on him. 
And i couldn’t have that. I couldn’t have him hurting me and not facing the consequences of it. I just couldn’t.
So I stayed away. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I worked on the seventh floor of a high rise in Gangnam, probably a twenty minute drive from Taehyung’s agency. It was an electronic/ tech company that dealt with everything from mobile phones to home fittings . As the  assistant director of Marketing I dealt with branding and keeping up the image of the company. Annual budgets, endorsements, campaigns and what not. 
I was good at it and i enjoyed it . everyone agreed that i did a good job because the numbers spoke for themselves. But I think the main reason I got the job was because I was married to the biggest brand ambassador in the country. 
“ I need the reports on consumer trends for this month and I want to meet with Social media team before lunch. There’s a drop in our web traffic and that needs to be fixed.” I told my assistant, accepting the hot coffee and muffin that he held in his hand before moving to the corner office, my strides faltering just a bit when i noticed that  someone  was already inside. The figure had his back to me but I could vaguely recognize the broad shoulders and muscular arms. 
“Mr. Jeon’s been waiting for about ten minutes now.” Mingyu said with a smile and I nodded. 
“That’s fine , I’ll handle him.” I waved my assistant off and moved to the  door, unlocking it and stepping in. 
“Morning, Jang Mi.” He smiled, eyes flashing with ill concealed delight and I inhaled to calm myself down. . 
I could already feel a headache coming on. 
“Jungkook.” I said curtly. “ To what do I owe this very early visit?”  I glanced at my table finally taking the bottle of champagne in the small ice bucket. 
“Thought we’d celebrate you finally being free.” He grinned. 
Jeon Jungkook was handsome, intelligent , and annoyingly good at everything he did.
At 34,  He was one of the youngest CFO’s in the industry, and everything he touched turned to gold. I didn’t report to him and he had zero reasons to be in my office at any given time. But , unfortunately he had never gotten that particular memo. 
“I’m not in the mood, Jungkook.” I sighed, moving to the back of my desk and dropping my bag on the small ottoman on the side and my keys in the desk. I plugged my phone into the cable on the side and then went to open the blinds. 
“Come on... You know how sick I’ve been of two years of  hearing ‘ I’m sorry, I’m married.’ .... you’re gonna have to come up with  a better excuse the next time i ask you out.” 
“No. No is a whole entire sentence that you should be able to accept.” I said evenly, fixing the cushions on the couch only to have him plop down on them immediately after. 
“One date. Dinner anywhere you like. i can fly you to Paris if you want.... Macua? Jeju Do? Tell me what you want and I’ll get it done. ?” 
i stared at him. 
“I want you to fire Kang Yeseul from the Social Media team.” I said with a shrug. 
He frowned. 
“The new girl? Why?” 
“She’s been posting nudes that she took in my office when I was on leave last week. My name plate is literally visible.”
“Jesus fuck...these bitches get dumber by the minute.”
I couldn’t even deny it.
“I’ll take care of it.” He said swiftly. “ Anything else?”
“Web traffics gone down and I’m gonna find out why. It’s probably time for us to work out the budget for the Christmas Carnival. I think we should go for something new this time. If you can set up a meeting with all the department heads we can brainstorm a few ideas...” 
“I can’t forget about that night.” 
I froze. 
God. 
i turned around to stare at him as he lounged on the couch. If Kim Taehyung was the most handsome man I’d ever seen, Jungkook was definitely the second.
 He was disconcertingly good looking and where Taehyung’s image was always the clean cut gentleman with the perfect character, Jungkook had a reputation as a bit of a delinquent. Simply because he had a penchant for leather jackets and liked to ride around Seoul on his motorbike on days off. 
Which was ironical because in truth, Taehyung was far from a saint and Jungkook was relatively more put together 
He was also a divorcee and a single parent. His daughter Jennie was easily the cutest two year old on the planet.
His wife and him had fifty fifty custody but she had cheated on him with his best friend. Jungkook had no patience for her. They had a very volatile relationship but he was fighting for full custody and rumor was that he would most certainly be granted it, soon. 
A marathon runner ,  he didn’t drink or smoke.  
Jungkook liked to paint and volunteered at an animal shelter once or twice a month because he loved dogs but couldn’t keep one because of his busy schedule. 
So all in all , a pretty solid candidate if I was looking for a guy. 
Honestly, if it weren’t for the fact that I was completely and utterly done with relationships for the rest of my life, I would actually give the guy a chance. 
But , it is what it is. 
“That sounds like a  you  problem. “ I shrugged. “ It was supposed to be  one  night  with no strings attached. And by string I meant awkward conversations three months later .” 
Jungkook groaned and sat up straighter, legs spread and shirt sleeves riding up to show a very sparkly watch. Rich men and their vices. I smirked a little. 
“Come on... its just dinner. I want to get to know you, that’s it.” he held his hands up. 
“There’s nothing to know Jungkook. I’m actually more boring than i appear, which is saying something. I’m not going to be the girl in the leather jacket clinging to your waist when you’re joyriding that motorbike of yours through Seoul. That’s not me. I would hate something that” 
He chuckled. 
“Are you sure? You ever tried it?”
I stared at him in disbelief.
“That’s not the point.”
“I’ll buy you a jacket. Join me this weekend. We’ll go a ride. Then you can make a decision.” 
I opened my mouth to argue when the phone rang. I grabbed it quickly.
“Hello?” 
“This is Lee Taemin from the Advertising Department.”
“Yes?”
“We have a Mr. Jung from HYBE on the phone. They want to talk to us about a possible candidate for our Christmas Campaign.... “
I blinked, surprised. 
“We haven’t even decided on a theme yet. “
Choosing the right actors to endorse stuff was usually the last step. 
“I know but he’s saying they want to talk about Mr. Kim Taehyung as a possible candidate?”
I felt my entire jaw come unhinged. 
I turned to Jungkook stunned. His eyes widened at the look on my face and he mouthed a ‘ What’ 
“Please tell him I’ll call him back in fifteen minutes.” I said quickly.
“What’s wrong?” Jungkook demanded. 
“Taehyung’s manager...he... he wants to make him the face of the Christmas Campaign.” I said dully, mind ringing. I was utterly stupefied. 
Taehyung was the face of Gucci and Versace . He was so far out of our company’s league it wasn’t even funny. 
Jungkook stared at me in disbelief.
“No.” He said quickly.
I gaped at him.
“What?” 
“No... we can’t have that. He’s.. he’s obviously doing this to get back with you...”
I shook my head.
“that can’t be it. He’s the one who gave me a divorce. He’s the one who wanted to end it. “ 
It was the shock of what I’d heard. There was no other explanation for why I said that to Jeon Jungkook. 
Jungkook gave me a look.
“Really? But you wanted one too right?”
“Of course I did.” I lied easily, waving him off. “Anyway that doesn’t matter. We can’t say no to him, Jungkook. Our sales would skyrocket if we get him onboard.” 
Jungkook swore.
“Fuck, you’re right. The Ceo will probably piss himself in excitement. You sure you’ll be okay with it?”
Jungkook looked worried. 
“You forget that Taehyung and I are actually quite good friends.” I said gently. 
He grimaced.
“That's just unnatural. If you can stay friends with an ex it clearly means that either you’re still in love with each other or....”He shrugged. 
“Or what?” 
“Or you never loved each other in the first place.” 
I swallowed the remark hitting a little too close to home for comfort. 
“Schedule that meeting Jungkook. We’ll come up with a campaign theme that would fit Taehyung’s image. I’ll take to Hoseok and Taehyung.” 
“You’re going to call Taehyung?” Jungkook asked casually.
“Hoshi’s with him today. I’ll probably go over to his place after work and talk to him in person.” 
“Lucky bastard. He gets to hurt you and yet  still have you.” Jungkook said bitterly. 
I rolled my eyes.
“He doesn’t have me.”
“Doesn’t he? Why else would you turn down dates with anyone who asks? its one date.. a dinner... If you’re not still hung up on your ex husband why wouldn’t     you just go on one date with-”
I’d really had quite enough of it. I threw my hands up in sheer exasperation. 
“Alright fine.” I yelled, “  I’ll go to dinner with you...can you just stop psycho analyzing my relationship with my husband?” 
Jungkook’s smile told me that I’d been played like a fiddle. 
“excellent. Go see your husband after work and I’ll come pick you up at eight.” 
“What...no wait...”
“I know where he lives. Don’t worry about it. I’ll schedule that meeting and maybe after lunch we can go over the kind of budget you’ll want. Okay?”
I felt a little like I’d stepped into quagmire. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I didn’t go see Taehyung after work. 
I didn’t have to. 
An hour before I was due to finish my daily report, he turned up at the office with my son. My assistant let him in and I could only gape at him.
“What are you guys doing here?” I asked , completely thrown. 
“Mama I had ice cream with strawberries and sprinkles in a hundred colors.” Hoshi looked excited, eyes shining the way they usually did when he was with Taehyung. 
“That sound incredibly exciting....”
“We missed you mama....can we go again?” He said excitedly.
“I’m sorry honey, Mama’s a little caught up with work...”
“Why don’t we wait?” Taehyung said cheerfully, “ Mama likes blueberry scones so we can get those for her...” 
I stared at him.
“Okay...” I sad carefully, staring him down. What was he doing really?
“Okay... Can I go see the fishies....” Hoshi waved at the large fish tank built into the wall in my office and Taehyung laughed, letting him down.
“Sure bud.. go see how many of the fish you can identify...” He said brightly. 
“ Since when do you pick me up for blueberry scones after work?” I asked briskly and he shrugged.
“Let the kid be happy , Mia. I heard Hobi hyung already spoke to you.”
“What is that all about, Tae?” I said tiredly. 
“All the other offers i got are out of Korea. I want to stay with Hoshi during the Holidays so i thought this way , we could spend some time together..”
“By we, I hope you mean you and Hoshi.” I said drily.
“Of course. I could’ve picked another mall or something but i thought it could be a good thing if we worked at the same place... we can keep Hoshi with us and there wont be all the commuting back and forth nonsense....” 
I nodded. 
“I suppose you’re right. “ I sighed. “But be warned, you’re probably not going to have a very exciting time. 
“I’ll enjoy it nonetheless.” 
I nodded. 
“I won’t tell you how to live your life And I most certainly won’t look a gift horse in the mouth. My Ceo might just give me a huge pay raise for this. He’s been waiting for it since the time he hired me.”
Taehyung gave me a smile.
“I would have done it the minute you asked. You never asked.” 
I shrugged. 
“Like I said, I won’t tell you how to live your life.” 
“Jang Mi?” The knock on the door made us both look up.
Jungkook stood framed in the doorway, jacket off and slung over his arms . He looked bigger than usual, muscles straining against his button down and hair mussed. 
He stepped in casually, holding a hand out to Taehyung.
“The golden boy of Korea. in the flesh. A pleasure to meet you Mr. Kim. I’m Jungkook. Jeon Jungkook” 
The pair of them shook hands and I felt that I would rather be anywhere in the world than there. 
“ Nice to meet you Mr. Jeon.” Taehyung smiled politely. 
“We still on for tonight?” Jungkook asked casually, turning to me with a bright smile. 
This is why i hated men. 
Taehyung’s eyes snapped to me so fast that i was sure he must’ve got whiplash. 
“Sure. I’ll call you.” I said shortly. 
“What’s tonight?” Taehyung smiled, face neutral and smile still in place but his eyes flashed and his voice carried a knife edge to it. 
“Business dinner. We’re going over the budget for the Christmas campaign.” 
“Oh... where?” Taehyung asked with the same smile and I frowned.
“We’ve not decid-”
“I thought I could cook for you. i make a mean steak dinner and I thought I could pick up a bottle of your favorite wine on the way. You have my address right? ” Jungkook smiled. 
Taehyung went still next to me, his entire body taut . 
“A little inappropriate for a business dinner, don’t you think?” he snapped.
Jungkook glared back at him, eyes narrowed. 
“Well, you know what they say about all work and no play-” he began but I’d had enough. 
“I think this conversation needs to end now.” I said loudly. 
They  both shut up but glared at each other.
“I’m gonna make a reservation at the Hyatt for tonight. I’ll meet you there at seven thirty. “ I said, glaring at Jungkook. 
He nodded.
“Pleasure meeting you Kim Taehyung.” He nodded curtly at my ex husband before moving away. 
The silence he left behind was pretty awkward. 
“Bit too much of a douchebag than your usual type.” Taehyung said casually. 
I groaned.
“Don’t start.” 
“ I won’t if you don’t date him.” 
I opened my mouth to argue but then stopped. 
“Lets just get that ice cream ? “ I said tiredly. Hoshi reappeared from the inside room, looking excited and happy and I smiled despite my weariness. 
I could use a little sweetness in my life after a bitterly exhausting day. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author’s note : Feedback is welcome . Probably going to be a long , terribly angsty fic with a lot of pain for everyone involved. I still haven’t decided who ocs going to end up with so we’ll see... what do you guys think? 
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modernchemical ¡ 2 years ago
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@dimitrifan36 @realstrawssy
okay so if you are unfamiliar with the plot of wonderfalls it is about a disenfranchised 20-something named jaye tyler who works retail at a gift store in niagara falls and one day inanimate objects who have animal forms or animal faces (like a small wax lion, or lawn flamingoes, or a cow creamer) begin to talk to her and actually move their faces and speak out loud to her and her only. theyre super vague and tell her cryptic instructions that always end up helping someone else or like turning around a strangers life.
ex: a woman comes in and demands a refund, little wax lion tells jaye not to give her a her money back, jaye does anyway and then the woman's purse is immediately stolen. the next day jaye sees a person throwing a coin into a fountain and the lion says "find a penny, pick it up", so jaye goes to get the coin and it rolls into someones lunch bag, which they then throw away, so she goes to take it out of the trash and finds the womans purse in the bin.
anyway to the au part:
so very obviously jaye is going to be dirk. i was going to do rose but rose isnt jaded enough and the whole point of the show is the reluctance to help fellow man and rose cares too much. so dirk. (NOTE: dirk is actually extremely helpful and kind as a person but he also has trepidations about affection. and struggles to see things in grand scheme. so there 🫵)
i probably wont keep the setting of niagara falls because its not actually that important so itll probably be in some nebulous american city where dirk will do some boring job he hates. apple genius bar or a tech repair store or smth.
so im gonna keep the animals talking thing. because its so cool. but ill probably extend it to humanoid inanimate objects as well. i also think it would be cool if all the voices coming from the object are Dirk's voice, as to kind of tie in the li'l hal and or splinters thing. instead of having the world and people around jaye making her help people and learn friendship lessons n all that, its aspects of dirks self. in the process dirk learns about how he sabotages himself and forces himself to put on a front when he really cares about people and wants to help his friends.
so for the other characters:
eric who is the love interest would be jake of course. erics thing is that he was married but on his wedding day saw his wife cheating on him so he left and started working and living at a bar that jaye frequents. he really wants to escape his past and tries to reinvent himself but is constantly brought back to his past. hes also "mildly autistic" (real line) (hes just regular autistic) and is sort of dorky and believes in love and fate and all that.
mahandra who is jayes best friend doesnt have a lot going on character wise but she sort of enables jayes lifestyle so shes roxy duh. mahandra is basically a more spiteful and more driven jaye who actually has her life together. this scene is so dirk and roxy. https://youtu.be/CMYzWo9S01o (warning for general 2004iness)
additionally mahandra starts a secret relationship with jaye's brother aaron who i am going to give to jane. aaron is an agnostic comparative religion student who lives w his (and jayes) parents. hes a skeptic and becomes obsessed with jaye's weirdness and her relationship with the inanimate objects and stuff- so jane sort of becomes obsessed with trying to figure out why dirk is being weird, but then starts totally having an existential crisis as she tries to detective on her own friend (in this dirk <> jane is real)
there are one million characters and plotlines even though the show got cancelled only after 4 episodes and the other 9 episodes were released on dvd but these are my main ideas. pls look up this show its really heartwarming and fantastic and its ALL ON YOUTUBE IN RLLY BAD QUALITY BUT FREE!!! PLEASE WATCH THIS SHOW!!!! dirk learns the power of fate and love and friendship and greater powers and also the lack of greater powers and also that maybe all he needed to do ever was pay attention to the world around him and help his friends.
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ok the end
does anyone in the entire world want to hear about my homestuck wonderfalls au. does anyone care for 2004 cancelled fox tv show and 2009 webthing kissing in an alley.
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nocturnalswarehouse ¡ 3 years ago
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Chapter 3 - The First Job
Fic Series: At Long Last
Pairing: Brynjolf x Female Dovahkiin|Dragonborn (Adranelle Rolaine)
Premise: Eight years after being declared the Dragonborn, and three years after Alduin is defeated, Adranelle (Adi) Rolaine finds herself back in Riften to help Brynjolf with the Thieves Guild's reputation.
Masterlist
Taglist: @thequeenofthewinter
Word count: 1,540
A/N: PLEASE READ, IMPORTANT! This is the last chapter that will be up until after June 6! After that, I will have a proper updating schedule. It'll be weekly for sure but that's all I've figured out. Let me know if you want to be added to the taglist!
Mercer Frey was every bit an asshole that Adi remembered. He was brash, arrogant, and clearly needed a vacation. It didn’t help that he never liked her in the first place, always treated her like she was some beggar on the street. This time wasn’t any different, the Breton telling her to get a job from Vex before he initiated her into the guild. Brynjolf was to tag along and make sure she didn’t do anything stupid, supposedly. Something about Adi needing to prove that she’s not as “idiotic” as she was over a decade ago. 
She was tempted to Shout at him at that moment. 
The job Vex gave her was simple. All Adi needed to do was plant a gold necklace in Bolli’s home, and get out without getting caught. Brynjolf would be with her to keep watch and tip off a guard once Adi was finished and out of sight. It went off without a hitch, the thieves lucky that Bolli was at The Bee and the Barb for dinner, his wife Nivenor nowhere to be found. 
“Probably off cheating on her husband with another poor bloke,” Brynjolf commented when they found the home completely empty. He gave her the latest gossip about the couple, Adi already having a vague idea of Bolli and Nivenor’s dynamic. 
With the job finished, Adi insisted that she and Brynjolf take a break at the docks. She wasn’t quite ready to face Mercer again, and the Nord was more than happy to let his friend have a breather. “Why does he hate me?” 
“He doesn’t hate you, lass!” Brynjolf insisted for the tenth time. 
“He does, Bryn,” Adi said. She stopped pacing and looked down at the Nord. “I have never heard him say a single nice thing to me.” 
“He’s just been stressed.”
Groaning, Adi ran her hands over her face. She loved Brynjolf, she really did, but he worshipped the Guild Master almost too much. While he did recognize when Mercer was being too harsh at times, he would always make an excuse as to why he was acting that way. Adi knew there was something off about him, but Brynjolf was the last person she’d talk to about it. There was no getting through to him without evidence.
“Look.”
“Hm?”
“I know you owe a lot to Mercer for taking you in when you had nowhere else to go,” Adi took a seat next to him. “But you can’t be blind to the way he treats other members. And that includes you.” 
“I suppose you’re right, but-” 
“Sorry to interrupt, but I need help. I’m going to lose my job at the Riften Fishery.” 
Adi and Brynjolf looked up to see an Argonian woman. She seemed exhausted and worried, and if Adi wasn’t mistaken the Argonian was going through withdrawal. “Why might you lose your job?”
“It’s in danger.” She spoke quickly as if she had a bounty on her back. Adi stood up to be at eye-level with the woman and listened as she told her story. “The owner, Bolli, said that if I show up for work in this condition one more time, then I'm out. I don't mean to do this to myself, but I can't help it. I tried some skooma a year ago, and ever since then, I can't stop! If you could give me a healing potion, I could cleanse this poison from my body and get back to my life."
“What’s your name?” Adi sifted through her restocked satchel and handed the Argonian a healing potion. 
“Wujeeta,” she answered. She took the bottle from Adi and downed it in one go. “Your kindness will never be forgotten. Here, take this. It’s all I can offer for what you’ve given me.” 
“No need,” Adi refused the gift. “I did this because I wanted to.”
“If you’re sure…” 
“I am, and thank you.” She smiled at Wujeeta, who seemed to relax. 
“Where did you get your skooma?” Brynjolf asked, now standing behind Adi. 
“Look, I don’t think I should say.” She shook her head. “I mean, they could kill me!” 
“I think you owe me one,” Adi said, gently. While Brynjolf was the one with the silver tongue, Adi’s years of being an assassin and the Dragonborn have given her enough practice. Different tactics worked to persuade different people, and she could tell that Wujeeta would tell someone that seemed trustworthy. The Guild armour was deceiving, and she could see in Wujeeta’s eyes that she saw Adi as an ally.  
“Okay… Okay, I’ll tell you.” Wujeeta took a deep breath. “I get my skooma from Sarthis Idren. He has some sort of setup over at the Riften Warehouse. You can’t get inside, though. They’ve kept that place locked up tight since the war began.” 
“Who has a key to the warehouse?” Brynjolf piped up. He was just trying to help, but Wujeeta eyed him suspiciously. 
Adi gave Wujeeta a small nod, letting her know that he can be trusted. “I overheard Bolli say that only the Jarl carries the key to the warehouse. When I meet Sarthis there, he’s usually waiting for me outside with his bodyguard.”
“Got it,” Adi made a mental note to visit the Jarl in the morning. She would do it now if not for the darkening sky and the exhaustion beginning to set in. “What will you do now?”
"If it wasn't for skooma, I'd already be on my way out of this horrible city. All my gold... completely gone. Now I have to start over. I'll never use skooma again! Although I suppose a little mead now and then would be harmless..." 
“You’ll be fine,” Adi assured her. “I promise.”
“Thank you.” 
“We should get back,” Brynjolf nudged Adi. They bid the Argonian goodbye and walked back to the Guild entrance beneath the grave. Walking in silence, Brynjold glanced at Adi and noticed she had something on her mind. “Septim for your thoughts, lass?”
“I think a visit to the Jarl is in order,” she admitted. “You know me, I don’t like to see good people harmed.” 
“Sometimes you’re too good a person, lass.” He said, leaning over to push the insignia inward while Adi watched out for any potential witnesses. Once they successfully got into the Cistern, they met with Vex in the Tavern, and Adi received her reward. 
“Mercer’s gone back to Riftweald, so you’ll have to meet with him in the morning,” Vex told them. “He’s got a certain job for you that will really put you to the test.”
“You don’t mean…” Brynjolf’s eyes widened, confusing the half-Breton. Vex merely nodded and dismissed them. 
“What was she talking about, Bryn?” Adi asked as they walked back to the Cistern. 
“A job even our little Vex couldn’t complete, lass,” he sighed. “But we’ll speak with Mercer about it tomorrow. For now, get some rest.” 
Adi couldn’t help the feeling of anxiety rising in her chest. Vex had more experience than she did. If the veteran couldn’t complete this job, there was little chance for the assassin to have success. Was Mercer doing this to try and get rid of Adi? What was his problem with her? 
“Lass, you’ll be fine,” Brynjolf assured her from the bed next to her. “I know for a fact you’ve done more dangerous jobs.” 
She looked over at him, just as Brynjolf had undressed his armour. The white undershirt he wore clung to his body, outlining his chest and abdomen. What made it better - or worse, Adi couldn’t decide - was that his hair was pulled into a ponytail, revealing small black hoops on both earlobes. Feeling heat rise to her face, she quickly looked away as she took off her Guild armour. “Do you not live in Riftweald anymore?” 
“I do,” Bryn said, smirking at Adi’s red face and quick motion to try and hide it. Looking at her,  he couldn’t help but notice the scars that littered her body. One, in particular, caught his eye. On her shoulder blade was a jagged scar, bright white against her tawny skin. There were a few others that looked similar, but less striking. “But I know you have nightmares, and that they can get worse when you sleep somewhere unfamiliar. I want to make sure you settle in here.” 
“You remembered.” Adi looked back at her friend, shocked. She had told him that a long time ago, and only because she spent the night in Riftweald when Mercer was out of town for a job. Brynjolf had convinced Vald it was allowed, only to get yelled at by Mercer when the Breton got back two days later. 
“Aye, lass.” he smiled kindly at her. Brynjolf cared about Adi more than anyone in the Guild and felt personally responsible to make sure she was okay. He had noticed Mercer was more hostile toward her than he had ever been around anyone, not that Bryn would mention anything to Adi. The last thing he wanted was for her to be right. It could’ve been a bad day, but there was no way of telling with Mercer. Besides, Brynjolf didn’t want her to feel discouraged when the Guild Master gave her the Goldenglow job. 
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sariahsue ¡ 3 years ago
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Remember how I was complaining the other day about my brain only giving me vague setups for stories and not actual plot stuff? Well, I’ve decided to share the idea with you (since I don’t actually plan on ever writing it). 
Here we go. 
For some reason I’ve been thinking about arranged marriage AUs. And I was thinking about how I would write one. It’d be a medieval AU, since that’s really the only scenario that I can realistically think of working for this. 
Both kids have known for a long time that (civilian) Marinette and Adrien are engaged to be married for political reasons. (They’re probably both nobles, I guess?) It’s been in the works for years, though the two have never met. They’re both kind of resigned to this fact. They know it needs to happen, and it’s a common occurrence in their time. 
Ladybug and Cat Noir are still fighting akumas. They’re good people. Neither wants to cheat on their future spouse. Or put their alliance and countries in danger. So they both have to seriously pretend that they aren’t super into each other. It’s difficult. 
I imagine the one of the first scenes would be a discussion between the two of them about what to tell their future spouse. Chat Noir lets her know he’s getting married soon and is wondering how much would be wise to share. Ladybug can see he’s sad, and she’s upset that he’s getting married to someone he neither knows nor loves. She’s also trying to remind herself that she shouldn’t be jealous, since she’s also engaged. They decide it should be kept a complete secret from their spouses. 
(They don’t know if these people are completely trustworthy after all. I don’t know if she would also admit to being engaged or not. And really, the roles could definitely be flipped. Ladybug could be the one who brings it up. I just imagine that whoever brings it up would not be the point of view character here.)
Marinette and Adrien meet early on in the story. They’re polite to each other but sad. There are secret identities and even more secret feelings for other people. Otherwise, they might actually be happy with each other. 
This is where the idea started breaking down. What happens next? Is the goal of the story to take down Hawk Moth? 
At the very least, I’d want them to be married for a while and gradually fall for each other as spouses while they’re feeling guilty for still being in love with each other as partners. Which one are they betraying? Their partner that they love dearly or their spouse? Both?
The next day:
I wanted to procrastinate my other writing projects, so I decided to brainstorm this instead of working on the other zillion projects that I should be doing. My goal was to force my brain to think of plot-type things that could happen, because apparently that’s not its natural state of being. 🙄 (And then I procrastinated again just now by writing this down more coherently for you to read! I’ll get back to my other stuff later. I promise! Anyway...)
Things I would definitely want to happen:
that first scene, one finding out the other is getting married soon and trying not to be jealous because they're also getting married soon, deciding to keep identities a secret from future spouse (probably because they're not sure they can trust them?)
Adrinette meeting - they're nice but they're not my partner
getting married
being married for a while and falling in love/trying not to fall in love/trying to fall out of love with partner/trying to stay true to partner/trying to stay true to spouse... all at the same time
identity reveal and happily ever after
Plot things/complications brainstorm:
Adrien finding out his father is Hawk Moth and not telling his partner or his wife
Marinette finding out her father-in-law is Hawk Moth (I feel like she’d be more likely to tell. Ooh. Maybe Ladybug tells Chat Noir but Adrien doesn’t tell Marinette?)
some superhero getting injured... wait, why does my spouse have an injury... hmmm....
akumas of course
one of their friends/parents goes missing/gets sick and the spouse sees a new side of them (I was thinking that would be for Adrinette, but I'm sure it could spill over to Ladynoir, though they might not be able to talk or do anything about it in costume because of identities, so it would be stuff like, why is my partner so upset and pretending everything is fine?)
why is my spouse sneaking out at night?
how can I avoid getting caught sneaking out at night?
why haven't they noticed I've been sneaking out at night?
why was my partner sneaking around my house? Have they figured me out? How can I ask them about it without giving myself away, in case they haven't? Are they spying on my spouse? Is my spouse HAWK MOTH?!?!
Ladrien and Marichat moments??? Those would be different in canon. Marichat would feel more like Adrinette (her secretly crushing on him) and Ladrien would feel more like Ladynoir (him secretly crushing on her)? But of course, the costumed person would have no idea why their spouse is being so friendly to them all the sudden...
That’s all I got. It’s a good start, but I really wished I’d gotten more and better ideas (particularly some reveal ideas). Oh well. (I need to practice brainstorming I guess.)
Anyway. If you made it all the way down here, thank you so much for reading a mostly incoherent block of text!
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monstersandmaw ¡ 4 years ago
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Male vampire x male character (nsfw) Part Four
Edit which I’m including in all my works after plagiarism and theft has taken place: I do not give my consent for my works to be used, copied, published, or posted anywhere. They are copyrighted and belong to me.
Sorry for taking 84yrs to post this. I thought I had shared it. Sorry. Hope you enjoy all the same.
Wordcount: 10,904 (story total: 23,704)
Heads up in this part for continued, but easing, tense familial relations, some angst/heartache (not heartbreak though), and some (consensual) blood drinking.
Part One (sfw), Part Two (nsfw), Part Three (nsfw)
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Alec let out a shaky breath and crossed to the sofa, sinking down onto it as his legs finally gave out. “Vampires,” he said, hardly daring to believe the word he was uttering.
“Yes.”
“And you’re one?”
“… Yes.”
“And my family…?”
Sebastien’s voice was tight on the other end of the line as he said, “Hunts my kind. Well, those of us who aren’t registered with the ‘Guild of Hunters’ —” his tone turned acrid as he spat the words out, though he kept his voice low and quiet.
“What does that even mean? I don’t know what any of this means… And did you know about my family? I mean, before? When you started dating me?”
Sebastien took another deep breath. “Yes. I knew. And it was a long time before I fully convinced myself that you did not.”
If Sebastien had thought it was some kind of trap, that would explain his reticence at the beginning for sure.
“And were you planning on telling me any of this?” Alec snarled. God, his chest hurt so much. The deception was like Jeremy cheating on him all over again, only this time the betrayal was coming from two fronts at once: from his love life and from his family. Not that he’d had all that solid a relationship with the latter to start with. Perhaps this explained why.
“I hadn’t planned on becoming your boyfriend at all,” Sebastien snapped.
“So, what, I was just a quick diversion? A casual fuck you kept coming back for because I’m such a fucking chump? Is that it?”
“No,” Sebastien sighed. “Not at all. I fell for you. Like the horrid cliche I am, the vampire fell for the hunter, and by then I had no idea how to tell you. I’ve not been with a human before, so this is all very new to me.”
Alec ran his fingers through his dark hair to buy himself a moment. “You… You haven’t?”
“No.”
“How… How old are you?”
“Do you really want the answer to that?”
“Yes!” His phone was slippery in his fingers now from the sweat on his palm but he couldn’t bring it away from his ear long enough to put it on speaker. He needed answers.
With another cavernous sigh, Sebastien said hurriedly, “Very well. I was born in 1897 and turned on the battlefields of the Great War — World War I, that is. I was dying, and a vampire named Felicity who had been working as a field nurse turned me. My first run-in with your family was not long after I moved from France to America. They were working with the American Hunters’ Guild on a case which had nothing to do with me.” He let out a shaky breath and said, “I got in the way and I nearly died. Those were the days before the treaty, of course, and before I moved to England.”
Despite his still-spinning mind, Alec managed to croak, “What treaty?”
“Those of us who get our blood from sanctioned blood banks and do not live-feed are exempt from being hunted like animals.” He spoke like he was quoting from a law code; cold and clinical; detached.
God, the way he said it made Alec’s skin crawl. It was as if he were being permitted to exist on the grounds of good behaviour and, he supposed, that was exactly the case. Even so, Alec couldn’t help the next words that just fell out of his mouth. “So you weren’t planning on feeding from me?”
“Of course not,” Sebastien retorted but then appeared to rein himself in with yet another steadying inhale. “No. It’s been decades since I’ve fed from a human directly. I didn’t plan on starting with you.”
Alec slumped back into the sofa cushions and stared up at the ceiling of his tiny apartment. “Fuck.”
After a long silence, Sebastien’s gentle tenor sounded in his ear. “Are you alright?”
“No,” he said. “I’ve never been close to my family - my dad was always an arsehole, but… I can’t believe Theo’s involved in all this. He was such a sweet kid, and we were really close until…” he swallowed thickly around the rising lump in his throat.
“Until?” Sebastien prompted when he stalled again.
“I can’t believe this is all real,” he muttered. “Until he turned sixteen and started to ‘work out’ with dad. I was at uni by then, getting my fine art degree, but whenever I came home he was just… different. Harder. Sharper. More focused. Guess it makes sense now… Well, as much as… you know…” he gestured vaguely to the empty apartment with his hands, “… as much as all this can make sense. Fucking… vampires…”
After a heartbeat, Sebastien added softly, “Quite literally.”
Despite himself, Alec snorted. “So… where does this leave us?”
Now it was Sebastien’s turn to feel clearly uncomfortable. Eventually he said, “Alec, I don’t think it’s wise for me to see you currently. Not with your family being what they are.”
His heart twisted, even though he’d been half expecting it. “You still think they’d… what, stake you, or whatever it is that vampire hunters actually do to you lot?”
“There are many ways to kill a vampire,” he said flatly. “And your family knows all of them, probably more. You need to work this out with them first as well. Talk to your brother. He seems the more reasonable…”
“I can’t believe Ellie’s in on it as well. And my mother? Fuck…”
“Talk to them.”
“Will I still see you at work at least?”
The awkward silence told him all he needed to know, even before Sebastien said, “I just sent in my letter of resignation.”
“That was quick,” he hissed, stomach dropping. “You only just left.”
“Supernatural speed,” he replied bitterly. “Comes in useful for typing papers and getting out of awkward situations…”
That sparked another question in him. “Supernatural powers, huh? Can you turn into a bat too?”
“No.”
Then he thought of Sebastien’s Halloween outfit. “Wolf?”
He thought he detected a faint smirk in Sebastien’s response. “No, sadly. No shape-shifting for me. Felicity is not of any extraordinary bloodline, and thus, neither am I.”
“Right,” he grunted. “Of course. Is she… is she still around?”
“Felicity? Yes. We meet every now and again. She and her wife spend most of their time in Venice these days.”
“Her wife? She a vampire too?”
Sebastien swallowed audibly. “Yes.”
“Did Felicity turn her too? Would that make her wife your sister?”
“No.”
He frowned. “Did she know her as a human though?”
“Yes.”
After a moment of spinning thoughts, Alec asked, “Did… you turn her?”
“One doesn’t tend to turn one’s own intended. Between a sire and their turned, there can grow… tension. Not always, but it can be enough to ruin a relationship that was seemingly solid before. Something about exchanging blood changes the soul… or so we think, anyway. It was an honour to be asked to sire her.”
“Right.” Alec felt slightly sick. “Will I at least see you before you leave?”
“I think it best if we don’t. Not while your family is still… ‘investigating’ me.”
“Are you really in danger from them?”
“Quite possibly. My name is on the treaty, but…”
Something twanged painfully again in his chest, swiftly followed by the fizzle of fear through his veins. “But what?”
“But vampires and hunters are not supposed to sleep together, Alec…”
“Don’t bang the enemy? How very Romeo and Juliet,” he snorted. “Fuck. Why does every good relationship I have turn to shit?” he asked, not of Sebastien but of the universe itself. “What did I do?”
“Alec —”
“—Don’t. Don’t make it worse by apologising or something. It’s fine. We were only together a month. I’ll get over it. You’ll move on. Heck, you’ll fucking live forever, right? What’s a month to you anyway? Nothing, right?”
The bitterness in his own voice nearly choked him, and without thinking, or even saying goodbye, he just hung up and let his phone lie in his limp fingers on the sofa cushions. It lit up and rang a moment later, but he didn’t answer it. Six more times Sebastien tried before finally giving up.
Kay was an absolute blessing in the next few days.
He didn’t tell her immediately about the whole vampire thing, but after he’d calmed down enough to be able to look at Theo without immediately busting a vein in his forehead, he hashed the basics out with him, and then told her everything. Alec told her about his newly-discovered, secret family occupation which, apparently, stretched back centuries. He told her about the fact that his eldest sister and younger brother were monster hunters in their spare time, and he told her the real reason Sebastien why had vanished overnight without a trace — yes, Alec had gone to his apartment building, only to be politely informed by the doorman that Dr. Dulac was no longer in residence and did not leave so much as a forwarding address.
That, above almost everything else, shattered Alec’s hopes of seeing him again. Like thistledown in the wind, Sebastien had simply flitted away somewhere else.
She took it about as well as he had to start with, but when she saw the seriousness in his eyes, and when, three weekends later, she came to his apartment for a definitely-not-awkward dinner with Theo, she saw video footage that Theo and his father had captured from various hunts of supernatural creatures beyond only beautiful vampires. Then she believed him. Ghouls, ghosts, reanimated corpses, demons… you name it and Theo could tell you about it.
Alec spent Christmas with Kay’s family, and Theo met him for New Year drinks in the city, joined by Ellie. It wasn’t anything like the family dynamic he’d always longed for, but the new degree of openness between them went some way to mending his still bruised heart. Slowly. Gradually. Piece by tentative, honest piece. He never joined in, but Theo started to tell him a bit about what they did. It still sounded barbaric to him, but at least it was true.
He had no word from Sebastien, and the number he had saved in his phone had been disconnected.
With the arrival of spring, Alec found himself more than usually dissatisfied with his job. He was a good teacher, and he enjoyed seeing his students’ talents evolve and grow, but the ever-increasing admin ground him down, and the politics of the faculty and the university as a whole wore on him.
“Have you seen this?” Kay asked one afternoon as they shared a takeaway coffee beneath the drifting cherry blossoms. Petals spiralled down like pastel pink and white wedding confetti, and he watched with an absent smile as a terrier snapped and sprung around on his hind legs trying to catch them while his owner stood and talked with her friend nearby. “Oi!” Kay asked, digging him in the ribs.
“Hmm?”
“Have you seen this?” she asked, shoving her phone under his nose.
He blinked, refocusing his eyes, and read the article’s headline aloud. “Council offers artists the chance to win a sponsored exhibition in the town hall with this unique competition.” He blinked. “So?”
“So?” she gawped. “You can’t be serious?”
“Send me the link. I’ll forward it to my students. They might like that.” That earned him a smack upside the head, and he scowled. “What was that for?”
“Alec, you might be the dumbest smart guy I know,” she said. “I showed it to you so that you could enter it, you giant idiot.”
He blinked. “Me?”
“I saw those charcoals you did the other week of the cathedral! They were amazing!! And the abstracts too… I still want one, by the way.”
“It’s already wrapped up for your birthday,” he groused. “You really think I should do it?”
She rolled her eyes and drained the last of her coffee without gracing him with an answer. Of course she thought he should.
“When’s the deadline?”
“Next Thursday,” she said without looking at him.
Alec licked his lips and swallowed. “Will you help me pick some images to submit?”
Her answering grin was feral.
In all honesty, Alec forgot about having even entered the competition until the letter dropped through his door six weeks later announcing that, to his utter astonishment, he had been selected as the winner. Tears blurred his eyes and he sat down heavily at the tiny kitchen table. He’d never entered any of his own art into anything like this in his whole life, and the first time he does, he gets a whole fucking public exhibition out of it?
“Maybe this year won’t be so bad after all,” he murmured. “New year, new start…” His chest still ached when he thought about Sebastien, and he hoped he was doing alright, wherever he was.
Theo had been searching for him, probably by way of apology for lying to his big brother for all these years, but he’d turned up very little. Sebastien had gone to Venice first, it seemed, presumably to spend time with Felicity and her wife, but had disappeared completely after that, with only rumours flickering here and there that he was in Paris, St. Petersburg, Prague, and then potentially Florence. Maybe.
“Venice seems like a pretty sunny place for a pair of vampires to live,” Alec commented, but Theo shrugged.
“They don’t burn up immediately in sunlight, or your professor would never have been able to take a day-job at the university. They’re sensitive to it, some more than others, but it takes a full day of constant sunlight beating down for them to burn properly.” The callousness of his brother’s response shook him, even after all these months, and Theo must have seen it on his face because he sighed. “I’m sorry,” he said, and then added, “You really loved him, didn’t you?”
Alec shrugged. Yes, he wanted to say. I thought so. “I only knew him for a month or so,” was what he said carefully instead. “And even then… turned out I didn’t know him anyway.”
Theo, who had been lounging on Alec’s sofa with his legs spread and his head tipped back into the cushions while Alec made supper, asked quietly, “Did he seem… normal to you?”
“Normal?” Alec asked, not sure he’d heard his brother correctly.
“Yeah… like… did you ever suspect he wasn’t… you know…?”
“Human?”
Theo grunted and nodded his head. “Yeah. I guess.”
“No. Obviously not. Never crossed my mind. Why would it have?”
Theo scowled and turned his eyes to regard him. Alec knew that Theo looked like a younger version of himself, if maybe in better shape, and he wondered if he’d have the same steely look in his eyes if he’d been deemed ‘man enough’ to become a hunter, or whatever bullshit criteria their arsehole father had used to select which members of his family were to become soldiers and which would live normal lives.
“What?” Alec demanded.
“But you slept with him, right?”
“I’m not talking about that with you,” he said, briefly brandishing the wooden spoon at him.
Theo pulled a face. “I’m not asking about your sex life. Gross. No, I mean…”
In that moment, Alec spotted a flash of something in his brother’s blue eyes that softened him to the kid. He turned off the gas and went over to where Theo was now sitting hunched over with his elbows on his knees, running his hands through his hair. When he looked up at Alec’s approach, his face showed open vulnerability in a way he’d not seen since they were young children and Theo had got himself into trouble at school.
“What’s going on?” Alec asked, seating himself next to his little brother.
Theo bobbed his knee like a deprived caffeine addict and bit his lip. With glassy eyes, he croaked, “I keep asking myself if we did the right thing…”
“What do you mean?”
The bravado of Theo’s early twenties melted away to become a worried, frightened, guilty little boy again and he said, “I mean… if what we do is right…”
“You mean… hunting?”
“Yeah,” he croaked.
“What set this off?”
His brother quirked him a humourless smirk and said, “You always did know when something was bothering me.”
Alec remained quiet, just watching him.
“We teamed up with some hunters from Edinburgh for a ‘vamp gone rogue’ case and we finally found her yesterday. She… She’d been turning people; trying to amass some kind of small army to take over from another vampire further up north. She was insane… like, completely, sociopathically insane, but… the people she turned… they were just…” he blinked, and Alec saw with a jolt that his eyes were full of unshed tears. “They were still just people.”
He feared he already knew where this was going. Still, he asked, “What happened?”
“Father wanted to put them down. They were terrified, chained up… still on the point of lashing out…”
Bile rose in his throat. “Oh god…”
“One of the hunters said she knew of a vampire who could help rehabilitate them; help them adjust to their new lives. One of them didn’t want to live as a vampire though, so father just…”
Theo didn’t need to finish that for Alec to know that father had ended the newly-turned vampire’s life in a heartbeat. “And the rest?”
“The other three went with the hunter. I don’t know what happened, but… I trust her. It’s just… father taught me and Ellie that vampires are mindless killers when they feed… that you can’t get close to them, that all they want at the end of the day is blood no matter what they tell you…  but…” he looked up at Alec. “You’ve been fucking miserable since the whole Sebastien shit-fest. I know you’ve been trying to hide it, and you’ve got the exhibition coming up next weekend, and that’s great, but… I know you’ve stopped putting yourself out there. And we did that. We fucked it all up for you. I just…” he ran his hands through his hair and sent it into wild disarray. “I just wonder if you could really have been happy with him after all.”
Alec pulled his brother close and hugged him. “I’m not going to lie,” he murmured into his brother’s dark hair. “I’m furious with father for keeping everything from me, and for making you and mum and Ellie lie to me and Angie about it as well, but… if I hadn’t seen Sebastien’s eyes go red — yeah, I thought it was just a reflection or something — and if I hadn’t seen the way he sleeps literally like the dead… I’m not sure I would have believed you anyway. I don’t forgive him for it either, but…” he sighed deeply. “I forgive you, Theo. And Ellie.”
“And mum?”
“I’m still working on that.”
Theo went slack beneath him and snaked his arms around his brother’s waist for a moment. “Thanks,” he mumbled into Alec’s shirt.
“You’re still coming to the exhibition?” Alec asked as he pulled back and went back to the stove, giving Theo a moment of privacy to pull himself together.
In truth, Alec was a little shaken too. Their relationship had been slowly patched over the intervening months, but it still wasn’t particularly close, and the matter of Sebastien had been a permanent, proverbial elephant in the room. That Theo was questioning their father’s teaching came as an immense relief to Alec though. He poured them each a glass of wine, and the two spent the rest of the evening in a quieter kind of closeness than they’d yet shared.
When the evening of the exhibition drew round, Alec was quite frankly, a bit of a mess.
“C’mon,” Theo grinned, patting the lapels of his jacket down for him and grinning up at him. “Where’s that Twayblade hunter courage, huh?”
“Must have skipped me and all gone to you,” he quipped back. “Fuck. I’m so nervous. Why am I so nervous?”
“No fucking clue,” Theo chuckled. “You’re awesome and they’re gonna fucking love you.”
“Language,” Alec said instinctively and Theo’s laughter redoubled.
“You’re a big fucking hypocrite, you know that?” Theo laughed just as Kay sidled up with three glasses of champagne awkwardly held between her hands.
“Help a girl out here, would you, boys?” she asked, proffering the glasses to them.
Alec resisted the urge to down it in one — he’d probably only choke on the bubbles anyway — and filled his lungs instead with a big gulp of air. He tried to send all his nerves into the air and then blow it out of his body in one heaving sigh to leave him calmer, but it just gave him a head rush, so he sipped the wine and turned to look around the gallery from the corner where he’d been lurking.
“What if no one shows up?” he blurted, earning him a scowl from Theo and a pout-and-eyebrow-raise combo from Kay.
He needn't have worried in the end. The marketing team had done their work, and within an hour the place was heaving and all but three of his pieces had been reserved. Scratch that. Two.
The fact that almost all of his students had turned up as well to cheer him on and trade high fives, and scrounge free alcohol and food from the canape trays, warmed him in ways he didn’t know were possible.
Overwhelmed and a little bit tearful, he stepped out of the town hall’s main exhibition space and into the small corridor that led to a fire exit and a grotty back car park beyond, letting the flush die down from his cheeks. This was what he’d really wanted right from the moment he’d graduated all those years ago; to be an artist in his own right, with people buying his work at exhibitions… It almost made him giddy to think that he had a chance to do this full time now. It seemed that Sebastien had been right when he’d said he could really make something of himself.
Ah, there was the crash in his mood that he’d been waiting for. Nothing good lasts forever, right?
Would Sebastien have been proud of him if he knew about this? Would he have been there that night, by his side? Would they even have lasted that long anyway, even without his family’s interference?
The noise in the room was gradually dying down when he gathered enough courage to step back into the echoing hall. The pale wooden floors gleamed in the low light, the white of the temporary exhibition walls almost glowing, in stark contrast to the black and grey of his charcoals. He’d chosen mostly charcoals for the show, with a few acrylic abstracts for flavour, and apparently people loved them. Every single one had a red ‘sold’ dot beneath the label now, he noted as he cast his eyes around the room.
Then his gaze snagged on someone standing with their back to him, hands clasped loosely behind them, a long, silver-blond ponytail hanging down their back. And Alec’ vision slipped sideways.
Sebastien.
It had to be him.
No one else stood with posture like that. No one else was so tall and lean and elegant and god-damned graceful, even when just standing still. And no one else stood quite as still as that.
He let out a ragged breath and swayed slightly, glancing around. There was no sign of Theo or Kay just then, and only one or two couples meandered admiringly around the room. And there, fixated by one piece in particular, stood Sebastien.
Inhaling for courage, Alec approached and came to an unsteady halt a few feet away from him. He didn’t look real, somehow. His beauty had always been striking, but now in the low light he seemed like a mirage, with his warm olive skin and contrastingly pale hair, that cut-glass jawline and —
— He turned and met Alec’s gaze with dark brown eyes alight and glassy.
“You’re here,” Alec breathed, at a loss for anything else.
“I hope you don’t mind,” Sebastien said, and the sound of his voice sent a wild tingling through Alec’s whole nervous system. The man — vampire — looked uncharacteristically shy, uncertain, as he half turned to face him.
“Gotta say,” Alec said, scratching the back of his head, “I wasn’t expecting to see you again.”
“Should I leave?”
He chewed his lower lip for a second and Sebastien’s eyes tracked the movement before he blinked and looked back at the charcoal in front of him. It was of the Lady Chapel of the cathedral; one of the most tranquil places Alec had ever been. A shaft of light lanced down from a Gothic window high on the right, scattering fractured shards of light onto the stone floor, and behind it, just barely visible as a grey, misty outline, sat the small altar.
“You’re religious?” Alec asked.
“Mm,” Sebastien nodded. “Surprising, I know, given my ‘condition’, but there you have it.”
All the smalltalk then suddenly boiled up into thick irritation inside Alec and he scowled. “Where have you been? And why now? Why come back now? What do you want?”
He must have raised his voice fractionally because the couple admiring the seascape to their left shot them slightly scandalised looks, as if he’d started swearing in a sanctuary, and he bit back the wave of anger, halting it in its tracks.
“Shall we step outside for a moment?” Sebastien asked and Alec nodded tersely.
Passing Kay and Theo who were sitting in the chairs near the drinks table, Alec cast his eyes at them and watched Theo tense visibly. Kay laid her hand on his thigh and shook her head, at which Theo nodded and sat back, eyes hard, mouth set, but at least he didn’t appear to be on the point of leaping out and staking Sebastien on the spot.
Alec mouthed a silent ‘thank you’ at them both, and followed Sebastien out on to the street.
“You’ve patched things up with your family then?” Sebastien began, standing perfectly still beside the brick wall of the Victorian building while Alec paced.
“Mostly just with Theo, but yeah. Why are you here?” he asked again.
“Honestly? I missed you. Couldn't get you out of my head. I went all over Europe, and even to Asia briefly, and nothing I did distracted me from you, from leaving you. I had to come back.”
“You could have called,” he said, instantly regretting the way it came out like a petulant teenager’s sulking.
“And what would that have achieved?” Sebastien asked evenly. “I was hundreds of miles away.”
“You could have come back sooner? Talked to me in person?”
Sebastien sighed. “I was afraid that your family would come after me. I needed to disappear.”
“Theo convinced father to let you go. As you said yourself, your name was on the treaty, and you didn’t hurt me or hypnotise me, or whatever… did you?”
“No,” he said, pale brows pinching with evident distaste.
“Could you have?”
Sebastien levelled him with a dark look. “Yes, but… that’s not something I enjoy doing. It’s a survival mechanism — to make people forget what they’ve seen — it’s not something to be used lightly.”
“Ok, but you could have, and you didn’t, so that was another reason to let you go,” he said. God he wanted to kiss him. The realisation hit him like a gut punch and he turned away. Alec ached inside and out for those lips, those hands, those eyes… “Fuck,” he whispered, barely audible. “Are you staying?”
“Do you want me to stay?”
Alec rounded on him, frustration pouring out of him again. “Don’t answer my question with one of your own. Are you staying or not?”
Sebastien remained eerily calm, but a heartbeat later Alec saw that it wasn’t serenity in his eyes but sadness. “If you want me to, I’ll stay. I want to try again, Alec. I want… I want to be with you. I’ve never felt for anyone what I feel for you.”
“Feel? As in… present tense?”
“Yes. It hasn’t faded. Not with all the days and distance between us.”
“God, you sound like a shitty romance novel hero…” he scoffed. “I almost believe it.”
Sebastien spread his hands and said, “I am who — and what — I am. You know me, Alec, in a way that no one else ever has. I was utterly myself with you, except for the fact that I kept my nature from you. I hope you can at least understand why, if not forgive me. Everything else was genuine. I have never done that — been that open, that vulnerable — with anyone.”
“Even knowing what my family are?”
“Even then.”
Alec looked up at him and saw his own reflection in those dark, rich brown eyes. “Show me.”
Sebastien’s angelic face soured into a confused frown. “Show you what?”
“Your eyes. Your fangs. Show me what you are.”
“Now?”
He looked around. The street was empty on either side, with the only people around gathered outside a bar further up the street.
When he turned back to say yes to Sebastien, he found blood red eyes glowing in the man’s face. “Holy fuck,” he hissed. Every already-chiselled line on Sebastien’s face had sharpened somehow, his cheeks hollowing a little, perhaps to account for the additional hardware he now sported in his mouth, and his eyes seemed a touch more sunken. And they glowed as if lit from within.
Heartbeat thrumming out a wild tattoo, he stepped closer and Sebastien went utterly still. His chest ceased to rise and fall, and he didn’t even blink as Alec raised his fingers to his left cheek. “Show me.”
Sebastien swallowed and parted his lips. Angling his jaw a little to one side, he showed Alec the elongated canines, three quarters of an inch long. “Careful,” he murmured as Alec made to touch them. “Vampire venom is potent, even in small doses.”
“Does it really do what the hunters say it does?”
Sebastien’s red eyes glittered almost playfully. “I don’t know,” he smiled, seeming to relax a fraction. “What do they say it does?”
“Drives your victims wild, acts like a date rape drug, makes humans lose their will and their inhibitions…”
At that, a hardness returned to his features and his lip twitched in a lopsided snarl, like a wolf backed into a corner. “That’s certainly one take on it,” he said. “It creates a rush of euphoria. It’s supposed to make feeding a pleasant experience for all concerned. Endorphins in the blood make the taste sweeter, and the human feels no pain or fear.”
“Right. Gotta say I like that one better,” Alec said with a shaky smile. “But I’m not gonna risk it right here… And fuck me, your eyes are incredible.”
“They’re still red, hmm?” he asked.
“Yeah.”
Closing his eyes and tilting his face upwards a little more towards the cloudy night sky, he inhaled deeply. His features softened again, and Alec watched, fascinated, as the slight bumps behind his closed upper lip slid away into nothing, presumably as his canines retracted into his gums. When he opened his eyes, they were their usual, endlessly dark brown once more.
“Better?” Sebastien asked, oddly self-conscious.
“No,” he said. “Just different.”
Something prickled on the back of his neck and he turned to find a woman silhouetted against the light of street lamp halfway up the road. “Friend of yours?” he asked, tense.
“Felicity. She came with me.”
“Why? Surely you don’t need a wingman… or, you know, woman.”
With a tiny smile, Sebastien said, “You make me more vulnerable than you realise, in more ways than one. And we weren’t sure if your family would be here.”
“Or whether they’d want to flambé you…”
“Precisely.” He inclined his head and the woman did the same, turning and vanishing even as Alec blinked.
“Can you do that too?” he asked, still gawping after her.
When he turned back, he found that Sebastien had stepped in close to him - close enough that his faint, woody cologne wafted gently around them and he felt his knees wobble slightly. He’d missed this. Oh god, he’d missed this. “Mmhmm,” Sebastien hummed. “I can.”
“Kiss me,” Alec whispered. “Please…”
Sebastien didn’t need telling twice. He took Alec’s face in both his hands and crushed a passionate kiss to his lips so hard that Alec’s mind went perfectly blank for a few beautiful seconds. When he came to, he grabbed Sebastien’s narrow hips and tugged him close, making the vampire grunt as their bodies connected.
This time, he took Sebastien’s ponytail in one hand and began to pull on it gently. Sebastien yielded at the pressure and tipped his face back, exposing the entire column of his throat to Alec without resistance. The gesture left Alec stunned and breathless. In his research with Theo over the past months, he had learned that for a vampire to expose their throat to another implied absolute trust. Overwhelmed, he pressed his lips to the bare skin and felt Sebastien gasp, grabbing at his shoulders suddenly to keep himself upright.
Over and over, the vampire shuddered tangibly beneath his touch and gasped sharply again, panting. As he shifted his hips against him, Alec felt Sebastien’s growing hardness, and at the same time, Sebastien drew back, eyes screwed shut. “Stop,” he laughed. “Not here.”
“I want you,” Alec moaned, one hand on Sebastien’s chest. “Fuck, I’ve missed you so much.”
“I want you too,” Sebastien smiled, opening his eyes. They glowed scarlet again. “And because of that, this —” he said, gesturing to his red eyes, “— isn’t going to go away quickly this time.”
“This too?” Alec said, boldly cupping the obvious bulge in Sebastien’s smart black trousers gently with his hand and making the vampire groan.
“Yeah, that too.”
“Your place or mine?” Alec asked with a dizzy grin.
“You decide. I’m booked into a hotel one street over for the next two days,” he said. “If that affects your decision in any way.”
“Yours,” he said. “I… I’ll just…” he looked over his shoulder and caught sight of the exhibition banner dangling by the door. “I should…”
Sebastien nodded slowly. “I’ll be here.”
“You’d better be,” he snarled as he adjusted himself and prayed no one would notice. He took a few steadying breaths on the threshold of the town hall and then disappeared inside.
Kay raised her eyebrows at him when he reappeared.
“Not a word,” he said through gritted teeth.
“Your hair’s a mess,” she said conversationally. “Is it windy outside?”
“Fuck off,” he grimaced and she laughed. “Where’s Theo?”
“He left out the back way,” she said. “But he told me to tell you to enjoy yourself tonight, and that he’ll stand by whatever makes you happy.”
Unexpected tears prickled his eyes and he tugged her into a hug that was probably meant for his brother.
“You can thank us later,” she said, shoving him off her. “Go be with your Prince of Darkness…”
“I’m not sure how much he’d like you calling him that,” he said as he stepped back. “I’ll have to wrap things up here first…”
It seemed to take forever, but he finally found the events coordinator and after an interminable conversation full of congratulations, agreed to stop by the next day to take down the exhibition and sort the sales out. His heart was thudding when he stepped back outside, but he let out a huge sigh when he saw Sebastien leaning against the brick building, face tilted towards the moon that was just peeking out from behind a bank of cloud.
“It’s like one of your charcoals,” Sebastien said without tearing his eyes from the sky.
Alec crossed to him and smiled when Sebastien met his gaze, red meeting blue. Alec slid his fingers into Sebastien’s where his hand hung quietly by his side.
“Ready?” the vampire asked.
Alec nodded, and let Sebastien lead him back to his hotel.
They barely made it into the lift before Alec was kissing him, backing him into the mirrored sides of the lift with a thud before the doors had even closed. He stopped suddenly, drew back and laughed, and Sebastien — who looked like he’d just got whiplash — asked, “What?”
“Vampires do have reflections after all…”
Sebastien rolled his eyes and gave an indecorous snort-laugh. The sound was rich and warm and it filled Alec’s whole consciousness for a moment. “It’s only the antique ones with genuine silver backing that don’t show our reflections. Technology has evolved, thank goodness. Now, if you don’t mind, you were kissing me senseless…”
“Sorry,” he laughed, grabbing Sebastien’s white shirt collar and tugging him down again. They nearly didn’t get out of the lift at Sebastien’s floor, but as the doors began to close again, Sebastien slid his foot into the path of the doors and dragged Alec out.
Clothes landed in a steady line on the carpet between the door of his hotel room and Sebastien’s bed, ending with them both in only their boxer-briefs on the pristine white surface of the bed. Alec was tipped back onto the duvet and lay there staring up at Sebastien who was now no longer hiding his nature from him at all. Red eyes blazed in his face and as he opened his mouth to breath heavily, the tips of his fangs were just visible. There was no denying that he was a vampire.
“Was it like this before?” Alec asked hoarsely. “I mean… did I just not see it?”
“I had to work very hard to rein all this in,” he said, kneeling on the bed and crawling a little way up it. His own boxer briefs strained at the crotch where his erection tented the fabric, and Alec’s own black ones were stained with a little spot of wetness where his cock twitched with eager interest. “I only let it slip once or twice, but you were distracted at the time.”
Alec smirked and then moaned as Sebastien’s palm skimmed up over his groin and over his stomach. He’d always been a bit self-conscious about the softer parts of him, but Sebastien worshipped him like he was some kind of immortal god, lavishing attention on him over and over until he was shaking and gasping and sweating. “Please!” he begged after what felt like hours. “Oh god, please…”
Sebastien slid off the bed and deftly removed his own underwear before encouraging Alec to lift his hips for him and drawing his boxer-briefs down too. Before Alec could think or process what was happening, Sebastien was between his legs again and had swallowed the entire length of his cock to the back of his throat in one.
“Oh fuck,” he hissed, mind whiting out.
Sparks of pleasure shot up his spine as Sebastien worked him alternately with his mouth and his hand.
He teased him, licking the slit at the tip where pre-come beaded profusely now, teasing the delicate folds of skin until Alec thought he was going to shatter apart with want. Just before it got too much to bear, Sebastien would take him back into the wet heat of his mouth and work the underside of his cock with his tongue, swallowing occasionally and making Alec’s head spin all over again.
His balls tightened and he spread his legs wider, instinctively opening himself to Sebastien.
The vampire moaned against his cock and Alec whimpered. Pulling off him, an obscenely inviting thread of saliva and pre-come connecting them briefly, Sebastien sat up and reached for the top drawer of the bedside table. “Vampires neither catch nor transmit diseases,” he said, “But if you still wish to use protection —”
“— I haven’t been with anyone since you,” he rasped. “And I’m clean anyway…”
“As you wish,” Sebastien smiled, withdrawing an almost-new bottle of lube and sitting back down between his legs. Alec eyed it and Sebastien laughed shyly. “I opened it last night…” he admitted and Alec grinned.
That smirk shattered into an open-mouthed groan as Sebastien’s finger slid inside him and he began to prepare him. There was nothing perfunctory about it either. Sebastien took his time to work him open, his fingers fucking into him slowly, almost reverently, until he crooked them and Alec yelled as white-hot pleasure shot through him.
“Still so sensitive,” Sebastien crooned and Alec just shivered in response. His thighs were quivering too now from the effort of not bucking upwards into the empty air, his cock drooling freely over his slightly soft stomach with each futile twitch. He knew he was a wanton mess, and he couldn’t quite find it within himself to care. It seem to drive Sebastien wild anyway.
When Sebastien added a third finger, still stroking up and down his thigh with his other hand, Alec broke.
“Please, please, please,” he whimpered, out of breath and desperate. He cracked his eyes open and looked down at Sebastien to find that his red eyes had been almost eclipsed by his blown pupils. He gave a weak buck of his hips to try and encourage Sebastien to get on with it, but the vampire seemed utterly transfixed by him. He worked his fingers over Alec’s prostate gently but with absolute precision, and it was going to make Alec lose his mind altogether.
“Pleasepleaseplease, I need you, please…” he wailed as Sebastien’s mercifully short and blunt fingernail caught him just so and sent another jolt through him.
Finally the vampire moved, but as he withdrew completely, the loss almost shattered him. “Shh,” he smiled, stroking a soothing circle at Alec’s hipbone. “I’m still here…”
Alec whimpered like a wounded animal but his foggy brain accepted that the loss was only temporary, and he watched as Sebastien took his own flushed cock in his hands and slicked lube up the length of it in a couple of efficient strokes, head bowing under the attention it was receiving at last. He’d focused solely, completely, on Alec’s pleasure for all that time, and the realisation sent a fresh wave of lust rolling through Alec’s entire body.
He spread his legs, but Sebastien caught Alec under his left thigh and raised his leg easily, exposing Alec completely. Before Alec could process anything, his tip was nudging at Alec’s entrance, and then he had sunk all the way in to the hilt.
Sebastien froze then, bowed forwards over Alec like a supplicant, canines openly bared, eyes screwed shut, not even breathing.
“Sebastien… please…” Alec grunted. He’d never felt as full and whole as he had with Sebastien inside him, and yet this wasn’t enough. He’d ached for this. For months, he’d ached for it, and still it wasn’t enough. “Bast, please…”
Finally, the vampire opened his searing red eyes and began to move.
Slowly at first, he picked up his pace until Alec’s back was arching and his fingers clawed great furrows in the sheet beneath him. With each thrust, Alec saw stars at let out little fractured, broken gasps. Sebastien was quiet, almost silent, while Alec himself was unable to stop the sounds from tumbling out of him. He moaned and whimpered, gasped and cursed and begged until Sebastien yanked him further down the bed and lifted his hips a little way off the mattress entirely.
From this new angle, it was so blindingly good that Alec went alternately taut and limp with ecstasy. “I’m close,” he gasped over the slap of Sebastien’s hips meeting his skin.
The vampire snarled then; an inhuman sound that sent the hairs prickling all down Alec’s body.
“Come for me,” Alec begged in a whisper, opening his eyes and watching as Sebastien chased his release with a ferocity he’d never shown before. He wasn’t careless with his strength, but he was certainly forceful. Had Alec wanted to grunt ‘stop’, he knew the vampire would halt, but that was the furthest thing from his mind as he watched the flawless perfection of this man above him. “God you’re so beautiful,” he whispered. “Come for me, Bast…”
And at the sound of his name, uttered in little more than an abbreviated wheeze, Sebastien went still, hips spasming as his spine arched back like a bow at full draw, mouth open, head thrown back, fangs bared, eyes rammed shut, a sheen of sweat covering his perfect, bronze chest, his silver hair falling around him like a veil.
The sight of him like that wrenched Alec’s orgasm from him with such sudden force that he almost blacked out, and he clenched around Sebastien’s still-twitching cock as he spilled all over himself. Vaguely, he felt Sebastien trying to withdraw, but he grunted, “Don't… not yet… please… I… unngghh…” Unable to finish the sentence as the last shock waves fluttered through him, Alec went limp against the bed, breathing hard, his blood roaring in his ears.
He wasn’t sure how much time passed before Sebastien did finally move, but eventually he slid his softening cock out of him and Alec grunted at the cool slide of the vampire’s release down his thigh. He was too spent and exhausted to care about the mess though, and as Sebastien collapsed onto the bed beside him, he cracked one eye open.
Sebastien lay on his left side with his cheek pillowed on his bicep, facing Alec with his eyes closed, and he didn’t seem to be breathing. Tentatively, clumsily in the daze of his recent, mind-blowing orgasm, Alec reached out and touched the delicate skin on the inside of his arm. Sebastien jolted like he’d received an electric shock, and opened his eyes. They still burned bright red, but the rest of his face seemed a little softer somehow.
“You alright?” Alec asked.
Sebastien nodded.
“Been a while too, huh?” Alec grinned, flopping back down to stare at the ceiling where little points of light still sparkled across his vision every now and again.
“Not since that last night with you,” he said, words slurred with exhaustion. “Unless you count my rather pathetic climax alone last night, which I certainly don’t.”
“Not at all?”
He shook his head but didn’t speak again. The vampire lay perfectly still — perfectly undead — and perfectly vulnerable beside him without even a sheet to cover him. His cock now lay soft across the top of his right thigh, still drooling a little and making a mess on his olive skin. Not half as much mess as Alec was currently sporting over his torso, he mused with another smile.
With Sebastien showing no sign of stirring, Alec rolled carefully off the bed and headed on shaky legs to the shower. When he returned, Sebastien hadn’t moved, and he slid in beside him, drawing the sheets up around them and lying there to stare at him in the dimness of the unlit room, processing everything. Sebastien was back, and apparently wanted to stay. He could hardly believe how well that day had gone.
Waking the next morning with a cool, lean body pressed against him, Alec sighed, relieved that it hadn’t all been some kind of fever dream brought on by the stress of the exhibition.
The fact that the man next to him was an undead vampire who didn’t breathe in his sleep was a bit unnerving, and the way he had his cheek now resting on Alec’s collarbone and his nose pressed against his neck should also probably have been a bit of a warning, but Alec couldn’t bring himself to move, except to place a soft kiss on his forehead.
Suddenly, as if surfacing from boundless depths, Sebastien’s body heaved and he drew in a great, sucking, rasping inhale through his mouth. His lips brushed against Alec’s pulse and Sebastien began breathing heavily there for a moment.
“That will never not be weird,” Alec murmured.
“Apologies,” Sebastien muttered, trying to roll away. He paused, freezing, and then whispered, “I fell asleep…” as if that was something miraculous.
“Yeah, you passed out almost as soon as we both finished,” he snickered.
Sebastien turned his big, dark, doe eyes on Alec and said, “No, you don’t understand. Vampires don’t just shut down like that the way humans do. We only sleep somewhere we know is secure and safe…”
“Oh,” Alec said significantly as the realisation plunged through him. He tucked his arm under Sebastien’s head and tugged him closer so that their bodies were once again flush with one another. “I’m glad you felt safe…”
Sebastien sighed, trailing his fingertips across Alec’s chest in absent circles. His cock twitched too, and Alec shot him a look.
With a bashful smile, Sebastien said, “I can’t help that I find you attractive, Alec…”
“Wasn't complaining,” he grinned.
It was a long time before they rolled off each other that morning, with the sun well up and the sheets damp with sweat and tangled around their ankles. Vampires, it seemed, had a longer refractory period than humans, but Sebastien also came so big when he did that Alec wasn’t surprised. He gave everything to Alec when he came that Alec could quite happily lie there all day just staring at him as he came down afterwards.
The room was chilly, however, and when Sebastien seemed to have dozed off again around ten o’clock, he headed to clean up. Again.
As the steam billowed around him, he tipped his head back into the stream of searing water and nearly yelped as the shower door opened and let in a rush of cold air as Sebastien stepped into the stall as well. Cool hands found his waist and then strong fingers kneaded his arse appreciatively before Sebastien kissed and nibbled up his shoulder and traps to his neck. Instinctively, Alec tilted his head to one side and Sebastien moaned, pressing open-mouthed kisses there over and over as the hot water coursed around his lips.
The sensation must have been too much for him because he pulled back sharply with a hiss and Alec turned to face him, water still streaming down around them. Sebastien stood frozen, eyes red, staring at Alec’s neck. “I shouldn’t…” he began. “That was stupid of me… I…”
“What happens to the treaty if the human is willing?” Alec found himself asking. He’d thought about it a lot before drifting off the previous night. If Sebastien had wanted to drink from him, to feed on him, what would happen to the tenuous peace between hunters and vampires like him.
“Don’t,” Sebastien said through gritted teeth. His canines were elongated, Alec noted.
“What happens?”
“The only way it’s permitted is if the human agrees by written contract to become the vampire’s source.”
“‘Source’?” he asked. “That sounds like an official title.”
“It is,” Sebastien said, relaxing a fraction and putting his hands back on Alec’s hips. His cock stirred with interest and Sebastien smiled. He leaned back in, as if proving to both of them that he could do this, and kissed down Alec’s neck again from the junction of his jaw all the way to his collarbones. He ground his hips against Alec and they both began to harden again.
Alec’s hand went to Sebastien’s cock and he started to stroke him gently, knowing he was still sensitive from their last round. Sebastien let out a ragged exhale, the cool breath making Alec shiver slightly in the heat of the water.
“So…” Alec pressed gently, thumbing across the top of Sebastien’s flushed cock.
“Hmm?” he asked, a little stunned.
“What is a source?”
“A human becoming a vampire’s source means that the vampire drinks only from that human. It’s… an ancient - ah - custom,” he said, gripping Alec’s shoulders as Alec upped the speed and adjusted his grip to tighten just a little around his now fully hard cock. “Rarely used today, but still… nngh…”
“Mmm?” Alec grinned, loving that the vampire’s thoughts were unravelling under his touch. “Go on.”
“You’re a menace,” he laughed breathily, nipping playfully at his neck and then kissing him hard. Alec’s back suddenly hit the icy tiles behind him and he yelped, rearing into Sebastien who wasn’t all that much warmer, though the heat of the water was raising his body temperature from the ambient temperature of the room.
“So if…” Alec began, somewhat distracted as Sebastien’s kisses continued and the vampire raked his fingers through Alec’s wet hair, scraping luxuriantly across his scalp hard enough to make him break off and groan. “If… if I wanted to become your…”
“Don’t,” Sebastien whispered. “Not yet. Not so soon after… all this time.”
The subtext was clear. Let’s see if this is going to last before I risk my life with the hunters guild and your family, shall we?
“Fair enough. Nothing to say I can’t suck you off now though, right?”
“Nothing at all,” he whispered and then immediately cursed as Alec sank to his knees and did just that.
It was only as he was handing in his own letter of resignation that the truth really sank in for Alec. He’d gone from post-grad assistant in the department to a full lecturer, where he’d stayed for six years, and now he was moving a little way out of the city, and moving in with his boyfriend of a year. A vampire, nonetheless. His life had gone from miserable to wonderful in that relatively short time.
Sebastien met him at the edge of campus after he’d handed the letter personally to the head of department. Standing under the verdant cherry trees, Sebastien looked like a vision. He wore tight, dark jeans and a loose shirt, half untucked, with his long hair tied back in a loose plait, fly-aways wisping around his head like mist. Alec walked straight up to him as the vampire opened his arms, flung his own arms around Sebastien’s neck, and hugged him.
“All done?” Sebastien asked without pulling back.
He nodded and popped back down from his toes. They were both tall men, but Sebastien had a few inches on him still. With a slightly doe-eyed expression, Sebastien smiled and kissed him gently. “I love you,” he said softly between kisses.
“Come on, you big sap,” Alec said. “I’ve got to be out of my apartment at four.”
“Such a romantic,” Sebastien sighed melodramatically.
With Sebastien’s supernatural strength, loading up the little van they’d hired for his stuff didn’t take long, and after giving his keys back to the landlord and signing the final bits and bobs, they were on the road.
The old farmhouse had been a find of Sebastien’s, and it needed some work. “Well, what else am I going to do on long, impossibly sunny summer days while you’re running your own business from the little art studio at the bottom of the garden?” Sebastien had laughed when they’d first viewed it, the back of his hand pressed to his forehead in a terribly ‘put upon’ gesture. “I might as well spruce the place up.”
“It needs more than a light ‘sprucing up’,” Alec had said, brows raised at the rotten wooden beam and the tired 1950’s kitchen. “And don’t tell me you made your wealth flipping houses back in the day.��
“Would you rather I told you I robbed the Bank of England and they still haven’t noticed?” he replied archly before planting a kiss squarely on Alec’s scratchy, stubble-darkened cheek.
With a scowl, Alec had shot him a look. “I honestly don’t know whether that’s a lie or not…”
“It’s a lie,” Sebastien snorted. “I can’t believe you think I’m a criminal.”
“You’re a vampire,” he’d retorted. “You could probably have just walked in there and demanded a small fortune in gold ingots and they wouldn’t have objected…”
“Please. I do have some scruples. And besides, I only use my charms on poor, miserable artists to get into their pants…”
“And their hearts too, apparently,” he’d scoffed as they’d left the dilapidated house with Sebastien’s hand in Alec’s back pocket, fingers firmly cupped around his arse.
It took another six months for the work to be completed, and even with Sebastien’s not inconsiderable talents in the DIY and home improvement departments, they still had to call in a team of builders to fix the pointing in one wall and to sort out a few other structural issues. But by the end of the work, the farmhouse was quite frankly the most stunning place Alec could ever have dreamed of living. Exposed oak beams and a fireplace big enough to park a tractor in were only half of the best features of the place.
One clear, frosty evening in late October, the pair sat outside on the recently finished patio, a small cast iron fire-pit crackling away and sending sparks and heat twisting up into the night sky, a glass of wine each in one hand and their free hand clasped around the other’s.
“Bastien…?” Alec said, not taking his eyes from the mother-of-pearl points of light in the sky above.
“Mmm?”
“I’ve been thinking a lot lately about… about becoming your source.” He didn’t miss the sharp inhale from his partner, nor the way Sebastien went completely still in the wooden chair beside him. He also didn’t say anything. “I’d… I’d like to ask how often you’d need to feed from me, and… what the repercussions would be for me as the human…”
Still Sebastien didn’t speak for a long time, and Alec worried he’d spoilt the serenity of their evening with the sensitive question. Finally, the vampire cleared his throat and Alec realised with a jolt that he was near tears.
“Bast?”
At the sound of the pet-name, Sebastien blinked rapidly and two mirroring tears tracked down his cheeks in perfect synchrony. “I thought you’d forgotten all about it,” he said in a hoarse croak. “I didn’t want to bring it up again.”
“You should have done, silly,” Alec groused, and he was met with a watery smile that didn’t meet his eyes at all.
“Well, to answer your questions,” he said, trying to sound unaffected even if he clearly was. “Every three months is safe enough, so long as you take an iron supplement. If you don’t, you might feel a little more tired right afterwards. We generally take slightly less than a person would give at a blood donation, if that helps put it into context.”
Alec turned and frowned at him.
“What?”
“You’ve gone all clinical,” he said, shuffling a little and setting his wine glass down on the edge of the stone fire pit. “Do you not want this anymore?”
Sebastien swallowed thickly and looked away. In the ochre and copper flicker of the flames before them, his suddenly red eyes seemed to glow like coals. “More than you know…” he rasped.
“Then what’s the problem?”
He chewed the inside of his cheek for a moment before turning back to face Alec with glassy eyes. “I’m frightened.”
Alec’s scowl deepened and he rose from his chair to straddle and sink down into Sebastien’s lap. Settled in his new position, he kissed Bast’s lips and stroked his loose, white-blond hair out of his eyes. “Of what?”
“Losing control. It’s been… decades since… If I hurt you, Alec… it would break me.”
“How about we start small? Just a taste?”
Sebastien looked so young then in the firelight. He suddenly looked like the twenty year old man he had been when he’d been conscripted into the army and sent out to battle to die, only to be turned at the eleventh hour by a nurse in a field hospital who’d seen something special in him. Thank god she had, Alec mused.
Alec leaned back a little and brought his index finger slowly to Sebastien’s lips. The vampire swallowed, red gaze drifting down to watch its approach before looking back at Alec’s face, searching, questioning, doubting.
Alec nodded and slid his fingertip a few millimetres into Sebastien’s mouth. The vampire inhaled, closed his eyes, and then opened his mouth properly. Alec brought the pad of his fingertip to the underside of his right canine, and pressed.
After a moment, the pressure gave way and a prick of pain like a needle pierced his skin. A bead of blood welled there instantly and he withdrew to let it swell. Sebastien clearly smelled the blood because his pupils dilated and he sucked in a sharp breath.
“Easy,” Alec said. “It’s only a drop.” And with that, he turned his finger over and held it above the tip of Sebastien’s tongue.
Paralysed in a heartbeat of terror, Sebastien sat rigid, frozen, wide eyed, but Alec lowered his finger to meet the slight roughness of his tongue, and Sebastien’s eyes rolled. He moaned and let his tongue play across the tiny pinprick wound, fingers digging into Alec’s hips. The tiny wound had already stopped bleeding, but he sucked gently, drawing a little taste more. Then he released Alec and stared at him, a look of stunned awe on his beautiful face.
“How was that?” Alec asked, briefly thumbing a fond arc across Sebastien’s cheekbone before dropping his hand.
“Manageable,” Sebastien murmured.
“Ok, I have to ask, do I taste good?”
The tense spell that encapsulated both of them broke and Sebastien cracked a smile, fangs and all. “Yes,” he rasped.
“So… I can become your source?”
“If you wish it, yes. You can withdraw the honour at any time. I won’t hold you to it.”
“Good to know,” he said, only half laughing. A moment later, he said, “When… When do you want to start… you know… properly. Formally?”
Sebastien’s eyes had drifted to the rabbiting pulse in his neck.
“Now?” he asked. “It’s only been a few weeks since you went to the blood bank though…”
“That’s…” he said, hands finding Alec’s waist and holding him gently. “That probably works in my favour this time. Are you sure you want this?”
“To be ‘yours’ on your terms as well as mine? Of course,” he smiled, and watched as another tear rolled down his perfect olive cheek. He tilted his head to one side, feeling a little sheepish, and said in barely a whisper, “Whenever you like.”
“Really? Now?” Sebastien hissed, chest suddenly heaving. “Just like that?”
Alec laughed quietly. “It’s not as if we’ve just met. I know you, Bast. I trust you. I wouldn’t offer this to just any old vampire, you know?”
Unable to stop the smile from twisting his lips, Sebastien finally relented with a nod. “Alright. But not here. You’re going to want to be more comfortable.”
“But I’m already comfortable here,” he whined playfully, wiggling his hips in Sebastien’s lap, eliciting a deep, rumbling groan.
With a roll of his red eyes, Sebastien sighed. “Stubborn arse,” he grumbled without sting.
“You love my arse.”
“Yes, you’re right. I do,” he said.
Tenderly he ran his thumb down the line of Alec’s carotid and inhaled deeply. “I love you,” he whispered. And then he leaned close. He took his time kissing Alec’s neck until he was gasping and rocking his hips against Sebastien.
“Please…”
“Last chance,” Sebastien said against the skin of his throat.
Alec shook his head. “I want this. I’m yours.”
So the vampire sank his fangs into the artery. After the initial surprise and sting, Alec’s whole body lit up as the venom hit his bloodstream, and he bucked into Sebastien who held him still with what should have been frightening ease. There was no fear behind the gesture, only longing and love and sweet, aching, rolling, unending pleasure.
“Oh fuck,” Alec moaned, going limp in his arms as Sebastien began to feed, withdrawing his fangs to draw more deeply on him while he held him easily in his arms. The vampire moaned, lips locked against his skin so as not to spill anything. The motion of his throat suddenly fascinated Alec as he swallowed down his own life-force, but before he could raise his hand to touch fingertips to his Adam’s apple, pleasure exploded in his mind and he forgot everything.
When he came back to himself, he was inside, lying on their bed, with a small, soft dressing over his neck, and Sebastien sitting quietly on the bed beside him, staring down at him and holding his hand. As he blinked his eyes, he frowned. “What…?”
“It’s intense the first time,” Sebastien murmured fondly. “I did say you’d want to be somewhere more comfortable.”
“ S’perfect,” he slurred. “Fuck me…” he added, more curse than command.
“Maybe later, hmm?” Sebastien smiled. There was a flush to his cheeks that Alec had never seen before, and a brightness to his eyes.
“C’mere,” Alec said, patting the bed beside him. With Sebastien lying silently next to him, Alec rolled over and hooked one leg over Bast’s thigh. “Love you,” he mumbled, sinking into a deep and exhausted sleep, even as Sebastien’s hand came up to cradle his head.
The vampire smiled, kissing his forehead. “I love you too.”
___
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serendipityjxmn ¡ 4 years ago
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Mr. President
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Chapter 5
TW: Slight mention of violence
Words Count: 1.8k
Link to Masterlist
Link to Chapter 6
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You wake up the next morning feeling slightly sore from having curled yourself up on the small couch. You find the bed’s already empty and when you enter the bathroom, the fresh smell of body wash still lingers which means he’s already showered and you assume he’s already gone to work by now.
You shower and make your way to the kitchen to make yourself some breakfast. Once you’re done, you set yourself to clean the house though there isn’t much to do since Mrs. Lee always keeps it sparkly clean. You pass by Jimin’s study room but has no idea why your feet stops in front of it.
You’re very curious. You had been in the study room once but at the time you didn’t have the chance to look around or see the details because you’re busy being confronted by Jimin and Taehyung. But you’re told that the room is off limits and you can only enter if you’re called upon by Jimin so you just stood in front of the door.
When you tear your eyes away, your attention is taken by the painting beside the door you didn’t notice before. Most of the walls on the corridors and hallways in Jimin’s house are filled with arts and exclusive paintings. Sometimes you feel like you live in an art gallery. Jimin does have excellent taste in artworks though. He has a range of paintings from classic arts to modern contemporary paintings and you find yourself studying each of them.
You’ve always had a passion in art ever since you were young. You wanted to pursue it in a more professional way, dreaming to take a degree in it but never had the opportunity to nor the chance, giving the way you’ve been in financial burden since forever. You don’t have much happiness growing up, but you do remember keeping small money from your daily wages in your locker in classroom before you have to give the rest to your parents or stolen by your brother, gathering it little by little for you to buy an art book and then a set of brushes, and then water colours until your brother found out about it and didn’t waste another breath before burning it all away.
You smile sadly then look down at your hands, missing the way the brushes feel in your hands, ready to create anything that you want. Perhaps the only thing you have control over in your life. Arts are fascinating, you think. You love the way you can immerse yourself while doing it, taking your minds off anything. It’s almost therapeutic.
Suddenly, you straighten up. Perhaps now that you’re finally away from your abusive brother, from your old life, maybe you can start again with arts and paintings. You might not have a husband that loves you back, but at least he doesn’t beat you half dead everyday. You’re thankful enough for that blessing in your life so you make a small promise to repay him in any way you could. You smile, thinking that you finally have a control over your own life.
The excitement quickly dampens when you remember that you don’t have money. You can’t really ask from Jimin, do you..? You don’t even have anything that you own that can be sold off.
Jimin’s been keeping you in his house so much, we thought we’d never see you. Jin’s words suddenly echoes in your mind.
He’s right, you think. You can’t just stay cooped up in the house forever. You’re practically only leeching off Jimin. You have to go out and find some real job. It’s also about time to start paying his debt back off. Your head spins slightly, thinking how long until you’d be able to pay the debt back off. Taehyung did mention the debt is practically waived now. Still, you don’t think it’s right.
Taking a deep breath, you set off downstairs. There’s a small room which is more like a library due to the rows and rows of books on the shelves, filling the walls of the room at the end of the hallway which you remember seeing a computer placed on a table at the corner. You quickly went there, fires up the computer and begin your job hunting session.
You don’t realise it’s already evening when you hear the sound of the front door opening. Your heart drops, realising you haven’t made any preparation for Jimin’s dinner. You quickly rush off towards the front door and sees Jimin, looking handsome as always in his working attire.
Except something seems off with him.
His hair slightly disheveled, he looks like he put on his shirt after sweating with some parts sticking to his body, his plump lips looking thicker than usual as if he’d just finished a make out session and he smells.. like sex.
It suddenly dawns to you that he must’ve had sex with another woman behind your back. That hit you like a truck. You feel a stabbing pain in your chest and you struggle to fight the urge to clench your chest, wondering how an emotional feeling could give you a pain that feels so.. physical.
“I told you not to fucking keep on standing there and stares like a creep!” He snaps.
“Sorry.” You feel the tear dropping before you could even process it.
“Stop apologising and just do things right.” He says, irritated. “What’s wrong with you?!” He finally take notice your watering eyes.
What is wrong with you exactly? You wipe it with the back of your hand immediately. “N-nothing.” You clear your throat, desperately trying to compose yourself. “Do you want to eat? I made some kimchi jigae and other dishes.”
For a moment, he doesn’t say anything and just regards you. “Let me shower first.” He says finally.
Taking a deep breath, you make your way to the kitchen and swiftly prepares for his meal. He comes down after a while, his hair slightly wet and you note how he smells so good. You notice he has this manly scent yet it’s still soft to your nose.
“You don’t really have to act the perfect wife. There’s no one here but us.” He says as he takes his seat.
“I’m so-“ You halt, his words telling you to stop apologising comes to your mind. “I- I want to do it.”
He doesn’t say anything to that and an uncomfortable silence fills the air.
“Won’t you sit down instead of just hovering around?! For fuck’s sake,” he barks and you jump. You take a seat immediately, not wanting to prolong his anger and watch him eat. You like watching people eat something that you cook, as creepy as it may sound.
Silence fills the air again and only the sound of his cutleries and the plate clinking are heard. For a moment, you consider telling him that you have a job interview tomorrow but then decided against it. He might not be interested to know about it.
“Have you eaten?” He asks after a while.
You shake your head. “Don’t feel like it.” You wanted to eat with him because it’s been so long since you’ve had company. Eating alone doesn’t give you much appetite. But now that you find out he’s been cheating, you suddenly don’t feel hungry anymore.
You sigh. Stop it, you scold yourself.
He doesn’t owe you fidelity. After all, everything’s just temporary.
“Sit down and eat. You’re skin and bones. And you need to eat to recover quickly.”
You really don’t feel like eating but you do know not to go against his words. So you quickly reach for a plate and fills it with very small portions of rice and dishes. Luckily he doesn’t comment on that.
“You don’t really have to cook all these side dishes. Are you even well enough to do all these?” He grunts.
“I-“
“Simple ones would do. You don’t really have to go overboard.”
“I’m sorry..” You say softly and when he gives you a look, you almost want to apologise again before stopping yourself, “I’ll keep it in mind.”
He continues to eat in silence but then you notice him eating most of the dishes you made and you almost want to forgive him for sleeping with another woman.
“Why didn’t you sleep on the bed last night?” He asks, looking straight at you and you freeze.
You swallow, unable to find the right words to answer him.
“What? You’re afraid I might do something to you? Don’t worry.. I’ve no interest in terrified little lambs.” He smirks.
He’s a total psycho.
Yet you can’t help yourself. “No.. it’s not like that.. I know you’re not that type of person..” He frowns when you say that. “I- I just thought you might not like it. I don’t want to anger you.”
For a split second, you thought you saw his gaze softens slightly. “What kind of person do you think I am then?”
Huh? You blink rapidly several times, somehow taken off guard that he caught that part of your words. Inhaling deeply, you say, “I- I don’t know for sure.. but I know you’re not a bad person.”
At that, he suddenly stands, approaches you and before you know it his fingers grip your chin roughly, making you whimper in pain. “No babe.. That means you don’t know me well enough.. yet.” He smiles, a very sinister smile that sends shiver running down your spine.
He leaves before you could process anything, leaving nothing but lingering pain and your heart pounding fiercely.
When you enter your bedroom that, you expect to see Jimin inside but he wasn’t so he must’ve been in his study room. You’re already feeling sleepy yet you have no idea why but you feel like you have to wait for him.
Just to make sure he’s really okay with you sleeping here. He might not strangle you yesterday but.. there’s no telling so you don’t want to take the risk.
But your eyes are already giving out on you and you feel like you’re going to pass out into oblivion soon. You fell asleep like that then, curled up on the edge of the bed.
You woke up the next morning and the bed’s already empty but you don’t wonder about that. Instead, you vaguely remember falling asleep when you lay on the bed waiting for Jimin but you’re now properly tucked in the bed. Your heartbeat quickens at the possibility that Jimin had moved you.
You quickly put the images away from your mind though. You probably tuck yourself in somewhere in the middle of the night while half asleep. Though, you’re more than ninety percent sure Jimin slept in the same bed as you as his side of the bed wasn’t made. You don’t want to dwell in that thought.
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Link to Chapter 6
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pride-moth ¡ 4 years ago
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You got everything that I want
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Stolas can’t recall a time where “love” wasn’t synonymous with “pain” for him. 
He had loved Stella at some point, in his own weird way. Yes, it was an arranged marriage, but he had been willing to make it work like so many royal couples had made it work before them. He admired her beauty, her strength, her force of personality. He wanted to love her and so he did. He loved her as his wife, his princess, the mother to their daughter. He really… He had tried, at one point.
But after years and years of trying and compromising and acquiescing to your partner’s every wish without ever feeling them try in turn. Getting up every night to care for the child that both of you put into the world but that only one of you really cares to pay any meaningful attention to… It gets tiring and slowly, surely, all the love you once had for your partner slips through your fingers until there’s nothing left. Nothing but regret and screaming and pain.
He loves Octavia so, so fiercely. He would do anything for her, and yet he can hardly seem to be able to make her smile. And that’s the greatest pain. When you want nothing more than to see your child happy and you would do anything to make it happen, but it’s not in your hands anymore. Octavia is still a teenager but she’s growing up, wanting to do her own thing, starting to live her own life and Stolas feels like the only thing that he could do to make her happy would be to stop fighting with Stella, and that is just not within his powers. Stella will always find something to blame him for and he will always find something new to do wrong. 
When Blitzo enters the picture, he and Stella already haven’t been sleeping in the same bed longer than he cares to remember. It’s a night of weakness, that first one, one where all he wants is to not live his own life anymore and Blitzo, that handsome little imp, catches him off guard, pokes right into his vulnerabilities and Stolas can’t help but take him home, sneak him in and let himself be taken apart in a way he has never experienced.  
It’s a magical night, not romantic, but raw and rough and brutal in the best way. Blitzo makes him hurt exactly how he likes to hurt, gives him the kind of pleasure he could never quite convince Stella into giving him. They don’t even know each other at that point, but there is the kind blind understanding between them that Stolas always wanted to happen between him and Stella, but it never did.
Stolas is almost grateful when he realizes Blitzo has taken his grimoire with him. It’s an easy reason to stay in contact, an easy excuse to call him, set meetings, work out an exchange and get more of what Blitzo gave him that first night. 
With Blitzo, it’s not love. So, there’s no pain. Stolas doesn’t let there be pain, at least not emotionally, the physical pain is something he quite enjoys. When Blitzo leaves after their monthly night together, he doesn’t allow himself to feel pain, only anticipation of the next time. He likes that there’s always a next time, even though that’s because of his active incentive more than anything else. But that’s alright, he doesn’t want Blitzo to come see him without an incentive. He deserves favors in turn for what he’s giving Stolas. 
He enjoys Blitzo’s company in general. He’s funny, quick-witted, intelligent and he handles him with an ease that in any other situation would be seen as lèse-majesté for an imp. And maybe that’s what appeals to Stolas about spending time with Blitzo. That he can be himself, doesn’t have to adhere to the vague behavioral standards of royal life. He can be vulgar around him, and a blubbering mess sometimes, Blitzo doesn’t mind him being angry or frustrated or stupid, he can just… Be. 
So, sometimes he’ll find an excuse to spend time with Blitzo outside of the bedroom. To just be. Because it doesn’t affect their normal arrangement and it’s better than spending time alone in that grand, beautiful, empty palace with a wife who wants his head chopped off and a daughter who makes him responsible for it. Maybe he is responsible for it, he thinks, but that doesn’t change anything, does it?
When he takes Octavia to Loo Loo Land, he wants Blitzo there as his bodyguard, not because he necessarily needs protection, but just because… He wants him there. Around. As company. Because Blitzo is good like that. And he likes watching him fully in his element because Blitzo handles his rifle with the same deft touch and confidence as he handles Stolas and that’s beautiful in a way. 
When Octavia tells them to get a room, it throws him off a little because he didn’t mean to get carried away like that. He truly wanted it to be a father-daughter day, Blitzo and his employees and incidental part of the equation, but he can’t really take his eyes off Blitzo when he’s being all professional and handsome and, God, maybe this was a bad idea to begin with. 
That day ends with him finding Octavia crying and she asks if he wants to run off with Blitzo and that’s… Well, he can’t fault her for getting the wrong idea. Obviously she doesn’t know that it’s just sex between them. She’s just met a man who Stolas is very clearly flirting with constantly, so obviously that would look romantic. But he would never run off with him, it’s not like that. There’s no love between them, only a deal, good sex and good company. 
There’s a little thought spinning around in his head after the whole Loo Loo Land incident that he doesn’t dare act upon for a good while, but it persists. All he needed to do to convince Blitzo to come with him was offer him money. So, maybe, just maybe, if he found himself desiring his company outside of their arrangement, he could just… 
“I’m not a hooker,” Blitzo says sharply when he tries it one day during a phone call. 
“But I usually pay you by letting you use the book,” Stolas tries, not entirely sure why he tries breaking through the metaphorical door that has just been quite clearly slammed shut right in front of face. 
“That’s different! That’s-” Blitzo lets out a frustrated sigh at the end of the line. “Just don’t try that.” 
“But-” 
“Shut it, Stolas, I said no. Just because you’re a Prince or whatever doesn’t mean you can get everything you want by waving some money around.” 
It stings a little, that comment. He didn’t mean to… He didn’t attempt to… Maybe he did. Blitzo said no, so that’s that. No reason to get hung up about it. So, he won’t see him before the full moon. That’s okay. No pain, not about Blitzo. And if he needs to exert some force to make a smile appear on his face, that’s just because he can hear Stella throwing utensils in the kitchen again. 
“No trouble at all, I didn’t mean to offend, my dear Blitzy. See you next full moon,” he says then in his usual blib tone. 
Blitzo hangs up on him after mumbling something about offending his asshole. 
Sometime after that, Blitzo starts sharing cigarettes with him. It’s a little thing that he doesn’t think much of the first time it happens. Blitzo just kind of offers it to him one time, wordlessly and Stolas takes it and that’s that. It’s a little gesture of familiarity that neither of them comment on, but they keep doing it from then on. He starts buying the good expensive cigarettes and keeping them in the nightstand just for that little ritual.
Stolas would never admit to himself that he has a little cruel streak. “Friendly” is his default mode of presentation even if that sometimes gets him weird looks, it being hell and all. But he still grew up here, he still knows how the game is played and he still knows how to hit people where it hurts. 
So, when Stella keeps yelling at him not just about how he cheated on her, though that certainly seems to be some part of her grievance with him, not about how he’s brought the false harmony of their home into jeopardy, not about how their daughter feels about the whole thing, but about how it looks bad that he’s having sex with an imp, how that’s undignified. 
“Should I have used one of your fancy dinner party friends instead?!” he yells back at her one day and she just throws another saucer at him.
“At least that would have been a proper magazine scandal instead of the semi-public embarrassment I got!” 
And that’s where he can’t handle it anymore. He leaves her alone in the kitchen to scream at the walls because frankly, what left is there to say? She wants a magazine scandal, huh? Sure. She can have a magazine scandal. 
Stolas feels nervous when he has to ask Blitzo to come over early, but to his surprise, it’s no problem at all. 
“Is that in addition to our regularly scheduled fucking or a substitute?” is the only question he asks and when Stolas answers, “Substitute” he’s happy with it. 
It’s one of their best nights yet, Blitzo ties him up so good he can’t move an inch and he fucks him and he teases him with a passion that feels entirely new. Blitzo usually isn’t one to tease, he likes getting to the point, but tonight is different, tonight he takes his time and Stolas is pudding in his fingers. 
There’s warmth afterwards, just everywhere. His entire body feels warm and muted and content. And for just a moment, there is pain. And normally he can just wish it away, replace it with excitement for the next time they meet, but this time, he feels the distinct pain of not being able to experience this kind of pleasure whenever he wants. He wants to feel exactly like this, warm and exhausted and content, all the time. But he can’t.
It takes real force this time, but he shoves the thought away. He can focus on getting Stella the big scandal she so craves, and he can kill two birds with one stone here. Not literally.
He invites Blitzo to the Harvest Moon Festival. That’s easy enough, get them out together, have him and Blitzo be in one place together in public. That’s both step one of his barely thought out plan and also another way to spend time with Blitzo which is something he needs desperately. Anything to get him out of this palace, out of the endless screaming matches with his wife. 
And then, he makes it his personal goal to be as obnoxious as possible. Blitzo calls him obnoxious all the time, that’s nothing new, but he can do one better, make sure everyone knows what they’re doing, knows exactly that the great Prince of Hell is consorting with an imp. He wants Stella to look at media coverage of the Harvest Moon Festival and be absolutely furious about it. She wanted this. 
And it’s genuinely exciting, too, watching Blitzo compete in the Games, dominating the competition except for that weird snake man who he eventually shares a title with. Truth is, Stolas doesn’t really need to try very hard to cheer Blitzo on, part of him wants to just shout from the mountaintops how cool and powerful and handsome he is and how well he’s doing. 
To his disappointment, he can’t catch Blitzo after the festival. He’s suddenly gone after the trophy ceremony and is nowhere to be seen for the rest of the day. He leaves him a suggestive voicemail, saying he would love to see Blitzo as soon as possible, but if Blitzo doesn’t feel like it, he’s simply looking forward to the next full moon. 
He learns only via Stella’s highly unsubtle phone calls at the dinner table that there was an attempt on life that day. He doesn’t know for sure, Blitzo hasn’t told him, but he suspects that his little imp probably had something to do with it not succeeding and that’s just delicious, isn’t it? That the reason for Stella’s wrath would be the one to thwart her plans? He smiles at himself.  
It’s a week later that Blitzo appears on his balcony without a warning one night, sweating and nervous and completely unlike himself. Stolas practically jumps up from his bed and rushes over to him, pulling him into a hug almost automatically. To his surprise, Blitzo allows it. 
“What’s going on, Blitzy?” he asks softly. 
Blitzo takes a shaky breath and Stolas notices several bruises on his arms. “I just… I needed to… You’re okay.” It comes out shaky and incoherent but Stolas only hugs him tighter. “You’re kind of squeezing me to death,” Blitzo croaks then and lets out a small groan that makes him sound a bit more like himself. 
Stolas lets a bit looser. “Come in, tell me what happened, I’ll call for some tea,” he says as he leads Blitzo inside. 
Blitzo chuckles joylessly. “It’s insane how different shit is for you, you know that? You can just ask for tea and someone will bring it to you. Anything you lift your own finger for, you do of your own volition. Nobody makes you do anything. Unimaginable.” 
Stolas doesn’t have an answer to that. It’s true, kind of self-evidently so. He hasn’t even taken up the house phone yet and a servant is already knocking at the door to offer tea. He takes with a curt “thank you” and hands Blitzo his cup. Slowly they sit down on the bed, arms resting against each other comfortably. 
“You know they’re just like me, right? The servants you order around here all day?” Blitzo’s voice sounds hollow, distant. It’s disconcerting to say the least. 
“Well, I suppose you’re all imps, but you… you’re special.” 
“What if I don’t want to be? What if I want to be just like everyone else and just be… left alone with all the bullshit that comes with being ‘special’? What if I don’t want other assassins to come and try to talk me out of my job and how I do it, what if I don’t want to be the ‘only good one’ for people who’d just trample all over me if they hadn’t randomly decided that I was special, what if…” 
“Blitzy, what’s going on? Do you not want to come here anymore? We can… We can stop if you want to. I don’t want to make you do anything you don’t want to, I can just leave you the book and you give it back when I need it and-” 
“Goddammit, Stolas, that’s not it, I just… Striker just came to my office and he just doesn’t leave me alone and we fought and he… Stolas, he won’t stop before he has your head and I can’t… I can’t guarantee that I can always be there to stop him.” Blitzo doesn’t look up at him, he just keeps staring directly into his tea cup. 
“Oh, Blitzy, it’ll all work itself out, everything will be okay,” Stolas says softly, tenderly caressing Blitzo’s back, but his hand quickly slapped away. 
“Are you actually serious right now?!” Blitzo looks at him now, angry, yes, but also very obviously hurt. “This guy is after you. And he’s good. I’ve stopped him once, I’ll do it again, but what if he comes here while I’m in the living world? What if I’m caught in some argument with Moxxie?”
“You don’t have to look after me, Blitzy, I’ll be okay, I promise.” Stolas takes a deep breath then, unsure of his next words. “Plus, if I wasn’t here anymore, you could just take my grimoire and run, isn’t that what you want?” 
Blitzo just stares at him, one, two, three seconds. “It sure would be easier,” he says then, pensively, “But I- Well. It’s just that… You know how it is, I don’t want to be responsible for the whole power vacuum that would come with your death and it’s not my style… I don’t know, I just don’t want you dead.” 
Stolas can’t help but smile at him. “Oh, Blitzy, that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.” 
And finally Bitzo laughs again. Stolas so loves seeing him laugh. “I’m pretty sure I’ve also told you that you’re my pretty little bitch and you have a nice dick and beautiful tight little asshole and you’re probably the only really good sub I’ve ever had.” 
Stolas pulls him into his arms, letting Blitzo lean against him and rests his chin on one of his horns. “I’m not going to die, Blitzy, not as long as you’re here. I would never forgive myself if I left you alone. I promise you, I… I can look after myself.” 
Blitzo sighs. He opens his mouth to speak a few times, but ultimately stays silent. 
They just sit there for minutes, silently embracing and Stolas doesn’t know what to do with that. It hurts. It hurts to hold Blitzo like that, to see him vulnerable and worried for him. It feels good to be with him, to have him be here. It’s warm and familiar and it feels natural, but it’s so, so painful. 
“Blitzy?” Stolas breaks the silence finally. 
“Yeah?” 
“I think I’ve made a terrible mistake.” 
Blitzo doesn’t look up at him, but he nods. “I know where this is going,” he says, half-ironically but there’s no bite to it tonight. 
“I think I’m falling in love with you,” Stolas whispers, “I’m sorry.” 
“Please, you’ve been head over heels in love with me since we first met,” Blitzo retorts but there’s no bite to it. It’s less a brag or a dig than a simple observation. 
“I didn’t mean to, I just… I don’t want it to be like this, we have a good thing here and I don’t… I don’t want to make it all complicated and painful.” 
Blitzo sighs again, but it’s a soft little sound, punctuated with a little laugh. “Stolas, you’re Goetic royalty doing completely shameless BDSM shit with an imp, it’s already complicated and painful.” 
“No, I mean-” he looks at one of the paintings of him and Stella and Octavia, Blitzo follows his gaze, “I don’t want it to hurt like this again. Love always… It always hurts.” 
 Blitzo shrugs. “I don’t think it does. Fights and drifting apart and break ups hurt. Love itself can be fun. It’s just… hard sometimes.” 
Stolas supposes that’s true. But still, is it really worth starting something when you know the end is inevitably going to be painful? And how would that even work, between them? Sure, teasing the press with an affair is one thing, but he can’t make it official. That would go beyond the realms of gossip and annoying his wife. That could potentially jeopardize his entire position and- 
“Christ, you’re overthinking like crazy right now, I can practically hear you,” Blitzo breaks his train of thought. “Nothing has to change here. We have sex, we hang out sometimes, we do movie nights, I know your daughter, we’re already in more of a relationship than you and your wife.” 
And that strikes Stolas like lightning. “You-? You feel the same?” he asks in utter disbelief. 
“You stupid fucking bird, of course I do: You think I would have passed up and opportunity to get the book without fucking you otherwise?” 
“I mean, yes, you could have just saved my life as a friend, I suppose.”
Blitzo shakes his head and grins at him. “I usually don’t fuck my friends. Nine times out of ten, I would like to, sure, but I still usually don’t. And, I sure as fuck didn’t want that either, but here we are and I literally gunned it from Imp City to here just to make sure you were still alive after I beat up Striker again and I… I think this,” he gestures between them, “is good. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever tolerated anyone that long, so… Count yourself lucky.”
Stolas smiles, as wide as he can and then he kisses him, tenderly, softly, chastely, like they never do and that seals it in a way. And for the first time in centuries, he doesn’t think about the pain that love can bring, he just thinks that holding Blitzo in his arms and kissing him feels good and he wants to keep feeling that good, so all the pain along the way, all the shit they might get into for it, might be worth it, in the end. So he pulls Blitzo a bit closer and deepens their kiss, losing himself completely in the warmth between them. 
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hotchnisslovechild ¡ 4 years ago
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On the Sidelines
Chapter One
Holly and Marvyn meet and have a few beers.
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A/N: i've recently fallen in love with the show big shot and grown quite attached to the relationship between holly and marvyn. i'll be needing something to hold me over as i wait for season 2 to be announced and released *fingers crossed*, so i thought i'd write a little something about these two. i’m not sure if any of you on here watch the show at all, but i feel like posting this here anyway. i recommend binging the first season of the show on disney+ :)
Pairing: Marvyn Korn/Holly Barrett (Big Shot) Rating: T Word Count: 2,302 AO3 Link
Today is the day. The day Holly gets to meet her new coaching partner and the team meets their new head coach. Changing into her practice clothes, something resembling both anxiety and excitement burrows itself in Holly’s nerves. Her thoughts run wild as she anticipates meeting the great Coach Marvyn Korn for the first time.
Holly would be lying if she said she didn’t have a little crush on Coach Korn. Of course, she admired his great looks, but she found his coaching to be just as fascinating, if not more. Watching him coach was electrifying. He’s animated, excited, always moving around, unable to sit still for a single play. He saw the court and everything happening all at once, managing his players like a brilliant conductor of an orchestra. She learned a lot from him by studying his coaching methods at Wisconsin from the comfort of her living room couch. He unknowingly taught her about defensive schemes and rotations, end-of-game scenarios, the importance of teaching your players every detail of the game and correcting their mistakes so they can improve. He undoubtedly loved the game and coaching it. His enthusiasm for the sport was infectious to his team in every game, and it paid off. That was until he threw it all away. And ended up here, at an all-girls private high school in California.
Taking a deep breath, the assistant coach walks into her office, her excited nerves to make a good impression mingling with her eagerness to get the season started with a new coach.  After tapping Shave and a Haircut on the window separating her office from Marvyn’s, she lets herself in, extending a hand to greet him.
“Holly Barrett, Assistant Coach,” she greets with an enthusiastic smile, borderline out of breath from the anticipation of finally meeting him. She studies him. His looks. His demeanor. He looks better than he did on TV — if that’s even possible. She finds his dark features beguiling. And those eyes. She could get lost in those light-colored eyes. There’s a lack of actual light in them, however. He seems unenthused, maybe a bit on edge. But she shrugs it off, attributing the lack of energy to nervousness.
“Marvyn Korn,” he says, shaking her outstretched hand, holding on to it a bit longer than necessary, caught off guard by the bright energy of the woman standing before him. She’s the first person at this school to greet him in a way that resembles any sort of kindness. No one at Westbrook wants him there. Hell, he doesn’t even want to be there. This is just one step towards getting back to college ball.
“It’s a great honor, Coach,” she says, letting go of his hand and walking towards the front of his desk, “I’m a big fan. You have no idea,” she admits, trying her hardest not to come across as creepy or weird. They are going to be working together pretty closely for the next few months, so she wants to start things off right with him, not scare him away or freak him out. She’s sure he’s already a bit freaked out being transplanted into an all-girls high school after coaching college men for so many years, and she’s not caught off guard when he then asks her for advice on coaching girls.
“Well, I'm tempted to say just treat 'em like the boys,” she starts, debating whether or not she wants to continue that thought. It’s probably not the best idea to offend the head coach on his first day on the job.
“But?” he pushes.
“You didn't treat the boys so well,” she answers matter-of-factly.
“Do you have any advice that might actually be helpful?”
She tells him that the girls on this Westbrook team are future leaders who are anxious to get started and can be a bit much. “Don’t pretend, they’ll see right through it,” she adds finally. And I’ll see right through it she thinks. “Other than that… let’s go coach some basketball,” she says brightly.
Marvyn tries his best not to roll his eyes as he gets up from his chair and heads onto the court to meet the girls. He doesn’t want to be there. He doesn’t want to coach a bunch of rich high school girls. Everything about this gig is a demotion for him. From college to high school. From men to girls. His disregard for this job is anything but hidden as he walks out of his office, dreading the official start of his role as Head Basketball Coach at Westbrook.
Holly follows closely behind him, excited and ready for a fresh start with a new coach to work with. Their previous coach had been nothing short of insufferable, constantly telling Holly she had no say in the team, diminishing her role as a coach, making it clear she was not in charge. Despite his harshness towards Holly, he coddled the girls on the team, always telling them what they wanted to hear. The lack of discipline never got the team anywhere, but Holly bit her tongue, knowing that whatever she had to say didn’t matter to her then-colleague. Marvyn gives her a sliver of hope for the team’s future and hers. She knows Marvyn will run things differently, and she hopes that this change will be a good change.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
After one practice and not even one drink into their casual rendezvous at a sports bar, Holly concludes that Marvyn certainly is different from their previous coach, but she’s hesitant to consider the change a positive one. He takes the game too seriously, prioritizes the end goal of winning and success over the feelings of the girls on the team. To him, they are just pawns in his own lifelong game of basketball. They are X’s and O’s, not individuals worthy of being treated with respect. He practically committed every sin of working with teens in the book. He demeaned them, embarrassed them, and disrespected them all in the span of one practice.
“My life is basketball,” he begins, “Everyone in my life are basketball players. A good coach can't be successful if he becomes friends with his players.”
“What about after work?”
“There is no after work. Not if you wanna win. There's diagramming plays, there's watching tapes, the recruiting, but there's no after work.”
Holly lets out a breath. His version of reality is nearly incomprehensible to her. Never in her life has she met someone more polarizing and stuck in his way than this man in a tracksuit sitting in the booth with her. She almost feels sorry for him. He doesn’t have any friends, and he spends all of his time thinking about basketball and how to make his team better.
“I guess I don't have to ask what happened to your marriage,” Holly says boldly, venturing into the untouched territory of his personal life as she takes a sip of her beer.
“Nope. What happened to yours?” he returns. He checked her out in the teacher portal the day before. He’s all about preparation, and that does not exclude doing some research on his assistant coach.
Her eyes grow wide. How the hell did he know I was previously married? She thinks to herself. “None of your business,” she retorts, sidestepping his question as she shifts uncomfortably in her seat, not wanting to air out her dirty laundry in front of her colleague, especially considering they just met some few hours ago.
“It is my business. Add to that, you opened the door because you asked about my marriage.” She scoffs in response, now regretting bringing up the topic of failed marriages.
Marvyn opens up about his divorce first, telling her that his wife left him, which Holly deduces was because Marvyn is such a workaholic. “She figured that she deserved more, that she could do better. So she did,” Marvyn explains. “Your turn.”
“Same,” she utters, wanting nothing to do with this conversation any longer, “He realized he could do better.”
“Why?” He pushes once more, his stubbornness starting to set Holly’s nerves on fire.
“None of your business,” she says, her voice laced with more attitude than she intended.
“If it speaks to your character, it is my business.”
Looking down at her lap, Holly lets out a quick breath. She has her back up again the door of the closet, refusing to expose the skeletons locked in there. Her marital past is not something she’s particularly proud of or that she looks back on with much joy. It’s hard to talk about without feeling embarrassed, feeling ashamed that she had an affair with a man named Matt, who happened to be her husband’s best friend.
The neglect from her husband eventually pushed her over the edge to do what she would never forgive herself for. The person who was supposed to love her the most in this world stopping caring. She was left unfulfilled and disconnected from the man she once loved. He was absent. Even when he was there, he wasn’t actually there. They didn’t even bother to fight anymore. They simply coexisted in a house that no longer felt like home.
She really wasn’t thinking at all when it happened the first time. She had an itch to scratch, and Matt was there.
“I cheated on him,” Holly discloses finally, “I had an affair. Worst thing a spouse can do, I suppose. Short of neglect, maybe,” she explains, purposefully vague, hoping he doesn’t interrogate her further.
“Are you saying my betrayal was worse?” he asks, suddenly feeling defensive.
“I’m saying his was worse. But yeah, yours too, I guess, if that's what you're guilty of.” The weight of her words hangs in the air between them. He watches as she shifts once more in her seat, visibly uncomfortable with the level of openness of the conversation.
Holly sighs. “Wow. This is a really nice ‘How do you do? Let's get a beer’,” she says with a subtle bite of sarcasm, avoiding his gaze and reaching for her beer.
“This isn't a ‘How do you do? Let's get a beer’. You have an agenda.” She rolls her eyes at his accusation, although there is some truth to it. She does have something she wants to talk to him about. “You clearly have an agenda, so get to it.”
“You are profoundly unlikable. You know that, right?” She doesn’t even try to hide the sourness of her tone.
“You're just scratching the surface. If you have something to say to me, please say it. 'Cause I'd like to get back and work on the Laguna game.”
God, he’s so fucking persistent. “Okay.” She set aside her beer, leaning in towards him. “Marvyn, these are high school girls we are working with. I know your tried-and-tested ways of coaching got you far at the collegiate level, but these girls can’t be treated like they are men in college.”
“And why not?” Her point evidently went right over his head.
“Because they are different. They don’t handle criticism like those men do. They take things personal. They won’t be responsive to your derogatory, hotheaded way of giving feedback or your ‘my way or the highway’ mentality. These girls need to be inspired and supported, not embarrassed and disrespected. These girls don’t just kiss the ring. If they aren’t respected, they are going to try to get the upper hand. And they are quite good at it.”
“They’re not gonna get the upper hand with me,” he counters.
“Look at how scared of this you are.” She can’t understand how it’s so hard to just receive these girls as the complex people they are. This team won’t get anywhere if he doesn’t let go of all his unreasonable preconceptions and connect with these girls. He’s so stuck in this mindset that the team is beneath his abilities that he doesn’t realize he could actually learn something from these girls. And he shouldn’t be afraid of that. Holly is always learning new things from her students and players. When is Marvyn going to get it through his head that he can learn from these girls just as much as they can learn from him? It’s a two-way street.
“This is another thing. You don’t know me,” he snaps defensively, “so don’t pretend that you know me.”
“I don’t want to know you,” she says coolly, “I just want what’s best for the team,” she assures him, feigning sincerity, telling him exactly what he wants to hear whether it’s what she wants to say or not.
“Yeah.” He nods his head, thinking she’s finally seeing things from his point of view.
“Is that a good answer?” she asks as she raises her eyebrows, revealing the insincerity of her previous words. His face drops, catching on to her little game. She’s irritatingly clever.
The conversation comes to a quick end, interrupted by the other patrons of the bar cheering and applauding, celebrating a touchdown in the football game playing on all of the TVs.
They find themselves back in that same booth at the same sports bar the next night. As they sip on their beers, Marvyn expresses his doubts about coaching this team, telling Holly that he just doesn’t think he can do it.
“What else?” he asks after bringing up everything that’s happened with the girls in just his two first days, speaking so frantically Holly could hardly keep up. “What the hell else?” His apparent distress over coaching a bunch of high school girls makes her laugh. You would think the world was coming to an end based on how he was acting.
“I know. You're not prepared. Welcome to high school,” she quips.
“I- I had no idea what I was in for.”
Clearly.
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clarythericebot ¡ 4 years ago
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“Say No to This” has 2 different stories
This is probably due to my perception (both metaphorically because it’s been years since I first watched Hamilton and also literally because now I’m watching a clearer version) but this time around, I perceived Maria differently. 
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 Before, she seemed more liked a device--she served to make me mad at Hamilton. And believe me, I was mad. (He cheated on Eliza!)  
That’s really all the relevance I gave Miss Maria Reynolds. I think I low-key believed the set-up idea - she and her husband planned all this so they can profit off of Alexander - but either way I didn’t give much thought to it.
But look at her.
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This is her movement at the line I’m so sorry to bother you at home. 
I’d registered that line as seductive. Listening to the soundtrack, I’d reimagined her putting her hand to her chest, or looking forlorn, or something. But what does she do in the actual play? This juvenile little bop, like, It’s not really a big deal that I’m bothering you at home, right? It reminds me of a mischievous kid trying to get out of trouble.
This is mind, when she actually asks for help (My husband’s doing me wrong--beating me, cheating me, mistreating me) it registers as shameful and embarrassing. As if she were a fiercely independent latchkey kid ashamed at not being able to get out of this one by herself. 
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Her act of seduction is portrayed like this by Hamilton: I said, “Well I should head back home” / She turned red / she led me to her bed / let her legs spread / and said “Stay...”
When I was listening to the soundtrack, I was picturing, well, exactly that. What was Maria actually doing in the musical?
1) She gazes up at her house, not looking at Alexander at all.
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2) Exactly when he says he should probably head back home, she stiffens, and her hands slowly starts to clench around her skirts,
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3) She whirls around suddenly and desperately, and begs, “Stay!”
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Do you know what that looks like? A person, a young person, who’s been abused and alone, and who’s latched on to the first semi-trustworthy authority figure she spots. He helped her, didn’t he? He actually did, and no one’s helped her in such a long time. And he was so nice, offering to walk her home like that. But now he’s leaving, and what if her husband comes back? What if she’s all alone again? 
So she asks him to stay.
And she convinces him, it looks like, with the only way she knows how.
Notice her blocking during Hamilton’s internal monologue as he prays for the strength to not break his marriage vows to his wonderful wife and extols how helpless and hot Maria looks. She approaches him purposefully, and then a tad nervously (it looks like she swallows for a second), looks at his lips, edges closer, and then turns away at the last minute. 
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I remembered this blocking, actually. Vaguely. I remembered it as seductive, an attempt to lure Hamilton in and delay gratification, leave him wanting more, as she sings her quintessential waoaoaoh. 
What it actually looks like? Her working up the courage to seduce Alexander (to get him to stay) and then backing out at the last minute. She moves away, looks out onto the street, and makes a decision. (Who would you rather contend with, Maria? The nice man who lent you thirty dollars or the husband that beat you?)
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Look at that resolute tilt of her chin. She makes a decision.
The next face she takes on shows what decision she’s made:
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She strides to him, all purpose now, and kisses him determinedly. 
Her expression right after it’s over?
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It looks more than being startled by Alexander letting go of her so quickly. Does this look like a woman who wants to seduce? Honestly, it seems more like a young person who had been relying on Alexander to say no. Who had been hoping for the authority figure to have helped her because he was kind, and not because she could seduce him. She was disappointed.
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(Another observation during this sequence: Alexander’s Lord, show me how to say no to this begins when Maria is walking towards him aggravatingly slowly. It begins again when Maria backs out of the kiss, walks away from him, and looks out onto the street, and then it becomes in my mind I’m trying to go [go go go]. Aside from her actions, we really don’t have insight to what her thoughts are, but here’s a thought experiment: What if she’s thinking the exact same thing?
Lord, show me how to say no to this. I don’t know how to say no to this.)
This characterization that I missed the first time around - that she really is younger and less experienced than him - marks how insidious Hamilton’s adultery really was beyond the surface. He doesn’t just cheat on Eliza--he fetishizes Maria. He infantalizes and and sexualizes her at once. (My God, she looks so helpless. And her body’s saying hell yes.) 
Now that I’m paying attention, it’s not even just her blocking. It comes out in the lyrics, too. The whole time, she’s addressing him as sir. No other woman in the play addresses Alexander like this. Yes, it’s kinky - we hear it’s kinky because we’re in Alexander’s perspective. Take that lens away and what we actually hear is a young woman addressing an authority figure.
What the hell, Alexander.
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“I don’t know about any letter!”
I had forgotten that she screams this line, not sings it.
Look at Alexander’s reply and what he’s reinforcing here. Look at their priorities. 
It’s obvious that Alexander’s being selfish. He’s thinking about himself, his reputation, how he’s ruined. And Maria’s concern?
Please don’t leave me.
It still comes down to that. She doesn’t want to be alone. She doesn’t want to be left to fend for herself from her brute of a husband. The man of honor who’d helped her is yelling now, and threatening to leave, but Maria has one more trick up her sleeve, and it’s not even a surprise. It’s the only trick up her sleeve she’s got. It’s the only way she can get men around her to treat her with even a smidgen of dignity. 
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This also adds another layer to Hamilton. Unlike pretty much every other song, this one doesn’t quite line up with the narrator’s version of events. One could claim that the lyrics and the actions onstage don’t exactly match because that’s how it works--I mean, it’s not as if they could’ve shown the entire affair onstage. I might agree (and I do agree in part--I’m sure some of it is symbolism due to the medium), except all the other songs move in tandem with onstage events. In Alexander Hamilton, we hear moved in with a cousin / the cousin committed suicide and then we literally see the cousin hang himself, as well as Hamilton’s emotional reaction. Even more glaring, we hear Eliza’s then you look back at me and see Alexander glance at her. We listen to Angelica’s the conversation lasted two minutes, maybe three minutes and are witness to the important parts of that conversation.
Say No to This is different, and perhaps one of the reasons I didn’t catch what was happening was because there are two similar-looking, but but ultimately disparate stories. We hear about a temptress trying to trick Alexander out of money. We are shown a girl giving an authority figure what he wants so that he would help her.
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Maria doesn’t get to frame her narrative--we already know that from the soundtrack. What we don’t realize is how much of the narrative we hear is falsified, skewed by Alexander’s perception. What we don’t see is a young woman doing what it takes to survive, someone not unlike Alexander himself. We don’t see that because Alexander doesn’t bring himself to try.
If there’s one thing we learn from the musical, it’s that we don’t get to control who tells our story. Maria Reynolds, who gets almost no voice, knows and exemplifies this most of all.
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vegalocity ¡ 4 years ago
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The Tinkerer (Red Groom AU)
It took me a hot second to decide who i wanted to be Miracle Max because there was no way I WASN'T gonna put that scene in this AU
I decided on Syntax bc the other spiders haven't shown up yet and so why not
--
The house was little more than a glorified workshop; there were shelves of research notes and half finished odds and ends puled up on an open wall near the back, and Xiaojiao was unsure of whether they should be approaching the front door or coming in through the workshop area. Especially since the front door had a very clear 'No Longer In Business' sign hanging from it.
All the same it seemed like Sandy had all the confidence in the world in this 'Tinkerer' as he was known. As his usual grin didn't waver as he shifted his grip on the Not-Monkey King's body and approached the front door. Xiaojiao fell into step beside him of course, and upon Sandy's polite knock stationed herself between her friend and the question of what will be coming next.
A small peek window opened and Xiaojiao was suddenly making eye contact with a pair of very bright green eyes, nearly bioluminescent in their vibrancy, surrounded by a pale purple complexion not unlike the late Spider Queen's.
“We're closed.” The Demon stated firmly.
“Are you The Tinkerer?” She asked in reply.
The demon at the door snarled with a mouth of sharp teeth. “I was. And thank you for reminding me of what that wretched Prince did to my reputation, Why don't you throw a handful of dirt in my face while you're at it! Scram.” he shut the peek window. And Xiaojiao was far less polite when she knocked.
“I said beat it! Or I'm calling the brute squad.” The Tinkerer opened the little window again and glared her down, but Sandy leaned in at the offer.
“I'm on the brute squad.” he waved.
“You are the brute squad.” The Tinkerer agreed.
“Look, we heard you were one of the best healers in the region with your experiments and we're in desperate need.” Xiaojiao tried again.
“What part of 'was' did you not understand? Past tense. I'm Not in that business anymore. Besides-” He scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Why would you want a disgraced tinkerer to have a look at whoever you've got in mind anyway? I might kill them.” he said that last part in a mocking tone, clearly imitating the Prince in the false posh accent. The only thing stronger then The Tinkerer's sarcasm seemed to be his bitterness.
“He's already dead?” She tried one last time, and this time the Tinkerer seemed interested. He leaned forward a bit to peer at the Not-Monkey King.
“He is, hm?” He paused for a second, eyes flicking into nothing as he thought something over, before eventually shrugging. “Sure, bring him in. I'll take a look.”
The little home indeed was as small as the door implied, and in the living space there was in fact an extra door that lead to the outside workshop area.
Scanning the room for anything flat enough to lay the Not-Monkey King down on, Xiaojiao eventually started to clear the table of books—and there were many books in this house.
“Careful with those!” The Tinkerer chided but as she turned to hand them off instead of a more average demon aggravated and ready to take the tomes from her, she was met with a pair of metallic prongs infront of her, not dissimilar to the legs of a spider demon, and peering to the side a bit she saw that indeed, they were sprouting from The Tinkerer's back.
...Huh... Spider Queen had let on that she was the only spider demon in the area, to think there was another of her kind so nearby without her knowledge before she'd died... The Tinkerer's spider legs sprouted from his back which WAS a little odd since she'd always been told the hips were the usual area for spider legs, but he was using the other pair to better arrange the table for Sandy to put Not-Monkey King down onto it, so it didn't seem like they were a hindrance. She placed the books in the spare two prongs and said tomes were carefully deposited on an empty chair.
The Tinkerer strode over to the body and hemmed and hawed for a moment. “Well I've certainly seen worse.” He continued to prod at the body, and the running clock began to hold over Xiaojiao's head.
“Sir we're in a rush here-”
“Never rush a scientist, Miss.” The Tinkerer responded evenly. “Nothing makes an experiment go wrong quicker than rushing the scientist.” He fretted over the body a little longer, and his attention was on the corpse still as he spoke again.
“So how much is this worth to you both?”
“All we've got is Sixty-five.”
The Tinkerer scoffed. “I never work for so little.” He paused for a moment, considering. “Except for that one time, but that was a very noble cause.”
Xiaojiao thought fast “Sir this is a noble cause.” Though no one ever said she was any good at improvising. “His wife cannot leave the house after the accident, children on the brink of starvation-”
The Tinkerer was unmoved. “You're not a gifted liar, are you?”
Fine, if she couldn't make this happen with sympathy she may as well tell the truth. “I need him to help me avenge my father. Murdered these last ten years-”
“Your first story was better.” The Tinkerer cut her off with a scoff. “Probably owes you money, doesn't he?” he turned away from the body to rummage through a crate of strange looking devices. “Now where did I put the- Ah.” He pulled out a pump looking thing. “Well if you're not going to be giving me a straight answer I'll ask him myself.” Her thoughts spluttered for a moment.
“He-... He's dead he can't speak-”
The Tinkerer chuckled. “Oh, so now you're the expert, miss?” he shook his head. “No, your friend here is only mostly dead.” He began to turn a few knobs on the device before gently prying the Not-Monkey King's mouth open. “There's a very distinct difference between mostly dead and all dead you see.” He began to turn the crank on the device and slowly the Not-Monkey King's chest began to inflate. “If he were all dead there'd only be one thing to do.”
“What would that be?”
The Tinkerer smirked “Go through his pockets and see if there's anything worth selling. But Mostly Dead, is Slightly Alive. So there's far more options.”
Soon enough he stopped turning the crank and lifted the device from the Not-Monkey King's mouth. After handing the device off to Sandy, whom helpfully carefully set it back inside the box, the Tinkerer leaned in close to the body.
“Hey! Hello in there! Hey- What's so important? You got anything here worth living for?” he then placed both hands and two of his spider legs onto the Not-Monkey King's chest and pushed.
At first the wheezing noise didn't sound like much of anything, but then Xiaojiao was able to make out-
“'True Love'! You heard him!” She leaned forward to examine the body herself for a moment, but other than the faintest moving of his words, the Not-Monkey King remained still. And peeking back up at the Tinkerer he looked pale, mauve skin suddenly more of a sickly lavender. “You couldn't ask for a more noble cause than that, sir.”
“Well Miss, true love certainly would be a noble cause of all noble causes.” He agreed, before blinking once and shaking his head. “But that's not what he said! I've been hearing mostly dead groans for the better side of thirty years now, and I know 'To blave' when I hear it.” He waved a hand dismissively as he turned away from her. “And since you seem like those whom may not know 'To Blave' is an archaic way to say 'to bluff'. So here's my read on things, you lot were gambling on something or another and he was cheating so-”
“Oh for the love of- You CanNOT be serious, Syntax!” a raspy voice piped up, and emerging from one of the small rooms was another spider demon, this one looking far more traditional, with the obvious mandibles and four green eyes instead of The Tinkerer's two.
“Huntsman I am in the middle of something can you just-”
“You're in the middle of making yourself look like an obstinate fool that's what you're in the middle of!” The other spider, Huntsman, approached and grabbed The Tinkerer (Syntax apparently) by the arm. “What kind of coward has my brother turned into that he can't even say the truth when he refuses to do what he poured his life's work into?!”
“You have no idea what you're talking about-”
“You head him,You know what he said-” Huntsman turned to the two of them and were it not for the sadistic gleam in his eye Xiaojiao would have thought he was honestly trying to help them. More likely he just wanted to see his brother squirm. “He's turned into a coward ever since the prince fired him! He's been stuck in a rut for months now!”
“Hey! You said you wouldn't bring that up! You swore you'd let that drop!” The Tinkerer's voice went shrill with anger, and the smirk on Huntsman's face widened, showing off his far more pronounced fangs.
“What? That you got fired? You got fired!” and then in a routine Xiaojiao would more expect out of a play than from a pair of fully grown brothers, Huntsman began to chase Syntax around the little room, loudly crowing 'Fired' over and over again while Syntax made vague noises of distress. Eventually Huntsman got hold of his brother again, and this time he maybe actually looked concerned.
“What would mother say if she saw you puttering about like this?! You know how much she went on about 'True Love' and all that ilk! And Sure Goliath was the only one who ever believed her, but you don't even have the decency to say why you won't help?!” Syntax had his hands clapped over his ears and seemed to be trying to loudly tune Huntsman's words out. “What, one good for nothing Prince gives you the boot and you don't have a reputation anymore?! Where in the world did your Spider Pride run off to because sure as anything else it ain't here anymore!” Wait he meant THIS prince, right?
“This man is Red Son's lover!” she cut in. “If you heal him he'll stop at nothing to stop the Prince's wedding!”
That gave both spider brothers pause, and something sparked to life behind Syntax's expression, he took a step away from his brother and leaned over the Not-Monkey King's body to lean in close to Xiaojiao.
“Hold on, hold on. I heal him and the Prince suffers?”
Xiaojiao leaned in and shot him as big a smirk as she could muster. “What's more humiliating than having your groom run off on the day of your wedding? He'd be mortified.” Syntax smiled back at her, and cackled.
“Now that is a noble cause.” a pair of his spider legs rummaged through the bin again before pulling out a set of adjustable glasses. “Give me the sixty-five, I'm on the job.”
“You're welcome.” Huntsman sarcastically called out before sitting down in a nearby chair and crossing his legs.
Sandy seemed to take an interest in him, wandering over beside the spider and striking up conversation, but Xiaojiao had her eyes on the Tinkerer, and her hopes.
–
“So that's gonna heal him up?”
“Something along those lines. He'll be more alive than he is now.” By this point all three of them were leaned in watching The Tinkerer put his last touches on the cure pill.
“Huh, chocolate coating and everything” Huntsman chiming in every so often for color commentary. “Of course you're enough of a petty bastard to pull out all the stops for revenge.”
“You should wait about fifteen minutes so everything's got time to settle.” Syntax continued as though he hadn't spoken, finishing up the pill and sliding it into a leather pouch. “Oh, and don't let him go swimming for awhile, about an hour or so.” He handed the pouch to Xiaojiao whom quickly slid it into her pocket, and Sandy lifted the body beneath his arm again.
“Thank you so much for this Tinkerer.”
Syntax rolled his eyes. “Just make sure someone sees the Prince suffering so you can send me a letter detailing it.”
And then they were off.
“Don't die!” Huntsman called out as they left.
“Have fun storming the castle!” Syntax added on.
–
“Think it'll work?”
“Do I look like a miracle worker to you?”
–
But soon enough they were at the mouth of the mountain entrance. A small wall the only separating Xiaojiao, Sandy, and their only hope from what was supposed to be about 30 demons.
Key word, 'supposed to'.
“Xiaojiao there's at least sixty men there.”
“What?!” She hissed and poked her head out the side to confirm Sandy's observation. And sure enough-
“I could probably take about ten on my own, how about you my friend?”
“Twenty, assuming we're fighting to incapacitate.” Sandy added on very carefully.
“Damn it all.” She hissed. Before glancing back down at the body. “Well, no matter, we've got him. He'll think of something.”
“Has it been fifteen minutes?”
“We can't afford to wait any longer. The wedding's in half an hour!” She shuffled with the body until he was propped up against the wall and took the pill out.
It slid down his throat quickly and concisely, possibly aided by whatever swallowing reflex remained in his mostly-dead state.
“How long do we have to wait, before we know the experiment works?”
“Your guess is as good as mine-” A voice between them interrupted Xiaojiao
“I'll tear you both apart! I'll take you both together-!” Sandy covered the Not-Monkey King's mouth to cut off his desperate threats.
“I guess not very long.”
“Hey, glad to see you awake!” She went for the friendly approach, he seemed sympathetic to her plight when they were about to duel after all-
When Sandy uncovered his mouth the man remained quiet. “Why won't my arms move?” he finally settled on.
“You've been mostly dead all day, friend.” Sandy calmly explained, Xiaojiao quickly adding on that they'd taken him to The Tinkerer to heal him up before Sandy cut back in.
“You know I feel kinda bad just calling you 'The Man in Black' in my head, but now that we know you're human it feels kinda weird to call you Monkey King too, so do you happen to have a name for us to call you by?”
The man paused again glancing between the two of them. “... Who are you two? Are we still enemies?” He glanced behind him. “Why am I resting on this wall?” but the his expression hardened over. “Where's Red Son?!”
“Okay I can explain-” Wait- “...No there's too much. Let me sum it up, but Sandy's right I'm gonna need that name first.”
"Xiaotian. Now tell me.”
“Well Xiaotian, Red Son's marrying the prince in about half an hour, so what we've got to do is break in, stop the wedding, steal your fire demon back, and make our escape. After I kill the Six Eared Macaque.”
Xiaotian's expression tightened and his fingers began to twitch nervously.
“I'll admit that doesn't leave a lot of time for hesitating.”
“Oh hey Xiaotian! You just wiggled your fingers!” Sandy chirped. “That's great!”
“I've still got something resembling the immortality Monkey King loaned me I guess.” Xiaotian agreed. “What are we facing against?”
“One mountain entrance, guarded by sixty demons.” She grabbed hold of his shoulders and lifted him just enough that his head lolled back and he could see the gate.
“Okay, what do WE have?”
“Your mind, my sword, Sandy's muscle.” …. well that sounded pathetic now that she said it outloud-
“That's it? That's pathetic."... but he didn't have to SAY it-
"Maybe if I had a WEEK I could think of a plan but this?” he shook his head slightly.
“Hey! You shook your head too! You're getting better!” Sandy was clearly nervous, with how bright and sunny he was trying to be. Xiaotian tilted his head to the side just enough to turn to see him.
“Your strength, my mind, and her sword against sixty men to stop the love of my life from getting married and then assassinated by a power hungry tyrant-to-be and you think a little head jiggle is worth celebrating?” He hissed and Xiaojiao was about to throw out a hand in Sandy's deference, but as usual the implied insult did little to dampen Sandy's hard earned chill.
“I mean I'd hardly consider it asking for a lot to have a little more to work with! if we had a wheelbarrow that would be something!”
Wait...
“Sandy what did we do with that Wheelbarrow those demon twins had?”
“I think we just left it there after they ran off.”
Xiaotian's expression pinched. “Why didn't you mention that earlier?” But nonetheless she could see the gears beginning to turn in his head. “Ugh... Maybe if we had a dark cloak I could do that plan but-”
“Yeah no, sorry about that, friend.” But Sandy it seemed had other ideas.
“Will this work?” a long dark cloak was pulled from behind him.
“W-... Where did you get that?”
“At the Tinkerer's! That Huntsman guy said it was made for his brother but it was too big and it fit me, so he said I should just take it!”
“Alright alright. Long Xiaojiao was it?”
“Just Xiaojiao is fine.”
“Can you pluck one of my hairs for me and hold it up?”
“Uhhh?”
“Trust me.”
So she curled a finger around a strand of hair and plucked it from Xiaotian's head before holding it up before him.
He blew gently on the piece and directed her to toss it forward.
There was a shower of golden sparks and the hair had turned into a staff much like the one he'd been wielding when they'd met.
“Alright help me up and I'll explain things.” It was a bit of a struggle, Xiaotian had to be sandwiched between Xiaojiao and Sandy “Can one of you attach that to my back?” Sandy reached down and did so.
“You can't even lift it!” Xiaojiao huffed.
“Yeah but they don't know that.” Xiaotian countered, and... she didn't have a counterargument. “So it's going to be a mess when we start this whole thing, one problem after another-”
“I'll say.” She huffed. “I've got three off the top of my head, when we're inside how do I find the Macaque, when I'm done with him how do I find you again, and when I find you again how do we all escape?”
Sandy whom had been basically holding Xiaotian's head up for him during this exchange, tilted the man's head to rest against his chest. “Come on Xiaojiao, lay off the guy, he's had a hard day.”
“Right, Sorry.”
Sandy bobbed Xiaotian's head in an approximation of a nod.
“Hey Xiaojiao?”
“What is it?”
“I hope we win.”
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