#debated on long pigtails but decided against.

[rotyolk]

brazilian miku butchification beeeeeaaaaaamm

[lemonlimestar]

i absolutely adore your designs! id love to hear about your process for making characters who look similar in canon have unique and identifiable features!!

tysm :,) i’ve always been really into character design so it’s fun to translate that into characters i love.

as for making similar looking characters look different i drew up a little lineup.

this is gonna be a long one sjhdjsjs

cassie, steph, and mia are all beloved white, blonde, *skinny, teenage girls with roughly the same appearance so i decided to focus in on them.

(*they’re usually portrayed as being muscular/fit but nowhere near in same fashion as their male counterparts)

i wish there was a fancier way to put it, but honestly i just play around with shape language until i get a design i like. i try to lean into motifs/commonalities. (ex: the robins have larger noses to be sort of bird-like, cissie has a heart face to tie into the connection between archery & cupid, the house of el s-curl, cassie’s pigtails are shaped like stars) overall, doing lineups like these are really helpful when trying to make characters look different because it shows you a side-by-side of all the similarities & differences in how i draw the characters.

especially when they interact a lot (ex: wally & roy, kon & tim, cissie & greta) i don’t want them looking like siblings or to repeat the same features between characters who already look similar. unless i’m playing into that (dick & donna <3)

when changing race or body types, i try to factor in the actual character & their backstory. i tend to draw cassie stockier because of her more brawler-like fighting style + her being one of shorter yj kids. but also, i made greta chubby both because i thought it worked well with her shape language and i simply wanted to. the world is my oyster.

as for race, i’m a lot more careful about thinking about how being non-white would affect a character. i have to know a decent amount about a character before hitting them with The Self-Indulgence Beam. making a character black, brown, or asian shouldn’t be slapped on like a sticker without any care put into it. i feel like it’s a well-known point, but it’s worth mentioning especially because i’m black & i make so many characters non-white when i draw them.

back to canon portrayals, they’re some unique features given to them (ex: steph’s freckles aren’t always drawn but they do get featured a few times) so i try to make things like that a permanent physical feature. the curls were simply inspired by some other stephs i’ve seen :) i typically hc that she straightens & crimps them when she’s a teenager but i drew her with them for this example. i got very self-indulgent with my steph design because she’s my girl, but i also tried to keep in mind how she complements the people she interacts with the most (cass, tim, babs).

although i’ve enjoyed what i’ve read with her, i know the least about mia. so, i just gave her features i’d like to see more on teenage characters like acne. i pulled from some panels for the shape of her nose and adjusted the shade of her hair about a million times. i debated on giving her piercings, but ended up going against it because she doesn’t have invulnerability nor a full face mask & she doesn’t have piercings in any of the panels i saw of her.

although i’m not the hugest fan of the reveal of cassie secretly being a demigod rather than just having been given her powers, her being not entirely human gives me a little bit more leeway with her design in my head. hence the stark blonde in her lashes being inspired by fantasy design i enjoy.

one more thing i almost forgot was scars. obviously heroes with no powers would have more visible scars. just with the bats: they all have body scarring but i draw cass with more facial scars because of her history + she’s herself so she wouldn’t bother covering them v.s. tim, who doesn’t have visible facial scars bc he’s Very Particular about appearances, but he has a crooked nose.

scars can be fun to play with as far as trying to remember what happens to certain characters that would leave them scarred (cissie’s scar where the arrow went through her, any scars kon got from literally dying, wally’s or barry’s scarring from their “accidents”) they’re an interesting trait to add & reflects the whole vigilantism thing.

okay i think that’s all the thoughts i have. ik this got kinda rambley but i hope it was helpful 😭

here are some closeups, as a treat <3

[livwritesstuff]

2003, established relationship, dads!steddie w/ 2yo daughter

The afternoon that Steve and Ed get a phone call that changes their life starts out with Steve at home alone, Ed having taken Moe to a park nearby for a while so Steve could have some time to go over his schedule of clients for the week and get all his notes organized.

He’s finished now, though, and working on throwing lunch together, and Ed’s pretty good with the timing of this kind of thing so he and Moe should be back any second.

Indeed, only a few minutes later, Steve hears the door open as Ed lets himself and Moe in.

“Bug, I promise I’m not trying to help you,” Ed is saying, and Steve can’t help a snort (the first month of Moe’s terrible twos had proven itself to be less terrible and more an ongoing debate over what she could and couldn’t do by herself; the second month is shaping up to be much of the same), “Maybe I just don’t want to watch you plummet back down the stairs we just spent five minutes walking up. Forgive me. You’re a very big girl and don’t ever need help with anything. Noted. Understood.”

A moment later, Moe barrels into the kitchen.

“Papa!” she exclaims, crashing into his legs.

Steve swings her up into his arms, and she immediately buries her face in the neckline of his t-shirt.

“You have fun?” he asks. He feels her nod against his shoulder, “You gonna take a long nap for daddy while I’m at work.”

She shakes her head.

“Weird — something tells me you might.”

Ed appears a few moments later.

“How was it?” Steve asks him.

“I spent twenty minutes watching that kid try to step onto the curb,” Ed replies with a grin, “She’s fantastic. How long until you have to head out?”

“Another hour or so,” he tells him as he sits Moe down in her booster seat at the kitchen table and runs a hand over her blonde hair (it’s just long enough to put into little pigtails now, which is so so cute, and Steve definitely sees bangs in her future once it gets a little longer).

“Excellent. How are we tricking the child into eating vegetables today?”

“There’s squash and cauliflower and the orange one she knows the name of in the mac and cheese sauce,” Steve replies. 

(With Moe’s vocabulary increasing exponentially, he and Ed are finding themselves speaking in weird vegetable-related code more and more while they decide how they’d like to navigate a phase of picky-eating she’d recently entered. Steve has been doing his best to sneak vegetables into as much of her food as he can get away with in the meantime, but he has a feeling that Moe might be catching on).

Once Moe is settled in with her lunch, Steve heads upstairs to get dressed for work and fix his hair. When he returns to the kitchen, he finds that the dishes have been cleared into the sink and Ed is using half a cookie to bribe Moe into telling him that the square root of nine is three — not because she actually understands the math, obviously (she’s only just started being able to differentiate one number from the next), but since she learned (memorized) one plus one equals two, Ed has been on a crusade to find the most complicated equation she could memorize the answer to. She now gives a confident Twelve in response to What’s three times four? and he’s apparently moved on to square roots (which might be too big a leap, Steve thinks, but only time will tell).

“Damn, Ed, if math was this important to you back in high school you might’a graduated on time,” he says, running a hand over Ed’s shoulders.

“Oh, fuck off. Do you know how much money Holly makes?” Ed asks, tipping his head back to look up at him, “Nancy told me how much money that kid makes. She’s twenty-three years old and making an absurd amount of money, Steve. Sue me for wanting our kid to develop some profitable proclivities.”

Steve shakes his head as he lifts Moe out of her seat, rescuing her from her dad’s flights of arithmetical fantasy.

When the phone rings (with the call that changes his and Ed’s life a second time), Steve is sitting on the ground with his back against the fridge watching as Moe plays with the colorful, plastic magnetic alphabet letters stuck to the stainless steel (“stainless my ass,” Ed had once muttered while trying to wipe Moe’s little fingerprints off the metal). Most of the letters have been shifted up to Steve and Ed’s eye level after months of spelling out multicolored messages to each other — currently, some of them are spelling buY mORe EgGs (Steve’s doing), with no fUck u (Ed’s) underneath.

Ed, standing at the sink and carefully scrubbing a cast-iron pan, is closer to the phone so he doesn’t hesitate to reach for it.

“Hey, this is Ed,” he says. A moment later, he turns and levels an eyebrow at Steve, “Oh, hi Lorraine. How’re you?”

There’s a pause, Ed’s face relaxing while he listens to Lorraine. After only a moment or two, his eyebrows shoot up.

“Oh…shit.” 

continue on A03

[luxielle]

Lions & Daisies words: 1073 | Tot Saeran + Tot Lumen CW: None

Lumen swung her bookbag next to her, feeling it drag along the ground as she walked along the side of the school building to the playground. She looked at her little plastic watch—4:05.

It wasn’t really a real fort, but that’s what everyone called the half-hidden patch of grass below the slides. And it wasn’t really her fort, but she made the rules and decided who could play in it at recess, so it was kind of hers. She was not expecting to find another kid when she ducked down to enter.

“Who are you?”

The kid said nothing.

She sort of knew who he was. She knew no one liked him. He got caught stealing puddings from the other kids’ lunch bags during recess once—no one really talked to him after that unless they were teasing.

She threw in her bookbag and ducked down to shimmy inside the little space. It was big enough for five or six kids; he still tucked his legs up as if he needed to make room for her.

“Your parents forget you, too?”

He shrugged. Nodded. Continued to pluck pieces of grass and twist them around until they snapped.

It was a lie—he was just avoiding going home for as long as possible—but she didn’t need to know that. He got up to leave.

“You can stay, I don’t care.”

“I’m not allowed in here,” he finally spoke. His voice was quiet, like he was used to having to whisper. Hers, on the other hand, was not quiet at all. She was a loud child.

“Says who?”

“You,” he told her plainly.

“Oh.” Lumen didn’t really remember that, but it was probably true. “Well…you can stay, I don’t care.”

The boy paused as if debating before settling back down in his corner of the would-be fort.

“Sorry,” she said to him. “Everyone says I’m really bossy.”

“You are.”

Lumen shrugged and started digging around in her bag until she found a half-eaten box of animal crackers. She took one out and bit it in half. “You want one?” she said, holding out the box to him.

He looked at her, then the box, and started reaching towards it. “But you can’t eat the lions, those are mine. You can have the other ones.”

He leaned in and hovered over the open box, trying to discern which were lion-shaped and which were not. This suddenly felt like more anxiety than it was worth, he thought, peering into the little box before carefully plucking one out—whew. Hippo.

She set the box down between them. “You can have more. But the lions are mine. What game were you playing?”

He stared at her, slowly eating his hippo-cracker. “Game?”

“Yeah. Or were you just making a mess?” She gestured to all of the pieces of grass around his ratty old sneakers.

“Oh. Um…it’s not really a game, just these,” he said, pointing to a piece of grass he’d braided together.

“Oh. I already know how to make those. Why are you just using grass?”

He shrugged again. “How else do you do it?”

She shoved another animal cracker in her mouth and scooted close to him. He felt uncomfortable for a moment; kids normally stayed far away from him and when they didn’t, they teased him about his unwashed hair or dirty clothes or torn up fingernails when they did get too close. He looked down at her neat, lace-trimmed socks and waited for her to say something mean. He could hear the crunching of her animal cracker as she leaned across from him and snatched up a handful of daisies.

“Here,” she told him as she swallowed. “You gotta do it like this.” She leaned in so her shoulder was almost pressed up against his; he could feel her pigtail tickling his arm as she held her hands out in front of him so she could show him up close. He thought her hair smelled like strawberries and fresh crayons.

The last time his brother helped him take a bath, he had to use hand soap to wash his hair. That was a while ago. His hair had never looked shiny like hers looked.

He wondered why she was still sitting so close to him, how she could tolerate it.

She carefully looped one of the tiny stems around the other, then looped a longer piece of grass between the two before cinching them tight. She grabbed another daisy and slid it through the last one, looping it around the grass, and followed with another. He watched in silence, mesmerized not so much that she was showing him how to weave flowers and grass together but because she was showing him anything, actually paying attention to him. Being nice to him.

“There. See?” She had finally created a whole circle. He nodded. “Here, then you can wear it like this.” He felt her grab his hand—she was touching him?—and carefully slip the ring of daisies around his small wrist. “You try it now. It’s really hard though, so it’s okay if you can’t do it as good as mine,” she said matter-of-factly.

“…Can I have another cracker?”

“Uhm…” Lumen picked up the box, shaking it as she looked inside. “Oh, here. Giraffe. You can have that one.”

The kid took it from her hand, carefully bit it in half.

They stayed like that for another hour, littering the ground with torn pieces of grass and broken daisies that had fallen out of their chains until they both heard a woman’s voice yelling out Lumen’s name from the other side of the playground. She looked at her little plastic watch and frowned. 5:30.

“That’s probably my mom.” Lumen shrugged and grabbed her bookbag. She started to put her animal crackers away and paused, looking down at the box.

“You want these? I don’t want them anymore. You can have them.” She shoved them towards him, shaking the box until he took it from her. “Want my mom to drive you home? She probably will if I tell her.”

He shook his head. “It’s ok.”

Lumen shrugged. “Ok. See you tomorrow. You can keep playing in my fort.” She waved at him and let out a shrill “I’m COMING, stop yelling at me!” as she walked across the playground.

Saeran reached in for another animal cracker. It was almost dark now—just enough light for him to see that she’d given him all of her lions.

[thewritewolf]

Cat Crossing Chapter 2

As bad as it was to accidentally reveal his identity to one of his friends, Adrien was sure he could smooth things over somehow. After all, who could possibly be smoother than him?

I posted this on Ao3 a few days ago, but completely forgot to post it here too! I wrote Cat Crossing last year for @sweetsweetsweetie‘s birthday and decided to give the much-demanded second chapter as this year’s present.

You can find the first chapter here for some Animal Crossing, Marichat goodness. Read on to see Marinette being a super flirt, and Adrien being completely unable to handle it.

Enjoy!

-----

Adrien had a fitful night’s sleep after he panic-disconnected from Animal Crossing. He wasn’t entirely sure if doing that would damage his save file or not, but he just couldn’t bring himself to worry about that right now.

No, there was a much more serious, pressing issue at the moment - Marinette Dupain-Cheng, a civilian, had discovered his identity through her clever deductive skills and through not fault of his own. At least, that was how he’d phrase it to Ladybug. Hopefully she believed him. Because otherwise…? Well, he was going to be in trouble.

“So, what’s the plan, big cat?” Plagg asked, sounding far too chipper about all this, with his wide grin and the amused gleam in his eyes. Adrien would have thought that his kwami would have been the more scared of the two of them, but there was no time to question that now.

Especially since his kwami had asked him that same question last night after Adrien had explained just how badly he’d messed up - and just who had discovered his true identity. All he could say then was that he’d sleep on it and something would come to him in the morning.

Well, the morning was here and as he stepped off the limo dropping him off at school, he had absolutely nothing to show for it. The only bright side is that he was here early enough that he could still hash things out with Plagg before classes started. With that intent in mind, Adrien rushed inside and made a beeline for the empty lockers.

“Okay…” Adrien ran his fingers through his hair, trying his best to keep cool and stay optimistic. “Well, at least it was her and not some random person, right?”

Plagg’s grin only grew. “Oh yeah, definitely. Probably the best person you could have accidentally revealed yourself to.”

“Right…” Adrien gave Plagg a suspicious glance. “We know Marinette. She’s shy, she’s a good friend, she’s honest. She wouldn’t intentionally reveal my identity, right?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Plagg pretended to inspect his paws. “She places a real high value on honesty, kid. And she’s best pals with the one and only Ladyblogger - a fact you know only all too well.”

“Yes, and-”

“Cuz you stare at pictures of Ladybug on there all the time.”

“Not all the time-”

Plagg shrugged. “Eh, close enough. But back to pigtails - what’s the plan?”

“Well, we know she’s shy, right? So what if I really ramp up the Chat Noir charm on her? And while she’s still trying to get her bearings I tell her how important it is to keep identities secret and everything.”

Adrien nodded slowly to himself, feeling the framework of a plan coming together. A few zingers and flirty lines started forming in his head. “That should buy us enough time until we see Ladybug again. I bet she’ll know what to do.”

It was at that moment Adrien closed the locker door and nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw that Marinette was oh so casually leaning up against the locker beside him.

“I didn’t catch that last part,” she said, a knowing smirk on her face. “Who will know what to do? Or, even better, just who were you talking to?”

“I… um…” Adrien swallowed, confronted with Marinette leaning toward him, arms behind her back and a look of serene curiosity on her face, but with an insidious glee in her eyes. “Just my...”

Her voice was just barely above a whisper as she spoke into his ear. “...Kwami, maybe?”

All the gears in Adrien’s head ground to a halt and in the face of her… well, face, which was little more than a hand’s breadth away from his own. Coming up with coherent thoughts was just about impossible and all he could do was go, “Uhhhh…”

“I thought so.” Her smirk returned. “See you in class!”

With a wink that did things to his heart, Marinette walked away, her hands still held behind her back. Adrien was frozen in place, staring at the spot she had been in as the sound of her humming faded off into the distance.

For a moment, he wondered about how she knew about kwamis. But memories of Multimouse soon surfaced in his mind and he realized just how doomed he was. After all, if Ladybug had chosen her, she had to be good.

Adrien swallowed heavily, but his mouth was dry. This was going to be a long, long day. And he no longer had any grasp on the situation whatsoever.

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

Where was the girl that stuttered in front of him every single day? Because she certainly wasn’t behind him in class that day. It couldn’t be, not by the way he could constantly feel her eyes on his back, and how she kept passing him notes. Adrien hadn’t had a moment to pull himself together since their little talk in front of the lockers.

Even during class, she found a way to keep him on the back foot, he reflected as another slip of paper found its way in front of him. The one before it had simply been a flirty cat pun, which he wasn’t sure was supposed to be an actual flirt or just teasing him. Taking a steadying breath, he opened up this one to see what it had to say.

Inside was a quick drawing of what had to be him - green eyes, blonde hair, his white jacket with the black shirt - with a speech bubble that just said, “meow meow meow meow meow.”

He quickly hide the drawing under his notebook, just in time since Ms Bustier turned back around at just that moment to address the class. If she saw, would she confiscate them? Or, even worse, would she make them read them out loud in class? Besides being embarrassing to have to say ‘meow’ five times outloud, would they give his classmates the edge they needed to discover his secret identity? Who else but a catboy would be able to say meow so effectively?

Ms Bustier turned back toward the white board and his momentary reprieve ended. Another note - this one folded into an American football - landed at his elbow. Ignoring the questioning look Nino was sending his way, Adrien opened it.

This one was just a drawing of a cat… a cat that unmistakably had his hair.

Adrien quickly shoved it into his pocket but no sooner had he managed that than another one landed right in front of him. Keeping an eye on Ms Bustier all the while, he felt it open with his hands and glanced down once he thought he’d gotten it.

Another drawing of him. This time with the words ‘pretty kitty’ and an arrow pointing at him.

That one got him to turn around, just enough to look at her. She looked back down at him, shameless, and even had the audacity to wave her fingers at him.

“Adrien, eyes up front please!”

He snapped back to attention at Ms Bustier’s gentle but firm command. There was a slight murmuring in the classroom, but it passed just as quickly as it began. After a couple minutes,  another note landed in front of Adrien.

Unheard by anyone else, Adrien let out a long, frazzled sigh.

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

Adrien collapsed onto his bed, finally home from a long day. Gym class and an hour of fencing didn’t do nearly half as much as just having Marinette behind him, flirting with him surreptitiously for the entire time they had classes together. And it was unquestionably flirting - eventually even he had no choice but to admit that she was hitting on him.

But why? He had to wonder. Was it because of her feelings for Chat Noir? Had something happened to awaken this in her from their time on her island last night?

Shaking his head, he decided he’d have to ask her tomorrow…

...Only for his phone to go off.

Naturally, it was Marinette, a fact he noted with wide eyes and quickening pulse.

Marinette: Open your island?

Adrien stared at that message for long minutes before it finally dawned on him that she was talking about his Animal Crossing island. After everything that had happened today, he had almost completely forgotten how his identity had been compromised.

His internal debate on whether or not to actually do what she asked was short. In a matter of minutes, he had his switch in his hands and was opening up his airport. His only response was to send her the access code.

He ran in circles as he patiently waited for her to arrive. The plane loading screen came up and he frowned at her passport title. “Rascally Bug Fan”? He could have sworn that wasn’t what it had been a few days ago…

Then she landed and the cutscene played, showing her character walking out of the airport gates. But she wasn't in the clothes that she had been wearing when he visited her island yesterday. No, she was wearing a red, black spotted suit, a superhero mask, and with a rose in her hair.

Everything clicked and he let out an involuntary gasp that turned into an undignified, startled squawk as his fingers slackened and his switch fell onto his face. He quickly rolled to a sitting position and watched Marinette - or, should he say Ladybug? - walk up to where he was standing.

He used the anger react and she responded with a laugh. Remembering the day that she had put him through, he felt the corners of his mouth twitch up in a smile. He had his character use the love react, a pink heart floating above his head.

She smacked him with a net.

[ad1thi]

pepperony

1. Coffee shop AU: Who is the barista, and who frequents the coffee shop?

Pepper quits her master’s degree in business to come take over her mother’s coffee shop after her mother falls in. Nobody told her that part of the job description was helping Tony Stark run his company.

(she thinks she deserves a raise)

2. Highschool/College AU: Who is the straight-A student, and who’s the back-row slacker?

Virginia Potts is President of Student Council, Co-President of the Debate Club, Founding Member of the SGA, and would really like to ram the back of her heels into Tony Stark’s eye. Politely of course. Because nobody should be allowed to miss what is basically the entire of the school year and still do swimmingly in their final exams. Not when she slaves away for hours.

It’s unconstitutional is what it is. She should know. She wants to be President of the Country one day. And she’s never going to get there if Tony doesn’t give up his relentless campaign to make everyone call her Pepper.

(no self respecting US president was ever called Pepper)

3. Rivals to loves AU: Who takes their rivalry seriously, and who is half in it just to push the other’s buttons?

Pepper would like the ground to open up and swallow Stark whole. Tony is just trying to work out a way to communicate his feelings without pulling her metaphoric pigtails.

(if you were wondering, he’s failing spectacularly) 

4. Enemies to lovers AU: Which one switches sides?

MOB BOSS ANTHONY CARBONELL i rest my case

5. Soulmate AU: Who is eager to meet their soulmate? Who absolutely does not want to meet their soulmate?

Tony has dreamed of meeting his soulmate ever since he got his soulmark at 4. He doesn’t know when he’ll meet them, or where, but he makes it a point never to reject someone - just in case they might be the one. Pepper has no such hang ups, and is incredibly happy to continue the rest of her life with her soulmark covered up and hidden from the world.

6. Single parent AU: Which one is the single parent? (Alt. if they’re both single parents: Which one is open to starting a new relationship from the start? Which one is never planning on finding love again… Until they meet the other and are instantly smitten?)

SINGLE DAD TONY STARK x PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHER PEPPER POTTS ft complete ray of sunshine Morgan 

7. Doctor AU: Which one is the long-suffering doctor? Which one is the patient?

out of all the things they covered in her residency, somehow her Attending missed Tony Stark; patient extraordinaire. 

8. Bodyguard AU: Who is the bodyguard? Who are they protecting? Which one is secretly pining for the other?

After whistleblower Virginia Potts releases thousands of documents showcasing the under-the-table weapons deals going on in Stane Industries, her life is torn apart overnight and within the span of a weekend - she finds herself in Witness Protection, while the FBI is building their case against currently missing CEO Obadiah Stane. Agent Anthony Carbonell is the man assigned to keeping her alive.

9. Pirate AU: Who is the pirate? Who is the member of the royal family who did not sign up for this?

Pepper is used to striking fear in the hearts of sailors across the seven seas. Tony just really misses his bed, and wonders if the pretty Captain would like to join him there sometime.

(he hasn’t realised that he’s being held captive on a pirate ship yet. Or, more accurately, he’s realised and decided he doesn’t care)

10. Childhood best friends AU: Which one was super obviously in love with the other the whole time? Who was oblivious until they were older?

Some things were just universal truths. The sky was blue, the grass was green, and Tony was in love with Pepper. That was just the way of things, and he was content with it never changing, with keeping it close to his chest - locked up under chains and swallowing the key.

(Well, content might be pushing it. More like resigned)

send me a ship for OTP asks

[tothewhistlingwinds]

500 followers drabble - “Game Night.”

Thank you again for following me! The drabble below takes place shortly before the events of the game, before the Covey meets the MC. 

What had started off as a normal night was quickly developing into a shit show. 

When Teddy had suggested a games night to unwind during the evening, everyone had been quite open to the idea. Landing on a game that would suit everyone had been a bit of a process; Clémence was vehemently against Alejandro’s suggestion of Apples-to-Apples, and Ernest had developed a headache halfway through reading the instructions to Cards Against Humanity. They had a cribbage board, but Bridget was the only one who understood the rules. 

It was Mars who had suggested Monopoly.

And thus, it was Mars who had brought the group to their current state.

“Can someone please trade me Park Place for Vermont Avenue?” Alejandro asks, frowning as he looks over his disappointing selection of cards. “I really want to develop property on the dark blue squares.”

He sweeps a lock of hair out of his eyes and gives the people sitting around him a pleading, puppyish look. The expression’s far more compelling than it has any right to be on a man in his twenties, but his fellow players seem to have built up an immunity of sorts against it. 

Even Mars, who was most easily swayed by Alex, shakes her head. “Nice try, Alejo, but I haven’t forgiven you for hoarding the Pennsylvania Railroad,” she says

“I had to,” Alejandro argues. “Otherwise you would have gotten a monopoly on the trains.”

“That was the right choice,” Ernest says solemnly, nodding at the other man. “Absolutely no one wants a Mars-controlled railroad monopoly.”

“I hadn’t even realized until you said it,” Mars says, but a smile tugs on the corner of her mouth anyways—a smirk much too devious for anyone’s comfort. Alejandro clears his throat and turns to Teddy.

“Teddy. Brilliant, beautiful Theodore—”

“No. Whatever you’re going to suggest, no,” Teddy says. He doesn’t even bother looking up from where he’s neatly sorting his play money on the carpet. “You don’t have the card I want, anyways.”

“Which one would that be?”

Teddy puts down his money and scrutinizes his cards, three red properties and two yellow ones. “I want...Atlantic Avenue.”

“Who has that?” Alejandro asks.

Clémence (who, to a casual observer, wouldn’t even seem to be paying attention), lifts her hand up, the vibrant yellow card clutched between her fingers. On Clémence’s left, Bridget lets out an interested “ooh.”

“I don’t think you’re getting the card, Teddy,” Bridget says, and her sympathetic words are off-set by the look of mischievous glee on her face. 

Alejandro nods and pats Teddy’s shoulder. ”Rest in peace.”

 Teddy sputters, looking helplessly at Clémence.

“Clémence—”

“No,” Clémence says. She flips her black hair over her shoulder in one smooth, aggressive, motion that makes it hard to tell whether or not she’s doing it specifically to brush him off.

Ernest speaks up from her other side. “I’ll trade you for Atlantic Avenue.” 

The brunet man had been quiet for the past few minutes, surveying the board—it was always worrying when Ernest had too much time to think, because it usually meant he was figuring something out. 

Clémence leans over to look at his cards, and shakes her head.

“Your cards are even worse than Alejandro’s,” she says.

Ernest furrows his brow, and holds up a bright yellow slip of play-money. “What if I give you five hundred dollars?”

“Still no.”

Ernest sets down the fake five hundred dollar bill, reaches into the back pocket of his slacks, and pulls out a thin leather wallet. “How about fifteen real dollars?”

Interest finally piqued, Clémence leans over to collect and is promptly physically pulled back by Bridget.

“That’s not how this game works,” Bridget scolds.

“How about that transaction you had with Mars? I don’t recall that being in the rule book,” Teddy says, his normally warm voice suddenly accusative. Mars flushes red and reaches a hand up to her head. Her hair, usually left down in its wild brown curls, has been arranged into a dainty crown braid. A silk daisy is tucked in near her temple.

“That’s different,” Mars says defensively. “I traded Bridget for the Short Line railroad. She just did my hair while we were waiting for you to all finish fighting over who was in jail. It’s not our fault you all decided to waste your time.”

“We’re innocent,” Bridget agrees. 

Alejandro frowns and raises a hand to his chin, pretending to be in deep thought. “I could have sworn you two were texting each other...” 

Before Mars can defend herself, Clémence snatches Mars’ unlocked phone out of her hand.

“‘B, I’ll let you do my hair if you give me Short Line. Anything but pigtails,’” Clémence reads out loud.

“Subtle,” Teddy says.

“Wow, that’s straight up hurtful,” Alejandro says, shaking his head. “From one railroad baron to another: why would you do such a thing, Marisol?”

“Now you’re just being hypocritical. We all know you and Mars were arranging a deal in Spanish,” Ernest says. Real currency is clutched in his hands even as he accuses the others.

“Yes! That couldn’t have just been ‘language practice,’” Bridget says, jumping on the opportunity to deflect attention away from herself. 

Alejandro, to his credit, doesn’t even try to deny it. “Yeah, okay, we tried, but I can barely understand Mars’s accent. So it never amounted to anything.” 

“It’s not my fault you don’t understand Rioplatense Spanish.”

“Mars tried to cheat twice. I think that makes for a bad example,” Teddy says, and Mars gives him an exasperated look.

“An example for who?”

“The impressionable youth, of course,” Alejandro says, waving towards Clémence. The black-haired woman scowls and throws one of the dice at Alejandro; it bounces harmlessly off his stomach.

“I think you’re right. Mars should be punished for breaking the rules,” Bridget says in her primmest voice, tucking her knees underneath her and smoothing out the skirt of her dress. Ernest nods in agreement. 

Mars rubs her temples. ”Ernest, you can’t punish me for cheating. You literally tried to buy off Clémence five minutes ago.” 

The corners of Ernest’s lips twitch. “You chose a game called Monopoly. I’m just taking advantage of my capital.” 

“Not your real capital,” Mars says pointedly, and the flower in her hair bobs with her movements. She looks back down at her cards and groans. “This is because of my railroads, isn’t it? These are more damn trouble than they’re worth.” 

“How much trouble?” Alejandro asks immediately, leaning over. “Because I could take them off your hands—”

A chorus of “no” rings out, from everyone around the board, ranging from indignant to exhausted to downright murderous. Teddy throws down his cards and groans.

“Screw it. Alejandro, I’ll give you Park Place if you give me the Pennsylvania Railroad and two hundred dollars.”

Alejandro’s fingers hesitate over his card. “Real money, or fake money?”

“Oh my god, I hate that this game is at the point where you have to ask that,” Teddy sighs. “Fake money.”

“Sure, as long as you promise you won’t give it to Marisol,” Alejandro says. Mars frowns and mutters something under her breath.

Ernest raises an eyebrow. “Mars, I might not speak Spanish, but feel like I can make an educated guess as to what ‘decapitar’ means.” 

“Good,” Mars says darkly. “Suffer.”

She turns to her cards, but looks back up after a beat.

“Also, it’s Teddy’s turn to roll.”

“This is so confusing. We should have just played checkers,” Bridget sighs to Clémence, playing with the origami butterflies that used to make up her Monopoly money reserve. 

“That would have been even worse,” Clémence says. She holds up a thin leather wallet, neat and monogrammed with initials that decidedly aren’t hers. “Want to see if Ernest keeps anything interesting in here?”

Bridget drops her butterfly, her attention now entirely off the other players (who have descended into a passionate and increasingly physical debate over the meaning of the words “income tax.”) “Ooh, yes please.”

[macaronsforchat]

Ladynoir July 28 - Confession

@ladynoirjuly2020

read on ao3!

inspired by number 33 on this prompt list! thank you @a-cure-for-writers-block!

~~~~~

Chat Noir was grinning from ear to ear. It had been such a rough week, and being able to see Ladybug that night would cheer him up without a doubt.

As he leapt from roof to roof, he felt like he could fly if he wanted. His limbs felt light, and his shoulders were finally free of all the tension. He was tingling with anticipation knowing that she was probably waiting for him.

When he spotted her, he felt as if his heart was taking up any room left in his chest. He breathed out quickly, landing on the opposite end of the roof that she was standing on. Her back was to him, and she was staring out at the city, her hair blowing behind her.

Chat walked quietly towards her, noticing that she hadn’t heard or seen him. Should he scare her? No, he would probably get hit for that. He wanted her to be in a good mood, so he decided not to test her patience.

He ran his hand along the chimney he was passing, about to call out to her when he heard her speak up first.

“I love you.” He stopped dead in his tracks, his mouth dropping open at the words she’d said so confidently. Who was she talking to?

“No, I can’t just come out and say it!” she exclaimed, placing both hands on her head and crouching down. He watched in shock, slowly stepping behind the chimney to hide himself. She placed both hands flat on the roof, sighing loudly and shaking her head. He felt his heart ache at her distress, and he tried to ignore the pain of hearing the girl he loved practicing her confession to someone else.

“Okay, let’s start again,” she breathed, standing up and shaking her hands out. He debated whether he should reveal himself, but something kept him hidden in the shadows.

“Oh, hey! Didn’t see you there,” she started, wincing when she threw out finger guns. He couldn’t help but smile watching her. “Me? I’m great! Peachy as can be,” she continued, sighing out in near-exasperation like she had no control over the words coming out of her mouth. He bit his lip to keep in a laugh, feeling his heart warm. He had no idea she could be so adorable.

“But I want to tell you something,” was what he heard next, the tone of her voice shifting deeper. She stood with an open mouth, thinking over her words and then furrowing her eyebrows.

“I love you, Chat Noir,” she said, and Chat tilted his head. Had he heard her wrong? Was the wind making him hear things?

“Why can’t I think of anything else to say?” she asked loudly, pulling on the ends of her pigtails as Chat’s stomach bottomed out.

He’d been right.

For a few months at that point, he’d noticed something change in the way she acted towards him. She seemed more nervous to be in close proximity with him. When she accidentally touched him or bumped into him, there was always a flustered apology. Saying something even mildly affectionate had become nearly impossible for her, no matter how cute it was to him.

All of it had confused him, but when he asked around, everyone said that she had a crush on him. After being rejected and shot down so many times, he’d accepted that she didn’t return his feelings. So learning that she might actually feel the same way wasn’t something that he could easily accept.

But hearing her practicing to tell him was a different story.

He felt like it hit him all at once, and the result was him nearly falling over. He steadied himself against the bricks of the chimney, stuttering out an exhale and feeling a rush of adrenaline race through him.

He tried to tune his ears back to her, ignoring the thoughts raging in his head for a moment.

“Maybe when he gets here I’ll just know what to say,” she said to herself, laughing nervously. “Ah, who am I kidding? This isn't a movie!” she yelled, making butterflies flutter around in his core.

Chat tried to gather himself together again, his heart pounding with excitement and giddiness and pure joy. He took a deep breath and a step out past the cover of the chimney, turning to walk in her direction.

“Hey, m’lady,” he called, watching her jump in surprise. She was already blushing, but she quickly tried to hide it by fixing her bangs and turning her head.

“Oh, hey Chat,” she said, trying to be nonchalant. He almost laughed at the fact that they were both putting on facades for each other.

“How are you?” he asked, stopping a few paces in front of her and looking her once over. Her body language exuded nervousness, and he tilted his head, feeling his fingertips tingling anxiously as well.

“I’m fine!” she laughed, the sound coming out strained. He pressed his lips into a thin line, watching her avoid his eyes.

“Are you sure?” he asked, ducking his head a little and trying to make her look at him.

“Yeah!” she smiled, waving off the conversation and taking a deep breath. “Ready to go?” she asked, taking out her yo-yo and throwing it without waiting for him to answer. He blinked at her, watching her body soar away from him at dizzying speed.

Chat followed behind her, trying to keep what he thought would be a comfortable distance for her. Her movements still seemed tense, but he hoped the exertion would help calm her. It allowed him to burn off some of the adrenaline, the cool night air giving his mind room to breathe. He wondered how he could talk to her about it, assuming that she wouldn’t bring it up on her own.

When they stopped for a breather, Ladybug lowered herself to sit on the roof, his eyes glued to her. He could hear her labored breathing and sat down next to her, looking at her out of the corner of his eye.

“Just for a few minutes,” she said quietly, and he turned to look at her, seeing a blush blooming in the apples of her cheeks.

“Sure,” he said softly, watching her glance at him for less than a second and then look away, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth.

They sat in heavy silence as Chat planned out how to bring it up, his heart racing. He turned to look at her, trying to get a feel for how she was doing.

“Why do you keep staring at me?” she asked suddenly, making him jump just a little. It was his turn to blush, his gaze flitting to his lap.

“Sorry,” was all he could say. Any idea of how to start the conversation was gone, his mind a jumbled mess again.

“It just makes me nervous,” she said, intertwining her fingers on her thighs. He glanced up at her.

“Why?” he wondered, watching her shoulders lift towards her ears.

“W-well because...it just does,” she answered tensely, making him smile a little. She was blushing again, and he couldn’t take his eyes off her.

She sighed out, ducking her head.

“You’re doing it again,” she said firmly, turning to look at him. Suddenly, they were a lot closer than they meant to be, and both pairs of eyes widened. He stared into her eyes for a moment, his heart beating against his ribs.

“I…” he breathed out, able to smell the gentle aroma of vanilla coming from her. He took a deep breath through his nose, gathering all his confidence.

“I think you need to tell me the truth about how you feel towards me,” he said, just above a whisper. He could hear the breath catch in her throat, her face turning a gentle shade of pink.

“Chat, I…” She trailed off, searching his eyes and exhaling shakily.

“I heard you practicing to tell me,” he told her, seeing realization flash in her eyes. She looked away for a moment, placing a hand on the roof between them to steady herself.

“Then you already know,” she spoke, looking up at him through her eyelashes and making his heart skip a beat.

“How long?” he asked after a moment, seeing a smile pass over her lips briefly.

“A while,” was her reply, her eyes searching his. He could feel her breath against his cheek, lifting his eyebrows when she let her lips part in preparation to say more.

“I don’t know, you’re just...so important to me,” she said, glancing all around his face and then back to his eyes. Those simple words made him feel like collapsing right there, but she seemed like she still had more to say.

“I’m not great at saying how I feel,” she whispered, tilting her head just a little and sending him a hopeless look that made him want to swoon. He took a few shallow breaths in between the rapid pumps of his heart beating, lifting a hand and pressing it to her cheek softly.

“Then don’t,” he whispered back, watching as she blinked at him in surprise.

She was the one to lean forward and press her lips to his, her hands finding his shoulders in an attempt to steady herself. He pulled her closer, the two of them getting lost in their feelings for each other so easily.

It was all he’d ever wanted. To know that she wanted it, wanted him, was all he could ever ask for.

~~~~~

AHHHH I LOVED WRITING THIS ONE

i love them so much oh my gosh

thank you all for reading! this month is almost over but it’s been so fun and it flew by!! <3

[winchester19-67]

A Fresh Start - Part 2

Pairing: Single Parent!Dean x Reader

Warnings: Grumpy Dean, Fluff

Word Count: 2,124

A/N: This is Part 2 of A Fresh Start. 

Series Masterlist

"Oh, thank God," Dean sighs when he opens the front door to see you standing there on the porch.

"I know that I'm a little early, but…”

"No, no," Dean says quickly as he pushes a crying Cooper over into your arms. "If you can get him calmed down, we're good." Dean says before walking on out to the garage.

"Okay," you sigh. "Cooper, your Daddy's not a very big talker, is he?"

"Daddy!" Avery yells as she comes running down the stairs. She stops short when she sees you standing there in the living room. "Where's Daddy?"

"He went on out to the garage," you tell her.

"Oh," Avery pouts as her entire body droops with disappointment.

"What do you need, Avery?”

"Well, Daddy said that he would put my hair up in pigtails," Avery pouts.

"I can help you."

"No," she shakes her head. "I wanted Daddy to, but he won't do nothing for me anymore."

You frown at her. "I'm sorry, sweetie. I think that your Dad's just really busy right now."

"He's always busy then."

Your heart breaks a little.

Dean gets out to the garage when he realizes that he left his phone in the house. When he begins to walk into the kitchen to get it, he overhears the conversation between you and Avery. Dean leans his head against the wall and closes his eyes, taking a deep breath. He decides that he doesn't need his phone that bad right now so he shuts the door.

“Hey, Avery,” you say as you kneel down in front of her. "Why don't I take you and Cooper to the park after lunch?"

Her eyes widen just a bit in excitement and she nods her head. “Okay!”

"Dean," you say as you walk into the garage. He turns around to look at you and gives you an almost annoyed look.

"What?"

His expression and snappy attitude causes you to pause before hesitantly talking. "I, uh... I was just letting you know that I'm taking the kids out to the park."

"Okay," Dean says as he raises an eyebrow at you. "And?"

"Well, I thought that you'd like to know."

"What did I tell you yesterday about coming out here for every little thing?" Dean asks as he crosses his arms over his chest and fixes you with an almost scary look.

"I just thought that I'd let you know where we were at."

"It's like I said yesterday, this is no different than if I were working away from home," Dean reminds you. "If that were the case, you wouldn't be running to me asking..."

"Okay. Okay. I'm sorry. I made a mistake," you tell him.

Dean sighs before relaxing just a little bit. "Look, (Y/N), I already gave you my permission to take them wherever you want to take them. I thought that that was all that you needed to know.”

"You're right. I'm sorry," you tell Dean before walking over to the car where you have already strapped the kids into their car seats.

"You two excited to go play at the park?" you ask Avery and Cooper as you turn around in your seat a bit to look at them. Cooper squeals loudly and enthusiastically claps his hands as his feet kick. Avery just looks at you and nods her head a bit.

"Why is Daddy grouchy?" she asks innocently. "He acts like he's always angry and I don't know what I did wrong."

“Oh, Avery you didn’t do anything to make your Daddy angry,” you tell her.

Avery nods her head. "He used to be happy. Now he's only happy with Cooper and it makes me sad."

You frown at her. "You want me to talk to him for you?"

“No,” Avery’s little eyes widen, and she quickly shakes her head at you. "No, please. I don't wanna make him even more mad at me."

“Avery, your Daddy is not mad at you."

"Can we just go to the park now please?" Avery asks.

You give her a sad smile and nod your head at her. "Okay."

By the time you get the kids home, Avery’s almost asleep on you. You pick Cooper up out of his car seat before putting him down on the ground and grabbing his hand. You then scoop Avery up, holding her tightly as you walk up to the front door. It opens before you have the chance to and Dean smiles when he sees the kids.

"Did you have fun?" Dean asks Cooper as he ruffles the little boy's hair.

“Daddy, up," Cooper says as he reaches his arms up for Dean to pick him up.

"Come here, little buddy," Dean says as he picks Cooper up and steps out of the way so that you can step inside. “Avery wore herself out."

"Yeah," you reply. "I'll take her to her room if you..."

"Just lay her down here on the couch," Dean tells you.

"Okay," you reply before laying Avery down and grabbing the blanket that's draped over the back of the couch to lay over her. "Dean, I think that we need to talk."

"I'm done for the day if you wanna leave," Dean tells you.

"You can't just keep brushing me off everytime that I say something," you tell Dean. "But this isn't about what happened between us."

"(Y/N)..."

"This is about Avery.”

Dean's face pales a bit. "What about Avery?”

You gently grab onto Dean's arm and pull him into the kitchen in case Avery wakes up while you're talking to him.

"Dean, I don't know what your problem is or why you're so grumpy..."

"Excuse me?"

"But Avery thinks that you're mad at her for some reason," you inform him. “Now, I don’t know what’s going on with you and your attitude, but…”

"You're the babysitter, (Y/N). Nothing more. You are not a psychiatrist, so I'd appreciate it if you'd quit trying to figure things out and just take care of my kids," Dean tells you.

"What are you mad at me for?" you ask him. "The way I remember it, I wasn't the one who..."

"We don't talk about that!" Dean says in such a loud voice that you're afraid that he’ll wake up Avery. “You show up on my doorstep at eight in the morning, you take care of my kids until I get done with my work, and then you go home. If you can't do that, go home and stay home."

"Dean..."

"I'm already wondering if you're worth keeping around because of what you did today.”

"Because I went out into the garage?"

"Which I told you specifically not to do unless it was an emergency," Dean tells you. "A trip to the park is not an emergency. When you're out there, you're not watching my kids because they're not allowed out there. And I told you what would happen if..."

"Okay, I get it," you say as you throw your hands up at Dean in surrender. "I'm sorry that I'm concerned about your kids."

"Your concern for them doesn't go beyond you caring for them during the day."

You gawk at Dean and shake your head at him. "What happened to you, Dean? You've changed so much since..."

"Do you want to keep this job or not?" Dean asks you.

"Yeah," you reply softly as you nod your head at him.

"Then go home now before I fire you."

You shake your head at Dean before saying something that you know he's not gonna like. "I don't think that it was Cooper who ran off the other babysitters.”

Dean reaches out and grabs your arm, yanking you back with enough force to move you but not to hurt you. "You don't get to talk to me like that," he tells you. "I'm dealing with a lot of crap right now, and the only thing saving your job is the fact that those kids are everything to me and I have to have someone to watch them for me. Our history is not going to factor into this at all."

"Dean..."

“I’ll see you at eight unless you can't handle it,” Dean tells you.

"Okay," you say before smiling at Cooper and walking towards the front door. You start walking across the pathway in the front yard when Sam pulls up in the driveway.

"(Y/N)," Sam smiles when he sees you walking his way. "Dean hasn't done anything to send you running away yet?"

"Trust me, I'm debating it," you say truthfully. "Sam, can I ask you a serious question?"

"Yeah, go ahead," Sam nods.

"What happened to Dean?" you ask him. "Because that guy in there, he doesn't even talk like Dean much less act like him. He's a completely different person than the Dean that I knew."

"I know what you mean," Sam sighs. "(Y/N), I don't know what my brother's problem is, but it started after what happened with you two. Then the kids came along and he straightened up for a while."

"What happened to put him into a bad mood all the time?" you ask him. “Avery thinks that it's her fault and..."

"I know," Sam sighs. "I've tried to talk to him about that but he just shuts me out."

"So it's not just me?"

"No, (Y/N). Trust me it is definitely not just you. Dean's been like this for a while and it doesn't seem to be getting any better."

You sigh and you nod your head a bit. “I'd better go," you say. "If Dean sees me out here talking to you, he might decide to fire me or something.”

"Alright," Sam laughs. "Hey, I'll try to talk to him about taking it easy on you. He should be thankful that he personally knows the person who is watching after his kids."

"I'll try to hang in there for a while," you tell him. "At least until I've completed my mission of getting Avery to warm up to me."

"Good luck," Sam laughs.

"I'll see you later, Sam."

"Alright," Sam smiles at you. "Just give my idiot brother some time, (Y/N)."

"I will," you reply softly before walking on to your car. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"That's enough for tonight, sweetheart," Dean tells Avery as he closes the book and sets it aside.

"One more?" she begs.

“Tell you what," Dean begins. "Daddy has had a very long day today and is desperate for sleep, so if you’ll go to sleep now, I’ll read you two extra stories tomorrow night.”

"Okay, Daddy," Avery smiles. Dean stands up off the bed and tucks Avery in tightly before leaning over enough to press a kiss to the top of her head.

“Hey, Avery,” Dean says softly. "You do know that I love you, don't you?" Dean asks her, your words from earlier bothering him a bit.

"I know, Daddy," Avery nods.

"The reason that I've been grouchy has nothing to do with you."

"Yes it does,” Avery says softly as she looks up at Dean with sad eyes. "I heard you talking to Uncle Sammy and it's because..."

"Baby girl, none of this mess is your fault," Dean tells her sincerely. "I'm sorry if I made you think that, Avery. I love you.”

"I love you too, Daddy."

Dean presses another kiss to Avery’s forehead before making sure that she looks comfortable. "Get some sleep, bug.”

Avery nods a bit, and Dean walks over to the door. He turns around to look at Avery for a while more before flipping the light off and stepping out into the hallway. Dean steps into Cooper's room to check on him before starting downstairs. Dean pulls his phone out of his pocket and sighs before bringing your number up. His thumb hovers over the call button before he finally decides to just get it over with.

"Hello?" you answer.

"Hey, (Y/N)," Dean says quietly. "You got a minute?"

"Yeah, I guess so," you reply. "What's on your mind?"

"I wanted to apologize," Dean tells you. "The way that I've been acting with you... I've not been myself lately."

"Yeah. I kinda noticed."

"Like I said, I've had a lot going on here lately but that's no excuse for the way that I've been treating you. I'm sorry."

"It's okay," you say softly. "You know, it might help to open up to someone about..."

“You’ll be here at eight then?”

"You don't get to call me and apologize, and then turn around and do the exact same thing that you just apologized for."

"I'll be nicer," Dean says. "Doesn't mean I'm gonna tell you about my problems."

"Fair enough," you sigh.

"Be here at eight," Dean tells you before hanging up on you.

Tags: @deans-baby-momma @ilovetaquitosmmmm @winchestergirl82 @fandomoverdose666 @satans-0-spawn @ofpoetryandlove @vicmc624 @tranquility-or-chaos​ @kaz11283​ @mrsdeanfuckingwinchester​ @a-dorky-book-keeper​ @maralisa124​ @crazybutconfidentaf @cookiechipdough​​ @leviathans-watching​

[lynneshobbydomain]

Picture Confessions (KomaHinaNanami Week Day 2)

(Thank you for those who left me likes on my last post!)

Prompt: Talentswap AU

Rating: G

Summary: Chiaki requested Nagito to do a photoshoot with her and Hajime, the Ultimate Prince. Nagito is more than happy to comply, but the Supreme Leader has more up her sleeve than just pictures.

Nagito lowered his camera as he looked at the scene with a critical eye. Chiaki and Hajime were posing underneath the Sakura trees, nearby the rushing river. The Ultimate Prince decided to dress in his military garb, making bystanders double-take when they walked by him. His white gloves were as pristine as the white jacket that Chiaki adorned. To compliment Hajime’s blues, Chiaki went with a simple white dress with a black cape that clasped around her neck. Both of them wore their combat boots instead of casual footwear, which was good thinking on their part, considering it had just rained not too long ago. Chiaki’s cap was slipping off of her head, going over one of her eyes, and she was hastily trying to adjust it between takes.

Hajime finally reached and gently pushed her bangs back and tucking them under the hat and adjusting it accordingly. “Why do you have a hat that doesn’t fit you anyway?”

“It was a spare,” Chiaki puffed her cheeks, a little annoyed. “I think Miyako took the one that fits. I’m not sure what she plans to do with it. I think she said something about wanting to scare people.”

“If I may ask, isn’t that Shuffle?” Nagito questioned. “She’s the one with the pigtails, right?”

“Yep. She’s my second in command. I’m glad you remembered.” Chiaki smiled as she pressed a hand to her chest, a gentle smile gracing her features. It made Nagito’s heart flip a few times. “Are you done with the pictures, Nagito?”

“No, I’m still trying to get this one shot to come out.” Nagito shook his head, pressing the camera back to his face. “Unfortunately, I’m not sure what is…” He trailed off, looking at the camera as though he never has seen it. An idea danced, but Nagito wasn’t sure if it would work or not.

The three of them had been friends for such a long time, Nagito knew that this would break many different kinds of boundaries. He was aware of Hajime’s crush on Chiaki, it was as clear as Sonia loving Gundham despite the differences between talents. The hope that everyone had was so bright and beautiful, and he wanted nothing more than to capture that hope.

Having two leaders of nefarious backgrounds would’ve given his pictures the boost, but there was a spark missing. “You know, I think I know what it is. Hajime, why don’t you get close to Chiaki?”

“How close are we talking?” Hajime asked as he stood a little closer.

Nagito shook his head. He walked over to the couple and forced Chiaki to face Hajime. “Stand on your tiptoes.” He instructed, and Chiaki obeyed without a second thought. Hajime already was holding onto her, trying to keep her steady, but Nagito didn’t like the hold. It was too impersonal. He gently removed Hajime’s hands from her shoulders to go around her waist and pushing her closer towards him, like they were about to lean for a kiss. He had Hajime hold onto Chiaki’s free hand with his own, and he went back to the camera.

He took a few shots, and Hajime brought Chiaki closer and swung her into a dip. The moment only lasted a moment, but it was long enough for Nagito to take a shot regardless. Chiaki giggled as Hajime lightly brought her back to her feet and made her spin. Another shot. Nagito felt the inspiration, the hope, reignite as he watched the two forget that Nagito was behind the camera. As he was supposed to be forgotten.

When Hajime leaned and kissed Chiaki on the cheek, Nagito’s heart both soar and broke all at once. “Hmm.” Chikai frowned thoughtfully. “We’re missing something still, I think.”

“Still?” Hajime and Nagito asked together, flabbergasted. 

“Yep.” Chiaki looked over at Nagito, and he felt his heart pick up speed. “Can your camera use a timer?”

“Yes, it can.”

“Set the timer and come over here. Both of you on either side of me.” Chiaki ordered calmly. Unable to deny the Supreme Leader’s wishes, Nagito set a fifteen-second timer and quickly made his way over towards the two.

“Kiss me on the cheek both of you; however, you’d like to,” Chiaki told them simply. They didn’t have much time to debate amongst each other, nor talk. Nagito felt his hands shake as he took hers into his, and he pressed a delicate kiss against her cheek. He could smell the faint scent of her strawberry shampoo in his nose, and her hands were small and tiny compared to his hands. Her grip was assuring and grounding as she squeezed with just her fingertips alone, as though she was scared of hurting him.

The camera flashed a few times, and Nagito let her go. Hajime also taking a step back, both of them flushed a bright red and Nagito felt his embarrassment climb up his neck. “I should...check the photos.” He stammered as he quickly went back to the camera.

What could any of that mean? His heart raced as he looked at the pictures that were just shot. Hajime had mirrored the same poes Nagito did, and all three of them had their eyes closed, enjoying the moment. All of them flushed, with timid smiles on their faces. They were happy together. Nagito’s heart sped up.

“I think we make a good team together,” Chiaki spoke up shyly, breaking through Nagito’s train of thought. He looked over at her, and she was twirling a piece of her hair, looking away with a mischievous yet sincere smile on her face. She looked...gorgeous. She looked as though she had been planning that for quite some time.

In fact, she might’ve. Nagito was only asked to do the photoshoot not too long ago. He had no idea what the outcome of it was going to be. The leader merely requested it, and Hajime being the man that he was going along with it. Nagito didn’t have a reason to deny them, considering that it was an excellent way to spread hope. 

Now he was wondering whose hope he was spreading. It certainly wasn’t theirs to the world. “You really want to bring me into this? I should feel honored, but I’m nothing compared to you two.” Nagito quickly denied. “You both deserve-”

“If you call yourself scum or worthless, I’m tossing you in a river. You’re not worthless, Nagito. We were talking about it before we even thought of the shoot.” Hajime admitted.

“I’m sorry, what?” Nagito blinked. What?

Chiaki adjusted her hat so that she was hiding under it, making herself look smaller than she was. “We’re asking you to be our third player. If you want to.”

“What she said. And don’t mention that you’re not worth this because of your status as a commoner. My family doesn’t care about blood and marriages so long as I’m happy.” Hajime immediately rejected all of the objections Nagito had that lingered on his tongue. 

“My group wouldn’t care who I date so long as I love them, I think.” Chiaki mused thoughtfully. “Otherwise, they’re not very good subordinates, but I trust them.” 

“I…” Nagito swallowed thickly. “There’s really nothing I can say against this...I want both of you too. If you’ll let me. I wasn’t expecting you two to bring hope to me!”

“God, the hope thing, I’m going to have to get used to the hope thing.” Hajime sighed before he gently brought his arms out. “Group hug?”

Hajime wasn’t prepared for the sudden dogpile that was on top of him, laughter echoing around them. 

[garnet-xx-rose]

Secret Santa

HO-HO-HO! @supericebeam I’m your secret Santa! So sorry for the delay, but I’m very happy with how it turned out. I was even able to hit all you’re prompts. Enjoy! Also thank you to @niuniente for hosting

"This is stupid." Catra proclaimed

It was the holidays, the few days each year when the Princess Alliance would not be active. Too many different holidays celebrated by the kingdoms individually. A perfect time to make an attack.

But instead, the Horde’s second in command found herself in the corner of Hordak’s throne room with a cup of gin in her hand and wearing what she considered the fugliest sweater she’s ever seen. Instead of conquering Etheria at its most vulnerable, the Horde was partaking in its first annual holiday party. This year’s theme: ugly sweaters.

“Oh come on Wildcat, don’t be so down,” Scorpia exclaimed as she walked over, a plate of finger foods being held by a pincer. Her sweater had holes suited for her spikes but unable to fit her muscular upper frame, making the piece look instead like a crop top. 

“Isn’t this great! We’re all here together, celebrating. Not just the holidays, but a great year. All the progress the Horde’s made.” Scorpia said excitedly while munching on her food. She gulped and looked down at Catra, blushing.

“Everything we’ve accomplished. Together.”

Catra scoffed. “Yeah, well we would be able to accomplish more if we weren’t just sitting around doing nothing. The princesses are busy with their dumb traditions, it’s an easy target!”

“Well hold on now Catra you know the rules, the Horde never invades during this time, some type of deal made during the first rebellion.” The scorpion princess stuffed a few more pigs in a blanket into her mouth, “Besides, now’s a great time to relax, take a load off. We’ve earned it!”

Catra was not made aware of that (damn, she really should’ve gone to orientation) but she didn’t really care. And now, she was getting annoyed by Scorpia’s chewing and patronizing.

“Whatever,” Catra called out before walking away to another empty space. Scorpia frowned as her friend wandered off, unsure if she should follow her, but decided against in fear of making her more agitated, “Let’s see what else is on the menu”

Catra found a spot against the wall facing the center of the party, a perfect place to people watch. 

Out on the floor were soldiers, force captains, and generals dressed in different colored sweaters, with the Horde symbol crudely stitched in the middle. They were conversing like regular townsfolk, making jokes, having heated debates, some even dancing. She could see Kyle refereeing an eating contest between Lonnie and Rogelio by the food table and on the other side Grizzlor and Octavia grooving on the dance floor, with the octo-woman taking control every now and then. But what was most bizarre of all was Lord Hordak himself, sitting high on his throne, dressed in a green sweater, sharing a plate of tiny sandwiches between himself and his little alien baby. And on his right sat the princess prisoner now turned chief scientist, Entrapta, chugging a fizzy drink with the help of a tendril while she wrote in her journal and spoke into her recorder as she oversaw the party below. 

Just like the rest of the guests, she was dressed in a sweater, but her’s was yellow with an image of Emily placed in the center. What was more noticeable to Catra was her hair put up into a mid-high ponytail, instead of pigtails, with a large ribbon bow wrapped into her hair on top. Catra had to admit the get-up did a number on her, but it was clear that Hordak was the most entranced victim to Entrapta. Every few moments Hordak would look over at his lab partner as if to reassure himself that she was there. And whenever Entrapta spoke to him or wanted to share her notes, he looked at her like she was the only thing in the world. He was leaning into her, mesmerized, and when Catra squinted she was sure she saw his hand on her thigh. Man, she wanted to be sick.

Catra groaned. This stupid party had to be Entrapta’s idea-though odd given her lack of interaction during social events like Princess Prom-just like all the other changes made to the Horde in recent memory.  It was ludicrous. In a matter of months, the strange Princess of Dryll had gone from her chained prisoner to Hordak’s most trusted member, something that not even long-time force captains could achieve. 

Entrapta had Hordak wrapped around her finger or hair for that matter. It made Catra confused, betrayed, angry. But, the more she thought about it, a vulnerable Hordak could be used to her advantage.

In the meantime, there was free food and booze just out in the open and it’s not like Catra wasn’t going to indulge herself. She made her way over to the food table, where now Scorpia had joined the eating contest.

“Hey!” Catra shouted, grabbing the attention of the young soldiers. Kyle looked nervous as usual while Lonnie was intrigued, waiting for the cat girl to explain her sudden interruption.

Catra sighed, maybe just for one day she didn’t have to play the Big bad.

“Room for one more?” 

Kyle, Lonnie, and Rogelio looked at each other in disbelief that Catra could be so respectful, but that disbelief was forgotten in moments as Scorpia rushed in and scooped Catra in a bone-crushing hug. 

“Oh, that’s my Wildcat, wanting to celebrate with her best friends!”

The woman put her down and starting making bowls for a new round. “Now let’s really get this party started!”

“Whatever,” Catra mumbled, stuffing a handful of pigs in a blanket in her mouth. 

————————-

The day of festivities was now at its final moments. The party had ended an hour ago and now the clean-up crew was making its final touches. On top of the staircase, party host Entrapta was dancing around the throne, gigging and squealing as her hair frizzled out in excitement.

“This is without question one of my most successful experiments to date!” 

Hordak, still seated, watched his partner jump around the room, a small smile exposed on his face. Entrapta hopped over and plopped herself on top of Hordak, her chest squished against his and her legs over tucked over his thighs. Hordak wheezed from the sudden impact. 

“According to my data, my hypothesis was correct: By hosting a social gathering with more palatable food than ration bars and activities for the Horde to partake in, morale and teamwork have increased, 32 percent might I add. And because the guests were already familiar with one another, social awkwardness was down 70 percent!” 

“Yes.” Hordak hissed, “Impressive indeed.”

He looked out to the center of the room, where only hours ago hundreds of Horde soldiers were partying and laughing. It was as if they forgot they were in the midst of decades-old war. A small part of Hordak felt envious. Seeing his captains and generals converse and laugh like old friends made him realize how little he knew about his people. It was as if the Horde had created a culture of its own, unbeknownst to Hordak, behind his back that only now was being unveiled because of such a light-hearted event. Even Catra, as anti-social as the girl was, seemed to have a good time with Force Captain Scorpia and the trio of horde soldiers Hordak always saw together. 

A gloved hand placed on his own snapped him out of his thoughts. He faced Entrapta who looked into him with the doest eyes and softest smile he’s ever seen on her face.

“I-uhh wanted to thank you for letting me conduct my experiment. I know it was a lot, convincing everyone to join and getting everything organized. It was also very nice of you to host in the throne room”

Now that she thought about, was that the first Horde party?

“I know that I can be a lot sometimes but know that I appreciate your consistent support in my endeavors, no matter how seemingly ridiculous.” Entrapta chuckled at the end of her statement, trying not to sound too sappy. Hordak’s biology betrayed him as his cheeks blushed a hard crimson. He began to stammer.

‘Well,” Hordak cleared his throat, “It has become clear that your work has exponentially improved not only the Horde’s infrastructure but my personal projections as well. I...thank you for your continuing assistance...and letting me work with a brilliant mind such as yourself.”

Now it was Entrapta’s turn to blush. With no mask to cover her face, she looked down but gave a small sigh, reassuring Hordak that she heard his flattering remark. Hordak looked back out, not wanting to make Entrapta feel any more discomfort. But only seconds later, he was staring at her again as she softly pressed herself against his chest and placed her head in the crook of his neck. Instead of freaking out and pushing her away-something that he would have done only weeks ago- Hordak rolled with it, intertwining his hand into Entrapta’s and placing his other on her backside, slowly petting her ponytail. 

These acts of intimacy were still new to them, only starting at the beginning of the month, but both have quickly come accustomed to the familiar sense of tenderness. The couple stayed embraced on the throne, quiet except for the occasional hum from Entrapta or grunt from Hordak. Time stood still as each took in the other’s presence fully. When Entrapta nuzzled herself into his neck, Hordak lost his control and gave himself to her, flaws and all. It was moments like this that Hordak could describe as nearly perfect, when everything- his defect, the war, Prime- washes away from his mind, letting his body be at peace. The calmness of it all was so intense. Hordak soon felt himself dozing off, happily wrapped in the arms of his partner.

“Wait!” Entrapta shouted, bouncing off of Hordak’s chest. Hordak’s eyes shot open at the sudden commotion. 

“I forgot about the gift exchange.” A tendril slithered behind the throne and came back around, dropping a mid-size box into Entrapta’s hands, amateurishly wrapped in blue paper. The princess than gave it to Hordak, “I would’ve given it earlier, but I didn’t want to make a scene during the party. I know how you still are with privacy.”

During the party, a secret gift exchange was held amongst the guests, but the hosts decided it would be best that they got gifts for each other. 

Hordak ran a talon across the paper, cutting it open with the edge of his nail. Neatly unwrapping the package, Hordak was left with a pink box that read in pretty cursive, “Salineas Serums”. Intrigued, the man lifted up the top of the box and moved it to the side. When he looked back into the box contents, Lord Hordak released a small gasp. Inside were two bottles of hair dye with color that matched Hordak’s hair, black eye shadow pallets, and a few other cosmetic accessories.

“You once briefly mentioned that you were running low on dye  while we working on the portal” Entrapta spoke, twiddling her finger around her ponytail, “I thought that along with some other supplies would be a sufficient present.” 

Hordak picked up the bottle and turned it in his hand, amazed at how well it matched his own. He never told Entrapta his shade, nor brand for that matter. “Oh!” Entrapta squeaked “It’s also the newest edition, so it lasts much longer and doesn’t run off as often. It’s not even set for release until next summer! And before you ask, I have a few connections with the company. They owe me a few favors after I solved their Jellyfish problem. I hope you like it!” 

Hordak stared at the bottle in disbelief. One off-handed remark about his personal care led her to this? So much time and attention put into her present. He hoped his gift to her could create at least half of the joy hers brought him. Hordak put the bottle back in the box and took a nearby pink tendril into his hand, the other grasping his partner’s. “Entrapta, this is perfect. I could not have asked for anything better.” He finished his confession by kissing the held strand of hair.

Entrapta giggled, happy at another success. Hordak was so entranced he almost forgot to present his own. He called out to Imp who was plopped on top of Emily, falling out after eating too many cookies. The infant-sized creature rubbed his eyes and sluggishly flew around the throne and came around to Entrapta, dropping another mid-size box into her lap before yawning and flying back over to Emily. 

Entrapta didn’t even take the time to appreciate the delicate wrapping, going straight in and ripping apart the paper. She was left with a brown box with a note on top that read, “A sneak peek of what’s to come,” signed “-H”. The princess took off the note, placed it to her side, and then opened the box. Inside was a stack of brown journals, she took out one and began to flip the pages. Entrapta gasped, louder than Hordak’s, almost loud enough to be a scream.

The pages were decorated in detailed drawings of planets, stars, and galaxies. Each page had not only had drawings but writings on the topic’s features and history. It would take Entrpata months, maybe even years to thoroughly get in-depth with these journals.

Life outside of Despondos, a mystery to Etherians for centuries. The answers were right here. 

Entrapta had the universe in her hands. 

“With all the progress we’ve made with the portal, I felt a little nostalgic and did some snooping around my old ship.” Entrapta looked up at Hordak, who spoke with a grin. “I found these and…I couldn’t think of a more brilliant, beautiful person to give them to.”

Entrapta could feel the rims of her eye getting wet. Before she could stop her self, her cheeks became wet too. The princess threw her arms around her partner’s, stuffing her face into his neck once more and mumbling incoherent words. Hordak continued to smile, pleased with Entrapta’s reaction, but wished to hear her words. 

“Care to repeat that?” the clone joked, rubbing his partner’s back.

Entrapta lifted herself and faced Hordak, her face still damp with small tears still streaming down her cheeks. 

“Oh, Hordak!” She cried, sniffling and then wiping her face with the sleeve of her sweater, “This is the best gift I’ve ever gotten! I really don’t know what to say. It’s...it’s..”

“Out of this world?”

Entrapta’s hair frizzled in excitement. “Exactly!” She grabbed Hordak’s cheeks and snuggled his face into her own. 

“You’re amazing.” She stated, nuzzling their noses. Hordak could only respond with a small moan of reassurance.

This day was perfect, nothing could make them feel any better than they did right now.

Well…

Chirping was heard above them. Entrapta and Hordak separated from their headlock and looked up to find Imp, holding up a mistletoe, with the most devilish smirk on his face. Hordak immediately blushed. He was aware of the Etherian tradition, but it was not like he ever had a willing partner. And it was not like Entrapta was going to-

His thoughts were suppressed as soft, plump lips smashed into his own. On cue, Hordak wrapped his arms around her curvy waist as she cupped his cheeks. The kiss grew deeper and once again Hordak and Entrapta became lost into each other, Hordak caressing her back and Entrapta running a hand through his hair. Hordak melted into her arms.

Before things got too heated, Entrapta lifted her lips off of Hordak. He looked at her so dazed and out it. She giggled, happy to see the influence she had on him.

“We should do this every year.” Hordak declared, though a little slurred.

Entrapta smiled, suggestively leaning back down to meet Hordak’s face.

“The party..or the kissing?”

Hordak raised his lips only an inch away from her and smirked.

“Both.”

[legendofzeldaalinktothepast]

Opalescent Tides - Chapter 8

Previous Chapter // Next Chapter 

(tw for drowning in the beginning) 

Pale fog surrounded Pearl. Her ears were clogged, her body suspended and light; she held her breath for an unknown reason, but feared what'd happen if she found out why. The fog thickened until she was surrounded in nothing but solid white. Pearl’s body trembled. Before she knew it, she could no longer hold her breath. She gasped for air and salty water filled her lungs.

Pearl clutched her chest and cried out in pain, but the water muffled her voice. With each passing second, Pearl’s consciousness slipped away until everything went dark.

Pearl bolted upright with a gasp. Her body clammy and drenched in sweat, it took her a moment to process where she was. She gripped the bed sheets tight, grounding herself as she steadied her breath, slowly returning to reality and assuring herself that, yes, she was in her room, and could breathe.

Once her breath was back to a steady pace, she flopped down onto the pillows and glanced at the clock on her dresser. 6:32. She had a couple hours until she actually needed to get up. Normally Pearl would take advantage of that… but the sweat covering her body made her feel sticky and disgusting, and the sickness from her nightmare lingered in her stomach, so she reluctantly pulled herself out of bed.

Pearl made her way across the hall, making sure to tread carefully in case Garnet was still asleep; but she heard footsteps in the kitchen and relaxed, continuing at her usual gait until she reached the bathroom.

As Pearl brushed her teeth, she refused to look at her reflection in the mirror. She knew she'd have those hideous bags under her eyes. It'd taken hours to fall asleep that night; at most, she'd gotten four hours of proper rest. Even without her sleep deprivation, she never found herself a beautiful sight to look at; with her nose too big for her face, a body so formless and flat chested she looked like a brick, it only soured her mood. Only once she’d finished brushing and rinsed her mouth did she look at the mirror, and even then, she merely glanced long enough to smooth out her hair.

Pearl grabbed a little silver box on the edge of the sink. Removing the lid, she retrieved a small, brown ring and slipped it onto her thumb. She stroked the smooth material with her index finger; Garnet had once told her it was made of solid tumbled sardonyx.

It had been a birthday gift from many years back, when Pearl was still recovering from her amnesia... Ever since then, a day hadn't passed where Pearl didn't wear the ring. The thought of forgetting Garnet again made Pearl sick to her stomach; but as long as that ring was on her thumb, she felt safe.

Pearl made her way back down the hallway. She could smell coffee brewing in the kitchen; as someone who preferred tea, she was never a fan of it, but the scent always made her feel right at home. Her mood immediately brightened just a touch as she spotted Garnet at the counter.

"Morning." Garnet said. Pearl opened the fridge and looked to see what she had to work with: not much, but they did have some fresh blueberries that Rose had given them the other day.

"Good morning." Pearl finally responded. "Do you want me to make pancakes?" The thought of food made her stomach turn… Normally she was bright and ready to eat breakfast upon waking up, but after that little nightmare -- even if it had mostly faded from her memory, and she could only remember the strange sense of anxiety that accompanied it -- food was the last thing she wanted. Still, Garnet was never good in the kitchen, and Pearl knew she’d probably enjoy a change from her usual routine of jam and toast.

"Always." Garnet said with a wink. She lifted herself up onto the counter and crossed her legs, taking a sip of her coffee. "I can't believe it's already Saturday. This week went by pretty quickly.”

"I think so, too." Pearl lied; in all honesty, this week had felt more like a month. She searched the fridge for pancake ingredients; blueberries, eggs, butter... 'I hope we have enough flour.' she thought, closing the fridge and heading over to the cabinet.

"Do you have any plans for tonight?" Garnet asked, setting her mug aside. "I want to go to the mall. Our sales have been decent this week, and I'd like to splurge on something nice..."

Pearl bit her lip. Throughout the week, she'd debated telling Garnet about her plans to meet with Amethyst... But every time she tried, a mixture of shame and guilt welled up in her chest. After how much Garnet had comforted Pearl these past few weeks, she’d started to worry she was asking a little too much. Besides, she had no way to even explain the situation without it sounding sketchy and incredibly vague -- which it absolutely was.

"I was planning to visit Amethyst, actually." Pearl responded as she stirred the pancake ingredients together. "But I won't be offended if you go to the mall without me. Maybe you could invite Bismuth?”

"That’s true… Or maybe all four of us could hang out together. I think Amethyst and Bismuth would get along pretty well." Garnet suggested.

"Hm, I think I'd prefer if it was just the two of us tonight." Pearl said, turning on the stove and greasing a frying pan with some butter.

"Ah, I understand." Garnet smiled knowingly, and Pearl’s cheeks flushed. Still, Garnet’s assumption was less embarrassing than the reality of the situation, so she let it be.

"D-do you want two or three pancakes?" Pearl hoped to change the subject.

"Just two." Garnet said. Once she'd finished her coffee, she slipped down from the counter and made her way into the living room. Garnet retrieved her comb and a couple of neon scrunchies, and stood in front of the body length mirror as she parted her hair into two sections.

Pearl poured a ladle of pancake mix onto the sizzling pan. With a spatula in hand, she leaned against the counter and watched as Garnet styled her hair in two puffy little pigtails. Pearl smiled; she always found it charming when she did cutesy hair styles like that. She normally kept her hair in a ponytail for convenience, but every now and then she'd do pigtails or braids, and would always decorate it with colorful hair clips, scrunchies, or bows.

Pearl remembered the pancake and quickly flipped it; thankfully, it was the perfect golden brown color she always aimed for. The more time that passed, the more the residue of her nightmare began to fade. By then, she’d almost forgotten about it altogether. 'Maybe I'll have some pancakes after all...'

* 

The sun descended over the ocean; as she waited, Pearl periodically checked the leather watch on her wrist. It was a few minutes past seven already. The more time her mind had to wander, the more her anxiety bubbled up in her chest, and she began to regret not bringing Garnet along.

"Hey, girly-girl!" a familiar voice called, snapping Pearl away from her thoughts.

"Good evening!" Pearl responded, tucking her hair behind her ears.

"Where's Garnet?" Amethyst asked, shoving her hands into her skirt pockets.

"I decided not to bring her along..." Pearl fidgeted with the collar of her shirt. "She's had a lot on her plate lately, and she wanted to spend tonight with one of her friends, anyway."

Amethyst smiled in a way that made Pearl's heart flutter. "That's fine with me. Do you wanna go for a swim?"

Pearl glanced down at her purse. “Oh, uh, I hadn't considered that! I didn't bring a swimsuit or a towel, so..."

’Oh, right.’ Amethyst thought. She’d forgotten humans had special clothing intended specifically for swimming. Why exactly they were so particular about these things, she failed to understand. "No biggie. I was just gonna go for a quick dip. But I won't swim too far or anything.”

"That's fine with me." Pearl relaxed her shoulders. "Perhaps I’ll dip my feet in, though…”

“Nice!" Amethyst said. And with that, she waded into the shallow water, clothes and all.

Pearl gave her a puzzled expression. "You're swimming in your clothes?"

Amethyst snorted. "You want me to take them off?"

Pearl cupped her hands over her mouth. "No! Goodness no, I just -- don't normally see people swim in their clothes, that's all. But there's nothing wrong with it, I suppose... it's just... a bit strange?"

"Alrighty then. I'm fine with being strange." Amethyst smirked, continuing into the water until the surface reached her chin. She let out a sigh of content; maybe her transformation would be a little less painful this time around, now that she was surrounded by plenty of chlorine-free water.

“So…” Pearl removed her shoes and stepped into the water. It was quite warm, and far more pleasant than she’d expected. Rolling her jeans up as high as they could go, she stepped forward until the tides just barely grazed her knees. “There was something you wanted to talk to me about?”

Amethyst’s expression softened. “Yeah…” she said, scratching the back of her head. Amethyst glanced up at the dimming sky before she continued. “So… You remember what you told me about the other day? How you lost your memory a few years ago, and how last month, you saw something that wasn’t real?”

Pearl swallowed a lump in her throat. “I do.” she responded after a moment of hesitation.

“Well…” Amethyst paused for a moment, as if trying to figure out her own words. Pearl’s anxiety rose with each passing second.

"You... you aren’t the only one." Amethyst began. "I also lost my memory. Something happened around a month ago, and I can’t remember anything before then. Not who I am, or where I come from, or why I’m here… Just my name.” Amethyst said. Pearl’s eyes widened.

“But that’s not the important thing…” she continued. “What I really wanted to say is… What you saw last month was real. It wasn’t in your head.”

Pearl’s expression fell. “What on earth are you talking about?”

Amethyst glanced up at the sky once more. ’Why does she keep doing that…?’ Pearl wondered. It almost seemed as if she was waiting for something... She looked up, too, and spotted the full moon hanging in the golden summer sky.

“Fuck -- !” Amethyst yelped out, causing Pearl to jump. Before she could ask if she was alright, Amethyst fell backwards into the water with a splash.

“Amethyst?” she called. No response. ’Oh no…’ Her heart pounded. She’d never been confident in her swimming abilities -- so for a moment, all she could do was pray that Amethyst would return to the surface… But the longer she waited, the more certain it seemed that something wasn’t right.

“Amethyst!” Pearl called out again. Fearing what’d happen if she waited any longer, she plunged herself into the water.

It didn’t take long for Pearl to spot that head of lavender hair. Swimming closer, Pearl gripped her by the shoulders and tugged her upright and towards the surface. Once Amethyst’s head was above the water, she took in a gasp of air.

“Are you alright?” Pearl urged, cupping Amethyst’s cheeks. “What happened?”

“Sorry ‘bout that.” Amethyst said, brushing a strand of seaweed away from her forehead. “It caught me by surprise, and once I went under, the water felt so nice that I didn’t wanna come back up, heh…” Amethyst blushed, glancing aside. “Didn't mean to scare ya."

“What caught you by surprise?” Pearl urged. “Did you step on...” Pearl trailed off as she caught a glimpse of Amethyst’s hands, and her heart nearly stopped in her chest. Her fingers were webbed together, her nails resembling something more like talons; and as she cast her gaze downward, she spotted a very familiar, very beautiful, shimmering and opalescent tail.

Amethyst wasn’t sure what to make of Pearl’s expression; her skin turned pale, her eyes were wide, and her mouth was slightly ajar. Pearl looked at her hand and fidgeted with the brown ring on her thumb before turning her gaze back towards Amethyst.

“It’s happening again, isn’t it?” she whispered.

Amethyst’s heart dropped down to her stomach. “No - no no no no no, it’s not! I mean, it is, but it isn’t what you think.” Amethyst cupped Pearl’s cheeks, but the latter immediately jerked away from her. Amethyst clasped a hand over her mouth as she saw a slight claw mark on Pearl’s face. “I’m sorry…” she whimpered.

“T-this is some sort of joke, isn’t it?” Pearl backed away, balling her fists at her sides. “I-I’m not sure how you did it, but--”

“It’s not a joke! I swear on my life, Pearl!” Amethyst insisted, tugging on her hair. “I don’t know why I’m like this… I don’t remember anything. I don’t even remember what I used to be. All I know is that… I lost my memory like you did. So I thought… Maybe…” Tears welled up in Amethyst’s eyes. “I thought maybe you were… I thought you were a mermaid, too, okay?" Her voice cracked, and she buried her face into her hands. "I know that's stupid of me. A-and I think I knew deep down that you'd react like this... I really just wanted it to be true. So this is my fault."

Pearl’s expression softened. Her fear, and a small hint of anger, still lingered in her chest… Yet at the same time, seeing Amethyst like this broke her heart. Extending a hand, she cautiously approached her and grasped her shoulder. Her soft skin now had a slick, scaly texture. She fidgeted with the ring on her finger for a moment, taking in a long, deep breath.

“Well… I can tell you for certain that I’m not a mermaid.” Pearl began. “But… Perhaps there’s more to my story than I’d initially considered.” She sighed again. “You don't have to be sorry about this, though... I'm just more confused than ever, and a little shaken up, but... I think I'll survive."

Amethyst didn't respond. She feared that if she spoke, she'd be unable to hold back her tears anymore. Pearl seemed to pick up on this; she reached for Amethyst’s hands and gave them a squeeze, running her fingers across those sharp talons and webbed skin. It simultaneously intrigued and disturbed her. But the more she looked at Amethyst’s shimmering tail, the more her fear dissolved away. Pearl turned her gaze up to meet Amethyst’s eyes; only now did that alien look in them begin to make sense. Her heart racing, she suddenly pulled Amethyst into a tight embrace.

At first, Amethyst tensed; but then she allowed herself to close her eyes and melt into the display of affection.

“It's going to be alright.” Pearl whispered. “I promise, your secret will be safe with me.”

Another silence fell between the two. They simply held each other tight, listening to the lapping of waves and chirping of crickets.

“This is gonna sound stupid…” Amethyst finally spoke up. “But like… are you sure you’re not a mermaid?”

Pearl giggled against Amethyst’s hair. “I have no reason to believe that. I mean, I clearly have two legs now, don’t I?”

“Yeah, but…” Amethyst began, but decided against it. She wasn’t sure how to explain a lack of monthly transformation without bringing up Rose… “I guess I'm still holding on to that stupid idea that it might be true... I still don’t know what the hell’s going on, you know? I don’t know why I became a human… I don’t even know why I’m here.”

“At least you’re not the only one.” Pearl said, squeezing Amethyst even tighter. “Sometimes, I feel the same way. Even if it’s for a slightly less… mythical reason.”

Amethyst chuckled. “Yeah, guess so.”

“But now I can’t help but wonder…” Pearl pulled away from the hug and looked Amethyst in the eyes. “Rose knows about your secret, doesn’t she? Do you think you can trust her with it…?”

Amethyst blushed. “Oh, yeah, totally, pfft.” Amethyst waved a hand dismissively. Just talking about Rose right now was making her feel guilty. “Like, she was kinda freaked out when she found me, and I had a lot of explaining to do, but uh, she’s doing a good job keeping my secret. Greg and Steven, too. I actually kinda snuck out tonight. She didn’t want me getting myself in danger, but… I wanted to keep my promise to you.”

Pearl chuckled softly. “You know you could have just told me about this, right? You didn’t have to put yourself in so much danger… I might have believed you if you told me the truth in a convincing way.”

“I’ll keep that in mind next time.” Amethyst stuck her tongue out.

Pearl rolled her eyes. “Anyway.” she continued with a sigh, gesturing to her wet clothes. “I would like to head home before I develop hypothermia. Would you like me to take you back to Rose’s house?”

In all honesty, the thought of facing Rose right now made Amethyst’s stomach turn. “No, I uh, might spend the night here. Rose is gonna be pissed that I snuck out, and I’m not ready to deal with that.”

“Nonsense. I won’t let you stay out here where you could be seen!” Pearl shook her head. “If you don’t want to see Rose tonight, I could take you back to my apartment. Garnet is out for the night, so it’ll just be the two of us.”

Amethyst blushed. “Aw, geez… You sure? I don’t want you to worry about me.”

“I’ll worry far more if you stay out here overnight.” Pearl said. “I insist. Should I carry you to my car? Or are you able to… Grow your legs back?”

Amethyst snorted. “Man, if only. You gotta carry me if you really wanna take me home with you.”

“That’s alright.” Pearl said. And just like that, she scooped Amethyst up into her arms. With a grunt, she carried her out of the water and onto the beach, making her way through the woods and into the clearing where her car was parked.

As skinny as Pearl was, Amethyst had honestly expected her to struggle carrying a heavier woman like herself… Of course, the slight strain on Pearl’s face didn’t make it look easy, either, but they made it all the way to the car without stopping once.

She placed Amethyst in the front seat, adjusting her scaly fin so that it lay comfortably on the ground -- pausing for a moment to admire the way it shimmered in the moonlight -- and then buckled her seatbelt for her.

“Damn, you’re stronger than you look.” Amethyst remarked.

“I do a lot of lifting at my job.” Pearl winked. “I’ve lifted antiques far heavier than you.”

“I can tell.” Amethyst blushed a little.

Pearl shut the door and walked around to the other side of the car; after climbing into the driver’s seat, she shoved the key into the ignition and started it up. They made their way out of the woods and back to the road.

As Pearl drove, Amethyst noticed a little door in front of her. “What’s this?” she asked.

“Oh, that’s the glove compartment.” Pearl said.

Amethyst tugged it open and saw that it was filled to the brim with papers, tiny bottles of various liquids, and dozens of stray bandages… but not gloves. ’Weird.’

After she grew bored of her newest discovery, she closed it back up. Her attention shifted over to the little cardboard shape hanging from the mirror; it had a strong, floral scent, and was shaped like a cat’s head.

“Oh, do you like my air freshener?” Pearl said. “Garnet found it at Hot Topic last week. She really loves Hello Kitty.”

Amethyst only understood a fraction of that sentence. “Yeah, I like it. It smells pretty nice.” she said, leaning back against the seat again. That uncomfortable, slightly painful sense of thirst began to tingle at her throat… Hopefully the ride wouldn’t be too long. If she didn’t get herself in some water soon, she feared it’d be just as painful as her first transformation.

Soon enough, they reached the thrift store-apartment, and Pearl pulled into the parking lot. “Alright…” Pearl glanced outside to make sure nobody was nearby before she took her keys out. “It doesn’t look like too many people are out right now, so we can probably make it inside without getting caught…”

“Worst case scenario, we tell them I got stuck in a costume.” Amethyst snorted.

Pearl gave a huff of amusement. “True, but I’d rather avoid confrontation altogether. I’m a terrible liar.”

She slipped out of the driver’s side, hurrying over to Amethyst’s side and lifting her out of the passenger seat. She nudged the door shut with her hip, making her way across the parking lot as quickly as she could -- which wasn’t very quick, at least while carrying Amethyst -- and fumbled with the key in the door for a moment before it clicked.

“Thank goodness…” Pearl whispered. She pushed the door open and hurried inside, locking it behind them once they were both safe.

“Alright...” Pearl let out a sigh of relief, setting Amethyst down on the floor so she could catch her breath. “I don’t think anyone saw us.”

“I hope not.” Amethyst rubbed her neck as she felt a twinge of pain in her gills. She really needed to get some water soon. “So uh, not to rush you or anything, but where’s the bathtub?”

“Upstairs, unfortunately.” Pearl said.

“You don’t have to carry me anymore. I know you’re strong, but still.” Amethyst smiled reassuringly. “I can drag myself up while you get the water started, ‘kay?”

“Are you sure?” Pearl said.

“Positive. It’ll be faster than making you carry me up the stairs.”

“Well… Just call for me if you change your mind.” Pearl headed straight for the bathroom. Bracing herself, Amethyst gripped the edge of the stairs and began to heave herself up, step-by-step. It was, admittedly, more difficult than she’d thought it’d be… But soon enough she had reached the top, and could hear the distant sound of running water. Gritting her teeth, she made her way down the hallway and towards the bathroom. Once she was there, she lifted herself straight into the bathtub and flopped right in.

“Is the water warm enough?” Pearl asked.

“It’s perfect.” Amethyst slouched down as much as she could, and let the water run against the gills on her neck. The faucet had only been running for a minute or two, so she had to shift around to get her body completely damp. And like magic, the aches in her body began to fade. “Ahh… Thanks so much, girlie.”

“Of course.” Pearl said with a smile. “Is there anything else you need? Anything to eat or drink?”

“Nah, this tub of water is all I needed.” Amethyst groaned happily, flapping her tail against the side of the tub.

“Alright, alright…” Pearl sat down on the floor, tucking her legs beneath herself. She let out a long, deep sigh of relief, letting her head fall back against the grey tiled wall. “What a long day…”

“Yeah, tell me about it.” Amethyst said, resting her elbows on the side of the tub.

The two of them sat together in silence, listening to the sound of the running water. Amethyst noticed Pearl chewing her nails down to the nub. It was something she’d often caught Greg doing when he was nervous… Another weird human habit. Hoping to calm her down, she rested a hand on her shoulder -- making sure to keep her claws retracted.

Pearl glanced back at her. “Hm?”

“It’s all gonna be okay, girlie.” Amethyst whispered. “I promise. I’m gonna go back to being human tomorrow, so you’ll only have to deal with this for one night… And even then, we’re gonna try and find out more about… Whatever’s going on.”

Pearl smiled warmly. “Thank you, Amethyst…” She reached for one of her hands and gave it a gentle squeeze. “I know I seemed pretty shaken up earlier, but… I truly am glad I--”

Pearl tensed mid-sentence as she heard footsteps down the hallway. “Shit…” she whispered, rising to her feet. “I think Garnet’s home.”

“You home, Pearlie?” an unfamiliar voice called.

“...And Bismuth’s with her.” A blush spread across Pearl’s cheeks.

“Oh, shit.” Amethyst slouched down in the tub until the water reached her nose.

“Here, just -- ” Pearl grabbed the shower curtain and pulled it shut. “There. If anyone comes in, keep this closed and don’t make a sound.”

“You sure that’ll work?” Amethyst raised an eyebrow.

“Of course not.” Pearl huffed. “But what else can we do?”

“Good point.” Amethyst mumbled.

“Regardless, I’m going to say hi to Garnet and our guest. Hopefully neither of them need to use the bathroom…” Pearl wrung her hands nervously. She glanced back at Amethyst one last time before heading out and pulling the door shut.

[bugaboowritings]

ICY - Chat Blanc Fic

The Lonely Boy Gets His Heart Rekt

How would Chat Blanc play out if Adrien never went to public school and his dad was more of an a-hole than he is now?

Aged up AU

   All the glaciers in the world could melt right now but they won’t be able to drown out all the destruction and sorrow by a little white cat on a rooftop. It can destroy the beach houses his father owned on the foreign coasts or flood the swimming pools a golden model once filled and refilled with his tears during the lonely summer days. Days spent out tanning in the sun with the only sound to accompany him being the ripples in the water that splosh against the pool’s titles.

The glamorous life truly was a boring one.

Adrien would push up his sunglasses a little higher before staring at the sun for a little bit longer. The view from his yard would be amazing if it wasn’t for the great wall dividing him from the outside. Debating that the view from his closed-off room was better than this. Even with locked windows, his room looked over the wall and out to the city. Adrien Agreste still got to see Paris without that ugly, bland, beige brick wall.

The backyard wasn’t any worse, don’t get me wrong.

There were gardens, a pool, a rose nursery, and stone paths that seem to be taken from a silver screen. However, the backyard felt like a cluttered mess even if there were gardeners watching and caring for it 24/7. The tall walls of vegetation seem to be climbing out of the house to be free. To break out but it never grew long enough to escape since the landscapers would always come around and trim it before it reached the edge.

Sighing in frustration before Adrien decided that it wasn’t even worth being outside. Annoyed by the unnatural stillness of his backyard and the booming melody from the Bluetooth speaker. His sandals shuffled around the smooth concrete before stepping inside. Throwing back his dry towel without really diving into the pool.

The glamorous life truly was a pointless one.

-----

His hands stayed cold before getting burned by the hot teacup in front of him. Chamomile with no sugar, but with large gloops of honey at the bottom. Just the way he liked his morning tea. 

Letting the thick, golden nectar dissolve with a twirl of his silver spoon. Slouching over his teacup before getting a cough from the other side of the table and over the platters of food. Signaling Adrien to straighten his back.

Not even saying good morning.

How fatherly of him and still so on-brand.

His fencing competition wouldn’t start for another hour or two, but he was ready to jump in the car and leave. Or just leave really.

Stabbing the last of his eggs with his fork and sipping the rest of his fresh-squeezed orange juice from his glass.

“I’ll be out. Practice some more before the competition.“ Adrien announced, keeping it short. Pushing his chair back without hearing what his father thought or even hearing Nathalie tap on her tablet to check if Adrien fit in the schedule.

The end of the sentence gave him a bitter taste and it wasn’t because of the peppers on his eggs.

Rushing across the marble floor, only to catch the clicks of heels after him.

Nathalie tapped her tablet again before catching up with the young adult.

“Don’t forget to get back on time, you have a couple of meetings with the company’s marketing team about the new collection coming up and-.”

“-I have to check some paperwork for my branch and then get ready for dinner with the Bourgeois. Right, Nathalie?”

“Just be on schedule, Adrien.”

“Have a great day too, Nathalie. Don’t let my father overwork you again.” Adrien huffed, giving a slight smile. Tugging his gym bag over his shoulders before stepping in front of the mansion’s grand doors. There Gorilla pulled back the door handle, letting the young man slip out. Stepping quickly down the stairs before his driver could open the door to the white limousine.

——-

Adrien Agreste was many things, but he wouldn’t say he’s a liar. He was a part-time hero and part-time public figure, already having so many eyes on him. So it’s only natural to have to spit out words in some cases to get out of sticky situations but he never would think of it as lying. Like the things he was telling his bodyguard right now, that wasn’t really a lie- No it was more like an ‘excuse’.

Advising Gorilla to drop him off by the gym and to come back when the competition ended. He prefers to be alone when he’s practicing.

Really, he did.

However, he didn’t add that he was going to sneak off and talk to a girl after he throws his bag in a sweaty gym locker.

This wasn’t really a lie, but an incomplete truth.

Adrien Agreste was going to practice before his competition. Preferably when Kagami came around and after seeing the dark-haired girl behind the bakery counter. The only cashier in the whole world that seems to remember the customer’s name and order just by having them once. Yet, Adrien picked his fingernails in anxiousness, fearing that she wouldn’t remember him or look at him weird when he would ask about her day.

God, hopefully, that didn’t happen.

———

Her name was Marinette Dupain-Cheng and he had a date with her this weekend.

Agreeing to meet up after her shift at the bakery.

She’s the daughter of the owners and she smelled like what happiness would if it could be captured and made into a candle. She smiled and meant it. All as her eyes did this cute thing where they seem to glitter in the sunlight or just whenever she laughed. She’s short and only reached up to his shoulders, but she stood tall like the shining light-posts at night as she twirled and looped around busy people in the streets.

Her hands were always stained with frosting, mostly bright pink since that stained the most. So she tells him. Her lips were a coral color while her hair was tied with red ribbons and bands. Her color palette was warm and soft like her. 

The bakers’ daughter, his date to the movies this weekend.

_____

Ladybug rocked on her heels the last time in the last twenty minutes.

“Chat, have you ever obsessed over something?”

“Why do you ask M’Lady?” Chat Noir asked. Not looking away from his view of the city. Waiting to say a punny-remark before catching the red heroine’s sigh. Sounding more aggressive than she meant it to be.

“Stuff, I guess.” She mumbled, planting herself next to the cat. Earning herself a concern expression before Chat Noir turned himself over.

“Stuff?”

“Stuff.” LB nodded. Her hand pulled up her legs, crossing them under her weight. Pulling back her bangs as her bluebell eyes stared out to the city.

“Stuff.” She sighed again, letting her fatigue show as she continued. If she had eye-bags, the mask covered them. Yet, it was the way her eyebrows touched and got stiff- that told him that she had been debating this for a while or been overthinking something that could easily be solved in minutes - or maybe over some painful hours.

“I’m only telling you this since you’re my best friend.”

“And you for me, M’Lady.”

“I’m telling you the biggest secret ever. You have to promise that you don’t speak about it to anyone.” Ladybug hushed, moving closer to the cat. Her voice utters a sense of fear and demanded seriousness. However, her body language betrayed her as she kicked up her feet like a small child would.

“I promise.”

“You really have to promise me.”

“I-”

“You have to swear on your miraculous to never tell another soul.”

-----

It was her. It was always her.

He knew she looked familiar, however, he brushed it off with the practical and reasonable reason why he recognized her as if it was dirt on his shoulder rather than a clue to an enigma. The same puzzle that has been haunting him since he earned the title of the Wielder of Destruction.

Telling himself it’s because he has been sneaking off to that bakery a lot lately or because she graduated from the school he had fencing practice at. Not because he sees that same shape every patrol when he jumps over rooftops. Convincing himself that the hand that hands him his coffee can’t be the one that opens up to reassure him that there’s a plan to take the Akuma down. The girl that works bakery, the same one that draws little heart on his cup, can’t be the hero in red and black. However, they seem to blend together as one person, the more his mind chewed on this information.

For God’s sake, she had pigtails!!

Now, what was once a trivial thought played out as an unexpected reality. There on the cold ground was Ladybug. Groaning in pain as she lifts herself up. Her magical suit disappearing in a flash of pink and red to show the bakers’ daughter. Her padding and combat boots were gone and replaced with the sundress she designed after finding a whole store full of them when they went out last week.

Her bangs stuck to the hot sweat on her face. Running her hands through it before wincing. Blood painted the tips of her fingers as she slowly pieced herself together. Her eyes widen when she realized what happened. Ready to go out into a sprint.

“Chat!” she cried, her eyes getting red as she couldn’t find him. The fabric around her waist twirled around as she whipped her head. Ready to scream again before the glimmer of blond hair caught her eye.

“Chat. . . .”

Adrien tried to get his eyes to focus on her. Watching her face blur before she ran over to him. His transformation was gone, but his hair kept its messiness as his left eye stung. It’s probably throbbing red with patches of purple. Adrien couldn’t see himself, but telling from the pain, it felt like something gruesome and raw.

      “M’Lady. . .”

Even when one good eye, Adrien could see Marinette’s reaction. How her face dropped and paled. Pulling him near before hushing sweet nothings to comfort him.

“My god. . . oh, Adrien. It’s okay. We’ll get out of here! We have to! I think I know where- there’s a shortcut to Master and he’ll-”

“It’s you.”

Marinette shut her mouth, processing his words before responding.

“And it’s you.” she laughed. However it wasn’t one of her hearty laughs, but one that was deflated to a huff of air out of her lungs.

Marinette pulled her kitty up and out of the debris. Her arms stiffen around his chest. Too tense to relax even when the danger was gone. The bakers’ daughter wrapped her arms around her partner in crime.

“Please be okay.” She hushed out like an old prayer. Letting light sob escape her coral lips before Adrien returned her embrace.

Both unaware that the villain behind the terrorist attacks on Paris saw this touching moment. 

——

Marinette pressed her lips against Adrien’s cheek. A tingle ran up her spine as his hand combed through her hair. It has gotten longer as time passed, she has been debating about cutting it. Maybe up to her freckled shoulders or her rosy chin or maybe up to her round ears.

Honestly, he wondered over the idea of her having shorter hair. Yet, in the end, he had no real preference but Marinette grew fond of cutting it off. Her Instagram feed grew to be different haircuts and tutorials on how to style short hair. However, she still enjoyed the length her hair was at. It was the longest it has ever been so Marinette was gonna enjoy it as much as she could. All before she got tired and in a fit of frustration cuts it off if it gave her any problems.

But that was Marinette for you.

His lovely Marinette, the only Lady in his life, and his partner in crime-fighting.

It was perfect. Sitting on the couch like this was perfect. Holding her close and keeping her close was just great. Perfect. More than perfect, if a word like that even existed. Nothing could ruin-

Marinette sat up from her seat, pushing her head away from Adrien’s shoulder.

The TV in front of them rang a familiar news report.

There the screen played a burning red screen as the words that usually glowed, “Akuma Alert” now spelled “Miraculous Emergency”.

Hawkmoth was spotted at the top of the City Hall. In-person and with a message for the heroes.

----

Master always liked Marinette more. He planned for her to be his successor, so he made sure that she knew all the in’s and out’s of everything that involved the Secret Order and how to defend the Miraculous. Understanding more and more of the powers behind her earrings and the other jewels hidden away in a black music box. Luckily, Marinette was a quick learner and even quicker on her feet. Swift even under pressure. 

Never breaking a sweat even when she wanted to cry and her strength failed to push ‘him’ off of her.

“Chat Noir, I know this isn’t you.”

   -

“How many times do I have to tell you it’s Chat Blanc, now!”

Pressing harder on his baton before Ladybug slipped out from his grasp after getting her footing and knocking him off. Shoving him on to a wall before making a break for it.

She was too smart to try to escape and run. Most likely, she had a plan and she just needed to bait him in. To drag him into somewhere where she had the upper hand. Honestly, Chat Blanc knew better- but there’s something in him that made the grin on his face grow and burst into a sprint after her.

Excited to see how the next Guardian handles this cat-astrophe.

----

This wasn’t Adrien Agreste, but another plan crafted by his father. One that was determined to use any pawn in his reach to get what he wanted. This time it was just his son playing the role of the villain for him.

Gabriel didn’t expect his own flesh and blood to be the hero he was plotting against, but it made things easier. -And ten times harder. He had to come to terms with his actions and ask Emilie for forgiveness for what he was determined to do. Yet, all that time locked up in his office, shuffling around business deals and schemes made him realize that not everything can be black and white. Yet, you can force it to be. Killing the feelings of doubt in him as he summoned his ‘wings’.

Adrien will be so heartbroken when he wakes up, but he’ll forget about that the moment he sees his mother again. Everything will be right as rain.

All after a little bug gets squashed.

-----

[mikrowrites]

all hail the magic man

•part seven•

Doctor Strange x Apprentice!OC(platonic)

Steve turned to the group behind him. Their suits retracted, leaving Tony, Steve, and Scott in suits, Bruce and Charlie in casual wear. “All right, we have our assignments. Two stones uptown, one stone, down. Stay low. Keep an eye on the clock.”

Charlie almost jumped out of her skin when 2012 Hulk jumped down into the street, roaring and smashing everything in his wake, brutally killing three Chitauri soldiers. Bruce put a hand across his face, embarrassed.

“Feel free to smash things along the way.” Steve offered.

“I think it’s gratuitous, but whatever.” Bruce sighed, ripping his tank away as he sarcastically and unenthusiastically threw a motorbike. He let out fake roars, punching a car ever so lightly, which left a small dent.

“Or, maybe don’t stress yourself out, buddy.” Charlie snorted.

Bruce threw his hands in the air as Scott, Tony, and Steve left to collect the Space and Mind stones. “Oh, I’m glad you find this amusing.”

“Nah, don’t worry about it buddy, Mama Charlie still loves you.” She teased, kicking a rock as she formed a portal, gesturing for Bruce to walk through. “Ladies first.”

“Ha ha.” Bruce sarcastically responded, walking through as Charlie followed.

They stood on the rooftop of the New York Sanctum. Chitauri soldiers flew by in hordes, but a woman in yellow used the Mystic Arts, fighting them back and defending the institute.

Charlie felt her breath catch in her throat as she saw the Ancient One for the first time in seven years. She had nearly forgotten the way the woman carried herself, handled the Mystic Arts with such grace and poise.

Bruce nudged Charlie, nodded to the door as they approached it to enter the building.

“I’d be careful going that way. We just had the floors waxed.”

Charlie turned, tears gathering in her eyes as she saw the Ancient One smile kindly.

“Ma’am I’m looking for Doctor Strange.” Bruce spoke up, causing Charlie to mentally kick herself. She should’ve mentioned that—

“You’re about... five years too early. Stephen Strange is currently performing surgery twenty blocks that way. What do you want from him?” The Ancient One questioned, almost finishing Charlie’s thought.

“We’re uh... here for the Eye of Agamotto.” Charlie spoke up, the woman smiling at her with a twinkle of recognition in her eyes, before casting her eyes down to the relic around her own neck.

“Ah. I’m afraid not.”

“Sorry, but I wasn’t asking.” Bruce stepped forwards.

Charlie shook her head. “Bruce!” She hissed.

“You don’t want to do this.” The Ancient One warned.

“Ah, you’re right I don’t, but I need that stone.” Bruce insisted, reaching for the Eye of Agamotto. “And I don’t have time to beat it—“

“BRUCE!” Charlie shouted, before the Ancient One pushed Bruce’s astral form out of his body. He looked up at the woman in horror, Charlie letting out a sigh.

The Ancient One smiled at them. “Let’s start over, shall we?”

- - - - - -

“Please, please!” Bruce begged, trying to reason with the Ancient One. Charlie sat by, watching Bruce futilely try to persuade the woman.

“I’m sorry, Bruce. I can’t help you.” The Ancient One finally turned to the astral man. “If I give up the Time Stone to help your reality, I’m dooming my own.”

“With all due respect, I’m not sure the science really supports that.”

The Ancient One raised her eyebrows, casting out an projection. Charlie stood, noting that the long orange ray represented the flow of time. She stood in front of the projection, furrowing her eyebrows.

“The Infinity Stones create what you experience as the flow of time. Remove one stone and that flow splits.” The Ancient One removed the illusion’s Time Stone, showing a black stream and indicating a point of divergence. “Now, this may benefit your reality, but my new one…not so much. In this new branched Reality, without our chief weapon against the forces of darkness, our world will be overrun. Millions will suffer. So, tell me, can your science prevent all that?”

Charlie turned to the Ancient One. “No, but we can erase it. Because once we are done with the stones, we can return each one to its own timeline at the moment it was taken.” Charlie took the illusionary Time Stone, placing it back into the projection. “So, chronologically, in that reality, it never left.”

“Strange trained you well, Charlotte.” The Ancient One smiled. “But you are leaving out the most important part; in order to return the stones, you must survive.”

“We will. I will. I promise.” Bruce answered.

“I can't risk this Reality on a promise. It is the duty of the Sorcerer Supreme to protect the Time Stone.”

Charlie’s eyes suddenly darkened as she approached the Ancient One. “I made that exact same promise. I swore an oath.” She turned away, before whipping around, shouting at the woman. “If it’s the “Sorcerer Supreme’s duty” then why the hell did Stephen just give it away!?”

The Ancient One let out a surprised gasp, holding the shaking girl’s shoulders. “What did you say?”

“Stephen! He gave it away, he just—just gave it to Thanos!” Charlie yelled, willing tears away from her eyes. She was done crying for him.

“Willingly?”

“Yes!”

“...why?”

Charlie scoffed, turning away from the woman.

“I have no idea. Maybe he made a mistake.” Bruce reasoned.

“Or I did.” The Ancient One mumbled. She quickly returned Bruce to his Hulk body, Charlie turning to her in confusion. She opened the Eye of Aggamotto. “Strange is meant to be the best of us.”

“So if he gave it away...” Bruce trailed off.

“... he must have done it for a reason.” Charlie gasped, racing over. “That’s it! He used the stone and looked into the future!” Charlie let out a laugh of relief and a little tingle of joy. “This is one big plan!”

“I fear you might be right.” The Ancient One responded, handing Charlie the Time Stone.

Charlie looked up at the Ancient One. “Thank you.”

“I’m counting on you both. We all are.” The woman smiled. “Stay strong, Charlotte.”

The girl nodded, turning back to Bruce, as their suit reappeared on them. They were about to sync back into the quantum void, when—

“Ancient One!”

Charlie heard Bruce let out a soft gasp, the girl turning around. Her eyes widened, a soft smile gracing her face.

A little girl, nine years old with her light brown hair up in pigtails and a little dress on her small body, stood in the door frame where Bruce had previously attempted to enter.

“Hello Charlotte.” The Ancient One replied, walking over to the little girl and lifting her into her arms.

“Daddy sent me to fetch you.” She muttered, leaning her head on the woman’s shoulder.

“Well, let’s go find your mother and father, then.” The Ancient One replied, walking through the door.

Little Charlotte looked up and made eye contact with Charlie. She smiled at her younger self, before the two were pulled back into the quantum void.

- - - - - -

Charlie stood in the room with the others, as Bruce held the gauntlet in his hands. After much debate it was decided that he’d be the one to use it.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y., do me a favor and activate protocol 8.” Tony commanded, the compound going on lockdown.

Charlie formed a large shield, Scott standing behind her. She and Bruce shared a glance, before he smiled.

“Everybody comes home...”

Bruce slid the gauntlet onto his hand, the power surge immediately overwhelming him as he screamed and grunted in pain.

“Tony...!” Charlie yelled, panicking watching her friend suffer.

“Take it off, take it off!” Thor yelled with concern.

“No wait!” Steve interjected. “Bruce, are you alright?!”

Tony had a nervous edge to his voice. “Talk to me, Banner.”

“I’m okay! I’m okay!” Bruce grunted, Thor giving a thumbs up.

Bruce screamed through the pain, raising his arm as suddenly—

Snap!

With a burst of light, Bruce fainted, falling to the ground as the gauntlet slid off his arm. Clint kicked the weapon away.

Charlie and Tony ran to him, the man sterilizing the wound as she began to create a spell, attempting to heal his burnt and charred arm. Steve called the giant’s name.

“Did it work?” Bruce gasped, grasping onto Steve’s arm like a lifeline.

“Worth a shot. It’s over, it’s okay.”

Charlie kept working, pausing when she heard Scott shout; “guys... I think it worked!”

Bruce opened his eyes to see Thanos’ ship in the sky above them, with a missile heading towards them. Charlie whipped her head up, not having enough time to scream before the missile hit, a large explosion ripping through the room. A continuous array of missiles fired down on the compound until it was decimated.

Charlie heaved dust into her lungs, her ears ringing intensely and her vision blurred. She heard Steve’s muffled voice, a sudden heavy weight lifted off her body as a scream ripped through her throat.

Darkness.

- - - - - -

Taglist: @knightofreaders @imabookworm31 @lizlil @viarogers

[hellfirenacht]

Can’t Be Unseen Chapter 2

Fandom: Sally Face

Ship: Sal Fisher x Reader

Chapter 2 Summary: Feed the boy, woo the boy, romance the boy. That’s only 3 things, how hard could it be?

First Chapter 

Next Chapter 

Ao3

It was warmer than it had been in the last few days as you stood outside the apartment building. Your jacket was wrapped around your waist instead of over your shoulders, which was fine with you. It'd give a better view of the outfit that you had picked out for the day. You hoped he liked it. You hoped he even noticed it. You weren't one for dressing up at school too much- it was too much work for too early in the morning. 

You looked at your phone to check the time. It was 10 minutes 'til one. You still had a little bit of time before Sal showed up. 

"Hey there." 

Or not. Right, Sally was a good guy who actually showed up early to things like this. It was one of the things you really liked about him- he was never ever late. You smiled at him and looked him over. He was still wearing his usual outfit of a black long sleeved shirt and his ripped jeans but today he had let his hair down and was wearing a beanie today. 

"Hey there." you replied. "No pigtails today?" 

Sal shook his head. "Larry got me this hat, but it's a bit awkward to wear pigtails at the same time." 

"That's ok, you look great." you winked at him. "I'm pretty lucky." 

"Heh, thanks." his voice sounded a little flustered and you couldn't help but feel a little proud. 

"Shall we?" you asked offering your hand, and to your surprise he took it. 

"Let's go!" 

...

The festival was just a few blocks from the apartment building, in the nearby park. It was bigger than you had thought it'd be- from a distance you could see a Ferris wheel, and the smell of popcorn and corn dogs wafted through the air. You thought back to your plan and imagined all the things that you were going to do with Sal today. 

You were gonna romance the shit out of this boy. 

"There's a lot of people here already" Sal commented, looking around. He was right, there were a ton of people here, and a lot of them were dressed up in costumes. It was the Saturday before Halloween and a lot of the parents in town were using this opportunity to let their kids get candy and dress up beforehand, as Halloween was gonna fall on a Tuesday this year. 

"Maybe we should have dressed up." you suggested, feeling a little disappointed that you hadn't thought of it earlier. 

Sal just shrugged. "Most people think I'm just wearing a mask anyway." he turned his head towards you. "You're the one that sticks out like a sore thumb."

You couldn't help but laugh. "And Sally Face goes in for the kill! And just what are you gonna say when some kid asks what you're supposed to be?"

He thought for a second. "I'll just tell them I'm a serial killer. You said it yourself, I'm Jason chic." 

"The Sally Face Killer, huh? Kinda has a nice ring to it, like a good creepy pasta or campfire story." 

"Who do you think I'd kill?" he asked. "If I'm gonna go with this, I gotta make it convincing." 

"Oh you killed everyone in the apartments." you replied matter-of-factly. "You just went crazy one night and totally snapped and killed everyone because of... I don't know... Cthulhu or something."

"That doesn't make much sense." 

"It's a scary story, it doesn't have to make too much sense. You gotta suspend your disbelief." you smiled. 

You two continued chatting as you took your time walking around the fairground. All around you kids were playing pretend, adults were tasting some home brew ciders, and all the colors of fall and Halloween surrounded you. Even with Sal's sky blue hair, he fit in perfectly with everyone. No one was staring at him, well, except for you. 

You watched him closely as you walked around. With his prosthetic and one good eye, he could be hard to read outside of his voice, but that was a small challenge that you loved. Reading his body language had been an important factor these past few weeks. He was a very squirmy and antsy guy when it came down to it. There was always some part of him moving- from tapping his pencil when he was concentrating to talking with his hands when he was especially excited about something. Larry once mentioned that he'd make a great mime if he ever decided to not talk. 

Sal stopped for a moment and looked around, his eye landing on a small booth in the corner. Following his gaze, you spotted what he was looking at- a booth selling fresh made applesauce. This couldn't have been more perfect, you knew for a fact that applesauce was one of his favorite foods. He had confessed that he liked it originally because it was a food that he could more easily eat with his prosthetic on. 

"That smells amazing." you said. "Wanna go grab some?" 

His hand tightened slightly around yours for a moment, giving it a small squeeze. "I didn't have lunch." he admitted. "I got wrapped up in practicing before I realized what time it was." 

"Well, lucky for you we are at a place with a ton of food. Come on, let's get some applesauce, my treat."

There were several different flavors to choose from, the lady running the booth explained. The apples were fresh picked from a few towns over, and some of it was being made at the booth. 

"I've never had warm applesauce before." Sal admitted, before a spoon was shoved towards him. 

"Have a sample, dear." the lady said, not taking no for an answer. 

Sal awkwardly fumbled with the spoon for a moment before unclasping the lower strap of his face. 

"This is really good!" he said with slight surprise. 

"We'll take two." You told the lady, handing over the cash. 

"Thank you." Sal said, as you two walked away with your treats. 

"It's no problem. I gotta show my date a good time." you winked at him. 

He replied by shoving another spoonful of applesauce into his mouth. 

The next few hours were simple, walking around and chatting while stopping at different booths to taste and eat all the different carnival foods. You two compared notes, and had a slightly heated debate on which fall flavor was better. Sal liked apple cinnamon, you were a sucker for pumpkin spice. Though you were generous with buying a lot of the treats that you split, you did allow him to buy you two bottles of water and some crazy straws. You knew he wouldn't have been comfortable if you had been the only one spending money, even if he was a little bit on the completely broke side. 

Phase 1: Feed the Boy was complete, it was time for Phase 2: Woo the boy. 

Wooing in this case meant taking him over to the games and winning him a stuffed animal. You had considered going to the rides first, but after all the food that you two had ingested it was probably a bad idea. 

"What is that?" Sal suddenly asked, stopping in front of a booth. "Please tell me you're seeing this too, and that it's just not me." 

It didn't take long to find what he was staring at- it was a large stuffed cat, seemingly shaped like a specific cartoon character mascot, except the colors were all wrong. It was green and red and yellow with... the Sanity Falls logo on the stomach?

"That is an atrocity against God." You said in awe. 

"I want it." 

As if he needed to ask, really. Within seconds the two of you were seated at the booth, water guns in hand. No matter what the outcome, Sal was getting that stupid, beautiful, ugly cat.

"Let's do this." He said lining up his shot as the two of you attempted to fill the cardboard clowns mouth with water. Had this not been a high steaks mission, you'd make a dirty joke about this, but it wasn't the time. There was a hideous cat to be won. 

Both of your guns stopped working at the same time. Sal had won. 

"You can pick any of the prizes on this wall." The guy running the booth said. 

"What do I need to do to get that cat?" Sal replied, pointing to the other side of the booth. 

"Win three times." 

You slammed a few more dollars on the table. "I'm in." 

"You really don't have to!" Sal replied as he received a small stuffed pink alligator. It was ugly, but you wanted only the most ridiculous for your hopefully-soon-to-be boyfriend. 

"We can't just leave him here!" you said. "Can you imagine that dumb thing stuck here for weeks with no heavy metal to listen to?"

Sal saw that this wasn't a battle that he could win. This was your hill to die on, and he sat back down next to you. 

You won this time, that was a good sign, Sal winning a second time. You felt like the guy should have given it to you by the fourth play through where you won, seeing as it was obvious that the two of you were together but no such luck. You supposed he had to make money some way. 

All you needed to do was win one more time, and the cat would be yours. And by yours you meant his. 

Mid game, Sal caught your eye, his water gun jerked slightly to the left, clearly missing for a few seconds before steadying itself back. 

Sal was letting you win, the smug jerk!

You wanted to be offended but you also wanted to laugh. He was letting you win so that you could get the prize! You doubt he even realized that the reason you wanted it so bad was so that you could give it to him! 

Three minutes later, the guy running the booth was handing you the large stuffed cat. 

"He's even weirder up close." Noted Sal, looking him over. 

"What are you gonna name him?" you asked, handing him the stuffie. 

"Me?" 

"Yeah you, I won him for you, you know." you said with a smile.

"But you're the one who paid for all the games. How much money did you spend at that stand?" 

"Don't ask questions I don't want to know the answer to." You replied with a hand wave. 

"...."

"Hm, if it means that much to you, we'll do joint custody. You get him during the week, and I'll take him on Thursdays or something." You tried to negotiate. 

That seemed to allow Sal to relax. "I think I can live with that. Though I hope Gizmo is okay with me bringing him home a little brother."

You took his hand again, this time lacing your fingers together. "Knowing your cat, he'll be fine." 

...

LarryFace: hows the date going?

BlankFace: I think it's going well! I fed him applesauce and won him the best stuffed animal ever!

Blankface sent Pic_253

LarryFace: aww man I'm jealous :( 

BlankFace: You should be ;D

...

AshleyFace: Hey! How are you doing today?

SallyFace: oh, I'm good! i'm hanging out at the fall festival today

AshleyFace: Hot date? 

SallyFace: haha she's acting like it is, it's kinda nice actually

AshleyFace: what do you mean "acting like" ...?

SallyFace: g2g, about to go check out the stage!

...

"Come on! I wanna make sure you get a good view!" you said, practically dragging Sally behind you. 

"Why? What's gonna be on stage?" Sal asked. 

"Something that I think you're gonna get a kick out of." you replied, smiling back at him. 

Sal wasn't one to argue with you at this point; you had been doing such a good job at making sure he had fun that he trusted you with whatever plans you had come up with. He gripped onto you hand tighter as you two weaved through the lawn towards the front of the stage. 

"Looks like they're just about to start." you looked over at him with a shit-eating grin as the two person band with acoustic guitars took the stage. They started playing a slow melody before they familiar lyrics played. 

Concealed behind the screens

An obsession obscene 

Abandon our souls as we become

Machine

Sal froze and stared at the stage for a moment, jerking his head between you and the band in front of you two. 

"No." he said after a moment more of them playing.

"Yes"

"There's no way."

"Oh yes way there is."

"This isn't-"

"An acoustic Sanity’s Fall cover band? Oh yes it is." 

You heard Sal snort from under his prosthetic. "Sanity’s Fall was not meant to be played like this." 

"I don't know, I kinda like it. I can actually understand what they're saying." you teased, wrapping an arm around his waist and holding him as close as you dared. You didn't want to be too forward and made him uncomfortable. To your delight he didn't pull away or tense up.

"You still think I can play better than these guys, right?" he asked. 

"Dude, of course. You fuckin' shred." 

That was good enough for Sal, as he turned his attention back to the stage, occasionally making a comment about how the band had transposed from electric to acoustic or about how one song didn't make any sense unless you can head bang to it. You smiled and allowed yourself to watch him, glad that you were on the same side as his glass eye- it gave you an easier time to watch without him noticing. 

A few songs later and the cover band left the stage. In a weird way, it had been a nice compromise to Larry's original idea of taking Sally to a real SF concert. Plus getting to see all the confused parents and adults around the stage really made it work. 

"So, is there anything you want to do?" you asked him as you both left the stage area. 

"I thought you had all the plans." Sal teased. 

"Oh, I do." you reassured him. "I had to leave room for 'let my date choose something to do', you know."

"So I can pick anything?" he asked. 

"Anything at all."

"I want you to get your face painted."

That surprised you. "Really? I mean, sure if you want me too, but why?"

"I can tell that you feel a little left out that you aren't dressed up for Halloween." he admitted. "I want you to feel happy, too."

That dumb boy made your heart melt on the spot. How was he able to see through you like that? He started leading you to the face paint station, and shoved some money at the lady before you even had a chance to protest. 

"What'll it be?" they asked. 

You took a look at their board, and pointed to a picture of a girl with the top of her face as a pumpkin looking mask. You didn't want a full face, especially something on your mouth. 

Sal watched with amusement as the lady went to work turning you into a pumpkin. Halfway through he snapped a pic and sent it to the group chat. 

SallyFace sent Pic_003

LarryFace: its the great pumpkin charlie face!

...

AshleyFace: Hey Larry, I think there might be a problem with the date

LarryFace: what u mean?

AshleyFace: I don't think Sal realizes this is an actual date.

LarryFace: what?? hes gotta! i even gave him the heads up that she wanted to take him on a date!

AshleyFace: ???? What exactly happened?

LarryFace: well me and sally face were talking about dates and he said hed never been on one and i said that she had been thinking about asking him on a date cause she wanted to give him a good first date

AshleyFace: Dammit Larry, don't meddle in these kinds of things! I think you gave Sal the idea that this is some sort of fake date!

LarryFace: oh fuck knuckles 

...

"What do you think?" you asked, smiling at Sal and batting your eyelashes. 

"I think it's cute!" he replied. "They did a great job with the shading." 

"Thanks for doing this for me, by the way. That was very sweet of you." 

"It's only fair, you won me this cat." 

"Then I guess we're even right now. But I'm gonna win."

"Win what?"

"Your heart, of course." you said with an easy grin. You wished you had a better idea of what was going through his head. Normally you could gauge how well your flirting went over by how pink his ears turned, but with him wearing the hat, you didn't have much to go off of. 

The sun was starting to set at this point, even though it was barely 5 pm. Though it had only been a few hours, it felt so much shorter and yet so much longer. You tightened your grip on his hand slightly, knowing that with his singular eye he wasn't a huge fan of walking around at night in a crowd. There were a lot more older people here now that it was getting darker- a lot of the parents must have decided to take the kids home. 

You thought back to everything you saw online about the festival, trying to decide if it'd be better to go on rides now or start looking around at some of the art tents. 

"I've never been on a Ferris wheel." Sal offered, suddenly. It was almost as if he was reading your mind, that or he was trying to change the subject from your previous flirting. 

"Wanna ride?" you asked, wiggling your eyebrows suggestively. He let out a small laugh. 

"It looks like it could be fun."

The two of you stood in line for a good 45 minutes before you were able to get on. You two had discussed tapping out, but both of you decided that you were too invested at this point. It was okay though, it was still a good time to talk and flirt with him. 

Once you two were on the ride, it quickly became apparent at how rickety and unsafe this whole thing felt. There was nothing to stop either of you from falling except for a metal bar and Gods' Will. As your cart went up one to let the next people on the ride, you suddenly remembered something very important, and you gripped at the handle bar tightly. 

"Wow, this thing sure is janky. Hey, are you okay?" Sal asked. 

"Fine." you replied quickly and tensely as the Ferris wheel moved upwards again. 

"You don't seem fine."

"...I may have just remembered that I am not really a super huge fan of being anywhere except for on the ground." you admitted, not wanting to really say-

"You're afraid of heights?" 

Dammit Sally Face. 

"And you know that feeling you get when you're on a roller coaster and you go over a hump and your stomach does that thing where it drops?" you asked, he nodded. "Not a huge fan of that either." 

"Is that why you always decline going on roller coasters with me and Larry?" Sal asked, as you two moved up once again. You couldn't help but nod. 

"Sorry. I lied. I'm not actually as hard core as you two." You gave him a weak smile, going up once more, almost to the top now. 

He reached out and place his hand on top of one of yours. "It's okay. I won't tell anyone." You two were now at the top, the sun shining directly behind Sal's head making him look like an angel. 

What kind of romantic bullshit was this? You were supposed to be wooing him, not the other way around! But still, it let you relax a bit as the two of you moved down one. Everyone was now on the ride and it was time to start spinning for real. 

The first go-round was the worst, but it got easier after that. The whole time Sal pointed out different things that he could make out to distract you, and by the time the ride was over you had found yourself having fun, even if it was on a spinning death machine. 

Your legs were a bit shaky as you two exited the ride, but you were smiling wide. "I didn't completely hate it and it's all thanks to you, Sally Face." 

"I knew you could do it." This time he took your hand, and your heart raced for a moment. 

Together you went on a few more rides. Despite your lack of enthusiasm for the Ferris wheel, you were a master at anything that spun around really fast, though after two of those rides, Sal had to tap out. 

"The applesauce was good going down, but I don't think it'd be good coming back." he said. 

You wished that there had been some sort of fireworks or big ending to the date, but the festival didn't have anything like that. Come and have fun til 9 then leave, was the basic idea. 

It was 7 now, two hours until everything shut down but you could tell that the two of you were starting to get tired and had seen almost everything there was. 

"This was a lot of fun." Sal said as you two headed towards the exit. 

"I'm glad you enjoyed it." 

"And you said this was happening every weekend until mid-November, right?"

"Yup! It's-"

"What are you supposed to be?" you suddenly heard a voice next to you. Some middle-schooler with fake blood coming out of every opening on their face was staring at the two of you. 

"I'm the pumpkin queen." You replied. 

"Not you, that one." the kid said, pointing at Sal. 

"I'm the Sally Face Killer." he replied without missing a beat and you couldn't help but smile. 

"Where'd you get your mask? I want it." the kid replied, still staring intently at Sal. 

"It's a prosthetic." Sal explained. "It protects my face from-"

"So you're like, a total freak under there?"

"Woah, he now kid. Don't be rude." you quickly spoke up. "Come on, Sal let's go."

You started to pull him away, when you felt a slight catch. Sal let out a surprised grunt and you turned around to look at him. 

For the very first time, you were truly face to face with Sal Fisher. 

Next Chapter

[urdbell18]

Those Moments in Between Chapter 2: Boo to You

AN: So I’m not sure how often I would post new chapters but I’m starting a new project (not writing related) and decided to post this chapter before I completely forgot about this. Also I want to hear from you guys. I want to know what you guys want to see. My box is open and ready for your ideas. Everyone stay safe out their and enjoy.

Mary wouldn’t admit it to Zelda, not when the other woman had so much on her mind already, but she was nervous. She had never taken care of a child as small as Vida and though Vida seemed to like her that could all change in a heartbeat. This was the first time that the two of them would be alone together, without Zelda. To say that Mary was under some significant pressure was an understatement. This one night could make or break her budding relationship with Zelda. Was she overreacting? Maybe. Was it justified? 100% Mary hasn’t known Zelda long but the one thing that Mary did know was that Vida came first. If tonight went south that was it, she was done.

So far things seemed to be going okay. Vida took to her mom leaving very well and was still excited about going out for trick or treating. If that’s what Vida wanted then so be it. Well… trick or treating was part of the deal but Mary wasn’t going to force Vida to do something that she didn’t want to.

The advantage of Greendale being such a small town was that everything was in walking distance. From the town center you could easily walk to any of the housing neighborhoods. That made things a whole lot easier for Mary, she could park her car in one spot and not worry about its safety or where she left it. Mary managed to convince Vida that they should start with the furthest neighborhood.  As they approached the first house Mary turned to Vida.

“Do you remember what you have to do Vida?”

“Yes. I ring the doorbell and wait for someone to answer and then I say ‘trick or treat’. Right?”

“Very good. And what do you say after they give you treats?”

“Thank you and happy Halloween!”

“Excellent! Your golden.”

“But my dress is black.” Vida looked herself over, yup everything was black. Her dress, her tights, her shoes. What was gold?

Mary mentally slapped herself. Of course Vida wouldn’t understand. Mary stumbled on her words for a second. She paused and took a deep breath, she can’t let this phase her.

“It’s nothing Vida. Are you ready?” Vida nodded causing her pigtails to bounce from one side of her shoulders to the other. They walked up to the house, Mary hung back but kept a close eye on Vida as she stepped onto the porch. Vida turned to look at her, there was a tiny bit of fear on her face. “It’s okay I’ll be right here. You got this.” With a small smile Vida turned back to the door and rang the doorbell. A few minutes passed by until a middle aged woman with wheat colored hair that was in a neat bun answered the door.

“Trick or treat!”

“My aren’t you precious. Is this your first time?” Vida nodded.

“Yes, but my mommy sometimes lets me help my Auntie Hilda hand out candy. She works at the bookstore.”

“Dr. C’s? I think I know who you are talking about. And since you are my first trick or treater I have a special surprise for you.” Mary tensed and stepped closer to Vida. Though this woman didn’t set off any alarm bells it never hurt to be overly cautious. And if anything happened to Vida Mary was sure she would never see the light of day again and her body would never be found. The woman brought out a spellbook but when she opened it several large candy bars were nestled inside. Vida’s face glowed bright and she turned to Mary and then back at the woman.

“I can really have one!?” The woman nodded. Now came the hard part, which one? Mary scanned the bars over. They were all pretty basic, none of them contained nuts or a filling, but some had extra like the big Crunch and Kit Kat bars.

“These seem to be a good option Vida.” Mary brought Vida’s attention to the king size Hershey milk chocolate and dark chocolate bars, they were the simplest and would most likely appeal to Vida’s pallet. Vida looked between the two bars clearly torn between which one she should get. The woman smiled softly.

“How about this. I give you both but promise you won’t eat them both at once. I don’t want your mom hunting me down.” The woman looked at Mary and gave her a wink. Did she just... no... but she had to…

With her candy bars in hand Vida tried to fit them in her plastic jack o'lantern bucket with little success. Mary chuckled and held out the tote bag that she brought with her. Did she expect to fill the whole bag? No, Zelda might murder her. But Vida’s bucket wasn’t very big and would fill up pretty quick. The tote bag was there to help with that, as well as hold the flashlight that Mary brought with her just in case. Vida got the hint and placed the bars in the bag.

“Thank you very much! Happy Halloween!”

“Happy Halloween!” Vida and Mary waved the woman goodbye. One house down several more to go.

______________________

Mary decided to call an end to the trick or treating at seven. They have been out for a few hours and Vida was starting to get tired. They took a break when they finished the first neighborhood but that only stalled the problem for a little while. Halfway through the town center Vida started to complain that her feet were hurting. While yes she was tired it was bigger than that. Her shoes were physically hurting her. Mary understood and called it a night, she picked Vida up and walked back to her car. Despite that, Vida had a pretty good haul. She had to empty her jack o’lantern twice and it was half full when they called it quits. It stacked up to a nice size pile that Mary could just see Zelda scowling at.

When they arrived at Mary’s house Mary helped Vida remove her tights to see if there were any injuries. The back of the poor little girl's ankle was scraped up. It wasn’t bleeding but it looked pretty raw. After relieving Vida of her shoes they had some dinner. Mary wasn’t a cook by any means so the best she could manage was pasta with some sauce. Vida didn’t make a big fuss. While Vida was eating Mary went through the backpack that Zelda left for Vida. Inside was a change of clothes, pajamas, a stuffed bear, a blanket, hairbrush, toothbrush and toothpaste in a zip lock bag, and a DVD, a double feature of The Addams Family. What wasn’t in there were bath supplies so Zelda wasn’t expecting Vida to bathe while she was with Mary but Mary decided to let Vida decide.

“Vida did you want to take a quick bath or shower? I can get the movie set up while you do that.” Vida tilted her head back in thought.

“What’s a shower?”

“It’s like a bath but you stand and the water comes down in a continuous spray.”

“I still don’t understand but I’m willing to try it.” Okay, alright, now what?

Deciding that it would be too inappropriate for her to be in the bathroom with Vida Mary got the bathroom ready. She started the shower, laid out a towel, and left Vida’s pajamas on the counter top. The last thing she did was brush out Vida’s braids, if she left them in water would get trapped and it would dry stiff. With one last check of the water temperature, it was ready for Vida.

“Okay Vida it’s all set up for you. There’s some soap and a sponge on the wall and I have a towel laid out for you. I don’t have any shampoo for you so don’t worry about washing your hair. Don’t worry about shutting the shower off. I’ll do it. I’ll be right outside if you need me. Okay?” Vida looked at her, she was a little scared but nodded. In she went, the door closed softly behind her. Five minutes later she was out, dressed in her pajamas and hair laid out on her shoulders in damp ringlets. “Finished?” Vida nodded.

“It was nice. Thank you Mary.”

“You’re welcome. I’m going to get changed myself so you can wait here for me or you can head downstairs if you like.” Vida nodded and she brushed past Mary to head downstairs. Mary gave a sigh of relief when she shed her Gomez costume. Between the stiffness of the actual costume and the clip digging into the back of her head it felt nice to let the slight breeze that was in her house wash over her. She really wanted to shower but decided that she couldn’t leave Vida on her own for that long. She would just have to live with her cotton sleep shorts and tshirt and her robe. It still felt refreshing. Vida was on the couch when she came downstairs. She wedged herself between the pillows and her bear was on her lap.

“So how about that movie?”

“Yes!” Mary didn’t need to be told twice. Turning on the DVD player Mary popped in the movie. She debated on whether or not she should make popcorn but decided against it. She didn’t want to feed Vida too much and make her sick nor did she want to end up on Zelda’s bad side. They made it though half of the first movie before Vida was out like a light. Mary carried her upstairs and settled her in the middle of the bed with the comforter tucked around her. It was still too early for Mary so she went back downstairs. After some light cleaning Mary poured herself a glass of wine and picked up the book that her W.I.C.C.A. club was reading, The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. Rosalind Walker already read the book, led a protest on the books ban which was why they were reading it. Mary wanted the group to touch on the elements of the actual book as well as the politics behind it, mainly why it was banned. It wasn’t a school requirement nor a group one, participation was purely voluntary. Mary was proud to be a part of it. Though it wasn’t a school read, Mary was treating it as such so her plan was to read it once, absorb it, and then make notes. As the advisor she felt obligated to be prepared.

At around eleven her eyes started to get tired. So she finished the chapter that she was on and called it a night. There was a little bit of wine left so she downed it and then placed the glass in the sink to soak for the night. That’s when there was a knock on her door. How odd. Her house was out of the way, so she wasn’t the one to get casual visitors. With caution she opened the door and was met with an exhausted Zelda Spellman. Mary wasn’t expecting to see Zelda, and she definitely wasn’t expected to be kissed within an inch of her life but you won’t see her complaining. However, they didn’t have the pleasure for things to escalate any further. It was late and Vida was just upstairs. Mary led Zelda upstairs and set her up with some night clothes just like she did on their first date. Mary climbed into bed but waited for Zelda. Vida murmured a little and scooted closer to Mary. When Zelda climbed into the free side of the bed she leaned over Vida to give her a quick kiss and then kissed her daughter’s cheek goodnight. Mary settled down and before she knew it was fast asleep.

__________________

When Mary woke up the bed was empty but the house didn’t feel empty. Though it was faint, Mary could detect some noise coming from downstairs. Mary followed it and was kind of taken back. Vida was on the couch, the movie playing where it left off last night. Zelda was in the kitchen, the smell of freshly brewed coffee and the sound of bacon simmering in the pan wafted from the kitchen. Vida was the first to notice her. She smiled and held her bear close to her chest.

“Morning Mary!” That caught Zelda’s attention. She smiled softly at her.

“Morning.” Mary nodded and made her way over to Zelda. On her way she ruffled Vida’s hair. Vida pulled back but she giggled and remained smiling. When Mary reached Zelda she hesitated. Though they have slept in the same bed and Vida has witnessed some moments between them that line hasn't been laid out yet. What was considered okay and what was considered inappropriate? That was up to Zelda, and Zelda decided that kissing was okay. She kissed Mary squarely on the lips and Mary was totally okay with that. She knew enough that it couldn’t escalate any further than that, it couldn’t be like last night, and that was okay too. Mary returned it, kept it nice and simple, that was enough.

“What are you making?”

“Eggs, bacon, and pancakes. I figured you earned a little reward for what you did last night.”

“It was no trouble. It was fun. Hey Vida!” Vida’s tiny head popped up over the armrest of her couch. “Do you want to show your mom all the candy you collected?” Vida nodded enthusiastically and scrambled to get the tote bag that Mary left near the front door. She brought the bag to the table and dumped it onto the wooden surface. The result was a good sized mountain made of pure sugar and chocolate. And Zelda turned as white as a ghost.

Mary was right, she did give it the scowls to end all scowls. Vida just smiled and Mary popped a candy corn into her mouth to try, and fail, to hide her smirk. Zelda turned the scowl onto her and her smirk cost her being hit in the hip with a kitchen towel.

Worth it.