#doesn���t mean i hold any useful information

[marvelstars]

One of the discarded scenes from ROTS which I regret where taken down other than the dialogue in which is made obvious Palpatine uses darkside energy to turn Anakin into Vader was this scene between Anakin and Padmé on Mustafar where Padme tried to kill Anakin with a knife before deciding not to because she still loved him but this was enough for him to think both Padmé and Obi-Wan planned to kill him together. This scene makes a lot of sense for their character arc in the movie.

Before their meeting on Mustafar there had been this growing tension that stayed subtext between them for most of the movie in which Anakin is asked by Palpatine to stay more and more time around him, linking Anakin to his political manouvers towards building the Empire at the same time Padme, Bail and Mon Mothma are developing the beggining stages of the rebel alliance, including developing some links to the separatist side.

There´s a moment, which is in the movie, where Padmé asks Anakin if he can talk to the Chancellor about giving up his war powers and start elections once again, which makes Anakin mad because

1.- That´s not supposed to be something decided between individuals but on the Senate

2.- He´s already been accused by part of the Jedi Council, including Obi-Wan, for being too close to Palpatine and getting benefices from that relationship when Anakin didn´t ask anything of the Chancellor, it was Palpatine decision to ask Anakin be put in the council to "keep him informed" while the Jedi Council accepted the offer to ask Anakin to spy on Palpatine using that opportunity.

Anakin didn´t decide any of that. he simply questioned why he was put on the council without being a master, which later he understands is because they want him to spy on the chancellor.

3.- So now Padmé is also thinking he must have some kind of good relationship with Palpatine which can be used to address the situation at the Senate but in reality Anakin doesn´t have any control over what Palpatine does or doesn´t do.

This is such an interesting tension because while Padme and Obi-Wan show worry over Anakin´s emotional state Palpatine has made sure to isolate them from Anakin by putting doubts not only on Anakin´s mind about them but also on them about Anakin. They start lying to him about those secrets meetings in which Padme´s discussed the creation of the alliance and while she wanted to tell Anakin she knew he was too close to Palpatine and defensive of him to be able to trust him with the information.

What´s tragic was that Anakin agreed Palpatine needed to give up his powers once the war was done, sure he believed Palpatine has been a good Chancellor so far and he agrees the Senate needs to become a more able goverment body to make decisions quicker but this doesn´t mean he believes Palpatine should stay in power indefinitely, this is in part why he was so excited in the movie to end the war because he thought everything would be solved that way, if the war ended he could leave the Jedi Order to built a family with Padme without worrying about Obi-Wan´s well being, his debt with the Jedi Order for their training would be paid, Palpatine would give up his extraordinary political powers which would lead towards the Senate and Padme being less wary of him and Padme and him could be married openly without fear of reprisals.

Anakin´s big tragedy in ROTS for me was that he wanted to help everyone of his loved ones, do what they wanted him to do, including Palpatine, even agaisn´t his better judgment, which only resulted in him being manipulated by Palpatine and distrusted by everybody else.

The problem was that Palpatine started to low key accuse Padme and her coalition of senators of betrayal to the republic(he isn´t wrong but the republic is now a dictatorship) and while Anakin didn´t believe him he also knew they have been holding secret meetings on Padme´s appartment but he decided not to say anything on the matter, much of Anakin´s cooperation with the Chancellor had to do with Anakin trying to disuade Palpatine of the idea Padmé was a traitor and the obvious consequences this would bring for her and their secret family.

So when Anakin was sure Palpatine was the sith, he told the Council who attacked Palpatine, got killed and Anakin tried to stop Master Windu from killing the Chancellor fearing only Palpatine knew how to save Padme of dying, Palpatine kills Windu and Anakin joins the Sith and attacks the Jedi temple, Padme was aware of all of this and planned to kill Anakin herself.

Their hug on Mustafar was about this, that´s why Padmé takes some time for herself before going out of her ship to meet Anakin but when Vaderkin starts ranting about them becoming leaders of the Empire, kill Palpatine and make everything as they wanted it to be, Padmé knew for sure how truly lost in madness Anakin had become, so it makes sense for her to try to kill him but decide not to because she knows Anakin wasn´t fully in control of himself and that Palpatine was in a big way responsible for the state her husband was but also that she and Obi-Wan didn´t notice it until it was far too late.

I honestly think it was a last minute decision by lucasfilm to change cut this scene because even in Stover novel, when Padmé knows Anakin is not with Obi-Wan and her and that he isn´t on the ship, she starts crying, saying sorry over and over again to Anakin before she starts giving birth? Why would she apologize to Anakin after all of this if she didn´t do anything to him? or didn´t plan to do? it doesn´t makes sense, it makes more sense she did plan something but could not bring herself to do it and that´s why she decided to ask him to run away with her because she knew Obi-Wan was coming to kill Anakin and he had a bigger chance than her on actually doing it.

Well, I think this makes for a full story which considers Anakin´s and Padme´s character arcs and I think this would have made a great addition to the tragedy within Revenge of the Sith. This moment confirms Anakin truly did lost both Obi-Wan and Padmé even before their confrontation on Mustafar and how he was way too insane at the moment to notice what was happening and gives Padme´s political arc a nice ending because she´s indeed one of the founders of the rebellion, the mother of Luke and Leia despite the tragedy of losing her husband to Palpatine and the darkside.

So in the end after both Padmé and Obi-Wan tried to kill him, Anakin knows nothing of the evil things he did served for anything, he´s now completely at the mercy of Palpatine, the Republic is lost anyway, nothing of what Padme, him or the Jedi Order did could stop it from becoming an Empire, Padme and their baby are dead and he´s become a Sith now betraying not only his loved ones but himself as well. He´s now completely dominated by the darkside and lost everything and everyone in the process, including Palpatine because he knows now everything in the "friendship" was a lie to make him fall to the darkside.

This covers some plotholes the actual ROTS movie had and completes the tragedy for all characters involved.

[random-yandere-fandom]

I’m new to your account and wanna try out. You’re talented, but I didn’t seem very much from you yet. You write for Death Note as I read in your rules. So how about Yandere Hc’s for Misa Asame like the one you did from Hannah from Black Butler? Thanks very much and I hope to see more from you in the future🥰

thank you and sorry that it took so long. It´s been a while since I posted something and I didn`t think I`d get any requests. Seeing as I got this request as well as another one to work on now, I´ll start writing again. 

Yandere Misa Amane

I see Misa as a mix of kinda everything. She´s obsessive, possessive, clingy and a bit overprotective and delusional. She`s also a stalker and manipulates the people around her if she doesn`t outright threaten them.

Misa would never physically harm her darling though and doesn`t like to upset them. That doesn`t mean she doesn`t threaten them, whether it`s with her Death Note or her popularity, if she thinks you`re going to leave her she pulls all the registers.

She is delusional in the way that she believes that while you might not love her right now, you eventually will since you two are obviously a perfect match.

Before you two are close she`ll already have all kinds of information about you through stalking your social medias, similar on how she stalked Light.

She will find out all your interests and use them to her advantage, trying to get you to like her through pretending to like the same stuff. Misa will probably end up liking whatever you do, too. At first she`d find out everything about it and participate in whatever it is, if you do some kind of sport she`ll try it or if you like a show she`ll watch it, etc. Because she will start associating it with you, her love/obsession, she will eventually obsess over it too in the context of wanting to spend time with you or simply watching you pursue your hobby.

Misa is touch starved. As soon as you are comfortable enough or at least not uncomfortable to the point of pushing her away she´ll initiate physical contact. If you are uncomfortable but to shy to say anything she`ll immediately notice and try to refrain from touching you. That costs her a lot of self restraint however and she will eventually touch you in some way, be it a hug or simply holding hands. She really doesn`t care if you guys are in public or already dating or not, she`d just love to cling to you.

As shown in her relationship with Light, Misa can be very possessive and jealous. Before she gets her Death Note or you know about it she`ll use her influence as a model . At first she`d use it to spread rumours about your friends and would manipulate you into believing them, telling you that she heard it from one or multiple of her concerned fans that ship the two of you. If that`s not enough she`ll get someone to photoshop some pictures that prove whatever rumour it is. If even that is not enough she`ll slowly force everyone except maybe your family out of your life. After getting the Death Note she might write that one of your friends tells you that no one ever liked you from your friendgroup before later getting into some kind of accident and dying. Of course Misa would console you afterwards. The only time she`d tell you about the Death Note is if she plans to kidnap you or she has to force you to stay in your relationship.

She will have the Shinigami eyes in only two different scenarios, the first one being that she had to get them to somehow save you or make you stay, the second one being that her obsession only really started after she already got them. Shortening her life when she can spend it with you just doesn`t seem worth it. In the case that Misa has the Shinigami eyes she`d be hesitant to use them on you, too scared that you`d die soon. Whatever your predicted date of death is, the sooner it is approaching the more anxious and clingy she becomes without ever telling you why. The girl will beg Rem for a solution to somehow lengthen your lifespan should you die soon and be in tears when there is none except one very unlikely scenario.

On the topic of Rem, she`d watch over you when Misa can`t after being convinced by said girl and she`d probably come to appreciate you, seeing that you make Misa happy and all. If the Shinigami really believes that your death would crush the yandere and if she herself takes a liking to you she would probably trade her live for yours by writing a scenario in which you don`t die. You probably would never know, but Misa would be endlessly grateful and would be relieved but sad for Rem for weeks.

About kidnapping or punishment, both is very unlikely or mostly done through manipulation. She would pressure you to move in together and by taking care of your friends she`d make sure that you spent most of your time with her. Seeing as Misa is trying to keep your relationship as normal as possible she`d never really outright punish you, she`d rather make you feel bad about whatever you did until you promise to never do it again.

It doesn`t matter if you`re already dating or still friends, she`d love to go shopping with you and match your outfits. Misa would want to buy you clothing that she modelled for, it shows that you two belong together in her opinion.

Misa is all about spoiling you, loving it when you smile at her or even hug her out of thanks (or any reason for that matter). But she`d also like to be spoiled once in a while, in the end the girl really just craves your affection and attention.

[bemused-writer]

VNC Chapter 46.5 Analysis

After a long hiatus, VNC makes its return! Mochizuki has decided to take pity on us; this year has been hard. She knows most of us aren't ready for heartbreak just yet, so she gave us a lighthearted chapter with the assurance the next one will crush us. I'm looking forward to it! :D

This is a really good chapter, though, so let's take a look. ^^

Dante says this is news to him, and it is indeed news to all of us! But honestly, this answers a lot of questions I've had. What do these two do with their free time? Apparently, Noé works a lot and he has this work because people trust him instantly. That sounds about right; there's not a single person in this series that dislikes Noé save for Astolfo.

We aren't told what Vanitas does with his free time, but we can guess.

I've often wondered if Vanitas spends as much time analyzing Noé as Noé spends analyzing Vanitas, and I think we can give that a resounding "yes." He'd have to to have this kind of knowledge of his habits and preferences. What this also tells us is that Vanitas cares enough not only to observe this information, but also to retain it and put it to use by going to find Noé when he wanders off. This surprises Dante who thought Vanitas would just leave him alone, which does seem more in character. Once again, Noé is the exception to how Vanitas normally conducts himself: he would have left anyone else to figure Paris out on their own.

So, to put it more bluntly, Vanitas probably spends a good deal of his time analyzing Noé, chasing after him once he's gone on an ill-conceived adventure, hanging out with Dante, and, it almost goes without saying at this point, hanging out with Noé.

I genuinely love this exchange because Dante has reached the obvious conclusion: Vanitas is spending an insane amount of time with Noé and yet Vanitas is trying to claim that "No, I just give him tours sometimes." Logically, he'd only need to give Noé a tour of Paris once, which we saw all the way back in chapter 2. The fact that he now has to explain he "only" gives Noé tours when he asks still means Noé is probably asking to go out a lot and that Vanitas is just going along with it.

So, Noé actually spends his free time doing a lot of stuff: working, chatting with the neighbors (so to speak), and hanging out with Vanitas. Vanitas seems to do less. He sometimes spends time with Dante and then he spends a ton of time with Noé. What's he doing when Noé is at work? XD Maybe reading? Or plotting? We don't really know what his hobbies are.

Regardless, we get an idea of how Vanitas and Noé get along. Furthermore, we even get a good contrast in the very next short story!

In this one, Roland has gone missing and the chasseurs go to Olivier to figure out where he might have gone. This seems like the logical thing to do: they're known to be friends.

But we quickly learn that Roland and Olivier have a very different relationship compared to Noé and Vanitas despite seeming to be similar on a surface level.

Dante thought Vanitas wouldn't look for Noé because Vanitas tends to be cold towards others and doesn't like attachment. However, not only is he willing to look for Noé, he's worried when he realizes he might have wandered off.

Here we see that both Amelia and Vanitas are used to this behavior from Noé and, while they're exasperated, they're also worried. In other words, Noé has friends that care about him and will worry about him.

Contrast this with Roland and Olivier. Maria and Georges go to him because he's friends with Roland. They assume he will care enough to look for him and that he might even share in their concern about where he's wound up.

Not only is Olivier not worried, he's seriously judging them for bothering him about the whole thing to begin with. Granted, some of that disgust and judgement is probably aimed at Roland as well. He regales us with a story about the last time he tried to find Roland when he was lost (unlike Noé he genuinely has a bad sense of direction) and how poorly it went. Even in the flashback we can see that Olivier did not want to look for Roland; he just wanted to get back to what he was doing as swiftly as possible.

This entire story is basically a foil to the previous one to give us an idea of how these two duos are different. So, let's take a moment to explore those exact differences.

1) Olivier doesn't worry about Roland and he is frustrated by his antics as well as how easily he gets lost. Vanitas does worry about Noé and, while exasperated, seems almost excited to go looking for him. Furthermore, Noé isn't "lost;" he just likes exploring.

2) Both Olivier and Vanitas know their partner exceedingly well. The main difference here is that Olivier has known Roland for years while Vanitas has known Noé for a couple months or so? I'm not sure about the timeline. Olivier has a good idea of the places Roland will go and the things he cares about (finding books for his brothers), but he can't totally predict his movements beyond that. Vanitas has an insane knowledge of what Noé is interested in and has it down to a science. Sure, he needed Dante's help, but that was minimal compared to what he already knew. Also, I think we can safely say that Olivier and Vanitas both keep tabs on their partner, but in very different ways. Olivier is mostly concerned about what trouble Roland is getting up to and how it inconveniences him. Vanitas seems to be going out of his way to understand Noé, much like Noé is with Vanitas.

3) Olivier and Roland have kind of a more normal friendship in the sense they get annoyed with each other and they bicker. They hold grudges (or at least Olivier does) and they don't spend all of their time together, and yet they clearly will work with one another and help each other out as we can see in Gévaudan. There's definitely trust there despite the annoyance.

Vanitas and Noé are unusual in that not only do they spend all their time with each other, they haven't gotten sick of one another yet. And while they argue, every single major argument (and they have been significant) is resolved pretty quickly and forgotten soon after. That is decidedly strange. They trust each other, but that level of trust would indicate they've known each at least as long as Roland and Olivier have, but instead it's been a very short amount of time. No wonder Roland is in awe of them; their friendship level is through the roof even if they haven't realized that yet. 8D

But what this short story also reveals is that Roland does have someone who understands him completely and who even used to admire him completely and that's Astolfo. This relationship still isn't like the one Noé and Vanitas have, however. Apparently, Astolfo used to worship Roland and admire him completely. Somewhat similar to how Noé admired Vanitas's ability to save vampires, but on a much higher level.

Once again, there is a significant difference: when Roland did something Astolfo disapproved of, he grew to hate him. In contrast, when Vanitas killed a vampire instead of "saving" her, Noé eventually realized he'd placed unfair expectations on him. He learned to accept Vanitas for who he is and took him off the pedestal he'd put him on.

Honestly, Roland's relationships are looking a lot more strained than Noé's. Also, I wonder what he did to upset Astolfo so much? It can't be that he decided to see vampires as people; Astolfo grew to hate him before he even met Vanitas and Noé (I think), so it must be something else. My guess is that it would have to do with religion, though. Roland is out there, following his own beliefs regardless of whether they match up with the Church's. I imagine this would upset Astolfo at some point. Maybe it's all of his failed relationships with women? XD I mean, dating that much doesn't really mesh with being a man of god all that well....

Also, I had wondered how Roland treated Astolfo. Since Astolfo hated him so much, I thought that maybe Roland treated him badly. However, it looks like Roland probably treated him well, like a little brother, so all that hatred is definitely stemming from something else entirely. Probably going to have to wait and see on that, but for now we know that Roland has at least two strained relationships and, judging by the background chatter in that earlier panel, a lot of chasseurs just don't like him. This is another difference between him and Noé: Everyone likes Noé. Not as many people like Roland.

But let's move on to the third short story. This one is about Louis and while it takes on a very different tone to the last two stories, it does provide some room for contrast. I think the most important detail to this story is that Louis wanted people to come looking for him. Noé and Roland didn't mean to cause any trouble or to make people worry about them (or get annoyed as the case may be). Louis absolutely was trying to provoke a reaction.

The purposefulness to this is just... unreal. XD He was spending time with Noé--they were each reading a book--and then he decides he's going to go get lost in the woods. In other words, he wanted to make Noé look for him. He prevented Noé from following him from the get go because, again, he wanted to make Noé look.

Now, we get to see what book Louis was reading, which prompted his leaving in the first place. It's about a boy who meets a fairy who then whisks him away into the forest. His family looks for him, but they don't find him. When they don't find him, they give up on him and move on with their lives. While this is sad, the boy then lives with the fairies, making friends there.

There's no way we're not supposed to read into this, so let's see what we can glean. Louis wasn't actually looking for a fairy, that much we can safely say, but he was trying to get Noé to look for him. And it is Noé specifically he wants, judging by this panel:

Dominique is there looking for him as well, but it's Noé's expression he hones in on. He's happy to see that Noé is anxious about him. Now, Louis was under a lot of stress, but this is still a mean thing to do to someone, but I don't think the point here was to prank Noé exactly. He wanted to see if Noé cared enough to look for him, to worry over him.

It's completely different from the previous two stories as I mentioned earlier. Noé and Roland aren't dealing with the possibility of dying or the possibility they'll be forgotten after they're gone. Louis is, and because he's young, rather than just ask Noé if he'll remember him, if he cares about him, he has to test him instead.

But I don't think we should ignore the fairy part of the book he was reading. Even though Louis didn't go out to meet a new friend, he eventually "disappeared." He was cursed and he died, but could he have been taken somewhere else? I've often wondered if curse bearers become a part of Charlatan. If that's the case, then Louis really is still around, but the people he cared about can no longer see him.

It figures even a short story about Louis would still be very sad. (^^)" I honestly hope we do hear more from him, whether in a flashback or in the present. I think there's a lot between him and Noé that still needs to be explored. Our current arc could be a good lead in to that, actually, since we're dealing with the de Sades and Noé's relationship to them and Dominique more specifically.

One last thing I'd like to point out: both Olivier, Vanitas, and Astolfo all demonstrated a certain understanding of the person who was lost. They could put themselves in their shoes and figure out at least some of what they might have gotten up to. However, when Louis is "lost," Dominique and Noé are incapable of guessing what he's really thinking. They have such ironclad belief in him that they believe he predicted the future rather than think he might be pranking them. In other words, they didn't understand Louis at all, and this is still one of Noé's greatest regrets to this day. Perhaps it's one of Dominique's as well.

[mariamermaid]

The Queens Gambit

Ron Weasley x fem reader

Summary: Ron had been waiting for weeks for the upcoming chess tournament in London, but what if his title is endangered by a rookie…

Words: 4k

A/N: I think it´s pretty obvious where I got the inspo from, but in case you haven´t watched the show; I can highly recommend it! (That doesn´t mean you have to watch the show before reading though) I decided to add a few more characters from the HP fandom to make the story a little more entertaining. It´s basically like a little alternate universe story (but not really??)

  “Do you have a clock?”

You shook your head as you filled out the form with your name and other information. It was your first tournament and as much as you were excited on the inside, you kept a cool exterior. In reality, your heart was pounding against your chest. You had counted the days to this precious Saturday midmorning.

“If you´re opponent doesn´t have one, we´ll loan you one. Play starts in 20 minutes”, the boy in front of you nonchalantly explained. He was tall, but his slack figure was loosely positioned on the wooden chair. His teeth were a little crooked and he barely looked up to eye you any further. “What´s your rating?”

You glanced up from the paper in your hand, furrowing your brows. “My rating? I don´t have a rating.”

“Have you ever played in a tournament before?”

“No.” Your voice was steady, but a slight annoyance grew as the rules of the tournament seemed to have decided to play against you.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Starring directly at the boy, merely a man, in front of you, you nodded. Then you handed the paper back to him. “I´m sure.”

“Then I put you in beginners”, he sighed and shrugged.

“I´m not a beginner”, you argued, but apparently, that didn´t change anything. “Doesn´t matter, if you´re an unrated player, you go in beginners and people with ratings under 1600.”

A pause fell from your lips, clearly Merlin didn´t want you playing against actual contenders.

“Is it against any rule for me to play in the Open?” The boy with dark short hair seemed taken back by your sudden and quick answers, and he stuttered when answering. Maybe it was your confidence that startled him, maybe it was the pure attendance of a female.

“Not… Not exactly.”

“Then put me in the open.”

“There are three guys with over 1800 and Weasley might show up, you have no chance.”

You didn´t answer, leaving him sitting behind the desk. You weren´t sure, if he meant to spare you with good will, or simply feared that an irascible woman could ruin the tournament.

Neville Longbottom, looked at the paper handed to him and read out the name. “Y/n Y/L/N.”

When entering the hall, that was used for all kinds of events when booked, very few decorations fell into your eye. A few flags with symbols of schools or teams and a few goblets. Pieces of sports equipment were pushed to the sides for space. The tables, all fairly small with enough space for the chessboards, were placed induvial throughout the room. Boys, mostly around your age and older were talking to each other, while other´s sat down to study their strategies. At the back was a partitioning, that’s where the big players gamed.

 Another boy, he seemed to be around your age with dark hair and round glasses joined you in eyeing the scene.

“Are the matches played random?”, you asked him quietly without looking away from the tables. You hoped for no unwanted attention, which was easier said than done. Especially giving the fact, that you were one out of two girls.

“No, they match it by ratings on their first round. After that winner play winners and losers play losers.” The boy answered. He seemed calm about his presence as well as his answer. He had clearly played before in tournaments. You nodded understanding, before walking to the first table assigned to you.

The second girl other than you, was sitting to your opposite.

You starred at the clock at the side of the chess board, you had never played with a clock. It annoyed you deeply that it made you look like a beginner. You were good and you were planning to win. The girl, black shoulder length hair and almond shaped eyes, noticed your look and offered you a polite smile.

“I´m Cho Chang. Each player has 90 minutes, after you move, you press the button closest to you. Then it´s your opponent’s turn.”

You didn´t want to talk much, you were there to play, but you appreciated her explanation. Then your eyes traveled through the room, just to find Cho´s again.

“Why do they put the girls together?”

“They´re not supposed to, but if you win, they´ll move you up. Have you ever played in a tournament?”

You shook your head slightly. “No.”

But she simply shrugged. “I´m sure you´ll do fine.”

“What about Ron Weasley, is he coming today?” Oh, the king of chess, at least currently.

You had read about him, his matches from his first years at Hogwarts. Even Dumbledore himself had praised him and the daily prophet had written multiple articles about him. You had studied his games, over and over. It was him, who you wanted to play.

“Yeah, he has to defend his title.”

 After 20 minutes, Neville heard light steps approaching. Only seconds after, he found you standing in front of him again. “What do I do with this?” You hold up the paper from your match. It took every bit of effort to hide your happiness, the first game had taken a lot of weight off your shoulders. After beating Cho, you were more determined than ever.

“Is your match already over?”

“Yes, I won”, you shrugged.

“That was fast, circle your name and drop in the basket”, he muttered and you did as said. Neville starred at the spot where you had previously stood; something tingled in his senses. Maybe you would actually get a chance to prove yourself to the higher players.

 You snuck through the rows of players still starring at their boards until reaching the dividers. Clearly, you were fast, faster than most of them, which gave you time to study the room further. But the interesting part was happening behind the dividers. You paused for second, before deciding to enter. Around the table was a group of people watching, within the crowd, the boy from before with the round glasses. It was your turn to join his side and watch the two seated players. By the red hair, you could easily make out Ronald Weasley himself. His green eyes were pierced on the board as he chewed on his lips. You had seen several pictures of him in the newspaper, but seeing him in person? It was a new excitement rushing through your veins.

“Is he a Grandmaster?”, you asked the dark-haired boy to your left. Curiosity had always been in your nature, it even more so, got you into trouble.

“He´s working on it, it takes time. You have to play a grandmaster to become one.”

“How much time?”

“Do you mind?”, Ron turned from the game, eyeing you with caginess. His green eyes pierced right through yours and you pressed your lips to a thin line, looking to the floor with guilt. Internally, you cursed at yourself, but the smallest part showed a weird reaction; Ron Weasley had taken notice of you. Not in the way you wanted, but maybe he´d remember you. Slowly, they all focused back on the game.

Weasley´s opponent, Blaise Zabini, had his arms crossed in front of the board. “Draw?”

Ron shook his head, he wasn´t cruel. However, the victory was too close and too easy for him. “No.”

Zabini sighed, watching as Ron´s Queen moved on the board to shatter his king. The art of wizard chess remained aggressively; how queens and rooks smashed and destroyed kings and pawns. It was fascinating to you.

Weasley clapped at his own win, just like the crowd, a smirk back on his lips. “Yes!”

The group around you echoed in further applause and you couldn´t help but feel a smile. The two of them shook hands, before Zabini took off in defeat. He tried his best not to show his disappointment and anger. Ron watched his tall figure leave through the crowd, until his eyes landed back on you. You felt a blush rushing into your cheeks. Did you said he´d remember you? He probably despised you already.

Avoiding his glance again, knowing you had already attracted unwanted attention, you swallowed. Ron on the other hand just realized the pretty girl, who had watched him…

 The minutes and hours took by and one after one player was defeated by you. Oh, how you loved winning. Some might decline it as a weakness, but it was the drive that kept you going.

“That´s check”, you explained after successfully beating another man. He adjusted his hair, feeling clearly uncomfortable. You on the other hand, had found your safe zone.

“I know what it is”, he then replaced his Queen, which rose from her throne, before making her way to the newly assigned field. But you had already figured out his move and even more so, your own win.

“Draw?” He asked, nervously tapping with his pencil. You had placed your head on top of your hands, watching him closely. You shook your head.

“I resign”, he admitted.

 “Dinner break, then three more rounds. Final round on Sunday 11a.m.”; Neville explained, while the players had gathered outside the hall to either chitchat or look at the charts of the past games. You eyed the chart; you had won four games already. Two games were listed above you, the next one was against Harry Potter. You furrowed your brows. “You said there were three people with ratings higher than 1800!”

Neville, the boy of drossy posture and crocked teeth, looked up from the papers. He had already guessed that you would complain. “Yes, that´s right.”

“I thought I´d be playing one of them.” Neville sighed, his love for chess, organization of tournaments and the clear instructed rules, were a little thwarted by you. “You don´t have a rating, consider yourself lucky.”

“How do I get a rating?”

“You play 30 games in the USCF tournaments and then wait four months.”

“But that’s too long! I want to play Weasley”, you exclaimed. The calculations in your head were fast and no matter how you turned it, time was your enemy. “If you win your next three games and if he does the same…”

“I will.”

 Annoyed, you stepped back into the hall. You were ambitious to win. It was all you had and the potential price money lurked you even more. At home, nothing but your mother waited for you. Money had always been a big concern, she wasn´t even able to afford for you to go to Hogwarts. Everything you knew about magic; she had taught you.  She worked two jobs to make enough money for food and rent and while she cleaned motel rooms, one of the guests that often stayed at the motel, taught you to play wizard chess; Mr. Lupin was an amazing teacher…

 At the table of your next tournament, you found the dark-haired boy with round glasses. He awaited you and smiled as you finally sat down. “I´m Harry, Harry Potter.”

Besides your prior encounter, you had seen him talking to Ron Weasley and a small wave of exhilaration rose inside you. He and Weasley seemed close friends. “Y/n, Y/L/N.”

The game started with innocent moves from pawns. In between, Harry glanced up to you, checking. But you were sure of what you were doing. Minutes passed into the game and Harry started realizing that you were better than him, he didn´t show it yet, but he was well aware. Nevertheless, he was enjoying an exquisite game of chess.

You took his queen nonchalantly, which fell off the board in debris, and nervously licking his lips, he wrote down new notes on his notepad, before making his move. Your turn again, the rook.

Harry folded his hands, starring at the game. He pondered how to get out. After more minutes passing, a few people even started to watch you. They stood in the background, far enough to not make it conspicuous, but close enough for you to notice.

You moved your king and Harry sighed. “Merlin, Y/n, you´re humiliating my rook.”

“You won´t have to suffer much longer.”

Yes, you had it all played out in your head. Your win was safe and secure.

A smile was on your lips. Two further moves, and it was done.

He stretched out his hand in defeat and you took it. “Good game, you´re very talented.”

You shrugged as if it didn´t matter, but it did. To you it did. “You really are something.”

Saturday came to an end; you had won every single game. With your head tilted high, you stepped out the building. Fresh air flowed through your lunges and you took a deep breath. Suddenly voices echoed from your right; a few steps away Harry was talking to Ron Weasley. They chuckled in ease as they continued to make conversation. Ron´s back was turned into your direction, but Harry quickly noticed you.

“Hey Y/N! You played well today; do you want to grab a butterbeer with us?”

A bitter taste spread on your mouth; you had never even tried butterbeer. But all your savings had gone into the fee of the tournament and you already expected a long lecture when coming home. You shook your head with a polite smile on your lips. “Sorry, I have to get home.”

The two boys watched as you left, silence between them.

“She´s good, better than all the other girl´s I´ve seen”, Harry added and his friend rolled his eyes.

“Come on, Harry, just because she beat you, doesn´t mean she´s some kind of unknown genius. She doesn’t even have a rating.”

Harry shrugged innocently. “Whatever you say, but be careful, maybe she´ll even beat you.”

Ron echoed in laughter as he playfully punched his friend’s shoulder. “As if!”

 Sunday came, Ronald Weasley was late.

“Mom, have you seen my shoes?”

“Ronald, if you just once tidied up you might find them at the right place!”

Ron wasn´t nervous, but as so often, he was running late. With the annual tournament of wizard chess, he was ready to defend his title as current state champion.

Finally, the shoes had been next to the dishwasher (probably Fred´s and George´s play), he threw over his jacket and made his way to the fire place. “Mom, I´m leaving.”

Molly Weasley, who always knew where every single one of her children was, came hurrying down the stairs. With swift motions she brushed away dirt from Ron´s jacket and then started fidgeting around with his red hair. “Mom!”, Ron instructed his mother to stop and hurried towards the fireplace. He took the floo powder and rolled his eyes as Molly started wiping away a tear.

“There goes my champion!”

 You sat at the table, the same table where Ron had previously won against Zabini, waiting and growing impatiently. People around you waited as well. You couldn´t help but feel a deeper reluctance towards the conceited champion. Finally, you flinched as the door opened.

“Sorry, took a butterbeer on the go”, Ron added and held his cup high to show his evidence. You wanted to let out a sigh and roll your eyes, but you resisted to do so.

He took another sip before stretching out his hand.

“Ron Weasley, what´s your name?” Quickly, you shook his hand. Ron knew your name, Harry had told him, but he asked nevertheless. It was a rude tactic to make you feel smaller against him. You on the other hand wanted to begin, not waste more time. “Y/N, Y/L/N.”

He nodded acknowledging and the game started.

Five minutes into the game, he yawned.

It drove you insane. Did he do it on purpose? To make you lose focus? Or was he as underwhelmingly annoying?

He played confidential, not even thinking he could lose. It didn´t even take seconds for him to plant his moves. It intimated you and no matter how hard you tried not to show, the second yawn as you moved the pawn, did bring you to a slight stumble. Neville as well as Harry stood in the audience watching.

You felt sweat forming on your neck and cleavage, and strain pushed against your temples.

“I´ll be right back.” You jumped off your seat and hurried into the bathroom, leaving behind their confused faces.

Cold water ran down your hands and you placed the refreshing cool on your cheeks and neck.

Your eyes were pinned in the mirror, starring angrily at yourself. Running away from the game felt like an embarrassment enough, you weren´t ready to lose.

“Come on, you can beat him.”

Slowly, your stare wandered towards the ceiling. The chess board appeared out of your imagination and the figures stood tall, just like you had left them behind. Then, they started moving and each time you found yourself in an inescapable path, they pulled back into their initial position. Until…

 As you sat down, you were steadier as before. It surprised Ron a little and he watched as you moved your knight to take out one of his pawns. His rook then took your knight and you followed by replacing your pawn. On and on. The game continued. You were dangerously calm and as you placed the bishop down, you watched his face closely.

Ever so slightly, Ron shook his head and the glint in his eyes vanished. Harry in the crowd had the smallest hint of a smile.

“For Merlin´s sake”, Ron muttered and his hand pushed back his ginger hair.

“I think that´s it.” Your tranquil voice didn´t help him at all, but it gave you the confirmation you had hoped for.

“No, I can get out of this.”

“I don´t think so.” Then you tilted your head to side, completely deserted. “Maybe, if you had gotten here on time.”

Ron´s green eyes pierced into yours, then back on the board. Oh, time could be a cruel opponent and right now, he was losing. He took another move, not wanting to admit it yet, but you sighed sounding bored and exhausted.

“It doesn´t work, I don´t have to use the Queen.”

It didn´t matter to him. This was now more and ever about his ego. “I´ll just cover it with the bishop and-“

“Move.” His voice was low and unlike his usual character, deadly serious. Harry had never seen his friend in such a situation and even though he found it alarming, what a terrible loser Ron was, he was happy for you. You deserved it.

You did as said, covering your queen, while his rook took one of your pawns. It didn´t help, all it was, was a desperate cry. Your rook moved right next to his King, which he placed further away, but then your queen came along.

“Do you see it now? Or should we finish this on the board?”

In disbelief, he shook his head once again. But this time, his eyes found yours in an amazing gaze. “For Merlin´s sake.”

The King was destroyed by the Queen. You had won.

The people around you echoed with applause and Ron clapped as well, gentle smiling.

It was useless denying it further, you had beaten him fair and square. Harry had been right, you were good and better than Ron.

He lifted himself off his seat and shook hands with you, a reassuring smile on his lips.

For the first time on this day, you could smile as well. All the worries and the lecture that lasted till late in the evening, had been worth it.

You defeated the state champion and you won the prize money.

 “Y/n?”

You had planned to go home, your mother would be enthusiastic about the money, but Ron´s voice held you back. You were outside in the hall, hand already on the railing to the staircase leading outside.

“Do you want to grab a butterbeer with me now?” He sensed your hesitation and quickly spoke up again. “Don´t worry, I´ll pay. I guess I owe it to you”, Ron shrugged and pushed his hands nervously deeper into the pockets of his brown pants. He looked different than when seated behind the chess board, taller but less comfortable as well.

“I´m not sure…”

“Come on, you can´t leave me hanging like this after taking my title.”

A small chuckle escaped your lips and Ron noticed how well it suited your face. While playing chess and debating over strategies, there wasn´t much time to give away polite smiles or studying your opponent’s traits.

You couldn´t help, but feel how the reluctance towards Ron disappeared. He sighed relieved as you nodded agreeing.

The bar was only a few streets away, a side alley and the entrance to the magical ambience was hidden. The door opened as the front side to a large dumpster and lead a few steps down into the pub. It was cozy and due to the early time on a Sunday afternoon, still fairly empty. The bartender nodded towards Ron, they seemed to know each other.

“Two butterbeers, Dean.”

Together you sat down in niche to the side, a few plants hung from the ceiling and blankets and pillows laid on the armchairs in between. Chill jazz music played in the background and a house elf washed up used glasses. You imagined how the room was filled with people in the evenings.

“So, you never played in a tournament before and yet you beat the state champion?”

Ron was curious, which was understandable and you blushed at his question.

“A friend of my mom taught me how to play chess.”

“Really? He must know a lot about it, I imagine.”

“Yeah, and he gave me many books about openings and strategies.”

“I never saw you playing in the school tournaments, when did you start?”

You avoided his glance, starring down at the butterbeer Dean just brought to your table. The yellowish, sweet smelling liquid with soft foam on top.

“I don´t play for a school team”, you admitted quietly. The topic was hard to avoid, but you didn´t have many friends anyways to talk to.

“Well, I think you should maybe start then. They often travel together to other tournaments and-“

“I´m actually not going to a public school, I´m home taught.” You voice was louder now, but still shaking enough for Ron to realize your indisposition. He maybe was a genius on the board, but construing social interactions? Not his strength. Awkwardly, he scratched the back of his neck.

“Oh.”

 An uncomfortable silence settled between the two of you and you decided to take your first sip to take off your mind. He watched carefully, how your face enlightened with joy. “It´s really good!”

Ron kept his assumption, that it was your first butterbeer, to himself and smiled nodding.

“Dean knows how to make one of the bests around here”, he paused before continuing.

“I admire you.”

“Excuse me?”

“Everything I know about wizard chess, I learned in school from my teammates. Actually, everything I know, I was taught in Hogwarts. But now you come along and beat me, you´re brilliant Y/N.”

“I always liked chess, it´s a whole world on a simple board. I´m not as good in other things, trust me.” You admitted, but his compliment spread warmth around your heart.

“If you want, I could teach you a few things about magic.”

Maybe Ron Weasley wasn´t the best teacher, but he truly wanted to see you again. Something about you was so charismatic and mesmerizing, he couldn´t help himself. To his luck, excitement was shown in your face. “That sounds amazing!”

When you had finished your beers and left the pub, Ron faced you again. The two of you had talked for over an hour and he was beginning to like you more with each minute.

The thought of Ron teaching you more about magic, made you enthusiastic. Maybe it was also the fact, that seeing him again, brought a tickle in your stomach.

“Well, I see you next week, Queen.”

You chuckled at his new nickname for you, it was a pleasant flattery.

“We will see how good your gambit is when it comes to dueling.”

[yandere-daze]

25. "Why won't you talk to me anymore?" For manipulative Yandere Bruno. Peace! Take care of yourself!

Of course! This is my first time writing yandere bruno so I hope I got it right^^  This is what I´ve been working on the last few days and it really got kind of long.

Enjoy!!

25. "Why won't you talk to me anymore?"

Cut for length!

Yandere! Bruno with prompt 25

It was a tranquil and warm evening in Naples, the sun slowly setting and the bustle of the city quieting down for the day. You were sitting in the living room, listening to the radio while waiting for your husband. Your husband´s name was Bruno Bucciarati and he was a very gentle and comforting person that cared about you a whole lot. You two have been living together for a few months now, you realize as you gaze down at the pretty golden ring on your finger. A testament to your love and happiness. Your husband was currently in the kitchen and cooking dinner for the both of you. You asked to help him with the preparations, not wanting him to have to do all the work, but he quickly declined and insisted for you to rest and relax a bit. Of course, you didn´t really mind, you could use the break, after all your head has been hurting the whole day already. The pounding, aching feeling in your head has been plaguing you more than a few times recently and you were never really able to ignore the pain, so you often took painkillers to alleviate the problem. You had been feeling like this for a long time now, ever since that one fateful day.

It was a few months ago, when you woke up to a world of white consuming you. You felt dazzled and confused as you looked around, your surroundings barely registering in your mind. Looking down, you noticed you were laying on a bed. Noticing an itching feeling on your arms, you examined your own body to find that you were wearing some kind of white gown and to your horror, the entirety of your arms where bandaged up, as well as your legs. Where you in a hospital? It looked like that was the case, but what happened to you? Why were you bandaged up like this? And who was the man sitting at the side of your bed?

This man had short black hair, neatly cut into a bob as well as very striking blue eyes. He was wearing an elegant white suit with some black dots here and there. What you found a bit strange were the extraordinary number of zippers on his suit that seemingly served no purpose at all. But you weren´t really one to judge, the suit did look good on him, you couldn´t deny that. More important than this man´s appearance though was the reason he was here next to you. You have never seen this strange man in your entire life, so what was he doing here?

Seemingly hearing you shift around in your bed, the man raised his head and smiled a charming smile at you. He looked relieved; you noticed the tension on his shoulders slowly vanishing at the fact that you were awake.

“Ah y/n, I´m so happy you woke up! I was so worried about you, you´ve been in a coma for the last 5 days! I was so scared that you might not wake up again.”, the stranger said as he gently grasped your hand in glee. His touch so soft, it was as if he thought you were extremely fragile, as if a simple touch could break you. Whoever this was, he seemed very concerned about you but you just didn´t remember him at all. Who was this man?

“Uhm thank you very much for your concern but sir, I don´t mean to be rude but…. Who are you? Do we know each other?”, you just had to know.

The man in front of you almost looks a bit offended for a second before a look of confusion crosses his face, his eyebrows furrowing as he seemingly thought something over. There was a short pause before his face lit up again, a gentle smile on his face as he directed his attention on you again.

“Do you not remember me? My name is Bruno Bucciarati. Do you know how you got to this hospital?”

“No I´m afraid I don´t…Bruno. In fact I don´t remember anything at all. All I can recall is my name and my age. What happened to me? And how do we know each other?”. You were so confused. Try as you might, you couldn´t remember anything that lead up to this situation. It´s as if everything was suddenly gone.

“That´s a shame..”, the man now known to you as Bruno contemplated before continuing. “I don´t mean to overwhelm you, but I am in fact your husband. We´ve been married for quite some time now. Look, this is the symbol of our bond together.”, he said while smiling.

He raised his right hand to show you a beautiful gold ring on his ring finger. Looking down at your own hand, you find the very same ring decorating your own finger. So this was true then? You were happily married but couldn´t remember anything? You felt exhausted, all this new information was too much for you.

“Is this really true? Why can´t I remember anything at all? I´m so sorry Bruno, this must be very upsetting for you. Me not even being able to remember my own wedding.” You felt genuinely bad for him. You felt that he truly loved you, you could just tell from his gaze that was directed to you. He must have done so much for you, how could you just forget everything? All of your shared time together?

Bruno was seemingly able to understand your train of thought, because he immediately tried to cheer you up.

“Don´t be sad amore mio. You lost your memories in an accident; it was not your fault at all so don´t beat yourself up over it. I don´t ever want to see you sad, you hear me? It´s not the end of the world that you can´t remember, we can just make new memories together! I´m sure everything will be okay. We can even have a second wedding once you have adjusted if you want that.”

He then leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss against your palm as you felt a fluttering feeling inside of you. He truly must care about you so much! You couldn´t believe how lucky you were to have him.

Looking up, your husband spoke up once again.

“As far as I know, the doctor said you were free to go as soon as you wake up. Do you want to leave the hospital together now? I can show you our shared home if you would let me.”

couldn´t deny that you wanted to finally leave behind these suffocating white walls around you. You also were a bit excited to see your new- uhhhh old home.

 You were kind of surprised to see how well decorated your shared home seemed to be. Everything looks amazing in your opinion! You obviously seemed to have a hand in decorating the place, it perfectly fit your tastes!

You two then came to a stop in front of a door, you almost bumping into Bruno. From what you could tell, this seemed to be the last room in the house, probably the bedroom.

Your husband looks back at you and gently urges you to open the door yourself, you should be the first one to enter the room. You carefully press down the door handle and open the door. What greets you blows your mind. You thought the other rooms looked amazing, but this was even better!

In the middle of the room was a huge double bed, tons of pillows piled on top, it had to be super comfortable! You were very tempted to just jump on top of it and go to sleep, the events of the day really tired you out. You heard a light chuckle from your right, looking over you saw that Bruno had entered the room as well and looked vaguely amused at your tired form.

“Feeling sleepy, cara/o? We can go to bed if you like, this day must have been very exhausting for you. But don´t worry, I´m sure you will feel right at home in no time!”

And with that, you two went to bed together, you falling asleep almost instantly despite the foreign situation.

After settling in, Bruno spends a lot of time talking about your relationship and how you two got together. You two met by pure coincidence at a coffee shop and had to sit down at the same table because there were no empty ones left. You then made pleasant conversation and one thing led to another, meeting each other more and more and eventually falling in love. Though Bruno absolutely insists that it was love at first sight for him. That he saw you and immediately felt a spark, he knew you were the one for him. He´s so glad to have you with him now! You´re just happy to know that you´ve managed to find a good match for yourself, someone that cares for you so much and would do anything for your happiness.

It´s been a few months now since you last saw the hospital, but your mental state hasn´t gotten any better. You still can´t remember anything from before you met Bruno in the patient room and it´s infuriating beyond belief. Sure you felt happy and comfortable with him, but you wanted to know so much more! But no matter how much you tried, your mind was as foggy as ever. Asking Bruno for insight on your past rarely did any good.

“Don´t strain yourself too much, darling. It´s okay if you don´t remember, we can always make new memories!”

Of course you want to make new memories with him but you also want to remember! It makes you a bit uncomfortable how ready your husband was to dismiss your past.

He was more than happy to talk about your relationship and how happy you both have always been but when you ask about your friends and your job? He immediately changes the topic as soon as it comes up.

“Are you not happy with me y/n? Am I not enough for you? I give you all the love I have to offer and that´s not enough? Those people weren´t good for you, you shouldn´t need to remember all of these painful memories!”

You really don´t know what to think anymore. Bruno is so nice and sweet to you, always looking out for you and making sure you´re comfortable but something doesn´t feel right.

Holding his hand doesn´t feel right.

Being in his arms doesn´t feel right.

Kissing him doesn´t feel right.

But whenever you do, you can´t help but see something flash in front of your eyes. A flickering image, gone before you can fully grasp it. But in your mind, you can see a different person, you´re sure of it. But all you can see is red.

Red eyes staring into yours.

Red red red red.

Dripping red.

Drips of red, forming a pool in front of your feet.

Someone laying on the ground.

Black and white clothes coated in crimson.

And then a flash of pure white.

A person in white, stained in red, walking towards you.

You feel a sudden surge of panic, an urge to run fills your entire being.

Panic.

Red traffic lights.

Red car.

Even more red.

Red red red.

Everything is red again.

And then piercing blue staring right at you.

You´re staring into Bruno´s eyes and the warm embrace that usually calmed you now set you on edge.

  Back then, you felt like you were on the verge of remembering something very important. But you weren´t exactly sure what you were meant to remember, you still weren´t. You wondered why you recalled this situation now of all times. The radio blared on in the background as you waited for Bruno to finish dinner.

“We are here to report the death of a man. His body was discovered just days ago, though doctors believe him to have been dead for some months now, judging from the state the body is in. The police are currently looking for any relatives or friends who might be able to identify…”

You notice that your husband had entered the living room as the radio went silent. You turn your head to see him holding a remote, as well as balancing the food in his other hand.

“Dinner is ready darling. I decided to turn off the radio so we can properly concentrate on our conversation. The noise is always so distracting from the important things.”, a gentle smile on his face as he puts down the food.

“You didn´t need to make my favorite, Bruno.”, you softly said.

“No, I insist. It´s only natural for me to do. I love you so much, why wouldn´t I cook your favorite dish for you? You´ve been so stressed and on edge lately, I decided this was the least I could do. You´re so important to me after all.”

Bruno poured wine for the both of you and then sat down himself. You two made pleasant conversation while enjoying the food he made. You then decided to tell him what´s been on your mind lately, the strange things you´ve been seeing, all the red. He showed so much concern for you so of course you were going to tell him!

He purses his lips, his brows furrowing as he thinks for a bit before deciding to finally answer.

“Darling are you sure you´re okay? That sounds very serious. Have you been taking the pills I bought for you? Maybe you should take some more, just in case. You´ve been talking about some very strange memories the past few days. I´m concerned, y/n”.

Yes, Bruno had been giving you daily pills for as long as you can remember. He said they were good to relieve the stress and anxiety you had felt after the accident, so you always took them. And he seemed to be right with that! Whenever you forgot to take the pills, you would get a pounding headache, feeling as if your brain was about to explode. You also sometimes saw these strange things, just like you did today. It seemed like you forgot to take your pills once again. You didn´t think it was too bad though, they always made you feel a bit loopy, feeling as if a heavy fog clouded your mind. You felt relaxed but also very hazy. You weren´t sure if you liked the feeling, you always felt a bit clearer when you didn´t take them.

So when Bruno got up to bring them to you, you decided to stop him and told him that you didn´t want to take them anymore.

He stopped dead in tracks, shoulders slightly tensing before turning around to face you. He was frowning, very apparently not liking the idea.

“Darling, you need to take these pills, they are important for you.”, he told you with a strained smile.

But you didn´t want to, so you kept declining.

He grew almost desperate at your continued refusal to take the pills, looking very panicked as his eyes widened and he started to wildly wave his hands around as he tried to convince you.

“Y/n come on, don´t be silly now. You just don´t know any better. I don´t think that´s the right decision for you to take. I know what´s best for you! Please don´t ruin this. You´ll thank me later on. I love you so much amore, so your health is my top priority! Just trust your husband!”

Something about his insistence didn´t sit right with you but you didn´t want to anger him further. For some reason you knew that you should never make Bruno angry, so you relented in the end.

As Bruno visibly relaxed and got up to bring your pills, you decided to keep eating your food while pondering over what just happened.

Hahh, eating risotto always made you feel at home for some reason.

  You woke up to an empty bed, your husband must have left for work already so you were on your own for now. You shifted your head to look at your nightstand, your daily pills already taken out of the box, ready for you to take. Come to think of it, this was how it always had been. You have never even seen the bottle the pills came in, Bruno always prepared everything for you.

For some reason, this new discovery gave you a feeling of anxiety. But why? He was your husband, why should he ever do something to harm you?

Still wanting to reassure yourself that everything was okay, you headed to the bathroom and looked for the medicine cabinet. It was supposed to be here somewhere. Looking around for a bit, you finally found the right bottle, you of course being able to recognize the size and the form of the pills you took daily by now. Carefully taking it out of the cabinet, you tried to read the label but were immediately confused by all of the complicated words written on it, so you just decided to look up the name on the front of it.

You were shocked when you looked them up and saw that these pills in particular were very infamous for their bad side effects, which caused them to not get sold anymore. These side effects included sleepiness, decreased concentration and extreme forgetfulness.

Extreme…forgetfulness?

You could swear you were hearing alarm bells ringing in your head. This couldn´t be. Was your own husband actively trying to repress your memories?! Does he not want you to remember something? But why? What reason could he possibly have? While you were lost in thought, you noticed he must have accidentally left the radio on, because it was blaring in the background again.

“Dead man now finally identified by coworkers as one Risotto Nero. The young man..”

You didn´t hear anything else anymore. Risotto Nero? Why was that name so familiar to you?

And then it happened.  

You felt an intense headache, your brain feeling like it might burst out any moment. And then… you remembered.

Risotto Nero, your former boyfriend. You were super happy together and were even planning to get married once his work calmed down a bit. He was not usually a very expressive person but with you, he felt comfortable. He felt like he was finally understood, like he could be at peace.

And then you met him.

Well you didn´t really MEET him. You just bumped into him while walking on the sidewalk, you quickly apologizing and then moving on with your life quickly forgetting about the man.

But it wasn´t the same for him, oh no. When he bumped into you back then and saw your beautiful face as well as heard your wonderful voice, he was lovestruck. This couldn´t be a coincidence, fate had led you two together! You were meant to be together! But you didn´t see him. No matter how hard he tried to contact you again in a crowd, you didn´t recognize him. It couldn´t be. There must have been a reason. And he soon found his reason. This monstrosity of a man, Risotto Nero held you captive. He was trying to separate you two out of jealousy. If he wasn´t there, you two could finally be happy together! So he knew he had to do something. And that he did.

You can now remember that day clearly. You came home from grocery shopping when you saw it. The living room was a mess, broken vases, toppled over furniture, definitely signs of a fight. And in the middle of it laid your boyfriend Risotto. A large pool of blood flowed out of his wounds as he laid there motionless. Dead.

You couldn´t believe this was happening. You ran over to his body and quickly felt the tears gathering in your eyes as you let out a loud sob.

You then felt a touch on your back and immediately tensed up. No one else was supposed to be here, so who was this? Did the attacker come back to kill you as well??

You then felt the strangers hand shift, moving towards your face and then gently wiping away the tears that have gathered in your eyes. Moving your head to at least see the bastard that killed Risotto, you were surprised to see someone vaguely familiar. You didn´t think this was someone you personally knew but you could never forget someone with a fashion sense as unique as this. The white suit, that was now bathed in red, with the zippers, it was all so familiar yet you couldn´t place where you had seen this before. As you continued to ponder over this, the man then spoke up.

“Shh darling, please don´t cry. It hurts me to see you like this. You should be smiling! After all this time we can finally be together! I´ve been waiting so long to have you in my arms and now my wish has finally come true.”, he exclaimed while tightly wrapping his arms around your shaking form.

“You….you bastard! What did you do to Risotto?! Why did you kill him! How could you do this?! What the hell are you even talking about? Now we can finally be together? How could you possibly think I would want to have anything to do with you after this?! You monster!”, you screamed out while pounding your fists against his chest, wriggling around as much as you could. He couldn´t be serious, did he really think you would forgive him and want to be with him after he killed your boyfriend in cold blood?

“Please don´t be like that darling, everything is going to be okay. I did this for us! I love you way more than anyone ever could! Just wait until I show you the house I renovated just for you, you´re going to love it!”

This man was definitely not sane and you desperately needed to get away this instant. Searching your brain for any escape plan that you could come up with, you had an idea. It was risky and most likely not going to work but you needed to try anything you could while you still had the chance. Who knew what would happen to you once you were brought to this house.

So summoning all of your courage, you raised your leg and kicked the man where the sun don´t shine and decided to make a run for it as he kneeled down in pain. This was your only chance to get away from him, you had to make it count. As you ran along the streets of Naples, you thought over what you could do to possibly escape this creep. You didn´t think going to the police would do you any good so what were you supposed to do? You thought possibly the best course of action would be to try and leave the country but would you even be able to accomplish that?

You were once again pulled out of your thoughts as you heard loud footsteps behind you. Turning your head, you were able to see that the man had now almost caught up with you. Shit shit shit what were you going to do now? He was so close to getting you!

“Amore please don´t run! This is for your best, trust me! You will be so much happier with me!”, the deluded man shouted after you. This was crazy, absolutely crazy. Watching him some more, you suddenly saw his eyes dramatically widening, his mouth forming an “o” as he then called out to you.

“No wait! Stop!!”

Stop? Pftt he wished that you-

CRASH

All you saw was red once again.

The red traffic light and the red car that hit you were all you could see before passing out and everything fading to black.

 And this was the truth of what truly happened to you. Looking at the bottle of pills in your hand, it was still so hard to believe. So all this time, Bruno has just been manipulating you? He gave you these pills to prevent you from remembering what happened and played the role of a loving husband when he killed your boyfriend in cold blood. You felt sick to your stomach and your legs were shaking. You had to get away from here. You had to leave this country. You had to leave now while you were still alone, you still had a chance you-

Cliiick

You heard the sound of the front door opening.

Bruno was home.

You tried to keep your cool when he entered the room and asked about your day. If you got heated now, everything would only get worse. You wanted him to be blissfully unaware that you recalled your memories now, that the whole gig was up. Who knew what he would do when he didn´t need to pretend anymore? You had to repress a shudder at the thought.

“Y/n? Is everything okay? You´re being awfully quiet. Did something happen?”, he inquired now, looking vaguely concerned, his brows furrowing in worry.

You didn´t know what to say. Who knows what would happen if you told him the truth? That was an absolute no-go as far as you were concerned. But you also didn´t think you could get away with lying, you´ve come to notice that Bruno is very sharp with these kinds of things. So not knowing what to do, you just kept quiet.

That must have been the wrong choice because he looked a bit angry now.

“What happened y/n? Tell me. I promise I won´t be mad! Why won´t you talk to me anymore?”

More deafening silence.

Okay he DEFINITELY looked angry now. His shoulders tensing as he bit his lip, probably trying to prevent himself from raising his voice too much.

“Amore please talk with me! I love you so much you have no idea, but I´m slowly losing my patience. Stop being so difficult.”

You couldn´t help but kind of snap at that comment. You were being difficult? Well look who´s talking! He freaking killed your boyfriend and basically kidnapped you! He played with your memories and manipulated your feelings! He was trying to make you fall in love with him, to imprison you in this house and never let you go! He was sickening!

So as you were standing there, trying to stop your ragged breathing, you felt pure terror in your stomach as you saw Bruno´s facial expression change from an angry one to one full of shock. Wait shit. Did you really just say that out loud? Why now of all times? Why did the universe hate you so much?

“What…how…you remember? But how could that have happened? I guess it doesn´t matter now. Y/n I love you! I killed him for us! He could never love you like I do, he doesn´t deserve you! But you weren’t able to see that, he blinded you. So of course I had to get rid of him! You looked so scared back then, it broke my heart! When I saw you get hit by that car, I almost lost my mind. I was so scared you wouldn´t make it so when I saw you wake up and not remember anything, I knew this was my chance. It was fated to be! So I´m sorry for not being upfront with you about this but I´m sure we will be able to work it out.”

“Work this out? You want to work this out? Hell no! I´m leaving! I don´t want to stay here for even a second longer!, you screamed out in anger as you tried to get up.

Keyword: Tried

You felt an absolute numbness in your legs and you weren´t able to move them at all. Looking down in surprise, you were terrified to see them completely missing from your body! How could this happen? What is going on? No no no no! You felt the tears streaming down your face as you came to accept the truth that you wouldn´t be able to escape from this. You weren´t able to escape from him.

“Look what you made me do darling! Why did you have to say such hurtful things to me? You want to leave? I won´t let you. We were meant to be together, I knew from the moment I first saw you. So I won´t ever let you leave my sight, do you understand? So please don´t fight me if you ever want to have your legs back, okay? You can do that for me can´t you, amore mio?”

“Let´s make some new happy memories together and forget about everything that happened!”

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

 Wowee this ended up being almost 5k words! I´ve never written anything this long so I´m kind of proud of this one^^

Also remember the outline I was talking about? Well I showed it to @naranciabestboi for some thoughts and we both agreed that you needed to see this little bit of the structure I wrote down. This was for towards the end when reader remembers that bruno killed risotto:

Thank you guys once again for reading my writing and supporting me so much <3

[kurtty-drabbles]

House of M- redone (part 10)

@dannybagpipesarecalling

@tieflingteeth  

@muninandhugin

The main office of Red Guard is an onion, in a sense. Each floor contains its own unique story, staff, and equipment to better achieve their goals, interrogation, Kitty finds out, is one of the third layers of this onion.

The mutant is not a Red Guard, per se, but any help is welcome-if Kitty tries to break the good faith, well, Rogue has no qualms in killing traitors as Mystique points out.

Kitty is a guest here and therefore, has no voice or right to be in the interrogation room. None whatsoever, however, the woman still worries and thinks all the implications it comes through such interrogation with such Red guards.

"Why is taking so long?" Kitty asked tapping her feet on the ground, the flooring and her shoes provide a strong tap, strong enough that Kurt stops his chores to see what she is doing.

(Kurt´s chores are a secret, in a sense. She knows he is doing something, what it entails? She has no idea and Mystique wants to be like that)

"Hey, rehearsing for your big debut?" Kurt jokes and his tail points to her tapping. Kitty rolls her eyes and stops doing the sound. "I think you would have been a great dancer," Kurt begins sitting next to her, his paperwork is done or vanished and whatever he was doing, well, Kitty will never know.

"I can´t be a dancer, Kurt, I would have been too anti-social," Kitty speaks in a petulant tone as if noticing her own foul mood she adds. "Sorry, I´m worried...I never like interrogations," she confessed.

Kurt arch one eyebrow. "But is not you who is being interrogated," and is a good point, as mentioned before, Kitty is just a guest here and nothing more.

Yet, the woman is jumpy as she stares at the door of the interrogation section. Kurt can´t understand why.

Kitty sighs and lowers her head for a minute and tries again. "You, the whole Red Guard, are interrogating a minor and I don´t like the implication on how everything is worth if it means protect Genosha," Kitty´s explained now sherd some light into his mind.

"I see, and well..." Kurt rubs his neck a little, "interrogation for national security never had a good story, however, no one here will torture a minor to get information," Kurt promised and Kitty nods, "but you have to understand, our mission here is to protect Genosha,"

Kitty gulps loudly. "I know, I know...it´s just...she´s a minor, barely 18 years old, and is already under this part of the Red Guard...I can´t stop worrying you know?" is a strange question to make, after all, why anyone would care for the enemy or ally of the said enemy?

Kurt pause as if analyzing the best response to give, finally, the elf replies. "I get it, no one here wants to kill if there´s another option, that´s why Kwannon is the one doing the interrogation...she can read a person without needing to read minds," Kurt explains.

Seems more humane this way. Kwannon is a human polygraph and never wrong. NEVER.

"Well, it´s just I hear rumors that..." whatever Kitty was to about to say Mystique cut through with her presence. The leader of the Red Guards is wearing her uniform in the best way and looks tired.

"Ok, let me guess...the rumor is that we murder willy-nilly and we eat the flesh of our enemies? Because Miss Pryde...we´re all vegetarians here," Raven flashes a smirk and stare at her son.

"Kurt, the interrogation is over, you can go see your sister now...Kwannon and Rogue were working on the case and ...it wasn´t needed much, the girl spoke everything," Raven states calmly.

Her golden eyes glare at Kitty, "You´ll be glad to know the girl is still alive...and in one piece, better hurry before we change our mind," and now she takes her to leave.

Kitty narrows her eyes. "Is your mother always charming like that?"

"Oh only if she likes you, consider yourself lucky Katzchen," Kurt jokes and Kitty refrains to say anything.

Kitty is perfectly cable of walking, however, Kurt offers his hand and asks. "Do you want to teleport to the room?"

Normally, she would have said no, but, just to spite Mystique...

"Sure, why not?" Kitty said smiling.

Once inside the room, Rogue is holding some documents as Kwannon is making some calls-another guard is with Pixie, one more amicable- and Kitty is a bit dizzy from the teleportation.

"Sorry, you get used," Kurt promised apologetic and Kitty only makes some noises of understanding.

"Ah, lil bubba, we got all cover, lil miss Pixie here is not the big boss, so to speak," Rogue speaks with a cheerful tone not once she was bothered by the smell or the fact he enters here holding Kitty in a bridal style.

"And is she ok?" noticing the stares Kitty sighs, "she´s a minor, right? where are her guardians?"

Kwannon ended her call and answer that. "Funny you asked that, because turns out she infiltrated this country alone, Emma Frost took her in out of pity," Kwannon pretends to not see the shock on Kitty´s face. "and well, Pixie either is too naive for not seeing what her sisters are plotting or she is well-trained in interrogations," Kwannon responds cooly.

"So...Emma Frost is her legal guardian now?" Kurt asked trying to understand the options. Either Emma says she was ignorant of everything- a bad call on her part- or she admits she never once saw coming her student was a danger for Genosha.

Either option is not ideal for Emma Frost and her school.

"For the moment, yes. Emma is coming here, Pixie´s cover story was a lie, she said she had a poor aunt living here ...but it was just a well-crafted illusion, turns out, Pixie is a magic user, one of the good ones," Rogue states seriously.

"Does the Queen knows?" Kitty dares to ask.

Rogue nods. "And Pixie gave us the address of her sisters, all we have to do now...is checking out,"

Kitty blinks and looks at Kurt, maybe, that was his mission all along. "Why mastermind wants Genosha so much?"

"Delusion? or maybe he truly felt as if Magneto cheat on a deal?" Rogue replied not really interested.

"Either way, Katzchen, this obsession is now shared by his daughters and we, the Red Guard, have to protect Genosha at any cost," Kurt promised firmly.

Kitty nods and doesn´t make more comments. This is a big change from arresting her crazy ex-boyfriend for sure.

[kombatea]

My Thunder / Raiden

Warning: 18+!

***

The candlelight is flickering on your face and softening your features. You look even more beautiful than usual. „How is this possible.“ He thinks as he studies you from across the round table. He prepared this beautiful dinner just for you. Things weren´t good between the two of you in the past weeks, to say the least. He knows he´s losing you. Your bound is stretching too thin and it´s just a matter of time when it will snaps. „I prepared your favorite dessert.“ He smiles nervously with the poor try to interrupt the unpleasant silence. He stands up and after a moment he is back with the strangely looking red velvet cake. „You did this?“ You ask but you already know the answer just by the look of a messy slice that he hands you. „Yes, I did.“ He sighs. „I know it looks... Well... Not the best. But I wanted to surprise you.“ „I appreciate it. I really do. But we need to talk.“ „Yes.“ He nods and coughs. „You know that I am not the best with the talking about emotions.“ „But that doesn´t mean that you shouldn´t try.“ You look at him while trying to swallow the toughest sponge cake that you ever had. „I understand and I will try. Anything for you.“ Raiden smiles. „So?“ You glance at him after another long and silent moment. „Well. I acknowledge that I was absent in your life for a long time.“ He frowns as he scratches his head. „You surely know that I have a lot of responsibility on my shoulders.“ „You´re no longer the protector.“ „You are right. But I still provide important advice and help to...“ „Raiden, please... I know and I definitely don´t want to downplay your role.“ You smile at him kindly. „But what about me? What about us?“ „Right. So what I was about to say... I understand that your kind... Humans need attention.“ „Attention?“ You gasp. „You think that I ask you for attention? I don´t want anything but you. I support you all the time. No matter how many times you left me waiting for you for days. Now days changed into the weeks... What´s next? I will be with you once a year? If I´m nothing but an anchor dragging you down then this needs to end.“ „Is it true? You feel lonely?“ „Um... Yes, I guess? But I don´t miss anyone except you. I feel like I am in a relationship with myself. I should get a pet. It will love me more than you at this point.“ „Pets are capable of a loving relationship with their humans...“ „Raiden!“ „Your hands are shaking...“ „I would love to... slap you.“ You whisper ashamed. „That is not nice but if it would bring you comfort then feel free to do that.“ „No! Please stop being so noble and polite.“ „I am afraid that you want something that is not in my nature.“ „I know you. I saw your spark. The thunder that you can create. I know that you are loving, passionate... But you closed yourself for some reason.“ „I was occupied with the obligations.“ „Do you still love me?“ You raise your eyebrows. „I was never more sure about anything. I will love you long after you will be gone.“ „I thought that this is a romantic dinner.“ You laugh. „It is not?“ He looks at you in shock. „I tried to gather as much information about romantic dinners as I could...“ „Nooo, no.“ You laugh. „I wanted to say... Nevermind. You did your research perfectly.“ You stand up and come to him to kiss him. „May I?“ You ask him while pointing at his lap. „Isn´t it too soon for that? We should watch some kind of movie first.“ Raiden frowns confused. „I just want to sit down and be close to you.“ You smile. „But no. It´s never too soon for any type of fun.“ „Humans. Allways have time for fun. I admire that.“ „And that time is right now.“ You sheepishly wink and start kissing him on his neck. „We did not finish our dessert.“ He protests as you try to undress him. „Don´t worry. It will wait for us.“  You smile as you caress his thigh from the knee to his crotch. „Oh no!“ Raiden almost jumps. „Is it bad?“ „No... Not at all.“ He stutters. „Then how about to continue elsewhere?“ Without a word, he stands up and carries you in the arms into your bedroom. After he carefully places you on the bed, he stands in front of you waiting without any movement. You smile at him because even though he looks and acts reserved, you know that he needs just a little push. He watches you to fully undress but still no reaction. „What's wrong? Don´t you like what you see?“ You ask confused. „I saw your face and body so many times... And I can assure you that your beauty will never stop dazzling me.“ He cups your cheek and caresses your face with his thumb. You get up on your toes trying to reach his lips. When he sees your struggle he bends down just enough to place the kiss on your lips. Long, warm, and full of love. You have your arms wrapped around his neck holding him tightly. Fear that he will go away from you again grows stronger with each second. "Don´t leave me. Ever." You whisper. "Where I would go my love? I visited many stunning worlds and places. But none of them could compare to this one." He kisses you again. "Because of you." "Why out of everyone I chose to love a god with so many duties that leave no time for us." "I can promise you that I will be with you as much as it is possible." He smiles and plants a kiss on your head. "I am trying to find a way to keep you away from your human faith. To keep you away from death. I don't know if I will be able to be without you..." "Shhh... You don't have to. I am sure that you will be just fine. Let us live this fantasy to the fullest. If there is a way to keep me alive I know that you will find it. But don't keep abandoning me because of it. I want you now." "And forever." You take his hands and navigate them towards your breasts. He looks at you and follows your lead. Massaging them gently. „Just do whatever you want to. Tonight I´m your servant. Your toy. I´m sure that you had many sinful thoughts and now is the perfect time to fulfill them. I will not live long like you but you can bet that I will make our time together unforgettable.“ When you spot the little sparks in his eyes you know that he is coming. Raiden that you love. The one that isn´t afraid of anything. Full of basic animal instincts. You gasp when he pushes you on the bed. He sits above you and starts to lightly bite on your neck. Raiden knows that you love it. Being on the edge. You see the devil in his smile, his dark side that never fully left. He kisses you on the lips to say goodbye. He is leaving. Once he tastes your body he is gone in the void wanting nothing but all. He pins your hands above your head and ties them with his belt. You shiver as he places kisses on the palms of your hands and goes down until he reaches your nipples and plays with them for a while taking advantage of their sensitivity. You want to push him away but he catches your hands before you can even touch him and tie you to the headboard of your bed. „And now - Let me play.“ He comes back to your breasts but quickly continues to your stomach and then a loud moan comes out of your mouth. You wonder for a second if he even ate something during the dinner because he´s definitely hungry. You may not be a goddess but you feel like one for sure. „Raiden... Stop... I will...“ You try to stop him but it´s too late. Your whole body starts to shake in a heavenly pleasure. As you gasp for some air he surprises you with his fingers in your pussy. It´s just a matter of a moment and after the first orgasm comes the second one. You don´t know how he´s doing it but you don´t care. Only Raiden can give you this type of satisfaction. The god-like pleasure. Drained by the multiple orgasms you don´t even realize that he´s not done. „You can not imagine how much I crave you.“ He growls as he undresses. „No, please... Give me a second... I am not ready...“ You beg him. „Do you remember what you said to me earlier?“ „No... I...“ „I can do whatever I want. And I definitely will.“ He smiles at you with the dark shadow across his face. You don´t know what to do. You want to run away but also want him to fuck you like never before. When you see his dick ready for you, you submissively spread your legs for him. „Yes... Good girl.“ Raiden smirks. He´s gentle at first but as his pleasure grows his eagerness grows too. Fucking you faster and harder with one of his hands on your breast and the other on your thigh holding you as close as possible. You don´t even know what´s going on except that it feels so good and you will explode any minute. „Raiden... Please... Slow down...“ You moan. But he doesn´t. Instead, he turns you over on your knees and goes even harder. He knows when you are ready. After a few more minutes of the most flawless fucking you cum on his dick the exact moment when he does. Both of you fall on the bed exhausted. With the last wave of energy, Raiden unties your hands and embrace you in a tight hug. You know that he will be quickly ready to this all over again but you are done for the whole week and fall asleep in his arms. You wake up in the middle of the night. It´s pitch black and you can´t see anything. You reach for Raiden just to realize that his side of the bed is empty. You want to cry. He left you. Again. As you pull his pillow into the hug, you feel something under your hand. A small piece of paper. You turn on the light and after your eyes adjust to it you realize that it´s a note.

„I will be back before the sun will rise. You are my thunder. I love you.“

[freyjasamael]

Musicals and the Avengers (Avengers x Stark!Reader) (Teen!Reader)

Summary: After the death of your mom, Tony Stark has taken you into his arms. He doesn´t have a clue about your upcoming musical, in which you play a leading role. Maybe it hits too close to home.

A/N: So this is my very first fanfiction. I had this idea and just decided to write it. And I was happy with the outcome, so I thought why not share it? Please leave criticism! I hope you enjoy it! 

Word count: 3.8 K

-

Tony Stark isn’t a family man. No one tried to deny this. But he certainly tries very hard. 

You didn’t know Tony long. Hell, you didn’t even know he was your father till 6 months ago! No one knew. Your mom died back then. It all felt like a weird nightmare. Shocked couldn’t describe your state after you found out. You were like a zombie. The only answers you gave were a bold “yes” or “no”. 

You first thought that you would go to an orphanage but after some research from some officers they found out that your father was your next guardian. You never met him.

-

The loud riff of an AC/DC song could be heard all over the lab. If you were to walk around you wouldn’t even hear your footsteps. You probably wouldn’t even hear an explosion over the noise. But suddenly it was just some harsh notes in the background as it went almost quiet. 

“FRIDAY what did I tell you about turning my music down?”

“Sir, you have an incoming call from the NYPD. It seemed urgent enough to turn your music down." 

The loud click of the wrench Tony was holding accompanied the sight that was leaving his mouth. With frowning sleep-deprived eyes he looked at the ceiling. "Okay put them through" 

"Mr. Stark?" 

"This better be important officer? Detective?" 

”-Officer Hernandez Sir.“ 

"Yeah right be quick." 

"You are the next guardian of Y/F/N Y/M/N Y/L/N. Her mom died and she entered your information as the father of the kid. I suggest you come and ugh- take your kid?" 

"mY WHAT NOW? FRIDAY check that please” Confusion couldn’t describe Tony´s face. 

“Sir, the information provided is real”

-

With your eyes cast down, you walk through the halls of hell. School. 

“Hey Y/N you have Biology next right?” Peter looks as tired as you feel. He was behind a history essay and had to pull an all-nighter. 

“Yeah why are you asking? You are in the same biology class?” A visibly confused look washes over your face. 

“Well about that-” He suddenly scratches the back of his neck. He always does that when he wants to ask a favor. 

“You can copy my homework-" 

"Oh really thanks Y/N! You are an ANGEL!” His mood shifts instantly. You are used to it. Peter is your only friend to whom you feel comfortable talking and just because he copy´s your homework sometimes doesn’t mean he´s a bad friend. Everyone has their problems. 

He knows that you always have your homework done. Tony was very strict about school. It is annoying -yes- but after you moved in with Tony it also gave you a feeling of stability after the incident with your mom. He kept you busy -and still does-. 

“No problem Peter. You probably would have done your homework if it weren’t for the history essay.” A quiet chuckle escaped your mouth. “But you know you could have asked Mr. Rogers or Mr. Barnes, I mean… They liv-" 

"They lived in that time yeah I know okay? But I wanted to finish the death star with ned and I just couldn’t wait okay?" 

"Are you saying that Lego is more important than school?” MJ appears out of thin air behind Peter. Like always Peter shrieks like a girl but then shuts up very quickly. 

“JEEZ- MJ what did I say about sneaking up on me?” Peter is clutching his heart with a slightly panicked but amused expression. 

“What? you don’t have your diapers on?” Now both you and MJ laughed full on. 

“Ha ha just because I wanted to try something ONE TIME!” MJ is still laughing as Peter tries to explain himself. 

“We should probably get going right, Peter?” Peter shoots you a glare which doesn’t last long because he instantly warms up again. 

“Okay you lead the way Mrs. Deetz” He bowed and made room for you to walk. 

“Really funny. Just because I have a leading role doesn’t mean I´m automatically arrogant Peter… Anyway, bye MJ see you later!" 

"See ya!” With a now neutral face, MJ turned around and started walking to her class. 

“Uhm Y/N I know I shouldn’t care but, uhmmm when are you… you know?” And here it comes. Peter asks you about this since you got the leading role. 

“Going to tell Tony that I´m playing in the school musical? Nuh-uh Peter not gonna happen.” Peter suddenly looks at you with a pitiful expression. 

You know that he just wants to help. But you don’t want Tony to find out. You know that he´s going to be disappointed because you lied to him. All Tony knows is that you stay longer at school because you are in the robotic´s club. 

And you don’t want him to know that you’ve been lying to him. He probably wouldn’t have approved of your club activities if you said that you wanted to join the theater club. Well, you don’t know Tony that long anyway. So you weren’t sure what his reaction would be. 

You try to keep a low profile at the tower and around the others. It’s not like you don’t like the other avengers. But it seems weird. It doesn’t feel right either. Since the beginning, you always had your doubts about why they were so nice to you. Why would they want to befriend a teenage girl? You kept your distance. Sometimes you asked homework questions, which they were always happy to answer, but you never had a long-lasting conversation that wasn’t about homework. 

Tony always tried to talk to you. He was annoying sometimes. But you don’t want to blame him for that. He tries his best, which is certainly not very helpful but he tries. One day he bought you a brand new custom made Mercedes. It was a nice gesture but he didn’t even know that you didn´t have a driver’s license. 

After you’ve crushed his bubble he -of course- sent you away to get your driver’s license. You have to admit it though, the test drives with Sam and Bucky had been very amusing. If you ignored the fact that you almost crashed the car while they were arguing who of them should instruct you. 

After that, you went to practice your driving with Steve. He was much calmer. Which also calmed you. The practice drive was also very soothing because Steve told you stories about his old life. You were probably not focused on the road but it helped you relax. 

You suddenly snapped out of your thoughts and look at Peter. “No. And it stays that way. Just stop Parker okay” The sudden shift in your mood isn’t unnoticed by Peter, so he just goes quiet and sits down.

-

After a long day of rehearsals, you just want to go to sleep. Especially because it was Monday. Monday sucks. 

Urgh I still have homework Your mood is suddenly more on edge because you still have to do your homework. You just want to go to sleep. 

The school musical is next week and you have to be in perfect form for it, as you don’t want to disappoint your teachers. You still have to come up with an excuse as to why you are going to be home late on the weekend. The school has 3 shows planned on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. But you have a plan. 

“How was school?” Steve asks you with a friendly smile as you pass him in the hallway. 

Your steps fasten but you grumble out a quiet “okay” before closing your door loudly. 

Sam, who was now also standing in the hallway just chuckled “She doesn’t seem very happy" 

"When does she?” Steve´s mood suddenly shifts. He would never understand why you just don’t want to talk to any of them. But he does understand that you need your time, especially after the incident with your mom. 

The day you came to the tower you were very pissed. He remembers that day very clearly (for a man of his age).

 Your eyes were all red and puffy. But there was something that was crushing his heart. The way you looked at everyone, even if it was just for a split second. It was dumb, but you reminded him of Bucky. Not in a nostalgic way but in a pitiful way. 

“Man you just gotta give her Time. She opens up when she wants to. If we push her she just pushes us away further.” Sam is quite enthusiastic at that point. But it doesn’t surprise Steve. Sam helped him too. 

“I know… I know.” Steve goes into the kitchen/common room with Sam on his tails. 

The kitchen is a sight to behold. It has beautiful Italian marble counters with modern white cupboards. It looks modern and sleek. The Oven is something completely different. For Steve, it looks like Alien technology. He is lucky that he could even figure out the coffee machine. (Which took a couple of weeks) 

Clint is standing at the coffee machine with his pot (Yes he has a whole pot. Because he always said that the mugs in the kitchen were ´like espresso cups´ to him.) while Wanda is sitting at one of the barstools opposite of him with her phone in one hand. 

“All I´m saying is that Nat wouldn’t even question it." 

"What’s going on here? Are you onto something Clint?” Sam is always one for pranks. 

“Nooo why?” Clint raises his brows as he takes a sip from his Pot. Steve just gives him a questioning look in return. 

“Anyway, what’s for dinner?” Steve is always hungry. As is Bucky. Supersoldiers just don’t seem to get full enough. 

The sound of talking could be heard from the kitchen. Tony and Bruce are talking about some science stuff again. 

“Anyway, I´m hungry what about you guys?” Tony is clapping in his hands as he turns to the rest of the Avengers like a teacher would turn to his class. 

“I don´t know I wondered the same actually.” Wanda is now engrossed in her phone as she responds. A thought crosses Tony’s mind because you can actually see when he has an idea. 

“Okay, how bout´ chinese? If that´s healthy enough for capsicle of course.” Tony doesn’t shy away to roll his eyes. 

“If you keep rolling your eyes they will get stuck, Tony. I don´t mind chinese.” The sentence was faster out of Steve’s mouth than he anticipated. He just hopes Tony doesn’t leave another sarcastic remark. But Tony never grows tired of making fun of his age. Tony opens his mouth slowly while looking at Steve. 

Here we go, Steve, thinks. 

“Chinese it is then! FRIDAY the usual order please." 

"Oh wow, I really thought you were gonna say something different to Steve” Sam snorts in amusement. Tonys’ eyes get a glimmer. 

“Nah I guess I´m too hungry to make fun of Mr. Rappin´-with-Cap” Tony is quick with his remark. 

Clint is quick to move over the sink as he spits out the coffee he was just taking a sip of. The common room was hollering with laughter. Sam was clutching his stomach as Steve just rolls his eyes. 

“iF yOU kEeP ROlLinG yoUr EyeS tHeY WiLL gEt StUCk” Tony always has to top it off. Steve was used to his banter, especially because Tony isn’t the nicest if he doesn’t sleep 

“Yeah yeah whatever makes you happy Tony”

-

Dinner is always awkward. Since you´ve come here they always tried to talk to you. Whether it was about school or friends you weren’t really talkative. 

After two weeks they eventually stopped. They talk about missions and funny stories. Sometimes they would still ask you stuff, just so you wouldn’t feel like an outcast. 

You never said anything on your own, so when you asked something they all went quiet and looked at each other as if they just saw a ghost. 

“So uhm Tony I wanted to ask you if I could go to a sleepover this weekend? It would be from Friday evening to Monday. I´ll take my school stuff with me so that I can go straight to school.” Your quiet voice cut through the conversation. Every set of eyes were set on Tony. 

His fork is still halfway in his mouth. He slowly sets it down and looks at you with a questioning look. He can be strict but you never asked him something like that. He is quite perplexed before he just slides in his relaxed demeanor. 

“Uh sure if you have your homework all done.” He ignores the sharp glares from his teammates. 

Oh Fuck You thought. If you have to finish your homework you would be sitting till 9 PM. You always finish your homework at around 9 PM. 

“Come on Tony she never asked for something before be more chill” Natasha was being the cool aunt as always. You like her even more now. She just looks at you and gives you a quick wink. 

Thank God someone with common sense The table seemed to grow out of its frozen spell. Now everyone was eating like before. 

“Yeah Tony let the girl go out. School sucks anyways” Sam is now happily supporting you. 

Tony looks a little sad but quickly changes into his strict persona 

“Nuh-Uh no homework done no sleepover Y/N.” You just look at him for a second and then get up. 

You mutter a quick “Fine” before disappearing into the hallway. The whole table just looks at Tony as he eats. 

“What?" 

"Really, Tony? She asks for one thing and then you are still being like this?” Steve just shakes his head. 

Bucky nods and says “Even my ma´ let me go to friends. Even though I was failing English.”

 Sam is quietly laughing and just pushes out “When was that 1930?” before he can’t hold himself from laughing. Tony chuckles along. 

“Ugh shut up birdbrain” Bucky grumbles under his breath. Natasha just looks at Tony with a fierce stare. 

“Okay, okay she can go to the sleepover.” He just stands up and starts walking to your room. “Why must I live with assassins?”

-

As you are working on your homework you hear a knock at your door. You can think of who is on the other side of the door. Either Natasha or Steve to cheer you up. They always try to make you feel better when Tony had another strict parent moment. 

“Come in” Without looking up from your homework you hear the door open and close. Normally they would try to talk to you, and then give up after 5 minutes. 

“You can go to the sleepover even if you haven’t done your homework” The voice of Tony surprised you. So you slowly start to turn around to face him. Confusion is written all over your face. 

“I´m sorry that uhm… I´m so strict… Yeah… I guess that’s it." 

Wait he actually apologizes? What is happening? It seems that your face grew even more confused because now he is grinning. He slowly starts to walk towards your door. 

Am I supposed to say something? I mean it can’t hurt, right? A small "thank you” can be heard as he is halfway through the door. He just smiles and closes the door. 

Wow okay, I guess he isn’t too bad… And you return to finish the last page of your English homework for today.

-

Thursday. You actually like Thursday the most. It´s your most relaxed day of the week. But today you don’t like Thursday. 

Everyone is panicking and no one is relaxed. Of course, they are stressed, tomorrow is the first day of the show. You are surprisingly relaxed even though you never sang in front of an audience. The rehearsals were again taking all day. You normally come to the Tower around 6 to 7 PM. But right now it was 7 PM and you won’t finish up until 10 PM. You take your phone out and text Peter that rehearsal takes longer. He was always at the tower on Thursday. He had to keep the ´intern´ play up and real. Peter always had your back. But Peter had a plan.

The dining table was stocked with all types of superheroes sitting at it. The stew is being brought in by Vision. There are eyes ogling it. 

“Has anyone seen Y/N?” Vision asks as he puts down the stew.

 A couple of no´s can be heard around the table. Vision looks around and his eyes set on Peter who is visibly uncomfortable while looking at his phone. 

“Peter?” He asks the boy. 

“Huh?” Not even acknowledging Vision’s first questions he looks engrossed in his phone. 

“Have you seen Y/N today, Peter?” Vision is asking him again, louder this time. Now he has Peter´s attention because he hurriedly puts away his phone and looks around the table. 

“Uh her robotic´s club takes longer she said it´ll be around 10 PM until she comes home." 

"What?” A frowning Tony now looks at him “Why would a robotic´s club take till´ 10 PM?!" 

Peter´s eyes widen and he starts to panic. "I- Mr. Stark I don’t know I- I´m just- She just- Urgh" 

"Peter calm down, why are you so nervous?” Clint is now paying attention. 

“I- I´m not nervous Mr. Eye- Mr. Clint I- Okay… Uhmmm….” Peter is thinking. Hard. Everyone could see that he wants to say something. 

Sam is getting impatient. He just wants to eat "Just spit it out juice boy" The whole table is now looking at him. 

“I- Okay I can’t say much.” Tony´s brows shoot upwards. “Okay then tell us what you can" 

"You should see this for yourself I don’t want to be a snitch. Just come to the school tomorrow at 8 PM. Please don´t ask.” Peter calms down but they know that he won´t give any more information. 

“Okay, I guess we can do that. Right folks?” Tony just looked around at the table. 

They all look confused but eventually, Wanda said “It´s like a team excursion” Sam and Bucky both groan at the same time. Steve just shoots them a glare 

“Yeah but I hope some people can get their shit together." 

The whole table shouts "Language!” without skipping a beat. 

“So can we eat now?” Sam has his hands on the stew already.

-

You look at yourself in the mirror. The makeup is on point and the costume is looking good. The black dress and black wig let you look gothy and emo. Your heart rate goes up as you hear your teacher shout “5 MINUTES GUYS!" 

You try a calming method that Bruce once taught you. It always helps, no matter how stressed you are. 

Why wouldn’t it work? He literally turns into a green angry thing if he doesn’t calm down. Breathe Y/N just breathe. It´s gonna be okay. 

On the other side of the curtain, the Avengers sit in their chairs. All visibly confused under their ´disguises´. Peter sits next to Tony. Tony just looks confused at him. 

"I swear its gonna make sense.” Peter seemed nervous. 

But why? Tony thought. 

The principal is at the microphone “Good evening everyone. Thank you for coming to our yearly school musical show. This musical was put together by talented our theater club and the members of our school band. I proudly present ´Beetlejuice: The Musical´" 

 Everyone was visibly confused. 

Steve, who sat next to Tony, just turned and said "So this still is about Y/N right?” Tony just looked at Steve and shrugged as the first notes of the Show are starting. 

The scene of a casket and black-dressed people are moving. The kid who plays the pastor speaks. 

 “In times like these, we have no words. We have only each other. 

Today we come together to mourn the passing of Emily Deetz; 

devoted wife of Charles, beloved mother to Lydia. Scripture tells 

us, “Sorrow not, for we do not walk alone.”

 Wait Tony is looking closely at one of the black-dressed people on the stage. 

“You’re invisible when you’re sad" 

If you have good ears you can even hear some of the gasps of the Avengers. You don’t have good ears. 

"Clocks tick and phones still ring 

The world carries on like mad 

But nobody sees a thing” 

For the first time ever, Tony was genuinely surprised. His daughter could sing? And so good too? Why had you never talked about your show? 

“Whispering behind their hands" 

Tony is proud. So proud. 

"Lost for kind words to say 

Nobody understands 

And everyone goes away" 

And it hits him. He listens. And he is proud to listen.

Grownups wanna fix things 

When they can’t it only fills them with shame" 

Has he done something wrong? 

"So they just look away 

Is it being greedy to need somebody to see me 

And say my name?" 

Oh, Fuck He thought

It’s going good You thought after the prologue. You hadn’t even acknowledged the audience. Now your part is coming up again. 

"Hey Mom, dead Mom”

 It´s going great Y/N just keep going. You can do this. 

“Dead Mom 

I’m tired of tryin’ to iron out my creases 

I’m a bunch of broken pieces 

It was you who made me whole 

Every day Dad’s starin’ at me 

Like all, "Hurry up, get happy 

Move along 

Forget about your mom" 

You suddenly sense all eyes on you. It´s coming down like you were shot. But you keep going. But you keep yourself together for the rest of the solo. 

"Whatever it takes to make him say your name 

Dead Mom" 

Now you look around the audience. Nothing too weird. 

Wait a damn minute You think you saw someone, but you quickly brush it off as you go off the stage. 

While you were starting to sing your duet with Beetlejuice the Avengers are in trance by your voice. No one heard you sing before. They are absolutely smitten by your performance. 

"You’re so smart 

A stand-up bro" 

But they can see that your face falls for a second. You calmly scan their row and look at all of them while still singing. You continue your performance. 

"Teach dad a lesson 

He’s gonna freak when we possess him" 

You were grinning a little as your favorite part comes up. But you quickly go back into character. The part comes and you look at Tony. He looks surprised, which doesn’t affect your calmness. 

"So, he wants the perfect daughter 

I’ll lead that lamb to slaughter" 

A fire goes off in your eyes as you sing the lyrics while directly staring at Tony. He just gulps as you end the song. 

Steve just looks at Tony and straight-up says "Good luck pal." 

Maybe I´m too harsh… 

As you go up the stage again you promise yourself not to be so hard on Tony. 

At least he tries. You think

----

Thank you so much for reading! Please leave criticism or any comments!

[maggyme13]

Sugar (16/?)

AN; I am sorry for the long delay (again) but Work was hell and still is..

I also apologize if this chapter seems out of place; i simply haven´t written in a long while for this story, so please forgive me for that and any mistakes I made as well... I might edit it later.

Warnings:  none (?)

Wordcount: around 2000

Masterlist

Sugar- Masterlist

Part 15

It was christmas eve  that you finally were allowed to leave  the hospital under the condition to be closely monitored by your friends.

“Now that you are free again, what do you want to do.”, Sam teased.

“Burger. I need some meat!”, you groaned, even with Loki´s ´Luxurious´-hospital charge, the food had been mediocre.

“If that is what you want.”, Loki hummed, trying to hold Hati back from attacking you with kisses, “The ones of the local diner are alright, I heard.”

“Yes, they really are.”

“Good, then we will go and have lunch there.”, the CEO decided.

“And then I want to go and see Ma.”, you stated with a nod.

“Of course. But I can send Thor to retrieve her and joins us for lunch.”

“Na. I will go and see her. There are things I have to discuss -things that should not be spoken of publicly.”

“Again, if that is what you wish.”, Loki breathed into your ear, “But I will join you. No arguments.”

A shiver went down your spine and you nodded, “okay.”

“Boss!”, Sam called out from ahead, “I just called the diner and reserved a table fro everyone. We have three hours before they close for Christmas.”

“Thak you Wilson. You lot heard him, hurry up your lazy asses.”, the last part was more of a laughter and everyone piled into the cars.

The diner was already filled with families and small groups of friends, when the five of you and two dogs entered.

“You must be Mr Wilson. Please follow me. There is a small table I was able to reserve for you. As you can imagine we have a lot to do today. So please except my apology for any trouble.”

“It´s alright.”, you smiled, “We came on a rather short notice. Please don´t stress yourself.”

“Thank you Miss. Please, take a seat and have a look on our menue. I will be back in a bit to take your order.”

“Thank you, Anne.”, Bucky winked, sending her away with a shy smile.

“I will take the Double Cheese with Onions, jalapenos, extra bacon, fries and Soda.”, you declared after a quick glance at the menu.

“For me it will be the ´Meatlover´s` with Fries and Soda.”, Thor exclaimed with his stomach agreeing.

“Same for me, only with potato wedges instead of fries.”, Bucky hummed.

“I am gonna eat the wings with fries.”, that was Sam.

“I think I will take the Mac´n´Cheese.”, the dark haired CEO hummed, “And some baked-apple-pie ad dessert.”

It took Anne fifteen minutes to return to your table and another five to take the order, because Hati and Skali kept begging for attention by the waitress.

“I will be back as soon as possible with your orders. Just give me a few minutes to get you your drinks.”

“Thank you Anne.”, you grinned.

-..--..--..--..--..--..--..--..-

The food was delicious and after around one hour your little group was finished.

“Here is the check, Sir.”, Anne said, “Do you want to play cash or using card?”

“Cash, if that is alright with you.”

“It is fine by me.”

“Good. This is for the food.”, Loki said, handing over some money, “And this is for your excellent service, and this for the people in the kitchen.”, another two 100 Bills landed in the girls hand, who in return was lost for words.

“Uh-uhuh. Th-Th- Thank you, Sir. But this is far too much. I – I can´t take this.”, she spluttered and you piped in.

“Yes, you can. And believe me: If you don´t take this money now, he will find a way for you to get this somehow. He doesn´t take ´no´ for an answer.”

“Uhm. This… Thank you so much, Sir. God bless you!”, she almost squealed.

“It´s fine. Have a Merry Christmas!”

She thanked him once more when she closed the door of the diner behind them.

.--..--..--..--..--..--..--..--..--..--..--..--..-

“Are you sure you want to do this?”, Bucky asked one last time before turning into the parking lot of Teller-Morrows.

“Yes.”, you spoke with determination in your voice.

“Well then. We will stay at the cars, you know what to do if you need our help.”

“Rosebutt”., you nodded.

“Rosebutt.”, the security nodded back in union.

“Looks like we were already found out.”, Thor stated, nodding to the entrance of the clubhouse where multiple bikers had already gathered, including your brother and his brothers Tig and Kozik.

Stepping out of the cars, you noticed the way the biker´s tensed statures changed once they realized it was you, to a more relaxed. And most of them even left to go inside.

Anger rose in your heart with every step to took towards your brother, and being usually calm and not known for using physical force, a round of surprise noised were heard all around. You had punched your brother in the face, hurting yourself in the process, but also (hopefully) hurting him while bringing your point across.

“Fuck you Happy Lowman!”, you growled, shaking out your hand, “Fuck you and your stupid way of thinking! Damn that hurt. I hope I broke your nose.”

You did not. You were not even sure that this punch had hurt him at all, but at least he was looking down ashamed.

“You heard that? Or did your Boss tell you?”, he grumbled.

“I heard you. For real? I can understand why you did what you did. At least when I was younger. But I am sure, you could have explained everything once I was, what, maybe 18 or just before I left to study? Did you think me this stupid?”

“You ain´t stupid and don´t ever believe someone who claims you are!”, he growled with so much love in your voice you nearly laughed.

“I know I am not! But seriously? Do you know what I had to go through because I believed I was alone and did not want to pull Ma into my trouble? When I thought I had nowhere to go? When I had to live on the streets!  When I was fucking harassed my a swine of a man. When I was sure I would end up in jail? And don´t even think about going into full big-brother mode or something! You lost that right up until the point of a few days ago! But you may have it now, if you stop being an asshole from now on and more of a brother. I do not forgive you right now, but maybe I will in the future. For now I am happy to maybe start anew?”

“ I would like that.”, he nodded, “And I really am sorry. For everything.”

“Good. You do deserve a broken nose though!”, you grumbled, “Where is Ma?”

“In the clubhouse. Hasn´t spoken to me really since I send you away. Deserved that.”

“Yes you did. And before this goes further: how the heck do you know about the account? No one knows about that!”

“I have my informants. Though they never told me about what you had just told me.”, he rumbled, “If anything like that happens again, call me. And I mean it- I will ride my harley to that damn city if I must.”

“Mhm… And you-”, you pointed at your mother who had just joined the two of you,”- don´t you ever be angry or disappointed because I don´t tell you thinks. And do never argue with me if I want to buy you things or help with stuff. If I didn´t know that bafoon of a brother as well as I do, I would be more than disappointed with you not telling me all of this shit. But alas, as we all are as stubborn as they come, there is no need to argue. It was what it was and what done is is done. No need to fret over thinks that can´t be changed anymore.”

Your mother smiled, “God help me with such stubborn children.”

“And us with such a stubborn mother.”, the two of you hummed in union.

“I am sorry to interrupt this moment.”, Loki´s voice suddenly piped up, “May I suggest having some pie or other baked goods together? To celebrate this?”

“And I have just the right cake for this in the fridge. If you have a place. We have a deal, Mr Laufeyson.”, your mother exclaimed and you knew there would be no other choice now, not that you would have wanted.

“As a matter of fact, I have. I am sure your brother is aware of the address. “

“Yeah.”, the brother in question grumbled.

“Good. You go ahead. I will get myself and the cake ready and Happy will drive us there. Say 4pm?”

“My pleasure.”, Loki nodded and offered you his arm, that you happily took.

“We will take care of everything else.”, the CEO smiled his charismatic smile.

“See you later Ma, Happy.”, with these words you allowed Loki to escort you back to the cars.

-..--..--..--..--..--..--..--..--..--..-

The five of you had returned to New York two days later and were now in the middle of planning how the lot of you would celebrate  New Years Eve.

As you learned, there was usually a big Party at the Bifrost, because of that every one of the friends group was able to celebrate together while still being at work.

“Are there any rules on what to wear?”, you asked Loki one evening while cooking dinner, as he was sitting at the table looking at some designs for a new collection.

“Whatever you like. You could go naked for all I care, but then I would suggest having a private gathering with only the two of us.”, amusement and a bit of flirting was in his voice.

“Maybe after the official part. For now I just need to know if there will be others apart from us at the VIP or if there will be -others.”, you asked again, turning towards the CEO over your shoulder.

“If you are hinting at someone like Quill, then don´t worry your beautiful head of. Our Area of the VIP lounge will be private and separated from the rest. There will be no unwanted attention.”

“That´s exactly what I was hinting at.”, you poked out your tongue, “But seriously, I am representing you and whatever I do will reflect on you and your business. I don´t want to do something wrong or disappoint.”

Having stated this, you turned your attention back to the food, so you did not realized the man hat gotten up from his seat and stepped beside you.

His hands reassuringly caressing your shoulders and arms, he spoke with the warm tone you loved so much.

“No matter what you do, you can not do anything that would reflect badly on me. That is not who you are and even so, I don´t care what others think of you.”

“Maybe.”, you hummed.

“What else is troubling your mind. It is not only the question on what to wear.”, he stated, his arms snaking around your middle.

A deep sight left your chest and you allowed yourself to lean into his embrace.

“I haven´t repaid you for the other night.”, you mumbled, the slight feeling of guilt had been plaguing your mind for the last couple of days. Just as Loki himself you liked to take care of those that are important to you, and so having been brought to a release without your partner finding one had you feeling that way.

“That night was about you and what you need. Not what I need. And trust me, I have just as much enjoyed that night as you did. Just because I did not came to a release, does not mean I got nothing out of it. I got you and that is far more important than any release you could have given me. You gave me your trust.”, he hummed, his nose buried into your hair.

But still…

“Now, may I ask what is for dinner?”

“Chilli.”

Part 17

AN 2.0.

REBLOGS and comments are appreciated:)

Thank you very much.

~MaggY

Taglists:

Permanent:

@jadepc​@pacifyhxlsey​ @thankyoukarenclifford​

@thankyouforanonymity​  @punkrockhufflefluff​

@scarletraine @buckycaptspideypool  @markusstraya @graveyard-groupie @markusstrayya @randomgirlkensy @the-soulofdevil

@marshyrebelcloud

MCU:

@yknott81​    @banner-and-bucky-are-life @forext20 @dyanlzbb​  @so-finster-die-nacht @emmii4 @bitchwhytho @ladyofmyst   @jilldsumner @momc95 @appreciating-fanfics

Sugar:

@bits-and-bobs-and-kawaii-stuffs @mimmie666   @fullranchwolfoperator

@cluelessnitwhit @youknowitsclouds @his-paradox @purplerainharry

@spootgaai2000 @iamsuperjenna @nikkipea   @alexakeyloveloki @timelordy-fangirl2 @girrafeeeeeee @emilyjane44x @randomgirlwholoveskpop @deathkat657

I couldnt tag a few of you… sorry.

Want to get tagged as well? Comment, Reblog or send an ask to let me know.

[laceymorganwrites]

The Story of the sad chapter 15

Word Count: 2,367

Pairing: Ban x reader

Warnings: cursing

Summary: The Rescue Mission continues

Taglist; @lysawayne​

“Okay, lovely reunions aside, we gotta go save the princess now” you hated to be the one who destroyed this precious moment, but someone had to do it.

It wouldn´t be good if you stayed here any longer than you needed to.

“You should´ve said that at the beginning, dear” Merlin smirked and forced Elizabeth´s location out of Vivian.

As soon as she uttered the words, Merlin teleported you in front of the king´s room, something was holding her back though, it was the perfect cube, a demonic barrier.

Not that that was a problem for Merlin, who immediately canceled the magic, making you able to enter the room.

Elizabeth headed straight for Meliodas to hug him, it was bittersweet. She didn´t remember him yet and still her feelings were prevalent.

You wondered if you would ever be able to harbor such a strong love for another person and if they would for you.

Before you could sink into your thoughts any more, Dreyfus entered the room and had all of you on guard.

However instead of fighting you, he broke down on the floor in shame, admitting to the crime of killing his own brother, the very reason you had to flee in the first place. Before you wasn´t a holy knight, he was merely a broken man eaten alive by his guilt now.

He also informed you that Hendrickson´s plan was to bring forth another holy war.

After hearing that his son was alive, he obliged and obediently walked himself into the dungeon to await his trial.

Merlin took a look at the king´s health and stated that he needed to be treated immediately, however this would only be possible in Camelot where she had all of her supplies.

“I´m coming with you!” you said.

Merlin only raised an eyebrow but then chuckled.

“I suppose you would, after all it´s where your weapon lies… however it got there, I cannot remember” she smirked.

She teleported you, Arthur and the king to Camelot´s castle where she treated him.

“Arthur, show (Y/N) where her sword is” she smiled mischievously.

“You mean the one you told me to guard?” he asked and you cocked an eyebrow, why would he have to guard your sword? It´s not like it would wither and nobody was able to steal it.

He showed you around the castle and then stepped through a secret hallway leading into a big room plastered with all kinds of weapons and armor of the goddess clan.

It felt like a twisted version of home.

“What the hell...where did she get all of this? Well, I suppose if anyone would be able to, it´d be Merlin. But still...” you looked around the room in wonder, subconsciously remembering your old days as a soldier, as the head of the holy army.

It was sick but it filled you with pride, you were good at it, very much so and even better at strategy.

But still, there had to be a reason why you remembered so much of your past recently.

“Merlin said you could take anything you want, she also told me to tell you to view this room as your personal closet” he awkwardly smiled at you.

You had to chuckle, that was so typical of her.

“Well, thanks a bunch for all of this, but I have to go back now” you said as you went back to say goodbye to Merlin, sword in hand.

“If you ever need anything else, just give me a call” Merlin smiled at you before she teleported you back to the capital.

You landed right amidst the action, it seemed.

“Holy shit, what the fuck is going on?” you asked, looking around you saw only ruins of the castle, two holy knights wincing in pain and your friends, boyfriend and another holy knight.

“Hell if I know, whatever it is we have to make it stop” Diane said.

“Babe!” Ban came up to you and hugged you tight, kissing your cheek.

“I missed you...” he nuzzled your neck.

Warmth spread through your body as you let yourself fall into his touch for an instance, this, whatever this was, whether it was true or not, it felt right.

Yes, Gowther did spread some doubt in your mind about the reason you got into this relationship, but you wouldn´t let that hinder you.

You were always better at fighting when you had something to protect, even if that something was immortal and handsome.

“(Y/N)! You got your sword back!” Elaine exclaimed, clapping her hands and cheering for you.

“Finally joined the party, eh?” Meliodas joined you, teasing you.

But before any more casual conversation could be held, Jericho transformed into the same monster that Meliodas, Ban and King fought a while ago.

Apparently it was a malfunction on holy knights who have been given demon blood.

The thought that Hendrickson did that still made you sick to your stomach.

He suddenly appeared in front of you, clad in a demonic aura as the new generation of holy knights all transformed into beasts.

“Okay so, how the fuck do we go about this? Mel, you told me that those beasts could only be defeated once you killed the person inside, right? There has to be another way!” you called out to him.

There was too much chaos to get a clear head or overview, everything happened too quickly.

Meliodas and Gilthunder tried to take on Hendrickson, however he ordered Vivian to take Margaret and Elizabeth as hostages, making the men startle for a second.

A second he used to slice them down.

Elizabeth did something very brave and stupid at that moment, she offered to go with Hendrickson in return for Meliodas´ and Gilthunder´s life.

She always thought about others before herself, which made her so strong.

“Mel, I know what you´re thinking, but we need to think this through. We need a rescue Elizabeth team and one that deals with those fuckers” you pointed at the beasts that were once holy knights.

All he gave you was a pained expression.

“I´ll heal your wounds, give me a sec” you knelt down at his side and applied your magic.

“Okay, we need to contain those monsters before we know what to do with them that doesn´t kill the person inside. I can´t afford them to wreak any more havoc. Somebody needs to get the citizens into a safe space. So that´ll be two teams. And then the last one is the rescue team. King, Diane, Gil and Howzer, you go defeat the beasts. Gowther, Hawk and Elaine, get the people to safety. Ban, Mel and I will rescue the princess.” you knew it wasn´t your place but someone had to put order and clear instructions into the heads of the scared, otherwise nothing could be done.

Nothing could be achieved by being frozen in fear.

Meliodas nodded, getting back up on his feet.

You ran into the direction where Hendrickson´s magic was coming from, apparently Dreyfus fought him as of right now.

Dreyfus was on your side, but even if you arrived in time to save the princess you doubted that the four of you could take Hendrickson on.

You might have been able to if you had had the opportunity to train with your sword longer, it should come to you easily, but maybe ten years was just too long. Not to mention Meliodas was exhausted, even though you healed his wounds.

And while Ban couldn´t take any longterm damage from Hendrickson, you doubted he could deliver any to him.

It was hopeless. And yet you couldn´t just stand around and continued moving forward.

When you arrived you saw only the remains of Dreyfus´ armor and a bleeding Elizabeth.

You hoped Ban and Meliodas would be able to distract Hendrickson long enough for you to heal her and get her to safety.

Without thinking you flew past him, grabbed Elizabeth and healed her in the process of leaving her in the care of Elaine and Hawk who alongside Diane and the others came into your direction to help.

You told Elaine and Hawk to get to safety before you joined the fight again.

“Mel, if we´re lucky he won´t be able to take the demonic magic any longer, so let´s hit him with everything we got. Make it count” you husked, a determined look in your eyes as you swung your sword as the first attack against Hendrickson.

Ban watched in awe as your blade stroke his skin, making him wince in pain. It´s been while since he´s seen you go all out on someone and damn were you a sight to behold.

So graceful, so elegant, so utterly beautiful. He had to watch out not to get distracted too much by you.

“Yes babe! Get him!” he cheered for you and the others followed your example, fiercefully attacking Hendrickson.

As the battle commenced it was revealed that Hendrickson hid a red demon corpse in a hidden cave which he claimed to be the source of it all.

It enraged you beyond belief, how he said that without any remorse, without any tone change in his voice, he even sounded proud of it, of himself.

“You disgust me...” you balled your fists, shaking as tears streamed down your face.

“How the fuck could you make them drink that?! Aren´t you ashamed of yourself, you piece of shit? I´m gonna fucking obliterate you and you bet your ass I´m gonna make it hurt” you lashed out at him, your wings subconsciously raised you higher as you started an attack from above, slashing at his shoulder with all force.

“Ashamed? Why should I? Just look at all the success I´ve had with this… I´m invincible” he sardonically smirked.

“If only Mael didn´t steal my place as one of the four archangels and I had his sword, I would´ve killed you back when we first found out about you, but now this´ll have to do!” you kicked him in the guts and held him down, about to give him the final stab when he grabbed onto your wings and broke them.

You saw red as the pain emitted into your body like hot lava, almost making it burst. Your wings hung loosely down your back and you couldn´t move them, they were now a mere burden to you.

“You fucking bastard!” Ban rushed to your side and got you out of harm´s way, only refusing to hit Hendrickson when Meliodas actively held him back.

“Ban.” Elaine stated coldly, there was so much anger inside of her small body she couldn´t contain it, she would have her revenge.

“Let´s end this. Once and for all, we did it once, we can do it again. It´s time for vengeance, for the forest, for (Y/N), for all the misery this thing caused” she grit her teeth, collecting all of her magic in the palm of her hands and pointing it at Hendrickson, making him fall down the hole that was created when the demon was revealed.

“Fucking hell, this hurts like a bitch...” you twisted your arms behind your back to reach your wings to heal them, but it seemed like you had exhausted your healing magic for the day.

“Don´t force yourself, (Y/N). We´re gonna take him down, no matter what” Meliodas told you, carrying you to the side of the battlefield with a dark look in his eyes.

“Diane, you stay back with (Y/N). Watch that nothing happens” Meliodas ordered as the rest went down the hole into the cave.

“We´ll be right back, darling...” Ban held your face in his hands, caressing your cheek.  “Just stay put, okay? Diane, make sure she´s not into too much pain. Please watch out for her for me” he pleaded with a worried look on his face before he kissed your forehead one last time and joined the others.

“You can count on me!” Diane nodded determined and sat down beside you.

“Poor (Y/N)...is there anything I can do to help?” she hated being tall, especially in moments like this she felt useless. A dear friend was hurting and she couldn´t do anything but sit by and watch.

“No...I´ll have to wait until my magic is restored, I think with enough stretching I can heal myself. But it hurts like a bitch...” you forced a smile.

“Maybe we can talk to distract you from the pain? Hey, let´s talk about Ban! That´s sure to brighten up your mood” she smiled at you.

“Yeah, it sure is...” you returned the smile.

“I don´t know what I did to deserve him, but I feel like if I question it too much all the happiness will just go away and I don´t want that. But if I don´t question it then I´ll never be sure...” you rested your chin on your legs.

“Sure of what?” Diane tilted her head.

“Whether I truly love him...whether I´d be able to recognize the feeling even if it hit me in the face or if I´m even capable of such a wonderful thing...” you shared your thoughts with her, watching her frown.

“Well, with your past it´s only natural that you´d feel this way. I can´t tell you how to feel but I can tell you the things I noticed that changed about you when you and Ban got together. You´re happier, it shows, you´re so free and light all the time, it´s contagious, it´s like your smile and happiness washes over to the rest of us. And you´re much more relaxed too, it´s like a burden has been lifted off you. I like seeing you happy like this, I never liked it when you were so depressed over things long past and unchangeable… and (Y/N)? I can see the same changes in him too. He´s so soft and gentle around you, I´m envious of what you have, it´s just so beautiful” she played with her fingers.

“You think so? I didn´t notice any of that...” you felt silly, how could you not even recognize your own happiness let alone the one of others anymore? It was pathetic.

“It´s because you´re always in your head” Diane giggled.

[strawberriestyles]

Chapter 5

(Banner made by sweet sunshine @harry-nofookingway-styles​)

Harry X OFC (AU)

Sequel to Brutality: In which Melody and Harry must relearn how to navigate one another among a flurry of changes.

Read previous parts here.

Author’s note: Reading and responding to my fic are not a priority right now! If you have a moment or need the escape, by all means take a break and read. I will continue posting for this reason. I ask that when you have finished to please take another moment to contribute to the cause. If it's within your means, donate to a fund set up to post bail for protesters. If you don't (and even if you've already donated), take a few minutes to sign some petitions. Share information about organized protests. And LISTEN to the black people around you who are grieving and angry. Do not speak over them. Please, stay safe and healthy. Xx

“Yeah, she’s a heavy sleeper.”

“Oh, trust me, I know.”

Melody didn’t open her eyes as she awoke the next morning, her stretched-out legs aching from their angle against Harry’s bed and her neck cramped. She wound her fingers together beneath her blanket. Harry’s voice drifted from the top of the bed.

“That chair can’ be comfortable.”

“She's never complained.” Vanessa’s voice.

Harry hummed and Melody heard the rustle of his sheets. “She wouldn’.”

“I think Aiden should be ready for you soon. Should I wake her up?”

Another hum. Melody felt Vanessa’s hand grip her shoulder, shake her lightly. “Melody.”

She sighed, opening her eyes for the first time that day. She blinked against the sunlight glinting off of the floor tiles. Harry was watching her, sitting up on the edge of his bed. Vanessa must have helped him into a pair of pants, and Melody was surprised that he had even let her.

“Good morning, you sloth,” Vanessa said, tipping Melody a sly grin. “I swear you sleep more than anyone I know.”

Melody straightened out her neck, pulling her blanket up to her chin. She dropped her feet down from the bed and batted her tired eyes up at the nurse.

“Yeah, yeah,” Vanessa dismissed. “Get up and help Harry.”

“Do you need help?” Melody asked as Vanessa left the room.

Harry shook his head. He was staring at the wheelchair just a few feet from his legs, pulling his lower lip between his thumb and forefinger. He looked lost in thought. Melody raised a brow.

“Are you sure?”

He ignored her question. He leaned forward, reaching toward the arms of the wheelchair, and Melody was on her feet in only a moment. She slipped her arm around his back before he could lean too far, catching the brunt of his weight. It reminded her of that awful night she’d had to walk him home from his fight, when his stomach had blossomed black and blue, when she’d feared he was concussed. When he’d kissed her for the very first time.

Melody helped him the couple of steps to his chair on his weak legs, turned to settle him down onto the seat, and then stood straight in front of him, her arms crossed over her chest.

“Didn’t need help, right?” she challenged.

“I didn’,” Harry insisted. He grabbed at the hem of Melody’s t-shirt and tugged her toward him. It was a moment before she realized he was lifting the end to peer at her hip.

“Harry, stop.” She tried to step back but was pulled forward again, smacking her knee into the front of his chair and rolling her eyes up to the ceiling as she bit back a wince.

Harry caught her opposite hip in his hand, fingers still wrapped around her shirt. His eyes lifted to her face, brows drawn low. “Yeh okay?” he asked.

“Mhmm.”

Harry watched Melody as she looked back down at him. He peeled her shirt up again, resting the end at the bottom of her ribcage. There was a purpling bruise just behind her hipbone, splotched and fanning out into the surrounding skin. Harry switched hands to hold up her shirt and turned her by her waist, examining the deepest shade at the center of her hip. He shook his head slowly.

“Yeh got this in a fight?”

“Spar,” Melody muttered.

“Are yeh jokin’?” Harry lifted his eyes away from her hip, and that divot had appeared between his brows again. “Someone gave this to yeh sparring?”

“It’s fine, Harry. It doesn’t even hurt, it just—”

Melody cut herself off with a gasp as Harry’s fingers fell to prod gently at the tender skin. She jerked away from his touch but he pulled her back once again, and she was frozen in surprise as he pressed his hand into the bottom of her spine, touching his lips to the middle of the bruise. His breath fell over her skin in a cloud.

“Know what would be a big help to me?” he asked as he sat back, dropping her shirt and pulling both of his hands back into his lap as though nothing had happened.

Melody inhaled quickly in an effort to recover her wits. She shook her head.

“‘F yeh got naked again.”

Melody didn’t even crack a smile. She still felt the weight of Harry’s kiss on her hip, beneath the cotton of her t-shirt. She didn’t know how he could shift so quickly, easing comedy into things that seemed so serious. And this strange dynamic wasn’t funny to her. She didn’t know how to navigate the space between them. This was the Harry that had explicitly broken up with her, claimed that he didn’t trust her. He might be kissing her and looking at her like he was preparing to sink his teeth into her skin, but she really didn’t know if that same energy connected them emotionally. Did he trust her now? Could he trust her again?

“‘M serious,” Harry said. “Can yeh get changed so we can get downstairs? Unless yeh wanna just meet me down there.”

“All right, speed racer. Chill out.”

“‘M chill. ‘M fuckin’ icy."

Melody shook her head as she turned to rifle through her bag for clothes. She slipped out of her sweatpants and into a pair of leggings, but just pulled a thick hoodie over her t-shirt instead of changing it. Harry’s disappointment was palpable.

“You are a child, Harry,” she said with a roll of her eyes as he frowned at her.

“Yeah, yeah, let’s just go.”

Melody shook her head again. She slid her feet into her shoes and then wheeled Harry out of the room, through the hall, and to the elevator. By the time they reached the therapy room, Aiden was waiting by the entrance, posted up against the wall.

“Slow morning?” he asked by way of greeting.

“No, this one just never wakes up on her own,” Harry accused.

Melody huffed half-heartedly. “Can you please shut him up?”

“Gladly.” Aiden grinned at the two of them and followed as Melody pushed Harry through the doorway.

She was surprised by how empty the room was. There was an older woman against the far wall working on her left arm with a therapist, and that was it. Aiden flipped an extra row of lights on before they made their way to their first station. The rain still hadn’t let up. The windows weeped and the outdoors cast a gray gloom over the floor tiles. Melody hoped the weather wasn’t an omen.

Harry sighed as they approached the dumbbells. Melody knew that it was his least favorite activity. Not because it was hard—although he was frustrated that he couldn’t handle the weights he was used to lifting back when he trained with Sean—but because this wasn’t what his main area of focus was. Harry wanted to walk. He wanted to run. And everything else, his strength and flexibility and endurance, that could all wait until he was back on his feet for good. But Melody didn’t fail to appreciate his progress. At first, he’d lacked even the coordination to simply lift and roll a rubber ball.

Aiden helped Harry onto the nearest bench, laying him back, and Melody settled into his abandoned wheelchair. She watched silently as they began through a circuit, working his chest, his arms, his shoulders. She was anxious, jittery. Aiden would determine today whether or not Harry was ready to be discharged tomorrow. He didn’t have to be perfect and he wasn’t going to be completely independent. Melody knew that was going to bother him, but she hoped that if he just showed that he was making enough progress to be allowed home that the new setting would give him some more motivation.

And then there was that new environment that added to her worries. They needed to have a conversation and she wasn’t sure how it would go. Now, probably wasn’t the best time but she was sure if she held off any longer she’d lose all of her gall.

“Hey, Harry,” she began carefully. She glanced up at Aiden, but he wasn’t looking at her. He was hovering over Harry, hands positioned to catch a fallen weight if need be.

Harry huffed in response. He was pouring sweat. It slid along his forehead and dripped to the floor on either side of him. If he was sitting up, it would be stinging his eyes.

“I, uh—” Melody slid her lips back together and took a moment to steel herself. “You couldn’t keep your apartment. The landlord needed to rent it out.” Rip the bandaid right off.

His arms paused, the dumbbells straight above his chest. He was silent for that short moment and then he continued with the next rep, grunting as he pushed his muscles even harder than before. Melody didn’t think this was a good sign. And that idea was reinforced when he didn’t respond.

“Are you gonna say something?”

“What d’yeh want me to say, Mel?"

Aiden no longer looked as focused as before. His gaze flickered between the two of them, unsure of how to moderate if an argument were to ensue.

“I want you to tell me that it’s okay and you don’t mind, or I want you to tell me that you’re pissed off.”

“Well, fine then.” Harry huffed once more as he finished out a rep, nodding to Aiden so that he could catch Harry’s weights. “‘M pissed. But ‘s not your fault. And that doesn’ change anything, does it? Bein’ pissed doesn’ get me my flat back.”

Melody was surprised by his attitude. She’d expected a little bit of a fight, a little more anger, but even as he said he was pissed it was like his emotions were dissipating. She wondered if he had made a conscious decision to control himself. In easier situations he would have been ready to hit something.

“Are you okay living with me, then?” she asked, emboldened by his reaction.

Harry was silent as Aiden helped him shift up into a sitting position. He took the weights back and began with a new exercise, glaring at himself in the mirrored wall before him. Melody watched him grit his teeth with every rep.

“Do I have a choice?” he finally muttered.

Melody couldn’t help the wounded expression that found her face. She took in a sharp breath. Harry’s eyes met her reflection as she made to stand up.

“Mel,” Harry grunted, dropping the dumbbells to his sides. He looked like he was about to try standing himself before he thought better of it, and he squeezed his eyes closed for a short moment. “Tha’s not what I meant.”

“And what did you mean?”

“Nothing. I just—” He huffed, almost grunted, and shook his head. “Nothing.”

Aiden whistled under his breath. “Dude,” he mumbled.

“Fuck off, mate! I didn’ mean that, okay?” Harry stared hard at Melody through the mirror, muscles along his jaw straining. “‘Course I don’ mind stayin’ with yeh. Just would’ve liked if it wasn’ just because I have to, yeah?”

She blinked at him, very aware of the way Aiden was rocking back and forth on his feet. “You could live with Sean. I just thought...”

“Definitely don’ wanna live with fuckin’ Sean.” Harry tilted his head. “Will yeh sit back down, please? ‘M sorry.”

Melody shifted until she was looking across the room at the older woman and the other therapist before she sat back down. Her front teeth gnawed painfully at her lower lip and she could feel Harry’s gaze still on her, but she didn’t turn her head. She remained silent even when she finally reverted to watching Harry work, even when they moved onto his legs. She didn’t speak until Aiden did.

“Well, I think you can leave tomorrow.”

“Yeah?” Harry said at the same time Melody asked, “Really?”

Aiden smiled at them, although he looked like the decision had caused him some inner turmoil, like he was somehow condemning them. Melody, however, wasn’t paying him any mind. She was watching the way that Harry’s face had opened up. He was clutching the bars on the little walkway so tightly that his knuckles had whitened and she almost—almost—forgot the uncomfortable reaction he’d had to coming home with her. For now, she let her fingers sift through the hair at the side of his head and drank in the way that he grinned.

Chapter 6

[kurtty-drabbles]

House of M (part 3)

N/A: Is this au still alive? YES.  But I want to try to keep this au alive, nothing grandiose here. BTW, I better introduce the villain right away.

@dannybagpipesarecalling @djinmer4 @tieflingteeth @muninandhugin

When a person has money, lots of money is only natural for people to inquire where the money comes from. Sometimes, the person comes from a privileged background, furthermore is easy to pinpoint why- how many riches families like to send their kids to private institutions? not so many, and that´s another indication of how wealthy they are- and Genosha doesn´t have a higher count of wealthy families. A small law that Magento made is still in vigor to prevent any social conflict.

Sometimes, however, a person appears to have money in unusual ways. Seldom, one can claim to have a winning lottery ticket. The chances of this happening are slim to none-not impossible and the winner certainly prefers anonymity- but it has happened before.

Or the other option is to believe the person got the money thanks to some illicit way. When people see Logan Howlett sailing in his yacht-showing zero characters of a rich man from a prestigious background- people are quick to jump to conclusions.

Logan is far from being a man from a nice background- that is something anyone can see- but, how he got the money is far related to crimes, at least, not ones made by him.

His yacht is sailing in the Mediterranean ocean. The man just wakes up-leaving his new girlfriend sleeping soundly on the bed- and is admiring the view. The ocean is indeed impressive and Logan takes a whiff of the salty scent with a grin on his face. "Goot to be here"

His cellphone rings. Logan has the mind to ignore the call in favor of the view- the ocean is so agreeable now. Logan is almost singing a sailor´s song. Almost- but the phone is still rining and Logan rolls his eyes and tisk too loud. "What?" his tone is a bit barbed and unapologetic about it.

"How is the rich man´s life?" Raven Darkholme´s voice is unique and Logan learns to identify her timbers very well. Logan sighs louder and is threatening to end the call-an empty threat he himself is all aware of - as the woman starts to cackle too loud-loud enough to give a migraine to Logan- and then she speaks again.

"Oh, Logan...I´m not here to bother your rich man´s life...which model are you dating this time? Vanessa?" Raven makes a pondering sound. And Logan wonders if he can toss his cellphone in the ocean. "saw in the magazine ...dating Swedish models, are we?" there´s this chided tone and Logan rolls his eyes.

"What? Will you give me tips on how to date Swedish models or how to break up things with them?" and Logan feels so proud of this line.

"I´m not here to fight, Logan...not to tease you"

"Good, because your sources are wrong...not dating a Swedish woman...I´m with Mariko" Logan feels silly to use her name. In fact, this woman makes him feel so silly. Love is an emotion so new for him. "She´s great....too great for me, but, I´ll try to be the man she needs"

"That´s...noble of you" no sarcasm in her tone. Rare, but, it does happen sometimes. "I´m not here to talk about your love life...Logan, do you remember about Project X?"

Logan can be sarcastic. "The program which makes me this?" and Logan pops his claws. Raven can´t see it. Raven can hear it. "No, Raven...I completely forget about it..."

"Look, a few weeks ago. Juggernaut tried to kidnap the Genoshas princes...it fails for obvious reasons, but, you see my son is convinced that a woman...yes, a woman faced Juggernaut, could be related to this program" and now reality kicks Logan´s face. Hard.

"Look, when we settle that agreement...I was speaking the truth...the only subjects of that program, as far I know, are me, Laura and Gabby" and the man grith his teeth. "That´s why I accept their money...instead of killing them...Laura and Gabby deserve a normal life...when I testify, and just to be clear, I told you I was sure there´s only me, Laura and Gabby....if there´s another subject...I have no clue"

"I see...Look, I don´t want to worry you" Logan´s expression says otherwise. "And I think there´s 99% of chances of my son taking the scene out of context...but, I want to be sure...I´ll say her name and I want to know if you know or if jog your memory"

Logan grunts but accepts.

"Katherine Anne Pryde"

"Never heard of..."

"Are you sure?"

"My memory is a bit fuzzy, I´ll give you that, but...this name rings no bells"

"Ok, thank you, Logan...have a nice trip"

And just like that, the call is ended. Logan chuckles slightly. "Always have to get the last word"

He turns up to see Laura already up and watching the birds flying away. The look on her face really makes Logan never regret accepting this money. __________________________________________________________________________________________

Yana Rasputin has her fair share of bad calls and bad decisions. Making a demon do her chores wasn´t the best decision-the demon has his own unique style and Yana had to bear the consequences- but, in all her life she never expected Piotr to do anything inherently bad.

Yana´s mind peaks at some images in the past and how Piotr didn´t accept Katya breaking up the relationship with him, and while Yana can´t fault Kitty for that, she refuses to think Piotr would hold any grudges.

The phone rings and in a moment Yana´s world is upside down. "My brother is being arrested for attempted murder?" Yana parrot the person´s information in a question. The man has a German accent-oh, must be Nightcrawler. The only German in Genosha and one to make such a call- who is explaining the situation.

"Piotr Rasputing will face charge...and I recommend call a lawyer, young miss, your brother seems to like to assault any men Miss Pryde ever enter in contact"

Yana has a grim image in her mind and needs to know. "Is Kitty alright?"

"Yes, she´s shaken...but, she´s alright..."

"And...and my brother?"

"I didn´t use unnecessary force to stop him, only what´s necessary to make him stop. Right now, he´s sedated, but, is fine...would you like to talk with him?"

"No, I mean, yes but not by phone...Tell him I´m coming" and Yana turns off the cellphone. She has a lawyer just for that and hopes he can help in this case.

"Berto...I need help! my brother did something really stupid" and Sunspot can´t even pretend to be surprised by this revelation.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Mastermind was a man who served Magneto proudly. A man that loves illusions more than reality is not one to be a fatherly type- and less so as the man loves to date younger women- Regan Wyngarde can say how her father was foolish to trust Magneto. And Regan will deny ever missing her father- not a fatherly type, but, he was her only father...- as right now, she looks at the helmet in her hands.

"Don´t worry...you´ll have a Jewish funeral, Erik...and I´ll destroy Genosha" she promises to put the helmet on the table. One of her servants arrives.

"Regan" and stops as the blonde woman give a seething look. "I mean, Lady Mastermind...should we inform the 3 rulers of Genosha what happened to Erik?"

"Erik may have been a bad father...but he was their fathers...they have this right." and is all the information the servant needs.

Now, Regan has to set her next move in action. Regan has to wait and Regan is now a patient woman...so unlike her father.

[argentdandelion]

Spiritual Beliefs in OneShot

Souls and Robots

It’s commonly supposed that a soul grants humans (the only indisputable “people”, in real-world terms) a unique, or uniquely sophisticated, ability to think and feel relative to their animal brethren. Although narratives about artificial beings (e.g., robots) often bring up the possession of a soul as the dividing line between people and mere imitations, and OneShot discusses this dividing line, not once does dialogue in OneShot even use the word ‘soul’. (if the dialogue respository of the game is accurate, and it is not always so)

In fact, even the game when it uses the similar terms 'ghost' or 'spirit', it's not used in a way that's synonymous with 'soul'. For “ghost”, it’s only when referring to a sort of helping program/journal that’s the trace of a character who no longer lives within the world. In three out of four times it uses the similar word ‘spirit’, it’s in the context of the dryad-esque “plant spirit” character, Maize. he only time ‘spirit’ could be used as synonymous with ‘soul’, judging by the dialogue transcript, is when The World Machine/The Entity is described as “the spirit of the world”, and it’s a context where “mind”, “self”, or “consciousness” could also work.

Nonetheless, it seems there’s some sort of belief in an afterlife within the world of OneShot. There’s one scene of two characters (Calamus and Alula) addressing their deceased mother at a graveyard, and Alula saying: “I hope she can see us wherever she is!”. Additionally, one character (Lamplighter) asks “Am I dead?” after seemingly dying/getting caught in a lethal trap. For the latter, if there weren’t some sort of belief in an afterlife, he’d surely say something like, “What the heck/fudge is going on?” (Although the use of “Good heavens, no!” and “Who the heck?” once each might be evidence the people of OneShot believe in an afterlife, it could just as easily a coincidence.)

Other Religious Terminology

It’s actually odd that the game doesn’t use the common word ‘soul’, when it frequently uses other religious terms like ‘god’ (18 times) ‘messiah’ (64 times) ‘prophet’ (~6) ‘sacred’, (8) ‘savior’ (19) and one instance of ‘altar’ (when it easily could have used ‘dais’, even!). The word ‘prophet’ is notable because it’s in the name of one character: Prophetbot (called just ‘Prophet’ in an earlier version of OneShot).

‘Messiah’ is especially remarkable, since the term is very religious and strongly associated with one specific religious entity, Jesus of Nazareth. Indeed, according to the dialogue transcript, “messiah” occurs more than three times more than the word ‘savior’. People even call Niko ‘messiah’ instead of Niko’s actual name, and don’t even address Niko as “Messiah Niko”, suggesting there are multiple ones. Niko doesn’t seem uncomfortable about being referred to as ‘messiah’ or ‘savior’, which might suggest that, in Niko’s world, it’s not strongly religious in use, or connected to a very specific person.

Speaking of ‘sacred’*, it uses the word eight times: to refer to what’s basically a cemetery, the ‘sacred feathers’ of the Prophet, a deceased character, the enormous ‘sacred tower’ with the world’s sun at the top, and Niko’s ‘sacred ability’ to communicate directly with the world’s god (the player of OneShot). It’s interesting that the game would use ‘sacred’ and use it pretty often, instead of ‘magical’, ‘mystical’, ‘revered’, ‘ancestral’ (e.g., “ancestral burial grounds” rather than ‘sacred grounds’ with gravestones) or even ‘hallowed’ (religious, but perhaps less so than ‘sacred’).

No Organized Religion

No one ever mentions particular religious/spiritual books, whether in a Bible-like context, as storybooks, as manuals, as even as compendiums of religious teachings or sayings. Admittedly, one character mentions reading about visions being “like something a prophet would see”, and relates that to Niko’s visions as someone who can talk to the god of OneShot, but he doesn’t elaborate where he read that.

The closest there is to a religious authority is The Author, a mysterious man viewed by almost all characters as an absurdly prolific and talented author who’s an expert in practically every subject. Even then, he’s viewed more like a bunch of scientific geniuses and popular, prolific authors (Stephen King, James Patterson, etc.) rolled into one.

The world of OneShot (or a previous version of it) once had a being called The Prophet, who had glowing, nigh-magical feathers and the ability to see into the future. One character mentions “a prophet” predicted “a savior [Niko] will arrive from another land”, and this prophet is strongly implied to be her. The Prophet is now deceased, but what seems to be her home holds what seem to be relics or artifacts, and specifically called an “altar”.

Divine Abilities/Miracles

Prophetbot, a robot programmed to give background information to the messiah, tells Niko: “Being The Bringer Of Our Sun, You Have The Sacred Ability To Communicate Directly With [Player]...An Ability That No One Else Possesses, Certainly Not I.” (formatting added for ease of reading) Niko talks with the player, god of OneShot, multiple times throughout the game, thinks it’s really cool, and other characters bring it up.

Niko has ‘visions’ three times throughout the game, and one character mentions it’s like “something a prophet would see” and: “I mean, if you can talk to [Player], it would make sense, right?”

Not a God, But Still a Messiah

In the Solstice route, it's revealed that the world of OneShot is a simulation of a long-destroyed world on The World Machine, a universe simulator that runs on the player of OneShot's computer. Three people who came from the old, long-destroyed world, the "Old Worlders", all but acknowledge the player isn't really a god: it's described how the world of OneShot would feel just like game software on the player's end. By opening up the program for OneShot, the player would be "becoming god in the process."

Oddly, though, the Old Worlders talk about the Old World's old prophecy of a messiah from another world (Niko) and the building of a robot made to predict the specifics of the messiah back then, without any bit of skepticism. So, strangely enough, although the simulation doesn't have an actual god, it still has a real messiah: the Old Worlders keep calling Niko that and don't similarly re-contextualize Niko's role.

Comparisons with Other Media

OneShot’s retro-styled graphics and gameplay wouldn’t be out of a place as a mid-Gameboy Advance to early Nintendo DS game (perhaps 2000-2008 in North American release times), but by that standard, its use of religious elements is rather odd. It simultaneously has a lot of religious themes and surprisingly few.

OneShot has just one god, no organized religions or structures, and very few (arguably no) religious artifacts. In contrast, although Nintendo of America historically scrubbed away religious references for English video game releases, it nonetheless had a lot of temples, gods, and other religious concepts in The Legend of Zelda and Kid Icarus. Even Pokémon (a second-party franchise closely associated with Nintendo) has instances of religious, spiritual, or nigh-religious customs or legends surrounding Pokémon; most notably, one generation of games showed what’s all but stated to be a church.

Speaking of the word ‘sacred’ within OneShot, Ho-oh, a godlike phoenix Legendary Pokémon that features in local legends and has the power of resurrection, has the signature move “Sacred Fire”. This was back in the Pokémon franchise’s Generation II (~October 2000-~March 2003) when Nintendo’s policies against religious references were much stricter. One might argue that the games’ technical restriction of a 12-character move name limit made this necessary, but “Mystic Fire” has the same number of characters, but they didn’t use it. Apparently, certain religious terms like ‘sacred’ (in Pokémon) or ‘temple’ (like The Legend of Zelda’s infamous water temple) aren’t as objectionable as one might think.

[darknessisafriend]

The world will be ours Part 2

OMG I am excited to present you this second part! Slow burn for this chapter but I just love teasing ;) 

For those who’d like to read part 1, click here

Part 2

The rest of travel went well, Commodus was no longer ignoring you, and you enjoyed both his company and Lucilla´s. For now he had been the opposite of the stories you had heard about him. Still he didn´t really get closer to you, at least you didn´t notice it, he was much closer and affectionate to Lucilla, after all she was his sister; maybe he will change his attitude towards you when the wedding will be celebrated.

When you finally reached Rome, you were astonished by its beauty; the architecture was unlike anything you had ever seen. Commodus noticed your wonder and smiled proudly.

“Have you ever seen such beauty? It is worthy of gods…” he commented with marvel in his eyes, and he was right. The both of you stayed silent for a moment, enjoying the view, until he spoke again.

“I have something for you…” curious you turned your head to look at him, you hadn´t noticed the little box he was holding in his hands. He opened it to reveal a golden ring; it was finely sculpted and had the embroidery of the Empire embedded in it. Astonished you looked up at him, his eyes were still on the ring, he took it out of the box and extended his hand to you, so you could rest your left hand in his, his skin was warm and softer than you had imagined.

“It is a gift; I offer you this ring as a thank you for giving me the honor to become your husband and as a token of my duties to you.” He pronounced solemnly as he slides the ring on your third finger. Even if you knew it was the tradition to give such object to the future bride it still made your head spin, it was so romantic of him.

“Thank you.” You answered sincerely with a bright smile, if it wasn´t improper you would have given him a kiss, for now you contented yourself with a light caress on his palm, he slightly bowed his head in response, a small smile playing on his lips.

Right before entering the city, Commodus and Lucilla went onto the imperial carriage. You went in another which would follow them; after all you were not officially his wife yet. As the cortege went through the city, you had to force your mouth shut, you had never seen such crowd gathered, it was like in a dream, petals of flowers were thrown, people were cheering, it was a wonderful sight, you couldn´t help but feel pride at being part of this cortege, you knew you were going to enjoy such position in Rome.

Of course, your enjoyment got a bit slowed down when you heard some angry shouting headed to the new Emperor, you frowned. You were perfectly aware of Commodus reputation but you never thought Roman citizens would be this hostile to him, didn´t they know the danger they exposed themselves to?

The carriage finally arrived in front of the imperial palace. You noticed a group on men in white togas, the Senate; they were greeting the new Emperor, and were probably eager to inform him of important matters requiring his attention. You followed as he got off the carriage, a young boy ran down the stairs, and threw his arms around Lucilla, it was his son Lucius then, you smiled touched by this scene. You directed your gaze to Commodus; he walked to the senators, so you closely followed him. Other children were there, giving him flowers, which he then handed to you with a polite smile.

After greeting him, one of the Senators, Gracchus, looked at you.

“Y/N our future Empress I believe. I am pleased to announce that this union was approved by the gods” He spoke respectfully, Commodus nodded although he seemed uneasy, but before you could think more about it, you were introduced to other senators like Falco for example.

Unfortunately, you didn´t have time to rest, Commodus had to attend his first session with the Senate. You sat next to Lucilla, observing the session; it was your first time seeing the Roman political process. Gracchus started, Commodus was playing distractively with his sword as if he was bored or ready to fight any one who dared to oppose him, and this idea sent shivers down your spine.

“…to combat the plague which is already springing up there. So if Caesar…” Commodus lifted his hand to make Gracchus go quiet, he got up.

“Don’t you see Gracchus? That’s the very problem isn’t it? My father spent all his time at study. At books and learning and philosophy, he spent his twilight hours reading scrolls from the Senate. And all the while the people were forgotten…” he pointed out. He was right, even where you are from; it was taking ages to have decisions from Rome and in the meantime problems worsened.

“But the Senate is the People, sire. Chosen from among the people, to speak for the people.” Argued Gracchus.

“I doubt that many of the people eat as well as you do Gracchus, or have such splendid mistresses, Gaius; I think I understand my own people.”

“Then, perhaps Caesar will be so good as to teach us…out of his own extensive experience” replied Gracchus sarcastic, and the senators started laughing. You couldn’t believe it, he may be the new emperor but he should be considered as such and yet they dared to mock him openly.

“I call it love…I am their father. The people are my children. And I shall hold them to my bosom and embrace them tightly…” he looked lost in his thoughts, his dreams of a great empire where everyone is happy under is benevolent reign.

“Have you ever held someone dying of the plague, sire?” the senator raised his voice, like he was losing patience. Commodus slowly turned, his patience diminishing fast too.

“No but if you interrupt me again…I assure you that you shall” he threatened with a dangerous smile, if it was the only way for him to be respected by Gracchus then so be it. The senator lowered his head in submission, good… but suddenly Lucilla got up and spoke.

“Senator, my brother is very tired. Leave your list with me” She asked as Commodus left. You didn’t really understand why she had intervened; her brother had to be respected.

You decided to follow your future husband, and as you left, you heard Gracchus say “My lady, as always your lightest touch commands obedience.”  You definitely didn’t trust this senator; he was too confident and condescending for your taste.

Meanwhile Commodus was pacing in his study, irritated, his breathing was fast, he didn´t expect to be treated this way.

“Who are they to lecture me?” he fumed, you felt bad for him, they won´t let him prove his worthiness. You approached him gently.

“Commodus don’t…” you started wanting to soothe him, but he cut you off irritably.

“Not now Y/N.” you lowered your eyes, maybe he needed some time alone to think, you had simply wanted to tell him that he shouldn’t be upset with their pitiful behavior. You took a few steps back, to give him some space.

“Commodus the Senate has its uses.” Spoke Lucilla forcefully has she came in. And to your surprise he didn´t cut her off or anything…so he just didn´t want to hear you then? You swallowed down at this idea but you kept hope that this was just a coincidence, nothing against you…

“What uses? All they do is talk. It should be just…you and me and Rome.” He argued; Lucilla quickly glanced at you; you really felt out of place, what he had just said hurt your feelings. He was so soft with her and tolerated everything she said, even if it was against him. You truly didn´t understand why he was behaving this way with you, especially after the few gentle moments you had shared with him.

“Don’t even think it! There’s always been a Senate” he angrily put his crown on the table. You stayed at your place when he walked to his throne with Lucilla. They were having a heated and passionate discussion about the greatness of Rome. You would have gladly participated in such debate, but the way they were talking, it was like they had forgotten the world around them; and to be honest you didn’t want to be subject to his frustration, again.

“I will give the people the greatest visions of their lives.” He said as he kissed her hand fondly, closing his eyes while doing so. You clenched you jaw, you wished it had been you, you lowered your eyes once again, then left to go to your quarters, they probably didn’t even notice you’d left anyway…

You spent the rest of the day by yourself in your quarters, upset by his sudden change of behavior. As you were about to go to sleep, Lucilla came to visit you, you gave her a small smile, you could tell by her face that she knew exactly why you were upset.  She sat next to you on the bed, and took your hand. You spoke first, letting out your frustration.

“None of us have the choice but marry each other, but that doesn´t mean we have to hate each other; I believed we could at least be friends… “

“He doesn´t hate you Y/N…”

“I just wanted to help him…he didn´t even let me speak…” you lamented, looking at the marble floor.

“It wasn´t against you personally, he will change, once the marriage celebrated, he will see your true value.”

“It was going so well before we arrived…I thought…what´s changed?” you asked, deeply upset and confused. She sighed, gently stroking your hand.

“He just has a lot in his mind right now…and he only ever had me before, he doesn´t know whatever he should or could trust you just as he trusts me, but I assure you with time he will trust your judgment” she finished. You wanted to believe her, you hope she was right…

Three days passed, Commodus was very busy, you barely saw him, most of the time, you would hear his voice from afar, see his shadow quickly passing in a corridor, and even when he was standing right next to you, he barely acknowledged you. Even if you had Lucilla to talk with, and sometimes Lucius, you felt incredibly alone, you were starting to miss your home and if continued like this, you didn’t know how much time you could keep going. Especially that your feelings for him were growing stronger every day…even with his current behavior.

As the night came, you aimlessly wandered in the corridors, until you passed in front of the Emperor’s quarters, you heard Lucilla’s voice.

“Commodus drink this tonic.” Silently, you hid behind a column to observe him. He drank what she gave him and made a face at the taste of the elixir. Lucilla had told you earlier that he was having insomnia for the past days, probably due to his dreams for his Empire.

“I think the time is almost right. I could announce the dissolution of the Senate…at the celebration to honor our father. You think I should? Are the people ready?” he asked her, restless, bags under his eyes starting to be visible.

“I think you need your rest now.” You understood is eagerness, but you agreed with Lucilla for once, exhaustion won’t help him, and it was best to wait some more time before dissolving the Senate, time where the people will love him even more.

“Will you stay with me?” he requested, his voice almost pleading, desperate.

“Still afraid of the dark, brother?” she replies soften by his sudden childlike attitude. You wish you could hold him, and bring him to bed, caress his hair while he falls asleep.

“Still…always…stay with me tonight?”

“You know I won’t.” She refuses, her tone without appeal.

“Then kiss me…” you gasp silently at the scene, this wasn’t the feeling a brother should have for his sister. Instead, Lucilla kissed his forehead as she should, which briefly relieved you, “sleep brother.” And then she started to leave in your direction. She can´t see you, so as silently as possible you walked back to your quarters, your eyes were wet, if he was in love with Lucilla then there was no way for you to compete and make him fall for you.

As you thought you had smoothly escaped without being noticed, you heard Lucilla’s voice whispering behind you.

“Y/N?” you quickly turned your head to her, then resumed your walk to your bedroom, unfortunately she followed you. You passed a hand through your hair, you didn’t want to talk, you didn’t want to see anyone, you just wanted to be forgotten.  

“Did you see?” you nodded, tears starting to run down your cheeks, you avoided her gaze.

“I´m sorry Y/N…” you laughed ironically at her apology.  

“Y/N don´t pay attention to this, it´s…”

“It´s what? Nothing? He has no desire for me to be here; clearly he was simply being courteous with me before, I was foolish enough to believe he was developing feelings for me. I wouldn´t be surprised if he gets me killed in the coming days…”

“Stop speaking this nonsense Y/N!” she scolded, seizing your arms to shake you out of your trail of thoughts.

“He cares more about you than he dares to admit! Commodus is not being himself, he´s deeply affected by his opposition with the Senate…Rome is extremely deadly when it comes to politics; he is looking for comfort from the only person he has ever trusted, but he is looking for the wrong kind of comfort from me…he should be coming to you…”

“But he won´t…”

“He will. Y/N listen to me…I´m sorry, I should have scolded him when he disrespected you.”

“No need to apologize, what happened cannot be undone.” You replied, drying your tears with the back of your hands. Lucilla stayed by your side, talking with you, trying to soothe the hurt you felt, until you fell asleep, she covered your body with the thin sheet of the bed, and went to check on Lucius. She had to change things between the two of you, every day she felt her brother slip away from sanity, you were his only hope for stability and happiness.

The morning after you slept longer than usual, it’s not like it mattered anyway. Then you realized something… the wedding was supposed to happen tomorrow! Days had passed so quickly.

But to be honest, after what happened, you weren´t excited, you often had imagined what this day would be like, your family, a man who loved you. Now you family wasn´t there and you doubted Commodus felt anything for you.  As you were dressed up you went to the library to read, but as you came out of your quarters, you collided into someone, hard, you gasped in surprise at the shock. You realized you had come face to face with the man you wanted to avoid, Commodus of course.  

“Good morning Y/N.” he greeted you politely with a courteous smile, no, you were not going to fall for his pretty words today.

“Caesar.” You replied coldly, using his official title. To your surprise, he quickly glanced at you, slightly taken aback; it was the first time you called him like this, you bowed your head and continued your walk to the library. Commodus eyes followed you, slightly troubled by your sudden coldness, he’ll have to talk to Lucilla about this.

You spent most of the morning reading, you were even joined by Lucius and enjoyed a philosophical conversion with him, he was clever for his age, probably thanks to his mother’s influence.

“You know Lucius, the most unfortunate people of the Empire, they are the most important, do you know why?”

“They are the one in the fields, the workforce of Rome.” He answered confidently.

“Not only, they are numerous, and they are the one with the most ferocious will if they are ignored, capable to bring an Empire to its fall…never forget them.” You advised him, smiling as he listened to you carefully. You didn’t notice Commodus leaning against one column, listening to your conversation. Lucius noticed first, you turned your head to see what he was looking at that. When you saw the Emperor, your smile faded.

“Lucius, why don’t you go see your mother.” Said Commodus, the question coming out as an order; the young boy left, leaving you alone with Commodus, who approached you.

“I offended you.” He stated, you slightly arched an eyebrow, curious about where this was going.

“How so?” you asked innocently, he chuckled and sat in front of you.

“Don’t play this with me Y/N, Lucilla told me I had been neglecting you too much.” You wanted to tell him how you felt but you didn’t want to risk ending up in a cell.

“You are the Emperor, you don’t have to justify yourself.”

“I know. You see she refused to spend time with me unless I spent some with you…I don’t really see an interest in it…” your blood was boiling, coming to apologize for offending you and yet he was doing it again “however she’s right. If you are to be my wife, I have to find pleasure in your company…”

“I thought you did when we were on our way to Rome.” He blinked a few times, and nodded, encouraging you to continue.

“It seemed to me we agreed on many things, including the future of Rome. And yet you prefer the company and advice of Lucilla who’s opposed to your vision for the Empire.” You truthfully explained, you saw his eyes become slightly threatening at the way you mentioned his sister. “I am not insinuating anything Commodus, I am merely stating facts, ask Falco if you don’t believe me.” You added with confidence.

“Care to play Latroncules?” he offered changing of subject, setting the boardgame on the table between the two of you. You nodded, if it could enable you to talk at open hearts it was a good opportunity. He started to play moving the first piece, then it was your turn.  

“How do you feel here? At the Palace…” he asked, thinking about his next move in the game.

“It is very nice, beautiful, I’ve never seen such fine artwork. I enjoy spending my time here” you said, looking at all the parchments in the room “Although I would enjoy more company.” He didn’t say anything, he simply listened to you while playing.

“How about you? Are you holding on?” you had to ask, softly, caring, it was hard for you to hide your feelings for him. He stopped playing, and looked at you in the eyes, you could tell he was surprised by your question, he didn’t expect you to care, once again. He sighed and looked to the side.

“It is harder than I expected. The roots of the Senate are buried deep…there are so many things I want to accomplish but this…it’s preventing me from executing my vision…”

“You feel exhausted, am I right?” he didn’t answer, avoiding your gaze, he didn’t want to show is vulnerability, yet it was so visible to you, his mind was getting tired, he couldn’t handle the whole Empire on his shoulders, he needed support and you will give it to him, no matter what.

The game continued for a while, you talked about many different things, from moments to moments it felt like the time in the carriage. Finally you won the game.

“Well played Y/N” he admitted, a small smile on his lips, he bowed his head respectfully. He got up, he had to get back to his duties. As he was about to leave the room, he stopped and slightly turned his head in your direction.

“I did enjoy your company…I have yet to decide if you deserve my trust.” He confessed in a low voice. Hope swelled in your chest, he did like you and you were going to do your best to earn his trust.

That day you went early to bed, the preparation for the wedding would start early tomorrow, you had to accomplish various religious rites with Vestals before the ceremony. Despite a bit of nervousness, your sleep was better, filled with dreams about your future with Commodus.

You were woken up at dawn, and after accomplishing the religious rites needed, an old woman came to dress you. You wore a long white robe; your hair were tied into six locks as according to the tradition, then the woman added flowers into them. Finally, a veil came to cover your face, and you wore golden sandals. You looked at yourself in the mirror, your mother would have been so pleased by your appearance; your fingers touched the fabric of the dress, it was made of silk, something you never wore before, it was such a beautiful piece, very soft to the touch.

The old woman came to tie the knot of Hercules around your waist, you had heard about it, only the husband could untie this knot, on the night of the marriage. You grew nervous at the idea of this; it was going to happen tonight, you wondered how it was exactly, was it as enjoyable as people said? Was Commodus going to be gentle with you or take you by force as some men did? It’s was a bit scary, so many things you didn’t know…

You were brought to the ceremony at the beginning of the afternoon. A lot of people were there, some senators, nobles. Your eyes landed on Commodus, he was waiting in front of the altar where the priest was. He turned as you arrived; you were struck by his beauty, he was dressed completely in white, being a perfect contrast with his golden crown and his dark hair. His eyes never leaved you once, they were soft, awestruck. You didn’t know that in his mind, it was like he was seeing you for the first time, like he only seeing your beauty just now. You looked so pure, like a goddess giving herself to the Emperor to thank him for his work on Earth. He swallowed down and refocused his attention on the priest. However his confusion didn’t go unnoticed to Lucilla, she smiled soften by his brother’s emotions.

The both of you stood before the priest as he spoke about the duties of the husband and of the wife, protection, fidelity, etc. Then, came the time for you to pronounce your vows. You turned to look a Commodus, you hoped your eyes showed your sincerity.

“Ubi tu Gaius, ego Gaia.” You pronounced, which meant ‘Where you are Gaius, I am Gaia’, this sentence symbolizing the strong bond that was being established. Now it was Commodus turn, he was trying keep his face emotionless, but his voice was slightly shaking, his eyes filled with emotion, as if a marriage was for him a bigger deal than you thought.

“Ubi tu Gaia, ego Gaius” he spoke, meaning ‘Where you are Gaia, I am Gaius.’ He sounded so sincere, it seemed the night had got him thinking about is attitude towards you.

The Pronuba, the priest took your hands and those of Commodus, to join them together. Your heart skipped a beat, you had touched his hands before but now it felt so different, attractive, intimate. You wondered if Commodus felt the same thing.

The both of you turned to the altar where the Pronuba made an offering to Jupiter, it was a small cake especially made for the occasion. Then, he took half of it which he separated in two smaller pieces and handed one to each of you to eat, it was meant to protect your marriage.

As the ceremony was finished, Commodus stayed by your side, you received many congratulations from those present including Lucilla, she seemed relieved that her brother was finally having a wife. Then the time came to officially introduce to the people as the Empress of Rome. Commodus lightly took your hand, giving an encouraging smile and the both of you walked to the balcony of the palace, so that the People could see you. They were cheering outside, and there was a lot more citizens than you had expected. Commodus is smiling at the crowd, so you do the same and those closer enough to see your face cheered louder at your smile, warming your heart. Your husband leaned closer to your ear “they love you.” He told you, satisfaction filling his voice. This day wasn’t so bad after all you thought.

After this, a giant feast was organized, there so many different and delicious foods coming from every corner of the Empire that you didn’t know which one to eat first. Commodus was sitting next you of course, looking at his guest, you saw him wave at a servant and speak to him, you didn’t manage to hear what he said. The servant came back quickly and stood next to you with a wine bottle.

“Wine from the province of Gallia my lady.” Explained the man, it was wine from your home, he served it in your cup then Commodus’s.  

“I had it brought here especially for this day, well I asked for it the day I met you.” Proudly adds your husband, he really had wanted to please you and it did, it was like a part of your home was here with you now. You lifted your drink to him, and he did the same, you closed your eyes as the crimson liquid met your tongue, no wine could equal the one of Gallia.

Finally as the celebration came to an end, you and Commodus were escorted to the private area of the palace which in itself was a smaller palace in the imperial palace. You knew what was supposed to happen next, even though you had grown attracted to Commodus you couldn´t help but feel nervous, of course you had never had such intimacy and you hoped your husband would be gentle with you.

The two of you walked side by side in silence, until you arrived in the bedroom which was adorned with flowers, he stopped and turned to face you, he looked nervous having a hard time to meet your eyes. His hands slowly untied the knot around your waist, he carelessly tossed it on the floor, then softly his finger came up to cup your cheeks, you blushed at the contact, suddenly very aware that he was touching your face, it felt electric. He was looking at you intensely; his mouth slightly agape as if he was thinking on how to proceed next and your heart was racing.

“Go to sleep Y/N…I have to work on urgent matters.” His voice comes as a murmur as his hands left your face; his eyes grew emotionless once again. And he just left, leaving you alone in the room; you don´t how much time you stood like this, still processing what he had just said, it wasn´t supposed to go this way…

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