#don't even get me started on things that anne would have changed had she known about the future | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

jazlynriddle · 12 days ago

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Welcome to your life - Pt 2:

Acting On Your Best Behaviour Ch 22:

Summary:

They'd seen it in their fellow orphans often enough to recognise the pattern and were now forced to admit, despite their hopes to the contrary, that Isidora had likely suffered similar side effects.

No… they'd always known she had. The Keeper had just wanted the power that Ranrok had, enough to convince themselves that they would be able to handle it better than that naive woman.

With the start of the Keeper’s sixth-year in Hogwarts, comes a whole slew of headache-inducing challenges from the most unexpected of places. Between insignificant pests throwing wrenches into their plans and tedious teenage drama, that the Keeper is entirely unprepared for, they wonder if they'll make it to their NEWTs without losing their sanity.

Or worse, Ominis or Sebastian.

Warnings: Sebastian x MC x Ominis! Drug Addiction! Spoilers! Slow-burn corruption! Dark content! Fucked up 1800s orphanages! MC has no love for Anne or Solomon! Dubious happy ending (it's happy for MC, Seb and Ominis at least).

You can also read on AO3! (chapter specific warnings below)

Notes:

“Hello, Poppy.” The Keeper greeted as they stepped through the entrance of Brood and Peck, closing the door behind them quickly to prevent a diricawl from escaping the beast materials shop.

Warnings: Canon-typical violence and wow this is a pretty long chapter-

Not sure why, but my chapters have been getting longer and longer, it's getting harder to cut them off at a middling range, oh well, more to read probably isn't bad xD

I do worry that I do too many in-brain musings in this fic, but like, I feel that humans’ minds are always recontextualising memories and perspectives, and I enjoy writing and documenting the changes in perspective that moments in life create in a person's world-view.

So, there's bound to be some repetition since humans change in small increments irl ya'know? The human brain is the most unreliable narrator on earth.

Fears come back constantly, happy moments are muddled and remembered through dark-tinted glasses when a person's mood is low. Victories become objects of shame and self-loathing. Good things become bad, bad things become good, we forget how happy we were three days ago just because today sucks and we'll forget how much today sucked in three days or suddenly remember it in three years.

Human brains barely make sense half the time and that's when we're just trying to understand our own minds, what we want and what can help us feel better, let alone other people, and then the miss-communication happens.

In the end, all we can do is keep trying to make things better and be honest and communicate, even if we don't know what we're doing or if what we're doing will make us happy and can't be sure if what we're seeing is real or objectively interpreted, and I'm hoping that this ideology of mine gets communicated in this story xD

Poppy turned to smile at them as the shopkeeper, Miss Peck, rang her up. “Oh, just give me a minute and we can get going!”

The Keeper nodded, leaning against the wall beside the door, relieved that she seemed to be more lively today and was wearing more practical clothing, though that could easily be attributed to their destination today.

Wherever that might be, all she'd said was ‘in the forest’, which they would guess meant that they were visiting a beast den. The Keeper was pretty sure that she wasn't stupid enough to visit the snidgets while they had a stalker on their tail, but that still left hundreds of possible venues.

“Alright, let's get going!” Poppy beamed as she shoved the bag of beast feed into her pack, before slinging it over her shoulder and running over to open the door.

“And where are we going?” The Keeper asked with a wry smile as they followed her out the door and onto the path to the right.

“Hehe, you'll see!” Poppy giggled, following the path to Hogsmeade Square before taking the left fork to walk along the river.

As the Keeper passed the stairway leading right, towards the square, they spotted Sebastian and Ominis seated outside Steepley and Sons. A pang of longing hit them like a bludgeon, and they sighed wistfully, wanting more than anything to be by their sides instead.

At least the boys were sitting close together, perhaps their quarrel had been resolved? That would be a relief, the subtle tension between the two of them had been awful to deal with over the week. It hadn't been very prevalent, considering how much of their time was spent studying for the upcoming exams, but it was certainly something lingering in the background as the three fought to stay afloat in their studies.

Realising that her companion had stopped following her, Poppy bounced over, took the Keeper by the hand, and tugged them towards the path eagerly. “Come on, it's this way!”

The Keeper blinked, startled out of their thoughts, and allowing her to pull them up the hill. Somewhere between resigned and bemused by her enthusiasm, as Poppy dragged them a little ways out of Hogsmeade, before slowing at a patch of open grass.

“It's a bit of a walk, so… um, you brought Highwing, right?” Poppy asked sheepishly.

“So, that's why you asked me to bring her.” The Keeper snorted, wondering why she hadn't just said so, they'd have asked Deek to pack Sepulchria in their Nab-sack too, then the two of them could have had a more comfortable flight.

Without another thought, the Keeper summoned Highwing from their Nab-sack and Poppy greeted the hippogriff happily. “How've you been, Highwing?”

The proud beast made a gentle sound, nuzzling against the girl's shoulder and she laughed warmly. “I've missed you too!”

The Keeper smiled fondly, giving the friends a moment to enjoy their reunion, before swinging up onto the hippogriff's back and offering Poppy a hand to climb onto her back as well.

As Poppy made herself comfortable, the Keeper asked. “Where to, then?”

“Upper Hogsfield.” Poppy replied, her heart beating rapidly as she wrapped her arms around their waist, pressing her face against their shoulder blades.

With a nod, the Keeper urged Highwing into flight, keenly aware of their tail following on a broom a ways behind them. Well, fucker could try bringing down a hippogriff if he wanted, he'd have a harder time with Highwing than a broomstick.

“Careful, there's a pretty large spider nest nearby.” The Keeper cautioned quietly as they followed Poppy, finding the forested path they were on rather familiar.

“Two actually, but don't worry, we're not going in that direction.” Poppy replied as she dropped down from a stone ledge, landing with a soft grunt. "It's just a little further."

The Keeper nodded and continued following her, travelling deeper into the forest along the path.

As they did, the Keeper began getting an inkling that Poppy was bringing them to the clearing where Bugbrooke had asked them to search for her Unicorn friend Hazel, a pure white mare who had been injured protecting her from wolves. As requested, the Keeper had taken in the injured beast then, and as they followed Poppy over the rocks, they were not surprised to find themselves in the selfsame clearing.

Ahead of them, Poppy smiled, it was as beautiful as she'd remembered, yellow-green fireflies shimmering and reflecting off the shallow pools of water on the floor, surrounded by deer and hares. With the warm afternoon sun streaming through the trees, it was the perfect place to have a pleasant picnic and, if they were lucky, even meet some Unicorns.

Stopping in the middle of the clearing, Poppy spun around to face her companion, eager to see their reaction to the scenic view as they trailed after her. “Well, what do you think?”

“This is what you wanted to show me?” The Keeper asked, their expression not giving anything away as usual. While that was rather expected, it would have been nice if she could read them this time though. Poppy nodded, finding it difficult to breathe through the pounding of her heart.

“I thought we could use a change of venue and have our tea here.” Poppy explained, placing her hands behind her back, and wringing them nervously.

The Keeper opened their mouth to speak when a whinny, pitched high in distress, reached their ears, and they turned to face it, asking. “Did you hear tha-”

Poppy immediately took off in the direction of the sound.

“Wait! It could well be dange-” The Keeper called out, but there was no stopping her, and they sighed, drawing their wand, and chasing after her.

Running past a few trees, they found Poppy crouched beside a bush, speaking softly. “Hey, it's alright, I'm not going to hurt you…”

The Keeper approached cautiously, looking around for any danger. “Pop-”

“Shh.” She shushed them and returned her attention to the bush, holding out a handful of feed. “Here, are you hungry?”

A soft neigh came from the shrubbery, and a moment later, a small gold coated Unicorn foal emerged from behind the bush.

“There we go, it's alright…” Poppy cooed, reaching out to gently stroke the foal's side as the young Unicorn ate hungrily from her hand, frowning in concern. “Where are your parents, little one?”

The Keeper hummed, examining the little Unicorn's golden patterned body, painted with an array of inexplicable patterns, before their eyes widened. This… was a rare and valuable breed of Unicorn, the kind that would wear their golden coat into adulthood. What a stroke of fortune, and this little one's parents were likely of the same bloodline.

“We should see if they're nearby. Revelio.” The Keeper waved their wand as they cast their gaze around, frowning when nothing lit up in their vision.

“Yeah, he's probably scared.” Poppy nodded, standing slowly so as not to spook the foal. “Come on, let's look around.”

The Keeper and Poppy spent the next hour searching the area, the small foal following Poppy at a doddering pace, as a child might, the entire time.

“I guess they aren't nearby…” Poppy sighed, looking discouraged as the two returned to the clearing, the little Unicorn stooping by the water to drink.

“Perhaps they'll return after some time.” The Keeper patted her on the shoulder.

“You're right, I suppose we can have tea until then.” Poppy brightened, looking around before making her way over to the arches of winding wood with flowers adorning each twisting vine and lowering the pack from her shoulder.

The Keeper blinked in confusion, wasn't that where she put the beast fee-

Poppy produced a large, folded mat from the pack, followed by sandwiches wrapped in cloth, a jar of water and a pair of teacups that didn’t even have coverings.

“You put our food with the feed…” The Keeper trailed off at Poppy's confused expression.

“Yes?” She nodded, seemingly not seeing anything wrong with that statement and continuing to lay out their picnic spread.

The Keeper stared at her for a moment, before smiling wryly. Well, it was a Poppy thing to do. The Unicorn foal trotted over to her side, perhaps thinking that he would be getting some food too and the Keeper sighed, about to follow, when a shrill girlish scream came from behind them.

Drawing their wand immediately, the Keeper was promptly struck with confusion when a familiar figure came running up the path towards them, and they soon recognised Macnair's ugly mug. They didn't focus on him for very long however, because behind the motherfucker, was a horde of spiders.

The Keeper cursed, the stupid boy must have disturbed the large nearby nest, they glanced back towards Poppy and the foal. They wouldn't be able to get away with the foal fast enough, so they and Poppy would have to stand their ground here.

“Protect the little guy!” The Keeper shouted at Poppy as the swarm of spiders closed in on the clearing, scuttling over roots and rocks with incredible speed.

“Got it!” Poppy replied, readying her wand as well and standing protectively in front of the trembling foal.

The Keeper nodded, scanning the clearing quickly as the fauna scattered to hide, they would have to utilise some strategy to win this one. They wished they could take a hit, but they neither had the time, nor the privacy to do so. They just had to hope that their stamina would hold out.

Taking a deep breath, they dug into the well of their Ancient magic, stabbing their wand into the earth and channelling that magic through the soil. A moment later, a short wall of earth formed to their left and one to their right. Poppy should likely be able to handle any spiders that got past the bottleneck, at least the twisted wood arches would make it easier for her to defend the Unicorn.

Like hell they were going to lose such a rare specimen.

Sprinting into the clearing, Macnair tried to run past them, through the opening between the walls, before releasing a yelp as the Keeper kicked a leg at him, slamming the front of their shoe into his knee and sending him flat on his face in a puddle of water.

Glaring at them from the floor, the boy stumbled to his feet, pulled out his broomstick, mounted it, and flew upwards quickly through the opening in the trees.

They would've loved to punish the stupid boy further, but they had bigger problems right now and they couldn't afford to waste magical energy on him.

As the first large hairy arachnid crossed the treeline, and the last hare disappeared behind tree roots, the Keeper flung a Bombarda at the wave of spiders, throwing three backwards with a large explosion.

A screech of anger and pain rose from the mass of spiders as they rolled into the clearing like a wave crashing upon the beach. Gritting their teeth, the Keeper shielded themselves with a Protego, breaking the tide like a rock, the cascade splitting into two streams around them and slamming into the walls they'd created.

With that, the battle began.

The spiders were relentless, slashing at the Keeper with their tarsal claws and snapping at them with pincers dripping with poison. They'd had a lot of experience fighting spiders, but not in quantities like this and only alongside Sebastian, who was the sole student in Hogwarts who came even remotely close to the Keeper's prowess in combat. Macnair must have caught the attention of both of the large spider nests nearby, fucking lovely.

The worst part was that they couldn't roll very far from their position, lest they allow more than one or two spiders past them at a time, which meant that they were forced to use Protego continuously and to a strenuous degree. With every Diffindo and every area blast of Incendio, they could feel their magic reserves draining, cursing as they paused to hit a spider with a Confringo, knocking it off the left wall as it attempted to climb over.

Eventually, they reached a point where they couldn't afford to keep using Protego and were forced to resort to physical combat. Drawing the dagger that they kept strapped to their upper arm under their robes, the Keeper transferred their wand to their non-dominant hand, blasting a Bombarda at a spider with one hand as they embedded their dagger deep into another spider's head with the other.

Behind them, the Keeper could hear Poppy casting at the few spiders that made it past their blockade as they kicked a spider away from the gap between the walls and stabbed their dagger into another large spider's carapace.

“Shit-” The Keeper cursed as they attempted to withdraw the blade and encountered resistance. Taking advantage of the opening, a spider jumped at them, slashing its claws down their side, ripping through their robes and digging deep into their flesh, its sharp clawtips scraping against their ribcage.

With a yowl of pain, the Keeper used the ensuing adrenaline spike to wrench their dagger free and jammed it in-between the spider's eyes, right as another spider latched onto their non-dominant arm with a sharp burst of heat.

Struggling to hold onto their wand, the Keeper cast an area Incendio, feeling the flames from their spell lick dangerously close to their skin, forced to cast it slightly closer to themselves than they normally would, to drive the spiders back and give themselves some space.

Using their Ancient magic on the spider still attached to their arm, they shrank down the large insolent creature to the size of a regular spider. It then dropped to the floor where the Keeper ground their heel into the dirt, crushing the spider under their shoe.

Casting a Transfiguration spell on another spider, the great hairy creature turned into an oil barrel, and they swung their wand in an arc, flinging it at the last cluster of spiders with their Ancient magic, where it exploded on impact.

The Keeper bit back another curse as their body screamed in protest, the gash in their side stretching wide open with the gesture and soaking their robes even further, but as heat from the explosion rolled through the clearing, the last of the spiders shrieked as they died.

Breathing heavily, the Keeper held a hand against their bleeding side as they cast their eyes over the clearing, the grassy floor, and pools of water near covered in charred spider corpses. Finally…

Heaving a sigh of relief, they turned towards the arches, the large pile of spider corpses piled in front of it inciting a fond huff from them. Poppy was a force to be reckoned with when there were beasts to protect. She wasn't nearly as skilled as Sebastian, but to an extent, one could attribute some of that inferiority to her spell choice.

About to call out to her, the Keeper stiffened when the ground on the other side of the arches erupted in a spray of soil, right behind the foal. A large spider shot from the cloud of dirt, flinging itself at the foal with its legs raised in attack and the Unicorn let out a loud whinny of fear, catching Poppy's attention.

Without hesitation, she dove in front of the foal, wrapping her arms around it protectively and the spider's sharp tarsal claws slashed down along her back, ripping through the cloth over her shoulder blades. The Keeper felt a jolt of déjà vu, the image of a woman shielding a terrified child from them flashed over their mind's eye, before they were called back into the moment by Poppy's cry of pain.

The Keeper's teeth clenched, at this distance, they might hit her if they used a Diffindo or Confringo. Remembering Sebastian's clever use of Imperio on the goblin that was about to kill Anne, they made a quick decision and cast the unforgivable as the spider raised its pincers again, this time to bite Poppy.

Fortunately, their spell hit their mark and the spider immediately stopped moving. The Keeper sighed in relief, instructing the spider to crawl over to them, slashing its legs off with Diffindo as it approached. Before they placed their wand between its many eyes and fired off a direct Bombarda, causing the back of the spider's head to explode and spray its blood across the floor.

Limping past the mess, the Keeper made their way forward between the walls, waving their wand and pressing the earth back down, returning the clearing's terrain to its original state.

Withdrawing a wiggenweld from their satchel as they approached the arches, they called out breathlessly. “Are you alright, Poppy?”

“Uck- Y- yeah.” Poppy gasped, gripping her shoulder in pain as the patch of red gradually spread over the back of her shirt. Lifting her eyes towards them from her spot kneeling beside the foal, Poppy flashed a wry smile. “See someone's not afraid of the Dark Arts.”

“Got a problem with that?” The Keeper chuckled, wincing as the movement sent stabs of pain through their side.

“Not really.” Poppy shook her head as their hobbling gait finally brought them to her side. “I'm pretty fond of being alive.”

“Here.” The Keeper snorted, offering the potion to her with a grin, which she accepted gratefully, before they gingerly lowered themselves to sit on the picnic mat with a tired sigh, leaning back against the wooden arches. Taking out another wiggenweld for themselves, they popped off the stopper and knocked back the potion quickly, a wave of exhaustion rolling over them.

Sighing in relief as she lowered her empty vial, Poppy grimaced as the skin of her back knitted together under her shirt, glancing over at the Keeper, whose robes were much more bloody than hers, and near drenched in sweat from their battle. After giving the foal a look over and a gentle brush against its coat, she crawled over to their side.

“And you? You look worse off than I.” Poppy asked in concern, brushing a thumb over a cut along their forehead that they hadn't even noticed, the soft touch felt so familiar, a trace of warmth from a moment of kindness.

The Keeper huffed a light laugh. “You're such a mom.”

“A- a mom?” Poppy echoed with a bewildered expression.

“Ah, sorry, you just reminded me of a mother I met once.” The Keeper shook their head, a little surprised that they'd spoken aloud. They must be more tired than they'd thought.

“...you're an orphan, right?” Poppy asked hesitantly.

“Yes, but it wasn’t a prospective parent looking for kids to adopt.” The Keeper shook their head, guessing her thoughts.

“No?” Poppy blinked curiously and the Keeper mentally shrugged, well, there wasn't any reason not to answer.

“A dumb kid threw a rock at me when I was around ten. Little bugger hit me right in the head too.” The Keeper began, tipping their head back to rest against the wood as the wiggenweld began stitching their wounds, resisting the urge to scratch at the spreading itch.

Does that hurt? Gonna go cry to mommy? Oh right, you don't have one! Hahaha!

“I picked it up and decided I'd give him a taste of his own medicine.” They chuckled, remembering how terrified the boy had looked as they shot towards him with the intent of slicing his throat open with the sharp edge of his own weapon. “His mother jumped in to take the hit. Thought she'd be angry at me, but she turned right around and scolded him instead.”

Jonathan Andrew Lewis, what have I told you about hurting others!? Apologise right now!

“She treated my injuries and answered some questions.” The Keeper smiled, remembering how confused they'd been, asking plainly why she had scolded her own son if she cared about him enough to shield him.

Well, I do love my boy, but it's because I love him that I can't let him behave like this. If he keeps starting fights for no good reason, it'll be him that suffers in the end. When you love someone, you want what's best for them, you don't want them to hurt, even if that means you have to fight with them sometimes.

“That was the first time I heard about love. I thought it was a parent thing back then, but I've recently realised it isn't just something that exists between family members.” The Keeper shrugged as they closed their eyes, thus missing the way Poppy's eyes widened and her cheeks flushed.

They'd probably seen it without realising it at the time, in Sebastian and Ominis, watching the two fight so hard to protect each other in their own way, not because they wanted to hurt each other but because each boy wanted what was best for the other. Because they didn't want each other to hurt.

We've always looked out for each other - Ominis and I. I hope he knows that hasn't changed.

Perhaps that had been the moment that the Keeper really began wanting it, wanting them, wanting to be a part of what Sebastian and Ominis had. Wanting both of them to be happy and to ease their sufferings. Another pang of longing hit them, ah, they just wanted to curl up with the two boys again, to hold the two in their arms, feel their warmth, enveloped in the faint mingling scents of parchment and mint.

They could practically feel it, that contentment and warmth, almost dizzying in its comfort…

“H- hey, are you alright?” Poppy's voice was oddly muffled, as though they were hearing her speak from underwater.

The Keeper felt a cool touch on their forehead and then Poppy's muffled voice became more alarmed. “...you… bitten!?”

There was the rustling sound of Poppy moving about, before the Keeper felt her shaking them by their shoulders, clearing some of the haze that was descending upon their mind. “...with me… where's your… Highwing?”

The Keeper grimaced, fighting to think through the fog that was filling their brain. Highwing… They reached into their satchel, fingers fumbling for their Nab-sack, and their vision blurred as they passed it to Poppy, forcing their body to cooperate enough to speak. “Bring the- Unicorn… dangerous… alone here.”

“I will, just hang in there!” Poppy's words came out in a rush as she frantically summoned Highwing, soothing the Unicorn foal, and securing him in the Nab-sack, before tucking it into her pack temporarily.

“Gently please…” Poppy instructed Highwing as she settled on the hippogriff's back, directing the beast to pick up the Keeper by their arms with its large and strong claws. “Alright, up, Highwing, we must bring them to Nurse Blainey quickly!”

The Keeper felt their stomach turn as the wind kicked up about them and the earth fell away from under their feet. Their last thought as they succumbed to the fog of unconsciousness, was a faint hope that their partners wouldn't be too upset with them for giving them yet another heart attack.

“Will they be alright?” Poppy asked worriedly as the nurse slowly fed the unconscious Keeper a green-tinged fluid with a long glass dropper.

“Yes, don't worry, they'll be just fine.” Nurse Blainey reassured as she placed the empty dropper down on her tray, before slowly lowering the Keeper's head back onto the cot's pillow. “It seems like they got a rather large dose of arachnid poison, so I'll be giving them the antidote every hour till their condition improves.”

“O- okay.” Poppy brushed a few strands of the Keeper’s hair from their face as the nurse adjusted their blanket. “I guess that means they'll be staying the night?”

“Yes, I imagine they should be ready to be discharged tomorrow after noon.” Blainey smiled as she gathered up her tray. “They'll probably sleep till tomorrow, so you can come back again then.”

“...alright.” Poppy nodded slowly as the nurse returned to her office.

Poppy sighed, feeling uncertain about the day's events and what they might mean, the desire to speak with Natty warring with her worry for the Keeper. She hesitated for a few moments, but ultimately decided that there was little she could do here. The Keeper would be safe here under Blainey's watch and she really wanted to talk with Natty.

Standing and setting the Nab-sack down beside their bed, Poppy gave the Keeper one last glance, before leaving the infirmary to search for Natty.

Nurse Blainey looked up from her papers when the small clock on her desk chimed on the hour. Setting down her quill, the nurse left her office to retrieve a tray and prepare the necessary items she'd need to administer another dose of antidote for the Keeper.

When she was ready, she approached the Keeper's bedside and began her routine checks before casting Anapneo on them to make sure their airway was clear, then tilting their head back to prevent choking and inserting the dropper.

Blainey spent the next several minutes slowly feeding them, waiting a few moments more for the Keeper to swallow naturally, before lowering their head back onto the pillow and tucking them back in. As she did so, she heard a faint murmur from her patient.

“...Omi...nis..."

The nurse blinked, finding the word familiar, wasn't that the name of one of the Slytherin boys? That's right, come to think of it, she was rather surprised that the two boys hadn't been with them. Those two had been practically glued to their bedside the last time the Keeper had been warded in her infirmary.

Normally she wouldn't pry in the business of the students, but Blainey was fairly certain that those boys would be here if they knew that their friend had been injured again. Perhaps she should send Mr. Gaunt an owl...

The sound of hurried footsteps echoed up and down the stairwell as Ominis and Sebastian hastened to the infirmary.

As they ran down the hallway, Ominis clutched Sebastian's hand tightly, struggling to keep his fear at bay. Nurse Blainey's letter had said that the Keeper wasn't in any danger, but his blasted mind was still dredging up the stench of rust and iron that had permeated the air the last time the Keeper had been warded.

He’d witnessed Selwyn trying to poison their tea at Steepley and Sons when Sebastian went to use the loo. Idiot probably hadn't realised that Ominis was only blind, not deaf, and he'd tossed the spiked tea before Sebastian could test it on anyone. Macnair must have tried something with the Keeper too.

While he was somewhat mollified by Sebastian staying by his side, Ominis was still upset about the Keeper saying that they would protect Poppy at their own expense because she was only in danger on their account. His lover was not the self-sacrificial kind, they were calculative, and he'd thought that their protective nature extended only to him and Sebastian.

It had surprised him how bitter that revelation had made him, how much he now resented Poppy for having acquired such status. Had he enjoyed it so much? Being special to both the Keeper and Sebastian, being the exception to two individuals with high standards for preferential treatment.

He'd always thought he wanted to be treated like a normal person, like everyone else. Well, not in this context apparently.

Ominis glanced around the infirmary with his wand sight, quickly locating the nurse walking through the room.

“Nurse Blainey, are they alright?” Ominis asked breathlessly, feeling Sebastian release his hand and move past him towards one of the cots, presumably where the Keeper was lying.

“Yes, they're quite alright, I was just about to give them another dose of antidote.” The nurse replied kindly as she made her way to the Keeper's cot where Sebastian was gently wiping the perspiration from their forehead with a handkerchief.

“Do you know what happened?” Ominis asked, standing by the bedside with Sebastian and taking the Keeper's hand in his as the nurse prepared her tray of implements.

“I believe that they and Miss Sweeting were attacked by spiders, both sustained lacerations, but your friend here was also bitten and suffered a rather large dose of arachnid poison. As such, I'll be administering an antidote every hour until their symptoms alleviate.” The nurse explained, as she filled a long dropper with the aforementioned antidote.

Ominis’ jaw clenched as the Keeper's hand burned with a feverish heat against his palm and felt that bitterness return, an ugly feeling coiling in his chest. They were like this for someone else. He wanted to erase that fact with his own hand.

“Nurse Blainey, could I- that is, would you allow me to do that?” Ominis asked haltingly, as the nurse looked up, pausing in her task of feeding the Keeper.

“Administering the antidote?” Blainey asked with some confusion.

He gave a curt nod in return. “I am hoping to become a Healer when I graduate.”

The nurse gave an understanding hum. “A rather unorthodox request but I suppose there's no harm in it, you'll have to follow my instructions, however. Wouldn't want your friend to choke on it, now would we.”

Ominis flashed a wry smile as the nurse placed the dropper in his hands.

“First, we must ensure that the patient's head is tilted backwards slightly to prevent choking.” The nurse placed Ominis hand against the back of the Keeper's neck to feel the angle she had positioned them in.

It was incredibly strange to be holding the Keeper while they were unconscious, their normally tense neck muscles limp and loose against his fingers as he moved his hand into position to support their head, in place of Blainey. There was something almost thrilling about holding them in such a state, their bared neck exposed and vulnerable. Shaking off the odd feeling, Ominis forced himself to focus.

“Next, is to open their mouth by placing your thumb on their chin and pressing down.” The nurse watched in supervision, as Ominis gently opened the Keeper's mouth with his other hand. “Very good, now place the dropper's tip against the wall of their mouth, between the cheek and gums.”

Ominis nodded, lightly tapping the glass tip along the Keeper's teeth to get a feel of where the target space was, and gently rested its tip against the soft inner wall of their cheek.

The nurse nodded with an impressed hum at the accuracy of his placement in spite of his visual impairment. “Excellent, now, you'll need to squeeze the dropper's bulb very slowly and steadily. You want the potion to trickle out in small, controlled amounts, so that the unconscious patient will naturally and automatically swallow it like they would with their saliva.”

Ominis nodded, his eyes narrowed in focus as he followed her instructions. “Could I ask how you determine what ailments a patient is afflicted with?”

“The most common method is the spell Diagnosa, it's a basic Healer spell that draws from your own understanding of the human body to identify symptoms to diagnose a patient. Though, that would only be useful if you already know how to match symptoms to a diagnosis, so it's not included in general education.” Blainey explained, a speculative expression on her face.

“That sounds incredibly useful. Might I ask if you could teach me?” Ominis asked, feeling the resistance of the squeeze bulb ease a moment later and gently slid the glass out from between the Keeper's lips, his fingers brushing over the curve of their mouth.

As he did so, Ominis was struck by a most unexpected impulse to claim those still lips, to feel an unnatural softness that he'd never experienced before, since the Keeper was not exactly a passive kisser and was a very light sleeper. There was a strange tingle under his skin at the thought of experiencing a sensation that no one else ever had.

“It's rare for students to express such clear interest in a particular career and I can see that you have a very steady hand.” Blainey mused.

Ominis almost jumped at the reminder of where he was, his cheeks flushing at being caught in the middle of such unusual thoughts. Fortunately, she seemed to take it as a reaction to her compliment and he offered the nurse the empty dropper, before lowering the Keeper's head back onto the pillow.

“If you'd like, I would be willing to take you on as an apprentice.” Blainey smiled as she set the dropper on her tray.

“I- really? Yes please, I would like that very much.” Ominis nodded with a surprised smile.

“I'll speak with Professor Weasley about this and if you'd like, I can teach you Diagnosa and some basics until curfew.” The nurse gave a bemused huff. “Since the two of you will be staying till then I imagine.”

Ominis flashed a chagrined smile, glad that she didn't seem to hold animosity for his bluntness during the Keeper's first stay a few months ago. He imagined that was something he'd have to get used to as well when he was a Healer, people would be more brusque when upset or in distress like he had been then.

However, while he did rather want to start learning, to have something to focus on, a part of him was reluctant to leave the Keeper's side.

Seemingly sensing his hesitation, Sebastian placed a hand on his arm gently, reminding Ominis of his presence. “Go ahead, I'll let you know if they wake up.”

Ominis relaxed, it never ceased to warm his heart when Sebastian displayed that rare sensitivity that the earnest boy seemed to reserve just for him. Staying by his side all day, supporting him now, Ominis could probably fall in love with him a million times and it would still feel like the first time. If not for Sebastian's inspiring confidence and kindness by his side, or the Keeper easing his fears and uncertainties, Ominis was certain that he wouldn't have the courage to do anything.

Placing his hand over Sebastian's in gratitude, Ominis nodded and followed nurse Blainey towards her office.

Sitting down at a bedside chair, Sebastian sighed wistfully, rubbing at the crescents shaped imprints that Ominis had left on his hand.

It never ceased to impress him, how clear Ominis’ path always seemed to be. His best friend hadn't shown the slightest hint of self-doubt when trying to stop Sebastian from pursuing the relic or when leaving his home and cutting ties with the Gaunts, nor did Ominis ever seem to have any question of what he wanted to do and be.

Ominis had declared, after confiding in Sebastian about his parents forcing the cruciatus on him, that he would become a Healer. That he would spend his life curing and saving the very people whom his parents deemed worthy of derision, purely for their blood purity or lack thereof. Since then, he'd been working towards that goal, slowly but steadily.

In contrast, Sebastian had spent two years searching for a way to cure Anne, failing constantly and when he thought he'd finally found the right path, it too had failed abysmally. Would that he could bear Ominis’ conviction in his own actions without becoming a fool at the same time.

He'd thought Ominis too cautious and afraid, but it had been Sebastian who had been too desperate and afraid, throwing himself into his search to escape the fear. Now, he was feeling desperate again but this time he was trying to cure himself. To cure himself of the doubt that Anne's actions had unearthed from under his stubbornness, but he didn't know what would do that.

He didn't know if anything could do that and that was scarier than being told that he wasn't good enough to save Anne.

Notes:

Did I just give Ominis some mild somnophilia? ...yes. It seems like I did. I don't know, it just came out while I was writing- x'D I'm not even sure why, do you think it's enough that I need to add a somnophilia tag? Please let me know if you do =D

Also, I hope you guys like Diagnosa, because I'm gonna use this spell I made up decently often. It's more like my usual type of world building than JK's, I just can't create something without any realistic logic in it-

I headcanon Sebastian smells kinda woody and paper-like cos the dude's always reading and Ominis just feels like a mint kinda guy for some reason, like a very clean refreshing kind of smell.

Also the Keeper really needs more defence points, kid's a glass canon. Sebastian tank pls xP Imo, Sebastian's use of Imperio to save Anne was a smart decision, every other offensive spell (Diffindo or Confringo) would be dangerous if he missed and hit Anne. If he accidentally hit Anne with Imperio, he could just force her to get out of the way despite her pain, saving her anyway.

Plus, the kid was angry so it's understandable for him to make the goblin gut itself. I mean, imagine your sister got raped and impregnated and there are no abortion clinics so she has to drop out of school and she might die during the birth because she's 14 a year old kid with a frail body and the guy who raped her is about to stab her with a knife.

If you could, you’d probably take his knife and gut him too.

At this stage, Sebastian doesn't yet see the difference between goblins, thanks to social engineering racism. To him this goblin is the same as the one who cursed Anne. (Even though we know now that it was actually Rookwood.)

Sure, he probably shouldn't have had the goblin kill himself in front of her, but the kid was angry and when giving a mental instruction, I imagine it's less defined and clear cut than verbal commands. He could have just been visualising it because he was angry and didn't have the presence of mind to give it a specific order.

Also, the random mom in the Keeper's history is why they have such a healthy idea of what love is, despite being an orphan from a shit orphanage with shittier caregivers. We actually see the Keeper reflect her actions when they blocked a Bombarda for Sebastian during chapter 16 xD

I can't understand the people who say Sebastian was just using Ominis and didn't care about him. Like did they not hear Sebastian? "I didn't want to worry him all over again." And my favourite line, looking out for each other, he only lied and kept secrets because he cares about Ominis, I just don't understand these people.

Also, man, the Keeper was exactly the same kid five years ago huh? “Oh, you threw a rock at me? Prepare to die motherfucker.” xP

Minor sidenote, I added more descriptions for part 1 chapter 3 and added a paragraph to Sebastian's inner monologue in part 1 chapter 11 (when he's approaching the Ndiaye twins) these adjustments don't change the plot at all but just gonna mention it because they're not just one or two rewordings. In case anyone cares enough to get mad at me for changing something like that unannounced xD

Geez my notes are definitely getting longer along with the chapters-

#hogwarts legacy #ominis gaunt #sebastian sallow #gender neutral mc #mc x sebastian sallow #mc x ominis gaunt #sebastian x ominis #sebastian x ominis x mc #hogwarts legacy fandom #hogwarts legacy fanfic #hogwarts legacy fanfiction #fanfic #jazlr welcome to your life #jazlr #lgbtqia #nonbinary

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pacinosgf · 10 months ago

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barbara ann robinson (née morris, born april 7, 1947) is an american musician, singer, songwriter and producer. she is known for her work as a bassist, keyboardist and vocalist with the band midnight mayhems and as a solo artist.

❝ i was born in a little place called venus. after all these years, it remains a little place. last time i went there was thirty years ago, to solve a problem of my husband's doing, but he has gone there since then. i was my parents' only child, because my mother had such a complicated pregnancy that, after me, she couldn't have any other one. i had the nerve of being born as a girl, at that, but my parents were really fond of me. i had a good childhood. helped them at the farm all day, they looked after me. they were very private people and didn't really engage with the community, so we were the odd ones.

i'd spend the morning running after our animals, helping my mother with the house, my daddy with the farm work, and then in the afternoon i'd go over to my aunt's house to learn how to be a proper lady. she was a war widow of a rich man who came back to town after the war. she'd wrap my hair in ribbons and teach me how to cook, how to sew, how to behave, how to play the piano. we would read romances together. no girl i grew up with had this kind of thing, which didn't help my case, being the odd one. she'd talk about her life in houston as a wife. we'd go there once a month so she could get me new dresses and stuff, i still keep a beautiful hairbrush and some other things she got me.

i was too young to remember when it started, but she always talked about how i had to leave venus and study somewhere else. study to become a teach, a nurse, whatever it was, but study and leave our town. and so i did. that gave people the impression i thought i was better than them, but i don't even know what i thought about it back then. i was just too obedient. relied on my parents and my aunt to know what i could and should do. all i knew is that i should study and leave and marry good and send money back to my parents' every month, never really thought deep about it.

she died when i was 15, which was for the better, because she'd kill me if she was there to witness how i let jim follow me up and down, take me home from the church and all. we wouldn't say a word, just walk. he says that he is in love with me since we were kids, but he's a liar, don't listen to what he says. i started paying attention to him because he was gentle and he'd take me home without making any move and, at 15, i knew i should get some prospects for my future. my parents wouldn't let me leave venus if i was still single. the girls i grew up with already had planned weddings with guys much older than us or the boys we grew up, disgusting men like only a place like that could raise, that could have been my future too. and jim was kind, third of six kids, played the drums for the church band just like i played the organ. it felt safe. one day i stopped him in the tracks before getting home and asked him what he wanted with me. no, i think i said something like i want to study. you can't stop that. i want to leave this place. i won't change my mind. find another girl to take home or bear with me. and he showed up the next day to talk to my parents, so it was official.

after that we finally started properly talking. he had never thought about leaving, but it seemed good. he said i was too smart to not study, so he'd wait and work until then. we would walk through town, the only thing we could do as a non-married couple, taking the longest paths so we could keep talking. i would talk, actually, he'd listen in a way i was never sure if he was paying attention until he showed he was. i told him about how i liked playing music and went as far as saying that i had this fantasy of playing and making music one day. he supported it, of course. said i could do it, started practicing more on the drums in the case i'd ask him to go with me. we haven't changed much since then.

i am a few months older, we got engaged when he turned 18, and i went to houston for nursing school. he'd visit me once a week, under the watchful eyes of the lady that owned the boarding house for the single nursing students, bringing things like his mother's jam, letters, all that stuff. that's when i actually got attached to jim. he would ask me about how i was doing in school, if i had found a place to play. i took him to the vinyl and music store i was a regular customer and we'd share a headphone, we went to one of the nursing school parties and he made me sing. i sang for the girls at the boarding house, i sang for some of my closest school friends, but had never sang to so many people in that context. i remember feeling full that night, so happy that i'd explode.

i got a guitar and played the piano for an old lady and her friends every week. i saved all the money i could to buy a bass, that brand new instrument media was diminishing because it was too dangerous. made girls dance and lose themselves, made men forget who they were. and then i finally went to the store, all happy and mighty, and they denied me one. said i should save more for a piano of my own. the bass guitar was too masculine and dangerous for such a girl.

i wrote a letter to jim about it, how i was mad and feeling down, but i wouldn't give up, of course. i think it only a few lines of the whole letter, of course. he answered me and kept sending letters but stopped visiting me for almost two months. i became afraid that he had found another girl, nicer than me, and i'd have to drop everything to go back home to live with my parents. i was already used to this new future when he came in a random day. he went to pick me up at the school in his brother's car, seemed like he would die at any moment. and then he gave me the bass. a red bass, beautiful bass, that i still keep, of course. said that he really liked me, that he hoped i liked him too. that i made him feel special because i put up with him. that i deserved all good things and that he knew i could get them alone, but he would try his best to give me some too. i wasn't big on physical touch, but i had no idea of what to say. i kissed him. not the first time, but probably the first one i truly, totally, wanted to do it.

we got married in 1967, my last year of nursing school. we were twenty. i left the boarding house, we found an apartment to live in houston, he got a new, less strenuous, job, in the city. we'd work all day, and when i didn't have night shifts, he'd take me to places where i could sing or play. nothing fancy, but still. we'd play with wedding bands sometimes. we'd go home and talk and listen to records. i felt happy. i remember thinking that if the music thing didn't work out, i'd still be happy enough. jim was still nice, he didn't change after getting married, which was my biggest fear.

we had some nice years, going here and there, playing and working, and then we had the bad luck of meeting this awful guy, who you may know as [ . . . ]

@gllianowens

#barbara ann.

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dragon-swords-prophecies · 2 years ago

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Writeblr Re-Intro version 3!

Hello I'm doing this again because there are new wips. Also new pronouns and a new name (mostly new name, I suppose)

I'm Copper or Julius or dragon or what else you wish to call me, and my pronouns are he/they. I'm queer and neurodivergent and I really, really lik I'me dragons. My main is @copper-dragon-in-disguise, so any likes/reblogs/other assorted interactions will come from there.

Here's my wips, all of them are in the same world unless otherwise stated. Title (with a link to its wip intro if there is one), then draft number in parentheses, then its main tag in the second parentheses with the description/blurb/weirdly ominous sentences below that!

Main WIPs:

Frost & Fire (draft 2) (#wip: frost & fire):

The death of an ancient primordial dragon brings the greatest (if not particularly well known) adventurers of the last centuries together. Enna Helder-Kromlin, half-elf thief and contractor for the crown of Halmond, along with her sister, Anne, leader of the thieves guild Oleski. Anastrannia & Redari Galendel, half-dragon, half-elf siblings, one a shadow ranger and one a shadow sorcerer. They must work together, if not get along, to stop a evil dragon named Dizerdrat from trying to claim the power released by the death for himself, because if he does he could conquer the world—and would.

One of Copper (needs a re intro so no link yet but there will be) (draft 1) (title may change) (#wip: one of copper):

Decades after the events of Frost & Fire, a new age of heroes is ready to start adventuring. Only these heroes weren't exactly willing, nor were they ready. Four envelopes later and they're together, tracking down the weapon of a god and facing off against enemies none of them could fathom three months before.

Silence and Secondhand Souls (draft 0) (#wip: silence and secondhand souls):

Fate is an interesting thing. Some doubt it even exists. Not me. Not anymore. Souls don't rest until they've told their story, and I've got a long way to go yet. My friends are dead and so am I, haunting a narrative I never got a choice in. How exactly did that happen, you ask? Let me start at the beginning. Or the end, rather. I died when I was 21 years old.

There are my other wips + things that are not technically wips but have tags below the cut for length reasons

Other Wips:

Angel's Daughters (Draft ?) (#wip: angel's daughters):

A prequel to Frost & Fire that's about Enna's backstory, based on the DnD campaign I originally played her in.

Starr's Story (draft 1) (this is a placeholder title and will change eventually but i've been saying that for almost a year so...) (#starrs story):

My Camp NaNo April 2022 story. It's about some pirates, a somewhat lost heir to a fallen underwater kingdom (the heir in question being the pirate captain), and an awful lot of secrets.

A Dragon's Apprentice (draft 0) (#wip: a dragon's apprentice):

Another NaNo story, but for the actual November NaNo in 2021 (a challenge which I did not even come close to finishing. Whoops). Also about lost heirs, and by that I mean that the heir got kidnapped and the apprentice wizard had to go and find them with the help of their brother.

Things that are not technically wips but have tags (none of the below are in the same world as the wips above, they all have their own world. mostly.):

Vampire Hunter Steampunk Story (#vampire hunter steampunk story):

Exactly what it says on the tin, except I messed with the rules of what a vampire actually is sooooo *shrugs*. It also may not be entirely steampunk that much. Or at all sometimes. The title is only mildly accurate.

Space story (#space story):

The product of the single time I ventured into sci-fi. The thing I know the most about is that the protagonist is an alien from Pluto. Because I'm me I got sucked down the wormhole of figuring out if she could breathe on earth or how would that work and it was a lot of a wormhole.

Supernatural story (#supernatural story):

Not that supernatural. Dear god no. I would of called it ghost story but that's a different one and besides there aren't any ghosts in this anyway it's vampires and werewolves and one girl who's part fae.

Ghost story (#ghost story):

This one has ghosts in it! May or may not be in the same universe as the above supernatural story, I'm unclear on that.

#writeblr re intro #writeblr intro

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afaimscorner · 1 year ago

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When Anne Rice died two years ago, I was more than a little shaken to put it mildly. Not only because my favorite author just died and we would never get any more books by her, not only because I survived my teenage years and twenties because of her works and words, but also because in hindsight I saw the writing on the wall. My grandmother had also died the same year, only a few weeks before Lady Anne and that didn't help either. Thanks to the Pandemic I had not been able to see her very often in the last years before her death. She had been sick for a long time, and many times we got to hear that we should not come to visit because we wouldn't want to see her "like this". But in-between there were times, when she was fine, but we were in Lockdown, so there was time, that was robbed from us by the circumstances. So yes, that news flabbergasted me ,and my first thought was: "But what about Christopher? Poor Christopher." I knew mother and son had been very close, not only did they start writing novels together, but they also had their great Twitter-Back-and-Forth, which I always thought would have made a nice book of its own. My brother, who never had the connection to either of them that I had and who never read a single book from either of them said it too: "Poor Christopher, they were so close." Again, I think we saw the writing on the wall. I did see it, I feared it. It was irrational of course. The breast cancer had been mild and had been gone for years now. She was healthy. That didn't mean it was not a hit close to home, though, because it was - but there was so much going on in that year, the pandemic was still going strong, Lockdowns were happening again, I mourned, got depressed maybe, but with the end of winter I put my fear behind me. I always get slightly panicked in the dark time of the year, it's instinct maybe. I do not fear the dark, I fear things that might happen in the dark und what the Dark stands for.

Poor Christopher. My heart was always with him. He dealt somehow. I wish I knew how. Especially now.

Death is always sudden. Even if you see it coming, it is sudden. You expect the pain and the slow dying to go on forever. When me aunt died of ALS that is certainly what it was like. She went quickly in the end, but before the end there was a long time of decay. My cousins were distraught of course, but they had time to prepare at least, they knew it was coming to an end in a number of years/months, eventually weeks. When my grandfather died, it was sudden and not sudden. He spend some time in hospital, then went home to die. That was hard, especially for my Gran, but still, we all had time to consider the possibilty of him dying. My other grandfather though, he just died lying in the sun at Easter, waiting for us to come by, I think (there is a story behind that, I am not willing to go into now). That was a big shock. Still, you kind of fear and expect your grandparents to leave you. You certainly think they will be the ones to go first.

2023 was a hard year, and I kept thinking: "God, please, don't take my Gran now, not now, I could not take losing her now." But she is healthy, her father, my great grand-father, made it into his early hundreds. And the thing with fear is: You always fear the wrong things in the end.

But how could I have known?

When Death comes, she comes unexpected like I said. It was an actual rare good day. I was still in rush from Comic Con, which had its ups and downs, but where I actual won (I never win anything) a free cinema ticket, that actually worked. I got to see the movie version of book I love for free with free popcorn, and for a change I actually saw a good adaption again, which made me strangely happy considering what I was watching (it was "A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes", in case you are wondering). Since I have quite a way to the next cinema and it's a long movie, I had chosen an afternoon screening. Around half past seven, when the credits rolled, I looked at my phone.

We had just spoken before I left for the cinema, she was watching "Voice of Germany" on Joyn and was waiting to get a call to go and pick up her car. It's a ten minute walk to the service station. My first thought was that someone had run her over. I stayed put, watched the end of the credits, got up and got to the toilet. Left the cinema. Then outside, I called my brother.

Then I had to get home somehow. It was simple: We can't have two family members in hospital at the same time, pull yourself together girl, you can lose it at home. You still have to find out what is actually going on.

It was like a nightmare. I haven't managed to wake up yet.

She spend three days in the ICU. The unfair part about it is: They had saved her, her heart was beating again, it actually looked good the first two days after the incident. Yes, sure, they were telling us, it could go either way, but no one was expecting her to die. Not after everything that went down to save her life. Also: How could she die? It was unthinkable. She had been alive and well just a few days ago, bad been joking and laughing and living. She fucking just got a new knee in summer. She was only 71 and had no prior history of heart related health problems.

When I stepped in the ICU on the third day and saw the dialysis machine, I knew. I did not want to believe it though. The Doctor did not know what to say. The staff knew though, they knew it was over and not everyone was good at hiding it.

I never signed up for having to call my 95 year old Gran in the evening to ask her if she wanted to see her dead daughters body before it was taken to the morgue on a Saturday Morning. She had hoped to be able to visit her on Saturday before it would end. But it was not to be, it ended sooner than anyone would have thought.

I have to shoulder it all now - have to the laundry, cook, clean maybe, organize everything around the funeral, help my father doing all the legal stuff, oh and, yes, take on Christmas, because she ordered all those gifts right before ... so, we owe it to her to not just cancel Christmas. I wrote a whole damn fucking Fanfiction about the fact that you should never just cancel Christmas, no matter what.

I haven't even had time to mourn. I have to be there for my Gran, my father, the rest of the family, the old friends, the neighboors, the aquantances ... I can't break down before the funeral, and ten days or actually nine days after is Christmas, so I can't break down afterwards either.

I don't know how to continue. I don't want to without her. I fear everyone is expecting me to be functioning like normal by January. When I don't even know if I can ever function normal again.

My brother is swimming in the River in Egypt and my father is ... I have no idea where in his head. I get panic-y when someone is out and not immeadtly reachable. It's like my worst irrational fear came true and now no fear I have (and believe me I have enough fears for the whole human race) is irrational anymore.

Poor Christopher, I thought two years ago in December, he must be so broken. Now I am the broken one, pretending to be whole because I have to. Because when I let my parts fall, they can never fit together again.

I am not sure I can write anymore (Fiction, the rest is fine, you are reading it right now). I haven't had time to try it yet, and I think not being able to write anymore might be the last straw for me. Maybe it would help me, maybe it would heal me, I don't know, but I am afraid to try and too tired all the time.

Winter has come. Literally. Shipping snow is helping even less then having to wash her clothes. The world might be ending around me, I am not even noticing.

The dogs might have started to understand that she is not coming back. That is the worst part. Seeing that wondering look in my dogs eyes. That and knowing that Christmas Eve will be the one month anniversary of her passing. How can that be? It can't be real, it was never supposed to be her. It can't be.

My mother can't just be ... gone.

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draslihanxfahri-bailey · 1 year ago

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Her chin lifted up as she waited for him to continue. An eyebrow quirked up and her dark eyes scanning his face. However, a smirk was soon on her features as she noticed that look on his face. His mouth shutting quickly causing her to giggle. Yet it was that devilish grin she's grown to love that set her entire being ablaze. Now, she knows the doctor's orders. She knows the rules and that they must behave, abiding to them to ensure that her and the baby will be okay. But... god, it was so hard to remain good with him looking at her like that. The exact same thoughts clearly coursing through her boyfriend's mind as they coursed through her own. Fortunately, getting back to their playfulness like they had a moment before, helped distract her a little bit. She cringed jokingly, shaking her head. "Now that's an image I wasn't expecting to imagine. Though I suppose we're just going to have to wait and sea how potato-like or un-potato-like she is once she gets here." Moonbeam, please do me a solid and be as un-potato-like as possible. I know baba's going to be your favourite, the same way Atlas is Alex's, but please do this one thing for anne. Was she cheating? Perhaps. Was she hoping it would work? Absolutely. Aslihan gave Elijah a look at his second point. Brows raised high up as she scanned his features. "Need I remind you of Alex and Atlas?" she pointed out with a shake of her head. Her features softening. "I know we're joking around... But you have more of an influence on her than you realize. You two are going to be the best of friends as she grows up. I can already tell."

Nothing could describe the phenomenon knowing as parenthood. How utterly incredible and terrifying it is. How you learn something new every single second of every single day. How it was a lifelong commitment and a lifelong adventure. She didn't blame Elijah for being so scared at the beginning; She'd been the exact same way when she learned about Alex all those years ago. Yet nothing could express how beautiful it's been to see him getting ready for their daughter. Seeing how much he's grown since February and become even excited for their baby, seeing how much more sure of himself he is now than before. Of course, she couldn't blame him if part of him was still scared. She certainly was, both with starting a new journey of having another child and because of the placenta previa. Yet so much has changed for the better and he's proven himself. It was impossible at this point to not trust him the same way she had before. Though, that was wrong: she trusts him even more now than before. While she's always known that she could trust him, the past few months of him returning home and doing everything he could to make it up to her, and even to Alex and the cats, only proved even more how serious he is about staying. Asli knew that knew. Part of her always has and always will. Believing in Eli, even when he didn't believe in himself, was the most natural thing in the world. And if god allowed it, she wanted to keep believing in him for the rest of her life. To keep working on and growing their family, their life, their future, together. No matter what.

"I love them," she whispered with a breathless laugh. Figuring out names together and coming across the pendant that was connected with the name they kept returning to had felt perfect. It felt like a sign and they were right. Seeing the pendant in person, it was even more beautiful. Even more perfectly connected to their daughter. The pendant was truly an incredible connection that they could share together and with their baby, especially as she grows older and can wear it along with them. Looking up, she nodded at his words. "I know you do, baby. I don't doubt that for a single second." Even though she truly believed he doesn't have to keep proving himself anymore, she knew that it was harder for him to believe in himself. Hopefully, eventually soon, he'll realize that he's proven himself. That everything he's done since coming back has been more than enough. The anthropologist giggled as he quickly went to grab her pendant, trying to help get her hair out of the way. She shivered slightly at his fingertips touching her skin, sighing softly at how comforting his touch was for her. Her eyes grew misty again as she felt the pendant's chain wrap around her neck and the pendant resting against her chest, right along her locket for Alex and Theo and also her Magen David. Her hand reached up to touch it as she let out a sigh she hadn't realized she'd been holding it. It was perfect. Asli sighed as he kissed her neck, leaning her head back against his chest and eyes shutting slightly. His compliment only causing her to shudder again, the woman ready to pull her boyfriend back into her arms and lead him straight to their bedroom. "I should be asking the same question," she mused, turning around and wrapping her arms around his body, face pressing in the crook of his neck to kiss him them before she looked up at him. Scanning his features once more. "We're going to have a beautiful life together. You, me, the girls, the cats, the plants; You're my future. I promise." ||📜@elifalvey

Elijah was about to speak up — his mouth was open and his hand was raised with a pointed finger and everything — when Aslihan's words caused him to promptly shut his mouth. God, he really shouldn't have found her so attractive when she was putting him in his place. He probably should push back a little more and continue their playful argument. But he honestly couldn't help it, the way his lips twisted up into a devilish grin as he looked at her in a way that let her know exactly what she was doing to him. He was just admiring her, really; if it weren't for the damn doctor's orders (which he already spent plenty of time cursing up and down) then he would have been doing much, much more than that by now. But because he couldn't . . . no, because he wouldn't, for her sake, he simply stayed put. Regardless of how badly he wanted to say to hell with the nursery project for the afternoon. "Mm, well, first of all. The 'potato thing' is just true, so you're going to have to accept it. She's a little potato with little potato sprouts for limbs. I mean, come on. All of those Instagram thingys you send me practically prove my point, love," he said as a matter of fact. "Second of all, me giving you the assisting pass can hardly count as helping in the grand scheme of things. I just . . . gave you what you needed. Forever ago. What influence do I have from all the way out here now, huh?" Truthfully, there was already pretty damning evidence that Elijah was having quite the influence on the baby already. If the way that she happened to kick more often when he was around was anything to go by and wasn't purely coincidental, that is. He had a feeling that he'd be eating his words soon enough. Which he wouldn't be able to complain about at all, really.

As much as he didn't want children before Aslihan came along, he found himself absorbed in thinking about their daughter now. In what parts of himself that he'd see in her, and what parts of his girlfriend that she'd have as well. The more he learned about it, the more fascinating it became to him — and, honestly, he was realizing how much of an idiot that he was for thinking that he didn't want kids in the first place. Once she was born and experiencing the world might bring on a whole new set of challenges, but at least for right now, he was fully embracing the journey in preparing for fatherhood. Which was another reason that the necklaces he had picked out were so important. He wanted to try and mend the trust that had been broken between them when he left, but he also wanted to show her just how committed he was to her. To them. It was a scary thought only because there was so much about Aslihan's health that was up in the air — so much that would be, for probably the rest of her life, and there was really no telling how long that would be — but he thought that he was ready to face that with her. To deal with that fear head-on and raise their baby girl, regardless of what would happen.

Of course, he hoped for a much happier ending than the path his mind often travelled to in moments like these, but there was a gap that uncertainty left that he was desperate to fill. That's what these necklaces were. And as she started to tear up, he couldn't help but do so as well. He's always been an emotional person, but his emotion only increased tenfold watching her. "I'm glad you like them," he said, his voice a bit wobbly. It got worse as she fastened the necklace around his neck, looking directly into his eyes and telling him that she trusted him. He didn't realize how much he needed to hear it so blatantly until that very moment. "Good. I . . . I-I intend to keep proving it, every day." He leaned into the kiss, and once he pulled away, he composed himself a bit more. He inhaled a big breath before he continued, "Every day. Every. Single. Day. I mean it, Aslihan. This is just for the days that I'm not here." His thumb looped under the chain to hold up the necklace and he laughed, letting it fall back against his chest. "I love you, so let's get this on you, then, yeah? Give it here." Instead of waiting patiently for her to hand it over, he took the jewelry box from her and untangled the one that was meant for her without much patience. He set the box down and looped his way around her so that he was facing her backside, and he spent a second making sure that all of her hair was out of the way before he put the necklace on. After the clasp was closed and it was resting against her chest, he dipped down to press a kiss to her neck. "Very gorgeous, just as I thought," he complimented easily, smiling cheekily against her skin before he pulled away and readjusted her hair again for her. "It's fucking unfair, really. How'd I get so lucky?" ( @draslihanxfahri-bailey )

#( interactions. )#( ch. elijah falvey. )#tw: pregnancy #tw: placenta previa #tw: death #pregnancy tw #placenta previa tw #death tw

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wolvesandpetals · 3 years ago

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Loki x Sylvie Post-Finale Fanfiction (Angst, Rated Teen) Part 2 of 2

Part 1 is here:

She never knew it would hurt this much when the person she loves is right in front of her, but she can't reach out and touch him; when she is still her, he is still him, but everything else has changed, like an invisible lever in an old theatre changing the scenery in the background, bringing them both to the part of the play where they are hopelessly lost.

[[MORE]]

All it took was one single moment, one single decision, and everything feels irrevocably broken now. It makes her contemplate on the true nature of relationships, how fragile they are, and how easy it is to shatter them- and her.

The smoke is slowly clearing, and all that seems to be left is a man who is doing his best to keep his distance from her, physically and emotionally.

She can tell from the way he stands with his arms crossed, or his fists clenced when his hands are by his side, that he really doesn't want to hold her hand. How can something so simple as the touch of his fingers be so vital to her existence that it feels like something has been ripped out from inside her?

She wants to reach out and touch him, but she is scared that if he pulls away outright, any hope of reconciliation that she still has left will shatter into pieces.

And she really needs this hope. It's the only thing she still has left. It's the only thing that keeps her going.

---

He looks like a man with a mission.

They spent quite a long time together, running from the TVA, running towards the citadel at the end of time, hoping to achieve their goal of bringing down the one behind the curtains.

But that was her mission, and he was there for her. She was the one behind the wheels, he was the one keeping the sails afloat.

Now it's different. Now he has a defined goal, a glorious purpose.

She's seeing him in a whole new light now, and not just because he has switched to Asgardian leather and metal armors.

As far as she is concerned, she is better off doing it all alone. One woman army, nobody to get in her way, nobody to screw up her plans. Nobody to blame her if it all goes to shit.

Or so it was, until two months ago, when Mobius decided to enlist her help in fixing the multiversal madness.

She has never really worked with people before, and it's weird, to say the least. She never considered herself a team player, but she is finding herself hating the idea less and less lately.

And she swears it has nothing to do with him. Not the fact that they are working together, and seeing his face first thing in the morning brings her a sense of calm that she quite can't explain. Or the fact that their rooms are next to each other and it makes her feel secure enough to finally get some rest at nights. Or that this whole arrangement has kept them on talking terms, when they had gone their own separate ways otherwise.

Nothing to do with that at all.

---

Humans are stupid, and the biggest evidence of this is how they decided that two extremely powerful Gods skilled at magic, enchantment, and defeating an evil extra dimensional cloud that swallows everything it touches, should be delegated to the role of research. "You're clever. You're good at reading people. You can put yourselves in the shoes of the bad guys, no offense", they said, but really, what they meant was, "We can't trust you out in the field much." She knows it, he knows it. She just doesn't know why he's complying.

That's how they find themselves researching every single day.

She likes to think he's not the only reason why she's studying in the library instead of in the comfort of her room, but that'd be a lie.

At first, he chooses to sit at a separate table. But she keeps going over to his to "get his opinion" on something in the file she's reading, and finally, he gives in. Their current arrangement consists of him sitting in the chair in front of her, to the left, prim and proper, while she hoists her feet up on the table.

He falls asleep on the desk one night, face smacked against a file, the tiniest bit of drool forming at the corner of his mouth. It would be a hilarious sight, if her heart wasn't feeling what she can only describe as longing.

They should probably talk about it, like mature adults, but neither of them know how to do that.

All she can do right now is gather the courage to run her fingers through his hair. The touch is hesitant at first, as if one wrong move would make him wake up and push her back to square one. Slowly, she relaxes, letting her fingers dance on his scalp.

He stirs in his sleep. "Please Sif. I'm sorry. Don't cut off my glorious locks, please."

Now this is a story she must hear when things are better.

If things are better.

---

Doctor Strange joins them very briefly, very rarely, but the tension between him and Loki is hard to miss. It's worse than the current situation with her, and that's saying something.

"You don't really like Stephen, do you?"

Something inside him seems to shift, but he masks it behind a non-chalant look immediately and just arches an eyebrow at her. "He's Stephen now, is he?"

"Well, that is his name." She shrugs. "What do you call him?"

"Strange", he spits the word out with an amount of irritation that indicates there definitely is a story there. "That is his name", he mimics.

She can't help the smirk that spreads across her lips. "What did he do to you?"

"Nothing", he lies, ignoring the horrifying flashbacks of thirty minutes of endless falling. Not a single soul must ever know a mere human got the best of him. "What can he do to me? I'm a God among those mortals. He just irks me because he is so pompous, and arrogant, and he ceaselessly uses magic to toy with others."

She pretends to think deeply. "Now where have I seen that before?"

He scoffs. "You mock me, but I am nothing like him. For one, I am not rude."

"He seems fine to me", she declares decisively.

It's the first time in months that he gives her a cheeky grin. "That's because you're rude too."

---

They are still just containing the threats to their world, instead of finding a way to fortify the barriers between worlds and stop the threats from coming.

"Shouldn't we have a plan to seal off the other worlds from ours?" She asks him one day.

"They are working on it." He tells her, and then with a look of worry, adds, "I hope."

There are debates on what to do at the Avengers tower and at the TVA. Nobody seems to agree on what the best course of action is, but everyone seems to be following the general instructions of Doctor Strange.

During one such meeting, a Minuteman makes the mistake of voicing out loud how she wondered if things would be better if they were running according to their old boss's plans.

Sylvie feels the guilt wash over her once more.

"No", Loki tells them all firmly. The determination in his voice takes her completely by surprise. "Evil is evil. Lesser, greater, middling, makes no difference. The degree is arbitrary. The definition’s blurred." She catches him steal a glance at her direction. "We couldn't have left a dictator in charge just because it's convenient. Listen, I'm the bad guy. I've done horrible, unspeakable things. I thought humans needed to be ruled. I wanted to rule. But even I know that it's not right to take away a person's life completely. These are innocent people. You are innocent people. You have families back home, parents, children", a pause and a softening of his features, "-love. A whole past, a whole future. That man had no right to take it away from you."

His powers of persuasion are foreign to her, and it's mesmerizing to watch. Her enchantments cannot hold a candle to how he is able to just talk people into doing what he wants, thinking what he thinks, seeing what he sees.

"He who remains had a plan. One, singular plan, from one, singular man." There is absolute conviction in his voice. "It's not the only way. We'll find another way. A better way."

She has never known what it is like to have someone see you for who you are- broken and flawed, and defend you- even your well-intentioned actions that yielded different results than what you expected and hurt them in the process. She suspects it has been the same for him, a lifetime of not having anyone have his back.

The warm feeling inside her is brand new. What is the name of this? Comfort? Relief?

Happiness?

---

This will be their first time out in the field in a long time, and she feels a little sick to the stomach.

He notices. "Are you alright?"

The concern in his voice tugs at her heartstrings. She nods. She has faced way worse, she shouldn't be so nervous about this, but she is. "I've never done this before."

"We can always just kill him and blame it on the Chitauris", he suggests with a serious face.

"I heard that", Peter yells from the other room, where he is doing whatever it is that teenagers do to prepare for battle.

She shakes her head in disbelief. "I can't believe we're babysitting."

"I've done this before", he assures her, and it surprises her to picture him being entrusted with such a serious task. "The trick is to conjure up illusions that keep them distracted enough to not cry."

She laughs. "You're thinking of infants. This one is a little older."

"I'm over a thousand years old, Sylvie. They're all infants to me."

Peter joins them, mask covering his face so that he doesn't reveal his identity. "So what do I call you? Loki and Loki? That's confusing. How about Loki and Lady Loki? Or is that offensive? I'm not suggesting women are inferior, because they're absolutely not..."

"Does he come with an off switch?" She whispers in horror as Peter rambles on.

Loki grins. With one wave of his hand and a flash of green, Peter's own webbing shoots out and seals his mouth shut.

---

Things are fine but not fine at the same time. He's right there beside her, but not there at all. They have their banters, they have their stolen glances, but they haven't had a meaningful conversation since that first day when she got back. She's been putting it off for a long time, but she knows they really do need to have the talk.

She corners him in his room one evening while he's tinkering with a temporal collar. She takes a seat in the chair next to his bed and rests her hand on the table, leaning her head against her palm, before switching position and crossing her arms and legs. Everything about her posture screams uneasiness. If he notices- he probably does- he doesn't say anything.

"You defended me that day."

He briefly looks up from the task at hand and gives her a soft smile. "Of course."

She blinks. "I don't understand." Her hands involuntary rise up to rub her temples. "If you can justify my actions to them, then how can you still be mad at me?"

"I'm not mad at you", he says without missing a beat.

"Rubbish", her words come out angrier than she intended. This frustration is the result of the months of status quo they have had. She has to know now, one way or the other. "You're distant. You're guarded", she accuses. Then her voice breaks, as she feels a part of her break all over again with her next words. "You don't hold my hand. Why? Tell me."

He abandons the collar and focuses his full attention on her. Staring straight into her eyes, he answers her. "You know why."

"I wouldn't be asking if I did. Look, if it's because I chose the mission over you-"

"-Of course it's not that." He says decisively. Then a sad smile clouds his face. It's the same look he had when she accused him of conning her to gain the throne. "Do you think I'm the type of man who would want a woman to abandon her life-long ambitions just because she has met someone?"

She knows he isn't. But it still doesn't answer why he is so cross with her. "What is it then?"

He pauses for a moment, trying to decide whether he wants to bare his soul out to her once more or not. There are two ways he can go from here- choose to not let her in again and save himself from the hurt, or trust her again and open himself up to potential pain.

Who is he kidding? Pushing her away- keeping her away- doesn't hurt any less.

There were a thousand things that had to go wrong to bring two Lokis from two universes together. A connection like that, it doesn't just happen.

And it doesn't just go away. The pain is constant, it's a part of him, pounding like a second heart every second he has to stop himself from reaching out for her hand.

This has to come to an end.

He takes in a deep breath, bracing himself. "You didn't have to send me away, Sylvie. I wanted to stop you from making the same mistakes I did. But in the end, I didn't care what you chose. I just wanted us to do it together."

She never even imagined this could be the reason for his hurt. All these months spent thinking he hates her for her choices, and now it turns out he is hurt simply because she chose to do it alone? "I'm sorry." She says sincerely. "I just wanted you to be safe."

"And I just wanted to be there with you till the end." He confesses. His eyes shimmer with the emotions he has kept bottled in for so long. "You go, I go."

She doesn't know what to say to that. She has never been good at articulating her feelings. Tears stream down her cheeks at the realisation that even after everything, he is still there for her.

She didn't cry even back at Lamentis when they thought they were going to die. She doesn't let anyone see her cry when she is sad or scared. That's all she has known her whole life. She's used to it by now.

This is new. These are tears of relief. Comfort.

Happiness.

Tentatively, she crosses over to the bed and sits by his side.

It's quiet for a few minutes. But unlike the months of tension so thick she could cut it into splices with her daggers, this is comfortable silence. The kind they had before it all went wrong.

"Did you even miss me?" He whispers.

"What kind of silly question is that? Of course I did." Her shaking hands grab his, and oh how she missed this.

He intertwines their fingers. His eyes draw closed. Bliss. That's the only word for this feeling.

He opens his eyes again and studies her. She's staring back at him, teary-eyed, but with a hopeful smile. "Really? Because you have a really unique way of showing it. You didn't even come looking for me."

"I didn't know how to face you", she tells him honestly. No tricks, no enchantment, no treachery. Not with him. "I didn't know if you even wanted to see me." Her voice grows quieter, dropping to a timbre that perfectly encapsulates her deepest fear. "I thought you hated me."

"Hate you?" He is shocked that she thinks that is even possible, specially after seeing him these last few months. "Sylvie, I'm working with the Avengers. The Avengers. Do you know how much I hate them? They are my nemesis. They're self-righteous, condescending, and so completely dull. Every second with them makes me want to rip their hearts out. Why do you think I'm here with them?"

She thinks she knows. But she needs to hear it anyway.

"It's because of you." He lays it all out on the table. All cards on deck, win or lose. "You've been running away. I have been the one who has been here, trying to hold down the fort, working to fix everything. Because that is what one does when one loves-"

Shit. The word slips out before he realises it.

Their eyes go wide in unison.

"Sylvie, I-"

"-Don't you dare take it back now." She warns him. "I-" She doesn't know how to say it either. They make such a great pair, both equally daft at saying how they feel, like they are teenagers, not Gods who have lived for centuries. "I've been running because I didn't think I could bear the burden of knowing I found you and then I lost you. I don't want to lose you. Not now, not ever."

He kisses the back of her hand, before letting it go. He cups her face, gently caressing her cheeks with his thumbs. "I don't want to lose you either."

She leans in closer, until their foreheads touch. She can feel his breath on her face, warm and soft. That is exactly how she feels inside. "You won't", she promises. "You go, I go."

---

(Quote on Lesser Evil from The Witcher. Thanks for reading!!)

#fanfiction #fanfic #loki #loki disney+#loki x sylvie #sylki #sylvie laufeydottir #sylvie x loki #pro sylki

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pbandjesse · 2 years ago

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Today was a sleepy day. I did not mean to take a 3 hour nap at the end there. But I had gotten way to overheated and I apparently needed it. I am not shocked. It was not a bad day though.

I slept alright last night. And woke up at 830 in a good mood. James has given me a kiss before they left. And I was feeling alright. My foot was still really hurting but I was ready to make it through.

Anne had said we were going to start our garage sale at 10. I had a few more things to bring and I figured so we would have time to set up I would get there at 930. So I got washed and dressed and realized it was way hotter then I expected. So I changed to a lighter materialed dress. I had a little breakfast. And soon I was heading over there.

I am not gonna lie. I was pretty frustrated again. James had checked in and was told that she had hung posters and posted on social media and in the neighborhood app and stuff. Well apparently none of that had happened? So I was like. Well did you make signs? No. Alright get me some paper and I'll draw up a bunch.

So that's what I did. I tried not to be angry. But I just don't understand why she wants to keep having these if she isn't going to follow through at all. I tried not to be hurt but also like. I didn't need to be there. I could have just donated all my stuff months ago. Like I normally do.

It didn't help that my foot hurt and I was to hot. But I decided I would just. Shake it off and try to not feel upset anymore. And hoenslty it was a nice day overall. We chatted about rehearsal dinner. I finally got her to have a conversation with me about wedding stuff. Which now I know that she didn't know half of the stuff, they all would have known if they would have actually talked to us but whatever. At least she knows now. James is going to send things over to her so she can know who she needs to send invites to and plans for what she's responsible for. It was a good conversation and I feel better about stuff.

And we did sell things! We made about $65, with $10 of that being Tucker's bobble heads. We had some fun chats with people who came through. Lots of laughs. A nice set of girls who kept telling me I was so smart or a genius when I would tell them about how I like to donate small bags of clothes every time I thrift to get a coupon every time. And a nice couple with a dog. The girl is starting her first teaching job on Monday!! So proud of her. And we had a lovely older man who bought a bunch of stuff and I got his phone number to pass on to Tina out landlady as a possible new handy man for when Mr Will retires for real. His name is Jimmy and he was very kind. He decided my nickname is 'the graduate's because I misunderstood a question (I thought he asked if I was in school, and I was like what no? I have my masters. But he was asking something else and I just misheard! But it lead to a nice talk about art and stuff). I had a good time.

We finished up around 1. And puked everything back in the garage. Covered things with sheets and maybe will have one more before winter but almost all my weekends are promised to other things between work and the wedding. We will have to see I guess.

I was excited to go home though. The heat has really gotten to me and I was very hungry. I decided I would go to Burger King on the way home. I have had that in forever. And while impossible burgers kind of make me nauseous, the one at Burger King doesn't usually do that.

The line was pretty slow going. But I got my food. And a milkshake. And got back home around 130. I got in and didn't even unpack anything. Just made my plate and ate and watched a video. I felt really exhausted.

I wish I had done more this afternoon. But I did not. I just laid down. Watched a show. And eventually fell asleep.

James woke me up briefly coming home but I fell back asleep and would keep sleeping until 6. James was playing DND with their friends online.

I had the rest of my milkshake I had put in the fridge. And went to work on my alphabet blocks. I got another set done, only one set left. But my tablet wouldn't stop disconnecting from the internet and so I could like get a brainless flow going and I got frustrated and gave up. I'll finish the last one tomorrow.

Now I am going to go shower and get ready for bed. Tomorrow I hope to do lots of art. I may go buy yarn for my temperature blanket. But mostly I want to rest and make things. I hope it's not so hot. And you all have a great day.

Goodnight everyone! Take care of yourself!

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imagine-that-one-thing · 3 years ago

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Rise Of Glory || 6

Again, it cries, and again, and again.

Harry and I wander to the cobble steps to his mother's house, Alex asleep in Harry's arms from the long drive. The drive was quiet, not because I am tired but because I don't know what to say at this point. Nothing I do or say is going to change things or make anything better. I am at a loss.

The door opens, and his mother stands in the doorway, bewildered by our sudden appearance. I don't blame her. It is unlike us to abruptly show up on her doorstep. Most of the time, Harry gives her a heads up.

She grants us her routine tender smile and ushers us inside.

"What brings you two here suddenly?" Harry's Mum questions.

I glance towards Harry, curious as to what he plans to tell her. Telling your mother you only came to visit to see a grave is not something you'd want to admit out loud or at all.

"Uh," Harry clears his throat, "The media have swarmed my building and are starting to come out at the house. We came here to get a break," Harry answers, opening his arms to half-hug his mother, who he has missed dearly, he won't admit it, but he has. He may hate having to come to Cheshire, I don't think that will ever change, but he loves having his mother back in his life at a more constant and healthier level. Their relationship has improved tremendously since I came here when we first started dating all those years ago. I still remember that weekend like yesterday.

It was the weekend I realised that the man I was falling in love with gives everything he has, mentally, emotionally and physically, to his mother and sisters wellbeing. He'd allow himself to drown a million times if it meant his family could stay afloat.

"I'm going to put him down," Harry informs his mother and me, giving me a tired smile before walking past me and down the hallway towards Harry's old bedroom.

Harry's Mum peers over towards me, her brows furrowing and her lips pursing; I can tell her thoughts are ticking away and that something is playing intensely on her mind. She has the same expression Harry has when he wants to say something but leaves the words on the tip of his tongue, unsure of whether to say them or not.

I cock my head to the side, debating myself whether to give her the go-ahead to tell me whatever is on her mind.

"He's lying to me," Anne bluntly states before I can figure out how to ask her what's on her mind, "You had to have left at around 3 in the morning to be here by now. He's tired, almost like he hasn't slept in days," she points out, "And you… you look exhausted too. I don't believe it's the media at your house that caused you both to drive up here… I'm not complaining. I'm just… I'm curious."

"It has been a long week for him. He wanted to get away." I don't know who I am trying to convince more, myself or her.

"He hates it here with a passion. I have seen the articles."

I nod, agreeing with her. She knows the truth. Harry doesn't bother trying to hide the fact that he still hates this place. Even when we first started dating, he made it known he wasn't happy to be back. His home town brings back memories he doesn't want to remember, especially when he and his relationship with his mother were strained to the point they weren't speaking at all. "This is where he wanted to come."

"But it isn't where he wants to be… he hates it up here… are things that bad in London?" She questions softly, and I can't help but nod. She looks me up and down and bites her lip for a moment, almost as if she's holding back whatever thoughts are racing through her thoughts, "Are you and Harry okay? You're not fighting or?"

"We're fine," I immediately cut her off, "It's the business and the media that's pushing him off the rails."

"Mhm," she hums, "And you, are you okay?"

I give her a small smile and nod, "I'm okay."

"You're lying."

"Anne—"

"Honey, don't take this the wrong way, but you look exhausted. Have you slept at all?"

"It's been a rough few months," I softly respond, "It has taken a lot out of me."

The last three months have been an absolute roller coaster, mentally, emotionally and physically. I'm not quite sure how I've managed to keep things together to the extent I have. There are still days I feel like the world's weight is so heavily on me that I can't breathe. There are days I feel like I'm drowning and can't pull myself away. There are the days I feel like I'm finally okay and can breathe, but the second I manage to come up for air, there's something to pull me down, whether it's work-related, family-related or past related.

"Why didn't you call? Harry kept saying you were fine."

"I have been fine," I respond softly.

In all honesty, I have been fine… kind of. I'm as fine as what can be expected, considering the events that have happened. I'm not going to lie, I may be fine, but I'm still very much up and down when it comes to things. There are good days, and there are bad days.

"If you ever need me, I'm just a call away. You know that, right?" She offers me her sweet, caring smile that has always assured me of tough times and situations.

"Yes, I know."

"Okay, go get yourself some sleep."

"I have work I need to do once I get my laptop out of the car. We might be up here, but the business doesn't stop just because we aren't there."

"Well, at the very least, take a seat on the couch, put your feet up and relax for a minute. Let me at least make you some tea."

"You're too kind to me," I smile towards her.

"You're kind to my son. It's the least I can do for my darling daughter-in-law," she beams.

Anne hands me a steaming cup of tea as I answer a few emails from my phone, too tired to go out and get my laptop. "I have one last question."

"Mhm," I hum, waiting for her to ask what is on her mind.

"What happened to his hand?"

"Oh, he was washing dishes and somehow cut his hand," I tell her the truth.

I don't think it is my place to tell her about Logan or that Harry might be losing his mind. Right now, it is up to Harry to speak to her and want to talk about things. I cannot force him. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink. Harry will speak when he feels like speaking, and he will tell his mother when he is ready and on his terms.

I don't think I should be the one to tell her that we made the long drive up here just because Harry can't wrap his head around the fact Logan has risen from the dead. No mother wants to hear that as a reason as to why their son has finally visited.

I wish I could say that we visit here often for good occasions, but it is far from the truth. We come up here for holidays, and that is as far as it goes. I have made the drive a few times with Alex to get away from the city, but that has been on rare occasions. Harry doesn't like the idea of me making the drive on my own, and he hates having to come up here. We have settled on staying away from Cheshire and having his mother visit us when she can. I do wish things were a bit different. I do wish we lived closer to his Mum or came up here often. I think it would benefit Harry to be around his mother more and have a family sense. He has my family, but it is different. His mother is irreplaceable, and I know that deep down, he misses his sister. They may not be on the best of terms right now, but I know he loves and misses her.

When Alex is a little older, I would often like to bring him up here to see the neighbours' baby animals. He would love playing with the goats and picking fresh farm eggs, which is not as usual in our life. He would be thrilled to run the fields without a care in the world, a completely different environment compared to home. We have a lot of space for him to run around at home but nothing like the countryside.

❈ ❈ ❈ ❈ ❈ ❈

With Harry's fingers laced with my own, I pass the identical headstones that I passed in November of 2021, on the same day we buried Logan.

Nothing has changed about the cemetery. It's still as uncanny and ill-fitting as it was that day. The headstones are still cracked and withered with the voyage of seasons. It is a shame how the graves fade away. It's almost as though since these souls have left earth, nobody cares enough to fix up the graves that have cracked and deteriorated. It bothers me now like it did the day I walked through here a few years ago.

This cemetery is old, at least over 100 years old. I remember noticing some of the inscriptions when I was here last dated back to the 1800s. These monument stones of cold, decaying cement have presumably observed more people and tears of melancholy and exuberance than one could probably picture. And yet, nobody can take the time to take care of the graves. There are scarcely any flowers on the graves.

It disheartens me that as I escort past all these graves, I still feel saddened even years later because we pass by people who have once lived and wandered this very earth.

"Harry, are you sure it's this way?" I challenge as we pass another row of headstones.

I can't tell if my anxiousness tells me we have gone too far or if we need just to leave and go back home. Part of me doesn't want to wander any further than what we have. After all, walking through grave yeards is always eerie.

"I'm sure I know where my dead brother is buried," Harry grimly mutters, "I was here for it." Harry reminds me of the day he endured.

"No need to be so… morbid," I inform him, doing my best to keep my voice low. We don't need an argument in the middle of a cemetery, even if he is a dickhead.

I stop in my tracks, and Harry turns to glance at me as his hand leaves mine, "Why are you stopping?" Harry questions, and I can't help but take a moment to take in his features as a distraction.

I don't know how to tell him that I don't feel comfortable walking in this cemetery, I don't want to go any further, and I don't think this is a beneficial approach. Nothing good ever comes from this place. I push away my thoughts and feelings, "I couldn't remember if I checked on Alex before we left," I lie. I know I checked on Alex before we left. He was still asleep and cuddled up to his teddy bear.

"We both did, love. Mum knows what she's doing, and you know that, relax," Harry responds, kissing my cheek before lacing his fingers back with mine and beginning to walk again.

Harry and I come to an abrupt standstill, and the two of us become withdrawn while we take in the view of what's in front of us. Harry squeezes my hand gently, and I can't help but squeeze back, a small amount of reassurance for him to know that I am right here and that I can see the same thing he can see.

The deafening silence is intruded abruptly and without signal by the ghastly screech of a blackened crow— the same intense screech that I swear I first heard once Logan was buried in this plot.

Again, it cries, and again, and again.

I shiver as a tingle operates through my body, the character of the crow sounding like nails on a chalkboard. This is the same place I stood in years ago when the crow first screeched—Harry was squatting by the grave, gazing at the soil, and I was standing right here.

I take a breath of the crisp air, and my eyes immediately cast themselves on the crow that is shrieking. Its relentless stare catches my own before I take note that it isn't alone. Harry and I are outnumbered and are intently observed by one… two... three… four… five crows, possibly six; I can't tell if the shadow in the distant tree is one of them or not. Either way, I wish we had never come here. They say if you see five crows, sickness will follow; see six crows, and death will follow.

A gust of wind whisks past us, settling brittle, dead leaves to dance around our shoes to take my gaze away from the crows. I watch the leaves swing around our feet, twirling around us like vines, almost as though they're tightening around our feet and ready to pull us down. I caress my hand to my stomach as I observe the leaves tumbling, leaving me with a heavy feeling in my stomach that twists, knots, and tightens like the motions of the leaflets. The breeze declines, and the leaves become motionless.

I gaze back towards where the first crow was, only to find it gone, leaving me with nothing but an unsettling uneasiness in the pit of my stomach and an abandoned grave of where Logan used to rest.

#harry styles fanfic #harry styles imagines #harry styles fanfiction #imagine harry styles #harry styles prompts #harry styles blurbs #harry styles writing #fanfiction #harry styles fanfictions #Styles & Co #CEO harry #CEO harry edits #Imagine harry styles #harry styles fic #harry styles one shots #harry styles preferences #1d imagine

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unhingedselfships · 2 years ago

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Aaannndd

Answered! Feel free to ask me to elaborate or add or whatever tho!

1. Basic intro! Name, age, etc. Whatever you wanna include.

Kimberly Ann

Age varies but her bday is October 7th (Libra)

She/Her, Bi

I have a giant ass char sheet I could probably whip out parts of but it would need its own post

2. Appearance stuff. As complex or basic a description as you want. If you use this character in multiple verses, are there any features specific to RGG? Irezumi, other tattoos, story scars, etc?

This is also all on the giant sheet, but short and plus-size. A bit top heavy. Curly/wavy med-brown hair with random straight pieces depending on the day. Dark brown eyes. Pale. RGG-specific she has a decently severe scar on her upper arm, and is finally able to get the tattoos she wants.

3. What role do they play? Substory star, side character, background cast, love interest, protagonist, antagonist, the options are endless.

Starts out in the background, ends up love interest/side cast I suppose?

4. Where in the story line do they land?

In the background, Kimi exists from slightly pre Kiwami. As an actual present character, around Y3.

5. Does their existence make any major changes to the 'canon' story? Minor ones?

Depends on how indulgent I'm being. Anywhere from minimal changes prompted by existing, to major character and narrative changes like Nishiki surviving.

6. If they're from the mainline games, do they have an Ishin/Kenzan/Dead Souls version? Share as much as you want.

Ishin has its own post I need to put up actually. I'll link it when I do. I haven't done much of anything with Dead Souls yet.

7. If they are/were a protagonist/playable, what fighting style would they use in the beat-em-up games? What about turn based, what would their party role be?

I once joked with a friend that Kimi would use the “sacred American martial art” known as ‘Gun’. She isn't really suited for beat-em-ups, but turn based would prolly be workable.

8. What kind of mobs would they get accosted in the streets by?

“Well meaning” people trying to convince her she’s in danger. Fam she’s safer than you’re about to be if you don’t get your hands off her.

9. Are they related to any existing characters? What is that like?

Newp. No biological or preexisting familial relationships with canon.

10. Who do they get along with? How close are they?

Depends a lot on the timeline, but she’s friends with Nishiki, frenemies of a sort with Mine, and claims Saejima as her little brother even though he’s notably older and bigger than her. She’s friends with Hana and a few of the hostesses. She adores Haruka and the kids. She considers Nishida a trustworthy and reliable friend.

11. How about enemies? Or just people they don't like?

She doesn’t like a lot of people lmfao. She tends to take things personally. Luckily she can avoid most of them most of the time, so it's very “out of sight, out of mind”.

12. Do they have any family? Are they involved?

She does have a pretty large extended family back in America. They aren’t really involved in any way. She talks to them occasionally. I’ve debated tying a couple little threads but haven’t fully committed to it yet.

13. Do they have a fave 'mini game' activity?

Bowling! She’s terrible at it! Surprisingly good at darts though. This is surprising because her hand-eye coordination is terrible. If we count the business based ones, she loves dressing up the hostesses.

14. If they had their own special-to-them mini game, what would it be?

Uh. Maybe a match-3 style mobile game? I could see a multi-stage substory where you have to beat the levels she gets stuck on, given I do that to people IRL lmao. I’ll have to think more on this one.

15. What would their 'home base' look like?

She has her own apartment, even in verses where she lives with her partner(s). How often she stays there depends a lot on the situation but its important for several reasons that she has her own space. Lots of plants and books, and soft things. A modest but well kitted kitchen. Soft, soothing colors, although others might call them “moody” (I like grays and cool tones) and wide windows but with black out curtains. Definitely a balcony or outdoor seating space of some kind.

16. Bonus/DLC costumes! Serious, silly, anything goes.

Pajamas. Definitely. Also some kind of character onesie. Some kind of cheesy cat-maid outfit. Some kind of renn-faire costume. If we wanna go fan service-y as they tend to, probably a Catholic school girl outfit. Daigo’s puffy jacket over her normal outfit. A super fancy fitted four piece suit. As cliche a cowgirl outfit as she can find.

17. What canon city are they based out of? Do they travel to others?

Kamurocho, Sotenbori, or Okinawa, depending. She travels as the narrative demands. Or for vacations ;p

18. How about we introduce a new location just for them?

Hmm, somewhere in America for sure. Some quiet, tiny, mid-west town probably. No idea why they’d be there. An interlude of some kind. Or we could build some weird conspiracy plot line lmfao.

19. Canon has the cabaret, real estate, bakery. What would their 'business' be?

I’ve always wanted a bookshop/cafe. Otherwise maybe a florist stand. A tea shop might be cute too. Or something based around the paranormal/esoteric, but that sounds more substory material.

20. What are their 'signature collectibles', if they have any? (Cards, pocket racecar parts, etc.)

As a kid I had a toothbrush collection. I also collected dead bic lighters. And stamps. I was a weird kid. Now I’m a weird adult. As for a signature collectible? Hmm. I dunno actually. I’d have to think on it.

Yakuza/RGG/Like A Dragon OC/SI Ask Game

This is ending up a blend of specific to RGG questions and also general "introduce your character" questions. Oh well.

1. Basic intro! Name, age, etc. Whatever you wanna include.

2. Appearance stuff. As complex or basic a description as you want. If you use this character in multiple verses, are there any features specific to RGG? Irezumi, other tattoos, story scars, etc?

3. What role do they play? Substory star, side character, background cast, love interest, protagonist, antagonist, the options are endless.

4. Where in the story line do they land?

5. Does their existence make any major changes to the 'canon' story? Minor ones?

6. If they're from the mainline games, do they have an Ishin/Kenzan/Dead Souls version? Share as much as you want.

7. If they are/were a protagonist/playable, what fighting style would they use in the beat-em-up games? What about turn based, what would their party role be?

8. What kind of mobs would they get accosted in the streets by?

9. Are they related to any existing characters? What is that like?

10. Who do they get along with? How close are they?

11. How about enemies? Or just people they don't like?

12. Do they have any family? Are they involved?

13. Do they have a fave 'mini game' activity?

14. If they had their own special-to-them mini game, what would it be?

15. What would their 'home base' look like?

16. Bonus/DLC costumes! Serious, silly, anything goes.

17. What canon city are they based out of? Do they travel to others?

18. How about we introduce a new location just for them?

19. Canon has the cabaret, real estate, bakery. What would their 'business' be?

20. What are their 'signature collectibles', if they have any? (Cards, pocket racecar parts, etc.)

#ask game (pre) answered #I'd have added a cut to this #but im on mobile and its being ass #sorry lol #yakkimi #fun fact i have met 2 other kimberly anns and a kimberley anne #one of them was even born the same year as me

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thebrotherssalvatore321 · 3 years ago

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Keeping Secrets Ch. 58

Keeping Secrets Masterlist

Sunlight shining in through the curtains of the two windows of their bedroom attached to the nursery pulled Katie from sleep and as her eyes fluttered open they landed on Klaus’s hand on hers that rested on his chest. Her head was laying on the shoulder of his arm that was wrapped around her back. She thought he was asleep, but when she took a deep breath and closed her eyes, letting his scent wash over her like a comforting wave, the sound of his sleepy chuckle hit her ears and a blush colored her cheeks. However, her embarrassment faded when he turned his head and buried his nose in her soft auburn waves, breathing her in. A bright sleepy smile lit up her face as she looked up at him and he gave her a gentle smile back as he took his hand off of hers to brush a wave behind her ear. “Good morning, Big Bad Wolf.”

“Good," he paused as he whooshed around, now hovering over her from the side, "is a vast understatement, Little Phoenix.” he started trailing kisses down her neck. “Waking up with you in my arms feels bloody magnificent.” he told her and she laughed as he kissed his way to the hollow of her neck then down to the valley of her breasts. When he cupped both of them in his hands over her champagne, satin pajama top she took in a deep breath and bit her lips closed to mute her moan. A chuckle left his lips when he looked up from her chest to her eyes and he saw the veins under them. Once again he drank in the sight then gave her a crooked smile as his hands kneaded her breasts making her bite her lip again.

“Are you trying to torture me?” she asked breathily.

“My touch is torture?” he asked playing dumb.

“It is when I know it can’t lead to more for fear of waking our daughter.” she answered, a choked moan leaving her lips when he pinched her nipples between his thumb and pointer finger.

Knowing she was right, Klaus sighed and rolled off of her. “Fine."

Katie rolled over, straddling him as she looked down at him with a flirty twinkle in her eyes. "Just because we can't make love doesn't mean we can't fool around. How else will I learn to be quiet?" Klaus sat up and wrapped his arms around her making her laugh when he bit her neck with a growl.

After thirty minutes of making out and giggling like a couple of carefree teenagers, Klaus took her left hand into his, looking at the emerald cut diamond on her finger. “Tell me, have you thought about what you want our wedding to be like? Venue, color scheme, date, etcetera…”

“Venue...anywhere but Saint Ann's. Color scheme...something simple like cream with one pop of color, maybe blue or red?” she asked, getting a look from him that said he was considering it. "And a date…" She sighed and took his hand in hers, absentmindedly playing with his long fingers.. "I don't know...when your douchebag brother is no longer capable of crashing the wedding in an attempt to murder our flower girl?"

"How about dark azure blue as the accent color and we shoot for a week after whenever Finn is taken care of?" He asked with a Hopeful look.

"Both sound perfect to me." She agreed.

"Really?” he asked and she noticed his surprise. “I would have thought you’d want a longer engagement.”

“Why would I want to put off what I’m sure will be one of the happiest days of my life?” she asked. “I want to marry you as soon as it is safe to and two vital purchases have been made.” he gave her a curious look. “A wedding band for you and a dress for me.

“Speaking of…” he started as he got out of bed, went to the wardrobe in the room and pulled out a white, cotton garment bag with Kleinfeld Bridal written in the top right corner of it.

“You didn’t.” Katie told him with a tilt of her head as she got out of bed.

“I did.” he answered as he hung it on the open door of the wardrobe. “Of course that was before you changed your mind about it.”

“Oh no.” Katie pressed the palm of her hand to her head then looked up at him. “I am so sorry you went through all that trouble for nothing.”

“It was no trouble, I assure you.” he told her and she dropped her hand from her face. He motioned to the dress bag. “Look at it, make sure it’s the right one.”

As she grabbed the zipper pull he turned his back, still not looking at it just in case she changed her mind once she saw it in person. When the zipper was undone she pushed the garment bag aside revealing ivory satin, lace and swarovski crystals along the sweetheart neckline. “How did you find it?” Katie asked as she grabbed the pull and zipped the bag back up.

“I called Caroline.” he said as if it should have been obvious.

“She wasn’t suspicious as to why you wanted my dream dress when I wasn’t alive to wear it?” she asked as she walked around him and slipped her hands up his chest to hold the sides of his neck.

“I told her that I had planned on asking you to marry me and wanted to put it in your coffin with your ashes.” he answered. “She called me creepy, but gave up the information nonetheless.”

Katie laughed at Caroline calling him creepy as Klaus wrapped his arms around her waist. “Please tell me you don’t actually still have my coffin.” Katie told him, remembering that at one time she had her own, custom built antique white coffin.

“I don’t. It burned with the plantation.” he answered then grabbed her hand and pulled her back over to the bed with him. “Speaking of Caroline, that reminds me, there is something you should know about a friend of yours.” Katie gave him a curious look as he sat down in bed, leaning back against the headboard and she straddled his lap. “When I called your father to tell him about your death he asked if Nate had anything to do with it." Her curious look turned to a frown. "As it turns out Nate was a descendent of your half brother from your first life.”

“I didn’t have a half brother.” she said with a confused shake of her head.

“Bradley was going through some old family history files when he saw a familiar face. Nathanial Cian Easton.” Klaus answered. “Bradley’s files started with your first father at the top of the tree then followed three branches from him. Yours and your sisters from your mother and the youngest, a son, born by a woman named Nyarai.” Katie narrowed her eyes in thought as she shook her head before a look of realization struck her like a light bulb going off over her head. She slid off of Klaus and leaned back against the headboard beside him, her fingertips pressed to her lips. A few minutes passed before she looked up at Klaus. “I’m guessing you knew her.”

Katie nodded as her hand fell to her lap. "She was Mother's lady’s maid." Katie answered in shock. "A few years after my sister was born, Nyarai had a son. Everyone speculated who the father could have been because she was unwed and was never seen with any suitors." Katie sat up on her knees and looked at Klaus. "I guess Father decided Mother was incapable of producing a male heir." Klaus placed his hand over hers.

"Bradley feared, given the hatred your family harbored for the curse Hannah put on the women of your family, Nate’s line included, that he may have turned to put you down if you ever became fully reincarnated." Katie's eyes dropped to the comforter that she pulled up over herself, hating that one simple soul linking spell could do so much damage to a family. Klaus cupped her chin in his hand and lifted her head. "It was never Nate’s intention to kill you." He reassured her. “I never would have let him near you if I thought, even for a second, that he meant to bring you harm. He cared about you.” Katie was thinking about how things might have been different if she had known that Nate was her blood family, when Hope’s happy morning squeals filled the air. “It would appear as though our daughter is awake.” Klaus said with a smile in his voice as he took his arm out from around her waist.

“And she’s in a good mood.” Katie added as they both slipped from the bed. “Most mornings she wakes up crying.” While Katie threw on a satin robe Klaus went to their daughter and picked her up.

“Good morning, Princess.” he told her, getting a happy squeal from Hope in return as he walked back into the bedroom. He was opening his mouth to say something when a knock on their door cut him off.

Katie walked over and pulled it open. “Good morning.” Rebekah greeted them as she walked into the room then turned to Katie. “You never gave me an answer about the whole maid of honor thing.”

“And you feel an answer is important enough to warrant bursting into our room?” Klaus asked and Rebekah looked at him over her shoulder where he stood in the doorway to Hope’s room and rolled her eyes then looked back at Katie.

“Regardless of your answer I’d still like to take you dress shopping today. Seeing as you have no interest in wearing the one of a kind dress Nik hunted down for you.” Rebekah told her, making Katie give her a small smile. “We'll make a proper girls day out of it.”

“I appreciate the thought, but shouldn’t you be trying to find a way to bring Kol back like you promised?” Katie asked.

“If anyone can multitask it’s me.” Rebekah replied. “And that’s still not an answer.”

Klaus started laughing and Katie looked past Rebekah to him. “You know the longer you make her wait, the more persistent she will become.”

Katie thought about it, Caroline was miles away, unable to help her plan her wedding like a maid of honor should, but Rebekah was right there practically begging for the job. Not to mention it was starting to feel like she and Rebekah truly were sisters. “I suppose it is possible to have two maids of honor.” Katie thought to herself. “Rebekah, would you do me the massive favor of being my maid of honor?”

“Really?” Rebekah asked with wide, excited eyes.

"It would be kind of a co-maid of honor situation because I promised Caroline a long time ago that if I ever got married that she'd be my maid of honor. She, Bonnie and Elena will always be lifelong friends of mine but," Katie walked over to her and grabbed Rebekah's hands "over these past few months you haven't just been there for Hope, you were there for me too. You didn't let me shut down and push you away or spiral or hyperfocus to keep from letting too much in at one time...You are my best friend now."

"And sometime very soon we'll be sisters." Rebekah told her with a smile then engulfed her in a hug making Katie laugh before she let her go. “Meet me in the courtyard in an hour.” she told her as she walked to the still open bedroom door then turned back and gave Klaus a cheeky look that was totally Rebekah-like even in the new body she was hopping a ride in for the time being. “Or do you plan on making her moan your name at top volume again? Because if that’s the case I’ll take Hope to the other side of the house and give the two of you a few hours longer.”

“Rebekah!” Katie grabbed a throw pillow off of the bench at the end of the bed and threw it at her head, but she easily dodged it with a laugh.

“Was that a yes or a no? I can’t tell.” Rebekah asked.

“That was an, it’s none of your bloody business.” Katie answered with a wide eyed look. Rebekah just shook her head with a smile on her face as she shut the door.

“Well, I never thought I’d see that.” Klaus said, making Katie turn to look at him, still holding his content daughter.

“See what?” Katie asked as she walked over and wrapped her arms around both of them.

“My sister and my finacée, besties.” he answered with a toothy smile.

“Would you prefer us go back to the love, hate relationship we had before?” Katie asked with a playful look.

“Nope, I actually quite like it when the people I love get along with one another.” he told her before Hope squealed and smacked Katie on the chest making them both smile down at her.

“So it seems the king and his princess will have the palace all to themselves today.” Katie commented as she grabbed Hope’s hand and Hope wrapped her little fingers around one of Katie’s. “Is that okay with you?” she asked and she looked up at Klaus. “You’ve never had her all to yourself before.”

“Rest assured she will be perfectly and completely spoiled rotten while you are away.” he gave her a closed lipped smile that showed off his dimples, making her smile back. “You deserve a day without our daughter on your hip just as much as Hope and I deserve to get to know one another.”

“I would say if you need anything call me, but I no longer have a phone to reactivate. It got blown up along with the pictures of us and old voicemails from you that were on it.” she told him with a disappointed look.

“That is why…” he set Hope on her play mat then went to his bedside table, “I got this as soon as you agreed to come home.” he turned back to her and handed her a new cell phone. “All of your photos and voicemails were stored in the cloud and have been downloaded on it as well as all of your contacts. So you can call your Mystic Falls friends and inform them of your miraculous rise from the dead whenever you wish.”

She turned on the phone to see he had set her background image to a picture of the painting he had bought for her on their first date that now hung in the bedroom of their quarters, making her smile at the memory of that day. “You’re awesome.” she told him as she tucked her phone into her back pocket then pecked him on the lips. “I was actually hoping you could help me call Caroline this time.” Katie told him as she glanced at Hope to make sure she was still on her mat. “I don’t want my voice to be the first one she hears when she answers the phone.”

“What would you like me to say?” he asked as he pulled his phone out of his pocket, assuming that she would want his name to pop up on Caroline’s phone instead of Katie’s.

“I don’t know, you’re you, be creative.” she shrugged.

He smirked at her as he pulled up Caroline’s contact information and hit call. “Hello?” Carline’s sleepy voice answered.

“Collect call from,” Klaus started, then held the phone out to Katie for her to say her name.

“Your very best friend in the whole wide world.” Katie filled in the blank.

“Do you accept the charges?” Klaus finished.

Katie could hear the rustle of blankets and the springs of a mattress popping as Caroline moved around in her bed. “Klaus, if this is a prank it’s not funny.”

Katie laughed. “It’s not a prank, Care.”

“Katie?” Caroline’s voice perked up. “How are you alive? Klaus said that the witches killed you and your baby. Bonnie saw you on the other side.” Caroline asked as Katie took the phone and put it to her ear.

“Well technically they did, so he wasn’t lying about that, and they did try to Kill our daughter, but we stopped them. Her name is Hope, by the way.” Katie answered. “I had her blood in my system when they killed me, so I came back."

“You’re a vampire again?” Caroline asked and Katie hummed a positive answer. “That’s why you disappeared when Bonnie saw you, because you were no longer on the other side.” Katie once again hummed a yes. “So why did he tell me the two of you were dead?”

“The witches who took her and tried to kill her were acting on the behalf of Esther. It was her decree that Hope never be allowed to live. So we let everyone believe the witches had succeeded and went into hiding. It was the only way to keep Hope safe.” Katie explained. “But Esther is no longer a problem, so we’re no longer in hiding.” Katie decided to leave out the part about Finn to make the explanations shorter. Caroline was quiet as she processed everything. “I am so sorry we had to lie to you guys again.”

“Katie, seriously?” Caroline asked. “You were protecting your daughter, I’m not mad. Well, I mean, I’m a little mad, but I’ll get over it.”

Klaus picked up Hope. “I’m going to go feed her.” he told Katie who nodded and watched him walk out of their room with Hope in his arms, talking to her in a sweet voice as he did.

“I can not picture Klaus holding a baby, much less feeding one.” Caroline commented having heard him.

“He’s actually settling into fatherhood a lot better than I thought he would, all things considered.” Katie replied with a soft smile on her face. “How’s everyone back home?”

“Mystic Falls as a whole is flourishing considering vampires can’t cross into its borders.” Caroline answered.

“What?” Katie asked with a squished up face.

“A bunch of crazy Travellers put a spell on the town that cancels out all spirit magic that enters it. So if we go inside, the magic keeping us alive disappears and we’ll die of whatever killed us the first time.” Caroline explained. “So for example if you were to pass through the border, your throat would be slit and you’d be dead, permanently this time.”

“That sucks.” Katie said, not knowing what else she could say to something that sounded so crazy

“Tell me about it.” Caroline scoffed. “I’m guessing Klaus told you about Bonnie and Damon?” she asked and Katie hummed, sadness at never seeing their faces again, washed over her and her eyes watered. “Well, Damon’s back, but Bonnie’s not. Apparently Bonnie’s grams put them in a prison world for some murderous psychopath named Kai before the other side was destroyed. Damon made it, but Kai messed up the spell before Bonnie could get out. We don’t know if Kai killed her or if she’s still just stuck in there with him.”

“I really don’t know what to say to all of that.” Katie admitted as she placed her fingertips to her lips.

“And on top of all of that, after Damon disappeared instead of grieving like a normal person, Elena started taking some kind of witchy concoction that let her see him. The more she took it the more blood thirsty she got so she asked Alaric to compel away all her memories of her and Damon. Now Damon’s going crazy trying to get her to remember their relationship.” Caroline practically ranted.

“Poor Damon.” Katie sighed as she pushed her hair back out of her face. “I don’t care what happened, if Klaus ever died there is no way in hell I would ask Rebekah or Elijah to compel away all of my memories of us. No matter how much it would hurt.”

“I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but yeah...poor Damon.” Caroline agreed.

“So what about everyone else, Stefan, Matt, Jeremy, your mom, Bradley…” she listed the first people that came to her mind.

“Well, after Damon and Bonnie disappeared Stefan just left and started over somewhere else, but now that Damon’s back, so is he.” Caroline answered. “Matt is...still Matt. Jeremy is dealing with losing Bonnie in usual Jeremy style.”

“So booze and pot?” Katie asked.

Caroline hummed a positive answer. “Mom's still mom. She and your dad are still going strong even though he can’t go home.” Caroline got quiet for a second. “Oh and Tyler’s back. He’s human now and has turned over a new leaf, he’s even started going to college at Whitmore, but we’re not back together. No matter how much he apologises I just can’t be with someone who would try to kill your unborn baby.”

“That’s...good to hear.” Katie commented. “The, not giving him a second chance, part. I could kind of care less about anything other than he’s dropped the whole revenge thing against Klaus.”

“Hey, why’d you call your dad Bradley instead of Dad?” Caroline asked, sounding like she thought she might be overstepping somehow.

“Probably because after I left Mystic Falls he never once called to check in or even sent a single, “Hey, how’s it going?” text.” Katie answered. “If he were any kind of dad he would have.”

“You know that’s a two way street, right?” Caroline asked. “You could have called him just as easily as he could have called you.”

“He’s the one who abandoned me and left me with Grandfather. I don’t think it should be my job to extend the olive branch even more than I already have by giving him a chance in the first place.” Katie answered.

“Fair point.” Caroline agreed.

“So where’s Elena, aren’t you two sharing a dorm room?” Katie asked, a little confused.

“We did, but I...dropped out.” Caroline answered. “I couldn’t balance college and trying to find a way to fix what the travellers did to our home.”

“I’m sorry.” Katie said with a frown. Caroline had been so excited about college the last time they had spoken.

“Eh, college will always be there when I’m ready to go back.” Caroline replied indifferently.

Rebekah opened the bedroom door catching Katie’s attention. “Have you seriously not even showered yet?” she asked, seeing Katie still in her robe and her hair a tousled mess.

“Who is that?” Caroline asked, not recognizing Rebekah's new voice.

“That would be my now official future sister-in-law who is stuck in the body of a witch thanks to Esther. It's a long story.” Katie answered Caroline then covered the speaker of the phone and spoke to Rebekah. “I am talking to my other maid of honor, give me a few more minutes and I’ll start getting dressed.” Rebekah rolled her eyes and closed the door.

“Wait, hold on,” Caroline said in a serious voice, “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” Katie just giggled in response. “Klaus proposed?!” Caroline asked and Katie could easily picture the shocked and happy look that she was sure was on Caroline's face at the moment.

“And I said yes.” Katie answered.

“Oh my god, Katie, I’m so happy for you.” Caroline practically squealed. “Wait, that’s why Klaus called me wanting the style number of the dress you liked on Say Yes to the Dress, isn’t it? Did he find it? Have you set a date yet? What is your theme? Please tell me it's not sunflowers and burlap. That look is so overdone these days.”

“Caroline.” Katie laughed.

“I know, I know, I need to calm down, but I can’t help it. I’m just so happy and excited for you.” Caroline told her then took a deep breath and let it out. “Okay, I’m calm. So tell me what you have planned so far.”

“Not much honestly.” Katie answered. “Klaus did find the dress, but I'm not going to wear it.”

“What, why? It’s freaking gorgeous.” Caroline asked, sounding disappointed.

“Because it’s not me anymore.” Katie answered. “Since you like it so much, why don’t I send it to you? You can save it for your own wedding someday.”

Caroline scoffed. “Yeah, okay, like that will ever happen.”

“Hey, you never know. Your one true love could be right under your nose and you just don’t know it yet.” Katie told her jokingly.

“So do you have a new dress in mind? I can get Mom to dig out your mom's dress and send it to you if you want.”

“No, that's okay.” Katie answered. “Rebekah is actually waiting for me to get dressed so she can take me dress shopping. I’ve kind of asked her to be a co-maid of honor. I hope that’s okay.”

Caroline was quiet for a few minutes before she sighed. “Yeah...it’s fine. I just wish you guys could get married here in Mystic Falls so that I could be the active maid of honor.” she could hear the sadness in her voice.

“I know, me too.” Katie agreed, sounding almost as sad.

“Okay...go dress hunting with your future sister-in-law.” Caroline told her, pouting. Which only made Katie smile.

“You will have your responsibilities too, Care. Don’t worry.” Katie laughed. “I’ll talk to you later and text you a picture of the dress before I buy it.”

“You better. I want every detail.” Caroline told her seriously.

“Oh, and can you get Elena and Damon to call me when they have a chance?” Katie asked and Caroline said she would before they hung up.

TVDTVDTVD

After showering, braiding her bangs back out of her face, tying the rest of her hair up into a messy bun and getting dressed in a pair of dark wash, distressed denim shorts, a black form fitting tank top with a sheer lace racerback and a pair of strappy black sandals she found Klaus in the kitchen feeding Hope a bowl of mashed bananas and oatmeal cereal. She grabbed a blood bag out of the icebox and was about to rip it open when Klaus noticed what she was doing and spoke up. "Have you forgotten that the hired humans offer more services than just housekeeping?"

She looked at him to see a smirk on his face as he jerked his head at the woman standing quietly in the corner of the kitchen with her hands folded politely in front of herself. The woman walked over and held out her wrist “I’m fine. Thank you.” Katie told her so the woman nodded and went back to where she had been before.

Klaus thought it odd that she refused fresh blood when once upon a time she referred to blood bags as tv dinners, but he brushed it off thinking she was just in a hurry because Rebekah was rushing her.

When she was done putting the blood in a coffee tumbler she walked over to them and slid her hand over his shoulders as she leaned around him, “Okay, I’m headed out.” she pecked him on the lips as Hope babbled and hit the tray of her high chair with a spoon.

“Be careful. We still don’t know Finn’s whereabouts.” he warned her.

“I will. Promise.” she answered then kissed him again. “Just...do me a favor and don’t feed her beignets while I’m gone.”

Klaus feigned shock. “I would never.”

“Uh huh, sure.” Katie told him, walking backward toward the door. “If I find a trace of powdered sugar on her you will pay for it.” she pointed at him playfully.

“Is that a threat?” he asked with wide, joking eyes.

“That’s a promise, Big Bad Wolf.” she laughed then turned and walked out.

TVDTVDTVD

After a completely montagable day of wedding dress shopping Katie picked a dress that both Rebekah and Caroline agreed on. But, while her maids of honor could agree on a wedding dress for her they couldn’t agree on any one maid of honor dress for themselves. So to stop the arguing over speakerphone, Katie finally told them she didn’t care what they wore as long as their dresses were matching shades of azure blue.

Rebekah also insisted that to make it a proper girls day they had to get their hair and nails done. So when Katie walked into the courtyard with her hair that had grown six inches since her last haircut, cut shoulder length and layered, Klaus took notice, his eyes lingering on her a second or two longer than usual. “You look refreshed.” he told her as she walked over and sat down beside him where he sat on the floor with Hope on a blanket beside the fountain in the center of the courtyard. Hope had a teething ring in her hand slinging it around. “And you cut your hair.”

“Do you like it? I’ve never thought to ask if you have a preference when it comes to the length of my hair.” she asked as she reached up and twirled a shoulder length auburn curl around her finger.

“As long as I can run my fingers through it I’ll be happy.” he answered and she smiled as he slipped his fingers through her hair at the nape of her neck and pulled her in for a kiss. “Did you have a good time?” he asked as they turned their attention to Hope.

“Yes, and I found a dress. It’s at the tailors, but once they are done they will call me for the final fitting.” she answered.

“One step closer.” he told her with a cheeky smile that made her bump his shoulder with hers and shake her head.

Katie leaned down and looked Hope over. “Hmm, is that a speck of powdered sugar on her onesie?” she asked then looked over her shoulder at Klaus with a raised brow and a smirk.

Klaus laughed, “You are looking for reasons to punish me.”

“Maybe.” she said with a noncommittal shrug as she sat up. “But who’s to say you won’t like your punishment?”

“Come here you.” he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her into him, kissing her deeply. “You can save your punishment for later tonight.” he told her when the kiss broke. “I’ve asked Camille to babysit so that you and I may have a date night. It’s been too long.”

"Would you like me to cook dinner?" She asked with a Hopeful look.

"Well, I'd be hurt if you didn't." He answered with a mock serious look then gave her a smile.

TVDTVDTVD

Katie was setting a basket of cheddar biscuits in the center of the dining table in the small dining room when Klaus joined her. “It smells delicious, Love.” he commented as he sat down at one of the two place settings and she sat down across from him. Soon after, the woman that had offered Katie her wrist earlier that day, brought out two plates of jambalaya. “It seems someone has expanded their Louisiana recipe book.” he told her with a smirk as he grabbed his fork and took a bite.

"I also know how to cook crawfish etouffee, gumbo from scratch, and catfish Courtbouillon." She told him with her head held high. "If it sucks, blame Rebekah. She was my guinea pig."

Klaus took a bite and hummed, enjoying the Cajun cuisine. "You are truly talented, Little Phoenix."

She just smiled, happy he liked it and things fell comfortably silent for a few minutes as they both enjoyed their meal, but eventually Klaus grabbed a cheddar biscuit from the basket and asked, "I've been thinking about a venue, but I do not know much about your preferences. Where did you picture your dream wedding taking place?"

"My teenage wedding dreams never really made it past the dress." She answered and he gave her a look that told her to give him something to work with. "When I was talking to Caroline earlier today she mentioned that she wished we could get married in Mystic Falls and I pictured the double staircase in the entryway of your mansion-”

“Our mansion.” he interrupted her with his fork pointed at her. “Your father took your house there, besides once we say our vows what’s mine becomes yours.”

“Oh, so you’re not going to make me sign a prenup?” she asked with a challenging lift of her brows to which he rolled his eyes and gave her a ‘seriously?’ look. “Anyway.” she laughed. “I pictured flowers and twinkling lights on the railing of the stairs. Everyone sitting down below, looking up at us at the top of them, while we say our vows.” she answered. “But that was just a fleeting thought.” she shrugged then took the last bite of her jambalaya.

“Is that what you want, to get married in Mystic Falls?” he asked

“No.” she answered with a shake of her head. “I’ve just always liked that house. Even before you renovated it.” He gave her a curious tilt of his head that asked her to explain why. “During the summer, before I was old enough to work at the grill, I would sneak out at night and ride around the back roads of town on my bike. The road the mansion is on was my favorite one to take and every time I took it I’d stop and stare at that house, trying to imagine what it must have looked like in its prime because even when it was broken down and falling apart it was beautiful.”

“Maybe we could go there on our honeymoon.” he suggested. “You can visit your friends. I know you still miss them.”

“I do miss them and I would like to visit Mystic Falls, but we can’t. Vampires can’t enter Mystic Falls right now or we’ll die. Something about travelers casting an anti magic spell on it.” she told him sadly and they both got quiet for a minute.

When they were done eating Klaus stood from the table and held his hand out to her. “Come with me.” she placed her hand in his as she stood then let him lead her to the main entrance of the compound that they hardly ever used. Showing her the double staircase that led up to a curved balcony with tall cream colored columns on each side of it that went from floor to ceiling. “I know it’s not as grand as the mansion, but-” he slipped his hand into hers, taking over her reality, changing the entryway before her eyes.

The metal railing of the stairs was decorated with white hydrangeas, little azure blue flowers and twinkling lights. A priest stood up above them, under an arch decorated with greenery, flowers and more lights. All of their friends and family stood below, looking at them with smiles on their faces. She looked down at herself to see she wore a trumpet silhouette dress with a satin skirt and a sexy bodice of strategically placed lace that let a tasteful amount of cleavage and side boob show. “I recognize this dress. It’s the first one that popped up on my google feed when I typed in “Pnina Tornai” and “sexy”.”

“Feel on top of your head.” he told her with a smirk.

So she reached on top of her head and when she felt cold metal, pulled it off to see in her hands a simple cletic knot tiara with a single blue teardrop sapphire at its peak.

“You’re trying to give me a big head again, Big Bad Wolf.” she told him as he let the vision fade. “Is that your way of telling me you want me to wear a tiara?” she asked with a raised brow.

“You can wear whatever you'd like.” he answered. “What do you think?” he asked with a motion to the entryway.

“I think you solved the no venue problem.” she told him with a smile.

“So you like it?” he asked as she stepped around to stand in front of him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

“It’s perfect.” she told him then caught his lips with hers. She had meant for it to just be a peck, but he deepened it, pulling a sigh from her as she melted into him. When it broke she gave him a smirk that let him know exactly what she wanted and he whooshed them up to their quarters.

TVDTVDTVD

They were lounging in their pj's in the bed in their quarters when Katie remembered they had forgotten about dessert and grabbed her phone off the nightstand. "What are you doing, Love?" Klaus asked curiously.

"Nothing." She told him evasively and when he tried to sneak at her phone she turned it away from him.

They were fighting over her phone when a knock sounded at the door. Katie slipped from the bed and Klaus followed. When she opened the door the woman from the kitchen, who Katie had gotten to know while she was cooking, holding a round silver tray of square pastries covered in powdered sugar came into view. "You made beignets." He observed with a closed lipped smile at her. "You spoil me."

"That was the plan." She told him as she took the tray from the woman. "Thank you, Laura." the woman nodded.

"You know what goes splendidly with beignets?" He asked as he walked over to Laura and grabbed her hand. His irises turned amber before he bit her wrist. After a few seconds of drinking he looked up at Katie and watched as she swept the woman’s straight brown hair away from her neck, letting blood fill her eyes as she looked into Klaus’s and bit the woman’s neck.

After a minute they both let go of Laura and Klaus dismissed her as he wrapped his arm around Katie’s waist and pulled her into him. His other hand grabbed her thigh and pulled her leg up as she pressed her against the wall by the door, their bodies writhing against each other as his lips traveled the exposed skin of her neck.

TVDTVDTVD

Katie’s head rested in Klaus’s lap, his hand absentmindedly playing with her loose waves, both lost in thought. Katie glanced up noticing he looked a little worried. “You okay?” she asked as she sat up, covering herself with the throw blanket that was usually on the back of the couch.

“Finn and Kol were not the only members of my family that Esther pulled from the other side before it’s collapse. She also brought my father, Ansel, back.”

“What?” Katie asked, curious as to why Esther would bring back Klaus’s father.

“She tried to use him to get me to take her up on her offer to become mortal.” he answered. “She offered to put me in the body of a wolf, to let me join Ansel and have the father I always wanted.” she knew when tears formed in his eyes that it didn’t end well between them. “I used to tell myself that my real father must have had no idea I existed, but he did know. Mother forbade him from seeing me. So, according to him, he waited knowing that one day I would trigger my curse and need my real father.”

“But Mikael killed him before he could step up.” Katie finished and he nodded.

“Ansel thought I should accept mothers offer. That as a wolf I would be king to an entire species and would know true peace.” Klaus continued. “I would be lying if I said the prospect of it all wasn’t appealing, that I wouldn't have liked to have been the son of Ansel.”

“But his offer was too little too late.” she finished.

“Not to mention he knew Hope was alive.” Katie’s brows furrowed at his statement. “When a werewolf is in their animal form they feel everything more acutely. Ansel said that when I was a boy, after each full moon he would wake closer to my village, having been drawn to me in the night. Since he’d come back each month he would wake further from New Orleans. He was drawn to Hope.” Katie blinked at him knowing the look on his teary eyed face. “He wanted to help me protect her, but I knew mother would take his good intentions and twist them against us. So I killed him…” Katie reached up and wiped a tear that fell. “I wanted to trust him. I wanted my father, but I would not be able to forgive myself if something happened to Hope...to you, because of my selfish need for a father.”

She moved to straddle him, holding the sides of his neck as she rested her forehead on his. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” she asked and he gave her a look that said it all. He was afraid of what she’d think. "I'm not disappointed in you, Big Bad Wolf.” she lifted her head and slipped her fingers through his hair. “I just wish that for once, you could have everything you want." he simply grabbed her sides and rested his forehead on her chest.

After a few minutes of comforting silence she slipped from his lap, put on a cotton robe then walked over to the table in the entry room and grabbed the tray of beignets. She put them on the coffee table between the two couches in the sitting room then sat sideways in his lap, grabbed a beignet and rested her arm on his shoulders as she held the pastry up to his lips.

He took a bite and let his head fall back with a hum, enjoying the flavor of the fluffy, sugared, New Orleans donut. “Is there anything you can’t cook?” he asked as he opened his eyes and took the beignet from her fingers and took another bite.

“Soufflé and divinity.” she answered then licked the powdered sugar from her fingers. “I’ll screw it up every time.” Klaus didn’t reply, his mouth too busy with the dessert. “I did a good job then?” she laughed.

“Have you tried your little masterpieces?” he asked and she shook her head no so he held the last bite up to her lips.

She took it and made a surprised face. “Why is this so good? It’s just dough and sugar.” she asked with her hand over her mouth.

“I told you, the food here is some of the best in the world.” he told her with a look at the tray on the table. She grabbed him another off of the tray and handed it to him. She watched him eat the pastry, both of them completely relaxed and content. “Everything alright, Love?” he asked when he saw her eyes watering.

“Perfectly.” she answered quietly. “I just really missed moments like this is all.”

Klaus cupped her cheek in his hand, slipping his thumb over her cheekbone. “Why don’t we go look in on our daughter before we call it a night?” he asked and Katie slipped from his lap and held her hand out for his. He took it then got dressed and they walked hand in hand to their daughters room. Cami was asleep in the rocking chair while Hope was fast asleep in her crib. “Should we wake her?” Klaus asked with a look at Cami.

“Yeah, that chair can’t be comfortable.” Katie answered as she walked over and rubbed Cami’s shoulder, waking her. “Hey.”

“Hey.” Cami echoed as she rubbed her eyes.

“Thanks for watching her.” Katie told her as Cami stood up. “We got it from here.”

“Are you sure?” Cami asked with a look at both of them who gave her a nod. “Okay.”

When Cami left both Klaus and Katie moved to look at Hope, their hands resting on the railing of the crib. “She is perfect isn’t she?” Klaus asked with a smile down at his daughter.

“Like her father.” Katie answered as she wrapped her arms around one of his and rested her head on his shoulder. He just gave her a smirk as he grabbed her hand and led her to their bedroom where he laid down on his back and she snuggled into his side. “Goodnight, Mo Rí.”

Klaus looked down at her and placed a slow lingering kiss to her lips. “Goodnight, Mo Bhanr��on.”

A/N: I'm going to try to put together a tag list for this story. So if you want to be added to it let me know.

#klaus mikaelson #klaus mikaelson fanfiction #the vampire diaries #tvd #the originals #elijah mikaelson #elijah mikaelson fanfiction #rebekah mikaelson #rebekah mikaelson fanficiton #freya mikaelson #freya #the mikaelson siblings #tvd fanfiction #the vampire diaries fanfiction #the originals fanfiction

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devinescribe · 4 years ago

Text

No Way

Chapter 5 to '100 Promises'

Chapter 4 | Chapter 6

Enjoy :)

"I am not wearing a bikini!" You shouted. "Well, just your luck, it's the only one left in your size, so unless you want to get shot, wear it," Niragi threatened, throwing it at you. You caught it with a huff, and sent a glare his way. He only sighed and rolled his eyes.

It was a simple, white, high waisted one. Nothing fancy, it was simple and you wouldn't stick out. You started getting undressed, and he laid back on his bed. He stared up at the ceiling, even though it's nothing he hadn't seen before. I mean, come on your two had lived together during and after college. As well as the multiple sleepovers in highschool. And the times you had to change quickly because of events... The point is, he's seen it before. You know, before he 'disappeared'. "So, anything new back in the old world?" He asked. You thought for a second.

"Well, I got the tattoo I told you about, the game you were working on before never got finished as you're one of their key programmers, your mom wanted to go through and delete things of your computer I stopped her don't worry, Mrs. Aiko got a new dog, our landlord is a bitch wich didn't change, just thought I'd give you an update, the coffee shop we went to gave me free coffee for a week because you 'died', I started playing Bendy and The Ink Machine like you told me to, and after you 'died' I got a goldfish- OH MY GOD I FORGOT ABOUT MY GOLDFISH!" You panicked. You had the bottom of the swimsuit on, and we're panicking. He looked towards you. "Finish getting dressed damn woman. Oh, and nice piercings, didn't know you had those," he said nonchalantly, nodding his head towards them. "Oh.. yeah I guess. Hurt like a bitch- stop distracting me from the fact that my son is going to die!" You went back to panicking as you put the top on. "Ok, ok, calm down. What's the fish's name?" He asked trying to distract you. ''His name is Tommy, and-and I got him when t-they pronounced you dead... I didn't wanna be alone," you answered back, stuttering over your words, the panicky feeling being a bit overwhelming for you. You finished getting dressed, picking up the clothes you had been wearing. He had seen that you were wearing one of his old hoodies, but said nothing, seeing as technically, back in the old world, he was dead. He didn't understand why you were so distressed over goldfish, but took 3 other human's lives only a few hours ago.

"Tommy?" He questioned. You nodded your head. "And our apartment was so quiet after you disappeared. I really thought you had died," you whispered. 'I hate that she's making me feel things... She can't get hurt because of me. Then I'll be alone again.'

"I'm sure he'll be fine. Why did you name him Tommy?" He asked, watching as you put on the hoodie you had been wearing. "Just because. I thought it was a cute name for a goldfish," you answered, calming down a bit. (Or, if you want, there's other reasons like let's say a certain... gamer? Mhm, that's what I thought. Simp.) You sat on the edge of the bed, fiddling with the sleeves of the hoodie you had in your lap "Also. If I'm not mistaken, that's my hoodie," he said, a smirk on his face. You looked down. "Yeah... it is. And what?" You answered back. "You can keep it," he said, going back to whatever he was doing. You sighed heavily, laying back on his bed. The second you did, your whole body felt the pain of the whole day. You cursed under you breath. "If I fall asleep, you are free to push me off the bed," you stated, laughing a bit. "You said you wouldn't bring that up," he huffed. "I lied~" you giggled. He could tell you were sleepy, but it didn't matter to him.

You two were over at his house, sitting at the kitchen counter. It was a few weeks after his mother had apologized for the things she had done, and life was peaceful for him when his dad wasn't home, which was a lot of time. His dad was out everyday at work and didn't come home till late. The other time his life wasnt peaceful was at school, where bullies tormented the both of you. "There's this new cafe we could go to?'' You suggested, looking at him. He had bags under his eyes, and was basically falling asleep on the chair. "Are you ok?" You asked, placing a hand on his forehead, checking for fever. He didn't seem to have one. "Fine... I'm fine, just tired," he muttered, pushing up his glasses. "Did you stay up playing that game?" You asked, pouting a bit. "No. I've been studying for a really big test coming up. I'm fine," he explained, yawning right after. "Come on, you need to go take a nap," you said, grabbing his hand and dragging him up to his room. "No I don't, I invited you over, it's rude of me to not spend time with you," he said, holding onto your hand, trying to pull you away from his room. "I don't care. You're tired, take a nap, I'll be right here when you wake up," you stated, pushing him onto his bed. He sighed, mumbling a thank you before falling asleep. You went to leave, but noticed his hand was still holding yours. You pouted, trying to get his hand off so you could sit on a chair in his room. "(N/N)... stay," he mumbled in his sleep.

You looked down at him, and smiled. You sat on the edge of the bed, and ran your hands through his hair, humming a song you'd heard. (I'd be humming Isabela's lullaby-) He had definitely fallen asleep a while ago, but you thought it would help. "You're an idiot sometimes, you know that?" You whispered. You knew he couldn't hear you, but a part of you said it would help him sleep. You took off his glasses, placing them on the nightstand besides his bed. You curled up besides him, hugging his face into you chest. To you, at that age, and with who it was, you didn't see a problem. . "I wonder what test you were studying for... I don't remember you mentioning a test before," you whispered, still playing with his hair. "Completely unrelated, but your hair is super soft," you muttered. You felt yourself drifting off to sleep.

You smiled, remembering that day. "You can go to sleep. I don't care. I won't be here in the morning though, I have patrols and stuff," he said, seeing you falling asleep. You hummed, and slid off the bed, and down to the floor. "What are you doing?" He asked, watching you curiously. "Going to sleep," you murmured, a yawn escaping your mouth. "On the floor?" He questioned. He heard you give a noise of confirmation. "Ok, but you can't complain about your back hurting tomorrow," he stated. "Mhm..." you muttered, sleep taking over your body.

It was early morning when you woke up. You sat up, rubbing the tired out of your eyes. You looked around, and stretched. Niragi wasn't in there and you sighed. Remembering what Niragi had said about patrols, you just decided to stay in his room. Not like you knew where anything was. Then there was a knock a the door. "Coming," you said, loud enough so they could hear. You got up from the floor, and walked over to the door, opening it. You looked down, seeing Chishiya. "I really don't like that you have to look down at me to talk to me," he muttered. "Get used to it, I'm 6'2 l, taller than Gi-Gi and... much taller than you," you stated with a grin. He looked up and smirked. "Gi-gi? Is that one of your nicknames for him?" He asked. You nodded. "You're not allowed to call him that though. That's my thing, got it? I'm the only annoying bitch he's allowed to have in his life," you joked. "Oh, I'm sure you'll be the only girl in his life," he whispered to himself. "Did you need something Chishiya?" You asked. "Well, yes and no. I was wondering if you would like me to show you around?" He asked, shoving his hands into his pockets. You thought for a second, before nodding your head. "Alright, let's go."

He lead you throughout the different rooms. As he was an executive, he had access to more rooms, but he couldn't go into an area with weapons or the underground. The hotel was quite large, your favorite part being the grand staircases and intricate pieces of decoration around certain places, as well as the columns "And my least favorite place is there. It's basically a club. People dancing, blaring music 24/7, people in general.... They all act so happy. It's weird," he shuddered, shaking his head. You laughed. He looked at you strangely. "Is there something wrong?" You asked. "Oh... no, I like your laugh. It's... endearing," he said, tilting his head down so his hair hid his face. You smiled, thanking him for the complement.

Little did you know, someone was watching from afar.

Later into the night, you heard a loud horn blaring. You had been out at the pool area with Chishiya, and a girl who's name you learned to be Kuina. She was a firecracker of a person, and you enjoyed it. She was fun, and you'd only known her for a few hours. "That's the alarm for the games. We all meet in the main hall, collect the papers, and go to the car with our number. You just need to follow Ann and Aguni, as they will assess you today, ok?" Chishiya explained. You nodded. A part of you was nervous because other people were going to be watching you do your thing, but another part of you was excited. Excited for the games. A part of you had enjoyed the thrill of risking your life in the last game. You were also extremely bored. You hadn't seen Niragi all day, and you knew you probably wouldn't see him till late at night. So, a full day of talking and walking around with Chishiya, and also later on, Kuina. Not that you minded their company, but you needed something to do. Something to give you that rush of excitement. Of being alive. Back in the real world, people saw you as fragile and weak. You were held back from excitement in your life because of your father, and when your mother came back into the picture, she became another anchor to your life.

Ann had found you in the swarming crowd of people, and grabbed your wrist. "This way," she said. You nodded, letting her lead you. There was a car with at least 6 other people in there. You guessed that they didn't exactly have to use normal road laws, so it didn't matter. Aguni and Ann sat in front, and you took your spot in the back. The ride to the arena was quiet. You could hear a few other engines, and maybe some shouting here and there. The games arena wasn't as far away as you thought. There were a few other people there, none wearing the wristbands from the beach. You went up and grabbed a phone, letting it do it's face recognition.

'8 players registered. 2 minutes to registration closing'

You stared at the phone, and back at the table where they were. There was 3 more phones left. You then saw three people come into the game arena. They picked up their phone with a sigh.

"Ann? Have you ever noticed that there's always enough phones for all the players?" You asked, looking at the woman. "Hm? What do you mean?" She questioned, crossing her arms. "Well, before those three came in, there was exactly three phones left. Meaning that there was enough phones for all the players. Same thing with my game from yesterday. There was 7 phones for 7 players. So, the game master hads an idea of who and where they're going. Have you ever noticed that?" You repeated, explaining in a bit more detail. She looked at you shocked. "... No, I can't say I have. Thank you," she stated. 'This is only her second game? And she's noticed something that we haven't in that little time? She'd be a great executive with a mind like hers. But, she'd also be a great milital with the capacity to think like that. Maybe with her, we won't have to worry about Niragi going rogue. I have a feeling he wouldn't dare hurt her.'

You nodded your head with a smile. "Oh... another thing, I apologize for bothering you again, but um... Did you see Niragi at all today? He told me about patrols, but I don't know," you asked. You were embarrassed to say the least, but you really wanted to know. "Since both Chishiya and Niragi suggested that you join the militals, we can't have them helping you. Niragi was off doing who knows what. He's always around somewhere," she explained. You nodded.

'Registration Closed. Game: Pick Your Poison. Difficulty 7 of diamonds. Rules: You must pick which plant is not poisonous to humans. There are cures to each poison, but you must know how to make it. Time Limit: 2 hours. Clear Condition: If players can't pick out the non poisonous plant in the time limit, venomous snakes will be released into the arena, and all doors leading out will be locked until all remaining contestants die. Game will commence in 5 minutes.'

You looked down at your phone. "What an interesting game this shall be," you said with a smile, walking off to where the arrows were pointing. "If you are unaware, the different suits represent what kind of game it will be. The number is the difficulty," Aguni said from besides you. You nodded, taking in his words. "Diamonds are a game of wit and intelligence, hearts are games of betrayal, spades are games of physical endurance, and clubs are games of teams," Ann added. "Thank you," you said, bowing towards them.

You reached the room, seeing it was more of a lab than anything. There were tables filled with different kinds of plants. Some looked like berries, others looked like normal vegetation.

'Game Start'

You sighed, walking over to a table, noticing some that looked almost like blueberries. "Those are blueberries right? Which means that one is the clear choice. Too easy," a guy snickered, picking one up and popping it into his mouth. You took notice of the shape of the leaves, and the coloring being different than most blueberries, as well as a few other key characteristics. Then it hit you. "Don't! You idiot... that's Atropa belladonna. Or, as you may know it, deadly nightshade," you scolded. He spat it out immediately. You knew it would do him not good as he had already chewed on it, and swallowed what he had crushed. He would die.

"You have knoledge of plants?" Ann asked. "Sort of... I got really into crime cases and stuff, so different kinds of poisons stuck with me. It's also what I studied in college. A major in forensics, and a minor in psychology," you explained sheepishly. A small smile made its way to her face. "Alright. Well, show us what you got."

There were ten minutes to go. You only had 2 plants left. One looked like a string of grapes, and the other like blackberries. Only 2 people had died, and that was because of their own idiocy. The one who had eaten the deadly nightshade, and another who'd eaten holly berries. She'd also trusted a girl, which is why she ate the berries in the first place. Basically trust and idiocy. Same thing, no? "So which one is it wise girl? We have ten minutes pick already," a guy angrily said. "Shut up, I'm trying to think," you stated, looking carefully. He huffed. "You're just a dumb girl. You've probably only been guessing and you're going to get us killed," he stated. You growled, picking up one of the deadly nightshade berries. You waited till he opened his mouth again, and threw it. It fell in his mouth, and he began choking, clawing at his throat. "Just guessing huh? Well, I'm guessing you're going to die," you taunted going back to look at the berries in front of you, ignoring the wheasing sounds behind you. "These aren't poisonous. They're mulberries. Blackberries have zero to none poisonous look alikes. Those, however are pokeweed," you stated, grabbing one of the blackberry look alikes. "I'll eat it, so if I'm wrong no one else suffers the consequence,'' you said, placing it in your mouth.

'Game Complete. Congratulations.'

The chiming voice startled you. You smiled once you realized what you'd done. "Well done. I'll report this to Hatter, and he'll decide what to do with you," Aguni said. You nodded. "Y-you killed him," a girl stuttered besides you. You turned to face her.

"H-he was my brother. You killed him!" She shouted. "Sounds like a you problem," you said. Aguni and Ann had already left the room. "You're heartless... you can't get away with this!" She screamed. "Listen here you self righteous little brat. If I remember correctly, you told one of the other players to eat the berry for you because you were scared you picked wrong. She took pitty, and did it. And she died. So you also killed someone. You also didn't help him when he was choking, so you have just as much blame. Maybe you wanted him dead? Oh, and another thing, who's going to stop me from doing anything? No one. There are no rules here. Murder, arson, fraud... everything's legal here. Back in the old world, we didn't do it because of other's moral compasses. We were scared of judgement. But here? Who's judgement are we scared of?" You said, glaring at her. "Plus, your brother seemed like a level 100 douche bag. If anything, I did you a favor. Good luck out there. You're going to need it," you said, walking out of the room.

"Sorry I took so long... She was so whiny," you apologized, muttering about the girl. They just shrugged as the drive back began.

"Oi, stay the hell away from her," Niragi threatened. Chishiya only laughed. "Why? She's just your friend, no? If I want to talk to her, I can. If I want to hang out with her, I can. If I wanted to get a little overzealous and do more... I can. And if I want to, I will," Chishiya smirked. "And trust me... I will."

Ahahahahahahaha, don't worry, it stays a Niragi×Reader, I just want drama :)

#niragi × reader #chishiya #alice in borderland #Niragi Suguru #×Reader

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i-am-ironic · 4 years ago

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Daminette arranged mariage au part 7

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

Damian arrived right on time as usual, to pick Marinette up for dinner. In the car they went over the plan one last time.

"So the plan right now is just to tell your brothers that we are dating until the papers go through confirming you are Xander's father, right?" Marinette said watching the city fly by.

"It shouldn't take long." Damien replied, "Rich families tend to get things done faster then anyone else. Everything should be in order before the end of dinner."

"But what about when they start asking questions?"

"We avoid the questions until the paperwork goes through, then we can tell them the whole story." He Paused thinking back. "When I got back I didn't talk about what happened. I didn't tell anyone so they should be interested enough in the story to leave their questions till the end."

"This might not go well dames," Marinette started Fidgeting with her bracelet, "what if they don't like me? Or they think I'm helping your mother? Or what if-"

"No, mari." He said, his voice bringing her away from her anxious thoughts, "it will be fine. i promise. they will love you and once we explain, everything will be fine. We are here are you ready?"

She nodded and stepped out of the car. The manor was even more extravagant then she had imagined. She was going to need to come back to sckech just the doorway not to mention the rest of the house. Thinking about the architecture helped to calm her nerves.

"Here we go" she said stepping up to the door. It opened before dhe even had the chance to knock. Behind the door was an elderly man in a suite.

"Hello Ms my name is Alfred, I am the Wayne's butler and your name is?"

"Just call me marinette.”

“I must insist it wouldn't be proper to call you anything but your last name.” Alfred said.

“Just marinette for now but you will probably know my last name by the end of the night.” he looked at her curiously, why didn’t she want him to know her name yet?

“Very well ms marinette,” he said before turning to damian, “master damian your family is waiting for you in The sitting room.”

the two of them walked into the room and marinette was expecting a lot of things, but not this. damian just looked so done with his family.

“Ahem.”he said drawing attention to himself. “Marinette these are my brothers Dick is the one hanging from the chandelier” she waved at the familiar man. “Tim is the one drinking straight from the pot of coffee and Jason is the one throwing knifes at Dick. Oh and cass is the only normal one sitting on the couch.”

“Hey!” the boys all yelled in unison.

“Its a pleasure to see you again marinette.” bruse said before the boys could start arguing “I presume that our other guest will be here after dinner?”

“That is correct Mr Wayne.”

“Its Bruce as I have told you.”

marinette rooled her eyes smiling. She wasn't going to call him Bruce

“Hold on what other guest?” Jason said confused.

“Dinner is served.” alfrid said from the doorway as he lead the group out of the room.

“Damian wait!” Dick said reaching out for his little brother. Damian turned glancing at marinette who nodded.

“What do you want Grayson?” he siad eager to get back to marinette.

“I don't think you should be seeing marinette you know how dangerous our 'job' is and-”

“She can take care of herself” he cut his brother off turning to follow were the rest of the group had gone.

Dick grabbed Damian’s arm makeing him stay this was importent.“I'm sure she can but she has a 2 year old son who can't take care of himself and I don't think-”

“Richard.” that got his attention damian never called anyone by their first name.

“Yes?”

“Xander is my son.” that took a moment to Process before-

“WHAT! WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE IS YOUR SON!”

without answering Damian walked out of the room. Dick folowed him into the dining room, where evryone looked at the two.

“Dick whats wrong? we heard yelling and you look like you saw a ghost.” Cass said conserned.

“Its nothing,” Damian replied sharing a meningful look with marinette. “I'm sure Grayson is fine. so marinette do I need to take any of my brothers to the garden”

evryone looked shocked at the implicashons but marinette just giggled.

“No they have all been wonderful. besids you know i can handle your brothers.”she smiled.

“Listen, marinette, if damian kidnapped you blink twice.” jason said in a sereous tone.

she gigaled again, “He didn't kidnap me besides we both know I can beat damian in a fight.”

“take that back! i have beaten you plenty of times before.” this made the boys and cass very intrested, if damian was defending himself he must have actualy tried to beat her, and falled.

“Dames I beat you 68% of the time.” interesting.

“so you admit i have beaten you before!” he said triumfently.

“Yeah when I let you win.” damians mouth fell open in legitament showk. he looked over at his father, who nodded, before making a statment that would change this family forever.

“Marinette Anne dupan-chang al Ghul Wayne you take that back right this minute!”

the reactions were very mixed. Dick was shocked. not only did his baby brother have a child but it apered that he was marred. Jason didnt know what to think. he had begun to coneckt the dots, marinette had foud the father of her chiled, she then showed up with his brother and she had the same last name as him. $#*! Tim alerdy knew about all this from his reserch and cass decided to wait for an explanation.

“No.” marinette said scrunching up her noes playfully. "I refuse to take it back."

there was silence for a moment before Bruce spoke.

“Maybe we should continue this discussion in the sitting room”

“So would you like to explain why marinette has the same last name as you?” cass said once they reached the other room.

“Not really but-”

“dames be nice, we knew we were going to explain when we came here tonight. I'll text luka.”

.”Who's Luka?” Tim said, he hadn't read anythig about a ‘Luka’.

“Its a long story so let's start from the beginning,” marinette started.

“Three and a half years ago I was walking back to my family's house after hanging out at a friend's house. Before I got home I saw a man who needed help, so I went over to help. him i cant remember what he was doing but when I got there I felt a prick in the back of my neck. I pulled the dart out before I hit the ground. The next thing I knew I was in a room laying on a coute. the door was locked and I could hear yelling from someone else in the building. I could tell it was a man but I couldn't make out what he was saying. it wasn't in french I later found out he was speaking Arabic. After the yelling stopped i heard the door unlock and got ready to run but when the door opened a woman was standing there with two big men behind her. She walked in and because of the two men I couldn't run. She started speaking to me in french she said 'my name it Talia. I need you to put on this ceremonial dress.' To which I replied as any sane person would that I wasn't going to put on the dress and they needed to take me back home. She asked 'did you hear that man yelling a moment ago?' 'Yes?' I said though I wasn't sure what that had to do with anything. 'if you don't put it on and do what I say I will kill him.' So I put on the dress. They tied my hands behind my back and blindfolded me before leading me out of the cell I was in. When they took the blindfold off I was kneeling at an alter. Talia began speaking in french so I could understand. She was saying things about the strongest bond known to man, and a queen for the future king. I didn't understand what she meant until I turned to see a boy my age bound and kneeling next to me. Thats when it hit me we were getting married. She made us drink something from a chalice before we were ushered into a different room. We were both untied and left alone. the door locked behind us. The only thing in the room was a bed. The boy introduced himself as damian and said that he wasn't sure why his mother made us get married but that he was going to get some answers. He looked pretty cute when he said that.”

Damian blushed at her compliment.

“Anyway Talia's explanation was that damian was 16 and for the league that meant he was a man and had to get married. And I had the great honor to be the one he married. I, was pissed. She said that as such a powerful magic user i was worthy to marry the future king of the league of assassins. I was even more pissed. She had the audacity to say that getting married, AT 16, to someone you had never met was a good thing. That little-”

“Alright mari I'll take over.” Damian said resting a hand on her sholder. “Anyway she said that after a year of mari training with the league we could go back to our normal lifes until we turned 18, at which point if we didn't at least move in together they would kill one of us. best mom ever. After that we were left alone to talk. Every day we trained and talked and worked hard. Once a month they would move us to a different compound and give us a huge array of blood tests. We became good friends. it was us against everyone else. Since we were already married we decided to give this whole romantic thing a try. But after six months I was sent to meeting with Talia she said I was going home and knocked me out sending me back to you. I searched and searched but I couldn't find any sign of marinette. so I had to asume Talia killed her. I couldn't think about France without thinking about her so I blocked all news from France. I didn't say anything to anyone for a month. And evrey year for one day I couldn’t speak, the anniversary of the last day I saw her alive.”

“I wasn't dead incase you were wondering.” marinette said picking up where damian left off,” I was sent to the med bay. No one would tell me what was happening or were damian was until Talia came in and said damian had fulfilled his usefulness. she exsplaned The only reason i was there was because damian had spent to much time with his father and had gone soft. The league needed a new heir to the throne. They picked me to be the mother of that heir. I was stuck there for months. I knew they weren't going to let me go. After the baby was born they were going to kill me. One day something big happened, I don't know what but it was big enough no one was watching me. I escaped. I hiched rides to France and snuck across borders. When I finally got back i saw a doctor as soon as I could. I didn't know if the baby was ok. He was born when I was 17.” she turned to the door where a young man stood holdng a toddler who scrambled down and ran over to his parints. “Everyone I would like you to meet Xander Thomas dupan-chang al Ghul Wayne.”

“Damian you have a son.” cass said wide eyed.

“I'm aware” damian said handing the boy his phone with a game already opened up.

“Xander is my nephew??????” Dick said staring at the boy like he had grown a secend head.

“Yes.” marinette said simply.” It took a year to defeat Paris' villain. After that I moved here to find damian and tell him about Xander.”

“Dang. So you know about Robin then?”

“Yep”

“Why didn't you say anything??? I've known you for over a year and you said nothing????” the betrayed jason said.

“I didn't want to explain anything until I could tell damian. i thought He should be the first to know about his son.”

“We have a break in at gatham museum.” alfered said over the intorcom

“We are not done with this conversation.” Bruce said.

“Suite up!” called Tim.

“Marinette do you want to come?”

she smiled at her husband “I wouldn't miss it for the world.”

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

I'm pretty sure this is the longest chapter I've ever written yay me. Pro tip if you see a centipede in your house DON'T TUCH IT it can and will sting you and it will hurt, my little brother just got stung by one. Anyway im glad so many of you like this story thanks for all the love! If you want to be tagged please let me know you can ether message me or reply to this. And if anyone can explain how to link things the pretty way with just "here" underlined that would be great. if you asked to be tagged and you weren't then ask again and ill put you on the list.

@thestressmademedoit

@abrx2002

@depressedrainbowcake

@myazael

@toodaloo-kangaroo

@bisha43rbs

@ur-average-reader

@crystalangelluna

@animezodiac707

@thenillabean

#arranged marriage au #batfam #damian wayne #damien #maridami #marinette cheng #marinette x damian #miraculous marinette #maribat #marriage #marinette x damian happy #daminette

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asagi-s-garden · 3 years ago

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WB is the worst when it comes to DC. It's no coindence that Constantine is leaving 'Legends of Tomorrow" in the wake of the upcoming HBO Max show. And this pandemic ruined a lot of plans. As you said "BL" wasn't meant to be in the Arrowverse put when it happened they were all gung-ho for it. They had plans for Jeff to visit Central City and for Anissa and Grave to chill in Gotham. But then the pandemic and whatever BTS drama that got "BL" canned. Like *something* happened. It got an early renewal in Jan then it was cancelled in Nov. And CW didn't even bother to have proper trailers for new episodes. Don't tell me somebody on the show didn't rub the network the wrong way to result in that level of pettiness

Yeah, WB isn't just the worst with DC, but really the worst with favoritism in my personal opinion

They tried so hard to make the DC streaming service a huge success but as soon as they saw it wasn't going to be they got rid of everything like it was on fire, HBO Max is the new golden child so they're cutting their own throats in other areas to make it succeed- IE: Theaters

My poor Suicide Squad 2 ;_; no I won't say "my THE Suicide Squad" it won't roll off the tongue it was a sacrificial lamb to the damn streaming service :(

I know it's an unpopular opinion to not be all over streaming but they're really clearly cutting way more than just corners in order to feed that specific beast and try to make it compete with Disney+, that's why they're starting to draw the string on the Arrowverse :/ The same thing happened, I think, with the DC streaming service though, when they saw that the biggest success of DC was the Arrowverse, they decided to pull their dying streaming service as well as the DCEU into it to pump the Arrowverse up more, now that the Arrowverse is starting to go under- with three shows being gone, Batwoman being in questionable territory, and the two biggest successes of the year being largely disjointed from it (Superman and Stargirl), I think they're going to try to scramble it like eggs :/ They're doing the same with the DCEU to a degree though, by having loosely connected stories that do more universe hopping and tone changes (IE: Joker coming out just months before Birds Of Prey and having been preceeded by Shazam!) I think since they're seeing more promise in that approach right now for the movies, they might be trying to do the same for TV- or they're just trying to let the Arrowverse die of neglect so they can pump up HBO Max like you said

Ofcourse now that WB has been bought by Discovery, we might get some big changes to this; Discovery already said they wanted to pour seven BILLION dollars into DC properties specifically in the first year alone, and I know the rumor is that they're only going to try to gloss up DC so that they can sell the assets to the highest bidders once their "probation" period ends but like.... seven billion is a hell of alot of gloss..... and if they can start pulling in more numbers like Joker, Superman & Lois, and The Suicide Squad (wich may have not been a huge hit at the box office but wich reportedly smashed the HBO Max numbers enough that WB is circling James Gunn like a starving shark), then I have a hard time believing they'd be wanting to get rid of it, especially when, let's face it, DC is easily the most well known and most marketable asset Discovery has ever had and probably ever will have purely because of Superman alone, you can't find a person anywhere who hasn't atleast heard of Superman, regardless of how much the film properties are hit-and-miss financially, I have a hard time believing anyone would just throw that kind of name power to the wolves....

But onto Black Lightning, I actually have a pretty strong theory about that one

I'm almost certain that China Anne McClain is why the show was canned

And do not get me wrong, I don't mean that in a snippy way, but China quit Black Lightning pretty urgently- to the point that she only wanted to do limited episodes for the final season

Backing up a moment here though, let me explain why I think this was the nail-in-the-coffin

Black Lightning was very quickly becoming centered around Lightning specifically

That doesn't mean to say that it wasn't still Jefferson's story and that Anissa wasn't still important, but Jennifer was getting set up to be The Powerhouse of the show, with the bulk of the drama probably surrounding her and the thought of her potentially taking on her father's mantel

It seemed like the idea of Black Lightning retiring or atleast putting on the suit a little less was starting to become a thing, and with Jefferson firmly accepting his daughters as part of the world of Metas at that point, that would have lead to Anissa and Jennifer taking much more of the spotlight than they had in the beginning- that's a natural progression of things, and although I actually prefer Anissa's storyline (it's just more my personal cup of tea), I will readily admit that Jennifer was the one who had the ability to carry an entire season's worth of story on her shoulders.... not so much Anissa, who has her wife (so romantic subplots are pretty toned down), her powers are developed and stable (nothing quite like the learning curves Jennifer was facing), she has a stable job and a stable superhero identity- two, in fact-, so no literal schoolyard drama or issues with "Am I in my father's shadow? Is this how the world sees me and do I want them to see me this way?" much like what Jennifer was starting to experience in the end of the show either

TLDR Anissa mostly had her shit together, wich is great for her, but it doesn't lend to being able to carry the most dramatic storylines like it does with Jennifer, who's still figuring out pretty much everything

I think Jennifer was already starting to take a very large amount of the story as of the last season and even starting to steal the spotlight before that, if they were to come back for more I feel like she would have been in a place of being much more obviously groomed to take on the main charector status wile Jefferson stepped back just a little bit to be more supportive to her journey instead of the other way around

And the show could still exist very much as Jefferson's story wile that story happened to center on Jennifer

.....Buuuuuuuuuuuuut that's where the problem comes in

China said before the show was cancelled that she was going to step down from playing Lightning because she wanted to focus on her faith more and be removed from anything that wasn't "in service to God", wich is totally fine for her, but it does put Black Lightning in a bit of a difficult position because the charector they were gearing up to make their breakout star was suddenly going to either have to pull a Winn and just... be.... gone.... or have to get recast

To be entirely honest, I'm not sure why they didn't stick with the recasting instead, I thought Laura Karuki did a fantastic job as Jennifer and the "Am I Jennifer or am I JJ?" story would have been a great thing to explore for an entire season, but if I had to guess, they maybe just didn't want to mess with it?

Black Lightning had good numbers but it wasn't in the top five or anything to my recollection, not since it's premiere season anyway, and it could have been a compound decision of "We weren't going to keep this up much longer anyway so let's just take this as a sign to wrap it up", although I think that the way the recast was done could have presented a stable option for them if they had decided to give it a go for a full season, although maybe that's just my opinion and they initially made the recast so that the people behind the curtain could see if Laura would work well enough as Jennifer and when they decided that the vibe wasn't right they went on ahead and pulled the plug rather than risk getting the same um... resistance.... than Batwoman met over their recasting choices

Although I could go on for days about why that situation is different (to be clear: I do like Ryan quite alot but I don't think the Batwoman situation was nearly as seamless as Black Lightning's in terms of recasts, but that's another story for another day)

TLDR I think if China had stayed aboard they would have gone on for atleast another season or two, but there are some shows where members of an ensemble cast are so essential that their leaving is too big of a blow to stay through

It's much like when Dylan O'Brien had to bow out of Teen Wolf for a little wile, I think you'd be hard pressed to find a fan who absolutely loved season six, and even before that people were having a hard time staying with a lack of Tyler Hoechlin, with some even stepping away when Crystal Reed left, even though- at both of those points- most of the core cast was still there and at no point did the titular main ever leave, I feel like Black Lightning's situation is very similar, people were just too invested in Jennifer

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risingmoonyue · 5 years ago

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Batman/P5 Crossover

-Sometime before Akechi but after Futaba or Haru

-Damian is sent to Tokyo to check it out for whatever reason (maybe they had a fight, or he’s going stir crazy, or he’s just the only one they can send at the time and didn't bother with all that "you're not old enough" business)

-Dami is younger than Futaba by a year or three or four

-He is baby

-He is transferred to Shujin as a child prodigy where he also immediately joins the "outcast" community because of his attitude and intelligence

-Talia goes too, manages to cut off all his communications with the Batfam, and is planning to take him home in a month whether he likes it or not

-For whatever reason, Batfam doesn't realize this??? (Like, either she's faking reports or they're too busy (think fight or chaos in Gotham scenario maybe???))

-Anyways, obviously Dami doesn't want this

-Somehow the Phantom Thieves hear about the situation

-Maybe he was assigned to shadow Makoto for a while, and they managed to overhear a phone conversation either to Talia or Dami trying to get in touch with the Batfam and nothing really working

-And eventually they outright see him fighting with his mother with him at some point (either in person or over a phone call) mentioning that she already disowned him, he's happy with his Father's family, and that he will head her family business over his dead body—and oh would you look at that, you already managed that, care to try again Mother?

-The PT's are understandably alarmed

-And learn her name from Damian (from Makoto maybe or someone else he bonded a little with) (MORGANA) (THEY GAVE HIM MONA FOR A DAY AND NOW THEY KNOW EVERYTHING FROM HIS MANY PETS TO HIS LEAST TO MOST FAVORITE SIBLINGS STARTING FROM TIM TO DICK TO HIS FAVORITE FOODS TO EVERYONE IN HIS FAMILY’S NAMES TO HOW STUPID HE FINDS EVERYONE AND WHY THEY'RE STUPID TO HIS FAVORITE MUSIC TO WHY ANIMALS ARE SUPERIOR TO HUMANS AND MONA’S LIKE OMG TMI BUT LOVED IT THERE BECAUSE HE WAS PAMPERED LIKE NO TOMORROW GOT ONLY THE BEST FOOD AND THE BEST BEDS AND TOYS THAT HE GOT TO TAKE WITH HIM BACK TO LEBLANC AND NOW AKIRA AND SOJIRO ARE LIKE DUDE WHY AND MONA’S LIKE IM KEEPING HIM THIS HUMAN IS GOOD SORRY AKIRA YOU’RE DEMOTED)

-The palace is basically a fortress full of assasin ninjas and clones

-Dunno what her keywords are tho

-Or her what her palace actually is

-Help?????????

-Cognitive Bruce, Ra's, Damian, Dami clones, and Jason (maybe rest of batfam??? Idk)

-Long story short, the traps are so assassin-y that they need someone who knows the actual Talia because egads, this is the closest they have all come to actually dying

-And they didn't really want to do it and were just gonna power through

-But Dami manages to find out and get in and of course uses his background to help out whether they like it or not

(-he's slightly off put by Joker's name, but then decides to just solely call Gotham!Joker "The Clown")

-At some point they are captured by the Shadow Talia who is decked out in super fancy traditional Arab clothing and probably every conceivable hidden weapon known to man

-Talia says Damian won't and can't ever change from who he "is meant to be", referring to him as her Alexander and basically brutally addresses all of his insecurities concerning the batfam and people and society in general

-And all this is kinda killing him cause he still loves Talia despite the fact that she killed him and had a violent citywide custody battle with Batman but he also loves the batfam too even if he would absolutely never admit it (except to maybe Grayson)

-Joker does his emotional kick-start thing and/or Dami is like Makoto and just gets so mad he triggers it himself, but either way, lo and behold, Damian is now a persona user, usurping Futaba's place as the baby of the team

-The outfit is kinda inspired by his future adult league outfit with the top and bottom and gold jewelry, but has a raggedy cloak with dull gold edges, a Robin mask and gauntlets, and his main weapons are batarang-sword hybrids

---acknowledging his past and moving on with his present

-Persona: Aladdin, Tsun Zu, Ali Baba, somone else???? Need ideas plz help

-Probably the fastest member of the group

-His small body makes his hits not as strong, but hoo boy can that kid move around

-Hits a lot and dodges most

-Most of his Persona abilities are physical and have high crit and/or are status affects

-Downside is he has not a lot of SP (compared to the rest of the group)

-And he has pretty good HP

-Those good ol' “superior genetics” have to be good for something after all

-Anyways they escape to find the treasure another day

-And Dami is all smug because HA you definitely can't stop me now

-And the PTs are just resigned to keeping an eye on the extremely competent snotty assassin/vigilante child

-They do like him though so it's not too bad (comes with learning all his darkest secrets via his mother and thought processes that tends to accompany watching someone at their lowest get a persona)

(-They do manage to temper him a bit and help him adjust better to actual society too that's nice)

-As such, they also know about Batman and Robin and his whoooole family. Both sides.

-Damian decided not to tell batfam because he does agree with the whole "most adults suck" mentality that the Phantom Thieves have; despite his deep, deep respect for his father and mother and Grayson, they all do kinda suck

-And he’s rather not get pulled out as he surely would if he told them

(-On a side note, he likes Sojiro

-The man gives him coffee, curry, and leaves him mostly to his own devices

-Instant win)

-He is dubbed "Mockingbird" apon return to the metaverse because of his freaky talented vocal skills in mimicking anyone and everyone's voice

-Eventually, they beat Talia

-She doesn't publicly confess to all her sins unlike everyone else

-PTs don't realize it worked until Damian came into school with a genuine smile on his face, and more relaxed than he'd been since he got there

-PTs are confused until Damian's like, this works out because hey, don't want to have several people assassinated and draw the entire freaking league to Tokyo

(-Which was probably why Talia didn't)

-They agree

-But she does break down to tears in Dami's arms and promise to ACTUALLY TALK CIVILLY with Bruce to try and make up for everything and try to fix up the league

-He stays for the rest of p5

-But steers all his reports very much away from the Phantom Thieves

-If anything, he downplays absolutely everything, and makes it seem like it's nothing super big but he's gonna stay a while to keep and eye out because y'alls are busy and I like it here and I haven't gotten expelled so there

-The PTs like to add funny stuff on there just to see if they’ll notice

-Like, Akira likes to have Dami describe his day in excruciating detail. Like, recounting the entirety of his nine or so months to Sae during police interrogation, excruciating

-Mona is pushing for the shiny stuff

-Yusuke just likes to put in bursts of randomness (Dami once mentioned that an acquaintance made another acquaintance T-pose in a church for art lol)

-Ann loves to rant about food

-Haru is always insisting on about feelings

-Ryuji likes to complain about everything and puts in ridiculous requests

-Futaba is just putting in every gen-z thing ever

-Makoto is actually responsible and tries to get him to talk about his progress in school and his social life

-And Akechi is absolutely nowhere near any of this and doesn’t know it exists

-When they have the Tokyo/Japan-wide calling card, Batfam sees it too because let's face it, that's totally the sorta thing that they would keep an eye out for even if he didn't look at the news in the entirety of the time Dami was in Tokyo

-And they send a message to Damian (the first actual communication they've had since before Talia) saying "WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON OVER THERE????"

-And with the entirety of the Phantom Thieves looking over his shoulder, Damian's just like "Chill dudes, everything's fiiiiiiiiiine"

-And they're like "UH WHAT PART OF THIS IS FINE????" because they've dug around a bit and found every news report, and oh hey, this isn't anywhere near as calm as Damian described and he’s being super OOC and what’s going on?!?!?!?!?!

-And Damian, being egged on by the most of the PTs, just sends a winky face

-Just

-😉

-And he's smug, because it's still chaos over there so they can't actually come get him and try to pull him out because he's being super ooc

-Which means he's free to do what he wants/needs in the meantime

-Cue the end of the game

-And Dami is going with them on their summer road trip and cackling because the batfam is scrambling to find him in Tokyo but lol nope he's in a van the Japanese government tried and fail to follow

-And he found all the trackers like, a year ago

-Every

-Single

-One

-They eventually track him down to Akira's house where they're calmly eating dinner (and they've been expecting this for the past week so Mona was keeping watch just so they could pull this off) and talking about how uneventful the school year was

-Cue mass confusion in the batfam

-As the PTs enjoy just confusing them so much

-By talking to Mona

-Talking normal then crazy then normal again

-And just generally being their normal selves lol

-They explain absolutely nothing beyond gushing about how much progress socially and academically he’s made (gotta embarrass the baby of the group somehow) and making sure that if Dami absolutely has to go home that he's able to stay in touch

(-Later, Damian forms his own hero persona outside of Batman and Robin)

(-He names it Mockingbird)

(-Batfam proceeds to have a brain aneurysm while the PTs dab their happy proud tears out of their eyes on their regularly scheduled tea time at the Wayne Manor)

(-Damian sends a private plane every week or two lol)

(Bonus: ARTTTTTTT)

(Psst if you guys have ideas for art, outfits, interactions or scenarios, let me know)

#my writing #my art #batman #persona 5 #p5 #persona #batman x p5 #damian wayne #akira kurusu #ren amamiya #p5 protagonist #ive been holding onto this one for a wHILE

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