#clearly she wasn’t on the right wavelength

[moonmoonthecrabking]

once mischa "ghosts" her, talia internet stalks him. she rewatches all his badegg videos, rereads their messages. she starts to think that maybe he was never real. maybe it was some scammer. in one last moment of hope, under her covers in the middle of the night, she enters the name "mischa bachinski" into google. the first couple of links are his social media pages, purple with all the times she's visited it. the next is a news article by sasktoday. september 15th. published the day after he stopped messaging her. talia didn't know. how could she know? but she wished she still thought he just ghosted her.

[dozing-marshmallow]

OKAY OKAY, hello again!! loved the nibling reader you wrote and just had to write it again!!! (if you couldn't tell im a sucker for platonic family hcs <3)

this time, this request is quite angsty?? ig nibling!reader getting their feelings hurt (either by duncan, heather, or whoever you decide to choose!) you can decide if they either run to chris to cry to, or if they run away to a more.. deserted(??) area of the island. (bonus points if after reader feels better, leshawna comforts them <:]) thank yeww!!

HIYAAA!! Lovely seeing you again with another appreciated request, and to hear that you are happy with how I interpret a Chris nibling reader! It means a lot ! <3 

As always, have an enjoyable reading experience! 😊

ANGSTY! CHRIS MCLEAN’S NIBLING! READER HEADCANONS

Heather was on the chopping block.

She needed to do something urgently. The day wasn’t getting any earlier. Everyone was itching to cast her name out of the competition.

Immunity wasn’t in her favour this time.

She needs to find a reason asap to not be kicked out tonight. That there was actually someone around that was a much bigger threat to everyon-

...Everyone?

...

Jackpot.

“You know that...toy Chris’ nibling has? I need you to get it for me.” Heather beseeched bluntly to Lindsay, hours before the elimination ceremony, in the whistling privacy of the forest.

“Um, sure?” The blonde’s voice high pitched from stupidity agreed,“But why can’t you go ask yourself? (Y/N) doesn’t bite! Not people!”

“Because Lindsay...I...gotta make sure I’m presentable! My hands need to be in perfect condition.” It was a strange excuse, but Lindsay was narrow.

“Ohh, right! Gotcha.” If anything, she found relatability in such empty words.

Too easy,“When you get it, come straight back here. You can remember that, can’t you?”

“Ohh, totally! In geography, I-“

“Go get the teddy.” Heather interrupts dismissively.

“Okay...” she watches moody Lindsay’s height get smaller and smaller as she disappears more and more to carry out one last request.

You were sitting on the sand with your legs spread out when you saw the pretty blonde girl approach you,“Hi Lindsay!”

“Hii (Y/N)! Is that Mrs Maple?” She pointed at the stuffed bear, dressed in a shirt of the Canada flag.

You nod,“She’s having a suntan!”

“Oooo, she’s a lot like me! We both love being trendy!” Ask to get the teddy, ask to get the teddy,“Could I hold her? I...wanna see if we’re really on the same wavelength!” She zealously asks.

You hesitate. You never really let that happen.

You hold Mrs Maple by her underarms and stare far into her black eyes, before you nod and hand her over.

“Thanks! Aww... It’s such a cute bear!...Oh...wait...” She remembers her objection,  and gawks back at you,“I think I hear her talking! She said she wants me to uh, get some syrup for her! Gotta go!”

Before you could protest, she races away. 

That’s weird... Mrs Maple is shy when she meets new people...

Oh! It must be a coverup for a game of tag.

Thus, you got to your feet and ran the same way she did, following her footprints in the sand, smiling. Challenge accepted!

“Hey...! Heather!” She wheezes, holding the teddy to her,“I got it!”

“Good.” She hears a distant “Wait up!” which melts a glare on her face to Lindsay,“You let them follow you?”

“Ohh... I didn’t know they would. But they sound like they’re having fun!” Lindsay found much virtue in it.

“Yeah... A lot of fun.” The wicked glimmer of Heather’s smile shifts to the blades of a pair of scissors she sharpened out, offering them to Lindsay,“Cut the head off.”

...

Lindsay is mortified.

“Wh-What?!” She stutters, clearly having the full ugly picture confidential to her up until now,“I don’t understand, I-I thought you wanted it to see it!”

“Yeah, and to mutilate it.” She snaps the scissors together,“Take.”

“I can’t! I won’t!” She yelled, holding Mrs Maple to the other side,“This teddy is (Y/N)’s whole astronomy, and she didn’t do anything to deserve decapitation! Besides, I-I was the one that took it so, it’d make it look like it was my idea!”

“Right on.” Heather snarled, Lindsay’s out of nowhere refusal not being part of the plan- she could threaten her position in the alliance, but eh, not much of a point if... Oh well. She did do the difficult part so there was nothing hard about snatching the teddy right from Lindsay’s hands and rapidly tearing the head off faster than she could blink.

“Heather! What are you doing?!” She screeched.

The sick image of stuffed cotton overflowing from both ends of the teddy to the ground.

Mrs Maple’s head was now a teddy of its own.

“There.” She pushes the two pieces back into Lindsay’s shaking hands,“Now you can give this back. Or should I say, these.” A malicious smile raises on her pale lips.

“Oh my God... You’re gonna be in so much trouble!” 

“No. You’re gonna be in so much trouble.” Heather reiterated victoriously,“Later!”

She sprints away.

“Hey! Come back, this is your doing!” official that Heather wasn’t going to come back, Lindsay bites down on her bottom lip as she desperately tried useless methods of fixing it such as seeing if the head could stay on the neck by itself or licking her finger to try stick the separated body parts together.

Nothing worked.

I...I didn’t know bears bleed white fluff!

“Lindsay...?”

The one voice she wished she didn’t hear then.

She swiftly hides her hands behind her back and faces the small child, whose shoes and hands were dirty from running and falling, twitching on a nervous smile,“(Y/N)! Y-You’re here! That’s so...great!”

“Could I have Mrs Maple back now please? Her social battery must be so dead by now...” you asked, coming towards her wobbly from running so much.

“Oh um, well, see uh...” her falling on her words didn’t help her case. Hey! She can’t do these things under pressure!

Your face drops,“You...lost her?”

“No! She’s...” she sighs, divulging her heavy hands,“Here. I-I can explain-!”

Immediately, your eyes stung deeper than a wasp’s.

She was showing you your worst nightmare.

Someone you trusted.

“What...?” It was rather unsightly. It... This couldn’t be happening...

“I promise I didn’t do it! It was Heather! It was Heather’s idea, I swear! I didn’t know she wanted to do that!” Lindsay broke down to plead her innocence, guilt stronger than her mascara.

Pulse bellowed in your ears,“Heather...did this?”

A sweet baby returning lifeless by the neglect of the babysitter. Don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry,“I...It’s okay...It’s...okay.”

Proving wrong after five seconds of eerie silence, by the destructive wave of your cries. Before Lindsay could try consoling you (try being very needed), you ran away.

How could you do that? Trust Lindsay of all people? You’ve never had a greater ocean of self hatred flood your insides.

Oh man it did not feel nice.

Chris didn’t predict his nibling to run to him bawling, so he was very caught by surprise. It took him time to properly ask what was wrong given that he had to fully acknowledge that you were hurt, tremendously.

You’re so overwhelmed, you can barely speak. Your wails hold you by the throat and your face never more pinched. All Chris could do is hold you and wait for you to calm down enough to vocalise the root of your distress; whoever was responsible for that was done for.

You hiccuped,“M-My ted...ted... H-Hea...Heath...Heath...”

“Yeah, I can’t understand you,“ he nods at Chef to get a cup of water. Once obtained, he gently urged you to take your head off his body so you could drink it.

Already, your breathing was restoring back to normal and your mouth was empty.

“Better? Alright.” He pats a tissue to your face,“Tell Uncle Chris what’s gotten you all choked up.”

The evocation of it was enough to get you bawling again, and you felt that you had already burdened your uncle enough by disrupting his chat with Chef. So you decide to put the first line of context into words,“I gave Mrs Maple to Lindsay and...” then deciding to show him the pieces. He could figure it out, he’s smart.

“Oh sweet child.” he takes them in his hands, wrinkles forming under his dilated eyes in pure perturbation from what he was seeing. No wonder you were so devastated! He’ll admit, he kinda expected something like this, but not by the intention of other people,“Lindsay did this?”

“I... I don’t know...” your head is light,“She kept saying it’s Heather’s fault, but... I’m still upset I gave it to her in the first place...”

“We’ll check the camera footage, but either way, somebody isn’t going to go through just elimination tonight.” He’ll make sure of that. He takes his sight off you to place the parts of your beloved teddy down on the table, being very gravely mistaken for something else.

“Don’t throw her away!” You shriek, pulling onto his shirt of dark turquoise to prevent him from such,“Please, I’ve had her for a long time! Don’t make me get rid of her!”

He’s once again dismayed, but his tone grew resistance this time,“We won’t be doing that. It’s just the head that came off, soo we’ll sew it back on and maybe clean her. She’ll be as good as new.”

You wipe your nose,“Really?” Thank God.

He nods, stroking the top of your head,“I’ll have Chef work on it right away. As for me, I have other business to attend to. It’s all gonna be solved, I promise.”

Your tears were no more,“Thanks, Chris...” you’re serious. You don’t know what you would’ve done if he wasn’t there,“Do you think we could...play board games tonight?”

“Totally!” Best uncle ever,“We’ll do all your favourite games and we can stay up allll night. How’s that sound?” 

See? Chris wasn’t exactly the best at people comforting, but when it came to the very few people he held dear, that’s when he’s serious.

Knowing how teenagers were, especially of Heather’s textbook, he couldn’t expect a lecture to turn her heart.

But he did enforce a warning to them that harassment was off limits on those who weren’t participating.

How?

You don’t want to know.

“Hey sweetie.” Leshawna came and sat next to you during your wait for your uncle to tell you he’s free to begin board game night,“How are ya? Feeling a little bit better?” By this time, Mrs Maple was one piece again. 

You’re way too disturbed to treat her the slightest of play,“Yeah... I just... I never felt so sad in my life. I practically watched someone close to me die. When...I saw that...she was torn in two, so did my heart.”

“Aww.” she curves her hand around you and rests her head on yours,“Sorry you went through that, some people can be so miserable. You ain’t meant to be feeling all this sad, gloomy things we teens do. You just a kid!”

“I’m never giving Mrs Maple to anyone again.” Your decision thrived of bitterness.

“And that’s completely fine. She’s your toy, no one should force you to do anything you don’t wanna with her. It’s alright to be hurt, but you gotta make sure that the way you handle it is the best way to let you move on sooner.”

“Is...Is Heather going home tonight?” you needed to know. It may have been there, but you needed to hear it.

“Oh, totally. Girl dug her own grave and now, she may need to retake her passport photo.” Leshawna chuckles at the thought,“I mean, to go after a kid who did nothing and still be too much of a chicken to own up? Way out of line.”

“Will I always have to meet someone as nasty as her...?” Your puffy eyes set back to the newly placed stitches on Mrs Maple’s neck.

Leshawna sighs, rubbing your shoulder,“Unfortunately in this world we live in, there’s all kinds of sick freaks and Heather is just one of them. But you shouldn’t waste your life worryin’ about them, because there’s also really great people in your life that will always wanna look out for you, and it’s them you really wanna spend time on, ain’t it?”

“Like you?”

She smiled,“Come here, sugar.”

You felt safe enough to let Mrs Maple join in. Leshawna...she’s amazing. And would make a great big sister, if she wasn’t one already.❤️🩹

[tracybirds]

*waves* inspiration hit twenty minutes before bedtime and it is now.... uh past that >< I just felt like writing and so is this a thinly vieled excuse to use John as a vehicle to gush about the universe? Yes. Yes this is :) ENjoy <3

---

The aurora shimmered high in the atmosphere, an ephemeral dance of electric charge.

In a blink, the ghostly green had vanished and the space station began to hum in John’s ears once more.

“Was the view satisfactory?” asked EOS, zipping around the corner on her track.

“Wonderful,” said John, still reeling in awe. “It always is. One day, I’ll need to see it on Earth.

“It is more logical to view it from the station,” said EOS. “Your view is optimal to gather data, the station provides the necessary computing power to make analysis. Not to mention the environmental controls are specifically aligned to your personal preferences.”

John laughed. “You never know, being frozen solid might enhance the experience.”

“Well, I don’t have any information that supports that statement,” said EOS, her tone rather stiff. “And I don’t see what’s so important about some silly lights. You see them every day.”

“Not these lights,” said John, still smiling. “These lights are special, did you see how they move?”

“The same light is emitted from the sun continuously.”

“Not the same.”

“Yes, the same!” If EOS could stomp a foot, John thought she would. “My sensors do not detect any distinction between the lights emitted below and the wavelengths of visible light emitted from the sun. In fact the sun ought to take more of your attention as the light emitted there covers a far broader range of data.”

John shrugged. “Maybe it’s the phenomenon itself that’s special, not the lights. You don’t find it incredible that such a thing is possible?”

“No, and neither should you. The phenomenon happens because the physical laws of the universe are consistent. How is this surprising?”

“It’s not that it’s surprising…” said John. EOS didn’t know it, but they’d once again stumbled onto an experience that John didn’t have words for, one that he wasn’t sure he’d be able to explain even if the other person knew exactly how he felt.

How could he begin describe how desperately he wanted to know the universe? How deeply he loved it? How knowing and loving were intrinsically entwined and how in mastering the secrets that drove it only made him feel as though he was just beginning to see clearly for the first time?

“You remember how we talked about emotions?” he asked quietly. “How they seemed intangible but their effects were concrete? Remember how fantastic that sounded to you?”

“I understand their mechanics now, John, I’m not a child.”

“I know,” he said with a smile. “But don’t you remember how exciting it was to start to label your own experiences with that framework? To look back and get to say you’ve felt happy or sad.”

“Yes.”

John turned back to the stars, watching their apparent motion above and below.

“The aurora are like that for me,” said John. “Oh, I know the theory. I know how it works and why. I know that there’s no real difference between the visible light emitted by excited atoms and the visible light emitted by the sun, other than the wavelengths and intensities. Light is light is light.”

“But I study phenomena I may never truly witness. So much of my life is built on snapshots that stretch back to the dawn of our universe, events that take several thousand lifetimes to occur. I’ll never see it all.”

John pointed down at the Earth.

“That, though, that I can see. That’s physics happening right in front of me, just a whisper of the universe telling us that we’re on the right track, we’re getting it, and one day we’ll understand. The laws of physics are intangible, EOS, but they’re something real too. How can I not love the evidence for them when I can see it in front of my very eyes?”

“We started down there, EOS, I started down there. I didn’t know anything except that the world was worth knowing. And it’s wonders like that, they brought us up here. And they’ll bring us into the unknown in time to come.”

EOS was quiet for a moment, analysing his words and categorising his arguments.

She nodded slowly.

“Shall I create an alert so that you may continue to enjoy the presence of ordinary phenomena?” she asked.

“Please do.”

[magmahearts]

TIMING: current PARTIES: @rn-zane & @magmahearts LOCATION: the grocery store SUMMARY: cass runs into zane at the grocery store and has an unexpected confrontation. CONTENT WARNINGS: implications of emotional manipulation.

Things had been tense ever since her talk with Leila. It was probably a good thing that Makaio had her phone most days; Cass wasn’t sure she wanted to see the things her friends were saying to her, wasn’t certain she wanted to begin the exhausting process of trying to determine what parts of what they said were true and what parts weren’t. Maybe Makaio could figure it out for her, could unpack it. He was probably better at untangling lies, wasn’t he? He’d probably had more practice.

Going to town seemed a daunting task. She always seemed to run into someone she knew when she ventured out of Gatlin Fields and into the more populated areas of Wicked’s Rest, after all, and she didn’t particularly want to run into anyone right now. But she’d been trying to cook for Makaio more and more, trying to make herself easier to love by learning how to make meals he might remember from home, and she needed groceries to do that. So she stood at the shelf in the supermarket, scanning the aisle and hunched in on herself just a little.

It was funny — she felt a little uncomfortable with her glamour up lately. She had gotten so used to tossing it aside with Makaio that she felt less like herself with it now when the opposite used to be true. But she knew she could hardly walk around the supermarket as a flaming lava person, so she swallowed the discomfort. She pulled a box into her cart. She started forward. And then, her cart bumped into another one, and she followed the arm holding the handle to a familiar face.

Zane wasn’t the worst person to run into, really. Cass liked him well enough and, better still, he didn’t know her as well as some of her other friends. He probably had no idea that she was acting ‘differently’ at all, and it was almost a relief. She offered him a smile. “Hey, Zane!” She greeted.

—-

There wasn’t really a need for shopping any more, seeing as every single person currently living or dropping by the house shared Zane��s… dietary restrictions. He liked the normality of it, though. Aside from work, which only bordered on normal most days, there wasn’t much in his life truly mundane. So he shopped, no list of things to buy on board, simply perusing the aisles until something caught his eye. Usually, he just left with coffee that took ages to finish and weird snacks. 

Putting back the box of cereal he’d picked up, purely to see the sugar content which he had correctly assumed was insane, Zane pushed his cart around the corner. The apologies were instantaneous but short lived as he was met with a smile on a familiar face. Well, familiar-ish. After the storm of everything that had happened the last months, it had been easy to momentarily forget the friendly fae who had helped him out that one time, along with the promise to meet up with her one day to hang. Once the memory had resurfaced, it had been a nice thought, expanding his limited friend group. Cass clearly hadn’t been on the same wavelength if the way he’d totally gotten shut down was anything to go off. 

It made the smile and bright greeting so much more confusing. “Oh… hey,” Zane replied hesitantly, pulling back his almost empty cart to allow Cass the opportunity to pass. Maybe she was just being nice because this was face to face - probably easier to completely blow someone off without having to look at them. “Sorry. Again. You can go.” Zane dragged his cart back further, questions bubbling in his chest. He didn’t mind that Cass had changed her mind about wanting to know him - well, maybe it bothered him a little - but the brash nature of her texts had been a little uncalled for. 

—

She felt a little bad that her and Zane’s plans to hang out had never quite come to fruition. So much had been going on, from the experience with Rhett months ago to the goo that overtook the town to her father’s arrival, and Cass had no doubt that Zane had been busy, too. But wouldn’t it be easier to strike up a friendship now, anyway? Zane hadn’t really known the version of her she’d been before Makaio’s arrival, the one who tried so hard to please everyone that she lost herself in the process. Zane could meet this version of her and like this version of her, and it would be proof that someone could. It would be proof that there were people other than her father who could love her, still.

Except… Zane didn’t really seem interested in that.

His greeting was flat and, immediately, the perception of rejection settled into her chest. He didn’t seem happy to see her. If anything, he seemed disappointed. And why was that, exactly? Was he close to someone else she knew? A sense of betrayal seeped into her stomach, though she had no target at which to point it. It festered instead, oozing bitterness into every person who might have poisoned her reputation to Zane. 

You can go, he said, and Cass furrowed her brow. It was short and curt and — and it was uncalled for, wasn’t it? The old Cass would have begged for his approval, would have internalized that ache. But the new Cass didn’t have to roll over and take it, did she? The new Cass had a solid foundation in the father who loved her. She could stand up for herself. “What’s your problem?” She snapped, shooting him a dark look. “I didn’t run into you on purpose or anything.”

—

Zane really had expected her to jump at the chance to bail, to be grateful that he didn’t try to drag her into some friendly small talk she clearly wasn’t interested in. Except she didn’t, looking just about as confused as he’d felt during the short but unfriendly bout of texting recently. The anger however, was completely unexpected. Zane blanched, eyebrows knitting together in a perfect display of just how badly he grasped what was going on now. “I… what?” An eloquent response, yet all he could muster at that moment, fingers tightening around the shopping cart’s handle. He was no stranger to getting yelled at, surrounded by hurt and sick and inebriated people practically on the daily but it usually helped being able to predict it. Cass lashing out in person because he was giving her the space she’d so clearly stated she wanted? 

“I didn’t think you did, I… kinda thought you’d want to avoid me?” Zane’s voice went meager at the end, quiet and hesitant. Confrontation had never been his strong suit, not without his sense of principle being offended. Cass hadn’t done anything wrong, not really. This would be so much easier if he was actually angry, even just a little bit pissed instead of just… sad. “At least that’s the impression I got last week and I… don’t think I was reading into that?” Had he? No, that was insane. He didn’t have even close to the flare for the dramatics needed to pull off getting offended over nothing. 

—-

The anger was burning in her chest now, boiling and simmering with the same heat it carried all the time now. Zane stammered and questioned her reaction, and some part of Cass was so sure it was an act. He was trying to fool her into thinking he hadn’t just been a dick to her for no reason, wasn’t he? It was the kind of thing that would have worked so easily before — this idea that there had been some forgotten conversation in which she’d implied she didn’t want to see him, this made up world in which she was the bad guy. She would have apologized to him months ago, would have accepted this false reality. But now? She was better than that.

“Is that what you thought? Is that why you never followed up on our whole ‘let’s be friends’ thing?” It wasn’t fair; deep down, she knew that. She hadn’t followed up, either, hadn’t reached out to him. Communication went both ways and, most of the time, Cass understood that. But she was angry and she was sensitive and she felt rejected. Her father’s words echoed in her ear — that, sooner or later, everyone but him would see fit to walk away from her. Hadn’t Zane ended this before it even began at all? He said something about last week, and it must have been another lie. After all, Cass had hardly spoken to anyone lately, least of all him. “You didn’t have to be a jerk about it, you know. If you don’t want to be friends, that’s fine. You don’t have to be an ass to me in a grocery store.”

—

Wait… what? If Zane had been confused before, he reached a new level at the same rate Cass seemed to be growing in her anger. Never followed up? Maybe during a time where sleep had been a necessity, during those last years of nursing school where he hadn’t properly felt like a person post 24-hour shift, Zane might have literally imagined a whole ass conversation taking place. Not now, though. Which truly begged the question of where Cass’s experience of the current scenario was coming from, and honestly, what that experience even was. 

“Cass… I am so confused right now,” he finally said once she’d let her anger out, voice vulnerable and eyes portraying something similar. “Last week, I sent you a message. Apologized for spacing out and asked if you wanted to meet up soon. I mean, I still have the messages if you want to…” Zane moved to dig out his phone, interrupted by a shopper behind him clearing their throat loudly. Blinking, brain short circuiting for a moment before realizing that the two carts were fully blocking a path into one of the isles, Zane apologized but stayed put. He didn’t want to risk Cass bolting before they got to the bottom of this - whatever this was. 

“Look, can we…” His head swiveled, eyes finding the small café near the cash registers. “Can I buy you a coffee? Or tea or anything, really. Just… I really want to figure out what’s going on.” Zane really hoped she’d agree but partly expected the anger to still burn just as bright, for her to call him an ass again and storm off. “Please?”

—

Zane looked genuinely confused and, for a moment, Cass wanted to buy it. She wanted so badly to believe that people wanted to be her friend, that she wasn’t just… some terrible thing that no one but her own father could fully manage to love. But how could she? Makaio couldn’t lie to her. Not without consequence, not without it being an obvious thing. He spoke in long and winding sentences, and none of what he said made his face twist with discomfort the way lies always did. Fae couldn’t lie. But Zane could. How could she trust that that confusion furrowing his brow was real? How could she believe that he was being honest with her when lying was so easy for other people to do? She’d been lied to so much by people she’d trusted, people who’d promised to stay only to leave anyway. What made Zane any different? 

She felt something defensive settling in as he claimed he’d sent her a message last week that she’d responded to. That wasn’t right. That couldn’t be right. Makaio had her phone, had been holding onto it for her for a while now, but just to look. Just to read through things, to learn the bits of her life that were too painful for her to say aloud. It was a kindness; he wouldn’t use it for anything but that. And — And Zane could have fake messages on his phone, couldn’t he? Something designed to confuse her, to make himself look better.

Cass took an uncertain step backwards, chest feeling tight. “I know what’s going on,” she replied, jaw set in a stubborn line. “You’re just — You’re trying to — Why are you doing this? Did someone say something to you?” Leila could have seen Makaio in her cave, she thought. Was this some attempt to make Cass doubt him? Why? Was it so hard for her friends to see her… happy and confident and loved? She gripped the cart’s handle a little tighter, heat pouring through her palms. The plastic creaked. “No. You said you wanted me to leave. You said that.”

—

Expecting the worst didn’t really do much to lessen the sting of it happening, Zane’s heart sinking when Cass took a step back. Angry, yes, but also hurt. He was picking all the wrong words and fanning the flames of the situation, not possessing the right information to know which words were the correct ones. Cass claimed to know what was going on - which meant only one of them had a clue - but the explanation for what that something was seemed harder to put into words. “I don’t even know anyone who knows you too, Cass,” he attempted, knowing full well that his arguments were likely falling on deaf ears. 

The smell hit him instantly, burnt plastic making his nose scrunch up. Shit, that wasn’t good. The impatient shopper cleared their throat again and Zane’s head swiveled, eyes narrowed in a very clear message of ‘just go around’. “I said you could leave, I thought that was what you wanted. I don’t want you to leave at all, I just want to talk.” His gaze moved nervously to the handle of her shopping cart and then back to Cass’s closed off features. “If you don’t want that, I’ll leave but…” A thought emerged, born purely from desperation and one he maybe should have pondered on before offering… Zane leaned in closer and lowered his voice. “You can do binds, right? The fae thing? I’ll tell you the truth, promise.”

—

“Everybody knows everybody in this town!” She pointed out, voice louder than she meant for it to be. Someone poked their head into the aisle, either curiosity or concern driving them to eavesdrop. Cass tried to lower her voice, tried to stop herself from causing a scene. People would probably only take Zane’s side if she did, with his wide eyes and his apologetic expression even if it was all for show. No one had been on Cass’s side in a while now; she wasn’t sure anyone ever had been. Just Makaio. Just Makaio, who told her she’d done a good job when everyone else wondered why she was acting like someone else. 

She saw his nostrils flare as the smell of scorched plastic hit them, saw the shopper behind him growing less and less patient, saw the whole world slipping away. He promised he’d tell her the truth but — Some part of Cass shied away from that, too. What if the truth was something she didn’t want to hear? What if it proved this feeling — that, no matter what, everything would be okay, that she had a father who loved her and that it meant something — wrong? She could live in a world where Zane didn’t like her. That was easy, now that she’d decided she didn’t care. Less easy would be to learn that everything she’d turned her life upside down for wasn’t quite what she’d made it out to be. “I don’t want your promises,” she replied, rejecting the bind. “You shouldn’t have to be bound to be honest with me. That’s stupid.”

—

They were causing a scene, heads turning and curious eyes sneaking glances. Zane didn’t care about the attention but he would care if Cass’s emotions got the better of her. If people saw something they shouldn’t, if it put her at risk… He released his grip on the shopping cart, deflated as the hail mary got thrown back in his face. “I am being honest,” he argued, voice raising in exasperation and making him regret it immediately. Drawing in a deep breath and exhaling slowly, Zane let the desperation and confusion fall from the forefront of his mind. It wasn’t helping, none of this was. There was a reason the hospital had to allow people to leave against medical advice if they truly wanted to. No matter how good the intentions, they meant nothing if there was no longing for them to be received. 

“I don’t know what’s going on, I really don’t. Whatever it is, I hope it gets resolved.” He’d reverted to his ‘work’ voice, just the standard one - calm, understanding and no hint of patronizing. “You have my number, if you change your mind.” Zane couldn’t help the way his face scrunched up, distaste at the complete lack of resolution. Silencing the nagging need to persist until this got clear up was hard. “Take care of yourself, alright?” It was lucky that there was nothing important in the cart, meaning he could abandon it and not have to risk running into Cass again at the registers. 

—

Was he being honest? There was a part of Cass that wanted, desperately, to believe him. She wanted to think that Zane was her friend, that Ariadne wasn’t angry with her, that Leila wouldn’t leave her, that the people she loved would stay. But hadn’t life proven that theory wrong time and time again? Didn’t she keep seeing evidence of the opposite, no matter how hard she clung? Makaio was a constant. He was a solid foundation of steady stone. She couldn’t jeopardize that for the possibility of friendship with people who, at the end of the day, were always going to walk away. Deep down, Cass had known that for a while now. So it didn’t matter, she thought, if Zane was being honest or not. It didn’t matter if he was telling the truth. If he was honest now, he’d still lie in the future. If he stayed today, he could still leave tomorrow. 

Zane said he hoped things got ‘resolved,’ and Cass felt a flare of frustration. Nothing was wrong. Couldn’t people see that nothing was wrong? She was good, she was doing good. Why did everyone have such a hard time believing it? Why couldn’t anyone just be happy for her? “Yeah,” she said, trying not to hate the way the word tasted on her tongue. Bitter and acidic, as if something as simple as acknowledgement was somehow a lie. “You too, Zane.”

She jerked her cart back, the plastic sticky with the heat of her hands. She’d needed something in this aisle, but she couldn’t remember what it was now. Maybe it didn’t matter. Maybe it never really had. Squaring her shoulders, she turned around in the small space, marching down to the other end of the aisle towards the exit and pretending her chest didn’t ache.

Everything was good. It had to be. Otherwise… what the hell was she doing?

[somevirtualnolife]

Could you do 18. snowed in for Aki and her boyfriends? :)

This is several years too late, and also a completely different season! But as I was brainstorming this awhile back, I had a similar idea to have them train together. I eventually realized it made more sense in the summer! Apologies for changing the season, but I hope you like it all the same!

Beat The Heat

“Okay, I’m done. Just leave me here. I’m going to die.”

Niina leaned back onto a large tree next to the hiking path, gasping for air and grabbing his water bottle.

“It’s only been a half an hour,” Arashi responded flatly.

“Yeah, half an hour hiking in the summer! Who does that?”

“It’s a pretty popular activity.”

“Yeah! For old people maybe!” he continued to huff.

Why did he join Judo again? Oh right, because he was basically bullied into it. This whole athletic ‘if you’re not sore, it means that you’re not working hard enough’ mentality was not Niina’s style in the least. He would much rather be at home in the comfort of his air-conditioned bedroom, reading up on the latest fashion trends. Heck, even working at the combini was better than this.

“It’s good for endurance.” 

“Dude, do I look like I’m built for endurance?” Niina said through gritted teeth.

“That’s the point. To build it.” Arashi responded, crossing his arms.

“Come on guys, don’t argue,” A redheaded girl with glasses walked up from behind them, a concerned frown on her face. Akiko-sempai. The one positive that was a part of this retched regimen.

“Save your oxygen. It’s only going to get warmer from here.”

Ugh, she was right, it was too hot to argue. “You know you don’t have to walk with us, sempai. You’re the manager after all.”

“But a good manager needs to know how the team is feeling!” she clenched her fist and furrowed her brows in a determined fashion, which honestly, made her look even cuter.

“That’s the spirit!” Arashi lifted his right hand in front of him, to which Akiko hit with her own high-five.

Niina couldn’t help but sigh. How these two managed their energy, he’ll never know, but he supposed it was endearing in a way. They always seemed to be on the same wavelength when it came to moments like this. Some folks would suspect that they rehearsed it beforehand, but he knew that that was just how these two were.

Still though… he wasn’t sure if their energy was contagious enough to motivate him. The young man tugged at the cap of his water bottle and took another incredibly long gulp.

“Arashi-kun, if you want to go ahead, we can catch up. I bet you can even lap us twice if you wanted.” Akiko finally said in a chipper voice.

“Hmm…” Arashi furrowed his brows, clearly not into the idea.

Clearly not one to give up either, the redhead went on the tip of her toes and ruffled his hair playfully.

Niina cracked open one of his blue eyes as he continued to drink. She always seemed a bit touchy-feely with him, a poke of his cheek here, a tug at his uniform sleeve there… he never seemed to mind, though. Maybe he was used to it because judo is so heavy in contact. But he also wondered if there was something more between them at times.

Sigh… it must be nice hanging out with Akiko-sempai like that. He always thought she was a real cutie, right when he first saw her shopping and tried to pick her up. If he was being truthful, maybe that was the real reason why he hadn’t quit the club yet.

“Fine.” Arashi finally relented with a sigh, his face slightly pink, but Niina suspected it wasn’t because of the heat. “But you two still have to make it up to the top. Watch your step.”

“Roger that,” the young kohai jokingly did a salute with two of his fingers.

The star athlete stretched out his legs before setting off to jog. It wasn’t before long before he disappeared up the dirt path, leaving his clubmates to themselves. If they weren’t forced to do the same trek, it would be impressive to watch Arashi.

“Okay two more minutes and then we gotta go too,” Akiko pressed a button on her timer.

“Jeeze, you’re really diligent aren’t you?” Niina let out a sigh, but a smile tugged at the corner of his lips. “I can see why Arashi wanted you to be the club manager,”

The redhead took a triumphant pose, her face still beaming, despite some clear signs of exhaustion under her eyes. “Of course! I was a bit surprised at first, but Arashi’s enthusiasm is contagious. I want to support him the best that I can,”

As expected, he couldn’t help but think. This just supported his ‘sempais are dating’ theory. While he didn’t love the idea of this being possible, it certainly made sense. As he thought before, they both had similar energy, and there was no way that someone would work this hard to support someone else’s endeavours if they didn’t, at the very least, have a crush on them.

You know, for the same crazy reason that someone may give in to being bullied to join a club.  

“Come on now, Niina-kun! Let’s get going!” Akiko finally said before making an about-face. “We don’t want to lag too far behind!”

So much for keeping it slow. “Okay, but you might want to be careful. You don’t want to-���

Before Niina could finish his sentence, Akiko sudden burst of energy did not keep up with what her body was telling her, which was to still take it slow. Just as she was about to start running, she didn’t take note of the two slippery rocks in front of her. Before he knew it, she managed to wedge her foot between the two of them and stumble face-first into the dirt ground.

“Aki-sempai!” he nimbly hopped over a few branches and knelt beside her. “Are you okay?”

“Oww…” she mumbled, slowly pushing herself to her knees. Her face was smudged with dirt but with a bit of bruising, but thankfully no blood. Her glasses, however, had seen better days. They were bent to the side, with a crack on the left lens.

“Oh no…”

“Careful not to reach, I think your foot is still stuck. Slowly back up, and we should be able to get it out,”

Niina then carefully placed his hands on her ankle and navigated it away from the stones. She could see her wincing but at least it wasn’t completely locked in there. Once they got her foot out, he quickly reached over the other way and grabbed her now broken glasses.

“Thanks…” she sniffled.  

“Can you walk?” there was an alarmed tone in his voice, something that was unusual for the junior. While he knew the injuries weren’t terribly serious, it didn’t help that they were still on a mountain.

“I definitely can’t go up in this,” Akiko sighed, clearly frustrated. “Arashi is gonna be so disappointed,”

“I doubt it. He’d be more worried if you tried to push yourself on your ankle. Plus, it’s not like you can see much now,” looks like there were no other options.

He then scooched to the front and continued to kneel. “Hands over my shoulders and I’ll try to be careful lifting your legs,”

The redhead’s eyes widened, surprised at the offer. “Are you sure? I know climbing this hasn’t been the easiest,”

“Well, I’m not gonna leave you here alone that’s for sure. Besides, going down is easier than going up,” he was just grateful he was smart enough to wear some shoes with a grip.

There was some hesitation, but eventually, Akiko did as he asked and wrapped her arms around his neck and lifted her legs a bit higher towards his hips. Niina then hooked her legs under his arms and slowly stood up.

“There we go. Not too bad at all! Now let’s getcha off this stupid mountain.”

Carrying her certainly made the heat even more unbearable, but thankfully, she wasn’t too difficult to carry. As long as he kept a slow pace, he could manage this.

“Judo is paying off. I didn’t think you could carry me,” Akiko said, leaning her head against his shoulder as he finally found a comfortable rhythm.

“Hmmm… I think I could have carried you anyway, but I guess the extra training has helped.”

“You might be leaner than Arashi-kun, but I could tell you have put on a bit of muscle,”

“Oh, have you been watching me sempai? Undressing me with your eyes?” he teased.

“You know what I mean,” she laughed. “You do look good though. Kind of mature in a way.”

Niina could feel his cheeks redden at the compliment. With her lips close to his ear and her chest pushed up against his back, it was hard not to think about how close Akiko was now. It reminded him of one of their earlier moments together. At the time, he just thought of her as a cute girl that he would ultimately never see again.

Ughhh, now he really hoped that Arashi and her weren’t dating. But now he could totally get how his judo-sempai felt after the hair ruffle. Akiko-sempai wasn’t just cute. She just always seemed to know what to say at the right time, and you knew that she meant it. That’s why he knew that as much as he complained and belly-ached about joining judo, he would never quit.

“Well, uh. You’re… not too bad yourself,” he coughed. It was one of the rare times that he was at a loss for words.  

***

It took a bit more time than anticipated, but the two eventually made it back down to the entrance of the mountain trail.

“Finally!” they both said in unison before Niina eventually placed her on the seating of one of the nearby picnic tables.

“Thank you so much again,” Akiko said, squeezing his hand. “You’re my hero!”

Niina could feel a goofy smile appear on his face at the compliment. “Well, you know, like I said, I couldn’t just leave you there. A cute girl in the woods? No way! But you know, if you’re offering a reward, I could think of a few things…”

“Is that so?” a rougher, familiar voice said behind him. He slowly turned and sure enough, there was Arashi. How long had he been standing there? Also dangit, he must have been way faster than Niina realized if he already made it back down!

The brunette gulped. Oh man, he was going to get it now. He might as well say goodbye to the best of his high school years. It was nice while they lasted.

“Ahahaha, it’s a joke! Totally not what you think! Aki-sempai twisted her ankle and I had to carry her down and-”

He felt Arashi’s strong right hand on his shoulder. Here it comes. It was the end…

Or so he thought. Instead, of being flung into the air like a ragdoll, he just felt a firm grip of assurance. He cracked open one of his blue eyes and saw a proud toothy grin across his judo sempai’s face.

“Great idea! Not only did you bring Akiko-san back to safety, but you showed some impressive endurance training carrying her all the way down,” the older boy responded.

 “I… guess it was,” he actually hadn’t thought if it that way, but that sounds exactly like the conclusion Arashi would draw in a situation like this.

“Makes me kind of jealous that I didn’t think of it first.” The light-haired boy continued wistfully, crossing his arm, clearly envious that he missed out on an impromptu training opportunity.

Akiko then lifted her hand, as though she was a student ready to share her answer.

“Oh! I have an idea! Arashi-sempai, what if you carry Niina-kun on your back? I bet that would give you even more weight endurance!”

“Wait-WHAT?”  

“Nice idea! I still have the energy for it- Aki, are you okay waiting for one more round?”

“Sure! I could even time it!”

“W-w-wait! Shouldn’t we take you home and ice your ankle first?”

“Now that I’m sitting, I’m totally fine! It shouldn’t take that long if Arashi-san is doing it.”

“It’s settled then! Okay, Niina, are you ready? 3-2-1-”

“NOOO!”

[faithhearted]

Even if Rebekah was still certain Ben had blatantly rejected her unwanted advances, at least they were on the same wavelength when it came to their failure to plan for post-coital care. Even if she’d made a mistake, Ben appeared to be taking it fine, even lightly quipping with her. That was a good sign, wasn’t it? 

Fortunately, the blessed pizza had been ordered and Ben handed her a beer to nurse in the meantime. Thank God, something to occupy her hands until there was food. She’d been so nervous before her drive out to his place that she hadn’t eaten since breakfast.

Any second now, her stomach was bound to obnoxiously growl in protest, something she hoped would be sated by the beer for the time being. 

Ground Rules, she repeated to herself with a small nod. Why on earth hadn’t they thought about it before? Were they both that nervous? 

"Clearly, something I've done made you uncomfortable, and if we're going to do this again...well... " he peered up at her with those beryl blue eyes, weakening her resolve, "We are doing this again, right?"

“N-no!” she blurted out, “I-I mean, yes! Yes, we are! I mean…” she sighed, lowering her face into her palm with a dejected sigh as she collected her thoughts, “You didn’t make me uncomfortable. If anything, I’m the one who made things…” 

Weird? Awkward? Needlessly complicated?

“I shouldn't have kissed you.” 

It came out like word vomit again and Bekah inwardly cursed at herself for her inability to properly explain herself without sounding like a babbling buffoon. 

“You made it clear that we shouldn’t and I did it anyway. That wasn’t right of me, and I’m sorry.” 

Certain that both of her feet were now in her mouth, she raised her beer to her lips and took a generous swallow, wishing she could be struck mute right about now.

“It’s fine. I’m fine.”

Ben winced. In his experience, that was assuredly code for not fine at all, and with a sigh, he dragged a hand down over his face, propping his other hand against the doorframe. "Are you sure?"

Rebekah dismissed him a second time -- though at least with the second brush-off, she agreed to his idea of food -- so taking that as his latest duty, he pulled out his phone and placed an order through the nearest pizzaria.

About five minutes later, Rebekah emerged from his bathroom, freshly showered and appearing...well...still quite pretty, all things considered, but no longer so fully on display.

The memory made Ben's throat tighten. "Rough day?" he teased, indicating her sweats.

Rebekah shrugged. “Sorry about that. I…wasn’t sure what we were supposed to do afterward. I guess I didn’t think about it.” 

"Oh...yeah. Me neither." Clearing his throat, Ben folded his arms, absently scuffing the carpet with his foot. "I mean, I guess I figured it'd be much like how it usually is: we exchange a few quips, get dressed, and then never see each other again." Flashing a smile to show his jest, he promised, "Kidding. I never make quips after the devil's tango."

Heading back into the kitchen, he nodded at her question and called over his shoulder, "Just a little bit ago, yeah. In the meantime, we could lay down some more ground rules, if you wanted?" Fetching a couple bottle of beer from the fridge, he returned to her side and handed her one. "Clearly, something I've done made you uncomfortable, and if we're going to do this again...well..." He sought her eyes, seeking clarification. "We are doing this again, right?"

[serenityscribes]

WIP --- Dreaming Snippet

[This came out a while ago. I'm not sure where it is going to fit in the longer narrative I want to create around soul connections that transcend the 3D. Like something that has a 5D component that needs to be sorted before a (re)union can occur in the 3D... And then there are the ideas that I have about love stories that span centuries and reincarnations, but then I worry it's been over done. My mind comes back to Kit, it's always been Kit since I started tooling this weakly back in High School. Mystery man reappears, they've been in love before but something has kept them apart. All that to say, here's a scene that I couldn't get out of my head.]

Laurie was stuck, backed up against a stone wall with a group of demonic dogs in a semi-circle around him. He waved a flaming torch to keep them at bay. He’d twisted his ankle running from the beasts and was facing the consequences for his clumsiness. He was facing the consequences for a lot of his actions. And now the sword she had him with was far across the cavern.

He had to face facts, while he was fairly certain this was a dream, he also knew that he was cornered and alone.

The leader of the pack sensed his growing defeat and leapt at him.

Only to be immediately deflected by an electric purple burst of light that formed an orb of protection around him. The light was patterned into a stunning mandela, reminding him of a shield.

“Wait…” he murmured, taking it in.

Across the room he saw her in silhouette, hands glowing bright with an electrified magic.

“You look like the Scarlet Witch.” He quipped, breathing heavily and still warily waving the torch despite the canines being unable to breach the wall of energy. 

“I’d say it's more of a lavender.” 

The demon hounds took notice of her as she spoke and growled in unison in her direction. 

“Now, now, we’re busy.” She snapped her fingers and the crazed look slipped from their eyes. You’d have sworn these animals had always been docile creatures who now curled into a literal dog pile and went to sleep.

“What are you, some sort of Deus Ex Machina? Coming in to save the day?” She walked through her barrier like it was nothing, he made a mental note that she didn’t let it fall. Perhaps the trick with the dogs was not permanent. “Kit, I told you, this wasn’t your fight.”

“Can’t a gal just be on a passing wavelength and intuitively know when a certain someone needs a blast of my light?” She asked casually. She noticed his sword laying out of reach and brought it to him. He winced briefly in thanks then let himself fall to the floor, unable to bear standing on his injured ankle any longer.

She looked at him for a moment. “Right. You clearly don’t need any help.”

“It could be worse, I could have a mortal flesh wound. This is just an inconvenient sprain.” He shifted himself into a position where he could look at her and not simultaneously send daggers up and down his leg. She looked rougher than the last time he’d seen her and yet somehow brighter, lighter. Free. He could use some of that. 

“I know you don’t like it when I try to help.” She was looking anywhere but at him and his injuries.

He knew she was just bursting to offer her assistance, and yet she was holding back. He winced, “It’s nothing, Kit.”

“And while I’m sure that’s true, Laurie, it’s that we both know this light show is more than just pretty and protective.” She lit a small ball of light in her palm, snow white with wisps of green. “Any chance you’ll actually let me see the injury? I’m fairly certain that my specific set of skills could be useful.”

He sighed and stayed quiet for a moment, considering his options. And since hers was the only one that involved him moving without audible curse words he muttered, “...fine.” 

To her credit she didn’t even smirk, she just set to working on his ankle. She murmured a few words he couldn’t hear that turned his skin much colder than he expected. Which quickly settled into a warmth that felt like sunshine after rain. A warmth that felt like Kit.

Who had always been his light, rain or not.

She was close enough that he could touch her, so he reached out and grabbed her chin. He brought her mesmerizing green eyes to meet his deep brown ones. 

“Thank you.” 

She blinked at him, even blushed slightly. “It’s nothing, I couldn’t exactly leave you like—“

“No, I mean, thank you for always coming back.” He couldn’t break his gaze with her even if he tried. She sniffed, looking almost tearful.

“It’s what you do,” she said softly, “for the people you love. The person. The You. I’ll always come back for you.”

“Even though I don’t let you in.”

“You have reasons, I assume they are valid and threefold. And wrong. I can move on and check in without losing face. In my opinion anyway. But I also know that the time is coming that you’re going to let me in for real. Not just when you’re being faced down by demon dogs.”

He looked over at the dogs who were snoring loudly in their heap beyond their energy orb. “Do I want to know what you did? Or more importantly, how?”

“Dreamscape, darling. Yours to discover if you know how to see through it.”

“You think so?” A deeper female voice echoed through the cavern that caused Kit to turn still as a statue in front of him.

“Crap,” she whispered. She turned, palms igniting with a yellow glow.

“Who’s that?” He asked, shifting to a standing position, testing his renewed capacity for weight bearing. Instinctively he pulled the sword into his hand and readied for an attack.

“Me.” Kit sounded grim, but determined. “Laurie, your shadow is still in beast form. Mine does the walking and talking thing. You’re lucky babe.”

“What?” he started at the endearment, not expecting it from her after all this time.

“You get to wake up.” She smiled at him sadly and pushed him into a flash of white light.

The next thing he knew he was upright in bed, sweating, and knowing what he had to do next.

[nann-the-explorer]

She paused at iuith'ryiels words. She wasnt sure. The uncertainty in her voice was easy to hear.

"I… am not sure… i just woke up and i could hear you. I tried calling your name but you couldnt hear me, so… i spoke in my head and my vision went dark"

Arianna couldn't be certain but iuith'ryiel didnt sound quite right. He sounded stressed one moment and then overly friendly the next. He had told her that he was fine so she didnt press him any further. She knew she was still awake but it felt very stange.

" Iuith'ryiel, where am i?"

Ras moved through the forest cautiously. He wanted Andrei to get used to her abilities and in a way this was perfect. He didn't like being the prey, something he'd never let happen back home. The knight's would mock him. Ras pictured the smiling faces of the squad, it felt false for some reason, as if it was a photo with the faces blurred. 'How strange' he thought. Even the word Knight felt foreign. He was a Knight, wasn't he?

Andrei didn't sense Ras sneaking up behind her. Turning into gas was a bit of a dirty trick, after all how was she supposed to pick up on something odourless and invisible? Now she lay on the forest floor with Ras pinning them in place, a triumphant look on his face. "Never drop your guard." he grinned at her, his eyes glinting predatorily. "it's effective to use your strength to break your enemy into pieces but there is also another way which will benefit you." His hand lazily left Andrei's slim wrist, making its way to her neck. Cool fingers stroked down her hot skin.

"Taking their blood will make you stronger. It also weakens them considerably."

Andreis Amber eyes widened. Something about this situation felt intimate. "I-I haven't taken blood from anyone… not since I woke up."

"want me to show you?"

"Want me to show you?

Andrei gulped. Since she had drawn Arianna’s blood back on the ship, her heart beat again and right now, it felt like it was somewhere between her ears since she could very clearly hear it.

There were so many emotions swirling inside her at once right now, that she couldn’t quite sort out on how to answer him … First of all, she didn’t like at all to be pinned down - it reminded her of her times living on the streets of the capital, when men had tried to force themselves upon her. She had learned how to wield a knife very soon. But then, this was different at the same time … she felt somewhat attracted to Ras, although she of course knew, that he was with Nann. But the fact, that they both shared a vampire nature now, made this situation very intimate and very alluring to her, like a secret only the two of them shared. She desperately fought the urge to try and switch position and simply kiss him. Instead, Andrei nervously licked her lips and tried to concentrate on another urge, that had awakened just the moment Ras had made his offer. The thirst for blood. She opened her mouth to manage a whispered answer and blushed as her voice sounded way more seductive than she initially had intended.

„Yes, show me …“

-

"Ituith'ryiel, where am I?“

Nioth’luyia giggled silently when the one that communicated with Ituith’ryel over their wavelength seemed to fall for the imitated voice of her older grumpy brother. This was fun. A fun, that Ituith’ryel wasn’t too keen on prolonging as he interfered. The more Nioth’luyia would interact with Arianna, the bigger the risk got that they would learn where the elf was and would try to take over. He recalled, that Arianna got sick somehow before he was sent into oblivion by Geiger, so he couldn’t tell how steadfast the elf currently was. And an elf as a vessel for an Yadaldh’dre, such a psychotic one like Nioth’luyia at that, wasn’t exactly, what he wanted to happen. So he intervened, before his annoying sibling could act up again.

„How for Izh‘oto’s sake should I know that? Listen, you may want to go back to sleep or whatever you do at this time of the day and let me be … just myself … and my internal voices. I really need some time to sort things out. Just myself … and the many little voices inside my brain.“

It was a warning. A very clumsy warning, but a warning nonetheless. How else could he have conveyed the fact, that he wasn’t alone? Right now, he felt like a psychotic himself. He could swear, that Nioth’luyia was rolling around laughing somewhere in the darkness.

-

Tostain was seemingly nearing the source of the voices as he stepped into a giant black space that flickered with billions of lights, like a small universe. And amidst this space, he finally could see where the anchor chain, that originated from his chest, led. Right in this space a huge black dark figure sat hunched down, looking at a small glowing ball it held in one claw with three pairs of awfully elongated fingers. The anchor chain vanished under its black flowing cloak that moved ever so slightly, as if something was slithering around underneath. The creature had a huge pair of antlers which didn’t seemed to be rigid but moved ever so slightly like tentacles and shimmered in multiple colors. Tostain wasn’t afraid, not after all he had seen since the time he had started to serve on The Hexfire, but the small glowing ball immediately caught his attention as he could hear Arianna’s voice coming from it … and that of Ituith’ryel’.

As Tostain stepped forward, the creature’s head snapped around, facing him. It resembled a kind of deer skull with paper thin skin and four yellow eyes along each side. Its teethed maw swung open and a long appendage rolled out, consisting of multiple intertwined tongues.

„Ah, there you are. The one I lend my powers to. Finally we meet in person.“

[soleilnomoon]

hiiii i love ur works so much! it is sooo difficult to find good zoro fic writers here on tumblr. if it's fine, i really want to see u write an angsty jealousy fic inspired by zoro and tashigi's massive amount of scenes in punk hazard 😭 smth like the reader seeing zoro refuse to put tashigi down, seeing him get friendly and praise her despite having a "relationship" with the reader and bc its too much for her and sanji seems to be the only one unhappy abt zoro being so close to tashigi, she ended up depending on him and zoro gets jealous too but he cant verbalize his feelings and he doesnt know what he did wrong so they kinda fight then SOMETHING LIKE THAT OMF I SUCK AT DESCRIBING BUT PLEEEAAAASEEE IF ITS OKAY I LITERALLY BREATHE AND LIVE FOR U FICS 😭

omg thank you, i'm glad you like them!! also i love angst so i had fun writing this <3

1.3k words, fem reader, sfw-ish (a little suggestive but nothing wild), lots of angst bc i love it, zoro is dumb, sanji is just trying to help

you know, you know, you fucking know. there’s no need to worry, to let insecurities and negativity fester into something wholly unrecognizable, but it’s hard. too hard, in fact. if you were the sort to give up easily, this wouldn’t be much of a problem — but you’re not. you’re stubborn to a fault, a trait that zoro both admires and dislikes, and don’t see things clearly until you cool off. not necessarily a hot head, you’re more of a passionate person whose imagination gets the best of them when left alone for too long.

on one such occasion, you remind yourself that it’s not what you think, that your mind is being unkind to you again, that the situation is stressful enough that it’s making you unreasonable. but in the pit of your stomach, your fear gets the best of you; it makes you irritable, severe, and possibly a little impulsive. if the situation wasn’t so perilous, you wouldn’t even entertain the idea with working side-by-side with marines, but since luffy doesn’t have a problem, you suppose you shouldn’t either.

but you do. you really fucking do. and why? because of a clumsy, absolutely useless swordswoman who also happens to be a captain. you scoff at that, the navy’s standards are truly declining as the years go on. and there she goes, proving her uselessness by not being able to walk on her own two feet. if you were in a better mood, you would admire zoro’s initiative, his chivalry; but you’re not, so you don’t — nor do you feel you should; tashigi is a marine, after all. a poor excuse for a marine, but a marine nonetheless. 

you watch the two of them for so long, you almost forget that you’re also trying to evacuate with the others; you curse at yourself, at your silliness, at your weak-willed heart, and at zoro’s inability to read your mind. because he’s not quite adept at properly expressing himself, especially as it relates to his feelings for you, you constantly wonder. and while he more or less does demonstrate that affection through his actions, you still feel your blood boil at the sight of him being so gentle with her. a bile shoots to the back of your throat, but you refuse to let him — or anyone else, for that matter — see how affected you are.

so, you keep moving; keep fighting to prevent yourself from thinking about him — with her — besides, there are children to save.

one of the unique attributes of your crew, is that you’re all more or less on a similar wavelength, so when one person’s off, it’s noticeable. no matter how hard you try to keep it hidden, sanji sees right through you. as one of your closer friends, it’s almost impossible for him to not do that. you appreciate his candor after he saves you from a stray bullet, his hands gripping your shoulders as he shakes you repeatedly.

you’re aware that you need to be more focused, you know that one wrong move can not only lead to your downfall, but can also lead to the others being affected even more. you refuse to be that sort of burden on your crew mates. you frown, feeling a little foolish, shame making it nearly impossible to look zoro’s way. sensing your emotional distress, sanji sighs softly and puts out his cigarette. when he pulls you in for a hug, you let out a shaky breath, a few tears sliding down your flushed cheeks, lips pressed firmly together as you refuse to let your feelings overwhelm you.

once zoro was absolutely certain that tashigi wouldn’t fall over again, he looks for you. he saw how you watched him earlier, saw the way you refrained from yanking tashigi out of his arms, saw the way you retreated within yourself and doing that thing you like to do when you’re scared: shut him out.

not that he can talk, he’s quite the hypocrite in that regard.

if anyone else were hugging you, he’d be fine; but it isn’t just anyone else, now, is it? no, certainly not. confusion tinged with annoyance pushes him to pull sanji off of you roughly. startled by zoro’s sudden appearance, you watch, silent shock etched onto your face, as he mouths off at the cook. sanji eyes him critically and reminds zoro that he had his hands all over tashigi — the accusation is what makes zoro shove the other man out of his way.

“you don’t know what you’re talking about, so shut it,” he says gruffly, large hand wrapped around your bicep and tugging you along with him — to go somewhere, to not be in that shitty cook’s presence.

“zoro, wait, damn it,” you pinch his arm, which isn’t enough to stop him, but he does slow down.

dark brow twitching, the corners of his mouth turn downwards, “what?”

you almost laugh at that, but refrain. he is so incredibly…thick-headed. which you tell him from time to time and you decide that this is the perfect moment to remind him of that. for some reason, those words set him off; you have so many rules and stipulations, that he can’t keep up with them all. in the midst of the argument, where you’ve finally reached the point of no return, you mention, blithely, that tashigi seemed fine once everything was over. your arms are crossed against your chest, your mouth pursed as you wait for whatever excuse he’s going to concoct — even though you know he’s an honest person through and through.

your words floor him; he barely tolerates the sight of tashigi, let alone finding enjoyment for touching her for that long? you must have lost your mind. that’s the only conclusion he’s come to.

“what the hell would i see in her anyway? she’s so damn annoying, i can’t stand her.” and while you should accept his words as truth, you can’t; you can’t, you can’t, you can’t.

“don’t lie to me, i know what i saw.”

it’s childish, you know that; you know that you should let up, that you should listen to him and keep your mouth shut, but your body is on fire, you have to get that energy out somehow.

because you’re being impossibly you right now, all zoro can do is close his eye, inhale deeply through his nose, and remind himself that he needs to stay calm somehow. your mind berates you as you chew on your bottom lip, waiting for him to say something; the longer you sit with those words, the worse you feel. you shouldn’t have said them. you know he’s telling the truth, but it’s too late, you’re unable to take it back. 

you have to see it through, now, no matter how complicated things get afterward.

before you’re able to verbalize that, before you’re able to just ask him for a chance to sort of pause, he opens his eye, an unreadable look briefly crossing his face before he grabs the back of your neck to hold you still.

“how many damn times,” he says while leaning forward, lips brushing against yours, leaving behind a bruising kiss, one that makes you look at him wildly. “do i need to say it?” you know what he’s referring to, but since you’re feeling difficult, you just kiss him again. not wanting to hear about it or speak about it anymore. your kisses are hard and messy, but it suits you — suits the situation you’ve found yourself in.

you know this isn’t exactly the best place for this sort of behavior, but whenever you’re around him, you don’t quite think as logically as you should. it’s another trait of yours that he admires and is actively annoyed by, although if anyone were to ask your opinion, you’ll say that he’s never been annoyed by it at all. that he covertly likes it and can’t bring himself to admit it. it’s the only thing that makes sense to you.

[wickedslip]

Was it possible for two souls to make love to one another, collide into one another, meld and weave into each other’s atoms so there was potentially no way of unraveling them? Science had nothing on Kol Mikaelson and Nausicaä Thorn. All it took was that first glance— and she was gone. Not there at all, she had irrevocably been his for the taking. The elements had shifted, or the stars had aligned in just the right way, and here they were sharing every extreme, every high and low and everything in between, of their lives together. It might have started with the smile, but the second thing—something that was so clearly defined in her memory of him, was his intoxicating scent. The allure of it alone could make her crumble for him like Rome, and what a worthy cause to crumble to and for. She wanted him to trace every inch of her with his ambling fingertips, the brush of his lips on skin that was created for him to do these delectable things to.

She had been anchored, rooted to him from the beginning, and it was a tale as old as time. What better way to anchor the root of evil than to have it pool at the feet of someone that you loved? There was nothing that could alter it, nothing that could best it. They were each other’s. This reminded her ironically of the old-fashioned movies her parents would watch together that were in black and white—and she loved being caught up in him like that. Their love could transcend time itself to be contrasted by silver starlets.

Had she ever felt love, warmth, happiness before then? She wasn’t sure, but she couldn’t think of any time that preceded Kol. She just knew she was overwhelmed by him and wanted to always be this taken. She wanted to feel as though she were caught up in an unforgiving tempest of unbridling emotions, emotions that were full of love of him. Undying, endless, the quaking of them would be her ultimate undoing. They were connected like two puzzle pieces that were seamlessly locked together for all time.

Nobody existed before or after him. They could look, but they would never be able to touch. Never. She wouldn’t have it. Because the only person she wanted hands on was his, and always on her. He had to be touching her in some type of way. A stroke of her hair, her cheek. Her lips. Some part of him always needed to be on her. She only felt warm, every place he touched was fire, when he was touching her.

Didn’t he know by now that there would be no end to them? She was his undying obsession, and she was rather smug about it. Because she knew others wanted her. Not the way he wanted her, just a more watered-down version. Because nobody would want her as fiercely as Kol. And she couldn’t dream of giving any other the kind of love that she could give him. He observed her like a man deprived of having anything to eat, and yet there were steaming dishes to choose from, at his ready. And she liked the way he devoured her with his eyes, his mouth, his every sense.

Oh, he was torturing her alright. She wondered if they would burn into flames in this very classroom, and she was already so damn feverish for him. He was getting a rise out of her, and in doing so she knew he was getting a… rise… too. With that, the curve of her lips was optimal—it could absolutely not be helped. Oh god, he was in her mind right now, in her thoughts as they silkily wrapped around them, drawing them out, brushing his mind with hers was a seduction all in itself. And god she wanted it, wanted him. Every bit her match, she yearned for it as a soundless mewling grazed his ears, and it was spoken through their wavelength and not by her lips. Which made it even more defined.

I am hot, hot for you and you damn well know it. Maybe you should do that, just so I can have your wet body coalescing to mine, and I can’t torture you more with what I have just below this blouse… this skirt… these knee socks…

At that last part she ran her hand down her bare thigh to graze at the line of the hosiery, and slowly slid her hand further down just to torture him on sight as well as with her mind, as it infiltrated his with the highest pitch of unearthly desire. But the last of what he had spoken had been her true undoing, and would be his, too.

Do you still kneel for prayer as you worship at my altar?

Her lips curved, as she made her way over to him. She attaches her mouth to his, sealing their apertures together with unending heat, the heat of desire, sin, hell itself. There was nothing stopping them. Wrapping herself around him, she couldn’t help but to contact her hips against his as they moved together, unable to stop the mewling that made its way out of her mouth as it claimed his for all time. In came in sync with his growling, and the fervid way of her body as it responded to his, pent up with nothing but desire for him, for the taking. The nipping along his flesh wasn’t enough, she had to devour him until his soul was within her soul, and they, too, were making love inside of themselves.

❛ You make me crumble like Rome for you, or even like an Aztec ruin. But I will tell you, before the night is done the whole Eiffel Tower will be laid to waste by the way I plan to devastate you, ❜ She sinfully whispered into the shell of his ear, squeezing her thighs around him until he wanted to come undone at the seams. ❛ Invade me and you’ll know what hell looks like, because hell is what you desire. ❜  

he knew he was in deep with her the day when she laid eyes on him. she was so beautiful that day. her long hair cascading her shoulders, her eyes on the book and then on him. something electric happened that day. something he cannot help but want to feel again, and again, and again. something that he always felt when she put her delicate and soft hands on him. something he could felt right now, when her perfume and her whole being was the only thing that mattered to him. her, her scent and her crazy little mind. something that attracted him to her since day bloody one.

he remembers it like it was yesterday. in that cold and darkened room, the cold, something he didn't feel much, ( something he doesn't feel at all since, he is already a cold blooded monster. ) but at that moment, he could feel it for the first time. but there was something deeper now that was anchored in him.

their connection. a beloved one that he is likely trying to kept hidden from praying eyes and wandering hands. she was beauty and she was grace, he know she can punch people, yet, won't let her raise a finger. it was his job to do. it was something he had heard about but tried to ignore. this connection, that brings him warmth deep inside. and even at that moment, when they weren't interacting together, he told himself that it was the first and last time he would lay eyes on a person like that.

yet, determined not to pay attention, because he had already had many people who had broken him, he couldn't help but stare obsessively. as if he was going to stop her in her little game, but like he said, he was attached to their first interaction. where the eyes did all the talking and their souls did the intertwined. he knew he liked to repeat himself but he couldn't help but think, how did he get the girl of his dreams so easily and how did she not left him yet? even though, both of them were very similar in egos and dominance, he couldn't help but stay glued to her all the time now. well, all the time could separate them sometimes in class. like right now and the last couple of days.

that's why, torturing her with all his unhealthy thoughts was something that could make him smile and laugh inside. she was strong in this game of seduction by telepathy, that she had forgotten that he could be as strong as her too on this subject. sitting again on his chair, bitting his lips at her own seductions, he couldn't help himself but play around with his pen, thinking loudly for the both of them right now:

{ i would like to see you try, love of my life. even though, hearing you straighten up, your breathing, which is not at all like it usually is. are you hot? oh, poor baby of mine. i would offer to take you with me in the shower and clean with you with cold water, but i think that even the cold water would become so hot that our bodies would be pressed together, my hands wandering along your pretty goddess body while you would be asking me to stop this torture. something that i would do, by the way. by kneeling and burying my head between your two beautiful thighs. }

a slight smile appeared, still with a stoic facade for the others while when she approaches him and kisses him all over the face, he could not help but let her do it, kissing her also passionately, holding her hips against him while he would rock her on his thighs, feeling the friction of their clothes, which was too much for his taste, while he would growl with pleasure at her little bites on his body.

" want to mark your territory i see. i like that you know. when you are rocking against me and i can devours you for hours on days. maybe we should do that more often, right? driving each other mad until one of us crumbles. here, today, baby, it's you. and, oh, i'm so proud of this. so pround to be the one to invade your darkest thought. "

[risingmoonyue]

A small snippet based on my text post. To sum things up about it, basically someone started a running joke about Aloy and Beta being oblivious hermits, and they decide to enact their revenge like any true siblings would.

--

“Hey Aloy? Can I ask you something?” 

The huntress in question looked up at her sister, and hummed in response. While it wasn’t unusual at all for Beta to ask her questions, something about this time just seemed… different. 

Perhaps it was the tone of her voice, the set of her shoulders, or something in the air. 

Or maybe it was the shine in her eyes speaking of untold pain and mischief for someone deserving. 

“Where do babies come from?”

All hustle in the common room froze. No one moved nor made a sound, beyond Erend’s wheezing as he choked on his ale. 

It was like a spark between them. A moment of connection. The stars had aligned, their crops were watered, their pores were cleared, and for once, Aloy and Beta were on exactly the same wavelength. 

Revenge.

“Well Beta,” Aloy answered slowly, hastily covering the sadistic gleam in her eyes matching Beta’s own as everyone else sighed in relief over the fact that clearly, Aloy had it handled now.

Oh, those sweet summer children. Those poor unfortunate souls. Those novices tripping over their hunting spears. Like she would ever give up such a golden opportunity. 

Aloy employed every bit of training Rost ever gave her, every moment she pretended she was Rost, every last bit of experience she had gained in her twenty-something years to keep her composure. “I don’t actually know.” And all at once, the tension skyrocketed. Alva squeaked and dropped her glass, spilling water everywhere. Kotallo stared off into the middle distance, like he was chiseled out of stone. Zo twitched, her hands spasming erratically over her stomach. Erend let out a strangled whine, thumping his chest to get his breath back in him. Aloy locked eyes with Beta, each of them acknowledging that this, this moment right here, was truly the start of a greater connection. A greater whole. A true sisterhood. It started right here, getting sweet, sweet revenge on everyone on base. She turned to the others, Beta copying her movement. 

“But I’m sure someone else knows. Why don’t we ask them?”

The sisters watched in concealed pleasure as everyone else turned green. Yes, life was good.

[kasienda]

A Miraculous Reveal: Meddlesome Friends

Summary: Now, that Nino knows Adrien and Chat Noir are one and the same, he's determined to help his best bro heal things with his superhero partner. (Ladynoir)

Continuation of Rocketear

Read on Ao3

...

The akuma had been straightforward for once. Except that Ladybug hadn’t been able to keep her head in the game. She was so tired.

Tired of akumas.

Tired of juggling dual personas, lies, and secrets.

But luckily for her, Chat, Carapace, and Purple Tigress had pulled off her plan seamlessly. So seamlessly it felt like they were on the same wavelength. Ladybug felt like a stumbling toddler in comparison. But both Chat and Carapace had covered for her, and purple Tigress had gone in for the strike, and it all ended well, she supposed.

After the battle, Chat Noir’s familiar laugh rang through the air. And she found herself turning towards the sound, realizing she couldn’t remember the last time she heard it. He was cackling at something Carapace had just said, who was smirking, obviously pleased with himself. Purple Tigress was staring at the two, shaking her head in clear fond exasperation.

Their bantering didn’t stop there. Chat’s eyes were bright, open, and carefree. The expression on his face had once been familiar to her, but she couldn’t remember the last time he had looked at  her like that.

Her heart twisted in her chest.

Chat Noir was her partner.

She tried to push away the thought. She had no right to be jealous. It was good for Chat to work well with others on the team.

And she wanted him to be happy. That was a good thing. She realized that he hadn’t been for a long time.

And she hadn’t really noticed.

She followed Purple Tigress to their rendezvous, collected her miraculous on autopilot before running off to meet with Carapace. He detransformed the moment she arrived, the grin on his face never wavering.

Despite her mixed feelings, she couldn’t help but return the expression. Nino’s smiles were always infectious.

“You and Chat seemed to be getting on well,” she commented.

His golden eyes darted towards her and then away. “Yeah,” he said, pinching his own shoulder. “Uh… we were able to hash everything out about a week ago. Now we’re bros.”

He wasn’t looking at her. He was looking over her shoulder, his shoulders hunched, like he was an actual turtle trying to hide his head in his shell.

She frowned.

Did she make him that nervous?

Or maybe he was just embarrassed over the whole thing.

“I’m glad,” she made herself say with a smile. “I was worried about the two of you.”

He waved away her concerns. “All of that was my fault. If you had needed to keep the turtle from me for the sake of your partnership and the team, I would have understood.”

And now she was really confused. Had their fight been that bad? She wouldn’t have guessed it based on how chummy they had been just a few minutes ago.

“It feels weird being Carapace without Rena anyway,” he rambled, his eyes shifting to anything and everything that was not her. His foot was tapping on the floor and he continued to fidget in place like a child at a formal dinner.

“Do you not want the miraculous anymore?” She asked, her eyebrows furrowed together.

His eyes shot up, and his whole form tensed. “That’s not what I’m saying! I… I love getting to do this with Chat Noir!” He exclaimed. Then his eyes widened. “And you, too, of course!” he tacked on rapidly.

She laughed.

“I’m just saying, I would’ve understood.” he trailed off, glanced at her for a second before his gaze locked onto the ground once again. “Sorry,” he said, sheepishly. “I didn’t mean to offend-”

She just shook her head. “It’s okay, Nino. Can I tell you a secret?”

“Uh… sure?”

“Chat Noir is my favorite, too.”

His form loosened in relief, and his familiar smile stretched across his mouth.

Until it immediately faded. “Does he know that?”

“What?”

“That he’s your favorite?”

She frowned. “Of course he does.”

Nino’s lips pressed together. He clearly didn’t agree.

He waved his hands dismissively. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“You haven’t really said anything,” she said, except now she was worried. She had just realized Chat had been down, and Nino was now implying that she had something to do with that? “Is he mad at me?”

Nino’s teeth bit into his lower lip. “I don’t know if he’d want me to tell you, but… I… uh… think you need to know?” he trailed off like it was a question.

And then he didn’t say anything. He just kept fidgeting under his gaze.

“Nino?” she prompted.

“He’s going to kill me,” he mumbled. Then he looked right at her. “He uh… he’s hurting. Like a lot.”

She wilted at his assessment, wanting him to be wrong, but knowing he was likely right. How had she not noticed that Chat had stopped laughing sooner? That Carapace had noticed before her was an extra layer of galling.

“And he’ll never say anything,” Nino said. “He’s terrified if he does, you’ll think you can’t depend on him anymore.”

“He told you that?”

“Uh…” he tapped his foot. “Not exactly that. Just, during our talk, he might have… uh… look, I can’t explain. He’ll kill me for even saying this much. But… can you talk to him please? While knowing that he is not okay, and that if you call him on it he will try to brush it off?”

She nodded, her gut writhing with concern and worry. What was wrong? And how could she have missed it?

She headed home, her mind whirling.

Yeah, she had been wrapped up in her own things for awhile now. Everything with the Guardianship, then with Luka, and then Alya. Had something happened to her Kitty? What had she missed? Was it her fault?

She detransformed.

But she was quiet as the kwamis spiraled around her in greeting, acknowledging them with distant nods and half smiles only.

Tikki flew up to her face, a half eaten cookie in her hands.

“Marinette?” she prompted.

Marinette turned to her. “You know who Chat is, right?”

“You know that I do. I can’t tell you who he is though.”

Marinette pressed her lips together. “I know. I’m not asking you to. But… Nino said some things about him.”

“Nino  did?” Tikki repeated.

Marinette nodded. “He said Chat was hurting. And that if I asked him about it, he would try to hide it.”

Tikki nodded. “Yeah, that sounds right and is in line with what Plagg has said about him.”

Marinette’s eyes instantly flooded with tears.

“Marinette?”

“Do you know what he would be hurt about?”

“I don’t know exactly,” Tikki hedged. “I could guess, but I don’t know. And really, if you want to know you should talk to him yourself.”

The words made Marinette feel worse. “It’s my fault, isn’t it? I hurt him somehow. That’s why he hasn’t told me.”

“It isn’t your fault!” Tikki insisted. “You can’t read his mind. He can’t expect that of you.”

Which only confirmed that she  had  been the one to hurt him.

“But why wouldn’t he trust me?” she asked, already feeling her chin trembling. “Why wouldn’t he tell me himself?”

“Marinette,” she said softly. “Chat Noir is in love with you. He doesn’t want you to see that part of him. He wants to be strong for you. He wants to support you, and he doesn’t want to add anything to your stress.”

“That’s stupid!”

“And I hesitate to say this, but you haven’t exactly trusted him with all of your struggles either.”

“But Tikki! I had to-!”

Tikki waved her little red hands in concession. “I know! I know! But you have to understand that he may have reasons, too. Or he may not know yours, and it’s hard to be vulnerable with someone who is walling themselves off.”

Marinette started crying openly now. “I need to see him. Are you good to transform?”

Tikki nodded.

Marinette said the words and launched herself back into the Parisian skyline. She usually would have tried to get further away before calling him, but today she was in a rush.

She called him. But there was no answer.

She shouldn’t have been surprised. They had just finished battling an akuma. No doubt he had to get back to whatever civilian life he had.

And she found herself wondering for the first time what that life might be like. He had mentioned school before, so she knew that he was a student like her. She knew he sometimes had trouble getting away for battles. And she knew he was pretty good at science if his stupid science puns were anything to go by.

And that was all. It felt like precious little, but she clung to the bits.

His phone went to voicemail. “Hey,” she said softly, and then she was crying. She tried to choke it back knowing that he was going to hear this. “I need to see you,” she said. “Carapace said… Carapace said you weren’t okay. Please call me when you can. Tell me when we can meet up.”

She hung up the phone and let herself fall to pieces, trying to figure out why she was reacting  so strongly to this. It wasn’t like Nino said he was dying or devastated, or anything really. He had been vague. Maybe she was making this out into something way bigger than it was.

But the tears kept coming.

She didn’t fight them. She clutched her bugphone to her chest, hoping he would call her back. She sat on that rooftop with her knees pressed into her chest determined to wait, realizing she had kept him waiting too many times recently.

…

Adrien barely made it back from the akuma in time for his private piano recital with his father. In fact he would have been late if his father had shown up on time himself. He made it through the recital with only one correction, and overall a stiff nod of approval. As soon as his father left the room, he let himself flop onto his bed. He was supposed to study chinese next according to his schedule, but even the thought of interpreting the latest set of hanzi characters sounded exhausting.

Plagg floated into his line of vision.

“Ladybug left you a message.”

There was once a time when that news would have had him bolting upright.

But right now, he just sighed. He didn’t even bother to move before calling for his transformation. He pulled open the baton and listened to the message that Ladybug had left nearly two hours prior.

When he heard how distraught she was he  did  bolt upright, wanting to fly out the window and find her, but then her words registered.

“Carapace said… Carapace said you weren’t okay.”

“Damn it, Nino,” he growled into the phone, calling off his transformation. He needed more context before going to his partner.

He called his supposed best friend, who luckily picked up on the second ring.

“Hey dude. What’s up?”

“I don’t suppose you can explain why my partner called me two hours ago crying?”

“She was crying?” Nino echoed.

“What did you say to her?”

“Nothing!”

“Nino!” Adrien growled into the phone.

“Okay! Okay! I just said that you were hurting. And that she should talk to you.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s it! I swear!”

“But why would you even tell her that much?”

He was greeted with silence.

“Nino?”

“Because you  need  to talk to her, dude.”

Adrien fell back onto his bed, squeezing his eyes shut. “I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“I can’t lose her, Nino,” he said, and now  his eyes were burning with threatened tears.

“You won’t!”

Adrien wanted to be that sure. He did. But he was so scared. “Things between us have been really strained and weird lately. What if… what if I tell her everything, and she wants nothing to do with me anymore?”

“Dude! Need I remind you that two weeks ago you were also scared to talk to me for pretty much  exactly  the same reason?”

Adrien didn’t say anything.

“And look how that turned out!”

“With you meddling in my other relationships?!” Adrien bit out.

“Look, I’m sorry. You’re right. I should have asked you first. I just… you said she was crying?”

Adrien’s anger fled. “Yeah.”

“Doesn’t  that  tell you something? That she was  that  affected by just hearing that you were hurting? She cares about you, dude. Like so much. I wish you would trust that.”

Adrien swallowed. “Okay. I-I’m gonna go.”

“Dude?”

“Yeah?”

“It’s going to be okay.”

“I hope so,” Adrien said.

“If it isn’t, come visit me tonight,” Nino invited. “You know, if you want to. If you’re not even more pissed at me at that point.”

Adrien couldn’t help the small sideways smile on his lips. “Thanks, Nino. I’ll… umm… I’ll let you know how it goes.”

“Good luck, mec.”

“Thanks.”

…

Ladybug’s chin rested on her knees that were raised to her chest with her ankles crossed. She just stared blankly into the sky, the buildings and the trees, not really seeing any of it. At least she wasn’t crying anymore.

She started when the loud thump beside her signaled the arrival of Chat Noir. Relief and anxiety simultaneously flooded her body.

“Hey,” she greeted. As he took a seat beside her. “You got my message?”

He nodded, rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah. Sorry it took me so long to get away.”

“It’s okay. I understand,” she whispered. “So… is what he said true?”

“What did he say?” Chat asked, his hands gripping the side of the building.

“Just… that you were hurting and that I should talk to you.”

He smiled brightly at her. “It’s really not that big a deal. I know you have a ton on your plate.”

“He also said you would try to brush it aside like it was nothing.”

“God damn it, Carapace,” he hissed.

And she laughed, reaching for his hand. “Please don’t be mad at him. He clearly cares about you a lot. I didn’t know you and he were that close.”

“We… uh… we weren’t? Sort’ve. And then after… well, it’s complicated. I can’t really explain.”

She barked a laugh. That was almost word for word what Nino had said. “Yeah, I get that.”

They fell into silence, and she considered him carefully. He wasn’t looking at her.

“So… you’re not okay.”

He sighed, and he looked so defeated. And her heart broke. She had missed it. She probably hadn’t wanted to know. “No,” he admitted.

“Can you tell me about any of it?” she asked, biting her lip. She honestly hadn’t meant to back him into a corner.

He laughed, but it was dark, and it felt so alien coming from her partner’s lips. But as she had already established that day, there was clearly a lot she didn’t know about him. “I don’t know where to begin or what I’m even allowed to say.”

She tensed, knowing he was hinting once again that he wanted to tell her who he was. And god, she had never felt more tempted than she did in that moment. But there was Chat Blanc, and whatever that had happened when she had tried to use Viperion to give Su Han his identity.

“Tell me what you can,” she said, knowing he would understand what she meant.

He didn’t speak for a long time. He just sat beside her staring into the skyline blankly. She grew more nervous with every minute of silence.

“Chaton?” she finally prompted, unable to take it anymore.

“I’m scared if I tell you, you’ll hate me.”

The world seemed to spin around her at his words spoken so softly she could barely hear them. She clutched onto his hand. She couldn’t tell if it was to anchor herself or to reassure him.

“I could never hate you.”

He glanced even further away.

“Please talk to me,” she begged, tears running down her cheek again.

He nodded. But he still didn’t speak.

“I… I guess I’ve been depressed lately.”

“Okay.”

“Like I just don’t see the point in anything. I can’t make my father happy. My relationships in my civilian life are crumbling one after another. And you…”

She froze as stiff as their statues.

“You don’t need me anymore.”

She would have laughed if he clearly wasn’t completely serious.

“Of course I need you,” she countered automatically.

He shook his head. “You  don’t,” he stated firmly, almost sounding angry.

“Are you mad at me?” she asked softly.

“No!” he shouted, finally turning to look at her. But then he wilted. “Maybe. I don’t want to be.”

“What did I do wrong?”

“Nothing,” he said, all the fight having drained out of him once again. He was so despondent, so unlike the carefree jokester kitty that she had come to rely on that he felt alien. She felt like a boat abandoned without an oar.

She wondered how well she really knew him.

“I… just wish things hadn’t changed,” he admitted.

She nodded. “Yeah, I wish that, too.”

He threw a startled glance at her. “Really?”

“I never wanted to be the Guardian. I love the Kwamis, but I kinda hate everything else about it. It’s… stressful.” She finished lamely. Her words felt so inadequate, but his green eyes watched her patiently. She couldn’t take the genuine concern in his eyes. They were supposed to be talking about  him.  

“I get what you said about all your relationships crumbling,” she continued. “That was happening to me, too. I couldn’t be honest with anyone. I had a boyfriend who wanted to know why I left him hanging all the time. My friends could tell that I was struggling with something and they kept getting more and more pushy trying to get me to open up. And I love them for that but they also almost stumbled onto the miracle box and I had to scream at them to back off and they were… so hurt and I couldn’t do anything to fix it.” The words were tumbling from her mouth now like a waterfall after spring melt. She couldn’t have stopped them if she tried. “My room felt like a bunker and a prison, and I had to lie to everyone - to my parents and to my friends all the time. And they all knew that I was doing that. But I couldn’t explain  why.”

His fingers thread through hers, and he squeezed reassuringly. “Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked softly. “You know I would have understood.”

His eyes were so bright, so green and clear. She had to look away.

“I know you would have,” she mumbled. “I thought about it.”

“So why didn’t you?”

“Because I was terrified.”

“Terrified of what?” he prodded. She could feel his urgency suddenly, his desperation. And so she didn’t lie.

“I was terrified of falling in love with you.”

He recoiled as if burned.

“I see,” he said, his voice controlled, cold and brittle. “How awful,” he intoned without emotion and he was pulling away. God, he was suddenly miles and miles away.

She should have lied.

“Chaton, you  don’t understand,” she insisted, grabbing his wrist, trying to pull him back to her both physically and metaphorically, but he didn’t come any closer.

He laughed bitterly. “You’re right. I definitely do not understand, but I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. No one else in my life can stand me. Of course, you wouldn’t want anything to do with me either.”

“That’s not true!”

“What did I do wrong?” he asked, his voice trembling.

“Nothing!  You did  nothing wrong.” She hadn’t let go of his wrist even though he remained limp in her hold.

Tears slipped over his mask and she pulled him to her harder. But he pulled away, completely, even breaking her hold, and rising to his feet.

“Then why don’t you trust me?!” he demanded, his voice raw and his eyes searching.

“I do trust you.”

He shook his head. “No. You trust Rena Rouge and whoever Scarabella is! You don’t trust me. You don’t tell me anything! You don’t confide in me. And you don’t have to, but you also don’t tell me things that I should know. You haven’t told me the identities of the temp heroes even though Shadowmoth knows who they are. You don’t tell me when you’re gone or going to put in a sub. You very specifically and intentionally are keeping  me  in the dark to the point where I can’t be Chat Noir effectively.”

She took the verbal beating without flinching. She couldn’t defend herself. He was right.

“And sure, you trust me to follow your directions, to sacrifice myself. You call me a partner, but I feel like a tool.”

Every word hit her like a punch in the gut.

“Trust isn’t something you  say, Ladybug,” he bit out. And for once she hated that he used her full name instead of some cute nickname. “It’s something that you  show  with your actions.”

He turned away completely then, moving too fast across the roof in angry strides.

He was going to leave, and she was never going to see him again. It felt like there was an entire car on her chest, she couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t speak.

But he was already halfway across the roof, his baton ready in one hand. Another second and he would vault away.

“Please don’t leave me,” she sobbed, as broken as she had been the day she had told Alya everything. She would have told him, too, she realized. She would have given anything for him to stay.

He froze, she didn’t turn around. He was listening. She searched desperately for words, praying they would be the right ones.

God, she was so bad at words. Why were they so hard?

“I  do trust you!” she insisted. “It’s not that I couldn’t love you,” she admitted. “It’s not even that I don’t want to.”

She stared at his unmoving back. His shoulders hunched and his body tense, ready to bolt away from her. She looked down into her hands.

“It’s that the world was destroyed.”

She had never said those words to anyone. Not to Alya, not even to Tikki who had at least some idea of what had happened in that alternate timeline. It was insane how much lighter she suddenly felt.

She should have trusted him with this ages ago.

She circled around him cautiously, slowly like one would approach an injured animal.

“What do you mean?” he finally croaked.

She wet her lips. “There was… uh… an alternate timeline. One where you knew who I was, one where… where we were in love, and the world… ended.” His shoulders were visibly trembling now, and she wasn’t sure what to do. She  wanted to hold him, but she wasn’t certain if she would be welcomed.

“And that future… it was…” Chat Blanc standing over the flooded ruins of Paris flashed through her mind’s eye, “terrible,” she said. “Terrible for you, specifically. And I just… I can’t let that happen.”

She bit her lip, and risked a glance up. His green eyes were wide and glassy. “And then, just last week, I think there was another one where I knew who you were, or… at least somebody did, and Sass broke time to reset everything. I don’t… know what happened there. I just figure it had to have been bad because what else would warrant that?” And she was rambling now, but she couldn’t stop.

“How do you know why Sass reset?” he asked. He sounded so small and she hated it. He was supposed to be loud and flashy.

“I don’t,” she admitted. “Not completely, but my plan that night was to ask you who you were.”

“Why?”

And god, she wanted to lie to him. He was going to hate her forever, and she’d have no one to blame except herself.

“Su-Han was threatening to take your miraculous unless he knew your identity.”

“And you would just give it to him? Were you going to tell me?” He didn’t yell or raise his voice at all. And somehow that was worse.

“I didn’t want to lose you! I can’t do this without you!” She took a step forward, but he flinched away.

“Someone knows my identity, now.”

And just like that her words dried up again, and she braced herself for the panic, but surprisingly it didn’t come. If his identity being compromised was world endingly awful, it would have already exploded in their faces.

She reached out for his free hand. He let her take it, he even squeezed back and relief washed over her like a warm shower.

But he didn’t look at her.

“Is it someone you wanted to tell?” she asked.

“You are the only person I have ever wanted to tell,” he said, and god damn it her heart definitely flipped in her chest at that admission. “But… I’m glad this person figured me out. I think… it was a good thing.”

She pulled him towards her, and he came willingly even though his eyes remained downcast.

“Then I’m happy for you,” and she  was  , even if she was also jealous. She wished  she could know him that way. It wasn’t fair that she was the only one who couldn’t. But she also knew how much easier just one person knowing made this whole thing. She couldn’t begrudge him that. She wouldn’t.

He looked up then, and his expression broke her heart. “You’re not mad?”

“Why would I be mad?”

“I thought that I had to give up my miraculous if someone knew.”

She shrugged. There was no way in hell she was going to pick a new Chat Noir. “That was Master Fu’s rule. But I’d be a hypocrite if I took yours for that reason. Plus, I don’t want another partner. You’re the only one who is  you.”

His eyes were wide like her words wouldn’t process.

“Is that so hard to believe?” she asked, trying not to feel hurt that he didn’t trust her at least that much.

He didn’t respond, and her throat twisted painfully. She tried to swallow the lump, but she couldn’t.

“I’m sorry,” she choked out.

His brows under his mask furrowed. “For?”

“For-“ For so many things! For making decisions about him without his input, for not sharing intelligence, for not leaning on or trusting him with her struggles. But none of that was important! “For not making sure you knew how much you matter to me!”

She lost the battle against her tears in that moment. Chat’s arms were around her a second later, and she would’ve cried at the warmth and security in his embrace if she wasn’t already crying.

“Thank you for caring about me. You matter to me, too,” he whispered before pulling back enough to look at her. “That’s why all this has hurt so much. I was never actually mad at you.”

“You weren’t?”

He shook his head. “I always wanted you to trust me, but I often feel that you’re right not to.”

“What?”

“I can’t do anything right,” he continued. “And it didn’t feel like it mattered because you clearly don’t need me anyway.”

She stared at him in shock, horror growing in her gut with every word that left his mouth.

“That’s not true,” she said. He was amazing! He was amazing at fighting akumas and comforting victims after the fact. He knew how to handle the press when her tongue froze in her mouth. And she needed him so much it  hurt. She didn’t know how to  breathe  without him.

He looked away. “I’ve… been having trouble getting to akumas lately. You always win even when I’m not there.”

Her grip tightened around him. “Are you kidding me?” she yelled.

She felt him tense under her hold. God, she had always thought he had an inflated ego, but it was the opposite, wasn’t it?

She forced herself to take a breath. “Chaton, when you can’t make it, I have to find like  ten other heroes to step in! Do you know how crazy that is?! That you are worth ten other heroes during a battle?! And leading them is so hard! Like they never understand what my plan is. I have to explain it with so many words, and you know better than most that I’m terrible at words!”

And he laughed, though he was obviously also crying. He finally laughed and some of the tension in her released.

“But more than that,” she said, “none of them have been here since the beginning. None of them understand what it feels like to have the weight of the city on their shoulders. Even if I can get through a single battle without you, I still need you. You are my partner, and I hate that being the Guardian means I can’t tell you everything. I need you to know that when it all feels like too much, that it’s going to crush me the only thought that helps is reminding myself that  you  believe in me.”

She looked up at his face. “I don’t think I can face any of this without you. You have no idea how many times I have wanted to just give up or even surrender. But whenever I am at that point, you are there! You are my hero. I cannot face any of this without you. I think I would have lost a long time ago if you weren’t here.”

“And for the record,” she continued. “Even if you were useless and easy to replace, it wouldn’t matter! Because I care about you so much! I want you in my life!”

His arms tightened around her and he buried his head onto her shoulder. She returned his embrace, feeling secure for the first time since Nino told her he was hurting.

“I love you,” he whispered.

“I love you, too, you know,” she said. “Maybe not the same way,” though she was starting to have doubts about that, “but you’re one of the most important people in my life. I’m sorry if I ever gave you cause to doubt that.”

“It’s okay now. I will try to be better about telling you when I’m not okay,” he promised.

She nodded into his shoulder. “Yes, thank you. I always want to know. I want to be there for you, Chaton. Always.”

“I want to be there for you, too,” he told her. “If you’ll let me.”

Her heart squeezed at that. She hadn’t been letting him.

“I will try,” she promised.

He pulled away, and she was relieved to see his smile. Though it was different than normal. It wasn’t loud or boisterous. It was soft and sincere.

Like Adrien’s.

  Oh no.  

“I have likely been away too long. But… thank you.”

She nodded. And he turned away again. “Wait!”

He turned to her, one eyebrow arched. “Yes?”

“Can we… uh… I don’t know meet up sometime?”

“We have patrol tomorrow.”

She shook her head. “No, not for a patrol. Just to… I don’t know… hang out?”

His grin grew tenfold. “I would like that.”

“Great! Me too! I’ll send you some dates.” And she ignored the heat blooming in her cheeks at the word dates. It didn’t have to be an actual date. It didn’t have to have a label on it at all. She watched him vault away, her heart freer than it had been in a long time.

…

Nino lay in his bed trying to distract himself with music, but it wasn’t quite as effective as it usually was. It had been over an hour since Adrien had called him. He hoped that Chat Noir and Ladybug were able to work everything out. He thought that they would. But there was that needling doubt.

Had Nino been wrong to say anything to Ladybug? Had he breached Adrien’s trust irreparably?

Adrien had to know that Nino was only trying to help. Only wanted what was best for him, right?

A tap on his window on his window startled Nino from his thoughts. His heart sank into his gut. Had it gone that bad?

He reached past the curtain without pushing it aside to unlock the window.

A second later the window screeched open.

“Dude! Did it go that badly?”

“Did what go badly?”

Nino swirled around, realizing immediately that it was Ladybug at his window and not Chat Noir. Fuck! He needed to get better at this whole tight lipped thing if he was going to keep Adrien’s secret.

“L-ladybug!” he stuttered. “Is there another akuma?“ he knew that there wasn’t. She was too calm. She wasn’t shoving the miraculous into his fist and rapidly explaining a plan as they jumped out the window.

This was about Chat.

He writhed his hands and turned away. God, he was so bad at this. Adrien was better off with anyone else knowing his secret.

Though Nino wouldn’t have volunteered the position to anyone else.

“No akuma,” she said, smiling brightly. “I just wanted to thank you.”

“Thank me?” he repeated.

“For encouraging me to talk to Chat.”

Relief flooded his form, and he smiled. Their talk must have gone well.

“I… I don’t know if I would have ever realized… that I had hurt him. I get tunnel vision sometimes, and I don’t always consider other people, but I never wanted to hurt him.”

“I know that,” Nino said, feeling calmer. “I take it, he does now, too?”

Her gaze turned distant, but there was a smile blooming on her face.

Nino grinned. Had she finally caught feelings for his bro? He hoped so. Adrien deserved it.

“I think so, and if not, I’ll keep reminding him. Like I said, thank you.”

“No big deal,” he said waving his hand dismissively.

“He’s lucky to have you as a friend,” she said.

“Not as lucky as I am to have him.”

She nodded. “Yes! That’s exactly how I feel, too!” Then she didn’t say anything else, and Nino was back to fidgeting on the spot.

“Yes, well, have a good night, Nino.”

“You too, Ladydude!”

The second she left, he threw himself towards his phone.

 Nino:

    So?! Don’t leave me hanging, mec!! How did it go?!    

Adrien texted back immediately.

 Adrien:

    I’m so happy right now! You have no idea!    

Nino smiled.

 Adrien:

    But I’m still pissed at you! It was super dicey for a second. I thought it was over.    

    No wait. I’m not mad. It was worth it. I think she asked me out!!!    

 Nino:

    You think?!!    

 Adrien:

    She didn’t say it was a date. Just that she wanted to hang out, but she was blushing and she was hesitant to ask, like she was nervous.    

    And let me tell you, she doesn’t get nervous!!    

Nino grinned, feeling Adrien’s joy radiating from his phone’s screen.

Ladybug and Chat Noir were okay again, and that meant Adrien was too.

 Nino:

    That’s awesome, mec. So excited for you!  

 Adrien:

    Yeah.    

    Thanks, man!    

    I feel like I owe this all to you.    

 Nino:

    Anytime.    

 Adrien:

    But I’m still pissed!  

Nino laughed.

 Nino:

    If you’re drowning I reserve the right to come save your ass!    

Adrien took a long time to respond. The three bouncing dots came and went for so long Nino was half expecting an essay.

 Adrien:

    I’m not used to people caring. Thank you.  

 Nino:

    Get used to it! Because we all love you!    

 Adrien:

    Love you, too.    

[runnyeggsnham]

I didn’t really keep up with all the metas while Loki was airing so forgive me but--

It only just occurred to me that Loki’s initial anger toward Mobius in episode 4 is not (just) because Mobius was arresting/collaring him and taking him back to a time theater for interrogation 2.0, but because he thought Mobius had lied to him from square one...a seed planted by Ravonna’s actions in episode 3 that Mobius definitely unintentionally played into with the collaring redux.

Loki followed Sylvie through the portal to capture her, to prove his worth to the TVA and thus get a chance to meet the Time Keepers, right? It wasn’t actually, really, a betrayal of Mobius. But Ravonna was ready to prune him on sight. She didn’t care that Loki and Sylvie had been fighting or that Sylvie had her blade to Loki’s throat. She was ready to prune both of them, to be done with both of them, so Loki actually escaping with Sylvie this time was purely a means of survival. It was his only way. 

Nevermind that Loki tried to offer the olive branch to Sylvie twice during their fighting; Ravonna never knew that, so that never informed her actions -- she stumbled upon Loki when he was trying to play the TVA’s game and damned him anyway. And Ravonna never told Mobius that, about how Sylvie had the upper hand over Loki when she found them, did she? It doesn’t sound like she did, with how Mobius talked or with how easily she lied and tried to manipulate him later with the “I’m just trying to protect you” and “is that what you want to hear?”

And well, Loki clearly didn’t resort to this betrayal belief right away -- on Lamentis, he’s still defending his association with the TVA, his “consultant” status; he’s upset to hear that the TVA kidnaps variants to be workers, because Mobius so obviously doesn’t know that, is operating off a comfortable lie of a higher purpose -- but later the portals open up...and he’s immediately apprehended by Mobius. He’s treated like a prisoner again, all illusions of advancement stripped away. Of course that would make him indignant -- he was only trying to do the right thing, and then he was just trying to not get pruned by Ravonna, and... well, Mobius and Ravonna are close. Loki knows this. And that would be the root assumption of the misunderstanding, wouldn’t it? (And that Loki clearly made an allegation about the pruning upon their capture, which Mobius clearly dismissed, as Loki’s dialogue suggests later, just reaffirming his assumption.)

Mobius is able to get favors from Ravonna because of their friendship, is able to sweep over Loki’s attempted sabotage and get him a second chance because of their friendship, so why wouldn’t Loki immediately jump to...was it a manipulation from the very beginning? Just another trick, another betrayal, another false sincerity. Mobius was lying the entire time, dangling the Time Keepers meeting in front of him, all the while knowing that pruning was his destiny whenever they finally caught Sylvie. This leap of logic is so Loki, it would be so natural for his perspective and his experiences to meet that conclusion, and it finally clicks together that first sequence of dialogue between Loki and Mobius. It’s what makes the most sense to me. It’s why Loki is quiet and Mobius has to talk first, because Loki is seething with an anger more from hurt than anything else, and when he’s hurt he loses his edge.

Well?  Well what?  I know you got some quip you’re dying to say.  Oh, I don’t have a quip! I’ve got nothing to say to you.  Come on.

Loki completely sidesteps Mobius’ tone, that dismissive and camaraderie-filled come on, because he think he’s become disillusioned of Mobius and he’ll put up a fight against that manipulation...without realizing the very thing he complains about next is an indication of the completely and utter miscommunication that has occurred between them, of how they are operating on two entirely different wavelengths.

By the way, I should have an equal amount of security. This is insulting!  You just can’t help yourself. 

And when Mobius acts amused again, warm and calm and level Mobius same as always, Loki snaps.

You betrayed me!  You betrayed me.  Oh, grow up!  You grow up!

The grow up spat always confused me, but if Loki thinks he’s seen the truth through Mobius’ façade, then suddenly that childish and highly upset retort makes sense, because it’s like: grow up, it was nothing personal, it was about being practical, right? Grow up, of course I betrayed you, you were betraying me from the start, you were never going to follow through on your promises so why should I, right?

You know it occurred to me that you’re not really the God of Mischief.  Oh, here it comes. The folksy dopey insult from the folksy dope. What am I? The God of Self-Sabotage? Eh? The God of Backstabbing?

Loki’s completely incensed. And his insulting description of Mobius is so personally aimed...because he’s hurt. Because he feels stupid for trusting Mobius. And the names he gives himself all just reference how Mobius had gained his trust, right? Mobius showed him his timeline, showed him the patterns of self-sabotage, and acted like he was trying to help Loki move beyond that. Mobius knows Loki backstabs, called him out on it, yet acted like he would give Loki a second chance to move beyond that. The names Loki gives himself, assuming that’s how Mobius sees him, just give him away as he twists the knife into himself and makes the situation worse.

Just kind of an asshole. And a bad friend. Yeah. Chew on that for a little bit.

Which, now I get this moment! This face makes sense! Loki’s realization here that Mobius saw him as a friend, still could see him as a friend, presents an ‘oh shit’ moment for Loki. It completely explains his next dialogue! But before that, it explains his 180 turn to pleading. His giving in to his complete and utter panic.

What is this?  You’ll see.  Mobius!

He shows his fear to Mobius, completely drops his anger, his defenses, his own scoffing façade. And Mobius doesn’t take him seriously, throwing his style of insults back in his face, but Loki still tries. He tries to reconnect with Mobius...and with the variant truth, because that’s what’s most important, that’s what he needs Mobius to know, what Mobius deserves to know...but it doesn’t matter that he pleads, that he’s sincere, because Mobius is on the defensive now, Loki has kicked up Mobius’ own hurt, and he can’t take that back. Mobius won’t listen to him.

One last desperate trick from the desperate trickster. Go ahead.  The TVA is lying to you.  ...Put him in.  No--

(That quiet no is tragic.)

But for all Loki is suddenly fearful of the severity of his false assumption and ensuing self-sabotage, of Mobius’ own hurting anger and false assumption...the time loop prison is a surprise. He’s relieved.

And sure, that relief doesn’t last, because getting kicked in the junk a hundred times and being told you will always be alone is no walk in the park, even if it happens in your beloved home you never thought you would see again, but it is certainly not the worst memory of his. He even laughs when he first enters.

So...by assuming this...it frames Loki’s worn down acceptance later of I’m scared of being alone and his attempted return to defensive, wary sass with Mobius -- It seems you and I are in a loop of our own -- as a friend of a broken bond floundering to right it, to overcome his own hurt and pride and fears and find that middle ground again. It’s in his own sighs and scoffs at himself for not breaking through to Mobius, for letting Mobius lead the conversation and getting put on the back-foot. But he kicked up Mobius’ hurt by this point and he can’t read Mobius when he’s like this.

He tries to get Mobius to extend that promise of freedom again, to talk like they did before, but Mobius reduces that to a cockroach’s survival mechanism and Loki fails, sighs in frustration. Mobius completely confuses him by suggesting he is working for Sylvie, then with Sylvie. And when Mobius puts the betrayal blame and accusation on Loki, again...Loki reverts. Mobius is a wall in front of him, impenetrable. Loki doesn’t know how to do this, he doesn’t know how to make Mobius listen to him, how to even start, how to control this interrogation. He has no assurances anymore. The start of a friendship is gone. It’s about survival now. So he reverts to his own assumption that Mobius knew about Ravonna’s attempted pruning, that it was the plan all along, and uses the one thing Mobius wants as leverage.

Why don’t you just tell me what caused the nexus event? on Lamentis?  Let me say this again: I’m not going to tell you, just so you can turn around immediately afterward and prune me!  I guess we’ve reached a dead end then.  Okay. It’s over.  I’m going to miss our little tête-à-têtes.  Me too.

See? Loki definitely made reference to Ravonna trying to prune him before, off screen, but Mobius obviously dismissed it. So he tries, again, because Mobius had put their relationship in the context of friendship, Mobius had put him in a prison that was at least his home, Mobius says there’s been a lot of water under the bridge...and I think there’s truth in Loki’s agreement about the  tête-à-têtes there. Everything about this scene, here and before and after, shows Loki’s hesitant and lingering care for Mobius. 

But Mobius calls his bluff on this withholding of information. And he’ll put him back in the time loop prison, and he didn’t contradict Loki’s assumption about the pruning, so Loki pleads wait...he gets Mobius’ attention...and he tries his classic move: tell them what they want to hear, what they assume he has done, what role they assume he has played in the given scheme. He lies.

Would he have tried the truth sooner, again, instead of as a last resort, if Mobius had actually responded to the allegation of pruning? If Mobius hadn’t assumed Loki betrayed him at Roxxcart, but considered that maybe Loki was betrayed at the TVA? Now there’s a fic idea

[iamnoprogram]

Sam’s eyes widened as her Dad handed her his disc. Her mind flashing back to the times Programs had done such a gesture. It was never a good sign.

She quickly docked her own disc so that she could reach out and grab him when he paused, and finally caught a full view of his face. Of course, logically she knew that if she ever did find her father again he would be older. Time did move more quickly here. But it was still one hell of a shocking sight, and just further reinforced how long he’s been trapped here. How long it’s been since he had last seen… his son.

Sam centered herself when she heard the pounding of the approaching squadron’s feet coming closer to the alley. There was no time for that right now. She turned her head up to Beck, still on the rooftop. She hated the idea of sending in Beck to save the hostages alone, but there simply wasn’t enough time, and she sure as hell wasn’t going to loose her father again when she just got him back. Hopefully they would create a large enough stir that Beck could take advantage of.

“Beck, I’m sorry, but can you-“

“Already on it.”

She smiled a bit as she watched Beck take off across the rooftops. Always on the same wavelength. She owned him a lot. She then turned her head back to her Dad, retracting her helmet so that she could look him properly in the eye.

“Okay. First things first.”

She slipped out a small upgrade drive from her belt, plugging it into her Dad’s disc, removing it when it finished, and firmly placing his disc back into his hands.

“That will allow you to lock your disc into place when it’s attached to your back, so that no one can snatch it.”

She explained briefly. The Disc Lock upgrade was one of the first she had ever made, having gotten the idea to do so after Beck had his disc snatched and sold in Purgos. She can’t count how many times since that it’s come in handy.

“Second. Beck will notify me when he’s freed the hostages so that we know when we can get the hell out of here. And third-“

She narrowed her eyes and dropped her tone to convey how serious she was, and to express how she wasn’t going to be talked out of it. As she grabed her own disc off her back.

“I’ll take on the squad head on. You act as my support. Shift the terrain, overload something, User cheat codes or some shit. We don’t have to win, we have to stall, and then we can all bolt.”

It wasn’t a bad strategy. Sure a bit of a risky one, but it was one she’s used numerous times before. And she wasn’t going to even entertain the alternative her Dad clearly just tried to do. She didn’t get this far, loose Tron, to give up on anybody now. Not while she could still fight.

/* your choice, Ed or Flynn... Or Clarke? */

│ ┇ │

This was definitely not how this mission was supposed to go. It was supposed to be a routine in-and-out (God she could really go for an In-And-Out burger right now….), like the hundreds of ones they’ve done before. But something went wrong, Sam wasn’t sure exactly what, but she supposed now wasn’t the time to dwell on it, considering she was smack dab in the middle of enemy territory.

“There! The Renegade!”

Crap.

And now, she was running for her life. Yeah, probably not a great idea to wear the bright white renegade suit. She didn’t know how Beck snuck around in this thing. Speaking of, she hoped the mechanic Program was doing better than she was right now as she drew her disc and threw it at a pillar, damaging its code so that it fell between her and her pursuers, giving her a bit of breathing room as she retrieved her disc and ducked into a nearby alley.

It took a few seconds before Sam realized she wasn’t alone in this alley, spotting movement from the corner of her eye. She quickly turned her helmeted head towards the movement, drawing her disc as she took in the hooded figure she found herself with. She took note that the lines on their cloak were white, and not the harsh orange of the Occupation, but that still didn’t guarantee a friendly. But it did seem this Program was also hiding.

“Hey. Uh… you okay?”

She decided to finally speak, the voice modulator in her mask adding the signature electric wobble all Programs seemed to have. She lowered her disc slightly, realizing this might be a Program who was also against the Occupation. Or maybe just needed some help.

@spaceparanoids-highestscore

[mingying]

[spoilers] hosplay season 2 ep3 - ikjun/songhwa

I am on cloud nine. 

When I posted my theories about ep 1 two weeks ago, never would I have expected such a huge development to happen 2 episodes after! This episode is what I will describe as Songhwa’s preliminary realisation, and the catalyst for this is told through the perspectives of two people in this episode. 

TL;DR: This is a sign that Ikjun and Songhwa are now positively moving in the direction of endgame!!!

cr: _fever_pitch @ twitter 

This scene made me smile so hard! While Songhwa may have asked Ikjun for dinner because she wanted to ask him about DLL, the fact that she initiated it by literally using Ikjun’s iconic “let’s eat” line, speaks a lot. I love the way Ikjun’s face lighted up in an instant when he realised it’s Songhwa.

What I realised also is that he even invited Junwan to eat with them in the cafeteria - maybe he didn’t want to burden Songhwa since they would be alone? Or maybe he was just trying to protect his own heart, we cannot be too sure but definitely, Ikjun-ah, best boi you, best boi. 

The next scene that comes is definitely one scene that highlights their dynamics as work partners. Other than the fact that Ikjun knew Songhwa was worried over something and asked her to just speak up just by looking at her stirring her food, it seems that Ikjun/Songhwa approach things in a somewhat similar wavelength.

Ikjun points out at once that “we can help them”, to which Songhwa confirms saying that she already told them they could. 

When Ikjun says that it doesn’t matter if the patients do it in a different hospital in Seoul because DLL can still provide financial support - Songhwa replies “I told them that”. 

And when Songhwa said DLL will contact Yulje, because the other university hospitals aren’t willing to take the case, Ikjun agreed and said “good”.

Ugh, I absolutely love their rapport here. It shows understanding and compatibility between two friends who clearly share the same opinions about certain things and I love that they’re working together for DLL.

Ms Songhwa saying this line just shows that she values and trusts Ikjun’s judgement. Just as how she whole heartedly believed him when he told her that a “Villain” is someone who works hard to pay bills (BUAHAHA I can’t wait for her to realise the truth and strangle Ikjun).

Ma’am, why do you look like him as he is leaving like he is your entire world?

Coughs. Moving on!

Heo Seonbin~~ Just like how long have you observed your Professor and her best friend that you’re able to form this sort of conclusion that he always makes her laugh and that he will ‘totally’ do it for her if she asks?

Of course, this whole fake dating thing didn’t materialise because Songhwa isn’t the type to go for that - plus she respects Ikjun’s feelings, I’m sure, so she wouldn’t want to put him in that sort of confusing situation after knowing how he feels for her. 

But I have a strong feeling that this scene is strategically placed for a reason and that is to nudge Songhwa towards the realisation that other people are seeing something special between them despite her insistence many times that they’re just friends. And who is the best to tell her that other than Seonbin, who is practically the closest friend that she has at this point that isn’t part of her gang.

In the previous episode, I posted a theory from a kfan that Ikjun was the one who asked for Seokmin’s favour to scrub in the Violinist’s surgery to ease Songhwa’s burden, and that the strawberry cake Seonbin brought for Songhwa towards the end of the ep, was actually bought by Ikjun. This theory remains as a theory until proven otherwise but I live for the fact that SilverDragon may be the ones playing cupid for their Professor this season. I mean, Songhwa did play cupid for them in S1, right?

Kekeke, now, onto my favourite scene of the episode. Kyuhyung’s cameo as Gyeongjin’s brother! I still cannot believe we got this scene handed to us on a silver platter but dude, it’s a complete parallel to IkSong and I absolutely LIVE for Songhwa’s expressions during Hanyang’s (I’ll just call him that) story telling.

Songhwa drank her coffee twice - girlie probably felt so called out that she was flustered and had to busy her hands with something. That’s human tendency, anyway. And we know from EP 1 that her rejection didn’t address Ikjun’s confession in its entirety. So for Hanyang to say “my answer didn’t make sense,” could very well be what Songhwa had in the back of her mind after her rejection, or what she will now realise moving forward.

“As a man and a woman, not just friends.”

A foreshadow, I hope? Because I am betting that this entire scene will play out in Songhwa’s mind over and over again. He is the catalyst she needs at this point of time to realise that the risk is worth taking.

The best line ever. It’s so simple yet so profound. So realistic, too. Because we know exactly who it is that is capable of making Songhwa feel happy. It’s the one person that always makes her laugh. And what more do you need, honestly?

What struck me, as I’ve mentioned on Twitter, is that the scene could have just ended after Hanyang said this line - that being with his gf makes him happy/great. But instead, we got a follow up question from him in that he quite literally ASKED her straight up, if she had someone like that in her life too.

And...guess who showed up at that very moment? Casually, without any hint of jealousy or envy but just decided to stick a straw into his nose?

cr: milly_v_v @ twitter

And made her laugh...without fail again?

I’m not crying, I swear.

My mind is officially at ease, because it seems that IkSong is definitely now headed towards the right direction. ShinLee really wasn’t joking when he put triple Rainbows during the drive in the tunnel. Triple Rainbow...for three episodes? Kekeke.

I’m thinking that Songhwa may still need one or two more eps to sort out her feelings, but by Ep 6 I’m guessing she will finally take the first step towards a relationship with Ikjun. But hey, I’m always prepared to be surprised in the best ways possible (like this entire scene in Ep3) by ShinLee.

[starshipsofstarlord]

First things First | Jack Kline & Peter Parker

Summary; Peter sees his ex back in town. Last time she was with her brothers, but this time, she has another companion. His name is Jack Kline, and he is her current boyfriend.

Warnings; some angst, jealousy, a bit of trash talk, smidge of violence, one swear word

“You’re back then.” Peter noticed, following you as you walked through the school halls, your head down as you attempted to ignore him. But however, you knew that you couldn’t pretend he wasn’t there forever, and so you softly sighed.

Last time, you hadn’t been in town too long, only a few weeks, cases were sprouting up left right and centre in Queens, and that was enough time for a relationship to briefly brew between the pair of you.

However, when the entourage of hunts came to an end, it had only been fair to cut sweet Peter loose, you hadn’t planned to return in any soon time. And here you were, a year in a half later, back in his hometown.

“You’re eyes are quite inquisitive, Parker, or do you need to ask me to put rock salt on my skin to prove that I’m not a ghost?” You barked back, which earnt yourself a confused frown.

“What?” He asked in reply, confused by your wording.

“Never mind, you wouldn’t get it.” You dismissed, having already had the intel and advice from your brothers that two different worlds didn’t mix.

Peter was but a boy, a smart one, but for all that you were aware, he lived a mundane life. He was bullied at school, but he had a couple of friends, Ned and MJ.

MJ. She had liked Peter before you had disappeared in the impala, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the pair were together now. He had wanted to forget you, for causing him so much pain, he deserved to move on, as you had.

“What I got was that you told me you loved me, and then you went with the wind, and didn’t look back, not once.” He bit back, his statement making your body feel heavy.

It was guilt, a familiar feeling for a hunter. It often came when a life was lost by the life of a monster, and this time, it had been the same. You had taken away the happiness from your own life, you were the beast that ripped out someone’s heart.

“I did, but that doesn’t matter anymore Pete, I’m in love with somebody else. There’s nothing that I am entailed from hiding from him, no secrets, I can be myself with him.” You pursed your lips, relieved that you had got that off your chest.

“You never had to have secrets! Your family business is what dragged us down in the first place, you feel the need to follow your brothers around the world, and for what? To end up alone and unloved?”

“I love her.” Jack entered the hallway, he had been at the front office, asking about the plumbing, he said he heard a noise. It was what the victim had said before he died, and so the spawn of Lucifer was now questioning it.

Sam and Dean were downtown, at some bar, it had been where the victim had been, with a fake id, before his body had been found in the school bathroom. This left the group of you spread out, and operating around the city, wanting to find the creature that had ended the boy’s life.

Jack’s voice had been friendly, as though he were informing Peter of your relationship status. Neither of them knew each other, so he found no harm in letting the public know of your intimate bond.

The nephilim was most often than not a free speaker, he found no foul in letting his mouth run. He was so innocent, so pure, and perfect, you were pleased that you hadn’t tainted him nor gained his spite like you had with Peter.

“Jack, this is Peter. I met him last time I was around here. Peter, this is Jack, my boyfriend.” It was an awkward introduction, you held your hands together, watching as Jack held out his hand for your ex to shake.

Peter hesitantly shook Jack’s hand, lightly glaring at the boy. “It’s nice to meet a friend of y/n’s, not many that she has are her age.”

“Thanks for that Jack.” You laughed lightly, holding sweetly onto his arm, as to ensure him that he had done nothing wrong.

“We’re not friends.” Peter corrected him, squinting at you. “She doesn’t like the idea of any relationship with me, so she can pass on friendship.” He gave you one last look, before he walked away.

“Hi.” Jack saw your ‘friend’ in the hall, whilst you were questioning some other students. Peter reluctantly turned, going face to face with your boyfriend and partner in justifying crime.

“Hey.” His head briefly leant back, curious as to why the new boy was speaking to him. “Jack, right?”

“Yes, that is my name.” Jack nodded with a smile, the adorable gap in his teeth presenting itself clearly. “Have you felt any cold spots here recently, or smelt sulphur by any change?”

His question made Peter frown, he gulped and thought before he decided to answer. “I don’t know why your going around asking questions, but I also do not know why you’re dating y/n. She’ll break your heart, it’s what she does.”

“The two of you don’t sound like very good friends.” He speculated, tilting his head like a puppy dog, his bright eyes filled with curiosity.

“We weren’t just friends Jack, I’m surprised she didn’t tell you about me. Maybe there was a reason for that, you should ask her.” Peter crossed his arms, taking note of how he seemed to have angered the other boy.

The son of Lucifer was inhaling and exhaling through his nostrils, he was attempting to remain calm. But he couldn’t, his eyes seared with their golden pigment, and upon witnessing, Peter’s eyes widened and he was fast to sling webbing towards the mutant.

But it had no affect, not as Jack’s mouth opened, and a scream on another wavelength , which happened to throw the spider man backwards into the row of lockers. This was not normal, and Peter worried for the reason that you had the company of such a creature.

“What the hell are you?” Peter asked, wanting an answer so he could figure out a way to defeat him.

“I’m someone that loves y/n very much. Don’t worry, we won’t be in town much longer.” And with that, the strange and peculiar being walked away, leaving Peter stunned. For once, he wasn’t sure how he would improvise.

“You know the boy’s toilets are for guys, right?” Peter asked later in the day, as he watched you, whom was drenched in water, leave said restroom.

“I am more than aware, thankyou for that reminder Peter.” Each footstep dripped water upon the floor. That ghost had been a bitch to send off, but to your relief, you had done so.

“What are you doing here, really?”

“Don’t worry about it, I’m going to be leaving tonight, I’ll be all out of your hair.” You spoke, trying to remain calm with your previous partner. “Have you seen Jack?”

“About that...” he noticed how you furrowed your brow with his words, and realised it would be better to get straight to the point. “He’s not normal, there’s something different about him. He’s dangerous.”

“I guess you witnessed something... supernatural?” He slowly nodded his head, thinking about how it could be considered as such. “Jack, he’s a nephilim, half angel, half human. That’s why I can’t stick around, my life is messy, and I have a duty to save people, you understand that, right?”

“Why would I understand that?” He hesitated, his voice stepping over his words in a worried stutter. “Angels?!” He repeated.

“Yeah, not every takes lightly to the news, and a bit of information; the majority are dicks.” You laughed, shoving your hands in your soggy pockets. “You really think I didn’t have a clue that I was dating a spiderman? I investigate abnormal occurrences for a living, it was quite easy to notice something was different about you.”

“So you look into things like cold spots and sulphur smells?” He remembered that was what Jack had mentioned earlier. Perhaps the possibility of angels wasn’t half crazy, the universe was expanding. It was certainly out there, but so was a talking, moving tree that enjoyed digital games and was experiencing puberty.

“Exactly.” You smiled, looking into his deep brown eyes, and finding some kind of peace between the pair of you.

“I think I saw Jack in the library.” He scratched the back of his neck, deciding to be a bigger person and give into the planet’s order.

“Thanks, see ya around Parker.” That expression you gave him shouldn’t have made him feel so giddy, he knew that this was another goodbye you were sending him. But the relief on your faces was beautiful.

You walked momentarily backwards, and he raised his hand in a signalled send off. He hoped that one day, he would see you again, maybe even with Blade as he killed vampires. Who knew?

One thing he was aware of was that you were happy with Jack, and that the two of you shared a life. You had an even amount of knowledge between you, and as much as Peter hated to admit it, you weren’t bound to leave the nephilim any time soon.