#chloe!! one room over at the hotel lol

[dolichomorph]

manifesting a new bee!chloe in season 6 🕯️🙏🕯️

[mrsbsmooth]

If you sent your S6 LI a nude while they were at work:

Did these for S4 but someone got in before me for S5, but now that we've got all the LIs, here we go. I don't have gifs this time, just HCs lol.

Andy

Has his hands full right this very second, holding a particularly nasty cat. Leans over to quickly glance at his phone, sees the image preview. Eyes go wide, and he leans in to make sure he's seeing things correctly. Completely loses all concentration, he's coming home with scratches up his arms. But don't worry, he's gonna get his girl to put a few more on his back when he gets home.

Bella

Can't really look at her phone while doing a set, but she feels it buzz a custom vibrate pattern in her pocket, and smiles a little. It's late , and there's only one reason that her girl would be awake at this hour... so Bella knows exactly what's in that text message. And she knows she's not sleeping at her place tonight.

Chloe

She doesn't have her phone while she's practicing or on stage, but as soon as she comes off it you best believe she's squealing. Everyone's asking her what happened, and she's proudly announcing that her girl just sent her a nude. But she's not sharing. The other ballerinas aren't getting a look at her girl.

Elliot

He's in the middle of streaming. His phone chimes, sees its from his girl, pauses to look at it (because he always pauses the game for her), and immediately just freezes. He glances up at the camera, then back at his phone, then back at the camera.

"Sorry guys, gotta go. Something has... uh... come up. Don'tforgettosubscribebyee!" Slams the computer shut, he is gone.

Flo

She's probably overseas, so she can't rush home like the others, but she can take a break, jumping into the nearest bathroom, locking the doors and taking a sneaky nude back. She's been in enough photos, she knows how to take them. The pic she's sending back is good enough to frame.

Francis

Doesn't have a phone. Even if he did, doesn't have reception in the middle of the forest.

Jamal

Got his airpods in while practicing in the half pipe. Siri reads it out. 'Text message from My Girl. Attachment: 1 image. Text message reads: I want you.'

Jamal immediately wipes out on the half pipe. He's fine. He climbs out, packs his shit and is on his fucking way.

Lewie

Just finished training, checks his phone. Eyes go wiiiiiide. The lads see him and know exactly why, but he quickly locks his phone and packs his shit. Doesn't bother showering. He can do that at her place when he drags her in there with him.

Marshall

Like Flo, sneaking into the bathroom to send her a dick pic back. He’s a sexting pro, in minutes she’s on her way to drop by wherever his event is. Crazy quickie in the backseat of his car. Gives her a kiss, fixes his clothes, back to work like nothing happened. Sends her a text a little later to let her know he’s ready for round two

Ozzy

Would barely be able to tell anything was awry. The tiniest smirk, the subtlest flash of fire in his eyes, and a text back.

"Damn"

Roberto

He can't talk right away, (he's flying a fucking plane, obviously). But he can check it at the hotel that night. He's immediately sending her one back, and then, he's picking up the phone to call her. He's not hanging up until they're both satisfied.

Ryan

Like Bella, he's probably performing, so he can't respond right away. But when he sees it, he's sending her a message back straight away, gushing about how beautiful she looks... and telling her in no uncertain terms exactly, step-by-step, what he is going to do to her when he gets home.

Bonus: Hamish

Checks the message, fires a text back, slips it back into his pocket. No prospective buyers any the wiser. She opens the text back: 'On your back on the dining room table. Fifteen minutes.' He's making a... quick stop at home before his next showing.

[miraculouscontent]

walks-the-ages submitted:

I just read your fantastic commentary on the one "Marinette salt" post that thinks misandry is real lol, and I wanted to point out: they claim Marienette is a mary sue for having good grades, but we literally never see her GET good grades as a narrative reward for her hard work, we only ever see her finally sleeping for a few hours (if not minutes) on top of her books in her room or in class at school, because she literally has no time to do basic things like SLEEP between her hero duties, her schoolwork, helping her parents with the Bakery, and any other responsibilities she has.

We are only told she has good grades when she's being punished for cheating-- with the implication being that if Ms. Bustier thinks she cheated on THIS test, after Marinette gets expelled, what's to stop the school from going in and saying she cheated on all of the other tests, and wiping her good grades retroactively, literally ruining her entire school career?

Meanwhile, Adrien "My Dad's So Controlling" Agreste" has been shown multiple times in canon being told to go study by Gabriel or Nathalie and what does he do? Puts on some recorded music and hops out the window to have fun as Chat Noir.

It's firmly established in Mr. Pigeon 72 that Adrien spends HOURS upon HOURS every! Single! Day! Running around Paris as Chat noir completely outside of battle, mooching off of people, most notably Chloe's hotel, where he visits as Chat Noir often enough that he has "a usual" order, which ISNT Camembert, firmly cementing the fact that he goes there to goof off and have fun or throw pity parties, that he's ordering food and drink for himself while he's waltzing around at all hours, not because the hotel is used to him having to transform back there in an emergency.

Adrien is never shown to study except for the one scene where his grades are established, and even then his studying is to help Lila, and he'd clearly rather be out on the town than be at home doing school work.

Adrien's LOWEST grade is an A-. Which implies that literally all of his other grades are all perfect A's, or even more than 100% if he's doing extra credit questions on tests.

But we never see him study, we never see him lose sleep over homework, we never see him stress over class, and we never see him do anything to earn those grades-- we only ever see him *constantly* skipping out on practice and study sessions by leaving the house as canonically established for HOURS at a time EVERY SINGLE DAY to go around town having fun as Chat Noir...

And he still tries to make excuses when he's late for battles, or when he misses battles completely, despite not ONCE ever being stuck in an actual obligation he physically can't get away from, depsite his "overbearing, over controlling father" that the show insists means Adrien has no free time.... And then they go and show us that Adrien literally has more free time than Marinette does.

Yes, Gabriel is an emotionally abusive piece of crap, (and no, Adrien stans who might be reading this, you can't say Gabriel is physically abusive, he's literally not and you're only saying that because you don't think emotional abuse is "bad" enough on its own, so you desperately try to say Adriens so sad and angty because his father hits him or starves him, newsflash, emotional abuse is real and damaging, and by insisting it's not "bad" enough abuse for your angsty headcanons/excuses for Adrien's behavior just tells real victims of emotional abuse that you don't think they had it "that bad"), but Adrien has been shown over and over and over again that he's got all the free time in the world, that he's never stuck at home, that he spends hours each day at Chloe's hotel, that he's going around and goofing off all over Paris, ALL while completely blowing off his friends when they make plans with him, despite him proving over and over again that he's more than capable of sneaking out of the house, and if he actually cared about his friends, he could sneak out of the house as Chat Noir and hang out at his friend's houses without worrying about fans stalking him and revealing he's away from home to Gabriel via media reports.

If Adrien actually cared about his "friends" he would have went out to have ice cream with Alya, Nino, and Marinette in Glaciator instead of blowing them off to arrange a date for someone who told him no-- and then have the GALL to insult Marienette and her """friends""" because she hung out with them like to promised to, EVEN THOUGH HES THE ONE THAT BLEW OFF THEIR PLANS! Adrien was meant to be there with them, hanging out and getting ice cream! But did he? Nope! He didn't even ask Gabriel if he could go, we didn't hear any request for permission or the answer on screen, Adrien just told his friends he couldn't make it......... And then snuck out of the house to spend who knows how many hours (and how much $$$? Or did he steal/mooch those flowers and candles? Wouldn't put it past him) putting together a romantic dinner he's already been told "no" to.

But yeah, if people want to use "perfect grades" as an example of characters being Mary Sues or Gary Stues... Adrien's literally right there as the perfect example, literally never working for his grades, only having them handed to him to show how "smart" he is.

omg YES, THANK YOU

I wanted to go more in-depth on it but the post was long enough as it was. You hit every remaining nail right on the head.

Literally the biggest moment I could think of referencing Marinette’s grades is “Ladybug” where it’s used to expel her as if they blamed her for studying too hard and Lila used that to her advantage.

Whenever Adrien is moping around or being prevented from going anywhere (like him not keeping up with piano), it’s always wow he’s so sad and this is so unfair, but when Marinette is overworked and overburdened because she has so much to keep up with, she’s blamed and is making whatever mistake that episode.

We at least see Marinette studying (sometimes even having Tikki help/quiz her), we at least see Marinette working on her fashion (even in Adrien-heavy episodes like “The Puppeteer 2″), we at least see her trying to do all of these things even if she’s supposedly “““too good at them.”““

In fact, I’d take it a step further and say that her being good at things ends up being bad for her. Her being good at gaming ended up not only being for her “mistake” in “Gamer,” but it’s revealed in two separate episodes (”Gamer 2.0″ and “Rocketear”) that Marinette is so overtasked that she can’t even enjoy gaming with her own father.

(Also, another “fun” bit for the “wouldn’t put it past Adrien to steal those flowers/candles” thing is that Adrien does in fact steal a rose in “Frozer” after they save the paragliding guy so he can give it to Ladybug.)

[ayanna-wild]

Broken Wings

Word Count: 2921

Pairings: Lucifer Morningstar x Reader

Warnings: angst, fluff, hurt, comfort

A/N: Request from Wattpad, for the sake of this story Lucifer and the reader will not be related, set somewhere between s1 and s2, and I have nothing against Amenadiel, but he was kind of a dick during s1 lol

Requests and Tag List are open

Summary: It was a simple matter of loving the wrong man, but you couldn’t control your heart. How was it fair for you to be punished? But life was cruel that way.

.................................................................................

You weren't an angel per-say. You had the wings, the immortality, yet you lacked the power that came with being a true angel. To be blunt you were a side project God had taken up before abandoning it to create humanity, more a helper to his children than anything.

The only of your kind.

With little other purpose you dutifully fulfilled your role as the aid, accompying the true angels to earth. A mundane existence, but one you tolerated.

Until Lucifer had taken an interest in you, life was so much better after that. So full of fun and laughter, he called for your help more than any of his brethren or sisters. Although he never really needed any assistance, it was all an excuse to steal you away for a while.

For centuries that was your life, and you were content with it if it meant spending more time with him. You two grew impossibly close and thought you'd be with him until the stars in the sky fizzled out.

But that was before, before the rebellion, before his banishment, before your existence dulled so drastically. Spending centuries, millenniums feeling as though you were missing out on something better.

Which is why you had so graciously agreed to accompany Amenadiel to earth. So he could once again fail at convincing his brother to return to hell. You masked your excitement surprisingly well, or Amenadiel was just incredibly oblivious. Either way you weren't complaining.

~

"You seem happy..."

Your wings fluttered a bit, unable to contain the smile on your face as you glanced at the dark skinned angel.

"Well it's nice to get out of heaven once and a while, you know?"

That was only partially a lie, you really did enjoy earth much more, but truthfully you were excited about seeing Lucifer after so long.

"No. Heaven is perfect. " Amenadiel stated bluntly.

You watched him walk inside from the balcony, hanging back a moment to mutter to yourself.

"For you maybe..."

Your wings folded into your back as you walked in, not the least bit surprised to see the brothers at each other's throats already.

"Such hostility from such divine beings."

Your sarcastic remark quickly drew the attention of the king of hell, who turned to you with a grin so wide you wondered if it hurt his face.

"Oh brother, you failed to mention you brought along this beautiful little creature. Y/N, it's an absolute pleasure to see you again."

Lucifer approached you with open arms, your smile matching his as he embraced you.

"It is her role to assist us." Amenadiel said as if that was the obvious answer.

Lucifer pulled away from you, noticing the way your shoulders sagged a bit at the elder angels words. The devil frowned a bit.

"Role? Are you still listening to such nonsense?" Lucifer scoffed.

Amenadiel rolled his shoulders, flexing his wings a little in irritation.

"It is our father's will. You should be following your role as well."

Lucifer clicked his tongue, strolling over to his bar.

"It became rather dull, so many years doing the same thing, a drab existence, isn't it angel?"

The ending was directed towards you, and you almost forgot yourself, almost allowed yourself to agree, in front of Amenadiel. It was a nickname he had given you centuries ago. His own way of telling you he saw you as his equal, unlike the others.

You were his angel.

"She's not a real angel Lucifer, don't try to fill her head with your rebellious nonsense."

His words stung a bit, but he wasn't entirely wrong, you weren't a true angel. That bit of fact didn't seem to lessen the blow to your pride though.

"With such exquisite wings as hers, who could tell the difference?" Lucifer winked at you.

You straightened your back, feeling proud of yourself, your wings always were your favorite feature. You took immaculate care of them. Just as quickly as Amenadiel tore you down Lucifer built you back, you supposed that was one of the things that had drawn you to him all those years ago.

"You're a disgrace."

You stepped between them, placing a hand on Lucifer's chest.

"Maybe I can talk to him? He was always at least willing to listen to me." You offered.

Amenadiel seemed to ponder this a moment before nodding.

"I'll return tomorrow, don't let him pull you into any of his schemes."

Lucifer scoffed at his brother's warning. You smiled softly.

"Of course."

With a flutter of wings he was gone, and you were left alone with the fallen angel. Without a moment to appreciate the silence, a cup of amber liquid was held in front of your face.

"Fancy a drink my dear? We have so much to catch up on."

~

You weren't sure how it happened, maybe it was the drinks, or the way he spoke to you, but you found yourself stumbling out of his bed the next morning. Panic surged through your veins as you hastily pulled your clothes back on, cursing softly. You regretted nothing, but there'd be hell to pay if any of the heavenly host caught you bedding the devil. Lucifer still slept soundly, and you tried your best not to wake him.

You rushed from his room, running straight into a broad chest causing you to stumble back a bit. Amenadiel stared at you with an uncomfortably blank expression, and your heart dropped.

"Amenadiel... I-"

Your world became a blur in the next second, and you fell forward as your feet unexpectedly hit the roof of a hotel.

"What were you thinking! Fornicating with Lucifer!"

You glanced up at him, snorting at his wording.

"Fornicating? For someone who comes to earth so frequently, your vocabulary is a little dated."

You couldn't help the poorly timed jab, humor your way if deflecting tense situations. Unfortunately for you that only seemed to make Amenadiel more angry.

"Have you no shame? You don't seem the least bit remorseful for the sin you just committed!" He shouted.

You flinched a little, sitting back on your ass as you stared up at him. Should you grovel? Beg for forgiveness?

That would be the logical thing to do, it was what he was expecting. But perhaps your short reunion with Lucifer had sparked something in you because you found yourself leaning back on your hands, staring up at the angel before you with no remorse.

"I regret nothing."

~

Blood soaked your once white shirt as you leaned against an alley wall, shifting most of your weight onto your side. Anything to avoid the crippling pain in your back. Tears stained your cheeks and burnt your eyes. Dry sobs shook your body, no tears left to cry.

He'd ripped your wings from your back, tore them from your body, taking your immortality with him. You barely registered the sound of footsteps, hardly heard the woman talking to you in concern. You just felt so tired, a feeling you weren't used to.

It'd be okay if you slept, just for a moment, right?

Chloe panicked as she saw your eyes close, waving frantically as the paramedics arrived just moments later. Her hands covered in your blood as she wondered who could have possibly done that to you.

~

You woke to steady beeping, and an uncomfortable feeling of something wrapped just a little too tight around you. Bright lights forced you to close your eyes almost as soon as you opened them. You took a moment to adjust as you sat up, looking around the unfamiliar room that you slowly realized was a hospital room.

It all seemed so... human.

The reality of your sudden mortality crashed down on you, and you carefully pulled the I.V. from your arm. You hissed as you quickly stood from the bed, the sudden movement causing pain to shot up your back.

You nearly collapsed.

But no, you had to leave, get out of this place before questions you couldn't possibly answer came. You gathered your ruined clothes, fleeing before anyone could notice.

You kept your head low as you left the building, the bandages on your back straining against your hasty movements.

"Hey!"

A voice called out, catching your attention and a blonde woman hurried over to you. You stared at her in confusion, and she looked you over with concern.

"What are you doing out here? You shouldn't leave the hospital yet."

It suddenly clicked and your body tensed as you vaguely recognized her as the woman who found you.

"I'll be fine."

She looked ready to protest, and you grabbed her hands in desperation.

"Please... I just can't be there..."

She seemed to relent a little, and you breathed a sigh of relief until she told you her name. Then you found yourself begging her not to tell Lucifer anything, and she promised not to utter a word, if you told her what happened to you.

It had to have been the greatest lie you ever told, a fabricated story about a scorned lover. She believed it nonetheless, offering to help you get a change of clothes. Something less covered in blood, you went straight to Lucifer afterwards, carefully hiding what had happened.

Perhaps he trusted you too much, or maybe you were getting better at lying because he didn't question your claim to want to stay on Earth. He seemed thrilled, and you hid your pain with a smile when he embraced you, thankful your new jacket hid the bandages.

~

For months that was the routine, a difficult dance to move to, especially with how close you two were becoming once more. But you'd stop his hands before they could trail up your back in your more heated moments, directed his attention to something else. You were so careful not to let him see your back.

Careful to never let him follow you into the shower. Careful never to sleep on your side, or let him give you a back rub. Always avoiding Chloe, lest she bring up your injuries. You were so careful, for months.

So why had you forgotten to lock the door while you were getting dressed?

"Should we order out again darling? Perhaps from that little coffee shop you so like much? I heard they have a new..."

Lucifer had barged into the bathroom, clad in only his underwear and robe loosely tied as he questioned what you wanted for breakfast. Your whole body froze, mind shutting down as his words came to an abrupt stop. The atmosphere of the room suddenly felt thick, and you could have sworn it became harder to breath.

Lucifer said nothing, staring at your horribly scared back. You held your shirt to your chest, refusing to turn and meet his eye. Worried what emotion you might find. He had moved so quietly, and so quickly that you jumped when his fingers were suddenly grazing your back. Just below the rough skin where your beautiful wings had once been.

"Who did this to you..."

It was more of a soft demand then a question, but you hesitated.

"I... I cut them off..."

He chuckled a dry, humorless chuckle, and he draped his robe over your shoulders. Probably realizing you'd be more comfortable if you could cover your scars. You muttered a thank you and his hands rested on your arms, rubbing soothingly up and down as you grabbed the silk robe, holding it tighter around you.

"Those aren't the scars you get from cutting your wings, I would know. No, those are harsh, angry scars, something tearing wings off would cause. Don't lie to me angel, who did this?"

His grip tightened on your arms ever so slightly, but it wasn’t out of anger, at least not towards you.

"Amenadiel..." Your voice was so faint you barely heard yourself, but judging by the sharp intake of breath, he had heard you just fine.

"What?"

"A punishment... for being with you..."

You caught his reflection in the mirror, the flash of his eyes, his face shifted, just for a moment, but it was enough for you to realize just how angry he truly was.

"Lucifer-"

He turned on his heel, leaving the room and getting dressed in a fury. You approached him cautiously, closing the robe around you and tying it into place.

"What are you doing?"

He finished buttoning his shirt before turning back to you.

"I need you to do me a favor my dear."

A frown pulled at your lips, but you slowly nodded.

"Pray to my brother."

You jerked back as if someone had physically slapped you.

"What?"

"You trust me, don't you?" He smiled, but there was something in his eyes, something that unnerved you.

"Of course."

He seemed so calm, contrary to what he had been just moments ago.

"Then pray to my brother."

He guided you into the living room and stepped just out of sight. You hesitated, shifting your weight from one foot to the other before finally doing as he asked. It only took moments before Amenadiel appeared in front of you.

He'd come so fast, probably expecting you to beg for forgiveness.

You had no idea how vastly unprepared you were to see him again. Your hands trembled, and you held the robe closer around you, taking an unsure step back.

You didn't have time to dwell on it and Amenadiel had no time to say anything before a sickening crack filled the room and the angel was sprawled out on the ground.

"Hello brother."

You blinked slowly, taking a second to catch up with the fact that Lucifer had just delivered a crippling blow to his brother's face and Amenadiel laid dazed on the ground. Blindsided by the unexpected blow. Lucifer gave him no time to recover, picking him up by his neck carelessly throwing him into a wall. You shielded your eyes from the debris flying by.

"I've just had the unpleasant surprise of discovering what you did to my darling little slice of heaven."

You wordlessly watched Amenadiel pull himself out of the now prominent hole in Lucifer's stone wall. He was unsteady on his feet, but that mattered very little to Lucifer who swiftly grabbed his brother's shirt, tossing him across the floor as if he weighed nothing.

"And they call me the devil." Lucifer scoffed.

Amenadiel managed to at least prop himself up with his arms, spitting out a bit of blood.

"You are the devil, Lucifer, and she betrayed heaven by being with you."

Lucifer took a step forward, clearly ready to continue the one-sided fight. But you quickly stepped in front of him, worried he might go to far, if his red eyes were anything to go off of.

"Just let him leave, you made your point. You're flogging a dead horse at this point." You uttered, refusing to glance at the angel pulling himself off the ground.

"She received a punishment fitting her sin and she still crawled back to you."

Your skin bristled at his comment, and you found your unease fading away to anger. You rounded on him so fast you surprised even yourself at the words spilling from your lips.

"My sin!? You think you're a saint, but you're no better than me! It wasn’t sin Amenadiel, it was free will, if humans can have it why can't I?"

Amenadiel narrowed his eyes as he stood, but you didn't back down.

"You sound just like Lucifer."

You found yourself laughing at that, and with a sudden burst of confidence you shoved his chest back a bit. His beating from Lucifer making it slightly easier to do so. Speaking of the devil, he watched you unleash your anger, gazing at you with amusement and satisfaction.

"Good! You know what, I should have sided with him during that rebellion! Because he seemed to have the right idea! Heaven might have been perfect for you, but it was hell to me! I was beneath all of you, an errand girl for you to degrade, treat like shit!"

Lucifer pulled you back a little when he saw the anger in his brother's eyes. You were mortal now after all. You let out a cruel laugh, though there were tears in your eyes.

"Do you want to know the best part it all?"

Your laughter died down, and you gave him a cynical smile.

"I don't owe the Silver City a goddamn thing anymore, you think you were punishing me? You freed me, you and all your kind can go to hell, because if anyone belongs there it certainly isn't Lucifer."

Amenadiel opened his mouth to say something, taking what he probably assumed was a menacing step towards. But Lucifer rested his hands on your shoulders, daring his kin to try something. You didn't seem fazed though.

"Run back home and lick your wounds like the obedient lapdog you are. I'm not wasting any more words on you."

Amenadiel clenched his fists in repressed rage, but said nothing, not in any condition to fight his brother. He was gone in a blink, and you felt all the energy drain out of you. Lucifer caught you as your legs gave out, and he smiled proudly at you.

"You were marvelous love, I'd nearly forgotten how sharp your tongue can be."

You laughed breathlessly, and he brushed your hair away from your eyes.

"How do you feel?"

You smiled up at him, the heavy feeling finally lifting from your shoulders.

"Free."

................................................................................

Tag List: @sallyp-53 @mizzezm @adira-secrets @we-are-all-alittle-strange-here @gingernarwal @im-just-along-for-the-ride @lifeshortbro @measure-in-pain @emiwrites3reads @awesome-badass-cafeteria-sauce @kelly-n-russell @aiofheavenandhell @beththedemonhunter

[barkkletshunt]

Those Worth Fighting For Part seven

Part one          Part two

Part three        Part four

Part five           Part six

Part Seven (You’re here)       Part eight 

Taglist:

@ladybug-182 @fruit-snacc-ace @miraculous-simmer7 @lavenderjunes 

@use-flamethrower @fan-written @all-mights-asscheeks @birdie-posts

Sorry if the tags aren’t working, I tried and I’m not sure where I went wrong with it? 

If I have time the next part will come out with some art! Don’t expect the art to be any good though lol

“So then, I go to the window and there is Adrien on Kagami’s front lawn with a big sign that says prom on it, and by the way neither of us knew he was going to be in France at all. It was a total surprise. So I’m so shocked my mind completely blanks out and I shout down to him that yes, I’ll go to prom with him. He yells back ‘tall Kagami’ and I turn around and just ‘your boyfriend just asked to go to prom with me.’ Without skipping a beat she leans out of the window and tells him he’s too late, she already asked me.” Marinette laughed, wiping a stray tear from her eye that began to form from how hard she was trying to not burst into a fit of giggles until the story ended. “In the end the three of us went to prom together.”

The four around the table shook their heads. “Mari, dude, if you can’t get through that story without laughing how are you supposed to do your toast?”

“I’ll just practice it a lot until it’s no longer funny to me, simple. I’m not even going to worry about it anymore.” The blue haired girl shrugged. When she was younger she would have worried about that, but she was long since past that. At least, she hoped she was. She had done enough interviews with Alya in her teen years, and then enough speeches as Ladybug to fill her with a confidence she lacked as a teen. She was nervous, but instead of the all consuming nervousness that would make her fumble and trip over her words it was now an excited nervousness. She was excited about it. 

“I think you’ll do fine,” Felix winked at her, his face never changing from the impartial look he had on since he came into the restaurant.

They all had made their way back to the same place after the amok, even if Felix was late once again. The blond had made his excuses of needing to take care of some errands that he had forgotten, but it hadn’t mattered much to any of them. Marinette had saved a seat next to her for him and he was more than happy to take it.

“Why not talk about the moment you realized those two were perfect for each other?” Nathaniel asked, playing with the straw in his drink. “I know you have a million stories about that.”

“Something like Adrien saving Kagami from a bully, or a dance of just the two of them where they lock eyes and suddenly the whole room disappears?” Marc hummed, their author brain going into overdrive at the thought of romance. “Maybe you saw him protect her against an akuma or amok?”

Marinette thought for a moment. What was it that made her realize that they belonged together? After all those years fawning over Adrien, it was Kagami’s love for him that made her step down, but what was the exact moment? 

“It was at Chloe’s fifteenth birthday party.” Marinette started, recalling the time before Hawkmoth had lost and her world began to fall apart and fix itself simultaneously. “Adrien’s dad thought it would be a good idea for Kagami to go with him and keep an eye on his son, and they started the evening miserable because the paparazzi outside the hotel told them that they always looked so perfect that it made sense that they would be perfect together. I only got to spend a few minutes with them before being pulled away by Chloe, but when I went to find them and bring them some hot chocolate they were on the roof ruffling each other's hair and talking about anime, and goofing around like I hadn’t seen either of them do before.” 

“They saw that the other understood their background and chose to help break out of that image with each other and just be kids.” Felix’s words surprised her, but he understood exactly what had happened. 

“They were so embarrassed when they saw me that I challenged them both to hot chocolate drinking contests to ease the awkwardness. They didn’t even realize I didn’t have one for myself before chugging theirs and burning their mouths at the same time.” Her two messy friends meant the world to her, and she knew no one would understand them like they understood each other. Both of them had strict parents that would only let them escape and be kids when they were with the other, and they took those opportunities and made every moment count. They were what each other needed, and then when they got their freedoms they were still the ones they chose. “I think that’s also when they stopped acting perfect in front of me. Adrien really started to bug me to watch anime so he could talk about it with someone other than his girlfriend, and Kagami soon demanded to be my dress up doll because she never got to do that growing up. They became my best friends and honestly, I think I’m better for it too.”

“How romantic.” Marc swooned, leaning against Nathaniel who caught his significant other with a laugh. “Childhood friends, to rivals, to lovers. 50K slowburn.”

“Once there was an akuma trying to hurt Adrien and Kagami picked up the nearest weapon she could find and just went at ‘em and I have never seen Adrien’s face light up like that. The boy just wants to be loved and protected.” Nino joined in. “Alya and I were shocked, we both had our money on Adrien ending up with someone else, but we’re both happy about it. Speaking of which, I gotta update her on what’s going on here. She’ll flip.”

Felix shifted in his seat, catching Marinette’s eye as Nathaniel and Marc continued talking about Kagami and Adrien’s relationship. He wasn’t there for all those moments, he wasn’t a long term friend of everyone so he didn’t know Alya or Chloe and she wouldn’t doubt it if he had felt out of place in the conversation. 

“Pst,” she scooted herself over, getting closer to him and leaning over to whisper at him. “You look nice today.”

Felix blinked in surprise. Within seconds his face was growing warm and he used his hand to cover the lower half of his face as inconspicuously as possible. “Aren’t I the one who’s supposed to say that, Miss. Dupain-Cheng?”

“I’m afraid I beat you to it, Mr. Graham De Vanily.” She whispered back. “But it’s okay, you might get me next time.”

How long had it been since she was able to flirt with someone without losing herself in the what-if’s and teenaged anxiety that had plagued her? How had one battle fighting side by side with Ryuko, Alley Cat, and the others given her so much confidence that she hadn’t had even during the fight itself? Was it that damned cat’s words? He had unknowingly complimented her to her face and she was still beaming with pride over being called brilliant. Being complimented on her looks was nice, but the way he had complimented her on her mind was something else. She supposed that was what did it, after all. Being told that she was great because of who she was and not because of how she looked filled her with a pride she didn’t even want to describe lest it dampened the feeling inside her chest. 

“Well then, until next time, you look wonderful. You’re outfit choice is on point, as always.” His comment hit straight to her heart. There it was again. A comment on something she chose being good. “And although you are trying to start a fire with my face, I am enjoying this time with you away from colour pallets and order forms. I like seeing this other side of you, Marinette.”

“I’d like to say the same thing, but it has come to my attention that you seem to only wear suits, Felix. This is the same side of you I always see.” She couldn’t help her grin. There was a strange formal banter between them that she found exhilarating. In it’s own way it made her feel like part of the aristocratic world that he and Adrian and Kagami belonged to, without having to deal with the fakeness that the latter two often complained about. “Dare I say, I don’t believe you own anything that isn’t a suit.”

“I’d hate to inform you of this, but you’re incorrect on that front.” Felix moved the hand that was covering his face to let himself rest his chin upon it. “I do, and I’d prefer it if you don’t go to the press with this, own a few sets of pajamas.”

“And are they silk and made to look like a suit?” She asked, now leaning against him to softly poke at his arm. “I bet you had them custom made so that you would never appear unprofessional.” 

“Well, well, aren’t you curious to see my pajamas? Shame you won’t get to see them until our fourth date.” Felix leaned his head against hers, and her heart began to race. 

“So, are you two actually a thing?” Nino’s voice broke them out of their moment. Marinette and Felix realized how it must have looked to the others and immediately sat straight in their seats. 

Nathaniel elbowed Nino in the ribs. “Dude!”

“What? I’m just trying to clear things up for my daily Alya report.” Nino tried to defend himself from the onslaught of hands trying to hit him from Marc and Nathaniel. “It gets complicated sometimes and you know my girl won’t let anything rest until she has all the info!”

“If Miss. Dupain-Cheng would like to, as you put it, actually be a thing, then I would be honoured to.” He said it so simply that Marinette wasn’t sure why she had hesitated before. He did like her. 

“Only if you wear your pajamas to our next late night planning session.” Marinette wasn’t willing to let the pajamas slide. “I have to see you out of a suit before we get all lovey dovey. It’s a rule.”

“Did you make that rule just for me?”

“Of course.”

“Well, don’t I feel special.” Felix thought to himself, making a bit of a show of it as he tossed his head side to hide. His braid that previously rested on his shoulder now swinging back and forth behind him, looking like a cat's tail as it got ready to play. “I think I have room to negotiate here, so if I may I am going to put the added condition that you must also wear your pajamas.”

“I don’t think this is supposed to be a business transaction, dude,” Nino tried, but Marinette held her hand up. She could negotiate. 

“I’ll accept those terms on the condition that you buy coffee, and we get to watch a movie together with some popcorn.” Marinette raised her brow, daring Felix to try to get a better deal out of her. 

“If I am purchasing coffee, popcorn, and a movie, then I will push for some baked goods from your parents bakery.” Felix held out his hand. “Well?”

“You drive a hard bargain, Mr. Graham De Vanily, but I accept your terms.” Marinette took his hand and shook it. That was the most fun she had ever had while figuring out plans for a date, and she knew she’d have more fun watching the movie with Felix than she just did. “A movie date in our pajamas with snacks it is.”

“I’ll pick you up friday night at eight?” 

“I can’t wait to see your suit pajamas.”

“I bet you have frills on yours.”

“And you don’t?”

[missperfectlyfine13]

A Bandaid For Your Bullet Hole (1/?)

I’ve been sitting on this idea for a while now and I’m still not sure how I feel about it (I kind of feel like it’s crap lol). Let me know if I should continue! 

Summary:  Outside of Barden, Chloe’s life is harder than she would like to admit. When she’s at school she gets to forget all about problems, she gets to be normal. She doesn’t like to let people know about her life outside Barden, with the exception of her best friend Aubrey. Then she meets Beca Mitchell, and somehow she becomes the second exception. Will Beca be the answer Chloe has been looking for?

Read Below or on AO3/FF

“Our Sorrows and Wounds Are Healed Only When We Touch Them With Compassion” – Buddha

May 2012, End of Chloe’s Junior Year

Chloe watches sadly as Aubrey packs up her bags, her side of their shared room in the Bella house looking dreadfully empty. Their last day of classes was yesterday and all the girls in the house are working hard to pack.

Aubrey and Chloe are going to be the only Bellas left next year, so Aubrey is moving all of her stuff from their shared room to the room across the hall. Leaving Chloe feeling even more empty than she already is.

“You sure you don’t want to come home with me this summer?” Aubrey offers one more time, her eyes soft and sympathetic, because she knows, she’s the only one who knows.

Chloe shakes her head, “No I’ll be fine here. It’ll give me a chance to clean this house up before next year anyways. The other girls aren’t exactly cleaning up their mess.”

“Ok, but if you change your mind…the offer stands,” Aubrey zips up her last bag of clothes, standing up to survey the damage.

Going home with Aubrey for the summer actually sounds amazing, but Chloe feels bad. She feels like she would be imposing. Aubrey’s home isn’t the happiest most days with her dad gone 90% of the time, so she doesn’t want to cut into the little family time they’ll have.

Chloe stopped going home over summer after her freshmen year. Her mom has only gotten worse in the last 6 years, making her near to impossible to be around. Not to mention the endless stream of men in and out of their house. Her brother Jake isn’t an option either, with him being on the road for his job most days. Which leaves her with her only other option, staying on campus all summer.

“I appreciate it,” Chloe thanks her best friend quietly, knowing she won’t take her up on her offer.

“Have you talked to her lately?” she immediately knows who Aubrey is talking about.

Chloe shakes her head, “No. I know nothing has changed…she knows I won’t come home unless she gets her shit together.”

“I’m sorry it has to be that way,” Aubrey reaches a hand out and places it on her shoulder.

“Yea me too.”

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

September 2005

Chloe watches grimly as her mom polishes off her second beer of the morning. There’s an empty case next to her recliner in the living room, providing an awful memory of the night before. She had been angry, angrier than Chloe ever remembers her being. Chloe locked herself in her room and hadn’t come out until this morning.

“Mom,” she tries to keep her voice steady and strong, but it still quivers betrayingly, “the funeral is in an hour…are you going to be ready?”

“I’ll be ready,” she replies flatly, tossing her empty bottle into the recycle bin.

“Grandma and grandpa are coming to pick me up,” Chloe clarifies.

It sounds awful, but she doesn’t trust her mom not to be drunk. She doesn’t want to ride in a car with her. Chloe would drive the both of them, but she only has her temporary license. She’s not 16 until next year.

“They could take you too,” she offers quietly.

Her mom shakes her head, “I’ll be fine to drive myself…I could drive you too.”

“Um that’s ok,” she shifts anxiously between her two feet, “just be careful.”

Her mom gives her a dark stare, before cracking open another beer. She always liked a drink, but it was something that never got in the way of her life. It never got in the way until her dad died. The day the call came that he had been in a car accident and most likely wasn’t going to make it, her mom just lost it. She hasn’t been the same since. Well, neither has Chloe.

Chloe and her dad were so close. She always got along better with him than her mom. A part of her died that day and she’ll never get it back. The only other person in the world who gets her like her dad, is her older brother Jake. Jake is in college across the country, so Chloe rarely sees him. He flew into town yesterday, but after assessing the situation, he refused to stay at the house, checking himself into a hotel instead. Chloe almost hates him a little for it, for leaving her here with their mom. Regardless of her feelings about him chickening out, she’s aching to see him. Chloe just needs a hug; she needs to talk to him. She needs someone else around her, someone other than her drunk mother.

Chloe’s still worried about her mom driving, so she throws a last-ditch effort at her, “I could see if Jake could come pick you up?”

Her mom scoffs loudly, “He didn’t even want to come home, what makes you think he’s going to pick me up.”

She’s clearly not winning this one, “Ok, well I’m going to go put my dress on before grandpa gets here.”

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

The funeral is just as painful as Chloe had assumed it would be. It makes it real, she’s really saying goodbye to her dad. She’s really left here with her mom.

Chloe’s not sure her mom will ever pull it back together and that scares her. She smelled like a 12 pack of miller light when she got to the church. As person after person walks up to her to give their condolences, Chloe cringes. She knows they can smell it too, it’s embarrassing.

“You going to be ok with her Chlo?” Jake walks up to her, the two standing side by side watching as their childhood pastor talks to their inebriated mother.

Chloe sighs deeply, “I’m going to have to be, someone needs to watch after her. I’m worried Jake.”

“I am too,” Jake runs a hand through his hair anxiously, “you know I’m only a phone call away though.”

“Like you can do anything to actually help though, you didn’t even stay at the house last night,” Chloe replies bitterly.

“I’m sorry about that,” he shuffles his feet nervously, “I couldn’t bear to watch the train wreck…I should have been there.”

“Dad would want someone to make sure she’s ok,” Chloe swallows back tears as she says it, “I have to stay with her.”

“He loved you so much Chloe, he’d want you to be safe and happy.”

Chloe knows that’s true, but in three years she’ll be in college. She has an out, she owes it to her dad to hang in there.

“I’ll be fine,” she forces a smile at her brother.

Jake pulls her into a tight hug, “Love you Chlo.”

“I love you too Jake,” she mumbles into his shoulder, willing her tears to not escape.

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

September 2012, Chloe’s Senior Year

“I can see your toner through those jeans!” Aubrey barks out into the mostly empty practice space.

Chloe cringes internally. She likes Beca…ok she also likes Beca. Something about the little alt girl drew her in right away. She’s not sure if it was the sass she dished back to them at the activities fair, or when she had an impromptu duet with her in the shower. Maybe it was her audition, where she blew everyone away with a simple song and a yellow cup. Chloe can’t put her finger on it, but she can’t seem to shake the brunette from her mind.

And Beca is talented. Aubrey has such a grudge against her she can’t even stop to see it. They desperately needed talent, especially after last years explosive ICCAs finals. The two of them had a hard enough time getting the girls they did, it’s a miracle they got someone as talented as Beca. Even if it took a little coercing from Chloe.

“That’s my dick,” Beca spits back, before turning on her heels to leave.

The response rips a quiet chuckle from the back of Chloe’s throat, but she manages to conceal it before Aubrey turns around. The blonde is red in the face, her hands shaking slightly.

“You don’t have to be so hard on her you know,” Chloe knows she’s playing with fire by saying something like that to her best friend right now.

She can practically see the flames roaring in her pupils as she turns to look at her, “Yes I do Chloe. She has an attitude and no respect for authority. Do you want any shot at finals this year?”

Of course she does, she’s not going to deny that, so she nods.

“That’s what I thought, so don’t question my methods,” Aubrey retorts quickly.

Ever since the year started, and Aubrey and Chloe took over the Bellas, there has been a certain bite to Aubrey that Chloe has never seen before. This isn’t the Aubrey Chloe knows, she’s starting to think she never knew her at all.

“I’ve got to get going Bree, I’ve got homework to do,” Chloe grabs her bag and slings it over her shoulder.

Aubrey is staring intently at the white board in front of her, wiping away some of the marks she made on their master plan, “Ok, see you back at the house.”

Chloe rushes out of the building, hoping that maybe she can still catch up to Beca. She wants to apologize, wants to make sure the other girl is ok. Chloe doesn’t want Beca to quit over this incident, for some selfish and not so selfish reasons.

Luckily, Beca is leaning against a large tree right outside the building, large headphones covering her ears, her face looking down at her phone. Chloe stalks quickly over to her. As she gets closer, Beca’s head snaps up, immediately making eye contact with her.

“Hey Beca,” Chloe chirps, as the younger girl slides her headphones down around her neck.

“Hi,” Beca replies cautiously, like she’s not sure what Chloe is here for.

“I’m sorry about Aubrey, she’s been extra control freak lately, that wasn’t cool of her to accuse you like that,” Chloe is quick to get her apology out, Beca doesn’t look like she would want to beat around the bush.

“I appreciate the apology,” relief washes over Chloe, that is until Beca continues to talk, “but that’s a really dumb rule. I’m not even sure I’m into Jesse, but I should be able to be with him…if I was.”

Chloe sighs, “I know it’s dumb…and if you really do like Jesse, I wont say anything to Aubrey. I’m pretty sure Bumper and Fat Amy have something going anyways.”

Beca wrinkles her nose, her mouth turning downward, “Oh uh wow…didn’t see that one coming.”

“Me either,” Chloe laughs.

“Thank you, I don’t see anything happening with Jesse, but still, thank you,” Beca says sincerely, before starting to slide her headphones back up.

This must be Chloe’s cue to leave, “Ok, well I’ll see you around!”

Beca nods, “Yea, see ya.”

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

Chloe wakes up the next morning with an ache in her heart and a sour taste in her mouth. She rolls over groggily and sees the date on the calendar above her desk.

September 14th. The anniversary of her dad’s death.

The hardest day of the year for her. Much like years gone by, she just wants to get the day over with. Go to class, go to practice, come home and go to bed. Tomorrow will be a better day.

“Miss you dad,” Chloe mumbles, clutching the locket around her neck.

The locket was a gift from Jake, a year after the death. There’s a picture of her dad inside. She hasn’t taken it off since the day she got it.

Chloe eventually manages to pull herself from bed and start her day. She goes to class, she tries hard to pay attention. She goes to practice and sings and dances like she means it. Inside though, she feels like she’s barely there. Her body is present but her mind is miles away.

None of the other girls seem to pick up on her mood, except for Aubrey…and surprisingly…Beca. She catches a few sympathetic glares, but Beca’s are more worried, presumably because she has no clue what has Chloe under the weather.

So, she’s almost not surprised when practice is over and Beca hangs around until it’s just the two of them left. Just as she’s about to leave, Beca walks over to her.

“Hey Chloe,” Beca pulls the straps of her backpack tight against her, “are you ok?”

Chloe nods and gives her a small smile, “Yea, I’m fine.”

“It’s just…you don’t seem fine, you kind of seemed really distant today,” Beca shrugs.

Beca clearly isn’t going to let it go, normally Chloe would jump on the opportunity to share with the younger girl, but she’d rather not share. But something in Beca’s expression lets her know that she’s not going to drop it.

“Um well, I guess I’m just kind of depressed today,” Chloe answers her as vaguely as she can.

“Why?” Beca immediately fires the question back.

Beca has never seemed to care much about any of the other girls like this. It has her wondering why she’s pushing so hard. Maybe her little apology yesterday spoke to Beca louder than she thought.

Chloe sighs quietly before answering, “Today is the anniversary of my dad’s death.”

“Oh god, wow,” Beca casts her gaze to the floor, “Chloe I’m really sorry.”

“It’s ok, I’ll be better tomorrow,” Chloe tries to reassure her.

The two stand in awkward silence, while Beca shifts around uncomfortably. This is Chloe’s cue to leave.

Before she can even consider walking past her, Beca puts a hand out, “Um, I don’t know if this would make things worse…or if you’d just prefer to be alone, but would you want to grab dinner with me? Or we could just go back to my dorm for a while and just chill, we could order take out. My roommate is going to be gone tonight and I thought maybe it would take your mind off things?”

Normally Chloe would prefer to spend her day in her bed and not move until tomorrow. But even under the circumstances, she doesn’t want to pass up an opportunity to spend more time with Beca and maybe get to know her better. Something tells her that spending some time with the other girl really would make her feel better.

“Sure, that would be great,” Chloe grins and Beca looks shocked that she said yes.

“Ok, cool,” Beca leads the way out of the building and towards her dorm.

“Do you like Chinese?” Chloe asks as they walk through the crisp autumn air.

Beca nods excitedly, “I love it.”

“I know a great place we could order from.”

Being with Beca already has her calmer. She’s not sure if it’s because of how much she likes her, or if it’s just the girl’s presence in general. Something about her puts all of Chloe’s anxiety behind her, it helps her forget why she was even sad today. Which makes her almost feel guilty, but she knows this is what her dad would want for her.

One thing is solidified in her mind now. Beca Mitchell is special and Chloe would be a fool to let her slip away.

[alirhi]

jfc FINALLY

Ugh. I have been fighting with my muse to get this done for two months. And I was actually going to stretch it to line up more or less with the movie's timeline, but honestly... I'm just so burnt 😂 So this is what you get.

Title: Monday Chapter: Oneshot Fandom: Monday Rating: R/NC17 (I mean, have you seenthe movie?) Pairing: Mickey/OC Summary: What if, instead of Chloe, Mickey met a woman that night who was actually good for him and whom he was compatible with? WARNINGS: swearing, sex (not explicit; I rarely if ever write smut, but still) Notes: I hate Chloe. Omfg I hate her so much. So I fixed it XD Yes, I literally rewrote the entire movie with a different love interest. Well... most of it lol. I get bored, okay? Lol. Oh, and the girl is actually a character I yanked from one of my original stories lol. I didn't make her up on the spot for this (I'm too lazy for that XD). Tweaking her to fit the setting was kind of a bitch, as she's from a fantasy series, so if she seems kind of Mary Sue-ish...sorry.

“You have a nose for American cheese!”

Mickey rolled his eyes. “Come on, that girl looks insane!”

“What?” Looking surprised, Argyris turned and looked where his friend was pointing, and then laughed. “Not her, you idiot! The ginger-snap over there!”

The girl in question, a lithe, pretty thing with a wild mass of red hair that she constantly shoved impatiently out of her face was dancing alone a few feet away from the angry-looking blonde Mickey had thought he'd been talking about. She was gorgeous, he had to admit.

“Go and talk to her, man!”

He pointed to the turntables in front of him, impatiently reminding Argyris, “No, I'm working!”

“Come on,” the other man taunted, “I know your playlist inside-out! It's the same R&B shit, and then a little bit of disco!”

“It's not R&B, and it's not disco!”

“This song is twenty fuckin' minutes long! Come on!”

“Hey!” Mickey grimaced, hastily yanking his headphones off and setting them down as he was dragged off toward the redhead. “Fuck!”

All puffed up with pride – and way too much to drink – Argyris pushed Mickey when they drew close to the girl, so that he slammed right into her. Laughing, he patted her shoulder, but his mirth was short-lived. She grabbed his hand and twisted his arm up behind his back.

“Put your hands on a girl you don't know again. I dare you.”

Mickey covered his mouth with one hand to hide his laughter as his friend writhed in the deceptively delicate-looking girl's grip.

“Alright, alright! I'm sorry!” Laughing as he was released, Argyris went to put a hand on each of their shoulders, took one look at the girl, and just hung off of Mickey's shoulder, instead. “You're an American... You're an American! You're a man, you're a woman! There you go!”

“Yeah, crazy kismet,” she snapped, rolling her eyes. “Two Americans out of their natural deep-fried, flag-waving habitat at the same time! Imagine!”

Undaunted, the drunk Greek simply shrugged and flounced off with a flippant, “Whatever. Have fun!”

“Sorry about him,” Mickey said immediately, smiling when she turned and smiled at him. At least she didn't seem to be judging him by the company he kept.

“Friend of yours?”

“Argyris? Yeah.” He grinned. “He's kind of an idiot, but he's a good guy.”

She laughed. “I'll take your word for it. Aren't you the DJ? Should you be over here?”

“No,” he admitted with a laugh, “but I'm fine for a few minutes. You wanna dance?”

“I'd love to.”

She was tall, he realized as he spun her around; in the little barely-there heels she was wearing, they stood eye to eye. Clearly drunk, though, she lost her balance every few seconds and crashed into him with a laugh, occasionally giving up on righting herself and just resting her head on his shoulder.

Mickey grimaced as he heard the song beginning to wind down, but the girl hanging off of him only smiled and patted his chest. “Go on! Get back to work. I'll be here when you're done.”

“Any chance I could convince you to come around the other side?” He gave her his most charming grin, and felt a little warm inside when she laughed.

“Why, so you can stare down my top the whole time?”

With a shrug, he admitted, “I've been doing that anyway, so why not?”

“Honesty!” She grinned and kissed his cheek. “I like it. Alright, you gorgeous lech! Get back up there. We'll see what I can do about your view.”

He only made it another hour or so, with the girl coming up to him every few minutes with another drink, and occasionally flashing him from the spot she'd found in front of him. Queuing up enough songs to play through the end of the party, he hopped down off the podium and ran over to her, tugging her close for the kiss he'd been dying for since Argyris had first pulled him over to her. “You wanna get out of here?”

“You sure? What about-”

Mickey shook his head, smiling. “It'll run til they all pass out. No one'll touch my stuff, not here. Come on!”

“Okay, yeah.” She shrugged and laughed, allowing him to pull her through the throng of dancing people and away from the party. “Fuck it. Let's go!”

The next morning, naked, hungover, and covered in sand, they were nudged awake by a police officer while an angry lady yelled about their indecency. The officer waited for them to scramble back into their clothes and then cuffed them both, ushering them into the back of a cruiser.

Despite the situation, Mickey couldn't keep the silly smile off of his face. At least the cops had been kind enough to cuff their hands in front of them, allowing him to hold his out to the girl beside him. “Hi. I'm Mickey.”

She laughed, the realization that they'd never introduced themselves clearly dawning in her bright green eyes. “Beck.”

“Nice to meet you.” He shook her hand, but couldn't hide his slight confusion. “That a first name or a last name?”

“It's short for my first name.” She was still smiling, but there was a dangerous glint in her eyes as she added, “Call me 'Becky' once and I'll be facing real prison time at the end of this ride, and you'll be missing body parts.”

With a slightly nervous laugh, he nodded. “Alright, noted. Beck it is!”

“And, nice to meet you, too.”

There was the briefest of conversations at the police station, the sandy couple signed themselves out, and then Mickey persuaded one of the officers to give them a lift back to the beach.

“You want a ride?”

Beck grinned, one ruddy eyebrow arching up. “I still need to clean up from the 'ride' last night.”

Laughing, Mickey shook his head. “I'll never say 'no' to more of that, but that's not what I meant.”

“I know.” She shrugged, snarky grin turning into an almost bashful smile. “And yeah, I'd love a ride. Thanks.”

He loaned her his helmet and, after getting directions from her, drove her to her hotel. It seemed like that would be the end of it... and he hated that thought. “So, what're you doing tonight?”

“Packing and sleeping,” she told him with a laugh, leaning against the building. “I gotta be on a plane Monday morning, and I hate leaving things to the last minute.”

“You're leaving?”

With a grin and a snarky air kiss, she teased, “Missing me already, lover boy?”

Mickey shrugged, grinning. “Maybe I am. I like you, is that so bad?” He beckoned, and was somewhat surprised when she walked right over to him. Still smiling like a fool, he grabbed her by the waistband of her shorts and pulled her close for a kiss. “Come with me tonight, for a proper sendoff.”

“Come with you where?”

“I'm DJing on an island.” Thumb sliding under her clothes to slide over her hip, he wheedled, “Come on. Come with me.”

“I need to shower. I'm all sandy and sticky from last night.” Beck gave him just long enough to deflate, and then she smirked and nipped his jaw. “Care to join me?”

“Fuck yes!” He was off his moped in a flash, following the laughing redhead as she took his hand and tugged him into the hotel. Giggling like hyenas, the pair made their way up to Beck's room, stopping every few steps for one to yank the other close for another kiss. Mickey was on cloud nine. This girl was fun, she was sassy and wild, and he couldn't get enough.

It seemed she couldn't get enough, either. They'd barely stepped into the shower before Beck was on her knees in front of him, her hand on his ass and his hand tangled in her hair as she sucked him off. He leaned back against the wall, tugging lightly on her hair and shuddering as he felt her moan around him.

“Fuck... oh, fuck, you're good at that! Holy shit... Stop. Stopstopstop!” With a little half-smile at her look of confusion, he tugged her back to her feet and kissed her. “You're fucking amazing. God damn, you are good with that mouth! But that's not what I want.”

Beck grinned, a playful glint in her bright green eyes that made him weak in the knees. “That's not a good idea.”

“Oh, no?” He backed her up against the wall, nuzzling her neck as his hand drifted down between her legs. “Funny... You don't seem to really believe that.”

“I definitely want you to fuck me til I can't move,” she assured him, shaking as she tried desperately not to laugh. “But it's not a good idea-” Her words turned into a startled whimper as Mickey hoisted her up by her thighs and slid into her to the hilt.

“I think it's a great idea,” he purred, biting her shoulder. Then he almost dropped her, and they both cracked up.

“The wall's slippery! This isn't smart.”

“No, it's definitely not smart,” he agreed, turning so that he was holding her up in mid-air instead of bracing her against the wall. “But that doesn't make it not a good idea.”

Beck laughed, clinging to him for dear life. “You're just gonna hold me up?”

“Yep.”

“The whole time?”

“You don't think I can do it?” Mickey grinned, bouncing her a few times just to prove her wrong. “You weight nothing, baby girl. I got this.” She was surprisingly light... but she was also a grown woman almost the same height as him. His pride would never let him admit it aloud, but there was no way he was going to be able to fuck her like this for long.

Just as he was wracking his somewhat foggy brain for a solution, he saw light dawning in Beck's eyes and waited. “Counter!” She nodded toward the sink, and only then did he realize they hadn't even closed the shower curtain, and the bathroom floor was getting soaked. “Put me on the counter.”

“I thought we were supposed to be getting cleaned up.” Even as he teased her, he was carefully stepping out of the tub, blessing her foresight when she grabbed a towel and threw it down just before he set his foot down, and carrying her across the bathroom.

Beck snickered and kissed him. “No point getting clean until we're done getting dirty. Shut up and fuck me.”

“Yes, ma'am!”

A little while later, they stumbled across another logistical issue Mickey hadn't considered.

“You are not putting dirty clothes on a clean body!” Beck insisted, prying his – pretty nasty at this point, he had to admit – clothes from his hands. “That's disgusting!”

“Well, what the fuck else am I supposed to wear? Clearly, I can't just run around naked. We got arrested for that this morning!”

“Pity,” she teased, eyeing him in a way that made him wonder if they were ever actually going to leave her hotel room. “You're the best view in Athens.”

“Maybe they arrested us out of jealousy, then.” Mickey shook his head, though he couldn't help chuckling a little, despite his frustration. “Either way, I'm kinda stuck. It's either be gross, or don't go anywhere.”

“As much as the thought of keeping you trapped here as my sex slave appeals to me...” With another mocking grin, Beck turned and started going through her dresser drawers. “I think I can help you out.”

“I'm not wearing your clothes.”

“They're less flamboyant than what you do wear.”

“They won't fit!”

She tossed him a tee shirt and a pair of cargo shorts that proved him very wrong. They were huge. At his questioning stare, she shrugged.

“I always pack a couple of cute outfits when I travel, and the rest is super baggy; at least three sizes too big. I like to be comfortable.”

“Convenient.” He stared at the shorts in his hands, and then at the belt she handed him a few seconds later. “Am I supposed to wear your underwear, too?”

Beck snorted and walked away, patting his shoulder as she passed him. “I don't wear underwear.”

“Then I guess I kind of am wearing yours.” Even as the joke was tumbling out of his mouth, he knew it was lame, but they still both laughed. Then he glanced at his watch and winced. “Shit, we gotta go.”

“What?”

He waited for the dress she was pulling on to settle into place and then wrapped his arms around her, tugging her back against his chest. “We gotta go. If we don't catch the next ferry, we're gonna be late.”

She flinched. “Okay, two seconds.” The girl moved like lightning. Mystified, Mickey watched as she yanked on a pair of canvas sneakers, grabbed her wallet and cell phone – which she then stuffed in the pockets of the shorts he was wearing – grabbed a hair tie, and ran for the door. In no time, she'd strangled her wild red curls into submission in a low ponytail. They hadn't even reached the elevator yet.

“How did you do that?”

“Do what?”

Handing her his helmet, Mickey shook his head. “I think you got dressed faster than I did! I thought girls always take forever to get ready.”

Laughing, Beck rolled her eyes. As she settled on the back of the moped and tucked her skirt around her legs for decency, she told him, “I spent two years in the jungle with nothing but what I could fit in a backpack. Low maintenance is kinda my thing. The fewer steps to getting ready, the less time it takes.”

“That explains so much.” He stared at her for a moment, and then shook his head and grumbled as he slid into place in front of her and started the moped, “And raises so many more questions!”

“Full disclosure: I will probably answer none of them, as I'm very likely never going to see you again after tonight.”

Well, that was a depressing dose of reality he wasn't ready for. Not one to dwell on things, though, Mickey simply decided to have as much fun as he could with this girl while she was around, and treasure the steamy memories.

They made it to the ferry just in time. Making sure there was no one else around, Mickey smirked and tugged Beck into his lap, one hand sliding up her thigh. He moved slowly, giving her plenty of time to push him away if she wanted; she simply arched an eyebrow at his questioning look and grabbed his wrist, tugging his hand closer.

“Why do you think I'm wearing a dress?”

Fuck, he loved this girl!

They were pretty much attached at the hip the whole day – literally, when they could steal a few minutes alone. While he was DJing, she was dancing like a lunatic, front and center. Those piercing green eyes never strayed from him; he knew, because he couldn't look away from her, either. Once he was free, they danced together for a little while, but it didn't take long for Beck to grow bored and yank him down the beach, away from the party. They found a dark, hidden nook to be alone, spent the night hopelessly wrapped up in each other, and then cuddled as they watched the sun come up.

“Gods, this place is so beautiful!”

Mickey chuckled at the plural, but didn't ask about it. He had a more important question for her: “You really gonna leave all this behind?”

“I have to.” She didn't sound any happier about leaving than he was about letting her leave. “I gotta get home.”

“Where's home?”

“Boston. You?”

He grinned and nudged her. “Athens, baby. Been here seven years!”

“Okay, but where before here?” she prodded with a laugh. “You're obviously not Greek; you don't even speak it!”

“Do you?”

Beck sat up a little straighter, grinning like the Cheshire Cat. “Nai.”

“Showoff.”

“One word is being a showoff?” Beck laughed, shaking her head. “You've been here seven years, and you don't know a single word of the language?”

Mickey scowled, feeling defensive. “Everybody speaks English!”

“Wow.” She wasn't smiling anymore. She actually looked and sounded pretty pissed off. “That is astoundingly arrogant. And completely American, so clearly your obnoxious friend with no boundaries was right; it's not just a funny accent, you actually are American.”

“You're an American, too!”

“By birth,” she snapped, “not by choice. And I fucking hope not by attitude. I don't go stomping around foreign countries with absolutely no respect for their language or customs, expecting everyone around me to cater to my laziness.”

He rolled his eyes, scooting away from her. “Give me a break! Learning another language is hard!”

“Impossible, if you don't even try.”

“Yeah? How many languages do you speak?”

“Fluently?” She held up her hands, ticking each one off on her fingers as she listed them. “English, obviously. Korean, Irish Gaelic, Italian, and German. Passably? Japanese – I can speak it fluently, but I have trouble reading it; the kanji is a nightmare – Greek, Spanish, Portuguese, and Swedish. I can read Latin and Old Norse, and I'm learning Mandarin, but I admit I'm struggling with that one. Mostly for the same reason I can't read Japanese; the writing system.”

Gaping at her, Mickey couldn't formulate a response for a long moment. When his brain finally started working again, all he could think to say was, “Jesus, what the fuck are you, a robot?!”

“I'm an archaeologist,” she told him flatly, still looking irritated. “And I've been traveling since I was seventeen. Been studying at least one language other than English since I was ten. I definitely had an advantage, starting when I still had a little kid's spongy brain, but it's not impossible to learn at any age, if you actually care enough to try.”

“You sound like my ex.” Hoping to distract her from that comment he hadn't meant to make, he hastily asked, “If you love to travel so much, why're you in such a rush to get home?”

Beck sighed, turning to stare out over the water. “I promised my daughter I'd be home in time for her birthday.”

Huh. They had more in common that he'd thought. “You have a kid?”

She nodded. “Two. Two girls.”

“How old?”

“Alice is five,” she murmured, pulling her knees up to her chest and crossing her arms over them. Head pillowed on her arms, she added, “And Madeline's about to turn fourteen.”

“How the hell old are you?!” He hadn't meant to ask so bluntly, but he was so stunned by her daughters' ages that the question just kind of blurted itself out.

Mercifully, Beck laughed a little. “I'm thirty-three. I'll spare you some math – I was nineteen when I had Maddie.”

Mickey shook his head, not sure how to react. In all honesty, she didn't look much older than that now. There was a shadow behind her eyes that he was dying to ask about, but even as thoughtless as he could be, he knew when to just not go there. Instead, he told her softly, “My son is six.”

“What's his name?”

He smiled. As much as the situation with his ex sucked, he loved his son, and thinking about him always brought a little smile to Mickey's face. “Hector.”

The look on Beck's pretty face as she watched him like a hawk made him blush, though he wasn't sure why. There was just something about that direct green gaze that made him feel like she could read his mind. “He's the real reason you don't want to leave Greece, isn't he?” A spot-on guess like that certainly did nothing to dispel the notion.

He nodded. “Yeah. Yep. His mom hates my guts, but I don't care. There's nothing I wouldn't do to stay in his life. I actually, um... I have a room for him, at my place. If she'll ever let me take him, you know, just for a weekend or whatever... His room is ready and waiting for him.”

“All you can do is keep trying. Put in the work, be the best dad you can be, and hope for the best.”

Unsure what to say to that, Mickey changed the subject with an awkward smile. “So... Alice? She blonde, like Alice in Wonderland?”

Beck snorted, shaking her head. “No, she has black hair, like her dad.” She paused and then shook her head again with a bemused smirk on her face. “Actually, both of my girls look like their dads – dark hair, big blue eyes.” Smirk turning into a grin, she nudged him. “Guess I've got a type.”

“'Dads,' huh?” He grinned, too, and nudged her right back. “Plural?”

“You gonna get all judgy on me, now?” Her tone was light and teasing, but her eyes promised a whole lot of pain if he answered wrong.

Mickey just laughed. “Nope, no judgment. I think you've seen enough of what I'm like this weekend to know I wouldn't have the right.”

“Good answer.”

“I don't want you to leave.” He watched her go rigid and sighed, shaking his head. “I'm not gonna try to stop you. If you were leaving for literally any other reason, I might, but I'd never dream of trying to keep a mom away from her kid. I just... I really like you, and I wish you didn't have to go.”

She shrugged a little, staring out over the water again. “To be honest, I don't wanna go, either. I mean, I'm dying to see my girls again, being away from them is always painful, but... This place is so beautiful. I would love to stay a little longer.”

Not a single word about whether or not she liked him. That stung, but he did his best to ignore it. “Why don't you bring them with you when you travel?”

“I used to,” she admitted. “When it was just Maddie, I brought her everywhere with me and tutored her myself. I tried to keep it going after Alice was born, but it was rough. They got tired of always being on the road and not having kids their age to play with, so now I leave them with my sister when I'm away.”

“Wait, you taught her yourself?” He laughed, shaking his head in dismay. “Are you sure you're not a robot?”

Beck laughed, too, rolling her eyes. “I'm sure. There's more down time than you think in archaeology; plenty of time to keep an already smart girl from falling behind in her schooling.”

“They must take after their mom. I mean, you speak a zillion languages, so you gotta be pretty damn smart.” She was so reckless and carefree, it was hard to picture this woman digging in the dirt for broken clay pots, or wrangling two children to teach them math. From what he'd seen, it felt like Beck was describing a completely different person. He didn't want to offend her, so he refrained from pointing out that she came across less brilliant, multilingual career woman in her thirties and more Girls Gone Wild: Athens.

“Cheapann tú gur leathcheann mé.” He had no idea what the hell she'd just said, but he could tell from the look on her face that he hadn't been as good at keeping his thoughts to himself as he'd hoped. She looked both offended and darkly amused. “Pensi che una ragazza non possa essere intelligente e libera? Eísai vlákas, Mickey.”

He didn't bother asking for a translation; her tone told him he didn't want to know. “How many languages was that?”

Beck grinned. “Three. Gaelic, Italian, and Greek. I sometimes mix a few in the same sentence – I constantly mix Japanese and Korean at home; it makes my girls laugh – but I figured I'd be nice.”

Mickey opened his mouth to say he wouldn't have noticed the difference, and then stopped. He had noticed the difference; the lilt of her voice changed dramatically with each language. That was how he'd realized that she'd been speaking more than one in the first place. “I kinda wanna hear that mix, now. Are the languages that similar?”

“No.” She laughed. “Not at all. They share some slang thanks to pop culture, and both borrowed a lot from China, but they're structured differently, and the way they're spoken is different.”

“Then how do you mix them?”

“I speak them both,” she said with a shrug and another laugh. “If you speak more than one language well enough, they don't have to be similar to still flow. Like...” She smirked, leaning against him and batting her eyes. “Kimi wa baboya, demo... mada jowayo.”

“Showoff.”

“Yes.” Cracking up, she pulled him back to lie on the warm sand with her and cuddled close. “That time, absolutely.”

“Do you think you'll ever come back?” He'd been trying so hard to avoid the subject, but he just couldn't get his mind to budge from the fact that he didn't want her to leave.

With a fond smile, she kissed him before teasing lightly, “You gonna miss me, honey?”

Mickey grinned, hoping she couldn't see that he was feeling more melancholy than amused. “I think mostly I'll miss the sex. It's hard to find a woman who can keep up with me.”

“Oh, is that so?” She laughed and tickled him, making him squirm. Then she stopped, a warm, almost wistful smile on her face. “I'm gonna miss you, too, you know.”

Forced playful grin turning into a soft, genuine smile, he pulled her closer and kissed her. “I was beginning to worry you didn't like me.”

Beck grinned and nuzzled his neck. “The past twenty-four hours wouldn't have happened if I didn't like you.”

Feigning shock, Mickey gasped. “You mean you don't fuck strange men all over Greece indiscriminately?”

“No, that I do all the time,” she joked, hand sliding up one leg of his borrowed shorts. “But I only let the really special ones wear my clothes.”

He laughed, glancing down at himself; he'd forgotten for a second that they were hers. “Right. We should stop at my place so I can change and give these back before I take you back to your hotel.”

Beck sighed, snatching her hand back as if he'd burned her. “Right. Yeah, we should get going.”

Though he still hated that she had to leave, he kept his word and didn't try to stop her. Argyris tried to convince him to make some grand gesture at the airport, but Mickey shut him down with a grumpy, “It's her kid's birthday. I'm not that much of a selfish asshole.”

“I can't believe you're in love with this girl!” Hooting with laughter, Argyris slapped his back. “I'm a fuckin' matchmaker! Who knew?”

“Fuck off, Cupid!” Mickey grinned and shoved him away, hoping the other man couldn't see how shitty he really felt. He moped for a couple of days, barely paying attention to the world around him, just missing the crazy girl with the temper as fiery as her hair.

Then he answered an unexpected knock at his door and was baffled by the sight of a cute, petite brunette with huge blue eyes staring up at him. “Um... Can I help you?”

“Huh.” One dark eyebrow arching up, she called back over her shoulder, “You really do have a type.”

A familiar laugh made Mickey freeze in shock as Beck stepped into view behind the girl, another one in her arms. “I made the mistake of telling Maddie that I met this awesome DJ in Greece-”

“And since I have no friends anyway,” the girl, who he finally realized was Beck's older daughter, Madeline, cut in, “I figured there'd be no problem moving my 'party' somewhere more fun than my aunt's house. For the third year in a row.”

“Jesus, you might look like your dad, but you sound just like your mom!” The words slipped out before he could stop himself. While Madeline rolled her eyes, the little girl in her mother's arms – Alice, he figured – giggled.

“Yeah,” Beck agreed with a grin, moving closer and leaning past her daughters to kiss him. “She's got my snarky attitude. Gods help me. Thankfully, this one's still innocent.” She squeezed Alice tighter against her side, making her giggle again.

“Mommy! You're squishing me!”

“Her? Innocent? Did auntie tell you what she did to my stereo?!”

“It was an accident!”

“My butt it was!”

Wincing, Beck glanced at Mickey and mouthed, 'I'm sorry.' “Girls, enough. What have I told you about bickering in front of strangers?”

“I mean, you also tell us not to spread our legs for strangers, and yet...”

“Madeline Fiona O'Brien!”

“What?!” Eyes wide and looking frustrated, Madeline gestured to Mickey. “I'm kinda right!”

He couldn't hold it in anymore. Leaning on the door frame to stay upright, Mickey burst out laughing. God help this woman, he thought as he struggled to get his breath back. Her daughter's exactly like her!

Face even redder than her hair, Beck grumbled, “I did not tell her we slept together.”

“You couldn't shut up about him and your clothes smelled like dude. Doesn't take a genius.”

“Maddie, couldja stop? I kinda wanna see more of Greece than two buildings. If mom drags us home early cuz you're being a jerk, I will kick your seat the whole way back to Boston!”

“I'll let her.”

Mickey had just about gotten his laughter under control. Still chuckling, he yanked Beck into his arms and gave her a long, slow kiss. “You are dreaming if you think I'm letting you leave again.”

“That doesn't sound kidnappy at all!”

Laughing again, he released the blushing redhead only to trap Madeline in his arms and tickle her until she squeaked. “And you, little miss Queen of Sarcasm!” With a grin, he kissed the top of her head and released her, pleased to see that she was smiling. “Happy birthday.”

“Thanks.”

As he stepped aside to let them in, it finally dawned on him that he'd never actually worked a child's party before. He was used to crowds of rowdy drunk Greeks, not two innocent little girls. He didn't even know any kids, besides his own! He glanced helplessly at Beck, who snickered and kissed his jaw.

“Just do whatever; I can keep an eye on them. Maddie was more interested in the change of scenery than an actual party.”

“Does she really have no friends?”

She shrugged, turning to watch her daughters awkwardly settle on the couch and begin nudging and poking each other repeatedly. “She's never been the most social kid in the world. Around their own age groups, Liss is the bubbly extrovert and Maddie can't be bothered; she wanted to hang with kids her own age until she realized they annoy the hell out of her.”

“Argyris might know some people with kids...” He rolled his eyes. “He'll think I'm nuts, trying to hunt down teenagers, though.”

Beck laughed and shook her head. “No, really, don't worry about it. We don't even have to actually throw a party-”

Cutting her off with a kiss, Mickey insisted, “Oh, she's getting a party. When is her birthday, anyway?”

“Today, actually.”

He flinched, glancing at the clock, and then relaxed. It was still pretty early. “She's getting a party,” he repeated firmly. “She's fourteen! That... has no special significance in any culture I've heard of, but the kid still deserves some fun on her damn birthday. Especially if the last few have been disappointing.”

“The day after is pretty significant in our culture,” she murmured, so softly he almost didn't catch it.

“Is it?” Wasn't she American? He seemed to recall a whole conversation that almost turned into an argument about it. “Since when?”

Beck blushed again, looking uncomfortable. “Never mind.”

“...Girls, make yourselves at home. I need to talk to your mom for a minute.”

“You're talking now.”

He almost wrote that off as another snarky response, until he realized it had come from Alice. Looking innocently confused, she stared at him with almost comically large blue eyes, and he smiled. “In private,” he clarified as gently as he could as he grabbed Beck's wrist and tugged her down the hall toward his bedroom.

“Door open at all times!”

With a huff, Beck dug her heels in and spun around to glare at Madeline. “Who's the mom, here?”

“Sometimes I wonder.”

“Madeline.” Wrenching free of Mickey's grasp, she crossed her arms over her chest and stared her defiant offspring down. “Who's the mom?”

Glowering right back, Madeline mirrored her pose and grudgingly admitted, “You are.”

“Good. Now that we've got that cleared up, how about you show our host a little respect?”

Madeline's face was red as a tomato, but she still looked more angry and resentful than contrite, until she took a deep breath and turned to Mickey. With a surprising note of sincerity, she grumbled, “Sorry, Mickey.”

“Jet lag gets the best of all of us. Maybe you two should take a nap while your mom and I talk.” He didn't know what the hell else to say. He couldn't say 'it's okay' and undermine her mother, and 'you're forgiven' sounded kind of dickish. With an awkward smile, he waved and resumed dragging Beck down the hall.

As soon as the bedroom door was closed behind them, Beck sighed and leaned against it, looking worn out. “I'm so sorry about her. She's been so bitchy lately; my sister said she was even copping an attitude with her, which she almost never does.”

“She's probably just tired and been missing her mom.” In truth, he thought Madeline's sass was funny as hell, but he wasn't about to step into the middle of a mother-daughter war. Instead, he focused on his own curiosity. “What 'culture' celebrates the day after a birthday?”

She winced. “It's nothing, Mickey. Forget it.”

Weird. “What's the big deal? I'm just curious.”

“Alright, fine.” Looking and sounding resigned, she muttered, “If you're gonna judge or laugh, might as well get it out of the way – I'm a witch.”

Mickey stared at her. Whatever he'd been expecting her to say, it wasn't that. “...A witch?”

“I don't ride a broomstick and I can't turn you into a toad.” Oof. Defensive. Judging by her tone, she'd had this conversation before, and it hadn't gone well. “My sister's a witch, too, and so are my girls. There's an old tradition in the craft; at thirteen we find our deity, if we're meant to serve one, and a year and a day later, we pledge to their service.”

Light dawned. “Oh, that's why you always say 'Gods' instead of 'God'! That makes sense.” Who was he to judge? He wasn't particularly religious, but was any one religion really any weirder than the next? Curiosity abated, he brushed it off and tugged her into his arms. “My very own Sabrina.”

Beck snorted and dropped her head onto his shoulder. “Sometimes I feel more like Sarah Sanderson.”

“You really want me to throw a rager for your fourteen-year-old?” He didn't know what to say about her Hocus Pocus reference – 'horny and ditzy? Sounds about right' was...probably not the right thing – so he decided to just jump back to the original topic.

She shrugged. “I honestly don't know what to do for her. Coming back here was her idea, but I kinda doubt it had much to do with her birthday. She wasn't kidding about wondering which one of us is the parent; that kid's been trying to take care of me since she was little.”

“Why?”

Sighing, she stepped back out of his arms. She looked so sad and broken suddenly that he wished he'd never asked. “I would love to say that it's just who she is – and it is, to a point. Some people are just natural caregivers, and Maddie's definitely one of them. But I was a mess before Liss was born. Maddie's had to deal with a lot of bullshit, and it made her grow up too fast.”

That settled it in Mickey's mind. As he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket with one hand and opened the bedroom door with the other, he told her again, “She's getting a fucking party.”

Three hours and a lot of yelling at Agryris to get him to stop laughing later, he was setting up speakers in front of his apartment building, surrounded by what looked like every kid in Athens between twelve and sixteen, along with their parents. It definitely wasn't his usual crowd, to say the least, but they were friendly enough. Most importantly, Madeline was already smiling and laughing.

Remembering the posters he'd seen around town, he pulled his phone out again and called a number he hadn't used in quite a while. “Well, well. So you're in Athens. What do you know? I have a favor to ask you...”

“OHMYGOD! BASTIAN!”

Mickey grinned. Clearly, he'd made the right call, and it was earning him hugs galore. For the first time all day, Madeline was acting like a teenage girl, bouncing up and down and screeching with joy as Bastian made her way through the party. With a bright smile, she hugged the birthday girl and smoothed her dark curls back off of her face before approaching Mickey and hugging him. The second she moved back, Madeline launched herself at him, squeezing so tightly he thought she might crack a few ribs. And then her laughing mother replaced her, and he'd never felt so popular.

“Hell of a dad move,” Beck teased, grinning at him as she stepped aside and Maddie barreled into him again.

“Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!”

Laughing, Mickey lifted her up and kissed the top of her head. “Happy birthday.” She was too light; idly, he made a mental note to ask what the hell Beck and her sister were feeding these kids, or failing to feed them. Then he realized he sort of was acting like Maddie's dad and he blushed, setting her down.

As she ran off to dance with her little sister, he pulled Bastian up onto the platform and picked up the mic. “First of all – let's hear it for the birthday girl!” He pointed, and grinned when the revelers around him cheered, making the brunette blush. “Maddie O'Brien! You said you have no friends back in the States-” Boos echoed around them, and her color deepened. “-So I thought, what could make a better birthday present than a couple hundred Greek friends?”

The crowd cheered again, and a few “YEAH, MADDIE” shouts made the girl in question laugh, covering her face with the hand not holding tight to Alice's little wrist. Mickey noticed that she did that a lot; whenever the younger girl wasn't in her mother's arms, she was in her sister's tight, protective grip.

“What do you guys think?” He shouted into the mic. “This girl's really cool, right? You wanna be Maddie's friends, and show her how much better everything is here in Greece?”

The cheers were deafening. Mickey was grinning like a fool, and was pleased to see that so was Madeline. Big blue eyes shining, she stared up at him like he was her hero, and for a minute, life was pretty damn good. He'd die before admitting it aloud, at least so soon, but he could easily see a bright, happy future where he was stepdad to these two beautiful little girls, and they doted over their step-brother Hector, the way Maddie doted over Alice. He glanced at their mother, and couldn't help getting just a little choked up when he saw an identical look of joy and appreciation on her beautiful face. Man, it was nice to be the hero.

Before he could get too emotional and ruin the party, he pointed to Bastian. “You guys know who this is, right?” Another enthusiastic roar; he was a little jealous this time, but shoved it down and smiled. “Well, she's gonna take over for a little while, so make sure you give her some love, alright?”

Yanking her into one more tight hug, he handed the reins over to Bastian and hopped down. Beck immediately threw her arms around him and kissed him. “You are amazing, you know that? I descend on you unannounced with a grouchy teenager in tow, and you give her the best fucking night of her life!”

“All in a day's work,” he joked, squeezing her. “She seems like a great kid; they both do. I couldn't just do nothing and let her be miserable.”

“Hector is lucky.” She was grinning so wide, her face hurt; Mickey only knew because he was doing the same. “He's got a really great dad. If you'd do something like this for a kid you've never even met before, I can only imagine the lengths you'd go to for your own.”

“Think you can pass that praise on to my ex? Maybe she'll actually let me see him.”

Smile fading, she gripped his head with both hands and pulled him down to press their foreheads together. “If you want me to, I'll help you fight for him. You deserve to see your son, and he deserves to know his dad.”

“How long are you staying this time?” He didn't want to talk about Hector suddenly; not at a party surrounded by strangers and their children.

Seeming to sense his mood, Beck smiled and glanced at her giggling daughters. They were hopping around like lunatics to the music, surrounded by kids Maddie's age. She looked like she was having the time of her life. “From the looks of things now? Forever.” Mickey thought she was joking, but the look on her face stopped him from laughing it off. “I've never seen her so happy. Athens might just become home.”

“I hope so.” He shrugged, forcing a chipper smile to hide the desperately hopeful one he couldn't quite keep in. “It did for me!”

“We'll see.”

Unlike most of the parties he'd worked, this one started winding down fairly early as kids hugged Maddie, wished her a happy birthday, and were ushered home by their tired parents. Alice was asleep in Mickey's arms, her tiny body limp as a rag doll and her silky black curls tickling his nose. As the last of her party guests wished her well and left, Madeline hurried over to him and cuddled up to the side not currently occupied by the dead weight of her sister.

“Thank you, Mickey.”

“Did you have fun?” She nodded, and he smiled softly, stroking her dark hair. “Good. Let's get inside and get the little one into bed, shall we?”

She glanced around, frowning a little. “Where's mom?”

“Already upstairs.” Grinning, he watched her for a reaction and added casually, “With Bastian.”

Bright blue eyes widening, she gaped at him. “She's staying?”

Mickey laughed. “For tonight, at least, yeah. Come on.”

As they trudged through the door of his apartment a few minutes later, Mickey found himself wishing he'd stayed outside.

“No way!” Beck whipped around to gape at him while Bastian laughed. “You didn't tell me you were in a band!”

“Oh lord,” Madeline grumbled under her breath. “Get something pierced and she'll propose to you by midnight, I swear.”

Choking on a startled laugh, he lowered Alice into her sister's waiting arms. “Put her in Hector's bed. You and your mom can take mine tonight.” As she obediently wandered down the hall to tuck the younger girl in, Mickey flopped down on the couch beside Beck and tugged her into his arms. “That was a long time ago. Then she got her big break and got all famous, and she didn't need losers like me anymore.”

“Oh, that is such bullshit!” Laughing, Bastian stretched out to kick him. “We got a break. We got a deal. You were every bit a part of all that!”

“Oh, please!” Mickey rolled his eyes. “You never needed me. It was the Bastian Show, and we were just-”

“No! No, what happened was...”

They bickered for a while, going back and forth over who was to blame for Saint Claude's ultimate demise. After a few minutes, Beck excused herself and left the room, leaving the two old friends to catch up. When the argument showed no signs of ending, Mickey huffed and stood up, muttering something about getting a drink as he walked away. He loved Bastian, but damn she could be stubborn!

“What the fuck are you doing?” A glass in each hand, he stared at her as she laid out lines of cocaine on her phone's screen.

“What the fuck does it look like I'm doing?”

“Oh, god.” He grimaced, glancing toward the bedrooms. All quiet, but he didn't know if Beck and Maddie were asleep, or just hiding from the debate. “Come on, let's go in the bathroom.”

“The Brat Pack's asleep. Don't worry about it!”

“You don't know that,” he hissed. “Come on.”

Bastian rolled her eyes, but she allowed him to usher her into the bathroom. “You're paranoid. You barely even know these people! What do you care what they think?”

“I care,” he snapped, though he didn't refuse when she offered him a line. He'd just finished, was still hunched over the phone, when the door opened and he was faced with, basically, his worst nightmare: Madeline was standing in the doorway, hand on the knob.

They both froze, staring at her like deer in headlights. Face completely expressionless, Maddie looked at each of them, then at the line of cocaine still on the phone, and then straight at Mickey. "I just wanted to thank you again for today." Without another word, she calmly turned and left the room, closing the door behind her.

"Shit." Ignoring Bastian's drug-fueled giggle fit, Mickey was on his feet and chasing after the teen in a flash. "Maddie!"

Though her face was still a stony mask, there were tears in her eyes when she whirled around to face him. "I need to talk to you. Now."

"Okay." He gestured to the couch, but she shook her head.

"Outside. I don't wanna wake up mom or Alice."

Nodding, he followed her without another word. At first he'd thought she meant out in the hall, but she didn't stop until they were outside the building. "Maddie, listen-"

"Let her go." Mickey's heart broke when she turned to face him again. Tears running down her cheeks and lower lip trembling, she stared up at him with those huge blue eyes and he almost started crying with her. "You have to let her go. Mom's loyal even when she shouldn't be. She'll never break it off."

"Maddie, I don't want-"

"I only exist because my dad drugged and raped her!" Wiping furiously at her face while he shrank back in horror, she continued more calmly, "She doesn't know I know that, or that he tried to kidnap me a bunch of times when I was little. Auntie told me. She still stayed with him for almost a year. Will hit her, Owen was a toxic psycho, Alex was a racist jerk... Alice's dad was always really nice to us all when he came around, but he almost never did. And I don't know what he did, but he's in jail for life now." With a bitter grimace, she spat, "And you're a druggie."

Maddie's had to deal with a lot of bullshit, and it made her grow up too fast.

Beck's soft voice, so full of pain and regret, echoed in his head as Mickey sank down to sit on the steps and tugged Madeline into his arms. "I'm not a druggie," he assured her as she clung to him and broke down sobbing. "One time thing, kiddo, I promise."

"Like you'd say anything else!"

The little whimper that escaped her as she scooted up his leg to get closer and dropped her head onto his shoulder very nearly made him start crying with her. For all that she insisted he get the hell out of her life, he could tell that she was desperate for someone decent to stay. This poor kid was fourteen going on forty after watching her mom date a string of losers; no wonder she had no faith in men, or in her mother's ability to make sound decisions. He squeezed her a little tighter, not sure what to do or say.

"Mickey, I'm tired," she croaked, making his heart ache for her even more. He knew she didn't mean sleepy; she was tired of being the mature one, and he couldn't say he blamed her. "I'm so tired..."

"Shhh, it's okay, baby," he whispered, rubbing her back. "You can rest now. I'm here. I'm not going anywhere. You're my little girl now, okay? And I won't let anything happen to you, or your sister, or your mom. You don't have to take care of her anymore, honey. I will. You just take a breath and be a kid while you can."

"How can I trust you?"

Well, that hurt, but he got where she was coming from. Pressing a soft kiss to the top of her head, he murmured, "I gotta earn that." He pried her loose and pushed her back a little, just enough to be able to look her in the eye. "Do you think you can give me a chance to?"

After a pause that felt like an eternity, Maddie sniffled and nodded. "Okay. But if you hurt her, I'll kick your nuts back up inside."

Laughing, Mickey nodded and smoothed her hair back. "Noted.” A thought occurred to him and he frowned. “Why did you aunt tell you all that? Putting that weight on a kid... That's cruel.”

“I asked,” she admitted with a shrug. “I asked why mom was such a mess, and why I didn't have a dad. So she told me.”

I'd have made some shit up, damn. Even high, he was smart enough not to say that. He chose not to say anything at all, and just held her for a while as the cool night air soothed their frayed nerves and her breathing slowly returned to normal.

“Mickey?”

“Hm?”

Voice a small, timid whisper, she asked, “Do you really wanna be my dad?”

Smiling softly, he kissed her head again and hugged her just a bit tighter. “I am your dad.” When she tensed and let out a frustrated huff, he explained, “I'm in love with your mom, kiddo. And I already love you and your sister. We're family now, and I'm not going anywhere. I promise.”

“You're weird.” He could hear her teasing smile in her voice, and he smiled, too, relieved. “You don't even know us.”

“I know enough. Come on.” Though all he wanted was to sit there and cuddle with her all night, he gently pushed her off his lap and stood. “It's getting late. You should get to bed.”

Sending her off down the hall to his bedroom when they got back upstairs, he collapsed on the couch and sighed. He'd known when he met her that Beck would make his life more interesting... he just had no idea how interesting.

A laugh beside him reminded him of his other guest and he reluctantly opened his eyes. Judging from the way she was twitching and snickering, Bastian had finished the rest of the coke. “That was intense!���

Mickey closed his eyes again. “If it's not already gone, get that shit out of my house.”

“Oh, come on!” She shoved him, grinning impishly. “Don't try to act all virtuous now! You were right there with me, until that kid walked in.”

“'That kid'?” Annoyed now, he sat up and glared at her. “My kid.”

“Not really, though.” Confused, she twisted to glance down the hall, and then back to stare at him. “...Right? I mean, shit, she does kinda look like you...”

He shook his head. “No. Biologically, no, but I don't care. I'm not gonna add my name to the list of guys who've hurt her.”

Bastian snorted, rolling her eyes. “Mickey, you can't just decide to play daddy to this random kid on a whim just because your ex won't let you see your own. She's not yours, and changing your whole life and personality isn't going to change that.”

“I haven't touched that shit in years. I'm not changing on a whim; you just don't know me anymore.”

“Enough,” she challenged, settling back in her seat and staring down her nose at him. “I know you well enough to know this is never gonna work.”

“What isn't?”

“This!” Bastian gestured vaguely around them. “This whole self-domestication shit. You're not some house husband and stepdad – you're a musician. You belong on the road, Mickey! Not shut up in some old lady's apartment playing House with some crazy chick and her walking, talking reminders of past mistakes.”

“Beck,” he snapped, glaring at her. “'That chick's' name is Beck, and her gorgeous daughters are Maddie and Alice. They're not mistakes. Alice is adorable and so smart, and Maddie is fucking awesome and she's been through Hell. I haven't seen you in years and you think you're gonna sit here in my house and tell me who I am and what I want? I don't fucking think so, Bastian.”

“Alright, alright!” She held up her hands in surrender, eyes wide. “Chill. I just miss you, okay? I want you to come on tour with me, like the old days, not sit here and rot away in some mediocre domestic life. You could have so much more!”

Mickey sighed, staring off into space for a moment. Some part of him was drawn to her offer, but that wasn't him anymore. He didn't actually want to tour with her, he just hated feeling settled; at some point in his wild youth, stability had begun to feel like stagnation, and now he found himself often desperate to avoid it, even if it came with everything he truly wanted.

He thought about Beck, and her bright smile and her two beautiful, lonely daughters, and he thought about Hector. Beck had been spot-on; as much as he did love Greece, Mickey had really only stayed this long because of his son. He wanted to be in Hector's life. Now he wanted to be in Maddie and Alice's lives, too. He wanted a family.

And for the first time, he was willing to fight for that family.

“You're right,” he admitted slowly. “You're right, I've been hiding here, just floating around aimlessly.” Before she could get all triumphant, he stood and growled, “But that's not what I'm doing now. Now, I'm finally seeing a life that I want, and I'll be damned if I'll let anyone take it away from me.”

That said, he walked away without giving Bastian a chance to argue. He peeked into his son's room to check on Alice, smiled when he saw the way she was sprawled, half hanging off the bed, and he quietly closed the door and headed to his own room. Hopefully Maddie wouldn't mind; he'd originally intended to crash on the couch, but he couldn't stand to be in the same room as Bastian, and couldn't quite bring himself to kick her out, either. Moving slowly, so as to avoid waking either of the bed's other two occupants, he slid in next to Beck.

She immediately rolled over and cuddled close to him. At first he thought she was just fidgeting in her sleep, but then she whispered, “Don't let anyone change you or tell you who you are. Not even me.”

“I won't.” He tried to smile, couldn't quite manage it, and kissed her, instead. “Goodnight.”

“Night.”

It wasn't quite a seamless transition. Mickey's place was too small for a family of four, and he didn't exactly love the idea of moving a bunch of heavy audio equipment down those winding stairs. Though he wanted to jump right into living together, he didn't put up much of a fight when Beck started looking for her own place.

It helped that she didn't spend a lot of time at home. Once the girls were enrolled in school, their mother started dropping them off and then going straight to Mickey's place. She helped Argyris translate for Mickey and his clients, which both men had thought was a terrible idea... until they saw her in action. The short fuse he'd become so familiar with in their first couple of days together was nowhere to be found. Around even his most difficult clients, Beck was the embodiment of charm and professional courtesy. Mickey quickly found that while Argyris was better for direct translation, he was no match for Beck when it came to diplomacy and deescalating a heated argument.

“You haven't seen 'difficult',” she teased, “until you've been a woman in a male-dominated field arguing for funding. This is nothing.”

Mickey laughed, yanking her into his arms. “Where have you been all my life?”

She flinched, closing her eyes and pressing her fingertips to her mouth for a second. It was the briefest of moments, and then she was smiling again and joking, “On my knees in the dirt, mostly,” but he refused to ignore it.

“You okay?”

With a little shrug and a nod, she admitted, “Been a little queasy and lightheaded lately, but I'm fine. It never lasts long.”

“You are so American.” She glared at him and he grinned, pleased that he knew how to get her attention. “You're not in Dystopia anymore – go to a doctor.”

“Did you not hear me? I'm fi-”

“I heard 'lately,'” he countered, poking her side and immediately regretting it when she cringed. Right; queasy. Maybe don't mess with her stomach, Mickey. “'Lately' means this is not normal. It means you're sick, so go to a doctor.”

She shook her head, winced, and dropped it onto his shoulder. “I don't need a doctor.”

“You can't even move without turning green.”

“I'm fine. I don't need a doctor.”

“Why are you being so stubborn? You're supposed to help me with stubborn people, not be the Queen of them!”

“Am I your girlfriend or your lawyer?”

“That's not what I meant and you know it. Don't change the subject.” Rubbing her back, he insisted as gently as he could, “Please just go get checked out.”

“I don't need to. I'm fine.”

“Look, even if it's minor, do you wanna suffer or find out what's wrong and get better?”

“I don't need a doctor to tell me what I already know!”

What she already knew? He frowned, more confused than ever. “Is it some kind of chronic-”

“Mickey, I'm not sick – I'm pregnant!”

He froze, gaping at her in shock. She started to pull away, but he tightened his grip on her waist before she could stand up. “You're what?”

Looking nervous and uncomfortable, she mumbled, “I was trying to find the right time to tell you; we've just been so busy with that 'make it more Greek' asshat...”

“You're really pregnant?” When she slowly and carefully nodded, Mickey grinned and hugged her as tight as he dared. “That's fantastic!” He finally let her up, only to stand with her and frame her face with both hands. Between frantic kisses all over her face, he gushed, “That's incredible! Have you told the girls yet? Oh, Alice is gonna be so excited to be a big sister! And Hector! I can't wait for Hector to meet his little brother or sister!”

“Mickey...”

He glanced around, smile dimming just a bit. “Damn, we gotta get a bigger place.”

“Mickey.”

“I wonder if Agryris' grandmother had-”

“Mickey!” Shoving his hands away, Beck got a tight grip on his hair and forced him to turn back to face her. “Do you really think we can do this?”

He blinked, taken aback by that. “Don't you?”

“Three kids, and fighting for joint custody of a fourth?” She shook her head, looking at him like he was an idiot. “The thought that we might be in over our heads crossed my mind, yeah. I was struggling with just two!”

“Well, now you have me.” His cheeky grin didn't seem to comfort her as much as he'd hoped it would. “You were struggling 'cause you were alone; now you're not.”

“A single mom with two kids really isn't all that different from two parents with four,” she pointed out, releasing his hair and crossing her arms over her chest. Seeing the hurt he tried to mask, she sighed. “Look, I'm glad you're excited, I am. And whether we're ready or not, the kid's on the way, I just... I just wish I shared your optimism. I'm not excited, Mickey; I'm scared to death.”

“Well, get excited,” he jokingly commanded, pulling her close for another hug. “We'll be fine. Besides, it's not like Aspa's ever gonna give me full custody, so it's not really two to four. Maddie's old enough that she doesn't need constant hyper-vigilance from us, so it's really just two to two-and-a-half.”

Finally, finally, Beck laughed. It was quiet and weak, but a laugh nonetheless. “Jesus, you're like sunshine in human form. Does anything ever get you down?”

He shrugged. “Sure, but I try not to let it for long. And I see a new baby as something to celebrate, not freak the hell out over.”

“See, you get to see it that way because you don't have to push it out,” she teased. “It's not so perfectly sunny from where I'm standing.”

“No one said life is perfect.” Still smiling like a fool, he kissed her. “Whatever you need, I'm here. You're not doing everything alone anymore. We got this.”

“I love you.”

It didn't seem possible, but somehow his smile got even wider. “I love you, too.”

“Speaking of Aspa, though...”

“Oh, god, what?”

With a laugh and an apologetic smile, Beck ventured, “I don't think you should come today.”

“What?”

Her smile immediately faded; apparently, he was really bad at hiding it when he was confused and offended. “Baby, you're chaos incarnate. It's one of the things I love about you, but it's not exactly conducive to a civilized conversation with a woman who probably kind of hates you.”

“Yeah, thanks.”

“I just think I might have better luck getting through to her, single mom to single mom.” She looked like she was waiting for him to hit her, which only made him feel worse. “I know how hard it is, and how, whether we mean to or not, we tend to villainize our exes-”

He snorted, rolling his eyes. “Yeah, well, with the stellar guys you've dated, it makes sense. It's not really villainizing if he's already a villain.”

“Exactly how much did Madeline tell you?”

Uh-oh. She was mad. Knowing he was in trouble no matter what and refusing to drag his stepdaughter down with him, Mickey hastily changed the subject. “Do you really think I'll fuck things up that badly if I go?” Why was he even asking? Offended or not, he knew she was right; Aspa hated his guts.

Thankfully, Beck let the dig about her exes drop and her steely expression melted back into one of gentle sympathy. “I just want you to have the best chance possible of getting to be an active part of Hector's life. I want him to know you, to sleep in that bed you bought him before he outgrows it, to meet his new sisters. And I think your feelings towards Aspa, and hers toward you, are probably too raw and volatile right now for a face-to-face meeting to be a good idea.”

“Alright.” Forcing a faint smile, he nodded. “Alright, go. You've got a point.”

“I'll tell you all about it when I get back, okay?” She promised with an equally strained smile, kissing his cheek.

“Can't wait.”

When she came back a little while later, she was laughing. Mickey's hopes that it meant things had gone better than expected were dashed, though, when she managed to gasp out, “She really hates you!”

“Yeah, thanks.” He shook his head. “I knew that much.”

“I'm sorry.” Still giggling, Beck wound her arms around his waist. “She was just such a bitch. I kinda respect the hell out of her.”

“What did she say?”

“That you're a baby,” she dutifully recited, “and you're irresponsible, unreliable...”

“Why is this funny?!”

“Because, Mickey... Mickey, honey...” Framing his face like he had to her earlier, she told him, “It's nothing I didn't already know. You're flighty and you're a big kid; this isn't news. She was floored that I love you anyway, and my god, the look on her face when I went off about how that childishness is what makes you such a good dad, and you're great with the girls... I haven't been able to stop laughing since! Pretty sure she hates me now, too.”

“Great!” Failing to see the humor, Mickey jerked free of her light grasp and moved away, beginning to pace the room. “So instead of helping, you just alienated her from us both!”

“We're going to see him on Saturday.”

“What?” He spun to stare at her; she wasn't laughing anymore. “Are you serious?”

Looking rather proud of herself, she nodded. “Supervised by Aspa, of course, but yep. You get to spend time with your son, and I finally get to meet him. It doesn't matter what she thinks of either of us, as long as she can see that you give a shit; that we're safe to be around Hector, and can be trusted to think of him first. Show her how much you love him, that even childish and flaky you can be reliable, that you want to be reliable, and a supervised visit might turn into father-son weekends, without your ex underfoot.”

“I... wha... how...?”

She shrugged, smiling faintly. “Mother to mother. We came to an understanding.”

Overwhelmed by emotions he couldn't even identify, Mickey closed the distance between them and lifted her up. “I fucking love you, you know that?”

Beaming as he set her down, Beck leaned in for a kiss. “I love you, too, baby.”

“That's not cute anymore.” Despite his protests, he was grinning as he backed her toward the bedroom. “Now I just feel like you're calling me a baby. That sucks. Don't do that.”

“I'll call you what I want,” she teased, pulling him down for another kiss. “And you can't stop me!”

With a hand on her belly, he joked, “How about you call me 'daddy'?”

“No.” She laughed and shook her head. “I physically cannot do that. I'll puke.”

“Well, morning sickness is pretty common.”

“No, this is pure disgust.”

They were both laughing now as they reached the bed; he almost playfully shoved her back, but then remembered the baby and thought better of it. Instead, he flopped across it himself and beckoned for her to join him. “We're gonna be okay, you know.”

Beck winced as she settled gingerly on the edge of the bed. “It's just such bad timing. I don't...”

“Hey.” He tugged at her arm until she stretched out beside him, and wound his arms around her. “It's all gonna be okay. No matter what life throws at us, we'll deal with it together, okay? I want this baby. I know you want this baby. The rest is just details.”

“Pretty big fucking details. I was supposed to go to Mongolia next month.”

“Then go.” God, he didn't want her to, but he was determined to show her that they could be together, be a family, without completely derailing her life. When she looked at him like he'd lost it, he gave her a bland 'are you kidding' look right back. “You're not really gonna try to convince me that you weren't still going on digs when you were pregnant with Alice, are you?”

She blushed. “My team didn't know...”

“So don't tell them this time, either.”

“Mickey...” Pushing his arms away, she sat up. “You really have no idea how physically demanding my work is, do you? I almost lost Alice.”

For a second, he floundered, wondering what the hell to do or say. Then he brightened and sat up, as well. “You speak a million languages; just work as a translator until you're safe to go back out into the field.”

“...I do love it,” she conceded, making him perk up. “And maybe I can finally teach you some Greek so you can talk to your son more easily.”

Mickey chuckled. “I'm not getting out of that, am I?”

“Nope.” She grinned and settled back against his chest as he leaned against the headboard. “Not until we're both fluent.”

“Alright, I'm in.” He smiled, kissing her jaw and lacing their fingers together. “New home for us, new job for you, learning a new language...”

“New baby on the way.”

“New baby on the way,” he parroted, pressing their linked hands to her belly. “New chapter.”

“Here's to a new life.”

Mickey nodded and leaned down for a proper kiss, murmuring against her lips, “Together.”

[taetaespeaches]

favorite albums of twenty-twenty:

I’m indecisive, so disclaimer lol. But I wanted to be self-indulgent for a moment and share my very favorite albums of 2020. In a year where I felt both alone and lonely, music was massively important to me. I tried to limit this to my top ten but I’m too indecisive and a lot of amazing music came out this year so there’s eighteen albums lol. Why not. So yeah, enjoy or ignore, I just had the urge to do this. (This isn’t in order except BE, D-2, Maria, and Map of the Soul: 7 are all definitely in the top five.)

Also, if you see this and want to do your own, tag me! I’d love to see your top albums <3 

↬ BE — BTS

⟶ Top tracks: Telepathy, Blue & Grey, Fly To My Room, Disease, Life Goes On

I mean come on. This was the pandemic album we all needed and I will forever be grateful for this masterpiece. I think this is an album that will grow with me and will kind of act as a companion throughout my life. The musicality, the lyrics, the variety, all of it, it’s just perfection. It feels like a friend who gives you comfort but also makes you confront your emotions, and that was everything I needed this year. I will forever be obsessed with this one. BE is my friend. 

↬ D-2 — Agust D

⟶ Top Tracks: People, Moonlight, Daechwita, What do you think?, Dear my friend

Agust D came back and he fucking owned it. The amount of pure talent and passion in this mixtape is un-fucking-real. Yoongi is just unbelievably talented and this album perfectly displays that. Plus, these songs have been my ride or die since May, like, there isn’t a week that goes by that I don’t listen to this album in full at least once. Just incredible. 

↬ María — Hwasa

⟶ Top Tracks: LMM, Maria, Intro: Nobody Else, WHY, I’m bad too

This album is so connected to my fucking soul. I swear, Ahn Hyejin and I’s emotions are so similar and the way we process them is soooo similar, this album just honestly means the world to me. Plus, it’s amazing. Every song is a masterpiece. Obsessed. Much like D-2, I listen to this album at least once a week. And the number of times I have cried listening to it is unreal. Intro: Nobody Else is very much how I felt this year and LMM has made me cry more times than I care to admit. This album makes me feel what I’m feeling, gives me comfort, and helps me pick myself back up again. Another one that will grow with me. This year through the loneliness and in times that I felt I had no one, this was my companion.  

↬ MAP OF THE SOUL: 7 — BTS

⟶ Top tracks: Black Swan, Interlude : Shadow, My Time, ON, Friends, Moon, We are Bulletproof: the Eternal, Outro : Ego

Come onnnnnn. Perfection!!!! Quite literally the album that has been there with me through every step of this pandemic. I still cry watching the Ego mv. Why? No clue, just makes me sob tears of happiness. Black Swan? Possibly one of my very favorite songs EVER. OF ALL TIME. My Time? Relatable as fuck. Friends? The cutest thing I’ve ever heard. Moon? I’m sobbing again, that’s my emotional support Seokjinnie. Just, the album is a goddamn masterpiece, I don’t care who disagrees, my opinion is fact on this one.

↬ love is not dying — Jeremy Zucker

⟶ Top tracks: full stop, oh, mexico, hell or flying, lakehouse

Jeremy is another one that I just feel emotionally related too. Like I just get what he says and means and it hits me right in the heart and mind and gut. Another companion album. I think full stop is one of the most relatable songs I’ve ever heard- lyrically and the way it builds and becomes a bit chaotic… like whoah. I feel that in my chest. Also, oh, mexico is another song I related to so hard this year. This album has just made a massive impact on me and I love it.

↬ folklore — Taylor Swift

⟶ Top tracks: seven, peace, the lakes, the 1

So Taylor surprised everyone with an album. What the fuck, ma’am? This is my second favorite Taylor album to date, second to only her second surprise album of the year. Like what? I’ve cried listening to this album and absolutely sobbed listening to seven. She just really popped off with this one and I don’t think I need to explain to you all why this album is so good. If you’ve heard it, you know.

↬ evermore — Taylor Swift

⟶ Top tracks: ivy, cowboy like me, long story short, coney island, gold rush

Oh here we have another surprise album, and now my favorite album by Taylor. I think this album perfectly displays Taylor’s insane lyricism better than any of her works. This album just hit really different for me, every song was my favorite on first listen and I still have the hardest time picking favorite tracks. It’s just beautiful and it’s great and I love it a lot.

↬ SAWAYAMA — Rina Sawayama

⟶ Top tracks: Fuck This World (Interlude), Tokyo Love Hotel, Bad Friend, Comme Des Garçons (Like The Boys)

Have you heard it? If so, you know why it’s on this list. Pop perfection. Rina is a goddess. That’s that. It’s just amazing. Rina is a visionary and this album displays that perfectly. Comme Des Garçons was the first song of hers I ever heard and I was immediately obsessed. Next level, this woman. A queen.

↬ Petals For Armor — Hayley Williams

⟶ Top tracks: Crystal Clear, Why We Ever, Over Yet

Wow. Just, bless Hayley for this. Crystal Clear has quickly become one of my very favorite songs ever and Why We Ever is a little too relatable. And I distinctly remember hearing Over Yet for the first time in May and feeling joy for the first time since the pandemic started. This album is one to listen to when you’re mad, sad, when you need comfort, or when you’re ready to heal. Honestly, another companion.

↬ Nectar — Joji

⟶ Top tracks: Like You Do, Your Man, Sanctuary, MODUS, Run, Mr. Hollywood

I could honestly list nearly every song on this as a top song. Holy shit. Joji is another visionary. He’s insane and I’m obsessed with this album. I swear, every time I listen a new song jumps out as a favorite. Like You Do is a song that just means so much to me. A masterpiece. This album is my go to when I’m looking to get into my feels. Also Daylight isn’t listed in the top tracks but what a fucking bop. I’m just in love with this album. For real, obsessed.

↬ Plastic Hearts — Miley Cyrus

⟶ Top tracks: Angels Like You, High, WTF Do I Know, Midnight Sky, Never Be Me, Plastic Hearts

I’ve never been like an avid listener of Miley, just a few tracks, but this year I got more into her. And this album, goddamn. Every song is a contender for top track. How does that happen? Midnight Sky? Huge for me this year. Like I cannot tell you how massive of an impact this song made on me. Angels Like You is such a perfect song. High is a little too relatable. Just seriously, wow. Kind of speechless, I just adore this album.

↬ Positions — Ariana Grande

⟶ Top tracks: pov, obvious, 34+35

The way I cried my first time hearing pov. Ari what are you doing to me? That song is just such a beautiful way to look at love and this whole album is just so healing. A happy spot on this whole year. 34+35 is a thot anthem and I’m obsessed. This album is just another example of Ariana’s talent and we were all blessed to be able to hear it.

↬ CALM — 5 Seconds of Summer

⟶ Top tracks: Wildflower, Lover of Mine, Best Years, Teeth, High

I don’t care if y’all think it’s cool to like 5sos or not, this album is so fucking good. It far exceeded my expectations. Some of these songs are some of my favorites for the year. Wildflower is a fucking happy pill and Best Years makes me fucking cry. High is too relatable, and Teeth may as well have been written about me. And Lover of Mine perfectly relates to the most important relationship of my entire life. I’m gonna say it, Luke Hemmings is such an underappreciated lyricist. The man is good. I love this album a lot. 

↬ Manic — Halsey

⟶ Top tracks: Finally // beautiful stranger, SUGA’s Interlude, Forever … (is a long time), 3am

I never really listen to Halsey so it took me a long time to give this album a try and wow I’m so glad I finally did. It became an instant fav. Honesty, anything Yoongi touches is a favorite for me so obviously that song would be in my tops, but Forever … (is a long time) is so relatable and just so fucking good. And Finally // beautiful stranger is honestly my favorite Halsey song ever. It’s stunning. This album is amazing. Period.

↬ Future Nostalgia — Dua Lipa

⟶ Top tracks: Pretty Please, Cool, Don’t Start Now

This album is just disco pop perfection and I’ve been obsessed all year. It’s the perfect album to listen to when you just wanna fucking dance and forget about all the shit that 2020 gave us. The perfect escape and it’s so so fun and the songs are just bops. I’ve probably listened to this album a hundred times because it’s just the perfect escape. If I wanna let go for a bit, this is my go to.

↬ Punisher — Phoebe Bridgers

⟶ Top tracks: I Know The End, Chinese Satellite, Garden Song

This album makes me feel some shit. Like holy hell we are in our feels. Phoebe’s songwriting is superb and these songs just hit. I honestly only listen to this album when I really need to get in touch with myself because it literally doesn’t allow me to avoid my feelings. But it’s pretty much perfection and I think it’s going to grow with me throughout the years. I just love it. I remember being blown away on my first listen, it’s just unbelievably good.

↬ Ungodly Hour — Chloe and Halle

⟶ Top tracks: Tipsy, Baby girl, Ungodly Hour

I don’t even know how to explain how good this album is. Like, have you heard it? You get it. These girls went the fuck off and all we can do is thank them for it. Thank you for your service ladies. This album is just a vibe from start to finish. And Ungodly Hour is one of the best title tracks of the year. That’s just that on that. Give them all the awards.

↬ IS ANYBODY OUT THERE? — DPR LIVE

⟶ Top tracks: OH GIRL, NO RESCUE NEEDED, KISS ME

This album isn’t just an album, it’s an experience. This man takes you on a musical journey. It’s a story. It’s flawless. I adore it. DPR LIVE is so underrated and I can’t wait for him to get the hype he deserves. This was the most surprising find this year and I’m so thankful I found it. Just so god. From start to finish, you just get sucked in and then it ends and you’re just left like, whoah. Amazing. 

[daisylincs]

WIP Folder Game

Rules: post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Send me an ask with the title that most intrigues you and interests you and I’ll post a little snippet of it or tell you something about it!  ← part of my trick or treat now :D

Thank you so much for the tag, @eowima​​! You know, I think we should officially update you to the role of clairvoyant or something, lmao, because you won’t believe how well this fits into my ~master plan.~ (I’ll explain in a second, lol.) 

But before I start, um... letmeapologiseinadvancefortheshitshowthatisabouttofollow. My WIPs folder is, er, simply put, a mess. Chaos. A nightmare. 

I have an explanation!! I’ve always loved fanfiction and fandoms, and I’ve spent many happy years reading other people’s things - but I’ve never actually been inspired to create something myself. I don’t know, I always had tremendous respect for the creators who were already out there, but I never felt the inclination to join them, you know? 

Then I started watching AoS this lockdown, and... well, let’s just say that everything changed. For the first time ever, I woke up in the middle of the night and I had a fic idea, one that was demanding to be written down if I ever wanted to sleep a wink again.

And the more I got into the fandom, the more the fic ideas kept coming, until there was a point where I couldn’t read or watch anything without thinking, “ooh, AoS AU!!” So... into the WIPs folder it went. And as you can well imagine, there’s a lot there now. Like, a lot. 

Fitzsimmons was the ship that gave me my first fic idea, so of course there’s stuff for them. Then Huntingbird is the ship that actually pulled me completely and wholeheartedly into the fic verse. And then, of course, Staticquake, the ship that actually got me past my but I’m not good enough fears and, er, got me completely obsessed. I am still not over that.

And last but definitely not least - and, actually, you’re to thank for this, Océane, because it’s your fic that got me hooked on these two awkwardorable idiots - my brain decided that, you know what, if I’m going to write now anyway, I want to do Spideychelle.

So that’s the (long) story of me and my chaotic WIPs folder, and now with no further ado, I’m going to jump right in and give you a list of titles. *coughs* I am, however, going to put a cut here, because... well, you’ll see why. *cringes*

Key: 

💜 - Staticquake

💖 - Huntingbird

💚 - Fitzsimmons

🍋 - Dekesy

💗 - Pipsy

🤍 - Dousy

💕 - Skimmons

🧡 - Quakerider

💞 - Simmorse

🤎 - Mackelena

💙 - Platonic/Family Centric

❤️ - Spideychelle 

💘 - Clintasha

* - a series

(Ones with two or more hearts mean that all these ships feature prominently.) 

The List:

💜.  A Hero’s Reward

💜.  and i risk it all for this life we share

💜.  Angsty Post-Hive Recovery Fic

💜. barefoot on the grass, listening to our favourite song

💜. Best Friends But She’s In A Bad Relationship AU

💜. Bittersweet What-If Fic

💜. Blow Us All Away*

💜. Childhood Friends Fic

💜. darling just dive right in

💜. darling just kiss me slow

💜. don’t ask me where i’ve been, or what i’m gonna do (just know that i’m here with you) 

💜. every day in between

💜. Fairytale (Sleeping Beauty) AU

💜. Fake Dating Partyfic

💜. Flower Shop AU

💜. good old shake ‘n bake

💜. Grieving Fic

💜. High School AU Idea

💜. Hive Toilet Fic

💜. Hospital Fluff & Flirting AU

💜. Hotel Room AU

💜. i live for you (soulmates AU)

💜. i never knew you were the someone waiting for me

💜.  i’ll find my way through night and day

💜. just let your heart be free (you’ve got a friend in me)

💜. lights will guide you home

💜. Mission/Partners Fic

💜. Modern Royalty Fic

💜. Musical (West Side Story) AU

💜. Not That Girl Anymore

💜. PDA

💜. Pitch Perfect AU

💜. Post-Hive Pregnancy Fic

💜. put that body on me

💜. Rain Fic

💜. Red Thread

💜. Regency AU: Marriage of Convenience

💜. Regency AU: Arranged Marriage

💜. remember that with every piece of you

💜. Rom-Com AU

💜. Royalty Shenanigans Fic

💜. S3 AU - Daisy, Inhuman Leader

💜. S3 AU - Lincoln With SHIELD All Along

💜. Shake ‘n Bake: A YouTube Romance

💜. Skaters AU

💜. Sky’s the Limit*

💜. Snowed In Fic

💜. so baby i’m alright, with just a kiss goodnight

💜. some dreams do come true

💜. Soul Realm

💜. Soulmark AU

💜. Stardust AU

💜. Stranded-Somewhere-Cold Ficlet

💜. The Daughter of Thunder and Lightning

💜. the earth shook and the sky flashed

💜. took my heart upon a one-way trip

💜. TV Show AU

💜. Ward-Confrontation AU

💜. Watching Hamilton AU

💜. What-Ifs*

💜. you’d be the one i was meant to find

💜💙. Lincoln & The Team Bonding Fic

💜💙. MayLincoln Friendship Fic

💜💙. The Secret Warriors

💚. Academy Era Rom-Com

💚. Ah Crap My Ex Just Walked In AU

💚. Alya Fluff and First Words Fic

💚. Angsty Hair ficlet 

💚. Cute Family Zoo Prompt

💚. lunch break

💚. Second Child Fluff and First Words Fic

💚. Soulmate AU

💚. The Perfect Fairytale*

💚. The Team Ships It

💚💜. Fluffy Best Friends Idea

💚💜. ooh, la la la*

💚💙.  AoS Frozen AU

💚💙. FitzsimmonsSparks Fic 

💚💙. Us Against The World

💚💜💙. AoS Harry Potter AU

💖. Al Birthday Fic 

💖. always the same pattern, love

💖. blonde

💖. meet me half-way

💖. rollercoaster

💖. Soulmate AU

💖. The Blue Door (Notting Hill AU)

💖. the ride

💖. when did it all fall to pieces (can’t we build it back)

💚💖. Best Friends’ Wedding AU

💚💖. The Holiday AU 

💚💜💖💙. No Hive AU

💚💜💖💙. Post-3x10 Who Owes Who Fic

🍋. Angst/Introspection Fic

🍋. Beach Fic

🍋. Coffee Shop AU

🍋. Concert Canon Divergence Fic

🍋. Drunk Kiss Fic

🍋. Mission Kiss Canon Divergence Fic

🍋. Singers AU

💚🍋. Fluff and Teasing Fic

💚🍋. (Not A) Double Date

💗. ’cause you’re out of this world

💗. Coffee Shop/Baristas AU

💗. High School AU/Sleepover Fic

💗. Walls Come Down Fic

🤍. Affectionate Arguments/Take Care Of Yourself Fic

🤍. Danny Boy & Quake*

🤍. getting to know you, getting to know all about you

🤍. T Birthday Fic

🤍💚. Teasing/Introspection Fic    

💞. Birdie Birthday Fic

💞. Bodyguard AU

💞. Roommates/Best Friends AU

💞. you’re just my cup of tea

🧡. Abby Birthday Fic

🧡. it’s a better place since you came along

🧡. Reluctantly Perfect

🧡. Scarlet Birthday Fic

🧡💚. well that works    

💕. Coming Out Fic

💕. S1 Crush Fic

💕. you’ll be my lady

🤎. Childhood Best Friends AU

🤎. Church Camp AU

🤎. Giorgia Birthday Fic

🤎. Soulmates AU

🤎. then through the shadows, your light appears

💚💜💖🤎. Shippy Team Mistletoe Fic

💚💜💖🤎. Shippy Team Snowfic

💚💜💖🤎💙. Soft Family Fic from Chloe Interview

❤️. Ah Crap My Ex Just Walked In AU

❤️. Arranged Marriage AU

❤️. cute clueless moron

❤️. Cute, Dorky Friendship Idea

❤️. Fake Dating Friends to Lovers

❤️. Media Nonsense Fic

❤️. Michelle Jones, Agent of SHIELD

❤️. Michelle Jones, Inhuman

❤️. Océane Birthday Fic

❤️. oh, when you kiss me

❤️. Secret Santa Fic

❤️. Secret Santa Thank-You Ficlet

❤️. Spideychelle Week Day 5 - Roommates AU

❤️. Spideychelle Week Day 6 - Enemies to Lovers

❤️. Spideychelle Week Day 7 - Only One Bed

❤️. Teach Me To Fight, Parker

❤️💚. heads on a science apart

💘. Bobbi Birthday Fic

💘. 5 Times The Avengers Played Matchmaker, and 1 Time It Worked (Sort Of)

💘. Jade Arrow

💘. Natalia

💘. Roommates AU

💙. all the stars in the skye

💙. blue-eyed

💙. FitzDaisy Recovery Fic

💙. Happy Family Holiday Fic

💙. JemmaDaisy Friendship Fic

💙. see the line where the skye meets the sea

💙. Soft-Fluffy Philindaisy Tickle Fic

💙.untitled angst war fic

💜🤍💗🍋🧡💕💙. day’s eye      

(and that’s not even it. I haven’t even made documents for all the birthday fics. *crawls into a hole to die*)

So yeah, I’m completely insane and I’m probably going to be here for the next ten years trying to write all this lot and also I tag @ohwriteiforgot​​, @aleksandrachaev​​, @everythingirl44​​, @que-mint-tea, @anxiouslynumbme, @springmagpies​, @besidemethewholedamntime​, @infinitestarsintheskye​, @libbyweasley​, @a-biochemist-not-a-bird​, @nazezdha321​, @sadtunes​ and @here-for-huntingbird​, if any of you guys want to do this!

[ranger-jedi-knight]

A New Hero Chap 17

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20887313/chapters/61783012 Taglist: @bluesimani TAGLIST OPEN

Ok, so here’s the next chap!! And if your wondering.....ya, the new revision of the mermaid au is paused....again. Ya....I dont think I’ll ever get that done. Lol. hope you guys werent TOO excited bout it. But anyways. Here’s the next chap! Feat Bustier bein a stupid bitch!!!!

“Ya, Als is apparently seeing if Clark would mentor me. I...I dont know. It just...seems too good to be true? I guess. Clark is an awesome reporter. But I doubt he’d want to mentor me when I graduate,” Lana said with a shrug as they ate lunch. Bee frowned as she squeezed her friend’s hand.

“Don’t say that Lana,” Mari said and her friends nodded agreement. “Have hope! It sounds like a lot of people think you’re doing great in your journalism classes, so I bet you’ll get that mentorship.”

“Ya! Don’t let that doubt control you. You just gotta have hope and wait. You’ll only know for certain when it’s your final year,” Xan said giving her a small smile from his spot between the Lila’s. Mari reached across the table, which was a feat in itself from how big the table was, and squeezed Lana’s hand. Tho she didn’t last long before pulling back since that position wasn’t the most comfortable to be in. Adrien nodded his agreement to both of what they said.

“Can I ask you a question about GU?” Chloe asked as she leaned against Adrien. Lana gave a soft him as she nodded.

“Sure. But I don’t know how much help I’ll be,” she replied honestly.

“You’ll be lots of help. Our boyfriend Jon wants to be a reporter like his parents. He knows how the program is in Metropolis but, I was wondering, could you tell us about GU’s journalism program? He wants to stay with his dad and friends here,” Chloe asked and Lana gave a small smile as she nodded.

As Lana talked, Mari sent a wary glance when she saw Bustier making her way over to them with Sabrina, Kim, and Max trying to get her to stop. Her glance turned into a glare, that had her hesitating but Bustier continued forward. The rest of the class was behind her looking wary.

“Marinette! Why don’t you introduce us to your friends?” Bustier asked with a sweet but demanding smile. Lana tensed a bit as she looked at the group.

“I already said no. Leave,” Mari said with a glare but Bustier didn’t care and moved to stand next to Lana.

“Hello, I’m Ms. Bustier, Marinette’s teacher. I couldn’t help but overhear, you’re in the journalism track here? Could you tell us about the programs?” she asked and Lana swallowed the lump in her throat. She started shaking her head as she squeezed Bee’s hand.

“She doesn’t want to,” Bee said softly, a hint of anger tainting her voice. She wasn’t about to let some woman tell her friend what to do.

“What’s the big deal? She should be more than willing to talk about her school!” Bustier said, slapping at Kim and Ivan’s hands as they tried to steer her away. Lana’s lips parted a bit as shallow breaths left her. She dropped Bee’s hand and wrapped her arms around herself, hunching in.

Seeing that, everyone at the table moved to glare at the teacher. All the work they’ve done to help Lana get past Steve’s abuse is being undone. Mari pushed out of her share and slammed a hand on the table. Whatever little conversations remained stopped as everyone turned to watch the foreigners.

“What about the word ‘no’ do you not get!? I have said no, Lana has said no! No means no! So leave her alone!” Mari yelled into Bustier’s face, the woman looked outraged as she then grabbed Mari’s wrist.

“That is no way to speak to me, young lady! I understand the word no perfectly fine. It is Lana that doesn’t know it seems. Nor you. She hasn’t said anything yet,” Bustier said pulling her back toward the group of shocked teens.

“I do, it’s you that doesn’t!” Mari yelled pulling her arm back. By then, a few college students got up to do something when a loud bang resounded. Lana was standing, her chair knocked backward behind her. Her hands were gripping her arms painfully, her fingers dug in, the tips of her fingers were white from the pressure. She was shaking a bit as she looked up at the teacher.

“Just leave me alone!” she shouted before booking it out of the cafeteria. Tears rimmed her eyes as Steve’s harsh words rang throu her head. Bee and L glared before grabbing their things and Lana’s and hurrying after her, knowing Xander and the others would deal with Bustier. Xander stalked toward the teacher, a deadly glare in his eyes pointed at Bustier.

“What is wrong with you!? Are you so fucking blind that you couldn’t see how badly she wanted you to leave her alone!?” Xan yelled angrily at his ex-teachers face. “I don’t know where it got into your head that you can ignore someone’s response but you can’t! Mari has told you no! You could see Lana shaking her head not wanting to do this, but you didn’t care! I hope you get fired for being a terrible teacher!” he shouted, poking her shoulder harshly as he yelled, actually forcing her back as she stumbled. He then picked up his bag and ran after the three.

By then a couple of college students went over to them and glared at the teacher. The two knew Lana from class and didn’t like seeing her being disrespected by a foreigner. Mari’s classmates were near the door already, having moved their as the confrontation happened, already wanting to be back at the hotel. “I think you should leave now,” the taller of the two said and Bustier harrumphed before spinning on the heel of her shoe and leaving. They all watched Bustier storm from the cafeteria with Mari’s classmates following. Mari and her friends followed behind since they did need to go back to the hotel.

~~~~~~~~~~~~(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I just! Oooh!” Mari grunted out as she fell into the chair next to Tim’s desk after dropping the papers she held.

“She really did that?” Tim asked and Mari nodded as she crossed her arms. “Man, I can’t believe she did that. Do you want me to start a case against her for the French Board of Education?” She groaned in response as she nodded.

“Yes, please.”

“Ok, I’ll start that up. How about you head home. I’m sure Alfred would be more than willing to bake with you,” Tim said and Mari smiled softly as she squeezed Tim’s hand and rushed out of his office and to the elevator. She was bouncing in the elevator, causing some of the occupants to chuckle. As soon as they reached the lobby, she was out of the elevator and out the swirling door in seconds. Adrien laughed from his spot next to the front desk lady at watching her book it.

That’s how Damian and the others found her hours later when they got home. Mari bustling about the kitchen making cheesecake and macaroons while Alfred started prepping dinner. “Everything ok, Mari?” Damian asked and Mari sighed. Dick already knew from Xan calling Alya and Alya telling him.

“Not really. Bustier was......a jerk when we visited GU. She uh....she got Lana to panic and rush from the cafeteria crying. Xan yelled her off before rushing after Lana. I haven’t heard anything since,” Mari explained with a sigh while Jason grumbled under his breath at hearing that.

“How did she even get her license?” Jason asked angrily and Mari shrugged.

“I have no idea.”

“Don’t worry, Alya got a message saying that Lana’s doing better,” Dick said and Mari sighed, relaxing slightly.

“What got to her exactly?” Mari asked softly and Dick scowled.

“The part of Bustier ignoring her wishes. Reminded her of, you know who,” Dick replied which had everyone scowling.

“Ah yes, that fucker,” Mari said causing everyone to look at her shocked. “What? Am I wrong?” she asked and they shook their heads.

“How about we invite them to dinner tonight? Make their days a bit better,” Dick offered, and that had Mari smiling.

“Way ahead of you, Master Dick. Ms. Lana and Alya along with Masters Xavier and Xander have been contacted,” Alfred said and Dick blushed at the look Alfred gave him.

“Wha-! I just meant Lana, Alya, and Xan!” Dick said hastily, especially at Alfred’s look.

“Of course, Master Dick. But Ms. Alya and Master Xavier already had something planned but were willing to change their plans if they could come together,” Alfred explained.

“What can’t handle both of them at the same time?” Jason said teasingly with a smirk as Dick scowled at him.

“Excited to see Lana now that she knows it was you who got her that necklace?” Dick countered, smirking at seeing the blush dusting Jason’s cheek.

“Fuck off,” Jason said walking out of the kitchen up to his room to change. Mari giggled at the exchange with a small smile.

“Well, all that’s left is the cheesecake, but that has to cool and set. So I should get back to the hotel and change,” she said looking down at her flour-covered clothes.

“I’ll take you back to your hotel,” Damian said and Mari beamed at him while Dick and Tim sent him looks. “Tt. You two should prepare yourselves for this dinner. Especially make sure there isn’t anything out to out us. Lana doesn’t know about our nightly activities. Xan knows about mine but no one else,” Damian warned and the two went to work to make sure nothing was out to expose them before they were ready.

While they were busy, Damian sent a smirk over to Mari as they walked to the garage. Mari giggled softly as she slipped thru the open car door that Damian held. After she got in, he closed the door and walked around the black car to the driver’s side and got in himself. The ride back to the hotel was a quiet affair and was quick. Mari was quick to clean up and change into a fresh dress and leggings, hopping on one foot as she tied her combat boots and heading to the door while Lila laughed from her seat on the bed.

“Mari, take a moment, you’re going to hurt yourself in your rush to get back to your boyfriend,” Lila said between laughs, laughs that grew with a teasing smirk at seeing Mari’s blush decorate her skin.

“H-he’s not my boyfriend!” Mari protested and Lila hummed.

“Sure. But you want him to,” she countered and Mari pouted as she nodded, her heart fluttering at the thought of it being real.

“Maybe,” Mari mumbled before looking at the time and yelping. She finished tying her shoes and rushed from the room. “Gotta go bye!” Lila could only shake her head and laugh as she watched Mari book it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧~~~~~~~~~~~~

A frown decorated Xavier’s lips as he leaned against the wall in Alya’s bedroom. Alya was leaning into a mirror as she put in new earrings and put on lipstick. They could hear Xan in the other room moving around. Alya had taken a break from talking so that she didn’t miss putting her earring in. she looked over at him thru the mirror. “I get it, I do. He’s hurting, he officially broke up with Babs. But....why is he pulling away from us? I was there for him every time when they broke up before! Why does he feel the need now?” Alya asked turning around to look at Xavier, her eyes tearing up at the thought that she couldn’t help Dick this time.

“Hey now, don’t you go thinking that. Dick just broke up with her. Perhaps he needs some alone time. I’m sure he’ll talk to us when he’s ready. I mean, their butler invited us to dinner. That has to mean he’s willing to talk to us,” Xavier said rubbing his hands along Alya’s upper arms. She nodded slowly in understanding, knowing he was right.

“Yes, you’re right. I know you’re right. He just needs time,” she mumbled with a sigh.

“And you’re right to worry. This hasn’t happened before for you, it’s understandable,” Xavier replied and Alya gave him a small smile as they left her room.

“Come on, we gotta pick Lana up,” she said and the two nodded. Xavier slipped into the passenger seat next to Alya while Xan went into the backseat. When they reached the apartment complex that let students from GU dorm there, Lana was in the lobby already, her leg bouncing. “Hey.”

“Hey, Als, Xan, Xavier,” Lana greeted and Xavier gave her a smile while Xan greeted her with a hug.

“Ready to see everyone?” Alya asked and Lana nodded.

“Ya, I’m glad to finally tell Jason thanks for giving me the necklace all that time ago,” she said, fiddling with said necklace.

“Good,” Alya replied, sending Lana a smile thru the review mirror.

Alster @Bi_Arrow

Change of plans! Heading out to eat dinner with Dick and his family with Lana, Xan, and Xavier! #thiswillbefun #dinnertime #hangout #changeofplans 

Ok, So here’s the next chap!! The dinner will be in the next chap. I hope you guys enjoyed this new chap!!! Ms. Bustier is finally seeing the consequences of how she teaches! Anyways, until next chap!! -Love Willa<3<3<3

[chat-noir-always-here]

I rewatch Miraculous—Mr. Pigeon

Behold!!! The episode that almost made me stop watching Miraculous.

No for real i think i got up and left the room first time around, this episode was so ridiculous.

• “You only have one day to work on your fashion piece.” Only a day? That seems kinda unrealistic when you take into account designing, gathering materials, whether or not you need to go out and buy any materials, the amount of time it takes to actually put all that together...

•WHOA Gabriel’s actually smiling in that pic Mrs. Bustier shows. Er, smiling-ish

•Pure cinnamon roll child seems proud this peppermint frappucino dickhead is his father (Gabriel ur hair looks like whipped topping and that tie doesnt help). BE GRATEFUL FOR SUCH A CARIBG CHILD YOU PRICK!!!

•Maaaaaariii chill the fuck out your overactive imagination and severe anxiety are getting the better of you.

•AHEM Gabriel has a purple bowtie in Mari’s imagination instead of that ridiculous peppermint scarf he uses to hide Nooroo’s broach???

•Adrien: appears out of nowhere

Marintette: jerks and flops away like a fish on dry land

Me: lol bye Marinette

• Adriens beuatiful face when Mari is talking to him (before she blunders and stumbles with her words) is beautiful

•Mari’s beautiful face when Adrien is telling her “you’re so talented Marinette!” and the subtle tremor in her eyes as they widen with her smile...☺️😊😘i love my beautiful, anxious mess of a daughter

•Mari: Follows Adrien with her eyes like an owl. LMAO.

•Chloe does not deserve Sabrina 😒

•Whereas Gabriel resembles a peppermint frap, Hawk Moth/Papillion appears to be the result of what might happen if Batman and the riddler had a baby

•Ramier, bruh, there is like. Zero. Fucking. Reason to be that upset over not being allowed to feed pigeons. For real. Go feed them on some rooftop somewhere if you must. No reason to let Hawk Daddy akumatize you over it...

...

...

...You know what? We’re not calling Gabriel “daddy.”

EVER. Again.

•Also Hawk-shitface, pigeon dude is your worst idea and you keep coming back to him. Seriously at least put some effort into your champions’ outfits. Youre a fashion designer for petes sake!

• wow this show really loves its skin-tight body suits, huh? Even when they look ridiculous.

•Sabrina how the hell much did you have to pay for a cellphone that lets you zoom in on a fucking sketch from dozens of feet away and score yourself a crystal-clear image???

•Sabrina: “We’re soooo awesome!”

Chloe: “We?”

Chloe does NOT deserve Sabrina.

•Arent real bird feathers full of germs and bacteria that cause diseases? And Marinette “im immune to bird flu” Dupain-Cheng just plucked that shit up off the ground and put it on her hat of all things. I dont know whether to be fisgusted or impressed.

•Chat “paint me like one of your French girls” Noir for the win everybody

• “Im allergic to feathers.” I came across a theory on tumblr once (cant find the OP) that this coulda been caused by Emilie wearing the damaged Peacock broach when she was pregnant with him. If thats true i would be pleased😏

•Allow me to channel Chloe for this comment: LB, CN, that disguise is about as convincing as Mr. Pigeon and Bubbler’s get ups are appealing. In other words, NO.

•Chat Noir moonwalking with a hat on—booiii got some moves. 👌👌👌👌

• “You’re the cat dont you eat [pigeons] for breakfast?!” No LB, Kitty Boi is a domestic kitty otherwise he’d present to you little dead things like my cat used to do before we stopped letting him go out. This is an awful joke but SPARE THE BIRDS, theyre just like Ramier—being controlled by a monster.

• “On the count of three my beloved pigeons will commence fire.” As disgusting as pigeon poop is i think they’ll live. Cant you come up with a better evil plan? Threatening to break the glass floor at their feet by having the pigeons stomp on the cage would be more effective. I’m not trying to help the villain, kaay? I just prefer my villains to use their head. Honestly Team Rocket is more intimidating than Pigeon Dude.

•is it just me or is kitty boi especially adorable in this episode??? 😻😻😻

• flock of pigeons put a dent ten times the size of kitty boi’s head in the door

Okay thats actually kinda terrifying. What woulda happened if that attack hit a normal person wearing no magical armor??? They’d be pecked to bits...

• CN: “I gotta get outta here before my secret identity is revealed!”

LB: “Yeah you wouldnt wanna let the cat out of the bag!”

CN: “...Haha very funny.” 😾

Dont dish out what you cant take, handsome boy.

•LB’s look of amusement as CN starts running in place for fear of detransforming in front of others is hillarious

•kitty boi if this hotel takes tips you should really give Jean-whatshisname one. That was the speediest, life-saving room service ever.

•isnt this just Chloe’s room??? Theres a ladybug pillow on the bed and everything. Why did the mayor send CN to Chloe’s room???

• “i cant wait my dear pigeon.” Hmm reminds of later on when Hawk Moth calls Nats “My dear Mayura.” Bruh if you INTO Ramier just ask for his phone number like a normal person, quit akumatizing him and eat a damn snickers

•LB: Time for a sneak attack! Oh no, my sneak attack failed cuz my partner couldnt help but sneeze with all these FEATHERS around.

HELLO, he just told you he was allergic to feathers???

•ugh them censoring out the punches with flashy screenshots is so LAAAME show me the VIOLENCE.

• “Cat Noir! Grab [the bird call!]” AGAIN he’s ALLERGIC TO FEATHERS. Just tie that yoyo to something to keep Pigeon dude in the air and smash it yourself.

• Gabriel is that teacher from Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide who was never physically present in class and was only ever seen through a tablet or some nonsense

•Chloe getting busted my Marinette in front of the principal, Gabriel and Adrien is a great example of how PLAGIARISM DOESNT PAY are you listening art thieves lurking on tumblr, instagram and elsewhere???

•ahem Gabriel that sympathetic look you give a weeping Chloe is very out of character

• “youre the winner Marinette.” Not gonna check out Kim and Max’s hat? You could at least look at it, doesnt seem very impartial to pick Mari without looking at ALL the hats

•siiiiiiiiiighhhhhhhh

Girl they are BOTH allergic to feathers. How many blonde teenage boys walk around with a feather allergy? Quantum Masking or no Quantum Masking, c’mon you should be at least considering the idea theyre the same person from that knowledge alone.

Annnd thats all for now. This episode is more of a vent-inducing hate sink than enjoyable, save for the gushing waterfall of cute kitty boi moments it provides. I may do Stormy Weather later today to make up for it.

[chickensarentcheap]

Sanctuary -Chapter 24

Warnings: mentions of depression, death, grief, sad Tyler, a tad of smut

Tagging: @thunderintheshadows  (although you read this already over on Ao3 lol), @c-a-v-a-l-r-y, @alievans007, @innerpaperexpertcloud

The meeting is scheduled for one pm. Held in one of the hotel's smaller conference rooms; Nik hosting from Colorado through a secure satellite feed arranged by the FBI. At Esme's insistence, she'd sought out Mark's help, who in turn, had agreed to lend his assistance as long as it was kept strictly 'off the books'.  Neither Tyler or Yaz made aware; a need to know situation that Nik was certain they didn't need to know. Not at this particular time, anyway. She'd also managed to convince the hotel management that the team -she'd spun a story about them providing private security for some of Ireland's elite- needed a meeting room for 'strategic purposes', and a hefty money transfer had been sent to them to ensure both their cooperation and their silence.

Yaz arrives last; arms and hands loaded down with bags of food and drink for lunch, along with his laptop and iPad.

“You went back to that coffee shop, didn't you,”  Tyler grins, recognizing the logo emblazoned on the front of one of the paper bags. “Was she there? Did you see her? Did you talk to her?”

Esme sits alongside of him, their thighs touching under the table. The need for closeness...both physically and emotional...is overwhelming. On both their parts. As if something or someone was just waiting in the shadows to snatch them away from one another.   Bot are nervous. Anxious. All of the missing information, the complexities of the case, the uneasiness that comes with being in an unfamiliar place and not knowing exactly who your enemy is. All mixing together to create a brutal and punishing force. All jobs come with their share of danger. With the unexpected twists and turns that jumped out at you without a moments notice. Always having to think three steps ahead of you; always wanting to ahead of your foes so you could take them by surprised, not vice versa. But this was different. The trouble had started before they ever set foot on Ireland soil.  Danger could be lurking around every corner; in every dark alleyway or doorway.  

She is feeling it more than the others. It's been almost six years since she'd last been on a job.  She had thought that that part of her life was behind her. More than content to give up the almost nomadic lifestyle in favour or a quieter existence. Quite enjoying the routine and the familiarity that comes with being a stay at home mother and a housewife. It sounds old fashioned; the solace found in taking care of a house, in cooking dinners and doing laundry and other various chores, in keeping a husband happy and satisfied, in spending time with her children and loving on them as much as humanely possible. But after years of never forming true bonds with anyone and never having a stable place to live while running from her demons,  being a spouse and a parent turned out to be exactly what she'd needed.  She'd needed normal. Or at least their version of normal.

At the mention of a girl, she glances away from her laptop, fingers hovering over the keys; in the midst of sending an instant message to Ovi. Both he and Chloe were in constant contact. Always letting her know what is going on at home. Whether it be sharing stories about what the kids were up to, asking questions about things like favourite foods and things that would provide comfort when the little ones were emotional over the realization that both their mom and dad are gone,  letting her know that things felt safe and secure and there had been no suspicious activity or threats. At least not yet.

“She was,” the grin that spreads across Yaz' face is enormous as he arranges the food and beverages in the middle of the table, then busies himself with setting up the tech needed to hold the meeting. They're running on Nik time, and her time -in her eyes- is extremely valuable and she expects others to recognize and abide by it.  “Her name is Anna,” he says. “Anna O'Brian.”

“Oh how adorably Irish,” Esme quips. “Is she legal? Did you ask to see her driver's licences this time?”

Tyler gives an amused smirk.

“You're getting just as bad as he is,” Yaz complains, nodding in the other man's direction. “He's rubbing of on you.”

“She likes when I rub one off on her,” Tyler says, and then winces when his wife grabs a hold of what little excess fat he has above his hip and pinches as hard as she can.

“What?” he asks innocently.  And when she huffs in disgusts and turns her attention back to the laptop, he playfully nudges her in the ribs with his elbow.

“You're disgusting,” she replies. “I can't believe you even said that.”

Yet at the same time, she can recognize the remarkable transformation -one of many- that he's gone through over the past five and a half years.  He's no longer on guard twenty four seven; he's able to relax and actually live in the moment. No longer constantly haunted by the horrible decisions of the past.  Comfortable enough in his own skin...his new skin...to not only let others in, but to be like everyone else.  Sarcastic,  humorous, finally content in his own skin.  Yet when it's time for the seriousness of a situation to kick in, he will be back to all business.

He'll be the old Tyler again. A transformation so quick and subtle that its as if the new one never even existed.

“I read it's supposed to be good for the skin,” he reasons. “It's probably why you look as young as you do. Like a natural moisturizer.”

“You've got serious issues,” she huffs, and then yelps when he grabs a hold of the back of her knee, squeezing lightly and the proceeding to tickle her mercilessly. “Stop it!” she orders in between the laughing and the hiccups that soon make an appearance. “What is wrong with you? Tyler! For fuck sakes! You're going to make me pee myself!”

“You too make me sick,” Yaz declares, when Tyler finally relents; smiling and winking at her, running a hand over her hair and then pressing a kiss to her temple.  “It's gross. The way you two are. All happy and in love and shit. It's been almost six years. Shouldn't you hate each other by now? Isn't this when things go south and you just stay together for the kids?”

“Oh there's days,” Esme says. “Where he is walking a very thin line. Believe me. He's too scared of me to push things too far.”

Tyler nods in agreement. She holds all the power.  It doesn't matter that he's a foot taller or ninety pounds heavier.  He knows when to just shut up and tow the line.  “Then she gets over it when I hate fuck her,” he grins. “She's  relatively harmless after that.”

She sighs in exasperation. “So who's this girl, Yaz?” she asks, as she returns to composing her message to Ovi.  “Waitress? Bartender? Stripper?”

“Speaking of strippers,” Yaz grins. “Tyler...remember that red head in Russia. The one that kept rubbing her massive...”  he gestures to his own chest, mimicking breasts. “...in your face.”

“Oh my god I do not need to hear this!” Esme makes a dramatic gagging noise and places her hands over her ears. “I want to remain oblivious to what he was up to before I met him. Those days didn't exist! I want to pretend they never happened!”

“She had a massive girl boner for your man. She did these things for free. She probably would have given him money for letting her.”

“Yaz...” her eyes are narrow as she glares at him. “...I will punch you in the throat, I swear to God.”

“You remind me of her,” he continues. “With the new hair. Only your boobs are real.”

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Tyler frowns, and smacks the younger man upside the head as he gets up to grab food. “Don't talk about my wife's body like that. Don't cross that line, mate. Don't make things weird.”

“My knight in shining armour,” Esme grins.

“Slightly tarnished and dented armour,” Yaz suggests to her “You like that one? Give me that one. Are you impressed by me?”

“I'll both accept it and allow it,” she nods. “I'm going to write that one down so when I get down to writing my book entitled 'Shit Yaz Says', I can include it. So who is she? This girl? Don't leave me out of the loop.”

“A waitress. At a place we went to the other day. She gave me her phone number and I wanted to go in and apologize for not calling her yet. I even brought her flowers.”

“Nicely done,” Tyler nods his approval.  “You've been taking notes.”

“We're going for drinks tonight,” Yaz excitedly bounces up and down on his heels, like a little kid that just found out the Tooth Fairy now gives out twenties for a molar.

“Drinks?” Esme arches an eyebrow. “So that's what kids call it these days. Just call it what Tyler does. Studying.”

“For the record, I did not start that shit,” he places two plates of food on the table and slides one towards her. It's weird in a way; how you get to know someone so well that you know exactly what they'll eat, and be appreciative of even the small gesture of getting it for them.  “I did not call it studying. Ovi said he and Chloe were studying.  I just took it from there.”

“Tyler is a huge fan of studying,” she continues, briefly pressing her shoulder into his when he sits down, giving him a smile of appreciation.  “He likes to study alone.”

“That is not what I said. I said if I have to study alone, I will. Not that I enjoy it. Just that it needs to be done sometimes. What are you supposed to do when your study partner gets a lot of headaches or doesn't feel well?”

“Excuse you, but when was the last time you heard any of those excuses from me? Months. Declan was still a tiny little thing.”

“You two are both fucked,” Yaz declares, and then adjusts the blinds covering the window; so there isn't too much sun streaming into the room and preventing them from seeing the smart board that Nik will appear on.  “T minus six minutes. You guys ready for this shit? It's going to get weird, isn't it. Even more weird than it already is.”

“I have been eating at the buffet of strange all day,” Esme declares, then fills him on everything that has taken place since she'd opened up her eyes first thing in the morning. The strangers outside the hotel room; the nervous shuffling of feet and harsh whispers.  How'd she attempted to glimpse a glimpse of them but had been just a few seconds too late. About the housekeeper insisting that no one was staying in the room that Esme had seen...with her own two eyes...the couple emerge from.

“Hmmm...” Yaz says in response to that piece of information, then looks at Tyler from across the table. Pointed stares. Tyler's eyebrows shooting up. So much communicated between them without even needing to use words.

She launches into what she knows about the Buckman family; no hands on knowledge, but history with colleagues that had gone toe to toe with them and had somehow managed to survive.

“They're not a family you want to fuck with,” she says, as she sips from a bottle of water.  “This is Amir Asif on steroids. I'm not even joking. If you thought Dhaka went to shit, this has the chance to be a hundred times worse. If this blows up in our faces, it's going to be damn near impossible to get those kids out. Not when it's just one person doing the heavy lifting.”

“You think we need more help?” Yaz asks, and when she shrugs, he addresses Tyler.  “You think you need more help? You're the one actually going in.  How are you feeling about the chances? Or being able to get both of them? Two kids plus yourself? Do you think you can get all three of you out?”

“I'm fine with it,” Tyler replies. “I'll be okay. I can handle it.”

“Realistically what's the chances?” Yaz inquires. “That you can successfully get two kids out at once and go up against anyone coming at you? It isn't going to be as easy as just walking in there and grabbing them and taking off. There's going to be resistance. Big time. You think you can handle two kids plus all the other shit being thrown at you?”

“I think you need to let me worry about all of that and let me do my job.  How many extractions have I done? Tons.  Yet you think I'm some kind of rookie just walking in there blind? I know what I'm doing. I can handle getting two kids out.”

“And yourself?” Esme speaks up, not looking away from her laptop.

“We're not talking about that right now. This is about the kids.”

“Your life is just as important,” she gently argues. “Whether you think it is or not.”

“The job is a success if the kids get out,” he counters. “It doesn't matter if I do or not.”

“It matters to me. And to your kids.”

“Maybe we need an extra set of hands,” Yaz suggests. “Someone watching your back.”

“I don't need someone going in with me. What I need is people leaving me alone to do my job. I work better alone. I'll get the kids out. No matter what it takes. That's all that matters. Getting to them and getting the fuck out of there. I've done this before, remember? Have either of you gone in and done the bloody stuff?”

“That's not the point,” Esme says. “How many extractions have you done where you've had two people to get out?”

“None,” he admits.

“Exactly,” she huffs. “What harm does having back up do?”

“It's messy enough with just one person. I don't need someone all up in my ass questioning everything I do. I work alone. I've always worked alone.  So just let me go in and do what I have to do. I'll have it under control. You need to trust me.”

“Two kids, two people,” Yaz reasons. “Would make it a hell of a lot easier.”

“Neither of you are listening to what I'm saying. I run this part of things. I call the shots. Not you. And not you,” he gives Esme's thigh a squeeze under the table. “You have to just back off and let me do what I do.  You want things to run smooth? Or as smooth as they can? Then keep other people out of the way. That's all I ask. Please...” he presses a kiss to her temple. “...trust me. Just trust me.”

“Fine,” she relents.  “But I don't like this. I don't like any of this. Two kids plus yourself? While trying to out run and out gun whoever is going to try and stop you? There's no Saju busting his ass to clear a path. There's no Nik and the team providing tactical support. There's no  G to act as a sniper like he did in Dhaka.”

“You were a sniper,” Yaz points out. “In the corps.”

“I was not a sniper. I merely acted as one from time to time.”

“But you still did it,” Tyler says. “When you had to.”

“Oh hell no. You two are not putting this on me. I came here to help with intel. That's it. That is as far as I'm going. You two are not dragging me down into some fucked up rabbit hole because one of you is too stubborn to ask for outside help and the other just puts his tail between his legs and agrees to whatever the first  one says. No. I'm not doing this. I won't do it.”

“You've got the experience,” Yaz continues. “And I trust you. Tyler trusts you.  You can handle it. And we don't have to drag more people into this. Your intel stuff will be down by then, right? So why not stick around and help out? Better than bringing in outsiders, don't you think?”

“And you agree with this?” Esme address her husband. “You think this is a good idea? Getting me even more involved in this than I already am?”

“I trust you,” he says.  “If there's anyone I want having my back...”

“This is fucked!” she cries. “You're both insane. What in the actual hell is wrong with the two of you? Where did all the common sense go? Both of you used to have tons of it and now it's just gone. It's disappeared.  How does any of this make sense? How do I go from being the intel person to suddenly being tactical back up? Explain to me where this all went wrong.”

“You don't have to actually go in,” Tyler explains. “Just be there. Like G was in Dhaka when I went to see Ovi's captors.”

“Just be there in case you're needed,” Yaz adds. “You know this is going to go to shit. They're going to have a lot of fire power. And Tyler can't get those two kids and himself out of there and be one hundred percent effective when engaging. It's impossible. Not with two little kids tagging along. Just hang out. Find a nice high perch somewhere. Wait and see if you're needed.”

“This is crazy,” she runs her hands over her face. “This is just all so crazy. What are the chances of any of us actually surviving this?”

“Did you make it out of Dhaka?” Tyler inquires. “Did I not find a way to keep you alive? To get you across the bridge?”

“That's not the same thing and you know it.”

“I'll get you out of this too, ” he says. “I promise.”

****

“Talk to me,” Nik says in trademark fashion.  “Who has information?”

“Esme knows the Buckmans. ” Yaz speaks up, and his sister arches a quizzical -yet extremely interested-  eyebrow.

“I don't know them. I know of them. There's a huge difference.”

“What do you know?” Nik asks.

“I only what I've heard through the grapevine. In the circles that I travelled in. Word gets around. Especially about families like that. The old man was killed ten years ago. Everyone suspected it was a hit, but no one every really knew for sure. It was all hearsay. Water cooler chatter.  And I saw his file. His rap sheet was enormous. There were charges on there that should have had him rotting away in jail. Yet he always found a way out of and around things.”

“Are they dangerous?”

“They were back then. When the old guy was running things. I've been out of this for five years, Nik. I'm not exactly up on all the gossip. They were powerful. Probably the most powerful crime family out there. But they were quiet about it. Always flying under the radar. But people knew about them and people feared them and that was enough. They had access to all kinds of shit. Money can buy you a lot of toys. Extremely dangerous and scary ones. So if the daughter really is running the show...”

“She has the same kind of resources and money available to her,” Nik concludes.  

“And the pictures,” Esme taps her fingernails on one hand against the tabletop as she speaks, using the other hand to bring up the photos of Heather Buckman on the laptop. “The ones someone gave to Tyler. The ones with the kids are very real. There's no doubt about that. You can't fake that kind of terror in someone's eyes. Especially kids. But the wife? Those are not real, Nik. It gets more and more obvious every time I look at them. First of all, it makes no sense to keep mother and kids in two different spots. That's two separate places you have to constantly man and monitor. Second, she's only been given a minor working over.  Nothing like the kids. The hair was a nice touch, but it was too much.  Too much effort into trying to make something look real.”

“Any way of figuring out where she or the kids are being held?”

“Based just on those pictures? No. There's thousands of places that could look just what it's in the photos. Without actually narrowing down locations, it's impossible. What's the chances of going into McMann's house?”

“I can get you into anywhere you feel the need to be,” Nik confidently declares. “What are you thinking?”

“I'm not even sure to be honest. But maybe there's something there that can give us some sort of clue. It's a long shot. But...”

“I'll arrange it and contact you. In the meantime, I have a couple places for you to check out. I want you go in and ask some questions. Tell them that you're a journalist from over the pond that received an anonymous tip that there's trouble brewing between the IRA and a New Zealand crime family. That should be enough to loosen some lips. Charm them. Get them to warm up to you. Flirt with them if you have to. Pull out all the stops. I don't care how far you have to go to get information. Just get it. I'm sending the address to your SAT. It's a bar in downtown Belfast. Owned by an active IRA member.”

“She's not going alone.” Tyler speaks up. “No way. Not into something like that.”

“You tag along but you stay outside,” Nik says. “I don't want you in there. They'll recognize you when they see you and we can't have the two of you being connected in any way.  Stay across the street. Or somewhere they won't spot you. But no more than a hundred yards away. Make sure you're armed. Just in case.”

“She should be armed too,” he suggests.

“They'll make her for sure. We can't take that chance. She goes in alone and does what she needs to do. You stay outside and keep an eye on things. You only go in if things go to shit and you have no other choice. Understand me?”

He nods.

“I have someone coming to meet you. He'll be there between six and nine pm, you're time. He's from Dublin. He's reliable. He's bringing you some more ammo and some weapons. He's on the up and up. You can trust him. Have you talked to McMann? Does he know that you're onto him?”

“I'm meeting with him tomorrow morning,” Tyler says.  “He wants to talk. See where we are at with things. To be honest, I want to fucking strangle him.”

“Well try not to. I know you're pissed. And I understand it. But you should let him know. That you know everything he told you about his New Zealand extraction was a lie. Maybe if you lose it on him it will get him to talk. He knows more than he's letting on. Maybe seeing you pissed will scare some sense into him. Tell him everything. About the pictures. About the threats against your family. Lean on him and lean on him hard. As hard you can without physically hurting him.”

“I vote that Tyler at least gets to throw one punch,” Yaz pipes up. “To the throat. Nice and hard.”

Esme nods in agreement.

“Yaz,” his sister address him now. “I've got someone meeting up with you with some new technology. High tech. Ways that we can all communicate without it being noticeable. Ear wigs, bugs, things like that. Inconspicuous. The old radios won't cut it. Too noticeable. I'm sending you his information and you can reach out to him and arrange something.”

“Where are we at on this Erin girl?” Tyler inquires. “The one that showed up at my room.”

“I've done all the digging I can do,” Nik replies. “There is no Erin Ferguson in Belfast that matches her description. I don't know if Esme would have more luck.”

“I can try,” she offers. “But there's only so much I can do. Without facial recognition software and other high tech shit like that, my hands are pretty well tied. I can see if there's any security footage of her entering or leaving the hotel and maybe I'll get lucky with image search on google. But that's a big 'if', Nik.”

“See what you can do. I'm not expecting miracles.”

“How's things there?” Tyler asks.  

“There's been no sign of anything even remotely suspicious. No threats. Nothing. But I'm going to stay here and keep the detail I have. Ovi and Chloe are handling things. The kids are happy. Calm. Well, as calm as they can be. You know what you're kids are like. Calm doesn't exactly describe them well.  But they're fine. They miss you guys.  I didn't realize how much they look and act just like you, Tyler.  It's kind of unnerving. Scary even. You have some seriously strong genes.”

Esme nods in agreement, and he gives her a wink and a smile and takes her hand under the table.

“We've come up with a plan,” Yaz informs his sister. “When it comes to tactical support. For when it comes time for Tyler to get the kids out. It's going to be hard. Juggling two kids and fighting back. Because you just know the shit is going to hit the fan and they're going to come at him and they're going to come at him hard. With everything they've got.”

“What kind of plan?” Nik asks.

“Esme can do it. She has the experience. She can just find a place to watch and wait from.  If things don't go wrong, then that's all she'll have to do. Watch. If things do blow up...”

“And they will,” Esme speaks up. “Because if Dhaka as bad as it did, this is going to go a hundred times worse. And that's being fatalistic. That's being realistic. These people? They're capable of bad shit. Horribly bad shit. They make Amir Asif seem tame in comparison.  Dhaka was a shit show.  This is going be Dhaka on a massive dose of steroids.”

“But will you do it?” Nik asks.  “Can you do it? Because I think we all understand if you can't.”

Esme sighs, pushes her hair behind her ears.  “I can do it,” she confidently.  “I don't want to do it. But I will.  Only because it's Tyler.”

****

They make love. The drapes drawn across the window; rays of sunlight poking through the small gaps in the fabric. His hands on her hips as she straddles him; guiding every slow, deliberate movement. Sex has always been what they do. A coping mechanism. The most pure yet raw way of experiencing the deepest and most primal form of intimacy.   Driven out of need and desperation; fuelled by worry and stress and the fear that each time may be the last.  So many unknowns lying ahead of them. The future suddenly terrifying unstable.

When she comes undone -nails scrapping painfully down his chest, his name exploding from her lips- he gives her little time to recuperate. One strong arm wrapping around her waist and throwing her down onto her stomach, legs flat against the bed, a knee pushing her tights apart before settling himself between them. Pausing long enough to run the tip of his tongue all the way down the length of her spine; eliciting a whimper from her, her entire body trembling from both the new sensation and the aftermath of her powerful orgasm.  His hands running over her shoulders, fingertips grazing over her ribs and down to her hips, once more gripping them tightly as he pushes into her. The friction intense; the press of her body against the bed, the tightness of those barely spread legs, his hips sinking as far into her as they possibly can. A low, feral growl erupting from within his chest as he bottoms out inside of her.  Dropping his head, longer strands of hair brushing against her bare skin as his teeth nip at her shoulders and the back of her neck. Holding back as he revels in the sensation of being so deep inside of her, until her hand is lifting up and blindly grabbing at his hair; a clear indication for him to continue.  And he captures her hand in hers, holding her arm above her head, pinned to the mattress as he pulls out entirely and then slides back in with such force that it pushes her body up the body and causes her to cry out into the pillow underneath her.

His control is non existent. He'd felt it slipping away inside that conference room.  Everything was going to shit and he knew it.  The disaster was inevitable; looming on the horizon like some dark, threatening cloud that you can't possibly outrun.  Things have already gone so wrong. The worry and the fear are already overwhelming. The stress all consuming. And he is physically channels those emotions; using her body as a way to relieve some of the burden.  Bruising, painful thrusts that have her whimpering and crying out, his name repeatedly tumbling from her parched lips.  Her nails digging into his fingers with enough force to break the top layer of skin, her other hand grasping at the sheets below.  And he kneels above her, free hand sliding between her and the mattress, fingers pushing past her sopping lips to find her clit.  Slowly rubbing at it until the second orgasm hits; tears streaming down her face, his name being screamed loud enough for anyone in the hallway or adjacent rooms to here.  Continuing his ministrations until she's coming a third time; her eyes wide, delirious sounds escaping her. Fucking her until she can't quite possibly can't handle any more; both hands biting into her hips as he pushes his pelvis against her ass  and empties himself inside of her.  Sweat dripping from his brow, the droplets glistening on her bare skin.

Afterwards they rest.  Letting their bodies settle.  Their minds absorb -and fixate- on all of the information they'd be given early.  He lays on back,  a forearm over his eyes, a hand on Esme's hip as she naps on her side, ass tucked against his hip.  He hears her stir; the long, soft sigh that she releases, followed by her quiet, sleepy voice.

“Tyler?”

He switches positions, rolling over onto his side; front pressed tightly against her back. The hand that was on her hip now coming to rest on her shoulder; palm gliding all the way down her arm, fingertips passing over her wrist and down onto the top of her hand, then retreating and sliding back up again, until his hand settles on her ribs.  

“Yeah?” he asks, and presses a kiss to her shoulder.

“Are you okay? You seem...I don't know...different. Distant. Ever since the meeting with Nik.”

“I'm fine,” he assures her. “Just a lot on my mind.”

“Like?”

“Lots of things.  About us.  About you.”

“Bad things or...?”

“I'm just worried,” he admits.

“About?”

“You.”

She brings her arm across her body and places her hand over his, lacing their fingers together.

“I don’t want you going there,” he says.  “To that bar. Alone.”

“You’ll be outside. A hundred feet away.”

“Outside,” he stresses the word.  “You’ll be inside. Alone.”

“I’m only going in there to ask some questions,” she reasons. “See if I can’t lure them in. Get them to talk. Or send me in the direction of people who will. What do you think is going to happen?”

“They’re IRA,” he reminds her. “They’ll be armed. What if they make you?”

“They won’t. I know what I’m doing.”

“Do you?”

She sighs, slipping her hand out of his and then rolling over to face him. Their heads sharing the same pillow, the ends of their noses practically touching.

His hand moves to her thigh now, stroking it softly.  

“Remember in the elevator?” she asks. “When that kid was armed and I was freaking out? And you said you weren’t some rookie?”

He nods.

“Well neither am I. This isn’t the first time I’ll be doing this. I spent years going into worse places. Mingling. Being accepted. Getting people to open up to me. I’ve deal with some pretty scary, hard core people and not once did I ever get made. You need to trust me, Tyler.”

“I do trust you. You’re my wife.  I trust you with my kids, don’t I?”

“It’s not the same thing and you know it. I’m not talking about the trust that comes with sharing a life together. Sharing a bed. Sharing children. I’m talking about the trust that comes with the job.”

His brow furrows. “You’re not in the job. You never have been. And I don’t want you to be.”

“Then why am I here?” she challenges.

“Because I need your help.”

“Which means I’m in this. Whether you like it or not. You brought me into this, Tyler. I was more than happy to stay home and take care of a house and give you babies and raise those babies. That is what you wanted. You made that clear as soon as we got married. You wanted a housewife. You wanted someone to give you kids. You wanted a family. You wanted everything your mother was and then some. And I went with it. Because I knew it was what you needed. I knew you needed that normalcy. That if you were going to successfully balance the job and a regular life, that you needed things a certain way at home. And I’ve given you that. Or I’ve tried to, at least.”

“You have. You know you have. And you know how much I love you. How much I love my kids. How much I love our life. And you’re right. I did need all of that. I still do.”

“But I had a life before you. I had a life before all of this. Before marriage and kids.”

“I know.”

“And it bothers you to even think about. You hate thinking about what I was like before you. But this was my life, Tyler. Before you ever existed in it. I lied to people. I conned them. I made them trust me. Then I let other people…people like you…destroy them. And I was good at it. Damn good. Other mercenaries trusted me. So why don’t you?”

He regards her intently, drawing in a long, shaky breath, teeth grazing against his bottom lip. “Because it’s different.”

“How? And I’m not trying to be difficult. I’m genuinely curious. How is it different?”

“Because you weren’t married to any of them. I’m your husband. The father of your kids. They didn’t have any ties to you. I do.  I love you. And I don’t want anything happening to you.”

“You trusted me in Dhaka,” she points out.

“Dhaka was different.”

“How so?”

“Because it fucking was,” his last shred of patience finally snaps, and he hates himself for it.  How he doesn’t have a logical and sound explanation for why he feels the way he does. “Things were different then,” he attempts, and rolls over onto his back, running his hands over his face before sitting up and leaning back against the headboard. “We were different then.”

“We were just fucking then, you mean. Back then, I meant nothing to you. I was just some desperate and lonely girl. A warm body for you to occupy yourself with. It was easier for you that way.  To just let me do what I needed to do because I meant absolutely nothing to you. It wouldn’t have mattered back then if something happened to me.”

He gives a derisive snort and shakes his head, then reaches for a bottle of water on the nightstand. “That’s bullshit and you know it. You meant something. Even then. I don’t know what it was.  I can’t explain what I felt. I just know I felt it. I just know you meant something. Stop tying to fucking psychoanalyze me all the time. I know what I felt. About you. About what was happening. I shouldn’t have to explain it.”

“It was sex, Tyler. There’s nothing wrong with admitting it. That that’s all it was.”

“That’s not all it was.  Maybe it started out that way.  Maybe that’s all I wanted at first.  But it changed, okay? Some time in those five days. I don’t know when or how. Just that it did.  I knew I wanted more from you.  That we could have something fucking amazing if we actually tried.  If we trusted one another enough to try. And we were so close. So fucking close. To getting that. To getting to that boat and never looking back and just seeing where things took us.”

“Do you regret the path we had to take to get to where we are now?”

“I don’t regret anything. Do I sometimes wish things were different? That things didn’t go so wrong in Dhaka? I wish that all the time. That we just got across the bridge and got the fuck out of there. But we didn’t.   Things happened the way they did. We can’t go back and change that. Do I wish we could have had more time to get to know each other? Before we found out we were having a baby and decided to get married? Yeah. Sometimes I do wish that. Only because I think it would have been better for you.”

“Tyler, I have you. I have our kids. How much better do you think I need things to be?”

“I don’t mean better in that way. I mean…I don’t know…easier…” he swallows half the bottle of water, and she plucks it from his hand and finishes it before pushing herself up onto her knees and shuffling towards him.  “…don’t make me talk about these things. Please. Just don’t.”

“You’re doing fine,” she assures him, as she straddles his lap, a gentle smile on her lips as she pushes her fingers through his hair, nails scraping along his scalp before resting clasping her hands together at the nape of his neck. “What are you so scared of?”

“Nothing. I’m not scared of anything. I just don’t want to talk about shit like this. This isn’t me. You know that.”

“I think it is. Deep down. I think you need to talk about these things or you wouldn’t bring them up in the first place. Talk to me…” she pecks his lips, then rests her forehead against. “It’s okay…you can do this…you can be this way with me…you know that…”

He sighs, eyes closing as his palms run along her thighs, over her hips and up her back. Stopping briefly at her shoulders; fingers pressing into the flesh before his hands slide back down again, coming to rest of her sides.

“It’s okay…” she repeats. “Tyler…look at me…”

He opens his eyes. Brilliant blue locked on chocolate brown. And in that moment, Esme realizes that in almost six years, she’s never seen him like this. Not even when he was in the hospital fighting to not only heal, but to regain some sense of control over his life. Looking so confused and lost. Worried.

Vulnerable.

This big, strong and seemingly man for once wearing his heart on his sleeve.

“Tyler…you can say it. Whatever you need to say. You don’t have to do this. Keep things from me. Please. Just tell me. Talk to me.”

“Sometimes I think you hate me. For making things so hard on you.”

She blinks. “What?”

“For having to make the decisions you did. For having to give up your life. The job.  Everything changed when we met. Everything changed once things went to shit on that bridge. I changed. So did you. And you could have just walked away afterwards. But you didn’t.”

“Because I didn’t want to. Because I wanted to be with you. You didn’t force me to stay. I stayed willingly.”

“But things were hard. They sucked. Huge. You shouldn’t have had to see the things you did. Hear the things you did. You should have just left. When I was in the hospital. You should have just walked away. And sometimes I wonder if you wish you did.”

“Not once have I ever wished that. Not once have I ever hated you. I don’t regret giving up my life for you. Did it suck sometimes? Did I hate seeing you like that? Did I feel like shit because I couldn’t help you more than I already was? Did I hate seeing you in pain and suffering? Of course I did. I hated the circumstances. Not you.”

He nods slowly, eyes never leaving hers, searching for even the smallest hint of regret.

“Do I sometimes wish none of that ever happened? That things never went wrong in Dhaka? Of course I do. I wish every day that you didn’t have to go through what you did. That you didn’t have to suffer like you did. All those months of rehab and all the pain. I would take those away in a heartbeat and you know I would.  But everything else? Finding out we were having a baby? Deciding to get married? I don’t regret any of that.  I mean, you’re a pain in my ass…”

He gives a small chuckle.

“…but I don’t regret marrying you. Or having your children. And I’ve never hated you. Not even during our worst fights. When you’ve said some brutal and hurtful shit. Not even then. I love you. More than I ever thought I could love someone. And I meant what I said. That there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you. But you need to trust me, Tyler. You wanted my help. You brought me into this. And now you have to trust me to do what I need to do. I know what I’m doing.”

“I can’t lose you,” his voice is barely above a whisper, those eyes still locked on hers. “I just can’t. You always talk about how scared you are to lose me. But I’m just as scared as you are. I don’t want to lose you. I can’t do this by myself. Take care of four kids. I just can’t.”

“Yes. You can. You would do it because you wouldn’t have any other choice.”

He shakes his head, finally turning his face away from her when the emotion becomes too much to handle. The rawness of the situation. The blatant, heart breaking honesty.

“You’re stronger and braver than you give yourself credit for,” she says, and presses a kiss to his temple.  “You’d be okay. And so would the kids.”

“I don’t…” the tears are hot and bitter as they trickle down his face.   “….can we not talk about this….please…I don’t want to talk about this…”

Placing a soft, tender kiss on his cheek, she lays on hand on the back of his head, encouraging him to rest it upon her shoulder.

“I don’t want to talk about this,” he whispers, and then clings to her, arms wrapped tightly around her slender body. “Please…” he begs, barely able to get the words out. “…don’t make me talk about this…”

She tightens her hold on him, one arm wrapped around his neck, the fingers of her other hand pressing into his scalp. “It’s okay,” she assures him.  “It’s okay, Tyler. I’ve got you.”

Those words hit with tremendous power.  And he surrenders. Finally giving in to all the fear and the worry.

His entire body shaking with the ferocity of his sobs.

[glitterquadricorn]

Million Reasons - Lucifer Morningstar

Pairing: Lucifer Morningstar x Angel!Reader Word Count: 1,359 Warning(s): Angst, screaming & shouting, arguments, Amenadiel, Chloe and Lucifer all get ripped a new asshole, mentions fertility struggles, curse words, etc

Requested By: @anushay1998​

Request: Heyy I just read your Luci fic and I LOVE IT!! ❤ Can I have a mini series or a long one shot where the reader is Lucifer's girlfriend yet after he meets Chloe things go downside for her. He neglects her and spend less time with her all in all which of course start to bother but she still does not confront him about it as she is afraid he may go after the detective then to stay with her. As they partners solve cases AFYER cases, the readers relationship with Lucifer gets more jeopardized.. Until.. 

..2) the revelation is made that Chloe is special and is put in Lucifer's way by God himself, the reader loses it and lashes out at everyone including Luci. That's when he realizes everything and tries making up to her by date nights, his way of apology and a good time😂 Angst and smut all the way, sorry if it's too descripted lol

You're giving me a million reasons to let you go / You're giving me a million reasons to quit the show / You're givin' me a million reasons / Give me a million reasons / Givin' me a million reasons / About a million reasons...

She was mad. She down right pissed. Lucifer, her boyfriend for well over a century, canceled their date for the eighth time in several weeks. She understood that he was a rather busy man, and getting ahold of him was rather difficult. But then he met a woman by the name of Chloe Decker. Not too long after that, Lucifer got a job as a civilian consultant with the LAPD. After that, y/n started to see Lucifer less and less. She was bothered by it, but said nothing to no one. 

Walking off the elevator, she saw Lucifer sitting at the bar with none other than Chloe. She rolled her eyes and walked past them, not paying them any attention.

“Why are you all dressed up? Had a night out with Maze?” Lucifer asked. She ignored him and went to their shared bedroom. Once there, she kicked off her heels and peeled off her dress. Wiping the make-up off, she sees Lucifer standing in the doorway. 

“Can I help you?” 

“What’s wrong?” Lucifer pushed off the door and stood behind her, placing his hands on her shoulders. 

“Nothing’s wrong,”

“I feel like you’re lying,” Lucifer said, raising an eyebrow.

“Why would I lie? I don’t have a reason to,” She grabbed her toothbrush and brushed her teeth. She spit out mouthwash and turned to him. “I’m going to bed. Love you, goodnight,”

She crawled into bed not hearing those three words back from Lucifer. 

If I had a highway, I would run for the hills / If you could find a dry way, I'd forever be still / But you're giving me a million reasons / Give me a million reasons / Givin' me a million reasons / About a million reasons...

“I just don’t get it, Maze. Everything was fine until she showed up. Most of our date nights get canceled because of her. It’s Chloe this, Chloe that, oh! Chloe and I did this today! I’m just sick of it!” She slammed her fist on the table, cracking it. 

“Want me to get rid of her?” 

“As tempting as that is, no,”

“So have you said anything to Lucifer about it?”

“No, I haven’t. I fear that if I say something to him about it, it’ll just drive him to leave me for Chloe,” Maze watched the usually happy and bubbly angel frown. Her cold, dead, black heart hurt for the woman in front of her. “Why is he doing this? Am I doing something wrong?”

“You’re doing nothing wrong, y/n. Lucifer is a moron,”

Mumbling under her breath, “Understatement of the century,”

“I can talk to him about this,”

“Don’t worry about it,”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah,”

When she got home, she saw a note with a bouquet of roses on the counter. Smiling, she reached for the note.

Dear y/n, 

I know I've been a real jerk by canceling our dates as of late, so to make up for it, I want you to get dressed in the dress and shoes that’s in the box at the end of the bed. Be ready by 7 p.m. 

The smile on her face spread from ear to ear. She rushed to the bedroom and the box Lucifer was talking about. Reaching for the box, she took off the lid and saw a beautiful black, long sleeved, velvet dress. Her hands ran down the soft fabric. She was, without a doubt, excited, but she wondered if Lucifer was going to cancel on her again. If he canceled on her again, she’d pack some bags and leave. It may seem a little dramatic to some, but she didn’t care. She didn’t feel important anymore. 

Pushing the thought out of her head, she started to get ready. When she was all dressed and ready to go, it was twenty minutes to seven. Walking over to the couch, she sat down and waited for Lucifer. She couldn’t sit down for long because she got up and walked around the room. Her eyes kept going to the clock on the wall. She let out a shaky breath when seven came and went. She tried to give him the benefit of the doubt and say he’s running late due to traffic, but she knew better. Lucifer Morningstar cancelled on her once again.

Heading to their bedroom, she grabbed a duffle bag from the closet. She shoved clothes into the duffle bag, not caring if they got wrinkled or not. All she knew was that she didn’t want to be there when Lucifer got home. 

And if you say something that you might even mean / It's hard to even fathom / which parts I should believe / 'Cause you're giving me a million reasons / Give me a million reasons / Givin' me a million reasons / About a million reasons...

She sat on the couch, scowling at the blonde, blue-eyed woman across from her while the others argued. When Mazikeen found her at a hotel an hour away, she told her Amenadiel blessed Chloe’s parents and that god himself put Chloe in Lucifer’s path. Needless to say she was pissed. 

“Shut up!” She screamed, making everyone stop. Turning towards Amenadial, she waved her finger at him. “You just had to bless her mother didn’t you? You just had to help a couple who had a hard time conceiving. The only reason why god sent you to bless her parents is out of spite of me. I was once one of his favorite angel, but I decided to follow Lucifer down to hell because I loved him. You’re just a piece of an elaborate puzzle.”

Chloe stood up, about to defend her mother. “Hey-”

“Shut up and sit down,” She seethed. “You know, I tried to give you the benefit of the doubt at first. I thought, Oh! She’s this super nice woman with an adorable daughter. And I was only nice to you because you obviously meant something to Lucifer. But then you just started to show up everywhere!”

“He’s my-”

“Partner. I know. You don’t need to remind me,” Her anger was felt by everyone in the room. And if this was a cartoon, steam would be coming out of her ears. “Do you have any idea what you’ve caused? What you’ve done just by being here?”

“I think it’s best if you calm down, love,” Lucifer placed his hands on her arms, trying to calm her down. 

She brushed him off, shoving him away from her. "Don’t you fucking tell me to calm down! I’m pissed at you,”

“Me? What have I done?”

“Are you kidding me? That night I came home and you asked if I had a girls night with Maze, yeah that’s a date you canceled. And you wanna know who you were with? Chloe. That date where you had a dress and shoes in a box waiting for me? Yeah, that’s a date you stood me up on. I’m not going to continue to waste my time doing my hair, make-up and getting all dressed up just for you to either cancel or stand me up. It’s not worth it anymore,”

The look of realization came across Lucifer’s face. “Baby, love, why didn’t you say anything?”

“The only reason why I didn’t say anything because I was worried that you’d leave me for Chloe,”

“I could never do such a thing,” Lucifer grinned, grabbing her face in his hands. “You followed me down to hell and became my queen all because you loved me.”

“I’d do it all over again if given the choice,”

“I swear to make it up to you,”

“You said that the last time,”

“I mean this time,”

“You better,”

I've got a hundred million reasons to walk away / But baby, I just need one good one, good one / Tell me that you'll be the good one, good one / Baby, I just need one good one to stay...

=============================================================

ITS FINALLY DONE! And to the person that requested this, I’m sooooo sorry for not posting this sooner. It felt as if all the motivation and drive to write this was sucked right out of me. I feel horrible. I hope you can forgive me. And I know you mentioned smut in the request, but I don't think it needs it. 

Enjoy!

Tagging(permanent):

@buckys-sweetheart @letsgetfuckingsuperwholocked @maliasbubble @sergeantjbuckybarnes @patzammit @yagirlmexic @awkwardfangirl2014 @beckieandhertardis @tinycyberhacker @streetghostfighter07 @distant-illusions @sugaglory @independentgirl @darkunderworldqueen @alisoncdariel​

[slytherinbangchan]

Apado gwaenchana Chap14💖

Chap13

Masterlist

Another fave chap btw 💖

Magazine workers (enemies to lovers AU)

Warning for this chap: Mention of alcohol, kissing games etc… (parties stuff)

Warnings2: kinda smutty.

Pairing: RenjunxReader (Only y/n’s actual name is ‘Skyler’ cause I love that name and that’s it but it’s still ‘y/n’ ok?) Btw I made everyone here older than they actually are cause they’re working at an office etc…

You (Skyler/BlueAbsinthe) work as an editor at an office for a magazine called ‘Fashion Killa’ along with your two besties, (Chloe/uwuBabe writer for the health and beauty department and Blair/NotARavenclaw, a photographer). And everything is fine untill you have to work along in an assesment with your ‘mortal enemies’.

(Dont mind the time on the chats I just write late at night, lol)

Nct members as:

Mark: Editor. Renjun: Photographer. Chenle: Editor Lucas: Model Doyoung: Model Park Jisung: Model Johnny: Model Yuta: Model Taeyong: Model Jungwoo: Model Other Idols:

Felix: As an Stray Kids member Han Jisung: As an Stray Kids member. Wonho from MX: As a model Joohoney from MX: As a model TOP from BB: As a model. Siwon from SUJU: As a model. BoA: As your boss

-Sorry I woke you up earlier. -He says as he finishes lacing his shoes.

-Don't worry. It's almost imposible not to wake me up. I don't know why but the tiniest thing would wake me.

-I use to turn off my alarm clock while sleeping I think that's worse.

You laugh. -If I do that I just keep dreaming about the alarm ringing or me arriving late to places. Also most of the time I just wake up naturally 10 minutes before it rings.

-Ok, you win. What a nightmare. I'm sorry for you.

-Me too.

You both laugh and he gives you a little peck on the lips. -Ok, I gotta go. See you later before the hot spring thingy.

You walk him to the door. -Yeah. See you. -You kiss him goodbye one last time.

You spend what is left of the afternoon with the guys, then go back to the hotel to move your things to the onsen place where you'll stay the last night before going back to Korea the next day. You hate packing so you didn't bring much stuff anyway. You share a cab with the girls trying to avoid Renjun's topic. Is not that you don't wanna tell them is just that you don't know what to tell them.

You open your case once you're in your room and put on a swinsuit and a bathrobe. Then go outside where everyone else is. Most of them are in the water but some still out drinking and chatting. It's too cold for you to stay out of the hot water so you just go in. The girls are already there anyway.

You look for the guys, you first spot fair haired Jisung between the others, then Mark and lastly Renjun who waves at you.

-Are we really allowed to drink here? -One of the model girls asks.

-Of course! Why not? We got the whole place to ourselves. -Says Lucas. There's shots swimming around in floating trays and coctels on the tables outside. You're pretty sure Lucas set those up himself .-Okay, everyone let's play!

You don't actually feel like playing tho. Your eyes are fixed on Renjun and his on you. Lucas has called everyone to the center of the onsen. He's explaining the rules of kiss or dare when there's no bottle to spin.

-I'll start. -Blair. Kiss or dare?

-Hm... Kiss.

-Okay, then kiss me. -He smirks at her and she laughs but kiss him anyways.

-My turn then. -Blair looks around for her victim. -Jisung, kiss or dare?

-Dare?

-Great, I always wondered something. Confess to the person you like if they are here right now.

-Seriously? -He asks while blushing.

-You can lose some clothes but you don't have a lot...

-It's okay, you said if I liked someone but I don't so...

-Bullshit. -She laughs.

-Let the baby gooo. -You shout at your friend and she laughs.

-Okaaay. Then it's your turn Jisung.

-Yey! Mark hyung. Kiss or dare?

-Dare.

-Hmm, cling to Lucas and do aegyo till the round ends.

-I hate you so much. -He says while walking next to Lucas and grabbing his arm. He'll be suffering from various internal breakdows during the dare. He hates skinship. -Oh, it's my turn right? I choose Renjun.

-Then I choose dare I guess. -He says.

-Why no one else wants to kiss today? -Blair asks.

Mark is looking around to see how he can mess with his friend. -Ah, I got it. Make out with her. -He's pointing at that model girl again. -You kissed him the other day right? -He asks her and she nods shyly.

Renjun looks at you but you don't know what to do. Is Mark being a jerk on purpose, or do people really don't know that you two have been sneaking out? And he told him to 'make out' that's more than just a kiss. Omg you just wanna kill Mark right now. You gulp down a shot from the floating tray. It's hella sweet so you make an ugly face after drinking it.

-C'mon guys, we are waitiiing. -Lucas can't wait anymore so he walks (or swims) to Renjun and the other girl and pushes them together so they kiss.

You're burning inside. Kinda feels like you're gonna cry but you won't. You quit the game after that. Which is not suspicious at all. Renjun quits right after you which is also not suspicious at all, and little by little people just walks away from the circle and just keep drinking near the walls. There's a point at the night where you're just too drunk and decide it's almost time to go. And you're not leaving without that idiot. There's just a few people left and Lucas made sure to remove almost every light in that place. Jisung went to bed a while ago and there's just Mark now talking and laughing with Renjun. You leave your friend's side without a warning and go visit Renjun.

-Oh, hi Skyl- -You shut his stupid mouth with a kiss.

-Oh wow. Okay... -Mark walks away just accepting somehow what just happened right in front of his salad.

You keep kissing Renjun like there's nobody else around. His body feels even softer there in the hot water. You can feel how you crave him more and more with every second that passes. Things scalate quickly. When you pull away from him you're both breathless. You walk out and put on the bath robe. It's cold outside the water. He follows you doing the same. Then you grab his hand and lead him to your room. There's no bed or hardly anything, just some futons where you lay as soon as you enter. You're out of your head right now and so is he. But you both know what you want. He starts kissing you again, and you bite his lip softly. He grunts then and deepens the kiss making you moan. There's not a lot of clothes between you two but he's getting rid of them already.

-You're so fucking beautiful, Skyler. -You can't help but smile. It's your mortal enemy right there praising you as he undresses the shit out of you.

His hands wandering your entire body. You've closed your eyes while he buries his face on your neck to bite it. Usually people biting you annoys you to the moon and back, you're the one biting, the one in charge. But Renjun it's so good at it you don't mind it at all. You're so into it you don't even realize you're shaking.

-Woah. -He stands up enough to look at you from above. -Are you okay?

You come back from heaven wondering why the hell he stopped. -Huh?? -You still kinda drunk so you just pull him back to you so he'd keep going.

-Wait. Skyler you're hot... like... your body. -You tilt your head to a side like a puppy. He must be kinda drunk too. -I mean, like, you're shaking you know? Maybe you got temperature from the cold and the hot water?

-What? Who cares? I'm okay.

-Well, I care. -He says, grabbing your hands to make you sit up. Then he throws the robe over you again.You feel kinda dizzy so you don't complain much more. He feels your forehead with his lips. -Ah yeah, you're definitely ill.

-Okay, I'm ill. Can we go on?

He chuckles. -I don't think so... You could get worse.

-No way. I never get sick, this is weird.

-Anyway, just in case, let's just sleep for now. Put on some dry clothes by the way.

-I don't wanna. -You pout. You're kinda sad he's back on his robe again too.

-Okay, at least let me dry your hair. -He says, picking up a towel and sitting next to you. He starts drying your hair with it, it's just the ends which are slightly wet but anyways.

-I hate you. -You say, still pouting.

-Okay. -He says, not leaving the towel.

You sit between his legs tho, facing him. He's focussed on his labor of drying hair so you just watch him silently. You rest your head on his chest after a while. Hugging him. -Thank you. -You say. He kiss the top of your head, hugging you back.

-Let's go to sleep, okay? -He asks. His voice so soft. You nod and get under the covers with him. -Good night. -He says letting you sleep on his chest.

-Good night. -After a couple seconds your hand slowly wanders to his crotch.

He chuckles lightly. -Skyler, please. -He says, shaking you with the arm he has around you.

-Okaay. -You say, sighing after.

He smiles to himself without opening his eyes and kisses you on top of your head again. -Good night.

-Hm, yeah. -You say, annoyed. Making him laugh again.

Chap13_Chap15

[albionscastle]

First Impressions 10 - Saturday Night Fever

I was so glad to actually write this chapter it’s not even funny. I started five times and trashed each one but FINALLY! This is the Netherfield Ball chapter and second only to the Pemberley scenes as my favorite in Pride and Prejudice.

There are mentions of anxiety in this chapter.

Also obvs you can picture whatever song you want for the dance, I just had the Bee Gees - More Than A Woman running through my head at the time lol.

FIC MASTERLIST

FIRST IMPRESSIONS 10 SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER

LIZZIE

If she was perfectly honest with herself, Lizzie was kind of looking forward to the wrap party. It was probably the chance of a lifetime - there weren’t likely to be any glam Hollywood parties in her future so she figured that she may as well enjoy this one. Charlie was, naturally, embracing the event wholeheartedly and had even managed to rope her into a trip to the city for new threads. According to him absolutely everything in her closet was too awful to be worn in public.

As usual he was right, Lizzie thought as she looked in the mirror. In a million years she never would have picked out this dress for herself, but she had to admit, it looked fantastic. Charlie had worked his magic with her hair and face and she almost didn’t recognize the smoky eyed woman staring back at her. It was the first time in years that she actually liked what she saw.

“Come on Bennett, time to go show those asholes whats, what!”

Charlie was waiting by her front door, over the top as usual in a silver top hat and makeup that would put Ziggy Stardust to shame. Not for the first time she felt the little tug in her heart, he really was gorgeous. It didn’t happen often, the moment of wishing he wasn’t gay, and she’d even told him about it. Charlie had never laughed at her, or brushed it off. He simply agreed that had life been different they probably would have been meant for one another. She wasn’t in love with him, not in this life, but it have happened very easily and every now and then, it made her a bit sad.

“Get that look off your face woman, I know I look good enough to eat.” Charlie sighed dramatically. “I’m on the prowl tonight and I need my wing woman.”

Lizzie laughed. “Are you sure? I’m likely to frighten all your prospects away with my bitch face.”

“Looking like that darling, they’ll be flocking to you and I’ll be there to ease their broken hearts when you turn them down.”

“Well you certainly have it all figured out don’t you.”

“When don’t I babe?” he winked. “Now get your coat and let’s go before I miss anything.”

The ballroom at the hotel had been completely transformed and Lizzie was almost speechless when they stepped into the lobby. She supposed it wasn’t all that big a deal to the rich and famous but her small town heart was a flutter with excitement at the sight. Gauzy fabric covered the bland beige walls and tables were set with linens and centerpieces fit for royalty. Everywhere she looked there was something gorgeous that she wouldn’t have expected to see, right down to the soft candlelight that was the room’s only illumination.

There was no sign of Brad though and a check of her cell showed no missed messages. Despite her misgivings, she’d still been excited to see him here and he had promised that Jack’s presence wasn’t going to stop him from attending. He was probably just late, she tried to tell herself, knowing it was a lie.

“There you are Lizzie!” she cringed at her mother’s loud voice as her family moved toward her.

“That’s my queue sweets.” Charlie kissed her cheek. “Come find me later.”

“Fucking traitor.” she muttered as he dashed away into the throng of people.

Turning around with a sigh, Lizzie plastered a smile on her face, barely keeping it in place when she saw what Lydia was, or rather wasn’t, wearing. She glanced at Maya who simply shrugged in defeat.

“Hey pumpkin.” her father reached her before the others and his weary look of resignation told him everything she needed to know about the situation. “You look lovely.”

“Thanks Dad, but I can’t believe you let her out of the house dressed like that.” she whispered as he pulled away from the hug.

Ben simply sighed, shunted to the side as Chloe approached, eying Lizzie up and down.

“Do I meet your approval mom?” she snarked.

“You look very nice. Her mother admitted. “You’ll never have Maya’s charm and sweetness but you do look very nice.”

“Gee thanks mom, at least I’m actually wearing clothing.” Lizzie looked pointedly at Lydia who was tapping her foot and looking bored.

“Shut up Liz” she snapped, cracking a piece of gum.

“Stop it both of you! Lizzie leave your sister alone!”

Lizzie bit her tongue, feeling her cheeks go red while Lydia stuck out her tongue behind her mother’s back.

“Lizzie, I was meaning to ask you something.” Maya piped up, quickly gauging the situation.

She took her sister’s arm and let her lead them to where Tom was standing with Jack and Caro. Honestly she would have rather stayed and fought with Lydia.

“Eliza!” Caro practically sneered, looking stunning in a barely there pink dress. “Oh, your whole family is here, how nice.” Her tone implied the exact opposite of her words.

“Actually Mary and Kate aren’t here.” Lizzie murmured, craning her head to look for Brad.

Jack, being his usual pleasant self merely inclined his head in greeting before looking away, dismissing her completely.

Prick, she thought to herself as she tried to seperate from the group, without any luck.

“Lizzie dear,” her mother had her arm, “I promised poor Colin that you would at least dance with him tonight. He’s been quite desolate since he came back you know. I think he hopes you’ll take him back.”

The excitement in Chloe’s eyes at that thought made Lizzie feel ill. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Well ok, her mother arranging things, that she could believe but not the bullshit that Colin had obviously been spewing. How dare he?

“I need a drink.” she snapped, stalking away into the crowd before anyone could stop her.

Fuming all the way to the bar, she ordered a Scotch ready to down the whole thing in one gulp.

“I’ll be taking that Red.” Charlie was there, sliding up next to her and stealing her drink, downing it smoothly before she even had a chance to protest. “You know you can’t drink.” he whispered, smiling at anyone who appeared curious enough to try and listen to what was going on.

“I don’t care.” she huffed, feeling like a scolded child.

“Listen dollface, I know how your mom gets and I guess she got to you. However drinking with your medication will just create a spectacle of you being carried out of here too far out of it to know your own name. And everyone in town will talk about it for years.”

“You don’t know what happened.” But she was conceding that he had a point.

“I’m going to guess she told you to play nice with poor, heartbroken Colin. He’s plying that shit all over town.”

He was right, as fucking usual.

“Listen, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t be upset. Just don’t give anyone the satisfaction of seeing you upset. The best way to stick it to that piece of shit is to pretend that you just aren’t affected at all.”

“I bloody hate you sometimes.”

“You love me and you know it.” Charlie placed a glass of cola in front of her, his arm slung over her shoulder as they perused the room.

Maya was dancing with Tom and Lizzie couldn’t help but smile at the serene look on her sister’s face as she looked up at him. She was clearly in love with him and Lizzie couldn’t have been happier for them. It didn’t matter what anyone else thought.

“What’s the deal with those two anyway?”

“Maya and Tom? What do you mean?”

“Well have they ‘sealed the deal’ so to speak. Seriously she needs to get him in the sack.”

“You know Maya isn’t like that.” Though she was fairly sure they already had, not that Maya had said anything.

“She needs to get like that, when that boy leaves Maya needs to be the only thing on his mind.”

“They are crazy about each other Charlie.”

“Well they hide it well, seriously though, Maya needs to up her game, you’ve seen the women here tonight.”

Lizzie’s brow furrowed as she thought about what Charlie was saying. Maya was admittedly very reserved and even though she knew her sister, Charlie’s observations had her worrying. She had said nothing about Tom beyond this week. He was spending Thanksgiving with them though, surely that counted for something. Charlie was just being a pain in the ass.

She watched him moving through the crowd now, a hit with everyone he came in contact with, male or female. More than once she had wished she could be more like him, so easy with everyone he met. She knew of no-one who disliked him while most people usually thought she was either stuck-up or awkward and boring.

Her eyes danced across the ballroom, Colin was so far nowhere in sight, but there was still no sign of Brad. She should have known better, it wasn’t the first time she’d been stood up. Spotting Jack standing with a group of men she narrowed her eyes. If looks could kill, she laughed bitterly to herself, liking the vision of him laid out on the floor. Yes, shed was irrationally angry and him and no she didn’t care. It didn’t matter what her thoughts were about Brad, it was Jack’s fault that she was standing alone at the bar instead of dancing in a killer dress. It was ALL Jack’s fault.

He chose that moment to look her way, his drink to his lips, long fingers wrapped around his glass, his clothes….well they were perfect for fuck’s sake. She actually had to bite the inside of her cheek to avoid making an embarrassing noise. The bastard had no business looking as good as he did, just as her body had no business betraying her the way it was. She would be damned if she gave him anything, despite her trembling knees. She refused to look away as she threw back her now flat soda, enjoying the surprise in his eyes. Enjoying it so much that she didn’t notice Colin coming up beside her. Too late she realized he was there, only when she smelled his cologne and almost dropped her glass. Remembering Charlie’s advice and her own determination, she forced herself into turning, her best ‘bitch face’ firmly in place.

“What do you want Colin?”

“I was promised a dance.” his eyes slide over her from head to toe and she barely repressed a shudder.

“Then why come to me? My mother promised you a dance, so go ask her.”

There was anger sparking in his eyes and she fought back the familiar fear. She knew what he was capable of when he was angered, but she still wasn’t going to give in.

“I was promised a dance with you.” he smiled, his eyes cold like a snake’s.

“This isn’t the middle ages, my mother doesn’t decide who I dance with.”

“Everyone is watching, you don’t want to make a scene do you?”

Lizzie shrugged.

“I’m not causing a scene and I don’t care who’s watching.”

His smile never faltered as his fingers wrapped around her wrist, tightly. Lizzie resisted the urge to yank herself out of his grasp. The point was to not give him the satisfaction of a response. Instead, fighting the bile rising in her throat she looked pointedly down at his had and then up at his face, staring him down she put her hand over his, pulling it off her arm and taking a step back.

“Good night Colin.” she said firmly, turning on her heel and walking away.

She managed to hold her breath until she was out of sight of the ballroom, making her way quickly to the ladies room. Locking herself in a stall she collapsed against the cool metal door, breath coming in ragged gasps, legs feeling like jelly. She couldn’t believe what she had just done. Before if she had even looked at him in a way he didn’t like he would have made her pay, but now….. She laughed, feeling lightheaded. There was nothing he could do to her, he was completely powerless. Colin Ryan couldn’t hurt, control or scare her anymore except in her own mind, and only if she allowed.

Taking a few minutes to compose herself, Lizzie still felt giddy. The power was all hers and she was determined to go and have a good time, everyone else could be damned. She was still shaking and though she wanted to her body wouldn’t move out of the bathroom. A million thoughts ran through her head and right in the middle was a vision of all those people, crowding around her, closing in, blocking any chance for escape. It only took an instant to realize what was happening and what she needed to do before she had a full-blown panic attack in a hotel toilet.

Closing her eyes she pulled in a deep breath, holding it for the count of three before slowly letting out again. A few repetitions later and the dizziness subsided, along with the trembling, enough for her to be able to swallow a pill. Looking at herself in the mirror she saw wide, frightened eyes and knew that Colin had still managed to get to her.

“Pull yourself together.” she muttered to her reflection. “You are better than this, you are stronger. Don’t let the bastards drag you down.”

She repeated the mantra sternly, over and over until her heartbeat slowed and her legs felt strong beneath her again.

“Right, that’s the end of that. We go out there, we dance, we have fun and we go home. Nothing more to it.”

A much more poised Lizzie emerged from the bathroom and headed back to the ballroom. One more deep breath and she stepped into the throng searching for Charlie, or Maya, neither of them in sight. Turning to go in the opposite direction, she almost collided with Jack.

“Ammm Elizabeth, I was wonderin, would ye care tae dance? Wi me, I mean.”

JACK

The surprise that Jack felt matched the surprise on Elizabeth’s face when they both realised she had said yes. To dancing. With him. A little flustered he was able to at least offer his arm to lead his startled partner out onto the dancefloor. All he could do was gulp, avoiding her eyes as he stiffly slid his hand to the small of her back, taking her other hand and hoping that she didn’t notice his trembling fingers.

As they rocked like two gawky teens with a balloon stuck between them jack couldn’t stop his thoughts from running wild. He’d been in a state from the moment Elizabeth had walked in and slipped off her coat. In his wildest dreams he’d never imagined her in that dress. The gold sequined number had been designed to turn her into a goddess, complete with plunging neckline and a hemline that made his mouth run dry. He’d fought his attraction to the woman from day one but the surge of lust that ran through his body at the sight of her nearly did him in. As it was he was barely able to manage a nod, afraid that the croak in his voice would give away what was happening in his trousers.

In another life maybe.

Distracted and barely paying attention to the conversation around him his eyes had followed her, seeing her obvious embarrassment with her family. When he’d seen her at the bar with a drink he’d almost gone over but Charlie had beaten him to it. A few Google searches had informed him that Elizabeth’s medication and alcohol did not mix and he was glad she hadn’t drunk it.

His mind had wandered at that point as he imagined himself walking over there, welcomed by a cheeky, secret glint in her eyes. Running with it he pictured them laughing as he led her through the lobby and into a dark, quiet corner. In his fantasy she moaned when he kissed her, pulling him against her as she leaned back against the wall. She chuckled low in her throat when his hand slid up her thigh, hitching her leg over his hip as he ground against her. He could hear her voice in his ear, a breathless sigh of want and promise as he in turned whispered all the things he wanted to do to her when they were alone.

Jerked out of his dream world by a question he hadn’t even noticed he saw Elizabeth watching him from across the room and his cheeks reddened. If she’d had any idea what he’d been thinking she would have no doubt slapped him so hard his head would spin.

He didn’t see Colin approach until it was too late to do anything that wouldn’t cause a scene. Despite himself, jack felt a surge of pride as he watched her stand her ground, the look on Colin’s face priceless as she left him with her head held high. He shouldn’t have cared, shouldn’t have wanted. But he did and his feet seemed to move of their own accord to the entrance of the ballroom in time to see Elizabeth disappear into the loo. Colin was nowhere to be seen, but Jack wouldn’t have put it past him to follower in there so he placed himself within view of the door, just in case.

It was the deer in headlights look when she came out that prompted to move towards her, no plan at all in his mind. Now here they were. All silence and bungling, each of them looking anywhere but at the other. Jack didn’t know what to say that wouldn’t embarrass her and he was far too well aware of his previous inappropriate thoughts. What could he say?

“Awkward silence much?” he heard her remark quietly.

“Do ye prefer tae talk while dancin then?”

A chuckle.

“Generally, yes. Even if its just to comment on the sucky song. It’s only polite.”

“I confess I never really thought about it tae be honest.”

“Perhaps it’s time you did.” Elizabeth said archly as the song ended.

Taking the chance, Jack grinned, the next song starting before she could make an escape.

“Then I’ll say I quite like this one.”

“Bee Gees? Well at least you have some taste.”

“Saturday Night Fever was a cinematic masterpiece.”

“Never saw it.”

There was a hint of steel in her voice, a challenge and he vaguely remembered the party in the summer, the inference that Elizabeth had at least once loved to dance. Without a second thought he moved, spinning her out to the end of his arm before tugging her back, a moment spent flush against each other before he dipped her down almost to the floor.

She was looking at him now, her eyes wide with surprise as she followed his lead perfectly.

“Channeling your inner Tony Manero?” she questioned as they came together.

“Everything but the strut lass, and I thought ye said ye’d never seen it.” he laughed as he spun her again.

They were silent for a moment, their steps in perfect sync. The woman could dance, that was for sure. He got the feeling that it wasn’t something she did often and he felt a momentary spike of malicious satisfaction that Wick probably hadn’t had this opportunity.

“I understand ye all haf been seein a lot of Bradley Wick.” he knew he’d put his foot in it the moment the words left his mouth. The flash in her eyes confirmed what he had feared.

“He’s been helping my parents with the house, he needed the extra money. They are quite fond of him.”

“Aye, Wick has a talent of makin himself useful when it suits him, it doesna stay that way though.”

Spin out, tug in, her body against his, an angry spark in her eye. He was up for the challenge.

“I’m sure that the loss of your friendship has shaped your opinion of that. Do you think that just because you couldn’t be friendly that he can’t make friends at all?”

“He’s always been able tae make friends luv, he’s jus no good at keepin em.”

“Hmmm.” she appeared to be thinking as they moved. “I’m assuming something serious happened between you?”

“Ye assume correctly.” but he would be damned if he told her what.

“And it had nothing to with, oh say, jealousy or pride?”

He felt his eyes narrow, not at all comfortable with the direction this was taking.

“Why are ye askin?”

Elizabeth shrugged, spinning under his arm and around his back. He felt her hand across his waist like fire, her cold challenge sparking something in him.

“I’m just trying to understand you, I hear so many different things about you, almost like you’re two people.”

“Maybe ye should jus come straight tae the source.”

“Where’s the fun in that? You would only show me what you wanted me to see and I far prefer the truth.”

The truth? Did she really want to know the real man? The one who drank too much and had at one point gone through women like socks, the one who still thought she was no good for him despite how much he wanted her.?

“Now is probably no the best time tae be attemptin tae sketch my character.”

The song was ending, his hopes that the dance would turn into more fading by the note. She was baiting him and he couldn’t help but respond. He couldn’t help himself around her, she met him challenge for challenge and he wasn’t sure he would be the one to come out on top. He wasn’t sure who was the conqueror anymore.

“If I don’t do it now I’ll never get another chance.”

Her words hit him hard hard. After tonight there was no reason for him to stay in town so she was right. He was going home, never to return. Why was it bothering him so much?

The final notes of the song, Jack dipped Elizabeth down, never taking his eyes from hers, noticing the way her pupils dilated and her breath hitched. He allowed a smile to spread across his face. They stayed that way as the music changed, Jack slowly easing back until she was pressed against him again, so close he could feel her ragged breath on his neck while his heart hammered in his chest. Apparently neither of them wanted to be the first to break eye contact, to admit weakness of any kind to the other.

I certainly wouldn’t wan tae leave ye wantin Elizabeth, but in this regard I’m afraid ye’ll jus be disappointed.” Her eyes flared, lips parted to respond. ‘Unless….” he murmured as he started to move his hand on her back, pulling her closer.

“Lizzie! My dear look at you, I haven’t seen you dance for an age.” Mr Lucas had pushed through the crowd, breaking the spell with his booming voice.

Elizabeth took a step back, the familiar mask of indifference settling over her features.

He already missed her. Damn it!

Lucas clapped him on the shoulder, oblivious to the tension he’d inadvertently dissipated.

“Should have known such a handsome young man could bring our Lizzie out of her shell again. I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot more of it when a certain wedding takes place.”

The appalled look on Elizabeth’s face and the direction of Lucas’ gaze was enough for Jack to figure out what was being inferred. Maya sat, looking down demurely as Tom leaning in, speaking into her ear.

Was that what everyone was thinking and expecting? He turned back to Elizabeth, only to see the back of her head as she walked away. Jack wracked his brain, trying to figure out how there was a wedding expected. Tom was obviously enamored with Maya but he did have a habit falling in and out of ‘love’ with remarkable swiftness. Grudgingly he admitted that Tom seemed somewhat different this time, but surely things hadn’t gone that far.

He was angry suddenly, or perhaps not so suddenly. The conversation with Elizabeth had stirred his unrest, knowing that she was friendly with Wick just rubbed him the wrong way. Knowing that there was gossip, that he was being judged based on whatever the bastard had decided to say about him. He was pissed that she had essentially confirmed that Wick was yet again running his mouth. It wasn’t her fault, many a woman had fallen for his lies, he just didn’t want it to be her, surely her attempt to talk to him had been her not accepting Wick at face value.

With a sigh he downed another glass of whiskey. Everything was completely fucked up and tonight was just it.

He was done.

LIZZIE

The frigid outside air was a blessing against her burning cheeks. She gulped in a few deep breaths, trying to calm her hammering heart. That, that had been unexpected. Anger mingled with desire and her brain, as well as her body was on fire.

From a dance.

A dance that included an argument. Lizzie had no idea what the hell was going on with her. She couldn’t stand the man, hadn’t wanted to dance with him. The only reason that she’d even agreed was because Colin had her so befuddled. Her hackles had been up and she was furious at the way her body had betrayed her the moment Jack’s hand settled on her back.

That was why she tried to bait him, started a fight to distract herself from everything she was feeling. Especially when that song came on, one of her favorites and Jack had pulled out the moves. Excluding everything else the man was good and a long forgotten excitement had begun to swell. Once, before Colin, she had loved to dance. Charlie had convinced her to take lessons with him when they were in high school and it had been love. All through college they had taken every chance they could to seek out Chicago’s speakeasies and dance the night away. Colin’s jealousy had ended that.

Tonight, with Jack, the excitement had come flooding back and she hated that it was with him. As much as she was pissed at the direction her thoughts had taken when he’d dipped her down with such smooth skill. The clean smell of him, his warmth through the crisp cotton of his shirt, the strength in the way he’d held her, they had all combined in her head. In that moment her imagination had run wild and all she could see was him, shirt and hair all rumpled as he pressed her against a wall, hands and lips roaming.

The realization had shocked her to the core, not so much the attraction - she’d already admitted to that. It was the knowledge that in that moment she wanted to lift her head those few inches closer, press her mouth against his and see what happened. Her body was completely betraying her, ignoring everything that she knew about the kind of man he was.

The argument had served its purpose, reminded her why she hated him. His casual dismissal of Brad infuriated her, the fact that despite that she was still attracted to him made her even angrier with herself.

Mr Lucas’ interruption couldn’t have come at a worse moment. The look on Jack’s face had effectively cleared her head, telling her everything she needed to know about his thoughts. She’d had to walk away before she called him out in public for being such an ass.

“Nice job out there twinkle toes.”

Lizzie managed a smile as Charlie wrapped his arms around her.

“Pity about the partner though.”

“I don’t know, he looked like he knew what he was doing.”

“Yeah he always knows exactly what he’s doing.” she said bitterly.

“What is it with him anyway? I mean I know he’s been around a lot, I thought there was….you know.”

Ew, god no Charlie! Trust me he hates me as much as I loathe him.”

“Coulda fooled me.” he muttered, side eyeing her.

“I told you what he did to Brad and you’ve seen the way he acts around here.”

“Ok I agree that the whole Brad thing was a bit low, but also normal for a cutthroat world like that. But come on Liz, let’s face it, he’s cute and all but only a fool would turn down all that Jack has to offer.”

“Consider me a fool then, besides you know I don’t care about all that crap. I don’t give a shit what he does for a living or how much he makes doing it - a jerk is a jerk.”

“Real shame the jerk is so hot though.”

“Yup, that’s a hard truth.”

“Come on, let’s go back in there and have some fun, fuck the rest of them.”

Charlie had a way of making her feel better and of putting things in perspective. He was blunt and pragmatic, funny and comforting, everything she needed to see things more clearly. She would have been lost without him.

Halfway through their dinner, after a few hours of dancing, someone grabbed Charlie’s attention and he was off again leaving her alone at the table. She could see Maya sitting with Tom a few tables over, a smile on her face as they talked some of his friends. Her mother and father sat with the Lucas’ and some other people they knew from town, Chloe’s voice carrying as she talked of her various maladies.

“Enjoying the party Eliza?”

Lizzie almost cringed as Caro sat down beside her, her perfume wafting, boobs spilling out of her dress.

“It’s been okay so far.” she shrugged nonchalantly.

“Listen, I hear that you’ve been getting quite friendly with Brad Wick.”

“And?”

“Well I should warn you that he’s not exactly a great guy.”

“Really?” Lizzie tried her best to sound bored. “How so?”

“I don’t know the particulars, but I do know something nasty went down between him and Jack and Jack was in no way to blame. But honestly, considering he grew up in a home, what else can you expect?”

“I assume you got your information from Jack?”

“Not entirely, there are some rumors swirling, but Eliza I wouldn’t trust him.”

Anger flared again, what the fuck was it with these people? Why did they find it so easy to try and ruin the lives of others? What made them think they were supposedly so much better than everyone else?

“Well Caro, it really isn’t any of your business. Besides it sounds like the only thing he’s done wrong in your eyes is grow up rough, and he already told me all about that.”

Lizzie saw the woman stiffen, obviously surprised at her audacity.

“I’m sorry, I was just trying to help.”

“I don’t need your kind of help, I’m a big girl and I make my own decisions about people.”

Caro didn’t say another word, just stood up and left. Lizzie let go an exasperated breath, suddenly tired and wanting to go home.

“Are you ok?” Maya was beside her looking concerned.

“I’m fine, I’ve just had enough of these people.”

“I saw Caro over here, what was that about?”

“She wanted to ‘warn’ me about Brad, I told her to fuck off.”

“Lizzie…” Maya started cautiously, “ I asked Tom about him and he said that Brad wasn’t a good guy.”

“Oh Maya, not you too. Besides has Tom even really met him, outside being on set?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Then he’s getting all his information from Jack, who has a very personal problem with him!”

“I didn’t even think that you liked him like that.”

“I don't. I just….I just hate the way that they all act like he’s done something wrong without having any proof. It’s not fair Maya.”

Maya sighed, obviously torn between her support of her sister and her affection for Tom. Lizzie hated that she had put her sister in the middle of it.

“It’s ok, I’ll be fine. I think Colin just got me all worked up.”

“Speaking of which….”

Lizzie followed Maya’s gaze to where Colin stood behind Jack’s seat, tapping him on the shoulder.

“That’s not going to end well.” From the stony look on Jack’s face as he turned, it hadn’t even begun well. Despite everything, she was sort of rooting for Jack to put Colin firmly in his place. The man was a born sycophant and Jack was the biggest fish in the room, it would give her a perverse satisfaction to see him firmly put in his place by the younger man.

“Colin has forgiven Lizzie for everything, she just had cold feet. Honestly I wouldn’t be surprised if the wedding is back on in a few months.”

Lizzie’s head turned in horror at the sound of her mother’s voice as it carried across the tables.

“Between that and Maya, both the girls will be very well off indeed and set up to help Lydia too. Everything is working out exactly as I had hoped.”

Both girls had burning cheeks, Lizzie could see both Jack and Tom staring, Colin looking smug. She felt sick, she had to leave. Out of her chair, she managed two steps before her father came into her line of sight making a beeline for the dancefloor. Lydia was there with some kid from school, grinding against him while his hands roamed all over her. Ben walked straight over, grabbing her sister’s arm and leading her away while she cussed up a storm.

The humiliation was complete. She was done.

“I’m going home.” she hugged Maya. “Go back to Tom and act like nothing happened ok.”

Maya nodded, walking away.

Lizzie kept her head held high as she stalked out, grabbing her coat. She walked home despite the cold, refusing the offer of an Uber. Once locked inside she quickly stripped off her dress and jewelry, leaving everything in a pile on the floor. Her makeup was washed off as she stared blankly into the mirror, trying to hold it together. It wasn’t until after she climbed into bed, pulling the covers up around her head that she finally broke down and cried herself to sleep.

JACK

Jack honestly couldn’t believe what had just happened. Seriously couldn’t even begin to fathom how the night had taken such a turn. What an absolute clusterfuck. After the dance with Elizabeth everything had gone downhill so quickly, he’d been so distracted by what Lucas had said that he hadn’t seen the impending disaster unfolding.If he hadn’t so busy watching Tom and Maya, he would have seen Caro pounce on Elizabeth before she came stomping back to the table calling her a stuck up bitch. Then he’d been listening to her go on and on that he hadn’t even realized that Colin Ryan was right behind him until the creepy cunt was tapping him on the shoulder and going on about how he worked for Ann De Bourgh's L.A office and was hoping Jack would consider him for his U.S publicity.

The sheer nerve of the man had Jack in shock and he’d barely managed to shoot the man down with any politeness at all. That he would even consider asking him, given his history with Elizabeth and the current situation spoke to the audacity of the man. Then he heard the mother’s voice and saw the smug look on Colin’s face. It was then that he looked over at Elizabeth where she sat with Maya, hating the look of humiliation he saw on both their faces. He knew every word was bullshit, but he couldn’t believe how tone deaf Chloe Bennett was to her daughter’s feelings. Or how determined she apparently was to get her daughters ahead in the world.

He saw Elizabeth get up to leave and he took a step toward her, watching her falter as her father practically dragged Lydia off the dance floor. While he couldn’t blame the man for trying to protect his underage daughter, his method caused a scene that could have been avoided. The whole thing could have been avoided if the girl had any discipline at all, she wasn’t an idiot but she was very much out of control. He could almost feel the embarrassment that Elizabeth was experiencing, it was radiating from her and he was more than a little chuffed with the way she kept her head held up as she left.

He wanted to follow her, but he knew he couldn’t, not after everything that had happened. He was probably the last person she would accept comfort from right now. Still he struggled, hating himself as he watched her go, the haunted look on her face something he wasn’t soon going to forget.

“I suppose things didn’t get too out of hand tonight.” Caro sneered sarcastically. “I mean most of the natives have behaved themselves, except for the Bennets. God what a nightmare those people are.”

Jack merely grunted, unwilling to give her satisfaction of agreeing. Apart from the behavior of those three the night had been a surprising success, not that he really gave a shit.

He was expected to remain, so he did, keeping a close eye on things. Lydia spent the rest of the night sulking in a chair beside her father. Chloe Bennet quieted down, thankfully, but her earlier words still rang in his ears. Tom and Maya were inseparable as always and he took special notice of them. They looked happy enough, but she had withdrawn, he smile not quite reaching her eyes. He wondered if Maya was being pushed toward Tom by her mother. Sure she liked him but to his eyes not nearly as much as Chloe seemed to be implying. The question was, how far would she allow herself to be pushed and how much would that damage Tom?

Biding his time he waited until the party wound down before returning to the suite to wait for his friend. Tom walked in, on a cloud, Caro following behind him looking disapproving. That was fine, he thought, he could use her help for this.

“After Thanksgiving Maya and are going to take off for a few days, maybe up to Michigan.” Tom was prattling on and Jack knew he had to step in now.

“Don’t ye have those auditions next week?”

“I’m sure I can reschedule.” “And if ye canna? What will ye do then? That's no a professional way tae act.”

“There’ll be other roles, Jack.” Tom looked crestfallen that his mate wasn’t as happy for him as he would have liked.

“Ye know as well as I do that's no true.”

“Well I don’t care, Jack. I’m happy.”

“And ye were happy wi Sandra, and then mel, until ye weren’t.”

“It’s different with Maya.”

Caro snorted, rolling her eyes and Jack leveled her with a glare.

“Ye always say tha, mate. Ye fall in an out o love all the time. It’s no worth risking yer career fer.”

Jack saw the first flicker of doubt on Tom’s face and he knew he was getting through to him. Swallowing his conscience he kept at it. He didn’t want his friend to get hurt.

“Look Tom, I donna doubt that ye care abou the girl, an she’s lovely, but ye barely know her.”

“It’s been three months!”

“And after four months with Mel it was over remember?”

“Because Mel only wanted one thing, Caro. You know she was only using me to get an inside track on roles.”

“And Maya’s mum is pushin her at ye fer fame and money too. Ye heard her tonight.”

The trap was sprung and Tom had walked right into it. His face told the whole story, anger, doubt and hurt.

“Maya’s not like that.”

“I’m no sayin she is.” Jack admitted truthfully. “Maya’s a nice, sweet girl but how vested is she in this and how much of it is her mum’s manipulation?”

“It’s….I’m….she’s….” Tom was yammering and though Jack was feeling guilty he squashed it quickly. He was doing the right thing and Tom would see that in the long run.

“God, what am I going to do?” Tom sighed, sinking into a chair.

“I can get us all on a flight to London by 7am.” Caro piped up.

“That would mean leaving now.” Tom looked shocked. “That’s a low route to take.”

“Do ye wan tae drag it out? Sit at a dinner table with the whole family knowing ye’re goin tae break it off?”

“No, I suppose not, but Maya deserves better than a disappearing act.”

“Then text her, send an email, but draggin it out is only goin tae complicate things. A clean break is best, no harm no foul.”

Silence. With a nod Jack indicated to Caro that she should book the flight and then he went to pack.

There was a feeling relief knowing he was leaving this place behind him and returning to the familiar. He had a break until January before he was expected at a job in Italy and then in L.A for February and March. Spending most of that time at home in Scotland seemed like the best idea to get his head straight. A picture of Elizabeth presented itself in his thoughts and he tried to shake it away. He would soon forget that she had ever existed, or at the very least she would just be the memory of a pretty girl he’d failed to shag.

Tom didn’t say a word to anyone, not as they packed or as the car drove them to O’Hare. He looked miserable but resigned and Jack was sure that he would be back to his old self in no time. The boy always bounced back quickly and this time would be no different. Maya would be fine too, he was sure of that. She would be hurt at the way they had left yes, but with them gone her mum would stop pushing her and she could just get on with her life. Every time his thoughts turned to Elizabeth he pushed them away, what she did now was none of his concern, whether it be with Wick, or Colin, or no-one.

The bile rose in his throat and he swallowed against it, turning to look out the window. As the plane sped down the runway and began to ascend he thought about London and all the reasons he had to never come back here. And as the plane rose higher, the Chicago skyline receding from view, he pulled down the shade and closed his eyes, willing himself not to dream of a woman that he would never see again.

[nobodysuspectsthebutterfly]

Gosh, I never did post my con report for Ice and Fire Con, did I? Well, 3 weeks past, but hopefully not too late...

4/26, Thursday evening: Arrived in Columbus airport. While packing my big-ass suitcase for the con Wednesday night Thursday morning, I realized my white makeup had somehow disappeared, but I looked up a Party City in a Columbus suburb that had some. (Didn’t have time to go shopping on my way to the Chicago airport.) So, having figured that I could rent a car for the whole weekend for less than the price of a Lyft from the airport to the lodge, I did so, found that shop, bought that makeup, and had a lovely drive to Deer Creek State Park. Approaching the park, I found the name was very accurate, as a deer was crossing the road on the way there, in a very stupid way. “Should I jump the fence? Or go back in the road and wander everywhere? Durhurhur!” Finally he got a clue and I moved on, only for another car to zoom around me like I was standing still. That’s how you get deer through your windshield, son.

But anyway, got to Deer Creek Lodge by 9ish, got my room and registered and all, and started seeing people I’d met last year. Chloe (@liesandarbor) and Emmett (@poorquentyn) and Wendy (@wendynerdwrites) and Jim (@warsofasoiaf) and all, as well as others who I don’t think have tumblrs (or I don’t know them) but are excellent folk. And I heard there was an unofficial party that night, thrown at the cabin of the Chicago boys (who I don’t know actually), same as last year, so I headed down that way. This year the party was in support of one of their fellows who’s getting married, a Stag and Doe party, with raffle tickets and games, so it was extra fun, besides the drinking and all. :)

Picked up a raffle package that included a blue rose flower crown, and had a moment when I met Tara (@ageeksaga) and she thought I was Wendy, lol. I was like, nope, sorry, I’m the other short brunette Jewish fandom fave from tumblr who’s dating a guy named Jim. (And who sometimes wears blue rose flower crowns.) She was tired, it’s hard getting this con ready, I didn’t blame her at all, but lol. :)  Also at the party was Michael (@1000eyesandone) and his wife Adrienne, who are awesome people who I met at last year’s con, and ended up hanging around a lot with this year. Anyway, after a night of drinks and meeting people and drinking and chatting and drinking and games and drinking and winning tickets and putting them in the raffle prize choices (there were many cool prizes but only a few that I really wanted so I put most of my tickets in those), they had the raffle, about 1am I think, and I won a prize! Woo, chocolate and popcorn and bath bombs and other relaxing things. And then I was tired so walked back to the lodge with a bunch of other people, did a tiny tumblr update, and collapsed into bed.

4/27, Friday: The con officially opened today, and I got up late but made it to the second half of the ice breaker opening thing. They had the bingo where you’re supposed to find people who meet the qualifications for the bingo square (newbie to @iceandfirecon, newbie to cons in general, prefer direwolves to dragons or vice versa, have a particular fave house, are a shipper - I volunteered a lot for that one, and so on), and also that game where you have a name on your forehead and you have to guess who it is (I was Janos Slynt, joy), and I met some very neat people. Then I went down by the lake (or creek, I guess?) for my picture with a wolf! And here, some more pictures:

Logan is such a good boy. :)

Caught lunch with Wendy and Jim and Michael and Adrienne, then I went to the Q&A panel given by the Ironwood Wolves people, where they talked about the education work they do with their ambassador wolves, and what wolf behavior is like, and all that interesting stuff (watch the video, there’s a sweet sleepy wolf in it). Got some pictures of the lake, went to the History of Westeros meetup for a bit (I have a processing thing with podcasts so I can’t listen to them, but Ashaya and Aziz are the most excellent people), and soon it was time for the @asoiafuniversity meetup panel with me and Emmett.

Alas, we were up against Quiplash in the big conference room, and I don’t think the schedule was that clear unfortunately, so we didn’t have many people showing. (Unlike last year where we got a pretty good crowd!) But for those who did come, we explained what we do, and discussed some meta topics, and it was really nice. Then I caught the end of Quiplash, which is kind of a Cards Against Humanity -type online party game where you write the answers and the audience votes... well, it’s fun, and I got to be in the last answer panel, and even had an answer some people liked. :)

Went over to the vendor room and saw so many gorgeous things, ASOIAF art and statuettes and cloaks and such, but the only thing I bought was butterfly fairy wing earrings. (Which I think takes my number of butterfly earrings up to... 10 maybe? I have a lot.) Then as it was starting to get dark I went back to my room and got ready for Shabbos (had the room key situation arranged with the hotel staff, since my Jim wasn’t at the con), and then... it was time for IaFcon’s first musical!

Inspired by the awesome performance of Tara and Brian last year in D&D’s “You’re Welcome”, this year the crew put on WESTEROS, a tribute/parody of Hamilton. And oh my gosh it was sooo good. You should watch it, honest. (@draganchitsa, I spent half the time thinking of you.) Of course the costumes and casting were excellent, and there were some truly fantastic lines, all telling the KL story from the start of AGOT to the Battle of the Blackwater... Including one last song for the shippers among us, heehee, oh gosh I was covering my face and blushing the whole time. :) :) :)

Then dinner with Wendy and Jim and Emmett, then back to the con room for karaoke. :D  As it was Shabbos I didn’t perform myself (didn’t want to deal with not using the mic and stuff), but I sang along with everybody, including when Michael did Head Like a Hole to the music of Call Me Maybe, which was hilarious. ;) That ended about midnight, and I headed back for sleep, as big day Saturday... or should I call it... Weirwood Day!

4/28, Saturday: Got up early(-ish) to get my weirwood tree costume ready. :) My makeup, since I’m not that often a cosplayer (like almost never), took a while (took forever, didn’t get to two panels I wanted to see, thankfully they’re on youtube now), and I had a panel I was actually on at 1pm and I still hadn’t put the bloody tears on at almost 12:30... So I dressed up and wigged up and leafed up, and headed out, got stopped on the way for a picture, got to the panel just a wee bit late... but still, it was an excellent panel, all about the animal symbolism in ASOIAF, lots of discussion of direwolves and how they interrelate to the Stark kids; as well as other houses, dragons, lions, krakens, bears, birds, trout... all that sort of thing. The panel’s up here on youtube if you want to see me as a white-and-red dorkus talking about direwolves. :)

Then there was the tourney, outside, which looked awesome, but it was coooold out and I still wasn’t quite done with my costume, so I went back to my room and had lunch and got finished up (occasionally glancing out the window since my lodge room had a tiny corner of a view of the tourney field), and finally... finally I was ready. :D 

Headed toward the con rooms with a big backpack full of art books for my panel (that was going to be after the costume parade, and I so didn’t want to go back and forth), as well as my bag full of ravens. :D   On the way, had a selfie with Ashaya (@buskerlenny), who had an excellent Danelle Lothston costume. Made it in time to catch the end of Emmett and Silas’s panel on Lovecraft Mythos and ASOIAF, listening while I checked that my leaves and ravens were all arranged properly. (Next time safety pins maybe?) And soon other cosplayers started coming in, including the lovely older lady who was such a perfect Old Nan last year -- this year she was the Ghost of High Heart, with a weirwood-print dress, and she was delighted to see me. :D  She had a photo taken with her sitting and me standing (as a tree) behind her, which I haven’t seen but hope shows up one of these days, it should be so neat.

And then the costume parade! So many amazing costumes, so much fun. While we were waiting to line up, I actually started tearing up (because of my contacts, eyeliner, mascara, god knows), but consensus among those who looked at me that it really didn’t hurt my makeup much and really fit the crying-tree look? so hey. :)  Last year in the parade people stopped to do performances, but this year they separated out the performances till after the parade (and the voting only for that), so it moved pretty quickly. But I got a lot of applause for my weirwood, especially when I lifted up my “branches” with the ravens on them. And I heard someone say that if they had been doing voting, I probably would have won, which is really really nice. :D :D :D

Then I sat down for the performances, and oh my gosh. There was a Rohanne vs. Dunk rap battle (with shoutout to Jaime/Brienne lol), a Brienne vs bear fight (set to the Bear and the Maiden Fair of course), Chloe did a parody of Free Fallin’ (with Lyanna and Ashara themes *wince*), and there was Michael as Tom O’Sevens singing Edmure’s Floppy Fish song that had everybody lol’ing... but the room went dead quiet in awe for Septon Meribald’s Broken Man speech. Damn. (And yeah, I cried some more.)

Group photo time!

All these amazing people. :) I’m kind of easy to find, though, lol.

And then there was my and Ashaya’s panel on the history of ASOIAF fanart, also with artists @sanrixian and @palewhiterabbit. It went really well, I think, lots of cool info... I brought my Art of Ice and Fire books, the D&E graphic novels, and some @kallielef and bubug prints (also one of @chaouenmadrid’s sansan books), Ashaya had Draw ‘Em With the Pointy End and another art book... but alas, we were up against the trivia contest in the big conference room, so again not that much of a crowd. (Someone asked me if I was cross-scheduled because Emmett and Wendy and I won trivia last year, idk lol, other people won too.) But anyway, the people who were there for the panel seemed to like it a lot -- not sure if it was filmed, but if it was I’ll put up the video eventually. Or maybe I could write down my mental notes, if you like.

Afterwards, I headed back to my room for dinner, and when Shabbos was over I took a few selfies (including some duckfaces for Kelly Sue DeConnick, whose costume inspired mine), and then washed up. Because party time!

(me and Wendy, at the party - I’m wearing little bird earrings and this tshirt)

I have few mental notes for the Flea Bottom Fete, alas. Just that it was a hell of a lot of fun, tons of great music (having a convo in the hallway, “oh wait this is my song, gotta dance”), people’s party cosplays were hilarious -- I recall Michael’s punk Bloodraven, there was a group of sexy Greyjoys, Tara had party Cersei, a bunch of girls came with a Qarth dress theme, and of course there was stripper RobbWind... and, well, there was a bar. :)  (And also someone brought macarons, nom nom nom.)

4/29, Sunday: I had to check out by noon. I had a panel to give at noon. I managed to get packed up, check out, put my suitcase in the car, and make it on time for this panel, coffee’d up and everything. I consider that a grand success. And then in the very excellent panel (on GRRM’s many other works, with me and Aziz and Amin Javadi and one of the con volunteers I didn’t catch his name augh), I managed to actually sell a few people on reading Wild Cards, I think. Truly a success. :D  And then the closing ceremonies were lovely -- and the wolf puppy from the photos that were taken Sunday even came, oh my gosh he was so cute... but sigh, alas the con was over for me.

I’d left a note on the Facebook group that I’d rented a car and could take up to 3 people back to the airport for an afternoon flight, and a few girls had contacted me that morning to take me up on the offer. So that was a nice trip. :) Returned the rental easy, caught my short flight easy, and was back in Chicago by Sunday evening to watch Avengers and get dinner with my @jimintomystery. A lovely weekend, full of ASOIAF and friends and fun, I truly hope to do it again next year!

(goddamn, this is long. no wonder I never properly wrote up last year’s con report...)